#I can't wait to work on character creation stuff soon | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

blindrapture · 5 months ago

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july 4.

the last section of this log was entirely rewritten, from the moment Jordan and Donnie step onto American soil. when I began my rewrite of Act 2, I wanted to start with that part. there were two reasons for this. 1) in all the earlier drafts, touchdown in Atlantic City is where we met a major character. for this complete Act 2 overhaul, I wanted to overhaul the characters as well, and the dynamics of the protagonist 'party.' so we won't be meeting This Character for a while yet. 2) I was rewriting a decade-old story at a much different time of my life, with a lot more lessons learned. I knew, even if I successfully put myself in the old-school teenage Rapture headspace, there was going to be discrepancy between the parts that were Overhauled and the parts that were simply Touched Up. I had to allow for that, I had to allow for the possibility of a jarring transition. having this align with a geographical shift.. felt right.

England in this story is how I saw it at age 16, and I'm totally okay with that. but America is a very different "character." America is where I wanted to go, even then, and frankly I never lost that part of me. America is where I had been brought up to live. and America's a much bigger place, with.. frankly, much more distinct areas, much more distinct boundaries between town and countryside. ("wait, jordan, I am from England and I can tell the difference between town and countryside," yeah well what about up north? what about Yorkshire? that's where my family's from. it's not so much that I'm saying the towns look like countrysides, more that the towns are so close together that sometimes a drive between them just feels like a brief trip on a motorway and then you're back into a town that looks identical. no real transition. and have you also spent half your life in America? there are differences in how everything feels.) so okay, maybe it's not so much some brilliant real-life insight I'm bringing to the table here, maybe it's more of... y'know, those words I love so much: Poetry. Art. Expressionism. Symbolism. maybe these observations say more about Jordan than about England. but I mean, it's also not a revelation to point out America is a different scale of country. there's more room for things to happen. and more media to pull sources from. the point is. we're in America now. we're in Rapture's America. and the writer at this point is now 29 years old. you are allowed to feel some serious excitement. ;3

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so this whole serial, "Rael's Exodus," had a simple enough structure: I gave you a boatful of people to gradually get picked off while the Rake and the Massacrer acted as two small-time distractions until it was time to learn about EAT and Indisen. I think it worked for that, I think any claustrophobic horror story needs the ensemble cast and the misdirection plot. it's not quite a mystery story, it's suspense. you can't really predict how the twists will go, though it is entirely possible to see through the misdirection. the goal here was to feed you information about EAT, even with all the Indisen stuff. the Indisen are an important force too, absolutely, but their explanation won't come for a long time. (it was also important to introduce you to the Masked Massacrer, and to kill off the fourth and final Rake. this serial was written with functional purposes in mind, and that actually helped the tone. nobody likes to be trapped in an enclosed space with the unspoken Plot making decisions for you.)

the real point here was EAT.

you needed to meet EAT. and EAT needed to meet Jordan.

EAT is... important. of course it was gonna be, as it's my Fear, EAT is my horror creation. as soon as Rapture introduced the Wooden Girl and opened the door for a Fear narrative, it was only a matter of time before I'd include her too. I'd only created EAT a few months prior by that point, and only included her in one story (Jordan Eats Normally Now, which I was starting to feel limited by), I wanted to show her from more angles, let her grow, and maybe even find a way to make her as frightening as I had always wanted. as a work of function in this story of moving parts, EAT's role in Act 1 doubles as the foil for the Harlequin. Act 1 has quite a few Fears in it, but most of them had bit parts (and Thoth as a deuter-narrator); the major Fears were Harly and EAT. these were the Fears that Jordan spent the most time with and had actual back-and-forth conversations with. they are meant to be compared and contrasted. they are both characters.

the Indisen exist to show you EAT's limits. you won't exactly understand those limits yet, but you are supposed to know that EAT is being thwarted by something. is it a good thing for us? you can use some reason and figure out what the story has already communicated to you, you will hit a wall of "we simply don't know that part yet," but it helps to delineate that wall for yourself.

the Masked Massacrer is. god, it's weird. no matter how many edits I do, no matter how stupid I think that name is, and no matter how many times I forget what the point of the Massacrer was and assume it's just a random little human threat, I always... leave it there. because I also always remember how the Massacrer exists to turn a lot of wheels that need turning. the Massacrer keeps a lot of moving parts moving. and I'm talking about large-scale moving parts here! the Masked Massacrer is a tiny little lever that does a lot of things! that's all just to say, I keep it there for a reason. but, it's an iteration on the classic Slender Man trope of The Proxy. it's a Proxy for something else. even wears a mask. it's a Masky. it's absolutely a Masky. that's all you gotta know right now.

what else should I say here. I think I've covered a lot. I also mentioned some things that I could say a little more about but that I just instead... opened the door for you to interpret. because this ogtrib bonus series is like book club. or also omake, Reala made that comment a while ago, this is like omake.

but tell you what. I'll do one more paragraph, this time talking about Act 1 as a whole, in retrospect. and then I'll leave you with some bonus Rapture Art.

you've now read the complete Act 1, "The Coming of the Four Rakes." it lasted from May 23rd until July 4th, making it the Act with the most days in it. but amusingly enough, despite having the most days, at 62,000 words it's by far the shortest Act. I wrote it over the course of about two months when I was 16, in preparation for the time I would run away from a home I was scared of. I lived in fear a lot back then. I also wrote it because people were reading it. that's really big for me. little Jordan had an audience, there were people who cared about him (!!!) and people who just wanted to see what the Fear Mythos could do, and Jordan was in some real sense a spokesperson for the Fear Mythos. the mythos had only started in February/March 2011, so we hadn't been going for that long, but we had numbers and we had ambition. I was having a little fun writing a Fictional Blog, it was a new style for me, but everyone was doing one of those, and we were doing them after the Slender Man Mythos had already done a literally countless amount of them. there was untapped potential in breaking away from the blog format. so Rapture was Internet Fiction instead. it was allowed to loom out of our expectations, mine included. the only boundaries were My Abilities and The Website It Was On. Act 1 represents the earliest stage of all this. my abilities were little tiny baby abilities by that point. and while I go back and forth now on whether the later stages of the story, written when I was 17 and 18, were even all that different from the baby-ness of Act 1 (just with different tools), I can't deny that the creative spark I followed was in fact leading me to a story the world needed to see. (the fact that I have been so isolated that I have not been able to show the world this story, well, that's just circumstance. once it's out there, Rapture's here forever. it will be read. it's only a matter of time.) there were serious ambitions. even in Act 1. Rapture was the story that made me believe in it as I wrote it. and god, do I believe in it now.

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here's that art I promised.

This is my digitization (and coloring) of one of Rappu's final sketches done for Rapture. It's Salmacis/EAT, with a bunch of Camper. I don't think I ever actually showed this one, not even the original sketch, on this tumblr.

Of course, there is no One Big Lady that controls all the Camper. That's Rappu's artistic license, it's symbolic.

But, look at that thing. You're with me on this, right? That's a beautiful picture.

This is a good note to end Act 1 on.

See you tomorrow for Act 2. :) God, I'm so excited.

#ogtrib bonus #seriously you can just *ask me* to talk more about something i didn't say much about #my blog has an Ask Box. or you could reblog this and include your questions there.#i am actually here to talk!

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itsybitsylemonsqueezy · 11 months ago

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Good morning and happy new year Tumblrinas!

Okay, let's take stock of where we are...

I'm playing Baldur's Gate 3, it's pretty nice. Meant to romance Karlach out the gate but tripped and fell into Gale's lap, whoops. What can I say, the man's a soft touch and I'm into it. Gnome paladin was a great choice, I look hysterical with a greatsword. Just swing me like a catapult at that point.

Starting another save in Pokemon Violet on Switch, just for the lulz. Shouldn't take me too long to run through it. Probably got a craving from having played through around this time last year.

Trying maybe for a second masters. It sucks being in a job you're bored at, so thinking of switching industries. I should enroll in classes for Spring and Summer. I forgot how much work a degree is. But my first class went very well.

Trying very hard to get pregnant, well, my wife is anyway. Please, please let us baby. We'd like a baby. And then it will be my turn to become pregnant. Not, like, immediately, but soon. We'd like a few kids.

In the process of redoing my whole closet. I have a lot of old, worn out things, stuff that doesn't fit anymore, and I asked for gift cards for Christmas, so maybe I can put together a whole new wardrobe. New wardrobe, new me.

Did change my haircut, no more two block situation, now more of a traditional pixie cut. Looks kinda cute c: We'll see how that goes. I haven't had symmetrical hair in awhile. I'm so silver these days 8C

Cooking better all the time. Can't wait to see what new recipes I master this year. I attempted steak last year and it's gone pretty well! Wish lamb was more available in this country, I love lamb so much. I'd cook with it all the time if I could. I really want to make moussaka one of these days, it's so tasty and, I think, achievable.

Utterly haunted by the basil ice cream we had on my birthday though. God. Fuck. It sounds odd but it was... rewrote my brain.

Maybe we'll get to move soon! Now that we've paid for all that fucking sperm, we can save up to move into an actual house! How neat! The housing market here is garbage, big surprise, but I've found a few nice, newer houses closer to my current work that are in a pretty decent school district. I may be seduced.

And just think, then I could get a Costco membership 83 The only thing stopping me now is I have literally nowhere to put all the bulk items I'd be buying. But soon... soon, precious. My wife has never been to Costco, she does not know its cornucopia of treasures. Ugh, I can't wait!

Don't know what I'll write next. I've been toying with trying to do some original work, but I've realized that in my long years of fanfic, my character creation muscles have completely atrophied. How do you all just make little guys? Like, you have to believe in them and care about them, and I'm always 'It has red hair and green eyes... I don't even know what it likes yet!' And then I panic and give up. I just need more practice, I'm sure.

And I've started reading Homestuck.

Well, that's probably about enough to be going on with. Thanks for the listen!

#Big new year's eve kisses to you all #A day late but no matter #long post

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ladygoofball · 6 months ago

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It's been a while since I posted my own art here, huh? I'm trying to draft and complete these in physical format first before finishing it off digitally and so far I'm not loving the process but I'm definitely Trying.

This was a scene that really happened to me while I was meditating under blooming crab apple trees, a little butterfly landed on the pouch I carry around my neck to store crystals and pictures that make me feel better and then flew away into the afternoon.

On a personal note:

Been tripping over a lot of fake reactionary content here lately, so I'll need to go back into pseudo-hiding to keep recovering from all of the shit that I unearthed in the beginning of the year here with my own past traumas and stuff. It is really hard to focus on character building and DnD/BG3 stuff when your brain is as soft as a ripened peach tbh.

Media literacy comes first, mental health comes second, community building and repairs come third, and then I have to figure out if I can keep my animals or not by the end of next month. Oh, and job searching. Can't forget about the Grind.

Jealous of this unemployment psychiatric episode yet? I knew it, it's so attractive from the outside looking in /joking

I just feel a lot of old creeping eyes on me and need to keep myself guarded more than usual. It's been really taxing and I hope that something gives soon because God is it exhausting to try to network with media professionals when you're not doing well enough to even sit on a bus without getting a blistering headache. I have had a lot of support to push me into a better direction, but I stick to the same old ones I have tried and tested because of how difficult it is to do literally anything else right now. I've been noticing who gets deeply enraged at my position in my career path right now because they were working to bring me back to reality and I kept "refusing offers".

For the record: I have not received offers to be part of any production in the past couple months, so what is there to "refuse"?

I just made a YouTube series in my senior year of college that I have honestly not even looked at or been able to access that account (besides on Facebook) for years, I want to get back to making that kind of media literacy video essay content without the stupid barriers that were imposed while I was in college but it is...not something that I can do without figuring out funding for things first. I have been trying to bring myself back to it and post about my progress on tiktok but I'm also...not in a place to re-run any kind of hustle like that without a regular ass income.

It is difficult to get back to content creation and filming and being in front of cameras without a proper self care routine to refuel my own reserves before over extending my talents and abilities to other people. If you're in the same boat as a small/independent film maker I tip my cap to your efforts.

Ending on a positive self note: I am a bit impressed that my own conscious understanding has the ability to discern when energy vampires are waiting in the wings to get a piece of what keeps me going in my day-to-day life. That's about all I've gained since March though, in all honesty. I may appear to be easily manipulated by "people smarter than me", but that is always going to be a front for me to get the information I need to make an informed decision on how I move forward with my life.

#personal post break #comics #xoxo inanna #recovery #healing journey #artists on tumblr #long reads #rambles #just a bunch of words strung together with little to no purpose #call it an essay or whatever #Spotify

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cottoncandy-cult · 1 year ago

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Life Within the Soul Sneak Peak

Below is a sneak peak of the intro to a book that is in the works for my Ao3, Life Within the Soul. Though it sounds like a straight-line fanfic I can assure you it is not, in it I will be posting an array of one-shots, scenarios, smuts and more all taking place in a special world. This is effectively my universal fix-it fic collection for every character I'm grieving for and show I miss; it will include reader inserts and Oc stuff and a wide array of characters and their new lives in this seemingly modern world where they finally have the options and support, they need to heal. I plan to keep most characters relatively in character, some will be slightly toned down depending on what I'm writing. This is only a small part of the intro; the whole intro was too long to post here and the parts that primarily describe the world at large are in the first 2 paragraphs. This is where we meet the goddess, my Author persona so to speak, who is in the process of preparing for her next "rescue mission". Check it out, it will feature an array of characters, so there may even be crossover action, don't be surprised to learn that Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen is gym buddies with Shiva from Record of Ragnarök lol. There are no real set-in stone stories, so one day Gojo might be the owner of a lingerie empire and married to a cat girl kemonomimi that was a background character from some long-forgotten phone game and the next day he is in a polyamorous relationship with Geto and a femboy stoner and Gojo is a house husband while Geto owns a popular club in the red-light district. So yeah, if you're interested in that kinda chaos check out my Ao3 and keep an eye out for the book drop. Each chapter will have warnings as needed, so remember to look at the notes and description so you can tell what's instore. There will be adult content overall, so if you're super worried about accidentally reading something you aren't into just skip it.

"I wonder who will arrive next…It hurts my heart to see the children of creativity pass… but I can't wait to see them." A woman with long pastel pink hair sat at a work bench, in her hands was a piece of silky snow-white clay. Laying on a metal sheet that sat nearby was a series of featureless white dolls, they were small but would soon grow and adjust to the size of the host that would soon bring them to life. In the kiln nearby another tray slowly baked, preparing a fresh batch of blessed soul shells. The tv on the wall that the work bench was pressed to was turned on, on it she watched the life of yet another person that was born in a created universe. She felt bad for them, they were living creatures though the ones that created them call them characters and treat them as if they are not real. Of course this wasn't the creators fault, after all in their world these people AREN'T real. They are people made from the imagination, given life on paper and screeen. How were they supposed to know about the alternative diminsions much less understand the true reality of the diminsion they live in. How were they supposed to know that each world that made, actually made a world? How were they supposed to know they were the gods of these people's world. That each life of suffering was inflicted on someone that truly lived within another diminsion, every choice sealing each person's fate without the so called "characters" even realizing they never had a choice to start with and it was all done for the entertainment of others and advancement of plot. That nothing was ever in their control. It was a fact that hurt the goddess, she was familiar with the soul birth process as she spent some time making the souls that would be born within the various created universes. It was one of the first things she learned when she ascended, each god of creation having to learn the step-by-step process that was the creation of life, realms and all that lies within. Of course she long since finished her training, and so she has been left to use her powers as she sees fit. It was the pain she felt while making these souls, knowing the truth of their existence, that drove her to create the techniques that allowed her to expand the depths of her soul and build a world within herself, a place that would remain untouched so long as she drew breath. And for her to provide bodies for all those she sought to save, so many souls cast into darkness because the media source that created their life and story had ended. Thus ending their story, the closest thing to rebirth being the creation of an entirely different version of them within a series of pocket universes formed by fans that live within the creator universe at that point. She was proud of some of them, their so called "fix it" fics doing a lot to soothe her sadness while she works on getting vessels prepared for the line of dead and work her way to the media source's "named characters" to whom she had grown especially attached. Though she'd never admit it out loud, there were some people she favored because she had bore witness to their lives and to the media that determined their fate from start to finish. "Don't worry little ones…Mama will rescue you from the darkness, I promise." Mint green eyes looked up the screen, fingers moving on muscle memory as she worked harder to finish the next few batches so that she can get started on the reincarnation process. "I can't wait to meet you all…"

#candy cult vault #fluff #sneak peak of my new ao3 book #Will be rated mature on Ao3 as this will include everything from fluff to smut to scenarios #this is the world in which my fix it fics will take place in so I don't have to worry about plot and explanation for why they do things #this will be for an array of characters and shows #be ready for the occasional crossover #this is gonna get chaotic lmao #I'll notify when I post the intro and first few parts #really needin some Gojo

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ofdarklands · 2 years ago

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Okay, so I have another friend who like Final Fantasy XIV and talked it up to me and I’m curious about it—but I’ve never played any MMORPGs or done subscription stuff.

How exactly does it work? I know the base game wasn’t well received and they somehow revamped it into what it is now. Do you play a base game first and then get the subscription? Do you start off building a character of your own or…?

Like I just know nothing about it.

Currently you can play un to level 60 completely free with only some minor rescrictions (a couple races, and mostly buying and selling in game and making player parties and joining clubs, which are fun but not essential) which means that functionally you can play the base game A Realm Reborn* (up to lvl 50) and the first expansion that came out, Heavensward, The Prize Winning etc(up to lvl 60). That much is completely free, no time limits, forever. The only thing i can say is that making the accounts can be a bit of a pain, but there are some guides in youtube you can find to make sure you don't accidentaly make an account in the japanese servers or something.

So yeah, honestly, even if you never upgrade to the full game i think that would still be a good, complete 60 hours minimum game, even if you don't do the side content. The first 50 levels are perhaps slower than some people would prefer, but they work very well to prepare for the following stories, though the voice acting also isn't too impresive. After lvl 50 they get MUCH better.

I think this is a good first mmo. People are usually nice, and if you really don't want to interact with people in the multiplayer content you can now go through the 4 man Dungeons with npcs. You still need to do some Trials with 7 other people, but the system queues you all up together, so it's not even much work. 10-15 min waiting, and then 10 min working together tops. Everything else is story, and the small tutorials are pretty good at explaining. For everything else there's the wiki, which is VERY complete, and youtube if you want tips or guides for the multiplayer content.

Character creation is basically choose your race, your looks and your starting class. Races say they have some differences but in truth it's just cosmetic, choose whatever. Class determines in which of 3 cities you start, but the story converges eventually no matter where you choose. You can also unlock all the classes in one character, so if you don't like what you chose you can change as soon as you find the npc for it, around lvl 15 at the most.

Basically I DO reccomend it. As it is free, you can try for as long as you want, attempt different things, and if you don't like it it's fine. It's also not too demanding on the computer in general. The only thing i'd consider important for enjoyment is perhaps check a video or guide with suggestions about how to adjust the HUD icons and interface for quality of life. Otherwise go at your speed, enjoy the story** and lore details scattered everywhere and have fun. :)

EDIT: AH! here is a Benchmark Test, where you can try out the character creator and see how your computer would react to the rquirements. Characters you make and save here can be later imported to the actual game as well. Useful.

*A Realm Reborn is the 2.0 version of the game; much, much better received than 1.0, which can't be played anymore, though in-story what happened in 1.0 is completely canon.

** Try not to punt Alphinaud into the sun when you meet him, he does get so much better later.

#king0fcrows #hope this wall of text helped

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nicka-nell · 4 years ago

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Hi hey! Can I have a Haikyuu matchup?

Female, she/her

I have black hair and eyes, lots of beauty marks (like scattered across my body, I have at least one on each body part), I can't remember but I think I'm a ISFJ or a ISFP, Sun: Aquarius, Moon: Sagittarius, Rising: Leo.

My likes are any kind of storms, rain, snow, thunder, etc, late night drives, music, and vanilla.

I don't know about dislikes but I don't like dropping/spilling food - since food is precious, people being in my space, people dirtying my stuff, when stuff doesn’t get done on time, people not doing what I ask, being hurt or embarrassed,

No-go for a partner? Manipulative, cheater, dishonest, someone who's not willing to put their weight into something, people like atsumu or oikawa. That's all I can think of. (I don't mind Atsumu or Oikawa, it's just that they scare me)

A Male matchup

A late night car ride to some random destination, just the two of us we can make it if we try just the two of us. Or anything really.

Also NSFW if you want! :)

Thank you!

Hi :)) here is your match-up for one of the Haikyuu boys. (I hope you like it ♥)

First, I had thought about Sugawara but when I read your message the second time and the third time; I had such strong vibes for this character:

Note: NSFW, 18+

Tendou Satori

At first glance, he may seem like a crazy guy, but behind this lively appearance hides a loving man who would even bring you the stars from the sky.

He loves nothing more than sitting next to you on the couch in the evening, snuggled in a warm blanket, you with your favorite drink and he with a hot chocolate with marshmallows. He has the feeling that time stops when the rain streams against your window and he gets lost in the deep of your dark, beautiful eyes. Sometimes he forgets that he’s staring at you a little too long, but then apologizes directly when you tell him not to look at you like that.

When it rains in the morning and you both wake up, you can expect Tendou to snuggle up to you from behind, kiss your beauty marks on your neck and shoulders and prevent you from getting up.

Now and then Tendou is at work longer, then you can always assume that he is trying a new candy. He quickly noticed that you liked the chocolate with vanilla the most, so he always tries new vanilla creations on special occasions. And for Tendou, every day is special, because every day he wakes up with you, he realizes how lucky he actually is. And he’ll do anything to make you as happy as you make him happy.

He’s not a great eater, so just making a big serving for one person is enough for both of you. In the beginning you always cooked too much, and then you get annoyed about how much food was left. But Tendou promised you every time that he would eat the portion the next day and that you should only cook one portion for the day for yourself.

As you had to learn to cook less, Tendou had to learn that sometimes you need your own space. It took a while but by now he can tell by your voice whether or not you need your rest. If you need it, Tendou often sits in the kitchen at your dining table, reading a new release of Shounen Jump magazine or prepare one of your favorite sweets, which he then takes to your room, quietly placed on the table and gives you a gentle kiss on the crown of the head, before leaving the room with a happy smile.

Tendou and you were just on your way to Semi’s concert. The music is loud in your car as you both sing to Semi’s song and get in the mood. You have fun and do not let the storm that rages outside stop you. Just the short way past the forest, then into the city, and find a parking space at the bar where Semi’s band performs.

But you only hear your bubbling now, while Tendou’s voice is silent. Asking, you look at him as you follow his gaze and see the two yellow-clad men holding a red warning signal in the air. Tendou stops the car as one of the two men approaches him and signals him to slide the window down a bit.

“Over there, some trees have fallen from the storm. The forest workers are already clearing the way, but this will take a while. You should turn, there’s a rest stop over there. If you have to go up here, you can wait there and have some boiling food. The road should be clear soon.”

Nodding, Tendou thanks the man as he turns to you and looks into your sulking face. “Isn’t there another way we can go? I don’t want to be late.”

“There is one way, but it is much longer. It would be better to go to this rest stop and wait there for a while until the people here are finished. The rest stop was only five minutes away from here.”

Sighing, you look out the window and mumble only a quiet “okay” and hope that the men will quickly finish the clearing work.

While your mood is no longer at its peak, Tendou still hums along with all the songs until you stop in the dark parking lot at the rest stop. There is no car to be seen far and wide, even in the rest area there is only one employee to be seen, but he looks as if he has fallen asleep behind the counter.

Again you sigh as Tendou’s fingers land on your lap. “Hey, lollipop, don’t sulk. We’ll make it to the concert in time. The concert doesn’t start for two hours. I wanted to be there earlier because I wanted to talk to Semi, but I can do that after the concert, right?” He smiles happily and now you remember.

He had already mentioned it last week, but you had forgotten it out of sheer anticipation of the concert. Tendou sees your face slowly relaxing as he clamps off and climbs over the circuit, placing itself in a rather uncomfortable-looking position above you, making your eyes grow big.

“Satori, what are you doing?”

“I don’t think you can get rid of a tree like that in two minutes, do you? Besides, you’re not in the mood like you were before? We should change that, don’t you think?” He grins and uses the lever on your seat to fold your backrest completely backwards.

“Satori!” You scream in terror, as now he pushed your seat back a bit and Tendou kneels in the footwell in front of you. “What on earth are you doing? What if someone sees us?”

“And who? That sleeping guy at the roadhouse? Or the birds in the woods? Relax, lollipop, I just want you to smile again.” He giggles as his long fingers touch your bare skin on your thigh and sneak under your skirt.

“Sa- tori…” You whisper quietly as warmth flows through your body and Tendou’s soft lips kiss your inner thigh. “You’re so warm, lollipop.” His breath kisses your skin while his fingers are already at your panties and play with the edges.

Instinctively, you lift your pelvis so he can pull your panties down as Tendou laughs on your skin. “So needy are you already what?”

“Don’t tease me, Satori!” You cry and want to put your hands on his, just as he pulls your panties down to your knees and his kisses move more and more to your warmest spot. Your complete body is feverish. You can feel your core tingling even before Tendou gets there.

“You’re ready?”

“Yes, yes Satori.” You answer him promptly and bury your hand in his hair, press his head slightly down to tell him to start.

You can sense his wet tongue glide over your walls, as he moves his tongue with pressure on your clit, sucks it lightly and elicits your sugar-sweet tones. “Hah Satori!” You groan as you slide further away from your seat, towards him, and push him deeper to you.

Again he chuckles, only making you moan with this little vibration in his voice, before one of his hands moves up from your knee, along your damp folds to your already dripping entrance as he pushes two of his long fingers into you. “I love the sound of my fingers moving in your wet pussy, mmh.” Tendou murmurs, who now sucks more strongly at your bud, bends his fingers in you and hits the spongy spot in you every time.

“Fuck Satori I’m close!” You groan, your hands claw harder into his hair. You feel the knot in you getting tighter, and you know you are coming to your climax every second. Tendou feels how your walls slowly pinch his fingers, feeling your legs slowly start shaking.

“Yeah babe, I know. Be good and come for me, show me how good you taste.” You hear him below you and cannot help but moan loudly his name before you reach your orgasm and spread your juice on Tendou’s tongue and fingers.

Pleasantly he licks your entrance clean, his fingers, before he puts on your panties again and looks at your excited face.

“This was… so… good Sa- tori.” You stutter out of breath before you feel his warmth on your neck. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, lollipop. The rest is for the after-show party after the concert, all right?” His giggling is in your ear before he kisses your cheek and straightens your seat to sit on his own.

“I think the clearance work should be done by now. Don’t you think?” He smiles happily as he starts the car again.

“Yes, I think so.”

You still sigh out of breath, and wouldn’t be sad if they do not finish these and you have to go back to the rest stop.

#haikyuu x reader #satori x reader #tendou x reader #satori tendou x reader #tendou satori x reader #Tendou smut

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itsbenedict · 3 years ago

Text

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 8

Welcome to the Hotel On-The-Floor, Yeah

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Last time, the party identified the culprit behind the murders in Barley and Wheat, but... well, it's complicated. The culprit was apparently being coerced by a dragon, and they managed to talk him down rather than fight. If they want that to stick, though, they'll need some kind of plan to get rid of that dragon. And... is it really worth bailing this guy out, anyway?

Saelhen, Oyobi, and Vayen all start discussing their plans in Elvish, which it doesn't seem like Arnie understands. Oyobi advocates for just killing the guy, but is a little less keen on the idea once Vayen advocates for the same. Saelhen would rather give the guy a chance, and points out that there's not much point to killing him as long as the dragon is still around- they'll need an answer for that, and the answer to a dragon is probably just as good an answer to Arnie.

Looseleaf, oblivious to their Elvish chatter, describes the basic plan to Arnie.

Arnie: "So you're, what... you're gonna get the church involved somehow? What're you gonna tell 'em?" Looseleaf: "Well, probably also Deathseekers," Looseleaf thinks, out loud. "We'll tell them there's a dragon conducting sacrificial rituals at the site of an altar to the god of pain. We'll get the church involved by virtue of proving to them that there's a dragon fucking around with divine shit, and we'll get the deathseekers involved by convincing them that there's a dragon stacked to the gills with cool magic items, which we'll prove by bringing them one of said items." "The important thing is to get going as soon as possible, right? There's a time-limit here measured in, uh... human... corpses..." Arnie: "Wait, how are you gonna get one of its magic items?" Looseleaf: "How do you think, mister 'I work for the dragon so he gave me a bunch of magic items to serve his dread will'?" "We'll bring the deathseekers that magic cloak you said you had." Arnie: "Uh, that's..." "Mine, though."

Eventually, after a persuasion roll or two, Arnie agrees to loan them the cloak, as long as it comes back in one piece. He also tells them how to safely retrieve it from the laundry room- as long as they exchange some dirty laundry for the clean cloak, they'll be happy and won't attack. He's got plenty lying around downstairs, which he heads down to grab.

While he's downstairs, the party confers, and decides to all go together to the nearest city- Cauterdale- to ask the local Deathseekers for aid. They figure Arnie's not a flight risk, since he doesn't have anywhere to run and a draconic boss who'll hunt him down if he tries.

(As they prepare to leave, a natural 20 on a perception roll alerts Looseleaf that Vayen has ransacked Lumiere's personal library, stealing- specifically- Lumiere's books on gods and divine magic, for some reason. She doesn't make any objection to this, though- Vayen's a creep, but it's not like they weren't all on board with looting the dead guy's tower.)

With Arnie's bloodstained laundry in hand, Looseleaf heads upstairs and retrieves the cloak without incident. She tries it out, and...

The result of her crit failing her Wisdom saving throw on the magic item is... nothing, apparently. That's always good to hear! The cloak appears to work exactly as intended! She's wearing a very fancy outfit.

Further experimentation reveals a few limitations- first, the cloak's shape is illusory, so it can't become armor or anything with particular utility. Second, it can get overly literal if you ask it to copy an outfit outright- you have to use your imagination properly. Third, it seems to get tired the more you ask it to change, so there's some limit on how often you can update your wardrobe. Those appear to be the only drawbacks!

So, with Arnie temporarily kept from murdering people, the party gets back on the road.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: For caution's sake, Saelhen calligraphs a piece of paper to say WE HAVE NOT BEEN TORTURED TO DEATH, and sticks it on the door on the way out.

As they make their way northeast, they make some Animal Handling checks to keep hold of their giraffes, as something seems to spook them. Looseleaf gets a critical success and is able to calm her giraffe right away... but the party ranger, who is proficient in neither Animal Handling nor Nature nor even Survival, because what kind of monster hunter needs to know that boring crap, has no idea how to handle an overexcited giraffe and is thrown from her mount with a critical failure.

Benedict I. (GM):There's a small sign by the road, heading off west towards what appears to be an actual forest. The prairie is giving way to a somewhat hillier and more forested terrain here, but the forest is thicker than anything you've seen on your way there. And as you're approaching the crossroads marked by that sign, your giraffes all try to bolt for it. Looseleaf is able to realize that they've been forced to graze on grass for miles, and when they see the trees, they get overexcited. Vayen and Oyobi get completely thrown from their mounts, and you have to follow them down the road a bit to catch up with them and rein them in. Looseleaf: Haha, oh, well, hopefully they don't try and spend the rest of the whole day grazing a pit-stop is within tolerances but we really do have to make it to Cauterdale sooner rather than later. Many lives are on the line! Saelhen du Fishercrown: Good thing Looseleaf can radiate peace at them! Benedict I. (GM): Looseleaf is able to beckon them back before they completely get out of reach, and pretty soon you've got them calmed down- but you've lost some time. There's a choice to make here, now: continue on to Cauterdale, but make the last hour or so of the journey in the dark- or rest at the location marked on the map near here.

On the map, where the sign marked "Umbrella Village" points (shut up, I don't even play Resident Evil, don't worry about it), is simply a warning that reads "EVIL WITCHES- AVOID!!!"

Oyobi and Orluthe inform the others that "witches" usually means "druids"- and Zero cashes in something from character creation. Looseleaf's background as an academic provided her with a book on some historical topic, which was never allocated because at character creation he didn't know enough about the world to decide on something interesting. Here he declares it's a book on the history of druids!

Benedict I. (GM): Druids, from what you've read, are sort of like clerics. They channel a divinity of some sort- which is typically revered as Mother Nature, or Gaia, or... every druid you meet is going to have a different name for it, because while it needs to have a thing to call it by, it is emphatically not a god. Druids have a complicated relationship with Ccorde, who's ostensibly the goddess of environmentalism and hippy communing with nature type stuff- but most druidic traditions regard this as a false claim on a divine domain. Nature is untamed and wild and exists on its own terms, a vital force that is not to be tamed with rules- people must forge their own relationships with Nature. The author of the tome you acquired was herself a cleric of Ccorde, and the tone of the book is defensive on that subject. The author's curiosity outweighed that defensiveness, though, and there's a long section dedicated to the theoretical differences between the channeling of Nature and the channeling of Ccorde- in particular, there's no common dispositional element with druids. Whatever Nature is, it's willing to act through anyone who puts in the effort. The author didn't seem to know anything about animism, but you suspect druidic practice might be related in some way- that their nature-spirit-channeling abilities may be a form of animism. The book is unfortunately light on the practical details of druidcraft, as the author prefers that the reader eschew the practice in favor of fealty to Ccorde.

Okay! So, they head down the road to stay at the druid village for the night- and notice something odd on the way, after some Nature checks. They notice that the dirt road they're going down seems to divide the forest in two- between a sparse, ivy-choked pine forest to the northeast, and a dense, healthy-looking deciduous forest to the southwest. You usually don't get such a sharp delineation between forests like that.

And Looseleaf notices... that their map doesn't show a forest on the southwest side of the road. The road is supposed to just go along the edge of the pine forest. Also, Looseleaf can see the trees' spirits there, and there's something... not quite right.

Benedict I. (GM):The left side of the woods- there does seem to be some ambient magic. Your Sight Unseen ability doesn't exactly detect magic, so much as it lets you see spirits, including the spirits of spells- but what's going on here isn't a spell effect. It's just that the spirits of these healthy-looking deciduous trees don't quite match their physical forms. Their spirits seem... sickly? Frail? Like they're not full trees, not trees that grew in their places from fallen seeds. There's something false about them.

Looseleaf: When you said 'the left side of the road is full of healthy-looking deciduous trees and the right side is full of misshaped thorny things' you know what the first thing i thought was it was, 'the left side is the dangerous side.' i didn't say it out loud but i was totally thinking that, and i am glad to have been vindicated.

The weird forest doesn't seem to be attacking them, though, so they head onward towards Umbrella Village, which seems to be built entirely on the pine side of the road. It's kind of cool-looking- every inch of available space, on the lawns, roofs, and walls, is covered in fruiting vines and various plants. The whole village is a carefully-cultivated ecosystem.

The villagers seem surprised to have visitors- apparently it's not a common occurrence. They seem normal enough, though- while they don't have an inn, they direct the party to visit the village elder, who might know where the best place for them to spend the night is.

(Oyobi once again crit-fails her Animal Handling check, and is unable to prevent her giraffe from ripping a tomato plant off the side of someone's house, which gets her scolded. Why are you a ranger, Oyobi?)

They head down to the village elder's house, which is unique in not being overgrown with crops- and knock on the door.

The door is answered by a little lizardfolk girl, who doesn't have any idea what she's supposed to do about there being... people... here? People she's never seen before? Who don't live in the village? What???

Benedict I. (GM): "...Who...?" "GRANDMAAAAA," she calls back into the room. Which she didn't really need to do so loudly, because there's an elderly lizardfolk woman sitting right there next to a small fire.

Looseleaf: Oh, and Looseleaf was about to ask if the little girl was the elder. Never let external appearances color your preconceptions, and all that. Benedict I. (GM): "Eh?" "Gramma there's Mysterious People!" "They don't exist!" The old woman gets up. "Who's... oh, visitors?" The little girl looks confused. "Vizza-what?" Looseleaf:"Indeed, we are emissaries from the Faraway Phantom Lands of Nonexistence," Looseleaf says in deadpan to the girl. "Behold as my incorporeal voice from out of the thin air astonishes you!" To the old lady, Looseleaf says. "Excuse us. You must be the elder?"

They inquire about a place to stay for the night, and the elder... checks the weather. Looseleaf, who has Druidcraft as a racial ability, also checks the weather, using a fancy little snowglobe spell!

Looseleaf: "I'unno, does this help?" Benedict I. (GM): "Oh, goodness. I thought you were from outside- do they..." "That's very well-done, really, and you smell delicious, but..." Saelhen du Fishercrown: uh Benedict I. (GM): "Well, it ought to be fine." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "...hmm," says Saelhen. Benedict I. (GM): "Just put your bedrolls out anywhere- we're not doing rain tonight." "Well, anywhere in town, anyway." "You shouldn't set foot in the Mysterious Woods." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Ma'am, rest assured that we have less than no interest in Mysterious Woods."

So the party beds down in some soft pine needles, making use of Looseleaf's recently-acquired Extremely Comfy Pillow and a few bedrolls. They have a druid elder's assurance that the elements won't be a problem, so... nothing wrong with camping!

And as they're going to bed, Looseleaf rolls a 21 on Perception.

Luckily, Looseleaf fails her unarmed strike roll, which would do no damage even if it hit because her strength mod is -1. So she does not do any damage to...

Benedict I. (GM): So, you kick out at the mouth full of sharp teeth. Saelhen du Fishercrown: Fwff, goes Looseleaf's puffy moth footsie. Benedict I. (GM): The mouth full of sharp teeth goes "Eeek!" and recoils before you make impact, and you see the little lizardfolk girl scamper away into the darkness. Looseleaf: "What." "Wh- how dare you bite me! I am an emissary of the Phantom Lands and all that or whatever." "Come back here and explain yourself to My Imperial Nonexistingness!"

The little girl, affronted, explains that if she's not real, then it's not bad if she bites her!

Vayen: Vayen stirs. "...Shouldn't kill a child," he mumbles. Saelhen du Fishercrown: "...this is a new dream," remarks Saelhen. "Better than the dreams about dad." "Vayen's even deciding not to kill someone. This is super neat, subconscious, keep going."

Saelhen argues that maybe Gramma doesn't know what things taste good, because sometimes grammas think things that taste bad taste good, like bell peppers! The child has no defense against this devastating logic bomb, and scampers off into the darkness, indignant.

Next time: the journey to Cauterdale, and the menace of the bobbledragon.

#twofaced jewel #tfj log

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lonelyfujoshi · 5 years ago

Text

Errink

Ink left again. He left Error all alone again and Error wasn't happy.

Error was in the living room watching his favorite series. Crying his nonexistent eyes out.

"Asgorooo!" He yelled, reaching for the TV screen when the scene of Asgoro having a heart attack played.

The pillow he clutched in his arms was wet with tears. Looking at him was laughable. Seeing the former destroyer cry easily like this.

In all honesty, the film wasn't the only thing he was crying about. He just decided to watch Undernovela to express his emotions while Ink was away.

Ahh, yes. Ink, the God of Creation.

He and Error had been dating for six years now. Almost seven. Two weeks from now will be their anniversary and Error couldn't help but be nervous of that.

Why?

He's been thinking that Ink is loosing interest in him. Error is scared.

He loved Ink with all of his life. He gave up destroying for the God of creation. He left the anti-void to live in their house for him. He tried doing good things out of his character for him.

He just loved Ink dearly.

And it all started ten years ago during Giftmas.

It was a special holiday for all monsters in the multiverse and the light and dark side has an untold treaty that no fight or attacks during this holiday.

No one established the rule, no one wrote it, no one spoke about it. It was just there. Monsters understanding the importance of the holiday.

Error sat on the cliff of Outertale where the stars shone to its brightest. His glasses on with his new galaxy scarf.

He sat there, enjoying the silence even when you can still hear the distant jingle in the town.

And Ink appeared.

Error scowled when the creator made his way to where he sat. He glared at Ink.

The creator however ignored the mean glare telling him to fuck off and sat down beside Error with a large grin. To close for the black skeleton's liking.

"What in the hell you doing here skittles?" Error grumbled harshly.

"Nothing much glitchy~. Just wanted to see the stars in this lovely night."

"Then go sit somewhere else. Don't ruin my night."

The smaller skeleton summoned his strings and began to play with it. Waiting for Ink's retort but it never came.

He looked up to see Ink staring at him with a thoughtful expression.

"... Nah." He finally said and Error wanted to hit the Ink blob with the brush he always had.

"But you know Error, tonight's Giftmas. I've given every monster I've encountered a gift to be traditional." Ink continued, looking up the sky.

Error glared at the string that somehow became tangled in his fingers and mumbled stuff like; "Who the hell asked?", "I don't give a fuck.", "Go do more of that and leave me alone."

Ink ignored his rude comments and summoned a window to his subspace. "So I thought... maybe I should give you a gift too."

"Hah! Did you really think that I'd want a gift from you?"

Again he was ignored as Ink continued to look for something in his subspace.

Error's socket twitched with annoyance. Watching Ink's body halfway through the window portal already, digging deeper into his pile of garbage as Error liked to call it.

The dark skeleton was about to push the lighter skeleton into wherever the window led because of his annoyance but Ink pulled back with a victorious laugh.

"Found it!"

Before Error could react, Ink placed the thing he got in front of the destroyer with a great big smile in his handsome face.

Error stared at it... Ink waiting for his reaction patiently.

In front of them was a pair of slippers. Red fluffy slippers that hugged your feet like socks and it had strings on the hole to tighten the hold if needed.

"Really?" Was all that Error could say. He didn't know what to feel about it. Ink, his supposedly mortal enemy, had just given him a 'gift' for some reason.

A pair of slippers no less. Error could tell that these were top quality and made for comfort. And how he loves comfortable things. The little sparkle in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Ink.

"Well go on! Try it!" Ink encouraged.

Error grumbled but complied nonetheless. He threw his strings away carelessly and grabbed the red slippers, put it on and stilled.

"Ehh? What do you think?"

The darker ignored Ink's teasing tone and wiggled his toes.

"It's okay I guess." He said.

And that was a fucking lie.

'Oh my GOD! THEY ARE SO COMFORTABLE! I'M IN LOVE!' He screamed in his mind.

Unknown to him, the creator could see his softened look and the brightening of his eyes. The destroyer even unconsciously smiled.

Error looked up to see Ink staring at him with another one of those unreadable look.

"What?" He narrowed his eyes at him.

"Don't tell me you expect something in return cuz I ain't giving you anything. And you can't take these back!" He hissed.

Blinking, as if snapping out of trance, Ink made a confused noise before laughing.

"What the fuck? What is it rainbow asshole?!"

"Hahahaha haha.. hahhh... I-It's nothing Error. I just realized something."

"Tell me what is it."

"I like your smile."

Even with his fucked up memory, Error remembered this.

He remembered that the next day after that night, he anonymously sent Ink a puppet version of the creator. Ink soon found out it was from him.

Since then the lighter skeleton never initiated a fight. He acted all buddy buddy with Error which pissed off the darker to no end. It frustrated him greater than his frustration with the 90's parasite.

Ink messed with his emotions. The creator popped up in his mind in random times that he thought he was finally becoming insane. He thought he was.

Three giftmas holidays passed and Ink surprised Error with a confession. The glitch outright crashed the moment the words that Ink said, I like you, was processed by his 'brain'.

Error fled the moment he came to, in Ink's arms. He thought he was gonna die because of how loud his soul pounded. It actually hurt his ribs.

For a month he couldn't stop thinking of Ink and he didn't even realize ha had fallen for the creator. He also locked himself in the anti-void. Time passed and he decided to go out and destroy. Maybe to let some steam out.

Ink was there. Wherever he go, Ink was always there, wooing him.

Every sanses and their counterpart in every universe knew about Ink chasing Error, courting the destroyer, asking for his love.

Ink was very sweet in those times. Always giving Error presents even when the glitch thought it was weird because it's not even Giftmas.

The next giftmas came and Ink knelt in front of Error. They were surrounded by the bright stars of Outertale.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" Ink said and Error was looking sick at how blue his face was.

His soul pounding. Emotions overflowing even though he was extremely confused with himself. He didn't know what he is feeling or what he was supposed to feel but everything felt right.

Even his inner voice telling him to say yes. 'It's not like people are lining up to hang with me anyway.' Was there as an excuse.

"Fine."

He never regretted agreeing.

Now though, Error was really worried.

It's because of the event that happened two weeks ago.

Since Error lived in the same house as Ink, the taller had always made time for him. His schedule was simple enough.

Leave for work in the council every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Leave the house by nine am and come back at around seven pm. Sunday is their special day as they usually go on dates.

Error usually stays in the house or visit Blue while Ink is away. Other times he goes AU hopping and going to Nightmare's castle.

Until this peaceful cycle was disturbed.

"Where are you going?" Error asked softly. He just woke up from his nap on the couch and he was rubbing on his sockets to help him wake quicker.

Ink was putting on his scarf and fixing his shoes by the mirror making Error confused.

"I'm just going on a meeting babe." Ink simply said with a smile.

"But... it's Thursday."

"Yeah, I just got called. Said it was an emergency."

After seeing the worried look on Error's face, Ink went up to the smalled and kissed his lover's face.

"Don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle. I'll be back before four so have lunch without me."

Error nods. "But wait." He holds Ink's arm.

"Let me prepare your lunch."

"No need babe. And I'm in a hurry so I gotta go." Ink said with a wave before he jumped into a portal.

By Saturday, Ink left again saying that he had to meet up with Reaper.

Error thought nothing of it because Reaper, being a God, sometimes meet up with other gods to see how the multivers is going.

And he thought, 'Oh, it's been a long time since I've been able to visit Geno. Maybe I should now that he's finally alone.'

Error planned to stay there for at least three hours so he got some chocolates, ketchup for Geno, blankets and puppets.

He puts them in a handmade bag before jumping into a portal.

"Hey, Geno! Thought it might be a good time to visit since Reaper-... Reaper?"

"Hey Error. What's up?" Geno greets him.

"Uh... the ceiling?" Error was still very confused that he couldn't come up with a proper reply.

"That would've been good pal, it's just that this place doesn't really have a ceiling." The cloaked skeleton beside Geno chuckled.

"Why are you here?" The dark skeleton asked.

"Job's slow today so I decided to visit my bea. What are you doing here?"

"Visiting Geno too."

"Great, the more the merrier." Reaper said unenthusiastically. Clearly he wants some alone time with his 'boyfriend'. Well soon to be anyway.

"Uh heh, nice to see you again then, Error." Geno said awkwardly while Error stood there still.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting with Ink?" The former destroyer finally asked.

"A meeting? Wha- Shit! We have a meeting?!" Reaper abruptly stood up, startling Geno.

"You forgot." His 'boyfriend' deadpanned.

"I didn't forget, I just didn't know." Reaper frowned.

"Uh maybe you should hurry, he left.. like an hour ago." Error said.

"Crap. I guess I'll see you later babe. Have fun with Error." Reaper left with a wave.

"Wow." Error and Geno said at the same time. They looked at eachother and laughed.

Half an hour later, there was a blanket fortress in the save screen. Two skeletons inside it, eating condiments and chocolates.

The 'screen' was blocked by Error's massive one way window portal and the watched Undernovela.

A portal opened and Error quickly lift the blanket up a little to see who it is.

It was Reaper.

"Oh hey Death, you finished your meeting with the creator?" Geno asked. He helped Error lift up the blanket.

"... Uh. No. I couldn't find Ink."

"WhAt?"

To be continued

#errink #story #ship #error!sans #ink!sans

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slightlyobsessedwithstories · 5 years ago

Text

I Can't Believe It's Over

Summary: Steven watches his favorite series come to an end and talks to Connie about it.

Notes: Look it's fluff. That's it it's just some comfort that's still very much needed even if it has been over a week now. Also it's around 1800 words.

Steven was fixated on the screen before him, dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep. The first rays of sunlight shined through the window as one of multiple alarms rang.

'It's almost here! It's almost here!' he thought as he turned off almost all of the 10 alarms. It was the final episode of his favorite series, Crying Breakfast Friends!

Well, technically CBF! ended a few years ago and this was its epilogue series, but still, it was practically the sixth season of the show.

He usually woke up at this time, but he's been up all night, theorizing how Spilled Milk could solve all of their problems, especially with Glum Glass (who he shipped them with.)

He was just so excited that he stayed up all night. He kept floating anyway, so it's not like he could sleep on the ceiling. He was up all night, sharing his theories and headcanons while looking through some of the fanart that have come from the episode that was released last week.

He still couldn't believe it was the last episode, it's been running for years. He can still remember the first episode like it was yesterday.

One last alarm rang as he opened a streaming app that made him watch with fellow fans, whatever happens next he's sure it would be good.

An hour and many, many tears later, Connie was calling him for their bi-weekly breakfast together. However Steven was still in bed, a river of tears streaming down his face as the credits rolled.

He was literally crying over Spilled Milk, but that really isn't important right now.

He wiped his tears on the sleeves of his pajamas and went downstairs to wash his face. His eyes were still a bit puffy, but maybe Connie wouldn't notice.

Steven went back toward the bed, sinking a bit. He took a few deep breaths, and finally answered her call.

"Good morning, Steven!" Connie greeted. She was in a diner, judging by the tables and chairs behind her. It was close to full and people were having different conversations, but it wasn't too loud that he couldn't hear her.

"Morning, Connie," he yawned right after greeting her, hoping to mask his sadness with tiredness.

It didn't work. Connie has started to be concerned, "Steven? Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fi—"

The universe has a cruel sense of irony, it seems. As he was only midsentence as he saw the glass of milk and the plate filled with fried eggs and crispy bacon and started to sob again.

"I-I can't believe it's over!"

He shuts his mouth, was that too loud? He covers his face with the pillows until he hears Connie talking. She's awkwardly explaining to the people around her; he wipes some of the tears with his sleeve while he apologizes for shouting.

Connie goes back to her seat, visibly relieved. Whether it's because she doesn't have to talk to another stranger or because she knows what's happening with him, it's unknown to him. Maybe it's a little bit of both.

She turns to Steven and asks one question with a knowing look in her eye, "Your favorite series just ended, didn't it?"

"Wait... how- how did you know?"

"I know how that feels," she ate some of her bacon and continued, "I've read so many novels, The Spirit Morph Saga was just one of many books I've obsessed for years!"

Steven listened to her every word as she gushes about some of her favorite books. It's been years since he heard of it, he still remembered Connie introducing him to the saga. He still loves the ending to this day, though he doesn't know if she still feels the same about the ending years later.

"Oh, sorry I got into a tangent there."

"It's okay, I love hearing you being so passionate."

There was a slight blush on her cheeks; she proceeded to drink the milk to hide it. "So..Anyways, what was the name of the series that just left you in tears today?"

Now it was his turn to be embarrassed, how exactly is he going to explain that he's been watching a cartoon for the past six years? He doesn't know what kind of shows she's watched!

But she wouldn't judge him for that, so might as well just say it, "It's Crying Breakfast Friends."

"I thought that show ended years ago?"

"Well, yes, but technically no, so the original show, Crying Breakfast Friends did end a few years ago, but its epilogue series, Bawling Brunch Friends ended today."

"So... were you satisfied with the ending?"

She was answered with more tears, "It was so bittersweet!"

Okay, now she needed to be there with him. "I'm going to finish up here, okay? I'll be there in a minute!"

Connie ended the call, finished her breakfast, tipped the waitress, and ran outside to Lion all under one minute.

A portal opened up in the beach house's living room with Connie and Lion going out from it.

"Thanks, Lion," she said while giving his mane a few pats. He gave a cute little smile and proceeded to sleep near the sofa.

Of course she had to give him some pets, besides it was only a few seconds till a full minute passes and she ran up the stairs.

She knows the feeling, sure she wasn't as sentimental when some of her favorite series ended, but she knows how empty it feels at first.

She wonders how Steven's handling it.

...

Just the sight of his bed tells it all.

It's a bit messy and tear-stained, the impression of Steven has been there for a while making the teen that was on the bed sink even further into it. Near the pillows were some toys and old plushies of the characters in the show, Steven himself holding two of them in his arms while under his comforter.

He was clutching the plushies of a carton of milk and a glass, keeping them close together. He hasn't noticed that she's here, but to be fair she hasn't spoken a word since she came up.

"Hi, Steven." He freezed up for a second, but he was still silent. "Mind if I join you in there?"

She saw his head nodding and making some space for her; she joined him under the covers.

He was looking at some fanart of all the characters together, waving goodbye at the audience as the words, "Thank you Samantha Pepper!" appear above them.

"So.. I remembered seeing a few episodes." Connie shifted closer to Steven, "It looked like a fun, silly cartoon from some of the episodes I've seen."

He chuckled at that, a bit too much judging by Connie's confused reaction.

"It was a fun, silly show at first. I rewatched the whole series preparing for this, and wow, there was a lot of stuff that went over my head."

"Just how serious this show is after the first season, all of the foreshadowing, each character's arc and how much they've changed compared to now!"

"I want to tell you everything, but at the same time I don't want to spoil stuff." Steven's started to float while he was talking and he hasn't noticed yet. "There's just so much that's better appreciated when it hasn't been spoiled and I haven't even talked about—"

"Steven, the ceiling!"

He looks up and floats in place, just inches away from hitting his head. "Thanks Connie." Steven starts to float down.

"No problem."

"Why didn't you stop me when I was starting to float?"

Now it's her turn to fluster him, she gave a shy smile and said, "Sorry Steven, I was distracted with how cute you are when you're passionate."

He was so flustered that his powers failed him at that moment and he fell on the bed, bouncing both him and Connie a few times.

They were both giggling as they laid together on the bed. Steven teasing Connie about using the line he used earlier... until they notice the mess that was made and cleaned it up.

"This show means a lot to you, huh?" she says as she collects the toys that fell onto the floor.

"Yeah... I miss it," Steven helps in collecting the plushies. He grabs the Spilled Milk and Glum Glass plushies and keeps them together.

They both help each other in fixing the comforter on the bed and laid back on it.

Connie can hear him sniffling right next ro her. Guess he's skipped the other stages of grief and went headfirst to depression.

"Why did it only sink in now? I'll never see these characters again!"

Okay, that's it. She needs to tell him this. She turns Steven around, looking him in the eyes.

"You can always rewatch the show, right?" A nod.

"You can always make your own fanart, right?" Another nod.

"And there's also other people's fan creations. Sure, the show's over, but people would still create more stories and art with these characters." Tears have stopped.

"You can love and appreciate all of the content creators in that fandom and their creations, right?" A small smile. She's getting to him.

"And even if it's over, you know that the show would always be with you, right?"

"Connie, I thought you didn't like being saccharine?"

"Steeeven," she was teasing him, and she knows he is too, "I'm trying to comfort you."

"I know, just wanted to hear you say it, because you like me." They were giggling again, but when they were finished he was staring at her with a smile, "Thanks Connie."

"You know I'll always help you, Steven," she smiled back at him.

"Yeah, even with your college prep, you still—"

"Wait, don't you have more stuff to do?" Steven asked, looking a bit worried.

"Today's Saturday, Steven." Connie reminded him.

"Oh... yeah," he rubbed his eyes, "thought it was still Friday."

"You stayed up all night, didn't you?"

"Can't blame me for being excited, besides I'm not that tired."

A yawn escapes him at the end and he settles at the bed.

"Ok maybe I'm a little bit tired. Talk to you later?"

"You know the usual time," she gives him a kiss on the forehead, "see you later, Steven."

"I'll see you soon, Connie."

And she goes down to Lion, who just woke up.

As Steven hears the roar of Lion's portal go out, he opens his phone and looks back on the picture of everyone in the show again.

Connie's right, it's a part of him now. Every memory, every laugh, and especially every tear that's shed—of sorrow and of joy.

"Thanks for giving me tears to the very end."

#steven universe #connie maheswaran #su fics #connverse #what do you mean it's only been a week?#it's over isn't it is playing in the background #what do you mean I'm projecting onto these characters

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the-firebird69 · 2 years ago

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There's a few things happening here that are very upsetting and we knew it'd be stupid but really these people suck they got right up got into a camos and tried to take Florida over and it was Johnny remillard and he's fighting Jason he's the same cadre and they don't act it they don't seem it and they can't be trusted for any reason at all either one of them but Trump is much worse twice as bad as pretty bad so we're going after him and now he's out back smoking to get smoke in the window this is a loser and we're going to stop him he was heart attack or something would be nice and there's a ton of people who see it too no these people are clues so I'm going to take some territory a bunch and we're going to take his stuff yeah he's out there at the parks and he brought 200 octillion each and now he's added another 200 and the first 200 is gone the second 200 is halved. So that's 600,000 octillion dead shortly and that's a lot. And I was like 15 million octillion or something he can't be much more than that cuz he's already dropped like 1.5 million octillion in the past month and it's cloning isn't that fast that's a huge number huge he thinks he has ships so good for him he thinks he's going off and it's going to make phones and Tommy F has the same theory as Trump shrinks he's going to wait till he comes back and it'll be adios to Trump. So Trump is trying to get the spheres and little ones some people see it and he's saying oh s*** it's not about ships and he might not be able to get close not with those big humongous ones so he figured out something he'd have more than just a huge ones and he's starting to try and roll on it.

We're seeing his face turn into absolute horror. And he's going to run around the command man and threaten our son and he's lost way too many people he says.

It's election night and everybody's glued to the set not doing any work in the storm is rolling in it's pitiful. We have many things going on. After the election Trump gets worried that newsome who won his election is up in New York City looking at some Intel of Trump's. And he wants to see what it is and how he got it and Trump works to set him up pretty good too against BG. It creates Dr. Manhattan as a character. And there's some stupid analogies and that's not what it is and he looks like he's disintegrates and he comes back and he is outside and materializes and is a bunch of witnesses and they are amazed and it's a hurtful thing but they were saying for a while to us and they stopped after a bit they figured out somehow and they're going straight through it. Well that's what they say. With the creation of Dr Manhattan and blaming on BG and he figured out who it was because it came in after and he does kill both of them he shoots Malik and that is Trump himself and he does go after Terry who looks a little odd is not Rorschach but is one of the characters that gets killed in the assassination attempt and it's all over yeah he tried to assassinate him it was Terry who tried to shoot him and Terry hit some big ways and a Mac boss and a big order gets put on him and yeah that guy is pretty much toast but they're bringing back goes after him was a fury and is big

Trump heads up there after attempting to take stuff from the parks and failing and he gets nowhere but he loses a lot of people in the Parks and for some reason he feels compelled to mess with newsome and it might be that casless are made in California and that's what he needs at the moment. Is empty out all his ammo on the bugs and only a few get hit and it's unbelievable, he finds it there will to survive is incredible. And he is chuckling yes I can mad man his music our son is playing too him one sign is I got a lust for Life and the other one is ridiculous it's the Starship troopers theme song woohoo. And it's like the side I used to say. Pretty soon there's several scenes that occur. And it is later than early morning in Vietnam so it was 8:00 a.m. at around 9:00 p.m. so okay 12 hour difference it's 12 hour earlier is about right so it's 11:00 a.m.ish it's really 12:00 p.m. and in 7 hours that scene will play out in Vietnam it's very important not only because of the spy stuff that's revealed but because Justin shoots what people think is Lily and it's not Lily it's Chrissy with a child it a real one. So he pursues Trump relentlessly Non-Stop well it might be Jason and he was led to shoot him and Jason just hit and hates Trump and the comedian was led to shoot both of them by Trump who is in Vietnam with them. And that's what happens so far it's the story and they come back after tomorrow night but really tonight Trump gets hit and tomorrow night the comedian. And it looks like by Adrian and that's what happens it's very bad and it is his father and his father gets rid of his idiots

His death and the evidence there affected the police investigated him already and they took me with you and save this clothing and skin and more. This has a huge impact on what happens in the future to come dancing huge groups of forms to chase them down a lot of them get killed by 10,000

Thor Freya

Hera Zues I narrated the last part

Olympus

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xbrokenxdollsx · 7 years ago

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You think its kinda a given with what will happen with the new fairy tail sequel. Fans will always go crazy with pairings and you can't stop it.

So I’mma put this under cut because, knowing me, I’m a chatty, ranting bitch and like to go into detail about stuff like this, my babehz either do or don’t care about what I have to say. If you’re interested in making your own stuff and/or working for the art industry, this might be interesting to you!

So I work in the entertainment industry (i.e. films, shows, comics, books, etc) and have seen successes and failures of a lot of ideas and pitched projects from popular companies that many people know. My opinions under are from experience, so you’re going to have to be prepared for some chat-chat.

In my profession I usually get to dig deep in archives and listen in on pitches and past projects that turn into an absolute failure because of what people propose to make for “canon content” as I put it. Patterns of people’s attempts to make sequels and/or revivals of past successes of material or box offices have the same result of ugly failures because they want to stick it to “canon content” from the original success.

This is really difficult to do a good job, especially when you do it within a 1-5 year timeframe of the original and expose it to the public.

((As a heads-up, I’m just going to use more recent stories from the last couple years for more familiarity and have my explanations make sense.))

I’m going to take for example of the Naruto franchise: when Kishi originally wanted to end the series with Naruto vs Pein and the fandom (also the company/contract he works under) basically tells him “no, you can’t do that because you’re making it big right now.” Kishi goes on to extend the plot with tropes of confrontation for the audience with romance, family, self-discovery, redemption, when (in my eyes) the focus of it was Naruto and his bond with Sasuke and their growth. Anyway, fans ate it up with their own theories and material that kept bringing in money to Viz to keep going with the different possibilities and basically throw ideas to Kishi on what to do with his content.

When Kishi ended the original Naruto series with the Epilogue with the pretty self-explanatory results of:

Naruto becomes Hokage

Naruto and Sasuke resume their friendship bond

Sasuke journeys on to pay for his crimes

The remaining cast have a pretty suitable/happy ending with rather solid end-game pairings and then some (based on Kishi, not the fandom)

Kishi ends his 15 year project and calls it with writing his own movie plot for Naruto: the Last, which focused on romance. Kishi has stated in the past that he’s not much of a romance writer, but he admits that he had a good time with the Last and getting a good 80% (Rotten Tomatoes). Critique was more on storyplot of the romance that some Western audience didn’t really pick up and didn’t like that it lacked Sasuke (who is said to now be Naruto’s best friend again), which is fine.

Now I don’t know what the Viz Media have for contracts with creators and what their process is for projects, so I can’t and won’t point fingers to either the company or Kishi himself for coming up with the sequel of Boruto. Contracts are very vague and, since I don’t know Kishi’s contract, I can’t say.

What I can assume (not confirm!!) that Viz “owns” the Naruto/Boruto name, and thus wants to continue with the story…which where the Naruto Project set in with the whole “who is Sarada’s mom and all this Uchiha bloodline, etc” shit came to be that drove the fandom up and me outta there like “bitch, bye”, despite Kishi having some hand in it.

In short: I would have preferred that they stopped Naruto at 700 and kept it that way, not extend it to 700+1 and all that. That was a usual use of getting more income for the company/publisher because they had a huge audience and pulled it in by using the “next generation”.

In my OPINION, if the company/creator were to wait for more than 5 years from the completion of the original, there would have been a better impact and impression on the fandom/audience.

BUT THIS IS VERY COMMON WITH ENTERTAINMENT WITH LONG-RUN SUCCESSES, SUCH AS NARUTO.

Now I’m gonna use Pixar’s Finding Nemo/Finding Dory as the next example of what it results to WAIT before going public so soon. I can easily talk about this because I have access to material and individuals on this side and am pretty familiar with Disney/Pixar’s contracts and regulations, so I can clarify this as simple as possible:

Disney owns Pixar, but Pixar is it’s own separate company when it comes to certain material that Disney can not touch.

Everyone remembers Nemo, right? 2003 film that left an impression with the characters of Marlin, Nemo and Dory (and Bruce, Crash, etc) and we were eventually blessed with the 2016 sequel of Finding Dory, a same concept but different plot with our beloved protagonists and newfound ones to adore (I’m lookin’ at you Becky). Now, Disney/Pixar is more child-centric with entertainment, as we all know, but majority of people will admit that, as adults, enjoy the films that they see and can enjoy it and hope for a sequel.

NOW OKAY, if you remember that little period in the 90s/00s when Disney did those Direct-to-Videos of our favorite movies like Mulan, Pocahontas, Atlantis: the Lost Empire, Little Mermaid, Hunchback??

Lets be honest, babes, they were crap.

Disney, honey, I love you, but I refuse to acknowledge that era. I loved the TV shows of Aladdin and Hercules, etc, but not the films.

What Pixar learned from Disney’s oopsy of making fast sequels and trying to promote a revival of our beloved childhood films was that they didn’t treat it like the original. Treating it as the traditional animation styles from the original, getting the original cast and crew (ORIGINAL CREW IS VERY IMPORTANT, BABES, TAKING IT FROM EXPERIENCE) was not the goal of the studio and therefor did not do well on leaving a lasting impression on the audience or made people happy.

Granted, many of the talents on the animation teams from the originals either left the studio or refused to take part in the sequels, but you can also see where they were coming from.

With Pixar, they take time with the story development and ensuring from the previous success that they don’t do “repeat plots” - because sequels are not about repeated plots.

EXAMPLES OF DISNEY’S NOT-SO-GOOD:

Little Mermaid (1989) - Ariel wants to be human. Little Mermaid II (2000) - Ariel’s kid wants to be a mermaid.

Most of my friends who are avid LM fans can’t remember Ariel’s daughter’s name (Melody), but will rant for a good hour on Eric’s voice change and the lack of animation details compared to the first.

Mulan (1998) - Daughter desires to bring honor to her family. Mulan II (2004) - Princesses following honor/duty to kingdom, but are conflicted.

Besides the animation style, which I will fuckin’ SCREAM about, the plot of fairly similar if you watch it carefully and lacks true impact.

What Pixar directors and writers learn from those mistakes is repetitive patterns of plots. While Disney DID seem to pay attention to time-frame of exposure, there was the rise of media exposure, DVDs and the shift of traditional animation to digital 2D/3D that effected the results.

EXAMPLED OF PIXAR’S PRETTY-DANG-GOOD:

Toy Story 2 (1999) - Woody is taken by a Toy Collector, adventure ensues on rescuing and obtaining new friends while maintaining a child’s love for his/her toys. Toy Story 3 (2010) - The Gang is struck to the fact that Andy is grown up, yet impact the love while giving it to the “next generation”.

I skipped Toy Story 1 because it was the first Disney/Pixar 3D animated success film (not counting Bug’s Life) that left an impression on the audience to continue. It maintains the pattern of childhood imagination and adoration of beloved toys.

Finding Nemo - Son gets taken, journey across ocean to Dentist office, heck yeah. Finding Dory - Dory sets off to find her family and her friends (adopted family) journey in search for her towards a rehabilitation center/aquarium.

Similar plot of searching for a loved one, but it shifts between saving and discovering.

Pixar takes SO LONG with developing stories and characters to keep an audience happy and they also keep it on the DOWN LOW. Pixar is very hushy-hush on their projects and keep it secret until it’s REALLY time to reveal the big news. With Pixar, despite having the money to easily make sequels out the ass, care so much about story development and the audience together, which is why they a) take so long with sequels b) pretty much surprise everyone ever 5+ years that makes the fandoms rather positive and open-minded.

IN CONCLUSION

While I trust Mashima more than Kishi with the sudden sequels, since his epilogue was more vague on pairings/fandom wars than Kishi was, I still remain extremely cautious as to what he’s going to do. Knowing Mashima’s rather sarcastic style with every chapter and concept of characters, there really is no telling what he’s going to do and I’m all for it and hope he has control on his creations as he so deserves and Kishi lacked…

It’s just the fandom that I’m hoping will remain chill as they are now with the end of Fairy Tail to the upcoming sequel.

#GUESS WHAT THIS IS REALLY LONG #BUT I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD EXPLAIN BECAUSE I ALREADY GOT ANONS ASKING WHY I SEEM SO MEH #THIS IS WHY IM MEH BABEHZ #basically me being a smartass with movies and mangas because thats what i do

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valkyrie-echo · 7 years ago

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Project Echo, Part 3: Chapter 23 (44 Days Before the Explosion)

Part 3 Summary: Seven years after the events of “Part 2”, Avengers Tower explodes, fulfilling Bucky’s vision. All evidence points to Avengers Shadow-Ops leader Inessa Ryker, who is forced to seek out Bucky in hiding. Together they must determine who the traitor is in their ranks and if their friends are still alive- all while trying to survive deadly ambushes orchestrated by Sam Wilson and his hand-picked army.

Chapter 23: 44 Days Before the Explosion

Marie expected to be bound to a chair, trapped behind a shield, imprisoned in a cell or, at the very least, guarded by a Suit. Still, the steel-reinforced door was security enough in the bleak cement room. She was somewhere in a sub-basement of Avengers Tower she was fairly certain wouldn't be found on any blueprints.

When Tony led her away from Inessa's floor she thought everything would be okay. He barely spoke the whole time the med suit inspected her nose, gave her medication, and re-set the cartilage. After that she'd blacked out and woken up here- in the cell. It pissed her off to no end. She was the victim of an unprovoked attack and there would be hell to pay. At the moment running off to join Eoin O'Meara's gang wasn't sounding like too bad of a plan. From what Amadeus said he was one murder short of being a super-villain, but if this was how Avengers treated one of their own-

"Your pulse is off the charts," Natasha was simply there. No sound, no flash of light, no explanation, nothing. Had she been there the entire time Marie had? Was she waiting for the girl to wake up? Marie's skin abruptly chilled. Natasha didn't look like the nice, nurturing leader, she was terrifyingly cold and fierce- like a snake just before it strikes. Or, more accurately, a spider.

"Yeah, well, I don't like being underground," Marie didn't want to say what really frightened her.

Natasha folded her arms and smiled, "You're lying."

"Okay."

"Let me help you out Marie. This is the point where you say something along the lines of 'Inessa's insane, I'm not Hydra', and I don't believe you and then we chat for a bit."

"Inessa's insane. I'm not Hydra."

"Once more, with feeling," Natasha chided, "your voice was shaking a bit on the end."

Marie shook her head, "Can we cut the preamble? Inessa's a Leader. You all think the sun shines out her ass and she says I'm a spy or a traitor or whatever. We both know where this is going." Her voice nearly cut out, but she kept her bravado up.

"You mean torture?" Marie's gulp was visible, if not audible. She fidgeted slightly as Natasha considered it, "There are three kinds of torture, you know. Well, when I learned they were called interrogation methods. Level one is for when you want to paint in broad strokes, quick and dirty. You don't care about quality, just quantity. Beatings, whipping, sleep deprivation, amputations- that's just a few of my favorites. You'll get your subject to say a thousand bullshit 'truths', but then you get a diamond in the rough."

Natasha walked over to Marie and looked her up and down, "That usually doesn't work when you only want a simple question of loyalty answered. Level Two is a bit harder. It's where you carve out the person living in the body and pour in your own creation. It's what James Barnes- who you now know is alive- was supposed to do with Nessie. See, the trick is that a hollow person cannot create another. Interestingly enough it's because they have no concept themselves of what it means to be hollow. They stop too soon, and the person grows back. It's ironic- they think showing kindness encourages someone to let go because they would do anything for kindness themselves when really it just undermines what they've been doing. Lucky for Nessie, Hydra didn't know that rule."

"You're not hollow," Natasha nodded to herself, "nor are you the kind of creature capable of hollowing someone out."

"Is that what you're gonna do to me?"

Natasha smiled again, "Of course not. I don't need to make you loyal, just to gauge how loyal to us you are. Besides, it was done to me when I was little, so by my own rules I'm not fit to do it to someone else. So, Level Three then. That one takes a very special kind of monster, the kind who can extract real truths. Complete honesty."

Marie couldn't suppress the tremor in her legs as she faced Natasha. She was determined to stay upright but her knees threatened to cave at any moment, "Let me guess, Level Three is something you're good at?"

"Extremely."

"I'm not Hydra. I won't stop saying it. If you're going to torture me at least do me the courtesy of not teasing me first." Marie was breathless and tears stung at her eyes. She wouldn't cry or beg. Kyle had done enough to her as a child that she knew once it began she'd lose all dignity and pride, but at least she wouldn't embarrass herself before it even started.

"I have a few questions first. Why don't you pull all of the heat from the air and freeze me now?"

"I'm not a killer, and I don't hurt people."

"You're in the Shadow Unit. I've got no doubt you've killed people."

"That's different," Marie shook her head, "They're evil. They're hardly even human. Those people hurt others and if someone doesn't stop them then good people suffer."

"Tie your answer to your brother." Natasha demanded.

"There were times, few and far between, when Kyle let me seem him for the monster he was, just to prove to me I couldn't do anything about it. He was right, I couldn't hurt him no matter what he was. After he died I remembered other things, things I'd caught him doing. Forcing kids to beat one another nearly to death, making people torture and torment others for him so that the memories haunted them until they couldn't take it anymore and ended their lives…"

"Once, a homeless man wandered onto our farm. My parents let him stay with us a night, Kyle prompted them to let him stay with us a lot longer. He'd tell the man he was well fed and in need of nothing every single day. We watched that man die of starvation and thirst with food and water sitting right in front of him. I'm not a killer. I won't hurt you because no matter what you do to me I know you protect good people. I didn't stop Kyle whenever he lifted the fog, and so everything he did is on me. I'll never make that mistake again, especially not with Hydra!" She was half-crying, half-shouting by the end.

Natasha nodded her approval, "There it is! There's the fire. You've been Miss Meek since you got here, I was beginning to wonder if you were even Avengers material or more like the pacifists over at Camp Hammond."

"Fine. I'm glad we've established that."

"You should be… I'll give you a few minutes to collect yourself, then you'll be returned to the general Avengers population. Don't try to leave the Tower for a few days, but otherwise you're clear."

Marie held her breath as Natasha turned. On the one hand, yay no torture, on the other hand- "What the hell? If you're trying to lure me into some sort of false sense of security-"

"Why would I do that?" Natasha stopped with a hand on the doorknob.

"I don't know," Marie admitted, "but I know you're not just letting me go. What about- what was all that about 'Three kinds of torture'?"

"You just saw Level Three. That's why it's the hardest- reading the truth between the words. Marie, we get new people a few times a year and almost every time someone thinks they're Hydra. Torturing you would only end with you pissed off and in trying to figure out if you're an enemy all I will have succeeded in doing is making you one. I'm not looking to turn you into Hydra- or one of Eoin's sewer rats."

"So, you're really not going to- I don't know- skin me alive or something to prove I'm telling the truth?"

Natasha crooked an eyebrow, "Duh, we have psychics to read that," when she opened the door to leave, Marie saw Wanda on the other side with her eyes glowing red. Her legs finally gave out and she slumped to the floor, shaking.

"OK, I scared her, what did you get?" Natasha asked as soon as the door was closed.

Wanda shrugged, "A frightened person sees their sins laid out. She only thought of arguments and something about stolen glue with glitter in it. That is a thing in this country?"

"You've lived in the US for five years and you still haven't seen glitter glue?"

"No, but I do not look for it. Does the theft matter?"

"Probably not. How old was she?"

"Five."

"Definitely not then. Besides, the stuff is like a dollar. I'll put some in your Christmas-Hanukah-Ramadan-Kwanza-Whatever stocking this year."

Wanda glanced to the door, "She is clean of any Hydra involvement, but we can never discount the possibility that they have ways of blocking my power. Inessa is not a person so quick to violence."

"If it even is Nessa anymore… If I were one to gamble then I'd bet that blood magic was some kind of mental link. Inessa may be betraying us herself without even realizing it. You know how Inessa loves burying riddles in her words. It's never about what she says outright… I don't have an answer for her claims as far as the Keponakan attack goes, but if this Shadow King has access to Inessa's mind then it's within the realm of possibility to assume he piggy-backed her flair-out across New York and turned those shadows into doors."

"And the point of setting her against Marie? Coincidence or an intentional distraction?"

"The timing is too convenient for an accident. Either she was planted by our enemies, or this is just Inessa trying to warn us- like maybe she can't say she's the traitor but she can say there is one, and this whole attack was so out-of-character it could be another hint that she's not the one in control. You know how Inessa thinks- sideways. With her it's never about what she says, it's why she says it the way she does…"

"But if Marie is as innocent as she appears, and Inessa is not wrong that she is being set up, then this may all be a distraction. Not for us though, we know that blood magic is the true key. We know it isn't entirely Inessa in there." Wanda hated voicing her greatest fear, that she was losing her best friend to some insidious enemy.

Natasha had an equally dark feeling, "No, not us. It's a distraction for her."

"So the Shadow King's plan is somehow in Inessa's control. He is her puppet master, and as long as Inessa is not focused then he is winning. How do we get in front of this?"

"We skip ahead in the story."

42 Days Before the Explosion

Vladimir hated the incessant rain in this corner of Russia- it was unnatural. To his eyes it looked like simple fog, perhaps a soft drizzle, but within moments of leaving the base he was soaked through and shivering- and they were traveling under the cover of trees! His boots squelched in the slick, grasping mud of the forest floor and threatened to come off a time or two. There was a reason the only sounds produced by their group were the grunts of the oxen and the muttered curses of the soldiers.

It was the Avengers fault. Once, not long ago, Hydra could move her weapons on the roads in armored convoys quickly and efficiently. Ever since the rise of that Shadow though they'd been forced to think up new solutions. Convoys were hit on the main roads, so they moved to country paths. Then their trucks were targeted by missiles or EMP blasts that rendered them useless- so now this was what they were reduced to. A hundred men and eight oxen pulling a cart.

Avengers. Terrorists! Vladimir spit on the ground. They called themselves heroes, yet they were too stupid to see Hydra for what it was- a peacekeeping force! With the world united under one banner, one rule, it would be such a better place! No more crime, no more suffering, no more disorder and war! Yet thanks to the Avengers instead of "Savior" and "Heroic" Hydra was called "Cultist" and "Nazi". They knew nothing! The sainted founder of Hydra, Red Skull, used Hilter to fund his research, used the Nazi death machine to increase the ranks of Hydra and build something greater than those bigots could have ever dreamed! They did not care what your religion, disability, skin color, or sexual orientation may be, they only cared about order amid the chaos the world was creating for itself!

The mark of a true Hydra visionary, his captain told him, was the ability to see everything from two sides- even if the other side is as evil and twisted as the Avengers. In this area though Vladimir had to admit defeat. He could not understand the incredible ignorance of those who would claim to be heroes. Oh well, he tried to shrug off the dark mood that had descended upon him, once this weapon is delivered to its new home even those "heroes" will be lost to history.

Commander Strauss released intel through her most secure channels that the weapon would be moved on September 6th, all a show. The real move was set to happen on the 3rd, but issues transporting the device pushed them back a day. Still, the Avengers would arrive too late to prevent this phase of Hydra's glorious comeback, "The Shadow has been cutting off Hydra's heads for six years," Strauss announced via comms to the soldiers as they marched, "it is time for the monster to see just how large the beast has grown! Cut off one head- two more shall take its place!"

"You're correct, to a degree," another voice joined in on their encrypted frequency, one Vladimir did not recognize, "see, the trick with a hydra is that the two heads can only grow if you forget to cauterize the stumps. Also, there's only one Alpha head. Cut that one off and the whole thing dies… Oh, and by the way? Your logo isn't a hydra, it's an octo-skull or some shit."

"Amadeus, do not taunt the prey."

"Lupe for the last time- you don't give me orders."

"Well then as a fellow lieutenant then let me tell you to stop taunting the targets."

"Danvers, Santiago, and Cho- how many times do I have to tell you three to play nice?"

"Who are you?!" Strauss demanded. The Hydra unit kept pushing forward- they couldn't stop for long in this mud or else the cart would stick and the oxen would begin to sink. All soldiers began to fall back towards the weapon, making themselves a smaller, deadlier target.

"Duh, isn't it obvious?" The first boy's voice came back, "We're the Avengers."

"OPEN FIRE, SPRAY THE TREES!" Vladimir knew his commander was acting now on fear, but he was a soldier, meant to obey. The Avengers weren't in the trees, even as he fired he knew they wouldn't hit anyone. This enemy wasn't stupid when it came to tactics. At least he would grant them that. The group didn't stop firing until they ran out of ammo- did that idiot Strauss want to make them soft targets?!

"Come on, did you really think that was going to work?"

"Cho, I swear to god, stop teasing the Hydra soldiers!"

Noelle, the peacemaker, tried to explain her lieutenant as best she could to Sam's, "Inessa lets us play with our food."

"Guys, I don't care what you say, as long as you ATTACK!" At Sam's interruption the Avengers kicked into gear. They dropped from the trees above the Hydra agent's heads and went into overdrive.

Carol Danvers, Sam's lieutenant, was as worthy of her title as T'Challa was of his. As Warbird she made a name for herself with her abilities to predict her opponent's moves and absorb the energy of her enemies bombs. As Captain Marvel she became a legend almost as prolific as the Leaders. She was Sam's tactician, one of the best in the Avengers- so basically she was the one Inessa would take out first in their Prank Wars to protect her undefeated streak.

Miguel and Amadeus were too alike, and so naturally they were rivals. Santos' ability to transform into lightning and control electronics was something Cho was incredibly jealous of- and his zipping through Hydra's ranks frying half of them before they got a real shot off drove the lieutenant wild. His job was to secure the weapon and hold off until Noelle could get there- the only one in their group with the super-strength necessary to free the device from the bolts holding it to the ox cart.

If the soldiers were freaked out fighting lightning and Captain Marvel, they just about wet themselves when Lupe Santiago shot out of the trees looking like a silver half-panther, half-demon. Vladimir was one of several Hydra agents who fell under her claws, certain it was the illusive Shadow that cut them down ("silver" and "monster" were about the only two things they consistently heard about the Shadow).

Noelle fought through Hydra's ranks as Lupe turned her attention on the oxen hooked into the cart. Rather than kill them- which would just make a huge mess, she sliced the straps holding them and let the terrified beasts bolt straight into Hydra's lines. Noelle used her silver spear to pole-vault over two beasts and speared a man through the face as she landed. She left the soldiers and their weapons to Sam's team and climbed up onto the cart as the other Leader descended, firing red beams of light in all directions.

"Hold!" he called out. The last of the Hydra agents were fleeing into the trees, abandoning their post. Lupe, Miguel, and Danvers watched them run and waited, listening, "Amadeus, this is starting to feel a bit trap-ie. Figure out what the hell that weapon does and deactivate it. Noelle, get it ready for transport." Sam tapped his comms, "JARVIS, get the transport suits to our position fast. I don't want to be here when the shoe drops."

"The suits have been recalled to Avengers Tower, they will be unavailable for some time," JARVIS chimed.

"WHAT?!" Sam was furious, "JARVIS, who recalled the suits?!"

"I do not know sir, an executive order has been issued."

"WE'RE DEAD IN THE WATER WITHOUT THOSE SUITS! GET THEM BACK HERE NOW!" Sam was beginning to hear a suspiciously rhythmic thud. Lupe changed her form to something slightly larger- a jaguar. Miguel readied his lightning-form, but remained human to listen.

"We're surrounded," Carol kept her voice low and watched the trees, "At least three hundred men in full tactical gear.

Sam swore and hit his comms, "Steve, the Hydra weapon- it was a trap. We need extraction now!"

"What about your suits?"

"Some jackass called them back! You had better be under attack…"

Steve sounded perplexed, "We aren't. I'll have Tony look into it. Meanwhile I'll have Geoff start ferrying your team out-"

Hydra erupted from the trees at once and opened fire. Sam immediately began to corkscrew, flinging bolts out randomly in all directions. Miguel ran laps around Noelle and Amadeus- they were the least bullet proof easily. Lupe and Carol met the horde head-on, "WE DON'T HAVE TIME! HAVE INESSA PULL US BACK!"

"That isn't an option!"

"THEN WE'RE ALL DEAD!"

Noelle's voice joined in on the call, "I've got the bolts undone but Amadeus doesn't have time to work through this thing's OS- let Inessa loose and I can carry it through to the Tower!"

"DO YOU PEOPLE NOT GET 'SUSPENDED'?!"

"DO YOU NOT GET 'DEAD'?!" Sam was pissed (and dizzy as hell).

Steve swore in very colorful 1940s language and the comms clicked off, "You don't think Steve would let us all die here just because he's mad at Inessa, right?" Amadeus tried to make light of the situation. He'd brought his hacking gear. While he was excellent in hand-on-hand combat, hand-on-bullet was a bit more than he could handle.

A bullet pinged off the weapon's casing right next to Noelle's head. Lupe took two shots in the arm as she ripped off the arm of a Hydra soldier, "LET US HOPE NOT!"

This isn't me, at some point the words flickered in her mind. They were barely more than the shadow of a dream, but that was what she needed at this point. A dream, a hope, a sliver of a prayer. Her mind was buried under the Shadow King, under Hydra and Marie and endless questions with no answers. The Shadow King was one player, but so far nothing but time and those Asgardian books tied him to Marie. As to who the little traitor was working for, Hydra was the only obvious answer, considering her brother's affiliations. Inessa knew they were linked, they had to be, but something nagged at her mind, told her they weren't the same side of a coin but two pieces in a much larger puzzle.

Sometimes, when the world overwhelmed her with what ifs and who-done-its, it helped to write out exactly what she knew. No suppositions, only the cold hard facts. 'Shadow King bad' and 'Marie traitor' weren't exactly inspiring any 'Eureka' moments as she stared down the index cards she'd taped to the wall. All she had was 'This isn't me' playing on a loop in her mind, like her subconscious was screaming at her. That or she'd finally found her way to the funny farm.

"Well, you look awful," Inessa jumped slightly and sent the picture frames she was half-buried under sliding. She was so focused she didn't hear the metal barriers slide up to admit Dr. Terrance Ward- Trauma- her shrink.

Dammit, "So did you come to bust me out or are you Steve's lackie?"

She didn't get up to greet her doctor. The walls of her living room were bare, the pictures pulled from the frames, and even with the little landslide she was still buried underneath them. Terrance adjusted his coal-black suit and closed the door behind him. Instantly the metal shield reappeared. He seemed unconcerned and slid down the wall to sit beside his patient. "That's fair. Someone he cares about is acting like a loon and spontaneously beating up Avengers, how dare he let her doctor know."

"This doesn't concern you. It's about-"

"I know what it's about. I got an earful of it from Steve and Sam on the ride over from Camp Hammond," his tone was always even, soft, and never harsh or unkind. It was why she was willing to meet with him six years ago. He was an honest man. He would never try to trick her or trap her.

"If you talked to them then you know this has nothing to do with Astana. No Astana, no shrink."

Terrance lightly jostled his patient, "Since when do we have that rule? The only rule we have is you see me every week, and I've been letting it slide for the last couple of months so you could focus on your work. Now, how do you know it's got nothing to do with Astana?"

"Ok, I'll play. How does this have anything to do with that place?"

Dr. Ward's eyes flashed and the sofa slowly began to morph and change. It turned into a large, clear plastic table complete with blood drains and a metal bar at the top to which leather cuffs were hooked. The pillows molded together to form a perfect copy of Inessa at sixteen- pale, bruised, bleeding from wounds too numerous to identify and most of all blank. Empty, void of life. The Inessa Hydra put into cryo.

"You don't see any similarities?" he twitched a finger and the image changed only slightly. The table turned to stone, the gutters flowed with blood, and yet the girl resting on it hardly looked different. Older, yes, but what were fresh wounds on the old Inessa were spirals of bloody runes on the new one. The similarity between the two was eerie, "Plus, you know, the rule of my powers is that I can only show you what you're afraid of, so I think it's fairly pointless to deny this is an Astana issue- at least in part."

"You've gotten better at controlling your powers," Inessa nodded approvingly, "no more students going postal and killing each other because of them I take it?" This isn't me. It was a cruel, evil shot and even through the annoyance and yes, anger, she felt a pang of guilt.

"Don't change the subject," Terrance shrugged off her jab and let the illusion shatter, returning the couch to its original form. "All of this is giving you some flashbacks, huh? I called Amadeus on his mission, he says you barely lead your team anymore."

"No he didn't."

"Is it true?"

"Yeah, but he wouldn't admit to it and give Steve more ammo. Did that jerk tell you he pulled a live gun on me? An armory full of icers and he chooses live rounds. Real supportive."

"I personally don't care," Inessa shot a glare at Trauma, "What? I don't. I don't care what's going on between you and Steve, the politics of it all. It's why I never became an Avenger. I only care about you right now. You're smart- probably the greatest strategic mind in the world and one of the greatest in the Realms too. I don't need to know that Steve is pointing guns at you, I only need to know why you put him in that position. Unfortunately, in this case, your fear might be to blame."

"Not fear, frustration. I know something huge is in play, I just don't know what. Marie is part of it, I know she is and Steve wouldn't even give me the chance to prove it. She must have gotten to him, to all of them."

Terrance shrugged, "Or they got to you. What's the better strategy- falsely pit all Avengers against one, or give them a flimsy decoy enemy?"

"Decoy enemy," her response was instantaneous.

"Not what I'd have chosen."

"You're a shrink, I'm an Avenger, trust me. They thought I was their enemy once before and they came after me so fast it was the Second Battle of New York before they realized Dennisson was the threat."

"Was it? All they were worried about was saving you, helping you. The Shadow was in direct opposition to that, Dennisson was just a byline. You were your own biggest enemy back then, perhaps the Shadow King's theft of your body isn't the only similarity between your first days with the Avengers and now?"

"You're not helping."

"I'm not trying to," Terrance pulled off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves, "or at least I haven't begun to yet." Again he waved his hand. This time it was the end-table that morphed into a tall man with lanky brown hair, dead blue eyes, and a metal arm, "I can summon his likeness, do you know what that means?"

"I'm still afraid of him," a tear rolled down Inessa's cheek as she looked up at the Winter Soldier. Her fear was no longer that of a child or of a victim, it was dread.

Terrance watched his patient closely to make sure she was still in control of herself. If he could create the image of his fears at least one of them would be treating Inessa. He could see everything that scared her laid out clearly, but there was no way for him to know what her greatest fears were and what her True Fear might be- the one that would make her lash out irrationally. That inability to sort what he saw was what cost one student at Camp Hammond his life (and why group therapy was now strictly powers-free). A girl like Inessa didn't have many fears- most were from Astana- but he tried showing her the Avengers dead once and all it seemed to do was make her stronger.

"You're turning your fear of Bucky Barnes into a roadblock to your own investigation. You struck a member of your own team over treason but then you threatened another who is only trying to help bring Bucky in to clear your name."

Inessa frowned and broke eye contact with the image of the Winter Soldier, "Bucky? Where did you get that from?"

"Are we pretending that's not here?" Terrance nodded to the mirage.

"That's not Bucky," Inessa rolled her eyes, "it's the Hollow Man. Bucky was a friend, a fellow prisoner in Astana who I cared about. He tried to help me escape, no matter how many times they tortured him away. The Hollow Man was my enemy. He's the person I'm scared of."

"You're afraid bringing Bucky back to the Avengers will bring the Hollow Man back?"

"Bucky left to kill our enemy. If he relapses- if we bring him back before he's ready- then the Winter Soldier will come back, and he'll only be stronger."

"I can see well enough to know you're not scared of his prophecy. Every other Avenger has Bucky's description echoing in their minds- but not you. Why do you think that is?"

Inessa actually laughed at that one, "The vision was sent to me. That means at some point after all of this happens I'm standing with Muhammad and he passes it back to me- probably. He wouldn't do that just to torture me all these years. He's warning me about something, giving me a chance to stop it from happening and that's what I'm trying to do right now!"

Terrance considered Inessa's words very carefully. He felt something strange in the air, something unnatural and not quite there. As her attitude turned more towards anger it appeared, "Don't take the Oracle's vision as a warning, take it as a clue. A sign of what will happen if you don't confront what's happening head-on, in a nonviolent way this time. It's showing you what will happen to you and the ones you love if you let yourself get buried under this vision."

"I hate to break it to you Trauma," she knew his hero name would irk him, "but that sounds a bit like a warning."

"Alone, this Tower burns, you lose everyone you love, and those that don't die will turn on you… But with James Barnes you find control again- your power and your footing. My recommendation is that you find Bucky now and just have a chat. Don't talk about the case, just catch up, find out where he is in his fight, and see if it doesn't bring back a piece of your mind."

"Ah, I think I'm getting it now," just as Terrance suspected, the angrier he made Inessa the stronger the sense of something else got, "I take it you ran this by Steve already and he's totally fine with me leaving to track down Bucky?!"

"So?"

"Since everyone else is so damned happy to forget that he told us to keep clear I guess I'll just have to be the one to keep him underground."

"Calm down Inessa," the fear in the room was doubling, tripling- but it wasn't coming from her. The images in Terrance's mind were disjointed and impossible to grab onto long enough to even pretend it was possible to manifest them. There was at least one other creature in the room, maybe more.

"Calm down?!" She stood up abruptly, cracking several picture frames as they fell onto one another, "Someone I trusted is using my own doctor to try and get me to do his dirty work. This is low, even for Steve. No wonder you didn't care about what's going on here- you're already on his side!"

Terrance scrambled to his feet and tried to clarify the images he was seeing. Knowing someone's fear was most of the battle towards identifying them, "I'm not on anyone's side!"

"BUCKY BARNES IS GONE AND I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP HIM SAFE FROM STEVE AND ALL THE REST OF THEM!"

Since it was the worst possible moment, Terrance was not at all surprised that Steve came over the house comms shouting, "INESSA, SAM'S TEAM NEEDS EXTRACTION IMMEDIATELY! AMADEUS AND NOELLE HAVE THE HYDRA WEAPON!"

"STEVE, DON'T! WE'RE NOT ALONE IN HERE!" Terrance shouted desperately, but the apartment's intercom wasn't what was broadcasting, it was Inessa's embedded comm.

"TURN OFF THE FUCKING SPEAKERS IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM ALIVE THEN, ASSHOLE!" Inessa called over Terrance. A second later the nearly imperceptible screech of the Anti-Nessa frequency cut out and Nadya exploded into the apartment, snarling. As angry as she was, as out of control as her rage had become, Inessa wasn't going to let her temper throw away the advantage of the Avengers using the wrong frequency against her. She gave up her secret- they knew she knew about Bucky's visions, that she'd had them too- but this was one trick she was keeping firmly up her sleeve.

Inessa reached out to the far side of the world, looked through the Valley at the distant pillars of white mist, and opened a door to let them through directly into her apartment (mostly so they wouldn't land in the middle of the silver lake she was fairly certain was poisonous). Inessa watched from the shadow of the trees as the group was surrounded and called out to them with a roar. Nadya dove through the portal to rip through the Hydra forces blocking their escape and Inessa held out her hand to show them the way.

Lupe and Miguel were first, then Noelle- half buried under the weight of the massive black box that was the Hydra weapon. Amadeus and Carol Danvers covered her escape with Sam, the only Leader, bringing up the rear. Nadya took out a handful of Hydra agents who attempted to follow into the portal and Inessa closed it with a snap- tossing Nadya back into the Valley in the process. The Wolves had a way of avoiding the silver lake, her friend was in no danger there.

Inessa turned back to her apartment and brought her eyes from the portal and the Valley. When she turned back to the rest of the group Sam was spinning around frantically, tapping on his comms. "Noelle? NOELLE, DO YOU COPY?!" Amadeus had his tablet out and was searching through frequencies for Noelle's comm already.

Santiago, Santos, Danvers, Amadeus, and Sam-

Noelle- and the weapon- were gone.

Chapter 24: New Alliances

#marvel #avengers #my writing

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