#i'm definitely down to write more about the hijinks they might get up to
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if you are comfortable with cyno or childe then may i ask for cyno/childe bc i think it's funny (also bonus points if they're roommates/gym buddies/partner project partners/whatever scenario forces them together)
chicyno
[i see, you are also a creature of taste!! I couldn’t decide whether to make this gay or keep it platonic so I leave it up to you to decide ^^]
roommate applications at the Akademiya are…. stupid, in Cyno’s opinion.
The Akademiya sprawls on a slope overlooking the Visshudha Fields, but if Cyno stands on the furthermost balcony and pushes up on the banister until he’s on the tips of his toes he can see-- distantly, like a mirage wavering in the heat-- the sand dunes that denote the existence of his home. Even now, three years into his studies, Cyno finds it hard to ignore the heavy knot of homesickness that settles uneasily in his stomach, harder still when he knows he’s about to be forced to spend the next year with yet another poor unfortunate foreigner. It’s by some cruel twist of fate that Cyno always ends up with roommates who speak entirely different languages to him, and not even Alhaitham’s monotone tutoring had helped him in any way.
No matter, Cyno thinks, turning away from the balcony and returning in the direction of the dormitories. I have weathered far worse. I can survive once more.
---
Cyno cannot, in fact, survive once more.
He pushes open the door to his suite, bag dropped haphazardly at his feet, only for his eyes to land on the last person he had expected to be lounging so comfortably in the living room. Childe Tartaglia, of all people, a rather infamous exchange student known for the chaos that follows him with every step. He exudes an air of impropriety, from his sharp smile that digs into his cheeks, to the way his eyes-- dull, like sea glass or stillwater-- glint inhumanly in the low light of the living room.
Childe, though an exchange student from the frozen forests of Snezhnaya, was well-versed in the language of Sumeru, though he oddly spoke it with the accent of someone who might be from Liyue. He definitely didn’t look like he was from Liyue… Mondstadt maybe, but the easy sunburn along his nose spoke of far less resistance to the sun.
“Cyno!” Childe chirps, smiling like a cat. “What a fun twist to the story, wouldn’t you say?”
Cyno just stares unblinking for several seconds too long, very aware of the role he plays as the canary, before promptly bending down to pick up his bag and breezing through the living room to lock himself in the privacy of his room.
---
When the moon's shadow shattered, hordes of beasts emerged from the deepest depths of the abyss and devoured living creatures by the thousands. Of those she created, none could escape their destined annihilation. The goodness, peace, and wisdom she had bestowed — all perished before this pure malice without exception. Under that sneering waning moon, the black tide of decay surged--
A mop of unkempt red hair pops up in Cyno’s peripheral vision, the tightening of his hand at the spine of the novel the only telltale sign of his sudden discomfort. “Ooh, are you doing some light reading or is this coursework?”
Cyno slowly closes “The Folio of Foliage”, closing his eyes briefly against the tide of unkind words that rise to the tip of his tongue. The words themselves almost sound like Dehya-- perhaps he’s spending too much time around her. “I didn’t know you were coming home so early. You’re usually out late.”
Childe just hums, one hand grasping the back of the couch as he leaps over it to settle clumsily at Cyno’s side. The shorter boy feels the muscles along his shoulders tense, and he forces himself to remain still as Childe adjusts to a comfortable position. “I got stood up, so I decided to cut my losses and come back. Goddess help me, the women of Sumeru are just as, if not more fickle than those in Liyue.”
Cyno traces a finger along the cover of his book. “You’re not from Liyue, are you?”
“No, Snezhnaya born and raised, but I--” Childe pauses, and Cyno looks up through his bangs to find Childe frowning briefly at his hands. They’re long hands, those of an archer maybe, with red knuckles and finely shaped nails. Cyno blinks and looks away just as Childe turns back to him. “I studied there, before coming here.”
“That’s a long time to be studying abroad. Do you not miss your home?”
“Do you?”
Cyno thinks of the endless expanse of sand, and the warm embrace of a never ending sun. “My home is not so far away as yours is. And I’m sure you miss the cold. We don’t have that here.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed,” Childe laughs, throwing one arm along the back of the couch, too close to where Cyno’s head rests. “After so much time in Liyue, though, I’d like to think I’ve acclimated to the sunny weather. I definitely don’t think I’d fare very well in the desert.”
Cyno smiles, ducking his head further. “I imagine you’d turn as red as a zaytun peach. If you thought Sumeran women were hard to please before, the desert would not be your wingman.”
There’s a brief moment of silence that hits Cyno like a sumpter beast straight to the chest, and he recalls Alhaitham once telling him that what he considers jokes, sometimes become unfunny in the time it takes to travel from mind to mouth. He turns toward Childe with every intention of apologizing, only to find Childe already looking at him with a stunned sort of smile on his face. It still cuts across his cheeks like a suture, but the deep crescent dimples it leaves look softer than usual.
“And here I thought you were as rigid as stone, mahamatra.”
Cyno winces, feeling his ears burn. “My personality is not always a reflection of my prefect title, Childe.”
“Ajax.”
“What?”
Childe just grins, and his hand brushes Cyno’s shoulder as he pushes himself back to his feet. “I’m gonna make pierogies out of boredom. If you decide to run to your room again, mahamatra, I’ll leave some for you.”
And with that he walks around the couch and toward their shared kitchen, and Cyno…
Cyno enjoys pierogies very much, actually. He enjoys more the way Childe, once seated beside him once more, throws that same arm across the back of the couch, fingers occasionally dancing along Cyno’s shoulder.
#genshin impact#childe#tartaglia#cyno#my writing#i'm sorry this took so long i've been very sick#anyway if you like this and want more of...... whatever this is??#i'm definitely down to write more about the hijinks they might get up to#the quote from folio of foliage has no hidden meaning i just wanted cyno to be reading something#I thought about having him play genius invokation but decided that that's definitely not something he'd just do casually in the living room#even if childe wasnt home#(he fears childe's opinion of him)
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inon zur, the man you are.
is this cheating? maybe. possibly. probably.
okay, so context. i have been doing this thing where i play a random adventure game spit out by a random generator program i created (because i'm a nerd). as a result, every now and then, you'll find a short write-up about some weird obscure little video game on my tumblr blog. it's just one of the many things that you have to put up with if you decided to follow me for whatever reason. sorry.
then one day, said randomizer spit out syberia 3, and let me tell you, i was delighted! this was the first time i had a game i already played on my list, so obviously, this meant a replay. but not just any replay. i now had to replay the entire series! obviously.
is this what i've done for other games that came up before? no. but you guys don't understand.
syberia is my special little guy.
syberia 1 and 2 are not only largely the reason for my long-lasting obsession with adventure games, they have arguably raised me. i am the human person i am today because i played syberia while listening to complicated by avril lavigne when i was 12. these are the foundations and building blocks of my personality. everything that's wrong with me comes back down to this.
so, yeah. to say that i was excited to get back to this one is a slight understatement. i was vibrating on a frequency previously undetected in human physiology.
i also start with all this to emphasize that, yeah. i have my rose-tinted nostalgia glasses on when it comes to these games. that doesn't mean i don't have my criticisms, especially looking at the game today, but... i cannot not love syberia. it's just science.
i should probably talk about the game itself at some point though, right? i can't just assume that the one person reading this (i see you! hey! thank you <3) is as familiar with the ins and outs of voralberg automatons as i am. so, let's do a synopsis.
syberia is a 2002 point-and-click game about a lawyer named kate walker, who hyperfixate on her work mission to find an old man a bit too much, while going on a train adventure with an autistic-coded automaton named oscar. hijinks ensue!
the game was designed by french developer benoît sokal (rip, king) as a follow-up to his previous game, amerzone. as a kid, i have played through all of his games i could get my hands on, but it's been a while, so i can't quite tell you how much those hold up. from what i remember, he definitely liked his adventurer protags... as well as some potentially questionable depictions of made-up indigenous people.
...let's circle back to that after syberia 2.
but yeah, while we're here, let's actually get some of my criticisms out of the way. this is a game from 2002 written by a french dude and... you could say that it's of its time among other things. for instance the man kate is looking for is mentally disabled, and the game is a bit too liberal in its use of the 'r' word to describe him. (and yes, it was considered an offensive and derogatory term in 2002 too, people were just more inclined to use it back then.)
there are other aspects of the game that one might critique as well, that i mostly find charming. the dialogue is at times clunky (almost as if it was written by someone whose native language is not english...), but the voice actors do a nice job adding character (and possibly tweaking their lines just enough) that it absolutely works on me to this day. it's a little wacky, a little silly, the puzzles sometimes require some pixel hunting, but that's just how these games work!
this one also had the cocktail puzzle, which, in my opinion, is one of the best in the entire series. it really has everything! when i become super rich, i'm going to build that cocktail machine in my house.
other highlights of the game include the big communist boi looming over you in komkolzgrad and just... any other automaton or mechanical machinery in the game. including your train, obviously.
the overall aesthetics of the game? immaculate! i want all my devices to work with a wind up mechanism now.
the one thing though that, in my opinion, truly elevates syberia over its contemporaries is its music. god, the music!!! most people might be familiar with inon zur through his scores for games like the later fallout or dragon age games, but to me, he's always gonna be the guy who went so insanely hard for this somewhat niche little adventure game series.
his score coupled with the automaton designs and the beautiful scenery? absolutely breathtaking. prettier than any modern game.
youtube
in conclusion: kate walker, call me!
EDIT: as it was just pointed out to me by @greyaged, the first syberia game was actually scored by nicholas varley and dimitri bodiansky, and only from syberia 2 onwards did inon zur become the series' main composer. needless to say that they all did a fantastic job, but i definitely want to give an extra shout out to varley and bodiansky here, now that i know that they were the ones responsible for this particular game's score. the tracks and motifs they introduce here carry over to zur's scores, and they definitely cement syberia's legacy as a game series with one of the most memorable video game soundtracks in my book. <3
#adventure game extravaganza#mse's playing adventure games#mse's replaying syberia#syberia#video game#Youtube
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I totally see where you're coming from with how you like your mix of comedy and seriousness and I think I'm really similar! I can definitely tolerate a lot of cheese but I'll almost always consider it a one off situation. I recently rewatched Batman and Robin while my wife was making a cast of my body so we could make cosplay and it was just so funny and silly that like it reminded me of what one of those really campy comics would look like in real life and I respected the fact that they could commit to it that way and make an artful movie that brought that to life but there were a few elements that didn't make sense to me like Barbara being Alfred's niece that I was just like whatever man and I knew I couldn't like... use it as a foundation for my basis of characterization, like I can with other media! I really love the animated series too, I grew up with it being my first experience with Batman and I always really respected it as a medium that I could trust to be satisfying and whole. I also really really liked Batman beyond because it felt like the closest continuation of that story even though I know it's really not canon and it kind of doesn't work, I like to view it as like a semi-official what if fan fiction from the original writers lol
I completely get what you mean about the comics, cuz I kind of view official comics like fanfictions even in their own right? I mean when you think back on like Bill finger and Bob Kane like eventually every other writer is going to be writing fanfiction of their characters but it's really fun to go through all the different Batman media and see whose stories you kind of like more and then whose stories you kind of tend to avoid
and when I mentioned I knew you liked comics, I was also speaking more from the perspective that you seem to have more knowledge about them Rather than I thought you had a preference for them, because you put together that comic PDF with batjokes moments and I was really impressed with that ☺️
i love your telltale fics and the games as a beautiful breath of fresh air into the life of batman so sometimes I like to imagine the animated series would be a great way to say where is juce 10 years later, if those universes were more cohesive setting wise lmao
Yeah, Barbara randomly being Alfred's niece is definitely one of the aspects of B&R that just… I guess it breaks up the campiness? That and Ivy being in love with Freeze for no discernable reason. And teaming up with him even though he'll kill her plants. And poor Bane! And then that weird bit at the end where Freeze is sort of forgiven but Ivy can't be? And Alfred almost dies. Should taken all that stuff out and added more camp.
I really enjoyed Batman Beyond too! I didn't even realize a lot of people didn't like it until recently. Honestly it's one of those things where I don't look into the reasons too much. lol I liked it and I'm fine with having liked it, no notes!! (OK I sorta lied. That bit in JLU where they made Bruce Terry's bio dad, that was bizarre.)
I am definitely in the "anything not created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane might as well be fanfic" camp. Like, sure, if DC puts resources behind a project, it has a better chance at being worth your time, but when I get down to it, I can't put a lot of weight behind the idea that someone's official derivative story is more valid than another someone's derivative AO3 post just because there was a cash exchange with a company that owns the original "asset." People who want to lean into that idea, that's their business.
The wild thing about the batjokes spreadsheet is I know that it's only a fraction of what's out there. I have read hundreds of comics at this point and I still feel like it's not enough to totally have a handle on things. Especially knowing how little I've retained. 😅 But that's another reason for the spreadsheet!
Thank you for enjoying my fics! And for implanting the idea in my head of a Telltale universe animated series… Just hijinks and maybe a little more murder with John and Bruce, bestest buddies.
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Ok so I promised to talk about my sci fi stuff. It's now six in the morning again* but I feel far less tired than yesterday so I'm gonna dare to write it down this time.
It's not really a concrete story, its more just a loose collection of characters, worldbuilding and unconnected fun story beats.
There will be absolutely no structure to this. Just ramble.
So for a little context, this has been brewing slowly for years but I really started to gather up all those ideas after I finished watching Killjoys (Bounty Hunters in Space) and craved more space adventure in my head. Theres also a lot of Firefly (Western, but in space), The Expanse (Uhhh a bunch of stuff, in space), Battletech (Mech Mercenaries, in space) and my dads loosely RIFTS based sci fi role playing world in there.
Now first thing first you might notice that all those things above involve lots of guns which is maybe the biggest step away I am taking in that there is exactly one (1) gun involved in the entirety of this whole thing. Also the images in my head are a lot brighter and less gritty than most of those series. Like it's a genuinely good world. Because it's a thing I'm thinking about to relax.
So let's meet the crew! Because of course this space adventure revolves around a colourful bunch of people who travel the vastness of space together.
Most importantly theres the Pilot. He's afraid of sleeping when they're flying because if he isn't awake then whos steering. Even though theyre in space, where it's basically impossible to hit anything unless you want to, flying consist of pointing the ship in the right direction and waiting and any correction would need to happen way faster than a human could make them anyways.
Which is kind of a problem when travel times between planets range between a few days for inner system distances to easily over a month of want to get from one side of the system to the other. Interstellar travel involves specialized jump ships so travelling the lightyears between stars actually ends up taking much less time than getting from the edge of the suns gravity well to anything remotely worth visiting.
He accounts for about half of the crews caffeine consumption and sometimes his sleep deprivation leads to some hijinks (like when he goes hunting the space spiders in the vents). The ship is his own, he has won it in an advertisement lottery for a video game which is why there is a giant wizard painted on it which he really wants to remove but is not allowed to. Everybody else loves the wizard.
Next up is the one person in the group who has an actual job. This is not a wild thing because most people don't have a serious job and don't have to have one to get by, but he definitely has one. It's the mechanic. Big beefy guy, and not just muscle beef and also he has a big metal arm because of course he has. He's a mechanic and he runs powertools off of the arm. His job is that he works at the local museum of transport and restores old trains. Like back when they still ran on diesel old old. can you imagine!
He is the main reason for them flying off planet because other places ask him to come over to repair a thing for them, so Pilot flies him over, their other friends come with because it's like a roadtrip and that's kind of their thing and the remaining seats are chartered out which always makes for interesting company.
He enjoys his work very much but his hobby hobby is building model planes.
Next up the Detective, who is absolutely not just straight up Miller from The Expanse. He got unfrozen from cryosleep and lives in a totally different story from the others. He is constantly fidgeting because he doesn't have a gun anymore so he doesn't know what to do with hands. He is brooding all the time but it just looks silly because he has to do it in the very comfy and nice places his friends hang out in. But every now and then they get to go on some kind of investigation, a treasure hunt or something genuinely dangerous happens and he is fully in his element.
The one time a gun is relevant is when one of their adventures brings them to a wildlife reserve and he gets to have a tranquilizer rifle. He wants to be sad because that's all he has ever known but his friends are way too good at being friends. He is in a constant war over the gravistat (thermostat but for gravity) because back in his day spaceships didn't have artificial gravity yet.
Fourth guy I have yet is the Charmer. He's a linguistics student. His whole deal is that on every adventure he falls in love with someone and it never works out for some weird reason but he always stays friends with them. He knows people everywhere. He can not flirt for the life of him. He's like what if an 18CHA Bard only ever rolled nat 1s.
Their favourite place to hang out earthside is a Pub (Public Charging Station). Thats a place with wireless charging things at the tables for peoples cybernetics. Just so happens that the one they frequent also has a liquor license. The house specialty drink is "Battery Juice". A glowing green spiked lemonade. Of course you can also get it "discharged".
I hope enjoyed this little insight into one of the fandom unrelated worlds in my head and have a tremendously joyful day!
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I'm trying to think if I have any more to say about Volume 9... there will probably be things that come up when the fabled rewatch happens. Because a lot of it supplemented things I have already talked about it would probably get tiresome saying 'oh btw. I'm right. Did you know that?????' I don't really know what to adjust for currently. I feel like I'm failing as a R/WBY blog right now, as if that's a normal thing to feel
I guess also like, I did like V9, and I think overall its production quality seemed very high (the actual animated expressions and movement were very beautiful, noticeably), and probably a contributing factor is that out of so many characters featured I had personal attachment and resonance with two of them (which is unusual because Yang was a favourite of mine during V5) such that my enthusiasm is not totally... there... the way it was with V6-V8. Even with the relative Cinder drought of V4/6 (relatively? In retrospect it doesn't feel like it too much) those are still some of my favourite volumes to rewatch.
Obviously I did overall have a problem with some of the dialogue and pacing - and if I had actually got the volume release date correct I think I would've been catastrophising about their position on the whole fairytales aren't real thing - but some of it is just reflective of an ongoing issue with R/WBY and an ongoing issue with addressing Very Specific Parts of the Audience who need handholding. I generally accept that there are some anime hijinks bullshit that I am not going to be amused by (and frankly I find it a little weird because R/WBY subverts a lot of anime tropes. There is some discordance there).
Like, if I were being mean and making a tier list, my tier list of volumes is: V8, V7, V6, V4/V5 (tied), V9, V3, V1-2 (tied). That's a holistic analysis and includes like, basic plot beats, and probably when I do a rewatch my position might change, and as much as I really liked V9 the overall plot of Ever After did not end up being that interesting to me. It definitely established meaningful narrative stakes and actually developed Jaune and Ruby relatively well, I just don't think I was the audience member this volume was intended for. The team R/WBY relations this volume felt like a missed opportunity and I wasn't someone before who ever complained or felt like they had dropped the ball previously. But if they're going to spend a volume specifically alienating and then reintegrating Ruby (in a way which should echo Pyrrha's identity break were she to survive), it does really just feel like they had potential they didn't reach which I know they're capable of reaching.
But then I do think it does come down to personal taste because I am interested in the Remnant plot, and all I have to go on in Ever After is the interior journey of Ruby's; this obviously comes with a lot of fruitful set-up for the Ozlem resolution which I think they got concrete and obvious about to make it really really clear what needs to happen as a narrative resolution. So I get it.
I also get that from a purely developmental perspective, if they had all of these special assets for Ever After, it is literally too much work to write Vacuo at the same time etc. But on the other hand, if this is your opportunity to lean into what I think R/WBY does really well, why did they... not.
This isn't a 'I'm not going to watch R/WBY' post. It's not like I'm dealing with reeling from the fact that Cinder's redemption is like, beyond possibility. I also really liked a lot of the volume. R/WBY just happens to be my favourite show and I know what I like about it and why and probably a fair bit of it comes down to personal taste.
It also feels really mean that I feel this way, because Jaune and Ruby's development were pretty much beat-for-beat the kind of stuff I love/expected with them, but they skipped through it too quickly. I don't think this is a previous mistake they've made with other characters and I feel this comes down to the consideration they would make ten episodes and the halfway point would be the Jaune twist. The problem is that I think you could effectively fit those first five episodes into probably three or even four, and that would give you the needed space for Jaune and Ruby's respective turns later. I think that there were potentially functional concerns at hand (narrative twist halfway through to draw viewership back in) that I don't think lent the artistic product what it actually needed.
But then again I think my issue with this volume is that katabasis is a really fruitful opportunity in general and I think that was an overall missed chance for going even more extreme and exploring even more extreme fairytale ideas (and potentially even making Alyx at least a little more genuinely villainous/having changed Ever After), so like, as ever my criticism of R/WBY is 'commit harder'.
There is something fundamentally good about R/WBY that isn't just superficial bland anime tropes or superficial bland friendship hijinks (the actually resonant friendship hijinks they do really well) or just anything superficial in general. It's what's endlessly frustrating about this show and part of its viewership. It's hard not to read the handholding clumsy dialogue or the lampshading as direct address to That Part of the Audience and for me to fear that oh, maybe they would genuinely try to cater to those idiots with Weiss' character assassination. I do think when it comes to Neo, for instance, who was definitely brought back as fanservice but integrated into the story well it's clear they don't completely give into that stuff, though.
This kind of became a retrospective post of V9, and maybe my feelings will change. V6-V8 was an incredible run of R/WBY and with works-in-progress their intentions are revealed and come clearer. I think it's obvious that V9 made it clear that R/WBY is not grimdark or cynical and fairytales are real, actually; V7-V8 weren't just miseryguts for the sake of it.
I look forward to how V9 is potentially recontextualised by further volumes. Touch wood, lol. I love R/WBY but my trust in storytelling is also dead, so it's not good that I'm always assuming the worst - which maybe influenced part of my feelings about this volume.
But to circle back to the impetus of this post - that feeling, partly informed by the fact I've had some things in my life immediately get in the way after the end of the volume lol, which is that I almost... am not sure what to say is there for a few reasons. I also think that some of my reflective Jaune posts mid-volume, for instance, potentially held up well? I'm not entirely sure because it depends how they end up playing the Jaune/Weiss-Blake/Sun angle or if they don't, and then you get back to that question of Knightfall is what holds the thematic glue of R/WBY together for me, blah blah blah, here we go.
Really I want to use this interim between volumes to post more fanfic. So I'm thankful for that. Most of all I think that even if Knightfall doesn't end up ~being canon~, it's been a pretty good run so far. Lol.
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Hi! When you going to update your science & mentalism series? You're my favorite author & I can't wiat to see what crazy hijinks Senkuu and Gen get up to!
It's definitely coming soon. I'm finishing my last final work for school today, so my plan is to spend the next couple weeks relaxing and catching up on writing (I'm hoping to have two updates each weekend for the next couple of weekends, no clue which stories will get done first tho).
Until then, here's a snippet from the next chapter:
---
After that, Senkuu really should have guessed that Gen’s own approach wouldn’t be anywhere close to subtle.
In all his many forms, the mentalist had always been a showman.
Senkuu was sitting next to Chrome, talking through a rotary engine, when Gen plopped down next to them and Senkuu immediately felt a sliver of suspicion run up his back.
Even more when he saw Gen’s sunny smile.
Absolutely nothing good had ever come from that smile.
Senkuu zeroed on the covered basket in Gen’s hands. “If that’s a gift, I already tried that. So, I’m pretty sure you’re cheating.”
“As if I would ever be so uncreative.” Gen scoffed, pushing the basket tauntingly forward. “It’s not a gift. It’s for the both of you.”
Senkuu narrowed his eyes.
Before he could even ask, Gen flipped back the basket cover with a flourish. “Anyone care for some sweets? Yuzuriha’s trying out a whole array of cookie recipes now that she’s heard we’ve got flour.”
Chrome looked up, duly intrigued. “What’s a cookie?”
“Try one and find out,” Gen dared, passing one towards him.
Senkuu watched all of this silently. Not saying anything even as Chrome all but shoved the cookie into his mouth before letting out a noise that was really not fit for public company and Senkuu deeply hoped he’d never hear again.
Gen batted his eyes innocently.
“What’s your game here, mentalist,” Senkuu asked.
Gen tilted his head. “Why, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean…sweetie.”
Senkuu immediately made a face like a dying rodent.
If anything, Gen’s grin got slightly manic.
“Sure you don’t want something to eat, cookie?” Gen waved the sweet in front of him. “They sure are delicious, muffin.”
“Why,” Senkuu asked, pained.
“Technically, you asked for this,” Gen replied. “Honey.”
Senkuu thought he’d rather be dying--and he had enough experience on the subject matter to make the comparison, actually.
Next to them, Chrome seemed to be coming down from his cookie induced high just enough to notice the somewhat murderous energy hanging between the two.
Gen noticed, of course. “Ah, Chrome, finished already? Well, feel free to have another. Don’t eat all of them, though. I’d hate for my dear pumpkin here to not get one.” He elbowed Senkuu for emphasis.
“I’m not hungry,” Senkuu said. “Actually, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stomach anything again. So, go ahead.”
Gen gasped. “Aww, not feeling sick, are you, sugar plum?”
Senkuu made the smart choice to just stop speaking.
Chrome looked between the two of them, munching on his cookie. “Wait, why are you calling Senkuu that?”
“Well, I’m so glad you asked!” Gen’s eyes all but sparkled. “It’s because Senkuu’s so sweet, of course! You see,” he slung an arm around Senkuu’s shoulders, hugging him tightly and Senkuu mercifully didn’t shove him off, “it’s a, let’s say, tradition we used to have back in our time. For certain people. Special people. Very particular people, if you know what I mean. You’d call them all sorts of sweet little nicknames. To show you cared about them.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Emphasize a relationship, even.”
Senkuu sighed. “You’re not even trying with subtle, are you?”
Gen ignored him, focusing on Chrome.
“So,” Chrome paused. “Like a compliment, just for people you care about. Like a special name for them.”
Gen nodded eagerly. “Exactly. Something you might call Ruri, for instance. Something nice that reminds you of her.”
“Huh.” Chrome rocked back on his heels, thinking. “Cool, I’ll go try it.”
Then, he was off.
“Wait--,” Gen made an aborted attempt to grab him; but, he was already gone--running over to where the village defense was training.
“HEY, KOHAKU,” he yelled. “I’M GOING TO START CALLING YOU FISH STEW, OKAY?”
“WHAT?”
There was a very loud footsteps marching over before--
“OW, NO, IT’S CAUSE YOU REMIND ME OF FISH STEW, SEE!”
Unsurprisingly, that helped absolutely nothing.
Watching the ensuing carnage with his arm still wrapped around Senkuu, Gen winced. “That….might not have worked out how I expected.”
Senkuu just regarded him flatly. “If she kills him, you’re finding me a new lab partner.”
An angry roar broke out in the distance, followed by more of Chrome whimpering.
“Hmm, yes,” Gen agreed absently. “That seems fair enough.”
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Mmmm STS
(text; hey hi happy storyteller saturday from australia, aka the future! I would like to know... hmmmmm... how would your characters react to finding out they are in fact characters in a story? just 'cause I've been thinkin about all that juicy loss-of-control stuff and other such Spidery ideas in TSS and some of your rambles... I feel like Atlas in particular might have some Opinions about this revelation, and I'm curious about the others too :O ok bye love you have a nice day)
I was very ready to answer this @albatris and then my phone ate it so uh. Here’s your actual answer wew it is now the Monday after you sent it aka 10 days
So. Actually. I’ve. Thought about this question before. Like how would they react to knowing their fate was predetermined (can fate be predetermined?)* and how they might react to me as the person who inflicted such a plot on them. Happy to talk about it. Thrilled, you may even say. Mm!
So yeah like you mentioned! Loss of control and Spider BS is about 60% of the plot, give or take. Atlas particularly has very very very strong feelings about it!! They grew up literally unable to make their own choices for anything until they were 9. They didn’t know anything different, so at the time it was fine - but it definitely scarred them deep when they did realise what had been going on. They fight very hard to keep their mind their own.
So? Finding out they’re in a fictional story and I have already decided their conclusion for them? They’d hate it. They’d hate it! And me! They’d hate me so so much!!! I’ve done horrible things to them and they don’t have control over their life despite all of their fighting and they never have.
Well. I mean. If they can get over the fury and sit down and think about it, if they can figure out that yeah I’m the author and they’re a character in a story, but they are way too opinionated to do anything out of character - is that a lack of control on their end? I built them up and they come along and decide things for themselves and get snarky if I write them out of character. It’s. A strange time.
As an aside, they’d probably also be bitter that I took them from original Sonder. Sure, they were shot in the head there, but there was no godly hijinks hanging over their head there, was there?
TLDR; everything is awful, oh god, someone do something.
Sam! Samantha, beloved. She has. Bad experiences with books in TSS. So she might assume her being in a book is possibly a hangover of that? Maybe? She gets eaten by one. It’s a time and she doesn’t enjoy it even slightly. Hmm. Hang on I’m thinking about this.
Honestly I think she’d be in equal parts disappointed and impressed and wary? Wary because hey does this mean she’s not? Real? That’s? Awful? Hate that? And I agree. It would be pretty awful.
Disappointed because she’s a sociologist; to find out your confined to one book to study things is. Pretty bad for her hobby! That’s only one (my) point of view to study the world through, how is she meant to properly observe when everything is filtered through the lenses of my experience? Awful. 0/10. Her career is ruined.
But - maybe a little impressed. Like yeah she’s forced to see the works though my lens because it’s my book, but. Well. She’s learning through someone telling her that she’s a character in a book. I would assume that means she hasn’t noticed before. I’m also gonna hype myself up and say I’m decently happy with the world building in my head. Maybe she’d be like okay sucks that I don’t exist but yo these towns are. Pretty fleshed out? She could be lying. Thanks Sam.
I do think she’d prefer this world to original Sonder. She’s almost more welcome this time around.
TLDR; studying societies through one lens of the world is impossible, you just ruined my hobby.
A n d y hmm. Defeated and interested and angry I think. He. He struggles with a lot. He’s a prince dammit, he’s got a lot of pressure hanging over his head and for a long time, he struggles to manage it. I think learning that he’s just a fictional character in a fictional story would be. Very. Bad for him. Does he have any say in what he did? What was the point all along? Why did he keep fighting when everything was decided before I had even written a single word?
There are a few times when he gets to enjoy lack of control elements as well. It’s probably not as intense for him as it is for Atlas, but I imagine he’s quite wary about deciding what he does for himself. Learning he never had much choice would be. Eesh.
Angry! I put him through some horrific stuff! I strip almost everything he loves away until he’s hanging onto one person desperately and trying to help her as much as he can! I could’ve just not done that!!!!!! It makes decent plot, sure, but that’s his life! Why did he have to endure that, just for someone else’s entertainment? Angry.
But - interested to a degree. Last time he couldn’t read at all. This time, he is a major bookworm. Adores history books and reading in general. I think finding out he’s a character in a book somewhere would intrigue him to a degree. Privately, secretly, but…? Really? A story? What kind? Fakkin Andy.
He would absolutely prefer TSS to original Sonder. I’m including this fact for you for all of them, enjoy. Last time he was the villain. This time he’s one of the protagonists. I think he enjoys that shift.
TLDR; how dare you make me and mine suffer like this (but also books are pretty dope tell me more)
Nd last but by no means least, Dolly! I. Think. She would care the least, actually? I mean. Mm. For all of them, there’s a degree of anger to it. If they’re characters in a book, it means someone else (me) decides all these horrible things should happen. Atlas could just not serve a horrific god. Sam could have not been eaten by a book. Andy’s family could still be alive. Her tutor could have not been framed for murder. She is endlessly upset about that and I can’t blame her. So. Angry about that.
But like? She’s pretty easygoing I think. It’s possible she would not believe whoever was telling her, dismiss whatever proof they gave. Sure, buddy, I’m a character in a story and you’ve got ten heads and can tame the winds. I suppose it depends on what plot she knows. She has a time in TSS, and more time to come in TCD. Mm.
She! I think she also prefers TSS. TSS definitely prefers her over Sonder. She got the best glow up out of all the characters, I think. Properly fleshed out character and able to do and say as she pleases. I’m happy with how she turned out.
TLDR; why did he have to die? But also, whatever, bucko.
*fate is pre-determined for big and grand events that affect a lot of people, but even then it gets sloppy. Vague and easy to brush off. Sure, X event happened, but only for a little bit?
#STS#tss#asks#mmmm very sorry for the delay. Hectic weekend. Hectic week. Angry at tumblr for eating my ask so ignoring Tumblr#Hi! Here are answers to that question! I. Need to send asks. Respond to asks. Go on Tumblr more again#Things and stuff have been happening yknow. Hate things and stuff. So stressful#Mmmm I’m gonna. Give you bonus content for your wait in the form of Olly answer too#He’s not really part of tss beyond being basically fridged to give motivation to Atlas?#But he is more part of the story for TCD so I will. Offer this knowledge#So! I think as per usual he’d be angry about that fact. Could’ve just not done all this BS to him as the author and controller of the story#Bla bla bla I think he’d respect the fact that stories need conflict the most? Still dislike the conflict but. Mm.#I do think he’d maybe manage it the best? He already has elements of understanding story narratives in TCD#There’s a bit where Andy is told something very very specific and spends the rest of tss and half of TCD panicking about it#Until Olly catches wind of it and provides a different (and correct) alternative#He takes that prophecy bs and literal phrasing and breaks my funny tropes and narratives thanks Oliver love you mwah#So. TLDR; stop making us suffer (especially atlas that’s just mean smh) and also fuck you I’m gonna crack your story wide open#Sorry so late. Am sleepy. Got work. Mmmmmmhh
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Fanfiction Year in Review Meme
Figure I'd do something different for 2021. Hopefully I can remember what I did this year. Technically I'm supposed to be tagged and tag someone else, but alas I got no one to tag
What is your total word count for the year?
I made a lot of WIPs that I'm sure counted for a lot of words, but in terms of actual posting via AO3 I calculated that my post word count is just a little over 19k.
What fandoms did you write in this year?
A lot of Obey Me as well as Pokemon SwSh (for a zine piece), ITSV/Venom, Fate (obviously), a tiny thing for Godzilla S.P., and Jojo (both fic update and zine piece). I've been messing around with a few crossover ideas for Obey Me, one included a tokusatsu/superhero au (think Ultraman, maybe?) and another that included nightmare on elm street. I'm confident to post at least the first chapter(?) of the NoES.
I, uh, got into horror movies these year...mostly slashers set in the DbD universe despite never playing it. Maybe that's how I got that Nightmare idea? Idk. Maybe because Dead Meat remade their Friday the 13th kill counts this year I grew fond of Jason. Let's see if I can churn out something I like. Oh! I also began drafting an idea for a Jujutsu Kaisen/Chainsaw Man idea that's both reader insert and...smut. It might be a while before that comes out.
Did you write more, less, or roughly about what you expected?
I'm surprised I wrote a lot this year. I managed to bring out my first long fic out of temporary stasis and if it wasn't for my shitty ass job wasting most of my time and the fact I don't have access to my go to writing place (aka my college library, which is far away), I'd have more chapters of that.
But my ITSV/Venom fic requires less brain cells as it's honestly good dumb fun. People have been really enjoying it and vocalize how excited they are for the next chapter. Oooh, I have such big plans but not enough time for that fic.
What’s your own favorite story of this year?
Friends Like You and Us, definitely. As I mentioned, it's good dumb fun for everyone involved. It mashed my two favorite hyperfixations together as my love for MCU practically diminishes. But I always had a soft spot for Spider-Man and Venom so they can stay for as long as they like.
What is your most underappreciated story of the year?
I Think My Sister is Up to Something. Despite all the enabling and feedback from my friends when I was throwing around ideas, I don't really get that much engagement and I'm really sad about that. Having Rin did silly hijinks, revealing the reroll roster chapter by chapter, dropping clues as to who or what Sakura is with...I'm essentially talking to a wall as I am every day. I did, however, commission something to draw Suzuka in the FSN school uniform, so I'm taking that as a W
What’s your most appreciated story of 2021?
In terms of fan engagement outside of ITSV/Venom, definitely, You're My Dad! Boogie Woogie Woogie! Probably because of the Diavolo simps lol. I do have a Type(tm) and Diavolo definitely is that, and yet I made a 180 turn and projected my ideals onto him. Whoopsie. But hey, if the other OM stans enjoyed it than it worked out just fine.
Biggest fanfic related disappointment of 2021?
I Think My Sister is Up To Something. For obvious reasons. Maybe my SwSh zine piece for lack of engagement as well.
Biggest fanfic related surprise of 2021?
Definitely the Diavolo fic since I got a notification that someone put it in their private collection of Feel Good fics when they're down. That warmed my heart.
Something you are looking forward to working on in 2022?
Doing more writing, doing more posting, maybe start doing headcanons again. I hope in the future I can get accepted into more zines as a writer, maybe even a guest writer. I also want to do a fic collab with a friend, it's been a long time since I've done that kind of thing. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll remember to participate in NaNoWriMo
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A lot of my posts on such topics aren't really tagged, and my writings are scattered, and some thoughts I've only communicated through tumblr DMs, or just kept to myself and never really detailed publicly at all, so I figured it was time to make a ""masterpost"" of sorts in which I explain every idea I have about needlessly edgy scenarios involving everyone's favourite (?) mid-2000s comedy web series. Because there are issues with my brain.
1. The one where it's the suffering game arc of The Adventure Zone: Balance but with the new kids. I'm probably never gonna properly write this, but I'm imagining it having a tone that gets progressively more serious and intense than the actual series, but still with a decent amount of comedy.
This is the only entry on the list that definitively does not involve any of them dying, although if I was gonna properly write this (which, again, I'm probably never going to) then I would almost certainly include a couple of fake-out deaths (i.e. when Kevin drops to 0 HP and falls unconscious, or at the end when Neil comes back and sees the near-death state that Ryan and Kevin are in). But they all make it out ok.
2. Computer Fighters canon divergence au where they actually do use the computer virus floppy disk to defeat Gunfoot, but the virus takes them over and turns them into fucked up glitch monstrosities.
Also, alternate outcome of that same premise in which only Neil gets taken over by the computer virus, leaving Ryan and Kevin to figure out how to get him back to normal... or whether that's even possible.
(Edit: I've published this now! You can read it here)
3. Just a run-of-the-mill permadeath au. Most events play out the same, but Kevin stays dead after spooky manor, and in between getting up to wacky hijinks, Neil and Ryan go through a tumultuous grieving process which ultimately results in them forging a stronger bond. Maybe in this au the studio sends Spencer in specifically as a "replacement" for Kevin, which forces Ryan and Neil to come to terms with the fact that Kevin is actually gone, when maybe up until that point they'd sort of subconsciously been expecting him to come back somehow.
Later, Ryan getting frozen by the misery meister takes him out of the picture permanently in this au. Either A) without having Kevin there to encourage him, Neil can't work up the courage to go back to the lair, or B) ...well, uh, think about what might happen to a human body in the real world if it got frozen in ice and then someone tried thawing them out with a hairdryer. Yeah. Very icky, very unpleasant, very traumatizing for Neil.
There are two possibilities as to how Neil himself would meet his end without having his friends at his side anymore. Either the bad luck curse from the lost episode does him in, or he gets gunned down while inside the game world of computer fighters 2000. Either way, this is definitely an "everybody dies in horrific and depressing ways" scenario.
4. The fic where they get attacked by Rorschach watchmen, and the elaborate continuation of it that I have not written and probably will not write, but it sure does exist inside my brain. Here's the play-by-play, ft. accompanying notebook doodles (click for full view because some of them are formatted weird)
So, two distinct timelines here. In Timeline A, Ryan manages to avenge his friends' deaths and kill the original Rorschach. However, since he can't go back to his old life, he takes the Rorschach mask and adopts the Rorschach identity.
In Timeline B, Kevin and Neil recover from their injuries, but the first responders recognize Ryan as a vigilante and just leave him in the alley. Neil and Kevin return to the alleyway after recovering and leaving the hospital, and they find a stray dog chewing on a pile of human bones. Kevin blames both himself and Neil for what happened to Ryan, but Neil refuses to (outwardly) accept any blame. This leads to them having a big argument and going their separate ways.
Cut to several years later in Timeline B. Neil has devoted himself to advanced computer science, whereas Kevin (who has an eye scar in this timeline from when Rorschach punched him in the face) has devoted himself to such hobbies as violence, guns, and dramatically holding Ryan's skull (because yeah that's whose bones it was if that wasn't clear) and vowing revenge.
Kevin's plan is to kill Rorschach, but for some reason in all these years he's never been able to find him. This is probably just because this timeline's Rorschach also died ""offscreen"" at some point. Maybe the actual plot of watchmen happened, who knows. Either way, Neil has a loftier plan: opening a portal to an alternate reality, finding an alternate version of Ryan, and bringing him into this universe (because, plot twist, Neil DOES feel extremely bad about what happened!! He's just unwilling to admit to all the guilt he's wracked with!!)
So Neil's plan actually works, and a version of Ryan manifests outside his science building. However, just then, Kevin was heading over to Neil's science building to yell at him or something, because that's something he does occasionally. That, or everyone is just incredibly in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Because, guess what, it's Rorschach!Ryan from Timeline A, who all this time has just been doing the edgy vigilante thing and being depressed and alone. He appears, with the Rorschach mask on, and Kevin immediately shoots him. Neil gets there just in time to catch him as he falls.
Kevin rips off the Rorschach mask in a classic "let's see who you really are!" moment, and is shocked and horrified to find that it's Ryan. At this point, Neil breaks down and admits to all the guilt he's been wracked with all these years.
Does Ryan survive? That's up to you to decide for yourself, I guess. Do you think you could survive getting shot point-blank with an entire round of bullets? Either way, it's definitely a big moment of emotional catharsis.
#not gonna put this post in any tags are you kidding me.#like yeah i don't think people browsing the tag for a beloved internet content creator are gonna want to see me going on#about different ways that character versions of him and his funny little filmmaker friends could just fucking. suffer and die.#but i feel like this is a useful post to have on my blog. so maybe i'll pin it or something#edit from multiple full years later: realized that this technically deserves to go in my#doodle tag#and while i was at it added alt text to said doodles because holy shit can you believe that this entire time the images in this post#were left undescribed for some reason? idk what was up with that
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I'm sorry to hear you're having a bad brain day. Those are the worst. If it helps at all, do you have any HCs about how the Arcana LIs celebrate their birthdays once they're with your apprentices?
thank you my brain was beating me up bad today U___U spending time writing gets me really focused and helps a lot. here’s some headcanons for all my LI/Apprentice ships
Kamui x Asra
Kamui really wants to spoil the everloving fuck out of his lover(s). He doesn’t want to completely control their entire day (unless they want him to) though the urge is definitely there to plan something very elaborate. He has a lot of love in his heart and it makes him feel like he’s gotta do something Big to properly express how he feels
Gives Asra a lot of options for things they could do together and lets Asra decide, based on however he feels at the time. They could go to a spa and relax. Go on a picnic in the woods. Do something mischievous and potentially illegal. Or just stay in bed all day talking, eating food Kamui prepares for them with the Highest Quality Ingredients and care put into them, and get a little, a little, a little hands on
He wants to take care of Asra the entire day like he’s royalty. His birthday is such an excuse to get to do these sorts of things and Kamui is going to take full advantage. Brush his hair and they’ll take a bath together where Kamui washes him and does his makeup and nails and they dress up cozy and spend all day together. Kamui worries about pressuring Asra into something when he might have other plans but Asra’s plans begin and end with Kamui being there so. Kinda hard for him to be dissatisfied
Asra is the type to respond to “what do you want for your birthday” with “you”
Though Kamui doesn’t need to ask because he already knows exactly what he’s getting Asra and it probably involves something pretty Asra can wear, some good food, maybe something practical for his magic or something for Faust since it’s also her birthday too and it’s important that she doesn’t get left out. This is to say there won’t be just one gift there’s gonna be a lot of them and he’s a little embarrassed by how many things he ended up with and he’s going to blush when he presents them
But Asra does the same exact shit when it’s Kamui’s birthday. They’re both romantic idiots who are the type to be like “I saw this and thought of you and so I bought it for you” for lots and lots of things
Kamui’s not good at making things outside of like, food. So most of his gifts were bought, but for Kamui’s birthday Asra spends time making a lot of different things with every creative skill he has. Knitting him red scarves and making him little woodwork statues of cats etc.
Kamui x Julian
Something tells me Julian doesn’t do much to celebrate his own birthday and never drops hints about it but Kamui will find out and be like Listen You Fuck I Will Celebrate The Ever Loving Shit Out Of You. You Cannot Stop Me
Wakes him up in the morning very sweetly and makes him breakfast. He has plans because he knows Julian was just going to work all day and maybe go to the Raven that night as a treat and that is Not Acceptable
Julian probably cries at some point just a little bit because Kamui dresses up very nice and then does Julian’s makeup and hair and takes him on a walk before they sneak into that one abandoned garden from Julian’s Lovers chapter and have a picnic and Kamui pushes him down and kisses him and tells him how beautiful he is and then just starts reciting some poetry he wrote about Julian and There Are Limits He Cannot TAKE This!!! Somehow Kamui found a beautiful metaphor to describe Julian’s eyes and it’s illegal. How dare he
Lots of laughing and running around getting into trouble and Kamui tugs him into an alley every now and then to kiss him and get him all riled up
Kamui goes out of his way to be gentlemanly before Julian can do it first and Julian’s blushing like how do I cope--
Gifts include a book of poetry Kamui wrote about Julian and general gay yearning (and he’s extremely embarrassed about it because he’s not so sure any of it is any good but Julian Loves It. It’s A Masterpiece), a bunch of other books he thought Julian would like to drown out the embarrassing love poetry, some cool knives, expensive wine, magic charms he made himself (lots of stuff to protect against nightmares), and like. the sexy stuff. A ruby-adorned choker and black lingerie. Hello Julian your boyfriend has money
After getting into trouble all day, Kamui takes him stargazing and then they go to the shop where Kamui set up candles and rose petals and whatnot so they could take a fancy bubble bath and drink wine before they spend all night in bed together if you know what I
Kamui x Muriel
Had to pry his birth date out of Asra because Muriel won’t acknowledge his own birthday. He does not deserve to be celebrated. Kamui begs to differ
Muriel just knows Kamui’s birthday by default because Asra would talk about it in the past so he doesn’t have to ask. After they start dating, once November 14th rolls around he’s got a bunch of gifts prepared. Very simple, like, some stuff he carved, a nice meal, a wildflower bouquet, maybe some sort of lotion or perfume he made with Asra’s help. And Kamui cries about it because it’s just so sweet and heartfelt and AHHHH-
Kamui knows Muriel doesn’t like all the fancy stuff he does, but he still wants Muriel to feel really special. It’ll take some convincing but he’d like to take Muriel to a nice spa where he assures him it’s very quiet and they won’t be bothered. A hot spring, mud bath, that sort of thing.
They can go on a walk through the woods and forage for stuff to make a meal with, then they cook together and Kamui tries to hand feed him but Muriel is so embarrassed it doesn’t go very far. Still Kamui will sit in his lap afterwards and they’ll just bask in the peace of nature for awhile. Maybe Kamui will talk a little, quietly, and about nothing of consequence so Muriel doesn’t even need to listen to the words, he’s just lulled by the sound of his voice
Gifts! A lot of stuff for Inanna and the chickens to take the pressure off of Muriel having to receive a lot of things directly (though they all make him happy just the same). For Muriel directly, Kamui gets him stuff to make his life more comfortable; a soft teal blanket, pretty silk ties for his hair, homemade lotions/salves to make his scars hurt a bit less. Charms for protection and restful sleep.
Lots of kissing and praise throughout the day. More than usual, that is. Muriel NEEDS to know he is loved and appreciated and Kamui is very glad that he was born.
Very low energy, Kamui wants to do things to help him relax, turn his brain off, feel loose, good, loved. A very slow day without too much in it.
Sae x Nadia
“What’s that? It’s your day of birth and you have WORK scheduled? Don’t think so. I told everyone to go fuck themselves and had the chef bring us breakfast in bed. Once you’re finished I will braid your hair and use this oil I made to administer a full body massage. My very genius plan. Praise me”
They dress very comfortably because if anyone has a fucking PROBLEM then Sae will flay them alive from the inside out and Nadia considers that a wee bit of a turn-on. It’s cozy day bay bee. They drink tea out on the veranda with no shoes on (!!) and spend the entire day indulging
Sae puts on a magic show for Nadia (and no one else) at night that’s very mesmerizing and beautiful. Nadia responds by pulling Sae into her lap and kissing her dizzy and then Sae’s like “S-So did you like it then--”
Sae doesn’t exactly have plans so much as she hisses like a feral cat at anyone who tries to make Nadia do Work thus allowing Nadia to do whatever she wants, and Sae is at her disposal
Not much in the way of gifts because Sae doesn’t see the point in providing material possessions so much as providing An Experience
Sae doesn’t really Get birthdays because hers were never celebrated so it’s a learning experience for her. All she thinks is that this seems like the right time to spoil Nadia, and that’s, like, enough, right?
Whispers in Nadia’s ear that she’s wearing lingerie under her outfit but then won’t let Nadia unwrap that present until later. Probably won’t wait very long though they’ll be very busy all day if you know what I
Sae x Portia
Sae doesn’t have to do much but provide her presence. Portia knows what she wants to do, although she’d be delighted to let Sae plan a day for them once in awhile. There’s a lot of things Portia’s thought about doing but no time to do them, and her birthday is the perfect time for that. Nadia would let her take time off easy.
In this instance, Sae would arrive with like a bag of handmade chocolates or a decorated mason jar with some jam or something in it and present it to her arms out turned away blushing furiously and Portia can’t stop giggling at how cute she is. She kisses her and holds the gift lovingly against her chest, they’ll share it on the picnic they’re about to go on together!
Cozy clothes they aren’t afraid to get dirty in, laid out on a gingham blanket and talking, holding hands, feeding each other, kissing. Spoiling Pepi who comes over to hang out.
They go into the palace for hijinks. Sae follows along not knowing where they’re going or who they’re talking to or what they’re doing but Portia is so fun and she knows it’ll be good. Sae teaches her some magic along the way to make everything even more exciting, they can play some pranks where Sae teaches her a spell and Portia uses it for shenanigans
Sae can pay for them to go out into the town and eat at a nice bakery, and then she holds Portia’s hand and leads her to some stray cats she found recently. After that she can show Portia some magic stuff in the woods or maybe they can plan to travel somewhere adventurous where Sae can watch Portia swing around a huge sword maybe. They try out a bunch of fun stuff fit for a magician, stuff Sae’s pretty used to but it makes Portia’s face light up with wonder and Sae just stares at her. Heart eyes
#the arcana#asra alnazar#julian devorak#muriel#portia devorak#nadia satrinava#the apprentice#oc apprentice#fan apprentice#oc:kamui#oc:saekamui#text#writing#Anonymous#headcanon#the arcana writing
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This may seem like a lot but I'm new to the Coldflash/Coldwestallen fandom and was wondering if you had any recs? (Also your aesthetics are so pretty and I love your blog theme wow)
Thank you so much! And it’s no trouble, I love gushing about my fave fics/writers. Just, uh, remember you asked for my babbling on this!
So damn, do we have some AMAZINGLY talented creators in this fandom. We are truly blessed!
So pretty much anything written by @coldtomyflash, @crimsondomingo, @asexual-fandom-queen, @robininthelabyrinth, @katyakora, @lotusvalkyrie and @coldflashwave-baby. Some other mentions would definitely be @amuletgays, @sophiainspace, @meowitskatmofo, @sugar-haus, @stillnotginger10, @niennavalier and @pheuthe.
I’m missing so many great creators (I know I am) but I think this is a pretty good list for a newbie for the Coldflash/Coldwestallen fandoms.
Some of them are multishippers (like myself) but Hades, all are worth checking out, even if its not Coldflash/ColdWestAllen.
Below is a, uh, pretty good reading list to check out.
Coldflash:
Out Cold. - Captain Cold’s plan for a bit of fun with his nemesis results in more than he bargained for when a head wound from dashing to Flash’s rescue leaves him without any memories of who he or The Flash is. As Barry nurses Len back to health, both of them quickly start to hope that he never remembers being Captain Cold as the attraction they feel for each other turns into something more without the pitfalls of being enemies to stand in their way.
AU with everything having happened up to the Season 1 finale, except Eddie shot Eobard instead of himself, killing him, and the singularity didn’t happen.
Cover Up. - Lisa drags a disapproving Len down to The Flash Tattoo Studio to watch her get a tattoo, but during her session, Len becomes drawn to the artist, tattoo artist extraordinaire Barry Allen. After seeing the amazing job he does on Lisa’s one-of-a-kind tattoo, he decides to chance asking Barry for help covering up a secret he has, one that he wears on his back, underneath his clothes, and speaks of every foul thing his father ever did to him.
(AU with some nods to canon. Mention of Lisa dating Cisco. Barry has his speed force powers…maybe. Len’s story line is pretty much the only one that stays truest to form. Just for visualization purposes, Lisa’s about 25, Barry’s about 27, and Len’s about 32.)
Tumbling Together. - When Barry and Len discover that they’ve accidentally become neighbors, they learn to navigate their new living situation amongst misunderstandings and a surprising amount of common ground.
AKA the fun-as-it-comes Neighbors!AU which turns into a Pretend Relationship!AU filled with tropes, hijinks, and some vague notion of a plot.
Would You, Could You. - A High School AU Series.
The Flower That Blooms In Adversity (Is The Most Rare And Beautiful Of All). - When someone falls in unrequited love, flowers begin growing inside their body, gradually killing them. The flowers go away if the love becomes returned or if a surgical operation removes the flowers. However, surgery removes not only the flowers but the feeling of love itself, and Barry has never been willing to give that up.
Bad Day? - A homicide involving a trans woman puts Barry in a painful place at work, and with himself. He doesn’t expect to find comfort from Leonard Snart, of all people, no matter what feelings Barry may harbor for the other man.
There’s a Menace In My Bed; Can You See His Silhouette. - When The Flash is put under the influence of a metahuman’s heinous lust power, Captain Cold ends up caught in the crossfire. (Heed the Tags)
The Good in You (the Bad in Me). - Before Starling and before the particle accelerator, Barry meets Lisa and Leonard Snart.
In which Barry makes some unexpected friends, inadvertently launches a promising criminal career by accidentally starting a few (literal) fires, and maybe starts to fall for a certain overdramatic thief. (WIP)
Shovel Talk. - Barry warned him that people might try to give Len the shovel talk, now that Barry had decided to bring his and Len’s year-old relationship into the light. Len never said he was going to be nice about letting them.
Love Me. - A meta-human with Cupid-like powers whammies Barry to fall in love with the first person he sees. Just his luck it happened to be Captain Cold.
(“He hasn’t let go of me for almost an hour,” says Len, focusing his steel on Cisco, who shrinks considerably.
“’Cause I love you,” says Barry beside him, his teeth gleaming as he grins. He tries to kiss Len again—god, the seventh time?)
Realm of Darkness. - Barry was a young god craving chaos and Leonard was the deadly king of the Underworld seeking peace.
A Hades/Persephone AU with powers/Greek Mythology
Maybe Somewhat Out Of The Ordinary. - “That’s not a wolf,” Barry told Cisco, pretty convinced except for the small voice in the back of his mind that had been screaming at him for the past four months that there was a predator very close by. “That’s my dog.”
Hokey Religions and Ancient Weapons. - May the Speed Force be with you.
A Week on Rogue’s Mountain. - Leonard Snart has organized a special Christmas-time retreat for all his closest pals. Unfortunately for Barry Allen… there’s a secret Santa auction, and he’s on the block.
ColdWestAllen:
What We Become (Depends on What Our Fathers Teach Us). - Family dinner at the West-Allen house, featuring Leonard Snart in the role of Not-A-Father.
What Brings Us Together. - After a brief encounter with a mysterious stranger while on vacation, Iris found herself with an unexpected souvenir. Luckily, she has Barry there to support her. She never expected to run into that stranger again. To be fair, Len never expected to find out he was a father while on a morning coffee run.
I’m Covered in the Colours (Pulled Apart at the Seams). - It’s a common misconception that people can only see in black and white until they meet their soulmate.
When Barry Allen is born, he’s only able to see the colour red. When he meets Iris West in Kindergarten, she gives him yellow. When he meets Leonard Snart thwarting an armoured car robbery, he gives him blue.
Should’ve Known Better. - Seven sexy roleplay ideas that Barry, Len, and Iris came up with together…that were not good ideas.
Really, their lives would be so much easier if they weren’t all such sticklers for accuracy.
I Don’t See an Easy Way to Get out of This. - Iris and Leonard go to unspeakable lengths to stay alive. Barry gets caught in the fallout, and it’s a beautiful disaster. (Heed the tags)
Cold Truth. - Christmas may have been the first time they met, but Iris has known Leonard Snart a lot longer than she thought
All I See Are These Strange Tides. - Empathy causes more problems than you might think.
In which a struggling teenage metahuman meets her heroes and attempts to give them the best reward she can think of: happiness.
(Also, not to toot my own horn, but you can also check out my writing here.)
If you check them out, don’t forget to leave a comment, as well as some kudos!
#Coldflash#Coldwestallen#Nixie Answers#Coldflash Rec List#Coldwestallen Rec List#Mine#Personal#Nixie#Anonymous
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Could I ask for the "we can't do this" kisses with ichiruki? (I'm a glutton for angst). Thank you!
Half-Empty
Writing this wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was looking up Ichigo’s and Orihime’s son’s name. Yes, I forgot Kazui’s name. I am still salty about the ending.
@i-masshiro, I really hope you enjoy your story. It was fun to write, and as much as the ending broke my heart, it’s always good to dive into the IchiRuki hell ride.
When an affair was dissected to its basic components, everyone was to blame.
Ichigo sliced the fish in perfect halves. The skillet sizzled on the stove where three slices fried to a deep, blackish brown. The readied rice sat in two separate bowls on the kitchen table. The green onions were sliced in quick, careful chops, ready to be sprinkled on top for additional flavoring.
The television stole Kazui’s attention in the living room. There was a ten minute time limit before he entered the kitchen for the fifth time to ask if dinner was ready yet, and for the fifth time, he’d tell him that it’d be ready in a little bit.
It was days like this he missed Yuzu’s cooking, but she had gone out with her friends for the night, a celebratory night for finishing finals early this semester. She deserved it for all the work she put in for the family. She didn’t have to prepare the meals throughout the day, or babysit Kazui, and she did both without complaint or pay.
He sprinkled the green onions on the fish, placing them on top of the bowls of rice. His meals weren’t as sophisticated as Yuzu’s or as creative as Orihime’s, but Kazui would eat anything. This made dinner preparation easy for everyone.
“Kazui, food’s ready.” He called as he set the glasses next to the bowls, “Come and get it.”
He peaked around the corner, seeing into the living room. The late night talk show was muted, and there was no Kazui in sight. He was about to call his name again when he heard the gentle thud on the second floor, right where his room was. As typical as it was for his seven year old to get into hijinks completely misappropriate to his age, Ichigo rolled his eyes and climbed up the stairs.
“Kazui, I said dinner was ready.”
A muffled sound, a tiny squeak, “I’m coming! Don’t come in.”
It wouldn’t be against his better judgment to return downstairs and wait for his son. Kazui was responsible to a fault, but the high pitch of his voice, the quick patter of trying to hide from Dad told him this wasn’t an occasion Ichigo could let roll without harm.
He knocked on the door with the sign written in a seven year old’s script, “You know by telling me I shouldn’t come in you’ve given me every reason to come in, right?”
The quick patter stopped at once, “No?”
“Kazui, I’m going to open this door in three seconds.” In three seconds he’d either find his former bedroom in a complete uproar or innocent tidiness. He didn’t know which outcome worried him more, “And if we have to tell your mother, I’ll take the fall.”
Kazui protested quietly, crying that he wasn’t sure he wanted his mom to know. There wasn’t a pause between pushing the door open and standing in the suddenly free doorframe.
“What the hell, Kazui?”
Ichigo lived lives. That was what he told his son. He had lived lives; the life he lived was too many for a single person. He didn’t accept that it was simply one life he lived despite it being exactly that. There was before, after, a terrible middle stage, a mediocre ending, and the present.
When he opened the door, he anticipated — at worst, that his son had spilled another paint set Karin had given to him for his birthday. He wailed for hours at his mistake, sniffing and holding onto his shirt as they cleaned the mess.
His present self, this present life of his, had grown compliant to the mundane. It accepted the quiet, little things most people were conditioned to accept, to expect, to even anticipate. His planned night was having a quiet dinner with his son as his wife finished her extra credit studies at university. He’d tuck Kazui in bed for eight o’clock; his bath was at six. He’d end the night with a nine o’clock game show.
Ichigo was the mundane. He was a boring, stay at home dad that loved his son and was content with the life he managed to procure.
He hadn’t forgotten the past. He hadn’t pushed it aside.
He hadn’t tried to keep alive either.
There was nothing to say when he opened the door. There was a before and after, and the before was suddenly irrelevant to its after. He stood blankly for a moment, a single moment that comprised of a single second, and rushed inside the room, not thinking to close the door or say anything else.
Calmly, too soft to be quiet but loud enough to be heard, “Kazui, what happened.”
“I don’t know.” He was dressed in pajamas, sniffing, and wiping at his eyes, “I…I was putting up my color pencils when she came in. I didn’t know what to do, and she – she, asked if I was okay and then she…”
Whatever panic that might have taken over died then, and he laid a hand on Kazui’s shoulder, “You did nothing wrong, okay? I’m proud you were able to stay calm. You did great.”
Kazui wiped his nose on his sleeve, “I…what are we going to do?” He glanced down at the woman slumped against his bedroom wall.
“You’re going to eat your dinner.”
“Do you think she’d want some food too?”
Ichigo sighed, “Kid, I don’t think she’s going to be hungry when she wakes up.”
Knowing the shinigami that had fallen into his son’s room, his prediction was unexpectedly accurate.
Carrying her downstairs was like old times.
This was the worst possible time to think about old times.
Despite sitting Kazui down for his dinner, the boy took his dinner with him as Ichigo rushed to the medical area of the house, following his father eagerly as he shoved simmered fish and rice into his mouth. In the rush of things, Ichigo didn’t have the time to think about lecturing him for it.
He laid her on the cot and examined her injuries. There weren’t any cuts or bruises, but a large bump on the back of her head. That was the safest conclusion. Her pulse was regular, or as regular for a seemingly dead person. Kazui watched it intently on a nearby stool as he did the basic procedures.
“Why’s Ichika’s mom here?”
“I don’t know, kid.” He looked back at him, “You really should be in bed. Your mom will call any minute.”
“What are you going to tell her?”
Ichigo shrugged, “The truth…she’ll understand,” and then he’ll spend ten minutes convincing her not to rush back home. He didn’t want to jeopardize her work. She’d come so far this semester.
Kazui swallowed the last of his meal, and gulped his water down, “Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“She’s going to be okay?”
“Looks like it.” He smiled reassuringly, “And don’t think I don’t know what time it is. Bed, kiddo.”
“But-,”
“Bed.” He crossed his arms firmly. He was never good at looking mean when it came to his kid. His default expression was grumpy already, “I’ll come to tuck you in.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you sure -,”
“I’m positive.” He walked back and forth in front of the room, “It’s a minor bump in her head, and I don’t sense any hollow activity. Whatever was going on has been settled for the time being.”
“I should come home.” She said quietly but with enough resolve that made Ichigo grin, “I can heal her, at least, and if anything happened, I’d be able.”
“Nah, she doesn’t need to be healed.” He leaned against the wall, “She’ll be up in the next ten minutes, and we’ll get a gigai from Urahara. At worst, she’ll have a killer headache.”
“Okay,” she wasn’t convinced, “but it wouldn’t hurt.”
“It’d hurt your studies.” He spoke quietly, calmly, and sighed into the phone, “You’ve come too far to jeopardize this, Orihime. Kazui is asleep. Rukia is in good hands, and I’ll even give them a goodnight kiss for you.”
“You will?”
“Absolutely…might have to take one for the team though,” he said, “she’ll definitely punch me for it.”
Orihime giggled, “You’re right, but it’ll be worth it.”
He didn’t have anything to say to that.
“I know you will,” her breathy laughter ended with a resounding click.
Ichigo was inclined to call her back, to inquire what that was about. He knew a hook dangled dangerously in the simple, seemingly harmless comment, but as his redialed his wife’s phone number, he heard a gentle stirring on the cot in the room. Not quite forgetting, stuffing his phone into his back pocket, he opened the door, and was greeted with violet stained eyes glaring back at him.
The eyes didn’t take his breath away.
It did stop it, for a second, maybe two.
He was speechless under the glare. His stomach dropped, and his hand clenched around the doorknob, threatening to smash it in his grip.
“Ichigo.” Her glare narrowed dangerously, “What am I doing here?”
Just like that, just like that with her annoyed edge, and her annoyed look, they returned to their past, or was this their present – Ichigo didn’t know, didn’t really care.
Dr. Kurosaki, husband to Inoue Orihime and father to Kurosaki Kazui, was a man of an even temper. He spoke calmly, some would say casually, and smiled for children and patients when he wasn’t busy scolding them for their lax dietary habits.
He rarely lost his temper. Kazui had never seen his father angry. Agitated, yes, but mad or angry, or even loud wasn’t something he’d ever describe his father as.
Had he seen his father then, he’d say that his father wasn’t angry, even as his mouth twisted into his traditional, regular scowl.
The sentence he let out was undeniably not very Ichigo like and all very Ichigo like at once, “Cause you got your ass handed to you by a hollow and scared the shit outta my son.”
She glared.
He glared back.
His mouth twitched.
Her lips trembled.
“I need a drink.”
They were glad the aforementioned son was sleeping in his bed upstairs.
“You were taking a shift for one your under underlings?”
“They’re not underlings.” She sloshed the sake in her cup, “They’re my subordinates. Calling them my underlings makes me sound like some maniacal villain.”
“With you as their boss, yeah, it’s probably true.”
She punched him in the arm. Not softly, “Shut up, you ass,” she finished her drink and lied back down, “but I am sorry, for scaring Kazui…that was unprecedented.”
He sat on the floor, holding a can of beer in his hand, “What happened?”
“One of my subordinates was injured several days agao,” she sent him a pointed glare, “I decided to go in myself to survey the situation.”
“And you got knocked out?”
“The hollow had been on the run for nearly a century.” She stared at the small, glass cup, eyes brimming with thinly veiled anger, “I underestimated him, a minor travesty slight consequence of being in an office all day.”
“Slacking up on your training?”
“Actually, no.” She stretched, feet peaking underneath the sheet, “I train every day after getting home, with Ichika, with Renji, but it isn’t the same.”
“Different from fighting the real thing.” He shifted on the floor, unable to keep his eyes off her, he drank every bit of her in those seconds, “It feels like a half full glass.”
“It feels more half-empty these days.”
He watched as she leaned forward, pulling her knees close to her so that she could rest her chin on top of them. The sake cup was placed on the table near the cot.
Glancing at him, she laughed weakly, “I shouldn’t say that as a captain. It’s what I…agreed to when I took the robe,” she closed her eyes and sighed, “but it feels so -,”
“Soporific?”
“Yeah.”
“And sometimes, I think it’s all a dream.” Her head titled to rest on its side rather than the chin, “I’m not a captain, not married, not a mother, just…me and my friends living in the slums again, or it’s just me at the academy. Or it’s just you and I…with me living in your closet again.”
He didn’t want to admit he thought the same. He’d wake in the morning beside his beautiful wife, and he’d prepare breakfast for her and their son. He’d walk Kazui to school as she took the car to attend her morning class. He’d come home and open the practice.
There was nothing about this life, about the life he now lived.
A beauty lied in its monotony. It’s days consistency soothed him as it should. This was the world he deserved, the world his son deserved to grow up in.
He fought and killed for this world. He sacrificed more than he was willing to give his child a chance, and he wasn’t going to regret that.
He didn’t deserve to complain. He didn’t deserve to question.
But sometimes, only sometimes, only during the fraction of a second when his eyes parted — mind too groggy to understand its current place in the realm of existence, he was confused. It was as if he didn’t understand the events leading to his beautiful wife sleeping beside him or the wonderful son he’d send off to school. He’d walk back home, eyes set on the sidewalk, set on opening the medical practice he had resumed in his father’s home — it wasn’t his, not fully, not in the way it had been Isshin’s and Masaki’s.
He shook his head, grinning, “It’s weird to think I’m married with a son now. It is, but I wouldn’t give him up for the world.”
“Ichika is my complete opposite.” Rukia’s smile was genuine, soft and tender, and the faint light gave way to her glistening stare, “She’s obnoxious, loud, and abrasive, but loving, kind, with an insatiable hunger for knowledge. She’s her father’s daughter through and through.”
“Insatiable hunger for knowledge?” Ichigo grinned, “Doesn’t sound like Renji.”
“Shut up,” she laughed, “you’re right though…that isn’t like Renji. That’s all Ichika.”
Sitting in the room together, surrounded by medical equipment, alcohol, and a darkened city on the outside, it wasn’t as if they were sent back in time. It wasn’t as if they were living in the present either.
Time stood still for them.
He led her to the roof. Leaving through the front door wasn’t personal enough, and a part of him wanted to watch her ascend to the skies.
After checking on Kazui, now scrawled on top of his comfort with drool dancing down both sides of his mouth, they traveled upstairs to the root to stand underneath the stars.
Shouting people, car horns, muted cries of a forlorn ghost, along with the typical sounds of a chilly night in the city mumbled despondently in the distance. Ichigo stuffed his hands in his pockets, stare vacant but surprisingly full for the hour. A man of routine, he rarely sidestepped it for any reason.
He chuckled. This reason sufficed.
His eye moved to the corner of its socket. A gentle air brushed against her hair, and she tucked a strand behind her ear, lost in the moment.
“It’s different at night.” She stepped on the ledge, body firm as the wind tried to push her backwards.
“Needless noise fills the silence.”
Needless noise was what he missed.
He missed the piercing shrieks indicating a hollow was making its way through. He missed rushing into danger, tearing through danger with his oversized sword. He missed the soul that was attached to the sword.
So much to be missed, so much to push aside, and he stared off into the night, grasping at lost memories, trying to piece them back together into some real, tangible.
He didn’t tell her that.
He didn’t want her to think he had regrets.
“You could’ve been a captain.” She said breathlessly.
He crossed his arms, “I could’ve been a lot of things.”
Her stare continued but cocked to the side, “A lot of things, many things, and a single one was what you wanted.”
“And you could’ve been…,” he glared at her, “you could’ve been anything.”
When she looked at him with her deathly large eyes, he almost regretted what he said. His throat tightened, and nails dug into his upper arm. His jawline twitched with an emotion he shoveled down deep below in his soul, patting down on the soil to keep it content.
“We could’ve been anything.”
And she could have said anything else.
He opened his mouth to bark at her, to scold her for the implication. They’re married, he wanted to hiss. They have families, he wanted to shake her. His lips remained flat, pressed sourly together as his eyes pled above her.
This was where it would end.
This was where they would end.
He didn’t anticipate her hand snatching at his shirt. His neck, back suddenly arched downwards to meet her, and her lips crashed on his.
Her mouth was desperate. His hands circled her waist. Her arms clung to his neck with her fingers skirting along his chopped sticks of hair. She grunted, moaned against his mouth, tongue fighting his for control, and he let her take control, for the first time he gave in willingly, painfully. He pulled her as close as he could, ensuring their force would not break her as hers threatened to devour him.
Her back slammed on the stone wall, and her legs climbed to hold him, to keep him. They didn’t know how long they could be kept, and they didn’t care — for now, this was their present and future.
His palms gripped her wrist. The subtle, panicked pulse in the middle stunned him. Their present and future wilted abruptly, without any sign, leaving them to inhale each other’s gasps. What doubt did they have now? She could take him now, claw at his shirt and pants, claw at his skin, and he would bite her in return, greedily burying his teeth into her skin until skin broke and bled shed.
Her legs claimed his waist, and his groin wanted to claim her. Just for a moment…just for now…he shook his head, cursing her and himself and fate itself.
A choked sob permeated his speech, “We can’t do this.”
“I know.” Her tearless smile attempted to comfort him, “I know we can’t.”
His forehead fell on hers. Their breathing fell in sync, counting its rhythm, and they closed their eyes as a black butterfly floated amongst the night lights, fading into darkness.
She smelled of rain that stuck to the skin and clung to the scent after a vigorous shower. He wondered if she knew he hated the rain.
With his head laid down for bed, the moon’s violet haze haunted Ichigo’s dreams.
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