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beigehearts · 4 years ago

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Yandere adult trio: college AU These are drabbles for when they lose their mind and kill the people around you... and kidnaps you

These are going to be a little longer than usual but I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I did when writing it (also im trying out the beta version of the new posting system so lemme know if anything is weird)

Sorry this took me forever bro

CW: murder, blood, physical abuse, alcohol

Hisoka

It's getting quite annoying to be completely honest. He just won't leave you alone, constantly flirting and making passes at you. And yet at the same time he makes fun of you and is actually very mean. It wasn't so bad in the beginning but this is just getting out of hand. You made sure he was aware of this. ---- He's looming over you as he corners you against the wall. You refuse to look up at him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

While you aren't looking at him, you can feel him looking at you. You already know he has that annoying grin on his face that makes you want to punch him square in the nose.

He brushes his long fingers against your face, making a quiet humming noise. "Are you ready to give up my pet?"

You ignore his words and slap his hand away from your face. "I need to get to class, move Hisoka."

He frowns though you aren't looking at his face. He opens his mouth to say something when someone from behind him calls out to you. "Hey y/n! Are you okay?"

She walks towards you but before she can get involved you shove the man away and huff. What a nuisance. You turn towards him once you're standing next to your friend and glare at him.

"Leave me alone. It's annoying and it's scaring people. Got it?" Before he can respond you turn on your heels and drag your friend down the hall by her wrist just hoping to put distance between the two of you. ---- You're pretty sure you made it clear that you don't want him near you anymore. But by now you know he doesn't give up so easily. One can only hope that he gets bored of you and finds someone else to bother.

You and your friends went out for brunch earlier, and all was well until Chelsea handed you something. She said that she found it in her bag but it was addressed to you, so you put it in your own bag.

You pour yourself a rum and coke and make yourself comfortable on the couch of your shared apartment. All of your roommates went out for drinks but you were too tired to go out.

After taking a sip of the sweet liquid in your glass, you examine the letter you were given earlier. It's a typical white envelope with your name written in pen. There's no address on it or return address so you assume it was just supposed to be handed to you.

You rip open the letter with your finger and pull out the singular loose leaf paper. It's folded in three sections so you pull it open. The handwriting is messy but in an aesthetic sort of way.

Dear y/n, I strongly suggest that you go to class 406B in the technical building tonight. Don't be late or you'll miss the whole party. 10:45 pm - see you then. I almost forgot, if you don't come I have some revealing pictures of you that I can share with anyone I wish to. XOXO

This is the strangest letter you've ever received. It's probably a prank by one of your roommates or friends. You've never sent nudes to anyone so obviously they're bluffing.

Though perhaps you should entertain your friends and go. Who knows, maybe there will be drinks. But you are tired... Maybe you'll just go to bed. You peek over to the time on your phone, it's 9:12 pm. Yeah, you'll just go to bed after you finish your drink.

'bzz' 'bzzz'

Who is texting you so late at night? You sit up and realize you fell asleep on the couch. You wipe the drool off of your face and grab your phone with distain for whoever woke you up.

It's a blocked number.

ur late

Late? Late for what? Your phone displays the time, 11:27 pm. Are your friends really this committed to their prank? They must be trying to get Tik Tok famous or some shit. Well you're awake now, you might as well head over there.

----

The moment you step into the building something seems off. If all of the lights including the emergency lights wasn't enough, the ground seems sticky. Though you can't bring yourself to use your phone flash light to see what it is.

Eventually you find the room 406B in the darkness. The door is closed and no lights are on in the room. It seems as if no one is inside. As you reach for the handle of the door, you notice something on the window of the door. You can barely make it out, but there's what looks like a hand print. You chuckle, this must be a prank.

Now feeling a little better, you open the door and step inside. It's too dark to see anything but you can make out some figures in the dark. It must be your friends thinking they're being sneaky.

You roll your eyes and look for the light switch, finding it and switching it on. You squint at the sudden light, and your eyes begin to focus. Which you wish they never did.

There is blood everywhere, on the ceiling, the windows, the floor, the tables... But that's not the most jarring part. Your friends are sitting in chairs, one of them sitting on the ground against the wall.

There is your friend Chelsea, sitting in a chair with her head tipped down. You can't even tell what color her clothes originally were, they're covered in red, a dark dark red. Next to her is Derick, he's sitting the same way except his head is tipped backwards. His eyes are wide and his face is left in permanent horror- expressing the brutality of his end. You can't bare to look anymore, you drop to your knees and cover your face with your hands.

You scream and scream until your voice is hoarse and throat is raw. You're left coughing while you are drowned by your own tears.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" A deep voice asks from in front of you.

You can't stop the flow of tears as you look up at this monster. He's also covered in blood, and some is splattered on his face. He wipes a thumb across his face in the blood, and brings it to his lips. Sobs rack your body, you can't even make sense of this.

Hisoka squats down so you're face to face and grips your jaw bone tightly in his hand. You can feel the now cold substance being rubbed against your jaw by his fingers and it makes you want to puke.

"I got tired of waiting for you." His grin is nauseating, forcing you to stop yourself from puking.

His nails dig into your skin, mixing your own blood with that of your friend's. He brings his face close to yours and in a gentle but menacing tone he croaks, "Let's stop this childish game, alright y/n?"

Illumi

It's easy to miss things when you're caught up with the rush of classes and friends and love. All of the parties and hangovers are enough to satisfy your needs for entertainment and drama in this boring life. If you didn't fill up your daily life with these acts, you would probably sleep every day away until you fell into a coma.

To put it short, you're a busy body. And busy bodies don't have time to stop and look around at what is happening. For example, how were you to notice the key under your doormat was missing, or how your dresser drawers were left slightly open when you know you closed them before leaving. Noticing these small things are definitely not on your agenda.

It's 10 am, Saturday, and you don't have any classes or work today. You're sitting at the kitchen bar, drinking coffee and chatting with your roommate. It isn't often that you have a free day, and sometimes it is nice to have even if you want to get moving. The sun is peeking through the curtains and the aroma of espresso beans is a delight. It's a bit chilly so you have a blanket wrapped around your shoulders. What a peaceful morn-

'BANG BANG'

Your roommate eyes you when someone bangs on the front door, already knowing the events that are about to take place. She rolls her eyes and stomps up the stairs to her room, not wanting to get involved. You always feel bad that your roommates have to listen to this but you're really not sure how to end it.

You take your last peaceful sip of coffee and call out, "Come in!"

Before you can even finish your sentence, he storms inside and slams the door behind him. Your boyfriend of course is mad about something you've done. He trudges towards you and moves the stool next to you out of the way, and leans towards you so his face is next to yours.

"Are you kidding me y/n?!" He yells in your ear, but you don't flinch because you're used to this.

He rips his phone from his pocket and shoves it in your face after pulling up a screenshot. It's a conversation between you and his friend.

"Can't you learn to shut your damn mouth? This is our business and you have no right to tell anyone about it!" He's practically seething with rage.

You take a last sip of coffee and set your mug down on the counter. You continue facing forward and not facing him. "It's not our business, it's yours. And I asked him if it was true that you were cheating on me." You turn your head towards him while grimacing and mutter, "Again."

Ah but you've just lighted a bomb with your words.

His face has gone red and he looks like he's about to explode. You begin wondering why you were ever attracted to him.

"Maybe if you weren't such a prude! I can't even kiss my girlfriend whenever I want, it's ridiculous. You know full well that you're so... so... Ugh! You know what? Fuck you!"

As quickly as he came, he runs out of the house, slamming the door once again.

You whisper to yourself, "Fuck you too."

God he's such a child, you don't even want to be with him anymore. But every time you decide to break up with him he suddenly becomes Mr.Perfect. "I'm so sorry." "I love you." "Let me make it up to you." And then he does make it up to you only to tear down all of his hard work.

----

It's been a few days since your big fight with your boyfriend. He hasn't talked to you at all but this isn't uncommon for him. You promised your roommates that you would break up with him, not just for yourself but for the sake of their peace and quiet.

You texted him a few times while you were at work but he left you on read. He's so petty. So you text him one last time.

Come 2 my place at 8 tonight, We need to talk

He answers immediately which surprises you.

Can't, flat tire Come to my place

It doesn't make a difference to you where it is so that's fine. You wonder if maybe he's come to terms with the fact this needs to end. Hopefully so. If there's one thing you want him to be mature about, it's this.

Your shift ends at 6:30pm. You drive home, shower, get dressed, eat something and get ready to leave.

You send one last text,

OMW

It's read immediately but there's no response. Well, it's not like you expected much from him anyway. You drive to his house at 7:45 pm, and arrive around 7:58 pm. All of the lights in his town house are on. He's a few years older than you so he has his own house due to somehow being able to hold down a job. With his anger issues it's hard to believe that he can hold onto anything. Damn, he really is an unattractive person isn't he?

You step out of your car and lock it. Now that you're out of the car you realize that it's very quiet. This is unusual for when you go to his house, normally you can hear music or the sound affects of a shitty video game. But it's silent. Maybe he's waiting for you? He must be taking this well.

You step up the creaky stairs of the house, and knock on the equally as creaky door. No response. Maybe he's sleeping? You peek into the mail box and take out the extra key for the house from it. But when you go to unlock the door, it's already unlocked. This is becoming very strange.

You push open the door and peer into the dark living room. It's not too dark that you can't make out the furniture in the darkness. You step inside and shut the door behind you, it's still quiet. Not quiet, absolutely and undeniably silent. You flick the light on and look around again, nothing seems out of place. It's messy, with empty beer cans and bottles on the ground per usual. The stains on his carpet remain untouched, including the vomit stain in the corner.

"Jay?" You call out into the still atmosphere. Nothing. Is he not home? That can't be, his car is in the driveway.

The sound of his old floor boards being stepped on echoes through the house. What the hell is he trying to pull? You look up the stairs, but it's only darker up there than it was down here. He must be drunk.

Each step you take up the stairs, your heart begins to pound faster. Something feels off, this doesn't feel right. This isn't like your boyfriend, he's simple, he wouldn't try scaring you like this. On the top step, you feel your shoe touch something soft. You lean down and pick it up, and raise it up to your face. A pair of thongs that definitely aren't yours. So that's what's happening. He couldn't even pull himself together for one night.

Your pounding heart is no longer caused by fear but anger. He's cheated too many times to count on your hands, but this time makes you angrier than you've ever been. He's never been in bed with another woman knowing that you were coming over. This is fucking ridiculous.

You stomp towards his room and kick the door open. It's dark but you can tell that there are two people in bed. Your vision has gone red, you've never been this angry in your life.

You don't bother turning the lights on, you storm over to his side of the bed and rip the covers off. Just barely you can make out a woman sleeping next to him. You grab his shoulder tightly and shake him violently to wake him up.

"Get the fuck up Jay! Get! Up!" He doesn't respond, you lean down and yell in his ear like he always does to you. "You're such a childish piece of shit!"

He still doesn't move or speak, for fuck's sake. You stomp back to the entrance of the room and flick on the light. You turn around and begin walking back towards the bed, when you're stopped in your tracks.

Everything is red, but it's not your vision anymore. The bed has been dyed red, and his naked body is covered in it. Your mouths falls open but no screams come out. The woman next to him is splayed out on the bed, naked as well. Covered in red. You look down at the hands that touched your boyfriend, they're also red.

You rush over to the bed and shake your boyfriend again.

"Jay? Jay! Can you hear me?" You put your ear to his chest but you don't hear anything. You put your finger under his nose but don't feel anything.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up! This isn't funny!" Tears stream down your face as you pull him to your chest, cradling him.

Your sobs make it hard to speak and your chest begins to hurt. "J-... Jay... This- isn't-" You gasp between each word, "Funny..."

It's only when you hear a noise coming from behind you that you stop to think about what's going on. It doesn't matter to you though, they could kill you too if they wished.

"People are strange." You turn your head to see where the voice is coming from.

It's someone you don't recognize, he's tall, pale, has long hair, and hypnotizing eyes. Your sobs cease for a moment and you hug your boyfriend tighter to you.

"All of that fighting... You were even coming here to break up with him and yet... You're sad that he's gone?" He makes his way towards you slowly, "I've done you a favor, haven't I?"

He looms over you but all you can do is stand there, frozen by fear.

The man grabs the back of your shirt and pulls you violently from Jay. You try to run back to him, but the man pulls you to him, hugging you tightly. No matter how much you flail in his grasp you can't get away from him. You're left sobbing into his shirt, your body limp in his arms.

"Why?" You manage to whisper.

He holds you to him with one arm and pets your hair with his other hand. "You were miserable. He was making you miserable."

He sighs and kisses the top of your head. What is going on?

"Come on, don't waste your energy on human garbage. I'm here, so it's fine." He states it so 'matter of fact'.

"Who?" Is all you can ask, unable to finish your question.

"I guess I haven't introduced myself yet. Illumi is my name." With ease, he grabs you by your shoulders and lifts your face up to his. "Your future husband."

Chrollo

What more could you ask for? You already have easy college classes, fun parties, a good part time job, great friends, and an amazing best friend. Tonight you're going to hang out with a bunch of friends and have drinks at one of their apartments. It's a pretty normal Thursday night, nothing odd about it.

You're waiting for your best friend to pick you up, he's always there to pick you up on the dot. If he doesn't come early that is. You shove all the essentials into your bag and hear a honk outside. Must be him.

But of course you're always tardy. You lace up your shoes and run out of the dorm room, tripping out of the building. He's watching as you stumble towards the car since one of your shoes is already unlaced. When you finally flop down in the passenger seat he shakes his head with a knowing smile.

"Oh y/n, will you ever be organized?" He asks with amusement.

You click your tongue and straighten out your clothes, "Don't ask such stupid questions."

He turns his body towards you as much as possible and pats his lap. You instinctively know what that means. You hike your foot up above the console and put your foot on his lap. He begins tying your shoe, his smile is unmoving. He's always smiling.

"Chrollo, you don't need to baby me." You roll your eyes and groan.

He laughs and pats your leg, signaling that he's done. "If not me then who?"

You swing your leg back over to your side and buckle up. The two of you hang out a lot. Since you're both going to the hangout tonight, you decided to car pool. But first you're going to go get the alcohol. Everyone has to bring something for everyone, that way you guys can get wasted with no qualms.

You plug your phone into the aux and play your shared playlist. The first song that comes on is "The Cult of Dionysus" by The Orion Experience. Something that he added.

Finally you feel like you can relax, it always feels that way around Chrollo. His presence is just, comforting, in every way. You feel like you can do anything, say anything, ask for anything. He's always there for you with no exceptions and honestly you think you may have feelings for him. But it's a question of are you confusing comfort and friendly affection for romanticism. It's just that he's so perfect, he doesn't have a single flaw. Not one that you've ever seen at least. You probably never will see one of his flaws.

You sink into the seat and sigh.

He looks at you out of the corner of his eye, but quickly looks back at the road. "What's the matter?"

"Oh nothing... Just, everything is good."

He knows you better than anyone, so it's an obvious lie when you say this. "But what?"

Anytime he calls you out, you surrender and tell him everything. "Everything is so great you know." He nods with your statement. "I go to a good school, have good friends, have a good job." This has been on your mind for quite some time.

"Something is missing, you know? The excitement, the... the..." You chuckle and turn towards him and put up jazz hands, "The pizzazz!"

He doesn't turn to look at you but you know he saw you when his smile widens. "I get that. Maybe you just need to step outside of your comfort zone. Do something different."

Do something different? Yeah, maybe that is what you need.

----

All eleven of you are sitting in a circle on the ground, drinking and playing never have I ever. You take a long drink of your Mike's hard lemonade, which is just something to get the night going.

Dina wipes hair from her face and smiles, "Okay okay my turn. So never have I ever.... Uhh." She pops up when she thinks of something, "Never have I ever jumped out of a window."

DJ leans forward and raises an eyebrow, "Okay what kind of window we talking? High up? First floor?"

Dina answers, "Any kind, any kind of window." The majority of you put a finger down which makes the group burst out in laughter.

Your friend Zoey finishes off her bottle and slams it down on the floor. "Let's play something else."

"Like what?" One of your friends ask.

Zoey thinks for a moment, "Like... Truth or dare, spin the bottle. Or maybe eleven minutes in heaven."

Dj interjects, "I think it's seven minutes in heaven, not eleven."

"Oh whatever DJ, they rhyme." Zoey spits back.

Lex answers, "Let's play seven minutes in heaven!"

Of course DJ huffs and rolls his eyes, "What are we? Middle schoolers?"

Guac (which is his nickname) speaks up, "Oh come on, are you shy DJ?"

Finally the quiet Chrollo sitting next to you says something, "I'm not really interested. Right y/n?" He looks at you to back him up.

The group coos at the two of you and someone says, "We get it, you got something going on. The game is just for fun, don't be so serious Chrollo."

Chrollo opens his mouth to say something but you cut him off, "Hey, you told me to do something different. Maybe this is the first step."

His face shows betrayal and you feel a squeeze in your heart.

He stands up and glares at the group, "Whatever." He storms out of the apartment, and everyone mumbles to each other. Chrollo has never acted like this so this is quite a shock to everyone.

In order not to kill the mood you speak up, "Alright, let's pull names out of a hat!"

All of you write down your names on a small piece of paper and put it in a baseball cap. Dina pulls two names out of the hat and of course makes it a dramatic event.

"Alright so first we have the most lovely of people..." She looks at the group like a teacher waiting for an answer from her class. "Gracie!" Everyone claps and she stands up in front of all of you, taking a bow.

Dina pats her thighs rapidly, "Drum roll please!" Everyone obeys her, "The next hot piece of ass is y/n!"

You stand up and curtsey, taking Gracie's hand and leading her to the closet. Dina stands in front of the closet once both of you are inside and grins, "Timer starts now kids." She shuts the door on you two and all of your friends cheer from outside.

Here comes the awkward part. It's too dark to see her expression but you already know she's blushing.

You lean towards her and in a low voice so no one else can hear say, "We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

She shakes her head, and you brush a hand through her dark coils. The both of you giggle when your finger gets stuck in her hair. She leans in for a kiss, but before your lips meet you're interrupted.

The front door is opened and slammed shut, you hear the lock click as well.

"Hey Chrollo, you feeling better?" "What are you doing?" "Holy shit, please, what are you doing?!" "Are you fucking crazy? This isn't funny!"

Something slams against the closet door and Gracie yelps.

"Whoa whoa, we can work something out." They sound desperate "Back up!" You hear a loud thump and then screams. "Grab him guys!" It sounds like people are running around, but soon the screams become not those of only fear but of pain. There are gargled pleas and pathetic whimpers for mercy.

You and Gracie hold each other, gripping onto one another for dear life.

Soon the screams, pleas, thuds, gurgling, all of it ends. The apartment goes quiet and you try to silence your heavy breathing.

There's a loud thud right in front of the closet and then the doors are opened abruptly. There Chrollo is, covered in blood, and you can see the bodies of your friends behind him. Before you can react, he pulls Gracie away from you, slams the doors closed and there's another thud.

Gracie's screams are blood curdling, screeches and cries for help. You try to open the doors but something is blocking it, keeping them closed. As her screams get louder you throw yourself against the doors, trying to push whatever is there out of the way.

Before you can even imagine of getting out, the screams fade out into whimpers, and into nothing.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit.

You're given no time to think when the doors fly open and you're face to face with Chrollo. He's blocking out the light and his usually neat clothes are crumpled and bloody. You look down to his hands, a sledge hammer hangs from his fingers, dripping with your friend's blood.

"Ch-Chrollo... Please don't." You whisper.

The sledge hammer drops to the ground and he wraps his arms around you gently. "Oh y/n. I would never hurt you."

He's so gentle with you, so gentle. It almost makes you forget what just happened, because he feels like home. "Why? Why did you do this?"

He steps back and grabs your shoulders, he leans down so he's eye to eye with you. "They crossed a line, a line that should not be crossed."

You begin to speak but he grabs your cheeks with one hand and dawns his usual smile, "You don't need them. You have me." He kisses your squished lips as if it were normal. "Right y/n?"

Slowly you nod, you don't need them. If Chrollo says it, it must be true.

"Good girl."

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pascalsky · 4 years ago

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Pedro Pascal is flying high on The Mandalorian, but defining success by his earthly bonds

The Wonder Woman 1984 and The Mandalorian star is one of EW's Entertainers of the Year.

Human connection. It’s vital. Especially in a year like 2020. Especially for Pedro Pascal. So it’s ironic that the 45-year-old’s highest-profile success to date is working with an adorable animatronic puppet, inside a chrome helmet he famously can’t take off. "It is why I wanted to do this show. Selfishly, I knew [the Child, a.k.a. Baby Yoda] was likely to make people fall in love with the show," says Pascal of tackling the title role on The Mandalorian, the Emmy-nominated hit Star Wars series, which returned for its second season on Disney+ in October.

The Chilean-American actor has an eye for choosing projects where he’ll stand out, from popular network procedurals including The Good Wife, The Mentalist, and Law & Order to his breakout roles as the charming — and horny — Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones and, soon after, DEA agent Javier Peña on Netflix’s Narcos. But it’s the stoic bounty hunter safeguarding a frog-egg-eating 50-year-old toddler that’s made him a household name. The new season of The Mandalorian followed Pascal’s galaxy-traveling warrior as he searched for the home of the Child, generating countless memes in the process.

Playing the Mandalorian has been one of the hardest and most unique experiences of Pascal's career to date. At this point, it's no secret that he wasn't physically under the helmet as much as he would've liked in season 1 and recorded his dialogue in post-production to match what his doubles, stunt actors Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, did on set in the armor. Giving a largely vocal performance was a challenge for a physical actor like Pascal, who is almost unrecognizable when you compare his turns on The Good Wife and Game of Thrones, for example, because of how he carries himself. Yet, being on set way more in The Mandalorian season 2 didn't make his job any easier because he still had to figure how to make Mando compelling while also being as economical as possible in his physical movements and vocal performance.

"I'm not even sure if I would be able to do it if it weren't for the amount of direct experience that I've had with being on stage to understand how to posture yourself, how to physically frame yourself into something and to tell a story with a gesture, with a stance, or with very, very specific vocal intonation," says Pascal, who believes his collaborative relationship with creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, a.k.a. his "Mandalorian papas," also helped him inhabit the role in season 2.

Speaking of collaboration: Working with comedian Amy Sedaris, who plays gruff Tatooine mechanic Peli Motto, was one of the highlights of The Mandalorian’s sophomore season. “I followed Amy Sedaris around like a puppy. [I was] like, ‘Hey again. I’m not leaving your side until you wrap,’ and she’s like, ‘Cool,’” Pascal says. “I love the Child — it really is adorable — and it is so fascinating to see it work, but somebody who makes you spit-laugh right into your helmet will always be my favorite thing."

Pascal longed for those kinds of interactions during quarantine, which proved difficult for the actor who was living alone in Los Angeles. But he lights up, is even giddy at times, when the conversation turns to bonding with the Community cast right before a charity table read back in May (he filled in for Walton Goggins), or FaceTiming his friends to celebrate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' election victory on Nov. 7. "Ahhhh! Ahhhh!" Pascal exclaims, reenacting the joyous calls with buddies like Oscar Isaac that Saturday morning. "It was screaming and jumping and dancing and crying…. I very arrogantly took screenshots of everything and [shared them], like, 'I am a part of this!'”

"I'd be less nervous playing tennis in front of the Obamas than I was seeing a reunion of these people that I think are brilliant and have this incredible chemistry with each other and stepping in and having really, really, bad technology in this new space that I had moved into. I really resented having to actually participate acting-wise because there were instances where it was way too much fun to watch."

- PEDRO PASCAL ON SHOOTING THE COMMUNITY TABLE READ.

His appreciation for those around him has only grown during the pandemic. Before flying to Budapest to film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicholas Cage, Pascal leaned on his bubble for support. Community's Gillian Jacobs, for example, hosted him for an outdoor socially distanced pizza night every Saturday in the early weeks of lockdown. (He suspects that's why he was recruited for the sitcom's table read when Goggins couldn't participate.) "The friends that got me through it are absolutely everything to me and very beautifully marked in my head. I've got old friends and new friends that literally did nothing short of parent me through the experience," says Pascal, who has "survivor's remorse" for being in Europe right now. "I feel guilty not being [in the States] with my friends through [this tumultuous time] but also grateful that, individually, I was able to gain a little bit of separation from the stress of it."

Those tight bonds helped redefine, or at least clarify, what success means to him. "I want to make sure that my relationships are right, and I want to make sure I'm nurturing meaning in a sustaining way, and that won't necessarily be related to getting good jobs and making lots of money," he says. But he'll take them — as he did for both of his 2020 projects, about which he's thrilled. And how could he not be, starring in two of the year's most feverishly anticipated properties?

Besides The Mandalorian, Pascal appears in Patty Jenkins' superhero epic Wonder Woman 1984, which has endured a Homeric journey to its release (read: several pandemic-related delays). Thankfully, the odyssey is almost over because Warner Bros. recently confirmed that it will open in both theaters and on HBO Max on Dec. 25. Pascal is stoked audiences will finally see his turn as the villainous Maxwell Lord because playing the greedy dream-seller pushed him out of his post-Game of Thrones action role comfort zone.

"With Wonder Woman, [Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig] are doing the action, baby, and I'm doing the schm-acting!" he says, hilariously elongating that final syllable. "I am hamming it up!" (Indeed, Pascal reveals Cage inspired his performance in one particular scene.)

But Pascal felt he was up to the challenge because everything he needed was right there in the screenplay, which Jenkins co-wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. "I didn't have to take something and figure out how to put more flesh onto it. I had to achieve getting into the skin of what was being presented to me," he says, contrasting the experience with playing a DEA agent for three seasons on Narcos. "For me, Colombia was almost the central character, and then I was allowed to make him depressive and to tonally interpret what the character was. And in this case [on Wonder Woman 1984], there was just so much for me to meet rather than to invent."

He continues: "That was an incredible delight and challenge because Patty Jenkins is a director who loves actors and when she sees she can ask for more, she does. And there isn't anyone better, in my experience, to give more to."

In 2021, he rejoins the good guys as an aging superhero and father in Robert Rodriguez's kid-friendly Netflix drama We Can Be Heroes. The inherent optimism of the Netflix film's title also complements Pascal's hope for the new year. Says Pascal, ”If [fear] can take a little bit of a backseat and not be the main character in everybody’s life, that would be great.”

SOURCE

#omg he looks so damn good #entertainment weekly #pedro pascal #the mandalorian #din djarin #max lord #maxwell lord #wonder women 1984 #ww1984 #oberyn martell #prince oberyn #the unbearable weight of massive talent #javier pena #narcos #javi gutierrez #we can be heroes #marcus moreno

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sepublic · 4 years ago

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Happy Birthday to The Owl House!

�� Honestly, I’m… REALLY shocked to think back on how it’s been a year? It’s been a full, actual year, since that first episode?

I remember when The Owl House was first announced around early 2018. Something about it, the premise, the characters from that one poster we got; It really drew me in, and I kept track of the show’s progress in eager anticipation. Whenever Dana released art of Luz, Eda, and King, I was ecstatic- And when the show was delayed to 2020, I was dismayed.

Then we got our teaser trailer; The opening them, the end credits, even a little sneak peek! I remember speculating a lot about Luz and all of the other new characters we were introduced to, such as Willow, Amity, and Gus- And then we got more and more trailers in the days leading up to the show. I wondered about Luz’s home back on Earth and where her family was, I listened intently to the Hooty and the Parliament music video, finding an almost melancholic, weirdly nostalgic (despite having never watched the show yet) vibe to it- Whilst also avoiding looking at the screen and seeing all of the various clips it offered, because I wanted to be surprised! It was two years of anticipation, two years of wait for this show- I’d never looked forward to a series before like this, last I can recall… So having this content FINALLY come out, seeing these characters in animation, hearing their wonderful voices! My soul was vibing, it was time, it was coming after all this time…!

Eventually I finished Infinity Train Book 2, the same day that The Owl House premiered… I was blindsided when I woke up to the first episode’s release online, in full- I was already planning to wait until later to watch it on television, so having it permanently accessible from the internet was such a pleasant surprise! And the show… The show, man- That premiere caught me off-guard with how much I enjoyed it! I knew I was looking forward to this show, but still…! It blew away my expectations, and even now, has continued to; It was like my personal investment and attention had paid off so patiently well! I even got a DisneyNOW subscription so I could watch each new episode ASAP, the day it premiered, hours before it aired on television!

I remember scouring Tumblr before the show officially premiered, and there was understandably very little- A few pieces of fanart here or there. And when the show DID premiere, for a while there wasn’t really much of a fandom- There was barely anyone, in fact! But I can remember a few notable blogs who have been around since the beginning… Me, I got invested into this show. I found myself really enjoying Lumity as a ship, especially since I resonated with both characters in it; Luz was such a ball of sunshine that brightened my day, and Amity really spoke to me with her more introverted, top-scoring personality. When the show hit its mid-season hiatus, I remember not handling it too well, as I got impatient and frantic in my speculations- I wanted so badly to learn more about these characters, see what happened- Get a look at Emperor Belos (then known as Bellows by the fandom), etc.

I wrote my Bile Coven piece in preparation for Halloween, even got to know a mutual or two over shared theorizing! I kept track of Dana’s updates, and even had people come to my blog, of all places, to send asks! It was and still has been such an engaging part of fandom for me… I recall impatiently waiting for the Owl Pellet shorts and freaking out over them- And when Adventures in the Elements leaked early? I LOST MY MIND, I remember postponing something I was supposed to go to, just so I could watch the episode- And it was so good! Then I started wondering and hoping the rest of Season 1 would come out, and well- It took a while…

And when Season 1B’s trailer came out, I was all over it; Scouring every possible frame, freaking out over the Grom screenshot, and appreciating the influx of new fans! It was amazing to watch The Owl House go from a relatively minor and obscure fandom, to becoming so much more mainstream and populous! I got into Rebecca Rose’s channel, I began writing more meta and posts about the show, as well as little recaps for each new episode. I feel like my blog really took off from here, as I got to interact with more and more people who shared this mutual love of The Owl House, and I was so ecstatic to see more content and buzz about it!

My mind was solely focused on The Owl House, it was one of my huge hyperfixations, even moreso than during Season 1A’s run- I remember being anxious about Enchanting Grom Fright, wondering if we’d get queerbaited… But NO, Amity was in love with Luz! She canonically had a crush on her, a girl in love with another girl- And I loved it because Lumity was a special comfort ship of mine! Then Amity was confirmed lesbian… It was amazing! And I found myself SO invested, so inspired by the show and its characters, and all of the little allusions to things, the foreshadowing, the moments here or there that made so much more sense after a new episode.

This show inspired me creatively- It got me to write some of my personal favorite fanfics, and I was and still am so touched by whatever feedback I get from them! The Owl House really got me to write, to obsess over characters and analyze them, to look at motifs, to think about worldbuilding… It’s been such an artistically enriching experience, both the show and the fandom! I remember despairing so terribly when Agony of a Witch came out, the genuine betrayal I had when Lilith revealed the truth- Because I’d been legitimately endeared to her character beforehand, even formed a sort of ‘trust’ in a sense… And like many others, I agonizingly anticipated the season finale, the much-needed emotional reconciliation!

I remember how the episode titles were revealed, bit by bit, and how I and others speculated on what they’d spell out! I remember when the fandom obsessed over the Witch’s Apprentice game and its relics, for clues and new lore after each episode, the little hints here or there! I was freaked out by characters like Belos, who lived up to my hopes and expectations- First being alluded to by name, then his amazing appearance… And then his voice and mannerisms and everything about him! And when the Season Finale came out…

Well, there was relief. But there was a bittersweet emptiness- That it was over! The first season was over! There was a celebratory triumph, of course- We finally wrapped up the first, major arc of the show, the first batch of episodes that had been worked upon, the whole thing now unveiled and appreciated! But I was a little dismayed because a part of me KNEW a hiatus much longer than the previous one was ahead of me, and I did not handle the mid-season hiatus well. Of course, then Dana had her Reddit AMA, and the charity livestream; Both of which NOURISHED me creatively, and have helped to fill out the wait! To carry out my momentum, to not flounder about in hiatus; I invested myself into more meta, into various posts, etc. I read fanfiction that genuinely floored me, obsessed over fanart, etc.

I supported the show’s release on Disney Plus, ecstatic to get this kind of ready access. I revisited past episodes and characters, looking at them in a new light, appreciating things; Like Luz’s relationship with fantasy… King’s surprising development, all of Eda’s little hints and clues. There’s been an emotional catharsis with these characters for me- And I genuinely feel like I’ve been a lot happier lately because of this show! I’ve met so many other blogs and gotten to know them, seen their ideas and displayed mine as we appreciated one another… I even remember doing another blog’s fanart prompt prior to the show’s release, in preparation!

I feel like The Owl House has genuinely given me a new appreciation for meta, for fandom and analysis… For headcanons, for writing my own stories and contributing my own ideas and speculations, etc.! It’s contributed SO much joy to me as a hyperfixation, and rapidly risen through my blog as my most frequent tag! And even as I explore other fandoms and hyperfixations, both then and now, especially to pass on this crippling hiatus… This show holds a VERY special place in my heart for me. It’s really made me feel for these characters, the love and sadness, the excitement and sense of comfort… Its love and emotions, angst and found family, lore and speculation, it hits so hard to me in a way that other media hasn’t!

It’s provided representation- Such as canonically queer characters, or protagonists who speak so well to the neurodivergent experience for many people! I’ve had delight in seeing people suggest Amity as autistic, when before Season 1B, I lowkey headcanoned and saw her as such- So seeing more evidence for this resonated deeply in my heart! I remember all of the discussion about King as a character, the confusion and talk about whether or not he WAS a King of Demons, when that first announcement in 2018 had made a similar claim… I looked forward to Eda and Lilith’s relationship, speculated on who cursed Eda, and remembered when I’d considered the Blights as a potential culprit! I remember thinking about Hooty, wondering what his deal is- And thinking then and now about that Owl Deity mural in the Owl House! Watching Luz’s development as a character and as a witch, seeing her become more proficient with magic until it finally pays off with her squaring up against Belos, and wounding him- I’d never felt so proud of a character and their progress before!

There’s still so many more questions and mystery, lore… as well as just genuine character interactions, to look forward to! I think The Owl House is one of my favorite shows of all time… It’s deeply touched me as a person and creator, and I genuinely strive to create something even close to this one day. This show has inspired me, made me laugh and cry, compelled me to creatively make content; It’s introduced me to a wider fandom that I genuinely feel like a part of, had me meet other mutuals… It really is something special to me. And while I am eager for Season 2, I also want to appreciate what Dana Terrace and her crew have already established. I love this show’s art style and animation, the designs and overall weirdness of its characters- I love speculating and thinking about them, getting more and more details, and so forth.

If it’s for a better product, I’m fine waiting for Season 2. And honestly, I love what we already have, and I’ve done a lot with so many people. I’ve even looked over supplementary materials and stuff posted by the crew or news articles, in my need for content… And I love every bit of update, art, and/or acknowledgement of the show’s hiatus, and Season 2’s development! There’s so much to look forward to… And there’s so much that I’ve enjoyed, after plenty of anticipation!

Thank you @danaterrace, and everyone who worked on this- For everything. It really is crazy to reflect on this entire year, to realize it’s been a full year since that first episode, since that first premiere that lit up my world like Luz’s light spells; And it feels like such a milestone that we’ve reached! I look forward to what comes next, and I also intend to keep appreciating and cherishing what we’ve already gotten. Here’s to this show’s second year, people- It’s been such a journey to look back on and remember each step, each phase, each particular moment and stage… And I can only imagine what will come next! This show has SUCH a special place in my heart, and has made me feel in so many ways I haven’t before!

Happy Birthday, The Owl House! You’ve earned it!

#the owl house #toh #owl house #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #the owl house king #lumity #happy birthday #dana terrace #ramblings #nostalgia #meta

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recurring-polynya · 4 years ago

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Bleach Sword Beasts Arc Recap: Episode 263

I have been putting this off, but It Is Time: I am going to review the episode where Zabimaru and Senbonzakura get stuck in Squad 12.

The episode starts out with Saru and Hebi very competently taking out a sword beast, and a bunch of Squad 6er’s get really hype about it. I love this. Please more of this.

No one ever cares what I think, though, because they don’t finish the job, and Senbonzakura has to do it. Not only does he steal their thunder, he does it in such a way that when the sword beast turns back into a sword, it breaks into two pieces, and one piece falls on each of their heads. It’s honestly a great piece of physical comedy, behold my lightning fast screenshotting reflexes:

Squad 6 are a bunch of bootlickers, so they immediately start fawning over Senbonzakura instead. You cannot care about the opinion of Squad 6, Zabimaru! The only way to win is not to play!! Then, to add insult to injury, Renji makes them write apology letters. I cannot overemphasize how deeply tired Renji is throughout this episode, and I am here for it. This is a man who has filled out so much zanpakutou-related paperwork. Also, there is a very cute little scene where Saru is protesting the letters and slapping the coffee table that is so, so reminiscent of The Desk Slap. I am utterly charmed with the idea that zanpakutou and their shinigami share mannerisms. Oh, also, I guess Squad 6 has some fancy-ass guest chairs? Well, they do now.

Renji implies that he has also been getting shit about how Captain Kuchiki’s zanpakutou is better than his. Zabimaru take this poorly, and decide they are going to return the broken sword to Squad 12, leaving this little love letter for Renji:

This poor, beleaguered man. For the record, nothing good happens to him this episode.

Anyway, Zabimaru head off to Squad 12, but no one is answering the door. I am sure they are just all playing Counterstrike with their headphones on, but that doesn’t help get the door opened. They break in through a window, there are some unnecessary jokes about Saru’s perfectly fine caboose, and it turns out Senbonzakura has beaten them here. He lectures them on breaking into someone else’s barracks, despite the fact that he, himself got in by knocking a giant hole in the wall.

Look, one of my favorite things about Byakuya is his utter, blatant, completely un-self-aware hypocrisy, like when he lectures people on how their arrogance will be their downfall, and the fact that Senbonzakura is just Like That 100% of the time is delightful to me.

Since they’re here, they decide to go stick the broken sword in a containment chamber. Saru explains that she knows how the controls work because she’s seen Renji do this before. Senbonzakura decides he also knows how the controls work because he is a self-important idiot, and manages to set off an alarm and get them trapped behind an emergency barrier (naturally, he blames Saru for “startling him.”)

Senbonzakura tries to use his sword to break them out, nearly killing Saru and Hebi in the process (also classic Byakuya behavior). Saru suggests that maybe they could just… wait for someone to come let them out? Senbonzakura is for it, until it turns out that the waiting may be longer than 10 seconds, and he absolutely goes feral. God, I love this episode. Unfortunately, he causes so much of a commotion that Ashisogi Jizou shows up. Obvs nothing good will come of this.

Ashisogi Jizou can’t hear them through the glass, but he tries to be helpful (?) so he gets a banana (??) which sends Senbonzakura into a rage (?????) We know from that one omake that Byakuya has sort of a thing for bananas, so I feel like there is some epic backstory for this, and the fact that no explanation is given makes it even more magical.

Anyway, Ashisogi Jizou breaks the remote and then runs away because Senbonzakura scared them. Saru and Hebi once again discuss that they will just have to wait for someone who knows what they are doing to show up, but Senbonzakura has no time for this and goes directly to bankai.

This works in the sense that it frees them, but it’s bad in the sense that it destroys the lab and sets of a bunch of defenses. Senbonzakura sets off running and Hebi and Saru chase him, only to realize that he has no clue where he’s going, he’s just running because he likes to be in front. There’s all kinds of blast doors closing on them, and rest assured, they do an Epic Maneuver, but it was too hard to capture, so just picture this only with more sliding:

I tell you, I would give you all the money I have in my pocket to see Byakuya and Renji do an Epic Maneuver, but this is pretty good, I'll take it.

Immediately after this is the classic scene where Senbonzakura’s mask crumbles and he immediately pulls out another one, we’ve all seen it. I do want to specify that Saru and Hebi definitely did see his (presumably) impossibly beautiful face for the split second it was visible.

Anyway, they are now in the Squad 12 control room, where you can spy on anyplace in the Seireitei. I am obsessed with cataloging which modern technology they have in Soul Society and what they don’t, and this scene is amazing in what it reveals. Urinals? Yes. Washing machines? Yes. Treadmills? Yes. What the f’ing f are Hisagi and Kazeshini doing? Are they making milk for Kazeshini’s baby? Didn't he re-home it? Also, why are Kira, Iba, and that annoying guy from Squad 4 all using the same bathroom at the same time? This scenes answers some questions, but it asks a lot more.

Senbonzakura is a tireless advocate for privacy rights, so he is enraged and starts button-mashing again. It turns out you can control everything in the Seireitei from this control room, and water and flames start shooting out of every conceivable place water and flames could shoot from. I cannot emphasize enough how good the physical comedy in this episode is, and I can’t even add much to it, you should just go watch it yourself.

The episode goes completely off the rails at this point. Stuff starts blowing up, and Senbonzakura claims Saru and Hebi are at fault by virtue of being in the same vicinity as him. Ashisogi Jizou goes to bankai. Senbonzakura goes to bankai. Zabimaru finally snaps and goes to bankai. Squad 12 is destroyed. There is a scene featuring the worst-drawn Renji in the history of Bleach, which I categorically refuse to show here.

In the crater of what used to be Squad 12, every Soul Reaper in the the Seireitei, except, notably, Byakuya, show up to yell at them. Senbonzakura, pristine and uninjured, claims total innocence in these shenanigans.

Even Renji has no sympathy for his poor zanpakutou, and he, Ukitake and Kyouraku give them stacks of paperwork to do in punishment. At this point, you’re like, “yeah, great episode, hijinks are done, let’s wrap–” and Renji says “Senbonzakura is nothing like his master!” and Kyouraku is like, “Wee-elll….”

::chef’s kiss::

#sword beasts arc #bleach filler #senbonzakura #zabimaru #i am sorry i did not have much to add to this #it's just stands on its own #oh and as if it weren't great enough #it features the omake where renji takes pity on sasakibe and gets ishida to make him a new costume #it had more random squad 6 group shots too #blessed content

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fly-pow-bye · 4 years ago

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DuckTales 2017 - “The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Ben Siemon, Bob Snow, Tanner Johnson

Written by: Colleen Evanson & Tanner Johnson

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Kristen Gish, Victoria Harris, Ben Holm

Directed by: Tanner Johnson

Spin it!

Before doing research when Don Karnage first came to the series, my knowledge of TaleSpin began and ended with me having that awful Genesis game as a kid. I do know that the show took place long before the modern day, which is when DuckTales 2017 takes place, and it appears that the events of TaleSpin in this universe still goes with that. Why do I know this? Because this episode does not start with Baloo piloting the Sea Duck...

...but a grown-up version of his surrogate son, Kit Cloudkicker, who is now running Higher for Hire by himself. However, while things have definitely changed for Higher for Hire since Baloo's apparent retirement, mostly for the worse, some things remained the same. Namely, he is still being tormented by the nefarious Sky Pirate of the Skies, the corsair of the air, Don Karnage. Or Dan, as he calls him much to Karnage's annoyance. The good news is that Kit is now an ace pilot who can easily fight off sky pirates like he did back in the glory days. The bad news is that he can still do what he did as a kid with a giant cargo plane. He even says it, and with most of his dialogue in this cold opening suggests this is going to make him look foolish.

Even worse news for the business is that the fragile box addressed to F.O.W.L. is just sitting in the center of the cargo bay with no security whatsoever aside from a caged chicken and a goat. After rocking back and forth due to Kit fending off against Don Karnage, the box breaks to reveal a rock with a blue lion carved into it, and when that aforementioned chicken and goat touch it, they both turn into some sort of chicken-goat hybrid that Kit has to fight. How is able to fight this goat-chicken while piloting the plane? Simple: he puts a crowbar in the steering wheel, just like Baloo did in the original. Here, the idea is played as silly as it would be to someone who had never heard of TaleSpin. It is doubly sad when one considers Kit treats this crowbar like his only crewmate, because it is.

I do like that this first scene introduces this show's version of Kit very well. He's obviously an incompetent pilot, and not one that is lovably incompetent like Launchpad, and this incompetence is pretty well known among his customers judging by this line:

Kit Cloudkicker: Who's the terrible pilot now, everyone?

He's surprisingly cheerful about that, which, again, makes him look foolish. Despite all of this foolishness, he does appear to still be competent at coming up with plans to defeat his enemies, whether they be sky pirates or mutated goat-chickens, even if those plans end up putting the cargo he was supposed to deliver into the water. This includes that lion stone. He looks onto this and says "my bad" in a way that shows that his business is definitely going to be in the red in a few years.

A few years later, we see that Della is taking Huey, Dewey, and nobody else to Cape Suzette, and she's even allowing Dewey to fly the plane along with her. It is easy to see why Huey is extra prepared even if Dewey is doing surprisingly well, as Huey is not only using extra seatbelts, but having a Safety Boy helmet as well. Huey's also prepared with the knowledge of that Lion Stone we saw go into the ocean in the previous scene, which, you guessed it, is a Missing Mystery of Isabella Finch. Specifically, it's the Stone Of What Was, which was described with the mysterious phrase "what was once two becomes a-new." Huey does not seem to figure that one out. The good news is that it was found, but the bad news was that it was found by F.O.W.L, but the better news is that they lost it, but the worse news was that the stone was made of potassium benzoate. Okay, that last one was made up. There's a few throwaway lines to fill in how Huey even knows F.O.W.L. had the stone in other scenes, and those plot holes are really not that important.

After nearing their destination, which we learn was based on a clue from an intercepted F.O.W.L. transmission from a throwaway line from Huey slightly later in the episode, Della has the bright idea to let Dewey land the plane. Letting a little kid fly a plane? Not a good idea. Letting a little kid land a plane? Also not a good idea. Telling that little kid that there's nothing wrong with a basic landing? May be a good idea in the off chance it could even come up, but definitely not a good idea when it comes to Dewey. To Della's credit, at least it was Huey that did that last one.

After the crash landing, and not a Launchpad-type one, they arrive at Higher for Hire, which shows an advertisement showing its legacy playing on a television screen with plenty of TaleSpin references. This includes one shot of Baloo and another shot of a younger Kit and Molly Cunningham riding on an airfoil done in the style of the original show. This is great for people who were not aware of TaleSpin, which the target audience for this show may not have seen unless they have Disney Plus. Kit, still shown to be the sole employee years later, assumes anyone knocking at his door is the bank demanding payments, but he's delighted to see one of his former classmates at pilot school. He constantly has to tell Della that he is an ace pilot now. Most likely, he's telling that to himself too, as we'll see in the next scene. He at least has reason to believe he's a better pilot than his former classmate, as it doesn't look like her plane is in good shape. Della could have explained that this state was because she let one of her less competent sons fly the plane...and that would have probably made her case about a thousand times worse.

That television commercial also inspires a sort of B-plot that also ties into Kit's character arc, as seeing young Kit cloudkicking makes him want to do it, too. Despite his failure at even mimicking it, Kit is happy to see a fellow cloudkicker and would be glad to teach him the ropes. Della is not too excited by this prospect, but ends up allowing it, because she doesn't want to be the mother that does not support her kid. They aboard the plane, which ends up being a very bumpy ride, and Della goes to investigate, only to find that Kit was in the bathroom, letting his only other employee, the crowbar, be his substitute.

Kit tries to stop what he calls "mutiny" by saying that he's the only one who knows where the cargo could be, only for the crowbar to slip and reveal that he's been keeping a map in the glove compartment. The map actually has some Xs and a circle on it, which suggests that Kit may have been trying to correct his previous mistake, but either never getting the motivation to go through with it, or, more likely, he isn't competent enough to deal with whatever is on that island he circled. Maybe I am thinking about this too hard, but I would say it would be fitting.

Kit decides to distract everyone from him getting kicked out of the pilot's chair by giving Dewey his airfoil and the cloudkicking rope for him to hold onto, and a shot of Dewey's excitement instantly cuts to Dewey screaming for his life, holding on for dear life as he can't seem to. The parallel between a former cloudkicking guy who isn't really a good pilot, and a kid who can actually fly a plane who isn't really a good cloudkicker is easy to notice, and the episode plays around with this. For starters, similar to Kit and his not-so-ace piloting skills, Dewey also tries his hardest to hide how terrified he is at the cool new thing he wanted to do. Of course, it is very possible that Kit is acting the way he does because he's in a certain someone's shadow. Dewey just does it because that's how he is.

Despite that difference, this parallel is enhanced even more when they get attacked by the Sky Pirates, and Kit has to intervene and show that he, at the very least, can get Dewey out of the danger that Kit himself has caused. And yes, Don Karnage's Sky Pirates are now working for the very organization that they indirectly harmed years before by attacking that cargo plane and making them lose that precious stone. That does not come up at all, not even as a throwaway line. What does come up is that Don Karnage is delighted that one of the people after the Stone of What Was is his new arch-nemesis, Dewey. It's a long story that started all the way back in Don's debut in Season 1. It's neat to see these old references. After they all make a landing on the circled island, some more safe than others, they get to meet the wildlife of the island. Let's say there's a good reason why this island was circled, and why Kit could not handle it by himself.

It's a rhino and a gorilla crossed together, either a rhinosorilla or a gorillanoceros depending on whether one likes Dewey's word for it or Kit's. Clearly, this is the result of the Stone of What Was...what was...Wuz...Wuzzles! Admittedly, the Wuzzle was also not a show I grew up with, though that could be because it lasted only a season. In fact, I just now notice the lion carved into the Stone of What Was happens to have bumblebee wings. These animals are a little more realistic here, as they don't talk, and they're not cute or fuzzy like the original Wuzzles were. In fact, the character this gorillanoceros was based on was actually a monkey-rhino. There is a difference, even if they are very similar species genetically!

They eventually get to the stone, only to see that Don Karnage and his crewmates have found the stone first. Hiding, they see Don Karnage command Hardtack Hattie, his strongest crewmember, to lift it up. Unfortunately, she happened to lift it as a bunch of ants were crawling on it, turning her into an ant centaur to her and Don's horror. Despite that horror, and fitting for someone who just wants to finish his mission, he tries to get some of the other crew members to lift it...

...leading to these freaks of nature, which is what Don Karnage actually calls them. DuckTales 2017 isn't too afraid to show the horrifying nature of some of these fusions, continuing with the theme of how they portray the Wuzzles as these monstrous beasts. I would not call it nightmare fuel, but I would not be surprised if it already has an entry on TV Tropes. What makes these even worse is that there is no way for these guys to revert back to their normal forms. There's no "if the stone feels like it, it'll separate you" clause here, that snail-dog is permanently a snail-dog, and that pirate will have to live with a hand for his head for the rest of his days. These guys just end up getting forgotten.

Della tries to sneak by climbing around this horrific scene, only to be caught on some sort of sticky rock. Dewey decides to try to save her with his airfoil-riding skills, much to Huey's disagreement. Dewey's got to Dewey it! Oh yeah, I forgot, Dewey ends up doing "Dewey" puns for most of the episode. It's not funny, but I have a feeling it wasn't meant to be funny, and it's certainly not funny when he ends up falling down near the pirates. Face to face with someone who considers him his arch-nemesis, he tries to save face when he notices Kit stole Don Karnage's plane...which he immediately crashes into a rock.

As for the rock that Della was stuck on, it turns out it wasn't a rock. Nor was it a rock lobster, either!

It hatches into another classic Wuzzle character: the Butterbear, or the Bear-terfly as Don Karnage calls it. They never quite match the original Wuzzle names, and it is not like they would know them. There is one part of this where Kit and the Bear-terfly cross paths, and it almost seems like they're going to bond because they happen to be a similar race. Then, it instantly cuts to Kit running away from a rampaging Bear-terfly. How are they going to continue from this? Have the Bear-terfly get caught in some rope, and have it run in a way that ties up the stone, and have it fly away with Della still on its back. It is a bit convoluted, but it works in the end as it is a way for the stone to travel without it mutating even more people. Whether any of these fusions can use the stone to combine into other fusions is left unanswered, which is for the best.

One may notice I didn't talk a whole lot about what Huey did, and that's because he really didn't do much for most of the episode. He delivered the exposition, he tries to stop Dewey from "Deweying it", and that's about it. However, he does have a major part in the episode: he gets to take part in the scene where the two bumbling fools realize what they have been doing was foolish. Namely, they needed to realize that they should do what they were good at: Kit should cloudkick and Dewey should fly the plane. It is a good lesson that had some good buildup. Sure, they were pretty much failing throughout the episode, but there were scenes where they were surprisingly competent, like the scene where Kit rescued Dewey with his Cloudkicking skills, and Dewey managing to fly the plane in the beginning before he decided to "Dewey it" and crash it. It does not come out of nowhere. Speaking of which...

Dewey: Okay, let's do it.

What would be an unremarkable line actually works really well here, mainly because he decided not to make a pun on his own name, which he did way too much. It does show development, as if this fun-loving showboater is actually learning his lesson throughout the episode. I expect this from DuckTales 2017, and there are certainly cartoons where I don't.

Fittingly for a TaleSpin episode, this all ends with a flight chase scene. No, not the usual DuckTales 2017 fight scene, though there are some fights here and there, especially with Kit and Don Karnage, armed with that crow bar and sword, respectively. The scene actually manages to make Dewey keeping the plane steady an action packed scene, as he has to save his Mom while trying not to let the stone fall into the ocean and make an octopus-fish-squid hybrid that would rival the Eldritch horrors. Again, whether any of these fusions can use the stone to combine into other fusions is left unanswered, which is for the best.

It's not really a spoiler to say the good guys win, but I will say the TaleSpin part of the plot is very much all tied up in the end. If Kit only makes a minor appearance in the finale, and I'd actually be surprised if he didn't appear considering how packed the clips were, it would be completely understandable. Also, there's a cliffhanger and we finally get to hear Don Karnage sing another song, if a very short one. It seemed like he just couldn't do it in his other appearances.

How does it stack up?

With the genius way of using not just one Disney show's legacy, but another Disney show as well, there's a lot to love about this episode, though I wouldn't say it's among the absolute best. Four Scrooges.

Next, Scrooge gets indicted.

← Beaks In The Shell! 🦆 The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck! →

#fpb dt 2017 #ducktales 2017 #ducktales #disney #fpb reviews

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ladyfogg · 5 years ago

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May I? - 17/?

Fic Summary: Ensign Faith Diaz struggles to hide her mental illness from her fellow shipmates aboard the Enterprise until an intrigued Data goes out of his way to try to understand her behavior. At his insistence, Faith tries to figure out what she’s truly passionate about and eventually seeks the professional help she needs. Fic Masterpost.

Fic Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Data/Female OC

Warnings: tw: depression, tw: anxiety, fluff, friends to lovers, eventual smut

Screenshot by @ geekygwen

The hours Data and Faith were separated were filled with endless calculations and theories on how to reach her.

Data did not know how he would orchestrate his and Faith's escape. He had yet to gather sufficient information on the vessel which they traveled. Fajo was careful with his words and actions, not revealing or doing too much to give Data an opening to rebel.

When he saw Fajo attack Faith, he had attempted to break the door down without success. Right then and there, he vowed to do whatever he needed to get them home. He only hoped Faith would be more cautious with her own personal safety.

As such, he played along with Fajo's wishes. He wore the clothes, he sat in the chair, and currently, he entertained his guests.

Faith sat by his side, body stiff with tension. Data felt more comfortable having her by his side rather than locked away. He also now knew the location of her room which was not far from his.

He only agreed to the dinner on the stipulation that he be allowed to see Faith first. Fajo begrudgingly agreed and Data suspected it was because Faith was being so difficult.

The dress Fajo made her wear was obscene. Though Data did feel it accentuated her body in an aesthetically pleasing way. Faith clearly did not feel the same way. She shifted in her seat, reaching up to subtly adjust the front of the dress to hide as much of her breasts as she could.

He reached over to lay a comforting hand on hers. Faith gave him a soft smile before squeezing his hand back.

Fajo was in the process of telling his friends all about his time in prison and subsequent release. Kornok and Dulcer listened excitedly. Enil kept his eyes on Faith, much to Data's dismay.

There was something in his expression that he did not trust. He could tell Enil made Faith uncomfortable by the way she avoided eye contact with him. Not to mention his question about their intimacy was inappropriate.

Eventually, talk turned back to Data himself.

“Tell us about yourself, android,” Kornok said, leaning his elbows on the table.

“I created by Dr. Noonian Soong and was built with an ultimate storage capacity of eight hundred quadrillion Bits and a total linear computational speed rated at sixty trillion operations per second. However—"

“Bah, none of that technical stuff,” Kornock interrupted. “I mean tell me about you.”

“Well, I am a Starfleet officer who has achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. I am Second Officer of the Enterprise and have received numerous accolades.”

“Is that all you do? Work?” Dulcer asked.

“No,” Data answered. “I also paint and play the violin and guitar. I often enjoy reading and various other recreational activities.”

“Fascinating!” Kornok exclaimed. “If it weren't for his skin and eyes he could pass as human.”

“The detail is fantastic, isn't it?” Fajo beamed proudly.

As they continued their back and forth, two of the Oz'ods came from the kitchen pushing trays of food. Faith leaned over to quietly whisper, "The one on the left is Soshi. They bring me meals."

"Mala is the other," Data responded, equally quiet. "They are Fajo's personal aid."

"Slave is more like it."

"What are you two whispering about?" Fajo asked, drawing everyone's attention to Data and Faith.

"Data was complimenting my dress," Faith lied smoothly.

Data doubted Fajo believed her but his guests found it entertaining.

"How sweet," Kornok said. "Tell me, android, is romance built into your programming?"

"Many aspects of human life were not initially included in my program," Data explained. "However, I can create programs as I see fit. For example, I have spent a significant amount of time building a romance program, as well as a subprogram specifically for Faith."

"He can adapt, how delightful!" Dulcer exclaimed. She turned her attention to Faith. "You must feel very special to have a mate who can perfectly match your desires and expectations."

"I do," she said, though her smile did not convince Data. He was not sure why but Faith seemed uncomfortable with Dulcer's statement.

It intrigued him. They had not discussed the logistics of their relationship and Data theorized that may be a contributing factor.

"Mr. Data does seem particularly attached to Faith considering his lack of emotions," Fajo said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Though I doubt he'd really truly miss her if she were gone."

There was an underlying threat with his words. Faith's hand gripped Data's tightly. The Oz'ods served the guests. Data's eyes remained on Fajo.

"That is incorrect," he stated. "As I establish friendships, my positronic brain develops connections to thoughts of those individuals. If that person were to leave, I will experience a sense of loss. In essence, I will miss them."

"Fascinating," Enil muttered, unmoving even when food is placed in front of him. "So your mate is not a simple plaything? An outlet for your curiosity?"

"No, she is not."

Data did not appreciate Enil's insinuation, nor the way he constantly eyed Faith.

"Enil, stop being rude," Kornok scolded his companion. "I must apologize for my fellow delegate. He has an affinity for human females."

"Personally, I don't see the appeal," Fajo said flippantly as he ate his dinner. "But if Data must have her around, I am happy to oblige."

Data glanced at Faith, noting the darkening of her cheeks and the way she became entirely too invested in her food. Their dismissal of her was misogynistic and insulting to her accomplishments.

"Faith is a decorated Starfleet officer," he said. "She recently made Lieutenant and is Engineering's second-in-command. Her intelligence is vastly superior to her peers and she has a keenly trained eye for details. She has a lot to offer as a mate and a friend."

"Was a decorated Starfleet officer," Fajo corrected. "She and Mr. Data live with me now."

"That does not change her accomplishments."

"It seems the android does not enjoy your insults," Dulcer said to the men. "And he is not the only one. Let us discuss something other than the woman."

Faith relaxed her grip on his hand. While she gave him an appreciative smile, he could tell the conversation had affected her greatly.

Unfortunately, dinner stretched on for hours. Course after course was brought out. Faith ate very little, though Data knew she was likely hungry. Soshi seemed to notice as well and tried to provide her with larger portions. It did not help.

Throughout the evening Data answered any and all questions the delegates posed to him. Very little was asked of Faith but he suspected she was grateful. Even he found their questions tedious to a point.

Eventually, the food was removed and by then the novelty of Data and Faith seemed to wear off the guests. Talk turned to matters of business, which Data found intriguing. Any business Fajo was involved in could only be illegal and dangerous.

Unfortunately, once the subject changed, Fajo waved his hand at the couple. "You may be excused," he said. "Mala, escort them to their quarters."

Data suspected Fajo did not wish for Faith and Data to overhear what he and the delegates were really meeting to discuss.

Mala bowed and waited patiently for Data and Faith to stand and follow.

“It was a pleasure to meet you,” Data said with a dutiful bow. “If you'll excuse us…”

“Nice to meet you too,” Kornok said with a wave. “Really, the manners, the movements...stunning!

“Very well done,” Dulcer agreed.

Enil sneered. “Very.”

Data kept his hand on Faith's lower back, making eye contact with Enil as they left. The man still watched Faith like a hawk.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Faith let out a noise of frustration. "Stars that was insulting! Who the hell do they think they are?!" She was shaking with anger, her hands balled into fists.

"I will admit their comments were inappropriate and out of line."

"Thank you for sticking up for me," Faith said. "I knew I had to ignore them but I'm grateful you didn't."

"I cannot. It is in my programming, remember?"

Faith smiled and wrapped her arm around his, hugging it tightly. "Yeah, I remember."

They reached her quarters first and Data turned to Mala. "May we have a few minutes alone before I must be escorted to my room?"

The Oz'od seemed hesitant. "Mr. Fajo no like Mala delay."

"You have my word it will not take long," Data assured them. "I would like to say a proper goodnight and do not know when we will see each other next."

Mala conceded with a nod, opening Faith's door for them. "No take long."

Once they were alone, Faith threw herself at him, yanking him down into a fiery kiss. Data matched her energy or at least tried to, wrapping his arms around her. The dress was soft but he found himself longing to touch her skin instead.

She drew away with a shaky breath. "I hate the idea of being separated again."

"I do not find it satisfactory either," Data agreed. His hand suddenly slid over something hard tucked into the back of her dress. "What is this?"

Sheepishly, Faith reached into her dress, pulling out a dinner knife. "I swiped this when no one was looking," she admitted. "I don't have a phaser so I needed some kind of weapon.”

Data was surprised and impressed. Even with his keen eyes, he hadn't noticed her theft.

"That was very risky. If Fajo had caught you, it would not have gone well."

"I know but I had to try. You have your strength and mind to protect you. I don't have anything."

Data studied her carefully, noticing the fear in her eyes. "I understand. I only ask that you be careful."

"I will. Trust me, I'm not going to attack him. But having something with me helps the anxiety."

She left his arms to slide the knife under her pillow. After, she sighed heavily and sat on the bed. Data joined her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

“Would you like to know what I have learned so far?” he asked.

“Yes, please.”

“I believe we are on the ship that attacked the Enterprise. It is constructed from the same materials. That will work to our advantage as Starfleet has already been made aware of its existence. There will be people looking for the ship. The doors can only be operated by Fajo and the Oz’ods.”

“Also Fajo has a phaser that hurts like a bitch.”

Data reached out to touch her injured hip. “Are you in pain?”

“A little. These damn shoes didn't help.” She kicked out of her heels. “God I hate this dress.” She looked around and spotted a pair of pants and a shirt folded neatly at the edge of the bed. They must have been delivered while they were at dinner.

Data watched her stand, wiggling out of the purple dress to slip on more comfortable clothes. Considering her anxiety, he was surprised she had no apparent qualms about undressing in front of him.

Once she was dressed, she slid onto his lap. She looped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

Data held her close. “We will escape this place.”

“I think the Oz’ods might be our best bet with that.”

“How so?”

“Soshi all but told me they're prisoners. They're only helping Fajo for protection. They don't think they can survive without him. But if we make them see that they can, maybe they can help us.”

“That is a solid foundation to build upon,” Data said. “I will try to speak to Mala. As of yet, they have been reluctant to answer questions but with this information, I will adjust my approach.”

He suddenly remembered her reaction to Dulcer’s comment at dinner. “Faith, why did you react negatively when Dulcer mentioned my programming adjusting to your needs?”

It took her a moment to recall what he was referring to. “Oh, that. I don't know, I just didn't like the way she said it. There was insinuation there that didn't sit right with me.”

“To what insinuation are you referring?”

“To me, it almost felt like she was saying I was lucky to have someone cater to my desires and expectations. Almost as if I don't have to put any work into our relationship. I don't know. Maybe I was reading too much into it.”

“And that thought insulted you?”

“Yes, of course it did. When you're with someone, both partners should be willing to adapt to each other. It's not fair if only one person has to change to fit the other's needs.”

This made Data curious. “Are there aspects of my personality that you need to adjust to?”

Faith seemed to hesitate before answering. “Yes,” she eventually said. “But not in a negative way by any means. I just have to remember that there's a learning curve between us and that you're still learning about human interaction in general.”

“If I have done anything to make you frustrated or upset, I do apologize.”

Faith leaned in and kissed him. It was gentle and meant to comfort. “You have nothing to apologize for,” she said, nuzzling his cheek. “You've done nothing wrong, okay?”

Her expression was earnest and sincere. Data nodded. “Okay.”

As much as he wanted to stay, he knew he needed to get back to his room before Fajo finished with his friends.

“I must leave you now,” he said. “I will do everything in my power to see you again soon.”

Faith whimpered and gave him another hug, which he returned. Data found it difficult to pull away. In fact, the hug lasted twenty-three more seconds than the average hug between them.

Once they parted, he kissed her goodbye and stood. Before he reached the door, he turned back. She sat on the edge of the bed, arms wrapped around her trembling frame.

“Please remember to eat,” he said.

She gave him a small smile. “I will.”

Data left, meeting an anxious Mala in the hall. The Oz’od hurriedly brought him to his room. Despite Data’s cooperation, it was still sparse. Fajo did not seem to trust the android enough to allow him anything more than the decorative chair to sit upon.

Before Mala closed the door, Data turned to them.

“Please help Soshi take care of Faith,” he said. “She is special to me and I do not wish for Fajo to harm her.”

“Fajo no harm Faith so long as Faith listen,” Mala said.

“May I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Your friend who infiltrated the Enterprise, how did you intend to bring him back home?”

Mala pursed their thin lips but remained silent.

“Ah. I see. You did not intend to.”

“Toka died for Oz’od safety. Will be remembered.” Mala made a move to close the door.

Data cocked his head in confusion. “Toka is not dead.”

Mala froze, eyes meeting his. “You lie!”

“I am not lying,” Data said. “The Enterprise captured Toka but they are still very much alive. We would not kill a new life form without provocation.”

“Fajo said Toka dead,” Mala said in a soft voice.

“I believe it is Fajo who lied to you,” Data said. “Once Faith and I get back to our companions, I would be more than happy to reunite you with him.”

“Lies! Fajo said you lie to trick Mala!” With that, they slammed their hand on the panel and the doors shut, leaving Data alone once more.

He had suspected convincing Mala would be difficult. He only hoped he had been able to plant the seed of doubt.

With nothing else to do, Data sat in his chair and waited for Fajo. He knew the man would seek him out after the meal. He only hoped he performed well enough to his captor’s satisfaction.

It was two hours and fifty minutes later when Fajo strolled in. He seemed to be in good spirits, which Data took as a good sign.

“That went spectacularly,” Fajo said with a large grin. “See? It's not so bad doing what I say, is it?”

“I did not appreciate Delegate Enil’s interest in Faith. His comments were inappropriate.”

“Is that a hint of jealousy I detect?”

“I cannot feel jealousy.”

Fajo waved dismissively. “So you say. Don't worry about Enil. He's harmless. Well, mostly harmless. You and your little girlfriend certainly made an impression. I thank you for the delightful dinner.”

“What do you plan to do next?”

“Well, we have to keep moving, obviously,” he said. “Thankfully this ship has a spectacular cloaking device. One of a kind and built by the Oz’ods themselves. There are a few items of mine that I would like to get back. I expect you to help me with them.”

“And Faith? She will still remain safe, correct?”

Fajo snorted with disgust. “Ugh, Faith, Faith, Faith. That's all you talk about! I have half a mind to sell her to Enil and be done with it.” He glanced at Data with a smirk. “Thankfully, she's worth more to me right where she is.”

“I have made it clear I will listen to you so long as she's safe,” Data said. “You do not need to keep threatening her safety.”

“But it's so fun. Every time, I swear I'm going to get a reaction out of you.”

“Do you wish to elicit an emotional response from me? You know I do not have them.”

“You say that but I theorize that you must. In some capacity,” Fajo said. “You just need the right push. No matter. We have plenty of time to test my theory. In the meantime, enjoy your room. I'll be by tomorrow to discuss a job I'd like you to do.”

He turned to leave but then paused and spun back around on his heel.

“One more thing,” he said. “I am a reasonable man. If you continue to perform so spectacularly, I may consider allowing you and your little pet to share a room together. Keep that in mind.”

Data was surprised by the thought, though he did not trust Fajo’s charity. Still, planning their escape would be easier with Faith by his side.

“I will do my best,” he said.

Fajo smiled brightly. “I know you will. Sleep tight!” He chuckled at his own joke as he left.

#commander data #lt commander data #Data Soong #data tng #star trek next generation

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atelophobicity · 4 years ago

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Top 10 Things You Shouldn’t Do If You Want to Finish Your Thesis On Time

It’s my entry for September! I’ve been busy in consuming new music, films, and kvariety episodes in my effort to catch up on everything. So, I decided to post monthly to fulfill my oversharing Tumblr needs and to exercise my skills in writing in English and putting thoughts into coherent words.

TL;DR of this: things I’ve done instead of doing my thesis for the past year and a half. I’m not romanticizing my not doing thesis self for the past 21 months, but I’m also not dissuading you from doing other stuff besides thesis because god knows, you will need something.

1. Got a part-time job. This was the first new thing I’ve done that really took my time and effectively gave me no time to do thesis. And yet, this was the most rewarding thing as I learned how to get my TIN, accomplish my deliverables, answer to my superiors etc. Looking back, I wasn’t the best employee and I deserved no job offers on the same company after. But still, it was a stepping stone in the right direction. Adulting-wise, anyway.

2. Discover the art of creating.

Journal spreads. I bought a 2019 planner and I couldn’t fill it up, so I decided to turn it into a journal-planner. The art materials I used for to design pages are from old supplies bought back when I was in high school or stickers from the fandom-related events I attended. I didn’t spend money and I was given a chance to be creative.

Sew doll clothes. In K-pop, dolls that look like your idol exists. It usually comes with one set of clothes to dress it. As a “doll mother”, I wanted to dress them with new clothes but buying clothes was expensive. So, I just sewed clothes for them. I made clothes from scrap fabrics or clothes no one wears in our household. I’ve been barely successful, but it’s one of the things that keep me happy and make me feel like I’ve succeeded in one measly part of my life.

3. Purged my online files.

From my high school files. Nostalgia has been one of my coping mechanisms. I was able to be provided by lots of it when I discovered that I didn’t lose my high school files and it was on my mom’s laptop all along. Being able to relive memories while organizing my files was the best hours of that day.

To my external hard drives. Since 2016, I have been a hoarder of online files for so long that I have two EHDs to prove it. This time though, I was able to delete content that was either repetitive or uninteresting anymore. I was able to shave off some of my data bytes and am now able to save new interesting content available online (if I ever find one).

4. Realigned my priorities and consumption of K-pop as a stan and as a person by:

Selling 3/4 of my merch. Unlearning the pride that comes with owning K-pop merch was difficult, but overtime, I have been proud of myself for not falling to the traps of capitalism—at least in K-pop. Also! I was able to buy my own concert tickets with the stuff I sold so it is a win!

Joining giveaways instead. No matter how I can avoid the urge to buy K-pop merch, I still can’t help but want to own them. This is where I discovered how joining giveaways was my next best option. It takes a lot of effort and screenshots to win these things. However, if and when you win, it really feels like winning against the odds. You get free merch too!

Actually spent hours to vote and stream. In relation to the last point, since the main requirement in giveaways I’ve joined are voting/streaming proofs, I have been one of those people who collects points on voting apps or has a playlist of music videos that should be streamed. After collecting and/or streaming, I take screenshots, put watermarks there, and tags mutuals if needed. It’s relatively hard work but there’s a feeling of pride when your idol wins the poll or an MV reaches a certain amount of views and you know you participated in making that happen.

5. Rediscover Youtube. Channels like the vlogbrothers and their associates (Crash Course, Pemberley Digital among others), Buzzfeed’s shows (The Try Guys, Ladylike, Buzzfeed Unsolved) were a delight to watch after being out of the Youtube loop for so long. The platform also offered new niches of content and I allowed myself to be sucked in it. From Simply Nailogical to Ask A Mortician to amazing pop culture video essays like Lindsay Ellis and Jenny Nicholson, Youtube has all it for you! Learning something new every day is one of my favorite things and I get to do it with this website.

6. Rediscover my love of writing. (As if I’ve written anything for my thesis but here.)

Made drabbles. There is a weekly activity on my fandom where we write < 500 word drabbles on any pairings. I have been joining when I can, and through the support of the (small) community (back then), I gained confidence to write one. I’ve written at least four now and I’ve not done yet because I’ve been on a slump lately. But I’ll get back to it soon!

Short story. The same account that brought the drabble challenge created a festival where we write a pairing and write a short story with it. I decided to join the event! Not going to lie, my entry was shit, It was the first draft, it needed a lot of revisions and more constructive criticism and yet, I am still proud of it. It was the first creative fiction I wrote since 2019 and I did it in a day. And, I believe it has potential, so I’m going to review and revise the hell out of it someday.

7. Reclaim my college days.

Reconnected with orgmates. Visiting Elbi for registration and consultation purposes are brightened up by the fact that I get to do this. My first four years of college were not kind to me. I’ve forgotten a lot of things because of trauma and deep sadness that I still have until this day, and when I remember good things, they’re few and far in between. The numbered days I was in Elbi during 2019 were also few and far in between, but they were infinitely better than my academic years from 2015 to 2017. I was able to do the things I wasn’t able to do before (mostly attending Happy Ts and eating in newly-opened food places there) and I get to do it with people I love.

Made friends. One of the drawbacks of being a slot-driven student with no care of my coursemates’ schedules: I didn’t get to establish a friend group. So I didn’t get to make friends. During this time, I’ve accepted that I didn’t have any friends outside my organizations. But this time, instead of a feeling of dread of being that cliché orgmate, I feel relief and happiness because now, I realize that I do have friends from college, unlike the 2015-2017 who didn’t have anyone in college to rely on her darkest times.

8. Appreciated my friends more. For the past few years, I was the shitty friend. I agreed to go on hangouts only to message them that I’m backing out the last minute—sometimes I even straight up ghosted them. I really took my friends for granted. I have been slowly making it up to them by always attending when there’s an invite! I sometimes initiate the invite and it’s always a fun and healing time for me (it was a literal healing time for me as I was depressed during that time). I love them and I’m always thankful for them—and more so now than before.

9. Unlearning things like:

Realizing that a priv (a private account meant to be seen by your mutuals you trust; usually contains unpopular opinions and hot takes on stan twitter) only encourages negative emotions and I must not do it again.

No matter how I tried rationalizing my hate for Jennie when the JenKai dating news happened, I was one of those K-pop stans who hated her because she dated my idol. (I have moved on past that and have started liking her and Rose.)

Knowing that attacking people for what they say won’t make them unlearn their wrong opinions. Not talking down at them and educating with patience is the key, always.

There are still so much more I unlearned and learned where those came from. My main takeaway is: it’s complicated. Sometimes our opinion needs a more nuanced perspective and sometimes it needs to scrapped entirely because it was just wrong. But it is essential so we, as people, won’t be stuck with outdated views of the world.

10. Learning something new like:

Practicing how to do Tzuyu’s helicopter hands until I realized it wasn’t meant for me.

Utilizing Omegle to look for potential quaranflings.

Installing Telegram and uninstalling to ghost quaranflings.

How to do laundry in compliance with my mother’s preferences.

Doing two things at once.

Enough patience to take time and read the laws our government makes every day to know what I’m fighting against.

Optimizing my Twitter lists and now I can keep up with current affairs (that takes a toll on my mental health) then scroll through a fic fest-centric list the next (that helps me forget the stress from reading news).

Learning something new every day has become one of my life goals. Knowing that the world always has something new to offer to me, a speck in this universe, warms me up and keeps me going. And you’ll never know where the new tidbits will lead you. Maybe it’ll help you reconnect with something you’ve known before, maybe it’ll change how you see things, or maybe it’s something new that once explored, it will contribute something new to the community. It may seem small and unimportant but with a tweak in perspective, it might be something worth doing and pursuing.

Looking back at my list, I can finally see how if I didn’t do all these things, I would have probably finished my thesis by now and probably working a full-time job, able to provide the financial needs for my family. There will always be regret that I am still not done until now. But stressing over my current predicament in this time when the world is in its most stressful state yet won’t help me. So, we soldier on and hopefully, hopefully get back to the thesis I’ve been meaning to do.

Let’s get it.

#2020 diary

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alphabees-writes · 5 years ago

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Glee - S1 E1 (Pilot)

Is it a smart idea to rewatch glee again? No.

Am I going to do it anyway? You bet your sweet bippy I am!

Am I going to liveblog my garbage monkey brain thoughts along the way even though nobody asked for it? Hell yeah.

Here goes!

Wow. The first frame of this entire show is literally of a woman who looks like she’s about 10 years above the natural lifespan of a Cheerio. Then again, I’m sure Sue’s not above holding back her best recruits for multiple years because Ohio high schools are apparently just Like That™

I also never notice this opening song was a remix of Keep Me Hangin On, wow. That’s actually kind of interesting foreshadowing of sorts, like, kind of smart. I’m glad I’m watching the part of Glee that was kind of smart.

This scene also doesn’t feature any of the Unholy Trinity as far as I can see. Are they a JV squad? Am I putting too much thought into this?

Sign #1 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Really, my guy? Driving around with your muffler dragging on the ground so bad it’s making sparks? That’s not very Road Safety of you. Fuck off.

Sign #2 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Wow, there’s going to be a lot of these, huh? Anyway, anybody with working eyes would clearly see how scared Kurt is right now. “Making some new friends Kurt?” Fuck off.

KURT. FIRST SIGHTING OF THE BOY. What a delight. But also, not a delight, because he’s being bullied and he deserves better. Look at his outfit. Iconic from day fucking one.

Finn, you’re a himbo. What’re you doing with these assholes?

Puck’s first line in the whole series is “It’s hammer time!” What a fucking dork? Who made this boy popular.

DO MORE THAN TAKE HIS COAT, FINN. LET HIM GOOOOO!!!

I paused while they were tossing Kurt in the dumpster and, wow, got the most hilarious frame where the guy who isn’t Puck is getting a meticulously polished boot to the face. Netflix let me take screenshots, you coward.

The first shot of Quinn... My wlw bones are shaking.

Why would they use that photo for Lillian Adler...? WHO WAS BORN IN 1937, MIGHT I ADD. THAT’S NOT A REAL YEAR.

It’s weird to see Mr Schue actually speaking competent Spanish. Why did they veto that later? The ONE likeable thing about him was his competence as a school teacher, and they really threw it out the window huh?

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THE MEMBERS OF SANDY RYERSON’S GLEE CLUB??? This kid seems to really like singing. Also, welcome to the beginning of Ryerson being annoying as all hell.

Oh my gosh, the background choir stuff. This show really had style back in the day!!!

R A C H E L B E R R Y Y O U R M A K E U P ! ! !

Ken Tanaka walked so incels could run.

Jane Lynch you beauty. You absolutely impeccable beauty.

“Since when are cheerleaders performers?” Uh... Emma...? I get that Sue’s going ham on her budget but, like, be nice to the students? They perform their butts off!

Sue really just BRAGGED about having an iPhone. I was 9 when this came out. Why do I feel old...

Sign #3 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: He hears his coworker, presumably of several years, just got fired and doesn’t even ask why. He just jumps on the glee club like a frog on hot asphalt.

He really wants to Make The Glee Club Great Again, huh?

MySpace was really a thing, huh? And why does this grown-ass male teacher know so much about the students having them?

I know nothing about actual American schools, but I do know that they sure as shit don’t work like this. Why does a club have to win EVERY competition to be considered an asset?

Mr Shoe really lying awake at night half-naked next to his wife thinking about the glee club already? Yeah sounds about right. Also, of course you’d think up Nude Erections for a name, you asshole. Put some clothes on.

R E S P E C T MERCEDES YES!!!

Brad the piano player was really here from day ONE... Icon.

Cellophane, Mr Cellophane... Yes Kurt bby you killed it.

Chris Colfer looks so YOUNG here!!!

The hair fix... I C O N I C !

Tina really wrote her stutter down, huh? And nobody ever saw through it? Amazing.

The goth Tina look, too... Perfect... Never change...

Say what you want about Rachel Berry being generally insufferable, but I really fucking feel it when she sings On My Own. The monologue kind of kills The Drama of it, but they really solidly established her character by layering them. She really is a gold star right now.

The first-ever on-screen slushie!

The way she walks down that hall. My God you can just see how terrible she is to be around.

Never forget Rachel staring at photos of her with two men who turned out to not be her dads. Who are they? What are their stories? We’ll never know.

God, I love this stupid scene of Quinn, Santana, and a bunch of Cheerios cartoonishly typing hate comments on Rachel’s MySpace video and laughing like knock-off Disney villains.

I like watching season 1 Artie because season 1 Artie was a good character. Mostly. And he KILLED Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat. Rachel wasn’t asking for a male lead who could keep up with her vocally, she was being straight up ableist and that’s a fact. I love Cory, but Kevin McHale was always a better singer.

Mercedes picking up and spinning Rachel for this little routine is something I never really appreciated before, it’s cute even though they don’t like each other yet!

I really don’t get why Rachel says they suck. Yeah, sure, she’s gunning for a solo, but the vocals were solid there. The choreo was just a little janky, possibly because it’s their first EVER rehearsal?

“There is NOTHING ironic about show choir!” Incredible.

How long did it take Mr Shoe to find Rachel out on the bleachers? Did he search the whole school first?

ARTIE! CAN! KEEP! UP! WITH! YOU! VOCALLY!

I never understood Rachel quitting so soon. How long was she in the old glee club for? Surely they were never popular either?

Ah, the first “My hands are tied” for the series. Mr Figgins is a garbage principal.

Not going to advise the principal against referring to Artie as a cripple, William Shoestir? Alright.

How did the Schuester marriage last as long as it has? Do Will and Terri’s insufferable personalities just cancel one another out?

Sandy Ryerson really just openly brags about cheating the system for medical marijuana and dealing it?

Matt Morrison 100% has lip fillers. Nobody’s smile curls like that naturally.

“Terri and I are trying to get pregnant” What a weird way to phrase it. What is it, a race? Who’s going to get knocked up first!

A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN, HOW I’VE MISSED YOU... The sound design of this show at this point is just... *Chef hand kiss*

“What you’re doing right now is called blurring the lines” Oh just wait until season 4, Sue... Just you wait.

WHY is Mr Schuester so ridiculously sweaty? I didn’t need to think about that?

EVERYONE on the football team is 30.

William Schuester you can’t just watCH TEENAGE STUDENTS SING IN THE SHOWER YOU ARE A TEACHER WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR LICENSE?!

Hearing Cory sing this always makes me emotional. What a talent!

Sign #4 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: I don’t think I need to say why using the weed to blackmail Finn is a shitty thing to do, do I?

“I’ll pee in a cup! ...I’ll pee...” I love Cory’s delivery.

PRIORITY #1: HELP THE KIDS Oh season 1... I love you so.

Mr Schue you WISH you were anything like Finn Hudson. You never will be.

Ah... Finn’s first monologue. He’s such a sweetheart. AND SO IS CAROLE. Carole is a queen I will stan forever. YOU THROW THAT MILK BB!!!

All Finn wants to do is make his mom proud. What a sweetheart. Mr Schue you do NOT deserve him.

These POV shots really enhance things, why the fuck did they stop using them?

Subtly having Kurt look at Finn in the same shot as Rachel was a nice touch indeed!

RACHEL WAS REALLY DOWN WITH ROLLING ARTIE RIGHT OFF THE STAGE HUH?

Terri’s a straight up hoarder, huh? Like a raccoon but instead of collecting edible garbage, it’s monogrammed garbage.

Surely you can’t just... BECOME an accountant, right? You need some serious qualifications for that right?

Also say what you want about how insufferable Terri is but her actress is ridiculously talented and absolutely steals every scene she’s in.

Now the background choir is doing Soul Bossa Nova and I am L I V I N G why didn’t they keep that motif!!! It was so ICONIC!

I don’t need my prostate removed. RIP Carole Hudson but I’m different :/

NO MEANS NO, KEN! TAKE THE L AND MOVE ON! Way to take out the fact that a girl won’t date you on everybody else around you! Toxic bastard. The absolute stench of melodrama on this bastard is noxious.

I was going to ask why Rachel didn’t know about Finn and Quinn if they’d already been together for 4 months, but then I remembered gossiping requires friends...

“Terri rides me. Hard. And I’ve always appreciated it!” Why don’t we talk about how this line sounds more. Why doesn’t Emma bat an eye at it oh my god

HERE COMES VOCAL ADRENALINE!!! And Jesse St. James is nowhere to be seen. How convenient. Also, they’re all 30. I’m sensing a pattern.

Sorry VA, all songs popularised my Amy Winehouse legally belong to Santana Lopez

Puck, if you were stupid enough to fall for the prostate excuse, that’s on you. Or maybe it’s on the education system...

You can do better that Mr Schue, kids. Don’t mourn him.

Ok, what the fuck is this scene where he’s filling out the job app to become an accountant? There’s a dude in the row in front off him just throwing crisps around? What is this place?? Why are you here sir???

“Accounting is sexy” shut up you horrible married man

The Cheerios sure did have straight ponytails for like, one episode, huh?

Finn is such a good boy. He doesn’t know it yet, but he is, and saving Artie from that portapotty is his first step to figuring it out.

This shot of Finn just wheeling Artie out of there... Ugh. My HEART.

KURT WHAT ARE THOSE LAYERS? SWEATER SHIRT SWEATER? HELLO???

Pee balloons. Nailing the lawn furniture to the roof. Finn, you’re better than that!!! Stop your dudebros.

They really had Artie be a guitar player, and a pretty good one at that, but they never mentioned it again? Artie had such potential SMH. (Also, Netflix subtitles are telling me it’s Arty, but I categorically refuse to spell it that way.)

Whyyyyy didn’t he go to KURT for the costumes as well? Look at his outfit, Finn. He clearly wants in on that job.

Will Schuester really is just desperately clinging to his glory days in high school. I’d feel bad for him if he wasn’t such a creep about it.

Emma, meaningfully: Do you know who that is? That’s you, Will... [FRANTIC DISCO MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND]

I find it hilarious how the audio of Don’t Stop Believin’ just DOES NOT match the characters except for the solos... Also wow, autotune city. Am I awful for genuinely not liking this cover?

I like watching them perform it though. Kurt’s adorable little shimmy... Rachel and Tina smiling at each other like that... Everybody having a blast... I’m here for it

LOOK AT MY BABIES TILTING THOSE MIC STANDS...

Ok the way Rachel and Finn look at each other here is making me FEEL

I know Puck’s about to join anyway but WHY is he there watching... Just to have a mysterious bad boy moment? Lol you dramatic bastard

Please let them win nationals without you, Will.

So, yeah! There’s that! Those are my thoughts and feelings, basic though they may be. Episode one is fantastic, the kids are fantastic, and William Schuester can suck a toe.

#Glee #Glee seasson 1 #Rosie watches things and then says things about the thing

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edgarbright · 6 years ago

Text

Sirius’s Route Parts 22 - 24: Acknowledging Lancelot and Harr

Thank you @mitsuhidethesnek and @thecoolsquirrel for your interest!

This is the whole rambling version. Should I have probably put more thought into organizing this and clarifying ideas? Absolutely! There are particular parts that I want to pull and make into their own unique posts with screenshots to showcase my delight and headcanons, but that’s a job for future me!

Before we begin: a warning. Those who have read my Sirius’s route review might remember that I found Sirius and his route as a whole frustrating. This is still true. In order to talk about Lancelot and Harr here, it is important to talk about Sirius, too. I am quite critical of his actions, however, so please prepare before you proceed.

There are also spoilers mentioned from Lancelot, Jonah, and Loki’s routes.

The Players:

Alice goes to the front lines to bait the Magic Tower. The plan is to expose all the secrets Lancelot and the Magic Tower are hiding as a way to stop the war and to help Sirius. Note that she believes Lancelot was trying to protect her when she was kidnapped, so her intentions are meant to try to help him, too. She depends on her magic-breaking abilities and Sirius to protect her at this confrontation.

Sirius is persuaded by and takes “full responsibility” (part 21) for Alice’s plan. Note he still does not believe what Harr told him 7 years ago: that the Magic Tower and King of Hearts are colluding. He is also surprised by Alice’s suggestion that the Magic Tower might hold power over Lancelot. He does not bring any weapons or defenses or Magic Crystals to the impending confrontation. He depends on his fists and Alice’s spell-breaking abilities and verbal negotiations.

Lancelot has been very ill for at least half the route due to a combination of fighting Harr and his attempt to kidnap Alice. Kyle accompanies him to the front lines on the basis Lancelot can barely walk. This is one route where Lancelot does not intend to attack the Magic Tower at the outset of the war. He plans to go after Amon after the Black Army surrenders--when Amon lowers his defenses to celebrate the victory.

Kyle strong-arms Lancelot into bringing him along to the front lines because he is seriously worried for Lancelot’s health. Staying with his patient, he ends up placed far away from any hospital tents or the Red Army HQ infirmary.

Harr was last seen at his fight with Lancelot in the Garden. The fight exhausted him, but he could have recovered quickly and continued strategizing against the Magic Tower or he could have been recovering, same as Lancelot.

Loki was last seen after Harr returned from the Garden. We see him supporting and helping Harr, and being worried that Harr seemed to have taken a physical and emotional blow from fighting Lancelot.

Amon was last seen visiting Lancelot’s sick bed at Red Army HQ the day before. Lancelot tries to appease him by saying he will deal with Alice and win the war, but Amon has plans of his own. He tells Lancelot to order a full attack on the Black Army immediately, and threatens Lancelot with “the ace... up [his] sleeve” when Lancelot gives push back. Amon, forcing the idea of friendship between them, leaves once Lancelot accepts his terms.

The fighting on the front lines stops when Lancelot approaches Sirius and Alice, who have fought long and hard to reach him.

Sirius: “I'm not here to die, and I'm not here to kill you. [Alice] and I are here to negotiate."

Sirius: “We're hoping for some friends of yours to make an appearance.”

Sirius: "Hey! You're around here somewhere, listening, aren't you? We brought Alice here, since you want her so badly!" There was a triumphant smile on Sirius's face as he shouted the words.

And then Sirius, after provoking the Magic Tower and getting transported to the Magic Tower: "That was a pretty pushy invitation."

His lack of preparation is really astounding, although it’s rivaled by the fact the Magic Tower went on the offensive in front of everybody. But yeah, Team Sirius and Alice are not off to a good start.

Alice is angry that they were spirited away and that she "didn't think to stop [them] in time!" Can’t really blame her though considering this is the first time she’s been allowed to fight. She’s bitten off more than she can chew.

Disciple: "We didn't intend to invite the King of Hearts as well, but I suppose it doesn't matter."

It doesn’t matter because the disciples believe the King of Hearts is their ally. It also won’t matter to Amon because Lancelot is his puppet. Their dismissal of Lancelot is VERY IMPORTANT because it means Lancelot is NOT in danger. The Magic Tower needs him. They don’t intend to hurt him as will be reinforced later.

Sirius: "Lord Amon, is it? So the leader of the Magic Tower himself is the one pulling the strings."

Sirius took on a potential enemy without knowing who was even in charge of the Magic Tower in general... Yeah, OK!

The conversation shifts when Amon refers to Lancelot as his friend.

Lancelot was silent, his expression impassive in the face of Sirius's anger.

All the while Sirius is trying to straighten out all the secrets. Lucky for him Amon is very chatty.

Sirius: "So the real enemy I should be fighting is you-- isn't it, Amon?"

Lancelot: "Stand down, Sirius. You're no match for him!"

Lancelot gives his warning, and Amon ups the ante. But the conversation is as informative as it is trivial because—

Amon: "It's time to resign yourselves to your fates.

Queen of Spades, you will die here.

Lancelot, you will return to the front lines, and crush the Black Army.

And Alice... you will remain here and be my plaything."

Sirius gets some clarification about how Amon means to experiment on Alice—Sirius, where are your priorities!? But Amon’s chattiness continues.

Amon: "I can't let a visitor from the Land of Reason escape me-- not if I'm going to fulfill my true ambition."

Lancelot, surprised: "Your true ambition? I thought all you wanted was to control Cradle."

Amon: "Well, who can say?"

This hints at why Lancelot hasn’t made any progress against Amon in years. Amon holds all his cards to the chest. All Lancelot has been able to do is mitigate the damage and slow processes down, hoping for an opening to attack. There is no opening here when Amon is in control of the situation.

Sirius: "I don't care what your [Amon's] ambitions are. I'm going to end them, here and now." Sirius let go of my hand, pushing me forcefully towards Lancelot.

Meanwhile Sirius goes full shounen.

Alice: "Sirius, what are you doing?!"

Sirius: "Lance, I've decided to trust you. To the end."

Lancelot: "What?"

Sirius: "Both of you, watch my back. [Amon] You're not getting [Alice]. And neither Lance nor I are dying here."

Friendly reminder that Lancelot was never threatened or in danger, but Sirius gets to look heroic by saying it, I guess. A thought is Sirius is using Alice, by pushing her to Lancelot, as his sign of trust considering Lancelot tried to kidnap her to save her before, as Alice theorized. But still. Alice worked hard to convince Sirius to bring her along as a member of the team. Pushing her forcefully away without saying anything to her is not a good look.

Sirius attacks the disciples with his bare hands and kicks. Alice doesn’t hang back and prevents them from using magic against Sirius, which gives him a fighting chance.

Lancelot seems to hang back. He’s still sick and he’s also been placed in an extremely precarious position. To help Sirius fight is to betray Amon, and to betray Amon would mean Sirius and Harr’s souls will be taken if he fails.

At last they [the Disciples] were all left groaning on the floor, and Amon stood alone, the only robed man still standing. I can't believe you just took out two dozen men all on your own, Sirius! And in no time at all!

Sirius: "I hope you're ready, Amon."

Amon: "Did you think owning a weapon is a privilege reserved for the army alone." There was a jeering tone in his voice, and the barrel of a gun glinted in his hand.

Another friendly reminder that Lancelot WARNED that Sirius was no match for Amon.

Sirius: "Ah!"

Amon: "Die, Queen of Spades. This tower will be your grave."

Lancelot: "Sirius!!" Lancelot's howl echoed through the room, and I glimpsed the swirl of his cloak flashing past me.

The roar of gunfire filled my ears, followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground. Red blood spilled across the cold stone floor. But it spilled from Lancelot's shoulder.

Sirius: "Lance?!"

Amon: "What is the meaning of this? Why would you leap to the aid of the Queen of Spades, and take a bullet meant for him?"

This is an odd question by Amon. Did Amon forget he was using Sirius to coerce Lancelot into working with him? He ought to know best that Sirius means something to Lancelot. This could mean Lancelot’s act has worked over the years and Amon has lost interest in using Sirius as a hostage.

Amon: “Lancelot... surely you haven't been deceiving me all these long years, and only pretending to help me, right?"

Lancelot opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a strangled cough.

There might not be any vital organs in the shoulder but you have muscles and blood vessels and nerves and some fragile bone arrangements up in there. The subclavian artery is coming right off the aorta and that’s a high pressure way to bleed out! And while we know he’s bleeding out, there’s a chance of bleeding on the interior, too. Kyle will still have him in a no-visitors state of alert a full day later, and Alice will notice Lancelot looks TERRIBLE. Lancelot, whose body was so weak he could barely walk already, is seriously injured here.

To make matters worse, Lancelot is not mentioned again at ANY TIME after this point. He falls to the ground and is apparently just lying there on the floor, bleeding, quietly suffering, while the rest of the action takes place. His inability to speak earlier might have been him being stunned by the hit but for all we know his continuing silence is the result of going into shock.

This is an awful time to remember all his years of loneliness and self-isolation as he lies dying!

Sirius: "Don't speak, Lance! You don't have to say anything!"

To add insult to injury to this tragedy, Lancelot has been planning to sacrifice his life to save everyone in Cradle one day. But Sirius and Alice forced his hand, and Lancelot is going to die having only saved Sirius for another 10 seconds before Amon’s gun doesn’t miss a second time…

Sirius stepped forward, standing directly between Amon and Lancelot, and it was clear from his expression that he was determined to protect him. He stood silent and tall as Amon turned the gun towards him again.

WYD, Sirius? Sirius is literally bringing fists to a gunfight. Lancelot is also bleeding all over the floor and can someone, idk, help him? Alice? Go put some pressure on the wound or something?

Please remember where Sirius is standing, because someone is going to join him in a minute...

Amon: "It would appear one grave is not enough."

Lancelot’s life holds such little meaning Amon doesn’t even note the loss of his hold over a King and an army. Awful.

Alice attempts to dash forward to protect Sirius (Lancelot’s sacrifice is already forgotten 2 lines later) but due to her trembling legs, tumbles over and loses a shoe. It’s her first fight and she just saw a man get shot, so it’s understandable. I guess.

Sirius: "Stay back, [Alice]!"

Amon: "Farewell, Queen of Spades."

Sirius stood resolute and proud, his gaze fixed on Amon as he protected both Lancelot and I.

??? [Harr]: "That's enough." A bright light filled the room, and a new figure appeared before my eyes.

Harr appearing when the stakes are high like a goddamn hero!

Lancelot sacrificed himself to protect Sirius and now Harr comes in to protect--well, now that’s where it gets really good!

Harr: "Stand back, Alice."

Alice: "Harr?!"

Sirius: "What are you doing here?!"

Harr only glanced at me briefly before walking straight towards Sirius. At the same moment someone else grabbed my hand, helping me to my feet, and I stared at them in confusion.

Harr did not come specifically for Alice. He spares her a glance and leaves her to Loki, who surely bee-lined for her. Loki is always the one watching out for Alice under normal circumstances through various routes.

Harr walks straight towards Sirius but doesn’t speak to him. Is he going to protect Sirius, who is standing in front of a gun with nothing but his fists?

Loki: "Stay here with me, out of the way, okay?"

OUT OF THE WAY WITH ME, because Harr doesn't want Loki fighting, either. Loki is only there as back-up. Harr will protect Loki, who will protect Alice. In Loki's route, Harr didn't bring Loki along to the fight against the Magic Tower. This, however, is a rescue mission, and he could use the help to gather everyone up for transport. We already know from Jonah’s route that Harr keeps a close eye on Cradle so of course he was aware of this group kidnapping from the front.

Alice, to Loki: "And who are you?"

Loki: "Oh, we haven't met, have we, Alice? I'm Loki. I'm Harr's pupil, and his partner in crime!"

(So you're with Harr? That means I can trust you, right?)

Considering Sirius has been thinking Harr was lying for 7 years, this is really cool of Alice. Not very smart of her, though, considering the two times she’s interacted with Harr, he’s been rather confrontational. But I appreciate her willingness to believe Harr and Loki are there to help.

Sirius: "The Cheshire Cat? What are you doing here?"

First Sirius asked Harr that question and now to Loki. This only encourages the idea that Sirius knows next to nothing about Harr. Harr has become an acquaintance at best, dropping off letters with FYIs on them or dropping by in person to provide warnings. Since Sirius decided to believe what Harr told him 7 years ago about 3 minutes ago, you’d think he would understand why Harr is there now.

Loki, smiling at Sirius: "You don't have to glare at me like that!"

Sirius is GLARING at him. Under these circumstances. While Alice accepts they mean to help, Sirius is thinking poorly of their arrival. When there is a gun in his face. He isn’t very good at picking his battles, is he? It’s understandable then why Lancelot would later say he thinks an apron and watering can suit Sirius best (lol).

Loki: "I mean, Harr and I went to all the effort to come and save you in the coolest way possible."

Sirius, shocked: "What?"

He... legitimately didn't think Harr and Loki came to save them when they first arrived...

As we stared at Loki in surprise, he looked around the room, his smile cold and hard.

Loki, frowning now: "It's been a long time since I've been here, but this tower's as depressing as ever."

Harr, determined side look: "Loki, save the chatter for later. Stay focused."

Loki: "Okay, okay." Loki's smile turned cheerful again, and he moved to stand in front of me.

I peered around [Loki's] shoulder, to where Harr stood at Sirius's side, staring at Amon.

REMEMBER THAT SIRIUS IS STANDING IN FRONT OF LANCELOT, PROTECTING HIM FROM AMON.

MEANING HARR WENT TO STAND IN FRONT OF LANCELOT TO PROTECT HIM. I REPEAT, HARR BYPASSES ALICE TO STAND IN FRONT OF LANCELOT.

Sirius is standing in front of Amon’s gun with nothing but his fists and Harr doesn’t even stand in front of him.

Remember Harr told Loki to STAY FOCUSED. This is a rescue mission. Time is of the essence. Lancelot has been on the floor, silent since he got shot, and Alice never mentions him again, meaning Lancelot probably isn’t moving or struggling. Harr looked at the room, assessed who needs his direct protection, and apparently decided it was Lancelot. And he heads straight for him with barely a side glance at anything else.

Amon to Harr: "You have some nerve to stand before me so shamelessly, you outcast. To think you would slip beyond the borders, and waste your time raising a stray cat--"

‘To waste your time’ is curious, and leaves questions about what Harr did in the Magic Tower. He could have done research with them, been one of their experiments, or both.

Loki: "That's right! And thanks to him, I've grown up to be quite a proficient wizard myself!"

(It sounds like you both have some sort of connection to the Magic Tower.)

Loki: "Say, Amon! You didn't even realize we were keeping a close eye on the front lines, did you?"

Loki: "You've spent so long holed up in this smelly tower that your instincts have grown dull! I can't believe you just let us invade you like this!"

This isn't idle chatter—Harr told him to FOCUS. Loki is provoking Amon on purpose, distracting him, riling him up.

Amon: "How dare you--" Amon's voice was thick with anger, and he raised his gun again.

Harr, eyes glowing red: "Don't make another move."

Amon: "Nngh!"

A sudden, furious wind whipped forth from Harr's hand, sending Amon's gun flying away to clatter somewhere out of sight.

Harr went for a push-back spell. Compared to the aggressiveness with which he attacked Lancelot, he seems to be trying to limit the damage to himself and to those around him. He is clearly on the defensive with this rescue mission. This is part of what makes me think Harr was not prepared to take on the Magic Tower at this time. Sirius and Alice’s plan pulled the rug out from under Lancelot and Harr both.

Disciple: "Lord Amon! Protect-- Lord Amon!" One of the fallen men lifted his head, his voice hoarse but desperate, and the others began to wake as well.

Sirius: "These guys are surprisingly stubborn."

The men were still sprawled on the floor, but they raised their Magic Crystals, their gazes focused on Harr.

(Okay, that's not good! Just how strong is your magic, Harr?!)

Harr: "Sirius, we need to retreat for now. Loki, bring Alice here."

This is the first thing Harr says to Sirius since he arrived. Harr has not spoken to Lancelot, but Harr has been standing in front of him this whole time, protecting him. Sirius and Harr are able-bodied but Harr uses his position, by Lancelot, to draw Loki and Alice over. This is surely in respects to Lancelot, who is a grown man and probably shouldn’t be moved in his condition.

Loki: "Got it! C'mon, Alice."

Alice: "Okay!"

Loki grabbed my hand, and we ran over to where Sirius and Harr were standing.

Lancelot isn’t even MENTIONED and it’s BIZARRE. Just a single line noting Sirius crouching down to check on Lancelot would have been nice considering Lancelot saved his life.

Loki, eyes glowing red: "We're ready! Our escape scene has to look flashy, okay?!"

Harr, eyes glowing red: "Hold tight to Loki and I."

My thought of how they are sorted in a circle: Loki-Alice-Sirius-Harr-Lancelot-Loki. We will see, in a moment, Sirius and Alice reaching for each other, so Alice is doubtfully between Loki and Harr. Alice is to hold onto Loki, who held her hand, while Sirius is to hold onto Harr, who is standing next to him. The one who will hold onto Loki and Harr—or rather whom Loki and Harr will need to hold onto—is Lancelot.

Amon: "Stop!!"

Harr and Loki's eyes flashed red, and a brilliant light seemed to swallow us all up.

I'm getting so dizzy! Am I floating?!

Sirius: "[Alice]!"

I could barely see Sirius, but I felt his hand grab hold of mine, pulling me towards him. Then everything went black as I passed out.

Harr has noted Loki’s raw magic in other routes/stories, and we’ve seen Loki’s magic being incredibly strong, so between Harr and Loki’s transport spell, the pressure is surely intense.

Alice wakes up at Red Army HQ. She’s brought up-to-date by Zero.

Zero: "You and Sirius saved King Lancelot's life—the Red Army has no intention of harming you."

I'm sorry Alice and Sirius did WHAT?

Alice: "Wait--what? How long have I been out?!"

Even Alice is confused by this retelling!

Zero: "Long enough. Sirius told us everything."

Sirius you dirty, dirty liar. Sirius and Alice put Lancelot’s life in danger. Harr and Loki saved Lancelot's life—and Sirius’s life and Alice’s life. Harr, who has been a wanted man for 11 years, could use some positive publicity, you know!?

It made sense for Sirius to make up a lie in Lancelot’s route about who saved who what when where, because he was covering up the fact Lancelot passed out from his magic. Although Sirius was 0.2 seconds from leaving Lancelot passed out alone in the woods then, he ended up helping for Alice’s sake. Here though? To me, it looks like he’s spinning this tale to make himself look better. He was the one who wore a “triumphant smile” in front of two armies when he provoked the Magic Tower. He should be ashamed of just how badly things could have gone if Harr hadn’t appeared.

Suddenly it all made sense, and I frowned as memories of what happened in the Magic Tower came flooding back. Honestly, I wish I could forget all of it. That was horrible! But we're free. We're safe. And it was Harr and Loki who saved us.

PLEASE TELL THE RED ARMY THIS, ALICE, I BEG YOU. FIND A NEWSPAPER. GET IT PRINTED.

Zero: "The Joker's magic brought you, Sirius, and King Lancelot here to our headquarters. The Cheshire Cat came to the front lines to let us know, and to take Kyle back to treat King Lancelot. The rest of us turned around and marched straight home. The Joker and the Cheshire Cat apparently vanished again once they'd dropped you and then Kyle off."

I want to put this part into it’s own, special post one day because it’s near and dear to my heart. Of all the places Harr could have taken them, he took them into the heart of enemy territory: Red Army HQ.

This means Harr, who was standing by and protecting Lancelot the whole time in the Magic Tower, prioritized Lancelot’s safety over EVERYONE else's. Harr is a wanted man and Loki is suspicious af and Alice has a target on her back as a threat to the Red Army.

But especially Sirius, the enemy Queen, was dropped right into Red Army HQ – WHEN THE TWO ARMIES WERE ON THE WAR FRONT. How did the Red Army soldiers react to this!? Did Sirius have to hole up in a room to hide?? In the broom closet maybe???

It’s also important to note that Harr brought Lancelot to a safe place and then had Loki bring Kyle to them. Loki leaves after they arrive to go get Kyle from the front lines. We know Loki and Kyle are friends, and it makes sense to send someone whose face isn’t planted all over wanted posters. Kyle was hella pissed that morning so I can only imagine his wrath upon seeing the state of Lancelot now. It’s for the best that Lancelot is probably unconscious at this point.

Actually, Sirius might have lied about the events because of Kyle. Kyle might be a caretaker, but... sound of a gun cocking. You bet Sirius will say he saved Lancelot’s life in order to spare his own. (But if we think that, that’s not heroic at all, either lol)

Meanwhile, Alice has passed out and I want to believe Sirius passed out, too, at least for a few minutes. Even if Sirius is still good to go, I imagine this being like in Lancelot’s Route where his priority is checking on Alice.

Either way means Harr had a one-on-one moment with Lancelot, who is severely wounded. Yes, I do headcanon what kind of look is on Harr’s face and my heart grows three sizes. (This is one of the His POV fics I plan to write up. The initial idea for this post was to show all my canon evidence lol)

Loki returns with Kyle, and Harr leaves it to the expert. Harr and Loki take off without explaining anything further. Alice and Sirius are left behind at Red Army HQ.

Alice: "Wait, is King Lancelot okay?!"

Zero: "He managed to cheat death this time. Although he's only just regained consciousness."

Note that means he was out for a whole day.

Lancelot cheated death --> Harr reached into the jaws of death (read: the Magic Tower) to help pull Lancelot out. Lancelot and Harr might have had a rough hill to climb in this route, but Harr wants Lancelot to live to see better days. Jonah’s route supports this.

Zero's smile deepened, and I sank back against the bed as all the tension drained out of me at last.

Off topic but I just love how Zero is always so good. Always. Zero is the collaboration of Harr, Edgar, and Lancelot’s kindness and it shows.

Alice: "Thank goodness! I'm so glad he's okay!" (If something had happened to him, after all he'd done-- no tears would ever have been enough to lament his loss.)

Alice is valid.

A little more talking, and—

Zero: "Then I'll take you to our infirmary. King Lancelot is waiting for you and Sirius. He said 'I need to tell the both of them everything.'"

Lancelot waited until Alice woke up to talk to Sirius. He put them on an equal level despite his history with Sirius.

Let’s jump to the infirmary—

Lancelot was lying on a bed at the back of the room, his shoulder wrapped firmly in bandages.

Lancelot asks Kyle to step out so he can talk to Sirius and Alice in private.

Kyle: "Sirius and [Alice]--by all rights, he's in no condition to have visitors. Watch him for me, and make sure he doesn't overdo it."

Sirius: "We will."

Me, the narrator: They don’t.

With Kyle having just said he shouldn't be having visitors and Zero noting Lancelot only regained consciousness recently, this is quite possibly Sirius and Lancelot’s first interaction since the Tower.

([Lancelot] You're so pale and drawn. You were already pushing yourself just to stand on the battlefield, weren't you? And then you took a bullet for Sirius. If you'd made one wrong move, you'd be dead by now.)

Recall how Lancelot literally brought his doctor to the front lines with him. Alice even noted Kyle’s presence at that time.

Alice is super valid for acknowledging all that Lancelot has done and has tried to do at the cost of hurting himself. She was also the one to theorize what could be going on with Lancelot, why he’s been acting the way he did, while Sirius didn’t think much about it at all beyond his dislike of it.

Meanwhile Sirius jumps STRAIGHT into a line of questioning. Sirius certainly isn’t one for apologies or thank yous. (On top of the I love yous he won’t give Alice, but I digress.)

Sirius: "All this time you've been struggling like a fool, not saying a word, not telling anyone-- not even me." Sirius's face was twisted with anger and sorrow was he stared down at Lancelot.

Lancelot lay still on the bed, but he met Sirius's gaze directly, never looking away.

Lancelot being so honest and open warms my heart. He’s usually closing his eyes or looking away or being impassive, but not now. Lancelot is so goddamn tired we’ve gotten into the soft, wholesome interior at last.

Lancelot: "Amon is not a man easily deceived. He has eyes everywhere, constantly monitoring everything. A single wrong move would've brought ruin on us all. I couldn't lay such a heavy responsibility on my men."

This would have been a good point to have Sirius look at least a bit ashamed about his brash actions. Or to apologize. Sirius wasn’t wrong to try to force Lancelot’s hand when the battle was about to start, but knowing what he knows now, he could at least acknowledge he didn’t think things through at all.

Lancelot: "I couldn't tell Harr, either. I didn't want him to get dragged any further into the red darkness that's plagued my family for generations. The Magic Tower was still after him, and I thought the only safe place for him was to stay outside Cradle."

His voice was so dispassionate as he slowly revealed the truth of his past that he'd kept hidden for so long. But behind that calm voice, I could sense the loneliness that occupied his heart, as well as the kindness.

Lancelot struggled for so long on his own, trying to protect everyone, and the emotional loneliness made him cold. By driving Harr out of Cradle, he sentenced Harr to a physical loneliness. The whole situation is just so incredibly tragic. Lancelot’s love ended up hurting those he loves the most. And even though Harr was effected the most by him, Harr still prioritized protecting Lancelot in the end, all without Lancelot or anyone else needing to explain anything.

Lancelot: "And there's a very simple and obvious reason why I didn't tell you [Sirius]. You hate war, don't you?"

Sirius: "What?"

Sirius's voice was soft and startled as the word tumbled from his lips. Lancelot's deep blue eyes looked almost gentle as he gazed up at his old friend.

Lancelot: "I don't care how suited your skills are to being a soldier, an army uniform has never suited you. An apron and a watering can-- that's what suits you best."

A simple life for a simple man. Wholesome. Also who brings nothing but fists to a magic/gun fight? Apparently a florist (lmao).

Sirius: "Lance..."

(All this time you've been acting so hostile towards Sirius, and yet this is why. This is what you really wanted for him. To realize his own dream.)

YES, beautiful.

Although it’s disappointing that Lancelot’s own dream, to end the dispute between Red and Black territories, was never taken up by Sirius. Lancelot we know is always looking after both Red and Black Army soldiers--he tries to limit the damage between them. I wish Sirius could have either at least been a little suspicious that this is occurring (Lance stopped another fight??) or tried to soothe the animosity on the Black Army side towards the Reds.

Meanwhile Harr acknowledges Lancelot’s dream (Jonah’s route) but he’s not in a position to do anything about it beyond interacting with Lancelot directly. Harr tries to use both the carrot and the stick (lol).

Alice: "King Lancelot... I'm so sorry for the awful things I said to you, in the forest. I was so angry, and I really thought you didn't understand how Sirius felt. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Lancelot: "You don't need to worry about that, Alice. I was annoyed, but-- I was also glad. Glad that Sirius had someone like you at his side." I'd never seen Lancelot smile like that, and it made me feel better, but a moment later his smile faded again, his gaze dropping away.

Lancelot just wants his friends to be safe and happy... Now that Sirius has wrung out all the information, he doesn’t have anything to say about wanting Lancelot to find happiness, too...

Lancelot: "When you first came to Cradle, and my underling tried to attack you without my permission, they reported to me that Sirius was guarding you. Knowing that, I felt sure you'd be safe from harm."

Lancelot: "But eventually the Magic Tower caught wind of your existence. Even a man like Sirius is no match for them. I took you because I thought you'd be safer her, where I could see you."

Sirius is a fine protection against army grunts but he’s also the type of man to bring fists to a magic/gun fight, so Lancelot's assessment is absolutely correct.

Note in Loki's route, Lancelot is so incredibly OK with leaving Alice in Loki’s (and Harr's) care that he revokes the order for her capture.

Lancelot: "But clearly you are not a woman who needs protecting." I'd already guessed his reasoning, but to hear it said aloud, in such a soft, pained voice, made my heart ache.

I’m sorry, which woman? Her legs were trembling so much she fell and lost her shoe in the big climatic fight. Both Sirius and Harr told her to stand back and Loki went to protect her. But Lancelot was probably unconscious so of course he doesn’t know this part (lol).

Also the fact that Sirius told everyone Alice and he saved Lancelot, Lancelot might be saying this based off a lie...

Lancelot: "I thought that if we attacked the Black Army and forced them to surrender, Amon would be so overjoyed that he'd become careless. In that moment, I intended to take him down, even if it meant sacrificing myself. But things didn't go as planned."

Technically this misadventure did save Lancelot's life, because Lancelot planned to go it alone to take on Amon. He only made it out alive because of Harr, though.

In this house we love and support Harr, who is a true hero.

Although keep in mind that AMON IS STILL AT LARGE. He has not been defeated. Why he didn’t destroy Cradle or start going after all the soldiers when he swore he would is rather curious.

Lancelot clenched his hand into a fist, his expression twisting as he stared down at his white knuckles.

(How much have you sacrificed, to protect those around you? Yet you were willing to sacrifice more-- to give up everything.)

Harr is literally being kept in exile because of Lancelot. Lancelot is hurting Harr every day to save him. Lancelot is hurting himself time and time again to fend off Amon's attacks. Lancelot turned his back on Sirius, his best friend, to keep him out of this mess completely. Lancelot even refers to himself as a beast in his own route for having taken Amon’s hand, even though he had no choice but to do so.

Lancelot did give up everything. Everything but the army he hoped would lead Cradle to a better future after he died.

He gave up everything but Harr made sure he didn’t give up his life.

Sirius: "Because I left my dearest and most valued friend all alone, for all those long years."

The smudged, forgotten writing on Sirius’s hand: ham

#ikerev spoilers #my ikerev #lancelot kingsley #harr silver #harlance #sirius oswald #sirius's route #when i say rambling i mean rambling #long post

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clerichoard · 6 years ago

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long distance charges

finn & imbris, rockband au, 1.7k

a thousand miles really puts a dent in the phone bill.

for @darlingicarus for what may have been a prompt at one point

Finn's been away for a month when he gets the call.

“Charlie is lost without you,” Imbris says. “He won't stop calling me bro, and we both know how I feel about that.”

Finn grins at on the other side of the line, hearing the scowl in his voice even across the country.

“Ay, just tell him I miss him or something. Buy him a beer and say it's from me,” he offers. “Still gonna be a while. Family shit.”

Said 'family shit’ was his parents requesting that while the band was on break from touring that he spend the whole holiday season with them. After about a week they were sick of him and both went travelling for work until Christmas, leaving him all alone in a huge house in New York. For three more weeks.

Imbris sighs into the phone. “Yeah, I'll tell him. He's real put out, Finnley.”

Finn closes his eyes and bites his lip against asking if Imbris misses him too. So far they've avoided having any conversation that involved feelings other than the song that clearly put all of Finn's on display.

Instead he says, “So, you ever have phone sex?”

Imbris hangs up on him.

Finn is staring up at the ceiling of his room with a glass of some expensive ass liquor from the cabinet resting on his chest and his phone up to his face. He sends a simple, “u up” to Imbris' and waits.

The phone begins buzzing in his hands and Finn promptly drops it directly onto his face. He also manages to answer it with his nose.

“-really sent me a booty call text!” Imbris is saying once Finn manages to get the phone to his ear.

“You do have a great ass,” he points out. Imbris snorts.

“Oi, isn't it like-” There's a pause as Imbris struggles to get the time difference right. Finn doesn't even try. “-2 am there?”

“Probably,” Finn agrees. “Been drinking. Expensive shit.”

“You're drinking with your family at 2 am?” Imbris sounds appalled but not surprised. Finn guesses it has to do something with his own personality.

“No family for another two weeks,” he says, taking a long sip from his glass as he sits up. “Big empty house with lots of good alcohol.”

There's a beat of silence. Then: “Sounds like you're having fun.”

Finn shakes his head and then remembers Imbris can't see him. “M'not. Wish…I was with you,” he mumbles. He can almost see Imbris in his head, sitting on his own bed in his shitty LA apartment he barely uses. For a moment his brain pretends that they're both on the same bed. It's nice.

Imbris still hasn't said anything.

“I'm drunk, baby,” Finn finally says through a yawn. “And tired.”

Imbris sighs, quiet and soft. “Go to sleep, Finn. Night.”

“G'night,” Finn mutters as he lays back down, moving the glass to his table.

In the morning he finds his phone still on a call with Imbris on his pillow. He can hear soft snoring on the other line.

“Please be serious, for just one fucking moment, Finnley.” Imbris’ angry scowl fills the screen and Finn grins back at him with raised eyebrows.

“Your ass looks great in both,” he tells him. Imbris scoffs and flips to the back facing camera. He's holding up another pair of jeans in his hand.

“Just doesn't scream press conference to me,” he mutters as he turns to one side, examining the outfit from another angle. Finn bites his lip and looks him over from head to toe.

“Not a whole lotta things to scream about at press conferences,” Finn says. “Though I'm sure I could change that if-”

Imbris squawks and Finn has the great delight of seeing Imbris’ face turn dark red as he frantically presses a button on the phone and looks around at the store behind him. Finn laughs loudly, and even though he's sure Imbris muted him in time the reaction was priceless.

Imbris takes the phone back into the fitting room with him and only then does he unmute it and scowl at Finn.

“I am in public,” he hisses down at the phone. “Do you have any self control?”

Finn raises an eyebrow. “Sometimes. Kept my hands off you for like a year, didn't I?”

Imbris rolls his eyes and sets the phone down as he moves out of view.

“I don't know why I thought you'd be helpful,” he's saying off screen. “I should really stop having any expectations, whatsoever.”

“That's how I live my life, you're never disappointed, babe,” he sing-songs, and he can hear Imbris’ groan off screen. His head pops back in and his hair is a mess from the shirt he's just pulled on. Finn feels the urge to fix it for him- but he's a thousand miles away.

“The first jeans,” Finn says, seriously. “They're less slutty and the press will dig that. The second pair are for me when I get back.” He grins and wiggles his brows. Imbris’ face goes red, again, and Finn feels an enormous amount of satisfaction at it.

“Good bye, Finnley.” Imbris scowls and Finn wishes he was fast enough to screenshot it as the call ends.

Finn uploads the video and ten minutes later his phone begins to vibrate across his bedside table. He doesn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who it is.

“Hey, babe,” he answers, grinning already.

“Don't you hey, babe me you- you shit,” Imbris is growling on the other side. “You absolute prick! You can't just- you can't just upload something like that!”

Finn has the video open on mute on his laptop in front of him and laughs loudly. He feels stupidly warm and giddy.

“Why not? Thought the lyrics were pretty good,” he quips. Imbris squawks on the other line.

“You can't just- write a Christmas song! About-” Imbris hesitates. “-About your feelings.”

“Dunno, writing a love song worked pretty well for me the first time. Thought it might make you remember how I feel,” Finn says, almost seriously. “Left out the lyric about my boner for you, if that helps.”

He hears the distinct clatter of a phone being dropped and Imbris shouting shit as he scrambles to pick it up. Finn bites his lip and imagines the dumb little scowl Imbris definitely has on his face.

“Please don't upload any songs about your boner, ever,” Imbris says after he finally gets back on the line.

“No promises,” he laughs. There's a moment of quiet and Imbris starts to say something then cuts himself off, twice.

Finally, he says, “When's your flight home?”

Finn's heart jumps in his chest. Home. He'd never really thought of LA as home before but now- it's where the band is and his favourite taco shop and that gay bar that plays their music and, well, Imbris. This big empty mansion was never really where he belonged.

“Next week,” he replies. “Two days after Christmas. Why? You miss me?”

It takes Imbris a moment to scoff and say no, you shit like he always does but Finn smiles anyways.

“Get ready for New year's, babe, we're gonna get trashed out of our minds,” Finn tells him, laughing at the inevitable groan.

“See you in a week, idiot,” he says.

Finn unmutes his video and puts the phone microphone right up the laptop right as the lyric ‘Christmas is lonely without you,’ plays.

The flight home is the worst one Finn's ever been on. It gets delayed in the layover in Dallas and Finn spends three hours hating every person in the airport. He only gets stopped by two fans and he makes a note to tweet out an apology to them for being in a mood later.

He texts Imbris and lets him know his flight was delayed and to have a beer opened for him once he gets to his apartment. He gets the rolly eye emoji in return.

The LA flight is worse, even in first class. There's heavy turbulence most of the way due to a large storm sitting over the west coast and Finn is too queasy to even consider drowning his mood in alcohol.

Thankfully the plane lands safely and Finn only has his carry-on because he's sure with his luck any checked bag would've been lost.

He strolls through the airport with sunglasses on since he's sure the bags under his eyes are less than appealing and only takes them off for security. He's already halfway through a text to Imbris at the arrivals gate when he hears a loud, “Oi!”

He looks up sharply and watches as Imbris comes barreling through the crowd to launch himself at Finn. He barely has enough time to steady himself as Imbris’ arms wrap around his neck and his legs are around his waist.

The kiss is a hard press of lips and Finn can't help but grin against it even with his sunglasses pressed awkwardly into both of their faces.

Imbris pulls back a moment later with a scowl as he shoves the sunglasses up into Finn's hair. Finn takes a moment to stare a him, grinning, and notes the dark shadows under his eyes as well. His hair is artfully mused and his t-shirt is ripped at the collar and the jeans-

“You're wearing the jeans,” Finn gasps. He clings to Imbris’ ass like a lifeline and bounces his knees. “You wore the jeans!”

Imbris grins wickedly as he takes Finn's face in his hands and kisses him. This time Finn kisses him back, with all the pent up frustration of not being able to do this for almost two months.

Someone clears their throat and they both pull away. Finn blinks as he notes both Charlie and Jarli standing nearby raising their eyebrows.

Finn drops Imbris, Imbris squawks, Charlie and Finn bro-hug for a long minute. A fan comes over and they all pose for a photo.

Finn can't stop staring at Imbris.

Later, when they're laying in bed, naked, Imbris put his head on his chest.

“I missed you,” he says. Finn beams down at him.

“I missed you too.”

#r: a mistake #ch: finn #t: writing #friends ocs #did i write this in december? maybe so #i also dont remember what the prompt was fkhdh #theyre so stupid and i love them!

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ghostmartyr · 6 years ago

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Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 4]

Going into the fourth badge with a full team of six! Rocking!

Here we are:

Puff (Dratini)

Sylarana (Serperior)

Stella (Poliwhirl)

Nessy (Milotic)

Itsy (Cubchoo)

Caspet (Haunter)

Looking like a real squad, guys. Lesgo.

The bridge is still out, so it’s out to the desert we go.

...Ah, it’s the anime hair scientist.

Colress. He invites us to a duel in the desert route.

...I thought it was a joke that this lady just keeps picking fights with me every single time I try to pass through the route, but no. No. That’s what really happens. Ugh.

I can’t remember if Colress is really a bad guy or just a driven scientist guy.

In any case, he has a level 21 Magnemite out first. Nessy is handling it since I have nothing to deal Electric pokemon really and Nessy has a ton of HP. And yay, that doesn’t come back to bite me.

Level 23 Klink up next. Nessy Refreshes and Recovers back to the health the Magnemite took. Taking too long to beat back the Charges, so Sylarana’s going to try to be helpful. And hey, that’s all it takes. Fight done.

Ack, I don’t think this is the sort of place I can do anything with without wireless and the like.

I love how so many business people in this world see a random ten-year-old and decide that they are the best person they could possibly ask for to manage their affairs while they run off doing whatever.

I’m just going to ignore this place and take advantage of the Pokemon Center past it.

Hello, we have a new route.

HELLO!

Oh.

Wait.

...Did I...

Oh crap. I took a break in between catching Puff, so I forgot all about buying poke balls. Aha. Okay then. Okay. We got this. It’ll be fiiiiine. I’ve got two more whole chances to make sure that it’s fiiine.

One try left.

Come on.

You know you want to be on the team, buddy.

...Fine, you don’t. Damn it. Dead route.

...

While we’re here adding injury to insult.

Sorry Sylarana. Maybe naming you after a dead snake from a fanfic was a bad idea after all.

Dead route and dead pokemon.

This is shaping up to be a pretty harsh run.

Okay. Poke Balls bought.

The outside of Desert Resort has Magmar.

I’m just going to casually avoid trainers in the rest of the Resort until I find the castle place, aka new route for new friend.

If only I were actually any good at avoiding trainers. So far I’ve fought two.

Okay, this time, we’re going to keep from losing anyone in the process of getting a new friend. Agreed? Agreed. Awesome.

Oh.

...No can do.

Poliwhirl is one thing, since Poliwhirl can still be Politoed, but I used a Granbull in my Elite Four battles in the first version. Can’t repeat that. Dang it.

Larvitar’s down here as well.

No Sylarana and an Electric Gym next. I need to find a new route.

Route 5, help me out here.

Bianca!

She gives us Fly!

...Do we have anything that can learn Fly?

She also introduces us to Hidden Grottos, which I had forgotten all about and don’t really mean much to Nuzlockes.

I’ll say hi to it. If it’s randomized, this is my catch option, if it’s not, let’s just call Hidden Grottos liminal spaces that don’t have real route significance.

Not randomized. Bye bye Minccino. Now we go explore the grass.

I have a Water team. Yike.

This thing is not proving easy to catch.

But catch it I shall! Your name shall be Frill, and please do not take it personally that I’m going to go to another route to find things.

Oh dear.

Boruto, I expect great things from you. Please do not disappoint.

Meanwhile the next thing I see on this route is an Emboar.

No offense, Boruto, but my journey to find a new route continues.

Help me Obi-wan Keforest. You’re my only hope.

...Don’t I need a Dusk Stone or something to evolve you?

Um. If it keeps using Charge Beam it’s going to kill Nessy.

I can choose to catch it, or I can choose to run.

...Wait, can I run when Bind is used?

No, no I can’t.

Um.

This is.

Distressing.

I feel like I’m watching Nessy die in slow motion.

Heeeeeeeeeey.

Omchomp, welcome.

Hm. I have some choices to make regarding me team, but first thing first, I’m going to raise Boruto a level. There are Basculin and Lampent where we caught him.

Soooooo.

Now there’s the question of what to add to the team. Ninjask is cool as heck, and I’m not opposed to using one. Shedinja is a delightful, chaotic choice for a Nuzlocke. Using both isn’t something I think my team could survive.

...Okay I can’t resist being that stupid. Shedinja, aka Sasuke. Alllll the way.

Sasuke is Sassy and proud of its power. Fitting.

This is such a dumb idea. I can’t wait to watch what happens.

Let’s see... Fire bad. Flying bad. Ghost maybe bad. Psychic maybe bad.

...Fine, so I know what each type is weak against, but not which types the combination spares or makes worse. Making this an even dumber idea than its initial inception made it appear.

We are so doing this.

tfw I finally am playing at a time that gets me on the Royal Unova! Yay!

Boy howdy do I hope they don’t have things that will kill me dead!

Level 16 Pidove.

I think I’m good.

I swear if a move has a possibility of making me flinch it is doing nothing but making me flinch. I cry.

Oki doki.

The team.

Grinding time.

Ha, so since they couldn’t very well complain about the next Gym Leader still not having the bridge open, this time you can’t go left of Nimbasa due to a crowd of happy people. Gah. Being closed in is a lot more annoying when you have a limited number of resources dependent in part on map size.

OH COME ON THAT’S BULLSHIT.

Sigh.

Sorry, Sasuke.

I’d like to say some words, but well. I always knew I wasn’t really equipped to handle such a gimmicky creature on my team, I just thought it would be funny to try. And that I’d last longer. It’s probably just as well, honestly.

...Sorry this is not the emotional farewell everything else is getting. But let’s be real, we knew this would happen, and I didn’t delay it long enough to get invested.

Also your name is Sasuke. We both knew what this was.

Boruto, welcome to the team!

Uh.

Okay, Giga Drain. Not Itsy’s friend.

Noted.

...Give me a break she was still in the damn green and aaaaaaaaaa.

I am not doing well this run, am I?

Go away I can’t catch you. ;-;

I am so sorry, Itsy.

I wish I could say more, since unlike Sasuke I actually like you, but.

This is hecking bad.

Omchomp gets on the team to fill up a slot. I’m not sure I have the resources to properly train her, and I’m collecting too many creatures who I’m not sure I can fully evolve for my tastes.

But that’s how Nuzlockes go, right? You work with what you have.

Back to grinding. Maybe stick more to wild pokemon than trainers.

Cool, Croagunk is also here.

...

Okay look.

I will admit to being a bad trainer.

But one Bite taking out a pokemon at full health is not generally a foreseeable circumstance when super effectiveness isn’t at play.

-clears throat-

STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

I am so sorry my friend. We will never know how if I might have succeeded in evolving you. That is a weight off my shoulders, but incomparable to the pain of no longer having you.

Ack.

What a mess.

I have to admit, part of me is hoping that I just wipe at this point. Starting over seems way, way simpler than this as it is. And then I ran into a trainer by accident, and the trainer has a lever 25 Watchdog.

Yeah, this will go well.

Eh, not well, but everything’s alive. I’ll take that. My mission at the moment is just training the heck out of Nessy, because she’s the only thing I can say with confidence probably can’t die to one hit from anything currently available.

Huh, I found an Audino. I’d guess I stumbled into wiggly grass without noticing. That’s cute, it’s actually where it’s supposed to be. ...Scratch that, enough of them are showing up that I’m wondering if it’s some time of day thing.

...So see, I have the problem of going on autopilot while I think.

...tfw Nessy is now level 34 and Caspet is 30.

Screenshots taken moments before disaster.

...Then there’s the return of Mightyena plus a Gengar. Not friendly grass, this. Maybe I need to pick another spot to train stuff.

There’s this one trainer here who won’t fight unless I have a Prop Case, which means I can’t avoid the Musical building forever. Well I can. But that would keep me from battling stuff, sooo.

Magnificent.

And random trainer beaten.

Now what.

Carnival rides to drown our sorrows.

Elesa built herself a new Gym. Her old one is now just roller coasters.

I should probably go to the actual Gym.

Ah. A random NPC to let us know that Elesa is in another castle.

Screw it, let’s go to the other castle.

...After finally checking out whatever this is.

Cool. Me and Rosa are going to fight the Subway Bosses. This is the only time this will ever happen in any Nuzlocke ever. Guaranteed.

Yay, we won against the level 26 Gurdurr and Boldore. Despite the horror that is Sturdy rearing its head once more.

Before I go to the Gym, I’m going to head out to the sportsball stadiums and have some fun. Hopeful, optimistic fun where nothing dies.

My solution to all problems now is to throw Nessy at them until they die. With a side of Caspet. The other members of my team are going to gain levels through Exp. Share only, probably. Omchomp is the only one that knows useful stuff and might live through first contact. Puff will one day be mighty indeed, but isn’t yet. Boruto... Boruto’s best move is arguably Leech Life.

Yay, Nessy and Caspet. You two are holding this team together.

That is not your cue to die.

To the Gym.

Ooooh, snazzy. Nicely arranged, Elesa.

She has a level 27 Elekid. Why don’t I have a level 27 Elekid. Or just an Elekid. Elekid is awesome. She also has a level 27 Flaffy. I want that slightly less. It is still of interest.

One mook down. Down the catwalk for another.

The level 27 Flaffy is first this time. Such variety. Then a level 27 Blitzle strikes.

This place has some dang style. Next up is same flavor with Blitzle and Elekid.

Elesa you are clearly amazing but what the actual heck are you wearing.

This is all going to be fine.

We know it’s true because I said so.

Level 28 Emolga out first. Caspet downs it with one Venoshock, then a level 30 Zebstrika takes the stage and panic is felt by all.

Oh lovely. It knows Pursuit. Not taking you out then, Caspet.

This has the makings of pain all over it, but I trust you.

Yay! Another Venoshock did it!

Last up is a level 28 Flaffy. Let’s finish this, Caspet.

Yes!

It was gory and scary, but we did it, gang.

Halfway there.

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge

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dynamite-derek · 7 years ago

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My personal top-10 games of 2017

With 2017 slowly fading, it feels like my favorite games of the year are locked firmly in place. 2017 was a strong year and while it was hard compiling a list of my favorite games, I also feel pretty good about my list. That said, there are some games that I didn’t get around to playing that I feel had a good chance of making my list if I had gotten around to them. They are: Nioh, Resident Evil VII, Trails in the Sky 3 and Golf Story. After I finish Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I think I wanna tackle RE VII. Alas. Only so much time in the day. So, let’s get started.

10-) Splatoon 2 - Not the most original sequel ever made, but I had a lot of fun with it. Splatoon 2 carries a lot of what made the first one so great over to the Switch. There are some new features - including new weapons and a wave-based mode where a squad of human players takes on AI called Salmon Run - but it’s mostly more of the same. Given that this is only the second Splatoon I can look past that. I had a lot of fun with it and am happy that people who couldn’t experience the original on the Wii U can fool around with it now.

9-) Tekken 7 - I have a lot of love for the Tekken series. I remember renting and playing Tekken 3 for hours. I once wrote a way-too-long column about how Tekken 5 was like a love letter to fans. 7 was just a really solid new addition to the franchise. The character customization was super deep and allowed for very unique feeling takes on familiar fighters. It also has both Akuma and Geese, which is the closest we’ll ever get to a Capcom vs. SNK 3 it feels like.

8-) Sonic Mania - I don’t buy into the belief that there has never been a good 3D Sonic game and I certainly don’t buy into there never being ANY good Sonic games. That said, I will definitely say that the series has had far more spotty entries than good ones. When I first beat it, I think I suggested that it was better than Sonic 3 and Knuckles. That’s insane. A Sonic game in 2017 is at least on par with 3+K, a game many consider to be the best Sonic game ever. And it’s made by fans! If I had to describe my experience with Sonic Mania in one word it’d be: joy. Shame Sonic Forces also came out this year, robbing me of all my blue blur joy.

7-) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - It feels insane to me that Zelda is only ranked at 7, but that’s how strong 2017 was to me personally. Breath of the Wild brought an entirely fresh feeling to the very stale Zelda franchise. Honestly, I hated Skyward Sword. I didn’t have a whole lot of hype for Zelda. If it wasn’t a launch game with the Switch, I might have waited to give it a go. ...Obviously the hype around it would have brought me in eventually. And it was totally different. It brought a world that was fun to explore with mechanics that were fun to tinker and experiment with. For weeks, people would post videos of them doing weird things with the various objects in the game. It’ll be interesting to see what a new Zelda game does. Will it be another big open world? Is this the new face of Zelda?

6-) Cuphead - Aesthetically one of my favorite looking games ever made. It legitimately looks like a 1920′s era cartoon in motion. The visuals only aid in how great the game plays. It not only has a retro aesthetic, but in the gameplay department it also brings with it a retro-feeling difficulty. You have to memorize boss patterns, look for visual cues and have a quick trigger finger in order to survive. With the difficulty also comes the sheer joy of beating boss that is just dominating the hell out of you. I feel like I struggled for over an hour on this clown boss. I almost feel like I got lucky even beating him. His stupid charlie horses always popped up at inappropriate times. But when I managed to win, it felt like I really accomplished something. My only complaint about it is that I wish there were no run-and-gun levels. I just wanted to not play them and get back to the boss battles. They felt like an after-thought.

5-) Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - I did not see this game hitting me as hard as it did. I enjoyed the first two Danganronpas and even endured the anime, which served as a conclusion to the storyline that played out in the first two. DRV3 plays much like the first two games, but where it shines is the story. A big twist occurs in the first chapter and the hits just keep coming after that.Then chapter 6 hits and brings with it one of the best plot twists and endings I have ever seen in a video game. I’m not going to spoil the ending in case a person who wants to play DRV3 stumbles across this list somehow, but the last couple hours of the game hits the player hard and makes you think about narrative and story telling in general in a really interesting way. One of my favorite bits towards the end involves real life things about the game, like the logo. It’s just well thought out and compelling. Even if you’ve never played a Danganronpa, play this game. It also introduced my favorite character of the year Kokichi Ouma.

4-) Nier Automata - A sequel to Nier making my personal top-10 list probably isn’t that shocking. What is shocking is that Nier Automata has garnered praise from all over the gaming world and has become something of a surprise hit for Square Enix. There’s a good reason for this. Automata’s visual style, amazing music and depressing story telling help create a compelling world for the player. The story, as everybody is probably aware, is the real star of the show. It makes you ponder about life and humanity in ways rarely touched on in video games. One of the endings to the game, E, is one of the most effective ever. It really speaks to the player. I’m sure I’m not alone in sitting at the decision you need to make and really pondering it. The gameplay is also solid, but honestly a little weak for a Platinum game. Nier Automata feels like a miracle of a game and I’m thrilled that it has taken off as much as it has.

3-) Super Mario Odyssey - This game was just a pure delight. For years, it felt like they just weren’t making Mario games I was terribly interested in. I would never say Mario 3D World was a bad video game, but it just wasn’t what I wanted out of a Mario. It felt like a 2D Mario game in everything but the 3D gameplay. Mario Odyssey brings back the big worlds filled with objects to find seen in 64, Sunshine and Galaxy. The worlds were all really interesting too. I think everybody was excited to see New Donk City (Metro Kingdom), but to actually run around a realistic looking world as Mario really just feels surreal. It’s just great. It’s interesting to think about how Nintendo’s two biggest franchises took two different but equally successful approaches. Zelda completely flipped the script and tried to do something different. Mario refined what made some older Mario games great. Mario felt like a really polished Mario game, and honestly most years that will put it up there as one of the best games of the year.

2-) Yakuza 0 - I had always wanted to try to get into the Yakuza series before this year. The story just seemed too daunting to get into. There’s a lot of it, after all. I decided to give Yakuza 0 a shot because of its nature as the first chronologically in the series. I also saw hilarious screenshots, which helped to further my decision. I was hooked. Yakuza 0 not only tells an amazing story, but it gives you a world with a ton of things to do. There are amazing mini games - I found myself hooked to the Maid Cafe in particular - and a ton of sub stories to experience. You get to meet characters like NOT MICHAEL JACKSON, you can play Outrun, you can become a real estate mogul. Honestly, Yakuza 0 does a better job of creating what feels like a living, breathing city than even a Grand Theft Auto. Also, I just love Goro Majima. This game was so good that I played through Yakuza 1(Kiwami)-5 just to see what would happen to Kiryu and Majima. That’s not an insignificant chunk of playing time. But the world and story weaved by Yakuza 0 was so strong that I knew I wanted to be along for the ride. Play these games.

1-) Persona 5 - I had to think long and hard about whether Yakuza would top Persona. In the end, I honestly feel both games are among my favorite games ever made. Persona 5 seems like a title that was made specifically for me. It is amazingly slick, has some of the best music I’ve ever heard in a video game (Specifically Rivers in the Desert), and features a cast of characters that I really deeply cared about. I wanted to see more of their lives and I was actually sad when Persona 5 ended because I knew it’d be a while before I saw Makoto Niijima or Yusuke Kitagawa again. There are things I’d like to see Persona 6 work on - it’d be great to see your confidants interact with more people for instance - but Persona 5 was a gripping experience and really spoke to me at times. And honestly, sometimes it’s fun to turn your brain off and just grind against demons in a dungeon. It was a close race, but I knew Persona 5 would be my favorite game of the year before the year started. It’s nice to be right for a change.

That’s all for now. I know this is tl;dr, but I wanted to write out my favorite games somewhere.

#Game of the year #video games #opinion #Splatoon 2 #Tekken 7 #Sonic Mania #Breath of the Wild #Cuphead #Danganronpa V3 #Nier Automata #Super Mario Odyssey #Yakuza 0 #Persona 5 #games

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kxmberlyhart · 7 years ago

Photo

Title: The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell

Summary: "Trini sighed and was about to swipe left because she wasn’t interested in looking for love right now. Tinder is just… Tinder. It’s all just a game to her.

That is until she accidentally swipes up.

'You Super Liked Kimberly!'"

Trimberly Week: Day 1: Coffee shop, college, fake dating au

ps. there’s more social media au edits if you read this mess of a story :)

Read @ ao3 (formatting might be a little better?)

D a y 1: Coffee shop, college, fake dating au.

Swipe left. Swipe left. Swipe left. Swipe left. Swipe left. Swipe left. Wait, is that the hot girl who sits in front of me from Environmental Bio class?

Trini lays in bed staring at her phone for a little while, examining the picture on her screen. Tinder app currently displaying the hot girl that sits in front of her in Env Biology class. The girl who asks and answer a lot of questions during class, a beauty and brains girl, no doubt.

Trini knew her name because she was a gay mess when she saw her sit in front of her the first day of class, waiting for the girl’s name to be called. Kimberly Hart. They’ve talked before. “Can I borrow your pencil?” but Kimberly never returned it.

Tinder is just a game to her though. Trini wasn’t desperate or interested to find love at the moment that she has to resort online dating apps to find someone for her, it’s just for fun. It’s a trend that people are doing and there isn’t really any harm in what she’s doing.

Until the girl from Biology appears on her screen.

Kimberly, 20

University of California 2 miles away

UC. Pre-Med student, part-time model. Swimming and Diving Team Captain. California girl, born and raised. Adventure is out there.

Trini looked at Kimberly’s four pictures:

A simple close up picture of her in a daydream state. It features her face which pretty much says it all, profile picture worthy most definitely.

A group photo with two boys right next to her, all of them wearing Anaheim Angels gear, “Ew she likes Angels. Go Dodgers!” Trini thinks to herself, flicking to the next picture.

A professional model picture that captured Trini’s attention, raising her eyebrow in delight, a smile smile twisting her lips upwards.

Finally, a fucking black and white photo that that just killed Trini’s ovaries because holy hell this girl is hot.

Trini presses the lock button and home button of her phone four times, taking a screenshot of each picture.

Seeing that this Kimberly Hart person from the bio appeared on her tinder, it means that her preference is women (or both men and women, but Trini doesn’t care). Trini went back to the home screen of Tinder.

Trini sighed and was about to swipe left because she wasn’t interested in looking for love right now. Tinder is just… Tinder. It’s all just a game to her.

That is until she accidentally swipes up.

You Super Liked Kimberly!

Trini threw her phone as far as she can in her dorm room and hits the wall as she gasped with her eyes wide open, hands frozen in front of her then bringing them to clutch her hair. Panic spread everywhere, ready to pretty much rip her hair and insides until she is dead.

“FUCK!” Trini yells, getting up from her bed and pacing back and forth. “Fuck…” Trini repeats but nothing is helping. “FUCK!” Trini’s palms closes and opens as she breathes in an out to calm herself.

Trini makes her way towards her phone to check if any of it broke. Luckily, nothing is broken but the screen still showed that Trini super liked Kimberly. She exits the app and free falls back into her bed.

“Shit. What the fuck do I do?” Trini lays down on her bed for a solid ten minutes just staring at the ceiling. “Shit!” Trini sits up, “I have class with her tomorrow” Trini cussed then whispered the herself.

Trini reopened the app and looked at her own Tinder profile.

Trini, 20 University of California

Environmental Biology major. The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell I’m 5 feet. Fucking fight me.

“I think I’m gonna nap and just never wake up” Trini crawls on her bed, grabbing the covers and pulling it over her head. Her head drops face first into the pillow, she didn’t breath until she ran out of oxygen.

Trini clenched the pillow and pulled it further into her face and just yelled, “FUUUUUUUUCK!”

Later than night Trini gets ready for bed when she opened her phone and a notification from Tinder appeared.

Congratulations! You have a new match!

“What the fuck” Trini asks as she opens the notification and waits for the app to open.

It’s a Match!

Kimberly Super Liked you!

Then two bubbles with their profile picture side by side.

“Holy shit”

—

Trini lays still in bed, current time: 6:50 AM. Awake an hour earlier than her usual time and she has three hours to get ready before biology with Kimberly. It’s basically killing her inside as time passes by as she doesn’t know how they will interact.

Trini grabs her phone from her nightstand and her heart stops as she sees a notification from Tinder. There could only be one person.

Kimberly sent you a new message

It was date marks at 1:23 AM, meaning Trini was already asleep at that time when Kimberly sent a message.

Kimberly: Hi! So we matched. You’re in Environmental Bio with me right?

Trini debated with herself whether she should respond or not. Of course she should respond, she’s going to have to face this girl in a couple hours. Socializing. Not Trini’s speciality.

Trini: Hi. Yeah.

“Good enough” Trini gets up from her bed and heads to her closet to grab some clothes and off to the shower she goes. Since she woke up really early, it’s probably best to grab some coffee before class to calm her nerves a little bit.

Once Trini got out of the shower, she heard her phone ring and she opens it up to see another notification from Tinder.

Kimberly: We super liked each other and all I get is “Hi. Yeah.” ? Kimberly: It’s probably better to talk in person, yeah? Kimberly: See you in enviro bio later ;)

The wink face killed Trini. She sits down on her bed for a moment then she smiles to herself, unbelieving that she actually managed to find a girl. On top of that, one of the hottest girls she had ever seen in her life.

Trini gets dressed, time check, 8:02 AM, two hours before class. She heads for the campus coffee shop to grab some coffee and catch up on some reading that she had ignored this previous week.

Trini grabs a plain black coffee and heads to the counter where all the milk and sugar are. Filling the cup to the top with milk and adding three packets of sugar. After stirring gently, she takes a sip to see if it’s to her liking, finding it a little bitter, she adds a little bit more milk and one more packet of sugar.

“You sure do like your coffee sweet and creamy, huh?” Trini looks to her left after the person had spoken, finding herself standing next to Kimberly. She stood there with messy, wet hair, assuming she just finished swim and dive practice.

“Uh… Kimberly…” Trini backs up a bit and she hits a person using the counter as well. She spills her full cup of coffee in front of her and Kimberly.

“Ow, ow, ouch” Kim takes her top and pulls it away from the hot liquid that just spilled and Trini does the same, placing her now half cup of coffee on the counter.

“Oh, no,” Trini grabs the napkins and dabs it on Kim’s shirt. “Shit, I’m so sorry, I’m a…” Trini stops then mumbles “gay mess”

“Hey, Trini, right? Easy,” Kimberly says grabbing Trini’s hands to stop her from panicking even further. “It’s okay, I was gonna head home anyway, I always head home after practice.”

“I’m so sorry, Kimberly” Trini mumbles under her breath but Kimberly caught on and smiled at the smaller girl. A finger landed on Trini’s chin and lifted up and she was faced with Kimberly once again.

“It’s okay. Look, my dorm is close by, we can clean up there. I live at the Riverside dorms”

“I live at the Orange dorms. Opposite side of the campus from you” Trini grabs napkins and leans down and cleans up the spill of coffee that was on the ground.

Kimberly does the same, “Ok, my dorm is closer to our class so let’s just go there” Kimberly gets up and throws the dirty napkins away. It’s not that Trini’s scared to go with a stranger to their dorm, it’s more on she’s scared she’s going to Kimberly Hart’s dorm. “I’m not a murderer or anything like that, I promise. Just trust me.”

“Is this how you get all the girls?” Trini teased a little, even as a gay mess she managed to get that one out.

“Just the really cute who’s a gay mess” Kim smirks.

—

“So I didn’t clean prior so excuse the mess” Kimberly twists her door open and Trini entered Kimberly’s dorm. She lives alone just like Trini but Kimberly’s dorm was more high end than Trini’s. A studio type dorm with bigger moving space, a clear living room area, and a kitchen of her own.

Trini saw a bunch of plates stacks on the sink, a couple of clothing thrown around the room. Kim made haste to grab the clothing on the floor and shove them into the closet.

“You have a nice place, Kimberly” Trini says, actually attempting to make conversation, still looking around the room. Everything is nice. All of Kimberly’s items looks like it’s pretty expensive. Trini sits down on the comfy couch watching Kimberly attempt to hide her mess.

“It’s nothing. Also, you can call me Kim. I have a bunch of shirt you can borrow but since you spilled coffee on me, I get to chose what shirt you wear” Kim starts rummaging through her closet, not that Trini minded until she pulls out a familiar red shirt.

“No.” Trini groans when she saw the logo. A red shirt with a big letter A with a halo. “You cannot make me wear Anaheim Angels gear. I’m too proud of a Los Angeles Dodgers fan. I’ll just head home and change, it’s not far.”

“Come on. You spilled coffee on me, wearing this is your apology,” Kim holds the shirt by its shoulders and pushed it towards Trini. “Plus, if you wear this today I’ll like you a lot more”

Trini is at crossroads with herself. The girl or her loyalty to her favorite baseball team.

When is she ever gonna get another chance with a girl like this?

“Fine” Trini takes the shirt into her hand and heads for the bathroom. A small grimace at the shirt she’s holding up but she has to stay strong for the girl. Trini looks at the mirror and takes off her coffee stained shirt and puts on the Angels shirt. “Ew. I’m sorry, Dodgers” Trini steps out and shows Kim her shirt.

Kim smiles as she picks up clothing that she herself needs to wear. “Looks good, I’m going to shower really quick because I smell like chlorine. Hang back and don’t ditch me okay?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, princess”

“Princess?”

“I mean if that’s okay”

Kim smiles at the nickname that she already received, “Completely fine”

—

It’s been a whole week since the two met online. Trini started waking up a little earlier to meet up with Kim at the campus coffee shop every Monday and Wednesday mornings. After grabbing their cup of coffee, they would head to Kim’s apartment where Kim would shower and Trini would just sit on Kim’s couch and browse her phone. Then they would head to class before 10 AM then after class that’s it. They would usually text about themselves to get to know each other better but their relationship right now is basically friendship even though they know there’s something there between them.

They haven’t planned any kind of date yet. The only dates they were having are their campus coffee shop dates and that’s barely a date.

Trini feels a hand grab hers as they walked towards Kim’s dorm, unconsciously wrapping her own hand on Kim’s. Trini looks down at their now intertwined hands then up at a smiling Kim.

“Is this okay?” Kim asks, squeezing Trini’s hand slightly. “I mean… we’re kind of dating, right? Like we haven’t gone on our first date but we’re dating, right?”

“Yeah, I like to think we are” Trini looks down and smiles to herself because this entire thing just feels so right.

“Good because I really like hanging out with you” The two reaches the Riverside building and Kim presses the elevator for them to the fifth floor. “And if you’re free next Thursday,” Kim lets go of Trini’s hand and pulls out two tickets from the pocket of her bag. “I got us tickets to the Angels vs. Dodgers game”

Trini looks at the tickets, official tickets to the game at the Dodgers stadium. “Wow, uhm… are you sure our first date should be a baseball game where we support rival teams?”

“Come on. I know you’re a big baseball fan, I’m not that big of a fan. My friends are huge fans and I go with them every once in a while. This baseball rivalry is not going to ruin our relationship” Kim waves the two tickets in front of Trini with a hopeful smile on her face, “What do you say? First date? Don’t dodge this, dodger” Kim laughed slightly at her own joke.

“Alright, it’s a date” Trini laughs at the witty joke Kim just said. The two reached their floor and Kim opened her dorm room and let themselves inside.

“Can I tell you something? It’s a funny story and it led me to this really great girl, actually” Trini bites her lip as she closed the door behind her. “I use tinder to just look at girls… I always swipe left on everyone even if they’re cute. When I saw you on Tinder, I looked at your pictures and all, as I was about to swipe left, I accidentally super liked you…”

Kim let out a laugh at the silly story, the story that basically started it all. “You said this girl is really great? You like her a lot?” Kim steps forward and takes Trini’s hand in hers, never breaking eye contact.

“I like her a lot”

“I like you a lot too” Kim runs her hand up and cups Trini’s jaw, Kim leans in and kisses Trini’s cheek. “I don’t kiss before the first date”

“You just did”

“I mean on the lips”

“Does that mean i get to kiss you after the game?” Trini smiles up, getting up on her tippy toes and leaning slightly forward to tease Kim.

“Hmm,” Kim smirks and pulls back, “If the Angels win, you can kiss me. If not, you can kiss my ass”

Trini gasps as she pushes Kim slightly away, both of them laughing. “Wow, I can’t believe you. You are the death of me, Kimberly Hart. Making me double cross my team again.”

—

Kim wore her white and red Angels jersey along with an Angels cap while Trini wore her white and blue Dodgers jersey accompanied by a Dodgers cap. The two sat on their seats, sharing a large Dr. Pepper, popcorn, and a hotdog.

Baseball—it’s a fairly uneventful game. There’s a lot of talking going on in the background until the batter hits the ball, then all eyes are on the field seeing the event that unfolds to score a point.

Trini had to admit that a baseball game for a date is actually pretty nice. They both get to talk about themselves, their hands intertwined majority of the time, laugh together, and catch a game that they both enjoy, despite the team rivalry.

Kim laughs every time the Dodgers scored, Trini would jump up her seat and yell along with the rest of the Dodgers fans. Then, Kim would snicker at Trini’s grumbling face every time the Angels scored, planting a kiss on Trini’s cheek to lift her spirits up.

At the end of the game, 3-2 match, meaning the Dodgers wins and Trini was sufficiently happy. They stayed in their seats for a while, waiting for the crowd to thin. They walked out of the stadium hand in hand, they switched hats sometimes during the game, like star crossed lovers amongst their fellow fans.

“So, Dodgers won. That means I don’t get to kiss you” The two arrived at Kim’s car, parking near the streetlight of the almost empty parking lot.

Before Kim unlocked her car, she looks at Trini and saw the smile fade into a small disappointed pout. Kim walks to Trini and grabs her jaw and leans forward to capture her lips. Trini kisses back, her feet tippy toed, hands slowly wrapping around Kim’s waist. Kim pushed her arms to wrap around Trini’s neck.

Their bodies moving closer and Trini’s body slowly sandwiched between Kim and the side of Kim’s car.

A long beeping sound and a bunch of wolf whistles broke them apart. They looked to where the ruckus was coming from. A bunch of guys with their heads hanging out the window and catcalling the two girls kissing.

“Fuck off, assholes” Kim yelled and Trini gave the guys the middle finger. They heard a roar of laughter and eventually they drove off.

“Well that happened” Trini giggled and dropped her head on the top of Kim’s chest, snuggling for warmth and comfort that Kim provided. “I really like kissing you” Trini mumbles into Kim’s shirt. “I really like you…” Trini continued, “Even if you’re an Angels fan” Trini looks up and giggles at Kim.

“And I really like you too… Look at you, hitting first base” Kim leans forward, their noses touching.

“Wow, baseball jokes, witty”

Kim drove Trini to her dorm, kissing her goodnight at the car, almost not wanting to pull back. "Message me when you get to your place?" Trini smiles, pulling back from the kiss, only to receive another kiss.

"Of course"

Trini sits on her bed once she gets to her dorm, taking off the Angels hat that rests on her head and smiling at the eventful first date she just had with an amazing woman. Smiling to herself, still unbelieving that any of today had just happened.

Trini opens her snapchat and checks the snaps that she and Kim had sent to their story.

Kim: Keep the hat. It's a prize for Dodgers winning ;) Trini: Not sure if I wanna keep an Angels hat. Trini: Kinda have a reputation to keep Trini: But bc you're pretty i'll hold on to it Kim: Pretty girl is flattered. Thanks for today, I had a lot of fun. Coffee tomorrow morning? Trini: ofc. Goodnight princess. Kim: goodnight Angel :x

—

“I didn’t understand the entire lesson at all” Kim groans at she exits the class with Trini by her side.

“I kinda get it, I have to read the chapter again to understand even further” Trini says, grabbing on to Kim’s arm and snuggling with it. “Can we study at your place?”

“Of course”

The two walked back to Kim’s dorm. They’ve been dating for the past two months and everything is well. A normal routine of seeing each other every day of the week. Trini wakes up even earlier to grab coffee for the both of them, heads to the pool where Kim trains every morning. Trini would then hand Kim her coffee and both make their way to Kim’s dorm.

With Trini grabbing coffee in the morning for them, it adds time for them to spend together. They grab breakfast sometimes, they hang lazily, they cram their environmental biology lessons before the quiz or test, or they make out. On weekends they often run errands, go on dates, Kim sometimes have competition, Trini makes sure to support her girlfriend. Often Kim is helping her friend, Jason with his photography project and is often the muse. Trini would be sitting in the sideline watching at Kim gets pampered for her mini shoot with Jason, just watching at how beautiful her girlfriend is.

Making out is both their favorite activities. Trini would often just be lying down on Kim’s bed while Kim takes a shower. The next thing she knows, Kim is crawling on the bed and kissing Trini.

“And deleted” Trini drops her phone on the bed and looks over at Kim doing the same thing. They both had just deactivated their Tinder accounts and deleted the app. Both haven’t logged back in the app since they both met and have no intention of ruining just the most perfect relationship they both have been.

“Okay, so tell me what you learned during class and teach it to me” Kim flops on her bed in front of Trini with her textbook and notes open, a bunch of pens, pencils, and highlighters scattered around but only the pink and yellow highlighter used.

“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell”

“Oh God, I cannot believe you, you nerd” Kim sits up and faces Trini. “I remember looking at your Tinder profile and saying how big of a bad ass nerd this chick is”

“I told you, I never took Tinder seriously. It was honestly to turn girls off but I managed to lure your nerdy ‘I’m a smart ass pre-med student and I’m going to be a doctor’ ass” Trini scoffs and laughs, looking down at her textbook and attempting to read the chapter.

Kim just stares at her girlfriend. Scooting a bit more to Trini and wrapping an arm around Trini’s shoulders. Her nerdy, Dodger loving, succulent caretaker, adorable, small girlfriend. “I love you”

Trini looks up from her book and directly into Kim’s sincere eyes. “What?”

“I love you, Trini Gomez” Kim closed her eyes and laughs to herself, bringing her hands together while still holding Trini. “I’m so glad you accidentally ‘Super Liked’ me. I am hopelessly in love with you”

Kim pushes herself up on the bed until she’s forehead to forehead with Trini. Trini smiles, hearing some pens fall off the bed. “I love you too, Kimberly Hart. I’m so happy you actually ‘Super Liked’ me.” Trini releases a giant grin, still unbelieving that this woman actually ‘Super Liked’ her and is now her girlfriend.

Trini feels Kim’s lips on hers and she believes.

Notes:

AN: Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels both play for the MLB. They’re only about 30 mins to an hour away from each other in the Los Angeles vicinity so a lot of people root for their team when they go up against each other. Also, they go to University of California (probably UCLA but it's a fake UC), I didn’t specify which because I don’t want to research that much into it. So fake UC school! Yay!

So I had a Tinder way back when it was popular just for fun because my friends had it for fun. I haven’t used it in forever so I re downloaded it for science (just for u guys, I deleted it again). I hope you guys enjoyed! And enjoyed the pictures I made as well!

Enjoy the rest of Trimberly week! This is the only work I have done so far and hopefully I find the motivation to write more.

#Trimberly #Trimberly Week #Kimberly Hart #Trini #Power Rangers #Trimberly Week Day 1 #social media au #college au #coffee shop au #tinder au #my fic #my post

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