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professorspork · 2 years ago

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THE BIG RWBY BASEBALL POST

(previously on Leah Combines RWBY With Sports That Had Peak Popularity in The Early 20th Century: 2021 Kentucky Derby Horse Names as RWBY Weapons, Ranked)

Friends, it's that time of year again.

"Baseball season?" you ask. And I say: yes, but also.

"Oh. RWBY hiatus?" you groan, realizing I'm about to do something slightly unhinged.

Bingo.

To make a very long story short, I love these two things, and wanted to combine these two things, and have very strong opinions about these two things, so here we are: a post that makes a functional baseball team out of RWBY characters. True, the Venn diagram of people who like both these things as much as I do to serve as my audience is probably small. True, baseball positions aren't astrological signs and anyone of any personality can play anywhere, but lord knows there are Tropes and I plan to indulge.

SO. I give you the starting nine (plus some bullpen depth) of the Beacon Huntresses:

Pitcher: Weiss Schnee. Among several decisions that are no-brainers, this one is probably the no-brainiest. Weiss is a lefty (always highly in demand for pitchers) and her balletic combat movement style translates perfectly to a distinct delivery mechanic. Weiss is a high velocity, high strikeout pitcher who induces a lot of swings and misses with nasty breaking stuff that dances through the air and paints the corners. Because it brings me joy to think about, I'm going to say that Remnant uses old NL rules so Weiss has to bat, and I'll rank her at like a Cole Hamels-level "hey, that's not embarrassing for a pitcher!" career .400 OPS. Not afraid to sac bunt when she has to, but beats out the throw more often than you'd think.

Catcher: Jaune Arc. Yes yes get in your "White Knight real" jokes while you can about Weiss and Jaune playing as the regular battery. This one was also an easy selection; catchers are valued most highly for their strategic minds and defensive capabilities, with any offense added seen as a bonus. As the latest kerfuffle with the Cardinals blaming Willson Contreras for *checks notes* not being Yadi Molina shows, having trust in your catcher to call the game and be thoughtful in his pitch selection in high-leverage situations is paramount. That's Jaune all over. Probably not much of a power guy but has pop when it counts and is excellent at pitch framing.

First Base: Yang Xiao Long. Okay I promise I'll stop calling every decision a no-brainer but THIS ONE REALLY IS. Yang is your classic slugging first baseman, of whom there are literally too many examples to name-- including many righties YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE LEFTY TO PLAY FIRST OKAY. Yang's a Vladdy. Hits for serious power, but more than that embodies the quality that the best first basemen have: she's The Mayor. Truly iconic first basemen are fun to chat with! They are friendly to all their visitors as opposing players stop over on their way around the diamond; this is Yang to a T. Yang probably used to play center field in high school and got converted to 1B in the minors. Most likely on the team to induce very silly rundowns with goofy, clever, self-sacrificial baserunning. Has a penchant for always hitting homers the next time she faces a pitcher after she's been hit by a pitch.

Second Base: Blake Belladonna. She is all about those scrappy diving catches, and flipping to Ruby quickly so they can turn two (but I'm getting ahead of myself). Blake's a utility infielder who'd be comfortable anywhere but let's be real she likes playing the right field side because she gets sad when she can't easily make smirky meaningful eye contact with Yang at all times, so they keep her at second so she won't pout. Probably hits high average but low slugging. Most likely to volunteer to be a position player pitching during a blowout and then, like. Unexpectedly throw 93 with movement. Definitely steals a lot.

Shortstop: Ruby Rose. Ruby has the brains to be a catcher but to waste/ruin her speed on catcher's legs would be a crime; she's got zippy athleticism written all over her. She bats leadoff because she has excellent plate discipline; she's a hard out and gets on base a ton. Think a DJ LeMahieu or Bryson Stott at his best-- sprays to all fields, and sees pitches in the double digits like every other at-bat because she's happy to stand there and keep fouling it off with an infuriating smile on her face until the pitcher makes a mistake. Steals even more often than Blake does, but specifically is a tricksy little imp on the basepaths like Anthony Volpe-- like she would definitely induce a throw when she was already back at the bag because she dances around. (I s2g there's video of this but I cannot find it anywhere sry.)

Third Base: Penny Polendina. Fast hands, Gold Glove-level defense. Unfortunately she's built in the mold of an Adalberto Mondesi or Byron Buxton where it's like "no better player on earth when she's healthy but she's NEVER HEALTHY;" she's got glass bones and has had multiple weeks-long trips to the Injury List or needed season-ending surgery because something popped or snapped. The sort of player where it's like "god no you don't understand, the game is so much better when she's playing" and it's a heartbreaker because SHE KEEPS GETTING TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU. Once did a bat flip after a home run because Ruby encouraged her to and, like, the bat shattered on the grass somehow because she's that strong.

Left Field: Emerald Sustrai. Because if you ask her, her face turn was... out of left field! Eh? Eh??? Okay yeah sorry. To me Emerald is a 2022 Oswaldo Cabrera situation where they threw her in left because they had nowhere else to put her even though she'd never played it before in the minors but she was just. Instantly extremely good at it. Has great range for tracking down fly balls in foul territory. Very streaky hitter who either runs super hot and super cold with no in-between. Steals a lot but also gets caught stealing a lot because she's impatient (see also: streaky hitter, probably chases out of the zone and has really poor plate discipline). But she's getting better! Most likely to come up with cute home run celebration ideas and then absolutely refuse to take credit for them.

Center Field: Pyrrha Nikos. This is the last of the extremely obvious no-brainers. Pyrrha is your star franchise player in center field; she is your Aaron Judge, your Mike Trout. Hits for average and for power, pure athleticism and grace, the player everyone's heard of even when they don't give a shit about baseball. Also now I'm just thinking about how Mike Trout would 100% be like "actually that cereal isn't very good for you" and Pyrrha would 100% stay up all night riveted to the Weather Channel and then call in to compliment the meteorologist they are the same person. Her catches at the fence are so spectacular, you could swear her glove's magnetized.

Right Field: Nora Valkyrie. Is there a very obvious "designated hitter" joke to be made about Nora "be strong and hit stuff" Valkyrie? Yes, of course. But I already said Remnant doesn't have the DH and let's be real, Nora's got a CANNON for an arm and thus belongs in right. Like I'm talking throws like this beaut from Hunter Renfroe the other day-- you do not run on Nora, because she WILL get you out on what you think is a routine double. Bats cleanup and probably has a whole Bash Brothers routine with Yang, including special handshakes. Definitely a pull hitter.

Regular starting lineup is most likely:

Ruby

Pyrrha

Yang

Nora

Blake

Penny

Jaune

Emerald

Weiss

Rounding out the team in the bullpen are:

Long relief: Lie Ren. When your starter melts down and you need someone to keep things calm and give you like four quality innings without giving up more runs, Ren's your guy. Also very happy to play setup man. Throws a knuckleball, says Nora taught him how, and refuses to give more details when people ask.

Closer: Oscar Pine. Admittedly probably more of a ground ball pitcher than a strikeout guy; he induces weak contact and is always going for the double play. I see him as a David Robertson or Kenley Jansen type who gets himself into jams and then gets out of them and like. Yes more often than not he gets the job done but sometimes he'll give you a damn heart attack about it. OSCAR WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS.

In the process of writing this post Helen asked me who the manager would be and noted Qrow would give absolutely adorable A League Of Their Own vibes. She also suggested that Ozpin (well, Ozma) probably invented baseball in the first place, so... more proof that she's funnier than me.

okay I've been thinking about and then writing this for almost five hours now I have to stop. should I have put some of this behind a cut? probably! but I think it's beautiful, so... sorry but not sorry to all your dashboards <3 I want you to know this included way more specific baseball player comps at one point but I took some of them out so you might have a chance of understanding this <3

#rwby #team rwby #baseball #leah watches rwby #rwby baseball

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lucky-clover-gazette · 6 months ago

Note

⭐️

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines.

Or, send in a ⭐star⭐ to have the author select a section they’ve been dying to talk about!

ahhh i wish i had capri fic to do this with! but it will have to be a scene from my tears of the kingdom 50k word crackfic-turned-earnest story instead <3

plain text is from the fic, italics are commentary. this is from the last chapter and is mostly about the original yiga clan character i added to a cast of real npcs! i know a few readers liked musa especially, so i hope you enjoy the added insight re: her characterization :)

Link's eyes wander to Musa and Salli, still standing against the canvas wall of the Gazette. Musa is glaring right at him, then looks away when she realizes she’s been caught.

One of my main intentions for Musa's character from the start was to create someone who "masks" in the same way Link does, but also has the unhinged passion and conviction of the Yiga Clan (and Traysi). So that's how we get Musa's particular blend of awkward aggression—glaring intently at her former enemy , but looking away the second she’s noticed.

She’d been civil to him earlier, with the coffee machine. And he’d been civil back. But that was in front of Traysi. Does he even want to be friends with Musa, considering everything that’s happened between them and their factions?

He does like Salli, though. And Traysi and Douma are chatting up a storm.

Link leaves the pizza in the pot to keep warm and walks towards Salli and Musa. He awkwardly leans against the canvas panel beside theirs.

“Overwhelmed?” asks Musa, not quite mockingly. She’s here too, after all.

Link nods. She motions him closer.

While working on this final chapter, I was SO excited to finally write Link and Musa interacting in a way that wasn't trying to kill each other. There's a lot of comedic potential, given their many similarities and the fact that they'd both HATE to know they have anything in common.

“You’re the hero, right?” asks Salli, her eyes wide.

“Yeah, that’s him,” says Musa, before he can deny it. But why would he deny it, in this situation? There’s nothing to connect him to the silent blonde Yiga footsoldier who accompanied Traysi to the Depths.

I think of the people at this party, only Link, Musa, and Traysi actually know who everyone else is. Salli and Mimos don't know that Link was the footsoldier; Douma and Juanelle don't know that Musa and Salli are in the Yiga Clan; and Penn doesn't know any of that, and also doesn't know that Link is the Hero Link at all.

“You probably don’t recall,” Salli tells Link, “but we’ve met before.”

Both Link and Musa startle at that.

“A few years ago, you gave me some gardening advice in Hateno Village. Thank you.”

Link does a fine job hiding his relief, but Musa releases a sigh. Salli looks between them, narrowing her eyes. Thinking… something. It occurs to Link that to Salli, the pair of them have never met—despite Musa literally kidnapping one of Link’s closest friends.

“I want a Noble Pursuit,” Salli says after a pause. “I’ll leave you two to chat.”

And then she’s gone, leaving Link and Musa to stand at an awkward distance.

I love the little hints of Salli and Musa's longtime friendship throughout the entire fic. It's mentioned most explicitly in Musa's journal, which only Traysi reads, but I still wanted to put some things elsewhere for the reader to notice that Link wouldn't.

It makes sense that Salli would be glad to give Musa the opportunity to talk to Link in an environment where they can't try to kill each other, especially when Salli doesn't know that Link knows who Musa is. Salli has had to deal with Musa's obsessive planning of Link's death for like a year+, and was glad to see that original plan get a replaced with a nonviolent one. So by letting Link and Musa talk alone, she's hoping that Musa might genuinely gain a new appreciation for the person she so badly wanted dead before changing her mind.

“All of these secret identities are giving me a headache,” Musa says.

Link nods.

I love this little moment of reluctant solidarity. That's a good way to summarize this entire scene, actually.

“She was telling the truth, by the way. About meeting you. I was there, too.”

Link tries to remember a Yiga encounter in Hateno Village. Gardening, specifically, manages to ring a bell. Nobody tried to hurt him directly, but a footsoldier had managed to grapple Zelda… until they and their accomplice abruptly disappeared.

Musa smirks. “If it’d been up to me, we wouldn’t have shown mercy. I’m not sentimental enough to get distracted.”

Link stares pointedly at Traysi, now smiling ear to ear as she speaks with her sister.

HA.

“She’s a special case,” says Musa, with no further elaboration. “I would have killed you and the princess in a heartbeat.” Then she frowns, but not in a sad way. It’s a thoughtful, conflicted frown. “You saved both of your lives, being so kind to Salli. And you didn’t even know it.” Musa’s frown deepens. “People outside the Yiga Clan are kinder than I expected them to be.”

This is a direct reference to an entry in Musa's journal, where she makes the same observation after traveling Hyrule for the first time. She grew up in the Yiga Clan, full of almost entirely unpleasant and mean people, so of course that's how she acts and what she expects from others. Salli is the exception to the norm, and that's why Musa cared so much about defending her friend when the Yiga Clan turned their cruelty on her.

Link… doesn’t know how to respond to that. But Musa doesn’t seem to expect a response.

This was meant as a direct contrast to Traysi, who almost always expects some kind of engagement with the things she says. Even with Link, who she doesn't pressure to speak, she still generally awaits indication that he's paying attention.

“I’m glad Salli stopped me from killing you,” she says after a long pause. “And I’m sorry you lost your friend.”

A surprising thing for her to say. Still not clear at this point if Traysi told Musa about the Light Dragon, or if she's referring to a more general kind of "lost." Either way, it touches Link.

Link doesn’t know why he thinks of the Lightning Helm. But he does, and he remembers the way she’d reacted when she saw that he had it. It wasn’t the same anger she’d shown when he dispatched her inventions—his possession of the Yiga-made helm has seemed much more personal to Musa than someone simply breaking her toys.

We have Musa being unexpectedly kind to Link, and Link instinctively thinking of a way he can return her kindness. This "people are kinder than I expected" theme connects to the greater themes of masking, things appearing different from how they really are, etc.

He takes out the Lightning Helm and offers it to Musa. Recognition flashes in her dark eyes, but she doesn’t dare move.

“That’s right,” she mutters, “you... “ And then, at full volume: “You’re giving it back?”

Link nods. He has the full upgraded rubber set, anyway.

Musa reaches for the relic, but stops herself. “It doesn’t work for me,” she reluctantly admits. “I could never figure it out.”

But it clearly means something to her.

“It would be illogical to accept,” Musa says, weakly.

“Sentimental,” Link replies. Her eyes widen, for a second, but she quickly regains her cool.

The only word Link ever says to Musa in this fic. I think it’s fitting :)

“Fine,” Musa tells him, swiping the Lightning Helm from his hands. “But you take this. I can always make a new one.”

She withdraws the zonaite helm from her inventory and shoves it towards Link. If him accepting is what it’ll take for her to keep the Lightning Helm, he’s happy to comply.

Another main story theme: confident passion. The Yiga Clan is cringe and free. They are an intimidating and confident clan of assassins, and they’re also engineering nerds who sing songs about bananas and turn themselves into chickens. In their most shining moments, each main character of this fic—Link, Traysi, Mimos, Musa, and Salli—demonstrates confident passion in their interests. But they’re also insecure, at times, and use their confidence to uplift each other.

It doesn’t matter that Musa never figured out how to use the Lightning Helm. It was a project that she and her mentor put work and passion into, to the point that it literally killed her mentor. The helm still means something to her beyond its utilitarian purpose, and having it would give her confidence in her passion for future projects. And it would also just make her feel better, in the same way that a hug from Traysi helped Link feel better when he finally told the truth about the Light Dragon.

Well, maybe happy is a stretch. It’s easier to absolve Salli and Mimos of the Yiga Clan’s cruel impersonation of Zelda, because Link can’t imagine either of them actually standing by the emotional harm it caused. But Musa intentionally plotted to cause him and his friends emotional harm, just to get what she wanted. And while she had agreed to stop the Yiga Clan from impersonating Zelda, Link still has to wonder if that had solely been to please Traysi, rather than make amends with him.

“You know,” Musa says, “I have some familiarity with the Zonai legend of draconification myself.”

Proving him wrong in real-time. Traysi isn’t currently present to approve of Musa being kind to Link. Musa is doing this on her own.

Link gasps, pushing himself away from the canvas. But Musa speaks casually, as if her words have no weight at all.

“The way the Zonai write about it, everything is very set in stone.” She cringes. “Ignore the pun.”

Reference to her asking for a pun to be redacted during the interview, and then it literally being redacted in the article. And, more thematically, to the idea of her “masking” the parts of herself she thinks are unserious.

Link warily leans back.

“But then again,” Musa smirks, “the Zonai were also certain that their devices could only use crystallized charges as a power source, and…”

She reaches under her red scarf to pull out a metal pendant on a chain. Link recognizes her power source and a chill runs down his back.

I love how even in this scene, Musa still finds a moment to be smug and self-congratulatory. One of my favorite quotes in this fic is when Musa says something in her journal like, “Salli says I’m capable of more than I think, which is silly because I’m very capable of the things I’m actually good at.” Musa is both deeply insecure about anything she’s not immediately skilled with, and obnoxiously self-assured about the things she knows she does well. Girl, me too.

“It really does beg the question,” says Musa, every word dripping with implication. “What else could they have gotten wrong?”

I needed there to be a reason for Link to suspect that Zelda could be saved after he fought Ganon, and this was my solution. It seemed just suggestive enough to fit into the game’s story, without fully confirming or denying the possibility.

By the cooking pot, Traysi bursts out laughing. Musa’s expression softens, just for a second—but then she seems to remember her current company, and it’s back to a measured frown.

“Tell her I said any of this and I’ll tear you limb from limb,” Musa tells Link. And then, softly again, “Don’t be mad that she told me about Zelda. She just really wanted to find a solution for you. She talks a lot about you, when you’re gone.”

Link regards Traysi from a distance—abrasive, self-centered, and pragmatic, and not ashamed of those qualities in the slightest. How many times has he questioned the depths of her true feelings towards him? How many times has he worried, in the back of his brain, that she sees him as a source rather than a friend?

I liked giving Traysi a little more of a private side here. Through Musa, Link gets a hint of the person Traysi is when she doesn’t know he’s paying attention. Y’know, mask off.

“She’s more sympathetic than she lets on,” Musa says. “Unlike me, of course. I’m exactly as sympathetic as I let on.”

Another Musa line I adore. And then it’s directly followed by…

Traysi reaches towards the pizza in the warm cooking pot, then draws back her hand in pain. Both Link and Musa run to her aid without a second thought.

“Are you okay?” Musa frets, taking Traysi’s hand gently in her own. Link gets in both of their personal space, looking over the injury. After an initial assessment of the very minor burn, he locks eyes with Musa and nods. She’s fine.

The way they both immediately put aside whatever weirdness they have between them, simply based on a shared affection for Traysi… so fun to write.

“Calm down, guys!” Traysi says with an amused smile. “I just touched the handle for a second.”

Musa narrows her eyes at the tiny wound as if she personally despises it. And then she leans down and presses her lips to Traysi’s hand.

GAY PEOPLE!! After several chapters of them antagonistically flirting in front of the somewhat oblivious Link, we get an indulgently obvious moment. And Musa’s willingness to comfort Traysi in such a sweet way, despite her personality Being Like That, in front of strangers, is payoff to her comment about being exactly as sympathetic as she lets on. In this moment, in order to comfort Traysi, she’s choosing to let on.

“Muse,” Traysi murmurs, “not in front of Link.”

The idea of Traysi being extremely private about her romantic life, while talkative and oversharing about everything else, is adorable.

Musa regards Link with what appears to be murderous intent. But then Traysi runs a hand through her hair, and she returns to her typical indifference.

Despite their very nice conversation, the fact that Link’s presence means that Musa can’t flirt with her girlfriend has her going evil-assassin mode. But then Traysi pets her hair and she’s fine :)

“I’m here too,” says Douma. Under her breath, she adds, “freaks.”

Douma was a fun late addition to this fic. In BOTW, she talks to Link about how off-putting she finds Prince Sidon despite his charming reputation. This characterization seemed about right to me.

#my writing #mask off

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markosmate · 4 years ago

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lady

Pairing; Marko x Emerson!Reader

Summary; Moving to a different state with your younger brothers and mother just to live with your grandfather was hard enough, but falling in love with a vampire and then watching your brother do the same thing? Much different story.

Warnings; strong language

au:// Welp lovelies I had promised you a Marko series in February that I started writing while I was manic, then after writing a good five/six chapters I fell into a deep dark hole of depression and didn’t write anything but sad, worthless poetry about a boy I’m in love with who doesn’t love me back :) But now it’s May, a spark of inspiration and happiness has suddenly hit me and I’ve come back to this series to finally deliver it to you!! I hope y’all like it cause I literally stress cried over finishing it three different times :,)

I’d also like to point out that any kind of feedback at all is so so appreciated. Most of my inspiration comes from feeding off of people’s reactions to what I write. So if you enjoy it or have any recommendations or comments at all please please don’t be shy to send me an ask or DM or even comment to let me know :( Thank you and enjoy!!

Part 2

I wasn’t exactly mad about moving, there was nothing holding me in Phoenix that I would be particularly sad about leaving behind. The only thing that struck a nerve was that it was dumped out of nowhere on me. Suddenly Mom had divorced Dad, let him keep everything, and made plans with Grandpa for us to move into his place with him. A little prior warning would have been appreciated, but regardless when we were told it didn’t change the fact that everything we knew was changing. Sam wasn’t happy about it at all, leaving his friends, leaving Dad. Michael... well Michael didn’t really have an opinion. In my view, he was just indifferent. He didn’t really care where the hell we were as long as he had a motorcycle, a job, and some hot chicks to swoon over.

But here we were, packed into Mom’s truck and driving through a town that I’d most likely have memorized like the back of my hand in a good few days. As the three in the car argued over which station to keep on, I turned my head and leaned my forehead on the window of the car. I watched the beach as we drove along the road, and admired the waves hitting against the sand.

I was ready to drift off until we got to Grandpa’s house when a short, exited yell left Mom’s lips. “Oh!” She grinned happily as Sam landed on a station familiar to her. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Oh, that’s from my era! Grooving on a Sunday afternoon!” She sung along with the song as Sam threw his head back and groaned in protest. I laughed at her antics, enjoying seeing my Mom acting so carefree and happy.

“Alright, keep going, keep going.” Mom and Sam agreed with each other at the same time, Mom leaning over to continue skipping through the stations. Finally, the next station was agreed on and my pounding head thanked the universe for the quiet that I hadn’t been able to achieve the entire drive here. “Hey we’re almost there!”

“Ugh,” Sam scrunched his nose up in disgust after taking a deep breath. I leaned forward to wrap my arms around his head-rest and pull my face closer to the open window. The pungent smell hit me, and I recognized it immediately, low tide, but it wasn’t bad - anything to do with the beach was calming to me regardless. “What’s that smell?”

“Ah!” Mom breathed in deeply and turned to share a knowing grin with me, “That’s the ocean air!”

I turned to look at the welcoming sign, taking in the colors and faded lettering. “Smells like someone died.” Sam muttered as Mom tutted at him softly.

“That’s likely.” I muttered to Michael, nudging his head in the direction of the back of the sign, where in big red spray-painted letters sat the phrase “Murder Capitol of the World.”

“Aw guys, I know the last year hasn’t been easy. But I do think you’re really going to enjoy living in Santa Carla.” Mom tried to remain happy about the situation, but a shared glance with Michael after we both read over the sign revealed there wasn’t much he was excited for.

The rest of the drive only increased my excitement. Hippies galore filled the streets, a large amusement park covered most of the boardwalk, and the rest was filled with small shops and food stands. We stopped for awhile so Mom could give some teenagers rummaging through garbage some money to eat and so Michael could unhinge his bike and ask around for job openings, but before I could even think to step out of the car and get a look around we were already heading into the backroads to get to Grandpa’s house.

Grandpa’s house was farther into the plains than expected, but still only a good fifteen to twenty minute drive away from town. Before Mom could ever fully park the car, I had already jumped out and was looking around the property. Michael pulled his bike up next to Mom’s car, and they all took a good few seconds to look around at all the wood carvings and chimes before turning their vehicles off. I took note of the horses grazing in one of the back fields before walking around the front of the truck and seeing a man laying on his back across the front porch steps.

Sam lead the way towards him before Mom cut in front and marched up the steps to squat beside him. “Dad?” She questioned gently. “Dad?” The three of us leaned closer to get a better look.

“Looks like he’s dead.” Michael remarked.

“Like... really dead.” I quipped in, raising an eyebrow at Mom.

“No, no. He’s just a deep sleeper.” She brushed our comments off.

“If he’s dead can we go back to Phoenix?” Sam remarked, earning a snort from me and a sharp look from Mom.

Suddenly Grandpa sat up, a cocky smirk apparent on his face. “Playing dead. And from what I hear, doing a damn good job of it.”

Sam rolled his eyes in exasperation before Mom laughed faintly. “Oh, Dad!”

That night, Mom decided that it would be good for the four of us to leave the house after a night of unpacking and explore the boardwalk when it’s at its liveliest. I could admit it looked much more enjoyable now that it was dark and a little chilly, the sweaty people that had been occupying it earlier were now less sweaty and more stoned.

Almost as soon as Mom’s car and Michael’s bike were parked, Mom sent us off on our own so she could spend some time staking out a job in one of the family-owned shops. “Do you think she’ll be able to find one?” Sam questioned as the three of us weaved through crowds, trying to find our way to the beach concert. We could certainly hear it, we were just having a bit of trouble actually getting to it.

“One what? A job?” Michael scoffed as if it was hard to believe, still bitter over the fact there was no legal jobs for him to get hired in.

I laughed, elbowing him softly in the side, knowing that this place was exactly his vibe and in time he would most likely come to love living here. Sam was the only one I was actually worried about. “She’ll probably be able to find one. What, with all these missing people, there’s bound to be tons of job openings.”

“You’re telling me. It’s like there’s hundreds of bullet-boards around every corner with dozens of people missing. This place really is the Murder Capital.” Michael remarked as the concert finally came into our line of sight.

“Don’t say that!” Sam pleaded, shoving Michael’s shoulder with his eyebrows knitted tightly.

Michael just held his hand up in surrender and with one last shrug of his shoulders he turned to me. “You checking out the shops? We’ll find you once we get bored.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I agreed, turning sharply on my heel and blindly making my way back into the crowd. The concert was loud, sweaty, and crowded, and it wasn’t even my style of music - the last thing I wanted to do was spend my first night there. I figured it would be much more productive if I were to check out all the shops and stands running up and down the entire area, maybe find some new pieces of jewelry, or even a possible summer job opportunity.

Many places caught my eye, and I made a mental note to check them out the next time I had free money to spend, as it wouldn’t be wise for me to make an impulse-buy when I’m so close to being completely broke. Instead a small stand in the middle of the walkway drew me to it. A piercing stand. One person working on someone already sitting on the chair. There was a large wall selection of different studs, and many different kinds of disinfectants lined along the counter.

I walked closer to the wall, admiring all the different designs they had. I’d absolutely love to get a helix or orbital piercing, but I knew it wasn’t the wisest to spend money doing something like that at a small stand on a boardwalk in Santa Carla of all places. I was suddenly broken out of my thoughts when a voice spoke up directly behind me.

“It’s a scam, you know.” I jumped, hand flying to my chest, and whipping around to look at the owner. A teenage boy, my age, maybe a little older, with long curly blond hair and a grin that could have probably wooed me into his bed by the end of the night had he not literally just scared the shit out of me.

I laughed breathlessly, shaking my head. “What is?”

“The piercings. If you need one done, I could do it for you. But they use the guns instead of a needle which will definitely infect if you’re planning on doing a cartilage one.” He explained with a tilt of his head as he turned and began making his way towards the restaurants. I took that as an invite to follow, jogging to catch up and walking next to him.

“You know a lot about piercings?” I tried to make small talk, not wanting him to get away just yet.

He nodded with a confident smirk. “I did my own, and my friends. Someone had to learn.” I laughed a little at his mock-annoyed tone and shoved my hands into my pockets to appear to be doing something. He suddenly stopped and turned to me, holding out his hand. “Marko, by the way.”

“Ivory.” I accepted his hand and we both shook, hard and firm.

“You’re new.” He nodded as if finally understanding something that had been going on inside his own head. “I would’ve noticed you before if you’d been here all along.”

We dropped each other’s hand and I gave him a quizzical look. “What do you mean by that?”

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Nothing rude, you’re just too gorgeous to go unnoticed around here.” Before I could reply, another voice cut in from a few yards away.

“Marko! Marko, man, we’re supposed to meet David in ten!” I looked over to see another punk-looking dude calling out to Marko with his hands cupped around his mouth.

I laughed and look back towards the curly blond. “See you around?”

He nodded in confirmation, sending me one last crooked smile before turning to jog over to his other friend. I turned as well, making my way back into the crowd and away from the middle lane stands. I didn’t make it very far before the body of my youngest brother crashed into my side. I glanced down at him in bewilderment as we used each other to steady ourselves.

“Sam? Aren’t you supposed to be with Michael?” I laughed as he looked as though he’d just had the weirdest conversation of his life.

“Well, I was. Then he saw some girl at the concert and wandered after her so I went to check out the comic store.” He explained, shrugging before letting his eyes wander around once more in search of Michael. I rolled my eyes, of course Michael left Sam behind to go chase after some girl. It didn’t take long to find him, he was only a little further down the stretch of restaurants. He was more towards the end, walking out of the crowd near where the last building - a bar - sat in place.

We walked up behind him, and as soon as I was at his side I followed his eyes to a girl who was walking behind a small child, hand on his shoulder, and steering him in a certain direction. She was pretty - with big, curly hair and a beautiful smile that curled her lips up as her eyes grazed over all the lights of the carousel one last time for the night. I followed her line of sight, trying to place why Michael was following her instead of just walking up and introducing himself, but I immediately realized what the problem was.

She hoisted herself up onto the back of a motorcycle, accepting the help of the blond driver. He had a spiked mullet, dressed in all black, and when he realized Michael was staring at his girl, a cocky kind of smirk crossed his face. His friends parked next him all revved their engines to a start, and I tore my eyes from the platinum blond to see the others. I didn’t manage to catch a good look at two of them, because my eyes immediately looked onto those of the punk from earlier who’d started a conversation with me over pierced ears.

He was already looking at me, and when he realized my attention immediately locked onto him, a predatory look filled the black circles of his eyes and his lips formed into a boyish smirk directed exactly at me. He lifted his hand in a short wave, laughing along with the friend who called him away from me earlier as he shoved Marko’s shoulder in a teasing way. I lifted my hand in a small acknowledging wave back, but was knocked out of my small trance by Sam, who began teasing Michael.

“Come on, she stiffed ya!” Sam laughed harmlessly, gently punching Michael’s shoulder and turning to probably go and find Mom. I broke my gaze away from Marko immediately, turning to follow after Sam and not bothering to look back at all as I heard the bikes pull out and speed off down the road.

“Too bad she left with Mr. Mullet, she was pretty.” I tried to break the tension with Michael, I really didn’t want him to be upset over the lose of the girl, he still had all of Santa Carla’s teenage population of girls to meet.

He cracked a smile and nudged his shoulder into mine. “She really was.”

Once we made it home for the night, I separated from both my brothers and made my way into my own room. It was the smallest of all of ours, but that’s the main reason why I had chose it. It was cozy, and cute. I liked the way it came out once I had finished decorating it.

I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to those boys on the motorcycles from earlier that night. Marko seemed nice enough, even if I didn’t know whether or not I was brave enough to try to pursue a friendship with his more than intimidating friends. Just as I came to the conclusion that I should just get over myself and approach them, a sharp sting of anxiety wedged itself into my gut and nauseous filled my stomach and rose up in my throat. No. I didn’t need to become friends with those boys, there was something off, something I didn’t need to meddle in.

If I saw them again, I’d avoid eye contact and conversation completely. I was never able to understand my anxiety, but I always listened to it when it struck me.

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haleigh-sloth · 4 years ago

Note

Hello! Your meta posts are wonderful and I was just wondering if you have written about how you think the redemption of Dabi, Toga, and Shigaraki will go down in terms of where they will end up. How will hero society reconcile with their crimes without locking them up and leaving them to rot (which seems to be antithetical to the point Horikoshi is trying to make). Do you think they will be rehabilitated into society or at a facility? Or something else?

Whhhaaat 🥺🥺🥺 I know for sure that I’ve rambled about what I think will happen and hope will happen here and there but idk if I’ve really dived into it. Idk if anybody’s ever asked so here I go!

So as far as society reconciling with their crimes without locking them up, that’s not really going to be that hard tbh.

Think about the way society is portrayed right now in the manga. Just look at the chapters between the end of the war arc and now. Society is only getting worse. It’s growing more chaotic, disorganized, and dangerous. And even worse, but very important to note, society is stooping low to a point where they are blindly discriminating against each other just because of how someone looks (sound familiar?). The way things are right now, they’re only going to get worse and worse until the final battle involving AFO gets here, and all of this can be put to rest. It’s as the vestiges said in chapter 310, society is going backwards. Everybody is using their quirks illegally and lots of people are out committing crimes, playing vigilante, and destroying the cities just by using their powers. So by the time the final battle gets here, do you really think they are going to have the capacity to really care about what happens to the LOV? Not only that, but the main LOV members are being set up to redeem themselves by helping defeat AFO, at which point I expect that final battle to have caused so much chaos and destruction in society that there is literally no point in worrying about what happens to the main 3 villains who literally helped save the world. I mean...their redemption is rooted in defeating the one true villain of the story--AFO. Little Tenko wanted to be a hero who saved people, and defeating AFO is satisfying that dream of his. That’s his, and Toya’s, and Himiko’s redemption.

After that last final battle, everybody should be more worried about finding their families, rebuilding their homes, finding new homes, etc., more so than worrying about what happens to Toya, Shigaraki, and Himiko who just helped save them all from imminent death at the hands of AFO. So that’s how I expect the story to address the whole “do we lock them up? do we not?” situation.

As for what I think will happen with each member, well, it’s really up in the air for ones like Spinner and Compress (assuming they make it out alive), but for the main 3 I kind of have an inkling of what I think might happen, but I can’t say for sure. This is ALL just speculation and predicting so please take it with a grain of salt lol.

For Toya, it’s actually pretty obvious. He has to go home. He has 10 years without his family to make up for, and so does Rei. Toya will heal best in an environment surrounded by unconditional love. He also has to get to know Shouto, seeing as how he never got to. As for whether or not E is included in that...well I can’t say what I expect yet. Either way though, I’ll be happy as long as Toya is home and he can finally have a real relationship with Shouto and catch up with his mother and other two siblings. He just needs to be safe and happy.

For Toga, I THINK because of her age being that of a high schooler still, she may end up at UA. Maybe. Also I should clarify, I don’t expect UA to be a regular high school by the end either. I don’t see how society can go back to having a prominent school that feeds into the quirk elitist system that the story is criticizing and actively dismantling. What we’re learning right now in the backwards aging hero society is that everybody should have the privilege and opportunity to train their quirks, not just a select privileged few who have “strong” or “cool” or “convenient” quirks. People not knowing how to use their own quirks is exactly why society is shit right now. So I think UA will be more of an all inclusive institution by the end, and Toga will find acceptance there around other kids her age. That’s the thing about her too, she yearns for friendship. She has it with the league yes, but you can tell by how she goes after Ochaco and Tsu that she needs that connection with other teenagers and girls her age. She is still a teenage girl after all, and the LOV is comprised of all guys way older than her lol. So that’s what I kind of expect for her.

Shigaraki is hard for me to get a handle on ending wise because ideally I’d like for All Might to survive and take on that mentor/parent role for him. Kurogiri kind of took that role for Shigaraki, but I’m absolutely positive he’s not going to make it past the final battle. I mean he’s already dead so. But there’s a very real chance All Might might not make it out either. I’d rather he did though. I’d rather Gran Tostito bite the dust. I feel like All Might may survive so he can take his second chance at taking care of his master’s legacy, her grandson. He missed the opportunity the first time and those consequences were...well you see it now lol. So I feel like it would make sense for him to take that second chance, but again I really don’t know. He’s kinda the perfect character to kill off? But taking All Might out of the equation, I don’t know to be honest. Shigaraki has no family waiting for him. Which I think is important to remember. Really right now all he has is Midoriya, who is still technically a stranger to him. I do think they’re going to form some sort of bond and life-long friendship, I just don’t know how that will look in terms of “the aftermath”. But I don’t think Shigaraki will be alone by any means. He has no family so he’s going to have to find one in the people around him. I expect that main cast of 7 to kind of stick together in the aftermath, so there’s the people who will surround him who care about him. But as far as like...where he’ll live, I have no idea. I have it in my head that Aizawa may take on that mentor role I mentioned earlier, if All Might doesn’t make it. Aizawa is the only pro hero set up to have a change of heart, he’s the only pro who currently criticizes the system in place, so he’s kind of in a perfect position to take Shig in as well. Plus, Aizawa already took in Eri (who is Shigaraki’s reflection). So that’s very possible imo. But as far as relationships and friendships go, Midoriya will be there for him and I think Bakugo will be too. They’ll be an unhinged chaotic trio of absolute madness. It’ll be great. They deserve it tbh. Also with Shigaraki, I highly highly doubt he’ll be going by that name anymore. His name is Tenko Shimura. He and his family went missing when he was 5 years old. He was kidnapped and held hostage for 15 years, and now he’s finally been found.

So basically I expect society to be in such dissarray that they don’t have time to worry about the league, especially since by the end the league will be an established ally, no longer an enemy.

Now I have heard the possibility of them all being in behavioral hospitals like what Rei was in. And I’m not like...against it, but I don’t love that idea either. Mostly because I don’t want BNHA to suddenly start sticking with the rules of reality. Why can’t they heal in the best environment for them? WIth people who love them? I would prefer for them to be completely free by the end. If they do get put in behavioral health hospitals then I would at least like to be shown them living their lives after their release. I don’t want it to end on the note of institutionalization. I want to see them be free.

So yeah, happy endings for everyone! If this isn’t what happens exactly then that’s fine. What matters most is that they’re all happy and get everything they need. Toya needs to be with his family, Toga needs to be accepted, and Tenko needs to heard, acknowledged, and cared for. I think all three of them will get that regardless of how it looks.

#jeez long post again sorry guys #bnha #bnha asks #bnha endgame #bnha speculation #bnha predictions #boku no hero academia #anonymous #bnha lov #bnha league of villains #shigaraki tomura #todoroki touya #toga himiko

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snkpolls · 4 years ago

Text

SnK Episode 71 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 176 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

RATE THE EPISODE 172 responses

This week’s episode keeps up the high mark of the previous episodes, with 98.8% of respondents giving the episode a score of 3 or higher (overwhelmingly 4s and 5s). Nice!

It was aight.

It's cool

8.5/10

great!

Very rocky imo in terms of animation, as the cracks are beginning to show but overall look like the backgrounds and music choices were top tier.

Really good episode, I was disappointed in the jacket scene but it’s not the end of the world

loved it

It was overall a great episode I loved it.

🔥🔥🔥

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 174 responses

46.6% of respondents overall were most excited to see Eren meeting up with Floch and the others, with 23.6% of those respondents favoring the scene of Eren putting on his jacket specifically. 12.1% most enjoyed seeing the angry citizens shouting out the Survey Corps motto. 9.8% were thrilled to see Zackley’s death animated. 8% were psyched to see Pieck in disguise at the end, and 6.9% most enjoyed the moment where Hitch caught Armin red-handed trying to touch Annie’s crystal.

YOUR REACTION TO EREN PUTTING ON HIS JACKET? 171 responses

Eren putting on his jacket was a scene many obsessed over when it first appeared on page and many looked forward to seeing it animated. Most of the response choices were focused on various forms of swooning over Eren and his abs. Some (13.5%) stated that they didn’t really understand the dramatism and some others (another 13.5%) simply stated that they did not see much in Eren outright. We’ve gotten a lot of write-ins about comparisons to the pre-animated trailer shot of said scene. More on that in a later question.

i mean i understand the thirst, but eh

Prefer manga :/

The trailer did it better

Meh. Better in the trailer and the manga.

TF was that? Well it's still good in its own way.

YES! YES! YES! YES! Y E S!

both "HOOOOOLYYYYYY 😳" and "so dramatic and for what?"

Trailer/Manga shot was way better

Manga shot/trailer version are way better. Dissapointed

Trailer looked better :(

Mappa only made Reiner thicc, why Eren is so frain he has 1,85! He is so strong in the manga

I don't care

Manbun.........👀

He can have my babies anytime 😌💅🏻

Not as sexy as advertised; that’s okay, though.

That scene looked weird af ngl. It looked better in the trailer 😔

Me after THAT eren scene: 🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻

Eren makes my dick rise

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW HAPPY ARE YOU NOW THAT WE APPEAR TO BE GOING BACK TO LEVI AND ZEKE’S PERSPECTIVE NEXT WEEK FOR A BIT? 171 responses

Levi and Zeke’s chemistry has been the subject of praise for many, so it’s no wonder that 87.1% of respondents are rather excited to get back to seeing Levi and Zeke again. Wow!

ARE ARMIN’S FEELINGS FOR ANNIE GENUINELY HIS OWN? 173 responses

Armin’s feelings for Annie have been looked at under a microscope for a variety of reasons, which is why we’re asking if you believe that his feelings for her are genuine. A plurality, 49.1% think that they’re a mixture of his feelings for her, as well Bertolt’s. Slightly less (30.6%) believe that Armin’s feelings for her existed since before any of the recent developments. Only a select few believe that he either became interested in her post-timeskip or that his feelings are solely influenced by Bertolt. One person doesn’t think Armin has any feelings for Annie at all. And a few others just don’t care.

Bertmin simping for Annie and that apparently being enough for her to start considering him as boyfriend material is the fucking worst. I hate this shit. It's made me like both characters considerably less.

Uhh Armin where ya reaching?!

He was interested with her even before it was revealed she was the Female Titan and now that he has Bertholdt's memories, he sympathizes with her too and wants to understand her more so maybe Bert's memories intensified his feelings

His feelings for Annie are mostly his own. Bert's feelings might be in there a little, but the feelings are still Armin's.

CONTINUITY ALERT! EREN HAS HIS HAIR UP IN A BUN IN YELENA’S FLASHBACK. THOUGHTS? 173 responses

Uh-oh, Eren’s hairstyle moment. It would appear that there might be a continuity error with Yelena’s flashback and whatever that means for the timeline. A slight plurality (37%) didn’t seem to care about this, actually. But 33.5% appeared to believe that it was a mistake on MAPPA’s part that might get fixed in the BluRay version of the episode. 16.8% also believe that it was a mistake, but don’t believe it’ll get fixed. 9.8% think that it’s actually a retcon and that Eren’ll have the man bun when Chapter 123 gets adapted in Final Season Part 2.

I hope it gets fixed because it's bugging me.

I really wish it was like how it was in the manga. Eren looks good with his hair down in his 16-17-year-old phase. Despite the error, it wasn't a deal breaker for the episode.

He looks totally gorgeous with his hair up in a bun, please let this mistake be

Honestly I don’t mind it. It looks great either way.

Eren in a manbun is a total win for me!

WHICH PIECES OF INFORMATION MISSING FROM YELENA’S ADMISSION IN THE MANGA DO YOU WISH WOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE ADAPTATION? 163 responses

As with almost all dialogue-heavy chapters in this series, there are cuts. In this episode, these cuts mostly affected the conversation between Yelena and Pixis. The most yearned for cut material was Yelena never telling Eren to go along with the plan and Yelena saying that she used Floch as a “go-between” between her and Eren. Others also noted missing lines about Yelena wanting Eren to stand up for himself, Yelena stating that Zeke gave the volunteers a hopeful future and the idea that her and Eren came to quick agreement. The plurality (31.9%) however, didn’t seem to mind any cuts.

WHAT ARE YOU OVERALL FEELINGS ABOUT SOME OR ALL OF THE AFOREMENTIONED DETAILS BEING CUT? 161 responses

There is often a sort of expectation to have everything (or almost every) line from the manga adapted in the anime, so it’s interesting to see how people react to that sort of stuff. An almost 50% of respondents stated that they didn’t really care about the cuts, whereas smaller handfuls of respondents stated that the cuts either took away from the characterization of the conversation, or from the context and timeline-building purposes.

I'm not thrilled about the cuts, but I understand MAPPA can only fit so much in on each episode, so I'm okay with it

the yelena/volunteers plot has always been wonky and hard to follow

I don’t think it’s a problem, they need to cut certain things.

i literally never notice but i agree that it makes it harder to piece things together

Meh

It might seem for anime watchers that Yelena didnt do much, and Floch and Zeke that did the most part, in their own plans. Floch to betray and Zeke in predicting Eren wouldnt be on his side in some way. Yelena helped Zeke a lot to where he arrived in the rumbling

All of the above

ZACKLEY WALKS OVER TO HIS TORTURE MACHINE IN THE ANIME BEFORE MIKASA ASKS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO EREN, RATHER THAN GLANCE OVER AT IT AFTER HER QUESTION. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CHANGE? 170 responses

There was a partially comedic insinuation in the manga that Zackley thought about strapping Eren to his “art piece”. The insinuation is possibly still there in the anime, but in a different form. So we asked how you felt about it. Slightly below a half (48.8%) stated that they thought the subtlety was still there. 18.8% thought the subtlety was lost with the small change and 8.8% believed the change made Zackley seem less unhinged. 21.8% really didn’t care at all.

Why is this a question?

The glance was funny as fuck in the manga, but might have been awkward to pull of in the animation

They're blown up tho, does it even matter?

DID EREN KNOW ABOUT THE BOMB? 170 responses

Whether Eren truly knew about the bomb is a bit unclear to this day and with how it endangered Armin and Mikasa. A plurality (40%) believe he knew about the bomb, but did not know about his childhood friends meeting Zackley. Slightly less (30.6%) think that Eren did not know about either the bomb or AM meeting the Artist. A minority (7.1%) does believe that Eren knew about both the bomb and meeting and 21.8% simply aren’t sure!

Even if he didn’t know, he obviously doesn’t care either way.

THERE IS SOME DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER EREN’S JACKET SCENE WAS BETTER ANIMATED IN THE PROMOTIONAL VIDEO OR IN THE EPISODE ITSELF. WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE? 170 responses

Here we go… The elephant in the room… Which Eren abs scene did you prefer? The Promotional video or the actual episode? A somewhat slight majority (57.1%) seemed to like the version seen in the promotional video more than the episode itself versus the ones who preferred the episode’s style (42.9%).

THE EPISODE MARKS THE BEGINNING OF FLOCH’S ACTIONS AS THE VOICE OF THE YEAGERISTS. HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT IT? 170 responses

Floch has always been a controversial character and the developments seen post-time skip have not been any less debatable. You may floching love him or floching hate, but he’s here and he’s staying for a while. A plurality (48.8%) notes that although they may not personally be a fan of the character, they truly do appreciate the nuance his appearance gives to the story. Just over a quarter (25.3%) stated that as big fans of the character, they’re looking forward to all the screentime the Flochster will receive. In contrast, 20.6% despise the man and his questionable haircut and are also dreading the showcase he’ll soon receive.

I hate Floch and will cheer again when he dies, but I enjoy his character.

I detest Floch but I'm not dreading all the screen time he'll take up.

Since he died in the manga, my hatred for him has cooled down somewhat now that I'm watching the anime.

I am once again asking for you to shut the fuck up, Floch.

WE KNOW NOW THAT EREN DID CONSPIRE WITH FLOCH TO BETRAY ZEKE TO ENACT THE RUMBLING. STILL, DO YOU BELIEVE HE DID IT BECAUSE HE HAS THE SAME BELIEFS AS FLOCH, OR WAS HE JUST USING FLOCH AND THE YEAGERISTS AS A MEANS TO AN END? 161 responses

An overwhelming amount of respondents (87.6%) stated that they believe Eren never truly saw eye to eye with Floch and his ideology and that Eren was simply using Floch as a means to an end. In contrast, 9.3% truly do think that Eren was ideologically similar to Floch and the “New Eldian Empire”. A select few thought you couldn’t just say one way or another.

They both wanted to protect Paradis

DO YOU THINK IF THE YEAGERISTS, BESIDES FLOCH, KNEW ABOUT THE FULL SCALE RUMBLING BEFOREHAND THAT THEY WOULD WILLINGLY FOLLOW EREN? 167 responses

The majority (53.3%) feel that the Yeagerists would see a divide if they knew beforehand that Eren wanted to initiate the rumbling, with some sticking around for the cause and others possibly leaving because it’s too extreme. 25.1% believe that they all would have fully supported the rumbling in the name of their own survival. 15% believe that every Yeagerist already knew about the plan to commence the rumbling, and only 6% feel that they would most certainly have betrayed the Yeager brothers (and Floch) if they had known.

I don’t know, this is a loaded question and I’m tired.

DO YOU THINK THAT, IF THE STORY ENDS PEACEFULLY, MIKASA WILL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN HIZURU? 170 responses

While this plotline may not be going anywhere in the manga (or so it seems), the reminder of its existence is brought to light again as we revisit these older moments from the manga. 32.4% feel that Mikasa wouldn’t leave Paradis behind to start a life on Hizuru. 23.5% think that she wouldn’t leave Paradis behind, necessarily, but will still have a role to play in Hizuru. 21.2% think it doesn’t matter because Isayama has completely discarded (or forgotten) about this plotline. 12.4% don’t know what to predict (if anything) and only 8.2% believe that her future lies in Hizuru beyond the main storyline.

The last two options plus me not caring. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

hizuru is already rumbled, gone, but she will continue the azumabito clan in paradis

Is no one else gonna question Kiyomi's hair being sucked into her skull??? HELLO MA'AM???

Hizuru is likely flattened

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 171 responses

Episode 72 has already broadcasted as of the completion of this poll. For scenes that were most anticipated, 35.7% were most looking forward to seeing Levi and Zeke’s interaction in the forest. 33.3% most looked forward to Niccolo leaning straight from Gabi’s mouth that she is Sasha’s killer. 18.7% highly anticipated the Blouses learning about Gabi killing Sasha, and 9.4% were looking forward to Gabi/Falco and the Blouses gathering at Niccolo’s restaurant. Only a small amount were looking forward to Niccolo protecting Jean and Connie from drinking the wine.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Man the animation was gonky

no levi </3

So many faces of Niles are weirds !

Let hange aloneeeeeeee and happy, please

I have no word for this, but I feeling good

Shit is getting really real now!

Everyone talking about Eren’s abs and I just wanna say the music in that scene was amazing!

I loved how it was all neatly put together and fast moving

Armin looked so good. Homie walked from point A to B and i SCREAMED. Thank you.

i wish they included eren's warhammer escape from the prison, besides that solid episode all around, the people chanting 'dedicate your hearts' gave me chills

I can't stand Hitch at all but MAPPA made her really pretty. Re: The jacket scene The trailer version was pretty much identical to the manga panel. But I liked the version that made it into the final episode too. People have been so ridiculous about MAPPA ""ruining everything"" this season, they should stop watching if that's how they feel. I thought Eren looked great and found the sun shining on his abs funny. The scenery was better in the episode, imo. I hope they don't cut Jean's line about booze not caring about what race you are. Lmao

Meh. It's not bad of course, I just find the rythm weird and I don't really feel many emotions watching the episodes. And I was so thirsty for the jacket scene, and it turned out weird too.

Mappa pls stop drawing eren like shit he is gorgeous in the manga

MMGH SOON!! LET'S GOOOOOOO

You friccin moron, you just got zooked!

i miss eremin </3

Wish they had shown how eren used his titan powers to escape.

I'm so not looking forward to the controversy that's gonna be reignited during the EMA talk scene. I'm actually dreading it, but we'll finally get the Levi vs Beast Titan scene so I'll be fine

112 will destroy ships

I felt the animation was flawless as usual but the script was kinda boring, I expected more of these aspects: -Yelena, it was bland with the cuts -Hange, they cut something I cant figure what in this Yeagerists coup act that turned her scenes a little bit lacking? Idk something -Again the soundtrack in the episodes is so silent. The only episode so far I liked the ost beyond the Opening and Closing themes is Reiner episode. I miss the melodrama of Witstudio osts

Eren putting his jacket on in slow-speed whilst talking at regular speed is fucking trippy

Just happy to see Hitch!

It was slow and mainly plot driven. I enjoyed it despite the changes.

goddamn is that a hella well-animated explosion

more abs please

Great episode. Really ridiculous how many people overreacted about the jacket scene. It's ok to perfer the way the trailer did it but to those who say Mappa is ruining the adaptation because of minor things like this, calm down.

I wish the jacket scene was better But over all the ep is pretty good

Boring, but then again so was this phase in the manga.

I really like the VA they chose for Onyankopon! His voice is very warm and genuine, which suits his character well

The sunset was so aesthetically pleasing

yoooo just read ch. 138 and im crying in da club :(

These MAPPA episodes have been a low point for me. I’m trying to enjoy them because I love this story but it feels like a chore.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 161 responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk spoilers #snk s4 #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot

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krizaland · 5 years ago

Note

do you have any personal headcanons for zib? s/o related or not

I think I’ve got a few things~ WARNING: Spoilers for Zimvoid under the cut!

General:

I headcannon that Zib is actually Pilot Dib! Therefore a lot of my headcannons are based on the pilot Invader Zim show bible.

[Image: Screenshot from the pilot show bible that reads:

DIB: Relentless pursuer of the paranormal, he’s the elementary school Fox Mulder. (With slightly more emotional range) Dib is the “Gifted Child” of his school, capable of far more scientifically and intellectually than any of his classmates, and he knows it.

He is the son of the one and only PROFESSOR MEMBRANE, the man responsible for thousands of amazing inventions and miraculous cures that he discovers everyday, as well as the enormously popular kids’s show “ASK MISTER MEMBRANE”.

Aside from being a tireless supernatural investigator, Dib is quite the little scientist/inventor himself, not that his far too busy father ever notices. You see, dad has become numb to amazing scientific discoveries, so he will respond to is son’s giant robot the same way he might to his daughter’s happy father’s day sculpture. This will not do for Dib, who wants to impress his father more than anything in the world.

ZIM’s arrival into Dib’s life provides him with exactly what is needed to trip the wires in his head, setting off his twin obsessions. His “truth is out there” fixation could find no better focus than the kid who is so obviously not from here, and yet no one but he (and a select few others) can even see the truth. And how could dad not be impressed by a son who singlehandedly exposed the evil alien threat and saved the planet from impending DOOM! (What father wouldn’t be proud?! End description]

As you can see, Pilot Membrane was just as neglectful as he was in the show.

Therefore, Zib’s descend into madness begun at a very young age.

Constantly being brushed off by the only parental figure he has took quite a toll on his mental health to say the least.

It doesn’t help that he’s a ‘gifted kid’ in a class that’s not advanced enough for him.

No doubt the pressure of being ‘gifted’ and being Professor Membrane’s son is a lot for a child to bear.

Therefore it’s no wonder Zib ended up so unhinged and borderline creepy. Hell he was so desperate to impress his shitty excuse of a father that he even resorted to experimenting on Gaz!

[Image: Another screenshot from the Pilot show bible that reads:

Aside from his father, Dib could care less what the world at large thinks of him. He is content with his passion for delving into the spooky world of the unexplained.

Still, a guy needs an audience, a confidant of sorts, and it is here that his younger sister, GAZ comes into play, whether she wants to be involved or not.

In addition to her role as the reluctant sidekick, Gaz also finds herself the unwitting test subject for Dib’s gadgets, chemicals, and alien hunting devices.

His experiments aren’t the results of any ill feelings, he does them out of necessity, not having any other place to test things out. He does feel a little guilt of the pain and embarrassment inflicted on her and tries to make up for them in various ways, but unfortunately these “apologies” almost always involve another experiment.

After feeling guilty for putting a test syrum in his sister’s lunch which caused her to uncontrollably dance a merry little jig in her food, he might give her a doll. The thing is, the doll is a prototype mind reading robot which absorbs the knowledge and information about the people who touch it. The doll, of course, goes bad and ends up escaping, spouting off Gaz’s deep, dark secrets to whoever will listen.

End description]

Judging by his tendencies to experiment on and deceive Gaz, it’s no wonder she hates him so much.

Adding to this, because experimenting and deceiving the person who’s the closest thing to a friend he has, Zib’s view on friendship is extremely skewed to say the least.

Zib seems to have tunnel vision and will do whatever to takes to achieve his goals even if it means stepping on others to climb to the top.

In spite of all this, I headcannon that if anyone were to praise him, even if they aren’t Professor Membrane, Zib would be over the moon! If that person was the only one who praised him, then Zib would most likely form an obsession with them and would want to impress them as well.

As we all know, when Zib successfully exposed his Zim no one cared, not even his father.

Therefore he snapped and tried to conquer his world, only to destroy it.

I heacannon that having Zim’s PAK stuck to his head has altered what little empathy he had for others to start with.

Zim’s personality had seeped into Zib’s leaving him more insane and delusional than before.

Adding to that, Zib is also insanely destructive and has an obsession with conquering worlds for “the greater good” of course.

With all of this being said, Zib still craves praise and appreciation and would would be overjoyed for another human to give him even the slightest crumb of positive attention.

Being stuck with no one other than Zims to talk to has left Zib incredibly lonely and he secretly craves human contact.

S/O headcannons:

Because he has been without humans to impress for so long,, Zib would have an insanely unhealthy obsession with his S/O (One could call him a yandere)

Zib would do literally anything to please his S/O and make sure they stay by his side no matter what.

Zib can’t handle being left alone for long periods of time and might have a panic attack if he can’t find his S/O.

Of course, being the mad scientist he is, he would most likely install a tracking chip in is his S/O while they slept to he’d know where they were at all times.

Zib would always have cameras on his S/O so that he knows their safe and not trying to leave him.

Zib loves his S/O more than anything else and won’t let them forget it!

He’s a sucker for cuddles and will want them in his arms at all times.

Lots and lots of drool! Zib would carry around a towel so his S/O wouldn’t get soaked.

Adding to that, if his S/O drooled in their sleep he’d get super excited because it’s more proof that they were meant to be with him forever.

Zib would shower his S/O in creepy yet well meaning compliments.

RIP to anyone (Especially Zims) who try to take them from him.

Zib may try to marry his S/O ASAP but if they talked him out of it he’d wait.

That’s all I have off the top of my head.

#invader zim #zimvoid #zib #Anonymous

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eurosong · 5 years ago

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Undo my ESC 2020 (SF1)

Good evening, folks! “Undo my ESC”, my look at how I would have changed this year’s contest, is back! Even though the EBU, well, indeed sadly and very literally did undo the ESC this year, there is still room for changing about my personal ideal Eurovision 2020. Let’s have a look at the first semi-final! 🇦🇺 Australia: I continue to be mightily impressed with the quality of Australia Decides, an NF putting forward a number of credible options to represent Oz. I felt the juries helped dodge a bullet this year, because the televote winning song was a rather cliché and dated choice, out of step with the relatively vibrant and contemporary feel of the field. The actual winner was pretty decent albeit with dubious live vocals and an even odder stage concept. It could be improved by working on those two factors, though even better would be to send instead the dramatic Rabbit Hole, truly a title for our season, or even better, the searingly emotional Raw stuff which knocked me off my feet upon first listen and still packs that punch 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Once again, Azerbaijan went down the “buy in a song from elsewhere and attempt to put on a thin gloss of local instrumentation onto a generic pop song in lieu of some actual authenticity. I can’t say I even hate the song this time, though I do dislike how they reportedly nabbed it off non-oil-rich San Marino in a bidding war. I would have brought back Dihaj or... anyone who could produce something halfway Azeri? Also, something that doesn’t make me do a full-body cringe as much as the country ranked the worst in the ESC-sphere for LGBT rights sending a song about “gay or straight or in between.”

🇧🇾 Belarus: Belarus made the right choice - I can really rarely say those words. For only the second time ever, we got a song in Belarusian, and whilst it isn’t up there with the gorgeous Historyja majho žyccia for me, Da widna is still a pleasant listen that soars above many of the hyped pre-contest fan favourites and was a nice surprise from a bad NF. The only thing that I would change? That the unhinged comic brilliance of Pavloni be in the final. Watch from about halfway through to the end for an absolute mood whiplash odyssey.

🇧🇪 Belgium: A lot of people had plenty of hope when they heard that the veteran Hooverphonic were set to represent Belgium in 2020, and I was amongst them. My reäction to what they ended up bringing though was tepid. It’s got the quality rich instrumentation that I expected from this band, pleasant vox, but as a song, it goes nowhere for me, in part because of how repetitive it is and lacking in a hook I find it. I would have picked a more immediate song for Eurovision, because this felt like another DNQ for Belgium, following the same mistakes as 2018 and 2019. They will be back in 2021, and I will be interested to see if they take a slightly different tack.

🇭🇷 Croatia: Following up on Belarus, Croatia was another example of a selection in which I had no hope providing something excellent to recompense for usually reliable countries going off the rails. I finally have from Croatia something to fit in with the likes of Adio from Montenegro and Nije ljubav stvar from Serbia as an epic Balkan ballad. Few people were expecting Divlji vjetre would win; I was over the moon that it did and would change nothing. I hope Croatia re-send the gentleman Damir next year with an equally strong song.

🇨🇾 Cyprus: After giving us a literal replay of Fuego last year, this year they’ve gone a slightly different route, but no less generic (even coming with one of the several duplicately named titles of this year), no less uninspiring, no less completely detached from Cypriot music. I’m longing for Cyprus to send something like Eimai anthropos kai ego again.

🇮🇪 Ireland: So RTÉ came into Eurovision all guns blazing this year, promising “an almighty bop” that will be “remembered in 10 years’ time like Euphoria.” I had feared that their frame of reference for their song would be 10 years’ stale, but instead they cast their net even further back to the mid-2000s. It properly sent me into hysterics when I heard this being compared to EVERY major female singer of that period, depending on whom you asked, before this came into general release. You know what, though? I hold my hands up and admit that I adore the anthemic Story of my life. It’s just so drenched in colour that I feel uplifted every time I listen to it, which is often! Lesley has such a likeable, authentic charisma that adds to the song too. I am so gutted we’ll never see the staging because I feel this would have been a memorable party moment. This is just 3 minutes of happy nostalgia and I live for it.

🇮🇱 Israel: You know, usually, I am not a fan of single-artist national finals, because if you are not a fan of the artist, your choice is very limited indeed. However - I don’t know how one can nót be a fan of Eden to some degree. Her music is not up my street, but she sells it to me through sheer force of personality, positivity and presence. She had four songs and she put her heart and soul into them all. The winner was the vibrant Feker libi, which I would only change by altering the chorus a bit, as its odd 90s dance vibe doesn’t sit so well with the rest of the song. As for Eden, she cried when she reälised she couldn’t go to ESC 2020 and again when she found out she’d been picked for 2021. I wish all artists had this amount of passion.

🇱🇹 Lithuania: There was a sea change in Lithuania this year. I don’t know what happened, but they went from punchline to packing a punch. Their national final had been one that pretty much no one watched, dragging on for several weeks and almost always to choose a mediocre, anticlimactic choice after all that effort. This year, it was one of the most entertaining and diverse NFs of the bunch. My early favourite to win was the powerhouse Monika Marija’s return with If I leave, very much up my street with its country stylings. However, by the time the final came, I had been won over also by the eventual winner, the offbeat and infectious On fire, whose victory I would not alter because it serves as a more dramatic turn of the page for Lithuania’s Eurovision presence. It was such a relief to see this prevailing, with a huge lead in the televote, over the awful, imported Unbreakable or the respectable but pedestrian Make me human. I hope the broadcasters will respect the support this has in Lithuania and allow the Roop to come back in 2021. 🇲🇰 Macedonia: Just no. No. No. Scrap everything about this, bring back Kaliopi and let her get her revenge for the juries screwing her out of qualification with the beautiful “Dona.” 🇲🇹 Malta: Malta have done the unthinkable and sent two songs in a row that I really like for the first time since 1997-8. As Ian would have put it, I was expecting a mere “vocal exercise” from Malta to show off the impressive range of Destiny. Instead, they came out with something so soulful that I have no choice but to enjoy. I hope they go a similar route in 21.

🇳🇴 Norway: So, finally Norway saw some sense and reverted to making the most of having a talented composer, Kjetil Mørland, who is so enthusiastic about Eurovision that he has come back since his success with A monster like me a few times. He should have won with En livredd mann; I wouldn’t have been unhappy at all had he won with Who we are, and indeed, Attention was another song that I had to consider as being amongst the best of its (bizarrely organised) selection. The one thing I’d change? The lyrics. It sounds like an infatuated 12 year old with low self-esteem singing, not a grown woman.

🇷🇴 Romania: It’s not up there with Goodbye or On a Sunday, but Romania have returned with a third song I really enjoy. Alcohol you was head and shoulders above the others in the single-artist selection, and I am still sent by the way she sabotaged the bop that was predicted to win the final so that she could send this more meditative, confessional effort. What would I change? The unnecessary revamp that abruptly shifts the direction of the song in the last third.🇷🇺 Russia: When this first came out, I thought “well done, Russia. Kept us waiting on you until way past the deadline, and all for this bizarre Aquaësque troll entry.” Despite myself, “Uno” has grown on me to some degree. Maybe it’s because of the death stare of the female backing singer who’s giving me some strong Rosa from Brooklyn 99 vibes, and I live for that. Maybe it’s because it’s serving a flourescent lime green in a year when there is so much beige that even an ugly odd colour seems pleasing. I wouldn’t change this, and I hope they get sent again next year because it’s delightful seeing Russia unpaired from Kirkorov.

🇸🇮 Slovenia: Again, I am going to find myself in a small minority, but Slovenia was, like Belarus and Croatia, an unappetising selection that nonetheless yielded a gem for me. They really said screw you to underlying trends and went for a song that moves at a glacial pace fitting of the title, Voda. This was constantly in last place on the Eurovision scoreboard app, which just speaks to the limited taste tolerance of many of its users. There is so much here to enjoy: Slovenia sticking with its language yet again; the ethereal vibes; the deep, rich voice of the singer; the melancholic and poëtic lyrics; and the fact that it was perhaps the only good “revamp” of the season, going in the opposite direction of Albania and inserting an orchestra to make it that much richer in sound. Wonderful stuff and hope she returns in 2021.

🇸🇪 Sweden: So, for the first time since 2014, Sweden has sent a female artist - 3 in fact - and with them, left the cookie cutter niche they’d occupied since then behind. They sent my favourite of their songs since 2013, Move, a joyous gospel-infused effort where the love and positivity of the Mamas gave me tingles to watch. And yet, it wasn’t my ideal choice. My personal winner would have been my favourite entry from Sweden since... possibly as far back as I morgon är en annan dag in 1992. I’m talking ‘bout Dotter of course. The artist whose beautiful Melodifestivalen début with Cry got bizarrely ignored had a superb redemptive arc this year, becoming the huge favourite with Bulletproof. I watched her performance of this over 200 times so far and still watch often. I find the song so poignant, the performance and her presence so bewitching. It’s a rarity for songwriters who also perform their songs to get this far in MF these days, and Dotter lost out by the narrowest of margins, but would have been a great encouragement to others like her had she won. It was widely said that Sweden had the potential for a record-equalling seventh win if they had sent Bulletproof. As much as I cherish Ireland’s record, had it been Dotter to equal it, I wouldn’t have been mad at all. 🇺🇦 Ukraine: Widbir got over their Maruw drama in great style, once again being one of the coolest and most alternative national finals out there. Well done, Ukraine! There were a number of propositions that I would have been happy to see represent the country. My initial favourite was Vegan, one of my most streamed songs of the season and one which always puts a smile on my face with Jerry’s facial expressions and puns like “‘cause I’m vegan, I can’t even call you honey.” And honestly, I would have loved to have seen it in Rotterdam. I also loved, amongst others, Tam kudy ja jdu and Picz, which were both the victims of being in a semi-final with all the good songs whilst the second semi-final was nowhere near as competitive. Having said all that, I am not sure that I would change the eventual winner, Solowej, because it’s its own brand of delightfully authentic. I would undo their unnecessary revamp and keep it as the live version linked to above, though. And the automatic qualifiers: 🇩🇪 Germany: As you would expect from one of the musical monoliths of Europe, Germany once had some of the best and most diverse national finals of the continent, but something went wrong - they kept inviting wild cards, whose scrappiness endeared them to the public even when their songs were mediocre, and so we saw complete no-marks getting the Teutonic nod despite star-studded competition. Nonetheless, “Unser Lied für” was always worth tuning in for, an annual dose of getting mesmer-eyes’d by Barbara Schöneberger too. This year, they threw it all away for one of the most repetitive songs of the year, with a young, confused looking Slovenian being the god knows how many’th contestant to channel his inner Justin Timberlake with another knockoff that sounds as German as fajitas. I would have kept the national final - or, if they’re really going to start doing internal selections, go daring with Lily among clouds, whose Surprise was one of the crown jewels of the previous NF season. 🇮🇹 Italy: Sanremo, which actually predates Eurovision, is so much more than an NF, but its own cultural institution, and the quality is such that a song can be your fifth or sixth in Sanremo but still rank really highly in your ESC rankings. Performing with, and composing for, the orchestra, seems to give its entries a timeless quality that few others compare with. My initial favourites were Tosca’s Ho amato tutto, which from its first strains to the final, saudadic “eh” that serves as an unofficial coda, breaks my heart still sublimely; Viceversa, a heartwarming effort by the unbelievably charming Gabbani and Tikibombom, a slice of Sicilian excellence with trenchant lyrics. My most streamed has been Sincero, remembered more for the hugely memetic moment of one of its representatives changing the lyrics and the other walking out disgusted, but which I adore for its synthy vibes and its brilliant lyrics. The eventual winner was Fai rumore, which I also love too much to propose that it be changed. The lines about “an unnatural silence between us” are all the more poignant now. Lowkey think this could have won Italy its long-awaited third victory. 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Now, this is what I call a host nation song. The way I see it, if you’re hosting, you have a direct ticket to the final that you may not enjoy again for a long time, so why not go for a risk? And a risk NL indeed took. Grow is a very atypical song. It builds in a way we do not expect it to. It is mostly minimalist, focusing most of our attention to Jeangu’s voice, making this an intimate, almost confessional track. The crescendo is cathartic. After Albania destroyed itself with an unnecessary revamp, this became my #1 and I would change nothing about it. It really sucks that a song so personal to its writer and performer won’t be allowed on the stage in 2021 - that’s what I would change. A ridiculous decision on the EBU’s part.

#eurovision #opinion #esc 2020 #eurovision song contest #eurovision 2020

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thetravelerwrites · 5 years ago

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A Day Off (Lemon) Human-Tiefling-Tabaxi

Rating: Lemon Relationship: Female Tabaxi/Male Human/Fem-Intersex Tiefling Additional Tags: Exophilia, Tabaxi, Tiefling, Intersex, Poly Relationship Content Warnings: Babies, Children, Kids, Pregnancy, Fatherhood, Birth Words: 3960

Another fun commission from @ocsmutpocalypse! With a festival coming up, Reverence is overworked. Ebert and Rings devised a plan to give her some time off and much needed rest and relaxation. Please reblog and leave feedback!

The Traveler's Masterlist

The Festival of Bounty was a few weeks away and was Fysy’s most important holiday, aside from Fysy’s Benevolence, which was in spring. It represented not just a fruitfulness of the harvest and of children, but also a deeper understanding of one’s heart, soul, and spirit. A sowing of the inner self and a harvest of spiritual awareness, so to speak.

In fact, on the day itself, it was common practice to abstain from any sexual release in order for the next “seeding” to be that much more potent when planted. Some often chose to wait the whole month prior to the celebrations. Since the harvest festival took place on the first day of autumn, it wasn’t uncommon for there to be a slew of births at the end of spring the following year.

Reverence was the town’s leader, of course, but for the most part, the town ran itself. Very little supervision was needed beyond the odd bar tussle. People governed themselves, and arguments that couldn’t be settled between the parties involved were brought to Reverence and a select council of trusted townspeople. Otherwise, Reverence kept to the temple.

The festivals were the only times she was one hundred percent in charge, and Ebert had never seen her this… frazzled. Between decorations, food, preparing the sermon for the evening, writing the blessing for the feast, planning children’s activities, and coordinating the dancers and musicians, Reverence was looking a little… fried.

“No, no, no,” She said, waving at one of the four people surrounding her with different things. “Harvest colors! Orange, deep red, dark greens. Bright colors are for spring. Just like always, Tera.”

“I’m just saying, we should put a pop of color in the decor!” Tera was saying, talking over the other three vying for Reverence’s attention. “Harvest colors are so dull and drab. Just a little bit of pink would liven it up.”

“Tera,” Reverence said dangerously. “Harvest colors. I’m tired having this argument every year. If you can’t follow the directions, I’ll put someone else in charge. Traditions are traditions for a reason.”

Tera stormed off with a groan, and another person took her place with another issue that needed addressing right fucking now, apparently. Ebert and Rings were sitting on the porch of Reverence’s house, drinking tea and watching all of this happen.

“Is it always like this?” Ebert asked. He’d only been a member of the town for a little over a year, and had been gone with Rings during last year’s festivals, both Bounty and Benevolence.

“Oh, you should have been here three years ago,” Rings replied, watching it all with an air of enjoying the show. “I thought she was literally, literally, going to unhinge her jaw and bite Tera’s head off.”

“Oh, I’d pay to see that,” Ebert joked, sipping from his teacup. “Tera keeps telling me I dress like a hobo.”

“You do dress like a hobo,” Rings replied, eating a slice of cured sausage.

“True, but she does it really need to be said aloud?”

Rings snickered.

Ethrik was at Ebert’s feet, playing with a toy centaur and babbling in his baby tongue, oblivious to the tension in the air emanating like the waves of an angry tide from his mother. Ebert had spent a lot of time with Ethrik since he had been home, forming a very strong bond with his son.

“You have plenty of money now,” Rings continued. “Why don’t you just buy new clothes?”

“I dislike merchants,” Ebert said, watching Reverence sighed in aggravation when another person handed her some papers to go over. “They don’t care if it actually fits or looks good, they’re just trying to make a profit. And tailors are worse. They fuss about fabrics and embellishments. Pfft. It’s too much hassle. I always buy my clothes secondhand. It may not be pretty, but it keeps me warm and I’m not naked, which is good enough for me, so it should be good enough for everyone. A rag on a string is better than having my business out on full display.”

“Rag on a string, you say?” Rings said, looking at Ebert with a distant expression and smirking.

“Don’t start with me, it’s too early,” Ebert said.

“It’s evening!”

“Any time of the day is too early to deal with your shit, Rings,” Ebert quipped.

“You like it,” She replied, grinning so that every single one of her sharp teeth were visible.

“Why don’t you help her?” Ebert said, watching Reverence rub her temples in exasperation.

“Pfft,” Rings scoffed. “Do I look like the event planner type? I wouldn’t even go to this thing if it wasn’t for the free food. I’m not exactly the religious type, if you hadn’t figured it out yet.”

“Neither am I,” Ebert replied. “But she is our lover. We should do something to help her.”

“So why don’t you help her?” She asked snidely.

“I’m watching Ethrik,” Ebert said with a sniff.

“Yeah, literally anyone in town could do that. He’s the town’s kid as much as he is yours.”

Ebert snorted and picked up his son, who squealed happily. “Yes, perhaps, but I want to watch him. I’ve grown rather fond of the little thing, oddly enough.”

Ebert meant that, too. It wasn’t typical of his family to form attachments, most especially to other family. So his affection for his son was something he hadn’t expected to happen, and he was rather surprised and delighted by it.

“Bleh,” Rings retorted, sticking out her tongue in disgust. “If I ever say I want kids, put me in the nut house because I’ve gone crazy.”

“They’re not so bad,” Ebert said, holding his son up high and making fart noises. Ethrik giggled happily.

“Says the person who’ll never know the misery of carrying one of the little crotch goblins in his body,” Rings said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ebert said, nose-nuzzling Ethrik and sitting the little boy in his lap. “Still, I feel like we should do something for Reverence, even if it’s not helping with the festival. Has she ever had a massage? Like, a real one, not just one that led directly to sex?”

“How would I know?” Rings said, picking her teeth.

“Do you pay attention to anything that doesn’t involve you directly?” Ebert asked sardonically.

“Should I?”

Ebert shook his head. “You’re a jewel, Rings.”

She smiled. “I know,” She said in a sing-song voice.

“But really. I think I may have Spring take Ethrik tonight. Reverence needs some kind of help. Help that doesn’t involve dealing with… them.” He pointed at the gaggle of people surrounding Reverence as she walked back to the temple.

“A day off would be nice,” Rings said. “We could lie and tell people she’s sick tomorrow.”

“That’s a good idea,” Ebert said. “Spend the day pampering her. I should buy a few things, if that’s the case.”

“You do that, I’ll clean up the house a bit,” Rings said.

“Look at you, doing something nice,” Ebert said, picking up Ethrik’s bag and his cane with one hand.

“Meh. Don’t get used to it.” Rings disappeared into the house and Ebert went to see Spring about sitting Ethrik for a couple of days.

Reverence came back to her home later that night and collapsed onto the bed face-down.

“I love this town, I really do,” She said, muffled by the bedding. “But it’s times like these that make me want to dig a hole and hide in it for the rest of the month.”

Ebert smirked. “Trust me, both Rings and I totally understand that.”

“Hell, Spring, Ebert, and you are the only reason I stay in this town at all,” Rings said.

Reverence was so exhausted that she hadn’t noticed the candles, incense, and the mulled wine stacked on the table. Ebert had bought massage oils, lotions, hoof polish, the works. He and Rings were planning a day of pampering Reverence had never experienced before.

“Are you hungry, love?” Ebert asked.

“Not especially,” Reverence mumbled. “Where’s Ethrik?”

“Staying with my sister tonight,” Rings replied.

“Oh, good,” She said, her many eyes closed. “I want to sleep for a week.”

Ebert and Rings crawled into bed with her. “Sleep then,” Ebert said. “Tomorrow will be brighter. You’ll see.”

“If you say so,” She said, already half-asleep. But the time Rings and Ebert got comfortable, Reverence’s breathing was slow and even, and she was dead to the world.

The next morning, the three of them awoke to banging on the door. Reverence groaned and made to get up, but Rings stopped her.

“I got this, you rest,” She said. She went to the door and opened it, facing the crowd of people needing Reverence’s stamp of approval. “Listen up, you leeches. Reverence is sick. She’s staying in bed today. If any of you try and bother her while she’s resting, I will personally bite your dick off. Or whatever you’ve got that would hurt a lot. Now fuck off!” And with that, she slammed the door.

“What?” Reverence said, sitting up. “I’m not sick--”

Ebert covered her mouth. “Shh! Not so loud. We’re buying you a day off.”

Reverence removed his hand. “A day off?”

“Yes,” Rings said as she made her way back to the bed. “We got candles and food and wine and oils and rosewater and we are going to spoil the shit out of you today.”

“Part of me knows I should go out there and do my job,” Reverence said, rubbing her neck. “But, by Fysy, that sounds amazing. How can I say no?”

“Don’t,” Ebert said, bending forward to kiss her. Rings ran her claws gently up and down Reverence’s back, making her shiver.

“So what did you have planned?” Reverence asked.

“Spa day,” Rings said, kneading Reverence’s shoulders. “Ebert and I are going to wash you, then he is going to massage oils into your skin while I wash your hair and file your hooves for you.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Reverence moaned.

“Then when your dry and smooth, I’m thinking naked breakfast in bed and lounging for a while.” Ebert said.

“Lounging sounds incredible,” She sighed.

“Well, you lay here and stay comfortable and I’ll heat some water for your bath,” Ebert said. “Rings, keep her warm.”

“Happily,” Rings said, kissing down Reverence’s neck.

“Hey, don’t get ahead of yourselves,” Ebert said, moving the cauldron of water over the fire. “We’ve got all day to enjoy each other.”

“Spoilsport,” Rings said, rubbing up and down on Reverence’s torso as Reverence snugged in deeper to the bed, enjoying the attention.

After water was heated and transferred into the tub, Reverence climbed into the water, moaning with deep satisfaction as the hot water unknotted the muscles in her body.

“Feel good?”

“Mmmm,” Was all she could manage to say. Ebert got the scented soap and scrubbed her body down gently as Rings carefully washed Reverence’s face and antlers, careful not to get soap in her many eyes. Once she was clean, Rings and Ebert let her soak a little longer while they set up breakfast and the massage area. There was a wide bench she could lay on as Ebert worked on her body, and she could hang her head down for Rings to wash her hair.

Once everything was ready, Rings and Ebert helped Reverence out of the tub and onto the bench, laying her on her back with her head over the end.

Rings took a bottle of sweet smelling hair rinse that had melon oils and honeysuckle dew, and drew it carefully through Reverence’s thick hair. Ebert took a bottle of sweet almond oil and lathered his hands up, starting at Reverences ankles and working his way up slowly. Reverence groaned and whimpered appreciatively as he worked up over her calves, her thighs, and her hips while purposefully ignoring between her legs. They’d get to that later.

He rubbed the oils into her belly and breasts, over her shoulders, and down her arms to her hands, working the oils into her skin.

“Rings, are you finished with her hair?” Ebert asked.

“I’ve just finished combing it out,” She said.

“Good. Reverence, can you turn over?”

“I’ll try,” She said, smiling a little.

Ebert and Rings helped her stand, and then lay back down on her stomach.

“Rings, you start at the bottom, I’ll come down from the top, and we’ll meet in the middle.”

Rings nodded and dripped some oils into her hands. Minutes turned to hours, and the three of them were lost in the motion of the hands moving along skin.

When the oil was well worked into the skin, Ebert took a towel and dried her while Rings helped her sit up.

Apparently, the massage had done much to improve her mood, because when she got up, her phallus was standing straight up. Rings began to stroke it as she gently patted Reverence’s hair with a towel.

“Let’s move to the bed,” Ebert suggested.

“Good idea,” Rings agreed. Rings and Ebert both took one of Reverence’s hands and lay her down on the bed. She stretched out and looked up at the two of them with a smile. Rings stripped off her clothes and undressed Ebert as well, and the two of them got on the bed. Rings took Reverence’s member in her mouth while Ebert opened Reverence’s legs and pressed his lips to the slit underneath. Reverence’s breath hitched and she moaned blissfully.

Ebert pressed two fingers inside her and kissed her thighs, nipping with his teeth and massaging with his free hand.

“Oh, gods, I could get used to this,” She breathed. “Usually as priestess of Fysy, it’s my job to make sure my patrons are well satisfied even if I am not, but I’ve never had this kind of attention before. It’s intoxicating.”

“Considering how much you give of yourself to this town, you’re well overdue for some worship yourself,” Ebert said.

“That almost sounds blasphemous,” Reverence said with a smirk.

“I guess we’re all sinners today,” Rings said, her tongue playing with the tip of Reverence’s length.

“Fysy is a forgiving goddess, thankfully,” Reverence laughed.

“Good,” Rings said as she pulled herself up and swung a leg over Reverence’s body, nearly kicking Ebert in the face, and straddled Reverence’s waist. “We’re going to make you feel like you’ve transcended and reached godhood yourself.”

Reverence grabbed Rings’ hips as she slowly lowered herself down onto Reverence’s cock, gasping as she was stretched open. Ebert moved around to suck at Reverences breasts, still continuing to move his fingers in and out of her.

Rings and Reverence were moaning and breathing hard, Rings bouncing faster against Reverence’s body. Reverence reached down and took Ebert’s length in her hand, stroking it slowly.

“Rings,” Reverence gasped. “Lean forward a little, give Ebert some room.”

Rings nodded and complied wordlessly, and Ebert took his place between Reverence’s legs, easing his cock inside her as Rings rode Reverence hard.

“Match Rings,” Reverence groaned. Ebert had no time to work up to it, instead he rammed himself into Reverence at the same frenetic pace that Rings was thrusting down upon her, matching the rhythm. It was intense and mind-blowing, and the three of them were making more noise than they had intended, but it couldn’t be helped. They were in a primal state, unable to stop.

“Oh, fuck,” Rings hissed. “I’m going to cum.”

“So am I,” Reverence breathed. “Unless you want to get pregnant, you better hop off.”

Rings jumped off like Reverence had the plague, and Ebert stroked Reverence until she came with Rings rubbing herself to completion next to her.

Ebert slowed to a stop as Reverence was coming down.

“Didn’t you finish?” Reverence asked.

“No,” Ebert said, cleaning her up. “But I’m not worried. We have all day after all.”

Now came breakfast in bed, naked, and it was wonderful. Reverence was relaxed and laughing for the first time in weeks. Ebert was happy to see the smile on her face. The three of them lay on the bed, eating and talking, when another knock at the door startled them.

“I’ll handle it,” Ebert said. He pulled on his trousers and a shirt and opened the door a crack. Tera stood there, looking incensed.

“I need to talk to Reverence,” She said.

“Reverence isn’t feeling well and is taking the day off. Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow,” Ebert said.

“Please, I know she’s not sick! I could hear you, you know! Half the town could! She’s avoiding me.”

“Yes, and she has a good reason to, doesn’t she?” Ebert said, coming out and shutting the door. “She has told you over and over how to do it, and you keep ignoring her. Why exactly is that?”

“Because she won’t listen to reason!” Tera said. “Harvest colors are boring! It’s the same thing every year! Why not change it up a little!”

“I don’t give a shit if it’s boring, Tera!” Ebert said. “No one does, except you! Do it the way you were told and shut the fuck up! Leave Reverence alone, or I swear to god, I will curse your hands so that everything you touch turns shit brown, you understand me?”

Tera looked both pissed and scared. She turned on her heel and walked away quick-step.Sighing and rolling his eyes, Ebert went back into the house.

“All good?” Reverence asked.

“Yep,” Ebert said, returning to the bed and kissing Reverence deeply. “You won’t have to worry about Tera anymore. This year, at least.”

Reverence laughed in relief. “That’s a miracle. Now if you could do that with everyone else.”

“Sorry, I can only threaten to curse so many people before they start calling me on it,” Ebert replied, smiling.

They took a nap together, then ate a leisurely lunch. The house smelled of flowers and fruit and fresh bread. The three of them talked about anything and everything. It was strange, as if the cottage had been enclosed in a bubble and that the three of them were the only one in existence at that time. It was an odd bonding experience that the three of them had never felt before. More intimate than sex could ever have been.

As evening fell, the three of them were relaxed and content. Reverence was stroking Ebert to attention again, and Rings was kissing Ebert’s chest.

“What’s this, all of a sudden?” Ebert said, curious, but not complaining.

“I want to thank the two of you for my nice day off,” Reverence said, poking Ebert onto his back and straddling him. She thrust him into her with a gasp, and bent down to kiss him. She then pulled Rings to her with Rings’ back to her front. As she moved back and forth, her length thrust in and out between Rings’ legs, rubbing her pearl with each motion.

“Oh gods,” Ebert groaned.

It didn’t take long for all three of them to be a moaning mess again. Rings came first, snarling and spitting, then Ebert inside of Reverence. Reverence came last all over Ebert’s stomach and chest. The three of them collapsed on top of each other, heedless of the mess they’d made.

“I think I need another bath,” Reverence breathed, and the three of them laughed.

The festival went off without a hitch. The whole day was a testament to Reverence’s patience and even-temper. The children had a blast, the food was amazing, and the games for the adults had everyone rolling in laughter.

Reverence led the dancers that evening, moving like a gazelle across the stage that had been built. They dances were swift and full of color and vivaciousness. It amazed Ebert that she could move like that without smacking someone with her antlers, but she did it like she been doing it her whole life. That may have been the case.

That evening, after the dancing and before the great feast, Reverence stood at the top step of the temple and asked for quiet.

“The first day of harvest is a day of contemplation. It is a day to take in all the glory that Fysy has bestowed upon us. Blessings of food, fortune, health, and of course, the next generation.” She looked fondly at all the children seated at the great table with their parents, lingering over Ethrik in Ebert’s lap. “Today we give thanks as we reap the benefits of her love and tenderness. From her, we exist. For her, we thrive. Without her, we despair and die. We are fortunate and grateful. Humbled, I would ask for a moment of silence, so that we may all contemplate our own blessings received in this past year and thank the one who gave them to us.”

Ebert knew she meant Fysy, but really, the people who gave him his blessings was the glorious woman standing gracefully at the base of the temple, and the firey woman sitting next to him, already picking from the tray in front of her. And the little boy in his lap, who taught him what is was to love.

“Now, let us take into ourselves the bounty. Let the Feast of Fysy begin!”

There was cheering from the crowd, and a lot of noise as everyone filled their plates. Reverence came to sit on Ebert’s other side and took Ethrik from him.

“This festival has actually run much more smoothly than the ones before,” She remarked.

“I wonder why,” Ebert said. “Maybe that day off helped clear your head.”

“I have no doubt it did,” She replied. “Remind me to schedule one during every festival’s preparation.”

Rings and Ebert laughed.

At the end of the festival, there were fireworks. Ethrik was delighted by them and laughed hysterically with each big BOOM! With Rings on his left side, Reverence on his right, and his son in his lap, it really did feel like a family. A real family, something Ebert had never had.

He took Rings’ hand, rested his head on Reverence’s shoulder, and smiled. “Reverence?” He asked.

“Hmm?” She answered.

“How would you feel about making a little sister for Ethrik?”

He could feel her smile. “Tonight? Midnight?”

“Sounds great to me.”

“Urgh,” Rings said. “I’m staying with Spring tonight.”

“Take Ethrik with you. We might be at it for a few days,” Ebert said.

“In that case, I’ll drop off the kid and go one town over. There’s a girl there who looks like she needs learning in the ways of Fysy.”

“You’re not religious,” Ebert said snidely.

“I am when it suits me,” Rings said. “And I think she’ll suit me nicely.”

Reverence was pregnant before the end of the month. This time, Ebert was ecstatic and couldn’t wait for the birth.

“Calm down, Ebert,” She told him when he learned she was pregnant. “I’ve done this a dozen times by now.”

“I know, but this is only my second, and I was scared shitless for the first one.”

“You’re not scared this time?” Reverence asked.

“Oh, gods, I’m terrified. But I know I can be a good dad now, and I can’t wait for Ethrik to have a sibling who will actually love him.”

“Ethrik has many siblings, Ebert,” Reverence reminded him.

“I know… but… this feels different for me,” Ebert said. “My family might as well have been complete strangers. I’ve never felt what having a real family is like. It’s… amazing.”

Reverence hugged him. “Oh, Ebert. I’m so glad you’ve come here. Family is so important and I’m glad you found it here.”

Rings was there, watching the two of them distantly, until Ebert snatched her up and pulled her into the hug too.

Buttons looked over the scene from her perch on a wardrobe and yawned.

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience!To help me continue creating, please consider buying me a Kofi, becoming a Patron, or donating directly to my PayPal!

Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

#Exophilia #Tiefling #Tabaxi #Necromancer #Poly Relationship #Intersex #Fem-Intersex #Interspecies Relationship

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toxikbubblegum · 6 years ago

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May Reading Wrap Up

I'm actually really proud of myself. I finished 13 books last month. Spent a lot of extra time away from screens and focusing on my mental health so I burned through way more than I normally would. So anyways, here's my reviews. - Also please understand that these are just my opinions and if I shit on your favorite book I'm sorry that I didn't enjoy it as much as you. Also, also Im terrible with character names.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor ⭐⭐⭐

I actually started this book at the end of April but didn't finish it til May 1st so whatever, here it is. This books is a YA urban fantasy novel about a girl with a double life. She spends half her days studying art in Europe and the other half running errands for a tooth collecting wish monger. I don't want to say a whole lot more because I dont want to spoil anything important about the plot. So, I'll try to be vague. Let me start by saying this story is amazing. I loved the writing and the world. I rated it so low solely because I can't stand the two main characters and it really dragged down what would have otherwise been an amazing novel. So yeah, great book but its a preference thing. Also took points off for the insta-love but not really insta-love shit. Idk. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this read even a month later. Gonna read the second to see if maybe my hatred of the two mains was just a fluke.

3/5 Stars

Spellbound by Rachel Hawkins

⭐⭐⭐

This is the third book in the Hex Hall trilogy. Not much to say about it. It was a meh ending to an overall pretty good series. 3/5 stars. Moving on.

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

⭐⭐⭐

Realizing now how many of my reads this month were pretty middle of the world. Hopefully next month will be filled with 4 and 5 stars. Anyways, this book was honestly a struggle for me to finish and Im not sure why. It's a YA mystery magical realism story about a tiny coastal town that is cursed by the spirits of 3 sisters who were suspected of witchcraft and drowned 2 centuries prior. Because of this, every year the sisters return from the sea to take the lives of teenage boys by luring them to the sea. We follow the life of kind of meh and standard YA girl #1. She meets a strange non tourist boy and hires him to work in the lighthouse her family owns. Her dad randomly disappeared years ago and her mom is a loon. So yeah... I dont know. I kind of felt like this story was hot garbage in places. I usually dont have any trouble with the suspense of disbelief in magical realism stories but this one just had too many plot holes. Like, I get morbid stuff becomes tourist attractions but why wouldn't someone have stepped in and evacuated the town if at least 3 teenage boys die there EVERY SINGLE YEAR without fail? I honestly feel like the FBI or some other government agency would have cleared the place out after the first 20 or so deaths. There was also the whole MC can see the ghosts of the girls possessing people but chooses not to tell anyone? Like, I get it. You dont want people to label you a freak or think you're crazy but come the fuck on. You live in a tourist trap where people flock to watch local teenage males wash up on shore and you really think the authorities arent going to take you up on the help? It wasn't an awful book by any means. It was well written and extremely descriptive. Just had major beef with some of the details. Anyways, I wont say much more so I don't spoil the whole book.

3/5 Stars

An Enchantment of Ravens by Maragret Rogerson

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finally, I get to talk about one of my favorite reads of the month. I love anything to do with the Fae in my YAfiction and this was literally everything I wanted in a Fae novel. It takes place in a town called Whimsy, a humanish town in the world of Faerie. The fae cannot do any Craft, or what we would consider craftsmanship. Art and humans who can do it well are very precious in this world because the Fae can't ever do it themselves. We follow the adventures of a girl who has been commisioned to paint the portrait of the Autumn King and the chaos that ensues. Let me just start by saying this is one of those insta-love situations where I feel like it's genuinely ok. I might be making excuses because I loved the title so much but whatever. It's explained and I accept it. Also, I realize that Gadfly had a lovely description but my brain willl not let me picture him as anything but Mr.Waternoose from Monsters Inc.

5/5 Stars

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

⭐⭐⭐

This book started out so good and went downhill very quickly. It follows the story of these two magicians who were fated by their Master's to one day fight to the death. There were so many things I loved about this book only for the last 100 pages to just take a firey dump on my face. I loved the setting and the majority of the characters. The supporting characters were so deep and interesting that I almost cared more about them than I did Ceilia and Marko (Im proabably wrong and I dont feel like googling but I think that was his name) . I don't know. I don't want to complain about anymore meh books.

3/5 Stars

Matched by Allie Condie

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Went into this book expecting to hate it. I usually don't like contemporary love stories but this had major City of Ember meets The Giver vibes and it just appealed to that 14 year old girl in me again. That seems to happen with a lot of dystopian utopia stories. Anyways, story is about a girl who lives in this town where when you hit a certain age you are brought to a place and told who the government has chosen for you to marry. She is matched with her life long best friend and all is well. Except that her little Get To Know Your New Husband microship thing showed her two guys instead of just one. And lots of bullshit ensues. I honestly think I rated this so high because I enjoy the world and not so much whats actually happening to the kids. Like, I loved the idea that art is harmful so the government chose 100 acceptable pieces and thats all these people know. I loved the brutality of the government in general. I can't say much more without spoiling some of the twists but geez did it have me hooked. I'm going to be started the second one soonish, though my TBR for June has gotten intense so we will see.

4/5 stars

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It is so fucking good! Not going to rant about it or anything because y'all just need to go read it immediately.

5/5 stars

Would give it every star in the sky if Im being completely honest.

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

⭐⭐

Got sucked into this book by the cover and honestly that was the best part of this book. Its about this world where necromancy is pretty highly regarded and used to resurrect the royals after they die. The only downside is that if a living person ever lays eyes on the resurrected person's skin then they turn into these horrible monsters. Maybe it's just me but like that absolutely does not seem worth the risk. Plus, in order to bring the person back, these reapers have to go into the death world and bring the spirit back. And it's HELLA DANGEROUS. So like, WHY? Anyways, there is this stupid underlying love story that I absolutely wasn't invested in. This just all around was not a good book.

2/5 stars

Monster High by Lisi Harrison

⭐⭐

Little known fact~ I'm obsessed with Monster High and Ever After High. So yeah, I realize this wasn't targeted to me as an adult but even going into it with an open mind I was disappointed. Granted I didn't read the description of the book prior. I just saw this franchise I love and grabbed it. First, if you are a fan of the mini series and the movies do not read this. It doesnt follow the cinematic canon and I think that was my biggest problem with it. Frankie's character was all wrong and I hated the whole"Normy" cast. Was really excited for these but I definitely won't be continuing the series. I don't even want to torture myself with seeing how they manage to ruin my sweet baby Draculara.

2/5 stars

Unhinged by AG Howard

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I can't say enough good things about this series. This is the second book in the trilogy and it was a fanatstic bridge book. It had me engrossed through the entire audiobook. Morpheus is still everything. If you loved Splintered I would highly reccomend continuing.

5/5 stars

Truthwitch

⭐⭐

Have had this on my TBR for a while because of how many Booktubers have hyped the series. Buy, was I disappointed. I was soooooooooo bored. Maybe it's because I don't really enjoy this type of fantasy or maybe it was just the slower paced story but I just slugged through this book. Both of the main female characters were bland to me and I didn't care about their friendship. The world was cool but not enough to keep me invested. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

2/5 stars

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

⭐⭐⭐

Picked this up because of how much I loved The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein and it didn't meet my expectations. It follows this girl who works for a paranormal gorvenment group. She has a special ability that makes her really useful to them so they are trying to groom her basically. They capture this changeling and she befriends him and there is an overarching plot that I just didn't get invested in. The friendship between the two main characters was pretty much the only thing that I enjoyed in this title. The mother figure was insufferable and I just didn't really understand the whole org that they worked for in general. Not an awful book but not fantastic.

Solid 3/5 stars.

The Siren by Kiera Cass

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Going to preface this by saying I might be biased. I love Kiera Cass and have enjoyed almost everything she has written. That said, this wasn't nearly as good as The Selection series but it was a pretty good stand alone novel. It about a girl who becomes a siren on her deathbed and spends the next 100 years serving the sea by luring people to their deaths. After doing this for 70 years, she falls in love and pretty much ruins everything. Loved the characters, especially the male lead. The insta love was a little pet peeve of mine but the love interest was so sweet and genuine that I was willing to overlook it. Pretty good read if you dig supernatural romance.

4/5 stars

June holds the Ghibli-a-thon but also lots of holidays for my family so we will see how much I actually get read. So far my tentative TBR is 5 books but we will see where the days take me.

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ladyruina · 5 years ago

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First story on this site

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since promotion day and to be honest, I had no freaking clue what Promotion Day even was. Apparently once every month the facility selects someone to be “promoted”, the problem is that the people who don’t make the promotion selection get bare minimum notification. Turns out my sector was just informed that I was transferred to a new sector...no one even knew where I went ...explains what happened to Silica. Today, after three weeks, I woke up to a waiting room. Empty seats on every side and beneath my...tush. The same metal box I lived in for the past seventeen years after “recruitment” and would probably die in. The room had the same aesthetic as everywhere else in the facility, stainless steel walls and flooring with well lit bulbs. Couldn’t tell which type of lightbulb though I’d have to gamble fluorescent bulbs with UV integration, cheap, effective and keeps us alive for a little bit longer. Just how the facility likes it. As per my regular protocol when in an unfamiliar space without a commanding officer I entered a status I have titled, “eyes down, nose out of others business”. It’s embarrassing to say that it took a rough fifteen seconds before realizing that the marks of claws against the floor were EVERYWHERE. You adjust to this kind of thing in the facility, there’s always something clawing up the floors, crawling up the walls or eating your friends upper lobe… rest in peace Franklin. My mind defaulted to entity containment training, signs of anomalous activity identified, analyze the signs: three toed claws, they appear to be dexterous and agile similar to species of avians and raptors. Stage four determine if anomalous being has moved from the ar-, that’s when I finally looked up. Three seats down from me stood a humanoid figure, full combat armor with the exact raptorian legs and feet that produced the scratch marks but the entity was calm almost seemed like it was waiting, same as me save for a bit of an impatient air. It swiftly and repetitively tapped its talons against the ground. Naturally my first thought occurred. “Oh god, is promotion just code word for feeding me to an entity.” I scanned the room only to discover many more entities, some looked very similar to the raptorian entity, others were vastly different. Entities with helmets resembling felines moving from one individual to another, entities with creepy masks that were standing on the walls and ceilings to avoid the clutter on the ground, entities that had no eye holes but spikes at the back on the helmet that vaguely reminded me of bats. All were equipped with combat armor and....facility issue weaponry? Aside from that there were few other schmucks in the room that looked a lot like me, scared, panicked and confused. I looked over to the impatient one only to see it staring at me.

“Shit!” it said in a surprisingly human voice “I-uh, sorry about starin’. It’s always just so weird to see one of you in here.”

“One of...me?” I implored.

“Y’know, an unaugmented.” it gestured at all of me. “So… weird after you’ve gone through the process. So, y’know which one you’ll be?”

I hesitated. “What?”

“Y’know. Like a raptor, a bat, a cat. That sorta thing.” it seemed to be naming things off the top of its head. “I’m a raptor so you could learn the ropes with me if you end up a part of the pack.”

This fascinated me, I had never been allowed to examine or interview an entity that I had no knowledge of. So a part of me was excited despite realizing that at any moment this entity could unhinge it’s non apparent jaws and rip into my throat with it’s horrific unseen maw. Yet the pioneer sense of exploring the unknown just...overcame me.

“So what are raptors?” I asked.

“Well, you’re lookin at one.” it said in a smug tone. “We’re faster and more dexterous than the others. Only downside is that itchy to move sensation you get due to the energy boost they hook you up with and that these masks keep you alive.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“Heh. yeah, that’s what I said. Apparently The Fixer said that our oxygen has been made “inefficient” by the pollution of the modern world so we’re hooked up with some sorta super oxygen. Apparently it’s the kinda stuff dinosaurs used to breath so that’s pretty badass.”

“And that helps?”

“Gives us the energy to bounce off walls, literally.”

“Fascinating… are the other entities safe to converse with?”

“Ent-? Oh, them? Yeah most of em are chill, might get an extreme one or two but they should be reasonable.”

“Right, thank you.”

“Eh, no prob dude.”

I stood up and began to wander over to one of the “bats” who was standing in a group of its own kin. I began to raise my hand to greet it as I approached, a quick “hey” to get it’s attention only to be interrupted.

“Yes?” it said in a high pitched tone, turning to face me before it even should have known I was on my way. Apparently my shock was apparent as it recoiled quickly. “Right, sorry. I forgot unaugmented wouldn’t know about that. I heard you coming, you’d be surprised how easily you are to hear coming.”

“Echolocation?”

“Indeed! Along with some other traits.” It said “I’m basically omniscient with these mods! I can tell you anything about this room without even looking at it.”

“Hm.” I smirked. “How about this? What color is my shirt?”

It stared at me for a second before giving a light punch. “Cheating asshole.”

“Just wanted to see if you’re capable of processing color.”

“You could’ve asked.”

the amusement faded from my expression as I began to realize that what I said was quite apparently a sore topic.

“Oh...sorry.”

“Whatever.”

I began to awkwardly leave the company of the bats before slumping back into my chair. A few minutes go by and I’m bored out of my goddamn mind. Wish they left me a phone to check, or a magazine to read or a pistol to shoot myself with. Between the embarrassment of my slip-up and the boredom I think the lead would be preferable.

“Excuse me.” said a familiar voice. “I couldn’t help but notice multiple strains in your face aligning with stress that may be caused by the process of transferring to a new region. Is it possible that I may alleviate some of your stress through a formal discussion?”

I looked up, it was goddamn impossible. I heard she was transferred and she just never responded to any message from then on, I thought she either ditched me or… the far more likely scenario, eviscerated or incinerated.

“Silica?” the name of my best friend. “Silica is that you?”

The entity looked confused. “Curious. You have information on my title but records state that you were only stationed here today.”

“Silica. It’s me.” I said in a shaken tone. “Devin.”

“Devin…” she stared at me blankly, moments passed by. “Ah yes. We used to be close friends, is this information correct?”

“Yes. so you’ve been here this whole time?”

“Affirmative, Devin.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you respond to any messages I sent?”

Another brief silence. “I just checked my message log, I received none of them under the name of “Devin” or any related pseudonym.”

“Really?” this was...a bit heartbreaking to say the very least. “You had to keep in touch with Evelyn! I remember the day you got Evelyn’s contact address and you were a goddamn mess. Head over heels! Please tell me you kept in touch.”

Another goddamn pause. “Oh yes, Evelyn. I suppose she was very nice and pretty wasn’t she?”

“What are you talking about?!” the other entity’s started staring at me. I was getting loud. “You sound like you don’t care! You goddamn loved her and now she’s an afterthought?!”

“Please calm yourself. You’re becoming exacerbated and it may draw negative connotations towards you in future conversations with the other people residing in this room.”

I began to look over, the entities around me seemed...concerned. “S-sorry. I’m just hurt is all. It feels like you don’t remember...anything from back at Mind’s Edge.”

“Oh! That I can answer! I don’t!” she said so simply. My heart goddamn sank into the Mariana Trench and she said it so easily.

“You..forgot?”

“Don’t take it personally. Cat units have an AI planted into their brain in order to give them in depth data banks of medical procedures as well as a list of information that may be useful. This unfortunately has to replace long term memories which our AI assistants must remind us of. This also can lead to stunted emotional development. Fortunately though the emotional stagnation only caused depression in earlier Cat units. It also allows us to be proper care takers without having to worry about emotional errors such as becoming overly attached to the patient in therapy settings or panicking in active combat treatment scenarios.”

“I...need some time to process all of this.”

“Acknowledged. Please contact me or another Cat unit if you require any further psychological or physiological aid.”

“Y-yeah, got it. You got it.” That’s probably what I said. Can’t remember if it was actually what I said or not, I was in a haze. Every entity in this room was...a person? My best friend had forgotten about me. The whole world around me just faded. My greatest fear though was...what came next. My thoughts were cut short by the distant sound of heavy claws scraping against the cold metal rang out. As it approached, I could hear the sound of cloth being dragged across the ground. A voice spoke, both high and low pitched with a sort of rattle in its tone.

“Routine Procedures completed. Additional Augmentation scheduled.”

The door on the farside of the room opened.

“Devin.” The creature spoke “Devin Hale. Augmentation scheduled. Follow for Augmentation.”

#original story #fiction #science fiction #transhumanism

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theharellan · 7 years ago

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Howe about meta on what Solas' least favorite choices out of all the quests would have been in DA:O and DA2 and how he would view a Warden or Champion who made that choice

send me a topic to write a meta about my muse on | selectively accepting

I’ll be going through most of the major quests in the games and explaining why I think he would feel this way. I’m kind of writing it from the perspective that he’s there or witnessing it via memories, rather than hearing about it secondhand.

Redcliffe:

Anything that resulted in Connor dying would gain disapproval.

He would approve of going into the Fade, whether through blood magic or the Circle ritual.

If Connor is allowed to be possessed he would disapprove (assuming the companions even know-- I’ve literally never taken this option).

When you meet Connor in DA:I Solas will express approval if you reassure Connor that what happened wasn’t his fault, and disapprove if you say that they should have killed Connor. Obviously, this indicates a degree of sympathy with Connor’s plight. What he did was obviously not good, but it was a young boy’s reaction to a situation that was out of his control. Given he doesn’t have any negative opinion of blood magic, he would not disapprove of doing the ritual or Isolde’s sacrifice. One of the sillier things about DA:O, imo, is that you can just leave Connor in his room for a week while you do the Circle Tower and return with zero consequences. As players, we know there aren’t any consequences, but as a character Solas wouldn’t, and therefore wouldn’t disapprove if the Warden decided the risk wasn’t worth taking.

Brecilian Forest:

Solas would disapprove of any option that does not end in peace and the curse cured.

He would disapprove if you take advantage of Danyla’s late husband, and if you refuse to kill her.

Again, this is another DA:O quest where I feel the best option is really easy to discover. Given Witherfang is a generally benevolent spirit, Solas would prefer that she were listened to. Attacking her would be seen as foolish, and slaughtering the Dalish camp would be seen as cruel. The latter especially would earn disapproval because you have to convince the werewolves to attack the camp.

Orzammar:

Solas is neutral about which candidate to support.

When it comes to the Anvil he’d be conflicted, and again wind up somewhat neutral.

While Harrowmont is a strict traditionalist and Bhelen more sympathetic to the Casteless, he is also implied to be something of a dictator. Either way, he hates something about them, and in conversations with Wardens about Bhelen may point out a few things: namely, that Bhelen allowing the Casteless to take up arms is just another way of abusing them, that even if their lot improves, he believes it would take nothing short of rebellion to truly change dwarven society. And, given the constant threat of darkspawn such a rebellion may only result in their destruction. In short, shit’s fucked.

The Anvil is a complicated issue and his approval likely would depend upon the logic of the Warden. He can understand the pragmatism, but given he trusts neither future kings, he would point out that preserving the Anvil might spell trouble for the Casteless. All of these feelings are complicated by his racism re: dwarves, although I think if he were able to go through this quest himself it would have challenged a lot of his thinking. His questions to Varric imply that he isn’t as well-versed in Orzammar’s situation as he is others, likely due to their disconnection from the Fade. Actually visiting Orzammar, or even discussing it with someone with a closer connection with it than Varric, would probably be good for him.

Sacred Ashes:

He’d very slightly disapprove about tainting the Ashes.

He prefers the fate of the Ashes to be revealed.

Solas has no faith in the Maker, but he does respect the Guardian’s commitment to guarding the Ashes, and would disapprove of the Warden having to slay him. Meanwhile, the cultists are clearly unhinged and he wouldn’t approve of indulging them.

Circle Tower:

Solas would disapprove of annulling the Circle

I don’t have to explain this one, do I?

Denerim’s Alienage:

Solas would greatly disapprove of giving the slaves away

Again, I feel like I don’t have to explain this one? Solas’s whole thing is anti-slavery, and if he meets with a Warden who did this he would probably refuse to acknowledge them as any hero.

Landsmeet:

Solas would disapprove of making Alistair King

Solas would have conflicted feelings about sparing Loghain

Solas would disapprove of a Cousland crowning themselves

Especially an unhardened Alistair, although even a hardened Alistair he would have concerns about. This was, after all, literally the man who surrendered command to someone who had been made a Warden the night before, who possibly has zero experience in the outside world OR commanding depending on the origin picked. If unhardened he is a reluctant ruler, which Solas finds dangerous. Although this is a decision that could be justified if brought up, especially since Alistair has been king a decade without incident(but if you showed him the letters he sends for the war table missions he’d scoff). Namely, if you noted Alistair’s background as reason for putting his name forward.

As for Loghain, Solas has no true feelings about what happened at Ostagar. He can see the anger, but he can also see why people were grateful for Loghain’s retreat. What Solas cannot abide by is that he sold Fereldan citizens to pay for his war. Also by sparing him you also recruit him into the Wardens, a group which Solas in-game tends to disapprove of. Most options you have to recruit a criminal into the wardens as Inquisitor he disapproves of.

Finally, he would see Cousland putting themselves forward as a candidate as a power grab. Either you have a male Cousland putting himself forward as a partner to Anora, who was already capable of ruling by herself, or you have a female Cousland ousting Anora. And while Solas undoubtedly has his criticisms of Anora, he would also suspect the motivations of any Cousland using the Landsmeet to put themselves in power.

As for what he would think of Wardens who made some or all of these decisions, he would likely think of them similarly to an Inquisitor who makes decisions he disapproves of. Some, like Connor, he would disapprove of, but could gain approval back if during conversations they listened to his opinion on the matter. Others, like the Alienage or the Circle, couldn’t be justified.

I know you asked about DA2 as well, but I’m sticking with Origins because this got away from me.

#( solas meta )#( ooc )#valorcorrupt #( asks )

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theinquisitivej · 7 years ago

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‘Baby Driver’ - A Movie Review

‘Baby Driver’ is the latest film from director Edgar Wright, who is most known for the Cornetto Trilogy, which includes ‘Shaun of the Dead’, ‘Hot Fuzz’, and ‘The World’s End’ (the latter two being some of my all-time favourite films). Aside from that, he is also responsible for the classic British comedy series ‘Spaced’, and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’, which, depending on your disposition, will either sell you on his directing style, or give you something to hold against him. The most recent film he was involved in was ‘Ant-Man’, which he was set to direct until he decided to leave the project because he felt he didn’t have as much control over the writing as he would have liked. I’m always keen for people and companies from different artistic spheres to collaborate and produce exciting new projects. As such, it is sad when a studio like Marvel, which has done a fantastic job organising one of the strongest film series in mainstream cinema, featuring consistent heart and a diverse range of creative talent, runs one film in a manner that doesn’t gel with the work style of someone I respect as much as Edgar Wright. However, this isn’t enough to sour my opinion of either party, or to make me believe that what they went on to produce was significantly compromised. ‘Ant-Man’ is one of the most fun Marvel movies for me to watch, and it has so much more heart and sincerity than you might expect from a movie with a troubled development. And if ‘Baby Driver’ is any indication of Edgar Wright’s creative passion and his drive to keep on making unique movies in his own masterful style, then I’d say he’s doing very well for himself.

The film is similar to the 2011 film ‘Drive’, in that it follows a getaway driver with a withdrawn personality who starts to open up when they bond with someone, only for their work, which they previously had some level of control over, to wind up catching up with them and boiling over. That may sound like an unfair reduction, but ‘Drive’ is an intense film dripping with atmosphere and engaging style, so when I say ‘Baby Driver’ is like this film, but with a twist that injects it with Edgar Wright’s own approach, I mean that as high praise. Although ‘Drive’ wasn’t lacklustre in this department, what distinguishes ‘Baby Driver’ from its comparative counterpart is its emphasis on sound.

Sound and music are both very important to Baby, the getaway driver and titular character of this film. You discover why Baby listens to music for what appears to be every hour of the day, but even before we are given this explanation, the film’s song selection and truly exceptional editing presents the settings as if they are viewed from Baby’s perspective, making for a world that is seemingly shaped by music. Even when there is no music, or we cannot hear it, the film’s sounds have a noticeably deliberate quality to them, like a rhythmic beat. When a film presents the audience with constant noise, it can come across as an obnoxious, uncontrolled cacophony. It’s clear from the word go that this is not the case with ‘Baby Driver’. The film opens with two jaw-dropping sequences that display two different styles of editing, each one being implemented perfectly. One sequence will cut to different camera angles that move smoothly as they dance with Baby and his music, before cutting to a shot that displays an action that is appropriately synchronised to the music or the lyrics. The other sequence will use an extended shot to show an expansive environment which Baby moves through with grace and fluidity while simultaneously stumbling into things as they come his way, demonstrating how this character almost literally navigates this world through his music. The film is filled with outstanding technical accomplishments that serve a clear purpose of expanding upon its characters through every formal tool the movie has available. It’s the best kind of filmmaking, and ‘Baby Driver’ will stay on my list of examples of how to use sound in film to masterful effect for a very long time.

While ‘Baby Driver’ features none of the usual suspects of the cast of a typical Edgar Wright film (at least that I was aware of on a first viewing), the film is certainly not the weaker for it. A lot of Baby’s characterisation may be accomplished through the film’s formal features, but Ansel Elgort is definitely putting the effort in to deliver a performance that carries across Baby’s charismatic energy, as well as his unique vulnerabilities. Lily James (you may know her as Disney’s live-action Cinderella) similarly moves and acts in a way that sells the passion that her character, Debora, has for songs. She is a sweet compliment to Baby’s character, but James manages to play Debora as being more than the support role through her deft mixing of fear and brave resolve once she gets involved in some tense situations, which I feel gives the character a real strength. Kevin Spacey plays the mastermind of these heists with a snappy authority which is somehow mixed with a down-to-earth sarcasm. As you would expect, Spacey pulls this off in a tremendously watchable way. Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, and Eiza González play the different members of the heist crew Baby is involved with, and they all do a great job capturing the distinctive quirks that make each character unsettling in their own unique way. It’s appropriate that the cast is so radically different from who you would expect to see in a Cornetto Trilogy film. While each film in that trilogy treats complex themes like struggling to know how to grow up with a level of seriousness, those movies are, at their heart, comedies. ‘Baby Driver’ has some terrific comedic moments, but I would say it’s more of a tense thriller with a sweet heart to it than it is a comedy. Every performance within ‘Baby Driver’ accentuates its tone, leading to a cast which may be different, but nevertheless fits the movie they’re in brilliantly.

I will admit that I think I enjoyed the first half more than I did the second. I adore the ways Baby and some of the other characters are characterised in the earlier parts of the narrative, and while there are still sequences in the second half which are terrifically shot and edited, the earlier sequences are probably my favourite ones in the film. Still, the characterisation in the first half does succeed at making the tense atmosphere as we advance towards the climax that much more nail-biting. You care about the characters and want to see them safe, so the editing and unhinged performances make the danger even more unbearable. The second half isn’t bad by a long shot, and I’m sure I’ll find even more depth to the narrative and the film’s construction when I watch it a second time. I just think that the elements that most interest me about ‘Baby Driver’ are pooled in that first half.

‘Baby Driver’ is another excellent film from Edgar Wright that shows he is just as capable at delivering tense dramas with characters you care about as he is at crafting terrific comedies. His use of sound is masterful, and worth the price of admission alone. The second half might not have been quite as interesting to me, but it’s still leaps and bounds above what many others have released this year, and I can’t wait to see what Edgar Wright does next.

9/10.

A film that managed to make me laugh, got me on the edge of my seat, and had me tapping my foot to its wonderful beat all the way through.

#The Inquisitive J #film reviews #film review #film criticism #film critic #critic #movie critic #edgar wright #baby driver #baby driver review

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