#technically i guess. you know. while we're tagging things

[esteemedcrackpot]

Complete Notes from a Session of End of the Line; or, An Observation of Genre. 2023, pen on novelty sticky note.

[seaofreverie]

How it feels to tag the official account in my fanart post on insta and then they don't share it in their stories

[chrystal-ink]

The Hedgehog harem prologue part one: The call

Shadow(s) X GN Reader

series rating: M Minors DNI Chapter Warnings: None Note: Here it is the beginning of the hedgehog harem this and part two is mostly set up for the rest of the series just getting all the nitty gritty out of the way so we can have some real fun!(also just a note y/n is a clothing/ dressmaker it’s rarely mentioned and doesn’t affect much but it’s important to know) Tags: @hyenalover2630 Part Two

One of the things you liked most about your relationship with Shadow was the comfortable silence. shadow had never been one for too many words often preferring to have a single well thought out conversation over a dozen meaningless ones.

the two of you had been dating for a little over a year and a half and you had settled into a nice routine. he would go to work you would work from home and take care of the house, he would come home then the two of you would cook dinner together and talk about your days, then the two of you either relaxed in the living room, went on a date or (if the two of you were feeling extra spicy that night) spent the evening in bed wrapped in each others embrace.

it was a good system it gave Shadow a break from all the pressures of the outside world while maintaining his active and earth saving lifestyle. Shadow always made sure to keep his two worlds apart he never let his work bleed too much into his home life, only calling you if there was an emergency.

so when you got a call from Shadow as you were working in your home studio you didn't hesitate to answer.

"Shadow, Hey What's going on?"

"Something happened today at work."

you dreaded those words, anxiety crashed over you a million awful possibilities flashed through your head forcing you to stop working. all your energy focused on the call

"What do you mean? are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I just- Could you keep it down!" Shadow heaved a sigh. "It's hard to explain but to sum it up we're going to need some space for guests, I'm coming home early with them."

"Oh, okay do I know them?"

"technically, Do you remember when I told you about the Paradox prism?"

"Yes."

"it's sort of like that, except it's all me" he spoke as if he didn't believe it himself.

"What?"

"yah it's confusing but they need to stay somewhere while we figure out a way to get them home. Tails is working on it now."

"Okay, I guess I'll set up some cots then how many are there?"

Shadow was silent for a moment before hesitantly answering "five."

"Five, are you kidding me."

"I wouldn't joke about something like this"

you stifled a giggle "Yes I know that sweetie, I'm just in disbelief right now. How are you feeling about all of this?"

"I'm still not sure, do you think we could talk in private once everything gets settled?"

"Of course, I'm almost done with my work for the day then I'll get everything set up."

"Okay, it might take a while to get everyone onboard so take your time."

"Will do, I love you"

"Love you too"

even after all this time hearing his confession still brought a red tint to your cheeks. But you didn't have time to dwell on your beating heart, there was a task at hand and a situation you needed to mentally prepare yourself for.

🦔

It was two hours after you received the call when you heard Shadow's motorcycle drive up to the house along with Rouge's car. a pit formed in your stomach.

Rouge was the first to enter, "hey Doll, how are you doin" she greeted closing the door behind her.

"Rouge, Hey, a little concerned if I'm being honest, how did this happen?"

"were still not sure we've already ruled out Eggman as a possibility but anything beyond that is a total mystery to us."

"Okay, so I assume that means that we don't know how long they're going to be here."

"afraid so sweetheart."

"And Shadow? how does he seem?"

"He's like the others confused and a bit agitated. nothing that you can't fix especially with all this charm I hear so much about."

you giggled "I hope so, this whole thing sounds like a lot."

"It is, but we'll figure it out we always do." Rouge gave you a reassuring smile. "Shadow is giving the others a rundown on who you are, it seems that you're quite unique none of the others have even heard of you."

your heart sunk at those words. "So they don't know me?"

"I'm sure it doesn't mean much doll, some of them didn't know me either."

you sighed "I hope you're right."

"please, when have I ever been wrong? Now are you ready to meet them?"

"Ready as I'll ever be I suppose"

"I'll go ahead and get them, oh and fair warning watch out for the tall one, he's particularly feisty."

as Rouge left you found yourself straightening out your clothes and adjusting your hair in the mirror. you mentally steeled yourself taking a deep breath as the door once again opened and the first Shadow stepped in.

you watched as the other Shadows walked in studying their differences with care looking for minute details to tell them apart, some were easier than others, one Shadow's quills seemed sharper than the rest creating a harsh angle halfway through, a far cry from the gentle swoop you were so used to.

The most alien one to you was the one who had two separate eyes, it was strange for certain but if you were being honest it made him look kind of cute.

you were defiantly not expecting a medieval knight to walk into your living room that being said seeing him like that made your inner romance novel fan's heart skip a beat.

the tall one Rouge told you about stood out most to you, literally. while he wasn't extremely tall he stood a good foot above the rest, his scowl was the deepest by far though, and you could tell that he was going to be the most trouble.

the last one was almost indistinguishable from yours his chest was slightly fluffier than what you were used t and his black quills has a more blue tint to them but that was only if you were stretching it. if your Shadow hadn't come up beside you you would have just assumed it was him.

your heart fluttered at the sight of all the Shadows, how could it not? they were all in fact your boyfriend technically it was only natural for you to be attracted to them.

You turned to your Shadow eyes locking, he had been on guard you could tell. his usual determined gaze locked on his face, he allowed his expression to soften as he gazed at you. you smiled at him giving him a little "Hi" to which he nodded.

after re steeling himself he turned to address the group

"This is Y/N my romantic partner. You will treat them with respect and kindness, any problems you have with them will be addressed to me, understood?"

The other Shadows nodded and agreed reluctantly. you could tell they hated it, Shadow never liked being told what to do, so why would the others?

"I assume you all figured out that if a fight broke out between you it would be catastrophic?"

"Let's just say we owe Tails a new table saw, and a wall, and maybe a new field"

"What? how did you- you know what, we'll figure that out later"

"Right, each pf you are going to introduce yourselves to Y/N and they'll give you a nickname to use around the house."

a mountain of protests arose from the group all except the knight complaining "why?" and "How come?"

"SHADOW!" you called out all heads tuned to you. you smiled "That's why, don't worry if you don't like it I can change it but it will make things a lot easier if I know who I'm talking to."

"But why should he get to keep his name, shouldn't it go to the strongest?"

"Well for one you should all be equally matched, two this is his home universe, and three if I'm being frank he sleeps with me so he gets first pick."

the tall one was taken aback unable to argue with your logic, you could hear Rouge snicker in the corner as he stepped back into line.

"now let's start with you" you made your way over to the Shadow with the Sharpest quills

❌

Shadow watched as you approached him silently assessing you, you were hardly difficult to look at his gaze seeming to gravitate to you for reasons he had yet to figure out. you seemed easy enough to take down however you certinally had the sprit of a fighter in you and that could not be ignored.

"Hi, My name is Y/N." your voice was sweet almost breaking through his guard, almost.

"Shadow" he replied

You smiled at him "Is it alright if i call you Edge?"

He gave a humph before replying "I Suppose so."

You responded with a hum almost mimicking him "Okay then Edge it is. nice meeting you."

He stared at you in awe for a moment before breaking back into reality. "likewise"

🎬

Shadow had never seen someone quite like you before, you were unique like him, he found the colorful nature of others a bother but with you the color of your fur worked well for you. you gave him a smile that made him feel warm and welcomed.

"Hello, how are you doing?" you spoke in a gentle voice almost as gentle as- never mind he couldn't think about that right now.

"I'm fine" he responded much colder than he intended "My name is Shadow" more gentle this time.

you smiled at him once again "Y/N, would you mind if I called you dual?"

"That will work for now"

Smiling back at him you replied "good, well it's nice to meet you dual"

a warmth filled his chest something he hadn't felt in a great while. "Nice to meet you too"

⚔️

In all of Lancelot's adventures, of all the creatures he's come across, nymph, fairy, dragon, mermaid. never has he come across a creature as beautiful as you. the way your eyes sparkled like gemstones, your hair flowed like a lake, your steps were graceful almost as if you were floating.

He knelt before you taking your hand into his.

"Thank you for welcoming me into your home, My Name is Sir Lancelot"

"You mean like-"

"Yes" The one called Shadow replied

"Oh, well I suppose you don't need a nickname then."

"I'm afraid not keeper of the house."

"You can just call me Y/N, and I hope you enjoy staying here"

"with a home such as this I know I will"

💥

It wasn't often that someone was stupid enough to go toe to toe with him, it was even less often that that person won. so then why did you? there was certainly something about you that he couldn't quite place. you were undeniably attractive, not that he would admit it but that wasn't quite it. from the second he laid eyes on you he couldn't take them off not if he could help it.

"Shadow" he responded coldly as you approached him

"Y/N" you responded "I think I'll call you Tower"

He crossed his arms "Fine"

You gave him a smile that implied that you knew something he didn't, and he was eager to find out what it was.

"Nice meeting you"

"Sure"

6️⃣

He looked at you the enigma that you were. His whole life all he's known was fear, fear of his existence, fear of his power, fear of what he would do. and yet, despite this fear this universe his counterpart found someone who saw him not only as a friend but as a partner. no something had to be wrong, what were your plans?

"Hello, sorry to leave you for last" you gave him your name, as if he hadn't heard it six times already.

"My name is Shadow, but you can call me Six."

"Works for me, nice meeting you Six"

he watched as you took his hand in yours and gently squeezed it giving him a reassuring smile.

your smile put him at ease for the moment, but he couldn't let his guard down not for a second.

🦔

"that's everybody I guess, I'll Show you to your rooms then, I just put Dinner in the oven it should be done in an hour which should give you all some time to settle in."

"Lucky you" Rouge whispered in you ear as you led the pack of Hedgehogs down the hallway. a comment which you snickered at.

"Please Rouge nothing's going to happen." Little did you know just how wrong you would be.

[doyoulikethis-videogame-song]

Ask Masterpost 10/12/2024

I will be answering all the BLOG RELATED asks I have received since opening my inbox here :). Going forward, this is how all asks will be answered (if they are not time dependent or something). I will make a new post with new asks every saturday.

my friends and i have been including youtube links in our submissions. is that helpful or annoying?

It's helpful! Thank you :)

-----

Have you gotten a lot of repeat submissions? Like, songs requested by multiple people? If so, what’s the most requests you’ve gotten for a single song? (You don’t need to say what song it is if it’s one you haven’t posted yet)

I don't remember the name, but I've received a song from 'In Stars and Time' about seven times now

-----

I submitted a song from an indie game listing the author as the composer, but then I realised that's not exactly true, as all the music in the game is from a public free gallery. because of that, there's no official upload on youtube. would that still be ok? p.s. thank you for your work, I've come to really love this blog and i look forward to the new polls every day 💕

I'm going to say no, even though the song is in a video game it's not technically intended for the video game itself. I'm curious as to what game this is though.

-----

@kaerran said: Speaking of which: I avoided submitting a game earlier because the only versions I found on a quick search were entire-soundtrack-as-one-video and I wanted to make things easier on you. Is it okay if I submit my mid-90s games even if they don't have nice convenient Youtube links?

Of course that's okay, I'll find a way to work around it even if I have to crop the specific song out myself.

-----

Say a song that's made for a game and is in said game gets an official release of an alternative version that *isn't* in a game. (Ex: an extended version or a version with vocals) I assume that the in-game version of the song is acceptable, while an alternative version that isn't in any games are not. Asking because I've already submitted a couple in-game versions of songs that have official extended/vocal versions that aren't in-game.

Both are acceptable, for two reasons:

It's an official, original release/remix, presumably on an official album, for a video game, so it is technically a form of VGM even if it's not in the video game itself

I wouldn't be allowed to post the official NieR remix albums if I excluded these types of songs

-----

@moonlight-fox said: Hey. Question for when you reopen submissions - For songs that have lyrics, do you want the name of the lead vocalist as well as the composer, or just the composer?

If you know both, feel free to include both! Specifying would help a ton as well. Submitting the artists is optional as I'll almost always go verify it myself but it is very much appreciated.

-----

are there any games with more notable soundtracks that you're surprised HAVEN'T been submitted yet (if any)?

As of writing this, I haven't seen a single song from Persona 5.

-----

Hi, love the blog! Is there any way you could tag similar series? Like, tagging all the soulsborne games with a from software tag, that sort of thing? If not, it’s cool, I would just find it useful. Have a great day, keep up the awesome work! <3

I started doing this when I saw this ask, I hope the way I've categorized things is good so far! If anyone has any suggestions for further categorization feel free to send them in my asks (within reason, lol)

-----

can you put the number of the song in the anonymized title? would help us keep track of which song we're listening to if we're also scrolling

I also started doing this as soon as I saw this ask, thank you for the excellent idea.

-----

Are songs from live-service video games that have ended service permitted? I'm guessing that the answer is yes because I think I saw Dragalia Lost here but I just wanted to be sure before preparing songs to submit next month. Also, I noticed in your pinned post that it still says "submissions are always allowed" - since the rules are different now, you might wanna change that just in case some ppl get confused :3

Yes, songs from live service games that have ended are permitted :) (provided I can access the songs somehow of course)

-----

are we allowed to submit official live versions of video game songs? does its availability online matter (like how the splatoon concerts were officially uploaded, but the kirby 30th anniversary concert was only livestreamed once and has to be pirated now)?

If it's on an official album, I'm going to say yes. So no to the kirby concert -- but if the splatoon songs are on an album, they're allowed.

-----

i cant find if youve answered something like this already, but whats the verdict for songs thatare in video games, but werent made for them? like for example the inclusion of pre-existing low roar songs in death stranding.

As of now, I'll only accept songs that were intentionally made to be included in the OST/album/music of a video game series -- so no preexisting non-VGM songs or anything like that.

-----

out of interest, how far along the submission queue has been posted? when were the most recent posted songs submitted?

3.8% of the entire submissions I have received have been posted. Everything in active vote right now was submitted in July, hence the need to severely restrict submissions...

-----

are we allowed to ask if certain games/series are in the queue? because i cannot for the life of me remember if i submitted something a while ago and dont want to accidentally send it again when submissions reopen ^_^;

You can DM me for this as to not publicly post any spoilers :')

-----

@disgustedorite said: Um, when were the most recent songs submitted? I submitted a batch a while back when submissions were open and there's been no sign of any of them...I hope Tumblr didn't eat it @_@

Tumblr may have eaten it, but it's probably just as likely that I got a million gazillion submissions ahead of you :')

-----

genuine question did someone submit the entire destiny franchise at once or is it that popular and i just never see anything about it

Yes, in the very early days of this blog -- about the tenth submission -- someone submitted ~30 destiny songs.

-----

Do you accept music from mods? I mean, obviously you dont accept anything right now, but ykwim

Yes, as long as it's an original composition/remix :)

-----

@woolooism said: has any song won with any of the "i don't like it" results? if no, which one has the biggest relative percentage of it?

I'll have to check, but I think (off the top of my head) the song with the most "I don't like it" results is the Ao Oni chase theme

Edit: Apparently, it is actually this song from Lisa the Joyful!

-----

@violetsquare111 said: i'm curious, do you know when exactly the currently-running polls were submitted? curious just how far off mine are lol. (but i would guess mine are still a few months out based on the insane number of submissions you shared. 3000... oh god...)

July, so... yours are far off :')

-----

Do songs created for an event in a community engine driven rhythm game (i.e. original songs for custom charts in a rhythm game/community driven game engine) count for submissions? If so, how will they be counted?

I think I'm going to need an example of this scenario because this seems REALLY highly specific, haha

-----

A suggestion. When a song has lyrics, use a video that shows the lyrics in the reveal post. Please and thank you.

I'll do my best, but these aren't always the easiest to find, and I try to use songs from official sources as much as possible to prevent the risk of the video getting copyright stricken off the playlist.

-----

@only-blogging-2-save-rock-n-roll said: Would you ever consider doing joke polls for April fools day? Stuff like those MIDI remakes of song from Franchise A in the style of Franchise B

Probably not, only because it's not an official remix. I may post funny songs depending on submissions.

-----

would you be willing to maybe make a tag for just the polls, even if they're already over? i like going through them all without knowing what game they're from and i also dont keep super on top of checking this blog for new polls. thanks!!

There is one! It's #closed vote :)

-----

@sparrow-va said: Hi! I've had the hare-brained idea of possibly making some Youtube vids of listening to & reacting/trying to identify songs from this blog starting from the oldest submissions for my channel (LaserBearCat Gaming), is that something you'd be okay with? Obvs we would credit & link your blog for the source of the tracks c:

Go right ahead!

-----

I noticed the rules about submission has changed to one song per period per person, which I can totally understand given the amount and when trying to keep a fair chance for everyone will this rule be applied retrospectively too? just wondering because I had been submitting more than one song and just would like to know if I'd need to submit them again one per month now if I would like them to be considered as a submission eventually Also thanks for running this blog it's become one of my favourites and I check it out almost daily

No, It's not going to be applied retroactively -- I don't even know if I'd be able to enforce that because the sheet doesn't record who submitted what (right now).

[funfgafactsweekly]

Hellooooo, world! Notice anything different about me? Heheheh....

...

...

Whaaaat? You- you can't tell? But I dressed up extra cute to celebrate finally being able to use the camera again!

...snif... hic....

Do you reaaaally not know...?

....

....

...

Sigh....

Sorry to throw a fit like that... I guess you haven't seen me in a while, so it's okay.

...it's my neckerchief. Sheila gave it to me...

Cute, isn't it? She said it was from her home planet. She hasn't always liked us as much as she does now, so I'm honored that she liked me enough to give me something of hers... and I miss her, so...

Well, I miss everyone. But I can't go ransacking their closets just because. That would be... against my programming. I've got to be helpful. And fun. And... other things. Good things.

Well, I guess throwing fits isn't in my programming either. But let's keep those between us, okay? I don't-

No, no, we're getting off topic.

Todaaaaay, I've been authorized to share the script of a scrapped comic the author was planning on making about Fugo's childhood! Technically, its not- well, you'll see, won't you?

Here goes!

------------ begin transcript --------------

Narrator: My baby brother was born when I was eight. 

Narrator: I still remember it distinctly. February 27, 1985. The maids took Alfie and I to a hospital room to go see our new sibling, and when we arrived, our father left the room with a look on his face. I can’t describe it. Still, I’ve never forgotten that face. 

Narrator: That face was the beginning of the end. 

Narrator: Alfie didn’t even notice. He’d been excited all day about the idea of a sibling- he was convinced we were getting a sister- and I guess maybe I wasn’t so into the idea because I’d already done the whole new brother thing. Alfie was the good kind of new brother. The kind that didn’t mess up the life I already had. Me, the prince of the house, and Alfie, some little tag along. He understood that he was beneath me.

Narrator: But the other one…

Narrator: Nonna and Nonno were already there. Nonna cradled my little brother in her arms, while Mother and Nonno argued about something. 

Nonno (their grandfather): “I will not name my grandson after alcohol! Amaretto? Are you crazy, woman?”

Mom: “It’s a beautiful name, and it matches his brothers! I don’t think anyone will associate it with-”

Nonno: “No! A drunkard with a drunkard name is not worthy of my family title!” 

Nurse: “Sir, please try not to get so riled up- you’ll stress out the new mother-”

Nonno: “Silence! She is a smart woman, she knows I’m right.”

Narrator: Alfie clutched my wrist tightly. 

Alfie: “Toto… What’s happening…?”

Narrator: I should have known. He was causing trouble since the moment he was born. 

Mom: “Ugh, fine! Then what do you suggest?”

Narrator: Nonno stopped to think. Nonna, smiling down into our little brother’s face, spoke up quietly. 

Nonna: “Pannacotta. For his white hair.”

Mom: “Panna cotta…? That’s- Dolcezza, are you sure?”

Nonno: “I don’t see any problem with it. Pannacotta Amadeo Fugo. It’s an honorable name.”

Mom: “…”

Narrator: She glanced at the door, only just now seeming to notice us. 

Mom: “How long have you two been there? Where’s your father?”

Narrator: Alfie hid behind me, so I was forced to speak up. 

Affogato: “I don’t know.” 

Narrator: Mom rolled her eyes. 

Mom: “Well. Don’t you want to see your little brother? Come here.”

Narrator: I don’t think either of us were so sure about him anymore. But we both wandered closer to that little harbinger of destruction, and peered into Nonna’s arms.

Alfie: “Why is he so weird?”

Narrator: He didn’t look like any of us. He looked… well, it was like my brother said. Weird. And the moment I touched him, he began to scream, and scream, and wouldn’t stop until Nonna took him in her arms and sang quietly to him. All of the adults fussed over him, leaving Alfie and I to look at each other and wonder just what was going on.

Narrator: It was an omen of what was to come. 

Narrator: That creature- that demon- had come to take everything from me. 

---

Narrator: Once Mother came home, that was when the nightmare began. Father wouldn’t speak to us. He spent all of his time locked up in his study. We used to hide from the maids after school, so that we could avoid doing schoolwork by spending time with our father. But now…

Alfie: “…when is Papa going to come and play with us?”

Affo: “What do I know? Leave me alone.”

Narrator: I had long since started to give up hope. I knew the moment I saw that face of his that things were going to change. I just didn’t expect… this. 

Carla (Maid 1): “Boys! What are you doing here? You can’t-”

Narrator: Alfie hadn’t caught on yet.

Alfie: “When is Papa going to play with us? Carla, please tell him to come out!”

Carla: “I-” 

Narrator: She glanced at the door, terrified. 

Carla: “Your father is very busy, okay? Do you want me to play with you instead?”

Alfie: “No! I want Papa!” 

Narrator: My brother began to cry. Carla pleaded with him, offering him anything she could, ice cream, a trip to the park, no homework- but none of it worked. He just kept crying and insisting.

Narrator: I remember just staring at that dark, oaken door, and feeling a churning, swelling heat build up inside of me. It was the baby’s fault. His fault. His fault. Our father didn’t want anything to do with us anymore because of him. What could I do? How could I get our father back? How could I break down this horrible dark door and force my way inside, force my father to be with us again, force things to be the way they were before? 

Alfie: “Carla, tell him to come out! Tell him to come play with us!”

Carla: “Oh- please don’t cry- I- do you want your mother? I can get you your mother! Wouldn’t that make you happy?”

Alfie: “Nooo! I only want my Papa! Bring him, bring him!”

Narrator: My memories, once beloved, now filled me with scorching agony. Me, only me, sitting on my father’s lap, as he called me his pride and joy. My beautiful son. My perfect boy. I looked just like him. I was perfect. I was the right son. I was his prince, his heir, the ruler of the household. Whatever I demanded would appear. That was how it worked. That was how it always worked. Yet now…

Narrator: There was something I could not have. Something I wanted, more than anything. 

Narrator: Papa, come out. Papa, let me be with you. Papa, don’t leave me behind this wicked door. Let me in. Love me like you always did. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. 

Narrator: I couldn’t help it. 

Affogato: “Papa! Come out right now!” 

Narrator: The maid screamed, and tried to summon our mother and other maids to tear us away. Alfredo was hauled off long ago. But I wouldn’t leave. I scratched, and bit, and tore. Whatever was necessary to make my father pay me what he owed, what I deserved. 

Affogato: “You can’t stay in there forever! You have to come to me! You have to!” 

Affogato: “I am your so-” 

Narrator: And then… the door was opened. 

Affogato: “Papa! Finally, you-” 

Papa: “Get away from me, brat.”

Affogato: “…”

Narrator: They dragged me off to the nursery. Obviously, I was in a lot of trouble. Our nurse yelled at me, our mother yelled at me, the baby screamed. But I was numb to it all. The reality, the hopeless reality, of my situation had finally settled upon me. 

Narrator: Our father didn’t want us anymore. 

Narrator: I don’t remember how long I sat on my bed, staring at the wall. Alfredo eventually stopped crying, and came to me, to lay next to me and tremble. But he was just another reminder of what I no longer had. So I shoved him away, and he fell from the bed, and cried once more. He did not try to come near me again.

Narrator: I didn’t want him. I didn’t want anyone. I just wanted my father back. I just wanted that baby gone. 

Narrator: I genuinely don’t remember having tried to kill it. But Mother says the maids told her I did. They told her they heard that freak screaming and ran to him, only to find me there, hitting him again and again with a little book, telling him that I hated him, I hated him, I hated him. Alfredo was huddled in the corner, quivering. Or so I was told. 

Narrator: They moved me out of the nursery that day. Because I was too big, they said. But it was just to protect that little brat from me.

Narrator: Alfredo wouldn’t do anything to him because he was a coward, but I knew he felt the same. 

Narrator: After all, when I was banned from the nursery, he was the one letting me in.

Narrator: He would stand in the corner, watching me, as I tormented our little brother. Nothing too bad. I would pinch his face, or twist his skin, or poke him, and whenever the maids came I would hide and Alfredo would go back to his bed and stare innocently at them. 

Narrator: Why would they ever guess? I wasn’t allowed in, and Alfredo would never hurt anyone. The baby developed a reputation for false alarms, and eventually, they just stopped checking on him altogether. Months passed, and I was free to do whatever I wanted.

Narrator: In hindsight, I should have killed him then. But it had become too fun to watch him scream, knowing no one would come to save him. 

Narrator: I would tell him things. 

Affogato: “Our parents hate you. Did you know that? They don’t want you at all. Everyone was happier before you came around.”

Affogato: “Papa hates you. Mother hates you. We all hate you.”

Narrator: Alfie and I heard his first word. He could make sounds before that (obviously, his screaming was the worst thing about him), but Alfredo and I didn’t have any reason to think he was anything other than normal.

Pannacotta: “Haadyo. Aaah haaaado?”

Narrator: I hate you, said the brat. I went to hit him again, but Alfredo stopped me. 

Affogato: “What?!”

Alfie: “He- he’s just copying. Don’t hit him.” 

Affogato: “I don’t care if he’s copying me. I hate him.”

Alfie: “But he’ll tell on us! What are you going to do if he says “I hate you” to Mama or Papa? And if they find pain spots-”

Narrator: He meant bruises-

Alfie: “-on him, then we’re going to get in big trouble!”

Affogato: “Ha! They don’t care about him. He’s only a pile of trouble for everyone.”

Alfie: “…” 

Narrator: He let go of my arm, and slipped back over to his corner, and sat down. 

Alfie: “So are we.”

Narrator: Anger surged through me. How dare he lump me in with the worthless scum? Me? The heir of the house, the beloved of our father? I was not like them. I was not like them. How dare he? 

Narrator: Alfie cried, and the baby cried, and I screamed and screamed and screamed. I hate you. You’re nobody. They love me, me, me. Only me. Only me!

Narrator: But no one came. Not for him, not for the baby, not for me. 

Narrator: When the morning came, the maids were shocked to find me with my brothers. I told them I got lonely so Alfredo let me in. Alfredo knew better than to say anything. 

Narrator: When the morning came, Pannacotta spoke again. 

Narrator: At the time, I didn’t understand why the maids were in such a buzz over it. They kept asking Alfredo and I if we knew anything about it, and we both said no. 

Pannacotta: “Aaaahdou. Waaahaado.” 

Carla (Maid 1): “What is he trying to say?” 

Blanca (Maid 2): “Water? Does he want water?” 

Marianna (Maid 3): “Get his mother, quickly!”

Pannacotta: “Mmamaaadeeeh.”

Narrator: Our mother rushed in, maids spilling through the door after her. Blanca held our brother out to her.

Mom: “He spoke? But he’s so young!”

Blanca: “Listen, listen!”

Pannacotta: “Maadahaade oh.”

Narrator: Our mother was thrilled. She didn’t understand what he was really saying- Mother hates you- but she knew he said something with Mama in it, and of course, that was enough for her to take him into her arms and rush away. 

Narrator: She hired people to come and teach him to speak better, and would tell anyone that would listen about her genius son who learned to speak at only four months old. And the baby would never shut up. 

Narrator: If I hated him before, I hated him even more now. He got our mother- our cold, careless mother- to choose him over us. The only thing I had on my side was that Father still didn’t care for him. But I wasn’t worried.

Narrator: Soon, Father would pick me over them all. 

------------ end transcript --------------

Ooooooooh! Spooky, right? I don't even know what to make of it!

Hope you enjoyed today's episode of Fun FGA Facts!

[pedgito]

wip wednesday

tagged by @perotovar, @guiltyasdave & @yxtkiwiyxt <3

listen. we're procrastinating shit right now and i'm craving so much dbf!joel that i have buried myself in a six part (so far) document appropriately titled dilf chronicles for the foreseeable future

she's horny as hell but i'm giving the tamest bit i can while i write to avoid the stress of life rn 🤠

“So,” Joel beings after a long growing silence and a chunk of time on the road as your cross one leg over the other and stare quietly out the window, feeling lost on how to approach the situation as you’ve clearly grown and changed, a similar pinched expression that both his daughter’s carried when they were bothered or annoyed, all in the brow and drawn together, your fingers scratching absently where you were gripping your bicep, “how’s college been treatin’ you?” “Fine. I’m not gonna sit here and bore you to death with astrophysics so don’t ask,” You quip with a subtle smile, “If my dad can’t keep up I know you sure as hell can’t.” “Is that an age joke?” Joel asks genuinely. “I dunno, gramps,” You shrug, “is the moon round?” It was rhetorical, right? Joel chuckles at how easily you fall back into your old banter. “It’s not,” You tell him, “just so you know.” Joel's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "The moon's not round? Since when?" You can't help but laugh at his bewildered expression.  "It's actually slightly egg-shaped. Technically, it's an oblate spheroid." "Well, I'll be damned," Joel mutters, shaking his head. "Learn something new every day. Guess they're teaching you all sorts of fancy things at that college of yours."

np tags: @chaotic-mystery @kedsandtubesocks @ovaryacted @joeloverture @jolapeno @hauntedhowlett

[ruh--roh-raggy]

Stars Look Nice Tonight (Punk William x Fem! Reader)

Hello hello! Welcome back to my lovely little punk Will series, thank you all so much for the love he's been so fun to write! So, this is a technical part 2 to Buzzed, but this series is going to be a little different than Home Sweet Home. I don't plan on following a linear timeline once I get their relationship fully established. What that's going to mean is we're going to have some plot build up with them being all cute and getting to know each other and flirting and all that good stuff, but the rest of this series is going to be published through one shots. I have a lot of ideas for fics with punk Will hehehe. If you have any requests you would like to see with him, let me know! If you would like to be added to my tag list, also let me know! Thank you all so much for reading!!

WARNINGS: Recreational 🍃 smoking, drinking at a bar, age gap (Reader is in early 20's Will is in his 40's/50's), mostly fluff with some suggestive flirting

You can find my Masterlist here!

Word Count: 2,782

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Are you around this weekend?” You smiled against the receiver you had pressed to your ear. You paused for a moment, not wanting to respond too fast and seem too eager. Over your post concert dinner of greasy bacon and fluffy waffles you and Will both realized one thing, neither of you could get enough of one another. He loved how the sound of your melodic laughter made his heart beat faster, the shy smile you would give him as his hand brushed over yours, how every so often he would catch you staring at his lips with a wistful expression on your face. You were too busy getting caught up in his seductive gaze to notice. He asked if he could see you again. Casually, of course, he doesn’t want you to feel tied down. You had to refrain from practically screaming your acceptance in his face. Now, you were standing in your kitchen almost a week from then, the man occupying your every thought on the other end of the line.

“I should be.” You respond coyly. William breathes out a chuckle, he could practically hear the smirk in your voice. “Got something in mind?”

“I was thinking we could go out for drinks… give me a chance to make up for the one I spilled on you at the venue.” You leaned against the counter, listening to the way his deep voice crackled through the phone.

“If I remember right, you weren’t the one who spilled it on me.” You respond in a teasing tone.

“Still happened because the prettiest girl in the room decided to stop and talk to me.” You freeze, your cheeks immediately growing warm at his compliment. After a moment of your silence you hear Will laugh on the other end of the line. “If you want to throw me off my game you’re going to have to do a bit more than fact check me while I’m asking you out.” He jokes.

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” You giggle. “I get off at 7 tonight and then I’m free the rest of the weekend.”

“I guess I should plan something a little more special than a grimey dive bar then, huh?”

“I don’t know, sounds pretty romantic to me.” The sound of his laughter makes you smile. “Will… you know I don’t mind seeing you more than one day in a row, right?” Now it was his turn to be quiet for a moment.

“I just don’t want you to feel rushed-”

“It’s not like that.” You twist the long, cream colored spiral cord around your finger. “I had a really nice time with you the other night.” You chew your lip nervously before deciding to just put it all out there. “I like you, Will. I want to spend time with you.” Your hands grew clammy as his end of the line remained silent.

“I like you too.” Will was grateful you couldn’t see him right now. His face was hot, there was no doubt in his mind that he was blushing terribly. He couldn’t believe how ridiculous he was acting right now. But, there was something about the soft way you spoke, your small confession still ringing in his ears, he felt like he was back in college all over again. “Do you want to meet me at Ralph’s after you get off work tonight?”

You were taken aback for a second, “you know Ralph’s?”

“What, you didn’t think you and your little baby punk friends discovered Ralph’s?” He asks in a teasing tone. “Baby, I’ve probably been going to Ralph’s since before you were born... Do I know Ralph's?” He scoffs.

“To answer your original question, I would love to meet you for drinks.” You pull your bottom lip between your teeth as you attempt to suppress your eagerness to see him.

“8 o’clock work?”

“That sounds perfect.”

“I’m really excited to see you tonight.” You jump as you hear him slam down the phone as he hangs up.

Will groans as he drags a hand down his face. “I’m really excited to see you tonight.” He repeats in a mocking tone. “Get a grip.”

“Well, hey stranger.” Will straightens up at the sound of your voice chirping next to him at the bar. He stood, sliding out a stool for you. His eyes hungrily raked over your frame, you had put on a slinky little black dress that perfectly hugged all of your delicate curves. He swallows thickly as his gaze trails over your pillowy thighs, he could only imagine how soft they would be clamped around his head.

“You look amazing.” He smiles at you, struggling to keep his eyes on yours, the thin layer of gold body glitter you had applied sparkled in the neon lights that covered the walls. He accidentally caught sight of your cleavage as you wiggled your way onto the stool, the sight alone enough to make his cock twitch in his jeans. You were incredibly beautiful, Will couldn't believed he had managed to earn even a fraction of your attention.

“Thank you.” You blush, looking up at him through your lashes. “You're looking pretty good yourself.” Will had opted for something a little more casual, a nicely fitted flannel that he had rolled up to just above his elbows and some jeans. Your eyes trailed down his arm, landing on his massive hand that dwarfed the beer bottle he was holding. The bartender makes his way over to you, a flirtatious smile on his lips that immediately makes Will prickle with annoyance.

“What can I get started for you, beautiful?” He asks with a wink. “Unless you want to just jump straight to getting my number?” You had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. Some things never change. You glanced at Will out of the corner of your eye, his gaze was burning a hole in the side of the bartender's face. But, considering the two of you had agreed to keep things casual, he just sat quietly in his seat. Your delicate fingers slid over Will’s forearm, his attention immediately moving to you.

You leaned into him, wanting to give the bartender a full show in hopes he would leave the two of you alone. “What are you drinking baby?” You see Will subtly mouth the pet name you had decided to call him, pure confusion written in his features. You take the beer bottle from his hand, your chest pressing into his shoulder as you cuddle up to his side. You turn the bottle to read the label, it was some foreign beer you didn't recognize. You slowly brought the dark brown glass to your perfectly painted lips, tilting your head back to take a long sip. Your face scrunches up at the pungent, bitter liquid, you shake your head before putting it back in Will’s hand. You almost blew your cover as your eyes met Will’s. You could see his thoughts loading as he processed having you so close to him, threatening to tear a laugh from your throat.

“She’ll have a vodka cran.” He chimes in, gaze never leaving your face. The bartender hurries off with his tail in between his legs, obviously embarrassed that he came on so strong to someone who was obviously taken. “Not that I'm complaining, but what the fuck was all of that?” He asks with a chuckle.

“I came here to spend time with you.” You explain with a soft smile. “Not to be hit on by some sleazeball who’s probably going to somehow manage to fuck up a vodka cran, good choice by the way.” He laughs at your blatant dismissal of his competition.

“It seemed like a pretty safe option.” The two of you sat and chatted for hours at the bar. William filled you in on the fact that he both owns and operates Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, a place you had loved since you were a kid, and he found out that you have the much less glamorous title of working at a hardware store. “I can't believe it, you've been working there all this time and we’ve never met.” The two of you had managed to huddle close together, you looked more akin to children swapping secrets on the playground than two grown adults having a normal conversation during a night out, but that was part of the fun. There was something about being around Will that made you feel alive. You weren't afraid to be silly, you weren't worried about him judging your interests, from the moment you had met you felt comfortable being 100% yourself around him, and Will would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same. He thought you were incredible, absolutely breathtaking in every way imaginable. He couldn't remember the last time someone had made him laugh this hard outside of Henry, every so often the two of you would have to pause just to catch your breaths. Will was honestly surprised that you seemed to like him, it had been years since he had met someone he didn't need to wear a mask in front of. Eventually, as it grew later, the bar gradually became more crowded. “Would you maybe want to go somewhere quieter?” He practically yells over the wall of sound.

“Sure!” You call back. “It’d be nice to be able to hear you.” You chuckle. Will settles your tab, refusing to let you pay for a single drink despite your adorable protests. You slowly pushed your way through the sea of people, Will keeping a protective hand on the small of your back as he helped part the way. You pushed into the stillness of the night, a shiver running up your spine at the drastic change in temperature. You stood opposite him, you faced each other in silence for a moment as you thought of a way to extend your evening together. “Not to be your stereotypical twenty something year old,” William chuckles as you break the stillness that had surrounded you. “But, I have a bong and an eighth in my car.” Will glances up at the sky.

“Stars look nice tonight.” A small smile spreads across his lips as his attention falls back onto you. “You're going to freeze to death dressed like that.”

You wave him off with a dismissive sound, “I'll be fine, I've been through worse.”

“I think,” he starts as he takes slow steps closer to you, “you should go get that bong ready to go while I go grab you a jacket.”

“I can work with that.” You pull your bottom lip between your teeth, shooting him a coy expression.

You pop your trunk, digging through the bags and emergency supplies you had stacked in front of your piece. The glass was ice cold against your palm and you let out a sigh of relief when you saw that you had fully cleaned it after its last use. You let out a small scream as a warm weight falls around your shoulders, the sound of William’s laughter immediately calming you. Your nose filled with the growingly familiar scent, a delighted hum slipping past your lips. You glanced at the denim, a patch you recognized catching your attention. “You know if you keep letting me borrow this jacket I'm going to steal it one of these days.” You tease.

“What a shame that would be.” He responds with a slight roll of his eyes. He carefully takes your hands in his, holding your arms away from your body. “If I'm being completely honest you look a lot better in my battle jacket than I ever did.”

“This is your battle jacket?” Your eyes widen as you ask. He nods in response. “Oh, Will, I-”

“Listen, my days of being a grimy little pit rat whose only purpose is to smoke, fuck, and sticking it to the man are behind me… Well, maybe not that last part.”

“Doesn't seem like you're doing too good at the first part either.” You tease with a small laugh, holding up the bong you had originally been asked to retrieve. “Hopefully I'll find out eventually where you fall in that middle category.” You wink at him before heading to the front of your car, attempting to hide the fact that your cheeks were burning over such a forward statement. You hoist yourself up onto the hood of your car with a groan, sliding yourself back so you could lay against your windshield. Will maneuvers himself next to you, fishing a lighter out of his pocket. He nods for you to take the first hit, flicking the lighter to life and preparing to light the bowl for you. You glanced up at him, stunning silver eyes studying you with a softness you had never witnessed before. You tilt your head back, blowing a plume of smoke up into the night sky. The two of you take turns, swapping the bong between you. A soft smile grows on your lips as you catch Will's lingering gaze. “What's that look for?”

“Can I make a really stupid request?” He asks softly.

“No such thing as a stupid request, but continue.” You turn to him with a smile.

“I haven't been able to stop thinking about kissing you since I saw you tonight… I’d like to be able to kiss you again, if that's alright.” You pull your bottom lip between your teeth, scanning over his handsome features as your pulse thundered in your ears.

“I think that sounds a little better than alright.” You respond in a low, seductive tone. His hand cups your jaw, brushing his thumb over your bottom lip. He dips his head lower, his lips just out of reach of your own.

“Has anyone ever told you, you have really pretty eyes?” You breathe out a laugh.

“I bet you say that to all the girls.” He shakes his head in response, you notice him swallow, a subtle nervousness in his eyes that you almost missed.

“There are no other girls… only you.” You push yourself forward, a surprised sound escaping Will as your lips land on his. An arm circles around your waist, pulling you in impossibly closer. You set the bong down on the hood of your car before straddling his lap. He pulls you flush against his chest, his other hand tangling into your hair. Your arms rest comfortably over his shoulders, he lets out a small hum as he kisses you, smiling against your lips. You pull back with a small gasp as air rushes into your lungs, your pupils blown as adrenaline courses through your veins.

“I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the concert.” You admit breathlessly. William gives you a charming, lopsided smile.

“Well, I guess we’re both in trouble.” He responds with a chuckle, making you let out a soft laugh of your own. “I just don't want you to feel like you have to rush into anything you’re not sure about.”

“I don't feel like we’re rushing anything.” You reassure him. “It feels right, being here with you like this.” He feels the way your shuddering breath ghosts over his lips, his eyes flicking over your face as he drank in every detail of you. His hands knead at your waist, trying to think of how to respond. It’s not that he didn't want you to be exclusively his, he had thought about how pretty you would look covered in bite marks, showing off to the world that the two of you were an item. But you had so much life in you, so much you had yet to experience, could he really be what you want? At the moment he couldn't really bring himself to care. You were sitting so prettily in his lap, your short dress riding up your thighs, his jacket drowning your tiny frame. Who was he to deny an angel what she wanted?

He sighs out your name as his lips find their way back to yours. You tangle your fingers in his hair, his glasses pressing uncomfortably into your cheek. Will tried to elaborate on his conditions in between kissing you. “I want you to set the pace.” He sputters out breathlessly. “If we’re moving too fast… or not fast enough… just tell me…” He slides a hand under your jacked, feeling the soft curve of your back against his palm. His lips leave yours, trailing across your jaw.

“Will?” You ask softly.

“Yes, rabbit?” He pauses immediately, pulling back to make sure you were okay. Your eyes instantly met his, the way they twinkled in the moonlight almost made him melt on the spot.

“Take me home?”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tag List: @yellowbunnydreams @zoey5252 @redflowery @loudchaosking @weirdoartist21 @residentevilbeast @lokanda @emmbny @yukkkiki @twelvelevens

[thesummerstorms]

OC WARDROBE

Tagged by @notyourmamasdeerbat. Thank you! I spent way too long on Pinterest and Canva, but I had a blast doing this!

RULES: Post pictures of your character's wardrobe and put your OC in the center. It can be other people wearing the clothing, it's just a moodboard.**

** technically Arsinoë is in the center of her row; that counts right? I just couldn't get the layout to work well. karma for the extra pictures, I guess lol

also, I don't think you have to... or are supposed to... explain everything, I am just incapable of not rambling

Top Row: Formal Crow parties/funerals/what have you as someone important to the Fifth Talon OR as the partner/fiance/whatever of the new First Talon.

First Three From the Left (Middle Row): Casual Crow business in Treviso or Salle, so she's representing the House, but not a contract and combat isn't expected.

First Three From the Right (Middle Row): Casual and sleep wear around the Lighthouse/ her old apartment in Salle/etc.

Bottom Row: Arsinoë wears something a half step in between mage robes and the existing Crow leathers, likely with Viago's dramatic wing-shaped cape, but Pinterest options were limited.

Genuinely not sure who's done this or who is interested in tag games, so feel free to ignore this, but I'm tagging @basedonconjecture, @pwney, @rookinthecrownest, and @beachhotdog. If you follow me or we're mutual and I didn't list you, please do it and tag me and then I will also know in the future I can put you on the tag list. 💜

I rambled waaayyyy too much about why I chose the things beneath the cut.

Generally, whatever Lucanis says about Antiva's one requirement being to have style, I don't think Arsinoë inherited any naturally. She's wears her mage leathers a lot, and outside of those, I think she's a "comfy shirt + pants in a Crow color scheme" person. Sometimes with a fun cape, but she isn't going to willingly deal with something like Lucanis's layering on the regular. That said, she does genuinely love the Crow blue and purple color scheme to death, and she's very fond of jewelry. Specifically she collects enchanted rings with different benefits for her magic or combat or what have you, and snake or crow themed jewelry to mark her as de Riva. (Snakes because of the poisoner thing, but it works out when she starts dating Neve.) The signet ring is actually a semi-official mark of authority/protection from Viago. When she does have to dress formally, I think Arsinoë tries very, very hard to strike a balance between looking like someone who is a senior House de Riva Crow/close to the Talon and thus "important" enough not to mess with casually, but also someone who is clearly NOT in the House leadership and is appropriately subordinate to her Talon. Hence she has nice fabrics and just-dramatic-enough shapes to blend in, but the dresses are still monochrome, have no embroidery, etc. I also think whether formal or casual, Arsinoë uses a bit of misdirection by using things like the many undone buttons on the in game casual wear or the open back and cut outs on the black dress in order to seem daring and exposed while distracting from how much skin she's not showing or the gloves she won't remove or how many weapons/poisons she's hiding. The scars on her upper chest/breasts (from the in game scar set; I didn't even make them up) and back add to the distraction factor.

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

The Silver Dragon Cometh - Part 1

Summary: Lullaby and Khopesh and their gaggle of Primaris friends/acquaintances are having a lovely picnic under the sun. The weather is warm, the food is filling, the conversation is surprisingly easy flowing. Lullaby even makes a few new close friends, and confides in them some struggle they're having with their powers. If Only things could remain so lovely...

Previous Chapter Here!

Next Chapter Here!

Where is all started! Here!

Warning: Social Anxiety, Fights, Injury, Cursing, Literally messing with people's heads, and what could technically be considered micro aggressions to go with the Macro aggressions.

Tags: This one is another collaboration with @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan! We've also got characters from @sleepyfan-blog and @kit-williams making an appearance. If you've contributed a character and I don't mention it here just DM me I'll fix that right up!

@bleedingichorhearts @beckyninja @bispecsual @passionofthesith @egrets-not-regrets @felinisnoctis

“Right,” Karlsor says, “try again, just like before.”

He holds out a hand, and like you've been doing for most of this session you hold out yours, a few inches above his. Parallel, not touching

“If it helps,” Karlsor says, “try to visualize the mycelium network stretching out their roots- like leaves of a plant extending to reach the sun.”

You try to do that. In recent trainings you had learned to Sense the slight difference when your powers were working. Feeling the flow so to speak, you could even tell when power was flowing out vs in. Sometimes, you could even see…Things very faintly when you absorbed enough energy. But it never lasted very long. 

And try as you might, you really weren't feeling any power flow one way or another, no matter how hard you visualized your little roots reaching up (or down in this case) to make contact with Karlsors hand. You could feel the Strain of trying to push them, and it was honestly starting to give you a bad headache. 

Karlsor meanwhile was using his warp sight, and feeling his own headache starting. He could see the mycelium tendrils reaching, but it seemed like a few inches was Lullaby's current limit as far as projection went for now. 

Part of him wanted to say Fuck it and touch the little roots so they'd relieve his headache. He hissed, patience patience…His head throbbed in vengeance and his sight wavered, spots of darkness flickering in and out.

Yeah fuck patience they'd been at this same fucking bullshit for over an hour and went from one inch to a Maybe two inch limit. Karlsor dimmed his warp sight with a gruff muttered “enough…Fuck damn shit this hurts.”

He heard you huff with disappointment before a warm small hand made contact with his and the pain and throbbing lessened. “Sorry Karlsor,” You murmur. 

“Eh, some training is harder to do than others,” Karlsor says, “Try and, ugh, meditate and think about stretching the network, without trying to use your powers. That might help?”

He sighs in relief, “Fuck I’m glad that your powers help. My headaches are a lot better now. Thanks.”

“No trouble,” You smile wryly. “You know as much as I do right now, Teach. I'll give it a shot. Besides, I'm glad I can at least do a few things consistently.”

“Consistency in what you can do, is really important,” Karlsor says seriously, “being able to do it more than once, means that it’s repeatable rather than just only being able to do something once. Scientific Method and all that grox-shite.”

“I Do appreciate the Scientific Method. But speaking of once in a while things…” You glance at the clock, “Would it be okay if we call today's session a little early?”

“I fuckin guess, but what for?” Karlsor asks. 

You smile, and start gathering your things. “Khopesh said Claude wanted me to meet some of the other Primaris Marines they know. So we're meeting at the park for a picnic!” You answer cheerfully. “There's apparently some new arrivals And I even baked and decorated a cake! Do you want me to save you a slice?”

You omitted the near mental breakdown you had trying to make the icing look nice. It was a fun process but you wanted to make a good impression. 

“Ah- I heard about them, one of them is a feral bastard of a Lamenter, and one of the other’s is another, ugh, Ultramarine.” Karlsor says- remember what Claude’s spoken of some of the newly arrived Primaris Marines. “A break’s a good idea- go on, have fun.”

“Pfft,” You snickered a bit at the shade Karlsor was throwing around. “Well as long as they like strawberry cake I'm sure it'll be fine. Thanks, Teach!“

“You’re welcome. Save me a slice, yeah?” Karlsor says. He likes cake. “If you can. Lamenters are very… soft with baselines.”

“Push meets shove I'll bake you your own cake, text me your flavor preferences!” You call back, and hit an eager run to the pantry. 

“Deal!” Karlsor perks up with a grin.

He texts you [Meyer Lemon and Raspberry] for his flavor preference.

You pass by Pyrus in the hallway who gives you a cheerful greeting. “Hello Lullaby!”

“Hi Pyrus gotta run!”

You pass by the med bay where apothecary Zariel is exiting a room. He happens to see you. “Ah Lullaby finished with your studies?”

“For today anyway, gotta go, there's a picnic with my name on it!”

Zariel laughs, “Very well, mind where you run.”

“I will!”

You come to the food pantry where you happen to see Zaarius examining the larder and taking stock. 

“Hello Zaar!” You greet him, clearly still bouncing with energy. “Is it still here?”

“Naturally dear,” He cooes, reaching to one of the high temperature controlled shelves. “One Strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream icing and Adorable vanilla buttercream rosettes. Unmolested…no matter how Badly certain individuals wanted to.”

You hear a familiar grumbling walking in with more items for the pantry. “I only said I wanted a Bit of the icing.” Khopesh grumbled, placing items on shelves with rapid speed even while he complained. 

Zaarius rolled his eyes. You trotted over to give your love a hug. (Carefully while still holding the cake.) “Hey Sweetness! You'll get to have some soon.” You reassure him with a kiss on the lips. “I'll make sure you get the first piece!”

Khopesh trademark purrs picked up as you embraced him. “That is acceptable.” He agrees then turns to Zaarius. “As promised all the items are unloaded and sorted.”

“Properly?” Zaarius asks pointedly, knowing younger marines penchants for slacking on work they deemed unimportant. 

Khopesh huffed with slight indignance. “Of course! What do you take me for a Space Wolf? Any Nightlord worth their pelts does Not mess around with Food.”

“And yet you wanted to snag a bit of my cake early?” You ask dryly. 

“Sorting and Storing food, not eating it dear Lullaby.” He explained with a flash of teeth. “When processing a carcass the most important factor is proper cutting, sorting, and preserving for the Purpose of eventual consumption. Or eventual leather work or scrimshawing in the case of skin and bones.”

Zaarius arches an eyebrow at him, “No, but young ones can get impatient and sloppy.”

Khopesh made a slightly dramatic gesture for Zaarius to examine his section. Which the Noise Marine did and actually gave a somewhat impressive hum. “Not bad, very well Khopesh, you are released until your next kitchen duty. Enjoy your outing.”

“Excellent!” Khopesh growls with vigor, before scooping you, and the cake up so you were riding in the crook of his elbow.

“Oop! H-hey!” You say with delighted laughter, and sling an arm over Khopesh's neck for better grip. “By Zaarius! See you around.” You call back as you are whisked away by your goofy Nightlord.

Zaarius chuckles and shakes his head at the two. Young love.

________________

Olly had brought some chocolate rocks- which were not rocks at all, but were chocolate with a crunchy candy coating as part of snacks for the picnic that he was invited along with. Ramiel and Cedric had done the lion’s share of the cooking, while the rest of them cleaned up and carried the picnic food stuffs, drinks and supplies.

Olly turned to one of his brothers, careful to approach while the other was not doing anything too consuming. In this case Claude laying out the blankets and cutlery.

“So…this baseline Khopesh is bringing…what are they like?” Olly asks.

Claude pauses for a moment. “Don't worry. They're very sweet.” He assures Olly. “And funny, and warm and reassuring.”

Jophiel gives Claude a sideways glance, but doesn't comment. Warm and reassuring? There's nothing warm and reassuring about being crawling with bizarre unknown (possibly heretical) psychery. 

Olly looks down to the chocolate rocks he'd brought with him. “Do you think they'll like the candy?” 

Kerubiel sneered a little, his arms crossed over his chest, still not certain why they needed to be interacting with a baseline human that wasn’t Bonded to a Night Lord, but somehow someone that they cared for. 

“Meet'in a new person won’t, likely hurt us,” Thressl noticed the look on his face and shoved an elbow into his side, “lighten up ya sour puss!”

If Kerubiel had actual fur it would've raised in hackles at that comment. “I am not a Sour Puss!” He hissed. 

Thressl smiled. “Sounds like somethin a sour puss would say.”

Kerubiel huffed. “I just don't understand why we're playing baby sitter to a soft handed, Soft Headed baseline.” He turned to get back to his proper task. 

Only to be met with Claude appearing Right in his face. The Dark Angel nearly jumped at having his space taken up so suddenly. His teal eyes were Deathly, serious. “Don't call them that. Unless you want me to tell Captain Ash'val you've had another ‘lapse in good sense.’”

Lion on the Hill what the Fuck?! Kerubiel had never seen Claude look so serious…and Much less threaten to rat him out to a First Born??

Still though! He wouldn't take it back, he just…wouldn't push the issue. “Fine…but only because it would be unbecoming as a son of the First.” He groused. “When are they supposed to be here anyway?!” He asked, trying to distract himself from Claude still Staring at him. 

He was three seconds from bapping Claude in the face, when a call came from up the path they'd taken. Claude rolled his shoulders and tilted his chin a little, his eyes flashing teal- ready to smack the shit out of his brother cousin if need be.

Claude did break from staring him down to swivel his head in the direction. All of the Primaris Marines hear someone coming over, and Claude relaxes, and smiles a little when he spots Khopesh and Lullaby

“We have arrived!” Khopesh called out to his gaggle of little brothers and cousins. 

“And we brought cake!” Your voice came after. “Hi Claude!” 

Claude happily approached you and Khopesh first, as you were set down on your own feet. You approached the short haired Primaris, and offered a hug, which Claude gladly accepted. He keeps half an eye on Kerubiel- just in case the other tries to smack him when he turns his back on the other.

The firm but affectionate squeeze lasted a perfect amount of time, as Khopesh then took his turn… He returns the gesture to you very gently, making sure to not use too much strength.

“C'mere you little Bird Fiend!” He growled playfully, snatching up Claude and lifting him a bit off the ground. 

Claude tilts his head back in a laugh, and hugs Khopesh back just as strongly.

“Ah brother this is a bit much!” Claude stated but didn't actually struggle. Khopesh did acquiesce to placing him down with a gentle thud! Followed by playfully ruffling his hair. 

“So! What is there to eat!? I've spent all morning around food I wasn't allowed to eat.” Khopesh says cheerfully, before taking several deep sniffs of the air. “OoOooh! Brawts from the Bakery run by that Templar. Yes!”

You notice a much…Taller fellow standing a bit awkwardly behind Claude. He has something in his hands. 

“Olly, Cousin! Come here!” Khopesh crows joyfully. “This is my Lullaby.” He introduces you and you give a small wave and a “Hello,”

“I've told you about them before.”

Olly has a look of realization. “Oh! Is this the human you said you wanted to place in a terreriu-

Khopesh cuts his adorable dense cousin off. “Ah Hey! What have you made now? More things that bubble and foam?”

Olly seems to shift a little in place. “Ah No Sorry…didn't have the time or supplies. I made chocolate rocks with candy shells and gems inside. I Hope they are to everyone's liking…”

You peak to see and indeed, that's what he's got in the box he carries. “They Look good! I can't wait to try one!”

“You can have one now if you like?” Olly says shyly as he approaches the pair of them. The colors of the chocolate are slightly off- made from natural (safe to consume for baselines and space marines) colors. Rather than that weird ‘food dye’ stuff that comes from uh… less natural stuff? Which tasted wretched he could taste Red 3, and it was. DISGUSTING. Yuck.

“If it's okay with you.” You agree holding the cake in one hand and your other one out. 

Olly smiled, and grabbed a piece of his candy (tamping down on the urge to spend minutes finding Just the right one), handing it to you. Although, he did pick one of the Best Looking and Smelling one. He had tasted tested- and had the others taste test them (and had a Baseline human- one who was Bonded to Hura, try them, just in case. Baseline humans had different tastes, different preferences, but sometimes Astartes made food that could be… odd to baseline human palates.)

You examine the candy, marveling at the color and the tiny bits of sugar gems. “It almost looks too good to eat! You made these?” You ask for a bite to see the cross section. 

There is a cross section of the blue colored chocolate jewel candy, the thin coating of candy is a nice blue, with dark chocolate with little ‘gems’ of crystalized sugar and bits of jam. A cross between a chocolate truffle and a jammy candy.

“Yes,��� Olly says, then rambles on the process he had to go through in order to make the candies, the temperatures, the timing, the flavors and the combinations, and why he’d chosen the colors and flavors he had- he was able to ramble more when Kerubiel stomps over and shoves a sandwich in his mouth.

“Olly, shush!” Kerubiel says, “I doubt they care about you prattling on about candy making. Honestly, you need to learn to be quiet.”

“... Yes Keru,” Olly says, shuffling his feet and trying not to visibly wilt. 

OH! Oh No, This catty bitch did Not. “Actually! I Like hearing him talk about baking and candy making.” You huff. “And no I'm not just saying that to Spite you, though I do enjoy doing that.” You aim pointedly at the…familiar Dark Angel. 

You turn a much kinder gaze onto Olly. “I'd be a big hypocrite if I didn't like candy making. I got my bachelors in chemistry after all, they say chefs are born in the kitchen. Chemists, are born in the bakery…candy store in this case but you get what I mean.”

It is Now Kerubiel fully recognizes both the Night Lord and the Baseline human. Oh no. Not them. Again. Claude as does Thressl, and they both notice the way that Kerubiel reacts to them and they look at each other and then at Kerubiel and are on either side of him, and wait for the scolding to end.

“What did you do?” Thressl asks Kerubiel, a shit eating grin on his face.

“When did you meet Lullaby and Khopesh?” Claude asks.

“And how badly did you piss them off?” Cedric asks, with a disappointed sigh. Kerubiel was great at a lot of things, socializing was not one of them. And he was shit at socialization at times. The Dark Angel just groans at the indignity of the memory, and his subsequent punishment.

“It's fascinating how just a change in temperature can Completely alter the resulting structure of the final product! I mean take caramel for example!” You posit. “Bless my mother she tried to make me a caramel syrup when we were out of the regular kind one morning, but the temperature was off and we ended up with caramel drops that were like Cement on our French toast. Couldn't even eat it, because it hurt our teeth. And getting it off the plates was a Nightmare.”

“It’s a lot of fun!” Olly says, after finishing the Surprise Bite of the sandwich, that Kerubie had shoved it into his face, and pulled the rest of it out of his mouth.

“Khopesh also said something about bubbling and foaming? Do you make other things besides candy?”

Olly nodded. “I have made Marble soda before, using marble pieces and the base facilities. I was told it was quite enjoyable.”

You balked for a moment. “Wait! You actually made soda out of rock? How??”  Then your chemist brain caught up. “Marble has Calcium Carbonate! You actually used the calcium carbonate in the marble to make the Carbon Dioxide for the soda water? That's amazing!”

“Yes- it was a lot of fun to figure out how to make- and the experiments were still edible- uh, by Astartes standards, anyways.” Olly says, with a big grin on his face as his eyes sparkled. He didn’t have the patience to be a fully trained Chemist- trying to understand the different symbols and whatever the fuck a neutron is and why the different numbers matter hurt his brain. The teacher-brother had said that “you asked the right questions, but can’t seem to do the math, I think you’re better off staying a battle brother, little one.”

“What acid did you use? Or what source?” You ask excitedly. “Or I guess boiling or heating would allow for thermal decay which would also release CO2. One moment.” You place the cake down on the picnic table and pick up a Stick and your phone. 

“There are acids that can be used? Source? I did the boiling and heating method,” Olly replied.

“Source as in what food ingredient. For example, vinegar has acetic acid or lemon juice has citric acid. But you did the thermal option so in that case…” You reference your phone and drawn 

         CaCO3 — Heat –-> CaO + CO2 

“In simple terms you took this starting ingredient or Reagent, and applied heat until it broke apart into Calcium Oxide and Carbon Dioxide, notice how the same number and types of symbols appear on both sides, they've just been rearranged. When you were heating a white powder was left behind and discarded, that is the Calcium Oxide. The other is the gas you used to infuse the soda. So your not human safe products likely had too much Calcium Oxide.” You declare. “Which would have made them more bitter and well…poisonous.”

You break from your rambling, realizing you got a bit Too excited. “I Really like chemistry…sorry.”

“Oh no! You misunderstand.” Olly reassures you. “You are correct that the ones that were not baseline safe Did have a much more bitter taste- and activated the anti-poison glands.” Olly says. “Um- Zaarius was happy to take the Calcium Oxide off my hands for… some… thing? Huh… I probably should have asked the Chaos Chemist what he wanted with the by product, yeah? Hm. But well- at least he has a use for it… whatever it was.”

“Maybe he's making Cement or blowing shit up.” You say, mostly joking…mostly. “Calcium Oxide, also known as Quick Lime, is Caustic and reacts with water.”

“Ah, oh dear,” Olly says, “Cement is the friendlier option. I don’t think that Hura would allow him to blow up the Rot Bone Base. Uh- maybe let Anrir know?”

He had looked towards Khopesh and Claude at that. He hadn’t known that white powdery stuff could be used to make concrete, or into an explosive. But- it made sense why the Chaos Marine would want it. And why he’d paid so well for the powder, once he knew what it had come from. Oh bother.

There are some stumbling, scuffling noises- and a space marine, of similar size to the primaris in badly damaged yellow-gold armor looking armor with red accents and with a black and white checker-marked pauldron with a bleeding heart in the middle. 

Nanael comes over, “Sorry I’m late! I got - uh- waylaid- oh no. Am I too late?” He had brought some of the last minute items that they had run out of - and had been sent off to go get and was back. “I got the stuff…”

“Welcome,” you pipe up cheerfully. “We've got cake and food and some damn fine candy rocks so even if you've come by accident you should still snag some.” You say jokingly. 

The newcomer perks up at your greeting. “It’s nice to meet you- uh? I go by Nanael, what’s your name?”

Nanael blinks down at you then over at Khopesh and tries not to growl at the Night Lord. Shifting closer and setting the stuff down. “Thanks for getting it Nanael,” Cedric says. “This is Lullaby, and the Night Lord is Khopesh. He’s one of Claude’s Claw.”

“Nice to meet you Lullaby,” Nanael says to you. He looks over at Khopesh, a calculating gaze in his blue-red eyes. “... I’m glad to meet a couple of people that Claude cares for so much. I have heard some. Interesting things. About both of you. Good things.”

“Awwww! Claude, you been talking sweet about me behind my back?!” You ask with glee, “I'd honestly say there's no better compliment than someone speaking well of you, even when you're not there.”

“Well Yeah,” Claude says, “you’re pretty cool. And some- uh- some of us haven’t really met many baseline humans before coming to Ancient Terra in non-combat situations before.”

You notice Jophiel looking…unsure when Claude says that. You decide to pivot the subject a bit.

“I am curious…how many battles has each of you seen? Like I know ya'll are all different ages From different ages, so who's got technically the Most experience out of all of you?” You ask, gesturing to the circle of space marines around you. 

A beat passes, and for a moment you feel the creeping dread of having committed a social faux paus crawling up your back and stirring in your gut. Cedric is not thinking about the fact that, due to the standards of certain eras, that Jophiel would be considered a Neophyte, not a Scout. He is so desperately not thinking about that.

Only for Khopesh to pipe up. “Well obviously it's me. I'm the oldest here!” He states confidently. 

“That is most likely true,” The Primaris say with varying levels of grace.

“How old are you?” Jophiel asks Khopesh. “I know that all of us have at least fought in… one battle- many of us multiple even!”

Your Nightlord seems to pause, thinking it over. “Hmm…you know what? I forgot!” He says simply eating another bite of brawt with a smile. 

“HUH!? How do you not know how old you are!?” You ask incredulously. 

Khopesh shrugs. “Never bothered to count. After I passed the trials, and became a full fledged Nightlord everything from before got pretty fuzzy.” He says, still eating. “Regardless, as a representative of the 30th millenia I am Confident I've got the most battle experience.”

“Well…true, but battle experience isn't Everything.” Thressel hummed, a glittering mischief in his eyes. 

Khopesh regarded the Primaris coolly, but with interest. “Is that so?”

“Aye! What do you say to a little…competition? Friendly match.”

Khopesh smiled and you suppressed a groan. “Right here right now? Don't tease me Scout, you don't play with a Nightlord when it comes to challenges.”

“You're on!” Thressel howls with excitement, literally, and bolts off into the more open part of the field. “Oi! Old timer! You gonna move those creaking bones or am I gonna have to wait for the 30th millenia to come again!?”

Cedric shakes his head, before standing. “Honestly,” He grumbles, then calls to the eager Space Wolf. “HOLD On If we're going to do this, we're going to do this the Right way.”

Khopesh stands, then dips back down to plant a kiss on your lips. “For luck! Watch me win my darling!” He bolts after, and the other Primaris turn to watch or gather near their brethren. Seems a small tournament is going to be held. 

Surprisingly, it's just you and Olly left by the picnic blankets while the others set up, and discuss rules. Things are peaceful, steady, if still a Little awkward with most of your mutual group out on the field. 

“So…” Olly posits. “How has your training with Claude and Karlsor been going?”

(!) “Uh…what do you mean?” You ask, trying to hide your underlying nerves. Does Olly mean…? No, no he couldn't Possibly. Why would he have been told-

“It's okay, Claude has nightmares occasionally and ah…he sometimes talks in his sleep.” Olly explained sheepishly 

Fuck. 

“So wait…you know about…the Thing?” You ask carefully, trying to keep your voice down. Olly nodded. 

“You have some gifts that need training and to keep quiet about it,” Olly says, “I won’t tell anyone else- and Claude doesn’t know that I heard his nightmare-mumbling- and kept him from telling others. If you wanna talk about it with me you can.”

You glance at the others in the field. “Are they far enough away? They can't hear us.” Olly nods again. 

You take a deep breath. “Well I'm not…unhappy. But I'm also…frustrated.” You explain, still keeping your voice down. “In theory I Should be able to project my gift further, so I can use it Without needing to touch things.”

“I've learned how to intentionally move psychic energy from one space marine to another. I've even learned to make it go the Opposite direction it would naturally flow. It's like walking against the flow of a stream but I can do it…”

“But no matter how hard I push, I can't seem to make the…roots of my power don't go out further than a couple of inches…” You say, rubbing the back of your neck awkwardly. 

“And…though it's unrelated, I can feel Jophie still isn't comfortable with me being here…” You say, with a little more sadness coming into your voice. “I guess part of me hopes if I can learn and Do more…he and others wouldn't be so afraid. I know that's silly, people are going to fear, it's their choice what they do with that fear. Still…kinda stings though.”

Olly hums for a moment, thinking over what you've just told him. He pulls out a candy rock and hands it to you, before taking one for himself and beginning to chew on it. 

“I don't know what to tell you about Jophiel…but for your Gift Perhaps…” Olly posits as he eats. “If your gift takes the form of Roots, maybe it doesn't want to travel in the air. Maybe it would prefer to travel through the ground?” He offers. 

You both sit there for a moment. Olly seems to think the pause is awkward and coughs a bit. “Ah sorry, that's a silly idea isn't it…”

“No, I think it makes a bizarre amount of sense and I'm…kinda surprised I hadn't thought about that.” You reassure him. You place your hand to the ground between the two of you. “I can't see it normally, but tell me if you Feel something…” You ask him. 

Olly looks confused. “Alright…what am I meant to feel?” 

You push on your power, taking hold of that subtle thread as you'd been trained to do. “Claude says it feels like…”

“Calm…” You glance up at Olly, who's now looking down at you with…well Wonder. “It feels calming…soothing…like a comforting hand on the shoulder but…in the heart.”

You smile widely. “Hang on Olly! Let me back up.” You scramble back a few steps then place your hands down again. “Ready?”

Olly nods and again, you push. It takes a moment, but Olly holds up his thumb when he feels the power connect. You feel the connection too. It's subtle but it's there. Olly grins a little- happy to be able to help, he doesn’t know much about Psykery, but he’s heard his Psyker touched brothers talk about it, part of sounds like it’s about finding the …resonance of things? 

Or something like that. Like with Psyhicic lightning- it’s like normal lightning, it wants to go down with the least resistance, so learning to not fight that and to direct and ground it so to speak is one of the major stumbling blocks- or so he’s heard the others complain about when he’s heard them talk about it. 

So he’s glad his idea about the roots wanting to be in the soil and loam, rather than in the air, is more than just a silly idea. Perhaps once they are more trained- and have a better idea of what they can do they’ll be able to push their roots through the air more? Sometimes that’s the case, sometimes it isn’t.

“What if I move?” Olly calls out to you- and then sends a vox text message that shows up on your phone. [Let’s see how far the reach of your root network is. I’ll back up a few steps.]

You give a thumbs up and the Ultramarine scrambles much like you had, just in the opposite direction. The others are still completely taken up with their sparring. Olly nods, and continues to move.

After counting his steps he sends another text message [I’m going to climb a tree and see if the Effect is still in place.]

After that he starts to climb- getting onto a supportive branch. You can just Barely see a bit of blue in the tree line, so you Push in that direction.

It's hard, but you feel a difference when you Assume your roots reach past the trees. You text Olly with one hand. [Can you feel it?]

No response comes for a moment, as you strain to make your roots Reach to their new maximum. But before Olly can respond you feel…something else. 

(!)You- you lose focus, and stop pushing causing the power to dissipate. You…you could've Sworn you felt…a Tap?

It was like something reached out to your roots and literally…poked them?? But that's not possible, the only one in the trees is Olly and he hadn't mentioned being able to do that?

Suddenly, your stomach feels…uneasy. You place your hand to the ground and push again, past the trees, past Olly on his branch. 

You pay closer attention. You feel the connection to Olly, same as you had before but there was…something that didn't feel like Olly, it didn't even feel like Claude or Karlsor or Xerxes or Dölgöön or any other psycher you'd touched it felt…

Dangerous. 

Draco had been walking through the forest- when he’d felt something strange- he had felt a light psychic energy. It wasn’t one that he recognized- so he’d crouched down and put his armored hand to the ground. He lightly reaches out his senses and pokes at the… whatever it is.

‘I wonder what that is?’ Draco thinks to himself. His brow furrows as he stretches out his senses to try and find the source of the strange weak psychic presence. It’s drowned out by some far brighter- and some far more familiar psychic presences- and some new ones as well.

Ah…the Scoutlings…and Other Scoutlings. Draco straightens back up to his full height. 

[Come to me.] Draco commands Jophiel and Claude- not only them, but to Thressl, Kerubiel and the very untrained Nanael.

Nanael- unaware of his nascent Psyker powers, that comes with his Perpetual state collapses to the ground clutching his head as his nose bleeds. “W-wh-what the fuck is this?!”

Jophiel, Claude, and Thressl all sway and groan clutching their heads and swear. “Fuck- it’s that silver bastard again.” Claude groans out.

Kerubiel hisses like an angry cat and clutches his head- he refuses to collapse- the way the other’s are. He’s a Son of the First- he’s better than that. The booming voice- has no Power of Him!

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Thressl bellows out loud and with his Psykery. Damned witch- trying to take his mind- Out- OUT. GET OUT!

You whip your head back to the sparring matches at Thressel's pained howl. It's not just him though; Claude, Thressel, Nanael, and Kerubiel are all doubled over. Cedric, Ramiel and Khopesh are frantically trying to get the Scouts to Tell them what's wrong!

“Silver bastard,” Claude manages to choke out to Khopesh. Fuck his vision is going strange.

“BAH! ENOUGH! FACE US COWARD!” Kerubiel snarls, you notice he turns a certain direction so you do as well. Something moves just beyond the tree line and your eyes are met with a reflective Flash.

Your heart Sinks into the acid churning your stomach into nausea. 

no…No…NONONONONONONONO! You tremble, you shake, your legs lock up and you find yourself unable to move. 

Time seems to slow, and what fills your ears becomes muffled. 

A bright flash in the trees…

Reflections of glimmering gold armor…

NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO-

It's only when Khopesh's voice breaks through the haze that you come back to the present. “Silver Witch! Get your disgusting slimy mind bastardry Out of My Scouts Heads!” 

Wait…Silver? And that's when you see the true face of the current threat stride into the clearing where you'd all had your picnic. 

It's not an insurmountable monster in gold, but an unfamiliar and smaller Goliath in silver. Another Space Marine?

“Enough foolishness!” The silver space marine bellows again, and you see the way the psycher scouts tremble; grasping their skulls like something is ringing inside them. “Stand aside Bratlings, and I will make yours and your cousins discipline Merciful.”

Khopesh sets himself into position, alongside Ramiel and Cedric. They form a defensive wall between the afflicted Primaris, and the silver Goliath. 

Olly is Carefully hopping from tree to tree to get closer to The Asshole Witch in Silver. He heard about this asshole being here- and now from the others. Had seen some of his ilk take his Psyker brothers away. Some returned, some didn’t. Not again- he’s not going to let one of them take his brothers or cousins away!

You hear Khopesh respond, “It is You who will need Mercy, Silver Witch. But you will find it sorely lacking from us!”

Cedric's voice is lower, but were you to hear it you'd feel your bones ice over at the murderous tone coming out of the Marine you knew as a kind young apothecary. Who liked hugs but felt awkward about asking for them. 

“You wouldn't be the first body I've buried,” Cedric assures the Silver Witch. “Nor the first psycher to meet that fate, Any who threaten my brothers will be shown the same end.”

Ramiel, doesn't speak, his mind is pure focus, following and complementing the formation of his two other brothers. They are outmatched, and forced to defend, but they will give it their All.

A beat passes then…

The Silver Goliath becomes a blur, when your eyes can catch him again he has caught Rami with a blow, but the young Templar holds as firm as he can. It still causes him to skid back, leaving trenches in the earth. 

Cedric and Khopesh counter, setting upon the Silver Marine. Dealing with two opponents doesn't seem to phase him terribly, he bats away their strikes. 

For a moment it seems Khopesh has left him an opening, striking with his Lightning Claw his raised arm is a hazard. The Silver Knight moves to Capitalize!

Only for Khopesh to feint, turning both claws to catch the swinging blade, one sinking Into the Grey Knight's ceramite gauntlet. Like Ramiel he's pushed back a bit leaving short curved trenches, Cedric attacks the Goliath’s other side, covering and taking advantage of Khopesh momentarily stopping the sword blow.  

Only for the Silver Marine to raise his non-sword hand and set off a Blast of crackling silver Lightning, pushing Cedric back who is caught by Ramiel.   

“CEDRIC!” You scream in horror seeing the apothecary sporting soot marks and smokestacks on the armor he's wearing. 

“AGRh!” You turn back, seeing the Silver Bastard. Khopesh managed to pull one of his claws free and Sink it into the Bastards side while the fucker was busy frying Cedric. 

“VILE GUTTER RAT!” Draco bellows indignantly.  

Khopesh smiles with his full sharp teeth before he uses his claws to pull himself close and Slam the bastard for a jumping headbutt. It causes the Goliath to stagger, not expecting such an undisciplined move, but that's all Khopesh needs. He wrenches his stabbing lightning Claw free, and ferociously repeats the action, while the Other claw is still awkwardly impaling the bastard's hand, keeping them joined. 

And making the squirmy bastard Very hard to Hit! Draco thinks. As the Nightlord stays aggravatingly close, too close for punches or kicks to make impact. 

Meanwhile, Cedric only pauses for a moment to set back on his feet, before he lunges back into the fray alongside Ramiel. They capitalize on Khopesh being essentially attached to the Grey Knight: flanking their tormentor, and attacking his sides. 

The Grey Knight Is having a little more trouble batting aside these blows with the added weight of a Nightlord slowing his movements, And the bratlings, coming from his 3 and 9. Annoying little wretches! They want him to get mean? Fine!! He will get mean. 

You watch with hope as it seems your Space Marines are doing it! They're forcing him back! 

Until you see another crackling light, appear. Your heart jumps into your throat. “Watch Ou-!” You cry, but it's too late. 

A shock wave of silver lightning Blasts in a ring around the Goliath, knocking the attacking Space Marines down and back. This time they can't seem to get up as easily, and remnant sparks fizzle over their armor. 

“NO!” You cry out. This…this is your Nightmare! 

Weak, Pathetic, Not even worth a backwards glanc- Shut Up! There must be Something you can do! But it will mean...

Everyone with Know.

If the Silver Monster hears you he pays you no mind. Instead he flexes the fingers of his impaled hand, fucking casually. The psycher blast seems to have tired him a bit, but he's no where near going down.

He strides past the Space Marines he's just incapacitated, perhaps the shock has locked up their armor? They're still alive, at least you think (please be alive please still be alive Please Please Please!)

He's making his way to the Scouts, still incapacitated themselves, but they try…God they try to stand and fight. 

“We…we won't! We won't go with you!” Claude hisses. 

Though it strains him Draco uses his psychic voice. [Silence!] He says, forcing the defiant Scout to Bow. 

“That's better…Enough of your defiance. Obedience is what is expected of you. Now ACT LIKE I-!” He reinforces the next shout so it hurts more. All the Scouts tremble but he's cut off by a sudden Crashing weight!

“FOR MACRAGGE!” A voice bellows and the awful sound of Ceremite on Ceremite Screeches through the clearing! 

Draco is dumbfounded for a moment, only to find arms in Blue Ceramite wrapped around his midsection, pinning his arms and SQUEEZING. The strength is actually making it hard to breath, and denting the ceremite around his waist.

Draco glances behind and sees another unfamiliar face, another Scout, but Clearly not a psycher.…A shame, he must have guts or be Severely stupid. But the guts would be beneficial to a user of the psychic arts. 

As it stands though this Scout is just another Waste of his Time. Draco focuses his psychery into his core, and releases another Blast.

You watch in horror as Olly, sweet wonderful Olly is also Blasted back like your Khopesh…Like Ramiel…Like Cedric…

His body lays limp with the crackle of psychic lightning just like the others.

No…No…NO!

You slam your hands to the ground and you Push! You know this could mean your secret getting out, and you don't even know if you can soak up power like this but you're going to fucking try! You push your power to reach your Space Marines, to reach the Silver Bastard, you push to the fucking Limit!

And when you try…you finally See. 

[stellamancer]

wonweek x niku x sunday? please elaborate if you have a surplus of thoughts 🎤

FACE IN MY HANDS MANUUUUUU

i'm putting this under a read more since i know there are some that are not caught up entirely (namely zebra). also. it's long. i have yapper disease.

first off, as much as i want to say that this is all mao's fault, it's most definitely not because EYE am the one who told her about a week and a half ago, unprompted, that 'i wouldn't mind being stuck in the middle of sunday-wonweek sandwich' and i said it again last night as she was playing and, well, it escalated. quickly.

anyway, since wonweek technically only existed in the dreamscape as a manifestation of sunday's split psyche and i have the occasionally debilitating desire to remain as canon compliant as possible i feel like wonweek x niku x sunday is possible in an instance in which we visit a star system much like asdana which has a lot of memoria that is concentrated enough to allow wonweek to take physical form/go back to penacony lol (in which case sunday would likely have to disguise himself again).

i'd say the reason sunday splits again is due to his own inner conflict regarding me. at this point we're maintaining a fairly stable friendship, and while sunday has caught feelings, he outright refuses to acknowledge them. something probably happens right before this (read: sunday gets JEALOUS because i personally love jealousy plots omg) that really stokes his inner conflict and just some catalyst happens and he splits.

i think it would be pretty funny to be there when it happens, just like, flash of light and there are suddenly two sundays and one is more way amicable and casual that the sunday i'm familiar with and it's really weird, but also kind of refreshing in a way. wonweek flirts with me which annoys sunday a fair bit LMAO and later the two of them talk and wonweek basically is like 'hey, listen, i know you don't wanna hear it from me but since you refuse to acknowledge it for yourself i'm just gonna tell you straight; you got it bad for this girl.' and i think he does admit it to wonweek but sunday is like '....i can't tell her.' which annoys wonweek who, in turn,is like 'well if you're not going to do anything about it then EYE will.'

cue wonweek flirting with me. almost aggressively. i think, similar to sunday, i don't really acknowledge the feelings i have, but more i think they're going to be unrequited. wonweek clocks it quickly (i mean he is part of sunday after all, so he's surely observant; in that sense sunday likely refused to see it) and basically starts to just flirt with me 1) because as part of sunday he is naturally interest in me too and 2) he enjoys antagonizing sunday.

things come to a head when wonweek gets me alone in my room or something and we talk and he gets it out of me that i have feelings for sunday (not like it was hard- not that i crack easily, i am just a bad liar in which i get so flustered in my denial that it's obviously a lie) and poor wonweek finds out i'm being just as passive about this as sunday and he's like 'okay i'm fucking taking things in my own hands' and just kisses me and i'm like '?!' he says something to remind me he's part of sunday and uh. i guess we just make out some.

MEANWHILE sunday has a very bad feeling and comes looking for me and he's at the door and i wrestle wonweek off of me long enough to try and answer and uh. well. wonweek lands a very intentionally timed bite or something and i yelp and sunday puts two and two together and realizes wonweek is in the room and comes into the room and at that point enough is enough and next thing i know he's kissing me too and uh. from there on i am basically caught in the middle of a tug of war session between sunday and wonweek. that may or may not result in both of them tag teaming poor little niku. at this point my thoughts are very much informed by mao's goading that sunday is being extremely possessive (even tho wonweek is part of him????) and wonweek is taunting sunday while they take turns banging me.

anyway, once i get past the horniness i think this actually a hilarious situation LMAO. i've always found amusment in silly relationship dynamics and the thought of wonweek x niku x sunday really feeds that amusement, mostly because wonweek is part of sunday and so it's funny to think of sunday being so deeply annoyed at him when he's flirting with me because that's part of him or, as he puts it a possibility of him and if he weren't... so obstinate himself that could be him. and i think that would also burn him a little lol.

I'M SORRY THIS TURNED OUT TO BE AN ESSAY MANU!!! i hope you (and anyone else who reads this) enjoyed reading.... this is possibly the most embarrassing thing i have ever posted on stellamancer to date...

[thecoolerliauditore]

There was like, a very brief period where there was a few 'jimmy cheated on scott' fics. I guess I know why now. Personally it makes me uncomfy for two mains reason: 1) Its a wholly made up scenario just to make Jimmy the toxic one. 2) I can really only personally see it as a Scott narrative. You know, That Type of Ex who says 'no' when someone says they want to break up. (And 3) they tend to tag the cheating ship as the ship and personally it's a bit upsetting to be looking up a ship and get a fic where they're cheaters and its all about this other character overcoming them, but that's a personal ick thing and they are using the tagging system correctly technically, its more a problem with there being no way to differentiate those types of ship tags from each other. It's just a bit personally upsetting to see a fic tagged with your ship and also 'happy ending' but the happy ending is them falling apart and unhappy which makes the cheated on party happy with no warning that's what it meant. Rambling, sorry...)

I think if you wanna interpret Jimmy as toxic y'ought to focus on the post-relationship period (honestly I feel this way about fh in general, nothing in their brief time together is nearly as interesting as their time after reacting to their ex to me) cause you could make a case for Jimmy being unnecessarily hostile and not wishing Scott well at all. (This I think works best if the relationship was toxic cause then you have a guy going to the opposite extreme in reply to a bad relationship, but works just as well Jimmy being That Ex that always says their ex was crazy that Scott also play in DL)

Personally I don't think there's a good faith way to dig into the thing Jimmy might have done wrong while ignoring the more obvious things Scott did wrong, but exploration is the point of fanfics and AUs. And I've read fics where people make Scott out to be Jimmy's only supporter in DL while everyone else bullied him and completely rewrote entire scenes to make Scott the hero, so you know, clearly a market for rewriting Scott's character specifically.

But my go to for toxic Jimmy in the context of fh is him being neglectful. Jimmy's always been half-hearted about the dynamic, including reframing it in his e1 pov, I think it isn't much of a stretch to elaborate that into full on getting into a relationship he wasn't enthusiastic about to begin with and the few things he does to contribute being token gestures. Maybe Jimmy tends to think the worst of the things Scott does and assume he's being condescended to (I think this works especially well if you want to make one or both autistic, cause it's very easy to read Scott's tone as such if you aren't on his wave length and Jimmy is very easily offended especially later on). I think maybe some wouldn't like that just because it requires having Jimmy not be enthusiastic about being with Scott, though.

If you interpret Scott as Aro and Jimmy as Ace, also, you can make an argument for them just doing all the wrong things and that building up resentment between them where neither want to do anything the other wants to do and that barrier of miscommunication only growing until it collapses in on them both.

But yeah, I personally have trouble not making both of them toxic if Jimmy is going to be toxic, but again most exploration fics focus in on one thing, so...

^^^for the other anon

I actually don't read much fic but yeah this makes sense to me. FYI i think the "cheating" read comes from people interpreting him and Scott as not fully broken up during the events of post-3L because there's never really a formal "we're not together anymore" announcement. But yeah looking for something for your ship and having it turn out to be a cheating fic is WILD LMAO

I don't vibe with a lot of this because I'm not fun BUT the aro scott/ace jimmy part is awesome I'm glad that seems to be catching on.

[defender-of-jouvente]

HEY!!!!

Apparently this is what we're doing now? Making blogs? Or something. And I don't wanna be left out! So here I am!!!

I'm Isabeau (he/him), ex-defender from Jouvente, currently traveling with the Saviors of Vaugarde. Nice to meet you!

(Could you call this an Isablog....? Hehehe.)

Act Directory

Profile

{Rules/Info Below Cut}

hey! this blog is run by an anonymous user who shall, from here on out, be dubbed "mundie". it uses ze/they/he pronouns, and will occasionally use it/its pronouns for itself. it is a hobbyist roleplayer who tends to go overboard with things, and also has a degree in the arts i guess.

mun is an adult- indeterminate amount of years rp experience yadda yadda yadda. lets get to the meat of things.

this is an isabeau rp blog! while it's still in the early stages, it will have full game spoilers- not to mention the mun will talk ooc with the general regard that it's followers have, in fact, completed the game. please tread with caution if you haven't finished it yet!

(also technically an au)

majority of assets (as well as the game itself) used on this blog are directly from isat and thus made by insertdisc5 unless otherwise stated. things like sprites and portraits may be edited as i see fit.

instances of textboxes are put together in the ISAT Dialogue Maker.

blog tries to remain as accessible as possible, and all images will include ids in alt text (unless I forget). distorted and colored text will have a translation located in the tags. let me know what i can do to make this blog more accessible for you!

Anon: Off. Learn to respect my friends’ time and energy or die by my sword.

Magic!Anon: Currently not allowed, several stashed in inbox.

Interactions: Allowed and welcome! I may not get to every one, for a rainbow variety of reasons I won't get into. I will simply do my best! (Note: You don't have to be in the "group" listed below to interact! Come n hang!)

Plot: Currently in Act 1

Main Group: @a-traveling-star (King), @housemaiden-of-change (Noah), @studies-of-nothing (Nin), @snacksleader (Bonnie), and @loopadoop - check them out to get more context on the main story!

Rules:

No sexual content. Try to keep it PG-13 in that regard. Everything else follows the general standards of the actual game-- things may get heavy, so please take care!

No harassment. I feel like this won't exactly discourage any potential attempts, but its good to set boundaries. If I deem your ask legitimately hurtful I'm just gonna delete/ignore it. This includes transphobia, racism, xenophobia, etc etc.

This blog, as well as it's companion blogs, moves at its own pace. This is largely improv with some minimal planning for structure- we don't have every little thing planned, and we are pretty unfamiliar with each other and still adjusting, so scheduling may be messy. Please don't rush us! This performance is just as much for us as it is for you.

Try to stay on topic! Goofs are welcome, but try not to derail during plot/story heavy moments. Asks may be held in "stasis" until they are relevant if they don't match up with the current goings on.

Spoilers and potentially triggering content will be tagged as such. If you have something you need tagged, shoot me an ask and I'll do my best to cover it.

Joke asks are fine as long as you behave. Me n Isabeau both have thick skin, but try not to push it. I'm not afraid to put my foot down if you make me uncomfortable.

You can talk to the mod/mun, but I may not always respond. If something is surrounded by {} <- these brackets, that's probably me speaking. Remember to address me if you want to actually, like, talk to me. (I often reserve ooc asks for mundays unless its pertinent, so keep this in mind!)

i see you there motherfucker. yeah you. i see you. what are you doing here. i TOLD you there are spoilers dude. hitting you with my broom hitting you with my broom hitting you with my broom h

[isa-ghost]

(BTW I'm very down with wanting sapnap being dead for being sapnap I just wanted to be sure I was hip qirh the kids and pissed for the Correct reason)

DLSKFLSJFSKF SORRY I WAS OUT TOUCHING GRASS WHEN YOU SENT ME YOUR FIRST ANON.

Also in hindsight I worded this answer like you have 0 clue who Shartnap is but I'm gonna keep it that way for anyone who sees this and Doesn't Go Here At All.

Here's a good overview post abt Crapnap from my friend.

This Specific Instance we're wishing death upon him more than the default amount because he's participating in Squidcraft, a Latino-made/hosted and primarily Latino-played Minecraft competition with a big cash prize. (Aka that irrelevant ass sweaty ass racist Texan is literally only playing to win more money he doesn't need. He also won last year's SC 🙄). Last year there were a few non-Latino players (like him), but this year there were a BUNCH, most likely thanks to the existence of QSMP. There were Americans, Brits, and French just to name a few!

My mutual @pixiecaps has been the most outspoken on my dash about the dumbshit being in Squidcraft, so I'll tag them here and they can add any additional context they see fit in the reblogs or replies. They might have insight or perspective that I don't bc they're Latino and I'm not. 👍🏻 And this was baby's first Squidcraft for me purely bc QSMP members were in it, so idk much abt previous ones whereas Pix might.

It's annoying enough that Crapnap is in the competition at all, but yesterday a bunch of other previous DSMP members (Philza, Tubbo, Foolish, to name a few) all died in one of the games together and were thus eliminated. Shatnap's petty nobody poopy ass was literally CHEERING when they all died, which is poor sportsmanship for one (he has none tho let's be real here), and two: No Toxicity is one of the competition rules. So by all means, he should be investigated by the Squidcraft mods and (hopefully) disqualified for his bullshit.

And some additional context bc my guess is this all plays into why he was so outwardly toxic like that: Tubbo has outspokenly hated the Dr*m Team for a while now. He also had direct beef with Shatnap bc the dumbfuck tried migrating to Kick (basically Twitch for bigots & predators, to say the least).

AND, most relevant and recent: Philza was just on Tommy and Jack Manifold's podcast Shut Up I'm Talking about a week ago, and on the Patreon version of the episode the three of them talked about how Dr*m is a piece of shit, they all hate him, and how nasty and weird he was behind the scenes during DSMP, especially to Tommy.

Dr*m Team 100% knows this was all said, bc a) some of it was clipped ofc and b) Dr*m fucking posted the DSMP world download as damage control after people started talking abt what was said on the episode bc god forbid he look bad and get negative attention for 2 seconds. He's been begged by numerous people for LITERALLY LIKE 3 YEARS to drop the world download and only JUST did it to do damage control and make himself look all good and innocent or At Least distract people (spoiler alert: didn't work, he just made himself look even more pathetic. He basically gave the people who correctly hate him a gift in addition to clowning on him).

Shartnap literally lives with Dr*m, so there's no way he doesn't know Tommy, Jack & Phil have spoken some of the truth TECHNICALLY PRIVATELY. IT WAS ON PATREON BEHIND A PAYWALL.

Soooo yeah. As usual, Dr*m Team fucking sucks ass (many such cases, no one is surprised). Crapnap is the ""last remaining"" of the Dr*m Team to not have some Extreme horrific controversy and that's what keeping him able to be in competitions like this, rather than isolated to a shitty corner with the other two dumbfucks. (CLARIFICATION: He DOES have controversies. You can assume what some of them are based off of things said in that post I linked. Plus the Kick thing. But in comparison to Dr*m [a groomer, among other things], and George [sexual predator, among other things], Shatnap is ""the least awful"" of them, which is almost definitely why he's still ""welcome"" in competitions like this one).

Additional silly context: I'm calling him variations of shit because he openly admitted sometime earlier this year that he shit himself (or at least sharted) on stream.

[moony-2001]

Lore Olympus ch. 257-262 critique pt. 2

Aaaand we're back

Ch. 260

Hermes, Hebe, and trauma dumping

Jumping right into it, Hermes pissed me right the fuck off. I don't know why Demeter didn't want to accept the aid from the underworld, but I'm sure pride must be some of it. But for Hermes to call it an "in-law tiffy-tiff" was beyond wrong. I don't know or remember what, if any, beef he has with Demeter but read the fucking room, man.

I'm so glad Demeter took Hebe in though, like the absolute Queen that she is. One thing that disturbed me a little when Hebe and Demeter got to talking is how Rachel tries to pass off Hera's trauma dumping on Hebe as if it's nothing.

First of all, 18-year-olds are still kids. I know (at least for the vast majority here in the US) that 18 is the legal age of adulthood, but the human brain doesn't finish developing until around age 25. Even if that's how the rules in LO work (I have a sneaking suspicion they're not though, seeing as Persephone is technically stuck at age 19 for the rest of time) Hebe is 7 years off from having a fully developed brain.

Additionally, I don't like how Rachel frames the idea that Hebe found out all of this information from her mother as a now 18-year-old. I don't know if Rachel is forgetting her own damn timeline (not that there was a cohesive one in the first place) but Hebe wouldn't have been 18 at the time of finding out this information.

Remember the 10-year time skip? Yeah, that whole thing? And how 5 of the 6 Traitors were in a coma? For 10 years? In case you haven't picked up what I'm trying to put down, Hebe was 8 years old when her mother went into that coma. Which means that Hera dumped all this information on a literal fucking child who was 8 or potentially even younger since we have no frame of reference for when Hebe was told this information.

Demeter is right. It is wrong to burden your kids with that. I don't know Rachel, but from this writing, I would venture a guess that she's never had a parent trauma dump on her.

I have. Rachel has no idea how mentally taxing it is to have a parent trauma dump on you or have them drag you into the middle of their fights or vent about their spouse/your other parent to you behind their back. That is not something a parent should EVER do to a child and I'll be damned if I ever do that to mine.

And while there is a shred of truth to what Hebe is saying, about how that information helps her understand her mom, Hebe does not (and in fact should not) be part of her mother's journey to work on herself, especially at that young of an age. Your child is not your therapist.

Demophon, the not child of Demeter

I will say, I am glad that Demeter finally decided to open up to her somewhat adult daughter. Oh, what's this? Persephone looks upset and-

😀😐

of-fucking-course

Is this it?? Is this the moment when we finally find out what happened to Demeter in Attica all those years ago-

Anyway, what we find out is that while in Attica, Demeter supposedly fell in love with the King of Eleusis and had Demophon, a my little pony-looking abomination not worse than whatever the fuck the above pictures are supposed to be. But if you note my title for this portion of the chapter, you'll see it says "the not child of Demeter". And that, dear readers, is because Demophon is in fact not a child of Demeter in the original myths. And Rachel also spelled his name wrong. (You can read more about him here: Demophon of Eleusis)

It seems to me that Rachel is doing what most couples with a failing relationship do: throw a baby at it and hope it will fix the problems.

What technicality? Do you mean the "technicality" that Demeter was punished for insubordination (regardless of her intentions) and lived as a mortal for 10 years? And during that time as a mortal had a son who was born as and died as a mortal? Forgive me if I'm being slow here, but I don't see what this "technicality" is supposed to be. How is Demophon's death any different from the mortals that Persephone killed and asked if it was possible to bring back?

I'm gonna sound a little nitpicky here, but Hades is the god of the dead (and wealth) not the god of death. Believe it or not, there is a difference, and the brushing aside of that difference is the reason why people still get Hades and Thanatos mixed up to this day. Plus does no one remember what happened to Asclepius when he figured out how to raise the dead? tl;dr: not good things.

I have a feeling that all this is happening because Persephone and Hades are trying to buy off Demeter. They want brownie points with the woman who is rightfully upset about everything that is happening right now. And I'll be willing to bet that this smooths things right over with her.

Ch. 261

Off-topic, Demeter looked really pretty in this chapter #standemeter

The "technicality" and Hades' BS

I am glad Demeter gets this small bit of happiness but also:

Nice try, but that's not how that works. Get your smug, ugly-ass mug out of here. Once again, why is Demophon the exception? Because you're whipped for Persephone? Because you want a gold star from your MIL who has perfectly valid reasons to not like you?

Ah. I guess his name is Triptolemus now. Triptolemus who is the older brother of Demophon. Who is also not a son of Demeter. Sure.

NO DON'T FALL FOR IT DEMETER. IT'S A TRAP-

The sisters

It is nice for the most part to see Hera, Demeter, and Hestia interacting. I don't think that's something we've seen outside of flashbacks.

I don't, however, like this interaction between Demeter and Hera:

Yeah, no, that's not how that works. Demeter has every right to be mad at you for helping Hades and Persephone get around the fact that they "violated the laws of Xenia (hospitality)". It doesn't matter if Persephone was a "wild card". Hera had no right to marry them.

In fact, I had a conversation with anoldplace and something we discussed is how much Hera's responsibility/involvement in Persades is kinda just... brushed off. Especially if you look back at the way early chapters (I'm talking s1 early) when Hera changes her tune from "wtf, that's so gross, what is wrong with you" to "Let me get this whole ball rolling". Persephone wouldn't have even had half the interactions she did with Hades had Hera not put her in that internship for the underworld. And Demeter doesn't even know about the early stuff. Think about how livid she would be if she found out Hera was pulling the strings from the beginning. Yikes.

Different topic but the fact that both Demeter and Persephone love to swim is cute.

Ch. 262

Jfc, finally. I'm so tired lol.

Hera's prophecy

In honor of Hera's ugly highlighter-looking color, the sections shall, too, be in yellow.

I was pretty excited to see that Hera got a vision. I'm also sad that this isn't something we see utilized more often in the series. In fact, we don't really see any of the goddesses use their powers besides... oh, for Christ's sake. I don't even want to say it, it just adds to her Mary Sue-ness.

Place your bets on how long it takes for Rachel to dress Persephone in something similar, if not identical, to this.

Moving on, we see Kronos smush and kinda throw Hera away and she's left wondering:

That's cute and all, but no. Like I huffed and puffed with the whole "attempted murder" bullshit with Zeus, for one to die, they must be mortal. If gods could die, they wouldn't be gods. They would be human looking at you Demophon. I understand why the sentiment of dying is upsetting, but Hera, Zeus, whomever cannot die. I suppose similar to Egyptian mythology, they could be chopped up and have their parts scattered to the winds but from what I've seen, there's nothing in Greek mythology that details anything like that.

I did see a really funky theory that I agree with that Hera must be some kind of fertility goddess. In fact, I've seen a lot of people speculate that she was the fertility goddess on the wall of that cave that was destroyed. It would be really wonderful if that greyed-out goddess in Hera's vision was her and not Persephone. Kinda like the ultimate "taking back the power" moment. But tbh I'm not hopeful.

Persephone and Hades... yay/s

*gag* anyway-

Hades decided to give the MORTAL Demophon his whole stash of ambrosia but he doesn't really know if it will actually work and he's salty that Zeus is stingy with it.

Okay, first of all, if it's that damn important that you have ambrosia and you're going to be a salty mofo that the only person who has it is stingy with it, make your own damn ambrosia. You're telling me you've been alive for thousands of years yet the thought hadn't occurred to you once? Bffr. Watch this come back and bite them in the ass in the series finale.

Secondly, if you've never done this before, how do you know it's going to work for Demophon? I mean, it probably will because plot armor, but seriously? What would happen if Demophon just kicked the bucket all over again? Like congratulations, you re-traumatized your wife's mother who already doesn't like you.

Final thoughts

This is all just unraveling so quickly. Watch Demophon disappear and never be addressed again. I am really hoping that this series wraps up between March and May like genericpuff predicted because I am tired. I mean, I'll miss the ability to make content while the material is still piping hot, but also reading this comic is taking a toll on my health. I have never seen my blood pressure in such a state. And I'm not even the one writing the comic.

I can't imagine being in Rachel's shoes rn. I know this point has been beaten to death by everyone and their moms (myself included), but it's so clear that Rachel just doesn't give a shit about this comic anymore. And it's sad. But I also get it.

Rachel has talked about after LO she wants to do a comic along the lines of this but involving Egyptian or Norse mythology. I hope she doesn't for very obvious reasons, but if she decides she wants to step up to the plate for what will inevitably be LO pt. 2, I hope she takes the time to actually research the cultures and learn from the very egregious mistakes that she made here. I won't be there if she does.

[tornoleander]

Wow, you're the beta reader for bbnb? I didn't know that. (So you can confirm that Hat is infact not dead because I haven't seen any activity from them in a while and my brain always jumps to worst case scenarios)

Anyway, definitely didn't forget to respond for like a week, but here are some of my theories/scenarios:

-I still think Cole's the one who'll remember bits and pieces because A. He's a ghost B. Hat used he/him when talking about who will remember and C. It would be incredibly emotionaly impactful

-HOWEVER, I think Pixal could also remember some stuff. None of the emotional stuff but she did technically die when Nadakhan erased her. Besides, it could be fun to see her try to let Jay or Nya know she remembers while still stuck to Zane.

-also Zane's falcon died but he was never mentioned in this fic so 😔

-Jay DEFINITELY has c-ptsd. Like, 100%, I'm sure the nurse/psychologist whose name I forgor would agree with me

-I'm pretty sure Wu just died by some falling island or something like that. Or he could've died by the storm, that would be cool.

-I know he said that swearing is a sign of weak verbal skills but I feel like Jay would start swearing more for comfort. Like, Nadakhan hated it but never truly did anything horrible to him because of it :)

most of the scenarios in my head play out with the ninja being captured again

-for example, Jay using his internal electricity to shock someone when they all have vengestone

-or them getting tazed and Jay sending the current back like he did in the electric chair

-or they're all traped and saying shit like "there's no other option" or something and Jay replying with "suicide's still an option" like that's a normal thing to say which obviously worries the others

And then there's the non captured scenarios

-something something Jay falling into autopilot after being told/asked to clean to ship and ends up also cleaning the hull "Why are you cleaning the bottom? We're in the air and you're not even tied to anything???" ".... trauma response?"

-or just straight up Jay having a panic attack out of seemingly sowhere (Cole said he wished he could eat cake again)

Anyway, those are the things I could think of right now, there's more but it's 3:39am and I'm tired :3

Hope it's not too long lol

Yep! As of ch 15. Me and hat have been chatting for a while and I bug them for feedback on Art accuracy so I help them with some writing corrections too!

I have been working on beta reading earlier chapters as well currently half way through 4. It is certainly an experience but now I yell my feelings into comment instead of just the void

*reaches through horrific horror to correct spelling mistake.

Yup Hat is alive! They were just fixated on something else for a while but they are back.

Ok now for scenarios

-Cole remembering bits……. I will refrain from giving my thoughts.

-Pixal and Zane’s falcon died pretty early so I do think they may remember up till then but It probably wouldn’t help understand much.

-I don’t think Wu died? But it’s not impossible.

-CPTSD?

I will ask hat about this one but seeing as bbnb events qualify as at least 4/6 of these causes of it AND ptsd is a tag I’m going to give it a yeah. Cause non complex ptsd is typically less prolonged.

-the swearing I do think he might do more but not necessarily for comfort

-For your head scenarios I am not sure all the ways hat is planned show how the events of the fic messed him up. But I know they’re a big fan of consequences for events…

From what I’m guessing he is going to be trying his best to hide everything and it’ll be somewhat canon compliant? But to be fair He is pretty consistently the most mentally unstable ninja. Take This with a big grain of salt I’m saving the analysis for my skybound video, but his behavior does generally line up well with SA surivers. the first time that Jays a prisoner post Skybound is when he says “You don’t argue with a man who’s navel is that close”

Which

Drives me insane by the way

Side tangent, I’ve been doing a lot of Skybound digging for my eventual video essay. And my current best theory on why this is a line has to do with SA of men being played for laughs.

Like older audiences are supposed to hear that and find it fucking funny. It’s unfortunately not uncommon in kids programming. My quest to best explain why S6 is so uncomfortable has been… enlightening. Terrified of approaching a controversial topic so I have been learning a-lot about approach and how to not be awful. But my fixation is being channeled led into the eventual Skybound video.

Hope I answered what you wanted to know and It wasn’t purely my Adhd rambling

[loz-chainsofcorruption]

11. Is it possible to ask for Song? Or is that a spoiler?

HAHA nah no spoiler. Everyone, you can tell this person knows me as they're asking about a character I have yet to introduce from a story I have yet to talk about.

For context, I've got another AU of my own where A Bunch of Link's Meet called The Legend of Zelda: Scattered Light. There's similarities to Jojo's (I mean, we're all basing them off of the heroes that already exist, so I suppose it's inevitable), but it's definitely different in some ways. One of the heroes, separate from Vet (that is, the Hero of Legend, though in this AU he'll go by Vet) is called Song. His adventures were the games Tri Force Heroes and Cadence of Hyrule. (I know according to the timelines, technically the hero that did those adventures is also the one who did ALBW but I think grumpy boy + Ravio is funnier so I'm tweaking things a bit 🤫)

So! I guess you all get to meet him now. Note, this is NOT Linked Universe so please don't tag it as such..(Finished piece under the cut since it's kinda long)

11: Drastic

-

Song was a sweet person. Everyone could agree on that - he was friendly, upbeat, and put up with Vet’s snide comments just as smoothly as Sky, their other resident sweetheart.

Of course, the group had only known each other for a few days, so it turned out that each smile in response to biting words was merely a cover for what was building underneath before the young man finally snapped.

It was very clear to everyone from the start that the Vet was frustrated with Song’s descriptions of his adventures. Many of the others couldn't even fully disagree with his ire, even if they disagreed with how open he could be about it. It was hard not to feel jealous. Dressing up in helpful costumes while running around with teammates by your side? Dancing around the kingdom?

His two adventures sounded like a walk in the park compared to their own. For the vet, who had gone through a number of adventures he had yet to specify but was certainly more than any of the others, it was understandable that it especially rubbed him the wrong way. 

But finally, all of the vet's remarks came to a point.

“Maybe Song has a pretty dress he can throw on that'll help him dance his way through this,” the veteran muttered.

Song came to a halt, spinning around with a smile on his face that was frighteningly different from the usual. His normal smile in response to Vet’s sharp comments gave off an air of “couldn't care less”, like nothing in the world could bring him down. It was admirable, really. And maybe that was why people hadn't scolded the veteran for his words as much as they should have. Their own quiet jealousy combined with the fact that it didn't seem to bother Song had led to complacency.

But this smile was all sharp edges, even as it curved his eyes into almost pleasant-looking crescents. The small, pointed wings of his eyeliner had never looked so knife-like before and the blue of his eyes looked like ice.

“Alright. I think that's quite enough of that,” the teen said. His voice was deceptively chipper. Something lying underneath that tone had everyone shivering. Even the veteran had tensed under this new reaction, eyeing his fellow hero with suspicion. “You seem to think my time adventuring was all candy and rainbows, don't you?”

Everyone flinched back when those cold eyes swept across them as well. Song's anger felt like frigid snow on a sunny day and it was honestly rather terrifying.

“Most of you do, I can tell. And I can understand, I suppose. I've not given a whole lot of details because I prefer not to dwell on difficult things.” Song’s smile vanished, expression turning uncharacteristically serious. “But even I can admit it wasn't as gruesome as some things some of you have been through. And I hate that you guys have gone through some terrible things, I do.”

He lifted his chin. “But I'm not going to stand here any longer and let my own journeys be belittled.”

And then his smile reappeared, even as his gaze stayed flinty. Somehow, that was more frightening than the unexpected serious expression.

Even more so as he unhooked his bag and crouched, rifling through it. “I think it's time you all get a taste of the things I had to learn to survive my adventures.”

The performer pulled out a pair of pink high heels.

“C'mon now, Song. The vet definitely shouldn't say those sorts of things, but let's not be drastic,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh as Song pulled out a second pair of heels, these ones blue. Nothing good could come from this man pulling out heels, he was sure of it. Especially when Mask looked excited. He generally did not have a good time when Mask looked excited.

“Alright, Vet.” Song turned to the teen in question, holding up the pink pair. “Since you can't keep your mouth shut about it, you can go first. We're going to spar in high heels.”

The veteran's cheeks burned as he stared at him. Song shook the heels a little.

“C'mon. You think it's so easy, right? Everything I did? Then come on over and show everyone how well you can do it.”

Lips bunching in a scowl, Vet marched over and snatched the heels, yanking off his boots and sitting down to put them on. The heels didn't look much higher than the heels of some boots. It really couldn't be that difficult. 

Except, as he stood and wobbled, arms flying out to try and steady himself, he realized the thinness made a large difference in balance, especially on grass. 

The blue heels were on Song's feet, the fashionista standing up smoothly, stance confident.

“Draw your sword,” Song said, voice frosty as he pulled his own colorful blade. “And Wind, you're good at keeping time, right? Clap in a steady beat for us. At this speed, please.” He patted his leg for a few seconds as an example and the sailor nodded, beginning to mimic the beat.

Song was already shifting back and forth, a small bounce to his movements as he readied his sword. “Now Vet, try to stay on beat, would you? After all, every time you go off beat, you'd just be losing built up power.”

“Huh?”

“Chuchu,” the young man replied simply as he bounced side to side, a hum starting up in his throat.

And so a dance began. A one-sided dance, anyway. The first time Vet tried to dodge Song's sword thrust, he nearly fell over as his heel got stuck in the earth.

“C'mon, Vet, a Chuchu is the easiest,” Song said, voice almost sing-song. “But wait, you're a veteran right? Maybe that's too easy.”

And suddenly, the hero was circling Vet, still hopping on beat, humming again to a song no one knew. Forward, forward, left, turn - the other boy couldn't move quick enough in his heels, let alone stay on any semblance of a beat, and before he knew it, his feet had been swept out from under him and a sword pointed at his throat.

Song didn't even say anything, just stared down at him for a moment like he was a bug before turning to the others, a cheerful smile lighting up his face.

“Alright, who's next?”