#i killed the origial

[somber-sapphic]

I'm Always Coming Back

Haha, I'm here! I'm reposting everything that I can! If you had an ask that wasn't answered, I lost it and I'm so sorry for that. (wanda x reader)

Wanda is back after a rough mission and you need to hide just how sick you are.

---

You grumbled softly and ran a hand over your face, trying to force the stars from your vision. Logically, you knew that you had made a bad decision keeping yourself awake for so long. But the date with Wanda had been fantastic. 

She had been gone for so long, her mission had taken two extra days and Fury had been up her ass interrogating her for hours about why it had run so long. Several different governments had also been trying to talk/murder her and then she’d had to go into hiding. She’d spent another week in hiding. It was hell. 

“Y/n? You okay?” Wanda asked, settling back into her fighting stance. You forced a smile and nodded, trying to plan how exactly you were going to fight her without passing out. It wasn’t that you were unskilled in hand to hand combat, in fact it was one of your greatest strengths. The issue was the overwhelming dizziness caused by the congestion fucking with your inner ear.

“I’m fine. Let’s do this.” She came at you. You dodged the first punch, but the second hit you square in the gut. You grunted and tried to sweep her leg, but she had already leapt away, clearly using her powers as an assist. Part of you wished that you had powers of your own. Then you could shove all of this down more easily and kick her ass. 

“Hun, you’re looking a little unsteady. Do you want to stop?” Yes, yes you wanted to stop. Your limbs were getting heavy and the effort of drawing air into your already beat up lungs was exhausting. Black spots had begun to dance in your vision and you could vaguely see the woman running towards you. 

“Y/n!” You tried to hit her, figuring that the two of you were still sparing. You suddenly felt like you were floating, the world sort of fuzzing out around you. The sky was bluer, making everything else seem dark in contrast. You felt yourself taking a few steps backward, but you had no control. The last thing you saw before collapsing was a terrified looking Wanda trying desperately to get to you. 

–

“You are so fucking stupid. You are an idiot. I hate you, I hate you so much. A forcefield? You put up a fucking forcefield? What did you think that I was going to crack your skull? Oh wait, you already did that!” You groaned and turned your head to the side, trying to escape the nagging voice in your head. 

“Y/n? You had better be awake. I can’t kill you if you die.” The voice said, sounding a little more clear and less in your head. A cool hand landed on your cheek and someone was pushing hair from your eyes. 

As your awareness increased, so did the pain. It felt like someone was smashing your skull with a hammer. Why were they doing that? Seemed unfair. Plus, you were too cold. Or too hot. Or maybe both? And your nose was running. You tried to lift a hand to rub your drippy appendage, but the other person beat you there. 

“Wa’na?” You mumbled, fighting to lift heavy eyelids. It felt as if someone had taped rocks to your eyes. The blurry figure smiled down at you and you swore you saw the woman pushing a tear off of her cheek. 

“D’nt cry.” You frowned, picking up one heavy arm in an attempt to touch her face. Instead, you sort of smacked her. Wanda let out a teary laugh and held your hand to the side of her face, helping you out a little. 

“Don’t scare me like that and I won’t cry.” She replied, bending down to kiss your overly warm forehead. Your lips turned up in a small smile and you nuzzled into the touch, missing the comfort that she brought. 

Tears welled up in your eyes as you realized just how much you had missed her. She was your everything and for so long you had thought she was dead. They couldn’t update you as to her condition, they just told you to sit tight. Wait. Go about your day and hope the love of your life returns to you. 

“I don’t feel good.” You whimpered, your body heaving with quiet sobs. The tears made your head hurt worse, you just wanted to be held. Wanda being the wonderful woman that she was, shifted onto your bed and pulled you into her arms. She cradled your injured head against your chest, and stroked your hair, kissing your hair as you cried. 

“I know detka, I know. It's okay sweetheart. It's all okay. We’re going to watch movies and cuddle and I’ll get you whatever you want. We can do whatever you want until you feel better. I’ve got you, I love you, I shouldn’t have been gone so long. It's all going to be alright.” You weren’t sure if she was reading your thoughts, but you wouldn't be surprised if she was. You knew that you were projecting loudly and she could only do so much to block you out. 

“I missed you…I-I was scared you weren’t, weren’t coming back.” You said into her shirt, breathing in the comfort that she brought. Wanda ran her nails along your scalp, adding another layer of relaxation. A little moan escaped your lips and she chuckled, glad that she was calming you down. 

“I’m always coming back to you. I’ll always come home. I love you, you are my everything. Close your eyes, beautiful. I’ll wake you in a few hours to make sure you didn’t scramble your brains.” Now it was your turn to laugh. You smiled into her stomach and listened as she began to hum an old Sokovian song. Your head hurt and you felt miserable, but everything was better when you were in the arms of your witch. 

#marvel #sickfic #marvel sickfic #wanda x y/n #wanda maximoff #wanda x you #wanda x reader #sick reader #wanda maxmoff x y/n #wanda maximov #mcu sickfic #sick fanfiction #fanfiction #repost #i killed the origial #mcu #marvel mcu #fever #hurt/comfort #minor whump

[teknikolor-walters]

the urge to overshare on the internet vs. the fear of being a burden to my friends and worrying yall

#sighs. sighs #i. uh #im sorry #i love u all #so much #none of this is your fault #i just #you know when i said today was my origially planned date but i wasnt gonna do it #yeah #well #that aged terribly #i dont know #i think there are a lot of benefits to me killing myself but i dont wanna traumatize anyone and i dont want anyone to mourn me #i wish i could just fade away #have nobody remember me #if i do stop being a fucking coward and actually go through with it. just rmember that i love you. so so so fucking much #you guys are some of the best people in the world #dont ever forget it #cicadas vent tag

[hildegardladyofbones]

The ending of portal 2 would've been great except the writers failed to account for one thing. I never even so much as disliked wheatley.

#portal 2 #fuck you fuck you fuck you #i want my ball back #he djdnt deserve that and now im crying ans mourning as if my pet had died #“oh but he tried to kill you and said all of those mean things” I DONT CARE HE WAS FORCED INTO A POSITION WHERE HE WAS SEVERELY OUT OF HIS #DEPTH. THE CIRCUMSTANCES (AND GLADOS) WERE JUST SHITTY. I FORGAVE HIM BEFORE I EVEN FINISHED FALLING DOWN THAT ELEVATOR SHAFT. IF GLADOS CAN #BE REDEMEED WHY CANT HE??? OH JS IT BECAUSE GLADOS WAS THE FAN FAVOURITE SINCE THE FIRST GAME??? I DONT GIVE A FUCK I NEVER PLAYED THE ORIGI #NAL ONE #THE FIRST PERSON I MET WAS WHEATLEY AND HE WAS NICE TO ME AND HE HELPED ME ESCAPE

[beekeep]

Saw this post floating around, don’t wanna target anyone or argue with Zionists, but it is my duty (especially as an actually indigenous Jew) to educate well-meaning gentiles who might see this and think they have no right to speak on the matter. I’ll go point by point.

1) “Is it so terrible for a Jew to be a Zionist?”

If we were living in any other era, where the genocidal crimes of Israel were not as widely known (though they were very well documented), you could perhaps ask this question in sincerity. Many Jews (such as myself) grow up in religious educational settings which either fail to mention the human rights violations of the state or claim they’re justified because “they want to kill us!” Past a certain point, though, one can’t continue to claim ignorance of what Zionism actually does. Short answer: yes, it is terrible for anyone to claim to be a Zionist, but this will be more evident as I continue to analyze these arguments.

2) “Zionism is the belief in the inherent right of the Jewish people to return to their homeland”

First of all, Palestine is not the “homeland” of the Jewish people any more than Siberia is the homeland of indigenous american tribes. Is there a historical connection? Yes, but though assimilation and migration Jews have found homes across the world. For me, my homeland is Mexico, because my family has lived there for generations, partly through migration but mostly through having cultivated the land for millennia. Even biblically speaking, Palestine does not “belong” to the Jewish people, it belongs to G-d. Furthermore, there is no shortage of Jewish scholarship and activism that asserts that wherever we live, that is our homeland. Frankly, I’m more interested in fighting to stay where I am than fighting to force people out of their homes to accommodate me.

3) “Zionism is the belief in the Jewish right not to be murdered”

By murdering others instead? Once again, there is no shortage of Jewish scholarship and activism in favor of Jewish self defense where we live. Jewish resistance fighters lived and died fighting the nazis in Europe under the third reich. If Zionism was actually interested in preventing Jewish death, it would fight antisemitism where it is. “Preventing murder” is not an excuse to commit genocide.

4) “there are so many definitions of Zionism”

Sorry but I just think of this tweet from @jewdas on Twitter when I read this: “There’s a actual existing Zionism which practices apartheid and denial of human rights. But there’s another Zionism inside my head which is all rainbows and kosher marshmallows, so who can say which is the real Zionism?” In other words, the actual, material consequences of Zionist beliefs are more important than what any individual thinks their Zionism is. Once again, we live in the Information Age, where anyone can easily learn about the damage that Zionism has done in Palestine and abroad. There is no excuse to continue using the label that doesn’t presuppose complete ignorance of Israeli violence.

5) “zionists just want to be safe from antisemitism in the diaspora”

See points 3 & 4.

6) “and this is different from evangelical zionists”

Materially speaking, not really. Once again, see point 4. Until you pull all US/european colonial support for Israel, this claim falls flat.

7) “zionists just want to live peacefully with other indigenous people in the area”

That’s not what indigeneity is, it doesn’t mean “from there,” it’s a specific relationship to the land and to its cultivation. (On a side note, even biblically and historically speaking, Jews are not “from” Palestine.) See point 2. Zionism has proven it is not a peaceful ideology. See point 4.

8) “people refuse to see the difference in types of Zionism because they hate the Jews”

No, it’s because there are no material differences. See point 4. Evangelical Zionism and Jewish Zionism actually share quite a bit in common. The “Jewish state” would not exist without evangelical Zionists. See point 6. And the original Jewish Zionist thinkers had a vested interest in tying the two together.

tl;dr, Zionism is a violent ideology in practice, and no amount of making excuses can hide the fact that it is genocidal and serves European/American interests. Additionally, just because one is not Jewish does not mean one does not have a duty and an obligation to eliminate Zionism wherever it crops up. Zionism has had disastrous consequences for Palestinians, and as western citizens, we benefit from their suffering. It must end now. May Palestine be freed in our lifetimes.

#Free Palestine

[gurokatt]

Took that other poor writers whole paragraph about eating Strahm’s heart & how poetic it was

Okay thank you for this one message that actually explains what you're trying to say.

The fic that you just mentioned, is currently in wip stage... and that part of the fic has ever been sent to ANYONE ELSE except a small collection of friends. congrats you've admitted that you used to be friends with me and i can narrow down who is acting like a child.

The fic you are saying im plagarising... is my friends fic... who took the idea origially from me...

Killing me, killing you - kissedbyjudas - btw an amazing fic i recomend... is a gift to ME.

When I wrote my wip I literally asked "Hey can i take this one scene as inspiration for my own fic"

Not only did my friend ENCOURAGE me, but when I accidently wrote too similar to his fic, I rewrote it and got his approval for the rewritten scene.

^ screenshot he sent of a scene from his fic highlighted

You told me that I never tagged/linked the fics i took inspiration from... that's because I haven't POSTED it yet. my friend will absolutely get a mention once i post the chapter that contains the cannibalism. Bonus: my friend reacting to your bullshit claims of me plagarising his work

#coffinshipping #hoffstrahm #plagarism #cannibalism

[gaybitchfx]

HOLA SOY DORA

DORAAA

BOOOOOTTSSS

C’MON DORA

DODODODODDO DORA

DODODODODO DORA

DODODODODOD DORA

DODODODODO DORA

DORA DORA DORA THE EXPLORER

DORA-

I got an illumi request

I ain’t fixing any typos so deal with it mkay

Sooo

Reader is like really bubbly and hyper ‘n shit and likes to wear really girly and pink pastel outfits and when reader and illumi stand next to each other they are 100% opposites

Kinda like

Kinda like us🥹

Ahem anyway-

While reader and illumi were out on a date someone called out how the reader dressed and how a man shouldn’t be dressing like he does

And that just ruins readers while ass mood for like a week, he’s less hyper and bubbly doesn’t wanna dress like usual and doesn’t really wanna go out to places with illumi anymore

SO

Wanna know how illumi comforts him ?

Kills the bitch.

Reader didn’t know he was dead till him and illumi were cuddling on the couch watching TV together and it says blah blah blah is dead and reader is like “huh..I wonder who did that..” and illumi is smirking and shit and then is like “hey you want some ice cream ?” And since ice cream heals everything reader is happy again to his old self❤️🫦

-🍓 Character(s): Illumi

-🍓 Type of reader: M!Reader

-🍓 Category: Sfw

-🍓 Warning(s): Being criticized for what you wear

-🍓 Note: We look iconic just like those two houses (the black and pink house)

-🍓 Edited: ❌

You two were the complete opposites of each other.

Illumi would rather wear dark-themed clothing, never in his life touched a color that was too bright for the eyes. You would wear pastels or anything bright that fits your daily mood, even if it was too much.

When standing next to each other it was like coal placed next to an ornament, not very compatible looking. But they do say opposites attract one another yes?

“Oh illumi look!” You exclaimed and quickly went up to a window that showed puppies playing with each other. “They’re so cuteee! Can we have one pleaseee!?” You pleaded and looked at Illumi with a pout and puppy dog eyes.

“No.” He firmly said making you sulk.

“I’ll be back for you just wait.” You whispered to one of the puppies as Illumi dragged you away from the glass. “I can’t believe a man would dress like that of all things.

He looks like he dressed in the dark.” Some man said loud and clear for you to hear while making direct eye contact with you.

“Fucking sickening.” Illumi had turned his attention away from the man and onto you, you were visibly sulking like a deflated balloon.

“Are you alright?” Illumi question you as he did a little squeeze with your hand. “I’m fine! Let’s just…let’s just go home..” You said with a quick smile. Illumi clicked his teeth and took note of what the man looked like as the two of you walked home.

The next day was even worse, you were more sluggish and just looked upset. What that guy said struck a nerve. “You want something sweet dear?” Illumi asked as you watched tv on the couch.

“No..” You grumbled making Illumi frown a bit. “Want to go for a walk?” You shook your head and brought your attention back onto the tv. For the next few days, you barely dressed in your usual attire and didn’t even bother leaving the house with Illumi.

That was the last straw before Illumi left for a bit and searched for the man that had ruined your whole week and took care of him in the nicest way possible.

“I’m home,” Illumi said as he took his shoes off by the door. “Welcome back.” You said with a small smile. Illumi sat down next to you and rested your head on his lap and changed the channel to the news.

The news lady explained the death of a certain man and showed a picture of his face. “How odd...I wonder who did that.” You hummed but shrugged it off. Illumi had the biggest grin he could muster up, it was pretty unsettling.

That grin had gone away when he looked at you. “Ice cream?” He offered making you spring up, nearly hitting him in the chin with your head.

“Hell yeah!” You exclaimed, and just like that, you were back to how you originally were.

-🍓tags: @jkloserdazai @reallyromealone @lostsomewhereinthegarden @secretivemessenger

#illumi hunter x hunter #illumi zoldyck #illumi x male reader #illumi x you #illumi x y/n #illumi x reader #fiction #best son #fluff #pinch of angst #male reader #hunter x hunter #hxh x male reader

[beeseverywhen]

pikmin vs pikmin 4- my thoughts on some of the changes

so i've been replaying pikmin this week after playing a lot of pikmin 4 and i had some thoguhts over the differences. i actually meant to make this post yesterday and i've now forgotten a lot of what i had to say whoops but i'll give it a shot.

so first of all. difficulty. it's a lot harder to get pikmin killed in pikmin 4. in some ways i found this a bit disappointing but playing pikmin again really put things in context lol. you can kill them so easily in the original! personally i think for me the ideal level of difficulty would be somewhere in between. the struggle to keep my pikmin alive in the first game was pretty formative for me lol. i think taking out that struggle for survival and risk of huge battle losses does lose something. i've always seen something of a commentary in pikmin that im not sure is in the newer games thanks to it being easier to keep your pikmin alive. HOWEVER i'm actually all about making games more accessible especially for kids. when games are really hard a lot of ppl just cant complete them/cant get in to them. i think what i would like to have seen from pikmin 4 was the option of different difficulty levels tbh. that way as a pikmin veteran you could pick a harder level, upskilling the monsters, while the original difficulty is still an option.

on the other hand, there are some ways that pikmin die in the first one that i'm SO glad they fixed. first of all-drowning. drowning is so annoying in the first game.m it's really really hard to get the pikmin out of the water to start with. and they drown for so long. theres a point where they are beyond saving but they keep on screaming for ages anyway. it makes me sad lol.

second. getting stuck around walls. oh my god. its so easy to lose pikmin as youre walking around. and when you call your whistle you need to show them how to actually get back to you? if you dont they dont make their way back to you. im so glad they fixed this because it was incredibly annoying tbh. theres actually a second part to this that i didnt think i liked until i replayed the original. so with nectar, you have to actually throw your pikmin at the nectar most of the time in pikmin 4. im used to just being able to walk through it with my crowd of pikmin but this didnt work so well in 4. i didnt realise till my replay of pikmin that this is actually a good thing. in pikmin you lose pikmin walking with you because they get distracted by the nectar. if youre not careful they'll fall behind and end up lost at the end of the day.

the pikmins freewill. they really do do what they want in the original. its so hard to keep them alive because they'll just start carrying things mid battle. they attack everything. they are hugely distracted by nectar. they'll wander off and start attacking pellet flowers. while to a degree they still do this in 4, its way way easier to keep a handle on it. i actually like the idea that in game this has happened because the pikmin have more experience of hanging out with olimar and being directed and have passed that knowledge on.

the whistle. ok i love the whistle upgrades. just being able to call all the pikmin back to home at the end of the day is so good. i do think its a little overpowered because pikmin are generally safer in pikmin 4? but if we had this option in the origial it would be so great. im thinking something that gets added in late game. theres still a chance theyll get distracted/attacked/drown on their way back to you but you can at least TRY to call them back. i also love the whistle that calls pikmin back to you.

enemies staying dead- i'm mixed about this. i think that i'd like them to stay dead for a few days but then when you leave the area/after you progress in the game they get replaced with harder enemies?

time rewind- i'm mixed on this. i think its a bit overpowered. it might be good if it only comes in to play during a boss fight?

the dog. look. i didnt want a dog. i was not down with oatchi to begin with. after playing pikmin 4…yeah i do kind of like it. i think i'd prefer him not to be a dog. it added another level to the universe that was never really explained and i felt like it was motivated by a 'dogs are cute' fanservice kinda thing. not really my cup of tea. one of the things i really love about pikmin is it takes cute animals and makes them terrifying. oh a little ladybird? what if it was huge and bloodthirsty. i ended up reallly liking the extra level oatchi added to puzzles. i liked that you had to do some bits with him and the other with your player, i just would have liked something that felt more fitting with the world. a tame dwarf bulborb would be hilarious tbh.

go here- when i was playing pikmin 4 i was mixed about this. i kinda thought it took some of the challenge away and didnt use it at first but then i kinda changed my mind. like the whistle, i think it becomes overpowered because theres no danger involved. you can clear out the monsters first and you know nothing is gonna happen while youre on autopilot. after playing pikmin i think i'd actually really like a go here option, i think it just needs to be balanced out by there being a bit more risk involved in using it. personally ive found myself getting really frustrated playing the original because i get lost a lot. this is in part because i generally struggle with using maps particularly in older games where you cant see what is and isnt passable as well (this is more of a personal thing as i have a condition that affects my ability to orientate/use maps efficiently tbh)

advancements/design changes- so modern tech has obviously allowed for some major improvements in how things look. going from new camera controls back to gamecube ones was…disappointing to say the least lol. i love that its easier to see what you are doing on these newer games. i love that its easier to target and actually throw the pikmin where you want them to go. its generally easier to move around and things are less clunky. i do think that a bit of the magic gets lost in some of the design changes tbh. i understand why theyve been made. the original developers probably wanted them there to start with but were restricted by the technology of the time (god. it really has been 2 decades. madness. i've been playing with these little guys for over 20 years lol).

i really liked the white hole-ey walls in the original, bring them back! i also actually liked that there were so many walls and a lot of things were more closed off. that typical pikmin feeling of 'i've got the treasure from the boss but now i cant bloody get it back' was missing a bit. i know that this is because modern games go more for that open world approach (even tho pikmin isnt) but i think it just makes sense in the story for things to be more closed off. i think bags and box ramps seem to have replaced the plentyful walls and… i would like more walls.

i also love the woven bridges where it breaks down over time and you need to get the pikmin to make it again. i just think they look cool.

i also like the little piles of bombs you can find and i like that you've got to have the yellow pikmin carry them around for you. what do you mean im just putting bombs in my pocket??! maybe there could be a function where in later game you could earn some kind of upgrade where you CAN store bombs. some kind of bomb proof container. but i still think the yellow pikmin should be in charge of bombs. they are the demolition experts.

i would like more use of climbing sticks too.

i liked that the landing spaces were kind of ringfenced off in the original. every landing space is its own little area, usually set in a depression in the land if not a little raised bit. i like that. tbh i dont really have an opinion on there being multiple homebases in 4. i know some ppl love it. im pretty neutral on it tbh. i would like the homebases to be set in some kind of depression/ have landscaping to set them aside tho. i just like the feel of it better. my pikmin feel safer lol. considering how dangerous the world is im not sure it makes sense for us to all be chill with landing out in the open like that and leaving our ship and the onion to it.

another thing that to me is huge but i do kinda get why they changed it and i think most ppl probably dont agree with me here… i miss there being seperate onions! i get why, i do. ppl probably didnt like that you couldnt get all your pikmin in one go and had to go to seperate onions. personally i loved that. i loved seeing the onions i'd collected in the landing area and i loved seeing them all fly off together at the end of the day. i loved that the landing areas were designed around the number of onions you'd have at the end of the game so that until then you'd be looking at that space like. i wonder whats going to go there. when will i find my last onion. what will it be like. i also love when the onion springs out of the ground all colourful when you find it. maybe they could be buried but when the pikmin uncovers it THEN it springs up?? i want that back. i do get that it would be annoying to have to get pikmin from each onion when there are loads of them and some ppl dont like that. i think this could be solved by you being able to access the all pikmin screen from your ship. then when you select the pikmin the ship alerts the onions and the pikmin come running out of the onions.

the centre spot for the ship and the 3 spots for red yellow and blue would be stylistic like in the original pikmin and would be there from the start even before you find the onions.

then the 6 surrounding spots would be less obvious, to the point that you dont really notice them until you find the first unusual onion. i know youre probably thinking: hold on a second 6? yeah i would give the glow pikmin a onion. maybe it only shows up at night or maybe it is there in the day but its colour is dull showing it's not avaliable.

while we're on the topic of the onions, i also prefer their original design. i'd love to see them looking the same, only more vibrant and in better definition. i particularly like the patterns round the bottom edge, the legs, and also the flowers on these ones.

edit: oh i totally forgot. the other design change im in two minds about is the sun meter. i think it looks better in the original.

also. i love that its easier to switch what colour pikmin you are holding and that charging is way easier.

im pretty neutral on the restricition of pikmin in the field. maybe i'd prefer it if you could upgrade that faster/if it had a higher starting point??? not sure yet i'll have to think. i dont like that there are more farlics avaliable even once youve reached 100 and the number of pikmin cant increase.

#pikmin 4 #pikmin

[tgrailwar-zero]

All I can say in my defense Rider is, empathy can be a real bitch sometimes and the fact that she looked like a child really bothered me.

It's different when you can see them, I know we are going to destroy the solar cell and hurt a lot more people but it's different when you can see them and talk to them.

You fought wars Rider, right? How did you handle the killing? I am sure your faith helped but I cannot imagine not being haunted by the faces of the people I ended.

CONSTANTINE: "Well... it helps to focus on those that you wish to keep safe instea--"

He was suddenly interrupted.

JAGUAR MAN: "The Law of the Jungle is vast and complicated, while some may determine it as 'survival of the fittest', the world has changed constantly to be aware of what is the most 'fit'. Brains, brawn, big fish in a small pond, small fish in a vast ocean, nature is a constant battle! A never-ending war for survival!" CONSTANTINE: "Oh, you're part of this conversation now. I figured this would be a private affair. Considering they addressed me. Specifically." JAGUAR MAN: "The Jaguar isn't bound by rules, but by whimsy! The world is my jungle, and so there is no privacy in my presence!"

JAGUAR MAN: "Listen well, young Master-- and other young Masters that didn't ask the question! As the jaguar is the smartest, wisest, most beautiful, most powerful creature in the jungle. And as the base A.I for this body is that of an educator, then I will simply do my job and educate!

JAGUAR MAN: "War is a part of life! Conflict is a part of time! Thus speaks the Jaguar God! And so it is declared! That sometimes you need to kill in order to live! And sometimes you need to disobey, in order to save! And sometimes, bloody sacrifice is required for the future to continue onward! However, due to claiming these..."

She held up the data containing ASCLEPIUS and LUCIUS' Spirit Origi--

--Wait...

…When did she GET those?

A (delayed) alert popped up.

[ Lucius Origin… lost? ]

[ Asclepius Origin... lost?? ]

JAGUAR MAN: "You hold much more control over fate and future than you once had! To cling to the past is folly! To cling to the future is ferocity! That is the grand theory known as 'Meowdernization'! So take the blood-stained future in your hands, and turn that blood into flower petals!"

She handed back both LUCIUS and ASCLEPIUS' Origin data.

[ Lucius Origin… was regained... ]

[ Asclepius Origin... was also regained... ]

FATHER KOTOMINE: "I apologize. There's a chance that she is either bugged, or possesses Madness Enhancement. Due to a run-in with a former Lair Servant a few cycles ago, she's become a bit more… feral."

CONSTANTINE: "I understand. I suppose she's trying to make a point in the midst of all of that rambling."

FATHER KOTOMINE: "And Miss Fujimura, Interloper Masters, we absolutely do need that Spirit Origin back. Lucius is one of our cohorts in properly monitoring the Grail War, after all."

CONSTANTINE: "…I have a feeling that it won't be so easily let go of."

#endless whispers #thgw story #code cast: ask rider

[scruffyplayssonic]

Are the ArchieSonic comics actually an 80's/90's syndicated cartoon? Episode 64 - 65: Two Multi-part Finale (part 10: Sonic the Hedgehog #247)

Welcome back to my investigation of how Archie Comics’ Sonic the Hedgehog series was actually a syndicated cartoon from the 80’s and 90’s!

Last time I discussed Sonic Universe #50, where Shard made his heroic final stand, Metal Sonic went from being a repeatedly blown up chump to a very, very scary robot, and Eggman implied that he had something big in the works. This brings us to Sonic the Hedgehog #247, the final pre-boot issue of the series. Team Fighters had chased the Death Egg all the way to its fueling station in the Arctic, and joined forces with the Arctic Freedom Fighters (who thankfully were NOT characters that Ken Penders was claiming copyright for). 

The heroes smashed their way into the base and were surprised to be joined by none other than Silver. At the end of the Secret Freedom Fighters’ arc in Sonic Universe, Harvey Who had told Silver that he’d figured out who Silver’s supposed traitor was, and offscreen he explained everything he’d found out. Then at the end of Endangered Species, Shard had contacted Silver to tip him off that Team Fighters were heading to the Arctic, hence him showing up here. Sonic really didn’t have the patience for any more of Silver’s shenanigans, which is fair when you remember that Silver tried to first kill him, then Rotor, and then blamed the comatose Antoine, all in the name of stopping his supposed traitor. But Tails put together that Silver was part of a team working with Elias (or “the true king,” as they were now forced to refer to him as), and convinced Sonic to give him one more chance. 

If Silver was trying not to get Sonic angry again, he was failing abysmally.

Back in New Mobotropolis, Nicole and Team Freedom were officially presenting the newly rebuilt Castle Acorn when the latest in a series of accidents involving the city’s nanites occurred.

Fortunately , Cream and Cheese had finally managed to figure out what was causing all these problems around the city. And so Cream took her theory to Rotor.

Meanwhile back up North, Silver was explaining to everyone why Sally was his “traitor.” 

When Sally saved the planet from the world roboticiser only to fall victim to it herself, she inadvertantly kicked off a series of events that would doom the planet anyway. Sonic still wasn’t thrilled to have Silver there, but since the time traveller had now dedicated himself to saving Sally like the rest of them, Sonic let him tag along. Their first task was to infiltrate the Death Egg from below via an underwater tunnel.

Whoops. Well that didn’t work - Eggman’s forces attacked and sounded the alarm. And Eggman, who was busy getting ready for his next big move, was not pleased with this new development. 

“Albert,” you say? Well if there was any doubt left that Eggman had already met Dr Wily - and after hinting that Metal Sonic would be working with Bass, there really shouldn’t have been - it seemed pretty clear now.

Back in New Mobotropolis, Team Freedom had laid a trap for the Tails Doll, expecting it to try and destroy the city’s power plant when it was left unsupervised. Sure enough, the creepy little jerk took the bait. There was just one small problem. …well actually, it was a large problem. 

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again anyway - I don’t know what was going through Evan Stanley’s idea when she was drawing the Tails Doll’s kaiju form, but I guess I get the genital general idea of what she was going for. 😛

Back in the Arctic, things were looking pretty grim for Team Fighters and their friends. Mecha Sally had been authorised to shoot to kill, and she and her brain laser (called the “Boom Fant” by Ian Flynn) were on a rampage. Tails knocked Sonic out of the way of her point-blank shot, but both of them were hurt in the process.

Amy tried to protect Sonic and Tails as Mecha Sally moved in for the kill, and I feel like in the original timeline that Silver’s future was a result of, this is where all three of them died. However in this time an injured Silver swooped in at the last possible second and used his psychokinesis to disable Mecha Sally. 

Unfortunately they only got a few seconds to enjoy their win before another Genesis Wave went off and the world faded to white. 

And… that’s it. That’s how the preboot era of ArchieSonic ended. With the creative team facing the incredibly daunting task of having to take the story in an entirely new direction, the incredibly well-timed Sonic and Mega Man crossover gave them an extra few months to figure out where to go afterwards. So this latest Genesis Wave was set off by both Eggman and Wily, who used it to reshape both of their worlds.

Sonic’s world was changed to one more like the games, set after the latest game in the series, Sonic Generations - wow, that makes me feel old - while Mega Man’s world was catapulted forward in time to after Mega Man 10. Combining their technology and robots, Eggman and Wily captured all of Sonic’s friends, transformed them into “roboticised masters,” and tasked them with retrieving all seven Chaos Emeralds. This would allow them to set off one last Genesis Wave that would essentially make them gods. Just like last time, Sonic transformed into his super form - this time with Mega Man joining him - and attempted to restore their worlds to how they were. While Mega Man was successful, Eggman threw a hissy fit and got in the way of Super Sonic, which… well… broke reality.

The end result of this was a rebooted world for Sonic, absent of not just the characters that Ken Penders had claimed copyright over, but all the characters created by anyone who wasn’t part of the current creative team at the time. I guess that Archie wanted to play it safe and prevent any further copyright snafus from happening, and considering that Ken Penders wasn’t the only former employee who gave them trouble, I think this was probably the right decision. But it was nonetheless a decision that had a heavy impact on the pre-crossover storylines, most of which were either quickly resolved or just discarded entirely. The Secret Freedom Fighters no longer existed (except for Silver, who was doing his own thing), and neither did Geoffrey St. John. Naugus was still around and causing mayhem in Mobotropolis, safe from the purge due to him having originally been introduced as a character in the SatAM cartoon.

But he quickly ran away with his tail between his legs and didn’t return for quite awhile. Team Freedom and Team Fighters were dropped in favour of bringing back the Freedom Fighters, who had been scattered across the planet so that they could be reintroduced one by one.

Rotor had gotten buff and was busy building the team’s new mobile flying base, the Sky Patrol.

Antoine was no longer in a coma and had been assigned guard duty of “Uncle” Chuck, who was now no longer Sonic’s literal uncle but more of a “uncle to all.” I believe that was one of the dreaded SEGA “mandates,” as the Sonic cast were no longer allowed to have relatives (except for Cream, of course). I hated that, but at least Uncle Chuck survived the purge. As did Sonic's former pet dog Muttski, who had undergone what was probably the most dramatic change.

Same, Sonic and Tails. Same.

Bunnie was undercover among the Egg Army, and had gone back to being a cyborg.

And Sally was no longer a robot, and was infiltrating the Death Egg but had to leave in a hurry when Eggman sent Metal Sonic after her. Within a few issues the team were all reunited, along with Big and Cream, just as everything went to Hell. Remember how I said that Eggman broke reality?

Yeaaaaaaaah. This led into a massive adaptation of Sonic Unleashed, which went on for almost the entirety of the rest of the series. This was a pretty brilliant idea in my opinion, as a game that was so heavily focused on travelling the shattered planet was the perfect way to re-introduce Sonic’s new world. We got to visit a variety of different locations and meet friends and enemies both familiar and new. Mighty, Ray, Lupe and Dulcy all returned with new looks and backstories, as did the former Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad and most surprising of all, Breezie. And a bunch of new characters quickly became fan favourites, such as the pronghorn sisters Cassia and Clove, the underwater mobians Coral, Pearly and Razor, and Shadow's new dark nemesis, Eclipse.

The reboot era of ArchieSonic lasted for over three years, but eventually it came to an abrupt end when SEGA pulled the plug. This leaves the last two (completed) arcs in post-reboot ArchieSonic for me to talk about: Terror in the Skies, the end of the Sonic Unleashed adaptation in the main book, and The Case of the Pirate Princess, a Chaotix arc that ended Sonic Universe. Even though it came after the Unleashed adapation ended, I'm going to be talking about the Chaotix arc first. Terror in the Skies feels like the best way to end this series. However I will be taking a bit of a hiatus, as I’m currently preparing to move overseas. So please be patient and wish me luck, and I'll be back with these three goobers before you know it!

#archiesonic syndicated

[kindledoeswhatever]

Dumping this here to clear out some space! Here are some retrospective and notes for my fic Is This What Therapy Is? Full spoilers below

Behind the scenes

The working title for this fic is Group Therapy but I found it a little vague for the proper title

The first notes I have for this are from December 2022! I was struck by the idea on a road trip and fervently typed it out.

The initial initial idea came from a joke. I was thinking about doctor who for some reason (I was really into it in like middle school (not super who lock just Doctor Who) and was like aha if the doctor landed in Teyvat he’d have some problems introducing himself as the doctor! Collei and Scaramouche would hunt him down! Haha.. wait. Hmmmm.

Every in game location they visit I would open up the game and take notes on the environment, shifting a few things around like the bridge to Collei’s hut is collapsed in game but in the fic it’s newly repaired. I’d then repurpose the notes into the prose.

This was initially gonna stay a one shot even though I had a ton of ideas (obviously) but everyone was so nice in the comments I decided to write more and more and well here we are!

The hardest parts to write were the Chasm arc - balancing the monotony of slogging through a cave without being uninteresting, and the fight scenes. In my other fic I fought Childe and referenced online play throughs and took notes on it to write the big battle. As of writing Dottore has no boss battle so I had to improvise.

Unused content!

There was originally going to be a segment alpha, the original Dottore hooked to life support and barely alive, 500 years is too long for a human to live. He was going to beg to die. I found this too upsetting and cut it for time… sorry if that sounds cool!

Originally they were going to storm Zapolyarny Palace but I didn’t want to conceive of it. Obviously it would be at odds with canon so why try? I decided to shift the arc to a secret lab instead. I pulled heavily from Honkai Impact for the scenery inside the lab.

There was a version of this fic where all the friends they made came with to kill the final Dottore but it was too crowded and took away from Collei and Wanderer as the center so I scrapped it.

On the Dottore Segments:

The Dottore’s have a verity of different delusions and preferred weapons:

The first one to die, Beta, was Hydro. He prefers unarmed “boxing” esq maneuvers. Or more ripping things apart with his bare hands. He was an opportunistic type with no qualms over screwing himselves over but was rather lazy. If something unfortunate happened to the others he would swoop in like a vulture and steal all their stuff, but wouldn’t act to cause the situation out side of a little nudge here and there. Was killed on his way to Mondstadt in the worlds first car. He wears the in game mask

Number two, Psi, was Geo and elegantly used a catalyst to hold his papers and important documents. He had a big superiority complex and loved the sound of his own voice. Most Dottore’s ignore their staff at best, but Psi loves to talk so much that he’ll monologue at them for hours. Was killed by being kicked into the chasm. He wears the mask from the manga

Number three, Nu. Ironically the one killed by Gandharva Ville had a Dendro delusion. He preferred a light set of knives over a sword or other blade. He was the iteration before the segment with the greatest infiltration expertise who was deleted because he was a direct threat to Omega. Nu was a bit self conscious and jealous over this. Just a bit. Ok a lot. But he kept this feeling in! He wears the mask from the manga

Lambda was Electro and used his delusion to mess with electronics, he favorite pass time. He was one of the weaker Dottore’s and was constantly on edge about his right to exist, fighting and clawing for any respect and failing. He Hates biology but was unfortunately very adept at it, he loved mechanics but unfortunately wasn’t the greatest at it. He existed in a weird place in the original Dottore’s life when he was unsure of his place in the world for about two weeks after getting burned out on biological testing before getting really good at mechanics. Segments from later in life are equally fond of biology and mechanics often combining the two. This heightened his inferiority complex to an atypical degree but he was too blinded to realize abandoning Iota would lead to death even if it seems obvious on the outside. He was expendable after all. He wears the mask from the manga

Epsilon was Cryo and had a claymore (obviously from the battle scene lol) he’s older than Omega in both the point of the originals life he’s based on and in the order they were created. He’s mellowed a bit with age but if highly judgmental of Omega in only the way you can be towards your past self. Wake up at 2 am and cringe over the things you did type stuff. He wears the mask from in game

Omega, I’m not confirming his delusion or weapon because he’s probably going to pop back up in canon

Here are my initial notes when I was coming up with the ideas for each Dottore:

Alpha: Not a segment but the original Dottore, extremely old and hooked to life support. Not shown. CUT FOR TIME

Beta: Attempting to access storm terrors domain. Is killed by Collei using a Hilichurl arrow after a horde of slimes and Hilichurls are summoned by Diluc’s slime attractor and Kaeya talking to the hilichurls. Diluc gets to keep the body

Epsilon: attempt to salvage any C. M. D. Was stationed in Inazuma but retreats to Snezhnaya

Omega: the one to negotiate with Kusanali: is stabbed to death by Scaramouche and is the last to die. Stabbed and left to die

Iota: A literal infant

Lambda: retreats to Snezhnaya and is killed by Omega in revenge for leaving Iota behind

Nu: lured to Gandharva Ville and killed by the residents

Psi: thrown into the chasm

The translated Dottore Dossier (annotated by Wanderer)

Beta:

- Mission: Investigate Stormterror, Durin, corruption as substitute for C. M. [Note: likely crystal marrow ]

- Time Span: N/A [Note: is traveling to Mondstadt from Liyue soon no mission time limit]

- Location: Stormterror’s Domain and Dragonspine, Mondstadt

[Note: Beta is particularly disliked for taking the other segments ideas and passing them off as his own. It’s hilarious]

(killed enroute from Mondstadt to Liyue via Hilichurl attack)

Episilon:

- Mission: Attempt to salvage C. M. D. Research. (Use remaining samples sparingly -P.) [Note: this message was attached to the original document.]

- Time Frame: N/A

- Location: Inazuma

Iota:

- Mission: Remain connected to machine [note: that’s all it says.]

- Time Frame: N/A

- Location: Sumeru [Note: Somewhere in the desert south west of Aaru, will circle possible locations on Map]

Lambda:

- Mission: Monitor Iota

- Time Frame: N/A

- Location: Sumeru [Note: same as Iota obviously]

Nu

- Mission: Salvage any data on Tatarigami delusions (Use remaining C. M. Samples wisely, we cannot acquire more -P.)

- Time Frame: N/A

- Location: [Note: It seems he is in Inazuma but there is no location, he may be elsewhere though. Tartaglia sucks at information gathering.]

Omega

- Mission: Continue as is

- Time Frame: N/A [Note: why is this guy given infinite time]

- Location: Zapolyarny Palace, Snezhnaya

Psi:

- Mission: Investigate complaint by Harbinger Tartaglia via. ruin guard facility in Lingju Pass, Lisha, Liyue. Access Chasm with Qixing permission (do Not cause another international incident- P.) Aquire “Nail” in the Chasm. [Note: The additional note by “P” was attached to the original document. Likely either Pantalone or Pierro. Probably Pierro.]

- Time Frame: Expected 5-12 months

- Location: Chasm, Liyue

Nu (update)

- [New Mission]: Investigate involvement of ex-subject “Collei” in relation to Psi’s death.

{This update was never seen by Collei or Wanderer}

[Note: P is either Pantalone or Pierro. Likely Pantalone the control freak. Pierro just let’s them do whatever they want as long as it benefits him.]

#genshin impact #genshin #my stuff

[waitingforsecretsouls]

The Death of Daeron the Daring

This post (please go read it, it is very interesting and the first half of it inspired this one, which is essentially just an elaboration on it from my perspective) made me go back and actually re-read the part of Fire & Blood about the second battle of Tumbleton and it honestly became kind of obvious very quickly that the story itself is not-so-subtly prodding you as the reader that ‘hey, something doesn’t add up about Daeron being out of the picture for the actual battle’. First of all because after the various theories about his early demise-taken out by a common soldier not far from his tent or by his own burning tent itself collapsing- you immediately get the footnote (not the exact wording of the original, since I only have my translation of F&B at hand):

* However Daeron Targaryen might have died, it’s unquestionable that the youngest son of King Viserys I and Queen Alicent fell in the Second Battle of Tumbleton. The false princes that appeared during the reign of Aegon III and used his name were all irrefutably exposed as frauds.

That’s a glaring ‘in your face’ neon sign that you probably can’t trust any of the theories given that prompt the footnote in the first place. And as if that wasn’t enough, not even half a page later you get the information that, unlike Silverwing and Vermithor who were roaming outside of the city walls to fly as they pleased and slept in fields south of the city, Tessarion herself ‘slept and ate in prince Daerons camp west of the city, less than a hundred paces from his pavilion.’

While this observation by itself does not form an ironclad argument, it does already open a few questions: while one can still argue that that’s still enough distance for an enemy soldier to get Daeron, it would make said enemy the prime first target of Tessarions vengeance, and given her closeness very reachable via her fire. Maybe Daeron stood between them? But if someone killed her rider right in front of her, Tessarion would certainly retaliate and it would be strange of the historians to omitt this. It also likely would have drawn her into a battle on the ground similar to Vermithor, with ever renewed swarms of enemy soldiers poking at her, making piroritizing them over starting a completely new (and arguably unprovoked) battle with Seasmoke in the skies the natural course of action in the interest of self-defense. And even unmolested and unprovoked by ground troops, if rising into the skies, why fight at all and not abscond, as Silverwing does , whose rider is unavailable for the duration of the battle? Since it was Seasmoke that started setting fire to the greens, it was likely Addams fault that Daerons tent burned and is said to have possible collapsed on top of him, and so Tessarion would take vengeance on the one who indirectly killed her rider. However, besides feeling a bit weak and far-fetched, and keeping in mind the footnote observation, I’m going to disregard it as an argument, an argument further weakened by observing the further course of the battle.

Because the inconsistencies, often hinted at by the narrator himself, do not end just yet. The second eye-catching detail (as mentioned in the linked post) is the battle between Tessarion and Addam and Seasmoke. Its is pre-faced by a note on how typical dragon-on-dragon conflicts relied on said dagons claws and teeth due to their growing immunity to fire with age (as we do see in the other battles during the dance, where fire is used but often more as a threat towards the riders (seen in the heavy burns of Aegon ii and Rhaenys, for example), and the one reported instance in the Sunfyre-Moondancer confrontation, where the former temporarily blinded the latter (and burned Baela), with the dragons biting and clawing into each other before crashing) , but that such was not the case for the battle between Tessarion and Seasmoke (same disclaimer as above, my amateurish attempt at re-translating back to English, ergo don’t expect the same wording as the original).

‘The battle between Tessarion and Seasmoke proceeded completely different. The historians call the conflict between King Aegon II. and his half-sister Rhaenyra the Dance of Dragons, but only in Tumbleton did the dragons truly dance. Tessarion and Seasmoke were both young dragons, that could move more swiftly in the air than their two older relatives. Again and again they rushed towards each other, only to then evade in the last moment. They hovered like eagles and dove downward, they circled each other and snapped and roared and spat fire, but didn’t get too close to each other. Once the Blue Queen disappeared in a cloud, reappeared in the next moment, swooped down on Seasmoke from behind and singed his tail with cobalt-blue flame. Seasmoke rolled around, evaded, and flew a loop. In a flash he was under his opponent, suddenly turned away, and was behind her. Higher and higher climbed the two dragons in the light of dawn. From the roofs of Tumbleton hundreds watched them. One of these observers later said, the flight of Tessarion and Seasmoke had resembled a wedding-dance rather than a battle. And maybe that’s how it was.’

The first and most important observation to make is that there is no obvious distinction between the movements and tactics of the supposed riderless Tessarion and very much ridden and steered Seasmoke. Both dragons are described as manneuvering elegantly, quickly and tactical, yet cautious. From everything we have seen, this does not fit the behaviour of a riderless dragon in battle. While dragons are certainly not self-destructive and do have a sense of self-preservation....in everything we see that sense of survival is quickly tossed aside once their fury is roused and they enter battle (admittedly, with the exception of Dreamfyre, who tried to escape the dragon pit. However, this might well simply fall under the second observed behaviour, avoiding the battle altogether). Vermithor might well have tried to fly away and join Silverwing up in the clouds, away from the battle, however, disposing of his attackers was more important. What could and should have been Tessarions reason for this strategic battle, if she only rose out of fury and battle-lust, or to avenger her rider? Why would she completely depart from dragons observed and natural ways of fighting each other? Whereas it makes much more sense to me for Daeron to engage the hostile dragon rider out of necessity but select a very careful approach to battle, maybe for reason of Tessarions comparatively small size and youth among the remaining dragons (she would have been the smallest except for Moondancer), meaning in a straight-up clash she would not be able to triumph, and the knowledge of the importance of her to his cause, especially regarding the potential trouble with Ulf and Hugh (the latter of whom he would not yet know to be succesfully eliminated), and to face Rhaenyras remaining dragons (whom he would not yet know to be eliminated) (as an aside, shoutout to Addam and Daeron for being the most sensible riders of the dance. Genuinely seems like the size of their dragons immediately made everyone else select the most likely ‘we both loose’ strategy of initiating a crash). Everything previously written spells it out, but to make it clear: the observation of seeming like a wedding dance can be safely dismissed, for one because the dragons were actually fighting each other and the comment is only meant to enhance the observation that it was the one dragon battle of the dance that consisted of elegant maneuvering in the air, ‘dancing’, and secondly because there’s no reason Addam Velaryon would have wasted time entertaining his dragon while beneath him an actual battle was raging, which included Vermithor attacking everyone in sight.

It is after the end of the above quote that Vermithor rises into the air to more efficiently deal with his attackers and Addam leads Seasmoke to attack him in order to save his men (and everyone else Vermithor would have attacked). In sharp contrast to the battle with Tessarion (in which both could rely on a cautious opponent) he switches back to the strategy observed during most of the dance, diving for Vermithor and forcefully crashlanding him only for the battle to continue on the ground.

‘This was no dance but a life-or-death battle. Vermithor flew not even twenty paces above the battle, when Seasmoke fell on him from above and pressed him screaming into the mud. Men and boys fled in horror or were crushed under both of the tossing and turning dragons snapping for each other. Tails slammed, wings beat against the air, but the beasts had clawed at each other so deeply that neither one could  break free. [...] Seasmoke could under no circumstances have defeated Vermithor due to his size and weight [...] and Vermithor would certainly have ripped the silvergrey dragon apart....if not in that exact moment Tessarion had swooped down and had thrown herself into the fight. Wo can know know what goes on in the heart of a dragon? Did the Blue Queen let herself get pushed to attack? Or did she want to assist one of the fighters? And if such was the case, which of them? Some claim the bond between dragon and rider reaches so deep that the animal shares the love and hate of its master. But who here was the ally and who was the enemy? Can a riderless dragon differentiate between friend and foe? The answers to these questions we’ll probably never find. The historiography only tells us that the three dragons fought against each other amidst the Second Battle of Tumbleton, in mud and blood and smoke.’

We do see some of the questions posed in examining Daerons demise in this section of the text: can a riderless dragon differentiate between friend and foe? My answer certainly leans towards no rather than yes. It also (as already argued in the linked post, seriously, do go read it so that I don’t feel like plagiarizing its point) would make a riderless Tessarion both unecessarily reckless (her opponent ditched her, facing certain death, she could simply fly away) (unless one takes the speculation about sharing love and hate of her already presented as deceased rider as fond feelings toward Addam from Daerons side (which begs the question when and where they would have even met each other before the dance or, unless I’m overlooking something, even before this very battle), which I, besides nice material for fanfic, don’t really see) and selfless and honorable to the extreme, throwing herself at a raging Vermithor said to be thrice her size to stop his rampage. While I do like Daeron I just don’t see his bond with Tessarion as reaching that deeply beyond death. Far more sensible, Daeron as well realizes Vermithor is becoming the greatest risk factor towards everyone in this battle and tries to aid Addam in killing him (maybe also trying to get ridd of Addam and Seasmoke in the process), probably dying alongside Addam (unless one wants to argue for his survival beyond this battle, which is very interesting but given his close allegiance to his family makes no sense to me, certainly he would have rejoined them, after Aegons return to kingslanding at the latest).

However, one might argue, if such was the presumed end of Daeron the Daring (worthy of the epithet), how come the writing goes to such lenghts to obscure his bravery and skill, instead attributing it to his dragon alone, in contrast to Addam? Besides the pseudo-historiographical nature of Fire & Blood, regardless of how succesfull one believes George to have pulled that off, I would argue that the key factor here (besides being used to the advantage of possible in universe receptors of the history) is actually the contrast between Addam and Daeron. I’m not gonna include the quotes, because I do want to get this thing done, but the second battle of Tumbleton presents Addam as thee star player of his team, the legitimized bastard flying off to prove his loyalty to Rhaenyra in the face of her mistrust and scorn, dying to save his men from the rampaging largest surviving dragon in the realm, and ‘saving’ KL from the Greens- how much would his actions be diminished if it turns out Daeron mirrored them to a T? And Addam wasn’t the only valiant hero in this battle?

I’m not gonna tackle the question of ‘anti-Green bias’ or ‘anti-Black bias’ in this, both bc this post is not about that and because that would require a more extensive re-read of the material, but I do feel comfortable in claiming that Daeron in this case is deliberately snubbed, with just enough hints to make out more of what truly occured.

#asoiaf #Tessarion #Daeron the Daring #Addam Velaryon #Seasmoke #Second Battle of Tumbleton #the Dance

[jaja-dingdong]

The hilarious thing about Origi's birthday is seeing the different reactions of the Liverpool mutuals and the Milan mutuals

"Divock you are a LEGEND, YOU ARE THE GOAT, we miss you and we hope Milan is treating you well FOOTBALL WITHOUT ORIGI IS NOTHING SATURDAY NIGHT AND I LIKE THE WAY YOU MOOOOVE"

Meanwhile

"FUCK ORIGI AND FUCK HIS COWS, he's DISGRACE and I want him OFF my Milan, he KILLED my team and BURNT my crops, WE SHOULD YEET HIM BACK TO ENGLAND"

#anyway happy birthday divock #i still love you and i think you can do better than that #today might just be the perfect day to change everybody's mind #divock origi #ac milan

[oodlesodoodles]

there are a few ghost newmann fics, and in all the ones ive seen the ghost/human relationship has been pretty cordial. i really want to see a vehement poltergeist hermann because the man has enough rage to fuel a small water heater. its really hard to make ghost stuff origial and im not a skilled writer.

<> hermanns a really malevolent poltergeist whos v particular about how the historical house is layed out and will move stuff around and break lights and close doors violently but he otherwise doesnt make much noise, very quiet

<> he is not usually a touchy ghost, until hes so enraged by an interloper that he physically slaps him. Nothing visible, just a phantom slap that leaves a red mark. Its a really hard slap, too, and scares the shit out of newt

<> some of hermanns family is still alive, and newt lets them come in to do whatever. When he takes a moment to use the bathroom the light bulbs break and newton is pushed against the wall and strangled, hot gaspy angry breath. Cold, cold hands, pressure. Newt is terrified and shocked at being harassed but also thinks its kinda hot.... its been a while since hes had attention. after he shoos the gottliebs out newt yells into the halls WHAT ARE YOU GAY???

(he doesnt see the ghost for almost a month)

<> karla finds newt and has a picture of hermann! wow look at him! she is a lil more willing to talk about hermann.

<> if newton leaves paperwork out he sometimes comes back to find them scribbled with gibberish. almost math, but definitely not math. what is math to a ghost who cant change? there is no answers to questions where ghosts live

<> newt finds old papers with what he finds out are good efforts into millenium prize puzzles. hermann gets v angry and tosses them around and rips them and wall scribbles a bit in frustration. newts interest is piqued and when he does research he finds very familiar publications! hermanns been scooped, scooped while he was alive, or killed then scooped idk

<>luigi boards dont work well because newts p willful and doesnt like to let the planchett do its thing so hermanns usually either unwilling to talk much or they fight over the planchett and it can get weird.

<> newt starts seeing man shapes in his dreams, a stiffly posed thin person with three legs, sometimes with no eyes and screaming silently, or chewing on bones with big teeth, very frustrated looking. or he has no mouth and a lot of eyes

i have no idea where this story would go or how it would make an arc but i just like thinking about angry scary ghost hermann!!!

#newton geiszler #hermann gottlieb #newmann

[aykutiltertr]

‘SHEESH’ M/V - BABYMONSTER - Rhythm Karaoke Original Traffic (World  Ayrıcalıklardan yararlanmak için bu kanala katılın: ( Join this channel to enjoy privileges.) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqm-5vmc2L6oFZ1vo2Fz3JQ/join Şarkının Orijinal Versiyonunu Linkten Dinleyip Ritim Karaokesiyle Çalışabilirsiniz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wA_b6YHjqQ Aykut ilter Ritim Karaoke Kanalıma Abone Olun Beğenip Paylaşın. ‘SHEESH’ M/V - BABYMONSTER - Rhythm Karaoke Original Traffic (World Music) STRUMMING There is no strumming pattern for this song yet. Create and get +5 IQ You know what I'm sayin'?           Em I be like sheesh F#m           G Sunset on the beach              Dmaj7                     Bm Make me wanna pull up on Miami with the heat                   Em I don't know 'bout you F#m              G But I know 'bout me              Dmaj7                            Bm Summertime in Florida, catch me slidin' on the keys        Em Oh, something's happened inside of me G Excellence, yeah, it's gotta be        D Hot and cold, it's dichotomy          Bm Rock with me, we some prodigies Em La-di, da-di, we party     G They hear us down in the lobby            Dmaj7 We tried to tell 'em to join us            Bm And if they don't thеy'll be sorry   Em No time to be out hеre hatin' It's history in the makin'              D I'm lovin' on all the opps        Bm Despite everything that they sayin'     Em My mama proud, yeah, she oughta be G Elton John keep on callin' me D                           Bm But even if he didn't, she still think we hit the lottery                          Em Don't need diamonds to be cold, oh, oh                        D    Bm I'm so shiny, I'm like gold, oh, oh                      G You just gotta let it show, oh, oh                       Dmaj7 Run it back and let's reload                 Em Yeah, I be like sheesh F#m           G Sunset on the beach              Dmaj7                     Bm     B7 Make me wanna pull up on Miami with the heat                   Em I don't know 'bout you F#m              G But I know 'bout me              Dmaj7                             Bm Summertime in Florida, catch me slidin' on the keys          Em Yeah, uh, I'm slidin'               G My looks could kill, they violent        D Look at me, look at me           Bm I'm the captain and pilot          Em I'm on an island, private             G Don't ask me what the vibe is          D                                  Bm I can't define it, can't even put that stuff down in writing      Em  G Yeah, sunshine 24/7 D Clouds rolling Wait, is this Heaven? Em Didn't even die to get here, yeah G Lookin' from the top, it's so clear, yeah D Everything I need is right here, yeah Bm Everything I need is right here, yeah                          Em Don't need diamonds to be cold, oh, oh                       D     Bm I'm so shiny, I'm like gold, oh, oh                      G You just gotta let it show, oh, oh                        Bm Run it back and let's reload          Em I be like sheesh F#m           G Sunset on the beach              Dmaj7                     Bm     B7 Make me wanna pull up on Miami with the heat                   Em I don't know 'bout you F#m              G But I know 'bout me              Dmaj7                            Bm Summertime in Florida, catch me slidin' on the keys          Em I be like sheesh F#m           G Sunset on the beach              Dmaj7                     Bm     B7 Make me wanna pull up on Miami with the heat                   Em I don't know 'bout you F#m              G But I know 'bout me              Dmaj7                            Bm Summertime in Florida, catch me slidin' on the keys Em | F#m | G | Dmaj7 | Bm Em | F#m | G | Dmaj7 | Bm | B7 Sheesh (BabyMonster song) Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Sheesh" Single by BabyMonster from the EP BabyMons7er Language Korean Released April 1, 2024 Genre Hip hopdance Length 2:50 Label YG Composer(s) Choice37LPYGSonnyLil GChoi Hyun-sukSandra Wikström Lyricist(s) Choice37SonnyLil GLPChoi Hyun-sukSandra Wikström BabyMonster singles chronology "Stuck in the Middle" (2024) "Sheesh" (2024) Music video "Sheesh" on YouTube "Sheesh" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group BabyMonster for their first extended play BabyMons7er. It was released as the EP's lead single by YG Entertainment on April 1, 2024. Kang, Seo-jeong (February 28, 2024). 아현 합류 베이비몬스터, 드디어 7인조 완전체 컴백 시동..4월 1일 0시 발매[공식] [Ahyeon joins BabyMonster, finally starting a comeback as a 7-member group..Released at midnight on April 1 [Official]] (in Korean). Osen. Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024 – via Naver. Lee, Min-ji (March 18, 2024). 양현석 "베이비몬스터 공식 데뷔일은 4월 1일" 트랙리스트 직접 발표 [Yang Hyun-seok announces tracklist: "BabyMonster's official debut date is April 1"] (in Korean). Newsen. Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024 – via Naver. Music)

#youtube

[coveholdenmyluv]

R. Braun - Honey Soaked Promises

synopsis. In which you reminisce on your quest for revenge, irrigated with broken promises and fermented with betrayal, allowing you to act as the judge between life or death for yourself and the viper dressed in the skin of the love of your life.

— or alternatively, in which you make the stupid decision to fall in love with the wrong person on your journey to freedom...

Oh well, you'll just have to kill him now.

series masterlist

chapter warnings. slight manga/ending spoilers, foreshadowing, fluff

chapter synopsis. During your very first look into your past, you plan your escape from your personal hell with Stefan and Cielo. Was that your biggest mistake yet?

I| Trepidation. 10.5k words.

"You ain't gonna die, you sappy girl, I won't let him harm you both. I promise, no bullets will be goin' into either of your heads."

Oh, Stefan. He always keeps his promises… Can you?

Honey; such a sweet and savory essence. Seemingly everlasting on the tongue, for even if doused in a reservoir, the stubborn residuum remains.

Honey is entirely what you descried, from the age of ten to however much longer the gods above will allow your heart to beat. It's all you ever saw and all you ever want to see; you realize.

Honey is what you see right now. His eyes, albeit drained and tainted with Titan marks, stare directly into your own. They beg and plead for you to save yourself, for he could not bear to let the sole person that kept him from ending his own life, depart from this cruel world. Because as cruel and bloodcurdling as it may be, the world can be beautiful and altruistic. He's seen it himself. And he knows, he can feel that all the war and carnage will soon come to an end. Scars, emotional and physical, will remain but allow for mending and tranquility. He wants that, yearns to finally conclude the great torment that he's endured since childhood but more than anything, he wishes that for you.

He wants you to let go, and the irony isn't lost in him as he recalls the fact of how laboriously he prayed for anything but that, just four years in the past. He knows that you haven't had the courage to, that you've held onto every memory, every feeling and every touch you've shared with each other, no matter how hard you tried for the opposite. He knows because he too has clutched them just as close. The only difference was that unlike yourself, he never once attempted or even wanted to forget.

So as you hang upside down, with one hand grasping his tighter than ever before, your fingers reminiscent of interlacing threads of fate. Your tresses falling into view and drifting in every which direction the wind sways it, and the wire that tethers you to the enormous bones that assemble Eren Jaeger's final Titan, straining. You realize that you're being given a choice.

Will you let go of the only man you've ever truly loved? That man that has been the core cause of the vast anguish that has plagued not only your life but the lives of those you adore dearly and leave a place for inside of your heart. The man with cavernous honeysuckle pools for eyes and short but soft sandy blonde strands of hair. The only man you've ever kissed.

The only man you ever want to kiss.

Or will you let yourself fall with him? Fall into the depths of you don't even know what it is that you'd fall into; all you know is that you'd be falling with him. Sink into his arms before the angel of death embraced you both just as tightly.

Will you let go or will you fall with him?

But before you make that choice, let's take a look at the journey that has lead you to this very moment, shall we?

Year 845, The Underground City. 

The second underground city located within the interior of Wall Maria, or more specifically, beneath. A crowded old city where the rats laid, never to catch sight of or feel the burn of the suns rays or the fresh breeze carding through their hair. Buildings stacked upon buildings and the only source of light being fire, whether originating from lanterns or arbitrary flames ensued by citizens in their fits of rage.

You could've considered it a tight knit community wherein everyone knew of everyone. Some would greet in passing and some simply wouldn't. It was not abnormal to see brawls on the cobblestone streets, it's not as if anyone was there to put a stop to them.

Otherwise, known as home.

Being so close to the outer wall and underground seemed to have deemed the population a lost cause in the eyes of authority, if any, in the underground.

You couldn't have fretted over that fact too much. It's what had allowed you to live as long as you did, in the absence of parental figures. The only person that even came close to a caregiver, was Stefan.

Twelve year old Stefan, whose face was embellished with radiant forest green pearls and shaggy, dirty blonde hair that caressed his forehead. He too was in the absence of parental guidance and resorted to taking the burden upon himself.

The burden of raising six year old, Cielo. A pale skinned boy with a small button nose, deep mercury eyes, and equally as dark hair that was a black bordering blue.

Along with ten year old you. With short, blunt, H/C hair that had barely reached the lobes of your ears. The older boy had the idea of sustaining your short length due to the hassle that maintaining proper care for your soft tufts, came with for everyone involved, considering your living situation. Every month there was to be a day dedicated to Stefan, being the only one trusted, to wield his blade and put it to proper use on all three of you.

That is where your story began. In the abandoned building you used as a safeguard for as early as you could remember. Sat in an old and creepy wooden chair that Cielo had spotted on the outskirts, not too long before that day. A makeshift mirror was before you, consisting of jagged pieces of broken glass that Stefan had somehow assembled. How he always managed to scavenge a way to make things work in your favor was beyond you.

No matter the situation, Stefan had a solution. You wished to any unknown god, if there was one, that you in some way or shape or form had taken after him. That Cielo had seen you even in the slightest light, the same as you had gazed at Stefan.

"Why're you starin' at me, ya creep?" Came Stefan's silken but teasing voice. The corner of his lips was upturned to convey his failure in masking his amusement.

His question had effectively pulled you from your dream like stare. You wondered how he even knew of your unwavering eyes, for he hadn't given you a spare glance. "'M not staring at you, I was looking at the terrible job you're doing today." You had lied, obviously, all the while hastily shifting your head towards the ground in an effort to hide your embarrassment of being caught in the act of exactly what you had denied.

A loud hiss came from behind you, presumably emitted by the blonde, "I told ya not to move, idiot!" He exclaimed as he crouched on the ground and clutched his palm to his chest.

The millisecond his knees hit the cold ground, you were beside him in a panic, "Shit, I'm so sorry Stef! I swear, I didn't mean to! Do you need me to grab something to clean you off-" A muffled snort cut your hysteria short. You hadn't previously paid it heed but his body was shaking from the struggle to retain his quiet giggles.

He was fucking with you.

"I hate you." -you didn't mean that.

"You don't mean that," He stated as he lifted his head and allowed you to see how flushed his cheeks had grown from the strain he endured in order to fool you. "That should teach you to stay still while I have a knife in my hand."

"Whatever. Are ya done, or are you gonna take another two hundred years ruining my hair?"

He stood and mussed your head, causing your hair to grow more tortuous than it had already been from the way he had repeatedly combed his slender fingers through it during the chopping process. "Perfection takes time, and I think I'm as perfect as it gets when comin' to making you look like a little boy. But yes, I'm done." He satirized.

Mimicking his signature accent, you quipped, "Gee thanks, ya want me ta get Ciel' now or are ya gonna let the poor fella sleep in a while longer?" You pointed a small finger to the petite boy snoozing in the corner of the room. He was leaned against the wall with Stefan's jacket thrown over his form for comfort. Finding the abandoned building and being allowed to stay was a miracle in of itself, so you never fretted over not owning any sort of bed or bedding.

"Nah, if I don't wake him now he won't want to sleep through the night. Why don't cha' go and see if you can snag us some dinner? Anythin' will do for today, s'long we eat somethin'." He said, ignoring your attempt at mocking him in favor of gliding over to the boy in topic.

"Kay, I'll be back in a bit. I'll see if I can get us some bread this time!" You exclaimed, already having the door swung open.

"You be careful now. If your bum ain't back in twenty, I'll drag you back m'self." He warned as he referred to your habit of conjuring trouble with, anyone really. Well, more trouble than thieving already placed you in.

"Alright, promise I'll be careful." You reassured as you waltzed out into the street and shut the door.

You began your journey into the center of the city, not too far from home, pulling your brown hood over your head. Stefan had encountered the sweater somewhere, when he was on a previous supply run. It hung off your body too loosely then, but you had begun to fill it well.

From the minuscule amount of memories you had gathered at that point in your life, you concluded that Stefan and you had found each other when you were about Cielo's age; just a year younger and Stefan two years older.

He had lived with his dad before he was murdered by Military Police once they found him attempting to escape to the surface. Why the military police were roaming the city was unknown to you at the time, but they'd always seemed to show themselves when they were needed the least. Stefan's father never planned on taking him along, he planned on leaving his seven year old son to rot whilst he got to live out his fantasies. You couldn't recall Stefan ever speaking about it. The only words he would utter were 'good riddance', but you knew it affected him more than he led on. You'd caught him crying on some nights, and unfortunately there wasn't much you thought you could do. So you simply allowed him to hold you while you pretended you were still asleep.

Two years after you two had decided to stick together, three year old Cielo had quite literally ran into you both as you were on your way back home from gathering dinner. He was wailing hysterically and frantically pointed to the small building he had called home.

You had seen him in passing before, and while he always stuck close to his mother, he never failed to wave back at you two. When you arrived at his home, you had already guessed what you would find before you even opened the door. The air reeked of death, more than usual, and you wondered just how long little Cielo had endured living with a dead mother. It was a miracle he hadn't caught whatever it was that had stolen her life but that never mattered to the small boy. His sweet mother was gone and didn't seem to ever be returning.

He moved in that day and while he had always been the quiet type, after that incident he hadn't uttered a single word. You had longed for the day he would allow you to hear his soft voice again, and it pained both you and Stefan that he had to experience such trauma so young.

That wasn't to say he was all gloomy either. The boy would still be seen smiling and if you looked real close, at times you swore you could see a teasing grin on his face when he'd done something mischievous, like hiding Stefan's shoes.

They were all you knew. You had no memory of any parent or family. All you could recall was wandering alone until you had found Stefan. He had insisted you pick out your own name.

You formed your own found family. Stefan was the reliable oldest child, you were the curious one that had no qualms with starting or ending fights with the people that aimed to wrong you or the boys, and Cielo was the baby brother who stuck to you two like glue.

You were content... mostly. Theonly addition you could've thought to wish for was-

Sharp chirping had snapped you out of your stupor. Letting your ears guide your irises, you noticed a tiny winged friend had been trying to garner your attention.

Brows furrowing, you thought to yourself, 'What's a bird doing here in the underground?'

Squatting to the ground, you reached a hesitant hand out to the young animal. It didn't cower in fear, so in return, you didn't withdraw. You can still remember how velvety their feathers had felt on the pads of your fingers. Placing it onto your palm, you noticed it was missing a leg, the singular one twitching in your hand. Nothing seemed wrong with the wings so you had wondered why it didn't make use of them to flee.

You knew that if you had attained wings, you would have escaped your pit of hell and never looked back.

That was a lie. You'd do so, but only to procure a certain pair of boys.

"What's wrong, hun?" You spoke gently, "You don't seem afraid, so why don't I take you back with me? Show you to Ciel, I bet he'd like that." You grinned softly.

The bird made no objections, so you placed your new friend in the confines of your pocket, made sure they didn't suffocate and quickly continued your way to the center of the city where the stalls had stood. To any other person who had walked by, it looked as though you were simply taking a leisurely stroll. What they had failed to realize was that you had swiftly swiped a couple of stale loafs of bread, along with a few apples.

What you had failed to realize was that you had done that far too many times for the stall runners not to be familiar with your game of 'catch me if you can'.

"Don't try to be sneaky kid, I saw that! You better be planning on paying for those!" The man hollered.

You took that as your cue to book it before he could've begun to chase you.

Once you had arrived at your home and entered the building, you saw Cielo perched on the seat you had previously occupied. Stefan's jacket was still wrapped around his form, and his eyes were droopy as if he still hadn't fully awoken.

"Back so soon? Aw, did'ja miss me that bad?" Stefan had drawled from behind the ravenette.

"Stef, shut it for once and look!" You squealed as you bounded up to the two boys, hand retrieving the animal that rested in your sweater pocket.

"The hell is that?"

"A bird, you idiot. I found it on my way to get dinner!" Your statement had piqued Cielo's interest and caused him to hop off the chair to take a look into your hand.

Gesturing dubiously to the animal in your palm, Stefan conveyed his thoughts, "Y'know, when I said dinner... I meant somethin' we didn't have'ta cook, right?"

Eyeing the sharp weapon in his grasp that he had gestured with, you scolded, "Careful with that, Stefanie," you teased him with the nickname you knew he hated, "and don't be stupid, I brought bread and apples for dinner." You retorted.

"Ew, don't call me that, you nuisance."

"Look, Ciel. It's a baby bird. Tiny, just like you." You told the boy as you brought it to his eye level with one hand and booped his nose with the other.

Cielo's eyes had sparkled like a million different crystals as he took in the appearance of a bird. He had firstly admired the feathers and beak, hesitatingly reaching a small finger to its head, allowing it to slide down the slope as silk morphed into the bill. As they made contact, Cielo's eyes had begun to grow misty and his lower lip trembled.

Alarmed, you retracted the animal from his sight and begun to panic, "What's wrong, Ciel? Why're you crying? Did it hurt your finger? Let me see." You said and hastily grabbed his finger to inspect.

"Great, now ya made baby Ciel cry. Nice goin', N/N." Stefan scolded lightheartedly. It was quite obvious to him why Cielo had begun to cry but he could tell that you hadn't caught on just yet.

Turning to glance at the blonde, you defended yourself, "I-I didn't mean to, I swear it!" Focusing your attention back onto the boy before you, you offered, "I'll take the thing out if that's what you want, Ciel. I promise."

The child simply shook his head quickly and rapidly blinked in an attempt to dispel his tears. It didn't work. He reached for the bird and cradled it in his small hands, gazing at it with a fond smile as brand new tears dribbled down his chubby cheeks.

Stefan knelt beside him and placed a hand atop his shoulder, "I don't think those tears mean what ya think they do, N/N." he uttered.

"Hm? Why else would he be crying?" You inquired.

"My guess? They're happy tears." He explained, a soft smile peeking at the main attraction in the younger boys hands.

"Happy... tears?" You repeated, the words had felt foreign as they slipped off of your tongue.

"Mhm, now I wonder why such a free thing like this one would show up here of all places. 'S it hurt?" He asked and you shook your head in response. "Hm, weird. I reckon this lil' guy is yearnin' to go on home. Out onto the surface, that is." He stated as he stood back up.

Cielo's eyes had widened dramatically and he placed the bird gently back into your hold. Latching onto the taller boys sleeve, he had begun to hop frantically.

"Nuh-uh, I know what yer tryna say and the answer is and will always be, no. We're not goin' to the surface, baby Ciel." Stefan said sternly, his head only furthered his point as he shook it.

"The surface? You want to go to the surface, Ciel?" You'd beamed, heart accelerating at the mere thought. The boy bobbed his head enthusiastically as the twinkle in his eyes grew so intense, you almost shielded your own at the sight. His smile had been huge and scintillating.

You remembered that you had asked yourself, 'Is this what the people on the surface feel when they look at the sun?'

"Y'knowhow I feel about that, Y/N, don't ya dare encourage him." Stefan reminded and you knew immediately what he referred to.

It wasn't that Stefan hadn't dreamt of journeying to the land above, everyone down there did. The difference with Stefan, was that that dream was forever tainted by the mistakes of his father.

"You know, I heard about some people from the first underground city that escaped and got to the surface. Apparently they joined the military or something? Anyway, I bet they're enjoying the sun right now." You informed him softly, before you gently nudged your shoulder with his and continued, "Planting flowers?" You said pointedly, knowing the boys fascination with the blossoms.

In the scarce amount of books you were able to acquire, the way in which Stefan's eyes would linger and brighten when you read or admired pictures of anything floral, never escaped you. He was nowhere near an expert on chrysanthemums, dahlias or anything of the like but that didn't mean his enchantment was any less impassioned.

"Oh yeah? Good for them. Unfortunately, we aren't as lucky. As much fun as that sounds, it's way too risky. If the bird doesn't go back on its own, then I'm afraid it'll have to stay with us for the time bein'. "

Cielo's eyes grew with worry and he gestured to the animal still in your hands. "Ciel is right, it'll die down here, Stef!" You pleaded.

You had never actually believed that it would, it was simply an excuse to allow Stefan to spare another thought about venturing outside. You knew that, Cielo knew that, and Stefan knew that. Still, as weak as the excuse was, it was enough to force the boy to ponder.

"Even if we would, how would we even do such a thing?" He asked exasperatedly. As much as he had loathed the idea, that didn't mean he didn't want to step foot on the surface. He had wished for it more than anything. Dead father be damned, his heart yearned to take you both to see the sun set and the moon light the sky.

"The supply carts! They always come around midnight, and once they arrive, the guards switch shifts. Maybe we can find an opening and hitch a ride out of here!"

"That sounds way too easy. I'm sure the guards expect people to do exactly that, so I doubt they'd be so lenient. They probably double check the carts for stowaways." He explained as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Except, the guards that work the supply carts are the same ones that have run them for years. No one has escaped since I can remember, everyone has given up. Those guards are lazy and hate their jobs, I doubt they properly double check. But even if they did, we could bring something to cover ourselves with. It's a foul proof plan Stef, c'mon!"

It wasn't a foul proof plan. It was full of flaws and risks. Anyone with a right mind in their head could tell so. But you were a kid, so that fact was lost on you. And unfortunately for the three of you, Stefan was also a kid. No matter how wise the boy may have been, Stefan was twelve years old. A traumatized little boy with a grand amount of baggage on his shoulders and a curious heart in his chest. So the mere possibility of escaping his very own prison, blinded him of the fact that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, but instead, a life altering cataclysm.

Curiosity killed the cat.

The blanket of silence fell over you three, uncomfortably- for different reasons. It felt uncomfortable for you and Cielo because you could almost see the way Stefan's mind had gone haywire as he mulled over your proposition. It felt uncomfortable for Stefan, because now that the excuse of escaping had presented itself, he felt even more trapped than before. Restricted in his own body.

"...We're gonna need a big blanket."

That night was a rare one, where the citizens of the underground gathered and celebrated. What is it that they had celebrated? You never knew. In all honesty, the gathering was most likely a made up bash by your people, to give each other something to look forward to. You never minded, of course. Those nights were usually in such disorder that the three of you wound up taking from stalls that were left unattended or gambling on the outcome of random fights that would unravel. It was nights like those that you were blessed enough to witness humans in their intended nature. You gazed at more smiles than any other nights combined.

Contradictorily, that night, you used the commotion as a distraction to board the carts that went up and down the entrance of the city. Stefan had miraculously acquired a blanket that was made up of stitched together cloths, to be used as a cover. The carts had arrived at midnight, as usual, and took a couple of hours to unload. It was almost daybreak which meant that the carts were to soon take off.

Stefan and Cielo were given the task of watching your six as you proceeded with your mission of initiating a distraction. In addition to the cover, Stefan had also gotten his hands on a sweater that he designated to Cielo. It had oversized pocket holes with the intention of allowing your bird to stay hidden within the journey.

After you detected Stefan's signal, informing you that the carts were good to go, you took action.

The center of the city was fully crowded with people idly standing and chatting, sitting and eating and others aimlessly exploring. You had waltzed up to a stall cluttered with buyers, inconspicuously slipping through the groups. As you drew closer, your nose gradually caught an indescribable and inescapable essence that it had never before encountered. There were so many things unknown to you during that stage of your life, countless questions unanswered, but the second you caught a whiff of that stubborn scent, it was the only thing your mind knew.

You were sure it was something that could've only been sold on nights like those and even then, most citizens wouldn't have been able to afford the enigma. The shorter the distance between your body and the stall supplying your hyper-fixation, the stronger it gripped your lungs. It engulfed you, suffocated you in a way you found that you didn't mind.

Addicting.

You stuck close to the man in front of you who was leisurely strolling by. In one swift motion, you swiped two bottles of the sweet nectar you became enamored with and gently placed one inside of the man's pocket, doing the same to the other one for yourself. Then, came the easy part.

Drawing in a large breath of air, you yelled at the top of your lungs, "Ooh, he's stealing! He's selling the sweet stuff this guy is selling!"

Simultaneously, gasps erupted from within the crowds and the man in charge of the stall had begun to berate the man that was accused. Standing his ground, the man didn't simply take the insults and begun to defend his honor.

It didn't take long for a brawl to break through with random people who weren't even involved, joining. You would've loved to stay and watch till the end but that was the exact opposite of your goal.

Fleeing in the direction of your escape route, a decent amount of men in Military Police uniforms had slipped by you in an effort to quell the commotion. You thanked your past self, of five minutes, for choosing a particularly sturdy man that could defend himself or else you would've felt poor for him.

You caught up to Stefan who held Cielo in his arms and began to sprint as fast as your short legs could take you. "Do you think that'll be enough?" You asked through a series of pants.

"Let's hope so." Stefan replied, equally as breathless.

The carts were near the entrance of the city so it was inevitable that the path towards it was slightly steep. Just as you had hoped, most of the guards had fled to aid in yielding the tussle that had enacted further into the settlement.

Without a word, Stefan aided Cielo in climbing into one of the front carts and then quickly hopped in after, cradling the boy to his chest. You joined them both, lifting one leg after the other but as you did so, your foot had gotten caught in one of the handles, creating a loud bang.

The sound was not monstrous enough that the citizens within the plaza would pay any heed but enough that if there were any guards near, the noise would not be disregard-able.

Unfortunately for you, there were.

The look Stefan had given you demanded of you to keep moving and get in.

Regardless of your anxiety sky rocketing, you leapt inside and placed yourself between one of the walls of the cart and Cielo. All of the carts had a slidable door, so with trembling hands, you slowly shut the top, enclosing the three of you into the tight space. Stefan had placed the blanket over your trio and clutched the sleeve of your sweater subconsciously. He was nervous, rightfully so, and so were you and Cielo.

Your slip up that had occurred just a couple of seconds before, had caused two of the soldiers that were set to keep guard to trek back towards the entrance to confirm that there were no problems. You heard each of their footsteps as they investigated but in the end, it had yielded nothing.

That was until the small bird in Cielo's pocket had begun to chirp, ear-piercing squeaks.

"The fuck is wrong with her?" Stefan had whispered harshly. You were surrounded by darkness so you never knew who exactly he was looking at, but you knew he was genuinely asking, the stress was what had brought the edge to his voice.

"I don't know. Cielo isn't smushing her or anything, she might be afraid of the dark?" You answered, and since none of you had any idea of what to do next, you simply awaited the moment she would settle.

A man, who you assumed was a guard, had slurred, "What's with the noise? 'S that a bird?" You could tell he had most likely helped himself to the cheap alcohol on the streets, the inebriation had been clear within his voice.

"I don't know, let me double check inside the carts and make sure we didn't trap one. Don't know what it'd be doing all the way down here though." Said another man, that one definitely had not slurred.

You heard the lids of other carts being slid open, one by one, and had begun to panic. Your heart beat could be heard pounding through your ears and though it was most probable just your imagination, you swore you heard two more rhythms beating in sync.

"Shit. They're gonna find us, we're so dead." You whispered to no one in particular.

"Let's just keep quiet and stay put. She's quieting down now, so hopefully he'll leave-" Stefan began, but came to a screeching halt when your cart lid began to part.

Light had entered through the sheet over you and allowed you to view the panicked expressions engraved into both of the boys before you. Cielo's mercury eyes were misted over and Stefan's emeralds were as wide as saucers. His hand was clutched into the pocket that you knew he had kept his blade in, and you begged with your own eyes to wait. Not yet. You still held onto hope that the man would overlook you and carry on.

But then the sheet draped atop your forms was slowly peeled away and you were met with a man that sported a dark head of hair, styled in an almost mullet and paired with an aspiring mustache and goatee. Your breath halted as your eyes met his, as if that would make you invisible.

He had slid his dark eyes to Stefan next, the boy only gradually slid his hand to clutch you protectively, effectively squishing the younger boy between you two, in the process.

His charcoal irises met Cielo next and you had seen them soften the slightest bit for the boy. He had his back to Stefan and was squeezing you for dear life. Dusky eyes glazed with fear, bottom lip quivering and the tiny bird one of his hands as he cradled it to his chest. His mouth ceaselessly shaping the word 'please' onto his lips.

The atmosphere was static for about ten seconds, each one torturous. Tendrils of fear creeped into your lungs, effectively cropping your quickened breaths that threatened to escape your throat as you awaited the fated reaction from the man who held a long gun in his right hand.

"Did'ya find it?" Slurred the other soldier once more. He seemed father in distance than the one you had a staring contest with. The soldier hesitated, mouth gaping and shutting repeatedly.

"...Yeah. It's just a bird, I'll dispose of it once we get back up." He announced and slid the top closed once again.

Not a single soul moved a muscle for a long minute after that and you were unsure if it was in disbelief or simply because you were all still scared shitless.

"...what the hell..." Stefan found the strength to whisper, his blonde hair mending with his forehead as it clung with the perspiration that had been caused by his nerves.

"He didn't snitch..." You whispered in astonishment.

"He didn't... we are some lucky sons of bitches, N/N. I hope you know that. Someone from beyond is lookin' out for us."

"Don't get your hopes up, we're not out of the forest yet. H-he might want to deal with us once we get to the surface. Let's just wait it out for now." You suggested, tremble clear within your voice.

"Right." He agreed, before you heard the shuffling of clothes and he continued, "You alright, baby Cielo?" He whispered softly to the child in his arms. You felt him nod his head lightly before burying it further into your chest.

The cart jerked suddenly before it began to move and up they proceeded, one by one. The organ nestled into your chest felt as though it had been replaced with a jackhammer.

"Oh my gosh, Stef- I'm so nervous." You informed him as you squeezed your eyes shut.

"I know, don't worry-"

"This is actually happening, what if he kills us-"

"I won't let him-"

"If he does end up putting a bullet in our heads, I want you to know that I love you."

"I- er. Well, really? I love you too-"

"You and Cielo are my family, I love you both more than anything-"

"We know, love.-"

"I'm a snide piece of shit sometimes, but I'm so sorry that I convinced you to do this-"

"No, you never-"

"I mean if you think about it, if I never found the bird that day, Cielo wouldn't have had the thought of escaping in his mind-"

Your adamant rambling had gotten caught in your throat as you felt your fingers being interlaced. Warm digits carded themselves through the gaps between your own, a gentle squeeze being pressed into your palm. In milliseconds, your mind was quelled and a soft exhale escaped your lips.

"I'm sorry." Your voice was barely audible.

"You have nothin' to be sorry bout." He reassured you as gently as he could. There was no hesitance or shake in his statement, he genuinely believed that fact.

"If we do die, I'm glad that the last thing I'll see, will probably be your faces." Although you were enveloped in darkness, you still allowed yourself to gift a soft smile in the vague direction of both boys.

"You ain't gonna die, you sappy girl, I won't let him harm you both. I promise, no bullets will be goin' into either of your heads."

"You can't promise that."

"I just did."

Stefan had a knack for leaving you speechless. "...thank you."

That sentiment was heavily reciprocated. "...shut up."

The entire ride took a whole ten minutes to complete, and since you had infiltrated a cart towards the front, it was one of the first to arrive.

Footsteps approaching rapidly reached your ears and then the cart lid was swung open. The blanket that shielded you from the world was thrown off of you and your eyes took their time to adjust to the altered lighting, but soon enough, you saw him. The same soldier from before, donning the tan jacket with the green stallion emblem plastered on his left chest pocket. The only difference was that he had his gun aimed directly at your trio.

His expression was intense and his body seemed rigid as he ordered, "Get out now. Run and don't look back. Get to a nearby city or village and don't tell anyone where you're from just yet. Wait a couple years to do so and never come back again." His brows met in the middle of his face as he further took in your appearances. "You guys are so small... what the hell? Where are your parents?!" He inquired.

"W-we're orphans." Stefan informed him and it surprised you that he had stuttered. It was then that you noticed he had already sat up and spread his arms to block both you and Cielo from the guns barrel.

"...go. You never met me, got it?"

"Yes, sir." You both replied in unison.

Stefan was the first to spring into action, hopping out of the cart and hoisting Cielo to his side promptly after. You wasted no time to follow and landed on the earth with a thud. Stefan didn't hesitate to take the soldier's advice, taking your hand in his left and Cielo in his right arm before breaking into a sprint in the first direction he turned to.

Your head had begun to pound, probably from the sun that had risen in the sky by then, and your lungs in-took as much oxygen as they could handle. Imagine your surprise when the air around you didn't taste stale and humid but instead as if you were drinking freshly fetched water. As you were running, the scenery encircling your form began to decelerate. Your eyes absorbed every defining detail that they could hold.

The glistening green grass, the scorching rays of sunlight that drew its claws into your skin, the prodigious trees in the distance. They seemed almost unnatural to you, with flowers blooming in between every leaf that protruded from within the ragged intwined branches.

Those leaves, they reminded you of Stefan's eyes.

The air felt significantly fuller out in the surface, it filled your nostrils and you found that there existed no scenario in which you could get enough. Your lips parted in your heaving and whether that was in result of your physical strain or your enchantment with the ventilation didn't matter. You felt as though you had taken your first sip of water in the midst of a drought.

You vision began to turn blurry. A side effect from the difference in environment, perhaps? No. Your eyes were wet with the tears dribbling down your face before you could even register their presence. But you weren't sad- no, anything but that. Those tears had felt amazing, as if they held the key that liberated your soul.

'So, these are happy tears?'

You craved for more.

And then a flash of blue entered your peripheral. It was different from the one that had painted the canvas above you.

Sapphire blue wings, but they were not alike the small bird that was cradled into Cielo's chest. Those wings lacked feathers and looked smooth to the touch. It crossed your mind that it had to be an insect, being that it was smaller than any bird you had read about. It swayed with the wind and was what you could only describe as beautiful with the beauty that left its mark on the mind of every and any being that had the blessing of gazing upon it.

It soared and it fluttered, and you found yourself wishing to be even the slightest bit as ethereal and unrestricted as that small being had been.

"Wow... so this is the surface..." You uttered in the most lightest voice that Stefan had ever heard.

He directed his head towards you, hand still grasping your own, with the intention of stealing a quick glance. He really should've known better. It was never only a quick glance when it came to you. Inevitably, he found himself with the compulsion of the inability to detach his irises from your delicate face.

That smile was the most irradiant and prodigious he had ever seen dance across your lips. You were crying, but he knew it was not a matter of pain. How could it be, when your eyes whispered a completely different synopsis?

You were gazing through the expanse field and his heart hurled him through a flurry of individual emotions in a matter of seconds.

Bliss, excitement, contentment and love.

He adored your expression so much so, it forced him to have sought out what it was that had driven you to that high you were riding. And then he saw it too, every detail sunk into his hippocampus just as they did in yours. The glistening green grass, the scorching rays of sunlight that drew its claws into his skin, and the almost unnatural prodigious trees in the distance with flowers blooming in between every leaf that protruded from within the ragged intwined branches. And the butterfly.

'Oh, that butterfly.' His voice cooed within the confines of his own mind.

It was the second most beautiful thing he had laid his eyes upon, and seeing it so carefree and selfish allowed himself to picture his youngest self finally breaking the bars that made up the cage he enclosed himself in, deep in the pits of his soul. He too found his eyesight becoming blurry.

Those mesmerizing green eyes grew glassy, reflecting his most favorite scenery.

He directed his attention towards the boy in his arms, there sat the first most beautiful sight the world had offered him. Cielo's smile.

Cielo's gigantic grin that enveloped his face, only being rivaled by your own. Both of those expressions he had appointed as the most paradisical he had ever seen, and he had gazed upon them one after the other in a span of seconds.

Then you both had stared at Cielo. Baby Cielo's face that radiated bliss. His dark hair had gotten messier by the second with the wind carding its delicate fingers through his fluffy locks, caressing every crevice of his face, every nook and cranny. The sunshine bouncing off of his pale skin and making it seem as if he was glowing. His once deep mercury eyes almost mimicking a navy blue, and you wondered if they had always been that color.

The small boy shifted those eyes to the even smaller bird that laid in his hands, lifting it into the air ever so slightly. The animal immediately responded with rapidly flapping its wings, an action that startled the boy, but had not thwarted his advance at lifting it up even higher, encouraging the bird to take off into the vast empyrean sky. And it did, effectively causing boyish giggles to erupt from within Cielo's lips as he had found his new favorite color.

And oh, he couldn't believe his eyes. There were clouds, so many of them. They looked so soft that he found himself wanting to touch them, lay in them, and wrap himself in the fluffy substance. His arms outstretched and he felt as though he had been so near; just a hop away and they'd meet his stubby fingers.

Stefan leaped, to Cielo's surprise. He wondered to himself if the older boy had mind powers or anything of the sort.

Nevertheless, his fingers never met the clouds but he couldn't care less. Not when he was so blissful. Not when both the people he adored most in the world were just an arms length away and had worn those enchanting expressions. And they were laughing, hypnotic sounds that he fell in love with because it was the very first time they had ever laughed like that. As he always had and always would, he followed their lead and joined in the giggle fit.

It'd been a beautiful seen really, full with contentment and carelessness.

You had run for about twenty minutes straight by the time Stefan had informed you about a settlement nearby that a friend from the underground had told him about. He told you it had not been too far from where you where at, so a short break would be fine. He placed Cielo gently onto the ground while you both caught your breaths. Your calf muscles burned and ached but for some reason, you didn't dislike that feeling paired with the blaze in your lungs. Running was fun to you. No one had spoken yet and the only sound that was heard was the in sync heaves both you and Stefan dealt.

Until Cielo burst into another hackle of giggles and began to race through the grassy field you stood upon. His little legs had taken him in a such a rush, you had begun to worry because it almost seemed as if-

...he fell face first onto the ground.

"Cielo!" Came both of your voices in unison.

But instead of the wailing you had expected, his cries of joy grew louder as he flipped onto his back and began to roll around on the grass.

Hesitantly you asked, "Cielo... what are you doing, love?" But he paid no heed and continued to cackle like a madman. Or boy. That was the closest you had gotten to hearing his actual voice, so you complained no further.

The boy then abruptly sat up and brushed his palms against the dewy blades of grass with a satisfied expression that spoke words worth a millennia. Dragging his gaze up towards his favorite people, he patted the empty spots beside him, encouraging you both to take them. Of course, you obliged without a second thought.

As you took the seat to his right and Stefan to his left, you mimicked Cielo's earlier actions and glided your small hands over the velvety blades. A thud came from next to you, emitted by Cielo throwing the rest of his body back onto the grass. It was only then that you realized what he wanted.

Something so simple yet so Cielo of him to want to do. He just wished to enjoy the moment with you. And so you too plopped yourself into the grass next to him, Stefan followed after. Twisting your neck to face both boys, you found something obstructing your view. It was dainty and dewy, much like the green blades encircling it, with purple petals that glistened and swayed with the breeze.

A flower.

It was only then that you noticed the abundance of them on the field you laid on. Each one a vibrant periwinkle shade. The sight caused you to flip onto your tummy and lay your head to rest on one of your arms, the other had reached out to caress the silky petals.

Unbeknownst to you, Stefan watched on with the most softest expression one could give another. One exuding adoration and love. He then quietly scanned the grass around him and plucked the first stray flower he found, taking a couple of seconds for himself to gaze at it admirably.

In one slow motion, he reached over Cielo's body and tucked away the short strands of hair behind your ears, any that were long enough at the time. Then, he gently placed the delicate flower right along with them, sitting back and admiring his work when the deed had been done.

The loving gesture wasn't lost on you and your eyes had quickly found themselves attempting to catch a glimpse at the fragile plant nestled behind your ear. After you realized that you wouldn't be able to, you opted to instead move your eyes to the older boy that was now within your range of vision. Green and purple would compliment each other beautifully, wouldn't they?

Plucking your own violet treasure from the ground beneath you, before you gifted it to the boy, you decided to place a sweet kiss atop the corolla. Since you had both sat up at the point, the nimble flowers journey to its rightful place behind his ear used little to no effort.

As you sat back and admired each others work, it was as though the sole reason they had sprouted was for that exact moment. Minds working in sync, you both looked to the boy between you who gazed back with a fond smile. In unison, you searched for another pair of blossoms before placing kisses atop the supple petals and tucking them both behind the younger boys' ears. Yours on the right and Stefan's on his left.

Once they had both been placed in their rightful places, you both drew back and glanced at Cielo's expression, surprisingly finding the fat of cheeks painted a baby pink.

Slowly, as your mind digested that fact, your felt your own warmth spread across the bridge of your nose, only stopping short of your ears.

As if having a domino effect, Stefan's skin followed directly after your own.

And so, you sat with warm cheeks and flowers behind your ears with the only two boys you had ever known, feeling as though you were the only three people who ever existed, heart feeling full at the thought.

But of course, gaining a taste of freedom always seemed to make one drunk with pleasure therefore craving for as much as they could get their greedy hands on. Give an addict an inch and they'll yearn for a mile.

So as the sun had set and you threw yourself back onto the ground after an intense game of tag, with your chests heaving and the flowers you took such care to place having long since fallen back onto the earth where they came from, the conversation that would soon become your core drive throughout your pre-teen and teenage years, began.

"What kind of flowers are these?" You asked, one hand twirling a stem in between your index and thumb and the other placed as a cushion behind your head.

Stefan had taken his time to answer and that alone was your first sign that something else had been roaming around his mind. "I'll tell ya, if you promise me somethin'." He responded, eyes piercing the sky.

"What is it?" You inquired, interest being piqued.

With a dreamy sigh, he announced the thought that had plagued his mind, "Promise that one day, we'll see what's beyond the walls."

The idea had baffled you at the time, since it had never once crossed your mind of going beyond the barriers that separated you from what was unknown. "What? Why would you wanna go beyond the walls?" You asked incredulously.

"Why wouldn't-cha? If we ever get the chance to, I wanna see what lays beyond them and then after that, I wanna see what lays beyond that and then what lays beyond even that."

Exhaling in your surprise, you continued, "You mean the titans? I know we've never seen one, but that doesn't mean they suddenly stopped existing. Did you forget why the walls are even there?" It was a genuine question as your mind couldn't even begin to comprehend asking for more than what you had then.

Stefan had always been a dreamer through and through. "Well o'course I haven't forgotten and I'm sure those titans are scary as hell. But, let's pretend they weren't there, wouldn't ya wanna see what the world you were born into has to offer? Yer birthright? Like, all of it? There just has to be more out there that we haven't even begun to imagine, what if this is just the beginnin'?"

"Well yeah, but I don't know. I don't really like change and I feel like that would change a lot." You responded hesitantly.

"We're experiencing change right now and you seem to be doin' just fine." He challenged.

"That's cause you're here."

Covering his face at the flush that ensued because of your statement, he chuckled, "And I'll be right there if and when that happens, both of us will." He gestured to himself and the young boy in between you two. "Nothin' could ever split us up. We'll be the wonder trio till the end." He assured.

Humming in thought, you answered, "...I guess that wouldn't be too bad then. I wonder what's out there." Your mind had begun to race with ideas, most of which consisted of greenery and the jewels you had seen in old tattered books. "Other than titans, of course."

"Guess we'll have to find out. So, promise?" He extended his pinky towards the both of you, knowing that although Cielo still hadn't uttered a word, he wouldn't hesitate to be included.

"You haven't even told me the name of the flower, Stef. I ain't stupid." You reminded lightheartedly.

He seemed to have genuinely forgotten the exchange you agreed upon, so you didn't fret too much, "Oh, right." He uttered before he tilted his head to glance at the flowers scattered around you. "Those are bellflowers. Though their scientific name is campanulas and they signify gratitude, humility, attractiveness, and everlasting love."

They also represent disappointment and foreshadowing events, though till this day, you didn't know if Stefan had known that fact and withheld that information from you or if he truly was clueless. And if he did know, why had he kept it from you?

Giggling like the naïve child you were, you interlocked both of your fingers and awaited the third to join. "Thanks Stef, I promise."

Instead of raising his pinky finger, Cielo had decided to grant you both what you had been secretly imploring for years. "I promise." Came the smallest voice ever spoken, followed by an even tinier digit placed between your own.

Your heart skipped a beat and you halted your breath as your body entered a temporary state of torpor. A moment of silence had followed and Cielo allowed it because he knew he needed to let the action sink into your brains. He allowed his voice to marinate.

"C-cielo! You- you used your voice!" You exclaimed, finally finding your own as you sprung your torso up from within the grass and gaped at the boy below you.

In response, he simply but smugly, nodded his head.

Stefan had sat up too but instead of voicing his excitement, his wide eyes stared at him in astonishment. You would think Cielo had invented time travel with the look Stefan had given him.

"Say my name next! Come on say it!" You demanded with avidity, hands clutched together as you leaned into the young boy.

He didn't budge, opting to smile complacently, both hands now behind his head for comfort.

Breaking out of his stupor, Stefan joined in the exchange with a smirk, "Ya can't just drop that on us and expect us not to nag' ya. Come on now Ciel, say our names."

He shook his head again and forced you to resign in your attempts. It had seemed Cielo wanted to take baby steps, and that was fine with you.

"Fine, but we'll get it out of you soon. Don't expect us to let it go anytime soon. That lovely voice of yours deserves to be heard, at the very least by us." You told him with a smile, punctuating your statement with a boop to his nose.

"Mmm, yer just bein sassy with us right now, aren'tcha? Fine then, once you move out of that stage yer in, you won't wanna stop flappin' those gums to me." Even though Stefan had said it tauntingly, you didn't miss the tone in his voice that indicated how wishful of that he was. Nevertheless, he laid himself back onto the ground and began to admire the sunset, one of his lifelong dreams.

As the sun set and you watched the moon light the sky, the three of you were yet again mesmerized by the sight of what looked to be a million lanterns endlessly flickering. Even though you knew it impossible, that didn't hinder your attempt at counting every single ball of light that you saw in the canvas of navy blue. Navy blue that mirrored both Cielo's eyes and hair. Whilst pointing at certain clumps that reminded you of shapes, you soon fell into a deep slumber, still on the ground because back pain be damned, sleeping under the stars was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Stefan had reassured you that village you planned on using as a safeguard would still be there the following day.

That night, in the form of a dream, you were shown what you assumed to be memories. To whom those memories belonged to, you weren't given a clue. All you knew was that you pitied the owner, for even the mere fraction of seconds that were bestowed upon you from which you lived through their eyes was much too heavy for your still fragile heart. Each and every snippet of the vague scenes that flashed before your eyes brought upon their very own powerful emotions. Each leaving you inundated, as if all the air had been stripped from your lungs.

A loose limb lied in a puddle of blood, dirt and cobblestone beneath it. Your cheeks had been soaked and throat sore, fingernails scratched at the ground as dirt collected underneath them and warm blood muddied on your fingertips.

The scent of a boy with disheveled light brown shaggy hair, as you rode atop a horse. Those same fingertips, now calloused, clutching the fabric he donned with a strength you'd never felt before. His welcoming aroma created a safe haven that flooded a sense of security into your chest. Despite the storm that brewed in your heart, caused by another reason unknown to you at the time, it allowed you to wrap yourself in a brief feeling of peace. That was a person with a heavy meaning in the owner's life.

Round and misty hazel eyes that seemingly reflected the world in them. Grief and despair showed themselves in wisps within their depths. The sight alone had caused your heart to sink and lip to quiver.

The one after was the most vivid, for it felt as though you could control your own movements. A sunset had doused the sky in a multitude of colors that ranged from blue, orange, red and gold; if you squinted well enough, you could see a splash of purple. Directly in front of you was what seemed to be a river, your socks discarded to the side and toes wet. There was a warm body sitting alongside you, mimicking your pose. Your cheeks had felt warm once again and you didn't know if the cause was the sun bath you experienced or something else entirely. All you knew was that you had felt prickles of bliss and tranquility within your own body, that was enough for you to yearn for just a moment longer within that headspace.

Then, soft pink lips invaded your mind in a fog. The faint taste of something sweet that you couldn't even begin to describe. Not when you were focused on steadying the rapid thumping within your chest. That had brought upon feelings that your mind couldn't even fathom existed.

A dainty white blossom that stood tall and healthy the first moment, only to appear broken and crumpled the next; cradled in one's palm. Your eyes had gotten glassier with each passing second as lachrymose had been thrusted upon you in that instant.

A gentle but strong woman with vibrant gold locks and crystal blue eyes that outshone even the jewels embedded within the crown placed atop her head. Pride is what your mind had whispered in your ears, only getting louder the longer you had stared at her. And then suddenly you were placed in front of an injured and dying man with tanned skin and mud colored hair that bordered black. His fingers were interlocked with yours as he mouthed something that you couldn't yet register. His eyes turned dull and his head lulled back against a tree.

A large body of cerulean water in your peripheral from what you could tell and there was a male in front of you, his face distorted in your vision. One of his legs had been missing but that didn't stop him from dipping the toes he had left into the depths of something unknown to you. That person had a serene aura to them, that much you could tell, and there was a lingering thought of accomplishment in your core.

A girl with a brown head of hair that teared apart a type of meat, one that you couldn't yet recognize, with her teeth. Tears cascaded down her cheeks in streams, but you recognized the look on her face. She wasn't experiencing heartache or anguish, instead, she was in pure bliss. And then in a flash, she laid on the ground in a different setting. Crimson pooled around her form and a pain you couldn't even begin to elucidate swallowed you whole.

The next few scenes only lasted split seconds.

A young boy around your age with dirty blonde hair and light forest green pearls that matched those of your Stefan.

An unusually round and fluffy plant that almost seemed, hairy?

A flat pastry that had been folded and drizzled with a dark substance.

More violet flowers, only that time, they were doused in alizarin crimson.

A boy with sleek dark hair that reached to about his chin and jade colored eyes that stared expectantly, a pleading declaration swam in the black pools of his pupils.

Sharp ivory claws.

Bones, colossal in size.

So much steam.

Wings?

And throughout each memory, almost acting as a shadow in the back of your mind, there had been a reoccurring sight.

A pair of honey golden eyes.

Each time they presented themselves in front of you, they projected a vast collection of emotions that ranged from ecstasy and pleasure to misery and regret and everything in between. There was so much pain, emotional and physical, within those short but constant moments.

Luckily for you, just as soon as they had been tossed into your arms, they were tugged away as though you had not been meant to remember such moments. And so that is exactly what happened. You were allowed to slip back into your momentary state of peace.

Looking back at it, you should've known. Should've known that it was all too good to be true, because of course life could not allow you to stay in your idyllic place in life, beside both Stefan and Cielo, no matter how tightly you cradled it with your very own hands. Because one second, it felt as though you were coddling the sapphire blue butterfly you had fallen in love with and the very next, that same insect disintegrated into ashes and slipped though your fingers. No matter how hard you tried or how long you spent scouring the flakes from the ground, you'd never be able to seize every piece that fell to the floor. And most definitely not without bruising your knees from the effort that got rewarded with nothingness.

Fun fact: Cielo did indeed see you in the same light as you had seen Stefan. He also did think you were as, if not more, ethereal as that butterfly.

#honey soaked promises #anime #coveholdenmyluv #fanfic #attack on titan #eren jaeger #eren yeager #mikasa ackerman #aot #armin arlert #connie springer #trepidation #hsp trepidation #hsp chapter one #hsp #stefan #stefan hsp #cielo #cielo hsp #eren yeager x reader #reiner braun x reader #reiner x reader #aot reiner #mikasa aot #aot x reader canon verse

[fmp2mt]

One interesting word I want to look into is retry, the act of repeating and action, usually in the hopes to achieve a goal that was not previously completed. I wanted to look into this as it is quite common in media, especially games, to repeat certain ideas and or segments for narrative or play reasons, and by looking into ways it has been used could help my product as art can benefit from repetitive attempts to improve.

One interesting case or retrying is present in Destiny 2. In Season of the Haunted (SH), the main characters are confronted by their nightmares, ghoulish and abhorrent abominations that have been sewn into the world through paracausal powers as the villain of the piece uses them to power his ascent into Godhood. 

This idea is a sequel of sorts to a previous major DLC called Shadowkeep (SK), where these nightmares are first show, but in Season of the haunted, Bungie, Developers of destiny 2, show how far they have come since parting ways with Activision by pushing the story further and in more interesting ways.

In SK, nightmares are underutilised, and while used sloppily to progress the plot, they have no interesting uses, just being previous bosses from the games history, witch was a major complaint of this DLC, as it felt recycled with lots of the areas and bosses being reused. Areas were made to look up to date with the games higher resolution and quality, with some new areas also made such as the title of the DLC, the Scarlet Keep. The real plot was entering the pyramid on the moon, this ancient evil that had somehow hidden itself beneath the crust of our Earth's rocky Satellite. However, the way this was achieved was lacking and boring, with our character having to obtain the armour that came with the game, yet this set was lacking and had no weight to making it, as the game delved into fetch quests to create it, making the game feel even more thrown together than before, especially when I experienced it.

In dynamic contrast, SH pushes this idea further and makes it far more interesting by adding a villain who helps push the story along, extra content centred around the season, including a new 3 man dungeon, and through random dialogue that can be found while playing the new 6 man activity. It also centred the story on others rather than the player, due to the player having no personality, we can't tell how they feel about their nightmares, but by putting the light onto other characters like Crow, a newly risen Guardian who has to grapple with his previous life, Zavala, a veteran who once tried to live a normal life till disaster struck, and Caiatl, an empress who has to face the idea of her people and change it for the better.

This instantly makes the story far more personal and interesting, as we can spectate 3 miniature stories and help them through it, what still gives our character story relevance. And, because these characters actually have history, these nightmares make sense as they are derived from their fears that you could guess before you played the missions.

It also brought an old location back, the leviathan, now a destination instead of a raid, so we can now explore it in a more passive way. Unlike the moon, the environment was heavily overhauled, with fungus spreading far across its deck and bow. Not only this, but this destination had far higher entity density and enemy difficulty with hundreds of little public events and hidden secrets to scrounge for. One of my favourite details about the Nightmares in the season is that some are actually people we've seen before, such as [Name here] who was the sniper who tried to kill Zavala a year previous. 

Just from this brief overview, it’s obvious that SH has far more interesting themes, ideas and far better execution than SK, excelling in all areas in which its bigger brother had failed in so harshly, making SK feel subpar, what, while sad, also shows how far they came.

By the time SK had been released, Bungie had just left Activision, their original publisher, having brought the rights of their game back from them and instead going independent. This being their first DLC going into it alone, it makes sense that it would be bad, of course this is disregarding development time, but this breakup could have been planed up to a year and a half before, when Activision stated that their previous DLC, Forsaken, to have not met expectations, whereas Bungie were happy with the quality and revenue it produced.

With SH, Bungie went back to the idea of nightmares and evolved it, weaving it into the story, plot and gameplay, and while aspects of the games past was reused to save budget and time, it is visible for all to see that they put their heart and soul into the product. This retry, this second go at the concept, allowed them to improve on its shortcomings and failings while also making it a memorable experience, showing how a once barren and boring experience can be developed and re-experience for the better.

This experience, from SK to SH, is not uncommon however, other sequels use similar techniques and ideas all the time to produce better films with more introspective and nuisance, Toy Story 2 takes the idea that toys are made to make children happy in the first film and takes another go at the idea, by letting Woody wonder if becoming a museum piece would be a better life for himself and if he should be bound by what he is or grow into something new. It also presents Jesse in another light relating to toys, in the first film, Andy is still a child, and this is continued on in the sequel, however, Jesse’s owner grew up, her preferences changed, and Jesse was no longer fun for her, leaving her to collect dust till throwing her out, leaving a more nuanced view of if a toy should stay a toy, because eventually they will become outdated and unwanted. While sad, It allows the characters to evolve dynamically while retying and pushing the previous film’s ideas.

However, not all sequels are made in unison. Some, even when given the chance to be amazing and interesting looks into pre-established series, feel no need to try and develop their worlds and characters and rather would do naff all, knowing that if they lie hard enough in marketing and have a big enough name and campaign that they will likely make back all the expenses needed and make more on top of it. A prime example of this is the Terminator series.

Its sand to see a franchise as prevalent and prestigious as Terminator fall to such lazy motives, once, they had been a perfect example of how retrying and idea can lead to better products, no better and example than the classic that is Terminator 2, Judgement Day, where the film is flipped on its head where our prejudices and conceptions of the world are challenged and changed by the actions of the cast. Alas, The franchise made money at the box office and, like all series, would continue to be milked into the ground. 

Starting with the third terminator, Rise of the Machines, the series would see a dip in quality, what is not unnatural in the movie scene where the first sequel is usually regarded as the best while its successor is always slightly worse or on par with the first as the best ideas are usually already used up with little to no time to devise new ones. The forth film, Salvation, follows suit, being even worse, then Genesis comes in being the worst one yet, then Dark fate appears and it becomes apparent to all that the movies had lost all that made them great. The quality dips become more understandable when you realise that Terminator 1 and 2 were released 7 years apart, (1985 and 1991 respectfully,) giving the crew and producers time to make the film and also to prepare for its. 12 years had passed between 2 and 3, then only 6 between that and 4, then it’s 6 again between it and 5 then only 4 till 6 came out.

This is not the most bizarre thing to happen, movies were always a far more gruelling task Back in the 80’s, but nowadays films can be produced and developed way faster, but it's evident that as these films went on, it became more for the fact that it was a revenue stream and less about the art and story of it, becoming a mindless action series that was adamant on showing as much destruction and badass shots as possible, what weren't void from the originals, but was far more relevant, from seeing the destroyed future scape of Sky Net and the gruesome appearance of its mechanical horde or to see the terminator liquefy and reform through a set of bars, it just that they became more about the destruction that it became mindless.

A sequel that I personally find a burning hatred in is the film Son of the Mask, sequel to the classic Mask. While not the perfect film, the mask situates itself in a very similar predicament as the live action Grinch adaptation where its so off the wall that it somehow becomes lovable in an underdog sense. Annoyingly, that was thrown out of the sequel which was adamant in making it far more kid friendly than the original what was already made more tame from the comic adaptation which was a very violent and cruel series.

The original mask focuses on a Man who is pretty boring, living a normal life in a nice but unfulfilling life who one day finds the mask in his possession, turning him into a lunatic who has no respect for the laws of reality. By the end of the film, he forsakes the mask, finding out that it's better to live his own life rather than handing it over to someone else. This message isn’t the best delivered, as the movie is a cruel by hilarious comedy, but its sequel has none of the qualities that made the first enjoyable.

The sequel tries to explain how the mask works, blaming it on Loki, Norse God of Trickery, who is punished by Odin for losing his mask in the real world. Now, exploring the origins of the mask is not the worse direction, but the importance of the mask was never its mystery, in all respects, it was a plot device to drive the plot onwards, it never mattered where it came from, who made it or how it got to him, it only mattered that it could make him a force of nature, by exploring this idea that the mask was made, you have to focus it on the creator, why did they make it? What did they use it for? How’d it get to Earth? This, again, could work, hell, it could have been great even, definitely a different film would have been created, but it could have made the mask exactly that, a mask to hide who the creator really was due to insecurity and their fears, rather than that, we got a film where a baby has to decide if he wants Loki to be his dad. Also it looks horrid.

One of the most disappointing sequels from my childhood was Skylanders: Imaginators. The game was the 6th in the series, and it was apparent that the passion and time had grown sparse, with a yearly release cycle each game became harder and harder to produce, with Toy’s for Bob, the original developer, having help from Vicarious Visions to help them, each company releasing a game every 2 years as to fill in the gap year. Funnily enough they were owned by activision, the same as Bungie, what stirs a sadness in me as i things turned out differently perhaps the series would still be around today.

Imaginators is not the worst game ever made, it has faults such as basic worlds and boring mechanics, (aspects still exist in the game since the first game, Spyro’s Adventure.) and sadly enough no soundtrack, as long time composer for the series, the Glorious Lorne Balfe, didn’t return and they instead used stock music that they brought, (Previously rarely used for thing such as Villain themes in Trap Team, which were only apparent for a few seconds.)

Overall, from this research, I have learned that, while a sequel can enhance an idea and series, it can also help stagnate it at the same time removing re-usability, causing unoriginal aspects. I would like to see if I could perhaps use retrying an old theme or idea in my project, perhaps even a game that never peaked.