#I’ve already thrown this around discord plenty

[99centmusecd]

#Kamen Rider #Kamen Rider Zi-O #Sougo Tokiwa #Geiz Myokoin #Tsukuyomi #gif #flashing images #discord #get me out of this update help me please #I don’t go here (zi-o) but I gotta say that it gave me one of my most favorite gifs #I’ve already thrown this around discord plenty #but I love it a bit too much lol #99 posts

[mc-lukanette]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6]

—————

A few days had passed since Marinette had burned the Adrien photos, and Luka was relieved to note that they hadn't come back since. Marinette seemed equally at ease, their daily calls becoming more and more relaxed with each time she told him about her still-empty wall. He did wish he could do a little more concerning the red string around her neck, but his mind was drawing a blank and she was happier than before regardless.

The main problem however, was the relation to the miraculouses. Everyone knew that Ladybug wasn't interested in Chat Noir, a fact that made the knowledge of the red string even worse. He wasn't sure if the red strings were tied to the miraculouses or not - or how if they were indeed connected - but he speculated that it was about more than just talking to Marinette about Adrien; Chat was a factor as well. He couldn’t imagine the societal pressure of Ladybug and Chat Noir being a couple, and no one had to do much research to realize that Chat Noir was okay with it while Ladybug was very much not.

He'd have to take on the red string from both sides of the masks, and it took one particular day for him to get his chance.

"You want me to go on patrol with you?"

Ladybug nodded, balancing herself on his windowsill as she replied, "If you'd like to. Chat Noir is busy tonight, so the position's opened and you're one of the people used to having a miraculous."

Luka caught himself before he could start smiling too much, knowing that it was Marinette under that mask and she wanted him to go on patrol because they were friends.

"I'd be honored to."

She beamed at him, and after the snake miraculous was on his wrist, he was transformed and the two set off for the rooftops together.

—————

Viperion glanced left and right as he went along with Ladybug. He'd been called enough by then to have gotten used to superheroing, though it was his first time actually on patrol. Given the situation they were in, he was thankful that Adrien was busy that particular night with what Viperion could only guess was Gabriel's orders.

The red string was still dangling around Ladybug's neck, though Viperion'd grown attuned enough with his fate sensing that he could stop focusing on it and simply see her if he chose to. It didn't stop him from thinking about it, but it helped.

Ladybug seemed to know the route to take, so he mostly followed after her, but it was partway through where she'd decided that they should take a break. Paris was always quiet right after akuma attacks, meaning that they could afford to take it easy since there'd been one just that afternoon.

They leaped buildings until they reached the Eiffel Tower, scaling the monument until they reached the top platform. He didn't miss that she'd avoided using her yoyo for the job, possibly to put them on an even playing field.

Letting out a breath, Ladybug leaned against the railing and she gazed over the city. Gesturing to the view, she explained, "We'll have a good vantage point from here in case anything happens."

Viperion chuckled. "You really do think of everything."

She blushed faintly, but took the compliment casually. "I'm just doing my job." She turned her hip to more easily grab her yoyo, then opened it and reached inside. "Anyway, are you hungry?"

He tilted his head in curiosity, then grinned as she pulled out a bag of macarons from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. It wasn't anything suspicious given that it was known as the best bakery around.

"Thanks," he replied gratefully, taking one of the macarons she offered him.

She grabbed one as well and they took a simultaneous bite of their respective treats. He was a little surprised to hear that she brought along snacks, but supposed it made sense if breaks during patrol were a common thing after akuma.

They settled down on the ground, Ladybug placing the open bag in-between them so they could pick them out at equal leisure. Tossing him an apologetic but teasing smile, she added, "Sorry, but cushions wouldn't fit in the yoyo."

He raised his brows at her, then glanced down at the hard ground below them. He snorted at her joke, noting, "It's nice to see you outside of akuma battles, where you can relax and play around more."

She smiled shyly at him, in a way that was so Marinette that he couldn't believe he hadn't figured her out sooner. "Thanks. Chat says I have no sense of humor."

He frowned, replying without hesitation, "Chat's wrong."

She waved him off, though he could tell that she appreciated the comment. Hearing that Chat had told her something like that was news to him, despite all the research he'd done into their relationship. Granted, he imagined that anything could be said off-camera and he couldn't have known.

"Does he say things like that a lot?" he asked, hoping he wasn't prodding too much. There was just something about how casually she'd said it that unnerved him.

"Huh?" She blinked, thrown off by the question, then rubbed the back of her neck. "Well... most of the time, he flirts instead. It's..." She hesitated, like she wasn't sure that she could talk about it. Glancing at him, then back to the open sky, she relented and added, "—it's a lot sometimes, but he does his job well enough, so it’s not like it’s a serious problem. I don’t know, it’s not like I’ve never wondered about the what ifs of having someone else, but whenever I think about it, I just—"

She squinted at nothing, Viperion's gaze flickering down to the string, which had became visible now that he was focusing on it.

It had tightened, pressing into the black of her bodysuit in a way only he could see, and he found himself squinting just like she was.

"—I can't imagine being Ladybug without him," she said.

He pressed his lips together, trying to suppress any reaction to the comment. He'd suspected it for a while, but actually seeing it was something else entirely.

The red string demanded dependency on Ladybug's part. He wasn't sure how much it pulled Chat on the other end, but judging from what he'd gathered from Marinette's luck and fate's blatant favoring of Adrien, he could guess.

Ladybug peeked up from her macaron when he remained silent, confusion passing over her features. "What? You look like you have something to say."

"Ah—" He looked down, brows furrowing as he hoped even more that he wasn't pushing boundaries. "—just... I know that he's been with you since the beginning, but I don’t think you need Chat Noir to be an amazing Ladybug."

She straightened, dropping her treat in surprise and then fumbling to catch it. Perhaps she hadn’t caught onto what her words implied, or had said them without thinking due to the string and was now facing it head-on.

He continued, "You've dealt with akuma plenty of times without him, and you work well with all your heroes. I'm sure you could make the best out of any partner you had." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Maybe Chat Noir only seems as good as he does because he's at your command."

Ladybug's cheeks tinted red, nearly matching her mask, as she ducked her head at the high praise. She raised the macaron back to her lips, chewing on it as if that helped hide her face.

It was only after she'd slowly nibbled the treat all the way down and swallowed that she replied, "T-thank you."

He shrugged, having only been honest.

"Chat Noir..." She cleared her throat. "Well, Paris would disagree with you."

"Paris is wrong too," he replied in the exact same tone as when he was discussing Chat. After careful consideration, he asked cautiously, "Do you mean how—"

"Yeah, the—" She frowned and waved both hands vaguely in a gesture that no one but him would've understood. "Yeah."

So she was all too aware of their status of a "couple" in the eyes of Parisians. It made sense with everything he already knew, but he hadn't wanted to be right.

The phrase she'd used when talking about Adrien resurfaced in his mind: made for each other.

He clenched his fist. She was being pressured on both sides of the mask, towards both sides of Adrien's mask.

"I don't like it," she admitted, "but Chat drinks it up and I guess the public is into the idea of this superhero couple. They see us like celebrities."

"It's not right," Viperion hissed, and Sass would've been proud of it. "You save Paris every week and you deserve to be respected."

"There's nothing I can do about it," she told him, almost in defeat. "Besides, Chat... he needs a pick-me-up every now and my pep talks don't always work on him. He pouted when I brought in a male hero for the first time."

"That's not your fault!" he argued. "Chat needs to be confident on his own. He can't keep relying on you or make you feel like you can't do anything without him doubting himself. You're under enough stress as it is, and—!"

He caught himself, his mouth shutting tight before he could reveal exactly how much he knew. Ladybug blinked at him, seeming puzzled by the outburst but not suspicious at least.

He took a breath, reminding himself to stay calm. Reaching back, he grabbed hold of his lyre and brought it in front of him, strumming a few notes and letting them settle the discordant song that was playing in his stomach.

"My point is... Chat shouldn't be someone adding onto the pressure. That's not a partnership."

Her shoulders relaxed, her eyes darting around as she processed his words. She looked conflicted.

"...I'm sorry," he added, settling his lyre in his lap. "Not for what I said, but—I didn't mean to bring the mood down."

"No, no." She shook her head, pulling her knees to her chest. "It's good that you did. I've actually—" Her voice grew quiet. "—been thinking about it lately."

"About what?"

She made the same vague gesture from before. "All of that. There's been a lot going on and it's given me a lot to think about."

He knew immediately what she meant.

"It's... frustrating," she groaned. "I don't like Chat that way. I mean, maybe sometimes he said or did something that I found charming, but that's just—not enough for me, you know? To only feel something like that for a second or two." She averted her gaze, growing distant. "Everyone seems to think we belong together, and... I hate that they might be right."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Well, I'm a hero; a permanent one. I need to be there all the time. Every akuma, every purification, every Miraculous Ladybug. Only I can do it." She hugged her legs closer, burying her face in her knees. "I want a relationship. I want someone to date and be close to, but I can't have it. I'm always running away; always going somewhere with some excuse so I can go deal with the akuma, and I can't tell anyone! Can you imagine how that'd make my date feel?"

He opened his mouth, but a thought occurred to him at the last second that gave him pause.

"You... so you think..."

Once again, he hoped to be wrong. He wanted so badly to be wrong.

But Ladybug looked up, her expression pained as she confirmed, "There's only one person I could be with where it wouldn't have to happen."

His blood ran cold, he felt sick, and the memory of the red string flashed in his mind, wrapped around Adrien's ring.

Fate didn't just tie her to him; it wanted to make her believe that he was her only choice.

Viperion's grip on his lyre tightened, his teeth grinding together behind closed lips as he tried to maintain an aura of calm. He wasn't just angry anymore, he was livid, and he silently wished that the face on the other side of the butterfly miraculous was the universe so he could give it a piece of his mind.

How could you do that? How could you take a girl who's always worked so hard and tried her best, and treat her like she's nothing? No, not nothing, because then at least she'd be left alone. How could you treat her like a plaything, as if she's some prize for a guy to win no matter what? How could you manipulate her to think that everything's her fault, just so she never thinks to fight back against the ones putting pressure on her?

What's love if it's gotten through such force?

"V-viperion?"

A hand falling upon his jolted him back to reality, his head snapping up to see Ladybug there, her pupils shrunken in and her brows knitted in worry. Whatever his face had looked like, it'd scared her.

His first instinct was to feel guilty. He was supposed to be comforting her, not making things worse by letting all of his emotions show on his face.

His second instinct...

He tossed his lyre off to the side, Ladybug's gaze briefly following it until his hands fell upon her shoulders. Her eyes widened, and she let out a squeak as he pulled her onto his lap and into a hug.

The only thing he was grateful for in terms of her superhero status was that he could hug her as tightly as possible without hurting her.

"A-ah..." She seemed tempted to say something, but fell silent soon after and hugged him back, burying her face into the side of his neck. He felt her strength in the way she squeezed him, like she was starved for his affection despite them being in a similar position not too long ago.

He understood. Before, they were tackling her problems when she was Marinette, but Ladybug had never had someone to personally confide in concerning Chat.

She'd needed this.

"You already do so much," he whispered. "You should be allowed to be with whoever you want, and you shouldn't have to settle when it comes to love."

She sighed against him, like she knew deep down that he was right. "You don't know how bad it could get. Some hypothetical boyfriend wouldn't deserve that kind of treatment."

"I get why you'd feel that way," he said, "but I'd hope that this hypothetical boyfriend would know that you're worth it."

Her fingers twitched against his spine. "...You don't even know me."

"I know that you're creative. I know you're smart. I know you work harder than anyone else to keep Paris safe. I know you have a right to feel however you want, and if you think you need to earn being with someone who's not Chat, then you've more than done that." He slid his hand up to squeeze her shoulder. "I also know that you'll find a way to make it work, if you put in even half the care into it as you put into Paris."

"Vi—" She paused, her voice softening. "Luka..."

They stayed like that for a while, the bag of macarons going untouched an arm's reach away. Viperion just held her, sensing that she was feeling out what he'd said and that they didn't need words for it. That was fine with him; her love life was none of his business. He only wanted to help her have the choice to live it.

A breeze blew by, their bodysuits protecting them from the wind chill factor as their hair was lightly shifted by the gentle air. Ladybug stirred, letting out a noise like she felt personally slighted by the wind, then pushed herself up, her hands on his shoulders as she pulled away from him.

"We...we should get back to patrol," she admitted.

He offered her a small smile, noting that she seemed to be in better spirits at least. "Alright." He let her out of his lap, leaning over to the side to pick up his lyre.

He heard her retreating footsteps, along with a light, "You can keep the macarons."

He glanced up at her, surprised. "Are you sure?" he asked, knowing that he was mostly responsible for them not eating all of them. "Is that what you usually do on your breaks: let Chat have them?"

"Oh." She stood awkwardly in place, looking off at the sky before dropping her gaze to the ground. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she grinned sheepishly and replied, "Actually..."

He tilted his head, curious.

She peeked over at him, eyes half-lidded as she told him, "I've never done this with Chat."

He raised his brows, as if that would make her clarify, but she simply turned away from him and started doing a few stretches, clearly prepping to head back out.

Pursing his lips in thought, Viperion turned his back to her, giving attention to the little plastic bag resting neatly on the ground. Even though it was open, the little ribbon that had held it shut was still around it, suddenly feeling more special now that Ladybug had said something so... cryptic.

He looked out at the view they had, then Ladybug, then back at the bag, feeling extremely slow on the uptake as his brain pieced things together based on what information he had.

Then, suddenly his brain supplied: Wait... was this a date?

He buried the thought just as quickly, shaking his head and scolding himself for jumping to that so fast.

"Are you ready to go back to leaping rooftops?" Ladybug asked behind him, her tone light even if she was still in her own head.

"Yeah," Viperion replied, picking up the little bag like it was something precious. Hoping to lighten things further, he then added, "I'm new to this, so I might lag behind."

She chuckled. "You might. Apparently I'm a really amazing hero according to someone I know."

He grinned to himself. Even if she was just teasing, it felt good to hear her compliment herself in a way.

He had just tightened the ribbon to seal the bag back up, listening to the sound of Ladybug's foosteps, when he felt a sudden niggling sensation at the back of his head, or—behind him? He turned, puzzled, then leaped up as he caught sight of a teal wisp in Ladybug's path.

He rushed over as she yelped and tripped over what would seem like nothing according to her. Catching her just in time, he also realized belatedly that it may've been an overreaction, given that she was in superhero form; he could only blame it on reflex.

Ladybug stood up with a start, covering the lower half of her face in shame. "Ugh, that was so embarrassing, I'm sor—"

"It's not your fault," he hurried to say, not explaining further as he grew lost in thought, staring silently at the place where the wisp had formed itself.

He hadn't just seen the wisps this time; he had sensed them. That was new, and he wouldn't have questioned a new addition to his fate sensing had it not been the fact that he hadn't particularly done anything as Viperion; it usually took an instance or two of him using his power for something to manifest, but here...

He glanced up when he realized that Ladybug was looking at him curiously. Debating with himself for a moment, he ultimately trusted his gut and met her gaze, asking,

"Do you mind if I talk to Sass again after this?"

#au: Dread String of Fate #Dread String of Fate: writing #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette #type: salt #((Just in case.))

[infantbluee]

title: count to eight

summary: in another timeline, maka is killed on the moon and the world descends into madness. five years later, a reclusive soul stumbles across a girl who claims to be his dead best friend. 

pairing: soul/maka

rating: explicit

warnings: angst, smut, canon-typical violence, sort of love triangle (though not really because it’s just between maka and two souls) 

links: ao3 // ffn

—

oh my gosh, this is my second resbang fic ever and i still can’t believe i got so lucky! this year i was paired with the amazing, brilliant, hilarious, and adorable @ochako999 and @maevenneverland who had a full-time job making me laugh-cry over their shenanigans while also making GORGEOUS art for my fic. (links can be found here and here respectively.) please excuse me while i sob over their talent for the next 84 years because they are perfect.  

even more hugs to my ridiculous discord family for keeping me insane, as well as all the other wonderful people i’ve met on tumblr, twitter, and even just by exchanging reviews on fanfics! there’s a reason i’ve been so glad i joined this fandom and it’s because of every single one of you that make it so warm <3

please enjoy the short excerpt below! 

—

It’s surprisingly cold this year.

Soul blows into his hands, rubbing his palms together to retain warmth. Normally he can escape Kid’s annual Christmas party and hide out in the gardens without any sort of penalty, but apparently Mother Nature decided she was bored this holiday season and wanted to take a turn punishing the antisocial hermit.

That, or she’s calling him a coward.

It’s probably that last one.

“Hiding already?” a familiar voice calls. “This must be a record.”

Holding back a grimace, Soul maintains a blank expression as he turns his head to see his girlfriend approach him along the cobblestone path.

She’s too pretty to be real in this setting, surrounded by glazed tree branches and the twinkling lights strung all over to make up for the blackened moon. Wearing a dress like that with her hair so long and loose, she might as well have “serenade me, you coward” plastered all over her forehead.

“Idiot, you’re going to get frostbite,” he scolds instead, already scowling as he shrugs off his suit jacket to drape over her shoulders. “What are you thinking, coming out here without a coat on?”

Maka smiles sweetly. “I was thinking my weapon always takes care of me.”

Stupid. He thinks the word twice, both times so pathetically filled with affection. “Did Kid send you to hunt me down?” he asks. “I swear I was gonna go back inside. Continue wooing those foreign emissaries or whatever the hell he expects me to do. I just needed a break.”

“Nah, it’s fine. It’s Christmas; he doesn’t expect you to spend the whole time working.” Her eyes twinkle. “Besides, I already handled it. The dignitaries love me.”

He snorts. “Of course they do.”

“Hey, one of us has to be doing our jobs right,” she teases.

“Suck-up.”

“I prefer the term eager to please.”

Soul is incredulous. “How the hell did you manage to find the one phrase that’s dirtier than suck-up?”

Her smile is angelic. “It’s a talent.”

He responds with a growl as he nuzzles his face against her skin, his hands sliding under the jacket he covered her with to trace the artfully exposed curves underneath.

“Soul, stop!” she giggles. “We can’t do it out here. It’s cold.”

“So keep me warm then,” he grumbles. “And anyway, is that really the first thing you worry about when I’m trying to cop a feel? Not ‘oh, someone might catch us’ or ‘what if your dick shrunk too much in this weather for me to feel it?’”

This time when she laughs, he hides his own smile against her skin. She doesn’t stop him, letting her head fall back with a sigh as he presses kisses along the base of her neck. Even when it’s this cold, she’s so soft. It’s really unfair. He’s seen her moisturizing routine. She hasn’t done anything to deserve this level of silky perfection.

“Soul,” she gasps when he nips particularly hard at her throat. Her hands grip at his shirt, desperate, and he decides that maybe getting a little dirty on a garden bench wouldn’t be the worst thing after all.

But then the lights flicker.

That in itself wouldn’t have been enough to tear his mouth away from her skin, except that it’s accompanied by a deep tremble beneath the earth which causes Soul to stumble into his meister. She catches him, always so impressively steady on her size-five-hidden-by-giant-boots feet, and the speed at which she goes from horny girlfriend to calculating meister is seriously impressive.

And hot. Really hot.

Soul’s never been as adept at switching off his hunger as she is.

“A pre-kishin attack?” she asks with a frown as they rush back towards the party. It’s been a long time since they’ve encountered a pre-k without actively hunting one, and even longer since one has existed within the walls of their city.

“Maybe a demon,” Soul guesses. They’re also rare these days, but they still exist. Though the Witch Treaty has significantly put a damper on their confidence.

As they approach the mansion, they can already hear a commotion brewing. Plenty of shouts, glass shattering. A horrifying, almost unearthly slithering sound as fluid shadows spill out of the windows like overflowing bath water. They pick up their pace.

When they finally burst into the room, they’re horrified by the sight in front of them.

“Kid!” Maka cries.

The chandelier is history, now scattered around the dancefloor in a million tiny little pieces. The decorations are torn; the tables cracked and thrown about. The civilian guests have all been ushered to the sides of the room as several witches hold up a barrier to keep them safe, but the real terror is the enormous entity in the middle of the room that seems to have no problem fending off the advances of half a dozen meisters.

It’s like nothing Soul’s ever seen before, even during the worst of the war. A giant, oozing ball of shadowy flesh with these sharp, jerking limbs that regenerate and extend from its body whenever someone tries to attack it.

Accompanying it is this smell, putrid and awful—but even worse are the low, chittering moans coming from its repulsive form, over and over and over again, filling the room like a sickening hum.

“Maakaa. Maaaaaaaakaaaa.”

Soul feels his blood run cold.

Kid, who is currently trying to hold back several of its limbs from further attacking the civilian barrier, jerks his head up at her call for him, his face flashing with horror. It’s obvious how long the creature must’ve been moaning her name by the intensity of the reaper’s panic.

“Maka, get back!” he screams.

In the same moment, she gasps as Soul tackles her to the side just in time to avoid getting pierced by a flurry of sword-like limbs. He then rolls and grabs her hand, jerking her to her feet as he starts off in a sprint, squeezing to get her attention. “Maka!”

“R-right!”

He shifts into weapon form just in time for her to swing him in defense. She manages to block two of them, slicing off three more, before being forced to jump back as another wave rushes at her. The monster seems to have forgotten about the others completely now that it has her in its sight, its several dozen eyes turning to train directly on her.

“I don’t understand,” she says as she blocks more of its attacks. “Why does it keep coming for me?”

“Doesn’t matter,” growls Soul. “I’ll die before I let it take you. The only priority now is to kill it.”

“But how?”

“To your left!”

She twists to the side, barely dodging the next stream of violent hands as they scrape off Soul’s blade. But instead of relief, he can feel her horror, because those same regenerative limbs that had just tried to rip into her heart somehow jerk to the side with enough force to shatter one of the barriers protecting the guests.

He hears Angela among the screams.

“Maka, no!” he cries out.

Too late. She flips over one of the creature’s arms to run against it, slicing at the others with a ferocity that would impress him in any other circumstance. At the end of her sprint, Maka dives, pushing Angela out of the way from an attack and twisting in a way that cushions the young girl’s fall.

Through their bond, Soul can feel the pain shoot up Maka’s spine and he cries out for her, demanding to know if she’s hurt.

She forces a smile as she sits up. “I’m fine,” she lies terribly. She glances down at the young witch and looks relieved that she’s unharmed.

Before she can say anything else, she’s yanked away so quickly that Soul is literally whipped from her grip and clatters to the floor. He shifts back to human form in an instant, scrambling for her with a cry, but it’s too late.

The monster has Maka dangling by her ankle over its main form, the rest of its extensions retreating as well. Black Star and Kid both try to charge at it only to be swatted away like flies and held back with the pressure of mutated shadow limbs.

Then it does the worst thing possible.

It drops her.

“NO!” Soul screams.

It’s like a detonator is pressed. The moment Maka’s body is absorbed into its inky flesh, the creature begins to twitch a jerk violently, pulsing and moving so rapidly that even the meisters have no choice but to back up.

With a horrifying screech, it’s sucked into the earth through an invisible exit, like some sort of oversized blob of goo being sucked through a vacuum or forced down a drain. The whole fleshy monstrosity continues to be pulled through that tiny unseen gateway until it has completely disappeared from the ballroom. Gone.

And Maka along with it.

[ read more on ao3 or ffn! ]

#soul eater #soul x maka #soma #soul eater evans #maka albarn #resbang 2019 #chloe writes #this was the most stressful forty-eight hours of my life and i am so glad we made it T___T

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

RWBY S07E10 - Out in the Open

I'd have given that title to the previous title considering the biggest secrets of the episode got revealed. Maybe it's about the consequences? Or it could be about Cinder and Neo finally being out in the open for us. I'm not really sure about what could happen this episode besides a lot of fights and maybe some more villainy so, let's do this!

Directly out of Jumanji

They really know their public. Having Nora hit a Grimm with a hammer was the one thing I wanted to see.

They are already tired and it's episode 10 of 13. Not looking good.

I've always wondered, how does using a semblance + dust work? Does she have to be touching it? Does she absorb the dust through her gun? And why haven't we seen Ruby and Yang do the same? Can you imagine Yang punching up a storm of ice? Or Ruby flying around, destroying everything in her path with lightning?

1. This is really cool, as it should with Elm in the shot.

2. The quality of the video seems extra bad this time. It's not the download, I checked this exact same timestamp in RT's website and it looks just as bad. Maybe it being dark is just too much for the encoding?

This is the coolest thing Yang has ever done... besides helping kill Adam. Remotely detonable mines are always OP.

Imagine being a random Mantle citizen and seeing a goddamn Goliath out your window.

Which then proceeds to explode.

The writers are really setting this entire situation up for failure. But why? Maybe to make using the Maiden powers more of a saving throw if it happens this season? Or maybe to have an excuse to use the relic (and crash Atlas into the ground, hopefully on top of Salem or Cinder)? Hm.

If Qrow leaves Atlas, Clover _has_ to give him that rabbit's foot, right? Right?

I should go back and read more fanfiction.

Nothing like a giant knight to make you feel small.

Marrow is sick of these kids and their hijinks. Also, that's an incredibly rare cute Weiss.

WHAT

Is he really going to tell everyone about Salem? I guess it can't make the panic worse.

I'd have never guessed _this_ was what the title was about. Centuries of secrecy gone in an instant.

Those two had to be _sweating_ until Ironwood clarified they meant Watts and Tyrian.

I was really dissapointed by what seemed to be the end of Robyn's importance to the story. Introduced as a foil to Ironwood and then thrown away once he reconsidered his position. But this is doing a good job at keeping her relevant. Ironwood may be trying his best, but the people of Mantle don't really trust him. But they _do_ trust Robyn.

I still think they didn't do much with the concept of "Robyn and her Huntresses," but at least this shows that for the time being Robyn is not out.

I'm surprised at how rushed this feels. They skipped a lot of the tension building to go directly to "this is bad" territory and then almost instantly afterwards they dropped the threat back to zero again. Sure, they may continue fighting the Grimm as background action but this really feels like they are closing the door on that being important and swiftly moving ahead with something else.

But, there _are_ more things to be worried about (and one is yelling right now,) and the Grimm have never been the most interesting of threats compared to actual talking villains, so I can't complain too much.

Poor Tyrian, never watched a saturday morning cartoon in his life. Friendship trumps all.

Huh. What's so special about sector 17?

...it could be anything but I'm already worried.

But Neo disguised as Ruby would work really well to get Oscar...

Oh. Please don't tell me that the entire purpose of that talk last episode was to remind us that they _are_ friends, secrets aside, so whatever Neo does hits harder.

Now I'm wondering if Cinder is going to end up killing Neo because she was disguised.

She really is an upgraded version of Nora, including her weapon.

Majestic.

That's one way to limit the overuse of her instant-win ability.

Penny's power levels are weird. Why not try the laser again?

I really don't like them showing us what that button in her ribbon tie does.

Oh Penny, she doesn't know you have to wait until you are out of the shot to learn about Ruby's plans.

Laser complaint rescinded.

I thought Penny was going to drive that tusk inside the Goliath's skull, but this was really cool too.

Aw.

I still think Penny would be better off leaving Atlas but if that's not possible, her being loved again by the people she has dedicated herself to protect is good too.

I was trying to figure out what Tyrian's plan could be but I should have remembered that it's all about killing with him. And killing Robyn would be a huge hit to morale.

And the OP's scene is finally coming. Wow, so late in the season.

This is so extra. I love it.

Rule of cool is out in full force, I can't explain Watts becoming a JRPG boss otherwise. Or Ironwood not thinking about maybe not fighting alone.

Oh well, it's probably going to be and look cool. I just hope Ironwood doesn't end up dying in a pokemon gym.

This was never going to be my favorite episode, with all the fighting that was going to happen, but even with my tempered expectations I’m feeling a bit disappointed.

Like, one thing happened: The secret is finally out. Which is awesome, don’t get me wrong! It changes a lot for the future, especially now that everyone is working together. But other than that, it was all setup for the finale.

Maybe I’m wrong about this but I’m not feeling very worried about Ironwood or Robyn’s team. I guess Ironwood _could_ die but I wasn’t joking about the indignity of dying in a pokemon gym. And Tyrian... maybe could kill Clover? Just to make poor Qrow suffer more. Or maybe the prophecy~ of dead qrow of the V6 OP comes back at the worst possible moment. But eh, I kinda doubt it. So, I’m not expecting anything _too_ interesting out of either fight. Maybe a renewed sense of purpose by Qrow. But they'll definitely be cool to watch at least.

Worst of all is that Atlas can’t crash if everyone was being evacuated to the city. The hopes I had the entire season (and beyond)? Dashed. * sigh * It could still happen but that’d require either Ironwood having lied about the evacuation or the writers feeling daring enough to cause the biggest tragedy in RWBY.

I _do_ want to see what Neo and Cinder will do so it’s not like I’m not interested in the rest of the season, there are _three_ episodes left, those fights can’t take that long. Plenty of time left for things to happen and for things to go to pot in new and interesting ways.

Until next time!

patreon - discord

#rwby #rwby liveblog #rwby v07e10

[technicolordeams]

June 7, 2020

“I'm the girl nobody knows until she commits suicide. Then suddenly everyone had a class with her.” -  Tom Leveen, Party

This has been my status on discord for about a month now. It just feels too relevant to me at these times.

I know I said I was going to update my blog back in May, but it’s taken me until now to get to doing it. Things have been hectic both with me and in the world. I am dealing with emotional trauma still (But I’m not going to talk about it on here. I do not feel safe enough to do so and I’m going to keep it to myself, my therapists, parents, and pastors at my church. Maybe two other people that I know too. Some people know that something went down with me recently but I won’t spread it around anymore. I’d rather not deal with anything... But it has caused me to have renewed trauma from when I was growing up. Surprisingly I don’t have an association with a girl I considered my best friend for seven years who turned out to be a pathological liar and manipulator. I guess I was able to get closure with that one and just be done with it. But the ones from before that... It just brings those back up. Anyways, I won’t go into any further detail about that in this blog.)

So I’ll try to summarize things a bit... But I’ve never been good at keeping things short. xD 

First off, in November of 2019 I started having really bad pains in my stomach. Just... horrific pain. (Before this started, I was working getting a job with the aid of a job coach.) I landed in the ER a total of 4 times, could have been 5 but that fit wasn’t as bad and went away after a couple hours. But in December after my 3rd ER visit to get pain relief and more testing... and some morphine (sorry but this stuff was good. But I know limitations and wasn’t going to the ER for it. It was strictly to ease the pain so I could rest) I had a couple tests done... I FINALLY got an x-ray of my stomach and it showed I had a slightly inflamed gallbladder. Before this, the nurse that was working with me and my parents just believed I was having constipation and I was being too sedentary. That miffed me big time. I remember coming home one day from shopping for groceries and such that my mom was just telling me off about how I need to exercise more... (I have a fear that is ingrained in my head over exercising. Thanks Children’s ED center.) I just went to my room, no lights, didn’t take my jacket off at all, just curled up on my bed and cried as quietly as I could even though I wanted to wail. I was sick of people not believing me when things aren’t going right with my body and I have been mistreated for many things. I didn’t want to hear this from my parents. There was something wrong and I needed help. I did end up getting a HIDA scan after meeting with a surgeon who said the x-ray wasn’t enough proof that there was something wrong and didn’t want to do anything drastic that possibly won’t help me. But I got the HIDA scan which confirmed that there was something wrong with my gallbladder and on my birthday (Horray horray. Legit though I was so happy) I was approved for surgery to get it removed. The surgeon cut my gallbladder open and found A LOT of small gallstones. He was kind of shocked. Over all of this... I lost probably 10lbs? max? Either way, enough to be concerning to me. Now I’m using this experience to get my parents to actually freaking listen to me when I say I’m having problems and that it needs addressed as quickly as possible and quit dragging your damn feet and believe ME.

Also from the surgery, they had to put a breathing tube down my throat. But something happened and has caused me to have chronic coughing fits where I couldn’t even breathe without coughing. And because of my phobia of throwing up, I didn’t want to eat so I started to restrict for a while. Lots of testing was done to figure out what was wrong there... I got an asthma test and it showed that I had a breathing abnormality but the ENT doctor the day before gave me steroids to help. Said it wouldn’t affect my asthma test the next day. It did. :) Had to wait until May to get retested and another test done. The steroids did help for a while... But getting to that point I had been seeing my regular doctor and he gave me a stronger cough medicine that gave me auditory hallucinations... That was terrifying. So I quit that. Was put on another cough medicine that had a controlled substance in it to suppress my cough. It helped... but not enough. In the end since I didn’t want to wait until May to get tested, my doctor got me an inhaler. It actually has helped a lot. I still cough, but it’s not to the gagging/can’t breathe point anymore. I was very scared and stressed and made my dad take me to get lots of tests. Even speech therapist. Due to the covid-19 threat though, I have been heavily isolating myself at home and my asthma test that I was supposed to get last month got canceled/put off to a later date. So I’m stuck paying for an inhaler at full price because insurance is a dick. Anyways that’s that...

In April, I got a puppy. I finally got a dog that I had been thinking about for months and praying for... His name is Echo and he is a yellow lab. The first couple weeks were absolute hell. He would get up at random hours of the night and needs constant supervision. He’s almost 4 months now, but he’s still very much a puppy. He knows sit, stand, down, looks at me if I call his name with a treat in my hand so he’s recognizing his name... And sometimes off when he will listen. I have plenty of bite marks on my hands and stuff xD I had to have an extreme learning curve on how to take care of him. He doesn’t have accidents in the house as much as before, he will usually indicate he needs to go potty by sniffing around and pacing or going to the door and looking at me like, ‘human. I must defecate.’ xD And he’s got quite the attitude. Which I don’t mind as long as he’s not ripping my clothes or biting me or jumping at me. Dad has stepped in to help me during the mornings take care of him since I’m not sleeping well. Which has helped me out a lot. He’s doubled in size already and I’m so happy with how he’s acting for the most part. The past couple days this past week we’ve learned how the hose works and how to have fun in it since it’s so hot outside. (Also learned I’m allergic to grass. Yay.) But there were several days where I was so stressed and scared that I couldn’t keep up with him and take care of him and I’d have to give him away... But I already invested so much money in him and time and have already fallen in love with him, I won’t give him up. Right now he’s sleeping under my desk as I write this post. Lots of the time though I have to force myself to pretend to be happy and praise him and play with him and teach him what to do and what not to... And it’s emotionally exhausting. Especially this past week.

I had a couple triggers the past two weeks. One was a possible fractured toe from jamming it super hard into the corner of my desk... Another I was woken to Echo making a horrific gagging noise that scared the shit out of me. Then I’ve been working with a grief counselor this past month in addition to regular therapy (obviously over video chat because of infection chances...) for extra support. Thankfully it’s pro bono so I don’t have to pay anything and neither does any of my insurances. But while working on a section in my WRAP plan (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) there was a part where I just started shutting down and falling apart. The Crisis Plan. “This is what I look like when I’m well:” That is where everything started falling apart. It has been like 7 months since I have felt well at all. I can identify what it looks like when things get too bad to handle on my own for the most part... but when I was asked about if my behavior endangers or has negative effects on me or others I want my supporters to... I locked up. I realized I do not really have anyone who I can go to for any sort of help. My therapist is the only one I can go to really about anything, but I can’t get the amount of help that I need from just her. She has told me that if there was no virus threat and that I was in a different city, she would recommend me to go to a mental health program there... That’s how bad I’ve gotten. 

In December my suicidal thoughts have sprung back up and I have withdrawn slowly and then faster from everyone. My parents don’t know how to handle me when I’m dealing with emotional distress... They are not very knowledgeable about mental illnesses and are pretty cold to emotional reactions. Sometimes mean. I love them very much yes and I know they would do whatever they could to help me... but when I need support from them specifically, things just go downhill. And I no longer have people I consider friends online anymore. I don’t feel safe to call anyone that right now. A girl from my church who was also in the Bible study I was attending before covid hit has been trying to reach out to me. Her and another lady at church are the only ones really actually reaching out to me. My pastor only stepped back into the picture after I posted asking for prayer for me since I called the suicide hotline the night before. And the things he has said to me already have been rather infuriating. Which makes me feel resentful towards the church I’m attending. That and the fact that nobody else actually reaches out to me at all. I know life has been thrown upside down and many have their own families with small children and such... It just feels very two-faced sometimes. I know that’s my distorted thinking kicking in as well... But it’s there and nobody’s around to disprove it. I am very grateful for the one girl who has been trying hard to reach out to me and encourage and just be there, but I know she knows little about the world and the crap in it and has experienced much if it first hand so far. But God bless her she really does try and care. My therapist has talked with my pastor after I signed a release form for her to do so and my parents have also talked to him about me last week. I have yet to hear from him since then though. They are busy though I know trying to figure out how to deal with this covid crap and how to manage the church so people who can’t go physically can still be sort of included...But I just don’t know if I want to go for a while. 

But yeah. While I have been dealing with the loss of my entire online friend group and then being harassed on facebook and only seeing horrible news about covid and people insulting different people and politicians and crap on there... I disabled it for a while. I posted that I was going to do that several hours before I did and told people to message me if they wanted to keep contact with me somehow... Maybe two people did. Granted I had only 69 people on my friends list and a good chunk were family members from the Philippines and don’t usually speak english... I do feel better about not being on it though. The first couple days when I woke up I’d automatically go to fb to look at my notifications and silly stories that I’d get recommended, but after that I felt complete relief. I did get into a bit of an argument about two weeks or so before I decided to do this with a childhood friend I had... She just irritated me... Making it sound like she shouldn’t be forced to stay in like people higher in risk of infection/death because she was healthy and yada yada... Not going to argue on here. I just realized fb is just a toxic social media outlet and I didn’t want to be a part of it. I’m especially glad I got off of it while I did before the rioting happened. I would rather not have my timeline flooded with it. 

Oh yeah, we did get rioting here where I live. Actually 10min away from where I live. That was scary the first couple nights. First night I was home alone with Echo when it started going down while my parents were at work. Thankfully though, our mayor put in a curfew and my parents’ work was closed down at exactly 5pm for EVERYONE. Including employees. Dad had to work on barricading one entrance way in case of looting. Sent me pictures of what he had to do... it was surreal. Not only do we need to be afraid of covid but now hostile people. (Note: I do NOT condone what those police officers did. They are getting punished heavily I assume. If anything, we shouldn’t have been rioting but instead having a vigil in honor for the man killed. Protesting is fine too. But when it becomes violent... I don’t agree with it. That’s just me though. Anyways enough political crap. I don’t want to discuss it on here.) The past two nights the mayor put up a curfew again for two days but two hours later than before (8pm) just to be on the safe side. My parents’ work has gone back to normal hours today. I did go out yesterday to get some groceries and medicine I needed. My car’s A/C has died. That was two hours of hell. 

But yeah...uhm... The depression has increased this past week. Actually... a couple weeks before that. I had a meltdown over Echo chewing through the wire of my drawing tablet... I had it still hooked up even though I can’t draw anymore (Long story... recent bunch of trauma related reasons) because of trauma and also lazy to get in the back of my computer to unplug it. And sort of hope that I might pick it back up again... But that destroyed me that night. I wasn’t mad at him for doing it. He’s a baby he doesn’t know anything. It was my fault for not paying attention and taking a bit more care with those wires. Dad was able to fix it though. But I can’t look at it. That same night I received a text from a friend I made in treatment that I love to death... Telling me that she had just got home from being hospitalized and then placed in a psych ward after trying to commit suicide. I think I broke then. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to process very much emotion... Sleep has become very bad... I fell asleep in my chair a few nights ago. Last week was the first time I’ve been able to have any sort of reaction to emotion aside from a heavy depression... I need a big trigger to happen so that I can finally release these emotions inside because it just won’t come, but I feel it waiting behind a thick glass wall in my head. I’ve even started watching movies and shows that would scare me normally and would avoid just from reading the premise or a trailer. I don’t really get much feeling from it (aside from the one night I watched the new Carrie movie and I had to take Echo out at night and it was foggy and very spooky). 

I think I’ll leave this here now and be done for a bit... I’ve written quite a lot and I’m sure very few people know of it’s existence and will look. But at least I’ve finally gotten some of it out... somewhere... Hopefully Echo will let me take a nap in a little bit. I would like to talk about my eating disorder at some point and how I’ve been since I got out of the treatment facilities in 2018 and maybe some other things. Been watching a bunch of videos of different mental illnesses because I’ve been running into a lot of people with them and I want to be able to at least know what’s it about and how to be a better person towards them and also not offend anyone so nobody goes off on me again.

#trauma #ptsd #depression #suicide #triggers #surgery #puppy

[fleurie3am15inspo]

Work was slow so I started brainstorming and came up with this

Hey there, whoever happens to read this. I am a writer too. I just don’t normally post anything and whatever I do write is usually between me and a friend with whom I am partnering up for a project of sorts. I sometimes have story ideas and get started on creating characters, plots, backstories, etc. and just go off writing little snipets. Well, this is an excerpt from my most recent one. A bit of background. This excerpt is a “how they met” type of deal. It is between two of my characters, Ardmont and Rietta. Ardmont is a blind elf and Rietta is a pixie in a fantasy world that has elves, humans, orcs, pixies, you name it. Pixies are usually captured for a variety of reasons. They can be pets, assistants, informants, etc. There is a way to distinguish between a “tamed” or “wild” pixie, but more on that later..maybe. Who knows?  Anyway, I’ll stop talking now. Here is a bit showcasing their current relationship followed by how they met. @the-lupine-sojourner , this is what I had mentioned to you a while back. Sorry it took me so long. Midterms have devoured me and left me for dead. But thank goodness, I have a few days to relax and post this. Thanks for your patience.I’ll give more on the plot later. Here we go!

Thorne and Ardmont are riding out to the next town via horseback at the request of Ardmont’s father. Thorne is the son of one of the groundskeepers so he and Ardmont don’t speak very much. So, he uses the ride to get to know the son of his father’s employer. .........

“So, it’s true? You really are can’t see?”

“That’s right. At home is where I use my cane. That way, I don’t have to bother anyone with escorting me. It’s much easier to use than you think.”

“If it's easier for you to get around with your cane, why don't you use it more often?”

“Father doesn't think it's appropriate for me to use it in public. He thinks that I'm just announcing to the world that I'm disabled. An embarrassment, even.” “Well, I can see how it looks. A disability does tend to garner unwanted attention..” “...” “Sorry.” “It's fine. It doesn't matter to me anyhow. I've got Rietta.” “Who?” A flurry of light pops up in front of him and settles on his horse’s mane. A winged creature in a flower dress places her hands on her hips, smiling proudly up at the newcomer. “I believe he means me.” “Whoa! Ardmont, you have a pet pixie?” Her attitude changes immediately as her glow turns orange in annoyance.“Who are you calling a pet? Hold me back Monty! I'm about to shove some pollen up his nose!” She flies off in a huff. “Rietta, I told you not to call me that.” He sighs, “She's not a pet; she's my best friend. And she helps me get around.” Rietta flies back next to his face with an arm full of pollen.“In other words, I'm his eyes!” Ardmont sneezes, “Did you actually get it?” Rietta freezes and lets it fall in a small golden cloud, “Maybe.” His friend shakes his head in amazement, “Incredible. I’ve never seen a pixie who willingly listens to an elf. All the little creatures I’ve seen have been tamed and marketed as pets.” Rietta begins to glow red as she fumes in anger. Ardmont feels the heat and gently raises his hand to nudge her with his finger. “Actually, I find the whole idea of it detestable,” he began, “Pixies are not wild animals. They think and feel just like any human, elf, or orc. And still, they’re hunted, caged, and stripped of their free will. It’s not right.” Rietta’s glow dims back down to a pale yellow and she settles on his shoulder. “Rietta is with me because she chose to. I didn’t ask her to follow me everywhere I went to make my life easier. I met her in the forest and she offered to help me. And for that, I am forever grateful.” “Aww!” Rietta turns pink and hugs his neck, “I love you too, big guy!” “My apologies then,” his friend said, “I hadn’t meant to offend you in any way, miss. The idea is new, but, from now on, I will keep an open mind to it.” Rietta flips her braid over her shoulder and dusts the yellow powder off, “It’s okay. Not everyone can see like Monty. He might not be able to see people, but he can see you as a person.” Thorne chuckles a bit, “You’re a bit passive-aggressive, aren’t you?” “Am I really, good sir? I had no idea.” Admont laughs as well, “Be nice, Rietta. Not everyone is used to your little mood swings.” “I must admit, though, I am rather curious as to how you two came to meet,” Thorne began, “I understand that you found him first, Rietta?” She twirls up in the air, “You got it! I was just minding my business on a pretty little patch of lilies when all the birds started screaming...

Flashback

Rietta is sitting on a mushroom amidst a small patch of lilies. She is humming quietly to herself as she sews lily petals together to make a skirt. It is a delicate garment and she is almost done. Suddenly, the ground rumbles and all the birds in the tree scatter, screeching a discord of noise. She looks around in confusion and sees a horse stampeding her way. She gasps and shoots up into the safety of the branches, dropping her skirt on accident. “No…!” She makes a grab for it, but the horse speeds ahead beneath her, and tramples the lily patch she was sitting in as well as her pretty skirt. She flits down and, with drooping wings, gently picks up the remains. She hugs the ruined garment and cries for a little when she is distracted by the horse once more. The horse has reared on its hind legs and thrown off it’s rider. An elf goes flying off his saddle and cries out in pain as he lands harshly on his right side. The horse neighs and takes off without the elf. Rietta burns bright red and flies up angrily, “What do you think you’re doing?!” Ardmont swivels his head around, trying to locate the source of the voice. “Who’s there? Please, can you help me? I don’t know where I am.” He tries to get up, but trips on a root and lands on his injured arm. “Aah..! They’re after me.” Rietta maintains her distance and looks in the direction he came, “Who is after you?” “Bandits,” he falls again and feels around for the tree trunk, “They attacked my caravan and my horse-” “Are you crazy! Why the heck would you lead bandits this way? You’ll lead them straight to the pixie meadows!” “I didn’t know. I’m sorry, miss. But please, I need help!” “Unbelievable… Ugh! Alright! Follow me, we’re gonna lead them away from here.” She flies off in a huff. “Miss, wait!” “Now what?” She flies back, getting up in his face, but he continues to look around frantically, feeling for another tree. “What the heck is wrong with you?” Ardmont is breathing quickly in a panic, “I’m blind, miss. I need you to guide me!” “Oh, for the love of-” Rietta springs down and grabs a stick, “Grab this and try to keep up.” He grabs hold with his left hand and they take off in a direction adjacent to where he had come from. Occasionally, he stumbles, but he never falls. Soon, the sound of crashing water is heard and the air turns salty. They have reached the ocean. Ardmont’s breathing has worsened and he collapses on his knees. ‘A-are they...are they g-gone…?” Rietta is panting as well. She drops the stick and settles down on a seashell, her wings drooping. “Yeah. We lost them.” Ardmont winces slightly as he puts both hands on the floor and leans forward in a deep bow. “T-thank you, m-miss,” he gasped between breaths, “I am...forever in debt to you.” “You’re facing the wrong way, you big oaf,” Rietta said dryly, “But, you’re welcome. Even if it was your fault to begin with.” She mutters the last part under her breath. Ardmont turns in the direction of her voice and bows again. “My most sincerest apologies, miss. I had not meant to lead them to your home. My horse was frightened and I let him take me.” He tries to sit up and take a deep breath, “I will burden you no more. I can find my way back from here.” Rietta raises an eyebrow, “Do you even know where we are?” “The Northern Shore. My mother brings me often so I know the way home from here. I just need a moment to recollect myself.” Cautiously, Rietta flies closer to his face noticing his skin was pale and tinged green. Hey, are you okay?” she asked, “You look like you’re going to be sick.” He shakes his head vigorously, “I-I’m fine. I j-just need-” he coughs harshly then empties the contents of his stomach on the sand. Rietta recoils but hesitantly moves closer. She tugs at a handkerchief stuffed in his shirt pocket. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” She leaves him resting in the sand and returns to the forest from which they came. There is a stream nearby, in which she dunks the handkerchief. Then she rises up to the branches of a nearby fruit tree, plucking a circular blue one. With both items in tow, she flies back to the beach to look for Ardmont. He is lying down with his arms resting on his torso. Rietta places the damp handkerchief on his forehead and he flinches from the sudden coolness. “What-?” “Relax, oaf,” Rietta says, surprisingly soothingly, “It’s just me. Can you sit up now?” “Yes.” He manages to sit up on his own, though still a little shaky. “Keep that on your head and eat this.” She plumps the blue fruit in his lap. “It’s an aquarine. Plenty of water pockets and it’s good for you.” “Thank you, miss. I will remember your kindness forever.” Tilting his head back slightly to balance the cloth, he uses his left hand to awkwardly eat his fruit. They sit in a small silence for a few minutes. The color is returning to his face and he is breathing easier now. Rietta notices that he is taking special care to not move his right side and how his arm is resting on his lap. “So...how’s your arm?” She asks, breaking the silence. Ardmont pauses from his fruit, “I don’t know. I am hoping it is only a sprain, but it pains me to move.” “Well, I’m already playing caretaker. Might as well finish the job.” She flies up to his neck and tugs at his scarf. “What are you doing?” “I’m going to make a sling. You shouldn’t be moving it if it hurts.” “You’ve done enough, miss. I will have it examined when I return home.” “That could take hours. Just shut up and let me fix it.” Ardmont concedes and removes his scarf for her. She flits about him and ties it securely around his neck. “There. You should be fine.” “Tha-” “And stop thanking me. Once was enough.” She rests on a seashell in front of him again, “Why are you so formal, anyway?” Ardmont bows his head slightly, “Apologies, miss. I just-” “Rietta.” “Pardon?” “That’s my name, I’m getting tired of hearing you call me ‘miss’.” Ardmont smiles, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Rietta. My name is Ardmont. My mannerism is so because my father raised me to treat all living creatures with respect.” Rietta sits cross-legged on the seashell and looks up at him skeptically. “...You do know I’m a pixie, right?” “Yes.” “So why are you being nice to me? Aren’t you going to try to capture me like everyone else?” A shocked look comes across his face, “Never! Do you not live, breathe, and think? You are a creature of free will, no different than I! Who am I to harm the lady who has saved my life?” Her glow fades back to yellow, “You mean you really don’t want to take me away?” “Never on my life.” “Wow...you’re...you’re different then…” Without realizing it, tears are falling down her face. She sniffs and tries to wipe them away quickly. “Are you crying, miss?” “No, I got sand in my eyes-Yes I’m crying!” She keeps trying to wipe them away to no avail. “And I said don’t call me that!” There is a slight pause, “Y-You’re the first elf I’ve met who hasn’t tried to hunt me down. I’m sorry! I didn’t help you because you asked me too…I didn’t want your kind to find us. And I thought that if I left you, you might have accidentally led the bandits to the meadows. I’m so selfish!” Ardmont smiles softly, “Rietta, you have nothing to apologize for. You are not selfish. In fact, you’re very brave. You acted in the best interests of your people and still found a way to help me. And even when you saw me as the enemy, you cared for me. I am forever in your debt.” He stands and stretches his side gently. “You are very kind, Rietta. I live in Ravenport, just off the coast. Should you ever need me, I will be more than happy to return the favor tenfold. I will make my way from here. It was an honor to meet you.” He bows once more and begins his trek down the beach. Rietta stays on her shell, still dumbfounded. Suddenly, she starts and flies to catch up to him. “Ardmont, wait!” He turns towards the sound of her voice, “Yes?” She takes a quick breath, “I want to go with you!” “What?” “Well, my life could use a little adventure in it. And you could use a guide. That way, we both get something out of this. Just make sure no one tries to steal me. I can take care of myself, but it’s nice to have a little more protection. That’s how you can repay me. Come on. I’ll even take you back.” “Are you sure? I can make the trip back on my own.” “I’m positive. I don’t have anything better to do anyway.” “In that case, I would be honored to have you accompany me.” There is a slight note of joy in his voice and a hint of excitement, “I will have a room set up for you right away!” “Eh, just give me a flowerbed and leave a window open at night. I’m not picky.” She settles on his shoulder, “Can I sit here?” “By all means.” “Great, thanks. And by the way, you’re going the wrong way.” Rietta gives a little well meaning ‘humph’ and nudges his chin so that he is facing the opposite direction. “Ravenport is that way.” Ardmont chuckles and makes a half rotation to walk in the correct direction, “It seems you are helping me already. Perhaps you and I could be friends, Rietta.” “As long as you don’t betray me, then maybe.” “I would never dream of it.” “Can I call you Monty?” “No.” “You wanted to be friends, so you’re stuck with it.” “Oh, dear…” The snippets of conversation and laughter fade away into the afternoon as the two embark on the journey back to town together: an unusual alliance between elf and pixie forming strong.

Sorry about the format. I just copy pasted from a google doc and I don’t know how to fix it. So yeah, this is just a little drabble from a random idea I had at the outlets a while back. I just liked the idea of a tiny pixie friend helping out her blind goliath. I found the description(?) I texted to my friend:

“He dreams of what it is like to see and she wonders what it is like to be big until BAM! They do too much exploring and stumble upon some magical cave (or some other cliche life changing accident/exchange) The magic is unleashed! The next morning they’ve switched bodies *insert shocked face* It is really disorienting because they both got what they wanted but with the disadvantages. Rietta is now big, but she’s always bumping into things or tripping over an animal. And now he can see, but he’s so small he knows he’s not getting an actual picture of what how things are. It’s amazing at first, but the world is kind of scary. Especially since he is now so small. Still, he offers to be his friend’s seeing eye friend just as he was for him. He’s kind of bad at it because he can’t describe what she’s going to walk into. But they have fun anyway. It is a new experience and they don’t know how long it’ll last, so might as well have fun with it. And maybe learn something new about each other in the meantime.”

If you made it to the end of this essay, thanks for sticking around. I don’t do this much so it’s a new experience for me. I had fun with it, though. Any criticism is welcome! 

#original work #drabble #fantasy #story #creative writing #elf #pixie #duo #blind #disability #how they met #google docs #I lost the last page so I had to improvise #so if the ending seems a little funky #sorry #I had to transfer from five scrap sheets of paper #to laptop #I'm so sad I lost it #oh well #it'll turn up eventually #bye!

[thegoldenembers]

The Concert.

Eanrin dashed into Zui’s room at the Manufactory. He hastily unpacked his performance attire and snatched her, of course, modified steam iron.  He quickly smoothed out the wrinkles.  Her machines were always phenomenal.  Sitting in the quiet, he couldn’t believe he’d actually got his friends to accompany him to Ishgard.  And for one of his more important concerts, no less.  He finished and dashed to the Lalafell’s little restroom, pleased to note most of the buckets of snow had dried off his hair at least.

Changing into his concert attire, he then carefully placed his travel clothes near the fire to finish drying.  He was a little worried, not having seen any sign of the mini mechanic.  He’d so hoped she would be able to attend the concert as well.  Since it was Rayn and Mallo’s first visit to Ishgard, he’d hoped they would be able to further be welcomed by a friendly face.

As he finished adjusting the last of the lacings, he noted one of her best dresses hanging off her closet door.  Oh, thank goodness, he smiled to himself.  It looked like she certainly planned to attend. With a last once-over in the mirror, he dashed out the door and locked it.  Now he just had to collect his instruments.  And his friends!

With harp case and one of his flute cases hung off his back like an absurd dual wielding set, Eanrin held his other flute case and a violin case in either hand.  He skidded to a halt at the entrance to the Jeweled Crozier.  Mallo had changed into a stunning evening coat.  It complimented his fluffy white and gray hair quite well. He was applauding and gushing over a young Miqo’te woman in a beautiful dress.

Eanrin took a few steps only to stop again as his brain finally registered his little sister in all but name and blood.  She looked so beautiful and grown up!  They both did.  It took his breath.  Ten years away… it almost hurt to think how much of their lives he had missed.  He had no regrets about leaving Limsa.  But he did regret just leaving his friends behind like he did.

He slowly advanced, smiling.  Had the shop owner managed to put a little blush and makeup on Rayn or was it just her blushing?  “You guys look fantastic!”  He finally managed, somehow managing to adjust the straps of the shoulder cases with full hands.

He watched Mallo beam and Rayn blush.  “You look like you’re ready to attend a dance!”  He winked.  “Speaking of, we better get going.  Follow me!” He motioned for them to follow and headed for the Last Vigil.  “This concert is actually kind of a cotillion.  But it’s being thrown by the Durendaire High House which means all stops are out, so to speak!”  Eanrin explained excitedly.  “There will be fancy dresses and suits as far as the eye can see.  But!  There will also be the best food and drink their money can buy so please feel free to enjoy,” Eanrin winked.  As they reached their destination, he waved them over to a side entrance, where four people stood around assorted instrument cases.  “We get to use the staff entrance.  Much faster than the main.”  He grinned at them.  He’d noted their awed faces at the incredible bejeweled line that twisted and twined its way outside the manor house.

“There’s so many people.”  Rayn gasped. Mallo looked nervous.  Eanrin really hoped Zui would arrive soon.  He waved back when one of the musicians spied the group.  “It’s about time you got here, Eanrin!”  A small Miqo’te male grumpily called.

“We still have plenty of time, Kien!”  Eanrin laughed.  “If we followed your definition of ‘on time,’ we would’ve been here yesterday.”  Turning to Rayn and Mallo, his grin only widened. “Rayn and Mallo, these are my friends. We’ll be performing together this evening.”

A tall Elezen woman glanced curiously at the two accompanying Eanrin. “These are your guests this evening? Not the fawning floozie you usually bring?”  She grinned teasingly.  Rayn stiffened and muttered, “Floozie?” with equal bewilderment and insult in her manner. The Elezen smirked as she achieved her desired effect, while Eanrin poked her with an elbow.

“These are my childhood friends, as a matter of fact.”  He laughed, knowing his friend liked to tease.  “This enchanting lady is Giselle Valeroyant. She is a wonderful celloist in addition to being a bit of a provocateur.”  Eanrin smiled.  The woman bowed, and Eanrin gestured to a midlander female who was smiling and waving at the two new arrivals.

“This young lady is Merrin Mercer.  A better flautist you will never find.  Though some will argue that her voice is as beautiful as her playing.” He motioned to a tall Xaela standing next to a heavily laden cart.  “This gentleman is Ardent Kha.  I only met him a few years ago.  He can pound out amazing rhythms on his drums.  His real name isn’t Ardent, but he argues that no one can properly pronounce it, and Ardent adds to his mystique with the ladies.  He must not be wrong; he has quite a fan following.” Eanrin leaned towards his friends and said this last out of the corner of his mouth, still grinning.  The man raised a hand in greeting.

“Last but not least, we have Kien Lantek. Violinist extraordinaire; he’s a childhood prodigy and I’ve never heard the like when he really sets to fiddling.” The small Keeper bowed, smiling brightly to Rayn and Mallo before scowling back at Eanrin.

“Tiiiiiiiime.”  Kien growled. Then he hastily turned back to the two friends.  “Welcome! I truly hope you enjoy the concert.” He smiled genuinely.  All the musicians began moving over to a tall Elezen with a clip board.

“Coren!”  Eanrin called happily as he waved from Mallo and Rayn’s side.  “They put you in charge of this shindig?”  The Elezen smiled back and waved.  Eanrin gestured to both of his friends and Coren nodded, adding a notation.  “Go on in.” Eanrin gestured to his friends. “It’ll be a bit as we get set up. More people will mill in.  Best thing about arriving with the band is you get to be near the stage if you so desire.”  Eanrin winked, and headed off to follow behind Merrin, who paused for a moment, hopping on her toes before jogging over to Rayn and Mallo.  

“I’m so glad you came!  I’ve heard about you, you see.  I was in Eanrin’s old troupe in Gridania, and he used to talk about you all the time!” She gave each of them a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before running back and heading inside.

Mallo and Rayn exchanged glances.  “So… shall we?” Rayn managed with a smile.  Mallo still looked a bit nervous, but Rayn took his arm in hers and together they walked up to Coren, who waved them through.  They entered the door, to find it was only a gate to an amazingly decorated lawn!  Eanrin and company were mounting a stage and unpacking instruments.  The stage was flanked on all sides by an enormous dance floor.  And in a ring around the floor were arranged tables full of delicious smelling delicacies and glasses upon glasses filled with all sorts of beverages, as well as a few seating areas around small fires if a person desired a cozy nook.  Several people already milled around the stage with more flowing in with every minute.  

Discordant sounds flowed from the stage as Eanrin and Merrin played their flutes, helping Kien and Giselle last minute fine tune their instruments. Eanrin left Merrin to play tones alone so he could hastily tune his own violin.  Shortly after this, Lord Durendaire approached the stage, with his daughter and wife in tow.  Eanrin bowed deeply to the Lord and Ladies, and with a flourish, seemed to produce a rose in each hand, offering them to the pleased women.  The gaze he fixed on them, made them flush and the Lord clear his throat just a little.  While the two noble ladies giggled, Rayn frowned.  Before her brain could process much, the young Lady hopped over to a group of girls and they began giggling and squealing.  “And did you see his hair is white tonight?”  The young Lady exclaimed.  “That’s a new color, and he wore it to my cotillion first!”  She bounced. The girls were bouncing and laughing, and Rayn turned her attention away from the frivolity and back to the stage. Kien and Eanrin were sitting with their feet hanging off the edge, chatting gaily away with the nearest audience members and Lord Durendaire.

After about 20 minutes of this, Rayn flinched as Mallo’s grasp grew tighter and tighter and the floor became more and more full. She turned with concern to her friend, who was looking a little green.  It was just at this moment that a haunting note erupted from the stage.

Eanrin stood with his mother’s flute in hands, and the note dwindled and transitioned into what sounded like birdsong. After a few moments, the birdsong became a set of discordant notes that still made a beautiful song.  A piece right out of Doma would be recognized by anyone well-traveled.  Kien stood slowly and joined in with his violin.  A haunting melody that shortly blended into a happy little song with notes and a rhythm people from the west were more comfortable with.  Ardent and Giselle joined in.  The drums pounding a foot stomping rhythm and Giselle’s lower “voice” gliding across Eanrin and Kien’s notes.  At last the brilliant sound of the more traditional flute twisted and twirled around Eanrin’s flute music and just as quickly as the merry romp had formed, it stopped with a flourish and a bow from Eanrin.  

The audience erupted in applause as, now that attention was on the stage, Eanrin backed away and bowed to Lord Durendaire, who approached the front and welcomed everyone.  His speech carried on as Rayn and Mallo exchanged happy glances.  They’d never heard anything like that little bit of sound Eanrin and his friends had played.  And they found themselves wishing Lord Durendaire would soon surrender the stage.  A sentiment the man seemed to sense from the crowd in general, for he kept his address short and soon Eanrin was again taking center stage.  

“Welcome friends!”  Eanrin cried genially.  “This is Giselle, Merrin, Ardent, and Kien, and I am Eanrin.”  He bowed.  There were cheers for each musician, but it grew loudest at the end as all the players stood and bowed for the audience.  “It is our pleasure to be performing for you tonight.  So, without further ado, let’s get these feet pounding. Ardent?”  Eanrin pointed at his friend, who smiled and began pounding out a rhythm.  Eanrin and Kien stomped their feet for a moment before Eanrin began playing his tribal flute and Kien and Giselle joined him shortly on their strings.  Last, Merrin brought her flute to her lips, and the two flautists’ notes twined and twirled around each other, just like the musicians themselves.   When they got to the chorus, Ardent would add his deep voice to a couple of the notes, inspiring leads to dip their partners. With shouts of joy and laughter, couples all around Mallo and Rayn began dancing and twirling.  It was contagious, and before long, both Rayn and Mallo joined in, laughing along with everyone else.

A couple of songs in, Eanrin brought the tone down to a more formal dance at a look from Lord Durendaire, who wanted a dance with his wife.  As older couples happily commenced dancing, some of the younger ones joined in, though a little less willingly.  A lot headed off to get refreshments.  It was at this moment, that what Rayn thought was a small girl in a simple but elegant dress waded her way to the two friends standing awkwardly, swaying their arms to the music.

“Excuse me.  Pardon…” Her voice finally swam to Rayn’s ears before she finally reached them.  As the small girl glanced up, Rayn couldn’t help but notice with amusement that there seemed to be some grease smudges around what she could now see was a Lalafell’s nose and ears.  Dark, inky tattoos spiraled along her ear lobes and down the sides of her neck to meet at her collar bones.  She wore a small silver necklace that the tattoo chain seemed to only embellish. Her dress was a simple red bodice and black skirt over a cream-colored shift trimmed with lavender ribbon.  The corset and skirt were delicately embroidered in silver vines and flowers.  The Lalafell girl’s hair was a bone colored blonde; the tips were black.  A fashion choice?  Maybe it was to help with all those grease stains.  Her hair was gathered in a loose ponytail with a black ribbon and a silver filigree bird.  She raised her lavender eyes and made contact with the two Miqo’te.  

“Excuse me, would you be Rayn and Mallo?”  The Lalafell inquired, her eyes inquisitive.

“Umm, yes we are.”  Rayn answered, shocked.  Were they in trouble?  She watched as the Lalafell’s eyes brightened in triumph.

“I knew it!  It had to be you!”  She smiled happily.  “My name is Zui, and I’m a friend of Eanrin’s.  I had so wanted to meet you.  I’m so glad he was able to talk you into coming!”  Zui hopped in a small, happy circle.  

“It’s nice to meet you, Zui.”  Mallo smiled at the happy girl.  “I didn’t know Eanrin had any friends in Ishgard that would look for us.”

She laughed, “Well I am, and I am, and I did!  And I never miss a chance to hear Eanrin play.  Especially not with the other fab four!”

The slow dance ended, and Eanrin grinned at Kien, who picked seemed to prepare himself and his violin.  Eanrin reached down and grabbed his, screeching a set of cheeky notes.  Kien played a set of quick and complicated notes back.  Eanrin screeched, Kien trilled.  Eanrin’s answers lost their screeches and became quick little notes.  The melody was bright and had a rhythm that Ardent began to slowly pick out.  Giselle joined in, and then shortly Merrin.  It was a musical argument and at the same time a bright little dance.  Zui clapped and cheered, offering her hands to Rayn and Mallo and they danced in a circle for a bit.

After a few more dances, Zui giggled, a little breathless.  Some of her hair had fallen out, framing her face. Her stomach rumbled, and she blushed a little bit.  “I’m sorry… I had to work late at the manufactory and haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.”  She grinned ruefully.

“Is that why you still have a little grease here and there?”  Rayn asked, laughing.  

“Oh no!”  Zui moaned. “Did I miss some?  I left in such a hurry… I didn’t want to miss meeting you guys.”

“You should use some La Noscean Orange to help with that.  It’s what I use.   It never fails!”  Rayn declared brightly.

“I love La Noscean Orange!”  Zui nodded. “I use it all the time too.  It’s rare that I meet a girl who knows how to deal with grease!  Are you a machinist too?”  She asked excitedly.

As Rayn explained that she helped her crafter parents out when she grew up, Mallo wandered over to the refreshment tables.  Knowing Zui was famished, and feeling a bit hungry himself, he explored the tables, mouth watering, as he built a couple of plates and returned to the two girls still chattering on about oranges and ore types.  He held out one plate for him and Rayn to share, and handed down a plate to Zui, who clapped her hands, exclaiming.

“Oh!  Thank you Mallo, you have great taste!”  The Lalafell immediately set to devouring the treats.  “Soooo yummy!”

Rayn and Mallo shared a plate heaped high; Mallo taking note of the pastries and trying to guess what they used and how they made them.  “Apricot.” Mallo would declare.

“I’m thinking peach maybe.”  Rayn would reply.  They continued on in this manner.

The music stopped and Eanrin began playing on his hand harp.  It was a haunting melody, and most of the dancefloor moved to get drinks.  Some still danced.  “Beyond the final waters falling.  The song of spheres recalling.  Won’t…. you return to me?”  Eanrin sang. As the song continued, Kien and Giselle joined in with quiet singing.

As much as Mallo and Rayn were enjoying the concert, they still felt like they stood out.  Zui watched them, quietly.  When they finally expressed this, the Lalafell frowned.  “Don’t worry about all these partridges and peacocks and whether or not they’re staring.  Everyone has a right to be here.  And you haven’t just brightened Eanrin’s day by coming, you know.”  She gestured to the tables behind her.  A few of the vendors looked up, smiling brightly.  “Folks appreciate folks that appreciate what they appreciate!”  She quipped brightly. “I’m so thirsty!”  She made her way to a table and jumped a couple of times before Mallo caught up and handed one down to her.  “Thank you so much, Mallo!  Ishgard isn’t entirely Lalafell friendly.”  Zui giggled.  

They made their way back to the stage and Eanrin began another melody. There was instant applause and cheers as the crowd recognized this one and the Bard began to sing a song about a dragon and some farmers.

Rayn quickly realized what Eanrin was singing and she looked urgently at Mallo, who also seemed to be looking around for dragons.  “He can’t play that!”  Rayn started to panic, and she looked ready to storm the stage.  How could he?  Why would he play the song that got him cursed?  What if he got in trouble?!  She had to stop him.

With a hiss, Zui reached out and caught Rayn’s hand, tugging her back imploringly.  “No!  Stop, oh please do.  It’s okay… it’s one of his most popular and demanded songs.”  She said hastily.  “But I can see you know about what happened afterward.  I’m going to have to swat him on the head when I see him next.  I’m guessing he didn’t warn you that he’d perform it.”  She hissed.  “What a butthead.  You see, it wasn’t until after he nearly died that he really started gaining popularity. ‘The key to good showbusiness is to make the crowd feel like they’re participating in something dangerous even if they aren’t.’ “She mimicked Eanrin’s voice.  “They wanted to hear the song that got him in so much trouble, he broke one table and upset five more (along with all the occupants) as he sailed across the room, hit a wall with quite some force, and still survived.” She rolled her eyes yet had a grim set to her face.

Rayn shook her head.  She didn’t understand.  Why would he ever want to sing that song ever again?  She looked hopelessly at Mallo, who seemed just as perplexed.

The song soon ended, and after the applause and cheers faded, Earnin and company began playing a song that sounded exactly like the small ditty they had begun the concert with.  This time, they didn’t cut it short.  It was merry, it was riotous, and Eanrin and Merrin began dancing to the edge and selecting dance partners from the crowd.  They would pull the excited audience members onto the stage and twirl and dance for all to see.  Rayn frowned as Eanrin seemed to dance a little too close to most of his selected partners.  Swinging and twirling these girls so they were a whirl of sequins, lace, and joyous squeals; it was hard to tell where the girl ended and Eanrin began sometimes.

Zui whistled and laughed and clapped her hands to the beat as each dancer was selected.  The small girl glanced up at Rayn and Mallo.  Mallo was clapping and smiling, Rayn was frowning a bit, like a protective sibling.  Zui couldn’t help but smirk.  It was adorable after all.  And Eanrin played the crowd as well as any violin.  

The brightly grinning bard would gently help each breathless “victim” back down to the dance floor and then seemed to greatly relish the cries and waves of the nobles clamoring to get a chance to dance with the two performers. Merrin was twining her way around her leads, somehow managing to make them all look like professionals. Twisting her arm just so or following through with a sweeping step and flowing grace.

All too soon, Giselle, Kien, and Ardent brought the song to a close and there were equal cries of happiness and disappointment.  All five performers stood together, hand in hand, and bowed deeply to the audience.  The crowd cheered and cried while Zui shouted, “Encore!”  with quite a few others.  Merrin and Eanrin, trying to catch their breath, looked to the other three. They all nodded, and the crowd cheered as Giselle and Kien took center stage, singing a bright, encouraging love ballad, where the last verse was, “Until we meet again, farewell my dearest star, and shine ever brighter.”  Once Eanrin and Merrin could breathe, they joined their voices with the others.  As the song came to a close, Ardent added his deep bass to the final notes and they all waved farewell as silence took over, bowing once more.

As everyone finished their last dance, there was laughter, crying, hugging, and even some returned waves as the performers began packing away their instruments.  Lord Durendaire resumed center stage and thanked everyone for coming.  Welcoming any and all who wished to stay to enjoy the food, company, and some additional music for more dancing.

Zui turned brightly to Mallo and Rayn and hugged them each in turn.  Taking them by the hand, she slowly led them to the side and waded through the crowd to where Coren stood near a hedge.  He smiled and waved them into a small, secluded garden fire pit where the five exhausted performers mingled with only a few people. Giselle was drinking from one of the provided glasses while cuddled next to a younger Elezen child, who was gesturing wildly and waving a small handcrafted trifle in the air.  Mirren, wrapped snugly in a blanket and her hair up in a towel, was hugging a small boy and a taller man.  Ardent and Kien were collapsed in chairs laughing about something or other.   Eanrin was seated nearby scrubbing at his hair with a towel.  He looked up and his eyes brightened as Zui ran up and gave him a great big hug.  He laughed and spun her around, the towel hanging around his neck.  “Zui, you made it!  How’d you like the concert?”

“Amazing as always!”  She giggled through the air.  “You guys never fail a show.  Ever!” He hugged her once more and set her down and she immediately ran over and was embraced warmly by the rest of the musicians in turn.  She chattered on happily with them, remarking on everything from the concert to questions about the welfare of loved ones.

Eanrin set his eyes on his friends, they were one big question mark.  Well, the dull gray one said nothing, but the gold one may just have held a little bit of fear.  “Hey guys, you’re still in one piece.”  He smiled happily.  “I was hoping Zui would find you.  Did you enjoy the dance?”

Mallo nodded excitedly.  “You guys play amazing music!  I’ve never seen so many people dancing together in one place before.  So much glitter, and colors, and laughter!  And the food!  I have so many ideas!”  He continued on.  Eanrin caught Rayn’s gaze, and, though she nodded in agreement and clapped a couple of times as she laughed, she still managed to send him a searing gaze that said, “What was that?!”  and, “You’ve got some explaining to do!”  All at the same time.  Or at least, that’s what he guessed it said.  Grinning from ear to ear, he just joined in the laughter, dancing, and jesting of his friends and “family” as another set of musicians had taken the stage to provide bright background music for those who lingered.

#The Golden Embers #Rayn Atkascha #Eanrin Farthestshore #Mallo Ra'ri #Zuzui Zui

[uraichievents]

So here we are! UraIchi Week 2018 will take place:

Monday, May 28, 2018 - Sunday, June 3, 2018.

What is UraIchi Week?

Basically, it’s a week-long event to promote the Urahara Kisuke x Kurosaki Ichigo ship. There’s no sign-up, it’s just for fun, and everybody’s welcome to participate. Hopefully by the end of the week, there’ll be plenty more works for UraIchi shippers to enjoy. What I want for this event is just for UraIchi shippers to enjoy new material, maybe chat a bit, and hopefully add some life to a somewhat dead rarepair that I happen to adore.

What kind of stuff would be accepted for this event?

Fics, fanart, graphics, moodboards, gifsets, fanmixes, and playlists are all welcome. Headcanons and meta too. So long as it’s focused on UraIchi, pretty much anything goes. The pair itself can be written romantically or platonically, pre-relationship or established, basically anything you want so long as it involves these two idiots.

Posting:

For those of you with Tumblr, you can tag your stuff with #UraIchi Week or #UraIchi Week 2018 in the first five tags of your post. I’ll be tracking those two tags so I’ll see it and reblog it to this blog. (If it’s been a couple days since you posted and I still haven’t reblogged it, something probably went wrong, Tumblr’s not always reliable, so just shoot me an ask about it and I’ll reblog it.)

For those of you with AO3, I will create a collection a day or two before the event starts, and you’ll be able to add your work to the collection when you post. (I’ll toss up a notice for everyone once the collection is up.)

Discord:

If you want to chat about headcanons or meta or just random stuff, join Discord! There’s already a a few people lurking so you don’t really even have to wait for the event.

Submissions:

If you’re nervous about posting something for UraIchi but still want to get your work out there, I will open submissions on Tumblr before the event, and you can send it in for me to submit anonymously.

And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. After looking over all the votes, I’ve compiled two or three themes for each day of the week. It’s your choice whether or not you want to make a fanwork that includes all the themes of that day, or a fanwork for each theme, or a fanwork for just one. You can make something for each day of the week or just one or two. Likewise, you are fully welcome to create fanworks based on any genre or AU you can think of. The official themes are only suggestions. WIPs are perfectly okay too.

Themes

May 28: Day 1 - Time Travel | Dimension Travel | Fix-It

Probably to no one’s surprise, Time Travel was the most popular choice of all the themes. I’ve combined it with Dimension Travel and Fix-It, but of course, you don’t have to include all three in the same fanwork. Prompts with Ichigo travelling back in time, or Urahara during his assassin tenure travelling forward to Ichigo’s present day, or both of them dimension-hopping to a world where the Gotei 13 is in the middle of a civil war, all fit into these categories.

May 29: Day 2 - Soulmates AU | Daemons AU | Wings AU

Also probably to no one’s surprise, Soulmates came in second. I’ve thrown Daemons AU and Wings AU onto this day too since they’re similar enough to combine if you wish (or not if you don’t). Here you could find soulmates with matching soulmarks, soulmates connected by a red string of fate, or soulmates who can only see each other’s wings. Or maybe you want to explore an inverted AU where Urahara and Ichigo are not each other’s soulmates but their daemons spend an inordinate amount of time together anyway and refuse to be separated. Anything related to any of these three AUs goes!

(I’ve also included these two links to some soulmates AUs you can use: here and here.)

May 30: Day 3 - SOMETHING!Ichigo and/or SOMETHING!Urahara | Creatures & Monsters/Supernatural Elements AU

Feel free to go wild with this one. Soul King!Ichigo? Let’s see what he does with the world. Arrancar!Urahara? He’d never work for Aizen so maybe when Ichigo storms Hueco Mundo, he ends up saving a half-feral monster from the dungeons, and God help any Shinigami who suggests putting him down like some kind of rabid dog. Or maybe you’d prefer a whole universe of supernatural creatures. Vampire!Urahara and werewolf!Ichigo? Angel!Ichigo and demon!Urahara? World’s biggest cliches right there but they’re cliches for a reason.

May 31: Day 4 - Mutual (or Not) Pining | Alternate First Meeting and/or Getting Together | Outsider POV

Day 4 is more slice of life than the rest. Meet-cutes or love at first sight, Urahara pining away after an oblivious Ichigo, or Ichigo determinedly courting a confused Urahara. Or maybe you want a glimpse of these two idiots from another person’s perspective. Maybe Zangetsu and Benihime get together to try and make their wielders fall in love. Maybe Ichigo and Urahara have been together for a while and eventually their friends begin wondering when those two became close enough to share whole conversations with a glance. Or maybe the Soutaichou has had it up to here with Urahara making things explode because he’s too busy moping over what he thinks is unrequited love to get his shit together enough to actually do his work, so he sets his entire military organization with the task of getting two of the most stubborn morons to have ever lived together. They’re all at least several hundred years old. It can’t be that hard, right?

June 1: Day 5 - Crossovers | Fusions

I personally wasn’t too surprised that a good chunk of votes went to Crossovers and Fusions. Fancy a Hunger Games AU fusion with the Gotei 13 making up the Capitol, Urahara as a mentor or a stylist, and Ichigo as a volunteer tribute? Or maybe a Pacific Rim AU fusion with Ichigo and co. signing up to fight Kaiju. How about a crossover with Naruto where Ichigo and Urahara find themselves in the Naruto world and they end up rebuilding Uzushio? Or maybe you prefer a crossover with Harry Potter where Urahara is hired as the new History professor and Ichigo the new Defence professor, and holy hell - as they discover - there’s a lot of shady things going on in the Wizarding world.

June 2: Day 6 - Canon Divergence | For Want of a Nail AU | Ichigo vs. Gotei 13 | Apocalypse AU

Post-Winter War, Ichigo never regaining his powers and leaving town as soon as he graduates? Pre-Turn Back the Pendulum Arc, Urahara starts receiving anonymous letters about what Aizen is up to and manages to prevent Shinji and the others from becoming Visored? Aizen wins and ends up bringing about the apocalypse? The Shinigami ‘cleaning up’ and ordering the execution of all non-Shinigami after Aizen is defeated? Give me all the what-if scenarios here.

June 3: Day 7 - Colours | Single-Word Prompts

To be honest, neither of these two themes had a particularly large amount of votes but I wanted to reserve one day for prompts geared more towards artists and those who maybe write better with specific word prompts than general AUs. So, Colours are pretty self-explanatory - pick a colour and make a moodboard or put together a gifset of UraIchi moments. Of course, writers can also work around this - a dozen red roses delivered to Ichigo’s doorstep one day, or five times Ichigo gave Urahara a different green hat and the first time Kisuke stops wearing one around him.

As for single-word prompts, there were people who wanted to come up with their own words, but also people who asked for me to come up with a list for them, so I’ve decided to include a google doc with a list of words here. You can click through or not, it’s up to you.

And that’s it! I hope everybody will have fun with this! I really want this to be a success so get those creative minds in gear and start preparing for the event. Two months actually isn’t that long. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone will come up with when the time comes! And feel free to send me an ask if you’re confused about anything.

#psa #bleach #uraichi #uraichi week #uraichi week 2018

[merrickals]

Hoo boy, it’s been a while

(Lengthy explanation + apology for my absence below the cut)

Why I’ve been gone:

The short answer is school.

The long answer is, well... still school, but more generally, an absence of inspiration.  Over the past few months, I’ve had a really hard time summoning the motivation to write for Merrick.  It’s not because of his character - I love my quirky, goofy, nerdy space son.  It’s not because of my rp partners or their characters - I love every single one of the people I’ve interacted with, which makes extra-guilty about straight-up ditching y’all with no warning or explanation.  Rather, it’s the verses in which I’ve been writing.  

In almost every single one of his verses, Merrick is a student.  The majority of his interactions take place on campus, and most of the conflicts he faces are linked to academics in some way or another.  There’s nothing wrong with writing a student; there’s definitely merit in the old saying “write what you know,” and since I’m a student, I’ve got plenty of material from which to draw.  While our similar situations give me plenty of experiences, though, they also make it harder to enjoy being in Merrick’s shoes over my own.  For me, part of the enjoyment of roleplay comes from escapism; allowing myself to explore worlds completely separate reality, worry about problems completely unrelated to my own, and “carry out” actions without worrying about repercussions in my own future is something of a stress reliever, and what allows me to relax in roleplay.  Over the summer, when I created Merrick, this wasn’t a problem... but as schoolwork and applications devoured my own life, even thinking about writing anything on a college campus was sickening, let alone actually writing it.  

Less directly, I was also discouraged by the minimal amount Merrick’s alien heritage came into play in any of the threads he pursued.  No character should be defined solely by “aesthetic” attributes such as their origins, species, or abilities, and I did strive to keep Merrick from flattening out into only his half-alien background.  That said, though... it is still a major factor that affects who he is and how he lives his life.  It isn’t just be an extra detail thrown in to make him more interesting; it’s an integral part of who he is and how his stories will play out, and one I feel has been criminally underutilized in almost every thread I’ve written him in.  Being half-Noctralorian should not and will never overshadow his being Merrick, but it's a sizeable part of being Merrick.  As Merrick’s mun, I’m glad to have fleshed him out enough beyond his base concept that he can stand alone, but also feel like I’ve left that concept behind - and it’s frustrating, because worldbuilding isn’t my forte, but I wanted to play with it a little more with Merrick.  Though I like his more realistic storylines, I found myself on edge trying to respond to them, itching to write something more... “interesting” isn’t really the word I’m looking for, since slice-of-life realism can definitely be interesting, but... I guess “exotic”?  I hope that makes sense, but uh, yeah.  This kinda ties back in with the real-life and roleplay situation similarities .w.

(Additionally, though it’s a far more minor reason, my art’s improved a lot since I’ve been here, and ngl it hurts to look at the old stuff now rip <~<)

I’m gonna come clean now: I have still been writing these past four months of radio silence.  I made another blog (@abyssmail, which has also since sunk into unannounced hiatus) and screwed around over on that for a while, then got dragged into a discord roleplay server with some old friends and got my creativity fix there.  I started writing my own roleplay server, which definitely won’t see the light of day for several months, if ever, but that, too, took my time from here.  I’ve been extremely selfish in my roleplaying, and left a lot of people hanging over here who definitely didn’t deserve to be blown off.  And I’m really, really sorry.  I wasted your time, got your hopes up, and then let you down, and really, with an explanation only coming so late, it’s inexcusable.  I’m not going to push for forgiveness, but only hope that I didn’t hurt you too badly by failing to reply.

...So where do I stand now?

Well, I definitely don’t want to scrap this blog.  I put a lot of work into creating Merrick, and while I’m unsatisfied with the progress I made on his development, I am proud of how he’s turned out so far.  I also don’t really want to entirely abandon the drafts I still have hanging, although it’s probably much too late for that.  It may take me months more to summon the motivation to write proper responses, but I really do want to get to it eventually, even if it’s the last thing I do.  Naturally, I won’t expect any kind of response in return, but will only seek to provide closure, at least to myself ^^; If you’re willing to wait for me, I’m happy to pick things up where we left off, but for now I need a semi-fresh start.  

...I say start, but really, I don’t mean to have much more than limited activity with short, low-responsibility threads every once in a blue moon for a while now.  I do want to come back.  Really.  I’m just not ready to be here in full-force like I was last summer, and don’t know if I’ll ever truly hit that point again.  I plan on popping in every once in a while, maybe throwing some memes and low-responsibility threads around, maybe picking up one or two bigger threads that I can focus my (highly limited) energy on consistently.  No promises, though.  I’m reluctant to promise anything, really, for I’ve already broken so many that it would be dangerous to even try.

If you’ve made it to the bottom of this, thank you so much for reading it, and I hope you can find it in your heart to have, if not forgiveness, a little sympathy for this flaky potato over here ^^;  Best wishes to all of you who’ve roleplayed with me in the past~

~ ♥ Shiro

#[[ * Sleep~talking as somebody else * ( ooc ramblings ) ]] #shit dude I had this all written up and then just forgot to post it #well #here it is #I'd hella appreciate it if you read it but it IS long so I won't take it personally if you don't .~.

[itkmoonknight]

ITK Newsletter, no. CXV: MOON & STARS - Paradox's Studios' MOON KNIGHT Fan Film Discussion

Loonies. Camera.Action!

Welcome, welcome, fair Loonies to yet another newsletter, coming at you  to paint your eyes purple and induce your brain with heady goodness.

This week there are only a few segments to this newsletter, but I kinda want to spend a good amount of time on them as I’m pretty excited by them all!

First up, you’re probably wondering what is in store for our next show. Well, it all still appears to be on track, and I’ve chatted with the good man himself - on our 125th episode, we’ll have special guest Caden Butera on, to discuss his fan film, ‘MOON KNIGHT’ from his creator owned Paradox Studios.

If you’ve not yet seen Caden’s film (which is a thing a beauty...but not without some creative licence which I’m sure will cause a stir amongst Loonies), then check it out on the link below!

PHASE OF THE MOON: Full Moon

MOON & STARS - MK on film discussion

Paradox Studios' MOON KNIGHT Fan Film

Have been trying for YONKS to get Caden on the show and although we both were super keen to make it happen, I’d say Caden and I have the worst time zone ratios in the history of our ITK Podcast! Time zones coupled with busy schedules on both parts have made it difficult, but I just HAD to get Caden on to discuss his cool film before the Disney+ show rears it’s head.

It will be a fun chat as I’ll ask Caden and explore more of Paradox Studios; I’ll get the scoop on Caden’s experience with Moon Knight and comic book characters; and by having him on the show now, I’ll be able to ask him his thoughts on the upcoming Disney+ show and what he’d be expecting to see!

ITK Scribes - The Journey Begins...

Further to something which I dropped last newsletter and show, have been steadily and diligently writing in anticipation for Moon Knight comic book reviews in association with Paint Monk’s Library. Above, you can see the banner which will form a part of the Library and we are absolutely chuffed to have our own corner of the Library, purely dedicated to Moon Knight!

There’s an ITK Scribes Group which has been created and everyone involved is very excited at the prospect of undertaking the mammoth task of documenting the entire Moon Knight run in comics, in review form! Partnering up with Wally Monk (Chief Scribe and owner of Paint Monk’s Library), we at ITK are honoured to be part of this project and once the reviews hit the internet in January 2020, there will be plenty of cross promotion for Paint Monk’s Library both on the podcast and in our social media! It’s just a logical extension of the show (which aims to review all the Moon Knight comics and appearances in all sorts of media) so I urge you all to give Paint Monk’s Library a go, and check out all the reviews! Not only the Moon Knight ones, but there is a whole catalogue of comic book reviews - there’s something for everyone!

The reviews of Paint Monk's Library can be found at their website by clicking on the banner above- start exploring!

Also, please be sure to check out and join Paint Monk’s other social media platforms to stay up to date with all the latest and greatest reviews -

Paint Monk’s Library Facebook Page

Paint Monk’s Library  on Twitter

RECOMMENDED PODCAST THIS WEEK!

I love these blokes.

Derek, John and Chris constantly bring their A-Game to their show and I can put my hand on my heart and say that TV Podcast Industries is THE premium podcast for all our TV show discussion needs...!

I've plugged them before, but can't help plugging them again. They are currently spotlighting The Watchmen TV show (and if you haven't yet started watching, I highly recommend you do! TV at it's best!) and they've reformatted their show by having separate shows for their discussion (which is thanks to the boys having access to preview copies of the episodes) as well as a follow up show for feedback which complements each other perfectly - 

TVPI Watchmen Catalogue

TVPI - Episode 7 Discussion: 'An Almost Religious Awe'

TVPI - Episode 7 Feedback

TVPI - Episode 8 Discussion : 'A God Walks into Abar"

CONTACT US!

Discussion threads are already up on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the upcoming episode. As mentioned, give the 17 minutes Moon Knight Film by Caden Butera a watch, and let us know what you think!

If you DON'T want your comments broadcast, please just add, "(DNB)" at the end of your comment, and we'll be sure not to broadcast it. We'll pick a few comments from here and discuss on the show!

Email: [email protected]

Podcast Page: http://intotheknight.libsyn.com

Facebook Page: Into the Knight - A Moon Knight Podcast

Facebook Group: Into the Knight - A Moon Knight Fan Base

Twitter: @ITKmoonknight

Discord ITK Server: ITK Server

GetVokl : Into the Knight Welcome Room

That wraps it for another newsletter - I'm pretty pumped to record the next episode with Caden, though I don't think I'll be able to reach the dizzying heights of David Finn from last episode!

Oh! Forgot!...finally, I've thrown a little event on the FB Page and Group...an end of year catch up with any local Loonies around the Sydney area. Should be a fun time and chance to interact face-to-face with other Loonies, so if you are interested and are in the Sydney area, check out the event in the ITK FB Page or Group!

Who knows, ...maybe it could be an annual thing for Loonies everywhere, to meet up with other Loonies nearby...that'd be fun!

OK, I'm starting to ramble...better bottle it now!!

Until next time....

May Khonshu Watch Over the Denizens of the (K)Night,

Rey

Proud Member of The Collective

  Remember! You can buy your official ITK merchandise at ...ITK Store Front @ TeePublic

Check out this episode!

[junker-town]

Bears are quickly becoming the NFL’s biggest punchline

Move over, Browns. The Bears might be the biggest mess in the NFL.

What if we told you there’s an NFL team coming off a three-win season, and they’re going into 2017 with a mess of a quarterback situation? And the general manager and head coach don’t seem to be on the same page? And their splashy move on draft day made them a laughingstock?

Up until this year, we might have been describing the Cleveland Browns. But now we’re talking about the Chicago Bears.

After parting ways with Jay Cutler, the Bears signed Mike Glennon to a three-year, $45 million contract with $18.5 million guaranteed. Then they shocked everyone, even Mitchell Trubisky, when they traded up from No. 3 to take the quarterback with the second overall pick.

It was a decision experts hated.

"Either the Bears know something no one else in the league knows, or that draft just got a lot of people fired only they don't know it yet,” an unnamed NFL team executive told CBS Sports’ Jason LaCanfora.

While the Bears were reaching for Trubisky, the Browns were drafting wisely. They selected Myles Garrett first overall and traded back from No. 12 to rack up more draft capital. After years of being the NFL’s easiest punchline, the Browns appear to be on the upswing, avoiding the mistakes that have led to years of futility and investing in players who can help the team get better. But the trajectory the Bears are on makes it seem like they’re on their way to becoming the new Browns.

The Bears made a bold draft move, but did they get better?

The decision to trade up for Trubisky was the team’s most criticized move in the 2017 draft, and for good reason.

The 49ers weren’t considering Trubisky at No. 2, so it was a trade the Bears didn’t even need to make. Trubisky would have been there at No. 3, and the Bears could have kept the third- and fourth-round picks they gave up in this draft, and a third-rounder in 2018, to move up one spot.

The 49ers received a few calls about trading the No. 2 pick, but it was the Bears that made an offer San Francisco couldn’t refuse. The Niners would just have to move back one spot, which guaranteed they could get either Solomon Thomas or Reuben Foster, their top remaining targets with Garrett off the board.

San Francisco’s general manager, John Lynch, thought Chicago might be jumping in front of them to take Thomas. Instead, the Bears were targeting Trubisky. Lynch was as surprised as the rest of us.

“Then why’d they go get Glennon?” Lynch said, via The MMQB’s Peter King.

The Bears have repeatedly expressed confidence in Glennon as this year’s starter and went so far as to invite Glennon to the team’s official draft party. Then they traded up to draft his replacement.

Glennon reportedly felt “cheated on” after the Trubisky pick, and while he’s probably still going to be the starter this year, it’s pretty clear to everyone Glennon is just a stopgap.

Chicago needs a franchise quarterback, and the hope is that Trubisky, who only started one year in college, will develop into one. If he pans out, the decision to trade up might look smart in hindsight.

But right now, everything the Bears gave up to get him leave some big questions in play. They had plenty of other needs, particularly on defense, that went unfilled during free agency and the draft.

The Bears took risks with the rest of the 2017 draft class

In the second round, Chicago landed Ashland’s tight end Adam Shaheen, who has upside but his adjustment to the NFL may be more challenging as a small-school player. Safety was a need for the Bears, and they filled it with Alabama’s Eddie Jackson, whose injury history is a cause for concern.

Running back Tarik Cohen is a freak athlete, and he’ll serve as a change-of-pace back and complement Jordan Howard. But running back was not the Bears’ most pressing need. Jordan Morgan out of Kutztown was the team’s final pick. He played tackle in college but could convert to guard at the next level, and he may not be ready to contribute in 2017.

The 2017 draft was a particularly deep one for cornerbacks and pass rushers. The Bears could have benefited from a dominant rusher to come off the edge opposite Akiem Hicks, but failed to grab anyone in this draft who can help disrupt opposing passers.

Chicago has plenty of corners on the roster, but in a draft class that was stacked with talent, the team could have added a playmaker at the position. The Trubisky pick, and the way the Bears went about it, raised plenty of eyebrows. But only taking one defensive player despite the team’s needs and a wealth of players available helped Chicago earn the worst marks in this draft.

This year’s free agency haul leaves more questions than answers

Glennon was the team’s most notable acquisition, and he hasn’t started a game since 2014. With just a 5-13 record as a starter, he has thrown 30 touchdowns and 15 interceptions over his career. Chicago also brought in Mark Sanchez, who has been relegated to a backup role pretty much ever since the infamous “buttfumble.”

The Bears also let Alshon Jeffery walk, and the receivers they brought in this offseason aren’t on his level. Jeffery’s productivity fell off over the past two seasons due to injuries and a four-game suspension for PEDs, but when he’s on the field, his productivity is on par with the best receivers in the league. The same cannot be said of the newest members of the Bears’ receiving corps: Markus Wheaton, Kendall Wright, and tight end Dion Sims.

Wheaton and Wright are No. 2-caliber receivers at best. Wheaton had 51 receiving yards and one touchdown last season for the Steelers, and he’s on a two-year, $11 million deal with $5 million guaranteed. The $18 million over three seasons the Bears plan to pay Sims, including $10 million in guaranteed money, is a lot for a player who showed promise but only had 256 receiving yards over 14 games last season.

The Bears are holding out hope for Kevin White, the team’s seventh overall pick in 2015. But so far, White’s career has been derailed by injuries. He had 197 receiving yards last year after missing the entirety of his rookie season. They’re also counting on Cameron Meredith, who was an undrafted free agent coming out of college, to replicate last year’s success. He led the team with 888 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2016.

Safety Quintin Demps and cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper could be upgrades in the secondary. But they’re not sure things, due to age and injury concerns. Demps is 31, and Amukamara missed 26 games in five years with the Giants due to injury, and the Bears have invested $12 million in guaranteed money into them.

Cooper had four interceptions with the Cardinals — which would have accounted for half of the Bears’ total last year — and may be the playmaker the Bears have been lacking in the secondary. But he also shared a defensive backfield with Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu and Tony Jefferson last season.

The Bears signed the most free agents of any team in the league with 12. Though many of the signings were underwhelming, they invested a lot of money into these players.

However, one thing general manager Ryan Pace did well with the free agent signings is front-load the contracts so that if any of these guys don’t work out, the team won’t be hindered by dead money long term. Glennon is the highest-paid player on the team this season, but the way his contract is structured makes it easy for the Bears to move on to Trubisky next season.

But in an offseason where the Bears really didn’t get any game-changing playmakers, it’s hard to imagine they did enough to drastically improve on their 3-13 finish last year.

Dysfunction rules in Halas Hall

Under Chicago’s previous head coach, Marc Trestman, there were constant reports about discord and infighting within the organization. That dysfunction is a primary reason why John Fox got a shot as the head coach of the Bears.

But bringing in Fox didn’t correct the internal issues. It hasn’t helped on the field, either. The Bears have won just nine games over his two seasons, putting Fox firmly on the hot seat.

There were conflicting reports about whether Fox was aware of the decision to trade up for Trubisky leading up to the draft. But even if Fox was on board with the decision to draft Trubisky, other Pace decisions suggest a conflict between the philosophies of the general manager and head coach.

Fox takes an old-school approach to the game, relying on veterans and making conservative in-game decisions. Pace is stacking the roster with younger talent and targeting players he sees as the best available in the draft as opposed to a needs-based method.

“I think there's more to the rift than the team will let on,” said Kev from Windy City Gridiron, SB Nation’s Bears blog. “I think Pace will continue to push Fox to play younger guys, and I think Fox will resist.”

Pace hasn’t given Fox the kinds of players he has traditionally been comfortable with building around. Yet Fox is still responsible for the wins and losses, even if he hasn’t had much say in the players he has to work with this season.

If Pace and Fox aren’t on the same page when it comes to building the roster, it makes it that much harder for Fox to turn things around on the field. And that could lead to the end of both of their tenures with the Bears.

Don’t expect the Bears to turn it around this year

Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune is already calling this season the “John Fox Farewell Tour.” If he is a lame duck, Fox doesn’t have the luxury of time to coax these players into making Chicago competitive.

Pace has consistently gotten praise for his approach from the Bears’ chairman, George McCaskey, most recently at the owners meetings in March.

“We like him,” McCaskey said. “We haven’t had the results that we wanted, obviously. Everyone is disappointed in that. Ryan’s disappointed. John’s disappointed. But I’ve been very impressed with him as a leader, as an evaluator of talent.”

But if things continue to trend in this direction, the Bears may have no choice but to part ways with both Fox and Pace and move forward with a new duo, like the Browns did a year ago with Hue Jackson and Sashi Brown. There were too many holes on the Bears’ roster to fill this offseason, and Pace didn’t give Fox the talent he needs to dramatically improve right away.

Chicago took some risks in this draft class. There’s talent there, but aside from Eddie Jackson if he’s healthy, none of the players the Bears drafted are surefire contributors this season. The free agents they added aren’t likely to be game-changers, either.

The Browns were stuck in a pattern of ineptitude for years that kept the team from being competitive. It looks like they may finally be poised to start digging their way out of it. If they really are, some other team will have to take their place as the butt of everyone’s jokes. Right now, it’s looking like the Bears.