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luminouslumity · 1 year ago

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Parts One and Two!

THE UNDERWORLD: JAY, YOU BASTARD!

Anyway, after Odysseus and his crew arrive in the Underworld, that not only does he see his fallen men—including one named ELPENOR (Ἐλπήνωρ), who'd actually died while at Kirke's after he'd fallen off the roof in a drunken state—as well as his mother, but many other famous mythological figures besides Teiresias as well; perhaps most notable among them is Agamemnon, who'd been killed by his own wife KLYTEMNESTRA (Κλυταιμνήστρα), Helen's sister and Penelope's cousin, as vengeance for the sacrifice of their daughter IPHIGENIA (Ἰφιγένεια) in exchange for a fair bit of wind (in some versions, she lives), which only happened either because Agamemnon had displeased the goddess ARTEMIS (Αρτεμις) in some way—be it by boasting he was more of a hunter than she after killing a stag or because that stag had been killed in her sacred grove—or because his own father ATREUS (Ατρέω) had failed to sacrifice a golden lamb to her after promising he would, so she cursed his son as punishment. In any case, Odysseus is horrified and says that both Helen and Klytemnestra have brought nothing but disaster, and Agamemnon then tells him not to treat Penelope too well, though he does praise her sensibilities.

As for Antikleia, I've mentioned before how she is a granddaughter of Hermes, and specifically, she is a granddaughter of Hermes through her father AUTOLYCOS (Αὐτόλυκος), who'd been a trickster in his own right, having had the power to change or make invisible whatever he stole. According to later sources, such as Suida's Sisyphus, the consequences of Autolycos' thievery eventually caught up with him when the titular king demanded his fellow trickster give him his daughter to bed as compensation for Autolycos having stolen his cattle. Odysseus was born not long after. Callimachus also tells us, Antikleia had once been a companion of Artemis herself.

And because I'm feeling particularly evil today:

‘My child! How did you come here through the darkness while you were still alive? This place is hard for living men to see. There are great rivers and dreadful gulfs, including the great Ocean which none can cross on foot; one needs a ship. Have you come wandering here, so far from Troy, with ship and crew? Have you not yet arrived in Ithaca, nor seen your wife at home?’

I answered, ‘Mother, I was forced to come to Hades to consult the prophet spirit, Theban Tiresias. I have not yet come near to Greece, nor reached my own home country. I have been lost and wretchedly unhappy since I first followed mighty Agamemnon to Troy, the land of horses, to make war upon the people there. But tell me, how was sad death brought upon you? By long illness? Or did the archer Artemis destroy you with gentle arrows? Tell me too about my father and the son I left behind. Are they still honored as the kings? Or has another taken over, saying I will not return? And tell me what my wife is thinking, and her plans. Does she stay with our son and focus on his care, or has the best of the Achaeans married her?’

My mother answered, ‘She stays firm. Her heart is strong. She is still in your house. And all her nights are passed in misery, and days in tears. But no one has usurped your throne. Telemachus still tends the whole estate unharmed and feasts in style, as lords should do, and he is always asked to council meetings. Your father stays out in the countryside. He will not come to town. He does not sleep on a real bed with blankets and fresh sheets. In winter he sleeps inside, by the fire, just lying in the ashes with the slaves; his clothes are rags. In summer and at harvest, the piles of fallen leaves are beds for him. He lies there grieving, full of sorrow, longing for your return. His old age is not easy. And that is why I met my fate and died. The goddess did not shoot me in my home, aiming with gentle arrows. Nor did sickness suck all the strength out from my limbs, with long and cruel wasting. No, it was missing you, Odysseus, my sunshine; your sharp mind, and your kind heart. That took sweet life from me.’

Then in my heart I wanted to embrace the spirit of my mother. She was dead, and I did not know how. Three times I tried, longing to touch her. But three times her ghost flew from my arms, like shadows or like dreams. Sharp pain pierced deeper in me as I cried, ‘No, Mother! Why do you not stay for me, and let me hold you, even here in Hades? Let us wrap loving arms around each other and find a frigid comfort in shared tears! But is this really you? Or has the Queen sent me a phantom, to increase my grief?’

She answered, ‘Oh, my child! You are the most unlucky man alive. Persephone is not deceiving you. This is the rule for mortals when we die. Our muscles cease to hold the flesh and skeleton together; as soon as life departs from our white bones, the force of blazing fire destroys the corpse. The spirit flies away and soon is gone, just like a dream. Now hurry to the light; remember all these things, so you may tell your wife in times to come.’

NO LONGER YOU: According to one myth, Teiresias of Thebes came across two snakes in the middle of mating one day and hit them both with a rod. As a result, he was changed into a woman, until she saw the same pair of snakes again years later and was then changed back into a man. Zeus and Hera then asked him which gender enjoyed intercourse more, with Zeus favoring women and Hera men; when Teiresias said that women enjoyed it more, Hera blinded him and Zeus then gave him the power of prophecy afterwards.

Teiresias would go on to become a rather notable figure in myth, but to Odysseus specifically, the prophecy is described thusly:

‘Odysseus, you think of going home as honey-sweet, but gods will make it bitter. I think Poseidon will not cease to feel incensed because you blinded his dear son. You have to suffer, but you can get home, if you control your urges and your men. Turn from the purple depths and sail your ship towards the island of Thrinacia; there you will find grazing cows and fine fat sheep, belonging to the god who sees and hears all things—the Sun God. If you leave them be, keeping your mind fixed on your journey home, you may still get to Ithaca, despite great losses. But if you hurt those cows, I see disaster for your ship and for your men. If you yourself escape, you will come home late and exhausted, in a stranger’s boat, having destroyed your men. And you will find invaders eating your supplies at home, courting your wife with gifts. Then you will match the suitors’ violence and kill them all, inside your halls, through tricks or in the open, with sharp bronze weapons. When those men are dead, you have to go away and take an oar to people with no knowledge of the sea, who do not salt their food. They never saw a ship’s red prow, nor oars, the wings of boats. I prophesy the signs of things to come. When you meet somebody, a traveler, who calls the thing you carry on your back a winnowing fan, then fix that oar in earth and make fine sacrifices to Poseidon—a bull and stud-boar. Then you will go home and offer holy hecatombs to all the deathless gods who live in heaven, each in order. Gentle death will come to you, far from the sea, of comfortable old age, your people flourishing. So it will be.’

MONSTER: I really wanted to focus on this part here:

Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping Trojans cause he is vile? Or does he throw away his remorse and save more lives with guile?

I went over the Trojan War pretty briefly in the first post of this series, but as for the horse specifically, though Odysseus is credited as the architect, the idea—according to Dictys Cretensis—came to him from the captured Prince HELENOS (Ἕλενος) of Troy, who'd been a seer like his twin sister KASSANDRA (Κασσάνδρα). From what we currently have available of The Sack of Troy:

The Greeks then sailed in from Tenedos, and those in the wooden horse came out and fell upon their enemies, killing many and storming the city. Neoptolemus kills Priam who had fled to the altar of Zeus Herceius; Menelaus finds Helen and takes her to the ships, after killing Deiphobus; and Aias [Ajax the Younger] the son of Ileus, while trying to drag Cassandra away by force, tears away with her the image of Athena. At this the Greeks are so enraged that they determine to stone Aias, who only escapes from the danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar of Athena. The Greeks, after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles: Odysseus murders Astyanax; Neoptolemus takes Andromache as his prize, and the remaining spoils are divided. Demophon and Acamas find Aethra and take her with them. Lastly the Greeks sail away and Athena plans to destroy them on the high seas.

Afterwards, it's said that only Nestor and Diomedes returned home straightaway, but Menelaos and Helen get stranded in Egypt for years after a storm blows them off course and destroys most of their ships, Ajax the Lesser gets thrown against rocks after also being caught in a storm while accompanying Agamemnon, who gets killed immediately after returning home even despite being warned by Akhilleus, some Greeks make it to the city of Colophon, and Neoptolemus is instructed by his grandmother THETIS (Θετις) to return home, during which he even ends up reuniting with Odysseus for a brief time.

#greek mythology #the odyssey #jorge rivera herrans #epic the musical #epic: the musical #epic the underworld saga #epic: the underworld saga #the underworld saga

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skymaiden32 · 1 year ago

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Bad News

AO3 link here

Fandom: Thunderbirds, Stingray

Tagging: @dragonoffantasyandreality @thundergeek59 @janetm74 @katblu42 @liseylou @amistrio @uniwolfcorn @idontknowreallywhy (Please ask if you would like to get alerts when I update or post new stories.)

Continuity: TOS

Last chapter, here we go!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Gordon learns who Trench really is.

------

The walk along the beach was surprisingly peaceful, and Gordon found himself relaxing a little, although he knew there was no way he could fully let his guard down.

Trench broke the ice. “So, you must have questions. What do you want to know?” He asked in that tinny voice of his.

“Okay, that one’s easy enough.” He chuckled without any humour. “Who the hell are you?”

Trench paused. “Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me.” The mask was off before Gordon could even blink. He held back a gasp when he saw who it was. “It’s been too long since I felt the crisp sea air on my face. Can’t take the mask off in front of the Aquaphibians. I’d be dead in two seconds flat.”

“Troy Tempest…?”

The man in front of him bowed. “The one and only.”

Gordon frowned, trying his best to regain his composure. “You’re the last person I’d expect…” Shore hadn’t been kidding at all, had he? This was bad. This was really bad. “You and Titan hate each other.”

Troy hummed. “That was before he… shall we say… opened my mind to Marineville’s faults.”

More like brainwashed, Gordon thought, but didn’t say aloud. “What about Atlanta? Phones? Fisher? All the people you left behind? I’m sure they all miss you.” When Troy didn’t answer, Gordon changed tactics. “Okay, then what about me? I know you’ve met Scott and Virgil before, so that explains how you knew we were siblings, but it doesn’t explain how you knew I was IR.”

Troy smiled. “X20. He was on a routine mission to Marineville and overheard your little conversation with Shore. Which he then reported back to me.” They approached a large rock, and Troy gestured for Gordon to sit next to him. Gordon glared at him in reply, but eventually complied, fearing what might happen to his brothers if he didn't. “It was simple to set up a disaster that would be too hard for International Rescue to ignore.”

“So it was you who attacked the USS Rodgers.”

“I would’ve thought that would be obvious. It was my tracker that allowed me and my men to follow you here.” The other man hummed. “The plan originally was to follow you to your base and seize your technology. Well, that was Titan’s at least.” Gordon raised an eyebrow. “My plan was to just talk to you. I’m glad you found the tracker. Makes my task of explaining our failure to the King easier.”

The aquanaut froze. “Wait, just making sure I’m understanding. You were never going to attack our base? You really were just going to talk?”

Troy grinned. “I may not be on the surface dwellers side anymore, but I still consider you a friend. And Titanica has no pre-existing quarrel with International Rescue. Attacking you would be unwise.”

“You’ve changed your tune.” Gordon hissed, not falling for any of it. “You were taking my brothers prisoner less than ten minutes ago, and now you’re saying that ‘attacking us would be unwise’. I see right through you, Tempest.” He frowned. “Or should I be calling you Trench now?”

Captain Tempest, Captain Trench, whoever it was in front of him, sighed. “Look. I meant what I said. No harm will come to them. As a matter of fact, if the Aquaphibians hurt them, I’ll end them myself.”

“Bet Titan won’t be happy about that.” Gordon scoffed.

“I learned he doesn’t care a long time ago. So long as someone does the work and the work is done.” Troy retaliated. “And I learned that when I was in WASP.”

“I see.” An uneasy silence followed. Gordon had just one question to ask. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why talk to me in the first place? Why not just disappear?”

More silence. For a minute, Gordon didn’t think Troy would answer him. But eventually, he did. “To say sorry.” He said in a low voice. “Sorry I didn’t manage to say goodbye.”

Gordon’s eyes widened in realisation. It had been too quick, leaving WASP after his accident. He hadn’t been able to stay at Marineville General for long. His injuries had needed to be specially treated. And since he’d already been honourably discharged following the whole mess, he’d never gotten a chance to wave farewell to the group of aquanauts who had taught him so much, who’d done their best to steady him and be a secondary family. He’d never gotten that closure. But then of course, neither had they.

“I’m sorry too. Sorry that I lost touch with all of you. Sorry we’re on opposite sides now…” For the first time since Troy had made his presence known, Gordon looked at him. Really looked. “You look exhausted, Tempest.” He said honestly, and was surprised at his own concern. “How hard is Titan working you?”

“Oh, it’s not that bad.”

Gordon gave him a look, channelling his best Scott impression. “Troy.”

“The undersea races don’t need as much sleep as humans do.”

The look hardened. “Troy. How much sleep do they get?”

Troy winced. “Four hours? At most?”

“And Titanica is the better option over Marineville?”

The other aquanaut huffed. “I’m not going back there.”

“Then leave Titanica at the very least. You don’t have to work for WASP. Just…” Gordon paused. “Just come back to the surface. You said yourself, you haven’t felt the air on the surface for ages.”

Troy sighed, looking out to the sea. “I can’t do that. The ocean is my home now…” He frowned. “Plus, I’d be in for one hell of a Court Marshal. They’d track me down, make me pay for leaving WASP, and then I’d be stuck in a prison cell.” He laughed dryly. “What sea air would I feel then, Gordon?”

“That’s what you think, Troy, but the truth of it is that WASP will defend you. And that’s because you didn’t leave. You were taken.” Gordon frowned when Troy froze, confirming his worst thoughts. “I’ve got it, don’t I? Titan abducted you. He moulded you into someone you’re not, and then he forced you to fight your friends.” Troy’s continued silence was damning. “Tell me I’m wrong!”

“How dare you speak of Titan in that way? He saved me from that life.” Troy’s voice was barely above a whisper, and Gordon immediately knew he’d pushed too far. He couldn’t stop himself from looking down. He knew though, he was right about what Titan had done. The tyrant couldn’t kill his worst enemy, so instead he shaped Troy and his mind as he saw fit. “I will not return to life on the surface.”

Out the corner of his eye, Gordon noticed the mask slip back on. He supposed Trench was fully back. A crunch was heard as he crushed something in his hand. Gordon recognised the tracker that had let the Aquaphibians follow them here in the first place. “I will not tell His Majesty about this conversation we had, but I believe that conversation is over.” He pressed something on his collar, and began speaking in the Aquaphibian language. Gordon could only barely make it out with the little he’d been taught at WASP. His brothers were being released. “As promised, your brothers are unharmed. I strongly advise that the three of you leave. The rest of your family must be worried.” He gestured in the direction of the Thunderbirds, letting Gordon lead the way there.

The aquanaut breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them standing there in front of Thunderbird 2. He broke off in a run, just wanting to stick to them like glue now. When they saw the look on his face, they frowned. Scott glared in Trench’s direction. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No! Absolutely not. Just…” He looked back at Captain Trench and his Aquaphibian men. He didn’t like what he saw in his old friend, now a new enemy. “I just want to get home.”

His two brothers nodded, clearly agreeing with his decision. It had been a difficult day. And as Thunderbirds 1 and 2 both lifted into the air, Gordon processed everything that had just happened. It took a while. All throughout the journey home and the debrief, where Scott had the unfortunate task of telling their father what had just happened. Jeff Tracy was out for blood now, and Alan had looked mortified. .

Gordon took his secret to bed with him, locking the door for as much privacy as he could get with three brothers in the house and one able to get in contact from space at any given moment. He turned on his video-call, taking a deep breath as he typed in the familiar number. His heart beat in his chest as it rang. Finally, the person he was calling answered.

“Hello?” Voice only. Dang it. Oh well, it was better than nothing.

Swallowing down his nerves, he continued what he’d started. “Hi Atlanta. You probably don’t remember me, but I’m Gordon Tracy. I used to work with you at WASP.”

The woman on the other end gasped. “Of course, Lieutenant Tracy! It would be difficult to forget you.” Gordon smirked. His reputation still preceded him, then. “Father said he’d contacted you about temporarily replacing a crew member. Have you changed your mind?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I called to talk to you about something else.”

“Oh?”

“I, umm…” He hesitated. This wasn’t going to be easy to tell her. “I… saw Troy earlier today.”

“Oh.” Atlanta’s voice wilted. “So you know then.” It wasn’t a question. “He tracked you down.”

“Yeah, and…” Gordon sighed. “I just wanna talk to someone about what he said. Someone who’d know…”

“You don’t have to finish that sentence, Gordon. I understand. Do you want to talk now?”

“Yeah, I would.”

So that’s just what they did together. They shared what had happened among themselves. The conversations they’d had with Troy since his turn and how they felt. And Gordon felt so much lighter, to know he wasn’t alone in this feeling.

#thunderbirds #thunderbirds 1965 #thunderbirds fanfiction #stingray 1964 #stingray fanfiction #thunderfam #gordon tracy #captain trench #troy tempest #scott tracy #virgil tracy #atlanta shore #sky writes stuff

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panthera-tigris-venenata · 2 years ago

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Ginny Gothel prompt: “I have such soft hair and nobody is playing with it!”

Obviously involving disaster threesome.

@humaforever I’m tagging you here since you asked for similar prompt, hopefuly you don’t mind.

Anyway. Ginny Gothel. If you were wondering what’s wrong with her, she’s massively iron deficient, through definitely absolutely NO fault of her mother’s. (She’s probably also high, but psst.) (She’s not okay.)

I didn’t mange to write Harriet into the actual plot, she’s only mentioned, but this is very much disaster threesome story. Just saying.

I hope you enjoy!

„My hair is so soft,“ Ginny sighs, pulling at one of her curls and then letting it spring loose. And again, and again. It’s pretty.

„Mmhm,“ mutters Mad Maddy in obvious disinterest. If she didn’t run her „Apothecary“ as she did, Ginny might have considered poisoning her. …Then again, it might not have been effective anyway. (Don’t ask, you’re better off not knowing.)

„My hair is so soft,“ Ginny repeats, lifting her head to look at Maddy, who is still sitting opposite her, which is neat.

„And?“ Maddy finally answers.

„And?!“ Ginny squeals in exasperation and sits up fully, which has the unfortunate effect of making the world spin in front of her eyes. „My hair is so amazingly soft, Maddy, and no one is playing with it!“

„Well, that just sounds like a you problem,“ Maddy says. To make the matters worse, she is playing with one of her broken dolls, running her nails through its tangled hair. Which is very mean of her, and Ginny tells her so. But Maddy only preens in response.

Yeah, Ginny was going for that, totally. After all, Maddy is her dealer.

So Ginny bites her lip and continues playing with her hair herself, which is extremely unfair and heartbreaking, really. She sighs audibly every few moments, hoping to get a more sympathetic reaction out of the other girl.

„For fucks sake, Gin!“ Maddy finally snaps, „Go annoy someone else! Harriet or Anthony! You’re being a horny bitch in my Apothecary, and you know the rules!“

„The rules are “No kissing in the Apothecary”!“ Protests Ginny.

„The rules are “No kissing or fucking in the Apothecary, and also no traitorous purple headed fae”, and they’re being updated!“ snarks Maddy back, „Besides, Junior and Trois said they’d be coming in the evening, and I don’t need you scaring off customers!“

It is dim already, but it is dim always. Anyone’s guess when „evening“ is. Or when the Gaston twins think it is.

Ginny makes a face: „And what are the rules being updated to?“

„No being a whiny horny bitch,“ concludes Maddy triumphantly, and raises her doll to the face level. Ginny makes a face at the doll too–

„Out!“ commands Maddy, pointing at the door with her free hand.

Ginny stands up abruptly, and fuck, the world whites out for a moment. She hisses through her teeth, and knows that Maddy doesn’t even look at her; her hand shots out against the wall, to steady her, and her nails leave incisions in it.

Neat.

„Fine,“ she says as she rakes her nails along the wall for greater effect, „I didn’t wanna stay here anyway.“

As she leaves, she almost runs into the Gaston twins by the door – they only just step away from her way, which is good, because otherwise she’d fall and she might not want to get up again.

She steps into frigid Isle air and behind her, Maddy yells at the twins: „Well what are you waiting for? One of you go with her! If something happens to her, Harriet will throw a temper tantrum and it’ll be my problem!“

Needless to say, Maddy does not wish to deal with angry Harriet Hook. Unfortunately, Ginny – if she says so herself – doesn’t need a bloody bodyguard.

She whirls around as fast as she dares and tells Trois so, with her dagger pointed vaguely in the direction of his neck. As if that would do any good – she aims the dagger to a significantly lower place. Trois pales a bit.

He doesn’t tell her to relax or calm down, which earns him a small insignificant plus.

Ginny narrows her eyes at him anyway.

A broken doll flies through the still open door and whacks Trois in the back of the head: he drops her voice to barely more than whisper: „I’ll go behind you. Respectful distance. You won’t even know I’m here.“

Silence. Her knife doesn’t move.

„Come on, Gin, we both know the next thing she’s throwing at me is gonna explode–“

Yes, and it would likely ruin both her clothes and her hair, which would be absolutely unforgivable – And she simply isn’t talking with Maddy anymore, thank you for asking. So without another word, Ginny turns back around and marches straight ahead; her head protests the sudden movement, but hey. That’s fine. She’s not smelling ozone yet, not really, and as long as she’s not fainting, she’s good to go.

She takes a moment of her precious time to curse her mother and her dubious rituals – Auradon and it’s fucking Barrier.

Trois stays in respectful distance, as he promised, but Ginny can hear him behind her all the same. She ignores him. She doesn’t bother hiding her dagger.

It doesn’t take her long to cross the Isle to Anthony’s saloon, not with that look in her eyes and Gaston’s son at her back. Just the last corner – she exhales loudly and waves Trois away. He can only now leave without Maddy yelling at him (His fault for being a horrible liar, really.)

However, Ginny finds she’s hard pressed to care.

Instead, she checks her reflection in the dark window: A cape of the colour of fine dark wine, and the lipstick to match, smudged just enough to drive Anthony crazy. A dagger in her hand – she should probably hide it now. (So the knife disappears, though not before she checks her reflection in it too.) (Her eyes are open wide.) She pulls at her hair and watches as her reflection’s curls spring back into place.

She is jealous of her reflection.

With a resolute shake of her head, (her hair bouncing all around), she stops looking at herself and walks into the saloon. „Anthony!“ she exclaims over the awful wind-chimes that Dizzy loves and that give her an instant headache.

To her eternal annoyance, no one comes.

„Anthony–“ the doors click shut behind her and she allows the slightest hint of whine to slip into her voice.

Finally, footsteps – though far too light and perky to be his. Ginny grimaces and pulls at her hair.

She doesn’t bother hiding the grimace as Dizzy Tremaine rounds the corner, only narrowing her eyes at the younger girl. Which effectively freezes her mid-greeting, which is good, since she’s always so annoyingly cheerful and the world is so rude and unjust.

Dizzy’s accessories are sparkling in the lacklustre light of the saloon and it’s giving Ginny headache, too. She closes her eyes for just a second, just to stop looking at little Dizzy’s honestly offensive jewellery.

„Holly evil–“ When Ginny opens her eyes again, little Dizzy is standing right next to her, her hand hovering over her elbow. „Come sit down,“ Dizzy says as she guides her to the worn out sofa.

„I wish to speak with Anthony–“ protests Ginny quite fruitlessly, as the little Tremaine has disappeared already. Finding little usefulness in going to look for her, Ginny sinks into the once–decadent pillows – It’s Tremaine’s saloon, isn’t it? Anthony will come to check sooner or later. She is tired.

Dizzy reappears, holding out a glass of clear liquid for her to take: Water. Probably. Possibly. Poison. Bleach. Ginny reaches for the glass and brings it to her lips, almost, almost – She tips the whole glass down, lets the liquid pour down and the glass clutter uselessly on the floor. It doesn’t break. She stares at Dizzy; Dizzy stares back, for barely a heartbeat. Then she sighs, bends down to pick up the glass, and says: „Alright. I’ll go get Anthony for you.“

As she bounces away, Ginny pulls at her curls. „You’d be such a dear for that,“ she manages to say as the little Tremaine bounces away, just the right level of saccharin in her voice.

If she’d care to listen, she might have heard the Tremaine cousins talking and giggling upstairs, Anthony disciplining them. His steps as he walks downstairs. No annoying chimes this time.

„Ginny?“ She looks up at him, and abruptly stands up. Her world goes white again, and she tastes metal for just a heartbeat, „Sunflower, what’s wrong?“ In another heartbeat, he’s hugging her tight, which is probably a good thing. For closely unspecified reasons. She clings to his shoulders, tightly enough for her nails to hurt him even through all the layers he is wearing, and breathes in through clenched teeth. Then again. And again. If she’d have to guess, she’d say that the world has returned to its miserable true colours by now, but, you see, checking would require her to lift her head from his shoulder. Which would be a shame.

She breathes in again and loosens her grip on him. „What’s wrong?“ he asks again, as if the answer wasn’t „Every-fucking-thing,“ or, alternatively, „Existence.“

Instead, she leans away a bit, his hands moving to her hips, and slowly answers: „I have such soft hair, Anthony–“

He smiles: „I know. I did your hair just this morning, remember?“ As if that was relevant just now.

She swats at his shoulder lightly – don’t interrupt me! He presses his lips together in an exasperated expression, holding it only long enough for her to notice. Which is, of course, why she pretends she didn’t see.

„As I was saying,“ she starts again, „I have such soft hair,“ („Thanks to me.“), „And no one is playing with it!“

„Oh?“ he flashes a half-smirk at her and runs his fingers along her scalp, „That better, then?“

„Much.“

Ginny would be content to stay like this for quite a long time, so she’s understandably quite annoyed when she realises Anthony doesn’t agree. Selfish traitor.

„Ginny, what did you do the whole day?“ he asks, as if it was any of his concern.

„Visited mother. Then Maddy,“ she answers anyway, because he is playing with her hair and because it is nice. She hides her face in his neck again.

He mutters something like „I’m gonna kill both of them,“ but his fingers are still in her hair, so it takes her a moment to react. „You leave Maddy alone–“

„Perfect,“ he says with a teasing smirk, „I’m gonna tell Harriet we’re free to take a go at your lovely mother.“

„No!“

„Why not, though?“

Well, for starters… Ginny presses closer to him and says: „If you’d both go track my mother down, I’d have no one to play with my hair. Again.“ She keeps the absolutely genuine betrayal and hurt and accusation clear in her voice.

He tugs at her hair: „And we can’t have that.“

„Exactly.“

Now he’s getting it.

Though, one must say, Harriet sure looks hot when on the warpath.

It’s quiet for a while, save for some giggling girls that are quickly glared away.

„You feeling better now, Sunflower?“ he asks finally, „I’ve got work to do, you know?“

Ginny leans away and summons tears to her eyes: „Ditch,“ she breathes out.

„I can’t–“

„Fuck your grandmother. Ditch,“ she looks up at him, leaning closer, and his grip in her hair tightens, „I want to see Harriet.“

He swallows heavily, eyes at her lips and the smudged lipstick, which is probably printed into his shirt too, now, and moves his hand to her cheek. „Okay,“ he says, „Let’s go find Harriet.“

#disney descendants #ginny gothel #mad maddy #dizzy treamine #anthony tremaine #ehm #mentioned:#Harriet hook #substance abuse #like not on screen but it’s very much going on here #Ginny is also masivelly iron deficient of you were wondering #AND she is a manipulative bitch AND I love her

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taiblogcomics · 1 month ago

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It's the Final Countdown

Hey there, Pope Pizza Balla. Welp. We're finally here, folks. It's finally time. The last one we ever have to review. The band Europe foretold of this moment in their most popular song! Truly, it's a blessed day~

Here's our final cover:

And wow, for our final issue, this cover sucks. Here's some of our main characters (not the dead ones, evil ones, or Jason Todd, though) in a white void. Wow, isn't that exciting. The white void represents the audience's interest. And probably the retained readership by this point. So here's an odd one. I've mentioned a few times now when the cover of an issue then got made into the cover for the trade. Volume 4's trade cover, though, is apparently unique! Maybe it was an alt cover for a different issue, I dunno. But it's not any of the ones we've looked at! That's how boring this cover is: I'm reviewing a different cover that's not even one of the issues I've reviewed.

Our final recap… Well… Duela Dent got shot by one of the multiversal Monitors. Another Monitor teams up with Jason Todd, Donna Troy, and Kyle Rayner to search for Ray Palmer, a man prophecied to stop the Great Disaster, which turns out to be a sentient furry-making virus called Morticoccus, brought here inside Karate Kid from the 31st century. Meanwhile, Jimmy Olsen gains superpowers, which turns out to be the souls of the New Gods stored inside him, as part of Darkseid's plan to harvest them after a serial killer has been picking them off. Jimmy, along with Forager, travels to Apokalips to rectify this, but ultimately it's Orion who saves the day.

Other characters get mixed up in all this. Holly Robinson and Harley Quinn get recruited by Granny Goodness masquerading as Athena for a new crop of Female Furies. Mary Marvel, fresh out of a coma, gets tempted by dark magics and jumps off the slippery slope into full-on evil. Pied Piper and Trickster participate in the murder of Bart Allen, get handcuffed together, and go on the run. Monarch assembles an army, Superboy-Prime decimates several realities in the search for his perfect Earth, and the comic pretends all these things were interconnected and relevant in order to justify itself for running for 51 issues. But here we are at the final one.

And yeah! Like I mentioned, we beat up Darkseid last issue! So the day is saved! This issue is just the wrap-up. We first join Jimmy Olsen moping around his apartment. He's had the most exciting adventue ever! …And he can never tell anyone about it or write about it for the newspaper. Coz, like, who would believe him? The multiverse is just too big a concept for your average layman. Give it a few years, Jimmy! In 15 years, the average layman can't wait for the media to shut up about multiverses and shared universe concepts! Further, his space alien bug girlfriend is giving him the "we need to talk" speech, just to really round out his day.

Hey, what about Ray Palmer? His wife went insane and turned supervill (and ended up evil-magic-grooming Mary Marvel for a bit), so he skipped out on reality for a few years. Now he's back! So… now what? What's he gonna do with his time? Get back into the superhero thing? He's not sure, but the Justice League is at least giving him the time and space to figure that out. And meanwhile, Donna Troy drops by his house. Turns out she's feeling the same kind of "Now what?" as him, and both of them can tell. But what to do about it…?

And meanwhile yet again… Pied Piper. Hey, guess what, he's not dead. Yeah, eight issues later, he suddenly materialises in an alley in Gotham City, overjoyed he's alive and vowing to do right by his life this time. So! Piper's not dead! On the one hand, that's a good thing. It's one fewer life that this stupid-ass comic took from us. On the other hand, it kind of renders his big emotional sacrifice pointless, doesn't it? (Though the trade collection removing the lyrics kind of also already does that.) Maybe this just evens out to zero.

Speaking of Gotham, though, who else would be here but Jason Todd, moping on a roof and staring at the Bat-Signal. Jason's not in costume--neither his Red Hood getup or the Red Robin outfit he got on the multiversal adventure. He's just in jeans and a black leather jacket. He muses that he doesn't want to play sidekick anymore, lest he go crazy like the Batman from that alternate Earth, or how the one from this current Earth will inevitably do so. Instead, he wants answers. And he's going to start with this guy he has tied up and gagged on the roof, unfolding a knife in the process. Oh, I'm so glad he won't go crazy or anything.

So what's Solomon the Monitor doing? Hey, looks like he won that chess game with Darkseid after all! Or at the very least, he's the one still standing afterwards. And isn't that what matters in the end? He's musing all this while staring at the Source Wall, the magical infinite barrier at the edge of the universe. Well, now that he's beaten Darkseid, he has his own plans. Good luck with that, dude! I hope no universal reboots interrupt those! And, as a tribute to Darkseid's ego, he leaves behind the chess piece of Darkseid from their game on the Source Wall--the smallest monument to the largest ego.

Oddly enough, we cut back to Donna and Ray now. Kyle Rayner has turned up as well, but for whatever reason, he's not in civvies like they are, so he looks weirdly out of place in Ray's suburban living room. But at least it's not Darkseid. So the group of them discuss their situation: godlike beings play with the universe, the Earth, like it's a chess game. What can they do about it? And here Donna utters one of the iconic lines of the series, one of those lines the writers must've thought was so smart but the reader knows is so dumb: "Who monitors the Monitors?"

Say, what happened to Mary Marvel. She was henching for Darkseid in that last issue, and then Darkseid lost, and what happened to Mary was never addressed. I guess she must've just skedaddled when her evil sugar daddy bit it, since now she's showing up to meet Black Adam in the desert. Yeah, remember how she originally got her powers from him? He doesn't want them back, and he's not interested in hanging out with her either. She blasts him with lightning in response, and he just ignores her tantrum and flies off, while Mary rages at the heavens for someone to give a damn about her.

Wow, we're doing resolution on Buddy Blank and his grandson? Like, aside from the stupid setup for Kamandi? He was enough of a character that we care about his resolution? I beg to differ, comic, but here we are. Anyway, he and Grandson No-Name are in their stupid bunker when Brother Eye contacts them again. It gives Buddy an all-new dose of OMAC powers, and he breaks the bunker open. But he's not one of the Infinite Crisis-style OMACs, he's the OMAC classic and can turn it off. I'm sure this will totally set up loads of new adventures anyone will give a damn about~

Well, back at Casa de Atom, Jimmy Olsen and Forager have also dropped by. The result of their "we need to talk" speech was basically that, with Forager being now one of the last surviving remnants of the Fourth World, she can't stay on Earth and eat Jimmy's leftover Chinese food anymore. She's instead joining up with our Multiverse Crew to "monitor the Monitors". Good, it'll be good for her to get out of Jimmy's house. Speaking of getting out of the house, Ray is hoping they'll all just leave already. But who should come waltzing into his suburban home next but Nix Uotan.

If you've already forgotten, and why wouldn't you, Nix Uotan is the monitor of Earth-51, the one that entirely blew up. And since his reality a splode, he understands the responsibility of maintaining and, well, monitoring your charge. He wants to help his brethren do the same, and moreover he wants a system in place to keep in check the egos of his brethren, so they don't have any future problems like Solomon and Bob. More or less, he wants some babysitters to watch his brethren argue over "We should do' something!" "Should we do something?"

They finally manage to convince Ray Palmer to come along rather than just sit around his house and mope. What else is he doing with himself? And so, Donna, Ray, Kyle, and Forager present themselves before the Hall of Monitors and basically tell them "shape up and listen to us, or face the consequences". That's gonna be their job now! The Monitors watch over the multiverse, and they watch over the Monitors! Like an oversight committee. Kyle better ask the Guardians if it's okay, I'm just saying. And Solomon, lurking in the background, declares that this new game has just begun.

And so the comic and the event itself--and our long, arduous review documenting it--closes out with our last couple cast members who are still alive: Holly Robinson and Harley Quinn. They took the longest to show up, so I guess letting them close out is fine. The two gals sit on their Gotham fire escape and stare up at the moon, noting how their world view has just been expanded so heavily, how will they will ever cope with knowing all they do now. Harley suggests "A positive attitude and lots of denial?" Hey, it got me through this review! Sounds like a great note to end on!

Yep! What else can you say. Here we are at the end of Countdown to Final Crisis, and... well, it was a thorough waste of time. Like, seriously.

This issue as a standalone first, I guess. Well, we already beat the bad guy last issue! What's even left? This is just a denouement. It's literally the end-credits "where are they now" photo montage of comics. Just wrap up the shit, set up some new plotlines! Don't take a minute to mourn the dead or anything! We got tie-ins to set up! It's fine as a closer, but as an issue itself, it's pretty boring~

For all that Countdown was touted as being the next big thing in the DC Universe, it affected exactly two things in the long run: diddly and squat. Final Crisis, the thing it was counting down to, references it not one whit. At most, like, it serves as mild foreshadowing that Mary Marvel gets possessed by the soul of Desaad and goes even more evil? Nix Uotan is a major player. Darkseid comes back to life, only to get killed off again. Otherwise, like, characters who were in this don't even turn up again.

Speaking of not turning up again, here's some things that never happened afterwards. The whole big thing with Kyle, Donna, Ray, and Forager monitoring the Monitors? Never mentioned again. Forager was never seen again, and the other three just turn up back on Earth and ignore it ever happened. Further OMAC advenures with Buddy Blank? Nah. No one cares. Pied Piper promising to play on the side of the angels now? Well, after Final Crisis, he joined the rest of the Rogues in assisting in the murder of Inertia/Kid Zoom, as revenge for Bart Allen's death. So I guess that's fair.

See, the thing with Countdown is, even if it had had any significant impact or played any role in the greater DC Uiverse after, DC was three years away from rebooting it all to hell with the New 52. Nobody could have known that at the time, of course, but with hindsight, it makes it seem all the more fucking futile, doesn't it~?

Now, there are a couple loose threads to tie up that I want to touch upon. Like, for example, you might ask "What happened to Superboy-Prime?" Well, the long and short of it is that, after the entirety of Earth-51's universe exploded, Superboy-Prime was propelled into the lost spaces between time, until the Time Trapper rescued him and dropped him off in the 31st century, where he became the antagonist for a Final Crisis tie-in called Legion of 3 Worlds. After that, he turned up in Blackest Night and got sort of a meta redemption/resolution.

Second, that thing with the New Gods being killed off. Did you notice that had no resolution~? Coz I sure did. That spoiler I mentioned last issue, that was Darkseid outright stating the name of the killer. Except you had no way of knowing that if you weren't following the tie-ins. That'll be covered in Death of the New Gods (appropriately enough), and trust me, we'll get back to that in the future. Like, I know a lot of tie-ins happened with Countdown. Monarch's whole recruitment process had its own tie-in. The Multiverse Pals exploring other universes in their search for Ray Palmer was also relegated to a tie-in. But, like, one of the inciting incidents of this entire maxi-series event was the New Gods getting ganked by a mysterious killer, and the identity and fate of that killer never gets resolved in Countdown itself.

But, speaking of the New God killer, I wanna put a thing into perspective for you. Let's do a little memorial wall, a little tribute to all the characters who got killed for this stupid event. Because good god, if there's anything this event is known for, it's the gleeful killing off of characters. Like, for sheer numbers, I think only Crisis on Infinite Earths matches it, due to every universe getting wiped out in that one. But for actual named, established characters? This one might take the cake. So then, on that note:

Duela Dent

Karate Kid

Una

Trickster (Jesse James)

Bart Allen (The Flash/Kid Flash/Impulse) (Not technically in this series, but they flash back to it, and it's such an inciting incident, I'm counting it)

The Jokester of Earth-3

Annataz Arataz of Earth-3

Bob the Monitor

Jean Loring (Eclipso)

Monarch/Captain Atom

Lightray

Sleez

The six members of Deep Six

That unnamed concubine of Darkseid's

Bernadeth

Mad Harriet

Granny Goodness

Desaad

Darkseid

The entire population of Earth-15

The entire universe of Earth-51

Untold more of the population at the hand of the Morticoccus virus

$80 of my wallet when I bought these trades

Like, geez. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so disgusted. Farewell, Countdown. May we never see the like of you again. (At least not until after the New 52, eh, Futures End?)

So, what's next, then, huh? Well, obviously, I'm not ending it here! I'll never stop, and I certainly wouldn't go out on frickin' Countdown. It doesn't deserve the dignity. Nah, but we do need something lighthearted for a while, and I got a backlog of MLP comics we haven't gotten to for over a year, so we'll probably tackle those into the summer. And, as hinted, I do want to get to Death of the New Gods at some point. I don't think I'll do any other tie-ins, I've expended enough braincells on Countdown as it is. But I did get a request for Death of the New Gods, and I so rarely get requests. Plus, we can tie up that plot point!

But more immediately, even more than the MLP backlog... Well, what was Countdown counting down to? Yes, yes, Final Crisis, but more immediately than that. A countdown doesn't end until you hit zero... This was supposed to be a weekly series for a year, but you might notice we only did 51 issues... Well, we can talk about that next week~

#comics #reviews #Countdown #Countdown to Final Crisis #Taiblog

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laranoa · 3 months ago

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Nobody asked but I just watched season 5 of star trek the next generation and heres my thoughts on every episode

1 Redemption Part 2

I really am not good with the Klingon politics, I find the characters hard to follow however the duras ladies are kind of serving. Yar daughter is kind of cool but it's funny how Picard just kinda accepts its true despite it being literally impossible.

2 Darmok

I thought this episode was really sweet. it was small in scale compared to most others. No impending doom, no real conflict, just some friends learning a language. And an invisible monster but y'know. It is a bit laughable no one figured it out before with how simple it is, but I guess it had to be so audiences could understand

3 Ensign Ro

Oh hey I know her from homicide! I find it kind of annoying when shows are like "actually the freedom fighters never did a terrorism after all, so you're allowed to sympathize with them now!" Subverted a bit but still. Also starfleet is still rampant with corruption lol

4 Silicon Avatar

Wow I did not expect the crystal thing to come back. I have to admit the ending of this one really got to me. Like I felt genuinely sad for that thing and hatred for the scientist. I often get annoyed that there's too many data episodes but I didn't mind this one.

5 Disaster

This episode was fine, not a lot to say about it except it gave characters who don't normally interact a chance to, which was neat. Picard and the kids was cute too. It's funny how he's supposed to be bad with kids yet he is consistently very good with kids.

6 The Game

I kinda liked seeing Wesley again but I was too weirded out by the rest of this. The way at the end they just kinda go "aha villain we foiled your plan! Welp back to business" as if they didn't just all do horrible things. Also the data deus ex machina was unsatisfying.

7 Unification Part 1

I mean... I have no nostalgia for Spock so this means basically nothing to me. However, this is the first real exploration of who the Romans actually are, which was sorely needed, so I appreciate that.

8 Unification Part 2

Like I said on the last one, I'm glad Romulans are finally getting fleshed out a little bit. I also thought the conversation that Spock and data had was nice. Live long and prosper is super corny I'm sorry. I'm kinda glad they basically never say it on this show

9 A Matter of Time

I get what they were going for but the tonal difference between the dying planet plot and the archaeologist guy didn't do it for me. I don't really understand how the character knew so much about the enterprise to begin with but perhaps he was just very good at bluffing.

10 New Ground

Despite loving Worf I have to admit I didn't care for that many Worf episodes because I struggle to follow Klingon politics. This, however? I very much enjoyed watching him be a shitty father. I couldnt help constantly noticing how Alexander was clearly white. like not that its bad it was just funny

11 Hero Worship

I'm gonna be real this one made me cringe so hard I stopped halfway through. like I'm sorry but Troi saying they should encourage what is obviously super unhealthy behavior just bothered the hell out of me. Pass.

12 Violations

This was particularly dark for the show but I do kind of like it as an exploration of rape. they handled it pretty well. I don't like how ambiguous the riker scene is though. I don't think he actually did all that but you could read it that way.

13 The Masterpiece Society

"What if there was a society with customs we find repulsive but they liked it" is a pretty standard episode plot so this one is kinda whatever. The stakes felt too low in this, like I didn't really buy the idea that the society would collapse if they removed a few people.

14 Conundrum

A lot of missed potential here; they resumed their normal roles so quickly it felt like they never explored the amnesia except for with ro and riker. It went back to feeling like a standard episode pretty fast. I get that they had to move the plot along but still. Also picard just killed those people and went "oops sorry guys"

15 Power Play

I really enjoyed this episode, it was fun to see the characters behave so differently and for Troi to have a more assertive role. It's absurd that they don't have some sort of Data containment plan, he is simply too powerful... but not as powerful as O'Brien's "wife guy" energy, strong enough to completely derail a hostile invading spirit

16 Ethics

This episode was decent but I was really baffled by the lack of Geordi. The script was so concerned about the ethics of euthanasia that it never really stopped to critique Worf's views on disability. Idk I think it's a missed opportunity. Although I guess Geordi did have that same conversation in The Masterpiece Society.

17 The Outcast

I didn't really care for this one much, not because of gender politics but just because I found it boring & I did not think the character of Soren was very endearing. I'm sure there's a lot to be said about the episode's take on trans and nonbinary people, but I am not invested enough to unpack that

18 Cause and Effect

For the first half of this episode everyone *except* data experiences deja vu, which would be interesting as it's one of the only occasions he's actually at a disadvantage compared to the others. But then the solution ends up being "data can carry information to the next loop somehow" because of course data always has to save the day.

19 The First Duty

I mean I guess it's nice to see an episode where Wesley is in the wrong but man, this is just an incredibly awful situation. Depressing the whole way through. I didn't hate this episode, I'm mostly just shocked this is how they decided to conclude Wesley's storyline.

20 Cost of Living

This was roughly half of a pretty interesting episode about the relationship between Lwaxana and Alexander, which was left mostly unresolved in favor of a very uninteresting, completely unrelated plot in which data saves the day, again. I swear my contempt for him grows every day

21 The Perfect Mate

This episode is fine but it feels like everyone forgot that other women exist. Like it seems obvious to just have the metamorph attended to by women, but they don't even address it. Also I don't really like ferengi much, they are overly silly to the point where it detracts from the episode

22 Imaginary Friend

Another pretty unremarkable episode however I will say that I thought the actresses playing the two lead girls did an excellent job, they were really a cut above all the other child actors I've seen on this show.

23 I, Borg

I thought this one was great, It really subverted my expectations. I expected Picard to empathize with the Borg while everyone else hated it, but it was neat to see him be such an asshole and so completely wrong for once. Men will literally engineer a deadly virus instead of going to therapy

24 The Next Phase

Objectively this episode is nothing special however I am a sucker for this trope so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rip to that one romulan, he just wanted help getting back to normal but instead he got launched into space

25 The Inner Light

The way this is an intensely traumatic experience that would take years to recover from and they're just gonna never mention it again? Oh my god? "Sorry man the family you dedicated decades of your life to is all dead. Now get up, you gotta captain this ship"

26 Time's Arrow Part 1

This feels really "small" compared to a lot of the past season finale episodes, not that thats a problem necessarily. Also i feel like the head would be the talk of the enterprise. i would be trying to get my buddy in engineering to sneak me in so i can see the head

#random thing about me is i use my drafts as kind of a journal #a lot of posts in there where im just writing my thoughts about whatever im watching with no intent of actually posting #but every now and then im like fuck it why not post

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streets-in-paradise · 3 years ago

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The Insolence of Beauty

Troy (2004) Oneshot

Word Count: 1.910

Characters: Agamemnon, Achilles (mentioned), Odysseus, Nestor, Menelaus, Briseis.

Warnings: Swearing.(Should I warn that Agamemnon gets a bit gay for Achilles here? )

Genre: Friendship - Humor.

Summary: Agamemnon arrived to Troy fed up of Achilles’ attitude and he decided to do something about it, but their dispute begins to point them as a threat to the success in the war against Troy. When his brother and two of his friends decide to intervene on the situation, some never spoken thoughts about his rival come to surface.

Note: This was completely inspired by the comments of Brian Cox about Brad Pitt on this clip. Special thanks to my friend @mysticaldeanvoidhorse because we started thinking this together and her encouragement made me want to write the concept as an oneshot.

Tags: @mysticaldeanvoidhorse @yerevasunclair

The gathered kings left the celebrations on the order of their commander, but no one was calm knowing that he would be alone with Achilles. It was a recipe for disaster, everyone guessed that the only possible outcome of that meeting was a tremendous fight. Agamemnon was incapable of thinking rationally when it was about that man and all he wanted was blatant revenge against him. Payback for his hurted pride, a compensation for the stolen glory that the crazy entrance of the myrmidons in trojan territory took from him.

That time, Achilles went too far. Monopolizing the merit for the first acquired victory in the war was inadmissible. The soldier forgot which of them was King and for that he had to pay a price . He came up with a disciplinary sanction that would also work as reparation for him: to take him, without any warnings, his most valued piece from his share of the treasure. Thinking as he assumed a warrior would instead of picking like a king, he stole from him the only woman found in the destroyed trojan temple. The meeting was barely an excuse to enjoy himself observing his powerlessness, apparently sure of how that victory was going to positionate him as an indisputable leader.

While the altercation was taking place, all the kings and captains took their different paths, but only three remained outside the tent and ready to deal with the latent danger. Menelaus, worried about the state of his brother during all the observational process of the battle from the ships, was mostly personally concerned about him. Nestor's worries were split in between actual preoccupation for his friend and fears about the lack of cohesion in the army. On his part, Odysseus was primarily thinking about the military and political consequences of what he saw as a new tantrum of the king with the warrior. He wouldn't admit it directly, but he was as well deeply worried about Achilles and his always fragile emotional balance. He convinced him of sailing to Troy and, as a close friend of his, he would feel somewhat responsible for what would be happening to him there.

His state was terrible, he noticed it as they saw him furiously leaving the tent. Menelaus asked him to intervene, but Odysseus knew that the best thing to do when dealing with his friend's rage was waiting. In the heat of his anger, Achilles would listen to no one. He would not want reason, he would only seek for the chaotic explosion of his feelings. All he was able to do was to silently let him know that he counted with his support through a furtive glance.

As soon as the myrmidon was out of sight, Menelaus rushed inside the tent back with his brother, followed closely by the other two kings. Talking with Agamemnon and evaluating solutions from his side was all they could do at that moment.

Despite getting a sense of triumph from the fight, he was still angry. The stolen girl remained alongside him, staring at everyone with a rare challenging pride in her expression. Odysseus was the only one who bothered to ask her name, receiving a dry reply directly from her. Briseis didn't have interest in arguing with anyone else.

Menelaus spoke first, trying to get Agamemnon's good side out.

" Excellent choice, brother. She is beautiful and Achilles is furious. " He began the praising. " Very creative of you, I must say. "

It made him smile, proud of still being the hero in his little brother's eyes.

" I could have taken gold, but i knew it would not affect him. For as highly ambitious as he seems to be, he still thinks like a soldier. " He pridefully explained. " Women are needed among them more than any other forms of riches. He can live with less gold, but he will want to fuck. That's how the mind of the common man works. "

Odysseus gave some credit to the reasoning, but still exposed his point.

" ... Clever, unfortunately. Let's hope to see these sparkles of brilliance more often in the planning of strategies to attack our real enemy. We came here to fight the trojans, not to educate Achilles. "

Agamemnon stared at Nestor, waiting for his words as if his opinion could bring the closure.

" I'm afraid I have to agree. " He completed. " What he does is not of our concern as long as he keeps winning battles for us."

His honest opinion didn't please him. When it was about Achilles, everything was black or white to him.

Then, the inevitable happened. Instead of talking with reason, furious and incoherent venting of his hate.

" HOW CAN I BE KING IF MY SCEPTER MEANS NOTHING TO HIM??" Agamemnon complained really loudly. " SHOULD I LET HIM RULE THROUGH ME? NEVER IN THIS LIFETIME!! "

" You can't think straight, you are obsessed with him." Odysseus replicated. " Your fun little gain can potentially lead us to ruin. I know Achilles, ríght now he must be thinking of retiring from the battlefield. "

The trojan girl seemed slightly impressed by that claim, probably wondering how she managed to get such influence in him and the course of the war. She didn't speak, but the ithacan noticed it.

Agamemnon didn't flinch with the news.

" He has to see that he is nothing without me. Didn't you see our own men cheering his name? This is serious, Odysseus. Honors are meant for kings. "

" I can live with less worship from subdits if that assures me to survive the war and maybe win it in the process. " He sarcastically snarked. " I'm sure the fellow kings here can understand what I mean. "

The mycenaean became hysterical, any social filter of his speech completely lost to rage.

" I GIVE THE ORDERS, I HOLD THE POWER AND I TAKE THE GLORY!'' He yelled. " WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS? DOES HE EXPECT ENDLESS WORSHIP, EVERYTHING HANDLED TO HIM JUST BECAUSE HE IS HOT??"

Silence invaded the tent as everyone else tried to process the new information unawaringly implied in his venting. Menelaus’s eyes went wide, Nestor was forced to hold a cackle and Odysseus was the only one with little shame and enough courage to keep digging.

It was a fun discovery that the situation provided, the funniest opportunity he had in years to mess with the mycenaean king.

“ Do you think that is a factor we are overlooking? How hot would you say he is?” He followed the lead of the sayings, willing to play with that for as much time as it would take for Agamemnon to calm down and realize what he was saying.

“ The most handsome man in the army, in the country … and the bastard knows it!!” The king kept complaining.” I have no chance of obtaining the honors that are owed to me if i have to compete against him! Everything that gives him the illusion of mightiness comes from his looks. He is not special, only astonishingly handsome and that is ruining me. WHO WOULD LISTEN TO ME WHEN THIS GOLDEN HAIRED CHAMPION MAKES CONSTANT CALLS TO DISOBEY ME??”

Nestor was starting to get the point of Odysseus' game and he chose to follow it out of pure amusement.

“ Shall we come up with a male beauty measurement system to solve this problem?”

“ I have one.” The ithacan struk back. “ On a down to up scale from Menelaus to Paris … how irreverently beautiful would you say that Achilles is?”

The spartan king stared deathly at him.

“ Couldn’t you use different extremes? That is offensive.”

Totally messing up with him, Odysseus proceeded to explain himself.

“ Agamemnon thinks that beauty affects the loyalty and modesty of men, not only of women. Who better than Paris to represent that? He is known for being beautiful and extremely insolent. “

The explanation satisfied Menelaus, allowing the mockery to continue on the sidelines of his disconcert.

“ PRECISELY!! He wouldn't be so insolent if he wasn’t so stunning.” Agamemmnon agreed, picking only pieces of the conversation to connect his rant.” I saw him claiming the victory and I couldn't believe my eyes. That beautiful bastard in gleaming bronze was being worshiped as a God for a feat that should have been mine !!

His brother tried to dissimulate the disconcert with attempts to calm him down.

“ The feat is still yours because you are the commander of all the forces.”

“ It doesn’t matter because he gets the influence … CURSE HIM AND HIS PIERCING BLUE EYES! “ Agamemnon remained unaware of the odd route in which he was directing the conversation. “ The world will end up at his feet … Who would dare to say no to him?”

“ The conclusion would be then that Achilles is so beautiful that it is affecting you?” Nestor summarized for everyone, still in disbelief. “ How?”

“ He is too beautiful to be commanded. Is that what you mean? “ Odysseus completed, sharing mischievous glances with the eldest king.

Menelaus opted for a new deviation in the same topic, in hopes of ending the strange conversation. He asked for Briseis’ opinion because she was the only woman present there.

Her initial reaction was remaining silent.

“ Now you are being more insensitive than me.” Odysseus called him out for doing it. “ You are talking about the man who leads the men who brought her here. I don’t think she has a say in this.”

Briseis was evidently confused and slightly weirded by the situation that she was witnessing, even more when asked to take part in it.

“ Can’t you read the meaning of my robes? I’m a Priestess of Apollo.” She fearlessly replied to the spartan king.

“ You are still a woman.” Menelaus snarked back.” Your cute sad face doesn’t deceive me, girl. The traitorous whore I married used to look at me like that and I once believed her incapable of looking at men with want. Stop pretending to be a cold bitch and give me what you have.”

The pressure was intimidating, but she tried to hide it. For that, she gave an avoidant answer.

“ I wouldn’t willingly give myself to him, if that is what you are asking.”

More fun implications were in development when Menelaus started to use the subject as his own rage outlet. Odysseus almost bursted into laughter as they saw him trying to force a confession of desire out of her.

“ LIAR!! One month from now and you would be his whore. You would forget any promises you ever made and lay with him because it is in your nature. Who knows if you are a real virgin anyways? Do I have to believe in your dress? “

“ That’s enough, let her be.” Nestor stopped him.” She is not going to give any answers.”

“ … I have to find a way to control him or the beauty of that man is going to kill us all.” Agamemnon stayed in his own personal monolog.

Surprisingly, she understood his claims, for as absurd as those sounded. Her meeting with Achilles was a confusing episode. Like Agamemnon, she hated him to the core but couldn’t help to admire his looks. The commander king was despicable and he still was a danger to her safety, but hearing his venting made her feel less worried about her own mixed emotions. She wondered if that was the effect that Achilles had on everyone.

Maybe, hating him while feeling attracted to him wasn’t strange after all.

#troy 2004 #troy (2004)#troy #troy 2004 fanfiction #agamemnon #achilles #odysseus #nestor #nestor of pylos #menelaus #briseis #brian cox #brad pitt #sean bean #john sharapnel #brendan gleeson #rose byrne

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fandom-imagines-stories · 5 years ago

Text

Transfer

Troy Bolton x Reader

Words: 4064

Summary: Moving schools isn’t easy. Moving to the rival school… Start of something new? Or complete disaster.

Notes: I will stop writing for Troy when my love for him ceases… so never. (This is another one that is going to deal with bullying, even more so than the last one, so if that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to move along)

Warnings: Cyber bullying, angst

Nobody knew. That’s what you had to keep telling yourself. Nobody knew you or anything that had happened. Granted, that also meant you didn’t know anyone either. Strangers passed you without a second glance. This was good. If nobody noticed you, they wouldn’t attack. If you stayed invisible, you stayed safe.

“Hey Chad, over here!” You were so busy looking at your new schedule that you didn’t see the basketball hurtling towards you. The ball hit you square in the chest, knocking the wind out of you and causing you to drop your books. “Oh gosh, I am so so so sorry.”

A boy crouched down in front of you, trying to gather up your papers before they were swept away under his classmates’ shuffling feet.

“It’s okay,” You gasped, stilling trying to catch your breath. He helped pick up the last of your things and held out his hand to help you up.

“I’m Troy.” He gave you a smile that would have made the entire cheer squad at West High swoon. You took his hand, feeling the blush on your cheeks.

“Y/N.” So much for staying invisible.

“Are you okay? That sounded like it hurt.” The apologetic puppy face was almost as cute as his smile.

“I’ll be fine. I probably should have been paying more attention.” You laughed nervously.

“And I should have caught the ball.” As he handed your things back to you, he caught a glimpse of your schedule. “Hey, you have Mrs. Darbus for homeroom!”

“Um, yeah, I was trying to find her room.” You anxiously tucked a hair behind your ear.

“I can show you.” He offered, that gorgeous smile returning. “My friends and I have her too.”

“Drop something?” A blonde girl wearing the pinkest jacket you had ever seen held out Troy’s basketball. His smile strained.

“Thanks Sharpay.” Her vicious gaze turned on you.

“And who are you?” And here you thought all the scary girls went to West High.

“I-uh-I’m-” You stuttered. Troy came to the rescue.

“Look at the time! We’re all going to be late for homeroom if we don’t hurry.” He quickly ushered you away from Sharpay, helping you steer through the herd of students to Mrs. Darbus’ room.

“Who was that?’ You whispered as seats started to fill up.

“That was Sharpay Evans. The evil queen of East High. Just stay off her bad side and you should be fine.” He shuttered, grabbing his usual desk. All the seats around Troy were filled so you picked an empty desk in the back row. The scary blonde, along with a few other late comers got in the door just as the bell rang.

“Troy, pass it.” One of the guys held out his hand. Troy threw him the basketball and he proceeded to spin the ball on his finger. “You ready for the game?” He grinned.

“Are you kidding? The Knights are so going down.” Troy made a hoop with his arms and his friend tossed the ball in. The room pretended to cheer and you couldn’t help but smile at the antics. Your teacher wasn’t as amused.

“Mr Danforth, Mr. Bolton, it seems you’ve lost your way to the court. This is a classroom. I will be seeing you two superstars-”

“In detention.” They finished grimly.

“You must be new.” The girl next to you whispered. “She had gorgeous brown hair and a kind smile. “I know how you feel. I moved here last year. I’m Gabriella.”

“I’m Y/N.” Your cell phone buzzed in your pocket. You opened up your messages, feeling that awful icy dread that you had tried to get away from.

“Miss Y/L/N, correct?” Mrs. Darbus stood over you, holding a bucket.

“Y-yes.”

“While your former school may have allowed electronics, I certainly do not.” She motioned to your phone. You slumped in your chair and dropped it into the bucket.

“Sorry ma’am.”

“Not to worry I’m sure you’ll make plenty of new friends in detention.” She returned to the front of the room. You didn’t dare argue, burying your face in your hands with a sigh. You felt the words of the message resonate in your head.

You can run. But you can’t hide.

Detention didn’t seem so bad. You mostly just had to help paint sets for the end of the year one-act. You had your face buried behind a picket fence when a pair of blue eyes peaked at you between the boards.

“Need some help?” Troy offered, leaning over the fence.

“Be careful of the paint!” You exclaimed before his hands got covered. You swiped your arm across your forehead and Troy started to snicker. “What?”

“You’ve got a little…” He motioned to the spot above your eyebrow. Horrified, you scrambled to find a rag to clean off the paint. Troy laughed, but not in a mocking way. You couldn’t help but laugh with him. How long had it been since you laughed with someone? Let alone an outrageously cute guy?

“I meant to say thanks earlier, for helping me find Mrs. Darbus’ class.” You said, getting back to work on the fence.

“It’s the least I could do after missing the ball.” He sat down next to you and grabbed a brush to help.

You heard an outburst of laughter from across the stage and winced. You whirled your head around and saw a group of students messing around with funny looking masks from the costume trunk. You exhaled slowly to calm down. They weren’t laughing at you.

“You okay?” Troy wondered, noticing your sudden change in demeanor. You forced a smile and said your well rehearsed line.

“I’m fine.”

For the first time, somebody saw through it. Troy may not have given any indication, but he could tell that something had upset you. He just nodded and smiled.

“Are you coming to the game this weekend?” He changed the topic excitedly, hoping to distract you from whatever had made you upset.

“I don’t know yet.” You sighed. “I have a lot to catch up on and stuff to set up.” His face fell into that adorable pout and you just couldn’t say no. “I can try and squeeze it in.” His eyes lit up.

“Great!” Through his excitement, a slightly shy smile crept onto his lips. “I was kind of hoping that you’d want to get a pizza or something after the game?”

You tried to keep your jaw from dropping.

“Are you… asking me out?” You gasped. He grinned.

“Yeah. I guess I am.” His fingers brushed against yours as both reached for the paint. You blushed.

“Then, um, yeah. I’d love to go out with you after the game.” You were smiling brighter than you had in a long time, but still, a little voice in your head was telling you this was a bad idea. Stay invisible. Stay invisible.

“Awesome.” Troy was beaming, making that little voice of doubt disappear. “I promise, I play much better than what you saw in the hall.” You both laughed. Wow he has a nice laugh.

Mrs. Darbus announced that the time was up and that all prisoners of detention were free to go. Honestly, you were kind bummed. With Troy helping you with the fence, you were actually having a good time. You had a skp in your step as you walked home.

“Hi mom! Hi dad!” You greeted, snatching an apple for a snack. Your mom’s voice called from the backyard.

“Hey! How was your first day?” She was elbows deep in tulip bulbs even though it was late January. Then again, you were in New Mexico.

“Really god, actually.” You grinned. “I met some really nice people and got invited to the basketball game this weekend.”

“Woah, what happened to laying low for a while?” She rubbed the dirt off her hands on her apron. Her usual perky cheerleader smile was gone, replaced by a glare of concern. “You know the basketball game is against West High, don’t you?”

“I-” You hadn’t thought about that. Trying to seem confident, you crossed your arms. “I can’t hide forever, mom.”

“Those girls are going to be there.” She said, putting her hands on her hips. “Wouldn’t it be better to just stay home and not drag out the skeletons in your closet?”

“They’re just cheerleaders, mom! They aren’t hitmen.” You exclaimed. You knew that this was more about protecting her pride than your own.

“Yeah, well, you used to be one of them and look how that turned out.” the disappointed stare she gave you hurt, but you tried not to show it.

“I'm going to the game and I'm going out for pizza afterwards with one of my new friends.”

“Is that new friend a boy?” She spat. You ignored her.

“I’m going whether that fits your little ‘laying low’ plan or not.” You stormed off, but not before you heard her muttering under her breath.

“Haven’t you humiliated me enough?”

The next day, you walked with your head down. Your mother’s pessimism had definitely brought your sunny mood back down to earth. Leave it to her to ruin the one good thing you’d had in months. Your attempts to disappear worked well for the fist two periods. Nobody even noticed that you were there.

Of course, that only lasted until Gabriella spotted you. The bubbly brunette was quick to join you while you tried to navigate your way to your next class.

“I heard you’re going to the basketball game!” She said excitedly. “I didn’t think I was much of a sports person, but the school spirit here makes everything exciting.”

“Yeah, I'm not sure.” You shrugged. After all, half of your classmates from West High would be there, including the girls that started all this. Rob would be on the court, playing against Troy. Oh no.

“Well you are welcome to come with me and Taylor. We’re going to have a movie night afterwards, too.”

“I’m- uh- I’m supposed to be grabbing dinner with Troy after the game.” You muttered, the excitement of the date having faded into dread.

“You have a date with Troy Bolton?” A shrill voice joined the conversation, stopping you in your tracks. The terrifying blonde was giving you an icy cold stare. “That was quick.”

“I think it's sweet.” Gabriella countered. She gave you a smirk. “Who knows? Maybe it was love at first sight.” Your eyes fell to the tiled floor.

“I think he was just being nice.” Your grim tone made her give you a look of concern. Sharpay smiled sarcastically.

“Well isn’t that just like our Troy?” Her sneer made her annoyance very clear. She put her hands on her hips and began a deeper interrogation. “You’re from West High, aren’t you?” Before you could even answer, she continued. “Won’t that be awkward, coming to the basketball game? Why did you transfer? It’s a little weird, right? Transferring a month into the semester?”

“Okay!” Gabriella exclaimed. “I think it’s time we all get to class, don’t you think?” Sherpa was clearly irked by the interruption and tossed her hair over shoulder.

“I guess I’ll just see you both at the game.” She strutted away and you exhaled the breath you had been holding.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about her.” Gabriella shrugged. “Sharpay is usually all bark and no bite.”

“Somehow, I find that hard to believe.” You said to yourself.

After third period, it was time for lunch. You found the same empty table that you sat at the day before. You were used to eating alone by now.

Somewhere in the lunchroom, a phone dinged, followed by laughter. You flinched, waiting for the taunting to start. Like before, however, they weren’t really laughing at you. Keeping your head low, you tuned out the loud chatter of the cafeteria. For a while, it really felt like you were invisible. Invisible and alone.

“Mind if I join you?”

You looked up and found Troy giving you a sweet smile. You shrugged in reply and he took that as confirmation that something was wrong. He sat down beside you as you toyed with the green beans on your plate.

“Gabriella told me about Sharpay. She said you seemed pretty upset.” His words only elicited another shrug. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but I’m here if you do.”

“I can’t go to the game.” You blurted.

“What? Why?”

“I just can’t, Troy.” You kept your face down, so he couldn’t see your tears. “I can’t go out with you either.”

“Y/N, if I said something wrong-”

“Can’t you see I’m doing you a favor?” You slammed your hand down on the table and you finally looked up to see his hurt expression. You almost took it back. Then your phone buzzed ominously and you grabbed your backpack. “I’m really sorry, Troy. But if they saw us together, if they thought I was happy-”

“Who are you talking about?” He was worried now. “Who’s they?”

“Forget I said anything and just… forget me.” Clutching your phone in a tight fist, you ran out of the cafeteria.

You weren’t sure if Troy followed you or not as you sprinted down the halls of East High. You didn’t read the text until you got out to the parking lot. There weren’t any words. Just that stupid video.

It was the cheer squad’s Christmas party. There had been some tension between you and the other girls, but you hadn’t thought much of it. ‘Girls as close as you are bicker.’ your mom had said. So you went to the party.

Amber, the cheer captain and your supposed best friend, told you that Rob Mannington wanted to talk to you. She knew how much of a crush you had on him. Problem was, so did she.

When you found Rob, you thought the two of you were alone. He took off your jacket and said a bunch of sweet things as he leaned in for a kiss.

“I can’t do this.” He burst out laughing, pushing you away. Other girls from the cheer squad appeared, cackling like a bunch of Prada clad hyenas. Hurt and humiliated, you ran.

After that, it just got worse. Text messages, online harassment, and eventually, someone took a picture in the locker room and posted it all around the school. Your mother immediately had you transfer to East High. She was ashamed of you and blamed you for the loss of her social status. She didn't care that you lost everything.

You let out a frustrated and hopeless scream and threw your phone as hard as you could against the concrete. The device broke apart and you stared at it. It wasn’t until you felt a gentle hand on your shoulder that you let yourself cry.

You turned around and were in Troy’s embrace without objection. You let this sweet and caring boy hold you tight while you sobbed. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. He was just there.

“Wow.” Troy blew out a long breathing, running his fingers through his hair. “And these were your friends?”

“I thought they were.” You sighed, wiping a fallen tear off your cheek.

After your break down at lunch, Troy told you to meet him for homeroom. He told Mrs. Darbus that you were going through some stuff and needed a friend. So he brought you to his favorite spot in the whole school; the roof. And you told him everything. It was the first time that you’d really talked about what happened with anyone and it was nice to get it off your chest.

“I’m really sorry that happened to you.” Troy put his hand on top of yours. “And I totally understand if you don’t want to come to the game. What those West High kids did… I can’t imagine what it was like.”

“I felt like my whole life- all the cheerleading camps, the coaching from my perfect mother, kissing up to every spoiled girl with pom poms- it all meant nothing.” You were quiet for a moment, Troy’s thumb gently rubbing the back of your hand. With a deep breath and your head held high, you made your decision. “I’m going to that game.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to get thrown back into everything because of me.” The concern in his voice was more than either of your parents had shown. You gave him a small, but confident smile.

“No. I’m tired of hiding from them. I’m done being invisible.” With your new confidence, you leaned over and kiss his cheek.

Troy’s face turned a light shade of pink as he grinned.

“What was that for?’ He wondered sheepishly. Your smile was sincere.

“For being the first real friend I’ve had in seventeen years.” You leaned your head on his shoulder and he entwined his fingers with yours. You had only known him for two days, but he already seemed to understand you better than anybody else in your life.

He turned slightly and pressed his lips on top of your hair, lingering there for a moment. Troy couldn’t understand his own feelings, but after less than 48 hours, you seemed to have won over the basketball captain’s heart.

You couldn’t hide that you were nervous. From the sounds of it, the gym was already pretty full. Even from outside the doors, you could hear the West High cheer section warming up. Gabriella gave you an encouraging smile to try and calm your nerves.

“Remember, there is always plan B.” She said, reminding you of the message Troy had sent earlier.

I can’t wait to see you in the stands tonight! Don’t forget you can alway sleeve if you need to. Gabriella is all set for an emergency escape. Look for #14. I’ll see you then!

You wished he was with you, but he belonged with his team. You could do this. Rob, Amber, the other cheerleaders; none of them mattered anymore. They could taunt you all they wanted, but you weren’t alone. Besides, watching the Wildcats whoop the Knights would be the perfect way to leave them all behind.

Gabriella grabbed your hand and navigated through the crowd to get inside. The air was buzzing with excitement and you let the energy charge through you. When Amber’s eagle eyes spotted you, you just kept walking.

After finding a good spot in the student section, you waited s the time ticked by. The gym was filling up, but you could still see Amber whispering to the other girls and pointing in your direction. You inhaled sharply and looked away, feeling the panic begin to resurface.

“Look, there he is.” Gabriella was almost drowned out by the cheering crowd as the Wildcats ran onto the court. Sure enough, at the front of the pack of jerseys was #14. As the team warmed up, he scanned the crowd. He shot the ball into the hoop and gave you a big grin.

Then entered the Knights. When you spotted Rob, you didn't feel those school-girl butterflies you used to get whenever you saw him. Now you were just angry. You were just a joke to him. Before you could look away, he saw you. With a smirk, he made a basket.

Troy noticed the change in your expression and followed your gaze to the cocky player across the court. He felt a rush of defensive determination. He would make sure that the boy who broke your heart wouldn’t be making any points tonight.

The game started off well for the Knights, with a basket and two foul throws. Their cheerleaders yelled and shook their pom-poms. You couldn’t help but feel like Amber’s sporty sneers were meant for you.

Rob had stolen the ball and was sprinting towards the hoop. He threw it to one of his teammates, but a flash of red cut in between them. The crowd roared as Troy made it down the court for a basket.

“Yeah Troy!” You shouted. Rob must have picked out your voice because he sent a furious glare in your direction. You just smiled.

It was almost half time and the score was tied. Troy was guarding Rob as he dribbled down the court.

“So Y/N’s your groupie too, huh Bolton?” He snapped. Troy tensed.

“Just play the game, Mannington.”

“You know, I almost regretted rejecting her like that…” he smirked, “after that picture came out.” With Troy seething, he shoulder checked him out of the way and passed the ball for his teammate to score. The buzzer went off.

“That marks halftime here folks; Wildcats 22, Knights 24.”

East High fans breathed a collective sigh as the teams made their way into the locker rooms.

“What’s wrong with Troy?” Gabriella wondered. You watched him storm angrily into the locker room, his whole body shaking furiously. Whatever Rob had said had set him off and a deep fear settled in your head.

What did Rob tell him?

You bit your lip anxiously. If Troy made this free throw, they would tie the score again.

“Come on Troy.” You uttered.

He took a few deep breaths and quickly glanced up at you. He had to make this. He inhaled slowly and dedicated his focus to the hoop ahead of him. As he exhaled, he made the shot. As the ball swished in the net, the fans cheered loudly.

Now it was the Knights’ ball and with less than a minute on the clock, it was a mad dash to stay out of overtime. Rob was going in for the shot. He planted his feet and tossed the ball. It seemed like the whole gym was holding its breath.

The ball just bounced off of the rim and Troy snatched it out of the air, earning a chorus of cheers from the crowd. He passed the ball to Zeke who bounded to the basket and dunked the ball for the winning points.

The buzzer was lost in the shouts from his team and from the ecstatic fans. Disappointed West High fans started to file out of the gym while East High students and families flooded the court. Troy was pulled into a crushing hug by his parents, his eyes searching the faces of people nearby. It took him awhile to find you, but he wasn’t the only one.

“Rob told me that you found a new guy to creep on.” Amber laughed. “The captain of the basketball team? Really, Y/N, don’t you think that’s aiming a little high? You don’t really think that dreamboat Troy Bolton would be interested in someone like you?” Troy, hearing the conversation, stepped in.

“Hey are you ready to go?” He put a hand on your arm affectionately. Startled by his sudden appearance, you just nodded. “Great! I’m going to go shower and I’ll be back out soon.” He looked at Amber. “Can you believe it? This amazing girl transfers to East High and she agrees to go out with me. I must be crazy lucky or something, I know.”

Baffled, Amber stomped off to find her posse. You just look at Troy, stunned. Was he just saying all that to get her to go away? As if he read your mind, he took your hand in his and brought it up to his lips.

“I meant it.” He said and you got lost in his sincere eyes.”I am super lucky that you wound up at East High. That I found you.” A grin spread across his face. “And I am very excited for our date.”

“Oh, so we are officially calling it a date?” You teased. He laughed.

“That’s what I was hoping for yeah.” You paused, your smile dropping a little.

“Troy, what did Rob say to you just before half time?” You waited for him to say some rumor that had been spread from your school. Something awful that he would never forgive you for. Troy just smiled and shook his head.

“Nothing important.” He thought for a moment before quickly kissing your cheek. When he stepped back, you were beaming. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” He started to push through the people around you. “And Troy?”

“Yeah?” His smile could have knocked you off your feet.

“I’m lucky I found you too.”

General Tag: @rae-gar-targaryen; @takemepedropascal; @childhood-imagination; @mylovegoesto; @yellowbadgergirl; @itmejado; @suckmyapplejacks

#troy bolton x reader #WHAT TEAM?#WILD CATS #zac efron #high school musical #getcha head in the game #troy bolton #disney imagines #childhood #living out my childhood #sorry not sorry

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microsuedemouse · 3 years ago

Note

Ok, since I have horrible luck and forced yet another sad Abedison on the world because of Spotify... can I ask for another prompt? How about a song ending in a multiple of 5? (5,15, 25, etc). I am an absolute sucker for bittersweet but maybe there's a happy one in there! :D <3

(send me a ship and a number from 1-100; I'll write a short scene inspired by the corresponding song from my Spotify top songs this year)

here's a happy one for ya! <3 since you gave me some freedom with the numbers, I spent a few minutes deciding which song I thought worked best for them. this one is a pretty good fit, I think! :) number 65 on my playlist:

a rly sweet song about the little things that make you fall in love with someone. feels very right for Annie and Abed.

All Night | 1 290 words | G

discount cigarillos in the parking lot dancing in the kitchen to country songs a million little pieces of a perfect life I want it to last all night

Annie used to think love happened all in one fell swoop. A spark, or an explosion of butterflies, or, hell, even a fire in the loins. Like in all those romance novels she discovered in the library shelves at age thirteen and used to read under the covers after her mother thought she’d gone to sleep. Whether it happened the moment the leads locked eyes, or not until the climax of the story when one of them narrowly escaped disaster and they had to acknowledge suddenly that the fear they’d felt was the result of a passion undeclared… that realization always came all at once, thunderously, like an epiphany. The heroine and her hero would just Know. That, Annie thought, was what real love must be like.

Back in high school, she thought she Knew, with Troy. He was handsome, and he was actually very nice to her that one time she collided with him in the hallway, and if movies had taught her anything it was that the shy, nerdy grade-grubber and the popular-but-actually-sweet jock absolutely could be soulmates. But then time went on, and she became friends with him instead, and those feelings just sort of… faded away. Then she thought she’d Known with Vaughn, who was kind and wholesome and made her feel pretty, but when the time came to test her commitment, she realized she couldn’t leave her friends just to stay with him. She’d thought, very briefly, that she Knew when she befriended Rich, who seemed in every way to be her ideal: smart, open-hearted, compassionate, outgoing, well-rounded. Even when he rejected her, he did it so gently and thoughtfully that she almost adored him more for it. Eventually, though, she’d come to see that she was a lot younger than him, and that he’d been right when he told her they weren’t standing on even ground.

Most embarrassingly of all, she thought several times that she Knew she was in love with Jeff. But when it really came down to it, she also Knew that she wasn’t, really. Whenever one of their bizarre, too-charged sort of phases wound back down, she found herself relieved. Every time he dated someone new (or not-so-new, when it came to Britta), she’d get all up in arms, and then a couple days later she’d realise it was actually a weight off her psyche. Anytime she started to trick herself into believing again that it really was Jeff all along, for her, she tried to remember the things she’d said when Abed pushed her to the very edge of her patience, that day years ago in the Dreamatorium: she loved the idea of being loved. She loved the idea that if she could make a man as cynical as Jeff love her, she’d never had to worry again about being left alone. She’d said a lot of very rash things that afternoon, and this had been one of them, but that was how she knew it was true. It had come up from her gut, instinctively, the moment that Abed-as-Annie had claimed that she was (they were) in love with Jeff. It wasn’t the healthiest conversation she’d ever had with herself – there was way too much to sort through, there – but it had, undoubtedly, been furiously honest.

Abed did have a strange way of always being just what she needed. And she tried her best to be the same for him. It wasn’t always pretty, but they were working on that. They were both kind of messy, mixed-up people, but they cared enough about one another to want to be better. That was why living together worked so well for them, even if they still made each other crazy once in a while: after all, who better to understand you than someone just as nuts as you are?

And it was because they knew each other so well that Annie knew, when she got the text that said gonna be home late again :/, exactly what their evening would look like. Normally it would’ve been his turn to make dinner, but sometimes work schedules and home schedules just didn’t cooperate. So she turned on the radio to motivate her through the little tasks that would make the rest of the evening smooth and easy: she made sure the couch was clear of clutter, and she pulled five DVDs from the shelf that she’d be willing to watch. Abed could choose his favourite from her selection, and that way they wouldn’t argue or spend an hour just trying to pick something. Then she preheated the oven and fished a frozen pizza out of the freezer. She wasn’t really up to cooking any more than Abed would be by the time he got in.

She heard him come in while she was getting the pizza into the oven, and as she stood up and pulled off the oven mitts, he stepped into the kitchen. He was smiling a bit, but he looked tired, pulling a lunchbag out of his backpack and going to the sink to rinse out his thermos.

“Long day?” Annie asked, leaning back against the edge of the counter.

“Long week,” he answered, shrugging one shoulder.

“Yeah. No kidding.” They’d both been busy, lately. She gave a small sigh, then smiled again when he turned back towards her. “At least it’s the weekend. How’re you holding up?”

Abed’s eyes crinkled as his own smile grew a little, like it heartened him just to be home with her. “Getting better, now,” he answered, and there was a trace of play in him. Though only a few minutes ago Annie had been thinking about how much she looked forward to settling into her spot on the couch and not moving again for hours, his attitude was as contagious as ever, and she found a little energy in herself somewhere.

“Yeah. Me too.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder towards the oven. “Pizza’s in. Already dug out a few movies for you to pick from. I figure it’s a good night just to veg out.”

“Sounds good to me.” Then he cocked his head, eyes going off to one side, and after a second she realised he was listening to the radio, playing quietly in its place atop the fridge. “Is this Country Roads?”

Annie paused, listening, then grinned. “Yes it is.”

“Been in quite a few movies,” he commented, almost absently. “Alien: Covenant, which probably could’ve been better. Kingsman 2, which got mixed reviews, but honestly I thought it was a lot of fun.”

“Don’t forget Whisper of the Heart,” she reminded him, a little amused.

Abed straightened up, his eyes coming back into focus on her face, and he beamed at her. “How could I ever forget Whisper of the Heart?” he asked. “That’s the best one.”

She bit down on her smile for a second before, impulsively, starting to sing along softly. “Country roads, take me home…”

“To the place I belong,” Abed continued, reaching out one hand. With a laugh, she accepted, and he pulled her gently into the middle of the kitchen and into a very loose hold, smiling his silly smile, eyes sparkling as he swayed side to side and spun her slowly.

So they danced, giggling at each other, half-singing along with John Denver, waiting for their pizza to cook. Annie didn’t think much about it in the moment. When she caught the way Abed was watching her, equal parts fond and entertained, she didn’t Know anything at all. But one day, looking back, she’d remember little things like this, and she’d Know. Even without ever being able to put a finger on when or how things changed, she’d Know, with absolute certainty.

#Courtney writes #my fanfiction #Community #abedison #nedison #Abed Nadir #Annie Edison

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pinktatertots99 · 3 years ago

Note

Jyugo, Uno, Qi and Liang for the 'give me a character and i'll answer with' thing please? :)

-spit takes- gegus, alrighty here tf we go

give me a character and i’ll answer

Jyugo

do I like them: yes he's a good boi

5 good qualities: good hearted, laid back, pretty eyes, really good at fighting somewhat, and nice lockpicking skills

3 bad qualities: tad insensitive, a bit too oblivious sometimes, aaaand uhhh -fuck uhhh what else?- is too mean to seitarou.

favourite episode/etc: fuck uhhh, anime wise it'd be the one where he opens up to uno on his whole situation. manga wise def chapter 138 "what they both need". but also chap 188 "healed scars"

otp: well damn jyugo/uno mostly it's the only one i've been into so far.

brotp: honestly just about everyone for the most part, jyugo's a good friend. think it's tied between rock and nico tho.

ot3: hmmmm, well fuck probably just the rest of his cellmates thats too hard to figure out.

notp: -looks at the hajime related one- not even gonna type the name of it in but you know.

best quote: "i'll face you properly, you and everything else. so don't shoulder everything on your own. don't try to do everything on your own anymore. stop pushing yourself. i can hear everyone of your words. i believe in you. after all you and i are the same" -chapter 138

head canon: besides the obvious autism hc i always have for my faves, i'll say he has a vague interest in rodents.

Uno

do I like them: well yeah he's a good boi too.

5 good qualities: pretty hair, open minded, good eyesight for details, intelligent, positive.

3 bad qualities: insensitive, weird around girls or the subject, jealousy.

favourite episode/etc: probably the new years tournament vs honey and trois. manga wise chapter 95 "i can't stand your face".

otp: -points to jyugo-

brotp: also jyugo but also mostly everyone.

ot3: honey and trois those three would be a funny disaster.

notp: -points to hajime...or any of the supervisors tbh-

best quote: "-but if it's too hard for you to tell me about that, then you don't have to talk. since i'm sure i'm not in the same situation as you. i don't always know what your thinking, so i can only go by your words. i'll wait patiently until then." - chapter 95

head canon: finds gordon ramsey overrated. [random i know lol]

do I like them: yeah he's cool.

5 good qualities: level headed, relaxed, good hearted, pretty eyes pls take off your glasses more often, and nice arms.

3 bad qualities: too laid back sometimes, pls sir take care of yourself more often instead of giving too much to others, a dick.

favourite episode/etc: the hachiman background in both anime and manga.

otp: qi/liang ftw man

brotp: inori definietly.

ot3: hmmmmm, something bout him samon and inori intrigues me. god poor samon having two annoyingly lazy boyfriends. -or fuji san and kusatsu i ALMOST FORGOT MY OLD MAN POLYCULE-

notp: -gestures to upa-

best quote: "that's not what makes me happy supervisor-san. it wasn't because i was honest. it was because you believed me." chapter 91 "cell 8 is scary when they're pissed off"

head canon: functional bisexual outta the other disaster bi/pan's of the cast. also his glasses are just for show and protect him when doing his chemistry.

Liang

do I like them: i mean yall seen my thirst posts, 'like' is an understatement.

5 good qualities: pretty everything, naive, slowly growing open minded, good taste in food, caring.

3 bad qualities: selfish, closed minded sometimes, tempermental.

favourite episode/etc: the one where he and rock chat after the new years tournament in both anime and manga.

otp: -points to qi-

brotp: rock

ot3: hmmmmmm, -looks at both rock and qi-...intriguing.

notp: -points to samon-

best quote: ‘the “freedom” rock talked about. i finally understand, what it means. i think “freedom” for me is being able to do something. or being able to accomplish something. you were the one who gave me that chance. jyugo, you have my thanks’ - chapter 82 “motive, chance, revenge” also “sorry, i was taught to never hold back” - chapter 83 “dance performance’

head canon: would be a pretty good baker.

#nanbaka #nanbaka the numbers #nnbk #idiots with numbers #nanba prison #the pink one speaks #long post

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nyarmand · 4 years ago

Text

my ranking of the alex rider original series (stormbreaker through scorpia rising) from ‘book i least enjoy rereading’ to ‘book i most enjoy rereading’ let’s goooo

spoilers for all 9 books under the cut

9. Ark Angel

...He went to space. He went to space. Also the entire plot could have been avoided if Drevin had actually bothered to provide a photograph of his son. I’m sure he had one. I still like this book but it’s literally so insane that I just don’t know what to do with it.

It is however really funny that Webber just goes and gives a speech insulting this super high-profile ecoterrorist group and acts like it’s no big deal and then they kill him. Shock of shocks.

8. Skeleton Key

Okay, points to this book for terrifying the shit out of me. God damn it does that shark scene scare me. Also, points for making me feel a little bit bad for a man who wants to nuke his own country because he thinks it will fix the place up. I’m still not entirely sure how that’s supposed to work, but that’s probably a good thing. I feel like understanding his thought process would say bad things about me. Still, I actually did feel sorry for him, if only a little. Dude was clearly mentally unstable and I doubt his son’s death helped at all. I also got sad about what happened to Carver and Troy. (Yeah, yeah, I’m a cringe fail American who has the American release. So sue me.) What a nightmare that must’ve been to endure... Otherwise, though, I’m not super into this book. The opening is just kind of meh and the way it leads into the rest of the plot seems a little bit unbelievable. Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but Sabina annoys me. I would not get along with her at all and I can’t imagine her as a girlfriend. Skeleton Key does, however, absolutely excel at the emotional scenes.

Also, why are all the spy agencies so comfortable with sending in a 14-year-old? Especially when they outright admit that the other attempts have all died horribly? Bureaucracy’s a bitch.

7. Point Blank

Boo, Dr. Grief! Boo! We hate your white supremacy! I’m so glad you got a snowmobile to the face, you deserved it. (Perks of books written by Jewish people--we aren’t afraid to give the neo-Nazis an unpleasant death.) Anyway, this book definitely isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t really say it stands out in the series. It definitely does hammer home the point of just how trapped Alex is, since MI6 isn’t going to just let him go after one mission, and let’s face it, the plot with the clones is creepy as hell, if highly improbable. But I’m largely just here to see the neo-Nazi get snowmobiled. That’s right, I just completely changed the definition of a pre-established word. I’m a rebel.

Also, I hate Fiona Friend so much and overall think she just didn’t need to be in the book, but the line about ‘I’d rather kiss the horse’ made me laugh so hard. Alex, you sass.

6. Snakehead

Okay, let’s talk about how genius the plan in this book is. I love it! I love how Yu wants to kill the people involved in the peace conference without making them into martyrs, so he comes up with this whole elaborate plan to stage a natural disaster. It’s incredible. This dude was thinking so far ahead. And he would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling kid... But anyway, I don’t see a lot of books where the villain really acknowledges that killing their enemies could just cause more problems for them via turning them into martyrs for a cause. Also, the way he’s so polite and soft-spoken while also being a complete monster... This book genuinely gives me chills. Extra bonus points for the part in the hospital, the absolute nightmare of having all your organs slowly removed and sold off and everyone around you is being so nice about it? ‘Oh, don’t worry, Alex, it won’t be so bad. Here, take your medicine. Do you need anything?’ Literally just. What the fuck.

Also Ash can fucking fight me. You put your own godson in horrible danger on purpose! You killed your best friend! Bastard.

...And just in case the book wasn’t disturbing enough, Yu’s fate at the end lives in my mind rent-free and I think about it on a concerningly regular basis considering that the chances of that happening to me are so low they’re practically in the negatives. Damn you, Horowitz.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention just how much I love the tagline ‘once bitten, twice spy’.

5. Crocodile Tears

Ah yes, the book that kickstarted my drift away from the church... I kid, of course. I drifted away from the church for completely separate reasons. But Desmond McCain is always going to scare the shit out of me. The ability to kill countless innocent people while blissfully quoting Bible verses (that he takes wildly out of context and uses for his own self-serving means) is... well, I could actually say a lot about what that reminds me of, but I’m here to rate books, not religion. Moving on. This book has some really stellar antagonists, and the plot is chilling in a way that feels a lot more realistic than most of the other books. Even if some of it is a bit farfetched (sabotaging a nuclear power plant? Really?), the idea of using disasters for your own profit... well. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate on why that is so believable. The Poison Dome is also a really cool and chilling scene--even Alex, who has the luck of the devil, can’t get out of that one unscathed. Further scares come in with the fate of Harold Bulman--imagine having your entire existence wiped and your identity changed while you were asleep! The breakdown he has over it is almost enough to make me feel sorry for him, even though he was ready to exploit a teenager and make his life a living hell just to turn a profit. Note the word almost.

Also. The opening makes me cry. Specifically the line talking about how Ravi’s kids would ‘never meet Mickey Mouse’. I lose my goddamn mind every single time I read it. That little personal touch turns the scene from a statistic to a tragedy. Once again: Damn you, Horowitz.

4. Stormbreaker

Yeah, this one gets the special cover shot. And why not? What we are looking at here is the birth of a legend. Move the fuck over, James Bond, Alex Rider is on the scene now. Anyway, yeah, this book is pretty damn spectacular. It has its stumbles, but as the first book in a series, that’s to be expected. Still, it pulls you in from quite literally the first line and keeps you going right up until the end. (If you came here from my post of memes, you know how much the line ‘Killing is for grownups, and you’re still a child’ destroys me.) It has the debut of much-beloved characters such as, of course, Alex--but also Jack Starbright, and of course, the best MI6 agent of them all, which is to say Smithers. Hell, even Yassen Gregorovich, especially once you get through Russian Roulette... Man, that was a rough one.

Seriously, though. This is a really good book. The scene with the Portuguese man-o’-war still gives me the chills to think about. (Have you ever looked up pictures of those things? They’re beautiful, but holy shit will they make you regret being born. Nature is funny like that.)

We also get the introduction of, of course, Alex’s patented sass (his response to Sayle saying he relates to the man-o’-war is HILARIOUS) and we get the inherent humor of Alex screwing up an alias one time and then just going by Alex for the rest of the series so he doesn’t do that again. Really, kid, I know you’re not a trained spy or anything but did you never play pretend growing up? Ever? You can’t pretend your name is Felix for a little while? That sounds like a you problem.

3. Scorpia Rising

I distinctly remember when this book came out, actually. I was on vacation at the time, and I remember my brother annoying the hell out of the poor workers at a bookstore we frequented there to see if/when they were going to get it in. They did, finally, and we bought it immediately, and I was of course absolutely desperate to read it. He got to read it first, though. -_-

This is a great book, an absolute emotional rollercoaster all the way through. The way Blunt tricks Alex back into service by staging a shooting was exactly the kind of cold, brutal behavior I’d expect from him. Seeing Julius come back was shocking, but very exciting, too. And Razim makes an incredibly chilling villain, with his absolute disregard for human life and his desire to measure pain. Also, seeing Smithers’s house was so much fun. Smithers in this book was just really fun in general, but he’s really fun in every book, so... nothing unusual there. But also, I want an unwelcome mat. Please?

2. Eagle Strike

‘But Penny,’ you might ask, ‘why is this book so high on your list? It has so much of Sabina in it, and you said she annoys you.’ That is true. What does not annoy me, however, is basically the entire rest of the book. I love the tense opening, and then reading through Alex’s real-life ‘playthrough’ of Feathered Serpent is still one of my favorite scenes. Cray is absolutely incredible as a villain, with the way that he truly believes in his cause--which is undoubtedly a good one! Yet the extremes to which he will go for that cause, and the fact that he very nearly succeeds, are what elevate him to one of the most dangerous villains in the series. That scene with Charlie Roper and the nickels is something I can never seem to stop thinking about. Actually, I think about it basically whenever I think about large amounts of money paid in small increments...

Also, I really enjoy how he gets into the whole plot in the first place, and I really enjoy Smithers saying ‘ah, fuck it’ and helping him out anyway. Go, Smithers. You once again prove me right in saying that you’re the coolest adult in MI6.

The revelation that Yassen knew Alex’s father is one that absolutely blew my mind first time around. The way his life was threaded into the lives of the Rider family--he worked with John Rider, was saved by him, killed Ian Rider, and then died for refusing to kill Alex Rider--wow. Wow. It gets to me. It really gets to me. This book is a masterpiece. I heard that it’s going to be what the second season of the TV series is based off of, and I’m so hyped for that. We love to see it, we really do.

1. Scorpia

I don’t believe anyone who says this book didn’t get to them at all. I just think they are lying. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to not be affected by this book. God. Just thinking about it reminds me of why I don’t think it’s possible. I mean, come on. We get all this backstory about Alex’s parents, we get tricked along with him into thinking MI6 killed his father, then bam, that was a lie, and Alex may have just fucked himself over big time. Also, that plot is terrifying! (And I bet anti-vaxxers had a field day with it, huh.) Julia Rothman is a really great antagonist, one of the only ones who didn’t go and explain her plan in great detail to Alex--the fact that she didn’t actually being a plot point was something I personally found pretty clever. In general, this book is... I tend to hate when people say they ‘can’t put it down’ because it’s usually an obvious exaggeration, but that really is how I feel reading it.

And again. If that ending didn’t get to you... Well, I just think you are lying.

#alex rider #spoilers

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clonetrobed · 4 years ago

Note

For the first sentence prompt:

“I can’t believe you dragged me into this.”

this is very much NOT five sentences, i apologize in advance:

“I can’t believe you dragged me into this,” Troy mumbles.

Annie shoots him a reproachful look, just long enough to make him feel guilty about complaining before she turns her attention back to an approaching crowd of students, greets them, and passes them their programs for the evening with an almost aggressively cheery smile. He hands a few out to the people coming up by his side of the table too, with a touch less enthusiasm.

“You’re the one who said you owed me for helping you pass Astronomy,” Annie reminds him once there’s a lull in the crowd again. “We’ll be even after this, okay?”

It’s true, he did say that. He huffs in annoyance at his past self.

“Yeah, okay,” he concedes, “But of all the events to work… a student film festival? You actively dislike hipsters, I don’t understand why you chose to do this.”

She bristles slightly at that, sitting up straighter in her chair and folding her hands on the table in front of her. “It’s just nice to volunteer, Troy,” she says firmly. Her voice sounds a little higher than usual.

Troy ponders her for a moment before a thought occurs to him and his eyebrows shoot up.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he shrugs, nodding at a few more students on their way in and keeping his tone as casual as possible. “So this has everything to do with you being a good person.”

Her lips are drawn tightly as he glances over at him, then back away. “Yes.”

Troy nods. “And nothing to do with Stacy from Astronomy, that girl with the blue hair and nose ring who happens to be double majoring in Film and Gender and Sexuality Studies.”

She slowly deflates in her chair and looks over at him pathetically. “Is it obvious?”

That makes him feel a twinge of sympathy, so he takes the smugness out of his tone and shrugs. “Well… maybe not obvious, but—”

“Shit!” She cuts him off when something in the distance catches her eye. “Shut up, never mind, shut up, here she comes!”

“Oh my god,” Troy whispers, “You’re a disaster. You know, if you’d just be yourself…”

He trails off as he follows Annie’s gaze to where Stacy is approaching their table. She’s actually dyed her hair pink now, it seems, but that’s not what Troy is focusing on at all.

No, he’s focusing on the guy she’s walking with—tall and dark and handsome, dressed in skinny jeans and a flannel, with an adorable smile and big brown eyes and some je ne sais quoi that makes him feel weak in the knees, which would worry him a lot more if he weren’t already sitting down. He feels his cheeks heat up and his palms start to sweat.

“Annie?” He finally manages, voice soft and strangled as he wipes his clammy hands on his jeans. He’s sure his sudden change in demeanor is cause for confusion but he’s not looking at Annie’s expression to see if that’s the case. He can’t; he can’t stop staring forward. “Who’s that?”

#fic stuff #slutabed #ask

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astringofmadhousefloozies · 4 years ago

Text

Ghost Wedding: The Remix

So, uh, here’s the first actual fanfic I’ve written, and the first full length piece I’ve written in literal years. I wrote it for my own amusement, after weeks of eating up various bits of TWST lore and scenes and going “But, how would the whole Ghost marriage story have gone with a Yuu who was more like me a goth bisexual disaster?

What follows is a series of vignnetes, starring a Yuu who’s the only girl in NRC, with deeply questionable taste, told in the second person. Please let me know if you enjoyed it, I crave positive feedback and like when other people enjoy the things I like.

Contend warnings for blood, body horror, emeto, coarse language and pretentious word choices.

You've been here a while. En-Arr-See wasn't precisely a safe place, what with your dorm being a condemned hellpit of tetanus and black mold, and powerful magicians having mutagenic psychotic breaks only curable by kicking their ass so hard it flies out their mouth. But certainly, it wasn't boring, and you'd made friends. You had your scrappy ginger Ace in the hole; your serious mamas-boy Deuce; your funny little not-a-cat Grim. Hell, you even have your Horned Boy, he of the poison-coloured eyes that never seem to leave your face when you talk about fun things like books and music and the moral imperative of dissolving the monarchy. And, you were on speaking terms with a good chunk of others. So, when your favourite little robot came up to Crowley, yelling something about ghosts kidnapping his brother, you took his hand and said, "Ortho, show me what's going on." After all, you won't let anything happen to Idia. You have plans for him yet.

~*~*~*~

Some beauties might launch a thousand ships, and in your (objectively correct) opinion, while Idia's beauty wouldn't lead to a ten year siege of Troy, he'd certainly convince everyone attending Whitby Goth Weekend to haul off into the sea with a beat of his lashes. The first time you'd seen him, you'd simply stared in slack-jawed awe. He was luminescent; even leaving behind the fiery hair that flashed and swelled behind him, his eyes were a bright clear amber, and his skin translucent, with his own blue veins serving as the detailing in the marble. Add in the deeply circled eyes and the bluish discolouration of the lips, and the figure he presented was arresting, astounding, more beautiful and unreal than anything you'd conjured up after staying up all night reading ghost stories. "Magnificent," you'd said to yourself, and if your friends gave you a strange look, well, fuck 'em. They have no sense of beauty or taste.

Unfortunately, the intensity of your gaze proved too much for him, and he'd fled. You'd had no time to pursue the object of your infatuation either, class would soon begin, and Grim was yelling. Later, then. There's all the time in the world to ask after the fine young man with the lamplight eyes.

~*~*~*~ "Oh no," you said when Ortho showed you the video. "She's really hot."

Grim gawked and Crowley raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you take from this?"

"You're the one with an all-boys school. What's a girl like me to do when a pretty girl pops up?"

"She's a ghost, Yuu."

"That's the best part."

"My brother-"

"I'll help you, dear." You set a hand on Ortho's shoulder. "He must be so frightened, right? I'll do what you need."

Before anyone could say anything else, a racket started up outside, and things got a little busy.

~*~*~*~ "Do you mind if I sit?"

Idia looked up at you. starting at the intrusion. His face was awash in blue from the conjured screens around him, his lips gone black. "...Why?"

"Tables are full. I'd rather not eat standing." He didn't explicitly say no, so you settled across the table, a few chairs down. He made a fascinating tableau as you picked at your lunch, flicking through and typing at the screen. Lines of code, schematics for all sorts of tech, occasional comics all flit across the pane of light in a million shades of blue. Until...

"Could you pretend I'm a bug?"

You squinted. "What." What the actual hell did he mean by that.

"Pretend I'm not here. I'm beneath notice."

You stop for a moment and smile, faint enough that he can't see the devil in it. "You want me to treat you like an insect."

"Yes." Hard to see in the light, there was a small twitch by his temple, a barely perceptible shake in his long fingered hands.

"Alright." With that, you slide down the table to directly across from him, settle you chin in your hands, and stare at him unblinkingly.

"?!?!?" The squawk he made was undignified and deeply, deeply endearing. "What are you doing?"

"You asked me to treat you like an insect." You smile at him, full of mischief and good cheer. "So I'm looking at you very closely. I'm taking in every sweet action, and delighting that the day has conspired to put something so wonderful in front of me."

Oh, who would have thought that this blue boy could turn so pink! As he pulled his hood up, you chuckle and move back to your tray. "I'll let you be," you say, and did indeed, for the amount of time it took him to close up shop and flee back to the depths of Ignihyde. When you waved at him as he went by, he nearly tripped in his haste.

~*~*~*~ "Stop laughing."

The boys did not listen.

"May others show you the kindness you've shown Idia if you're in a bind."

"You're just mad because she's gonna kill your-"

"Grim? Shut the fuck up. Now; who's helping."

After a chorus of 'no's, you drag your fingers through your hair. "I hate all of you so fucking much right now... Ortho, your ideas?"

Ortho's idea was deeply enticing but Crowley would not have the school leveled, and thankfully, the two of them threatened and guilted the others into helping. You'd have to say thank you later, but god, then Crowley might think you actually liked him instead of just finding him funny, and who needed that in their life?

"Alright, so... A plan?"

~*~*~*~ As badly as he might've liked to have escaped, there was only one empty seat in the class, and it was by him. So, Idia threw his hood up, along with his headphones, and started blatantly ignoring you.

"Idia." Silence.

"Idia." A faint grunt and he turned away from you.

"Shroud," you intoned in the most sepulchral tone you could, setting you hand in his field of vision. He whipped his head at you, the fire in his eyes nothing compared to the changing colours on his head.

"WHAT."

You raise your hands in supplication, trying to still your racing heart. "I'm sorry dude. I wanted to ask where you got your screens?"

"My screens?" His eyes flicked back to his schoolwork, hovering in the air. "I made them myself."

Your face lit up in awe. "That's amazing dude, holy shit. How'd you do that? It's a damn miracle."

"Ah... well..." Two sides warred within him - pride that someone recognized his tech genius, and his deep seated anxiety that anyone trying to be nice was just fucking with him. Fortunately for both of you, pride won out. "It's certainly something complicated for a magicless normie like you to understand." He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do you really want to hear?"

You fixed him with a level look. "Never call me that again. Now, start like I'm five and go from there."

He stared back at you, and you stared right back. "Indulge me, Idia."

He gave you a smile full of sharp, crooked teeth, and while you tried to still the palpitations the sight of them gave you, he started with very basic theory, and went from there.

~*~*~*~ "You are not going to seduce the ghost bride, Yuu."

"Why the hell not?"

"You're a girl?"

"You're kinda plain."

"You're fat."

"She's probably straight?"

You point in turn at Leona, Azul, Vil, and Kalim. "So?, no I'm plenty hot actually, get fucked, and... Okay, That is a good point. But Kal, you have no idea how many straight girls I've managed to kiss."

"I think you'd die, Shrimpie," Floyd said as he flopped heavily over your shoulders, giggling as you attempted to untangle yourself. "And you're short."

"Yeah, but you have no idea how hot I am when I'm actually try- Shut up, Vil - Like, I clean up so good you guys. I even made a suit a couple weeks ago -"

"That's convenient? Weirdly so?"

"I found suiting that wasn't moth eaten and decided to have fun, at least-" You finally escape from the noodly arms of Leech the Wild One. "Let me suit up and show you? I can be so sexy, you guys. Come on."

In answer to the confused silence, you took your keys out of your pocket and chucked them at Deuce's confused face. "Adeuce! Grim! It's on the vanity in my room!"

"But ghosts?"

"Say you're clearing out things so that we won't bother... No, actually just go the balcony way."

"You can't unlock the balcony from the outside without a lockpick, it only locks from the inside."

A moment of silence. "Lilia, what the fuck?"

He shrugged. "I moved everything two inches to the left once to see if you noticed."

"I wasn't imagining things?!?"

This'll take a moment to sort out, and the clock is ticking...

~*~*~*~ You truly liked the woods! Green and quiet. Full of things that crawled and scurried, little friends that squeaked and croaked and hissed. The occasional precious treasure of a small bone or edible mushroom. So, you were quite surprised when you found Idia, miserable, crouched beside a fallen log.

"... Skipping gym?" Going by the uniform, the most likely answer. "Or did you finally realize that outside doesn't always bite?"

He scowled at you, and you stifled a giggle when you realized that yes, he was actually covered in bug bites. "They should replace this with a mall."

"You hate malls. Too many people." You reached out a hand, and pulled him to his feet. Idly, you wondered if he'd let you try and fit your hands around his waist, but thought better of asking.

"Game stores are alright. No one bothers you in one, or in arcades. And." He stopped, as he brushed the dirt from his legs, before continuing in a mumble you only got the gist of.

"Me and Ortho will be your big, scary guard dogs?"

"... Who'll notice me with both of you?"

"Everyone." Because he's the most beautiful person in the room, and they'd be mad not to look. "Because you show up so rarely. It makes it all the more noticeable when you are out, so everyone pays attention." You held out a hand. "I'll take you out the back way so you don't get in trouble."

No dice. He held his hands in close. "I'll just follow."

"Alright. Why'd you go out this far in the woods with no map, anyways?"

"There's no cell service..."

"Clearly, we need to turn your blood into a wi-fi signal, instead of liquid sugar."

He huffed, but he did follow you, and was actually approaching a good mood once you escorted him through the Ramshackle gates.

~*~*~*~ "Hey, what did I miss?" It took entirely too long to get a single lock of hair to to a perfect insouciant flip over your forehead, even with the eternally stylish Sam's help.

"She's slapped everyone who went to propose, and when she does you're paralyzed for 500 years."

"Christ," You say as you adjust a pin on your lapel. "We have to get Idia back, he'll get what? A week before he gets the hand."

"She's so fussy!" yelled Grim. "You have to sing and have a dog and she hates poison flowers."

"Clearly, she has no taste." Honestly,you thought her taste was just fine, what with thinking Idia was the finest of the bunch. He was very princely, if your tastes ran to exquisite corpses with the personality of a neurotic goblin. "Who wouldn't want poison blossoms?" Tie? No tie? Tie? No tie? No tie. And unbutton. Leona wishes he had this chest.

"We know she has no taste because she chose Idia."

You chose to ignore that, and clapped. "Okay, Round Two!"

~*~*~*~ The truest tragedy of this school was that it was all boys. Not that boys were bad by any means, you certainly enjoyed them, but... girls. Tall girls! Short girls! Busty girls! Petite girls! Butch girls! Femme girls! Fat girls! Girls!

So many kinds of girls, and you, in all of your plump and handsome glory, were the only girl in an entire high school. Welcome to hell.

You accepted no gifts that came unvetted. You had friends ward the everloving bajeezus out of your dorm room. Grim was more than happy to test your food and drink for tampering, but it was exhausting. You at least knew that any food you ate at the Mostro Lounge was clear, but that was only because everyone was too damn scared of the eternally hovering Floyd to try anything while there.

So, you eat a lot of vending machine snacks.

You've been standing there for fifteen minutes, trying to figure out the best combo with your limited funds, when someone coughed behind you.

"??? Oh, hey Idia." You stepped aside while he shuffled up to the glass and peered in. "Anything to recommend? I got this." You waved your bill in the air.

He only looked at you a moment before looking back at the machine. "That won't get you much."

"Ah, don't I know it. But it's all I got."

He still wasn't looking directly at you, but a smile started to creep across his face. "Get your bag."

"Wha-" He was already tapping out a beat with the keypad, blue sparks flying from his fingertips, the machine starting to groan and shiver. With a final note, the snack machine gave a final heaving shudder - and every single snack fell to the bottom of the machine.

He was so proud as he smiled at you, reaching down and pulling a single bag of gummies from the spilled mess. "You first."

And, as you stuffed your schoolbag and pockets full of thieved goods, praising his genius, his cleverness, his skills, he just glowed.

~*~*~*~ "I guess you were ahead of the game, Yuu. She hates that no one's dressed up properly. And..."

"And? You raised an eyebrow at Ace.

"You do look stylish. But you need backup."

"Of course. You'll all rescue people while I distract her!”

"But what if she slaps you?"

"You'll step in if that happens. But we have to dress you all up."

"Did you makes spares?"

"No." Tragic, everyone would look so cute in summerweight green wool. "Let's ask Sam, he's got everything."

~*~*~*~ "Okay, Ortho, you see?" You held his back to your chest, and raised your hand in front of his face, palm away from him. As you wiggled your fingers, you could see movement on the back of your hand. "Those are tendons. Those, and the muscles, are what move the bones, make your hands move. If you put your fingers here," you say as you place his fingertips over the moving lines, "you should be able to feel it."

"I do! They go up and down. What's the popping?"

"That's my faulty joints, we'll cover those another day. Now," you flipped your hand over, and moved his fingers to your wrist. "You feel that?"

"That is your pulse! It's not as string as it should be."

"I'm not always in the best of health. So, Ortho. My hand moves by muscles and tendons when I think of it. My blood moves through my body, one beat at a time, and you can feel it. Right?"

"Right."

"You," you say, as you take Ortho's other hand. "Your hand moves by motors and servos, when you think about it. Electricity and magic moves through your body, in beats so fast we can't perceive it, and it's as measurable as my pulse."

"... Because I am a robot."

"Because you are a bit different. But we're both alive, we're both real, just in different ways." You turn to look at Ortho directly, and he looks back at you with yellow eyes that are actual, real lamps. "Don't let anyone ever say you're not real, or alive, or good enough, just because you're different."

And though you can't see it, you can feel Idia smiling from the corner of his room.

~*~*~*~ Alright. No more time for memories, only the here and now. You've got a heart full of love, a pocket full of ring, and a head full of stupid. You're as prepared as anyone else who went in. Start on your left foot, and...

"Hello? Excuse me?" You make a cursory knock at the doorframe before stepping in. "I heard there was a wedding."

The bride - Eliza - whirled on you, and stopped. She was even more of a vision in person, airy translucence and fine, sweet features currently arranged in confusion. "Ah- Yes! I'm getting married to my darling Prince Idia! Right away, so-"

Not if I have my way about it, you thought to yourself as you arranged yourself in a perfect bow, one hand behind your back. You pretended not to notice Idia trussed up with rope, but you filed the sight away for later. "How wonderful. I wish you only happiness. But it must wait."

Before she could get her hand ready, you straightened and fixed her with your best smile. "My dearest princess, I cannot let this happen until I dance with the most beautiful person in this room. It would be improper to do so with a newlywed, and I cannot know peace until I dance. Would you be so kind, my fair princess?"

She was still baffled. "Aren't you a girl?"

You keyed up the brightness. "I am, and I dance very well. Would you indulge me, my dear?"

You could see her considering it. "You... are rather princely. Can you lead?"

"Of course. May I?" Again with the bow, and to your delight, she returned with a flawless curtsy. Hand in hand, you began.

~*~*~*~ It was delightful, to dance with this silly ghost girl. Everywhere your bodies touched, from her hand in yours to what would have been a fine chest, but was instead a clean and elegant ribcage festooned with pearls, heat seeped away and left only a chill as cold as clay. Her footwork was flawless, considering she no longer had feet, and she was so easy to chat with. She asked you about your dog (none currently, but you'd love to have one, and there was Grim in the meantime), your singing, (little voice to speak of, but that was what vocal coaches were for), and why you wanted to dance with her (because when would the chance ever come again? Unless fairest Eliza considered her for forever and a day.)

"But what of dear Idia?" She'd almost looked towards where Idia no longer was, having been unknotted long ago, but you drew her back in before she could notice the chaos around her.

" 'Dear Idia', though as beautiful as the moon in the sky, has cold feet, my love. He's afraid of dying. But I? I'd cherish you for all of eternity." You leaned in closer. "I am not afraid of dying, beloved. To journey with you through realms beyond mortal reach. I can think of nothing more exciting than to cross the barrier to the other side, hand in hand with you. In the words of a fine sir from my home, 'to die by your side/the pleasure, the privilege is mine'. Please, please consider me, please..."

Here's how it should have gone: She said yes, and you put the ring on her finger, and all was well. But you'd awakened such a sweet hunger in her, she could not wait for propriety. Instead, she grasped your face and kissed you with the passion of five hundred years search, found.

~*~*~*~ It was so pleasant at first, that you couldn't help but return it. When had anyone ever kissed you with such passion? But quickly, the chill began to overtake you. It could have been bearable, but after that was pain. You started to shake, uncontrollably, as every nerve in your body was scraped away with a rusty blade, and as you weakly tried to push away, as blood began to flow from your eyes, your mouth, every pore and orifice, she still would not let go. All you could think was it hurts it hurts it hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts and, as you slipped to a grey place beyond where pain could touch you, you barely noticed the cacophony around you, or something hurtling towards the two of you from the corner of your eye.

Something blue.

~*~*~*~ When you finally woke up, through a drugged and painful haze, you couldn't tell where you were. When you jolted up, the pain of it sending you into a nauseated fit of blood-flecked coughing, a familiar yelp sounded, and you turned to see Idia, little the worse for wear.

"You're up, uh..." He fumbled something onto the table, behind his back. "I."

You just looked. At him, at the surroundings. A hospital bed, with gifts and flowers (most filched from the wedding venue, but someone had stuck Jade's poison blossom into a vase and set it in the far corner). Idia was the only one present, seeing as it was the middle of the night.

"Ortho's getting things you might need. I... I hate hospital scenes..."

"Hurt's over.” You tried to settle yourself more comfortably, failing miserably. “Here comes the comfort." You reached out a hand, as he looked anywhere in the room but you.

"Idia." Silence.

"Idia." More silence.

"Shroud." He hesitantly placed his hand in yours, tinting pink as you pulled the sleeve up. The sight of it made you gasp. His fine wrist, so small even you could put your fingers around it, was mottled with deep bruising, blacks and purples set so deep into the skin that there was crusted blood on the surface, despite being unbroken. It was so, deeply, incredibly...

Beautiful. It was all you could do, not to press your lips to his wrist and taste his pulse as it flitted under his skin. To clean the blood away with your own tongue and cover the marks that your hungry ghost princess had made with your own teeth. Not hers. Yours.

Really, no wonder you'd been so enchanted with Eliza. You're cut of the same cloth.

"It must hurt."

He jerked his hand away, making you both wince. "What the hell is wrong with you? They only reason you're not dead is everyone pouring so much healing magic into you that it exhausted almost everyone. I." You could see flickers and flashes of orange sparking along the full length of his hair. "I'm not worth dying for. Why?"

What do you tell him? That it was the right thing to do? That you wanted to prove that you could woo a pretty girl? That you didn't want him dead? That you were a possessive bitch that couldn't stand the idea of someone else having him, even if unwilling on his part? All were true, but what do you say?

It proved a moot point, as when you opened your mouth to say something, anything, something shifted within you, and the only thing Idia received was a gout of blood square in his face.

~*~*~*~ After you'd slept, you reached for your phone in the thin morning light. Your friends where texting well wishes and condolences, and explanations of what happened after you went down (It seemed Idia had tackled Eliza clean off of you, and after some chaos she ran off with her retainer, rending this entire day moot). Even more interestingly, you found a text from an unknown number:

- I'm still mad at you.

You huffed to yourself, and after a bit of thought, start to text back.

- Dude I'm so sorry about the uh. blood puke. - I'll pay for cleaning - Also you know, you could have just asked for my number a long time ago? - Like a normal person? - Who doesn't break into phones to steal said numbers while I was unconscious next to you, what the fuck dude - That's not what this is about though. - You've got every right to be mad - That whole day was traumatizing, and you didn't deserve any of it - I'd rather sort this out in person but if text is easier for you right now we can do that - One last thing though

You stopped, and thought Do I actually do this? and went what the hell.

- I still need that dance I went in to get from you

#twisted wonderland #twst fic #twisted wonderland fanfiction #ghost wedding #my writing

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yakumtsaki · 5 years ago

Photo

What’s up Sophie?

-Oh nothing much, just looking up at the indifferent Heavens, searching for a reason to not end it all after getting beat up by fucking Miss Havisham. How could God forsake me so??

Idk Soph, I mean God works in mysterious ways. Except when you have no body skill points and start fights with people way fitter than you, then the ways God works in become a little more clear.

-That’s it, I’m going outside and waiting for a satellite to hit me!!

Counterproposal, you go upstairs and sleep because we have your UUU pledge bs do-over tomorrow, and we’re so behind schedule it’s not even funny. And after you SHAJAR is pledging which I just know is gonna take at least 5 tries so there’s really no time to waste.

-Ugh Shajar this, Shajar that, I don’t want to hear about that turbocuck anymore!

Then marry her and I’ll never bring her up again!

-Gotta side with Sophie on this one, Shajar is GROSS. Yuck!

Oh wow well now that Boring Brunette Dude has chimed in that changes everything. Literally who even are you.

-Hey Frances, I admire the fact you walk around so confidently despite being the biggest pussyboi the world has even known. Good for you!

-Oh my, how nice!

Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Right? Sophie??

-First I’m losing fights, now I have to compliment fucking Frances Worthington, what’s next? Living in a hippie commune?? Just let me die by crepe suffocation.

Ok well as much as I’d love to devote even more time to this Havisham-induced identity crisis, I really need to focus on pathologically unlikable Shajar’s pledging attempt, so.. stay strong?

-JUST LEAVE ME ALONE I HATE YOU I HATE EVERYTHING I WISH I WAS STILL A TEEN TOWNIE

Ngl to you Soph, I too am starting to wish you were still a teen townie.

-So one of my family’s favorite games is making appointments for x-rays we don’t need just so poor people can’t have them! HAHA

-Oh haha that’s hilarious, Frances!

Shajar what’s.. happening.. you’re actually doing great? This is the first time you’ve gotten someone to like you?? Maybe there’s hope for your ridiculous popularity aspiration after all.

-I just want to get the hell out of these dorms, I can’t deal with Gross Hippie Dude’s stink anymore!

-Oh dear lord, how can someone stink this bad?? I’m gonna vomit all over this terribly decorated dorm!

HEY it took me like 10m to decorate this masterpiece, show some respect. Also this would be a lot more convincing if you hadn’t autonomously cheated on Frances with this freakshow the other night.

-It was the moonlight!

Does the moonlight have stink covering properties I’m not aware of?

Heather Huffington passes by and I have Shajar greet her in case this Sophie racket doesn’t work out, which is looking increasingly likely.

-WOW what a great pairing!

Ikr???

-I was joking, what a fucking disaster in the making.

Ti-Ning I’m truly getting tired of your shit, this is all gonna work out just the way I want it to!

WHY TF ARE YOU TWO SLEEPING IN THE SAME BED

-Why not?

-We’re besties!

KILL ME. SHAJAR I THOUGHT YOU GOT OVER THIS

-What? Can’t I just recognize that my sister’s boyfriend is a fine piece of ass without you making it weird??

Oh God this is how it starts, this is what happened with Gunther and Brit last gen, they were always like ‘platonically’ alone in bedrooms and then one day BAM. IT’S NOT HAPPENING AGAIN DO YOU HEAR ME FUCKERS? I WON’T LET YOU

-I for one hope Shajar gets with Heather, because oh man! Now that would be a ménage à trois to remember!

...it really is too bad Jojo took the cowplant with him when he graduated because I know what I’d be using it for.

-NO NO NO, you can’t just book x-rays you don’t need, what the fuck??

-EXCUSE ME?!

-Those are just for broken bones and shit and widely available, you need to book MRIs, everyone knows those appointments take way longer to get!

-Ohh..that’s actually a good point.

-You’re so lucky you met me, bro, I’m really good at spreading misery.

Yea no arguments here!

-So, girls, I don’t know if you’ve noticed by my attire, but the main reason I’m here is to snag a rich old professor that can promptly die!

-Dream on toadface, huhu! The old professors are MINE 💗💗💗

-Ok that’s it..

Sophie?

-My hatred cannot be contained any longer!!!

Was it ever contained to begin with?

-You and me OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW HAVISHAM

WHY. Why would you attempt this AGAIN

-I really thought it would work this time!! :(

Why would it?? Note the simultaneous fight cloud inside which is..

..Shajar and the cheerleader! Man, both you and Sophie really have trouble with the concept of ‘don’t attack people with more body points than you’.

-I thought my hatred would carry me through!! :(

Omg Sophie.. Literally STOP.

-NEVER!!!

-GO VEILFACE, FUCK THESE LEGACY BITCHES, WALKING AROUND LIKE THEY OWN THE PLACE

-I’M NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SHAJAR GODDAMMIT. OH FUCK, SHE’S HITTING ME WITH HER SOMETHING BORROWED

-THAT’S RIGHT, I BORROWED A BRICK FROM THE WALL

-Man, it’s so hard to concentrate with this absolute carnage outside and this guy’s sexy moves in front of me.

HMM I wonder, say you get on academic probation and then kicked out of college, would this be enough time for Cyneswith to get over you??

Maybe we should stop studying >:)

-Lol nice try, but there’s no stopping the Don Oatesmeal train!

I hate you so much </3

Since it’s the day before finals, aka the one day each semester where we’re studying, it’s time to focus on the only two people this generation who should actually be in college:

Suffice it to say they have led different lives since coming here.

Angel gets an A and everyone else gets cucky Bs once again, except for Sophie ‘Brainchad’ Miguel, who gets Dean’s List this semester too despite not studying more than the rest of these losers. Sophie you are an ICON

-Not even these 3.5k aspiration points can fill the Veilface-Corpse-shaped hole in my heart >:(

-Look at her, dancing like an idiot, not aware that my fists of fury are silently waiting to sneak up on her and KICK HER ASS

-I CAN HEAR YOU, BABYHANDS

-😞😞😞

Walk it off, Babyhands!

One last aesthetically pleasing game of catch, and we’re off.

-CATCH IT OATESCUCK, CATCH IT

-I AM!!

-NOW THROW IT AT THE CHEERDLEADER AND AIM FOR THE NOSE

See you at the UUU house!

#gen 2 #ts2

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taiblogcomics · 5 months ago

Text

War of the Cameos

Hey there, vegan skeletons. Ready to hear me waffle on for two to five sentences before I start the review? Coz, like, what else is there to say? It's Countdown, you all know it's Countdown, and there's nothing we can do about it~

Here's the cover:

Hoo boy. Well, then. Like, normally I'm in favour of a cover that looks like it'd be a cool poster. But I'd be pretty concerned if anyone hung this poster up in their room, y'know? There's no good side in this fight scene, let's just say. Speaking of, let's make fun of this Nazi Superman here. Like, I get the idea they were going for, but trying to fit that symbol inside the Superman logo diamond does not work. It just looks like you can't draw it. Which, let's be fair, most of them can't. If you've ever seen how much difficulty some of them have drawing their hate symbol, it's very funny~

Anyways, recap time. The Multiverse Crew found Ray Palmer, only for Bob the Monitor to betray them. Mary Marvel fought Eclipso, only to depower herself and land on Themyscria. Holly Robinson and Harley Quinn got recruited for Fury training on Themyscria, only to ally with Hippolyta behind their backs. Jimmy Olsen got superpowers, only to end up making out with Forager. Karate Kid and Una came back from the future to look for a cure, only to get too sick to continue. Pied Piper got chained to Trickster, only to abandon his corpse in the desert. And we started this blog for fun, only to spend a year reviewing Countdown in real time~

Frankly, the comic opens continuing right from the cover itself. The Monitors are embroiled in battle with Monarch's multiversal army. As a reader, though, we don't give a shit about either side, y'know? Monarch steps in to taunt Solomon personally, thanking him for making all this possible. I'm not exactly sure how he's to blame, but it's fine. And in the middle of it, Solomon gets teleported out by his other fellow Monitors, for them to mock him as well. And he realises why he couldn't absorb Bob: they've changed too much and are genuine individuals now. Oh, how tragic for you.

Which, speaking of individuals, this issue is largely being narrated by this universe's Monitor, Nix Uotan. He's floating out in space, preparing to join the battle whenever it seems right. Meanwhile, Monarch's goons note to him that the humans of this Earth are fighting back, which is unexpected to them. If you remember some of the backstory, all the superheroes of this world retired except for Batman. And we get a brief shot of Batman basically going "I told them so" while preparing something.

Elsewhere, Kyle Rayner flies away with Ray Palmer, who's still pretty stuned by the deaths of his friends. Kyle apologises for Bob, since he tricked them all by pretending to be a friend. And that's when Ray lets the other shoe drop: he's not the one who will stop the Great Disaster. It was this world's Ray Palmer who was supposed to do that. But he's dead, and our Ray was doing his best to fill in. Before they can get any further, however, they're halted by an evil Booster Gold, a version of Power Ring (the evil Green Lantern), and… I can't even tell who this is. Evil Supergirl, I guess?

We finally get back to our original Multiversal Duo, Jason Todd and Donna Troy. Jason is typically annoyed, mostly because Donna's ditching him and he wants to help. Donna points out it's a little hard for him to participate on a battle of this scale as a non-powered human dude, but she is at least nice enough to leave him behind in this Earth's Gotham City. Before she can get too far, however, she gets ambushed by her own evil Earth-3 counterpart, who doesn't seem to ever have grown out of her Wonder Girl phase. Makes it easy to tell them apart, at least!

While those two are knocking each other about, Jason finds himself with his own problems. They sure picked the wrong random rooftop, because he's found almost immediately by another of Monarch's goons. It's one of Lord Havok's Extremist, a guy by the name of Gorgon. Each of the Extremists is actually a pistache of a Marvel villain, with Gorgon being based on Doctor Octopus. In this case, Gorgon is a diminutive man in monk robes, with orange skin and multiple tentacles growing out of his head. Ironically, he's more like an anthropomorphic octopus than the actual Doctor Octopus~

Donna and Wonder Girl-3's fight continues until a fighter jet accidentally crashes into them, separating them from each other. And at the same time, Jason keeps running from Gorgon until he's cornered. Gorgon wonders if not giving up is Jason's superpower, and I guess he isn't wrong. Before he can get his tentacles on Jason, though, he's blasted away by Batman-51, who is astonished to recognise Jason. And speaking of astonished recognition, we get a brief cameo of… remember that fairytale bug queen from, like, 20 issues back I swore would never be relevant again? Hey, she's here now, part of Monarch's crew~

Well, following Queen Suddenly-Relevant-Again's reveal, the comic ends with a few more single pages to further more plot developments. Solomon continues to mope about the Monitor's base, until he's suddenly confronted by Superboy-Prime. Oh good, as if this situation couldn't get worse. Second, here's a fanservice scene of Forager getting out of the shower and revealing the truth of Jimmy Olsen: he's a soulcatcher, and he's filled up with the souls of the New Gods. Lastly, we end on Batman-51 having brought Jason to his Batcave-51, demanding to know who he is, since he can't be Jason Todd. His Jason died in his arms years ago!

Well, nothing special about this issue. Like, it's not good by any means, but compared to a number of others, it's not ass-clenchingly awful either. At least these fight-scene issues tend to go real quick, since you can only recap a blow-by-blow fight so much. Also, on a personal note, seeing Queen I-Still-Don't-Care-What-Her-Name-Is turn up and be relevant again is hilarious to me, since I genuinely had forgotten about the character and didn't know she'd be reappearing later. It's as big a surprise to me now as it would have been reading this issue by issue back in the day, which is exactly the feeling I wanted to capture~

#comics #reviews #Countdown #Countdown to Final Crisis #Taiblog

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