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cinnikiroll · 4 months ago

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you'll always be mine (dwayne pride x female reader)

Summary: You thought you'd escaped your relationship with Douglas Hamilton. But then he shows up when you least expect it.

If you like this fic, please do check out my other fanfics on AO3 under the username cinnikiroll. Here is a link to my profile, where I have fics from other shows for your viewing pleasure!

This fic is a request. If you want to request a fic, you may do so in my asks, my inbox, or in the comments on an AO3 fic! I don't guarantee I will write your request but I will try to!

The sweet scent of flowers wafted through the air as you cursorily scanned the wedding venue for what felt like the hundredth time.

You couldn't believe you were getting married to the Dwayne Pride, beloved by all of New Orleans. Any woman worth her salt would die to even be looked at by Dwayne, and here you were, the most unworthy human being in the city, marrying him.

After your past relationship, which was more than a little painful and traumatic, you didn't think you deserved anything good. It had taken a long while and a great deal of patience on both your end and Dwayne's to heal your wounds, and even then, there were still scars left behind. But he was a kind and loving man, and he accepted you for who you were, scars and all.

Hearing a wedding march being hummed behind you, you turned around to see Loretta Wade, her arms full of boxes doubtlessly containing decorations. When the two of you made eye contact, she placed the boxes down and rushed to hug her. Loretta gave the best hugs- warm, motherly, and full of reassuring strength. You could use all the strength you could get at this point.

"Anxious about tomorrow?"

She asked, her expert doctor's eye noticing the way you were shifting on your feet and playing with the hem of your shirt.

At first, you didn't want to admit how you felt. Why would you be feeling anxious on the day before the biggest event of your life? You were supposed to be happy, not sick to your stomach and going through scenarios in your head where everything went wrong.

But then you saw the genuine concern in Loretta's gentle dark eyes, and you sighed deeply, knowing that lying would be pointless.

"I don't know why!"

You exclaimed, the anger you were directing at yourself evident in your tone.

Loretta frowned at your sudden change in tone and placed her hands on your shoulders, directing you to look her straight in her eyes and never look away. She was about to lecture you, you knew it.

With yet another sigh, you made eye contact with her, and prepared to take your medicine.

"My dear. Being anxious before a wedding is normal. I know I sure was before my own!"

She laughed, but it was a bitter laugh, full of pain.

You knew that her ex husband had not been a good partner, what with his constantly controlling and possessive behavior. It killed you to know that such a sweet woman had to experience such pain. She didn't deserve it.

Nobody deserves to be in a relationship like that, you thought to yourself, then begrudgingly added, not even you.

Your ex boyfriend, Douglas Hamilton- yes, that Douglas Hamilton, the mayor of New Orleans- hadn't been physically abusive in any way, nor did he ever verbally berate you (at least, not typically). But he was a busy man, and all the work he had to do left his nerves constantly frayed. It was a constant struggle, coming home and not knowing whether he'd be in a good mood and snuggle with you or be in a foul mood and throw things around like an Olympic discus thrower.

Whenever you approached him and tried to address his volatile emotions, he would get upset and constantly tell you that "it's normal" and that you were "just overreacting". He constantly assured you that he'd never physically hurt you, that he loved you, but living in the same house with someone like him ended up doing irreversible damage to your psyche.

So you left him.

It was a messy breakup, to say the least. Douglas had screamed, thrown a glass at you and cut your forehead, and then proceeded to cry and beg you to come back to him, insisting that you didn't know and could never know how much he loved you.

You had wound up kicked out of the home you'd lived in for years- you had lived in Douglas' home, but when you broke up, he had kicked you out without even letting you gather your belongings first- and alone on a late night in New Orleans.

Terrified and injured, you ran to the first public place you found, which happened to be the Trutone. Dwayne had been closing up, but when he saw you, he gladly ushered you in, treated your wounds, and, after hearing your story, offered you a home in the spare room of his apartment.

At first, you didn't trust him at all, not wanting to get into yet another toxic relationship. But as time went on, you learned that Dwayne was nothing more than a teddy bear with a professional facade. He would gladly listen to your pain anytime, and always promised to be there for you when you needed him, and he was.

Years passed, and you never saw Douglas again. His behavior and the way he manipulated you would forever scar you, but with Dwayne as your caretaker and lover, you had nothing to fear. Even if your crazy ex boyfriend did come by to pester you- which you doubted very highly judging by the fact that years had passed with no sign of him- you were safe and secure in the knowledge that you would never be hurt by him as long as your boyfriend was there to protect you.

After five painstakingly long, excruciatingly beautiful years of dating, Dwayne proposed to you. The proposal was a simple affair, as befitting his personality, but you couldn't have asked for more. You accepted, obviously, and that had led you to this situation...

"Dear? What is it?"

Loretta's sweet voice was a dam in the flowing river of your memories, stopping them short and bringing you back to the current time.

"Just... remembering the past, Loretta."

Your tone was melancholy, and she noticed that immediately. Knowing you were most likely remembering your previous relationship with Douglas, she pulled you into her arms again and held you tightly, stroking your back with her strong hands. The repetitive smooth motions of her callused palms, felt through the thin material of your shirt, brought you comfort, and you smiled up at the medical examiner, who winked cheekily in response.

Eventually, after what felt like a painfully short duration of time, Loretta let go of you and picked up her boxes again, busying herself with putting the final touches on the wedding venue's decorations.

As you turned to go, she called out to you one last time.

"My dear?"

You perked up, and turned to look at her.

"Yes, Loretta?"

"Nothing is going to go wrong. Try to relax and be excited."

--------------------------------------------------------------

You almost believed Loretta's previous statement. After all, you were almost through your vows, and besides Percy and LaSalle getting into a fight in the back row over something that was most likely pointless, no major crises had occurred.

Dwayne was an Adonis in his simple black tuxedo. His gray-blue eyes sparkled enticingly in the bright natural light of the room, like a cloudy sky. You wanted to kiss him so badly, but you had to refrain from carrying out on your urge until the minister allowed the two of you to kiss.

"If anyone here can think of any reason why these two people before me should not be joined together in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

At first, there was silence, as expected. The minister opened his mouth to continue, and a voice called out from the back of the aisle.

"I'd like to give my reason!"

Hearing that voice sent chills up your spine, and you unwittingly leaned closer to Dwayne, needing his touch, his strength, to anchor you.

The whole hall fell silent, all eyes on the protestor, who happened to be your ex boyfriend, Douglas Hamilton.

"Speak, sir."

The minister instructed, looking as shocked as everyone else at the sudden incursion.

Douglas took a deep breath and tousled his hair before speaking. Every last word he said made you tremble, and you yearned, more than anything, for Dwayne's comforting arms to be around you in that moment. But he was distracted, eyeing Douglas with hatred so thick and palpable you could reach out and touch it.

"I'll put it to you plain and simple, Minister. This woman does not, and never will, belong to Dwayne Pride."

You noticed Dwayne's hands clench into fists at that, the anger in his body visible through the whites of his knuckles showing.

Looking up at him with tears in your eyes, you silently begged him to say something, anything, to end this nightmare. But he didn't. He just stood and silently listened to Douglas' barrage of lies.

"She was mine for several years. We had a pleasant relationship, an amicable one, full of mutual respect and other... good Christian values."

You scoffed at that and muttered, "Bullshit," in a low voice, not wanting the minister to hear your sacreligious language. Dwayne met your eyes and nodded, evidently agreeing with that expletive.

"But then, one night, she just left me. I didn't know where she was, I searched for years, worried sick!"

Silently, tearfully, you pleaded with Dwayne not to believe his lies, to keep on loving you. He still hadn't acknowledged you at all, minus that slight head nod earlier, and it was making you sick with anxiety. If only he could just hold your hand, pat it, anything to show that he still cared!

"You and I both know that's a lie, Hamilton!"

Your pleas were answered, as Dwayne began to walk towards Douglas with his fists raised in a combative gesture. Loretta, LaSalle, Percy, and Gregorio all leapt up from their seats, ready for anything. You noticed the silhouette of a pistol in LaSalle's pocket, and silently prayed it didn't come to that.

The minister, who was now very confused and wanted desperately to avoid all out conflict, called out in a deep, resonant voice, hands raised to the sky as if he was praying during mass.

"Is there anyone here who can corroborate Mr. Hamilton's claims?"

"Mayor Hamilton," Douglas hissed angrily, always a stickler for making everyone know his rank and power.

"All men are equal in God's eyes, sir."

The minister retorted, evidently not a fan of Douglas' combative personality.

Nobody responded to the minister's previous question, leaving Douglas the lone supporter of his protest. One voice alone, raised in protest, led to nothing, and the NCIS team ended up escorting him out despite his protests and threats of violence against them.

While Douglas was being led away, you looked up at Dwayne, who still was visibly shaken and angry.

"Love?"

You whispered in a shaky voice, not expecting a response but deeply desiring one.

"Darlin'... you're safe. He's gone. We're safe."

His voice was gruff with emotion, and as he pulled you into his strong arms, you felt as if the world was melting around you, leaving the two of you alone together while everyone else disappeared.

"Everything he said-"

You said in a voice choked by tears.

"Shhh... I know. They're all lies. I know..."

"I'm sorry, I-"

"You may now kiss the bride."

The minister's consent shocked both you and Dwayne into silence, and the whole audience stared at the two of you as you stood in the middle of the aisle, looking up at one another with burning passion in your eyes.

"Dwayne-"

"I love you."

Dwayne locked his lips with yours, immediately seeking entrance with his tongue. You opened your mouth slightly, and his tongue entered, moving about and spreading the taste of bourbon and beignets all through your mouth.

You groaned softly, feeling your body grow pliant against his strong muscular chest. As you melted into a puddle in his arms, he finally decided to remove his lips from yours, and the audience cheered and clapped.

"You'll always be mine."

He murmured in a low, sultry voice, his lips lingering near yours again.

A soft moan was all you could manage as his lips connected to yours again, and the euphoria you felt repeated once again.

#ncis new orleans #ncis nola #ncis nola fanfic #please comment #reblogging is appreciated #dwayne pride x reader #marriage #douglas hamilton #wedding crashers

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zintranslations · 4 years ago

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Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 120

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 120: The Thirteenth Door

Right after the new year, it came about time for Gu Longming to enter his door.

Ruan Nanzhu selected a sixth door hint slip, and on it was a name familiar to all—Minotaur. A monster from ancient Greek mythology with a bull's head and a human's body that guarded a maze.

In the myth, it was a creature of an extremely violent temperament born of a human and a white bull. Shut away in the Labyrinth on the island of Crete, it ate seven pairs of boys and girls each year. Then it was killed by a bastard son of Athens, Theseus. Point was, there wasn't much intel to gain about the door from a hint like this. Only once they went in and encountered the actual situation could they connect it to the hint on the paper slip.

Lin Qiushi also showed this hint to Gu Longming ahead of time. After Gu Longming received it, he expressed his thorough gratitude for Lin Qiushi, and Lin Qiushi too was forthright with a vaccination—he said that in this door, he could not be responsible for Gu Longming's life, and Gu Longming ought to prepare himself accordingly.

Gu Longming agreed to every stipulation, and said he had already prepared himself for never coming out.

Their time of entry was roughly the tenth of the lunar new year, when celebrations were trailing off, leisurely vacations were coming to an end, and everybody grew busy again.

Lin Qiushi readied everything and began to wait for the door.

The tenth quickly came. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and few people were in the mansion. There was only Lin Qiushi sitting in the living room eating Lu Yanxue's freshly cooked pumpkin seeds. Lu Yanxue's culinary skills were, as usual, the best; the pumpkin seeds she fried up were flavored with the five spices and fragrant as all hell. Lin Qiushi could pass an entire afternoon with just a handful of the stuff.

Ruan Nanzhu had already gotten changed and was waiting upstairs. Lin Qiushi saw that it was about time, and so hoisted his hefty backpack and headed upstairs to go look for him.

Due to their last door, Lin Qiushi intentionally stuffed his bag with a great number of food items. Daily necessities from outside could be brought inside, but weapons that were more against the spirit of the doors were not. Guns and other firearms, for example, could not be brought inside.

Once you'd entered the doors, of course, there might exist some special limitations, like in the sanitarium door when the NPC told them the rule where they could not eat food brought in from the outside. The reality was that these kinds of limitations were rare, but all Lin Qiushi wanted to achieve was the principle of Better Safe Than Sorry. At any rate, the condition from the tenth door where they had to open a chest if they wanted to eat had left quite the shadow on his psyche.

Lin Qiushi entered Ruan Nanzhu's bedroom and sat with him on the bed for a while. Then he felt the atmosphere around him change. It took only the time of a blink for Ruan Nanzhu, who had been sitting right beside him, to disappear without a trace. Lin Qiushi pushed open the bedroom door in front of him and saw that what had originally been the hallway was now a series of twelve black metal doors. What a familiar sight.

He walked to the sixth door and gave it a tug. The next moment, Lin Qiushi was sucked in by an immense force. The scenery around him was also altering dramatically, and by the time he opened his eyes again, he could feel a faint rocking beneath his feet.

Lin Qiushi took a closer look, and discovered that he'd appeared on a large old ship. It was just about sunset, and there were black clouds frighteningly low in the sky, as if they were going to smother the horizon at any moment. Inky seawater tossed before him, blown into violent waves by the winds.

Lin Qiushi smelled the gamy salt of the ocean, and because of the excessive waves, the ancient deck beneath his feet was ceaseless in its swaying. He saw that on the floorboards, there were seaweed-clung creatures clutching at the wood, making for an immensely uncomfortable sight.

Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward and saw in the ship cabin a dim-glowing light. He followed the corridor to the interior, and heard miserable wailing coming from inside.

"Uwaaaa, why am I here? What the hell did you all do to me?!" It had been a while since he last heard these cries of a newbie—Lin Qiushi was actually a bit surprised. He spotted the crying person immediately. It was a young woman, wiping at her tears with her hands. "You goddamn perverts, you guys must have kidnapped me. I'm going to call the cops and have you all arrested!!"

Most people were listening to her sob in silence. Newbies, after all, only ever reacted in so many ways: most cried; some tried to run; and some, of the truly psychologically frail sort, came in and pretty much had an immediate meltdown.

Lin Qiushi stood where he was. He noticed that around this girl were a few people who didn't look so good, who also seemed in various degrees of panic. They clearly weren't prepared to enter a door, and were likely newbies like the girl. But at least they weren't wailing endlessly like the young woman, and were still calm in comparison.

Lin Qiushi's gaze searched through the crowd and very quickly found its target—a woman seated in a corner and smiling at him.

The woman wore a long dress—the same outfit Ruan Nanzhu wore before they came in.

Lin Qiushi had the script in his head, and he took his time approaching the woman and holding out his hand: "Yu Linlin."

"Zhu Meng." The woman took his hand and smiled. "The red thread of destiny found us inside this door, let's cherish this meeting."

Lin Qiushi couldn't help but laugh.

"Indeed. Let's cherish this meeting."

Really, this little drama queen of his—putting on a show even when there was no stage to be had.

Just as the two were talking, a young man came tumbling in through the door. Though his face was unfamiliar, his clothes told Lin Qiushi his identity—it was Gu Longming, who'd agreed to meet with Lin Qiushi over the internet.

Gu Longming was entirely soaked. Once he came in he began to curse under his breath: "fuckers, throwing me on a lifeboat—why don't you just throw me into the ocean huh? Goddamn jealous of my beauty or what—"

Though he kept his voice down, Lin Qiushi's hearing was superb, and so could easily hear all the crap he was spewing. For a moment, Lin Qiushi himself didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Of course, he didn't laugh. He only cleared his throat once and covered his mouth with his hand, swallowing down the urge to smile. Gu Longming's eyes lapped the gathered people and very quickly fell upon Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu. He came over with a bright grin, greeting the two as if they'd just met completely by coincidence.

As a matter of act, this little trick where they faked a chance encounter was only useful for the earlier doors. Once in the later doors, that old fox-spirit manifested in everyone, and not having a partner actually made you the odd one out.

As for whether or not somebody would identify them as part of the same crew, Lin Qiushi used to worry about that. Now though, not so much.

The cabin of the old ship wasn't big, nor was it bright. The only lighting equipment was a handful of tiny kerosene lamps overhead, flickering periodically with the sway of the ship.

The sky grew darker outside, and the number of people kept increasing. Finally, it stopped at the count of fourteen.

Everybody assessed their surroundings as they met up with their own teammates. The crowd seemed to be very quickly divided up into teams, with the handful of newbies left out. Without much choice, they had to make up their own team.

Just as the crowd grew noisy with discussion, a middle-aged man came in from the outside. His get-up looked a bit like a medieval pirate, and he carried a swaying kerosene lamp in his hand.

"Welcome to the Black Skerry," the man spoke. His voice sounded quite raspy, like the effects of long-term drinking or smoking had brought about irreversible damage to his throat. "I hope you all have a good time here."

After he finished saying this, he laughed like a maniac, and his high-pitched laughter, like fingernails scoring a chalkboard, sent goosebumps rising along the skin.

"In ten days, the Black Skerry will reach harbor," the man said. "Our voyage will end then, so please enjoy our wonderful time together."

Just as he finished speaking, somebody rushed out of the cabin. Lin Qiushi first thought that this person had gotten scared, but not long after, there came from outside the sound of violent vomiting—it seemed that some unlucky bastard was seasick.

"Where in the world are we?" The sobbing young girl had also been scared by the man before her, and she spoke: "are we filming a show? I'm really, really scared, can I please quit? I don't want to play anymore, I'm begging you…"

The man completely ignored her. He merely went on watching the crowd with a cool gaze.

The girl seemed to want to go up and take hold of him, but when she got to his side she suddenly stopped, face draining of all color. She then backed up a few steps, as if she'd seen something truly terrifying.

Lin Qiushi's eyesight wasn't as good as Ruan Nanzhu's, and due to the dim lights he didn't see a thing. It was Ruan Nanzhu who quietly explained the situation to him:

"That person's covered in some sort of black insect."

Gu Longming shivered.

"Is he dead or alive then?"

"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Doesn't look too good either way."

Under typical circumstances, only the NPC who provided them with the key information was somewhat normal. If even that NPC wasn't normal, then there really weren't any normal people to speak of.

Lin Qiushi hadn't imagined that their door this time would be an ancient ship. And by the looks of things, the time limit was ten days.

"Come along, I'll take to to where you'll sleep," the man said. "It'll be dark soon…and it'll rain."

After this, he began that manic laugh again, and the group was even more disturbed.

The man brought them to the guest cabins and began divvying up the rooms.

Most of the rooms here were doubles, with a rare triple here and there. At first, Lin Qiushi was assigned a double, but Gu Longming brazenly went and found a man to switch room numbers with, strong-arming them into a triple.

"You'll bargain for even this sort of thing?" Lin Qiushi shot Gu Longming a look of admiration.

"Well I'm scared of dying, aren't I…" Gu Longming said. He didn't want to sleep alone, and though it wasn't quite right to be a third wheel, being a third wheel was much better than being dead.

Ruan Nanzhu’s smile was inscrutable.

"That's fair."

They'd planned to inspect the entire ship, but because the night was already so dark, moving about outside would be too dangerous. They would rest first, and wait until tomorrow to make plans.

And so the three got their key and went to their room, getting into bed after quickly washing up.

When Ruan Nanzhu went to change, Gu Longming took the opportunity to poke at Lin Qiushi, whispering, "yo, not cool man, how come you didn't tell me you had such a pretty girlfriend?"

Lin Qiushi answered a vague: "…mh."

"Oh she's stunning," Gu Longming said with a sigh. "If I had a girlfriend like that I'd want to stick around her every day too."

As he spoke, he looked to Lin Qiushi with an expression that was both envy and admiration.

Lin Qiushi watched him back and wondered how he would react if he knew Ruan Nanzhu was drag queen. Of course, it wasn't something he could tell Gu Longming now. Gu Longming was not yet part of Obsidian, and the fact that Ruan Nanzhu wore drag was Obsidian's biggest most vital secret…

After Ruan Nanzhu got changed, he came back inside.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Lin Qiushi answered in brief. "He said you were pretty."

Ruan Nanzhu replied with a meaningful oh.

Gu Longming: "…" Why did a chill suddenly go down his back?

The beds on the ship all emanated a damp smell—very uncomfortable for the people lying on top. At this point, the waves and wind were getting bigger, and even the sleeping quarters were beginning to rock. Lin Qiushi remembered that ridiculously seasick, endlessly vomiting pal of theirs from earlier and thought that that guy was pretty much done for.

The sky outside gradually darkened in entirety, leaving only the bellowing winds and the sound of waves beating against each other. With his eyes shut, Lin Qiushi grew drowsy—but before he could fall asleep, he was woken by a sudden crack of thunder. It was like lightning had struck right above their heads. With the loud boom, all three of them awoke in an instant.

After that, it was the pattering pour of rain. The rushing rain and the howling wind—they seemed on the verge of destroying everything.

Their quarters rocked even harder. Lin Qiushi sat up in his bed.

Through the window, he looked to the black evening outside. He saw, however, two illuminated lights. It seemed like the only light sources on deck were kerosene lamps, but how did these lamps stay so bright in the middle of a thunderstorm…? Just as Lin Qiushi wondered this, he suddenly felt that there was something off about those two lights, and Ruan Nanzhu, sitting behind him, spoke up quietly:

"Don't look anymore."

Lin Qiushi, "hm?"

"Those aren't lights," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Those are eyes."

A pair of yellow, inhuman eyes. The owner of the eyes spied through the darkness with malicious intent, as if a beast looking for its prey.

Lin Qiushi instantly looked away, and asked, "what is that thing?"

"I don't know, I can't tell," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The shape is humanoid, but it doesn't seem to be human."

Lin Qiushi's brows lightly furrowed, but by the time he looked out the window once more, the eyes were gone.

Thunder rumbled on and on, and that stench of ocean salt grew thicker and more cloying.

Ruan Nanzhu climbed into Lin Qiushi's bed, and holding each other, the two very quickly returned to sleep. However, the only bachelor present Gu Longming didn't have such luck. Lying beside Lin Qiushi, he stared with plaintive eyes, thinking that in the following days, he'd be fed enough dog food to bloat.

The rainstorm lasted until dawn, and though the rain let up, the weather did not turn any sunnier. Black storm clouds still hovered over the ship, and when the alarm rang, Lin Qiushi actually thought it was not yet morning. He checked the time, however, and saw that it was 8AM. It was just still dark outside.

"Good morning," Ruan Nanzhu greeted Lin Qiushi.

"Good morning. It's so dark outside today."

"It's probably going to keep raining," Ruan Nanzhu said. He walked out onto deck with Lin Qiushi and watched the black waters roil underneath the ship.

Looking up, they couldn't see any land, only the endless swath of sea. Only the old ship beneath their feet felt like any sort of reality.

This sort of isolating environment was easily taxing on the psyche. Even for Lin Qiushi, the scene before them was discomforting.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," Gu Longming called to the two.

"He's pretty thick-skinned," Ruan Nanzhu commented after hearing Gu Longming's call.

"Yeah," Lin Qiushi said. "His nerves are petty good."

Inside the doors, you didn't have to be too smart, but you definitely had to be brave enough. Before terrifying situations, fright could make a person abandon a large part of their cognitive abilities. The smartest person could lack a strong heart and still do worse inside the door than the obtuse, oblivious Cheng Qianli.

The three went to the dining area and found there an atmosphere that could very well be called lifeless.

Lin Qiushi didn't know why at first. After he saw the menu, however, he couldn't help but also feel a touch of depression.

All the ship offered was fish. And it wasn't even fresh fish—Gu Longming poked at a dead-eyed staring head with his chopsticks and said, "is this thing even edible?"

It was disgusting just to look at.

"It looks gross," Lin Qiushi said. "Try a bit?"

Gu Longming took a bit of meat from the gills and gave it a taste. His expression twisted.

"Fuck, did they deduct the food budget for this door or what? It's disgusting. It's like they’ve had it outside for three days. You try it?"

Lin Qiushi, "oh no, no thank you."

Gu Longming: "…"

The breakfast served in the dining room was, for the most part, stale fish. Aside from that there was only flavorless noddles and peas. The environment had already been vicious enough, but the food in front of them now was salt on top of the wound.

But Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn't care at all. After seeing the inedible breakfast they snuck back to their room and fetched from their bags the food they'd prepared.

Gu Longming watched as they pulled out a bottle of chili sauce, eyes bulging out.

"You guys even brought Lao Gan Ma? Did you come here to picnic?"

"Want some?" Lin Qiushi drizzled the Lao Gan Ma over some noodles they'd brought out of the dining hall.

"Yeah yeah yeah. More please." Gu Longming's expression was shameless.

With breakfast finally done, they got ready to search the ship.

There were a total of three decks in the ship, constructed a bit like the sailing vessels of the great nautical era of the Middle Ages. It was extremely old, was all, covered in the marks and traces of times past.

Beside that NPC, they didn't see any other crew members on deck; there was likely only the one NPC on the entire ship. Wait for the ship's return was the mission the NPC left for them this time, but Lin Qiushi had thorough reason to believe that if they couldn't find the door in ten day's time, this voyage of theirs would cycle back and repeat—and they'd experience the ten days all over again.

When Lin Qiushi climbed onto the second deck, he heard a sort of thumping sound, and was uncertain if Ruan Nanzhu and Gu Longming had heard it as well. So he asked, "did you guys hear that?"

"What?" Gu Longming didn't seem to have heard.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I think I did, but not very clearly."

"I think it came from the corner…" Lin Qiushi followed the sound forward. "Let's go see."

But before they could get close, Lin Qiushi was hit with a thick, fishy stench. It was disgusting and nauseating to smell; fortunately Cheng Yixie wasn't here, or he might have passed out immediately upon smelling it.

The source of the sound and smell was the same room, and they were close enough now that both Gu Longming and Ruan Nanzhu could hear the thumping noise as well.

The three of them slowed their steps, and through the window, looked into the room.

It was a kitchen with knives and other tools hanging inside. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the dense masses of dead fish hung up on hooks all over the sides.

A person in an apron stood in the center of the room with their back towards them and head down. They were chopping something. After some observation, Gu Longming almost gagged, and said, "don't tell me he's making our breakfast—"

Ruan Nanzhu was very calm.

"It's possible."

Gu Longming did gag. He'd even had a bite of that fish that morning.

Lin Qiushi gave Gu Longming a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

This person in the kitchen, however, was the second living NPC they'd found on the ship.

The three of them stood watching in the kitchen doorway for a while, and saw that besides chopping fish, this person didn't do much of anything else. And so they decided to go see elsewhere first.

Very soon, they discovered a more peculiar room. This room was locked, and curtains were drawn over the window. It was quiet inside, but they could still smell that thick waft of stale fish. Lin Qiushi initially thought the smell had clung to them from the kitchen, but after a careful sniff, found that it was coming from inside the room.

"Do we go in?" Gu Longming was pressed against the window trying to look in, but he could see nothing.

Ruan Nanzhu gave this some thought, before saying, "let's try," and getting out a hairpin to pick the lock.

Watching his adept motions, Gu Longming's eyes widened. Then Gu Longming glanced at Lin Qiushi.

"Is this…is this a basic skillset that y'all come with?"

Lin Qiushi grinned as he joked, "yeah. You have to learn to pick locks if you want to join us."

As he said this, there was a click. Ruan Nanzhu really got the lock open. But oddly enough, after he unlocked the door and gave it a push, he found that though the door lock was undone, there was another lock hanging on the inside. The chain on that lock held the door closed, and they could at most manage a crack—it couldn't be opened at all.

"Wait," Lin Qiushi suddenly said, stopping Ruan Nanzhu from going up and pushing the door. "Stop for a second. There's movement inside."

Ruan Nanzhu halted, and just as he stopped mid-step, a hand, sharp-nailed and covered in scales, reached out of the door. And through that crack in the door, a pair of yellow eyes looked out, peering at the world outside with malicious intent.

Translator’s Note:

The name of the ship could more simply be translated as “Black Reef,” but “Black Skerry” sounds more like a ship name? Let me know if you think otherwise (or know if it’s a specific reference to something).

Lao Gan Ma is a brand of **hot sauce (edited: 7/26), as you can probably tell from context. The original next never uses “hot sauce” though, and just call it Lao Gan Ma in both the prose and the dialogue.

[Ch. 119] | [Ch. 121]

#kaleidoscope of death #xi zixu #cnovel #chinese translation #死亡萬花筒 #NEW ARC #i like ships where the people take on characteristics they like about each other #and this is the peak 'rnz is a horrible influence on lqs' arc #but also rnz is a great influence on lqs #honeymoon door baby

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librarycards · 4 years ago

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sorry to bother you but it kind of bothers me that you compared therapists to cops. i agree with you that therapists are harmful but i dont feel it’s comparable to how cops interact with poc. i might just be overly sensitive since i have known multiple victims of police brutality and as a poc it’s something that i am afraid of happening to me.

replying to this now with the caveat that i don’t have the spoons & headspace to come up with a comprehensive list of links for this. I tag instances of psychiatric/medical abuse on my blog if you’d like more examples, and there exists the #survivingpsych hashtag on here.

when i compare therapists (and other psychiatric professionals, incl social workers and psychiatrists) to cops, i do so intentionally. these professionals do not drive around with guns. short of shooting someone –– which, in many ways, they *can* do, immobilizing and irreversibly damaging peoples’ bodyminds through forced drugging, electric shocks, violent restraint –– there is no limit to the amount of abuse, up to and including the fatal, that psych professionals can facilitate. as in cases of police murder, rhetorics of [cop] fear, risk to society, and personal-pathological failure are applied in order to justify any and all instances of cruelty. whatever cannot be justified is attributed to the “delusional”/”oversensitive” subject’s imagination. (btw I don’t think you’re being “oversensitive” w this ask, but i do think it’s important to stress just how bad the psychiatric industry can be, bc a lot of people don’t realize the extent)

i would say, without knowing explicit details, that comparing my own experience of psychiatric abuse with the victims of police brutality you know is likely not an appropriate comparison. in most cases, white us citizenship proves somewhat protective in these cases. but i assure you that Mad and disabled people of color do not share that privilege. especially if you’re psychotic. if you’re an addict. if you’re homeless. for these “at-risk populations,” the psychological “assistance” provided is almost always unwanted, not because no one wants support, but because the “support” provided is, in effect, policing, and often does invoke the actual police. look at laws around drug courts, rehab/prison, race, and the cop/psych nexus. think about the psychiatrists who reinscribe myths of “sociopathy” and “oppositional defiance” around primarily Black and brown young boys, and later men, and the way these diagnoses function as carceral tags.

not all experiences are 1:1 comparable. many people have positive therapeutic experiences –– then again, i’ve had nominally “positive” experiences with cops, and still, ACAB. the entire medical industry runs on a system of carceral violence that seeks explicitly, through “cure” rhetoric, to annihilate “mental illness/disorder.” therapists, etc. have friendlier faces, but can and will get you locked up for behavioral transgression all the same.

#psychiatric abuse #police brutality #antiblackness #eugenics implied #institutionalization #ask #madness #saneism #antipsychiatry #psychiatry #Anonymous

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fictionalnormalcy · 5 years ago

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1xYrCg0CVE

*rubs hands

All right, I have entered analysis mode. For this post, of the new Steven Universe Future trailer that was released. Now I would just to alert ahead of time, that these upcoming theories expressed are not entirely mine. I bet a lot of us have this on our mind. I am just giving my two cents on this. I have provided a link to the trailer above should you like some insight before reading ahead into the analysis. It is a mere thirty seconds, but man it’s a lot of mind-blowing images packed into the video. There are spoilers ahead, you have been warned.

SPOILERS, TURN BACK NOW IF NOT SEEN

Now, we all remember how the movie ended right? Steven has come to the realization that he will always have work to do, but has also acknowledged that for now he’ll enjoy his happily ever after. When we were given the first teaser trailer, we see that Steven has changed his shirt once again to the same one his dad wore in the flashback episodes. He can now drive, and Little Homeworld has been completed. Then we’re given a single glance of the hardships to come.

There are so many theories that came out of this image. It’s one that leaves you purely shocked. That fact that every single being had glowing eyes. Jasper is still nefarious, even after two years have passed. White Diamond seems to be coming undone. There are two new Lapis Lazulis to be introduced to. A new fusion with the wings of an Aquamarine and the distinct hair of a Ruby. A strange cactus creature that has four heads, all in the shape of Steven. And what was believed to be the source of it all, is the mysterious gigantic caterpillar in the back, which has the odd shape of Steven’s nose.

One of the biggest theories I came upon was the corrupted Steven theory. A factor I found most supporting to the theory was a comic I saw for Goretober. Featuring Jasper and Steven. A confrontation where she tells him something similar to what we saw in this current trailer, where she’ll never see Steven as her diamond. Jasper forcibly fuses with Steven, and because there are permanent marks of corruption, he’s affected as well. Which is how he turns into the caterpillar, and is believed to put those other beings under his control as well.

The cactus is, a little strange, to be frank. The simplest explanation seems to be that Steven somehow licks or bites into a cactus, and it turns into the creature. The Watermelon Stevens and Pumpkin are proof enough. I just don’t know what would make Steven use his powers on a prickly cactus of all things.

I included this image, as reference for what is seen in the newly released trailer.

We’re introduced to another storyline. There is a new gem, which appears to be a Rose Quartz that was once corrupted. Steven is showing her around, and from the looks of it, giving her a tour of Little Homeworld to see if she would want to stay. Telling her how everyone is free to be who they want to be. But then, it seems to change. We start hearing the faint echoes of his voice, everything seems to descend into chaos. We’re reintroduced to characters that I bet a lot of us wondered where they were during the course of the movie. So we are getting some clarification. The Amethysts and Jaspers have come to Earth, Yellow Pearl posing as a model with Vidalia teaching an art class. Pink Pearl’s eye continues to be cracked, and her outfit still displaying the color of her Diamond.

The first trailer, gave us the illusion that things were going to be sunshine and rainbows, with the single still portraying the conflict to come. As for this second trailer, I would have to say that there’s a lot more going on that is going to leave us fans emotionally wrecked.

Oh, and I just want to give a big thanks to Kimberly Brooks for providing such a fantastic voice for Jasper. I am fangirling about this because I think of the other character she voiced, Princess Allura from the reboot of DreamWorks Voltron, and I am very impressed at the drastic change in voice. Okay, moving on.

Of the beings we saw in the single image shown above, only Jasper and the fusion are included in the new trailer. We only get the fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball for a few seconds, but they seem to be in the temple. Jasper, however, is best expressed as the largest conflict in this trailer. I feel that they included these three gems because the SU Crew would like us to see who still has a bone to pick with Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems. But I think what really caught my attention the most, that seemed to fuel most of the dramatic parts we saw in the trailer, was what was happening to Steven. And let me just say, from the little we were given, I can make a vague guess as to why Zach Callison says this in an interview: “I hate to do this but the hardest scene I’ve done I did a few weeks ago and I can’t talk about it for quite a while.” I can bet that we’ll be seeing it in the epilogue series.

Jasper, from what we can guess, hasn’t been living in Little Homeworld or in Beach City. Nor has she returned to Homeworld. From what I can perceive, she took some time to herself, and has finally returned. In Battle of Heart and Mind, we see that she clearly needs some time to take in the new things that were uncovered. The biggest being that Steven had Pink Diamond’s gem. And judging from how she returned, Jasper is still as bitter as ever. She still harbors resentment toward Steven, but we don’t see if she wishes to enact revenge or strike at Steven in a different way.

The best we can tell, is that she does want to pick a fight with Steven. And only him. That looks like her foot pushing down on him when he goes fully pink.

There’s a screenshot someone made of Pearl stepping in front of Pink Pearl, defending her from someone. That someone is believed to be Steven. Following on that theory, it leads me to think that it may have been Pink Diamond’s fault that Pink Pearl’s eye was irreversibly damaged. Her cracked eye may not have come from an event that occurred while she was under White Diamond’s control. When we saw her in the Diamond Days episodes, I was under the impression that she had hurt herself while under White’s control, and that White had never allowed her to heal. But judging from how two years have passed and her eyes still continues in that condition, I have to accept that it’s permanent.

There’s another scene where we see Pink Pearl staring at Pink Diamond wistfully. I have a statement to make. Pearl had a crush on Rose Quartz. Pink Pearl had a crush on Pink Diamond. I’ll leave it at that.

I am most psyched, about the fact that Steven turns pink. I feel like it’s further fuel to the corrupted Steven theory, but the trailer provided a more frightening aspect. The trailer as a whole, just seemed to show Steven, unraveling. I mean, why would he suddenly turn off the video his mother made for him with a panicked look on his face. I don’t quite get the vibe that he’s trying to hide it from someone. The echoes of his voice, especially that “Soon we’ll be able to put the past behind us,” the way it kept repeating in the glitched out manner... I really think he’s saying that to reassure himself. Only one more struggle to go through.

A lot of people are suggesting that Steven is getting angry enough that Pink Steven is taking over. I actually, do not think that’s the case.

He looks wholeheartedly Steven. Pink Steven in Battle of Heart and Mind had an empty look and glasslike eyes. What I do agree on, is the rage. Now, Steven being the cinnamon roll that he is, it was quite an awakening when we saw what he was capable of when angry. I want to say that the first sign we see that he can spiral out of control was when he started having Diamond dreams and confronted the gems about it. They weren’t necessarily afraid of him in that aspect, but his outburst of how he hated them keeping secrets from him made everyone squirm in their seats.

But going Pink? This takes it to a whole new level. I can see where the Gem Steven taking over comes from. When we see that piece of Steven, it seemed relatively emotionless.

The anger it portrayed expresses how much unbridled power Steven holds. I mean, when he gets legitimately angry there is damage. When Pink Steven went off, with that single shouted phrase he incapacitated WD and all of the hypnotized gems. Almost knocking over Human Steven and Connie as all. The only emotion that Gem Steven Can seem to express, is anger.

I’m going to steer a little off track, but I swear this will relate to the trailer analysis later. So we were given a foreshadow in the episode where the gems meet Steven for the first time around Christmas. Where they wind up kidnapping him because they didn’t know how to handle a gem-human hybrid. Amethyst says that it was just Rose shapeshifting, which she had done. Pearl thinks Rose is trapped inside, and comes very close to pulling out Steven’s gem. The closest anyone got was Garnet. Saying it was fusion, and it was. Since Steven is half human half gem, there are literally two separate beings combined to make the Steven Universe we know and love.

We see as much when we see that Steven’s human half cannot survive if not supported by the gem half. It reminds me of the crystal shards, and like Garnet says, are pieces of a gem struggling to find the rest of themselves. The shards express one emotion. Desperation. We see Human Steven displaying this as he tries to crawl to his gem half even when he can’t even stand on his own two feet. He’s a fusion, and as seen through most, there are a variety of those emotions running through the combined being. If you pay attention to most fusions, whether when they’re solid or just short of coming undone, you can perceive who is communicating based on the dialogue exchanged. Garnet when saying that they must forgive Pearl. Stevonnie when saying they had to beat Kevin. Malachite when saying they were pathetic. Alexandrite when saying for the two of them to cut it out. You start to get a distinct voice of who is influencing the fusion.

Perhaps there’s a chance, that when Steven turns Pink, it’s the only aspect that Gem Steven can express. It’s the only opportunity for it to express its own control over the fusion. This theory is fragile at best. It still does leave you wondering why only now is Gem Steven starting to express itself by having the fusion turn completely pink.

These two images, made me think of a separate theory. Still somewhat involved with Steven going full on Pink. There was also another image where we see Pink Pearl with a blank look in her eye and the crack spreading across her hair and face.

You know, I feel there’s a reason that they have Steven wearing black. It’s because he’s going to become the darkest we’ve ever seen him. There are THREE instances in the 30 second trailer alone, that show us Steven doesn’t just turn Pink once. And we certainly aren’t given the impression that this is just some new power Steven unfolded. This seems to say, that Steven has finally been pushed to the limit. You have entered him into a vengeful state, and he can be considered a threat to others.

And honest to gods, I do not think Jasper is the sole cause of this release of unrelenting rage.

After this split second image, we do get to see that Steven has regret for what he seemingly just did, cracking a screen of some sort. His hands are cupped over his mouth and there are tears in his eyes. It’s a direct parallel to what his mother did when he had the Diamond dream as Stevonnie.

It could suggest that at first he isn’t control of when he turns Pink, but soon enough he accepts the rage, and unleashes it.

Lot of drama coming. Man, Steven Universe has come a long way.

#steven universe #steven universe future #spoilers #new trailer #analysis #what is to come #corrupted steven theory #pink pearl #fusion #gem steven

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