#and then on the way back all she does is complain about her spoiled grandson and how awful her daughter in law is and i’m. 😐 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nyxo-cthulu · 2 years ago

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Rating Stardew Valley Milfs, from worst to best.

Disclaimer: SPOILERS +I'm biased.

Worst of. Robin. Mother of 2, Sebastian from first marriage (adult) and Maru from current marriage (youngest and adult) Robin is the one mom everyone gets a crush on in the first few minutes of playthru, but dont let that make you ignore the atrocities she still does in her house. Her MILK AND BREAD is building house, she is A CARPENTER, but she cant even think of building a window for her son??? Does she want him dead? asphyxion is a serious matter wtf and he lives in a basement? (thats okay, Sebastian likes the basement part, but he often voices his miscontent with having no windows) She also sit still in the face of her husband being controlling over her daughter... She is enabling abuse in exchange of comfort. Did she ever do any parenting ever? is the reason she married a second time, was to get a parent to take over the hassle she was never ready for???

Coming for Pam in second. Mother of one, Penny, an adult. Need i say more? She is irredeemable. Irresponsible. Lazy. Low-key narcissistic. Lost herself to an addiction. Doesnt show much care about Penny. Cares more about how others see her than Penny. The education she gave to Penny was in the purpose of Penny taking care of her instead of the opposite. She is verbally abusive and some fans even speculate that she is physically so. Not a mother in any way shape or form.

Third of, Jodi. Jodi Jodi Jodi... A pitiful woman, but still a bad mother. She still love her kids, but... She wasn't made for motherhood... Mother of Sam (adult ?) and Vincent (Kiddo) She hardly ever participate in taking care of the emotional and disciplinary needs of her kids, and she compensate by spoiling them with toys. Sam, he is a child with the age of an adult. Ans she is to blame... Vincent's mental growth is way worse than Sam's, its as if he has no actual mental stimulation aside from Penny's teachings :( She often complains about chores, but she doesn't realize that she could have given some responsibilities to Sam so that he could help her ToT Its a big part of discipline to give tasks and make the family work together. If you go talk to Vincent frequently, many times he would say that he was hungry... wtf Jodi.. what do you even do with your free time... I think i should also note that Jodi has no actual hobby to take her mind off of her miserable life aside from her little garden, and i'm not even sure what she even grows there... She has no life of her own, and she was forced into the mold of a mother, and she yearns for an escape... if only she had other ambitions, and an actual life outside of motherhood...

Evelyn coming at fourth! She is not bad at all! She is technically a mom, and she takes care of her Grandson Alex! A very loving caretaker! She is a strong willed woman, and doesn't let old age take her productivity down! She is kind to all, and very nurturing ! Genuinely loves and care for people. Finds the joy in the little things, and loves to share with others. No flaws are to be seen in the horizon, except her attachment to the past, which is a cute thing about her tbh xD We don't see her much being a mother, but Alex is relatively a good boy, and it truly shows how much influence she had on him, since he seriously needed that affection in his life But...If Alex wasn't broken by his father... would Evelyn's education be considered too laid back? and would have Alex grown spoiled? George is definitely not a healthy authority figure, so he wouldn't fill the gaps of discipline... Would Evelyn know how to be occasionally harsh without being damaging? It all works out thankfully X)

Best of all for last! Caroline! Mommy I wanna Ntr her so bad Caroline is often voicing her concern for Abigail when talking to the farmer. (Unlike the other direct moms) She truly cares for her daughter. She is just not used to Abigail's interests. And even in her argument with Abigail in the 6 heart event, she apologizes. It shows that, she isn't trying to be controlling, but rather that she is confused about the way her daughter acts and expresses herself. I personally believe that arguments with loved ones is a neutral thing, and that it is the intention of the party that decides whether it's a bad or good quarrel. Good quarrels usually reveals what the individual has to work on. And i think this was a good quarrel. Caroline was checking that Abigail was aware of the opportunities given to her, to make her grateful. It's discipline. And Abigail was asserting her individuality, and refusing to let others decide how she must look. She decides what she wears or does. Both listened to each other, and it was very satisfying tbh. Caroline is also the one person holding up the female population of Pelican town! She is healthy minded and bodied, and encourages other to be that as well, she invites the women to her home to exercise each week! She doesn't let go of her personal, social or Family responsibilities! +If she didn't exist, Jodi would have lost her mind At this point u_u All in all It requires to be a good person to be a good mother!

Heheee Penny is definitely an honorable mention. She took it upon herself to educate and teach the kids of Pelican Town! She is a very encouraging individual. And she is filling the gaps in the learning process of these kids... She basically, became the mother she wish she had...

#stardew valley #stardew penny #stardew caroline #stardew jodi #stardew pam #stardew evelyn #stardew robin #stardew valley moms #mothers

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olivyh · 3 years ago

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TWST FAMILY HCS PT2) Savanaclaw and Octavinelle

Feel free to tack on your own Hc’s too!!! I love reading what other people think and how their view of the characters and of Twisted Wonderland in general change from person to person!!!

Savanaclaw:

Leona:

-Farena: We already know Leona describes his brother as being carefree and relaxed, but deep under that I think he’s a deeply intelligent man (how can you run a kingdom and be stupid?). He tries his best to make time in his schedule for his wife and child, and even try to get bonding tike with his younger brother (which never works out well). He tries to teach Cheka as much as he can, often giving him little life lessons while they play games. He’s a very kind and straightforward man, often being blunt when he doesn’t mean to. He stands a little taller than Leona, with Orange hair similar to Chekas. He keeps his hair tied out of his face as much as he can.

-Sister-in-law Kingscholar: A strong and confident woman, not afraid to speak her mind when she wants to. She’s blunt and she’d let you know about it. She’s also very kind in her own way, often dragging Leona off and trying to have serious talks with him, which he appreciates but doesn’t show. She adores Cheka and often spoils him without meaning to, and will spoil Leona too (but indirectly in a way similar to Ace’s father’s). Also very intelligent and good at reading people. I think she stands a little shorter than Leona, but she holds herself higher, and he slouches, so it looks as if they’re the same height. She has long yellow hair (again, similar to the ends of Cheka’s) that she often ties back as well.

-Cheka: We already know him, so heres a few Hcs!: He sometimes asks his mother to do his hair the same way as Leona’s, and tries to do everything like him (such as standing like him, trying to deepen his voice to sound like him, throwing sand at various objects in the castle yelling “King’s Roar!!”)

Ruggie:

-Grandma Bucchi: As he said himself, a stern and prideful woman. I think she’d be on the stricter side, having to teach Ruggie how to survive rather than him having to face those hard truths alone. She likely stands a lot shorter, likely 5’0 (sorry to anyone whos that height), than most other beastwomen. She’s a lot physically stronger than she looks, often still trying to pick Ruggie up at his age. She tries to spoil him when she can, trying to make him relax after working and taking over the household chores (which he declines, still cleaning up when she’s not looking- which earns him a smack to the head with a broom). She’s also a prankster, quietly jumping out from corners and scaring Ruggie or one of the other children. I think she feels a lot of regret over seeing Ruggie grow up so fast in the environment that he had, but she’s the proudest grandma ever. Whenever he sends pictures back she boasts to everyone at home (“See that! That’s my grandson’s school! See that there! He plays magift and is one of the best on the team! Look there! He’s got those nice ceremony robes!”), and even boasts about him with what little baby pictures they have (“See him walking at such a young age? Isn’t he so strong?”) Will never stop talking about her grandson, ever.

-Neighborhood kids: I think they’re like little siblings to Ruggie, so I’m adding them. They try to tale over what Ruggie did when he was at home, helping people fix up their houses or entertaining the baby hyenas when their mothers have other things to do. They also leave gifts to Ruggie when he comes back, between little dolls they made, bracelets they thought he’d like, charms, or pretty rocks and leaves. He keeps all of the gifts, no matter how small.

-His mom (bc the poor woman deserves a spot)(Poor meaning unfortunate)(The more i think abt it, both. It means both. Bad time?): I think she looked a lot like him, but with brighter blue eyes than his. She was definitely a prankster at heart, leaving clever traps behind for any poor soul to get stuck in. She was a very hardworker much like her son, taking on any task she could find to help out her mother. I think she’d try to leave as much behind for Ruggie as she could, which would include little notes and scribbles about how she was feeling throughout her pregnancy and how excited she was for him. Ruggie also kept all of those safe and sound, in a small box he keeps in the corner of his room.

(Can you guess who my fav chara is?)

Jack:

-Grandma & Grandpa Howl: A very loving couple, who always make time out of their schedule for their grandchildren, whether it be for school events, emergencies, or if any one of them want to come by and talk. They met when Grandpa Howl got lost and wandered by Grandma Howl’s family’s cabin (which happens to be the one they, and the rest of the family, still live in to this day) and he spent the night. I think they fell in love at first sight :’)

-Mama Howl: A very soft and loving beastwoman who is willing to sacrifice anything for her children. She is often strict, and sometimes a chatterbox, but she always reminds her children to stay safe and that she loves them. She always pats their head or cheek when she walks by, even if she has to reach a little to plant a kiss on Jack’s forehead. I think her hair would be a little darker grey, and she’d definitely be a little more muscular and taller, reaching six ft one when standing straight up. She’d have the same yellow eyes as Jack, and her hair would be cropped shorter due to her still moving around a lot.

-Papa Howl: Very similar to Jack personality and appearance wise. He stands an inch or two shorter than Jack, but is still very muscular due to working around the house and in the woods (chopping wood for the campfire, dragging around tools, carrying three wolf pups at a time in his younger days (only one now wants to be carried, which hurts the poor man’s heart a bit)

-Baby brother Howl: Huffy and a little moody, but a hard worker even if he complains while doing it most of the time. That’s often with his parents, but when he does something with Jack he doesn’t complain a bit. He’s very attached to his older brother, looking up to him for his strength and strong morals. He often compares him to superheroes and star athletes in his mind, but sometimes it slips out, resulting in one very embarrassed wolf boy and another very flattered wolf boy, ignore their wagging tails, it means nothing. I think he stands pretty tall for a preteen, around 5’7-5’8 and growing taller by the day. Same hair and eye color as Jack. Acts like he doesn’t like to play games with his younger sister but will never turn down a game of tag.

-Baby sister Howl: An absolute sweetheart. She just wants the best for her family and will do whatever she can to make what they want happen. Jack is hungry? Good thing she made her special dessert (it’s a poptart with whipped cream messily piled on top with sprinkles and literal sugar cubed wedged in it, but don’t tell her you don’t like it, please she’d actually bawl). Her other older brother is tired? She can get him extra blankets! Mama needs help cleaning? She can mop (she really just throws water on the floor and praises herself for a job well done). Papa need to cut wood? She can- no, she can’t. Please don’t give her an axe. She’ll cheer him from the sidelines with a song she made up just for him instead! She has their mother’s grey hair and father’s dark brown eyes, and loves to do her hair like the princesses she sees on Tv! (Yes, Jack will wear a too-small dress and Tiara if his sister wants to play princess. No, he will not let anyone take pictures.)

Octavinelle:

Tweels:

-Mama Leech: At first glance, a very kind woman with soft eyes. Willing to open her arms to anyone who might need help. Then, a terrifying grin similar to Floyd’s as that poor unfortunate soul realizes the trap they’d been thrown in. She’s very kind and patient towards both her boys and husband, as well as their friends (even of she is on guard near their friends, throwing a few hollow threats to see if it’d scare them away)(She doesn’t like to share her babies). She dotes on the tweels as much as possible, indulging im whatever curiosity they may have. Floyd wants to know what going through riptide is like? They leave tomorrow to find one. Jade wants to know more about life on land? She’ll find as many books as possible and ask (threaten) people for their land belongings. She knows when too far is too far though, and is very skilled at reeling the boys back in if they get to that point. Will always call them her little guppies, no matter how big they get. I think she’d have a teal bob on top, with the underside of her hair being black (which makes her hair look color changing when she swims). Im her human form shes only a few inches shorter than her boys, ranging around the same as Jack’s mother.

-Papa Leech: The definition of old Hollywood New York mob boss. Strict and blunt about his interests and problems, and not afraid to cause any problems if provoked. When the tweels were younger and they’d wrestle and bite at him, he’d throw them off him easily, telling them they need to work to beat him, even if he was impressed by their teamwork at first. Will die to protect his family, and was likely put in that position many times in the past due to his uh… business. He values his wife and children more than anything, and has done everything in his power in the past to protect them from harm. When they went to NRC at first, he felt defeated and almost wanted to beg them to stay safe with him (not that his pride would allow it).(Both the tweels can see through his facade easily)

Azul:

-Grandma ‘grotto: A very stern and prim octomermaid. What she says goes in the Ashengrotto house, and she often catches herself making unnecessary comments. She does apologize. Also a very loving grandmother towards Azul, often babying him whenever possible (doing the classic “you’re not eating enough here take some more” grandma move)(She will smooch his face whenever possible when there are no business clients nearby). Tries to boost his confidence since she knew about what was happening to him (Chances are she went through the same thing- being an octomer as well) and dod her best to protect him and make him happy. She taught him how to write with his tentacles and encouraged him to do his best in everything he does.

-Mama ‘grotto: Another businesslady in the front absolute softie in the back situation. Adores her son and is incredibly proud of how far he’s come.I think she looks identical to Azul, but more heavyset and, of course, female. She coddled Azul as much as possible, which worked out well with baby Azul’s clingy nature. She had no shame in walking around with the little guy stuck to her (unless he smacked a tentacle to her face when she was working on her restaurant), and made sure everyone knew what a good boy he was. She would show pictures to everyone (similar to Ruggie’s grandma), but respects his wishes in wanting to hide pictures of his past. She still shows anyone who asks pictures of him at NRC (compliments to the twins, who send her updates when her son is busy), and will tell everyone how smart he is and how much he’s grown.

-Step-Papa grotto: A very professional man in every aspect of his life, which stretches to his relationship with his stepson. When he learns about the contracts and Azuls UM, he’s over the moon with how happy he is. He swam around with a little more pep than usual, flicking his tail and flaring out his fins the more and more Azul told him. He helps him reword and format his contracts to his advantage, and is always willing to talk with him about Mostro Lounge or (on rare occasion) some memories before Step papa Ashengrotto met Mama Ashengrotto (which always make him happy that Azul trusts him enough). I think he’d be a pretty generic looking Mer, with an average looking tail and such

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fire-lady-ilah · 3 years ago

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Random Lu Ten Centric Headcanons

Because I love looking at the Fire Nation Royal Family in general, but Lu Ten holds a specific soft spot in my heart.

He’s ten years older than Zuko and was the fourth person to hold his new cousin, after Zuko’s parents and the Fire Lord but before his own father (who had fallen asleep before the baby was born). He does not feel an immediate love for him, but he does feel immediate curiosity at the way Zuko’s little face scrunches up.

He adores Zuko as he grows. To Lu Ten, Zuko is like the younger sibling he never got without the jealousy that stems from a little sibling getting more attention. After all, Iroh still has plenty of time for his actual son, and Zuko has his own parents. He tries to teach the baby firebending before realizing that won’t work (he’s just a baby after all) and resorting to simple games.

When Azula is born, Lu Ten already has experience as a doting older cousin and adores her just as much as he adores Zuko. He tries to help Zuko deal with the lack of attention from his parents by giving him attention— it only partially works.

Lu Ten has a complicated relationship with Ozai. The easiest way to picture it is to think of Simba and Scar before Mufasa’s death. Ozai resents Lu Ten for taking his place in the line of succession, though he tolerates the little prince. Lu Ten, for his part, can’t imagine someone hating him as a child and views Ozai as just a grumpy person in general. It is only when he gets older that he starts to realize that Ozai might hate him, but by that point he can’t avoid him because it would mean avoiding his cousins.

Lu Ten is also quite close to his grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon. While it may seem a surprise, Lu Ten is expected to inherit the throne one day. Azulon’s love of tea passes down to Iroh, which then passes down to Lu Ten. Grandfather and grandson spend long hours talking on night the full moon every month, starting when Lu Ten is only seven. When he’s young, it’s about topics like what he’s learned in school and how his hobbies are going. As he gets older, the topics become more serious and nuanced. This is another source of envy from Ozai— Lu Ten has a closer relationship to his father than he ever did.

All in all, he has a happy childhood and is viewed as the perfect prince. A prodigy firebender (Azula breaks all his records, but that’s okay. It makes him proud and he teaches her the next move in the set before her tutors will), knowledgeable in Fire Nation culture and history, an expert tactician. Everyone looks at him and knows he’ll be the greatest Fire Lord the Nation has ever seen.

When he is seventeen, he takes a season long break from his typical studies and duties to study under Master Piandao. He takes Zuko with him. He mentions the name to his grandfather, who sneers but does not forbid him from going. Under Piandao he discovers a love of painting. He also discovers the first thing he doesn’t immediately excel at. While Zuko’s dual swords flow as if they are an extension of his body, Lu Ten works from sundown to sunset to accomplish only half of what Zuko does while barely trying. He’s happy that Zuko has something he’s good at. It’s the only thing that keeps him from quitting swordsmanship. He knows that he’s the only reason Zuko is able to learn under Master Piandao. So Lu Ten persists so Zuko can flourish.

Lu Ten is a flirt, and in this he takes after his father. He’s also bisexual, although he keeps that fact carefully hidden from his family. He’s well aware of his Nation’s laws after all. Despite all his flirting, there’s very few people that he actually develops relationships with.

Lu Ten enlists at eighteen and insists on being trained with the other soldiers and treated the same. He regrets this soon after under two tutelage of Master Jeong Jeong, who he swears treats him worse because he’s a prince. It gets worse when he heards that Jeong Jeong is an old friend of his father’s and an old “friend” of Master Piandao— so he has no qualms about pushing him to his limits and forcing him to incorporate weaponry into his firebending. Yet despite it all, he’s still not Jeong Jeong’s star student.

The first time he kills someone, he throws up. He wants to quit. He wants to run away. He wants to go back to the palace and pull his little cousins into his arms and tell them to never, ever go to battle. He keeps fighting and kills again a moment later because it’s an active fight and the sky is grey and he doesn’t have anything left in his stomach but he’s still dry heaving again when his friends find him and the battle is done. He never quite gains the stomach for killing, preferring to make a killing strike and move away without ensuring they die. That way there is doubt in his mind.

Lu Ten takes his issued leave a few months before he dies, travelling to the Fire Nation and spending some time with his cousins. They are a balm to his soul and he finds years of battle induced ache begin to ease. He spoils them both, sparring with Zuko with swords (the boy beats him soundly) and Azula with firebending (she doesn’t quite beat him, but he knows he’s one of the few people she’s okay with being stronger than her... for now). He gives them their favourite treats until their stomachs ache. He gives them both paintings he’s done of the three of them together, even though Azula complains about Zuko being in the painting and Zuko complains about Azula. He meets with his grandfather on the full moon and talks through the whole night. He returns to the front happy and relaxed.

The next time he sees battle, he falls. He knows he will be mourned. He will be mourned by a Nation, by a father, a grandfather, and two little cousins. One will yell and cry. The other will hide behind her cold masks and clutch a painting so tightly it creases the paper.

Lu Ten sees his father from a distance in the spirit world. It might be a close distance, it might be a far one, the spirit world is tricky. He sees the way he hurts, but he also knows that his father is learning things he wished he learned before he died. He turns and walks away, hoping his father will forgive him when they eventually do meet again.

#lu ten #headcanons #my headcanons #atla headcanons #atla #avatar the last airbender #iroh #zuko #azula #ozai #azulon #fire lord azulon #fire lord ozai #fire nation #fire nation royal family #tw war #tw puke

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crystal-moon-101 · 3 years ago

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(Updated Drawing for a second time) Name: Jay Maxwell Tennyson Nickname: Jace, Jay Jay, Human Omnitrix, Lill’ Ben, Hero Boy, Omni Boy (By Feike) Age: 13 Gender: Male Birthday: February 7 Sexual Orientation: ??? (Just like his father) Ethnicity/Species: American/Japanese - Human/'Omnitrix' Personality: Adventurous, Often has self-doubt, Sensitive, Cultured, Dependable, Brave, Hopeful, Persistent, Impulsive, Jokester, Trustful, Has slight anxiety problems, Forgiving, Selfless. Hobbies: Gaming, mostly survival games. A couple of sports (He's known to play tennis with his mother). Learning and Reading up on aliens and their cultures. Collecting items/souvenirs. Photography. Designing with Family:

Ben Tennyson - (Father/Jay has always looked up to his father, striving to be a hero like. However, there are issues between them, in that Jay struggles with how often his father isn't around, out in space-saving the day on another planet. He understands why this is, but it makes it hard to spend time together, along with seeing the struggles his mother goes through, even if she accepts this with Ben. That being said, anytime Ben visits, Jay jumps at the chance to spend time with his father.)

Julie Yamamoto - (Mother/Absolutely adores his mother and vice versa. Since Ben is often away, Jay has picked up a lot of Julie's habits and behaviour, even hobbies, like tennis. He's always eager to help her around and the house and spending quality mother and son time. He's very thankful his mother raised him to be patient, kind and polite, a big part of his personality.)

Ship - (Pet - Galvanic Metamorph/He's always loved the pet blob of the family. When he was born, Ship was very excited about Jay's presence, doing whatever he could to make the baby boy laugh. It's been the same, even as Jay grew up. The happy blob will always comfort the boy, especially through his anxiety attacks or self-doubt moments.)

Muse - (Pet - Null Void Guardian/Muse wasn't the kind of pet Jay thought he'd get, but he loves her anyway. Having saved her during a mission in the null void, the creature became rather attached to him as they don't normally have positive interaction with other species, even their caretakers. She loves cuddles and having Jay's attention, but can be very protective if anyone dares to hurt her human.)

Tundra, Orion, Vale, Neva, North, Crystal, Alaska, Micha, Storm, Gray, Raine, Arlo, Zodiac and Lux - (Half-Siblings/Jay is very close to his fourteen Necrofriggians siblings, despite the species differences. He's never really questioned how unusual it was having them as siblings, even when people give weird glances. His siblings also adore their baby brother, spoiling him whenever they visit.)

Ivory - (Kind of half sister? It’s complicated/When Jay bumped into Ivory the first time, during a mission where Khyber was running around, he had to say he was surprised to see someone who had similar features to him and to his dad. After explaining this run-in with his parents, it didn’t take them long to come to the conclusion she must be the daughter of Albedo, back from when he was still human. Since then, Jay has tried reaching out to her, not only because he believes she can find a better life beyond Khyber, but also because he has a feeling she wants family, just as he wouldn’t mind having another sibling around...But for now, she brushes him off.)

Gwen Tennyson - (First cousin once removed/'Aunt'/Much like Ben, he looks up to his aunt, always eager to hear stories she shares with her father and Kevin. Since Gwen and Kevin aren't off earth as much as Ben now of days, Julie and Jay often visit for dinners. He likes to ask her help with schoolwork during these visits, though lately he's also been interested in learning about Ledgerdomain. Gwen has a feeling it might be because of a certain spell caster he is crushing on, but he hasn't said anything.)

Kevin Levin - (first cousin once removed in-law/'Uncle'/Somehow, Kevin was often the one that both Jay and Thea were dumped on to babysit. He would complain, but he really did adore the pair, even recording some of their younger interactions and adventure, which were both hilarious and adorable. Jay likes to show his uncle love when he can, as he knows very well how rough Kevin's background is.)

Cynthia Levin - (Second Cousins/The two basically act like siblings, teasing one another, hanging out often and venting to each other when they need it. Even if the two-act like opposites, they play off each other well. With Thea being more bombastic and outward, she helps keep Jay out of all the trouble he gets caught in by mistake. She does what she can to protect him from bullies or galaxy criminals, sometimes even from himself. That being said, Jay is one of the only few who can pull her back from her aggression, showing her that there are calmer and nicer ways to handle things. His forgiving nature sometimes worries her, because she knows it'll backfire and get him hurt sometimes, but she has been amazed by it, as shown through his many connections with aliens they've met, even some who were dangerous or criminals. Even if they have hard arguments or struggle to understand one another at times, they'll always have each other's back.)

Ken Tennyson - (First cousin once removed/'Uncle'/While he enjoys his life with space and aliens, he does appreciate having a family member who is very down to earth. Ken is a very supportive and wise uncle, often knowing just what to say or do to cheer Jay up.)

Carl Tennyson - (Grandfather/Carl, of course, loves his grandson, happy to babysit him and have him over. However, because of Carl's effects of galaxy life and aliens as a child, he sometimes struggles to talk with Jay, who adores that lifestyle. Jay understands, as he and Carl both had/have Plumber fathers often off-world, along with how his grandfather was somewhat abandoned by Verdona, his own mother, in his younger years.)

Sandra Tennyson - (Grandmother/Sandra has always doted on her grandbaby since he was born. Always jumping to babysit, playing with him and proudly shows him off to her friends. She is also the one who inspired his photography hobby.)

Mr Yamamoto - (Grandfather/Despite Julie's father's issues towards Ben, he's always been gentle and kind towards Jay, often being the one to remind him of the beauty of earth.)

Verdona - (Great Grandmother/Verdona and Jay have a friendly relationship, often openly showing affection through hugs or chatting away. While it does somewhat hurt, he doesn't resent her for mostly coming around for Gwen and Thea, because of their Anodite sides. Since he can change into different aliens, he understands very well that every alien functions different, so he can't fault her in her behaviour, so he'll take what he can get.)

Maxwell Tennyson - (Great Grandfather/A legend in Jay's eyes, being who his middle name is from. Even though Max is retired and spends these days in his RV with Xyelne, he's always happy to tell Jay stories of his old Plumber days. The boy will listen to every word with wonder in his eyes. Max has even told stories on Ben when he was very young, including the summer vacation when he first got the watch. It always puts a smile on the boy's face.)

Xylene - (Great Grandfather Figure/While Xylene isn’t amazing with kids due to her background, her and Jay get along nicely since he’s a polite and calm boy. She has a way of speaking with Jay where she can be blunt and honest, but in a manner that he understands and doesn't get hurt by. Like getting that needed push to do something.)

Frank Tennyson - (Great Uncle/He enjoys the boy's soft presents and can always ask Jay for help here and there.)

Natalie Tennyson - (Great Aunt/Natalie likes having Jay around, as he's always eager to help with housework. She does love her granddaughter, but having a quieter child around is sometimes more preferred.)

Friends:

Vanessa Morningstar - (The two have a sweet relationship, despite Thea’s rivalry with her and Vanessa’s parents. They treat each other with respect and trust, and for Vanessa, this is something not common to her. He's always ready to listen to her and doesn't believe she is destined to be a villain, even with her heritage. There have also been noticeable sparks between the two, but with all that goes on, it's hard to make something of it.)

Malax Shard - (Friend/A common friend and partner in Plumber training. Unlike Thea's uncertainty towards his gentle side, Malax has full trust in it. She knows his personality is rare in this line of work and is something desperately needed at times. That being said, she's often the one to give him the tough talks about reality and how harsh it gets. He respects her for this and both would have each other's back in any fight.)

Rook Rilla - (Friend/Another common friend and partner in Plumber training. The two have known each other since childhood, due to how close their fathers were. Rilla’s dry wit and no nonsense attitude has, admittedly, gotten Jay out of some tough problems, and the two play off each other well while working on the field.)

Feike - (Friend/He started out with issues towards Feike, mostly because of his flirting towards Thea. But, over time, Jay has started to see more to him. It's clear to him Feike isn't exactly happy where he is and feels trapped, being abused and manipulated by his boss, Sciros. He's tried reaching out to him, but the other teen likes to brush it off and tells him not to get involved.)

Renata - (Friend/Because of Reiny and Ben's friendship, there had been some playdates set up between the two when they were young. Despite how hard it is to communicate with Renata, Jay has come to understand how to talk to her, thanks to these playdates. He'll often go to her for space politic problems, given her status and training. Even though she doesn't show much emotions, she can show a protective side around him.)

Azmuth - (Friend/Azmuth is normally the one to take a look at his biology and powers if needed. Ben has also dropped Jay off for rare babysitting, Azmuth can only be so thankful Jay will listen to him and be quiet when told. He's always found it amusing how gentle Jay is compared to his father. He's also to happily talk about embarrassing moments about Ben to the boy.)

Etherea’Liss - (Friend/Their first meeting had been a little iffy, as Jay had met Zs’Skayr a few months before meeting her. But he quickly came to see that Ectonurites are not like him, and she's always happy to educate him on her home planet and people. In return, he helps her adjust to life outside of her home.)

Enemies:

Eldrigma (Enemy/Ever since this man showed up, Jay has been chasing him across the galaxy, feeling responsible in stopping him. However, with each encounter, they learn something new, that there's more to the story behind this man. As much as he wants to stop him and fight him, Jay is starting to see something grim and sorrowful behind the man's dark outside.)

Professor Alate - (Enemy/Honestly, this man creeps him the hell out. His intelligence as always been trouble for Jay, often getting outsmarted by the scientist. This wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for the fact that Alate has this dedicated goal to catch Jay and experiment on him, mostly because of his Omnitrix biology.)

Sciros (Enemy/Jay has nothing but bad thoughts about this man, stemmed from kidnapping him and hurting friends like Feike and Vanessa, tricking and abusing them. He desperately wants to keep his friends away from the man, but his grip is tight and he knows how to keep them inline.)

Vilgax ('Enemy?'/It’s mostly Vilgax’s history with his father that scares him the most. Vilgax can be a hard foe to fight and is willing to use Jay to get revenge on Ben, however, with Jay’s teachings from his father and the fact Vilgax doesn’t have that great of an understanding since it’s been twenty years, Jay can fight against him and survive him. After seeing Vilgax around, he’s come to the realization that Vilgax isn’t as scary as most of the other villains Jay is currently fighting. He’s also given warnings to Vilgax about Alate.)

Representing Song: Human - Christina Perri

Skills: Enhanced Endurance/Stamina. Alien Morphing (He's able to turn into aliens without a watch, thanks to his unique biology). Hand-To-Hand Combat. Multilingualism (Jay can actually speak and understand a few alien languages, comes in handy). Photographic Memory. Makeup, dress ups, hairstyles, Jay is amazing at finding the right outfit or disguising others.

Weakness/Flaws/Fears: Monophobia (Fear of being alone or lonely), Atychiphobia (Fear of failure), Sometimes Anthropophobia (Fear of people. But depending on what people are currently like, especially in school, also depending on his mood) Slight Catoptrophobia (Fear of mirrors. Sometimes he can’t stand looking into the mirror, easily after something sudden or traumatic) Didaskaleinophobia (Fear of school) Autophobia (Fear of oneself). Sometimes changing aliens, becoming one or turning human can fail, especially if he has barely any focus. He keeps his injuries and damage he gets from fights as his aliens, even in his human form. Lack of energy or being rendered unconscious can make him turn back to human. He gains the weakness of his aliens. He needs to focus to be able to transform. His hidden sensitivity and anxiety can hinder his progress and the mission he’s on. He has a habit of taking on too much work, struggling to say no to others who depend on him. In rare cases, his biology can go out of whack sometimes, causing things like blindness, dizziness, struggling to walk E.T.C but it’s never permanent, so far. In his human form, he isn’t the strongest fighter and barely has any defense in tanking hits.

First Ten Forms:

War Roar

Cibeetle

Lavizard

Hollow Woods

Katana

Shadow Puppet

Manta Wave

Smitemare

Power Source

Sin Reaper

#Redid again because I wasn't happy #Plus some new character detail #Ben 10 #B10 #ben 10 omniverse #ben 10 ultimate alien #ben 10 alien force #Benlie #Ben 10 Benlie #Ben 10 Ben Tennyson #ben 10 julie yamamoto #Ben 10 next gen #ben 10 next generation #Ben 10 OC #My Art

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grantcontrol · 4 years ago

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Infestation ◈ solo

Timing: Sunday Afternoon (April 18, 2021) Location: Grant Residence Summary: Anton’s reading gets interrupted by unexpected guests. Shame he’s out of snacks. Content: Insect mention, loneliness/sad boy hours, adult language

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” — Arthur C. Clarke

Another lazy Sunday afternoon comes to pass, but White Crest’s resident exterminator can’t complain. In his spacious living room, as the flames of his late grandfather’s hearth keep him warm, Anton Grant finds himself deep in thought while reading the old man’s copy of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Truth be told, Anton was never a reading man, a bookworm, but his newfound peace and bliss in the sleepy albeit creepy town his late grandfather loved to call home, a place that perhaps inevitably became his grave, the grandson and new owner of Bug Busters Pest Control Solutions found time to pursue new hobbies. Also, his Internet connection was down.

He had just turned another page without even needing to rush himself to the book’s end when he heard something skittering somewhere in the residence. Anton closed the book, squinting at the direction of the noise. As far as he knew, he was all alone. “Girl? Is that you? You better not be stealing my sandwiches again. What are you doing here? You have school tomorrow, don’t you?”

The girl in question was his late grandfather’s most prized employee, the office’s receptionist who spent more of her time browsing Tiktok and YouTube than actually doing her job. Unfortunately for Anton, or perhaps fortunately for his lack of business acumen, she came with the inheritance.

Rising from the couch while wearing only his olive green robes, Anton made his way down the hall, scowling as he squinted at every nook and cranny he could pass. Reaching the end and finding nothing amiss, he heaved a sigh, placed both hands on his hips, and looked around one last time. “Huh. False alarm then.” With a shrug, the last remaining Grant in White Crest turned around, pivoted on his heels, hoping to get back to his peaceful reading. Unfortunately for him, what he got instead was the bulk of one of his late grandfather’s antique giant vases, almost sending it toppling to the ground, crashing into a million tiny pieces, if only his reflexes weren’t at least faster than gravity could force its annihilation.

“Holy fuck...” He heaved a sigh of relief as he carefully positioned it again on top of its tiny pedestal, looking behind him at another empty pedestal. “Wait, was this always here?” A second or two passed before he let the notion be. “Eh, probably moved it a few days ago.”

With another shrug, Anton made his way to the kitchen. A glass of milk, he thought, might just be what the doctor ordered. Shaking his head, he gripped tightly the handlebar on the refrigerator, opening it slowly and savoring the cold breeze that wafted from inside. It didn’t take him long to find the carton of milk, and soon, he was pouring himself a glass. As soon as his milk touched his lips, however, his nose was assaulted by a foul smell, and his body immediately spat out the rotten refreshment. Coughing, Anton grimaced, wiped his mouth dry of the unsavory liquid, and poured the rest of the glass down the drain. “What the hell? How could it spoil so soon? I just bought it this morning…”

That’s when it dawned on him. The unexpected collision with the massive vase, the surprising spoilage of today’s milk… “Chrysalia has a boggart infestation!”

Almost immediately, Anton ran all the way to the basement, almost slipping once or twice down the stairs, to get one of his iron-bladed knives. The basement, although under personal renovation with help from some other hunters to house his late grandfather’s formicaleon partner, was still filled with an array of pest hunter equipment, including but not limited to the usual pest control tools and much weirder things like flamethrowers and iron-bladed weapons. There were too many of the iron-bladed knives to carry, so he mostly just took four. His speed was evenly matched by his instincts, his training and experience combined to handle the weapons without nicking himself. Running back up to the kitchen, he flipped open all the drawers he could, as well as the refrigerator itself, but to no avail. It seemed he was out of his most important weapon yet, a jar of peanut butter. “Fuck.”

Laughter drowned the hallowed halls of the Grant Residence next, as if on cue, as if they had waited for him to come to the realization that he was more than fucked. It was a taunt, he knew it deep within his heart. The boggarts knew they had outnumbered him, and worse, he was not as well-equipped as he had thought he was. Ironic, considering his late grandfather’s dwelling was supposed to be a pest hunter bastion, a fortress housing the means to cull their bloodline chosen’s prey. More laughter to his right, and Anton quickly took the bait, squinting in the direction and not a moment sooner running towards it, slashing at the air with a knife in each hand to obviously no avail. “Damn you, you annoying bastards! This is my grandfather’s house! This is my house! You will not desecrate the Grant abode!”

“What the hell is up with this town?!” He screamed as he continued to slash at nothing but the space around him, running towards the right where the laughter came from and then towards the left where the laughter soon reappeared. If anyone was watching this, they’d think he had gone off the deep end, and they would have reason to be right. Yet Anton was not interested in what other people thought about him, thankfully no one was at least watching, but he was focused on his fury at the invasion, rather the interruption of his peace, no matter how truly boring it was. “Why does it have so many fucked up bullshit?!”

It took him hours, more than three, before he slowly found himself losing the energy to continue the one-sided battle. A part of him knew he was wasting time. He could just get some peanut butter in the morning, after all. In the end, however, he conceded, realizing at least that he had a semblance of action from the otherwise dull day. “You win this round, you bastards!” He screamed, though there was a grin upon his lips. With a sigh, he shook his head, dragged his feet to his both, and just plopped himself on that bed.

At the end of the day, the property, Chrysalia, was huge. It was too big for him, for just him, and it was most definitely big enough to accommodate his new tenants, no matter how annoying they were. Days were often lonely, if not for the Girl’s unscheduled appearance every now and then. They could stay. At least for now.

[END]

#wickedswriting #. ˋ ◈ ᵃⁿᵗᵒⁿ ᵍʳᵃⁿᵗ ››› solo ˋ .#. ˋ ◈ ᵃⁿᵗᵒⁿ ᵍʳᵃⁿᵗ ››› infestation�� ˋ .#(oh the irony)#(house guests/pests)

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prolestariwrites · 4 years ago

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The Wish [3]

Fandom: Devil May Cry Characters: Dante, Vergil, Nero, V, Lady, Eva, Sparda, OC Rating: General Tags: Family, Humor, Fluff, Angst, Typical demon hunting violence

Summary: A demon gives Dante the chance to have his greatest desires made real. When he finds himself in a seemingly idyllic life, all seems well until it starts to unravel. Will he sacrifice himself to save the family he lost, or will he choose to give them up for the truth?

Now posted: Chapter 3, in which Dante comes face to face with his past, and a weirder version of his present, over some chicken parmesan.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Chapter 3: Family Dinner

The entire ride to the restaurant, Dante spends his time half-listening to Lir talk about her day and half looking at everything. They are in Red Grave City, but it’s different: cleaner somehow, less polluted, less scummy. They pass a few familiar landmarks on their way through downtown from where their house is in the more residential part of the city, and at one point go by a turnoff that will take them to the shop. Dante perks up a bit but she makes a left instead of a right, and he presses his lips together, wondering if he should ask her to turn around. But he decides against it in the end; the city looks strange enough as it is, and if they roll up to the Devil May Cry and it’s a hair salon or something he just might lose it.

Dante is nervous as hell when Lir pulls their car into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant. She breathes a sigh of relief as she turns off the engine and unbuckles her seat belt. “Five twenty-five,” she says with a grin. “Now we don’t have to listen to Vergil complain about us being late.”

He only nods as they climb out of the car, and he quickly scoots around so he can shut her door for her. Lir gives him a thanks before taking his hand, heat crawling up his neck as they head into the restaurant.

“Sparda family,” she tells the hostess as Dante looks around. It’s a smaller kind of place but lots of atmosphere, the lighting a bit low and Frank Sinatra playing quietly on the speakers. Dante stares at the huge fish tank next to the entrance as the hostess makes a note in the guest book. “You have a table in the back. This way,” she says.

Lir’s hand is steady on his as they follow to the back of the restaurant. But it’s enough to make him go numb when sure enough, Vergil is sitting at the table, talking to Lady. Lir calls a greeting and he stands up to give her a kiss on the cheek before turning to Dante. “What’s wrong with you?” he asks, looking him up and down.

Dante realizes he probably is gaping, so to cover his shock he shakes his head. Vergil snorts and moves to sit back down, but Dante reaches out and grabs his arm. He pulls his brother into a hug, squeezing him hard, and after a moment he can practically feel the stares from everyone else around him.

Easing back, he smiles sheepishly at the very confused-looking Vergil. “Good to see you, Verge,” Dante grins, clapping him on the arm.

“Okay…”

“Lady! Looking good!”

The others look at him funny, and Lady folds her arms. “Why are you calling me that?”

Dante scratches his chin. “Ain’t that your name? Lady?”

“That’s not some lady, that’s my wife,” Vergil scoffs. He turns to Lir and asks, “Did he suffer some kind of brain damage?”

“No, he’s just joking. Badly.” Lir tugs on his sleeve and says, “Come sit. Do you want to sit next to Mary or to Vergil?”

“Mary. Right.” Dante clears his throat as she steers him to a seat, taking the one between him and Lady. Or Mary. Whoever she is.

The two women start chatting and Dante stares at Lady, noting how different she looks without the blunt haircut and the scar on her nose. She still has the heterochromia, but her dark hair is down to her shoulders, and Dante notes that she’s actually wearing normal pants and a blouse and not some too-small schoolgirl uniform or looking like a step above a stripper.

Lady shoots him a look with a wry smile. “Why are you staring? Do I have something on my face?”

“No,” Dante answers quickly. “Sorry. Guess I haven’t uh… seen you in a while?”

“Yeah, things have been busy.” She picks up a glass of red wine and takes a sip. “How is business going?”

Dante wonders himself, but replies, “Good. Going good.”

“Good to hear.” She turns and calls to the other end of the table, “Boys? Did you say hello to your uncle?”

He glances down, his eyes going wide. How did he not notice the two sitting at the other end? Vergil is talking to one, a boy of about ten or eleven with longish silver hair, just like he and Vergil have. It’s the spitting image of Nero, and Dante figures he has one mystery solved at least.

Another boy sits next to him, dark hair hanging in his eyes which are glued to a cell phone. Vergil says something to him and the boy looks up and makes a face. He too looks exactly like Vergil, except for the dark features, and Dante frowns. “Are those…?”

“Yeah, Nero and Vitale are getting big, hm?” Lady smiles rather affectionately down at them. “They hit eleven last month and bam, both shot up about three inches. I can barely keep them in clothes.”

“Nero,” Dante sighs with a grin. The kid turns from talking to Vergil to offer him a wave, and the other glances upwards again. “And… Vitale?”

“I go by V now,” he answers curtly before rolling his eyes and looking down at the screen.

“Don’t be rude,” Lady scolds.

Lir laughs. “Teenagers, what can you do? I can’t believe how big the twins have gotten. They are young men now.”

Dante sits back in his chair, tuning out the rest of the conversation as he stares at the two boys. So Nero is only eleven, not nineteen, and Dante makes a quick calculation. Vergil could have still met Lady—Mary—at the Temen-ni-gru, but he definitely wouldn’t have gone to Fortuna first. Does that mean he wouldn’t have had Yamato? Without the sword he had no hope of opening the portal, and Dante frowns in thought. Most likely Vergil never went to hell, which sort of makes sense if they hadn’t been orphaned. So does that mean nothing else happened either? Did the Order still exist? Did it worship his old man? Is Mallet Island still there? If Dante never had a reason to go there, does that mean Mundus is still out there somewhere?

His questions are interrupted by Lir’s hand on his arm. “You okay?” she asks.

He looks up to see the three adults staring at him. “Yeah. I was uh… trying to remember something.” Dante leans forward and nods to Vergil and Lady. “Remind me, how did you two meet?”

Lady blushes a bit but Vergil clears his throat. “I worked for Mary’s father when I was in college, before he died. Don’t you remember?”

“No,” Dante chuckles. “Not one bit.”

“Typical,” Vergil mutters, but before he can protest his parents arrive.

Just like when he looked at the photographs in their house, Eva and Sparda seem like something out of a dream. Dante stays seated as he watches the family give hugs in turn, his heart beating ridiculously fast in his chest.

Sparda has longish hair pulled back into a ponytail, and coupled with the tan linen pants and a button-down shirt with a bold flower pattern, he looks like a retiree on vacation in the Bahamas. Dante grins to himself, trying to remember if his father always had that sense of fashion, especially contrasted to his mother. Eva looks graceful and elegant, the handful of fine lines and silver streaks in her hair giving her the appearance of a matriarch. But she is unmistakable, especially since he’s been looking at her picture on his desk for two decades. When her eyes turn to him, he feels frozen by how alive she is until she reaches out a hand. “Dante, are you okay?” Eva laughs.

The laugh he recognizes instantly from deep within his memory. He’s on his feet in a moment, wrapping her into a tight hug. Her perfume is even familiar, and Dante takes a deep breath as he tries to memorize everything for when he wakes up. It’s been a really long time since he’s had a dream about her, and usually she has a sad smile, fear in her eyes, as she tells him to hide in the closet.

Eva places a kiss on his cheek that makes his eyes a bit misty. Then Sparda pats him on the arm, and unwilling to let Eva go just yet, Dante wraps it around his father in a group hug. He knows he must look ridiculous, but this is too much to take in at once, and he doesn’t let go until he is sure he can breathe.

Lir pats his thigh when he sits back down. She gives him a smile that he can’t quite interpret as the waitress arrives to take their drink orders.

The dinner is fun, more fun than Dante could remember having in a while. And that’s saying something since he and Nero went camping a few weekends ago, and the Love Planet had gotten a karaoke machine. Even the twins perk up when their grandparents arrive, especially when Sparda pulls out a wad of twenty-dollar bills. “Don’t spoil them,” Vergil groans.

“Nonsense,” Sparda says, pulling out several for each boy. “No such thing as spoiling your grandsons.”

Dante frowns as the others laugh. He doesn’t remember Sparda being like… well, this. Warm, sure, but this generous? He didn’t exactly dote on him and Vergil, leaving a lot of the child-rearing to Eva. A few memories surface, mostly listening to Sparda telling stories that were as exciting as they were scary and sneaking into his study to look at his weapons. Maybe being a grandparent is different than a parent? Or maybe Sparda is as different in this dream as everyone and everything else is.

“You’re usually much more talkative, Dante,” Eva comments.

He clears his throat but Lir leans over him a bit and says, “He wasn’t feeling well this morning. Forgot all about what day it was.”

“Are you coming down with something?” asks Eva, her face drawn in concern.

“Nah, nothing like that,” Dante answers. “I think I was having a weird dream.”

“What was it about?” Vergil asks.

Dante takes a sip of water to cover his discomfort with the question. “Everyone was dead, basically,” he says bluntly.

“Dante!” Lir exclaims as the others laugh.

“What?” he chuckles. “He asked.”

“What did we die of?” Sparda asks.

“Uh…” Dante rubs the back of his neck. “There was an attack. But not everyone was dead. La—uh, Mary, was alive. And Nero.” He turns to Lir. “You didn’t even exist.”

Lir laughs. “No wonder you were so out of it.”

The conversation turns to weird dreams people have had in the past, but Dante notices that his father gives him a strange look. Dante’s brows lift a bit in question, but Sparda doesn’t say anything, leaving him to wonder.

The food is the best he’s had in ages, and Dante eats until he is ready to burst. Vergil pokes fun at him which he gives right back, enjoying the scowl on his brother’s face when he tells a slightly raunchy joke and makes Nero laugh. Sparda laughs too, and Dante ignores Lady’s scolding, used to tuning her out. But when Lir rubs his thigh, it draws his attention, and Dante realizes at some point he had slung his arm around her. “Behave yourself,” she whispers with a smile.

There is something in her gaze that is almost like a promise, a shared connection he doesn’t quite understand. It’s enough to make his neck heat, and he shifts in his seat as he mumbles an apology. “Don’t go repeating that, Nero,” he says.

“Can me and V come hang out at the shop next week?” Nero asks.

Both boys look at him expectantly, and he shrugs as his eyes glance towards Vergil. “As long as your old man says it’s okay,” he replies.

“It’s fine,” Lady says. “Just don’t let them touch the equipment.”

Dante pictures Agni and Rudra hanging on the wall, Cerberus above the door, Beowulf in the closet. “Yeah, okay,” he nods. “I’ll put the guns away too.”

Lir snorts but Vergil narrows his eyes. “It’s not a joke, Dante. I don’t want them touching anything that can get their hand blown off.”

“Well, Nevan is the only thing that can really blow off a hand, but I got a case for her,” he replies.

Vergil waves him off and the conversation resumes, and again Dante notices his father staring at him. Sparda looks shocked, like he’s seen a ghost, and when Dante raises his brows in question his father only shakes his head and quickly goes back to his chocolate cake.

At the end of the meal, Dante doesn’t want to leave, but the others start saying their goodbyes. He hugs his mother tightly and kisses her cheek, earning himself one of her laughs. “Always so sweet,” she murmurs.

His father shakes his hand, but wears a frown. Sparda pulls him in a bit close and murmurs so only Dante can hear, “What you said earlier? You were joking, right?”

“Huh?”

Sparda clears his throat and scratches his nose, glancing around like a conspirator. “You said you had Nevan in a case. Did you read that somewhere?”

“What are you talking about?” Dante laughs.

“Oh! Right, right, nevermind. I must have thought you meant something else.” Dante wrinkles his brow in confusion, but then realizes his father probably doesn’t know Nevan was turned into a guitar. He starts to explain but Sparda cuts him off. “Can we meet for lunch next week?”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Dante says excitedly.

“Good.” Sparda pats his arm, giving him another strange look before moving away.

Lady promises to text him and they leave Vergil to grumble over the bill and head to the car. Lir offers to drive again, which he takes gratefully. They are back on the road a minute later, and Dante leans the seat back with a deep sigh. “That was so good,” he says with a smile.

“Yeah, it was fun.” His eyes are drooping so he misses Lir’s sideways glance when she asks, “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“Do you really keep a gun in the shop?”

Dante sits up and frowns at her, and Lir quickly goes on, “I understand why you would, really I do. I was just surprised. I thought it was a joke, but it didn’t sound like one.” He shakes his head, thoroughly confused, and Lir asks, “Well? Did you buy a gun?”

He clears his throat and adjusts his seatbelt. “I have a few, yeah?”

“A few.” Lir considers this for a moment before sighing. “I can’t say that I’m comfortable with it, but again, I can see why. You are safe with them? They are locked up and everything?”

Dante thinks about Ebony and Ivory in the drawer of his desk. “Sure,” he says.

Claudius is there to greet them when they get home, and Dante watches with some amusement as Lir scoops him up and coos at him sweetly as she carries him to the kitchen. Suddenly tired, he heads upstairs to change out of his clothes, deciding to stay in the boxer briefs for bed. She’s seen him already like that anyway, right?

Lir joins him a few minutes later, when Dante is already settled in bed and flicking through the television stations. He tries not to look as she changes into a short nightgown, sitting up on the pillows when she slides into bed.

“You wanna watch something?” he asks, but Lir takes the remote control and turns the television off. She straddles his lap and drapes her arms over his shoulders, and Dante gulps as he looks up at her smile.

“It was such a nice night. You were so sweet with your parents,” she sighs. She leans in and kisses his cheek, making Dante jump. “And no arguing either. I’m very proud of you.”

“So you uh… you’re not mad about the guns?” he asks.

Lir shakes her head. “No. In fact…” Her voice trails off as she drags her palms down his chest, making his breath catch. “I think it’s kind of hot.”

“Really?” he asks, brows shooting up in surprise. She nods, and then rocks her hips, and Dante bites back a groan. Even through the fabric of his shorts he can feel how hot she is, and he has a very firm suspicion that if he lifted her gown, he’d find she was wearing nothing underneath.

Lir continues grinding against him, tilting close enough to brush her lips on his. Dante sucks in a breath as his body sparks to life instantly, grabbing her hips to slow her for a moment before he gets completely hard and can’t think.

But her fingers teasing his hair and her lips dancing along his jaw makes it hard enough already. “Everything okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, I just…”

He doesn’t know how to continue, but just then Lir pulls her nightgown off over her head and tosses it away. Dante’s eyes bulge when he sees he was right about nothing underneath, and his eyes dart downwards as she slides one hand down his stomach, a mischievous grin on her face. She tugs at the waistband of his shorts and he gives a huff. This is his dream, right? So he shouldn’t feel guilty. Not at all. Especially when she reaches inside and licks her lips, the guilt melting away as he sinks against the mattress with a groan.

#dmc #devil may cry #dmc dante #dmc vergil #dmc nero #dmc v #dmc lady #dmc sparda #dmc eva #dmc oc #lir #fan fiction #myfic #the wish

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kethsi · 5 years ago

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Archery Practice

Arianwyn Cadarn is an excellent leader. He’s not a very good adoptive father, though. -- Warnings include unhealthy thought process (what else is new?), Mentions of mild child neglect, mention of animal death (Wolves, Bears, Pawyas), past character death and talk of wars. -- Islwyn Cadarn, last known living relative of fabled king Baxtorian Cadarn and great queen Glarial, is a realist. Really, he is. He looks at every situation through a critical lens, analyzes it, compares the pros and the cons in his mind, and decides what course of action he’d take form here. Really, there’s no reason not to do this. He may only be twelve decades old, but that was old enough to be considered an adult, by elven standards. Besides, this is a method that proved itself effective so far. After all, this exact same approach is part of how his grandfather conquered Kandarin. Naturally, what was good enough for one of the most powerful elves in history was more than good enough for Islwyn. In his current situation, Islwyn wasn’t quite ready to learn more complex magics from the book his mother left him – he simply didn’t have the energy reserves for the more elaborate spells he hasn’t mastered yet, and most elves in Lletya weren’t much help either. Sure, he practiced daily, and he was pretty good at many spells, too, but energy reserves grow and develop with time, as does one’s magical ability. So in the meantime – meantime being the last half decade or so – Islwyn Cadarn went on to practice archery. He knew the basics, of course, he was a member of clan Cadarn, thank you very much – but that alone didn’t make him good at it. So he practiced, using training bows made of pine wood or Kandarinian oak – because using a crystal bow, or a bow made of the local magic trees would be too easy. He’d be tempted to let his soul sing with the crystal, which would guide his arrows to the targets, or sync his magical abilities with those of the magic bow, and all progress will be lost. It wouldn’t truly be his own achievement. Not in archery, at least. It would simply be another way to train magic, but it isn’t what he needs right now. Right now he needs practice.

Easier said than done, though. All around him, other elves were chattering excitedly at one another. He didn’t know the reason, and he didn’t care enough at the moment to find out. He was training by the flax field, so of course others would be passing by to pick some for their own purposes, from time to time. Some of the voices were too high pitched to him though, and too laced with negativity. Whines and complaints of children at parents. The seeds of tantrums soon to bloom. He released his grip on the bowstring, slightly irritated. The arrow flew forward with a quiet whistle before hitting the spot he was aiming for, the center of a flax flower he attached to the archery target. It wasn’t that he was keen on destroying flowers, but he needed to justify aiming elsewhere when the true center held too many arrows to keep shooting at. Besides, the flax flowers were calming enough to look at, and he liked having them in his field of vision even when he wasn’t actively aiming at them. “I don’t care!” some child yelled. “We had bear stew for three days! I want something else!” The next arrow hit one of the petals, a bit too high. “I’m sorry, dear,” the woman next to the child – presumably his mother – tried, gently. “There isn’t much else right now.” “Isn’t there any pawya?” Tak. Another arrow missed its mark by about two inches. Islwyn Cadarn wasn’t very good at concentrating with loud noises around. Shame on him. He should do better. “The hunters won’t return until tomorrow morning”, the mother replied. “We can go get things first thing in the morning, if you want”. “They’re taking too long,” the child whined. “They’re bad hunters. Why couldn’t the good ones go hunting instead?”. This arrow lodged itself in the ground. Islwyn sure felt mediocre now, looking at all the missed spots. He frowned, lowering his bow. Six of his last twenty shots didn’t seem to hit their marks. He would blame it on his own agitation, his own unbalanced reaction to the noise around him, but that would not be fair. “War isn’t quiet”, Arianwyn always said. “The noise” isn’t an excuse he could use to justify missing targets, adversaries that could be lethal to his clan if they ever have to defend Lletya from possible Iorwerth invasion in case it is discovered. Still, he couldn’t prevent his selfish thoughts from gnawing at his mind. He couldn’t stop the passing thoughts that these kids are lucky to be raised like that. With parents they could whine to about anything. He didn’t have anyone to complain to, growing up. He lost his mother long ago. Didn’t even know his father. Islwyn Cadarn had to be a responsible child, because he was raised by Lord Cadarn himself, and because he was the grandson of two figures he never met and whose shoes he was expected to fill regardless, as if it was easy. As if it was possible at all, to become as powerful as two mages who shaped the world around them everywhere they walked. He was expected to shut up and do better, always. The current Lord Cadarn hated it when he complained. Islwyn sighed, walking forward. Lletya was getting busy, noisy, as it always did during the early hours of the afternoon. No sense to continue practicing now. Not here, at least. He won’t make much progress. He decided to pluck the arrows out of the wooden target. He wouldn’t want high and mighty Arianwyn to receive complaints about Islwyn’s behavior, now. It would reflect poorly on the both of them, would it not? Surely, Lord Cadarn shouldn’t be lenient on such displays of laziness. Islwyn himself would be seen as a spoiled princeling who expects everyone to clean up after him because his family ties got to his head. Absurd. He was always judged based on “What would Baxtorian say? What would Eirlys think?” What would it matter? They were dead. They weren’t coming back. Why did everyone insist on lecturing him about the dangers of disappointing a family that wasn’t there to disappoint, anyway? There was only Arianwyn. Being close friends with Islwyn’s mother, he agreed to raise her little orphan son. He always reminded Islwyn of that. Always kept some forced formality between them. Ever since Islwyn could remember, he was expected to treat Arianwyn as a lord, and Arianwyn treated Islwyn like something of the sort, too. Not that he ever let Islwyn make any decision or have an actual say in anything, but he made sure to act as if Islwyn was an adult, effectively erasing any trace of free time or “undesirable” hobbies Islwyn had. Except the magic. Arianwyn never had it in him to prevent Islwyn from studying and practicing that. Regardless, Islwyn never really had a proper childhood. Never had a chance to disagree with Arianwyn on anything. Never got comforted when he cried. He was simply told to act in a way befitting of his heritage. Conveniently, he was also told that his grandfather’s grief over the loss of his grandmother was private. That mighty king Baxtorian would put the morale of his troops above his own need to mourn. Even worse, he was told that his mother would do the same on her deathbed. More concerned about the healers who were supposed to help getting their eight hours of sleep than she was with her own pain. Naturally, selfishness in any form was never allowed. So he kept his selfishness in his thoughts, and kept those thoughts to himself. Good, Merciful Seren, he thought. Thank you for making us incapable of peering into one another’s thoughts. I would’ve gotten an earful for that, too. Having collected all the arrows, Islwyn was soon on his way home. It was the best part of being an adult, really. Lletya wasn’t all that big, but it still had plenty of room for him to construct his own little house, with the help of some ex-members of clan Ithell, engineers and siege weapon operators who married Cadarn elves after the war. Honestly, living on his own without Arianwyn’s judging (or sometimes pitying) glances and annoying, disappointed commentary. Still, he had to pass by Arianwyn’s house more often than not, as it had provided a rather convenient shortcut to Eudav’s general store, where Islwyn would sometimes sell the bones of dire wolves he had slain. Islwyn had no wolf bones in his bag today, but he found himself passing by Arianwyn’s place out of habit. He caught himself and tried to increase his pace. The unmistakable whistles of arrows stopped him in his tracks. He looked around, easily spotting Arianwyn, outside his own house, shooting a target as well. Islwyn wanted to look away, but the clan leader was impressive to say the least. With three shots a second, Islwyn was shocked to see some of the wooden targets held hundreds of arrows, so close together that some were somehow lodged not in the targets themselves but between two other arrows, each target forming simple shapes or designs. He recognized some from his studies. These were the clan sigils. Owl, for Amlodd, hare for Hefin, an acorn and a leaf for Crwys… He wasn’t sure he recognized the symbol Arianwyn was making at the moment though. It looked like some crystal with a messy background. “Ithell,” Arianwyn said out loud, making Islwyn jump. He did not take his eyes off the target though, nor did he stop shooting arrows. “At least it’s supposed to be. But I can’t make a proper lyre to save my life.” Islwyn nodded, respectfully. “It’s quite remarkable, actually” he heard himself say. “Just a little hard to recognize with two smaller crystals still missing…” Arianwyn nodded and lowered his bow and looked at him. Only, it was more like a stare. The leader was studying him intently, expression unreadable. The younger elf quickly realized what he’s done. “Oh, I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to distract you, Lord Cadarn,” he apologized. “I’ll be on my way-“ “Islwyn” Islwyn flinched. “…Yes?” Arianwyn’s expression softened suddenly. He seemed uncertain, just for a moment, before taking a step in Islwyn’s direction and offering him his own bow. “Would you like to add them?” “I- what?” “The other crystals.” Arianwyn answered, gently. “Oh. Sorry, I’d really rather not.” Arianwyn was giving him that look again. The one he didn’t understand. The leader of the Cadarns was regarding him with some weird, uncharacteristic guarded gentleness, as if Islwyn would vanish into thin air if the other elf dared to make any sudden movements. There was something apologetic in his eyes and in the way he held his bow for Islwyn to take. Finally, seeing he would get no other reply, Arianwyn nodded. “It’s a shame,” he said. “You have your own bows, I was told you’ve been practicing for a few years now, and you never brought it up.” “I picked it up again” Islwyn shrugged. “Five years ago. I think.” Of course, he was taught archery as a child, too. All Cadarn children were expected to know the basics, after all. Arianwyn just never seemed very eager to teach him. So when he decided to start training on his own, he didn’t feel the need to involve Arianwyn in his decision making. “That’s wonderful” Arianwyn smiled. “do you like it better now?” Islwyn hesitated. He couldn’t say for sure. He enjoyed some aspects, sure. He liked the precision, the sound arrows made when flying towards a target, the way his heartbeat stabilized when he was concentrating… …The fact that training arrows weren’t volatile and wouldn’t explode if he did something wrong, the way magic might… “I think so” he admitted. It was true enough. Even if in all honesty, he was just trying to improve because he genuinely wanted to be better at something than the elf who raised him. Well, after today’s display… Islwyn should certainly cross anything involving arrows off the list. Arianwyn paused again. “Would you join me in training, at least?” “With all due respect, I don’t think you need training, Lord Cadarn.” Arianwyn shook his head. “I do,” he sighed, glancing between his targets and the younger elf. “I shouldn’t waste your time with beginner stuff, though.” “You’ve passed beginner levels long ago, Islwyn. I’ve heard you’ve been developing your own style.” Islwyn shrugged. He was trying, that was for certain. He was pretty handy with a crystal bow, though, having practiced with it for two years. Crystal bows are interesting weapons, offering high accuracy to those who sacrificed raw strength and vice versa, creating their own arrows of pure energy designed to accommodate the user’s style and choices. They were exhausting to use for long periods of time, but the results certainly spoke for themselves. “Not very fair to say that, though,” Islwyn countered. “I think my bow decided to develop its own style. I merely happened to be present to witness it the longest, so I picked up a thing or two.” “You’ve achieved a perfect harmony, then” Arianwyn pointed out. “I could really use a helping hand with that. I think mine doesn’t like me very much.” Whatever Islwyn expected to hear in an answer from Arianwyn… That definitely wasn’t it. He stopped to think for a moment. Arianwyn was great at both crystal singing and archery. There is no reason for a crystal bow to not function perfectly in the hands of the leader. Then again, Arianwyn did mention, once or twice, that this wasn’t his own bow. Maybe… “Well, in that case, I could use some help with improving my speed. I don’t think I can fire ten-thousand arrows an hour.” Arianwyn’s face broke into a wide smile. “Neither can I.” Huh. Who would’ve thought… “All right,” Islwyn allowed a small smile form on his own face. “I’ll settle for nine thousand, then.”

#runescape #Islwyn #Arianwyn #Islwyn Cadarn #Arianwyn Cadarn #I'm back on my bullshit #Wrote that for myself but feel free to read if you wanna #This thing is called 'Archery practice' but is should be called 'practice fic' because I'm only just remembering how to English properly #First of probably 5 parts all of which are motivated by my salt at Jagex's bad handling of their own canon #long post

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caranfindel · 6 years ago

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Recap/review 14.13: “Lebanon”

THEN: They hit me right in the face with gorgeous young 1.01 Dean saying "Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days" and beautiful baby 1.01 Sam saying "we've got work to do" and we end with 14.12 and Sam furiously punching his brother and then furiously hugging him and Dean saying "let's go home" and does anything else matter? No.

NOW: We see the reflection of Sam and Dean walking up to a pawn shop, with a nice selection of guitars and sunglasses and that weird monkey that was in Rocky's Bar. The proprietor seems friendly enough. Dean flashes him a wad of hundred dollar bills because they're looking for "the really good stuff." This gains them admittance into a secret back room full of things hunters would be interested in, including a hockey mask (?) and a perfume atomizer full of dragon's breath. They tell the guy they're looking for the skull of a specific woman who was executed during the Salem witch trials, and the fact that he has it basically proves that he killed the friend of theirs who previously owned it. (Also Sam picks up a teddy bear and starts to pull the string to make it speak and the guys warns him not to and this is Dean's role, isn't it, messing with things he shouldn't be messing with? But I don't care because chastized Sam and eye-rolly Dean are precious to me.)

Sam goes through a ledger of the guy's inventory and says he's got a lot of occult objects that they should take with them. (Dean plays with the dragon's breath. Sam ducks and flinches and does the really, Dean? thing with his hands and face. I laugh again.) Dean agrees they should take the stuff home.

Title card!

The Impala zooms past a sign welcoming us to Lebanon, Geographical Center of the USA. Then we find ourselves in front of a movie theater showing Beetlejuice and Hell Hazers (All Saints' Day is coming soon, and I imagine Route 666 can't be far behind), where a group of teenagers is talking about... somebody. "People say they're brothers," a kid in a knit cap says, "but all I know is, I was standing right here, and I heard this bam from the trunk of their car. And then, this like, shallow breathing." I'm pretty sure this is a fake-out, and it will turn out he's talking about someone else, but the Impala pulls up in front of the theater and Knit Cap Kid says "that's them!"

As the Winchesters get out of the car and enter a liquor store (decorated with that Family Business neon sign from Rocky's), Sam is still reading the ledger, which lists things like a hangman's rope, fairy dust, and John Wayne Gacy's cigar box. Well, that's oddly specific! The guy working there greets the "Campbell brothers" and knows their usual order. Oh, wow. I love that they're actually known in Lebanon, and that they're going by Campbell. And we know that actual Lebanon, Kansas is too small to have a movie theater or this much business downtown, but I'm happy to handwave that.

What do you mean, "happy to handwave that?" You're always complaining about the inaccuracies regarding tiny Lebanon having traffic cams and whatnot.

Well, maybe this episode just MAKES ME HAPPY, okay?

Anyway. Sam thinks cataloguing the confiscated items would be a good way to take Dean's mind off "things," but Dean's pretty convinced nothing will ever take his mind off that.

Outside, the teens are asking where the guys even come from, and what about their weird trenchcoat-wearing sidekick, and "that kid with the dumb Bambi look on his face all the time" (!) One girl says that, whatever the deal is with these guys, they do have an awesome car, and no one can argue with that. And the other girl, Max, who seems to smitten with the first girl, gets an idea.

Inside, Sam has discovered something significant in the ledger - the "beyzoo" (no, I know that's not how you spell it), which is one of eight ancient Chinese treasures. A pearl that gives you "what your heart desires." Oooh, getting rid of Michael, maybe? But as the guys are discussing this, Dean sees the Impala drive by the window. Guess Max figured out how to impress that other girl! (BTW, there are couple of COOL old trucks on the street.)

The guys see Knit Cap Kid standing on the sidewalk looking confused, and while Sam tells him the car is dangerous to whoever stole it, Dean looks like he wants to murder someone. And yet the Winchesters are confused when the kid says he doesn't want to die. (Or get locked in the trunk!) He says Max is new and he doesn't know where she lives. Dean raises a fist, but Sam pulls him away.

MURDER. I'D MURDER THEM.

Post office. There's a poster of stamps featuring old cars behind the customer service counter. I'm really getting my old truck fix tonight. Sam comes in with his sweet anxious smile and asks for help finding the girl who washed his car, since he forgot to tip her. Post Office Lady is not amused or helpful, or the least bit swayed by his sweet anxious smile. Then Dean comes in and calls her by name and asks about her grandson and she MELTS and he gets sincere and puts his hand on hers and she does exactly what I would do, which is offer up ANYTHING YOU WANT, ANYTHING AT ALL, WOULD YOU LIKE MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER WHILE I'M AT IT? Unfortunately, all she knows is where Max's mother works.

SAM’S FACE.

(Sidebar: Have I mentioned that Sam is wearing that nice blue jacket from the episode where he killed the alpha vampire? I like it. Toss that stupid orange jacket, Sam, and wear this more often. And Dean's wearing the black jacket that I always love.)

At the restaurant where Max's mom works, we learn that she has no idea where her daughter is, because she was supposed to be in school. But the guy working in the kitchen knows February 7 is Skip Day (is it always February 7? what about when that falls on a weekend?) and that she'll probably be at a party at this old house on Route 36. (Yes, I did confirm that Route 36 is just outside of Lebanon. Yes, I did use Mapquest. I'm old school up in here, y'all.)

Party house. The little batch of delinquents has taken all the boxes of occult objects out of the Impala for some reason. Including the evil teddy bear. Luckily, someone announces "pizza's here" before a girl pulls the teddy bear's string. At some point I've got to find out what would happen if you pulled it. Fic it for me, friends! (Also, I just noticed the teddy bear's mouth is SEWN SHUT and that's not creepy AT ALL.) The camera slowly pans to a wooden box, and we watch the lid open to reveal a smoky/dusty ghost hand. With a ruffled sleeve. Uh oh.

Knit Cap Kid runs in to warn the partiers that "those guys" are looking for Max, and he's told to chill. Another teen goes into the bathroom, where the mirror frosts over and then the CREEPIEST CLOWN EVER comes out of it. Seriously, creepier than the clown in Plush, which you wouldn't think was possible.

The Winchesters pull up in yet another antique truck, where Dean greets his car with "Baby, Baby, please tell me you're not hurt." Sam's more concerned about the boxes of dangerous occult objects missing from the back seat. Ghost Kid comes running outside and the girl following him tells the brothers that he saw a clown ghost that tried to kill him. Maybe it's my imagination, or maybe Sam has a flash of crap, a killer clown ghost expression before they run into the house.

Dean announces they're FBI and everyone needs to get out, now. Once the room is cleared, he asks if "anything screams clown to you?" Sam immediately notices John Wayne Gacy's cigar box and guys, I'm ashamed to say I didn't put the two together until now. The killer clown ghost is John Wayne Gacy. And Sam is freaked the fuck out about it. "We should burn that right now," Dean says, in a lovely holding-in-the-freakout way, and Sam rushes to throw it into the fireplace. Then Dean says "I mean, this is like a best worst thing that's ever happened, because you love serial killers, but you hate clowns" and I'm DEAD. (I'm also loving TWO gifts from the Continuity Fairy in once sentence.) The lights start flashing before Sam can get his lighter lit, and then the killer clown ghost shows up and tosses Dean around. Knit Cap Kid and the girls run back inside just in time to watch John Wayne Gacy's ghost go up in flames. So the kids get the "monsters are real" speech and are told to keep it secret.

Back at the bunker, Sam's going through the occult goodies and thinks he found the magic pearl. Dean's ready to use it right now, and dismisses Sam's suggestion that they call Mary or Cas. If it doesn't work, he doesn't want to have gotten their hopes up. Sam looks distressed at the idea it won't work, but agrees. The pearl doesn't come with any instructions, so Sam suggests Dean hold it and concentrate on what his heart desires. "Michael out of my head," Dean says, and I'd have been more specific. I'd have concentrated on Michael out of my head and destroyed, and me perfectly fine, but, well, what do I know?

(Also, I KNOW all you Wincest and Destiel fans are gonna have your own ideas about what - or who - appears in front of Dean when he’s granted what his heart desires. This setup is better than sex pollen. Have fun, my kinky little friends.)

Dean clutches the pearl and concentrates, and the lights flash and then go out, and in the red emergency light we see someone in the bunker. Someone fighty, who knocks both brothers down and then pulls out a shotgun and says "don't you move," but it's a familiar voice and then the lights come on and what do you know? Winchester Surprise!

So, was anybody truly surprised? I covered the guest stars on first viewing, as I always try to do, but I noticed on rewatch that they didn't even credit JDM at the beginning of the episode. Which they sometimes do, to avoid spoilers. And yet. Has there been a single episode of this series that was more spoiled? I don't think so.

(Sidebar: What do you think would have happened if Sam had taken the pearl and made a wish? I think Michael would be gone. Because I don't think there's anything Sam wants more than saving his brother.)

Back to our story. Everyone is shocked. John thinks Sam should be in Palo Alto, apparently in his 14th year of post graduate work. He thinks he's still in 2003, and he doesn't notice his boys are older. And they apparently don't notice that his hair is very short and a lot greyer than it was when we last saw him. (I mean, really, they slapped a wig on Samantha Smith to make her look like The Last Version Of Mary, so why couldn't they do the same thing with JDM? It's distracting.) Sam figures they must have accidentally summoned John from the past. So they do what one does in this situation - sit down and drink.

John's astonished. Dean's proud. Sam's visibly anxious. We don't get to see exactly how much of the backstory they tell him, but they do tell him about the apocalypse and Lucifer and living with "an angel and Lucifer's kid." And now John thinks he died "taking out Yellow Eyes," which... not really? But okay. And they don't tell him Mary's back, until he mentions her and Sam's, all, yeah, about Mom, and then she comes in and John hears her voice and tears up and dammit. This reunion is everything I didn't think I ever wanted. I mean, I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not a fan of John Winchester. He's a fascinating character and JDM does a great job with him, but he's such an awful father (don't bother arguing with me, you will not change my mind) that I can't really like him. And I'm not too impressed with resurrected Mary, either. But when these two come together... damn. It's good. It's very good. Well done, you two.

I love that the boys give them some privacy, because it's been over a decade since John saw them, but it's been even longer since he saw his dead wife, and this should really be a John and Mary reunion.

Out in the hall, Dean's gleeful and Sam's all, how the hell did this happen? Dean explains that he's wanted this since he was four years old (oh, my heart) but Sam warns that messing with time will not end well. I don't actually remember Sam being that concerned about the unintended consequences of time travel, but I'm sure there's a good reason he's bringing it up now. Dean doesn't care. Dean just wants one family dinner together (oh, my heart again, remembering his one last dinner with Mary).

Sam, sans Dean, runs into John in the library, because Mary's off making a shopping list and he decided he'd rather examine the bunker than be involved in that I guess? Okay. But then this happens.

I screwed up with you a lot, didn't I?

No, that's okay.

No, it's not. Sammy, tell me the truth.

I don't want to talk about that.

You didn't have a problem talking about it before you left.

Dad. For me, that fight, that was a lifetime ago. I don't even remember what I said. I mean, yeah, you know, you did some messed-up things. But I don't... I mean, when I think about you... and I think about you a lot... I don't think about our fights. I think about you... I think about you on the floor of that hospital, and I think about how I never got to say goodbye.

Sam. Son. I am so sorry.

I'm sorry too. But you did your best, Dad. You fought for us, and you loved us. And that's enough.

OH MY GOD. This is everything I ever wanted.

1. John admitting he was a crap parent to Sam.

2. Sam trying to sidestep that - because he's Sam Winchester and that's what he does - and John not letting him.

3. Sam finally calling him out instead of just saying nah, it's fine.

4. John calling him Sammy.

5. Sam pointing out that he didn't get a goodbye from John. (Did he ever find out that Dean got praise and an apology?)

6. John apologizing.

7. Sam forgiving him.

8. "And I think about you a lot."

9. The way Sam keeps having to stop talking and look away and make that little "hmmm" noise.

10. And the tears.

10b. The way Sam tears up even before The Talk, when he remembers them as kids trying to make Winchester Surprise.

11. The shaky voice.

12. And Sam's shirt.

13. And the way Sam's expression looks so much like his expression in Sacrifice, when he tells Dean that his confession was about how he let his brother down.

This, right here, is two minutes and 24 seconds of the best television I've ever seen. I don't care what else this episode does, this 2:24 is worth it. And yes, this is three weeks in a row that Jared Padalecki has ripped my heart out of my chest and STOMPED ON IT.

And I love it.

Meanwhile, Dean gets the shopping list from Mary. Sam finds him and tells him he's right, because Sam also just got everything he ever wanted, and then offers to go shopping with him. (Saaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmm!!!!!!!)

When they get to town, the guys split up - Sam to the grocery store, Dean to the liquor store. Dean's surprised to see the liquor store guy, the one who remembered his "usual" earlier in the day, has no idea who he is. If Dean had ever seen "It's a Wonderful Life," he might say this is just like when George Bailey goes into Martini's Bar and isn't recognized. But apparently Dean Winchester, pop culture aficionado, has never seen that movie (no, I haven't gotten over that, and I never will) so he doesn't recognize a classic uh oh, we changed the course of history moment when he experiences it.

Meanwhile, Sam steps out of the grocery store and finds that neither Max nor the postal clerk recognize him. And then he sees a wanted poster in the post office window. Dean Winchester, wanted for assault, murder, and credit card fraud. Whoops! He trots to the car, where Dean is waiting, and tells him they have a problem. "Yeah, we do," says Dean. "Check this out."

He shows Sam his phone and it's a video of SAM IN GLASSES AND A BLACK TURTLENECK AND SLICKED BACK HAIR GIVING A TED TALK. HE RUNS A LAW FIRM AND LOVES KALE. IT IS THE SECOND MOST AMAZING THING I'VE SEEN TONIGHT.

HE'S STEVE JOBS.

So, those of you who were spoiled... did you know about this? Or did they actually keep THIS AMAZING THING under wraps?

Sam Jobs tells his audience that being your best leaves no time for hobbies or a family, and Sam has seen enough. He tells Dean about the wanted poster, and Dean says yes, of course he googled himself too ("a lot of beheadings," hee!!!) and wonders if there are alternate versions of them running around. Sam thinks it's a "temporal paradox," and time is self-correcting, changing to the new one. If they don't fix things, they'll become those alternate versions of themselves. "Well, I'm cool," Dean says, "but you're, ugh." Sam's less worried about them, and more worried about what else might have changed.

(Sidebar: You know, I could quibble about why bringing John forward in time has such a significant butterfly effect, but bringing Mary back, and their other time travel, and Henry's time travel, changed nothing. I absolutely could. But I choose not to, because SAM JOBS, Y'ALL. But okay, let's think about it. 2003 John would have disappeared while Sam was at Stanford. Dean wouldn't have gone to get Sam. Or Sam would have refused to go. Maybe the hurt on both sides was still too fresh. Maybe that's why Dean's hunting alone, and Sam's an internet-famous lawyer.)

What else has changed, you might ask? How about ZACHARIAH? That's right, my favorite angel is back. And with him is ORIGINAL FLAVOR CAS WITH HIS FLUFFY HAIR AND THINGS JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER AND BETTER. Zachariah calls him "Constantine" and Castiel says "I don't understand that reference" and THANK YOU BABY JESUS, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID TO DESERVE THIS, BUT THANK YOU. They enter Max's mom's restaurant and ask who's been messing with time. (Because she would know?) And if they don't start talking, he'll have Cas murder all of them. "My name is Castiel," he intones solemnly. "I'm an angel of the Lord." YES YOU ARE. He reveals himself like he did to Dean (no, not like that, jeez) with the shadow wings. Outside, the Winchesters see the bright light of an angelic reveal coming through the restaurant windows, and they know something's up.

They herd everyone out of the restaurant, and are shocked to see Cas and Zachariah. Zachariah is equally surprised to see them. He says they had big plans for the Winchesters, but then their father disappeared and... and he doesn't finish, so we'll never know why yoinking John out of 2003 changed any of that vessel stuff. (Handwave!) Cas, of course, doesn't know them, and when Zachariah orders him to kill them, he complies.

Dean pulls out an angel blade but is, of course, unwilling to actually kill Cas, so he starts hitting him with other things. And Cas, for whatever reason, doesn't just put a finger on his forehead and kill him dead. (Handwave!) Zachariah chokes Sam and asks him what they did, even though he can't talk because he's choking (handwave!) and Sam acts like he's trying to speak so Zachariah gets closer to hear him, and Sam stabs him with an angel blade. Cas continues fistfighting with both of them, and slams Sam head-first into a table a couple of times, leaving him spitting blood on the floor. Which Sam uses to paint an angel-banishing sigil while Cas is choking Dean. Smart Sam for the win!

Bunker. Pretty bruised Dean has explained the temporal paradox, and John accepts that he has to go back, or else Mary will probably disappear. "Okay," he says. "I mean, me versus your mom, that's not even a choice." DAMMIT JOHN WINCHESTER DO NOT MAKE ME CARE ABOUT YOU. Elsewhere, pretty bruised Sam explains it to Mary, and tells her John won't remember anything.

John tells Dean he never meant Dean to have this kind of life. He's proud of him, but he hoped he'd be able to have a normal life, with a family. "I have a family," Dean says. They sit down and have one final family meal together, and everyone's quiet and sad until John points out that they can either think about what's going to happen, or appreciate what they have right now. They cheer up and listen to Bob Seger (well, we listen to Bob Seger) and talk and laugh and have the family dinner Dean has always wanted.

Later, while doing the dishes, Sam says how unfair it is that they all had this and then have to throw it away, and John has to go back to being Dad. He thinks it would be nice for John to go back knowing what he knows now. "I used to think that too," Dean says, and admits that he's blamed both John and Mary for their crappy lives. And if they could send him back to 2003, or even earlier, maybe none of the crap would happen. "But here's the problem. Who does that make us? Would we be better off? Maybe. But I gotta be honest, I don't know who that Dean Winchester is. And I'm good with who I am. I'm good with who you are."

Later. Mary and John are holding hands, and I guess they're doing the thing now. I'd hoped they'd at least let these two have one last roll in the hay (especially since I'm pretty sure Mobby is permanently done after this), but no. They have a very sweet goodbye and their sons are brokenhearted and I am too. John tells his boys to take care of each other and Sam says "we always do." That's a nice change from telling Dean to take care of Sam, isn't it? He tells them both (BOTH) that he's proud of them and loves them, and they have a three-way hug and Sam wipes his eyes and Dean says "love you too" and I REALLY CAN'T, BOYS, YOU HAVE TO STOP. Then John takes Mary's hand again and Sam crushes the pearl (why does Sam have to be the one to do it?) and John glows and then fades away.

We get a quick glimpse of downtown Lebanon returning to normal, and the three teens talking about how cool it is that "those guys hunt monsters," and then we're back to the bunker. Cas walks in the door and sees the remaining Winchesters, obviously distressed, and asks what happened. "Well, there's a story," says Dean.

And finally, we see the Impala WITH HER ORIGINAL KANSAS PLATE. John's asleep in the driver's seat when he gets a phone call from Dean. "No, I'm okay, I just had one hell of a dream. No, it was a good one."

GUYS. GUYS.

When I heard there was going to be a musical episode for the 200th, I was sure it would suck. When I heard about the Scooby Doo crossover, I cringed, because I knew it would be awful. WHY AM I ALWAYS SO WRONG.

Eh, who cares why. Let's just appreciate what we were given. Happy 300, my friends. Here's to 300 more.

(Please help me stay unspoiled for future episodes, thanks!)

#spn #recap #tv recaps #14.13 #things that make my heart hurt #sam winchester #dean winchester #john winchester #mary winchester

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ty-talks-comics · 5 years ago

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Best of Marvel: Week of May 8th, 2019

Best of this Week: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 (Legacy #30) - Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal, Nolan Woodard, Federico Blee and Travis Lanham

I wasn’t expecting to be punched in the gut today.

The book begins with Spider-Man at the whim of Doctor Octopus, trapped under a cable from the Manhattan Bridge with the villain holding a boxed macguffin above his head. Suddenly, a new hero emerges: Spider-Bite a nine and half year old who handedly defeats Doc Ock until Vulture flies him away. With the young Spiders help, Peter is able to get the cable lifted from his back and the two chase down the fiends!

Upon making it onto the train that the two escaped to, it is revealed to be a trap set by The Green Goblin who reveals his new team of villains; The Sinister Sixty! In a beautiful, but very chaotic, double page spread of a STAGGERING SIXTY panels, the two defeat the villains before the real mastermind is revealed, a very upgraded Stilt-Man. Together, Spider-Man and Spider-Bite defeat Stilt-Man and retrieve the box, containing a Spider-Man action figure with many points of articulation and it is a very, very fun adventure! Until Spider-Bite starts coughing.

AND HERE’S THE GUT PUNCH.

I won’t spoil what happens for the rest of the issue, but the title of the book really lives up to ts idea. It’s not too often that we get these kinds of issue where a hero will do something small for the citizens of their universe. There’s always a huge threat or big bad villain to combat, but hardly time to be grounded, to connect with the reason that they fight crime in the first place. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been surprisingly amazing thus far when it comes to storytelling and art. While I have complained the Cabal’s art made NYC feel empty in the past, this book felt so full of life, even when there was so much happening on screen that it became a little hard to focus, he pulled it back. The action was amazing, dynamic and had a great flow to it, making sure that neither Spider-Man nor Spider-Bite completely outshined each other, but still giving most of the spotlight to the kid.

I want to see more issues like this from more series. Even if they’re only just fillers because this one was all kinds of exciting and heartbreaking and insanely inspiring at the same time. I highly recommend everyone to read this. Even if you haven’t read the other issues, this one stands up on its own as a very heartfelt story.

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

There’s no hope for redemption in Namor now.

Runner Up: Invaders #5 - Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno, Butch Guice and Travis Lanham

Namor has always skirted the line between anti-hero and villain during his many years of publication. He fought against the Nazis in World War II, but he’s also had stalemates with world Governments for their treatments of the sea. He’s stood up for mutant rights, but he’s also become part of the Phoenix Force and fought the Avengers. He’s helped saved the universe more times than he can count, but he’s also helped destroy many more.

The last few years haven’t exactly been kind to him either. Between being murdered and brought back to life by the Squadron Supreme, losing control of Atlantis to Hydra Cap and having Celestials crash down into his home, Namor has had enough. Enlisting the help of the US Navy Commander grandson of one of his WWII war buddies, Namor plans to launch bombs that supposedly only targets humans.

Steve finds out about the initial plans and tries his best to cut off the Commander before he can help initiate the launch. He calls the Admiral in charge of the ship that the missiles are held on and when she tries to intervene, she and her crew are viciously murdered by the Commander and other Atlanteans.

At the same time, original Human Torch, Jim Hammond, tries to find Namor to put a stop to his plans, but is ambushed by the madman. Namor savagely beats him and notes that Jim could have helped Atlantis rebuild after its destruction during Secret Empire. Hammond tries to appeal to Namor's emotions and uses their friendship, but whatever Charles Xavier did to him during his amnesia period has driven him mad with grief and rage. Namor, egged on by the ghost of his best human friend, Tommy, says that he does what he does for his people and decapitates Hammond.

Captain America arrives shortly after calling the Avengers to help stop the launched missiles. He tells Namor that his plan has failed, that the Avengers will stop The Commanders missiles and they do. But Namor, being the cunning King/Prince he is, notes that while that may be true, they didn't stop the missiles that Atlantis launched in “retaliation” to America's aggression.

In my opinion, Namor has truly never been better than he is right now. His rage and deepening insanity are making him a more compelling character than his times as a petulant king or reluctant supervillain. I love the callbacks to his early Invaders years and the time gap between his disappearance and him being found post amnesia. This is the unhinged man that we all knew that he could be and I am here for it.

There's also a sort of Shakespearean quality to the story being told. The Prince is going mad because of the ghosts that he's seeing, with greater power than he has ever wielded. He betrays his friends and everyone else close to him because he only feels that they are out to destroy him, so he, in mad arrogance, goes after them. It's tragic to see a hero fall like this, which only makes this even more perfect.

Not only is the story awesome, but Guice and Magno's art still compliment and enhance each other. Magno draws everything with a beautiful near realism and colors very brightly, contrasting the very dark tone of the story. I particularly love the way that he depicts The Human Torch and how he looks enveloped in fire. Guice, of course, still dips in the grit and grim of the 1940s and shows a bit of a lighter side to Namor, back in the good old days.

Invaders continues to captivate me and seeing the new lengths that Namor is willing to go to protect us people is terrifying. I'm gleefully anticipating the next issue, high recommend!

#comics #marvel #marvel comics #friendly neighborhood spiderman #spiderman #tom taylor #juann cabal #invaders #namor #captain america #human torch #jim hammond #chip zdarsky #butch guice #carlos magno

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grungyblonde · 6 years ago

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Gone Away

Chapter 3

Summary: When Ubbe has to depart for the raids, he leaves his young wife and child in the care of the only person he trusts to watch over them, his brother Hvitserk. What follows is a tale of love, betrayal, and brotherhood.

————————-//——————————

“And what do you dream of Ubbe?”

Ubbe looked down in slight surprise. Ubbe had sought out Brenna at every corner for the past week, constantly calling on her. But the young woman had proven to be quite shy. She never rejected him, his words or his presence. Nor his gentle kisses. He did most of the talking and every time she smiled back or answered in her short quiet words, it was enough.

They had been walking through the busy market square, Ubbe proudly tucking her close against him as he told her of his brothers.

“They all dream of glory. They want to be as great as Father was. Before he left.”

“And what do you dream of Ubbe?”

After a moment he chuckled slightly, almost as if he had been exposed. “Nothing so grand. I want to be known as a brave warrior, of course. But I want more than that.”

“More?”

“Yes,” Ubbe studied something in the distance for a moment; it was his turn to be shy. He returned his gaze to Brenna, a soft smile playing on his lips. “I want to be happy. I do not believe my father was ever truly happy. I want a simpler life than he had. I want to get married. Have a good wife. Someone I can cherish and who will cherish me in return.” His smile grew slightly devious as we waggled his brows at her, “And children. I want many children.”

Brenna blushed and cast her eyes down but Ubbe felt her move a little closer into his side. As they reached the outskirts of the market Ubbe turned the young woman to face him, holding her by the hands as he looked to her curiously.

“But what are your dreams Brenna?”

She did not answer him, instead looking away as she chewed the inside of her cheek.

“Have I made you nervous? I only wanted to make clear what my intentions are. I want these things and I want them with you.” Ubbe eyes were firm now.

Brenna took a deep breath and he could see the fire in her gaze that he had not recognized before now. “I did not know what I longed for until now. I couldn’t possibly have.”

“What is it you long for?” He pulled her closer, almost desperate in his movements, urging her to tell him.

“For you to find the happiness you seek. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more.”

“Land!”

Ubbe’s shot back to reality as the yell alerted everyone of the coast line before them. Fifteen days. It had been fifteen days of sailing on this damned ship, fifteen days of listening to the breaking of waves and the bickering of his brothers. But they were here now and Ubbe felt a bit of adrenaline in his blood he hadn’t felt in years. He prepared his mind for battle as he turned to the youngest of his brothers.

“May the gods be with us today.”

————————————————————

“You damned old sow!”

Brenna sat perched on her stool, milking the nanny goats as she listened to Hvitserk’s bellows and grunts.

“Stupid fat pig! I’m going to eat you one day and mark my words, I’m going to savor every bite!”

Brenna rolled her eyes as she watched Hvitserk dive towards the hog again. It slipped out of his arms leaving him facedown in the mud, cursing the gods.

“Are you sure the pig is really the stupid one? It seems to have no problem outwitting you,” Brenna mused.

Hvitserk shot her an irritated look as he ran a hand through his muddy braids. “Plow the fields, mend the fence, catch the bloody pig,” he mimicked. “You work me like a damn slave woman. I am about ready to be done with this and return to the Hall.

Brenna didn’t look up as she continued milking. “You have been saying that since the first day. Yet you are still here. And it was your fault the pig was out in the first place.”

Hvitserk’s grumbled something incoherent under his breath. “I don’t think I favor you as much as I used to. I used to think Ubbe was lucky but that was before I found out he had married a slave driver,” he snapped at her but still came forward to sprawl on his back on the ground beside her.

Brenna gives him a slight nudge with her boot, only glancing down for a second. “Hard work is good for you. You are a spoiled man. Ubbe is a prince too but he never complained this much.”

“Yes, well, Ubbe also got to end the day with a beautiful woman in his bed. Me, I do all the work and get none of the reward.”

Brenna clicked her tongue, “My gods, I have never seen a grown man pout like you do. Go find a woman then, if it will keep you from whining constantly.”

Hvitserk was silent for a moment as he stared up at the sky, lost in thought, before clearing his throat. “It is fine. I was only talking.”

Brenna cocked an eyebrow down at him. “I do not expect you to take a vow of celibacy the entire time you are here. I understand the needs of men. Go. I can get everything else done.”

Hvitserk’s eyebrows furrowed together, a sudden darkness crossing his features. “I said it is fine Brenna.”

“Very well,” Brenna shrugged, not noticing that his mood seemed blacker than a moment before. “Finish up here so I can go wake Raul from his nap.”

Hvitserk leaned up on his elbows. “I don’t know how to milk a goat.”

Brenna sighed. “It’s not hard Hvitserk. Come around and I will show you.”

With a huff he stood up and came around to the other side of the goat, eyeing Brenna’s milking motions.

“Get down closer so you can see.”

Hvitserk stooped a bit lower.

“Closer.”

Hvitserk’s face was visible on the other side of the goat’s teats now and Brenna willed herself to keep a straight face as she aimed the udder at his features and sprayed him with the milk.

He made a face, half surprise and half disgust, as he felt the goat’s milk coat him. Brenna head was tilted slightly, her eyes innnocent, before her mouth slowly tilted up in amusement at him.

“Brenna!” He growled before quickly standing and walking to the bucket of water by the barn.

Brenna’s coy smile had quickly turned to delighted laughter behind him.

“Very funny,” Hvitserk mumbled at her, his back still turned.

“Oh don’t be s-“ before she could finish her words, Hvitserk was sprinting back to her, the pail of water in his hands and a playful glint in his eyes.

“Don’t you dare!” Brenna leapt from her stool as Hvitserk chased her, sloshing half the water from the bucket as he laughed.

“Don’t do it!” Brenna was facing him now as she backed away but her eyes were smiling. Strands of hair had escaped from her long brown braid and Hvitserk could only think of how young she looked now, nothing like a wife and mother.

“Oh, no, you wanted to play games.” Hvitserk took another step towards her, grinning as his free hand grasped at her dress.

“No, stop!” She shrieked between laughs. “Stop it! Stop! Ubbe stop!”

They both froze as his name escaped accidentally from her lips. Hvitserk hand reaching for his waist, the smile still on his face but slowly fading. Brenna’s eyes quickly dropped as she made to move from under his shadow.

“I need to wake Raul.” It was barely a whisper.

She felt Hvitserk’s hand on her arm. His voice was reassuring and almost apologetic, “Brenna-“

“I have to go Hvitserk.”

————————————————————

“I had a dream last night.”

Hvitserk and Brenna both rolled their eyes at Aslaug’s words. Brenna could not deny the power of Aslaug’s gift; no one could. But still, visions and magic had never interested her.

“I dream almost every night Mother,”Hvitserk spoke. “Would you like to hear about the dream I had last night? Everything was normal. I was training. But when I looked down, I was stark naked. Everyone laughed. I wonder what it means?”

Brenna’s mouth twitched as she kept her eyes on her food but Aslaug continued as if she had not heard him. “I was in the forest. At first it was peaceful. But then I heard an awful growl. I turned the corner and saw a wolf and a dog, snarling and fighting. They sank their teeth into each other over and over. There was so much blood that the entire forest was coated in it. I heard an awful scream and then I awoke.”

“Why are you telling us this Mother? That doesn’t sound like a vision.”

Aslaug tipped the glass of wine to her lips. “It haunts me.”

“Is this why you insisted we join you for dinner tonight? To tell us you had a bad dream?”

“Of course not.” Aslaug nodded to Brenna who was bouncing Raul in her lap. “I wanted to see my grandson. You do not bring him to see me nearly enough. And now Hvitserk, my only son not gone away at the moment, will barely leave your house either.”

“We have been busy,” Hvitserk shrugged.

“I never figured you one for farm life,” Aslaug said and Hvitserk did n ot miss the way her eyes narrowed.

Raul was unsettled now, fighting to break away from his mother’s lap.

“Ah he wants his Uncle Hvitserk.” Hvitserk came around the table to lift Raul from Brenna, thankful for the distraction from his mother.

Brenna smiled up at him gratefully trying to ignore Aslaug’s unwavering gaze on them.

“I will never understand why you refuse to take slaves,” the queen sighed. “I hope you and Ubbe will move back into the Hall when he returns.”

“Why would we do that? We have a home we are quite comfortable in. A home we are both proud of.”

“I am sure your home is very cozy. But Ubbe will rule Kattegat one day. He needs to be here. He needs to learn about ruling. Instead of plowing the fields like a common village man.”

Brenna tried to keep her voice even as she addressed her mother-in-law. “Bjorn is next in line.”

Aslaug took another drink before laughing mirthlessly. “When is the last time you have seen Bjorn in Kattegat? He will never rule. Nor does he want to. You can not deny Ubbe his birthright Brenna. You are being selfish.”

Brenna felt her cheeks flame in hot anger but before she could snap back at Aslaug she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

“Let’s head home Brenna.”

————————————————————

Ubbe cut down another Saxon, his own war cry drowning out the screams. Blood and sweat coated his face but his body was not tired. The familiar adrenaline surged through him now, urging him on. His body was controlled by the gods now and the glory would be theirs.

“In the name of Odin!”

He could not keep from smiling and raising his arms, an axe in both hands.

“Ubbe!”

He recognized Sigurd’s voice and turned to look at his brother who stood a few paces away. He was staring at the land past the village, a look of fear in his eyes.

An army. A Saxon army of chain mail and steel. An army that was not supposed to be there. It was more men then he had ever seen.

No.

“RETREAT!”

With one last glance at the descending soldiers, Ubbe nodded to Sigurd and they began to run. He had to make it back to the archer’s line where Ivar was; he would not be able to make it back to camp on his own.

Ubbe glanced to his right again, where Sigurd was supposed to be, but his brother was not there. Ubbe whipped around, fresh panic rising in his chest.

“SIGURD!”

Ubbe fought his way through the retreating Vikings, now running in the opposite direction.

“SIGU-“

Ubbe’s cry was cut off by the thousands of arrows falling from the sky like the rain of Ragnarok.

He felt a sharp pain in his chest and looked down to find two arrows piercing through his armor. The air sounded strangely quiet around him now and when he looked up again he was met with a shield crashing into his face, knocking him into an infinite darkness.

“And what do you dream of Ubbe?”

——————————-//———————-

AN: Thoughts? Criticism? Don’t be shy.

#ubbe #hvitserk #gone away #vikings #ubbe x oc #hvitserk x oc

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moonmothmama · 6 years ago

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ok. so. The Princess Bride. i read it yesterday.

and right up front, before even a review, i’m gonna go ahead and list everything objectionable in the book that i can recall. please don’t take the length of the bullet pointed items to follow as an indication that the book was wildly problematic and offended me at every turn; it wasn’t and it didn’t. but there were some things that made me go: 😑 or 😒, and here it all is, presented with context, before anything else, because to be honest, i didn’t expect any of it. the film is relatively spotless, which is pretty rare for that era, and if any of you are thinking of reading it, you could do with being more prepared for this than i was.

first off, racism. two passing remarks. one isn’t even in the story proper; it’s in the first whole long intro bit from the author/narrator. that takes some explanation, i suppose: like in the film, the story is presented as a book having been written by “S. Morganstern,” except instead of a grandfather reading to his sick grandson, the narrator is interjecting with notes on the original text that he has abridged. the beginning is a whole long shpiel that, in my opinion, could have been significantly pared down with absolutely zero loss to the story (which! hey! the film did perfectly! go figure!). anyway, the first racist remark is an absolutely tasteless line in which the narrator pisses and moans about his fat son, making a crack about “painting him yellow” and making him a sumo wrestler. y i k e. the other passing remark is from Miracle Max (really, truly, the film version of this scene is miles better than the book version, but contains an important plot detail, so you should prob still read it, but i’ll give you the lowdown if you wanna skip). he refers to Iñigo as a sp*ck (rather bafflingly, i might add, bc Iñigo is a Spanish man... from Spain... not a Hispanic or Latino man from Latin America. so. i mean i’m certainly not an expert on slurs but... i have never in my life heard that term in reference to a person from Spain, and am virtually certain it was invented to refer to ppl from the americas) and in the same breath uses an objectionable term for a Polish person. sooo... again: y i k e. what gets me is that... these could’ve just been edited out? why weren’t they? i mean i know why but

fat shaming! see above. though to be honest, any true negativity about fatness is restricted to the author/narrator’s interjections; there are a few minor fat characters in the story and those depictions, without being too long-winded or spoilery, didn’t offend me (fyi: i’m fat). if you want the details, please feel free to message me about it.

if we can go back to the whole long beginning shpiel from the author/narrator, it’s just... eh. he comes off as kind of a jackass, tbh. not even halfway through it i found myself more than a little impatient for the story to begin, and that could be at least partly because the film spoiled me with a lovely, not annoying, not problematic scene of Granddad Columbo reading to Baby Fred Savage where no one made any racist remarks or ragged on fat kids. the basic gist, if you want to skip it, is that the author, as a kid, had this book read to HIM by his father, who was a Florinese immigrant, and nearly illiterate in English, but still labored over reading the English translation to his American-born son, who adored the book and requested it read to him dozens and dozens of times over the years, refusing to read it himself (though he read plenty of other books). as an adult, he buys his son the book, and is crushed when the son doesn’t like it. he then reads it for the first time, and realizes his father skipped over huge, boring blocks of text. he read his son only The Good Parts. so he decides to edit that shit out himself and release the abridged version he loves so much. add into that some complaining about his wife and some extra blah blah, and that’s pretty much it.

you remember the scene in the movie where The Man In Black/Westley almost slaps Buttercup for what he believes is lying? in the book he actually slaps her. not that his actions seem supported or endorsed by the text, but still, there you are. Buttercup does push him off a cliff soon after, though, so. i wouldn’t call that ‘even’ exactly but, shrug

Vizzini, in the book, has a fucky leg and his back isn’t quite straight, and he’s referred to repeatedly as a “humpback” or “hunchback” which needless to say is Not Kosher

that, as i recall, is it. i hope i’m not forgetting anything. now onto content/trigger warnings:

alcoholism. this shouldn’t be a surprise if you’ve seen the movie: Iñigo has some, shall we say, issues

Fezzik’s parents were... terrible. CPS would be all over them. spoiler: basically they emotionally blackmailed their son into fighting professionally, which they knew he hated, by telling him they’d abandon him if he didn’t

Buttercup has some kinda messed up (read: unsettling but in no way graphic) nightmares after leaving Westley when they’re found by Prince Humperdinck at the Fire Swamp, mostly involving bearing children to the Prince who she once again is set to marry

the slurs and whatnot i mentioned above

violence, obviously. nothing worse than the film as i recall.

that’s it i think.

okay. all that said. did i enjoy the book? yes i did. a lot.

now, you might be thinking: jesus, Kathleen, after all the shit you just listed? and to this i reply: listen. there is no Unproblematic Media, so you either enjoy some things that are flawed, or you enjoy nothing at all. there is plenty of objectionable shit in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit! fucking plenty! and i love those books! and so do plenty of other people! in my own humble opinion, the good story is worth the shitty bits, because the shitty bits aren’t like, fundamental to the plotline. the story isn’t built on offensive humor or nasty, bigoted attitudes. and they’re also not the most egregious examples of Objectionable Content i’ve come across- not by a longshot. there are levels to offense. there are tiers of bullshit. this is on a far lower tier than a whole host of other things i could mention. but if any of this stuff i’ve listed crosses a line for you, i totally understand and respect that. that’s why i’ve bothered to list it at all. imo, how you respond to objectionable content is important: you don’t ignore it or excuse it, you acknowledge and criticize it. and if you still enjoy whatever the thing is, you allow yourself to enjoy it, without getting hissy or defensive with people for whom the objectionable content ruined the book/movie/whatever.

there you go, there’s my disclaimer for having enjoyed the book. your mileage may vary.

okay. so. review time.

Buttercup is a far more interesting character in the book than the movie, for which the movie can’t be faulted all that much, because you can’t easily translate a character’s inner monologue/unspoken thoughts to the screen, especially not with the time limit that comes with the medium of film. but watching her struggle with her feelings and life choices (and... lack thereof, since her choice is between marrying the prince and being put to death, which isn’t much of a choice, even if she tries to reason it out later by telling herself she COULD have said no... and initially did) creates far more of a bond between her and the reader in the book than, personally, i felt watching the movie. also she has a great line after Westley calls her beautiful at their reunion- she says something like, ‘everyone’s always calling me beautiful, i have a mind too, why don’t you talk about that’

Both Westley and Buttercup are immature, naive, and foolish in the beginning, and if Westley strikes you as Extra Dickish, a) rewatch the film! he did act like a bit of a dick, there, didn’t he? b) remember that in the story he’s a young man between the ages of eighteen and twenty five, which in my considerable experience is the age at which young men are generally at their peak of Asshole. sorry dudes

and not that Buttercup herself is a complete peach! she deals very poorly with her emotions in general and acts kinda shitty herself once or twice. i won’t say too much lest i spoil everything that’s different between the film and the book.

Prince Humperdinck is also a more three dimensional character; still a rat bastard tho.

onto Fezzik and Iñigo.

as i have said in other blog posts, these boys are... pretty much the whole reason i sought out the book. and... jesus.

you get all the way into the tragic backstories that were only hinted at in the film. okay, Iñigo’s backstory was more than hinted- but of course you go so much deeper in the book- and Fezzik’s was less than hinted, reduced mostly to a peek at the insecurity that Vizzini exploits and preys upon to keep him in line. not that you’d have to expend a great effort to him to keep him in line; his personality is docile and non-confrontational. truly not the slightest bit aggressive by nature. he’s also kinda clingy and needy, which is a thousand percent understandable given his childhood, and tbqh doesn’t need to be browbeaten for Vizzini to keep him on his short, cruel leash. which makes it all the more painful! hurrah! 😭

also you actually get to meet Iñigo’s father, Domingo Montoya, in a flashback, aaaand... i kinda love him. probably predictable if you know me.

anyway. tragic backstories. which further illuminate the emotional and psychological issues that make them so dependent on Vizzini, and turn them to lives of crime in his employ. poor boys! oy gevalt. sympathy abounds; i honestly don’t know how you could go through the book and not fall at least a little bit in love with this duo, whose friendship is precious and adorable and a balm to the soul that is aching from their painful life stories and unhealthy coping mechanisms. they’re each, very plainly, the only friend the other has in the world, and are constantly helping and bolstering one another. it’s heartbreakingly sweet. i think those boys will be alright as long as they stick together.

and now, the repeated theme of the book, that is presented with far less intensity in the film: life isn’t fair. which, one supposes, is true. but while the narrator’s framing of that assertion may give you the same misgivings they gave me- bitching about his fat son and his less than ideal relationship with his wife- you can also step back and appreciate it as a wee pearl of wisdom. life is often unfair, but that doesn’t mean it’s altogether bad or that you can’t enjoy it. idk, that’s my attitude, man.

i could talk about the ending here, but i won’t. at least not too much. not to spoiler-ish-ly. if you don’t want to know anything about the book’s ending at all, feel free to not read the last bit here, except for the very last lines which are bolded.

ready? yes? no?

...

the ending to the book is different than the movie. there is a more philosophical, open ended conclusion than you could really get away with in a movie. at least this movie.

just throwing it out there: i believe in happy endings. ones in real life. but i kind of disagree with the author a little bit, in that i don’t think happy endings necessarily have to be perfect and unblemished to qualify as happy endings. that may be the way “happily ever after” is generally presented, but to me, “happily ever after” means, maybe some shit happened, but none of it was completely devastating, and in the final analysis, life was satisfying. that’s the kind of real life happy ending i’m aiming (and hoping) for. this might sound vague but i hope it’ll make sense if you read the book.

if you wanna do that, btw, i read it for free online at allnovel dot net.

#kathleen reads the book #the princess bride #william goldman #book review #ish? thing?#blogging on my blog

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pokemonheroine · 7 years ago

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(This post will focus on the plot and the characters)

When I think about USUM, there is one question in my mind: is USUM better than SUMO? I ask myself this because USUM it’s really an alternate version of SUMO. It’s really a different story, much more different than Emerlad and Platinum in regard of the games that came before them. The Alola of USUM is way more beautiful and rich than the Alola of SUMO, but the story is so different it’s difficult to me to see USUM as an “upgrade” of the previous Alola… because it’ another Alola.

Some people complained that the plot is the same until the very end of the game, but I think we are misunderstanding a lot of details:

- the Island Challenge is almost the same only because it has to be: it’s the social structure of Alola, it can’t change:

- the player believes that the plot is basically the same until the very end only because he/she doesn’t know the real plans of Lusamine in this alternate version of Alola’s story, but when you arrives at the end of the game and look back… you realize how much different the new plot is.

The changes in the plot are due to the Ultra Recon Squad. They change everything even being pretty passive characters. In USUM the Ultra Recon Squad arrives at Alola to prevent Necrozma from stealing the light of Alola, and starts working with the Aether Foundation. So what happens?? Lusamine doesn’t concentrate all her desires on Ultra Beasts and on Nihilego but concentrates on the upcoming menace of Necrozma. The base of the plot is the same, but there are these new “alien” characters that make events going differently in Lusamine’s family. And this changes the plot, also because Alola’s story is purposely built around the concept of family and around human problems.

Let’s see what characters we have in front of us in USUM:

LUSAMINE

Is Lusamine good in USUM? Absolutely not. She only has a different development, but if we look closer, she’s even worse than before. In SUMO Lusamine was a victim of the loss of her husband and of Nihilego’s toxines. In USUM the base of her story is the same: she was a kind person before the disappearence of Mohn but after that she becomes possessive with her beloved ones and becomes obsessionate with Ultra Beasts in an attempt to find her husband. In SUMO she becomes more and more infected with Nihilego’s toxines until she totally loses her mind and becomes “Mother Beast”. In USUM we understand her researches on Nihilego were very much less important to her, and she focus on Necrozma because the Ultra Recon Squad tell her that the beast must be stopped. So, in USUM Lusamine is not controlled by Nihilego, she’s herself, and yet, her fear to lose her beloved ones and her desire to be loved back at all costs by them makes her behave like a real villain. She’s coscious of what she’s doing, she’s conscious that she wants to kill Nebby to reach her goal. She’s consciously ready to sacrifice Nebby “for a greater good”. In USUM Lusamine is more “evil” than before. In SUMO Lusamine was a victim just like Gladion, Lillie, Nebby, Silvally… in USUM she’s still a bit of a victim because she still becomes so emotionally instable and possessive because of Mohn’s loss, because of her emotions, because of love, but at the same time she’s a conscious person, more or less, she’s a real villain this time. This is a good thing, because now we really have our first female Pokemon villain, but I am not entirely satisfyied with that simply because the games focus more on Necrozma’s story and less about Lusamine. So, in USUM, this better version of Lusamine as a villain is a bit wasted. Why there isn’t the scene with Lillie in the cave on Exeggutor Island?? Because that scene was meant to explain us something more about Lusamine and about the relationship once existed between mother and daughter, but in USUM this relationship is less important, so, the scene was removed. I liked both version of Lusamine’s story, becuse the SUMO’s one was more tragic and I liked that a lot, but as a character, the Lusamine of USUM was objectively a more worthy villain to defeat. But, unluckily, USUM wasted the potential the “alternate” Lusamine had not focusing o her anymore.

GUZMA

Guzma is still the same at the beginning of the game: he’s a guy who has always felt rejected and “not enaugh”: his father has always thought he had to make him better, a better boy, a better trainer, and even if his mother has always spoiled him, Guzma never felt appreciated in his family. Guzma felt not appreciated even by Alolan society because he wasn’t allowed to become a captain. He’s always beeen the second or the third one. Becuse of all of this, Guzma has revived Team Skull and transformed Poh Town into his own “illegal” Island Trial, and forces the protagonist to challenge it. He steals the bug type Z crystals because he wants to be the strongest bug type trainer in Alola. Team Skull is a team where people who feel inadequate to Alolan society and to the challenges of the Island Trials find a different self made “society” and protection. This solution allows them to find new friends but is a very sad situation the same, because as Nanu implies in the game, separating from society the Team Skull members have trapped themselves into a squallid decaying world represented by Poh Town (and that’s why in the end they decide to put an end to Team Skull and go back in society, without losing the bonds they created while they were together in the team). This need of acceptance, this need to find a “new family” even in the creepy Poh Town (Plumeria considers the grunts her little brothers and sisters) is mirrored by an event in particular: Guzma meets Lusamine and become her right hand. Lusamine gives Guzma the mission to retrieve her Lillie and Cosmog. Lusamine chooses Guzma. For the first time in his life “an adult has recognized his strength”. In the figure of Lusamine, Guzma finds that acceptance and recognition he has always wanted from the “adults”, from the Alolan society, from his parents. Guzma becomes really attached to Lusamine, even if she’s ony using him. In USUM Guzma is the same he is in SUMO, but USUM’s plot shows more clearly the traits of his character and starts to have a character development even before the end of the main game, and he has several interesting scenes with Hau. In the postgame, in USUM, we discover that when Plumeria told us “see, Guzma… he really likes the president” she was probably really implying Guzma “loves” Lusamine, sort of. The behavior of Guzma in the Castle of Team Rainbow Rocket seems much more the behavior of someone who is trying to save the woman he loves, not a parental figure. This is a very mature element in the plot of USUM and a bit sad one, because we know that probably Lusamine does not love him back: she has only used him for her purposes all the time… but Guzma doesn’t care, probably. Maybe that’s why Plumeria repeats and repeats that Guzma is “stupid” apparently for no specific reason: she disapproves the kind of attachment Guzma has towards Lusamine and she subtly expresses this feeling this way. Anyway, whatever Guzma feels for Lusamine, she’s very important for him, he cares for her. The need to have someone who can appreciate him, even if it’s all a bit of a farce, even if the “adult” woman is using him, even if she put him in danger (in a different way, both in SUMO and in USUM), is too strong to prevent Guzma from “loving” Lusamine. Guzma looks for love and acceptance in the wrong places because feels like he has never received them before. In the post game we finally and clearly understand that Guzma has always felt useless and without a meaning until he met Lusamine. Lusamine was the first to showing him some consideration, and that was enaugh to make Guzma lose his mind for her and jump into an Ultra Whormole to follow her. This is so realistic and interesting! And I’m happy they explained all of this situation better in USUM: now even people who don’t like to read dialogues and find clues about the plot all around the map of the game can understand what kind of character is Guzma: a not plain and “stupid” or simply “comical” character at all.

HAU

Hau doesn’t like to fight seriously and he’s always happy and joyful. He’s the same in both SUMO and USUM, the only difference is that his character developmant proceed faster in USUM: he understands he has to try to fight seriously and take the curage to battle with his grandfather early in the game. In USUM Hau is more “bold” right from the start and decides he really wants to become the future Kahuna of Mele Mele earlier in the story. But who exactly is Hau? In SUMO we could understand his story way better than in USUM. I don’t particularly like the more bold Hau of USUM becuse it’ a bit pointless in my opinion: he did changed in SUMO too but thanks to SUMO’s postgame we could understand why he was so insecure before the events of the games… so all his character made more sense. Hau is so joyful and not interested in serious battles because of his sad background: when he was little he assisted at his father’s personal “tragedy”. His father was an insecure man who couldn’t bare the situation of being the son of the Kahuna (Hala). Hau’s father had a very serious battle with Hala when Hau was very little and he lost. Hau was shocked by that fight and cried a lot. Hau’s father decided tp leave Alola to go training in Kanto because he couldn’t live in Hala’s shadow. When all of this happened, Hala became very kind and permissive with his little grandson Hau. After the battle with his son, Hala decided to make his grandson Hau a happier child. And Hau grew up forcing himself to not care about fighting seriously because he probably didn’t want to ends up like his father: Hau is afraid to be interested in fighting seriously, because he’s afraid to care too much about Pokemon battles and still not becoming stronger than Hala. Hau developed a joyful, playful and not “serious” personality to protect himself from the delusions of life. I don’t like Hau as a rival because I don’t like friendly rivals (I prefer Silver) but I appreciate Hau as a character because he’s not so simplicistic and stupid as it seems at a first sight. Unfortunately, USUM’s different plot doesn’t allow the player to discover all the details of Hau’s past.

LILLIE AND GLADION

Lillie and Gladion are the same in both SUMO and USUM, they still are great characters, especially Lillie. The only real difference is that in SUMO Gladion run away from home only to save a Silvally while in USUM there’s an addictional motivation: he wants to train Silvally to defeat Ultra Beasts and protect his family. He wants to prevent Lusamine from going in the Ultra Space, because he doesn’t want to lose her as he lost his father. I like this addictional motivation for Gladion, but… I didn’t like how he was treated in USUM. I didn’t like how both Lillie and Gladion were treated in USUM. USUM has less focus on Lillie’s story and her relationship with her mother…. and with Nebby! The focus of SUMO shifted from Lusamine’s family (and Nebby) to Necrozma… but this is a shame, becuase Lillie is still important in the story but… but they “mutilated” her character a bit. And the ending: I preferred the verions of SUMO where Lillie goes to Kanto and Gladion comes back to Aether Paradise and becomes the new president: that was a total character development. Both Lillie and Gladion have a great character development in USUM like in SUMO (it’s the same) but it was more significant that Lillie ends up becoming responsible of her mother and decides to travel so far way, to Kanto: in SUMO Lillie becomes even more indipendent than the person she becomes in USUM. Gladion changes during USUM plot’s but… but he ends up running away from home… again. He goes to Kanto because he wants to become stronger than Hau and the protagonist. So I liked more the SUMO version where he basically becomes a responsible new president for the Foundation and stays at home becuse Lillie and Lusamine had to go away. USUM’s plot isn’t bad but I personally like the SUMO’s version regarding Lillie and Gladion. In SUMO the growth of both of them was simply more visible, in my opinion.

THE ULTRA RECON SQUAD

Pycho, Zossie, Soliera and Dulse are very cool characters for a Pokemon game: ultra humans living in other world are canon, and their story is very cool. They all have their own characterization and they are simpathetic and fun, Unfortunately their are pretty passive in the game, even if they show up a lot, and you cannot explore much of Ultra Megalopolis. They are not used to Pokemon battles and so, they really don’t know how to fight. Ok. I understand that and I appreciate this trait of their characterization but if this is their situation don’t make them challenge you so many times: it’s pointless. Two fights are enaugh to understand they can’t fight properly: stop making them torturing that poor Poipole for no reasons.

In conclusion, I liked USUM very much because the region is full of new cool places to see, is richer, there are beautiful new sidequests, there are new funny scenes with all the great characters of Alola, there is the Mantine surf and there are lots of new good elements I really appreciated. I liked Necrozma’s story because is a very cool legendary with an epic background, even if his story in the games is a bit confused and not very well explained. Necrozma and the Ultra Recon Squad’s story could have been made better. Anyway Necrozma it’s that epic element, the apocaliptic side of the plot, that lacked a bit in SUMO. My only “problem” with USUM is that the story is really an alternate version, and I didn’t like all the changes. The new story has good elements but bad elements too, just like SUMO’s plot had. Just don’t come to me saying the plot of USUM is the same as SUMO because it’s not true.

I liked the Rainbow Rocket episode much more than SUMO’s postgame.

However, one of the things I really appreciated about the seventh generation in general, is that all the plot revolves around human problems and not about evil criminals that want to expand the sea and things like that. (USUM added a bit of the old “apocaliptic feel” thanks to Necrozma’s story, the “blinding one”). Another thing I really liked about Alola is the Islands Challenge. Game Freak managed to make an original region without making us feel “strangers” to it. We become used to Alola’s culture pretty soon in the game and we really wanted to become part of it. We wanted to “integrate” in Alola and it’s so satisfying to finally become the Alola’s first ever Champion. Having our very own throne at the top of Mount Lanakila is awesome.

#usum spoilers #usum #sumo #lusamine #guzma #hau #lillie #gladion #team rainbow rocket #ultra recon squad #necrozma #review #analysis #plot #lore

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crystal-moon-101 · 5 years ago

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(Updated Drawing) Name: Jay Maxwell Tennyson

Nickname: Jace, Jay Jay, Human Omnitrix, Lill’ Ben, Hero Boy, Omni Boy (By Feike)

Age: 13

Gender: Male

Birthday: February 7

Sexual Orientation: ??? (Just like his father)

Ethnicity/Species: American/Japanese - Human/'Omnitrix'

Personality: Adventurous, Often has self-doubt, Sensitive, Cultured, Dependable, Brave, Hopeful, Persistent, Impulsive, Jokester, Trustful, Has slight anxiety problems, Forgiving, Selfless.

Hobbies: Gaming, mostly survival games. A couple of sports (He's known to play tennis with his mother). Learning and Reading up on aliens and their cultures. Collecting items/souvenirs. Photography. Designing with

Family:

Ben Tennyson (Father/Jay has always looked up to his father, striving to be a hero like. However, there are issues between them, in that Jay struggles with how often his father isn't around, out in space-saving the day on another planet. He understands why this is, but it makes it hard to spend time together, along with seeing the struggles his mother goes through, even if she accepts this with Ben. That being said, anytime Ben visits, Jay jumps at the chance to spend time with his father.)

Julie Yamamoto (Mother/Absolutely adores his mother and vice versa. Since Ben is often away, Jay has picked up a lot of Julie's habits and behaviour, even hobbies, like tennis. He's always eager to help her around and the house and spending quality mother and son time. He's very thankful his mother raised him to be patient, kind and polite, a big part of his personality.)

Ship (Pet - Galvanic Metamorph/He's always loved the pet blob of the family. When he was born, Ship was very excited about Jay's presence, doing whatever he could to make the baby boy laugh. It's been the same, even as Jay grew up. The happy blob will always comfort the boy, especially through his anxiety attacks or self-doubt moments.)

Muse (Pet - Null Void Guardian/Muse wasn't the kind of pet Jay thought he'd get, but he loves her anyway. Having saved her during a mission in the null void, the creature became rather attached to him as they don't normally have positive interaction with other species, even their caretakers. She loves cuddles and having Jay's attention, but can be very protective if anyone dares to hurt her human.)

Tundra, Orion, Vale, Neva, North, Crystal, Alaska, Micha, Storm, Gray, Raine, Arlo, Zodiac and Lux (Half-Siblings/Jay is very close to his fourteen Necrofriggians siblings, despite the species differences. He's never really questioned how unusual it was having them as siblings, even when people give weird glances. His siblings also adore their baby brother, spoiling him whenever they visit.)

Gwen Tennyson (First cousin once removed/'Aunt'/Much like Ben, he looks up to his aunt, always eager to hear stories she shares with her father and Kevin. Since Gwen and Kevin aren't off earth as much as Ben now of days, Julie and Jay often visit for dinners. He likes to ask her help with schoolwork during these visits, though lately he's also been interested in learning about Ledgerdomain. Gwen has a feeling it might be because of a certain spell caster he is crushing on, but he hasn't said anything.)

Kevin Levin (first cousin once removed in-law/'Uncle'/Somehow, Kevin was often the one that both Jay and Thea were dumped on to babysit. He would complain, but he really did adore the pair, even recording some of their younger interactions and adventure, which were both hilarious and adorable. Jay likes to show his uncle love when he can, as he knows very well how rough Kevin's background is.)

Cynthia Levin (Second Cousins/The two basically act like siblings, teasing one another, hanging out often and venting to each other when they need it. Even if the two-act like opposites, they play off each other well. With Thea being more bombastic and outward, she helps keep Jay out of all the trouble he gets caught in by mistake. She does what she can to protect him from bullies or galaxy criminals, sometimes even from himself. That being said, Jay is one of the only few who can pull her back from her aggression, showing her that there are calmer and nicer ways to handle things. His forgiving nature sometimes worries her, because she knows it'll backfire and get him hurt sometimes, but she has been amazed by it, as shown through his many connections with aliens they've met, even some who were dangerous or criminals. Even if they have hard arguments or struggle to understand one another at times, they'll always have each other's back.)

Ken Tennyson (First cousin once removed/'Uncle'/While he enjoys his life with space and aliens, he does appreciate having a family member who is very down to earth. Ken is a very supportive and wise uncle, often knowing just what to say or do to cheer Jay up.)

Carl Tennyson (Grandfather/Carl, of course, loves his grandson, happy to babysit him and have him over. However, because of Carl's effects of galaxy life and aliens as a child, he sometimes struggles to talk with Jay, who adores that lifestyle. Jay understands, as he and Carl both had/have Plumber fathers often off-world, along with how his grandfather was somewhat abandoned by Verdona, his own mother, in his younger years.)

Sandra Tennyson (Grandmother/Sandra has always doted on her grandbaby since he was born. Always jumping to babysit, playing with him and proudly shows him off to her friends. She is also the one who inspired his photography hobby.)

Mr Yamamoto (Grandfather/Despite Julie's father's issues towards Ben, he's always been gentle and kind towards Jay, often being the one to remind him of the beauty of earth.)

Verdona (Great Grandmother/Verdona and Jay have a friendly relationship, often openly showing affection through hugs or chatting away. While it does somewhat hurt, he doesn't resent her for mostly coming around for Gwen and Thea, because of their Anodite sides. Since he can change into different aliens, he understands very well that every alien functions different, so he can't fault her in her behaviour, so he'll take what he can get.)

Maxwell Tennyson (Great Grandfather/A legend in Jay's eyes, being who his middle name is from. Even though Max is retired and spends these days in his RV with Xyelne, he's always happy to tell Jay stories of his old Plumber days. The boy will listen to every word with wonder in his eyes. Max has even told stories on Ben when he was very young, including the summer vacation when he first got the watch. It always puts a smile on the boy's face.)

Frank Tennyson (Great Uncle/He enjoys the boy's soft presents and can always ask Jay for help here and there.)

Natalie Tennyson (Great Aunt/Natalie likes having Jay around, as he's always eager to help with housework. She does love her granddaughter, but having a quieter child around is sometimes more preferred.)

Friends:

Vanessa Morningstar (The two have a sweet relationship, despite Thea’s rivalry with her and Vanessa’s parents. They treat each other with respect and trust, and for Vanessa, this is something not common to her. He's always ready to listen to her and doesn't believe she is destined to be a villain, even with her heritage. There have also been noticeable sparks between the two, but with all that goes on, it's hard to make something of it.)

Malax Shard (Friend/A common friend and partner in Plumber training. Unlike Thea's uncertainty towards his gentle side, Malax has full trust in it. She knows his personality is rare in this line of work and is something desperately needed at times. That being said, she's often the one to give him the tough talks about reality and how harsh it gets. He respects her for this and both would have each other's back in any fight.)

Feike (Friend/He started out with issues towards Feike, mostly because of his flirting towards Thea. But, over time, Jay has started to see more to him. It's clear to him Feike isn't exactly happy where he is and feels trapped, being abused and manipulated by his boss, Sciros. He's tried reaching out to him, but the other teen likes to brush it off and tells him not to get involved.)

Renata (Friend/Because of Reiny and Ben's friendship, there had been some playdates set up between the two when they were young. Despite how hard it is to communicate with Renata, Jay has come to understand how to talk to her, thanks to these playdates. He'll often go to her for space politic problems, given her status and training. Even though she doesn't show much emotions, she can show a protective side around him.)

Azmuth (Friend/Azmuth is normally the one to take a look at his biology and powers if needed. Ben has also dropped Jay off for rare babysitting, Azmuth can only be so thankful Jay will listen to him and be quiet when told. He's always found it amusing how gentle Jay is compared to his father. He's also to happily talk about embarrassing moments about Ben to the boy.)

Etherea’Liss (Friend/Their first meeting had been a little iffy, as Jay had met Zs’Skayr a few months before meeting her. But he quickly came to see that Ectonurites are not like him, and she's always happy to educate him on her home planet and people. In return, he helps her adjust to life outside of her home.)

Enemies:

Professor Alate (Enemy/Honestly, this man creeps him the hell out. His intelligence as always been trouble for Jay, often getting outsmarted by the scientist. This wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for the fact that Alate has this dedicated goal to catch Jay and experiment on him, mostly because of his Omnitrix biology.)

Representing Song: Human - Christina Perri Skills: Enhanced Endurance/Stamina. Alien Morphing (He's able to turn into aliens without a watch, thanks to his unique biology). Hand-To-Hand Combat. Multilingualism (Jay can actually speak and understand a few alien languages, comes in handy). Photographic Memory. Makeup, dress ups, hairstyles, Jay is amazing at finding the right outfit or disguising others.

Weakness/Flaws/Fears: Monophobia (Fear of being alone or lonely), Atychiphobia (Fear of failure), Sometimes Anthropophobia (Fear of people. But depending what people are currently like, especially in school, also depending on his mood) Slight Catoptrophobia (Fear of mirrors. Sometimes he can’t stand looking into the mirror, easily after something sudden or traumatic) Didaskaleinophobia (Fear of school) Autophobia (Fear of oneself). Sometimes changing aliens, becoming one or turning human can fail, especially if he has barely any focus. He keeps his injuries and damage he gets from fights as his aliens, even in his human form. Lack of energy or being rendered unconscious can make him turn back human. He gains the weakness of his aliens. He needs to focus to be able to transform. His hidden sensitivity and anxiety can hinder his progress and the mission he’s on. He has a habit of taking on too much work, struggling to stay no to others who depend on him. In rare cases, his biology can go out of whack sometimes, causing things like blindness, dizziness, struggling to walk E.T.C but it’s never permanent, so far. In his human form, he isn’t the strongest fighter and barely has any defense in tanking hits. First Ten Forms:

War Roar

Cibeetle

Lavizard

Hollow Woods

Katana

Shadow Puppet

Manta Wave

Smitemare

Power Source

Sin Reaper

Bio:

It had been nearly three years since the birth of Thea when Julie discovered she was pregnant. She contacted Ben, who was out in space at the time, and he came straight home to be there for her. Ben had demanded to have time off from work so he could spend time with his wife and his eventual child. Of course, when word got out that Ben Tennyson was finally having a child of his own, the media, the public or even some villains were desperate to question the two or cause a problem. With the help of family and friends, the couple managed to hide away or be protected from questions and the public view often enough to spend time together and prepare for the new arrival. It so happens that their new family member was born on Thea’s birthday, similar to how Ben and Gwen were born on the same day and believed they started a family curse. In came Jay Maxwell Tennyson. Many welcomed the newborn and many wanted to see the son of the galaxy’s hero. People like Gwen or Ben’s parents spoiled Jay with many toys or love, much to Ben and Julie’s amusement. Unlike Thea, Jay was rather gentle, shy, quiet and sweet, opposite to her bombastic nature. He’d be the one to play with dolls or draw while Thea would be the one to play out in the mud or with bugs, making Gwen and Ben feel like they swapped children. Despite being a healthy baby with two loving parents and a great family, the time came for Ben to start working again, often leaving for missions far in space and being gone for weeks or even months. Jay had struggled to understand why his dad failed to come home so often but had adapted to this life, getting excited whenever his dad did come and would cherish those moments, wanting to play with him or hear stories from him. Jay can easily say he looks up to his dad, so much and wants to be like him. Jay and Thea get on very closely, despite their opposite personalities. The moment Thea first held Jay, she felt a protective urge over her second cousin. While she does tease or push him around a little, she’ll do almost anything for him and always tries to make him happy. Their relationship has grown so much that the two are like siblings. From the moment he was born, Jay has had a fascination with space, The Plumbers and aliens. Whether it’s the many toy aliens he got, his father working with them or being told stories about space and aliens, he just couldn’t get enough of it. He’d be so joyful whenever someone like his dad or great grandpa would take him to the Plumbers, sometimes befriending alien kids of Plumbers. One day, something very unexpected happened to Jay. He transformed, and thus his Omni powers were discovered. It turns out, from what Azmuth explained to them, because Ben had worn the Omnitrix so long and used it so often, with it also attached to him when it replaced his arm, some cells had been infected or altered, even some gamete cells. And while it was a rare chance, Jay ended up with these powers. He’s able to turn into aliens once his body unlocks a form, much like the Omnitrix. You can tell if he’s gaining a new form if his personality suddenly changes or he gets weird habits, as he takes on the traits of the alien he’ll soon unlock. Jay had to learn to adjust to his new powers, often randomly transforming or getting side effects from it. Julie would do her best to support and care for her son and Ben, whenever he was home, would do the same and give some tips. The family agreed to keep Jay’s powers a secret, not wanting to cause someone to try and steal him or make the media rampage the small boy. Azmuth is one of the few scientists or doctors to know, since he’s often in charge of testing Jay’s powers and helping if his biology goes wack or causes side effects. Jay had mixed feelings with his powers at the time, but he was excited to see what they could bring and maybe allow him to become a plumber or hero like his father. However, a lot of his views and opinions changed when he started going to school and out in public more. He was put into the same school as Thea, so the two spent a lot of time together during break or became buddies when there were social events in the school. But the actual school and other people weren’t so accepting of Jay, in fact, many despised him. Since Ben was often out in space, he barely had time for earth unless they really needed him, many took this as a sign that Ben no longer cared for his home or his race, thus causing some backlash against the Levins and Tennysons. Since other kids feared Thea or couldn’t get a reaction out of her, their targeting fell onto Jay, who couldn’t defend himself and suffered the damage of bullying. He would try to stay optimistic and make friends, but people would reject him so easily and call him things. While the teachers didn’t do anything cruel to him, they’d often look the other way when he was bullied. At first, the bullying was only things like name calling or the occasional rude note given to him, but it quickly became physical as kids would shove him, trip him, throw things at him or even get into a one-sided fight, due to Jay not wanting to fight back or accepting what they said about him. Jay didn’t tell anyone, thinking it would soon end or that he didn’t want to cause conflict. He figured out how to use makeup and paint to hide any physical damage he couldn’t hide with clothing. He kept this up for a long time, until Thea discovered the truth. She would help treat some of his wounds, protect him if she found someone hurting him or encourage him to tell his parents and stick up for himself, he only disagreed and said it wasn’t that bad. She kept telling him to do so but never pushed it and didn’t tell anyone else, since he asked her not to. This led to Thea being even more overprotective of him, along with causing Jay to be more quiet and sensitive, but excellent at hiding it. While his parents or aunt and uncle found out about a small part of the bullying, the school didn’t listen to them as thoughtfully as they should have. The more he aged, suffering from the bullying and the judgement of society on him, Jay started to doubt himself and even his father. Jay loves his father, don’t get him wrong, but he can’t help but hate how the anger and disappointment towards his father also affects him. He’s plagued with doubts that he’ll never be as great as his father, always in his shadows and being put down by others who don’t think he’ll be as amazing as Ben. He loves Ben, but he can’t help but feel some resentment towards him. It wasn’t until the age of ten when the world learnt of Jay’s powers. He had nine forms at the time, but when an enemy of Ben came to earth to get revenge, did his tenth form appear. The villain had gotten their hands on Julie and Jay, taking them to a high building and started making demands. When the villain manhandled Julie and dared to hit her, Jay snapped and turned into a new form, the one he dubs Sin Reaper. He made quick work of the enemy but was quickly coaxed out of his raging form by Julie and Ben. Since then, he’s rarely used Sin Reaper due to his lack of control and aggression from it. The world, however, saw everything through videos people posted online. The family had to come clean and admit Jay had powers. This only caused more pressure on Jay’s life, since people began to see Jay as a freak or even non-human, making him question if he was human to begin with. With countless threats, comments and hits thrown at Jay, he became more and more doubtful of himself, even to the point where he began to hate himself and wished for things like he never had his powers or maybe that he never existed, but he never told anyone. It wasn’t until he became thirteen did something significant happen in his life to turn him around. On his thirteenth birthday, his father gave him and Thea plumber badges and said they could take part in plumber training and even some missions. This had been Jay’s dream when younger and once he entered the world of aliens and Plumbers, that dream came back. Many students or aliens he met around there were so kind to him, not caring he was different or that he was the son of Ben Tennyson, it would sometimes make them respect him or trust him. His skills and personality shined here, being able to take on many missions and talk with people, forming partnerships and rivalries. Thea is his primary partner, going on missions and adventures with her. Because they are opposites, they cover each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Thea protects Jay and teaches him that he’ll have to make hard decisions and that there are things that he can’t do, that he has to let go and move on from problems he can’t solve. Jay can be naive too often for his own good, and since he is unique with his abilities and how more accessible it is to capture him than someone like Thea, he’s often been kidnapped for revenge, profit and so on, making Thea the one to run in and save him. However, despite his naive nature, Jay’s forgiving and understanding nature can allow him to show Thea that things aren’t always black and white, that you don’t always need force to get things done and that his route, while rarer and longer than taking the fast and forceful route, can benefit better and even make new friends and allies in the process. He’s also gained friendships through people like Malax Shard, a plumber student senior who is often partnered up with them or trains them, Vanessa Morningstar, Thea’s biggest rival who he’s formed a fun and sweet relationship with, and maybe some deeper feelings, Feike, someone who Thea and him go to often to get information but maybe also have a wild time, Renata, an heir to the High-breeds who can help them with nation problems or law issues. He’s made many more friends over the time, even assisting others to get back on their feet or give them the forgiveness to realize their mistakes and become better people. This is the world that Jay feels like he belongs in. Despite his love for plumber lessons or missions, he still has to suffer with the anger people have for him and now the feeling of responsibility, sacrifices and how much bigger the world is. He’s been making enemies, making massive failures, beaten to a pulp, taking the lead from time to time and so on, something not easy to work with, mainly since he still gets judged and bullied on earth and helps his mother take care of the house. Being at a young age too, it’s caused many scars and problems for him and he’s struggling to focus and recover. He struggles to say no and to take a break. He’ll sacrifice himself more often than he should and take on more responsibilities and judgement than he should. Right now, Jay is struggling with his life and abilities, finding out what he is and if he wants to be who he is and what he wants to be. His countless doubts on himself, his friends, family and even the world can hold him back, but he pushes as far as he can go and will do anything to help people, save them or even give up himself if it means someone can live another day. He knows the world isn’t black and white, he knows people have stories and reasons, he knows he can’t stop doing what’s right and he knows he can make a change if he puts the effort into it. He will cover more obstacles later and larger threats, but he’ll take it on the best he can.

#Ben 10 #Ben 10 Next Gen #next generation #Next Gen #Benlie #Ben Tennyson #Julie Yamamoto #My Art

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