#And most of the origami creatures go missing after a few days

[rajingdragon]

Made a couple more 'gami dinos

[hecohansen31]

Relationship Headcanon Alphabet:

Werewolf! Ivar+Human! Reader+Upir! Roman Godfrey:

(A/N): So... since nobody wanted to send me letters for the relationship headcanon thing... I low key took it upon myself to create something, and as always I hope you like’ll like it!

Also sorry for the annoying spam about this pairing but since I will be out for a week, and won’t be able to write I wanted to be able to write something more for them so that you’ll have a bit of reading material in the following days, without me...

Also if you want to send an ask, about the “Relationship Headcanon Alphabet” please do... I will try to write it either on my phone or as soon as I come home (it doesn’t have to be about this pairing, but also about Michael Langdon, Duncan Shepherd and Jim Mason, bonus if you send asks about my verse, such as... pro biker! Jim, vampire! Michael, Michael+Reader+Succubus).

Thank you for the attention and now here comes a bit of nonsense...

WARNINGS: Mention of Sex (there is a literal letter for kinks, so... be aware children!).

 ·         A for Arguments - How often do you two argue? Who apologises first? How do they make up? etc 

 I honestly feel like most of the arguments would be at the start of their relationship, between the boys and then you would be dragged into them, mostly because they are always about whether you have paid enough attention equally to both (which is impossible in most of the cases).

 Some of them can be pretty explosive, seeing the two assholes you have to deal with but I feel like it would be this way only at first, mostly because they would need to work out their issues, alongside marking their territory (you), since they are two extremely possessive creatures, but in the end they would try their best in order to make you happy, knowing that your politic is: both or nothing.

 The only fight you started was when you discovered three months into the relationship that they were supernatural being and hadn’t told you nothing about it, mostly due to the fact that they didn’t want to scare you; you actually ended up being scared a bit, but you were more enraged because you couldn’t help but feel like the problem of this was that they hadn’t trusted you enough with their secrets.

 It was solved with those two being for a few days away from you, with you not answering their phone calls (whereas they explode in each other’s and in your face, you are more the meditative type) (you have to be, with those two children) and you reasoned that if they hadn’t hurt you till that moment, there was nothing to fear, and you just wanted their side of the story.

 But honestly… most of the time the thing would end up in passionate sex… not that you minded.

·         B for Bedtime Routine - Do they prefer to be the big spoon or little spoon? Favourite sleeping position? etc 

I feel like the problem with sleeping position is mostly Ivar’s legs: sometimes they hurt very much and are extremely sensitive, so you can’t all sleep together (at first Roman was extremely happy because more alone time with you, but he low key misses the furnace of warmth the blue-eyed werewolf is).

 And even when you sleep together, you have to be careful with him (although he hates making you both worry) so he is the first one who usually settle down onto the bed so he can choose the position and space (Roman thinks he is just overexaggerating sometimes the pain so he can he be the king of the bed) and then Roman settle in a way that can fit his tall frame and finally you end up between the two, sometimes with their arms threaded somehow around your body but also just simply sharing the same pillow as them, or just facing one of the two.

 Also I personally thing that Ivar wouldn’t mind being the small spoon, if you are without Roman in bed for one night, mostly because it is a comfortable position and he low key has a thing for the simplest of affection (we stan a touch-starved boy), although he would never admit it and straight up threatened Roman when he caught him into that position.

 (You honestly love that position because you can tease the hell out of him).

Roman, when instead, you sleep alone with him, prefer to have you with his head on his chest, because he also loves the skin on skin contact, alongside the fact that if you are smaller than him, it ignites his size kink, but also he can make you listen to his heartbeat, which he knows you found comforting, alongside protecting you and shielding you.

 (The real reason why you are always in the middle, is usually so that they can face the door, in case something happens during the night; so it’s safer than you, they might fight on so many things but when it comes to your safety they are strangely calm about it).

·         C for Cook - Do they cook? Can they cook? What type of food do they like to cook for their partner? 

Ivar can, since not only he kind of have to run an hotel, but also he was a momma’s boy, alongside spending a lot of time with her, he learned a thing or two: he certainly is no French chief, but he could survive without take-away easily, alongside the fact that whenever he wants to he can cook you quite a dinner (this is mostly reserved for your special nights… he expresses a lot of his emotions with more actions than with words, and also… he wants you well-fed…).

 Roman can’t in the slightest, since not only he is a spoiled brat, but he tends to forget things (you are still surprised that the “Shiny Moon” hasn’t burned down…) so usually for him it’s take-away or expensive restaurants; honestly as a upir he has strange tates and is appetite for food doesn’t match the one for blood… so he could honestly also not eat for days, but when he has a partner (I honestly think that if you had even the slightest eating disorder, they would be stuffing you with food) (again… your safety comes first) he makes sure that they share their meals together.

 Whether it’s Chinese take-aways or expensive meals from an Italian restaurant, he honestly feels hungrier if his partner is eating with him (even more if you are wearing only lingerie or the expensive dress, he bought you days ago).

 I honestly feel like they would both replenish their partners with either sweets or expensive food, mostly trying to take care and understand their partner’s favorites meals.

·         D for DIY - Do they like to make gifts for their partner? Are they good at general DIY around the house? Do they enjoy doing it? 

Ivar does it, I low key headcanon that he has a pendant for it, mostly because in the show he is clearly very creative and able beyond measure in things such as projecting and creating hand-made objects, so I feel like he would take great pride into DIY your own gifts, both because it is a bit of a possessive way of letting others know that you are his, but also it is a way of mixing his creativeness with your personality.

 Again Roman is not the best with practical tasks, and is honestly very envious of Ivar’s DIY and ideas for your gifts, because (as I will say later) he prefer to get you things in shop (expensive things most of the time) and although he knows that you appreciate them, he still feel like they are greatly anonymous if confronted with Ivar’s.

 And this often puts him a bit off, although he is constantly showering you with gifts; but then you once caught him trying to do origamis, and asked him to teach you, ending up actually developing a common ground that permits him to teach you something manual and for you to pass time with him.

·         E for Effort - How much effort do they put into their relationship?

A LOT!

 Both of them are very VERY into this relationship, mostly because they haven’t still killed each other, demonstrating that they actually want this to work it out, although sometimes they headbutt on the silliest of themes.

 At first, you honestly took it VERY VERY easy, such as you are more fuckbuddies than actually in a relationship but a few months and a few discoveries changed it all, and now you are literally stuck into this (happily stuck into this, although you have to literally sedate riots during dinner and alleviate threats over breakfast).

·         F for First Date - Where do you go on your first date? How does it go etc?

I honestly don’t want to go into too much details, because I want to write a cute fanfic about this, but it was on Saint Valentine’s Day (corny, much…) and you had had the worst week ever, hence forgetting it all about the boys (you were still in the “fuckbuddies” mentality, whereas for the boys it was already more…) (Ivar basically saw you and was ready to get on his knees and propose). You didn’t do it with the intention to hurt them, but you were hurting too much and the thought of sorting what your mess of a relationship with them was… was too hard.

 You literally woke up the following day to somebody basically headbanging against your door and it was your idiots, who were scared shitless something had happened.

 (Also, it was Saint Valentine’s Day, so they had to be two romantic idiots).

 It was the first time you actually settled your relationship status, and when you felt a little bit better went out the night, at an expensive restaurant (also you got dicked down, but that is another story…).

·         G for Gifts - What kind of gifts do they gift their partner? What kind of gifts do they receive? Etc

As previously stated, Ivar is the more thoughtful over his gifts.

 Not that Roman isn’t, but whereas Roman is the type to be like “you want it, I got it”, Ivar is more the type to watch your interests and ideas carefully, observing yourself and priding himself in being a perfect detective of people’s personality, getting you very unique pieces, mostly handcrafted by him (usually it’s little wooden statuettes, for example one carved as a wolf after you discovered about them, which you treasure, but he is also great at creating bracelets and jewelry in general).

 (Also his intuition isn’t always right and sometimes you got thing that maybe didn’t match your style and you weren’t able to wear, still you treasure them, because you know that they were made with love and with you in your mind).

 (Also, Ivar has a straight up tacky taste in underwear and such, so he avoids those things, mostly because once he got you ass-less panties and your reaction wasn’t definitely pleased).

 (Roman has still a recording of the entire thing).

 Roman is more materialistic: as I said, “you want it, I got it”, which means everything from your favorite foreign sweets, to elegant designer dresses that you can use also just to stand in your room, eating take-away with him.

 He likes spoiling you, so his gifts doesn’t have a proper date, they just rain on you because maybe he saw that you were overworking yourself and needed a reward or he saw it and thought of you (his taste in lingerie is pretty different from Ivar’s, thank God); also he literally will do anything to get you what you want (I mean his mother got an amusement park shut for him and Letha… think about what the upir could do…) and he isn’t afraid of breaking a few rules to get you to smile brightly for him.

 They aren’t used to receiving gifts, so they literally cherish THE HELL out of anything you get them, and you try to match their presents, although you clearly don’t have their resources and sometimes you ask the other’s help for the gift and; they are always doing it begrudgingly, but you saw them exchanging gifts on Christmas and couldn’t help but spy their little smiles, showing they had reached a somehow mutual respect.

·         H for Honeymoon - Where do they go on Honeymoon? Details on the honeymoon etc.

Another thing that would probably set arguments between the two because they have different ideas about it is “honeymoon” (or more generically your vacations).

 Ivar wants to go to colder places, mostly place where his heritage and culture is shared, which usually means that it is a very unusual vacation in silent places broken off from the world and probably projecting long walks and camping (which you don’t think would be comfortable for the werewolf, but you wouldn’t want to disrupt his lovely shining eyes).

  Roman is the opposite: he went on vacation to Maui in the series, so I feel like his ideal vacation would be beach, warm weather, relax and in a perfect and expensive resort, with people bringing him anything he needed with just a snap of his fingers.

 He wants to relax and not walk around place where your bones freeze off and risk hypothermia.

 (He is also worried for Ivar’s legs, but won’t admit it).

 So they end up fighting fiercely, till you get your own voice and remember that they hadn’t even asked your opinion, which get them to feel guilty and let you decide, trusting your judgement (and trying to corrupt you with sexual favors, not gonna lie) so you try to mitigate the two boys’ ideas.  

·         I for Intimacy - What do like they like? Where do they like to be intimate? Are they experienced etc? 

Roman is definitely experienced we all know and has no trouble with sexuality, being extremely sensual and not minding it in the slightest; he could take you everywhere (the fact that they are both a bit of exhibitionist doesn’t help): his bed, the kitchen counter, in the bathroom, in the back of his bar…

 He doesn’t have in the slightest a problem with it, and when you two are down to do the dirty he has two moods, which mostly depends on how well fed he is and how his day went, which are teasing and controlling or animalistic and tough.

 He never leaves control to you (unless you either take it or beg really prettily for it) and sometimes he can also dom Ivar, who instead is more insecure and shy about his sexuality.

 Before you he actually didn’t know his… you-know-what could work, and during your first times he was only around for the foreplay, preferring to sit back and wait for Roman to finish you off, which got you a bit displeased since you wanted to feel them both (also at the same time).

 But Ivar strangely ran off and wouldn’t answer your questions in the slightest preferring to do anything else and distracting you with kisses and other types of touches, in which he is extremely good, let me tell you…

 You soon discovered of his little insecurity and got Roman to leave you alone for a night, to actually experience the entire thing alone so he could feel more comfortable without Roman’s shadow looming over him; at first he was uncomfortable and protested, but with a few kisses you managed to get him to relax under your touches and discovered that his “little problem” wasn’t a problem in the slightest…

From there… it was game over for you.

 I actually think that he is more genuine than Roman as in, Roman can be teasing and wears a façade during sex (mostly during your first months of fooling around) whereas Ivar has a way of expressing his love through sex so it is extremely emotional and most importantly very possessive (sex doesn’t finish for you till you are all marked).

 He is a bit of a fighter for control with Roman but due to his insecurity for his inexperience he follows the man’s orders, if he feels like it…

 They can go from nights where you would be fucked against the first free surface for the entire night (mostly after Ivar turns and Roman gets thirsty) to nights where they take their time, worshipping you till you breach the edge for multiple times.

·         J for Jealously - How jealous are they? How often do they get jealous? How they react? Etc

The funny thing between this territorial males is that they are always at each other’s throats but when someone flirts with you also jokingly (yeah I am talking about you Hvitserk) they are plotting between themselves how to kill the bastard and ditch the body in the nearest lake.

 Ivar is the more jealous one, mostly because he got stabbed in the back, alongside his constant insecurities so he constantly feels the need to be reassured (Aslaugh babying him again didn’t help in that department) and to mark you up; he is very animalistic, which comes from the fact that his jealousy tends to show up mostly when he is surrounded by his fellow werewolves: he sees the way they look at you, the prettiest thing in the universe, and basically growls at them back.

 Roman is more classy: he is the type that if he sees a man flirting with you (a man who isn’t Ivar, he is low key chill with Ivar’s flirting… because he knows that although it makes you laugh it is terrible) he will come onto you, kissing you affectionately, your hand will be immediately entwinned with his and sometimes if you drag him away from the crowd to make him cool off, he will lovingly slap you ass.

 (Ivar has taken the bad habit of doing the same, just less… discreetly).

 They are very jealous but trust you extremely.

 They just don’t trust men around you.

 (And on your part… sometimes it is nice to see them getting jealous just to see them team up).

·         K for Kink - Do they have any particular kinks?

I am pretty sure that as soon as your relationship will be a stable one, “blood play” would be brought into the mix, but only after a very long discourse with you about its risks and how to prevent them, they want you to be the safest possible, and if you feel even slightly uncomfortable about it they will stop.

 (Also, it isn’t only about your blood, but also theirs).

 Roman also avoids feeding himself from you, mostly because you are “divinely delicious” and he doesn’t want to become too greedy and hurt you and is secretly thankful that Ivar is with him when they attempt this.

 Ivar on his part likes making a mess and cleaning it with his tongue.

 Also I honestly feel like since they are both predators they would love nothing more than to stalk you around the house in an attempt of “adult hide-and-seek”, in which… if they get you, you have to get dicked down right then and then; it’s the thrill of the hunt and you, yourself have a tendency to love their shiny eyes, excited by the run.

 They would also share an exhibitionist kinks, although Ivar might take a bit… but as soon as he gets into it, it is his way to get back to those who didn’t believe he was “man enough” (one time, the first time you stayed with him after the full moon, he took you so harshly and greedily that he made you scream of pleasure high enough that no brothers of his or clients at the hotel could look you into the eyes, the following morning, and he just sat onto his chair at breakfast, smirking proudly).

 (You decked him with a spoon).

 Roman is also a huge lover of teasing you and edging you, alongside bondage (Ivar is still learning, and he honestly prefer feeling you moving against him, it makes him feel again a ferocious predator stopping and catching his prey).

 Ivar likes instead overstimulating you, he has a fascination with the way you are when you finally cum and he likes to replay it till you literally pass out.

(Guys if you have more kinks, please let me know!).

·         L for Long Distance - How do they cope with Long Distance? How they prefer to keep in contact? Etc

At the start, and for at least a good year, they are in a long distance relationship, since they have their own bar and hotel, whereas you have your job in your city, and although it is shitty you don’t feel like changing it and they respect it (although you knew that you could just move in with them and wouldn’t have to lift a finger).

 It is a bit tough the more into the relationship that you become, mostly if you can’t visit them for a weekend and they can’t manage to visit you (alongside the fact that your house is very small and that they had to sleep on the sofa and floor when they come over) (You still got dicked down on your small bed, and are still not sure how you managed to avoid to break it).

 It is tough, but they can’t stop thinking for a single minute that it isn’t worth it and you think the same.

·         M for Marriage - Do they want to get married? Their wedding etc. 

I don’t think that these three would never have a traditional marriage, although Ivar is actually a very traditional guy and would insist on seeing you in white and give you the fairytale like wedding you deserve, whereas Roman doesn’t care about these things in the slightest (look at his parents) and he honestly doesn’t want to add you to the Godfrey line knowing it would make you an easy target.

 They settle on a nice ceremony with the people they love and understand their dynamics on the beach with you in a short white dress, smiling gently with your bouquet of flowers, pronouncing your vows shyly, and professing your love for the two men.

·         N for Night’s Out - Where do they take their partner on nights out? How often do nights out happen?

The fact that Roman literally owns a club, comes handy a lot of times, such as on your nights out, although Ivar is a pretty tame guy; it is usually only you and Roman dancing, Ivar feels uncomfortable but he doesn’t mind coming with you, as long as he gets his booth and beer and maybe later a lap-dance from you (that’s also the reason why you are happy that Roman is the owner of the bed, or else you wouldn’t be able to do half the things you do on that booth).

 Sometimes still Roman enjoys showing his two lovers off, so expensive restaurants are his go-to, mostly if you have been overworking yourself, or need to celebrate something, and although the entire thing is nice… half of the time it ends with you teasing the two boys or Ivar getting annoyed and teasing you.

 Roman literally always mumbles about how he can’t take you two anywhere.

·         O for Often - How often do you see each other? How many times a week? Etc

If possible: each weekend.

 At the start of the relationship, when it was a fuckbuddy situation you usually would be passing the weekend with them and then go back, but as soon as feelings started getting involved the weekend wasn’t enough, mostly if there were some in which you would end up having to work extra or have other activities, hence they sometimes come over to your city (when permitted, and I mean… they are both the bosses of themselves).

 They won’t come over or want you over also if Roman is being extremely thirsty or Ivar has gone through a bad moon, in most of those cases they help out each other… and send you photos about it all…

·         P for Public Displays of Affection - Do they like PDA? Do they have boundaries etc. 

Roman doesn’t have boundaries, in the slightest, but he is a bit of a gentleman so he will put his hand on your thigh and probably move it up from there to tease you, but he only when he knows you won’t get caught or that if you will, you won’t mind it; but outside of it he is more a fan of holding hands and hands on your lower back, mostly if he is guiding you through crowds.

 He likes kissing you and don’t mind doing it in front of everyone, whereas Ivar is more shy on the entire concept, mostly showing his affection towards you with his family, where he feels more comfortable expressing his emotions, which means that he will kiss the hell out of you at family dinners (Sigurd once complained about it and you straight up slipped, nonchalantly an hand down Ivar’s pants in front of him) but he won’t dare more, mostly if his mother or father are there.

 Outside of family, he doesn’t mind hand holding and other softer ways of affection, he will constantly have his hands on you but not in a pressuring way and avoids kisses on the mouth, although if made extremely jealous, other than bringing you to the first bathroom to show you who you belong to, he will bite your neck or kiss on it possessively, never breaking eye-contact with whoever is bothering you.

·         Q for Quiet - Why do they get quiet? How does their partner solve it?

With Ivar, him being quiet is not always a tragic thing, most of the time it just means that he is overthinking things and just thinking and you need to just take him in your arms and ask him what is wrong; if it’s about his legs, he might be secretive about it, but you learned the signs and will already know and will confront him about it gently, trying to reassure him or straight up get him the medicine.

 Sometimes it’s just a relaxing moment between you.

 Whereas with Roman is silence is painful: he knows that yeah you hate being insulted, but the cutting silence he can create is honestly annoying and usually both you and Ivar tremble under the heaviness of it, whether it is your fault or not.

 In these cases, it’s better to wait for Roman to be ready to speak, supporting him in your own way.

·         R for Reunion - How they like to reunite with their partner? 

At first, I am not going to lie and I have to admit that is it sex, mostly because they tried to be normal people and ask around questions, but they just feel uncomfortable about it, since it mostly seems awkward and not genuine, so sex spoke louder for them and after they felt more comfortable talking as if they had to get used to their bodies again, before their brain could.

 Now it is more normal and they usually hug for a few hours and cuddle, mostly if it is been so so long, alongside eating together or doing things together to feel harmony again and touches are always  involved.

 (And obviously… sex).

·         S for Surprise - Do they like surprises? What kind of surprises do they like to get etc? 

Ivar and you probably not, since Roman can be pretty tempestuous and you should be scared of what that man’s mind can conjure, alongside the fact that since you are both two “busy” people (not that Roman isn’t, but he can literally skip entire days of job delaying the control to somebody) you are not into Roman’s surprise.

 (Usually because they are embarrassing expression of his love, at two A.M. out of your window).

 (Ivar got a serenade, yeah).

 But sometimes you try to surprise Roman (who is constantly “YoU wOn’T bE aBlE tO sUrPrIsE mE”) and you actually get him quite good, most of the time, which either involves surprise sex or improvised lunch into his office at the club.

 Roman really appreciates it, although he has to say that “I knew it all about it”.

 (Sure, Jan…).

·         T for Texts - How often do they text? How do they react when they receive texts from their partner? 

Since it is a LDR… texts are extremely necessary (alongside dick pics) (… AKA Roman’s).

 At first, they were sillier and they literally have a group chat, which changes names each day, since Roman and Ivar are two petty assholes (but you solved the thing with the name “the queen and her two subjects”).

 As I was saying… at first IT WAS A LOOOOT SILLIER (and Ivar had to understand actually how to do so many things, which explains the lesser dick pics) from memes to strange gifs, but you were happy they came because they did help you with your day and relaxing.

 As soon as you get together, as in… you move in together, it starts to be a little bit more domestic it is used for things such as… grocery lists, intelligent quirks and finally… still dick pics…

·         U for Unity - How well do they work with their partner? Do they make a good team? 

Strangely they do.

 Which isn’t something you were ready to bet on at first, mostly due to the fact that they are constantly at each other’s throat, which isn’t something that normal couple usually have (not that you are normal in the slightest…).

 But strangely each of your personality compliments each other, alongside you acting as the final glue of the relationship: Ivar is serious and insecure, but he can also be a strong rock to lean onto, alongside the fact that him being bluntly honest makes him a good conversationalist and opinion.

 Roman is the humor of the relationship, alongside the tough one and the one that you run to for anything, knowing he will take care of it: he is a nurturer, but he actually ends up having some issues on himself, mostly because he always ends up being a bit of a spoiled brat: but don’t worry, you and Ivar are there to help him through it all.

 Finally, both the boys are a grounding presence for you, alongside helping you in each way and form, they can because they somehow treasure each moment they spend together.

·         V for Vacation - Favourite vacation spot to take their partner? 

I think this was previously answered so I will say something very quick: Ivar is more a fun of colder places and walk in the nature (not gonna lie, but he would totally buy Greenland instead of Trump..), meanwhile Roman is the type of person who would love nothing more than a good trip under a sunny sky in an expensive resort (such as an island in Pacific Ocean).

·         W for When -  At what point do they move into together? What kind of place? Etc

After a year, mostly because there are so many things that need to be taken care for and you honestly thought that it would end up being a disaster, so you ended up quitting your job but kept your apartment but you slowly set in a routine, whereas you were expecting those two to be at each other’s throat…

 … but they seemed fine and during the first period they didn’t have too much time on their hand, actually, mostly they went to sleep tired organizing each of the new things she had brought with her.

 In the end, they were peacefully, mostly; they still had their territorial fights, but they could handle them better, now that they were all together.

 The house is small, meaning smaller than Ivar and Roman wanted, but you insisted in the fact that they didn’t spend too much money, mostly because you didn’t want them to spend too much money on you, and so settled for a nice house (also you wanted to maybe move into another city, as soon as things get better and you get used to each other’s personality); it isn’t small, and it has everything you might need in the last model, but it is comfortable and doesn’t feel empty.

 But most importantly you decorated it all together, so it’s home.

·         X for X-ray - What is their favourite body part on their partner? 

Non-sexual: Ivar loves your lips, he just love the way they pursue into a smile, into a pout, open due to surprise and lay kisses all over him.

Sexual: Your hips (I honestly took this a bit from the historical Vikings and era in which they lived, where things such as “big hips” meant fertility), he has extreme fun grabbing them and pushing his fingers into them till they leave bruises (also if you are a bit on the chubbier side… he literally loves it and will lose himself into them, getting EXTREMELY distracted) (… also if you are ticklish… you are done, it’s game over, baby).

 Non-sexual: Roman loves your neck, yeah it might be a bi of a vampire fixation, but he actually likes the structure of it: if it is small and thin, he can’t help but feel like it is so so elegant and pretty, meanwhile if it is bigger and more important, he can’t help but feel like he just has royalty in front of him. Also he can leave his pretty mark in full view.

Sexual: I honestly think it would be either your thighs or legs, since he likes the way they grip him, alongside being extremely sexy in each way and shape and form, alongside the fact that he can’t resist you in thigh-highs.

 Also, I feel like they would love equally your breasts and ass (although this one might be favored, a bit).

·         Y for you - A random headcanon about your relationship. 

Although both you and Ivar are well aware that Roman is a upir, you always make some very sassy and stupid humor about him being a vampire and constantly calling him that.

 You even went as far as to suggest that he dressed up as a vampire for Halloween.

 It is safe to say that you and Ivar got more than a few fang bites from him, that night.

·         Z for Zoom - Zoom into the future, what does your future look like? 

I honestly think that future would be extremely relative for them: they try to live by the present, mostly because they are supernatural creatures, meaning they will outlive her, and probably… in better conditions than her (although Roman could shed his immortality and “upir” condition, but you don’t want him to do that).

 Children is a problematic issues, mostly because, you have your own opinion (I personally would want children but feel free to fill here with whatever you want), Roman doesn’t want them (this is in a AU, in which Nadia doesn’t exist, sorry), Ivar does, although he is burned by Freydis experience and is unsure that he would be able to raise a children with also Roman.

 He can share you because you are your own person and he knows that somehow you and him belong with Roman, but to discover that the child was his, he didn’t know if he could be partial to that.

 You would probably take a lot of time before you would even try to make plans for further than the next day.

 If eventually accidents did happen, I honestly feel like both the boys would stop overthinking at least for the entire pregnancy, not wanting nothing to happen to the baby (if you decide to keep it), mostly because the child is half-supernatural so it might hurt her a bit, and be tough, mostly if it is a upir (how well did that turn out for Lena…) and then they would be too affectionate to it to even not consider it their sons.

 You would then transfer to your ideal place: a little house in the suburbs, maybe away in the countryside, but not too far away from the city.

 You would have a heavily life, and they would never be bothered by your aging, it would just made them discover more and more they love, and you gifted them life, a dynasty.

 It is an happy future life.

@walkxthexmoon and @hexqueensupreme

[capricious-writes]

21 Questions Tag Game

Rules: Answer 21 Questions (they do not have to be the same questions) and tag [21] people (Don’t know who to tag right now, so I’m gonna leave this one open ended)

Tagged by @quilloftheclouds    

>>> There, I finally got this all filled out! There was no way I was gonna just give this one up, because there were one or two questions that I REALLY wanted to answer ... <<<

 1. Height?

I’m 5′7″. Not 5′6″. NOT 5′6″ (I will go to my grave with this) [Excuse me I have a taller younger sister]

2. Eye Color?

Medium Light Brown (Glorious) Idk

3. Hair Color?

Chocolate Brown (Equally GLORIOUS)

4. Favorite Color?

Brown. (See it’s all falling together)

I actually have an incredibly complex system of favorite colors for different reasons, the explanation alone of which would take multiple paragraphs, but - 

- Brown

- Pink

- Purple

- Orange 

- Green

(in that order... why am I like this?) I don’t care, it’s fun

5. Favorite IceCream?

Default Chocolate, but sometimes I need a mix-up.

6. Favorite Music Genre?

EDM. I didn’t used to know edm ~existed~ so I thought I liked pop-music. But what I really loved was the strong beats, the electric syncronicity, and the strong technic sort of sound. Yeah - that’s EDM apparently. 

7. Favorite Song?

Default - Party In My Head by September

8. Following How Many Blogs?

wow, 95 apparently. I’ve never looked at that till today, and I’m certain it’s increased within the last week or two from slipping into Writerblr territory.

9.  Favorite way to procastinate from writing (Besides Tumblr)?

My Favorite? Probably laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling while I wonder if I’m gonna take a nap. I like it because a) it’s mind decluttering time, and b) maybe I get bored and try to write. I don’t do it TOO often though.

10. Favorite way to get inspired for writing?

Just think about what’ll be interesting about the next scene I write. Or focus on what scene I want to get to. Otherwise, not sure really.

11. Favorite Live action movie?

Knight and Day. Whatever its issues - it’s my default ‘favorite,’ even if I’ve seen a better movie. It’s got tons of action and humour and I LOVE that. AND I’ve rewatched it several times - rewatch value is always a big one. It’s a tad lackluster, story-wise, but it still entertains every time.

12. Favorite Non-Disney cartoon

There are way too many good ones, so I’m going to have to default to all the animated Justice League cartoons. Mainly because their batman is my FAVORITE batman, despite even them not blending the Bruce IS Batman idea together. I think Gotham got the closest to that, but I haven’t watched more than a season of it I think. 

13. Favorite Disney cartoon

So hard to say! Cars 3 was particularly satisfying because I knew the movie was going to be fantastic the moment the trailer took my breath away. On the other hand, there’s also the fantastic DuckTales reboot - but then there’s always the Milo Murphy show that tied in with Phineas and Ferb during its finale and - 

Guys there’s too many!

14. Favorite Book character

I really liked Artemis Fowl. Him being a protagonist good guy as a villian slowly reforming himself without knowing was SUCH an amazing characterization. There was always something missing from it though. I could never quite pinpoint what,  but it got SO close that it was still the most brilliant and fantastic thing I’d read up to that point. 

15. Favorite Fanfiction

Very difficult. “Flowey Isn’t a Good Life Coach” had me hooked for two days until I finished it (leaving me empty, disorientated, and lost). But there was also tons of Gravity Falls fanfic that I adored (I made a rec list on my mainblog a while back too actually). And I think there was another fandom that I just had to look at ... but I don’t remember it right now. 

16. First Original Story

I have these spiral notebooks with words in them from when I was 12. Half ready and rumbling to write, half seventh grade writing project - I think my MC was named Jane? No more than 20,000 words at most.

- Girl goes to different world where danger threatens to destroy it. She is 'chosen one' in a line of 'chosen ones' and her best friend is actually from there. He's basically been her guardian all the while, and he's sort of half lizard mutant.

- Along the way they meet a useless mad old man. An angsty but suave, but irritable dude named shadow. And a more sensible local guy who leaves his 'tribe' to help save his world.

I just ... I love how - to use a euphamism - how 'classic' it is.

But you know what, there are some good parts. Just starting out, tropes, cliches, and plenty of mistakes sure. But it’s also telling of my style even just beginning. For instance, the main MC and her friend that’s a Guy have these moments that are really close and build their relationship - but it’s not romantic. Everyone’s ‘friends,’ and it’s really telling of where my priorities aren’t, ha.

17. Favorite Book

I DON’T KNOW. HOW DOES ANYONE CHOOSE?

18. Favorite Book Genre

Action, adventure, but also with magic-is-science I guess? 

19. Favorite Trope?

I love funny tropes I guess. Subverted tropes. Oh! I recently saw a drabbled post about a villian and hero’s friendly, but still antagonistic relationship. I ADORE that. Think Doofenshmirts and Perry the Platypus's relationship. Or Megamind and Metroman. It’s fantastic.

20. 5 skills/interests you have other than writing

1. Amateur-Intermediate Origami

2. Amateur-Intermediate Piano

3. Amateur-Intermediate Lollygagging

I don’t really know what else. My interests leap from place to place. 

21. 5 Fav Mythology Creatures

1. Dragons are cool

2. Phoenixes are GREAT

3. Kitsune and or Foxes with lots of tails are just - Stunning 

4. Three-headed doggies are thrice the fun, adorableness and blood curdling terror

And I’m required to say Gargoyle, because I have another WIP named the same after the MC. I’m completely ignoring it until Blooming Under Night is finished (or I decide to be a fickle beast), but it does have a few thousand words to its credit, sitting in a file just waiting for me to figure out how to give it proper TCL. 

[angelofrainfrogs]

Forgiveness

Pairing: Kara/Luther

Description: Kara, Luther, and Alice are visited by some familiar faces. One is more welcome than the other, but softhearted Alice aims to change that fact.

Rating: T

Genre: Family

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16048259

“Kara?”

“Hmm?”

“Are we ever going to see Markus again?”

Kara glanced across the room at Luther, their slightly confused expressions mirroring each other’s. Luther shrugged and returned to sewing up the rip in Alice’s jeans created that morning by a rather spectacular tumble off some playground equipment.

“I’m not sure what you’re asking, Alice,” Kara said, looking down at the young android sitting next to her on the couch. “We see him every other day on the news.”

“I know, but I mean are we ever going to see him again in person?” As usual, Alice’s eyes were full of unspoken questions masked by the ingrained need to keep them to herself. Over the past few months, she’d gotten much better at speaking her mind, although there was still a long way to go until she felt comfortable talking openly to anyone besides her adoptive family.

“Where did this come from?” Kara asked with a smile, running a hand over Alice’s head.

“I… I never got to thank him for helping us at Jericho.” Alice shrugged, looking at her lap. “I just wanted to tell him how grateful I am.”

Kara stole another glance at Luther, echoing his thoughts:

After everything she’s been through, how is this girl still so kind?

“I’m sure we’ll see him again someday, little one,” Luther said reassuringly.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. All three androids jumped, tensing. It had been months since their safe relocation in Canada, but the residual trauma of their past experiences still lingered within them.

Luther was the first one to relax, seeing Rose walk down the stairs from the upper landing. Her brother’s house was a large, three-story dwelling with plenty of room for two families to coexist peacefully. Rose wore a huge smile, a twinkle in her eye as if she knew something that Luther didn’t.

“One moment!” she called through the door after checking to see who was outside. She turned to face the androids sitting around the living room. “I have a surprise for you all!”

“Rose, you’ve already done so much for us,” Kara said, placing her hands in her lap as Alice readjusted herself to peer over the top of the couch. “You don’t have to keep giving us things.”

“For once, this actually wasn’t my decision.” Rose chuckled. “Someone wanted to pay you a visit, and I’m certainly not in a position to say no to him.”

Kara gasped as Rose opened the door to reveal none other than the previous topic of discussion: Markus.

“Did you know he was coming?” Kara whispered to Alice, who shook her head. Instead of being unnerved by the strange coincidence, the big grin on Alice's face revealed that she was as happy as could be.

“Hello Luther, Kara, Alice,” Markus said, nodding as he said each android’s name. He stepped inside the house, wearing a reserved smile. “I apologize for the sudden visit; I didn’t have a surefire way of contacting you personally, but I managed to get in touch with Rose when I was nearby and asked if we could come over to see how you were doing.”

“We’re doing very well, thanks to you and people like Miss Rose,” Luther said, standing up and vigorously shaking Markus’ hand. He then paused, noticing someone else slip inside the house just before Rose closed the door.

Kara and Alice stood and walked around the couch, their focus trained on the second unexpected guest. His dark brown eyes darted between the girls and Luther, processing whether he would still be perceived as a threat, arms locked at his sides as one hand tapped nervously against his leg.

“Connor, they’re not going to hurt you,” Markus said, noting the tension in the room. He gently pushed the other android in front of him with a brief, reassuring squeeze of the shoulder.

“…Hello,” Connor said, a dazzling half-smile hiding the residual anxiety in his expression. “We were never properly introduced before- my name is Connor. I was the android sent by CyberLife to… well, I’m sure you remember.”

Kara nodded, arms protectively wrapped around Alice’s shoulders, although she felt no real threat. She did indeed remember Connor, the android that nearly caught them after their stay in the abandoned house downtown.

“Connor’s been working closely with me to help the android relocation program back in Detroit,” Markus explained. “Trust me, he’s completely on our side.”

Sensing that there was no danger of a potential altercation, Rose quietly slipped back upstairs with a nod towards Kara. Luther took a step forward and held out a hand.

“Thank you for helping Markus with our kind,” he said. Despite Luther’s imposing figure, Connor shook his hand without hesitation.

“Of course,” Connor responded. “It’s the least I can do.”

Kara felt a shift of weight beneath her hands as Alice slipped out of her grasp and walked up to the visiting androids. Markus knelt to be eye-level with her, resting his forearms against his knees.

“Connor tells me you’ve been through quite a lot, Alice,” Markus said, and the girl nodded. “But I’m guessing you’re doing a lot better now with your new family?”

“Yes,” Alice answered, nodding more vigorously. A small smile crossed Kara’s lips. “Everyone here takes care of me.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.” Markus gave Alice’s hair a gentle ruffle, disarraying a few pieces pulled tightly into her ponytail. He glanced up at Kara, his eyes meeting her own. “And how have you been?”

“We’ve settled in nicely here,” Kara answered. “As Alice said, Rose’s family is very good to us.”

“Fantastic,” Markus said, as Luther nodded in agreement with Kara. “My original plan was to stop by and thank Rose for her continued help, but when she mentioned that you three were here I figured, why not check up on you personally? This process has been a huge adjustment for everyone, and it’s certainly been harder for some.”

A pain-filled flash of darkness crossed Markus’ face so quickly Kara thought she might have imagined it. He then took a step back, maneuvering Connor back in front of him.

“Connor was traveling with me at the time I learned you were staying here. He wanted to…” Markus paused, shifting his gaze to the android at his side. “…Well, I’ll let him explain why he’s here.”

Connor stood up straight, sparing Luther a quick glance before focusing on Kara and Alice.

“I… wanted to apologize. What I tried to do to you both was…” Connor paused, frowning, his attention shifting to the ground. “I was still a machine back then, trying to obey my program. It doesn’t excuse me from almost getting you killed on that highway, but…” His eyes met Kara’s, conveying all the newfound emotions of regret and remorse he could handle at one time. “I truly am sorry.”

There was another beat of silence. Fabric shifting filled the room’s tense ambience as Alice took a few steps forward and wrapped her arms around Connor’s waist.

“We understand,” she said, speaking for her family as the increased pressure caused Connor’s LED light to flash a confused yellow. He hoped to be forgiven, but he hadn’t expected such instant forgiveness as this. Hesitantly, he gave Alice’s head a light pat. She smiled and released him, looking back towards her mother.

“You were acting based on your direction,” Kara said, stepping up to Connor and lightly squeezing his upper arm, a calm smile on her face. “We all used to be the same way.”

“It’s the choices we make now that truly matter,” Luther added, also flashing a brief smile. Utterly stunned by such a warm reception, all Connor could do was nod.

Kara’s family had had many discussions over what would happen when they undoubtedly met Connor again. The android had tried to capture them and had put Alice in danger- those facts were indisputable. But he’d done so much since that rainy day in November that no one would dare claim he was still the same mindless robot as before.

They’d been following Connor’s actions almost as closely as Markus’, and the moment that Alice announced that Connor was forgiven in her heart, he was forgiven in Kara’s and Luther’s as well.

Of course, Connor was unaware of this and had come to see the little family with only a vague hope of being welcomed into their midst. Thus, he remained in a stunned silence with the rest of the room until Alice eventually spoke up, excitedly bouncing onto her heels and changing the topic in the abrupt way only a child could.

“Oh! Markus, Kara’s been teaching me origami!” she exclaimed, ecstatic to have someone to share her newfound hobby with. “Let me show you!”

“Sure; I'd love to see,” Markus said with a chuckle as Alice grabbed his hand and started tugging him towards the kitchen table, which was littered with colored paper and various, fiber-made creatures.

“If you have to leave, we understand,” Kara said softly, grabbing his shoulder, and the sudden resistance made Alice pause to allow Markus to respond. The android shook his head, giving her another small smile.

“We’ve been traveling in the snow for a quite a while,” he answered. “It’s a big relief to spend some time in a warm house. Besides, I still need to talk to Rose. We’ll set back out in a few hours.”

Kara inclined her head in understanding, releasing Markus’ shoulder. Alice took a step forward, then abruptly turned and grabbed Connor’s hand as well, pulling him along towards the table with Markus. Connor looked from Kara to Luther, surprised, and they both laughed.

As Kara watched her daughter animatedly begin to show off her creations, an increasingly familiar feeling of calm washed over her.

“It’s really over now, isn’t it?” she asked as Luther stepped up to her side, sensing the change in her psyche.

“For us, it is,” he replied, placing a comforting arm around her shoulders.

They stood together, two people with a bond formed under the most unlikely of circumstances. Then, in unspoken agreement, they moved in unison to join their daughter and extended family at the kitchen table, ready to swap stories of time spent apart.

There were so many things to learn about each other, and they had all the time in the world to do just that.

This Oneshot is part of a series that takes place during the Post-Pacifist Ending of Detroit: Become Human.

Read Reunited.

Read Family.

Read Health.

Read Heatstroke.

Read Fear.

Read Nightmare. 

Read Forgiveness. (You are here.)

Read MEMORY_CORRUPTED [Part 1/4].

Read MEMORY_RESET [Part 2/4].

Read MEMORY_RECONSTRUCTING [Part ¾].

[tomeandflickcorner]

OUAT Episode Analysis- Flower Child

Well.  That was quite the revelation.  Now can we please kill Gothel already?

For this episode’s flashback, we end up turning back the clock further than we ever have before.  Once, thousands of years ago, Gothel was a Tree Nymph.  With blue skin and hair.  And she lived with her mother and sisters in a sacred grove somewhere.  But Nymph Gothel, in a very Ariel-like manner, was greatly interested in the lives of the humans who lived nearby.  She often watched them and admired their lives to the point when she wanted to be a human, too.

One day, she ends up breaking into some fancy mansion so she could admire the ballgowns that hung within the humans’ closets.  But she’s instantly discovered by a group of young women.  Gothel attempts to apologize for her intrusion, but the young women tell her not to go, as they’d witnessed her magically produce a rose blossom. They state they are fascinated by her magic and want her to teach them in the magical arts.  As a result, Gothel starts to pal around with the young human women.  Eventually, the Nymph Mother finds out and steps in.  She kindly tells Gothel that, no matter how much she might wish otherwise, she is not a human.  And that the time will soon come when she will have to accept her place among the Tree Nymphs as she’s apparently next in line as their leader.  Or something along those lines.

Regardless of the Nymph Mother’s words, Gothel continues to hang around with her human friends.  But when Gothel decides to start training them in the ways of Nymph Magic, the young women reveal their true colors.  Turns out, they were just a group of Mean Girls this whole time.  And they were just leading Gothel along with the intention of publicly humiliating her, as they really view her and her people as freaks and abominations.

Devastated by this betrayal, Gothel returns to the sacred grove.  But when she gets there, she discovers the insult was even greater.  While she was being mocked and humiliated by the Mean Girls, a separate group of humans had lay siege to the sacred grove and completely destroyed it by cutting down and burning all the trees within the grove.  Which, of course, resulted in the deaths of all the other Tree Nymphs, including the Nymph Mother.

Immediately, Gothel lets her heart grow bitter because of this.  Filled with feelings of vengeance, she angrily returns to the human mansion to not only strike back at the Mean Girls, but everyone else as well.  Basically, this whole backstory is a complete remake of Carrie, only with Tree People.  Using her Tree Nymph magic, Gothel creates toxin-spewing flowers that….apparently killed every single human in the entire world.  The only person she spared was a young woman named Seraphina, who reveals she could also use magic but had hidden her powers from the other Mean Girls out of fear of what they might do to her if her magical ability was revealed.

Once her mass genocide is complete, Gothel tells Seraphina that, eventually, life in this realm will once again emerge from the primordial ooze, and the world will become populated by humans all over again.  But when that happens, they will be ready, and will strike back by returning magic to this world, which has now become a Land Without Magic.  As she announces this, Gothel unearths a single magic bean from the remains of the now destroyed sacred grove, which she uses to open a portal that allows her and Seraphina to journey forth to increase their number, so they would eventually become the Coven of Eight.

So, according to this backstory, our world, the Land Without Magic, used to HAVE magic.  And the only reason why it no longer does contain magic is because humans persecuted and killed the Tree Nymphs.  And then the last remaining Tree Nymph went all Carrie on them by wiping out every single living creature, so life on Earth would have to start from the amoeba level all over again.   Which is an interesting attempt at World Building.  Not to mention the most bizarre ‘Creation’ story I’ve ever heard.

It also explains what Gothel’s motive is.  Though it does NOT justify her actions in the slightest.   Yes, she’s right- humans are generally horrible and are motivated by greed, hatred, selfishness and cruelty.  I get it.  Preaching to the choir, lady.  I work in retail.  I deal with the public every day.  Not to mention my life is more or less controlled by corporate America.  But she’s so wrapped up in her own twisted misanthropy, she has completely neglected to recognize that she’s ended up just as bad as the very humans she hated so deeply.  Perhaps even more so.  Case in point, the fact that she raped Wish Killian, tricked him into impregnating her, abandoned her baby the instant she was born and then trapped her in a tower for the rest of her life.  As well as forcibly separating her from her loving father, who was the only companion she had.  Not to mention how many lives and families she’s destroyed and ripped apart along the way.

But Gothel is apparently upping her game in Hyperion Heights.  After spying on her with Margot/Robyn, Gothel approaches Tilly/Alice.  Of course, Tilly states that she wants nothing to do with Gothel, but she’s stopped in her tracks when Gothel informs her that she’s her biological mother.  Obviously, Tilly sees the impossibility of this statement, as Gothel only looks a few years older than her.  But she then defiantly states that, even if what Gothel says it’s true, it doesn’t matter because it would mean Gothel abandoned her.  And Tilly is not interested in getting to know a mother who would abandon her child.  In response, Gothel starts spouting off a whole Sob Story™ about how she had a cruel life, as if that would excuse her actions, and then states she never would have walked out on her daughter if she’d known how special she was.  Because Gothel apparently knows that Alice is the Guardian she was seeking.  So, in other words, Gothel, you’re telling Alice/Tilly that you’d only care about your flesh and blood if they were of use to you?  Yeah, spare me with your claims of being a mother.  A REAL mother loves her children unconditionally, not just when they’re useful to them.

Thankfully, Tilly doesn’t fall for it, and she puts Gothel in her place by telling her that she is already wanted by people who really care for her, and therefore doesn’t need her before storming off.  But she can’t shake away the uneasy feeling she’d feels.  So she heads right over to the police station to see Rogers, who is in the middle of trying to come to terms with the impossible circumstances of Parallel Hansel’s death.  How can someone be stabbed from the inside?  Could it be that Naveen’s claim of magic being involved isn’t so impossible?  So when Tilly starts telling him about her encounter with Gothel/Eloise, the gears in his head start to turn.  Because it’s starting to sound like Naveen’s warning about a war brewing might not have been so far-fetched after all.  He tells Tilly that, even though what she’s saying sounds crazy, he’s learned his lesson after the death of the Blind Baker.  As such, he’s no longer going to doubt her words, no matter how crazy they might sound.  This visibly delights Tilly, and the two head off to confer with Henry.

When they get to Henry’s apartment, he is initially reluctant to let them in, trying very badly to act casual and not act like he was hiding something.  But when he hears Rogers and Tilly are starting to suspect something magical might be going on, what with Parallel Hansel’s impossible death and Elise/Gothel’s claims, he willingly lets them it.  Because their words are pretty much vindication to him, as he’s set up this whole murder wall in his apartment.  Ever since he saw the results of the blood test that named him as Lucy’s father, he’s become more open to the possibility that the stories in the book he wrote are real.  While his attempts at convincing Jacinda of this were put on hold when Sabine called her up to help with the food truck (as Naveen/Drew is in police custody and is not able to make it to work), he’s grateful that Rogers and Tilly are starting to be on the same page as him.  He shows them the evidence he’s compiled, from the fact that he found a photograph of Regina/Roni standing with eight-year-old him, his swan keychain, and even the fact that Rumpelstiltskin/Weaver’s teacup is identical to the Rumbelle teacup illustration from the New Storybook.  Rogers wonders why Eloise/Gothel wouldn’t just use magic if she actually is a witch, but Henry counters this by pointing out that, in his book, this was called the Land Without Magic for a reason, and while there were trace elements of magic throughout the land, it probably wasn’t enough.  And Gothel/Eloise probably would need a huge amount of magic to do whatever she’s planning

The discussion on the matter is interrupted when Rogers receives a phone call from the Desk Sargent, informing him that Gothel/Eloise was spotted skulking around the local theater.  So Rogers goes to check it out, with Tilly tagging along. This leads to an adorable Knightrook moment, which starts with the visual proof that Tilly decorated Roger’s windshield with origami mushrooms and origami rabbit.  And Rogers isn’t the slightest bit fazed by this.  They start talking about Eloise/Gothel’s claims about how she is Tilly/Alice’s mother.  Tilly admits she had always wanted a mother, and she’s wondering if she’ll find the missing part of her if she lets this woman in.  But she has her doubts, because Eloise/Gothel doesn’t seem like the nurturing mother type.  Rogers comforts her, stating that, even if Eloise/Gothel is right and she did give birth to her, it doesn’t mean she’s her mother, as it takes more than biology to be a real mother.  He then gives her a marmalade sandwich that he just happened to have with him.  Which suggests he regularly carries around Tilly’s favorite sandwich, just in case he’d run into her on the street.  That is just adorable.  Even though he still doesn’t remember, Rogers just can’t stop being fatherly to her.  The Knightrook feelings are jumping off the scale here.  Tilly even begins to thank Rogers for everything he’s done for her, from listening to her to letting her stay with him.

That’s when they spot Eloise/Gothel entering the theater, and they start to move in, with Tilly ignoring Roger’s request to stay put.  This ends up to be bad, as the whole thing was a trap.  The Desk Sargent has been hypnotized into helping Gothel in the coven, because apparently Gothel can hypnotize people now.  When they enter the theater, Rogers and Tilly are immediately taken captive by the members of the Coven of Eight.  Rogers angrily warns Gothel that he will kill her if she even tries to hurt Tilly, regardless of his police badge.  But Gothel isn’t perturbed, stating that Tilly isn’t the one she plans to hurt.  She and the rest of the coven drag Tilly and Rogers down to the very bowels of the theater, which are revealed to be the former location of the sacred grove where Gothel once lived with the other Tree Nymphs.  Once they reach the site, Gothel tells Tilly that she expects her to help her and the other witches in casting a powerful spell.  One that, I guess, will bring back the magic in this land and restore it to the way it was before the Mean Girls exterminated the other Tree Nymphs. She goes on to state that it’s time for Tilly to accept her place among them, as she can never belong to the world of the humans, and that the Coven of Eight is her real family, etc. etc..   Tilly, however, doesn’t fall for it, stating that, whatever Gothel might be, she is no mother to her.  But in the end, Gothel manages to force Tilly into helping them by threatening to kill Rogers if she doesn’t comply.  She even reveals the fact that they’re actually father and daughter.  This threat ends up working, as Alice’s love for her father hasn’t been erased by the curse, resulting in Tilly caring deeply for Rogers.  So of course she can’t let him be killed.  As such, she reluctantly agrees to help Gothel and the other witches cast their spell, in spite of Rogers pleading her not to.

Meanwhile, there’s a whole supblot with Lucy going to Facilier, to ask him if he had another batch of magic that could help cure Henry of the poison inside him.  He tells her that he can only help if Lucy can locate a symbol of Henry and Parallel Ella’s love.  (I wonder.  Is this why he wanted the Dagger?  Was he planning to use it to break the curse somehow?  If so, I’m kinda on Facilier’s side now.)  

So Lucy gets her mother to dig some old boxes out of storage, claiming to be feeling nostalgic after Parallel Hansel/Nick’s true colors were revealed. While looking thorough the old boxes, they come across a box labeled ‘BL,’ which Jacinda states stands for ‘Before Lucy.’ Meaning this box contains traces of Jacinda’s life before she gave birth to her daughter.  As they look through the box, they find things that Jacinda cannot explain- a T-shirt advertising Granny’s Diner back in Storybrooke.  This excites Lucy, as she speculates that Henry must have brought that stuff with him before he left on his soul searching quest. (So, what they’re saying is that Parallel Ella had one of Henry’s t-shirts?  Nice!)  And, when they look into the paper take-out bag from Granny’s, they find… The Glass Slipper!  Minus the fragment that Henry has.

Bursting with excitement, Lucy brings the Glass Slipper and the Glass Slipper Fragment to Facilier.  With it, he is able to use his voodoo magic to eliminate the poison within Henry, thereby ensuring he won’t die when the curse is broken.

However, when Jacinda shows up at his place to inform him that she and Lucy found the Glass Slipper, resulting in her starting to believe in the possibility that she might actually be Cinderella after all, nothing happens when they kiss.  Much to Lucy’s surprise, as she was really expecting their TLK would be the one to break the spell.  I, however, am not surprised.  Because the original Dark Curse was not broken by Snow and Charming’s TLK.  It was Emma and Henry’s bond that did it. So I had my doubts that Henry and Parallel Ella would be the ones to break this Dark Curse.  I suspect the secret lies in a different pair.  Let’s see, it was the True Love between a mother and a son that broke the first Dark Curse.  Maybe it will be the True Love between a father and a daughter this time around?  Unless that pesky Cursed Heart issue gets in the way. That might be an issue.

(Click here to read more Episode Analyses)

[robbiejohnsonyr2ax2011]

University - Manchester Animation Festival - Day 4

During this week, we are attending the “Manchester Animation Festival” (Or MAF for short). During each day this week I will write a post giving my thoughts on what I watched, as well as add anything else we did such as meetings and Talks. I will also provide links to any form of clip or trailer, if I can find one.

(This Post will contain spoilers)

 Short Films Children

Sea Major

Sea Major tells the story of a young girl, who really wants to fish. But her farther stops her and wants her to stay inside and learn piano, wanting to get back to fishing the girl sneaks out of the house and continues to fish. After hooking a very strong fish, she is dragged into the sea and nearly drowns, until the farther comes and saves her. Later that evening she wakes up in the house, with her saddened farther on their doorstep. Realising his mistake, the next day he decides to let his daughter fish with him and the two do just that.

This film was good, I can see how its 3D art style would look welcoming to young audiences. The story also tells the lesson of, if you really want to do something, keep at it and one day you will be able to go out and do it. The humour in this film was also pretty good, with the little girl wrestling a fish in the house, whilst remaining non-suspicious to her dad was a nice touch.

 The Witch and The Baby

The Witch and The Baby is a short story about a sad witch who isn’t looking as good as most other women. She decides to create a potion to make her look pretty, there’s one missing ingredient to the mixture though, a baby. Meanwhile a royal castle is hiring for a babysitter, the witch turns the other participants into frogs, gets the job and steals the baby. Once home, the baby keeps preventing the witch from finishing the stew, pooping, throwing potions playing with explosives the baby does it all. Suddenly the baby hugs the witch’s leg and calls her it’s “Mama”, this cause the witch’s heart to grow and care for the child. The two end up back at the castle and the witch is hired to keep looking after the baby.

This was a nice short story, with a friendly look and nice exposition. The story is a re-used, but effective one being someone who looks mean, is not always as bad as they seem. As well as you do not need to be pretty to be accepted into society, you can do things your own way.

Link to Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmBX6gWqWZQ

 Tricked

Tricked is a story based on a street criminal stealing money from people on trams. One day a magician comes onto the tram with a pocket full of cash, the criminal tries to steal a $100 when he is suddenly pulled into another world within the magician’s pocket. The criminal chases the money through a variety of magic trick acts, such as cards, being cut in a box, rabbit in a hat, etc. The criminal grabs the $100 and fly’s out of the magician’s pocket onto a stage, where it is revealed the tram was a trick and is handcuffed by a large $.

I really liked the comedic and wacky nature of this film, seeing what magic act was going to happen next and how it would beat up the criminal kept me guessing. The lighting is also worth mentioning as there was effective uses of stage lights for magic act and even the shadows of the characters on the tram and when the criminal first lands in the pocket, where very well executed.

I could not find a Trailer, but here’s a link to the full film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcROiQ6PEuI

 Margin of Terror

Margin of terror tells the story of a mad scientist, trying to create a terrifying monster. All seems to be according to plan, when suddenly the switch to turn on his device flips up and instead of a scary monster, create a small, adorable, friendly box creature. Annoyed the scientist throws the creature in the bin tries again, each time he tries the same result occurs with the same creature in varying colours, all of which are thrown in the bin. When the scientist losses hope in the experiment, all the small, boxed creatures, form into one giant creature, which excites and scares the scientist, he’s grabbed, and the creature gives him a hug.

This film uses its Claymation design very well, from the overtop expressions of the scientist to the squash and stretchy nature and interactions with the small box creatures. Even the ending where they all merge together, is a good use of mixing clay colours together. This story also reminds me of the well know saying by Thomas H Palmer “If at first you don’t succeed, Try, Try Again”.

Link to the teaser trailer

https://vimeo.com/365839199

 Shooms’s Odyssey

Shoom’s Odyssey is a story about two baby owls hatching and exploring their surroundings, they meet squirrels, crocodiles, racoons and more. Along the way Shooom and her brother get separated when two children find her brother (still in the egg) and take him with them to take care of him. Shooom explores the town as she searches for her brother, meanwhile the kids grandfather finds out about them having a baby owl with them. Eventually Shrooom finds her brother the humans help them get home, until they part ways. On their way home they help a young racoon stuck in a duck inflatable get free, which later the racoons mother finds the baby owls and takes them back to her home.

This short film looks beautiful, an excellent use of 2D animation. I love that we watch Shrooom and her brother group up alongside each, such as learning to walk and experiencing flight for the first time, it’s also interesting that some things they learn are from other creatures, such as the squirrel shows Shrooom how to walk on two feet (Or claws/ Talons I guess for an owl). It’s also a very good story with Shrooom and her brother exploring the world from birth and attempting to find their mother/ family, but in the end are taken in by a family of racoons (sort of like adoption). Lastly, the kids final good bye to Shrooom and her brother, saying good bye to “Squeak” and the brother turns around and responds with a chirp was great to me kind of like closing the book on Squeak and the kids relationship.

 Link to trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWP9orbO8vI

Stix and Stones

Stix and Stones is a short story about two cave men who were frozen in the stone age and are alive in a modern day museum after being thawed by accident, now they come out and of posing when everyone’s gone home. The two find a stool and try and experiment with it to figure out what it is, they sit on the stool upside, they sit on it right side up and snap the legs to make a fire. However, the fire alarm goes off, activating the sprinklers and causing Stix and Stones to panic, they run into the walls of the glass cabinet there in and the short ends.

This animation was an interesting short, I liked the catchy introduction sequence which is familiar to that of a mainstream cartoon introduction, with a catchy rhythm but also explaining how Stix and Stones got to where they are now. I also liked the chemistry between the two as they seemed competitive with each as well as brotherly.

 Onigami

Onigami, is a short story of two cavemen-esc creatures breaking into a traditional looking Japanese home, one is small and wild the other is large and gentle. Whilst the short creature goes wild smashing up the place, the big one discovers origami and tries to create an origami bird from a book. He repeatedly tries and fails, becoming sad about it, the short creature picks up on this and decides to use the pieces of the house he has smashed to create a large origami bird. The two manage to create the bird and carry on with their day.

This story delivers a unique aspect to trial and error, showing that you can repeatedly try something, over and over again and never get it correct. But there is always a solution/ work around to what your doing. I also liked how the characteristics of the pair is represented in their movement, the short creature is fast and sharp with his movements, whereas the big creature slow and cautious, but always smiling. In one part he even shakes his wooden club like a baby rattle giving off the impression off a young child.

I couldn’t find a trailer, but here’s a link to the full film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P_01Rh9-m4

 The Mandrake

The Mandrake tells the story of a rabbit vegetable farmer, one day a badger witch (at least I think it’s a badger) approaches the rabbit and places a drawing on a potted plant, she gives the rabbit a bag of money and leaves. The next day the potted plant grows into a baby made out of stems and leaf’s, the rabbit decides to take care of the new born, although it takes a while two form a bond. A few days later the witch returns and wants to take the baby with her, the rabbit tries to return the money, but the badger wants the baby. She attacks the two and damages the farm with her hex spells, she hits herself and transforms into a large goo monster, before she can harm the two, she melts, and the rabbit and his child carry on with no harm done to them.

This story is unique as it shows the a growing bond between two unlikely friends/ family and how to deal with sudden large responsibility’s like taking care of a child. I liked the art style of this film too, with the thicker more solid colouring on characters and what they interact with, in comparison with the lovely water coloured and painted backgrounds of the farm and its landscape.

 The Little Bang

The Little Bang is a short story about planets in the solar system smiling and playing with smaller plants/ asteroids within their atmosphere (Like parents and children), everyone except for a flaming planet that everyone looks away from because its too bright. The planet is sad and alone, until a new planet just like him is made in the distance, the flaming planet gets the attention of the new planet and shows it how to grow arms, exploded and much more. Everything is fine until a black hole comes and the two can’t reach each other, the flaming planet uses the black to swing over to the new planet and they hug, causing a large explosion, this creates hundreds on new planets with the twos colour scheme on them (Orange and cyan).

This story is sweet, as it sends the message of there is someone for everyone, even if no one particular likes you. I liked the concept of planets being parents to smaller planets giving a parent-esc relation ship between the two. I also enjoyed the chemistry between the two planets as it seemed similar to that of a love story between two very different people but represented as planets. A final point to make is I liked the glow of the two planets, not only as a nice-looking design choice, but it also shows that the two of them stand out from the rest.

Below is a link to the trailer.

https://vimeo.com/395077314

Meow or Never

Meow or Never is an interesting story as it follows the journey of a Cat traveling through space to find the meaning of life. She becomes stranded on a planet when her ship malfunctions, thanks to a dog. The two journey around the planet looking for her ship and find marshmallows and spirits along the way. Once the ship is found, the cat decides to stay on the planet with the dog and the two become close friends.

This short film is interesting as it informs kids that there is no official meaning to life, it is what you make it out to be. The way how it is presented in a musical fashion will have kids hooked and adults, likely surprised. I also liked how each character on the planet had their own answers, bugs were to eat food all time, Marshmallows where to be set on fire in a campfire further backing the point of the film. The puppet animation in this film also gives it a unique charm and is well executed throughout.

Link to trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d16qEQGViO0

 Todays Talk

 Stephen Dee

In today’s talk, we had Stephen Dee (One of my tutors) who told and showed us some of his work from over the years in the animation industry. Stephen explained how his start came from when he went to live in America for a short while, made friends, went back to London with one of them and together they were able to get a job. This job was in creating set designs for locations such as city’s and parks, this was just the start for Stephen as he would eventually find his way into projects which involved making sculpts for theme parks and doing large sculpt the same size and much bigger than him, such as an enormous elephant and a large tiger shark.

Stephen also showed us some of his animation work, as over time his lines of work brought him into the stop motion scene, he had helped on children’s TV shows such as “Fifi and the Flower Tops”, “Little Robots”, and “Prank Patrol” amongst others. Stephen went into a lot details on each of the projects he had made and to me it was very interesting, as he explained the materials used to create each one and some of their measurements (E.g. One of the Robots in a shot he showed us from “Little Robots”, although looked small, was actually 42cm tall).

To end Stephen mentioned some advice from what he had learned in the industry, such as explaining the importance of having a good, coincident work ethic, as twenty good jobs will mean nothing to one bad one. As well as “Know your own worth” when it comes to approaching each project. As a quick side note, in the Q and A at the end of the talk, each tutor who spoke with us, over the last four days, were complimenting each other on their presentations and reflecting on each other’s work, which was interesting to hear as they shed light on each of their projects and little things that weren’t mentioned in there presentations. It was nice to hear at the end.

[mechaspirit]

Stars Made with Love

Author’s notes: Just another Endless Summer fanfic I made, and this one is tied with my other story Counting Star. It’s not entirely necessary to read that one first, but if you want to, you’ll get a glimpse of my MC backstory and how it relates to the one right here now. Is it bad that I’m doing this because I miss Endless Summer...and that I also miss Jake? 🌴🌺💔

Anyway, enjoy.

Rated: T

Pairings: MCxJake

Summary: Certain numbers of paper stars you make have certain meanings. Here on the island full of mysteries, the young heroine put all her feelings to the origami stars she makes while reflecting on the love she has for a certain pilot...

A Happy Couple

I never thought I would fall for someone like you, until now. Somehow, you’re like the other half of me. The one who I feel safe and connect with. For some reason, it feels like I’ve been looking for you all this time. There’s no paradise on this island. But with you here, everything feels right.

Being stuck on a volcanic island filled with time loops, strange creatures, and blue-skinned warriors are no picnic. Hell, they tried so many times trying to get off this island hell, only for their plans to be sabotaged every, freakin’ time. Hell, a giant sea monster literally appeared when they tried to escape by using a boat to go to another island just to look for help, causing three people to nearly died.

However...there are some things aren’t always so bad on this island.

On the rooftop of the Celestial Hotel, Yurika continued folding thin strips of paper into origami stars before placing them into a small, star-shaped glass jar with a chain attached to the lid. Apparently, this is a hobby she developed ever since she was a kid, and it comforts her in many different ways. Especially in the times like this, where she, Sean, and Jake managed to survive the boat crash thanks to the hideous sea monster. Not only that, there are a few Watchers who are literally at their tails after Craig attacked them, thinking that they were hurting them while in actuality, the leader was connecting with Yurika through their minds.

And speaking of Jake...

It’s almost been a week since Yurika first met Jake back on the plane, yet she felt like there’s a connection between a two of them. She wouldn’t say that it was love at first even though she admitted that he was attractive as hell, mind you. Yurika did find the pilot’s sarcastic, cynical behavior off-putting sometimes while Jake considers her annoying like the other college students who joined the trip. But by the time she gets to know him better, Yurika finds out that there’s more to the pilot than meets the eye and admires him for his survival skills, laidback attitude, and protectiveness over her since that encounter from the Watchers and the explosion back at the hangar.

A small blush spread across the blonde woman’s cheek as another flashback crosses her mind. She thought she was hallucinating at the time, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized it was real. That underwater kiss they shared when they thought they were going to die...the way their lips pressed together and moved in synced...everything felt real to her. Not sure if it’s the same for the pilot, though. It’s one of the reasons why she’s been avoiding him all day along with trying to keep her mind off the incident for a while.

Yurika held two colored paper stars, red and green, up in the air, seeing that it somewhat resembles her and Jake. A vague memory hit her when her father taught her how to make them. He even told her that a certain number of stars she makes have certain meanings and that making a jar full of origami stars as a gift for their beloved ones can be considered as good luck.

Yeah...in the back of Yurika’s mind, it seems childish. And she can’t picture herself giving that kind of gift to the ex-military pilot. Besides, no one beside Diego knew about her hobby and she’d rather keep it that way just so she doesn’t embarrass herself. Regardless, Yurika still put her feelings to each star she makes.

“Thought I might find you here, Princess,” Yurika froze, hearing a familiar voice behind her, “Mind telling me why you’ve been avoiding me all day?”

The young woman quickly gathered her contents, snapped the jar shut, and hid it behind the strange potted plants before coming face-to-face with him. Normally, she would’ve been more composed with Jake, but after that boat incident, she felt incredibly nervous.

“Er...aside from preparing the barricades from the Watchers?” she stammered.

“Yeah, besides that.”

“...No reason, really. What brought that along?” Yurika asked, even though part of her knew the answer.

Jake narrowed his eyes skeptically at the young woman before taking a spot next to her on the balcony. An uncomfortable silence ensued before he spoke again. “So you really don’t know what happened after the boat crash, do you?”

“Um...I remembered being washed up on the shore.”

“Before that.”

Yurika’s face went red, realizing that Jake was talking about that underwater kiss and unspokenly asked if it meant anything.

“Well...it’s just...” she struggled to find her words, “I wasn’t so sure if that was real or not.”

The pilot smirked at her almost in satisfaction before leaning his face towards hers. “Maybe I’ll let this connect the dots.”

With that, he kissed her passionately in which the college girl returned almost immediately. By the time they let go for air, a grin appeared on Yurika’s face.

“So, that one’s real. Right?”

Jake smirked in response, “If this kiss isn’t real, Princess, then I don’t know what is.”

The young woman smiled at him before wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss once again.

Two stars.

Love for a Lifetime

If there’s anything that I feared the most in my life, it’s losing the ones who I really love. You, especially. By the time I took a glimpse of my own fate, I started to crumble and fear for the worst.

Night falls at the Elyys’tel after that battle with Cetus and the funeral of the former, beloved Elyyshar Ximaedra. Inside one of the huts, Yurika was tossing and turning in her bed with tears in her eyes, unable to drift herself away from the vision she saw from her own Catalyst idol.

She...didn’t die in that future vision, but there are things that are worse than death. Eleven mounds...Eleven graves...She was forced to watch herself burying her friends’ corpses.

Yurika couldn’t shake the fact that all her friends are going to die soon. She couldn’t bear with that. Aside from Diego, they were strangers to her at first. But thanks to the abnormal situations happening on the island, they’ve slowly become her family...an irreplaceable one. She already lost her real one a long time ago. She couldn’t afford to lose another one again.

Just then, she felt something cold, yet warm against her neck. Yurika turned to her side, noticing a blue snow fox nuzzling his nose against her in concern.

“...I’m alright, Furball,” she sat up and held the snow fox close to her chest, “I just couldn’t sleep.”

Furball whimpered a little before licking salty tears from his human friend’s face. They stayed like that for a moment before Yurika placed her furry friend down, climbed out of the straw bed, and went outside to get some fresh air. But not without grabbing her glass jar full of origami stars.

She decided to head to the beach where the battle with Cetus takes place as well as where she had to grab the Andromeda Idol. Despite being at the remains of the battlefield, stars were shining in the sky and Yurika found it really calming somewhat.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to take her pain away. Her attempts to make more paper stars prove that. Yurika kept having flashbacks from that horrible vision which crumbled her efforts of making the paper stars, leading them to become a folding mess. She eventually gave in, curled up into a ball, and started crying. She was taken over by her grief for a long time that she didn’t even realize someone coming towards her.

“Princess, what’s wrong?”

Yurika looked up to just to see Jake standing beside her, probably just got out of bed because of his messy, brown hair and drowsy eyes. He appeared to be awake just seconds later after he noticed tears falling from her eyes.

“You’re...you’re crying. What happened?” The pilot sat down beside the blonde girl and used the back of his hand to wipe her tears away. Yurika responded by grabbing his hand gently and kissing his fingers, one by one.

“I...I have a bad dream. That’s all,” she said half-truthfully, cursing at herself for lying to him.

“...Come here.” Jake gently wrapped his arm around the young woman and pulled her closer, pressing soft kisses to her forehead as she returned the embrace. Yurika’s tears slowed down a little and gripped his shirt before feeling the chained dog togs around his neck against her cheek.

Realization hit her. He had one of those idols, too. Meaning he’ll eventually become one of the eleven victims before she, too, had to bury him. Yurika wished she could tell him what she really saw, but something held her back from doing so. But if she could find some ways to prevent that, then...

“Jake,” she murmured, causing the brunette to look down on her, “Promise me that you won’t die on me.”

Jake stared at his princess for a moment before holding on to her even tighter. “Like hell, I would.”

Nine stars.

Love Without Any Regret

I can’t always tell what you’re thinking, sometimes. I understand that you’re not the kind of person who can open up their feelings, but I’m always here for you to talk about it if you need to. Yet, why is it that you’re always trying to push me away?

Yurika could see the pain in his eyes when Jake finally told his secret to their friends during the coronation festival. They were all shocked, of course, but soon come to realize that he and his best friend didn’t actually commit the crime. Rather, they were framed.

Still, she knew it was hard for the pilot to reveal his darkest secret to everyone. And he seemed to be even more hurt when he had to tell her that, too. But actually, Yurika knew everything right from the beginning. He couldn’t remember it because Varyyn’s blue necklace had reversed the time before the former’s apparent death, but Jake had told her everything that there was all about him on the night they shared back at the Celestial Hotel. And that was the night when she learned that he built those walls around himself so that he wouldn’t be able to feel those pains again. Although sad that he wasn’t able to remember that anymore, Yurika was happy enough to know that Jake trusted her enough to tell her his secret during that time.

But...

“You want us to do what now?”

“You heard me, Princess. There’s no way we can keep this up, now that you know that I’m a wanted man. So we better end this before either of us regret startin’ it in the first place.”

Yurika couldn’t believe it. Is he saying that they should end this relationship right now?!

Yes. Yes, he is. A dark voice told her. She shook her head out of that thought.

“Listen Jake. If it’s about me, mentioning that we’ll find a way to bring you home, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just thought that-”

“That’s not it,” The pilot cut her off and sighed, “Think about it, will ya? By the time we get off of this damned island, you have college stuff to take care of and multiple shots of having a future. Me? I have nothing. Nothing to give you, at the very least. You don’t wanna be tied down with someone like me.”

The college girl just crossed her arms and glared at him. “Since when do you have a right to decide what’s best for me?”

“Since right from the beginning,” Jake replied, trying to hide the guilt from his eyes, “Just forget about everything we had together right now, Yurika. Move on. Find someone else who can give you a normal life, like Captain America or...”

“Hold up, Top Gun,” Yurika stopped him with her hand up, “First of all, Sean has nothing to do with the conversation we’re having now. Second of all, my life is no longer normal. Not since we’ve entered this island. And even if that isn’t the case, I swore to myself and everyone else that we’ll get out of this place. You, especially. Did you think I’m going to abandon you just because of the fact that you have a bounty on your head? I can’t do that.”

“Dammit, Princess. Don’t you regret any of this?!” The pilot retorted.

Silent ensued before the young woman spoke again with an icy tone. “Regret knowing that some of us may not last forever in this island. Yes. But regret spending every moment with you even if our time here is short. No. Never. But I guess it’s clear that you don’t want this anymore.”

Before Jake could stop her, Yurika turned and walk away from him, sad and furious that he would push her away without giving her the chance to reassured him that she’ll stay by his side no matter what.

Fifty-five stars.

The Borderless Love

Despite the argument we had, I swore to myself to keep you alive no matter what. I could’ve lost you that day, had I not convinced you not to fight alone. But I won’t let that happen...

Okay. It’s not like any of them expected this, but they just had to run into him. His old commander of all people. Everyone now knew how dangerous Lundgren is, especially since he now has an army behind him, carrying high-teched weapons. And now the whole group is surrounded.

“Princess, it’s me he wants. Take the others and get out of here!”

Yurika grabbed his arm and stared at him in the eyes, barely hearing Michelle’s comment about the life-and-death situation. “Jake, I’m not leaving you!”

Seeing how serious she is, it took only a few seconds for a pilot to give in to her demands. “Dammit, Princess...Why you gotta make me feel weak at a time like this?”

Varyyn quickly ordered his warriors to protect the Catalysts from the Arachnid soldiers. Everyone else tried to fight back with everything they got just to escape. While the Vaanti warriors tried to hold back the troops from gaining on the Catalysts, one of the soldiers managed to shot a bullet straight at Yurika...

CRACK!

...only for her to dodge just in time and let her chained glass jar attached to her bag take the shot instead, shattering into pieces.

“Shit!” Yurika muttered as the glass content and her stars fell to the snowy ground. She didn’t have time to gather some of them up and instead have to catch up to the group before soldiers can take their lives.

Now, she lost her ninety-nine stars.

You are the One

We managed to survive the encounter, but fear inside us still remains. My fear of seeing everyone’s fates coming true. And your fear of dragging us down and losing us all because you were being hunted. Despite all that, we were able to find comfort with each other once again...

After running away from the Arachnid soldiers in a cold blizzard, Yurika realized she hated the cold with burning passion. It started to get worse once realization hit her that everyone is in more danger than they were before. And it doesn’t help that the more idols she collected, the more possible chance that her beloved friends are going to die.

She then heard a groan of frustration, realizing it came from the living room of the Elysian Lodge Resort. Yurika saw the pilot sitting on the couch, head buried in his own hand. Noticing the pain he is in right now, she quickly went over to him, gently enclosing her hand around his wrist.

“Jake?”

The brunette looked up at the college girl with his eyes filled with guilt and despair. It broke Yurika’s heart just to see him like this, so she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck in which the latter returned almost immediately. They stay like this for a moment, feeling the warmth and breathing into each other’s scents before Jake finally found his voice.

“Shit. I didn’t think he would find us here, Princess,” Jake told her, his voice shaking in fear and regret.

“I know. But then again, none of us did,” Yurika replied reassuringly, “I know this isn’t your fault, Jake.”

“But hell, it is,” he retorted, “All of you kids are in danger because of me. I...I don’t want to risk losing you, Yurika. Just like I lost Mike.”

The blonde held on to his face with her hands, making him look at her in the eyes...cerulean blue meeting dark green. “You won’t lose me, Jake. I can assure you that.”

And I won’t lose you, either. Because you’re the one who completed me, she thought before pressing her lips to his.

This would’ve been her one hundred and one stars.

The Whole Year of Blessing

A new year means a new beginning. Perhaps a whole year of blessing. I was glad that I get to spend it with you. I wasn’t sure if fate brought us together for this or not. But if it did, then I didn’t regret meeting you.

Never thought that they would celebrate New Year’s Day on this crazy island. But they did anyway. They might as well enjoy this moment while they can before preparing another journey ahead of them.

Seeing the lights in the sky reminded them of the ones the couple saw back at the control airstrip tower, where they were first drawn together. And as time goes by, from the mountain climbing to that underwater cave, everything clicks between the two of them.

Perhaps being stuck on this island wasn’t so bad for the two of them. If this trip never happened, then they would have never met.

Yurika felt Jake’s hand entwined with hers as they continued to watch their friends on the rooftop celebrating the remaining time of their New Year party. She could definitely see the lights dancing around his eyes, like the one at the tower. By the time Jake glanced at her, he could tell that they were thinking the same thing.

Turns out that the two unfortunate souls were fortunate enough to meet other in this circumstances rather than the other. That’s something that neither one of them would want to change.

Three hundred and sixty-five stars.

I Love You

There is nothing in this world or the next we can’t face together. I meant every word of it. Whatever the future holds for the both of us, I pray that we’ll be together to face it, thick and thin. I never want this bond to ever be broken.

It was only a few hours since they confess their love for each other on what appeared to possibly be their last night together before they have to head to the MASADA complex to reach the gate. It was painful to think about that, knowing that there are going to be plenty of risks to take (with Yurika knowing that she still have to prevent her friends’ deaths and with Jake knowing that he’ll still be on the run and had to face his and Mike’s family), but it won’t stop either of them from making the night count for both of them. Bare and completely spent, they snuggled against each other, feeling the warmth they love so much, knowing that they won’t be able to feel this again for a long time...assuming that they did manage to make it out alive.

“I never ever want this to end,” Yurika admitted.

“Neither did I,” Jake agreed, holding onto her protectively, “Any regrets?”

“None,” she replied without missing a beat, “You?”

“Just one,” he sighed, “Knowing that I can’t give you everything that you deserve.”

Yurika quickly gave him a reassuring kiss and stared into his cerulean, blue eyes. “Believe it or not, you’ve given me more than enough. And I won’t change any of that.”

She could see relief in his eyes before the pilot gave out his usual cocky grin, “Have I ever told you that I love you?”

Yurika rolled her eyes and laughed, “You just did not too long ago Top Gun.”

“Just making sure it wasn’t one-sided,” he joked. The blonde woman shook her head and let their foreheads pressed against each other.

“And I love you, Jake. We’ll be able to get through this just as long as we have each other.”

Five hundred and twenty stars.

Everlasting Love

I saw your fate that day. Seeing you breaking out of that prison and giving up your life just to save me...I couldn’t even stop my tears from overflowing. As much as I love you for your undying loyalty, I’m not going to let you risk your life like that. I care about you too much to let that happened...

Tears fell from her eyes by the time she saw the vision ended. After being trapped in that cryostasis tube for five years, Yurika was forced to see Jake giving up his freedom and his life just to save her. The last thing she could remember was the scent of his blood...and his loving gaze before the light goes out from his eyes once again.

“What’s the matter?” Jake asked her after seeing tears falling from her eyes.

“I...” Yurika could barely form any words from her mouth. All she could do now was to stand there and held a firm grip on the Lupus Idol. Regardless, the pilot pulled her into a gentle embrace.

“Hey, it’s alright,” he told her while stroking her blonde hair. Yurika rested her head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent. Then, she finally found her voice again.

“Thank you, Jake.”

“For what?”

“For something you’ll never have to do,” she replied, “Not after today”.

Jake stared at her in confusion before forming a grinned on his face. “Sometimes, I can’t keep up with your riddles. Come on. Let’s find this gate and bring you home.”

By the time he turned away, Yurika glanced down at the idol, feeling the anxiety and determination inside her.

If only you knew what’s going to happen to you, she thought to herself, But I’m not going to let that future come true, Jake. If I have to take your place to die, I’ll gladly do it. Just give me a chance to protect you this time.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine stars.

Eternal Love

Even we’re apart, there isn’t a time when I didn’t think about you. I hope you’re still alive and safe, along with the others. To be honest...I’m not really in a good place right now. I just found out a shocking truth of this island...and myself. Or rather my other self. I don’t know. It’s really hard to accept the truth...to know that you’ve died so many times in different timelines. At least one thing that comforts me for sure is knowing that you really do love me. Even after two thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine times. And I do love you, too. I just...wished that you’re here with me now just to help me get used to this pain.

After knowing the truth behind the amber idols and The Endless’s identity, Yurika felt sick. She distanced herself from the shaman, the female pirate, and her other-self. Knowing that she and her friends had been stuck in a time loop, her friends dying repeatedly in different timelines, and the methods The Endless use to save everyone, Yurika couldn’t handle the truth much longer.

The young woman held on to the glass jar (the one she found at the Elysian Lodge back at the mountains) full of the origami stars she just created as she gazed at the stars in the sky. After going through that ritual, she never felt so lost in her life and now there is no one she can trust to comfort her...to take her worries away.

At the very least, they are still alive. Otherwise, the idols wouldn’t activate back at the cave. Yurika wasn’t sure what to do now that she knows part of the truth of the island nor can she trust her other-self to guide her to get through this. Yet, there’s still hope inside her that she and her friends will be reunited. Jake, especially. Maybe there will be a chance that there’s going to be a brighter future for the two of them once they stop Rourke from his evil doings and finally find a way to get out of this island for good.

As a shooting star passed by, Yurika held on to her own stars made with love as she thought of her beloved pilot who landed somewhere on this island right after they got separated.

“I love you.”

One thousand, three hundred and fourteen stars.

Love you 10,000 years

Two thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine times, I have fallen in love with you. Two thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine times, I’ve watched you die right in front of me. The decisions I made aren’t the ones I’m very proud of, but they’re the ones I have to make in order to help you survive. My younger-self does not agree with me on what I have to do. However, I knew that someday, she’ll understand that these drastic measures are necessary...and that the decisions she makes will reflect on their future.

She lost count of how many years have passed for her. All she knew it’s been a really, really long time since she’s been like this. An empty void. Yet, since the cycle has been broken, she felt a tiny hope for a first time inside her.

The Endless glanced at her younger-self laying on the ground watching the stars glittering in the night sky, clutching the glass jar filled with folded paper stars in her hand. Quite a predictable sight, because they’re technically the same person and would let their own stars guide them. Though, her younger-self kept hers longer than expected while The Endless abandoned hers out of grief.

Yurika...It was her own name that The Endless had long forgotten, yet somehow brought back some nostalgic feelings. It made her remembered who she used to be, but yet at the time, it made her remembered the chapter of their lives that would always end in tragedies. Seeing her lover dying multiple times proves that.

Not every love story is a fairy tale. They both knew that. But perhaps for her younger-self, things will be different. After all, Yurika had passed her first test to break the cycle. Now The Endless has to make sure to help her get ready for what’s to come.

And depending on her younger self's decisions, she may be able to receive the happiness and the love she deserves in her brighter future that The Endless may never have.

Ten thousand stars.

[erynavensara-blog]

From the Frying Pan...

Oh man. I might be hungover to hells, but I haven’t slept that well in quite some time. Waking up with a guy who didn’t want my body is really refreshing. Zaphiel’s arm made a very comfortable pillow, and I’m pretty sure I drooled on him. Oh well, I’m sure he won’t mind too much. Istimar very rudely woke us up, calling us lovebirds?! Ha, I think someone might be a little jealous. I should see if Zaphiel will play up a fake romance with me, just to fuck with Istimar. He made some snide remark about how boring I am because Alyssa never wore underwear (not like Zaphiel would be interested if I wasn’t, plus he’d already seen too much of my tattoo), so I’m sure Istimar is deserving of some fuckery. I’ll think of something.

I am also filled in on what happened while I was drinking away my sorrows last night. It turned out Fai and Istimar have really fucking big balls, because they decided to explore the more restricted areas of Fort Belurian to try and get this dirt we need to link the Fists with the pirates. They didn’t find any evidence, but they did steal a bunch of cool shit from them. Some scrolls, magical arrows and a quiver that seems to work a lot like our bag of holding. Not a bad haul, but we need to keep that stuff hidden.

I am also told that Istimar’s friend who wanted us to make the distraction at Fort Belurian in the first place was caught sneaking around the fort after hours, and it seems that the break-in and thefts were pinned on him. Phew! I was also told that he is likely dinosaur food. Not so great. A bit brutal, but better him than us, I suppose. We also picked up a mission to deliver ghoul heads to Fort Belurian in return for gold, as well as a recon mission to find the creature creating absurdly large footprints in the jungle. The money sounds good, but I’d rather stay the fuck away from Fort Belurian after what we’ve done there. If any more attention is brought to us, they might realise I used to be with the Fists!

After all this sneaky talk, we go down to breakfast. I decided to tease Istimar, asking if he hit that - Xandala - last night. Xandala seems to be the most sheltered woman I’ve ever met. She was asking if Istimar is prone to violence, because he didn’t hit her last night! I had to stop myself from laughing at her naivete. It’s honestly kinda cute. I decided to try and play it up a bit, and I gave her the origami pseudodragon I’ve been working on. Maybe if I get into her good graces, I’ll find out what’s really going on between her and Istimar. I was a little creeped out though, because now Xandala seems to think we’re suddenly best friends, and we should make a blood pact and I should give her some of my hair or something? Who raised her?! I asked that very question and made her cry. Seems she misses her daddy. Oops. I’ll have to try again to make her like me.

After breakfast, we meet up with Shago and decide to leave Fort Belurian with the exploration charter Marduk pretty much fucked Liara into giving us. See, I always say sex can be more about fun! It’s pretty fun though regardless. Anyway, we leave and enter the jungle. It’s a bit exciting! I’ve read about the jungle, but I’ve never explored it until now.

Not far into our travels, my worst enemy shows up. Twig blights. And they brought some bigger friends. A giant vine thing that tried to kill us! It wasn’t so bad, and we dealt with them pretty quickly. Moving on, we carry on our way back to Port Nyanzaru. A few hours later, all hell rains down on us. Before I could even blink, a giant snake shoots out of the trees and clamps its teeth down on Fai, killing him in a single blow. I couldn’t believe it, but there were five more of these creatures that had to go down. I had to wait to try and help Fai. Luckily, Xandala is getting a bit better at this whole magic thing, and she was able to kill three of the snakes with a single fireball. I’m glad she didn’t manage to hit some of us with it! She seems quite strong, considering her total lack of confidence in her abilities.

We decide to skin the snakes and take their meat, and we are left figuring out what to do about Fai. The little guy is really dead! That’s the third person who joined us, who is now dead. Is it even worth it to be here? What would I even gain from getting my memory back? How many more will die until we either all perish, or finally find this Soulmonger? Can we even bring the dead back when the Soulmonger is stopped and the curse hopefully ended?

These are too many questions for one day, and we need to make camp. We need to mourn our friend.

[thea-travels]

Recap-volunteering in dang

So did a really poor job of staying up to date many times this past year but I am determined now to finish the year so I am going to write a recap of the time I had in Dang nepal at Gurukul school. I left the day after I arrived at 6 in the morning to head to the bus station and got a bus which stupidly was technically the third class bus. I was told i shouldn't arrive later than 7pm so I got on and went on a long adventure at one point the road split either straight north or theee hours west before heading north and the faster way two people had died on the night before so we went the other way which added some time on the the journey which originally should have been around 10-12 hours and was 17.. so that was a real adventure but it was exactly that an adventure and an experience. And the guy sitting next to me was super helpful and I've we finally arrived in dang they brought me all the way to the street the school was on where I was received by Teeka the schon Principal. It was already 1am and so they just showed me my room and I went to bed. The first 6 days I was there were vacation for the school because of local elections. One day Teeka took me to a local temple and holy spot where they sacrifice goats and sheep and also a local place to bring your family and have a picnic with a dirty lake where the kids play. He drove me there on his motorbike slowly and carefully but it was fun. I was also invited to join four of the founders of the school who were there for the vacation(two of them because dang is their home district and they were also there to vote) to go to swagadori one of the most holy places for Hindu people. For them basically what heaven is for christians. It was a real adventure three hours with the car up and down windy mountain roads with four adult men who acted like little boys going to the candy store. Once we got to the bottom of the mountain we had to get into a different car a four wheel drive to drive another hour up a small, dusty, bumpy and rocky path up the mountain. Once we got to the top there was another 20 min walking up this large stairs and by the time we got there it was dark with the most beautiful view of the stars I've seen in a long time definitely best in Asia. We got up to the top which was a temple with a stable for lots of cows a building with housing and a cafeteria type room. There was a school on the top for children of all ages to become yogis and we had dinner and settled into our room which was just a bunch of beds and thick blankets I got a whole row of beds to myself and the guys slept across from me. The next morning we got up very early and they went from temple to temple each for a different god and I was allowed to watch and take pictures. Everyone stared at me with such bewilderment understandably because I think very very few foreigners get to go to this temple. Aanant, one of the guys, told me they think probably what is this creature from what world did I come from. Really fascinating. And after the adventure to the temple we went to a city where one of the other guys came from where some of his relatives were running in the election so he went to wish them good luck and such. So that was a nice little adventure out of the campus. Which is extremely nice. Clearly a privat school with a lot of money but they are trying to be the best school in all of dang and that shows. There's three school buildings, a Montessori kindergarten, elementary 1st-5th grade and a jr high building 6th-8th as well as a cafeteria building, boarding school building and another building with a chemistry lab and music room and the best of all a swimming pool! So the days before school started I spent a lot in my hammock and hanging out with the 14 kids who live in the boarding school. We also started to create a theater show which was a really fun and stressful process because they are all very energized and not so good listeners but it still turned out pretty awesomely. Than school started and I had a little bit more of a schedule. Mornings after assembly, which was different every morning sometimes dancing, karate, yoga or swimming, I would go to one of the kindergarten classes either pre 1 a or b or pre 2 so 4/5 year olds or 6 year olds and sang songs or did origami. They were so adorable. Everything in the school is taught in English except their Nepali class so they could all speak minimal English and it was so cute to interact with them. They all wanted to sit closest to me in the circle and tell me about it show me all sorts of things. Very cute. Than I ate lunch and after lunch had a English class with 7th graders and than with 6th graders. I did the same thing in both classes and at the beginning was asked for a teaching plan of what I was going to do which I did and when I finished it the coordinator who asked me to do it was so shocked and said oh you could just follow the teacher that was a bit frustrating but because I had a detailed plan I also followed it. Teaching things like vowel and consonant sounds, how to write a paragraph or essay, reading stories, how to write a script etc. in the end I only had 8 days where I was actually teaching because at the end they started exams, all students in Nepal had them at the same time every day a different subject so that was kind of unfortunate. The first day with the 6th graders I got cornered and asked by every single one of them for an autograph on their arm or hand or journal it was pretty crazy and funny. But than after the English classes I had some free time where I usually took a nap and went to watch and play with the really little ones in foundations/play group so ages 2-4 really cuties they also got let out at 3:30 so I would watch as they all waddled away with their oversized backpacks and waved good bye or all huddled under one big umbrella when it rained. Really adorable. Than there was snack which was always delicious and after school I would either immediately have rehearsal with the kids or wait until they finished their homework or play a bit before rehearsing. That was basically my time there. There were two Spanish girls who came for 5 days they were scouts and it was one of their final projects before becoming a scout leader and than her supervisor. One evening I was invited to Depti one of the lovely kindergarten teachers home. First we went to a different local temple and than to her home. That was a really awesome experience her family was so incredibly kind and even without English we were able to communicate and have a good time together. It was super interesting seeing how the locals really live and walking around everyone asked who I was and what I was doing and I said the couple words in Nepali that I know. It was really lovely. Also incredible to think she walks an hour to and from school everyday to teach. Another fun thing I did was help one of the teachers with his music video for a song he wrote and produced in his music video really silly but lots of fun and I'm excited for the end result. It's a quitchy love song and a lot of slow motion of me running or twirling or being serenaded haha it was really funny to me but super serious for him and I support it!! Also funny how at the beginning of filming we had like 5 or 6 kids watching and by the end like 30 minutes later there were at least 25/30 people watching the kids got their grandparents and parents and little siblings and neighbors and we had a huge fan base haha. I really enjoyed my time at gurukul it was entirely different than all the other times mainly because the only other white people I met in the three weeks I was there were these Spanish girls otherwise only locals and they were so incredibly kind and giving and loving it was so nice!! And the food from the cafeteria was so yummy I definitely got a little sick or rice but once I left I missed it. All in all a really incredible time.

[raendown]

Chapter 56

This one didn’t turn out as well as I wanted and I’m not sure I like it but ah well. The latest chapter is Konan and Sasori and the idea was much more epic in my head than it turned out to be on paper. 

Under the cut, if you wish, or on AO3.

Pairing: KonanSasori Soulmate au: The one where you have a spirit animal only you can see that will lead you to your soulmate

It had been there all her life, sitting in the corner of her vision or pacing the walls of whatever room she was in. It looked like a lynx, although how she knew that she couldn’t have said. Konan had never seen a real lynx in her life. No one but her could see this one and it had a habit of laying down in public walkways for people to stroll right through its incorporeal body. Konan usually had the impression that the lynx was exasperated with her for some reason, though she wasn’t sure why. It liked to dash enthusiastically through doorways when it saw she was leaving a room, taking off in one direction only to circle back and glare disapprovingly at her when she turned the other way.

Konan was twenty-five when she decided that enough was enough. She had a good job and a good amount of money in the bank. Her boss agreed almost thoughtlessly when she put in for vacation time and Konan felt no guilt over how vague she was when discussing how long she would be gone for.

The lynx was waiting for her at the door when she left her apartment the next morning, backpack in hand. She paused to lock the door and then turned to the animal, a brilliant vision of gold and white that only grew more translucent with time.

“Well?” she demanded. “Which way?”

Seemingly delighted – and not a little relieved that it was finally getting its way – the lynx bounded off in a generally northern direction. Konan followed.

The next few weeks were a strange journey for her. Her destination was unknown and the direction of her travel was entirely at the whim of a creature which might very well be a figment of her imagination. When she was young she hadn’t ever dared to ask anyone at the orphanage whether they saw creatures too, but she knew that no one ever saw her lynx but her. Either way it seemed to be taking her in a northerly direction, occasionally tracking a little east. She travelled mostly by foot, sometimes hitching a ride with someone on the longer stretches of highway. She stayed in hostels and hotels, bedding down for the night with one hand off to the side, reaching for iridescent fur but never quite touching.

When she got where she was going she didn’t know it at first. She had slept in a hotel the night before, affording her the chance to shower and change in to fresh clothing. She felt ready to go, to move, to discover. But she knew that something felt different the moment she stepped on to the streets of whatever city they had wandered in to.

Her lynx seemed full of barely contained energy, rushing ahead of her in leaps and bounds and circling back as if to ask why she wasn’t hurrying as well. It gave her an anxious feeling as if she were about to miss something. It made her walk faster and faster until she was jogging through the streets, dodging cars and lurching around pedestrians in a bid to get to wherever she needed to be. Her lynx dashed straight through the crowds, staying just within her sight and urging her on.

It was nearly noon when it happened and Konan was exhausted after running for hours non-stop, the unfounded worry in her chest not letting her slow even for a minute. She thought nothing of it when they turned down in to an abandoned subway station, racing down the steps two and three at a time. Her lynx ran only a few feet in front of her until they came tearing around a corner to see the almost empty train platform. Then it burst forward and she witnessed the single most incredible sight she had ever seen, one she would never forget.

There was only one other person on the platform: a man with messy red hair and a large suitcase at his feet. As she turned the corner she saw, to her astonishment, a shining maned fox leap away from the man’s feet and rush out to meet her lynx companion. The stranger gave a low cry and reached out in surprise. He could see the fox, he was trying to call it back. Konan watched the two ethereal spirits race headlong towards each other until they crashed together in a brilliant explosion of light, wisps of white and gold and red drifting through the air. When she blinked the spots out of her vision her lynx was gone, along with the stranger’s maned fox. Neither were anywhere in sight and she somehow knew deep inside of herself that she would never see her guide again.

She looked to the red-head, taking in the muted surprise on his face as he looked around the empty platform. When his eyes fell on her he seemed awed, almost reverent. She stood still and let him come towards her, strangely aware of how sweaty and rumpled she must be. So much for that shower.

“My soulmate,” the man murmured when he made his way to her. “I knew you would find me some day. The damn fox never tried to lead me anywhere, I knew it must be you that finds me.” Konan furrowed her brows.

“Is that what it was for?” It was strange not to feel sad to lose the spirit that had been with her all her life. But she felt so complete now, more content the closer this person stood. She had heard of soulmates, of course; almost everyone had one. But she hadn’t known that her guide was meant to show her the way to hers. If she had she would have followed it sooner!

“My name is Sasori,” the man introduced himself. “I’m a puppeteer and a carpenter. And I’m very pleased to meet you.”

She took a deep breathe in, feeling oddly calm considering all that had happened. “Konan,” she said. “My name is Konan. I work for a law firm.” She wasn’t sure why he felt the need to introduce himself with his job but figured it was polite to follow suit. Perhaps he was just very proud of his line of work.

Sasori looked her up and down, taking in the purple hair that had fallen out of its bun, the origami flower she had made out of a hotel notepad and pinned to her head, and the way she was still breathing too heavily from all the running. Just before she was about to be slightly offended by his silent staring his face spread in to a warm but slightly manic smile.

“I would love to make a puppet of you like this,” he said. “You’re beautiful. You should be immortalized.”

This Sasori, she decided, was a very odd man. But he was her soulmate and he thought she was beautiful enough to be immortalized even when she looked as awful as she surely did right now. So she smiled and held out her hand to him.

“That’s flattering. Tell me about your puppets.”

By the look he gave her she surmised she had asked the right question. Sasori was more than happy to tell her all about his beloved creations. He took her hand and led her to the bench he had been standing next to when she arrived. Then they sat together and talked – and talked and talked and talked. About his life, hers, his dreams, her aspirations. When the train that Sasori had been waiting for arrived they let it pass them by without even a thought for where he had been going.

They had found each other. They were right where they needed to be.

[verdigrisprowl]

Mar 1 Blurr’s Horror Stream - Kubo and the Two Strings

Prowl said very little because mun was watching the movie.

After the movie, though, he was incredibly fluffy with Soundwave. It was amazing. My heart grew two sizes that day.

Welcome to the 'speedxstealer' room. The chat room has been cleared by the moderator. B l u r r: /He is arrive. And immediately sinking down into the couch / Shockbox: /The Boy is back in town. Shockbox: /He carefully picks a seat which has an easy view of Soundwave's usual seat without compromising screen visibility. Soundwave: *Soundwave shoos almost all the minis before him. Ravage prompty runs to Blurr, grunt-huffs at him, and then (heavily) jumps onto Blurr's lap.* Soundwave: *Maybe makes a nuisance of himself trying to get settled for a second.* Whirl: *stalks in, obnoxious blue bird that he is, and immediately looms over the pack of Blurr's couch, staring down at him* B l u r r: / makes a slight noise. Surprised a little. He wasn't paying attention to Ravage / B l u r r: / Now there is a Ravage / B l u r r: / vents and glances up / Hnh? Hi, Whirl. Whirl: Yo, Teach. How're you feelin? Did you get my message last week? *prods him with a huge claw* B l u r r: Mmhm... Dart gave it to me. Shockbox: *Observes Soundwave's settling ritual.* B l u r r: / is being prodded. Wiggles claws at the prodding / Soundwave: *Soundwave nods to Shockwave and Blurr both and settles on his couch with Rumble parked on the top of his backpack and sort of draping over his helm.* Whirl: Good. Guess he's not COMPLETELY useless, then. But, yeah, how're you holdin up? Soundwave: *The others scatter.* Shockbox: *When nodded to, he nods back.* B l u r r: ...He's not useless. /tilts helm. Has to think about the answer./ ... I'm fine. B l u r r: / not the right answer but shRUGS / Soundwave: *Ravage eyes Whirl a moment before deciding to allow this looming without popping him in the helm.* Whirl: *you can pop him but expect to get popped back, kitty cat* Yeah? Did they take that thing out of you? The speed thing? B l u r r: ...No. That's installed into me. Whirl: I think they need to UNinstall it. Soundwave: \\HEY! WE FOUGHT FOR THAT THING.\\ B l u r r: / shakes helm/ No no, it's fine. B l u r r: My processor is working fine with it. Whirl: Yeah, and that THING is almost certainly what put Teach into a coma. Whirl: Or, something like. *waves a claw* B l u r r: /makes a face/ It wasn't a coma... per say. Whirl: Obviously, it's not working fine with it, but have it your way, mech. *shakes his head* Whirl: Either way, glad you're in the land of the living. Sorry I missed the great resurrection, pfft. B l u r r: / shifts a little/ They put a cap on the speed ring. For now. B l u r r: / twitches finials. He still looks tired but hey. It's a slow recovery. He hates it/ ... It wasn't so eventful. B l u r r: I did punch NOS first thing. Whirl: Haha! GOOD. I approve. Whirl: *he's gonna trot away from the couch and clamber into the Whitl Hammock* B l u r r: But, uhm... /clicks claws together./ Ah. Thanks... by the way. Whirl: Hm? *zoops his head out over the hammock* Oh. Well. You're welcome, of course. Whirl: ((WHITL HAMMOCK)) B l u r r: /Dims optic / Mm. I mean it... Whirl: Well. So do I. *he doesn't seem awkward, just taken aback* Whirl: And I would've been here last week, if I could. *nods* B l u r r: / hums and settles. Reaches a claw up to scratch behind Ravage's audio / B l u r r: I know... it's all right. I don't really remember last week. Whirl: *snorts* If it makes you feel any better, I don't remember last Wednesday all that well, myself. Whirl: What a pair WE are. B l u r r: Matching. /snort / Soundwave: *Tilts his helm. Scratch right there, please. He's got a healing scratch in the vicinity and it itches the whole area like MURDER* B l u r r: / all right. Scratches along this new spot / Soundwave: @Shockwave: [[You have been well?]] Whirl: *sprawls all over his hammock and gets settled* Butterbuns: ((ouo not sure if I wanna RP yet since I just woke up but I am here!! B l u r r: [[ lemme know when you guys are ready. ]] FakeProwl: *appears* Soundwave: *Nods to Prowl. Greetings again.* Whirl: ((i am ready!)) B l u r r: [[ ill brb. Laundry! ]] Soundwave: ((ready when y'all are)) Soundwave: *Rumble mumbles something and Soundwave reaches a servo up to pat his leg. He's not going to nod so hard you fall off, don't worry.* Whirl: *antenna twitches; he doesn't look Rumble's way because he doesn't wanna make it obvious if Rumble declines, but he sends an invitation ping his way* Whirl: *nobody gets nodded off the hammock, after all* FakeProwl: *nods to soundwave. and to rumble.* I see you've been transferred from gauntlet to helmet. Soundwave: @Whirl: //...Iunno. Maybe.// Soundwave: //Eh.// Tired stare. //Ain't permanent.// FakeProwl: *attempt at humor: unsuccessful. appropriate actions: act like you never tried.* Mm. *he takes his usual seat next to soundwave.* B l u r r: [[ back ]] Whirl: @Rumble: Standing invitation, mech. No rush. B l u r r: [[ is everyone ready? ]] FakeProwl: ((ye)) Whirl: ((yep!)) Butterbuns: ((yup Soundwave: @Prowl: (txt): Excuse Rumble. Recharge needed. Soundwave liked comment. B l u r r: /settles and keeps scritching Ravage / Soundwave: *Quiet, content rumbling* FakeProwl: *NICE. somebody liked it.* FakeProwl: @Soundwave «Would he be better off at home recharging, then?» Soundwave: *Soundwave's attention is IMMEDIATELY caught by the instrument's powers. It takes him a moment to respond. He also offers settling space, if wanted. Still concerned after those answers.* FakeProwl: *takes settling space.* Soundwave: @Prowl: (txt): Negative. Social time needed. Will recharge after. Tomorow's shift: canceled. Whirl: ((wait is it playin somethin.... right now......)) FakeProwl: ((yes, the movie has started)) Soundwave: ((yes)) B l u r r: [[ yeh?? ]] Whirl: ((*** it's been offline for me HAHAHA()) B l u r r: [[ shiiiiit refresh!! ]] B l u r r: [[ i cAN PAUSE ]] Shockbox: (( Uh oh.)) Butterbuns: ((open your eye Whirl! The world is not that dark! Whirl: ((U FINE DUDE I have refreshed and I see Kubo feedin his mom)) Whirl: ((do not fret, I've seen this film!)) B l u r r: [[ yeS BUT STILL ]] B l u r r: [[ NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ] Shockbox: (( Ohana means family?)) Whirl: ((whirl is basically a huge Stitch)) Shockbox: (( I want to see whirl reenact the scene with the ducks now.)) Soundwave: <<Many Chimera!>> FakeProwl: *oh. origami. prowl knows what that is.* Shockbox: *Turns in the direction of Chimera's voice.* Whirl: *swivels to also look at Chimera* I didn't know you were made of paper. B l u r r: [[ lemme know if it's dropping bad ]] FakeProwl: ((fine here)) Soundwave: *Slow, confused blink. Chimera looks down at themselves.* Soundwave: <<Chimera is not paper.>> Whirl: Are you sure? *peers* C'mere, lemme give you a tap. Butterbuns: ((I like her taste Shockbox: *Wants to give pats.....but needs to calculate a way to offer them, first....* Soundwave: *Ravage suddenly grabs Blurr's servo, and tugs it under his chest. He has trapped this. It is his to rest on now.* Shockbox: *Observing Chimera-Whirl interaction closely.* B l u r r: / oh well. All right. Twitches claws. / Soundwave: *Chimera obediently slithers over to Whirl and looks up at him with beady grey optics.* B l u r r: / pets his helm with the other claw / B l u r r: [[ ugh is it dropping bad? It keeps saying it is here. ]] FakeProwl: ((no dropping here)) Whirl: *shifts and reaches one gangly arm out, extending a huge claw... and very gently taps* Whirl: Hmm. Nope, you're right. Metal. Whirl: Also, I didn't know you could turn into a worm! Soundwave: #SPIDER #no #wait #it is dead #okay Butterbuns: ((it freezes once and a while for a little bit, but the sound keeps going so i can keep watching Whirl: ((ye)) B l u r r: [[ stupid LS. ]] B l u r r: [[ I love how that's Takei ]] Soundwave: ((DID THEY HIRE HIM JUST TO SAY THAT)) FakeProwl: ((omg takei)) B l u r r: [[ LMAO ]] Butterbuns: ((most likely B l u r r: [[ IDK I THINK SO but yes that's him ]] Shockbox: (( Yes.)) Shockbox: ((Well, and a few other things.)) FakeProwl: ((why's the sun rising and setting on the same side)) Soundwave: <<Funny helicopter bot. Chimera is snake, not a woooorm.>> Soundwave: *A lost ending. Sad.* Whirl: Oh. Gotcha. *nods* Shockbox: *He isn't sure how well it would catch Chimera's attention, but he clears his vox in their general direction.* Soundwave: *Creator calls! Chimera zips over faster than they did for Whirl and offers up an odd open-mouthed smile.* Soundwave: *It looks more like they're about to eat something.* Whirl: *withdraws his arm and settles back in* Soundwave: \\YOU GONNA BE LIKE THAT, BOSS?\\ B l u r r: ... That's dumb. Why not just talk to the body? /mumbling / Soundwave: =Boat didn't have it.= B l u r r: Mm... /twitches finials / B l u r r: / chin claws. Stares at the screen / B l u r r: It's always a pity when they don't talk back... Soundwave: *Soundwave nods.* FakeProwl: Maybe he's not showing up because he isn't actually dead. Shockbox: *He pauses for a moment at the speed of Chimera's reaction. The smile might be unsettling to most, but Shockwave sees it for what it is, a display of affection.* Shockbox: Good evening, Chimera. Whirl: *points to Prowl* That's what my money's on. Soundwave: [[A good point. And now he has erred.]] Shockbox: *He pats the seat next to him on his couch.* Would you like to join me? Soundwave: <<Hello, Creator! Chimera will sit.>> Whirl: This movie's visuals are on point. Soundwave: *Slithers into a pile of coils up next to Shockwave and peeps their head from between two loops.* Soundwave: [[...He feels as though the mothering unit did not explain these dangers well enough.]] Shockbox: *He is too distracted by this absolutely precious creature to pay much mind to the chaos ensuing onscreen.* FakeProwl: That seems likely, yes. Shockbox: *Shockwave offers a soft pat to Chimera's head.* Butterbuns: ((I chose the wrong moment to go get food wtf happened in the past 2min FakeProwl: ((he stayed out past dark and his creepy evil witch aunts showed up and tried to steal his other eye)) Soundwave: *Chimera hums and wobbles, happy as a clam.* Butterbuns: ((okay saw that. what happened between him getting to the village and his mom slapping a bug on him? Soundwave: *Ravage glances up at Blurr's missing eye and has a bit of a short think before returning his attention to the screen.* FakeProwl: ((the dark wave or whatever tossed some people around, his mom showed up to save him, used the-whatever-that-power-is to beat back the aunts)) Whirl: Pfft. B l u r r: ... /glances down at Ravage / .. What? FakeProwl: ((and then told him he needs to get the armor and slapped the bug on him.)) Whirl: I'd like for most people in the room to take that line there to heart. Butterbuns: ((coolio Whirl: Ravage, you're excluded. Soundwave: =I should be.= Whirl: I figure we've got a similar level of smelling ability. Soundwave: *Ravage looks back up at Blurr.* =Nothing. Later.= B l u r r: / tilts helm and mumbles / Shockbox: *He casually continues while returning to the film. * Soundwave: [[He likes the monkey's business model.]] Shockbox: (( Brb going to grab some popcorn.)) Butterbuns: ((What's so great about his eyes FakeProwl: ((we don't know yet)) Butterbuns: ((Geez Grandad go get some made out of glass or something FakeProwl: ((they haven't explained, just that grandpa wants them)) Butterbuns: ((Gransdad just thinks they're pretty FakeProwl: (("I'm not sure this counts as origami, I could swear scissors were involved" LMAO. I kept thinking that about the figures.)) Soundwave: ((heh heh)) Soundwave: *Tilts his helm* Butterbuns: ((8D fun fact! In Japanese origami scissors are often used Soundwave: [[Isn't Earth snow]] UGH [[made of water? Shouldn't the paper creature be disintegrating?]] Whirl: Well, it IS magical. Butterbuns: ((god kubo leave the bird alone B l u r r: Magic doesn't wilt. B l u r r: Apparently. Soundwave: *Mumble* //'S like a whole lotta Bird.// FakeProwl: It only becomes wet if it's melting. Since paper gives off no body heat, there's no reason for it to melt the snow. Whirl: Pfft. Can you imagine, a flock full of laserbeaks? No snacks would be left for the rest of us. Soundwave: *Fascinated nod.* [[Thank you both.]] Shockbox: (( I have returned.)) Whirl: *snickers* B l u r r: [[ the little paper hanzo ]] B l u r r: [[ I die ] Soundwave: \\MECH, THERE AIN'T NEVER NONE LEFT WITH JUS' ONE.\\ Shockbox: (( Alright, I have a little salt about how the Beetle character was designed in this film.)) Shockbox: ((They could have made him more bug-like. I feel like that had been intended from his dialogue, but he's just so...human looking.)) FakeProwl: ((she did the smile-to-threaten-with-your-teeth thing. good monkey.)) Whirl: ((yeah, that's my beef with most arthropod characrees)) Whirl: ((the lazy sort of... much face or flat face. Like the crab in Moana, too)) B l u r r: [[ my sON ]] Whirl: *mush Shockbox: (( Insect monster?? He has a hunched back and four arms.)) Shockbox: (( Otherwise he is normal looking.)) B l u r r: / snort / B l u r r: [[ A REALLY BAD HOARDER ]] Butterbuns: ((oh my god Soundwave: \\HOW'S THE WARRIOR FEEL ABOUT THAT, BUDDY?\\ Butterbuns: ((i'll let him slide with a humanoid face for apparently being cursed to be bug human. Butterbuns: ((Either he's a bug cured to be human or a human cursed to be bug Butterbuns: ((I like him B l u r r: i love him ]] Shockbox: (( _gah_, I've already watched this movie.)) Shockbox: (( I'll extend my beef after spoilers are out of the way naturally.)) Whirl: I think the monkey is my favorite. Soundwave: [[His as well.]] Soundwave: [[By far.]] Butterbuns: ((oh no yeah, I understand. I would also like to see more arthropod accurate faces B l u r r: ... yes. I like the bug, too. B l u r r: / hums / Butterbuns: ((but it doesn't /bug/ me as much so Shockbox: *Shockwave shares my dialogue about him not being bug-like enough, albeit internally.* Shockbox: (( /rimshot for the pun.)) Whirl: *heck, WHIRL is more bug like than this guy* Shockbox: *True that.* Soundwave: *Soundwave glances over at Prowl. He is unusually quiet today. Perhaps he is tired?* FakeProwl: *hasn't had much commentary on the movie.* B l u r r: / snort / Soundwave: {{Keheheh!}} Shockbox: (( Alright, this is one of the best monsters in the film.)) Soundwave: {{Maybe Bird does to Insecticon, watches.}} Whirl: Nice. Soundwave: *Rumble taps Soundwave's helm and sloooooowly slides down one arm. Quietly shuffles his way over to the hammock, crawls in, and immediately flopsprawls. Okay. He's here.* B l u r r: / snort/ He reminds me of someone. Whirl: *will shift to acocmodate him, of course* Shockbox: *This action scene is riveting, but...* Soundwave: \\WHY'S IT MATTER IF HE EATS THE MONKEY? HE'S FRAGGIN' BONES. SHE'S JUS' GONNA FALL OUT.\\ Whirl: He's got TEETH, though. FakeProwl: He might chew her. Soundwave: *Frenzy scratches his helm.* \\...YEAH, I GUESS SO.\\ Shockbox: @Soundwave: If it is not too distracting from the film...I have a few questions. Soundwave: @Shockwave: [[He can multitask. Ask.]] Butterbuns: ((..never let Hiro meet Kubo B l u r r: [[ it's too late ]] Butterbuns: ((rip universe B l u r r: yes ]] Shockbox: @Soundwave: You appear to be relatively close to the alternate of mine who joins us for documentary viewings. Are you from the same universe? B l u r r: / chin claws / Soundwave: @Shockwave: [[No. Similar timelines. Not the same. They experienced all that has been and will be shown. He did not.]] Soundwave: *Note to self. Never visit any lakes like that.* B l u r r: [[ god i love the beetle ]] Butterbuns: ((SAME Shockbox: (( He is pure.)) Whirl: ((he's fun!)) Shockbox: (( Even if his design is lacking.)) Butterbuns: ((you know what this means? Butterbuns: ((time to find someone willing to redraw him to his beetle glory)) Whirl: They should find a place to go to ground, wait for the storm to pass, and then go after it. Shockbox: (( I would, but I do not think I could do him justice.)) Shockbox: @Soundwave: Noted. How long have you known one another, then? Whirl: *clicks his claw approvingly* Whirl: *that was a good burn* B l u r r: [[ omfg the tiny hanzo ]] Butterbuns: ((ooooooh snap Soundwave: @Shockwave: [[Approximately two and a half Earth years.]] FakeProwl: ((oooooooh)) Soundwave: ((I looked away for FIVE SECONDS what happened)) Butterbuns: ((I was wondering about that, tbh. Butterbuns: ((Kuro is dead press f to salute Butterbuns: ((*Kubo Whirl: ((Monkey killed the first aunt)) FakeProwl: ((aunt said "love made my sister weak" and monkey said "no, it made me stronger")) Soundwave: ((ooooo)) Butterbuns: ((Kubo met a giant eye who- yeah, that.)) FakeProwl: ((...THE BEETLE IS HIS DAD ISN'T IT. IT'S GONNA BE HIS DAD.)) Shockbox: *Not an extremely long amoung of time, considering their own lifespans.* FakeProwl: ((THAT'S WHY THE MONKEY AND BEETLE ARE FLIRTING.)) B l u r r: [[ THE BETTLE ]] Shockbox: (( no spoilers, shhhhh.)) B l u r r: IM DEAD ]] Butterbuns: ((Is that why paper-Hanzo likes the beetle? Whirl: ((that line PFFFF)) Butterbuns: (omg smol hanz B l u r r: [[ the little paper hanzo makes me so happy ]] Butterbuns: (("IT ME" Whirl: ((IT ME)) B l u r r: [[ heS SO CUTE ]] Whirl: *any romance that starts with a swordfight is a worthwhile romance* B l u r r: / ouch. his hidden feels / Shockbox: @Soundwave: ...And you are currently in some sort of partnership? How long has that been for? Whirl: *snickers softly* Soundwave: @Shockwave: [[An alliance, for nearly as long.]] Shockbox: @Soundwave: How did that come to be? Shockbox: *Chimera's head is being brushed with the back of his hand.* Butterbuns: ((in not even hindsight this was farely obvious and also i can see what his mom saw in Hanzo B l u r r: [[ he's so cute ]] Soundwave: [[So they have got faces after all.]] Soundwave: @Shockwave: [[As all alliances do - by each being proving themselves worthy.]] B l u r r: Why would you drop all of your swords? That's pointless... Shockbox: (( Never turn your back on the body.)) Shockbox: (( Foolish mistake.)) Butterbuns: (( 8( Soundwave: ((there's some onions in the room or somethin)) Whirl: ((ikr)) Butterbuns: ((OH Butterbuns: ((the bell in the villiage at the start, huih Butterbuns: ((I like how this theme is 'family- they love you, but some of them don't really love you in a good way') Soundwave: [[Disgusting.]] Shockbox: *He takes a moment before responding* @Soundwave: Is there anything one might offer to him in order to inspire further interaction? Butterbuns: ((oh. /oh/ Soundwave: [[.....Ah.]] Butterbuns: ((I was wondering about the title Whirl: ((YEAH THE MOMENT I REALIZED THAT5'S WHY IT'S CALLED THAT IT HIT ME HARD DUDE)) Soundwave: *Oh, he likes this.* Butterbuns: ((I also wish i'd seen this in big Butterbuns: ((aaaaaaaaa Shockbox: (( Now that he's human, he probably doesn't have much to live.)) Shockbox: (( Unless his formerly godly status extends his lifespan indefinitely?)) Butterbuns: ((;u; they're giving him a new story of being a good and nice person aaaaaa Butterbuns: ((a human person Shockbox: ((But he is an /old/ human person, Kubo isn't going to get to spend much time with his grandfather either.)) Butterbuns: ((no, but he's still going to get to spend time with him Butterbuns: ((Quality vs quantity Shockbox: (( Hm.)) B l u r r: [[ im still salty that hanzo looks like hanzo from overwatch ]] Butterbuns: ((they have the same hairdresser Shockbox: (( Quality is subjective. But I guess in this case we can presume that the quality is high.)) Whirl: ((tbh I was never really fully satisfied with the "grandfather becomes human" ending)) Whirl: ((it's like... why does he get to live but the aunts have to die???)) Butterbuns: ((I like it better than 'Kubo murders his last living relative even tho he's a dick' Whirl: ((yeah, I don't feel as if I'd like it more if he killed his grandfather either)) Whirl: ((but it still felt rushed, kind of... not thought through? Regardless, tho, I love this movie)) Shockbox: ((At least the credit music is nice. )) Butterbuns: ((It wasn't perfect but I enjoyed it ouo Butterbuns: ((Thank you for showing it! Whirl: ((yes thank!)) Shockbox: (( Animation isn't bad either. )) B l u r r: [[ that's how all their movies feel at the end, though. ]] B l u r r: Laika has a habit of doing that. ]] Whirl: ((i found Paranorman to be satisfying enough!)) Shockbox: (( I thought Coraline was satisfying. )) Butterbuns: ((This is true. Coraline doen't feel quite as rushed? But it's based on the book, too. B l u r r: [[ Coraline was based on a book that had an ending, tho >>;; ]] Whirl: ((ye)) FakeProwl: ((I don't remember how I felt about the end of Coraline, but I'd read the book too so)) Shockbox: (( You have a point. )) B l u r r: [[ LOOK HOW BIG THEIR RIG IS ]] Soundwave: ((holy cow)) Butterbuns: ((jfc Whirl: *stretches, but carefully, in case Rumble has conked out* Not a bad pick, Teach. Really unusual. But good unusual. Shockbox: (( Yes, the rigs were impressive. The eye stalks were actually mechanical. )) Butterbuns: ((I love that LAika shows this stuff at the end B l u r r: Mm... I like cartoons at the best of times. B l u r r: [[ I'm still salty they lost to Zootopia. ]] B l u r r: [[ Considering stop animation is incredibly tedious and hard. ]] Shockbox: ((Slendy, did you get my question?)) Whirl: MM-hmm. I can tell you're... drawn to it. Soundwave: *Oh, right. There was another question.* @Shockwave: [[Respect and something... useful and interesting. A sample from oneself, perhaps.]] Shockbox: (( Yeah, lakia deserved more. )) Whirl: *sly look* B l u r r: ... / snort / B l u r r: There was no other reason I chose it. /props chin in claw/ It was just something Dart said I should watch. Shockbox: *He doesn't mind Soundwave's momentary distraction.* Soundwave: *Rumble hasn't conked out, but he doesn't move much either. Looks like he's busy thinking.* Whirl: I liked it. Change of pace from what you normally show--not that I mind THAT, either. Soundwave: =You see why?= *Ravage looks up at Blurr again.* B l u r r: Mm... Shockbox: @Soundwave: Noted....My thanks. B l u r r: / glances down at Ravage/ See what? Soundwave: *Ravage slowly closes one optic and offers up a sharp, ugly smile.* B l u r r: ... /tilts helm / Soundwave: *Then leaps off before he can be fussed at and slinks over to Soundwave.* Whirl: It's cos you're a member of the cyclops club. B l u r r: .. Ah. Whirl: We should make membership cards. Soundwave: {{And a hero~ neheh.}} Whirl: Oh, YES. Whirl: We can't forget THAT, of course not. B l u r r: ... I don't see what that has to do with anything. Soundwave: *Soundwave lets Ravage onto his lap; Ravage sniffs the hologram curiously and grunts. One day he's going to have that test he promised. Not like this.* B l u r r: / pats Ravage's helm / Whirl: It's always worth mentioning, is all. B l u r r: /I/ am not the hero. /presses claw to chassis/ I'm the bad guy, remember? Whirl: Nope. I saw you, with my own eye, being a Big Damn Hero on Earth. I was THERE. Whirl: You' Whirl: ve officially revoked Bad Guy status. B l u r r: /rolls optic / Lies. I broke their rules. B l u r r: / rubs claw along his helm. Mumbles / Whirl: Pfft, plenty of heroes don't play by the rules. Soundwave: \\NOPE. YA SAVED A WHOLE PLANET. I SEEN THAT ONE.\\ Whirl: You're not THAT naive. B l u r r: I did NOT save a whole planet. Soundwave: \\YUH-HUH. AIN'T YOU KNOW NOTHIN' BOUT THUNDERTRON?\\ Whirl: Oh, DO tell, Frenzy. B l u r r: I know he's hanging on my wall. Shockbox: And what did you think of that film, Chimera? *He's used to holding conversations with buzzsaw over film quality. Surely Chimera must be capable of the same...?* Soundwave: \\HE FRAGGIN' *HATES* CYBERTRON, MECH. AN' THE MECHS ON IT. WANTED 'EM ALL DEAD 'N GONE, LIKE.\\ Shockbox: (( Blurr, you have good taste.)) B l u r r: [[ 8D ]] Soundwave: \\SO HE AIN'T AROUND NO MORE. THAT PLACE'S PLANET'S GONNA LIVE A LI'L LONGER.\\ Frenzy laughs. \\THAT'S ALLLLL YOU.\\ Shockbox: (( /Casually jamming.)) B l u r r: / VENTS and scrubs claw down faceplate. / Whirl: *snickering madly* Soundwave: *And now you know why Soundwave agreed.* B l u r r: / mumbling to his left and right. Motioning to everyone else ./ Whirl: You  might as well make it your full-time job, mech. Whirl: Blurr: Part-Time Teacher. Full-Time Hero. B l u r r: / flicks finial/ No. B l u r r: Pirate. Soundwave: <<Chimera does not understand. Moons and stars and bugs and monkeys are not humans.>> Whirl: Part-Time Teacher. Part-Time Pirate. Full-Time Hero. B l u r r: ... I'm not a full time hero. Whirl: Part-Time Teacher. Part-Time Pirate. Nearly-Full-Time Hero. B l u r r: / huffs and just buries face in claw. Massage temples/ Whirl: *that's the effect Whirl inevitably has on most people, Blurr 8) * B l u r r: / his brain hurts too much for this / Shockbox: I have to agree, it is not very realistic, but that is often the case in epic tales. B l u r r: / loud snarl and just stares at the wall. Pinches bridge of nasal / Whirl: *does not seem to be repentant even in the slightest; his optic is just a cheerful curve* Soundwave: *Rumble sits up at that. Uh-oh. Maybe he'd better... head over to the Boss. Just in case.* B l u r r: / veNTS / Whirl: *bobs his head at Rumble as he goes* Soundwave: *Remembers to wave right before docking* Shockbox: *He does his best to suppres his reaction to the snarling and continues* Is there anything in this film you found especially enjoyable? Shockbox: ((*suppress)) B l u r r: ... /twitches and jerks whole frame up. All right, standing up. Moving. Stretches limbs / Soundwave: *Chimera looks down to think. It takes them a little while to come up with an answer.* <<...Paper!>> B l u r r: Well... in any case, I enjoyed it. Whirl: Same. *clambers out of his hammock at last and streeetches* Whirl: You. *jabs a claw in Blurr's direction* Be careful. B l u r r: ... Of? Soundwave: ((THIS DAMN SONG always makes me want to dance)) Shockbox: *Shockwave is patient as Chimera deliberates to itself, and nods once an answer is given.* B l u r r: [[ that's the poINT OF IT ]] Soundwave: ((I always picture soundwave's feeler wiggling ever so slightly while nobody looks)) Whirl: Just in general, with that thing you refuse to get installed. Shockbox: And why is that? B l u r r: [[ haaa ]] Whirl: *uninstalled B l u r r: I'm careful with it. /shrugs/ B l u r r: ... That isn't what broke, you know. Soundwave: <<It changes shape!>> Another wide, openmouthed smile. <<Chimera does too!>. B l u r r: It didn't help, but it wasn't what did... that. Soundwave: *You know what? Yes. Yes, there is a feeler wiggling ever so slightly.* Shockbox: (( Damnit soundwave, stop being cute.)) Whirl: Yeah, uh-huh. I;m sure. *fixes Blurr with a skeptical look* B l u r r: / good / B l u r r: / stares back at Whirl. He is one tired monster / It wasn't. Whirl: *he does not believe you at all, Blurr* Whatever you say, Teach. Whirl: Anyway, I'm out. Later, losers. *waves a claw* B l u r r: / waves claw / Whirl: ((Blurr should talk to Whirl about it later in private 8) )) B l u r r: [[ mm. Maybe. ]] Soundwave: [[Goodbye.]] B l u r r: [[ once our other thread is done oo; ]] Whirl: ((YES! ofc)) B l u r r: [[ anyway. I'm gonna shut this down. ]] Shockbox: *He hums lightly and cannot help but to offer another pat.* That is accurate. Your reasoning is cogent. B l u r r: [[ Y'all can keep chitter chatters. ]] Soundwave: ((okiedokie)) Shockbox: (( /nod. )) Soundwave: <<Thank you, Creator!>> *Chimera emits a happy squeal - praise! and pats! - before blinking.* <<Oh. It is done. Chimera must go now.>> Shockbox: *The narrator is suffering from cuteness. Shockwave merely accepts it and lets Chimera go free, a nod of adieu offered.* Another time. Shockbox: *He is still unused to this 'creator' business. Even with his own drones, he had never thought to include such a thing.* Soundwave: <<Goodbye!>> *Nyoom. Off to Soundwave and the others* Shockbox: *But it isn't unacceptable, either.* Shockbox: *Welp. With that over with, he is free to leave. He recieved the information he had been seeking.* Shockbox: *It isn't as if he has not offered CNA to an alternate before. This should be simple.* Soundwave: *He'll receive a nod on his way out, when he goes.* Shockbox: *And Soundwave will have one returned to him.* Shockbox: *A standard Wave hello/goodbye.* Shockbox: *Well known between all waves.* FakeProwl: *you'd think the Waves would wave* Soundwave: *It's a lot of arm to move, in his case.* FakeProwl: *fair point. and prowl's still got one pinned.* Soundwave: *Which is absolutely fine by him. Though the avatar might get tugged closer as mechs leave unless Prowl wriggles free and blinks off to go to work.* Soundwave: *Soundwave snatches his time where he can, and all.* Shockbox: ((Good night, you all.)) FakeProwl: *he'll accept the tugging. it's not time for work yet.* Soundwave: ((Night!)) Soundwave: *Good. Because he has a Fullstasis game to continue and, if Prowl has anything he wants to talk or ask about, a willingness to debate and answer questions.* FakeProwl: *he's always happy to talk. but he has no topics to present right now.* Soundwave: *In that case, a question from Soundwave.* FakeProwl: *shoot* Soundwave: *While sending across a move.* @Prowl: (txt): Amica role contemplated since paperwork. Better understanding sought. Prowl's concept: "friend"? What... duties, expectations, privileges?-- Soundwave: ((that first ? should be a -)) Soundwave: Preference: Avoid role failure. Assistance needed. FakeProwl: @Soundwave «... Are you sure you aren't trying to distract me from my move?» *humor tag.* «Difficult to define adequately in less than a textbook. But you're doing well so far.» Soundwave: @Prowl: (txt): Negative. Amused assurance: Better distraction tactics known. Improvement not needed at present? FakeProwl: *he considers that seriously as he makes his next move* @Soundwave «Nnnno.» FakeProwl: *hold on, are they alone now? he can speak out loud.* If I think of anything, I'll let you know. Soundwave: *Sits up a little. He wasn't expecting that first part. And, well, PROWL can speak out loud.* Soundwave: (txt): ...Surprising. Confusing. Satisfying. All accepted, acknowledged. FakeProwl: Confusing? Surprising? FakeProwl: What did you think you were doing wrong? Soundwave: (txt): Unknown. Soundwave does not - Prowl: Autobot. Expected: More... rules? Social differences. Cannot locate required word. Translation difficult. FakeProwl: ... Expectations? Taboos? Requirements? Standards? Soundwave: (txt): ...All? Soundwave: *Basically, his perception of Autobots is so colored by war that he assumed they had some sort of massively complex and righteous set of expected behaviors and that he barely met the minimum.* FakeProwl: I don't socialize like most Autobots. That's not to say I socialize like a Decepticon, but... *shrugs* FakeProwl: *Prowl, meanwhile, assumes that Decepticon socialization is largely based on violence, machismo, and fighting with each other.* FakeProwl: *or he did, anyway. A few months on The Big Conversation has started convincing him that Decepticon socialization is based on memes.* Soundwave: *Thoughtful look at Prowl's knee, mostly unaware of The Big Conversation. Micronus help everyone when he does find out and peek in.* Soundwave: (txt): ...Which Decepticon, Prowl's meter? FakeProwl: ... The Constructicons. *who fit Prowl's stereotypes to a T.* Soundwave: (txt): Fair sample. Many vicious traits encouraged. Strength considered power. *Looks up again.* Do not forget others. Dreadwing, better mech. FakeProwl: I never saw how he socializes. I doubt he would have disagreed that strength is power. FakeProwl: And he might have been loyal to his brother before all else, but I wouldn't have called him unvicious. Soundwave: (txt): Negative; that, believed. Viciousness within. Soundwave: (txt): However... before Constructicons, Dreadwing: vast improvement. FakeProwl: *a simultaneous shrug/nod/grimace.* I wouldn't want to be friends with him, either. Soundwave: (txt): Good. Friendship with dead mech: one-sided, disappointing. (humor tag goes here) Soundwave digressed. Faction meter thoughts: scattered. Note: Of Autobots, Prowl's socialization preferred. FakeProwl: *snort* It's harder for dead mechs to get fed up with you and stop taking your calls, though. They do have that advantage. Soundwave: *Soft huff, might be shaking a little.* FakeProwl: *tiny twitch of a smile. he likes that. that little huff-shake Soundwave does when he laughs.* Soundwave: *And he likes the tiny twitch smiles.* Soundwave: (txt): Not difficult as Prowl thinks. Prime ejected AllSpark. Long-distance calls not supported. Soundwave: *And at this, a little worse. He can joke about it now, it's back where it belongs and all.* FakeProwl: Pff. A fair point. Soundwave: *Soundwave checks his chronometer. He'd better get Rumble back. Motions to Prowl's helm.* (txt): Permission? FakeProwl: *it takes Prowl a moment for Prowl to figure out what Soundwave is asking for permission for. Access inside? but no. no. Not that.* Soundwave: *NO!* FakeProwl: *he figures it out.* Granted. *leans toward* Soundwave: *Leans in and gives him a good, solid bump to the crest. Follows it up with a quick little upward nudge. Best he can do in public.* FakeProwl: *bump. and a small artificial kiss on his mask.* Soundwave: *He will take that artificial kiss and be content. Moreso than before, now that he knows where Prowl usually stands on such things.* Soundwave: (txt): Soundwave, deployers depart. Will see next time. Work well. FakeProwl: And you. I'll see you next time. FakeProwl: *disappears* Soundwave: *Nods and rises. Collects whoever hasn't already hopped on him earlier tonight and departs.*

[allymalinenko]

I know a few people who have been to Japan and all of them have told me that it will be unlike anywhere else that I have been. I believed them but I didn’t BELIEVE them believe them. But they were right. Japan has raised the travel bar more than any other trip. I have been home for almost a week now (!!) and I miss it terribly.

The route was Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka and back to Tokyo. We bought Japan Rail passes which I highly recommend to anyone planning on leaving Tokyo. Even if you are just going to Kyoto it will pay for itself. And it can be used on the train lines within Tokyo. Win Win! (Important note: The passes have to be bought BEFORE you get to Japan!) Okay let’s go!

Tokyo:

Tokyo is BIG. Like really big. Like Endless City Big. It’s the stuff of science fiction novels. This is the view from the top of the Tokyo Tower. Those building just keep on going. The night shots were also incredible. This is from the Mori Tower (and it includes the Tokyo Tower!)

We did the Shibuya Crossing (you’ve seen it in movies, trust me)

Right across from where we shot this video was an amazing Mural called the Myth of Tomorrow by Taro Okamoto. It depicts the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And we saw the statue of Hachiko, the most loyal doggo in the world

And of course there were the temples and the shrines and pagodas!

One of my favorite shrines was this little one for Basho, the great haiku poet, situated where they believe his house was when he set out on his journey north.

  And of course the crown jewel, the thing I had dreamed about seeing since I was a kid hanging out in the basement of my house, looking through National Geographic: Fuji-san

Even though we were there during the rainy season we were blessed with a clear day. It was one of the most incredible things I have seen on this planet.

  You can catch the reflection of Fuji-san in the rice field. Amazing!

From Tokyo we headed to Kyoto

The Bamboo Grove is the only place on the whole trip where it rained and it only lasted a few minutes and honestly it made everything look even more beautiful.

These are women who rented kimonos but I did for a brief second spot an actual Geisha in Kyoto and she was so beautiful she stole my breath. I didn’t take a picture (cause I’m not a jerk) but she was wearing the traditional dress and make up like this

Kyoto was just utterly beautiful

From Kyoto we went to Hiroshima

This was LITERALLY the view from the hotel. I will miss those mountains till I die.

The Hiroshima Memorial Park was a beautiful, heartbreaking space dedicated to the possibility of peace. Sadly, in this day and age, it seems farther away than ever. This is the A-Bomb Dome (Formerly the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall). It was very close to the Hypocenter (where the bomb was detonated) and everyone inside was killed instantly. The building stands today as it did after the bomb dropped.

Also in the peace park is this monument built for Sadako Sasaki, one of the bomb victims who survived the initial bombing but was caught in the black rain and developed radiation poisoning. She started a campaign to fold 1,000 origami cranes as a symbol of peace and a tribute to the innocent victims of nuclear war. Those cases behind the sculpture are filled with hundreds and hundreds of cranes. People still send them in to this day to be added.

On a very nondescript street not far from the A-bomb dome is plaque on the wall marking the Hypocenter – the actual site of the bombing. We also toured the Peace Memorial Museum which was incredibly difficult to walk through reading story after story about people who lost their children or their parents, about the chaos and pain of that day, and the years that followed of slow torturous death. Towards the end there is a ruined melted baby’s tricycle which gutted me.

This was up towards the Hiroshima castle, a beautiful shrine that we were lucky enough to catch right at sunset.

Near to Hiroshima is the island of Miyajima. It’s about an hour on the train down the coast and then a ten minute boat ride but to be honest you might as well have traveled to a magical land. 

Miyjima is famous for the Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate

Okay I took a lot of pictures of this Tori.

In addition there is the Itsukishima Shrine built in 593

It is right in the bay so when the high tide comes in, the shrine itself also seems to be floating.

And of course the most famous residents of Miyajima: the deer!

They are 100% native to the island and roam around the way squirrels do at home. Though I did learn it’s best to keep moving if you have some food with you. They are not shy about their love of fried chicken.

From Hiroshima we went to Osaka for ONE SINGLE DAY which was mostly spent at the Dontonbori, which is like the Times Square of Food!

This is Taro. He’s a super weird clown who plays the drum. A small version of him will be hanging on my Christmas tree this year! (Take that Eggbert!)

Then we headed Osaka back to Tokyo. With one day left we took a train trip down to Kamakura to see the Great Buddha!

There were these adorable little school groups of children at the Big Buddha practicing their English and they interviewed me about what I liked the best in Japan and then we took pictures together and it was so cute I died and came back to life.

And of course, the Pacific Ocean. In 2010 I went to Venice Beach in California and touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time. In 2019, I touched the other side!

And of course, along the way we ATE…and ate….and ate…..

That’s Butadon and it’s pork belly and heavenly and I miss it so much I could cry

GYOZAS! Dumplings rule

Okay this I didn’t eat cause that’s a whole octupus (with a quail egg in it’s head) and me and the creatures of the sea leave each other alone.

SOY DONUTS WITH CARAMEL SAUCE! *drools*

Japanese fried chicken (Karaage) is a thing and it’s delicious

This is okonomiyaki (sometimes called Japanese pizza but it’s made with cabbage and fried noodles) and this was one of my favorite foods!

And of course all the RAMEN. This one was in Osaka at the Dontonburi and it had a whole pork rib in it! 

And all the soft cream! This one was Matcha flavored but I also had Ramune (which is a soda flavor), green tea and grape and Jay had sweet potato!

Jay also had Kobe beef. Here’s his reaction in 4 acts!

First bite:

What’s this?

Oh it’s good!

Oh it’s sooooooooooooooooooooo good!

Now that I’m back the question everyone is asking me is: What was your favorite part of Japan?

Seems hard to choose right? I mean, between the all the cities and temples and mountains and sea, how could I choose my favorite part.

But I can. Easily.

We took the train down to Miyajima and we sailed out to the island and took tons of pictures and toured the temples and scritched the little deer on their little deer noses and climbed all the way up to the pagodas and ate delicious Karaage, we settled in at a little cafe called Cafe Lente

They have a little deck you can see there with a lovely view and we ordered some beers and rested our weary feet. Conversation lapsed as we watch the deer roam around and the waves lapping at O-Torri. I was thinking about how long I had been wanting to see this particular tori and how hard we worked to get here and I turned to Jay and I said, “I can’t believe we’re really here.” And he smiled at me and said “Considering where we were five years ago…”

And my breath caught and I realized I had forgotten.

I forgot that it was June 10th. I forgot that it was the five year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. I had spent the whole day on this island and I just completely FORGOT the worst day of my life.

Japan let me forget, if just for a little while. Japan stopped me from counting time from the break in my life, from what I call The Cleaving. Japan let me relax and instead of thinking about what is going to happen next Japan insisted that instead I just lived.

Japan gave me that and I will always be thankful.

“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot

The world forgetting by the world forgot

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.”

                                        – Alexander Pope

Peace, love, and starbursts,

Ally

The Land of the Rising Sun: Adventures in Japan I know a few people who have been to Japan and all of them have told me that it will be unlike anywhere else that I have been.

[randomrichards]

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: – KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS “If you must blink, do it now.” That’s how our hero begins each of his stories. It may as well describe this movie. With one blink, you could miss the stunning animation in Kubo and the Two Strings, another home run from the masters of stop-motion animation Laika. Set in feudal Japan, this folk tale centres around a little one eyed boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) with the ability to control origamis by strumming his two string Shamisen guitar. By day, he uses his gifts to tell stories to the villagers. By night, he cares for his comatose mother. That all changes when he’s stalked by two creepy, masked twin sisters (Rooney Mara). To protect her son, Kubo’s mom sacrifices herself to save him. From her sacrifice births Monkey (Charlize Theron), a former wooden charm who becomes the boy’s guardian. Joined by a samurai beetle (Matthew McConaughey), Monkey and Kubo are sent on a mystical journey to find the armour of Kubo’s father, find out who sent the sisters and stop him. This is the directorial debut of Travis Knight, Laika president and CEO[1]. As with other Laika films, Kubo and the Two Strings dazzles with is stunning stop motion animation. We are treated to amazing battle scenes between our heros and the sisters as well as mystical creatures like the giant skeleton with katanas on its head. Plus, the animation emerces itself into Japanese culture, with the simple village and the beautiful image of floating lanterns. Matching the animation is the storytelling. It’s a pretty simple fantasy story, but it’s still engaging with mythological fantasy creatures. – MOANA After resurrecting Disney’s magic with The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, directors Ron Clements and John Musker make their CGI film debut with Moana, a Polynesian musical adventure of an adventurous teenage girl and a demigod. In Ancient Polynesia, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) and her tribe has lived peacefully on an island, never venturing past the current. As Chief Tui’s (Temuera Morrison) daughter, she will one day face the responsibility of leading her tribe. And yet, she feels the ocean calling to her. Turns out, the Ocean is alive and has a special mission for Moana. Turns out, Demigod Maui (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) had stolen the heart of island goddess Te Fiti and has created a chain reaction destroying life everywhere it goes. Now, the effects have reached her island and so has the heart of Te Fiti. With the heart in hand and the ocean as her companion, Moana must travel across the sea, find Maui and get him to return the heart to Te Fiti. It proves a challenge when other mystical creatures want the heart for themselves, especially lava monster Te Ka. With some help from Don Hall and Chris Williams (directors of the Oscar Winning Big Hero 6), Clements and Musker’s style blend perfectly with CGI market. They bring on the same charm that made the Disney Renissance possible, while providing fresh updates. Like Disney’s other musicals, this film fills itself with memorable characters. Moana is a fun, adventurous female lead who provides a couple spins on the Disney Princess[2]. It’s nice to see a muscular female lead to counter all the skinny Disney princess. The film never tries to pair her in any romantic relationship. While I’m not against romantic plots in Disney films, It’s nice to see a female lead having goals outside of having a man in her life. She’s also surrounded by wonderful supporting characters, from her unfiltered Gramma Tala (Rachel House) to Hei Hei (Alan Tudyk), the world’s dumbest chicken. But it’s Johnson who steals the show as the arrogant, shapeshifting demigod Maui. Not only does he have a blast mocking Disney tropes “If you start singing, I’m gonna throw up” but he also has a lot of fun boasting about himself in the awesome song “You’re Welcome.” Speaking of songs, Clements and Musker always have great songs in their roster, working with the likes of Alan Menkin (The Little Mermaid), Tim Rice (Aladdin) and Randy Newman (The Princess and the Frog). This time, they bring in Lin-Manuel Miranda, fresh off his Tony Award winning Broadway Sensation. He brings some catchy tunes that fit well into the best Disney soundtracks. To give the music a more Polynesian feel, Opetaia Foa’I was brought in to incorporate Polynesian chants and music into some songs. Clements and Musker prove they still got the Disney touch with another great animated adventure. – MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI This stop motion indie film from Switzerland is probably the strangest film on this list. The title character is a little boy sent to a foster home after his alcoholic mother’s sudden death. At first, Zucchini has trouble fitting in, but he soon comes to bond with the quirky kids. Then a new girl comes to the home, and Zucchini discovers love. This film is more low key than the other films on this list, this coming of age tale looks at children bonding through their tragic circumstances. I haven’t seen this, but from what I’ve heard, it has a lot of heart. – THE RED TURTLE Distributed by Studio Ghibli, this import from the Netherlands is a twist on the Robinson Crusoe storyline. A nameless shipwrecked man finds himself on a deserted tropical island. At first, he tries to take his chances on the sea, making his own boat. But a giant red turtle seems determined to keep him on the island, destroying every boat the castaway sails on. Then a mysterious woman gets shipwrecked too. With no dialogue, writer/director Michael Dudok de Wit relies on visuals to tell the stories. The result is some dazzling visual scenes. There are little moments, like the castaway feeding some little crabs. There are grand moments, especially scenes of the Cast away swimming in the ocean. Since I didn’t see this film, I can’t really go through an analysis, but I will jump at the first chance. – ZOOTOPIA When the first trailer came out, no one expected much out of it? A film all about anthropomorphic animals living in the city? Disney already tried that with Chicken Little and we all know how that turned out. To our surprise, the film turned out to be a clever allegory of bigotry disguised as a lighthearted comedy. As the film begins, the enthusiastic Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) leaves her countryside home to become the first rabbit to become a police officer. After a few bumps, she starts off as a meter maid in the urban city of Zootopia. She accomplishes her tasks with excited ease, but this job comes with the side effect of being internationally despised. She longs to move up on her career, but Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) doesn’t have much faith in her. She gets her chance when Mrs. Otterton (Octiavia Spencer, Hidden Figures) reports her husband missing. To crack the case, she enlists the help of snarky con artist Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a fox who was the last to see Mr. Otterton. As they meet with quirky character after quirky character, Nick and Judy find this disappearance is just a piece of a larger conspiracy that threatens to tear Zootopia apart. And I’m not gonna lie, this film ends on a good plot twist. The design of Zootopia is astounding. The designers find creative ways to adjust ordinary city elements for anthropomorphic animals of every variety. For Giraffes, lemonade stand will shoot drinks through a tube. Subways have different size doors for animals of any size. When Hippos emerge from waters, fans dry them off before they go to work. But the most creative element is the way the city is divided to match the environment of different animals. One section is all ice to incorporate arctic animals while another is all rainforest. As always with Disney, this film has a lot of entertaining characters. In their missing persons search, Judy and Nick meet a wide variety of quirky characters, including head nudist Yax (Tommy Chong) to pushover secretary Bellwether (Jenny Slate). But it’s the leads who tie it all together. Bateman bring his sarcastic charm as Nick. But it’s Goodwin who truly sells this film. In the wrong hands, Judy Hopps’ optimistic enthusiasm could have come off as annoying. Goodwin pulls you into her enthusiasm and determination. But what makes this film special is how it uses anthropomorphic animals to represent varying kinds of bigotry. Hopps’ ordeal is clearly meant to represent sexism, with other animals saying bunnies are too delicate to be cops. Being prey, Nick endures what is the animal equivalent to racial profiling, especially when he’s refused service by an ice cream scooping elephant. Writers Jared Bush and Phil Johnston bring some surprising complexity to these issues. As the film progresses, Hopps is forced to confront her own prejudices. When Hopps tells Nick he isn’t “One of them,” In the film’s most powerful scene, He angrily responds with “Oh there’s a them now.” Those little words say a lot. Like any great film, Zootopia sneaks its message under the guise of great entertainment. Judy and Nick play off each other with humour and heart. The environment is creative. But most of all, the film is very funny. [1] And ex-rapper Chilly Tee. [2][2] Though you probably can’t call her a princess since she’s the Chieftain’s daughter whose destined to become a chieftain herself. Then again, so is Pocahontas and she’s among the Princesses.