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shemakesmusic-uk · 4 years ago

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Wallice has shared her subversive new single 'Hey Michael'. 'Hey Michael' amplifies her blood-thirsty nature, a revenge anthem that finds Wallice turning into a worse villain than her erstwhile love interest. A song about toxic tendencies and how they manifest in our lives, 'Hey Michael' twists and turns around American Psycho imagery. Wallice labels "a revenge anthem for anyone who has encountered a gaslighting, manipulative person. It’s what I wish I would have said to all the ‘Michael’s’ I have met in my life. It can be substituted by many names, we all know or have met a ‘Michael’ though. Somehow the world revolves around them and they just can’t catch a break, because they never do anything wrong and it’s usually your fault. You should have listened to your gut instinct and swiped left on this Michael. This isn’t a man-hating song, it’s just something many people can relate to. Sometimes it’s embarrassing to admit just how bad a friend, date, or romantic partner was and a lot of the time, I would just smile and laugh off stupid remarks but when I think back, I wish I had told them off. But at the same time, my persona in the song is not the best person either. I literally say: I think I want to start a fight, which one is your girlfriend? The whole song is funny because I am so focused on how shitty Michael is that I don’t even think about how shitty I might be as well." Directed by Phil Stillwell, the video takes place at a house party, with Wallice interacting with various 'Michaels' before her behaviour spirals into something much, much worse. [via Clash]

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In the same vein as Massive Attack’s suburban groove and social commentary in the mid 90’s, KITA have captured the rhythm and heartbeat of suburban Pōneke; a city abuzz with a vibrant music and dramatic performance scene in their brand new track and official video, ‘Private Lives’. Weaving together elements of vintage rock, pop and soul, and warm hints of synth, KITA have created a skin-prickling piece of magic with ‘Private Lives’, a deeply beautiful track penned in 2020’s lockdown, that delves into the unknown of what happens when the blinds are shut – the parts of life that are unseen by others. "Standing from my kitchen window during lockdown in Aotearoa, sinister thoughts entered my mind about what could be happening behind closed doors for people”, says front-woman Nikita 雅涵 Tu- Bryant. The video tells the story of a father and daughter’s relationship amongst snapshots of everyday life and its monotonous anonymity, while things aren’t always what they appear on the surface. Late at night the father can finally reveal his true self, adorning makeup and sequins, only to be spied by his daughter. The two then share a special moment of dressing up and dancing together, a true celebration of individuality, self-love and the beauty of self-expression.

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'Just Chemistry' is the third single from Dance Lessons, a London-based, female-fronted and produced trio, creating what they define as Serrated Pop. 'Just Chemistry' is a delicate hymn to the unspoken. Dance Lessons return with their signature sound – minimal production, sleek vocals and intricate arrangements. Ann says: “'Just Chemistry' is about the over-complication of our relationships. It’s about the things that are left unsaid in-between the awkward text messages and conversations, and how the absence of knowing can be misinterpreted as doubt. Last year was a difficult one. For a long time, I felt at the mercy of my emotions. I doubted where things were going. I lived in the future and found it hard to commit to the present. But these moments of not knowing can be equally thrilling and beautiful. And that’s what the song is about: finding beauty in the unspoken. In most cases, it’s chemistry that makes us fall in love. Things end, all is temporary. Let’s not go to war with one another over it.” Nat says on the video: “A friend told us about this weird and wonderful house in North London that feels a little like stepping into an acid trip. We obviously wanted to check it out. It’s completely surreal, all over the place (in a great way) and generally eclectic, which felt inherently us. We instantly wanted to do something there and asked the owner for permission to shoot a music video. We filmed during lockdown and were let loose embracing all the oddness of it. Ann also designed and created the outfit she wears in the video, something she does with most of her wardrobe. It was shot, directed and edited by our hugely talented friends Ben Hanson and Simon Frost from Borderland Studios.”

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Returning with her first offering of the year, North London’s rising star Laurel Smith is ready to reveal her anticipated new single, ‘Out the Cage’ accompanied by an action packed and thrilling cinematic style music video directed by Jeremie Brivet and Jai Garcha. Sticking to her winning recipe of moody, dark, electro-pop production paired with effortlessly edgy tales of narrative lyricism, ‘Out the Cage’ is the next huge single from the young, innovative artist that is sure to follow the same trajectory of success as its predecessor, ‘Game Over’ released late last year. A songwriter and recording artist, Laurel Smith has been writing songs since the age of sixteen. With each single she’s released, Laurel has continued to adapt her sound and aesthetic, consistently honing her craft and evolving her brand. She has carefully carved out her place in an ever crowded industry and proceeds to turn heads at every corner. “‘Out The Cage’ is a song about breaking out from your constraints, both physical and mental. Although it can be interpreted in any way, when I wrote it I created a story around a bored housewife, falling out of love with her husband, she fantasises about tying him up and leaving him to be a badass assassin in a video game type world, roaming the city at night and living a life of unpredictability and excitement”.

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Hailing from the Philippines, singer-songwriter Laica is coming off a breakout 2020. Now the 21-year-old is gearing up for the release of her debut album I’m so fine at being lonely. The first single off the project, 'love u lately' is here, accompanied by a music video directed by Cooper Leith. 'Love u lately' is a relatable and infectious track. The song revolves around dating, understanding mixed signals, and the confusion that surrounds that world. Lyrically, Laica walks us through her experiences here, voicing her thoughts and frustrations about someone who she just can't seem to read right. Production-wise, the track is carried by a pulsing synth and a groovy bass. Together, the track feels upbeat. The vibe created by the production stands in contrast with the more emotional lyrics, making the track complex and interesting. The music video takes the concept of 'love u lately' to the extreme, in a fun and playful way. Laica is seen capturing her dream boy and attempting to use witchcraft to finally win him over. The video has a very DIY feel, which could serve to add to the reliability of the track. It’s a great extension of the track and taps into everyone’s most fantasy-driven realities. [via Earmilk]

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At first, Emily C Browning wasn't sure what to think. Spurned, rejected, and cast aside, she was angry, furious, and - at times - utterly bereft. Usually she'd utilise songwriting as a vessel for her emotions, but when she was so conflicted, and feeling so negative, that it just didn't enter her mind. The Christchurch, New Zealand artist needed to take a step back, and when she located some perspective, she was ready to act. New single 'I Wasn't Into You Anyway' is a soaring slice of revenge, one that finds Emily C Browning taking full control of her music. Her first solo production credit, its reminiscent of those surging, empowering Maggie Rogers bops, while also containing similar DNA to Sharon Van Etten's work. Lyrically, it's absolutely her own creation, with Emily leaning on those often-hidden feelings. She comments... "Everyday for a month I wrote in my journal: I want to write a song about feeling rejected. But I couldn’t figure out how to keep it light and funny, it can be quite a painful topic and I didn’t want to sound too heavy. But I kept working on it everyday and came up with this song. I then spent another month recording it, trying to capture a sound that stayed upbeat and playful. I put so much time and energy into the song that I ended up completely forgetting about the person who rejected me in the first place (honest, I swear)." [via Clash]

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Alt-pop force Holly Humberstone returns with new single 'Haunted House'. The songwriter's potent debut EP Falling Asleep At The Wheel was a sensation, racking up more than 100 million global streams. A bona fide phenomenon, Holly returns with a single that displays a more nuanced, reflective side to her work. 'Haunted House' digs into childhood, and looks at the way memory can frame the way we construct our identities. She comments: "I wrote this song about the old and characterful house I grew up in. The house is such a huge part of who I am and our family. With my sisters and I moving out and living separate lives, coming home feels very comforting and one of the only things keeping us all connected." Playing with concrete imagery and no small degree of invention, 'Haunted House' connects art to life in an enchanting fashion. She adds: "The house is almost falling down around us now though, and we’ve realised that pretty soon we’ll be forced to leave. There’s a cellar full of meat hooks and a climate so damp mushrooms grow out of the walls. Loads of people have probably died here in the past but I’ve always felt really safe. It’s like a seventh family member. It’s part of me." [via Clash]

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In 2019, the Boston-born and Brooklyn-based indie rock album Crumb released their debut album Jinx. Crumb haven’t yet announced plans to follow that album up, but they’re definitely working towards something. Last month, the band came out with a one-off single called 'Trophy.' Now, they’ve followed that one with two new tracks, and they’re both winners. The new songs 'BNR' and 'Balloon' both fit nicely into Crumb’s comfort zone. The band’s sound is a rich, sophisticated take on psychedelia, with blissed-out lead vocals from Lila Ramani and with some great funky drum action. The band co-produced both songs with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, who’s done great recent work with people like Father John Misty and Weyes Blood and the Killers and who knows how to make oblique ’70s-style pop sound good. But Crumb themselves deserve a ton of credit for coming up with a sound this layered and weird. They’re the rare circa-2021 band who might remind you of Broadcast. In a press release, Ramani says, “‘BNR’ is an ode to my favorite colors. I had a weird obsession with those colors in winter 2018-2019 and felt like they would follow me around everywhere I went." 'BNR' also has a cool music video. Director Joe Mischo starts the clip off as a hallucinatory reverie, but he turns it sharply towards horror at the end. [via Stereogum]

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Last year, Limerick poet/musician Sinead O’Brien released her debut EP, Drowning In Blessings. It was a unique work, a handful of songs featuring O’Brien’s sing-speak over spindly, post-punk guitars. It garnered O’Brien a bit of buzz overseas, and it left you wondering where she might take her music from there. Now, O’Brien’s back with a new song called 'Kid Stuff.' “‘Kid Stuff’ shows up all different tones on different days,” O’Brien said in a statement. “There’s something alive in it which cannot be caught or told. It is direct but complex; it contains chapters. This feels like our purest and most succinct expression yet.” Like Drowning In Blessings, 'Kid Stuff' found O’Brien working with Speedy Wunderground mastermind Dan Carey. Musically, it hints at a level up moment for O’Brien. There was something alluring and jagged about Drowning In Blessings, but 'Kid Stuff' places her usual approach over a song that is surprisingly groovy — maybe even a little danceable. It comes with a video directed by Saskia Dixie. [via Stereogum]

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Das Beat are made up of German actress and vocalist Eddie Rabenberger and Agor of Blue Hawaii. The pair have just shared their first single 'Bubble' online now and are set to release their debut EP Identität on June 4 via Arbutus Records. Born in Berlin during 2020’s legendary lockdown, Das Beat seeks to blast both boredom and boundary. Dabbling in German New Wave, Italo Disco, Indie & Dance, their sound is unified by vocals from Eddie Rabenberger, sung in German and English. Amidst playful lyrics one finds a strong underlying pulse (das “beat”), pinning down the duo’s meandering atmospherics, dreamy synths, guitars and percussion. The duo is half-Canadian and half-German. Agor (of Blue Hawaii), moved to Berlin from Montreal in 2018. Eddie is a theatre actress originally hailing from a small town in Bavaria. Together they find a strange but alluring symbiosis - like Giorgio Moroder meets Nico, or Gina X Performance meets The Prodigy.

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St. Vincent has fully embraced the ’70s aesthetic for her retro-sounding new record, Daddy’s Home. Now, she’s diving headlong into the animation styles of the era with the video for 'The Melting of the Sun'. Presented as a “betamax deluxe release” rip from “Candy’s Music Video Archives,” the clip blends live action shots of St. Vincent herself with the wavy, intermittent animation frames any Schoolhouse Rock student is familiar with. The psychedelic lines fit a song called 'The Melting of the Sun' perfectly, as do the drawings of the legends mentioned in the song’s lyrics like Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, and Tori Amos. St. Vincent co-directed the clip with Bill Benz, while Chris McD provided the animation. [via Consequence]

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Bay Area slowcore trio Sour Widows have released a new single, 'Bathroom Stall,' from their forthcoming EP Crossing Over, which they announced last month with its title track. The song’s build-up is subtle and poignant like Sufjan Stevens, but Maia Sinaiko’s evocative, sweeping vocals are one-of-a-kind, and the lyrics are graphic and tragic: “Do you remember it like I do?/ Your lips turned blue I had my fingers in your mouth/ And I couldn’t get them out.” Sinaiko said of the song: "This song is about a relationship I had with someone who struggled with addiction, who very tragically passed away three years ago while we were together. It’s about some moments we shared, and how it feels to walk around carrying that person and those experiences with me while the world stays normal. I wrote the song because I wanted to preserve and document what happened to me. to write out the scary stuff and just let it sit there forever. I think its funny that its called 'Bathroom Stall' and that it has that image in it: the song goes from heavy and dark to ordinary and totally pedestrian in a sentence, which feels absurd. And that’s kind of what it’s like to grieve. That’s kind of what’s hard to explain about grief, how absurd it is. Part of you goes to a different planet and part of you stays walking around like an alien on Earth, going to the bathroom and looking at the moon and shit." [via Stereogum]

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As JUNO-nominated singer Kandle Osborne prepares to launch her new project, Set The Fire this spring, she shares the album’s third single, 'Misty Morning.' From being penned on a napkin while abroad to a Vancouver studio, 'Misty Morning' is a sonic journey that echoes soulful vulnerability and an honest reflection of realizing true love. For the video, Kandle reconnects with 'Honey Trap' director, Brandon William Fletcher, to create classic 40s noir-inspired cine-magic, filmed along the Vancouver coastline and within the lush landscape of Stanley Park. Kandle says: “‘Misty Morning’ is my first real love song, captured on a napkin while in Ischia, Italy when I was truly happy. My songwriting usually comes from a place of turmoil and catharsis, but this was simply a snapshot of a perfect, vulnerable moment. In recording it, I wanted to hide behind lush orchestration, but my producer/ best friend Michael Rendall had other ideas. He wanted to strip it down to just piano & a single vocal to take me out of my comfort zone and re-capture the open-hearted feelings I had while writing it. The song and the recording both hold for me a time when I dropped my guard for pure authentic love in spite of all my flaws and failures. In that moment, I felt my true value as a whole person for the first time.”

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On 'Vertigo,' Alice Merton’s first single of 2021, the 27-year-old describes the long road from uncertainty back to self-confidence. It emphasizes the unrest that seizes her again and again, the thought: “Why can’t I just let it go?” These contradicting thoughts and emotions that are so familiar to all of us sum up to an overwhelmingly positive effect - 'Vertigo' leaves you empowered rather than anxious: A powerful indie pop arrangement with distorted guitars, plus Alice Merton’s crystal-clear voice. The result is reminiscent of the British Invasion, with no air of self-doubt. With its energetic live qualities, 'Vertigo' feeds an appetite for summer festivals and concerts that will definitely return at some point. Largely responsible for this is the Canadian producer Koz, a multiple Grammy nominee, who has worked with Dua Lipa ('Physical') among others. Here, too, he adds on to what has already made Alice Merton stand out from the crowd in the past - her classic pop appeal - with an uncompromising and indie attitude. This enables Alice to take another big step: She equally encourages a shaken generation and herself that there will be easy summers again. That you can dance again and lie in each other's arms. That it is absolutely fine to have many facets, to not always be clear, and that strength and weakness are not mutually exclusive.

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Canadian artist Olivia Lunny's new release 'Sad To See You Happy' is a shamelessly poppy track centering an acutely relatable break-up narrative. The Canadian artist follows up her breakthrough success with a bouncy cut to soundtrack 2021’s long-awaited spring. There's a relatable tale of break-up at the heart of the gloriously poppy new single, belied by percussive instrumentation that creates a warm, nostalgic feel. [via Line Of Best Fit]

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After sharing the single last month, Charlotte Adigéry is now revealing the brand new video for ‘Bear With Me (and I’ll stand bare before you)’. The first new music since her 2019 debut EP Zandoli, Charlotte says of the video, “The video is about being confined thus confronted to the way we live. The cruel irony of having the privilege of standing still, questioning and observing my life in all safety while others are fighting for theirs. On the other hand, the video is about trying to stay sane while feeling that the walls are closing in on you. Embracing boredom and finding joy in the little things in life.” Director Alice Kunisue adds, “When I listened to Charlotte’s song and what it meant for her and Bolis, I wanted the video to visually encapsulate that feeling of being stuck inside and confronted to our deeper selves while paradoxically sensing the chaos going on in the outside world without being able to do anything about it. Choosing to film an apartment room from one single angle was a way to reflect that narrowness of thought that we all experienced, but also a constraint that allowed us to explore and develop visual ideas within a narrow system, in a way having to think only inside the box, which artistically was a fun challenge.” [via DIY]

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Millie Turner has shared a video for ‘Concrete Tragedy’. It’s a cut from her upcoming mini-album Eye Of The Storm, set for release on May 16, which also features a rework of breakout song ‘(Breathe) Underwater’. “This video is a visual representation of dancing on your own,” she says of the clip. “Combining the many parts of who we are when we’re by ourselves, I wanted it to feel like you’re entering a world of imagination that comes alive when we express ourselves.” [via Dork]

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Doja Cat and SZA have come together for a new single called 'Kiss Me More.' When the song was announced Wednesday night, the internet flipped out, which is to be expected with these two — especially Doja Cat, who is regularly going viral these days for all kinds of reasons. When it comes to collaborations, she always finds the best people. That includes Saweetie, who appeared on Doja’s recent 'Best Friend' but then claimed that it was released against her wishes. Given SZA’s long history of public frustration over TDE Records holding back her new album, she is probably happy to have any new music out. Despite recent single 'Good Days' hitting the top 10, her restless fanbase is still awaiting a follow-up to 2017’s iconic Ctrl. 'Kiss Me More' is the first single from Doja’s new album Planet Her, scheduled for release this summer. It returns to the disco vibes of Doja’s #1 hit 'Say So,' this time with no apparent resemblance to any Skylar Spence song. [via Stereogum]

#videos of the week #wallice #kita #dance lessons #laurel smith #laica #emily c. browning #holly humberstone #crumb #st. vincent #sour widows #kandle #alice merton #olivia lunny #charlotte adigery #millie turner #doja cat #sza

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amelink66world · 4 years ago

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Love of my Life

Hey guys!! This is the third chapter of my series. Ypu can read it on wattpad too! Enjoy 💞😉

Pheromones

Amelia's PoV:

I have to give Link some credit. He really knows what he's doing in the bedroom. I can safely say that he's the best I've ever had. But he can't know that. Male ego, you know. As far as I've come to know him, he'll start floating ;) Even Owen wasn't ever able to bring about that kind of a reaction from me even after the many years we were together which Link was able to do in just a SINGLE NIGHT !!

I have to say I'm quite surprised.

The amazing sex helped my mood quite a lot. All of the sadness and despair just vanished in thin air with his touch. So far I've been able to successfully avoid him. It's been two days since the conference in San Diego and still I just cannot take him off my mind. I've just seen him around the hospital once or twice. I actively run away whenever I see him. I just dash in the opposite direction. I make sure he doesn't see me. Just one look in his direction brings back all the memories of that night. I just know it in my soul that my self resolve will break and I will jump his bones as soon as I see his muscular arms, his full lips which seem to draw me in unintentionally, his soft eyes, his ton...STOP!! UGGHH!! I'll kill him. I can't even think straight. Ufff.

Maggie has recently introduced three rooms in the hospital as part of her research. I personally like the Blue and Green rooms more. They seem to have a calming effect on me, the green one more than the blue one but it's fine.

Link's PoV:

I've never experienced this feeling before. Not to brag but I'm accustomed with women throwing themselves at me and not the other way around. This woman has been haunting my dreams since the moment I laid eyes on her. I find my eyes searching for her even though she's not in the room. It's been two days since I've seen her. I really think she's avoiding me. I've caught glimpses of her in the hospital but as soon as I reach there, phuushh she's vanished. Ughh. I know she said it'll be a ' one- time thing ' but I just don't want to lose a friend like her. Maybe hopefully in the future things might be different but at least now just being her friend will be enough.

When I heard that Dr. Pierce has introduced three 'mood rooms' , I have to say my interest was piqued. I decide to check those rooms out. Maybe I'll even find her sister in the process, you never know right? ;)

Currently, Maggie and Amelia are sitting in the Blue Room finally having a much needed 'Sister Moment'. Maggie is telling Amelia how the Blue Room works. She wants Amelia to feel better as she knows how she had been recently. If only she could strangle that ginger man and the mother of his child for time and again hurting her beloved sister. Her whole life she had been a single child and now that she has been gifted with two amzaing sisters, she finally understood that she had needed them all along and can't help but feel fiercely protective towards them. No one can hurt them on her watch, she'll make sure of that. She loved them too much to see them hurt.

So here they are in the Blue Room, Maggie trying to uplift Amelia's mood that had been somber for a few days. If only she knew about the conference....

The room has definitely made Amelia curious. She wants to know what this room does. While languidly spinning in her chair, Amelia asks, " Sooo, blue light lowers blood pressure? "

"Significantly. And some studies even suggest that it could even improve your mood." Maggie wants to help Amelia in any way she possibly can and adds, "Well I'm not saying that it's a cure all or anything but you might wanna spend some time...", she trails off after turning her and noticing that she most definitely has lost her audience. Amelia is in her own world lazily spinning in her chair thinking God knows about what. Maggie is surprised to see Amelia in such a good mood after all the Love Triangle fiasco.

She curiously asks Amelia when she sees that she has yet not gained her attention, " Okay the room doesn't work thaaatt fast. I deserve an award if it did but...what's going on? " she smiles looking at her happy expression.

"Nothing" is her only reply. Since when did AMELIA of all people become a woman of a few words? Huh, astonishing.

Maggie probes further, " Nothing?? I can't believe it 'cause the last time I saw you there was a fair amount of crying and absolutely zero chair spinning. So spill, sister."

Finally getting her to answer, " Fine. I might have had some insanely good sex at the conference in San Diego " she says while stretching lazily.

Shock is written all over Maggie's face. How can her sister have sex with a stranger at a complete unknown place? She sometimes just cannot believe Amelia. Many a times Amelia's antics force Maggie to question Tom Koracick's surgical skills. Did that arrogant man leave a part of her tumor behind in her sometimes highly illogical brain? Guess she'll never know.

Chuckling nervously she asks, " Wait, WHAT? You had insane sex with a complete stranger in San Diego? I knew you should not be left alone. I definitely should've gone with you!! Ugghh "

" Hey!! That's mean." Amelia laughs. " By the way, it was not insane sex, it was insanely good sex. And not with a complete stranger. It helped my mood a lot more than your precious Blue Rooom" she sings trying to get under Maggie's skin.

" Oooh, so like a rebound !! "

" More like muscle-bound ", both laugh.

Link's PoV:

I just checked out The Game Room, I realised it can be useful for my patients who have trouble doing PT. Games are a form of PT only. I have to keep that in mind. The Plant Room was actually soothing. I really liked it. Only the Blue Room is left now. I step towards the room when all of a sudden I hear giggling inside the room. I immediately recognize the voice. Amelia!! Finally I found her. I enter the room with a grin on my face, " Knock knock..."

Meanwhile in the Blue Room:

The door suddenly opens to reveal none other than Link, " Knock knock...", he says with a goofy grin on his face. Ugh that mouth!! Ehhhh. What do I do now? I can't even run away! Thank God there's Maggie here.

Link's grin is replaced with a nervous smile as soon as he spots Maggie sitting on the other chair.

" Oh hey. Dr. Pierce!! ". He's just standing there like a dumb person nervously looking between the two when he suddenly recalls Dr. Pierce's email. Now there's a topic.

" Dr. Pierce I took a look at your sternal reconstruction thing and emailed you some thoughts.", all the while avoiding eye contact with Amelia because he knows as soon as he'll look into her eyes, his smile will give away their secret.

" Sorry it took me so long. I was at a conference in San Diego.", Link says, subtly glancing at Amelia's way.

Amelia's eyes widened at his slip up and she jerks her head towards Maggie. " Oooh ", is her reply. Amelia can practically see the dots connecting in Maggie's head. Her back straightens and she moves towards Link quietly scrutinizing him, silently letting him know that she's aware of their shenanigans. Maggie then looks at Amelia with humor and playfulness in her eyes and then looks at Link.

Link gets extremely uncomfortable under Maggie's scrutiny. He chances looking at Amelia to see her reaction but her head his down in embarrassment and she is trying her best to avoid eye contact with either of them. Oh shit Maggie knows!! Link then goes on to ramble, " Umm, nice room...very blue. Uhhh it's very cool", chuckling humorlessly. He quickly acknowledges Amelia's presence in the room, nodding in her direction, " Dr. Shepherd " and leaves hurriedly.

Oh my God that was awkward.

Maggie swiftly turns towards Amelia judging her slightly, " OH MY GOD!! "

Amelia tries to redeem herself by justifying her actions, " It was a one-time thing!! That is it. I just needed some pain management." Amelia then nervously rambles to escape Maggie's questions, "Does this room change colours? Does it do pink? "

Maggie just looks at her smugly, " Didn't I ask you to totally hit that Ortho God in the beginning? Okay so now you realise I was right all along? Heh? Ohh, this is so great. And to answer your question, no it doesn't do pink", she laughs with mirth.

"Oh shut up Maggie. I have a surgery. Bye ". She quickly leaves to avoid Maggie's further questioning and the look of smugness on her face. Yeah yeah yeah she was right. But I can't just say it to her face. She won't let me see the end of the day with her boasting then. I'll just kill Link. It's all HIS fault!! Why did he tell Maggie he was in San Diego? Where is that gorgeous, no wait, scratch that, stupid man?

Maggie can't contain her joy. She is exultant. I have to tell Meredith! I just don't understand why these two stupid sisters of mine don't acknowledge the fact that I'm the smartest and the most intelligent of them all? On top of that, I'm always right. Heh heh heh. Look in Amelia's case, I just knew Link is right for her. I guess I'm the most sane sister in The Sister Lafy Chiefs or The Lady Chief Trifecta...whatever it is that Amelia likes to call it. With a smug look on her face she leaves to search for Jackson.

Amelia gets paged in the pit. She bumps into Link on her way and corners him with accusations.

Link leans down slightly to hear her better as she is whispering and her body is too small and petite in comparison to his tall, muscular figure. He is smiling at her when she says, " I thought we agreed we weren't gonna tell people? "

" Yeah we did" , he looks at her quizzically.

" Why did you tell Maggie you were in San Diego? " Is she blaming me? He can't help but smile at her restlessness.

" Cause I was. At a conference ", he slightly raises his eyebrows.

" Yeah but I told her I had sex at a conference. She obviously connected the dots! "

" No no no, wait. Hold up. So you told her about the sex but I'm in trouble for mentioning the location?!", he teases her. Amelia realizes how unreasonable and ridiculous she sounds.

That teasing gleam in his eye is distracting her. She starts walking away and says, " Okay. Can I just reiterate that it was a one-time thing. It was..."

" Pain management like you said ", he says in a sing-song voice, completing for her.

" There's more to it. For acute pain, not a chronic. One dose. Do not refill ". She stops. Wait. That sounded really really wrong. " Ew. Sorry ".

Link laughs at the unintentional innuendo. That woman is too damn funny sometimes.

She again quickly walks further away from him. He follows her. " I think to be safe, we need to steer clear of each other for a while."

Link panics. How much longer does she want to avoid me? Why? " You have already managed to successfully avoid me for 2 days. Did that help? "

He asks incredulously, " You really think that's necessary? "

" I do. Because...", she trails off and turns towards him. Her eyes slightly glaze over and she stares at his muscular arms and sturdy chest, her mind obviously in the gutter while saying, "...pheromones"

Her answer somewhat shocks Link but he obviously notices Amelia staring at his chest whilst speaking. He then decides to mess with her a little and steps closer to her, " What about them? ", he says with a teasing grin.

She takes a while to answer, still looking at him.

" I really like yours " , she says straightforwardly. Ooh I like women who know what they like.

" Okay then. I'll avoid you completely ", he whispers seductively. Amelia stares at him a second longer, nods and then turns around sharply. She thinks, I have successfully managed to embarrass myself twice in less than 15 minutes. What is the matter with me today?!

" You paged? ", both simultaneously question Richard entering Trauma Room 2. Both of them look at each with surprise. Link has a very happy and teasing grin on his face. Amelia is a different story. She just wants to run away from there. How will I survive this day around him? I know I'll jump his bones before this day ends if he keeps looking at me like that!! She has a shocked expression on her face.

Both of them now put their game faces on and examine the patient. But the whole while Amelia keeps bumping into Link. Is he doing this purposely? He just knows I cannot resist. Ughh I don't like him at all!

Link is just having a blast. He finally came to a conclusion that the patient needed and MRI stat.

He informed the orderlies, " I'd like to take her for an MRI". He realised that he was not the only one saying this sentence. He turned towards her to realise that she had said the exact same words as him at the exact sa.e time. He smiled at her in a flirting way and she got extremely flustered and turned her head away softly whispering. " Oh God ". Thi bwas going to be an interesting case.

In the Scan Room:

They are waiting for the scans to come up. Amelia is sitting on the chair with Link leaning on the wall behind her. Both of them are painfully aware of each other's presence but don't say anything. Link gets tired of the wait and rests his hand on the armrest of Amelia's chair. Amelia glances at his hand and sharply turns away her head recalling all the beautiful things his hands are capable of doing. She blushed fiercely and quickly whispered, " I have to get off this case."

Link obviously understood why Anelia said what she said and smirked. Before he could say anything, the scans were up. They were disastrous. The patient was at an increasing risk of paralysis if they didn't do anything soon. They agreed that the patient needed both of their surgical skills and put aside their feelings and teasing for a few hours.

In the OR :

It would be an understatement to say that Link was impressed by Amelia's surgical skills. She had precision, stable hands, perfection, calmness, confidence and she knew exactly what the patient needed. This made her even more attractive to him.

He complimented her surgical skill and engaged in light flirting with her. He noticed her obvious smile behind her surgical mask which reached her eyes making her eyes gleam in a very captivating way. For a second there, they got lost in each other's eyes and seemed to forget that there was a patient open on their table. They quickly recovered and the surgery was going really well.

Suddenly a nurse informed them that the patient just lost motor signals in all of her extremities. Both the surgeons looked at each other in panic, double-checking their work but they had yet to make any mistake. What had happened?! Did they do something wrong? But we were nowhere near those nerves!! In the end, the patient ended up quadriplegic.

Both of them were deeply disappointed and disheartened. They were continuously thinking what had gone wrong there? Both came up with nothing. Amelia was more bothered by the surgery and was devastated. She quickly disappeared after updating the patient and her daughter about the outcome of the surgery. Link was worried for her. Where did she go? He was feeling oddly protective towards her and wanted to take away her pain. He wanted to comfort her and quickly found her in the only place he knew she'd be at the moment. The Blue Room.

He silently entered the room to find Amelia leaning on the wall dejectedly. He closed the door and leaned opposite to her, near the door. She noticed him and walked in his direction. Link saw her sad expression and wanted to wipe that expression off her face. When she came face-to-face with him, he clasped her hands in his and held on to them tightly. Amelia freed her left hand from his grasp and locked the door quickly. She then held his hand tighter and started leaning towards his lips.

He quickly understood what she needed. He could really use some pain management himself. When their lips finally touched, the failure of today quickly relieved their body and the whole world seemed to just vanish until there were only the two of them holding each other. The kiss soon became heated and Link let go of her hands to wrap his arms tightly around her slim waist. He swiftly glided his hands up her back, one rested just above her hip and the other just below her shoulders eliciting a long moan from her.

She quickly wrapped one hand around his neck to deepen the kiss and the other hand held onto his arm for dear life. Her knees grew wobbly. Link pressed her body to his until there was no space left. Amelia could not even describe this exhilarating feeling. He changed their positions so that she was now pinned to the door by his sturdy chest. They continued kissing desperately. She slowly started backing him towards one of the chairs until he was sitting. He pulled her to him, deeply aroused, until she straddled his lap. The were sitting chest to chest vigorously kissing in the Blue Room taking away each other's pain. They stayed there taking away each other's pain until there was no hurt left and laid there in each other's arms in peaceful silence for the long night.

Author's Note:

Sooo how was it?? I was just too excited having started my first story that I just couldn't stop!! I just wish that these scenes could be included in the show. Anyway, please don't forget to comment your thoughts !! Until then.

#amelia shepherd #atticus lincoln #amelia and link #amelia-shepherd-fanfic #greys antony #amelink

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bluerosesonata · 4 years ago

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The Legacy of Aika Village

[This will be the first of a few mini-articles I plan to post here, just about different things I’m passionate about. Please indulge me.]

This article originally was written back in early April- since then, Nintendo announced that the “Dream Suites” would be coming to the latest update of ACNH, as “Dream Islands.” As such, I thought it would be timely to finally post this.

Update: On July 2nd, the original creator of Aika Village made a tweet announcing their plans to remake Aika for Dream Islands in New Horizons! The legend lives on!

Image Credit: thumbnail from chuggaconroy’s playthrough of Aika Village on Youtube.

Animal Crossing And Horror: The Legacy of Aika Village

With a lot of the world in lockdown, Animal Crossing New Horizons has become a creative and social outlet for many, leading to a lot of people who never played Animal Crossing to engage with it for the first time. I’m sure most of you have encountered the various types of people present in the Animal Crossing community by now, but there’s a type of Animal Crossing players that a lot of people didn’t realize exist, and have existed, for a while now: The Horror Town Creators.

These players were the subject of a brief write up on Polygon by Patricia Hernandez [Hernandez, Patricia. “Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now a horror game, thanks to fans.” Polygon, 24 Mar. 2020. https://www.polygon.com/2020/3/24/21190826/animal-crossing-new-horizons-horror-game-decorations-scary-nintendo-switch-blood-spatter-pattern.], who posted an article featuring quotes and pictures of people creating horror themed towns and rooms in New Horizons, but only made a brief mention of the legacy of horror that many of these players are striving to recreate: The Nightmare Suites of Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

(These next few paragraphs are a bit of a self-indulgent aside, so feel feel to skip ahead.)

Horror gets a bad rap. Horror artists get comments like “lmao what SCP is this,” “that’s fucked up,” or get flippant remarks about it all “looking the same.” Horror writers get made fun of for only writing “three types of stories.” Even the term “creepypasta,” which has evolved into shorthand for “horror stories independently published online,” still carries the stink of derision from the typo-filled, often poorly-written shock stories the term originated from. Despite this derision, horror, as a genre, is MASSIVELY popular (and profitable as well!). There’s an undeniable appeal to it.

More importantly, horror always finds a way to adapt itself to different mediums. As one can easily see by the success of horror podcasts like the NoSleep Podcast and The Magnus Archives, it isn’t even limited to a visual format! Like fear and dread itself, the horror genre crawls on, inexhaustible, undying, and ever-present, always returning to us in ways both novel and familiar.

Horror lovers are a tight knit, but welcoming, community, and that’s one of its biggest strengths and weaknesses.The biggest drawback is that a lot of really cool stuff produced will never be experienced, let alone documented, by people outside the community. And that’s what prompted this post. I was trying to explain the Dream Suite horror movement to my cousin, and despite my best efforts, didn’t find a lot of coverage about them, beyond the fact they existed. Worse, most of those were articles written five years ago. Even so, I’ll link to a few of them at the end of this post, as they’re definitely worth reading.

For me, I wanted to share my experience of the horror town phenomena with people outside the community. The Nightmare Suites movement was really something magical, and I know that I, personally, am still trying to recreate that magic in New Horizons. And hey, maybe once you’re finished reading this, you will too.

The Dream Suite

Before we can talk about Aika Village, we need to explain the feature that made this whole movement possible. In the 2012/2013 3DS game, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, there were two areas in every town: The village, and Main Street, which laid beyond the train tracks that ran across to the north of every town. Main Street was home several important structures, including the town shop, the Happy Home Academy, and the Post Office. Later on, more structures could be unlocked and built as public works projects, one of which was the Dream Suite.[“Dream Suite.” Nookipedia, 25 Apr. 2013, nookipedia.com/wiki/Dream_Suite.]

As for how it worked, Nookipedia explains it best:

To begin a dream, the player must lie down on the bed and pay Luna 500 Bells. They may then choose to visit a random town, input the Dream Address of a specific town to visit, or search for a town. They may then choose to visit a previously visited town or a random town, or to input the dream address of a new town to visit. While dreaming, the player may walk around the town and perform actions just as they would in the real world, but their actions will have no effect on the town.

While dreaming, the bed will be on the dream town's plaza. Luna and Lloid stand near it until the player decides to wake up. Players can borrow tools like a shovel and axe from Lloid to use within the dream. If the player lies on the bed a second time, they will leave the dream and anything they have in their pockets will be lost.

The player cannot go to Main Street or enter any buildings with doors besides homes. Additionally, messages left on the bulletin board cannot be read; instead, the board displays the town's name and Dream Address…custom designs on display in the town, such as on the ground and in houses, will be visible. The player who uploaded the town can also be found walking about. When spoken to, they will say their recorded greeting.

In essence, the Dream Suite takes a snapshot of your town at the moment you ask Luna, the NPC running the Dream Suite, to share a dream- this includes your outfit, the way you decorated your home, the items laying around town, etc.

The most important aspect of this feature, and the one that I feel had the most impact on the Nightmare Suite creation movement, was the method of discovery. If you didn’t know someone’s code, you would be sent to a random dream of a random town, from anywhere in the world- and this is where I feel my personal experience of being in the community departs from the articles that have already been written about the Nightmare Suites.

The Urban Legend of Aika

In the years leading to 2013, I was going through some rough shit. I won’t go into details here, but video games had become my entire life. Coming into the summer of 2013, I didn’t have any friends I kept in touch with, and I was “starting over” in a city where I knew nobody- things were looking up, but outside of tumblr, I didn’t have anything even resembling a social life. Animal Crossing: New Leaf was a stabilizing force of my life during this time, and really helped me. I had the Shampoodle haircut guide saved to the camera roll on my phone, for pete’s sake.

It was in the beginnings of my friendship with a group of girls (whom I sadly no longer even have contact with), where a lot of our initial bonding happened because of anime and RPGmaker horror games. We were sitting together in the campus dining area, me playing on my 3DS, when I first learned about the Nightmare Suites.

“Have you heard about Aika Village?”

I hadn’t.

“It’s this really creepy town in dream suites, I heard about it from a friend online.” Later that day, she linked me to a tumblr post compiling a series of codes leading to different “creepy dream towns,” the first one being simply labeled as “Aika Village.”

That dream village became a phenomenon: people would write up their interpretations and theories about it, and even lead to a few articles and videos on gaming sites like IGN and Killscreen, which is why I’m not gonna even bother going into the content of the village itself.

And So, The Dream Begins…

This, in my opinion, was the draw of the Nightmare Suites. Without a way to directly share codes from your 3DS to your social media, the discovery and sharing of Dream Towns was like that of urban legends- like virtually passing notes in class, or sharing scary stories that “totally happened to a friend of my cousin’s sister” at a campfire. It felt like a cool discovery- something exclusive and scary and weirdly intimate. They had a mystique to them, a mystery of who their creators were and what they “really meant.” But above all that? They were cool as hell.

The Nightmare Suites used the limitations of the game to try and create an unnerving atmosphere in ways that were reminiscent to me of the RPGmaker horror game subgenre, and for me, created a lot of memories of excitedly typing in my once a day dream suite visit late at night in my dorm. I never lacked variety- there were so many people either influenced or inspired by Aika to make a horror town that there are entire lists and tumblrs dedicated to collecting those codes. (I even played around with the idea of making my own horror town, but never found the right inspiration, instead dedicating my time to making themed homes and custom outfits based on different anime characters.)

The sad fact that so many of these towns have been altered or overwritten, if they’re available or accessible at all, is in itself, a part of their urban legend-like appeal. While many of us may never get to experience these towns, the stories about them endure, in lists on long-abandoned blogs and youtube videos from people’s playthroughs.

And that mystique is the real legacy of Aika; While the Nightmare Suites may be gone, the wonder and dreamlike memories many of us hold from our chance encounter with it will never fade. You could even say we’re a bit…haunted by it.

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szopenhauer · 4 years ago

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What was your last dream about? pamiętam tylko tyle, że M. powinna uważać na jej byłego

Would you like to build/design your own house? yes

Do you have a cherished childhood teddy bear? it’s not really a teddy but yeah

Are you psychic in any way? it seems

Are you a good dancer? meh

Are you a good singer? nooo

Are you a good cook? not the worst

Are you a good artist? maybe

Are you a good listener? try to be

Are you a good public speaker? but don’t like to

Are you a good babysitter? might be but hate that

Are you a good dresser? have my own style

Are you a good comedian? I’m funny :P

Are you a good cleaner? not good enough

Are you a good actor? I am

Are you a good writer? just like to write

Do you ever get chills & goosebumps when you listen to music? tell me about it...

What was the last song that had that effect on you? not sure which was last

Do you know what any of your siblings did over the weekend? I don’t care

Was the last book you read a hardback or paperback? paperback

What was the last thing you required the use of a spoon for? I was eating breakfast

The last time you ate something, was it in a bowl or on a plate? neither XD

Can you recall the last time you held hands with someone? I can

What was the last thing that made your heart melt? hmm...

Can you recall the last time you visited a bookshop? not the exact day but yep

Did you purchase anything? I don’t think so

Have you been wearing homemade masks or store-bought ones? both

Do you call yourself stupid a lot? sometimes

Are you listening to music right now? not rn

What is your newest favorite website? aliexpress?

Do you have a headache right now? had before today

What month is your birthday, and what month would u change it to if you could? February and would like June, July or August that’s why I will spend my name day during summer instead of spring with my sister

Have you ever had to use an epi pen? not yet

Do you know the names of 3 of your neighbors? (list if you can): personal

What was the last grocery store you shopped at?

Do memories from your past come back to haunt you ? frequently

Have you ever seen an angel? or a ghost

Have you ever seen a demon? that time in a mirror?...

What color was the last sweatshirt you wore? grey

What was the last act of creativity you displayed? Vinnie’s tiny bird next to her signature?

Do you ever find yourself just writing/typing out your feelings? my tumblr is full of this shit

Whose house were you at last, besides your own? my current partner’s

Do you like your teeth? not really

Does piano music tend to calm you down? wouldn’t say so

What’s something you need to get done soon? ugh...

Is your best friend awake right now? they are

If I came to your house, could I find any kind of chocolate? ask my mother

Who was the last person to upload a picture with you in it? M.

Do you ever wear sleep masks when you sleep or shower caps when you shower? neither

Don’t tell me lies, so where’s your man? where’s Nat? XD

Have you ever had a best friend who was of the opposite sex? dad

Has anyone said they love you in the last week? yasss

Have you ever kissed under water? hell no

Have you kissed anyone whose name starts with a M? hahaha

Would you kiss the last person who texted you, on the lips? done and I hopefully will

Camping with a ton of friends or hotel with a few friends? hotel

Could you go the rest of your life without a cigarette? absolutely

Have you ever wanted something you couldn’t have? like health

How is your boyfriend/girlfriend doing and where are they now? she’s angry, has a flu and she’s working

What was the last topic you read about? DID?

Do you prefer Windows or Mac? Windows

What’s the best amusement park ride you’ve ever been on? I’m not a fan of rides tbh

Would you know how to read a house blueprint? partially?

Do you keep notes on your phone? What sort of things do you write? used to on my old cell

Do you remember much from high school? tought so

Has anyone ever come out to you? yup

What was the last album you listened to in full? Red army choir or Anastasis?

Do you have Disney+? we don’t

Have you ever sent a package or letter to a foreign country? postcards

How many jobs do you have on your resume? 0

Are you comfortable with leaving the house without any makeup on?: I don’t wear makeup

Do you have any expensive hobbies?: if I had money...

What length do you like to keep your nails at?: short

Have you ever felt physical pain in a dream?: but not as much as Nat

Have you ever had Christmas carolers come to your house and sing for you?: when I was a kid

What’s your favorite Studio Ghibli film?: Porco Rosso?

What did you learn from your last failed relationship?: can we not talk about it...

What’s something on your to-do list that never actually gets done?: I’m a huge procrastinator

Have you ever been really passionate about something but then lost interest? If so, what was it?: collages

What’s the worst thing about being male/female (whichever you are)?: period, being able to get pregnant and have female kinds of cancer etc.

What movie has the best special effects?: I’m into practical special effects more than cgi but... there’s too many to name

When did you last have a vision test?: ages ago

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michelles-garden-of-evil · 5 years ago

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Episode 18 Review: Making Biscuits

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 }

{ Synopses/Recaps: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

Early morning on Maljardin. Exhausted from a day of shock and disbelief at the arrivals of her mother and Reverend Dawson on the island paradise(?) of Maljardin, Holly sleeps on the couch in the château’s great hall. Quietly, a fully dressed Jean Paul descends the grand staircase and stops behind the couch to cover her with a blanket. “Hi, Dad,” she says. “I had a dream. I thought that-”

I know that she’s probably a bit creeped out, but, honestly, I kind of envy Holly in this scene. There are days that I wish that I could wake up to see Jean Paul Desmond at my bedside. I know he has all kinds of issues and personality flaws, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find him cute and charming.

She tells him that she was dreaming about waiting for her father at home. “I know the feeling only too well,” he responds. “ Sometimes you know when memories haunt dreams, nightmares can follow.” I know that he is probably referring to nightmares about Erica’s death and/or to that freaky dream sequence with Raxl from the end of Episode 5, but still, I have to wonder if he, like Holly, lost his father at a young age. They reveal a little about Jean Paul’s father in the third and final arc of the show, but I don’t recall them discussing the specifics of his death beyond one thing that would be a spoiler to mention at this point. It would have been interesting to learn a bit about Jean Paul’s father in the Maljardin arc, but, unfortunately, we don’t.

So gallant! <3

We cut to a scene of Dan waiting impatiently for Jean Paul at the French Leave Café while talking to Vangie. Mostly, this scene exists so that Vangie can elaborate on why Maljardin is so hard to get to. “That channel is a cross between a tide and a continual tornado,” she says. “It's full of rocks and shoals. Actually, it’s never even been properly charted.” (Except probably by one of the des Mondes.) This is the only new information we get in any of the scenes between Dan and Vangie in this episode; the rest is nearly all recap, so I’m going to skip over most of it.

We return to Maljardin, where Holly and Jean Paul are sipping coffee from some dainty little cups. Before leaving for the main island, he asks her to attend Erica’s funeral, but she is reluctant because her mother and Reverend Dawson will be there. He advises her essentially to suck it up and go--which, as she points out, sounds like something "the good padre” would say. And then this happens:

I...don’t think that’s the generator.

Holly goes running upstairs and, just after, Jacques reveals that it was indeed he who tampered with the generator:

Love Jacques’ sarcasm in talking about the importance of the Holly portrait and how Tim and Holly may be “finished” before it is. And yes, the good Jacques portrait is back!

Next, we get what has to be the single most painful line of dialogue that the usually witty Jacques gets on the entire show: “Dear me, it does pose a dilemma,” says he about the situation with the Holly portrait that Boring Artist Tim is painting. “Pose, portrait, dilemma. A little play on words.” He snickers, indicating that at least he thinks the line is funny. “But I assure you I'm not playing games.” As Paflad would say, “BADOOM, and indeed, TSHHH!“

After the bad pun storm is over, he tells Jean Paul to bring Dan back with him to Maljardin because “[Jacques wants] to be sure that he doesn’t work against [him].” Cut to the second Dan and Vangie scene, where they recap nearly all the most important events on the show so far. It’s not all recap, however, as we do hear Vangie’s interpretation of the King of Wands, one of the Tarot cards featured last episode:

Vangie: “This way, a man of immense wealth and prestige and power in the world.”

“Reverse him, and he becomes the traditional card of ill-omen, a devil himself. Jean Paul Desmond...or Jacques Eloi des Mondes.”

And now onto the scene featuring the Matt-Holly-Tim love triangle, which feels endless because I can’t stand this subplot. I’m planning on writing a post someday explaining everything that’s wrong with this subplot and exactly why it doesn’t work, but I want to wait until after I’ve reviewed at least three more episodes featuring it. Nothing important happens in this scene, but we do get these lines:

Holly: "I wish my mother was on canvas instead of always on my back."

Be careful what you wish for, Holly. Someday you could have a portrait of Elizabeth Marshall that speaks to you constantly and manipulates you into doing things that make no sense to other characters. (Not a spoiler.)

The best Tim line on the show, and it’s a line flub. Go figure.

After the seemingly endless Tim scene ends, we return to the main island, where Jacques possesses Jean Paul while he is meeting with Dan. (He takes Jacques’ suggestions an awful lot, and I’m not sure if it’s because he actually agrees or because Jacques is manipulating him and he finds it too hard to resist.) We start with this shot of Jacques with ever-so-mildly creepy lighting:

Not scary, but it successfully conveys the message that Jacques has just taken control.

This scene makes up for the mediocrity of the rest of this episode. Jacques is his devilishly charming self, impersonating Jean Paul and making a fool of him by behaving far too cheerfully for a man in mourning. When Dan questions him, he insists that he’s only putting on a brave face and inwardly grieving, but Dan remains suspicious.

I must admit that I found this Jacques line--cheesy as it is--pretty funny.

Jacques, of course, takes advantage of the opportunity to troll him. Why not? For the first eleven episodes, he stuck to aiding Jean Paul and mostly just did things that they both wanted to do, with just a few exceptions like killing Dr. Menkin and giving Alison romantic dreams about him. Since Episode 12, however, he has been regularly screwing with Jean Paul’s life, trying to undermine nearly everything he tries to do in some way unless it also benefits him. By now, Jacques is in control of Jean Paul even when he’s inside the painting and so he probably feels he can get away with anything.

Anyway, remember when Jacques fired Dan in Episode 15? Well, he’s re-hired now and invited to Maljardin. He’s also more confused than ever, particularly because Jacques (who he believes is Jean Paul) keeps making faces like this:

BISSITS FACE!

For those of you who haven’t read my review of Episode 4 or who don’t remember it, Bissits Face™ is the name I gave to the cartoonish faux-innocent face that Jacques likes to make, where he opens his eyes extremely wide and purses his lips in a very cute way. The name comes from its resemblance to the face my cat makes when he makes biscuits, or “bissits” as I call them in baby-talk. I know the name is silly, but it is a silly face and probably not one you’d make in real life if you genuinely wanted to appear innocent--which is further evidence that Jacques thinks that he’s smarter than everyone else (and is probably right).

If his wrists weren’t crossed, he’d look like he was getting ready to make biscuits on that table like a cat.

Meow?

Of course, this isn’t his only bug-eyed expression, and he does keep those gorgeous blue peepers open quite a lot. I think that Colin Fox intended for Jacques to look “crazy,” which would explain all the wide-eyed expressions he has him make. Crazy eyes are, after all, pretty much standard acting technique for playing characters who are mentally disturbed to some degree. There’s an old French actor named Gérard Berner whom I’ve nicknamed “Crazy Eyes,” because, in the two miniseries I’ve seen him in (La dame de Monsoreau (1971) and Le roi qui vient du sud (1979)), he played characters with anger problems and, when said characters got enraged, he opened his eyes so wide that you would swear they were about to fall out of his head. This scene from Monsoreau is a good example, as is the one that follows it (Berner is the man with the longish hair and the silver doublet). Obviously, the intended meaning of Bissits Face™ is “I’m pretending to be innocent” and not “I’m angry,” but it’s still the same technique.

Gérard Berner (right) as François d’Anjou in La dame de Monsoreau (1971), demonstrating the crazy eye technique in a very different context.

Anyway, after Dan leaves to get ready to sail to Maljardin, Jacques and Vangie exchange a few words. By this point, she knows for certain who he is and that he will bring death to the island.

A rare instance of the subtitles getting Vangie’s name right.

I really like this exchange, so, as with many other exchanges that I really like, I’m going to post a full transcription:

Jacques: "Did you hear it all, Vangie?" Vangie: "Enough to make me wonder if I shouldn't contact the newspapers and let them find out the kind of man you really are."

Jacques: "You wouldn't do that, because you're afraid of my...power." Vangie: "In this world...or the next?"

Jacques: "Next world?" *laughs* "What are you talking about? You've been playing cards too much. It's dulling your senses." Vangie: "My father is dead. I am now the Conjure Woman. My senses are greater than ever. There is evil roaming on Maljardin. It must be destroyed."

Getting nervous, Jacques?

Jacques: "Vangie! You and your witchcraft. It will be the death of me yet.” Vangie: "I'm after the Devil."

Yup, definitely nervous.

Jacques: "And he's after you!"

And then we have a marvelous little credits scene where Jacques sits down in the big wicker chair, looking enormously pleased with himself. He puts his feet up on the table in front of him, grins, polishes his ring, all while looking incredibly self-satisfied. I love this comment about it on YouTube: “I can imagine the director telling Colin at the end credits,'Ok Colin-Baby, now just sit there and look smug...that's it...more smug-more smug...annnnd got it!'”

Smug.

Smugger.

Smuggest.

This episode is typical of Wednesday episodes on this show: light on plot and heavy on recap and character interaction that may or may not be filler. The only important things that happen in this one are (1) Jacques brings Dan with him to Maljardin and (2) Vangie reveals to Jacques that she has become the Conjure Woman and therefore a powerful opponent. But neither of these happen until the final scene, so, in all honesty, one could skip over most of this episode without missing much save for Tim’s hilarious line flub.

Coming up next: Reverend Dawson holds Erica’s funeral and Holly discusses an interesting nightmare she had about her mother.

{ <-- Previous: Episode 17 || Next: Episode 19 --> }

#strange paradise #gothic soap opera #week 4 #episode 18 #ian martin #review #maljardin arc #bissits face #the blue suit of sexiness #crazy eyes #creative line interpretation #the damned holly portrait #jacques putting his boots/shoes on furniture #la dame de monsoreau #tarot #strange title i know but i couldn't think of anything better

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robbiwrites717 · 6 years ago

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Master list of my Davekat fic recs. This is long so keep reading for the entire list. Also, unless a fic was explicit I included it on this list so be aware and still read the tags! I wanted to include my thoughts about each fic but it’s been well over a year since I read most of them and it would have been exhausting to read back through all of them so i just included the authors’ summaries instead. I have major respect for every fic and author on this list, seriously they’re amazing <3 Happy Reading

A Bump in the Road - by leopharry - Daycare AU (teacher Karkat/gaurdian DAve/kid Dirk) - Ch 1/1 - 10260 words

After earning his Master's degree in education, Karkat can't find a teaching job, so Kanaya gets him a job as a toddler teacher at a daycare, much to his chagrin. Dirk is his quietest and most behaved student; in fact, Karkat has never heard him speak, and he's curious. What kind of person could raise such a child? And just how long will Karkat's patience last in a room full of two year olds?

Alpha Rats Nest - by sicklekind - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 9911 words

Dave and Karkat have a long overdue, late-night discussion about the upcoming final battle (and lots of other things, too).

AMC Gremlin - by PeachBriseadh - Coffee Shop AU - Ch 1/1 - 2267

A drive through window is probably not a good place to confess your feelings to the boy of your dreams, particularly when said dream boy is working it.

Apple Juice, Chips, and Bandages - by Weevilo707 - Humanstuck/Convenience Store AU- Ch 2/2 - 5338 words

Every time he comes in he gets the same three things. A bottle of apple juice, a bag of chips, and bandages.

Astronomy in Reverse - by PunkZucchini & sicklekind - Pen Pal AU - Ch 9/10 - 53857 words

Dave and Karkat are intergalactic pen pals, originally paired together for an extra credit school outreach project. Now, three years of correspondence later, they're best friends... and Karkat is finally immigrating to Earth.

Blood Dragon - by Corvid_Knight - Fantasy AU - Ch 8/8 - 11609 words

Fantasy-set homestuck AU in which Dave has a shit life, but he just managed to rescue a dragon...who also happens to be a nice guy. Now he's just got to keep his brother from finding out. Good luck with that, Dave.

Breathe - by Lilith_In_The_Garden - Highschool AU - Ch 31/? - 54700 words

Your name is Dave Strider, and there's nothing good about John and Rose changing schools.Without your twin sister and best friend, you've been left socially crippled at school, and barely coping at home. You're nearly certain that your mental health has been slowly spiraling downhill. You have no clue how you'll last the year to high school graduation. In all this, there's just one single ray of light.Your name is Dave Strider, and there's nothing good about John and Rose changing schools. Except for meeting Karkat Vantas.

Book Covers - by me ( cuz im an egotistical asshole) = College/Guardian AU- Ch 28/28 - 136611 words

Karkat has had a shitty life and has had to bust his ass for everything he has. He has no patience for spoiled, delusional, lazy people and this is exactly what he thinks Dave Strider is. They get paired up together for a project in their college English class and when Karkat accidently learns that Dave is fighting to keep custody of his younger brother Dirk, he learns that he may have been completely wrong about Dave and shouldn't have judged a book by it's cover. A story of two damaged boys coming to each others rescue and growing as people. <3

Broken - by Aurellyn - Pale Romance/Moirallegiance - Ch 1/1 - 18911 words

This has been an increasingly common occurrence recently. Maybe it’s because you’ve got so much time to just sit around and really think, maybe it’s because you don’t really have anyone to talk to, you don’t know, but you’ve been feeling literal oceans of insecure.It’s like someone ripped a bandaid off of an old wound, or broke the dam or some shit, because lately all you can think about are things you never wanted to think about literally ever again. You’ve been thinking about your Bro, your life before the game, and it was only yesterday that it really, truly dawned on you that you’re actually really scarred by it all. The strifing, the constant tiptoeing around the one place that you should feel safe, paranoia of being stalked by a God damn puppet.It haunts you, and it’s maybe had more of an impact on you than you want to admit.

Cold Desert - by gidgit - Neighbor AU - Ch 7/? - 48493 words

Curiosity killed the cat.It probably just wasn't as good at being nosy as Dave is.

countdown until the end of the world - by divingred - Alpha Session/Memories AU - Ch 6/6 - 17291 words

You’ve seen them before, in countless dreams like this, but this is the first time they’re so clear. They’re so big, they seem almost inhuman, not to mention their color. Deep black pupils against golden, almost glowing, sclera. Even though they’re nothing like a pair of human eyes, there’s a softness there. This is someone who cares about you. You don’t want to look away.Your name is Dave Strider and you feel like you’re forgetting something important.((au where alpha dave picks up a certain troll))

Demon Eyes - by Corvid_Knight - Demon/Hunter AU - Ch 28/28 - 84335 words

In which Dave goes in to kill a demon for his bro, and things...don't exactly go as planned. Really, absolutely nothing goes as planned, but that's...somehow okay. Mostly.

Don’t Forget the Sun - by Weevilo707 - stranded Alien AU - Ch 23/?(DISCONTINUED) - 204539 words

Karkat Vantas always accepted the fact that he was not going to live past nine sweeps. It was just a certainty of his sad, miserable life. At least, that was until his friends found out and decided to hatch a plan to get him out of the Alternian empire. A plan that actually worked.Now, he was stranded on an alien planet, at the mercy of some strange creature that was either trying to help him or going about some freaky ritual of flirting with your food before you eat it.Also, aliens have sunglasses.He was better off dying on Alternia, wasn't he?

falling in love's a struggle - by divingred - college AU - Ch 4/? - 7784 words

“What. The. Fuck,” You manage to spit out, “Kanaya, did Terezi just bring a human?”Who the fuck is this guy anyway!? You stare daggers at the guy. He’s tall… pale, with light hair, wearing an obnoxiously bright red jacket and black skinny jeans. He’s even wearing sunglasses at night, what a complete fucking douchebag. The complete opposite of you.--or alternatively titled; falling in love with your ex-girlfriend's new awful boyfriend

File It Down, Polish It Up - by introsquirrel - Ch 1/1 - 20713 words

Trolls have some weird priorities. They can’t bring themselves to invent conditioner, but they have automatic manicure kits and gossip about which blood caste produces the best in claw hygiene. Dave has never really given much thought to the state of his nails. His time is better spent memorizing lame movie quotes and actively *not* flirting with the grumpy troll version of the Second Coming.On an unrelated note, being a teenage boy is hard. Literally. (Insert dick joke here.) It’s hard and having a hot sister doesn’t help in the slightest. Not that Dave finds his sister attractive in any way.Nope, not going there.

Fortuitous - by Java_bean - meteorstuck - Ch 21/? - 111066 words

Dave and Karkat build a pillow fort and an unexpected chain of events occurs.

Hard To Stay And Watch You Walk Away - by LandofMistandSecrets - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 7502 words

I thought too hard about scenes that happened in the GO timeline that we never saw the retcon version of and then this came out. The "will we still be able to be best bros" conversation re-imagined for post-retcon. Somehow Karkat is even more insecure. Also I always wanted Rose and Karkat to talk in canon so hey have a bunch of them too, thanks.

hey there bright-eyed mister melancholy - by attentionmerrymakers - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1/ - 2338 words

This is why you are sitting in Can Town making your fifty-sixth scale replica of a sheep.

how...did you tell your friends - by sburbanite - post sburb/sgrub - Ch 4/4 - 7906 words

Unfortunately, you don't fancy your brother's suggestion on how to break the news to John...There's no other way out of it, you're going to have to just tell him.

If I Lose Everything In The Fire - by HexMeridan (myrainbowshoelaces) - pacific rim AU - Ch 20/22 - 108975 words

The Kaiju - or Horrorterrors, as the trolls call them - first invaded Earth through a transdimensional rift at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Serving the Condesce in her quest to add Earth to the Alternian Empire, these monsters have terrorized humanity for twelve years. With the help of rebel troll factions and the adaptation of Alternian mind integration technology - The Drift - the Interspecies Defense Program has fought back as the last line of defense between the Kaiju and Earth.Karkat Vantas was a Jaeger pilot, fought for freedom in the Assault on the Breach that brought trolls to Earth. The loss of his co-pilot left him bitter and full of rage, but desperate times have lead to him being recruited to join the fray once more.Dave Strider is the best and brightest the Interspec program has to offer. Jaeger Restoration Project Head, highest simulation score on record, and younger brother of the Deputy Marshal - except he's not allowed in a Jaeger.Nobody expects them to be Drift Compatible

Improvidence - by biodigitaljazz - Meteorstuck Series - Four separate multi chapter fics

Part 1 - Your name is Karkat Vantas.Your life is unnecessarily complicated. Part 2 - Your name is Dave Strider.You’re the baddest MC this side of the meteor and damn do you know it. Part 3 - Your name is Karkat Vantas.And you are the most beautiful and superlative specimen of complete and total relationship failure in the history of everyone and everything. Part 4 - Your name is Dave Strider.You really wish you could remember everything.

Locked Up - Weevilo - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 9272 words

Dave had always been the one best prepared for the game. He was able to handle the shit it threw at them and push it down a lot better than everyone else could.It might have fucked up everything else about him, but that didn't matter.He was fine.He was always fucking fine.

Love in the Time of Juggalos - by sburbanite - Alpha timeline AU - Ch 37/37 - 80521 words

Alpha-Dave has everything anyone could want: fame, fortune, legions of adoring fans, and a shitty hatchback car.

But behind the shades is a man who knows the world is ending, and who wakes each morning expecting to see a lover who isn't there. Someone he's never even met.

M.C. Escher that’s my favorite MC - by Unda - Soulmate AU - Ch 42/? - 587474 words

Dirk has a plan, when he's 18 he's going to take Dave and get him the fuck out of their terrible lives and start over. Until then being the barrier between Dave and Bro is his only job, his soulmate is just going to have to wait goddamnit. Dave has a plan, it involves getting internet famous and not going gay, easy right? Karkat also has a plan, to repeatedly track down his dumb as rocks soulmate and get him to actually talk to him for fuck's sake.

Palisades, Palisades - by magicites - Summer Camp AU - Ch 4/4 - 46,422 words

In your memories, you see Dave Strider, fourteen-years-old and made up of lean muscle and awkward limbs that he would still need a few years to grow into fully. Crows surround him, all cawing impatiently, vying for the chicken sandwich in his backpack. He swears loudly as he swings a stick at them, trying to get them to leave him the fuck alone.“Stupid feathery assholes,” he’d always complain once he finally shooed them away.You tear yourself out of the memory. You miss him, and you hate yourself for it.

Perspective - by MsGeekNerd - Meteorstuck - Ch 85/85 - 63833 words

In which Dave Strider and Karkat Vantas are Bored as Hell and Eventually Grow Close to Each Other in Multiple WaysKarkat wants nothing more then to be entertained, Dave can supply that entertainment.A story of friendship turned crush between my favorite dorks

Purrbeast - by wittykitsune - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 1140 words

Dave takes a dare to pet the grumpiest troll on the meteor. Instead of violence he is met with a very different reaction.

Reclassify - by notwest - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 2917 words

warning: this is a highly cliched, self indulgent first kiss meteorficyou know you love it though

Songs Made on the Meteor - by apocalypticTaco - Meteorstuck - Ch 3/6 - 11752 words

Once the train of aimless tree blabber has left the station, you remember why you agreed to meet up in the first place. Leaning forward to sit up properly, you turn to Dave.“So,” you say, “what did you want to show me?”“Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that, sorry. The topic just fucking strayed from me like some kind of toddler seeing a candy store and waddling away from mom. Chubby little bastard gets me this time. Here.” He plops out one of those music tables onto his lap, and motions for you to come closer.

(It's music, and along the way they fall in love.)

Sun - by mintboy - highschool Au - Ch 8/? - 14205 words

I’ll never be able to do what other teenagers get to do. When the world robs your health from you, robs your face from you, they rob from you everything else you’ve ever wanted. Because people are fucked up. And all they see is what’s on the outside.Inspired by the book Wonder by R. J. Palacio.

The Calm is Terrifying When the Storm is All You��ve Known - by happikatt- no-sburb AU - Ch 39/39 - 178722 words

There were two kinds of trolls who went to Earth: rich shitheads with too much money and free time, and desperate assholes who couldn’t survive on Alternia, even with the best efforts of the young Condesce. Karkat hated the planet almost immediately, but with his home planet too dangerous for mutants, he really didn’t have any choice but to hide out on this weird little diurnal planet. At least he’d be safe. Or so he thought, right before blundering his way into an accidental friendship with the son of an anti-troll terrorist.Slow burn, shifting perspectives; romance really isn't the focus here but it'll still play a significant part; extra content warnings will be posted with each relevant chapter

The Highlights of being a Split End - by Introsquirrel - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 7381 words

On the list of "Things Karkat Needs to Remember To Pack for Surviving This Fucking Game, In Order of Priority," hair styling utensils fell somewhere between "rubble that crushed my lusus" and "last sweep's decomposable trash, recently unburied from the back lawnring, along with all those bodies of the undead I had to kill." In other words, somebody needs to give that boy a brush.

The Lucky Ones - by daniomalley - Stowaway AU - Ch 10/10 - 51182 words

Lost and stranded on a ship millions of miles from Earth, Dave wants nothing more than to stay hidden from the crew until he can get somewhere safe. But then he runs into another fugitive and suddenly things become a lot more complicated.

the sun coming through - by astrogyaru - College AU - Ch 11/? - 98804 words

You're not sure what to expect when you go to college out of state, in a place that you've never been to before and where you only know one person. Awkwardness, definitely, and a little bit of homesickness, too. Falling in love with your internet buddy's best friend that you kind of hate, not so much, but somehow it happens anyway.Or: Dave and Karkat fall in love, from both of their perspectives.

Time Travel and Troll Grubs - by Corvid_Knight - Earth-C - Ch 16/? - 24723 words

AU in which Dave has An Idea and follows through with it, leading to him and Karkat raising a shitton of grubs.

“Truth or Truth?” - by assumare - Meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 4799 words

Dave and Karkat kill time on the meteor together and play a human party game to learn about each other's lives before the game and prepare for what may come after.The meteor was not a place you could spend time alone. At least, not out in the open.

Waffle House - by notwest - humanstuck - Ch 4/? - 15487 words

Dave Strider is almost 18 years old. His hobbies include avoiding Bro and eating at Waffle House.In the worst moments of his life, Dave finds comfort in a run down restaurant, the family he never knew he had, and in one particularly cranky waiter.

What To Do When Your Boyfriend Is Too Hot - by ayyyy(RosaAquafire) - Earth C - Ch 1/1 - 6846 words

Moving to a new universe and a new paradigm brings a lot of changes. And Dave kind of likes the way things were before, back on the Meteor, when he had Karkat all to himself and didn't spend sleepless nights waiting for the shoe to fall.

Within, Without - by reinkist - Meteorstuck - Ch 37/37 - 78311 words

Dave just wants to be left alone. What's the point of anything when what's broken can never be completely fixed?This is the story of Dave Strider and Karkat Vantas, on the longest journey of their lives.

Your Interpersonal, Intergalactic Relationship: A Beginner’s Guide - by sicklekind - meteorstuck - Ch 1/1 - 8342 words

A beginner's guide to playing hopscotch, overcoming internalized homophobia, and falling in love with your alien best friend.Disclaimer: results may take up to three (3) years to appear.

#non sfw coming soon ;)#fic recs #fic rec list #davekat #davekat fics #dave strider #karkat vantas #homestuck #and i know i forgot some fics in here #so ill probably do a second list sometime

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aceofstars16 · 6 years ago

Text

Righting a Wrong

This has been a WIP for soooo long but I finally finished it! (and probably stayed up wayyy too late finishing and editing it...)

This is an AU of “To Find A Home” where Tony doesn’t end up adopting Peter. So, the next time they meet, it’s in New York and Peter has some new found super powers...

Posting below the cut because this is lonnnnng (Or at least long for my fics xD)

Peter collapsed on his bed, his ears still ringing from the reprimand he had just gotten. Yes, he understood why Mrs. Olsen had been upset, he had stayed out two hours past curfew, and this was the third time this week. But every time he told himself to head home, he would see someone else that needed help, that needed a hero, and he couldn’t say no. Even as his body ached and his head swam with exhaustion, he would never stop helping others. He had gotten these powers for a reason, he wasn’t going to waste them.

A poster on the wall caught his eye and Peter felt a small prick of sadness in his chest. Every time he had moved to a new foster home, he had debated leaving the poster behind, but he could never bring himself to. By now it was fading and curling at the edges, but the image was still as clear as ever. Tony Stark posing for…who even knew what. Peter had bought it in a store after moving on from the Onderons. It was silly, he knew. He had only stayed with Mr. Stark for a few weeks, but they had been some of the most enjoyable weeks of his life. There were days when it almost felt like it had just been a dream. But then he would pull out one of the old notebooks he had gotten with Mr. Stark all those years ago and he knew it wasn’t. Then there were the days when he couldn’t even look at the poster. He knew in his heart that it hadn’t been Tony’s fault for what happened, but he still wondered what might’ve been different if he had stayed at the mansion. If Mr. Stark had fought to keep him. But he was just a piece in a publicity game, so of course Iron Man wouldn’t do that for him.

Pushing away the painful memories, Peter reached over and grabbed his backpack, pulling out his homework while making sure his homemade suit was hidden. Glancing at the clock, Peter held back a groan. It was almost midnight. Tomorrow was going to be another long day…

With a tap, Tony rewound the video again. You would think after years of dealing with aliens and super soldiers he would be used to seeing new heroes, but this hero was different. His suit was obviously homemade, and very lacking in many departments, but it worked and he was still able to do things any normal person wouldn’t be able to accomplish. Despite Spider-man’s obvious amateur fighting style, he had potential. One day he might be an asset to the team, but only one day, for now, Tony had other things to worry about.

Upgrading tech, planning out new missions, there was plenty to focus on besides a new hero in New York. And yet during nights when he couldn’t sleep, Tony found himself studying Spider-man’s suit, and his fighting style. It really wasn’t a good suit, it clearly was a hand me down jacket or something. It wasn’t intentional, but whenever the new hero crossed his mind, Tony found himself brainstorming what kind of suit would be good for him. Soon it went from brainstorming to working out a rough prototype.

That’s how Tony found himself staring at the screen in front of him, his brain trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. After working on a suit, he realized he really should figure out who Spider-man was. After all, he couldn’t exactly give a suit to a stranger, and he was curious as to who this new vigilante was. But he wasn’t expecting this.

Peter Parker.

Tony would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about the kid. Hearing a child laughing in a park, picking up a science book that he just knew Peter would’ve loved. They were little things, and every time they came up, Tony tried to ignore the pang of guilt in his chest. Peter had just been a kid, and Tony had promised him that he’d pay to get him through school and make sure he had everything he needed, and he had broken that promise within a few weeks. At first, Tony had been tempted to check in on the kid, maybe call him, but then he would tell himself that wouldn’t help anyone. Peter needed to move on, Tony making any kind of contact would only make things worse. So, he forced himself not to look, instead he simply sent a few generous donations to the foster care system, hoping it would benefit Peter in some way.

But now Peter was back. He was in New York of all places. And he was a superhero. The odds of that happening were about ten trillion to one, but it had happened.

A few minutes ago, Tony was fully planning on calling whoever Spider-man was, or at least trying to plan a visit so he could show off the suit and help the vigilante out, but now all of those plans were thrown out the window. It took only a few seconds to find that Peter was still in the system. No one had ever adopted him, he had been shuffled from home to home and the guilt that weighed down on Tony’s chest was unbearable.

“Close it all, Fri.” Running a hand over his face, Tony looked over at the suit he had made and quickly pushed it to the side. He wanted to help inspire the next generation, he wanted to support new heroes, because he knew one day they would be the ones saving the world. But the thought of seeing Peter again, after all these years, after letting him down…Tony couldn’t face that. Not now.

Maybe one day he would be able to, but not today. Spider-man was doing okay for now, he didn’t need a new suit yet, right?

Right. That’s what Tony told himself over and over again, even as guilt clawed at his heart.

You’re letting him down again. That was the continual thought that haunted Tony for a week until he caved.

It was a new Spider-man video, where the kid stopped a car from running into a bus. For anyone else, it would’ve been impossible, but not for him. But as he swung away, Tony saw him holding his arm to his chest. How many times had Peter gotten bruised and battered because his suit offered no protection?

So, despite every bit of guilt and worry pressing down on him, Tony grabbed the suit and drove to the address listed for Peter’s current guardians.

He wasn’t going to let the kid down again.

Peter was exhausted. It had been another long night – though now he had made a habit of going home and then climbing out the window so he didn’t get grounded for being a hero. Every time he did, he felt a small wave of guilt for sneaking out, but it wasn’t like he was getting drunk at a party, he was helping people. That was the only way he could make himself feel better about it, even if it did result in him being exhausted on a regular basis.

Maybe tonight he would give himself a day off and just finish his homework and go to bed early. The thought was still playing around in his head as he walked to the apartment, so much so that he didn’t even notice the nice car parked outside.

As he exited the elevator, Peter’s increased senses went crazy and he quickly looked up, only to freeze as he saw who was standing in the hallway. It couldn’t be…he was hallucinating, his brain was just making things up. But as he took a few hesitant steps forward, nothing changed. Mr. Stark was still standing in front of the apartment door.

“Mr…I uh…what are you uh…?”

Mr. Stark gestured to the door. “Can we talk inside? I’ve already gotten some strange looks out here.”

Peter glanced at the door, his brain slow to connect that Mrs. Olsen was probably out visiting her sister, she did that a lot. He knew it was one of the only reasons she had taken him in, to help pay for the treatments, but she wasn’t the worst person he’d been housed with.

“Peter?”

“Uh, right, yeah…” Peter shook his head, trying to figure out what the heck was going on even though all he wanted to do was lie down and sleep for a few hours.

Unlocking the door, Peter walked in and dropped his backpack on the floor before hesitantly looking up at Mr. Stark, who was studying the room.

“Not a bad place.”

A spark of anger jumped in Peter’s chest. Not bad. Yeah, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t a mansion either. “What are you…why are you here?”

Tony sighed and then looked up at Peter. “I just…wanted to see how you are doing.”

“Why do you care? I haven’t seen you in…years and then you just show up?” The anger in Peter’s chest blazed brighter even while he felt the hurt that had been aching inside for years press down on him.

Opening his mouth, Mr. Stark looked like he was going to talk, but then he closed his mouth and shook his head, muttering to himself.

“Look…I…it’s cool to see you and all but, I’m not your problem anymore okay?”

“Well, that’s not entirely true.” Mr. Stark held up his phone and flicked it.

A video of Spider-Man saving a car popped up and Peter felt his heart skip a beat. But then disappointment washed over him. So that was the only reason he came back…

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Peter, come on, give me some credit. You aren’t exactly subtle when you change in alleyways. How long?”

For a moment, Peter wanted to just pretend he didn’t know what Mr. Stark was talking about, but despite the hurt expanding in his chest, he also didn’t want his old guardian to leave, at least, not yet. “A few months…”

Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Mr. Stark nod. “What about the webbing? I’m assuming that’s not coming out of you.”

“I made it…”

A smile. “I always knew you were a bright kid.”

“Yeah, good for you. Now, it was nice to catch up and everything but I have homework I need to do so-”

“Peter.”

It was amazing the kind of memories one word could bring back.

“What? What do you want? You obviously didn’t care about me before, but now that I have powers you suddenly remember me? I’ve been doing fine on my own okay, so if you don’t have anything else to say can you please just-”

Peter’s voice cracked and he quickly looked away, not wanting to show how hurt he was. That he only mattered now because he was a superhero.

There was a sigh, then a thump on the table. “…I’m sorry, Peter…”

A second later, the door opened and closed and Peter was alone, but when he glanced up, he saw a silver briefcase on the table. Despite the well of emotions in his chest, he found himself walking towards it and opening it up, only to jump back as he saw the most complex and amazing suit.

“Wha-?”

Glancing up at the door, Peter almost ran out after Mr. Stark, but he had no clue what to say, so he just stood there, staring at the door until his exhaustion returned and he quickly stuffed the case under his bed before taking a well needed nap.

Everything hurt. Peter was used to it by now, but normally it came from fighting crime, not just living in an apartment. It had been a few weeks since Mr. Stark had visited him and about a week ago, Mrs. Olsen had told him her sister was moving in and had to take his room. Which meant a new family. And as soon as he met Mr. Grey, Peter knew he was bad. With just one look, the hair on his arms raised and every instinct told him to run. But of course he couldn’t run. This was his new home, if he ran, he would only be in more trouble. So, he managed, and escaped through hero work while trying not to listen to the insults yelled at him every day. He had dealt with things like it before…he could again.

At least that’s what he told himself.

Maybe if he had some of his old comforts, he could get through it. But almost all of his personal items had been slowly taken away until he only had the bare necessities, and his suit. So, he did what he could. Some nights he stayed out longer than he should, sneaking in only to sleep then rushing out before anyone woke up. It was exhausting, but it was better than the alternative.

However, he couldn’t go on like that forever, there were times when he had to face his guardian and just close his eyes and take it. Then there were the nights when he was too tired to go home, when he fell asleep on fire escapes or rooftops – which oddly enough felt safer than his own room.

Something was wrong. Tony didn’t notice it right away, it was slow at first. Peter staying out later, sometimes leaving earlier. He blamed the kid’s desire to be a hero, and maybe it helped him adjust to a new home. But then, one night, when he couldn’t sleep, Tony pulled up the tracker and saw the kid far from his apartment, and his heartrate indicated he was…sleeping?

The rest of the night, Tony tried to reason that he must’ve been sleeping over at a friend’s house, but the next morning – after having barely slept at all – he still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

I’ll just go check on him. The thought of talking to Peter again weighed down on Tony - it hadn’t exactly gone amazing last time - but he needed to make sure the kid was okay. Even if it meant he had to face the guilt, it wasn’t like he was a stranger to guilt after all.

As soon as he knocked on the door, Tony knew something was up. The man that answered the door glared at him and was obviously trying not to show the inside of the apartment.

“What do you want?”

“Are you, Carson Grey, the guardian of Peter Parker?” Tony asked, studying the man and trying to get a better read on him. He could’ve sworn he saw a flash of fear flash on the man’s face.

“You with the state?”

“Well no, but-”

“Good. Now get out of here.”

Before the man could close the door, Tony grabbed it. “I don’t think you know who I am. I’m Tony Stark.”

The man glared at him. “I don’t care who you are. Leave!”

The door closed and Tony barely moved his fingers away in time. Something definitely wasn’t right, and he almost called Friday to send him one of his suits but a small voice told him that wasn’t the right move. No, he knew where to go.

Turning on his heel, he started walking back to his car when something caught his eye and he almost tripped over his own feet.

Sitting on the ground, next to garbage cans was a dirty looking stuffed animal.

“No…” Walking over to it, Tony crouched down and picked it up. It was…Freckles. He didn’t know how he remembered the name, or even what it looked like, but he knew it was Peter’s. After all these years the kid hadn’t gotten rid of it. But now it was out in the trash. Yes, something definitely wasn’t right. And Tony was going to fix it.

When Peter came home, he was expecting yelling, but not this…

“Who did you tell?!?”

“Wha-what?” Peter stammered backing himself against the wall and glancing at the window. He needed to get out of here before…

“Don’t ‘what’ me kid! Iron Man just showed up at my door and you play dumb?”

“Iron-” Peter stared at the man in front of him. He rarely ever believed anything Mr. Grey said, but why would he make up Mr. Stark coming to…check in on him?

“That’s it!”

The hairs on Peter’s neck rose up and he tried bolting out of the house, but a rough hand grabbed his shirt and yanked him back and it took all his power not to use his strength to stumble away. But no one knew who he was – aside from Mr. Stark – and he couldn’t change that now…

Tony was barely keeping himself in check as he walked next to Janet, the social worker who the agency had sent to check in on Peter.

“Mr. Stark, you really must wait in your car, you aren’t qualified-”

“I fostered Peter once and I’m not standing around if some jerk is hurting him.” There was no way he would’ve been able to wait in the car, especially because he highly doubted the man he had met would respect a simple social worker.

As Janet knocked on the door, Tony crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, glancing down to look at his watch. He might not have a suit but he wasn’t totally unarmed…

From the other side of the door, there was yelling, then it opened. Mr. Grey took one look at Tony and the anger on his face increased.

“Mr. Grey, I’m with the system. I’m here to check in and make sure Peter is doing well.” Janet glanced at Tony. “Per request of Mr. Stark.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but the brat isn’t here right now.” He made to close the door again but, like this morning, Tony grabbed it.

“That’s funny because I heard you talking with someone a second ago.”

“It was the TV.”

“You talk to the TV, huh? The heat signature I’m picking up would indicate otherwise.” Without another word, Tony shoved the door open, sending Carson Grey stumbling backwards.

“Mr. Stark! Forced entry is-”

Tony ignored the social worker as he made his way into the apartment and opened the door that the signature was coming from, but when he saw the sight in front of him, he froze, anger rising in his chest. Peter was huddled in the corner of the room, a black eye highlighting his face and bruises covering his arms.

Without thinking, Tony found his hand pressing a button on his watch.

“You can’t just-” Tony spun around, pulling the one shot repulsor over his hand and aiming it at Mr. Grey.

“Beat up a kid and get away with it? I agree.”

Mr. Grey stared at the repulsor, anger blazing in his eyes, but fear was holding him back.

“Say, Janet, you mind getting Peter out of here?”

“What…are you going to do?”

“Keep an eye on this piece of garbage until the police get here.” Tony caught a glance at Peter as Janet helped him up, and the kid was staring at Tony, his eyes wide.

“It’s going to be okay now, Pete.” Tony locked eyes with the kid for a moment, then looked back at Mr. Grey who had taken a step towards the door.

“No you don’t!” Tony snapped, as he took a step forward, making sure to place himself in-between Peter and the jerk.

“M-Mr. Stark?” Peter’s voice was hesitant and shaky. It broke Tony’s heart.

“Janet will take care of you, kid, don’t worry.”

Peter hesitated, but a second later he was out the door and Tony looked back at Mr. Grey. All he wanted to do was beat this jerk senseless, but he simply kept his repulsor trained on him until the police came. Then he shot him. It wouldn’t kill him, Tony knew that, but it would hurt, and if anyone deserved to be in pain for the next few days, it was this man who had hurt an innocent kid.

Peter wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. His nerves were shot during the whole ride to the agency. He didn’t know this woman, he’d only been to the agency once before, and now Mr. Stark was alone with Mr. Grey, and despite knowing that Iron Man could more than handle it, he was still worried. He knew firsthand how painful Mr. Grey’s fists could be…

And then there was the walk into the building. People were staring at him, some with curiosity, some with sympathy. Either way, Peter shrunk away from every look, wishing he had a hood he could pull over his face.

Then there was the waiting, the whispering, the questions. Every time someone new walked into the room, Peter would hug himself a little tighter and just wish they would stop making him relive it all. He knew they weren’t trying to be mean, but they needed to know what had happened, he just wished it didn’t hurt so much.

The door opened again and Peter made himself hold back a whimper. Maybe this was one of the easier ones, like that nurse who had checked over his bruises, or the nice man who had brought him something to eat.

“Hey, Pete.”

Peter’s eyes snapped open and he found himself looking at Mr. Stark, who was standing in front of him, concern glistening in his eyes. That surprised Peter almost as much as seeing Tony again.

Then the door opened again and Peter quickly whipped his head around to see who had come in. His heart sank when he recognized it as Mrs. Hinsen, the woman who always assigned his new home. He didn’t even want to think about going to a new home, not now…

“Mr. Stark, I heard you came in. While we appreciate you alerting us to the situation, your part is done now.”

“So, what? I can’t check on the kid to make sure he’s okay?”

The defensiveness in Mr. Stark’s voice was not what Peter was expecting. After all, he had only known Tony for a little while, years ago. Unless this was because of being a hero. What was he thinking? Of course it was about him being Spider-man, nothing more…

Mrs. Hinsen gestured to Peter. “He’s okay. Now please, I need to talk with Peter about where we go from here.”

Mr. Stark crossed his arms. “So, you are just going to come in and talk about new homes right after everything that happened? Why not give the kid a break?”

“We will do what is best for Peter, and that includes finding where he will be staying. Now, if you will please-”

“Where?”

“What?”

Mr. Stark glanced at Peter, then back and Mrs. Hinsen. “Where are you sending him?”

“I am not discussing it with you, this is a matter between the agency and-”

“No.” It was a simple word, but even Peter froze at the intensity behind it. “I am not letting Peter end up in another home like that one.” He spat the last words out. “I’m not leaving until I know he’ll be okay.”

Peter wanted to say something, but his tongue seemed frozen in his mouth. He didn’t know what to say, heck he didn’t even know what to think or feel. Despite that though, he couldn’t help but feel a little touched that Tony was worried about him…even if it was only because of his newfound powers.

Mrs. Hinsen sighed. “Mr. Stark, you have no right to play any role in that unless you plan to foster Peter yourself, and with your record I don’t think-”

“I’ll do it.”

The words struck Peter in the chest. Had he just heard…?

“You…what?”

“Foster Peter, that’s not against the law, right?” Tony’s straightforward manner was the exact opposite to the complete dumbstruck confusion Peter was experiencing.

“I…well, no but with your record, I don’t think-”

“What? I left the kid for five minutes with an AI who is smarter than many humans. I’m pretty sure there are a lot worse people out there. Oh wait, the police just arrested one. You know what? I change my mind. I don’t want to foster Peter.”

Peter couldn’t breathe. For a moment, he was a kid again, elated at the thought of living with Mr. Stark. And now it was gone…

“Good, now can-”

“I want to adopt him.”

“What?!?” Peter blurted out, the same moment Mrs. Hinsen did.

“Yeah. So, how do we go about that?”

The next day, Peter was still in shock. If someone had told him a day ago that he would be walking into the Avenger’s complex with Tony Stark, he would’ve laughed. But here he was. He felt like pinching himself to make sure it was real but…if this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up from it.

“Come on, your room is this way.”

Peter glanced at Mr. Stark, but he was already walking towards the stairs so Peter grabbed the strap of his duffle a little tighter and followed.

Tony stopped in front of an open door and Peter hesitantly walked in, only to freeze as he saw the bed.

“Freckles?” Without thinking, he rushed forward and grabbed the cheetah, holding it tight, only when Mr. Stark spoke did he realize how childish it was.

“I found him and cleaned him up a little. Thought he might make it a little more like a home, cause…well the compound isn’t exactly a house.”

Even as Peter’s cheeks flushed, he found himself smiling as he held the stuffed animal tighter. “Thank you…”

“Yup. Well…I’ll let you get settled. If you need anything just ask Friday, she’s programed into the whole complex.”

“Friday? What about Jarvis?” Peter couldn’t help but ask. It may have been years ago, but he still remembered the AI who had helped him out. Only when he saw Mr. Stark flinch did his stomach clench in fear.

“He…well, he’s kind of here. But…well, you’ll meet him soon. Friday is my new AI, she handles things almost as well.” Tony gave a half smile and then waved as he headed out the door, leaving Peter feeling confused and slightly guilty.

Still hugging Freckles, he looked around the room. It was pretty plain, but it was nice. There was a window looking out over the complex and Peter found himself standing in front of it as he tried to come to terms with all that had happened.

He couldn’t be more relieved to be away from Mr. Grey, and the sore ribs were the only things left from his time there. But as excited as he was to be here, with Mr. Stark, with the Avengers, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. He was here because he was an asset, he was a hero…what if he couldn’t keep up?

Training was normal around the complex, making sure everyone was in top form for the next mission. Tony hadn’t expected Peter to want to join in so quickly, but a day after he arrived, he showed up – albeit a little late – to training. A small knot of worry grew in Tony’s chest at first. Peter was just a kid and he had been beaten up only a few days ago. But after a few rotations, he seemed fine.

So, Peter joined each training session, though Tony made sure he never went on mission. He was just a kid and he was Tony’s responsibility, there was no way he was taking him to other countries to fight. Besides, he would have plenty of time to be a hero in the future, now he was just a kid. But apparently Peter didn’t think that.

“What am I doing wrong?”

Tony froze, stopping before the bend in the hall. Peter was frustrated, that was clear, but about what? In the few weeks he had been here, the kid had been perfectly fine. And after the little incident with his science project, he always came to Tony when he was confused with school – though sometimes he went to one of the other Avengers, much to Tony’s disappointment.

“I train as hard as I can and I never go on missions…ugh!”

As Tony walked around the corner, he saw Peter kicking the wall.

“Hey now, if you should be mad at anyone, you should be mad at me, not the wall.”

Peter’s head shot up and his eyes went wide. “Mr. Stark, I uh…” Ducking his head, he looked at the ground. “Sorry…”

“What are you sorry for? Kid, this place is built to withstand just about anything, I don’t think even your super strength could hurt it too much.” Tony hoped a little teasing might help the kid relax a little, but Peter didn’t even look up.

Peter opened his, but then he shut it and bunched up his shoulders. “I…I’m going to go work on my homework.” He turned around, obviously wanting to get away quickly. But a knot of worry was growing in Tony’s chest and he couldn’t ignore it.

“Wait.” Tony reached out and placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder to stop him. When he flinched, Tony quickly pulled away, not wanting to spark any bad memories for the kid. To his relief though, Peter didn’t keep walking, though he didn’t turn and look at Tony either.

“Look, Pete, you’re still learning. Missions are dangerous, you’ll get to them one day, but for now I want you to focus on school, okay?”

A simple nod. Then Peter turned and hurried away, leaving Tony even more worried than before. For a split second, a spark of doubt fired in his chest. He didn’t know any more about raising a kid than when he had first taken in Peter. But he waved that thought away. He had regretted letting Peter go once, he wasn’t going to second guess himself now. The kid was something special, and Tony wasn’t going to let him go again. He would give him time and space. If something was really wrong, Peter would ask for help.

Focus on school. The words kept ringing around in Peter’s brain, each time berating him more and more. He wasn’t ready for missions, he wasn’t good enough, he was too inexperienced. And there was only one way to change that.

After school, Peter would suit up and look for anything to fight. It was reminiscent of the days of using being a hero to escape the harsh realities of life. But now it had a different purpose. To prove he was ready, that he wasn’t just a kid. Most days, he told Mr. Stark he was hanging out with a friend, or staying late at the school lab to work – which were flimsy excuses seeing as his lab at the complex was way better than anything at school and he didn’t really have any super close friends. But they seemed to work. If only crime in the city would work for him too.

Most of the time he only caught thieves or muggers, or spent his days doing little things - which he normally enjoyed - but he needed something big.

It wasn’t until he overheard a police radio that he found something promising. It was chatter about a gang of people who kept hitting up banks and jewelry stores, anything with a lot of money or valuables. And they didn’t care about who got hurt in the process.

“I hate these guys…”

Peter heard the officer in the car mumble. It wasn’t a supervillain but…it might do…

Then he saw their handywork. Or really, the rubble left behind. After finding out about the gang, Peter had looked up where they had recently attacked and decided to see just what they had done in the past, and it was bad. But maybe that was a good thing. If Peter could take them down on his own, surely that would be enough to get on a mission, to prove that he was ready to be a hero.

It was about a week after he had found out about the gang. Peter had done recon and put together a list of possible places they would hit, and knowing where the police normally patrolled, he narrowed it down to a museum.

Waiting was a pain, but if he knew what was to come, Peter would’ve been fine waiting all night. When he saw the group, his stomach dropped. There were at least six of them, and none of them were small. Maybe this was too much…but this was his chance, Peter had to earn his keep and prove his worth. Taking a shaky breath, he steeled himself then jumped to the ground, wanting to stop them before they could inflict any damage – on the museum or the guards inside.

“Hey guys, I think the museum is closed.” Despite the fear, Peter found the quip escaping his mouth, and the familiarity of it helped him feel steadier.

The group looked at him, but after a second, all but one continued their trajectory towards the museum.

“Aw, come on, it’s more fun when everyone joins in!” Peter shot webs at two of them, and started aiming for a third.

Then his entire body exploded in pain and he fell to his knees, a cry escaping his mouth. Looking up, he saw one of the men walking towards him, a strange looking gun in his hand, and it was pointed at Peter, finger on the trigger.

Peter jumped out of the way before the blast hit him again, but his body felt weak and shaky. There was no blood, but whatever had hit him felt much worse, making his vision fuzzy. Fear closed around his throat. He hadn’t been planning on strange guns in this scenario, but he had to do this.

Hitting the strange gun with his webs, Peter pulled it out of the thug’s hand before webbing up another one. But the rest had already blasted the door, apparently his webs didn’t hold them for long.

“Come on, Peter, step it up.” He muttered to himself as he ran to the entrance of the museum, only for something to hit him hard in the chest, sending him flying back into the ground.

“Take that bug.”

A laugh. “He’s not much of a threat, is he?”

With the ringing in his head, only Peter’s enhanced senses alerted him to the incoming hit, and he barely managed to jump away, only for a shock to erupt through his entire body as the strange gun hit him again, resulting in a clumsy landing. And this time, he couldn’t move fast enough to avoid being hit by the other thug, which sent him flying into a lamp post. Pain shot through his back and tears played in his eyes.

Everything hurt, and Peter could barely dodge the next attack, but it wasn’t any use. A blast from the other thug’s gun stunned him. Then another hit. Peter needed to move, he needed to leave, to get out of there, to do something. But pain and fear were clouding his mind. He couldn’t think straight.

Another hit. Blood in his mouth. A small attempt to web up the guy, but Peter’s aim was off and it flew right over the man’s head. This time two blasts hit him, draining all the energy from his body.

“You picked the wrong crew to mess with kid.”

Peter could barely hear the words, maybe his ears were broken, or maybe he was just in too much pain to understand what was happening. Because the next second he thought he heard a loud thump, and a voice that he could’ve sworn was Mr. Stark.

“Actually, you’re the ones who picked the wrong kid to mess with.”

There were blasts, yells, all of them rang painfully loud in Peter’s ears. Car wheels screeched, and then it was silent, blissfully silent. Until the sound of machinery and footsteps echoed in his ears.

“Pete!” This time, Peter was almost sure it was Mr. Stark’s voice, but even the thought of opening his eyes exhausted him. Only when his mask was pulled off and his chest propped up did Peter try to try to open them, but the lights of the city physically hurt him and with a groan he quickly shut them again.

“Oh thank goodness, Fri what’s wrong with him?”

There was silence for a moment, and then a curse from Tony.

“Kid what were you thinking?” There was anger in his voice, and Peter would’ve flinched if his body wasn’t hurting so much.

“Bad guys, had to stop them.” It was all he could mutter, and when he did, he could taste the blood in his mouth.

“Not six guys with crazy tech!” Tony practically yelled, which was murder on Peter’s ears.

Silence, then a sigh. “Come on, let’s get you to the complex and cleaned up.”

“What about the guys?” Despite everything hurting, Peter wanted to make sure they had been stopped.

“They had some kind of tech that took out my suit for a bit. The others should be tracking them, they won’t get far.”

“Mkay…” It was the only response Peter could come up with. Now that his adrenaline was dying, everything was starting to hurt even more, which didn’t seem possible. Darkness started creeping over him and he couldn’t find the strength to fight it.

A dull pain. That was the first thing Peter woke to. The next thing he noticed was the beeping coming from somewhere off to his side. Then he pried an eye open, only to close it at the brightness of the room. After a second, he forced himself to open both eyes, and then he saw the room – an infirmary room in the complex.

How had he gotten here? He tried to piece together what had happened before he blacked out, but it was all fuzzy. He had a vague memory of talking to Mr. Stark but…that couldn’t be right, could it?

“About time you woke up.”

The voice sounded from his side and Peter quickly looked for its source, but regretted the movement as soon as he did.

“Easy.”

Peter spotted Tony as he spoke again, and he froze. “I…what…”

Mr. Stark held up a hand. “First things first. You’re grounded.”

“Wha-?”

“Second.” Tony continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I’m taking away your suit.”

“What! No! You can’t do that!” Peter sat up, wincing at the pain, and a hand helped ease him down so he was lying back again.

“Yes, I can. I made the suit and you ran blindly into a fight that you had no chance of winning. If you can’t use it properly, then you shouldn’t have it. Or fight, hence the grounded part.”

“What? Wha…what about training?” Peter felt himself deflating. He had been trying to prove he was ready for more, and now he had lost everything.

A shake of the head. “No suit, no training.”

The simple words hurt, not as much as the strange weapon, but…almost as much. If he wasn’t training, how long would it be until he was sent away again?

Peter didn’t realize tears were building up in his eyes, until the world started going fuzzy. Shame grew inside of him. Heroes didn’t cry. But then again, he wasn’t really a hero anymore, was he?

A sigh from Mr. Stark. “You should rest up.” A hand patted his shoulder, but Peter barely felt it. He was going to lose everything again, and it was all his fault.

He tried to hold back the tears, he managed for a few seconds. But each moment he fought it, the pain in his body grew, until everything hurt, and then a sob escaped his mouth. Covering his mouth, he tried to stifle it, but it was no use. Another sob, then another as the tears fell from his eyes.

“Pete? Hey…it’s okay.” Mr. Stark’s voice was soft, he almost sounded worried, but Peter barely registered that.

“No it-it’s not I-I thought I could…I could prove myself, but-but then I…” Another sob.

“You don’t need to prove yourself.”

“Yes I do! That-that’s the whole reason I-I’m here.”

“Peter, what…? What are you talking about?” There was genuine confusion in Tony’s voice, but Peter didn’t register it, all he could think about was going to a new home, of being sent back into the world, lost and alone.

“Spider-spider-man…I, he…he’s why I-I’m here.”

Silence. Only the beeps of the machine next to him broke it, and each moment drove Peter deeper and deeper into the reality of it all. He had ruined it all, and now he was going to have to leave. The complex was only for heroes, he didn’t belong there anymore.

“Peter.”

The seriousness of Mr. Stark’s voice pulled Peter out of his thoughts, and he found himself looking up at Tony – a true hero. The man Peter had looked up to for so many years.

“I didn’t adopt you because you’re Spider-man.”

It was the last thing Peter expected to hear. “You…you didn’t?”

“Of course not!” Tony tossed a hand up as if it was obvious. “Ever since you left all those years ago I…I wondered if I had made a mistake. I told myself it was the right call, that you would be fine. And then I found out all that happened to you, all I could’ve prevented if I had just swallowed my pride and fought to get you back. I let you go once and you suffered for it. I couldn’t let that happen again.”

Peter’s sobs had eased a little, but as Tony spoke, he found tears welling up in his eyes again, but this time they weren’t fueled by fear. “So…you…you aren’t going to send me back?” Peter could barely get the words out, but he had to know.

Mr. Stark placed a hand of Peter’s shoulder. “Pete, someone would literally have to fight me if they wanted to put you back in the system.”

“Really?”

“Yup, and good luck to them, because I have plenty of suits and a lot of money to-”

It was too good to be true. But relief, hope, happiness – more emotions than Peter could process – flooded his system and he found himself doing something he never thought he would do. He flung his arms around Mr. Stark and hugged him tight. And then the impossible. Tony hugged him back.

Tears fell from Peter’s eyes, but this time, they didn’t hurt. Because he had been wrong. The complex might not be a normal home, and maybe Mr. Stark wasn’t a typical guardian, but as a hand ran through his hair he knew that it was where he belonged.

#peter parker #tony stark #dad tony #iron fam #mcu #peter and tony #iron dad #iron dad and spider son #mcu au #mcu fanfiction #marvel cinematic universe #mcu fanfic #i don't know what else to tag this as...i'm so tired zzzzzz #i'l post on ao3 tomorrow i'm too tired tonight xD #my writing #my fics

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Returnal: Ending and Secret Ending Explained

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This article contains spoilers for Returnal.

In case you haven’t heard, Returnal is one of the best games of 2021, one of the PlayStation team’s most original supported projects in years, and one of the best reasons to be angry that you still can’t find a PlayStation 5.

Returnal is also the source of one of the most compelling and confusing video game stories in recent memory. Much like Hades, Returnal uses its roguelike gameplay as the basis for a complicated time loop narrative that leads to multiple endings that have so far left many scratching their heads.

So what exactly happens at the end of Returnal? While it seems like the game’s writers intended for the exact events and their implications to be left open for a healthy degree of interpretation, here’s a brief rundown of the major moments in Returnal‘s two endings as well as a couple of popular interpretations of what it all means:

Returnal Ending Explained

After you beat Ophion in Act 2, you’ll enter a crater and dive to the bottom of a large body of water. There, you’ll strangely encounter a car that looks like it’s been underwater for quite some time as well as what appears to be a globe that soon morphs into a kind of sea creature.

Things soon get stranger as Selene flashes back to a time when a mother and a child were driving in the car you’ve just seen. The mother certainly looks like Selene. “Don’t Fear the Reaper” plays on the radio as the child asks if the mother sees the “White Shadow.” Soon thereafter, the radio starts to cut out, which distracts the mother long enough to ensure she doesn’t see a strange figure dressed in a vintage astronaut suit standing in the middle of the road.

The mother swerves at the last minute to try to avoid the figure, but she crashes through the side of the bridge and into the water below. The mother is not able to pull the child from the wreckage and is soon pulled away (possibly by the creature). We see someone swimming away from the wreckage, but since it’s in first-person, we can’t quite tell who it is. In any case, fog soon fills the screen. The implication here seems to be that Selene is being pulled through the time loop once more.

One of the more popular early interpretations of this ending suggests that the events of Returnal are all a dream. The idea behind that explanation is that Selene was obsessed with her work, was in a terrible car accident partially caused by fatigue, and has essentially imagined her journey through Returnal as either a dream formed in her dying moments or some way to cope with what really happened by replacing the events of this accident in her mind with a grand adventure.

There is some evidence to support that theory. We know that Selene was obsessed with her work and that her own mother was also consumed by her profession. We’ve also seen glimpses of that astronaut figure throughout the game, and the mysterious signal that inspired Selene to explore Atropos was simply known as the “White Shadow.” Put it all together, and you’ve certainly got a compelling case for some kind of dream scenario.

However, aspects of that story don’t quite seem to add up. If this was all a dream, then how do you explain the other “false” endings we saw throughout the title which saw Selene return to Earth only to be thrown into the loop again? If she’s imagining all of this, then what was the trigger that eventually caused her to discover what “really” happened? Also, how do you explain the radio cutting out so strangely, the true identity of the figure in the road, and the timeline of when Selene is supposedly having this dream?

Could it be that the accident threw Selene into a kind of purgatory where she is forced to confront her final moments as a form of punishment? That would certainly help to explain the theme of the game’s difficulty and cover up a couple of other loose ends. However, it turns out there’s another ending in Returnal which opens up some new possibilities…

How to Unlock Returnal’s Secret Ending

If you want to unlock Returnal’s secret (and possible “true”) ending, you’ll need to complete the following steps:

Beat Act 2 once and access the base ending.

Find the six Sunface Fragments spread across each Biome in the game. Their locations are somewhat randomized relative to when you’ll find them, but they do appear in specific rooms in each Biome you can eventually encounter. You also don’t need to collect them all in one run.

Complete all “House Sequences” across Act 1 and Act 2. These must be completed in order, and you won’t be able to finish them if you don’t have all of the Sunface Fragments.

The final House Sequence should take you to a room where you find a Car Key. Take that item.

Complete Returnal’s second Act again, defeat Ophion, and use the Car Key on the sedan you find at the bottom of the crater. This will trigger the secret ending.

Returnal Secret Ending Explained

Returnal’s secret ending sees Selene confront a strange figure in a wheelchair. The figure soon jumps up and grabs Selene by the throat, but Selene is able to fight them off. It’s then that we see that the creature’s name is Theia: the name of Selene’s mother. From here, Selene is transported to another world. She soon finds herself standing in the middle of a bridge in her spacesuit as a car swerves to avoid her and crashes into the water below.

After that, we move to the perspective of one of the car’s survivors as they swim to the surface. We don’t see them reach the surface, but we do hear Selene cry “Helios” (the name of her ship) just before the credits roll.

Wow. Well, it’s obvious enough that this ending implies that Selene was transported back in time and was the astronaut that caused the car accident. This ending (and the house sequence events that precede it) also seem to confirm that Selene wasn’t the one driving the car in the original ending and that she was the child. The real driver was her mom, Theia.

If that’s true, then it seems like we have to reinterpret the events of the other ending and the game itself. My theory is that Selene’s time paradox is both literal and metaphorical. Along with the idea that Selene was the figure that caused the car crash years ago, an earlier scene suggests that Selene paradoxically shot down her own ship. This would imply that Selene does have control over her situation (to a degree) and that not everything we’re seeing is a dream or metaphor.

Metaphorically speaking, though, the thematic implication is that Selene was caught in a time loop in her own life by trying to live out the dreams of space exploration that her mother couldn’t as a result of potentially being paralyzed after that car accident (although the wheelchair could again be a metaphor). We even see a letter during one of the house sequences that suggest her mother was rejected for such a program due to physical condition.

In fact, one of the biggest implications of those house sequences is that Selene became obsessed with the idea of exploring space at an early age partially because it was her own mother’s obsession and seemed to be a way that they could occasionally bond. It’s possible that obsession grew as Selene did and that she ignored other parts of her life (possibly her own child) in pursuit of her goal. It’s sometimes a little tough to tell whether or not the child we see in the flashbacks is Selene, Selene’s child, or a combination of both, but the fact it’s hard to always tell could strengthen the argument that Selene and her child lived similar lives.

I also believe the game’s secret ending is its “real” ending if for no other reason than most stories have more than two acts. The fact this ending is found in the third act seems to suggest it is the canonical conclusion.

That being the case, it appears that this ending implies that Selene does eventually escape the time loop after mechanically finding the pieces required to break the cycle and escapes her own hereditary time loop by realizing the full implication of some of the events that led her here. There’s also the possibility that the person we see escape the car in this ending is young Selene who can now choose a different life from a young age, but hearing Selene shout “Helios” suggests to me that she has returned to her ship and can go back home.

Speaking of Helios, there’s also the historical significance of all of the names in the game. Helios is the god of the sun in Greek mythology, Selene is the goddess of the moon, and Theia is the mother of Helios and Selene. There’s also the matter of the planet’s name: Atropos. In Greek mythology, Atropos was the oldest of the three fates of destiny and the one responsible for “cutting the thread” and ending mortal lives. Yes, Atropos kills Selene over and over, but given that a new thread is measured each time, is it possible that one of them avoided that fate or that Selene was paradoxically able to reshape her circumstances? Does the scene in which Selene grabs the car keys imply that she’s now in control?

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Basically, I’m willing to accept the purgatory explanation as it covers a lot of narrative ground and seems to be the simplest solution available, but it feels much more likely to me that whatever we’re seeing at the end of Returnal is designed to suggest that Selene has broken both a literal time loop and a more thematic one that was quietly haunting her life. Given how weird this whole thing is, though, be sure to share your interpretations and suggestions in the comments below.

The post Returnal: Ending and Secret Ending Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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jinjikook · 7 years ago

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Even The Sun is Jealous (M)

🎃 word count: 2.5k

🎃 genre: smut ; idol-verse

🎃 pairing: reader/j-hope

🎃 warning(s)/kink(s): body worship, riding, lots of kissing + slight dom/sub undertones

🎃 summary: when your boyfriend is a little down and hard on himself due to some toxic fans, you find a way to show him just how much you really love him, as well as plenty others.

🎃 requested by: anon - “Can I request for a JHope/reader Body appreciation one shot?”

🎃 music: neighbors know my name - trey songz + who you are - jessie j

🎃 masterlist + kinktober 2017

gif credit

“I really wonder what it’d be like to be someone’s first choice…”

You walked out of the bedroom into the conjoined bathroom to find your boyfriend in front of the full body mirror tacked onto the wall, eyeing himself front and back, forwards and backwards.

“What’s the matter honey?” Hoseok doesn’t make eye contact with you, instead lifting his shirt a little to pinch at the barely there, hardly non-existent pudge that settles around his hip bone. He hums noncommittedly, as if he had an answer but didn’t know how to verbalize it.

You snuck up to his side and pressed a dry peck to his cheek, looking into the mirror to see if it gave you any clarity as to what he was on about.

“Just… I get it, Jeonggukie is handsome and Tae Tae is cute but—am I really so ugly to ARMY that they don’t want me, even on VLIVE?”

You looked at your boyfriend with the most scandalized expression you could possibly muster, disgusted that he could think so lowly of himself especially based on the very few horrible remarks from people that clearly couldn’t be real fans if they didn’t appreciate a group as a whole.

“Jung Hoseok, I can’t believe what I’m being forced to hear right now.” Your hands were at your hips but your boyfriend was still glued to his reflection, analyzing and criticizing every minute, human detail of his body. “What makes you think such blasphemy?”

Hoseok stayed silent, a sigh escaping past his nose instead of his mouth as it stayed shut in a firm line.

“I know I’m not as good looking and I certainly don’t have the brawn or brains as some of the others, but I’m not that unappealing? Right?”

“You’re not. Like, at all. You’re one of the most handsome men I’ve ever laid eyes on and—”

“You have to say that, you’re my girlfriend.”

“Don’t interrupt, I’m not finished.”

Hoseok tightened his mouth again, finally making eye contact with you through slightly shiny, dewy eyes.

“And you’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. You’re smart and sweet and kind and wonderful and you care so, so, so much about others it’s amazing. The talent you have, in dance and rap—hell, even singing—is unprecedented.”

“But it’s always Jeonggukie and Jiminie they bring up when it comes to dance—”

“And that’s not fair to you, I know that. You don’t think I don’t wanna go on stage and shout at them that you’re an amazing dancer and performer and deserve so much more time to show that off? Believe me, if it wouldn’t get me kicked out and banned from several venues, I would’ve done it already.”

His lip quirked at the small joke, breath huffing out even though he tried to keep his face straight and attitude unaffected from the obvious tryst to lighten the mood.

“I want you to see what I see, Hobi. I see a man who’s so beautiful, inside and out. I see a man with a body that makes girls cry and men question themselves, a face that is so sharp and bright it makes the sun mad with jealousy. I see a person who, despite all the shortcomings that were so unfairly pushed their way, still smiles like the moon, always there for someone whenever they get lost and need guidance.”

Hoseok’s eyes grew wetter as you showed no end in your tangent, hands slightly trembling at his sides.

“There’s a man standing in front of me right now who isn’t afraid to show his emotions; when he’s afraid he screams, when he’s overwhelmed he cries and when he’s excited he jumps. He jumps as high as the sky and even further because he’s shown there’s no limits that he cannot exceed past. A man and a person I’ve fallen so head over heels in love with that I cannot fathom even for a second to hear and see you being so damn hard on yourself when there’s clearly nothing wrong. It kills me to see you like this baby, I just want you happy and knowing that you are important, just as much as the rest of them.”

And like that, the dam just breaks.

Hoseok cries and cries, into your shoulder and dampening the sweater, turning the stone to a deep, dark charcoal gray. His sobs wrack his body and shakes yours with it, as you soothe him and rub calming circles on his back.

You knew this was something he needed; even the happiest person just needs a good cry every once and a while. It’s therapeutic, really.

When his cries die down to sniffles and occasional whimpers, you pulled him away from the crook of your neck where he left tear-stained tracks and brought him in for a well-deserved kiss. His lips were wet from the tears and the kiss tasted salty but you couldn’t care less, needing to reassure Hoseok in your words—in your love for him.

Silently, you tug him back into the bedroom, bodies nearly plastered together and laid him down on the plush mattress you two shared on the rare occasion that he didn’t have to return to the dorm for a night. Hoseok was still sniveling, trying to wipe his cheeks dry and making his face look redder and splotchier with the passing of his hands.

“If you don’t want to believe me, I guess I’ll have to show you,” You hovered over your boyfriend and his eyes glistened as they watched you move on your own accord.

First you pressed a kiss on his forehead, down to one on each eyelid, past his slightly moist cheeks to taste even more salt before joining his own pout, deepening the kiss with a part of your lips and the intrusion of tongue. You stayed there for a minute, just enjoying the raw taste of Hoseok on your taste buds before slipping lower to continue your ministrations.

His neck would’ve been mottled in love bites and marks, had it not been for his idol status keeping you from such a pleasure. So instead you settled for wet kisses, a light suck down the column of his beautifully defined throat to distract him as your hands went for the hem of his black tee, to tug it up and over his head.

With his torso exposed, you were opened up to a much larger canvas to work with.

“Hoseok, listen to me.” You began, his eyes shut tight and fist tugging on the cotton blend sheet spread over the mattress. “I love your collarbones,” You kiss each one down the length of it before coming back up. “When you wear something that lets them peek out, it drives me nuts.”

His breath caught in his throat, hitched after a high gasp when your met the small divot in between his clavicles. You didn’t stop there, trailing further down to suckle along his pecs, slightly raised and delicately toned from years of intense dance and work out regimes. Each nipple pebbled when you’d kissed and licked it, Hoseok’s fingers tightening even harder in the bedsheets.

“I wish you’d see just how sexy your body is, this chest has been haunting my dreams since we saw the flash of golden skin during American Hustle Life.” Hoseok giggled at the memory, from before you two had gotten together but you clearly had been a fan then too. “Seriously, your hips there were my biggest wet dreams. But we’ll get to those later,” You winked even though Hoseok couldn’t see and moved to the side, rather than continuing the path straight down.

You gave a few more nips rather than kisses on the meatier flesh of Hoseok’s biceps, loving how the plush gave way to your teeth and you ran underneath to suck a bruise into his triceps, where you knew he could easily keep it hidden but still feel it ache every time he pressed his arm too close to his body.

He hissed as you sucked the mark on him, moving down to contrast the feeling with delicate pecks until you reached his hand, where you brought it up and kissed each and every knuckle.

“These hands that work so hard on music and touch people’s lives every day; where would I be without them?” You made a point to kiss his palm before going up and taking his index finger into your mouth, sucking long and hard and making Hoseok’s eyes jerk open just to catch sight of your lips plushly wrapped around his digit. You hummed and giggled with it inside your mouth, tongue tracing teasingly around the whorls and arches of his fingerprint until it slid out with an audible pop. He groaned and let his head fall back onto the bed with a bounce as he accepted his fate, when you switched sides to give the exact same treatment there as well, all the way down to his fingertips.

By the time you’d moved on and reached his navel, Hoseok was positively squirming.

“Baby, please just—fuck,”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?” Your grin stretched wide at his exclamation, probably brought on from how you sucked along the dips and divots of his toned and flat tummy. His abdominals were cleanly cut, always defined whenever his shirts clung to his figure—especially whenever he got wet.

Hoseok reached for the nearest pillow and screamed into it, frustration bubbling past his boiling point. No longer was he crying from being overwhelmed with emotion, instead it was with sheer need and want for something more than this slow drag of a game you were playing.

“C’mon love, I just want to prove how much I and the rest of us care about you. How handsome you really are.”

“Okay, okay! I believe you, just—no more, please,” You smirked at his reaction, wishing you could keep playing a little longer, to have had at least enough time to worship his thighs well enough.

“Fine, since I love you so much, I’ll grant you mercy.”

You stepped away from Hoseok’s slightly damp body, sore from everywhere your lips touched and he shivered from the cold as your body heat left him. With a small smile, you tore yourself away from the sight to get a condom from the nightstand, the sound of the drawer closing making Hoseok’s ears perk up in interest and familiarity.

“Honey, sit up by the headboard for me please.” Hoseok didn’t even think twice, immediately shuffling up to rest his back against the cool mahogany as his eyes hungrily watched you strip down for him hurriedly, yet still tantalizingly slow. His throat felt dry at the sight of you and he licked his parched lips when you approached, foil square in hand. “I think my beautiful boy deserves to be treated right, what do you think?”

Hoseok simply nodded, a wild hunger dominating his senses as he just wanted one thing and one thing only in that moment: to stop fucking around and get inside you already.

You drank in your boyfriend’s reactions, taking enough time to peel his underwear off his body and toss it away before giving him a few solid pumps, the head already glistening. He groaned once more, head knocking against the wooden board behind him before you finally succumbed to your own needs and rolled the condom on his length.

It only took a minute or two of your own fingers, stretching yourself open much to Hoseok’s chagrin, before you finally straddled the man, orange-red locks in your clutches as you bottomed out with him inside you.

Hoseok held his breath, feeling your walls tighten around him to incredible proportions and making his fingers leave light bruises on your hips from his grip. His control was waning, but you seemed to have the reigns in your hands as you began to whisper in his ear, along with a few brushes of your tongue along the shell of it.

“I love you, and I love the way you fuck me like no other.” And with that, you began to roll your hips in tight circles and figure eights, Hoseok’s toes curling at your heat engulfing his member so well.

His legs bent at the knee, hips languidly pumping up against each grind down as you two worked your own unique rhythm, starting off slow and growing to a hurried pace. Hoseok made his way across your chest with his lips, your grip in his hair keeping his pressed tight to you as he dropped his hands to your ass and brought you flush down against him to grind harder. His cock pressed up against somewhere sensitive inside you, your lip nearly bitten clean through from the grip your teeth had on it.

“Since you love me so much, let me hear it baby,” Hoseok nearly growled against you, hips audibly snapping and slapping against your ass, the sounds of sex palpable. The mattress creaked and groaned while the headboard knocked loudly against the wall, a soundtrack that the neighbors would no doubt complain about later.

Not that you had half a mind to care at the moment.

When he didn’t hear your moans like he wanted, Hoseok spanked the meat of your ass, making you yelp in surprise. The motion cause your lip to slip out from your grip and that’s when Hoseok held nothing back and brought you in tight in himself to fuck harder. His body jumped up from the mattress and you just held on, control completely switching over to Hoseok’s hands as he destroyed your core and marked up your breasts.

You panted hard, trying to find purchase in Hoseok’s shoulders when you felt the twine in your belly tighten, trying to breathe out a warning to your lover in hopes of him easing up and letting your orgasm wash over you gently but there was no such mercy. He simply brought it to a slow and hard grind, pressing up against that sweet spot and making you come hard. It was wet and dirty and Hoseok couldn’t hold back as he bucked a few last sloppy, hard thrusts before finally emptying out into the condom, holding you down onto him by the shoulders.

His moan was long and drawn out, another expression of his ability to show emotion so well. You whined into the crook of his neck as you throbbed hard, sore in the best of ways. He eased you off of him gently, rolling the two of you to lay on your sides, facing each other.

It was a comfortable silence, the two of panting hard and catching your breath. Hoseok’s skin glowed with a post-sex gleam, tan looking warmer than usual and his smile even more radiant.

“See,” You panted, “I love every little bit of you and ARMY does too, don’t worry.”

Hoseok laughed and you joined, before finally getting up and coaxing him in the shower with you.

Under the spray, you continued to praise and kiss your boyfriend’s worries away, silently fearing for a day like this to return and rear its ugly head again. You knew it was inevitable, with how cruel some people could be, but you hoped that each time Hoseok stayed stronger, grew a thicker skin.

At the very least, you hoped you could always be by his side to help him through it, show him that love is definitely something in his life.

#btswriters #bangtanwriters-net #kreativewritersnet #j-hope #bts #jung hoseok #hoseok #bangtan #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan boys #jhope #j-hope imagines #j-hope scenarios #j-hope fic #bts imagines #bts scenarios #bts fic #j-hope smut #bts smut

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girlonfilmmovies · 4 years ago

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The Top 25 Films of 2019

25: Shadow (dir. Zhang Yimou)

"Without the real, there can be no shadow. A principle no one's understood."

After a string of terrible films trying to play to Hollywood audiences, Zhang Yimou manages to successfully return to the goldmine he stuck in the early 2000s and craft another absolutely gorgeous wuxia. Here he swaps out the poetic, colorful beauty in favor of monochromatic, surprisingly violent tone poem about deceit. It ultimately works against it, as by the seventh or eighth double cross you kind of just give up trying to figure out who's on what side, but the main action setpiece is so wonderful it deserves a spot for that alone. Hopefully a good sign for Yimou's future, as long as we don't have another nationalist war epic that somehow inexplicably also has a white savior narrative too.

24: Climax (dir. Gaspar Noé)

"...something's kicking in..."

Noe takes us for another plunge into the dark, twisted, vomit-inducing, neon-lit hellscape that is his mind and at least has the common courtesy to put the pleasant parts upfront this time. While it will eventually devolve into the same type of chaos that we all love/hate from him, the first act is kind of a wonderful departure from him. He basically accidently makes a musical for a while, with wonderful and deeply intricate dance choreography as well as a fantastic extended sequence where every character jumps in and out of frame and gets a chance to strut their stuff. That movie would have been a strong top five contender, but alas, the man has his particular quirks that he must abide by. But at least he also strung together probably the best soundtrack and sound design of the year, with the fantastic EDM bangers rumbling through the walls throughout the entirety of the film.

23: Long Shot (dir. Jonathon Levine)

"Oohhh boooy!"

Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen doing a political comedy that manages to be both smart and extremely funny seems like a long shot indeed, but Johnathon Levine finally strikes gold again after a number of disappointing duds. He manages to make a pretty good story about how navigating the political minefield destroys what little hope and dreams high level politicians still manage to have, but then he also happens to make it all absolutely hilarious too. Theron demonstrates a surprisingly strong comic game too, easily matching all the other talent and cracking jokes along with them. It ends up being a charming romance where the woman takes charge in a very pleasant change of pace. And if nothing else, the way Seth Rogen yells "oh boy" in that video is always going to make me laugh no matter what.

22: 6 Underground (dir. Michael Bay)

"Ghosts have one power above all others: to haunt the living. Haunt them... for what they've done."

Theoretical question: what say Netflix gave Michael Bay a blank check and no restrictions, and he turned in the most overblown, dialed to eleven, nonsensical spectacle that he ever crafted and was allowed to put it into almost every American home for free? Now what if I told you that it was actually kind of awesome? Sure, it's basically a child playing with his $150 million dollar GI Joe set, smashing his toys together and making pew-pew sounds, but it's also probably the best testament to the power of conventional effects work over the increasing insistence on CGI for big setpieces. Let's face it: explosions are pretty cool, every one likes exotic locales and bright sports cars, and there's at least someone here to appeal to you (least surprisingly for me, it was Melanie Laurent with bangs wearing a suit). It almost reaches a late Michael Mann kind of abstraction, as both are respectively breaking apart the action movie into stranger combinations. Bay gives plot only because he contractually has to, and even then doesn't seem as committed to characterization as he is showcasing surprisingly brutal ways for the gang to dispatch their enemies. It's nonsense, but the damn best nonsense of the year.

21: Ip Man 4: The Finale (dir. Wilson Yip)

"Is that it?! Is this your Chinese Kung Fu?!"

The finale in the decade-long quadrilogy of supremely silly and borderline racist worship of China finally attempts to tackle America to delightfully amusing results. Scott Adkins doing his best evil R. Lee Ermey impression while slipping in modern neo-con punchlines, neverending Bruce Lee worship, and more nationalism and bad fake American accents than you could ever believe. Yet also a more bizarrely honest portrayal of racism in 1960s America than most movies would ever have the courage to acknowledge. It’s almost fascinating considering how a lot of the non-Asian racism basically serves as set dressing, but they still put more effort there than pretty much every Hollywood movie set in the 60s that isn’t directly about civil rights. But ultimately they're selling you a bill of goods saying "watch Ip Man beat the crap out of racist meatheads" and you better believe they're going to give you what you want.

20: Let It Snow (dir. Luke Snellin)

"Have you ever been with someone, and you stay up until like 4AM just talking about everything, and you're just like, I can't believe I get to exist at the same time as you?"

Okay, so let me explain myself on this one:

So yeah, it certainly is a generic teen romcom where everyone plays into basic teenage stereotypes, half the cast is clearly nowhere near eighteen, and all of the romance is oddly chaste. But there truly is something to be said about representation in a romcom, and after a thousand boring cis, straight, hetero couples falling in love for decades, this movie actually managed to hit a lot of notes that are at best rarely explored in the genre and also manages to probably sneak in some genuine firsts. While both the "tomboy/softboy" and "Latina struggling with her family" storylines have been done before, these are some nice, cute little iterations on those befitting a teen-friendly movie. But the Dorrie/Kerry story is not only legitimately groundbreaking, but also an absolutely perfect encapsulation of the types of problems that queer teenagers struggle with during that time of their lives. It's a queer romance, played by two actually not-straight people, with one of them being a nonbinary actor too. And it's not cordoned off into some bargain bin DIY indie that fell out the back of the truck on the way to an indie film festival; no, this is in a major holiday release, with well-known actors, and as one of the central storylines! Plus, it perfectly captures the woes of modern teen coming out, knowing that everything will probably still be cool, but the fear haunting you as all you can do is look jealously at someone who is out and proud. And it does it without being real shitty and horribly traumatic too. Eat your fucking heart out, Love, Simon!

19. John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum (dir. Chad Stahelski)

"Si vis pacem, para bellum!"

Another year, another John Wick movie. There's more plot; you don't care, and let's be honest, neither do I. Stahelski is here to serve up more badass characters and incredible action, and no one in Hollywood does it quite like him. It's got familiar action favorites demonstrating why they still remain supreme, with Yayan Ruhian, Cecep Arif Rahman, Tiger Chen, and the ever underrated Mark Dascascos. It's got surprising action showcases for Halle Berry, Lance Reddick, and somehow Boban Marjanović. It's got great character actors doing their thing, from the returning McShane and Fishburne to newcomers Saïd Taghmaoui and Anjelica Huston. It's got Asia Kate Dillon as an awesome nonbinary shadow organization asshole. It has a bewildering Jason Mantzoukas cameo. And above all else, it has Keanu Reeves, still demonstrating not only his incredible physical skill, but also how to perfectly utilize his particular acting style to create an iconic character.

18. Doctor Sleep (dir. Mike Flanagan)

"Man takes a drink. A drink takes the drink. And then the drink takes a man."

While not the most accurate adaption, it might be the only Stephen King adaptation that comes to mind that actually successfully channels what makes him such an appealing author. King's stories have an inherent corniness to them and for as much as you unsuccessfully try to cover that up (look to this year's The Outsider for a good example), it's where the true charm of his work shines. It's what makes this so fun, because as much as an epic, eldritch terror is exciting, it still doesn't have the goofy fun of a bunch of vampiric bohemian drifters led by a Stevie Knicks knockoff in a top hat breathing up souls. Plus, the epic three hour runtime actually allows Flanagan to at least try to cover all the more subtle serious characterizations of Danny Torrance, from his recurring alcoholism to him seeking closure with regards to his parents. It manages to actually make the final act's nostalgia play kind of work, or at the very least get the terrible memory of the Ready Player One version out of my head.

17. Her Smell (dir. Alex Ross Perry)

"I thought you were better than this, but deep down I knew you weren't."

Perry must have had some extra pent-up nastiness in him after having to restrain himself while writing Christopher Robin (by the way, that happened), because he really created one of the nastiest characters in cinema here. Her Smell is the equivalent of being locked in a room with the shittiest person you'll ever meet, as she constant lashes out at everyone and everything with the kind of delirium that the truly demented are cursed with. And credit to Elizabeth Moss where it's due: she really perfectly embodies such a horrible human being and proceeds beat you damn near to death with it during a majority of the runtime. Eventually it slows down and all of the problems become apparent once they script isn't flying by at a thousand words a minute. But Moss literally did her job so well that people fucking hate this movie because of her character, and if that isn't a testament to her acting talent than I don't know what is.

16. High Life (dir. Claire Denis)

"At 99% the speed of light, the entire sky converged before our eyes. This sensation, moving backwards even though we're moving forwards, getting further from what's getting nearer. Sometimes I just can't stand it."

Denis finally makes her English debut with what she does best: nauseatingly uncomfortable sexuality oozing from terrible people doing horrible things. In this case, she takes an innovative detour into sci-fi, setting up a decades-long story of human experimentation, murder, the horrors of space travel, and whatever unholy things are going on inside of the "Fuck Box". It has an appropriately dingy production design too; the clean retro-futurist spaceship design soon dissolves into a torn apart den of depravity, caked in a mixture of filth and dry blood. Pattinson once again manages to be likeable while also being extremely standoff-ish; only playing with his baby daughter do we seem to see him actually enjoy interacting with a human being. Kind of gets lost in the sauce near the end, but at least manages to land some surprising emotional notes considering the kind of horrors that they've shown up until then.

15. The Farewell (dir. Lulu Wang)

"Chinese people have saying: when people get cancer they die. It's not cancer that kills them, it's the fear."

Lulu Wang's followup to Posthumous is such a massive step up in talent it's not even funny. She manages to make such a wonderfully soulful and loving movie about impending death by utilizing near perfect comic timing to defuse a situation that threatens to stray too dark. Not to mention her point of view on modern China from a non state-sponsored eye actually captures a much more accurate shot of the country itself. It's almost as if an Edward Yang movie had set itself more modest expectations -- it's pleasant, goes down well, teaches you a couple of things about Chinese culture, and manages to do it all in only a hundred minutes. And Awkwafina manages to hold her own against far more experienced actors, even if you can tell her Mandarin is still a little spotty.

14. Uncut Gems (dir. Josh and Benny Safdie)

"I think you are the most annoying person I have ever met. I hate being with you, I hate looking at you... And if I had my way I would never see you again."

Adam Sandler's magnum opus performance -- there will never be another character that fully embraces every grating aspect of his style of acting and manages to weaponize them for two anxiety-inducing hours of hell. Sandler's Howard Ratner is an absolute sewer rat scumbag, an untrustworthy coward, and a perennial fuck-up of epic proportions. But he's still so charismatic and powerful on screen that you root for him every time he drives you further up the wall. And the Safdie brothers know how to keep him moving too, never letting the audience catch a breath of air for this movie-length panic attack as the odds stack further against Howard each minute. Whenever you see Sandler phoning in his comedies for fat checks, just remember this performance and how pretty much every awards committee completely ignored this film. No wonder he doesn't bother trying anymore.

13. The Last Black Man In San Francisco (dir. Joe Talbot)

"You don't get to hate it unless you love it."

A wonderfully evocative love letter to a changing city that is so full of life in every way, from the vibrant movement of the camerawork to the bombastic and powerful soundtrack blasting throughout. But it actually plays more like a New Orleans' funeral march, a melancholic chronicle of the original denizens of San Francisco even as the city warps into the caricature that it's slowly becoming. There is a definite feeling that the aggressive gentrification is unavoidable and even the love of the original quirky denizens can only stave off the metaphorical steamroller that paves over the past. It makes for a wonderful counterpoint to the previous year's Blindspotting: both about young black men dealing with gentrification in the Bay Area, but Blindspotting starts as a very angry comic satire that eventually ends on a note of hope and a will to survive the changing tide, whereas this begins as a joyous celebration of the city and ends on a heartbreaking resignation in the face of everything. Both come from respectively very different sides of San Fran culture, but it's rather interesting seeing each have such different approaches to the same topic.

12. The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (dir. Henry Dunham)

"How do we know it's not you?"

A simple "pressure cooker" scenario done to perfection: one empty warehouse, a bunch of hardened standoff-ish militia men, a missing gun, a ticking clock, and a whole lot of suspicious side eyes and probing questions. It helps that the gruff suspects are a perfect who's who of roughened character actors, all previously well-versed in playing suspicious people, and all of them hiding the kind of unspoken rage that makes a man secretly join an armed militia. All of this told with a nerve-wracking minimalism and style as weirdly detached from reality as some of these men are. One hell of a debut for Henry Dunham and hopefully a sign of good things to come.

11. Booksmart (dir. Olivia Wilde)

"How about we play a *rousing* round of J'ACCUSE!"

Profoundly silly and yet also so disarmingly sweet, Olivia Wilde whips a wildly stylized portrait of Gen Z high-schoolers and the many ways that they vastly differ from their older peers. Certainly much more welcoming and accepting of the diversity of teenagers than pretty much any other teen movies from the past, although they still poke fun at some particular brands of modern "wokeness" too. Stuffed to the brim with wonderfully weird characters, between the lovable catty theatre duo of George and Alan, the cringe-inducing desperate rich kid Jared, the endearingly dumb thirstball Theo, the dorky and blissfully unaware queer-bait Ryan, the effortlessly cool and extremely "top energy" Hope, and the absolutely batshit wildness that is Gigi. But mainly it serves as a vehicle for Devers and Feldstein, with both bouncing perfectly back and forth off each other in moments of comedy and drama. Feldstein always pulls off huge laughs pretty much every line and Devers sells a perfect amount of baby-gay awkwardness in one of the sweetest (and heartbreaking) queer romance stories in film. But above all else, it's just so damn fun and aware of what teenagers are actually like than most movies ever have been.

10. Luce (dir. Julius Onah)

*chuckles* "You really think I believe that stuff?"

One of the most wildly uncomfortable experiences in recent cinema history, but not due to any horrifyingly explicit graphic content being shoved in our faces. No, Onah and Lee created something much more discomforting: a constant challenging of all our biases and stereotypes, of us wanting to give chances and have faith in those that we trust. Kelvin Harrison Jr. delivers one of the best acting performances in recent memory because he's able to literally do everything; his Luce somehow manages to perfectly walk the tightrope required for a performance like his. With him behind it, Luce is such a charming, loving, likeable character but there's always just something that seems off about him. And even if Spencer's Wilson has a fixation on him that crosses all sorts of legal and moral boundaries, wouldn't we be cheering her on under different circumstances? In a way, she herself is trying to communicate a lesson about perception too, one that also mires in deep, troubling waters. Even if the film still feels very stage-y due to it's source material, the cold clinical aesthetic only further helps it make us squirm in our seats.

9. Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (dir. Haruka Fujita)

"Nobody wants a letter that cannot be delivered."

An absolutely magical experience that artistically excels over the original TV series it's based off of. The production is still as impressive as any other KyoAni work, but the composition and lighting in particular are outstanding, selling the social isolation of the first half and the childlike wonder of the second half. Beginning with a sublime Victorian romance in the first half, the story eventually morphs into a tribute to the workers of the world, the cogs in the machine. But in the context of the studio's recent history and the horrific arson attack that claimed 36 members of the studio, this instead comes off as a battlecry against the opposition against them. It's a story valuing those who are overlooked in the process of creation, a story about strong determined women, a story of a young girl defining her own future against society. KyoAni as a studio were most known for treating all their employees exceptionally as well as being a primarily female-led studio, both unfortunate exceptions in the industry as well as the target for a lot of unfair online hatred against them (and surely played some sort of role in why the arson attack happened to them specifically). To see the studio make their first post-attack work so proudly emblematic of what made them unique makes this so much more powerful than you would expect.

8. The Nightengale (dir. Jennifer Kent)

"You know what it's like to have a white fella take everything that you have, don't ya?"

The classic revenge fantasy narrative warped into a bleak, cynical portrait of racist cruelty in 1800s Tasmania. Jennifer Kent, improving leaps and bounds from the relatively straightforward Babadook, crafts a searing indictment of the foundations of colonialism and the misogynistic undercurrent of the barbarous society. It's a revenge movie where the vengeance is horrible and unsatisfying -- there's no crowd pleasing murderous money-shots, just brief moments of comeuppance in the face of everything in the world working against our two protagonists. Those who are squeamish should be aware that it is exceptionally graphic and grueling at times, although Kent does manage to keep up a very good pace for the two and a half hours of hell.

7. Transit (dir. Christian Petzold)

"They say that those who were left never forget. But it's not true. They have the sweet, sad songs. Pity is with them. Those who leave, no one is with them. They have no songs."

Hitchcock by way of Kafka -- a classic existential mystery told in a disorienting separate reality not quite like our own. It's a bold move to take a Holocaust set narrative and completely throw out the actual setting itself, but Petzold only enhances the weird themes of the story by taking it to a completely different but still very familiar time. This is a classic tale of becoming the person you say you are but really aren't -- then begging the question of what if you're not the only one also living a false identity. Buoyed by an excellent and very enigmatic lead performance from Franz Rogowski, who displays a tremendous skill for playing somebody so closed off but also very charismatic and watchable.

6. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (dir. Quentin Tarantino)

"When you come to the end of the line, with a buddy who is more than a brother and a little less than a wife, getting blind drunk together is really the only way to say farewell."

Tarantino trades in his B-movie worship and penchant for comical bloodbaths (well, for the most part) to make something I certainly didn't expect from him: a relaxed hangout movie about getting old and falling out of fashion. Exceptional production design whisks us away to the height of Hollywood and three different people all looking at their future careers in very different lights. Leo gets to stretch his wings in all sorts of silly fun ways and Brad Pitt finally lets go of the young superstar image and easily slips into his more natural "hot single dad" swagger, playing the most effortlessly cool character of his career. Tarantino sets aside time to look back on his own flaws as well and playfully reflects on his own particular ...quirks. Easily his best since his 90s prime and the first time in a long time I've felt the maturity that he showcased in Jackie Brown.

5. The Lighthouse (dir. Robert Eggers)

"Damn ye! Let Neptune strike ye dead Winslow! HAAARK!"

Hyper-masculine mania as told through a wonderful blend of dark comedy and cosmic horror and with some of the most lush black-and-white cinematography maybe ever in a film. Eggers' now trademark devotion to absolute accurate period detail in both visual design and dialogue greatly helps this reach transcendent heights. But it's truly the two performances of Dafoe and Pattinson that help it weave a perfect spiral of insanity that also manages to be so oddly fun. Never could there be any other paring of actors that would perfectly showcase these two dirty sea-dogs going stark raving mad at each other so well.

4. Midsommar (dir. Ari Aster)

"As Hårga takes, so Hårga also gives."

(Director's Cut) Every generation deserves their own paranoia-fueled pagan horrorshow, but Aster strikes a much deeper vein in his epic take on the classic territory The Wicker Man had previously claimed. The brutal rituals of the Hårga are only set dressing most of the time, with much more focus poured into the vile toxicity plaguing the relationship between students Dani and Christian. Reynor's Christian is such a perfect portrayal of a terrible influence -- he's charming, fun, and likeable when he's on your side, but the second anybody goes against him his seedy manipulation begins to seep into everything he says. Pugh continues her winning streak too, delivering a broken person desperately trying to put a smile on while falling apart on the inside as she realizes she truly is all alone in the world. While some might be disappointed by the lack of actual "terror" for a good chunk of the movie, Aster has found something much more likely to scar us than these friendly Swedish cultists.

3. Sunset (dir. László Nemes)

"The horror of the world hides behind these infinitely pretty things."

After striking gold with Son of Saul, Laszlo Nemes takes a hard turn into a very different genre but manages to create a wonderfully unique spin on classic detective noir. His signature camerawork powers this yarn, successfully taking the claustrophobic eye of Saul and using it to give a truly immersive sense of place in the tumultuous world of 1913 Budapest, where danger is simmering under the surface and ready to boil over at any moment. After all, noir is always about the eye of the detective, so Nemes' style takes it to a literal degree where everything outside of Irisz' field of vision is incomprehensible. We catch the same shady sideways glances and hushed whispers at the same time she does too. The plotting, like all noir tales, gets a little too complex for its own good, although it's less because of double-crossing and deceit and more from the story slowly dropping its connection to reality to function on a far more allegorical level. But as far as immersive, experiential cinema goes, not even 1917 can stack up to this film's highs, as the enraged lower-class populace eventually comes for the heads of the bourgeoise and Irisz suddenly realizes she is in the very wrong place at the very wrong time.

2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma)

"Do all lovers feel they're inventing something?"

An absolutely breathtaking portrait (hehe) of yearning and love, so astonishingly romantic and actually aware of what will make a woman swoon. Every technical aspect is perfect, from the gorgeous locale to the lovely windswept dresses to the soft, classical cinematography. But the true magic comes from Merlant and Haenel perfectly delivering every line of Sciamma's wonderous script. Those two have a sexual tension strong enough to burn down the theater, as their shy glances turn into deep longing stares and both their steely professional reserves give way to poorly suppressed joy at just being able to be with the other. Even their initial terse dialogue melts into pure romantic splendor, as they lovingly catalog all the little gestures the other does when flustered. Their connection during filming was powerful enough to fuel rumors around the two in the press and is currently providing the desire for every thirsty lesbian who finishes this to immediately pull up videos from the press tour and hunt for those same things between the actors themselves. And trust me, they are there.

1. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho)

"Not 'rich but still nice.' Nice because she's rich, you know? Hell, if I had all this money, I'd be nice too!"

Very rarely does a film come along that actually warrants to be described as "perfect", as in one that literally generates no critiques in any way even if I was forced to pick something at gunpoint to complain about. But Parasite truly does every single thing right. Even Bong's tonal whiplash style, which does grate on me at times, somehow fits perfectly here as the schemes become increasingly madcap and the increasing sense that this will all come crashing down horribly mounts ever higher. Until then, it's an absolute joy to watch in every way, as Bong stacks the card deck higher and all the characters dive further into the sewer for their own benefit. The midpoint pivot works wonderfully too, as it goes to show that literally every person is getting played in the world of Parasite. It's massive success is only surprising to those who haven't seen it: it's the perfect movie for the era it came out in and may as well be the watershed moment for a new age of cinema where Hollywood finally admits that it's not the king of the world anymore.

#top 25 #2019 in film #parasite #portrait of a lady on fire #sunset #midsommar #lighthouse #fuck capitalism

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xb-squaredx · 7 years ago

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Nier: Automata Review: Do Androids Dream?

2017 was a solid year for video games, and one unlikely candidate for Game of the Year for a LOT of people was found in Nier: Automata. A sequel and somewhat of a spinoff to Nier (which is itself a spinoff to the Drakenguard games), this game might prove to be the breakout hit of director Yoko Taro. While not quite a household name yet, Automata’s financial and critical success provides him with a decent foot in the door. While his games have a devoted cult following, this will likely be a great many gamer’s introduction to the man and his…interesting ideas on game design. Let us begin the weird, melancholy journey that is Nier: Automata and I’ll attempt to do so with as few story-spoilers as I possibly can.

Set far into the future, humanity has been driven off of their planet by aliens and their powerful machine lifeforms. With the remnants of humanity living on the moon, Project Yorha is created, a military force of powerful androids that work to repel the machines and take back the planet. The war has been locked in a stalemate for a long time however, and the story begins at a crucial time in the conflict, following the perspective of androids 2B, 9S and A2, androids at different stages of dealing with the constant struggle. The atmosphere of the game is definitely somber, downright heartbreaking at times, but balanced out with some odd humorous moments and sweet interactions, before the viewer’s heart is yanked out and shown to them. This isn’t a game to induce good feelings, is all I’m saying.

Obviously, the story is the biggest draw here, and I’ll take care to not say much more. Automata’s story details the ongoing conflict and questions what it really means to exist. The lines between humans, androids and machines and how blurry they really are; it gets quite existential. Along the way there is a good amount of foreshadowing and twists that, on a repeat playthrough, completely re-contextualize several moments in the game. There are several sequences in the game that are incredibly disturbing and will stay with me for a long time. An uncanniness in these metallic characters displaying human-like qualities, but being ever so slightly off. Automata isn’t quite a horror game, but it’s very haunting all the same as you explore the ruins of mankind with something in its place that feel like cruel imitations.

The voice cast is phenomenal, everyone knocking their roles out of the park. Kira Buckland and Kyle McCarley have a great dynamic in 2B and 9S, 9S in particular developing in an interesting manner throughout the game. Cherami Leigh plays the gruff A2 well and Alexis Tipton brings a lot of heart to the character of Pascal, one of the few friendly machines the player encounters. There’s a great amount of talent to be found in this game and it really makes the more emotional moments hit hard. Other aspects of the presentation are great; the music is the standout there, with hypnotic, somewhat haunting vocal themes throughout the OST, aided by slick visuals. I’m not a fan of the somewhat desaturated look the game is going for, I like vivid, colorful games myself, but it goes with the tone so I don’t mind too much.

Now, gameplay is where things get interesting. Any fan of Yoko Taro’s games will tell you that while his games are almost always interesting…they aren’t that great to play. This time around, PlatinumGames have been brought in to polish the action and the results are mostly fantastic, resulting in two companies playing to their strengths. While not nearly as in-depth as most of the action games in Platinum’s resume, Automata has their telltale slick and stylish footprints all over it. You can chain together simple attacks with a variety of weapons, from swords of varying sizes to giant fists and spears. All the while, you have a dodge that can allow for a counter attack if you time it right that seems right out of Bayonetta. Players also have a Pod accompanying them, a little drone that assists in battle. Pods work as a long-range option, their default attack being a gatling gun that sends bullets straight ahead, and can use Pod Programs as special attacks working off a cooldown. You can summon a shield or hit enemies with a big attack; it’s quite similar to Grimoire Weiss in Nier, for reference.

Adding to all this, players can use Plug-in Chips to customize your abilities. Augment movement speed, attack power, grant yourself a parry maneuver or slow down time after a dodge—there’s a lot of chips out there to really change things up. However, you have limited memory to work with and have to pick and choose chips that will fit, but in an interesting twist you can remove aspects of your HUD to free up extra space. If you really want that extra bit of attack power, then you don’t REALLY need that minimap or health bar visible, right? Just don’t remove that OS-Chip. You kinda need that to live. All and all, the combat in Automata isn’t quite as deep as Platinum’s other titles in terms of weapon variety or combos, but has plenty of options to keep it interesting. In fact, the gameplay itself will change up quite a bit throughout the game; you can pilot a flying mech or engage in hacking, the camera even changes to overhead or side-scrolling positions at times to keep things fresh. One thing is certain though: Yoko Taro LOVES bullet hell and you better be prepared for a LOT of that sprinkled in. Enemies frequently launch projectiles at you, but most can be cancelled out with shots from your Pod, though some require a melee attack to dissipate. These sequences can be a bit bothersome if you’re not into that genre, but if you stick with it I don’t think they’re too bad (up to a specific point that anyone who’s beaten the game will know anyway…).

The Platinum touch is very appreciated with the combat, though there are some elements that don’t come together as well I think. The bullet hell sections occasionally work, and sometimes they don’t. I find the changing camera perspectives to be disorientating more often than not, and more than one boss feels way more awkward than they needed to be. While battling against common enemies isn’t too bad, there are times when they seem to just…randomly ignore hitstun and attack me anyway, or else there are SO many enemies being thrown at you, and you can barely get a hit in before you have to dodge like mad. One area really stuck out to me; fighting a bunch of strong enemies in a little pit with a ladder in the center. The camera gets hung up on the geometry of the area and at times I’d accidentally attach to the ladder and be unable to escape as an enemy winds up and knocks off half my health. Most of the game is set up in wide-open areas at the very least, but to say every fight works smoothly wouldn’t be true.

But now we get to the BIG elephant in the room, one Yoko Taro fans know all too well: multiple endings. The Drakenguard games and Nier all have multiple endings and that much also holds true for Automata, but that isn’t to say you can beat the game once and are stuck with the ending you happen to get. The “endings” in Nier: Automata are less like endings and more like “routes.” Each new route you play through will add new elements that weren’t there before and eventually more parts of the story are shown. This isn’t like Ghost n’ Goblins where you beat the same game twice just for a slightly different ending screen; things can get VERY different as you go through later routes, but this does lead to a bit of repetition in a game that’s already filled with backtracking. Without saying too much, ending A of Automata is only about a third of the game as far as narrative is concerned and stopping there (where I fear a lot of people will) would result in a story that has potential, but doesn’t seem to conclude much of anything. So I will say this: keep playing. Square Enix even puts in a message at the end of the credits asking you to keep playing. I was invested enough to keep going and I was glad I saw the game through to the end. The REAL end. There’s so much more story, so much more variety to the gameplay after those credits roll the first time, and it’s sad that so many people will likely miss it because…well, we got to credits, so game’s over, right? But that isn’t how Yoko Taro thinks, for better or worse.

Speaking honestly, while I enjoy the game a great deal and really like the places the story goes…I won’t pretend that the decision to break the narrative up like that does the game a lot of good. I think it only harms the game, really. Compared to something like 999, a game that integrated the concept of new-game plus into its narrative in a way that made sense, Automata doesn’t handle it as gracefully. In 999 you can skip past dialogue and scenarios you have already done, but you aren’t so lucky in Automata. Granted, there are fairly significant differences that appear as soon as you start that second playthrough but it’s not exactly fun to go through the same story beats and wait to re-unlock fast travel again. I get what Taro is going for; only in video games can you do something like this. You can’t read a book, then go back to re-read a section and have new pages suddenly added. I can appreciate him for trying something different, but I question if that’s the best usage of the medium for telling a story. It might not be worth alienating people who don’t want to jump through all those hoops just to get closure to a story, nor is it going to help if people don’t know that the game has multiple routes in the first place. That Square Enix needed to put in a message after you beat the game is pretty telling.

Even without taking the multiple routes into consideration, I’m not fond of all the backtracking. While at times new things are added to locations you’ve already visited to keep it interesting, a lot of the time you’re simply going across the same four or five areas. I can’t tell you how many times you’re told to explore the factory that makes up the first “level” of the game. Often times this is for sidequests, sure, and thus the backtracking can be optional….but then again, the sidequests are so rewarding both in experience points and rewards, it’d be crazy to NOT do a good portion of them. On top of that, the areas just feel kinda empty, which might be the point. Still, navigation could be better. You CAN ride on the backs of animals to cut down on travel time…sometimes anyway, and you do get fast travel later on but it’s limited. Why is it I can save when I get close enough to an Access Point, but have to physically touch the Access Point when I want to fast travel? There’s even one extended sequence of “controllable helplessness” where you have to drag your limping body halfway across the game world that, while memorable…is memorable more so for dragging on WAY too long. It’s a bit of fat that could have been trimmed.

At the end of the day, Nier: Automata is a game I won’t soon forget, and it’s largely a positive experience. I do really enjoy it, even if at times the frustrations overwhelmed the good parts. Platinum and Yoko Taro’s team gelled together fairly well, resulting in something that’s solid in just about every fashion. The combat is slick and open-ended, the soundtrack is fantastic and the performances by the voice actors really sell the scenes and add a little extra heart to it all, but the fragmented story, constant backtracking and the rare shoddy battle here or there brings it down a bit. If you’re a fan of Yoko Taro’s work, you’ll enjoy it immensely and if it’s your first experience with the man’s games, you’ll still find a lot to like here. I WILL state that it would be better if you’ve played Nier beforehand, but there’s generally enough context within this game that certain late-game moments will…mostly make sense. You’ll just be lacking a bit of clarity. Glad I was able to get to this game before 2017 was over, and I would look forward to whatever Taro does next…because no matter what it is, it’ll be something worth talking about. See you next time.

-B

#xb-squaredx #blog #review #nier: automata #2B #9S #yorha no. 2 type b #yoko taro #PS4 #PlatinumGames

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notsoguiltykpop · 7 years ago

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The Ghost in Apartment 1403 pt6

Reader x Namjoon

Genre: Angst, supernatural, fluff, humor

Warnings: Mentions of death, dark themes, generally kind of sad at times.

Short summary;

Namjoon was a (relatively speaking) normal music producer moving up in the world–until he became a ghost. With no memory of what happened, and no idea what he’s doing still on earth, he haunts his old apartment–consequently bothering its new inhabitant (who also happens to be the only person who can see or hear him).

Part 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5 ,7

Credits: Loosely inspired by the movie “Just Like Heaven”

Namjoon watched the scene unfold almost as though it were a movie—there wasn’t much else he could do. It was maddening, the whole point of dragging you here was so someone would check on Jungkook, make sure he was okay, and that he made it home in one piece. That was all he wanted, but now he felt as though he had made the situation worse.

Maybe if he had left it alone Yoongi would be sitting with Jungkook now, instead of interrogating you. On top of that, once Jungkook found out you were lying he would just feel more betrayed and alone than he did before. Namjoon hadn’t planned for Yoongi to show up, and he certainly hadn’t planned on Yoongi knowing who you really were.

“How do you know who Jungkook is?” Yoongi asked when you stayed silent for too long.

“I—Yoongi, I wish I could explain, but I can’t. I just…” You glanced at Namjoon for a fraction of a second, worry in your eyes. “I need you to trust me that I’m not here to hurt Jungkook. I really just wanted to help him.”

Yoongi narrowed his eyes at you and folded his arms. “That isn’t an answer.”

“I—“ You cut yourself off, looking at Namjoon again. “This is going to sound crazy, but just bear with me…” Suddenly Namjoon knew what you were about to do, and he knew it wasn’t a good idea.

“Don’t do it, he won’t understand.” Namjoon tried, stepping in front of you in an attempt to make you listen.

“I know who Jungkook is because Namjoon told me, and he asked me to come here tonight. Don’t ask me how, I—I can’t explain that part.”

“Now you’ve done it.” Namjoon grumbled, floating a few feet away from the two of you. He watched as Yoongi took a step closer to you, and you took a step back.

“I don’t know if you’ve lost it, or if you just think I’m that stupid.” Yoongi growled.

“Namjoon, tell me something only you’d know.” You muttered, and Namjoon saw no point in refusing.

“He stole a pair of shoes in eleventh grade because he wore a hole in his old ones and didn’t want to ask his parents for money.” Namjoon said quickly. He had sworn not to speak a word of it to anyone as long as he lived, but he was dead now so he didn’t think the promise applied anymore.

“Do you think this is funny? Cut the crap.” Yoongi warned.

“Why didn’t you just ask for a new pair of shoes, surely your parents wouldn’t want you to steal—“ You still weren’t used to the fact that you were the only one who could see and hear Namjoon, and while your plan was to just repeat whatever he said, you had failed to stick to it. The idea of Min Yoongi—the cute kid who always shared his lunch, who would never dream of cheating on a test, and caught spiders to put them outside rather than step on them—doing something even remotely illegal was jarring. You guessed a lot could change in the years that you hadn’t seen him.

“I don’t know how you know about that or what sick game you’re playing, but—“

“I’m not playing a game!” You pleaded. Why couldn’t he just believe you? Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Seokjin leave the club and make his way over to you.

“There you are!” He said. “I was getting worried. Who’s this?” He glanced at Yoongi who took a step away from you. You ignored Seokjin for the time being, and Namjoon put his head in his hands.

“We should just leave. I’m sorry I made you come here.” He said. You weren’t sure why you cared so much, but in the brief time you spoke to Jungkook you could tell that he was having a hard time, and though Yoongi was dealing with it in a different way, he didn’t seem much better off. You couldn’t help but to feel that if they just talked to Namjoon and knew that he was fine, they might be able to move on.

“Yoongi, I can explain everything if you’ll just listen.”

Yoongi took a deep breath before speaking again. “Look. Because we used to know each other, I’m not going to call the police. But if I ever see you near Jungkook again, I won’t hesitate.” With that he walked away, getting Jungkooks attention so the younger would follow him back into the club.

“Did it work?” Soekjin asked, and at your deep sigh he patted your back. “You tried. At least that means the ghost won’t destroy your apartment, right?”

You chose not to answer, walking away from both Seokjin and Namjoon down the street. You were tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week—even if that was impossible.

“I’m sorry.” Namjoon called after you, following from a safe distance. Seokjin wasn’t far behind him, probably knowing better than to bother you right now.

You said your good-byes to Seokjin outside your apartment building, ignoring Namjoon the whole way up the elevator. You knew that your anger wasn’t entirely at Namjoon so much as the situation, but that didn’t change your irritation with him.

“What do you care if Jungkook is alright anyway?” Namjoon snapped, thoroughly annoyed at you ignoring him for so long. “You had never even met him before tonight.”

“I agreed to help you.” You replied, turning around to face Namjoon at last. “Not to be labeled as crazy by an old classmate, or have him threaten to call the cops on me.”

“What else was I supposed to do?” Namjoon retorted. “I couldn’t just leave Jungkook, and I had no idea where Yoongi went or if he was coming back. And anyway, it was your stupid plan to tell him the truth that backfired, not mine.”

“I know.” You sighed, sitting down on your couch. “I didn’t know what else to do though. I wanted to help. I mean, at first I didn’t care, but…” You knew that you probably shouldn’t care now, but that didn’t change anything.

“It’s my fault.” Namjoon ran a hand through his hair, taking a seat beside you. “I’ve seen enough movies to know better than to interfere with the living. It never ends well.”

“That’s true.” You said thoughtfully. Your anger had ebbed tremendously, mostly having been replaced by embarrassment. You picked up the remote and clicked on the TV, flipping idly through channels. After a few minutes, you spoke again. “Did being around them jog your memory as to how you died?”

“Nope.” Namjoon had pulled his legs up onto the couch, and you were careful not to stretch too far and put a foot through him. “They did mention getting hit by a car, though.”

“Hm.” You hummed, continuing to change the channel. Channel surfing irritated Namjoon to no end most of the time, but he didn’t seem to have any qualms tonight. “Did they give you any ideas about what unfinished business you might have here?”

Namjoon thought for a moment before answering. “Not really. Unless it’s to make sure that they’re all okay, which I’m not doing a very good job at if that’s the case.”

“You mean like a guardian angel?” You asked, pausing long enough to look at Namjoon. He shrugged.

“No clue, but it’s the only thing I can think of at the moment.” He turned his focus back to the television. “Regardless, thank you for tonight. Really. If I wasn’t already dead, I might have died of worry about Jungkook.” You couldn’t help but to laugh with him, and for just a fraction of a second, you thought you saw Namjoon flicker.

You shook your head and blinked several times, but then it happened again.

“...Namjoon?” You asked slowly.

“Yeah?” He turned to look at you, his eyes still lit up with amusement at his own joke.

“Nothing.” You returned his smile. Your eyes must be just playing tricks on you.

A/N I know, another short update, but at least it’s a little quicker than the last one! Thanks for reading, and I know I keep saying this, but thank you so much for your patience! I know it can get really frustrating to wait for updates, but you’re all so kind and understanding!! And as always, let me know what you think! Are Readers eyes really playing tricks on them? Do you think Namjoons flickering means something? Talk to you all soon <3 <3 <3

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