#also it worries me that they’re adding new characters….

[tinned-beef]

they gave the new couple matching names that’s so cute

also! apparently the thibedeau’s are college professors! not sure why the brellies would need professors but i’m sure it’ll be interesting

[in1-nutshell]

TRANSFORMERS ONE IS OUT! Unfortunately, I couldn't watch it in theaters because work and money is a bit tight right now. I can't wait for this movie to come out in YouTube Movies to watch it. Since we both know it's obviously gonna have a sad ending, do you mind if I added a bit more sadness in this request? Orion Pax has a younger sibling that he raised named Buddy. Buddy loves both Orion Pax and D-16 as a family. Buddy is willing to bite some ankles if anybody was mean to someone Buddy cares about. Buddy is also tagging along with them in the adventures, much to Orion's dismay and dread. I heard there is gonna be a fight between them at the near ending. Buddy is horrified and scared that those two bots that Buddy considered their family is now fighting each other as enemies. Buddy begs and screams at them to stop, but Optimus and Megatron obviously won't. When Optimus and Megatron shoot each other at the same time, in a moment of panic and terror for their loved ones - Buddy jumps in between them and get hit by both of their shots accidentally that immediately offlined Buddy. They both stopped fighting in shock and grief. Buddy's death was the final straw between Optimus and Megatron's relationship. When Megatron and Optimus went in their separate ways, they both knew the war had begun. Characters: Orion Pax, D-16, Bumblebee, and Elita-one. Please and thank you!

Trying to get the TF1 fics out a bit early so we have something to read.

Hope you enjoy!

Slight mention of spoiler in the movie

Bot Buddy being Orion Pax's younger sibling

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Angst, Character death (you have been warned!), Cybertronian reader

TF1

Buddy was one of the youngest miners in the group.

They did get some special treatment from certain bots but was otherwise expected to act just like everyone else.

One bot in particular took interest in the younger bot.

Orion Pax was his name.

He saw a lot of himself in the younger bot and offered his companionship.

The younger bot quickly latched onto him faster than rust.

It didn’t take long for them to fall into a sibling dynamic.

Soon D-16 was introduced.

D-16: “So let me get this straight. You saw them and decided to be their friend and the next thing you know your siblings?” Orion: “That’s pretty much it.” D-16 shakes his helm in good humor. D-16: “Sometimes I can’t with you.” Buddy swings their arms around him and Orion. Buddy: “Get used to it D! You’re one of us now!” D-16: “As long as you’re not like this rusty bucket its fine.” Orion: “Hey!” Buddy chuckles: “Don’t worry about that D.” 2 weeks later… D-16 watching Buddy trying to drop kick Darkwing after he ‘accidentally’ knocked their energon cart. D-16: “Primus… they’re worse…” Orion pats D-16 on the back. Orion: “Yep… want to help them out?” Both mech’s wince seeing Buddy get punched in the chassis. D-16: “…Fine.”

Buddy always kept their brothers on their pedes with their antics.

Always kept them both on alert.

Buddy loved to randomly jump on their shoulders or try and pick them up.

Despite their antics, Buddy was a good miner and even managed to do something most miners couldn’t do.

Get on Elita-One’s good side.

No one knows what exactly happened between them both for Buddy to get a bit of favoritism.

Elita refuses to elaborate and Buddy likes to see bots squirm for the answer.

Buddy hands Elita a spare jetpack. Elita: “Buddy I already have a jetpack.” Buddy: “We’re going to need it.” Elita raises an optic but ignores it. Later… Elita: “… How did you know—” Buddy: “The jetpacks are old Elita. Its only a matter of time before someone falls from a faulty one.” Elita pats their helm. Elita: “When I get promoted, I might just ask to move you to be my assistant.” Buddy: “No! I don’t want any more work!” Elita: “Too late, already considering it.” Buddy: “Orion tell her to stop being mean!”

Buddy was helping Elita get used to her new role in waste management when they saw who was on the Iacon 500.

They cheered for their brothers with everyone else.

The bot let out a yelp when they saw D-16 get hurt, but quickly smiled seeing Orion try and help him to the finish line.

…Too bad Chromia won the race.

Good news, Buddy was now a couple shanix richer from the betting pool.

 While they were heading to the med bay to go see Orion and D-16, they quickly hid seeing Darkwing picking them up and leading them somewhere.

Orion and D-16 talking to B-127 when something big falls on to the conveyer belt and jumps off it. Buddy dusts themselves from the junk. Buddy turns and waves at the bots. B-127: “New friend!” Orion and D-16: “Buddy!?” They both go over to Buddy looking for any injuries. Buddy: “Hey quit it! I’m not dying!” Orion: “What are you doing here?” Buddy: “Well I was going to the med bay to congratulate you two, but Darkwing got to you first. Then I had to wait a while until the coast was clear and find out where you were sent. It��s kinda fun going through the shoot though.” D-16: “What you did was—” B-127 pushes D-16 out of the way and shakes Buddy’s servo. B-127: “Hi there! I’m B-127, or you can call me B or—” Buddy: “Wait! I can be B and you can be BB!” B-127: “Or maybe we can go by the Double B’s!” B-127 and Buddy start chatting up a storm. Orion: “What just happened?” D-16: “I don’t know but I don’t like it…”

Orion catches Buddy up on the new information on Alpha Trion.

Buddy is ready to go.

Orion and D-16 try to get them to stay, but Buddy ends up joining.

They are having a blast climbing the crates inside the train as Orion tries to get Elita.

Buddy stared long and hard at the landscape when the group reached to the surface.

Is sprinting with B-127 the moment the giant rock formations start getting closer.

Grips Orion and D-16’s servo when they all get tossed out of the train.

Their chatting and B-127’s chatting makes the other older bots consider gagging them for the remainder of the trip.

When reaching the cave of the fallen Prime’s, they gently hold D-16’s servo as they silently mourn for Megatronus Prime.

Hides behind Elita when Alpha Trion comes back online and nearly decks Orion in the face.

Cries a little bit seeing what Sentinel had done to the other Prime’s.

They deserved so much better than that fate.

Absolutely seething with D-16 when the group sees Sentinel giving the Quintesson’s THEIR hard earned energon.

Once everyone gets their T-cog’s, Buddy is the first to try and transform… unfortunately they did not get it the first time.

The group was running down the hill. Buddy’s helm gets tucked into their frame. Buddy: “I CAN’T SEE! I CAN’T SEE!” Orion starts laughing Orion: “HAHAHAHA—AAH WHERE’S MY HEAD?!”

Buddy gets a bad feeling about D-16 when he starts talking to Orion but brushes it off as stress.

They hoped they were right, especially after he admitted to wanting to terminate Sentinel.

Don’t get them wrong, they absolutely hate the bot now, but to go so far as terminate him?

It didn’t seem right.

Was the first one to get tased and wake up.

They get excited the second they see Starscream, Shockwave and Soundwave.

B-127 and Buddy both tell the other’s who the High guard were.

An excitement that quickly turns into frightened when they see D-16 beating up Starscream.

They tried to get to him, but the crowd wouldn’t let them.

Buddy looked over at Orion, both sharing the same look of worry and fear for their brother.

They end up getting captured by Arachnid with B-127 and D-16 after the explosion.

Orion is riddled with guilt the second Elita tells him that Buddy, D-16 and B-127 were captured with some of the high guard.

Thankfully, he and Elita made a plan with the remainder of the guard to help get the others and bring Sentinel to justice.

Back at Iacon…

Buddy was in between D-16 and B-127 on the ground, restrained as Sentinel prattled about having them executed.

They felt their spark stop for a second when D-16 stood up.

Arachnid had to restrain them when Sentinel started branding Megatronus’s face on D-16’s chassis.

Buddy kicks the spider in the back of one of her legs. She lets go. The younger bot then kicks Sentinel in the back of his knee joints before helm butting him. Snetinel staggers back a bit. They stood in front of D-16 with fury in their optics. Buddy: “Touch my brother again and I swear I will send you to Primus myself!” Many of the captured bots looked in surprise at the young bot protecting the fallen miner. B-127: “Buddy just stay down!” D-16 tries to stand up the second he sees Sentinel start to move to them. D-16: “Buddy get out of the way!” Buddy: “Fat chance!” Buddy tries to kick Sentinel again, but this time the Prime grabbed their pede and with a swift movement twisted it. SNAP! Buddy: “AAAAHHH—” WHAM! Sentinel punched Buddy across the face sending them skidding across the floor. D-16: “BUDDY!” He glares at Sentinel. D-16: “Stop! Your fight is with me!” Sentinel: “No, they made it personal when they helm butted me. Its time to make an example.”

Thankfully the train had just crashed into the building.

Orion hops out and helps D-16 and Buddy up.

Orion briefly thinks on punching Sentinel in the face but is quickly drowned by D-16 yelling that he was going to terminate Sentinel.

Buddy tried to tell Orion that something was wrong, but their older brother was gone, off to tell everyone the truth about what Sentinel did.

They did their best in battling the other guards with their bad pede.

The bot screamed in horror when they saw D-16 and Sentinel going off the edge.

It took them a while to get to where the fight was.

They remembered seeing D-16 holding an extremely injured Orion over the edge of a dark hole.

They didn’t remember screaming, but their voice box started glitching when they saw D-16 let go of Orion’s servo.

Elita and B-127 were by their side holding them tightly, afraid they would try and jump off the ledge to get to him.

Buddy remembered looking at D-16 giving his speech.

Their audial winced when he called himself ‘Megatron’.

They had to close their optics for a second, not believing they had seen a newer version of Orion, now calling himself Optimus Prime.

The two former brothers fought.

Megatron and Optimus were on the ground wrestling the former’s fusion cannon. They barely registered the sounds of pedes coming closer. Megatron: “Let go!” Optimus: “Never!” Suddenly the cannon went off. A scream. THUD! Both mech’s look over and see Buddy’s frame laying on the ground…so still. Optimus quickly gets off Megatron and runs to Buddy. Optimus: “Buddy!” Optimus gets to the frame. Buddy’s optics were offline and there was a smoldering hole in the middle of their chassis where their spark was supposed to be. Optimus gently cradles them. Optimus: “Buddy! Buddy please! Buddy… please… don’t…” He gently hugs the limp frame, not caring in that moment if Megatron blasted him. Megatron just stood up and stared. He wanted to scream. To yell. Megatron wanted to hug his little sibling frame and pray to Primus that this was not happening. Optimus gently places the frame down, stands up and looks at Megatron dead in the optics. Optimus: “Take the High Guard and go. You are banished from Iacon.” Megatron starts walking away but stops for a moment to take one last look at Buddy’s still frame before yelling for his troops to follow him.

There was a small funeral held for Buddy.

 Optimus made sure to hold it together in front of the others.

But Elita and B-127 caught him alone, sobbing with a picture of Buddy, Orion, and D-16, smiling, without a care in the world.

The two bots held their leader tightly as he continued to sob.

Megatron mourned for Buddy in private.

It was only right.

He cried in silence holding a picture of him, Buddy, and Orion Pax on their first day of mining.

In the safety of his habsuite, he could cry all he wanted before his Decepticon’s expected him to come out with a rally cry.

[canarysage]

…make a psd look interesting?

aka, how to fuck up a psd no glue no borax. have you ever looked at your psd and gone, damn, this shit doesn’t fuck? happens to the best of us. here are easy ways to spice up your psds so you don’t end up with the editor equivalent of communion bread

for example purposes, i made a simplistic psd to test these methods on. they should work with most psds, but, as always, fuck around and find out on your own for best results <3

i. threshold + gradient map

this one is an easy way to add specific colors to your psds. step one: add a threshold layer, and adjust it your liking. typically, i set mine to somewhere between 60-40. if you’re making a psd to work on dark skintones, you may want to set it even lower, but if you’re working with, say, pjsk characters, you can go pretty high

wow flashbang. you can see on my example behind that it doesn’t work super well on irl pictures, and my pjsk images don’t have threshold at all lol. next thing you want to do is set the blending mode of your threshold layer to either multiply or darken—they’re basically the same thing

(psst, if you want to know more about blending modes, check out this post!)

waow crunchy! but still boring right? still boring. not to worry, here’s the fun part: add a gradient map layer, tap it, and go to the slidey icon on the side, which’ll bring up a page like this:

click the gradient in the middle there to edit it. once in, edit the black color to be at about 80-90%, and then change the white color to whatever you like. edit out, and tap the little square next to the text that says “reverse” which should make your gradient look more or less like this:

then change the blending mode on your gradient map to ‘screen’ which’ll axe all the black and just leave your color. now your image looks like this:

boy howdy, isn’t that fucked up! it is more interesting, but if you don’t want to be looking at that abomination, change your color in your gradient map to be darker, which’ll give you something more along the lines of:

…which is much more reasonable. this is a fun way to add color to your shadows slash lineart, and can be a quick and easy way to make a psd look less flat.

ii. noise gradient map

some of you may be thinking, but, canarysage, what the fuck is a noise gradient map? to which i reply: you’re boring. let me show you.

kinda fucked up, right? well, that’s the goal. unfortunately, there isn’t a way to directly edit a gradient map, but you can just click that little button that says ‘randomize’ a couple times until you get something you like! you can also mess with the percentages but i don’t do that because it looks weird

boy howdy, that’s weird looking. not to worry, though. once again, our best friend blending mode is going to come in handy

i typically go to soft light and set the opacity to about 20-30%, but, as with anything, feel free to mess around and do whatever you want. luminosity is also a fun setting for noise gradient maps, just make sure to crank the opacity way down for the sake of my eyes

wow, much better! you can see that the gradient map added a bit of purple coloring and a funky little texture. super cool! thank you, gradient map!

iii. channel mixer

i already have a post on channel mixer and i’m not rewriting all that so if you don’t know how channel mixer works check that shit out but the tl;dr is: ideally, all your channels should add up to 100 (including negative numbers) but that rule can be broken if it looks cool enough. capiche?

iv. color lookup

photopea has a few default color lookups that are pretty easy to use, but i have a couple of presets that i like to add if i’m feeling stuck. to make your own color lookup, open up a psd, and go to file > export color lookup

then save it and open it from your files. when you open a color lookup layer, you’ll see an arrow next to the text saying LUTs—click that and your new color lookup should be there

once you tap that, you’ll get a compressed version of your psd added to your folder. it’ll look something like this:

holy orange and blue, batman. luckily, you can apply blending modes to color lookups just like any other layer—mess around with them until it looks how you want!

waow much more reasonable! i set this one on color and about 55% opacity, but that is really dependent on what your color lookup looks like and how you want your psd to look. remember, there’s no right way to do things!

an additional note: if you want to, you can save the psd you’re working on as a color lookup instead. if it looks too simple or just isn’t turning out how you want, that’s a good way to incorporate it later :3 just follow the same steps as above!

v. no shame in starting over

if you’ve added and taken away, duplicated and removed, fucked around and found out, and your psd still isn’t how you want: it’s alright to just axe it. the edit police aren’t gonna kill you for it, i promise. if you’re worried about wanting it later, just save it as a psd and come back when your brain is refreshed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

psd-making isn’t an exact art, so, obviously, there’s no real simple solution to making it look how you want. you just have to mess with it and see what you’ve got. these are just my methods of making my psds less blagh, but, obviously, my editing is moderately more deranged than your average editor.

…so that’s how you do it.

[felassan]

BioWare Blog post: 'Unveiling The Veilguard: Cast and Characters Detailed at San Diego Comic-Con' [July 31st]

"San Diego Comic-Con has come to a close, but not before delivering mountains of Dragon Age fun for the amazing fans in attendance. The highlight of the week was the panel we hosted on Friday featuring some of our cast of companions who – in conversation with host Lucy James – shared new insights into their characters and revealed even more lore about Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We also joined our partners at Dark Horse on the showfloor for fan signings, giveaways, cosplay photoshoots, and more. In case you weren’t among the lucky attendees who got to experience this year’s convention in person, don’t worry – we’re here not only to recap all the action but also to share photos from throughout the weekend. Everything kicked off Wednesday night with the Dark Horse booth opening and some giveaways. Our team also enjoyed a celebration of Dragon Age with our partners at Fandom on Thursday night. Then on Friday came our panel “Dragon Age – Meet The Heroic Companions of The Veilguard,” which featured voice actors Zach Mendez (Lucanis), Jessica Clark (Neve), Nick Boraine (Emmrich), and Ali Hillis (Harding) and highlighted the heart of every Dragon Age title: the companions. The panel opened with a bit of background from Creative Director and 16-year BioWare veteran John Epler and Creative Performance Director Ashley Barlow, who helped to cast and direct over a thousand conversations and brought hundreds of characters and storylines to life."

"As Epler explained, Dragon Age: The Veilguard sees players embark on a perilous quest to face powerful Elven gods and stop the apocalyptic destruction they’re unleashing. You’ll step into the role of Rook, battling on the front lines alongside a deep and compelling cast of companions who together comprise The Veilguard, a group of heroes who have come together to stop the veil from breaking and bringing about the end of the world. Rook must become the unexpected leader who can rally and unite the group. Throughout the game, you can explore the detailed storylines of each companion, navigating love, loss, and complex choices that influence your relationships. “Companions have always been such a big part of this franchise,” Epler asserted at one point during the panel. “You’ll navigate some of the most compelling individual storylines you’ve seen from BioWare. I’m really excited about the bonds players will form.” Barlow later added, “I feel like you can fall in love with any of them. Everyone that has touched this project has put a piece of their heart into it and into all of the different characters you could cross paths with. I know for me at times, in the companion stories, it seemed like I was watching a scene out of my own life. It’s a powerful feeling to have something or someone to relate to on screen.” Meet the Cast With that, the panel shifted towards the companions themselves, as well as the actors who brought each character to life. First up was Zach Mendez (Horizon: Forbidden West, Married Alive), who voices Lucanis: an expert assassin of the Antivan Crow faction. Bloodthirsty, calculated, and a workaholic, Lucanis was raised with high expectations and fears disappointing those he loves. To him, being an assassin is his only job and identity to be excellent at. “As soon as Zach was cast, he deep dove into Dragon Age and read everything he got his hands on. He did it all to create that depth of character you can really feel,” Barlow remarked. “Zach’s a comedian, he would easily find the humor in anything Lucanis was saying. And sometimes I’d have to remind him he’s a deadly assassin and to stay bloodthirsty, but I think he found this cool way of finding the light in the darkness.”"

"“After I finished [The Wigmaker Job], I realized this might be the coolest guy I ever get to play,” Mendez said. “What struck me was his mind is as dangerous as his knives. He’s constantly attuning himself to the kind of shifting terrain of every mission. And also, he’s kind of hilarious. I mean, if you look at his relationship with his cousin Illario in The WigMaker Job, they’re constantly giving each other crap. But there’s a lot of love there. So I got to pull from my relationship with my brother, because we love each other dearly but we can be ruthless with each other.” Mendez also revealed to fans that, in addition to voicing Lucanis, he actually recorded lines for a variety of other characters, including the Grey Wardens. “I can go ahead and play a bunch of characters, so I had to really steep myself in the understanding that, okay, the Grey Wardens go through a lot to actually do what they do. They make a pretty intense bond. So, I tried to bring that as best I could to the physicality… I cannot wait to see how it plays out the game.”"

"Following a few more quips from Zach, the conversation moved to Jessica Clark (True Blood, Pocket Listing) and Shadow Dragons rebel Neve, a cynic with a heart of gold who cares deeply about helping people and never leaves work half-done. She also has ice powers to halt an enemy or take advantage of the environment. “I’d describe her as the working class hero trying to make her hometown better,” Epler commented. “I love her loyalty,” Clark shared. “I love her dedication. I love how much she loves Docktown and its people and how she really sees a different vision that I’m into, as John said, and then what’s previously been depicted, and she’s really really fighting for those people and she loves those people.” Clark also commented on her experience with the casting and recording process: “Even though [the cast members] were all separate disembodied voices a lot of the time, we really all bonded. I know in a lot of projects they’re like all ‘we love each other,’ but we really do! And it just evolved so organically. There was something magical about it just being our voices in the beginning.” Full of Character Next up was Nick Boraine (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Black Sails), who plays Emmrich – a sincere, friendly, and scholarly necromancer who comes complete with a skeletal assistant, Manfred (voiced by Matthew Mercer of Critical Role). “He’s part of the Mourn Watch,” Epler explained, “an elite group of necromancers who are revered in Nevarra, but outside it, they are odd at best and evil at worst. He’s your well meaning but oblivious academic – assumes everyone has an academic’s curiosity, so can be pedantic on select topics.” While Boraine agreed, he found another aspect of the character even more remarkable: “I love the fact that the writers took Emmerich and explored the whole idea of death and the whole idea of necromancing by bringing kindness into it. I really responded to that and got into that and I know it sounds crazy, but it’s to not have this idea that death is vulgar or something to be terrified about, but something to actually engage with on so many levels. I just love the fact that the writers had the courage to do that in a game like this.” Barlow chimed in to share insights from her time working with Boraine: “Nick encompasses Emmrich; his sophistication, and eagerness to teach and learn, his hot nerdiness. Often Nick is just playing off of someone making a sound, and he takes it and internalizes it and gives it meaning and care, which is amazing to watch.”"

"Finally came Ali Hillis (Mass Effect 3, Naruto) and everyone’s favorite dwarven scout Lace Harding, who returns with a big heart, positive outlook, and some unexpected magical powers. “The world’s changed a lot in the time period since Inquisition,” Epler observed. “She returns as an excellent scout and archer, and has been leading teams through the wilderness while covering friends in battle.” “My favorite things about Harding are the little things like she loves her mom,” laughed Hillis. “You know, she loves to write letters home and she’s always talking about her mama’s stupid stuff like that. I love that relationship. She likes plants and raising plants which is inspirational since I kill them. But just the texture they add to the characters. That’s in general, but for me, it’s those little things that really kind of give me a bunch of stuff to work with in my brain.” Barlow effused, “Ali brought a weight and a history to this project as an anchor of the series. There was a growth to Harding. She’s a veteran now. She’s a trusted voice at the table, and the writers did such a great job of integrating her with the new team and finding the relationships with each of the unique characters.” Photo Opps Our panel ended with a crowd Q&A, but SDCC was just getting started. Our team spent the rest of the weekend giving away posters and exclusive Discord pins, signing those posters, and of course, meeting fans out on the show floor. Footage of the full panel should be available in a couple weeks, so for now we hope you enjoy these photos of our favorite SDCC moments! We’ll have more to share next month – including a new roadmap, more looks at the game, and our official release date (!) – so don’t forget to follow our BioWare and Dragon Age social channels. – The Dragon Age Community Team"

[source]

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles - Update 25/August/2023

(So sorry I forgot to post this last week) So this week I did a bit more fleshing out to the scenes I wanted to go back to before the next step.

One particular scene was good fun! I got to build out an…interesting conversation between a certain character and the villain (I’m calling them full villain now rather than antagonist because, well, they are pretty darn bad, hehe!). The moment gives the player a deeper insight into how the villain thinks—or likes to portray that they think!—and about why it is they’re doing what they’re doing.

It’s really fun getting to explore how these things happening are viewed by different characters!

Some of the other scenes I looked at again are some quite big moments in the romances too. Some things really can push forwards with those, and the scenes are ones I’ve been thinking of for a very, very long time! So I want to make sure they still work with all the new ideas I’ve been adding into the plan—so far they have so that’s a major happy relief!

Next week, I’ll be moving onto the next step and printing out the plan to begin breaking it down into more detail.

My hopes are having the plan so super detailed means that writing will go smoother, and I can get it done a lot quicker. I can already see that the way I’m setting out the chapters and the individual scenes is going to be WAY better to organize in my head as well as on paper!

But the next stage is also where I’ll be thinking of how to add in the storyline I’d been umming and ahhing about that I now really want to do…

A villain romance! :D

This isn’t 100% for sure yet, and it won’t take away from the main romances (which are always my priority) at all as it will only be available in the ‘Friend’ route where the MC isn’t romancing anyone.

It also will be a villain romance. And this baddy is bad. Like, pretty much non-redeemable kind of bad. So obviously…that’ll be personal preference as to whether it’s right for you, hehe!

The only reason I’ve been contemplating it is because this villain only pops up for Book Four, so I don’t have to worry about extra branches and variations for future books, which means it won’t be adding too much workload.

Plus they are just…yeah, I really like them even though they’re awful, lol! And the way they go about interacting with the MC already opens up the easy possibility of a romance.

So some exciting things this week, and I’m really eager to get onto the next stage to put me another step closer to starting writing! :D Hope you all have the most fantastic weekend! It's a bank holiday here on Monday in the UK, so I'll talk to you all again next week!

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 6 thoughts

it’s been an exhausting day. work was awful. i was brave and didn’t cry whilst there. and for that, i deserve this episode even more than usual. 

oooooh it’s an internet episode!!!! an episode about an internet killer!!! that probably felt new and scary back then!!! i’m excited to see something i assume as naturally dangerous as hitchhiking to be seen as scary and new. let us jump in, and enjoy the adventures of our agents, and numb ourselves to the hardship of the outside world.

these two people are in a car. he is smooth talking her. oh… they only waited three months to meet in person after talking online. hmm… is that speedy or not? i guess that depends on who you ask. for me, i’m gonna say speedy. because they didn’t even see each other’s faces before this.

he has mysterious scars on his neck. yeah, i noticed that very conspicuous camera panning. the music is very ominous. and now they’re kissing. 

OH??? THERE IS A STICKY FLUID. IN HER MOUTH. an unusual one. not whatever you were thinking. what the hell… was that man some kind of insect????? there was real goop in there, man. eughhh it was very gross. 

cop is approaching the car next day. and she is like. jelly? as in, covered in gel. the gelatin monster has struck and apparently he’s surfing the net. 

(trust when i say i’m not a gelatin monster. or don’t trust. perhaps skepticism is better)

okay, investigation time. this guy shakes hands with mulder and entirely ignores scully. tells me a lot about his character very quickly. mulder has also got some more conventional looking shades this time around. perhaps his other ones were just not keeping the sun out like he had hoped for.

body reveal! so it seems that the goop has um. melted her skin? EUGH. mulder swabs the goop. it’s just a prop, i tell myself to avoid gagging. a prop with excellent construction that was very carefully crafted. shoutout prop team as always. 

detective looks real freaked out by the goop. yeah he’s not special in that regard.

mulder says he has heard of similar killings from women placing ads in the paper! i don’t want them to separate though, as he announce he’s going on an investigation while she does an autopsy. c’mon, can’t we do some teamwork in the same room?

scully looks disgusted at the bloody goop in her hand. this is appearing to be a universal sentiment.

the goop man is at the computer typing to another woman. and smiling mischievously. we learn, from a woman dropping a key off at his door, that his name is mr. incanto, and she thinks that since he types and gets a lot of packages, he must be a writer or an editor. and she wants him to read her poems. wow. leaping to conclusions here. i admire it. it’s clear she’s flirting with him, and the idea of a person you’re attracted to reading your poems is a wild one for me to entertain. personally i would rather explode crazy style.

scully is scrubbed up <3 and she is so cute <3 i don’t mean this in a condescending way… she just looks cute in a fully “i respect her capabilities” kind of way. don’t worry. but this man is not respecting her and is shocked she’s a doctor. rude as hell… could never be me.

he says he’s old fashioned. umm okay if you want to be all manly about it how about you cut up the goop body yourself… oh that’s right you can’t. because you don’t have the skill set. or even any skill sets, as far as i can tell.

he says this is effecting her judgement because the victim is a woman and he isn’t being sexist. IF YOU DON’T SHUT YOUR MOUTH MAN…. she is so patient even when she ought to rip his heart from his chest with her teeth

she’s making a face when he leaves like she really IS thinking about doing some heart ripping and then she gets into the recording mode. and the body has increased in goopiness. in fact. there is only a skeleton now and a LOT of liquid. oh… 

mulder is asking about the murder victim, and he’s sitting on a very 90’s printed couch, and yeah he looks good. don’t worry about it. he’s asking the victim’s roommate what chat room they met in. now personally, if i was talking to people on a chat room, i would not be telling my roommate the names of said chat rooms, but maybe it was different vibe wise at that time. imagine if my roommate knew i ran a blog like this. i couldn’t picture such a thing. and the victim would READ her roommate the letters???!? OH I CANNOT IMAGINE SUCH A THING!!!!

he uses the roommate’s house phone to call scully, who is dealing with a very wet skeleton. but that’s so funny to me. he wanted to use someone else’s phone to call her. maybe his phone still hadn’t been replaced since that kid melted it in episode 3.

he’s putting out a localized online warning… is that a thing? wow. you learn so much on this television program.

“in life, bones have the tensile strength of forged iron”, says scully. and i’m giggling. n kicking my feet.

ohhh the bone is SQUISHY. it is not supposed to be this way. but it did look quite satisfying. again, props team, shoutout.

oh tea… the body fat wasn’t there!!! it disappeared. scully is like, why would he do that, steal a victim’s fat. and i would love to know the same thing. 

another woman is preparing to meet with the goop monster. oh, but someone is telling her there was a warning SPECIFICALLY for woman in cleveland to not go meet people online! but she’s like nooo i’m a good judge of character. LIES LIES LIES. she’s only been talking to him for a MONTH???? HOW CAN YOU JUDGE A CHARACTER IN A MONTH?

the killer’s at a fancy restaurant looking place with a bouquet of flowers and he’s checking his watch. oh and he dumps the flowers!!! queen of self preservation saved herself tonight by standing him up??? yes, it appears this is the case!! 

now there are a bunch of ladies on the side of the road. i have only seen this happen in this show and never in real life, but maybe i'm not looking in the right direction. NO! he sees a woman and smiles. they go to a back alley… no!! but she won’t kiss him. okay, i think, she has a chance. alas. i was wrong. so he attacks. OH AND HE IS SLURPING ON HER BODY???? another woman finds her goop-ified. 

they’re at the scene and the detective is being awful (shocker!) but mulder hands over some of the letters from the killer, and notes that they contain letters from 16th century italian poems. which tells me he is familiar with 16th century italian poems. ohhhhhhhhhh. blushing a lil. 

focus. so the fellow would have access to niche italian poems, is what we are learning here. likely a college professor, or a grad student, or something along those lines.

the killer should also have a wound pattern, they note, because the woman scratched him very well.

and BLEGHHHH, cut to his place, where he’s cutting his wound??? like straight up trimming it like it’s fabric or something. nasty nasty nasty nasty!!!

someone is bringing him a package. and the woman who asked to show him her poems asks him to dinner?!?!?! but he says he’s busy. the teenage daughter reads him for filth. he’s creepy and smells weird. delivered by a girl who meant every word she said.

scully is posing impeccably, looking as someone types on a computer. it was formidable.

mulder comes by with some results and he sort of. scoops her out of the room. 😳

theory time in the hallway! hallway theory time!! always one of my favorite times. “okay, it’s not yet the finely detailed insanity that you’ve come to expect from me” <- at least he’s self aware 

FAT SUCKING VAMPIRE LET’S GOOOO. such a preposterous creature. i have to admire it.

there are examples of this in nature, right? “i don’t know too many scorpions who surf the internet” scully, you just offended the coolest scorpion alive somewhere out there. but they couldn’t hear you so it’s okay. just don’t ever say that again…

scully wants to brief the people involved in the case and the detective is again being weird. mulder recognizes this. i can see it.

okay, so the killer has some more niche italian poetry. and an email from the woman who saved herself by not showing up! nooo, i thought she had escaped!

knock at the door. it’s scully. but not at the door of the right guy!! the detective is at the door of the right guy!!! 

mulder makes some remark about not being a good salesman because no one answered the door. and yeah i giggled. but she cuts him off with the fact the detective hasn’t answered his calls or returned… has he been gooped?!

now the killer is out with the woman who previously saved herself. and she sees his skin. and she offers to drive him home!!! noooo ellen :( don’t fall for his tricks and lies

the poetry woman is at his door. she puts a HUGE thing of poems under his door. 

but back in the car he is about to smooch ellen. somehow poetry lady let herself into his room??? and a bunch of flies are around. 

(we later learn she was the housekeeper or landlord or something so yeah. she would have access to the keys. but at the time i was baffled)

goop monster and ellen don’t smooch because he sees the poem lady is in his room!!! and the detective is in the tub!!! and he walks in right as she sees this!!! oh no. violence ensues…

her daughter comes to the door. and asks where her mom is. and he GRABS her weird as hell. and says he’s leaving.

mulder is sitting on a table again because he’s weird. but the girl calls the police!!! and they found her mom’s body and the detective's. the little girl asks scully why someone would do this and she says she doesn’t know… STOP I’LL SOB

okay, this dude’s name is virgil and there are no records of him existing. virgil. damn. maybe he’s FROM 16th century italy, because that’s a 16th century sounding name. are there any italian legends of fat sucking vampires? can’t say i’m very familiar with their lore 

they’re trying to get into his computer and all the files were deleted. ohhh they have floppy disks!!! i love floppy disks 💾

the killer went to ellen’s place?!!?!? and she locks the door. ellen please pull out a glock at this time. 

scully sent out a warning to everyone in proximity. and three of them were already missing!!!! that is evil :(

and ellen got the email but he’s in the room. and he starts attacking… oh lord, just as the agents roll up. 

they get in formation and then kick down her door and WHEW they way they work as a team… i’m eating it up. sweeping the rooms. guns cocked. 

ellen is under some sheets and coated in goop whilst mulder does parkour to go and find this guy. GO GO MULDER RUN RUN!!! his voice is all growly while he holds a shadowy figure at gunpoint, but he only runs into a teenager. no! poor kid :(

NOOO… THE KILLER WAS HIDING IN THE BATHROOM AND SCULLY WAS GOING IN THERE TO GET SOME STUFF TO TAKE CARE OF ELLEN!! he smashed her head in the mirror and he starts to goop her until ellen does in fact roll up with a glock. and shoots him in the chest. YES ELLEN I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU <3

so they have him in custody now and his skin is suuuuuuper dry and peeling and nasty. and scully asks what the hell he was doing and he goes on about stuff blah blah blah and then he quotes some italian and she gets freaked and dips. and we end with a hannibal-esque shot of his evil peeling nasty face. and some contemplative music.

so. that was gross.

grossness established. i once again kind of enjoyed this episode. like was i gagging, and not in the good way? yeah i was. but again with the suspense. i think the plot could be absolutely ridiculous- like an actual fat vampire- and if the plot and pacing are the right tempo, i’ll find myself fully absorbed into it. 

but i can’t help but feel that i’m missing something. the italian seemed too purposeful. is there some medieval tale of a fat vampire? i’m being so serious btw like actually. is that a reference that flew over my head? is it in dante’s inferno or something? i love history but middle ages europe always puts me to sleep so i can’t say i’m familiar with the literature or tropes beyond what i learned in art history class. where we never covered ANY sort of vampire. just a lot of baby jesus and also mary and sometimes adult jesus. 

hmm. so i’m wondering here what that was about. and yeah, i could google it. but again, more fun when you tell me things.

i mean, if it was something they just made up for fun, i get that too. like earlier we had that evil mermaid baby that lived in the waterways. and we had that evil twin that looked like the fiji mermaid. and eugene tooms the lizard man. the seriousness with which the situation is played enhances the campy angle when you ponder it.

overall, it was interesting to see a world where the internet was new and fresh and scary. now it’s scary in mostly familiar ways. but it was not always this way! and while i am a little confused on the concept of the episode itself- who exactly our monster of the week was, if he even WAS a monster of traditional sort of means- i won’t lie, the episode had me invested. there were also moral questions raised about how someone could do something so evil, specifically in relation to scully’s character, which probably speaks to her biggest fear being that anyone could pose a threat, which i think i’ll contemplate at another time, because it is fascinating, especially when you consider… i think it’s s2 episode 13? where the narrative also really dives into this question. how can people do evil things, and how can good people cope with knowing that it’s impossible to know who is capable of doing terrible things?

after a hard day at work in which a million things went sideways, it does feel nice to watch my pals mulder and scully do some sleuthing, no matter the situation in which they find themselves.

the goopsterrrrrrrr

[glitterpensupremacy]

(NOT MTS CONTENT) Alright, as a Miraculous fan (with a particularly vested interest in Chat Noir) I’m making my thoughts on the new Chat Noir look clear.

I’m not super upset that he doesn’t have a new outfit, since, let’s be honest, Ladybug and Carapace needed it WAY more than he did.

I’m also not that concerned about his new proportions. Yeah, they’re a little funny looking, it that might just be the camera angle. Either way, he’s getting older so it makes sense that his facial structure is changing (plus I give my own CN a slightly more angular face to indicate that he’s a sweet kid, sure, but there’s a lot more to him than just “good perfect bean”.

So then, what’s got me emotionally invested enough to make a Tumblr post? (By now it’s probably pretty obvious…)

The hair.

HERE’S THE THING THOUGH- it’s not that I think the hairstyle is bad or ugly. It’s very stylish, and the smooth swishy look would be more than welcomed on a different character. But that’s the problem, this is the wild and chaotic Chat Noir, the catboy of destruction who tells terrible puns. His hair should not be that neat, and it should not be that perfect (yeah it’s a little messy, but only enough to have that “effortless, natural look” you’d see in a shampoo ad)

Maybe I’m overreacting; after all, it’s just a hairstyle, and I’m treating it like it’s the end all be all for his character in Season Six. However… it’s not just the hair. While watching Season Five, I noticed that Chat Noir doesn’t really joke around as much as he did in previous seasons (especially in the second half of S5), and isn’t really allowed to get mad or be rebellious outside of when his role as the love interest needs him to (trying to cataclysm Dark Owl because of the Married LadyNoir vision, trying to cataclysm Dark Cupid because he’s being a protective boyfriend to Marinette, telling off Nighttormentor because Gabriel forced him to go to London, sure, but the show makes it clear that the REAL problem is him trying to keep Adrien and Marinette apart). Other than that, he’s the perfect well-behaved supportive partner.

In general, it feels like Chat Noir and Adrien are becoming more similar personalities, which is good: I think a lot of us have anticipated this happening for his character arc… but the problem is, Chat Noir is becoming more like Adrien rather than Adrien becoming Chat Noir, because isn’t his arc supposed to be breaking free of the perfect controlled persona his father has forced him into, learning to express himself and become his own person? (There’s also the fact that I think he’s a little more interesting to watch as Chat Noir or the more expressive early seasons Adrien, but his development is the more important issue here.)

This kinda thing has me worried that everyone who believes that the finale was bad on purpose (the secret dystopia route) and that the writer’s genuinely do want us to believe that Gabriel’s actions have been valid and ethical (THEY ARE NOT: BRO IS A TERRORIST 💀.) Either that, or they just want us to watch the cute shipping scenes and not really care about Adrien’s character outside of that. Kinda a bleak view, I know, but that’s how things have been looking lately. (Maybe they’re making him look neater as a part of the dystopia route though? I guess we’ll see but it seems unlikely…)

(I probably should reemphasize that I’m not actually getting this “doom and gloom conspiracy board” over JUST a haircut. It’s more like I saw a bunch of other (personal) warning signs over the last two seasons, and this is just one other thing making me more worried.)

I know this isn’t my usual stuff but I felt like I needed to air my grievances (especially since while I have seen other people not like the new hair, it doesn’t seem to be for the same reasons as me, seeing as I don’t even dislike the hairstyle itself; just the fact that Chat Noir’s the one who has it). Hopefully this was at least interesting or even validating, but if not… Well, I’ll get back to my normal content after this anyway.

[halfratsalready]

The Unhinged Jack x Wanderlust Conspiracy Board Explained

A few days ago I posted this silly conspiracy board I made for a slideshow night with my friends where I talked about how Ubisoft loves to deny Jack x Wanderlust and everyone seemed to like it so here’s an in-depth (and I mean in-depth) explanation of everything on it.

We start, of course, with Si’ha Nova and the Traveler, and Wanderlust wearing his dad’s cape at the beginning of Canned Heat because it’s super cute.

And you can’t talk about this ship without the moment from Majesty that perfectly mirrors the moment from Save Your Tears because genuinely why would they do this if they didn’t want people to ship these two? (Rainbow flag added for ✨flavor✨)

I also thought it was worth mentioning that the only time we ever actually hear any of these characters speak across all 14 lore playlist maps is literally Wanderlust calling out Jack’s name.

And now it’s time for the part that I like to call Ubisoft’s crusade against a monster of their own creation (because look at those last two points and tell me they didn’t do this to themselves. You can’t.)

Now in making this I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Ubisoft isn’t being as harsh on the ship as we’ve been thinking, because “they’re such good friends” and “best friends” with a thumbs up automatically reads as very sarcastic and joking to me, like all the memes about “historians will say they were close friends.”

Then there’s the infamous in’s and out’s New Years post, but what I hadn’t picked up on until I saw this screenshot from Twitter is that the inclusion of “normalize being evil” on the in’s list is rather suspicious and that, according to Just Dance, “this was posted by Night Swan’s army.” So I feel like that’s worth mentioning, because it casts a different light on all the other things on the lists. As in including Jack Rose in the in’s list since he’s the only one she didn’t corrupt yet and she wants to do that this year? And putting stanning Jacklust on the out’s because she’s evil and doesn’t want us to have nice things? Not too sure but hey, if someone better at analyzing things wants to look into that, I’d be down to read it.

(I also think it’s worth mentioning that “worrying about getting a Megastar” is included in the out’s list when the tweet just before that one is encouraging players to get Megastar on Zero to Hero, so some more contradictions there, but that might not mean anything, given that Night Swan’s whole thing is perfection and I feel like she would definitely be in favor of worrying over getting Megastar.)

Plus there’s the pretty popular belief that they’re just pointing out how stupid of a ship name Jacklust is, but I’m personally not at all sold on this being the reason, even if Jacklust is a stupid ship name. (I told my friends the ship name during this presentation and one of them said “Really? Wanderrose was right there.”)

Lastly, I threw Night Swan in there because of the theory that Ubisoft is denying Jack x Wanderlust because the Traveler is Jack’s father. Now, I have opinions about this theory and I hope it’s not true for obvious reasons, but I feel like if it is, it’s a serious oversight on Ubisoft’s part.

Firstly, if they’re half siblings why did they recreate the move from Save Your Tears in Majesty? Seems odd to have half siblings recreate a pretty iconic romantic duet moment.

There’s also the fact that we can clearly see that Wanderlust takes physical traits from each of his parents - his mother’s blue skin and his father’s dark hair. If the Traveler is Jack’s dad, why don’t they share any physical characteristics? At the very end of the beta for Sweet Dreams (spoiler?) we see Night Swan with green eyes, unlike the yellow eyes she has in the rest of the dances we see her in. (While this could just be an older design choice, I personally interpreted this as meaning that her eyes were green before she went evil and then they turned yellow.) In all of his character artwork, Jack’s eyes are green, which I take as meaning that this is a trait he got from his mother. So I personally feel like it only makes sense for his father to have red hair (and we’ve got plenty of options to pick from with that criteria).

But hey, that’s just a theory… I don’t need to finish that part, you’re already thinking it. Thanks for reading my insane ramblings!

[ily-sunghoon]

The Omen of Sterling | PROLOGUE

Pairing : vampire!enha x fem!oc

Genre of this chapter : vampire, surprise visit! (almost ends up as a dinner though!)

POV : Jestel’s

Words count : 1.8k

WARNINGS : wanting to eat oc..., mentioned of blood, hunting, slight argument, heavy content and world building, the boys kinda patriotic here if you squint [eagle voice] KHAAAKKK (let me know if i miss anything)

Note : thank you for the excitement! never would i thought that the simple character introduction would have over than 150 notes... i am very thankful, thank you guys... it means so much to me (feel free to send ask if you have any confusion about the character or world building!)

MASTERLIST

TAGLIST : @nshmrarki @capri-cuntz (let me know if you want to be added)

PROLOGUE: SURPRISE GUEST

“What is our feast for today?” Ricardo stares at the ceiling with boredom, waiting for dinner time, or hunting time—if I asked him to hunt today.

“What do you want to eat?” I asked all of them.

“Stray human.” Jasper answered easily.

“Well, unfortunately, they’re very rare. Almost never encountered, to be honest. They can only reach our kingdom if we brought them in, or they’re really really lost their way. It’s almost impossible to enter our borders.” Jusarlie sighed. Fake sigh.

“You’re learning how to breathe now?” Sarco laughed at Jusarlie’s attempt to fake breathing.

“I was bored, so I learnt how to do it.” Jusarlie answered sheepishly.

“It’s unnatural, try it again slowly.” Jasper guides him.

Jasper is a new member in our kingdom. He’s a new vampire that we found in the wood while we were doing a monthly patrol, we have no clue who turned him as one of our kind, so irresponsible of them. Jasper could’ve turned into a wild vampire and that’s not fun to handle. He was starving, lost his memory, and definitely very angry. Unfortunately for us, he is also very strong. It was a bit handy when we rescued him, but we named him Jasper afterward because it suits his face.

Well, he is now under our training. Good for my nation, since we’ve lost a lot of important people during the Red War, including both of my parents. So, to our advantage, Jasper is a really good start for us to build stronger soldiers.

Besides from the fact that he is a new vamp and his energy is over the limit, I’m pretty sure he’s already strong as a human. We’re all a little worn-out while training him, they always hand over Jasper to me and Hiael when they’re tired. With that strong gaze, I’m pretty sure he’s important to humankind. I wonder how they felt when Jasper disappeared.

“I want reindeer.” Saine finally speaks up.

“Reindeer sounds good.” Hiael nodded.

“We’re hunting after dusk.” I agreed with their request.

“Jestel, is that what I think it is?” Sarco stares down at the street, a bit far from us. I walked over to his spot and peeked at the big window.

There’s a human. Walking on the street like a lamb whose willingly walks into a wolf’s nest. Poor little baby.

“She smells unbelievably good. Is that normal? All humans smell like this?” Jasper asked.

To be honest, he’s not alone. My head is also spinning due to her smell. This is far from normal.

“I’ll pick up our dinner.” Saine looks so excited. He’s the best at deceiving people, no matter humans or vampires.

“Take me with you!” Ricardo is as excited.

“No, take me with you instead!” Even Jusarlie’s eyes are sparkling right now.

“Me!”

“No, you will instantly eat that human at the sight.” Jusarlie can totally read Ricardo’s behavior.

“Just because you love to read, doesn’t mean you can read my personality or behavior.” There you go, our youngest is kind of… bitter.

“Take note from your professor, will you? Read your books so that little undeveloped brain of yours could develop and work normally.” Jusarlie spat back. Oh, don’t worry, this is a normal fight in our house.

“Come again, Professor?” Ricardo scoffed.

“Maybe if YOU read your goddamn books, your little UNDEVELOPED brain could develop and work normally.”

“That’s enough, no one is coming with Saine.” I stopped their little argument.

They scoffed, totally annoyed at my choice. Saine nodded at me and quickly left to pick up our delicious dinner.

“Don’t give me those expressions. You’ll choose your favorite parts today.” I said without staring back at them who are giving me angry and sulky expressions.

Their eyes are sparkling again as they go back to excited mode. What a child.

The delicious, sweet, intoxicating, and irresistible smell is getting closer and closer as we wait in our living room. I saw Jasper was getting furious. Hiael is right next to him, ready to hold him down whenever needed.

“Hold it in, Jasper. Don’t let hunger wins over you.” I said to that poor new vamp. Must be hard for him to do that. He’s better than me, if I was a new vampire like him, I would’ve just run off to that human and sucks her dry. Huge respect for Jasper.

I can hear Saine opening the doors. Oh, we were so ready to strike until I saw Saine enter the house before the human does. It’s supposed to be the other way around. That’s odd. What happened? Does he not want to eat that human anymore?

I told everyone to hold their positions while I’m trying to reach Saine through our mind links.

Our dinner is clumsy enough to almost fall because her little foot tripped over our carpet. Luckily, Saine holds her steady, so she doesn’t bleed. Won’t be my fault if Jasper strikes at sight.

“Are you okay?” Saine giggles. Oh, interesting! I can’t contact him at all.

“All good, thank you.” She sounds a little nervous.

They entered the living room and the six of us were so ready to eat, but Saine quickly stopped us using mind links.

DO NOT, I SAY, DON’T YOU DARE! LET ME TALK TO JESTEL FIRST! Wow, he sounds very serious.

“Jestel, we need to talk.” Saine is smiling.

“About what?” I asked coldly.

“555.” He said the emergency code. How emergency is this?

“Alright,” I agreed. “Sarco, follow me. Ricardo and Hiael, you take care of Jasper. While Jusarlie… be polite to our guest.”

I hate you, Jusarlie said it through our mind links.

They followed my orders. Saine, Sarco, and I went upstairs to the closest working room for this emergency matter.

What could possibly happen?

“You’ve been acting odd. What is the matter?” I asked Saine.

“This letter will explain better than I do.” Saine gave me a letter. To my surprise, it was written in our ancient language. Old Krashovien.

I read the letter thoroughly with Sarco.

“She came with this letter?” I asked Saine again.

He nods quickly.

“I want to hear your opinions according to this matter.” I wait for them to speak up.

“Turn her to a vampire, duh? She’s the last Sterling. We need her.” Sarco, as usual, is a man of logic.

“No, no, no. Let’s train her first. Give her some free will, no?” Saine is a little opposed to that idea.

“The sooner the better, Saine. Human age so rapidly, we can’t lose a chance to have a Sterling for our nation.” Sarco frowned.

“Give her some time, Sarco, you heartless bastard. She just went through a lot.” Saine is showing his sympathy to her.

“Wake up, Saine. Just because she’s beautiful, don’t forgot the fact that she’s a Sterling, Saine. A fucking Sterling, she’s anything but a feeler. She’s far more heartless than I am.”

“It’s risky! Do you remember why Sterling left Krashoviel?” Saine still stands on his ground.

“She’s that child?” I joined the conversation again. Could it be?

“My father warned you, Jestel.” Saine said to me. “At least, let’s ask him first.”

“Fine. Let’s train her to our best, gain her trust, and finally turn her into a vampire. Done.” Sarco’s idea is still about turning her into one of our kind.

This is very confusing.

I called the others—except Jusarlie—to join us in our emergency meeting.

I looked at them with a heavy heart. “We’re haunting today. We will not eat our guest.”

“Oh, man!” Ricardo and Jasper are clearly annoyed.

“May I know why?” Hiael asked.

“Well,” I paused and showed them the letter. “Ricardo, translate it for us.”

“Dear, King/Queen on the throne of Sinflame. I, Tearle Sterling, gave this girl to your hand. She is my daughter, Iolana Sterling, the one that caused some trouble twenty-one years ago due to her sweet smell. By the time you read this, it means that all of Sterling is already gone and she’s the last one we have. Slevado and Axadel have been terrorized and tried to kidnap us a few times. Iolana is smart, she knows the basic history of Krashoviel. She speaks Old Krashovien. She is curious, keen to learn something new. She is also good at fighting with any kind of weapons, I teach her by myself. I left this girl to Krashoviel, you can do whatever you’d like to her. I’d rather have her end up as your feast than to be kidnapped and used as a weapon to tear Krashoviel apart. I miss my home. Sincerely, Tearle Sterling.”

“Who’s Sterling?” Jasper frowned.

“Unlock that at 3rd semester with Jusarlie.” Sarco giggled.

“They’re not some urban legend?” Ricardo is surprisingly dumb.

“Urban legend is crazy.” Hiael laughed at him. “One Sterling equals five Jestel.”

“Nice one, Hiael.” Jasper and the youngest laughed.

“He’s not joking.” Sarco’s serious face made their laughs disappear.

“Oh.” Jasper and Ricardo are kind of scared now.

“But she’s a human?” Jasper is still confused.

“Long story, ask Jusarlie later.” Sarco shook his head.

“So, we’re turning her into a new vamp? Who’s strong enough to be her host vamp? I’m not.” Hiael quickly retreats after his own question.

Every new vampire needs a host vamp. They need their host’s blood to be able to feel full. If not, they can be a little destructive and drink a lot of blood than a usual vampire. Just like Jasper. He needs five big bottles a day, while we only need two or three maximum, and no! It is not a small matter, they crave human blood almost all the time as well.

“Not me.” Ricardo shook his head too. “She smells so sweet it’s very sickening. Jusarlie is better than me.”

“He’s still talking with the girl?” Sarco asked curiously.

“They’re sitting next to each other!” Jasper couldn’t believe it too.

“We haven’t decided yet.” I answered honestly. “Her host vamp.”

“So… we’re going to train her first?” Hiael asked us confusedly.

“Yes.” Saine nodded. “We’ll see later, maybe she will also choose a host along the way.”

“It’s settled then.” I nod and stand up. “Hiael, Jasper, Ricardo, Sarco, you’re in charge of hunting. Fetch us a healthy delicious reindeer. Jasper, do you still remember how human food taste?”

“I don’t know?” Jasper is confused. Doesn’t matter, I’m pretty sure he still remembers.

“Great, you’re going to oversee the food. You can guide and order around our chefs and maids about the food for our special guest.”

Jasper nods hesitantly.

“Dismiss.” They obey my orders and quickly move to do as told. I went downstairs again with Saine.

“Apologize for making you wait.” I smile at our guest, Sarco is right. She’s beautiful. I offer my hand to shake hers, “Jestel Sinflame.”

“I should be the one who’s apologizing, Mr. Sinflame.” She smiles back at me, her eyes are smiling too. She shakes my hand, “Iolana Sterling.”

TO BE CONTINUED...

; YOUR CUTE REBLOGS AND COMMENTS MAKE ME FEEL REALLY GRATEFUL <3

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© ily-sunghoon, 2024

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[duskwoodraven]

Finally more information from Everbyte.

They have given a link to a Moonvale tracker for the next episode and have added a list of further developments.

Some of the things they mention adding that caught my eye are,

Adding new player profile pictures. Perhaps giving us a choice to not use Ai as a picture? Though it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s just more Ai but with non humans.

The adding of character profiles which is a positive, It will help with their gameplay and give us a chance to look back on new evidence like links and video calls, plus help us bond with characters.

Adding Character and player stories? I’m not sure what this could be, perhaps more side storylines, but I’m worried they’re just going to include an Ai chat bot like they mentioned in their feedback response.

New ways to obtain currency and balancing touches to recently introduced Systems, Currencies and Rewards… If I am to stay optimistic, I hope this could mean a potential one time payment for full access is in our future. But then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if they simply include more mini games or something similar to grind for more gems. At least they seem to be willing to change their gem to content ratio.

The rest is essentially adjustments to their game and how it runs.

I want to give them a chance, and will be checking out Moonvale once these new changes are made, but I also know my hopes shouldn’t get too high either. I learned my lesson 💚

[therealdisneyfan2319]

Latte Love | Wanda Maximoff

Summary: When a new coffee shop opens up across the street from your bakery, you enter into a rivalry with its new owner

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Male Reader

Warnings: Smut (minors DNI), language, mentions of major character death, house fire, mentions of alcohol

Word Count: 7.3K

Masterlist

A/N: This was a request from @aloneodi​.  The prompt was pretty straightforward: enemies to overs with lots of angst and smut.  Enjoy ;)

For the past two months the construction across the street from your bakery had driven you insane.  The constant sawing and hammering was grinding your gears.  You weren’t sure what was coming in the old storefront.  It had been vacant as long as you could remember.  You were in elementary school when Mr. Neely retired and the building now sat in a state of dilapidated disrepair: the front awning was threadbare, the windows were partially boarded up, and graffiti was spray painted over the brick storefront.  Inside the empty cases gathered dust and cobwebs.  It was a bit of a pleasant surprise when you came to work one day to see a ‘SOLD’ sign taped to the front door. 

“Maybe we should blast some music, give them a taste of their own medicine,” Natasha suggested with a smirk.  Natasha Romanoff was your right hand woman when it came to running the bakery.  Not only was she an accounting whiz and could balance the books in her sleep, she also made a mean creme brûlée.  

“I just don’t understand why it’s taken them so long to remodel.  It’s construction, not rocket science.  What’s going in there anyway?”

“It’s a coffee shop.  I met the owner when I went to the wholesaler the other day,” Sam explained as he dumped another batch of bagels into the bucket.  A slightly intimidating Air Force veteran with the heart of a teddy bear, Sam was your resident bagel maker and donut fryer.  People came from all corners of the state for his famous brownie batter donuts and egg everything bagels,

“So literally the exact same as us?”  You could hardly believe what you were hearing.  The Rolling Scones had quickly established itself as Westview’s premiere (and only) bakery.  Why did someone else need to open up right across the street?

“Hold up, it’s not exactly the same thing.  We’re a bakery that serves coffee and they’re a coffee shop that serves baked goods.  Totally different.”

You shot Sam a glance that immediately made him do an about face and head back to his boiling batch of bagels.  Flour covered fingers ran through your hair as you leaned up against the back counter thinking about all the negative ways this new shop was going to impact yours.

“What are we gonna do, Nat?  I can’t lose this place.”

“Y/N, relax.  It’s just another business.  We’re not going to go out of business just because there’s a new place in town.  If anything they’re the ones who should be worried.  They have to compete with Sam’s bagels.” 

“We could just burn it down!” Peter, the teenager who washed dishes after school and on weekends, added.  “Then we wouldn’t have to worry about them!”

“He’s got a point,” Sam added as the door jingled open.

“Peter!  Arson isn’t the answer here!” Nat rolled her eyes, heading to the back to work on handling the latest invoices.

“But it is a solution,” you teased.  Natasha groaned as she kicked the back room door open.  “Can I help you?” you asked, turning your attention to the customer who walked up to the counter.

“Yeah, I’m looking for a - oh, SAM!  Hi!”  The young woman in front of you raised up on her tiptoes and waved over the counter.

“Wanda hey!”  He walked over, an overflowing basket of hard rolls in his arms.  “Glad you came.  How’s the remodeling going?”

“Good!  My contractor told me that we should be able to open by the end of the month.”

“That’s great news!  Did you pick the name yet?”

“My brother and I argued about it for a while, but we finally settled on Latte Love.”

“You’re the one who bought the old deli?!”  

“Mmhmm.  I always wanted to open a coffee shop and I thought it was an absolutely charming little spot.  So I saved and took out some loans and got it!  I’m Wanda.  Wanda Maximoff.”  The overexcitable brunette shoved her hand out in front of you.

“Y/N L/N,” you responded as you reluctantly clasped her hand.  The last thing you wanted to do was be friendly with the person who was your direct competitor. 

Sam chatted with Wanda, asking her all sorts of questions about the wholesaler and how she was faring getting her deliveries set up.  Your vision went red at the sight of your friend and this despicable woman having a friendly conversation.  Why on earth would he invite her into your shop, the shop your parents worked so hard to build and the one you worked so hard to keep thriving?  The fear of losing the family business permeated your mind on a daily basis.  This wasn’t making it any better…

“Who’s that?” Natasha’s voice snapped you out of your stewing.  She leaned against the counter, sizing up the scene in front of her.

“That’s the new coffee shop owner.  Wanda.  I have no idea why she’s here or why she’s talking to Sam,” you huffed, crossing your arms as you leaned against the counter.

“Someone sounds a little jealous,” Nat teased.  

“Jealous?!”  Your face flushed red with embarrassment.  “You think I’m jealous?  Nat, that’s the woman who’s going to try to steal all our customers!  She’s the enemy here, not the prize!”

Natasha looked at you, then at Wanda, then back at you, and back at Wanda.  “She’s hot.  Think I stand a chance?”

“Can you pretend you’re not gay for like, five minutes please?  Five minutes.  That’s all I’m asking.  I’m not jealous, I don’t want anything to do with her, and I swear to Christ if she’s into chicks too and you sleep with her your ass is so fired.  ANYONE who sleeps with her is outta here!”  As much as you hated to admit it, Natasha was right: Wanda was gorgeous.  She had the perfect figure, her cropped jeans hugging the curves of her hips just right.  The billowy light blue and white button up and oversized sun hat gave her a youthful exuberance that radiated from her glowing face and stunning green eyes.  

“You’d have less of a stick up your ass if you got laid, you know?” she smirked.  Groaning, you headed back toward the kitchen, kicking the swinging door with your foot.  The sweet smell of powdered sugar and freshly baked cupcakes instantly calmed you.  Unsure of how to amuse yourself until Wanda left, you grabbed a cooling rack of cookies and began frosting, turning the sugary discs into half moons.  The repetition of frosting and smoothing calmed you.  With enough time and vanilla Wanda’s unwelcome appearance would soon become a distant memory.

************************************************

Latte Love had been open for almost a month.  The cafe had a slow start initially.  Customers trickled in and out for the better part of two weeks.  For those two glorious weeks you paid no heed to the brunette who could often be found sweeping the sidewalk and arranging the outside tables just so.  Suddenly, something changed.  Before you knew it a line formed outside the locked doors every morning with people waiting to get their morning cup of coffee.  You didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but once you spotted a couple of your regulars in the line your vitriol for Wanda increased tenfold.     

“That’s the third time today they’ve had a line out the door!” Peter exclaimed as he pressed his nose to the glass.

“Thank you for that reminder, Captain Obvious,” you snarked as you counted back change to the lady at the counter.  “Anything else you want to add?”  

Peter quickly recoiled from the glass, a sheepish expression on his face.  “Ned says their coffee is really good….and so are their muffins,” he mumbled.

Oh great.  Now I’ve gotta compete with her pastries, too.  What a bitch…you thought to yourself as you handed the lady back a fistful of coins.  Wanda was frustrating you more and more every single day.  You sighed, taking off your baseball cap and running your hands threw your sweaty hair. 

The door jingled.  Sam and Nat walked in, the two of them eating cookies that suspiciously didn’t look like yours.

“What are those?” you asked.

“You want one?  Wanda gave them to us.  Pietro’s trying out a new recipe for sugar cookies.  They’re honestly not half bad.”  Sam reached into the brown paper bag and grabbed a large cookie, its warmth causing it to bend ever so slightly.

“Goddamn it!  You slammed your cap down on the counter.  In your mind, this was an act of war and you were not going to stand for it.  Who did she think she was, bribing your employees?  

“Y/N, just relax, okay?  Wanda didn’t mean anything by it.  She’s really nice if you get to know her,” Natasha asserted.

“She’s stealing our customers!” you shouted.  “And I can’t believe you guys are eating her food!”

“Dude, relax.  The cookies are good and she’s nice.  Her brother’s cool, too,” Sam added, wiping cookie crumbs from his goatee.  

“Unbelievable,” you mumbled, storming around the counter and yanking the door open.  You were going over there to give her a piece of your mind. 

You didn’t care what customers thought as you pushed Latte Love’s door open.  Lucky for you there weren’t any at the moment, the last one having left moments ago.  You heard the commotion of dishes crashing from the back and a voice you hadn’t heard before mixing with Wanda’s.  As the commotion in the background subsided, it was the perfect opportunity to look around at the transformed deli.  

The new design was rustic chic with exposed brick walls, stained wooden tables, and the same rustic counter that Mr. Neely once stored his meats and cheeses in.  A series of shiny metallic coffee machines sat behind the counter, the shelves above it stocked with containers full of different types of coffee beans.  The front case was stuffed full of various breads, pastries, cookies, and sandwiches.  It wasn’t a bad place at all, and the food didn’t look half-bad either.  She’d actually done a decent job at bringing the old shop back to life.

“Y/N?” You whipped around as Wanda called your name.  She looked exhausted, her face glistening with sweat and powdered sugar as she pushed a rack of cupcakes and sweet breads out of the kitchen.  Her hair was swept up in a messy bun, strands hanging askew as she wiped the sweat from her bow with her arm.  Her black apron was peppered with sugar and frosting stains.  “How are you?  Did Sam give you a cookie like I asked him to?” “Did Sam - what?”

“Oh, I gave him some cookies to try.  Pietro’s working out a new sugar cookie recipe and he needs taste testers so I figured-”

“What are you playing at here, Maximoff?”

“Excuse me?” Wanda tilted her head as she questioned you, her gaze quickly hardening into a stare.

“You heard me.  What are you playing at?  Is stealing my customers not enough for you that you need to go after my employees too?”  

Wanda’s jaw dropped open as she stared at you incredulously.  She laughed, shaking her head as she started unloading the cupcakes.  “Are you for real right now?”

“Before you showed up we’d sell out every single day.  Now more often than not I’m throwing stuff out.  Sales have dropped and I’ve lost regulars that I’ve had for years.  So I’m telling you this now: stay away from me and my staff.”  It was all you could do to not take all your frustration out on her.

“I don’t know what you think’s going on here,” Wanda started, placing the trays neatly in the case.  While she wasn’t outwardly aggressive, she shoved them in there harder than she normally would.  “But you are absolutely insane if you think that I’m trying to steal your customers or staff or whatever.  Sam and Natasha have been nothing but kind to me and Pietro, I just want to return the favor.”

“Well stop.  The last thing I need is for my guys to be fraternizing with the enemy,” you grumbled, your blood pressure reaching a boiling point as you stared her down, fists clenched tightly at your side.

“Oh, so now I’m the enemy then?” She slammed the tray on the counter, sending loaves of bread tumbling off the sides.   “Jesus, Y/N, what’s wrong with you?  Have you ever stopped to think that maybe people stopped going to your shop because they wanted to try something new or, here’s a novel thought, maybe they like my place more than yours?”

“Fuck you, Wanda!  That place means everything to me!  You have no idea what I’ve done to keep that bakery running and I’m not gonna let your stupid bucket list adventure ruin my life’s work!”

“Get out!” Wanda shouted as she threw a muffin at your head.  Her aim was wide and the pastry hit the wall with a splat as you leaned out of the way.  “Get the fuck out of my store you bastard!”

Your vision tunneled as you stormed out of the shop, not neglecting to flip her the bird as you slammed the door behind you.  Ever since Wanda Maximoff came to town everything had gone completely and utterly wrong.  Everyone seemed to be flocking to her and her business.  Even Sam and Natasha, two of your closest friends in the whole wide world, had taken to her.  It irritated you to no end.  She constantly invaded the deepest depths of your mind, and many nights you awoke in a cold sweat after she invaded your dreams.  There was nothing you wouldn’t do to get her out of your mind: grueling pre-dawn runs, sleepless nights spent getting ahead on cake orders, countless after-work happy hours throwing back whatever alcohol you could get your hands on…anything to get that frustrating, irritating, beautiful woman, out of your mind.

************************************************

After your spat, it was like someone had built the Berlin Wall in the middle of the street.  Patrons realized that something was up with the two shops and most had picked a side.  Lucky for you a majority of the customers you lost returned.  Things finally went back to normal for a while.  Sam and Natasha stopped frequenting Latte Love, or if they didn’t they kept quiet about it.  Natasha reamed you out for the way you snapped at Wanda, telling you to grow the fuck up and deal with it like an adult while Sam became unusually quiet around you.  It was exasperating, but at least you felt like you were in control again.  Yet as things started to go back to normal, there was something looming around the corner that would change your life forever.

************************************************

“Hello?” you mumbled groggily into your phone.  It was the middle of the night and your phone jolted you awake with its abrasive ringtone.

“Y/N, it’s Nat.”  You shot right up, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.  She sounded extremely concerned to the point where you were worried.

“What’s wrong?  Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.  It’s the bakery.  It’s-”

You didn’t even let her finish before you hung up, frantically searching for some clothes and your keys as you raced down the stairs of your apartment toward your car.  As you sped down the road toward downtown, an orange glow illuminated the dark buildings while sirens grew ever closer.  

Oh no.  Oh no no no no no.  Please no.  Please.  You white-knuckled the steering wheel, your damp palms sliding as your heart pounded in your chest.  The turn onto the main drag confirmed your worst fears: The Rolling Scone was burning. 

You skidded to a halt almost as soon as you turned the corner.  Fire engines, police cars, and ambulances blocked the area surrounding your store and the other end of the road while firefighters rushed into the burning building.  You jogged down the street, looking for a familiar face in the crowd of first responders.

“Y/N!” Natasha jumped out of the back of an ambulance and came running over to you, a reflective rescue blanket draped over her shoulders.

“Nat!  Oh god, are you okay?”  She threw her arms around you and squeezed you tight.  You instinctively pulled her close, cradling her head with one hand as you wrapped your other arm around her.  

“I don’t know what happened.  I was working on the books in the office before I got started on the donuts and I started smelling smoke, so I walked out there and the kitchen was on fire.  I tried to put it out, but when it got too big I called 911.  It’s all my fault, Y/N.  I’m so sorry.”  Her eyes were brimming with tears as she apologized for the mistake that wasn’t her fault.

“It’s not your fault,” you mumbled against the top of her head.  “I’m just glad you’re okay.”  You held her close to you as she cried into your shirt.  The sight of your beloved bakery burning to the ground in front of you should’ve elicited some emotional response from you, but you felt nothing.  None of what was happening seemed real.  You’d wake up in a few hours, shake off your nightmare, and head back to work like nothing ever happened, but that wouldn’t happen again for a very long time.  Now when you woke up, you’d have to spend the foreseeable future picking up the charred pieces of your livelihood.

************************************************

Gone.  It was all gone.  The last tangible reminder of your parents had gone up in smoke.  Words couldn’t accurately describe just how devastated you were.  The bakery was the way you dealt with the crushing pain of having tragically lost your parents so early in life.  Now your coping mechanism was gone.  You looked around, seeing the charred remains of the booths, the front counter, and the collection of employee and family pictures that hung on the back wall.  One picture in particular caught your eye.  It was you and your parents after the little league championship game the year your team won.  The picture was charred around the edges, half of your mom’s body was burnt off, but it was mostly intact.  You ripped it off the wall, sighing as you stared at the faded memory.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered at your parents’ beaming faces.  You let their dream burn down and with it your last memories of them.

You stayed in the building most of the day.  Natasha stopped by at one point to find you on the floor leaning against what was left of the front counter.  She offered to grab you some food or take you home, but you declined, wanting nothing more than to disappear into the void.  That’s where Wanda found you when she showed up later in the evening.

“Hey,” she said as she crouched under the CAUTION tape.  You ignored her as you stared at the charred photograph in your hand.  She stood awkwardly in front of you, a brown paper bag in one hand and her purse in the other.  Wanda was the last person in the world you wanted to see right now.  You wanted to scream, to tell her to leave you alone, but you didn’t have the energy.

“Please go,” you murmured, flipping the photograph through your fingers.  

She didn’t go.  She walked over to the counter, kicking a piece of charred wood to the side as she sat down next to you.  There was an unspoken tension in the air as neither of you looked at each other: you stared down at the picture, she stared at the brown bag in her hand.  

“Here,” she said as she slid the bag over to you.  Taking a look inside the brown bag, you saw two delicious looking honey butter muffins staring back at you.  “I figured that it’d help you feel a bit better.”  Wanda smiled, her emerald eyes glimmering back at you.  For the first time since you met it made your heart skip a beat.

“You figured that muffins from your still-standing cafe would help me feel better about my bakery burning down?”

“Look I’m sorry, okay?  I’m really sorry about your bakery…” she trailed off as she brought her knees up and hugged them close to her chest.  “It should’ve been my place that burned down, not yours.”

“Don’t say that.”

“But it’s true!  Sam told me all about this place.  How your parents built it from the ground up, how you’ve literally spent your whole life working here, how you dropped out of school after they died to-”

“Please stop,” you interrupted as you felt another lump in your throat. .

“Is that them?” she asked, leaning over to get a better look at the photo in your hand.

You nodded.  “That’s, umm, that’s the day we won the little league championship.  Dad coached my team that year and…”  You trailed off as your eyes filled with tears.  “Umm, this place is the only thing I have left of them, you know?  Coming here every day, it’s almost like they’re still here.  And now that it’s gone I…”  You looked down at the picture as hot tears rolled down your face.  The emotional breakdown that had been brewing all day was finally bubbling up through the cracks.  “Sorry.”

Before you could say anything else, a pair of soft hands wrapped around you and pulled you close.  “It’s okay, you can let it all out,” Wanda whispered.  That was all it took for you to finally break down.  You sobbed into her chest as she held you.  She squeezed you close as she gently rocked back and forth, her fingers gently stroking your hair.  “You’re okay, Y/N.  You’re going to be okay.  I’ve got you,” she soothed.  Your body was wracked with sobs as you finally let everything go. 

Wanda’s touch was calming.  You’d never felt so calm or safe wrapped up in someone else’s arms before.  You never cried in front of anyone, not even Natasha and she was your best friend.  Somehow you knew that Wanda was someone you could trust completely.  “I’m sorry that you’re going through this, but you don’t have to go through it alone,” she whispered in your ear as your sobs started to calm.  You didn’t have enough control to speak yet so you simply nodded into her chest.  Her scent was intoxicating, a combination of sugar, roasted coffee beans, and vanilla blossom shampoo.  You never noticed it before.

“Sorry for getting your shirt wet,” you sniffled as you sat up.  

“Sorry for throwing a muffin at your head,” Wanda chuckled as she reached up to brush a stray tear from her face.  Her hand was incredibly soft as she rested it on your cheek.  You felt your face grow hot, but you weren’t sure if it was from the way she was touching you or the lack of distance between your faces or all of the above.  The knot in your throat instantly migrated down to your stomach as you locked eyes with her.

“ S’okay,” you mumbled as you lost yourself in her deep green eyes.  After staring for a moment too long, you turned your head away and blinked.  She shook her head, realizing for herself the tense intimacy of the situation.  “What kind of muffins are these?” you asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Honey butter.  Pietro found the recipe online and fell in love with them.”  

“I can see why,” you responded with your mouth full.  “They’re good, but I think mine are just a bit better.”

“Shut up,” she answered with a playful smack.

************************************************

Over the course of the next few weeks, Wanda came over to your bakery almost every day.  At first it was just to bring you something from the cafe: a cup of coffee and something sweet in the morning or a sandwich after she closed up for the evening.  Her presence soon became a familiar comfort to you and you looked forward to the few moments you spent with her every evening.  Daily food deliveries turned into offers to pick up dinner, and you often found yourself sitting up with her until all hours as you ate and continued the arduous rebuilding process.  Soon enough Wanda was coming over to help you on her days off.

As you spent more time with her, the way you thought about her changed.  You no longer woke up in a cold sweat from nightmares that involved her.  Nowadays when you dreamt about her you woke up with an uncomfortable throbbing in your pajama pants.  Her smile made you weak at the knees and you craved any opportunity to touch her.  She was an incredible woman but you were terrified to tell her how you felt.  

Natasha, of course, had noticed the shift in your demeanor towards her.  “So do I get to fire you when you sleep with her or are you gonna fire yourself?” she teased one night while you were tearing the tile flooring out of the kitchen.

“Fuck off, Nat,” you answered, not steering your attention away from the floor.

“Don’t pretend like you weren’t drooling over her when she wore those shorts in here the other day.  Besides, I see the way you two are when you’re together.”

“She’s just being friendly.  She’s like that with you and Sam too, you know.”

“Y/N, she kept staring at your crotch when you wore those grey sweatpants last week.  Even if she doesn’t like you, and I’m telling you she does, she still wants to fuck you.”

“Right, yeah,” you guffawed.  While you brushed Natasha off, you hoped she was right.  You had caught Wanda staring when you wore your grey sweats last week…and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy it.

“You should tell her how you feel.  I’m pretty sure she feels the same way.”

“Nat-”

“She’s over there now.  Just go talk to her.  Ask her out for dinner or something.”

“Nat-”

“Relax, I’ve got everything under control,” she smiled at you.  “Go talk to Wanda.”

You groaned as you pushed yourself up from the hard floor.  “Fine.  But if this all goes wrong I’m blaming it on you!”  You wiped your hands on a rag, throwing it at Nat as you headed for the door.

“It won’t!” she called from the kitchen.  You shook your head, grinning as you pushed the door open and crossed the street to Latte Love.  The store was closed for the evening.  Inside, Wanda was cleaning up, wiping down the tables and counter like she did every evening before making her way to The Rolling Scone.

Wanda looked up as she heard the door jingle.  Her exhausted face lit up at the sight of you.  “Hey you,” she called.  “What’s going on?”

“Not much.  Just helping Nat rip up the tile in the kitchen.  Contractor says he’ll be ready to go by the end of the week for that.”  The words felt like cotton balls in your mouth.  You never got this flustered around her but the thought of telling Wanda how you truly felt about her had your stomach tied in knots.  “How was your day?”

“Good!  Pietro left early for an appointment, so it’s just me closing up.  I was planning on picking up Indian for dinner.  Wanna join me?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.  Listen-”

“Oh!  I got this call for this INSANE order.  This lady wants twelve dozen cupcakes by Sunday.  SUNDAY.  Can you believe that?!”

“Wanda-”

“I mean of course you can, you’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have.  But I mean we’re a coffee shop, not a bakery!  I would’ve sent them to you but, well, you know, it’s a little hard to bake cupcakes when you don’t have an oven.”

“Wanda-”

“So I said ‘Sure, why the hell not?’ and I think that was a mistake because-”

“WANDA!” you said a little more aggressively than you intended. 

“Yeah?” She threw her hand towel over her shoulder.

“Wanda.  I, well, fuck.  Sorry, I’m not good at this.”  Your hands were all sweaty and your knees felt weak.  “Look.  What I want to say is, well, for the past few weeks we’ve…spending time with you…fuck!  Why is this so hard for me to say?”  You ran your fingers through your hair, frustrated that you couldn’t figure out the right words to say.  

Wanda’s quizzical look slowly softened into a smile as she started to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  She looked down at the ground, biting her lip as she threw the towel on the counter right before she jumped up on it, spun around, and hopped off on the other side.  She walked right over to you, stopping less than a foot away as she looked up into your eyes.

“You know, for an emotionally suppressed type of guy, you’re pretty cute when you get all flustered,” she teased.

“Wanda, I-” 

Before you could finish your thought, Wanda grabbed your waist, leaned in, and kissed you.  Your hands somehow found their way to the back of her neck, palms resting on her cheeks as you cupped her head.  Every single coherent thought you had flew out of your brain the second her lips touched yours.  They were just as sweet as you imagined they’d be.  You smiled into her lips, eternally grateful that she had been the one to initiate this in the first place.  She smiled back as you deepened it, capturing her bottom lip between yours.  There was no need for talking, no need for any other explanation.  The dance between your lips told the entire story: you were hers, and she was yours.  The knot in your stomach burst into a million butterflies as every touch ignited a burning sense of desire within you.  

“Wanda, I-” you somehow managed to choke out as she began to kiss the side of your neck.

“There’s a couch in the office and the door locks,” she mumbled.  Her lips grazed your sensitive skin as she spoke and it took everything in you not to let out an offensive moan.

“Lead the way.”  Wanda grabbed your hand and dragged you behind the counter and through the kitchen to the small office in the back of the shop.  You slammed the door shut behind you as Wanda pinned you to it, locking the door with one hand before bringing it back up to roam your body.  She slammed her lips into yours as you grabbed her hips, pulling her flush against your body.  The contact sent a surge of energy through your groin and you knew it would be only a matter of moments before your shorts became unbearably uncomfortable.  

You explored her body as you kissed her, tracing over every curve as she moaned into your mouth at the sensual contact.  She was heavenly.  You decided to change up the intensity of your make out session, swiping your tongue over her lower lip.  She willingly opened up and allowed your tongue to explore hers.  

Before you realized it, Wanda’s hands made their way down your body to the front of your shorts.  She unbuttoned them, stopping right afterwards to palm your throbbing erection.  You nibbled on her bottom lip as she fondled you and she smiled into your mouth in response.  As she pulled your pants and boxers down, you pulled off your t-shirt and threw it off to the side.  

“You’re beautiful,” Wanda whispered as she looked at your naked body for the first time.  She ran her hands over your toned biceps, strong and wiry from years of kneading dough, and your pecs, down your toned stomach before reaching your cock.  She grabbed it with one hand, stroking it gently as she dropped to her knees.

“Wanda,” you groaned as she worked her hands up and down your shaft.  Pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she lined up her mouth with your tip and swallowed the first part of your penis.  She swirled her tongue around your tip, coating it in saliva before removing her mouth and using it as lube to jack you off.  Your knees felt weak as she took you in her mouth again, bobbing her head up and down your entire length.  She sucked and licked and swirled your cock, hollowing her cheeks as she took you down her throat.  The noises that came from her mouth as she gagged on your length were sinful, but it only made you want her that much more.

At one point she reached for your hand, placing it on the back of her head.  You took that as a sign to do what you wanted, so you moved her head up and down at a speed you liked.  You moaned as you felt the familiar fire burning within you, spurred on by the way Wanda’s eyes watered as she let you fuck her throat.  She grabbed onto your thighs as you pounded into her, nails digging into your flesh as she looked up at you with those pleading green eyes.

“I’m gonna cum,” you moaned as Wanda ripped your hand away from her head, bringing her other hand up to jack you off as she sucked on your tip.  The sudden suction and added stimulation immediately caused you to tumble over the edge as you released down her throat.  She greedily swallowed every last drop.  Having her suck you off like that was a life-changing experience.

Wanda sat back on her heels, wiping the drool from her chin as she gasped for air.  “Nice cock,” she chuckled.  “Hope it feels as good as it tastes.”

“Why don’t we find out?” you teased, offering your hand to her as she stood up.  “But I think you’ve got too many clothes on for that.”

“I think we can take care of that,” Wanda smirked, reaching down to pull her shirt over her head.  “Want to get my pants?” she asked as she reached behind her to undo her bra.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” you joked as you unbuttoned her jeans.  You slid both them and her panties down her legs before she kicked them off.  “Wow,” you said, taking a step back to admire her.  

“Like what you see, tiger?”

“Wanda, I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”  Wanda blushed a deep shade of crimson at your words.  It wasn’t an exaggeration.  She was absolutely gorgeous.

“Thank you,” she whispered sheepishly as she sat on the couch.

You sat down next to her, your eyes darting from one part of her nude figure to the other before you settled back on her lips.  Leaning forward, you kissed her as she fell back on the couch.  It didn’t take much to shift your position so that you were completely on top of her.  You relished the taste of her lips as you kissed and you wanted to savor  the sensation of every second.

“Fuck,” you murmured as you reached a hand down between her legs.  “You’re absolutely soaked, Wanda.”  She whined as you drew a finger up the length of her cunt, teasing around her engorged clit.  “You do that to me every day.  I go home soaking wet and fuck myself thinking about how good you’d feel inside me.”  She bucked her hips against your hand, desperate to relieve the ache building within her.  “God, I want you in me so bad, Y/N.”

“Jesus,” you whispered through gritted teeth as your erection swelled at her words.  “And here I was trying to figure out how to tell you how the first thing I do every morning is jack off to the thought of you.”

“I guess we both have filthy minds then,” she grinned.  Her face was flushed with arousal, the redness spreading down her neck and onto her breasts.  “Fuck!” she exclaimed as you dipped a finger ever so slightly inside her before quickly pulling out.  “Please just fuck me!”

“You’re cute when you beg,” you sighed as you lined yourself up with her entrance.  You teased her with your tip, rubbing it up and down her slit and over her lips and clit before barely pushing your head in.  She whined, rolling her hips in a feeble effort to lower herself onto you.  

“Y/N please-” Wanda’s words turned into a sharp cry as you slammed your entire length inside her.  Her pussy was absolute heaven.  She was warm and wet, her slick velvety walls engulfing you and squeezing in all the right places. 

“Oh my fucking god,” you croaked.  You laid over her for a minute, trying to regroup yourself enough so you wouldn’t immediately blow your load inside her.  As she adjusted to your intrusion and you calmed yourself down, you began to roll your hips against her, thrusting in and out.

“Shit,” she gasped.  Wanda rolled her hips in time with yours, meeting you as you thrust your length all the way inside her.  You continued at a steady pace, the sounds of her wet pussy being the only noise in the room.

“Are you okay?” you asked, noticing Wanda’s eyes were screwed shut.

“Feels really good.  Can you go faster?”  Not wanting to disappoint, you began to pound into her.  Her mouth gaped open at your newfound intensity as she reached up to wrap her arms and legs around you.  “Oh fuck, right there.”

The couch shook under the duress of your movements.  You pounded into Wanda, her tight hole stretching perfectly around your cock with every thrust.  Sweat beaded on your forehead as you grunted from exertion.  Your moans and groans, along with the squelching of Wanda’s pussy, filled the room.  As you pounded into her cunt, your cock disappearing within her wet folds, Wanda’s moans became louder and more erratic.  “You close, baby girl?”

Wanda nodded, wrapping her legs tighter around your midsection.  “My clit,” she choked out.  You helped her move one of her arms from your back to the sensitive spot.  She circled it furiously, a loud groan tearing from her chest.  “Faster,” she commanded.

You doubled down on your efforts and hammered into her dripping cunt.  The way her walls fluttered and clenched around you told you she wasn’t far away from her orgasm.  The way she tightened around you sent that familiar coil through your lower abdomen.  It wouldn’t be much longer until you reached your climax as well.

“I’m gonna cum,” she whined.  You pounded into her as fast as you could, groaning as your hips slammed against her swollen pussy.  Her hand circled her clit furiously.  Wanda came with a loud groan, her back arching off the couch as wave after wave of ecstasy crashed down on her.  Her walls throbbed and clenched rhythmically around you, the intense sensation finally causing you to cum as you released your thick load of cum deep inside her.  Wanda dug her nails deep into your back as you absolutely ruined her.

“Fuck I love you,” you gasped as you collapsed on top of her from sheer exhaustion.  Blood pounded in your ears and black dots peppered your vision as you recovered from the best orgasm you ever had.  

“You love me?” Wanda asked, her eyes blown wide with desire from the afterglow of her incredible orgasm.

“Shit, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said that.”  A sense of panic overtook you as you stared down at Wanda.  

“No it’s okay.  I mean, I feel the same way,” she admitted, smiling back up at you.

“Really?”

“Mmhmm” 

You chuckled as you leaned down to kiss her.  “Guess I have to quit my job now.” 

Wanda looked at you with a confused expression.  “What?” she asked as she cocked an eyebrow.

“I told everyone that they’d be fired if they slept with you, so I guess I’ve gotta quit.” 

“I love you,” Wanda giggled as she shook her head.

************************************************

“So let me get this straight: we’re merging with Latte Love after you threatened to fire us if we talked to Wanda?” Sam crossed his arms as he sat on the newly reconstructed front counter.  You had called the team together to announce the new business venture you were about to embark on.

“Okay first off I only threatened to fire you if you slept with her.  Talking to her would’ve resulted in a stern talking to and overnight donut duty for a week.  Second, it's not a merger so much as it is a partnership.  Both businesses will operate independent of one another, but now we’re going to start carrying some of their baked goods,” you explained.  Everyone looked at you in utter disbelief, unable to fathom your sudden shift in the way you viewed Latte Love.

“What changed?” Nat asked, tapping her pen against the table.

“Oh you know…stuff…things,” you murmured sheepishly as your face reddened.

“Oh my god!”  Nat’s eyes widened in realization as she stood up. “You slept with her!”

“Dude what?!  That’s so -” Peter exclaimed before Sam slapped his hand over his mouth to shut him up.  You pinched the bridge of your nose as you looked up at the ceiling.  Natasha was laughing at the irony of the whole situation before she lambasted you with questions.

“How long has this been going on?  Wait, was it a one time thing?  Oh, it was definitely the time I made you go over there to talk to her when we were ripping up the floor.  And you told me you two just talked.  Talking my ass…Is this a business deal, like sex in exchange for pastries?  Are you two a thing?  I should’ve guessed with how much time you’ve been spending over there and how you never want to do anything fun with me anymo-”

“Nat, will you please shut up?!”  Her endless questions were exasperating.  Yes, you and Wanda were in fact a thing but you hadn’t told anyone about it.  You hadn’t even told Nat about your back office hookup even though it happened two months ago.  There was so much going on with rebuilding the bakery and dealing with insurance claims that you wanted to keep this part of your life private.  “I just think it’d be a good idea for both of us, maximize our profits, boost both of our busin-”

“Hey babe, is there any way you can come help me with the rest of the-” Wanda paused as she barged in on your team meeting.  “Oh hi guys!”

“Mmhmm, it’s definitely good for both of you,” Nat smirked as she took a sip of her coffee.  You shot her a warning look while Wanda stood utterly oblivious to the scene unfolding around her.  “Go on, go help your girlfriend with whatever she needs.  I’ll show Peter how to do the bagels.”

You smiled at Wanda as you headed toward the door.  “So what do you need my help with?”

“Nothing,” Wanda responded as she reached for your hand.  “Just wanted to spend some time with my favorite guy.”

“Don’t let Pietro hear you say that.”

“That’s okay, he already knows.”  She squeezed your hand reassuringly as you crossed the street.  

You smiled as her grip tightened around your hand.  Six months ago there was no way to predict that the woman who ruined your life would ultimately become the greatest thing that ever happened to you.  As you crossed the threshold from your bakery to her cafe, you were grateful to be able to call The Rolling Scone, Latte Love, and Wanda home. 

[ringsreforged]

Season 2, Episode 6 - Nat's Rambles

Okay – SO – Paulina is still on holiday, and I’m obviously DYING OVER HERE (Natalie, in case you hadn’t guessed) so TUMBLR. I HAVE RETURNED.

Truly though, I don’t think I’ve done this since S4 of The 100 which probably aired 100 years ago at this point…what has this show done to me…

ANYWAY. My immediate thoughts on Season 2, Episode 6: WHERE IS HE???????

Paulina Voice: All opinions herein have nothing to do with me, so only judge Natalie for them.

Important Note: I have only watched once, in a haze of stress and emotion, so I reserve the right to delete all of this later if I change my mind on any of it.

Arondir – Hello! Nice to see you! Glad you’re joining us for the battle!

I did like the detail of confirming that not all the orcs are on board with Adar’s war, but I was mostly laughing that ‘running through the trees’ is how the show has reminded us a character exists for two weeks in a row.

Rhun – I think this was the first episode where I was like GO AWAY, RHUN, NOT NOW. Though, I want to stress that I am super excited to see the conclusion of this, probably in episode 8. The Dark Wizard, the Gaudrim, the fate of the Stoors (honestly, I’m assuming they’re all going to be massacred tbh…which…the optics…but we’ll worry about that later…). In today’s episode, it just felt a bit like ‘hey, these characters still exist.’

I did love the little snippet of Tom and the Stranger, though I felt like it could have just been included in their previous scenes. He is 1000% Gandalf, and I stand by my opinion that this isn’t supposed to be a twist or a surprise. It’s just the narrative telling the story. Destiny or friend is super intriguing to me. It’s very Luke and Yoda from Empire, but I do wonder if his destiny IS to choose his friend…and in so doing, THAT is how he finds his staff…

Nori talking with the Gund was very sweet, and her willingness to give herself up to protect everyone was super in character. Poppy and Merimac were cute (I pray to all the gods that THIS was the kiss Morfydd teased but I doubt it very much…), and Poppy wanting to fight for the Stranger made me pretty emotional. However, I have some bad news…

Guys…I think I’m adding Poppy to DEATH WATCH. And I HATE IT. BUT I CAN’T UNTHINK IT.

Moving on…

Numenor – This continues to be the choppiest of storylines this season, but I do think the broad elements are super on point. And, actually, where we end up makes the Eagle sequence make more sense in retrospect. Pharazon didn’t have things locked down, Miriel is very much still a player on the board, and Mr. Eyebrows is THE BIGGEST HYPOCRIT.

Then again, if you told me I’d see Halbrand in the Palantir I’d probably touch it too…

Ahem. Loved that detail by the way! Part of the reason I felt like Halbrand would be his Numenor form was the small scene he shared with Pharazon back in S1, while Galadriel was taking out the guards. A connection was formed then – perhaps his eyes even bored a hole – and if Halbrand rocks up as an enemy of the elves, that’ll only make him more appealing.

Everything with Miriel and Elendil was absolutely stunning. He was willing to give his life for her, she was willing to give hers for his. WHAT ABOUT MY HEART. Honestly, from the way Owen and Cynthia talked about this season, I felt like they weren’t going to get anything at all romance coded. But I’m just starting to think people in TV only see active kissing as romance, because HELLO?? THAT’S THE SCRIPT????? THAT IS ABSOLUTELY ROMANCE????

I’m very excited to watch the sequence with the sea worm again, and to really let it wash over me (heh), because I was starting to get time anxious at that point in the episode (my brain starts panicking ‘don’t end, don’t end.’ Honestly, my brain SUCKS). But it was incredible, the implications were wonderful, Elendil’s relief was beautiful, and so was Pharazon’s rage. Also, the whole sequence was UTTERLY STUNNING, WOW.

Note for the show overall, or maybe just for myself, though – PLEASE stop spoiling so much of the season through promotional material. My biggest gripe with this episode is that I felt like I’d already seen/put together 90% of it.

Anyway, I’ve left Earien until last because this was a MUCH better episode for her (though, not letting her have any reaction to Valandil’s death was CRIMINAL). To the point that I’m now reforging (heh) my thoughts on last week – who directed her to have such bratty energy last week? Weird.

Anyway, we saw much more of her conflict and fluidity in this episode. She isn’t Faithful, she believes the new order is the way to go, but she’s also struggling massively with it. Her desperate hug with her father broke my heart, I had instant tears in my eyes, but then I also cheered when she brought Miriel in! What a great surprise that was! I’m REALLY interested to see where she goes from here…I’m assuming in the finale? I was sure she was locked onto a super dark path, but she witnessed Miriel survive the Valar’s judgement…will that sway her back around?

I’m going to finish this section with something that’s maybe a bit controversial…Elendil sucks as Earien’s father!!! Now, I’m willing to put this on pacing/editing issues, because I don’t think the show really wants us to feel this way. But good god, man. HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR DAUGHTER. I really enjoyed their cell scene, but sweet lord baby jesus, these two needed a deep conversation in episode 3. Watching him turn to go when Miriel walked in, and just forget Earien was even there hurt me man…even though I enjoy the Miriel aspect VERY much…

Like, I know you’re mad at her, but you’re all she’s got left…and your pride might mean she watches you die…can you be a little kinder to her???

Dwarves being dwarves, AKA perfect – Flawless. No notes.

The initial sequence with the Durin’s and Annatar was PERFECT. Annatar being rejected (that Balrog glimpse was SO EVIL), and Baby Durin’s flicker of hope. But then the reveal that Daddy Durin is deep in the shit because he’s really just being greedy. My gooooodnesssssss. The show has done SUCH A GOOD JOB setting this up, because we know Daddy Durin isn’t this way! We feel Baby Durin’s pain!

Then Daddy Durin has his IT’S MINE moment with the ring and swats his son away. Anguish. And the anguish only anguished harder when we cut to Durin and Disa. Disa talking about her love for her father-in-law, and her own father, and then DURIN’S TEARS. UGH. UGH. UGH. I was weeping, honestly.

I feel like Durin being suss of the rings this early on is a pretty big change (don’t quote me on this) but I’m for it. Watching Disa turn back Narvi and the others (poor Narvi) was beautiful and then that I LOVE YOU. UGH. UGH. UGH. PERFECT, I SAY.

I doubt Disa has anymore bats to summon, though, so IDK how the heck they stop what’s coming next. Is Durin going to get drawn away by his desire to help Elrond, leaving Disa alone and vulnerable?

I REFUSE TO PUT DISA ON DEATH WATCH, SHOW. I REFUSE. DON’T YOU DARE.

Adar and Galadriel – I wish we’d gotten more, especially because they released a clip yesterday that I obviously couldn’t resist watching, but what we got was JUICY.

I felt that Adar knew Halbrand was Sauron back in the premiere, or at least suspected it. Getting that confirmation paints their scene with the talk of the wine, the tears, and the kneeling in such a different light. TASTY.

I’ve seen people question this, because why did Adar not try and kill him there and then? To my mind, that’s pretty straightforward. He killed him once and it didn’t stick. And last time he had the element of surprise. He knows that Sauron is powerful enough to get out of his chains/to not get caught by orcs, which means he’s here for a reason. If Adar tries to kill him, best case scenario Sauron is off the board for another few centuries, but he’ll likely take down some orcs with him on the way out. And for what? For him to just come back again?

I think Adar decided to play the long game. I think talk of Eregion and Galadriel let him know that something more was going on, and he was biding his time to act.

So, Sauron promised Adar children. Honestly, the Adar/Sauron/Galadriel dynamic that played across this episode was the stuff of my dreams. Adar is holding his own relationship with the fella up against hers, and there’s so much subtext for both dynamics. Was there romance between both? Was it solely manipulation for both? Is Adar what Galadriel might become if she succumbs?

Galadriel definitely wasn’t being entirely truthful with Adar when she mentioned that Sauron promised an army, because that was more what she thought she could get out of Halbrand. And yes, sure, Sauron might have nudged her that way. But Sauron’s true offer came later on the raft, after the army had been delivered. Adar even acknowledges that she’s not being truthful, that she needs to let go of her pride. I feel like we’ll see that play out over the last two episodes for sure…

The line that really stuck with me from a Hal&Gal perspective was Galadriel finishing Adar’s line about the world with Sauron being full of colour, and without him it’s a dull grey. It fits with how Galadriel has come across to me this season. Since Elrond shut her out, she hadn’t had anybody to open up to, and she’s certainly not being fully honest with herself yet. That dull grey speaks to how she’s mostly been…quite contained? The only moments where she’s truly come alive were with Nenya, and when she was fighting.

Later in the episode, she DOES put aside her pride. She calls Adar Uruk!!! She opens up and sees the possibility of an alliance. And I think this goes back to Sauron too. She’s had a taste of darkness and the temptation of it, she knows she’s not secure from succumbing, and so her perspective of Adar – who was once an elf – has massively shifted. However, when he asks if he and his children will be able to return to their home…we all know the answer to that.

I actually never stopped to consider that Adar would be the one manipulating/tricking Galadriel, which is silly in retrospect. Because this much better explains how she ends up in a cage facing the elves (sorry guys, I don’t think she’s bait for Sauron…she’s facing the wrong way…). I’m looking forward to watching this bit again, as I feel it was a bit rushed on first watch. I would have liked to see these two chat for a good two scenes more, honestly.

Adar is falling into the trap, which is pretty devastating, and Galadriel is the one seeing through it. Honestly, I really don’t know how things roll out in the finale. I flip from it making no sense for it to be a S1 rehash, to being sure she’ll defiantly resist, to being sure the show is setting her up to not be able to. I JUST DON’T KNOW. I wish I’d never seen those stupid leak spoilers…the promo makes me think they are real, but then we MUST be missing full context.

Adar is still on DEATH WATCH but like…a little bit less than before, honestly? Mostly because I don’t see how we have time to get ALL the confrontations into the last two episodes. When Adar goes out – and he will – he deserves the biggest death.

Random aside: I am pondering sharing something of a Haladriel ramble/rant but I’m also like…IDK if I want the hassle, so we’ll see.

Celebrimbor and Annatar

Oh, Brimby. My heart aches. The sequence with him forgetting Mirdania’s name was so heartbreaking and watching Annatar isolate him so completely was chilling. First, by taking away the other smiths, then with the illusion.

I actually don’t think I have a lot to say on this section, because it’s been rumbling along all season and we’re just about to reach the climax. Sauron is Sauron’ing his hardest in this episode.

I am now quite convinced that Mirdania is not Celebrian (I already didn’t really believe it, but it’s firmer now) and I do think she’ll die. I think she’ll either be killed by Sauron himself, or she’ll be caught in the crossfire of the siege, and as she dies she’ll make eye contact with him and he’ll just coldly leave her. I feel like there has to be some sort of climax to the whole…you look like Galadriel thing, but I’m not really sure what that could be?? I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of time next episode, so maybe that really was a one and done so the viewer understood he’s thinking about her…

Celebrimbor trying to snap on Annatar, and that flash of true rage in Annatar’s face…oh god, next week is going to be soul destroying. I honestly can’t wait and dread it at the same time. Celebrimbor has fought so hard but then comes the illusion, then comes the lure – more talk of the Valar, of his work, of Feanor and the Silmarils. CELEBRIMBOR. GET OUT, PLEASE. GET OUT.

Sauron was then absolutely buzzing at the end there, as war came, and I wonder if there are more twists to come or if things play out fairly straightforward from here. We know the elves will charge the orcs. Does that happen straight away? Is there any communication? Because it’s complicated, isn’t it? On one hand, let Adar and the orcs try to take our Sauron…but then, you know innocents are being killed. You have to save them, surely?

And that’s that, I think? PHEW.

I must say, it’s harder to get through this season being in fandom because I KNOW SO MUCH MORE and I WANT SO MUCH MORE and people STRESS ME OUT. But, at the same time, it feels nice to love something this hard again?

Let’s get episode 7 and [redacted] out of the way fast, though, yeah?

[the-interidiot]

MCSM REMAKE ANALYSIS

god I’m so UNWELLLLL ABOUT THIS‼️‼️‼️ /POS

I just wanna state beforehand the trailer looks AWESOME, I have some criticisms but I’m MOSTLY excited! I haven’t played the game in years though, so a lot of my info is pure memory and the power of hyperfixation . It MAY be inaccurate and if it is, I do genuinely want to be corrected!

[WARNING: LONG. I YAP A LOT BELOW CUT.]

Male!White Jessie is the poster child, which makes sense as he is the most recognizable. As much as I LOVE female Jessie sm, I definitely recognize M by first glance.

The animation looks MUCH nicer, though it’s not shown in this screenshot! It’s got a raised FPS from the original, and actually doesn’t have a ton of lighting errors anymore!

They’re adding newer blocks, which I like a lot - though it does lead to one of the first major criticisms I have. They need to TREAD CAREFUL with new stuff. The amethyst looks great, but I guarantee 90% of people are going to play/watch Block by Block for nostalgia, and an OVERLOAD of new stuff will take away from this.

PETRA!!!!! She looks COOL in this shot, and in general! The lighting is GREAT, and I appreciate her getting an action shot! The shadow is a little intense, but no complaints here.

Olivia and Eligard using redstone lights is a nice touch, and connects the characters well. :)

It also begs the question of if Olivia (in that screenshot) is pre-witherstorm or post-witherstorm, as she WAS always a Redstone engineer but she got a lot of her inspiration and materials from Redstone City.

THE CREW! This is a GREAT starting shot, though I will unfortunately tripe that I wish the shading was less heavy here. Lucas looks great, and I’m happy to see him! He was always one of my favorites. :)

Alex and Olivia having a conversation, while Jessie and Lucas just separately enjoy the situation. Lucas doesn’t look super pleased here, but he isn’t really happy for most of MC:SM, so…. (Free my boy, he needs therapy) /j

I can’t tell if Gabriel is going to die or not, unfortunately. This scene looks like just adoration for his hero, but it also reminds me of the choice to take Eligard or Magnus’s armor, which worries me. Gabriel dying doesn’t seem too likely though, as we see him in shots that take place presumably later.

I’m not sure, but I THINK the first place here is Mobcity! If it is, WOAH. It looks INSANE! (/POS) I loved Mobcity so much when I first played the game, and seeing it again made me giggle a little bit.

The second and third locations are clearly Redstone City (Redstonia? I don’t remember the name, sorry!) And Boomtown. I personally always chose Boomtown when I played, but I watched people play Redstone city! They both look nice, and the more terf-war style chaos of Boomtown looks nice - it almost looks like something Fallout reminiscent to me.

I have a FEW thoughts here. First - the obvious, I can’t tell what the drones are. I’m likely forgetting something story wise - but I can’t identity where they come from. BUT, the lights in the background look a lot like White Pumpkins mansion zoomed in, which excites me.

Except…. I don’t think those are from White Pumpkin.

THIS shot interested me the most of the whole trailer. Red arrows shooting in a snowy forest. This appears to be the same location as the previous shot, and initially I thought these arrows were from PAMA. But that doesn’t make sense, she’s in the desert.

These arrows look like ROMEO. Sure, it’s a possibility they’re the poison arrows from the Mansion, but they’re glowing too bright and in addition to the drones from the previous shot makes me think them to be The Admins.

So how is HE, HERE? And why was only one drone blue? (Also, keep in mind I DO know the difference between the drones and phantoms).

Speaking of PAMA. HOLY. JEBUS. /POS

This looks TERRIFYING. I love this shot because it’s nailing in a concept the original kind of failed at, that this robot is ENSLAVING EVERYONE. These people are drones - pawns to the perfect system. And some of the armor here is detailed, making me think some of them are named characters. I don’t remember if any named characters get taken over in the original, but probably.

The Temple! It FEELS big just with this shot, which amazes me. 10/10, no comments.

This is the one shot I took a while to identify. I first thought this was the Spleef area for some reason, then I thought it was the Mob Grinder due to the downward shot, but it seems to simply be the cart ride near the beginning of the game through the nether. (Which is a shame, because I would LOVE to see the mob grinder in the trailer!)

The Piglins concern me a little for the same reason as the amethyst, so I restate - PLEASE don’t rely on new stuff. This is justifiable, as Pigmen are gone, but just a quick warning.

I CANT tell who the person on the left is, but I have a few theories? This is a snow environment, so my brain thought is that it’s somebody from the White Pumpkin area. But it looks a lot like (from memory) Ivors ninja costume. I’m sure there’s an obvious answer one google search could tell me, but I’m dumb and don’t wanna google stuff.

It could also be an anti-PAMA person? I don’t remember that plot too well, but wasn’t there also a blue headset used to see through the red ones?

AND FINALLY. THE ONE. THE ONLY.

THE WITHERSTORMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

I have SO many good things to say, as well as a few criticisms, but they’re so small I’ll knock them out now. The roof doesn’t really look like it’s glass being shattered, it looks too thick. And the color contrast is a tad too high.

That’s it. The whole criticism. NOW, it’s so BIG. It feels consuming, like it’s not just eating its environment but also growing too fast for even the camera to catch up with. One of my hopes is that they don’t have as many full-body shots of the creature, because shots like THIS - where it’s so large you can’t even SEE THE END (no pun intended) amaze me. I love these shots.

Anyway this excites me very much and also gave me motivation to crawl my MC:MS oc’s from the grave and look at their dirty, cringy asses again. I might remake them TBH, those concepts were fire. 10 year old me COOKED.

[snowfallenapocalypse]

Howdy Slay the Princess friends! I wanted to show off my Voices designs, they’re still very likely to change cause I’m still not quite happy with all of them, but I hope you enjoy them! :3c

Explanations and a few extras below the cut! :) (This ended up being a kinda long post so be warned!)

For the most part I try to use the same body shape for all of them, with the only differences being their accessories and some beak variation. None of them have wings either- I don't like drawing them that much so they're reserved for TLQ

Alright here we go- explanation time!

Hero - Knight's helmet based on the default warrior class helmet from Miitopia, no clue if the feather, ponytail, thing... is his actual feathers or part of the hat and I probably never will. I love how he looks even if the helmet sucks to draw

Broken - Shackle and chain around his neck, not much to say about this guy, I was a bit worried it was too similar to the Prisoner's shtick at first but it's grown on me

Contrarian - Jester's cap, the most common defining accessory I saw for him in fanart and thought it fit. Probably gonna change him cause the current iteration doesn't feel quite right. (Either hat redesign or something new)

Opportunist - A tie and ripped dress shirt, I wanted a smarmy business-ey feel for him but didn't think a nice shirt would fit in with the aesthetic of the game, so I gave him a ripped one (he probably found it on the ground somewhere)

Paranoid - Perfume pendant, I adore this concept but have had a hard time conveying it properly. The pendant is filled with smelling salts in case he needs to wake someone up. I want to keep this concept so much but I know it has to go through a few more designs cause I don't really know what it's supposed to look like. Planning on adding another necklace and maybe a clock?

Smitten - A shawl with heart shaped embroidery and a flower broach, I... Don't know how to feel with this one? It doesn't quite fit Smitten's exuberance but I don't know what I would give him instead. Will probably change later if I do come up with something better

Hunted - Hooded cloak, for camouflage :0 (it's a very short cloak though basically only covers his shoulders.) I drew him twice so you could see both versions, realistically he'd always have the hood up but I find it hard to draw and doesn't look as good so I don't bother, (it probably looks weird because the hooded version is missing the feather tufts, I added a quick sketch of the hood with them below)

Cold - A hole in his chest (shamelessly based on Mad Rat Dead,) Cold didn't seem like the type to have any worldly possessions so this was the most literal way I could convey his 'heartless' personality, it is kinda bending my rule of giving all these guys unique accessories but it fits him quite well so I don't mind

Skeptic - Detective hat, this is another one that I think looks a bit weird due to the lack of tufts (version with them below) and I don't know how well this fits his personality, but Skeptic is probably the voice I'm least familiar with so I'm kinda just ignoring redesigning him until I get a better grip on his character (I also don't really know how to draw this hat- I tried my best lol)

Cheated - Cut off tuft and scars, I had a really hard time coming up with this one and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. It's another one that bends my rule of having accessories but I couldn't think of anything to put on him that fit the vibe of 'Being salty from repeatedly losing to someone using hacks in a game.' (Yes, that's how I summarize Cheated's personality lol)

Stubborn - ...Isn't here, Oops? Yeah, you probably noticed but I don't actually have a design for him yet. I might give him a cape? idk. He's another voice I don't really have a good grasp on, I have to play through his chapters again :')

Anyways! I had put my sort of 'design rules' for these guys in an older version of this post but I ended up not vibing with it so I edited it out- I like the post a lot better without all the excess stuff

And finally as the send-off to the post (and a thanks for reading all) here's the extra bits! My one Long Quiet full body, the Hunted and Skeptic sketch with their tufts, and a bonus Opportunist cause I realized you can't really tell what the shirt looks like lol

[doublel27]

Only Boo ep 8 was such a lovely close to the second act and to throw us into the fire of act 3. I’m so pleased with this show and it’s current plotting. I’m hoping it stays here, but it’s seeded the upcoming drama so well that I don’t worry about it feeling forced.

They really did a wonderful job of showing how deep in this relationship both Moo and Kang have become before sending them off from their romantic bubble to some larger problems as the tensions of their dreams will come into focus.

In the first episode, Moo’s mom sent him out of Bangkok to focus on his studies, hoping giving him a slower and less distracting setting would force him to buckle down. And in that way we’ve really been in a bubble the first two acts. We have the school, the dormitory which has the restaurant on the first floor, the food cart circle at the park in the evenings and the gazebo as our main settings. All of our main characters aside from Moo have been living in their typical patterns and Moo has been the disrupter.

But now, we are shifting gears and the boys are heading to Bangkok. We are leaving the safety of our bubble and going to the big city. This is Moo’s territory and we are adding in three characters who have lived relatively cyclical lives up to this point.

It’s a huge change and shift that, to the directors point comes with discomfort or as was pointed out by @happypotato48 is better translated to misery and you need to hold on to what makes you happy through it.

As for Moo himself, he’s held onto Kang as his happiness through the change of being sent away to school. Now Moo feels he’s gotten all of his dreams (mostly, but just being in the New Wave competition feels like a win), but the reality is both of his dreams are potentially in conflict with each other, as Neth pointed out this episode.

Now with our new changes, we have Moo, Tae and Yos competing as 3/10 contestants in a reality show which is going to remain a strain on these characters who trained to get here together. They’re not just competing against the other contestants, but each other. And knowing Yos doesn’t want it but is actually incredibly talented…delicious.

Additionally, we have Kang leaving home and moving in with his boyfriend and agreeing/suggesting to keep their relationship a secret for Moo’s benefit. That’s a lot of change for a man whose life up to this point, following his father’s death especially, has mostly contained his mother and Neth and his customers. Even Neth tells Moo very few people have ever been able to see past Kang’s hard exterior and speech. And he’s slowly allowed himself to accept his feelings for Moo and dream again, but it’s going to be a huge shift for him.

There’s likely going to be some stress of being in a new space with new routines, as moving in with a significant other is hard no matter how attached to the other you were before moving in. Then, Moo being involved in the competition as well as Kang going to art school. Being kept a secret in general is also really hard, especially if you’re away from your usual support system as Kang will be. He doesn’t strike me as someone who would push Moo to come out, because of how willing he was to offer to keep it a secret. Not to mention we know his mom has some back issues…which her health could crop up again in the future as an issue that pulls his attention away from school. As @respectthepetty has pointed out, Kang is our bluest boy, and blue boys are often so committed to duty they can martyr themselves for others. I would not be surprised if Kang makes some choices in service of doing what’s best for his mom, Moo, or realistically Both.

I really cannot wait.

[sarahsmi13s]

Rookie

(not my gif)

pairings: dagger squad x pilot!reader (call sign: rookie)

characters: the dagger squad, reader, jake seresin, javy machado (those two play a signifcant role)

warnings: fluff with angst, insecurities about abilities and age, talk of death (training outcomes mostly), jake’s an asshole, i believe that’s it

word count: ~4.4k

a/n: this came in third, but i love it all the same (and the results were fairly close). i hope you enjoy

quick summary: being a new addition to the already established dagger squad came with its fair share of worries. but when you’re a fresh pilot with a call sign the only accentuates that fact only adds onto those.

************

You were fairly young to be a pilot.

Okay, 24 is a pretty normal age to be a pilot.

However, you had graduated high school early and graduated MIT at the age of 18, then graduated from USNA at the age of 22. You were practically a genius.

So, despite being close in age with your peers, you were given the call sign ‘Rookie’ because you were considered the baby of the group.

*******

You graduated TopGun just this past summer and were being called in for a special detachment with the Dagger Squad.

Speaking of the Dagger Squad, they were sitting in the hanger much like they did back in May.

“Mav’ why are they adding a new member to this team? You’ve got the best right here,” Rooster asked, gesturing to the team.

“Did someone say the best? Cause I just got here,” Hangman said as he sauntered into the hanger.He gestured back the way he came, “Also, there’s someone coming this way in a flight suit. So I assume that’s our new teammate, that we don’t need.” 

Mav held his hands up, “Okay, look, I know it doesn’t make sense to add a new member but we need all the help we can get. And this pilot, they’re good. They’re super intelligent and can fly like nobody’s business.” “You fly with them? Cause someone that good would have to have your level of experience,” Coyote questioned, skeptical of the captain. He shook his head, “No, none of us have flown with them.” Hangman narrowed his eyes, “Then how do they expect us to fly with them?”

Mav sighed and put his hands on hips, “Can you just be nice to them? Please.” The team nodded and stood as Cyclone walked in, you walking right in behind him.

“At ease. Aviators, meet your new team member. Lieutenant Y/N L/N, call sign Rookie.” They nodded at you in greeting, and then Cyclone left, giving you a glance of what appeared to be saying ‘good luck’.

“Just take a seat Lieutenant, anywhere is fine.” You nodded and sat down in the open second row. 

Maverick briefed you all on what the mission entailed, explained your training, and then sent you all to either the tarmac or to wait your turn.

“Rookie, you’re up first.” You nodded, “Yes, sir.” “Doesn’t she need a wingman?” Phoenix asked, a little worried for you. “We’ll get there.” 

You broke off, you went to the tarmac checking your plane before getting in it and taxiing it to the runway.

You took off and waited for Maverick’s signal to start. “Where are you Maverick?” You were glancing left to right. “Try up, Rookie.” You looked up and chuckled, shaking your head; Mav was inverted above you. He leveled out, “Fights on. Show me what you can do.”

******

Down on the ground, the Dagger Team listened in on the radio. 

“Does she ever shut up?” Hangman asked. “Be nice Bagman, she’s kicking his ass.” “Yeah, but does she have to talk the whole time?” “You do it. I’m sure we all do it,” Bob defended you. Jake just rolled his eyes.

*****

Later at the Hard Deck, they decided for the first day to leave most of the competition at the base.

“You know, if you hit the 4 towards the 10 it should ricochet off the wall and put the 1 in the corner pocket,” you pointed out from your spot by the pool table. Rooster tilted his head, considering the advice you gave him. “Hey, no helping! That’s not fair,” Coyote laughed, showing he wasn’t actually upset.

You held your hands up in defense, “Hey, Rooster was staring at the table for like 5 minutes.” You three laughed as Rooster took his shot. “I can’t believe that worked.” You laughed and shrugged before walking over to the table and sitting down by Bob, who offered you a kind smile.

“Oh, hey Rookie!” Payback greeted when he noticed you. “Hey guys,” you smiled back, taking the bottle of beer that was handed to you.

“Woah! Are you even old enough to drink that?” Hangman laughed, and you did too, despite the twist in your chest. “I’m 24, I can handle a beer.” “You can handle a plane too. I’ve never seen anyone fly like that,” Fanboy said, smiling as he tipped his beer to you.

Quickly, the group learned that your habit of talking a lot didn’t get left in the sky, it was a constant. And when you got to talking about sports or planes, or even movies, they were in for an earful. When you talked about something you were passionate about, you couldn’t stop talking.

And while the team never said anything, but you had been in situations plenty of times where you realized when you got to be too much. So, you tried your best to tone it down without fully removing yourself, which you had been trying your best to work on.

“So, Rook, where’d you go to school?” Rooster asked, taking a bite of nachos. You cleared your throat, formulating an answer so you didn’t ramble. “I went to high school in Massachusetts, and then went to MIT before USNA.” 

Boom you did it, straight and to the point, no side stories.

Until…

“Wait, you said you were 24, how did you go to a four year college and the Academy?” Coyote asked, pressing his hands into his thighs as he leaned forward. “Well, I graduated from high school early.” 

“So, what, you’re like a genius or something?” Hangman asked, shoving a fry in his mouth. You shrugged, “On paper, yeah.”

After that, Mav decided it was time to call it for the night and you all made your way home.

*******

Over the next two weeks training went smoothly, on the ground it was fine as well. Sort of.

Today you had been called to be a backseater for Coyote, just for the day while something on your plane got fixed.

“Can you sit backseat?” He asked as you walked to the tarmac. You nodded, “Yeah, I was trained in both. Gave me options.” 

Javy chuckled, “Where do you find the time?” You laughed and shrugged as you climbed into the backseat of his plane, “I’m a faster learner.” Coyote laughed again and followed in after you.

****

Things in the air didn’t go quite as planned, and you ended up getting ‘shot down’.

After your push-ups you sat on the concrete, “Hey, Coyote, I’m sorry about that up there. I should’ve seen him.” He dismissed your apology, “Hey, it’s a one time thing right?”

You shook your head, “Don’t do that.” “Do what?” “Make exceptions because I’m young. I fucked up, got us killed. I know it’s training but that shit happens, we both know that.”

He sighed and squatted down, “Y/N, you’re a good pilot, and you're a good wizzo, up until that last part.” You huffed, pinching your nose. He continued, hitting your knee with his knuckles, “Look, I know that mistakes were made, but that’s why we’re here, right? To work out the kinks and get better together.” 

He stood up and offered you a hand, “Come on. We’re both in need of a shower.” You nodded, “You got that right.”

********

The next day your plane was unfortunately still needing repairs, so you were sitting someone’s backseat again.

You had your fingers crossed it would be Javy again but your hopes were crushed when it was Hangman. Not that you didn’t like Jake, he just didn’t seem to be your biggest fan as of late. At least not in the sky.

And that was confirmed when he looked up, clicking his pen and exhaled through his nose in annoyance. 

“Good luck,” Rooster said, lips pressed into a line as he patted your knee.

When you got in the air with Hangman, it was tense. You tried your best to not make the same mistake as yesterday and you did fairly well.

Except when Hangman decided to be Hangman.

“Hangman, where are you going? What are you doing?” “Getting Mav off our ass,” he turned the plane. You looked out the sides and Mav was off your ass but now he was on Phoenix’s. “We can’t leave them, Hangman.” “Who’s the pilot? I’m trying to save our asses.” “By putting them in the line of fire? Get back in there.” 

He ignored you. 

“Hangman! Come on, where are you? I can’t shake Mav!” Phoenix shouted into the radio. Bob also comes through saying, “He’s trying to get a lock!”

“Hangman, I’ve got an idea.” He groaned, “What?”

You detailed out your plan, stating that Phoenix needed to bring him closer and towards you, and stall. Once Maverick flies by her, Hangman can move in for the kill. “That could work,” he said, but it was through gritted teeth.

It wasn’t the first time that you showed intimate knowledge of flight maneuvers, also wasn’t the first time you told him what could work. He loathed the fact that you told him what to do, especially when you were right.

And when you went head to head with Hangman in training, you bested him more often than not. It pissed him off. More so when you didn’t even brag about it. He was good and beating him gave bragging rights.

****

The plan you had was executed perfectly and none of you had to do push-ups.

Once you landed and got parked, Hangman was out of the plane without even a single word to you, didn’t even help you out. Maverick did though.

“Nice job today guys, I haven’t seen a move like that in years. Rookie, just got word your plane is fixed and you should be good to go for tomorrow.” “Thank god..” Jake mumbled under his breath.

Okay, that hurt.

You nodded, “Thank you, sir.” “Dismissed.” You all relaxed and Hangman was the first off the tarmac, “I need a fucking Aleve…”

You sighed and picked up your stuff.

“Hey, thanks for having our back up there,” Phoenix clapped you on the shoulder. You gave her a small smile, “Of course.” “Now I need a shower before we go to the Hard Deck.” You nodded, “Yeah I’ll need one too.” She squeezed your shoulder and was on her way.

You sighed again, rolling your shoulders before looking down at the name written on your helmet.

“Hey-“ “Gah! Bob, I didn’t know you were still there,” you laughed a bit. He chuckled, pushing his glasses up, “Hey, don’t take Hangman’s words to heart. He just can’t handle being told what to do .” You nodded, “Thanks Floyd.”

*****

After your shower you walked by the common room to go to your bungalow.

You glanced in to see who was still here to find everyone but Maverick in there. You almost went in until you heard Jake talking.

“No, I’m serious. She talks so much. Too much. I can tolerate it down here, because it’s way easier to tune it out. But up there, she’s in my ear like a damn mosquito.” “Come on Jake, she isn’t that bad,” Rooster tried to defend. 

“No, she is that bad. You can’t tell me that it isn’t at least a little bit annoying when she spouts off some random fact, usually while in the middle of an exercise.” The group sighed and nodded in agreement. 

“Hey, I think you’re being a bit harsh, Hangman. She’s saved your ass in plenty of exercises, and kicked your ass in a few of them,” Coyote pointed out, causing the others to laugh and Jake to clench his jaw. “Didn’t she get you killed yesterday? Because she couldn’t close her damn mouth for 5 fucking seconds,” he said, jaw set and green eyes harsh. Javy said nothing and opted to cross his arms and look at his boots. 

“And when she gets alcohol in her, it’s game over. She’ll tell you every damn detail of something you didn’t ask about.” The group shrugged and made small noses of agreement. “She’s too young to be flying with us. She doesn’t have the experience we do.”

And there it was, the bomb you had been waiting for.

The one you were expecting, but had never expected to hit you this hard. Have you really been that annoying? Did everyone think that of you and just not want to say it out loud? 

You shook your head and walked back towards the locker room. 

But they continued to talk in the common room.

“She thinks she’s better than us, all because she’s an MIT grad and just got out of Top Gun.” “She doesn’t think she’s better than us,” Fanboy shook his head, recalling a talk he had with you last week. “Then what the fuck was that up there today? She completely undermined me and my plan!”

“She kept you from abandoning your wingman, you asshole,” Rooster said, narrowing his eyes. “It doesn’t matter! Every time one of us is in the air with her, she constantly tells us what to do!” 

“She’s giving suggestions, Bagman. We’re a team, we need to work together. I could almost guarantee that she has picked up on all of our patterns and knows exactly how we fly. That’s what makes her a good pilot,” Phoenix defended.

Jake just rolled his eyes and walked out, “I need a drink.”

******

After you had gone to the locker room, you took an alternate route to your bungalow. 

And about 10 minutes later, Coyote was knocking. “Hey, you ready? I need a rematch on that dart game.”

You just chuckled and shook your head, “Maybe another night.” His face fell, “You’re not coming?” You shrugged, “Just been a long day.”

He jutted his lip out, “Come on. It’ll be boring without you!” “Somehow I highly doubt that,” you mumbled to yourself and a car going by helped drown it out.

“Please?” You couldn’t help but feel that he was pitying you. Like Mav told them to make you feel included and Coyote was trying his best. “Javy…” “Y/N come on, please!” You sighed, “Fine.”

****

You and Javy walked into the Hard Deck, and you didn’t miss the way Jake rolled his eyes but still greeted you the same as the others.

You sat down, and pulled out your phone.

“Okay, I’m getting the first round. What does everyone want?” Rooster asked. Everyone gave their orders. “Rookie,” Fanboy gently nudged your ribs. You looked up, “Hmm?” “What do you want?” “Water’s fine.” Everyone raised a brow. “You sure Rook?” You nodded, “Yeah.” The group shared a look.

You normally didn’t give short answers, usually (sometimes unnecessarily) explaining yourself. So the squad picked up that something had to be off. 

Fanboy and Bob shared another look over your shoulder, you being seated between them. “Are you feeling okay?” Bob gently rubbed your back. You nodded, “Fine.”

Your eyes don’t leave your phone and most of them take notice of the way your fingers tap against your thumb. Hangman decides to pull Payback into a game of pool.

“Hey, Rookie, why don’t we play a round of darts?” Coyote offered, shifting his gaze nervously around the group. You shrugged, “Sure.”

Rooster was placing his order, a round of beers and two bottles of water. 

“Who’s the second water for?” Maverick asked from his barstool. “Rookie.” Penny furrowed her brows, “Really? She usually has a few before she taps out.” He shrugged, “I don’t know, today was a little rough.” 

Maverick let his gaze set on you haphazardly aiming at the dart board. “I mean she was backseater for Hangman today. But they did fantastic.” He looked back, “Is she okay?” Rooster shrugged as Penny gave him the drinks, “As far as we can tell.”

“Come on, Rook! You’re letting me win now.” You were in fact not trying your best to win, just wanting to get the night over with. “Maybe my arms are sore.” 

You threw one that hit dead center, but you were too far behind and it didn’t matter. You gave Coyote a pat on the back and went to reclaim your spot. 

“Thanks Rooster,” you said as you sat down and pulled out your phone.

The group at the table felt a collective pang in their chest. You were uncharacteristically quiet and they didn’t know why.

****

The squad noticed as the night progressed -- you only drank water and spoke only when spoken to. 

They really want to chalk it up to you being tired and that seemed to be very plausible given the distant look in your eyes.

Later, as the pilots started heading out, they offered you rides, but you refused not wanting to put them out of their way. Coyote was your neighbor so it was easier to just ride with him.

At the moment it was just you, Fanboy and Payback, Coyote and Hangman. 

Fanboy sat with you until he was summoned to either darts or pool. Payback tried to get you in on a round of pool but you shook your head. Hangman ignored you completely and talked to Coyote, keeping him occupied.

You sighed and hopped off the stool by the pool table and went to the bar. “Penny, I’m heading out.” “Really?” You nodded, “Yeah, I had a rough day. I’m pretty tired. Will you put 4 bottles of water on my tab for them, I know if it isn’t in front of them they’ll forget to get some.” Penny gave you a sympathetic look, “Okay, yeah honey, I can do that for you.” “Thank you.” You paid her and left.

She watched you leave and not get into a car. But the base wasn’t too far and you were 100% sober, so she wasn’t all that worried. But still, it concerned her how quiet you were.

Sighing, she went over and sat the water down, being met with confused glances.

“They’re on Y/N.” The group looked around for you. “Where is she?” Penny gestured to the door, “She just left. Wanted to get y’all a bottle of water, cause she knew you would forget.” “Why’d she leave?” Penny shrugged, “Said she wasn’t feeling good.”

For some reason, Hangman felt a twist in his chest. 

Of course, like everyone, he had noticed your extreme change in behavior. He found himself straining to hear your voice rather than attempt to tune you out. And you left without saying goodbye, which was unlike you, but you still cared enough to get them water. And Coyote was your neighbor and ride home. He was also like your best friend, aside from Bob and Fanboy.

Coyote immediately pulled out his phone and called you when Penny went back to the bar. When you answered, he put you on speaker, “Hey. Why’d you leave on your own?” “You looked like you were having fun. And I’m tired.”

That was the excuse Hangman went with to shove this unfamiliar feeling in his chest away.

“I would have taken you home.” “Javy, it’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that you hung up.

“I don’t like this. Tonight was too quiet. I hope she feels better tomorrow,” Fanboy said, leaning on his pool cue. “Yeah, I feel like I should have just let her stay at home…” Payback straightened up, “Wait what do you mean?” “She said she was tired when I picked her up, but she came anyway. I feel bad now.” 

It was quiet for a moment.

“She let me win,” Coyote broke the silence. “What?” Hangman asked, sipping his water. “She let me win at darts. She could kick my ass blind folded and backwards.” 

*****

The next few days were weird.

You didn’t talk much, if at all unles you were in the air, and everyone noticed. Especially Hangman.

He tried to get under your skin while in the air, but you just took it. Humming and nodding to the remarks thrown your way. You didn’t throw anything back, barely even threw suggestions at him or yell at him when he left you hanging. 

“What the fuck is going on with you?” He would ask. You’d shrugged, “Nothing.” “Bullshit!” “It doesn’t matter.”

Your 180 turn in behavior worried everyone. But what you did today left them shocked.

“What the hell did you guys say to her?” Maverick questioned, eyeing everyone on his team when he entered the hangar. “I told you to be nice to her. I know she’s young, but she's just as good as any of you.” 

The group shared a look, “We have been nice to her.” “Then why did I catch her in the locker room spaced out and crying yesterday. Then she comes to my office and says she doesn’t think she’s good enough to fly this mission.” 

Their stomachs dropped. 

“Of course she’s good enough, why wouldn’t she be. She’s kicked your ass plenty of times,” Rooster said, gobsmacked at what he just heard. “I don’t know, but you’re lucky I convinced her of that. I’m not sure what’s up with her, but you better fix it.”

****

Later that day, everyone tried to talk to you alone, except Jake. He finally put a name to the feeling that had a vice grip on his chest: guilt.

He went into the ready room after doing his push-ups, finding you on the couch twirling a model plane in your hand. “There's water in the freezer. It shouldn’t be frozen but it’s definitely cold.” 

Your voice had no bounce in it, it was just kinda numb. “Thanks…” He sipped the water, pouring a little bit on his head.

He capped it and sat on the couch across the one you were laying on. 

“Hey, everyone’s going to the Hard Deck tonight, you should come.” You shrugged, “I’ll think about it.” Hangman ran his teeth over bottom lip, frustrated. 

You hadn’t gone out with the team in days, and while it still was fun, something was missing.

“Okay, can we cut the bullshit?” “What bullshit?” “Your bullshit.” You leaned up and looked at him, “Me?” “Yeah, you.” You fell back down onto the couch, “What’d I do this time?” 

This time? He thought. Shit..

“You heard what I said…” You paused your movements, sighing before looking at him as he ran his hand down his face. “You weren’t supposed-” “I know. But it’s fine, you spoke your mind and I appreciate your honesty.”

“But, it wasn’t exactly honest…” Your silence let him continue. “I was jealous. I was frustrated. And that’s no excuse for what I said about you.” “The others agree-”

“But they don’t, Y/N. They don’t agree. They defended you. They miss you, and I miss you too. Yeah, sometimes you can ramble and it can get a little annoying but it’s because you're passionate. And I had no right to make you think that was something to be ashamed of.” He sighed.

“You’re like the little sister we never had. I’m sorry for what I said, if that means anything.” You smiled slightly and that made him smile. “It does. Thank you.”

You bit your lip to hide the mischievous smirk as you looked back at the ceiling, “But can rewind to the part where you said you were jealous?”

He couldn’t help but laugh and roll his eyes. “Yeah, I was jealous. You’re already better than us.” “Okay, now you're flattering me.” “No, I’m being serious. I was jealous and insecure. You’re only 24 and you’ve done so much with your life already. I can’t begin to imagine where you’ll go next but I can only hope that we’re all there to see it.”

You sat up, sitting the model down on the coffee table. “Jake, you shouldn’t be insecure. Yeah, I graduated top of my class in Top Gun, but so did you. We all have our different ways of flying. We’re different, but that’s what makes us a team. Jake, you are an expert in this field.” He cracked his knuckles and looked at you but said nothing.

You chuckled and shifted, “Okay, don’t let this go to your head but, I studied you while in flight school and at Top Gun. Minus the leaving them out to dry.” “So, your skills come from me?” “I said not to let it go to your head. I also studied Admiral Kazansky and Captain Mitchell.”

Hangman tensed at that. “Speaking of Maverick, he told us about this morning… I’m sorry for making you feel that way. But trust me, you are more than good enough to fly this mission.” “Thank you Jake. I appreciate that.” He nodded and you sat in awkward silence.

Jake clapped, “So, Hard Deck? 17:00?” You nodded, “Hard Deck, 17:00.” He smiled and nodded, now the awkward silence was comfortable.

********

Jake sauntered in, toothpick between his teeth. “Why are you guys mopin’?” “Not now Hangman…” 

The blond sighed, “She heard me. She heard everything I said that day.” 

Maverick narrowed his eyes, along with set jaws from the rest of the squad. “You’re such an asshole, Hangman, you know that?” Phoenix rhetorically asked. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I feel awful.”

Maverick shook his head, “I can’t believe you, Jake.” “I know. I know. Can we save the disappointment for later because I brought a guest.”

The squad rolled their eyes, expecting it to be some girl he met outside. “Bagman, I don’t really think we want to meet a girl you met 5 minutes ago.” 

“Well it’s a good thing he met me 3 weeks ago.” 

The group looked up and saw that familiar and greatly missed smile. “Rookie!” They got up and wrapped you in a hug.

Coyote held you the longest, “I missed you kid.” “It was so different without you. You have no idea,” Fanboy, ruffled your hair. Bob pulled you in for another hug after Javy let go. You all sat down and started the night officially.

This was the first time in days that you laughed this hard, and the squad couldn’t be happier to have their little sister back.

Plenty of photos were taken of you, one that Payback happened to take caught Jake smiling at you as you told some random story. He was definitely going to need that later.

You played pool and darts, and whenever you beat Hangman or Coyote you were hoisted up by your waist and shook as they laughed.

The universe was right again.

******

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