#it's only 55 chapters btw

[incorrect-web-novels]

I just finished the Forgetful Dark Lord manhwa, and if you have a couple hours, you really should read it ^_^

[destiel-wings]

context: I'm writing a LONG wip (should be 55 chapters, an actual epic story with action and plot though romantic destiel filter) and I'm thinking about when i should start posting it. Generally I'd want to finish first and post afterwards, so i can update regularly and not be distracted from the actual writing, but it's gonna take me way too long to finish it (like two years realistically??) so I'm thinking maybe i might start posting it before, even if less regularly? So i can share it with you earlier and you can engage with me as i write it?

[unordinary-diary]

UnOrdinary 1v1s!

“Who would win” questions are a little boring in the world of UnOrdinary, because they can all be answered by a number on a scale. However, subtract abilities altogether...

1v1, no abilities allowed. Who would win?

For the sake of this hypothetical, no dampener or disabler is involved, and all passives are still on. This is a “no abilities allowed” situation, not a “no abilities au” situation.

‼️Spoilers only for up to chapter 55‼️

1. John vs. Arlo

Projected Winner: Arlo

This one was interesting, because my first instinct was to say John would win. However, thinking about it harder... the winner is definitely Arlo. John is an experienced fighter, but Arlo is bigger and heavier. Additionally, John’s passive is entirely useless in a fight, whereas Arlo’s passive gives him a huge advantage.

If you need more proof... this has actually come up before. In episode 89, we don’t get a full out no-abilities 1v1, but we do get this:

There was also the time when John simply bumped into Arlo in the hallway by accident and got a pretty nasty bruise on his forehead.

(Ep. 23) Just— imagine fighting that. With no ability. The winner is Arlo.

2. Seraphina vs. Remi

Projected Winner: Seraphina

This decision is pretty easy. I’m not entirely sure what Seraphina’s passive is, but I’m about 78% sure that it’s a speed boost. Quick thinking and moving. Remi’s passive is useless in a fight, but Seraphina’s would give her a huge advantage if I’m right. Seraphina is also physically bigger than Remi is, and she has fighting skills she learned from John. This one goes to Seraphina.

3. Blyke vs. Isen

Projected Winner: Isen

These two are pretty evenly matched even with abilities at the beginning of the story. Blyke of course, skyrockets up half a level while superhero-ing. However, without abilities...

They’re quite similar in fighting skill, and familiar with each other’s moves. Isen is taller, but I do imagine that Blyke is more muscular, as Isen doesn’t seem like the type who works out much— though that is pure speculation. My brother brought up that Isen seems more likely to fight dirty— hair pulling and such, whereas Blyke might fight more honorably, putting him at a disadvantage. Blyke does have a passive— but his healing seems to work too slowly to make any meaningful difference during a fight. Unless the fight went on for hours, I don’t believe his passive would skew the outcome much.

Isen however, is much more of a melee fighter than Blyke is. Blyke’s usual fighting style involves some level of close quarters combat, but he’s mostly a ranged fighter. Isen’s only ranged attacks involve throwing objects, so most of the time he’s fighting hand to hand. His melee experience gives him a huge edge in this case. However, if there are objects to throw... that would put Blyke at an advantage; Blyke’s aim is a genuine skill, but Isen’s aim comes directly from his ability.

All in all, I think this match could go either way. The outcome could be influenced a lot by various factors, such as the arena, and surrounding objects to be weaponized. They could probably fight many times and the winner never be a forgone conclusion. Ultimately though, I think Isen would win more often than Blyke would.

4. Seraphina vs. Arlo

Projected Winner: N/A

This one is really a headscratcher.

Seraphina has combat training from John, and a good deal of ability-less fighting experience. On the other hand, Arlo is much bigger and heavier than she is, and he’s male, which automatically gives him a significant physical advantage (which is very frustrating when you’re a girl btw). They’re both very smart and strategic as well. But... with how strong the two of them are, their passives alone are enough to completely uproot the playing field, and leave all of these variables insignificant.

Both of their passives give them a huge advantage— speed is incredibly useful in a fight, both for evasion and for landing harder hits. However, all that means nothing if none of your hits can make your opponent even flinch.

The kind of hits that Arlo can tank without even activating his ability is insane—

Ventus’s ability amped up. Not a scratch. Not even a flinch.

Meili’s ability amped. Again, not a scratch, not a flinch. Eyes are notably not glowing. For reference, here is what happens when Ventus and Meili, two elites, get hit with those exact same attacks with their abilities on:

(Eps 55 & 56) Arlo, while he does take notable damage from the same attacks later, also tanks several shots from Cecile’s ability amped up:

(Ep. 222) We don’t get much info on Seraphina’s passive. We have yet to see a situation where Seraphina is fighting without using her ability, but still has access to her passive. However, I still doubt that her passive alone could make her stronger than John with two elite abilities stored and amped.

However, a massive defense booster like that means nothing if you can’t land a single hit on your opponent. Seraphina is an 8.0– assuming I’m correct about what her passive is to begin with, it should make her pretty damn fast with that kind of level.

What I’m saying is: neither of them would be able to hurt each other. It would be a stalemate, or a war of attrition. They’d be stuck in the middle until one of them gave up or got tired enough for their opponent to take the win.

In the end, it really comes back to: Does Arlo have access to forks he can throw?

Other matches that I don’t feel compelled to explain:

5. Evie vs. Terrence

Projected Winner: Evie

6. Blyke vs. Remi

Projected Winner: Blyke

7. John vs. Seraphina

Projected Winner: Seraphina

8. John vs. Literally Anyone Else

Projected Winner: John

9. Remi vs. Isen

Projected Winner: Isen

10. Evie vs. Remi

Projected Winner: Remi probably?

Do you agree? Disagree? Would you like an explanation on any that I didn’t elaborate on? Are there any more matchups you’d like to raise? Do you think I’m wrong about Seraphina’s passive? Do you think Seraphina, or Arlo would win?

I’ve said before that I don’t really reblog because my diary is not a scrapbook, but this time around I’m making an open discussion, and I don’t mind scrapbooking any responses. Replies are also open.

[lassieposting]

I think the most important think to as qustions about us how we got the first letter and tape to begin with,someone had to have wrote it and sent it in the mail and had have to known the protagonist address,but maybe I'm just overthinking it ,its just a way to start the game, btw I think the only info about the protagonist or the player from the developers is their height 5'10 - 6' idk how canon it is ?

Do you think poppy is "evil" ?

Hmm...no, I don't think Poppy is evil.

I think Poppy is traumatized and misguided, with quite a naive outlook on morality, and her actions are guided by that and her limited experience of the world and humanity for the past like, fifty years.

Ultimately, both Poppy and the Prototype want the same thing - to put a stop to the atrocities committed by Playtime Co. They agree on that. But they're implied to have had vastly different experiences with Playtime, and that is very relevant to how they approach their shared cause.

It's worth noting here that these two have, potentially, been trapped in that facility for half a century or more. The word prototype suggests that he was the very first test subject to survive having his brain and nervous system grafted to a constructed, partially organic body. If his name is correct, he should predate Poppy. He is the template they used to create and refine the process to make her. She is the "perfect" version of him, the finished product. He is a rougher, less polished first draft.

And Poppy was created in 1950. Since you can't have a living doll walking around and living her life in the outside world, that means she's been inside the factory for 55 years, 10 years of which she spent locked in a case. And if the Prototype is rightly-named, he's been there even longer.

And look at how different their situations are:

Attitude Towards Procedure

In Poppy's cut dialogue from the end of Chapter 2, she explains to the Player that:

"Terrible things have happened, and I am the cause. Being able to exist as a doll, it has killed so many people."

Her choice of words here is interesting, because it implies that there's a fundamental difference between Poppy and the other Bigger Bodies experiments. Specifically, it implies that Poppy was a willing test subject. She uses positive phrasing to describe her experience. Being able to is a phrase that suggests that existing as a doll is a desirable state. She could have said existing as a doll. She could have said making me a doll. She could have said turning me into a doll. All of those are negative phrases I'd expect from one of the unwilling test subjects. But Poppy uses being able to, and I think that's significant. I think what we have here is someone who has a more positive, favourable view of her current existence than the others - someone who sees toyhood as either a second chance at life, or a second chance at childhood.

The Prototype, on the other hand, is strongly implied to not be a willing volunteer - quite the opposite. He's highly aggressive towards Playtime staff. He's uncooperative with Playtime scientists. He's actively trying to escape the facility in the backstory. That is not the behaviour of someone who consented to his procedure.

Containment & Care

When we first find Poppy, we see that her living situation is actually pretty good.

Like. Yes. She's locked in a case, ripping off Annabelle like her little heart depends on it, but we know that's not where the Playtime staff kept her - she explicitly attributes that to the Prototype:

"He's the reason I was trapped in that god-awful case for so long."

(We can even make an educated guess as to when this happened and why. Poppy was in the case during the Hour of Joy - she remembers hearing it all happen, but not participating. Given that she was firmly opposed to the idea, it's likely that Prototype sealed her away ahead of time to make sure she wasn't able to interfere. It was a tactical manoeuvre, so it would've happened shortly before the Hour began, so that no staff had time to discover her and remove her from the case.)

So anyway. Ignore the case. Look at everything else.

We find Poppy in a section of the factory that's been refitted to look like a house, in what looks like a child's playroom, full of toys, cushions and furniture. If this is where Poppy has been living all those years, that suggests she's well-cared for, well-treated, and kept mostly happy by the company - we know, of course, that she wasn't entirely spared from the trauma; her maintenance tape is pretty horrific. But she's definitely been treated more kindly - or at least kept more comfortable - than some of the other experiments, and that's reflected in her feelings on the Hour of Joy: she's seen humanity in the Playtime employees who've interacted with her, so she sympathises with the terrified workers.

(Which? Actually makes me wonder if there was a reason none of the other experiments ever came to let her out in the ten years between then and the beginning of the game. Poppy's perspective is very different to that of most of the toys who were created from frightened, imprisoned children, experimented on against their will, and it would make sense for them to feel resentful or angry about it. Mommy Long Legs is mocking and lowkey aggressive towards her, and her avoidance of CatNap suggests he would be, too. Maybe her opposition to the idea of the Hour of Joy made her unpopular with them. Though she seems to have made up/never fallen out with Kissy Missy, at least.)

This is a huge contrast with the Prototype, whose entire experience with Playtime is one big human rights violation. He's kept in a prison cell in the labs under 24/7 surveillance, in almost complete isolation - CatNap, who's allowed to socialise with him, isn't created until the 90s, and the only other time we see or hear of anyone interacting with Prototype is in his regular sessions with Harley Sawyer, who spends that time coldly torturing him in the name of science. And that's given him a very different perspective - that nothing will change at Playtime without drastic and violent rebellion on the part of the experiments. Playtime doesn't care about their experiments' quality of life. They don't care about their feelings. They know that the toys have no rights, that they can't safely leave the factory, and that post-transformation, they have very little recourse against their tormentors. He knows that he'll spend the rest of his life a slave unless he's willing to kill.

(The other experiments also seem to have fallen closer to Prototype's end of the containment spectrum than Poppy's. There's a literal dungeon beneath the playhouse, with enough cells for each of the Bigger Bodies Smiling Critters. We know CatNap was locked away in what is explicitly described by a Playtime worker as a prison, when he's not doing his duties in Playcare, and also segregated from the other Critters - his cell is outside their dungeon. Playtime's idea of "protective custody" for Thomas Clark - now in the body of a Bron toy - was an empty padded cell with no company or stimulation, and he was a loyal employee who'd dedicated like 40 years of his life to the company. When Thomas was placed in with the other experiments, it appeared that they were all thrown into a "genpop" situation together in a big room. Like, Poppy is the only toy getting special treatment, accommodation and enrichment here. It's no wonder almost nobody stood with her against Prototype - he's "one of us", and she would've seemed like "one of them".)

The vibe I get is that like. Both of them are activists, of a sort. But Poppy, before the Hour of Joy, is the "middle-class white woman" moderate sort of activist. She will write a strongly-worded letter of protest to her local Head of Innovation. She will wave a colourful poster at a peaceful rally. She thinks that compromise, diplomacy and patience are the ways to solve her chosen cause. And she can afford to wait for compromise, diplomacy and patience to work, because while she is affected by the oppression she's protesting, it's a bearable situation for her. She has parts of life she enjoys. She has reasons to keep living. Whereas Prototype is a "frontline" kind of activist who's willing to lock horns with riot police in the street armed with only a brick and a smashed bottle, because he's part of the group whose lives have become so unbearable under the oppression that they have nothing left to lose.

Neither is evil. Neither is undeserving of empathy or understanding. Neither is morally beyond reproach. Both their viewpoints have been shaped by experience - Poppy's by her "privilege" (in comparison to the other experiments), Prototype's by his abuse. They're not even truly on opposing sides. The difference between them is simply a matter of degrees on spectrums. Patience/desperation. Optimism/cynicism. Idealism/realism. Hopefulness/hopelessness.

And that's what's most tragic tbh. Poppy believes Prototype is just as evil as Playtime, not realising just how easily she could have been him, or become him, had she been treated the same way he was.

(As to how we got the letter...honestly, I'm not sure. The childish writing suggests Poppy wrote it, but she couldn't possibly have walked it to a post box. Maybe Prototype's mind control reaches far enough to have a postperson collect it from outside the factory's front door? For that to be the case, Prototype and Poppy would need to be working together, but I do have a few disjointed thoughts about how that could turn out to be the case.)

[fanartandfanfiction]

The Saga of Meatball the snake, chapter 3

Ominis was half asleep when he heard his phone vibrate. He clumsily felt for it on the nightstand. Ominis had a special enchantment on his phone that allowed him to read text messages, and he was able to read books in a similar manner. He could also hold his wand to the phone to reply. 

 Melody 11:52 PM: Hey Ominis, it’s Melody. I know it’s late but you wanted me to let you know when I got back soooo

Ominis 11:53 PM: You’re just now getting back? 

Melody 11:53 PM: Yeeeeeah. There were a few more poachers than I was expecting 

Ominis 11:53 PM: Are you alright? 

Melody 11:54 PM: I am now. Got banged up quite a bit. Sharp helped me and gave me a lecture. 

Ominis 11:54 PM: I’m glad you were able to get help. Thanks for letting me know that you returned safely. 

Melody 11:54 PM: Right, it’s late, I’m probably keeping you up 😬 Sorry!

Ominis 11:55 PM: It’s alright, I was awake anyway. Sebastian’s snoring is comparable to a chainsaw. 

Melody 11:55 PM: Eh, hit him with a pillow, he probably deserves it 😊

Ominis 11:55 PM: I’m highly considering it. 

Melody 11:55 PM: So what did you do this evening? 

Ominis 11:56 PM: I’m afraid nothing quite as exciting as what you did. Just studied. I have a history of magic test coming up and that’s my worst subject. Mostly because I fall asleep. 

Melody 11:56 PM: Yes, I know, I sit right behind you 😝

Ominis 11:56 PM: Wait, are you serious? 

Melody 11:56 PM: Yeah, once Garreth and I spent the whole class seeing who could get more paper clips into the hood of your robe 🤣

Ominis 11:57 PM: That was you?!?

Melody 11:57 PM: Yeah. I won btw 😁

Ominis 11:57 PM: I didn’t find them until I took my robe off in the evening and they all fell out. 

Melody 11:58 PM: Don’t take it personally, we do it to Prewett in muggle studies. But that’s just because we like to piss him off

Ominis 11:58 PM: So you’re friends with Garreth? 

Melody 11:58 PM: Yeah, he’s my best friend, aside from Poppy. So I suppose he’d be my best Gryffindor friend? 

Ominis 11:59 PM: So is Sebastian your best Slytherin friend, then?

Melody 11:59 PM: For the moment, but he doesn’t have a cool snake, soooo 😝

Ominis 11:59 PM: You’ll be happy to know Meatball has talked about you constantly. He’s asked a dozen times if you’re coming to see him. 

Melody 12:00 AM: Guess I’ll have to come by more often 😉

Ominis 12:00 AM: I’ve told him repeatedly that your name is Melody, but he still refers to you as “the pretty human”

Melody 12:00 AM: Aaaaaw, sounds like Meatball is a little flirt!

Ominis 12:01 AM: I’m glad you brought him to me. It’s nice having a companion, though he wants to come to class with me. I told him no. 

Melody 12:01 AM: I would TOTALLY take him to class with me. That’s like, instant cool points. 

Ominis 12:01 AM: He’d be a distraction, constantly chattering away. Now I’m going to have another distraction, knowing you’re sitting behind me 

Ominis 12:01 AM: Because of the paperclips, I mean. 

Melody 12:02 AM: It’s not always paperclips. Sometimes it’s just little balls of paper

Ominis 12:02 AM: I’m going to start shaking my hood before I leave. 

Melody 12:02 AM: You’re adorable when you fall asleep, btw. I got up to sharpen my pencil and you had a little smile on your face. It was like, the only time I’d seen you smile. Mostly because whenever I was around you, you just glared at me 😝

Ominis 12:03 AM: I apologize again for acting coldly towards you. 

Melody 12:03 AM: It’s fine, seriously. I’ve gotta get some sleep, otherwise I’m gonna drop my phone on my face. Goodnight!

Ominis 12:03 AM: Goodnight Melody.

Ominis put his phone down with a smile. It was nice chatting with someone besides Sebastian. Sebastian’s snoring went up a decibel and Ominis hurled a pillow at him with surprising accuracy.

He heard the solid thump sound and “HEY!” As Sebastian got hit. 

“For god’s sake, would you turn the other way?! You’re going to suck the wallpaper off with your snoring!” 

“Sorry, crab-ass.” Sebastian rolled over and almost immediately began snoring again. Ominis sighed and buried his head under the covers, attempting to muffle the sound. It worked, and he finally drifted off to sleep. 

Ominis was already in his seat in history of magic when he heard Melody enter with Garreth. 

“Prewett’s asked me for the hundredth time for your phone number. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t give it to him.”

“Ugh. He can’t take a hint.” Melody grumbled as she sat down. 

“He’s not a BAD guy, just give him a chance.” 

“Nope.” 

“Why? Got your sights set on someone else?” 

Ominis’ ears perked up. “Maybe.” Melody answered coyly.

“Is it me?” Garreth asked. 

Melody sighed and sarcastically responded “yes, Garreth, it’s you. I’d like to throw you down on this desk right now and have my way with you.”

“I mean, it’s not the WORST idea, just maybe after class is over? OW!” Ominis heard a solid thump as Melody punched Garreth in the arm. 

“Morning, sleepyhead!” Melody tossed a paperclip at the back of his head. 

“Good morning.” He smiled. 

“I thought we usually waited until he was asleep to do that?” 

“Oh, I told him. It’s more fun if it’s a challenge.” 

“So Ominis, Melody said you have a snake?” Garreth asked. Ominis turned around to face them. 

“Yes, we rescued him. Did she tell you the delightful name she picked out?”

“No, what is it?”

“Meatball!” Melody said proudly.

“I love it.” 

“Hey Ominis, are you free tonight?” 

“I am, why?”

“I thought maybe we could hang out, do something fun.” Melody said.

“I think you’re just using me to get to Meatball.” Ominis smirked. 

“Damn, you saw right through me.” 

“I don’t have any plans, I’ll probably just be in my room studying.”

“Ok! I’ll come by later.”

“Hang on, are you saying all he had to do to get you in his bedroom was let you play with his snake? Wait, that sounded wrong.”

Professor Binns floated to the front of the classroom and asked them to pull out their textbooks. He began reading aloud in his dull, monotone voice, and Ominis was asleep in no time. He woke up when he felt a paperclip bounce off the back of his head. Binns was still droning on about a wizard rebellion, so Ominis pulled out his phone. 

Ominis 8:35 AM: I felt that.

Melody 8:35 AM: I aimed too high. The score is 10-8, I have the lead.

Ominis 8:35 AM: Are you telling me you’ve already thrown 18 paperclips into my hood?

Melody 8:36 AM: 19 now, I just scored another point 😀

“Alright class, let’s go view the portraits and statues in the hall. I want you to choose one and write a report on it.”

Ominis raised his hand. “Yes, Mr. Gaunt?”

“I’m unable to see the portraits, sir.”

“Very well, choose a partner to work with. Come along now.”

They all got up and Melody put a hand on his shoulder. “You were trying to get out of doing the report, weren’t you?”

Ominis smiled. “Perhaps. Now I need to find a partner who doesn’t mind being stuck with the blind boy.”

“Oh hush, I’ll be your partner. Come on, let’s go pick a weird one.” She looped her arm through his and they followed the trickle of students into the hallway. 

“I say we go for a statue, I’d rather not have to listen to one of the portraits tell me how great they were.” Melody said as they strolled along. 

“Agreed. Some of them are very pretentious.”

Melody described the various statues in the hall and asked Ominis his opinion. They ended up selecting a skull belonging to Grimbald Weft, a notable tailor. 

“I don’t think I’d be cool with my skull being displayed after I’m dead.” Melody said, examining it in the glass case. “What did they do with the rest of him?”

“Perhaps the skull was all they were able to recover.” Ominis replied.

“If they’re gonna display my bones, they’d better use the whole skeleton and put me in a fun pose or something.” 

“I think I’d just prefer to be buried.”

“Then I suppose you shouldn’t do anything to become famous! Because apparently, your bones go on display.”

They chatted for the rest of the class and Melody told him she’d come by later so they could work on their report. He heard Garreth speaking to her and she laughed, though he couldn’t hear what was said. He felt a hint of jealousy, which was ridiculous, he barely knew her. But still…

“Melody is coming by this evening.” Ominis said to Sebastian and Meatball.

“You two are really hitting it off!” Sebastian said with a grin.

“We’re partners on a report.”

“Sure, sure. Though the rumor through the grapevine is that she won’t be on the market much longer.”

“First of all, she’s a person, not a slab of meat on the market. And second, I don’t care.”

“I heard Prewett’s really trying to win her over.”

“She said this morning it was never going to happen.”

“I suppose we’ll see.” There was a knock on their door. “Come in!”

“Hey guys.” Melody said as she entered. “There’s my little Meatball!”

“There’s my favorite human!” 

“Excuse me?”

“What?” Melody asked. 

“He just referred to you as his favorite human.”

“Favorite GIRL human.” 

“Right, he’s trying to backpedal now.”

“And Meatball’s my favorite little snake!” She scooped him up out the terrarium and snuggled him, loudly kissing the top of his head. Meatball’s tongue flicked happily.

“Melody, while you’re giving it away over there, how about some love for your favorite Slytherin?” Sebastian asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“Terribly sorry, didn’t mean to make you feel left out. Hewwo my wittle Sebastian!” She spoke in a baby voice and pinched his cheek. 

“Are we still going to Hogsmeade this weekend or has Prewett swept you off your feet yet?”

“How did you hear about that?” Melody asked as she sat beside Ominis and crossed her legs, their knees touching.

“The good ol’ Hogwarts rumor mill. So are you going out with him?”

“I don’t know. He’s awfully persistent. I suppose he really likes me.”

“You can do much better than Prewett.” Sebastian said.

“Oh yeah?” She asked playfully. 

“Um, hello! I’m sitting right in front of you. Your knight in shining armor awaits!”

“Please, you’re my dumbass in tin foil.”

Ominis laughed out loud and Sebastian glared. “Woooow. Hurtful. I see whose side you’re on, Ominis!” 

“You are correct.” He replied with a smile.

“Well, I’m going to go take my wounded heart elsewhere while you two work on your report. I heard Lenora Everleigh is single now. Did you put in a good word for me?”

“I put in A word.” Melody replied. “Stop poaching my friends, can’t you go find a Slytherin girl?”

“I could, but I have a weakness for Hufflepuff women.” Sebastian winked and Melody rolled her eyes. “Alright, later guys.” 

After Sebastian left, Melody nudged Ominis’ shoulder. “I warned her in advance so she could hide.”

Ominis chuckled. “He’s not a bad guy.”

“No, he’s not, but I know he likes to see how many notches he can get on his headboard and I’d prefer my friends not to be among them.” 

“That’s understandable. Ready to start on our report?”

“I suppose. How long does it have to be?”

“At least three pages.”

“Oh COME ON!” She groaned. 

They worked for an hour before Melody dramatically collapsed beside him. “I’m dead, Ominis. I’ve died of boredom.”

“Terrible, you were so young.” He smirked. 

“Come on, let’s take a break and do literally anything else.” 

“What do you want to do?”

“What do you like to do for fun?” 

“I’m afraid I’m quite boring. I enjoy reading, going for a stroll, listening to music…”

“That’s not boring!” Melody said. 

“There’s also a game I used to play with Sebastian and Anne. It’s kind of silly, but fun.”

“Let’s do it! What is it?” 

“We’ll have to go somewhere quiet and spacious. I know a place.” 

“Let’s go!” Melody grinned. 

“Go on, Meatball, back to your home.”

“Aaaaaaaw.” 

“Sorry, it’s no place for a snake, you could get lost.”

“Where exactly are we going?” Melody asked.

“You’ll see.” Ominis said with a sly grin.

“Welcome to the undercroft! It’s a secret place, only Anne, Sebastian, and myself know about it. And now you.” 

“Woah! No one else knows this is here?”

“No, it was a secret passed on to me from my family. I spend a lot of time here, it’s nice and quiet.”

“And kind of creepy. You guys never thought to put any lights or furniture in here?”

“I guess not, we used to just sit on blankets or something.” 

“So what’s this game?”

“It doesn’t have a specific name. But you’ll get an understanding of how I live. You’ll put this blindfold over your eyes and attempt to locate me using your other senses.” 

“Sounds easy enough!” 

“We’ll see about that.” He pulled a blindfold out from his pocket. “May I?”

“Sure.” Melody walked over to him and turned around, and he slid the blindfold over her eyes and tied it on.

“This is wonderful if you suffer from migraines. Blocks out all the light.” 

“I get dreadful migraines. Wow, I really can’t see anything!” 

“And the game begins.” Ominis said, further away than she expected. 

“How are you so quiet?!”

“I can be very stealthy.” He said, suddenly behind her. She turned to grab him and he was gone. “Come on, are you even trying?”

“Ok, this is more difficult than I anticipated!” 

“Use your other senses.” Ominis said, tapping her shoulder. 

“Ugh!” Melody closed her eyes under the blindfold. If she stopped straining to see, she could focus on her other senses. She faintly smelled his cologne and stepped in that direction. She heard a quiet rustle of fabric and turned around. She froze and listened for the slightest sound. When she got a much stronger whiff of his cologne, she turned around and lunged at him.

He was closer than she’d anticipated and she slammed into him, knocking him backwards. She thought they were going to fall, but she felt Ominis’ strong grasp on her and they stayed upright.

“You’re not very graceful, are you?” He asked with a smirk. 

“Smart ass!” She laughed. Her hands were resting on his chest and his hands still rested on her waist. She tipped her head upwards and felt for his face. “I never realized how much taller than me you are!”

“Is that why you’re squeezing my nose?” He asked in a slightly muffled voice.

“Yep. How tall are you?”

“6 feet.” 

“Ugh.”

He patted the top of her head. “Look at you, so short. What are you, 5’3?”

“5’4, thank you very much!” She brought her hands down from his face and felt his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” He asked with a small smile.

“Trying to see like you do. Of course I know what you look like, but I’m trying to see if I can figure it out.” 

He stood still as she patted his shoulders and arms. Her hands went back up to his face. “Yep, I can tell. Same cocky smile. I don’t have to see you to know you’re smirking at me, you’re an excellent smirker, you know that?” 

“Is that a word, smirker?” His grin widened. 

“Stop it! Now you’re smiling even more!”

“Are you done molesting my face?” 

“Nope.” She squeezed his cheeks with her hands. She moved them up the side of his head and he closed his eyes as her fingers flitted across them. “You have obnoxiously long eyelashes, it’s terribly unfair. They’re better than mine. And these eyebrows are so often turned down into a glare or frown.” She gave his cheeks one last playful squeeze for good measure. “Ok, now I’m done.”

Ominis cleared his throat nervously. “Would it be alright if I felt what you looked like? You can say no if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Nope, feel away! You know, I don’t usually say that to a boy.” She took his hands and placed them on the sides of her face. “I’m going to take the blindfold off for now so you feel around better.” 

She was surprised at how bright the room seemed after having the blindfold on. She was also surprised at how close she was to Ominis. She watched his face as he gently moved his hands across hers. He had a small smile on his face as he did so. 

“Let’s see here…what a tiny nose you have! High cheekbones…your lashes seem long to me, but I suppose I wouldn’t know.” He ran his thumb across her lips. “I expected your mouth to be much larger, the way I’ve heard you shout and swear. You’re quite loud.”

“Rude!” She pouted. 

“Now you’re pouting. I didn’t mean offense, just that you’re one of those people that doesn’t hide in the shadows. You’re bold and fiery.”

“Are you describing me or a Taco Bell sauce packet?”

Ominis laughed, a delightful, full on laugh, not his usual polite chuckle. 

He reached around and felt her hair. He started at the top and ran the strands through his fingers. “Your hair is quite long. It’s very soft, and has a hint of vanilla?” 

“I suppose that’s my shampoo. I don’t know, I’ve never sniffed my own hair. Lean down.” She pulled his head down and pressed her nose against his hair and gave an exaggerated sniff. “Mhm, mhm, lovely, yes.”

“Oh? What’s it smell like?”

“I don’t quite know how to describe it. Let me sniff again.” He laughed as she jerked him downward. “I’m not good with smells. I know it smells manly and expensive.” She was sniffing his hair again when the door to the undercroft opened. Melody hadn’t noticed and Ominis was attempting to straighten up but she wouldn’t let him. “I’m not done yet, let me smell you!”

“Hello Melody. Watcha doing?” Sebastian asked with a grin.

“Oh, hello! Trying to decide what Ominis’ hair smells like.”

“Ok…why?”

“Why not?”

“Would you let go of my hair now?” Ominis asked, still partially bent over with Melody’s hand grasping his hair.

“Fine, but it’ll come to me at some point.” She let him go and then snickered. “I didn’t know your hair could stand up like that!” 

“Yes, well, someone was ruffling it up.” He pulled a comb out of his pocket and attempted to smooth his hair back down. 

“Sooooo Melody knows about the undercroft now?”

“Yes. We were taking a break from working and I told her about the game we used to play. She wanted to try it, so I brought her here.”

“It is NOT as easy as it seems. Would you just let me fix it?!” Melody snatched the comb from his hand. “Lean down, you jolly green giant.” 

Sebastian watched with an amused expression. “How’d it go? Did you catch him?”

“Yes, but it was difficult!” 

“She pounced on me.” Ominis smirked as Melody combed his hair. 

“How did it go with you? Did you pester my friend?” Melody asked, forgoing the comb and attempting to style Ominis’ hair in a mohawk. 

“I thought you were fixing it?!”

“I am, I’m making you look cool.”

Sebastian smiled at his two friends. “I struck out.”

“I’m shocked.” Melody said with a smirk. 

“I suppose I’ll just set my sights on another Hufflepuff bachelorette.” Sebastian wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“In your dreams.”

“You already are, love!” He wrapped his arms around her and made dramatic smooching noises. 

“Put me down, you oaf!”

Though Ominis couldn’t see them, he felt a flutter of jealousy. He wasn’t sure why, she was friends with Sebastian first and closer to him. 

“You know what, I want to play too for old time’s sake!” Sebastian grinned. “I’ll take the blindfold.”

Ominis handed it to him and he tied it on. “Alright, spread out!”

It was silent in the undercroft, but Melody knew her shoes would give her away so she slid them off and walked around in just her stockinged feet. She froze as Sebastian turned towards her. “You’re quite terrible at this, Mel!”

Suddenly, she was yanked backwards just as Sebastian lunged for the spot she’d been standing in. Ominis held a finger up to his lips and smiled. 

“Damn! You’re around here somewhere!”

Ominis took a small object out of his pocket and tossed it across the room, making a quiet thud.

“GOTCHA!” They watched as Sebastian lunged at nothing. And Melody was trying to suppress her laughter. “Are you guys still here?”

She watched Ominis walk silently up to him and whisper “Yes” behind his ear, making Sebastian jump. 

“I bloody hate it when you do that!”

A small giggle escaped and Sebastian whipped around towards her. “Now I’ve got you!”

She started walking backwards and crashed into a rusty cauldron, making a loud metallic noise. Sebastian lunged forward and she ran, causing him to stumble.

She jumped when Ominis grabbed her wrist. He tugged her along with him and into a corner of the room. He pushed her into the corner and she was surprised, thinking he was about to kiss her. Instead he just held a finger to his lips before quietly stalking away.

Melody watched him creep up right behind Sebastian and yank the blindfold off. “You’re terrible at this game.” 

“That’s because you have the stealth of a bloody panther!”

“Melody, would you like to go again?” He extended the blindfold with a smirk. 

“I’ll give it my best shot.” She turned around for Ominis to tie the blindfold on her. “Alright, let’s go!”

She was pretty much instantly able to find Sebastian, his breathing seemed quite loud in the quiet room. She tackled him with a triumphant cheer and he swore. “Alright, just me and you, Ominis!”

She could hear nothing but Sebastian’s loud breathing and her own heartbeat. Then she heard it, the sound of a small object thudding on the ground. Instead of turning towards the noise she wheeled around backwards and lunged. Ominis hadn’t been expecting her this time and she took them both to the ground. 

 He landed on his back with a solid thump and she landed on top of him. They were both laughing and she took her blindfold off. His eyes were so pretty, especially when they were full of happiness and laughter like this. She found herself wanting to touch his face and trace the pattern of his moles like a constellation. They both stopped laughing and they were looking at each other. Despite Ominis’ blindness, he met her gaze with accuracy.

“Would you two like me to leave, or would you like to get off of Ominis?” Sebastian asked with a smirk. 

“Sorry Ominis! Did you get hurt?” Melody got off of him and asked.

“Just bruised my ego.” He smiled. 

“You guys wanna do something? Or are you going back to work on your paper?”

“Ugh. I really don’t want to. It’s not due for a bit, I say we hang out. But I am BEGGING YOU to let me conjure some furniture down here. I know it’s your space and if you say no that’s fine, but do you really want to keep sitting on the floor?” Melody asked Ominis.

“I have no objections. Sebastian?”

“Go for it.” 

“Excellent!” Melody grinned and set to work. 

Sebastian walked over to Ominis and spoke quietly. “I’m shocked you brought her down here. You’d have my head if I did that.” 

“I think we can trust her to keep the secret.”

“I’m actually surprised you’ve warmed up to her as quickly as you have. You’re usually quite the grump. Or perhaps it’s her feminine wiles that have changed your tune?”

“Or it’s the fact that she adores Meatball and she’s a lovely person that I get along with.” 

“Where is the little scaly cretin?”

“I left him upstairs. I didn’t want him to get lost or hurt down here.”

“So it wasn’t to be alone with Mel?”

“Would you let it go?!” 

“Fine, fine, I’m just saying, she seems to fancy you, and-“

“Fancy me? What do you mean?” Ominis asked quickly.

“I mean she likes you, likes being around you. She’s a lovely girl and if you wanted a girlfriend-“

“Drop it.”

“Fine. Woah!” Sebastian looked up and grinned.

“What?”

“It’s like a new place! There’s comfortable sofas, a nice rug, a FIREPLACE, how did she conjure a fireplace?!”

“Well?” Melody asked with a grin.

“Mel, this looks fantastic!” Sebastian grinned back.

“I’ll have to take Sebastian’s word for it.” Ominis said with a small smile. 

“You may not be able to see it, but I know you’ll feel the difference!” She grabbed his hand and brought him over to the sofa. “Go on, sit down.” 

Ominis sat and smiled at her. “Much better than the floor!”

“See? You don’t have to live like cavemen down here.” She plopped down beside him on the couch with her legs crossed and her knee was touching his. 

“Mel, will you do that thing with my hair?” Sebastian asked. 

“Again?”

“Come on, I’m heartbroken!”

“Over what? You didn’t even care about her until you found out she was single!”

“Please?” He pouted.

“Fine, get over here you big baby.” 

“What do you do with his hair?” Ominis asked. 

“Mostly just twirl it around my fingers. Sometimes I make tiny braids. I did it for him once when he was upset and now he pesters me all the time.”

Sebastian sat on the ground in front of her with a satisfied smile. “I should put you to work painting my toenails while I do this. You know what? This is your last free one. After this it’ll cost one pedicure.”

“Do you really want me to paint your nails?” He smirked. “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have the lightest touch.”

“I’m aware.” She began working her fingers through his hair. “My mother used to do this to me when I was upset. It always felt so good.”

“It does.” Sebastian leaned back against her. “So did you give this weekend any more thought?”

“I’d like to go but I don’t want to impose.” 

“The weekend?” Ominis asked. 

“I think Mel and Anne would get along great, and Anne would love to meet a new girl her age. I invited Melody to come to Feldcroft with me this weekend. I would’ve invited you but we don’t have that much room.”

Ominis didn’t like the idea of them going away for the weekend together. “I’d like to visit Anne too. What if I rented us a cottage? Would you be comfortable with that, Melody?”

“Sure! Sounds fun.” 

“Are you sure Ominis? It’ll be expensive.”

“It’s my parents’ money, I’m happy to spend it.” 

“Then we’re going on a trip this weekend! You can even bring Meatloaf.”

“Meatball!” Melody yanked his hair.

“Ow!”

“He’s my Meatball, my precious boy, and little angel.” 

“Mel, you’ve known Meatball for like, two days.”

“So? He’s a special boy and I love him.”

“He’s enamored with you.” Ominis said with a small smile. 

“I think I’m going to get him a little hat.” 

“Why?” Ominis asked.

“Because I think he’d look dapper.”

“Can a snake look dapper?” Sebastian asked. 

“Meatball can. He’s special.”

(P.S. I bet none of you picked up on the fact that my main character is named Melody Carlisle, or MC :D )

[whumpsday]

btw sorry i havent been posting writing lately, i am currently in the "art low" section of the art cycle

(source)

figured i'd at least give an update on the WIPs i am currently working on:

kane & jim:

K&J #55 (present arc, following the events of #52 trust)

AU drabble where kane spontaneously turns human and jim coaxes him into the sun for the first time

crossover thingy for kj x mmss that prob wont be posted here anytime soon bc i'll only post it once the rp it's an au of gets posted and that'll be a while

bg3 astarion fanfic (sorry i promise im not becoming A Fanfic Guy it's a phase):

astarion and the cleric #2 (disgusting fluff, cuddle time)

astarion and the cleric VERY WHUMPY AU where they're both vampire spawn under cazador, multiple whumpees lots of torture and starvation. balancing out the main story's disgusting fluff

astarion/dark urge fic taking place pre-canon/pre-amnesia, where durge "rescues" astarion from cazador but decides to keep him for themself. whumper turned caretaker

things that are On The List to get started:

more present arc k&j chapters. gonna go heavy on present arc for a while, at least til we see bellamy

other au drabble in my inbox

more k&j aus bc writing aus is like candy to me

lab whump thing for the whumpy printing press anthology

petrichor #2

[gunsandspaceships]

Review of some anti-Tony comments I saw on Ao3. Part 3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52704154/chapters/133310575

I have to return to Part 2 this time, because more comments have been written on this topic since then.

"Tony only helped because Pepper was involved and pushed him into doing so. You admitted it to yourself, and I didn't say he never would have helped, I just said he had refused to help before and only did later because of Pepper. Which you just admitted to, thank you."

I wrote a whole essay about this, with clear arguments and sources, and still it got twisted completely somehow. Well, I’ll say it different way then:

“Tony only helped because Pepper was involved” – as I said he came to her to ask for permission to put her life at risk, their daughter’s life, and his life, since he is her husband. Btw, that’s what Cap, Nat and Scott asked him to do. He did the right thing, being responsible and respectful here, unlike some other characters in the MCU, who are also husbands and fathers. Scott never asked his family members if it’s ok for him to go and do risky stuff, despite having a daughter, who could be left without a father. There is a lot to say about him actually, but not today.

Same about Clint – did he ask his family if it’s ok if he goes to help Cap in violating laws, risking his life and freedom? According to his words in Civil War (1:22:55 – scene where Clint extracts Wanda from Avengers Compound) when Wanda asked him “What are you doing here?” he answered “Disappointing my kids. I’m supposed to go waterskiing”. That means he doesn’t care about his family much. And you are telling me that Tony didn’t care about Peter. But this is another topic and will be addressed later.

Back to Pepper - if she hadn't been there, it wouldn't have changed anything, except that Tony might feel guilty because he didn't have a chance to talk to her.

“pushed him into doing so” – again, as I stated in Part 2, she didn’t push him into anything. He asked her what she thinks, she said to him what he wanted to hear: “Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my entire life” and he smiles, and rubs her hand, showing his gratitude for the permission not to stop (Avengers Endgame 0:42:50). She means here “you can go, because I know you can’t live in peace without trying to save everyone”.

“I just said he had refused to help before” – you probably should pay more attention to what's happening on the screen.

He refused because, as I said in the Part 2, he ran time travel tests before and they all failed. Because of that he lost hope in that option, and just told the team what he knows about the possibility. They came to him not knowing anything about time travel, brought raw enthusiasm, supported only by an accident caused by a rat running across the control panel. They told him at 0:35:20, that their plan to save the dusted is based on Back to the Future, which is completely incorrect interpretation of time travel. Thus they are not serious enough and are ready to take unnecessary risks, playing with mumbo-jumbo. Tony is more mature now, he learned from his past mistakes – not to take unnecessary risks. He is the adult in that scene, they are kids. They ask him to risk lives blindly. Lives of his family, his own and their lives too (0:34:30 & 0:35:10). Of course he refused. Any responsible adult would refuse. Would be there a real chance to execute the "time heist" – he would do that. And that’s what he eventually does.

[kamryn1963]

Chicago PD Fanfic- Al, Hank & Trudy

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Chicago PD (TV) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Alvin Olinsky & Trudy Platt & Hank Voight Characters: Trudy Platt, Alvin Olinsky, Hank Voight Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Reunions, Character Death, Afterlife, I Don't Even Know, Everybody Dies, Well just Al and Hank and Trudy, which is everyone in this fic, My interpretation of an afterlife btw, The Author Regrets Nothing

Summary:

After 31 years, 4 months and 3 days, Al, Hank and Trudy are back together again.

Alvin had died first, only 55 when he was murdered. Six years later Hank died at the hands of Frank Matson. Trudy had been first on scene that day to find Hailey holding Hank’s dead body. She had never been able to get the sight out of her head. 

Trudy was 86 when she died. The fact that she even made it that long, surprised her. But after the team had already lost Hank and knowing her death would kill Randall, Trudy knew she had to stay. 

31 years, 4 months and 3 days after Alvin Olinsky died, and 25 years, 5 months and six days after Hank Voight died, Trudy Platt died. She went in her sleep. A peaceful death. Unlike what Alvin’s and Hank’s had been. They’d both been stabbed to death and Trudy always wondered if maybe she could’ve done more to save them. 

It didn’t matter now though. Because they were together again. She had mourned Alvin for longer than she had known him. Had spent 25 years mourning Hank. 

When Trudy woke up it was to find herself in a park and it took Trudy a minute to recognize it but she smiled when she did. It was a familiar sight, a park that had been near Hank’s house that the trio had spent many days and nights at together. Just talking or enjoying the peace and quiet. 

Trudy started walking. She knew she was dead, that much was clear and when Trudy saw two figures on a bench nearby she smiled again. A true smile this time for the first time in years. 

One of the figures, a man, turned when he heard the footsteps and let out a wide grin as he stood up. 

“Look who finally decided to join us”. Hank stated as he started walking towards her. She could see the other figure was Alvin who also stood up at Hank’s words. 

“You sure took your sweet time”. Al added as he leaned against the bench he and Hank had been sitting on. 

Trudy didn’t say anything at first. Just watched them. Both looked like they hadn’t aged a day since their deaths. Trudy thinks they looked younger almost. Less stressed and like they didn’t have the weight of the world on their shoulders anymore. 

“Somebody had to stay around”. Trudy finally managed to say as Hank came up to her and hugged her. 

“And we appreciate you for that”. Hank chuckled before pulling away as Al came up to her next. He hugged her the same as Hank had, and Trudy hugged back. 

Even after so long it felt like no time had passed. 

“So this is it?” Trudy asked as she looked around. It just looked like the same park it always did. But Trudy knew it wasn’t real. Or maybe it was. Trudy didn’t really know or care anymore. She had lived far too long to care. 

“Don’t sound so disappointed. You're with us now”. Al responded with a grin as he looked around himself. 

“There’s no place I’d rather be”. Trudy responded and it was true. Sure she felt bad for leaving her husband, but he was also old and his health wasn’t great. Trudy wouldn’t be surprised if she saw him here soon. 

“Good. Because I’ve been dealing with Al for way too long on my own”. Hank jokes, smirking as Al swatted at his shoulder. 

Trudy just watched them with a fond smile even as she rolled her eyes at their familiar antics. Somehow she had missed this. It had been a long time, even before Alvin then Hank died, that she saw them this happy. This carefree. 

31 years, 4 months and 3 days. But they were together again. Even after all that, the grief, blame, guilt. Things had worked out.

[team-heavenly]

Chapter 22 - Part 2

Lest you've lost your way, click here to progress (regress?) back to Part 1.

...Okay, now I'm officially worried.

Meanwhile, back in the Real World™️ (shout-out to my buddy @kantochampred!):

Alright, I'm about to go off on a small side tangent here but I promise it's worth it-

(Sorry to post your sins on main, Red 😔)

(Why Do I Climb the Mountain? is a reference btw)

LMAO OKAY thank you for bearing with me, now back to the main show:

Good job, neither of those two things is correct!

...Okay, Cherrim has replaced Drifblim, yes, but. Imagine this tiny seed holding Teresa and Andrea by their little stubby hands while riding the wind down the mountain.

I had to look up a walkthrough to identify that little Riolu to the right. Normally, that's an Exeggcute! (And the backup for Team Frontier, apparently).

The Third Station Pass was dubbed Great Turn, while the clearing was called:

Admittedly, I had no idea what an "oubliette" was, so I did a quick search and...

Wait a minute, are you freaking kidding me-

WE ARE STARRING IN A WAR DRAMA AAAAAAAAAAAA-

(Apologies for the small text at the start, let me know if I need to add an image description!)

...No >:l

The only reason I left this in is because this happened:

Oh my God yes PLEASE-

So fun fact, I actually did a dry run of the first few dungeons before doing it for real and taking photos. And the first time around, this gift was an Escape Orb? Which isn't bad, but I would 100% take the Reviver Seed over that any day.

The 4th Station Pass was named Sad Peninsula. (Florida? Dat you?) And the 4th Station Clearing? See below.

But then!

(Handsome Desolation? Is this where the handsome men in uniform... perish?! 😓)

I feel like a large, prehistoric rock dino should be enough to scare most things, but I guess taking the even larger rock snake as backup can't hurt.

So we go through the 5th Station Pass, Sandy Way... (Only one letter different from Sandy Bay.)

I. Don't remember why I took a picture of this. The downfalls of not immediately composing posts after the playthrough...

But yeah, those giant two-room dungeons with guaranteed MH's and a huge mass of enemies in the other room aside is definitely a theme and I hate it.

Andrea consumed enough Gummis to obtain this IQ skill, which is awesome since Max Elixirs are so hard to come by.

Look at this!! I'm pretty sure Blizzard only had 7 PP before! Yee haw!

I wonder which Pokémon are the ones bothering Sneasel Pichu?

OH NOOO!! I'm imagining this grisly scene where all these Combusken are just pecking Pichu to death.

Team Frontier happens to beat us to the punch:

I love that Onix is so big that she blocks Nidoran F.

Like all territorial encroachments in Mystery Dungeon, everyone just jumps right into the fray without listening to anyone 🙄

Honestly, all of Team Frontier was pretty based. Jolteon had an ability that allowed him to attack twice in a row (I think because the weather was different?) and he consistently used X-Scissor. Nidoran F had Sesimic Toss (55 damage) and Ice Beam. Deoxys had Attack Order, Seed Flare, Rock Wrecker(!), and Swift, the last hitting for 120 damage on a critical. Combined with Teresa's Chatter (when we finally got there, because you start off a ways from everyone), they didn't stay up for much longer.

Also Jolteon shielded me when Teresa got low on HP 🥺️

"SIT DOWN FOR TWO SECONDS AND LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, I SWEAR TO ARCEUS!"

"We owe you..." -> Yet another line from this game that never made any sense to me. (Unless it was sarcasm ig?)

💀You what

Hey, speaking of... I know Onix is huge and all, but have y'all seen Pichu since the fight started...?

(Beep boop, click here to advance to Part 3)

[chessalein]

WIP whenever because I wanna show I'm still alive

I think I'm not really active right now, but I'm still alive.

I just think that my energy for CP is not really present right now. Its been 4 years of 24/7 hype and I think right now I'm just overfilled with it?

My love for Jackie still exists and I will continue my fanfic because I just have too much fun with it. Right now I'm writing chapter 55.

Here is a little piece of Chapter 55 of "Bringing back the sun"

His big, strong arms that hugged her tightly while she sat on his lap were like a weighted blanked she needed right now and his big member inside of her was the distraction she wished for. Today none of them were in the mood for dirty talk and he knew that she probably wouldn’t want to hear sweet praises about how good she feelt. What she needed today was distraction and he would do his best to make it happen. If she was honest, it surprised her how bad she felt. She pushed multiple people through the death of their friend, son, brother, lover, not ever feeling like falling into a pit. She even did the unthinkable till then and slept with Vincent. But right now, the pain was different. She felt sluggish and unmotivated and just wished for an empty mind. “Val, cumming.” He groaned, making sure he would thrust even deeper while he filled her insides. His heavy breathing as his head rested between her breasts made her feel sorry for her lover. The whole day he tried to take her mind off things, to give her a good time. It did work okay, but never had she reached an orgasm today while he had several. “Damn, doll… You’re hard to please today.” His word seemed like a complain, but his eyes told her that he was sorry that he couldn’t give her the release she was looking for. She gave him a soft smile back before kissing his already dry lips. “The only thing that’s really hard today is your dick. How co- Don’t tell me you took something.” He shrugged with flushed cheeks. “Had to make sure to give you a good time for longer than a round. I know you need it…” The ripperdoc might not be the youngest anymore, but he was always proud that he can last three rounds on a good day. He never liked the thought that he had to take something to help his manhood rise or stay long enough, it was a big gesture of his love that he prepared like that.

And on the side (like... really... I have both open) I write on my "Dragon's Dogma 2" fanfic. I'm not sure yet how much it will follow the original story, but I have a few things I want to change up so it will be slightly different.

This is a warning that there are spoiler in the text below. Like I said, its a bit changed up from the original story but I gave you a warning so you can't give me a bad time. ♥

I would love to keep the fancy way of speaking like they do in the game, but sadly english isn't my first language and I would probably get everything wrong. So I will try to keep it in an elegant formal way that I think could come close, orienting on the speech pattern ingame.

The story has no title yet btw so... Here is the start of the Dragon's Dogma 2 fanfic without a name.

It was as if someone had lightened up a candle in a dark room in the middle of the night. As if she had suddenly come into existence out of thin air. Looking around she found out that a man with a larger build was speaking to her in rude manners. Telling her that she had too much of willpower in her eyes and that he didn’t like it. That there was life in her eyes, the opposite of the one her kind should have who are, taken by his words, are “lifeless like that of a corpse.” By the time he had opened the cell, she wasn’t able to recall what her emotions were this moment or how she should feel. There was no fear, there was no happiness, the only thing that filled her mind was confusion and curiosity of what was going on as she followed close behind the man. On their way, he kept talking, but her attention was captured by the tunnel they went through and wondered how it came that they hollowed out this way just to build a prison at the end of it. Was she a prisoner? What had she done? Neither her hands, nor her feet were restrained, perhaps she wasn’t one. Was she a slave? If yes, how long has she been? A sudden realization hit her while stumbling over the uneven, cold ground with bare feet: She didn’t know her name or any other thing about her past. Where should be memories was only a deep, empty void. Her emotion begun to set in the further they followed their path. A mix of fear and uneasiness, wondering what would happen to her should they come to the other side of it. The bright light of the sun blinded her as she made her first steps into the world she seemed to have forgotten about to live in. The warmth of it was like a spell that filled her body with energy and optimism as it was telling her that everything will be okay. Whatever it was that she had to do, she will take it and try to make the best out of it.

I can't wait to get to the point where she meets Jackie. I'm dying to write this scene.

[leonidskies]

2023 Writing Reflection

This is a chunky one, so forgive me! I write fic. Sometimes (most of the time) I write lots of fic. It's basically a personality trait at this point, so I may as well ~talk about the thing~

I've posted alllll my fics for the year now. Last year I tracked how much I wrote vs posted, but this year I stopped tracking how much I was writing when I realised I wasn't going to hit my goal, but as always I wrote a TON (and posted only a fraction).

My posted fic stats for the year are:

208k words posted

80 fics posted (88 chapters total (avg wc: 2.3k))

55+ different character perspectives

33 different romantic ships

49 different platonic ships

29 different fandoms

Longest fic: 13k words

Shortest fic: 214 words

I posted fewer words this year compared to last, but the same number of fics - the numbers of perspectives and platonic vs romantic ships were pretty close, and I wrote for a couple more fandoms than last year. The stuff I wrote was more spread out, too (more on that soon).

I didn't manage to finish anything super long this year, which is a shame and I hope I can change that next year. I like writing longfic, but w a full time job this year I haven't had the attention span. I have several projects I'm really deep into that are unfinished!

These are my cumulative vs 2023 ao3 stats - not gonna dwell on them a ton, but I'm coming up on the 1.7mil mark for fic published on ao3 which is exciting!! I also find it helpful (to me) to reflect on stats every so often bc engagement stats are "fake". By fake, I mean I wrote good stuff I'm proud of, but largely in fandoms that don't read the kind of fic I was writing. People who've known me maybe 3/4 years will know that I've worked REALLY HARD to detach worth from engagement, and I think I can say I've succeeded now!!

The following images are from my ao3 'top 10' for all the fics I wrote this year. First up is Relationship tag, which is pretty funny because I only wrote four relationships more than once....and two of them were a flavour of Shalvis. Shoutout to Handers for being up there two years running btw.

My T>G>M rating distribution is almost exactly the same as last year, which is a thing?? I continue to be predictable. My relationship type distribution is weighted more gen, less m/m this year, but the rest are basically the same as before.

I wrote less FE this year compared to last year by a significant margin, and a bit more Dragon Age, but Xenoblade remained a mainstay (I wrote more Xenoblade this year than last, actually). Also interesting is I wrote more evenly distributed amongst FE games!

Anders is once again blorbo of the year as my most frequently written character, but written a lot less than last year - I wrote a wider variety of characters this year in general, actually! Shoutout to not one but TWO of my Dragon Age OCs (four of the five instances of Male Lavellan and all of the instances of 'Surana', which is an incorrectly wrangled tag for Nonbinary Surana) being in my top 10 this year.

Below is my top 10 additional tags for the year - they're all pretty close together still, with no standouts I'm always writing. Interestingly, fluff is not my favourite thing to write but it still just kinda happens! More on trans characters later (I did a comprehensive analysis for myself ahaha).

My 2023 in trans characters: I wrote 20 fics with trans characters, 21 with nonbinary characters, and 34 fics with trans/nonbinary characters total, which is a nice 42% of all fics I wrote this year. I wrote 52 trans/nonbinary depictions total, which is transing one gender per week (!!). Of those 52, there were 40 different characters I depicted as trans. 44 depictions were headcanons, 8 were canonically trans characters! This came to 23 trans men, 23 nonbinary people, and 6 trans women.

There were only six characters I wrote as trans more than once:

A(lvis) - 5 times. This was a chara who got revealed as canon nonbinary this year!

Adrel (my nonbinary Dragon Age OC) - 4 times

Alear - 3 times

Kagetsu, Shulk, and Byleth - 2 times each

Overall I had a really good writing year :) not in fic, I wrote a whole (!!?!??!) fantasy short story collection. I'm going to redraft + maybe more next year!! I'm really excited about it. I do have some goals for next year though - to finish some of my dang wips that have been sitting around forever, for one, and to write more for myself. I wrote a LOT of request fills and exchange pieces this year. Next year I want to write more thoughtfully + for me.

Ty to all of you who were here for the writing vibes in 2023. Here's to even more next year!

[fentrashcat]

So until Friday the 22nd, I Want to Love the Thunder is a available as a free ebook on Amazon as a little birthday/week thing.

It's a short read, and some poems are CERTAINLY better than others, but if you have some time to kill, please check it out!

Since I'm doing this I wanted to talk a bit about like why I chose to publish something I'm not the best at, but it'll probably get rambly 🤣

I have been writing fiction since I was in third grade, and have always had an interest in story telling. When I was younger, a lot of times a majority of my friends existed in the pages of a book, or sometimes in my head. I was the kid skipping recess to read, or escaping to the library when I finished my work early.

Come seventh grade, I began writing "novels" (never finished), and short stories with a focus on fantasy and some sci-fi. This was also a really dark point in my depression, and my stories were my only escape. I also remember a teacher asking me what I wanted to be in the future I said "there's no want to, I'm GOING to be an author." When she asked what if I couldn't do that, I replied "then I will be a failure."

As well as writing these stories that I only shared with my friends, I discovered fan fiction. Other than just reading it obsessively, I began to write some as well, and got some attention. I adored interacting with the people who read my stories and made requests, and it made me want to share my own stories even more. Side Note- even if you think your writing is cringe and you dont want to work on it anymore, leave it up. I deleted this account bc "cringe" and I still really regret it, because I lost the encouragement and kind comments along with my cringe. Not to mention probably ~600 pages of work, and a shit ton of personal "milestone" notes that I added at the end of chapters.

I wrote CONSTANTLY in high-school, but I had a problem- I could never finish a story. I very often would write 30-50 pages, and lose interest. Even my most prolific work is unfinished, despite having well over 300 pages of writing and rewriting, and the most world building I have ever done.

As of now, I have about 55 WIPs, and countless that have been deleted or lost (NEVER USE YOUR SCHOOL ACCOUNTS FOR THINGS YOU WANT TO KEEP BTW). I Want to Love the Thunder is my "I can do this".

I have a complicated relationship with poetry, but I realized that this is something I could finish. It's a start. Hopefully, especially since my school fell through, I Want to Love the Thunder is just the first of many, although I'll probably stick with fantasy instead of poetry lol. If there is a next one, maybe I'll do short stories, and build my way to novels, or (in the case of my largest WIP) even series.

I know that being a full time author is rare, or really difficult, but I still love writing, and it lets me share a peice of myself with others, and maybe a way to leave SOME kind of legacy in the world, even if it's never read, it's out there. A tiny peice of my soul is forever available to others to see, even if it's just one person. This is my whisper in the void of existence.

I got mushy and rambly, which is kind of funny considering a lot of the poems in the book or just silly or stupid things 😅. Thank you so much of you've read this far, and thank you double if you check out my book.

TL;DR- I published a book in a style that I'm not great at, just to prove to myself I could, and so that maybe 100 years from now, someone who's never met me can see a sliver of myself.

This is more than likely the last post I will make about I Want to Love the Thunder, because even though i want it to be seen, its also kind of scary to be seen. If you want to check it out after the free promotion it will be 2.99, or free on Kindle unlimited, ebook only as of now.

[thebahwrites]

what's the main song that's inspiring killshot's next chapter?

besides, after bob's interlude, I got really curious about the external command center and the intelligence side of SOF. can you share something about it? (btw I hate Cain)

I love how apparently everyone sniffed that once I have posted all my other stuff I'm going head down into killshot again and I love y'all for this. <3

Chapter 8 inspo tracks: Echoes of You - Marianas Trench No Place Like Home - Todrick Hall Heathens - Twenty One Pilots Vigilante Shit - Taylor Swift

Yes!

There's a lot of little details that I probably won't delve much into (even if it features in there) so here's some bits and pieces of the worldbuilding because we all know I'll never miss the chance to blab about killshot stuff!

LOCCENT - Local Command Center Those change places with the hero teams missions, very much like every militaristic operation, these are the people backing the teams operations. Usually run by non-metas and sidekicks, they're set up for specific missions and then disassembled, staffed accordingly to the team on the field. Not every mission warrants one and not every team gets assigned one either, specially if they're smaller/less important teams.

ECCENT - External Command Center The non-moving operations bases, usually overseeing whatever hero teams exist within their area coverage. Bigger/more important teams have dedicated ones, smaller teams usually share with others.

SOFIA - (Special Operation Forces Intelligence Agency) They actually got a dedicated branch for intelligence affairs and yes, they do work with the FBI/CIA/NSA at times but usually they deal directly with meta-human threats and things only metas can do. The team Fanboy & Payback came from before the Daggers was one of theirs!

COMMAND The cut off age for direct field/combat heroes is usually somewhere around their 40s, depending on how well they're doing maybe early 50s but nowhere past 55 because of power and physical deterioration so most older heroes, if they don't retire, they go into becoming CC officers and team mentors!

Some become SOF teachers too but even the cutoff age for that is a bit flimsy because if becoming combat/field ops teachers, they'd have to physically handle trainees and power deterioration usually starts somewhere around the 40s for (non synthetic) meta-humans.

[eumenidaes]

for the "Get to know your fic writer!" questions: 3, 17, 55

3) Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

For a one shot, I come up with an idea and just kind of run with it. I don’t plan things out strictly, and a lot of times I will write bits of the one shot as I think of it (ex. If I think of how I want to end it, I jump right to writing that)

For a more ongoing fic, I typically do at least a paragraph description of what happens in each chapter, and I usually do this well in advanced of posting the first chapter. I like to have at least a basic idea of what happens in every chapter, and then I go and build that out into the chapter itself. I also try to plan out character arcs and the ending of the current story line of overall fic depending on the length. Especially for longer stories, I like to do a series/character bible. Like with one shots, I do write out of order sometimes (ex I might be trying to finish chapter 1, but I had an idea for a scene in chapter 5 so I go and write that down before I forget)

17) What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

I’m always writing like five things at a time, so when I’m stuck on one project, I switch more to writing for other stuff. This sometimes becomes a horrible cycle that leads to me jumping from fic to fic and abandoning some ideas. I keep all fics saved tho in case I do ever decide to do something with them tho

If writing overall is difficult tho, I usually switch to some other kind of creative thing. Designing characters with picrews, world building for certain ideas, etc. And then there’s old faithful of just start browsing twitter and tumblr instead of writing lol

55) Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Ironwood is easily my favorite ever to write for. In general he’s just a character that I feel super compelling, but he’s also one that I can write fairly intuitively. I get so many ideas for his character, and I would gladly write him any day bcs ough. I love him. Then my very close second fav to write for is Chae-Yeong, my beloved rwby OC

This is particularly unfortunate for me tho bcs I am the only person who likes either of them. I really wish that I liked writing other characters more (and specifically non-Steadfast rwby ships bcs I know ships are where 90% of the fic reading attention lies), but unfortunately no other canon character is actually compelling enough for me to go in deep about like I do Ironwood. So I just try to force myself to remember to write for myself first and foremost and get validation through that bcs I’m lucky to get past like. 20 hits and a 2 kudos on ao3 with my fic (the self validation strategy does not work btw)

[parasitoidism]

Kaiba bros

[magicmiss]

I SWEAR I was working on chapter 55 but then a real good french moviewas on tv and i watched it with my mother and now im like ‘fuck’ 😫 i swear i’m trying