#I think there will be 5 total killers chosen-- but that Could change. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

child-of-the-danube · 3 years ago

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Can we please talk about Drag Race España? Cause I have so many emotions.

This season literally ticks all the boxes of what a great reality show is supposed to be while also keeping it healthy.

1. The Queens are all so loveable and talented and each has a unique expression and way of doing drag. All the classics were there: The young fashion queen, the experienced comedy queen, the drag differente queen, the wholesome supportive one, the social media famous one, an old Hollywood glamour pageant type queen etc, yet none of them felt overproduced to fit a category or like they were desperately trying to emulate the image of the US queens, not even Sagittaria who stated she started drag after going to Werq the World and whose name is directly inspired by a US queen (Aquaria). Also, come through 4 non binary queens and an Indigenous queen! We love to see the representation!!!!

2. They were all very "human", if that makes sense, without having to forcibly yank sob stories out of them. When they got emotional it was clear it was the queens' choice to speak on their emotions and not forced trauma porn.

Inti's moment of speaking about body dysmorphia and trans struggles, Killer taking about why she actively chose to always be kind, Pupi talking about how her coming out and doing drag affected her relationship to her family, Dovima letting down her guard, Carmen speaking about her parents, the letter from Hugaceo's brother... It all felt very genuine and important and I love that!

3. Shooketh moment: The judging was fair with maybe two small exceptions. And the judges gave valid constructive critique always followed by immense support and praise. There was no unnecessary bullshit or forcing people to change their signatures. They only asked Vulcano if she will always be on those platforms but it was part of a valid critique and not just the usual of "we've seen your signature now throw it away". In the acting challenge the Javis gave useful critique and advice, even throwing ad lib ideas for the queens in, Supremme tried to give Dovima some ideas when she blanked in the Puppet mini challenge, Ana gave Killer advice about making a better silhouette for herself and as the runways went by you could see Killer was improving, and so on.

That's how you make your contestants feel comfortable and validated. Even Inti who had a somewhat dramatic exit seems to still be very grateful and close to the judges.

The judges were enjoying everything to the maximum. There's so many shots of the Javis and Ana fangirling, all of them hyping up the queens during the lipsyncs, Supremme dancing to the lipsyncs, all of them dying of laughter or crying when things got emotional. They're all so precious!!

And don't even get me started on the guest judges:

Bad Gyal, Paca la Piraña, Alaska, ENVY PERU! Legends!!!

Please invite more winners to the judging panel!!

4. THAT'S HOW YOU ACT AS A HOST!!! Roople take fucking notes. Supremme was so entertaining, loving, kind and supportive. It is so clear she loves both drag in general and the girls so much. Hell, how many times did she cry or almost cry in the span of these 9 episodes? I already said that, but you know damn well Ru would not have handled a situation like the one with Inti with such grace and kindness. He wouldn't even enter the werk room to check on someone if that happened on a season he hosted. Same with Dovima. In a US season they would have made it as if Dovima was ungrateful and a quitter. Here they tried to encourage her to fight and listened to her reasons without shitting on her afterwards.

The final talk with the queens was lovely as well. She didn't try and spit out some spiritual guru bullshit. She let the queens talk and gave advice and support when it was called for. She made it about them and not her.

There was no anger or rudeness or unnecessary harshness towards anyone. Supremme was nothing but kind and supportive to all of them. Her energy and smile are so infectious - a total class act!

5. The rightful winner was chosen. Congratulations Carmen Farala!!!! She also managed to do something everyone is unsuccessfully trying to emulate since Sasha did it with the rose petals - she pulled an unexpected reveal that was relevant and fitting for the song with her wet wig making it impactful. And the fact that she never watched drag race before doing it herself and ended up winning?? That's some proper legend shit. So well deserved!!

And I think a big part of why we ended up with the rightful winner is that DR España didn't adopt the lipsync for the crown format and stuck to the finale format of earlier seasons.

(Small rant and that's just my opinion, nothing more: the lipsync for the crown format invalidates the purpose of the rest of the season as it makes all 4 finalists, who never have the same trajectory and track record, go basically to 0 again. It's circumstantial and not just in the way that someone who happens to be a better lipsyncer with a less fantastic track record will beat someone with a way better performance throughout the show who isn't as good a lipsyncer as them. Sometimes that doesn't even matter and it comes down to song choice. To me, that format makes the rest of the season unnecessary. If it just comes down to the circumstances of lipsyncing, then they might as well just randomly pick 4 queens, shoot just the lipsyncs and call it a day.)

This season entered the holy company of s6, all stars 2 and UK s1 as one of the best seasons of the franchise to ever exist!!

#drag race espana #drag race spain #I tried but I truly cant express just how much I love this season #congratulations to Spain's first drag race superstar miss Carmen Farala #so well deserved #carmen farala #sagittaria #killer queen #pupi poisson #dovima nurmi #hugaceo crujiente #arantxa castilla la mancha #inti #drag vulcano #the macarena #supremme de luxe #ana locking #javier ambrossi #javier calvo

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jazzypizzaz · 3 years ago

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for the book ask: 3, 12, and 25?

3 - top five books this year

My Favorite Thing is Monsters - I bought this purely because the illustrations looked neat, only to discover it's about a baby gay girl who aspires to be a monster, investigating a neighbor's murder in 1960's Chicago??? wtf it's so so good. top graphic novel.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures -- really fuckin cool stuff about mushrooms. also I'm obsessed with the author's voice (he narrates the audiobook), peculiar & sultry, just like fungus.

Falling in Love with Hominids and Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson -- two collections of short stories by Afro-Caribbean author, a focus on myth, folklore, fantasy, bodies, being.

Rosewater Redemption -- conclusion to the trilogy, future Nigeria with aliens, psychics, space fungus, weirdness, fantastic characters & clever dialogue, great audiobook narrator, all around wonderful.

honestly hmmm.......... yeah I'll count my reread of Terra Ignota series here (especially The Will to Battle). they excite me as much the second time around as the first. totally bonkers futuristic / historical world-building, philosophy that in turn fascinates bewilders infuriates, strange characters that I'm not sure if are incredibly human or bizarro caricatures, just like nothing I've ever read before. somehow crams tons of exposition along with breakneck plot revelations.

12 - books that disappointed me

idk if it was the headspace I've been in, or I just picked a bunch of duds, but it's way harder to find 5 books I want to claim as favorites of the year than list books I was disappointed by... plenty that were enjoyable enough but I expected so much better from.

"Book of Koli" I think I felt most betrayed by. the summary said dystopia with killer plants and yet?? the killer plants were almost entirely secondary?? it coulda been any vague boogeyman that destroyed society. anyway lazy uninspiring world-building all around imo.

"Red Rising" I didn't expect much from and boy did it deliver. garden variety sexist Hunger Games / Lord of the Flies ripoff with a chosen one narrative and boyyy did this stink. this book was not written for me at all.

"Axiom's End" I like Lindsay Ellis' videos, but her book was... mediocre. like it was perfectly fine, but am I going to read the sequel? ehhh.

"Afro Puffs Are the Antennae of the Universe" -- I WANTED TO LIKE THIS BOOK SO BAD!!! fun, fresh, absurd adventure with badass anti-capitalist women / queer people found family on a spaceship, totally ridiculous world elements like PSYCHIC OCTOPUS and champagne-loving elves who live under the Sahara desert; literally everything I could love!!!! and yet!!! I could not get invested at all. :-( :-(

more I could list but is anyone still reading this post idk shhhh ramble ramble

25 -- answered

#meme #books

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yandere-ac · 4 years ago

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Can we get more of the villager reader x yandere human villagers? I was wondering if you could do a yandere human Lucky x villager reader?

Yandere Human Lucky X Villager Reader

Not so lucky

Silence. Silence. Silence. That was all your ever heard most of the time, how everyone in you predicament heard most of the time. But make no mistake, that wasn’t a bad thing. When there’s silence, no ones there to hurt you, no ones there to take you away. So a silent day was better than a day with noice down here. Today however, was not one of those days. The faint sound of footsteps and a conversation was getting closer and closer to you and your friends position, which only made everyone more and more tense. The silence was interrupted by one big creaking metal door opening and the owner, Maxie turning on the lights. Everyone covered their eyes instinctively as they winced at the sudden change of setting. The lights flickered for a few seconds before returning to normal. “So who will it be? Do you have any specific villager that you want or are you just browsing?” Maxie asked the current customer as they both walked around the “store”. The store being full of big metal cages where a bunch of villagers were trapped. One of those villagers, being you. Y/N the A/T. You were a bit away from the two men, lying in the corner of your cage, you’ve been here for such a long time now that you knew how to get around. Key point is to not interact or make eye contact at ALL. You pitied the people in here who were amongst some of the most popular villagers in the community. They were always the first ones to go. You however, you were just a simple A/T. You had some fans but nothing too big. As such, not a lot of people came to specifically look for you. and still, there were always the people who had their niche interests. After five years here, you were actually gonna be sold off. Tomorrow you would leave this retched place forever, and it terrified you. With the new internet service, people didn’t have to come to the store if they wanted a villager, but they would most likely be charged more. Right now you felt helpless, you were doing so well keeping out of interest but it seems like your efforts were doomed to fail.

“Well, right now I’m searching for Maya the Cat? You know the one?” The customer asked. Poor cat. Maya had been in here many times before. Every time someone bought her, Maxies goons would already have found a new copy of her somewhere. In fact she was currently in the cage next to you. Looking over at her, you could see that she tensed up as she heard this. You normally didn’t do this, I mean, your rule was to ignore everything and everyone during the payments. But something about how she looked, you had seen it a bunch of times, like you said, you’ve been here for such a long time. You’ve seen people come and go, but one thing was for sure. Every time they were chosen, they’d have the same horrid expression on their face. And you felt bad every time you saw it. Maya was currently curled up in a corner of her cage. It was the corner that was directly next to your cage. So, without a word. You simply crawled over to that side of the cage and tapped lightly on the metal bars, gaining her attention. Losing her was gonna hurt since you two had become so close. Rule number two you had was to not interact with any of your fellow prisoners. Attachment will only lead to pain when they’re eventually bought. But it wasn’t your fault that Maya had started to talk with you. She was your cage neighbour after all, and after a while you just couldn’t ignore her anymore. And while it was risky to interact with the person that was gonna be sold off, it didn’t exactly matter to you. You were already gonna be shipped off, it wasn’t like things could get any worse.

You grabbed her tiny paw and she quickly took ahold of it with both of her paws. She was squeezing them tightly as the sounds of footsteps approached you two. Now you broke your second part of your rule: don’t make eye contact. You looked over at the two and almost let out a yelp. The man standing next to Maxie...he was wearing layers above layers of bandages on his face. The only part of his face that you could see was his ears sticking out of the bandage and the top left part of his face which was not wrapped up. The only thing you could see was his eye. And my god what a captivating one. His eye was very round and was yellow. And he was currently staring you down with such wonder and intensity that it actually made you tense up and shrink down under his gaze.

“So yes, here we have her! She’s in popular demand so you better act quick mr...?” As Maxie said this you could feel Mayas grip getting tighter. “Lucky. Mr Lucky. How many tickets?” The man In front of you asked to which Maxie let out a laugh. “Nonono, we don’t take tickets.” “Oh? How many bells then?” “We take real money. She costs 200 dollars.” As Maxie said this you could see the mans eye narrowing. “And there’s no way I can get a lower price?” “A lower price?! What do I look like to you!? If you’re not gonna pay then get lost!” The customer, Lucky, walked closer to Maxie, rummaging around his pocket. “I see...what about them? Y/N? How much do they cost?” As he said this you felt your hand start to shake slightly. How did he know your name? Was he...was he a fan? Maxie wouldn’t sell you to this guy...would he? “Sorry pal, they’ve already been bought. Now quit trying to change the subject! Are you gonna pay or- HOUGH!!!” The air became as ice once Maxie stumbled backwards, a knife stuck in his chest and a huge blood stain pouring out of it. He looked at it in shock and could barley notice as Lucky walked up to him and pulled the knife out of his chest. Blood started to pour everywhere as Maxie let out screams of pain. You froze up, looking petrified as the brutal scene was unfurling before you. Eventually, Lucky took his knife and drew it through Maxies skull, striking the final blow, killing him In an instant. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, staring at the corpse that used to be your seller. You couldn’t say he didn’t have it coming but still, it was weird and scary to see someone who had been moving less than 10 seconds ago now lying on the floor. Dead. And the fact that you were in the room with the killer didn’t make it any better. Speaking of which, Lucky started to prod around the body, checking his pockets until he could feel something. He pulled it out from Maxies pocket, it was a key. The key to all the cages. Oh no.

The first thing he did was go over to your cell and open up the door. You let go of Mayas hand and hastily crawled back to the end of the cage. Not like it did much because Lucky followed after and dragged you out if the cage. You began to thrash around and struggle but he held you tightly against his body with his strong arms. But that didn’t stop you though. In fact the more he held you, the harder your struggling got. It escalated so much that he had to push you up against the prison bars, holding you completely still by the shoulders. “If I released all your friends, wound you come with me then?” ...what? This utterly shocked you. Would he really? “...what’s the catch...” you looked at him, your voice seemed to catch him off guard for some reason, however he regained his stance quickly. “Like I said, you’ll have to come with me. Willingly. And rest assure. If I let them go and you run, I will kill them all...what’ll it be?” Hmm, you would basically throw your life away...you didn’t know what this person would do to you. If he could kill Maxie, he could kill you. But either way, you’d either end up dead or alive. You might as well be useful to the others in the process. “I’ll do it...just, please promise...” After you said this, Lucky walked over to Mayas cell and tossed the keys inside. “Unlock your door and then everyone else’s okay? But do it 5 minutes after we’ve left.” Lucky said, or well it was more of a demand. Maya quickly nodded her head in fear as she grasped the keys with her frail hands. Lucky looked down at you.

“Let’s go”

And so, he grabbed your hand in his big one and walked out. You never took your eyes off of him while he led you away. Now that you were out of the store you could truly see what he looked like. He had a couple of black curls sticking out from under his bandages. His skin was a darker shade and his clothing. His clothing was special. His entire torso and up was wrapped in bandages, he was wearing a brown puffy jacket and some matching pants. But he had no shirt, just the bandages protecting his body. He took notice of your curiosity and pulled you closer to him. “I think you and I are gonna become close...” as he said this he stopped in front of a boat. He helped you board it before going up himself.

“Very close...”

////////////////////

So last time I focused on the humans taking advantage of their positions to have control over the villager reader. This time I wanted to focus on the buying of villagers (not trading, no I mean those sites where you can totally buy Raymond and Ahnka for $20! It’s not a scam what are you talking about?).

#acnh #animal crossing #yandere #yandere animal crossing #yandere acnh #animal crossing x reader #ac x reader #ac #lucky animal crossing #yandere lucky #yandere lucky x reader #tw yandere #tw bandages #tw dehumanisation

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crescendonot · 4 years ago

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“ i get no answers, so the question still remains - am i ever gonna see your face again ? “

introducing dali stratford as crescendo !

gday everyone !!! just a little about myself first and foremost, my name’s vic, i’m a 19 year old soon-to-be journalism student, and i’m from australia - now onto the important stuff ! this is miss dali stratford aka crescendo - here’s a couple real quick links to her full app / isolated full bio which i’ll be doing my best to summarise, and also her playlist and pinterest - now, let’s get going !

QUICK STATS !

full name: dali eleanor stratford known as: dali gender & pronouns: cis female & she/her orientation: bisexual biromantic date of birth: april 18, 1984 age: twenty-two hometown: los angeles, california status: deceased

HISTORY !

dali was born the first and only unplanned daughter of jodie stratford, an aspiring costume designer who’d moved to los angeles from middlesbrough against her parents wishes in order to follow her dream. unable to contact her possible father, she decided to raise her alone in the tiny apartment she managed to make into a home.

even though she wasn’t conventionally ‘popular’ in school, she managed to get along with most of the other students, and spent most of her classes just talking to her classmates instead of working - mainly because she genuinely couldn’t do the work. she struggled with reading and writing since day one, but her teachers just sort of wrote her off as a disruption instead of trying to help her out - the root cause was visual dyslexia, but she never got diagnosed.

jodie, instead of forcing her to keep going with work that obviously frustrated and upset her at home, allowed her to relax and focus on her passions - one of which was the music that she’d been raised on. when the rolling stones came through california with the voodoo lounge tour, she managed to scrounge together enough money for them to get tickets, and it ended up being the hands-down best night of her ten-year-old life. october 19, 1994 - the night that she decided that one day, she’d be a musician.

her elementary school hadn’t had the funding needed for music classes, but her middle school did, and for the first time, dali was actually passionate about what she was learning. after experimenting a bit with each instrument, she finally settled on the electric guitar, and even though she couldn’t go off sheet music like everyone else, she dedicated all of her focus to memorising notes and chords through muscle memory. her mother bought her a second-hand guitar ( a 1972 competition fender mustang, orange ) for her eleventh birthday, and literally every spare moment dali had was spent practicing and memorising.

on the night of her first proper performance, doing guitar and backing vocal for her music class group’s rendition of footloose for her school showcase, one of their lead singers dropped out last minute, and so her teacher asked her to fill in. without really thinking, she said yes - and the experience was incredible. before then, she’d only wanted to play music, but from then on, she knew that she would.

forming a band was her biggest priority when she got to highschool - cadenza was an obvious choice, but it took a bit longer for her to properly ask ritenuto to join up. when they got to rehearsing, though, she knew her hesitation had been utterly unwarranted - killer conclusions, she knew for sure, was going to make it big. they were perfect.

she didn’t end up graduating with high enough grades to go to college, but it wasn’t as if she’d been planning on going, so it really wasn’t that big a deal - afterall, it left her with plenty of free time to work, both for money ( having a position as a cleaner at a local stadium ) and on music for the band. when she, cadenza, and ritenuto decided to move into their own place, leaving jodie behind was heartbreaking, and on her final night in their apartment she silently vowed that to make up for all she’d done for her, she’d buy her mother her own house as soon as the band got big.

the next few years of her life were solely dedicated to working, so when they finally got a call from someone at atlas, it was starting to feel like everything was paying off. the gig at club 2000 was more like a tech rehearsal than anything else, so when it went off perfectly, she came out of it feeling as if nothing could go wrong.

and then it did.

coming back felt like stepping onto a final stair that isn’t really there. it was a terrifying experience, but once she got past the shock, dali was just angry. angry at the other driver, sure, but mostly, she was angry at herself for not just sabotaging her future, but getting her two best friends killed. right now, she’s really struggling to move past the fact she’d dead, and is still harbouring a lot of that guilt and anger - moving on isn’t much of a priority, not yet, not until she can somehow make things right.

HEADCANONS !

dali was named after salvador dalí, but if she hadn’t been born a girl, jodie would’ve named her casper, a name that she’d loved since she was a kid - this would have been able to add a slightly ironic note of humour to the whole being-a-ghost situation, but tragically, chance doesn’t care for comedy.

she’d always wanted to get plenty of tattoos, but she ended up dying with just the one - an angry-looking gamecock rooster on the back of her left shoulder, designed by her mother and chosen in honour of her childhood nickname, ‘chook’.

bill & ted’s excellent adventure is the first movie she remembers going to see at a cinema, and it’s still her favourite to this day, though it’s closely followed by baz luhrmann’s romeo + juliet, which also served as her bi awakening.

though she probably could have upgraded at some point, the only guitar she’s ever happily called her own is her old orange fender mustang.

born on the 18th of april, 1984, dali’s an aries sun, sagittarius moon, scorpio rising.

when she first decided she wanted to be part of a band when she was a kid, she was absolutely set on the name ‘the billy goats gruff’, and though she did eventually change her mind, one of her favourite jackets did have an angry-looking goat patch on it in honour of what could have been.

jodie had a policy of total honesty while raising her daughter, so dali grew to be a very honest person - occasionally, brutally so. because of this, she never really had a need to hide her feelings, either from others or herself, so with only a minute few exceptions, she’s pretty no holds barred about how she’s feeling. though her honesty can make her very harsh at times, it also gives her a certain earnesty when she says how much she loves those around her.

when she was alive, dali was a genuinely good cook - she’d often have to make dinner for herself and her mother since jodie would work pretty late a lot of the time, and i like to think she would’ve cooked for the band when they got their own place.

tall queen at 5′10″

big on the warm colours - reds, oranges, yellows, give her all of it. in terms of her fashion in general, she’s pretty much incapable of going monochrome, and always liked to spice things like her jackets up with a decent few patches.

she doesn’t know who her father is, but with jodie being the incredible mother she was, she never really felt like she was missing anything. as of yet, she hasn’t been able to try and find out what happened to her mother.

dali’s favourite genre is, obviously, rock, with some of her favourite bands being ac/dc, squeeze, the rolling stones, and queen ( to name a few ) but she’s not opposed to a bit of pop - abba holds a special place in her heart, and if she’d lived four more years she would’ve been a huge fan of mika when he took off in 2009.

she’s always been a huge people person - whenever the band performed, she was literally incapable of not bantering with the audience at least a tiny bit.

#♫ / crescendo — about !#phqs.intro #tw death #THIS IS SO WORDY whoops im so sorry i just love my girl !!#proofread a few times but sorry if i missed any misspellings/grammar fuckups #anyway the main point im trying to get across is stan jodie stratford <333

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megalony · 5 years ago

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Fatal attraction- Part 5

Here is the next part in my Royal! Ben Hardy series (two updates in one day!) I hope you will all like it.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogermeddow @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @rogahs-drowse @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @peterquillzsblog

Series taglist: @joseph-mozzerella @pippin248 @ellathefriendlyalpacaaa

Series masterlist

Summary: Ben and (Y/n) are in an arranged marriage to form an alliance and they both want to make this marriage work. But when they have to get to know each other and there is a power play in their marriage, things aren’t going to be easy.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How are things going with you two?" Those words were supposed to be kind and interested and thoughtful, they were supposed to be a door opening a conversation that was meant to bring a smile or even a blush to (Y/n)'s face. It was meant to make her think of her husband and the new life she had for herself here and make her feel feelings of joy and excitement and anxiety and everything in between.

But the words didn't have the desired effect on (Y/n).

(Y/n) knew her mother's tone was kind and she knew the words were not ill-mannered or forceful for an answer. But the words formed such a patronising ideal in (Y/n)'s mind, they felt so abrasive and pushy to try and grasp the answer from (Y/n) that she wanted. (Y/n) felt that if she dared give an answer that her mother would not be pleased with, she would leave then and there or she would change (Y/n)'s words into what she wanted to hear. She knew her mother, (Y/n) knew that was not going to happen, but she couldn't help but become irritated as if it was exactly how this conversation was going to go.

Her mother had always been kind and relatively understanding of what (Y/n) was thinking or feeling. She didn't dismiss anything (Y/n) felt or pushed her too far to the point of no return, but she wasn't always as understanding as (Y/n) wanted her to be.

(Y/n) wasn't foolish, she knew her mother wasn't asking just out of curiosity or to check that (Y/n) was actually happy here with Ben. She was asking because this wasn't a marriage out of love, it was like a business transaction her parents had created, they were checking their investment. They were making sure (Y/n) was content and getting along with Ben because if not then they had a problem. (Y/n) was only with Ben to keep the peace and that had to be upheld.

"Things are fine, mother. We're getting along really well." (Y/n) tried to keep her smile going and stop herself from sighing or from distancing and falling into a daydream. Whenever she went silent or started to drift, it was clear there was something wrong or something pressing on her mind and she couldn't have her mother getting that impression.

Her mother couldn't know that things for (Y/n) were not in fact fine. Her mother couldn't find out that (Y/n) had suffered a miscarriage because there would be more disappointment than pain for her daughter and (Y/n) wasn't dealing with that. She wasn't having her mother try to baby her or soothe or her tell her that she could 'try again soon'. (Y/n) was trying to process this on her own and in times of need, her mother simply was not the person that she went to for help or advice.

But (Y/n) and Ben were actually getting along which would be a surprise for everyone. (Y/n) married him expecting the marriage to be a burden and him to be an annoyance with control issues. She thought she would have to keep rebelling against Ben to show she wouldn't back down under his control, she thought they would be total opposites and unwilling to see reason with each other, when in fact it had been the other way around.

Ben had been nothing but understanding when it came to the power play in their relationship and he tried not to bring it up or let it happen. They seemed to like the same style of music and read the same books, Ben had a different sense of humour but that was a good thing. They really were beginning to get along and feel comfortable with each other. (Y/n) was relieved that her parents had chosen Ben rather than anyone else, and she was rather happy because Ben seemed like the kind of person she would want to date and even marry. Her parents had rid her of the hassle of trying to find someone to be in a relationship with, even if it wasn't exactly ideal to marry him first before getting to know him.

"Oh, that is good news. And after all that complaining about not wanting to marry him-"

"I never said I was happy I married him. Maybe I would have chosen to marry him at some point, but I would have preferred to get to know him first and judge for myself." (Y/n) knew she was starting to feel something for Ben and that was unreal for her since she was so sure she would never love anyone she was forced to marry. But (Y/n) still believed marrying him first without knowing him was wrong.

(Y/n) would have wanted to marry Ben on her own terms, she wanted to know him first and fall for him and then marry him, to do things in the right way that would have made her more comfortable and happy. She knew marriage was no big deal to Ben, it was a certificate he didn't care about and that was okay because it was his opinion. But (Y/n) was sure he would have liked to know (Y/n) first before making this commitment if he had the chance.

"Well you're married now and you're happy, that's all that matters. How are you liking it here, then?" Margret moved her hand to indicate to the palace and the general country (Y/n) was now calling her home.

"I think I prefer it here."

(Y/n) cast her eyes around as she moved her hand to pat her mother's hand since their arms were linked together as they took a slow walk around one of the many gardens of the palace. It felt much calmer and easier to walk the gardens because there were no people about to listen in or gawp or try and follow them. They could be alone in the gardens, the gardens were the one place (Y/n) went without having to have a guard following for her 'protection.'

(Y/n) didn't just mean the country though. She didn't really see much of this new country because she didn't go out very far, only to events or occasions or sometimes a ride out with Ben. And the palace was just another upscale home that was almost the same as her own childhood home, simply with a different layout and surrounding.

It didn't feel like (Y/n) had moved over seas to a different country into a new place to call home. But she liked it. (Y/n) liked walking around and feeling like she was no longer a child, but just her own woman, it felt invigorating and new and gave her a sense of freedom. (Y/n) liked waking up and going to sleep with someone by her side and sharing a room with Ben felt better than she thought it would. (Y/n) loved this new feeling that being here and being married gave her and deep down she knew she wouldn't go back to how it was before.

"I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel, I was worried for you when you seemed so against marrying him and coming here."

Yet again, (Y/n) swallowed down the negativity dwelling in her mind about her mother's words that sounded inaccurate to her ears. She was so desperate to bite back about how she knew her mother was really just worried that (Y/n) would rebel and walk away from the marriage and that she wouldn't settle quietly and be obedient like they wanted and needed her to be for this alliance. Her mother knew how unhappy she had been about the marriage but she let it go ahead anyway, that was something (Y/n) was never going to get over, despite how she may be happy with Ben now.

A big step and choice in her life was taken from her because her parents thought an alliance was more important than her decisions about her own life.

Saying nothing in response, (Y/n) forced her smile to stay on her lips as they walked in silence for a few minutes, admiring the flowers that were just beginning to blossom.

"So... when can I expect a grandchild?" This time, her mother's tone did sound more sweet and genuine rather than sounding like she was making sure business was running smoothly. But her words couldn't have come at a worse time for (Y/n) and they cut right through to (Y/n)'s nerves. If she'd of asked (Y/n) that question two weeks ago, it would have fuelled (Y/n) with nerves of excitement and anticipation and she would have given her mother the answer she was craving for. But she didn't ask two weeks ago, she asked today when the answer was not a happy one for any of them.

"You can't." (Y/n) tried not to snap, she tried to sound careful and calm but there was no way to keep the bitter tone out of her voice.

"What, why not?"

(Y/n) tried to carry on walking but her mother pulled on her arm to stop her so they could talk properly. She turned (Y/n) so they were facing one another but (Y/n) couldn't keep her eyes on her mother for more than a second. She didn't want to see her mother's confusion or pain or irritation and heartache at being told she couldn't have something she was wagering on and wanted badly.

"Mother... please, try and understand. We haven't been married long, I'm only just getting to know him, I don't want a baby right now. I'd rather know him first, I'm just not ready."

(Y/n) had changed her mind. If things had gone very differently last week then (Y/n) would be fine with the thought of having a baby even though things with Ben were still in the early stages. But right now, there was no baby and (Y/n) didn't want to lose another. Maybe a baby would have been a good thing, maybe it would have changed things or made them better between (Y/n) and Ben, she couldn't be sure. But with no baby right now, (Y/n) felt that maybe she could get to know Ben more and feel closer- and maybe more attached, to him and then decide to try again.

All (Y/n) knew for sure was that she was not going through that again.

"Oh honey, having a baby will bring you closer, do you think me and your father were in love when we had you? It's a wonderful experience and you have to give Ben an heir-"

"It's not a wonderful experience and I don't have to give Ben anything." (Y/n) could feel her body beginning to shake as her eyes widened and lit up with a fierce flame burning brightly in her pupils. From what (Y/n) had felt for the past two weeks she could say with certainty that it had not been a wonderful experience, far from it. The experience had been painful and horrific and (Y/n) was not willing to contemplate trying again if it was going to end like with her sitting on the bathroom floor in blood and agony.

When she fainted the next day she had been so scared when she came back around because she thought Ben would have called the doctor and her secret wouldn't have been hers to keep anymore. And Ben had contemplated calling the doctor because he knew she didn't look well, it had taken a lot of persuasion to tell him she was okay and just felt run down. (Y/n) didn't want to try again for a baby right now because if last time got repeated again, she couldn't handle the anxiety and the pain it would bring her.

(Y/n) owed Ben nothing and she had no obligation to give him anything, he may be the King but he was not in control of (Y/n) or in ownership of her. His power didn't extend to (Y/n) and she was going to keep it that way. If (Y/n) decided she never wanted to have a child then Ben would have to deal with that or marry someone else. It was (Y/n)'s choice whether she put her body through that and she would decide when she wanted to do that to her body. Her mother was not going to dictate this for (Y/n), nor was Ben's mother or even Ben himself.

An heir to the throne didn't mean everything, Ben still had extended family who could have the throne when he passed away, it wasn't as if Ben was the only Royal left in the country and they were desperate for the bloodline to carry on.

"You may decide when and who I marry, but it is my choice when I have a child and right now, I am not having one. We don't have to have a child right now, we have years to have a baby and I want to wait. An heir isn't the only thing I am here for, you know."

(Y/n) was more than a simple machine here to bring peace and produce an heir and the sooner people realised that, the better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turning her head to the right, (Y/n) let her eyes lock with Ben's which were focused on her with an amused expression glimmering on his face. He had his fork twisting and gliding between his fingers on his right hand like it was a baton and his body was hunched over towards the left next to (Y/n). His left hand was curled up into a fist that was pressing against his mouth like he was posing or feigning interest but (Y/n) could see the smile hiding behind his hand. He was uninterested and it showed, to (Y/n) at least.

(Y/n) so desired to slouch in her seat or throw her head back like she had witnessed other people doing, but she knew it would do no good. Her mother would throw a fit and her father would just look at her in a very displeasing manner that would make her feel guilty.

She thought breakfast and dinners with just her, Ben and his mother were awkward, but sitting here with Ben, his mother and both her parents was more unsettling than (Y/n) ever thought it would be. The conversation was dull and dreary, just like Ben was used to in many of his meetings, and he held the ability to feign interest and smile and nod like clockwork. But (Y/n) couldn't help but let her mind drift.

She knew deep down that if she was still pregnant right now, the atmosphere would be lifted through the roof, the conversation would be light and happy and interesting and the night would be one she could look back on with a smile. But (Y/n) wasn't pregnant and the night wasn't one she would look back on with fondness. It felt like losing the baby had ruined more than just (Y/n)'s mental state and happiness.

Reaching her hand out, (Y/n) grabbed the wine glass resting on the right side of her plate and brought the rather thick glass rim to her lips. Wine was never something (Y/n) took an interest in excessively, most of the wine she had tasted was too bitter or had a sharp tang to that left a horrible taste in her mouth. But the one tonight was more easy to chug down like a glass of water and (Y/n) needed something to elate her spirits and stop her from falling asleep out of boredom.

Just as she finished off the rest of the wine in her glass, (Y/n) locked eyes with her mother sitting across the table from her. She knew that look in her mother's eye, it was a look that showed she was trying to either win an argument or encourage something. It was a look (Y/n) never liked witnessing.

"We had a lovely walk around the gardens today, didn't we? And whilst we were walking, we started discussing the possibility of children-"

"Mother-" There was a warning tone to (Y/n)'s rather stern voice but either no one noticed or they all decided to overlook the warning she was giving as she set down her glass before she held it so tightly that it smashed into fragments.

"Can we expect any children soon?" Ben's mother chipped in with a smile that was taunting (Y/n), goading her and begging her to spark a fight. She didn't mean to upset (Y/n), it was clear but her eagerness was sparking the rage inside of (Y/n). They didn't need to have a child this year or right this moment, both (Y/n) and Ben were in their early twenties, they could wait ten years before they even considered having children. It didn't have to be today and (Y/n) wished it wasn't such a subject that was expected and pushed to the limits like this.

"I don't think-" (Y/n) began to breathe quicker through her words that were falling on deaf ears that were tuned out to her opinion as if it meant nothing.

"I'm sure we can, soon enough, there's no reason why not." (Y/n)'s mother's smile was an encouraging one as if she was simply starting up a conversation that (Y/n) herself was too afraid to approach. It was as if she had given (Y/n) the courage she needed and was now letting her take the stage, but she had started a conversation (Y/n) had been dreading and it was one she did not need right now.

Turning her head, (Y/n) cast her eyes over to Ben once again with a pleading look in her eyes but as much as Ben clearly seemed out of his comfort zone, he didn't understand (Y/n)'s silent message, and why would he? But he still let the conversation go ahead without even trying to butt in or make it stop.

"Stop it!" (Y/n)'s voice was not overlooked this time when her words were spoken very loudly to cut off her mother's drawling voice and her tone was replaced from fearful to one of pure rage. All eyes around the table fell to (Y/n) as her breathing picked up until it was reaching the ceiling.

Reaching over, Ben tried to take (Y/n)'s hand in his own, wanting to give her some kind of comfort and try to calm her down but her hand pulled away before he could barely touch her.

"You don't have the right to sit here and overlook my opinion as if it means nothing. I specifically told you this morning not to bring this up but here you all are, thinking you know what's best for me. Next time you can ask me for the answer to your question instead of making the answer up for me." Scraping her chair back against the wooden floor, (Y/n) pushed herself to her feet and once again batted Ben's hand away when he reached out for her.

"(Y/n), honey-"

"You pushed this marriage onto me, you took that decision away from me but you won't force a child onto me. I gave you this alliance just like you asked, there is nothing else I'm willing to do for you. Have a safe journey back home, you can leave in the morning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dare I ask what that was all about with your mother?" Ben tried to be cautious with approaching the subject because it was clear at dinner tonight that something had been said or some kind of argument had taken place between (Y/n) and her mother. He didn't want to overstep his mark but he did want to be kept in the loop and understand what was happening.

"Can't you see what it was about? She's trying to rule my life and decide for me when I should have a child, but this is my decision and I won't have it taken away from me." (Y/n) pushed open the door to their room like she was barging through a barrier in her way and the moment she entered the room, she started to undress to the point she was almost ripping the clothes to get them off.

Her anger was visible in both her words and her actions and Ben didn't want to provoke her but he also didn't want to let the subject go. He watched with a slight amount of amusement in his eyes because he rarely saw (Y/n) with this kind of fire and he rather liked it, even if he didn't like the reason why she was so frustrated.

"I don't think anyone could make decisions for you, love." Ben closed the door behind him before he approached (Y/n), trying to help undo the zipper at the back of her shirt but (Y/n) writhed and tried to push him away. "I'm trying to help, maybe you should calm down-"

"Calm down? You sat there at dinner and said nothing, they were overriding both of us and deciding when we should have a baby and you let them. Why do you let everyone make the decisions for you? Do you not care who you marry or when you have a child or how many kids you have?" (Y/n) spun around so she was facing Ben the moment she managed to yank the shirt over her head and toss it to the floor. Her hands planed on her hips, but instead of being faced with an angered Ben, she was faced with a calm version of her husband who was smiling at her which only aggravated her more.

"Alright, I'm sorry I didn't stand up and flip the table like you so clearly wanted me to. And for the record, I do care what choices are made for me, I have enough people in my life trying to override my decisions and act like they know what's best because I'm 'young and inexperienced' to do this job. But I find it better to let them try and make the decisions, and then I'll just override them and do what I like afterwards. Arguing with your mother doesn't seem like a battle I could win."

Ben knew what it was like to have people trying to do what was best for him or act like he knew nothing or needed someone to supervise him and at first, Ben fought back. He shouted or he would get angry and maybe even get violent, especially with his words. But now he found that if someone tried to take over, he let them think they were in charge and then he just did what he wanted to do in the first place. Marriage was just the same, it was decided for him but he thought it was a good idea so he went along with it.

"But it's not fair. I don't want a baby right now Ben, but I see the way your mother looks at me and I know what everyone says. It's expected of me, of us, but I don't want to, I'm not ready-"

(Y/n) stopped her sudden ramblings the moment Ben's hands cupped her face and his smile stayed put. He wasn't looking angry or upset or annoyed with her for saying she didn't want a child right away, his eyes showed he might be a bit surprised by her revelation but he wasn't upset. Ben would admit he thought (Y/n) was fine with the thought of a baby right now but if she didn't want one yet then he wasn't going to disagree or force her.

"Then we're not having a baby. Forget everyone else, this is between you and me and if you say no, then that's the answer everyone else has to deal with. This is your call, not mine." Ben smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks as he pressed his lips against her own, smiling into the kiss when (Y/n) wrapped her arms around his upper back without even thinking about it.

"Y-you don't mind?"

"Love, you're the one who has to have the baby, not me. I'll admit I thought you might want a baby now but I don't mind when, I'm not going to argue with you about this or be angry or upset. Think you can calm down a little now?" When Ben's hands left her face and his arms wrapped around her waist, (Y/n) pulled him closer to she could bury her face in the crook of his neck, trying to stop the tears from falling.

Her throat was tightening up to the point she could barely breathe because she wanted so badly to tell him why she wasn't ready, but she couldn't. Her heart was still yearning to tell him to stop the pain but her mind couldn't allow it. When Ben felt (Y/n) subtally shaking against him, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder before he moved his hands to her thighs so he could pick her up, allowing her legs to wrap around his torso for stability.

"I know sometimes it doesn't feel like it, but you are in control, love. You can do what you want." Ben didn't know the reason behind the tears but his assumption was very accurate. He thought the tears were because (Y/n) was struggling for the control she was desperate to have and he was right. But that control wasn't hers to have, it was always taken from her by someone and fate once again swooped in and took it from her two weeks ago. (Y/n) wanted someone to make the pain go away and to give her the control back but she couldn't get it.

Being in control made (Y/n) feel better, it showed her she had a right to how her life went, the control meant she could choose and that meant her life was really hers. But now her life felt like it was being controlled for her and it wasn't going in the right direction. Her relationship with Ben was the only thing progressing in the way it should and even then, it still wasn't perfect because the baby was gone and Ben didn't know.

Moving over to the bed, Ben gently set (Y/n) down on the edge of the bed and hovered over her, a look in his eyes that made the tears fall quicker and her arms bind around him to cling to him like a monkey.

"I didn't want to marry you because I didn't know you, but I know you now, and I'm glad I've got you." (Y/n) whispered the words against his neck so she didn't have to look at his reaction. They both knew she could never say that she was happy she married him because they knew (Y/n) wanted to know him first and make the decision to marry him on her own terms and Ben understood that. But he felt elated to know that she was happy she had him in her life and she didn't regret marrying him.

"I'm glad I've got you too, love. You're alright, I'm not going anywhere I promise."

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben x reader #imagine #BoRhap #royalty #fatal attraction

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dabistits · 6 years ago

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Himiko & emotional intelligence

This is an aspect of Himiko that I deeply appreciate and want to talk about here, especially since I haven’t seen a comprehensive post about this character trait. I think this is especially important given her desire to Kill and Replace, but it also contradicts portrayals of Himiko that construe her as not particularly smart or strategic. Emotional intelligence is actually a huge asset of hers, in many terms, including as a weapon. She exhibits a profound and seemingly intuitive understanding of other people’s emotions and can modify her own behavior accordingly for her own ends. Below is a listed breakdown with specific examples, in no particular order of importance:

1. Intuitive understanding of unspoken feelings

This is probably the most prominent example, and which we see time and again. Himiko repeatedly makes assertions based off tangential information, which she surmises into an accurate reading of other people’s character. Ochako and Izuku are basically complete strangers to her, but with minimal interaction, Himiko’s able to deduce important relationships to both of them. In the latter examples, while Izuku and Jin have alluded to their feelings to or around her, Himiko cuts right to the heart of the issue: not only does Izuku hold Ochako’s abilities in a conflict situation in high regard, he trusts her; not only does Jin feel guilty for Magne’s death, he feels the most guilt, and cooperating with the yakuza hurts him because of his guilt.

She confidently makes a statement about three different characters, and she’s shown to be correct in how she interprets their feelings. Her intuitive deduction often acts as a narrative device to show authorial intent (that Ochako does have a crush, that Izuku does trust her, Jin does feel guilt), so it’s important that her statements are accurate. As a result, she happens to become one of the most emotionally perceptive characters in the series, almost to an unnerving degree, able to correctly make snap judgments about people’s feelings and relationships. But how else do you use a quirk like Transform, right?

2. Blending into her role

We’ve so far seen Himiko in four different transformations (Rock Lock isn’t on here because I got lazy lol). Quite obviously, she’s not perfect—Kemi’s classmates at Shiketsu notes that she’s been acting weird, and Izuku quickly figures out that the Ochako he rescued during the Hero License Exam was an imposter. That said, Himiko does several things very well that shows it’s not carelessness on her part, so much as reasonable limitations given how much she knows about each of these people.

Starting from the obvious: her mannerisms. Himiko adjusts her mannerisms according to whomever she’s imitating, including expressions, body language, and (I’m assuming, w/o the requisite Japanese knowledge to go on) speech. Her personas are distinctive in each instance, and tailored to suit the situation they’re in, from Ochako’s sheepish look to Izuku’s direct, urgent communication. Himiko assumes a, at the very least, passable imitation of people she’s, again, barely met, adopting salient behavioral traits so she doesn’t easily get found out. Even when Izuku calls her out, he points out technical flaws in her imitation of Ochako (that she didn’t float, the lack of planning when coming to save him) rather than obvious tells from personality.

That said, where and when Himiko uses her Transform ability is also strategic in nature. For sustained periods of transformation, she selected a target who she could imitate more easily, whose strangeness would be more likely to get overlooked. Shishikura Seiji says this about Kemi:

Himiko’s target and surroundings are carefully chosen to minimize chances of discovery, all strategic considerations that rely on an ability to read the atmosphere and people’s dispositions. She makes use of moments of confusion and plays off of people’s (but especially heroes’) need to react and help, betting on them to act before asking too many questions. This also raises an interesting question for me: in the hero license exam as Ochako, did she fall deliberately, counting on Izuku to catch her? Canon doesn’t make it particularly clear either way, but to speculate about it is fun in its own way.

3. Curiosity towards others

This trait ties in obviously to Himiko’s fixation on Kill and Replace, but it also serves to expand her understanding of other people. By asking these questions in her drive to satisfy her curiosity, Himiko must also necessarily take in and process the information she receives in response, so she necessarily acquires an (emotional) understanding towards others. While this line is directed to Izuku, her interrogation of him broadens her perspective about not only Izuku himself, but those who are like him—in this case, heroes. Both Himiko and Tomura (in the mall scene) seek out Izuku to elucidate certain ways of thinking that are foreign to them, and seem to come away from the interaction with some knowledge gained about the enemy. While Tomura is the one who clearly grew during his encounter, in beginning to use his acquired philosophy to gain legitimacy, it would be inaccurate to say Himiko gained nothing from hers, even if it was marginal enough not to be addressed in the canon narrative yet. She’ll obviously have more interaction with Izuku in the future though, so there should be plenty of opportunity to show how this encounter affected her too.

4. Using emotional information for her own ends

All of her skills amount to this—a brilliant play in the Hideout Invasion Arc that is vastly under-appreciated. Let’s set the scene: she and Twice have been drafted into the yakuza, whom neither of them much like, and now they’re embroiled in the yakuza’s affairs which involves a confrontation with heroes. They’re disadvantaged in terms of sheer physical power, they’re trapped in the battlezone with a significant risk of getting arrested, and their true target (Overhaul) is quickly making his escape while Mimic slows everyone down. Mimic is someone with whom she’d had a brief but antagonistic interaction that we know of, maybe more went on off-screen. Regardless, she understands enough about this person to figure out where he’s hiding (which stupefied the heroes), and exactly what to do to make him reveal himself against all his best interests. How she goes about this sets the course for the rest of the chapter.

With the right combination of words, she coaxes Mimic into self-sabotaging by revealing his location, and the heroes react exactly as she wanted them to. They prioritize subduing Mimic; once Izuku catches on to where he’s hiding, he takes him out, and it occupies all of the heroes for just long enough for her and Twice to make their escape. Himiko talks the situation into her favor, and ends up with one of the most troublesome yakuza members out of the way, and the road cleared for Twice and herself to execute their own plan to sabotage Overhaul.

I don’t think I need to go on about how amazing it is to manipulate a chain of events like that. Suffice to say that achieving such a result required a remarkable understanding of Mimic’s character and tics. She knew what to say that would dig the most at his insecurities, what would piss him off the most, and how the heroes would react. Basically, she played them, pretty much effortlessly and with very little time to think everything through. As stated in point 1, her ability to grasp a situation and all personalities involved seems pretty much intuitive, allowing her take advantage of what is going on around her. This is one of those scenes when the cunning of a character truly shines through, and it happens by allowing Himiko to take control of the situation just by reading someone’s personality and emotions.

5. Emotional intelligence=empathy?

One would think that this all amounts to an extremely sympathetic reading of her, and Himiko does tend to get very sympathetic reactions out of fans. After all, she’s redeemable by her age, she’s fun, and she has extremely endearing interactions with Twice. People particularly like to cite the scene above as evidence that she’s empathetic, and therefore not just a surface-level sadistic serial killer. I somewhat agree on these points, but although I’ve just spent a lot of words detailing indications of her emotional intelligence, I hesitate to assert that it necessarily makes her more predictable in terms of her loyalties or willingness to self-sacrifice.

So as to not get too deeply into what other people think or don’t think, I’ll just present my own argument here. While Himiko does show herself to be perceptive towards other people’s feelings, upset at the team’s loss of Magne, and reassuring when Twice is distressed, it may not come from a totally selfless, empathetic place. This is something of an extrapolation from her behavior in other instances, like the serial killing lmfao, but also this bit towards Tomura:

When faced with the possibility of doing something she doesn’t like, her reaction drastically differs from Twice. Twice is hurt by Tomura asking them to join the yakuza, but Himiko doesn’t seem to feel hurt; rather than echo Twice’s plea for consideration, her reaction is a logical, problem-solving attempt to remove the element that is making her do that which she dislikes. Her gesture towards Tomura is antagonistic. Her expression is placid, she even calls Tomura by his first name, but her action is a threat, making it clear she will hurt someone to get her way.

What I read from this interaction is that, to Himiko, people are disposable if they become ‘unpleasant.’ It’s the people on her good side who warrant her reassurance, but given that it’s Tomura she threatens here, that can change at the drop of a pin. This is why I hesitate to point to her emotional intelligence as something that indicates unconditional loyalty or compassion; there is very clearly a self-centered and opportunistic streak in the way Himiko evaluates people around her and her relationships to them, and that’s a trait that’s often overlooked. People are welcome to interpret her however they want, but I think her willingness to rebel against and threaten the people she deems friends is something that bears acknowledging.

6. Bonus: she still cares to remark on what Tomura thinks though

IT’S CUTE, that’s all.

Emotional intelligence doesn't always point to good deeds and intentions, and I think this aspect of it is ignored when it comes to Himiko. Focus on her character tends towards the moments when she's being compassionate (and I get that because it's really cute) but I feel like it undersells how manipulative she can be. She regularly uses her people skills to infiltrate, confuse, and sabotage, which is also very a interesting and fun part of her character. She can be strategic! She can be cunning! It's just a different type of intelligence that most of our main characters exhibit, especially in terms of how she uses it, but that's also part of what makes her a great villain.

#bnha meta #himiko toga #toga himiko

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vulcan-highblood · 5 years ago

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Not According To Plan (2/5)

Fandom: Supergirl (2015)/Legion of Superheroes

Summary: (Post Season 3 Ep.18 "Shelter From the Storm") Querl and Imra return to the 31st Century. It's not at all what they expected.

Read it on Ao3 here!

Chapter 2: The Reaction

Querl never realized how lonely it was to be trapped in your own head until his thoughts had nowhere else to go. The others would tease him, at times, about his attachment to devices and other objects they considered “inanimate”. But they were fully organic beings, they didn't understand computers, not the way Querl did. They couldn’t see how clever some systems were, they’d never really noticed the antics some devices would pull. True, the devices and computers that Querl interacted with on a daily basis were not sentient the way a Coluan was, but neither were pets and nobody made fun of people for conversing with or ascribing anthropomorphic qualities to them.

He’d been on the Legion cruiser for over three hours, watching his teammates manually input the coordinates for the route through neutral space that Rokk had eventually gotten from their Braalian contact. Querl wasn’t even allowing himself to touch the computer, too worried that he might access the device unintentionally. Instead, he stood back, watching the Legionnaires inputting the information with painstaking slowness and fighting back an ever-growing sense of frustration. Was this to be his life, now, in the 31st century? He couldn’t function like this, he wasn’t built to be so totally cut off from all computer systems. It was like torture, like he’d completely walled off a part of his own soul. Which, to be fair, he essentially had, as he was as much A.I. as he was an organic lifeform.

“Brainy, we would all really appreciate it if you would stop pacing,” Rokk snapped, glancing up from the console to fix an irritated glare on Querl.

Querl froze, steepling his fingers as he stared back at the Braalian. “Very well,” he said, barely suppressing the urge to respond in a childish manner. “I will stop pacing.” It took far more willpower than he’d expected, but he did stop. He watched them plug in another coordinate, and another. Grife, it was going to take them another 2.564 hours to complete the task at this rate. Inhaling deeply, Querl focused on exhaling as slowly as possible. It helped, incrementally. He watched them plug in the wrong coordinate. Waited to see if they would notice. They didn’t. “Rokk, that should be one-four-seven-five point nine-nine-eight-three by one-two-seven point seven-seven-four-eight-one,” Querl pointed out, “Not one-four-seven-five point nine-nine-eight-three by one-two-seven point seven-seven-four-eight- seven.”

Rokk glanced between his notes, the map they’d been charting, and blanched. “Right,” he noted, and changed the coordinate. “Thanks, Brainy.”

“You’re welcome,” Querl answered. It wasn’t much. Wasn’t anything, really, considering how quickly he’d have been able to plot the route if he were in contact with the cruiser’s computer. But that was no longer an option.

“I wonder what Legion HQ looks like without computers,” Reep Daggle wondered aloud, plotting the next coordinate. “I bet it looks different.”

Querl didn’t want to think about it. But it was better than wondering what Colu would look like. “I am certain that the aesthetic details will not have changed significantly, merely the mechanisms required to operate it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Chameleon agreed, frowning as he waited for Rokk to finish typing in his coordinate before starting the next one.

Querl resisted the urge to sigh. This was going to take a long time.

~~*~~

After manually inputting all of the commands to fly the Legion cruiser to New Metropolis, they were finally able to gather everyone together to discuss their options. As the Legionnaire who had spoken with the Braalian, Cosmic Boy seemed the best choice to lead the meeting.

“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Rokk said, ignoring the fact that there really weren’t many other places to go when aboard a spacecraft. “As we’ve all been made aware by now, the mission was a success, and we successfully prevented the Blight from ever happening.” He frowned a little. “However, from what I understand, a new threat has taken its place. A villain, one that many are calling the Computer Tyrant , has created a virus that spread throughout the universe, destroying all forms of Artificial Intelligence.”

Eyes turned to Querl, who was doing his best to ignore that and keep his gaze fixed on Rokk. Everything felt so much slower when he didn’t have as many things to occupy his mind, and he mentally noted who was staring at him (everyone but Rokk), immediately regretting his decision. He didn’t like being under scrutiny.

“What makes this interesting is that the Computer Tyrant is identified using a symbol we are all very familiar with.” Now Rokk, too, was staring at Querl.

The sensation of being stared at was growing nigh unbearable. Nonetheless, Querl persisted. He pointed to the symbol on his chest, trying not to look put out. He had a very good idea of who this Computer Tyrant might be, and it was objectively terrifying. “Yes, he or she is most likely a Brainiac,” Querl said, trying for nonchalant and failing miserably, if the tremor in his voice was any indicator. “This symbol has long been used as a crest for my clan, and was recognized by our Braalian contact as a symbol of the Computer Tyrant. It follows, then, that this…” Killer. Monster. Destroyer of worlds. “...villain… is likely one of my ancestors.” Which one, Querl had no real way of knowing. That was the problem with having a surplus of villainous ancestors. Too many to choose from to know for sure who was responsible. And it would likely be extremely difficult to get any information on that subject, considering Querl would not have access to any computer systems for the foreseeable future.

“What are we going to do?” one of the Legionnaires asked. It might have been Chameleon. Whoever it was, Querl hadn’t spotted them, as he had directed his gaze to the crest emblazoned on his chest. Without access to the ship’s security system, he wasn’t able to view the room from alternate angles to identify who had spoken. He fought down another wave of irritation at the inconvenience.

“First, we’ll head back to Legion HQ,” Cosmic Boy said, “And from there, we’ll try to gather information, and come up with a plan.”

Querl nodded along with the rest of the room, but his mind was whirling. A plan. To do what? How could they eradicate what was clearly deeply embedded in the social structure of this time? Grife, even an attempt to eradicate the virus might bring down upon their heads the wrath of planets that had benefited from the widespread eradication of advanced technology. Eradication of an entire race, if not races.

Oh, and that was a thought he didn’t want to pursue, but found his mind unable to resist the magnetism of horror that was slowly overtaking him. All Artificial Intelligence was eradicated. Dead. Colu was dead. Dead, without question. There was no way one of his ancestors would have created a virus to destroy all forms of artificial intelligence and chosen to spare Colu. True, Querl had been something of a persona non grata on his homeworld, due to his insatiable desire to create, design, and experiment. Colu was a world largely based on intellect, not action, which was a large part of why he’d left in the first place. But just because he hadn’t always felt welcome or wanted on his homeworld didn’t mean he wanted them all dead. The very thought sickened him, made it hard to breathe, hard to think.

It was like all of his emotion was choking him, and that shouldn’t be, he had specific parameters in place to prevent his emotions from overwhelming him like that. Was it because he’d shut down all nonessential functions in his onboard AI? That didn’t make sense, the inhibitors were treated as an essential function. So what, then, was causing this failure to adequately process an emotional response?

“Brainy?” Imra was standing beside him, and sprock, he hadn’t seen her coming, hadn’t noticed her there, hadn’t… grife, he was falling apart, wasn’t he?

“Saturn Girl,” Querl managed to force the words out, but his chest felt tight. Sprock, it shouldn’t hurt to breathe, he had kept all essential functions active. Was it the virus? Had he already been infected? Maybe he was dying, perhaps he hadn’t been fast enough to cut off access, and now he was going to shut down. “I think I’m… dying,” he choked out, looking down at his hands, watching them tremble as black spots danced in his vision.

“Brainy,” Imra’s voice was a little more firm, “I want you to breathe, okay? Take a deep breath.”

Querl was breathing. He was breathing fine, that wasn’t the problem, the problem was that he couldn’t sprocking feel his fingers or his toes. He was losing sensation. His AI was shutting down, he was losing his sprocking mind, he was dying, he was -

A sharp pain bloomed across the side of his face, and he blinked, hard. Imra was staring at him, eyebrows furrowed, hand extended.

Tentatively, Querl reached up, resting his hand on his cheek. “You slapped me!” he accused.

“I did,” Imra didn’t sound the least bit repentant. “Now breathe in, and don’t breathe out until I tell you.”

Querl did as he was asked, confused, but not really wanting his last living moments to be spent getting slapped by Imra a second time. He inhaled deeply, waiting until Imra said “exhale slowly”, and then did so. He continued to breathe when she told him to, focusing on her commands, and was surprised to feel the tightness in his chest begin to loosen. His hands and feet were still cold, but he was starting to be able to feel them again. He flexed his fingers experimentally, and was glad to see they moved smoothly, no longer shaking uncontrollably.

“Better?” Imra asked, her eyes concerned as she looked him over.

Querl took another deep breath, exhaling slowly. “I… think so,” he said. “I no longer believe I am dying, anyway.”

Nodding, Imra rested a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “That’s good. Do you need anything?”

Querl needed to feel safe. But there was little chance of that, at least in this century, it seemed. Instead, he shook his head. “I do not.”

Imra patted his shoulder again, and then walked over to whisper something in Rokk’s ear. The two of them glanced back at Querl over their shoulders and then returned to whispering. Again, Querl found himself wishing he had access to the computers, he would at least be able to try and read their lips if not pick up audio. How was he supposed to maintain his air of omniscience if he couldn’t see and hear what was going on at all times? It was so sprocking boring, all twelve of his thought-tracks being trapped in a single body that was still terrified of dying the next time he accessed a computer. He also needed to make sure that the Legion cruiser wasn’t contaminated - if it were, then they would end up stranded at HQ, at least until they learned how the people of this time piloted their spacecraft. The Braalian had insinuated that their race was somehow responsible for space travel.

Querl wondered if it had to do with magnetism, what manner of propulsion system might be constructed using Braalian powers. That led him down a tangent, wondering if there were any other abilities in the Legion that could be applied as a propulsion system in the event that the Legion cruiser suffered a catastrophic system failure.

There were no Legion powers that would save him from a catastrophic system failure, though.

Sprock. He was supposed to be thinking about useful topics, not contemplating his own mortality.

“I assume you have a backup of your brain somewhere?” Reep Daggle, ever insensitive, sidled up to Querl, shooting him a mischievous grin. “In case, you know,” he dragged his thumb across his throat in a crude gesture, crossing his eyes and allowing his tongue to loll out, his antennae drooping in a dramatic imitation of… death.

Shutting his eyes momentarily, Querl resisted the urge to strangle the Durlan. He turned to fully face his teammate, using every remaining ounce of self-control to steeple his fingers together, rather than resort to a more violent response. “That’s not how Coluan biology works, Chameleon.”

“It’s not?” Reep at least had the decency to look upset at the revelation. “Oh. Oh!” He looked hard at Querl, his face twisting into a look of discomfort. “I feel like a nass. I didn’t know...” he looked away, his shoulders stiffening. “Sorry.”

Querl wanted to ask why he’d sprocking said it, then. Choosing instead to take the high road, he shrugged one shoulder. “Coluans die, same as any other organic being. Our consciousness, however, joins a larger construct of shared Coluan minds.”

“Oh, so like an afterlife!” Reep grinned.

It wasn’t like an afterlife, it was a literal afterlife, one constructed from all the ancestral minds that had gone before them. Except it wasn’t. Not anymore. “It used to be,” Querl said, before he could quite stop himself.

The Durlan tilted his head, confused. “What do you mean, ‘used to be’ ?”

Querl’s hands trembled with the desire to clench into fists. “Our afterlife, as you call it, is a massive unity of Coluan minds. It is… an artificial construct.” Querl swallowed hard, and despite the fact that he hadn’t eaten recently enough to run any real risk of sicking up, he felt his stomach churn. “It is, in simple terms, a highly complex... Artificial Intelligence system.”

Reep stumbled back as though Querl had physically struck him. “What?”

He really was going to be sick, Querl realized, clutching at his stomach and inhaling sharply through his nose. It didn’t help. He coughed twice, feeling his insides twist inside him as he bent double, swallowing hard to fight back the saliva gathering in his mouth. It didn’t work.

“But that means…” Reep was saying, his voice far away, “they’re all dead? Like, dead dead?”

Coughing again, Querl dropped to a crouch, now certain his insides were attempting to turn themselves inside out. A dribble of saliva ran down his chin, and he breathed, he swallowed… he failed to hold it in, his whole body convulsing as he heaved, dropping to all fours. The dribble of water he’d drank several hours earlier came up, splattering across the floor as he shuddered, still trying to vomit despite his now-empty stomach.

Querl felt an arm wrap around his shoulders, holding him as he heaved, and shook, and heaved, and shook. It felt like an eternity before he was able to breathe without feeling his insides twist. He swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, grimacing at the bitter taste that lingered on his tongue.

“I’m so sorry, grife, that was so insensitive of me,” Reep still had his arm slung around him as he rambled, “That’s sprocking horrible, I didn’t even think… sprock, your whole planet…”

Querl sat up slowly. “My whole planet,” he repeated. “Yes.” He shut his eyes. “Also my ancestor.”

Beside him Reep stiffened. The arm around Querl’s shoulders tightened. “We’ll figure this out, Brainy. We will.”

I’m glad you’re confident in that, Querl thought dismally, because I am not.

#querl dox #brainy #brainiac 5 #querl #dox #fanfic #my writing #mentions of xenocide #tw: vomit #tw: panic attack

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xoruffitup · 6 years ago

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Burn This First Preview: 3/15 Show Report

OKAY it’s 3 AM and I’m writing this on my phone so the format might be weird, but I have SO MANY thoughts and feels from tonight I’ve got to let the tidal wave out!!

First off - Yes, he looked gorgeous at stage door and he was so kind trying to sign for everyone he could! (The line was longggg.) I GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH AND THANKED HIM FOR SUCH A MOVING PERFORMANCE AND HE SAID “OH THANK YOU VERY MUCH” AND LOOKED UP AT ME WITH HIS GORGEOUS EYES AND GORGEOUS FACE AND THERE IS A PIC OF THIS MOMENT THAT WILL FOREVER LIVE IN MY HEART:

This is my new OTP, folks: Adam/The back of my head!

I attempted to ask for a pic but was hesitant and security had already half pulled him away so he was like “I don’t know if I’ll have time” sounding so nervous about getting to the whole line. BABY <333

Aksjsknsm I can’t believe I was this close to him - It hasn’t fully set in and omg I better just keep writing before it does set in and I lose my shit completely!

Play Highlights! (This list is Plot-Spoiler free.)

Alas, sadly there is not that much nakedness. He takes his pants off in Act 1 but has underwear and a long shirt on. The BEST is when he comes on wearing one of Keri/Anna’s kimono-style purple silk robes in Act 2 - I nearly DIED and cannot believe I saw that with my own eyes!! When he first steps onstage the robe’s open and he’s only wearing underwear so you get a nice chest glimpse, but then he sadly ties it. (Then proceeds to hilariously struggle with getting one of his arms through the complicated sleeves.) Oh, and did I mention the robe was paired with knee-high socks?

Adam is HYSTERICAL. He doesn’t come on stage for about the first twenty minutes, but when he did, it took all of 5 minutes for the audience to be in the palm of his hand, laughing at every other word he said. His delivery of all of Pale’s curse-laden, barely-logical rants and complaints is just masterful in comedic timing and effect. He’s a literal hurricane when he enters the show, flooding the stage with this frenetic, chaotic energy so intense he’s practically vibrating. He keeps everything at break neck pace, through 0-100 highs and lows where he’s bitching about parking one second, then animal-wail crying the next.

His character’s not likeable. Really, this is a testament and praise to Adam’s acting. After his first couple minutes on stage, there were stretches when I literally forgot it was him. When I was so taken in and then repulsed by this character in turns, his acting prowess overcame even my instinct to love him and everything he does on sight. I’m about to get deeper into the weeds on his character in the next section, but suffice it to say Adam’s performance is stellar and completely, convincingly transformative.

How heated does it get? The only intimate scene that happens in front of the audience includes some slow kissing, a bit down Keri/Anna’s neck, and wandering hands. The rest is implied off stage.

The play is set in the 80s, so while Keri looks KILLER in every single outfit, Adam’s suits are all big and baggy as was the style then and they’re not exactly flattering. His costume look is just a bit weird, not nearly as smolderingly hot as how they styled him in the promo pics. But even with that said.... The scene where they’re both close on the couch, talking softly before kissing happens? I would have still gone for him too. ;_;

The rest of this report is going to dive into and attempt to untangle some of the deeper elements and themes of the play. Stop reading here if you’re avoiding spoilers!

To my perspective, this wasn’t really a play about a smoldering, ill-advised love affair. Yes, that’s the main event, but this play is about so much more.

Anna and Pale are star-crossed lovers. No, not in the Disney or destined interpretation - I mean the proper, tragic meaning. Whatever is between them should not exist. Whatever is between them threatens and harms them both. Whatever is between them is not long for this world, and doesn’t belong in it.

But why doesn’t it belong? Sure, there are the technical, superficial reasons: Anna has a boyfriend; Pale is married with kids (though technically separated); They are polar opposite people - Sharing no visible common interests and with temperaments that couldn’t be more opposite.

What is the one thing stronger than all of that, which first brings them together? Their grief; Their shared (yet deeply personal and divergently different) senses of grief; The solace and understanding they can only find for that grief with each other. The loss they’ve both experienced is life-changing, and has no place to fit into or even exist at all in their normal lives.

And so, they hurtle into an affair that also has no place existing in their normal lives. By the end of the play, they both assert “I don’t want this.” To a certain degree, it’s the truth. It’s unlikely either of them would have willfully chosen to pursue the other, had they met under different circumstances. They would likely never have opened or even tapped at the floodgates of their attraction, unless they had both gravitated towards this dark, abnormal part of life outside the realm of everyday lives, jobs, rational behavior, and decisions.

To me, this play was really about confronting that abnormal, primal, and sometimes unfathomable level of being that exists below the everyday. Pale has a memorable remark about all the little lies people live with and show to the world each day. Sometimes - when it is cut open and its value or sense thrown into question by some great tragedy such as a loss like this - you lose touch with that everyday life and the person you think you are within that everyday world. It becomes painfully juxtaposed and shrunk tiny, in the face of something all-encompassing and all-powerful, like grief. It becomes exposed as paper thin; Everything within it questionable and perhaps useless.

There is something of the profound in an emotion like grief. When it’s shared with someone, it’s no wonder that that also unlocks some profound connection. Anna and Pale don’t like each other as people, and they certainly take no enjoyment in the grief that brought them together. Yet, the relationship that blooms from it contains a compulsion and truth neither of them can deny. Even though they “don’t want this” (the rational, everyday side of their minds talking), they both admit they’ve never felt anything like it before, and they keep finding themselves drawn together. They don’t want to want each other - It’s painful and frightening for both of them, and yet their attraction wraps them both just as completely as their grief.

Anna’s boyfriend Burton is the epitome of the everyday. He earns a lot of money, he’s a well-dressed gentleman. He’s a writer, and fancies he can capture and portray the entire spectrum of human emotion. Even “great love,” as he fumblingly attempts to describe towards the play’s beginning. Yet all his talk is vapid and empty; As is his relationship with Anna. Theirs is one of the everyday, rational variety. It belongs with the small lies we live with and put on and speak and perform each day - To keep our lives square and tidy and comprehensible.

Then - There’s the chaotic, unpredictable, bordering violent being of Pale. He is every sincere, larger-than-life emotion and base instinct most people tamp down and deny voice to. He represents the terrible, uncontrollable, threatening Truth of everyday masks, dark desires, and empty identities of performativity.

Their attraction is not something Anna can bear to look in the face. She throws Pale out and ends the relationship because that deeper truth of true emotion unlocked by her grief cannot coexist with her reality. Her ability to continue dancing, to continue the everyday life she’s trying so hard to believe in and trust the purpose of - It cannot contain Pale. He represents and unlocks profound, unknown feeling that casts the waking world as a shadow.

And yet for all that discomfort, she has an artistic breakthrough after the affair with Pale. She is inspired to finally choreograph Robbie’s final send-off piece. And with Anna, Pale unlocked a part of himself that was calm, gentle, and soothed - A version of himself totally incongruous with his own reality and the identity he wears. Both of them are changed through their journey together through the Profound. It is a deeply uncomfortable, destabilizing place that neither of them wish to remain in. And yet its power is undeniable; Its impact unforgettable. The very experience of it is something they seek comfort for and can only find from each other.

Is it better to tell little lies each day so the world will make sense? So you can understand exactly who’s looking back at you in the mirror, and the quotidian will shade your perception of the invisible and unfathomable depths of human experience? So everything will remain neat and in control?

Or - Does it give meaning to abandon control? To surrender to grief and undesired passion, for the sake of a reality that is uncompromisingly, viscerally, heartbreakingly genuine? The harsh, infinite light all the rest of life seems to be constructed to blot from our eyes?

I really hope that as more people see the play, people will start posting their interpretations as well! I would love some good analysis dialogues! In the meantime, I will now slide right back into flaily, trash fangirl mode.... Thank you for reading all this, if you got this far! Go see this marvelous, haunting play if you’re able!!

All the love to my fangirl besties!!! @reylonly Thanks for making it an amazing night! :’)))

#Adam Driver #Burn This #Broadway #Keri Russell #driverdaily

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tealtowntar · 6 years ago

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Heres why the Sharks did deserve to win

First things first: the call

Cody Eakin was given a 5 minute major for crosschecking Joe Pavelski. A play that resulted in Pavelski losing his balance and checked again by Paul Stastny, landing on his head and drawing blood.

This call has been criticized to death by people saying it was not the right call.

1) Drawing blood is a 4 minute double minor on its own

2) Pavelski was knocked out on the ice, a pool of blood coming from his head and had to be half carried to the dressing room

3) If you say Pavelski is weak or exaggerating or playing it up you’re blind. Did you even see the blood? What, did he carry extra blood out on the ice like Logan Couture apparently carries extra teeth(see game 5)?

But sure, lets say it wasn’t the right call.

4) Joe Pavelski is the beloved captain of the Sharks. Every guy in that locker room would fight to their last breaths for him. Joe is the captain, that means so much. There are so many leaders on that team- Joe Thornton, future hall of famer one of them. The coaching staff has their pick of basically anyone there but year after year they pick Pavs. In Worlds, Pavelski was chosen not just to play for the team but to wear the C for Team USA. Of any American hockey player in the nation they chose him to lead their team.

That should give an idea of what Pavs means to us, to them, to the country.

5) When you wear the C, that means you’ve earned respect. It’s a symbol that shows you’re a leader, you’re a mentor, you’re an example of your team, you’re the face of your orginization. The heart of your team. You don’t just knock out a captain with no consequences.

Maybe your argument is the call wasn’t technically correct, but when something like what happened happens, someone has to pay their dues.

Second, the comeback.

The Sharks were down 3-0 in the last period of the series. The team rallied together and scored 4 goals on the Eakin major penalty to give them the lead.

1) Every one of those goals was hardly to fight for their playoff lives. All four goals were for Joe Pavelski. Those boys love their captain, their leader, their mentor, their brother. My mom said “that really lit a fire under their butts!” But she wasn’t quite right, it lit a fire in their guts, in their hearts. The boys said, “You don’t mess with our captain and get away with it. You’ll pay for that one.” Even as a fan, seeing Pavs go down sparked a determination to win for him thay would not be satisfied until it was done.

2) A lot of fans are bitter(extremely) about the comeback, saying that it was all BS. This may be ignoring the fact that Vegas gave up 4 goals on the penalty kill. I think it goes without saying that that means the penalty killers weren’t on top of it. It’s not like taking the major meant Vegas was hopeless to keep the Sharks from catching up.

3) The Sharks would not be denied. Before play resumed after Pavelski went out, Logan Couture told the media Thornton said to them, “Let’s get three”. For him. The Sharks weren’t getting it done for themselves but they did get it done for Pavs.

Third, “The refs handed this one to the Sharks”

1) No. If this is in reference to that one call, the refs did not score four goals. The refs did not give the sharks free shots on Vegas, the refs did not take Vegas out of play and leave them hopeless to do anything. The Sharks beat the penalty killers and the goalie to get them back in the game.

2) If this is in reference to the series, also no. Both teams got some good calls and a lot of bad ones. I might be biased but I’m not unreasonable. Vegas got multiple game changing calls in their favor.

a) Earlier in the game, there was a goal for none other than Cody Eakin. The play was a deflection from his stick into the goal, a stick that was under review for a high touch. If it was ruled that Eakin scored the goal off a stick above the normal height of the shoulder, the goal would be called off and the Sharks would remain at a 1-0 deficit. To many and maybe most people, the touch was blatantly high and should have been called off. It was not. The Sharks went down 2-0.

b) In game 2, a goal from Couture was called off as goaltender interference, a goal that would have given the Sharks the lead in the game for the first time after battling back from another 3 goal deficit. No matter who you’re rooting for or not rooting for, this goal should not have been called off. On any other play I could give the benefit of the doubt but on this play I am confident that this was the wrong call. The reason is that Marc-Andre Fleury was unquestionably out of his crease. If a goaltender is out of the crease and a goal is scored with them being “interfered with” thats on them. If this goal was not called off, the game may have seen a different ending. Eye for an eye Vegas.

c) Both the Knights and the Sharks had penalty calls go their way, myself and other fans would argue that Vegas got more game influencing calls in their favor though I am willing to overlook that in the spirit of just telling Vegas to shut up about a call.

Fourth, it’s not like Vegas didn’t have 3 chances to advance to the second round

Vegas took a 3-1 series lead after game 4. It was win or die for the Sharks three games in a row.

1) Many Vegas supporters after this series have been overlooking the fact that even though game 7 didn’t go the way they expected, they have been blaming it all on the Sharks or the refs, not taking responsibility for the fact that Vegas almost swept us but the Sharks fought harder. They had every opportunity to knock SJ out, not just this game.

Fifth, the Sharks deserved this more

Sure you could say this is subjective. Here’s why it’s true:

1) Despite what Vegas fans might think, you are not oppressed™️. Vegas hasn’t suffered a thing in its whole existance and its time to cash in your crimes. Pay your dues. Your storybook franchise and coddling from the league comes with a big bill of hockey karma.

2) The Sharks have had contrasting treatment. The Sharks orginization has class and is fun and cool and badass. What do we get from the league? Doubt and disrespect. You may say, “It’s because the Sharks are bad and always choke in the playoffs!” You’re right about one of those. The Sharks are not bad. In the past 15 seasons, the Sharks have played the second most playoff games in the entire league. That would make them one of the most consistantly good teams in the last decade and a half. The Sharks are good and they deserve to be acknowledged, they deserved to win this series.

3) Our veteran players deserve to win. There’s a reason we have “Do it for Jumbo” shirts. No matter who your team is or how much you don’t like the Sharks, it is undeniable that Joe Thornton deserves to win the Stanley Cup. He is a legend of hockey and any player or coach or person who knows/has known him says he is an incredible person. But it’s not just him. Vlasic, Burns, Pavs, they’ve been with this team for a long time and they never want to leave. They are all elite at what they do and they deserve to have their names on the Stanley Cup.

4) A lot of hits Vegas put on the Sharks were dirty. I’m not saying SJ played a totally clean game but we got called for it most times. Again and again, Vegas’ dirty plays would be overlooked and the Sharks got beat and bruised. Players like Reaves, McNabb, Stone, even Fleury(bro why tf is your goalie so chippy) put on bad hits, slashes, crosschecks that did not get called. Who paid for it? The Sharks in blood. Their grit pulled them through and they won in spite of all of it.

5) When have you ever seen a stronger example of a team rallying around another teammate like that? You know the boys were so scared for Pavs. They love him so much. Have you ever felt that swell of determination that fills you up and turns your focus into a lazer beam? That’s what the Sharks felt from the time Pavs went down to Goodie getting the OT game winning goal. After the first goal Cooch said “Thats one!!!” They knew they weren’t done. No amount of goals would be repayment for losing Pavs but they were going to try their damn best. They felt the hockey gods in the building at that moment and it was time to make Vegas take their first real L. #ForPavs

So that’s why the Sharks deserved to go to the second round over Vegas.

#sharks #san jose sharks #hockey #sjs #sjs vs vgk #tar.txt #long post #i just had a lot of feelings #salty vegas fans feel free to block me ive said my piece #for pavs

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selenecrawford · 6 years ago

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Selene Crawford: The Mission, The Clan , The Judgment

Warnings: Violence, kidnapping situations, guns, Cursing (yup is still there)

The soft notes of the piano could be heard at the mansion. Luxury, pure tones of pearl, gold and black where everywhere. On the main bath of suite Selene was at the bath tub being cleaned up by the maids. In order to prevent her from escaping Tobias kept her drugged. He didn't want her precious flower to whither before the main event. Selene was being treated as a queen even though she will be judged as a traitor. Tobias, still thought he could change her mind. Men were blindfolded in to prevent them see her naked body.

Once dry she was pampered, and dress with exquisite care, like a princess. Selene try not to cry since she knew this was only a preparation for what she will have to face. The law inside the clan was absolute. Still Tobias wanted to buy her with luxury and pampering. Her mind then went to Masamune. His smile, his mischievous smile and his passionate look when they made love. Desperate she tried to think in an escape, but her main concern being unable to move was her main worry.

(Calm down, I need to think. There is got to be a way, but which?)

“I bet you are thinking in a way to leave. See, how perfect I am for you? Why can't you see that?” Tobias approached her silently and surprised her with a soft whisper to her ear.

Selene shudder internally, the sound of a drop began to be heard on her memory. A distant image became clearer are Tobias kept talking. With a deep sigh, Selene began meditating ignoring the whispers. All she wanted to see was Masamune, with this she blocked Tobias alluring words turning into just gibberish. If Ian wanted her on top shape she will have to start preparing. There was no time to loose. Tobias, frown after saw Selene's deep breath, the treatment was not working. Fine, he did all he needed to do. Applying the antidote, he left leaving Selene on her own.

“So be it love. Is your choice. Bring her in 5 hours to the chamber.”

“Yes, Sir.” said one of the guard at the entrance of the room.

Tobias walked punched one of the marble walls. Cursing Selene's stubbornness he went to prepare for the judgment.

“If you won't be mine then you will pay for your treason with your life.”

At Mai's warehouse, the preparations for the invasion of the clan's lair were advanced. The guys will be diving in two main groups. Sasuke, Mitsurani, Lancelot, Mai, Yuki and Shingen will stay at the base. Shingen, Mitsurani and Yuki as back up in case they need to get them out if they can't. The rest as technical, and surveillance support.

The main group was compose of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Kenshin, Ieyasu and Masamune who refused to stay.

“You can't go Masamune, you might risk a fracture or even death. You are not in conditions to go into a fight. Are you out of your fucking mind? Nobunaga aren't you going to tell him something?” Ieyasu was at wits end trying to prevent Masamune from going.

“I will do the same if I were him.” was the only thing Nobunaga could say while discretely looking at Mai.

“So he wants to go and kill himself OK, no problem, now why the fuck am I have to go? Can you answer me that?” Although pissed off Ieyasu was looking more calm than agitated.

“We need all the man power we can. Also you are a good fighter. “Yasu”.” Hideyoshi took several assault rifles and bags.

“Don't call me that.” sneer Ieyasu.

Masamune stood next to Ieyasu. “I'm not a man of going around pleading, but Selene is precious to me. Your help getting her back safe will mean a lot to me, and her. You need to meet her.” putting his hands on his pockets Masamune gave Ieyasu a sad smile.

“Too bad I met her before you. And you don't need to convince me. I'm going, she deserves to be happy. Just know that if you make her cry even once I'm making you pay for it.” Ieyasu smirk at the face of surprise of Masamune when he heard the information. Taking that as his sign Ieyasu took his equipment and left for the car.

“Where is the Snake?” Kincaid was looking for Mitsuhide.

“He went ahead, he is securing the perimeter and our contact in and out.” said Mai before Nobunaga could open his mouth.

“Mitsuhide can you hear us?”

“Loud and clear my little mouse. There is not movement at the castle yet. I'm already in position.” his voice have a tone of diversion and pleasure.

Everyone was tense and getting ready. Ieyasu secured Masamune's chest with a special bandage that will protect him for getting hard hits. The bandage was cool so will maintain part of the swelling down. Popping pain killers like candy Masamune took a couple and went to put his own equipment on one of the 3 black RTR's assigned. Nobunaga/Hideyoshi , Kenshin, Ieyasu and him on the third one. Kenshin didn't mind alone since he thought having a partner was more a hindrance. Once everyone was ready they left one by one. The road to the castle was a bit long but they managed to get a stop to eat something light before arriving to the spot Mitsuhide was stationed.

The castle was at the top of the cliff with a dignified view of the ocean.

“OK, who are these people first of all? And why they have a castle on a cliff erosion anyone?” Ieyasu's statement might be cliche, but so it was the location of the castle.

“What's the status Mitsuhide?” it was Nobunaga's turn to ask.

“The bells sounded 3 times one hour later 2 times and a couple of minutes ago 1 time. So far no more sounds or movement after that.

“The judgment that asshole is going to judge her.” Lancelot's emotive statement puzzle everyone. It was the first time his tone was out of the educated and polished manner was out of place.

“What does that mean?” Masamume was now concerned.

“ According to out research, the clan have a way to deal with those who do not follow the rules. They make a trial and force the partners to fight to death and if the traitor lives is executed.”

“Partners?”

“ Yes Dragon. According to tradition, the new generation is chosen when they are kids. They train together and when the time comes they marry and take the rains of the clan and make the next generation. If one dies before having children another pair of children is choose. When Selene refused the laws of the clan this got her branded as a traitor. But Ian pretended to protect her.” indicated Lancelot.

“And you deemed necessary to share this information now because?” it was Mitsuhide's time to be inquisitive. “It's interesting how much you know about the clan for people who were kept in the dark.”

“No need for your venom Snake. We didn't say anything for security measures. Both me and Kincaid are part of the clan. We thought to let the tradition die. Many of the methods to get the kids were cruel and aberrant.”

“What methods?, what are you talking about Lancelot?” Nobunaga didn't like the sound of that.

“What you are imagine Devil, in order to recruit our new recruits they must be break and their soul pulverized. Their soul must be tarnished, with blood, darkness and hate.” Corrupting them on a early age is part of the process.” continue Lancelot explaining.

“Wait, you don't mean...” Ieyasu tried to speak but his voice trailed off.

Yes, Dr. Tokugawa, Selene's parents didn't die on a car accident. We killed them in order to recruit Selene.”

The sound of the sea at the distance was the only thing breaking the deafening silence thru the communications channel.

Selene was escorted to the main inside patio of the castle. The sound of the agitated was around. The smell of salt, old stone and lime was strong. This help Selene to clear completely her mind. As a last request from Tobias she had a light meal. Wearing a pair of hand cuffs she walked slowly, without haste. This is her last minutes alive, she was on her way to be judge. Wearing skinny black jeans with black leather corset and a black shirt under. Complementing the outfit a military jacket with crossing zipper. Her hair was done on a french braid with a sultry make up and red cherry lips. The look made her a totally different person, someone she refused to be ever since she was trained for it. The walk ended once they arrived once they got into the inside Patio. A circle of wood was around the place. Looking around the smell of gasoline hit her like a slap on the face. Torch were around with potent light from the ceiling. Outside the circle were many people clothed on ninjitsu uniforms and face covered.

Outside of the circle on a podium was Ian wearing a dark robe. Inside the circle Tobias was armed and waiting for her. Taking a deep unperceptive breath Selene entered the circle. The place was spacious enough for them to fight. Little by little Selene connected some of the pieces. Ian began to speak.

“We are gathered here to pass judgment and uphold our traditions and values.”

“What values? Killing, for money? Are you fucking kidding me?” Selene dint let Ian continue. She need to stall the process until they arrive.

“You are so easy to read love, stalling this won't help. You made a choice.” No I didn't, I never asked for it. And I'm' not your love.” that last sentence was made into a sneer full hate.

“You never respected our traditions, you stepped on them. We gave you food, a roof, money.”

“Really? A conditionally love, as long as I learn to kill, deceive and steal. What kind of life is that for a child? You never cared for me. You only wanted me to lead the clan with Tobias. How could you kill your wife, his mother? I know your secret Ian.”

“And who you think killed your parents Selene?” asked Tobias walking towards her to take her handcuffs off.

Selene tried to talk but no sound went out of her mouth. “What?” was the breathless question that she could articulate. Walking around her Tobias smile sweetly while circling her life a shark at the ocean.

“My...my parents died in an accident.” said Selene trying to research her mind for her details of that fateful night.

“You see you are wrong, mi gatita(my kitten), on that night, we choose you, I, no the clan choose you as my bride.” Tobias stood in front of her.

“We were six and yet I fell in love with you that day at the park. I remember telling dad I wanted you. So, we followed you and I decided to get you. See, you might had block some parts of that night, but I stood in the middle of the road and your father loose control.” Once you crashed I just gave the killing blow and killed them with a knife while they were unconscious. They bleed to death. My first trophies.” Tobias stopped to take a good look at Selene.

Selene couldn't believed her ears, but one part of her knew the truth. In her mind the fog that covered the events of that night began to lift. She remembered in slow motion how they went out of the park and suddenly on part of road a little kid run in causing them to crash. After that she lost consciousness. When she woke up she was an orphan absorbed by the system.

“No, its not true you didn't, THAT'S LIE!!!!!!” she managed to shout before covering her ears and fell to her knees.

“Oh no, you are not getting out of this easily. Yes, I killed your parents, for you. You are mine and only mine. After all the trouble I went to get you and this is how you repay me, repay us.” Tobias took her by the hair and started drag her in front of his father.

“Selene Crawford, by the law of the Clan and committing the sacred sin of betrayal, your only absolution is to die. Torch it.”

The bystanders took the torch and started burning the circle of wood around them. Once the circle was completely ignited, Tobias lifted and throw her to the other side of the circle. Trembling in shock, Selene looked at Tobias taking of his trench coat. After all of these years the man she thought she knew was never there. Instead, before was Ankou the angel of death.

@datemasamunemaiwaifu @unstoppablelinda @elievalentine @yeshasays @mikamiw @shouta-bakugou @pirateprincessyuki @la-piperina @notsafefortum-blr @masa-little-kitten @sengokuotaku82 @serenity-writes @colivara @kimi00twin @kouei116 @cailannuesugi @xathia-89 @jennacat84 @epicdragonlady @blue-bean-exe

#ikesen #ikesen masamune #fanfic

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doomedandstoned · 5 years ago

Text

I’ll Take a Sling of Singapore Sludge, Thank You

Axis Mundi is the name. Learn it well.

It wasn't two months ago that I stumbled upon 'The Depths' (2019), debut EP by sludge metal trio AXIS MUNDI. I'm aware of merely a handful of heavy bands from the Republic of Singapore (which is totally my fault, I'm sure), but it wasn't just the novelty of relative obscurity that gave the band its allure. When I listened to The Depths, it was its hard-biting heaviness, gritty realism, and (I confess) the courage to cover Nirvana that ultimately endeared me to vocalist Sathish Kumar, guitarist Vinod Dass, and drummer Mitch Goon. Following is my exchange with Vinod about the band's origins, the meaning behind their name, and what it's like to be oh so sludge in Singapore.

☿

I have to say, we haven't encountered too many sludge or death-doom bands in Singapore, but it's encouraging to see more and more with each passing year. Tell us, if you please, how Axis Mundi got its start and introduce us to the members of the band.

The idea to form this band came to me in early 2018 after coming back to home soil after staying abroad for about two years. I got my first exposure to the sludge and stoner doom in Melbourne Australia by getting my face completely melted off by Dixie and gang from Weedeater, it was one of the first gigs I attended in Melbourne and it really resonated with me as it was something completely fresh and different from the mainly thrash and death scene metal -- the whole lineup for this band all played and still play in death metal bands back home. (laughs) And seeing then drummer Travis Owens bouncing sticks off the floor while destroying the drums was a life changing experience no doubt.

I had some things to express and found myself naturally starting to write in the direction of sludge and doom and decided it was time to get some partners in crime, so I got in touch with Mitch for drums, since we played together in a previous band for close to a decade and I knew his hard hitting style would suit the sound I was going for.

I then hit up Sathish, who was the vocalist of his band I was sessioning bass for. I loved his low growls and aggression and thought it was a perfect fit for what I wanted. We formed around march of 2018, so it is a very fresh band although its members have been (and still are) close friends for more than a decade.

What is the significance of the name Axis Mundi?

The term Axis Mundi hit me after getting into the study of symbols and their significance to the human mind. I had always found them interesting and the deeper I read into them the symbol of the World Tree kept reappearing in art and media I resonated with, especially during the writing phase of this EP, so I let things take their course. Its basic idea is the center of the universe, the connection of higher and lower, heaven and earth, Consciousness and the Unconscious.

What are some distinctives of your style? Asked another way, how would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?

What resulted from the three of us coming together was a blend of the sludge and doom riffs together with a faster tempo coupled with brutal vocals. I was listening to a lot of High on Fire, Monolord and Nails, my drummer was listening to Dyscarnate and Aborted and my vocalist was pushing Full of Hell and Comeback Kid. So ideas were pulled from all these sources!

You have a new EP! Walk us through it, please, track by track (sharing any background about each song's composition and recording, lyrical and thematic tie-ins, and any anecdotes that come to mind related to each).

Track 1 – The Depths

The Depths EP by Axis Mundi

The basic idea behind this track was it was going to be a noise track introducing the album and was meant to put the idea of being “down in the depths” to the listener, which was kind of how I was feeling as I wrote this record, so I though this was a good place to begin. I took this chance to give some Bladerunner 2049 worship. That movie was a goddamn religious experience sonically and visually.

Track 2 – Summoning the Serpent

The Depths EP by Axis Mundi

This song was the first song to be completed in terms of writing for the EP. It was one of the cases where I had a couple of riffs and had no idea how to bring them together or even if they were going to be part of the same song, but the moment the band came together, everything fit together like a jigsaw puzzle out of the blue, that kind of creative spark is the shit I live for. The basic idea for the song is the looking inside of oneself to come face to face with your fears and your flaws, to summon them up like a serpent and face them.

Track 3 – Revelations

The Depths EP by Axis Mundi

The opening riff of this song is the riff which gave birth to the band, it was one of the first riffs written, but it was also one of the last songs to be completed as we were writing for an album. The writing process for this song was really one of patience, I would try some ideas out with the band, they wouldn’t work and we would be back at the drawing board, but I remember I had to keep reminding myself not to rush things and cram some jackass riff in there just to finish the song. It had to feel right.

The driving force of this song was one of searching -- searching for clarity, for vision, for meaning. It ties in with Track 2 as Summoning the Serpent is like an admission of wrongdoing and Revelations is like a search for a new path.

Track 4 – Territorial Pissings

The Depths EP by Axis Mundi

I am a super huge Nirvana fan and I knew I wanted to cover one of their songs for this release. I also wanted to do it our way and put our own twist to it as I love it when bands do that. This was another song that came out the way it was in like 10 minutes, and now that I’m thinking about it, the chorus of this song actually ties in with Revelations. (laughs) Life is strange.

Who is responsible for the album art and what does it signify?

The album art work is done by Faris Samri, a killer drummer I used to play with in a black metal band! I happened upon some of his designs and thought he could take my rough demo for the album art to the next level. I came into contact with the Adinkra symbol "Hye Won Hye" which basically means "that which cannot be burnt," a West African symbol of endurance, which I thought was perfect for the EP. I then decided to recreate the symbol with the goat skull and Christ on the cross, which is the voluntary acceptance of suffering, symbolically speaking. The skull and cross was mirrored downward, creating the symbol of Hye Won Hye, as well as signifying the duality within a person, light and dark, love and hate and the struggle to balance them. Faris took it to the next level with the addition of flames to the lower half. Here is his take on it:

“The artwork was meant to resemble an Adinkran symbol of endurance. Reading more into its origins, it is said that the symbol got its meaning from traditional priests who were capable of walking on fire without being burnt. This made me inclined to include the element of fire from its history into my illustration.

I began by drawing the first goat skull, engulfing it in flames, scorching some of its original skeletal features. Before I began on the second skull, I realised I was not fond of the idea of having two identical burning goat skulls, as I could have easily duplicated the one i had just drawn and inverted it to complete the illustration. Referring back to the bed of fire the priests had to walk on, I decided to illustrate flames in the shape of the goat skull instead of the actual skull. These newly drawn flames will enter through the first goat skull, which exhibits the skull’s imperishability in such circumstances.

The next step was to colour the piece, which I did on Photoshop as I wanted to experiment with a selection of palettes I had come up with. The colours chosen mostly had a gore or horror vibe about them, referencing older metal album artworks from bands like Slipknot or Mastodon, to Horror film posters such as It or Blair Witch Project.”

What are some of the bands you play with in Singapore and, more specifically, how is the doom-sludge scene in your country?

Mitch and I played in a death metal outfit called Zaganoth, which was our first serious band and Sathish used to head another death metal band called Stillborn and both bands used to play shows with each other in the past!

Now besides playing in this band I play guitars for Truth Be Known a death/funcore veteran band that is heading down south to Australia for the Dead of Winter Festival! I also play in a band called Mucus Mortuary which is a -- well, I don’t have words to describe this band you have to see it for yourself. (laughs)

The sludge and doom scene in Singapore is pretty small even within the heavy music scene here (might be the insane laws against drugs but who knows eh?) however the bands that are currently holding up the banner are killer, check out Marijannah, Hrvst and Beelzebud!

Thank you so much for visiting with Doomed & Stoned! We wish you much success now and in the future.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to some music coming out of a dot in the world map! I am humbled and grateful for this opportunity and may The Doomed and Stoned Show last for many seasons to come!

God Luck and Good Speed.

The Great Axis Mundi Giveaway!

Come one, come all! Get your own copy of 'The Depths' (2019) by Axis Mundi by grabbing one of the available download codes below. Hurry, these will go quickly! Redeem them here.

ln2g-7clq 4amy-5h5t e78z-752b gwnn-vuwx 3sav-kphp dq78-6np2 pgw2-ym7c 6vhe-jb8y kfeb-ycuf ka7l-bxam n654-xv3g my7j-58du 9tmr-b24p 3u8a-wlj2 55zb-he8c b8t5-5bbx dnn9-7wlq s5az-5x5t j7nh-ufze 7lwp-eqku vsj8-3tgq fjb3-c7fz mbxw-xej6 9acq-j38y yfjf-ywuf y5bx-34am 38as-hq3g azfp-5tdu 8yab-bb4p xjfg-k7e2 j9dn-gvfc 724m-ukex lxp7-v9np 4e6d-g8vn qr3s-unze blxe-emku 5ceg-3ggq rj7n-cufz afwl-x5j6 8ahj-vr8y xun8-7sxq hmat-5lat jr9y-7a3b 9x23-v7dx ncmm-654p lpr9-kue2 e9lu-yqfc b3ca-79ex dxjr-vznp sqgw-gtvn pruc-u7ze vkbq-egwu 6yvf-33hp u2gv-w4q2 mvtr-hpgc fgza-52rx l22g-7dxq cmmy-5hat eb8z-7e3b 8xnn-vudx 24av-kp4p dp78-6fe2 v7wd-xaq6 65he-j2gy kreb-ycnf zm7l-bh5m ng54-xv2g 5k7j-eywu gzmr-brhp 338a-wlq2 avzb-hagc r9t5-5brx d2n9-7cxq hj8l-yymn jbnh-7uke 7dwp-eqzu m4j8-3t8q feb3-cn7z 57xw-xeq6 gmcq-jbgy yrjf-ywnf tvbx-bx5m 29as-hq2g atfp-58wu uha5-6ahp xefg-k7p2 j8dn-gj7c fn4m-ukpx lwp7-jkup cj6d-g8mn ef3s-ufke bdxe-emzu aheg-3g8q re7n-c77z arwl-x5q6 79kv-e3bx x3n8-7slq haat-545t qf9y-7a2b

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50-points-for-ravenclaw · 6 years ago

Note

Sheith playing monsters and mana with the gang

Disclaimer: Idk like anything about DnD so most of this is wikipedia and guessing with a little creative license thrown in

“So I just make stuff up and you guys react to it?”

“Sort of. We all play off each other, and Coran controls the rules and our level of skill for each activity,” Pidge explains.

They’re seated in a wide circle on pillows and beanbag chairs that they’d dragged to the roof of the Garrison, all wrapped tightly in blankets and comfy pajamas. Allura and Coran seem to have fully adopted the tradition of brightly colored fuzzy socks from the Holts, and Krolia has thrown on a pair of Garrison issued sweatpants only reaching mid-shin borrowed from Keith’s collection. The night is luckily not cold enough to drive them away, but the slight chill in the air calls for the comfort of thick cotton and the small fire they created in a makeshift fire pit in the middle of their circle.

Keith remembers the last time he’d been on this roof, back when he wasn’t allowed, when he was still just a student at the Garrison, when Shiro’s loss was still fresh. He liked to come up here to stare up at the stars and remind himself why he was there. Sharing it now with his extensive family felt better than anything he ever could have imagined.

Keith glances at Krolia, who looks equally as confused as he, as Coran finishes explaining the rules and then Shiro, who gives him a small encouraging smile.

“It’s actually pretty fun,” Shiro says shrugging. Keith thinks he believes him, especially when Shiro looks at him like that.

“Yeah, but remember you’ve been banned from being a paladin,” Lance says with a hostile squint. Shiro’s resulting pout is so adorable that Keith forgets to ask why the ban had been placed.

“Oh, I’m so excited!” Romelle says with a clap of her hands. The mice sway dangerously on her shoulders with the movement though they seem content to stay where they are. “I haven’t played Monsters and Mana since I was young. It was one of my favorite games growing up.”

Hunk gives her a shoulder nudge along with a grin, which she returns.

“Okay it’s time to choose your character class everyone. Due to the number of players and to keep it easier for the newcomers, everyone will keep their actual names for their characters. Now remember to be as creative as possible here! Think outside the prism, as you humans say,” Coran says with a quick twist of his mustache.

Keith thinks to correct him but decides to stay silent on that one, noticing the rest of the humans present do the same. He and Shiro make eye contact and stifle chuckles behind their hands.

“Alright, Number 1! You go first.”

“Okay,” Shiro says. He rubs at his chin like he’s thinking really hard on the topic. Keith enjoys the small flutter in his chest at the action. His fondness for Shiro’s idiosyncrasies seems to grow everyday. “I’m going to be a Monk who is the last surviving member of his monastery. Ever since the day my people were slain, I’ve vowed to protect others from the evils of the world, and my goal is to one day close the portal that leads to the Dark Ruins of Hades and prevent anything like what happened to him from happening again.”

“What is Hades?” Shay asks, raising her hand into the air a little.

“It’s an old Earth version of Hell,” Hunk explains.

“Oh, I see.” She pauses long enough for Coran to take a breath and then says, “What is Hell?”

“Um, let’s just call it the Dark Ruins of Evil,” Shiro says quickly.

“Your character is basically the same as always,” Lance said.

“He’s technically not a paladin,” Pidge says. though she sounds resigned.

“Number 5! You’re next,” Coran says.

“I’m a rogue,” she says immediately. “I used to be an inventor until one day I was cheated of all my blueprints by a rich lord who sold them as his own. Now I spend my time screwing over the rich by stealing their most precious items and hoarding them simply just to annoy them and make their lives difficult. I sell stuff when I need money. I hope to eventually run all the rich freeloaders out of my village.”

Everyone absorbs that in quiet for a moment. “Geez, Pidge. You sound like you have a real grudge,” Keith mutters.

“She’s been watching a lot of documentaries to catch up on recent events on Earth, and her latest one was about the detrimental gaps in income between the economic classes,” Matt explains.

“It’s totally ridiculous! Haven’t they learned their lessons from back during the two-party era? Trickle down never works! People are suffering because our political leaders can’t get their heads out of their asses,” Pidge fumes.

“I don’t know what most of that means, but moving on,” Coran says. Shiro gives Pidge’s shoulder a comforting pat. “Krolia, it’s your turn.”

“I think I will pass on this round,” she says. “I would like to observe first to better understand how the game is played.”

“Suit yourself,” Coran chirps. “Onward then. Lance!”

Lance smirks. “I’m an assassin.”

“You were an assassin last time,” Pidge complains.

“No, I was an assassin thief last time,” Lance corrects. Hunk snorts. “This time I’m a killer for hire, one of the best, if not the best in the business, going by the code name Dark Shadow.” He accentuates his words with broad gestures, and Krolia has to duck more than once to avoid being smacked in the face. “I’m known for getting the job done quickly without any witnesses. Nobody has ever seen me and made it out alive. Except for my latest job. I was sent into a trap by my last employer and barely made it out. The one I was supposed to kill saw my face, so now I’m trying to hunt them down and get rid of them before they can reveal anything about my identity to the world. But they are highly trained and difficult to catch.”

He spreads his hands and wiggles his fingers, slowly gazing around the circle. Keith lifts a brow at the action and takes note of Allura’s quiet giggle from his left.

“That’s actually pretty cool, dude,” Hunk says approvingly and offers a fist bump across Romelle’s lap that Lance gladly accepts.

“Alright, Romelle,” Coran says. “You’re up.”

“Oh, yay!” Keith can’t really figure out just exactly how her eyes seem to actually sparkle. Then suddenly they turn dangerous. “I am a barbarian known in my village as one with unparalleled strength. I’m the protector of my people, chosen through a long, strenuous set of trials. Any who have challenged me have been swiftly defeated. I specialize in brute force fighting and can use my strength to create trenches and break stone. I’ve been known to take out whole armies with just a few blows. Most run away scared as they know the stories of my power.”

“So, you’re just like really strong?” Pidge says.

“Well, yes.”

“Are you an orc or something?”

“I suppose I could be.”

“Do you have an objective?”

“Oh,” Romelle says frowning. “Well…I am…looking for love. Most fear me and it makes finding love quite difficult. I wish to find someone who will not be afraid, who respects my power and loves me for it without wanting to change me.”

“Awww,” Hunk coos. “She’s just lonely. Being the top of the food chain can be really tough.”

“Yes, it can,” Romelle says solemnly, slowly nodding.

“Number 2!” Coran exclaims. “It’s your turn.”

“Oh, okay. Let’s see… I’ll be a ranger,” Hunk says.

“What’s up!” Lance says with a grin.

“I’m the apprentice of a master archer, but my master mysteriously disappeared before my teachings could be finished. Now I rely on the research he left behind to teach myself while I search for him in hopes of finding out what happened. Most signs seem to point to an evil force, but I don’t have a lot to go on. I’ve mostly been traveling around to try and find clues and learn all I can from other rangers and fighters to better my skills with archery and in knife handling.”

“Oh, that’s quite interesting, Hunk,” Allura says. “I’m curious to know what happened to your master.”

“Way to step away from your branches, Number 2!” Coran says.

Keith sighs but once again refrains from saying anything. He can hear Shiro snickering again, feels the soft shaking of his shoulders from where he’s pressed against Keith’s right arm.

“You’re up, Shay!”

“I…” She hums quietly for a long moment. “I am a cook at the King’s palace! I work there to keep my family fed, but one day there is a fire at the castle and I am separated from them during the panic. Unsure where to go, I travel in hopes of finding where they’ve gone. Along the way I learn new recipes and make lots of friends with my meals!”

“Well, usually you want to choose one of the traditional classes,” Coran says uncertainly.

“I don’t know. That one sounded pretty good to me,” Hunk says. Shay beams at him.

“You could choose one of the magic-based classes, something a little less based in fighting ability,” Pidge suggests. “Maybe a cleric with healing abilities or a druid with nature magic.”

“A cleric! I can heal people with my special recipes,” Shay says with a satisfied smile.

Hunk gives her a thumbs up of approval.

“Well, that will be quite useful,” Allura compliments. Keith is inclined to agree. A healer seems a good idea for any group quest.

“And onto Matt,” Coran says.

“I’ll be a warlock,” Matt says. “I made a pact with a reaper demon to gain power, but only so I can get revenge against the sorcerer who killed my parents. The power has twisted me so sometimes I am consumed by dark urges though I fight against them. My powers are of the undead and necromancy.”

“That’s pretty dark,” Pidge says approvingly.

“If you can bring the dead back to life, why not just revive your parents?” Krolia asks.

Matt sputters a moment. “It’s different,” he argues. “I can awaken the dead but not permanently. And the souls tend to be warped and darker than they were when they were alive. I would never put my parents through that!”

“If they are twisted and only half-there, then I would imagine they don’t feel much of anything,” Krolia says.

Matt narrows his eyes. “It makes sense,” is all he says.

“Alright, moving on,” Coran interrupts. “Let’s see, my turn. I will be the trusty in-keeper again, here to advise and guide you as you embark on your quest.”

“You’re not going to be evil again are you?” Lance asks, pointing a finger across the circle.

Keith grunts in surprise. He hadn’t heard about that part. He can see Shiro frown from his peripheral and almost laughs at his genuine displeasure.

“Yeah, that was totally uncalled for,” Hunk jumps in.

“It is all part of the game,” Allura tries, though she doesn’t sound like she agrees much with her own words.

“That was pretty harsh for our first time playing, though,” Pidge says.

“At least you guys didn’t die multiple times,” Shiro mumbles.

Keith actually has to hold back a snort at that and runs a soothing thumb over Shiro’s knuckles where his hand is pressed to the floor behind them. Shiro interlocks their pinky fingers before he can pull away.

“You will just have to wait and see,” Coran says cryptically and the paladins all groan. “Allura, I believe it’s your turn.”

“I will be an assassin of Fae descent. I am Dark Shadow’s nemesis.” Lance gasps, face lighting up. “We’ve been hunting each other ever since he first attempted to kill me and failed. I was also sent into a trap, set to kill him, but he got to me first. There is a larger conspiracy going on which I will soon discover, one led by dark magic. I have only just discovered some of the true nature of the situation and now wish to team up with Dark Shadow though I must figure out a way to do so without him killing me first.” Lance looks on the verge of tears now, and Keith wonders how they have yet to simply confess to one another yet. “Oh and I go by the code name Blue Dragon.”

“Yeeeeesssss,” Lance whispers.

“Nice, Princess,” Coran says. “And lastly it is your turn, Number 4…oh well I guess you’re Number 3 now aren’t you. You’ve grown a bit.”

“Wait, what?!” Lance exclaims. “No, I’m number 3! The numbers have already been decided. It doesn’t matter if he grew. Besides he got 2 free years. I bet I’ll end up taller anyways.”

He crosses his arms, glaring at Keith heatedly. Keith doesn’t much care who’s taller, but he can never resist riling Lance up.

“The numbers can change, Lance, and I’m taller now. Deal with it,” he says with a shrug.

He can practically see the steam roll off Lance’s head. Shiro interrupts before a full argument can start.

“I don’t think the number system was ever going to work long-term. Maybe we can think of something different, Coran?” he says with pleading eyes.

“Oh, of course! I love coming up with nicknames,” Coran says. “I’ll have to think on it a bit though. They’ve got to be really good. Besides we have more members on Team Voltron now. It’ll probably take a tick or two.”

“That’s fine,” Shiro breathes, shoulders relaxing as everyone in the circle visibly warms at the reminder, though Krolia turns a little green at the idea. He shoots Keith a chiding look who simply shrugs in return, though he gives Shiro’s fingers a squeeze.

“So what’ll it be, Keith?” Allura asks.

He can see his mom watching him with curiosity and knows she’s taking mental notes for the next round.

“I’ll be a fighter who is half…elf,” Keith says slowly. “I am a master sword fighter with special skill in dual blade welding.” Krolia nods along. “I am searching to learn more about my human side since I grew up among my mother’s people in the…mountains. Mountain elves.” He looks at Shiro for confirmation and gets an approving nod. Keith maintains eye contact with him as he continues. “Along my travels I met Shiro. I immediately admired his goal to protect and decide to follow him. I travel with him and help him protect the weak and investigate the…Portal of Evil?” Shiro shrugs in a dismissive gesture, though he’s smiling softly. “In return, he helps me research my father’s family and learn more about humans. He’s the first human I trust.”

“Ugh!” Lance groans loudly.

Keith snaps out of whatever fog he’d fallen into. He snaps his gaze away from Shiro, trying to push away the heat he can feel crawling up his cheekbones.

“Can we just establish that they’re married already or something so they don’t spend the entire game trying to get in each other’s pants?” Lance continues.

Now Shiro’s cheeks light up, color blooming evenly across smooth skin and camouflaging the scar across his nose. Keith coughs awkwardly, attempting to think of a retort.

“Somehow I doubt that will stop them,” Pidge says dryly.

“I second that idea,” Hunk says raising his hand with a finger pointed to the sky. “It’s better than letting them run completely wild.”

Shiro exhales forcefully.

“I think I have to agree,” Allura says with a wince.

“All those in favor of establishing a union between Shiro and Keith, raise your hand,” Coran commands.

Every hand in the circle goes up. Keith looks at Krolia in betrayal though she only gives him a knowingly raised brow.

“Okay. Sorry Shiro, Keith. It looks like you’ve been voted into marriage,” Coran says shrugging.

Keith sighs but accepts it. He can’t say the idea doesn’t please him anyway.

“I guess that means we’re married, then,” Shiro says.

Keith tries valiantly to ignore the way his stomach flips at that. He feels a little better when he notices the slightly constipated look on Shiro’s face that suggests he’s feeling the same way. That’s a conversation for much later with a lot more privacy though.

“I guess so,” Keith says weakly.

“Time to roll for first play!” Coran says.

Keith bites his lip and focuses back in on the moment. He and Shiro have all the time in the world now to think about that stuff. Right now, he wants to take advantage of this rare free time with his friends, even if he has to stumble along for the first hour of the game.

#sheith #voltron #fan fic #fics #voltron fic #voltron fanfic #sheith fic #sheith fanfic #monsters and mana #asks #anonymous #oh geez i almost couldn't end it #i could have probably gone on forever with this lol #i wasn't expecting that to happen #thank you for the prompt nonny!#this was a lot of fun to get creative with

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vivace-joyous · 6 years ago

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The Umbrella Academy 1x01-03

okay, so I have been watching this new show cause y’all know I love me some group based narratives. And the premise feels very fun with lots of ways they can play around with it. It’s like Sense8 if Sense8 focused more on worldbuilding and constructing an overarching narrative to connect all the characters too. However, I find these two shows to be inverses of each other even though their premises are similar thematically. UA and S8 (how I will abbreviate them) seem to excel and stumble in a complementary fashion. Before I get too deep in what I mean, I should talk more about just the UA itself and my general impressions over the first 3 episodes.

OVERALL, it’s enjoyable. I feel like the world building and the over arching plot are the two main elements propelling me through the series. Which like... GOOD! That’s what is supposed to happen when watching a show. If you don’t like the story, watching the show feels like a task. But I am genuinely intrigued by the mystery of the show and what will happen next. Five: “The world will end in 8 days.” Vanya “I’ll put some coffee on then.” Solid way to end a pilot and leave me wanting more. Not just for the next episode, but that is a great way to kick off the first season. BOOM! The Hargreaves have to band together and stop the world end of the world. I just appreciate this because it gives a solid foundation for all other storylines to center around. It is something your brain can stay conscious of throughout each episode and I feel that is such a strong element and important element for a tv show to posses to be good.

Continuing with the writing, I think so far the pace is decent and the writing is competent from episode to episode. The less important, character-driven storylines are given weight but never take too much focus from the main plot. The dialogue is passable. It doesn’t have a very distinct personality to itself though. If the character is not eccentric themselves, then they probably won’t ever say anything interesting. Which ugh ehh. I just wish the dialogue called more intention to itself because that way the writers could infuse more character moments in fun little quibs. However, it does its job so I can’t complain.

But I will complain about the use of flashback in the show. The flashbacks feel more used to quickly establish something that is happening in the present day storyline than really be anything more than that. Which is.. like technically okay and the POINT of a flashback. But it is so cliche and I believe there are other, more unique ways to deliver information than just cutting to a flashback. Granted, I do love seeing then team as young teens fighting crime. That’s super cool and I wish the show showed more of that. Cause MY GOD does this show need some more ACTION scenes in it.

I feel like my biggest problem in the first 3 episodes is that the action feels second to the drama and that totally needs to be reversed. I’m so sorry, but outside of whatever Five is doing, all the other individual character storylines are so fucking boring. I don’t care what any of them do when it doesn’t relate to the main plot. I think that’s why I like Diego’s character cause his whole thing is ABOUT the main plot. I mean, I feel like the show will deliver in terms of action. It’s clear that more insane elements will get thrown in and the filmmakers do like the demonstrate the special powers in fun ways. So I am excited to see what action scenes will come up. I just think overall the show needs more cause the melodrama kinda sorta makes the episodes drag. Like, why is Diego constantly in his fight clothes but he has only been in 2 fight scenes? And Five has like what 3 or 4 in just the first 3 episodes?

And MY GOD DO I HATE HOW THIS SHOW IS SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!! UGH the cinematography is fucking crap. I hate how it is lit. I hate how the director decided to compose the shots. I hate how there appears to be this like.... haze fliter???? on everything??? Like every scene looks cloudy. It’s like supersaturated. I don’t like it cause 1) I feel it does not help the tone of the show. I feel like we shouldn’t take everything so seriously and have more fun with the premise. But this smoky haze filter makes everything more somber and I think it bumps with most of what actually happens on the show. And 2) it genuinely makes it harder to make out expressions in the actor’s faces. Ugh fire the DP. They are doing a terrible job.

Let’s talk about the individual characters:

1) Luther. Hate him. Boring white man. Why is he “the leader of the family” after the dad has passed? Like he has not a single interesting aspect about himself. I am honestly so bored every time he talks. And it doesn’t help with the fact that the actor’s head is way too small for the illusion they are trying to create for the character. It’s like “Yeah, let’s put a stale ass, tiny ass white man head on this GIANT 7 foot muscle clad body. He just looks bizarre cause his face says “5′11″ and toned” but his body is that of a bodybuilder. I just wish they found an actor who is just massive like that already for the show. The ridiculous costume they have him in honestly takes me out of it for a bit. And it doesn’t help that they actor isn’t really trying to do anything with the character. Luther says lines. Luther is strong. That’s about it. I will say that despite him being “Number 1″ and “the leader of the family” the show hasn’t given him that much screen time and we still don’t know much about him at all. Which I really appreciate cause it is giving a lot of other (more interesting) characters necessary focus and thus makes getting through Luther scenes that much easier. I don’t know need to learn more about it. Just have him be strong in a corner.

2) Diego. MY FUTURE HUSBAND!!!!!! HE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! I WILL SUCK THE SOUL OUT OF HIS DICK AND ASS HE IS SO FINE OMG yeah badass martial artist who throws knives and has a bit of an anger management problem. I am SMITTEN! I mean eww why the fuck does he have to be straight and keep hitting on that one detective. Honestly, ugh I hate that he is straight. It’s boring and unoriginal. It would have been neat for him to be asexual. He is good looking so people assume that he would be a lady killer. But he is WAY too obsessed with fighitng crime that he literally doesn’t pay attention to his own sexuality. But WAHTEVER! The queer character has to be the eccentric one with the drug problem alkfhadlskfadslkfbdskh ANYWAYS I like hos Diego adds a healthy amount of doubt amongst the group. In terms of constructing group dynamics, he is a lancer AKA the one always playing devil’s advocate. I think he adds a valuable perspective to the team and it will be interesting to see how the family will solve problems with integration of Diego’s help. I don’t like how the show handle showing the relationship between Diego and Mom/ Grace. But I will dive more into that when I talk about the flashbacks.

3) Allison. My god is she boring. But like, in the perspective in how she is an actress, yet doesn’t act like an actress. I mean, yes some actors can act like “normal people” but like... most actors don’t. I say this as someone who lives in LA and knows actors. They have BIG PERSONALITIES. They like to be KNOWN! However, Allison just feels way too subdued and “normal”. Like, okay she must have pursued an acting career of her own violation. So she must be a person who loves attention and strives for their chance to be in the spotlight. Everything needs to revolve around them. But that’s not Allison. She isn’t really anything. She is concerned about her daughter... if feel like that’s the only real thing we have learned about her so far. I wish her narrative had an angle about her being attention seeking. During the scene when all the siblings were reading Vanya’s autobigraphy, the voiceover cut to Allison when the VO mentioned attention seeking. Which, if that is an aspect of Allison’s character, then SHOW it to us. Have her do SOMETHING besides give creepy incest bedroom eyes to Luther.

4) Klaus. Finally, an interesting character! His powers are unique yet have a direct influence on how his personality is shaped. His is a drug addict because dead people are constantly trying to talk to him. Kinda sorta metaphor for the mentally unwell and how they abuse drugs because “It makes the voices go away”. They just have a lot of things they can do with him and the writers know this. They obviously have some extra fun when writing him. I just wish the other characters were a lot more sympathetic towards him. Like.... maybe try and talk to him about his drug problem? Rather than patronize it literally every single time you talk to him. SERIOUSLY every single scene Klaus is in with one of his siblings, they always HAVE to mention his drug problem AND THEN scold him for it. Like............ that’s not very constructive? Like at all! But I guess that’s just how some families are to one another. Also, it is very interesting to see how they are handling Robert Sheehan’s performance in UA compared to Misfits. In Misfits, he has a tendency to devour each scene he was in, to the point where he felt like the central character of that show. But Nathan was such a great character, that often times you didn’t mind how he would steamroll over others because it was done in such an entertaining way. But in the UA, the director’s have chosen to use Robert Sheehan’s signature eccentric style to flavour the scenes, rather than change the tone of the scene altogether (unlike how they used Nathan in Misfits). Anyways, I am most intrigued to see what they will do with his character.

5) Five. I don’t have too much to say about him because I feel like there is a lot more to be discovered about this character. Overall, I like the concept around the character and tbh he gets some of the best scenes in the first 3 episodes. I am truly impressed with the actor portraying this character. I think he is doing quite a great job in giving us the nuances of the character. A 58-year-old trapped in the body of a 13-year-old. Like, I get that. I see that. It works and I am here for it.

6) Ben. WOW so the one Asian one is dead and barely gets any lines. Ugh okay. Really REALLY want to learn more about him. Really intrigued with how he died to begin with. Hopefully the show shares this story element in an interesting way that connects to the main plot in a way other than just thematically.

7) Vanya. I.... I wanna hold my tongue about her. Cause she is obviously the audience perspective character for this world. So there isn’t much to say about her besides her being a tool to help the audience get integrated into the show’s world. I just... I gotta wait cause I feel like they are going to do something cool with her character and I don’t wanna make any.... undeserved assumptions. I just want more from her which like... I guess is a good thing?

#the umbrella academy #Imma try and do reviews for this show #but it probably won't be episode by episode like I did with Sense8 #netflix #review #tv show

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jennycalendar · 6 years ago

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very really married (5/?)

read it on ao3!

credit to @cantspeakfae for appearing apropos of nothing in my messages n starting up a lovely chat; one last scene needed writing n her enthusiasm for this fic inspired me to do so. <3

If he was being completely honest with himself, Giles’s primary concern when it came to Buffy was her tendency to prioritize external activities over her sacred calling. Her visible frustration with her cause perturbed him, and her attempts to seek out other things outside of her destiny, even more so. He had never heard of a Vampire Slayer who balanced her Slaying with extracurriculars. Most were raised and then homeschooled by their Watchers, and none saw their preternatural strength and powers as the hindrance that Buffy seemed to label them as. She patrolled sloppily and without precision, she wouldn’t train with him for longer than an hour, and she butchered the English language with her Americanisms. It was true that she was efficient in the end, but her utter disregard for tradition frightened Giles in how much it reminded him of himself.

Which was perhaps why, when she arrived in the library brandishing pom-poms, he was a bit more horrified than he had any right to be.

“Absolutely not,” he said immediately.

“I’m sorry?” said Buffy.

“This is utterly unbecoming behavior for a Vampire Slayer,” said Giles, and he knew he was being ridiculous, but his mind was jumping from cheerleading to demon-summoning to someone ending up dead. “You cannot possibly distance yourself from your calling like this!”

“You’re kidding, right?” said Buffy, and shook the pom-poms a little, her mouth twitching.

“I am not—kidding,” said Giles, speaking the distastefully American word with an involuntary shudder. “This is madness! What can you have been thinking? You are the Slayer! Lives depend upon you!” All but lost in his fury and fear, he began to pace. “I make allowances for your youth,” he continued, “but I expect a certain amount of responsibility, and instead of which you enslave yourself to this, this...” He stopped, turning to face her. “Cult?”

“You don't like the color?” Buffy asked innocently.

“I d..” Sometimes, it truly felt as though Buffy was taking a leaf out of Jenny’s book. “Do you ignore everything I say as a rule?” he asked thinly.

“No, I believe that's your trick,” Buffy countered, unfazed. As Giles attempted to push a cart of books over towards the counter, she skipped in front of him, posing with pom-poms in hand. “I told you, I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad!”

“You have a sacred birthright, Buffy,” Giles persisted, determined to make her see reason. “You were chosen to destroy vampires, not to...wave pom-poms at people. And as the Watcher,” he added, attempting to infuse the statement with as much finality as possible, “I forbid it.”

Buffy, unbothered and almost amused, looked expectantly up at him. “And you'll be stopping me how?”

Giles hadn’t expected this response. “Well, I...” He sat down on the edge of the table, crossing his arms. “By appealing to your common sense,” he said finally, “if such a creature exists.”

“I will still have time to fight the forces of evil, okay?” Buffy reassured him. “I just wanna have a life. I wanna do something normal. Something safe.”

It was perhaps the last word that softened Giles, just a bit, though he of course had no intention of revealing that to his Slayer. He felt a bit silly, now, thinking that Buffy’s cheerleading attempts were an act of rebellion akin to his own demonic exploits. “Regardless,” he said, still attempting to sound as though he was completely opposed to the concept. A proper Watcher, according to Travers, was a strict disciplinarian, imparting upon their Slayer the importance of knowledge and tradition. “I expect your primary focus to at all times be your Slaying. It won’t do for this town to have a distracted protector.”

The tentative softness in Buffy’s expression vanished. “You know you’re being ridiculous,” she informed him. Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heel, striding briskly out of the library and nearly colliding with Jenny. “Hey, Ms. Calendar, can you tell your husband he’s being totally ridiculous? Cool! Thanks!”

Weaving around Buffy, and making sure not to spill the contents of the two paper cups she was holding, Jenny gave Giles a small grin as the library doors swung shut. “I don’t need context to agree with Buffy,” she said. “You are ridiculous.”

Giles, still frustrated, let out a furious breath. “Teenagers,” he said. “I can’t abide them.”

“You picked the wrong career for that attitude, love muffin,” said Jenny, handing him one of the paper cups. “And don’t you dare get all snobby about how American this tea is. I used up the last bag for you and I had to deal with the entire English department giving me death glares.”

“Hmm,” said Giles. “Tea bags. Haven’t had these in a while.”

“This is why I don’t do nice things for you,” Jenny informed him, taking a sip of her own coffee.

“Didn’t you just?”

Jenny held up a finger, swallowed, then said, “It was convenient. Nice is when I go out of my way for you.”

“Lovely,” said Giles. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Cheerleading, as it turned out, was not as safe as Buffy had claimed. The day after tryouts brought the news that one of the cheerleaders had burst into flame mid-routine, which, of course, merited serious discussion regarding whether this combustion was mystical in nature. Which then led to Willow bringing up illegally hacking into the school database to see if Amber Grove had burst into flame before, Giles saying without thinking, “Oh, no, I can just ask Jenny to look,” and then Giles spending the entire morning attempting to figure out how to either ask Jenny to breach privacy laws or ask Jenny to teach him how to do it himself.

He eventually decided that dealing with Jenny telling him off for breaking laws was much preferable to dealing with Jenny very smugly teaching him how to use a computer, and as such brought the subject up when she stopped by his office for lunch. What he was not expecting was for her to say, “Oh, um,” and go very pink.

“What is it?” said Giles.

“Well,” said Jenny uncomfortably, “I—kinda already did that.”

“What?”

Jenny bit her lip, then said, “I mean, look, it was what everyone was talking about all day yesterday, and then this morning I started thinking about it and I was like does that just happen to her sometimes? And I know it’s not the most ethical thing to do, but I was curious—”

“So did she?”

Jenny blinked. “You’re not gonna get all British about me breaking rules?”

“Oh, please,” said Giles. “I’d have broken them first if I knew how. Did Amber burst into flames before this?”

Jenny bit her lip and gave him a smile the likes of which he hadn’t seen since their argument on the plane. “Sometimes I really can’t pin you down,” she said.

“I much prefer it that way,” said Giles, and clinked his cup of tea against her mug of coffee. “And about Amber—”

“Never,” said Jenny. “This is the first time it’s happened to her.”

“Hmm,” said Giles, bothered.

“Yeah, that was my reaction,” said Jenny, frowning. “Do you think it’ll happen again?”

“I—don’t know,” said Giles truthfully.

“Not to Amber, I mean,” said Jenny carefully. “To someone else.”

Giles took another look at Jenny, who was looking almost purposefully ahead. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Do you know anything about it?”

“I don’t know,” said Jenny lightly, “it’s just that you’re writing a book about creepy stuff that goes down in this town. I figured you might know about the weird history this high school has when it comes to unexplained deaths and ghost stories and stuff like that.”

“Oh,” said Giles, and almost laughed with relief. “Jenny, there’s—there’s no such thing as ghosts.”

Jenny’s shoulders relaxed, and she gave him a small, strange smile, one that seemed almost protective in nature. “Yes,” she said, and wound her arms around his shoulders, kissing the top of his head without offering any explanation for it (even when a blushing Giles all but demanded one).

The day after that, Cordelia was afflicted with a terrible and mystical blindness, and Jenny happened to be with Giles when the children came to inform him of this. “Giles!” Buffy shouted, bursting into his office, then skidded on her heels and stopped, looking nervously up at Jenny. “Uh—hi, Ms. Calendar!”

“Giles, we have to talk about Cord—” Willow, too, stopped, throwing her arm out in front of Xander. “Ms. Calendar! Is here! Which makes total sense since she’s Giles’s wife! We should, we should maybe come back later?”

Jenny, who was sitting on Giles’s desk, looked quizzically at him.

“I’m hosting a—study group,” said Giles helplessly. He really didn’t like lying to Jenny this early in the morning. Or at all. “They’re a bit overzealous in the morning.”

“Wish that were the case for me,” said Jenny, and gave the kids a warm smile. Buffy, looking a little startled, smiled back. Willow, not looking startled at all, beamed. “Hey, are you guys hungry?”

“Yes,” said Xander, ducking under Willow’s arm to snag one of the cookies that Giles had made especially for his wife and no one else. “Thank you. Giles always has killer snacks and he doesn’t let us have them.”

“Rupert!”Jenny whacked his shoulder. “They’re growing kids! I don’t know what I’d do if my study group hadn’t had snacks back in high school.”

“Yeah, Giles, we should have snacks in the library,” said Buffy, her face lighting up. “We’re here a lot, aren’t we?”

Good lord, Giles could already see the damage they would do to his books. Pizza grease, popcorn kernels… “Jenny,” he said, “this is a library, a place of sanctity—”

“Knowledge shouldn’t be restricted to non-snackers!”

“Is this really the argument you want to have?”

“Now more than ever, if you’re gonna judge me about it,” said Jenny, kissing Giles on the cheek. Giles blushed. “Kids, you have my express permission to eat in this library,” she added, “and he isn’t going to change that, because he loves me sooo much.”

“Jenny—”

Jenny gave him a frankly unfair look, one with innocent eyes and a hopeful smile and her finger tracing quiet circles around Giles’s heart. That could be a rather pretty metaphor for something, he thought. “Um,” he said, and tried to remember exactly what it was that he’d been in opposition to.

“Oh my god, Ms. Calendar, you have superpowers,” said Xander. “Can you be in the library all the time?”

“Unfortunately, I have class to teach,” said Jenny, her hand stilling and sliding up to gently grip Giles’s shoulder. She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek; his heart sped up. “Look, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she said, quiet enough that only he would hear, “but I know them, and they’re good kids. They’ll do their best to keep your books neat.”

Giles stared at her, stunned, as she pulled away. Had she just…ended an argument without insisting on him doing things her way?

“Xander, that homework really is due Monday,” Jenny added, patting Willow’s shoulder as she exited the office. She turned to look back, once, her expression unusually and genuinely appreciative, and then she left the library.

“Your wife is the best,” said Xander, who had somehow polished off all of the snacks while Giles and Jenny had been talking.

“Seconded,” said Willow.

“Can she marry me?” said Buffy emphatically.

Lovely. His Slayer liked his fake wife better than him. Not that he needed his Slayer to like him, that wasn’t the point—“Anyway,” said Giles. “What exactly was it that you wanted to inform me of with such urgency?”

“Oh,” said Buffy. “Yeah. Can we have snacks first?”

“…yes,” said Giles, and found the microwave popcorn that Jenny had hidden in one of his desk drawers. “Go sit at the table and I’ll make you all popcorn.”

“Ms. Calendar’s probably the only person who could have pulled that off,” he heard Willow whispering to Buffy as he started the microwave.

“How did she end up with Giles?” Buffy whispered back. “I mean, they’re total opposites. Ms. Calendar’s all cool and pretty, and Giles is all…books and tweed.”

Giles decided to take that as a compliment.

Giles spent most of the night researching witchcraft as covertly as possible. If the witch was in fact Amy, and if said powerful witch, with the capabilities to blind, mute, and do who knows what else to her enemies, was after a spot on the cheerleading squad…well, suffice it to say that he would not be in favor of Buffy being part of such a dangerous extracurricular. That, and Amy very badly needed to be stopped.

Jenny, who had been playing video games next to him on the couch, paused, taking a second look at the book he was reading. “What’s that?” she asked, almost guarded.

“Hmm?” Giles looked up. “Oh—your supernatural talk got me thinking,” he said, attempting a self-deprecating laugh. “Doing a bit of, um, pleasure reading.”

Jenny cocked her head. “It’s just that that’s a pretty rare book,” she said finally. “Pretty unusual for pleasure reading.”

Giles blinked, startled. “How did you know of its rarity?” he asked. “It’s a family heirloom.”

“Huh?” Jenny looked uncomfortable. “I-I read a lot of occult stuff, that’s all.” Before Giles could fully digest this rather startling information, she added, “When you’re done with your book, can you make dinner? I’d make a microwave meal, but we don’t have any, because you wouldn’t let me buy any last time we went grocery shopping.”

“Microwave meals are terrible,” said Giles, grateful for the opportunity to change the subject. “And yes, I will. Just let me mark my place and I’ll be right on it.”

“Great,” said Jenny awkwardly. “I might run a few errands while you’re working on dinner. If that’s okay?”

Giles looked nervously out at the setting sun. “Bit dark for that,” he said.

“You go out after dark all the time,” said Jenny, raising an eyebrow.

This was a fair point. “All right,” said Giles. “Just—” and without thinking, he reached out to gently touch Jenny’s shoulder. “Be careful,” he said.

Jenny looked down at his hand, then looked back up at him, genuinely taken aback. “I’ve taken care of myself for a while now,” she said finally. “I’ll be okay.” Shrugging off his hand, she got up from the couch, but she looked a little flustered and she forgot to turn the television off on her way out.

“Waste of electricity,” said Giles, smiling slightly, and shut off the television himself.

Jenny didn’t come back until late that night, and hung a pair of dollar-store binoculars quietly by the door. Giles’s curiosity was piqued, but it felt thoroughly hypocritical to ask her questions when he himself was hiding such a large secret from her, and so he held his tongue.

Giles had barely gotten into the library the next morning when he was met with a panicked Willow and Xander, holding between them a pale, woozy Buffy. “What on earth happened?” he demanded, anxiety making his voice sharper than it needed to be. He wasn’t used to seeing Buffy look this small.

“Amy,” said Buffy simply, letting Willow and Xander lower her down into Giles’s chair.

“Willow, get her a wet cloth for her forehead,” Giles directed, then turned to look again at Buffy, his heart in his throat. He found, suddenly, that he was no longer thinking about what it might mean for his Slayer to die, or his reputation in the eyes of the Council, or any of his usual worries—worries that now seemed like foolish, bureaucratic, heartless nonsense, straight from the mind of a man who had never truly understood being a Watcher until now. She was a girl. She was tiny, strands of hair plastered to her face, eyes unfocused, and he was terrified that he would not be able to save her.

“We have to get her to a hospital!” said Willow, loudly, but still with that panicked compassion that seemed to characterize her every action.

“They can’t help her,” said Giles heavily. He knew this spell quite intimately. He and Ethan had come across it in their studies, looking for things that might get them high. They had stumbled upon this one before Eyghon, but upon reading of its aftereffects… “This is a bloodstone vengeance spell,” he said, taking Buffy’s pulse. As he’d expected, it was thready, weak, but still present. They had time. “Hits the body hard like a, a quart of alcohol, and then it eradicates the immune system.”

“A vengeance spell,” Xander echoed, “like she’s trying to get even with Buffy?”

“Cause she knows I know she’s a witch,” said Buffy, level and almost resigned. Giles thought his heart might shatter—she was so—she was too small, this girl, to be this accustomed to death. Even he had not been quite so comfortable with his calling at her age—and yes, she played at rebellion, but she was—she was a good Slayer. She was a good Slayer.

“The others she wanted out of the running,” he said, surprised at how steady he was keeping his voice. “You, she wanted to…” Here, he couldn’t continue.

“Kill?” Buffy finished. It wasn’t really a question.

“How much time do we have?” Willow asked nervously.

“Oh, uh, I’m sure, uh…” Giles fumbled, not wanting to give them the answer.

“Truth,” said Buffy. “Please.”

He felt so hopelessly inept, now. This job wasn’t an honor if they had so easily given it to someone so unprepared as him. “A couple of hours,” he said quietly. “Three at most.”

The moment that stood out, to Giles, in the bewildering story that unfolded over the course of the next hour, was the way a pale, weak Buffy reached over to Amy Madison and said, “Amy, it’s going to be okay.” She blew him away, in that moment: this child, this sixteen-year-old small enough for him to lift up and carry to his car (and did, and had to, because the spell had weakened her immune system quite extensively), this girl weighed down by her sacred duty that might very well kill her that day, reaching out to make sure another girl received comfort.

Giles was not prepared to be a Watcher, he thought. Buffy, however, was most certainly prepared to be a Slayer.

He would do anything to protect this girl. He had to remind himself that, in the chemistry classroom, the boiling mixture bubbling and reminding him that this was his first real casting since Eyghon. He would do anything to protect this girl, because it was his sacred duty, but this day had started with him being afraid and it seemed it would end in that same way. He was afraid of so many things, in this moment: that he would succumb to the magics yet again, that this wouldn’t work, that Buffy would die, that he would be alone in his failure—

But he wouldn’t be quite alone, he realized. Jenny had wanted to attend today’s basketball game. He was sure she’d be all but furious at him for dropping off the face of the earth all day. She was probably at the game right now, that or turning Sunnydale upside down looking for him.

It wouldn’t do for a Watcher, a husband, a librarian to be afraid. Giles closed his eyes for half a second, opened them, and began to read, stirring the mixture as he did so.

“The center is dark,” he read. “Centrum est obscurus. The darkness breathes. Tenebrae respiratis. The listener hears. Hear me!”

“It’s working,” said Mrs. Madison (Amy?), almost reverent in her relief.

“Unlock the gate,” Giles read, and felt the familiar, heady sensation of magics running through him. He thought, determinedly, of Buffy, and of Jenny, and of the thousand and one reasons he had not to throw himself into liking the sensation. “Let the darkness shine. Cover us with holy fear.”

Behind him, Amy (Mrs. Madison?) staggered back, covering her face.

“Show me...” The power was building behind his eyes. The lights in the classroom went out.

“She’s coming!” gasped out Amy.

Giles felt a flicker of worry break his concentration, and focused on holding tight to the magics, throwing his arms up with a half-ironic thought regarding Jenny’s attempts to attach an antenna to the television the night before. “Corsheth and Gilail!” he shouted. “The gate is closed! Receive the dark! Release the unworthy! Take of mine energy and be sated!”

And then he plunged his hands into the mixture and was quite sure he got some rather horrible burns. Ah, well. That turned out to be the least of his worries.

“Rupert,” said Jenny as soon as she saw him. He was rather expecting her to begin yelling at him, but instead she let out a strangled noise, pushed past the students leaving the basketball game, knocked Xander out of the way, and flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. Giles, stunned, hugged her back, inadvertently lifting her off her feet.

“Aww,” said Willow, and grinned. Buffy grinned too.

“I’m going to kill you,” Jenny said, raising her head to glare at him. “Also, I’m buying you a pager.”

“Absolutely not,” said Giles, affronted. “I have gone through enough today without having to deal with those—little—beepy things.”

“Yeah, beepy things are the technical term,” said Jenny, giving him a frustrated smile. “You understand that vanishing completely for the whole day in a town like this is extremely stressful for me? I’ve been asking around about you all day.”

Though Giles and Jenny had discussed creating the illusion of convincing intimacy, the genuine concern in Jenny’s eyes was well past anything either of them could invent. It made Giles feel rather guilty, especially considering how generally unflappable Jenny was. He really must have worried her. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I never mean to trouble you.” Setting her down, and not quite sure what to do with his hands, he nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll leave you a note next time,” he said.

“Page me,” said Jenny.

“No,” said Giles.

“I think that’s our cue,” said Buffy, giving Giles a small, amused smile. “I kinda feel like going home, pigging out on junk food…you know. Self-care kinda stuff.”

“Good,” said Giles, who was vaguely aware of the fact that his arm was still tucked around Jenny’s waist, and didn’t mind. It did make them look rather married, after all. “You deserve it.”

“Rupert!” He felt Jenny tug reprovingly on his hand, and winced. “What the hell happened? Did you put your hands into a deep fryer?”

“Pretty much,” said Buffy, her mouth twitching. “Good luck explaining that one, Giles.” Throwing an arm around Willow’s shoulder, she headed off, striding with purpose and energy that more than comforted Giles. She, at least, didn’t seem worse for wear.

“First aid,” said Jenny. “And explanation.” She let go of his hand, tugging at his sleeve instead. “Do you have a kit in the library?”

“I—believe so—”

“No, you know what? Band-Aids aren’t gonna cut it. I got this amazing heavy-duty first-aid kit from the pharmacy last week, we are using that, I think it has burn cream—” Jenny led him down the hall, finally stopping at her classroom to open the door. “But what happened?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” said Giles truthfully, stepping in after her. It really had been that kind of day.

Jenny seemed satisfied with that answer. “So the kind of weirdness on par with, say, random acts of blindness?” she asked. “Well. I’m just glad you got burns and nothing else. I like your eyes plenty as they are, and I would one hundred percent divorce you on the spot if your mouth got replaced by smooth skin with no opening. That kind of stuff is for B-list horror movies only, thank you—”

Shutting the door, Giles caught Jenny by her waist, pressing a quiet kiss to her cheek. She stopped talking, her eyes huge. “After a day like this,” he said, “it is quite nice to see you again.”

“Oh,” said Jenny. “Oh. Okay,” and sat down on the edge of her desk, looking a bit stunned.

“Um, Jenny?”

“Yeah?”

“First aid?”

“Oh!” Blushing, Jenny jumped up, hurrying around her desk to rummage in one of the drawers. “Okay—here, just grab a chair and sit down.”

Giles obliged, sitting on the other side of the desk and waiting until Jenny and the first aid kit were settled. “How was the game?” he asked.

“Amy Madison took a pretty nasty tumble,” said Jenny, wincing sympathetically as she dabbed at his burns with a moist towelette. “I’m thinking I might check in on her tomorrow, maybe see how she’s doing.”

“I think that’d be an excellent idea,” said Giles honestly.

“Shock!” Jenny clapped a hand dramatically to her chest, “Wonder! Rupert Giles, thinking one of my ideas is excellent!” She grinned. “Am I gonna get you to say yes to that pager?”

“When hell freezes over,” said Giles primly.

“Oh, whatever,” said Jenny, and began to bandage one of his hands.

#fic #very really married #GOSH i'm exhausted. lot of stuff that happened today

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