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wordsbyrian · 1 year

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Not So Secret Girlfriend - Ona Batlle x Reader

Summary: Another Polyglot fic. In which everyone is suddenly very concerned with R's love life.

A/N: This was requested by someone months ago (I forgot to write down who it was because it wasn't an anon) and I finally got around to writing it. The ending isn't exactly what I wanted but alas.

The international break is something that you have conflicted feelings about.

On one hand, you get to see and play alongside your national teammates and represent your country at the highest level.

And on the other hand, you have to make two 9+ hour flights in two weeks and jet lag can be a real bitch.

At the beginning of your time with the national team, it was especially bad because not only were you jet lagged but you were also really nervous which affected the amount of sleep you were getting.

Now, more than three years since your first camp, you’ve got your place pretty locked in (even if you don’t start every game) and some of your friends from the youth teams are here too.

You had previously thought it would be fun. Yet, you find yourself rethinking that considering you’re currently being harassed by Ashley Sanchez and Sophia Smith before you’ve even finished your coffee.

The source of the teasing is your phone which has chimed with a new text every 45 seconds since you’ve placed it on the table.

“Sophia, can you believe that Y/N/N just abandoned us to go play in Spain and now she’s too cool to even talk to us at breakfast,” Ashley asks in a tone that you are more than familiar with, it’s overly dramatic and you smile a little hearing it.

“It’s crazy,” Sophia agrees. “Our little nerd is all grown up. Seems like just yesterday we were in France trying to get her to show off her language skills for the locals.”

“They grow up so fast,” Jaelin pretends to weep as she joins the three of you at the table.

Sighing deeply, you shake your head at them and reach for your phone only to end up glaring at Ashley when she snatches it away.

“Sanchez,” you say warningly, “It’s too early for this.”

“It’s too early for your phone to be blowing up like you’re the plug,” she responds before looking over her shoulder. “Naomi,” she shouts, “hurry up, we’re going through Y/N’s phone.”

“No, we’re not,” you say.

“Yea, we are,” Sophia and Jaelin say in perfect unison.

Sighing once more, you sit back and let it happen, focusing back on your breakfast.

It’s hard though because you’re practically forced to listen to their running commentary on the contents of your phone.

“All of her texts are in Spanish.”

“Makes sense, they’re all to her Barcelona teammates.”

“Nah, she texted us and Press too, those are in English.”

“And this one is from ‘Red Heart Emoji’ aka long-term secret girlfriend, but that’s in Spanish too.”

“It can’t be a secret if you four know about her,” you say not looking up.

“And yet, we know nothing about her except that she has brown hair and for some odd reason is attracted to you,” Naomi says, “Super cute, secret contact photo though.”

“Woah,” you say, slightly offended when the others chuckle. “I’m a fucking catch.”

“I’m sure mystery girlfriend thinks that,” Sophia starts, “But we’ve known you since you were 13 so we know better.”

“I should’ve found better friends when I had a chance.”

“You’d never get rid of us Y/N/N,” Jae says, “Here’s your phone back.”

Just as you reach for it another hand reaches out and grabs it.

You follow the hand until you see the face of the person it belongs to, and you can only shake your head when you see Kelley.

“Sup Baby Genius,” she says, “What’s this I’m hearing about a secret girlfriend?”

Standing up, you roll your eyes before taking your phone back from the veteran player and walking away.

“We’re not having this conversation,” you say, “See you at practice.”

“We will eventually Y/N,” Kelley shouts after you.

“No we won’t you,” you respond, making your way out of the room.

By the time practice comes around that afternoon, your love life has become a popular topic of conversation.

And much to your chagrin, it doesn’t seem like the other women plan on letting up anytime soon, every free moment sees you peppered with questions.

Luckily, or unluckily rather, your friends are more than willing to answer any that they can.

Their answers aren’t very satisfying considering they don’t actually know that much but it does get the others off your back for a bit.

The one question you do answer yourself though is because you’re slightly offended when you hear it.

“Do Christen and Tobin know,” someone asks.

And it hurts your feelings. The idea that you wouldn’t tell something this important to the two women who have become almost like surrogate parents to you.

“Of course they do,” you respond, “And before anyone asks, Mal does too, why do you think she isn’t asking questions?”

After that, the team mostly gives up on trying to get you to tell them who your girlfriend is.

Even Kelley leaves it alone although she does still make a show of moaning and groaning whenever she sees Sanchez and Sophia, upset once again that they didn’t tell her something.

But even that is nothing more than her usual playful whining which is great because it means that you can go back to focusing on how you're supposed to play against your girlfriend and club teammates at the end of the week.

You’ve played against them once before but that was years ago and you were only on the field for maybe three minutes.

Now though, you’re more experienced and Vlatko has already all but told you to expect to play the full 90.

This is why you’re not surprised when he asks you to share what you know about the Spaniards in the final meeting on MD-1.

“Well,” you say, looking at how the coaches think your opposition will lineup, “The most important thing is that they play a pretty positionless style, so don’t be surprised if you’re not marking who the lineup says you will be, hell, don’t be surprised if Mapi pops up as the CAM. And I know you think that stopping Alexia is paramount but Patri and Aitana can dribble around or through you with just as much skill if not more.”

“Thank you, Y/L/N is there anything else you care to tell us,” Coach asks.

“Athenea is fucking annoying,” you say plainly, much to the amusement of your teammates.

Vlatko, on the other hand, just rolls his eyes and continues with the meeting.

When it’s done and you’ve been released, you do your best to leave the room quickly but without drawing any attention to yourself.

It doesn’t work though because you’re stopped by the head trainer Mary.

“How are you feeling,” she asks.

“Good.”

“Jetlag gone? Sleeping well?”

“Yup, I’m ready to go,” you tell her, bouncing on your toes.

“Alright,” she says with a smile, “I’m done bothering you, go call your girlfriend.”

That stops you in your tracks and leaves you staring at the trainer with your mouth open and eyes wide.

“How did you know that,” you manage to stutter out.

“Well, one, this team can’t speak softly to save its life, and two,” she says, “I was 21 once too. Now go on.”

Shooting the trainer, you smile and rush off.

The next day, your pre-match routine goes off without a hitch. Morning meditation, headphones, and a vow of silence, sees you in the best possible headspace for the match.

You’ve done everything you possibly could to prepare for this but still, as you stand in the tunnel across from your club teammates, you can’t help but to feel slightly off.

It doesn’t matter though because before you know it, you’re in your spot on the field and the first whistle is blown.

You don’t touch the ball much in the first 15 minutes but in the 16th a quickly played pass from Sully sees you breaking down the wing with the ball at your feet.

It’s easy enough to get going at what is nearly full speed for you, your opponents not having expected you to take off rather than completing the give-and-go with Andy.

One of the people you get past is Athenea and you can’t help but toss an ‘adios’ over your shoulder on your way.

It’s a great run if you do say so yourself, but as you go to make the final cross into the box, you find it blocked by someone you are very familiar with.

You let out a curse as you trudge to take your place for the resulting corner but you can’t help but smile slightly as you see your girlfriend smirking at you.

No goal comes from the corner and the game continues.

Your next major involvement doesn’t come until the 25th minute and it’s because Patri tries to send a long ball over the top to get Athenea in behind. You manage to get the first touch to it, bringing it down softly. You even get a pass off sending it up to Sully but less than a second later, you’re laying on the pitch clutching your foot as the result of a late challenge from Athenea

It hurts really fucking bad but what it does more than that anything is piss you off. So you just get up and shake your head at her,

You know what face you’re making and your teammates on both sides of the ball know what it means: Athenea is going to be in for a long day.

For the rest of the half, you do your best to make her life a living hell, putting a little more force into your tackles and being slightly more annoying with your trash talk. And the ref, well she either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care because you manage to keep it clean even if you are toeing the line.

Vlatko definitely notices though and at halftime, you get a very stern talking to about your aggression and making slightly better choices since some of your tackles put the ball right at Spanish feet.

You only sort of listen to him.

Your battle against Athenea continues into the second half but it’s not the only thing you have to deal with.

Part of Vlatko’s halftime talk included him wanting you to get forward more, putting the team in a 3-4-3 while attacking but keeping your standard 4-3-3 when you get back on defense.

This meant that you were doing a lot more running and that you had a lot more encounters with Spain’s right back, Batlle, in your attacking half.

It’s a lot of back and forth, especially with the game remaining scoreless. And the two of you can’t help but trade a few verbal barbs as well.

She tries and fails to body block you off the ball and you make a quip about how that might work against the WSL players but not you.

You over-hit a cross and she asks which of your veteran teammates taught you that.

In the 69th minute, when both teams go to make substitutions, you mouth the words ‘game over’ to her when you see that Sophia is coming on. She just shakes her head and points back to the sideline where you see Pina and Lucia Garcia standing by the 4th official.

Those subs do mean the end of your battle against Athenea but you don’t actually care about that since you’ll have plenty of time to annoy her during the next Clasico match.

The subs do have the desired effect though because, in the 79th minute, you manage to send in a through ball that finds Sophia’s feet before it hits the back of the net.

Unfortunately, the lead doesn’t last long because, in the 84th minute, Batlle gets an assist of her own by cutting the ball back to Aitana who rockets it past Naeher.

And the game ends that way, a 1-1 draw.

Immediately after the final whistle, you find yourself shaking hands and being pulled into hugs by your Barcelona teammates.

There are a couple of jokes cracked and Mapi repeatedly asks what you kept saying to Athenea to piss her off but you refuse to tell her. Both Pina and Patri ask for your jersey but you tell them it’s already been promised to someone else. They ask who and you don’t tell them.

20 minutes later, you’re leaning against a wall somewhere in the depths of the stadium holding said jersey in your hand and waiting for someone.

You don’t wait for long, no more than five minutes before someone launches into you like a heat-seeking missile.

“Long time no see, Onita,” you greet, looking down at your girlfriend who has already buried her face in your shoulder.

Her response is grumbled into your shoulder and since you can’t really understand it so you just chuckle softly and hold her tighter.

The two of you stand there for a while holding each other and engaging in soft conversation. Nothing important is said, it’s just the two of you enjoying a quiet moment.

It lasts a while but not nearly long enough because suddenly there are voices coming towards you from both sides of the hallway.

From the left, a loud American you instantly recognize as Sanchez is trying to convince someone to make a bet with her about what you're doing. And from the right, another group, you vaguely recognize one voice as Leila, shouting in a mixture of Catalan and Spanish. That group is too hectic for you to make out what’s being said.

“Time’s up,” she whispers to you, trying to take a step back but failing when you don’t let her go.

“It’s fine,” you tell her, “Although Leila might give you the kicked-puppy look for a couple of weeks.”

A few seconds later, both groups stand in front of you with various looks of shock on their faces.

From the US, it’s exactly who you thought it would be, Sanchez, Sophia, and Mal, who barely waits half a second before pulling out her phone and texting who you assume to be Christen and Tobin. The Spanish search party consists of Leila (obviously), Pina, and Patri, who bursts out laughing like this is the funniest thing she’s ever seen.

A moment passes…

And then an explosion of noise as they all begin to speak at once, the languages mixing and overlapping in a way that’s impossible to follow.

Taking a deep breath, you separate yourself from Ona, giving her a quick kiss and passing her your jersey. Once no longer intertwined, you take a step forward, hold a finger up to your lips, and wait for the group to quiet down before speaking.

“I will be taking no further questions. Thank you,” you say once they do, immediately turning on your heel and walking away.

There’s another explosion of noise as everyone protests that and just underneath it, you can hear Ona laugh before she calls your name which makes you stop and turn back to her.

“Y/N/N, aquí, toma esto,” she says, tossing you her Spain jersey.

Catching it, you smile at her before turning back around and continuing to walk away.

You get maybe 15 steps away before you hear what sounds like a herd of bulls coming up behind you as your teammates catch up.

“Kelley is going to be so mad that we know who your secret girlfriend is and she doesn’t,” Sophia says, falling into step with you.

“It’s going to be great,” Sanchez grins.

“Just do me a favor and wait until I’m back in Spain to tell her that you know,” you respond, “I can’t deal with that backlash in person.”

“What do I get in return?”

You take a moment to think about it before answering, “A favor in return, no questions asked.”

“Deal.”

“Y/N,” Mal shakes her head at you, “You just made a deal with the devil.”

“Too late now.”

#uswnt imagine #uswnt x reader #woso imagine #woso x reader #woso fanfics #ona batlle x reader #ona batlle imagine #muwfc x reader #muwfc imagine #espwnt imagine #espwnt x reader

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falseclosure · 10 months

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Round of 16 | Kelley O'Hara x Reader

summary: kelley misses the penalty

warnings: none

word count: 1.1k

a/n: need an outlet after that disaster of a match and KO's one of the very first footy players i looked up to and i cannot handle that she missed that pk so here's something 🥹

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Ever since Kelley was subbed on, I was begging it would not get to a point where she has to kick the penalty. But here she was now, counting her steps for her run-up. I was whispering words of encouragement, knowing that Kelley doesn’t like it when the crowd was loud.

Closing my eyes, I was begging and praying that she makes her penalty. With one last prayer, I opened my eyes, seeing Kelley swing her right foot back; the ball making contact with her foot. It looked like it would go in, but with the curve of her kick, it hit the post instead. I can’t believe it. Kelley missed her penalty.

There were a lot of things on my bingo card, but Kelley missing her penalty was not one of them. She was calm and collected before she took the kick, but the physics behind it simply beat her. I looked at her sister beside me, tears welling my eyes because I knew that if the Swede makes her kick, it would all be over. I felt sick to my stomach.

Erin placed a hand over my shoulders, comforting me, knowing I never want to see my fiancee crying, especially because of major tournaments. Kelley always played her heart out, even when she is on the bench; she always supports her teammates, sending motivation their way. She has been doubting herself if she would make the World Cup for the past couple of months, and I knew that the missed penalty kick would only make it worse. She’s the strongest person I knew, but she’s just a person too.

As the VAR check ended and the referee blew her whistle, indicating Sweden’s win, I knew Kelley would blame herself. She was walking around her teammates, comforting them. She was holding back her tears because, for her, she was a veteran, someone that the kids could count on. She didn't want to show them weakness. I saw a few tears escape her eyes, but she was quick to wipe them away. As she gathered with her teammates for one final huddle this World Cup, I cannot help but think about the aftermath of this game.

“You think she’ll be fine?” I asked Erin beside me. She looked at me and sent me a reassuring smile.

“Of course, she would. You’re by her side.” I smiled back at Erin and thought of ways how to make Kelley feel better after this tournament.

After their huddle, Kelley and some of her teammates immediately went to the stands looking for their family. Erin and their parents nudged me and encouraged me to be the one who goes down the front of the stands. Servando and Charlie were beside me, Charlie already reaching out for her mom who was already in front of her. I sent a little smile towards Alex hoping it sends a little comfort her way. I turned my eyes back into the field and saw Kelley approaching. I immediately opened my arms and reached out to her because I knew she always found comfort in those hugs. No words were said for a couple of minutes as she continued hugging me.

“I’m sorry.” I heard her say a little sob escaping her throat. My heart felt like it was crushed into a thousand pieces hearing her sob like that.

“It’s not your fault baby. You did your best. I know.”

“But I could’ve done more. I could’ve buried that penalty. I wasn’t good enough. I’m sorry.”

Kelley's words hung heavy in the air as I held her tightly, providing a comforting presence amidst the turmoil of her emotions. I gently lifted her chin, making her look into my eyes, filled with sincerity and love.

"Kels, listen," I said softly, my voice carrying the weight of my genuine conviction. "You are an incredible athlete, a remarkable person, and a source of inspiration for so many, including me. One missed penalty doesn't define you, doesn't define your career, and it certainly doesn't diminish the passion and effort you've poured into this sport."

She sniffled, her eyes still glistening with tears, but she was now looking at me, absorbing my words.

"You've faced challenges before, and you've always risen above them," I continued. "This setback doesn't erase all the victories you've contributed to this team, and the memories you've created on the field. Remember the love you have for this sport, the love that has driven you to be the remarkable player you are today."

Kelley's grip on me tightened, and she nodded slowly as if beginning to find solace in my words.

"I know you're disappointed," I said, my voice tender. "But you're not alone in this journey. Your teammates, your family, and I—we're all here to support you, no matter what. And I have no doubt that you will come back even stronger from this."

“But what if this was my last major tournament?” She asked, fully aware that her clock was ticking with the sport she loved.

“That’s not the Kelley I know. The Kelley I know would tell me that she would give everything to be there at the next one. But if this was your last, you still have the NWSL season. I’d like to see you give them hell before hanging your boots up.” I told her with a small smile, trying to inject a bit of humor into the moment.

Kelley managed a faint smile in return, her tears gradually subsiding. "You always know how to make me smile, even in the toughest times," she said, her voice still quivering slightly.

"You're not alone in this, babe," I reassured her. "Your journey is shared by everyone who loves and admires you. Remember that your strength goes beyond what happens on the field. You've touched so many lives and inspired countless people."

As the stadium began to empty out and the players started heading back to the locker room, Kelley and I stayed embraced, finding comfort in each other's presence. The path ahead might be uncertain, but one thing was clear: Kelley was more than just a player on the field. She was a role model, a leader, and above all, she was loved.

In the days that followed, Kelley gradually found her footing again. She leaned on her support system, her teammates, her family, and me. She channeled her disappointment into determination, using it as fuel to push herself even harder in her training. The NWSL became a new focus, a chance for her to continue showcasing her skills and passion for the game.

And as time passed, Kelley's perspective began to shift. She realized that her worth wasn't solely determined by one missed penalty. She saw the bigger picture—the impact she had on and off the field, the resilience she had shown throughout her career, and the legacy she was building for herself.

#kelley o'hara #kelley o'hara x reader #woso fanfics #woso x reader #uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #woso imagine #woso imagines #woso community

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primojade · 2 years

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【 # 001 】 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

fallacy (n.) : are flawed, deceptive, or false arguments that can be proven wrong with reasoning.

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 : As a veteran AR60 player of Genshin Impact, you pride yourself as someone who knows the ins and outs of Teyvat, even studiously completing Spiral Abyss every reset, and having 100% exploration to some, if not all, of the released regions so far. Everything is fun and enjoyable, especially since Sumeru just recently debuted so you still have a lot to do!

All that ends though, when a mysterious passerby pushes you off the building of your university while playing Genshin. But instead of meeting your inevitable end, you find yourself waking up in the very world you were addicted to!

It's supposed to be a fun dream, right? Something you could laugh at when you wake up? Right?! So, why is that you were back in AR1 with nothing but a dull blade in your inventory?!

…well, at least you still have those 700+ sunsettias and mints, Timmie's fowls…and surprisingly similar game mechanics you used to merely see on the screen before. But what should you do now? Flirt with the Genshin men??? Good lords...

"Welcome to Genshin Impact, Dreamer. Here, we can show you a happier ever after you've never had before…so, ready?"

𝐂𝐖 / 𝐓𝐖 : graphic depiction of violence; possible character death (on bad ends so choose your route wisely!); multiple endings (including good, bad, normal and secret ends); canon divergent, game mechanics, existential crisis, character study.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄 : isekai/reverse isekai, choose your own adventure (cyoa) with branching narratives, romance, comedy, angst (depending on the routes), hurt with/without comfort (still depends on routes), action, mystery, found family.

𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 : albedo, tighnari, zhongli, cyno, xiao, diluc, venti, ayato, kaveh, kazuha and tartaglia. Possible more love interest as the story progresses.

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒 : on-going

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 :

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 : that love is a fallacy.

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈 : alea iacta est. (the die is cast)

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈 : argumentum ad hominem.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈 : argumentum ad ignorantiam.

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐈: audentes fortuna iuvat. (fortune favours the bold)

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈.𝐈 : magister dixit.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈.𝐈𝐈 : argumentum petitio principii.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈.𝐈 : ignoratio elenchi.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈.𝐈𝐈: cum hoc ergo propter hoc.

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐈𝐈 : veritas liberabit vos. (the truth will set you free)

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐕 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈 : —

tba...

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅" 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒

𝐈 | odi et amo ; ( gn!reader × scaramouche ) ; in which scaramouche reveals you the reason why he hates you so much. But in the silence that comes after his hatred is revealed, and from the unspoken words that never leave his lips, would it be too selfish to ask for something more than this?

𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 :

reader here is gender neutral, so if I happened to have a pronoun slip by accident, please do correct me. I swear it was a honest mistake cause I don't really proofread my works :3

that being said, although reader should based off of you, as in you reading this, reader has their own background prior to their arrival in teyvat. Down below are some of the changes/characteristics I took the liberty to add to the reader's persona and history to fit in the story!

(i.) reader is a university student studying science or other related field (their specialisation differs in each route to make it interesting). though i did not specify their age, appearance and race (feel free to imagine them whichever), they were supposed to be in the middle of taking their college degree.

(ii.) reader has an adoptive older brother (who would be important in the storyline later on).

(iii.) reader is presented to be quite reckless, a bit ditzy, chaotic, an unhinge and lively character, rebellious, hardheaded, opinion oriented, and wouldn't bend to rules that they see as pointless no matter how the society dictates them to do so, but they were kind and carefree when you get to know them more. you'll see what I'm talking about in the first chapter 😂

before I forgot, although I'm a huge fan of the sagau presented in tumblr (the one with creator and cult themes; those are chef kiss btw), my take on the plot of sagau is very different. There's no divine creator here or cultish behaviours (i'm so sorry if that's what you're looking for 😷) my main focus here is all about the genshin characters' self awareness that they were in a game as they interacted with the isekai!reader, which is why I added the reverse isekai in the genre tags because it will be a huge turnover in the future chapters :>

also, the game mechanics I'm talking about above is what we see on the screen of genshin. Like the Paimon Menu, the inventory, the character archive, and so on! When reader is isekaid, it seems like they brought the whole screen with them? XD

I know stuff will probably be confusing for you and me later on because of the branching narratives happening in this hellhole of a plot, but please bare with me xD I will do my best to make it clear as possible.

This fanfic has four types of routes (or ends if you prefer it that way), There are good ends (romantic happy ending all the way!), bad ends (if you're unlucky that you fall in the dramatic hellhole then yes), normal ends (this could end in either being platonic, a cliffhanger or an open ending up to your interpretation lmao), and lastly, the secret ends (i'll keep whatever this is hidden for now because I planned something huge for this lol).

a "what if" routes are a series of one-shots, short stories or drabbles that was not really connected with the primary routes. It could be read as a standalone fics. Possibly just my word vomit and brainrotting lmao. They also don't have any branching narratives like the primary routes.

well! that is all, i guess! I'll add something later if I remember stuff I should be telling you beforehand but for now, i guess this would do xD also, if you wanted to be tagged for this, feel free to dm me or send an ask about it! Thank you for reading all the way and I hope you will have fun (and a good laughs!) while you were reading this trash of a fanfic lmao 🤣

Ps. I'll try to post the prologue tomorrow since its already half finished already <3

#genshin impact #zhongli x reader #xiao x reader #albedo x reader #cyno x reader #tighnari x reader #diluc x reader #venti x reader #kazuha x reader #ayato x reader #tartaglia x reader #genshin impact x reader #gender neutral reader #jaded moments—!#genshin sagau #sagau

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anim-ttrpgs · 14 days

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Hey just wanted to say that the work you do is really inspiring. I think the TTRPG community has needed an urban fantasy noir sort of thing for a little while and I really like the direction you're taking it in. Looking forward to stuff in the future!!

Thank you! Basically all our projects come from a place of need, each one being something that we wanted to play ourselves, but either it just didn’t exist, or the people who did do it didn’t do it to our satisfaction.

Since it’s our blog we can toot our own horn a bit, and yeah, the TTRPG community did need Eureka. The whole idea originally came out of our dissatisfaction with investigation and mystery-solving gameplay in most of the other more well-known TTRPGs that attempt to tackle this genre, such as Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, and Gumshoe. They either make it too easy for bad dice rolls to get the party hopelessly stuck by relying too heavily of the PC’s skills, or make things difficult on the player by not giving the PC’s skills quite enough input, which can make efficient mystery solving very difficult across sessions with a whole week or more of real time in between them. (And it’s barely even worth mentioning that the most popular TTRPGs such as D&D5e and Pathfinder just plain cannot do investigative gameplay to any respectable degree at all.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy’s Investigation Point and Eureka! Point system, whereby each skill check to investigate something fills a bar on the character sheet until the investigator gets a “Eureka!”, which can be spent to retroactively gain information from an investigation skill check that they previously failed, as well as many other specific rules that are too nuanced to go into here but that you can read about in the free version of the rulebook, are part of our answer to that. As you are putting the pieces together in your own mind, so is your character, and this system acts as a failsafe, but not a crutch, to prevent a single bad dice roll from leaving the party totally twisting in the wind.

And I personally have always been really autistic about folklore, which is where Eureka’s unique approach to playable monsters comes in. No RPG had ever really done certain monsters to my satisfaction, particularly vampires. Folkloric vampires have a great deal of quirks and weaknesses that usually get cut from any sort of vampire media because they’re too “silly,” but I disagree. I want them all, and so when a monster is playable in Eureka, it’s its own unique experience, unlike playing anything else in any other game or even within Eureka. (I am very, very proud to say that a number of V:TM veterans have said that Eureka does vampires much better than V:TM itself.)

Not every playable monster in Eureka is 100% strictly folkloric, which was a bit of a struggle for me, but ultimately the small exceptions that were made make the RPG better, so I can’t complain, especially because we managed to weave some pretty cool themes into all of them, which I will touch on more when I finally get finished writing that big huge post about, well, Eureka’s themes.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

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If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

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thegreatyin · 26 days

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Your posts about Fallen London are slowly tempting me into playing it- do you have any tips to start or is it best to play it completely blind?

i have a few tips and tricks! mind you im far from a veteran and i basically got my hand held by tumblr for most of the game so take everything with a grain of salt. you can and should do whatever you want always. i don't personally play it blind, but you may get more enjoyment out of it if you do, and that's awesome and im super happy for you. this is what i can say from experience:

take your time with it. this is like. the numero uno fallen london tip. it's not a game where you rush to the end in a week. it's a game where you do 10-minute-intervals of a marathon to the end in maybe a few months if you know what you're doing. spending money on action refills usually isn't worth it when you can just mosey on through neathly life one storylet at a time. a vast majority of the game's content is completely free to everyone, and while the monthly subscription options are pretty neat and let you play some exclusive story stuff (that can be pretty fire- cricket anyone basically defined the scoundrel's entire character) none of it is required and 99% of the time you aren't missing out on anything by just taking your time and exploring the neath at your own pace.

you need to raise all of your skills eventually! this is, uh. something im horribly guilty of not following myself. you can (and probably should) pick at least two stats to focus on for your character (most of the time these will be your main ambition stats, aka the closest thing FL has to a main story questline) but eventually you Will be expected to have them all at around the 100 range, minimum. for certain Super Late-game Story Content, watchful 200 is mandatory to start it, so if you have trouble choosing i'd recommend leveling that bad boy first. don't neglect your other stats though!!! don't be like me. don't be like my poor poor neglected shadowy and dangerous. it's too late for me. save yourself.

friends are fun and free and you are legally mandated to exploit them for fun and profit. okay you really aren't mandated to exploit your FL friends list but you totally should anyway just for goofy sillies. to be less jokey about it, while fallen london is primarily a single-player gaming experience, the playerbase is super friendly and super open to helping each other out (especially new players!). go on reddit, ask around on tumblr, get yourself a few buddies and use them as resources to gain items and stats and menace reduction i mean. valued companions that im sure you will treasure forever and definitely not backstab to publish that inflammatory newspaper article you've been cooking up.

on a very loosely similar note, the fallen london wiki is your best friend. yes, we're following stardew rules with this one. this is the kind of game best optimally played with a wiki article or three open in the neighboring tabs so you can follow along and know what is what. there's tons of guides on basically every part of FL, and it's no shame at all to reach out to either it or the wider community if you get stuck or feel lost at something.

if an in-game storylet has bold text, it will never lie to you! except for when it does. but that's very very very rare. you can always trust the bold text. it is always your friend. i prommy. which brings us neatly into our next bulletpoint,

seeking the name is ill-advised because it's the only storyline that can permanently brick your account at its conclusion. don't worry, the ease at which you can avoid this is practically comical, and the game will Always give you multiple chances to opt-out if you somehow accidentally start it anyway. most people make a dedicated alt character entirely for the purpose of sacrificing them to the well of doom. unless you're playing with your eyes closed for multiple months straight, you'll never run into SMEN without deliberately chasing it, and if you somehow get to that point honestly man just ignore this entire bulletpoint and see how far the rabbithole goes. go on. it's friendly :)

batfucking is always the right answer to any problem ever

echoes/the game's standard currency should always be thought of as a method of gaining items rather than a strict hoard of video game dollars. money-making can be super difficult in the earlygame, but it gets exponentially easier as you go further on. you shouldn't be afraid to sell anything you don't need, though personally i'd recommend keeping an "insurance stock" of the most basic items just in case. this includes rostygold, moon-pearls, honey droplets, etc. by-and-large, these are the easiest items to get in a pinch, and it usually isn't worth buying them from the bazaar when you can otherwise get them naturally through other methods around london. once you've got a good lodgings setup and feel decently familiar with the earlygame zones and their options, you should aim to have at minimum 1,000 of these bad boys on hand at any given time, then feel free to sell any excess you make for some quick cash in a pinch.

menaces aren't as bad as you may think, but be wary of specifically suspicion! the four main menace qualities you'll encounter in the earlygame are nightmares, wounds, scandal, and suspicion. when one of these menace stacks reach 8, you'll automatically be trapped in a unique location corresponding to whatever menace you raised too high and will have to spend time working your way out. some (nightmares and wounds) tend to fly-by rather quickly, while others (scandal and suspicion) tend to take a bit longer to get out of. none of these mean the end of your playthrough or your character, and some quests even require you to visit certain menace-exclusive locations! there are tons of items and ways to reduce menaces and keep yourself out of Situations such as these, but suspicion in particular is probably the only menace you should avoid maxing At All Costs. when your suspicion gets too high and you get sent to its special menace zone too often, you build up a criminal record that makes it harder to reduce suspicion in the future. fortunately, suspicion is the only menace with this gimmick, and before this record gets too high it's just as easy to keep row as the rest of the lot. TLDR, death from wounds is easy to escape from, but avoiding the strongarm of the law is substantially more annoying and inconvenient.

or you could be like tumblr user @with-bells-upon, who's apparently avoided death at all costs and apparently hasn't died once in the entire several months they've been playing. i don't even know how they've gotten this far without doing that. it's kind of impressive, kind of funny. especially since their ambition is one the few requiring you to die to proceed. this isn't a piece of advice i just wanted to affectionately call them out because what the heck

speaking of ambitions, pick the ambition that's right for you! ambitions are the biggest overarching questline in the game, and their requirements and rewards span the entire neath and occasionally even beyond. all four ambitions are meant to be started early and last well into the mid and late game. outside of a certain special situation regarding the light fingers ambition (the only ambition that explicitly lies to you in-game when describing its premise) you can't change your ambition without spending money, so choose carefully and choose well. they're all (mostly) equally rewarding and equally fulfilling adventures that will define your player character and your journey through the neath. there's tons of advice and spoiler-free summaries of each ambition online, so i won't cover it all here. just do your research (or don't, if you prefer) and follow your heart. maybe playing the world's most high-stake poker game ever speaks to you. maybe you want to commit a murder. maybe you want to commit a murder in the name of justice and/or revenge. maybe you just want a really really big really really shiny rock. all can be found in the neath, and all shall (eventually) be well.

if you buy 400 lucky weasels you get a special achievement. i don't need to say more.

make up a guy. this is another legal mandate if you're a fallen london player. you have to make up your own little sicko victorian london guy and roleplay them while you play. trust me. it's fun. it's free. they're going to haunt you forever. the scoundrel got a nickname like 4 months ago and ever since my mind has never known peace.

and probably most important of all, fallen london might not be the game for you, and that's okay. it includes a lot of reading. and grinding. and i do mean a lot of reading and grinding. particularly the latter, which tends to throw people off the most out of anything. it's a very niche game for a very niche audience and getting into it can be an acquired taste at the best of times. but when you do get into it, it's some Really good writing and Really in-depth worldbuilding and the most fun you'll ever have imagining sicko victorian guys running around building train stations and railway tracks directly to hell. take your time, have fun, and most important of all, always look to love.

anyway yeah that's my fallen london tips and tricks list isn't it really short and comprehendible

#im not really good at writing advice. hope this helps u out regardless #ask #fallen london #long post

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palaugranetes · 2 months

Text

A Veteran toddler proudly talking about other toddlers from Child Labor FC 💙❤️

Adjectives to describe:

• Hector Fort: Brave

• Marc Guiu: Titan

• Fermín: Warrior

• Gavi: Brilliant

• Lamine Yamal: A Gem

• Pau Cubarsí: Spectacular

«Pau is spectacular, considering how old he is and his performances, he's a great player. But not only because of what the people see on the pitch, but off it as well. He wants to train, he always pays attention during recovery sessions, and I value that a great deal. Youngsters don't usually pay much attention to to these things, what Cubarsí is doing on and off the pitch is important. I'm very happy for him. He's a spectacular person and offers us so much, and has helped us a lot. Happy for him and for the Club, because it is important that it continues to produce players from La Masia who will help the first team, especially considering the financial situation that the Club is going through.»

#please a child talking about other children #ronald araujo #c4pi #🥹#💙❤️#Gavi #fermin lopez #lamine yamal #pau cubarsi #hector fort #marc guiu #la masia #fc barcelona #Child Labor FC

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cloudninetonine · 10 months

Text

A Player's Aid: Chapter 14

Fandom: Legend of Zelda, Linked Universe

A/N: WHAT'S UP FUCKERS- shorter chapter but it's fucking here

Warnings: Bad language, descriptions of panic attack, descriptions of nightmares, descriptions of drowning/choking/suffocating, descriptions of hallucinations, mentions of possible PTSD

In the warmth of the afternoon sun, the people rejoiced.

Some kneeled to kiss the grassy earth beneath their shoes, others hugged and sung thanks to the goddess to see the light of day once more and others merely eased their tense bodies to the welcoming breeze, eyes closed in bliss. Freedom. Finally, they had reached freedom after those terrifying, grueling days stuck in the confines of that age old library.

The Hero of the Four Swords looked towards the castle in worry.

“Any sign of them?” The sailor asked nervously, eyes also trained on the grand palace. “Cook hasn’t picked up on the slate, no matter how much I’ve tried to contact him with the stone.”

The worry brewing in the smithy’s gut only seemed to burn at those words. “Not at all?”

“No.”

The eldest seemed the most panicked of it all. The Old Man held that mask of stoicism well but masks were not made in likeness, their duplicity was still noticeable under a scrutinising eyes and the blonde could see the worry in his gaze. The way he seemed to pace on the spot, how his hands twitched against the hilt of his sword and his eyes stayed fixated on those towers of stone a little too long. Time fought it, of course, and if the ‘accusation’ came that he was fearful in this moment it would be met with a burning glare and swift denial.

“I do not fear when I know you are all capable of holding your ground, especially against that monster.”

But not all of them were his descendant, were they?

Ever since that dreadful day, the Ranch-hand laid in a bed not of his own making, the darkness of the Shadow’s blow seeping into his bloodstream and slowly draining the soul from his weakening body as he edged closer and closer to death. Only a few terrible hours, but enough to air out the grievances with them amidst the worry and frustration. The Four Sword Hero and the Hero of Wild had fought but that had come to pass- however the light shone on the topic of ancestor and descendant could not just be pushed aside.

The Hero of Time had become…stricter with the farm boy. Obvious to them all, the man had taken his role more seriously then. All could see it, the nervous light dancing in his eye when he sent the brunette on an errand or watched him battle a monster with the strength of a Hylian Ox. The very thoughts of fighting the very thing that had nearly sent him to the gates where the Golden Three held eternal paradise was probably eating the Old man alive, concern gnawing at his gut like a dog chewed at its bone.

The Hero of Time knew that the others were capable- but did he think the same of his successor?

The Four Sword Hero could also see that the question mingled in the mind of the Ranch-hand too, albeit the Old Man did try his damndest to not show it in front of him, especially knowing that stubbornness that seemed to last generations in his family.

The Skyloftian Knight had told him, even when he stood, bleeding out and wobbling, he would not yield his position as hero on that day the Shadow struck.

What an idiot his brother was, sometimes.

“How much longer could they be?” Gilda muttered to herself, the fairy having joined them when she had seen them return from their side quest. “Maybe I should go have a look-”

A huff silenced her.

“Maybe our resident witch has bewitched them,” The veteran’s words came offhanded but he could hear the loathing and wariness in his tone- he did not wholeheartedly believe his accusation but the Vet knew how to weigh down his words. “And given them over to the Shadow just like they probably planned-”

“Veteran now really isn’t the time for such words.” The Skyloftian Knight’s resort sliced through the air and had almost made the Four Sword Hero jump. When had he appeared behind him? “Can you not for the moment?”

“I am just saying-”

“Hey, there they are!”

Necks snapped, Four’s included, in the direction of where the sailor had begun to sprint. Nowhere near the castle gates but instead in the West, five forms appearing in the distance- four walking and the last hanging off the back of one of them.

The heroes plus fairy rushed over without a second thought.

“Are they dead!?”

Wind had exclaimed those words in a moment of panic, eyes wide in a morbid curiosity as they glanced over your paled face in the light of the afternoon sun- you seemed still too. Not moving an inch.

“No!” Wild cried in similar horror, “They fainted! That’s all!”

Gilda didn’t need her brother’s prompt to rush over, her gentle green glow whizzing around your hair in an effort to heal whatever ailed you in that moment.

“We had to take a shrine, there was no other way-” Twilight’s words had come out slightly slurred, his own face looking pale along with the Captain’s and the Traveller’s- Four couldn’t blame them. The Sheikah’s magic from the Champion’s era was a strange one. No one quite liked their teleportation magic, too disorientating for them all excluding the wild blonde from his excessive use of their devices. “Uh, my head-”

Gilda went over each one of them carefully as the small group were led back to the rest, the people of the settlement offering their own help in the form of potions and such of any kind as they rushed about to make an impromptu camp. After all, the skulltula had torn apart most of their settlement already and left them with almost naught to defend themselves with. You were laid to rest on a bedroll, tucked in under a blanket with the careful touches of the Traveller and Champion before all were gathered to talk.

“I’m glad to know you are all okay,”

Time’s voice sounded heavy with both relief and concern during the rush, looking over the group after they were tended to by a maiden scholar with knowledge of medicine- she had practically demanded to help in return for saving her life. “And I’m glad to see you were able to rescue our guest- but what of the Shadow?”

The four shared a look. “It…retreated.”

“Wait. Seriously?”

“Yes, as soon as it reached the light, it seemed.”

“But the light has never stopped it before.” The Hero of the Four Sword brought a finger to his chin in thought, a slight flash of purple dancing in his eyes. “Even when taking the form of a beast, it still stalked the lands when the sun was highest- why stop this time? What could have possibly been the reason?”

The group shared an inquisitive silence.

“Well, the sun has never stopped it but it has seemed to grow weaker under its gleam.” The group glanced over to Sky as he sat himself up on his rocky seat, “Think about it, those many moon cycles ago- The Captain didn’t have much action when he and the Shadow had exchanged blows but when Ranch-hand- I…uh…”

Twilight rolled his eyes, “Just spit it out, knight.”

“Right, uh, anywho- when the Ranch-hand had fought with the monster it seemed to have more power in the oncoming dusk.”

The veteran straightened. “Dusk does bring more shadows than pure light. It would make sense.”

“But what of our time in the forest?” Hyrule asked, “It was darker, more shadows in the shade of the trees- it didn’t seem that strong then either. Angry, but not too powerful.”

Twilight playfully nudged Warrior’s shoulder. “You can thank our Captain for that.”

“Oh hush.”

Sky spoke up once more, “I think Fi’s light may have been the reason, we all see how it reacts to her power. It’s afraid. After all, she was made to seal the darkness and the Shadow is that- darkness.”

They let those words sink in, sharing looks with wild thoughts prancing about in their heads.

“...It didn’t feel that powerful.” The Hero of Hyrule glanced over to your form, situated comfortably in your bedroll and looking much more healthy compared to your earlier sickly expression. “Angry. It was certainly angry and almost suffocatingly so, but the power behind its shifting form didn’t really feel all that…there. I think that’s why it didn’t chase us further and I think that’s why we were able to escape. It’s weak. Too weak.”

“Still strong enough to open a portal?” The eldest didn’t seem all that convinced.

“In the darkness, yes, that’s where it takes its power from.” Confidence bloomed in his gut as the brunette stood a little taller, “The day that (Name) appeared it was late into the night, when it had taken them during our fight the darkness once again overwhelmed the light- these have been the only times that portals have appeared for ages. Don’t you see? It cannot function properly in the sun.”

A sudden wave rolled over the Hero of Time. Dark and guilty, his eyes of ocean blue swirling with conflict as he gaze ran over to your unconscious form. He hadn’t discussed what he had done those few days ago, a secret between both you and his descendant that he wasn’t quite ready to disclose to the group- now was the time however, no matter the look he knew the traveller and (now) the cook would burn into him.

“I have a confession.” Eyes tethered to his form in an instant- no backing down now. “Those days ago, back with the camp at Fort Hateno- I had a plan.”

The Twilight Hero sat straighter- The Old Man continued. “It was intentional, leaving our guest to fend for themself because I had a suspicion that the Shadow was watching us.”

The Hero of Hyrule’s breath stuttered in growing horror and anger. “...what?”

The Wild Hero practically leapt to his feet. “WHAT!?”

The roar grabbed the attention of the nearby settlers, Twilight moving to stand and grab his shoulders. “Champion, please-”

“They told you they could not fight!” The traveller cried, interrupting. “They told us all! They told you and you saw what happened! You did that! That was your fault!”

A few flinched at such a raw blame but the Old Man kept his shoulders squared, face stoic. “And I take full condemnation for such an idiotic plan- but it proved it. The Shadow is watching us.”

The cook ground his teeth, “You didn’t need to see something we all already believed.”

Time would have laughed at the irony of those words- he really did replicate the Ranch-hand in so many ways. To sound like him in this moment would have usually made his heart warm if not for the seething anger behind his tone.

“Seeing is better than believing, we all know that,” He sighed, “But that’s not what I wanted to say- that monster was further proof that the Shadow’s power wavers in the light of the day.”

The smallest hero raised a brow. “How so?”

“It’s positioning- the monster led our guest right towards us, why would it do such a thing? It knew it would take a few of us only moments to cross that river, the Traveller proves that, so why closer? Unless-”

“Unless it wasn’t where it was supposed to be.” The Captain looked up at the realisation, “The Shadow messed up.”

“What does that even mean!?” The champion snapped, throwing his hands up. “The Shadow always messes up- if it were successful in any way it would have killed us all already!”

“It was successful with taking (Name) wasn’t it?” The eldest turned to him. “Both times, both in darkness but when it summoned the Chuchu it messed up. Why did it mess up that time? The only possible explanation is the light.”

The cloud of realisation rained heavy on them all.

The sailor crossed his arms, “But the Shadow was summoning all those monsters! I understand if it was weak in the light but the traveller is saying that it’s weak full stop. This wasn’t just a small camp of monsters, this was an entire herd. Surely in its weak state it shouldn’t be able to summon that many, right? And if it can, shouldn’t it be able to step into the light? It must have enough power for that if it can make a small army.”

Taking a deep breath to control the rage burning in his chest, the Hero of Hyrule spoke once more. “We might not have all the clues here, not yet. But I still think it’s weak, even in that display of horror and intimidation, the power that it gave off felt smaller than it had been for a while.”

“Let’s not forget that it has been months since we last saw this monster.” The Ranch-hand had finally managed to calm his protégé, the blonde more grumpy than enraged. “So that must mean something.”

Silence finally hung.

Their talk was informative, ideas flowing around them all. The Shadow had been pushed to the back of their mind during this long time of rest with nothing to show from its end. They had travelled all over the Champion’s era searching for monsters, for stories, for rumours and for portals but not a whisper in the wind. This sudden return had certainly shook them all but they knew it had been coming, maybe not that day they had found you at the base of that tree, winded and bruised but it was inevitable that the Shadow would one day return.

It would never give up that easily.

A shaky whimper caught their ears and heads turned to your direction, face pinching and lips shaking as you made more noise of distress.

Hyrule didn’t hesitate to move towards you, as did Wild, brushing past the Ordonian Hero to make his way over.

“Are we gonna go check out the castle again?” Wind asked after a moment.

Time shook his head, “No, however we shall in the morning.”

“Okay,” Wind pushed away from the tree he had been leaning against, jogging over to your position too.

After a few following moments of silence, the remaining heroes decided to part also. Twilight stayed by the side of his ancestor however, watching them all go with a heavy heart before turning to look at the eldest as he rested his head in hands.

Time sighed. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to make this up to them.”

Twilight’s hand rested on the older man’s shoulder- it was almost odd to be his comforter when it was usually the other way around. “Just give them time, ancestor.”

And that was that.

----------

Drowning.

Choking.

Blind.

Your hands clawed desperately at the ooze, fighting its weight as it dragged you further and further into the expanse of nothing. Kicking your feet had proved useless, you made no distance in your efforts, only continuing to sink deeper and deeper with no knowledge of where you would end up.

Drowning.

Choking.

Blind.

Where were you? How did you get here? You had opened your eyes and suddenly you were bombarded by the overwhelming feeling of the black sludge surrounding your body. Trapped, no way to fight it. With the consistency of molasses yet versatile like water, you only continued to sink with no hope of resurfacing.

You could not scream.

You could not cry.

You could only wait.

Drowning.

Choking.

Blind.

Then you felt it- the hand wrap around your calf. Sharp nails digging into the skin of your leg as it captured you within its grasp. You could not flail in panic. You could not fight its grip.

Drowning.

Choking.

Blind.

You reached your hand out, begging for someone to save you from this horrid fate. You didn’t wish to die in such a torturing way. Unaware of it all.

But it began to drag you down.

And you were going to die here.

In this horrible, drowning, choking, blinding nothing.

Drowning.

Choking.

Blind-

Your hand was grasped and you spotted it- the light. Seeping through the darkness in smaller beams that grew bigger and bigger as it began to haul you up, up, up- the hand on your calf tried fighting but with this newfound hope in your system you did not yield. Tightening your own hand, you pulled your weight up to greet the surface of the never-ending sludge.

Surviving.

Breathing.

Seeing.

You broke the surface with a heavy gasp, spluttering and coughing. Light surrounded you opposed to the darkness that you had been submerged in and you raised your eyes to look at your savour.

Eyes pooled with kindness looked back.

“(Name)-”

You sat up with a choking gasp, clutching at the blanket encasing your chest.

Eyes wild, you searched the area desperately for traces of that suffocating nightmare only to see that you were laying in a forest, as lush and as green as many were in a scene that slowly brought you back into reality. The trees wavered in the wind, the grass stood tall and you were not drowning in darkness.

Bodies were strewn about the small camp, a fire centring them all. Wild and Hyrule laid only inches away from your sleeping mat in their own, their soft snores light on your ears as you watched them with your pacing heart slowing to a resting thump. Looking around, you could spot a few more of the boys sleeping away with the settlement in the far distance, their torches beacons in the dark.

The dark…

You gulped, glancing around. Surrounded by it, eating away at the borders of your camp, it almost seemed to be watching you, studying you. The light of the fire was the only thing that fought it back, your savour in these desperate times- desperate? Why would it be desperate? Nothing was there.

Unless that nothing was something.

Unless that something was the Shadow.

Cloaked in pitch black, red eyes staring at you from beyond his veil of gloom. Was this what he was waiting for? The night to snatch you up again? Your cockiness would surely lead you to a tortuous death with not an ounce of glory to your name. You had provoked him and now you were destined to die a cruel end.

Something shifted beyond a shady bush.

Your heart kick started with a twisting leap.

You didn’t want to die like this. Not after everything had happened. You had been saved- you were safe! He couldn’t hurt you now! This wasn’t fair!

You pushed yourself to your knees, hellbent on running.

No, this wasn’t it. Not after escaping your fate.

The world muffled as blood pumped loudly in your ears, your shaky, uneven pants returning tenfold as wild eyes stayed focused on the shaking bush. You were not in between trees, you were back in that hallway. Winding and dark, as you watched the shadows slowly seep round the corner with its demonic host just only a few paces behind.

You could not fight but by God you could run.

Eyes peered through the darkness.

You inhaled in suspense.

A fluffy dog pushed its way through the bush.

And suddenly, you were back on the outside.

Collapsing back into your bedroll, you shook. Your pillow muffling your terrified sobs as you heaved and wailed into the comfort of the plush cushion.

It wasn’t real, it wasn’t real. The castle laid quiet in the background within the darkness, the trees acting as a fence between you and your near murder scene. Your mind may have still pushed that horrible notion but you needed to fight it with logic, with a clear mind. Even as tears cascaded down your hot cheeks you needed to see that you were indeed fine, you were indeed safe.

You did not need to add PTSD to the long list of things already wrong with you.

Something gently made contact with your head, the familiar feeling of a wet snout softly burrowing into your hair with frantic sniffs as the canine studied your shaking figure. Nipping at your skin with careful precision as to not actually hurt you, the animal whined and collapsed into a big fluffy heap right next to your shaking body- a boundary between you and the darkness.

After a few moments, you glanced at it.

“...Wolfie?” Wolfie, or Twilight as you knew under the disguise of Twili magic, tilted his head curiously at you. “...what are you doing here?”

The wolf quietly barked- a squeak with maws snapping.

“Right…you can’t talk…” Sniffling, you hiccuped on a breath and reached your hand out carefully, fingers making contact with the poofy fur decorating his chest. “....you’re soft.”

Another quiet bark, you giggled this time at the noise.

“I’m sorry…were you patrolling?” He hummed a whine that you could only believe was a ‘yes’, your head coming to rest upon his paws in an act of seeking comfort- you hoped you weren’t making Twilight uncomfortable. “Sorry for getting in the way.”

Wolfie rested his head atop yours carefully.

“I just-...” You teared up once again, shaking. “It’s so dark and I just couldn’t-”

A deep sound came from within his chest, not a growl or grunt, but a long soft hum that had you fall quiet with only sniffles leaving you. You were tired, you were scared and you wished you were back home with your Mama.

Mama.

You wanted your mama.

She would have held you, even through her grump after you woke her.

“I want my mama,” You sniffed, “I want go home- I hate this fucking place.”

Tightening into a ball, you cuddled closer to the canine. The hero did nothing to fight it, in fact, he pushed his body closer to your own as he curled around your frame protectively. Like a blanket of safety, he kept you covered and made an effort to shield you from the horrors of the outside world. You were not alone in this nightmare, you did not have to isolate yourself and suffer.

You cried yourself to sleep.

#linked universe #linked universe x reader #lu #linked universe imagine #player au #a player's aid

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blackbirdffxiv · 2 months

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A lengthy ass-post about poly-shipping no one asked for

So I'm gonna go ahead and choose passive aggressive violence, in the form of an informative, lengthy as fuck post I think some folks need to read.

I won't be adding the post here, as I don't wish to direct potential harassment to the original poster (no matter how heinous I found a majority of the list), but if you're on twitter/"X", I'm sure you've seen a lengthy notepad list of RP "hot takes".

While I agreed with some of the points made, I feel it necessary to clarify some things, particularly about the points regarding polyamorous shipping.

If you don't want to read the blurb between here and the actual point list, just scroll down until you see green font.

Most know that I myself play a polyamorous character; I ship my character with other characters belonging to different players. I've been poly-ship for YEARS, so I feel I have some experience and can say some things about it.

Some points made in the "hot takes" list alluded to people using polyamorous shipping/multi-shipping as an excuse to just ERP and mess around with multiple people without consequence.

Sadly, yes, this does happen. It's unfortunate that selfish people only looking for specific things use it as an excuse for their behavior, but the only thing people can do is be aware of what to look out for when it comes to polyamorous shipping.

So rather than allow a negative light be painted on a valid means of shipping and roleplaying your characters in relationships, I think a quick lesson is needed.

Disclaimer: these are just my personal opinion on how I feel polyships should be handled, and some red flags I have seen during my time being a polyamorous OC player. By no means is this a rulebook, more like a guide so new and veteran roleplayers alike can be aware.

What a responsible poly-shipper will do:

Introduce you to their other partners - Communication is key in any relationship, this is not just for monogomous ships, but even moreso for polyamorous. A poly OC player will be open to introducing you to their other partners; while no one expects you to be best friends, it's good to be aware of just who else you'll possibly be regularly seeing around.

Share time and effort among your partners equally - A polycule relationship should be even across the board; one partner should not be treated better than the other. Treating one or more partners better than the other(s) is just a recipe for people getting hurt, both IC and OOC.

Be open and up front at the very beginning of IC interactions - A poly OC player will be up front and honest about the nature of their character if they have an interest in possibly shipping with you, or in case the possibility of it happening is there.

Encourage communication and prioritize problem-solving - This isn't just for poly ships, but ships in general. A good writing partner will encourage and WANT you to tell them about how you feel with the ship, especially if it's a problem with an easy solution.

Always make it known if they wish to bring another partner into the polycule & pose an introduction OOC - This is the most important part of being in a poly ship, making sure EVERYONE knows if there is someone new who will be joining the ship, and making introductions before a ship is made.

What a responsible poly ship player wouldn't/shouldn't do:

Hide the status of their ships - If your partner is hiding who they are shipping with from you, in my experience, this just means a person is going behind their partner's back (and is possibly cheating on them).

Brush off any possible issues you may be having with one of the partners in the ship - A responsible partner would aim to mediate the situation, and listen to all sides.

Discourage their poly partners from seeking other partners - Not every poly OC is monogomous with their poly partner, sometimes one poly OC will be shipped with another poly OC. Your partner would not expect you to drop your other ships to be with them while they continue their own, they should respect your decision to ship with your other partners.

Keep attempts to ship with other characters a secret - A responsible poly partner will make it known when they are attempting to or want to ship their OC with another as soon as intentions and wants are known. Not after a ship is already established.

Discourage those in the polycule ship from associating with each other - A partner in a healthy polycule would never discourage their partners from associating with each other; intentional separation more than likely is a means of hiding something, such as blatant favoritism, or even to keep ships a secret (in my experience).

Anyways I'll get off my soap box. I apologize for the lengthy post, but some things I've been seeing regarding this hot takes list were so blatantly heinous, I just felt like something should be said.

Have a good evening y'all; hug your pets, tell your friends you love them, and don't let jaded people online project their problems onto you.

Stay golden

#OOC #mun psa #I have chosen violence in the form of lengthy ass posts

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pansear-doodles · 9 months

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I gotta get this out of my chest (and i might get hate for this but whatever)

I feel like the rain world fandom as a whole is painted in a one-sided lens- thats not true because if you really take a step back and look at the entire picture of it all there are circles and subcircles of certain populations who are into specific parts of the game and its much more nuanced than what most people complain about.

You have of course people who care about the gameplay. Not all of them are into lore stuff but when it comes to fandom stuff they tend to be mixed. They are the closest to being in line with canon. They are a mostly neutral party but they have their own can of worms to feed when it comes to new players, but I'm not here to talk about that relatively speaking.

You have people who enjoy the ideas of the characters and create transformative stuff out of it. This is where most circles of fanon, headcanons and aus reside, the """fandomification""" side of rain world if you will. This is relatively new in the fandom and most new fans(post dp) reside here, and because of that factor they're always given the most flak and attention by veterans who reside in other circles. (Even though these circles can coexist)

Many veterans (though not all of them are veterans) reside in circles that are described as the more canonical and spiritual side- because of the focus of the game. They tend to be more focused on the consistency for what the game offers- making theories and discussing certain aspects and making content that most consider isnt """fandomification""" or woobifying/blorbo-ing characters. Of course, this circle has subcircles of their own

I'm not trying to antagonize people who say that they miss when the fandom was in a relatively calmer and ""non-fandomy"" state. What bothers me is that the newer fans and the ones who enjoy focusing on "the idea of the characters" and talk about it more than the spiritual complex side of the game, are the ones being antagonized usually by these circles. I have not once seen a headcanony person complain about people talking about canon (unless you count me, an individual who is always subject to these discourses albeit unwillingly but whatever)

There is an underlying reality that as a fandom grows larger, so would these circles and some would birth new subcircles (and one of which is rw shipping, which is always the subject of antagonization in fandom discourse. Funnily enough, not within the shipping subcommunity but by people who dislike and or against shipping, especially with slugcats- yes i still cant believe the shipping community is one of the most peaceful communities in all of ship communities ever and that's very telling).

Then there are the subcircles that have always existed. There are people who care more about the slugcats more than the iterators. There are people who care about the iterators more than the slugcats. There are people who care about creating oc content rather than canon content. It goes on.

Im not saying that if you dislike how rivulet for example is often portrayed as "the adhd energetic roundhouse of wawa" that you are invalid. You absolutely have the right to dislike certain aspects the fandom has.

What I don't like is that some of these circles are antagonized and treated as if they were headless chickens pushing the affinity for liking the characters in their own ways. I don't like that they often assume that we can't like or be engaged with canon and discussions surrounding the spiritual and technical aspects of the game because we were more fond of something else. I really don't like that these types of fans are seen as parasites and that they're portrayed as people who are out to ruin the fandom when in reality they're there to enjoy it in their own way. I dont like that we are being assumed that we hate rain world, the game itself.

We have our very own reasons and our very own ways to enjoy this special piece of media. You have the ability to curate your experiences in the fandom- you have the ability to create your own circles and come with your own ideas for how you feel about the game. The fandom is an entire ecosystem composed of unique individuals and fans with their own unique individual takes. That's really not that hard to fathom.

But nah clearly gay slugcat talk and "edgy aus" will turn the rain world fandom into that similar to undertale and steven universe's fandom.

#so yeah please leave us alone holy shit #this rant sounds aggressive and its imperfect but goddamnit do i have to tap the sign again #its only an issue if you make it out to be an issue #i apologize #thoughts #long #also its inevitable that memes will repeat but what can you do this happens for every single fucking thing ever

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