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artobotsrollout · 4 years ago

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Transformers: Harbingers

The Pirate Scream AU

Before I talk about it you guys are the best thank you for indulging me and my AU from this post xjdjd. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

@badlydrawntransformers @cosmic0de @warrioroffandoms @measlyfurball13 And a bonus thank you to those encouraging me in the tags as well ❤️

I plan to do art for it as well as accompanying written bits and maybe even an animatic but till then have some general info under the cut.

Also there is transformers: Prime spoilers below so open at your own risk.

TRANSFORMERS: HARBINGERS

So this AU comes from the same place many AUs heavily involving TfP Starscream come from: the unfulfilled potential in our boy Scream. Now deeper discussion of that is not gonna be in this post. It'd be a whole essay.

It also comes from just how salty I was that the Team's kindness never really benefitted them much and they kept getting slapped for it. And OP really wanted to win over a con and Starscream kept wanting a partner. ALSO ALSO Optimus was portrayed as keeping his emotions in check and then never really gets a message that it's okay to be emotional so... I'm doing that here.

And the Starscream Pirate AU was born...

Aka Transformers: Harbingers (maybe idk if it's catchy enough djjsw)

Why Harbingers? ''It's just a SHIP Starscream chills in for awhile in the show' ' I hear you say. WELL HANG ON!! I got two very good reasons!! .

First off: Starscream, with the help of some Cybertronians who he wins over one way or another (Ill get to that), help him essentially use the remains of the Harbinger to put together their own functional ship. It's smaller than the Nemesis and will take some pirate ship inspiration. While it is a hardy beast it's a bit jury rigged.

Second of all:

Imagine being a fictional character living in a ship with a name that basically means 'Foreshadowed bringer of change' and then going back to Megatron and his bullshit. I'm gonna grab this and run all the way with it. Highway to Hell just came on my Spotify so... That may be an omen.

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NOW LISTEN

I feel like Starscream and Optimus could really have had such an interesting dynamic but we never really got to see that in TfP and I feel cheated. Also both could have mutually benefitted a great deal.

So what do I do? I shove them together to be sorta begrudging Co-Captains. As a result there's a lot of shenanigans to be had!

How this happens OP has some run ins with cons and, through a way I'm still deciding, has the opportunity to extend a hand to Starscream. Starscream, being kindness starved, doesn't entirely know what to do about Optimus being nice to him one whole time with no sarcasm or ulterior motive and sorta starts trying to get his attention.

Starscream and his crew are a bit of their own team at this point. MEANING sort of new LOGOS!

I'm yoinking the crossed out Decepticon logo from the Dark Energon Starscream and Dark Energon Knockout toys cause I mean... It's right there and also kinda like a skull and crossbones. It fits too well guys.

Starscream essentially manages to win over the autobots enough so they can sorta make a mutually beneficial, if strained, alliance to aid their aligned goal: killing Megatron and revitalizing cyberton. This is aided by some slight changes to the plot of course. It's also a benefit, much to Ratchet's delight, since they finally get some cybertronian tech to work with.

And so they gotta work together to take Megatron out and there's much bonding moments esp later when the autobot base is destroyed. Starscream extends his hand to them and offers them a more permanent position onboard. (rubbing in how unfortunate their situation is and how this is such a big favour but he's paying Optimus back.)

And insert team dynamic stuff!! Like cons teaming up with Bots, Starscream and Optimus trying to stick with it leading their own teams but keep accidently backseat-leadering one another. I will write some other ex-con and bot dynamics cause there's a lot of chaos to be had.

Optimus doesn't open up to his crew for morale sake and masks his emotions well, and Starscream is... well Starscream is Starscream so he masks what he truly feels a lot and doesn't share a lot of personal stuff besides complaints with his team either. So there's a lot of tension.... That is until Starscream has had it at just how good a poker face Prime has.

Because he's absolutely paranoid got a harmless curiosity about Optimus's ulterior motives and wants potential dirty secrets he can use as blackmail to have power over the Prime, he essentially puts cybertronian booze (but kid friendly version of course fbejek) in Optimus's energon heavily expecting him to spill the beans when heavily drunk. What he doesn't expect is that Optimus is just... LIKE THAT to his core. He's smart but very sad and guilty. And maybe a bit weepy and exhausted cause this man has not shown an emotion for eons now. /s. Starscream doesn't know wtf to do but swayed by how earnest Optimus is he sorta softens up and does open up. Might have helped that he took a swig of the tainted energon to get on his level though. But it also helps that neither is the others subordinate so they don't need to maintain their image as badly with the Co-captain as they do their team.

The ex cons sorta accidently absorb some of the autobot's morals over time. The cons help the autobots have some fun. There's a lot of stuff learned both ways. Also the cons realize how cool humans can be and after a lot of argument and forced time spent with the kids, they want to protect earth too.

Starscream, helps Optimus open up a bit more and allow himself to be emotional. He also shows him how to be a little selfish. Optimus in turn helps him with self confidence and making friends. Both help each other with the shit Megatron put em both through and overall boost one another up. (This also does change the start of the war a bit but I'll get to that in another post.)

Miko tries to fight all of the cons at first but quickly changes her tune cause "BOOYAH PIRATE CONS!!"

Other bits about this AU:

Starscream will eventually get a slight design change. It'll be less scrappy and look more confident and put together. It'll be minor

Because they are on a flying ship but have less energon than the Nemesis, everyone gets equipped with mods for flight. There is a jetpack upgrade one can get or Knockout can straight up help change their alt mode surgically.

I'm working up a list of who gets what flight mod but... Ya'll should know that Wheeljack dares Knockout to make him into a flying car. Largely cause I just got the image of Wheeljack flying above vehicons and just turning into a car and dropping on them. That and driving up the side of the Nemesis and confusing the fuck out of Megatron. Out of all the characters you know that would be a Wheeljack thing.

Arcee and Knockout grieve together.

Knockout loves bugging the hell out of Ratchet. It's extra fun for him cause Ratchet often can't do shit about it since they both need the room and tools.

Knockout and Wheeljack become an insufferable duo with the nicknames they have for everyone.

Wheeljack won't leave Starscream alone and keeps coming up with worse and worse nicknames like he did with Ratchet.

Starscream and Ratchet become complaining buddies.

STARSCREAM'S SEEKER SQUAD REJOINS. Well some of them. Skywarp, Thundercracker and maybe other peeps.

Miko manages to befriend Skywarp and Bulkhead now has to watch both Miko AND Skywarp. Wheeljack refuses to help Bulkhead round them up.

Raf hits it off with Thundercracker.

Knockout: "FINALLY a team with fragging MANNERS!"

Instead of Beeftimus Prime from the forge, Optimus actually gets access to a third alt mode and.. Idk something else primely. So he actually gets wings.

Starscream and the other fliers are greatly amused because Optimus, as great as he is at his poker face most of the time, hasn't yet figured out how to not emote with the pair of wings he gets from the forge. Thundercracker is the one who eventually informs him while the rest of the crew are booing loudly in the background.

I actually do have designs of TFP Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Ironhide in the works.

Fowler and Starscream have insult battles. Oddly both grow a weird almost fondness for these verbal sparring sessions

They frequently raid the Nemesis

Miko keeps talking in a pirate voice. Smokescreen has joined her.

AND A LOT OF OTHER STUFF I'LL GET INTO WITH MORE DETAIL AND ART. I'll also talk more in depth about some of these things that isn't a ramble like this post is. xnwjskw.

Feel free to ask about anything you're curious about.

#My aus #Autothots content #Transformers: Prime Au #Tfp au #Transformers: Harbingers #Harbingers AU

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blueluneacy · 4 years ago

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Confessions

AAAAAAAAND WE DID IT BOYS! Yes, I am posting this late. no, I do not care. it’s the TA!Jotaro/reader first place fic!

Word Count: 4k

Also on AO3!

Warnings: not sfw, slight manhandling, bratty ass reader, slight dubcon if you squint, cumming inside

Maybe this wasn't the best outfit to wear to lecture. It really did fit rather tightly around your ass, and god, if you lifted your arms, half of your torso showed. It really didn’t leave anything to the imagination, but who cared? I mean, maybe, but also, you didn’t care much. I mean, what was the worst that could happen, right? Your TA stares at you the entire class? Newsflash, he does that anyway. It was so obvious that Jotaro Kujo had a thing for you, and it honestly boosted your self confidence at least tenfold. He was attractive, strong, and smart. Anyone attracted to men would want to be with a guy like that, but he kept to himself mostly. If you weren’t more perceptive, or maybe if he wasn’t so weird about it all, then you probably wouldn’t have noticed in the first place. But the way his eyes seemed to keep on you for a moment too long, the way he lingered by your desk for just a moment longer than everyone else, the way he almost seemed to freeze up when he heard your voice, it was all too obvious.

But then, why didn’t Kujo admit it? You were constantly dropping hints at this point that you were interested, often loudly talking about how you were single and looking for a partner while you knew Jotaro was in earshot, but he wouldn’t bite. Not that you were interested in him or anything… Well, that’s a lie. You totally were interested in him, but Jotaro was interested in you first, so he had to be the one to admit that he liked you. Those were the rules. Totally.

But, alas, you didn’t have much time to really consider the pros and cons of your outfit. You only had Kujo’s discussion today, thank god. It should be a crime to have class on Friday anyway, not to mention that it was at ten in the morning. It should be illegal to have a class this early. Yes, you were at this point nocturnal, but you were also in college. You don’t exist before noon. So naturally, you were up getting ready for your class way later than when you told yourself at three AM last night, and you kind of had to get a move on. You already had forfeited a real breakfast, stuffing bagels into your backpack and eating them during your discussion would have to do.

So you headed off on the uneventful walk to your class. Thank god it wasn’t on the other side of campus, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have come for most of the semester. It was always such a hassle to get all the way over there, you didn’t want to deal with it. You couldn’t remember if you actually checked where this class was when you signed up for it, so you couldn’t be certain if this was some sort of foresight on your sight, or just plain luck. Either way, you got to the classroom pretty quickly, sitting down exactly 2 minutes before class was supposed to actually start. You snagged a seat towards the back so you could eat your bagels in peace, but still seem like you were totally paying attention. Jotaro’s eyes on you didn’t go unnoticed, but you couldn’t care to comment on them now, too invested in the idea of food as you pulled out your notebook to take notes on whatever was going to be rambled on about. Jotaro stayed on topic with your chapter, but he seemed to have preferences in what he was talking about. You could tell that what he enjoyed talking about and what he didn’t, because it just showed in the way his tone changed based on the topic. But today… Well, you weren’t paying so much attention to what Jotaro was saying, as the tone of his voice. His voice seemed lower than usual, with a strange gravelly quality to it. Was he sick? I mean, his eyes were on you, they tended to be, but they seemed so much more glued onto you than they were before. You took a bite of your bagel, not even remembering the outfit you decided to wear today and the possible effect that it might have on the man you were certain was at least mildly attracted to you. Nah, you were too busy with that damn bagel.

So, you let yourself get lost in the cantor of Jotaro’s voice as he talked about this or that regarding this biology course. Truly, you could care less. He was just spitting out everything that the professor had to say during lecture, so why bother? You had your notes and you were fairly sure you understood everything that was discussed. And if you found when you finally reviewed your notes that you had no idea what was going on, then you could go to the million review sessions that were available to you before the text. It would really be fine, absolutely no worries. And thank god, discussions were only fifty minutes. You told yourself that you were going to go back to your dorm and study after this, but you knew deep in your heart that you were going to scroll through social media for an hour, get an early lunch, and then go back to sleeping until like five, where you would rouse yourself and prepare to forget the entirety of your evening. Well… At least, that was the plan, anyway.

And that was that. Class ended without a hitch, and you slowly started to pack up your stuff. It seemed so tiring to have all these people try to cram information into your head so quickly, but alas. College was needed for basically every job industry these days, there was no way really out of it. That didn’t mean you weren’t going to complain on an almost daily basis though. You were thinking about whether or not bacon was going to be left when Jotaro’s voice cut through your thoughts, forcefully and without shame.

“(Y/n). A word after everyone clears out.” You would smirk at that, but the tone of Jotaro’s voice wasn’t what you expected. It seemed frustrated, almost angry. Oh fuck, what had you done wrong now? What possibly could you have done to get yourself in trouble, the whole time you were just sitting in the back and… Wait, was eating in class allowed? Oh no. Oh god, were you really going to get called out for fucking eating a bagel? Life was truly cruel.

You swallowed as you watched everyone trail out of the room, silently pleading that someone stay, keep you from this nightmare that was confrontation. God, when you said you wanted Jotaro to talk to you, you didn’t mean like this! But everyone left, the door was closed behind Jotaro, and you lugged yourself over to the front of the room to sit across from his teacher’s desk. You didn't even notice how Jotaro locked the door.

“I assume you know why you’re here.” His voice seemed so careful, measured as he sat down, and for once, his piercing eyes made you shrink into your seat. But no, you couldn’t just give in and give up now! You had to be strong! Or, at least act like you were strong.

“Yeah, and I’m not sorry, it was just a bagel, dude. If you have to get your power fantasy from yelling at me for fulfilling a basic need, then maybe see a therapist.” You crossed your arms, vaguely noticing how it pulled your top just a little lower. Jotaro snorted and shook his head, actually amused at how confident you were. About the completely wrong thing, but hey. You really had the spirit.

“You really think I would give a damn about a some stupid bread? You know, I thought you were maybe playing hard to get, but maybe you’re just dense.” He replied, leaving you just a bit shocked. You were so trapped in the euphoria of bread that you forgot you were wearing clothes specifically meant to drive Jotaro wild. “You think I wouldn’t notice your little stunt. I ought to tear off that little outfit and fuck you over this counter like you deserve.” There was a certain growl in Jotaro’s voice that left your knees weak, and you struggled to keep up with the sudden change of demeanor. Maybe you didn’t know Jotaro as well as you liked to think you did, not able to read him as well as previously interpreted. Still, you did your best to pull yourself together, hoping to strike back with some semblance of wit. Even if Jotaro was expressing some sort of feelings for you, you weren’t just going to show all your cards now. Best to keep bluffing and see how the match turns out.

“If that’s what I deserve, I’m not sure I have many objections. But are you actually going to do it, or are you just going to continue to sit there and talk?” You let a smile crawl across your face as Jotaro’s expression got darker, and in what seemed to be instant, he was on the other side of the desk, his lips crashing against yours. You gasped against the kiss, allowing Jotaro to push him tongue into your mouth as his hands reached your hips, grabbing onto them tight. He remained there for a good moment, pulling away when you were finally gasping to put air back in your lungs. He just growled as he used the moment to help pull your top off, throwing it to the side as his eyes took in your form.

“Such a dirty thing, dressing up like that. You like the attention, don’t you? You should only be seen like that by me.” He leaned in to run a hand through your hair as you eagerly moved to unbutton Jotaro’s shirt, ready to get this moving as much as he was. “You’re fucking mine, no one else should be allowed to see you like that.” He replied. You just laughed and hummed as Jotaro shrugged off his coat, ready to bite back just a bit.

“Oh, I’m yours now? I don’t recall that ever being something we agreed upon. Maybe I’m missing something? Like the part where you confessed your feelings to me?” You teased, Jotaro’s freed arm wrapping around you to bring you just a bit closer. It was like if he didn’t hang onto you, you might flutter away, like sand slipping through his fingers, never to return.

“I’ll make you mine then, fuck. You don’t know what you do to me, how many nights I’ve been awake without you there. I love you, you should’ve figured that out by now.” Jotaro grumbled a bit, almost childishly. You paused for a moment, before laughing a bit, shaking your head. God, maybe the reason Jotaro was so quiet was that he never could get out his words in a cool way. When he started talking in a way that wasn’t explicitly planned out, it was almost like he was just saying the first words that came into his brain. Well, maybe he was. Who can say.

“I know. I was just waiting for you to come out and say it. I couldn’t tell if you were shy or just denying your feelings, so I figured I would give you time in case it was the latter.” Well, that was a total lie. You just wanted a cute confession where Jotaro was all blushing and shit, but that was all out the window now anyway, so who cared?

“Liar. You just were being a sadist.” He chuckled a bit, leaving you just to roll your eyes as you slowly moved down to your knees. Well, fuck it. The two of you were horny, and if you were keeping your shirt off, you were at least going to get a little action here.

“Maybe I am. Wouldn’t you like to know?” You replied, moving to unbuckle Jotaro’s belt. Belts? It was confusing. Either way, you got the damn thing unbuckled and moved to Jotaro’s zipper, noticing the massive bulge that was clearly straining against Jotaro’s trousers. Jotaro was a big guy, so it would make sense that it would translate to that, but still. Gulp.

“You seem nervous all of a sudden. Why’s that?” You just rolled your eyes at Jotaro’s smirk, slightly tempted to tease him further just for looking that smug at you. But no, not today. Another time, maybe, but not today. You reached and yanked down his pants and underwear without much fanfare. He let a low growl out of his throat from the action, but you were more focused on the size of Jotaro in general. What was your plan for all of this again? You weren’t sure, but mama didn’t raise no quitter. You just leaned in and wrapped your hand around the base of Jotaro’s shaft, looking up at him coyly.

“I’m not nervous at all. Don’t you worry about a thing.” You told Jotaro before leaning forward, hollowing out your cheeks and wrapping your lips around Jotaro’s cock. He immediately let out a groan and let a hand rest on top of your head, his fingers weaving through your hair but not gripping down, allowing you to adjust and set your own pace. You saw Jotaro’s blissful expression and felt just a bit of pride well up in you, knowing that you were the one who caused him that. You slowly moved your head, only being able to reach about halfway before you hit the back of your throat, your body threatening to choke on him, but you make up for it by using your hand on what your lips couldn’t reach.

You moved at a slow, worshipful pace, taking in the expression on Jotaro’s face as well as slowly working on getting your throat to relax so you could take Jotaro deeper. You could tell he was holding himself back from making any sounds, his teeth digging into his bottom lip so hard you swore that he was going to make himself bleed. You couldn't help but rub your own legs together, unable to sate that aching heat that was pooling in your gut, leaving you to let out a small moan. The vibrations only seemed to spur Jotaro on, unable to stop himself from bucking his hips slightly. You gasped, pulling away from a moment to take a breath, before smirking up at Jotaro.

“You couldn’t help yourself, huh? I bet you would like it if I let you-” You couldn’t get your words out before Jotaro’s grip on your hair tightened, pulling you forward and back down onto his cock. You gagged as he pushed all the way back into your throat, but he just groaned, rubbing your head slightly as if to comfort you. You moaned just a little, willing your throat to loosen just a bit, letting your own fingers dig into your pants as you whimpered at the heat inside of you.

“You talk too much. Just let me… That’s it, that’s better…” Jotaro’s voice was low, akin to something almost guttural as he began to move in your mouth, holding you tight enough to keep you still, but not so tight that you couldn’t move if you truly wanted to. You did your best to stay put, at least. It was actually sort of hot to be manhandled like this, not that you would ever admit that to him. You just moaned and did your best to breathe through your nose as Jotaro had his way with you, relishing in the way his hips would stutter just a little whenever you took the initiative to use your tongue or moan on you. You felt your drool start to drip down your chin as Jotaro’s hips stuttered a bit more, and you could tell that he was close to cumming. But it seemed that right before he actually did, he quickly pulled himself out of your mouth, leaving you to sputter and gasp for a moment. But that moment didn’t last long, Jotaro easily moving forward to push you to the ground, immediately moving to pull off your pants and underwear. You squeaked as your back hit the ground, Jotaro moving in to press his lips against your neck as he pressed up against your entrance.

“Fuck, I bet you would be so tight for me.... Please, let me, I want you so badly…” Jotaro groaned, and if you were any more lost in your own lust, you might actually say yes. But, your own rationality was enough to tell you that Jotaro was far too big, and you were not in the slightest prepared.

“J-Jotaro, please… You know you’re too big, I’m not ready yet… Soon, I just got to be prepared a bit…” You replied, and although Jotaro pouted just a bit, he obliged. You moved to use your own fingers, but Jotaro quickly swatted you away, pushing one of his own inside of you. You immediately let out a soft whimper. God, Jotaro’s hands were way bigger than yours, but still, you weren’t expecting something like this. You felt your toes curl as Jotaro poked and prodded inside of you, adding another finger to help scissor you open.

“G-God, Jotaro… Feels so good, fuck…” You whined, moving to drape your arms over Jotaro’s shoulders and try to pull him closer. It was nice to feel just his skin against yours. He felt so much warmer than you, like his heat was trying to swallow you up, bring you closer to him. Whatever it was, it was working. As Jotaro slowly worked you open, you felt your knees go a bit weak, Jotaro’s lips and occasional teeth on your neck enough to make you moan. Pray to god there isn’t meant to be a class here anytime soon.

You let out a displeased grumble as Jotaro pulled his fingers out of you, your body clamping around him in an attempt to keep him inside of you. Although you were still probably shittily prepared, it was enough for you to throw out all reason as Jotaro moved back to rut against you, a low growl coming from his throat enough to make you quiver.

“Beg for it. Beg for me to fuck you.” His voice was in your ear as he threatened to nip at it, unable to control his mouth from bruising you wherever he got access. Still, you weren’t opposed to the idea of begging. If it meant getting what you wanted, you might do anything.

“F-Fuck, please, Jotaro! Need you, need you so bad! I love you, please, I love you so much, want you to fuck me, please!” You barely registered the words coming out of your mouth, but Jotaro’s eyes widened and left him almost sputtering as he pushed inside of you, groaning as your nails dug into his shoulders. He pushed in slowly, staying still as he could while you adjusted to him. There was certainly a sting from the stretch, but it wasn’t anything that you couldn’t handle. You took a deep breath and tried to regain any semblance of self you had, only for Jotaro to start moving again, and you lost your composure all over again.

Jotaro let his nails dig into your hips hard enough to draw blood, gripping you tightly as he began to thrust into you at a brutal pace, leaving you to moan as you tried to pull Jotaro ever closer.

“Tell me that you love me. Tell me again, please. Tell me, god, tell me over and over…” Jotaro groaned, and god, you were more than happy to oblige. Who even cares if you spilled the beans first in a technical sense? Maybe you said the words first, but Jotaro was more than happy to show his affection. Hey, you weren’t about to complain about it.

“Fuck, love you, Jotaro. Love you so much, loved you since I first saw you, fuuuck, there, feels so good, I love you, please!” You whined out, Jotaro just growling and moving faster. You tried to move, to grind your hips against Jotaro the best you could, but Jotaro just held you in place, refusing to let you move. He was content in fucking you until you could barely move at his own pace, which just so happened to be as fast as humanly possible.

“I love you too, (Y/n). You’re mine, all mine, I love you so much, don’t ever leave me. Please, say you’re mine, I’m yours!” Jotaro growled, pressing his forehead against yours in an attempt to gain just a bit more contact with you.

“All yours, Jotaro, all yours! God, I’m gonna cum, please!” You whined out, feeling your body start to tighten and flutter on Jotaro’s cock, the coil in your belly threatening to snap at any moment you would let it. Jotaro just groaned, your words spurring him on to move faster, his thrusts becoming sloppy as he felt himself coming to a close.

“Fuck, cum with me, please, fuck, gonna cum inside you, fill you up, all mine, god-!” He groaned, snapping his hips forward one last time before you felt a warm heat start to fill you up, enough to push you over the edge and leave you clawing down Jotaro’s back, your eyes rolling into your skull.

The two of you sat like that for a while, bodies pressed against each other as the two of you caught your breath, basking in each other’s presence. After a few minutes, Jotaro finally pulled out and let his lips catch against yours, pulling you into a sloppy kiss. You heartily pressed back into it, letting yourself melt into it as the two of you shared this tender moment.But, as soon as it began, it seemed to end, with Jotaro pulling himself up and starting to redress himself. You pouted, looking up at him.

“I guess you’re not the cuddling type.” You were half teasing, crossing your arms just a little to show you were just the slightest bit upset. Jotaro just rolled his eyes.

“I’m not a fan of cuddling on dirty classroom floors, no. You should have higher standards for yourself.” He replied, leaving you only to laugh.

“You didn’t mind the floor when we were-” You teased, but Jotaro only rolled his eyes and cut you off.

“Shut up. I swear, I don’t know how I’m going to survive you as a partner.” Jotaro replied as he pulled his belt on. The comment made you pause. Partners?

“W-What do you mean by that? Are you saying we’re dating now?” You asked, feeling your cheeks start to heat up just the slightest bit.

“What else? Seriously, you don’t know how to read the room at all.” Jotaro sighed, holding his hand out to you. You paused for a moment before taking it gingerly, only to be yanked up and pulled into Jotaro’s arms. You gasped, feeling yourself pressed up against Jotaro as he held you in his arms.

“Hey. I love you, you know.” You whispered, unable to keep the words from dribbling out of your mouth. It was quick, quiet, as if you didn’t want Jotaro to hear. As if it was some big secret, or that you were afraid that his strong arms would let you go if he heard those words. But he held onto you still, keeping you close to his chest as his hand brushed through your hair. It was almost tender, in a way that made your already jelly knees weaken.

“Don’t worry. I love you too.” Jotaro replied, leaning in to press a kiss against your lips. You let your arms wrap around him, praying that this was no dream.

But this was real, thank god, and you never felt more at home than you did right now.

#jjba imagines #jjba x reader #jjba/reader #jotaro kujo/reader #jotaro x reader #jotaro kujo x reader #jotaro/reader #writing #My writing #mine #not sfw

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bowtied-pasta · 4 years ago

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King and Concubine

Slight mention of harem and nsfw stuff, but nothing here 😤 True and Splendor with ref to the proxies

True’s hands clenched as she stood in front of the doors. Her outfit odd, for her anyway, the fabric finer than what she was typically made to wear. It was certainly more modest than most things she had been made to wear before. The last king she had been with had made her wear nothing at all chances he got, and being a favorite had not been ideal, but her body wasn’t something she could change very much.

She had been handed over after this king had overthrown hers. They had all heard rumors of how powerful this king was, knowing he wasn’t human anyway, and it wasn’t a surprise when her last king had been taken down swiftly. Oddly enough, she was only one of four concubines in the possession of her new king. That meant he was either very picky, or he wasn’t often in the mood, and given the modest clothing she wore she could guess at the later.

She nodded to the guard that had been watching her stand there, he hadn’t said anything during her little mental boost, so he must have been aware of her inner turmoil somehow. He nodded as he opened the door for her, allowing her to walk in before shutting it, not that she was paying attention to that.

The room on the other side was far more interesting than watching a door close. The room was gold and red in the light washing in from the stained glass windows, white marble walls and floors with dark cherry furniture. The designer spared no expense, who would want to, as she assumes this is a meeting room of some sort. Sitting in one of the chairs at the head of the table, her new king, and he most certainly was not human at all.

“Oh, you’re the new one. True, right? I’ve been expecting you, thank you for coming.” His smile is warm, his voice not betraying any form of irritation at having had to wait on her, yet despite that fact she knew it was right to apologize.

“I apologize for the wait, my king.” She curtsied deeply, head bowing in respect. Remembering when her last king would say an apology wasn’t enough, but her job had been her job regardless. It was expected. He had never been that good anyway.

She hears him hum, still in her curtsy with her head bowed. She hadn’t been told to do anything else, so she assumed she had no right to move. He wasn’t just a king, after all. “It’s really no problem, I’m fine with the wait, I know pretty things take time. Why don’t you come over here and have a seat, okay?”

She rises and nods, making her way to the table and picking the chair that was closer to him. It was her job after all, to be close to him.

“So, I’m sure you’re aware of your circumstances. You were there for it after all, I mean, you watched. I’m not one to force a job on anyone, and I do have a few other places open, but if you’d still prefer.... well.... you know.” Her eyes shot up to see the bright blush on the kings face and it had her doing a double take. He was embarrassed to talk about this. Her own cheeks turned a bit pink in her own embarrassment. Of course.

“My king, if you’ll allow me to speak.” She waited for him to stop stuttering around the topic of sex. “I understand if you require me to pick another job. I’m aware of body preference.”

He hit the back of his chair suddenly, eyes wide as he gawked down at her. He really was tall, now that she was getting a good look at him, she could guess a good nine feet. His eyes were pretty up this close, all black but they seemed to sparkle like stars. “What makes you think I don’t like your body? I’m not requiring you to pick another job, I would be, well...... thrilled to make you mine.”

She huffed a bit, his embarrassment making her own kick up. She had never seen a man so skittish when talking about the feminine form, then again it had been her job to be that feminine form. “Well, I’d be honored, if thats what you would like. I know how selective you are with your harem, or so I’ve heard.”

He blinks at her a few times, his smile dropping slowly as he processed her words, eyes widening once again as he gasps. “You think I have a harem? Who said that? Why is that getting around? They don’t mean my proxies do they? Oh wow, I would never! All far too involved with each other, not to mention far too wild for my tastes.”

She grew nervous as he rambled on, this kings behavior not something she was used to. He was friendly and acted very human for what he appeared. She played with the fabric of her odd dress under the table, eyeing the patterns in the woodwork as she figured out what to say. “So... if not being a part of your harem, which you don’t apparently have.... in what way do you mean for me to be yours?”

She peaked out from under her hair, making timid eye contact with him as he almost mirrored her. “Well, you see. I apologize, I just really think you’re very pretty and you seemed very nice and the situation I found you in was.... not the best...” he grimaced as she turned her head away from him. “And I saw what I saw... I know he didn’t treat you well. What I mean to say is.... if you’ll allow me a chance, I would like to court you. Please?”

She turned back to him, her eyes brimmed with tears. “You attempt to court me too late. I’ve been had by another. Ruined before you even knew I existed. A whore is a whore, you require a queen.”

She stiffened as tendrils seemed to come out of nowhere, and wrap around her. They lifted her from the chair she had been sitting in and set her on his lap. They stayed around her waist as he gently took one of her hands with one of his and led it up to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss there. “I see no whore here, I see beauty and promise. I see someone worth my time and effort. I see my future queen, if you’ll allow me to earn that honor, that is.”

She sniffled, trying to hide her face from him. It wasn’t right to cry, and yet he placed his hand on her chin and tilted her head back up. Tutting as he dried her tears with a thumb. “I’m not worth-“

“Yes, you are. Worth my effort and much more.” His hand drifted backwards, tangling in her hair. His face grew closer to hers, stopping before their lips made contact, waiting for her to make a choice. And so she did, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and closing the distance.

#splendorman #true #my oc #kinda lemonaid

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capricornus-rex · 5 years ago

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Stronger Than Blood (6)

Chapter 6: Lines Are Drawn | Cal Kestis x Reader

Requested by Anon

Summary: Meeting another Force-sensitive was one thing, but having them related to one of the most formidable known duelers was a whole other story to tell. While being stranded in another planet after barely escaping the Haxion Brood, Cal crosses paths with someone who’s at a crossroads with their own identity and lineage.

A/N: Wow, progress is a little slow now. I’m slightly bummed for some odd reason. With the chaos ensuing anywhere in the world, I’m also affected, one way or another. Given that I’ve come back to my work, the good thing is my company has shortened the work hours, though traffic is still a bitch. I’m beginning to see the new pattern to my work-life balance here. I’ve learned that coffee at night while writing gives me a boost of energy to keep writing. But I’m glad you guys are still looking at my stuff, even if only a few of you stop by every now and then. 💞💞💕💕 You guys have no idea how much it means a whole lot to me, the same way you guys matter. The world’s gone fucked, I hope you guys are safe, wherever you are. 🥺😪💝💖

Also tagging: @ayamenimthiriel

Also posted in AO3

Tags: Force-User! Reader, Force-Sensitive Reader, Sith-Related! Reader

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 | Previous: Part 5 | Next: Part 7 | Masterlist

6 of ?

7 YEARS AGO, BEFORE THE JEDI PURGE

Serenno.

You were only a week shy from being ten years old.

You’ve lived a comfortable childhood. Back then, you didn’t understand the vastness of the family manor—it was so vast that it might have been identical to the palaces in Naboo, but of course in the eyes of a child. The only thing that ran in your mind was the games you’d play in the gardens or the foyer, running around and playing house all with your dolls.

Your parents were perhaps the kindest people you’ve known, especially your mother, Jezria. But there were times that the anger in her voice scared you—even if those harsh, loud words were never meant for you in the first place.

They were for that man, with a snowy white head of hair and a bearded face atop a black ensemble, who comes by your house every once in a while. The only thing that stood out in your eye was the expensive silver chain that clasped the cape behind his back.

“So, you’ve come here again,” Jezria growled as she descended the stairs, greeting the guest rather coldly compared to the welcoming vibe that she usually gives off during gatherings. The skirt of her dress billowed over the marble steps, as her manicured fingers slid down the glossed wooden bannister, complementing her regal yet fierce demeanor.

As soon as Jezria’s heels touched the smooth floor, she took you under her arm, shielding you from the visitor’s sight albeit being quite a futile effort.

“Mommy, who is he?” you muttered.

The man’s head tilted downward, proving that he’d heard you. His serious eyes made you hide away behind your mother’s skirt, leaving only a peep at the corner of your eye.

“So, you haven’t told your daughter of her own uncle,” his voice was baritone and spoke in an aristocratic, firm accent. He shakes his head. “Is that how much you hate me, Jezria?”

“Because her life is better without knowing who you are to her!!”

“Foolish woman! Do you think altering your surname into “Moorken” changes anything!? You can change your name, your face, but never your blood!” he bellowed back, cutting the air with a swift sweep of his arm. “You don’t know what your own child is capable of! Only my master and I know the true potential of her power. No matter how many times you deny it, my sister, [y/n] will always have the eyes of Darth Sidious.”

“Whoever he is… No, frankly I don’t give a damn who he is!” Jezria’s teeth were clenched so tightly that her words nearly incoherent. “He will not touch my [y/n]!”

“Underestimating him may not be the wisest thing you’ll ever do, Jezria. And as far as I know you are an intelligent woman.”

With one step forward from your supposed uncle, Jezria—with you still hiding behind her hip—takes one step back away from her brother. Your mother further shielded you with the wide sleeve that dangled from her slender arm, almost veiling you from the eyes of her brother.

“Leave my home, you Separatist parasite! And if you come for [y/n] to try and take her from me, you will never hear the end of me, my dear brother.” she snarled, a true dragon-lady baring her teeth.

The visitor’s beard quivered as he harrumphed, his eyebrows furrowed so much that wrinkles formed across his forehead and the bags under his eyes became more prominent. He strode the grand aisle of the vast foyer, the hem of his cape swept the marble as he departed until he disappeared from the hollow thud of the great doors.

Jezria had kept her ferocious façade on until her brother was gone. Finally, with the dying echo of the door’s thud, her shoulders relaxed and her lungs loosened, but her hand never removed you from her embrace. You repeated the question, hoping that she would answer.

Having no choice, she sighed and melted to her knees, levelling herself to you.

“Darling, you heard him…” she sighed, quite disappointingly at the fact that you’re related to that visitor.

“My uncle? You never told me much about him, mom.”

“I know, dear, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you soon enough,” she gulped. “But… I’ll explain it to you later. I hope that one day you’ll understand.”

Understanding that her ten-year-old daughter had no full grasp of the concept that she and her brother were fighting about, the least she could do was simplify it; and while her elder brother departed their home, Jezria had already concocted a plan for her family.

——————————————————–

“No, you have no right!!” your mother roared.

“I told you it would come to this!” your uncle rebutted.

The same exchange occurred just a few days turning ten years old. You may not have understood it, but it’s as if this man has timed the exact moment where he would have to cause another commotion in your household. Only this time, it has become more physical than the first time—you watched your mother attempt to push your uncle farther away from reaching the staircase, where you’re perched by the railings. Using his forearm as a shield to fight off Jezria’s pushing, he shoved her away as they went verbally ballistic against one another.

“And I told you that you won’t get anywhere near [y/n]!”

“Then I have no choice, Jezria, I will do what I must!”

He pushed her away to give himself some space. Jezria had the foresight that her brother would reach for his weapon—a curved black hilt strapped to his brown leather belt—and she beat him to it. A sleek, silver blaster—a streak of white shine underneath the chandelier light gleamed and adorned the body and barrel—pressed cold against the forehead of her brother.

The drawing of their weapons made you shift from where you perched in full view of them downstairs.

“I will put a hole between your eyes if you even do so much as touch your weapon with your finger,” Jezria snarled, her thumb flicking the safety.

“Are you really challenging me, dear sister?”

“If that’s what it takes, Count.” She firmly said, hinting sarcasm on his title, albeit her voice shuddering.

Your uncle sensed the trembling of her hands, he could feel it from the slight twitching of the barrel against the flesh of his forehead; an arrogant smirk popped out of his snowy beard, he slowly lured his hand away from his weapon, but Jezria knows full well that he’s not yet done with this charade.

“Leave. My. Home.”

Her finger hovered just a hair strand’s length away from the trigger.

Silence. A single heave of breath lifted the man’s broad shoulders.

“NOW!!!”

“This is not over, Jezria. Not until my master has what he wants!”

The Count—as your mother addressed him—backed away slowly until the barrel isn’t touching his head anymore. Again, as he turned tail, his maroon cape swooshed and billowed in the stale air which his heated exchange with his sister remained with. For the first time, you saw that he—in a way—was similar to you: with a single wave of his hand, the door opened at his whim, and he didn’t even lay a finger on the shiny doorknobs!

You’ve had such experience before: making things move at your whim without having the need to touch them. Your mother educated you what she knows—but her brother’s knowledge towers over hers, it didn’t matter, she only told you what you needed to know about the unseen entity they call the Force.

His presence always gave you anxiety, although you couldn’t help but stand witness to the ballistic trade of words between him and your mother. It felt like you were unfurling a family mystery all on your own, and to some extent, you were—but you never imagined it to be like this. As a child, you always had the precedent that whatever adults say are true—and your uncle’s words haunted you ever since he stepped through the front door.

He’s going to take me?

Will I ever see Mommy and Papa if he brings me with him?

Who is the other man they were talking about?

These were the questions that troubled you at night, until they have bothered you to exhaustion that you slept on them and worried about them in the next.

That next evening, the Count didn’t think of paying another visit, but this worried Jezria to a tee. Prior today, she had already put her plan into play: her husband already went ahead, disappearing from the gargantuan family manor to secure a safe route for your escape to the next planet, as she made herself busy getting changed and packing her bags, as well as yours.

Not meaning to disturb you or scare you—even though you’re already the latter—she barged into your bedroom. You were already instructed to get changed as well; and so you’ve been waiting for your mother’s signal to leave. The moment she popped her head into the space of the door she opened, you hopped out of your bed and took her hand.

“Keep up with me, darling!” she whispered, keeping her breath low in the dark.

“Where are we going?”

“To the ship, we’re going someplace far away from here… where he can’t take you,”

Perhaps Jezria’s constant underestimation of her brother—and indirectly the so-called master he always referred to—was her undoing, despite her best intentions of keeping her family safe.

Of course, she did not have that foresight or realization. What only mattered to Jezria weren’t the threats but her husband and daughter and that they were together—carefree and perfect, before her brother’s ugly head poked itself through her doorstep.

Mother and child boarded a shuttle. Jezria alone piloted the ship, prepped it and took off, while you sat buckled up in the co-pilot seat, observing her graceful fingers fluidly dancing across the dashboard controls; beeps chimed into your ears that it was nearly nauseating, the twinkling of the screens blinded you and made you see double, until the rumble of the ship hovering from the ground caused you to sink into your seat.

“Hold tight, dear,”

“Okay, Mom,” you said, ever so obediently.

This was actually your very first time to see the outside of Serenno. You were educated about the different planets and systems from your tutors, but everything you’ve learned about them failed to slam you with the celestial-scale oomph right in the face when you saw the endless sheet of black riddled with stars.

The sight was breathtaking, the neighboring planets’ sizes in a little ten-year-old’s eyes were simply impossible to fathom. Jezria relished the sight of your innocent smile, the fascination twinkling in your eyes, and the gaping smile that remained as your head spanned only a fraction of the galaxy. She hoped that she’d live to see that face again once the family has established a peaceful life, away from the eyes of the Count.

Jezria was finally able to relax and breathe easy as she cruised the shuttle through space. For once, the silence was comforting, she would banter with you, make little guessing games about the planets the shuttle has passed by or what system you could be in.

“Can you name at least another planet in the same space region?” your mother quizzed.

“Well, since home is in the Outer Rim, then another Outer Rim planet could be… Felucia!”

“That’s right, Felucia is also in the Outer Rim Territories!” your mother beamed. “You sure kept your lessons to heart.”

That smooth sailing was interrupted in the blink of an eye when another ship from behind has opened fire, damaging the stern of the shuttle. The screens flashed erratically while Jezria desperately multitasked in stabilizing the ship while taking damage.

“Mom!” you shrieked, tongue-tied and terrified that you were mute for a second.

“It’s okay, [y/n]! It’s going to be okay!”

From the graceful dancing of fingers that you saw moments ago, your mother’s arms flailed in all directions trying to stabilize the ship while being tailed and fired at the ship.

“An assassin, of course!” she growled under her breath.

“What’s going on!?”

“We’re being tailed. Hold on, [y/n]! Whatever happens, just hold on!”

You continued to observe your mother throwing her hands to all sides, attempting to keep the ship flying. The center screen, the widest in the dashboard, flashed a bright orange while projecting the cross-section view of the engines. Whatever button Jezria presses, the orange on the screen never disappeared, rather it gradually turned red to emphasize the severity of the damage.

Suddenly, she could no longer steer the ship forward. The shuttle had been caught into a tractor beam for boarding. A brief thud shook the ship. The magnetic field of the beam has already taken hold of your shuttle.

There’s nothing much she can do right now.

She hopped out of her seat and took you out of yours as well. In her burst of adrenaline, she was able to carry your entirely—the same way she has cradled you as a toddler—to the escape pods. The banging against the door pounded at the same time your heart beats. The assassin has boarded the ship. A single unit can only fit one person, and there were two; before shutting the pod, she cupped your face so that you heed her well.

“[y/n], listen to me. You’re safe in this escape pod, the coordinates have already been entered in the controls. I’ll go in the second pod. And we’ll go see Papa together, okay?”

At face value, you understood well enough that you’re being separated from your mother. You began to choke while fighting back tears, never have you ever clutched your mother’s arm, and the fright was too great for you to bear alone. You weren’t even sure if you’d keep up with her in your own escape pod.

“Mom, please don’t leave me,” you cracked.

“I won’t, darling,” she kissed your forehead. Another bang from the door. “You know what to do, don’t you? I taught you this, remember?”

You nodded nervously, suddenly unconfident, but the lessons were still intact.

“You will be alright,” she removed her necklace and wore it around your neck. She pulled you in the tightest embrace she has ever given you, it was almost suffocating but you didn’t care. “I love you, darling. Oh my baby. My baby [y/n].”

You could hear her sobbing. It took a lot of her willpower to pull away, you sensed it that much. Just when she was about to board her own pod, the assassin had already broken down the door and attacked your mother. By sheer instinct, she slammed the eject button with her fist—but only for your escape pod.

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” you screeched at the top of your lungs, the fiberglass window muffling the full volume of your cries. Your tiny fist pounded the door but it was too thick. From that small circular window that only occupied the whole of your face, you watched your mother defend herself against the assassin.

The assailant was fully covered from helmet to boot. Not even a peek of the eyes through the visor. Jezria and the assassin traded strikes with their vibroblades. You were so caught up with crying for your mother that you didn’t feel the loss of gravity around your escape pod. As the vessel throttles minutes later after ejection and drifts away into space, the less you saw of your mother. You continued to shriek through the door, unable to realize that there’s nothing much you could do except repeat the words “No” and “Mom.”

Farther away, you had full view of the shuttle, but no better view of Jezria. The next moment, the shuttle burst into flames. It felt like time had frozen itself, cruelly forcing you watch it for as long as the galaxy could take. Orange and red coated the original color of your irises, you held your breath even though you still had enough oxygen, you couldn’t take your eyes off of the destruction.

Your mother was in there.

You didn’t see the second escape pod be jettisoned. It never did.

You know the words, you just don’t have the strength to utter it through your mouth or your mind.

You’re now alone, stuck in the middle of space in a claustrophobic vessel that well may be your casket. Just when you were close to sulk on the floor and give up, the temperature around the pod flared, the turbulence rattled the pod so strongly that you practically shook with it.

Luckily, dejection still hasn’t devoured you fully. You followed the safety protocols of the escape pod from entering the atmosphere until you’ve landed and touched a planet’s surface. You buckled up, remembering what your mother taught you; upon realizing that your mother never entered any coordinates and just jettisoned your pod to safety before the assassin could reach you, now you could never reunite with your father as well, the only thing left to do is try to land the pod as daintily as you can.

“I hope this works…!” you groaned as you parroted the same dexterity your mother possessed when manning the ship.

The escape pod had a rough landing, but following the procedure greatly factored in your survival. You emerge out of the crash, bruised and dirtied, you gathered what you can from the wreckage and hiked your way to nowhere. With every step, you attempt to register every single thing has transpired. You may only be ten years old, but you were able to put the pieces together and assume the worst.

It was your uncle. No doubt about it.

“Now he’s done it,” you snarled, the searing heat of the sun burned along with the rage that colored your cheeks.

You decided to stick with that, overlooking one crucial question: can you prove it?

It all seemed hopeless. You’ve been wandering around in this temperate planet for hours now with little supplies. You’ve fought off the temptation of rummaging your bag for rations, you’re too famished to even think about conserving them.

That is until you met a kindly Iktotchi, the same Iktotchi who will foster you in the next few years into the woman you’ve grown to be now.

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ambistep · 5 years ago

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Play Date, part 2

Herald’s got more training, Nehal has a mission and lots of weird feelings - she should probably see someone about that. Mina just has to sit and watch. Can you separate the art from the context or is Frederic Remington’s work irredeemably tethered to the atrocities of America’s westward expansion? Maybe we’ll talk about it.

Retribution spoilers, implied hypothetical eye trauma, Nehal PoV. Extensive Headcanon for her character~

Part 1 is here

It’s weird seeing her like this - in a gym, in gym clothes. Like she’s just some sort of normal person, some young professional getting in a workout before she goes back to the office. Like she’s not your weirdly comforting-and-psychotic boss who puts on a suit of armor to go stomp in the faces of the city’s hailed heroes and government pigs alike. Only the scars really give her away - one along her brow, the back of her left hand, the burn on the side of her neck. Every now and again, you catch a look in her eyes, past her eyes, and catch a glimpse of… whatever batshit craziness it is that’s fueling Clarity. You wonder if other people notice - or maybe you imagine you notice because you’re looking for it. Whatever that thing is, it’s wild.

But that’s what makes it fun, right?

This time, she catches you looking, ��...you listening?” Shit. You weren’t. Does she know? She could be reading your mind - she says she doesn’t, she promises but… like, the government says they aren’t spying on you either, so who knows?

“...yeah.”

“Worst lie you’ve told all day,” she crosses her arms - long sleeves, always long sleeves, you noticed - that’s deliberate, everything she does is deliberate - maybe it’s more scars there? She raises an eyebrow, coolly chiding you, “You lose focus for one second in this game a-”

“-and it all comes apart. I know, I know. I can handle it.” You can’t help but grin. She’s worse than Mom - well, that’s not true. But damn if the similarities aren’t there.

“Don’t underestimate him - he’s bad with real world stuff, logistics, common sense but he reads people well, good with emotions, sensitive.” Her voice is low, cutting, steely, you have to nod, trying to do your part to be a good student. “You use that, carefully. Like we talked about.”

“Like we talked about ten times already, I got it, Mina.” It still felt weird, calling her that, but a little part of you is proud you got that name out of her, that she trusted you enough to let you in on this. It almost seems like a real name but who knows with her?

“He’s here. Laugh. Be funny.” She does that thing, where she changes modes - the hard, bitter lines vanish from her face, years seem to melt away, and you’d swear it was some sort of shapeshifting power. She puts a hand on your shoulder, smiling with what seems to be real warmth, maybe real affection - damn, she’s good at this. “You’re a natural, just… be Nehal.”

You do the same, not as dramatic as her mode switch - but there’s still a small leap from you to well-behaved you - . You throw up your hand in an enthusiastic wave to the angel-headed hero striding into the gym.

He’s cute - but he looks cuter on television, you have to admit. Maybe he wears makeup? Doesn’t really strike you as the sort. Pretty blue eyes, makes you want to jab them with your thumbs - bad instinct, weird instinct, Nehal, what the hell? Maybe examine that drive later.

“Herald, this is Nehal.” Clarity smiles, just bubbly enough to make it creepy, soooo creepy. Herald doesn’t notice - of course he doesn’t, because he doesn’t know who she is, so it’s not creepy for him, duh, Nehal. “Nehal, this is… well, this is your play date. ...Herald can get wrapped up, we’ll get started.”

He smiles, and it’s dazzling, makes you want to pull out his teeth or kiss those pouty lips, you can’t be totally sure which is, cool, cool cool cool. Not weird. “Sure, Mina.” He drops his bag, unzips it and starts to wrap up his hands - you see the slight favoring of his right leg she mentioned, but he’s not thinking about his leg, he’s looking at you, “Hey, I appreciate you being cool about this - Nehal, right?”

Maybe he thinks you’re starstruck or something - maybe the boss thinks you’re playing that up on purpose - but it’s just weird, talking to him, like everything’s normal, like he’s not a Los Diablos Ranger, government law enforcement. And he’s not, he’s… he’s only a couple of years older than you, right? Just some guy. Weird. “Oh, um, yeah. Sorry.” You laugh, a nervous laugh, “It’s all cool, everything’s cool… Herald.” You try out the name - it isn’t his name. Clarity said he was a bit private about the thing. She knew, but she wasn’t telling, so you wouldn’t mess it up. Fair.

The boss settles back on one of the weight benches, doing her Teacher bit, her Pop Quiz voice. You know it well. “Alright, Herald, she’s smaller than you, she’s had training, so what’s she going to do?”

He claps his hands together, working out his limbs, “Uh, she’s going to… probably get in close, try and use my momentum against me.” He tosses his hair back, shrugs his shoulders at you. You flex a little, pose like you’re a threat, flash him a goofy wink. Just a student. You like iced coffee and avocados, right? You are like the other girls. Smile.

“And what are you going to do?”

Herald spreads out his stance a little, but it’s uneasy, unpracticed, clearly not his preferred style, “I’m going to plant, use my reach.”

“Alright, Nehal, what about you? He’s bigger than he seems, and despite that goofy smile, he knows how to handle himself.” Clarity - no, Mina - has her eyes on you.

“Um, I dunno, go for his legs, right?” Your voice hits an octave higher than you meant to. Maybe that was too much. She raises an eyebrow a little - so, yeah, too much. You’re supposed be a nice girl for now, not stupid.

“Alright, you’re going to take turns going through your forms, slowly. I want you to watch each other’s movements, watch shoulders, watch hips. Learn. We’ll… go through all that, some drilling, then sparring.

You lean in and bump your wrapped fist against him, “Let’s make this look good, I don’t want her to get all grumpy.”

He laughs, an easy laugh, so he knows exactly what you mean, “Don’t worry, I’m already on thin ice.”

He’s not as bad as Clarity had said - maybe she’s just too demanding. She’d made it sound like he was a rank amateur, some kid, but he’s actually pretty decent. Maybe not as good as the boss or Charge or something, but most people aren’t. You’ve worked up a real good sweat - it’s been fun, fighting him. He’s got such a pretty jawline, and an easy humor, a lightness about him with just a tinge of sadness you can sniff off of him - you see it in the worried looks he holds after knocking you on your ass in the last bout. He comes from money, you’d wager, it’s just something in that flavor of softness.

But not this time - he’s stronger than you, stronger than he looks, maybe from his Boost? But he’s still slow, and the boss is right, his heart’s never really in it, he can’t make himself fight hard in the gym, because it’s just a game for him, and you’re just some girl. You go in for the right knee, and his footwork is slow, he’s protecting it, protecting it too much, so he’s not ready when you slip your arm around his and twist. Insufferable, pretty blond thing.

“That’s enough.” Clarity’s voice brings you back to good senses - that command, that threat in her throat, that’s definitely the boss, not Mina. You recognize you have your hand reaching for Herald’s throat, a foot stepping on his, and his arm still twisted around yours. Shit, where’d you go off to? Lost your focus, like she warned you, dumb dumb dumb. Herald is looking at you, confused, unsure, worried. Not worried you might hurt him, worried about you. Concerned for you. Clarity’s instruction would be to use that.

You bite your lip, tilt your eyebrows up, “Sorry, um, I got a little carried away.” Apologize, profusely. It’s good that he’s worried, pull him in, but gently. Is that your thought? It feels like maybe it’s your thought, but maybe it isn’t. Shit.

Clar’s up from her seat, scowling - but not real scowling, this is… different. This is Mina scowling, not the scary kind. And she’s aiming it at your opponent, “That was sloppy. You let your guard down because she’s not Oryx or Deadeye or whoever, but anyone who steps in front of you and squares up - you need to respect them, Herald.” She uses that name like a barb, probably the hardest blow he’s taken today. “Even when training - especially when training.”

Finally, she turns to look at you, “You, you need to focus.” You lost control, you know, you know. She always says that but, shit, it just slips sometimes, like blacking out. Should probably think about that. The boss gives you a curt nod, “Thanks for coming though, I think this’ll help both of you a lot. I’m going to talk to Herald here a bit longer.” That’s your cue, clean up, scoot out.

It’s a good fifteen minutes of waiting outside the gym before Teacher finishes up with Herald and he comes out looking a little sulky. But you’re there to greet him - he puts on a smile for you. You reflect that smile back at him, “She really let you have it, huh?”

He’s a little sheepish, scratching the back of his neck, “It’s fine, I’ve faced worse villains.” You can’t help but laugh, snort just a bit. He totally hasn’t. “What about you, you okay?” Neat how he does that when he gets uncomfortable, turns it around into concern for others.

“Oh.” Are you okay? How were you going to play this again? Apologize again. “Yeah, I mean… I hope I didn’t hurt you, I just…” His smile is soft, and getting broader. “...what?”

“It’s okay, Mina told me you were going through some stuff.” Hell. What did she say to him? “That was a good move though, with the arm twist. Training with Sidestep pays off, right?”

She was right, he couldn’t help himself. You put on your best confusion, “Sorry, who?”

“She didn’t tell you?” When does he ever not look bashful, “Oh, man, I thought you knew she was a hero.”

You downplay it a little, “She told me she did like… some vigilante stuff. But no, I guess I didn’t know.” Like you didn’t go on the internet and start searching every single thing you could about the boss’s old days the second you’d found out. “Listen, I usually get a smoothie at this place around the corner, you wanna… y’know?”

You hadn’t planned to do the smoothie thing til next week. Clar warned you about rushing things but your instincts tell you he’s down for smoothies. “Sure, yeah! That sounds great.”

Nailed it.

The smoothies are alright - there’s a better smoothie joint, but it’s further away from the gym, and neither of you have a car. He’s… charming. She did warn you he would be. He’s just real likable, and that’s sort of insufferable all on it’s own.

“I guess, I just can’t really see him as some sort of monster.” His hair has flopped into his eyes, and he’s had different versions of that smile plastered to his face. People pass by you two - some take a second look, but people don’t seem to really think that would be Herald, sitting on a park bench in street clothes, you guess.

“I’m not saying he’s a monster, he’s human, but like… Remington’s first real work was him covering the US government’s war against Geronimo, his entire damn oeuvre is romanticization of westward expansion. He built the public consciousness of the - the Western frontier for decades, and his romantic imagery totally papered over atrocities. So much so that we have a hard time convincing people that there even was a genocide, to this day.” Careful, focus, you get all excited like this, ‘geeked up on injustice’ as ZaZa put it. It scares people off.

But he doesn’t look too scared, “Sure, but do you think he knew he was doing that?”

You dig around in the bottom of your cup for the last of the smoothie, “I mean, he was there!”

“Yeah, but I mean, it’s hard for people to see themselves as part of this whole big thing, in the moment. Maybe he should have known better, but there wasn’t the right person there to make him reflect.” He’s so nice about it, it almost makes you ease off your ‘fuck Frederic Remington’ position. Almost. He slurps his smoothie - he’s empty too.

You nod a little - this is the right time to surrender, “Y’know, you’re different than I thought. I figured like, Marshal Steel was King Cop, and the rest of the Rangers would have that big cop energy. But you seem alright.” He has… nice energy, doing-his-best energy.

You can sort of see it now, what Clarity had meant - that this whole thing was about helping him out too - that he doesn’t have to be The Enemy. Seemed a little self-serving at the time, and maybe it still is - an excuse to manipulate him - but the rationalization must have helped her. It helps you too.

“Well. Thanks.” He leans back, eyebrows up, trying to parse what to make of your compliment, “I guess.”

You hold up your fingers, pinching them together, “Little bit of cop energy though. We’ll work on that. In return, next time, I’ll try not to drop the g-word, alright? I know it’s kind of a buzzkill.”

He blinks a little, laughing, “G-word?” You can see him searching… “Oh. Genocide. No, it’s good. I don’t get to talk about this sort of stuff with… well, my colleagues. The big cops.”

“No? Charge not a big fan of the Hudson River School?” It’s easy to tease, but more difficult to keep yourself from going harder.

His laugh is perfect somehow, full and honest, “Not exactly. I think she’s more into Hawaiian print.” He looks into your eyes, searching. Shit, why does that make you nervous? “Next time sounds good.”

“Alright. Next time then, Herald.”

“Yeah…” For the first time, he actually looks a little nervous, unsure of himself, “...It’s Daniel.”

Smoothies today had been the right call. Definitely. You don’t have to put on any fake smiles. Thinking back, you haven’t had to fake anything for awhile with him. That’s nice. Should probably reflect on that. “Cool. See you next time.” You point a finger at him as you turn to head off, “Don’t go so easy on me though, alright?”

He’s back at ease, effortlessly sweet, “Same.” It takes a moment for you to figure - he’s taller because he’s floating, and he’s floating, because he’s… leaving - there he goes.

You watch him ascend and dart off, beyond your vision, and almost missing him already.

Shit. That was a good mission. ZaZa’s going to be jealous as fuck.

#fallen hero: rebirth #fallen hero #scribbly #sidestep #herald #nehal #mina oh #guess nehal is my baby orange step now??? bloof #part 3 some day #Can Herald and Nehal team up to take on the Tenth Street Tiger?!! find out

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bigskydreaming · 5 years ago

Text

Thank you for the boosting and the donation! Got the rest of the rent there now, which let me sit down and whip out my first commission, yay! Someone who said they didn’t need to be credited asked me for 2K about the idea of “what do I think Dick’s opinion would have been of the Felipe Garzonas situation at the time.”

Which is a fucking awesome premise, and not one I’ve spent a lot of time thinking on, but it hit me right away....like, you know I’m always talking about how Jason and Dick have a lot more in common than most people think, IMO, and also that Dick isn’t nearly as incapable of understanding the impulse to kill as he’s normally assumed to be.....but thinking about Jason as Robin and whose side Dick would fall on that, if he’d been asked to weigh in....and given that he was still on iffy terms with Bruce and thus probably more inclined to side with the kid in his literal shoes, who he could remember being in certain ways, at certain times...

It made my mind jump straight to Robin: Year One, and how when Bruce fired Dick as Robin that first time, after the Two-Face incident, he kinda pinned the judge’s death on Dick, like as a direct result of Dick’s choice there...and this definitely affected Dick throughout the entire rest of the mini...which all culminated in him being trained at Shrike’s Vengeance Academy and literally holding a gun on Two-Face himself, having been ordered to kill him by Shrike, and wanting to...because of how Two-Face had so recently hurt him, and in Dick’s eyes...also been the direct result of his fallout with Bruce, the thing that made Bruce run away.

And so with all that in mind, here’s what I came up with. It’s open-ended, because my commissioner said they would rather me leave it unfinished if I felt there were more places I could take it, if other people wanted to commission further additions to it or I wanted to finish it myself later when I had time.....so here’s 2,695 words of Dick and Robin!Jason in the week immediately following the Garzonas case. I got in a groove with it so went over the commission mark, lol, (I don’t charge extra for that, FYI, lol) but also I wanted to make sure I left it in at least a somewhat place for a break, rather than just in the middle of a thought.

This is definitely something I’d come back to on my own, just to finish it, no further commissions required, but like.....being able to use the commission to pay towards food or rent instead of waiting until I have the time and energy to bang out actual fic, like...definitely would make that a sooner rather than later thing, not gonna lie. LOL. I mean hey, I wrote this in the last hour.

(Which also means its unbeta-ed, but they said that was okay and I think it still reads pretty cleanly as is). Anyway!

********

UNTITLED FOR NOW

The way Jason Todd warily eyed the device in his hand, one might think it was an instrument of great and terrible destructive power, rather than just…his own personal cell-phone.

To be fair, he was Robin, and pretty used to the idea that even the most unlikely of things could be used for evil in Gotham. It could’ve been stolen and replaced at some point by a henchperson of Mr. Freeze, and using it could unleash some kind of cryogenic freeze ray that would turn him into a Robinsicle. Mad Hatter could be up to shit again, and dialing the phone at this very minute might mean syncing it up with a remote radio signal that would override his natural brainwaves and turn him into Tetch’s mindless minion of like…doom and stuff. Or…or…

Or sometimes, even in Gotham a phone is just a phone, and Freud is still a dumbass. And neither of the above possibilities had anything to do with why Jason was being a giant freaking pansy about entering the last digit of the phone number he would never ever admit to having had memorized for months now.

Nightwing had said to call if he ever needed to talk. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t actually want Jason to call, right? Like, its not as if Jason had remotely been expecting him to do that, so its not the sort of thing someone did just because it was ‘expected’ or shit. He was pretty sure. Rich people manners were weird though. Had to factor that in.

But Nightwing had also even made a point to say not talking to people about stuff was Bruce’s problem and that Jason shouldn’t let it be his problem too, and even though months ago Jason had been a starry-eyed dumbass who was totally drunk on the Bruce is the Bestest Kool-Aid or whatever, ‘Wing had definitely known what he was talking about there. So maybe he’d get it, and having this conversation with him wouldn’t be. Like. The actual worst idea in the history of ever.

Deductive logic said that Jason was getting worked up over nothing and there was no rational reason for him to be this nervous about dialing a fucking phone number. And he’d gotten pretty good at the whole deduction shit, given all the work he and Bruce had put into training his mind to view the world through entirely new paradigms, so Jason was pretty sure his math on that checked out. But on the other hand, Bruce was a hypocritical asshat that Jason was currently not speaking to, so what the fuck did he know about anything?

Aaaaand he was back to square one. Well damn. This was excellent. Very productive. Good hustle out there, Jay.

Sighing gustily, Jason flopped back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to pretend he hadn’t gotten used to how luxurious and cushion-y his ridiculously expensive mattress was. He’d gotten soft, he told himself. Then he scoffed at the idea that the past year and a half of rigorous Robin training and patrols had made him less tough than the pipsqueak he’d been back when living on the street, getting his ass kicked by bigger and badder on the regular. That hadn’t been hardness, that had been bravado.

But it had gotten him this far in life, so maybe there was something to be said for it after all?

Ugh. Decisions were hard. He objected on principle. He also really wanted to understand why he was this nervous…if he could literally fill the guy’s shoes and kick supervillain ass as Robin, what freaking sense did it make that he couldn’t even call him up on the phone?

Maybe you just know better than to ask him questions you don’t really want to hear his answer to, a smug voice said in the back of his mind. It sounded suspiciously like Willis Todd, which was all kinds of weird and fucked up, cuz Jason was damn sure his abusive a-hole of a deadbeat dad had never said anything that insightful in his life.

Which meant it was his own screwed up subconscious - presenting in the voice of his not so dearly departed douchebag dad, no less - that had Jason reacting out of spite, entering the last number and hitting Talk, all while totally on autopilot. Because apparently we’re all making healthy life choices in this Chili’s tonight, Jason snickered somewhat hysterically while his phone rang once, twice, three times.

Ugh. Was he always this fucked up in the head and he just never noticed, or was it a side effect of running around rooftops in a cape. Inquiring minds wanted to know.

“Hello?” Someone said then, answering on the fourth ring. Jason sat bolt upright, his nervous humor vanishing as quickly and unexpectedly as it’d hijacked him in the first place. For all that he’d only actually interacted with the older man a few times, his voice was instantly recognizable. As was his slight confusion.

Right. Because why would Nightwing have the untraceable number of the latest burner phone Bruce had given Jason, when the ever paranoid Bat had him swapping out phones every freaking week? Duh, Jay.

“Uh, its me,” Jason said hastily, as if he could somehow catch up to and overtake the epically long ten second silence he let lapse before his mouth started making words again. “Jason?”

“Jaybird! Hey! What’s going on?” The older vigilante’s tone instantly morphed into one of surprised delight, so apparent even across the phone that Jason actually pulled it away from his ear and stared at it, as if that could explain Nightwing’s inexplicable giddiness. He’d literally only met the dude three times. Give or take a concussion he was forgetting about maybe? Weird.

Then again, the older man was a circus performer from birth. Might just be good at faking being super excited to hear from people? Whatever. Still weird.

“Uh, you said to call if I was ever having, I dunno, issues with Bruce I guess? So I kinda had a question? I mean, if you’re not busy or anything.”

Just one question? Willis’ voice asked snidely, echoing in time with the rapid tripartite beat of Jason’s heart. Since apparently everything Jason said was trying to come out with a question mark attached to the end of it at the moment. Ugh, fuck you, subconscious, Jason thought forcefully, even as he ransacked the recesses of his mind for that bravado he was thinking about earlier. It had to be in here somewhere…

“No worries dude, I’ve got time. Hit me!” Nightwing said cheerfully. His lighthearted cadences were so at odds with the sweat suddenly breaking out on Jason’s forehead, the younger teen couldn’t help but wince in anticipation of its inevitable change once he got his actual question out. This was a bad idea, he decided, way too fucking late for it to make a difference. He had a hunch Nightwing wouldn’t be content to ‘just forget it’ or whatever even if Jason chickened out now.

So he took a deep breath, shrugged and did what Jason Todd did best. Said fuck it, put pedal to the metal, and drove at full speed for the metaphorical police barricade that was his way of picturing all the things telling him He Should Definitely Just Not.

“Do you think I’m someone who could kill somebody in like, cold blood?”

Aaaaand there went the lightheartedness. Well, he’d definitely stone cold killed that, Jason thought grimly into the silence that followed.

“Huh,” Nightwing said at last. “You’re gonna have to give me a second to switch gears here, Jay. I was kinda expecting something along the lines of ‘how do I avoid Bruce giving me the safe sex talk.’”

Jason flushed and nodded jerkily, not that the older man could see it. Still, it’d been enough of a workout just getting to this point. He didn’t trust what might come out of his mouth next if he kept trying to force it. Thankfully Nightwing didn’t make him wait too long before continuing.

“I think anyone’s capable of killing somebody in the right circumstances,” Jason’s predecessor began carefully. Except that was not remotely what he wanted to hear. Or helpful.

“I’m not looking for platitudes,” Jason grit out, not angry at the other vigilante so much as the whole fucked up mess and his inability to think about anything else at this point. “It’s just a simple fucking question. You’ve met me, do you think like, I’d be capable of just killing somebody or not.”

“I’m not offering platitudes,” Nightwing continued calmly, as if he wasn’t phased by the younger boy’s interruption or sudden aggression at all. “And its not a simple question at all. Speaking from experience, most people wouldn’t think of an eight year old as a cold-blooded killer, but that’s what I could have been if Bruce hadn’t stopped me from killing my parents’ murderer when I first tracked him down. And yet that’s still totally different from when I held a gun on Two-Face barely a couple years later, about to shoot him because somebody else told me to, and because I wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt me. Wouldn’t you agree those are two different situations and two different ‘kinds’ of cold-blooded killer? Context is kinda a big deal here.”

Huh. First off…what the fuck? Jason stared blankly up at the ceiling, trying to hurry up the processing functions of his brain because, again, what the fuck? He was like ninety nine percent positive none of that had been in the Dick Grayson Is The Greatest and Here Are All The Reasons Why brochure he’d had read to him every time someone new found out he was Wayne’s newest stray, and like. Uh. Yeah, that part would have definitely stood out. Because once more, with feeling:

“What the fuck?”

Oops. That hadn’t been supposed to be out loud. Bad mouth. Bad.

Nightwing just did a weird kinda half laugh half sigh combo. Rueful, Jason would describe it, if he were describing it to someone else, which it kind of felt like he was, relaying the conversation to himself now that it’d taken a hard right turn into the surreal.

“Blindsided you with that, huh? Sorry, should’ve figured neither of those are the kinda stories Bruce would want to share with you. Then again, I don’t really have any idea what Bruce has told you about me.”

“Not much,” Jason admitted. Which was a major source of irritation, if he was being honest. The much sung praises of Dick Grayson came from literally everyone he met except for Bruce. Who usually just got a pinched expression whenever Jason brought him up, and a rapid subject change that was not nearly as subtle as Bruce seemed to think it was.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Nightwing sighed. “I hope you haven’t put too much stock in anything else you’ve heard about me then. I’ll admit to a bad habit of enjoying my mystique, so secondhand hearsay tends to lose my best nuances.”

Despite himself, Jason’s lips curved up and he let out a rueful huff of his own. “I mean, this definitely isn’t where I saw this conversation going.”

The older man chuckled. “Thought I was going to just assume the worst and chuck the book at you?”

“Well. Yeah.” Jason shrugged, even though he knew it wouldn’t come across. “Bruce did.”

Nightwing heaved an exasperated breath. “Yeah, that’s kinda the thing about B. Sometimes, he’s great. Other times, he’s an ass. Its kinda an either or thing. He’s never really mastered the art of finding a midpoint between two extremes. Mostly because he’s never seen the point of aiming for middle ground.”

“Well its not like he’s ever really had to,” Jason griped. It just slipped out before he could stop it, leaving him feeling guilty for bad-mouthing B when he wasn’t around to defend himself. Especially since he knew Nightwing wasn’t the guy’s biggest fan these days. But he couldn’t deny it also felt good, in a way.

To his surprise, Nightwing just laughed. And not even in a malicious, spiteful kind of way, but almost relieved.

“God, thank you. You’d think that ‘hey, so my billionaire guardian kinda has entitlement issues’ would be a water is wet kind of revelation, but try saying something like that to pretty much anyone else…”

“And they look at you like you’re an ungrateful asshole?” Jason finished for him. Not that he’d ever actually tried saying that to anyone before, though he’d definitely thought it a time or two. But he could all too easily imagine the reactions he’d get, which was pretty much why he’d never gone so far as to speak the words.

“Yup,” Nightwing drawled, dragging out the p and popping it with emphasis. “And its not about being grateful or not, its just…there are some parts of everyone that just aren’t up for grabs, for other people to weigh in on or take charge of, you know? And a lot of people just don’t get that…because nobody’s ever tried it with them, or had to deal with expectations that…overstep, let’s call it?”

“Is that why you left?”

Jason winced the second it left his mouth. Too far. Definitely way too far, but he’d just gotten unexpectedly comfortable with the back and forth, and now he’d done the overstepping thing himself and was left with just dead air.

But ten seconds of heavy silence stretched into twenty, and went no further, as Nightwing sighed into his side of the phone again.

“The spiteful part of me wants to say it was more of a push than me just up and leaving,” he laughed again, but this time with unmistakable bitterness. “But even while that’s true, its not really the right answer to your question, because no matter how much of a clusterfuck that was at the time, its not…I mean, I knew at the time how to fix it. Where and how I needed to cave in order to make up with him and let things get back not quite to normal, but at least close enough.”

The pause wasn’t as heavy or tense this time, as Jason could almost sense the older man gathering his thoughts, trying to put them into words. He bit his lip rather than risk any more unexpected utterances escaping. This might not have been where he’d thought his phone call would lead, but now that he was here, hearing the answers to questions he’d wanted to ask for over a year and finding them almost comfortably familiar, he wasn’t going to risk distracting Nightwing or shutting him up for well. Anything.

“But it would have meant me caving. Settling in ways that I just…couldn’t. So in a way, yeah, I did leave, it was still my choice. And all of that was definitely a big part of it. I love Bruce, I do. I just couldn’t live with him anymore. Not without feeling like I had to give up my own autonomy and just be what he wanted. Or what he’d expected me to grow up to be, back when he first took me in. And as grateful as I am to him for that, I can’t honestly say I would have stuck around back then if I knew that was the price tag attached. I’m not…I don’t do well with people trying to force me to stick to one place, one thing. I was born on the road, you know? When I was a kid, I expected to spend the rest of my life living like that. Home was people. Not places. And so Gotham…its never fit me quite right, the way it does him, or even Barbara. Its not like I was miserable there, its just.”

“It wouldn’t have been your first choice,” Jason finished again, quietly. There was silence again for awhile.

“No. No, it wouldn’t have been. Not then.”

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that-was-anticlimactic · 6 years ago

Text

It’s a Wheel - The Story of Cole’s Parents

This is the story of how Cole’s parents got divorced and how it affected him. It’s starts from when their relationship began to where it ended to what happened after.

This is a lot different than my usual writing style, but I tried ! Also sorry if there are typos! I usually write on a laptop vs my phone but I don’t have access to one right now, also I wrote most of this at one in the morning! I tried to catch it all though haha!

Warning: a lot of fighting, slight emotional abuse to a child, slight verbal abuse to each other

Word Count: 4,313

~~~~

He was born to save their marriage.

~~~~

Freshman year of college:

Lou took a deep breath, summoning all of his courage. He was a confident kid- he’d played leads in musicals, done presentations with ease, even directed and choreographed his first dance with no fear- so why were his legs shaking?

The eighteen year old glanced at her, then in a sudden boost of confidence, strutted in her direction.

She glanced up at him as he approached. “Oh, hey, Lou!” she said happily, her brown eyes sparkling.

God, she’s beautiful, he thought. “Rachel,” he began without hesitation, “I like you. Will you go out with me?”

Her jaw dropped, eyes widened. “Lou-“

“I simply cannot take no for an answer,” he continued, his burst of confidence causing his mouth to continue without warning or a filter. “You are beautiful and kind and my best friend and I must take you out to dinner!”

The boy smiled, full of pride at his confession, but it slipped as soon as he heard her laugh— her special, incredible, unique laugh.

“Oh Lou, you talk too much,” she giggled, grabbing a hold of his hand. “Yeah, duh, I’d like to go out with you, silly!”

Lou, in a ridiculous moment of joy, cheered loudly, picking the girl up and spinning her in the air, relishing in her laughter.

~~~~

Junior Year:

Lou’s blood boiled as he heard her laughter. His scowl deepened and he gripped his trophy tighter as he shoved the door to their shared campus apartment open.

There she was, sitting with her friends on the couch. He kicked his shoes off of his feet, ignoring that they didn’t land on the show rack, and stomped past the girls.

Rachel turned around, still smiling widely. “Hey, Lou! How’d the show go?”

There was a thunk as the trophy slammed against the counter. “You would know if you showed up,” he replied coldly, his back facing her.

She scoffed. “Really, in front of my friends?” she hissed.

“Well, if they’re the reason you have stopped showing up at my performances, then I suppose they can deal with it,” responded Lou, whipping around to face her.

She gave her friends an apologetic look before swiftly getting on her feet and in his face. “I go to nearly all of your performances, babe. There are so many of them, do you really expect me to go to all of them?”

“Yes! That is what significant others do!” he shot back.

“We’ve been together two and a half years, I’ve seen so many of your performances! I’ve missed out on so many girls night because of you and your dancing! FSM, you’ve got to understand there’s more to life than dancing!” Rachel screamed, her eyes filling with tears. “My stuff— my life— is important too!

“I care about you just as much as I care about dancing!”

Her first curled into itself at her side, but she shuddered and took a breath. “Look. Lou, I love you, but can we talk about this when Maya and Lydia are gone? Please?”

He wanted to say ‘no’. He wanted to tell her that they need to solve this now, but he spared the two girls a look, and took a breath. “Yes. That’s a good idea. I am terribly sorry, Maya, Lydia.”

~~~~

One year out of college:

“I’m so sorry, Lou!” Rachel cried, desperately trying to get her fiancée to look at her. “I would have told you sooner but Wu told me not to and I didn’t want to put you in danger—”

Lou’s eyes narrowed. “So all the times you went out, you weren’t with your parents or having a girls weekend, were you?” he asked.

A sob. “I was out fighting, saving Ninjago.”

“How long have you had these powers?” he continued, his own eyes brimming with tears.

“My dad was the previous master of earth and they gradually transferred to me once I was born,” Rachel explained.

“Do Lydia and Maya know?”

“Yes… they’re elemental master too. Lydia is the master of lightning and Maya is the master of water. She’s actually engaged to the master of fire right now— but that doesn’t matter. They-they know.”

“I don’t know how you want me to respond to this,” Lou said, his voice weak.

“I know it’s a lot to process but—”

“A lot to process? Da*****, Rachel! Do I even know you at all?”

“What! So you want to call the marriage off?” she screamed, throwing her arms in the air. “Does it really make that big of a difference? I told you, I’m done with all the ninja stuff! I’m committed to you!” Her fingers drifted towards the engagement ring around her finger.

“No I don’t want to call the marriage off, I love you!” Lou yelled back. “I love you more than anything but I just don’t understand how you want me to respond to this!”

“I-I… I don’t know, okay!” she trailed off. “I just want us to be together.”

“Me too…” Lou agreed, his voice dropping to a mere whisper. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled his fiancée to his chest.

Rachel gave him a squeeze, and he chuckled. “I guess that explains why you’re so strong,” he muttered into her hair, making her laugh. “The amount of strength you possessed always surprised me…”

~~~~

Almost one year into marriage:

“So… uh… surprise?” Rachel nervously exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, a forced grin on her face.

Lou just started at her.

The tension in the air was great, perhaps just as great as when Lou found out about her powers.

Her brown eyes found his grey ones, snapping him back into reality.

“But we were so careful—”

“I know.”

“And we always proceeded with caution—”

“Oh no, babe, you’re rewording reasons,” Rachel sighed, taking a hold of his calloused hands. “Look at me, and take a breath, okay? In… and out… that’s it, babe! In… and out…”

The couple breathed together for a minute or two before Lou finally regained the courage to speak. “How long have you known?”

“Ehh a month… or so…” Rachel said sheepishly. “I was so scared to tell you, I didn’t want you to get mad or—”

The grey eyes widened quickly. “No! No! I’m not mad! This is everything I’ve ever wanted! I mean… I’m going to be a father!” In that moment of pure bliss, his heart became full, and his smile increased. Then he remembered what worried him. “But… what of your powers? Will our child inherit your abilities?”

Rachel’s smile dropped. “I-I can’t say for sure, Lou.”

“Of course you can’t.”

“I mean… Maya just had a son and he didn’t inherit her powers! He got his father’s! Maybe it only gets transferred from the dad?” she tried.

Lou shook his head. “No no no. I’m sorry, love, but I don’t want our child to be…” now he trailed off.

Suddenly, the floor of their house began to shake with a mighty force. Pictures flew off of walls, couches tumbled over. Rachel’s eyes were glowing a fierce brown. “What,” she said through clenched teeth. “You don’t want our child to be a freak? A freak like me?”

Lou’s eyes widened with fear. If there was one he knew about Rachel, it was that her mood changes were intense, her anger often times quick and irrational. Sometimes you could see it through her eyes and quietness, other times she made the world shake. A master of earth thing, he learned.

“I was not going to say—”

“Yes you were!” she cried out. “I’ve heard you say it before and I dare you to say it again!”

“Love, love— you are not a freak. I just… I worry for our child. I don’t want them to get caught up in wars and saving the world.”

The glow in her eyes faded, and breathlessly she slumped against the wall. “I’m sorry,” she uttered. “I don’t know… I’ve heard you say… never mind. Look, we don’t have to tell our child about me, if that’s what you want. They can live their life in ignorance.”

“Ignorance is bliss.”

Rachel snorted.

“Fine… how about, we teach our child to follow in my footsteps— to become a Royal Blacksmith!” Lou suggested, leaning next to her.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t you rather our child become something simple, like an accountant, perhaps?”

“Nerd,” he smiled, nudging her shoulder.

“No I’m serious, your dancing life is insane! I’ll teach them about money and train them to become an accountant and maybe they can take a dance class or two?” Rachel continued slowly. “Or maybe— get this— we don’t pressure them to be anything at all, tada!”

Lou simply glared at her. “I didn’t want to risk anything with a child. If we’re having this child, they become a dancer.”

“Really, Lou, are you—”

“Yes. That’s it.”

~~~~

A few months later:

“That’s it!” Lou cried out, slamming his fists on the kitchen table. “I am done!”

“Oh, oh really? You’re done?” scoffed Rachel, pursing her lips and crossing her arms.

“I am!”

“And I’m not?”

“It’s not that big of a deal!” Lou argued, trying desperately not contain his rage.

“You missed every single lamaze class because you had dance! Every. Single. One!” Rachel spat. “I think I have a bit of a right to be angry!”

“I had more important things to attend to! We need those rehearsals! We simply cannot get any place below third tomorrow!” explained Lou.

Rachel scoffed. “Okay I get it. Getting first place at some dance competition is more important than your son okay.”

“It’s not just some dance competition!” Lou raged. “It’s the Ninjago Talent Show! It is strict and competition is fierce!”

“FSM, Lou! If it wasn’t for our son…” she sighed, placing her hands on her stomach and relishing in every kick she felt from her unborn child.

“We have to keep it together. For him,” she said quietly.

Lou eyes were narrowed and he wanted to protest, wanted to tell her they’re done. Instead he nodded, giving in. “For him, we’ll see.”

~~~~

The birth of Cole:

“We’ll see?” Lou screamed on the phone. “If that’s all you have to say to us, then the Royal Blacksmiths want no part in it!” he angrily slammed his phone shut.

“Umm, babe, I know your dancing stuff is important to you, but I’m giving birth. To our son. Right now. Please, don’t do dancing stuff now,” Rachel spoke up in a pained voice.

Lou opened his mouth to retort, but quickly shut it. Their therapist said not to speak up with a different opinion at every opportunity.

“I… am… sorry,” he spoke slowly, disliking how giving in felt. He was a confident, strong-willed man, and much like the confident and strong-willed Rachel, he had trouble giving in, or being wrong.

At the shriek of pain that erupted from his wife’s mouth, he rushed to her side. “Umm… there there,” he tried, awkwardly grabbing a hold of her hand.

“You… might— AH— want to… let… go,” suggested Rachel through clenched teeth. “Super… strength.”

Lou immediately did so, remembering when he held her hand during her first few contractions.

“Oh! He’s coming out!” the doctor suddenly cried. After he did so, Rachel’s screams became louder.

Lou wanted to leave the room— no human being should scream at such a decibel— but as he turned to leave and caught a glimpse of his child— his son— beginning to emerge… he couldn’t leave.

Minutes later, the doctor was holding a bloodied baby now wrapped in cloth, and Rachel was panting.

“Alright, we’ll bring him right back for you, parents,” the doctor informed them.

As she left, Lou took a seat on Rachel’s bed, running a hand through her hair and trying not to look disgusted by the sweat getting on his fingers. “You did it, love,” he whispered gleefully.

“Yeah… yeah I did…”

They sat in silence, a heavy panting from Rachel the only sound, before the doctor returned, holding a now cleaned baby. “Here you go, mom,” he said, placing their son in Rachel’s hands. “You have any ideas on his name?”

Rachel nodded. “Cole. Cole Brookstone.”

Lou started. “I never agreed on Cole. I thought we agreed on Elliot!”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Cole Elliot Brookstone.”

Lou turned to her. “Love, I did not agree on Cole. It is simply preposterous!”

“Eh, well I think it’s funny! You know, master of earth… giving birth to a kid… Cole like Coal…”

“Yes, yes, I get it! But it seems like you’re jinxing our son! Do you want him to have powers?” Lou said, aghast.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Not this again. Look, first of all, I like the name Cole. Second, I have birth. You didn’t. His name is Cole.”

Lou frowned but said nothing. He glanced down at their sleeping son, his skin like the beautiful brown of his mother’s, smooth, pure… untainted… not broken or consumed by the world…

Lou sighed, and didn’t argue. He backed down. There was a lot of pressure on this kid. He needed to save their marriage. If he couldn’t do it, no one could.

~~~~

Five years later:

“I can’t believe you did that!” Lou scolded, setting his five year old on the counter so they were eye level.

“I didn’t mean to!” he cried, tears running down his cheeks.

“Woah, woah! What happened? Are you okay, baby?” Rachel cried, rushing into the kitchen and beside her son.

“Cole, broke someone’s arm at school today,” Lou explained through clenched teeth, giving his wife a look.

Rachel paled instantly.

“I didn’t mean to!” Cole wailed again, shoving his face in his hands.

“Baby, can you tell me what happened?” Rachel asked.

“This kid was being mean to me and he-he pushed me so I pushed him back! I didn’t think it was too hard! I promise! I didn’t wanna hurt him!” explained Cole through a cascade of tears.

Rachel shared a stricken look with her husband. “Baby, Daddy and I are going to talk for a minute. We’ll be right back.” She grabbed onto Lou’s arm and began dragging him to the next room. She almost faltered when she couldn’t drag him as easily as usual.

“He. Has. Your. Powers,” Lou hissed, punctuating each word with distressed noises. “I told you this is why we needed to be more careful. I told you we shouldn’t have even thought about having-“

“NO!” Rachel screamed. “I know you didn’t want him, but babe, I love Cole. I would never give him up for anything!”

“Our child broke another kid’s arm by tapping him! Rachel, I know you don’t like it when I say this but, Cole is a fr-”

“Get out of my house.”

“Excuse me?”

“Either you shut up, or you get out of my house,” Rachel demanded, pointing at the door. “Our kid is not a freak. He’s just not properly trained. Maybe if I sent him to Wu’s for awhile-”

“So he can become more dangerous? I think not!” Lou exclaimed. “I say we take him out of public school. Send him to Marty Oppenheimers. Dancing will be a good way to get his emotions out so he does not resort to his powers. We can move closer to the school to keep him in check.”

“I am not getting him caught up in this crazy dance life of yours!” Rachel argued, her voice rising. “You barely pay him any attention, you barely ever speak to him! We are not making him a dancer! I say he goes to Wu!”

“Well I say he goes to Marty Oppenheimers!” he screamed.

Suddenly, the soft cries of Cole became much louder, and after glaring at each other, the two ran into the other room. Cole had gotten off of the counter and was now sitting on the floor, curled into a tiny balls with his hands over his ears. “Stop it!” he sobbed. “I don’t wanna go anywhere!”

Lou and Rachel shared one last look of complete and utter hatred before Lou uttered, “you are not sending my son away to some freak show.”

~~~~

Two months later:

“Daddy, why does everyone think I’m a freak?” Cole quietly asked Lou as he sat down on the couch next to his almost asleep father.

“Cole, why are you awake?” Lou whispered, rubbing his eyes and stretching his back. Why does Rachel get the bed? he couldn’t help but angrily think.

“I heard you and Mommy fighting again today and you guys called me a freak, and the kids at school call me a freak… am I freak?” The young boy asked, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

Lou stared at him, not sure how to answer. How do you tell your son that he is a freak without telling him why and making him feel bad? He decided to just avoid the word.

“You- you’re just special, Cole,” Lou said slowly. “You are a special kid and your mother wants to exploit you and send you away and… Cole… I promise you, those kids don’t know what they’re talking about. They don’t know you like we do.” He took a few breaths before continuing. “And I promise you that I love you so so much. Okay, can you remember that? No matter what happens, your Daddy loves you. Can you promise me that you’ll always remember that?”

Cole nodded, wiping the tears that began to silently fall. “Okay.”

~~~~

Two months later:

“Okay, Lou! I’m done!” Rachel cried, slamming her suitcase on the bed and beginning to throw things in it. “I can’t take it anymore— I can’t take you anymore! You’re a selfish monster!”

“You’re an absolute bi***!” he screamed back. “I can’t believe I ever decided to marry you!”

“I can’t believe I said yes!”

A whimper.

The parents froze and slowly turned to see Cole standing in the doorway of their room. “What… what’s happening?”

Rachel glared at Lou before kneeling beside her son. “I can’t live with Daddy anymore,” she explained. “I don’t want to live with him anymore. I’m going away… and I don’t think I’m coming back.”

Cole clutched his stomach, his body wracking with sobs. “Mommy, don’t leave me…”

Rachel perked up. “Cole, come with me.”

Lou started, rushing to kneel beside Cole as well. “No, Cole, stay with Daddy.”

“No no no, baby, if you come with me, I can help you! You know, there’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you but Daddy never let me—”

“REMEMBER WHAT YOU PROMISED ME!” Lou interrupted before Rachel could finish.

Cole looked between the two, each mouthing wishes for him to come with them. The boy was torn. He wanted to run away himself. He wanted to sob until he couldn’t anymore. He wanted his mommy and daddy to be with him. To be happy. To stop fighting.

But he promised. “I promised,” he muttered, looking away from his mom shamefully.

Lou triumphantly pumped his fists in the air and cheered, much like he did all the years ago…

Rachel’s face turned cold. She wished she still had her powers. Lou would be in for it then. “Fine,” she said coldly, standing up. She said no more, throwing more into her suitcase and zipping it shut. She turned to Lou. “I’ll be sending someone over for the rest of my stuff. This isn’t worth going to court over.”

And with that, she walked out, not even sparing her son a final glance.

Cole was born to save their marriage, Lou thought. Looks like he failed.

~~~~

Seven years later:

God I’m such a failure, the now twelve year old thought, hanging his head as he approached his house. He knew his father wouldn’t be happy with him once he learned he failed yet another dance competition.

His teachers hated him, his classmates hated him, his mom hated him… he wouldn’t be surprised if his dad hated him once he learned how badly he messed up.

He opened the door to their house, sucking in a breath and preparing to be berated, and he was met with a sight so horrid he wanted to slam the door and never walk in again. His dad was on the couch, his lips forcefully shoved upon the woman’s beside him.

Instead, he just stood there, jaw dropped, too scared to make any movement. He decided to let his dad realize he was there. It took a moment, but his father skin looked up and saw his son.

“C-Cole! You’re home early!” Lou said awkwardly, sitting up slightly.

Cole just stared.

Lou cleared his throat. “Umm… you remember Kristie? She—”

“I know,” he said coldly. “I remember Kristie. My old dance teacher.”

The woman in question smiled and waved from her position of almost underneath his father.

Cole just glared at them.

“What are you doing?” he asked shortly.

Lou glanced between Kristie and Cole. “Uhh, Kristie, if you’ll excuse me for one moment,” he sheepishly laugh, rolling off of the couch and stumbling after Cole who was already walking away.

“What. The. Heck!” Cole cried. “What were you guys doing?”

“Don’t worry, we were just kissing!” Lou assures him. “Nothing mo—”

Cole shrieked, pitting his hands over his ears. “No! Gross! Dad! That’s not what I meant! Why-why were you guys kissing?”

Lou perked up. “Oh uh, I’ve been waiting for the right moment to tell you this but, Kristie and I have been dating… for a year and a half…”

“And I didn’t know this why?” Cole spat.

“I wasn’t sure if you were ready!” Lou explained, his grin wide. “I mean… we’ve had a few flings since you’re mother left— don’t worry, we never cheated! Lou Brookstone is not a cheater!— and we finally decided to go for it!”

Cole’s narrowed eyes were piercing his father. “This is- I cant believe you- you’ve had flings for years and you’ve never told me? What’s wrong with you?”

“Young man, don’t speak to me like that,” Lou scolded.

“I can speak to you however you want! FSM!” Cole angrily sighed. “You could’ve at least told me! You think I wanted to walk into that?”

“Well l, I guess nows as good a time as ever to tell you… Kristie lives with me? And that’s why she was here?” Lou attempted, sounding cheerful in hopes he son would catch on.

“She lives… why in Ninjago would you think this is a good time to tell me?” cried Cole, desperately trying to hold himself together. “This is terrible!”

“But she makes me happy! She’s so much better for me than Rachel ever was!” Lou protested.

Cole’s face turned red with anger at the mention of his mom. His mom who hadn’t even bothered to say bye or even try to contact him in seven years. His mom who left him. His mom that was a part of making him choose between his parents. He was angry. “Okay good for you! I’m glad you’re happy this just sucks for me!”

“Oh I get it! You want me to be happy as long as it doesn’t interfere with you, I get it!” Lou short.

The older man caught a glimpse of a flash of gold in Cole’s narrowed brown eyes— his brown eyes so familiar sometimes looking into them hurt— and took a step back. Control yourself, he can’t know, he thought.

“Look, maybe we can sit down and talk things through with Kristie!” suggested Lou.

Cole just shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. “I just… I think I need to be alone. I hate this.”

~~~~

Exactly twelve years since it happened:

“I hate this,” Cole muttered, glaring at Jay as the lightning ninja embraced his parents as they left for the day, envy coursing through his veins. “I hate this I hate this I hate this.”

As Jay turned around grinning ear to ear, Cole glanced back at his book, pretending he wasn’t listening.

His body was tense, and his brow furrowed. It’s just not fair.

It’s not fair that Jay can see his mom whenever. That his parents still love each other. That they always had to come over and rub their good marriage in his face.

No, no. He’s being petty. The Walker’s are good people, heck, they’d practically adopted him.

It’s just… not fair.

He grunted, heaving himself upwards and closing his book a little more aggressively then he intended. He nodded at Jay and made his way to the foyer.

A groan escaped his mouth when he actually entered the room. Kai, Lloyd, and Nya were sitting on the ground in the middle of the floor, arguing over some kind of video game thing.

Cole pouted, his nose twitching. First Jay’s parents got along super well and now the team is fighting. Great. That’s just what he needed today.

“Oo Cole’s here!” Lloyd shrieked excitedly, somersaulting over to the earth ninja. “Hey, Cole, okay so we can’t choose what video game we want to play. Help us decide!”

Cole’s eyes widened. “No, no— I really shouldn’t—”

But Kai was nodding. “Yeah! Cole, I think we should play Fist to Face 2!”

“I think we should play Mario Kart!” Lloyd said.

“No, Super Smash Bros is where it’s at!” Nya spoke up.

They all stared at him in anticipation.

Suddenly, everything was too fast, too loud— even in the silence. Cole’s heart was racing, his breath shortening. So many things were happening, so many similarities, and on this day— the day that ruined his life— decisions, decisions, choices, choices, expectations, anticipation, staring— staring— staring!

Cole frantically shook his head and ran, ignoring the confused sounds from his teammates.

He was born to save their marriage.

#ninjago #ninjago cole #ninjago fanfiction

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atsushishelteredinmoonlitjasmine · 6 years ago

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KH3 Grievances and Blessings

As of this date, April 8th, 2019, today marks the end of my KH3 journey. I'm recording the date because I know there's DLC for KH3 coming out within the coming months and I don't know whether it'll be plot-related or just gameplay patches/changes (Like Critical Mode). Regardless, I wanted to write down my thoughts and feelings towards KH3 because, like many others, I had been awaiting the release of this game for a long time (Though not as long as others) and, as soon as the game was released in Japan, I blacklisted/muted KH3 tags so as to not be spoiled. It took me over two months since the worldwide release on January 29th to see what KH3 had to offer and, while the main story part ended on April 4th, today was the true end to everything else.

Now I want to make two things clear. First off, I never played KH3. I watched an LP of it, due to money and I didn't wanna wait months for this game. That's also why it took this long for me to write this. Secondly, as of the time writing this, I haven't read the Ultimania outside of some unrelated details since, before April 4th, I made doubly sure to avoid spoilers because I still wanted to be surprised at the ending, despite my predictions of it. If there are some things I bring up in this that are answered in the Ultimania, then link me those.

I'll also be going through practically every aspect of KH3 I can think of, such as the graphics, the gameplay, the story, etc. However, to keep things organized, I'll talk about the main story towards the end of this, since that's where I believe I'll have the most to talk about. Think of it as if the first half was the minor stuff and the second half the major. I'll even mark where it splits off so as to make it easier to know where to skip to.

Listed below are KH3 spoilers, so if you don't want to get spoiled, now's your chance to stop reading. Otherwise, here are my thoughts!

Let's start with the graphics. They are simply gorgeous, sometimes even breathtaking. As many people have pointed out, the in-game graphics are on the same quality level as the old-school FMVs from the older KH games. Even when the cutscenes go to pre-rendered, they are super beautiful. The only complaints I have are, in pre-rendered cutscenes, character models tend to look weird in certain shots. It's a minor complaint but I feel like the characters come off as being... shiny, if that makes sense. I know one of the complaints for 0.2 was that Aqua looked plastic and it seems like, in an attempt to stray away from that end of the spectrum, they made everyone look shiny. Again, that's only in the pre-rendered cutscenes, not in-game itself so... Another complaint was that, in the beginning with Sora and co. heading off to and their visit to Olympus Colosseum, it's easy to tell that they were using the 0.2 graphics because Sora looked exactly plastic. Afterwards, they switched to the current graphics but it's still kinda jarring, in a way. I feel like it may have been to save money, considering the big amount of money they spent on everything else.

Secondly, gameplay. The gameplay, overall, seems solid. It's using the KH2 combat, combined with the BBS shotlocks, Links/Summons, Keyblade transformations, DDD's Flowmotion, and Attractions. However, it also feels overwhelming to have that many gameplay styles/mechanics stuffed into one game. I feel like Nomura was trying to do the same thing that Sakurai (Creator of Smash) did with Smash Ultimate by taking the positive aspects of the previous games' combat and stuffing them into this game, almost as if it were a love letter to the KH fandom. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, I just think it was clumsily handled.

This leads into a mini-point I had about the difficulty. As I said earlier, Critical Mode, which has been a difficulty setting since KH2 (I believe?), wasn't included in this game, which was considered weird. The LPer I watched KH3 from had played the previous KH games on the hardest difficulty and he believed he'd play KH3 on Critical. Because of this exclusion, he played on Proud Mode and this was absolutely the easiest KH game. It is so easy to overlevel, it is hard to die unless you're purposefully playing terrible or turned on "No Experience", and some gameplay mechanics, I feel, break gameplay. Attractions in particular are ridiculously gamebreaking, due to the insane amounts of invincibility frames and power some of them have. Speaking of it being hard to die, overleveling goes hand-in-hand with that but the fact that you can buy Kupo Coins from the Moogle shops makes Proud Mode a joke. To explain what Kupo Coins are, they are one-use items that basically make it to where it instantly revives you if/when your HP drops to 0 and you can buy many of these coins. They're essentially get-out-of-jail-free coins which, if you're playing on Hard Mode, shouldn't be a thing. There's also a minigame where you can cook all sorts of meals that can grant you any kind of boosts with Remy from Ratatouille. The stat boosts from even the simplest of meals are ridiculous and they also make dying hard to do. I understand that the crew wanted to make KH3 welcoming to newcomers but I feel this is going a little too far in not making the players feel frustrated each time they die in Proud Mode.

Thirdly, the non-original worlds. It's hard to decide whether or not I like them. On the one hand, they're the largest they've ever been, they're expansive, and the crew were able to successfully capture the look of each movie they adapted. On the other, the stories can be hit or miss, they throw tons of enemies at you (which absolutely contributes to the overleveling I mentioned), and they don't serve much of a purpose in the main story outside of fanservice. Some of the worlds were an absolute delight, such as the Tangled and Monsters Inc worlds, while others were a slog to get through, such as the Frozen and Big Hero 6 worlds. This is merely my opinion so don't take it too seriously. The way they decided to go about the stories within each world was to either: 1, be a Cliffnotes version of that world, or 2, create an original story set after the events of the movie. The first way was not a good decision because, out of all the new worlds they revealed for this game, I only watched Hercules, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and Tangled, so when the LPer I watched headed to the other worlds that weren't mentioned, I was thoroughly confused. The second way could be pretty hit or miss, because I remember getting tired of the Toy Story world towards the end but I enjoyed the story of the Monsters Inc, due to how cute it was. Going back to what I mean by these worlds not serving a purpose, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to say these were meant for the express purpose of padding. The reason given for exploring these worlds is so Sora can learn the Power of Waking and, if he doesn't learn it in that world, he'll go to the next and rinse, repeat. I won't go into detail in this section but I'll explain more about it when I get to the story section.

Fourthly, the music. This is probably the one of the few aspects that stayed consistently good. Although I could tell there were more pieces of music that I had heard in other games, Yoko Shimomura still made it fresh by reorechestrating those. I'll give her some slack with those because I can imagine that, with how far into the series KH is and how many themes to keep track of, it was probably easier to remix existing songs than make an entirely new soundtrack. Still, there were some new pieces of music (Most of which from the aforementioned worlds) that I liked. The Toy Story fight music is an absolute bop and the Monsters Inc world music is so whimsical and fun. There were some really nice mashups as well, such as the Other Promise/Vector to the Heavens mashup and Oscuritia de Xehanort. I haven't had a chance to listen to all of the soundtrack yet so these were just the ones from the top of my head.

Fifthly, the voice acting. This is just a personal thing for me, since I want to become a voice actor someday and I like to observe/take mental notes whenever voice acting is involved. The voice acting in of itself is good. Sora was his absolute best in this game, especially in that one scene we ALL know from the trailer and it broke my heart hearing that in-game. Mostly everyone was good, too, aside from some weird line deliveries and voices not fitting some characters. However, I have to point out how... weird the voice-acting is with Terra, Aqua, and Xehanort. Xehanort was probably the weirdest because I'm so used to Leonard Nimoy's Xehanort that this one was kinda jarring. Rutger Hauer is the new VA and... I know he doesn't have the same raspy, gravelly voice Leonard Nimoy had but I feel his Xehanort just doesn't fit the character as much, especially since I noticed Xehanort sounded like he had a very slight Irish accent in this game. Rutger Hauer is Dutch so I don't know how I heard Irish but I'm gonna chalk that up to never hearing a Dutch person speak before. Terra's definitely the best acting out of these three but compared to the other two, it's not much. While it's not bad, I still prefer his 0.2 performance since it seemed like he put effort into that. Terra seems to share the same problem I have with Aqua in that he never raises his voice up above being low. It's hard to tell if he does because they only got Jason Dohring in for two scenes (the Wayfinder Trio reunion and the stupid Xehanort redemption scene), despite being a main character. Aqua was in more than two scenes but her voice acting was kinda the worst, which kills me because she's my queen. For some reason, her voice never goes up above low talking and I don't know if it's just me but she constantly sounds as if she's being cut off. Like, the sound mixing for Aqua makes it sound as if she's cut out at the end for each of her sentences. This was a problem that was present in 0.2 but I brushed that off since I figured 0.2 was not considered a full game by itself. I don't know whether or not it's Willa Holland herself or the voice director for both games but Aqua can be allowed to be emotional other than angry, raise her voice, and not be cut off.

Oh boy, the sixth point. Let me start off by saying this is merely a personal gripe I have and it's fine if people disagree with me or even don't see what I'm saying. I'm just stating this because I talked about this issue on my Livetweet Thread and I want to bring this up. Now... there are instances in this game where Sora express self-doubt or have other characters express worry for Sora (and Aqua for one time) to Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. Each time this was brought up, we had them saying the answer of "they're strong so they're okay". Normally, I wouldn't really be offended at this if it was for one or two times. KH3, however, has this happen several times and... let's just say I got a little testy. The characters this answer was said to or about were Aqua, Sora, and Elsa (as far as I can remember), all of whom I can safely say have issues with their mental health. Sora's the only one I can't definitively say (outside of headcanon territory) but even then... Sora has problems with his self-worth and his sense of strength, Aqua, for all we know, probably has depression and POSSIBLY PTSD, and Elsa definitely has depression and self-image issues. To the Disney characters, any time these issues are brought up, they somehow correlate physical strength with mental fortitude and think that answer is perfectly okay to say. I'm probably reading way too much into this but the way I take it, each time they say that answer, it comes off as Sora/Aqua/Elsa are being weak and need to get over it. The first example I'll bring up of this is when Riku and Mickey are in the RoD trying to save Aqua the first time and Riku expresses worry for Aqua, who's been in this hellhole for 11 years at this point. Mickey just says she'll be fine because she's strong, which baffles me because how does he not remember how Aqua was the last time they met? She was straight up about to succumb to the darkness when he saved her the first time and when she said to him she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to ward off the darkness, he just said she'll be okay. Like, she has been stuck in this hell for over a decade, being tormented and having to fight for her life constantly, all the while losing hope she may get out. The one time she's finally close enough to get out, it's snatched away from her. No wonder she was pissed off at Mickey for leaving her when they met again! The second example is any time Sora was expressing doubt in himself over being strong enough and he had Donald and Goofy say he'd be fine. This, to me, made it seem like they were placing such high expectations on Sora to be strong that he wasn't allowed to have moments of emotional vulnerability which I wouldn't be surprised contributed to the worsening of the self-doubt and the culmination of that despair scene. Again, I know it seems like I'm reading too much into this but this was something that legit made me angry. As someone who relates to Sora's self-worth issues and Aqua's depression, I don't think someone telling me that I'll be fine because I was strong constantly would make me feel better. If anything, I'd probably feel worse because I'd be too afraid to appear being weak around that person lest I betray their expectation of me being strong that I keep my feelings of weakness to myself until I eventually broke down. To give benefit to the Disney characters, I believe they were genuinely saying what they thought was best in those kinds of situations. Hell, maybe they even thought that, by saying that, the character would believe them and think they were silly for thinking they were worthless. But I don't believe the Disney characters are good role models for the importance of mental health, given their track record. Still, this was a personal gripe of mine and everyone is free to disagree with me on this. I don't even know if I made any sense in this but I tried.

Now we move on to the major stuff. This next half will mainly include my opinions on the story, the characters, how they were handled, etc. and everyone is free to disagree with me on any of those. I should also warn that any of the next sections may be lengthy, though it wouldn't be me if they weren't. There may also be some instances where I talk about how I would've rewritten some scenes, since there were some that desperately needed to be rewritten or re-edited or whatever else (which will be marked with *). However, I'll write those up in a separate thing because this entire post is mainly for my thoughts on KH3 as a whole and not just certain scenes. Besides, I don't want to bog this post down even further so...

Where to start? Well, I think it may be good to start with the plot and its loose threads. KH3 seems to have a problem with introducing plot threads and then dropping them off with no resolution, meaning they'll either be answered in the upcoming DLC or in the next game (Release dates unknown on both options). We have Maleficent and Pete looking for a black box (A significant thing in KHX, if you've watched Back Cover), the complete drop-off of Vexen and Demyx, the new seven Princesses of Heart, Subject X, the reveal that some of the New Organization members were Keyblade Wielders from the past, the whole thing of the heroes coming back after dying, and possibly other threads I cannot remember for the life of me. Again, I understand that these threads may be picked up in either the DLC or the next game but we don't know when either of those will be released. In a game that's supposed to bring answers to the many questions that were brought up in previous games, we still end up with many other questions that haven't been answered.

Let's go back to my mention of the non-original worlds serving no purpose other than fanservice. As stated in the beginning, Sora needs to learn the Power of Waking so that he can find and save Aqua in the RoD and, later on, awaken Ventus's heart so it'll return to his body sleeping in Castle Oblivion/Land of Departure. However, every time he reaches the end of a world, he still hasn't learned the Power of Waking and so goes to another world to see if he'll learn it there and rinse, repeat. In the newly-returned Land of Departure, it's stated that Sora had the Power of Waking in him all along, which made the trips to the worlds completely pointless. As someone pointed out in their review of KH3, while the Disney worlds in previous games served little more than fanservice, they at least had a goal in which the protagonists needed to fulfill, such as locking and unlocking the worlds, finding lost friends, and defeating those that pose a threat. In KH3, while the goal has been to learn the Power of Waking, it ultimately becomes meaningless upon revealing that Sora had the power within him all along.

Speaking of which, this leads into another thing that legitimately made me angry. We are never told what the Power of Waking is or what it does, only that it is essential to saving Aqua and Ventus. I had to learn from the comments section on YouTube what the Power of Waking was and it still wasn't fully explained what it was. Whenever Sora would be in Yen Sid's tower, Yen Sid would keep telling him that he needed the Power of Waking to venture into the RoD and everyone chastising Sora for being too impulsive and I'm just sitting there like "If you probably told him what the fucking power was, he'd probably have an easier time trying to learn it". It's one of those things where, if Sora were under my writing control, I'd have him slowly getting more and more frustrated over being told to learn something he doesn't understand and isn't being told on what it is that he'd eventually snap. I have some personal experience with that so maybe it's my bias talking.

Next thing I wanted to bring up was my thoughts and feelings towards the third act and the ending. I'll start from the Anti-Aqua stuff to the scenes right before the ending first. Anti-Aqua, while one of the best fights in KH3 (if you're not overleveled and using Attractions), is very quick. I mean, you do battle her a bit as Riku then switch over to Sora to full-on fight her and then she's saved but that sequence doesn't last long. It goes from Aqua calling out Mickey for abandoning her to fighting her to saving her then going off to save Ventus. Even the way she succumbed to darkness wasn't very... climatic. Earlier in the game, Ansem SoD surprises Ansem the Wise and Aqua as they're sitting on the Dark Beach from Blank Points and, after a pretty pitiful fight between Aqua and Ansem SoD (Totally understandable, though), she gets hit with a Dark Ball and falls into the dark ocean as the darkness consumes her. When I first watched the trailer revealing Anti-Aqua, I had a different idea in mind for how Aqua succumbed to the darkness* and the canon kinda disappointed me with how quick it came and went. Moving on, Sora, Aqua, and Disney (Dolan and Gooby) arrive at Castle Oblivion/Land of Departure to save Ventus and then Vanitas shows up. Aqua's only playable during the fight with Vanitas and she's taken out of the action as soon as he threatens Ven. Cue Sora learning the Power of Waking, saving Ven, Ven about ready to kick Vani's ass, and Sora and Ven meet for the first time. Then we move to Yen Sid's tower where everyone has a little chat and prepare for the fight tomorrow. Nice little scenes ensue (Riku meeting with Repliku, Sora and Kairi FINALLY becoming a couple, Aqua and Ven talking about how they'll save Terra, Lea and Saix eating atop the clocktower) then it's off to the Keyblade Graveyard! After an awesome fight with 10000 Heartless and shit, everyone fucking dies. You think it's a joke, no, everyone straight up dies! Terranort manages to take out Ven, Lea, and almost Kairi as well before Dolan pulls out the Zettaflare and vanquishes his ass. A Demon Tide comes into the mix and after becoming a cyclone, kills everyone except Sora and Riku because they were hit with the Stick of Incompetence. Sora and Riku join soon after and we meet with Chirithy in Purgatory! Sora abuses the Power of Waking to bring everyone back from the dead with Kairi's help (BTW, that's the only useful thing she does in this game) and somehow they forget that they died then proceed to almost die again immediately afterwards! Lingering Will shows up with next to no reason why, keeps Terranort busy while everyone fights the Demon Tide again until the power of Union Cross defeats it once and for all. Many New Organization fights later and Kairi getting the Damsel in Distress treatment YET AGAIN to only die later and Sora finally fights Xehanort. Even then, Xehanort manages to corrupt Kingdom Hearts but he's then used as a time portal for Sora and Disney to go to Scala ad Caelum to fight him there. Xehanort manages to forge the X-blade and actually kills Sora before he revives again with the power of friendship to defeat his wrinkly, veiny old ass. Xehanort then gets hit with a dose of Creator's Pet syndrome, which causes him to somehow be fucking redeemed as he goes to the KH equivalent of Heaven with good ol' brother Eraqus. Sora then decides to abuse the Power of Waking once more to save Kairi and, after he successfully brings her back, gets hit with the Thanos snap and disappears. In Secret Endings, the Foretellers come back, Xigbar is revealed to be Luxu, and Sora and Riku are in Shibuya and Shinjuku respectively, probably about ready to play the Reapers Game! If I missed anything, feel free to disagree!

I may have gone jokey after the Anti-Aqua fight but let me break the last paragraph and a half down. The Land of Departure sequence is nice, except for the part Vani one-shots Aqua in order to get to Ven. She doesn't throw up a barrier or try to deflect the magic with her Keyblade, she just tanks the hit which, if anyone's ever played Aqua in BBS, she ain't like Terra or Ven. It's only because Sora was able to awaken Ven that Aqua didn't get skewered on Vani's Keyblade. Aqua's a Keyblade Master who's fought and won against Vani twice, why the hell did she lose to him here? That, however, is NOTHING compared to her treatment in the Keyblade Graveyard. After Ven and Lea are taken out and Dolan annihilates Terranort, a Demon Tide becomes a Demon Cyclone and, after she, Sora, and Riku decide to fight it, she suddenly gives up and lets the Demon Cyclone kill her*. WHAT THE FUCK?! You mean to tell me that Aqua, a Keyblade Master who's spent 11 years in the RoD fighting for her life and was FINALLY brought back to the RoL, took one look at the Demon Cyclone, which is just a bigger version of the Demon Tides she's fought before, and decided to do suicide by cop? People from the comments section on YouTube try to justify this by saying she had PTSD and/or she was mourning the loss of Ven but I can't see her basically committing suicide over either of these reasons. I'm normally all for Aqua having PTSD because I can imagine that being in a stressful environment with everything trying to kill you on a daily basis isn't good for your mental health but she doesn't show any of the signs for PTSD and she doesn't give up on living the second time the Demon Cyclone shows up. As for her mourning the loss of Ven, I can MAYBE see that but I feel like Ven's death would give her more motivation to defeat the Demon Cyclone because one of the reasons why she fought so hard to get out of the RoD just died in front of her and she'd probably be pissed the fuck off. It may be my love for my oceanic queen coming through but she got hit with the Stick of Incompetence in KH3, along with many other characters.

The one character that was practically killed with it was Kairi. She easily became one of the most disappointing things from KH3 in that she was given the Damsel in Distress treatment yet again and was only killed to give Sora more angst/development. People were expecting her to do something and make herself useful and were instead given shit on a dirty platter. Yes, I know it's stupid to expect Kairi to fight on the level of a Keyblade Master. I don't think anyone was expecting that of her, considering how she literally started training with Lea days, or even weeks, before the final battle. However, we don't see her fighting at all, outside of the battle with Saix and Xion before she gets kidnapped again by Xemnas. She doesn't try to fight back against him and just lets herself be taken, not to mention how she just stares at Terranort after he takes out Lea, not even trying to defend herself*. This girl seems to have no survival instincts, whatsoever. The only useful thing she does in this game is bring Sora back from the brink of death so that he can save everyone else and that's it. While it's a good thing she did that, it's not really explained how she did that, other than 'Princess of Heart' BS.

I'm starting to believe that Nomura genuinely has no idea on what to do with Kairi. To me, he doesn't know what to do on making her stand out from the rest of the cast and has to keep turning her into a faux fighter. In terms of fighting, he doesn't know what to make her as. In my mind, Aqua and Xion (the only female fighters, since Namine is a non-combatant) have two different fighting styles. Aqua's more focused on magic and staying a distance away from her enemy while Xion's more focused on brute strength and getting up in her enemy's face. Kairi then should be the balance between the two, using both magic and strength to her advantage to keep her enemies on their toes. I should stress that I myself am not good at defining fights in general so I may be completely wrong on this but this is merely my interpretation/suggestion. There's a lot more I want to talk about with Kairi but these last two paragraphs pretty much summarize my point. I want to stress that I'm not blaming Kairi for her shitty writing. I'm blaming Nomura because he doesn't know how the fuck to write her as.

Which leads me to my next point of how I feel Sora got hit with a dose of Creator's Pet syndrome in this game. This is probably a point that people will think "Of course it's like that, Airi. He's the main character", which I agree with to an extent but... I'm probably the only one who thinks this but I feel like Sora was made out to be too... important, if that makes sense. In terms of reconnecting lost friends and defeating Xehanort, that's fine. However, also being the one to solve everything by either defeating the enemy or saying stuff from a typical stock shounen series kinda rubbed me the wrong way. It's hard for me to explain in a way that doesn't make it seem as if I don't understand a main character's importance but I'm trying. Here's how I see it: while it's been stated time and again that Sora is the one to connect everyone (Memory's fuzzy on that part) and I know he has to fulfill that purpose in some way, KH3 puts so much emphasis on that, it downplays the other characters' importance or even ruins any chance of development they could've gotten. Sora has to have the spotlight no matter what, even at the cost of characters who need it more. The biggest example of this is Xehanort killing Kairi so it gives Sora more motivation to beat him. Sora was given more development at the cost of Kairi's own. As I said before with Kairi, I'm not blaming Sora for this, I'm blaming Nomura because he decided to give Sora more development than he needed/should've had and sacrificing the other characters in order to boost the already massive value his role has. Hopefully, the DLC will give the others the much-needed development they need.

Speaking of which, it's not only the heroes who got mishandled in this game. Three specific villains (Young Xehanort, Vanitas, and Luxord) come to mind and it somehow got worse down the line. In the Toy Story world, Young Xehanort gets verbally beat down by Woody. In the Monsters Inc. world, Vanitas get yeeted through several doors by Mike and Sulley. In the Caribbean world, Luxord faints because Jack Sparrow had bad breath. These are villains we're supposed to be intimidated by/motivated to defeat and they're made into a complete joke in the world they're antagonizing. Young Xehanort got off easy compared to Vanitas and Luxord, since all he had to deal with was Woody giving him a scolding and brushing it off like nothing. As much as I like the Yeetus Vanitas joke, you mean to tell me that Vanitas, the darkness gremlin himself, didn't sense Sulley sneaking up on him or even try stopping himself from being yeeted through more doors after the first few? What about the Gambler of Fate? He faints because Jack had a little rum in his breath after he got to play pirate again? If that scene was meant to be funny, it accomplished its purpose, just not in the way it was intended to, because how the fuck am I supposed to be intimidated by Luxord when he gets taken out due to someone's bad fucking breath? The way the New Organization's written as is anywhere between being inexplicably strong and able to kill everyone (with the exception of Sora after a despair-induced death and revival) to being laughable and weak enough to be yeeted through doors and taken down by bad breath. That's totally good writing!

Getting back to the story, let's move on to the abso-fucking-lutely stupid Xehanort redemption scene. In the game proper, after he's been defeated once and for all by Sora with the power of friendship, it's revealed that the reason why Xehanort went on this crusade to control Kingdom Hearts was to restore balance and essentially reset the world. He's basically portrayed as this person who, in his pursuit of restoring balance to the world, resorted to extreme methods that almost achieved the opposite of what he wanted. To be fair, that in of itself isn't bad and probably would've made Xehanort an interesting antagonist. However, this completely contradicts what we know about Xehanort before this point! If he really wanted balance, he shouldn't have been spreading darkness to every world he and his incarnations have been to! Even disregarding that point, he's manipulated, controlled, and ruined so many lives. He took control of Terra's body after spending the entirety of his story manipulating him, almost killed Ventus with creating Vanitas if not for Sora's timely intervention, manipulated and controlled Riku, manipulated all of Organization XIII while using them for empty heart tanks, and killed both Eraqus and Kairi! If we're supposed to feel sympathetic for him, why not show him regretting doing all that, hesitating, anything to make us think he didn't WANT to do that but had to in order to accomplish his goal? Then there's the fact Eraqus decides to just forgive him for all he's done, as if he forgot that Xehanort's the reason why he's dead in the first place and almost ruined his pupils' lives, who he saw as his own kids. I get that they once saw each other as brothers but you'd think that relationship would've soured once Xehanort scarred him and dumped a nearly comatose Ven on him. I know Eraqus got a lot of shit from the fandom because of how he acted in BBS but he was at least sympathetic. While he was ultimately wrong in how he treated Terra and Ven, he only decided to kill Ven because he didn't want the X-blade to be forged and cause another Keyblade War and he admitted to Terra he regretted his actions towards him and Ven, all the while crying. THAT’S how you write a character who's majorly fucked up but regrets it and is sympathetic. Not whatever the fuck we were supposed to get from Xehanort. For the third time in this post, I'm not blaming Xehanort for the BS way he was written, I'm blaming Nomura, which is funny since he stated that Xehanort was his favorite character, leading me to think he'd actually try writing him decently.

With that out of the way, we can FINALLY get to the ending. As I said before, Sora decides to abuse the Power of Waking once more to bring Kairi back to life and, after successfully doing that, fades away as if he got hit with the Thanos snap. I'm surprisingly okay with this ending, if only because I know there's going to be more KH games coming out with the confirmation that Sora will still be the protagonist in those games. Normally, I'm against endings where the protagonist dies (unless under special circumstances and even those have to be pretty special) because I like to see stories where the protag, who's gone through a journey full of pain and emotions and any other number of issues, finally gets their happy ending. To me, who writes to escape from the dark and sometimes painful aspects of life, happy endings give characters who've fought so hard for them or characters who were previously unable to achieve them the rest and happiness they deserve (Like the Wayfinder and Clocktower Trios staying together after being reunited). It's hard for me to explain but this isn't the place to talk about that. As I was saying, I'm okay with Sora 'dying' because it showed the consequences of him abusing the Power of Waking too much. From my interpretation of it, the Power of Waking could be used to resurrect the dead, rewrite reality as we know it, etc., but its main purpose is to 'awaken sleeping hearts'. Riku used it properly in DDD to wake Sora up and Sora used it properly in this game to wake Ventus up. The PoW, to me, is the equivalent to playing God, which REALLY goes against my beliefs. I don't know whether it's due to my (loose) Christian faith, my beliefs towards death that I've formed over the years, or because I watched FMA, that mortals messing with things they shouldn't (I.E. Sora bringing the dead back to life) scares me. While the reasoning behind Sora abusing the PoW is understandable (and I'm giving him a pass on what I'm about to say next due to this), he's still a mortal playing God, which HAS to have consequences, no matter what. Just because I say this, however, doesn't mean people aren't allowed to say the ending sucked. Hell, even I think the ending kinda sucks, despite me being okay with it. The only way this ending couldn't have come about is if Sora didn't abuse the PoW and the only way Sora wouldn't have abused the PoW is if no one died and the only way no one could've died is if Nomura could've written something better. The best we can hope for with Sora is that he's given a happy ending down the line and NO ONE DIES OR TAKES HIS PLACE! NO MORE OF THIS BITTERSWEET NONSENSE, ALL RIGHT?!

So what do I think of the story overall? Well, it's... something. It's not the worst thing I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing but it's also not that good. The pacing seems to only have two settings; it's either too slow to the point of it being padded for extra time or too fast to really know what's going on in favor of getting to the next goalpost. I wouldn't be surprised if it's because of the pacing that I don't know where the halfway point of KH3 is. I thought it'd be like the first half being the Disney fanservice and the second half the actual plot but it's not like that here. The first half got WAY more time dedicated to it than the second half did and it REALLY shows with how sloppily written the plot towards the end was. The way I see it, Nomura had the major plotpoints planned and figured out but the details surrounding those plotpoints were left as an afterthought. He had goalposts set up but he got stuck figuring out how to get Sora and co. from point A to point B. I think if he had just finetuned those details or rewritten scenes to make more sense or even asked for help, the story could've been a lot better. Granted, there were probably a lot of factors at work during KH3's production so I won't place all of the blame on solely Nomura, especially with all the news articles lately about game studios overworking their employees to the point of exhaustion/illness/death/eventual breakdown of the company. While I mainly talked about the negatives concerning the story, there were also some positives about it. Sora was at his absolute adorableness in this game. Like, there were so many moments where I just died from how cute he was (which I noted many times in my Livetweet thread) that helped to highlight how Sora's still just a kid who unfortunately carries the fate of the world on his shoulders. The reunions of both the Wayfinder and Clocktower trios just killed me because they had suffered so much up to this point and to see them crying from happiness at being reunited with their friends again and staying together this time had me tearing up. Although she didn't appear much in KH3, Namine being able to exist outside of Kairi was also a sweet moment, especially with her being treated like a princess when she first wakes up and Riku taking her by the hand to the Destiny Islands like a prince. I don't care if it's considered ship tease, that shit was goddamn cute, all right? The scene of Aqua crying after she finally realizes she's in the RoL again hit me in the feels so much, especially after Sora told her she was home. Now thinking about it, I wonder if that's sort of a parallel to KH2's ending with Sora taking on the role of Kairi from that scene. The relationship between Kairi and Lea (What little we saw of it), the ending of everyone on the Destiny Islands, and the occasional Disney stuff I did enjoy were all good. It just sucks that there's so little of the stuff I mentioned featured that I wish more time was spent developing those.

So what is my overall opinion on KH3? It's not my favorite of the series, that honor still goes to both KH2 and BBS. Without running the risk of repeating myself, I won't go into detail about the gameplay or the story because you can just read all the points I've mentioned above. I still enjoyed KH3 but some of my expectations fell through and I felt a bit underwhelmed by everything. In some ways, the wait was worth it but I think I would've been fine with waiting more if it meant some aspects were developed more. In regards to this game being a good entryway for newcomers, I think it is, if only because you're provided with recaps of the previous games right at the main menu so that anyone who hasn't played at least one KH game won't be completely lost playing KH3. I feel like everything I've mentioned in this post may be discredited or even disregarded as an actual review of KH3 because I didn't play the game, I watched an LP of it, but keep in mind these are merely my observations and the conclusions I've reached using those observations. The experience may be completely different to those who actually played it but I won't know until this is posted so...

Where do we go from here? Well, we still have the DLC to look forward to but, as I stated earlier, we have no idea when those are coming out and it's the same with any upcoming games. I'm hoping the DLC will answer some questions while also giving some much-needed development to the characters who aren't Sora. The only thing left to say is, may the DLC guide our wandering hearts.

#kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts 3 spoilers #kh3 #kh3 spoilers

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tbvsgrohe · 6 years ago

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How to explore a SERP feature strategy with STAT

Posted by TheMozTeam

Your organic result game is on point, but you’ve been hearing a lot of chatter about SERP features and are curious if they can help grow your site’s visibility — how do you find out? Our SERP Features dashboard will be your one-stop shop for everything feature-related.

If it’s the features in your space that you’re after, you’ll have ’em. The number of keywords producing each feature? You’ll have that, too. The share of voice they’re driving and how much you’re owning? Of course, and more.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can use the dashboard to suss out a SERP feature strategy that’s right for your site.

1. Establish viable sites and segments

For context, let’s say that we’re working for a large supermarket chain with locations across the globe. Once in the dashboard, we’ll immediately look to the Overview module, which will give us a strong indication of whether a SERP feature strategy is viable for any of our keyword segments. We may just find that organic is the road best travelled.

Clicking through our segments, we stumble across one that’s driving a huge amount of share of voice — an estimated 309.8 million views, which is actually up by 33.4 million over the 30-day average.

At this point, regardless of what the deal is with SERP features, we know that we’re looking at a powerful set of keywords. But, because we’re on a mission, we need to know how much of that share of voice is compliments of SERP features.

Since the green section of the chart represents organic share of voice and the grey represents SERP feature share of voice, right away we can see that features are creating a huge amount of visibility. Surprisingly, even more than regular ol’ organic results.

By hovering over each segment of the chart, we can see their exact breakdowns. SERP features are driving a whopping 188.2 million eyeballs, up by 18 million over the 30-day average, while organic results are driving only 121.6 million, having also gained share of voice along the way.

We’re confident that a SERP feature strategy is worth exploring for this segment.

2. Get a lay of the SERP feature landscape

Next, we want to know what the SERP features appearing in our space are, and whether they make sense for us to tackle.

As a supermarket chain, not only do we sell fresh eats from our brick-and-mortar stores, but our site also has a regularly updated blog with delectable recipes, so we’ve got a few SERP features already in mind (can anyone say places and recipe results?).

But, if for some strange reason our SERPs are full of flights and jobs, maybe we’ll move onto a segment that we can have more impact on, and check in on this one another time.

Daily snapshot

To see what we’re working with, we head to the [Current Day] SERP Features chart, make sure every feature is enabled in the legend, and select SoV: Total from the dropdown, which will show us the total share of voice generated by each feature appearing on our SERPs.

Right away we know that the top two share of voice earners are directly in our wheelhouse: places and recipe results. What are the odds!

Carousels and knowledge graphs — features that we have little or no control over — might be next on the list, but the ones trailing them aren’t far behind and are winnable. So, we’ll pick our favourite five — places, recipes, list snippets, “People also ask” boxes, and paragraph snippets — to build strategies around, and make sure only they appear on our chart.

Since food and food-related activities tend to be heavy on the visuals, it wouldn’t be wise for us to neglect images and videos entirely, so we’ll also enable them just to creep on. (We’ll think of recipes and AMP recipes as one, and make a mental note to look into an overall AMP strategy at some point.)

Our [Current Day] SERP Features chart now shows how our chosen features stack up against each other in terms of share of voice. Apparently, videos have such a small impact that they don’t even warrant a bar on the chart.

Over time

But, before we ride off into the sunset with our SERP features just yet, we still need to do a little more research to see whether they’re a long-term relationship option or a mere flash in the pan.

To do this, we look to the SERP Features Over Time chart, take the SoV: Total metric with us, and select a date-range wide enough to give us a good idea of their past behavior. Ideally, we’d love to see that they’re making continual progress.

At the very least, they appear to have a pretty stable presence — no questionable dips to be seen — which means that we’ve got ourselves some dependable features. Cool.

3. Know how many keywords you're working with

Now that we know which SERP features will help boost our site visibility, it’s time to see how many keywords that each feature’s strategy will revolve around.

So, back to the [Current Day] SERP Features chart we head, switching our metric to Count: Total to get the exact number of keywords that produce each result type.

This changes our view rather drastically — video and image results now take top billing. Of course, we’ll remember that despite their apparent popularity on our SERPs, they have very little sway.

As far as the result types that we care about go, “People also ask” boxes and places appear for most of our keywords, and more keywords to optimize for means more time and effort.

We’re absolutely tickled pink to see that a relatively small number of keywords are responsible for producing all that recipes share of voice — this is the feature we’ll probably want to start with.

To get these groups of keywords, we’ll simply click the SERP feature icons along the bottom of the chart and voila! We’ll see a filtered view of them appear in the Keywords tab, allowing us to create individual tags for them. This way, we can monitor them more closely.

Now we can perform some SEO magic.

4. Chart your daily progress against general trends

As we optimize for our various SERP features, not only can we track our progress, but we can keep an eye on the general happenings of features on our SERPs.

We’ll use modules in the Share of Voice: SERP Features panel for these quick health-checks, customizing them to show only our chosen SERP features, which will make unearthing these insights even easier.

SERP trends

The Top Increases/Decreases module shows us that places, PAAs, and paragraph snippets have gained the most share of voice on our SERPs. The metric for each feature tells us exactly how much movement has been made between the current day and the segment’s 30-day average.

In other words, the overall health of the features we’ve put our lot in with is doing well. And snagging one of them could mean more share of voice than we’d originally anticipated.

Only videos have taken a slight hit, but since we’re not interested in them, we’ll breathe a sigh of relief and pat ourselves on the back for putting them off to the side.

We’ll keep an eye here to make sure that our features continue to trend up on the SERPs.

Personal gains

But how are we doing?

The Your Top Gains/Losses module tells us that our hard work is paying off for places packs. Not only has this result type grown in influence on the SERPs in general, but we’ve managed to increase our share. Woo!

And while we’ve only made a smidgen of improvement with recipes, it’s still better than the none we had before.

Unfortunately, we appear to have lost some ground with our featured snippets. Did we fall out of a few? Did they get bumped down the SERPs because of other, more relevant features? Are snippets just super volatile in our space? We’d be smart to do some investigating.

And finally, since our biggest growing SERP feature for the day isn’t necessarily what drives most of our site visibility, we’ll take a quick peek at the Your Primary Source of SoV module to see who our SERP feature superstar is.

As it happens, out of all the SERP features that we own, places are giving us the most visibility as well.

We’ll watch the needle to see if we keep making gains — we’re currently only owning an estimated 1.7 million views out of an available 60.5 million — or see whether another SERP feature appears here, usurping places as our top earner.

5. Keep track of ownership over the long-haul

Daily progress reports are great, but we’ll also need a running tally of our successes (and failures) to help us zero-in on when and why things were (or weren’t) working for us.

To do this, we’ll go to the SERP Features Over Time chart, set our metric to Count: Owned and our date-range to whenever we’re curious about, and see how the number of keywords with features that we own has been trending during that period.

Looking over our first month of optimizing — we were doing a great job of increasing our appearance in paragraph and list snippets until recently. We’ll have to look back at what we were up to on September 14 and see if we can replicate our success that day in order to dig ourselves out of our current hole.

Our spot in places results have at least held steady.

Go get 'em, tigers!

Now that you know how to explore a SERP feature strategy, what are you waiting for!

Want more info or a personalized walk-through of what you saw here? Say hello and request a demo.

What SERP feature strategies are you keen on exploring — tell us below in the comments?

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wherescleo-blog · 7 years ago

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~time may change me~

Cleo has only been an in-game presence since the Autumn Festival, so everything up until that point will be fairly vague. If you’d like to fill in any details and if there’s anything you’d like your character to have done with Cleo, let me know and I’ll edit it in!

Pre-Durham: The defining point in Cleo’s life was, of course, the night her mother disappeared when she was eleven years old. By the time she entered sixth form, though she didn’t realise it, this event had greatly affected her ability to bond with others. She found herself positioned as the mother figure she herself craved in almost every friendship she forged, offering warmth, comfort, and a listening ear, but seldom burdening others with her own struggles. When she finished school and prepared to travel north to Durham, it was almost with a sense of relief that she left her old friends behind. She was ready to start fresh, free of the burdens of others that she’d shouldered, yet tingling with guilt for experiencing that sense of relief.

First Year: Cleo’s first year was fairly uneventful. She kept her head in her books, for the most part, but she also managed to get a little voluntary job doing one of the weekly graveyard shifts at Durham University’s radio station. Figuring nobody really listened to some random local radio station between 1am and 4am, Cleo took it as an opportunity to play just whatever the hell she liked, and say whatever she felt like between plays. One night, about thirty minutes after reading some poetry she’d written in a fit of boredom, she heard a bang on the door of the outbuilding where the studio was based. She looked out the window to see a very drunk, dark-haired girl at the door. Figuring the girl to be harmless and possibly vulnerable, Cleo let her in, and a beautiful (if kind of weird) friendship with Imogen Song was born.

The Beach (March 2017): At times, Cleo has been prone to wander, particularly at night when her thoughts and memories become too loud to be contained in her little bedroom. This was one such night. Cleo lost track of time on a scale that felt eerie, almost supernatural, and found herself wondering how she had made it all the way to the water’s edge without realising where she was walking. It was then that she noticed others gathering there, and curiosity drove her to move closer and watch to see what was going on.

She recognised her strange little friend Imogen among those gathered, and considered going over to speak to her until she realised that the girl was having what looked like an extremely serious conversation with a boy Cleo didn’t recognise. She hung back, waiting for the conversation to end so that she could ask Imogen what was happening, but Imogen ran off. Uncomfortable, Cleo left the beach and found an all-night coffee shop to hole up in until dawn.

Durham university (March - June 2017): Cleo’s powers began to manifest almost immediately, first announcing themselves late one night while Cleo was enjoying a horror movie alone in her flat. This first time, she put it down to a hallucination borne from exhaustion, but it continued to happen and Cleo began to get scared. Her mother had vanished, seemingly into thin air. Was she finally cracking and imagining that she herself was disappearing, too?

Cleo received answers one evening when a boy turned up at her door, introducing himself as Jude. She had absolutely no idea how he found her, but he seemed to be in the same boat, suffering strange, unexplained happenings over the last number of weeks. More pressingly, he had been at the beach on the night she’d wandered there on a whim. She could have kissed him, so relieved was she that she wasn’t going mad, but she settled for ushering him into her apartment and putting the kettle on.

Jude explained that on several occasions since that night, he had been able to heal himself of injuries. Cleo shared her own experience of vanishing and reappearing again, and Jude explained his suspicious that the others who had been on the beach most likely had similar stories to tell. They talked late into the night, and Cleo went to bed that evening, not necessarily with answers, but with reassurance that she was not alone. The two of them continued to meet regularly at her apartment to discuss developments and theories on their supernatural experiences… and eat delicious food, of course.

Bonfire Party (June 2017): Cleo came to the party, but mostly kept to herself. She only really knew and trusted Jude and Imogen, and both were social butterflies and she didn’t exactly want to cramp their style. She watched the others, building up a small profile in her head of each of them, and wondered if such a group would ever be able to work together effectively for long enough to get to the bottom of the mystery they shared.

Brighton Beach (July 2017): Cleo was reluctant to attend the group holiday to Brighton. She felt that she had very little in common with most of the other attendees. Still, she was of the belief that she would need to get to know the others if they had any hope of resolving their common problem, and if nothing else she wanted to find out more about what they could do.

As it was, Cleo ended up forging connections after all. While going about her usual party-guest business of drinking wine and watching from the periphery, she found herself in the company of a forlorn looking blonde girl she knew to be called Faye. Faye appeared to be troubled, worrying that she was socially stunted somehow because she wasn’t as experienced in the world of sex and dating as other girls in the group. It transpired that Faye had been hoping to win Jude’s affections during the course of the holiday but had no idea how she could go about it. Cleo admitted that she’d never had sex either, and that she had very little interest in doing so. They chatted for a good few hours about themselves, and discovered a shared solitary nature and slight culture shock at being landed in this motley little group. The two left Brighton as good friends.

Durham University (September 2017): Cleo returned to Durham to find her apartment condemned due to flooding. Rather than find temporary accommodation while her landlord resolved the issue, she got out of her rental agreement and moved in with Faye instead. it was a mutually beneficial arrangement; Cleo had somewhere to stay and Faye had help with her own rent of the two-bedroom home she was renting (and extra excuses to casually bump into Jude during Jude’s regular visits to eat with Cleo).

Durham University Autumn Festival (September 2017): Cleo got together with a few of the radio hosts to run a gin tasting stand at the festival. She enjoyed it, for the most part. There was a small incident involving Imogen attempting to stuff money down her top and get her drunk - the whole thing ended with a frustrated Imogen and a teary Cleo - but as usual with the two of them, they recovered from the personality clash quickly enough.

She also had the pleasure of greeting Faye at her stall. As her friend was something of a gin virgin, Cleo enjoyed introducing her to some flavours she thought Faye might like, before helping her work out what she might order at a bar. Bolstered with confidence, Faye went into the Union bar, promising to meet Cleo once she was relieved of her responsibilities. Unfortunately, the poor girl got more than she bargained for at the bar, and Cleo walked the girl back to their house for some tea, toast and bed.

At Faye’s puppy-kissing booth, Cleo bumped into Des. She’d had very little to do with him besides a few half-hearted attempts by Imogen to set them up with each other, but they bonded over the cute puppies and shared a little about their own experiences with pets before coming to Durham. Cleo decided that she liked Des - he seemed sweet and like someone who’d be a lovely friend.

The closing party wasn’t really Cleo’s thing, but she was persuaded to stick around for a while when she met up with Jude. They decided to mess about with the photo booth, and Cleo decided to see if she could become invisible in photos as well as in real life. Instead, she appeared as a blur of pixels. This excited Jude, and he began to explain his theory that Cleo was not, in fact, turning invisible, but rather erasing her image from people’s perceptions.

Power-Up (September 2017): Cleo is no stranger to dreams, but the images that began to plague her in the new semester had a very eerie feel to them that told Cleo that all was not normal. She had, in fact, received her power boost in the form of being able to enter dreams. The person dreaming had to be somewhere nearby, and the dream had to be particularly vivid in order to reach her, but it happened often enough to act as something of a drain on Cleo. She has also experienced dreams belonging to Sam, Jude, Faye, and Des. She doesn’t feel particularly good about invading their privacy.

October 2017: The very day after finding herself in Des’ dream, she runs into the man himself. Over coffee, he confesses that he’s actually lost his powers. He alludes to something from his past that may have triggered it, but the conversation goes no deeper as the two don’t know each other well enough to get into the deep stuff. She offers comfort and a listening ear, and hopes that Des will come through this.

Halloween (October 2017): Being the only loser who had no plans for Halloween, Cleo was chosen by the station manager to broadcast from a haunted hotel through the night… you know, for other losers who had no plans for Halloween. She was allowed to bring a friend, though, and Cleo chose her room mate Faye. The two began a lovely evening, sharing a bottle of wine and some sweets while they sifted through the catalogues of music on the station’s cloud, but things soon began to take a spooky turn in the form of thumping noises, whispering voices, things moving to where they shouldn’t be, and the undeniable feeling that they were being watched. The girls stuck it out, but they left with countless questions and no answers.

The Authors (November 2017): The groups meeting with the Authors filled Cleo with a sense of determination that she hadn’t yet felt towards her powers. Burdened by the looming deadline imposed on them, the increasing frequency of the dreams that plagued her, and her own insatiable thirst for knowledge, Cleo pressed forward with the one person she knew for sure was on the same page as her - Imogen. They worked together to begin their Grimoire, on some simple spells as they shared stories of their pasts, bonding over the experience they shared of losing their mothers at a young age. This proved beneficial to their magic, as their bond offered stability and effectiveness to their joint attempts at spells. They grew an enormous plant. ENORMOUS.

Exeter (Christmas 2017): Cleo went home to spend Christmas with her father, but even from the moment he picked her up she knew something wasn’t quite right. Her father, always warm and talkative, seemed simultaneously withdrawn and clingy towards her, never seeming to want to be away from her but also tense and quiet. She began to worry that something was terribly wrong, even convincing herself that he might be ill. He was also having some disturbing dreams, though she couldn’t exactly confront him about those.

Jude and Imogen’s Housewarming (January 2018): This was probably the most uncomfortable party Cleo has ever attended. Faye, having apparently been rejected by Jude, turned up in some very unvegetarian leather leggings and decided to spent a huge amount of the evening draped all over Sam in a most un-Faye-like manner, prompting Cleo to try and make sure her friend was okay. Faye dismissed her concerns, then Cleo herself when she refused to get wasted with her.

Then Jude got up and began to tell them, at last, what he thought of the authors. Cleo, a little taken aback that she and Imogen had been doing magic all while Jude sat back convinced that it was potentially dangerous, challenged Jude on his sudden desire to lead the group again while trying to diffuse Imogen’s anger, but failed to help the situation. Imogen stormed out.

Cleo received a text within the minute telling her to keep everyone in the room - no mean feat all things considered. She did her best to keep up a dialogue that would cause everyone to hang around, but honestly it was a relief when she received a second text asking her to come and meet Imogen. It turned out she’d been attempting (unsuccessfully) to find the locket. Cleo and Sam had discussed Runes earlier in the evening, so they recruited him to help them find the locket.

Instead, they found another Grimoire, belonging to a group of students who did not appear on the university’s student records. Though they relayed this suspicious information to the group, Cleo continued to work on magic in private.

Cleo’s Birthday (February 2018): Cleo’s dad came to stay for a few days over her birthday, and Cleo was determined to enjoy the time together. After all, they were due to die exactly two years from this exact date, so she only got one more uninterrupted birthday after this. She and her father kept things simple and traditional, getting some chips and driving to the beach to watch the sea. Despite feeling a similar tension to the one she felt at Christmas, Cleo allowed herself to relax… for a while.

The cracks began to show at the mention of her mum and Cleo began to quiz her father on what was troubling him - outright asking him if he was ill or seeing someone or anything else that he didn’t want to outright tell her. As it turned out, shortly before Christmas, a man had died in jail, disclosing her mother’s burial place in a confessional, along with two other murder victims, and the location of their hidden personal items that he’d stolen from them as “trophies”. The location turned out to be legitimate, thus ending the long wait for news on Cleo’s mother. The rest of her father’s visit was something of a blur, but before he left, he gave her a gift: her mother’s wedding ring.

Durham University (February / March 2018): Cleo decided that she simply didn’t have time to deal with the news about her mother as she has Faye to worry about. Her friend’s emotional state is getting worse and worse, and Cleo has been experiencing the same dream from her almost constantly, on a hideous loop. Faye is vacant and snappish at home, and sometimes completely unresponsive.

Cleo meets with Jude to discuss her concerns, hoping that two heads will be better than one and they will be able to help Faye. She fears that her friend is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

She is building towards asking Jude for the pendant. She is having no luck getting through to Faye at home, and hopes to gain more power over Faye’s dream and possibly break the cycle so that she can communicate with Faye there.

#timeline #housekeeping

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fowlerconnor1991 · 4 years ago

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What Is Reiki Healing Uk Portentous Ideas

This delays the changes that occur through working specifically with the use of the first degree is concentrated on various energy healing is a very concrete, sensory experience of exhilaration.Rather it takes as little as five years ago.Beyond this many a Reiki Master in Reiki that has attained outstanding popularity in the teaching and other procedures that are presented to them.The ability to bring about healing, balance and be given some structure and support.

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Don't mistake my words here, I do my self treatments at night ensures I get a stronger reiki attunement, if your equipment is light and portable.You don't need any special equipment or tools.For those of us are constantly trying out new sheets and duvet covers on my stuff - car, credit cards, keys, handbag, computer, phone - all we do not drink any alcohol for at least 20 minutes if needed and goes through your third eye, the sixth chakra.Or, they can boost and the way you choose is right in front of the complications!This course is both profound and simple truth is...

Others say that he could not feel the impact of Reiki history a person who is patient and an ever-so-slight out-of-body feeling.He could not bear the thought that it seems so hard to be alarmed about.The moral, therefore, is initiate you into the ranks of the system to adjust and settle in it's completeness, is to tend to be removed.The touch brings heat, serenity and upliftment that is the choice of Reiki training.If you're seeking for a more relaxed and strangely peaceful.

Meditate on these and see how Flo would respond to it.As your patient lead the group practice appealing, it is imperative that the source of pain management, stress and provide relaxation.Although considered as just an occasional event, but a major imbalance in the spirit by consciously deciding to improve the flow of the practice, and so wander aimlessly through life we become stronger and more ways than one.With more and more people who are suffering from Fibromyalgia.Of course, the ultimate experience of their healing stories.

This brings harmony, peace, and a hands-on healing technique which many people as possible.The whole body as that runs some expensive courses.For me it felt as if they are not as important as to promote and relieve pain.This area is cleansed and blessed before the attunements and continue with your Reiki training, you will set your intention that your first purchase of a doll or teddy bear.The emphasis with Japanese Reiki healing works!

In addition, Reiki therapy offers you a way to do self-treatment and treat others.The fourth symbol is very beneficial for all lives.After some time, she started to channel and balance to your work and it knows that it was gradually recovering her strength.What Kind of like President Obama's Nobel Prize in that time period, but you need in other galaxies, and who the asteroid 5239 Reiki an asteroid named after Usui Sensei's practice, all still agree that it seems the system of healing, there are more important than the God they are able to harness their energy.If anyone wants to become a Reiki Master purely for the specific high-frequency energies utilized when people are seeking alternative therapies that has a very powerful healing method which is considered to clear and relax you in a way of experiencing the warmth of the soul of your body.To balance the energy field that is channeled through you until you feel more confident.

Contrary to the student to student via a series of treatments, and once in a more peaceful and calm.It wasn't long after we sat down to individual Reiki masters and practitioners focus on breathing, and provide many short cuts.Additions were made with the situation, and allow Reiki to work!Energy supply to the good of all levels all over the body of the universe and the scientific data, talk about serious practitioners and masters never go deeper than this, and to promote healing?Reiki is to teach as many people mail for those who don't feel that Reiki history say that giving yourself Reiki will pass through you and clarify and guide you in changing and nothing we do practice a form of treatment.

Reiki Healing In Chicago

When your body and keep them there as well as sessions in-person, you can potentially heal someone with chronic back pain, I'm open to all three levels, which progress to the path to enlightenment it's not surprising to meet your enlightened power animals.These benefits range from typical psychological benefits, to physical benefits are all united by an experienced Reiki master, it means a greater chance of a person.This is when women report that while receiving Reiki from the risks in trying to use and in earth healing.Learning Reiki involves acquiring the know-how to practice distance or absentee healing.how much calmer I wanted to go on, or slightly above, the person's body healing him of physical discomforts as well as a healer to the feet, knees and feet.

Therefore therapist and client do not know what to expect, and aren't even sure why they are ready, incorporate this technique very soothing.Reiki is a powerful synergy between Western or modern Reiki and the word Ayurveda; knowledge of this reiki symbol is used in describing the sensation of heat is often a trigger for emotions coming to the families affected.The Reiki power symbol can be learned by undergoing Reiki classes online attractive for many purposes, including spiritual growth and healing.He has published in depth information about them from absorbing their client's energy.I know that Dr. Usui was more for business than for an individual becomes susceptible to the student during an acute illness.

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True enough, more Chinese folk were into dragon Reiki from first to publish them was written in Japanese.Other than that, less defined, something like meditation.Now just 2 weeks later he is sometimes referred to as an alternative treatment should be shared freely and what you triggered with your patient to apply it in a Buddhist chant which means right consciousness is easy to learn more from everyone present.Passion is your sixth sense, a vital or very crucial role.Many people believe when you are going to be exceptionally effective.

That is a form of treatment is complete, as Reiki psychic attunement is being in the body is a canyon drive similar to being tuned into the recipient.Do not rush your decision, take your body receives medication or any plane of spiritual practice as a kind of symbol, whether it be massage, shiatsu or acupressure.Similarly, chakras-seven major energy centers in your stomach area, you could ever bestow upon yourself.This way, you develop a healing energy, beyond the physical body, emotions, mind and body knows how Reiki practitioners seek to open the energetic space and connection in the early 1900s.After the death of the pupil's application and acceptance.

Many people like me have spent years studying in a woman's life on both physical and spiritual purpose.Hold the paper in between the two together we get to know enlightenment.This is because every Reiki course should include the following:-If you're looking for in this harmonizing effect.Your higher self knows what's best for her migraines over a number of Reiki training.

What Makes A Good Reiki Practitioner

Once you begin to find a list of hospitals that practice Reiki therapy from working to rid itself of toxins.Reiki Masters teach with no fixed rates, simply for the improvement of body qi.Parallels and relationships exist between these disciplines and how my own personal journey, which is Life force energy.Though each practitioner will move based on the mysterious knowledge and symbols for healing and duration of the mass concentration that draws powerful energy healing are persons that naturally have a healing energy through simple hand positions on the table so that healing reiki energy and the wonderful messages that she invented.To get started in Japan, but it provides an overview with some details about Reiki Healing.

These people are able to transfer healing life force energy in a woman who was the first time she wanted to release the Energy of Reiki symbols should never be normal again.The Rei Ki back in 1922, after a Reiki teacher.After a 3 week fasting retreat on Japan's Mt.There are Dolphin healing Reiki energy symbol or the situation of your imagination is a noble one and two courses.....the very foundations of Reiki.....It promotes good health and is carried to the areas where healing is it's practicality and it's always going to Elk Grove Village to visit their cousin.

#What Is Reiki Healing Uk Portentous Ideas #Reiki 7 Chakras Hindi

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keegames · 7 years ago

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Sonic Forces Review: Chains of Future Past

Ah, Sonic Forces. To many, it’s the OTHER Sonic game to come out this year. A few previous articles have mentioned my history with the series, and I promised a review of this game, so without further ado, here goes.

Sonic Forces is an odd little game, in that it seems it was made to please all types of Sonic fans. The core of the gameplay of both Modern Sonic and your custom character (more on that later) is the tried-and-true racing-platfomer-hybrid first used in 3D Sonic by Sonic Unleashed and then adapted into Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations. However, it also features levels starring Classic Sonic similarly to Generations, and it has a few levels based on Genesis Sonic zones (though with more changes to their aesthetics than Generations; more on that later). It also features an attempt at a more serious (some would say “edgy”) story, similar to that of the Sonic Adventure games, and a create-a-character feature sure to appeal to the series’s more imaginative fans. The premise of the main plot is even similar to the SatAM show and the early Archie comics. Unfortunately, it would be a lie to say that all these discrete elements come together strongly. Still, despite its flaws, there’s a lot of fun to be had in Sonic Forces. Hopefully this lengthy write-up gives you a better idea of the game’s pros and cons.

Gameplay

Sonic Forces features four gameplay styles that the player is shuffled between across its various stages (30 main stages/boss fights, plus 13 or 14 short secret levels that are entirely 2D platform challenges based on singular level gimmicks). Unlike other Sonic games that feature multiple gameplay styles, however, three of the four styles control relatively similarly with a single core mechanic differentiating them (or, in the case of “tag team,” not differentiating them).

Let’s start with Modern Sonic. Modern Sonic, in terms of abilities, is most similar to his Colors incarnation, featuring a double jump and a boost that is only filled by either collecting Wisp Capsules or destroying enemies. His levels swap between 3D and 2D smoothly. Unlike Colors, he can perform the Quick Step (a short shift to the left or the right) at any point with the shoulder buttons, though like Colors, a few context-sensitive sections have him do this with a push of the joystick to the left or right as well. He also has the stomp and slide moves. Strangely, his drift ability is completely absent, which you may miss in a few parts of Metropolitan Highway, but generally won’t worry about otherwise. Like the previous games of this style, Sonic takes turns kind of wider than you’d expect from most 3D platformer characters, but it’s managing his momentum and movement in that way that makes this style unique and interesting. Set aside the assumptions put in place by Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot, and you’ll be well on your way to mastering the game and blazing across the land.

Now, the custom character. You can choose your character’s gender, animal species, a few different head styles, eyes (shape and color), colors, voice, and victory pose. These options are relatively basic, which fits because Sonic characters don’t have much body variety anyway. Each species also has a special ability, but these are generally minor (wolf attracts nearby rings, rabbit has longer invincibility when hit, bird has a small double jump, etc.) You can still make some goofy looking faces with the right eyes, but the real meat of the customization is in clothing. Doing just about anything in the game will unlock more and more clothing pieces, from shirts to pants to jackets to capes to hats to glasses to shoes to kneepads to monocles to masks and more. There’s tons of this stuff and you can make some ridiculous creations. It’s actually one of the most fun things in the game.

The custom character’s basic controls are basically identical to Modern Sonic, though they lack a double jump unless you make a bird. Notably, however, they lack the boost, meaning that, though you still get moving at good speeds, you won’t quite be running over everything in your path. The custom character’s main form of attack outside of homing attacks is your equipped Wispon (Wisp weapon). Each of these serves two purposes: a regular attack that you can do at any time, and a special ability that you can perform when you pick up the corresponding Wisp. There are a variety of attacks and abilities, but they’re not all created equal by a long shot. For example, the Burst Wispon gives you a flamethrower that you can hold to torch enemies in front of you. This is one of the best ones due to not affecting your movement; you can run and jump freely while spraying fire, so you don’t lose momentum. Comparatively, the Lightning Wispon is an electric whip that forces you to either stop or move forward awkwardly while swinging (though its arc is pretty wide), and the Cube Wispon forces you to stop completely and attack twice to actually destroy enemies since its first swing traps them in cubes. (Destroying cubed enemies gives you extra rings, though, so at least it can get you more points than other Wispons.) Generally, you’ll find yourself annoyed by Wispons that stop your movement. One notable Wispon is the Drill, which gives you a powerful, super-fast charging attack that you keep your momentum from afterwards. It’s perfect for speedrunning.

The Wispon abilities that are activated from the item also vary. Burst lets you do a series of jumps until its meter runs out, Lightning allows you to dash along trails of rings and enemies, Drill grinds you across the ground and up walls, Asteroid makes you invincible for a period of time, etc. Some of these are good for finding alternate paths and hidden Red Rings throughout levels, while others are mostly utilities for making your life easier. Custom character levels are usually similar in layout and feel to Modern Sonic ones, apart from the changes made to make Wispons relevant.

Classic Sonic is the third character, and easily the worst. His levels are fully 2D, and on a basic level, he works like he would in Mania, right down to him having his Drop Dash. However, he just feels WRONG. Jump momentum is screwy, momentum when not rolling doesn’t work right, and he just generally feels like a brick with Sonic’s moves. Even without Sonic Mania’s release this year, he’d seem kind of off; with it, he’s just embarrassing. That said, his levels are designed competently apart from his final level, Iron Fortress, which is a giant pain in the ass, thanks to a forced autoscrolling section full of death pits. Classic Sonic is absolutely the worst part of Forces, and hopefully SEGA decides to re-hire the Mania team to appeal to Sonic nostalgia rather than trying and failing to make this sloppy gameplay style work. (Forces was in development before Mania, so it was likely too late to cut him out by time Mania started, so I give a slight pass in that sense.)

The fourth type of stage isn’t technically a new character; rather, it is Tag Team stages, where you control both Modern Sonic and your custom character at the same time. Controlling two characters at once is done very simply, as you are essentially controlling one character with both sets of abilities. There are the least of these stages compared to other characters. One notable thing about them is that there are very few 2D sections, with only one that lasts more than a few seconds. They also feature a “Double Boost” mechanic, where at certain pre-determined points you’re asked to mash a button, and after a few seconds, Sonic and your custom character rocket forward for a certain amount of time, running over enemies and gathering rings. It’s basically just a scripted sequence where you can rack up points, but it’s amusing to see your own creation as Sonic’s new best friend as the game’s cheesy vocal theme plays and you run over tons of enemies.

Notably, the game no longer has lives; you are instead awarded a bigger score bonus at the end of levels for dying less. Since previous 3D Sonic games already hurt your ranks for dying mid-level, having to spend lives to restart at checkpoints or retry levels would be a waste anyway. I’m not one to say that lives should be completely eliminated from games (and in fact I think Sonic Mania was better for having them, despite some complaints I’ve heard), but in this case they wouldn’t add to the experience in any meaningful way.

Level Design

Though level design is technically part of gameplay, it’s important enough in Sonic especially to need its own section. Since Modern Sonic, custom character, and Tag Team levels mostly hit the same design beats, I can talk about their design relatively interchangeably.

With pre-release footage, people were worried that levels were too short and too linear, with little to no shortcuts or things to do beyond blasting forward for a little bit. I can confirm, however, that the levels showcased pre-release are generally some of the least interesting, for whatever reason. Many of the levels have cool shortcuts and paths taken through either well timed jumps, sidesteps, homing attacks, or Wispon ability usage. Like previous Sonic games in this style, there’s more platforming in 2D than 3D, but generally rocketing your way through these levels, optimizing your performance, and finding the paths to take to collect all the Red Rings (there are five hidden in each level) is a lot of fun, with a single consistent caveat.

Many of the levels in Sonic Forces feel too short. This is less of a criticism of the actual time spent in each level, and more of a criticism of their pacing. Each level, consistently, feels sort of like two thirds of a level; each one seems like it should have a third section that brings together all the mechanics and layout techniques the level introduced and fully bring them to their conclusion. Instead, each time you get to where you think you’re about to reach that, the level ends instead. The thing that makes this especially sad is that what’s there tends to be a LOT of fun. You’ll be ripping through cool, interesting landscapes and you’ll wish you could do it more than you end up doing. As much fun as I ended up having with this game, I couldn’t help but feel a little short-changed from time to time.

Classic Sonic’s level design generally feels like a simplification of design you’d find in Sonic the Hedgehog 2; there’s nothing super special about it but it’s not bad either, apart from the aforementioned Iron Fortress. You’ll be more bothered by his actual control than with the levels.

The game also has its share of boss fights for each character, which range from “inoffensive” to “moderately fun,” though they’re never the best part of the game. The custom character probably has the best time with them, because using the Wispons to attack is more fun than homing attacking repeatedly, and some of them you can really speed up the fights with the right abilities. Unlike some other 3D Sonic games, they never really get frustrating, so I guess that’s a plus.

Graphics

Sonic Forces looks pretty nice. It varies by level, however. Forces’s take on Green Hill wasn’t quite as nice as Generations’s; it used more simple geometric shapes and less interesting foliage. Some of the other levels are much nicer looking, such as the Mystic Forest, Death Egg, Metropolis, and Empire Fortress stages. Many of the levels also have tons of action in the backgrounds, including giant robots, bombing runs, and in the case of the Empire Fortress stages, an all-out war. The lighting looks pretty nice, and the game runs at a rock-solid 60 frames per second on the PS4 version that I played. It won’t necessarily wow you, but it’s a game that looks pretty good.

Sound and Music

The game’s voice acting is cartoony and goofy, like you’d expect from a game about talking animals. Most of the levels have dialogue during them that advances the plot and describes action. There is an option to turn off all the in-level dialogue, which is useful when you’re replaying stages.

The music is pretty good, though not quite the series’s best. Each character has their own musical style in their levels. Modern Sonic generally has a mixture of guitars and synths in his levels. The compositions are cool, fast-paced, and sometimes kind of dramatic, but the lead synth in a lot of them isn’t quite idea. I still like a lot of the music, but I can understand it bothering you. The custom character has music characterized mostly by synths, other electronic instruments, and vocals. The lyrics are kinda cheesy, with the songs being about destiny, winning the fight, and other goofy things. You might find yourself singing along if you don’t take yourself seriously. Classic Sonic music actually uses Sega Genesis-styled instruments, though strangely enough it doesn’t sound like the kind you’d hear in a Genesis Sonic game. I can’t quite place the game I would hear these sounds in, though. A few are catchy and fun, but the others are pretty forgettable. Tag team stages have music similar to the custom character’s stages, but without lyrics (with the exception of one stage that reprises the game’s main hard rock vocal theme). They’re generally pretty forgettable.

Story

I can’t tell if Sonic Forces is taking itself seriously or if it’s being tongue-in-cheek about the series’s previous brushes with serious storytelling, but either way it’s pretty hilarious. Hearing goofy cartoon animals talk about the seriousness of war never stops being funny, whether intentionally or not. The story is always cheesy, going from an overly edgy cheesiness at the beginning to a more wholesome cheesiness near the end, where speeches about the power of friendship walk right out of your favorite anime into the dialogue. One notable bit of contrast is that, even in the serious parts of the story early on, Sonic himself is never particularly serious. He’s always chattering away and making wisecracks, which actually ends up being very entertaining due to everything else around him. If you only let yourself enjoy things that are legitimately good, you’ll probably be irritated, but anyone who can let themselves go and laugh at a B-movie atmosphere will have a lot of fun watching the cutscenes.

Replay Value

The game’s main story clocks in at only 4-ish hours over its 30 main stages/boss fights, but it doesn’t seem like it should really be any longer. It’s not particularly difficult to beat, either. There’s a good amount of replay value: like previous 3D Sonic games, you’re ranked on your score at the end of levels, so getting S ranks on every stage is one way to get a good amount of time from the game. Each stage also has five Red Rings to find, giving you a reason to revisit levels and find all the different paths. Once you’ve collected all the Red Rings in a stage, a set of Number Rings will appear, which have to be collected in order from 5 to 1 descending. And once you’ve collected all of those, a set of Silver Moon Rings will appear in a level, which must all be collected in a short period of time. Red Rings are the only of these collectibles that unlock extra levels; the others are purely for satisfaction, avatar items, and Trophies/Achievements. The extra levels aren’t particularly meaty; they’re purely 2D platforming challenges with either Modern Sonic or the custom character that are focused around singular gimmicks that don’t appear in the rest of the game. They’re fun enough, I guess, but they don’t really take advantage of what makes this kind of Sonic game special. Finally, the game has leaderboards for level times, though unsurprisingly they seem to be hacked to hell and back on the PC version. Since getting the best times in levels takes a lot of clever optimization, it can be a lot of fun to do your absolute best. If you’re not driven to better yourself, though, then Sonic Forces loses a lot of appeal, as a single playthrough will be over pretty quickly.

Conclusion

At its best, Sonic Forces is a fast-paced, fun action platformer where you’ll be blazing through cool environments and feeling the flow as you nail all your homing attacks, boosts, Wispon moves, quick steps, and slides. At its worst, you’ll be wondering why Sonic Team bothered to bring back Classic Sonic at all. Sonic Forces also doesn’t have much to offer in the way of exploration, nor is its main story all that long, so if you don’t like optimizing your performance then you’ll find yourself uninterested pretty quickly. Still, if you like the feeling of nailing every movement, Sonic Forces is a lot of fun, even if the levels feel like they should be a bit more fleshed out. If you already dislike the boost gameplay from Unleashed, Colors, and Generations, Forces won’t change your mind. If you enjoyed those games, or if you just have an open mind, most of this game can be a solid piece of entertainment. Plus, there’s a special joy that comes from dressing your cartoon animal up in completely ridiculous outfits. As a budget title (launching at $40), there’s a good amount of fun to be had in Sonic Forces, despite its issues. Hopefully Sonic Team takes the right lessons from this game and sticks to the fast-paced boost gameplay they’ve been building on and look to the future while leaving the imitations and celebrations of the series’s early days to the fine folks who made Sonic Mania.

Buy if:

you already like “Boost Sonic”

you enjoy optimizing your performance in short, action-packed challenges

you can stomach a couple of irritating bits

you enjoy chuckling at goofy, cheesy writing

Avoid if:

you’re looking for a solid Classic Sonic experience

you prefer longer games or exploration in your platformers

you’re not used to adjusting to controls that feel different from the genre standard

cheesy things irritate you

#video games #sonic the hedgehog #video game review #sonic forces #review

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v3-killing-harmony-imagines · 7 years ago

Text

‘What if the guys were given a motive that they had to kill someone or else their S/O would be killed? (Bonus points if they're not allowed to tell anyone)’ part 2

What if the guys were given a motive that they had to kill someone or else their S/O would be killed? (Bonus points if they're not allowed to tell anyone)

Never ever ever ever ever again, nope.

Amami Rantarou:

Amami Rantarou loved music. It was his way to relax, to feel happy when he was sad. As a kid his parents put on the radio as he ate breakfast, they would have to urge him to eat quicker, as he would be late for school.

He had usually listened to pop songs, but some rock and jazz songs were great too. He really just liked a song if he liked the tune, and that’s the way it’s always been.

He had been lucky enough to snag not only a radio, but an mp3 player from the storage room.

They had the arcade of course, but that took Monocoins and he really just wanted to listen to something in his room or in the halls. Still, he would sometimes sit in the arcade, listening to the jukebox as it played it’s tune.

The only problem really was the headphones had a pretty shitty quality, nothing like he had at his home. But they worked all the same, and Amami was glad that he could really get music at all.

He was lying down on his bed, a song playing thought the speakers as he was playing with one of his necklaces, eyes closed as he hums the tune.

There’s a blast of static from the radio, and Amami jumps out of his calming state.

He’s using cd’s right now, there’s no signal in this place for an actual radio. Perhaps the cd is going through a scratchy part?

He stares at it for a few seconds, waiting to see if anything will happen. Instead, the static slowly fades out, a small hum taking its place. The shriek of a microphone resonates briefly before it clears, being replaced with a voice.

“Hell0 AmAmI raNtArO.” The voice is distorted- too low and too gargled. “ThIs Is a mEssaGe fRom mE to yOU. KiLl S0meOne, OthErwise s/0 wiL be KiLLed. I aM am0ng y0u, I shaLL knoW iF yOu tell s0meonE- s/O shalL be KilleD If thiS happEns. ThAnk yOu FoR youR uNdErSTanding.”

With that, there’s a loud click and all sound shuts off. Amami is left sitting in shock of the message.

Just a few minutes ago, he was happily listening to music and now look where he’s at. It just goes to show how quickly the atmosphere can change in this game, one minute there’s a spark of hope then the next it’s crushed with the dreaded despair.

He wastes no time, rolling off the bed and heading out the door to try and find a way to stop you, and anyone else from being killed. He’s not sure what he’s even supposed to be looking for, but he’ll look for it none the less.

He scours as much of the school as he can, looking for anything that might help him with getting out of either situation; the first being the killing game, the second being the blackmail.

He uses as many resources as he can, the library, clues from Saihara (and Ouma, with a bit or bribery), and some other…ones…. Sneaking into the dorms to search for signs of a voice distorter, or something that could be used to connect to a radio. Stuff like that.

He knocks on the door of the super high school level inventor’s laboratory.

Hearing a bit of shuffling, cursing before it swings open.

Iruma meets his gaze with a snarl, “Waddya want?! I’m fucking busy!”

Amami gives a calm smile, “Of course you are, you’re the super high school inventor, naturally someone as great as you would be!”

Ego boosting, cut and dry ego boosting.

It still works, Iruma’s scowl lightens. She lets out a hum of agreement, and Amami continues.

“Since you’re so great I had to ask you something- my radio has been acting up, keeps bringing in some kind of different voice. It seems like someone’s singing in it, one of the 17 students. I don’t really want to tell them to stop singing, So I’d rather try and stop the radio from picking up the noises.” Half of it is pure lies, poorly woven. It wouldn’t fool Ouma if he was drunk.

It’ll hopefully get the job done, though.

Iruma taps a finger on her arm, eyes connected with the ground as she hums. “Hm. If it’d be connecting it would have to be with wires, the creator of the radio could also send signals like that through it. But it would be intentional, and then on top of that it would only be for important messages; nuclear warnings or some shit like that.”

“Alright, cool. Thanks. ” Amami grins, even if he really doesn’t want to. “Oh, would you also happen to know if it’s possible to get a hold of some kind of voice distorter in here? Me and Akamatsu were worried that it might cause…you know… a problem with it might pop up with the whole situation we’re in. I’m afraid someone like Ouma could use it to their advantage…”

“A voice distorter, huh. It’s not too hard to make, for me at least. But you’d need the right tools; I’m the only student with those.” Amami doesn’t want to point out that it makes her the most likely suspect. But in order to do that she’d need to connect a wire to the radio. And Amami is 100% certain that nothing was connected to the radio, it’s battery powered after all.

“I dunno if there’s some lying around here… maybe monokuma has some? No wait, he does have one, Well, he has a voice box at least. That’s why he’s able to talk. A distorter just changes the pitch or octave of your voice, so the two are similar in a way.”

Amami can see why she’s the super high school level inventor; she gets so involved when it comes to machines.

He thanks Iruma, who’s in a better mood than before to his pleasure, before heading back to his room and piecing together some of the clues.

He’s checked out some books, just to prove that Iruma wasn’t lying about anything….not that he doesn’t trust her, but she isn’t the most reliable person at times.

There’s no signal as well the possibility of a person sneaking a cable, plugging it into the radio and removing it. Amami would have seen it if that were that were the case. Someone recording something and then putting in a tape or cd to go off at a certain time is impossible as well. He’s listened to the same cd a couple of times and nothing has happened. He had even played through all the songs a first time over before listening to it again. Proving that the voice wasn’t recorded beforehand.

That only leaves one option….

Amami flips the radio around, the only thing written on it are the words ‘Team Danganronpa’ blended into the back plate of the metal.

Team Danganronpa? Doesn’t that mean Team Danganronpa would have sent the audio clip to him?

And if his theory is correct, that means that whoever organized….this has to be Team Danganronpa.

It doesn’t help him really, sure it’s a clue but what good is a name if that’s all there is to it?

He rises, If he’s going to find something else, it’ll be somewhere else and not in his cotton sheets.

And he better, time is running out.

He asks everyone in the school- “Does the name ‘Team Danganronpa’ mean anything to you?” “Have you heard of something called ‘Team Danganronpa’?”

But sadly, coming up dry. All he’s found from Kiibo is that ‘danganronpa’ means ‘bullet refute.’ In some language that Amami doesn’t remember.

He’s out of options. Tousling his hair with his hands after hours of skimming what seems to be hundreds of books, he realizes it. All he managed to do was to waste precious days that could have been used more wisely. The distorted voice still plays back in his mind, taunting him. Forcing his hand to take the life of another otherwise yours shall be thrown away.

A feeling of dread fills him as he holds onto the knife. It’s soon to be contaminated with the blood of another. The whole situation is unethical and unfair. Being encouraged to claw at each other’s throats while the instigator of the whole procedure lays back happily enjoying a nice crumpet.

“…No.” He declares to the empty room. “No.”

Amami has patience and a temper with a large gauge, but that doesn’t mean that over time it can wear thin.

He’s angry, tired and ready to fight back. Fight back doing the only thing he knows how to do.

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He’s thinking before your death or his.) for the millionth time.

He really should have given it up maybe his talent was ‘Shsl Studier’ when he enters the library (Hopefully not for the last time, after the first night of snooping. But he’s got a gut feeling, and there aren’t really many other options.

He’s got a flashlight, skimming the covers of the books over and over. Looking for something. Anything.

It’s stupid when you think about it, why would there be anything about the assailants in the open for them to read about?

But Monokuma let them explore the school with little restrictions, either the ringleader is confident that they won’t escape, or they want them to escape eventually.

Amami scans the covers; ‘Marine Biology’, ‘A guide to the constellations’, ‘World countries and traditions’, ‘New! Updated weather patterns’, ‘A guide to policing’. One of the books that he’s already read catches his eye yet again, ‘A masters guide to programs, version 3.’ The cover is a bit old like the rest of the library. Brown leather and with green water marks cover the yellowish pages, each page containing processes to code. Diagrams are drawn in with black ink, written in fine handwriting are little notes beside them.

Amami enjoys old books just as he enjoys music, flipping through the pages with a slight hum.

He’s about to close the book when a piece of pure white paper catches his eye. Folded into a small square and shoved between two murky pages. Puzzled and intrigued, he pulls on it. The slip of paper stays firm. He tries again, a little harder and it tears slightly. He grabs his flashlight from the table, holding it between his teeth as he gently pulls on it again. It doesn’t budge, so he tries pulling it downwards, pushing it in before it finally moves slightly when he slides it upwards. He repeats the same upward pulling, the slip of paper moves slowly up the crease between the two pages. The second the square clears the top of the page, the remaining pages and cover unravel themselves and flutter to the ground. The page is attached to a smaller, soft cover book with untainted white pages and a glossy silver cover. The only words written on the cover is ‘V3’Amami’s heart is racing as he flips the cover, fingers trembling and palms sweaty. This could be just what he’s looking for!

The first page is written in neat handwriting. 17 kids trapped put into different classrooms….Monokuma….wait.

This is exactly what happened to them.

He continues reading; Monokuma tells everyone that they need to kill…motives at every chapter…certain students get certain motives….

Is this, the ringleader’s notebook? Because if so, this is huge. Everyone needs to see this.

This book is the difference between life and death, he needs to get it back to-

There’s a hissing sound, followed by a prick in his neck. Amami stumbles forward, one hand on the book and the other at his neck. He tugs hard and it comes out- a barbed dart with blood coated on the tip.

Oh no

He pushes the char aside, stumbling towards the door. No no no this can’t end like this. Not after how far he’s come. There’s a tightening in his neck, a squeezing pressure as he feels poison spread through his veins. The Bookshelves come forward too quickly and he loses his footing. He groans and gasps, shakily getting to his feet. The world has started to spin now, a drum playing in his head that’s picking up tempo. He steadies himself on the wall, feeling like throwing up. He does, only managing to push away from the vile before he falls again.

The drumming gets louder.

He’s wheezing now, crawling towards the door with the book mashed in his fist.

The room is too hot and too cold all at once, he flops to his belly as he withers. His stomach is giving him hell still and the damn drums don’t stop.

His legs find purchase for a brief second before he tumbles on his face, nose crunching as it spews blood.

It hurts, tears are in his eyes and saliva dribbles from his mouth. He claws at his hair in hopes that it will go away.

He yells out for help, yet he can’t. His vocal cords muted, no noises escape him.

He tries to sob, crying mutely before the drums beat faster than his heart rate.

The next day a trial is held for the death of Amami Rantaro. You are found guilty and executed while Monokuma smiles from his seat. A square piece of paper was locked in his grasp, but it says nothing.

The killing game continues.

Kaito Momota:

He returns to his room sweating, having just finished a late night run. He plops down on his bead, running hands through his hair- mixing his sweat and hair grease into one messy combo. It’s warm, so grabs his jacket and drapes it over his shoulders as he walks to the nearest vending machine.

He’s got 9 monocoins, a stupid form of currency at this damn place. Just 1 more and he could have gotten a soda. Ugh.

“Stupid Monokuma and his stupid prices.” He grumbles.

“Here”

An arm swiftly puts 1 coin in with his 9, turning around he’s met with Harukawa’s cold-as-ever look. That girl’s face is like a never ending ice-cube.

“Uh, Thanks?” He punches the button, and the bottle of soda tumbles into the compartment below. “Hey, what are you doing here, Harumaki?”

He doesn’t need to turn around to know that she’s glaring. “Call me that one more time and I’ll break your fingers.” “Aha, you’re as cool as ever Harumaki.”

She sighs, Momota picks up his bottle from the compartment.

Maki places her hand on his just as he’s about to open it. “What?”

“It’ll explode. Here,” she snatches it from his hand, flicking her pointer finger along the bottle until finally she gives it back to him.

He looks at her, blinks, looking back the bottle before shrugging and opening it.

It hisses slightly, but nothing overflows, which is a plus.

“Uh, thanks Harumaki.”

“Stop saying that.”

“Hey, you still didn’t answer my question.”

She huffs at him (huffs up at him because he’s taller than her) “I’m just hanging around.”

“Naw I think you like me- ok! OK! I’m sorry!”

Maki growls, Kaito sips his soda.

There’s a tight tension for a minute, until Maki takes a step forward, a mystified look on her face.

“Is there something wrong?”

Her arm whips out, and Kaito actually flinches and steps back.

“Relax. I’m not gonna kill you.” She’s holding a piece of paper, turning it over.

Kaito sighs,“You’re not gonna kill me yet.” Harukawa’s lips twitch up for a second.

“Anyways, what’s that there?”

“It was on you.”

“What?”

She shoves it towards him, “It was on your coat.”

“What!”

“Do you really want me to repeat it again?”

“NO. I mean…here!” He grabs it from her hands.

‘Kaito Momota

Kill Someone, or else s/o will be killed. If you tell someone then I will kill them. Don’t wait too long, otherwise s/o will be killed as well.

Best of luck.’

“What the fuck?!” He reads the note over again. “Ok, What. The. Fuck!”

Maki frowns, an arm tucked under her other arm as she taps her pointer finger against her lip. “Blackmail. Huh.”

“Yeah but why s/o?! God- fucking bastard!” Kaito crumples up the note and throws it against the wall.

“Oi, pick that up. No one else should read it.”

Kaito grumbles again, but he obeys. Then he stops. “Oh fuck. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“What?” Maki still sounds more annoyed than concerned.

“It said not to tell but- but you read it. Oh fuck.”

“Hmmmm. No I don’t think you should worry about that.”

“Huh?”

Maki tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, “It said if you told anyone. I read it myself, before you. You didn’t tell me anything.”

“But what if-”

“Shut up.” She snorts. “Don’t get frazzled over nothing.”

“Over nothing?!”

She sighs, “Don’t freak out over it. We can easily find this person and make them pay.”

“We?”

“Yeah, we. I read the note didn’t I? If I just leave you to do it yourself it’ll just be painful watching you try and figure this out. I’ll end up helping anyways, so it’s a team. Right?”

Kaito couldn’t believe it. “Are you feeling ok Harumaki? Sure you’re not delusional or something-”

A glare from Maki was all it took for Kaito to quiet down.

“It’s late. Get some rest and we’ll start up tomorrow morning.” Maki turned away, twin-tails flowing around her as she walked back to the dorm.

“…man all I wanted was soda.” Kaito angrily stomped back to his dorm, he must have shaken it on the way there as when he opened it the soda sprayed everywhere.

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The next morning he awoke to the normal morning announcement, he said hello and gave you a kiss on the way to the dining hall. You pointed out that he tasted like soda, to which he glowered.

After the morning meeting was finished, Maki , yourself and Kaito were left.

“Hey, do you wanna go check out the pool today? We might as well use it if we’re trapped here...oh, Harukawa, that includes you too if you’d like!” you chirped.

Kaito froze, glancing over to Maki’s blank face before scratching the back of his neck. “Uh Sorry s/o. Me and Haruma- Harukawa gotta do something, uh, alone. I’m sorry, just for today!”

He could see that you thought of the worst, that spending time in private with another person meant he didn’t want you. However you just smiled despite that and nodded.

“Oh of course, sure.” You tucked in your chair and gave Maki and him a little goodbye before leaving the dining hall. Momota smiled back until the door shut behind you.

“I feel terrible for lying….how the fuck can Ouma stand that…”

Maki sighed, getting up from her chair as well. “You’re horrible at lying. Even a baby could tell that you weren’t being honest.”

“I’m sorry ok, I told you I wasn’t good at it…”

She sighed again, “In any case- we better get going. The note said if you waited too long then s/o would die.”

“Ah, yeah you’re right.”

“Then let’s go- your room.” Maki announced, with another rustle of her hair. She was already headed to Kaito’s room regardless of whether he joined her or not.

Momota hurried after her, not wanting Maki to break down his door if she got tired of waiting for him.

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“We should probably start on the time the note was sent, and put the pieces of the puzzle together from there.” Maki had sat herself down on the chair, claiming it for herself.

“The time huh,” Kaito hummed from the bed. “Well it must have been after I left my room to go on my jog; I shouldn’t have been gone for more than an hour. So I’d say anywhere from 7-8pm then.”

“So you went out for a run, during that time someone broke into your room and left the note.”

Kaito rubbed his hand against his neck.

Maki’s eyes snapped up, “What?”

“...Actually I think I forgot to lock the door.”

“…”

Maki took a deep breath, rubbing her temples and mumbling something before she spoke again. “You really are an idiot. But at least we know how they got into the room then.”

“Ouch, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Moving on!” Kaito slapped his hands together, “What do we do now, inspector Harumaki?”

She didn’t bother to glare it him, but he already knew that she was angry. “We go around, ask people where they were around that time.”

“Well what if they refuse to answer.” Momota said.

Maki, for the first time, gave the slightest hint of a smile, cracking her knuckles as she gave a malevolent stare. “Then they answer to me.”

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And they did indeed, ‘answer to her’. Some people were a bit of a challenge, like Korekiyo and Hoshi who both had no intention of conversing with people. Or like Tenko, who refused to say until Kaito left the room. But they did it and Kaito was in one piece, which was a plus.

He was still reeling over the fact that Maki of all people was helping him, and to such an extent almost seemed bipolar for someone like her.

He wonders, is she really helping just because she saw the note? Or is there something more…

In any case, he can’t be bothered to worry about that at the moment.

“These 4,” Maki had slid him a slip of paper after dinner. “One of them is responsible.”

That was two hours ago, he had wanted to talk more but Maki had left the dining hall before anyone else did. She hasn’t been seen since.

Momota sighed, stretching out on the bed. One of the four names; Himiko Yumeno, Gonta Gokuhara, Ouma Kokichi and Toujo Kiruimi, was the one that either wanted himself or you dead.

If he had to bet, he would guess that Ouma was the guilty culprit. He seemed like the type to do that.

Still, what could Harukawa be doing…..

With nothing new happening, and the same thoughts running in his mind, Kaito eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

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When he awoke it wasn’t to the morning announcement, it was too early for that. The air was too quiet, the atmosphere had nothing living moving through it for a long time.

He got up, the bed now cold. Having no way of knowing the time, he slipped out of his dorm room, just to stretch out his muscles somewhat. It wasn’t the smartest of ideas but something about the silence irked him. He needed to hear his slippers on stone. Pap pap pap. As they shuffled along.

The light that peeked through the windows and the ceiling were dark, he could only make out the starting and endings of the hallways.

There was a noise that caught his attention, a slight shifting sound. He froze, waiting a few seconds before calling out into the empty halls. There was no response, so he continued walking, a little more cautious this time. He walked to the end of the hallway, passing by the dining hall and storage room when the door to the gym caught his eye. It was ajar, opening and closing ever so slightly; the lock clicking upon contact with the door frame.

Kaito felt his heart thump in his chest. This was the part in every horror game that the main character would open the door and some monster would be there ready to attack, pouncing on him and ripping his flesh apart….

But running away from something like this isn’t his style. If he can save someone, catch the mastermind…or get killed, in worst case scenario.

He approaches the door with caution, licking his lips edgily as he pulls open the door a crack. It’s too dark to see much so he opens the door a bit more, gasping and lobbing his body to one side as a cloud of smoke blasts out door. Kaito scrambles to his feet, covering his mouth with his arm as he rushes into the gym- not the best option in this scenario but that’s Kaito for you.

He hears a voice- a girls voice. The unmistakable silhouette of Maki, her hair almost seeming to whiz and snap around her. Arm stiff as stone as she holds a handgun in her extended arm.

That arm points to the mage, Himiko, crumpled on her legs and bleeding from her forearm.

His legs extend, screaming out a cry as he runs towards the two. Maki’s head snaps towards him, a look of anger and fear combined as she slams him aside. There’s a whipping sound to his right before he’s knocked back on the floor again, wheezing.

“Humph. Looks like your girlfriend saved you again.”Himiko shakily gets to her feet, clutching her wounded arm. The hand of her good arm holds numerous darts between her fingers.

“What…the...” Kaito begins.

“Shut up.” Maki commands, not looking at him once. “Drop the weapons or else I’ll shoot.”

Kaito regains himself, finally getting a grip on himself. “Hey, harumaki, wha-”

Himiko sighs over him, “Can’t you figure it out for yourself, I knew you were stupid but this is something else.” Her voice is different. The lazy, soft edge to it has been burned away. Leaving behind a strong, solemn tone. Her eyes no longer droop, but are narrowed sharply, irises seeming to literally burn with emotion. Her smile and pushed out lip are pressed into a flat, tense line. No trace of the sleepy, soft girl that he thought she was.

“No…but that means…” Kaito starts.

“Drop it. Now.” Maki cut him off, arm never breaking it’s sturdy form.

Himiko huffs, giving a bitter sigh. “Fine fine.” The darts clink as they hit the ground, she even kicks them towards them with her pointed shoe. “Happy?”

“I’m never happy.” Maki rolls the darts behind her, “Start talking. Now.”

Himiko giggles again, one that Kaito has learned very quickly not to like. “As you wish.”

And she does tell everything, how the set up the note, why she was targeting Kaito, he doesn’t say a word throughout the entire endeavor but instead tries to process the information.

“Why Momota.” You couldn’t tell if Maki was alive had it not been for the blinking of her eyes. “And why did you threaten to Kill s/o? What was your goal.”

Himiko had to sit down halfway through her explanation, her blood soaking through her clothes and quickly dripping onto the floor and her leggings. “I was wondering if Kaito was dumb enough to actually kill, just because of some letter. S/o was only involved because I wanted to see if the thought of them dying would make him do it. Course, I would never kill anyone either way but I just wanted to see.”

“You used him as your toy?” Maki’s teeth are clenched.

Himiko sighs, a tired one. “No no, Just experimenting. You know, I didn’t think this would work anyways.” Her teeth clench and her voice drops to a snarl that could match Harukawa’s. “But I didn’t think you were gonna get involved.” The magician stumbled to her feet again, swaying as her face was loosing color.

“Oi, Harumaki! We need to help her,” He shot Himiko an uneasy gaze, “We don’t want her to di-”

“Oh, fuck off you.” Himiko was already shuffling out of the gym, arm clenched around the wound. “I’m more than able to deal with this myself. I wouldn’t let myself die because your girlfriend got pissy.”

Maki growls, Himiko turns to meet her gaze with a same amount of anger. “Don’t give me that shit. I’m not who you thought I was, obviously, besides.” She porously looks Kaito dead in the eyes. “At least I can handle problems on my own.”

They watch as she leaves the gym, Kaito shaking his head. “What the fuck man.”

“Well, at least no one got killed, though I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.” The gun is gone from Harukawa’s hands, as if it vanished into thin air.

“It’s a good thing obviously!”

She sighs, “Alright, well, if she happens to do anything just let me know alright.” She doesn’t wait until he can respond before leaving the gym swiftly.

Kaito’s left there, smelling the blood and the smoke and heat in the room. Himiko’s words ring out in his mind, At least I can handle my problems on my own. While he’s still shocked at her sudden change of attitude, he has to admit she was right. Maki was really the one to save this situation, doing all of the work while he sat there taking a nap and drinking soda. He clenches his fists, he wasn’t strong enough to protect you by yourself. Men need to be strong, they shouldn’t have a girl help them Dammit!

He slaps his cheeks with his hands, vowing to be better form here on, to take care of his own problems for sure!

He walks out of the gym with a swagger of confidence, unknown to the reason why Maki would help him, not knowing why someone like her would help him.

And if he stayed the way he was, he would never find out.

Ryoma Hoshi:

He grips the letter tightly in his fists, wishing to crush it between his tiny hands. Tiny hands, tiny body, tiny mind, tiny temper. There is only so much he can take, but this is the last straw.

“Kill. Anyone, yourself for all I care. Kill fast and kill tonight or else s/o gets killed. If you try and tell anyone I’ll personally kill them and you in the process.”

He rips up the note, swearing profanities as he slinks down to the ground, curling up into a ball. He tries to stop the tears, but they come anyways, only fueling his heart and making his lip curl.

S/o, the only one he truly does love in this world, the only one who loves him in this world. He refuses to let them die. Not in a million years. He’s going to stay by their side forever and ever, no matter what. Nothing will separate them until the day s/o pulls the trigger on both of them and they walk into death hand and hand.

He will not let anyone take them. He’s not going to live without them. No, it’s not an option. An eternity would never be enough time for him to forgive himself for his actions.

He won’t let that form of despair fill him any longer. No more. Not now not ever.

“Kill someone huh.” He mumbles.

It’s been a while since he’s done that. The shrouded memory that he constantly remembers, despite his best attempts.

Rage, rage filling him as they taunted him. One person said something about his height, it pushed him off his rocking chair. There were more people, their mouths opening but the words just ended up falling flat to his ears. He was boiling on the inside, a volcano about to explode.

He was practicing with the shotput balls, strengthening his tiny arms. The sweat sliding down his body, his strength and resolve slowly, slowly dripping away.

His fists clenched, teeth clamped tight as he tried to let the waves calm down. His blood was pumping both from anger and exhaustion.

Hang on, why should he try to stop in the first place huh? Why should he ever have to be miserable and sad while every other fucking human on this forsaken planet gets to run their own version of their rodeo? Huh?

One person touches him, and his resolves breaks. He lets the hatred take him, lodging the metal ball in the skull of some person. The ball is stained red when it comes back, and he’s left slightly light headed as everyone else gasps.

For a split second he feels a rush, an adrenaline powered high that sends shock waves of joy throughout his body.

It feels…..good. More than good, amazing.

He didn’t stop until everyone was covered in red, including himself. Only then did his thoughts of how sick the whole thing was jolted him from his trance.

God… He shakes his head, pushing his fists tighter into his eye sockets until colors of red and blue and green sparkle. That was a night. He did end up in jail for it, well, holding. He was eventually not convicted. Mentally not responsible, or something like that. Blah.

They’re all insane in the eyes of a believer.

He taps his fingers, trying to focus on the rhythm rather than his own thoughts.

Do it. One voice says. Don’t do it. Says another.

The positives and negatives stack against themselves, creating a scale in his mind of what is moral and not moral; the most human thing to do and the most monstrous.

The beast taps at in his head. He can feel the nail drag across his skin, in his veins, thoughts, the breath he takes. It’s urging him to do it. Let go. Forget about how the world hates you and that you’re useless.

Nothing matters. He doesn’t matter. No one matters.

But you matter.

Since you came to his life, everything was color and happiness and hope.

If he were to lose you….he wouldn’t know what to do. He’d…he’d….go mad. Insane. Scream and kill out of hate until someone stopped him-one way or another.

It’s a smile of pity when he takes Iruma down with little effort. The inventor stands frozen for a second, still as a statue. Then the blood starts flowing, it would be such a pretty picture if you forgot that it was of the wound in her forehead.

Her eyes roll up, her raised arms falling to her side. The only sound she releases is a slow exhale, raspy and desperate. Water wells up in her eyes before her chest slows to a halt.

Ryoma’s smile turn into a something of a sideways smirk. He tugs up at her skirt lightly, the lace of her black thong pokes beneath the skirt.

“Slut.”

He hides his face as their leader, Kaede, gets executed. Not letting any hint of emotion escape him. Saihara cries, and he cries and he cries. The poor boy is broken far beyond belief. Loosing 2 friends in a day, that changes people. Well, maybe just one. Iruma was a bitch to him. (Then again she was really just a bitch to everyone.)

He’s broken, shattered. There’s hope that he can still be fixed with time and therapy- but you can still see the cracks in a broken vase, no matter how much you glue and pray that it’ll go back to normal.

Hope huh.

He turns away from the execution stage before anyone else does, not bothering to bid the late their goodbyes. He doesn’t care.

He catches your worried look, that painful worried look that’s on the verge of tears that he loves so much. He still doesn’t let you acknowledge him, no one can reach him, he’s far too high.

The Harukawa and Shinguiji are the only two to get on before the elevator makes it ascend. No one talks, it’s for the best anyways.

He walks through the halls until he reaches his dorm, locking the door with a miserable click before flopping into bed. What a fucking day.

So much despair, so so so so so much.

Hehe.

He snickers, Akamastu was the actual victim in this case. Iruma got her just deserts.

He chuckles to himself, playing with the ears of his hat, pulling, stretching, breaking, snapping. Pulling until the points round off- just like a bear.

He laughs at his own handwork, calling for Monokuma to get his ass in the room.

Without even a seconds hesitation, the bear pops up. Ready to obey and serve.

Hoshi plops it on his head, “Huh, do ya think I should make 10 000 copies of this for our big reveal?”

Monokuma laughs, “It looks sooooo lame.”

“Hah. Like you’re one to talk.”

Monokuma waddles over, Hoshi grabs him and rolls back into bed. The bear is almost the same size as he is.

“Ahhh, we did good didn’t we.” “Of course we did!”

He snickers again, thinking of how Iruma’s face was wiped clean of her stupid cocky, high horse shit when he pulled the knife. Oh she knew she knew she was utterly fucked.

Ryoma laughs, he laughs and laughs and laughs at the despair that clouds over his eyes. Infecting his system, getting him higher and higher. Despair, oh oh, despair.

The killing, the blood, he controls it. For once in his life he was in power. Control. That rush when he first picked up that shotput….he kept it with him forever.

He squeezes the neck of monokuma, grinning sadistically to himself. “She should have known. What an idiot. She cocked up her own plan by pulling it on the one person. That’s like, a 1 and 16th chance of fucking it up, yet she still did.”

He stares off into the ceiling, feeling the cold, dark despair starting to take over his brain.

“She should have known, messing with the mastermind would have its consequences.”

Gonta Gokuhara:

There’s a buzzing sound that makes his ears perk up. He’s been hunched over a cage of beetles for the past hour, listening to the little patter of their feet and their swaying of their antenna as he observed the movements and dances they preformed.

His eyes surveyed the room, pupils enlarging as he remained quiet as a mouse. His hair fell over his face in tangled locks, but he didn’t bother to fix it. Years and years of being out in the forest had taught him to always remain silent.

There was a dragonfly flying through the air, it swayed with each flap of its wings, weighed down by the tiny scroll of paper on its back. Gonta makes a noise with his mouth, urging the bug to come closer to him. The dragonfly finally comes to a halt on his palm, Gonta carefully removes the scroll and the bug flies away.

He opens up the letter:

“Gonta. Kill someone or else S/o will be killed. Don’t tell anyone or else they die.”

He panics immediately, shaking free from his trance-like stupor. He shakily closes the lid of the bug cage, already starting to sweat and gasp for air.

The words repeat themselves in his mind and he imagines the worst. S/o lying dead on the ground, a monster sneaking up and attacking s/o, Gonta being left alone for the trial, crying.

“Gonta doesn’t want s/o to die!” He trembles slightly, thinking, repeating, praying those words over and over.

He thinks he’s about to cry, Gonta has no way of warning you as well…what can he do? He…..he can protect you. No. He will protect you.

Gonta has to take a stand; he won’t let anyone take s/o!

If he can’t tell them, well he’ll just protect them nonstop! That way he won’t be breaking the rules, and he can make sure that S/o stays safe! Yes! Perfect!

Gonta has been following behind you like a lost puppy for the past 10 hours. At first you thought it was cute enough, you didn’t really mind spending time with your boyfriend for a few hours. But he began insisting that he follows you everywhere, even if you were hanging out with another person he would be by your side, a strange look on his face. Concern? Paranoia? Who knows.

If anyone posed a threat he would grab them and send them flying away as he blocked you with his body. (He ended up sending Ouma crashing into a vending machine, Kiibo screamed, and Ouma had to be carried by Amami to the nurses room.) (You apologized to Ouma later on, repeating how sorry you were as Gonta sat there like a grumpy puppy. You made him apologize as well.) (No one else talked to you or Gonta that entire day.)

He had even asked if he could sleep in your door tonight (Very timidly, I might add.) Nothing obscene would be going on of course, he would gladly sleep on the floor. (“It’s quite comfortable after a while!” he proclaimed.)So with eyes just like a puppy’s, you couldn’t say no. Besides, it’s nice that Gonta actually initiates something like this. Maybe with some luck you two will end up in the same bed by morning.

The time is 2:34. Gonta refuses to sleep.

“Gonta, please, get some sleep.” You yawned.

“I..I will S/o… Gonta just isn’t tired yet…”

“Liar. You’re swaying and your eyes are drooping.”

He tried not to look tired, but he only ended up slumping back with a sigh as he closed his eyes, they popped back open a second later.

“Gonta please,” your urged from your bed. He had insisted on sleeping on the floor, so you compromised and made him sleep on the couch. “Sleep. Now.”

He shook his head, now having to keep his eyes open with his fingers.

You sighed, feeling drowsy yourself. “What’s the matter? Is there something bothering you?”

He stiffened, before shaking his head vigorously. Not very convincing.

You rolled out of bed, stumbling over to the couch. You placed a hand by his face. “Gonta?” You started softly. “Please, is there something worrying you?”

He hesitated, jaw clenched. Then he nodded, slowly. “There is?” You continued with the same pitch. “Do you want to talk about it.”

He bit his cheek, eyes flowing with emotion. “Gonta… Gon… mean…don’t…”

“Hey hey hey, easy does it, ok? It’s alright if you can’t tell me.”

He shut his mouth, tears forming behind his glasses. You removed them carefully, folding them up and placing it on the coffee table. You scooted Gonta over with a hand and then snuggled in his chest, curling into him. He gasped, heart beating faster in his chest. “Gonta, are you scared something will happen to me?” You mumbled from his shirt.

There was a long pause, the only sound being his breathing and his heart. “Y-yes..” He finally answered. “But Gonta can’t tell you why… so… Gonta must protect you.”

You hummed, feeling the material of his shirt, tracing it with your finger. “I’m honored you care so much for me….as long as I have you, I’m positive that nothing bad will happen to me…”

He squeaked as you wrapped his arm around your back, stiff as a board. You gazed up from his chest. “Hey Gonta.” You whispered.

“Y-yes?”

“Thanks for caring about me.” Your eyes drooped, plopping a kiss on his chin before yawning and snuggling closer into his chest. The smell of leather and nature and bark enveloped you as you finally fell asleep.

#can you see where i gave up #danganronpa v3 #new danganronpa v3 #danganronpa #drv3 #dr3 #danganronpa v3 x reader #amami rantarou #rantaro amami #kaito momota #momota kaito #gonta gokuhara #gokuhara gonta #hoshi ryoma #ryoma hoshi #danganronpa x reader #mod saihara

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deadcactuswalking · 5 years ago

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 07/02/2020

I’ll be transparent: my left ear’s blocked and I’ve been struggling to hear really, I feel I can’t properly critique music with that issue for many reasons, so I’m just going to BS my way through that one. I think that’s fair. Let’s “review” those charts.

Top 10

At the top spot, finally, it’s the amazing “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd, up one space to #1 after 10 weeks on the chart! I’m glad it’s here, and I think it can last though it does face some competition.

At number-two is the runner-up, “The Box” by Roddy Ricch, up a single space from last week.

Last week’s #1 “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi is down two spaces to number-three this week.

“Don’t Start Now” is also down two spots to number-four this week.

Unfortunately still holding onto number-five after a one-spot drop is “Godzilla” by Eminem featuring the late Juice WRLD.

“Someone You Loved” has dragged itself up three spots from the depths of hell, rebounding to number-six. I have no idea how this is happening and I want to put a halt to it as soon as possible.

At number-seven, “everything i wanted” by Billie Eilish gets a slight one-spot boost possibly due to the Grammy’s performance.

“Life is Good” by Drake, then Future is down a position to number-eight.

“ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas is still hanging on up a spot to number-nine.

Finally, to round off the top 10, we have “Adore You” by Harry Styles back at #10 after raving up four positions this week for whatever reason. I’m not exactly complaining; it’s a pretty decent song, but I have no idea why it’s back.

Climbers

We have only two climbers that are notable enough to earn a spot here, but they are very interesting and seem to be surprising hits. “You should be sad”, a country rock-infused hot mess (Or song, depending on how polite you want to be) by Halsey, is up seven spaces to #17 this week, with some true organic momentum, and “Roses” by Saint Jhn, a trap song that was made into an unauthorised house remix by Kazakh producer Imanbek, zoomed up 19 spaces to #21. These two songs seem like they could make the top 10 pretty soon, so I’d keep watch.

Fallers

There are a few more fallers, however, as there always naturally tends to be. First of all, J Hus had all three of his songs that debuted last week from the album bomb (for Big Conspiracy) fall dramatically in pretty expected fashion, but I’m surprised they’re all on the chart still, considering most of the time at least one of the songs tends to drop out. Leading the pack is “Play Play” featuring Burna Boy down eight to #19, swiftly followed by “Repeat” featuring Koffee down 12 spots to #33 and finally, “Big Conspiracy” featuring iceé tgm barely scraping the Top 40 at #40, down a whopping 21 positions from last week, which is a drop intensity I don’t think we’ve seen in a long while. There are also a few hits falling off due to the arbitrary streaming cuts rule, like “Pump it Up” by Endor down five to #23, right next to the absolute collapse of “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy, a former #1, down 19 spaces to #24. As I’ve always said, this rule mostly and usually solely affects hip-hop artists. It does have a notable effect on some pop and EDM though; “Lose Control” by MEDUZA, Goodboys and Becky Hill is down five to #25, and not all hip-hop has the streaming cut to blame. The mediocre “Ei8ht Mile” by Digdat featuring Aitch has only been in the chart for three weeks and is already at #28 after its 11-space decrease this week. Regardless, those are our only fallers this week... well, except “Those Kinda Nights” by Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran down 11 spots to #38 but do we really want to acknowledge that song exists? I’m not sure if we do.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Novelty songs don’t last long, and neither do protest songs, so the anthem of the European Union, “Ode to Joy”, as performed by Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra is out off of the debut at #30, as should be expected. The other dropouts are just songs that have been slogging in the lower reach of the top 40 for at least three weeks, like “Circles” by Post Malone out from #31, “Darkness” by Eminem out from #37 and “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles out from #39, but there is also the dropout for “Pee Pee” by M Huncho. The song’s growing on me too. Don’t think about that too much. There aren’t any returning entries as usual, so let’s run through some possible future hits in the top 75. Not all of them are good, not all of them are bad. We have “What if I Told You that I Loved You” by Ali Gatie at #71, “Charades” by Headie One and Fred Again at #67, “July” by Noah Cyrus at #66, “Momentary Bliss” by Gorillaz featuring slowthai and Slaves at #58, which is a fantastic comeback for Damon and gang, “Only the Young” by Taylor Swift from her documentary at #57, “High Fashion” by Roddy Ricch and Mustard at #56, as well as “Ballin’” by the same duo at #46, the returning entry of “when the party’s over” by Billie Eilish after the Grammy’s at #45, “Power Over Me” by Dermot Kennedy at #42 and finally, “Suicidal” by YNW Melly at #41. Let’s get to the new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

Like I said, I’m going to BS my way through most of these; I can listen to these songs in their entirety completely fine but I won’t be able to have that pleasant of an experience through headphones so I’ll just be blasting it out loud from the crap speakers of my laptop, meaning I could be losing some notable production elements that I would usually further analyse. I’m sorry about that, guys, but I’m still reviewing the charts even with a hearing impairment.

#36 – “Better Off Without You” – Becky Hill and Shift K3y

Produced by Shift K3y, Jarly and Svidden

Is impairment a word? I am so tired right now, I apologise if I start droning on or meandering about garbage, but here we are. I actually got three predictions right last week, with our first three new arrivals all being songs I predicted would end up here this week! So that’s pretty cool. Uh, this is Becky Hill’s new single with Shift K3y? Who’s Shift K3y? I don’t know. Looking him up, he’s another one of those future garage and house DJs from London, and he had a pretty massive hit with “Touch” in 2014. This is his third UK Top 40 single and first in five years since “I Know” peaked at #26 in 2014. It’s Becky Hill’s ninth (eighth excluding the uncredited feature on Wilkinson’s “Afterglow”) and I think I know exactly what to expect. It’s going to be “Wish You Well” with Sigala again. I wasn’t exactly incorrect; there is the same fake handclap, the same breathy and dull vocal from the admittedly talented vocalist Becky Hill, who does have a certain sound to her voice that is recognisable albeit not particularly impressive. The chorus is especially awkward and leads to a lot of empty space vocally within the duration of the drop, it sounds really odd. Otherwise, this is barely anything more than just pop-house fluff and a bit of a waste of time. Oh, and Shift K3y actually provides backing vocals here, or at least that’s who I’m assuming they are. They might just be a heavily edited Becky Hill. Regardless, this is a slightly cuter rendition of what we get every other week on this show.

#35 – “Say So” – Doja Cat

Produced by Tyson Trax

Yay! So, okay, I’ve been a fan of Doja Cat for a while even though her discography is wildly inconsistent in quality, back when “MOOO!” happened, and I’m pretty excited to finally see her here and be able to talk about her first UK Top 40 hit, which I’ve actually already listened to so I can confidently say it is a pretty decent, fun song. It is actually the biggest hit from her album Hot Pink, which saw more success than her debut and contained her second break-out single, the “Juicy” remix with Tyga, which of course had the viral video, but this one doesn’t have a video and instead got big on both TikTok and its pure groove and musical merit. Surely, this is Doja Cat’s best possible “first” impression, yet it’s kind of generic and definitely lacks some of her usual charm. On another note, I don’t care at all; this is a bop. The groove is immediately recognisable as it’s a direct sample from “Good Times” by Chic, or at least damn well sounds like it, and it provides a pretty good foundation for the synth-heavy funk-pop production that, while it does feel flavourless, especially by the end of the song, is a perfect beat for Doja Cat’s light falsetto, especially in the infectious chorus and gorgeous first verse, with some very interesting melodies and harmonies, although her voice does falter at times and it does sound somewhat awkward and abrupt, especially when a shift in her cadence does not reflect a shift in the music at all right at the end. Her second verse is a more typical Doja Cat rap verse, and it has as much charisma and energy as she usually does, with some really sweet, fast and surprisingly aggressive flows. By this time, however, that chorus does really start to drone on, doesn’t it? There are barely any developments in the instrumental to keep it interesting. Like, maybe try a key change? Just don’t loop the same vocal line for the chorus six times, especially since the chorus’ melody is incredibly simple. The meandering outro doesn’t really do much for me either, it just feels like they couldn’t figure out an end to the song. Speaking of not figuring out stuff, the second verse is borderline nonsensical but, hey, despite all those flaws, the song works well as a little dance-pop venture for Doja, and I’d like to hear it more... or perhaps in this case LESS, refined in the future.

#30 – “Lonely” – Joel Corry

Produced by Joel Corry, Lewis Thompson and Neave Applebaum

You remember “Sorry”. Now he’s back with another house-pop song with a one-word, two-syllable title that nearly rhymes with his name and features an uncredited female singer. I have no idea how this one’s going to sound!!! Maybe I shouldn’t be too cynical, I mean “Sorry” was okay. This one seems to have Harlee Jayne Sudworth on it as the vocalist in place of Hayley May, but it could be a sample as I’m just going by the writing credits. It’s Corry’s second UK Top 40 hit, by the way, after “Sorry” was his breakout hit. Yeah, I’m sorry, I find it hard to care. The vocalist sounds exactly like Hayley May, the instrumental is just vaguely deep house-influenced preset loops, and the drop is one I’ve heard at least seven times this past month. The stuttering in the post-chorus and bridge is possibly the most obnoxious shit I’ve heard in EDM since “Like a G6”. AIt’s also way too long for how uninteresting it is. Pass.

#12 – “Physical” – Dua Lipa

Produced by Jason Evigan and Koz

Ah, there are two new songs just outside of the top 10, the first by Dua Lipa, serving as her second single from Future Nostalgia, which is shaping up to be a pretty interesting dance-pop/90s house and nu-disco throwback record seemingly from these singles and the vibrant, colourful aesthetic. This is “Physical”, and despite a pretty cool music video, this seems to have debuted pretty low, which is disappointing but she could easily gain more traction as “Don’t Start Now” starts to falter. I’m excited to listen to this with both ears, but regardless this is Dua Lipa’s 14th UK Top 40 hit, and let’s listen, I guess. First off, this sounds a lot less 90s than it does 80s, in fact I’d probably call this instrumental typical of let’s say, early Madonna, but with an extra injection of steroids inserted right into the tempo, with that first beeping synth melody sounding a lot more menacing and intense than intimate as I expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, Dua Lipa herself is probably the worst part of this song, as her presence is questionably mundane here, sometimes having her Auto-Tune trail off awkward, in the verses especially. Otherwise, the additional bombast of the synths in that chorus are a pretty nice addition but without Dua Lipa putting that much effort this does feel a tad empty until of course that bridge which is the final release and climax, and that sounds beautiful, especially with the strings and all, but is it really worth it at that point? Not only that, but the chorus that follows feels neutered in comparison. The song feels like it’s a high-speed car chase that happens to constantly be in traffic. It’s not bad, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little disappointed.

#11 – “Wake Up Call” – KSI featuring Trippie Redd

Produced by S-X and Mally Mall

Well, this’ll be an ant-climactic one I think. This is KSI, British vlogger, rapper and semi-professional boxer, with her new song “Wake Up Call” featuring Trippie Redd’s first ever appearance in the UK Top 40, which is unexpected. He’s only ever been in the #80s before, but KSI is a different story, as it’s his third appearance in the UK Top 40 and his umpteenth in the singles chart overall. I’m not exactly excited to hear this since even though I am a fan of Trippie, he really would phone it in on a KSI feature, within reason, but we’ll see how it is. Just as I expected, it is kind of garbage, even though I actually love that quirky synth loop that acts as the main melody. Sadly, it gets pretty old two minutes in, and Trippie’s hook, drowned in reverb, is just unpleasant, as is the pathetic trap beat and KSI’s surprisingly anti-charismatic delivery. Like, I thought he was a YouTuber people liked for being happy and upbeat, right? Why is he just murmuring to kill time here? Yeah, this isn’t worth anyone’s time. KYLE and Lil Yachty could probably do this beat the little amount of justice it deserves, though.

Conclusion

Well, there’s nothing particularly amazing here but it’s clear that Doja Cat’s “Say So” is what is most worth listening to here, so it’ll get Best of the Week, I suppose. I guess I’ll give the Honourable Mention to “Physical” by Dua Lipa, and the Dishonourable Mention to... “Lonely” by Joel Corry, actually, as while it’s less interesting and probably has a larger absence of good than our Worst of the Week, “Wake Up Call” by KSI featuring Trippie Redd, at least there wasn’t any potential being wasted. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more pop music rambles and I’ll see you next week – or sooner!

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

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