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#WHY DOES THIS HAVE SO MANY NOTES. funny orange cat i guess
happylandfill23 · 2 months
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i've had this garfield panel saved forever and i even marked in my calendar today as "the monday that wouldn't die" so uh. happy(?) monday the 22nd aka the monday that wouldn't die
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candieduranium · 3 months
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my intro post
i guess it’s about time i made one of these
(why does this have so many notes???😭/genuine)
long ass intro oml
last updated august 21, 2024
•my name is micah but i also respond to furcata and rover
•i use any pronouns. i genuinely do not care what you use for me
•im a minor
•i am a christian. i do not force it onto other people. please respect my religion.
•i make mistakes on my blog (accidentally deleting things, unbalanced polls, etc.) from time to time so please excuse if i make some errors. trying my best.
•my tag for my original posts and reblogs that add to is “micah’s owlposting” even for stuff that isn’t owlkin-related. i have to retroactively tag my old posts with this tag so keep in mind that not all of them are tagged! i will update this post when i finish tagging.
•i am an american barn owl therian, vernid othermidst, machinehearted, and pigeonhearted.
• i am a quadrobist. i started in april of 2024.
•usually the things i post are about my alterhumanity but i also post golden texts my friends and i send each other along with some other stuff. sometimes in my posts there are mentions of sex and (mild?) sexual themes
•im also a furry. furry ≠ z00phil3
•my favorite music is by greta van fleet and umbrabyte. i also just enjoy vocaloid in general, too. in fact, the original purpose i had for my blog was just to keep up with umbrabyte and her content better. here’s umbrabyte’s spotify:
•my favorite aesthetics are cybercore, mizuiro/ tenshi kaiwai, vaporwave, and rococo
•my only definite dni is if your blog is focused on nsfw, has sexually explicit images, or unsafe for minors in general. we can interact if you are in a basic dni (zoophile, radqueers, etc) but i probably won’t interact with you as much as those who arent in the dni.
•haters will be blocked unless i find them especially funny.
•im up for chatting about whatever whenever so just shoot me a dm if you feel like it (sfw, obviously)
•my hobbies and special interests are drums, classical latin, fursuit making, cosplay, and illustrating
•i’m very interested in learning how to make vtuber models and customizing ball-jointed dolls
•my main fandoms are umbrabyte, tloz, pjsk, and tadc (i know some these fandoms are known for having CRAZY and problematic fans. im not one of them)
•i have a 4 year old black cat named dumpling (i post pics of him sometimes) and a 16 year old dog named stella. i hope to get a couple of oranda goldfish someday
•i dont have a set posting schedule. i post when i post. but i generally like to stay pretty active and try to post at least once per day.
•i follow anyone who interacts with my posts positively when im not in their dni and theyre not in mine and their blog isn’t completely default/blank this is now false. i have just learned that the maximum follow count is 5k and i am already above 4k. there are too many of you for me to follow you all😭
•some random and useless stuff about me: i have mild-moderate trypophobia and a deviated septum, i’m 5’7”, my favorite color is orange, i LOVE creme brulee, and my mbti is antp-t (a for ambivert)
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
mild eyestrain warning ⚠️
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how the fuck does this have so many notes??😭
vent-ish/vent-adjacent warning ⚠️
here’s a copypaste from another of my posts regarding my posting schedule and status:
hey folks, i may not be posting as much going forward because my father put my email on a lifelock account, which means that he may be alerted each time i log into my tumblr account. i use tumblr on the website on safari and i frequently log in and out because im anxious that my parents will check my search history, but they very rarely ever do. im testing if they get alerted right now by logging in to ao3 and c.ai, two websites that my parents likely wont be opposed to but would tell me and ask me about it if i got an alert. deleting my account is a last resort, but it is still on the table. this change is indefinite. i have backup plans in case my parents do get alerts from lifelock, but nothing is definite. i may continue on just fine, i might not. just giving y’all a heads up in case something does happen.
tl;dr my account may be discovered by my parents and i may be punished, maybe it wont. we’ll see
and does anyone know for sure if lifelock does send alerts about logging in tumblr accounts? please dont lie to me.
my mental health is hinging largely on my tumblr account and im praying sososo hard that i wont lose all of you wonderful, amazing people. this goes for the folks i have dmed and the ones i havent. but anyway. i love you all. thank you for the time youve given me, even if it wont be for much longer.
and heres another post copypaste:
hey folks i dont know if im gonna be posting for a hot minute because im at band practice rn but im gonna have the biggest fucking argument with my mom when i get home😍 i might get my phone taken away
so basically what happened is i told her im depressed and she blew me off and didnt believe me. she also did some other stuff. i may go into greater detail at a later date.
im sorry if this discomforts or tr_gg_rs anyone but i wanted to give an explanation and warning just in case i stop posting and interacting on tumblr
thank you all for being so wonderful, truly. i hope i can get my situation sorted out quickly and remain active.
i’ll probably update this post later on since im sure there’s something i forgot. check back with me every once in a while and i might have some new content on this post
thanks for reading 👍👍
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lavynrose · 3 years
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Artem and his S/O confessing at the same time pt. 2
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Title: Dedicated
Pairing/s: Artem Wing X Reader
Pronouns: Gender Neutral
Genre: FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF
Warning/s: grammatical errors
Notes: ok so!!! thank you so much for waiting <3 one thing i'd like to say is that i recommend reading part 1 before this bc it creates a build-up for the story's conclusion. There are some parts here that needed context from part 1. Enjoy!
part 1 here
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He couldn't ask for more.
The sunset spilled all around the theme park, the golden intricates of the the railings sparkled than ever before. The orange radiance of the solemn sun gives the park an even more golden glow.
Artem looked around, taking in the seemingly perfect view of what can be only described as serene. The laughter of groups of friends, families walking hand-in-hand, couples giving their significant other loving looks, people enjoying themselves left and right, the quaint smell of hotdogs and popcorn.
You spending your time with him.
The sunset made this picturesque scenery even more breathtaking, and he could come here everyday if only allowed.
Right now, right in this very moment, everything is glowing.
Especially you.
"That was really fun!" the enthusiasm in your voice never fails to make him feel the same. He loves seeing you have fun, without a care in the world. He admits, he also enjoyed getting splashed by water on the raft ride.
He unconsciously offered his arm to link with yours and when you took it as you gazed at him, he's more than satisfied.
You fit so perfectly in his arms, it feels as if you're the missing puzzle piece he never knew his being had. Even having dried after getting soaked from the raft, the warmth that your touch radiated fills his senses with comfort.
This moment of getting to spend time with the person he profoundly longed for was enough for him. Enough for now. You don't need to know his affections for now.
Does he really need to let you know?
His feelings?
It'll probably make your relationship awkward. He's not ready to risk the sweet smiles and playful looks you direct towards him just for his own selfishness.
It doesn't matter. He'll love you even if you won't, anyway.
He then stopped in his tracks, you followed suit. Not caring about the people around you. Lost in the little world the two of you shared. He looked down at your form, "Yes it was. I enjoyed it very much." because you're with me, he wanted to add but instead of saying those words, an amiable look in his cerulean eyes twinkled, and an adoring smile latched upon his features instead.
Almost as if he's telling you an unspoken confession.
His expression however, turned into mild surprise when he noticed how your gaze was filled with enchantment. With a soft glint in your lidded eyes, your brows are knitted together. You were silent.
It baffled him.
Why.
'Why are you looking at me like that?' Artem wanted to blurt out. His mouth opened to say something.
It was unclear to him as to why you looked like you were staring at his very soul.
'Why are you looking at me like,' he can't help but ask himself as he continued to scrutinize your tranced gaze, 'like you want to say the same words I desperately wanted to tell you?'
Are his feelings reciprocated?
You blinked and suddenly looked away, "Uhh, Artem, I-"
"Everyone! One more hour to go for the fireworks! Please look forward to it!" The both of you landed your eyes on the speaker, then on each other.
Artem cleared his throat, pulling the collar of his turtleneck, "You were saying?" he inquired, voice and features laced with curiosity.
You cleared your throat and pulled on your collar, mirroring him, "I..." you started as your eyes darted as if you were looking for excuses, then your orbs glinted with realization and faced Artem, "I just wanted to say that we should take pictures! This is a memorable night after all."
His eyes begin to scan the theme park and his gaze found a small photobooth just beside the merry-go-round.
"Good idea. We haven't had anything to commemorate today's fun." He brushed off your weird behavior earlier as you dragged him towards your destination.
There weren't too many people in the waiting line, there were multiple photobooths, plenty enough to not create a line of more than five costumers per booth.
As soon as it was your turn, you excitedly rummaged through the cute costumes the guests can wear in the photos.
"Look Artem," you snapped your fingers to get his attention, "This would look cute on you!" You squealed as you waved the headband with cat ears in front of his face.
This kind of trend has been circling around lately. No matter how much of a busy man Artem is, he still has seen some posts about this on the internet...
Catboy culture, wasn't it? He wondered.
"You should wear one, too." He suggested. He gingerly took the headband from you and after a few moments of hesitation, he finally gave in to the anticipation in your eyes.
Your eyes were practically sparkling taking in the sight of catboy Artem in the flesh.
"Oh my gosh." You breathed, gaping at him.
Artem blinked. "Is there something on my face?" He then turned to the mirror to check what's wrong, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary though.
"It's nothing!" You frantically waved your hand and gestured towards the camera, "Let's take a photo!" you grinned, wearing cat ears identical to Artem's.
You guys started the photoshoot with your hands making peace signs.
Ah, the classic.
The few shots after just consisted of you putting on different faces while Artem just wore different headbands each shot, with the same pose.
"You guys, please act cuter for the camera! " The photographer suddenly commented.
Isn't Y/N cute enough? Artem internally recoiled.
"Young man, put your arms around your date or something, or do a heart pose together! " Mr. Photographer added.
Artem looked back at you, his eyes meeting yours, both were wide with surprise.
He cleared his throat for what seemed like the nth time today and looked at you for approval, "Do you want to?" he asked as his hands formed half a heart.
Your cheeks lighted aflame as you raised your hand, forming half a heart to connect it with his, "I don't mind."
As your fingers touched, Artem cannot control the pink flushing his cheeks as he smiled at the camera.
The photographer continued to instruct the both of you with how you should pose. He deserves a raise for doing his job really well, Artem thinks.
After of what it seemed like endless snaps of sappy pictures, the two of you decided to print all of them.
"Now we have lots of souvenirs!" you scanned each one of the photos and Artem can't help but think how good you two look together.
He thanked the photographer for putting his all into the shoot, then you both headed for the exit.
"How was it, Artem?" You turned towards him with a profound smile.
You have lots of photos together now. He can already see himself wide awake at night, staring at your couple-like pictures.
It was more than okay.
"It was a fun experience. The cat ears aren't bad." He said as he recalled how astonished you looked when he wore the headband.
"We spent almost 20 minutes there..." You sighed as you looked at your watch.
Artem unconsciously checked his wrist watch as well, "There are 40 minutes left before the fireworks. Do you want to check out more rides before then?"
You surveyed the theme park to look for more booths, "Look at that, Artem." you pointed toward the large and loud crowd at the park's quadrangle.
"Perharps it's someone performing." Artem guessed, hearing the strums of a guitar from the speakers.
"Let's check it out!" Curious, you and Artem shuffled yourselves into the crowd. The faint singing voice grew more and more audible as you got closer to the center of the attraction.
You headed to the front for the best audience experience and the singer came into view, "Isn't that?" Artem's eyes were as wide as saucers when he recognized the person singing.
Funny how you weren't surprised, and he wondered why.
There at the center, sitting at a stool with a guitar in hand, singing with a gold microphone in front of him, was the new employee at the firm, William.
Artem frowned.
That's the guy. The guy who was getting too cozy with you, the guy causing the unpleasant pangs inside his chest.
The guy who was one of the reasons why he got the courage to ask you out on this date in the first place.
The feeling of delight earlier was now replaced by uneasiness.
"I didn't know he was a performer." Artem murmured, and he kept glancing at you.
When he saw that you were clapping your hands and a proud smile has decorated your lips - one that's not aimed him, a sudden bitter feeling overwhelmed his whole being.
You looked very happy, and he hung his head low.
He vividly remembered your smiling faces in the office yesterday, and how William seem to always hang around you.
Artem realized he wasn't special. The warm look that he witnessed from you earlier in the sunset, the look that made him think that you reciprocated his feelings, you probably do that to everyone.
He felt so stupid.
While everyone was watching William hit the notes and strum the strings, Artem was watching your every reactions, only for him to get hurt on the inside.
His heart hurts, the clenching feeling in his chest tightening with every cheer that you voiced.
He's glad it was you who were causing this pain, though.
The crowd boomed with claps and shouts as the last note finished the song, and Artem wasn't in the mood to join them.
6:30pm
"Aren't you going to greet him?" Artem's voice made you look up to him, his brows furrowed and he wasn't making eye contact.
You just brushed his behaviour off and said, "Nope. I wouldn't want to disturb him on this special day!" you felt giddy, knowing that you helped William to set this all up.
As soon as his first day in the office, which was around a month ago, he had overheard you and Kiki talking about the big opening of PAX's amusement park, and kept asking questions about the event. He then learned you were friends with the heir, Marius.
You've never seen a face as shocked as William's when he learned that.
He even made Kiki contact her insiders about the soon to be opened theme park.
Kiki asked why he was so curious, and he said he performs on gigs as a hobby, balancing it with his law career, and that he loves performing ever since he was a kid.
"Performing on the theme park's opening would definitely give me more opportunities!" He sounded so passionate that you can't help but support him.
He became bashful though, as he said, "Besides, I've been looking for an opportunity to surprise my girlfriend next month," you and Kiki beamed at him, "This would make her happy, as I made a new song that I specifically made as a gift for her birthday. I'll sing it on the opening if I'm allowed."
That's why ever since, you became close with William. Whenever you talk though, he almost always talk about her girlfriend.
"30 minutes remaining for the fireworks display!!!" The speakers announced.
You were excited for the fireworks, and an idea popped out of your mind.
"Artem," you called him out "Let's ride on the ferries wheel, that way we're up in the sky as the fireworks erupt," you dragged him to the ferris wheel's ticketing booth, "I heard that it takes 20-30 minutes for a capsule to be on top of the wheel, the time is perfect for us!"
"Can we be alone in the capsule?" Artem suddenly requested, his eyes filled with a look you can't fathom. He looked so vulnerable.
"Yes, that's actually normal. We can request that for the youngest senior attorney with 99% win rate!" You grinned and you expected him to send you one of his gentle smiles, but he just turned his head away, and looked at the distance.
You take a good look at him again once you got the tickets, he's still looking away, a solemn demeanor in his face.
You can't help but wonder what he's thinking. He's been acting a little weird, you thought.
Does he not want to hang out with you anymore?
"Artem, if you don't want to, you can tell me. I won't be mad." You eyed him with concern, "We can just sit on the bench or something." you suggested.
Just like that, his expression changed quickly, regret clouding his face, "Y/N," he sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that with my actions," he stared at you for a few seconds, then you noticed that light was back in his eyes, the fond smile you liksd seeing is back again, "The ferris wheel is perfect." He then grabbed yoir waist and guided you both to the capsule.
You grinned, "I requested a capsule for only the two of us!" you waved the tickets at him, he chuckled and grabbed it from you to give to the person managing the capsules.
The capsule was air-condition inside, with big windows to get a good view of the outside. You expected nothing from a device created by PAX.
Across from you, Artem sits, his mood is a little better now, but you can't help but notice the silent sadness his cerulean eyes hold still.
You don't like seeing him like this.
"Hey, Artem?" you half-whispered, not wanting to surprise him from his reverie.
His eyes met yours, "Yes?" he responded gently.
"You know you can trust me with your problems, right?" You started, you don't let his surprised expression distract you from what you want to say, "I will listen intently to your troubles, and we'll find a way to solve them together! " You declared with the brightest smile you could ever muster, "So please, share your burdens with me. I'll carry them with you." You finished with a toothy grin.
He blinked a few times before finally shaking his head with fondness, "Thank you, Y/N. I want you to know that you are special to me." His face is suddenly filled with so much endearment you quickly looked away, "Uhh, Of course!" your face flushed red and you raised your hide in an attempt to hide it.
Artem chuckled, the sound giving you a sense of comfort and security. You looked up to him again and saw his features get illuminated by the lights flickering in the theme park, his adoring eyes lingering on you.
Like yours was lingering on him.
You smiled at each other, letting the other feel that they're not alone in the battles they're facing.
What are you to each other, anyway? You pondered when you decided to avert your eyes away from him first.
As far as you can recall, friends don't do this kind of thing with each other. The staring, the blushing. Oh, especially the blushing.
You can't help but long for the possibility of having your feelings reciprocated, but oh boy were you afraid.
"Can I sit beside you?" His question brought you to your senses, and you happily obliged, "Of course! This capsule isn't shaky, we'll be okay being on the same side." You made space for him as you patted the empty space. There he sat, his scent enveloping your senses.
It was silent for the whole ride up, but you were comfortable with it. You were with the person you love, being with them is enough.
7:00pm
Your capsule was right on top when suddenly, a boom was heard and splashes of color was seen through the window.
"Artem!" you pointed at the big, colorful patch of explosion that's a little bit below the capsule you were in.
The ferries wheel was so high that you were higher than the fireworks!
The fireworks was on your side of the window, you can see the view to it's fullest glory.
"Whoa!" you exclaimed, your eyes astonished by the scene before you. Your hands flat against the window, when you suddenly felt a body pressed against your back, and a hot breath against your ear, "It's amazing" you heard Artem mutter, as his breaths fanned the hairs on your neck, before resting his chin on your shoulder.
You yelped, you forgot Artem was just beside you!
Your heart pounded against your ribcage when you realized that in order for Artem to see the fireworks, he needs to look at your side of the window.
Heck, your thighs were touching, and you can feel every ounce of heat that his muscular body radiated. He's practically caging you and this small, suffocating space of a capsule isn't helping!
Despite the unbelievable heat that your whole body is feeling right now, you badly wanted him to wrap his arms around you.
Something was pooling in your stomach, something weird. All you can think about right now is Artem kissing you against the window while you sit on his lap.
Warmth filled your already heated cheeks upon realization of what you just imagined, and you mentally slapped yourself. What were you thinking?
The smell of his vanilla cologne isn't helping!
Nobody has ever made you feel this way before. No other person has affected you like this. You think about the things that this man had done for you, he was selfless, hardworking, and most of all, kind.
Especially the smiles he had always shown you. Those smiles filled with comfort and fondness that makes you weak in the knees. Whenever you see that smile, you find yourself looking forward in seeing it again.
To you, Artem Wing was unobtainable.
Yet you wanted to make him yours.
7:01pm
"Artem!" you pointed below with an enthusiastic grin as the fireworks boomed and splashed the sky above the theme park.
His body scooted over to you without realizing, eyes widening with glee and he muttered, "It's amazing" Artem leaned towards you, placing his chin on your shoulder for him to get better view of the fireworks display below.
It's taking every ounce of his control to not face you towards him and claim your lips then and there.
What you said earlier only fueled his raging feelings for you. You were willing to carry his burdens with him? He never had someone say that to him before, and he was happy it's from you.
The evening is flawless. The two of you were alone, having you near him like this, your decleration of support earlier, and a beautiful scenery before him that he won't get to see everyday...
A perfect evening to pour his heart out to you.
He decided that if there was a best time to confess his love for you, that time would be now. He didn't care about your answer right now, he just wanted to let it all out before this passionate feelings can drive him to insanity.
These feelings were driving him crazy, he wanted to let you know how you make him happy, that he thinks about you eveey second of every day, that you ground him and his lonely heart.
He noticed you were silent and unmoving, so he decided to take the chance. He took a deep breath.
"I'm in l-" "Can I ki-"
You turned your body to face him, surprised. Your face only a few centimeters away from his. One wrong move and you'll kiss.
The both of you blinked.
"You... go first." you said, biting your lip.
He stared deep into your eyes, none of you dared to move from this intimate position, your breaths fanning each other's faces.
"Y/N, I," he rested his forehead against yours and breathed with the most vulnerable voice you've ever heard from him, "I'm in love with you..."
You gaped, but he didn't mind.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds, "It's okay if you don't feel the same. I..." he opened his eyes to give you a loving gaze "I will keep loving you anyway."
He looked so vulnerable right now, but it didn't scare him. If anything, he feels relief in finally voicing out the feelings he's hidden for so long.
"I was in a bad mood today because I think you were interested in William," you just blinked and he continued, "I mean, you always look happy when you're with him. It crushed my heart." He finished as he waited for your response.
He waited, and waited.
The silence that you were giving him didn't give him any clue to what you were thinking, it's unnerving.
After of what seemed like an eternity you finally let out, "He has a girlfriend, silly." you see Artem's eyes widened and you continued, "It's a long story, but I'm not interested in him. We're just friends."
You felt the heat creep up his face.
"So... what were you going to tell me?" He said hesitantly as he gulped, the embarrasment from earlier evident in his voice.
Your cheeks flushed pink as you darted your eyes, it was now your turn to get really embarassed, "Can I..." your face looks conflicted. That if you say whatever you wanted to say, It'd be the death of you.
You took a deep breath, Artem told you his feelings, so it's only fair you tell him yours, you told yourself and mustered the courage to look up to his ocean eyes, a vast ocean so blue, you could drown in them, "Can I kiss you, Artem?"
It took a moment before he could fully process your words. His brain short-circuit.
"What?" He blurted out as he scanned your face for any signs that maybe, you have made a mistake.
but you replied, "I want to kiss you Artem," you put your hands on his shoulder to steady yourself, "I'm in love with you too."
His body tingled with so much joy, you being in love with him was just a distant dream before.
Not willing to wait anymore, he licked his lips as he slowly dipped his head to meet your already parted mouth, welcoming him.
You may or may not have kissed the entire way down the ride.
Artem Wing is a dedicated man.
Now, he's willing to dedicate himself to you for the rest of his life.
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do not repost © lavynrose 08/16/21.
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twstwonderlandstuff · 3 years
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When a cub visits! (Cheka and OC! ft. Leona and Grim)
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Cheka and Himawari Nikko! ft. Leona and Grim
Summary: It's a little difficult to draw when there's an enthusiastic lion cub by Himawari's side. Luckily, he's got plenty of tales to entertain them.
A/N: THIS IS NOT A SHIP BETWEEN LEONA AND MY OC, you hear me! Leona is 20, a certified adult. My OC is 16, a certified TEENAGER. This is about a teen who happens to take care of an adult's nephew, and then they have little interactions, okay? Ok.
Warning(s): I'm using they/them for the sake of lore (cuz their actual gender isn't revealed yet HEHEHE) so... yeah.
Notes will be written after the fic and will be placed under-cut because of length.
_____
Leona sighed, frowning. Why, of all days, does he have to be here?
“Uncle Leona!” God, what an annoyance.
“What?” He spat at his nephew, who was holding his hand and walking cheerfully next to him down the hallways. Many steered clear of the lion, and for good reason too.
“Can we play Magic Shift? Please?” Cheka begged, looking up at him.
“Go by yourself.”
“But Papa said I gotta be with you all the time!”
“Tch-” Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the herbivore who ruined his plans… a sneer crawled up his face.
“After you play with the herbivore over there.” Leona gestured lazily towards the orange-color mop. “Then I’ll play Magic Shift with you.”
“For real?!” Cheka lit up, squeezing Leona’s hand. “We gotta make a pinky promise first, uncle!”
“Fine.” After the deed was done, Cheka ran off towards the boy and Leona quickly made his escape to the botanical garden to sleep.
=
“Hey hey!” Himawari turned around and so did Grim who laid in their lap. They were perched on one of the benches in NRC, looking at the sunset as one does.
“Hey, it's Leona’s kid!” Grim noticed, tilting its head. “Why’s he coming to us?”
Cheka quickly fell into Himawari’s arms, which scared Grim from leaving their lap. Hima gave the lion cub a quick squeeze before making him settle down next to them. They took up their notebook, quickly scribbling: ‘Hello!’
“What’s the big deal, oi!” Grim grumbled. “That was my seat!”
“Uncle Leona said I gotta play with you before I can play Magic Shift with him!” The child smiled with glee, sharing a toothy grin. “So, I’m gonna play with you!”
“He totally wants to get rid of you, huh…” Grim whispered, both it and Himawari sharing a look. Himawari smiled, carding a hand through Cheka’s hair, writing: ‘How long are we going to play?’
Cheka shrugged. “Dunno, I guess until Uncle calls- oh!” Cheka quickly reached for the notebook. “Can I draw, uh… hmmm…”
“The name’s Himawari, and I’m the Great Grim! Remember us!” Grim cackled, smirking.
“Oh-oh! The one who fainted during the Magical Shift! That was funny!” Cheka pointed out, laughing. Himawari let out a sigh, glaring at Grim.
“It’s not my fault that henchman's really weak!” Grim shot back, sticking its tongue out. Himawari shook their head at the cat, nodding at Cheka’s request.
“Yay!” The lion cub got busy, but eventually…
=
“Aww… it didn’t turn out right…” Cheka gloomed, staring at the picture. “Uncle Leona… doesn’t look like that!”
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“It looks kinda bad-” A sharp glare came from Himawari. “Ah, uh, it looks pretty good, kid!”
“No, it doesn’t… you’re lying!” Cheka grumbled, starting to sob. “Uncle looks cooler than this…”
An idea sparked in Himawari’s head as they gently took the notebook away from Cheka, writing: ‘I can draw him for you if you'd like.’
“...Okay!” Cheka gave the magicless student a thumbs up, pressing against their side, enthusiastically waiting. Grim followed suit, pressing against their other side. With a small smile, the Ramshackle Prefect began to sketch.
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“Uncle’s so cool…” Cheka murmured, laying his head on Himawari’s shoulder. “I wanna be like my uncle one day.”
“But he’s kinda lazy, you know. He slacks off and is kinda a douche.” Grim grumbled. Cheka shook his head.
“No, he’s not! My uncle works hard, it’s just… no one knows that he does.” The cub trailed off quietly. “When he’s at home, sometimes I see him reading books and solving hard stuff, but he doesn’t know that I know.”
“...I like my uncle. He’s the best.” The lion cub smiled, looking towards the orange sky. “Someday, I’m gonna beat my uncle in Magic Shift, you'll see!”
‘Good luck.’ Himawari wrote on the notebook, adding: ‘It’s gonna be hard. Your uncle is strong.’
“Yeah, I know, but I will! Oh, you know, I’ve been working on my roar. Wanna listen to it?” Before he could get an answer, Cheka roared, making Himawari pull away.
“Fgna-!” Grim was quick to cover its ears.
“Tada~ Uncle’s gonna love it- pfft!!!” Cheka’s eyes gleamed in excitement as the cub took a look at the drawing, already giggling. “His face!” Himawari flinched at the sudden movement.
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“Has he ever smiled like that…?” Grim asked, peering at the drawing. Himawari shook their head.
‘Probably not.’ They giggled. ‘I’m not good with faces.’
“Can I show this to Uncle?!” An immediate shake of the head came for the artist. “Why not? He’ll like it!”
“More like he’ll get mad at us.” Grim corrected. “Especially with that goofy smile…”
“Hah, what’s this~?” A teasing voice came from above. Himawari paled as Cheka looked up.
“UNCLE!” Leona flinched at the volume.
“Don’t be so loud, brat.” Leona easily pried the notebook out of Himawari’s hands, to their horror.
“Hah.. what’s with my face?” The lion questioned, looking at the page. “Oi, herbivore, I don’t look like that.”
“I asked Mister Himawari to make it! It’s nice, right, Uncle?” Cheka added, standing up to follow Leona. The second-born hummed absentmindedly in reply.
“Since you drew it for me, I think I’m going to take it.” Leona chuckled, ripping the page out of the book before handing it back to Himawari. “Come on, brat, let’s take you to Magic Shift.” “YAY!” Cheka cheered, hugging Leona’s leg. “See you, Hima-chan, Grim-chan!”
“Don’t call us that!” Grim grumbled as Himawari meekly waved goodbye.
After they left, the two Ramshackle live-in’s gave a collective sigh. “He scared me!” Grim grumbled, Himawari enthusiastically nodding.
‘I thought he was going to rip my notebook.’ They wrote, smiling in relief.
“Maybe he really did like it?” Grim questioned.
They both shrugged. Himawari closed the notebook and set it aside, inviting Grim to sit on their lap as they once again bathed in the glow of the sunlight.
“I’m confused why the kid likes Leona, but eh,” Grim shrugged. “ ‘s not really our business… ah, the sun’s so warm.”
Himawari nodded. It really is.
=
“...thanks.”
“Whatcha say, uncle?”
“Nothing.”
-------
Notes:
So, there's this OC Question Meme by @marchenvillain here and it's 100 questions, so! Instead of asking people so I can answer, I'm going to do it myself!
Question 1: What’s a unique skill they have? Is there any reason why they can do it?
Answer: They have the unique skill of taking care of children. Himawari adores babies, but they don't seem to like their face very much, and kids think it looks funny, so they stick to caring for children. They got this skill from volunteering at a daycare back home.
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^ (as evident by the picture, Himawari and babies don't get along well)
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qtsp00k · 4 years
Text
I heard from a friend and they said that they were trying to find a corned beef and cabbage meal to bring over to my place so we could have traditional Irish feast together and I was like oh my gosh I was just going to go to Conroy's by myself so if you want to go with me to Conroy's we can go out to eat if you're up to it cuz I'm up for it feeling great aside from my headache which is technologically induced so as long as I avoid technology I will continue to be feeling relatively well right right.
And so we headed to Conroy's but we got to Conroy's and they popped in and found out that it would be an hour and a half wait and they were like dude I'm just like calling Nub's pub and seeing what the weight is there like we can wait here but if Nub's pub is doing traditional feast and the wait time is shorter would you be okay not going to Conroy's and I was like dude my heart is not set on Conroy's it was just where I was trying to make plans with other people that fell through so I was just going to go by myself after all the plans fell through but calling Nub's pub they had a 20 minute wait which is exactly how long it took us to get there so we get in the door and our table is ready and I had a root beer and they had a Guinness and we feasted and it was delicious like really really good good corned beef and cabbage meal and sadly Alaska and I was like prepared to eat Irish soda bread with raisins in it which is a common preparation which I never do with my father never did I don't think I've ever eaten Irish soda bread with raisins in it in my life actually but I digress there was no Irish soda bread and so for dessert we split a creme brulee which I took like two bites of before I was like this is making me sick already and they were like yeah it's making me sick too and then proceeded to Wolf it down.
dinner conversation was delightful and my now intoxicated from one Guinness friend was much fun so we popped over to Walmart and hung out at Walmart looking at toys and clothes and I was like where's the St Patrick's Day clearance and we immediately turned the corner and there's just like a rack just a loose rack on Wheels just like hanging out just the road there and it was like well asking you shall receive and on that rack was like plenty of shirts but I have I think six St Patrick's Day shirts which is all I will need for the rest of my life I'm pretty sure because one of them is pizza I believe one of them is a tuxedo tea which I live for tuxedo tease I have several of them and I love them dearly and one of them is a luck o meter like if I was an Irish robot like oh man that one's really good and then I have the one I was wearing which is from 6th grade and I have the shirt from when well from one of the years my dad was almost always in our local Saint Patrick's Day parade and I have one of the first years that I remember seeing my dad on the float wearing that shirt I have that shirt and I'm about to cry just talking about it and I didn't find it I really wanted to wear it but I didn't find it and there's no way that it's like that it was lost or I don't have it it just has not been located since the move.
So even though there were some nice shirts I was most excited about the green leopard print leggings that have shamrocks like stealthy incorporated into the pattern OMG I cannot believe what I'm seeing unfortunately the only size options available were extra large or even bigger and I am nowhere near an extra large like I just told you I wear child shorts so I now have a pair of St Patrick's Day leggings that are super soft and comfy like those nice Walmart leggings you know like the only other pair of nice Walmart leggings that I have like this are my black and white Halloween bat pattern and the like sweater pattern Halloween that's traditional like purple orange green black white like skulls and whatever but I actually thrifted in like brand new condition and was really funny because I was trying to decide between that pair and the black and white batty very cartoon simplistic design like I would totally design those legs like I would be capable of like drawing all of those things on those leggings and slapping them on there and pushing them out into the world you know and I guess that's ultimately why I settled on that legging but it was really hard for me to decide between the other ones so when a couple of years later I came across them practically brand new at a thrift store it was like oh the heavens have smiled upon me.
I know one that have been funny if I had made the other choice and then come across the leggings that I owned and in fact could even be wearing them as I stand in a thrift store because what I do when I go to a thrift store is where the tightest clothing that I can so I can try on everything right there in the aisle which usually just entails a tight tank top and leggings.
Since we were at Walmart and I need a phone and I had money for a phone I decided to get a phone and this is a very interesting story because I talked to you several employees of several stores electronics areas to try to determine which phone I needed and I have also Google searched and ask people and try to figure out what phone I can get that will just go off Wi-Fi and we'll just play animal crossing pocket and I thought that you know I had found that and I got the phone I get it home and it turns out it's like one of the only phone that is not compatible with animal crossing pocket camp and dude dude dude mother-effing dude how we know this is my friend just like popped on to Google and the first time they ever search for this information this information that I've been trying to obtain ever since pocket camp updated to the freaking AR camera thing which knocked me out of the game it's just a list of all the phones that are compatible like like they just put in the exact right like set of words and I think that like one of the reasons that this friend gets so frustrated with me not being able to find stuff on the internet is that they don't come from an English speaking household and like somehow like that is really conducive to Google searching it is like so weird that like I'm like dude I looked for it and then they're like you're just an idiot like here it is dumb dumb and just like a list of it so I now have that list and it's not a big deal like I freaking just like collapsed when I got home and like could not get animal crossing on my phone but not a big deal I'm just going to go back to Walmart and exchange the phone for one that will work now that I have that list so that's really cool.
So really like again like synchro thing that happened is that while I was getting that phone I got a text from one of my best friends and it turns out that they are legit like contacting me to consult me about whether or not they should purchase animal crossing for the switch and like what so like after I go through this whole like oh no and then the acceptance and like it's not a big deal of my animal crossing kind of debacle on St Patrick's Day I get to talk about animal crossing for the switch and it's still all of its virtues and like I really could not think of any negative thing to say about it. And they are like oh my goodness spending $60 on a video game Mindy I don't know about this and and I'm like I really feel like it's worth it but here's what you can do to get an idea of what the vibe is like the aesthetic of playing like a very cartoony and like the interactions and just how chill it is if your phone is compatible just download the free Pocket camp one and if you like that then you will absolutely love the switch version and being able to play both of them is like heaven on Earth and that's where I'm going I'm going to heaven on Earth because as soon as I'm able I'm going to go get a phone and I'm going to be able to play Pocket camp so the next time I have a day where I cannot move any muscle in the right side of my body I cannot get up from my seat and in fact just urinating myself and my adult diaper all day in excruciating pain I will be able to play animal crossing Park camp with my left hand and only my left hand and it'll never give me a headache unlike the version on the switch does whether it's handheld or on a big TV so like I'm just like over the moon about absolutely everything and even though the day started off really rough St Patrick's Day with none of my blood family and my dad and my brother and my mom and like everything just like like that aching and that family trauma that like hasn't been cleared yet the day ended on like the highest note connecting with one of my favorite people to end my day with honestly so it was just amazing and I what did I do oh yeah I put on leprechaun 5 and I put a green filter on my TV and I tried to watch The matrix but like it kicked me back out of the app as soon as Trinity got kicked and had not gotten back up yet yeah that happened that seriously happened like that thing that I say to myself like to encourage myself through life ever since seeing that movie get up get up Trinity get up get up Trinity yeah movie gone before we even got to that line I was just aight we just rollin wif it.
right now I honestly don't even remember what I put on to fall asleep to at all which just tells you how fast I fell asleep after my head hit the pillow and my cat curled up in my arms.
No sleeping no portendum actually even and yep I slept great and I woke up today and I feel pretty great I mean I'll have to take it easy pain is a little problematic I had quite an outing yesterday but possibly because it's early enough I could I could get a second win and and be able to go get my animal crossing phone.
So that's awesome.
the level of socialization that I'm doing is like exhausting and like it's a lot but I really love it and I've never had so many friends in my life there's like maybe like seven or eight people that I want to connect with every day and that like every time I'm doing anything you know like yesterday like I want all of them right there and I don't know how to make that happen but I promise you I promise you all I'm going to get on discord I'm going to figure that out my understanding is that we can then like watch stuff together or like you can tune in to like me watching stuff or something I don't know but it's going to be more interaction with me than what you've had and I'm very happy for you of course because I know how much you love me and I know how much you miss me and I wish that I was not such a debilitatingly disabled person that I could you know be like a shining YouTube star celebrity interaction like I'm not able to juggle all of that but I love the attention I love your love and even though it it's an overwhelming amount of appreciation I am not upset about it at all and the stress that I feel of producing content and interacting with my fan base like it's a pressure that I welcome in my life because it's a motivating factor to be social and you know for my personal self is why I put my entire life online or on paper.
I don't know if you know this but for whatever reason like probably as a result of my traumatic brain injury combined with being erroneously mistakenly over medicated with antipsychotics when I was wrongfully institutionalized I kind of just like forget everything recent that happened like once I go to sleep the day before is just like almost completely gone like an edge of sketch erasing.
And that's why I document everything that goes on in my life for myself and and that's how I'm able to be even in your lives because I'm doing it for myself and my story and my life just exist as this inspiration and this motivation and this light in all of your lives the enriches me AND you so yo I've been online doing this sharing my life 100%. No such thing as TMI N D whY??!
because you need the full story of the highs and the lows and of My darkest hours and of the moments where I feel cradled in the loving arms of creation and in our intelligent creator in order to properly appreciate my story.
Instagram has been fun but as you may you're not know Instagram is something that I created solely for myself and it is entirely curated to be all of those moments where life is worth living so that when I feel like life is not worth living and become terribly suicidal because again I experience untold pain chronic debilitating disability and emotional suffering like you would not believe I can go to my Instagram scroll for like 30 seconds and then see that how I feel in the moment that that there's only darkness is not the reality and and that if I just hang in there through that darkness I'll come out of it and I'll be bouncing around on Instagram in no time soon.
those of you who know me from there like there's very little mention of any hardship in my life and that's why and it is not that I ever was trying to conceal that from you or that I ever stop my full disclosure intention that I've been here on the internet doing since 2005 and really really doing since 2008-2009 detailing the journey of my chronic invisible illness issues with chronic lyme disease traumatic brain injury endometriosis schizophrenic symptoms bipolar diagnosis borderline personality disorder diagnosis you know like the whole enchilada the whole enchilada has been here since 2009 solid.
So I'm not sure how I should go about like separating my Tumblr or tagging it really like I just want to figure out how to tag it so that I can pull up all the good stuff and all the bad stuff and kind of keep them separate but I mean that's kind of the thing of tumblers that I don't have to like do that and as long as I do decent tagging so that I can find what I'm looking for and and you can find what you're looking for then I've done my job.
I love you also much and I don't remember exactly what my follower count was on my ladyluvlee account before it was hacked & deleted(close to 5K) but I would really like to still produce the t-shirt designs that I created as appreciation for your appreciation and just with my cutie spook handle instead of Lady lovely.
I really really think we're getting close to the point where I'm going to be creating merchandise with my original drawing designs on that merchandise so be excited cuz I'm excited and thank you for hanging in here with me.
I could have done it without you because I can do anything under any circumstances but I would not want to do it without you at all because after all my years as a lone wolf sociopathic weirdo I truly believe that life is an experience that is better when it's shared.
Even when and if we don't particular like it or agree with those perspectives.
I don't seek to change your perspective I just seek to expand it and the more people sharing their experiences of life the more puzzle pieces we have of the bigger picture.
And life is a picture so big that no one person could possibly comprehend it, so we need all the perspectives we can get!
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rayshippouuchiha · 5 years
Text
I came out of Endgame with tears in my eyes and my heart filled up to the brim with absolute seething rage.
Even as I write this now my hands shake with some sick mixture of sadness, rage, and bitter disappointment.
So I preface this by saying that I am emotionally compromised and some of my views might shift with time and distance.
But, for better or for worse, this is my first rage flushed take:
I am so disappointed and so angry that after all of the tension, all of the build, all of the time and sweat and tears, all of the loyalty, we were rewarded with this.
Endgame had its high points, I’m not saying that it didn’t.  There were some genuinely funny moments and some heart rending ones as well.
Every single second Tony Stark was on screen was flawless as always.  Robert Downey Jr. once again proved why he and he alone was suited for the role of Tony Stark and the task of carrying the majority of the MCU for the past 10+ years.
That’s not to say that the rest of the cast wasn’t good.  All of the actors all obviously brought their A game and then some when they were allowed to by what I loosely call a script.
So yeah, there were some highs.
But when its comes to Endgame’s low points?
Its low points were subterranean.
They lowered the bar and then they dug underneath it.
Again I’m writing this basically fresh from the theater and with my emotions still high so do forgive me if this is a bit jumbled around or if I ramble a bit as I cover some of the real issues I had with the film.
So, first thing to address was the overall tone of the film.
For this to be the much glorified Endgame, the “battle of our lives”, there was, in my opinion, a distinct lack of true tension in this film.  Instead of a fraught, nail biting, tension filled ride, Endgame is more of a ... brisk jog through some vaguely sticky situations.
Instead of playing the story straight and giving the situation the gravity it deserved, the narrative went out of its way to put humor that served no other purpose than to ruin what tension had been previously built.  And, in my opinion, the tone of the film suffered for it.
The humor and jokes were humorous, I’m not saying they wasn’t.  I genuinely laughed out loud in the moment.  But I also feel that, with the majority of the comedy that was wedged into the narrative, the film suffered for it.
Now let’s move on a bit to the actual plot of the film.  Again, forgive me if I bounce a bit:
Jeremy Renner was breathtakingly heartbreaking as Clint Barton.  Renner was finally allowed to stretch his legs a bit in this film and he proved that, had he been given the chance, he would have given us a Clint Barton to take our breath away.
Watching with Clint as his family died helped to set what should have been the tone for the majority of the film from there on while reminding us of just what was lost and just what was at stake all at the same time.
Chris Evans brought heart to his portrayal of a Steve Rogers who seems both lighter and more weighted down in this film than ever before.
Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha finally showed more emotion than “head tilt”, “lip purse”, and “arched brow” and it was beautiful.
The brief flash of friendship and affection between Nebula and Tony was perfect and heartwarming as well.  Nebula was magnificent as the “feral space cat desperately in need of softness and a friendly hand” when placed side by side with a slowly withering Tony Stark who is, even at his lowest moments, still kind to this alien cyborg he doesn’t know but to who he owes his life.  They flowed together with an onscreen chemistry in their few moments side by side that felt organic and aching.
Together Tony and Nebula embodied a truly important life/plot point of “meet kindness with kindness and kindness will be your reward”.
Moving forward in time hearing Tony vent his anger and his pain and his distrust at Steve was cathartic in a lot of ways.
As was watching Tony rip the arc reactor from his chest and slap it into Steve’s hand.
In this moment Tony is handing Steve his metaphorical broken heart and leaving someone else to, for once, try and pick up the pieces.
But then, unfortunately, things go rather steeply down hill from there.
With Tony out for the count in a hospital bed the others hunt down and execute Thanos with basically a hand wave and all hope for the stones is lost.
Until deus ex rat-ina unleashes Scott Lang from the quantum realm and the logic of the film takes a sharp left turn.
Scott Lang was missing for 5 years.
To him it was 5 hours.
To which I say, why did Janet van Dyne, age during her stay in the quantum realm?  If, according to the MCU canon, every year in our world was roughly only an hour for Scott Lang, then why didn’t Janet come out of the quantum realm only 30 hours older instead of 30 years?
I feel like the answer is probably “because” but yeah maybe I’m just fuzzy on my Ant Man so if I’m wrong then just ignore that bit please.
Also, just a side note, I adore how it’s been 5 years, Wakanda is very much an ally and still up and running, and yet Rhodey still don’t have working legs.  But alas, racism.
Moving on. 
So with the main villain dead and Tony Stark having solved time travel in his living room, because I stan legends only, we’re now subjected, and that is the very word I’d use to describe what happens next, to what is called a Time Heist.
Cute.
Also Bruce Banner and Hulk have now merged Steven Universe style despite Hulk being scared green-less 5 years ago.  But that’s all good, Bruce smoked a ton of weed, they meditated, went on a cleanse or whatever.
Either way Bruce finally did that character development that everyone had been shouting at him since Avengers 2012 and accepted Hulk as part of him and they’re now Dr. Hulk which was … something that happened?
A thing that they chose to do.  The direction in which they set their narrative wheels and then powered full steam ahead and plowed us right over in the process.
But yeah, Time Heist!  That’s the way to go, the only way apparently.
Because going back in time to stop the Snappening isn’t an option due to reasons that are explained and still look and feel paper thin but probably just honestly boils down to “Russos”
Our intrepid heroes will now split up and surf through time Bill and Ted style to collect the Stones from different points in history.
Yay.
So the rest of the film is basically that, a big old jewel hunt through space and history where the Russos attempt to fool us into thinking their plot points are cohesive and cool by donkey punching us repeatedly in our nostalgia-sacks.
We’re treated to, in no particular order, such hits as:
“Ah 2012 and the invasion of New York only not as interesting but Tony Stark is very much an ass man, but then we been done known that.”
“The Ancient One and her still very distracting skull vein coming at you right now”
“LOKI YOU LITTLE SHIT”
“The one time I envied Scott Lang because, for a split second, he got to be inside Tony Stark”
“Let’s watch Tony Stark simultaneous take a Hulk to the face and have a small cardiac event all at the same time but from different angles”
And let us not forget
“Tee Hee Hee us white bois just had to find a way to make sure Captain America say “Hail HYDRA” but it was for “spy reasons” so weren’t we clever???????”
Yeah boys, great job.
So edgy.
(Although as a side note I do agree, Steve Roger’s ass really is America’s ass and I’d like to thank him for that. Personally.)
But then, of course, Endgame would not have been complete without:
“Steve Rogers stares longingly and creepily at Peggy Carter from behind a window, further backing up his one defining character trait in the MCU which is the inability to move on.  Also she doesn’t look up at all despite being a trained spy and all around badass who probably should have noticed the 6 foot slab of American Beef staring at her from less than a foot away, dark room or no dark room.”
And then my personal favorite:
“Tony Stark sees Howard Stark, the father he described as “calculating, cold, he never told me he was proud of me, never even told me he loved me” but it’s all good cause Tony’s a dad now so looking back all he sees are the good times with his emotionally neglectful and abusive father who says there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his unborn kid and now they awkwardly hug while I try not to scream “FOOTAGE NOT FUCKING FOUND HOWARD AND NO THAT ONE 3 MINUTE VIDEO DOESN’T COUNT YOU SHIT” at the screen and explode in pure rage.”
Joy.
Truly a scene that was necessary and fit the narrative of Howard Stark’s personality and was needed for Tony to uh get closure or grow as a man and a father or something …
It totally wasn’t yet another excuse to give a canonically abusive father screen time in a way that seems genial and sweet in an attempt to give them a bit of redemption that they neither earned nor deserve.
But yeah, whatever, moving on.
Also Rhodey remains an absolute gem and he and Nebula get shit done.
Only oops, not so fast.
Because apparently the only one who is going to run into the whole “two of you can’t exist in one place at one time without consequences” rule is Nebula who, despite her bitchin orange stripe/badge of character development, managed to like synch up with her past self?
Because she didn’t turn her bluetooth/quantum entanglement function off I guess.
Either way Orange Stripe Nebula, O’Snebula as I call her, has accidentally air dropped all her files into OG Nebula’s mental iPhone.
So yeah now big old Past Grimace knows what’s up.
Ooops??
So shit goes down and then Past Grimace is like “you need to Trogan horse this shit, least favorite daughter” so OG Nebula does because “daddy issues”.
Dr. Hulk puts on the gauntlet and Kentucky fires his arm bringing all the people lost in the Snappening back to life now, 5 years after they got dusted.
Which is … honestly a recipe for disaster in so many ways.  What about the people, like the guy in Steve’s support group, who have started to move on?
What about the people who have remarried, have built new lives?
All of that’s ruined now.
It’s fantastic all those people are alive again but jobs, housing, food, healthcare, government, all of it is back in massive disarray across the universe.
And bringing those people back does nothing to bring back the people who didn’t die in the Snappening but died from causality instead.  All the deaths caused by suicides, by car/bus/train/plane/ship/etc crashes, by a lack of first responders, by the civil/world/interplanetary wars that probably raged across the universe due to entire governments disappearing?
All of those people are still dead.
The Snappening killed half of all life in the universe.  Causality probably killed another good ¼ after that.
And Dr. Hulk’s Un-Snappening saves none of them.
This isn’t a true solution, it’s a shitty band-aid.
But yeah, Russos so….
Moving on.
Yadda Yadda Yadda, plot plot plot. OG Nebula goes undercover, Past Grimace ends up in the future, there’s some fighting (which was admittedly BAD ASS), shit happens, and Tony saves the day like we all knew he would.
YAY!
Despite the massive rambling up above I’m not gonna plot out the entire movie right here though a lot will probably get covered coming up because here’s where I get down and start talking about the various character arcs too.
Because what a wild fucking ride those were.
Okay to take it from the top Scott Lang’s arc was fine.  Beyond my questions about the quantum realm his was clear cut and fine although I do wonder at his luck at being, apparently, the only Scott Lang in San Fran to go missing.  Well either that or he was staring at some other Scott Lang’s name instead of his own and in that case “awkward”.
Bruce’s arc was … look I could have done without all of the cringy Dr. Hulk stuff that they played up for laughs.  If they were gonna brush Hulk being terrified under the rug they could have found a better way to do it besides just erasing the duality between Hulk and Banner with a hand wave.
But yeah, Russos.
Carol Danvers was beautiful and magnificent and completely brushed aside.  Yes she was out in the universe handling shit, yes I know they did that so they could focus on the core Avengers, etc etc etc.
But it’s a damn shame that Carol Danvers, and her glorious haircut, was reduced to being the sorely needed and totally badass cavalry and last minute ace in the hole when she should have, logically, been a part of the vanguard.  Honestly I have thoughts on why Carol’s entire character should have been saved completely for the next phase of the MCU instead of introduced so late in this one but I digress.
O’Snebula was a perfect shining bionic light and I love her.
Gamora is now alive in the future but at what cost?  Not that her life isn’t worth something on its own, it totally is and she deserved the loophole resurrection 10000%.
Shit’s gonna be awkward though cause she doesn’t love Quill, she doesn’t love the Guardians, doesn’t really know O’Snebula or the universe she’s been thrown into.  She doesn’t have the memories or the experiences or the character growth and even if she does go back to her family she’ll never be the same person.
Now her and Quill’s relationship, if they ever have one again, will be reduced down to Quill going “you fell in love with me once you could do it again despite us no longer having the shared experiences that bonded us together”.  Same can be said for the rest of the Guardians as well.
Guess we all know what the plot of GotG 3 is gonna be about.
And that brings us to the story lines that really and truly upset me.
Which is basically all the rest of them.
Natasha/Clint’s combined story-line, Thor’s everything, Steve’s … Steve, and then finally Tony.
Now the Natasha/Clint story-line started out promising.
Clint’s rage and pain was obvious, his heartbreak poignant.  His decision to use all of those to cut a bloody swathe through the criminal underworld was both Dramatic(™) and understandable.
Natasha’s love and grief for him, her desperate attempts to hold onto what she has left by throwing herself into her new job, was a perfect demonstration that Natasha Romanoff is very much not a robot.  She was exhausted, frayed at the edges, and she had tears in her eyes, over Clint.  And then she pulled herself together, slipped her mask back on, and pushed her way forward.  This was all excellent.
It was also a nice narrative callback/parallel to have Natasha be the one to go out and bring Clint in from the cold.
Natasha plays touch stone, plays stability, for Clint and for many of the others.  For the first time Natasha is truly portrayed as a person all the way down to the core instead of some witty quips in a catsuit.  Plus her eyebrows finally came back from the war and her hair looked good again.  So there was that.
Clint and Natasha’s arc comes to a climax on Vormir as they search for the Soul Stone and Red Skull, the Nazi cockroach that he is, gives them the same spiel he gave Thanos.
To get the Soul Stone you must give up the life of the one you love the most. A soul for a soul.
Narrative wise this is consistent, we all knew this would happen as soon as they started searching for the Stones again.  It was obvious.
It was also obvious that Clint was the perfect sacrifice.
He’s got nothing left, his family is dead, he’s already lost the people he loves the most, he’s spent five years being a borderline monster.
And he is also, without a doubt, the thing that Natasha loves the most.
Clint was ready and willing to go, ready to die for the blood on his hands, ready to sacrifice himself for the chance that his family would be saved.
Ready to lay down on the wire and let Natasha walk over him for the sake of everything.
Clint dying made sense, was narratively sound, and heartbreaking.
All of which are only a few of the reasons why Natasha’s death was such a goddamn betrayal.
Instead of following along with the narratively sound death of Clint Barton, an Avenger that’s been ignored for most of the films as is, the Russo brothers instead chose to fridge Natasha.
Clint dying would have been the perfect mirror to Gamora’s death.
Gamora was a daughter unwillingly sacrificed by her father to destroy half of all life in the universe.
Clint would have been a father willingly sacrificed by a friend to save half of all life in the universe, his own sons and daughter included.
But no, we didn’t get that, instead we got a gratuitous scene of Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, splayed angel like and bloody on the rocks below.
Instead they fridged the Black Widow, the only woman of the original Big Six, because they couldn’t bring themselves to fridge a man.
So Clint gets the Soul Stone.
Such a fitting end for the Black Widow right?  Dying in a man’s place, mourned on screen by a circle of men, but ultimately set aside rather quickly.
I understand why Natasha wanted to be the one to go, I understand that she didn’t want Clint’s family to lose their husband/father and that her true family was the Avengers. I get that.  It doesn’t mean I enjoy or agree with the decision they made any more.
It doesn’t make me any less tired of watching female characters die for the sake of men and their families.
Natasha Romanoff sacrificed herself for the universe and her family and that deserves respect even if I absolutely hate it as a narrative choice.
Oh and what about the absolute NERVE of the Russos to have that awesome Lady Power Battle Strut happen but only after they killed Natasha, one of the Big Six?
Bitter? Me? Nooo.
Now, moving on to Thor.
Thor.
Oh my actual God, Thor.
The levels of disrespect Thor, Chris Hemsworth, and the fans were shown with this character arc/story-line in Endgame is breathtaking.
The absolute, shameless disrespect.
They turned Thor into a cowardly, drunken slob who has spent the last 5 years ignoring his responsibilities to what’s left of his people and instead has spent his time drinking, sulking, and literally yelling at kids over PSN??
Endgame’s Thor has the bullshit reasoning that he needs to stop trying to be who he thinks he should be and instead be who he is.
Which flies completely in the face of literally all of his character development from Thor all the way to Thor 3 and then Infinity War.
The entirety of Thor 3 was Thor’s hero’s journey culminating in him finally being the king he was always meant to be.  Finally maturing and stepping forward to lead his people.
I am supposed to believe that Thor, depressed and guilty or not for not killing Thanos when he had the chance the first time, just abandoned his people like that?
I’m supposed to believe that Thor would piss all over everything the majority of his family and friends died for?
I’m supposed to believe that Heimdall, Loki, countless soldiers, and The Warrior’s Three and Lady Sif (I guess), all died to protect Asgard, died for the people and for Thor, and Thor just what? Turns his back on all of that to become a drunk?
No, Thor wouldn’t do that.  Thor should have been down there beside Valkyrie working those fishing vessels when Bruce and Rocket came calling.  If Thor had any hesitance to join them it should have been, “I can’t abandon my people, I am needed here.”  He should have been fiercely guarding the tiny fraction of Asgard that’s left.
Thor’s depression and guilt was valid. Don’t mistake me on that. But they played it for jokes.  They made him a caricature of depression, made him “gross” and incompetent and the butt of the jokes, and in the process diminished what should have been a painful and poignant arc for Thor.
Instead we got Big Lebowski Thor, bathrobe included, who does stand up and fight yes but, in the end, gives up his crown and just fucks off to space to have petty pissing competitions with Peter Quill so he can?? find himself?? despite finding himself in Ragnarok already???
Thor’s entire arc in Endgame was shallow, mishandled, and disrespectful to the character, to Chris Hemsworth, and to the fans.
You, we, he, all deserved better than this.
Now we get to Steve.
Steve Rogers, Captain America himself.
I’ve had a lot of salt about Steve’s character and actions in the MCU but, all of that aside, he deserved so much more than what the Russo’s did to him in Endgame.
Hell he’s deserved so much more than what’s been done to him since post-CA:TFA.
But this is about Endgame specifically soooo….
Steve’s shown leading a support group in the beginning of Endgame, is shown talking about moving on and moving forward and learning to let go. Which is wonderful.  It sounds like the exact character development we’ve all been waiting for for Steve.
Which is, of course, the exact moment when Steve goes “nah just kidding, we don’t ever move on”.
Which, given the circumstances, is pretty fair.  If Steve was only thinking/talking about Thanos and the events of Infinity War.
But of course he wasn’t.
CA:CW should have been the end of the Peggy Carter saga for Steve.  He mourned her, he was finally moving forward, he’d kissed Sharon, he threw everything away to save Bucky, he gave up his shield, etc etc.
But no.  Endgame finds him right back there, clutching that goddamn compass, and making moon eyes at a woman who we all thought went on and lived a life without him, got married, had kids, and generally existed outside of Steve Rogers.
But no.  The Russo’s had to take that away from us too.
And yes yes I know I know multiverse or whatever but still.
Steve steamrolls his way through Endgame with skill and determination.  He picks up Thor’s hammer, finally worthy, which how??? Why???  (perhaps because he’s no longer keeping secrets??? Or maybe that’s just my salt talking? Who knows? Not me?)
And then he fights Thanos head to head.
(Although him wielding the hammer brought up an entire separate set of issues cause I’m pretty sure Mjolnir doesn’t actually summon lightning. Ragnarok pretty much said that the lightning has always been within Thor.  Mjolnir was just a control accessory.  But, you know, Russos *jazzhands*)
And then, in the end, he insists on returning the Stones on his own.
Only he doesn’t come back like he was supposed to.
Instead we’re given old Steve Rogers.
Because Steve returned the Stones and then ….went and found Peggy Carter and got married and lived an entire life with her ignoring everything he would have known was going to happen to her and around the both of them or something???
Or maybe not if the multiverse thing holds up but then who knows any more???
But then how did Old Steve end up right there by that lake on that day at that right time if he’s technically from a different multiverse???
Either way Sam gets his shield and the mantle of Captain America, which was fantastic, and Bucky more than likely knew Steve’s plan all along but the best read I really got on him was basically “eh” so he might well have been happy for Steve too.
But still, instead of finally achieving peace and continuing to learn to live in the future with Bucky and Sam and the remnants of the Avengers, his family and the life he’s built there over the past years, instead of putting the shield down because he’s learned to let go in the now, Steve only puts the shield down because he chooses the past.
He chooses the past over all of that and all of the people left who love him. Sure the argument could be said that he knew they’d be alright but still.
There is a deep well of dissatisfaction inside of me as to how Steve’s entire ending arc was handled.  Why did peace only come to Steve after Tony and Natasha were both dead and then was only found in the past?
No disrespect to Peggy Carter, I adore her, but were the relationships he had in the future worth so little that the past was the only place he could find happiness?  A past with a woman that he knows loved him but still moved on and found happiness outside of him, lived a full and happy life without him?
Steve didn’t get a character arc so much as he got a character circle.  A character loop.  He went right back to where he started.
Endgame erases all of the character development Steve underwent post-Avengers.  Just brushes it all under the rug.
The Russo’s stole the character development Steve Rogers spent a decade undergoing to give him their version of a happy ending.
They robbed him and us both of every bit of growth and forward motion Steve has underwent and I will never forgive them for that.
And now we get to Tony Stark.
Anthony Edward Stark.
The Iron Man.
Tony’s arc is, was, the longest and best developed arc in the entirety of the MCU.
It’s spanned 10+ years and has been nurtured and hand fed by Robert Downey Jr.
If Endgame got one thing right, one thing at all, it’s how they handled the majority of Tony’s arc.
From him laying the smack down on Steve once he was home, finally venting his emotions and his anger, all the way to him solving time travel before tucking his kid into bed, and then building an Infinity Gauntlet on his own even though Thanos committed genocide to get the one he had.
Tony Stark’s arc was glorious and expected and sad.
I think that my one almost complaint is that Tony stopped for 5 years.  On one hand he deserved the rest, deserved the chance to find happiness.  He was hurt and tired and he’d faced his demons and been left bleeding out with the death of half the universe weighing on his shoulders.
He deserved to just stop for a while.
On the other hand stopping is not something Tony has ever been good at, just like Pepper said.  A part of me thought Tony would be working, frantically, to find something, anything, to turn back the hands of time.  To track Thanos down. To get the Stones and then to get everything else back.
To get Peter and all of the others back.
But that’s not the route they went and I’m … okay? I guess, with that.
Tony was validated and vindicated and everyone would have finally listened to him.  It only took the death of half of the universe to do it.  But he was too tired, too hurt and untrusting to keep pushing.  I can respect that.
But of course once an idea worms its way inside Tony can’t let it go.  So he solves time travel on the fly and sets out to save the world.
Again.
His one stipulation is that he will do anything, everything, he has to in order to keep what he has now.  His wife Pepper and Morgan, his sweet little daughter.
So of course he doesn’t get to do that either.
After all of the blood, sweat, suffering, and mental illnesses, Tony doesn’t get his happy ending.  Not really.
He gets to rest, yes, but he loses out on everything he wanted to do with his kid.  In the process of saving the universe he becomes the one thing he never wanted to be for Morgan, a distant father.
A face on a screen, stories, memories other people have.
No matter how many holograms or inventions or whatever Tony left to Morgan, it’ll never replace him.
Morgan got 5 years with her father.  She’ll spend the rest of her life hearing stories about him, about how much of a hero he was.  And hopefully, with Pepper and all the others behind her, Tony will remain a hero to her and will not, instead, become her version of Captain America.  An untouchable symbol that Morgan will never live up to.
So, in the end, Tony sacrifices once again.
Watches the future he wanted crumble to dust in his fingers, lightning scorching him from the inside out as infinity rips him apart.
And he dies there, surrounded by some of the people who love him best.
His best friend.
His wife.
The son he almost had.
And, despite all of that, it is very very fitting that his death was at his own hands.
Thanos could take out half the universe, he could traverse time and space, he could humble Thor, terrorize the Hulk, rip Steve Roger’s up, survive shield and hammer and so much more, but the one thing he couldn’t do?
He couldn’t kill Tony Stark.
The only thing that could kill Iron Man, could kill Tony Stark, was his own heart.
Tony Stark takes the Infinity Stones in hand knowing how this is going to end, knowing that Stephen Strange set him on this path years ago.
Because didn’t Strange warn him?  Didn’t Strange tell him outright “I’ll let the kid and you both die to protect the Time Stone”?
Tony just never expected it to take a few hours and then 5 more years for Strange’s promise to finally be fulfilled.
So Tony does it knowing that after everything he’s been through, all of the pain and the suffering and the battles, it was only enough to have earned 5 years of happiness, 5 years of his dream.
5 years of being the father he always swore he’d be.
Tony Stark takes the Infinity Stones and dies for the entire universe, for his family, for his daughter.  Dies knowing that he’ll be doing the one thing he didn’t want to do, swore he would never do.
Leaving them behind.
Tony Stark brings us full circle as he stands as both equal and mirror of Thanos once again.
Man to Titan.  Good Father to Bad Father.  Life to Death.
Tony Stark picks up the weight of the universe and then he dies making sure that it has a future free from the same fear that has haunted him for a decade.
A warm light for all mankind, sent to sleep, to rest, knowing that finally everything will be okay.
And all he had to do was die for it.
So, I’ll close this out saying this:
This was written in one solid push after my first viewing and Endgame was dissatisfying for me as you might have guessed.  I am disappointed and angry at so much they chose to do to end out this iconic decade of cinema and to close out these character’s arcs.
There were a lot of points and little details I didn’t get to cover in this and perhaps a lot of points you might not agree with me on.
That’s okay.
Because, no matter what, there is one thing I know for sure.
We, I, will always have Tony Stark and the lessons he taught me.  The pain he endured and shared with all of us.  The bravery and strength he inspired in so many of us as we watched him struggle with physical and mental illnesses on screen.  As we watched him obsess and stress and love and grow.
I have never loved a character more than I love Tony Stark.
I have never been impacted by a character as much as I have been by Tony Stark.
I’m not sure if I ever will again.
So, Tony Stark is Iron Man.
He always will be.
And he saved more than just some fictional universe.
He saved a lot of us along the way too.
And we’ll always love him for that.
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keelywolfe · 5 years
Text
FIC: Internal Disputes ch.4 (baon)
Summary: Something strange is afoot. Edge isn’t sure what, but he can guess he isn’t going to like it.
Notes: Handy Andy’s turn to step up
Tags: Spicyhoney, Kustard, Established Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three
Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.
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Read it on AO3
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Read it here!
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Whatever Jeff had been expecting when he agreed to check on Stretch while Edge was gone got thrown out of a four-story window the second he got to their house. He heard raised voices before he hit the mailbox and right after, he saw Asgore walking away from their back fence.
The king offered him a hesitant smile and a wave, but hurried off in the other direction which was weird right there. Usually Asgore loved to chat, he’d eagerly corner anyone in the Embassy to ask about their home life, the kids, pets, anything. Give him credit, Asgore knew everyone by name and plenty about them, probably down to the birthday of their goldfish. Jeff was lucky not to stumble over the names of the people he worked with daily.
That Asgore was headed in the opposite direction at a good clip made Jeff a little worried. Stretch made no bones (heh) about the fact that he didn’t really like Asgore. That made it pretty unlikely that they were having a nice cup of tea and scones together in the backyard while chatting about the latest shows on Netflix.
So what was going on?
Rather than hitting up the front door, Jeff rounded the corner to the gate. Stretch was back there but the scene wasn’t anything Jeff could have dreamed up. He was sitting on the ground, his face covered by bony hands that were stained purple at the fingertips. Surrounding him were bowls filled with...grapes? That explained the purple anyway. Plus three chickens gabbling about and the little black one seemed particularly interested in the fruity largess around her, neatly plucking one of the grapes free with her beak and gobbling it down.
Well, whatever happened, Stretch was obviously upset about it. Time to earn those friendship creds, “Hey, Stretch...uh...are you okay?”
Stretch jerked, his hands dropping and even from here Jeff could see more purple stains on his cheekbones and fingerprinted around sockets that were rimmed a watery orange. Probably not the time to mention them, so instead he opened the gate and slipped in, closing it quickly as the chickens descended upon him.
“Woah, hey,” he laughed as they clucked eagerly. “Hi, gals, good to see you, too.” He crouched down to pet them, giving Stretch a minute to gather himself and wipe at his face.
“hey, andy,” Stretch sighed out finally, still faintly sniffling, “when did edge call you?”
“Last night.” Jeff admitted. Hey, Edge hadn’t asked him to lie for him, and Jeff wouldn’t’ve done it even if he had. Better to confess and beg forgiveness.
Stretch only nodded, his mouth twisting sourly, “edge has only been gone for like twelve hours. it’s nice to know everyone thinks I'm so incapable of acting like an actual adult that i’m getting fresh offers from babysitters.”
“No one thinks that,” Jeff soothed. He abandoned the chickens despite their dismayed clucks and went over to crouch by Stretch instead. Stretch probably didn’t even really believe that, but he got where he was coming from. Living with Blue was giving him a little bit of perspective, especially when it came to the way he looked at Stretch’s low HP. What he hadn’t quite figured out was why that same low-key panic didn’t extend to Red or Sans. From what he understood, they both had the same HP as Stretch, and they both worked in the Security department, not exactly known for being the epitome of safety. Asking Blue about that got him a lot of sputtering and waffling, but no real answers.
“you so sure of that?” Stretch slanted him a knowing look.
Actually, he couldn’t vouch for Asgore. It seemed safer to go with what he knew to be true, “Edge doesn't think that.”
Stretch groaned and climbed to his feet, grimacing a little at the wet patch on the seat of his pants. He held out a purple-stained hand to help Jeff back to his feet. “i know what you're trying to do and i appreciate it, really. but i don't really want to talk about edge right now.”
“Okay,” Jeff said agreeably and he didn’t so much as show a flicker of a smile as Stretch instantly launched into a rant.
“i’m not a complete asshole, you know,” he snapped, “i do actually get it, this ambassador shit is really important. but everything edge does is important and he was supposed to hop off this wagon train and only go if i could come along. i only wanted to be important, too, on my anniversary of all days.”
“It’s your anniversary?” Jeff winced. He wasn’t great at dates, but he should’ve added that one to his calendar.
“not until tomorrow,” Stretch grumbled, “which i’m going to spend alone, without my husband, who should be here.” A tear trickled down from his socket but before Jeff could offer any of his welling sympathy, Stretch laughed ruefully, swiping it away, “you know what pisses me off the most? i’m still mad at him, but already miss him. can you be homesick for a person? because it’s really not home without him in it.”
Jeff wasn’t exactly an expert in what to say when people were hurting. His tongue tended to get gluey and coming up with the right thing was a struggle. But if there was anything he’d learned from staying with Julia, it was if the words weren’t there, the emotions were, and Stretch was never one to turn down a free hug.
They were like mismatched chess pieces, Stretch so much taller than him and sort of bonily awkward besides. It didn’t stop him from leaning down into Jeff’s embrace, holding on tightly. His breath hitched a little with a watery little sigh, mumbling next to Jeff’s head, “i’m not pissed at Edge. i mean, i am. but asgore takes so much of him. he needs to stop leaning on edge and work at getting other people who can step up!”
“He does,” Jeff agreed immediately. He ran a soothing hand up Stretch’s back and through the thin padding of his shirt, he could feel every knobbly bump of his spine. “Maybe it’s something I can bring up? Not about Edge specifically, but training programs? It is Public Relations if you look at it slantwise, we do need that kind of thing.”
“yeah, if you could?” Stretch gave him a last hard squeeze and then let go, swiping at his face again with his sleeve. “okay, i’ve had about all the angst and sulking i can take for the day. wanna help me pick grapes and talk about something else?”
Jeff considered that, looking over at the many, many bunches of grapes still hanging heavily from the vines, “Do I get to pick the topic with the grapes?”
“sure, handy andy, you’ve got questions, i got answers,” Stretch spread his arms theatrically and bowed, “hit me, ask away, wanna know my shoe size? it’s a twelve, i got small paws for a guy my height. don’t have a birthday, but blue thinks he’s funny and makes me a cake on april first--”
“Explain to me about the whole ‘this universe’ thing?” Jeff asked, tentatively. “You all say it, but you’ve never told me what it means?”
Stretch went still, face falling as he blinked hard and his hands dropped down to his sides, “seriously? you wanna talk about that now? that ain’t gonna help with the whole angst thing.”
“I’ve got time, you’ve got time, and it’s something else to talk about,” Jeff pointed out, but he couldn’t lie, he was nervous. Even Blue avoided the subject when he tried to ask and Stretch might cheerfully lie when it suited his purposes, but Jeff didn’t think he would, not this time. “And it’d be better than bringing you down on another day, right?”
“guess i can’t argue with you there,” Stretch groaned. He flopped down into one of the chairs. “may as well kick me while i’m down. fuck, i need a cig…”
He trailed away as Jeff silently pulled a still-sealed pack from his back pocket, along with a disposable lighter. Yeah, he was supposed to be quitting, but Jeff had had a feeling. He waited while Stretch went through the whole ritual of tamping the pack against his bony palm, the crackle of cellophane as he opened it and his gratified sigh as he finally lit one and inhaled deeply. Smoke wreathed his face as he finally said, “welp, pull up a bowl and some grapes, and i’ll try to explain.”
Jeff grabbed one of the empty bowls and started in. It was half full before Stretch spoke again, slowly, “what you have to understand is that none of this is more than theories, because how could we prove anything?
“the underground is different, you know. magic isn't just something we use, it IS us.” Stretch lifted a hand and his slender fingers lit with a soft, orange glow. It shifted to blue, then green, before he closed his fist and the light vanished. “so you cram a bunch of monsters underground for a few centuries, all that magic in one place. it..leaks from us, sort of. out here, it disperses,” he waved up at the sky. “but i bet even here if we stay for a few centuries you’ll see some effect. that’s why the underground has places like snowden and waterfall, it’s why it can snow beneath a mountain. magic makes things happen and not always in predictable ways.”
Stretch tamped out the butt into a suspiciously clean ashtray and lit another, taking a long drag before adding, “we think that’s why there were different universes.”
Jeff set down his filled bowl as he considered that, popping a grape into his mouth and chewing it thoughtfully while he grabbed an empty, “Like…Marvel?”
“yeah, that works,” Stretch laughed, but it was short-lived. “like marvel, only very localized, only underneath the mountain. so there was my version of the underground, where me and my little brother sans lived in snowdin, and he wanted to be in the royal guard and i wanted to relax and smoke and sell hot cats. then there was another version of the underground, this world, earth-616 where papyrus was the younger brother who wanted to be in the guard. and in another universe it was pretty similar to the second with the brothers, big brother sans and little brother papyrus, except everything was a hell of a lot more game of thrones and that’s where edge was from. all these universes sitting right next to each other.”
That was boggling to think about. “So…your name is Papyrus. And Edge’s name used to be Papyrus.”
“yeah, and red and blue used to be sans. we changed it up when we got here, mostly, to make it less confusing. edge dropped papyrus completely but i kept it, at least a little,” Stretch picked up the lighter again but he didn’t pull out another cigarette, only flipped it through his fingers, the metal tip flashing in the sunlight as it wove in and out through his phalanges. “i don't mind a nickname but..it's my name. i didn't want to give it up completely.”
The implications of that, holy shit, this wasn’t anything like what Jeff’s curious, idle ponderings came up with. “That means you're kind of the same person from different worlds.”
“yeah, kinda,” Stretch looked suddenly wary, almost fearful. He shifted in his seat and hunched over, his eye lights flicking to anything but Jeff, “i mean, we’re not actually related, we’re completely different people, it’s not like that, it’s not...it’s not bad or anything--”
“No, no, I mean,” Jeff blurted out. He set down the bowl of grapes out of the reach of greedy chickens and took Stretch’s hand in his own, stilling the agitated flip of the lighter. He swallowed hard, and managed to say teasingly, “It’s just, Star Trek taught me that one of you should have a goatee.”
Stretch blinked, then burst out laughing and if there was a note of relief there, Jeff pretended not to hear it. Yeah, there was something there, a bad memory maybe, but it wasn’t like Jeff didn’t understand what it felt like to be judged for who you loved.
He resolutely didn’t think about his parents.
A last squeeze and Stretch let go, but he dropped the lighter. “okay, so now you’ve got these different universes.” Stretch snagged three grapes from one of the bowls and set them on the table. “none of us knowing the other existed. and then, there came the anomaly. that’s when the resets started.”
Stretch let out a shaky breath, his magic paling enough in his bones that Jeff noticed it with concern, “i don’t...i can’t really talk about that right now. not all of it, not what happened during it. things got really bad in my world for a while. but. you ever seen the movie groundhog’s day?”
“Yes,” Jeff said cautiously. He didn’t like the implications of that, not at all, not for his friend, and almost wanted to ask him to stop, tell Stretch that he didn’t have to talk about this, not ever if he didn’t want to.
But Stretch only rolled those three little grapes around on the table with his fingertips meditatively, his voice so soft Jeff had to strain to hear him, “it was like that, like being stuck in a revolving door. i don't know how many resets we went through. only reason i knew they were happening at all was because at some point, i figured out how to leave myself notes.” he smiled then, grimly. “it wasn't until later that I started to remember.
“anyway, while i was going through my resets, they started up in edge’s universe, too, and sans’s. near as we can figure, all those resets started to break down the walls between our universes.” He picked up one of the grapes, studying the purple-black skin, “like throwing a pebble in a pond. every reset made ripples and with enough, the ripples started hitting each other, weakening the borders.” He squeezed the grape suddenly, crushing it, juice bursting through the skin and dribbling down his fingers. “my world tore first, right into edge’s world, but it collapsed almost instantly.” A second grape crushed alongside the first, leaving a mess of pulp between his fingers, “from pond ripples to dominoes falling until we ended up here.”
Jeff watched in silence as Stretch opened his hand, looking impassively at the pulpy mess. “we weren’t here long before frisk fell into the mountain, but that’s a story all humans already know. now we’re here in the aboveground. we can’t know for sure, but we think maybe we all would have ended up in the same aboveground anyway, if we’d gone through the shield like we were supposed to, but who knows.”
Despite the sticky juice and pulp, Jeff took Stretch’s hand anyway, squeezed it gently, “Okay, so your universes collided and you guys ended up here. You think there are more universes still out there?”
“good question, bruce banner,” Stretch grimaced and withdrew his hand, but only to shake away the grape remnants. “maybe. there's no way to know. but if a billion monkeys with eternity ahead of them can write the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy? who knows?” Stretch shivered then, even though it wasn’t particularly cold. “not sure i want to know. the odds of landing in a nasty version aren’t any worse than a good one, and edge’s world...it was bad.”
“He was a soldier,” Jeff murmured. A soldier with LV, which meant he’d killed people, other Monsters.
“he was,” Stretch agreed, softly. He visibly shook himself and stood, snagging another cigarette on his way. “okay, i think i’ve had enough reminiscing and definitely enough angst for the day. you wanna finish helping me with these grapes?”
“What are we doing with them?” Jeff was fine with shelving the conversation, even with questions still burning. Like, if there were alternates of the skeleton brothers from the other universes, why hadn’t he ever seen any others? Like Asgore or Undyne or that nice Bun lady who ran the bakery? He’d never noticed anyone else with a twin and Asgore’s would probably be pretty distinct.
That was a question for another day, because Stretch had definitely smoked enough and color was only just starting to come back into his joints.
“for now, can you take a couple bowls home and stick them in your fridge?” Stretch asked, his eye lights widening in mock pleading, “edge has plans for them when he gets back and i didn’t want ‘em going bad while he was gone.”
“Aww, you sweetheart.” Jeff grinned. Not that he didn’t believe Stretch was going to forgive Edge, but just the thought of his favorite lovebirds fighting was enough to make him tear up a little. If they ever separated, he was going to need a support group, yeesh.
“yeah, he’s gonna see how sweet i am when he lands on the sofa for a few nights,” Stretch grumbled, amicably. He helped Jeff balance a couple of bowls and grabbed up a couple of his own. “this is probably enough for right now, i’m gonna take a coffee break until you get back.”
“So sure I’m coming back for free labor?”
“there’s tapenade in the fridge.”
“Give me ten minutes.”
Stretch opened the gate for him, waving cheerily as Jeff made his way down the street to Blue’s house, balancing the bowls the best he could. If he dropped them, he guessed Edge would have to use those grapes for winemaking or something. His thoughts were still a whirlwind of other universes and alternates and the strangeness of magic beneath the mountain, so he didn’t notice the shadow coming up behind him.
He was almost to the driveway when something caught his arm and Jeff yelped, fumbling with the bowls and barely catching them before they hit the ground. He wobbled back upright, a couple of solo grapes rolling out, sacrificed to save the others.
“What the he--Red?” Jeff blinked down at the other skeleton, who still had a hold on his elbow. He looked disturbingly grim, his normal grin instead a frozen grimace and his red eye lights shrunken, but piercingly bright. His voice, always gravely, was harsh and grating as he spoke.
“i need you to come with me.”
~~*~~
TBC
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losersiancebeepbleh · 5 years
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Okay so I’ve been trying to make a BFB/Evillious Chronicles casting
Only problem is that the Evillious Chronicles is extremely confusing (but that’s why I love it). And with all the switching of bodies and reincarnation, it’s even harder.
Anyway, casting that I’m sure about:
Dora as Levia and David as Behemo. Really, once David puts on a brown wig, they’re the only BFB characters who can pull off that half identical twins thing. Plus David and Dora both have rather mysterious personalities in show and are overpowered so nobody can really come and tell me it’s OOC.
Speaker Box as Seth Twiright.
Bomby and Naily as Hansel and Gretel (along with all their reincarnations). So that means Bomby is also Pollo and Lemy while Naily is also Arte and Ney.
Tree as Held. I mean, Held is a tree God, so...
Black Hole as Sickle. Let’s see, extremely powerful but really chill and chooses not to intervene much. Also one of their close friends is a tree.
Ice Cube as Clarith and Bracelety as Michaela.
Alright, now casting that I’m pretty sure about but not completely sure:
Remote as Unknown Rin Girl (from Wordplay and Full Moon Laboratory). I’m actually pretty sure of this one based off of what we already know about Unknown Rin Girl, but I’m still not sure how Unknown Rin Girl connects into everything.
Taco as Meta Salmhofer. While Leafy would also be a possible choice, Leafy almost definitely has another role in the Original Sin Arc, so Taco it is.
Tennis Ball as Karchess. Look, while it would have been easier to use David + wig pretending to be Dora, I already used David as Behemo and Dora as Levia. So instead, we’re using Tennis Ball painting himself orange and black, pretending to be Basketball.
Note that the above means Elluka is Basketball. Or more importantly, Elluka’s original body is Basketball’s body. (Because it’s actually Levia in Elluka’s body for end of Original Sin to Lust Arc I mean oops spoilers)
Pin as Gumina.
Coiny and Nickel as the Venomania brothers. The only problem is: who will be which Venomania brother? On one hand, it was Cherubim who took on his brother’s identity due to jealousy and if one had to choose, they’d probably say Coiny’s the more handsome one, which makes the case for Nickel as Cherubim and Coiny as Sateriasis. However, Cherubim is actually the older brother and the one that Gumina actually loved, so that makes the case for Coiny as Cherubim and Nickel as Sateriasis.
I guess Lukana/Lukana’s body will be either Flower/Flower’s body or Needle/Needle’s body. See I was a little torn because I knew Flower had to be the tailor at Enbizaka. However, since the tailor is Kayo Sudou in Lukana’s body, I wasn’t sure whether it was more important for Flower’s actual soul or her appearance to be in Tailor Shop at Enbizaka. The other possible casting would be Needle because you know, tailor... needles, yeah...
Likewise, Kayo Sudou and her body has to be whichever one of Needle and Flower isn’t Lukana.
Anyway, the rest that I still have a lot of trouble deciding:
Patient Zero (aka the girl from Blood Stained Switch): Either Leafy or Liy, depending on who’s available based off of other Original Sin Arc casting
Maria Moonlit/Alice Merry Go Round: I’m actually not sure who would fit. Feel free to give suggestions.
Eve Moonlit and all her reincarnations (meaning Mikulia (?), Platonic, and Margarita): Either Book or Leafy. Tbh, Book as Eve works better for Taco as Meta, while Leafy as Eve would secure Firey as Adam.
Adam Moonlit: Firey if Leafy is Eve. Otherwise, I’m not sure...
Milky Eights: Unfortunately, despite how funny it would be, I can’t make her 8Ball. Ok but seriously, I’d probably make her Flower if it doesn’t conflict with Flower as either Kayo or Lukana. If it does conflict, however, then Match I guess.
Ly Li: Pencil probably. Unless Milky is Match, in which case, I’ll have to pick someone else.
Pale Noel: Aah I know it’s important for him to look a lot like Seth but I still want him to be someone other than Announcer because he’s still a different soul than Seth
Irina: It’s too bad I already made Naily Gretel. The whole cat motif would work great for her. But in all seriousness, I’m not sure. I was considering maybe Liy but that was back when I cast Foldy as Elluka. Personally, I think Liy as Irina lacks the whole fake cute persona that Irina used to trick Elluka in Survival [MA]. The whole cute but could possibly stab you in the back reminds me of Puffball and maybe Ice Cube. Only problem is Ice Cube’s already Clarith and Puffball wouldn’t literally stab you in the back, she’d just do so metaphorically. However, Irina literally stabbed Elluka in the back.
Kirill: I’m not sure how important his looking like Seth is, but like with Pale Noel, I still want to cast him as someone other than Announcer since he’s a different soul. I also kind of want him to be Clock because his last name is literally Clockworker... ha, I’m not funny.
Maylis: Not sure. Feel free to suggest.
Conchita: Sigh, I really wanted to make Gelatin Conchita so Donut could be Carlos, but Conchita having a baby is an important plot point, so looks like we’ll have to pick a girl then. It would probably be better if we make her Taco or someone who looks like Taco so Naily and Bomby will still be reminded of Meta through her. However, Evil Leafy is the extreme omnivore of BFB, so... I literally have no clue who Conchita should be someone help.
Carlos: Well, he has to remind Naily or Bomby of Adam, so if Adam is Firey, then I guess Firey? But I do kind of want to make him Donut or Fries because you know, he gets eaten... he should be a food item. But then again, Naily and Bomby aren’t food items but they’ll get eaten by Conchita as well.
Rilliane and Allen: Gosh, this is hard because like I said, David and Dora are the only objects who can pull off the half identical twins thing. I’m not entirely sure, honestly.
Germaine: Considering that later on, Irina uses her body to become Julia Abelard who should remind Lemy of Meta, then I guess Taco. Taco does kind of fit the actual Germaine.
Kyle: Hmm, not sure. I guess it might also depend on who Rilliane is, so we can find a guy she might be crushing on.
Prim: Not sure. Feel free to suggest.
To be continued because Evillious has way too many characters and I’m only sticking to characters that are major/appear in the song PV’s ;-;. Tell me any suggestions for casting.
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ikemenshakespeare · 5 years
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Day 1: “It will be fun, trust me.” w/ Masamune
Original fiction or fanfiction? Fanfiction!
Fandom: Ikemen Sengoku!
Warnings/Triggers: N/A
Authors Note: This is my first time writing for Ikémen Sengoku. I plan on putting many more stories of these guys in my flash fiction for October. Please enjoy and leave me feedback! Thank you!
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The air felt fresh against my skin as I left the tenshu. The last of my duties were done and now that they’re complete, I’ll finally be able to concentrate on my plans for the rest of the evening. With a smile on my face and anticipation in my step, I strolled into town.
I walked up to the stall keeper, his booth filled with produce. He smiled at me, “back to check on your order again?”
“You know it!”
“Well it looks like your in luck, both of them arrived earlier this morning.”
“Oh thank goodness!” The shopkeepers smile was contagious, I showed him my pearly whites. He came out with a heavy bag from in the back. I thanked him and waved goodbye. Practically running towards the castle now, I couldn’t wait to show Masamune the package I’d been waiting on for almost three weeks. By the time I reached Masamune’s quarters I was panting. Why does it have to be so heavy?
“You need help with that?” Masamune swooped in from behind me, taking the sack.
“Oh! Thanks, I was just on my way to see you actually.” He smirked.
“I had a feeling, it’s like I read your mind.” His joking sarcasm rang clear. I gave him a pout.
“You knew I was coming already, didn’t you?”
“Lass, I know I have only one eye but I’m not deaf. You were trudging down these halls far to heavy if you were trying to surprise me.” We both laughed. “So what’s in here?”
“Go ahead and open it. They’re for us.” He set the bag on the ground untying it to reveal two large orange spheres, a stem sticking out at the top. “Pumpkins?” He looked baffled, a reaction he did not easily give away. “This is what you’ve been going on about all this time?”
“Yes! It’s not the pumpkins themselves, it’s what we’re gonna do with them.” He raised an eyebrow.
“And that would be?”
“We’re going to carve them.” More weird looks, this is even better then I’d imagined. “Masamune, in the future they have a holiday called Halloween. It’s not until the 31st but a lot of people do little activities during the month leading up to it. One in particular is carving a face or picture into a pumpkin, then lighting it up with a candle at night.” He was silent, contemplating what I’d just told him.
“Are you sure it’s worth all the work?”
“Yes! It will be fun, trust me.” That cocky grin I loved so much was back now.
“Alright kitten, you don’t have to tell me twice.”
We went down into the kitchen. A few days ago I’d stiched a bunch of unusable fabrics together so we could protect the floor and ourselves from a nasty clean up, I laid the blanket on the ground. I then went over to a drawer and pulled out two knives, handing one to Masamune. “So what kind of pictures do people carve anyways?”
“Hmm... mostly scary things like ghosts or spiders or-”
“Spiders are not scary.” He chuckled.
“Okay, well you get the point.” Once again he went back to being thoughtful.
“What about a cat?”
“Yes! That’s actually a really popular idea in my time, lots of people do it.” Without a second thought he started cutting a hole on the top, pulled out all the goo from inside like i instructed him too. After quite a few long hours of arm exercise we were both done with our master piece.
“Alright MC, go ahead and show me yours.”
“What? But I wanted to see yours first!”
“How am I to know if I did a good job unless I see what you made? You are the expert aren’t you?”
“Okay fine.” I turned the front to him. “Remember the faces I was telling you about before? Well this is a pretty classic one. They’re called jack-o’-lanterns”
“Wow! That’s pretty good, but I have to admit, nothing could look better then... KITTY!” He turned his around now, pride splattered all across his face. It was an outline of a cat body and it looked fantastic for his first time! But... I had to laugh. “What is so funny?” He frowned.
“N-nothing, nothing. But kitty? Like Mitsunari’s kitty??”
“Yeah.”
“I guess I failed to mention the stereotype for creepy black cats but guess this works too.” I fell on my side with laughter. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun I’d had to today, as if really reading my mind this time and trying to give me more, Masamune grabbed me off the ground and threw me over his shoulder. I yelped out gleefully.
“So you think you’re gonna get away with all that teasing huh lass?” I wiggled away falling to the ground and running for my weapon. No, not the knife- Masamune eyes went wide. “You wouldn’t.” It was my turn to smirk now.
“Your kidding yourself. Of course I would!” I launched a handful of slime and seeds his way. He dodged it and picked up a pile of his own to come at me with next. So much for keeping clean.
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riotneko · 5 years
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Get to know me!
Idk if this is supposed to be through reblogs/notes or whatever so ill just answer them right now. Deleted some that I don't know that's why the numbers are weird.
Feel free to rb with copy/pasted questions and ur own answers :)
1. What is you middle name? Don't have one.
2. How old are you? 17.
3. When is your birthday? December 31st.
4. What is your zodiac sign? Capricorn.
5. What is your favorite color? Green, purple/pink. Closely followed by red and blue.
7. Do you have any pets? 2 cats and 1 dog
8. Where are you from? Zurich, Switzerland
9. How tall are you? 5'6 or barely 5'7
11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? 4
15. Favorite song? Midnight City by m83, lila wolken by material lovers who uncover/ not in love by crystal castles are some of them.
16. Favorite movie? Zootopia and judge dredd
17: Sexuality and gender? Bi and cis boy.
18. Do you want children? Maybe. Depends on how my mental health develops.
20. Are you religious? Nope.
22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? Nah.
27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? I don't think I could handle the huge attention and expectations of being perfect all the time.
28. What type of music do you like? I really like experimental music, rap, witch house, rock, indie pop, stuff like PC music. All kinds of stuff.
30. How many pillows do you sleep with? Two.
34. Have you ever fired a gun? Yeah and it was fun.
35. Have you ever tried archery? Yes. Was fun as well.
36. Favorite clean word? Too many to choose from.
37. Favorite swear word? Probably cvnt because of how raw it sounds in both English and German.
38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? Two or three days. Was a mistake lol.
39. Do you have any scars? On my lip from slipping on a big rock as a kid.
40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? Yeah it was actually was a girl that unironically bullied me. Either due to peer pressure or to get my attention. Either way I wanted nothing to do with her after what she and the others put me through.
41. Are you a good liar? I guess I could be.
42. Are you a good judge of character? Usually.
43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? Yeah but not that believable.
44. Do you have a strong accent? Nope I don't think so. Especially when speaking English compared to other people whose first language is German/ swiss German.
46. What is your personality type? Shy but not a pushover, rather feminine I guess, sarcastic smartass.
47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? A jacket that was like 150-300 bucks
51. Are you scared of spiders? No they are cute uwu
52. Favorite food? Kfc, kebab or ramen.
58. Do you have much of an ego? Sometimes.
60. Do you talk to yourself? When I need to think really hard. Idk why but it makes it easier.
61. Do you sing to yourself? No.
62. Are you a good singer? Bigger no.
63. Biggest Fear? Used to be school.
66. Do you like long or short hair? I have had long hair since I was like 10.
68. Favorite school subject? English or art history
69. Extrovert or Introvert? Introvert.
71. What makes you nervous? A lot of things. Seeing people I used to go to school with? Even if we used to be friends and they are always nice to me idk why. Also I have anxiety so yeah there's that. Oh and I guess also being near places that I have terrible experiences with. Like the before mentioned school even though I don't have to interact with it.
73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? Depending on context.
74. Are you ticklish? Yes, extremely. I was always (still am but not as often) the main tickle target in my friend group/ family. If there was a chance to pin me down and tickle the crap out of me with no mercy they took it. Often to also verbally taunt/ tease me about the situation I'm in or to get me to say embarrassing stuff. My mom saw me being tickled by friends once and even cheered them on, gave em tips and thought it was funny. ”take his socks off and really get his bare feet and he'll talk in no time! That's the best method of tickling him.". It was all in good fun tho I'm not angry or anything. Also at Family gatherings I'm usually still guaranteed to get tickled helplessly like that at least once tho & this Christmas is another one... At least I'll get to laugh?
75. Have you ever started a rumor? I don't think so
77. Have you ever drank underage? A few sips. But here most alcohol is ok if you are 16 and some like vodka is 18+
79. Who was your first real crush? A girl that stood up for me when I got picked on when I was 9 or 10 lol
80. How many piercings do you have? None
82. How fast can you type? Gay speed
83. How fast can you run? Sonic wants what I can
84. What color is your hair? Natural is dark brown but I've had it dark red (red red not orange red), orange/brown and currently black.
85. What color is your eyes? Dark Brown.
88. What do your parents do? Mom works with kids and my dad did some shady military/ government stuff that he never specified. Not sure what he does now.
89. Do you like your age? Yeah.
90. What makes you angry? Bullying/injustice and old people starting at me on the bus.
91. Do you like your own name? It's Ali and yes but people sometimes don't believe me because I don't look Arabic at all.
93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? Both would be ok.
94. What are you strengths? Strong sense of justice, loves to help people, creativity are some.
95. What are your weaknesses? I overthink a lot of stuff and am bad at dealing with trauma/ letting go of the past.
96. How did you get your name? My parents picked it or something idk
97. Do you collect something? I like creepy and cute stuff. Cute stuff is easier to find here and so far I guess I have a small hello kitty collection. 5 plushies, few patches, ice cream machine, shirt, figure, keychain. It's not even because I specifically collect hello kitty it's just that I find her so cute that if she's on it chances are ill like it enough to buy it.
100. Color of your room? I'll make it green. Not a very strong shade though.
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Text
Back to the Future- Apprentice Days: Bluestar
Bluestar and Snowfur were used to this strange life of theirs by now.
They were siblings once more, though their parents were far nicer this time. Moonflower was called Shimmerlight here. Bluestar was called Robinpaw while Snowfur went by Frostpaw. It was a bit disconcerting to all three of them, especially since they already knew called who had been called Robinpaw and Frostpaw in their past lives.
The funniest part was when Whitepaw came along.
He was the only kit of their parents' third litter, and perhaps a final sign that Violetclaw and Poolcloud ought to retire to the elder's den. They had spaced out their litters, not seeing any reason to rush, and this last one was rather difficult on poor Violetclaw.
Whitepaw had a dusting of grey around the edges that he didn't have before. It made him look more like Thistleclaw in all the ways that hurt, and Frostpaw was determined to leave that part of her life behind. But she couldn't. Not when her son was batting at her paws and looking up at her with only love in his eyes. Frostpaw would spoil her little brother rotten if that's what it took to get over these feelings.
StarClan definitely had a sense of humor when it came to names. Whitepaw went by Goosepaw now. Shimmerlight howled with laughter when she heard that she, once again, had a brother called Goosepaw.
"Make sure this one doesn't get to be too special." Her friend Goldenheart snickered darkly.
"Shut up, Sunfall! You're not funny!" Shimmerlight scowled playfully.
"Oh, I'm hilarious!" He protested. "But I'm also not joking. At all. That kit better be the most normal of us all."
"He will be." Frostpaw insisted. "If I have to die twice, that tom will know we love him."
_______________________________________________________________
Flashback: Sunstar and Moonflower
She doesn't know when it hits her, but it does. She turns to the cat she'd been sharing a den with for the past few moons and whispered his name.
"Sunfall…" She breathed, not wanting to shatter the peace but needing to know all the same.
"I haven't heard that name in many moons," The golden tom murmured. "and I was starting to think that I would never hear it again."
"I thought you were avoiding me," Shimmerpaw admitted. "in StarClan. I thought I'd never see you again."
"Why would you go looking for me?"
"Why would I-? Why wouldn't I? You were more of a father to Bluestar and Snowfur than Stormtail ever was. At the very least, I owe you for that!"
"You owe me nothing, Moonflower; I was Bluestar's mentor. Besides, she and Snowfur could never be separated."
"Not even when it mattered most…" Shimmerpaw murmured. "Sunfall, I… I didn't know how you felt about me. I didn't know how obvious Stormtail was being until it was too late. I should have seen it." Shimmerpaw scowled, letting her head flop roughly onto her paws.
Goldenpaw snorted.
"Not when the Clan was actively trying to keep you from being hurt." He admitted. "You deserved to be happy, even if your mate was a mouse-brain."
"I didn't learn this until I reached StarClan, but… he tried to kill Goosefeather."
"He what?!" Goldenpaw snarled, flexing unsheathed claws.
"It was in our early years. Goosefeather had just been appointed a full medicine cat after not even two moons of training, the poor guy. I just… I was so blind because I never thought anyone would look at me like Stormtail did. And by the time I figured you out I was already dead and… StarClan's kits, this is exhausting."
"You've had an exhausting day," Goldenpaw noted. "we should be sleeping by now anyway. I'm sure one of us has dawn patrol."
"Right. I wonder when Bluekit and Snowkit will become apprentices." She yawned.
"Hopefully soon. I'm sick of being the only one to gather moss." Goldenpaw grumbled before rolling over.
_____________________________________________________________
Robinpaw took a liking to Goldenheart. The blue-tipped she-cat could be seen at the young warrior's side more than her sister’s, asking questions or telling him about her day. Talking about everyone she'd met in camp. What Frostpaw and Shimmerlight were up to, what color Goosekit's eyes were now that he opened them. He looked good with blue eyes, but she hoped they turned yellow. She imagined he'd look nicer that way.
"We can't control the will of StarClan, Robinpaw." Goldenheart had chuckled fondly when she proclaimed that Goosekit had to have yellow eyes. It was only right! "And woe unto any cat who dares to try." He warned. "He's your brother and you love him anyway, right?"
"Of course!" Robinpaw spat, astonished that he'd ask.
"Then that's what matters." Goldenheart insisted. "He could have green eyes, like Shimmerlight. Many cats of your line have green eyes."
"I guess so." Robinpaw grumbled.
"Hey," Her sister's friend stopped her with a fluffy tail, urging her to look at him. "I'm proud of you."
Robinpaw dipped her head solemnly, eyes bright as her tail lashed back and forth.
"I'll be the cat you always thought you saw." She vowed.
______________________________________________________________
Robinpaw's mentor was a senior warrior named Rainstripe. She was dark grey with light orange eyes and Robinpaw was painfully reminded of her former medicine cat, Yellowfang.
"Do you need another mentor?" Rainstripe prompted one day when she completely missed the mouse that was practically driven into her paws. "You seem to like Goldenheart a lot. I could see if he wouldn't mind training you."
"Why?" Robinpaw wondered. "I get that I'm a lousy hunter, but I can get better-!"
"What-? Oh, I thought you didn't like me. It seems like every time we need to do something, you're padding after Goldenheart. Do you like him?"
"Of course I like him, he's a great cat." Robinpaw muttered, confused. 
Rainstripe's expression turned to one of sympathy.
"Have you talked to your sister about this?"
"Shimmerlight knows that I hang around Goldenheart. I... well, I guess I can tell you this. I'm honestly waiting for him to get sick of me."
"Why would he do that?" Rainstripe wondered.
"I don't know." Robinpaw offered quietly. "I guess it just feels like I'm not good enough for the cats I'm surrounded by. They all believe in me, but I'm... I don't know. It doesn't matter. I'll find another mouse."
"Robinpaw," Rainstripe murmured, sadness warring with confusion. "Where did this come from?"
______________________________________________________________
"So, you were having trouble today." Goldenheart loomed over her like a cloud, effectively blocking the sunlight she was dozing in.
"I caught another two mice to make up for the one I missed." Robinpaw grumbled. "Rainstripe doesn't need to tell you everything."
"I'm not the one she told." Goldenheart corrected. "But I was there when she approached Violetclaw, Poolcloud, and Shimmerlight. So you might want to expect this talk more than once."
"Stars above-." Robinpaw groaned, rolling onto her back. "I shouldn't have said anything."
"C'mon, kit, you know you can talk to me."
"Not a kit." Robinpaw grumbled, allowing Goldenheart to poke at fluffy chest fur. "I just... I did some thinking today. About... Before. And I... I don't know if I can do this a second time, Sunstar." Robinpaw admitted. "Don't say anything yet."
"I don't know if I can do this a second time. I'm surrounded by cats I love, I have a brilliant mentor, everything's going great... but I'll lose it. Someway, somehow. There's no point to this second chance."
"Where is this coming from?" Goldenheart demanded sharply.
"Actually, that part just occurred to me. What I was thinking about earlier is that I messed up... a lot. There's no way around that. I was born, I slept a lot, I opened my eyes, I walked around, Stormtail wanted nothing to do with us, Moonflower tried... she really did. But then she died in the WindClan attack. That should have been my motivation, right? I should have been a warrior worth her praise in StarClan. 
But I wasn't. I was completely average. I didn't do anything another cat couldn't do and the only reason I even became a deputy, let alone leader, is because it was given to me. Forced, almost. I was a walking disaster of a cat. You took pity on me and Goosefeather... Goosefeather probably saw one of his prophecies and thought I was destined to be the next leader but it really could have been any other cat."
"Like Thistleclaw?" Goldenheart sneered.
"Like Rosetail!" Robinpaw snapped, lunging to her paws. "Like Dappletail or Stormtail or Stonepelt or Sparrowfur. There were so many cats you could have chosen besides me and Thistleclaw. I kept making moused-brained mistakes and fox-hearted decisions and then when it finally caught up to me I couldn't handle it. And then I died not handling it. What good is a second chance when I haven't changed a bit?!"
"Well, to start with,” Frostpaw snorted from above where Robinpaw lounged. "You're just as dramatic as usual but that was the insight StarClan chose you for. Cats don't just become leaders, Bluestar. Sunstar wouldn't have picked you if he didn't think you were up for it, whether you'd kept your kits or not."
"And you best believe I will regret that for the rest of my days." Robinpaw muttered bitterly. "What's your point?"
"I know what my point is." Goldenheart snapped, thwapping Robinpaw aside the head. "You haven't lost anyone yet. We're all still here and StarClan willing, we're here to stay. Now, you can rest your chin on your paws or you can get up and be the cat I thought I was proud of. It's your choice, Robinpaw, but there is one to be made."
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slothssassin · 5 years
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OC interview - Emilia Cassandra Goodridge
I was tagged by @bellaciaofallout, @wastelandwandererstuff, @marvilus73 and @obvidalous, thank you guys and sorry it took me forever!
Tagging @liaorban and @briarfox13, no pressure of course!
Rules:
1) Choose an OC 2) Answer the questions as them 3) Tag people to do the same
The whole interview is under the cut, it’s long :D
1. What is your name?
Emilia. Emilia Goodridge, if you want the full name. Second name’s Cassandra. But you know, just call me Em, everyone does that.
2. Do you know why are you named that?
My grandma was called Cassandra. As for Emilia, dunno, guess my parents just liked it.
3. Are you single or taken?
In a relationship. 
4. Have any abilities or powers? 
I could kill you from more than a mile away without you even noticing I was there. Does that count? Oh you want something less violent? Uhm, I’m a decent boxer, is that better? No? I’m a mechanic, I’m good with fixing stuff, that should be good, right? 
5. Stop being a Mary Sue. 
How about you stop asking dumb questions? 
6. What’s your eye color? 
Grey. 
7. How about your hair color? 
Didn’t you take a good look already? It’s black. 
8. Have any family members? 
Oh sure, my mum and dad, aunt and uncle, my cousin Lucille. Marius, my best friend, he’s family too. 
9. Oh? How about pets? 
None, though I’d really like one. There’s this cat in the Ash Heap I keep visiting but I can’t take them with me as long as I’m wandering around Appalachia. 
10. That’s cool, I guess. Now tell me something you don’t like? 
I fucking hate Wendigos, oh damn they’re the worst! Have you seen them? She shudders I also don’t like mines. They’re always full of Mole Miners and dark and creepy and yeah... Ohhh shit, and a Scorchbeast suddenly attacking you out of nowhere and you have to kill it and use all your regular ammo, dang I hate being out of ammo. You know what else? People who don’t understand the concept of personal spa- what, that’s enough? Ok. 
11. Do you have any activities/hobbies that you like to do? 
Sure! I like sketching, there’s lots of interesting stuff in Appalachia to see. I usually sketch whatever I like and write down some notes about it. I do sports, swimming is fun if the water wasn’t that damn radiated. Also working on my weapons, my armour, there’s always something to improve. Then there’s reading comics, hunting cryptids - I love the Mothman, have you ever met him? He’s real and- Well, yeah back to the question, I also like so spend time with my friends, usually we dance or make music or have a drink together, always fun. Huh, enough again? Alrighty. 
12. Have you ever hurt anyone in any way before? 
Yeah, sure. 
13. Ever… killed anyone before? 
Shit, that’s the Wasteland, that’s how things work here. You either kill or get killed. 
14. What kind of animal are you? 
What kind of animal I am?? How the fuck should I know that? 
15. Name your worst habits? 
Ha, Cil sometimes says I curse too much. Hmm, I also get angry easily I guess? 
16. Do you look up to anyone at all? 
Hell yeah! The Responders are awesome, have you heard of them? They really helped us out a lot when we left the Vault. Also my parents are great people. Marius - I really admire him for just doing his thing no matter what others say. Cil is such a sweetheart too, always ready to help people. Ben, he’s amazing, I love how he keeps going on even if he’s afraid of something. 
17. Are you gay, straight or bisexual? 
Bisexual. 
18. Do you go to school? 
She laughs I’m a bit too old for school, don’t you think? Nope, those school days are long gone. 
19. Ever want to marry and have kids one day? 
Dunno, never thought about it. 
20. Do you have any fangirls/fanboys? 
No? Not like I’m famous or anything? 
21. What are you most afraid of? 
That’s no one’s business. 
22. What do you usually wear? 
Functional stuff, cargo pants, tops, I got this one leather jacket I really love. She points at the chair next to her - there’s a brown leather jacket lazily hung up on the back. You know I usually also put armour on when I’m travelling around, you never know who you meet out there. Ohh and I love collecting Nuka Cola shirts, or Mothman stuff, hoodies, flannels, lots of clothes I like. 
23. What’s one food that tempts you? 
Firecracker berries are the best! As for a hot meal, I do like Crispy Cave Cricket, out of all the amazing stuff Cil cooks that must be the best. 
24. Am I annoying to you? 
What? No, not yet. 
25. Well, it’s still not over! 
Okay? 
26. What class are you (low/middle/high)? 
Not really a thing anymore in the Wasteland, right? 
27. How many friends do you have? 
I got a few good ones and that’s all that matters, I don’t need a lot. I got my cousin Cil who’s just such a great person, my best man Marius, Ben of course… Happy to have them. 
28. What are your thoughts on pie? 
Oh damn, I love pie! Cil makes the best Starberry Cobbler I swear. 
29. Favorite drink? 
You mean booze or like, regular? Both? Ok. Soo I really like Nuka Cola Orange or Wild. Mutfruit tea is good too, but only if it’s sugared. As for booze, I started brewing beer and at first it tasted like shit but I’ve gotten a lot better. Also Ouzo, I’m always in for an Ouzo. 
30. What’s your favorite place? 
The Giant Teapot or the Palace of the Winding Path. Oh dang and the Mire, it’s beautiful there.
31. Are you interested in anyone? 
Hey man I already told you I’m in a relationship, right? 
32. That was a stupid question… 
Yeah, kinda. 
33. Would you rather swim in a lake or the ocean? 
Both!! Lakes we have here, but I’d really love to see the ocean one day. 
34. What’s your type? 
Oh you know, someone who can make me laugh, someone funny who shares my sense of humour? Intelligence is hot, hmm, someone who cares about other people’s well-being? I like that. 
35. Any fetishes? 
Shit that’s a tad personal, don’t you think? 
36. Camping or outdoors? 
Wait, you mean camping or indoors? Question doesn’t make much sense otherwise you know? She hesitates for a moment Well, yeah, I like both? I don’t mind camping while I’m wandering around, it’s fun. But it’s also nice to get back home.
Ok, that’s it then? Alright.
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skammovistarplus · 6 years
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Culture and Translation - S01 E06
This is a bit of a weird episode, in that it feels like not much happened. Because Skam España switched a few things around, it seems like episode 6 shouldn’t be the episode in which to hang out with the characters for a while before shit goes down. But one thing that got me hooked to Skam almost straight away was the way you got to “hang out” with the characters even in small, drama-free moments, and this episode has a couple of clips I really like.
CLIP 1: Monday blues
Es que le metiste un corte (You were razor sharp with him): “Meter un corte” is really hard to translate. It basically means to be really cutting with someone when they aren’t expecting it, in a way that shuts the conversation for good. Which Amira did, over and over, but the dude wasn’t getting the hint.
I do think Nora feels a little bad for the guy, but only because Nora is extremely empathetic with everyone in the world, to the point where it’s surprising when she’s not empathetic.
Viri is a great liar. We will come to find out much of what she says in this scene is a lie, but she has no tells. This is why I think the Selena Gomez shoe line thing was Viri teasing the girls, because she broke character almost immediately. If Viri wanted the girls to believe it, we can see here that she would’ve managed.  
Nora’s shirt says, “No means no.” ‘No es no’ was first a slogan for an awareness campaign, promoted by several Spanish city halls, which aimed to curtail sexual abuse and rape during local festivals, such as Sanfermines. There’s also an Axel, Soledad song. And it has of course been slapped on all sorts of merchandise. Like shirts!
The sides of the mirror are tagged with graffiti, by the way.
And also, Eva and Nora are late for first period! They end up skipping it entirely.
CLIP 2: Lucas has feels; Eva’s are stronger
Eva and Lucas are listening to Molly Svrcina’s Fallen Angel. I think the point of the song was lost in how incredibly random the song is. This is a song Lucas recommends Eva listen to. It’s about Lucas, not Eva. Lucas is trying to give a hint to Eva about himself, but Eva’s too focused on the Jorge drama.
While this clip dropped during recess, Eva skipped school. Not sure if Lucas did as well, though.
It’s Viri who shares a birthday with Paris Jackson, as I already wrote in the post for last episode.
Alejandro Reina does a nice bit of acting with his eyes at the 5:22 mark. Lol, Lucas is so fucking tired of the Eva/Jorge drama carousel.    
Y tú me caes de puta madre (“And I think you’re fucking great”): Lucas is not just saying that he thinks Eva’s great. He’s saying he really fucking likes Eva (as a friend, that is!).
Es que sigo enfadada (“‘Cause I’m still upset”): This is a sentiment that will be expressed often this week by Eva, Jorge and Lucas. I’ve seen subs that translate it “enfadada” as “angry” and it’s not wrong, but I feel Eva and Jorge are both more upset than angry during this week. Your mileage may vary, though!
CLIP 3: Ship wars
Cullera: Cullera is a beach city in the Valencia region that has been taken over by tourists (or guiris, if you will!). There are some nice sights, but people visit for the beaches. Many Spanish familes own some sort of apartment by the beach, but Cullera is a step up from the usual, which is Torremolinos. A hint about Inés’ parents’ economic status! Cullera means “spoon” in Valencian language, by the way.
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Easter break: The 2019 Easter break runs from the 12th of April to the 22th. Coincidentally, there are some rumors that s2 will premiere after Easter break 2019.
Tú no te líes, que el viaje importante es el de Mallorca, ¿eh? (Okay, but don’t lose sight of the important trip, the Majorca trip, huh?): A closer translation would be: “Don’t get sidetracked, the important trip is the Majorca trip, okay?” Which is actually a shorter line, so we should maybe change that, lol.
Que parezcamos ahí dos lapas como estas parejitas que están por ahí (For us to look like two barnacles like those couples you see everywhere): The literal translation would be, “for us to look like two barnacles like those couples that are around,” but that sounded like shade towards Eva and Jorge, who are also broken up this week. It’s not meant as shade, and in fact Eva has no reaction to it, so I reworked it.
Viri’s economic background is hinted through her confusion with job titles. In Spanish, she doesn’t remember if Alejandro’s father is a “director” (which could be translated as director, manager, and even principal, but also CEO) and “directivo” (executive or CEO). I settled for initials salad.
There is a bit of dialogue at the end that was cut from the episode version. The girls present their final arguments in the Viriandro vs Aleviri debate… which ironically, foreshadowed the Norandro vs Alenora shipname wars. It appears as if most of the fandom has settled on Norandro, at last.
Viri: It’s that, it’s like a Greek god.
Cris: What are you, Voldemort or something?
Viri: It’s like, it’s funny because it’s like a Greek god, like Viriandro is a Greek god sort of name. Yeah, it’s super neat.
Cris: It’s a gladiator name, dude!
Almost totally off topic linguistics note: The girls use the English loanword “ship” in the fandom sense. The verb had obviously crossed language lines in fandom spaces years ago, but it became part of mainstream Spanish culture (yes, really) when Operación Triunfo became big last year, and everyone was shipping couples from the show. The interesting part is that Spanish speakers came up with two declensions for the Spanish form of the verb: “yo lo shippeo” (I ship it) and “yo lo shippo” (again, I ship it). People who had been in fandom longer leaned towards “shippeo” (and so do I!), so I find it aesthetically pleasing that the girls favor that declension.  
CLIP 4: Eva shoots his shot. It doesn’t go well.
I was certain Jorge’s secret would have to do with one or both his parents being unemployed, so at the time I made note of the fact that one of the apartments he walks by is up for sale. It’s the reddish orange sign at the 10:06 mark.
The song that plays at the end of the clip is Zahara’s El Frío, but it has been edited. These are the lyrics that have made it to the clip: “I didn’t expect that the one who started all the fires would also be the one to put them out. How did you let the cold inside you, it has destroyed everything.”
CLIP 5: Speederman
This has to be a change from my high school years. I did the Cooper test in 3º ESO (the equivalent of 9th grade in the US) and never had to do it again through high school. 
More info on the Cooper test, in case you care. Not only was I not tested on a standard 400 m tartan track, but we were also not trained to perform it properly. Ah, high school PE!
Venom premiered in Spain the 5th of October. This clip dropped the 19th of October.
Yes, that is actually how we pronounce Spiderman in Spain.
I love that Nora is into Viri saying she loves anything that has to do with saving the world. Nora is so earnest, lol.
¿O qué vas a hacer, tía? ¿Quedarte en casa llorando? (“Or what do you have in mind, dude? Staying at home, crying?”): Another translation could be, “Or what are you going to do, dude? Stay at home and cry?” but I went with the line in the subs because I thought it flowed better.
Cómo jode que te dejen, ¿eh? (It sucks to be dumped, doesn’t it?): “Sucks” is a lot less charged than “joder,” which is the word Inés actually uses. I guess you’d have to say “fucking sucks” to get the intensity across. You’ll have to make do with Inés’ line delivery.
CLIP 6: Ride of the Valkyries
As it turns out, Alba Planas is also a fan of og Skam, so I’m going to pretend Eva’s string of sorries is also an homage to Tarjei’s delivery.
This scene was shot right outside of Cine Paz. 
Pero no me seáis pavas (“But don’t be silly”): Viri says “pavas,” which is hard to translate. Essentially, Viri’s afraid the girls are going to embarrass her in front of Alejandro, either unintentionally or (not unlikely given this group) intentionally. I.e. they’re not going to behave maturely in front of him.
Madre mía (Good heavens): Okay, so I already talked in the post for episode 5 about the way Amira uses interjections that aren’t swear words, and this is an example of it. “Madre mía” literally means “mother of mine” and it’s basically meaningless as an interjection. What matters is the tone you add to it. In this case, Amira’s impatient that the girls are getting distracted chatting about whatever, instead of going into the theater. I don’t love “good heavens” as it has Christian connotations. On the other hand, “geez” feels too short for how impatient Amira sounds.
It took me a while to realize this, but this clip actually has an og equivalent. This would be the clip where Vilde notices William and Sara hooking up, and looks devastated. Skam España chooses to go about it in a totally different way, with the girls backing Viri up as they walk in.
CLIP 7: Tout le monde veut devenir un cat
Sí, hija, sí (“Yeah, girl, yeah”): Jorge actually calls Eva “daughter,” lol. Much like with tío and tía, we might call anyone “son” or “daughter.” I’ve even caught myself using it on my own parents! If I have the right info, this is also common in Latin American countries, except they use “mijo” and “mija,” instead. “Hijo” or “hija” is more affectionate than “tío” or “tía,” although, much like with “madre mía,” it’s used to express a variety of emotions. Here, Jorge is dismayed that his chocolate romance went awry.
Pretty sure those are knockoff peanut M&Ms. Most likely from the Spanish grocery chain Mercadona.
The song that plays at the end of the clip and through the credits is Bely Basarte’s Mariposas. You can find a translation here. 
Tomás Aguilera, who plays Jorge, has managed to be almost impossible to find online. However, his instagram bio makes reference to the French version of the Aristocats song Everybody wants to be a cat. It’s adorable.
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The girls talk about the Zaorejas random again, Cris notes that he looked young enough as to be in ESO, or MSE, Mandatory Secondary Education. MSE runs through the equivalents of 7th to 10th grade in the US. 
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Nights Before the Woods
Chapter 1: Change
Characters: Mae Borowski, Casey Hartley, and Candy Borowski. Setting: Possum Springs, Possum Springs School, Mae’s house. Summary: Mae’s just recently turned six, which means she has to go to first grade in the local school. Which is so small that every grade in the town, minus college, goes to it. Sadly, she doesn’t have many friends, doesn’t want things to change, and hates waking up so early for school. Words: 2,088 Notes: First and for most I’ve never written for anyone bellow the age of fourteen so I know that the dialogue in this might be a little cringy but I tried so that’s all that matters. Anyways.. This is basically take two when it comes to me making NitW stories. As in I had tried before, but kinda sucked at it. I guess. But I’m not gonna let that keep me down, so as you can see, I’m doing this all over again from the almost very beginning! Without further ado, here we go!
Tagging: Anyone who’d wish to be tagged in my story posts
Change. It was something Mae Borowski knew an awful lot about at such a young age. It may make her mom, dad, and granddad laugh when she says it. But Mae, even at the age of six, knew a whole lot about change. After all, it was almost every week her mom or dad would change the cereal.
Sometimes Mae would like what was in the cabinet, other times she wouldn’t. Then there were the times her granddad would change the story he’d tell her before bed, but most times Mae liked the stories he told her. She honestly couldn’t think of a time she didn’t like his stories.
But there was one thing she didn’t like, and it was the fact she had to go to school. She thought that only rich kids like Bea, or that one kid in Girl Scouts with the piercings and fancy toys, go to school. Not someone like Mae. So, the young Cat looked away from the car window which was being dotted by the rainy mist that had rolled in from the Great Lakes and at her mom to ask her a question “Mom. Why do I have to go to school? Only rich kids go there. And I’m supposed to be the tough kid! Who can wrestle any wild animal to the ground! Not a school kid.”
Candy never took her eyes off the road for anything. Not even when Mae asked her always very important questions. Which was odd to her, after all, her mom did say that she had eyes on the back of her head and that was how she was able to see Mae do something she’s not supposed to behind her back.
So why can’t she look away from the road? Maybe it would just be uncomfortable or something like that. Even still, Candy did answer her daughter’s question “Because Mae dear, everyone needs a proper education. It’s how you make a nice living for yourself when you get older. Besides, you might just get to make some new friends there! You might just get to see some of your old ones too! Didn’t Bea tell you she was going to be starting school a little earlier than you?”
Mae nodded a little “Yeah.. She did.”
She then huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest “But I don’t want new friends. I like the friends I have. Bea’s nice and funny.”
Candy nodded “Yes I know, you’ve told me that many times before sweetie. But Mae, doesn’t it seem like Beatrice is your only friend right now? Don’t you think you could use maybe one or two more friends?”
Mae rolled her eyes “Mom, she likes to be called Bea, not Beatrice... And.. I guess it would be nice to have more people to play with... B- But I’ve already got another friend that isn’t Bea!”
Her mom raised an eyebrow “Really? Who?”
Mae grinned “Granddad!”
Candy just chuckled a little and shook her head “I should’ve already guessed that.”
She then regained her more mom like serious attitude before continuing “But what I meant was more friends around your age dear.”
Mae just sighed a little “...Alright... I guess I can try.”
Candy smiled “That’s all I’m asking for sweetie.”
With that, Mae returned to the silence of the car ride towards Possum Spring’s very own school which housed grade one up till high school. It was quite a ways away from where the Borowski family lived, it almost felt like they had drove right out of Michigan a few times! But sadly, the end of their little car ride appeared not long after Mae decided she’d try and make new friends at school.
Pulling up to the school’s front steps, Mae unbuckled her seat belt and reached down for her back pack full of very essential items. Note books, pencils, her favorite toy, a book her granddad had given her a few weeks ago, and some random junk she had forgotten to clean out of it. With it now on her back like a backpack should be, Mae opened up the car door and hopped out of it and onto the pavement.
Before she could walk up to the school’s doors though, Candy rolled down the driver side door’s window and poked her head out of it “Have a good first day of school Mae, I love you.”
Mae nodded “Love you too mom.”
With that done, Candy returned her head to where it should be, rolled up the window, and drove off. Not only that, but Mae also got to walk up the short set of steps up towards the school’s front double doors and headed on inside. If Mae was alone and not in public, she’d say that she was a little scared about her first day of school. After all, she didn’t know where her classroom was at all! Luckily though, a nice man wearing what looked to be a janitor’s outfit with a bit of a short scruffy beard led her to the classroom safely.
Another thing Mae was silently scared off was the other kids. Mae has never been to good when it comes to talking to new people. After all, it was Bea who approached Mae first and not the other way around. So seeing all of these kids in one room was kind of... Scary for her. Luckily, all she had to do was focus on the teacher and everything would be a-okay. The teacher herself was a grey furred Rabbit who wore your average teacher clothes and had your average teacher smile.
Not to say Mae knew what an average teacher looked like, she just knows what one might look like from the shows and movies she watches. Once the teacher and other kids were all settled in for their first day of school, the lady picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name out on the chalk board behind her. Which read out “Ms. Nat” and after she wrote that out she turned to face the rest of the people in the room and said “Greetings students! Today, as some of you know already, is the first day of school here for many people. I myself am new here too, so my hope is that you will treat both me and the new students as though we’ve been her since the beginning.”
She then clasped her hands together before continuing “Now then! I will be choosing one of our new students out at random to introduce themselves before we get started with today’s lesson! Doesn’t that sound fun?”
Some nodded, most ignored her though. Even still, Ms. Nat scanned around the room before making the worst possible decision she could have made in her entire time here at this school. At least, in Mae’s opinion, “Ms. Borowski! Please, come on up here and introduce yourself.”
The small Cat widened her eyes in shock before nodding and standing up. Silently, she walked towards the front of the room before reaching Ms. Nat’s side and turning to face the other kids. All of their eyes were on here, and she didn’t feel very comfortable about it. Ms. Nat then looked down at Mae and gave her a smile “Go ahead and tell everyone your name and work from there.”
Mae nodded and took in a deep breath “H- Hello... My name is Margaret Borowski and-”
But before she could continue, someone cut her off. Mae couldn’t see who, but she knew that they said “Wait a second. Margaret? Isn’t that a old lady’s name?”
Some of the other kids started to join in on this “Yeah!”
“My grandma’s named Margaret!”
“If she’s got a old lady’s name then what does are her parent’s names?”
Ultimately, Ms. Nat silenced the children and Mae returned to her with tears in her eyes. For the rest of the day nothing much happened. At least, until recess. When the time had come for that period in the school day to start Mae went straight for the swing set and plopped herself right there on one of the seats all alone. She was still hurt by what the other kids had said, so hurt in fact, she didn’t even notice the other kid sit on the seat next to her until he said “Hey.”
Mae looked over to the kid on her left, he was an orange furred Cat with green eyes that looked to be maybe a year or so older than Mae. She just looked away after inspecting him a little and returned to moping “What do you want? Why would you want to be around a six year old with a grandma’s name?..”
The boy just shrugged “Because no one wants to be around me.”
Mae looked back at him and raised any eyebrow in slight confusion “What do you mean?”
He sighed “They say my name’s to girly for a boy... I guess they’re right... What boy is named Casey Hartley.”
Mae smiled a little “I kinda like that name. Better than Margaret Borowski.”
Casey shook his head “no. I like Margaret too. My grandma is named Margaret like you, she’s smart so I bet you are too.”
At first, Mae was hurt that Casey said he had a grandma named Margaret, but then he said that Mae would probably be smart herself. That made her feel good. Her smile turned more happy than before “Thanks Casey!”
Then an idea of what she could say to him came into mind. But the real question was, should she? Should she just randomly ask this question she so suddenly thought up? Turns out, she did want to “H- Hey... So my mom wants me to have more friends around my age, a- and I said I would try and do that.. And well... Do you... Want to be friends?”
Casey nodded “Sure, that sounds like fun.”
Mae smiled from ear to ear “Really?! Thank you so much Casey!”
She then let out an excited gasp “I have a great idea! Let’s go play on that big play set!”
As she spoke Mae pointed towards the large playground near the back of the schoolyard. Casey nodded, smiling himself “Yeah, let’s do it!”
With that, they both got off of the swing set and ran towards the playground. Once there, they’d have a lot of fun playing all sorts of games. It seemed as though making a new friend was just the boost of happiness that Mae needed to get through the rest of the day friendly and cooperative. So when the time for her to head home rolled around, Mae was just a little reluctant to go home.
Candy, who was standing outside of her running car, motioned for Mae to come over. But her daughter hesitated and turned to look at Casey, who was still up on the top of the school’s small set of steps “Where are your mom and dad?”
He shrugged “Working. But you should go home. I’ll be fine.”
Mae nodded a little before heading off towards her mom, who of course, asked if Casey was her new friend. Which Mae happily said “Yes!” in response to. That also made Candy happy, and as they were pulling away from the school, she said to Mae “As a special treat for being the big girl I know you could be and getting through your first day of school safe and sound as well as making a new friend, I got you a little something. Check in between your seat’s cushion.”
Mae was already digging through the crack between her seat’s cushion and the seat next to her before her mom could finish, and what she pulled out was a whole candy bar of her favorite brand. She gasped in surprise “Is this all for me?!”
Candy nodded and Mae smiled wide “Thank you so much!”
Her mom smiled, and they continued on their drive home. Maybe school, and change, wasn’t that bad after all. It could’ve been worse. She could’ve been changed into a witch by Ms. Nat. She was to nice to not have something to hide. Mae knew it. Just like how she knew her house was haunted. After all, her granddad said so. Even still, Mae could see now that she could keep up her tough attitude and be a school girl at the same time. She liked that, she liked Casey, and she kinda liked school too.
THE END
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epiclilkitty-blog · 6 years
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Ladybug’s Romeo
"O Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?" Ladybug sighed dreamily as she leaned against the railing of the roof upon which she was currently standing. It was mid-evening and the sun was sinking behind the horizon, turning the sky a fiery orange with hot pink and lavender hues. But it wasn't the beauty of the sky that held her attention. That paled in comparison to what she was currently staring at. No, what held the spotted heroine's attention was the giant billboard across from the building she stood on. On the billboard, Adrien Agreste was posing against a red brick wall. He wore low slung, hip-hugging jeans that almost seemed painted on, a form-fitting white shirt that clung to his muscles, and a black leather jacket that did nothing to hide the muscles underneath. He had one leg bent at the knee, the foot pressed against the wall behind him, and his head was bowed forward so that his perfect blonde hair fell slightly over his eyes as he grinned up at the camera. She just about swooned then and there. In fact, she was so enthralled by the sight of her crush towering over the Parisian rooftops, she failed to notice the soft thud of feet landing on the roof behind her as she continued her speech.
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet." She breathed the words out on an exalted sigh. When Ladybug had left her house an hour ago, it had mostly been to clear her head. They were currently studying Shakespeare in her 12th Grade English Literature Class and coincidentally she was to recite this particular scene with Adrien Agreste tomorrow. She wanted it to be perfect but she had never been the greatest at Shakespeare. That, coupled with the fact that she was a blubbering mess around Adrien, made it a daunting task.
"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?” A soft voice intoned behind her. Ladybug was so caught up in the moment, however, she simply responded without thought.
“'Tis but thy name that is my enemy: thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s a Montague? It is nor hand nor foot, nor arm nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O be some other name!" She ended on a cry, before dropping her voice to a much softer tone. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name, which is no part of thee take all myself.”
Slowly, Ladybug returned to her senses as behind her, someone began to clap. The girl spun around, eyes wide with shock to find her partner, Chat Noir, grinning at her broadly. He very closely resembled the cat that ate the canary. The girl flushed a deep red, bluebell eyes widening as the leather-clad boy prowled closer to give her an appraising look. “Ch-Chat N-Noir! H-how long have you been standing there?” She squeaked, taking a step back as the blonde haired boy invaded her space.
“Long enough, My Lady. Tell me something… were you just reciting Shakespeare to a billboard?” The tomcat chuckled, eyes twinkling with obvious delight. If possible, Ladybug’s face seemed to burn hotter than before as she shook her head frantically. Damn this cat and damn his cursed timing, she thought to herself.
“N-no! No, of course, I wasn’t. I- I just happened to be speaking in that general direction,” she claimed, jerking her chin up defiantly. A bad idea, as it only brought Chat’s gaze down to her mouth. His lips quirked and he arched a brow, leaning closer.
“I don’t know, My Lady. It looked to me like you were reciting sweet nothings to a billboard of Adrien Agreste,” he purred, glancing with amusement towards the giant image of his civilian form. A strangled noise escaped the girl, drawing his focus back on her. By this point, her shin was almost as red as her suit.
“I- I wouldn’t call them sweet nothings, Chat. Romeo and Juliet is a terrible play,” she said, resolutely avoiding his green eyes. Her words were enough to derail the boy from his teasing, however, and he gave her a surprised look.
“You don’t like Shakespeare? But he’s like the world’s greatest playwright!” Ladybug gave an indifferent shrug as the blush faded from her cheeks and she turned to give him a dubious look.
“That’s arguable, but no, I have nothing against Shakespeare himself. I simply hate Romeo and Juliet,” she said by way of explanation. Chat arched a brow and made a gesture for her to continue. She sighed but did as he asked. “It’s just… the story starts out so sweet and beautiful. I mean, yeah it’s weird these twelve-year-olds are confessing their undying love for each other but I guess that’s just how it was back then. But then, he just goes and kills off the two main characters! Who even does that, Chat!?” Ladybug wailed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
“Apparently Shakespeare,” Chat said, biting back a laugh as the spandex covered girl shot him a withering look.
“You’re not nearly as funny as you seem to think you are,” she retorted dryly.
“Me-ouch, m’Ladybug’s got claws,” Chat fired back playfully before asking on a more serious note, “So if you hate Shakespeare so much, why are you sitting here reciting it to a billboard?”
“I told you, I wasn’t reciting it to the billboard. And I have to recite this scene in class tomorrow with the guy I like. It’s a little nerve-wracking,” Ladybug admitted with a shrug. Chat Noir felt something tighten within him at her words. Ladybug… Ladybug liked someone else?
“O-oh. Well, I’m sure you’ll do great! So, uh, tell me about him. This guy you like…” Chat said, moving to lean against the roof railing beside her. Ladybug hesitated, glancing at her partner.
“I don’t know Chat… we aren’t really supposed to discuss our Civilian lives,” she pointed out, shuffling her feet nervously. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted. Chat was her closest friend aside from Alya and might offer a new perspective on the whole Adrien debacle. At the same time, Tikki was pretty adamant they not discuss too many details pertaining to their personal lives less they slip up.
“Does this guy know you like him?” Chat asked.
“Well, no but-”
“Then it shouldn’t matter! Besides, I’m not going to blab to anyone. This is all completely confidential,” he promised, placing one hand over his heart and raising the other. “Cat’s honor, My Lady.”
The girl studied him for a long moment, expression unreadable. Talking about her crush might help her in the long run. Chat might be able to offer insight that another girl wasn’t able to. After all, he was technically a guy too, right? “Ok well…” She hesitated, not sure where to begin.
“What do you like about him?” Chat prompted gently. The girl smiled dreamily, a fact that didn’t escape Chat Noir’s notice.
“He… he’s so kind and generous. He’s rich, but he doesn’t act like a snob. He’s the most honest, loyal, and selfless person I’ve ever met,” she explained softly.
“When did you two meet?”
“Back in Middle School. He was homeschooled up until then. His dad is a really famous fashion designer,” she said, twirling a lock of hair around one finger.
“And you’re certain he doesn’t like you back? I mean, I find it hard to imagine anyone not noticing someone as amazing as you, LB. Maybe he likes you and is just too afraid to-” He was interrupted by Ladybug’s sharp, disbelieving laugh. Turning his head, he watched as she shook her head, shoulders shaking with self-deprecating laughter.
“I’m not the same girl outside the mask, Chat. As Ladybug, I’m confident and powerful and brave. When I’m around Adrien, I can barely even talk straight.I constantly stumble over my words around him and it’s a miracle if I don’t trip over him at least once a day,” she moaned, not noticing the way Chat Noir had stiffened beside her. Green eyes wide, he stared at the girl beside him.
“My Lady, you wouldn’t happen to mean Adrien Agreste… the model would you?” He asked uncertainly. The blush on the girl’s face was answer enough and Chat felt a pulse of joy at her reaction. Ladybug liked him. Ladybug liked him. This was the greatest news ever and-
“But like I said, he doesn’t like me back,” Ladybug was saying dejectedly.
“Don’t say that!” Chat burst out, startling both himself and his partner at the conviction in his words. “Er… what I mean to say is he would be crazy not to want you. You just have to grab the cat by the tail; go for it, LB. Ask him out,” Chat said excitedly. The girl snorted and shook her head.
“Yeah, like that would ever happen.”
“Look, you said you have to do this scene with him tomorrow right? Why don’t I help you practice and after you recite it to him tomorrow, you can confess.” Chat Noir suggested animatedly. Ladybug wasn’t entirely certain what his motive for helping her was, but suddenly she, too, felt excited at the prospect and for the next two hours, the two worked together to make certain her speech was flawless. When they parted ways, Ladybug felt eons lighter than she had been when leaving the house earlier.
The next day in class, Marinette arrived to class slightly earlier than usual and took her place beside Alya. Before her best friend could so much as utter a greeting, the blonde boy in the seat before them twisted around to flash her a smile that could have rivaled the sun in its brightness. “Hey, Marinette! Are you ready for our presentation?” He asked warmly.
“I um… a-as ready as I’ll ever be,” She squeaked, relieved when she only stuttered a little bit. His grin widened.
“You sound nervous,” he noted, a look of concern sliding across his face. Marinette blushed and smiled nervously.
“M-maybe a little,” she admitted.
“Don’t be. You’ll be totally clawsome, my Lady,” he assured her with a wink. Marinette froze, ignoring Alya’s quiet squealing and Nino teasing his friend about the pun. She stared into Adrien’s unwavering green gaze and slowly, a smile stretched across her face.
“I have a feline you’re right, Minou,” she said softly.
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randomwoohoo · 6 years
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Judy: Previously on Zoomorphia!
Nick: Our works aren’t gonna go smoothly, are they? There have always been other stuffs keeping interrupting us from investigation. This time, we were sent to participate a school assembly about dangers in Zootopia, which include the monsters, Savages.
Judy: Anyway, what should we do!? Clawhauser saw us wearing MidniDriver!
Nick: Use the force to erase his memory?
Judy: Like heck we can do that!!
Nick: Let’s find out what will happen next in Chapter 9!
.-.. . - .----. ... / -.-. --- -. - .. -. ..- .
    The sunlight cast a shadow of the roundish cheetah onto a narrow path between school buildings where the doe rabbit knelt beside the tod fox propping on one elbow. They turned their heads towards the male feline, panicking as they were still wearing the transformation gear on their waists even though they had already detransformed.
    The doe pondered what excuse sounded most believable, but then again, she and the tod had these arm-sized black devices with sticking out purple circle core in the center, silver syringe on the left and maroon motorbike handle on the right.
“Oh hey, Clawhauser~ Ah, you see-” Nick tried to explain, hustling his way out like old days.
“Can you get up, Nick? Let me give you paw.” Clawhauser unexpectedly walked towards the pair to help the fox up together with the rabbit. “And What about you, Judy? Are you hurt?”
“Aren’t you-” She touched her Driver, “-shocked?” voice expressing her confusion.
“I’m surprised indeed but I sorta see this coming.”
“H-H-How?” Judy wondered what Clawhauser meant by saying ‘see this coming’.
“Well, it’s clearly Nick’s voice in doe bunny’s figure… Easy guess.”
    Taken aback, she got mind blown by the big cat’s honest words, turning to her partner slowly with raising one eyebrow.
“I wouldn’t like to admit it, but he’s right.” Nick nodded, lips compressing.
“Eh?” She frowned. Suddenly, something popped into head. “Hold on a sec! Clawhauser, how could you pass through Savages out there?”
“Ah… The thing is… They all were just finished off.”
“What!?” The duo bawled in unison.
    It has been only a brief period! Impossible! The bewildered doe and tod could not believe their ears, but then they recalled the recent event.
“I’ll take care of the rest.” That was what the mysterious silver chrome wolf said.
Did- Did he really kill those Savage s in this short amount of time? They speculated.
-. . .-- / .... . .-. --- / .- .-. .-. .. ...- . …
    After a Savage incident, the officers and the agents went back to check on civilians especially students. The reinforcement which Jasmine called earlier came to clean up the school since there were no monster to fight anymore. On a side note, the mysterious wolf was gone...
“We, SCU, will handle the rest. You guys may leave if you want.”
“Thanks, Jasmine. Late-”
“Wait!” A yell interrupted Judy. The revived white horse, Maximus, loped closer to ZPD trio and his feline subordinate. He had taken off his uniform shirt because it was stained with black liquid.
“Thank you, Hopps, Clawhauser, for your time. Fox...” He stared at Nick, who prepared for insults at him. “Thanks… When children asked us what happens after death, I don’t even know what to say although I was the one who brought the subject up.” He, arm akimbo, rubbed his blond mane troubledly.
“Owing to me, we dodged that bullet~” Nick gave himself credit.
“‘Taking indefinite leave for a sleep’ huh?" Judy quoted her partner.
“Yeah~” Nick confirmed that they were his words. “I wish I could take a long vacation leave to sleep all day~”
“I’d send you straight to hospital bed, lazy fox! I guarantee you won’t wake up any time soon.”
“Awe, I’ll pass. I’d hate not to wake up, not to see your gorgeous smile~”
    The doe rabbit blushed at the tod’s rejoinder, her long ears reddening.
“If your work here is done, get lost, Fox!” Stallion about-faced angrily.
“Excuse me!” the doe held him back.
“Ah, sorry!” The horse rapidly turned around. “Where’re my manners? You must be busy, so see you later, Clawhauser, Hopp-”
“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Nick. He has a name. Stop calling him Fox!”
    A feeling of unease came over the tigress. She had predicted this incident would occur one day. Her current leader was not a bad mammal (Diligent and dedicated) but he could be obnoxious sometimes and finally, he got on her rabbit friend’s nerves.
“Only Fluff can call me Fox, Clever fox, Sly fox, you name it~” The tod, grateful to the doe for standing up for him, lightened up the mood.
“That’s not helping, Nick!”
“I’m sorry… Officer Wilde.” Maximus bowed. “Please, excuse me, I must get back to work.” He walked away.
“Good grief. Sorry.” Jasmine apologized for her leader, then “Hang on, boss!” caught up with him in a rush.
    Three of the ZPD officers used this opportunity to greet students and teachers informally, taking photos with them, before leaving the school. Along the way in a police car which Judy was driving, they were having a private conversation.
“Basically, whenever you two transform, Nick’s soul will be transferred to Judy’s body?” Clawhauser, sitting humpbacked on back seat, asked to make sure.
“Who says red foxes have no soul?” On passenger seat, Nick jested.
“Does that mean Nick’s body would be left unconscious and defenseless?”
“Correct, it’s a huge drawback of Hybrid.” Judy confirmed with the curious cheetah.
“And you have 3 forms in total? Light green torso one, police uniform one, and hooded tunic one” Clawhauser counted on his fingers.
“Yeah, more or less.” Nick tilted his head back.
“Just to be clear, we don’t mean to put ZPD logo on Police form. It just happens.” Judy waved her right paw around shoulder level.
“So, you use those Midnight... thingies to transform?”
“Bingo~ Jinx!” The duo coincidentally replied at the same time.
“One more question, where do you keep your morphers?”
“I carry mine with myself most of the time.” She gave a straightforward answer.
“H-How do you oftentimes carry something that big with you!?”
“I have my own method.” Judy frankly spoke.
“You heard her.” Nick delivered a deadpan response.
.--. . .-. ..-. . -.-. - / - --- --. . - .... . .-.
“In all honesty, you both are real heroes!”
“Shh!!” Nick and Judy placed one finger vertically over the lips.
Rabbit, fox and cheetah officers continued their conversation at the reception desk in the next day.
“Could you keep it down? This is Nick’s and my ultimate secret. Here’re our yesterday reports.” Judy handed Clawhauser the reports about previous day’s event.
“Toddangit, why so many assignments? Missing mammals, Night howlers, yadda yadda yadda.” Nick complained childishly.
“There! Speaking of missing mammals and Night howlers, you cracked the missing mammal cases and exposed ex-mayor Bellwether’s evil scheme when you, Judy, started working here in ZPD and you, Nick, wasn’t even a cop yet. Two of you are heroes who saved Zootopia back then!”
    Judy was flattered by Clawhauser, rubbing her nose while averting her eyes.
    All of a sudden, an idea came into Nick’s mind. “Carrots! There’s someone probably helpful we haven’t interrogated yet!”
-. . .-- / .-.. . .- -.. …
    Turning left and right to and fro in searching, Jackson Rajah the bengal tiger officer paced across ZPD’s hallway.
“Oh, Hi Jackson~” Clawhauser saw Rajah heading towards the reception desk.
“Hi Benjamin. Did you see Wilde, Hopps? I can’t find them anywhere.” The tiger had already checked those two’s cubicle but they were not there.
“Ah, they’ve just left. They said they found a new lead.”
Appalled by the fellow feline, “On their own!?” Rajah raised his voice.
    Clawhauser plugged his ears with his fingers due to a loud sound. “Chill out! What’s going on?”
“I…” Rajah cleared his throat which turned sore after speaking up abruptly. “...may realize who’s behind this time missing mammals...”
..-. .-. .. --. .... - . -. .. -. --. / -.. .. ... -.-. --- ...- . .-. -.--
“Great to see you alive and wool, ma’am~”
“Oh ha ha, so funny.” A small white sheep inmate laughed dryly at Nick’s pun.
“I’m aware that you don’t wanna meet us, so better you cooperate, faster we can let you go-”
“Go where? Back to my cell? Senior Officer Hopps...” She interjected.
    The police duo paid a visit to a correctional facility on the outskirts of Zootopia and at the time, they were interrogating a ewe sporting an orange prison uniform, ex-mayor Dawn Bellwether, inside a dim concrete interrogation room.
    Judy ignored questions from the mastermind behind one of the biggest crimes in Zootopia’s history. “Because you and your men used Midnicampum holicithias to produce a dangerous serum, I bet you know who John Silver is.”
“Pardon me, Midnight-what?” Bellwether, seated behind a steel table opposite to a pair of officers, asked.
“You really should just call it ‘Night howler’, Carrots.”
“I’m messing around~ I know Night howler’s a binomial name. Mind you, what do I gain by answering your questions?” The ewe sheep sneered.
“If you behave well, we might be able to reduce your punishment.” The bunny attempted to compromise.
“So I can get out of here quicker? Please~ I’d rather be safe ‘n cozy in here than live in society full of mammal freaks.” The sheep crossed her arms.
“Mammal freaks?” The fox looked perplexedly at her.
“Y’know, savaged- I mean Savages.” She quickly corrected herself. “Plus, the city is in bad shape. There’s no mayor, only committee as acting mayor. Who wants to be mayor when the city is under terrible circumstance-”
“Quit going off topic. Answer us. What relationship do you have with John Silver?” The bunny made a stern expression.
“Just to clarify, I do not collaborate with predators. Besides, that prosthetic armed bear is a drug lord. Why would he get involved with the pesticidal flowers back then? He may trade them now but that’s because they became illegal plants. What’s more, if we had indeed worked together, wouldn’t we have splintered when he learned my true goal?” She launched into a monologue.
    Chatty as always… The twosome thought to themselves.
“In a nutshell, you do know him.” The fox summed up briefly. “He’s still just distributor. Why in the world would somebody buy loads of Night howlers from him? An antidote for the night howlers has already been created.”
“Oh, trust me. Night howlers can be used more than for concocting the serum. Oh wait, it’s not like you believe I’m telling the truth anyway.” The sheep tucked her left leg under her steel chair.
    Eventually, both cops started to question how many percentage of what Dawn Bellwether said could be trusted.
“Tell me one thing, officers.” She demanded. “How do you ZPD and a security agency normally deal with Savages?”
    Nick and Judy exchanged looks, supposing there was no harm in answering Bellwether this question; therefore, “Sending the specialized unit to eradicate them.” she replied.
“You mean ‘kill’ huh?” Bellwether lowered her gaze.
“Why?” Nick was suspicious of the sheep’s body language.
“Nothing~ That’s right… That might be the best solution. Good luck protecting innocent civilians, officers.” Bellwether stared at Nick and Judy back and forth.
    It was obvious that she messed with the cops, which made the duo feel as if they were not supposed to waste their time with this ewe any longer. After prison wardens came to bring the ewe inmate back to her cell, the doe and the tod proceeded to another interrogation at a visiting room.
“Officer Hopps! Officer Wilde! I’ve been waiting for you!” A blue inmate costumed large golden brown lion greeted them cheerily.
“Good afternoon, former mayor Lionheart.” Judy greeted him back.
    Calling this interrogation was not quite accurate. It was more like the duo were casually interviewing Bellwether’s predecessor, Leodore Lionheart, a culprit who imprisoned animals that turned savage during night howler incident, at a visitor table. They hoped to earn some useful information from him.
“We heard that you’ll be released from jail soon. Congratulations sir~” Nick congratulated him.
“Right~ All the hosting seminars really paid off.” Lionheart clasped his paws. He had volunteered for numerous community services, especially hosting seminars on political science. Moreover, he behaved himself well during his sentence. Consequently, his prison sentence was reduced.
“Thank you both. I’ve got inspiration to write a book about the time I falsely imprisoned 15 mammals, got arrested by the very first rabbit and fox officers, then sentenced to jail.”
“So... Mr. Lionheart, may I ask you about that? When you captured those animals...” Judy ended a pep talk.
“What about it?” He did not sound upset one bit.
Accordingly, she carried on. “Whom did you hire to capture the savage mammals back then?”
“My subordinate timberwolves. You’d have already known, shouldn’t you?”
“You didn’t hire any criminals, right?” She rephrased the question.
“Well, I was a mayor of Zootopia at that time. I had plenty of resources. No reason to spend more money than necessary. In fact, it helps misleading cops.”
“How?” Judy wondered.
“You may not know this, Officer Hopps, but more than a decade ago, there was an infamous kidnapper terrorizing the city; thus, the police officers except new recruits such as you would be misguided.” Lionheart elucidated.
“I see.” Nick nodded, causing Judy to wonder whether he seriously knew whom the lion referred to or not.
“Let me guess. You came here for some clues to solve the new missing mammal cases.”
“Uhh, well...” She was embarrassed to be read easily by the friendly yet imposing lion.
“I’m in here.” Lionheart leaned forward. “It’s highly probable that I’ve heard jailers or other inmates talking about the current situation in the outside world. Speaking frankly, with Savages roaming around the city right now, it’s not surprising if some mammals… disappear. We have no idea what they really are. Some rumors say they are aliens. Some say they are beings from different dimensions. Or even bio weapons. Nonetheless, many are convinced that these monsters came from Cliffside because it was the first place where they showed up, wasn’t it?”
    He dropped a truth bomb… The truth that Judy was not aware of… Wrong. Actually, it was the the truth that no matter how well she knew in her heart of hearts, she did not want to acknowledge it… She would not like to think that mammals who had gone missing fell victim to Savages...
.--. --- - . -. - .. .- .-.. / -.-. --- -. -. . -.-. - .. --- -.
    Nick and Judy expressed their gratitude to Lionheart for his time. They left the prison, hanging around the Rainforest District in the late afternoon to gather their thoughts before they returned to the station.
    While experiencing the unique moist cool atmosphere, they gazed upon the 300-ft gothic clock tower which had not struck the bell for few years since the beginning of renovation. Nick was leaning against their police cruiser as Judy was organizing thoughts to take down notes with her trusty carrot pen.
“You still carry that pen around?”
“Yep. Why not? I even recorded the interrogation just now for relistening later.”
“But you didn’t notify them of recording.”
“In my defense, they didn’t ask~” Speaking tongue-in-cheek, she winked at the tod near her.
“Sly bunny~” He smirked.
    She looked obliquely across the city road. Subsequently, something immediately grasped her attention. “Hey Nick, what kind of canine is he?”
    He looked in the same direction as his partner. “Oh, that’s a St. Bernard, dog derived from wolf.” He identified breed of a grey shirted tan-pawed slender brown dog who astonished the doe since she had never seen this breed before. In fact, she had barely met dogs in general.
    They observed the business casual St. Bernard, standing on a footpath, long enough to notice a red panda sneaking around him, so they stayed cautious in case the red panda was a pickpocket.
    Shortly afterwards, a running plain white van came to a stop on roadside in front of the dog. At the same time, he brought out a handkerchief to cover his nose, then sprayed perfume at the red panda. She was tranquilized later on. He picked her up into the van before it immediately ran off.
    Without second thought, the duo got in their cruiser to pursue the van. The police siren loudened reverberantly, driving the van to flee faster.
“Officer Wilde to dispatch! Officer Wilde to dispatch!”
    The only response they received over the police radio was buzzing noise, which can be presumed that their signal got jammed.
“We won’t catch up with them-” Judy sounded anxious. She glanced at her canine partner reclining the passenger seat. “What are you doing?”
“Getting ready~” Nick putted on his MidniDriver.
    Knowing what he was up to, she putted on her driver. They subsequently transformed into Hybrid Police form and summoned the automag, spinning its cylinder, sparks flying out.
    Driver side car window was lowered. Hybrid stuck the left paw with the pistol out of the car to shoot a shining tiny bomb. It exploded above the moving van, sending electromagnetic pulses throughout the vehicle system to instantly disable it. Luckily, thick mist helped concealing the armored blend’s presence.
    Right after the van stopped moving, a group of criminals hurried to get out of the white van.
“What about this lesser panda, sir!?” A middle-aged hyena asked the dog politely.
“Leave her. She’s just gonna slow us down. Now, move!” He ordered, letting others escape first, then soon followed.
    Hybrid carefully stepped out of a car to avoid attention. Following that, they looked at the red panda in the abandoned van to make sure that she was safe. Once they confirmed her safety, Hybrid chased the criminals straightaway.
    St. Bernard guided other mammals through a smooth grey stoned street. They turned around the corner, entering an alley between red brick townhouses.
    The armored bunny officer with a spiky yet fluffy fox tail hunted down the gang of animals who attempted kidnapping. When they went around the same corner, Hybrid ’s legs stopped short as they found those criminals running towards a trip of caprid Savages. At that moment, they were in Police form. If they had used their pistol, there would have been a lot of risks that the bullets might accidentally hit the mammals.
    The duo were about to yell to the criminals in order to bring them to a halt. It turned out that they ran past the monsters which merely stood there on all fours and let them through.
    Lost for words, Nick and Judy tried to get their heads around what just happened. Why didn’t those monsters attack? Out of the blue, the Savage s pounced on Hybrid. Duo as one counterattacked by firing a gun. However, shots without aiming were hit-and-miss. Despite few bullet holes, the monsters persisted in assaulting the target.
    One Savage bit on Hybrid ’s right arm holding the pistol, one bit on the left leg, another shoved the front of Hybrid with horns. Even though it did not hurt, it was tough for Hybrid to move. In addition, the rest of a monster trip were on standby to attack.
    At the critical moment, a silver flash fell ahead of the united duo. The reflective paw grabbed the nape of the Savage biting the arm with black armlet before yanking it away. Once Hybrid’s right arm was free, they promptly shot the nearby monsters in the heads.
    Hybrid turned to look at the rescuer. It was the same silver chrome wolf they previously met. He threw the monster he was grabbing upward, then “Volt Strike” uttered calmly while crossing his arms above the head, both knifepaws glowing. When it dropped, he struck it with paw chops. It fell to lie on the floor, eventually breathing its last.
    The combined doe and tod had several big questions to ask but it was not a good time since they were facing the dangerous beasts.
“Duck!” Nick shouted to the wolf.
“I’m a wolf, not a duck.”
“Get out of the way!” He reworded. Hybrid tossed the gun to hold in left paw and then raised it before the right paw twisted the handle back. “ CRITICAL BREAK ” The pistol fired a energy ball which later exploded similar to a firework. The beams came down to strike other caprid Savages.
    However, some of them survived Hybrid Police form’s finishing move, skedaddling. Hybrid charged off to pursue the remaining Savages.
“Sit tight, Hybrid .” The wolf blocked the way, “Track down those Savages.” whispering through some sort of wireless communication.
“Bac-” “Back off, wolf.” The fox in rabbit’s body said out loud to drown out her voice.
“Don’t call me a wolf! How rude! Name is Bolt.” Jokingly offended, he introduced himself, pointing thunderbolt strips on his abdomen. “Shouldn’t you do your fuzz job? Taking care of the victim first? Leave the rest to me.”
“He got a point. Plus, he can defeat multiple Savages on his own… Fuzzy fuzz.” Nick told Judy softly.
    She sighed, somewhat fed up with the situation, not to mention his pun.
    Ultimately, Hybrid headed back to the van prior to the wolf vanishing.
.- -. --- - .... . .-. / .--. .-. --- - . -.-. - --- .-.
    At a later time,
“Where is Sir. Pan?”
“He’s left.” The hyena replied.
    From an outside perspective, mammals were meeting up on a mezzanine with stair in an old warehouse beside Rainforest District’s river.
“Is there anyone following us?”
“I don’t think so. Even if there is, that mammal must be stupid-”
“Hi~” A fruity male voice came from an entrance of a warehouse, preceding a white tundra wolf entering the warehouse. “So, this is your hideout huh? I have couples of questions for your boss. Is he here?” He unzipped his groovy black leather jacket.
    After the mammals on the mezzanine shared a look, they bursted out laughing.
“Alone!? What a joke. Like a moth to a flame.” The hyena scoffed at the uninvited guest while two mammals descended the stairs to shut a gate.
    Next, few caprid Savage s came out of the shadows to surround the wolf. Indicated by healing burn marks on their skins, they were the same ones that encountered Hybrid earlier and survived. The fleering criminals expected him to be horrified.
“Argh! Thank you!” Unanticipatedly, he grew relieved. “I prefer fists to do the talking. Mittens, hack security cams. I’m gonna have some fun.” Seemingly, he talked to himself, rolling up his jacket right sleeve.
“Switch on” The wolf uttered calmly.
- --- / -... . / -.-. --- -. - .. -. ..- . -..
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