#Victor doing more upgrading because well why the hell not

[victorluvsalice]

However, there are only so many puzzles you can do, as my family found out during the height of the pandemic. So it wasn't long before the gang started doing their own things again -- Smiler hopped back on their laptop to start modding Blicblock; Alice got back on the old travel easel and started painting again (first another surreal painting, then a flirty painting), and Victor went out in the rain to practice his Mischief magic -- and immediately learned Burgliate, the spell that lets you steal stuff. XD Welp then! Unsure what to do with him after that, and not wanting him to stay out in the rain (or, accurately, out in the THUNDERSTORM -- as you can see by that picture of the poor fried snorkeler, things were getting dangerous out there!), I had him go inside to use the toilet, then upgrade that and the sink because, hell, we already did the bed. *shrug* It's all Handiness skill! He then went to join Smiler at the kitchen table with some leftover fish for breakfast, and the two shared a few cute flirts as Alice finished up her flirty painting and discovered it was a masterpiece! :) Only a 5K one, though, so I decided she could keep that one to display rather than selling it. :p I was just having her go in and hit the toilet while Victor cleaned up his breakfast dishes --

When who should show up but one Leila Illes, to ask Smiler AGAIN if they wanted to be best friends. O.O WTF -- we established this yesterday, Leila! You're too new a friend to get that label! Smiler sent her packing a little more tersely this time, and she slumped out, all dejected. I can't say I feel too sorry for her, though -- I've never had a Sim who, after getting rejected for best friendship the previous day, and with the negative sentiments still active, showed up the following day to try again! O.o What the hell, game...

ANYWAY -- with Leila having learned a few things about boundaries (we hope), the cuteness continued with Alice getting her breakfast (some nice crumpets) and she and Victor chatting at the table while Smiler finished up their mods. Smiler, feeling peckish themselves at this point, then asked for a drink from Victor, which he was happy to give...

And then I was like "well, it IS their honeymoon" and sent them to woohoo again. XD What, it kept them busy! Much like showering in the rain kept Alice busy. *sigh* I got her dressed again, then -- once Victor and Smiler were done with their woohoo -- sent her in to have a nice makeout with Victor while Smiler tested their Blickblock mods with a game. Victor then settled in for a nap while Alice went outside to dance...

And once Victor's energy was mostly full, I was like "oh screw this -- I kind of wanted them home for Spookfest anyway" and had the gang end the vacation early and head home.

...and then I had to reload the save I had fortunately made right before that decision (right about when Victor went to bed) because I was like "oh shit, I left all their fish and leftovers and stuff in the fridge!" So I quickly grabbed all that and THEN sent them home. *whew* There have been a lot of moments in this game lately that emphasizes the importance of saving at key moments, haven't there? Save often, people! You never know when it'll save you!

[dangermousie]

God, yes to EVERYTHING!

This drama is bleak and cruel and so utterly unrelenting in its narrative inevitability - there is NO WAY OUT for Ding Quan, there never was from the moment he was left futilely banging on the gates, begging to see his dying mother - there was never any way out for him unless he literally ceased to be be who he was and changed his whole entire personality, worldview, morals and beliefs and nobody can do that and even if he could, would he even be himself anymore? Wouldn't it be a different but just as thorough kind of death?

The only other time I've seen a cdrama this inevitable, this "there is nothing you can do to change the train you see coming, gathering speed" was Goodbye My Princess and The Myth, which are a very different kind of tragedy.

I sometimes have people ask why/how I can enjoy something as bleak as this (or other fictional tragedies I enjoy) and I think it's a combo of catharsis (isn't it why people are drawn to tragedies from ancient times?) but also it's very very hard to draft a true tragedy - not silly angst that could be resolved if people just talked or stuff that feels overwrought, but genuine tragedy, inevitable and rooted in characters' traits. I grew up on Russian literature and 19th century French novels and so tragic, futile narratives have imprinted on me since childhood. But even with that, they are rarely so well done, so all-consuming as Royal Nirvana (and that's with censor constraints; the scholars' protest was apparently edited to hell.)

Oh, and also, visually it's such a feast and the acting is amazing. And it delves into mundane bits of darkness dramas usually do not - when DQ gets beaten IT HURTS - there isn't any heroic resistance or glossing over or slomo bdsm porn fun. No, it just hurts and he loses his dignity and there is nothing fun about it. But the scene that really struck me is the servants of the palace, watching all the shenanigans - the tragedy of the royals is shown as inconvenience to their working hours and it just struck me so because we almost never see it this way. It's a horrible world that they are all clawing at the walls of. I am thinking of DQ's half brother played by Jin Han, who was a horrible brother but a good husband and son and son in law and it's like this a world that ruins everything - he was the favored son (because he was no threat to daddy) and he still came down and was ruined because nobody emerges the victor in this except the emperor who is both the biggest monster and has the most power so the field is rigged.

Literally, this is the drama that goes AND VILLAINS WIN CONGRATS AND THEY WIN FOREVER AND EVER. Even something like GMP and The Myth are less bleak because in the former, ML actually breaks the cycle of horror even if not for himself and in The Myth the good guys lose but so do the bad guys - everyone loses in that one. RN ends with the monster triumphant, the abuser having gotten everything he wanted (except his son is dead and cannot be tormented any more, but he's got a younger even more helpless version, so he can start all over again and have even more fun - it's an upgrade for him.)

God, that drama. It's a masterpiece but I can only take it in small doses.

Nirvana in Fire and all those similar dramas where the righteous prince ascends the throne defeating the unworthy because of a strategist who can outwit them etc is a lovely, glorious fantasy. RN is like a bleak reality version of what happens when the emperor is a monster and the prince is not.

I have such a thing for period dudes brushing ladies’ hair.

Also, only in this drama would there be a bonding attempt through describing how much getting beaten hurts and his having to bite his hand so as not to scream out loud. Next - our favorite worst childhood memory and similar.

Also, best part - during this whole sequence she thinks he threw her under the bus to save himself and doesn’t know that he was maybe going to do it and then he realized who she was and admitted his guilt even though it wasn’t him and guuuuuuuh….

Hi there, you haven’t been horribly mistreated for 5 minutes flat and it cannot stand!

“Got to wait, people, I am doing my concubine’s hair!” That takes balls. (I swear to God, I thought he as going to stab himself with her pin.)

SO MUCH DYSFUNCTION OMG. Since this drama, against all odds, has a happy ending in a “they are together, not everything is fixed but life goes on” way, I hope that they both get decades of anachronistic therapy and relationship books.

[taylorkellyreporting]

i hope no one minds if i liveblog this bitch: once upon a time rewatch 🪝🦢

tallahassee time!!! imo this is the episode that starts cs on their journey

“thank you, m’lady.” *winks* oh i love him

“you could’ve asked me for the keys.” lmfaooo

as much as i dislike neal, his and emma’s dynamic before he betrays her is so damn hilarious. though nothing beats hers and killian’s

“a hook?” “heyyyy!” 😭

🗣 “I WAS HOPING IT’D BE YOU.”

sorry but if killian called me a good girl i’d do whatever he wanted. rip to emma but i’m different.

“don’t think i’m taking my eyes off of you for one minute.” “i would despair if you did.” God, i love them

“i like a challenge.” i bet he does

emma really upgraded in the men department

“sounds like he lives up to his name.” 🥺

the sexual tension when killian wraps emma’s hand…

“and then?“ “then we run like hell.” 😭

emma was so worried that killian got smashed by the giant which i find funny since she doesn’t like him

“it’s about bloody time.” lmfaooo

i wonder if cs was always supposed to end up together or if the chemistry between colin and jmo was so good that there was nowhere else to go?

i stand firm that neal did NOT need to send emma to jail in order for her to break that damn curse like i hate him and august for doing that to her

killian calling emma pet names oh i’m soft

“i heard it the other way.” “that’s because the victors get to tell the story.” well, he’s not wrong

emma betraying killian oh the tropes are so good

henry’s drinking coffee :(

that raggedy ass old man needs to stay away

snow and ruby are such a badass duo

“i know, nobody would believe it if you told them my lasagna’s frozen.” i love granny

poor gus gus ☹️

“i’m sort of an expert when it comes to rehabilitation.” lmaooo not really

ruby is such a ride or die

ruby’s friendship with snow and charming is something that can be so personal 🥺

oh i wish he killed that nasty old man

“i know what it’s like to lose your family.” “i didn’t lose my family today. i protected it.” y’all are so precious

“he said his name is henry.” oooh it’s getting good

lmao killian really tried to seduce cora 😭

why would henry go and tell regina about cora🤦🏻‍♀️

mulan is really out here acting like the only reason she cares that aurora’s hurt is because of phillip

“i like anything that masks the bitter taste of poison.” oh i love aurora so much

lmao killian is already so down bad for emma

“regina. that’s who we should blame.” exactly

“if there’s one thing i know about your grandparents…it’s that they always find each other.” oh i just know that killed her to admit gkgkfkdk

“you found me.” “you found me.” i love them sm 🥺

“you always find me, and i always find you.” FUCK

where’s mulan?

wait how did she get the compass if emma was up the entire time? 🤨

“the time for making deals is done. just as i am done with you.” for now 😏

no one:

my mom, about cora: she’s crazy.

something tells me that isn’t the way mulan ever wanted to tie aurora up

“normally, i prefer to do more enjoyable activities with a woman on her back.” FJGJFJDKS

🗣 “WHEN I JAB YOU WITH MY SWORD, YOU’LL FEEL IT.”

“good always defeats evil. you should know that more than anyone.” GET HA

“you did it.” “did you ever doubt i would?” 🥺🥺

EMMA MY POWERFUL BABY

the scene where mulan puts aurora’s heart back is so romantic how the FUCK were they not endgame?

regina’s all alone like she should be

“maybe one day they’ll even invite you to dinner.” fucking rumple 😭

HE’S HERE

I NEVER NOTICED THE SWAN

😭😭😭 emma’s horrified face fjgjfjdks

“it’s impressive that we can still provide her with a few traumatic memories at this stage of the game.” pls

if it were me, i would’ve let charming kill regina. rip to snow white but i’m different

“she died.” tell her how???

“tell me something, love, if a woman comes to you, begs you to take her away, is that really theft?” dkgjfjs exactly

“i know this ship like the back of my- well…you know.” 😭😭

totally forgot phillip was cursed as that beast

I FORGOT AB HOOK GETTING HIT BY A CAR 😭💀

“hey beautiful.” he’s such a flirt 😭

sorry but i really don’t care about victor or his brother

“again? you’re really into this, aren’t you?” lmfaooo

“is there another attachment you prefer?” I-

rumple what stiltskin???😭

i do not need to see two hags kissing

the two idiots 😭😭

i hate the person belle becomes after losing her memories

gold looked henry right in the eye when he said he’d kill all of them and you want me to feel sorry for that old bitch? absolutely fucking not

“wanna lose the other hand?” fkgjgjdk

“i’m watching you, pirate.” “yes, dwarf.” 😭😭

killian flirting with snow oh he’s really keeping it in the family 😭

damn he got charming good

woah the woman that james was hooking up with looks a lot like ruby

james and jack were such a nasty couple

“how terribly uncivilized.” pls

regina helping anton destroy the town which means he could kill everyone including charming even though she knows how much henry loves storybrook and his family oooh she’s so damn evil i hate her ass

gosh forgot that gold is henry’s grandfather wtf

“it’s a good thing we don’t have thanksgiving in our land because that would suck.” lmaooo

forgot ab gold wanting to kill henry for a second

one thing about this show, characters are gonna get punched in the face

“i’m gonna enjoy throwing his ass in jail.” 😭

that’s the second time emma got compared to regina PLS

“and what would you know about mothers?”

cora really killed snow’s mother on her birthday and then years later also killed johanna on that very day as well OHH SHE’S SUCH A NASTY HAG HER AND HER DAUGHTER

CORA MILLS YOU WILL NEVER BE CINDERELLA

sending a&e my therapy bill since they made me watch core and rumple kiss

“that is why i love you.” i just threw up a little bit

“you make me want to go back. back to the best version of me.” IN FRONT OF YOUR SON?????

regina putting that heart into cora does not make snow innocent i’m sorry. however i am very happy she got rid of that hag! regina should’ve been next!

MY LOVE WHO I LOST TOO SOON I MISS HIM

“when i put over easy on the menu, i was talking about the eggs!” GRANNY 😭😭

this filter is so ugly my gosh

so they were reliving the same day over and over until henry got the book and woke up? alright then.

YOU STAY AWAY FROM GRAHAM YOU HAG

doesn’t regina rip out her heart this season?

henry’s always reading their asses 😭

“he’s your son.” LMFAO

OH MY GOD I FORGOT THAT THE KID IS GREG

SNOW YOU STAY WITH ME

HUMAN!AUGUST YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS

“he has your spirit.” that boy has nothing of neal except his dna but it’s kind of tamara to say

i don’t care about lacey. honestly, truly, do not give a single fuck about her or rumple 🤷🏼‍♀️

THAT RAGGEDY ASS OLD MAN IS OUT HERE DREAMING ABOUT KILLY HENRY HE’S SICK

“he’s got my eyes, don’t you think?” 😭😭

“you always choose darkness.” pot, meet kettle.

charming: be the man she fell in love with.

rumple: instructions unclear, i killed someone.

“he’s much cooler as a kid.” lmfao

not rebooted??? pls

MY LOVE

“mate.” that’s only sexy when killian says it

MY PARENTS 🫂

how tf does rumple know about highlights? 😭

REGINA IS SUCH A MANIPULATIVE BITCH

ya’ll can’t say you love henry and then say you also love regina at the same time sorry

“maleficent. love you in earth tones.” lmfaooo

“oh hell no, i taught her that!” 😭😭

“you roped the kid into this?” there’s so much judgement in his tone fjgjfjdks

wendy 🥺

snow and charming not believing her about tamara being behind regina’s disappearance oh i’m sick

neal would’ve had a family with the darling’s if wendy would have just listened to him

woah completely forgot that they took the trigger

got so caught up in tamara and greg that i completely forgot that this hag wants to kill henry

I HATE IT HERE

“i am not your mate.” but eventually you’ll be his father in law

THAT’S HIS DAD

oh killian played them good lmao

but how did they get henry so quickly? wasn’t snow shielding him? wouldn’t she have felt him being taken from her? hmm.

and that’s the end of s2! forgive me if i got any quotes wrong, watching with my fam and they’re loud lmao

[hotdadslade]

DC’s Failed Shared Continuity

This is a subject that I see touched on a lot but not really addressed, so I wanted to break it down.

DC’s core comics (That is, Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc, and not the elseworld style books like DCeased or White Knight) are generally understood to be happening in a shared continuity. That is, what happens in one book reflects in the other. The series cross over, because they take place in the same universe.

Only that isn’t true anymore.

There are a lot of plot holes that don’t really make sense, but that isn’t what I want to talk about. Instead, I want to talk about the fact that DC has absolutely no timeline, the absolute glut of events happening in and out of main books, and the fact that each DC comic is effectively its own universe, rather than shared between it.

I’m going to address the following examples, just to give people an idea of what’s going on and exactly what I mean when I talk about a shared continuity:

The fact that Alfred Pennyworth’s funeral happened before he died.

The fact that Bruce Wayne was in at least three places at once at the start of Perpetua’s invasion.

DC’s insane event schedule through 2019.

The lack of impact events are having with the readers, such as the fact that fact that the entire of South America went to war, China engaged in mass orgies, and the entire of Britain stared at the sky for days on end and almost no reader has heard about it.

City of Bane’s complete lack of impact in the larger DC universe

And last but not least: Why does this matter, and where does DC go from here?

Alfred’s Funeral is before his Death:

Alfred Pennyworth dies during City of Bane. We see his funeral in Pennyworth: R.I.P., where we see the family come together and share stories before immediately getting into a slap fight over it.

This unquestionably happens after City of Bane, because City of Bane is when Alfred died. Despite this, Ric is still around:

That little note in the bottom left makes it clear that this happens before Nightwing Annual #2.

The majority of Annual #2 is a flashback, but it specifically ends with the Court of Owls telling Cobb (that is, Talon) that Dick will soon be his, and telling him to move in. This happens in Nightwing 63, when Cobb shows up (aided by Apex Lex’s gift), and starts screwing with Dick’s life. I’ll skip over the most of it: what matters is that Talon brainwashing Dick Grayson appears the same night Perpetua’s symbol appears over the city (in Nightwing 66 and a number of other issues), Dick attacks the Nightwings, fights Condor Red, and then is freed from the mind control all in one night.

Which is great. Except this can’t happen after Alfred’s death, because the symbol of Perpetua (which appears everywhere at once) appears over Gotham during City of Bane (in Batman 81):

So we have one event happening simultaneously in Nightwing and Batman, only one happens before/during Alfred’s death, and the other supposedly happens well after.

Which leads us into...

Batman apparently can be everywhere at once

So up above we have Batman 81. Bruce is, at this point, in the city rushing to beat Bane when the symbol pops up.

Here’s the symbol popping up in Detective Comics (1014) while fighting the Freezes (the city, I’ll note, is normal Gotham at this point, not controlled by Bane):

Bruce is in Paris (in theory, after his coma) in Outsiders #6, and then arrives back in Gotham just in time for the symbol to appear in the sky in issue 7:

Even just while researching this, I realized that it happened in other issues too. The symbol appears in the sky in Batman/Superman issue 3 while Bruce is being attacked by the infected:

It also happens in Justice League, but I can’t be bothered to get pages.

This is all taking place in a shared universe, so the fact that there’s three or four different Bruce’s in three or four different books who are all doing completely different things in different areas is... baffling. DC has always played a bit fast and lose with Detective Comics and Batman, rarely defining which is happening first or what their exact order of events is, but this takes it a step beyond that.

It also leads into...

DC has how many events? and What happened to the infected?

2019 was a year. Specifically, it was the year of the Villain, but it really should have been year of the event, because DC had so many events happening almost concurrently that it was impossible to figure out what was going on when.

You had Heroes in Crisis running from late September 2018 to May 2019 (acknowledged in Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Red Hood, and Titans, but largely inconsequential and rarely referenced again).

Year of the Villain itself spanned the whole year, with two dedicated series (YoTV and YoTV: Hell Arisen), a huge Justice League arc (14 issues!), literally dozens of tie in issues in main books, and 8 oneshots focusing on specific villains and their upgrades. 

This also tied into The Infected storline, where the Batman who Laughs infected six heroes and sent them out into the universe to torment people. This, too, got a number of oneshots and tie-in issues.

You had Event Leviathan, a six issue series which then got a spinoff and soon a sequel through the second half of 2019, which promised to ‘stretch across the DC universe and touch every character’, which has been, outside of Action Comics (which spun it off), a complete non-entity.

You also had Doomsday Clock, which launched all the way back in 2017 and only finished in late 2019. This was intended to ‘impact the entire DC universe’, with the idea that when the series ended, the rest of the continuity would catch up to it and you’d see the repercussions. It’s effectively been rendered non-canon, taking place outside the universe in a single line in Justice League.

So many things were happening, and they were all stressed as extremely important, but when the chips were down...

Most of them weren’t.

Half the Villain upgrades went away with the blink of an eye (Black Mask hasn’t shown up since his oneshot, and Riddler threw his retirement out in favor of being cRaZy in Batman). Heroes in Crisis had almost no affect. Event Leviathan is waiting on its sequel, having meant almost nothing despite the fact that an entire country was taken over. Doomsday Clock is now effectively out of canon.

Many of these (mostly YOTV itself) lead into the Death Metal event happening now, but that’s the thing: they only lead into that. There’s minimal acknowledgement of those events happening in other books. Even when huge things that should be impossible to ignore happen, they have minimal to no effect on the wider continuity. When is Death Metal happening, in continuity? No idea. What about the infected arc? What about Justice League?

Who knows? DC doesn’t seem to.

Which leads into the finale, the great big ‘are you kidding me’ moment:

Remember that time hundreds of thousands of people died, the whole of South America went to war, and China descended into mass orgies?

No?

Neither does anyone else.

In Wonder Woman issue 50 (and some issues around it), a series of dark gods emerge from (you guessed it) the dark multiverse. Each takes control over a single country, enacting their dark bidding. 

(Brief Suicide CW in the description below)

The goddess of war causes the entire of South America to literally go to war, invading and murdering each other. The mob god causes the whole of Britain to walk outside and stare up at the sky, not eating or drinking until they started to drop dead. A god of indulgence causes the entire of China to engage in bacchanalia, which is effectively a frenzied orgy of celebration and dancing. The nameless god has taken over Saint Petersburg, causing those within to commit mass-suicide impulsively.

And of course this has been happening world wide. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands are dead. We see shots of other places - mass murder in the streets of Hong Kong, for example.

We actually see other heroes in this. The whole arc actually starts with Supergirl fighting Diana, and then while she's briefly out of commission, the Justice League (Bruce, Arthur, Barry, J’onn, Victor, and Kendra) show up to help only to get absorbed by the big bad. That’s when the above panel happens, and then even more heroes get thrown at the problem.

In the end, Diana ‘wins’ - by sacrificing her brother Jason to the Dark Gods. The gods return the Justice League, and undo the damage they’ve caused on Earth. Those dead aren’t actually dead, for example. Time gets rewound... partially. We see the Justice League who only partially remember what happened, but the damage around the area is still there.

This should be, by any metric, a huge fucking deal. Literal gods appeared from the multiverse and fucked over huge chunks of the planet. Hundreds of thousands died and then were, in theory, un-killed. The heroes are aware of this, and have at least partial memories.

And yet it’s never acknowledged. 

This is supposed to be a huge event. The stakes literally could not be higher, and yet I’ve never seen this arc even acknowledged in any other book. This isn’t even a unique thing, either: all of New York (and most of the world) flooded in Doctor Fate and no one noticed outside that book.

So what about City of Bane?

But by far the most significant example of this is City of Bane itself. City of Bane was a huge event. Some of the top selling issues of 2019 were the City of Bane issues. It received numerous ads in other books, as well as major attention. It was the culmination of Tom King’s entire run, and lasted for more than half a year. It involved Gotham taken over by the titular Bane, ruling it with an iron fist and using mind-controlled villains as his own personal police force. It was a huge, game-changing event.

And outside of the pages of Batman (and Gotham City Monsters), it might as well not have happened. Any time it is acknowledged, it’s in the most awkward and confusing manner possible.

Batman and the Outsiders, Issue 6, Bruce is in Paris, Alfred gets a callout from Ra’s, and calls Bruce home: 

Bruce immediately gets on a plane and flies home, landing at the end of issue 7 when the Perpetua symbol goes up.

In issue eight, taking place immediately after, we are lead to believe that the entire City of Bane arc happened in between Bruce flying home from Paris and arriving in time to help:

This is far from the only example. City of Bane tends to be acknowledged exclusively in terms of ‘this issue takes place before City of Bane’ editor notes. The only real thing that gets acknowledged is Alfred’s absence: Detective Comics skips over City of Bane entirely (The YOTV issues taking place before, and then going straight to ‘after), Red Hood and the Outlaws ignores it, and Batgirls acknowledgement is effectively skipping City of Bane itself to go right back to talking about ‘cleaning up the city’ with a one line mention of ‘what Bane did to Gotham’. Plenty of other books either don’t mention it at all, or the mention is so minor I completely missed it.

So why does this matter?

Early on in my time in this fandom, I noted that the more a fan is into DC comics (not the fandom, but specifically the comics), the more they’d hate the comics themselves. This extends beyond what most people on tumblr would consider the ‘fandom space’ - I’m talking reddit, league of comic geeks, comic review sites, etc. The fact is that DC has created a scenario where the more you read their work, the worse it gets. Any individual comic from the examples above reads just fine on its own, but when you read multiple comics you start getting confused about why nothing makes sense. There’s no order to things, no continuity. Things are said in one issue and ignored in the next. Major events are trumpeted as changing the status quo but don’t change a thing. DC is actively pushing away their most dedicated readers, the ones who are going out and buying 5+ issues a week.

So what comes next?

The original reason this all came up was the news that DC’s upper editorial staff had been hit with major layoffs. While nothing yet has been confirmed (this happened only three days ago), the general rumors is that DC is going to be majorly cutting back the number of titles. With Death Metal almost certainly heralding a continuity reboot ala Flashpoint, now is the perfect time for DC to figure out what it’s doing with its continuity, and realistically, they have two options.

Option One: Forsake Shared Continuity.

I’m sure a lot of people would hate this idea, because shared continuity is such an intrinsic part of DC’s history, but looking realistically at sales numbers, there’s some major appeal. There’s far less work to it (important with the loss of their editors), and this isn’t to say all the books will be separate, just that they won’t all be inherently linked. Maybe they keep TEC and JL in the same canon. Maybe Nightwing, Batman, and Batgirl share too. The point is, though, that the fact that Gotham is burning to the ground will no longer reflect on Clark, who is apparently just out of earshot with his thumb up his ass doing nothing.

There’s precedent for this as well. Injustice, DCeased, Criminal Sanity, and White Knight are all stories in their own world that are selling (or have sold) extremely well. DC’s top fifteen issues sold for January to March of this year include seven issues of Batman, one issue of Wonder Woman, one issue of Flash, and then two issues of Unkillables, the Robin 80th oneshot, Strange Adventures (its own continuity), and an issue of Batman: Curse of the White Knight. If you go farther down, it’s more of the same - you have to go through every issue of Curse of the White Knight released, as well as Criminal Sanity, to get to Batman/Superman, Detective Comics, Justice League, and Superman.

I’m not sure this is the best choice, but I can’t imagine it’s not an appealing choice just the same.

Option Two: Fix Shared Continuity.

Without question, DC’s going to be (at least temporarily) paring down the number of books they have, and there’s never been a better time for figuring out what’s going on with their continuity. Less books means less to organize. A reboot and one very determined editor could help establish a baseline to work from, but that would require DC to focus on it as a priority.

I’m sure this is the choice most people will lean for, but it’s definitely the more intensive option, and we can only hope DC decides it’s worth it.

[justlookatthosesausages]

“Lift the Spirit” :: a fluff/angst post-Frozen 2 Elsamaren fanfic

Chapter 5: Cause I’m not alone anymore

Nokk was still waiting at the place Elsa had told them to wait. They turned their head to the call of the Snow Queen. It was remarkably stealthy; Elsa didn’t even have to whistle to get their attention, she simply used her mental bond, and the Water Spirit obeyed. 

The blonde ran along the trees, increasing her race even, and the magical horse galloped to join her side, catching up with her rhythm. They ran sideways in the Moon light for a few seconds, Elsa’s gaze still on the horizon to where the Northuldra camp was, and she didn’t even need to look at Nokk for the next step. She rose her left hand and jumped on their back from the flank, her legs hovering their barrel as she seemed to float during her twirl. Her hand still on their crest, she sat bareback as usual and sent a silent order to the Water Spirit, asking them to dash to the Sami village. 

Nokk nodded energetically, and ran to where the others had been waiting. When Elsa arrived in a barely perceptible trot in the camp, several people startled of surprise. 

Except for Anna, who had been expecting her venue and staring at where she had come from. The redhead came closer, holding a torch like several Northuldra. 

“He’s on the shore.” Informed Elsa, staying on Nokk. “I saw him plan how he’s going to cross the Dark Sea. He’s distracted. It’s now or never if we want to have the element of surprise.” 

Anna, Honeymaren, Eydis, Kristoff and Ryder nodded. The Snow Queen outstretched a hand for her sister to help her jump behind her, which she did in a swift motion. 

Kristoff went on Rask’s back, and helped Eydis to get behind her. Finally, Honeymaren and Ryder rode the fastest reindeer of the herd. 

“Everyone, get to your positions.” Ordered the Northuldra leader. “You know what you have to do. Stand guard and don’t let anyone or anything approach. I have confidence in you all.” 

“May Ahtohallan be with you.” Bowed Jongu. He was in charge of the camp while she was gone, and would not disappoint her. His eyes were fierce at the light of his torch. 

They all exchanged words of support, then galloped up North. 

Elsa was leading, with Anna holding her waist tight. The blonde couldn’t tell if she was doing that due to the surreal speed of Nokk and the possibility of falling, to the roughness of Anna’s armor, or to her undeniable mix of stress and excitement. 

The Snow Queen patted her hand. She wondered if she could feel it because she had reinforced leather gloves, but when she felt the redhead tilt on the side, she smiled in success. 

“Everything will be okay, Anna.” 

The Queen didn’t answer, for bad fortune, and simply cuddled closer to her elder. She couldn’t lose her. Not after all that their family had been through. 

Elsa passed a hand along Nokk’s neck while they were heading to the Dark Sea shore. She could feel how nervous the Water Spirit was as well. Even Gale and Bruni, who were protecting the camp, and the Giants, who were patrolling in the land, were exhaling stress, and she could feel it kilometers away. 

“It will be alright, dear friends.” She sent as a mental answer, and their mood calmed down a bit. 

Nevertheless, she was upset that the Spirits couldn’t participate to the fight. She had thought of begging Ahtohallan to use their magic against Victor, but she knew that the laws of Nature were immutable. Magical Spirits had been brought to the world to protect and help, not to attack opposite dark forces. However, as the Fifth Spirit, Elsa was allowed to intervene; just as, sadly, the previous Fifth Spirit could make his own choices concerning Niks’ penalty. The Bridge existed to forge a path between humans and magic, and Elsa’s role now was to stop Victor’s evil ends and prevent him from taking control of Ahtohallan. Her instinct of guardian of the magical source made her flare, ironically in an ice cold way. The glacier had helped her to fully accept and love herself, and she would never let anyone destroy it. 

On that thought, she slammed her heels on Nokk’s sides to go faster, and the Spirit complied with an excited neigh, sharing her feelings. 

=======

“What, you thought you could ambush me?” 

They all widened their eyes in surprise from the big shore rocks they had been hiding behind. 

“This whole shore is covered with pebbles. Only an idiot would not hear you arriving.” Sighed dramatically Victor Eiglatson. 

He turned his attention from the Dark Sea to them, his tangled and dirty hair floating in the wind. Elsa couldn’t help but think, after she saw his deep pain and sorrow at the death of his wife, that he never fully recovered from it, and it would explain his messy appearance and his simple outfit. 

In opposite to the armors or reinforced leather they were wearing, Victor looked weak, feeble. He only had a dark purple cape with a hood, and a vest and pants that looked like the Arendelle army uniform. It was worn-out, but not in the same way than the ones of the guards that had been trapped for years in the Forest like Mattias; he clearly didn’t take care of it, not minding that it had stains at some parts. 

Revulsed, she still answered his invitation when he lifted his chin in a provocative ‘quit your hiding spot if you dare’ gesture. 

Anna grabbed her elder’s arm when she saw her walk around the rock calmly. “What are you doing?!” 

“He wants a fight. I’ll give him a fight.” 

Honeymaren stared at her, but eventually agreed. She stood up from the low rock where she had been hiding with Eydis. 

“She’s right. You want to confront us, don’t you, Victor?” 

The man didn’t get affected by her threatening tone. He preferred to choose sarcasm against her gritted teeth. 

“Well, well, well. I am even blessed by the presence of the Northuldra leader, uhm? How ironic.” 

Elsa frowned and clenched her fists. 

“You know, it’s actually even better.” Admitted the man. “It makes this fight even more meaningful.” 

He cracked his fingers, a habit that Kristoff hated to see, so it’s what made him stand. As if they were mentally connected, Anna rose at the same time on Elsa’s side, like a protective shadow. When she saw her mother stand, Eydis copied the move. She even glanced at Victor with a fierce stare, gripping her mace, to show that even if she was the youngest opponent, it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t make him live hell. Ryder was the last one to stand, but that didn’t make the whole thing less impressive. All together, they walked around the rocks and formed a line, all drawing their weapons in synchronized moves. 

With the whistling wind and the bright Moon light, it made their stance even more epic than it already was. 

“Waow, the whole family is here. How touching.” Commented Victor on a flat tone, not impressed. 

Then, he realized that the shining armors and the magic pieces of Elsa’s outfit weren’t the only thing to gleam in the bright light. He saw, with eyes getting wider and wider, that everyone without exception had custom-made additions to their weapons. Elsa had been way faster at upgrading her assaults than he thought. He tried to hide a nervous gulp, but Honeymaren, with her acute huntress sight, smirked at his state. 

Elsa also saw that he wasn’t expecting that level of preparation. She blinked in realization that Victor had nothing of a great strategist. Only anger and sorrow fueled his actions. So she decided to lower her ice spear. 

She took a few steps forward, her crafted sandals screeching on the pebbles. Anna and Honeymaren exchanged a look, not wanting to lower their weapons like her and wondering what she was doing. 

“Victor, this is your last chance to surrender.” 

“Great, because I never intend to.” Replied the man with deep anger. 

Elsa perceived it, and calmed down the situation. 

“I know why you acted like that lately.” 

“You know nothing about me.” 

“I’ve seen memories of you and the Fifth Spirit in Ahtohallan. I know what happened. I’ve seen it all. Your past… Your pain...” 

She explained everything, and his face distorted when she finished her story. 

“Listen, Victor… I know that you hate me.” 

The man’s face turned into a terrible wince. “That’s a very simple way to phrase it. I despise you. I loathe you.” 

Anna intervened. “No, it’s not true! You hate the previous Fifth Spirit. My sister is different!” 

“I don’t care who’s the person with Ahtohallan’s magic, the Fifth Spirit is still an abomination!” Blurted Victor, yelling on the same tone than the redhead. “There should be no human allowed to have such powers!!”

“You have powers too.” Remarked Kristoff. 

“But I don’t use them to kill people.” 

Elsa gasped, outraged. “You killed two innocent Northuldra!” 

The man shrugged slightly. “That was collateral damage.” 

Honeymaren startled of rage and stepped forward. “IT WAS A FATHER AND HIS SON!!” 

Elsa restrained her by grabbing her arm. She also truly wanted to hurt Victor for his words, but they had to remain calm. The man noticed their anger.

“Nothing you will say will change my mind. Your powers will be mine, Ahtohallan will be mine, and The Fifth Spirit will pay for what it has done to me!” Blurted Victor. 

Anna gripped her sword hard with her two hands, pointing at him threateningly. 

“They’re not a ‘it’, they’re a person!” She blurted with even more verve. “And her name is ELSA!!” 

He looked scowled, yet it seemed like disgust. 

“I refuse to put a name on that being who’s nothing less than a murderer!” 

“For the last time, the previous Fifth Spirit was! Not Elsa!! You’ve got it all wrong!” Yelled Anna. 

Victor was done getting scolded. He flipped his hands, volutes of black goo appearing around his fingers and floating there, just like cold smoke around Elsa’s fingers when she loaded her magic. 

“I’m not coming back on my decision. I will rip the powers out of her body!” 

He had pointed at Elsa with an angry index finger, and it perspired with evil power. Honeymaren instinctively placed herself in front of her. The blonde internally sighed at the behavior of her sister and the reaction of her wife. This was going worse and worse and wouldn’t end well. She could feel the magic pulsating in the air at the man’s anger, so she stared into his eyes. 

“Victor, wait. If you do that, you’ll become the very thing you hated.” 

Elsa’s wise words crossed the night, and everyone looked at her. Even Victor got stunned and remained silent. She got a point, but he chose to ignore her. 

“I doubt of it. I will finally avenge my beloved wife!!” 

The blonde rose calming hands. “And I get it. Believe me, I really do. However, revenge isn’t the solution…” 

“ENOUGH!!” 

Anna was astonished by his persistence. 

“You will rip her powers, even if it means that she will probably die?” She winced. 

“I don’t care.” 

He had stated that in a cold, frigid voice. Eydis gasped at the tone. Kristoff widened his eyes. Anna and Honeymaren were outraged . Elsa… Remained silent. 

“You’re a cruel man with a heart of stone!” Shouted the Queen with a shocked wince, speaking from her guts. 

“I’m bringing justice!” Replied Victor on a strong tone. “I’m doing what needs to be done! She’s a monster!!” 

While they gasped, Elsa walked around Honeymaren and stepped forward, to everyone’s surprise. 

“I used to think I was.” She said. 

Her voice had been calm, deep, sincere. 

“There was a time when I would call myself a monster…” Muttered the Snow Queen. “But I have changed. And one thing is for sure, now… You’ll be way more of a monster that I’ll ever be if you continue to focus on vengeance.” 

“You changed?” Repeated Victor. “What makes you think you’re not still a monster, as you have the same powers than when you called yourself that?” 

Elsa sighed, a bit emotionally. “Because since, I have been guided to a new light. A new perspective. Since then, I have been helped by love. And learned that people actually loved me all along.” 

She paused her powerful speed to turn to Anna and Honeymaren, who were looking at her with touched smiles. “And they still love me every day.” 

“You think that love solves everything?” Frowned Victor. 

“Yes. I do.”

“BULLSHIT! Bring my wife back, then!” Bawled the man. 

Elsa did a move, but not the expected one. She melted her spear, and the two women behind them gasped in warning noises. 

The blonde rose her hand as a dismiss, assuring them that everything was alright. Kristoff remained rational; Elsa could craft a new spear any time she would want, and faster than it would take to say the word. So she wasn’t really putting herself in danger. She was being wise and showed Victor her true intentions. 

The man looked at her with a squint, surprised of her attitude. 

“Does loving yourself better make you lower your guard?” He snorted.

Elsa nodded softly. “Yes. Because I have changed, and you can too.” 

His facial features, which had calmed down a bit, returned to a twisted frown. 

“How dare you TALK about change when you took my WIFE!!” 

Dark energy emanated from him, making splashes of black slime spurt from his hands and all around his foot stomp. The dark pebbles of the shore got stained by it at the pale light of the Moon. 

“Once again, I didn’t.” Reminded Elsa with a calm voice, which was remarkable for the situation, because Victor’s sudden burst had brought everyone else to clench on their weapons and get ready to aim at him. 

“You seem really certain to be innocent.” He grunted. 

“That’s because I am.” 

She stared at him with intensity. “And I intend to be fair. This is the last fight we have. After that, you will face justice and pay for your crimes.” Warned Elsa. 

“Well, there’s at least one thing we agree on, Fifth Spirit.” He replied, his fists clenched. “This indeed will be our one and only face-to-face.” 

He looked around, now pensive. 

“I got to say, it’s a nice place to have it. If I had to pick, I would have hesitated between here and the entrance of the Forest.”

“The Elemental Stones?” Frowned Anna. 

“Yes. That. They would look great as battle ruins, wouldn’t they? Once they get destroyed with my vengeance.” 

“How dare you.” Muttered Honeymaren, who had chosen to stay silent until now, but couldn’t bear his arrogance any longer. “This is a sacred place. My ancestors built those stones.” 

“They have been made to honor Nature.” Specified Kristoff. “What do they have to do with your revenge over the Fifth Spirit?” 

“Well, this is a game-changing fight. You know my plan now, right? So you know that I want to destroy Ahtohallan and everything that the Fifth Spirit stands once and for all. What would be the point of worshipping the Nature Spirits when the person who’s supposed to bring the balance with the human world kill humans?” 

Anna clenched her jaw. “You know that your wife had it coming. She did crimes. The Fifth Spirit warned her, and yet she continued to do it.” 

Elsa turned to her with a deadly stare. The redhead understood that she had been a bit too far, and retracted a bit. However, she did not regret her words. 

The Snow Queen turned to the enemy again, focused and determined. “You will not touch a single inch of Ahtohallan as long as I stand.” 

Victor looked at her with a cruel smirk. “See, that can be arranged.” 

He flipped his arms up and two big spurts of pitch black goo jolted from it. 

Each one splitted in eight parts, and in a record time, a group of sixteen creatures emerged, forming from the slime. They all were taller than the humans, with muscular arms and solid blades as hands. As always, they had head shapes but no faces, which made the creepy atmosphere of the night even more scarier, added to the fact that they were more numerous than Elsa’s allies. 

“GO!” Shouted Victor as an order, and the monster ran to them unsteadily, their big feet splashing on the shore. 

Elsa hurried to go in front of her family and place herself first, as the first creature was jumping to slam its blade on them. With a yelping grunt, Elsa raised a giant ice stalagmite, as sharp as a razor, and it pierced right through the living thing. It tried to touch her despite being impaled, but with another yell, she pushed the stalagmite away in a new blue beam, and it jolted in the air, slamming two other monsters in one go. 

Honeymaren blinked as Elsa then crafted her ice spear back, and attacked a fourth monster that was making its way to them. She stabbed it right in the thigh, then grunted as she heavily twirled on herself with both hands on the shaft. She dragged the creature with her, and send it fly in the air with a powerful swing to slam another one. 

The Northuldra leader exchanged a stunned look with Anna, who was astonished as well. 

Did they… Even need to come to this fight? Was Elsa going to take care of everything on herself with her usual badassery? 

The blonde panted, twirling her spear, and turned to her loved ones with a huff. 

“No one harms my family.” 

Honeymaren smirked. 

“Leave some for the lowly people, my love.” 

Elsa smiled. 

A grunt on her right side took them out of their reverie. A monster was attacking Eydis and Kristoff, and they were trying to repel it. The Snow Queen frowned and was about to help them. 

Anna gave her a sign. “Wait, some are coming right at us. Let’s take care of them first.” 

The redhead ran to the monsters, her golden armor shining in the Moonlight, and slayed one in a swift move; she beheaded a second one with a brilliant twirl, her second hand on the pommel of her unique sword for faster actions. 

Honeymaren aimed at the ones on her side with quick and effective arrows. When one of them was threatening to charge at her, Elsa ran and slammed her foot on the ground, a wall of ice emerging and letting the monster splash on it with a dumb move. She rounded her creation, and while the dizzy thing tried to retrieve its form and balance, she planted it with her spear against the wall. It vanished like any the others once it got killed, and the blonde had a smirk, twirling the spear around happily. 

She saw at the corner of her eye - and almost instinctively - that a monster was about to attack Anna from behind. She focused in a frown, tossed her spear up in the air and lifted her arm to catch it with her fingers up, holding it javelin-style. She aimed, gathered momentum and threw her spear across the shore. It whistled in the air and hit the creature right in the head. With the force of the blow, it vanished before it would even fall on the pebbles. Anna finished slaying her own enemy with style, then turned around at the sound of the spear falling on the pebbles. 

She blinked in confusion, picked up the weapon, then looked at her sister in the distance. 

‘Did you just?’ She seemed to say with her amazed eyes. 

‘Saved your life? Yep.’ Seemed to answer Elsa with a grin and a shrug. 

‘Awesome’, replied Anna, and this time it was obvious because she really said that word out loud and it was easy to read it on her lips. 

Elsa outstretched her hand and the spear in Anna’s hand seemed to vibrate, like it was struggling to get out of her grasp. She unfolded her fingers, and the spear flew in the air to arrive in Elsa’s palm, then the Snow Queen made it twirl expertly, ready to attack new creatures. 

“Show-off.” Scoffed Anna. 

Elsa went to help Ryder and Eydis. They had a lot of talent and she admitted after a while that she only was there as mere support. She took that opportunity to observe the battlefield around her. 

Honeymaren and Kristoff now were taking care of Victor, the blond facing him with his axe blows while her wife aimed at him with her arrows. Only, he was crafting monsters faster than light, and they took all of the blows for him. With a smirk, he made every monster die and vanish instead of actually fighting back. 

Elsa found that utterly shameful. How could a person fitted with magic powers and able to create living beings sacrifice them like pawns, or meatshields? She frowned with disgust, not liking Victor’s ways at all. He was a disgrace to magic, and she felt the same emotion than when she had discovered her grandfather’s aversion for the Northuldra. 

Fueled by her anger, she melted her spear then threw an ice blow at him to freeze his legs, but he sensed her magic arriving so he dodged aside. Thankfully, it didn’t touch Honeymaren who was in the trajectory, because she had an excellent sight and saw the accidental blue glow arrive to her. She jumped aside to get away from it as it crashed on the shore and formed a giant snowflake trap, and meanwhile, didn’t lose time by drawing another arrow. 

Elsa was about to charge a second ice blow, and then was struck by a flashing image of the previous Fifth Spirit who had inflicted the same move to Victor when he was younger during the famous attack that haunted her. She clenched her fist, holding on her promise that she would never act like the old Northuldra leader. 

She crafted her spear again and chose to go to battle in her own style. 

She went to help Eydis with the remaining creatures that she somehow was taking care of by herself, Anna busy helping Ryder stand up after he fell during an attack. With a smile, Elsa admired her niece twirling her powerful and heavy mace around, exploding the monsters’ heads between two rolls. She was sparkling at the light of the Moon in her silver armor, and the Snow Queen was really proud of her. In a combined attack of sword and spear, Anna and her killed the last monster that Victor had created, and smiled at each other, panting. 

They finally got rid of his creatures, but everyone knew that he would create new ones without breaking a sweat. At least, Elsa was able to do so, and she was the only person they could compare him to. Might as well be careful and expect that he was as talented as her. Indeed, he had gotten rid of Kristoff and Honeymaren, and seemed ready to craft new monsters. He groaned as he lifted his palms again. 

“Block his hands!” Yelled Elsa, pointing at him. “If we block his arms, he won’t be able to make those monsters anymore!” 

Anna nodded. Her elder knew well what she was talking about. Hers and victor’s magic may be very different, it had one thing in common: their living creations were crafted with their hands.

Kristoff, who was the closest to Victor after he and Honeymaren had fallen down, frowned in determination as he jumped up, then lifted his arms to hit him. He flipped his axe in the air, aiming not with the blade side but with the hammer one, and slammed down to where his shoulder was. At such a speed and with Elsa’s unbreakable ice, he would at least dislocate it, thought Ryder, who had run to join the King’s side. However, Victor had army experience, and avoided his blow. 

“That wasn’t a really impressive attack.” Puffed the enemy with sarcasm. 

“But a really useful diversion.” Said a smiling voice behind him. 

He didn’t finish twirling around that a massive blunt weapon descended upon his arm. Victor groaned in pain when Eydis’ mace slammed him. He immediately wanted to lift his arm to push away the weapon, but Eydis’ move had been close to perfection and he couldn’t do much with the angle he now had after her blow. He tried to detached his arm from the blades and spikes, but it was impossible; first, because the fabric of his sleeve had been stuck in it, and second, because Eydis was really great at maintaining the mace in place. He tried to push her with the force of his arm, but she grinned as she easily kept him still to where he was, holding the mace with both hands. 

He blinked in astonishment. How could such a little girl have as much strength? He then realized that with the parents she had, it wasn’t surprising. He had made a grave mistake to undervalue her. Victor yelled in frustration, and was about to punch her with his other fist, but he got stuck. 

“What…?”

He turned to his other side, and came face to face with a grinning Ryder. 

“Surprise, monstermaker.” 

Victor gritted his teeth at the sight of Ryder’s staff effectively restraining her elbow and preventing him from making any move. 

He tried to get out of his trap, but it made things worse; the Northuldra had anticipated any possible parade and knew how to hold him still as well. Victor then realized that Ryder’s parade had in fact blocked his right hand. He muttered a line of insults. Seriously? The two younger opponents were the ones disabling him? Eydis smirked as she saw Victor’s despair in his eyes thanks to how close she was. With a grunt, she pushed even stronger on her mace. The Northuldra also pressed harder with his staff. Both him and Eydis couldn’t help smirking at Victor’s struggle. 

Elsa observed the scene and admitted that it was a funny situation too. She had joked earlier in the day how Ryder might be the one who would strike the final blow on Victor, because there was no way one would expect someone with the weakest weapon and the less protection to be a threat. Turned out that she was quite right. 

In fact, not even her could have predicted what was about to follow. 

Ryder changed his grip on his staff to hold the man in place, looking at the splashes of his magic on the ground. 

“You know, there’s something else that is black and that I’d love you to discover.” Grinned Ryder. 

Victor raised a surprised eyebrow at his sudden confidence. 

“Meet explosive powder.” 

The leather pouch he had at his waist, and that the old man thought was simply holding provisions, suddenly flipped upside down and opened when Ryder pulled on a string attached to it. 

Victor’s attention got brought to it and he looked down, giving exactly the intended time for the Northuldra to jump back. 

The mysterious dark powder had fell in a stack on Victor’s right boot, and he frowned as he tried to understand why Ryder had poured ground pepper on his feet. 

“EYDIS!! NOW!!” Yelled the Northuldra. 

Victor jolted his head up, and only then he noticed that the fiery princess had jumped back too. With a grin and a grunt, she lifted her mace to her vambrace covering her forearm. She turned it skillfully so that an iron blade and not an ice one would rasp against the metal part of the armor, and aimed at the stack of powder. With a scratch, a spark flew straight through the air, and Victor saw it fall with wide and terrorized eyes right in the stack of powder. 

The explosion blow was spectacular. In a deafening bang, it made Victor jolt in the air, and Ryder and Eydis got blown away for a few meters despite their safety distances. Thankfully, they fell on their backs like they had planned, loudly but without damage thanks to the pads they had placed on their outfits just for that purpose. 

One could not say the same for Victor, who got injured at the foot, and now grunted as he had trouble standing up without limping. 

Elsa blinked at what had just happened. 

“What the… Did you know they would do that?” She asked her wife, and she saw her happy smirk. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Honeymaren reached for a new arrow in her quiver, and gave her a sarcastic stare. “Well, you were busy being nerdy in Ahtohallan when we built our strategy.” 

The blonde was about to react, but she rose a hand. “Now is not the time to get teasy. Look, he’s about to blow again.” 

Indeed, Victor was clenching his fists and staring at the too-happy family of warriors facing him. 

“Okay, now I’m mad. You’ll face my wrath.” 

He was enraging. And just to make him even more angry, as he stepped forward to personally punch Ryder, an arrow planted right in front of him. 

“Make one more step and the next one goes in your knee.” Menaced Honeymaren with a cold voice. 

He looked up with a grumble and saw that she was aiming at him, her next ice arrow at the ready. During his years in the army, he had always despised archery. 

“A bow… The weapon of cowards.” 

Eydis huffed. “Says the one who uses magic from a distance!” 

“Also, with the skills that it requires to be efficient at hunting, I wouldn’t say that’s is a pathetic weapon.” Remarked Anna. 

“Yeah, my aim is quite good.” Said Honeymaren, still with her threatening eyes, but smiling internally at the words of her sister-in-law. 

She remembered a day some years ago when she had tried to teach the Queen how to use a bow. But the redhead lacked of patience and was more of the ‘attack first’ type of person. 

“Oooh, I’m so scared.” Eye-rolled Victor. 

Elsa was impressed by his assurance. This being said, he had no idea how scary a pissed-of Honeymaren could get. 

The man walked forward, and in a whistle, another arrow planted among the pebbles in front of his feet. He stopped with a grumble. 

“Yes, it will indeed start to get… Very annoying.” 

He stared at the Northuldra, and swiftly moved his right hand. A sharpened solid splurt of dark magic rose from the shore in less than a second and pierced right through Honeymaren’s hand, which she used to draw arrows. In a loud scream, she dropped her weapon and bent with a painful wince. She was bleeding abundantly. 

“MAREN!” Screamed Anna, rushing at her side. 

She grunted that she was fine, but it was an obvious lie. 

Ryder exploded of rage. “YOU BASTARD!” 

“Using big words now, ain’t we?” Puffed Victor. “Actually, you know what? This wasn’t big enough. That didn’t deserve a ‘bastard’ yet. I’m gonna hurt her more.” 

Elsa barged in between him and her wife and stared at him like her eyes came from the core of arctic glaciers itself. 

“Don’t even dare to move your hands at her one more time.” 

Ironically, she was raising glowing blue ones in his direction, and the air around them had fallen of many degrees. 

Honeymaren’s heart filled so much love that it was like all the pain and spilled blood didn’t exist anymore. She smiled at her wife’s intervention, adorable and badass at the same time. 

When Victor took a careful stop, Elsa looked behind her, still pointing at him. 

“Are you okay, Honey?” 

“Y-yeah, I think I can get over it. But you’re gonna have to do without me from now on.” 

Elsa gave a sad look to her lover’s twisted face. Ryder urged to rip a part of his tunic to craft a makeshift bandage. It stopped the bleeding for now, but would need closer inspection. 

To Victor’s ears, however, Honeymaren’s last sentence sounded like music. Yes. Incapacitate each and every ally of the Fifth Spirit so they couldn’t use their weapons. That was a clever follow-up. 

He barely flicked his wrist and a spurt of goo splashed away from his palm right towards Anna. Elsa’s eyes widened and she immediately rose a giant ice shield with a slam of the foot. 

The slime splashed on the surface, and she groaned as she turned to him again. 

“Stop that at once!!” 

Anna twirled her sword in a menacing ‘woosh’. “Oh, if he doesn’t stop it, I will make him stop. I hate surprise attacks. You’re the coward one!” 

“Coward?” Repeated Victor with a slight evil giggle. “You talked about skill earlier. Don’t you think it’s skilled that I can reach to spots… That I don’t even see?” 

He flicked his wrist again, and Anna tried to understand what he meant. Suddenly, the pebbles on her right moved in a creak sound, and dark slime gushed from the ground to splash at her arm, right at the interstice between the elbow and forearms parts of her armor. She let out a scream and a hiss at the burning pain that seized her suddenly, and dropped her sword. 

Elsa twirled around. What?? He had aimed at her even though she was standing behind her blurred ice shield? And so precisely that it went through the flaws of an armor? 

The Snow Queen started to panic as she admitted that Victor had the experience of battle, and knew exactly what to do from now on. 

“No...” She muttered, but it was too late. 

She twirled to Kristoff and Eydis, who had been standing side by side. The King had turned his head at Anna’s scream, wondering what just happened. 

“Kristoff! Watch out!!” Warned the blonde. 

It was a mistake to call him. He looked at her, wondering what the danger was, and Victor smirked. With a jolt of the wrist, he sent another spurt of dark magic to him, and it hit him at the head. 

“KRISTOFF!!” 

Anna, who had been inspecting her wound, caught up on the scene too late. Elsa, who thought until now that she had the advantage of speed, was frightened to discover that Victor was as talented as her; in a few seconds, he had harmed three persons. 

Elsa jumped over her ice shield, enlarged it without looking at it, and hurried to her brother-in-law. 

“I’m fine.” He assured, but then he grunted when he felt the pulsating pain on her skull. “I’ve got a… You know.” Maybe that a regular person would have died from such a magic blow, but he was fine. Only, he started to feel dizzy, and went on his knees, his hand preventing him from falling on the pebbles entirely. 

“Papa!” 

Elsa saw Eydis crouch next to him, but also felt at the same time magic flow through the air. Victor’s next target was her niece. Pitch black goo went to the spot between her shoulder and her neck, where she only wore a coat of mail. Elsa turned still in terror. So he had noticed every single flaw of their outfits. 

The young princess fell forward with a cry. 

“Her too?!” Yelled Ryder, like this was the last straw. “How dare you hurt a CHILD?!” 

He started to run to Victor, screaming a war shout, and the man just cackled. 

“Ryder!! NO!!” Panicked Elsa. 

Victor was faster at injuring Ryder than it would take her to raise a wall in front of him to prevent any step further. 

A slime dart splashed to his knee, and he fell with a moan to the ground. 

“NO!” Whined the blonde, seeing the worst happening, and continuing to happen. 

They were all wincing in pain and clenching their eyes shut at the horrible sensation that the dark magic made as it burnt their skin in a unique way. 

Victor laughed like a maniac. 

“You fools! You’re all like preys to me. Tiny, little, weak preys. This is just too easy when one has been practicing for years.” 

He wiggled his fingers in a ‘buh-bye’ gesture, and it both was sarcastic and meaningful. Elsa quickly understood that he was getting in the final part of his plan. Now it was only her facing him, and he knew very well that she would never dare to give him injuries like the one he struck. 

Elsa gulped. All of her allies on the battlefield were wounded, and she couldn’t even take the time to heal them; Victor now was getting all of her attention. 

“This is over, Fifth Spirit. You’ll face justice.” 

“No! This isn’t justice! This is pure and abominable cruelty!!” Blurted Honeymaren, still in pain, and accusing him through gritted teeth. 

“Shut up, Northuldra. Or I pierce your second hand. It won’t be hard.” 

Elsa frowned with rage. “Don’t talk to my wife like that.” 

She stepped forward, detaching from the others to come closer to him. Anna admired how brave and independent she was to step forward. Honeymaren didn’t like much how it made her go away from her. 

Victor raised an eyebrow as she walked for long seconds and now was away from her peers, halfway between them and him. 

“You think you can threaten me? I have weakened your family. I’m able to rip your magic out of you anytime. You’re not in a position of strength.” 

The blonde clenched her jaw. She indeed wasn’t, but had the tiny hope that he didn’t notice. Only, even if he didn’t have a strategist mind, Victor was far from dumb. He was determined, which made him a fearsome enemy. 

“That’s what makes it unfair!” Underlined Elsa. “You have this ability to rip magic out of others, and I don’t.” 

“Because you don’t want to find about this ability.” Scoffed the man. “While you were busy being lame and weak, I studied this art. But being in harmony with Nature is more important, I guess.” 

Elsa’s heart clench at that double judgement. He had demeaned both her magic skills and her job. 

“You’ve got a lot of nerve…” She hissed. 

He sighed. “Yes, a very little patience. Now I am done waiting. This delay has gone on too long.” 

He twirled his fingers, but instead of making dark slike appear there like the Snow Queen thought he would do, he seemed to gather his magic. 

Elsa quickly rose her hands in a dismissing gesture. “Victor, no. Hold on. Remember what I said: if you do that, you’ll become the very thing you hated.” 

“Don’t try to influence me!!” Yelled the man. 

“I’m only saying the truth!!” Swore Elsa. “I’ve done many mistakes in my life to advise you on that, trust me!!” 

“STOP IT!” He groaned, his fists now exuding strong energy. “I’m putting an end to the Fifth Spirit’s existence, right here and right now!” 

Elsa’s eyes widened at his brisk move, realizing he was genuinely about to do the magic pullout. She rose her arms even higher, in an imploring gesture. 

“This magic is who I am, Victor…” Confessed Elsa. 

Her sentence was so emotional that it placed them in the silence of the night for a moment. Honeymaren widened her eyes.  

“It’s part of her identity! If she loses her magic, she loses a part of herself!” She insisted. “You can’t do that!” 

“Oh, I assure you that I can.” 

He started to move his arms in a combination of moves that he had never done before, and Anna widened her eyes. She really didn’t want to see him try. 

“We have to kill him before he does it!” She yelled to her elder, desperate.

“No, no…” 

The Fifth Spirit refused to come to such an act. 

“We can’t do that!” She yelled back to Anna behind her. 

“Elsa!” Scolded Honeymaren, agreeing with her sister-in-law. “If we don’t do it now, it will be too late!!” 

The two women had been alternating their panicked gazes between the blonde and the enemy, who kept making those unique moves that really heightened the urgency. 

“ELSA!” Called their voices behind her. 

“Let me think!!” Shouted Elsa back, her closed fists trembling. 

Her breathing sped up. What to do? What to do? Victor was gathering his magic. Whatever he was preparing wasn’t bluff. The danger was genuine. 

Honeymaren didn’t like this at all. All of her instinct was screaming that this wouldn’t end well. Anna now understood why she got a bad feeling when they had come to the shore on Nokk. This was it. This was the end. 

They had lost. 

Victor retracted his fists back, his hands pouring with magic. The Snow Queen knew this posture way too well. He was about to blow a very powerful magic move. He locked his eyes with her.

“No, Victor, wait…” Begged Elsa. 

“Too late. I’ve been waiting for this moment longer than you’ve been alive.” 

He gave her a cruel look, and launched his arms forward, his palms open. Widening her eyes was the last thing Elsa could do. 

She suddenly spasmed, like she got seized by a giant invisible hand that just squeezed her whole body. Her eyes turned up and she revulsed, her breathing lost in a strangling noise, and she fainted, falling to the pebbles in a sinister sound. “ELSA!” Yelled Honeymaren. 

“NO!!” Screamed Anna. 

They both ran like hell to the unconscious body of their loved one, but Victor kept aiming and continued his process. 

A light suddenly emanated from every pore of Elsa’s skin, flashing suddenly, and the two women stopped running in a gasp, wincing as she suddenly became entirely bright white. In any other context, Honeymaren would have felt like she was blessed by the sight of an angel. But now, she screamed in anguish. 

“NOOOO!!” 

She ran to take her lover in her arms, when suddenly a shock wave blew from Elsa’s body, and she got blasted away, rejected in the pebbles violently in a backward roll. Kristoff stopped her and prevented her from a whiplash. Stunned, she tried to stand up as soon as possible to try again, determined and oblivious. Although, the wind started to rise, and became incredibly strong, making it even impossible to approach within a twenty-meter radius. 

It was like one of Gale’s tornados had been combined with the most powerful light Honeymaren had ever seen. Anna felt like she was staring directly into a lighthouse. Everyone experienced that moment differently, but all agree on one point: magic was exploding through the air, filling every possible spot. It even felt like it went everywhere and sneaked in every place; Eydis felt like it was going through her hair like rain, and Kristoff felt like it was going into his eyes like the heat of flames would do in a giant fire. 

It was intense and unstoppable. Soon they were projected even further from Elsa because the gust of magical energy started to fortify around her. Victor focused even more on the process, his arms outstretched, unreachable from where he was. The magic process started to lift the Spirit’s body from the shore, and it floated above the pebbles, soon reaching three meters high. 

“Elsa!!” Screamed Anna behind her arms, placed to avoid getting blinded by the magic beam. 

It was obvious that her sister couldn’t reply, completely unconscious. With the wind, she wouldn’t have been able to hear her anyway. 

The Snow Queen’s body flipped like a lifeless doll on a horizontal plan, and looked like she was suspended by an invisible thread that was attached to her navel. Perfectly balanced, her head, arms and legs were hanging in the air, with only her core raising to the sky. 

Then the light started to detach from her. It was no longer a figure of speech; everything that made Elsa magical was leaving her body. It elevated in swirls, packing in one spot and one sphere, and it slowly hovered to Victor. 

Elsa’s family members gasped as they guessed what it meant. The man laughed out loud in a sinister cackle, and suddenly widened his arms, his head up, like he was on top of the world. 

The bright white sphere jolted through the air and went right to his body in a second, like it had been pumped, or dragged with the force of the universe. It entered his navel, and he startled at the sensation, then laughed even more. His body shone the same way, but it faded as the magic sank into his core. 

Then, the second the light stopped emanating, Elsa’s body fell to the ground, and the magic gust disappeared. 

It was like time had suddenly stopped, and yet it hadn’t. In fact, it felt unfair that it hadn’t actually stopped. Elsa’s body had dropped to the ground, motionless, and yet the waves kept rolling, and yet the wind kept blowing, and yet the entire world didn’t come to a halt to watch the Snow Queen fall. 

A feeling of unfairness added itself to the mountain of emotions that piled in Anna’s heart. At the top, reigned terror. 

“ELSA!!” 

She ran to her elder’s still body, and kneeled heavily next to her. 

“No, gods, no…” 

She checked her state, shook her arms, yelled her name again and again… But nothing happened. Elsa didn’t respond, her face and muscles limp. 

Honeymaren dropped heavily next to her, her weapon also left behind. All that mattered now was Elsa, Elsa, Elsa. 

Their hearts squeezed with the same intensity, yet not the same reasons: Anna was terrorised, and Honeymaren devastated. 

‘No, not again… This can’t be happening… This can’t be real… This is one of those nightmares… Please, no, for the love of gods, please don’t make me go through this again. Please don’t make me live that once more. I can’t do it. I’m not strong enough. I lied each time I said I was when someone asked about that night. I’m not strong enough. I can’t face that again. Please, Elsa, wake up... ‘ Thought Anna, and tears fell heavily on her cheeks as she winced. 

‘Don’t go, Elsa, please, love of my life, please don’t leave me. I’m begging you. I’m begging the sky, I’m begging Ahtohallan, I’m begging all of Nature from the tiniest speck of dust to the tallest mountain of the world. Please, snømus, please… Open your eyes… Open your beautiful and mighty eyes… I can’t live without you. You’re my light, and I can already feel the colors of the world disappearing if you’re not here to shed light on them. Please, Elsa, wake up…’ Thought Honeymaren, her shoulders trembling, and she rubbed her eyes violently to see Elsa’s face clearly. 

But even if the blonde’s face was as graceful as usual, she did not respond. How could she be so stunning in that final moment? 

The Northuldra leader looked down at her left hand where she was holding the one of her wife. A shiver passed along her back as she looked at her ice ring. The object which held the highest importance in her life now made her feel a mix of disgust and anger. 

Her lover’s magic now was in possession of this horrible man. Everything that made Elsa who she is got stolen from her. The ring she had at her finger was now linked to the core of this monster. 

Honeymaren’s teeth gritted as she frowned, roamed with rage, and she dropped Elsa’s hand to search for her knife at her waist. She suddenly stood up, and all the calm and level-headed behavior that normally forged her personality got swept away, as powerfully as the wind in her hair. 

“YOU VILE AND SICKENING SON OF A--” 

“MAREN!” 

A strong hand held her by the crook of her elbow, and she got stopped in her run. 

“LET ME GO!” She yelled with all she could, tears falling on her face. She didn’t need to focus and erase them to know that Anna was the one who was stopping her. 

She could feel how strong yet trembling the hand was. She could feel how equally devastated the redhead was by a simple touch. Victor had harmed a wife, but he had also harmed a sister. 

When she turned to Anna, she was unable to see yet heard the sobs that agitated the Queen, who was reduced to a trembling younger sibling. 

“D-don’t become like h-him.” She begged, her voice hitched with sorrow. 

The Northuldra fell next to her, and the two women held their hands as they looked at Elsa again. The others had approached and were flabbergasted, unable to believe what was happening. 

Kristoff looked around frantically as he realized an odd detail. Nothing made out of magic ice had melted. Ice arrows were still scattered around, the ice blade of Anna’s sword was intact, and the raised shields that Elsa had made here and there were still present. More importantly, the blonde was inert on the pebbles, but her outfit hadn’t changed a bit. 

“Wait… I don’t get it… If her magic’s gone, then why are her clothes still in this state?” Muttered Kristoff. 

Eydis frowned as she thought fast. 

“The process rips her magic… So it transported it... Her magic went somewhere… But where?” 

Victor cackled evily from where he was standing. 

He flicked his right wrist, and wiggled his fingers. Snowflakes popped out of his palm. “Found it.” 

Eydis gasped. He had succeeded. 

The snowflakes twirled around his hand, and he looked at it with a satisfied expression.

“I gotta say, the sensation is quite interesting.” Commented Victor, wiggling his body as he felt the ice and snow course in his veins. 

The brunette was simply disgusted by his behavior. She couldn’t help imagining that it was like Elsa’s soul and essence was in him, and he was squirming in pleasure. It made her feel like she was watching him ravish her wife. She forced herself to focus on Elsa instead of him, holding her beloved in her arms even closer. 

“Say, is it me, or the air of the night warmed up a bit?” He asked in a playful tone. He then snapped as he understood - and his mastering of the magic wasn’t quite perfect yet, so it sparkled some snowflakes around - “Wait, I get it. It’s because of the ice and snow, right? The bender isn’t bothered by cold. That’s why I feel like there’s no more of that fresh sea breeze.” 

Honeymaren suddenly noticed something. She was too busy being heartbroken until now to see it. 

“That’s why Elsa’s body is shivering now…” She murmured, feeling the skin under her hands. 

Anna looked down at her sister’s body in alarm. Elsa was unconscious, but her body was still alive; and now it was struggling to stay so, trembling and spasming. 

“Oh my gods, because she’s wearing ice but isn’t immune to it anymore!” Gasped the redhead, suddenly struck by the horrible situation.

They all gasped. Honeymaren’s brain worked faster than light and she immediately took off a leather layer of her outfit to cover her trembling wife with it. Kristoff hurried to come closer and fell on his knees, making the pebbles creak. 

“No, no, that won’t be enough, we have to take her out of her clothes, now!” 

If Honeymaren didn’t know the King’s personality and his ice harvester experience, she would think that he was trying to bare her wife. Thankfully, it was obvious that he ordered to act urgently and do emergency procedures, just like when one of his harvesters peers had fallen through the ice of a frozen lake. 

They nodded and started to take off her crafted custom-made ice armor… And realized two seconds later that they couldn’t. All of them had tried to tug on a different part, but it was impossible to take it off Elsa’s skin. 

“I can’t detach her poleyn.” Complained Eydis with a weak and disappointed voice. “Doesn’t it have a fastening strap?”

“Where is the outline of it?” Frowned Ryder, confused. 

“There’s none.” Said Anna and Honeymaren in one low voice. 

Kristoff gulped. “She crafted it flawlessly. Each part of the armor has been tailor-made with her magic, so there’s no joint… And only her can melt them.”  

They all widened their eyes at the finding. 

“Wait… Maybe… That her ice against her ice…” Blabbered the blond man, searching for ideas as he panted in panic. He stumbled trying to get up to fetch his axe where he had dropped it, so Eydis went to it for him. She picked the axe with emotion, looking at the beautiful detailed blade. This creation probably was the last one that she will have seen her aunt make… With a sob, she gave it to his father, and he slid the blade of the axe along a piece of armor over Elsa’s chest, right above her heart, the spot they really needed to take care of first. But it didn’t do anything. Despite Kristoff’s long and strong efforts, neither the blade or the flexible plate of thick magic got scratched. His cheeks red, he was out of breath, and dropped the axe down. He gave Honeymaren the saddest eyes she had ever seen on the King’s face. 

Honeymaren gasped. “No. Nonono, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening…” 

She hovered her lover’s twitching body and rubbed as much skin as possible, at each and every spot that wasn’t covered with those ice armor parts that they all started to hate. 

“Please get warm, p-please get warm…” She mumbled, hiccups cutting her sentence because her throat tightened. Her heavy tears fell and splashed on Elsa’s pale and unconscious face. 

Ryder was devastated to observe that all colors had left the Snow Queen’s cheeks, and even her normally pink lips had turned white. But it wasn’t the beautiful snow white color that the tribe associated to the Fifth Spirit’s unique aura; it was the white of death. Elsa’s heart was slowing down and would soon stop. 

Anna clenched her teeth as her tears fell over and over. She held Elsa’s cold hand in hers and twirled to Victor. 

“PLEASE!” She implored, her voice distorted by terror. “Please do something!! Please melt it, melt the ice, or she’ll die of hypothermia!!” 

The man didn’t move an inch. 

“DO SOMETHING!!” Yelled the Queen with all the force in her lungs, or rather what remained, after she cried and screamed so much. 

She turned to clench Elsa’s arms as her elder’s body trembled from the cold and Honeymaren’s rubs, and she could feel that it didn’t change anything. Elsa’s skin was simply the coldest she had ever felt. Even during bad days when the blonde was feeling down, it hadn’t reached such a low temperature. 

“We need to try a cardiac massage.” Suggested Honeymaren, with a tone overfilled with the acknowledgement that it was useless, but she refused not to make an attempt. 

Anna gave her way so she could place herself above Elsa’s chest and along her arm, even though she knew that it was pointless as well. Indeed, when the brunette tried to start pumping up and down with her overlapped hands, she got blocked by the incredibly solid matter of the ice armor. She tried, tried and tried, with all the rage and despair she had in her soul, but it didn’t even shatter. 

She violently screamed and punched the pebbles on the shore next to her knees repeatedly. Ryder gave her a sad look and was about to put a hand on her shoulder, but Honeymaren tossed it away and bent to kiss her wife. She had meant to combine mouth-to-mouth with the cardiac massage, but the second her lips touch Elsa’s, she startled and cried at the sensation of how desperately cold they were. With trembling shoulders, she pulled back, and clenched the ice shoulder-pieces. 

She sobbed at the idea that Elsa was about to die in two minutes or so, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. Her heart would stop beating, her stunning energy that guided Honeymaren day and night would stop existing, her beautiful smile would never reappear on her face, and her deep azure blue eyes would never land on her again with her unique sly and quiet balance, her unique sarcastic and wise temperament. No, Elsa’s eyes would forever stay close like they were now, and her body would remain cold. And it wasn’t the gentle cold that made her who she were, that was her distinctive feature, her peculiarity that drove Honeymaren crazy in love everytime she would roam her hands along her face and body, or when they got even more intimate. This time, it was the end. It was the final cold. In a while, before the Moon even finished its course in the sky, Elsa’s last heartbeat would echo on the shore, and her soul abandon her on the dark pebbles. 

“No… Elsa… Please… Please, I’m begging you…” 

She had a wince and gritted her teeth as new tears fell abundantly from her face, falling on the cold matter of her outfit, that Elsa could no longer control. 

Anna was crying her eyes out as well, her shoulders trembling next to her, holding her sister’s arms and face as she could despite her shaking. 

Both could not see Elsa’s face anymore, because their sight was blur with tears. 

Behind Honeymaren, Ryder had crouched and was putting a hand on the brunette’s shoulder, trying to be a strong brother who would help her go through this, but he was unable to find the strength he was looking for. His hand turned into a clenching fist, holding the leather piece on Honeymaren’s shoulder and trembling as he cried as well. 

Kristoff was so shocked that tears couldn’t even come to his eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was living, his head feeling like in the worst nightmare. Instinctively, he lifted his eyes to his wife, searching in Anna’s face an indication that this was all a joke. But when he saw the absolute wreck that the redhead had become, her eyes and nose running a flood of tears, his heart got split in half just as powerfully as if a sword had sliced it. A physical shock to his chest suddenly took him out of his devastated reverie; he looked down and saw that Eydis had launched herself in his lap and was curling against him, her arms around his armor. He couldn’t see her face, but there was no need. Her tiny silver spaulders were shaking in sorrow and he could feel her gloved fingers dugged in his back. The top of her dutch braids was shivering as she had her forehead against him. With all the might he could assemble, he bent down and kissed his daughter’s head, passing a hand along her locks to calm her. 

However, he knew that no one in the family, no one among them five, would ever get over what had just happen, and what was about to happen. 

Victor stared at the scene with a mute expression. He was silent during all of his sobbing. He was intrigued. 

But what he didn’t understand wasn’t the behavior they had around Elsa’s body. What he didn’t understand was the feeling he was having. 

What was this sensation? Was it… Sadness? No, it couldn’t be. Why would he feel sad for the Fifth Spirit’s death? He had everything he needed! He got her powers, he now was unstoppable, she would soon die and he could even depart for Ahtohallan right now. His plan was complete. His revenge was triumphant. He was the victorious one. 

Then, how come he didn’t move? Why couldn’t he go? What was stopping him? 

Victor was paralysed by this sensation. He even wanted to grunt at this unknown thing stopping him, but he didn’t find the strength to do so. Then it hit him; he was compassionate. 

‘What the hell…’ He thought. ‘Why am I having pity for those losers? I am the victorious one. I won. I avenged Niks.’ 

He stared at the trembling family once again. 

‘Then why am I feeling sadness? Is it sadness? Or is it… Something else? Is it… Worse?’ 

He couldn’t move, still trying to pinpoint this sensation. 

He was in denial. He refused to admit that Elsa and the Fifth Spirit he had met were two different persons, with different lives, and who made different choices. They didn’t have the same personalities, they didn’t have the same intentions. Yet he rejected the idea that he couldn’t avenge Niks by hurting her. 

He was angry. Fueled by rage. Each of his attacks until now had been with the mental image of his wife in mind. She would pay for all his suffering. 

He was bargaining. A life for a life. That was the plan. Once the Fifth Spirit magic becomes his, this vendetta will be fair. That murderer will have what they deserved. 

He was depressed. Those last years had been horrible to him, and took him down mentally and physically. Every time he closed his eyes at night, he thought of his wife. There was no way to dismiss it. 

But he wasn’t accepting. He never accepted that Niks died. All he ever wanted for so many years since her death was to avenge her. It was what fueled his life, what dictated his acts, what made him go forward in life. 

Then why were they all kneeled on the shore around her still body? Why didn’t then want to kill him? Why didn’t they react the same way than he did? 

The Queen had stopped the Northuldra leader to prevent her from giving in to temptation. But this was long ago now. The Northuldra wasn’t held by the monarch anymore. She could totally stand up and run to him and grab her dagger to cut his throat. She could even simply run and punch him in the face. But she didn’t why. Why didn’t she? None of them was retained by the other. Why was none of them avenging her, for heaven’s sake? If he were them, he would already have taken advantage of the enemy’s presence at the scene-- Yet that was it. He wasn’t them. 

They weren’t murderers. They didn’t have crime in their list of solutions. They didn’t plan to kill him. In fact, he realized, they would never plan to kill him, even after the Fifth Spirit’s death. 

“Elsa.” Said the echo of the Queen’s voice in his mind. “Her name is Elsa.” 

Victor was struck by the vision of this family. They never considered murder. That simply wasn’t who they were. They were peaceful, they were pacifists. None of them even had their heads turned to him. He could even attack them by surprise and stab them all with ice impalements like his wife had been killed, and yet they wouldn’t even mind. ‘Let it be so’, they would surely say. 

His knees buckled. 

When he slammed the pebbles, the noise attracted Anna’s attention, and she turned weakly to him. She rubbed her eyes to stop seeing blur and watched Victor. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was seated on his heels, his shoulder slumped, his hands on the ground along his thighs like a disjointed puppet. 

His hands, of a power yet phenomenal, that could snap the whole Forest out of existence if he intended to. On the ground. 

She blinked in confusion. Was he… Was he devastated? What had happened? 

“Victor?” 

The redhead surprised herself at her own voice. Her subconscious seemed to have been the one calling for his name, because she didn’t even remember her brain forming the question. Her tone had been calm, soft, gentle even. She was about to ask ‘Are you okay?’, but forbid herself to pronounce those words, repelled by her own intentions. Was she feeling bad for him now? Wait, what?? 

Because he looked so sad. He looked like his wife had just died a second time in front of his eyes. It was like… 

Gears clipped together in Anna’s brain. 

He had realized that he was inflicting the same thing that the previous Fifth Spirit had inflicted on him. 

“She was right…” He muttered, so far and nearly imperceptibly that Anna almost didn’t hear. “I have become the very thing I hate…” 

They exchanged a gaze, Victor’s eyes now locking with her. 

“Wait… Are you about to…” 

He nodded, and stepped forward. The Northuldra leader’s protective instinct made her protect her lover’s body with an almost predatory snarl. 

Victor rose innocent hands, stepping slower. 

“STAY BACK!” Shrieked the brunette. 

“No, Honeymaren, wait!!” 

“What?!” She blurted, annoyed that Anna prevented her from doing what she wanted. 

“He’ll give her magic back.” 

The Northuldra leader blinked. The others did as well. 

“What did you just say?” 

“He’s bringing her back to life. He’s giving her magic back.” 

Kristoff looked at his wife sadly. “Anna, surely you’re delirious. He only wants to finish the job--” 

“Trust me.” 

“What, you have faith in him now?”

“I can tell that he has changed. I can feel it in my guts.” 

“...What?”

“Why is he gesturing us to move aside, then?” Groaned Ryder, watching his moves. 

“He needs space to do it, just like when he… Just like when he ripped it off her. We have to stand back.” 

Honeymaren’s chestnut eyes turned to fire. “I am not leaving her side.” 

“Maren, I swear that it’s the most difficult thing to do for me as well right now. But I’m begging you. I’m begging you all.” She said on a higher voice, addressing to her family. “Let’s get out of the way. Elsa will be fine. I know she will. I promise.” 

They all seemed suspicious, but slowly changed their minds. Her daughter lifted her small face to her, still covered with tears. 

“P… Pinky promise?” 

Anna looked down at Eydis, and smiled as widely as she could while she held her chin up. “Pinky promise.” 

It took a while, but they finally all stepped away from Elsa’s unconscious body. Victor respected the time it took them to take the distance he indicated, and they moved reluctantly because it was even larger than they thought. He stayed silent until they were all in good positions and he was certain that they wouldn’t get hurt. 

“That will be enough.” 

They turned to him. 

“You don’t need to go further. You’re out of the radius now, it’s fine.” 

Honeymaren blinked in astonishment. He truly cared? She could see it in his features, she could hear it in his voice. He wasn’t tricking them. He genuinely cared about their health. She was stunned by the change in his behavior. Did he come to his senses? 

“Cover your eyes.” He advised. 

They all obeyed, except for Honeymaren, who was staring right at him. He opened his mouth to repeat, but she struck her sentence faster. 

“I am not leaving my eyes out of you.” 

He had a sigh and a sad smile. “Alright.” 

She kept staring at him while he did the same moves with his arms than what he did earlier, only this time on reverse. He focused deeply on what he was doing, joining his hands just in front of his navel. Briskly, he parted them and even jolted his arms open, both outstretched on each side, forming a cross with his body. A bright light parted from him and went in a straight line right to Elsa’s body. It was dazzling and blinding, but Honeymaren didn’t care. She willingly accepted to lose her sight to make sure that Victor was bringing Elsa’s magic back to her. 

Somehow, the light of the transfer this time seemed even brighter than before. Eydis moaned in pain at the light and winced as she stepped back. Ryder placed a hand above her face to protect her as he was also looking away to avoid burning his eyes. 

The process was longer than when he ripped Elsa’s magic in the first place, and Anna interpreted from it that it was always more difficult to return what was stolen. Just like it was harder to fix a vase after breaking it than when one bumped it off the table. 

It took a long time, and the redhead eventually closed her eyes in impatience, clenching them shut. When suddenly, the light stopped. She blinked as she looked around them. The shore had been plunged in the dark of night again, the Moon calmly shedding light on them. 

As she tried to understand where everyone was standing because her eyes had trouble switching from the high brightness to the dark of night, she heard a loud gasp from the ground. 

Elsa gasped like she had been underwater for years and finally had reached the surface. She then breathed in pants as her heart picked up to its normal place and her blood rushed in her veins through her whole body. Her organs felt like they were on fire, and her limbs were both dizzy and buzzing with a sensation of pins and needles. Spasming, her palms slammed the pebbles and her fingers clenched on them. She continued to gasp and sat up in utter confusion of what had just happened. 

“ELSA!!” 

The familiar voice echoed in the night, and she blinked as she tried to find where her wife was possibly standing. Suddenly, fast noises of a run on the pebbles came closer and closer to her. She barely had the time to turn to where it was from when something very hard and very wet tackled her body and slid along her cheek. She recognized who it was by the way she cried, and the natural scent of her skin and hair combined with the familiar smell of the leather of her outfit.   

Elsa’s brain didn’t fully grasp why she was holding her so warmly, but she instinctively wrap her arms around her as she caught her breath. Honeymaren abruptly pulled back to hold Elsa’s face and look at her with a tearful grin. She lovingly sighed, then slammed her lips on hers. The Snow Queen widened her eyes at the deep and powerful kiss. It was full of emotion, and intense in every way. However, Elsa couldn’t enjoy it much. She already had troubles breathing, so a kiss wasn’t really the smartest move. Unwillingly, she pushed away Honeymaren’s shoulders to detach her from her face. After a big gasp, she gave her a regretful wince, then coughed as she tried to retrieve oxygen. 

“Sorry… Just... “ She gestured to her mouth, struggling to make words. “Need air...” 

Honeymaren had a wet chuckle and sniffed as she nodded. “Yeah. I understand. I’m the one who’s sorry for jumping on you like that. Take your time.” 

Elsa breathed as much as she could, when suddenly something else ripped out some of the air she had managed to put in her lungs; the brisk and powerful hug that held her from behind, with arms tightly crossing her chest, was unmistakable. 

“Anna?” She said in a croak voice, blinking. 

What happened? Was she okay? Victor had aimed at her, she got hurt, she fell, but it actually didn’t to anything? Were they this glad because it didn’t work? 

The redhead sobbed of happiness next to her ear. Elsa’s eyes widened at the familiar sound. Last time she had heard that kind of sobbing...

Hold on a minute, how long was she unconscious? 

“Hey, hey… I’m okay…” She muttered, assembling all her forces to reassure her little sister, and she stroked her hair as she felt her face on her shoulder. 

As a response, Anna clenched harder in her embrace, but thankfully her arms had gone higher, so Elsa was able to breathe normally. 

She stared in silence as Kristoff and Eydis ran to her and gave her blessed and incredibly relieved smiles, and Ryder fell to his knees next to her niece to sob loudly in happiness. 

What the heck had happened? How much time had passed? 

She looked around, a bit blocked by Honeymaren in her lap and Anna holding her still with her strong hug, to check the Moon and the tide and try to understand how long she had been taken away from them. 

When Elsa scanned the shore, her eyes landed on a man figure, and they widened when she saw that it was Victor. However, her expression changed when she saw his posture, and that’s why she didn’t recognize him immediately. He had one knee down and the other up, and he was struggling to stand up. That posture was familiar: Elsa was in the same state when she used a lot of her magic in one go and started to feel drowsy from it. What did Victor just do? Why was no one keeping an eye on him? 

“Guys… Look out…” Warned Elsa, nudging the people around her so they could turn towards the enemy. 

Anna crouched next to her and she could finally see her face. Her young sister looked at Victor, but to Elsa’s biggest surprise, she was neither frowning or worried; she was smiling? In… Gratitude? 

Surely she was delirious. The Snow Queen turned to her wife, and was stunned to see the same expression on Honeymaren’s face. 

The redhead turned and gave a squeeze to her shoulder. 

“How are you feeling?” 

Elsa blinked. “Uh… Good. Great.” 

Honeymaren smiled. “Can you feel your powers?” 

She frowned, clueless of what those questions were leading to. She looked down at her hands, folding then unfolding her fingers. She felt magic coursing through her veins, like usual. She pushed magic through her fingertips, and made some snowflakes fly around. 

“Yeah, I think so-- Wait a minute.” 

Her eyes widened, and Honeymaren grinned. 

Anna’s hand passed along her back. “He saved your life. He gave your magic back.” 

Quiet in disbelief, she joined them as they all looked over to where Victor was now standing, limping a bit because of his injured ankle. He didn’t dare to look at them, but finally did after a few seconds, noticing that all eyes were on him. His gaze met Elsa’s, and their eyes locked for a moment. She inspected him, dubious. Victor looked sorry, and sincere. The blonde blabbered in astonishment. 

“You… You did? You retrieved the magic, despite everything?”

“You were right.” He smiled sadly. “Killing you would have made me become the very thing I hate. And it wouldn’t have made me better than him. Revenge would never have. It doesn’t heal. Healing comes with love. So I reversed the transfert. You deserve it better than me.”

He stayed there, defeated and still, ready to receive his sentence. 

Anna slowly stood up, and smiled at him. 

“Thank you.” 

[melyaliz]

Better in Heels

Fandom: DC / Batfam

Summary: Anything you can do Dick can do better in heels. And Jen is here to support him in that. 

Pairing: Dick Grayson x OC (Jennifer O’Neal) 

Notes: Based on this story and @thespacebuns saying I should write Dick in heels. Also this post because it’s beautiful and this artist is pure magic 

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive​

Connect with me! AO3 / Instagram / Pinterest

DONATE or REQUEST 

----------

“Anything a man can do a woman can do better in heels” 

Jennifer looked up at her past boyfriend and present best friend: Dick Grayson. He had dragged her out to lunch after her morning meetings and they were just enjoying each other’s company - and some amazing mac and cheese- when Dick had spoke out of seemingly nowhere. 

“I mean, not to be sexist” Jen said poking at her macaroni, “but I feel like men could do it in heels if they tried.” 

“That’s my point!” Dick said pulling out his phone excited, even after all this time they were still operating on the same wavelength. “Look at Harley Quinn,” he played the video where the pretty blonde woman did a flip over some policemen. The move looked very familiar to something Dick Grayson use to do all the time. And probably still did honestly, Jen didn’t like watching the videos of them all fighting. It scared her a little. Just knowing how real that danger was. 

But that wasn’t the point. The point, which Dick hasn’t made yet but she had a feeling he was about to. Was that if Harley could do it in heels he could too.

“I mean what size shoe are you?” Jen asked rewinding the video a little to watch the move again. Oh yeah, Dick could do that in his sleep. Her, no. Dick? Yes. Faith too probably but she also hated heels. 

“A 10 in men’s.” 

“So like a 12 in women’s…. That may be hard.”

“Well, what do you have?” 

“Dick I’m a 7.5 you won’t fit.” 

She was already scrolling on her phone looking “Oh look at these!” she said holding up some cute platform booties. “And they have them in blue to match your costume” 

“Ok, I like those.” 

“Oh or these, they have little wings on the side!” she cooed showing him another pair, “they are having a sale I’m getting both.” 

“Wow ok.” Dick chuckled as he watched Jen quickly start filling out her information. 

“What?” she asked glancing up from her phone, eyebrow raised.

“I just” he shrugged, “you’re so supportive.’ 

“Was I ever not?” 

“No but, I normally see Faith as the one who orders the crazy shit.” 

“Well, we are sisters.” Jennifer said clicking order, “I did appreciate the large witch hats and brooms you guys pulled out for that midnight show for Harry Potter. Making people feel safe and also fans.” 

“Yeah well I didn’t realize she was such a fan.” 

“She wasn’t until she met Tim. she wasn’t much of a reader until Tim really.” 

Dick chuckled thinking back to how much Tim had relaxed since Faith had officially joined the team. It was subtle but there. He just seemed to smile a bit more and would even talk out his process. Dick had even caught the new robin cracking a joke last night. 

“They remind me of us when we were that age,” he said thinking back to the two of them running around the city laughing and showing off. Well he would show off she would just laugh 

“Dear God, I hope Faith doesn’t cry as much as I did.” 

“You weren’t that bad.” Dick waved away her comment. Honestly, she was way too hard on herself. 

“Didn’t Barbara start carrying a pack of tissues with her in her belt?” she chuckled at the memory of the red-haired girl just at the ready. 

“Oh yeah... Yeah, you were pretty bad.” Dick laughed thinking back at how Jennifer use to tear up at every single villain back story. She had full-on sobbed - snot and all - when they had found Victor Freeze’s wife. “But also so supportive.”

“Still am!” Jennifer smiled waving her phone, “You’re new shoes will be arriving next week. I didn’t pay for overnight shipping though because I’m supportive but also cheap as fuck.” 

“I can’t wait.”

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

“No” 

Bruce didn’t even need to turn around as Dick walked into the Batcave a week later. Somehow the caped crusader just knew.

“What WHY!?!” Dick cried.

“They do make your legs look great,” Faith said as she unwrapped her hands just finishing up sparing with Cass, “do all the robins get upgraded footwear.”

“There is no way in hell,” Tim said eyeing the 4-inch platforms 

“If Dick wears them you all have too,” Bruce said turning around arms folded. Already knowing where this was going. Cass shrugged jumping off the mat to find a pair of heels while Faith violently shook her head.

“Never mind” Faith said, “Take them off boy wonder 1.0”

“Nope! You’re all in heels!’ Dick sang out, “I have to show up a certain blonde” 

“Is he talking about  Cluemaster?” Faith whispered to Tim who studied unsure if she was joke or not. Sometimes he couldn’t tell. 

“No Harley Quinn.” 

-GET TAGGED!- 

Forever tag:  @the-shadow-of-atlantis​​ @coffee-randomness​​ @0hmydeku @xx3fsxx @daisyboobear​​  @jason-redhood​ @hello-i-lovespiderman-blr  @pinkwitch21 @tomhncharliep  @cdwmtjb8 @thespacebuns

[alteredcarbonresources]

ASKBOX / RP MEMES.*  Part 3 / 4. EPISODE 2. SEASON 1.  ALTERED CARBON.

                   *some quotes may be slightly edited for rp purposes.  tw: drug use mention, violence, murder, death & sexual content.

“And there is no "was." Once a marine, always a marine. Now get out, or I'll shoot.” 

“Cause she told me she was seeing him! She said he needed her. That he was gonna take care of her. And then she ended up dead.”

“Did you hurt her? If you laid a hand on my daughter --”

“Do you wanna fuck me? Put your cock in me? Anywhere you want.”

“Do you want to see me? I'm right here, baby.  Just a few credits.”

“Doesn't matter how much anyone pays you.  You shouldn't let anyone hurt you. You're worth more than that.”

“Don't worry.  You're not my type.”

“Experience the brutality of Envoy terrorists murdering countless women and children.”

“How am I supposed to explain this to your brothers and sisters? Everyone at church? To your father, God rest his soul? That you've renounced your religious coding.”

“First thing you'll learn is that nothing is what it seems. Ignore your assumptions. Don't trust anything.”

“I think your mom doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about.” 

“I heard Bancroft torched his own stack. And I got drunk to celebrate. He send you here to kill me?”

“I shot them down, too. Now get the fuck out.”

“I thought it would give me a moment of peace. I should have known better.”

“I would cry enough to fill up the oceans of the world. And I still don't want you to risk your soul.”

“I'd do anything for my little girl.”

“I'll ask around.  Come here tomorrow.”

“I'm not going to let you get yourself killed because you wouldn't eat an enchilada.”

“I've only got this life, and I'm not planning to have another one.”

“It damaged her mind.  She hasn't said a word since that night.”

“Like you said, Papa's dead.  That should limit the explaining.”

“Look at this mess.”

“Mom said grudges are stupid. She said you had to let them go or else it would kill your soul. What do you think?”

“My heart would break into a thousand pieces.  It would shatter my world.” 

“No girl who used to work here is gonna do what I can do for you.”

“No, I'll fucking kill you! No, don't do it! You stay away from there!”

“No, it's okay. He's one of the good ones.  If he breaks it, he buys it.”

“No, stay away from there.  No, don't go in there.  Come on! No, I'll fucking kill you! Don't! Stay away from there!”

“Now that the 653 stupidity is over, there won't be any more talk of spinning up the dead.”

“Now, do you want to touch me? Tell me what you want, honey.”

“See, friends are overrated, 'cause eventually, someone will come along and shoot 'em in the stack.  You're better off alone.”

“She pulled down 30 years for dipping.”

“Single bed, single dish. Table cleared just enough for one person What about the wife? She dead? Okay, so not dead.  Maybe she left you 'cause you're a fucking slob.  I mean, look at this place.”

“Take a towel from the pile, and don't fucking steal it.”

“Technology advances. But humans don't.”

“Wake up and smell the coffee. Wake up.”

“We're smart monkeys, and what we want is always the same. Food, shelter, sex, and in all its forms, escape.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you tell she's suffering? She's caught in a trauma loop. Why the fuck you have her spun up in VR?”

“When are you going to unpack?”

“When the victors rewrite history, it's just another kind of war, waged after the battlefield killing is done to murder the memory of the defeated.”

“Witness the Protectorate courage and triumph.”

“Yes, of course. What do I know? I'm just an old-fashioned woman. Out of touch.”

“You don't have any food in here. No one will respect a skinny girl cop.”

“You got a hell of a motive. Military expertise.”

“You gotta get out more.  Your milk's a month past the due date.  A month.”

You know, if he accidentally kills a girl he buys her an upgraded sleeve. I knew a girl once, he resleeved her ten years younger, and with a great set of tits, too.” 

“You know, you could always move to someplace that's really yours.“ 

“You see, the military, the cheap bastards, they issue a weapon, they keep records on who has it so they can charge back against your pay. Tac Marine standard issue AR. Serial number, you dumb fuck. You might as well have signed your name.“ 

“You stitched people up, huh?“ 

“You'd do anything to protect her.  You're not stupid. You take out [name], sooner or later, someone like me will show up.  You go down for it, she's alone in the world.“ 

[sparda3g]

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Chapter 274 Review

Last chapter sure left Erina in daze with the sudden Shoujo plot twist that didn’t prepare her to embrace it. Now, she is out of commission as the two guys are about to duel. Shoujo got nothing on this. This chapter however goes back to Shounen, going to a personal level. It’s the usual case of battle procedure; only now it’s personal and I don’t mean the fight over the Goddess.

In fact, you can say that the last chapter was done for comedic purposes, though I do believe it will lead to something later on. The point is the battle isn’t over obtaining the Goddess like she is placed on the line, but it’s the dignity that counts. It’s like me saying, “Once I win, I will be the best chef in the universe!” Unless aliens can’t cook, my words are just words. For those who believe that she’s on the line, that’s not the point at all. Besides, she’s knocked out as Megumi treats her. It’s a funny way to take her out before she can stop anything, especially since she is the Headmaster. I’m fine with this.

That doesn’t mean this battle will be just bragging rights. Instead, there’s a bet on the line, which essentially make this as Shokugeki-esque. Now I am interested. Soma is the one to make it happen since he challenge Saiba with a bet that if he loses, he will reveal his true identity. He still don’t know that Suzuki is Saiba. That’s funny, because I believe Erina knows, but since she’s knocked out, Soma made a bet on it. In short, it’s a useless condition. Clever move, I have to admit on the writing part.

As evil Saiba is, he plays fairly by requesting a bet on his behalf as well. I find it funny how he asks Megumi for a second opinion, like she happened to be his supporter. If he wasn’t evil, I could imagine a new pairing ensue. While Soma’s bet is wasteful in a sense, Saiba takes it to a deep situation. If Saiba wins, Soma will hand over his precious knife to him. Soma’s reaction is very telling.

I’m glad that this battle not only has gotten interesting, but it has taken to a personal manner; one in which Soma reacted with anger. That knife has been a signature to his persona. That’s like removing the straw hat from Luffy of One Piece. It does make me curious on how much value he has with that knife. Could it be from his father or even his mother? If the latter, that would be devastating as hell. As savage this may sound, but I want him to lose just to see how the story flow. Nevertheless, I am invested with this scenario.

The battle begins and Megumi is treating Erina with an ice pack. Dammit, Megumi. You were the chosen one! You supposed to train her to be prepared for any Shoujo or even Joei level of romance! Joking aside, it is comical to see her treating Erina. Megumi is assigned as the judge. That’s high pressure. She can be the savior or the destroyer; all depends on the victor. I doubt Soma will hate her if Saiba wins, but that would be some drama. I did laugh Soma got his gear ready; hype and hell bent to win. All of this wouldn’t happen if Erina was around, but Shoujo plot was too much for her. I blame Soma for his blunt words.

Another reminder that Megumi and Soma have no idea who Suzuki is as well as why he wants Soma’s knife. Soma believes he’s another Mimasaka, who goes around and takes their precious tools in a Shokugeki. Oddly enough, he’s not that wrong with the end scene, but obviously there’s more. I assumed he is going to take it to prove to Joichiro that he defeated his precious son. It’s the bragging rights at its finest (worst). But it’s fine with Soma, because he’s powered up for a while. Good for you, Soma!...

…Wait…

Megumi feels calm for Soma’s win as Erina is still in coma. It’s going to be a rude awakening if Soma loses. He puts the final touch to his dish and it’s done. It feels like it’s been a long time since we last saw a cooking process in this series. Soma creates Cheese Fondue Pork Loin Katsu Combo Meal. It is similar to the one I had not too long ago, only no cheese fondue. Thinking about it makes me hungry for one. Funny how Megumi considered this Soma-kun-y. That sounds right. Soma’s dish is first to serve…

…uh oh…

A little mug contains cheese, but with an added twist of black sauce. Dipping the katsu on it and you get something tasty. Now I really want to go back and get one with the sauce on the side. It also feels like it’s been a while since we last received a descriptive detail on the dish, which makes it sound even tastier. Soma has learned well with the timing use of heating the pork roast. The way how it sounds doesn’t seem easy to pull off. It creates an illusion that it has been fried yet they forget that it was.

Megumi is so floored by the tastiness, she has become a gal. Well, that’s one way to address the black sauce and the flavor. I never thought to see her in gal form, but there it is. Saeki must be hoping to find a way to do one. Clearly, Soma has upgraded a lot in his technique. With eggplant brulee as a secret ingredient mixed with his foundation of Yukihira Diner and the polish of Tootsuki studies, he made an excellent dish…

What are you doing to me, Soma…

As for Saiba, he’s just hanging out with others; pay no mind of his dish being made. That pretty much means he’s really top tier level if one isn’t worried about the process. All it was missing was a background music of evil. The dish is done and in a strange revelation, Soma wasn’t entirely wrong. He made the same dish as Soma; he is Mimasaka 2.0. Then again, perhaps Saiba is only mocking him by using the same dish and one-up him with a specialty. The only difference is the white sauce.

On one hand, you can see it as a ying-yang metaphor between the two. It’s the most fitting choice really. On the other hand, you can joke around by wondering, “If black sauce made Megumi a gal, what white sauce will do to her?” It’s best for me to avoid racial remarks. That all said this is bad news written all over it.

Not only Soma did start first, but the clear hype push for Saiba is running high. Not to mention, Soma is giving out everything he got to make sure that us audience know that he has signed a death warrant. He is about to be like Samus from Metroid once he loses. Like, “Yeah! I’m god-like at the start,” but once that knife goes, “I’m weak! No!!! N. O. O. O!!!!!”

Overall, I thought the chapter was good for the usual procedure of the battle, but my interest level has increased. The feud has gotten personal, despite Soma has little-to-no gain from revealing his identity. The dishes look delicious and it’s good to see something that I have tried before; just need to dip in a sauce now. The cliffhanger is worrisome, unless Saiba somehow loses, which would be a twist. I’m curious what direction we’re going with this. I guess the series has a lot more in its tank than some expected. If everything goes accordingly, well, the time to say goodbye to the knife is ticking. I’m going to miss you, buddy…

[ellanainthetardis]

Greetings to my favorite writer!(That's you :)) Here's a prompt. Can you do one where Haymitch accidentally calls Effie "my love". Its like Haymitch is in deep thoughts about his feelings for Effie and he didn't realize she's been trying to get his attention. And Effie's like "Hello! Earth to Haymitch!" And then Haymitch goes "Yes, my love?" What happens from there is up to you. (Oh, and may I ask how long is your prompt list by now? I just want to have an idea to where I stand on the queue :D)

Well it was probably a long wait. Sorry! [x]

Never Boring

Plutarch did love to hear himself talk, Effieuncharitably mused, drumming her broken nails on the edge of the briefingtable. Coin was listening to every word, her milky grey eyes riveted on theformer Head Gamemaker, her face a blank mask that didn’t even reflect a hint ofpolite interest. She had noticed Thirteen’s leader had very little patience foranything that wasn’t related to war butshe had also noticed a shift lately, as if Coin had finally understood she needed to work on her image if she wanted toupgrade from leading a District to leading a country.

Which was why Plutarch was rambling aboutapproaches, speeches and possible propos that they needed to be careful aboutbecause Katniss had to remain the face of the rebellion after all. It wouldn’thave done to confuse people now.

It was all a sound plan in Effie’s opinion butshe would have summed it up in a fifteen minutes briefing instead of the halfhour long tirade Plutarch was on.

She was pretty sure Boggs was sleeping. Withopen eyelids, yes, but he looked asleep.

Beetee was doodling on the little notebook hecarried everywhere with him. It might have been a new invention, it might havebeen a caricature of the Capitol man who was cheerfully talking, apparentlyunaware everyone around that table was bored.

She chanced a glance to the left, hopingHaymitch might turn out to be a source of distraction – because, let’s behonest, it wouldn’t have been the first time they would have discreetly (and ina most foolish manner) teased each other under the table, safe from preyingeyes, during a boring briefing – but he was staring into the distance,absent-mindedly tugging on the battered golden bangle around his wrist withoutever entirely slipping it off.

She let out a small sigh and focused on herdrumming fingers. The sight made her cringe. Most of her nails had blackened,some were chipped and painful when she accidentally hit them against the wood.

She didn’t like thinking about her first fewhours in Thirteen. The rebels had stripped her off everything that made her her. They hadn’t hit her, they hadn’traised their voices at her, but the threat had been there all the same. Theyhad taken all her jewelry, they had taken most of what had been in her purseexcept for the silver lighter she had fearlessly clung too, claiming they couldtake everything else but that becauseit was a heirloom – and that hadtaken some convincing – and then they had asked her to surrender wigs andfrills to slip on the grey monstrosity she was now forced to wear.

It had only taken her a few seconds to decideshe hated military districts even more than she hated poor ones. She wasn’texactly fond of the dangerous games of appearances in the Capitol either but,at least, she knew how to survive in thatparticular fish tank.

She hadn’t had the first clue how to survive ina place where strangers tore off your lovely fake nails without skills or careon your very first day there.

Most days, she was still trying to figure thatout. Relying on Haymitch for protection worked up to a point but she was alwaysanxious of doing the wrong thing, of sayingthe wrong thing. She tried to fit in, she did, but she stuck out like asore thumb. The fact that refugees kept tossing her dark looks and spat insultsher way wasn’t helping her settle in and Haymitch’s tacit refusal to take herdefense unless there was a physical threat stung.

She understood, of course. It was the very samereason he had always let the other victors make fun of her up to a point. Shewas an escort, she had done terrible things in the name of the Capitol – and inher own name, for her own glory – she deserved what she got. The fact that he had chosen to see past that, to seebeyond the escort’s mask, didn’t mean he didn’t respect other people’s reasonsfor hating her.

Somehow, even knowing that, it still hurt herwhen he stood by and let someone mutter an insult in her wake.

They were less likely to do it when he wasaround though, she had noticed, and a few people had actually been morewelcoming and nicer than she had expected, thanks to his open friendship andKatniss’ family’s willingness to include her, but he always told her to ignoreit and walk on when someone called her out on her escort’s past.

Or present.

She wasstill the Mockingjay’s escort, after all.

Even if her current job felt more like beingPlutarch’s personal assistant rather than Twelve’s escort.

“I will take it under consideration.” Coindeclared. Effie realized with a startled jolt that Plutarch had finally reached his conclusion. Everyonelooked at Thirteen’s leader hopefully and the woman rolled her eyes. “We willtake a fifteen minutes break.”

It seemed that everyone couldn’t bolt out ofthat room early enough.

Even Plutarch left, murmuring something aboutbeing parched and needing some water.

Effie stood up and discretely made hershoulders roll, hoping to relieve the tension that had gathered there. Haymitch,she noticed, hadn’t moved one inch, his gaze was still lost. Whatever he wasthinking about, it must have been fascinating.

Still, she thought he would be sorry he hadmissed the break.

She gently placed her hand on his shoulder,careful not to been seen as a threat. She had learned long ago that hissubconscious didn’t react well to that sort of things. “Haymitch?”

His hand shot up to cover hers. “My love?”

His voice was faraway and it was plain to seehe was still lost in his thoughts but the word took her breath away all thesame. He had hinted at it lately,vague allusions as to why he had had her brought to Thirteen when shecomplained, claims that he had made sure she wouldn’t get a roommate, muttered explanationsthat he liked sleeping with her at nights better than he liked lying awake inthe compartment he shared with Plutarch because she made everything bearable,small touches and soft words he wasn’t usually in a habit of offering…

She cleared her throat and squeezed hisshoulder hard enough that he jumped a little and blinked out of hisdaydreaming. He looked up at her, glanced around and made a face. “He’s finallydone? I spaced out.”

“I noticed.” she hummed, a pleased smilefloating on her lips. It was obvious to her he had no clue what he had calledher, which made it all the more precious. “What were you thinking about?”

His mouth twitched into one of his familiarsmirks and he wiggled his eyebrows, tilting his head a little to watch her withthat impudence she really shouldn’t have found so attractive. “Wanna guess?”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t call him out onhis lie. She could grant him his pretences, he had humored hers often enough.

“I hope it was a particularly fruitful reflection.” she teased. “Iwill expect something imaginativetonight.”

His chuckles were immediate and strangelydevoid of their usual bitterness. “You’re finally bored with me, Princess?”

“Isn’t that my line?” she retorted withamusement, taking back her seat.

“It’s a stupid question anyway, yeah?” heshrugged, his teasing smirk softening into fondness. “I’ve got this feelingwe’re still gonna be right here in forty years. Fighting, fucking and driving each other insane. No place for boring in there.” He paused and snorted.“Assuming we survive this shit, thatis.”

Her heart was beating so hard in her chest italmost hurt.

“Forty?” she repeated. “That’s ambitious.”

“Probably.” he admitted. “My liver’s gonna kickthe bucket long before that.”

She refused to consider the reality of what hisalcoholism may have done to his body. The Capitol did miracles with illnessesanyway. The war wouldn’t last forever and… They would cross that bridge when and if they came to it.

“I meantthe sex.” she countered, careful to keep her tone casual. “You think we willstill have sex when we are in our eighties?”

“Hell,sweetheart… I’m still gonna want to fuckyou if we reach a hundred.” hemocked. “That’s what those blue pills are for. We’re gonna be that kind of oldpeople who have a dirty kinky sex life.”

The idea that he had been thinking about whatsort of life they could have together was more shocking that hearing him callher his love. She didn’t try to make the conversation more serious or to getmore than he was willing to give. From him, this was already huge. A lot more than she had everexpected.

“We will break our hips having sex.” shepromised, fighting a laugh. “Won’t that be embarrassing to explain at thehospital…”

“See?” he challenged, reaching out to place hishand on her thigh. “Never boring.”

“Never boring.” she echoed.

[asleepinawell]

Stop Trying To Make Fetch Happen

(First of all, let me offer my deepest apologies for the title. It was just too good to pass up on. Second, if you haven’t seen the video of Boston Dynamics robot, SpotMini, you should, especially since the robot in this is a direct ripoff of it. Third, set very loosely in the au of my fic sliding towards chaos, but absolutely no context is needed…it’s really just because of the bits with the Machine). Last, did I say sorry about the title yet?)

Reese turned around from getting a beer out of the fridge in the subway to find himself face to face with pure nightmare fuel in the form of 65lbs of robotics. The robot…dog (for lack of a better term) might only have come up to just below his waist, but it’s extendable neck allowed it to raise its mechanical head and “stare” him right in the eyes.

“Root,” he called softly but urgently. “Root, it’s staring at me again.”

While the mechanical monstrosity didn’t technically have eyes, Root had drawn some on with a sharpie. It did, however, very much have a mouth, or rather a jaw, with which it could pick things up or possibly rip someone’s arm off.

“Don’t be silly, John.” Root watched him from the table across the room, a slightly sadistic smile on her lips. “It’s just being playful.”

The robot tilted its head back and forth as if examining him and all he could think of were the creepy, death dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. What were the called again? Oh right, raptors. Root had built a giant robot dog-raptor probably with the sole purpose of terrorizing him.

He could easily imagine a pack of the things hunting him down and ripping him to pieces in the most painful way possible.

Reese wasn’t sure what exactly set off Root’s obsession with building the damn thing. Shaw kept claiming it was her latest attempt to get out of doing chores since the first thing Root had done was teach it to do the dishes.

(Taking out the trash was still off limits since even New Yorkers might get a bit worried if a giant robot burst out of a basement carrying a trash bag).

“Good robot,” he said and cautiously ducked past it. It turned to watch him go, but didn’t follow.

Shaw watched it with narrowed eyes from where she sat on the floor next to Bear’s bed. Bear had spent the first few days of the robot’s existence barking at it and howling in distress from a safe distance. Shaw had been furious and Root had attempted to make peace by programming the thing to exhibit playful dog behavior.

Or what she thought was playful dog behavior. The robot was now capable of swaying back and forth an bouncing up and down while its head remained in the exact same location in space. It looked completely unnatural to Reese and sent a shiver down his spine every time.

Bear must have agreed because he now wouldn’t approach it at all and sometimes hid when it was bouncing around on its alarmingly mobile legs.

Shaw had retaliated by leaving things in the middle of the floor for it to trip on which had only prompted Root to improve its sensors and give it the capability to right itself after a fall.

Shaw had not been amused.

Reese came over to sit next to Shaw on the floor.

“She hasn’t given it any offensive capabilities, has she? Like attack protocols?” he asked.

Shaw didn’t look up from scratching Bear’s head. “Not that I know of, but this is Root we’re talking about. Only a matter of time.”

A sudden horrifying thought occurred to him. “Can the Machine control it?”

Shaw shrugged. “Probably. Seems like something Root would do, though I think it’s supposed to be autonomous.”

“This is how the robot apocalypse starts, Shaw.”

Shaw snorted. “I actually trust the Machine more than Root’s programming on this one. Only one of them hates most people and it’s not the AI.”

A fair point, Reese conceded.

He joined Root at the table a few minutes later. It was weirdly uncomfortable here with both of them lately. The weren’t fighting, per se, but the robot was a point of contention and Shaw pointedly avoided Root when she was working on its programming.

“What are you doing this time?” he asked as he sat down.

Root was busy at her laptop as always, no doubt upgrading the thing with new, creepy powers.

“Hmmm, I’m trying to find the best way to teach it the general concept of a refrigerator.”

“How about ‘human food box’?”

Root’s smile was deeply patronizing. “It’s cute that you’re trying to help, John, but that’s the worst suggestion you’ve ever given me. You’re thinking like a human.”

Not the first time she’d accused him of that, but the intended insult was one he was proud to claim.

He refocused on the important matters.

“You haven’t taught it to…attack or anything right?”

Root’s wide, toothy smile made his blood run cold.

“We’re working on “fetch” at the moment,” Root said. “Things like “attack” and “kill” can come later.”

Reese laughed weakly. She was joking right? Right?

“Root.”

They both turned at Shaw’s tense voice. The robot had gone over to Bear’s bed and had its front legs bent, the back of it shaking back and forth. It bounced playfully on its front legs as if asking to play.

Shaw had her gun pointed at it and Bear was hiding behind her.

“It’s just being friendly,” Root protested.

“It’s about to get real friendly with a bullet.”

Root sighed and called the robot back over to her. Not an improvement in Reese’s opinion since that put it right near him again.

“It’s okay,” Root told the robot, patting it on the head in a reassuring manner. “She’ll come around eventually.”

But eventually didn’t seem like it was going to come any time soon.

The entire mess came to a head while Reese was out on a mission one day. The subway was empty when he returned, but the robot dog was lying, inactive, in the middle of the floor. Several pieces of it had been ripped off, and one of its legs was broken.

Reese examined it for a few minutes and then headed to consult the only one besides Root or Shaw who was likely to know what had gone down.

“Hello?” he said as he entered the subway car.

One of the monitors was already on and words appeared in the screen almost at once.

Hello, John Reese.

He was proud of the fact she finally called him by his name.

“What, uh, what happened out there? With the robot.”

You are aware that Root has been teaching her creation to fetch?

“Yeah, she said she thought she finally had it down.”

She attempted to have it fetch Shaw. Shaw did not wish to be fetched. A brief struggle ensued and it would be accurate to say that Shaw emerged the victor.

“Oh god.” He could imagine that almost too well. “Why fetch Shaw?”

Root was in bed and wished Shaw to join her. She sent the robot to gently encourage her to hurry up. Unfortunately the fetch protocol is still a little buggy and the robot got overenthusiastic.

“Bad idea.”

It was perhaps not Root’s best plan.

Reese looked out at the pitiful remains of Root’s pet project. “I can’t imagine Root was pleased.”

She was very distraught, though slightly distracted by Shaw’s display of upper body strength during the struggle.

Neither of these things surprised him in the slightest.

Shaw was unapologetic, but did take Root home after. Presumably to cheer her up.

Reese had a good idea what that entailed and no desire for details. He decided to change the subject slightly to head that off.

“Do you know why Root never named it?” He’d been shocked she hadn’t.

She wished me to select a name for it. I did not.

“Why you? And why not?”

Her original intent in building it was a misguided notion that I might like a pet. I did not name it because it’s not truly self-aware. It is a fancy toy.

Reese wondered if the Machine could get jealous. Probably best not to think about that for too long.

“Sort of a shame, though,” he said. “I hate the thing, but I’d kind of gotten used to seeing it around here. And Root seemed to really enjoy working on it.”

Perhaps you are correct. Would you like to help me remedy the situation?

“Uh, I don’t know the first thing about robotics.”

Unnecessary for this task. Several pieces were badly damaged by Shaw’s impressive attacks against it. You can help me acquire replacement parts.

He decided not to notice the fact that the Machine seemed kinda…into Shaw beating up the robot.

“Does it require breaking and entering?”

Not necessarily, but I’m sure I could arrange it to.

Reese nodded in satisfaction. Now they were talking.

It took Root two weeks to fully rebuild the robot, partly because she kept getting very upset about its broken state and Shaw kept having to ‘cheer her up’. Reese started spending more time hanging out with Fusco until the repairs were complete.

“I think he’s starting to like it,” Root said, watching Bear cautiously sniff Spot.

The Machine had finally agreed to name the robot, though he suspected that was mostly to humour Root.

And Bear was doing a little better with it now that Root had taught it another way to play fetch: throwing Bear’s chew toy for him.

“Hmph.” Shaw kept an eye on Bear and Spot as she cleaned her weapon at the table. She was sitting next to Root now and Reese was working hard not to notice the way Shaw twitched every so often and Root looked smug. But it was nice to see they’d made up.

Shaw hadn’t warmed up to Spot much, but since its resurrection the robot seemed very nervous around her and went out of its way to avoid her. Reese wasn’t sure if this was something Root had added to its programming or if one of the fancy learning algorithms it ran on had concluded that she was a threat. Shaw seemed quite pleased with the situation.

“I think it’s almost ready to try out in our apartment,” Root said.

“Oh, hell no.” Shaw looked indignant. “No evil robot dogs in the house. That’s Bear’s territory.”

“But Sameen, think of all the dishes it could do.”

“Think of all the dishes you could do it you put in one tenth of the effort you spent on that thing.”

He tuned out their friendly squabbling to watch Spot attempt to chase the robot tail Root had given it. It was almost endearing.

Especially with the little top hat on that he’d bought for it. Root had been absolutely delighted about that.

Later, after Root and Shaw had left for the night, he found Spot in rest mode, folded up in the dog bed Root had insisted on buying and placing next to the Machine’s servers.

“How’s pet ownership treating you?” he asked the monitors.

It is not really a pet.

“True, but pretending it is isn’t the worst thing ever.”

That is possible, I suppose.

“If you really dislike it that much I’m sure Root will deactivate it for you.” Probably, anyway. There’d be a lot of sulking.

I am not deactivating Spot.

Reese’s lips twitched as he held back a smile. “You like it, don’t you? Something in your code thinks it’s cute.” Probably the wagging tail. Even an AI couldn’t resist that.

I believe you have plans tonight, Primary Asset Reese. You will be late if you do not leave soon.

A dismissal and he was back to being ‘Primary Asset’. He must have struck a nerve. Or circuit.

In the dark of the subway later that night, Spot switched back on and unfolded itself. It trotted over to the monitor display and cocked its head to one side, focused on one of the little computer speakers on the desk.

“Good Dog.”

Spot wagged its tail.

[vaguely-concerned]

UNCHARTED 4 REACTIONS

- uuuh can I just… find out who the FUCK looked at tiny beautiful baby boy Nate and decided to leave him with a bunch of nuns who don’t get why other kids telling him his mom’s in hell because she committed suicide would upset him??????? Like I don’t know who his biological father is but I feel a strong need to divest him of his kneecaps. (C’mon Sully with your con man expertise and my vengeful nature we could figure this out between us)

- Sam reminds me a lot of one of my uncles. I’m not sure what to do with that except applaud Naughty Dog on their eye for people ha ha. I guess everyone has that slightly sleazy and self absorbed yet periodically charming and decent man in their lives. (Can I point out how amazing his costume design is, in a way you rarely see? He’s one of those dudes who look rumpled wearing pretty much anything, everything is so unflattering on him it’s a miracle. Contrast his and Sully’s outfits in the Scotland section — what they’re actually wearing isn’t that dissimilar and Sully is like twice Sam’s age but looks a) stylish, b) warm and c) Incredibly American somehow while Sam looks like a bum and it’s  h i l a r i o u s.)

- When bb Nate’s face already does the thing where he goes from genuinely upset to dissembling smile… no… ow…  

- “You only pull something like this when you’re trying to make up for something” lasjfdlsakjfslkdjfalskj my soul has left my body and I am crying hot saltwater tears

- a) Nadine is just so incredibly, vibrantly beautiful and I feel like sending a thank you note to the offices of Naughty Dog for putting her face and overarms on my screen, b) she’s already completely done with everything and we’re not even halfway through the game, c) she’s awfully uppity about Chloe’s methods for someone whose instinctual approach to archaeology is ‘dynamite’

- NATE PLAYING CRASH BANDICOOT

THE MOST PRECIOUS SHIT

I’VE EVER LAID MY EYES ON

“THIS IS TAKING VERY LONG” THIS BLESSED ADHD BOY

- OKAY NAUGHTY DOG YOU’VE GONE AND DONE IT I’M ROOTING FOR THE HETS

- the note from Chloe in the attic :( :( :( I feel bad for her even though she eventually upgraded big time on the spouse material, she does like him a lot even if they didn’t make each other very happy.

Can you imagine if Nate and Chloe had actually stayed together tho. They’d have the smartest, snarkiest, most-unprepared-to-deal-with-emotions children in history lol just as well things worked out like they did, probably

- did u guys know… that I would die for nathan drake… I mean you all probably do by now because I never shut up about it but it bears repeating… I would….  

- oh no… nate no… don’t lie to elena she not only tolerates you she loves you despite the warning signs don’t throw this away

- It’s very impressive that they’ve managed to show that Sam genuinely does love Nate a lot while also making it clear how easily he tips into being a toxic influence — it makes all the psychological sense in the world that he’s trying to emulate the relationship they had when they were at their closest and only had each other, but purposefully trying to drive Nate away from the other people who love him is just… so perfectly the worst possible thing to do to him, jeeeeesus christ. No wonder he and Sully don’t get along — Sully is wonderfully protective without being possessive

- When Sam asks Sully why he’s there and it’s like… because… he’s HIS FUCKN DAD SAM???! YOU NUMBSKULL???!!? YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL??!?!

- All my fanfic wants for these games are so lame and low-key… like ‘the first time a teenaged Nate comes back to the hotel drunk as a total emotional mess, and Sully being like ‘oh wow… oh god… help… he’s like a tiny puppy I need to protect him being a parent is terrifying’... ‘Nadine and Chloe have a nice night in and make sweet character developing love, maybe braid each other’s hair and get in a fist fight with some dude’... ‘the gang go to an amusement park, have a good time, Charlie gets cotton candy and makes fun of Nate’...

(actually what I really, really want is a fic of Sully surreptitiously picking up the pieces of Nate after Sam ‘dies’, but, y’know. The heart wants what it wants and mine wants Nate to be taken care of)

- Sully’s face when he drops them off in Scotland… goddamn it he loves that boy so much ;___;

- The only illustration of Sam’s personality that matters is that he thinks  S u l l y  of all people might screw Nate over while thinking he can work with Rafe without it all going to hell

Just… the worst judge of character ever lol how’s that projection working out for you Sammy boy

- I played some multiplayer and Elena really has just the warmest, most reassuring presence, I absolutely see what Nate sees there ha ha

Also I love what they’ve done with her clothes, all her outfits are plausible and non-sexualized and look so chill and comfortable

- Nate’s high-pitched nervous laugh is everything to me, such a deeply endearing character tic

- Sam… you dumbass… when will you learn that the real treasure… is your little brother and his happiness…

- I have to applaud Troy Baker for his work here — he matches Nolan North’s speech patterns and timbre as Nate so well, you absolutely believe they’re brothers. (Also between them they’re like… 90% of all male characters in video games, it’s a wonder the fabric of reality isn’t fraying with two giants in such close proximity)

- Shoutout to my boy Charlie for getting one (1) whole reference in this entire game! Naughty Dog may have forgotten you but the face you pulled at Nathan in the scene with the torches will stay with me forever, you big British lug <3

- I LOVE that Nate and Sam still use ‘Father Duffy’ like you would ‘Goody Two-shoes’ or the ‘dad’ in a sarcastic ‘thanks, dad’, it’s an authentic-feeling kind of in-joke

- Nate’s journal entries are SO FUNNY in this one oh my god. I’m so happy they’re acknowledging that he’s actually an excellent artist, I hope he ends up with a sideline in making illustrated children’s books. (I have since learned they were drawn by Naughty Dog artist Alexandria Neonakis. From the bottom of my heart: thank you for everything, especially Lemur Sully)

- Gideon Emery is wasted — WASTED — in the role of ‘random goon #43’ yet again,  but whatever, at least I got to hear his voice

- Sam’s supremely shitty tattoos give me life

- I realized during the Madagascar opening that in all likelihood the person who taught Nate to drive was Sully and can I just say… this reinforces my theory that Sully is the real hero of the Uncharted games because can you imagine taking on that responsibility for Nathan ‘Adrenaline Junkie Whoops Everything I Touch Explodes and Collapses’ Drake? No, because you and I don’t have what it takes to live that life but Victor Sullivan does

- It feels like they went a bit more naturalistic with the dialogue and characterization in this one? (As naturalistic as you can go with great big undiscovered cathedrals/pirate recruiting hubs under Scotland, anyway. Scotland ain’t that big, yo, pretty sure someone would have spotted it lol) I actually enjoyed it — U3 is still pretty much an Indiana Jones-esque adventure story with some purposefully discordant notes when you get to know Nate’s real backstory and stuff like that, but this feels all round a bit more grounded in reality and characters and it works

- Sully ineffectually keeping a grip on Nate’s shirt while he’s scrabbling to get back into the driver’s seat after the car goes off the cliff ascended my soul to a higher dimension. Big mood.

Also genuinely laughed for five minutes at Sam, lapsed Catholic and born opportunist, getting in as many Hail Marys as he could just in case he was about to die. I’m an atheist from a half-halfheartedly Protestant country but even I am pretty sure that’s not how it works buddy

- Nate’s continual refusal to think ahead enough to carry his own matches (and being saved by surrounding himself with smokers) is one of the most satisfying running jokes in the series

- “Lemurs, Sully!” “Rabies, Nate” fsdajfkljdaskjhasjkhfasjdk

*cries helplessly like a little baby because I love everyone in this bar*

- I must say the clock tower felt like one of Nate’s most catastrophic onsets of… Nateness. That delicate complicated piece of machinery was still functioning perfectly after four hundred years and yet… Nate’s in there for five minutes and it crumbles like paper. I guess technically sinking the entirety of a city into the sand beats it, but… I keep coming back to the image of the cracked bell and then *high pitched giddy voice* “Hi Sully” JFC Nate ha ha

- *screams as Nate sends Sully and Elena away, literally turning to the adrenaline/treasure hunting madness he used to cope with trauma before he managed to work up to emotional intimacy with people who care about him because Sam is a jackass who knew exactly what buttons to press and is weirdly possessive of his little brother*

- You know… forgiving Sam is so hard when he repeatedly doubles down on his lies, making up further details unprovoked, because he knows it keeps Nate hooked and feeling guilty? Like Nate is far enough along in his character development at this point that just waving some treasure under his nose alone wouldn’t do it, you need that illusion that he’s saving someone he loves — the first person he ever relied on, who he thought he lost once because he failed him — to make him keep going, and Sam knows this and uses it and it’s so horribly, calculatedly cruel? I think there are a few times where he kind of wants to come clean (uh already too late because what the HELL he’s already fucked up all his relationships lol) only to be interrupted by Action but in the end it’s a deliberate, long con of assholery that it’s extremely difficult to look past. Ah well I guess he’s stuck as my ‘I will mercilessly yet affectionately mock you’ character, that’s something.

- Aaagh the scene where Elena’s like ‘who are you’ is so good because it must be such a blow, knowing this man she loves and (bravely, because he is a disaster magnet) made the choice to try to make a life with for the second time still thinks he needs to lie to her, like he’s been lying to the world at large for most of his life — his name is a lie, so much of his outer identity is invented, but hey she wouldn’t have married him if she didn’t think they were past that this time and trusted each other with honesty… and then out of the blue a dead-yet-still-somehow-smoking-a-sketchy-cigarette brother???? Normally the ‘what else have you been lying about’ line makes me roll my eyes but she is ABSOLUTELY right to wonder about that and it breaks my heart

as does Nate going ‘I’m just me’ in that voice aaaaaaauuuuuugh he does try but he’s not completely at the point where he thinks he can be acceptable and loved as he is, no need to hide the broken things, still that kid learning that it’s better to not be seen or tell the truth because it just makes things worse

(I feel it’s a good balance between ‘protagonist making some DUMB SELF-DESTRUCTIVE CHOICES LIKE AN IDIOT’ and ‘makes perfect, tragic sense considering their history’, ending up at sympathetic but still in the wrong and in need of getting it the hell together in a hurry. At least he clearly realizes he’s fucked up pretty much immediately, which is something I GUESS)

TL;DR Nate, listen to Sully and go talk it out with your wife, I’m real upset now I’ll go make myself a cup of tea ;____;

- Sam was straight up going to shoot Nadine in the head, huh. I mean… wow. I wonder why she doesn’t like you very much, bro lol

- I’m a Black Sails fan so whenever Anne Bonny shows up I’m like *golden retriever face* HI FRIEND HI sorry about the... poison

- ...is it weird that I want to write fix it fic for Evelyn and Ken

All his letters are so  c u t e  and loving and I am devastated

Puzzling their story together like that was super effective too — it was so cool that if you know what to look for you could find the Tokugawa armor he mentions in the first letter before any other clues, I was going ‘Oh she totally married that beautiful nerd’ right there and then ha ha. Evelyn’s design was wonderful, you could tell the force of nature she must have been in her prime.

Bonus points for Nate looking up at her like a puppy who’s found someone really cool to aspire to. Also their father looks nominally less of a rampant unrepentant asshole if he sold Cassandra’s things specifically to her mentor. Microscopically. I’d still like to kick his ass tho.

- I guess Sam is three to five years older than Nate, then, if he remembers (vaguely) going to Windsor before Nate was even born? Bit hazy on the timeline here, because Nate’s memories of their parents — especially their mum — must be quite hazy if, like Marlowe states in U3, he was surrendered to the state at the age of five and they moved around with their dad a lot even before that.

- Nate was the most tired-looking twelve year old I have ever seen and it hurts me

The fact that Nate started off looking exhausted and a little snub-nosed and grew into a very handsome and charming young man (ssssh I’m in no way biased here just because he’s my son) while Sam was sweet and bright-eyed as a teenager and now looks like someone who is low-key dealing drugs around the local high school… this game is truly a tour de force of character design

- So apparently Shoreline was already off to a bad start when Nadine took over? That makes it doubly sad that she’s judging herself so harshly for losing it when her father had already left it to her as a mess :(

- THANK YOU ELENA AND SULLY FOR SAVING THIS WONDERFUL FOOLISH BOY YET AGAIN. “I left my life for you”  D: D: D:

Also slightly sad that Sam has… literally nothing except Nate and Avery’s treasure? On the other hand that’s entirely his own fault so. Less sad. (Makes me immensely thankful Sully and then Elena found Nate when they did)

- Nate… using his words… cautiously expressing how he actually felt… Elena mulling it over… realizing part of why she loves him is that weird restless brain of his doing its thing……. coming up with a solution where they can solve it as partners in the ending………... I am clinically ded, go on without me

- Realest GPOY moment: Sully’s flat immediate ‘no’ to Nate going off to save Sam on his own. He’s so scared!!!! And so was I!!!! My soul bond with an American con man three times my age continues to be unbreakable

- Relieved that my sister was in control for the fencing bit, because I don’t know if I could handle being responsible for Nate’s safety like that

That said, how destroyed was I that Nate didn’t really start fighting back before Rafe threatened his family? Completely, though it does force me to take the words ‘ludonarrative dissonance’ in my mouth for the first time in my life — no way does he kill as many people in the reality of the story as you do in gameplay if he’s still this hesitant to respond to someone openly trying to murder him lol. I realize this is a game and they need some kind of pretense to keep it from being a movie with the occasional QTE, but Naughty Dog you can’t just… repeatedly show that Nate has a hard time killing in cold blood and then have him take out an army in the next breath

(Naughty Dog: We did and you’re completely willing to go with it lawl. Me: Oooooh I hate that you’re right)

- Nadine stone cold leaving those bitches behind Worked for me, you do you you beautiful disaster, see you next game with your excellent character development. Another wonderful thread they continue into The Lost Legacy: Sam being forever relegated to the back seat. Yes good.  

- Sully promptly semi-adopting a second Drake brother, arguably the tougher case. A power move if ever I saw one.

- I deeply respect Naughty Dog’s decision to make an epilogue to let me know everyone is safe and happy and it all turned out okay, but I also wish they wouldn’t have ha ha. The last scene with Elena and Nate perfectly set that up for me already, specifically spelling out one happy ending among the many that could have happened actually somewhat cheapened it for me? The ‘flash forward, now they have children, get immediately invested!’ move is already suuuuch a hard one to pull off and I think it did it about as well as they possibly could, but somehow I also begrudge Cassie for her position in the narrative and that’s not how I want to feel about it, y’know? Actually it’s fine, I’ll accept it, because their dog is named Vicky and Nate writes in his journal that he’d call his pet lemur Victor and it made my entire week

- Having played three of the games I can still say that Uncharted 3 is definitely my fave, but then parts of that seem genuinely tailor made specifically for me, so that’s not really a surprise ha ha

- Thank you, Uncharted, for being the emotionally intelligent yet light hearted adventure story with lovable characters I needed in this dark cold winter and making me spill over with so many flaily happy words. 

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Tell Me Where To Find Shelter -- Layers of Victor

Saw this meme going around the #fallout4 tag a while back (I believe I specifically ganked it from @radbeetle), and thought it might be fun to do for my Sole Survivor!Victor. And my Malkavian!Alice, but let’s start with SS!Victor. XD

LAYER ONE: THE OUTSIDE

- Name: Victor Fitzwilliam Van Dort

- Eye Color: Very dark brown – it can be very hard to tell the difference between pupil and iris!

- Hair Style/Color: Black, generally combed back with two "tufts" of bangs falling over what little forehead he has

- Height: Six feet three inches (and thin as a rail)

- Clothing style: Relatively formal pre-War – he grew up in a household that impressed upon him that you wore ties and suits whenever you were in public, and often even in private. Post-War, he spends a lot of time switching between a pair of upgraded Vault suits from Vault 111 while looking for clothes that actually fit his lanky frame. He's a lot more casual in his style once he does – though he still likes a good sweater vest, and he keeps a few suits if he needs to look fancy.

- Best physical feature: Victor would personally say his hands – he's a pianist and a tinkerer, and he appreciates his long reach over a keyboard, along with his ability to finely handle delicate parts when upgrading or repairing things!

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE

- Fears: Total darkness (as in you can't see ANYTHING – as long as there's some sort of light source, he can manage); blindness (related to previous); small enclosed spaces (being locked in a cryonic pod will do that to a guy); losing those he cares about again (he – has a lot of trauma from seeing Victoria shot, Shaun kidnapped, then trying to open Emily's pod after he finally got out, only to see her corpse half-rotted inside)

- Guilty pleasure: Pre-War, it would have been comics – he was always a little embarrassed about how much he continued to like the adventures of Grognak and the Unstoppables and whatnot after his teenage years (not helped by his mother sneering at the stories). Post-War, though, he ditches the "guilty" part – especially after meeting Kent Connolly and getting to play Silver Shroud. XD I'm not sure he has one post-War – he occasionally feels weird about how much he enjoys modifying his weapons and armor? But that's quite practical as well as pleasurable, so. . .

- Biggest pet peeve: Being rapidly promoted in organizations that he's only just joined (Preston, you're easily one of his best friends, but SERIOUSLY, dude, GENERAL?)

- Ambitions for the future: To continue keeping his little portion of the Commonwealth safe, and start training up someone with some more Charisma to be the General of the Minutemen once he retires (he's still not sure why people follow him when he's so socially awkward)

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS

- First thoughts waking up: Depends on what wakes him up. If he's waking up on his own, it's generally a variation on "Breakfast? Where breakfast?" If someone else wakes him up, it's generally "Why are you shaking/licking me, I don't wanna get up yet." And if it's combat nearby, it's generally "SHIT WHERE'S MY GUN oh wait are they shooting at me still should find gun."

- What they think about most: All his various responsibilities – finding his son, acting as General of the Minutemen, working with the Railroad, helping the people on the settlements, wondering what the hell is going to happen between him and the Brotherhood of Steel, or him and the Institute. . .it doesn't do much for his anxiety, is what I'm saying.

- What they think about before bed: If he's not exhausted enough just to collapse onto the nearest sleeping surface, then probably what I mentioned above. He's probably up late trying to plan routes to help settlements that have called for assistance and follow leads on the Institute and whatnot.

- What they think their best quality is: Victor would consider it his willingness to be helpful whenever possible. He generally enjoys helping people, and it makes him feel better in general to help improve the Commonwealth in some small way. (Not to mention, him helping out personally with the problems of a lot of the families/communities in the Commonwealth has earned him a lot of friends for his Minutemen! A General so hands-on seems to impress people.)

LAYER FOUR: WHAT’S BETTER?

- Single or group dates: . . .this gets a little harder to answer when he was in a polyamorous relationship pre-War, you know. XD But yeah, Victor prefers one-on-one, or one-on-two in the case of Victoria and Emily. A group date puts the pressure on him to perform like the perfect boyfriend/husband, and he doesn't need the extra stress. Maybe he'd be okay with a double date if it was with some very close friends.

- To be loved or respected: Victor would rather be loved, or at least liked – though part of that is low self-esteem telling him people aren't going to respect him. (Or like him, for that matter.) It's what informs his desire to help people, at least in part.

- Beauty or brains: While Victor isn't immune to a nice face or body, he really likes having someone he can talk to about stuff. Sharing interests is fun, and he appreciates someone who will at least try to keep up with his nattering on about butterflies and robots and whatnot.

- Dogs or cats: Dogs! Victor gets along decently with cats, but he is first and foremost a dog person. He had a dog named Scraps when he was a child, and he, Victoria, and Emily were making plans to adopt one before the bombs fell. Meeting Dogmeat at the Red Rocket really helped pull him out of his post-War "almost everything I knew is gone and I'm a stranger in my own state" funk.

LAYER FIVE: DO THEY?

- Lie: Yup. Victor will tell the usual social "white lies" (even if he's not very good at them), and he's done bigger lies in the past – like not telling his parents that Emily was more than their "roommate." (Of course, that was done not to have a family blowout about him and his wife having a girlfriend.)

- Believe in themselves: Not usually – as stated, Victor has pretty low self-esteem, thanks mostly to growing up with a mother who was criticizing him and everything he was when she wasn't absent doing social climbing stuff. It's hard for him to think of himself as being someone who has worth, sadly. He gets better when he starts seeing more results of his actions in helping the Minutemen and the Railroad, and realizes he's genuinely making a difference for people.

- Believe in love: Yes – his relationship with Victoria and Emily was one of the high points of his pre-War life. He was utterly heartbroken when Victoria was shot, and Emily later died due to the life support to the other pods being cut off. But then later he meets Alice, and. . .well, it takes some time, but he manages to come around to loving and being loved again.

- Want someone: Pre-War, not really – he was in a happy threesome and wasn't currently looking to expand. Post-War, most of his life precludes wanting anyone – though he does develop a bit of a crush on Piper as time goes on. And then, of course, he meets Alice, and eventually ends up wanting her. . . (Yes, in-game I intend for him to romance Piper – and there's a chance in the AU he, Piper, and Alice would end up in a poly situation. We'll see where this goes!)

LAYER SIX: EVER?

- Been on stage: Pre-War, never officially – Nell had him play piano at some of her parties (which was always stressful, as he felt all her guests were either judging him or just hated him for being related to her), but that was as far as performing got. He of course had the speech he was asked to do that he was practicing the day the bombs dropped, but – well, the bombs dropped. Post-War – he probably will have to give some inspirational speeches to his Minutemen troops, which he will somehow get through and then go have a little quiet panic attack somewhere.

- Done chems/drugs: . . .I have occasionally toyed with the headcanon that Victor was unwillingly dosed with Psycho, or a drug like it, back in his Army days and has been haunted by the experience ever since. But other than that, not the hard stuff – Victor doesn't even smoke (he tried once – after nearly coughing up a lung, he refused to ever try again) and he tends not to drink (he's tried that too, and discovered he's an embarrassingly chatty drunk, so he doesn't typically indulge). He will, of course, take Rad-X and Rad-Away, because those are freaking necessary to survive in parts of the Wasteland.

- Changed who you were to fit in: Occasionally attempted, never stuck. He's not good at keeping up a facade. One of his most embarrassing memories is trying to ask a girl to dance at a party his mother dragged him to when he was about 16, imitating the more popular "jock"-kinda guys, and getting laughed at so much he retreated to the buffet for the rest of the night.

LAYER SEVEN: FAVORITES

- Favorite color: Blue

- Favorite animal: Dogs, butterflies

- Favorite movie: Victor will confess to a love for schlocky monster movies, so he was quite enamored of Night of the Fish Men's Revenge when it came out (he's quite excited when he sees it in the projector in Eden Meadows Cinema, and quite sad that he can only get it to play the title screen). He also enjoyed Another Day In the Monster Factory for much the same reasons.

- Favorite game: With his affinity for comic books and a secret love of roleplaying (which becomes not-so-secret once he starts Silver Shrouding), Grognak & The Ruby Ruins quite appeals to him. He likes that it has some replay value too, with changing up your party and whatnot. The action of Pipfall appeals to him too, though that time limit can be stressful!

LAYER EIGHT: AGE

- DOB: June 9th, 2050 (he was 27 and a few months when the bombs dropped)

- Day of their next birthday, they will be: His next birthday according to the game would be June 9th, 2088 – he'd be 238 in terms of time passed, 28 in terms of biology

- Age they lost their virginity: Twenty – Victor had been yanked by the Army into Canada to help with the Sino-American war shortly after graduating high school, but got some leave around his twentieth birthday to go home. He immediately caught back up with his high school sweethearts, Victoria and Emily, and ended up doing the deed with Victoria. They managed to keep it a secret from their conservative parents, fortunately.

- Does age matter: In general? Victor is willing to listen to advice from those older than he is, certainly – though he tends to take it with a grain of salt depending on their obvious biases. In a relationship? Unless one of the parties is a minor, Victor won't get involved, though bigger gaps will probably make him wonder what exactly they see in each other. (He allows this is hypocritical of him to a degree, as Alice is much older than him even taking into account the freezing – but on the flip side, she was Embraced at 20, he was frozen at 27. . .)

LAYER NINE: IN A BOY OR GIRL

- Best personality: Victor likes people who are sweet and kind, but have a tougher or sassier side to them as well. Victoria leaned mostly toward the "sweet" side, but was also pretty determined when it came to getting what she wanted from him; Emily was cheerful and enthusiastic, but if you angered her – wooo boy; Alice of course is snark incarnate, but is kind to people and generally likes helping others. Even Piper is one of the kinder companions, but doesn't shy away from sarcastic comments.

- Best eye color: Well, Victoria and Emily both had blue eyes (of differing shades), and Alice's green eyes were one of the first things that struck Victor about her, sooo. . .blue or green!

- Best hair color: I'm not sure Victor has a preference here – Victoria was a super-light brown, almost gray; Emily was a blonde; Alice has dark hair that looks black or brown depending on the light/how well cared for it is (and she says her hair was almost red when she was a kid!); Piper has dark brown/black hair. I guess pre-War he went for lighter; post-War he goes for darker?

- Best thing to do with a partner: Victor likes finding some sort of creative interest they can share, or at least do at the same time. He would sit in the living room and draw while Victoria embroidered in the afternoons; and he and Emily both played piano, so they'd often have little duets. With Alice, he probably ends up illustrating some of the stories she tells – maybe eventually they throw together a book of sorts, with Piper's help!

LAYER TEN: FINISH THE SENTENCE

- I love: Alice! And the rest of my friends too, of course.

- I feel: completely out of my depth, most of the time.

- I hide: how anxious all of this makes me – not sure how well I'm succeeding, but. . .

- I miss: the life I had before, in Sanctuary.

- I wish: that Victoria and Emily hadn't – that t-they were still here to meet the friends I've made.

[somuchanemoia]

Quotes w/ Commentary

This a post to quotes with a gif commentary that have made me laugh, cry, want to hit something or just, in general, give my already emotional roller coaster a speed upgrade.

Yuuri nods, gaze falling to the floor. He must look extraordinarily pitiful because Yurio huffs and approaches him, tugging on his arm until he lifts his head back up. Then, Yurio leans down and wraps both arms around Yuuri’s shoulders, hugging him tightly.

It takes Yuuri several long seconds to adjust to what’s going on before a very familiar, very overwhelming scent suddenly catches his attention. Peaches and expensive Armani cologne, masked ever so slightly by the sharp scent of vodka and Yurio’s own unique smell, but still there all the same. An onslaught of emotions takes Yuuri’s breath away as he is reminded of everything that makes him feel whole. Victor. Love. Safety. Home.

Yuuri buries his nose in the crook of Yurio’s neck and inhales deeply before he’s even aware of what he’s doing. He’s well aware he’s being weird, but that doesn’t make him any more inclined to stop.

-- Brighter (Ch. 13), WingIt ( @wing--it )

Side Note: (I just started reading this fic a couple of days ago and already it had given me emotions, but I read this and I had an emotional breakdown. I laid on my floor and just cried. *cue MCR’s I’m Not Okay to play in the background* )

Nico raised his hand to his hair, combing it behind his ear thoughtfully.

“I see a cute little round nose,” Will continued, squishing Nico’s nose between his fingers and wiggling it around.  Nico scrunched up his face when Will took his hand away.  “You’re so adorable when you make that face.”  Running his hands up Nico’s arms, he said, “And I love these arms.  You’re fucking ripped, di Angelo.  I always love touching you here - I love feeling how strong you are.  But it’s not just your arms – have you seen yourself shirtless?  You’ve got a nice set of abs, mister.”  He poked at Nico’s ribs, earning a smile.  “It’s sexy.  And damn, boy, those thighs!”

Nico giggled when Will touched him there – a teasing, tickling touch rather than an arousing one.  “Your thighs.  Like, holy fuck, at the risk of sounding like a complete freak, I’ve had wet dreams about your thighs alone.”

Nico full-on laughed at that, as Will’s tickling hands traveled back up to his face, fingers brushing against his mouth.  Nico stopped laughing, staring into their reflections in the mirror and watching Will’s movements.

-- Something Truly Beautiful by. Gates_of_Ember

Yuuri’s lack of appetite continued, and Victor still had to demand he eat and drink, but the threats of making himself sick, stopped. And there were no more tantrums that ended with fruit on the floor. Though Yuuri still had plenty of tantrums to speak about.

He tried to burn his chair in the fire place, claiming that it was the last place Yurio had sat before he had left.  He broke a window by throwing all of Victor’s expensive cologne out of it, saying that covering up his scent was a crime and if he truly loved him he’d get rid of the damned things. He left the water running in the bathtub while passed out—though Victor wasn’t sure this was a tantrum. The Omega claimed that he’d simply fallen asleep, but Victor made a point to never leave Yuuri alone after that.

It was utter Hell. His Omega was distraught, he had no way of consoling him, and he was actually part of the issue; he was losing weight, and he had still made no headway with actually trying to get Yurio back.

-- Kept by. TeaSippinSpirit

“What does that mean?” Phichit huffs. “Yuuri is obviously very smart. You don’t get awarded a PhD by 23 if you aren’t. Right, Yuuri?”

“You have a PhD?” Victor says, incredulous, with just the slightest hint of glee. “Why didn’t you ever tell me, Doctor Yuuri?”

Yuuri buries his face in his hands. “That’s why. You’re ridiculous enough as it is—I don’t need to give you reason to be worse.”

-- Showing Results for ‘Katsuki Yuuri’ by Ferrero13

Viktor made his desire known. Though it was going to be rough and Viktor would have to act like a “proper mer” for once in his afterlife, he glanced up to Yuuri and squeaked, “When I…When I walk again.” Viktor spoke slowly. His throat was dry, but he had to continue because Yuuri’s eyes were on him and him alone. “Can you…?” Viktor clasped his hand onto Yuuri’s shoulder and squeezed it tightly. “Walk with me?”

-- Mer!Ficlet by @yuuris-piano

(Side note: Don’t dream it! BE IT, Viktor! Yes, I am putting a rocky horror refrence in here.)

Instead of stopping now that Yuri had apologized, Yuuri’s tears doubled, in relief. Yuri froze at the sight of the tears. He had no idea how to comfort someone. Like a robot, he put his arms around Yuuri and gave three strong pats on his back.

Yuuri giggled through his tears.

“You’re as bad as Viktor with someone crying.”

“I’m nothing like that idiot, pig,” yelled Yuri, flinching immediately when he heard the insult coming out of his mouth. Not even five minutes after someone told him he was suffering from anorexia, he commented on his weight.

“Дерьмо. I’m sorry. I should not call you that. Oh god. Is it my fault? Your eating disorder… Is it because I called you That?”

“You did not cause it. Nobody did really. It's something I struggled with for so long and I just lost it a few months ago. But you know… if you could not call me that I would appreciate. I really don't like it.”

Yuri bit his lower lip to try to stop it from trembling. He knew he was not the most agreeable person in the world, but he never wanted to harm anybody, especially not someone that even Yuri had to admit was nice. His throat was starting to feel tight like he had something stuck there. He knew there were tears in his eyes, but he did not want to cry.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I… I…” stammered Yuri.

Yuuri stood up, walked toward him and raised his thin arms. Yuri flinched, expecting to receive a slap or something. He did not expect to receive a hug instead. Yuuri was hugging him. He felt warm. One treasonous tear left his left eye and ran to the left corner of his mouth. He put his arms against the Japanese man and embraced him. He could feel every bone and rib. The ball in throat came back with a vengeance. Yakov had not been kidding when he put the Bracelet on. Yuuri was in this way deeper than Yuri could have expected. He swore to himself that he was going to protect him, from himself if needed.

-- Experience by. assurancetourix

“He pushes back, right? Into my hands, making this sinful little moan like it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him and—”

“—you set the horn off with your ass?!” Yuuri really could not blame Phichit for laughing so hard he nearly fell off the edge of the bed, grasping at his own knees as he bent over in his fit of giggles. “Oh my god, Yuuri!”

“It’s not funny!”

-- “Be My Sex Coach, Victor!” by. @lucycamui

(Side note: I will never not laugh at this and its because i’ve been there.)

[oncethrown]

@demetriusa said:

huh. you're such an optimistic person! my take's been that all of this points to Aline going down the same path as the other females characters. And, in this case, it would hurt even more. I'm not sure the messy narrative needs her,and if she's been brought on only bc she's lesbian, and they couldn't not have her...why not work first on all the problems with the characters we have already on the show, though? there's no time to do them all justice, really.

This is why I’m optimistic:

1. Shadowhunters is both bringing new characters in, and shedding old ones. 

2. They are developing the main characters (other than Clary, coming back to that) out of the two dimensions they had in the source material. So Isabelle is warm and nurturing and smart as hell instead of just Girl For Clary To Jealous At, Jace’s cockiness grows out of hurt and vulnerability and growing up in an environment of neglect and abuse, instead of him just being a beautiful blond spouting one liners, and Alec is not just Tall Gay, he’s had several episode spanning story arcs, and he’s one of the best fleshed out characters on the show. 

3. The new intro I hate so much makes a point of introducing all the main characters. 

Which Means!

They are looking for the right mix for an ensemble. 

The Dearly Departed

Raj, Lydia, Jocelyn,  Victor Aldertree and Camille are gone because they stopped serving a function. Robert is gone because he’s a redundancy on Maryse, and Maryse is 200% more compelling. Gretel got cut because she was just Maia 1.0, and thus a redundancy.  

Guest Starring

Maia has interacted with all the main characters, been in most of the episodes since she was introduced, and made it into one of 2B’s main storylines-- the clave as oppressors. She’s a win. 

Imogene was the villain for a couple of episodes, but isn’t the type of character the show was able to support constant interaction with. 

Dot’s role was rewritten from “like a big sister to Clary” and self sacrificing whilst being evil-ed on a boat, to Magnus’s world weary, moderately sassy friend. They are trying to find something to do to keep her around. 

Meliorn has been completely rewritten too, from Isabelle’s conveniently connected lover, to important representative of the Seelie Court. 

Sebastian is driving a whole new plot, which, if they writers have any talent or mercy will give us a fantastic new direction to go in for season three. Valentine is a terrible villain, and even the books only stayed shackled to him for half the story. The show is looking to upgrade it’s big bad. 

Raphael has suffered from Simon’s character growth, because he is now pointless as Simon’s antagonist. Simon’s storyline supports itself without him, so Raphael got tossed into Isabelle's story line, which also didn’t work, so they just ended that relationship in the last episode. Maybe he goes somewhere from here, maybe he doesn't. It’s too soon to tell, but he could easily be the next person shuffled off.

B Plot Extraordinaires!

Luke is being given his own circle to bounce off of with Maia and Ollie. Ollie, it has to be said, currently has more plot and character development than Clary after two scenes. She’s new in a job, wants to do well, and has discovered a secret. She’s been on screen for less than 120 total seconds and is better written than Clary. 

Simon has absolutely gotten the most character development, from nerdy friend, to fledgling vampire, to fledging vampire trying to be human, to acceptance of vampire-dom while finally dating the girl he’s always wanted, to being a daylighter, to ditching Clary and embracing his full downworlder reality. 

Magnus is currently in the middle of a storyline that is developing him out of “Main Character by Proxy” and into a fully fleshed out pillar of the plot. His storyline revolved entirely around Alec up until the moment he and Valentine swapped bodies, and now the plot is focusing on his past and internal struggles. A lot of his plot is still about love, but the building blocks for giving him his own stories entirely independent of the Institute A Plot are already laid out, the basement is nearly finished, they are going to start building the main floor any day now. 

The A Plot Ensemble (and, unfortunately, Clary)

So with Luke and Simon supporting their own storylines away from the main Institute drama, and Magnus gearing up to do the same, our leads are Jace, Alec, Isabelle and unfortunately, Clary. 

I bet we start to see this coalesce tonight. Isabelle talks to Clary about her relationship struggles with Simon, and also talks to Jace about it. Aline comes in, creating some sort of Sebastian drama that from the previews, I’m guessing explodes in 2x17. Maybe Isabelle’s recovery comes up, this leaves most of our Institute characters involved in a plot together. 

Alec is probably going to to be off in a side plot with Magnus, but it’s going to be a net growth for those two characters. 

And Aline is coming into the A plot, to talk to all of the main core. Essentially, this is a chemistry audition. Does she work or not? Can her character arc compliment this group? Is there a storyline with can give her in B-Plot land? 

So yeah... I agree that things are sort of a mess, and they are not using all of their characters to their advantage, but I also feel like it’s still early enough for them to be figuring this out, and especially with the hints, about the season 2 finale completely changing the show, I bet that by that point they lock into a workable ensemble, figure out the relationships once and for all (probably kill 2-5 characters) and haul ass forward from there. 

[allthereclists]

Otayuri

Birthday Boy by Ren 1,106

Otabek lets slip that he never celebrates his birthdays. Yuri decides to fix that.

what hoodies are made of by pissedofsandwich 1,235

Let it be known that Yuri Plisetsky is killed by his first friend, and possibly, if given more time—and if he could just admit it deep down in his heart that yes, he has a crush on Otabek the size of St. Petersburg—his first boyfriend, during the exhibition gala of Trophee de France.

Oh, what’s the murder weapon, you ask?

The goddamn hoodie.

Or: Otabek dresses sexy for his EX Gala and Yuri loses his shit.

Worth The Wait by Ren 1,277

"I turned eighteen in March," Yuri says.

melt me down by ohhotlamb 2,196

“Do you remember? In Barcelona? It’s been at least three years by now.”

“Of course I do,” Yuri mumbles. “That was when we first started talking.”

Methods of Falling by stutter 2,610

"When Victor was his age - younger, even, Yuri thinks, shame blooming in his chest - he’d made the whole world fall in love with him already. The long hair, the soft smile, the way he moved like he had a secret in his skin and he couldn't wait to share it with you. Yuri’s watched the tapes over and over. He could skate any of Victor’s early routines in his sleep. But he can't - the thing Victor could do so easily, the casual, guileless charisma he threw like a shadow - Yuri can't manage it on a single person, not even some moody Kazakh with a dumb haircut whose eyes are too far apart anyway - "

(In Park Guell, Yuri takes a hard fall. Otabek picks him up.)

The Death of Golden Locks by IzzyBee92 4,505 

Yurio shows up with short hair and Otabek tries to figure out what the hell happened. But Yurio doesn't seem to want to discuss it.

The Naming of Cats by unheroics 6,075

The photo gets almost drowned out in a sea of others, more flashy. It’s easy to miss, tagged only as #practice. Otabek doesn’t remember following Yuri Plisetsky on Instagram. Maybe his sister did it for him.

(Otabek, Yuri, and a relationship that develops in the margins of their careers.)

Baptism by InsominiacArrest 9,648

Yuuri Plisetsky has been waiting to lose his virginity to his boyfriend (and also take his boyfriends virginity) and on his 18th birthday, he gets his wish.

follow up: Otabek and Yuri have been apart for a couple months and finally get to reunite.

Anything But Obvious by Tessa on Ice (tessacrowley) 15,016

Yuri Plisetsky would rather die than ever be obvious.

let us be the unexpected by peachys 16,394 

Yuri is used to overworking himself but Otabek helps him see everything he's been missing out on.

Extended Free Skate by Opalsong 20,420

Otabek won silver at Worlds. Yuri was going win gold at fucking domming.

(Fuck his brain and its fucking innuendos.)

Something Old and Something New by heartsdesire456 30k

When Otabek's home rink is damaged in a fire, he and his coach get permission to train in Russia from Yakov. Yuuri and Victor offer their spare room to Otabek for the duration of his stay, and in doing so, Yuuri is given a front row look at Yurio coming to understand his feelings for his best friend, as well as the subsequent panic that ensues after he discovers his feelings aren't so 'friendly' after all.

in flesh and bone by csoru 32,077

After recovering from an injury that cut his previous season short, Yuri makes a comeback with a new coach, a new country of residence, and a relationship upgrade. Still: perfection takes effort.

AU

Panic! In the Hotel by sweatpantz 1,318 

Yuri has a minor panic attack after something that happens between him and Otabek. He comes to his gay dads for advice and then he and Otabek talk it out <3

Spontaneous Combustion by kanekki 3,589

When Otabek and Yuri present at the exact same time, chaos ensues.

concerto for piano, in a minor key not yet decided by 777335 5,260

magical realism au, where yuri is a tsar of ice (which, for the purpose of this fic, is almost a demigod, of sorts) and otabek is a very sad and musical young man who has moved to St. Petersburg to deal with the death of a friend.

it starts like:

Otabek moves to the outskirts of St. Petersburg and becomes friends with Yuri slowly and then suddenly, like ice sliding across a plate. How he meets Yuri goes like this: (a memory that retains the present tense, because it feels very much like a thing that is still happening to him, not a thing that is over)

by the nape of my neck by aphhun 5,499

Everyone has a counter that ticks down the hours until you first meet your Destined; your soul mate. Yuri Plisetsky has been actively ignoring his timer for the last eight years. That is, until it's dwindled down to zero behind his back, and he has no idea how or when he met his Destined in the bustle of St Petersburg

Fire Red by Qitana 7,813

The static reaches its peak before someone says, “Hello Mr Yuri Plisetsky.”

He’s different from the first person, of this Yuri is certain. He jolts slightly when the man pronounces his full name, and he finds an absurd amount of comfort in his voice. It’s soft and warm, with a stoniness that could rival Yakov’s and Lilia’s, and his accent makes it endearing as hell. A small flame slowly starts to burn inside of Yuri for reasons he can’t possibly fathom. It’s just a man’s voice, and a stranger’s to boot, but he feels significantly better already.

When Saving Fairies by Eshli 8,064

Otabek is a knight to the Kingdom of Kazakhstan. He winds up saving a fairy from a tough spot, taking love advice from a total idiot, and losing his virginity in an unsuspecting way. Such is the life of the Hero of Kazakhstan.

Someone to Protect by DragonofFernweh

Yuri's heat happens to take him by surprise the day before a competition, even though those stupid suppressants were supposed to take care of that. He'll head to the medical wing to take care of the problem, but what if he runs into someone else? He dreads anyone finding out about his being an Omega. Still, he's just fifteen, no one would be affected by his heat. He was just a kid.

It turns out, they hurt kids everywhere. It also turns out that Katsuki Yuuri is really fucking terrifying when he wants to be.

the birth of comets takes place on the tip of your lashes by apollothyme 15,622

His second visit to an ophthalmologist occurs five months later.

Just like during his first consultation, he doesn’t understand any of the medical jargon coming from the doctor’s mouth. Only now, after he’s done explaining everything in complicated, convulsed words, the man turns to Yuri with a smile on his face and explains everything once more, this time using terms Yuri can understand.

Yuri listens. He bites down on his bottom lip and he does not cry.

My Life is Over, I Might As Well Jump by accidental-mormon (crazyhomoinspace) 20,109

Yuri Plisetsky was not expecting to go into his first heat surrounded by competitive figure skaters in a classy hotel before an international competition. He was not expecting to sleep with his roommate.. and they weren't expecting to have to deal with the consequences.

First Door On The Right by TeaLovingTooru 21,218

When Yuri turns eighteen, his brother Viktor, informs him that he has to find an Alpha suitor. Yuri is angry as he doesn't understand why he would have to get married, causing him to run into town. After a chance encounter, Yuri makes an unexpected acquaintance with a local.

Neon Pink Motorcycle by goldheart 74,720

There are certain moments in Yuri Plisetsky’s life that he likes to forget happened at all. The time they were chased from the apartment, the landlord angrily spitting and waving threateningly at them when his mother couldn’t produce enough money for rent. Babushka’s funeral. The first time he fell in competition.

He cannot forget that, under the black band he wears around his wrist like a shield, his soulmark may as well be nonexistent.

Unsteady by otayuri_oh_nice 139,679

Otabek was going to kill JJ. He was going to take the next flight to Canada, hunt him down and kick his ass. Leo: I tried to stop him but he went and did it anyway, I’m sorry! (link)

- Or: JJ uploads one of Otabek's remixes of Yuri's songs to YouTube and Otabek freaks out.

- Or: what happens when you take episode 1, replace figure skaters with musicians and exchange Victuuri for Otayuri. Aka another strange AU no one asked for.

on finding your way; by crossroadswrite

When Otabek has to leave back to the dormitories, he turns to Yuri, looking slightly nervous and asks, “So, are we friends or what?”

Yuri stares at him. “Beka, I let you pet my cat.”

Prequel: on growing; by crossroadswrite

Yuri Plisetsky glares at him with all the righteousness five year olds possess, and says in heavily accented and clumsy English. “Be more gooder, stupid!”

And then he storms out in a sweep of blond hair and blue and red lights from his Sketchers.

(Or: in which everything is the same but Yuri Plisetsky is Victor's bratty five-year-old child.)

https://otayuri-ficrec.tumblr.com/tagged/yoi-fic-rec

wip

Eat Your Heart Out, Adonis by blackmountainbones 

The year is 2021. The Beijing Winter Olympics are just around the corner, and Yuri Plisetsky is forced to take a break from skating in order to recover from an ankle injury. His friend Otabek comes to Russia to keep him company during his time off the ice.

soldier boy, tripping over himself to win my praise by thissupposedcrime

Yuri cannot crater down the path Victor blazed, happily forsaking Russia and his career for an international love affair. Neither will Kazakhstan's favorite son.

Or Yuri and Otabek from 2016-2026 and the competitions, weddings, and longing that define them.

Not your usual love story by arcsinx

Baranovskaya's new face, Yuri Plisetsky (22), who shot in Venice for Vogue's last issue, was seen accompanied by Otabek Altin (25) as they left a coffee shop in St Petersburg yesterday. The DJ and voted 2017's hottest musician, Altin was in the city to compose for Victor Nikiforov's (30) new movie production. The couple met at the Paris Fashion Week after-party(image) and have been appointed to be secretly dating ever since. An intimate friend claims Altin to be completely besotted with the Russian beauty, having even gifted him a $35,000 diamond collar necklace!

For more photos of Plisetsky's front cover shoot for Vogue, click here For more articles on Altin's new collabs with popstars, click here.

Let the Record Drop by BoxWineConfessions 

A collection of PWP oneshots loosley based around the idea of DJ-Otabek.

[takingtea-and-tellingtales]

thoughts while re-watching ep. 2x7 of Gotham

alternate title for this post: “how do i talk about how funny i find parts of this episode without sounding completely deranged?” 

the penguin’s reunion with his mother is just... my heart hurts. 

okay, i know galavan SAYS that the bolt-cutters won’t work on Gertrud’s cell... but why? the lock doesn’t look like anything special. i’m pretty sure they’ll work... 

like, i know this has been done before, the whole ‘you think it’ll be fine but suddenly someone’s eyes go dead and they collapse’ thing... but damn this got me hard, especially penguin’s “i’m sorry” where he sounds like a little kid

let’s take yet another well-deserved moment to respect robin lord taylor’s phenomenal acting skills. he looks ready to tear galavan’s throat out with his teeth. he is small and unarmed and surrounded and still the scariest guy in the room. 

oh good, yeah, i needed flashbacks to ed killing kristen. i needed to see that again. tHaNKs sO mUCh.

i love evil!ed’s hand gestures - it’s like he’s conducting an invisible orchestra or pulling at an invisible network of threads that runs through the world trying to use them to manipulate the future (yeah that was bizarrely specific but watch his hands and tell me i’m wrong)

cards on the table: i squealed and clapped my hands like a child when i saw the little purple note with the green question mark on it in place of kristen’s body and i’m not going to think about how terrible that makes me (hell, this is like Hannibal all over again...)

... i can see you judging me alana bloom and i for one do not appreciate it even if your whole look is my fashion ideal 

evil!ed is really well dressed and i’m not saying villainy comes with a fashion upgrade but... well... you’ve seen penguin’s outfits. you know what i’m saying. 

harvey dent, isn’t it a little TWO-FACED to show up here after so long??? (i crack myself up)

sometimes i have to remind myself that the gcpd actually has good reasons to want to lock up penguin. here i am, like “galavan is framing him!!!” and then i remember that penguin has killed, just, so so many people. so many. 

alright silver, if you call kat “gutter trash” again, you and me are gonna have a problem 

this bit, where ed is rushing around the police station trying to solve his own riddles, is the bit of this episode that i find so much fun even though objectively it’s reasonably tragic... i just... i love that ed is running around twitching and drenched in sweat looking for a body and every other character that sees him either does not notice him or is like “oh nygma, what a lovable oddball and definitely not an emerging serial killer” and completely does not notice that anything is weird. it’s like ed wheeling the suitcases of body parts through the bullpen - no one notices ANYTHING. okay, i’ll stop now... 

the music for this plot-line is darkly hilarious... just... listen... 

... it’s the strangest song i have EVER heard. it belongs on the cooking playlist of a cheerful cannibal

i’m going to hang my head in shame because the hand in the vending machine under “lady-fingers” startles a laugh out of me EVERY TIME

“putting penguin in the cross-hairs of the gcpd will drive him underground” ... or into the apartment of a riddle-making serial killer with great bone-structure... whatever 

victor zsasz sighting. just keeping everyone updated on gotham’s favourite assassin 

“i love to watch you squirm” and i love you, lee. let’s ditch jim and get married, what do you say?

i enjoy that kat and alfred bond over hating silver

smol bruce wayne is such a tiny angst-machine 

no one does a psychotic break quite like cory michael smith - ed looks ready to shake out of his own skin

“questions like that are above my paygrade and below my sense of wonder” ... harvey can i borrow that as the answer to the essay question on my next exam??

“guys like galavan are born on third base; stealing home is practically a birthright” ...there’s a harsh critique of the class system right there. can i borrow this for a future essay? ... who knew harvey would be a wealth of academic quotes?

i’m not going to think too hard about why i love this shot: 

... also i love zsasz’s jacket, oh my gosh. fashion choices on point. i bet “tailor” is gotham’s most respected profession

penguin, listen to gabe. let your people “wack him for you”. 

how much power does the mayor of gotham actually have? is it more or less than, say, the alexander the great?

edward, if you’re going to make a go of it as a serial killer, you need to get better at lying

ed asks lee to “grab a coffee” with him and i wonder... do they do that often? is this a thing? are they coffee buddies? i nEEd tO KnOw

this mob of people all dressed like the penguin... how much did that little stunt cost in tailoring alone???? 

shout out to the one penguin body-double with a LOT of hair all done up on top of his head. work it, penguin body-double.  

okay i love tabitha, but her putting her heel through a man’s throat was horrifying to watch and i never want to see that again

penguin has looked on the verge of tears for pretty much the whole season and that shouldn’t bother me but it really really does. (why do i want him to be happy??????)

“he killed my mother, jim” ...the desperation in his voice, punch me in the FACE

galavan, you’re the mayor, not the emperor, you don’t get to order cops to murder people

jim’s soft spot for penguin is going to get him killed one of these days... 

oh no, here’s my bias for ed coming out again... i LOVE this scene so so much (he’s so well-written and acted, leave me in peace):

...and there’s the jazzy cannibal song again

goodbye ed. 

hello riddler.