What am I to you?

Is it bad that I find the whole "step-son" thing hilarious? I mean, my MC would never call Helios that - he'd be just as bothered as Helios himself heh. But it's still funny. I can imagine someone ill intentionned making that joke in front of my MC and Helios, and both sweet boys being so uncomfortable.

On that note, will we get opportunities to call the other ROs weird stuff? Like equivalents of the step-son one for Helios.

I think it's very funny too! Always wanted to add that and wanted to add MC being high and mighty with their Royal Consort position.

I don't know about weird but MC can also use "soldier" in a derogatory way for Vincent like "why should I listen to a soldier of all people 🤨"

I haven't thought of anything for the others mainly because I didn't think such dynamics would work with the other ROs.

Some TLOVM new-episode notes, under a cut 'cause there's some great stuff here and I, uh, went on for a bit:

Not gonna lie, I was halfway expecting the theme to The Neverending Story after that Falcor-looking fucker flew by.

Watching an animated version of something I watched happen in person in a live episode is a damn trip. I feel like I should be sitting in a movie theater on Pico all over again...

Grog all torn up over hurting Pike: *tinysob*

Put...the sword...down....Grog...

Okay, putting it down in a rock will do. More dramatic than a pocket dimension, anyway.

Percy, stop trying to sound like an expert and get on with flirting with grass.

Hey! Laura found her best friend from the next campaign! Convenient!

Honestly, I'm kinda liking how they're shifting things around with Grog. Having this fit in with his whole "where do you get your strength?" theme works.

Hi there, Billy! Nice to hear you here!

Arta -- ahem -- Garmelie drawing dicks? Fancy that.

Vax, you're cruising for a bruising here, and by that I mean my palm across your face. Chill.

Ashley and Sam going full country twang: bwahahaohdearhelpme.

(it works, though)

Pikey made the Scan-man bluuuuuush...

PokéTrinket!

...I think I read this in a fanfic once.

(istg it's fucking pollen they knew what they were doing)

Diplomacy in action! About time.

Well, the boys are talking again. That's good.

"We are all just prisoners of our own anxieties...." Keyleth wasn't wrong about that part, at least, before the rainbow vomiting started.

Sylens, stop being an arrogant jackass and start being useful--oh wait. Wrong narrative.

Ripley consorting with dragons: *chef's kiss*

Twin angst incoming!

--

Syngorn is indeed pretty AF.

You don't want to tango with pixies, indeed. You might, on the other hand, want to steal their furniture for your dollhouse. *side-eyes Percy*

(yes, that was an actual thing that actually canonically happened in the campaign)

(I will love it forever)

Heh, I've heard THOSE lines before. Wink wink nudge nudge. Little sudden in this context, but I certainly can't complain that they're here.

can't complain at all

nope not me

VELORAAAA

Velora's owlbeaaaaar

Velora so cute

Troy sure does do a good job at playing a pretentious ass.

(cough)

Wilhand!!

And there we go with the namedrop. This time it pretty much worked.

stop giving Vex's character moments to Vax challenge 2k23

We're about a handsbreadth here from Miracle Max and honestly I can't really be mad about that part.

"You'll need to amend one name, though."

Watching that happen in person was so fucking satisfying, I'm not going to lie.

All right, I have notes here and there about how they're adapting this, mostly just because it's having to happen too quickly for all of it to land (the eps are short, what are you gonna do), but I love this conversation between Percy and Vex. They finally got to work in Percy making things for her, too!

"I gotta stimulate myself? Okay..." "Back it up." Sporfle.

Nice frog-to-not-quite-a-frog transition there. (Ribbit.)

Saundor, you creepy fuck. HANDS OFF OUR GIRL.

"Sweet, broken Vex'ahlia." I love that line and hate it in equal measure, and I want her to shoot him in the fucking faaaaaaaaace.

Hey, THERE'S that line I wanted her to yell at her father! Slightly different context here, but hey, I'll take it.

"My heart is someone else's." <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

"How do you fight a tree?" With FIRE. Seriously, this was one of Keyleth's coolest moments and best strategic decisions in the campaign, and I love that they're going for it.

"Twig dick." I say again: sporfle.

Okay, they're making this fight look absolutely badass.

SHE'S USING

PERCY'S

ARROWHEAD

see, this is how you do it

Stubby

Garmelie Artie, you little fuck.

(The traveler, hmmmm?)

(And thank god that was Matt. I mean, who ELSE could you cast?)

KILL BOX INCOMING

--

So the herd is fucking terrifying. Appropriately. But dang, this got grim in a HURRY.

Mythcarver has been so much more useful in this show than in the campaign that it's kind of hilarious.

One thing I love about this episode: Grog has, legendarily, an intelligence of six, but it's easy for the animated version of him to slip into all-doofus-all-the-time mode in the way the campaign never did -- in part because Travis is clearly so damn smart and you have him out of character as part of the picture. So it's nice giving Grog more depth here to do its part in balancing things out.

Pikelan cuteness: <3

Grog backstory! Grog and the gnomes! <3

KAYLIE

I wouldn't flirt if I were you, Scanlan

I mean: I really, really wouldn't

for reasons

Grog saving Wilhand is everything I hoped for.

In a word: ouch.

Dark-haired Pike! <3

I want to hug them both, okay? They deserve hugs.

....Scanlan, please, hit the brakes before you hurt yourself.

Good to see some tabaxi out and about in the world! Now please save the wee one.

"I swear, I know that voice!" Iiiiindeed.

Kevdak, you're an asshole, and you'd be nothing without your magic toys, and you know it.

"Your armor's not exactly the quietest." Oh, Pikey. Never the stealthiest, are we.

Scanlan, I'm not gonna say this again. COOL YOUR JETS.

Nice magic tricks, though.

saaaave the kiiiitttyyyyyyy

you're not doing this on your own and we all know it so listen to Pike okay

...all right, save the KILL BOX INCOMING for next week, but we're well on our way!

reading progress: chapter 222 (i had to get some shit sorted but we're back in action here folks)

reading highlights: get the scrolling fingers ready

196 oh theres a character w gender

kdj kind of commenter that just wants a girl character. okay

kdj ID theft yjh: oh there you are

197 "in moments of low self esteem Kim Dokja would say "I'm Yoo Joonghyuk"

UNIONIZE HELL!!

198 going to a bar to eat the appies yes (non drinker solidarity)

guy who survived a decade on one story -> maybe [non constellation] people need stories also

kdj: WWYJHD? wait im better than him

199 kdj special fake it til u make it

listening to funky synth music during the reaper fights (cat out of hell on bandcamp)

"my lovely kids LGY & SYS" t-t

200 [processing gamified revolution] HMM

201 hell yeah publican dude (british sense) i want him to make me a butty

Han Myungoh (HMO?) union buster OFC

YJH bar of handsome ness entry #1652

203 kdj unabashed long media enjoyer

LITERALLY comparing this to union efforts at the old job. okay

204 why are all office manager/company men roman philosophy losers

bring out the skill/item from 100 chapters ago

kinda hot to kill people just cause there fucking with the revolution

ORV MPREG?

205 orv a story for people who like wall

JHY videogame siren girl technique :/

206 HMO demon king consort? good for u?

ppl can grow off screen?? kdj lack of human object permanence

YJH widower era babey. uriel not causing problems persay. but on purpose

207 [BAD SOCIETAL THING] isnt the natural state of the world and can be changed. kissing this arc

brooo do get yjh a therapy watch to get him to dissociating/alienating himself less -> kdj is the guy planing this o__o

KNW and abyssal black dragon are u evil or just 14

208 [hsy feels like] an abandoned food processor?

The entire hsy & ysa scene its got everything: sexual tension, fraught emotions, abt secrets and grief, Big Dragon

JHY in a world of minmaxers is a balanced PC

209kdj you have a new kid a they are a foolish teen

4th wall dog training continues. NO eating other smaller wall

Big Guy (derogatory) my fav passive aggressive insult

210 "I forgot to I was Yoo Joonghyuk" yeah rookie mistake man cant forget that

"Tell the Duke to learn to fear the Day" HOOTIN AND HOLLERING

211 why is this egg so cute wtf. it needs story and hugs okay

dokkaebi sys birth im crying. kids man, you gotta love them! they love the whole world!

212 [heh] kdj dad moments! thats his kid!!

SYS LGY LJH kid hang out T_T -> maritime admiral yi sunsin T_T

uriel is so normal about dokhyuk. you abandoned ur incarnation!!

213 yjh uriel Road trip buddy comedy

STEAL FROM WORK!!

214 "if you have to sell your story sell it for the right price" THATS PRAXIS BAYBE

kdj doing the blackbeard thing about demon king of salvation

215 kdj cant talk to people. mood. -> praising jhy cute

216 kdj no good billionairs-ing the constellations

the readership to commenter to author pipeline. themes

Kdj existential crisis about the existence of truth and the true self and if its possible to know the other

Yelling

"I think there is a huge wall" [Fourth Wall is looking at you] -> THATS WRITING

'theres no such think as communication' DOKJA

everyone has a wall, communication is impossible thats obvious -> TEENS ROCK

you should leave your mark

music: loves first explosion

kdj 🤝 me : getting the names slightly wrong

SWK!!!

↳ 217 he had sweet lips?

↳ one of swk hairs? -> secret tool that will help us later?

↳ its the gaze of one person...

218 the snake says hes okay cause he has no hands and feet (GOOD JOKE) i missed the twitch chat

THE REVOLUTION MUST LIVE IN OUR HEARTS AND IN OUR MINDS

many stripes one team! (blaseball ref)

219 dokhyuk's constant one up man ship ID fuckery

219 theres the swk hair. im gonna get a good grade in orv!

220 KNW is a mech. okay

Bye KNW see you in another 50 chapters

UGH YJH [SCREAMING] thx for saving him bbygirl

"He came..." I was so happy I wanted to call out his name... yeah bro?

221 kdj self rationalization speed run. did my friend do smth just to save me? no he must have some convoluted motive

Author is that file A THREAT? sad yjh tho bby.

rotating: i mean shit. i already made a post cause part of of this section was so fucking good. kim dokja! you got problems man. fucking fascinating ones. I love it when teens school him about the philosophy of communication. yeah bro its all signifiers all the way down the platonic realm of perfect objects is inaccessible to us. but meaning can still be created even if its infinite meanings of infinite texts. hang on.... can we get fictional character Kim Dokja to read Borges i think i would fuck him up so bad. delightful revolutionary stuff going on here too, big fan. to think we can kill the trope of the evil revolutionary that takes power for themself if we all just had the most weird intrinsic gay identity thing going on with some guy thats assassinates politicians in ur name.

i think ill leave the actual nibbles of kdj yjh legacy/story swap for next time tho. just based in vibes. also just noteing the veritable gaggle of kids being collected. love em. kdj like many people with parent problems and who is easy to own, collecting them like flies

remember all epiphanies of the self are 80 percent wrong

Hi, I was reading through all your asks (in a non-creepy way I swear 🙄) and came across something you said about how SKZ previous comebacks/performances inspired you for fics, and that you assumed the same would happen with ODDINARY. So I was wondering, did it not inspire you this time? Were you busy with other fics/life in general? Or maybe you were inspired but you just haven’t finished writing/posted it yet? I don’t mean it as an accusation or anything like that! I’m just curious

that’s a lot of asks of me spouting my dorky bullshit, don’t worry it’s not creepy it’s flattering 😂

oddinary did inspire quite a few fic ideas! life got in the way and i didn’t have the time or energy to write much other than consort 5 but never say never 😊

here’s a few ideas i had, and where i got the inspo:

after that cinematic oddinary teaser came out, i had an idea of writing a reader trying to track down her fiancé felix who has been completely radio silent since investigating a strange hotel that people claim is haunted. reader encounters each skz member in turn - all of them ghosts that had found themselves entering the hotel at some point in history and dying/being killed - and of course eventually runs into hyunjin who’s got the whole “heh i murdered your fiancé actually, whoops” card up his sleeve. and in the end, felix appears as a new ghost, it’s all very bittersweet.

the maniac mv gave me a few ideas. that end scene of them all chilling at the cafe was very domestic, there’s some easy fluff in there. i looked up some of the art on the walls on the set, and realised that one particular piece was the cover of ‘Le Poeme de l'Angle Droit’, which is a collection of paintings and writings and there’s a pairing of colour and theme in each one. have a look, there’s some cool shit to write about. the cover itself is similar to a painting in the collection of two hands clasping together, symbolising the reconciliation of opposites as the only way for humanity to survive. and honestly is there a better way to describe enemies-to-lovers?

‘waiting for us’ gives me big “i’m an idol and we can’t date in public yet bc of all the backlash, but i’m waiting for the day when we can finally be the couple we truly are” vibes and that’d be a cute thing to write

the freeze mv is basically a mafia au gift-wrapped and served up on a silver platter. i thought about maybe extending the respite!universe. there could be some kind of comedic fic of one of the detectives trying to spy on reader and changbin’s date for mafia info, and eventually give up bc it’s just two dorks sickeningly in love and feeding each other and walking around a park holding hands without even a shred of illegality to be seen.

alternatively, hyunjin in the freeze mv looks like such a villain that it gave me an idea or two of writing something darker. basically all of my romances are fluffy and the two leads are healthy and good for each other, so why not write the opposite? i’m not saying yandere but i’m not not saying that every so often my hand twitches towards that keyboard when i think about the concept

the venom mv…well…

look they’re in tight black clothes and handcuffs and *gestures frantically* y’know

there’s something spicy to be written there

also Changbin’s lil dangly earring? *chef’s kiss*

a whole 100k slow-burn could be centred on that styling choice, a++ decision there

Into The Casino Ch8

A silence fell onto the three in the car. Those seemingly glowing red eyes calmly met her own worry filled purple ones. The fact that he was so calm in his reply was scary enough as it is but that's not what scared her most, it's the fact his answer was that nothing down there was free. Which meant he wanted something from her- He leaned forward slightly and held out a hand to her. "How about a story in exchange?" She stared back...Well, wasn't expecting that. He chuckled at the confusion on her face. "Oh come now. You can't blame me for being the tiniest bit curious, after all you only gave a small drabble to the entire tale?" "...E-Excatly what story?" She got a bad gut feeling at his laugh.

"Yours of course. I can't help but wonder how a pure little thing like you could possible anger a Goddess so much that you'd end up in a chaotic place like this." His smile widened as he saw the suspicious look on her face. "You can't blame me for asking. I have to know everything about the ones I employ, as an employer you should know that the ones I hire also reflect on my company." Her suspicious look faltered a bit. I mean, technically that was true. You wouldn't want to come back somewhere where you didn't like the people working there, and it didn't sound like he was anything but curious. Then again you could never know with things like this. Would something bad happen if she didn't say anything? Would it be unwise to say anything at all? Try to change the subject? Looking back to those blood red eyes, she decided to play It safe and go for something in the middle. "W-What's there to know?" She straightened up and attempted to brush it off like her death wasn't really anything important with a shrug. "My stupid consort killed the beloved pet of a God, he lost everything and I being the oh so engaged lady at the time got d-dragged into it all!" Whoops! Mistake one. Showing emotions. That last few words seemed to get some emotion into her. Because right now she was staring at the floor and it almost looked like she was about to cry. His brow rose and he hummed at the mixture of anger and sorrow in her features, well this was a surprise turn of events. Now wasn't it? It was interesting to see something other than just intimidation or fear on those little features. Don't get him wrong. It was glorious to see such traits he could mold to his use, but it would get tiring if he couldn't get some resistance out of her after all. Where would the fun be then or the glory? An easy win was nice but a rewarding one was much better satisfying.~ He calmly hummed and leaned back into his seat. A fake uninterest coming over him with a shrug. "Lots of lovers doom their spouses down here. It's a sad but common story amongst the crowd...but of course-" His eyes flashed an underlining tone. "Not many people can clam the tragity of the romantic tale gone wrong. Most go on with their new strengths gained from it." "I don't have anything like that." Mistake number two. Admitting you're weak in the presence of a stronger demon. She had just unintentionally admitted she wasn't very strong willed or at least didn't have much magic to begin with. Which was exactly what he was hoping she would say. Internally he smiled, but on the outside he gave a very convincing surprised look. To which cyber smiled and rolled her eyes at as she silently continued to watch play out. Oh Lou, such the actor. "On come now. Surely you must be mistaken. A thing like you must have some remarkable talent if you survived this long down here." Without looking up she just shrugged and leaned back into the seat. "Not really. All I can do is teleport and explode when Im scared enough, not like it's even useful." His smile slowly returned. "But...It has killed before? Right?" She shrugged again. "Only a few times, haven't been out long enough to keep count." Mistake number three. She had unintentionally made herself the target of another demon's sights. Whether or not dangerous doesn't matter. His smile came back in full swing. OH! What a naïve little delight this was, and WHAT a convenience for him. He would have to remember to thank whatever good luck sent this opportunity his way because this was more delicious than any drug he could possibly eat! Cyber must've been reading his thoughts because she smiled along with the obvious thought plastered all over his face. POWER!! He could gain control over the entire neighborhood with this new tool by his side, all those angry faces of the ones who dared to ever threaten him, turning into ones of fear. Begging for mercy before they would be forever be turned into piles of DUST!! "Lou?" His attention was snapped back to the smaller demon next to him who was nudging him in his side. Cyber nodded her head towards the open car door and he realized they had stopped driving. "We're home." ******************************************************************************* Music blared about around the club and idiots danced and partied to it. He never really did like the whole setting of drunken morons dancing or the flashy lights, or the shady looking people in the corner who would stop and stare you down if you even looked like if you were eaves dropping on your conversations. But the pay was good and his husband worked here. So in some ways the pros outweighed the cons in his opinion, but being Rita's little errand runner all the time definitely wasn't what he signed up for when he agreed to this whole manager position. And he also ran into his most hated person in hell so now that made his day a million times worse. They carried the bags through the tight nit crowd and towards the employee's only door behind the bar. The door was pushed open and the two made their way in. "It's about time you two showed up. What took you so long?" "Shut up, Jasper! I had enough of today as it is." He growled to the lazy demon laying on the lounge's couch and headed towards the table in the corner. Throwing the bags onto it and heading to the employee's fridge above it. His partner being more cool headed watched with a raised brow as Charles helped himself to the canned ice tea in the back. At least he wouldn't have to worry about him getting drunk and angry today. "What crawled up your skull and died this time?" "Can it, Jasper. He's not in the mood." The demon mumbled 'When is he ever' but sank back down into the couch, rolling his eyes, he glanced back to Charles who was downing one of the tea cans. "Babe. Take it easy on those. Last time you spit some out of your eye socket." The can was slammed back to the table and the ghost skeleton slumped onto the table. "I can't help it. You know what I think about him. I don't care what Rita says, Im going to kill him one of these days." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Him who? He paused and looked around. Ans smiled. "Well speak of the demoness. Hiya Bosslady." The small lady standing there gave them both a raised brow and he shrugged and leaned back onto the table. "Got your stuff. Don't mind the 'extra baggage' we brought along." Rita smiled amused at him and sashayed her way over to his side, grabbing one of the bags as she did and bringing it down to peer inside. "I trust there wasn't any trouble?" "No." "Yes!" She peered back up at Charles with a questioning look and he gave a small growl. "Horrible wilted leaf." "Oh, it's just Lou again." She tutted and looked back to the bag in her grip. Honestly Charles could be such a drama queen about the whole thing. Even just mentioning the plant demon around him was enough to- excuse the term- rattle his bones for the rest of the week. Which happened fairly often if she wasn't mistaken. "Don't you have anything better to do with your time than just mope on him?" "She's right. Cheer up, Baby." He gave the skeleton a playful shove which earned him an annoyed glare. "Oh come on.~ Don't be like that. Could be worse. You could've ended up with a furry fetish like plant boy." That one earned him a couple chuckles from his husband finally, making him smile wider. "See! I knew you could do it." "Furry fetish?" Rita gave him a questioning look before chuckling and pulling one of the more expensive looking clothes out of her bag. "So he finally convinced...oh what's her name- Midnight to fall for him. Heh. Ever persistant." "No actually...Well I don't know, but that's not what I was talking about." Rita giving him a 'What do you mean' look made him shrug before continuing. "Looks like he got a new toy ta mess with. Don't know what he's gonna do this time though. Mostly horse around. hehe." "Really?" Interest peeked in her voice. Well of course this wasn't any of her business, the opportunity to snoop around and get a leg up on her frenemy-.....rival was always too good to pass up. Besides, it was always fun to tease him and get under his skin given the chance. A smile curled on her lips. "Oh. Well he wanted an answer from me anyways. Maybe it's time I do a little wellness check on his place." "Are you sure it's just not to see the lovebug-" "SHUT UP, JASPER!!"

All characters except Amalfia belongs to @palettepainter

Do you have any song suggestions?

Also Achilles come down is one of my favorite songs right now, i’ve been listening to it on repeat for days! (So yay for tons of people finding cool songs!)

(Ignore me purposefully not answering this ask for a *long* time because I was busy collecting and compiling songs to suggest. Thinking of making it a Spotify playlist so you can listen more easily :)) 

I DOOOO!!!

And YEE! 

I have yet to do a full week of listening to that song, but it’s soooo gooddd!! 

(YAY INDEED!! :DDD) 

I’ve been listening to much more like pop and rap style songs lately, so 0-0  Be warned XD 

Okie! Song suggestions:  Warning: I kinda went overboard with this there’s like.. 50+ songs under cut. I might make a playlist for easier listening, honestly? Sure. Why not. 

1) Literally any song from Wilbur Soot (Understandable if it’s not some people’s style of songs, but Internet Ruined Me is a bop) (Also, Wilbur has two profiles on Spotify [Why? I don’t know] but it’s Wilbur and Wilbur Soot) 

2) Ghostwriter - RJD2  (Am listening to it at the moment while I type it out. Still searching while typing for more suggestions :D) 

3) All the Pretty Girls - KALEO  (Cottagecore vibesssss~) 

4) Canyon Moon - Harry Styles (And literally anything from Harry Styles, honestly, his songs are just so ~aesthetic~)

5) Out of My League - Fitz and The Tantrum 

6) Ultimately - Khai Dreams  (This is my favorite song, like ahjfdlad it’s good, the riffssss) 

7) Argeers - The Fyre and Lightning Consort  (Classical songs? Folk songs? In my playlist? More likely than you think) 

8) Sorry Haha I Fell Asleep - Egg (Pretty sure most people have heard this song before) 

9) The Jellyfish Song - Caroline Konstnar (Credits to Yawn for finding this song) 

10) Glad You Came - The Wanted  (Oldie but a Classic) 

11) Where the Watermelons Rot - Madelynne Whitt 

12) Malibu Nights - LANY 

13) Ancient Airs and Dances: Suite III, Siciliana  (Another classical? I’m on a rollll~ 😎)

14) Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, MWV N16 “Italian”: I. Allegro vivace

15) Alice in Wonderland: Act I: Alice and her Sister  (Will this list just end up being a classical list from here on out? Perhaps, I’ll try not to though) 

16) invisible string - Taylor Swift  (Honestly the whole new album is a bop, go listen to it if you haven’t :D) 

17) Roses - The Chainsmokers 

18) Prelude - TwoSetViolin 

19) It Ain’t Me - Selena Gomez 

20) Echo - Talisk  (I literally found them just today, wow. It’s good) 

21) short kings anthem - blackbear (This one is a little out there, but the chorus I like :)) 

22) Can’t Sleep love - Pentatonix 

23) In Case You Don’t Live Forever - Ben Platt  (Personally, I don’t really like his version, his voice in this one is pretty eh, there’s this one other version that I really like, forgot which one though Ah- by Ryan Stewart) 

24) Hidden In The Sand - Tally Hall (Iconic animatic song)

25) Train Wreck - James Arthur

26) Producer Man - Lyn Lapid 

27) Ophelia - The Lumineers 

28) Arcade - Duncan Laurence 

29) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Pentatonix 

30) Be Around me - Will Joseph Cook 

31) Overwhelmed - Royal & the Serpent 

32) Dandelions - Ruth B 

33) The Grey - Annelle Staal 

34) Take Yours, I’ll Take Mine - Matthew Mole 

35) It’s Simple, Child - Matthew Mole 

36) Running After You - Matthew Mole 

37) Hold On - Chord Overstreet 

38) Dreams - Joakim Karud 

39) Everywhere at the end of time - The Caretaker (It’s like a playlist of samples) (I personally haven’t listened to all of them, but it’s said to be really good) 

40) Brooklyn In The Summer - Aloe Blacc 

41) starstruck - biosphere 

42) SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK - Joji 

43) Sad - Bo Burham 

44) Tiny Dancer - Elton John 

45) Shotgun - George Ezra 

46) Paradise - George Ezra 

47) Life’s A Happy Song - Mickey Rooney 

48) Classic - MKTO 

49) Able Sister (From “Animal Crossing”)

50) Casin - glue70  (Meme music? Meme music) 

51) Inside a House - Amy Turk 

52) Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra 

53) Buttercup - Hippo Campus 

54) watch - Billie Eilish 

55) Be My Mistake - The 1975

56) IDK You Yet - Alexander 23 

57) Fire - Barns Courtney 

58) The Fall - half alive

59) Beige - Yoke Lore 

60) Marlboro Nights - Lonely God 

61) LEMONS - Brye 

62) Mariposa - Peach Tree Rascals

63) Can I have a Ride Home? I’m at a party and I Don’t Know Any1 - carpetgarden 

64) Down the Line - Beach Fossils 

65) Lucy - Still Woozy 

66) To My Parents - Anna Clendening 

67) Honey Moon - Birds in the Airport 

68) Interlude (For You) - Ashton Edminster

69) (Heh 69, nice ;)) Clouds - Zach Sobiech 

70) if you’re feeling lonely - Chance Pena 

0-0 

Did I go overboard with this? Yes. I do not regret a single thing. 

Hope you enjoy some of the songs I picked though! XD 

Bonus: 

Written in the Sand - Old Dominion 

The Other Side of Paradise - Glass Animals 

Rat - Penelope Scott

Female Homosexuality in the Ancient World, a (Brief) Analysis

    So, lately, I’ve been doing some readings on Ancient Greek as well as Ancient Roman attitudes towards female homosexuality in order to try to discern how these ancient writers would have viewed Po and her sexual relations with other women—and, ooooooh, boy, was there a lot to unpack. The prevailing narrative is pretty much what I expected based on past readings: male homosexuality was featured in various pieces of art and literature and male sexuality, in general, was celebrated. In contrast, female sexuality—particularly female homosexuality—was not nearly as documented and was even seen as taboo if a woman longed for the touch of another woman.

    To the eyes of the men of the ancient world, sexuality was divided into the masculine and feminine, the active and passive, the dominant and submissive. To sexually submit is to be womanly, to sexually dominate is proof of masculinity. The “phallus” (or penis) is the cornerstone of both Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman sexuality. To say that the phallus was worshiped would be a gross understatement. Ancient Greek and Roman men held the phallus up on such a high pedestal, that they even believed that it had the power to ward away evil. The Romans also dedicated many Latin terms and metaphors to the phallus—generally regarding it as “an instrument of aggression” or “a weapon.” (Yes, they were that in love with their dicks.) Due to this over-glorification, the mere idea that a woman could enjoy having sex with another woman seemed absurd to them. What pleasure, after all, could either woman feel if there was no phallus involved?

    In the few pieces of Classical art and literature that featured women loving women, one (or both) of the women were often masculinized—again because of the strong focus on the phallus in human sexuality. Men of the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds—Roman especially—considered a woman who enjoys “consorting” with other women to be like a man in her sexual appetite. The men of Ancient Rome painted such women as behaving like masculine caricatures—thinking of them as bodybuilders who drink and eat excessively. Roman poet Ovid wrote on the topic of female homosexuality that it is “a desire known to no one, freakish, novel … among all animals no female is seized by desire for female,” further highlighting just how taboo (and threatening) female homosexuality was seen among the men of those time periods.

    In the Metamorphoses, Ovid (ironically enough) told the lesbian romance that happened between Iphis and Ianthe. Iphis’s parents were poor Greeks who could not afford a dowry for their child if they had a daughter so the father rationally decided that they would have to kill their unborn child if they were born a girl. Naturally, the mother’s heart ached at the thought of doing such a thing—so, when Iphis was born, she concealed her daughter’s true sex and raised her as if she was a boy in order to protect her. When Iphis came of age, her father arranged a marriage with the fair Ianthe, still in the belief that she was a boy. Iphis and Ianthe fell in love with each other but Iphis secretly felt distressed, deeming her love for Ianthe to be “monstrous and unheard of.” So, what did Ovid have her do to solve her conundrum of “two women cannot be wed”? Why, have her pray to a goddess to turn her into a man, of course! (It’d be one thing if Iphis was a trans man—but, given Ovid’s stance on love between women, this whole solution reeks of lesbophobic propaganda if you ask me.)

    Now is the time for speculation. Taking all of this information into account, I have a few theories as to how Po would be perceived. The relationships that she had with other women would either A) be watered down (heh) or not be seen as valid as the relationships with women that her brother, Zeus, or her nephews had; B) be viewed under a phallocentric, heteronormative lens as to make it all seem more “palatable”; or C)—and this is the worst-case scenario (which is a viewpoint that the Catholic Church during the middle ages would be more likely to have)—Po’s character is butchered, making her seem “predatory” or “depraved” in her pursuit of women, and she would be considered an “unholy sinner.” (And, given the Catholic Church’s past tendencies to simultaneously condemn pagans and rebrand their polytheistic pantheons into something more Christian, it wouldn’t surprise me much if they took Po’s image and turned her into a Lilith-like figure—an omen, a cautionary tale if you will.)

    To sum up my own conclusions, it seems to me that underneath ancient men’s lack of understanding towards female homosexual attraction, there lies a crippling fear of how empowered women would become if they were granted the same liberties and privileges as men. If there was one thing that a lot of men feared back then, it was the idea of a woman who was bold and driven enough to seek power, a woman who does not bow her head meekly but, instead, harshly questions the biases and double standards of her patriarchal society. A female leader is a threat to be vanquished—not a potential powerful ally. It took centuries for the Western world to eventually erode that erroneous notion—hopefully, it would not take centuries more for us to unite before it is too late. 

Not sure if ya’ll have noticed but talks about representation in superhero comics has been ever so slightly popular these days.

 Sarcasm deactivated.

 In all seriousness, yes there should be more though I have problems with certain approaches adopted by Marvel and to a lesser extent DC in recent years and the way a lot of fans have handled the situation on both sides.

 Like saying Miles Morales shouldn’t exist is not okay but nor is saying Peter Parker should be shelved for his sake. Writing Titania in Jane Foster’s book as having solidarity with Jane because she’s a woman stepping into the role of a male hero is not okay (because seriously, Titania’s main enemy is goddam She Hulk and she despises her) but nor is saying sexist shit about Jane (who lest we forget was awesome long before she became Thor, arguably moreso).

 But most of the time I personally feel disabled and mentally ill characters don’t get talked about as much whenever discussions like this pop up. Representing women, black people, gay people, etc, etc happens all the time but not so much with disabled and mentally ill characters.

 What’s even stranger though is that on the occasions where those types of characters are discussed people seem to not recognize a lot of the ones among the classic established heroes. 

 Oracle, Daredevil and Xavier get brought up a fair amount but Tony Stark had a heart condition that early in his series required him to hide a great big metal chest plate under his clothes which then compromized his former playboy lifestyle. Among the truly mainstream and major Marvel/DC heroes Tony Stark genuinely was the first physically handicapped hero (unless I’m getting my dates mixed up and X-Men preceded him, even then though Xaiver was a mentor more than the lead). 

 As for mentally ill characters, whilst people will cite Deadpool and Harley Quinn as mentally ill protagonists within the Big Two (and you could arguably put Wolverine in there too due to his legitimate anger issues, though they are contextualized as part of his bad ass appeal so...maybe not) both those characters are fun, wacky, violent former villains who even when they aren’t on the side of evil still do amoral things. They’re mental illnesses are rarely treated with too much gravitas. In fairness their core concepts is for them to be wacky and fun (at least nowdays) so it would be possible in a debate to argue there is a certain amount of justification for not going too deep with their problems and touching them lightly.

 Meanwhile you have Tony Stark and Carol Danvers who are both alcoholics. And if you know anything about that illness (and it IS an illness) you know it’s not one you really cure so much as manage. 

However multiple runs of Iron Man since the iconic Demon in a Bottle storyline have at best touched upon it rather or else avoided it altogether. From what I’ve seen of Bendis’ run it’s mentioned but off handily and wasn’t a focus before Tony died. Maybe creatively you could justify that too but technically speaking Tony is a mentally illl hero due to that illness so if you want representation viola it’s right there if writers bothered to make use of it outside of showing him relapse or something. 

 The same is true of Carol Danvers except in her case it’s worse because you could be forgiven for simply being wholesale unaware Carol was ever an alcoholic since multiple runs don’t even bring it up (I suspect because people legitimately forgot). Nevertheless the female hero Marvel is most keen to promote and who will be getting her own movie soon enough is canonically mentally ill. That should be brought up more but I can see why people who ARE aware of it might not want to count her because like I said it’s hardly touched upon.

 Which is why the next character I’m going to talk about is so important.

 He’s never been a legitimate villain.

 His mental illness(es) are integral to his character and impossible to ignore because of that fact.

 He’s got a history of physical and emotional abuse which led to his illnesses and isn’t thrown out as cheap backstory or motivations for his character.

 His illnesses have been showcased to ostracize him from wider society who often fear, hate and hound him either out of a desire to exploit him or else because they simply do not understand him. Which sadely echoes the experiences of a lot of mentally ill people.

 He’s portrayed sympathetically with the hardships and tragedy of coping with mental illnesses showcased routinely (albeit often on a metaphorical and not strictly accurate level).

 And most importantly he’s been repeatedly showcased as a truely heroic and caring figure in spite of his illnesses, even using them for the benefit of society as a whole when given the opportunity and right help.

 I am in fact referring to...the Hulk.

 Bruce Banner canonically was physically and emotionally abused by his father and developed serious anger issues and issues of self-worth because of that treatment. All of which led to him eventually developing Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Multiple Personality Disorder or more commonly referred to as having a ‘split personality’; and INCORRECTLY referred to as schizophrenia.

  That’s not me interpreting anything or extrapolating either. That is an objective in-universe canonical FACT about the character. In fact he first ‘hulked out’ when he got mad and attacked his father...BEFORE he encountered any gamma bombs. In one iconic issue he even tried to resolve his problems via therapy where the different sides to his personality were integrated together.

 Whilst it involved superheroics and super powers and happened after ONE session that is the real life goal when it comes to helping most people who have DID/MPD.

 Whilst there is so much to talk about with canon Hulk let’s just use the MCU as a microcosm of the Hulk’s character.

 Bruce Banner in the MCU is so depressed over his condition (which involved being incapable of physical intimacy and constantly monitoring his stress levels) that he tried to commit suicide...only to discover he was physically incapable of doing so due to the Hulk’s healing factor.

 As Banner he wants to find a cure for himself and as Hulk he wants nothing but peace and solitude. But he gets neither because representatives of the government seek to exploit him and neutralize him as a threat as opposed to trying to HELP him. And the guy spearheading things is straight up an old guy who doesn’t want Banner ‘consorting with his daughter’.

 At any given time for reasons beyond his control Banner can become dangerous to those around him despite not wanting to truly hurt anybody, and yet he has been shown to be capable of managing his illness for altruistic ends, such as defeating the Abomination.

 When given help and support from the Avengers (who with his CONSENT employ mental exercises and when NECESARRY use non-lethal equipment to keep him under control) he’s been shown to be an invaluable force for good. His brains help resolve dilemmas and provide vital intelligence and as Hulk he is the Avengers’ biggest gun against physical threats.

 Which is why Age of Ultron was so heartbreaking. Once more he got exploited and hurt people without meaning to, looked upon in fear and scorn as a monster by those who just don’t understand him. So distraught was he that he opted to just go back into isolation.

 Of course Banner’s condition doesn’t realistically line up with real people who have MPD but when understood the character exists for drama and also deals with anger issues the character is actually an incredibly (heh) well constructed character and the legitimate (though relative) representation he provides should be celebrated.

 In fact I would argue it’s actually MORE important than the Asian representation Amadeus Cho provides because there are definitely more Asian protagonist characters than mentally ill ones. And also, though this sounds harsh...being Asian isn’t as compromising to your day-to-day quality of life as the kinds of illnesses that Banner/Hulk are analogous too.

 Of course that isn’t saying we shouldn’t have more of both but...taking away one character who represents an even more marginalized group who frankly suffers in worse ways (even if wider pop culture fails to appropriately recognize him as representing those people) for the sake of a group that comparatively speaking has it better is not a good thing. It’s made worse when you consider the shitty way Hulk was treated just before and during Civil War II.

 Bottom line: Let’s celebrate the old characters who represent mentally ill and disabled people more than we do and not throw them under the bus for other characters...especially the Hulk.

Forever

Word count: 2556 Warnings: just angst

- - - - - - - - - -

Twenty-nine days. It was a new record. Prise had lost count of how many resets there had been a few hundred ago, but he had kept an internal record of how many days a freedom run lasted ever since the beginning. The previous record was twenty-four, some time ago. He knew what his big brother’s thought process was as they awoke to another sunny morning. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe the runs were over. Chara had found whatever he was looking for, or had gotten bored of killing them, or... something. Somehow, the kid had decided he was done resetting. That was what Legal must've been thinking by now, judging by the overjoyed (and relieved) expression on his face. The shorted skeleton jumped up out of his little cot on the floor of the apartment, grabbed fresh underclothes, and bounded off to the bathroom. As the shower squeaked on, Prise rolled over and pressed his face into his pillow, closing his eyes. There was nothing dire he needed to do today, right? Despite the record. He could just...

"prise!"

Rough shaking to his shoulder awoke him again and he lifted his head blearily.

"HMM...?"

"get up, breakfast is ready!"

"FIVE MORE HOURS..."

"prise, no. get up."

"FFFIIIIINE..."

He heaved himself into a sitting position just as clothes landed on his face.

"MPH! WHAT'S THIS? A DRESS SHIRT? WHERE'S MY HOODIE?"

"no hoodie today! put on the dress shirt."

"BROOOO, WHY?"

"don't broooo me, lazybones! don't you remember? today, her majesty-"

"DON'T YOU MEAN 'TORI'?"

The faint blue on his brother's cheeks was worth the smack to his shoulder.

"shut uuup... t-tori... has that speech today!"

A slow blink, and then he suddenly remembered.

"OH! HEH, SORRY BRO. RIGHT. THAT'S TODAY."

"you awake now?"

"YEAH. I'M COMING."

Of course. He'd been hearing about the Queen's plans for a one-month press conference for the past three days. Even if being a chipper socialite was a drag, it shouldn't be too bad with Her Majesty leading the way. If he was lucky, no microphones would be shoved in his face. He quickly got changed and headed off to properly appreciate his brother's coffee and cooking.

- - -

There were far more people than he was expecting. Prise absently tugged the bottom hem of his untucked dress shirt. He missed his hoodie pockets already. There was a great comfort in having his hands hidden away, the baggy volume of soft fabric making him look less tall and... scrawny, for lack of a better word. Not to mention, he couldn't absently suck a lollipop, it wasn't photogenic. At least he had persuaded Legall to let him bring the cinnarettes for if he got too stressed. He'd resist for now. Still, despite being taller, he was sure he cut a far less impressive figure than his brother, all decked out in his full, grand royal armor, freshly polished.

As the personal knight of the Queen, it was Legall's job to escort her everywhere in public, announce her presence, protect her from any possible threats, and otherwise do what she wished. He adored this job. As the personal knight's brother, it wss Prise's job to wander after them at a distance, looking at least mildly professional. Okay, so it wasn't an official job, but Queen Toriel was used to his presence, and he felt obligated to tag along and look after his cool older brother just in case. So here ge was, trailing along several paces behind the royal procession, as if just a curious follower. The way Legall nearly bounced with every step was adorable, and he knew the Queen thought the same, judging by the smile smile and occasional stifled giggle. Prise busied himself with imagining Legall in a consort crown so he wouldn't get too anxious about the large crowd. Shortest king ever. If he ever confessed.

"this is more people than i'd even hoped for, your majesty," Legall whispered as they walked along.

"Yes, me too," Toriel replied, her voice warm. "I have a good feeling about today. Is your speech perfected, my knight?'

Legall grinned wide before he could contain himself, and Prise caught another barely-suppressed giggle from the Queen.

"it's more than perfect, your majesty!"

"Excellent. You will speak first. Ah, and once I have completed my own speech, our darling ambassador has a few things to say too."

"oh, really?"

Legall was still grinning just as wide, but the faintest flicker of his pupils told Prise he was displeased. Prise was impressed; he didn't realize Legall had developed such a good poker face... Er, chess face.

"Oh, yes! I helped him a bit with wording, but he came up with most of it himself. He's such a smart boy!"

That proud, motherly tone. Ah yes. It was very possible that if Legall wound up consort, he'd become an adoptive parent along the way. Prise side-eyed the kid, walking with Asgore several steps away. Chara's chubby human cheeks were as pink as ever, his unusual red eyes glimmering as he held his papa's giant fluffy paw. He seemed to be as innocent as ever. No blank, soulless expression. No twitchy hands. No stiff movements. He seemed happy...

"What is it, Legall?"

The question by the Queen snapped Prise's attention back to them, just as Legall's own gaze returned from the child. There was that smile again.

"oh, nothing, your majesty! i was just wondering how he'll do speaking in front of so many people."

"I think he will do fine. He's so determined."

"mhm... here we are."

The conversation ended as they reached the stage. Cameras and microphones were shoved in their faces, but none of them seemed to mind, expertly ignoring their existence while still being completely photogenic. Legall folded his left hand behind his back and offered the right to Toriel when they reached the steps, a slight bow accompanying the gesture. Though he was left-handed, formal poses and behavior demanded he use his right, and it was second nature to him now. The Queen took the proffered hand, clad in a silk glove as usual, and he led her up the steps. He only let go once they reached the top, and then stood just slightly behind her on her right. He had no seat, though Asgore, Chara, and Toriel all did. Prise placed himself along the side of the crowd, near the front but several feet from the nearest camera. Once everyone was settled, Legall stepped forward, tilting his chin up.

“presenting her majesty, queen toriel, ruler of monsterkind!” he announced, then stepped aside for her to come forward.

“Thank you, Legall. Good people, before I give my own speech, this royal knight of mine has a few words he would like to say to our new human friends.”

She stepped back again and let him reclaim the podium place. Politics was all about playing musical podiums, it always had been. He never quite understood it. Legall’s voice was booming, professional, but still cheerful as he started.

“humans and monsters, it has been one month since we reached the surface, and i can say with complete honesty that it has been the best month of my life. though our great majesty was there before we went into the mountain, i have lived my whole life underground, only wishing that i might see the sun. now that dream has-”

Prise tuned it out immediately. He’d heard Legall practice it a hundred times and knew it by heart now. It was a good one, albeit not as grandiose as the Queen’s. As Legall talked, his gaze swept back and forth, and Prise knew he was not only trying for good audience eye contact, but scoping out the area continuously for possible threats to his queen. Toriel was looking as professional as ever, staring ahead, but every so often she almost smiled, almost let her gaze drift to the skeleton in front of her. Asgore was paying attention, though he seemed a bit stiff about sitting beside his ex-wife - that was probably a permanent quarrel. Chara was paying attention too, fingers twisting together absently. It was forgiven if he was fidgety, seeing as he was still only nine years old. In the press area, a floating pink ghost was holding a microphone for some human newspaper business. Ah, it seemed Happstablook was getting to pursue his dream career at last. In the crowd, monsters were interspersed with humans. In some places, they attempted to avoid each other, clearly uncomfortable and unused to the mingling. In other places they were closely mixed, casual already. Those monsters more familiar were the less scary-looking ones, granted, but it was something. Progress.

“Hey, you.”

Waving from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to see some random human, a teenager by the looks of it. A girl with bright blue hair. Well, she didn’t appear to be with the media, so he supposed it would be rude to ignore her. He put on a small smile.

“HMM?”

“Are you... related to that guy up there?”

He raised his brow, glancing up at his brother on stage before looking back to the human. It was comical, how surprised she looked - she probably didn’t think he could shift his expression like that.

“WHAT, JUST BECAUSE WE’RE BOTH SKELETONS, WE HAVE TO BE RELATED?”

Her face turned bright red and he grinned, absently pulling out a cinnarette. A flick from his honeypot-patterned lighter, and sweet-smelling smoke wafted up gently. He took a drag, and when it was let out, it was the orange of his magic.

“I’M JUST MESSING WITH YOU. THAT’S MY OLDER BROTHER.”

She looked relieved, though the blush didn’t fade away quite yet. Her hands nervously smoothed the sides of her blue dress. She aught to be a water nymph, he decided.

“O-oh, heh. Older, really? You’re so much taller.”

“I DRANK MORE MILK AS A CHILD.”

A slow, lazy wink, and she laughed, the red fading from her face.

“Good for your bones?”

“EXACTLY.”

“Heh.”

She turned back to listen to Legall again. Tiny positive interaction accomplished. He supposed he could mark down today as a success in the ‘get along with humans’ department. Legall would be proud. Maybe.

If there was one thing that could be said about Legall - and there were actually many things that could be said about him, in Prise’s opinion - it was that he was consistently inspiring. His optimism was contagious. By the end of his speech, everyone in the audience seemed cheered and ready to keep a partnership going. Prise caught the blue-haired girl bouncing slightly on her heels, whipping out a phone to take a few photos during the applause. Several other humans were doing the same - did they not like just finding the media pictures? He found it pretty odd, but it was a good sign that they were so moved by it.

Once the applause died down, Legall bowed, smiling again. “And now, Her Majesty would like to give her own speech. Thank you!” He stepped back. Toriel stood from the seat she’d been sitting on, returning to the podium. She, too, looked grand, the poofy blue dress beautiful and the crown on her head simply stunning in the sunlight. Legall adopted his usual post, just behind and to her right. As she began her own speech, he went back to scanning the area, but more discreetly this time, and he found it harder than she had to keep his eyes away from the speech-giver. Typical. Just confess, bro, jeez. Privately, of course. Publicly would pressure her into accepting.

Prise blew his smoke out to the side, away from the crowd as much as possible. His gaze drifted to Chara again. The child was still fidgeting with his hands, twisting them together slowly. His legs were swinging too, and his mouth kept twitching. Was it nerves? Or...? Wait. His sockets narrowed. The hand fidgeting before could be excused, but all of it at once? No, he’d seen that behavior before. He knew what that meant, and the realization sent a trickle of dread through him.

The speech suddenly halted, and he snapped his gaze back to Toriel. But there was no applause. It hadn’t been finished. The Queen was looking back, her eyes wide. When he followed her gaze, he understood.

“hic...”

Legall was staring at Chara, light blue tears streaming down his face. All trace of composure was gone.

“M-my knight?” Toriel asked in what should’ve been a quiet voice, but the mics still caught it. “What-”

“not again. n-hic-not now... please not now!”

He wasn’t speaking to her. The words were directed at Chara. The child snapped his gaze up to Legall, and there was genuine sorrow for a moment, maybe even despair, before his expression twitched again, the corners of his lips jerking up. Little hands balled into fists repeatedly like squeezing a stress ball.

“W-what is going on? My ch-ild! Legall no!”

The Queen lost her composure too, as Legall lurched forward suddenly, reaching out and grabbing Chara by the shoulders and shaking him.

“not now!” he sobbed, his voice cracking, the shudders down his body making an audible rattling sound. “don’t do it! we can be happy! it can stop now, we’ve come so far, don’t d-do it, please, please! let us be happy!”

Toriel grabbed Legall’s arm and squeezed it hard, tugging.

“Get off of my child, knight!”

“don’t do it! please!”

He was strong, maybe stronger than the queen, because she wasn’t managing to yank her away. Chara jerked again, and then slowly began to laugh, the sound distorted.

“nIcE sPeEcH! rEmEmBeR iT fOr ThE nExT tImE i DeCiDe To LeT yOu TrY tHiS!”

Prise lunged forward, dropping his cinnarette, just as the world went black.

- - - - - - - - - -

He jerked up in bed so fast that he nearly fell right out. It was dark. The middle of the night, as it always was. Often, there was silence for a while, but...

The sobs from the other bedroom tore at his soul. He flung the covers off and haphazardly pulled shorts and a t-shirt on before rushing into Legall’s room. The older skeleton brother was curled up on top of his plane-shaped bed, clad in those cute cloud-print pajamas, bawling his eyes out.

“we-e c-coul-ld b-be h-ha-app-py,” he wailed, crying so heavily each word was forced and distorted. “w-why a-aft-ter a mo-onth-th? w-why-y? i-i d-do-on’t u-und...derst-sta-and!”

“BROTHER...”

Prise felt his own sockets fill with tears. That was when he realized it. That he hadn’t lost all hope like he’d thought. That he, too, had truly believed this time might’ve been the time. He didn’t just feel sad his brother was upset. He was upset too. Betrayed. He shuffled forward and crawled into the plane bed, then wrapped his longer arms around his brother, practically cradling.

“I’M SORRY, LEGALL... I’M SORRY,” he said, his tears starting to spill over. It was all he could think to say as his beloved big brother sobbed and wailed into his shirt, clutching him for dear life. And so they just hugged each other and cried the night away, the sound stretching as far into eternity as their timeline did.

No Matter What

@saveshootingstar wanted a Starco prompt, so I whipped this up at their suggestion. Also for @ghostgetters cuz both of these nerds indirectly challenged me to write a makeout scene. Love you guys <3

“How many packets of airline peanuts did you steal?!” Marco looked over her shoulder with his jaw hanging open as his warrior princess fianceé rummaged around in her purse.

“Chill out, Marco. They got, like, a bajillion of those -- ah, here it is!” Star whipped out a silver glittering scarf she had bunched up in the bag and unfurled it. “It’s for your Abuelita. On Mewni, we have to give gifts to the elder family members of our betrothed as a token of our gratitude for inviting us into their home.”

“Actually, I’m the one that invited you.” He chuckled slightly under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I, uh...I haven’t told any of the Diazes that we’re engaged yet.” 

Star suddenly stopped walking up the dusty desert-like road and whirled around before Marco rammed into her. “What?”

“Yeah…”

“Why not?” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest. “You proposed to me almost a month ago!” 

“I’ve been busy--”

“Oh we’re all busy, Marco, that’s no excuse!” She narrowed her eyes as she peered up into his sheepish gaze. “There’s something else goin’ on.”

Marco chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. There was no easy way to tell her the truth -- that there was a definite vibe that his father’s side of the family didn’t care for Star. That every time they flew down here, he was terrified someone would make that fact too obvious, and they would depart Jalisco in rage and tears. He couldn’t do that to her, he cared about her too much. But they were family, and...well, they at least had a right to know that he was going to become prince consort of a distant dimension.

Star’s boisterous energy and magic usage with her inherent power (thankfully they would never be able to get her wand past airport security) freaked his religious and superstitious relatives out. His great uncle had called her a witch (“Hey, she should take that as a compliment” Janna had said), and his grandmother had muttered “diablo” at least three times under her breath. But the enthusiastic reactions to her powers from his little cousins seemed to have distracted Star from all this, and she was convinced they loved her.

“I...wanted us to tell them together.” Lying to the woman you love. Nice move, Diaz.

Star instantly stopped surveying him and smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek and hugging his arm in both of hers. “Aww, that’s so nice! How should we do it? I’m thinkin’ a flashy fireworks display on the beach -- ‘Mr. and Mrs. Star Butterfly’!”

“Marco, mi neito!” Abuelita Linda didn’t stop peppering Marco’s face with kisses for several minutes after they walked in the door. “Come, we make you lunch -- you’re too thin.” She turned to her grandson’s girlfriend with a tight smile Star read as genuine. “Hola, Star-girl.”

“Hi, Abuelita Diaz!” The princess grabbed the older petite woman into a tight bear hug that caught her off guard. “Hang on, I got you something -- close your eyes.”

“It’s fine,” Marco assured her when his grandma looked at him in slight alarm. She did as she was told, and Star draped the scarf around her, giggling with glee. “Okay, open.” 

“Oh!” Abuelita’s eyes were wide as saucers when she saw the sparkling gift, nearly blinding her when caught by the light of the afternoon sun. “Es muy brillante,” she muttered as pleasantly as she could, squinting.

“Pfft, it’s nothing,” Star spluttered, waving her hand in the air, “Just the most rare and expensive fabric on Mewni that only the royal family has access to.” She gave Marco a quick look, as if asking him if it was okay to pop the news, and he returned it with a “not yet” shake of the head.

“Marcooooo,” came a whining voice from the back living room, and little cousin Nina wandered into the room. “Did you bring the Star-girl with you?”

“Hey girlfriend, what’s goin’ on?!” Star said cheerily, bending down to the little girl’s level and holding up her hand for a high five. Nina half-heartedly slapped her palm to hers, not taking her attention off Marco.

“Papi said he wants to know--”

“Marco, good to see you!” came Uncle Enrique’s bombastic greeting as he flung back the beaded curtains hung in the archway. “Nina, don’t you have cartoons to watch?”

“But you said to ask Marco when he was gonna dump that crazy blonde girl.” 

Star froze, her smile melting off faster than ice cream in the hundred and ten degree weather outside. “Say what?”

“I-I, well you know--a joke! I said it as a joke!” Enrique stammered, chuckling at his nephew who didn’t even crack a grin back.

“And then you said her heart tattoos made her look like a clown and her magic is gonna kill us all--”

“Nina, ir en la otra habitación, por favor!” Grabbing his daughter by the shoulders, Enrique steered her back through the curtain and out of sight.

“They’re not tattoos…” Star finally managed to say, her eyes lowered to the floor.

“Heh, kids you know? Say the darndest things.”

“Yeah, all that honesty must be so hard to live with,” Marco bit out icily, making it clear that he did not want to exchange another word with his uncle. 

“Aiiiiiiii!” At the scream from the kitchen, several heads poked out of the living room to see Abuelita tearing across the front hall, her fingers scrambling at the scarf around her neck. Ripping it off, they saw a deep red rash embedded in her skin.

“Oh my gosh -- Abuelita I am so sorry--”

“No! You stay right there!” the elderly woman shouted, pointing her finger forcefully at Star, who stepped back almost frightened. The other uncles, aunts and cousins who had stepped out to see what happened all exchanged the same look when they saw who Marco had brought with him. “Oh, it’s her” their faces all read.

Star didn’t even acknowledge their stiff greetings or pleasantries, she only saw the glares from Enrique and a few others who were tending to Abuelita’s allergic reaction. She bit her lip as it started to shake, wrenching her purse off her shoulder.

“Here, there’s some ointment at the bottom somewhere,” she muttered to Marco, flinging the bag into his stomach.

“Star--”

“Earth aloe isn’t gonna help that, please just use it.”

But Marco didn’t immediately go to his relatives, who were whispering rather horrible things in Spanish that thankfully Star couldn’t understand. Expression and tone were universal, and she appeared to have finally read those loud and clear.

“Star wait, where are you going?” he called, grabbing her wrist as she headed for the door.

“Away from here.” She sniffled, withdrawing her hand from his. “I’m sorry...I didn’t know…” And then she was gone.

Marco’s chest felt like it was on fire as he turned and marched towards his grandma, the tube from Star’s purse in his hand. Wordlessly, he squirted the purple cream into his palm and gently smeared it around the redness on Abuelita’s neck. Within seconds, it disappeared and her tan skin returned to normal. 

“There, you happy now?” he announced to the whole room, glaring at Enrique in particular. “You finally showed your true colors. You don’t have to pretend when she’s in the room anymore. Don’t you just feel so great?!”

No one dared to answer, so he went on: “That scarf was a gift, a custom in her kingdom. I’m sorry it backfired, Abuelita, but that’s no excuse for the rest of you. You think I don’t hear what you’re saying behind her back?! You think that’s gonna change my mind about her?! It’s not! I love her with all my heart! Star Butterfly is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me! And if you can’t accept her and everything that she is, then you can forget about me speaking to any of you ever again!”

Clutching Star’s purse tightly in his fist, Marco stormed towards the door after her -- but not before delivering the final touch over his shoulder. “By the way -- we came to tell you we’re engaged.” And he slammed the door behind him.

He found her down on the beach, curled up into a ball with her face in her knees, her arms wrapped around her head. Even as an adult, Star still retreated to this position when the world became too much for her to bear. It wasn’t until Marco sat down in the sand beside her that he realized the waves had been drowning out her sobs. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around her huddled form and pulling her close to him, his nose buried in her golden hair.

“You lied to me,” Star hiccuped, but didn’t shrug him off.

“I know, I -- I’m sorry.” He literally didn’t know what else to say. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell me? Why’d you let me believe they liked me?” 

“‘Cause I couldn’t do that to you…” Marco trailed off, knowing it was a terrible excuse, but it was all he had. “I didn’t want...this to happen.” He couldn’t stand seeing her cry, it tore him apart every time. And the fact that his own family was the cause of it only made it worse. “I didn’t wanna break your heart, Star. I didn’t want you to feel like you did something wrong. ‘Cause you didn’t.”

She turned towards him, sliding her arms around his waist as his cozy red hoodie surrounded her. He felt his chest dampen from her tears, and he kissed the top of her head with a soft “Shh”.

“I guess I should’ve seen it coming,” Star mumbled in his arms, closing her eyes as evening darkened the sky above them. “Never thought about it when Abuelita or your aunts didn’t hug me -- my mom and her family aren’t huggers either. The kids...I mean, who knows?”

“The kids think you’re cool, trust me,” Marco smiled. “You saw Nina back there -- one hundred percent genuine.” He paused, letting out a long sigh. “I told them about us. I got mad and blew up in their faces and it sorta slipped out.”

“It’s okay. But what’s not okay was keeping all this from me in the first place. I-I feel like the biggest fool, Marco.”

“You’re not. And you’re right, I should’ve told you the truth.” Now it was his turn to glance downward in shame, and Star lifted her head to him. “We should go home.”

“Yeah...maybe we should.” But neither of them moved, the tranquility of their area of the beach surrounding them. Stars began to twinkle in the clear sky, the waves rolled in and out in a steady pattern, and sand got stuck between their curled toes.

No stars were brighter than the ones in his future wife’s eyes, glittering like her namesake as she brought a hand to his face, cupping it as his lips drew nearer. And at once, every care flew from their minds the moment her lips captured his. There was nothing but lips and hands and skin, fingers stuck in thick hair, sand getting everywhere once they realized they were lying in it. Star slipped her hands under his hoodie, feeling his fingers clutch at her bra under her dress as their mouths and tongues continued to work passionately. 

It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter anymore that not all of Marco’s family loved her, it just wasn’t meant to be and she could learn to accept that. She was still loved. She was loved by Marco Diaz, the most wonderful young man she had even known. Who rubbed his lips over the flawless ivory skin on her neck and collarbone as she sighed contentedly, a shiver of excitement rippling through her as his hands passed over her breasts, cupping her slender form delicately and respectfully. Even in the heat of the moment, he treated her like a queen. 

“You’re still crying,” Marco whispered as they stopped to catch their breath, his eyes opening to find themselves lying on their sides, Star staring at him like he was her eternity with tears dripping off her nose.

“I’m just happy,” Star whispered, pressing her lips to his eyes, cheeks, nose and lips again. “Even after all this, I’m happy, Marco. ‘Cause you’re still here.”

“Sure am, I’m all yours.”

“I can’t wait to marry you.”

“We still gotta invite them to the wedding though.”

“They can sit in the back. And they won’t come to the Castle wedding, just the Earth one.”

“Alright, deal.” And their ardent intimacy resumed.

Neither of them noticed the light of the full moon above bathing them in a deep wash of bright blood red.

ACT OMEGA PART 10

THE 26/10/16 UPDATE

WOOOOOOO DOUBLE FUCKIN DIGITS YO. This is fantastic. So last time we left off, Dirk and Jake were gay and dumb. Now we are getting into the most anticipated interaction yet, Rosejade. Listen you people, you have no. idea how much I ship Rosejade. It ship it a l o t . . . Oh man it’s really cute. BUT Um YEAH LETS READ IT.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Jesus christ this is too cute. Jade is so fucking happy to see Rose aaaaa.

And Rose is just like “jesus jade dont knock me over”

ROSE: -Oof. JADE: nice to see you rose!!!

YES. YES it is.

Oh my god help its too cute. I love their droopy lil pajama sleeves, it really makes this so much better and im not sure why.

ROSE: (... Nice to see you too, Jade.) JADE: bark!

Goddammit. Ok its clear I have a problem here, Jade is too fucking cute.

Alright thank goodness, those cute detailed panels were a little too much for me. John’s creeping in the background, and Dave’s hanging out with Karkat. Jade doesn’t seem happy?

JADE: (oh my god im so sorry) JADE: (i cant believe i just did that!) JADE: (thats so embarrassing...)

Jade shut up it was cute.

ROSE: (No harm done.) ROSE: (It’s endearing, in a way.) ROSE: (Though perhaps the charm might simply be a patented Jade Harley trait.)

God, YES. Now Rose is complimenting her, and its probably in a platonic sense considering she has a girlfriend but JEEZ I ship it.

ok I hope my shipping of this doesn’t come off as annoying.

JADE: ..dawwww! :) ROSE: (But you might want to keep your voice down.) ROSE: (I’m not sure why it’s become so quiet, but I am perfectly willing to preserve this lull in activity.) ROSE: (Especially in order to sustain the pleasant conversation we’re currently having.)

Yes it is very pleasant. Very very.

JADE: oh ok! JADE: whoops JADE: (i mean) JADE: (ok) ROSE: (Now that our vocal chords have been successfully wrangled, we can get right into the thick of it.) ROSE: (It seemed like you had something to ask me when you approached.) JADE: (oh um yes i did!) JADE: (but im kind of unsure how to ask...) ROSE: (In moments like these, I think the best advice I can give is to say “fuck it”.) ROSE: (And do it anyway.) JADE: :o

great advice Rose. NOW Jade, what did you have to ask? It’s probably gonna be something extremely platonic and irrelevant to my ships, but you know what I can dream.

JADE: (well geez when you put it that way!) JADE: (heh...) ROSE: (Well?) JADE: (oh right yeah) JADE: (soooooo)

hrnK help

Oh. Right, it’s the Earth. So what did you need to ask then? What would Rose know about the Earth?

JADE: (i was wondering what you thought we should do about the earth!) JADE: (john said that taking care of it is supposed to be my responsibility) JADE: (and looking at it right now... isnt it a bit more uh) JADE: (watery, than it should be?)

Yeah, it is quite watery. this is the post-scratch earth I believe, so that would make sense. I think, at least. I never know with all this time shit.

ROSE: (It certainly looks that way. It's just another unfortunate consequence of the scratch.) ROSE: (Though I think it might be a slight improvement over the barren ball of basalt our earth became after that cataclysmic meteor shower.) ROSE: (We’ll just have to make do.) JADE: (so thats it then?) JADE: (we just) JADE: (give earth an orbit around a new star or something) JADE: (and find an island to live on?) ROSE: (That does seem a suitable course of action.) ROSE: (We might want to do something about all that ocean, though.) ROSE: (At the very least to make the planet somewhat more aesthetically pleasing. Sprinkle a few continents here and there, you know.) ROSE: (No offense, but one measly island will doubtless get boring after a while.) ROSE: (Let alone be capable of housing what will hopefully one day be a thriving multi-species civilization.)

Oh yeah, there’s gonna have to be a lot more land for all that LIFE. Do they have a way of making more land though? It’s probably not gonna be a problem, it’ll just be interesting to see how they do it I guess.

JADE: (hehehe!) JADE: (i guess youre right about that!) JADE: (although...) JADE: (i kind of wonder about all of our planets here in the medium) ROSE: (What about them?) JADE: (i went through all that trouble to bring them here, and now were just gonna leave them behind?) JADE: (why dont we bring them along?) JADE: (personally im a little attached! :P) ROSE: (Personally, I would rather not.) JADE: (aw) JADE: (well why?)

But Rooose, your land is so pretty! How would you just give that up?

ROSE: (They’re essentially just an overly grandiose and complicated puzzle designed for preteens, presented as personalized celestial bodies.) ROSE: (Some of them even have giant snakes inside them. Ew.) JADE: (pfffft)

pfffft. Those snakes were awesome. And even if they are just a puzzle, that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate what they are aesthetically! I mean, come on Rose. You gotta stop resenting things for what they’re supposed to be! 

JADE: (wow rose i sure did miss you a whole lot)

8D

JADE: (you always have such a smart and funny way of putting things!) JADE: (but will the denizens really still be there if we take them with us?) ROSE: (It was a joke, Jade. One of the many that I dole out on a regular basis, as the shrewd yet whimsical person you say I am.) ROSE: (They’ll likely vanish once we exit the game for good, whether we bring them through to the new universe or not.) ROSE: (They’re game constructs. I can’t see them serving much purpose past the end credits, so to speak.)

Wellll, I don’t know about that! I mean, yeah, they are game constructs and all. But like all the consorts, I think it’s safe to say they’re sentient as well! Sooo... Hm. Why would Jade’s Denizen have wanted her to take them all in the first place? I mean, to save them from Jack I suppose, but what’s the point if they would die from the big “your winner” screen at the end anyways?

JADE: (oh... well that makes me wonder) JADE: (what about the sprites? theyre game constructs too right?) ROSE: (That is a decent point.)

That IS a decent point. I dont wanna lose Jasprose or Davepeta.

Also. Has anybody wondered if there could be a Jasprovepeta^3? Because THAT, would be pretty great.

ROSE: (The kernels, at the very least, are absolutely nothing more than game constructs. They are a core mechanic of the game in their relationship with the maturity of the battlefield and the power of the black and white monarchs, and they don’t even have consciousness.) ROSE: (The sprites, however... well.) ROSE: (I’m not sure.) ROSE: (It’s highly likely they’ll be able to continue existing indefinitely, all things considered.) ROSE: (Though ultimately, it’s up to them whether they’d like to take a stab at life beyond Sburb.)

Well I dont see why they wouldn’t! Aside from maybe Erisol.

Pfft

ROSE: (Hopefully at least ONE of them will remain here.) ROSE: (Far, far away.) ROSE: (Never to be seen again.) ROSE: (Or be mourned.) ROSE: (At all.) ROSE: (Ever.) JADE: (um???) ROSE: (Nevermind that.)

NO dammit, Jasprose cannot stay behind. She needs to continue to exist and be part of this story because she’s greAT! Though she did say she was no longer interested...

JADE: (okay well) JADE: (im still kind of unsure about all this...) ROSE: (We’ll figure it out, Jade. There’s really not much to worry over.) JADE: (well... what about uh) JADE: (repopulation?) ROSE: (Like I said. We’ll figure it out.) ROSE: (Some ectobiology will likely be involved.) ROSE: (Which we will all be able to discuss as a group when the time comes.) ROSE: (Rather than right this second.)

Something wrong Rose? You’re kinda seeming a little impatient.

JADE: (um...) JADE: (rose, im sorry, i dont mean to make you mad)

Oh, Jade noticed too

ROSE: (I’m not mad.) JADE: (you seem a little mad!) ROSE: (*sigh*)

Out with it, Rose. Tell us what’s going on in that brain of yours.

JADE: (i just really want make sure i do my job right) JADE: (im supposed to make sure we all have a proper place to live!!) ROSE: (You’ll do just fine, Jade. You’ve always done your best at every task you’ve tackled, and what small miracles you can accomplish with hardly any effort are a reflection of how truly capable you are. We all have faith in you.)

Oh jeez.. Is it just me, or is Rose kinda seeming resentful towards Jade’s achievements. I hope that’s not the case.

JADE: (thanks, but...) JADE: (is everything okay?) JADE: (you dont sound all that enthusiastic) JADE: (did i do something wrong?) ROSE: (No, no.) ROSE: (This is all me.)

Come on rooose, tell us

ROSE: (I missed you Jade, I really did. But seeing you again now brings back unpleasant memories.) JADE: (oh) JADE: (you mean like your mom...?) ROSE: (Less the incident itself and more the horrifically immature child I behaved like back then.) ROSE: (Never was my childishness more apparent than with how I treated you.) JADE: (what! what do you mean?)

Hmm... thinking back at it, Rose sort of did treat Jade as just this object of mystery. Dave was always suspicious of her too, but Rose was seemingly always trying to point out when Jade said something that didn’t add up.

ROSE: (I was never a very good friend to you, Jade.) ROSE: (There were, and perhaps still are, some things about you that made me feel...) ROSE: (Insecure.)

Hmmm again.. I could understand insecurities in the past, but now Rose is practically on the same level as Jade. Is it a personality thing? because that doesn’t seem likely.

ROSE: (And, well. I was very petty, and allowed myself to wallow in jealousy while shoehorning you into another of my many imagined rivalries.)

Oh, damn. I guess I should have suspected something like that, considering how competitive Rose really can be when it comes to just about anything.

JADE: (you were jealous?) JADE: (of me???) ROSE: (You were bubbly and cheerful. Genuinely likeable, unlike me. Legitimately smart, where I more often than not felt the need to pad my intellect with random facts I learned on the internet. You had a multitude of talents and seemed to be able to do almost anything with hardly any effort.) ROSE: (Not to mention, I was under the impression you could see the future.)

DammIT, this is a large part of the reason I wanted them to interact. there was so much misunderstanding between them before, and once Rose finally knew how Jade did the things she did, it just went.. unmentioned.

JADE: (oh yeah... ugh, i thought i was soooo smart :\) JADE: (just thinking about all those dumb vague hints i used to drop makes me cringe!!)

I mean, it’s not like you didn’t always do what was best for your friends. Come on! You gotta feel a little smug when you understand all of the complicated bullshit about sburb. Even though you didn’t, in the end. you still thought you did. Plus you were 13. Nowhere near as mature as you are now. Which I suppose can be said for everybody, really.

JADE: (i totally get it, rose. im really sorry!) ROSE: (Please, don’t be.) ROSE: (Without the haze of envy blotting my vision I can see you for the charming, likeable, caring girl you really are and always have been.)

AGh, dammit this is putting me back into shipping mode nO!

ROSE: (I’d like to think I’ve done at least SOME maturing over the last three years.) ROSE: (Now I’m the smug one with clairvoyance. My, how the tables have turned.) JADE: (welllll...) JADE: (you were always a LITTLE bit smug :P) ROSE: (Oh, only a little?) ROSE: (You flatterer.)

fuCKINg. KISS.

Ah, shit. thats the end of their interaction. NEXT UP, we goooot... Calliope and Jane! Sweet. And as it seems to be the pattern we are following, we get a sneak peek at their conversation in this update.

JANE: (Pssst!) JANE: (Callie!)

And that’s it. ALRiGHT, sNEAK PEEK OVER.

This was a really fun Rosejade conversation though. We got to learn more about how they felt about eachother in the past, and how those feelings have changed since. And not to mention, some plot details on the plans for the new Earth.

And since I still suck at ending these things, ten parts in, ill seeya next time. might be today again, whon knows. maybe ill go for 5 updates in one day.

Rude Awakening Chapter 5

In which Palkia does internal dialogue.

Chapter 5: Awkward Relations Panne burst into Libra's room. "There you are, manspawn! There's something you need to know about-" She skidded to a stop in horror upon seeing Virion already there with Libra. "Panne! You could help us!" said Virion. "We suspect there's something... suspicious going on with the Cincinnatians!" Panne twitched. "I already know." Libra raised an eyebrow. "Taguel ears?" "More like seeing the one posing as one of my own kind turning into a dragon to consort with Naga." Virion paused. He slowly took a bottle of wine from a nearby shelf, poured some into a cup, and sipped it only to promptly spit it back out in delayed-reaction shock. "A dragon? Consorting with Naga? How?" "Quentin, who is apparently truly known as Dialga, claimed to her to be a god from another world," said Panne. Libra rubbed his chin. "So my worries about them causing a metaphysical disruption may be correct..." "No, this is preposterous!" said Virion. "This Dialga may very well be a false god!" "It's a possibility," said Panne. "He showed Naga strange technology I could not fathom." "Question is, whatever he and the others are, what are they doing here?" said Libra. "Should we report this to the others to find out?" said Panne. "If they are hostile, a public outing might incur their wrath," said Libra. "We should investigate on our own for now." Panne looked at Libra, then at Virion, resisting her urge to grit her teeth at the latter. "...Alright then. Let's see what's going on with the alleged 'Cincinnatians'." The three all left the room to go look. Unbeknownst to them, a small imp-like creature was looking out of a hoop-like portal from under the room's bed at them, and hurriedly ducked down and closed it to address a certain large, six-legged dragon. <They're onto us! Oh crap oh crap oh crap Giratina what are we going to do?> <Calm down, little fella, we can think of something...> said Giratina. <What? I doubt swaying them with burritos and a musical number will work this time!> <Maybe not,> said Giratina, <but straight-up throwing them off might.> Hoopa paused, then gave a mischievous smirk. <...Let's discuss. I feel I can provide some valuable suggestions for that kind of game.> -------- Meanwhile, Palkia was standing by Robin's door as he poured over maps, pressing herself to the wall as she had an internal argument with herself. He's busy! Do you really want to interrupt him while he's busy? You Torchiced out every time he wasn't busy! Why are you so fixated on getting to know him anyway? It's not like you're in love with him or anything. Well, he's pretty cool in his game and even better in person and he helped me out of a traumatic situation, so yeah, It'd be great if I could be like, friends with someone I admire. Then go talk to him already! Well that doesn't mean I'm not nervous! Stop being nervous! You're a goddess, you can handle this. I don't wanna overdo it though... Just... Go in there and act natural! ...You know what? Okay, fine, challenge accepted, me, I'm fucking going in! Ever so slowly Palkia peeked her head around the door. "Er, hi, Robin?" Robin lifted his head up from his maps and gave a small smile. "Hello, Valentia. Do you need something?" "Uh, not really, I just wanted to talk." "About what?" Palkia paused. After what seemed like a million years of hesitation she leaned over Robin's maps. "Whatcha doin'?" You idiot! she told herself immediately after. That is not how you leave a good impression on him! He'll think you're hitting on him! Robin blinked, then turned back to his maps. "Tactical planning. It may be peaceful right now, but we've always got to be prepared." "Er, right," said Palkia. She looked over the maps and noticed one she recognised in particular, pointing to it. "These Valm guys sure seem like a bunch of troublemakers and time-wasters if you ask me!" Robin raised an eyebrow. "Valm? That continent has its own problems, I don't think they'll bring them to ours." Palkia opened her mouth to retort. Spoilers! She snapped her mouth back shut and started looking over the maps again. "Er, sorry about that. You seem pretty thoughtful. And organized." "Really?" said Robin? "I feel like this is a mess." Palkia shook her head. "No, I can tell you've put a lot of thought into it! I mean, you've got every nearby country laid out and what's going on where! That takes dedication." Robin smiled slightly. "Heh, thanks." There was a another pause that seemed like a million years for Palkia and about an hour for Robin before the latter finally spoke. "You seem kind of nervous, Valentina." Palkia gulped. Great, he knows I'm on guard! What do I do?! Just... Tell the partial truth? Without the fine details? That's suicide! Not as much as telling the whole truth. Just tell him how you feel! Okay, fine! Palkia took a deep breath before replying to Robin. "...Yes. Yes I am. Because you're this super-great tactician leading this super-great army and I'm just this washup from Cincinnati who admires you and wants to be your friend but feels like she can't." Robin stared a bit at Palkia, then smiled reassuringly. "You're one to talk about washups considering how I wound up with the Shepherds." Palkia blinked, then smiled and nodded. "Oh, right! They told me - lying unconscious in a field?" "Precisely. I've managed to do fine ever since. You've been doing fine, Valentina. And almost anyone who's with the Shepherds is a friend to me, including you." Palkia relaxed noticeably. "Thanks, Robin." "You're welcome, Valentina." Robin shrugged. "Besides, I'm not even the real leader. Chrom is." "Well, glad you're not trying to show off to the new girl at my expense," said a voice. The two jumped and yelped in surprise to see Chrom standing and smirking behind them. "How'd you get in here so quietly?!" said Robin. "You were both pretty distracted," said Chrom. "Anyway, Robin, I was wondering if we could both look over some swords we got from a shop." "Oh, if that's the case sure thing," said Robin. He then turned to Palkia. "Though... Is it alright if Valentina comes along?" Palkia froze in place before stammering out a reply. "M-Me?" Chrom blinked. "Well, as a valkyrie I'm not sure how much she would know about swords." "She could afford to learn," said Robin. "If you bought these from a shop so could any bandit with enough pilfered money, or an enemy nation for that matter. Yet if she's from an exotic nation she might not know what she's up against." Chrom rubbed his chin. "Well, when you put it that way, sure she can take a look. Valentina, I'll show you the ropes." "M-Me?" said Palkia. "But I-" She was interrupted by Chrom taking her hand and pulling her from her seat, and immediately after was standing next to Robin and Chrom as they led her down a side hallway. Fantastic, thought Pakia. I know nothing about how to take care of a sword, at least nothing I can remember. I was getting chill with Robin but now I'm not going to embarrass myself in front of not just any of his other friends but his best freind, what do I do what do I do what do I do Meanwhile, Chrom leaned in slightly and whispered to Robin. "Glad you finally found someone." Robin raised an eyebrow. "Um, no?" "Damn. She seems nice." "...Not like that." "Very well. Let's see if she can learn her swords." ---------- In a particularly dingy room in the barracks, Chrom, Robin, and Palkia were looking over an assemblage of swords on a table. Palkia picked up one katana-shaped one. "I know this one! It's a Killing Edge, right?" "Yes, precisely!" said Robin. Palkia picked up a curved, odd-looking blade and swung it around a bit. "This one looks familiar too..." "That's a Wyrmslayer," said Chrom. "Particularly effective against any sort of dragon." Palkia started and quickly put the blade down, rubbing her hands together gingerly. "S-Sounds convenient! Heh, pesky dragons, eating thatched-roof cottages and burning cattle, who needs 'em, right?" After a long pause she looked over the assemblage of blades as a whole. "So... What are we looking for in particular?" "Defects, wear and tear, that kind of thing," said Robin. "Right... and how's this batch doing in that regard?" said Palkia. Chrom sighed. "Not very well. All of these blades are very dulled and past their prime." Palkia looked the blades over. "Huh, you're right." "These things only have so many uses before they break," said Robin, "but it seems we won't even be able to do that with these! Who bought them anyway?" A voice called from upstairs. "I got them at a discount! I needed to have money left for the really good sweets, Bubbles!" "Dammit," murmured Robin, "who picked Gaius to go weapon shopping again?" Chrom cast him an aside glance. "You did." Robin's eyes widened as he suddenly blushed profusely. "...Oh, right. I did." Palkia sighed and looked the swords over herself before an idea struck her and she stood up smiling smugly. "I may have just the trick, boys." Robin looked over to her. "Oh?" "You know how a lot of my spells can bend space, right?" said Palkia? "Yeah?" said Chrom. "Well, I know just the thing!" Palkia pulled a spellbook out of her bag and put her hand over the swords. Her hand, the book, and the swords all started glowing teal. "Now shrink them along the Z dimension just right..." The swords all began to change shape, growing thinner along their lengths as more of their material became stretched out. When they were done, Palkia gestured to them proudly. "Ta-da! Thinner swords, sharper swords - and they're still durable!" Chrom took one of the swords and sliced at the leg of a wooden chair with it. The chair was quickly felled by the blow, and Chrom turned to Palkia with a grin. "It worked!" Robin gazed in awe. "Palkia, you're a genius!" Palkia blinked. "I am?" "Yes!" said Robin. "In all my time studying magic I'd never have thought to use it to modify the properties of weapons on such a simple but effective level! It's brilliant, thank you!" Palkia gave a fangirlish giggle she quickly muffled before giving a nervous wave of her hand. "Eheh, it's nothing, glad you appreciate a good old Cincinnati spell!" Chrom looked between the two of them and crossed his arms, smiling. "I think after today we could all do something special." Palkia and Robin looked to him expectantly. "Oh?" they both said. ------- At the top of the castle tower, Robin, Chrom, and Palkia stood as the sun set over the vast expanse of Ylisse before them. "This is your first time up here, isn't it, Valentina?" said Robin. "Yeah," said Palkia, "It's really nice..." "And I brought snacks," said Chrom. He produced several strips of jerky he passed among the three of them, which they all began munching eagerly. Palkia thought to herself as she chewed the jerky and gazed out at the landscape. Aaaaaaaaa I'm hanging out with Robin, and Chrom too! This is glorious! What'll you do next? Um, I dunno, hang out with them, or at least Robin, some more? I'm in the clear here, I don't wanna mess it up. You gotta be more defined than that. Hey, going on the fly worked this time, didn't it? Well, not always. Sometimes you gotta be prepared. What, and force it? Me and Robin have to do things naturally. Well we still have to account for- Palkia swallowed a hunk of jerky. "Will you two be quiet? I'm trying to enjoy this moment." Robin and Chrom stared at her akwardly. Palkia noticed and gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh, sorry, that was nothing. Just me talking to myself." ***