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indigo-ghost-girl · 1 year

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Spoilers for parts of Sonic Frontiers...

Part 1

Part 4

Tails had been staring at Eggman for a few minutes now, mentally debating if he should tell Eggman anything. He had only just decided to open his mouth when a mighty rumble caught all of their attentions. They all turned their faces to the sky. Eggman’s posture relaxed immediately as he saw the white titan descending into the atmosphere, its massive shadow dwarfing the trees and grass below it.

The ground shook and leaves jostled about in their branches as the giant machine landed as gracefully as it could on the rocky ground. Not even a second after it had settled: out shot a bright blue spark of light, a trail of dimly glowing rocks floating behind her.

“Father-“ spoke the ai quickly, stopping beside the group. Knuckles narrowed his eyes at the comment. His eyes narrowed even more so when he saw the clearly almost drained emeralds.

“Sage what happened?” Eggman asked urgently, quickly reaching out a hand to the ai. She held out her own, pretending not to notice that bolt of sadness when her hand phased through his. Nevertheless, Eggman curled his fingers around her hand the best he could pretend to.

“What happened to Sonic?” Amy asked, her hands clamped together in worry.

Sage took a deep breath. She looked over all the eyes on her, a worry flickering behind her only visible bright blue eye. Eventually her gaze landed back on her father, “Father, I don’t know how long we have so you must listen- all of you.”

(In the uppermost layer of the atmosphere above, a few minutes earlier.)

“Yours.” Its voice spoke in a malicious calm, echoing from everywhere around him.

A tight grip engulphed the hedgehog’s heart, squeezing it tightly and ramping up his heartbeat. What did it mean? It didn’t mean! His red eyes shrunk to pinpricks in terror.

His head snapped around him, searching for any gaps in the roaring purple cloud, stress drilling deep into his bones. He needed to get out! Get out! It seemed time had slowed to a crawl around him his strained, panicked brain whirring in his skull. It felt like something heavy was pressing into his temples.

He was only just keeping himself together. That was, until the dust began to close the distance between them.

A sort of primal fear washed over Sonic. A cold, soggy tingling that crawled uncontrollably across his skin, complimented horribly with the sudden intense smell of the sweat that began to drip thickly from his forehead.

“Back off!” he shrieked tossing his arm out infront of him. A burst of chaos-based wind exploded from the motion, wafting the approaching dust back. Sonic wind, one of his best attacks, super charged by his current form. Yet it only fended the power off for a moment before it closed in again.

He waved has arm again and again, more blasts of golden wind pushing back the dust. His breaths devolving into short sharp gasps as he flung his arms out again and again and again. Desperation seized his heart tighter as the growing dread in his stomach told him his attacks seemed more and more useless.

Sonic grit his teeth hard, his spines instinctively sticking out sharply in defence, even more so than his super form usually made them.

As his anxiety grew, the hedgehog didn’t notice how his golden quills were flickering, eyes blurry with barely contained tears of sheer panic. His heightened emotions had been picked up by the emeralds, his golden quills and fur flickering indecisively from a silver accented by a pastel pink, green and cyan glow, to a deep midnight blue.

In his lungs panic to take in more air, he accidently took in a great cloud of the sparking red dust. Sonic shuddered, suddenly at the mercy of a desperate retching cough that yanked its way from his lungs. His frantic arm waving ceased as his gloved hands shot up to clutch his throat. His oesophagus tingled and stung. The hedgehog’s eyes burned, forcing him to squeeze them shut.

The dust leaped at him, seizing its chance. They clung to his body like kinetically charged polystyrene balls. Sonic felt them meld into his skin under his fur and spines like water soaking into his fur.

Sonic’s limbs folded in on themselves, spikes pointed outward in defence as he curled into a tight ball of flickering light. It hurt to stay curled up like this as his body jerked with every dry cough. However, now: he just wanted to hide and nothing in this world was going to pry him open. Everything hurt. A hard pressure behind his eyes. His heart pounded in his ears. The small lightshow shining through his eyelids was slowly obscured as his vision was overtaken by the bright red sparks crawling across his eyes.

Sonic’s limbs went deadly stiff.

His eyelids twitched weakly as he felt the telling feeling of the emeralds disconnecting from his body.

Sonic’s heart was still racing in his ears as he floated weightlessly in space, curled into possibly the tightest ball he had ever been in.

The sharp whooshing of the cloud of dust had stopped, the infinite silence of the starry cosmos now harassing his triangular ears instead.

The threat of unconsciousness approached him like a shark, its metaphorical teeth gleaming hungrily as its jaws closed in on him. He almost gave into it. Everything still ached: his spine throbbing and throat sore from his coughing fit. Sonic felt his mind slipping… until a jolt of harsh raw energy tore through him, kicking him hard from unconsciousness.

He heard a chuckle from somewhere. A small, almost polite chuckle.

His stomach lurched. The chuckle was coming from him.

What was going on!? What had it done to him?! Why couldn’t he move!

His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath, followed by a long, satisfied sigh. It was a breathy sigh, horse and heavy. And not his own.

Sonic felt his heartbeat decline rapidly, slowing down unnaturally quickly. The lack of the needed nutrients his quickly pumping blood had been providing him caused a numb blurriness to overtake him for a sickening moment.

His body took in a few more deep breaths for him, resupplying his brain enough to bring him back to himself. Sonic felt bile biting at the back of his throat. He felt so helpless. It made him feel incredibly sick.

“You fought admirably mortal,” said his mouth. It was his voice, at least… it was in there, among the discordant chorus of other voices that overlapped each other in spiralling layers. “Yet, it was all for naught.” His tongue moved in an odd way when he spoke, quick and sharp, forming each word- each syllable with the delicate accuracy of a pretentious rich snob who thought they were above consequences.

Sonic hung to that feeling of rage that thought gave him, trying not to let the bubbling panic in his chest overwhelm him again. This was for two reasons: reason one being if he did, he felt like he would throw up and reason two argued it would send him back into the same panic spiral from before. Which was the last thing he needed right now.

Against any will of his own, his body unfurled from the ball, shoulders limp and neck hanging his head before him. The cold void around him sank into the now exposed fur of his chest causing an uncomfortable lump to gather in his chest.

He shuddered horribly as what felt like tendrils of energy snaked around inside him, as if this thing was trying him on like someone would a suit at a clothes shop, stretching out into his arms and legs, reaching into his fingertips. His head tilted upwards a little, his eyes opening robotically. The view of the half-shadowed blue and green planet below him opened before him.

The corners of his mouth twitched, then widened delicately. A soft confidence to the way it moved. His head moved, half tilting half turning, to peer down curiously at his gloved hand. His whole body twitched, a diet response to the wanted jolt of surprise. The fur on his arm was no longer the familiar peach fuzz he had been born with, it was now a deep and rich purple.

His fingers flexed, curling and uncurling curiously. “It seems I had further use for you after all, mortal,” it spoke, a gentle surprise lacing its many voices. “I ought to have realised it sooner, you are far too valuable to discard recklessly,”

His head slid around to peer at his right hand, bringing it up to his eyes. He winced as a hot fiery energy raced up his arm. It was as if his blood had been replaced with burning hot magma. Sonic wanted to hiss, to object loudly to the energy coursing through his arm, yet he didn’t. The only sign of his opinion on the situation being the slightest of flinches in the corner of his mouth. His body smiled wider. A fizzling sound met his ears and his nose quickly picked up the smell of burning fabric. His hand swivelled to reveal the source. The glove on his right hand had caught fire, fizzling and popping, practically melting. Sonic watched in mild horror as another part of his glove at his fingertip caught fire, shrivelling away the white fabric to reveal his now purple hands. The creature inhabiting his body seemed to enjoy observing the slow incineration of his gloves, following the small flecks of ash as they flew away, glowing a fading ember. Sonic could feel the grin widen, pleased at watching something Sonic considered his, falling apart before his eyes.

The heat in his arm flared again, encouraging another small flame to ignite on his glove. “It is fascinating how your precious chaos energy flows through your body so proficiently,” it commented sagely. His fist clenched gently, the fizzling fabric crunching at the movement.

“What an exemplary host for my immense power.”

It flung his arms wide. Its once calm voices building up in a fierce intensity, “You truly are the key!” it exclaimed.

“Now… mortal, how about we go and visit your friends?”

(Hope this tides y’all over until I get a proper handle on the rest of the story)

#Also yes I was very much venting over my work #this week has been so stressful #Desperation!Sonic #sonic frontiers #sonic the hedgehog #Tails #Knuckles #Sage #Eat up I'm gonna be busy tomorrow

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mahoutoons · 1 year

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sonic frontiers thoughts

alright i just finished watching all the cutscenes of sonic frontiers and here are my unorganized thoughts.

non spoilery thoughts:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASJSJJDSHDFDJLSADMNSDKLDIFJ9POEWDKLASDMCDSKLNCXXMHFEGFOWEKJKFNPKRW9PEPEOQWKJNWDIF'MODOKDS

spoilery thoughts

sonic and amy both sounds like they're going through puberty

sonic is so powerful if he can handle being thrown a great distance by a titan without breaking at least a few bones

i love how sonic shows concern for his friends. like he asks them how they're feeling being ghostly.

sonic dancing every time he gets a chaos emerald is cute

HOLY SHIT, AMOG-[GUNSHOT]

amy is just so kind, i love her. she wouldn't even abandon a koco.

A CALLBACK TO AMY'S TAROT CARD ABILITIES YESSSS!!!

knuckles would punch a child for sonic and i think that's so romantic.

speaking of shipping, this game is really feeding the sonamy and sonknux shippers.

SAGE WAS CREATED BY EGGMAN?! AND SHE CALLS HIM FATHER!!

this will be my approach to sonic discourse from now on

also love that knuckles told sonic he's useless underwater he went straight for the throat lmao

i love how they addressed the trauma of the events of forces, AND that one scene with tails. because forces was.... forces, we forget how traumatic it actually was. and sonic asking tails if he wants to talk because he's worried.... this is good stuff. i need ian flynn to rewrite sonic forces asap.

sageee my poor baby girl :(

also that vocal theme that played during sage's flashbacks... someone give me the adoption papers i've got a child to adopt.

THE ANCIENTS WERE FROM ANOTHER PLANET?!?!

HOLY SHIT THE CHAOS EMERALDS ARE FROM SPACE?!?!?!

THE KOCOS ARE THE SPIRITS OF ANCIENTS OMG!!!

IF THE KOCOS ARE MEANT TO DIE WHY DID YOU MAKE THEM SO CUTE SEGA?!

AMY, TAILS, AND KNUCKLES SAVE SONIC!!!

ALSO ALL THE VOCAL THEMES THAT PLAY DURING THE TITAN BOSS FIGHTS ARE GODLY

HE DOES CARE FOR HER :(((

SONIC FIGHTS THE FUCKING MOON THAT IS SO AWESOME

SAGE NOOOO DON'T DIE YOU'VE ALREADY BECOME A FAVE OF MIND

HE RECIPROCATED THE HUG, ANOTHER W FOR THE SONAMY NATION

EVERYONE LOOK AT MY CHILDREN!!! NOW!!!

also eggman being genuinely upset at sage's death.... :(

STICKS THE BADGER MENTION?!?! STICKS IS CANON?!?!

also i'm gonna need an idw spinoff of that road trip between amy, cream, and sticks asap. get on it, flynn and stanley!

OMG?!?! THIS BETTER MEAN SAGE IS COMING BACK FOR THE NEXT GAME!!!

OKAY FINAL THOUGHTS: god this was so much fun! i know others have already said it but SONIC IS BACK BABY!!! i love all the characters arcs flynn gave tails, knuckles, and amy. i love sonic's interactions with all of his friends. and sage, my god she's already become a fave of mine. she's such an interesting and tragic character. she may be a digital girl but she's still a child and all she wanted was to be loved. and she sacrificed herself in the end. and eggman did care about her, in his own way as sonic said. god the wait was certainly worth it.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic frontiers #sonic frontiers spoilers #rebecca talks

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heavensgrail · 1 year

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For one so adventurous as Irisviel, it would be remiss she wander without means of sufficient defence. It was for that reason that the Servant arrived on the dawn of New Year with a gift wrapped fit for the holidays recently passed, as if offering forgotten. What entered Irisviel's possession was not a Christmas present — rather than comfort or food, what lie beneath the wrapping paper was a Weapon Star, meant to return the woman's metal wires. Irisviel had always been a shining beacon of support, and Saber had never managed to pay in equal, but this could serve as a step toward that without encroaching long-overdue freedom.

it was something of a silent frustration, Irisviel's lack of power at her beck and call. not for the fact that she felt weak or useless without it but simply because this city was not always an idyllic dream. though she herself had only recently experienced some of the chaos that often happened, people talked. and it is from that talking that had her wishing to, at the very least, be able to defend herself or her family if need be. it would have been unfair to rely on Saber for that protection. with Irisviel's newfound freedom, she could do what she couldn't before. and it seemed that her favorite Servant had something of a shared thought process.

the woman takes the offered Weapon Star, fingers curled delicately around the crystallized object. ruby eyes flicker to meet emerald green, an unspoken question being answered with a nod. it was all she needed as her grip grew around the Star tightened. her strength was nowhere near phenomenal, but it was enough. the Weapon Star shatters in her palm like that of a hammer smashing against a mirror, a small burst of light exuding from inside her fist. it's over within seconds and when fingers unfurl, the gentle green luminescence of wires is what she finds.

her smile widens in an instant as she looks back to Arturia, reaching out with her free hand to pull the Servant into a tight hug. " Thank you, Saber. "

#submission #sanctummilitis #save.#hell YEAH wire time

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aquillis-main · 1 year

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Ignoring Jehtt's parody for a sec

-It was 200 years of Iblis. I legit don't think there's a profit to scamming people into thinking they can save the future. 2-3 gens directly tied to the Great Disaster already are dead, and GUN seems gone too

-We already beat Iblis only to see him reincarnate again. We can already infer Silver beat him many times with no difference. In fact, he legit considers giving up in frustration

-Mephiles wouldn't even be the first suspect. Blaze's fire powers scared survivors, but Silver stood by her (sadly this is in bios)

-The intro CG cutscene notes the generational divorce from the event. No one knew where Iblis came from cuz it's been so long, only that it ravaged the planet for eons. Silver is noted to question the origin, getting nothing

So yeah, I'll take hearing this shifty stranger's new theory, cuz repeatedly killing Iblis 3 million times is doing nothing but exhaust me, regardless if I die to this stranger or not. It's not like I can make this worse (in my context)

Other things;

-Silver's reaction to Meph saying to time travel:

Not "oh yeah I immediately believe you" like 90% of parodies, it's him gauging interest after dismissing the first prompt

Even to Meph saying "Oh yeah, I can time travel" it's more dismissal (though tinged with amazement)

when Meph notes the Iblis Trigger the first time, both Blaze and him just ponder a sec before hesitating to ask if killing him would save the world, their first true mistake. But again, better than just mindlessly killing Iblis over and over

Then Meph bothers bringing articles on screen showing the Egg Carrier's crash and release of Iblis, then the Emerald showing Sonic's visage in the fire (glares slightly more angry), Blaze being perturbed cuz she knows of one, and Meph immediately time traveling them before much of anything can be said in protest

If it were me, I'd have them question how he found this info, with him revealing that he stumbled upon a Chaos Emerald that showed him the image of a blue hedgehog (which he'll show to Silver like OG, only with Sonic expressing better than wood), leading him to do research on him, and finding the article of Elise dying in a crash despite his chase. He'll then note research of time travel done in GUN logs of when they checked Eggman's base after the crash, noting the process being risky. Silver and Blaze can ask why he can't do it, which...I mean look at him, he's deformed and barely hobbling (interestingly nowhere as much as the Shadow release scene, or later twirl), likely frail as heck (we know he isn't if we the audience played Shadow's story first). He'll attract unwanted attention outside supposed fraility, vs how the powerful Blaze/Silver look a smidge more stable. They'll admit having nothing to lose/repetition, then Meph warps them

But otherwise, I feel the Silver bias is glossing events a wee bit too much, and parodies aren't helping. It's legit wanting to break useless repetition that drives most of Silver's hasty actions

"But he looks evil"

The entire world is homeless. Being remotely not brazen is an anomaly if anything (Blaze at least has an excuse)

Also what's he gonna do, jump the guy that has psychokinesis? He looks weak as hell

I still think that Silver shouldn't have jumped to follow Mephiles so easily when the latter spouted out shit about 'Chickens and eggs', especially since it seems he and Blaze just willingly follow Mephilies into his crack den of info he shouldn't have. I'm sorry, but I feel Silver just hopped on a little too quickly. If there was a scene of him and Blaze arguing with each other about going to follow, I'd buy it a lot more than it is now. However, since the cutscenes skip that moment and have Silver and Blaze immediately follow Mephiles to his crack den without thinking, it still comes across to me as Silver and Blaze being stupid, not naive.

I appreciate you trying to help clear out some aspects of this, but without the key moment of Silver and Blaze arguing about going to listen to Mephiles or not, it comes across as an idiot kid being taken by a guy with a white van to me, especially since the only time Silver stops to consider his decision is when Amy tells him to not kill Sonic and dashes off. After that, he doesn't ever really question if he's doing the right thing, and just blindly trusts the guy that showed him a vision of Sonic in fire with a really pissed off look, and not much other information besides anecdotal evidence.

#Aquillis Answers #kinopioa #Silver the Hedgehog #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic 06

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egg-emperor · 2 years

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One of my favorite Eggman moments come from the final episode of Sonic Battle where he goes other all his sets back and how anyone else would give up by now…. BUT NOT HIM BECAUSE HE’s EGGMAN DAMNIT!!! Like it explains who Eggman is perfectly.

YES I love it so much hdjssngkdndmg especially with how there's more than one moment like that. First in Shadow's story when he realizes he's underestimated Sonic and friends and they're close to getting all the emeralds but he's still like "I can do this because I'm Eggman!"

Then in Emerl's, even when they've got all the emeralds, his Phis were destroyed, Chaos and Gamma were useless, and he knew Emerl must be really powerful now, the reason he won't give up like anyone else would there is because he's Eggman!

For the absolute delightfully nasty bastard he was in Battle, his moments of self confidence and determination are surprisingly adorable XD 🥰💜💕

And it makes me think of how, in Adventure we see him at one of his lowest points where he felt hopeless and even wanted to die when everything went wrong but here, we see how his confidence and determination remains, even when it seems like everything is going wrong in a similar way again. It's like he's gotten even stronger, more confident, and fiercely adamant, he'll never give up and will fight hard to accomplish his goals and yeah I know they're terribly evil goals but I care about him and I'm really proud of him :')

It really does explain one of the best parts of him so well in a short and sweet way in his own words. He has a goal and no matter how hard it gets, his determination remains, he'll always have more tricks up his sleeve, have a fighting spirit until the end, and even when he does get knocked down in the end, he always gets back up and tries again- nobody can keep him down! That's one of his strongest defining aspects of what it means to be the Eggman and it's one of his most admirable and inspiring traits that make him so lovable! 💖

#asks #dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #sonic battle #my post #analysis

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diary-of-dr-eggman · 11 months

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AI Prompt: Write an entry in Dr. Eggman’s diary about the Super Emeralds.

Dear Diary,

I've been doing some research on the Super Emeralds and let me tell you, they're a real pain in the neck. I mean, why do they have to be so darn powerful, and so darn hard to ﬁnd?

I've been trying to track down these things for weeks, and so far, all I've managed to ﬁnd is a few measly Chaos Emeralds. It's like the Super Emeralds are playing some kind of elaborate game of hide-and-seek with me.

And even if I do manage to ﬁnd them all, there's no guarantee that they'll be able to help me defeat Sonic and his friends. From what I've read, the Super Emeralds are only useful when combined with the Chaos Emeralds, and even then, their power is unpredictable at best.

But despite all this, I can't help but feel drawn to the Super Emeralds. There's just something so... tantalizing about their power, so alluring about the idea of ﬁnally defeating Sonic once and for all.

Maybe it's all just a pipe dream, though. Maybe I'll never be able to ﬁnd the Super Emeralds, or even if I do, they'll prove to be nothing more than a useless trinket. But I won't give up hope just yet. After all, who knows what might happen if I ﬁnally get my hands on those shiny, powerful gems?

Note to self: keep searching, and maybe invest in a good metal detector.

Yours truly,

Dr. Eggman

#eggman #robotnik #chaos emerald #super emerald #sonic

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genshingarbage · 3 years

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Hiii, Good Morning/Good afternoon/Good evening Mod Kaeya,Mod Diluc^^, It's my first time requesting, Can I request? Angst with any Genshin Impact characters?,Soo The genshin characters are much more spending time with Lumine? Then the reader asks why they aren't spending much time with them and the genshin characters snaps and said the readers are weak ( reader is already insecured because they can't fight) and they have work to do then the reader leaves to fight hilichurl camps and unfortunately there's 2 Mitachurls ,luckly the genshin characters were on time to save the reader? Then they apologized to them? (It's Gn reader^^) sorry if it's alot and sorry if my grammar is wrong you both can disregard this ask stay safe ^^

Good afternoon dear Traveler!! Well done for making your first request! And such a lengthy one too oh my~ Your grammar is fine don’t even worry about it. Sorry for the long wait, Mod Diluc and I have been busy on the Kuzuha banner haha but I hope you enjoy this tear jerking tale (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧- Mod Kaeya

Recommending this song for this oneshot!

Go checkout Anna_drw01 for more art like this!! Here’s her artstation!

The distant scientist, renowned for being hard to get close to was someone you used to consider one of you closest friends. The two of you spent day and night together, hellbent of cracking open every single challenge you possibly could together. Many considered you two to be able to solve any mystery put in front of you together.

The keyword was together.

There was a mystery you yourself couldn’t solve; Why was Albedo’s time with you slowly becoming a rarity?

You’d been wondering why he’d been spending so much less time in the lab he’d meticulously built over years of his life or on site where his precious research was being buried little by little by crystalline flakes, tending to his experiments and recording time sensitive data that would be valuable for months to come for the research team. Albedo had been gone so long both you and Sucrose had designed a plan in order to cover the work he’s left unattended whilst managing your own on top of the store. It was beginning to get concerning. If the leader of the investigation squad was absent constantly then what did that mean for the rest of you? Surely he was only gone for the sake of something important he’d found, something he placed above everything else he was researching. That’s what you lent yourself into believing.

That is, until you saw him with her.

You couldn’t blame him honestly, Lumine was gorgeous. Her golden hair and fiery eyes are what a lot of men probably look for in a partner, even more so was the mystery behind her origins and the raw power she held in her fingertips at any given moment.

You didn’t have to have a vision to be able to tell that.

Maybe that was another thing he sought in her.

A traveling partner that could wield the powers of the elements, a traveling partner that could hold their own against the world. Maybe that wasn’t all he was looking for but also a romantic partner.

He finally came back to the investigation camp briefly one night, it was during a particularly rough blizzard ravaging across Dragonspine and the areas surrounding it a little like a turbulent child tossing snowflakes across already painted, buried monochrome peaks. He trudged into the camp with her rambunctious adventuring party, shouted something over the whipping wind about how they should get warm inside one of the communal tents dotted around the sparse camp halfway up the summit you inhabited and then ducked into the burgundy tent you were working away in with nothing but the clinking of vials harmonizing with the bubbling of flames. It was nothing but candle light right then in the morbid lonely night, only the sounds of the howling gales outside of the ones in your lab. If you’d felt like you were being watched during the night before now, Albedo’s piercing analytical gaze did nothing but soothe the loneliness you’d held inside yourself all night.

“I need a strong multi use Geoculus locator, if we have any.” The blonde said

He must’ve seen your shoulders perk up because he waited patiently as you searched through the shelves upon shelves of prototypes you’ve developed. After somehow finding one, you patted over to him. He seemed pleased with your work, if a bit distant as usual. He was in a good mood so you guessed would be the best time if any to ask. “Sir… with all due respect why have you been away so long?”

Albedo’s pale face was blank as usual though he blinked as if surprised you spoke, “Lumine needed someone with a sufficient Geo vision, I happened to be the one she knew the best to get the job done.”

“So you’ll be returning?”

“I never said that.”

You tried not to take it harshly, this was just how he spoke after all. “…could I come along then?” It was a long shot yes but you still missed his company, if it meant having to deal with him getting buddy buddy with that Outrider then you would suffer.

It was quiet for a moment between you two as you stared him down and he observed the locator thoroughly. After he was pleased enough with the golden glowing device it was packed away into his back pocket without so much as a second thought, the man was obviously stalling while he thought carefully over the question but the result wouldn’t be to your liking evidently. You were about to make a point you hoped would be convincing before he spoke, his voice sharp and words cold like the very ice being tossed around the blackened sky.

“No, you’re not a skilled enough fighter so you’d only slow us down more than we can handle to be right now. You’d be useless to us.” He put a hand to his chin for a moment in thought, “If you’d had been able to development a synthetic elemental burst like Sucrose’s swirl mark II…I would have considered but you can’t even do that.”

Watching him leave with them the morning after was torturous, they rushed off into the snowy landscape with barely a goodbye and never a second glance from Albedo beyond that. It stung.

Maybe that’s why when hilichurl camps, specifically ones becoming a nuisance to caravans as well as supply lines along Dragonspine almost avidly to the near point where there would be commissions called in, were brought up in conversation you elected to take a weapon and simply clear them out yourself. You could barely fight one off but usually they were smaller towards the base of the mountain so you figured it would be alright. You would just patch yourself up if you got a bit injured. Surely the pain of the injures would busy your silly little heart long enough to forget about Albedo and his cruel words to you, surely you would barricade your feelings of pining behind walls of broken bones and struggling through the snow. Maybe that was the remedy, the answer you needed to your mystery. Your pleas would probably be hidden by the snowstorms anyways.

Mitachurls unfortunately inhabited bigger camps. Thankfully, Frost Lawlichurls tended to live alone. The former happened to find it’s way to you, charging with the might of a bull on ozmanthys wine. As you were bowled over you heard an abrupt shout, maybe saw a brief flash of familiar golden light as the battle grounds around you erupted further into chaos but it didn’t matter that pale arms were abruptly gripping you to a panicked sword user. Your vision was to blurry, the shouts of attacks and spells too muffled and faint, your body felt too limp to comprehend even the though of moving. You could barely breathe.

Someone was muttering, crouched around you and holding you close, muttering something over and over again. Something important. The feeling of their lips pressed against your forehead, his quiet gut heaving sobs as he rocked you back and forth. Albedo’s pleas for you to just hang on a moment longer—

Where were you again?

There was sunlight and it was warm, a pleasant warmth that almost lulled you back to the sleep you’d fallen into. The only thing that kept you awake was that this was indeed not your bed.

Where were you?

Sitting up hurt, your whole body ached and you were certain something must have been rearranged or was missing because the pain shot through you like an arrow. Your sharp exhale alerted the two others in the room, one who immediately sprinted to get a nurse in an emerald and navy flurry of skirts and capes.

You were dizzy, only steadied by a gentle hand on your limp shoulder. Ah, when did you turn to face him?

The blonde man infront of you asked if you remembered what happened, his voice was soft but didn’t hold any emotion. The smoky circles around his beautiful striking cerulean eyes did nothing but worry you slightly as they implied a long period of time without sleep. You’d imagine him to be the sciency type who didn’t really know what to think of other people so he stayed nose deep in books to pass the time, though there was a deep sadness in the way he held himself you couldn’t understand.

“I don’t…who are you?” You thought you saw him flinch but figured it was a trick of the light.

“No one important, nevermind me.” The man sat up with an unreadable expression even for how blank it had been for this whole brief conversation after you had awoken, getting up from his chair to begin walking to the door when he stopped. “I’m sorry.”

“…for what?” You didn’t understand.

“Nothing that would natter now, please. Rest.”

You didn’t remember.

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somewhatgreatexpectations · 3 years

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Lay Me Down (Wanda Maximoff/ Reader)

Hello, again! We have reached the endgame, as in we have reached Endgame in the timeline. Loosely inspired by Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down”. Pieces from the film are used, but definitely have adjustments to fit the story. Let me know your thoughts!

Summary: How will the events of Endgame play out for Y/n and Wanda?

“Can I lay by your side, next to you? And make sure you're alright, I'll take care of you. I don't want to be here if I can't be with you.”

It felt as though everything went dark for just a moment and almost immediately you were back. The first sight that greeted you when you opened your eyes was a man in a cape, much to your disappointment. You would have much rather been greeted by a certain green-eyed woman who held your heart. The man urgently informed you that you all had been gone for five years, erased from existence by Thanos. The idea was so troubling that you almost didn’t believe him, but something within you knew it to be true. You had felt it in your final moments in Wanda’s arms before you faded away.

Wanda. She was the first thought to enter your mind. Had she existed the last five years on her own? Was she erased from existence with you? Was she okay? The last thought struck fear into your heart. You wouldn’t know what to do if she wasn’t.

There was very little time for processing though since the man, who said his name was Stephen Strange, told you it was time to fight again. If you all didn’t act quick, Thanos would be sure to succeed in his wicked plan again. This required everyone, and you didn’t hesitate to agree when Strange opened a portal for you to enter through.

The portal that Strange created for you opened into a bleak field, and as far as the eye could see were waves upon waves of Thanos’ army. Thousands of them. There was one thing that gave you hope though. One thing that made you believe that the battle wasn’t lost yet and that was seeing countless members of the Avengers step out of similar portals. Despite the myriad of people stepping out of various portals there was no sign of Wanda which caused anxiety to bloom in your chest. Unfortunately, you weren’t given much more time to look for her as the members of Thanos’ army appeared to push forward eagerly.

You knew that your main focus should have been preventing Thanos from erasing half of humanity again, but you couldn’t help the fact that Wanda was the one thing at the forefront of your mind. She always would be. The heartbroken look on her face as you faded away was burned into your memory. You needed to find her, and you needed to find her now. You needed to see for yourself that she was okay.

You didn’t care if you had to tear Thanos apart with your bare hands to do so.

When Thanos’ army began to push forward even more, you got into a defensive stance, everyone around you doing the same. A unifying sense of determination was heavily present around each of you. Losing was not an option this time.

The sound of a familiar voice caught your attention. As you glanced over you took in the sight of Steve who looked worse for wear but okay overall. Breathing, and that was what mattered. A sense of relief washed over you because at least you knew that he was okay. “Avengers,” he called and reached a hand out, your eyebrows quirking in surprise as he summoned mjölnir. “Assemble.” He finished assertively as each of you rushed forward, prepared to overcome any obstacle that stood in your way.

The anger that you felt at the situation made it easier to harness your powers. Anger that Thanos thought he had the right to take life, anger for the knowledge that he succeeded once already, anger for being taken from Wanda.

Looking around, you noticed that one of the bigger threats was a metal looking creature that was firing down at everyone. With a deep breath you focused your attention on the being and slowly brought your hands together, forcing the vessel to fold in on itself and rendering it useless. Smirking in satisfaction as you watched it fall to the ground.

As soon as the army noticed who destroyed the creature more of the beasts began attacking you. Dozens had surrounded you when you saw a small glimpse of red energy flash out of the corner of your eye. It was faint and in the far distance but you’d recognize it anywhere. The red energy could only mean one thing. Wanda. She was still here. Your heart pounded anxiously.

You need to get to her now.

Making quick work of the creatures that surrounded you, you began sprinting in her direction as fast as you could. As you got closer you could hear her voice over the chaos.

“You took everything from me.” Wanda gritted out through clenched teeth as her eyes glowed with a wrath you had never seen in her before. Her hands stayed at her side, glowing brightly.

Thanos stared back at her unflinchingly, “I don’t even know who you are.”

The calm in Wanda’s voice sent chills down your spine. “You will.” A moment later you watched her begin to attack Thanos and it was clear that he didn’t stand a chance against her. He didn’t stand a chance against this powerful woman who’s heart he had played a role in destroying.

You knew you couldn’t call out to her because if you did her concentration would break and she would be put at risk of Thanos overtaking her. Instead you focused on defeating his members that were coming to his aide so he would have to face her on his own.

He was destined to lose at her hands.

It seemed Thanos was aware of that as well as he called for the larger of the flying ships to begin firing down into the field to get Wanda off of him.

“Wanda!” you shouted as you saw her attempt to shield herself from the attack, only to get thrown by the force of the hit. As quickly as you could you built a barrier around her and began running in her direction. Not caring that you were leaving yourself exposed to the blasts.

The distance between you two was hastily closed as you instantly dropped to your knees at her side, pulling her in your arms and checking her for any injury. She stared up at you like she was seeing a ghost. “Y/n?” You tenderly stroked her cheek as you nodded.

When she finally processed the sight of you in her arms, life filled her eyes again as they illuminated with affection. It didn’t matter to her that you both were in the middle of horrifying battle with an evil being. All that mattered was that you were there with her. The emptiness she had felt when she saw you fade vanished and was replaced with an inconceivable amount of love.

Wanda surged forward and clung desperately to you, a choked sob escaping her lips. “I thought I lost you.” she said shakily into your neck.

You clung to her just as desperately, tears of relief falling down your cheeks at the knowledge that she was safe and, in your arms, once again. “I thought I lost you.” Came your shaky response.

Just as Wanda was about to respond another blast hit the ground right next to you and sent you both flying. You managed to hang on tightly to Wanda and land under her to lessen the impact. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly as she pushed your hair lightly out of your face.

“You know, under any other circumstances, I would have loved to be in this position.” You said cheekily.

Wanda let out a watery laugh at your response. “I’ve missed you.” She said before connecting your lips passionately. You wrapped your arms around her waist as you eagerly pulled her closer.

Wanda pulled away a moment later. “As much as I’d love to continue, we have a battle to win.” She stood up and offered you a hand which you gladly accepted.

“To be continued?” you teasingly replied with a wiggle of your eyebrow.

Despite the situation, she couldn’t help but laugh. Falling more in love with you than before if that was even possible. This. You. It was everything she needed for the rest of her life.

“To be continued.” She confirmed.

The playful look on your face fell when you realized something. “Why did they stop shooting at us?”

Wanda tilted her head, she hadn’t noticed that until you pointed it out. Both of your gazes turned skyward as a bright beam of light crashed through the largest ship that was in the sky. “I’m guessing it has to do with that.”

“Badass.” You whispered quietly to yourself as you watched.

Wanda smirked in amusement as she took your hand. Your gaze shifted to meet the emerald eyes you cherished. “I love you.” She said adoringly.

“I love you, too.” You replied without hesitation. You’d never hesitate to say those words to her again. “Now let’s go get rid of this giant purple monster, so we can have that happy ending I promised you.” Wanda bit her lip and nodded, melting at your words. That was all she wanted. To live happily with you.

Together you began running in the direction that the gauntlet appeared to be. Only letting go when you both had to use your hands for your powers.

“I don’t know how you’re gonna get it through all that.” You heard Peter tell the woman who you recognized to be Carol Danvers from Fury’s stories.

Both you and Wanda landed at her side a moment later, “Don’t worry.” Wanda began confidently.

“She’s got help.” You finished with determination. All the women on the team joined together and charged fearlessly forward into the battle. You and Wanda worked together on destroying the ships and creatures in the sky while some of the other women cleared a path on the ground for Carol to transfer the gauntlet to Scott’s van.

There was only a short distance between Carol and the van when you noticed Thanos throw his weapon aiming directly towards said van. You tried to run towards it to stop the impact, using your hand to try and summon the metal within the weapon. The problem was that you noticed it a moment too late. The spear like object had already impaled the machine. The force of the explosion threw you back into a large stone, your head taking the majority of the damage.

Wanda looked over worriedly from where she was keeping a group of at least two dozen creatures at bay. You gave her a thumb up to ease her worries. She seemed reluctant but turned back to getting rid of the creatures.

When you were able to focus on the scene in front of you, you saw Carol get launched into the large rock right beside you from the force of Thanos’ hit. Shortly after Thor and Steve appeared to attempt to stop him from snapping his fingers once again. Both being removed by Thanos despite their superhuman tolerance and strength.

When you saw Thanos approach Steve who was on the floor you jumped up protectively and flicked your wrist. His feet sunk into the ground, preventing him from getting any closer. You didn’t have superhuman tolerance or strength like Steve, but you’d be damned if you just sat there and watched Thanos attack him and then erase half of humanity again.

“Y/n, stay back.” You heard Steve grunt from his place on the ground.

Your action was enough to get Thanos’ attention as you began using your powers to manipulate the metal in his hand to stay open. Distracted by trying to keep his hand open, you didn’t notice him getting closer. Steve finally got up and raced over only to be a second too late. Forced to watch in horror as Thanos’ opposite hand that held the power stone hit you in the head at full force.

Wanda landed just in time to see you go through the large rock you had been leaning against just moments before. She screamed.

As she gathered you in her arms, she gently tried to coax you awake. Fear sinking into her heart when you didn’t even flinch. With shaking hands, she checked your pulse and was relieved to still feel your heartbeat thrum steadily beneath her fingertips.

Suddenly, everything around Wanda went quiet. When she lifted her head, she was relieved to see Thanos’ army fading to dust around her. She tenderly pulled you closer to her body. Tears brimming at her eyes. “We won, Y/n.” she said shakily. “We won. We can finally have our life together. Our happy ending. Please, wake up. Please.” She begged quietly.

The only comfort she found was the way your breath softly fanned across her cheek and the way she could feel your heartbeat steadily against her own. Tears fell down her cheeks, but she refused to let you go.

When Steve placed a cautious hand on her shoulder, she jumped. “We have to get her to a hospital.” He said meekly, his eyes troubled as tears fell from his eyes as well.

Grudgingly she let him pick you up and load you on the waiting jet, blind to anything going on around her. When Steve said he’d meet her there later she barely heard him as she took your hand in hers, pressing her lips firmly to the back. Shortly after feeling the jet rise in the air and begin the short trip to S.H.I.E.L.D’s facility where their top medics were waiting to tend to you.

“I’ll take care of you. We’ll have a happy ending.” Wanda gently stroked your cheek, smiling slightly at the warmth that she still found on your skin. A moment later tears began falling as she rested her head against your hand. “I don’t want to be here if I can’t be with you.” She whispered despairingly, hoping that you’d squeeze her hand, or open your eyes, anything. You were all she wanted, all she had. She couldn’t lose you. She wouldn’t recover.

Part 12! Can you believe it? I’m honestly shocked we’re already on part 12. Only one part left though. What do you all think is going to happen in the last chapter? Annnyway, as always, hope you each enjoyed reading this part. Thought and comments welcome, seeing them makes my day :)

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idw-sonic-fan-blog · 3 years

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The Mandates

Just wanted to share my thoughts on the pro-ported mandates because they cast a shadow on this comic.

“Game characters cannot have relatives unless they were estabilished in the game canon, i.e. Cream and her mother.”

This one is understandable and you can blame Penders for this. Mind you that most licensed comics of gaming franchises don’t actually delve too much in personal family relationships or expand on them. So this is expected and honestly Sega should have put the screws on Archie decades ago about this.

“Game characters can not die. There are workarounds for this, such as being Mistaken for Dying or "Mistaken For Dead”

Again. Yes. Not a big deal.

“Game characters cannot have wardrobe changes unless approved. Chao Races and Badnik Bases has some characters (mainly the female game characters) wear different clothes for extreme conditions. Male characters remain the same.”

This is a useless rule but whatever. I mean Sega, you are the ones putting bad wardrobe choices on the characters so again it’s whatever.

“Sonic can't be shown getting too emotional (i.e;cry)”

This is one that it complained about because it really wouldn’t matter unless it is called attention to. A lot of superheroes don’t cry. But that doesn’t prohibit them from expressing themselves. IDW Sonic has been sad. He has been pissed. He has been furious.

Is this not too emotional?

Is he not expressing himself appropriately?

I don’t even know why this is brought up. When in this comic has Sonic not been expressive or displaying the appropriate amount of emotion? When did Sonic needing to cry be necessary?

“Game characters cannot enter in a relationship.”

Oh GOD YES. Don’t threaten me with a good time.

“All major Character Development must be approved by SEGA.”

Yeah, of course. Let me remind you that Penders and Archie ruined any strand of trust Sega could have in comic media. They played loose at first and all of the sudden, they are involved in a lawsuit about characters in a Sonic comic that they didn’t even know about. They probably lost a video game business relationship because of it. If they want to be involved in the comics, fine. That means that they are now forced to World Build. They have to invest in it now and not just be like Lucas Films and let anybody do anything with their flagship title.

“Much like the post-reboot of the Archie comic, the words "Mobius" is banned—the planet is simply called "Sonic's World". Unlike the Post-Boot, which allowed the names "Mobian" and "Mobini", anything related to Mobius is banned in this comic.”

…Of course but how about you throw the writer’s a bone and I don’t know, name the fucking planet. If it is not Earth, give it a name.

“Sonic must always win at the end. Even if he and his friends are at the losing end in an overarching story (the Metal Virus arc, for example), they must come out on top when it concludes.”

I don’t even get this rule and the knee jerk hatred for it. Why even have it? Why even share the existence of this rule? Archie Sonic didn’t really lose too bad. It’s more on how you frame a victory. The fact of the matter is that Eggman is still actively trying to conquer the planet. Sonic stops him but Eggman still has control of land and has military installations all over.

This rule is offset by this. While Sonic can’t lose, Sonic can’t completely win.

“Characters and material from other licensed properties (Sonic the Comic, Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)', Sonic Underground, the OVA, Sonic X and the Paramount films cannot be used. This rule extends to characters and redesigns done by the current writers. The only exception is Sticks from Sonic Boom, and that's because she was created by SEGA themselves and showed up in non-Boom media, but any ideas regarding her use still need to be okayed by SEGA.”

First off I am glad that Sticks was spared by this rule and I look forward to her eventual inclusion. Second, again, this is not much of a big deal as it was expected. Sorry Freedom Fighter fans but honestly deal.

“Male characters, sans Eggman, can't wear pants, which was also a thing in the Post-Reboot, albeit never explicitly stated. The inverse is also true; female characters have to have some form of lower clothing.”

Okay this is a pedantic rule. It is so weird with how precise it is. Like…huh?

“Classic characters such as Mighty, Ray, Nack/Fang, Bean, and Bark won't appear in non-Classic issues, as Sega doesn't want Classic and Modern Sonic to mix.”

One of the most bullshit mandates fueled by the nostalgia boner fans created. Like this is stupid because Archie Modern Sonic has added more character and depth to all of these mentioned characters than any of the Sega Sonic games they appeared in which only amounts to 1 or 2 at most. Why neuter your own potential stories with this stupid limitation?

“According to Ian Flynn, a specific incident involving Shadow's characterization when he's exposed to the Zombot infection was written in a specific way because of Sega mandating that he be written as an "overconfident asshole rival" character, similar to Vegeta. He later followed up with an explanation that out of every character, Shadow has the most mandates and notes attached to how he's portrayed. According to the podcast, Sega says that Team Dark is no longer a thing. The three members are not a team and they have never worked for G.U.N.; Shadow also doesn't even consider them friends.”

This is my opinion is the worst rule. First it’s contradictory to the character Sega introduced us to. Stop trying to be like Dragon Ball for once and actually be your own thing. It’s one thing if we are changing it because Shadow was unpopular because of his personality. But no one likes this Shadow. People miss the somber but reserved Hedgehog that continued to fight in spite of the world betraying him. Hothead Shadow is a cheap Knuckles. And I don’t even understand why Shadow even has so many mandates when he wasn’t the most egregious offender. Knuckles was.

Also, Team Dark aren’t a thing and Shadow doesn’t even consider them to be his friends. First off that doesn’t even fly in your own games. Who outside of Sonic does Shadow interact the most? Rouge. They have teamed up and were a packaged duo since their inception. When Shadow appeared, Rouge appeared right next to him. If Rouge was in a game, so was Shadow.

Team Dark or just Rouge has fought alongside Shadow in every game they appeared in. Who else does Shadow talk to if not Rouge?

“Sega has stated to Flynn that only male hedgehogs are allowed to go Super with the Chaos Emeralds.”

Except in Sonic Mania.

“Ian isn't allowed to directly reference a game, since the comic is supposed to be its own thing.”

Okay. Not only is this rule stupid. But it’s untrue.

This references the end of Sonic Forces.

The first page of comic.

It has referenced Sonic Adventure, SA2, Sonic Generations , and Sonic Unleashed.

This referencing Shadow the Hedgehog.

I don’t believe this rule exists and even if it did, it is dumbest rule since the whole point of this comic is to base it off the games more. The dumbest rule.

“Knuckles is not allowed to leave Angel Island unless he has a very good reason to.”

For decades, people have complained that Knuckles routinely leaves the island. For decades. Now does this mean Sega is going to 1. Use Knuckles and 2. Amplify the importance of Angel Island and the Master Emerald? No. Again, this criticism should be levied at Sega because they often conveniently forget Knuckles purpose and just hand wave it instead of giving Knuckles more to do on the island like I don’t know, have other entities invested in attacking him.

In summary, here is what I think is going on. Do I think most of these mandates are real? Yes. Given what happened to Archie, I do think Sega is doing some brand alignment. I think they got the clamps on.

But what I think is going on is a Japanese cultural thing called Power Harassment. It is normalized abuse of power. Sega of Japan is normally laxxed about their brands. They don’t mind blatant rip-offs of their mascot nor do they get stiff about fandom creations or mods. The comic division, however, is getting tough love because not only did it cost them a publishing deal, but ruined a relationship with a high end developer. So the IDW writers and staff are being subjected to intentionally hypocritical rules and strict mandates that they know don’t make sense until they’ve shown to be obedient.

A lot of the mandates aren’t strict. But some are so asinine that I don’t think they aren’t aware with how stupid they sound imposing those rules. Like Shadow is the most narratively complete Sonic character and yet, Sega puts this tight mandate as if Archie Shadow was the most egregious thing. Archie Shadow was overpowered. He wasn’t out of character like Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails were. They can’t be that stupid or be that intentionally dense. So they want to see if the writing crew can follow orders. That’s it.

But that’s just my take.

#idw sonic #sonic the hedgehog

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guerilla935 · 4 years

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My Favorite Fishing in Video Games Where Fishing is Not Core Game Play

A really awesome surprise for me is always to boot up a game that is full of action and suspense to be introduced to a fishing side activity. I have toiled away at fishing in games for hundreds of hours at least. It has gotten so bad in some instances that my friends have asked me why I haven’t just taken the plunge into real fishing. It’s definitely because that is a lot of work and in real life I don’t catch a fish every 30 seconds. They have also wondered why I don’t just play a fishing simulator like Planet Fishing (Shout out to Planet Fishing that’s a great game). And that’s where I have to think for a while. Fishing while you have better things to do like save the world is very special. You aren’t fishing because it’s the objective of the game or because that’s why you are there, you are fishing because it’s fun and maybe you need a break to swing a fishing rod instead of a sword. And then you can stop, and get back to fighting or whatever the rest of the game entails. Below are games that have fishing in them for mostly no reason at all. I have shamelessly spent way to long with my bait in these waters and absolutely loved every second of it and I hope that you (the reader) can find a lot of relaxation in these waters as well.

Pokemon Series

Since the very first Pokemon game there has been fishing. You get the old rod from some guy and then you are free to fish up as many goldfishes that you want hoping that one of them will grow up to be a 21 foot tall dragon. Pokemon has combined their fishing with their main game play and makes you at least start a battle with the fish you drag onto shore. Now fishing in Pokemon is pretty subpar mainly because a single Pokemon game hasn’t really been known to have more than a handful of Pokemon that you can fish for. Also if you are looking for a strong water type Pokemon you could do a lot better than fishing for it. Typically a Pokemon player will fish about 5-10 times total. And although fishing for Pokemon isn’t all that great it has been in every game for over 20 years and that is pretty impressive. It’s a small detail that makes the world of Pokemon feel like a real world of wild creatures.

Sonic Adventure DX

In Sonic Adventure DX you are given the choice to play as a lot of different characters, one of which is named Big the Cat. Most of the characters are combat characters that rely on speed and attacks to get through levels, some even wielding rocket launchers and extremely oversized hammers. However when you start the story of Big the Cat you are thrown in a completely opposite direction. Big the Cat is a giant purple cat who lives in the jungle with his best friend Froggy. Froggy accidentally swallows one of the most powerful objects in the Sonic universe and Big the Cat must chase him all over the world trying to fish him out of where he is hiding so that he can eject the Chaos Emerald out of him and they can return to their life in the jungle. The fishing mechanics in this game actually are really good and this is probably because Sega had just put out a series of mildly successful Bass fishing games before releasing this game. Either way its absolutely hilarious that Big the Cat gets to defeat Chaos 6 right before Super Sonic has his showdown with Chaos Perfect.

Final Fantasy XV

In Final Fantasy XV you play as Noctis and his favorite hobby is fishing. When I first played this game I sped through it and never fished once and reached the end of the game never indulging Noctis in his hobby. When I replayed Final Fantasy XV I fished for 50 hours and then ejected the disc from my console. The fishing in Final Fantasy XV is surprisingly deep with a lot of the vendors supporting what you could call a fishing road trip. In the game it is extremely dangerous to be out at night so I would plan day trips to lakes to maximize the amount of fishing I would get to do. I would prepare days in advance to make sure I could afford the trip and that I had enough supplies to both protect myself at the lake and have enough supplies to last the whole day. Final Fantasy XV really is a game about getting really distracted and fishing is probably its best distraction. My days on the lake were the perfect balance of peaceful and rewarding, this game offers an awesome reward of well planned trips and a good haul of fish.

Final Fantasy XIV Online

Final Fantasy XIV is the only game I have ever played where the fishing played exactly like its combat. When you are fighting enemies in a dungeon in FFXIV you are constantly adding buffs, landing hits, using consumables, and managing resource bars. When you are fishing in FFXIV you are constantly adding buffs, landing hits, using consumables, and managing resource bars. Note you are doing so at a much more leisurely and less life threatening pace but you are still doing it. I never maxed out the fisher class but I got it into the expansion content which was a really long and relaxing experience. Yet another Final Fantasy title where the real meat of the game is in getting distracted. When you fish you also sell on a player market that fluctuates based on market price just like real fish. You get the relaxing fishing side of the game and also an aggressive economic number crunching side as well. I spent way too long with a real pen and paper deciding how much I should sell for on any particular day and bossing around my two cat girl employees.The MMO aspect of the game adds so much to what you would expect to be a very solitary experience.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Have you ever gone fishing for hours to receive an empty bottle? That is exactly what kick started my addiction to fishing in Twilight Princess. An empty bottle in Twilight Princess means another way to heal yourself, another way to add oil to a lantern, another way to carry useless water around. The only way to get the 4th bottle in the game is to go to a dedicated fishing spot and fish until you pulled it out of the pond. The actual fishing is pretty weird, it involves motion controls which I still am not entirely sure what they do or how to properly use them but it is really fun to hold the pole in gyroscope and set the lure in the water waiting for fish to come get a nibble. Although the physics with the water make it difficult to see if you have actually gotten a bite or not it still is enjoyable the other 85% of the time it works.

Stardew Valley

So this one is at the top of every other “fishing in games” list and there is a big reason for that. It’s really good. I think in my first Stardew Valley farm I gave up farming entirely and fished all day every day and stopped to buy food to replenish my energy and go back at it. I really didn’t care about getting rich or making enough money to expand the farm or get to know everyone I actually spent about 50 hours just fishing. The fishing takes some skill and a pretty keen eye but the random jerks of the fish and the rhythm of the game play are so fun to try to master. It’s a part of Stardew Valley that I felt like I was continuously improving on as time went on and it was really fun. I mean I don’t recommend it because you’ll end up moderately poor but it was really fun.

Fantasy Life

Fantasy Life offers you 12 potential jobs, you could be a brilliant blacksmith or a devious potions maker, a lumberjack or a knight, a hunter or a seamstress. However your inner dad is calling and you decide you want to play through a fantasy RPG as a fisherman, hell yeah. the story is relatively short so you can quickly unlock a lot of locales to fish at and there is a manageable economy system that lets you deal in fish in advantageous ways. You can even pick up cooking on the side and make fancy dinners and sell the fish for higher you can do that as well. Fantasy Life is like a clever mix between Animal Crossing and Final Fantasy XIV and it kind of succeeds and falls short of it. The fishing also takes a good amount of skill and rhythmic approach to master so it doesn’t get boring almost at all until you have cleared the game.

Maple Story 2

Maple Story 2 is one of the most expressive and cutest games that I have ever played. And the fishing is no different, its all about style. The fishing in Maple Story 2 is monotonous and can get old but you do it for the chibi clout. Because much like the rest of the game you can look however you want and do whatever you want and sometimes you just feel like kicking back and throwing lure in the water at the beach. I never got super into the fishing in this game but it won me over with its adorable design and stylish atmosphere.

Animal Crossing Series

Of course I had to include the most popular game right now. Animal Crossing has become something of a connection between people when we can’t leave the house. A thing we all have in common on social media and with our friends. My first experience with Animal Crossing really starts with New Horizons and I was completely blown away. The fishing isn’t super complex or difficult but the range of what you can pull out of the water and what you can do with it is absolutely breathtaking. For a game about cartoon people living with humanoid cartoon animals the fish looking photo realistic. And the museum where they can be kept is stunning. The museum looks like it was designed to capture the feel of being in a museum and matches the design of all the great real life aquariums and observatories. Although it is a bit frustrating when your rod breaks it is easy enough to make one (or worst case buy one) to get your bait back in the water.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Tell me I’m wrong, you can’t. Isabelle getting added to Smash brought a very powerful fishing move that isn’t practical all the time but is really funny. Wouldn’t recommend this game if you are looking to relax and fish but I do recommend hooking your friend with a fish hook and send them flying off screen if you had to.

Minecraft

I have a very special role in Minecraft when I join a friends server. A role that I assign to myself. While everyone is off getting awesome swords, spelunking for diamonds, and exploring the infinite landscape, I build a small wooden shack and I set up a farm with an irrigation canal and start fishing. A steady supply of food is necessary and while I’m hanging out with my friends in a server I’m happy to be the one to provide it. The fishing in this game is probably the slowest of all the ones on this list but is the most useful. just throwing the fish in the oven creates food that can help keep you and your companions alive for a long time. I think I definitely have my limits with Minecraft fishing and I couldn’t do it for hours on end it is rewarding to set up shop and find a nice place to settle down for a few hours to fish.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

This is the only Tactical RPG in this post. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has sections between combat where you can go and talk to your students and do other activities. We aren’t here to discuss other activities though we are here for the fishing. The fishing allows you to catch fish for some reason that I’m sure is good but never intrigued me enough to learn. All I know about the fishing in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is that it’s fun. I started to bust through combat just so that I could get back to fishing. The funniest part about this one is that the fish has a health bar. Pressing the A button at the exact moment finds a way to become easier and still find ways to mess you up. Either way, I’m not that interested in tactical RPGs but I heard there was fishing in this game so I had to play it and it was worth it.

Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

In Jak & Daxter, Daxter gets turned into a small animal by dark eco while exploring a dangerous island off the shore of his home with his best friend Jak. To get back to the island to investigate, the pair have to borrow a boat owned by a fisherman who is troubled by an invasive species of poisonous eel that is ruining his haul. He asks Jak to catch fish for him without catching any eels. This fishing mini game can only be done once but it is going to either be something you think is very unique or a huge waste of time. All I’ll say is that the sound that the fish makes when it goes into the net is absolutely a reward in itself it is so satisfying. But anyways, more intense than some other options here but get it done so you can get back to absorbing eco powers and jumping on stuff.

Shovel Knight

Shovel Knight is a 2D action platformer but you can also fish. And you fish for the best kind of fish, money. You can get some other stuff too like health pickups and magic replenishers but we know what you want. You see that little glint and you pop out the fishing rod and pull out those money bags. If you are devoted enough you can even get a surprise from the Troupple King (long live his highness) if you fish out the right stuff. I don’t even know if I fished all that much when I played Shovel Knight but it’s hilarious that you can.

NieR: Automata

I did not play a lot of NieR and that’s because I was fishing. I don’t know why all I did was fish but you throw your little robot in the pond and you lean on a magical stool so honestly it was good enough for me.

Club Penguin

If you know then you know. In hind sight there really wasn’t a whole lot to do in Club Penguin but this mini game really messed me up. You basically get to move up and down, catching fish and avoiding trash and other hazards. Basically trying to do this and catch as much fish as possible to avoid having to ask your parents for real money to pay for snacks to feed a virtual ball of fluff with eyeballs. I don’t really remember how challenging it really was but I remember getting decently high scores to about like 100 fish per round so I guess it was pretty easy if I could do that at age 10.

Rune Factory 4

I’m gonna be very honest about this one and say that the fishing in Rune Factory 4 is basically just Animal Crossing fishing but more anime. The fish react to the pole the same, the fish almost look the same, and the buttons to respond are the same. What makes this one special is where you can take it. You can fish in the little moat in town, in the lake, in a dungeon full of monsters, in a lake that is eternally the season fall, anywhere. You are constricted by the boundaries of Stardew Valley and that is how much energy you have and how much time you have in the day. It’s still fun to fish but I wish that they had used their fun fantasy setting to give the ability to fish up some cool made up fish instead of strictly things that exist in real life.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Ok, diving, fishing, same thing. Diving in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is just fishing with your whole body. It works a lot in the same way as Pokemon where you fish up monsters to fight and get the rewards from them. It is a completely optional activity however if you decide to undertake the grind of scavenging in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 then you will never hurt for money ever again. It makes my wonder why Rex stopped being a salvager to do odd jobs because this was PROFITABLE. The main incentive is that there are spots that spawn a certain enemy that drop cores. Cores are like gacha or loot boxes that contain new anime girl partners that deal huge damage in fights. They even have their own side quests and story lines. I spent maybe 30 hours grinding before giving up on this game and while it does become tiresome I really enjoyed the random rewards of possibly getting a new companion or a really cool weapon.

It’s been tossed around that every great RPG has fishing in it. I won’t argue that point but a lot of great RPGs certainly do have fishing in them. Everyone needs a break sometimes and fishing is the perfect activity to remind us to stop and take that break. Even games can get long and without these distractions it might be so much harder to complete these harrowing tasks. Don’t forget to take breaks and just enjoy the sound of the water every once in a while because there’s no rush playing video games.

Honorable Mentions:

Kingdom Hearts: Sora fishing with his bare hands on Destiny Island

Persona 4: Weird aqueduct fishing

Persona 5: Marina fishing life

Sea of Thieves: A pirates life for me

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beevean · 3 years

Note

How was Infinite better than Mephiles in your opinion? I think Infinite had a bit of potential but Pontiff ruined what little there was.

Is Forces a Pontaff game? It doesn’t look like one, and I think they just translated/collaborated? No seriously, I remember reading the credits and being confused. Anyway.

Let’s get out of the way the most shallow reason I prefer Infinite: design. Infinite’s design is damn cool, he’s so edgy that it’s obvious he’s meant to be a caricature, with his clawed gloves and boots with his own friggin’ symbol on it, but he’s still appealing to the eyes. Before you finish the game, the mask also adds intrigue: why is he wearing it, and why is he blind in one eye? It motivates you to get to know more about him. It also helps that he’s a canid, a family that is quite rare in the series - I can only think of Tails and Chip - and it makes him unique but not in a special OC way. (this also means he even has some cute features like big ears and a fluffy tail, which add delicious contrast to his “I'm the toughest of terrors I am the darkest of days” design)

On the contrary, Mephiles has two designs: Multiplayer-Mode Shadow...

And Nightmare Shadow.

And sure, the crystallized form is pretty cool to look at, but he still Shadow. I get that he was reborn from Shadow’s shadow (some writer felt very clever that day), but I kinda would have preferred to see him take other forms. Well, it’s not like the devs had the time to add a third model...

(also, both of them have awesome voices so I can’t put one above the other)

As for the rest, here’s a rundown:

- Mephiles, along with Iblis to a lesser extent, overshadows Eggman. He’s yet another villain that takes the stage and reduces the good ol’ doc to a miniboss, more preoccupied with stealing the McGuffin... I mean, Princess Elise, than to do some interesting villaining - this has the ripple effect of making Sonic the Hedgehog, in a game called Sonic the Hedgehog, nearly useless to the main plot until he’s killed. I have little tolerance for villains who want to be more “dangerous” than Eggman at this point, and Mephiles was only one of the last ones that played this overused trope seriously (wish he was the last one, but Dark Gaia is a smear on an otherwise beautiful game... but that’s another story). By contrast, Infinite is always Eggman’s weapon, and the game never implies you’re supposed to think less of the scientist - Infinite may be an arrogant buffoon, but he never leaves Eggman’s side. The two work on a tandem, and basically Infinite is terrifying raw strength combined with Eggman’s superior intellect. Took him long enough, but Eggman has essentially tamed a powerful beast like he’s been planning to do since Chaos.

- Mephiles is meant to be this master manipulator, a 4D chessmaster moving pieces across time and space to get to his goal. I love the idea, really: he’s the raw intellect of a god without any of the strength of a god, so he has to play dirty and play on mortals’ emotions. The problem is that the game isn’t competent enough to pull such a feat, so everyone basically has the IQ of a brick - everyone who has even watched some videos points out at least two things:

1) how can Silver, even if he grew up in a destroyed city, trust some random guy without a mouth and reptilian eyes who suddenly tells him “here’s the cause of your problems, now go back in time and kill him” and Silver is just like “okie dokie” without even asking “excuse me, and whomst the fuck are you”

2) Mephiles can travel in time anywhere he wishes AND he can apparently conjure the Emeralds at his side. There is literally nothing stopping him to go to Silver’s future and rejoin Iblis there, or even prevent the incident that split them. The game set no limitations to his powers, and so we’re free to think about the most obvious solutions, and so his overly complicated plan that hinges on a boy killing another boy 200 years in the past after he bonded with the Iblis seal to make her cry in grief, plus triggering Shadow’s trauma on the side... even more hard to follow, because it’s all useless.

Infinite, to be fair, has a similar problem with his powers: the Phantom Ruby’s potential has never been specificed, but it seems to be a strong reality warper that can even teleport people (Mania) - and yet we only see Infinite conjure clones and spikes with it, which is boring. However, one thing he has over Mephiles is that the guy’s blatantly an idiot. Like, the story doesn’t shy away from showing how his arrogant, sadistic mistakes like “lol i’ll leave you alive because you’re not worth my time” have serious repercussions to Eggman’s plans, to the point that the guy at the end is like “you know what, I’m sick of your shit” and kills him. And you may be like “how does that make him better than Mephiles” - well he’s more believable, and more human (relatively speaking), and Forces’ story was written with feet but no one got their IQ divided by itself so there’s that.

I get the feeling Infinite is meant to be both intimidating and a parody of overly edgy and cool villains like Mephiles himself, and for me it works. Mephiles... he’s kinda like ShTH: he takes himself way too seriously. Except ShTH is funny, at least.

To be kind to Mephiles, his backstory is at least more precise, and definitely more interesting: as I mentioned, I love the idea of a god that was split into powerless intellect and mindless strength. In a better game, Mephiles would have been an interesting villain, completely ineffectual in a physical battle and maybe in constant pain, but omniscent and with a streak of sadism.

Infinite, on the other hand, clearly went through a shift in backstory: the main game hints at the fact that he was made in a lab, but then Episode Shadow comes in and he’s just some guy who was bullied too hard. I... okay.

Anyway, Infinite is more appealing to me and he doesn’t break Forces’ already fragile plot like Mephiles does. also he cute. there :V

#sonic the hedgehog #infinite #mephiles #sonic 06 #sonic forces #Anonymous

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the-shy-shade · 3 years

Note

Who do think is going to die this volume?

JNOR

At first I was so certain that Ren and Nora were on the chopping block from all of the death flags they were raising. However, now that his semblance has evolved I'm pretty sure Ren's was a red herring.

Nora's not safe though. She's currently unconscious & heavily injured. Between the Hound, hacked!Penny, Cinder, and Watts all either at Schnee Manor or on their way, she'd be easily caught in the cross fire once the chaos ensues. I can totally see one of them attacking Nora just to fuck with RWB+WWKM. She shouldn't be in too much danger, but it all depends on what happens.

Personally, I think Jaune's in a lot more danger considering Ironwood's (presumably unknowingly) going to have the Ace Ops blow them all to hell if they can't get Oscar out of Monstra in time.

Death Chance:

Ren: 15%, Nora: 30%, Jaune: variable (depends on how good or bad their mission goes) Oscar: 0% (Oscar's too important to kill rn)

WWKM

Willow has the Dead Mom - Classic hairstyle. I think shit's going to go very wrong very fast and if they have to escape Willow would probably sacrifice herself to let her children get away. Plus, I like the angst that comes with the idea that Weiss has to be the one to tell Winter about their mother's death, and Winter feeling guilty about not being there to help defend them.

Whitley's probably safe. Can't see him dying yet, if ever. There's always a chance he die could, but I doubt it, unless their trying to destroy Weiss or something. Would be cool if amidst the chaos he unlocked his aura and awakened to his semblance. Winter did specifically say "all Schnees", presumably by blood, so it would be weird if he was just normal.

Klein dying would be the saddest thing ever because Weiss and Whitley love him so much and that's exactly why I can see him being collateral damage.

May isn't dying. RWBY already has an inadvertently triggered the bury your gays trope with Clover and I don't think they'd be willing to deal with the backlash of killing off the only confirmed trans character in the show. Plus, her voice actress is trans irl so I don't think they'd be as happy to voice for the character if that's what the writers had in-store.

Death Chance:

Willow: 95%, Whitley: 15%, Klein: 50%, May: 0%

RWBY

They're all title characters. None of them are dying until the very last volume, if at all.

Death Chance:

Ruby: 0%, Weiss: 0%, Blake: 0%, Yang: 0%

Villains + Antagonists

Ironwood seems like he's a primary candidate for getting killed this volume. Pretty much everyone views him as an enemy now. Salem has only let him live this long because his paranoia and distrustful, authoritarian nature is useful to her and easy to manipulate, Qrow wants him dead because of Clover, Cinder just loves seeing powerful men burn (literally) and would do it for kicks, and if Ruby finds out that he's the one who ordered Watts to hack Penny then even she will want him dead.

I feel like Watts is coming to the end of his usefulness, both as a character and as Salem's minion. I mean, it sounds like his skill set would be mostly useless in Vacuo and I don't really think there's anything left for him in Vale that he hasn't already done. I wouldn't be surprised if they killed him by the end of the volume.

Emerald and Mercury are both safe for now, unless they do something incredibly stupid or risky. Actually, Emerald might already be on thin ice after her, Cinder, and Neo snuck off to Amity. If she's going to ask Jinn something she better make her question a good one!

Hazel is in danger. I feel like Salem already has it out for him so if he tries defecting or using the lamp and gets caught she's probably just going to kill him.

Tyrian is a motherfucker to kill so assuming he doesn't get sniped by some serious bad luck it probably won't be this volume, especially with him heading off for Vacuo.

The Ace Ops are in an interesting position. Pretty much all of them, except Vine, one way or another want to defect from Ironwood and his absurd orders. I feel like at least one of them is going to die, but I don't think all of them will. I think Elm and Vine are more likely to die than Harriet and Marrow, but maybe that's just because the latter get more screen time than the former.

Death Chance:

Ironwood: 85%, Watts: 70%, Emerald: 30%, Mercury: 0%, Hazel: 60%, Tyrian: 0%, Harriet: 30%, Marrow: 30%, Elm: 50%, Vine: 50%, Cinder: 15%, Neo: 0%.

Misc

Penny won't die again. What's the point in bringing her back, giving the Winter Maiden powers to her instead of Winter or Cinder, only for her to die and have one of them get the powers like they should've the first time. Killing the same character again for dramatic effect won't work the second time. It never really does. Could have some drama with Pietro deciding whether or not he wants to give Penny a third iteration at the cost of his life, but I'd rather kill him to raise the stakes for her so that a third iteration is impossible and she can't come back again if she dies.

Maria is a treasure and if she dies we riot.

Winter is pretty up in the air right now. Depending on what happens she might throw her life away all for nothing because Ironwood told her it was the right thing to do, just in more glorified wording. Or she could comes to her senses and defects like she so desperately wants to. If Willow does die in Schnee Manor and Winter finds out about it, I can see this easily being what pushes her to follow her heart instead of continuing to pretend to be the obedient soldier she never really was.

Death Chance:

Penny: 0%, Pietro: 50%, Maria: 30%, Winter: 50%

And this concludes my death predictions forecast! Thanks for the ask @neospacecat!

***REMEMBER*** These are only my personal predictions and should be taken with a grain of salt. This entire post is merely speculation and should be treated as such.

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unfortunatelysirius · 4 years

Text

UNEXPECTED | Regulus Black, Marauders Era

「 ❁ 」PROMPT 「 ❁ 」

Request // Regulus finds something unexpected—at a Slug Club dinner party, with a girl named Y/N L/N.

「 ❁ 」AUTHOR’S NOTE 「 ❁ 」

Sorry if this sucked.

LOVE.

Even the word itself felt like a promise. It could come like a metaphor, as gentle as misted rain, or it was a broken idea, radiating animosity that maimed worse than misplaced surgical lesions. Some folks went their entire lives without knowing it, feeling it, getting the chance to embrace and relish it—while others did indeed get a taste only for it to scorch like too-hot coffee. A funny little thing, love was. As scary as it was delightful.

Regulus Black didn’t know much about love. He only knew bleak sun—and a yearning that churned his stomach like butter. If he let his thoughts wander off too far, they’d explore territory too disturbingly foreign he’d have no choice but to retreat. His parents taught him discipline and obedience, but “love” was a rare occurrence; truthfully, the only person who ever even had an inkling of understanding for it was his brother Sirius, and the bastard left Regulus to bleed under the ripe moon. He knew what hatred felt like, same with spite, same with betrayal, same with repulsion.

Then he descended on the path weary travelers couldn’t cross.

It all started at the start of his fifth year, getting worse from there. He began noticing the Gryffindor who never stopped challenging professors and requested an extension on nearly every Charms essay. Who always wore an untidy uniform with the shirt untucked, cloak rumpled, and two different stockings. Who could be more quiet than a fairy’s whisper but the loudest personality in the room. Who once punched Giovanni Rivera, some snob in Hufflepuff, so hard in the nose he stayed slumped unconscious by a knight in the open dungeon corridor for an entire night.

He noticed you.

It was entirely accidental. Regulus was not someone to dive head-first, always treading the shallow end before walking into riptides that couldn’t be foreseen. He was caution in a world of chaos. He didn’t want to know the definition of “love,” even though he thought that was what he felt for Sirius. Brotherly love. The love someone had for another that protected them, provided for them in times of need. Then Sirius was labelled the family disgrace, shunned by Orion and Walburga; the perfect little Slytherin son, Regulus shunned him too. Regulus lost that feeling and failed to find it again, even in his circle of friends that mocked tainted blood and wanted more than meager lives. They aspired for a Wizarding World cleansed of impure magic; Regulus wasn’t sure what he wanted.

He quickly became lonely. As the days turned to months then years, he preoccupied himself with his studies—working diligently to fabricate a living lie like he had any future outside of the Dark Lord’s bidding. He envied Sirius for breaking from the family so soon, forcing Regulus into a compromised position; their parents scrutinized him more carefully now and expected more than he would have had to provide if Sirius was the pride-and-joy firstborn they could have turned into a great ally, rather than an adversary. Regulus hated it, hated that whatever he liked and the little joys he had in life were useless now that he had one reason to live. There was little to his life except growing up to be part of the Dark Lord’s army. Regardless of anything, he did know what he hoped for. The only thing that truly, truly belonged to him was his hope. It was different from his aspirations, as even those were polluted by conditioned hate.

He watched you frequently. He watched you curse his own brother, Sirius, for calling you a suck-up. He admired your appearance, from your Y/H/L Y/H/C hair to your facial structure, the effortless way you stood and walked, the kindness in your expression when guiding none-the-wiser first years. You were the same year as him, fifth year, and an entire breed of your own. Regulus didn’t know when he began falling for you. Well, the idea of you. You encompassed freedom, and fuck if Regulus didn’t crave freedom. He wanted to see himself careless, able to act out and be himself inconsequentially. This was an impossibility he loved to consider, like a dreamer in a room of realists. His parents expected the most out of him and in his crystal ball, all that laid in wait was the Dark Mark etched in his skin. Death and destruction. His head dark and heavy. It wasn’t happiness that killers strived for—it was pleasure. Power, too. Regulus knew he was different from the others. He had to hide it and fight every inch of himself that wanted what Sirius had. Freedom.

Regulus wanted to unleash every idea, every desire, every unspoken dislike. A brave heart scratched from under his skin, itching to have a say.

Sirius was the courageous one, not him.

He stuck to watching from afar.

You hated Potions class. You hated parties. You hated Slughorn. Most of all, you hated Slug Club parties. Dammit, you hated your life.

“Why did you drag me here, Lily?” you complained for the umpteenth time, fidgeting in your Gryffindor-red attire. You didn’t even like this shade of red. It was one of those colors you got tired of after seeing at every waking hour. All the assholes that prided themselves in the House the Sorting Hat bellowed, uniquely chosen for them… bleh! Dawning red and gold, parading around in Gryffindor scarfs bought for a bargain. You couldn’t be bothered. Lily had begged that the two of you go in a matching set, as one of your good friends. You never envisioned yourself agreeing. Fucking Lily, conniving you into wearing a dress like looked like it was sewn from a red Christmas stocking and attending a Slug Club party.

Lily smiled innocently. “You owed me a favor!”

A favor. You wracked your brain for any situation you’d been a part of where Lily offered her help. As your honorary big sister and a sixth-year prefect, she was the one calling for damage control whenever you did something warranting of punishment… and you didn’t want to fulfill your duties as a serious student. She chastised you at your worst but boosted you up too. Your best consisted of her praise and affection. You loved her, yes, but you didn’t love what owing her favors implied. It always wound you up in some unlikable predicament, such as this godforsaken party.

“I don’t owe you shite,” you grumbled, pinning your eyes on a table of refreshments over by the door. You belatedly noticed a figure standing by it. The air went still and silent, your blood pulsating like a gushing river of red. Your eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. Regulus Black was sharply—no, impeccably dressed, standing with his glossy dark hair in a neat do and his gray eyes watching the floor indifferently. When he got too close to looking at you, you quickly turned away. Lily was already raising a brow. “What? I don’t.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lily said amusedly. As she reopened her mouth to remind you of your every last unreturned favor and escaped week of detention, she spotted something over your head and a look of horror struck; you gauged this by the way her eyes bulged at the sockets. “Oh, Merlin—why the bloody Hell is he here? I’ll talk to you later, Y/N. Try to have some fun.”

She retreated like a squirrel from a hound, her body launching at the occupied Slughorn over half a room away. As she was nearly there a bulk dressed in black dress robes followed, at a tame pace compared to Lily’s. You knew it was James only by the unruly mess of black hair you saw from his enrobed backside profile.

You rolled your eyes and snuck another glance at Regulus. He wasn’t looking your way.

Try to have some fun, my arse.

You were here. Regulus didn’t know how, but you were. He hadn’t calculated what he’d do if you attended this party, not knowing you were a member. He assumed you weren’t, a rash assumption by all accounts, and that costed him. He didn’t want to be dogged by the thought of you all night, and now that your presence was mere feet from him, his mental duties seemed like lost causes. The burning urge to stare at you, consequences be damned, was incinerating—and control failed him left and right. Fucking hell.

Regulus filled a drink for himself. A punch of some kind. He drank it in one go, hoping the taste would eliminate you from his mind. If it were bad enough he could instead be hounded by his throbbing throat, gagging like no tomorrow. That would be better than this.

The punch didn’t work its magic. He looked again at you and calculated the inevitable penalty of making an approach.

Cursing his luck or lack thereof, he felt less inclined to drown himself in the punch bowl upon the appearance of a bloke he had in Potions, Terrence something. He was a Ravenclaw know-it-all, but he was Pureblood. He could go overlooked conversing with the fellow. Regulus was a master of mimicry and had his haughty Slytherin performance down pat.

The bloke asked too many questions and was evasive on topics Regulus had no interest in discoursing, but he was a well-welcomed distraction. Or ill-welcomed. Regardless of the reception, Regulus’s ambivalence towards you transitioned to an annoyance towards Terrence. Annoyance, that he could work with. He felt it most days. It was familiar territory. A stroke of olive on a canvas of emerald where you were lavender.

It worked. It worked until Terrence bid a hasty farewell, trailing after some quiet, expressionless brunette from Slytherin.

Regulus subtly scowled. Out of the corner of his eye he looked at you, surreptitious in a way he remembered from parties he went to hosted by well-known Pureblood families. You were in mid-conversation with some Gryffindor he knew from a mutual class the three of you shared. It was a bloke whose mouth seemed too keen on keeping a conversation going and hand was swaying too closely to your waist. Regulus’s eyes hardened without his meaning to, and before he knew it, his feet were in complete control; he walked to the two of you with renewed purpose.

You were ready to unleash your inner ugly. Random people kept coming up and trying to talk to you, each of them more mentally-taxing than the last. First there was Cornelius, an absolute walking disaster, then there was Dave, who went on tangents without checking to see if you were listening. Then Kala, then Paisley, then Travis. Finally, there was Justin. Justin was a compulsive flirt. You politely tried to get him to fuck off, but he just wasn’t catching the hint or acknowledging your blatant apathy in what he had to say. He wouldn’t understand discomfort on the part of his conversational partner if it slapped him in the face.

It was like a blessing and a nightmare when Regulus Black, wearing a cold expression and marginally more perfect up close than he was from a distance, appeared.

“Can I borrow you for a moment, L/N?” he asked, something off about his voice. Your eyes narrowed. If you had to garner a guess, you’d say he was straining to maintain a calm disposition, truly angry. The cold in his expression was cracking, giving way to heat. Had he noticed your wandering eye and wanted to clarify with you that he had no interest except to exterminate your muddy self from the Wizarding World? You were unsure; it was a common ideology among extremists, the hatred of non-Purebloods, but Regulus didn’t give off that ambiance. He didn’t feel like a future monster.

“Sure,” you said, sneaking a glance at Justin. Justin’s face wasn’t aggravated at the interruption, just confused that Regulus Black had been the one to interrupt. Regulus kept to himself usually… and he hated anyone who wasn’t pure of blood, supposedly. “Sorry to cut this chat short, Justin. I’m sure there’s plenty of other birds to talk into a stupor around here…”

Justin’s eyes lit up, disregarding the annoyance in your voice. “You’re right! Thanks, Y/N.”

You raised your eyebrows at him but bit back a less subtle remark, following Regulus when his hand prompted you at the shoulder.

“So, what was that back there?” you boldly asked, trying to avoid smirking. It was almost adorable, the way he swooped in and rescued you from a dolt. He couldn’t have approached you just to chastise your invasive stare or threaten you with death. You were taking a chance in assuming he came to save you the burden of dealing with Justin Doley’s bland chatter, but you didn’t care. You really didn’t. It was a sweet gesture if that were his true intention, but a niggling suspicion refused to believe it was. “Thank you, by the way. I was ready to lock my knees just so I could escape.”

Regulus’s face blanched, a tinge of hot pink flooding his cheeks. His brows made a cute little furrow that gave the impression of a natural unibrow. “Why would you lock your knees?”

“When you lock your knees, the blood stops circulating and can lead to fainting,” you said. Now you smirked. “Trying to avoid an answer? I’m hurt.”

He frowned at you. “I’m not trying to avoid anything. It was nothing. You looked uncomfortable…”

“I was more annoyed than anything,” you said, a correction you weren’t obligated to make. Seeing Regulus squirm was a pleasure on its own. He would already squirm, caught willingly communicating with a Gryffindor, but you had a tendency to go over and beyond in putting others on the spot. It made you a childish shade of giddy both inside and out, not that he would be able to tell. “You don’t have to keep talking to me, you know.”

“Oh,” Regulus said but didn’t move. He stayed rooted where he was, watching you with a piercing gaze. Now that you were close enough to reach a finger across the distance and graze those gaunt, knife-sharp cheekbones, you ogled him. You knew he was gorgeous from the brief times you interacted and the long, solitary moments you took to dissect him outside lessons, but being so close and with no time limit, you took a chance. Your chance was a rescue mission disguised as a private discussion.

A smile tore at your lips. “You clean up nice,” you said, your ogling session finished. You could stare at Regulus much longer than you deemed appropriate and actually did, but he was a moment and moments had the ability to pass you swiftly by. In this case, he’d leave without you getting to properly know him. Opportunistic as you were, you wouldn’t let him leave without taking what you could.

Why would you even want to know him? you asked yourself. He’s probably a Muggleborn-hater. The heart wanted what the heart wanted, try as you might to logicize.

Regulus frowned. “Thanks,” he said. He hesitantly snaked his eyes up and down your figure, stopping on your neckline. A beautiful necklace with your favorite gemstone adorned it, a gift from a Muggle relative. He cleared his throat aggressively. “You do too.”

He’s a shy bugger, isn’t he?

You inched closer, moving on a whim and putting your hand on his arm. Your fingers tightened around the material of his sleeve. He drew closer, like it was instinctive, and your eyelids fluttered as you basked in his perfumed, intimate proximity. You’d regret advancing on a Slytherin, especially one as admired and esteemed yet dark and dangerous as Regulus, but he just had this air about him. Like going from an altitude that took your breath away to one that had enough air to burst you at the seams. Like a butterfly with clipped wings, a scorpion without its stinger. He was tempting, but beautifully broken.

I know. I just know.

“When you came over, I thought you were going to confront me on how I haven’t kept my eyes off you all night,” you murmured. You met his gaze evenly, ignoring your pounding heart and fluctuating nerves.

Regulus froze immediately. “What?”

“Oh, did you not notice? Silly me,” you said, flaPping a hand like it never mattered in the first place. Truth was, your thoughts were frozen and fixated on his ignorance—ignorance you had just given a reality check. There had been no point, absolutely no hidden objective, in admitting your inability to overlook Regulus. Yet you had—and now he was staring at you like you had turned the color orange and horns magically sprouted from your head.

Then, like a switch went off that had full control over Regulus’s emotions and the way he expressed them, he smirked. It wasn’t a full smirk, just apparent enough you noticed it. All the tension contorting his face flattened, leaving him like he was relaxed, the opposite of how he looked mere seconds ago. Always the skeptic, you stared at him with narrowed eyes, scrutinizing him from head to toe. He didn’t lose the smirk, his arms crossing over his sleek robes in a devil-may-care fashion.

“Presumptuous of you to think I ever notice you in the first place,” he said, in that pompous voice you were used to hearing from Sirius’s favorite Slytherin, Severus Snape.

You laughed at his audacity and, hearing the music change tone and tempo, reached out a hand. You forgot your wit and lost all possible responses to give his arrogant retort. “Dance with me, Black,” you said softly, “before your brother comes to ruin my night, like the prick he is.”

Regulus raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t deny you. He interlaced his fingers into yours and his free arm, moving at whim and ease, came quickly to your side, enveloping your waist in a delicate embrace. A formal embrace that bespoke of the distance between you, the invisible rift. The dance he swept you in was unfamiliar, but it was simple enough that you could match his pace without tumbling over your own feet.

You felt everyone staring, but nothing mattered more to you than the feeling of his hand on your waist and the deep, unreadable waters of his foggy gray eyes. He was an enigma that swept coast to coast, tainting the sand with his attendance but leaving wild imaginations to run rampant wondering why he was there, what he did, who he was. Everyone knew of him, but no one knew him. You couldn’t deny you also didn’t know him. Really, you knew nothing about him except that he was a Slytherin in your year, the younger brother to Gryffindor’s infamous playboy, and a supposed Pureblood extremist. You were curious, though, and wanted to know all the dismissive facts that made up his mind and crafted a mental narrative even you found ambiguous. He had consciousness, and there was no way in Merlin’s sodding Hell he was a host to someone else’s thoughts, opinions, and interests the way so many other future killers seemed. Every now and then he showed you something unusual—a mannerism individual to him, words you recoiled back at hearing from his mouth. After he smirked at you and accepted your demand to dance, you lost yourself in the shock of his dismal composure cracking at the folds.

You never really believed in love.

Regulus never really believed in love.

But if you wandered too far into the bittersweet fantasy of happy endings…

Regulus could get lost.

The song changed again; slow and calm it became. Pressing your cheek to Regulus’s chest, you let the soft fabric of his dress robes sway you into an admittedly false sense of security. The hawk eyes following your every move disappeared with every cyclic step Regulus took. You were hypersensitive to his heartbeat now. It pounded against your cheek like a drumstick, a vibrato of epic proportions. You felt delirious with delight, yet a piece of you was stuck to the path your half-conscious feet made through the slow dance. It’s like you left a trail, and you’d have to pick up the pieces once Regulus became sick of your pathetic antics.

“Are you asleep?” he asked amusedly, his chest vibrating against you. It rattled you enough to awaken some semblance of nerves.

“No,” you said, shaking yourself out of the daze. You pulled back from him, bridging enough space to look him in his eyes. He had beautiful eyes a silly girl like you could get lost in. Any girl really. They were pools of fog made of spring mornings and forest hues. You just wanted to kiss his eyelids. What a strange desire, but you felt it all the same…

Regulus blinked and you were drawn back in the moment. He had said something.

You hummed in question, your eyebrows raising.

He shook his head, his face flattening until it was expressionless. “I have to go,” he said. You knew what lies looked like. He was a good liar, but you were a better observer. “I have a matter to discuss with Slughorn.”

You laughed. “That’s too bad,” you said, voice coming out like a purr. Your hand rose until it settled on his chest; your fingers curled around his robe, until fabric was fisted and cupped into a swirl. “We could have had some fun.”

“No,” Regulus said firmly. Almost too firmly. His hand jerked up to meet yours and his larger fingers interlaced yours, tugging in an attempt to prompt your release. Your refused to let go. “Y/N.”

“I like it when you talk all authoritative,” you said teasingly.

His face blanched and it was enough of a shock to make him lose all incentive to fight the good fight. You took this chance and drew him in, his feet stumbling in a clumsy attempt to regain balance. “Y/N, I—”

“What are you so afraid of?”

Regulus was afraid of a lot of things. He was afraid of what his parents would do if they figured out he didn’t despise tainted blood the way he was raised to. He was afraid of his peers shunning and scorning him for being caught dead with a Half-blood. He was afraid of losing himself in the moment just to sate his deadened hope and watching you get killed in the crossfire of his foolish, self-indulgent mistakes. He was afraid of many things.

He would never dare utter those fears aloud.

You watched the conflict flit across his face, erasing itself seconds after.

“What?” you innocently asked, noting that he had gone stiff. You were unaware to how deep his issues ran. You knew from Sirius’s running mouth that Pureblood households were devoid of tender moments and affectionate caresses. You wanted to imagine an alternative for them, but Sirius was a hellish hailstorm when honest; his feelings were subjective, but his experience was likely to ring alarmingly true. Regulus was quiet and allowed things to fester, so no one would ever know how he felt.

He looked at you now, a lock where his mouth was. No key in sight. His eyes were piercing and unquestionably inscrutable.

He had to leave before he lost control of his mouth. He couldn’t afford to involve you in his mess. He was a hurricane and you were summer rains. He would destroy you.

“I have somewhere to be,” Regulus said, no room left for an argument. His arms disappeared from around your waist and he tore his eyes away, like it was physically painful to do so.

You grabbed his wrist before he could melt into the dancing crowd. “Regulus, wait,” you said. You hated the way you sounded. You didn’t know him, but you felt strongly anyway, like he mattered more to you than was plausible for a girl and boy from two separate worlds. You couldn’t explain why you cared; you just did. He hid himself under the pretense of a rich, spoiled Pureblood who stood above the rest. He was hypnotically beautiful and bathed in greens and silvers. He was brilliant in ways Gryffindor House could only aspire to be.

Regulus didn’t respond to your plea. He stared at you, waiting briefly to hear what you had to say.

You didn’t have anything to say. You had something to express—and words weren’t always the best at expression.

You reached up to his face and palmed his cheeks, finding little skin and mostly bone. His cheekbones jerked underneath your grip. His eyes went slightly wide, like he disbelieved you had taken physical initiative with him. Your fingers didn’t dig or tear at his skin, nor did you impulsively decide that you had him in your grip and now was the time to hurt him. You didn’t want to hurt him. You wanted to show him that he didn’t have to be risk-aversive; he could fall clumsily into risk with you and the two of you would make it work. As long as he felt this bizarre, unnatural connection same as you did.

You’d find out.

You pressed yourself flush against him and drew your lips until you were a breath away. Then you kissed him.

The room and its occupants disintegrated, leaving only Regulus and you. Regulus dissolved into putty. His arms went around you again, one of them circling your waist entirely and a hand gripping your hip tight like letting you go would mean you never came back. His lips were soft if slightly chapped, moving against yours like they belonged there; there was no hesitation, no anxious energy. Regulus had lost himself in the moment, same as you. He wasn’t a Pureblood and you weren’t some Half-blood Gryffindor who had spent half the night pinning after a Slytherin who would keel over dead before wanting you. Regulus was different, and you hadn’t failed to sense it.

Regulus abruptly remembered his place and pulled from you. Your eyes were still fluttered shut, and it took several seconds before you noticed he was no longer wrestling with your lips.

You stared. Regulus wiped all emotion from his face, refusing to let you know he wanted a second kiss. You were not a good deceiver and every emotion you felt showed on your face, from confusion to lust to apprehension.

“That should not have happened,” Regulus murmured, glancing around. There were people staring; even some of your Gryffindor friends, like Lily Evans and Marlene Mckinnon, were aghast, eyeing the two of you like you had just committed a murder.

“Why?” you said confrontationally. “Did you regret it?”

Regulus glanced at you but didn’t say a word.

You could feel your heart plummet to your gut. “Yeah, okay,” you said, shaking your head. You knew he was being dishonest, but that didn’t stop you from feeling hurt at his blatant favoring of his reputation over a chance at this… this relationship. You jerked out of his slackened grip.

You fought tears as you walked away.

Regulus watched you go.

He knew what it felt like when towers crumbled and empires fell, as it happened frequently. His life fell apart more than it came together. He missed you the moment you left but he knew this was for the better. That kiss had meant more than Regulus would ever admit. He felt the connection and he knew there was a future that would happen if he allowed it, if he chose not to intervene. He was the inhibitor of a lot of good things, but he would rather see himself drown than another person swallow their breath underwater.

So he stared at your retreating back, wishing things were different.

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