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mizunetzu · 4 years ago

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Can you do Daichi x male reader where Daichi asks his boyfriend to come over to meet his team and he forgets and goes home so Daichi give him a call and is like "where you at?" "I cant come I look like a clown." "I bet you dont look that bad." "No you dont get it im in full drag." So his boyfriend comes to the gym in full drag, booby and butt pads, and monster heels, and when he walked in it's like Kags that recognizes him as his drag name.

LMAOOJSKE DRAG QUEEN READEKRNRNF

——————

Daichi x reader - DRAG QUEEN?!

⚠️warnings - drag queen, college first year reader x high school 3rd year (if that’s even a warning skdjd)

Pronouns- male, he/him

——————

Daichi said it on impulse, really.

“Do you guys...wanna meet my boyfriend?”

Everyone in the gym stopped. They were in middle of a practice match between themselves, and just when Yamaguchi was about to serve, he choked on air and missed the ball completely. The ball flew in the air, before landing somewhere near his feet.

Everyone stared at Daichi with a variety of expressions. Some shocked, some looking at him like he ‘said I’m gonna chop my dick off,’ and some who didn’t even care. (Tsukishima, obviously.) Ukai had to call timeout, since no one could focus after what Daichi blurted out.

Suga chuckled awkwardly, slinging a towel over his shoulders. “So uh, ahaha, your um...gay...?” His voice progressively died down into a whisper.

“Yeah. Is...that’s a problem?”

“No! No! I fully support y-“

“AND YOU CHOSE NOW TO TELL US? DUDE, WE COULD’VE LIKE, THROWN YOU A COMING-OUT PARTY!” Tanaka shook his captaincy the shoulders, while Noya squirted water into his mouth with his squeeze bottle.

“Well I don’t really mind, I’m already out, I was just asking if you wanted to meet him.”

“DO WE?! OF COURSE WE DO! DOES HE PLAY VOLLEYBALL?! DO YOU THINK HE COULD JOIN THE TEAM?!” Hinata jumped up and down, slowly inching is way towards Daichi with an awestruck look on his face. He’s rather surprised Hinata isn’t more shocked.

“Yeah. Uh-no, sorry. He doesn’t play.” Daichi chuckled, patting an excited looking hinata on the head. “I don’t think he has work tomorrow, so tomorrow’s really the only time he can come to practice.”

“Work?” Asahi looked up from the towel he was using to wipe off his sweat. “How old is he? Is he a third year?”

“He’s a first year in college. Actually-I think he goes to the college in Sendai.”

Asahi exhaled. It would’ve been weird if someone as young as a highschooler were to already be working, when the could be enjoying their time in classes or clubs. “Where does he work?”

Flashbacks of all the drag shows and money being thrown around a stage whipped across Daichis mind like a slap to the face. He’s sure the team wouldn’t mind, especially because they already don’t mind him having a boyfriend, but he isn’t sure if (Y/n) was ok with him telling his team he was a...y’know.

“...I’m not sure?”

————

“Oh-hello Daikkun! How was practice today?” (Y/n) opened the passenger seat to his door, waiting for him to step inside. Sometimes he liked to pick him up from school before he had to get in makeup for a night show. That didn’t stop him from doing a little bit of eyeliner, though.

“It was nice. I told them they could meet you soon. The team.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, you don’t have any shows tomorrow, right? I kind of told them tomorrow.” Daichi scrubbed at the back of his neck, while (y/n) started up his car. “I know you’ve wanted to meet them.”

“You bet your ass! Well-I mean I have a show at like 2 am but that doesn’t matter. What time can I come? Are they nice? Didn’t you say there was one who was really short but could jump as high as me in stilettos?”

“Oi-! Focus on the road!”

“Sorry, sorry! I’m just excited. Anyways! Can you come to my show tonight? I’ll sneak you in.”

“Every time I go to one of your drag shows I get scared someone will kick me out since I’m 17.”

“Dude, have you seen yourself?!” (Y/n) gestures over to Daichi, putting emphasis on his thigh-region. “You’re big and muscly enough to at least pass as 18. It’s just a one year difference, when’s your birthday again?”

“I can’t believe you forgot, I’m hurt.” Daichi chuckled, fiddling with his backpack straps on his lap. “Besides, doesn’t your show run kind of late today? I don’t get to choose when to take my classes like you, (L/n). And I have morning practice, so I need to sleep.”

“You’re no fun, Daikkun.”

“Yeah, yeah, My house is over there.”

————

(Y/n) scrolled through his phone for the nth time that day. Fanning himself dramatically, he huffed and buried his face into his pillow. There was nothing to do today, and since he took morning classes, that left him with the rest of the afternoon to ponder, before working at night.

Was there something to do today? Was he forgetting something? He felt like he was, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it.

He glanced guilty at a tube of light pink lip gloss tossed haphazardly on his desk. A light bulb went off in his head.

Hastily throwing his covers off his body, (y/n) dragged himself over to his closet, grabbing the lip gloss in the process. He shuffled through hangers of clothes, finally pulling out a girls uniform he bought from when he was in high school. He never wore it to school, choosing to wear the boys uniform, but he thought it’d be nice to have when he was feeling fruity.

Slipping on the skirt and cardigan, he walked over to his desk mirror. He unscrewed the wand from the tube of lip gloss, tentatively applying it generously to his lips. He shrugged. He figured he could do some more makeup. It’s not like he’s busy today, right?

Carefully winging the tip of his eyeliner, he took a step back and admired himself in the mirror. He looked cute, yeah, but cute wasn’t really his style. It screamed ‘cute femboy’ rather than his usual ‘sexy ass drag queen dominatrix who could step on you with their sharp ass knife heels’

Damn. He was really about to go all out, huh? Time to bring out the butt pads and fake boobs.

————

Sighing contently in front of the mirror, (y/n) did a little spin, puffing out the length of his dress. Damn, he was hot. And with his impossibly high monster heels? Take me now.

(Y/n) was in the midst of taking a couple cute selfies in front of his full length mirror, when his screen went grey and a caller ID appeared.

‘Incoming call - Daikkun!! <3’

(Y/n) smiled unconsciously and clicked the bright green button with his thumb. He brought his phone to his ear and twirled a piece of his faux wig with his finger.

“Hi Daikkun! Did you need something, cutie?”

“Are you still coming over?” Daichis voice was hushed, and the slam of volleyballs rang though his speaker.

“Uh-what for?”

“To meet my team? Where are you?”

Fuck.

(Y/n) paled as he eyed himself in the mirror. He couldn’t show up looking like that. And it was too much to take off before Daichis practice ended. This was the only time he had to meet this team Daichi had always been talking about, and he’d completely forgot.

“...I can’t, I look like a clown.” (Y/n’s) voice came out a hoarse, nervous-chuckly whisper. He could taste the expensive red lipstick sitting on his lips.

“I’m sure you don’t look that bad.”

“Dude no, you don’t understand.” (Y/n) picked at the hem of his dress, the silicone boobs suddenly squeezing his chest a bit too tightly. “I’m in full drag.”

A silence rang out from both sides of the line. Daichi awkwardly chuckled.

“Ahaha uh-didn’t you say you didn’t have work today?”

“No! No I-I don’t have work til like-later later but like-I got bored and I forgot I was gonna meet your team today...sorry-“

“Well I’m sure they won’t mind if you show up in drag. I mean-they seemed pretty ok with knowing we’re a thing so...?”

(Y/n) gulped.

“...I guess I’ll see you in ten minutes then.”

—————

“Good work everyone!”

Ukai dismissed the players, leaving them to start rolling up the net and cleaning up the gym. Sugawara jogged up to the captain, dragging his mop lazily behind him.

“You said your boyfriend was gonna come today, right? Where is he?”

“Uh,” Daichi checked his wrist, before realizing he didn’t have a watch and fished out his phone. “He should be here any minute now-“

Just in time, the doors to the gym creaked open. Daichi smiled, leaving Suga to trail behind him curiously. He reached for the door handle, giving it a firm pull.

In stepped a boy with a long synthetic wig on, and heels that made him tower over Daichi easily. The sharp platforms of his heels clicked with each step he took, jewelry and accessories also bobbing up and down. And not to mention the ‘bobbling’ the silicone boobs made. Jeez, even if they were fake, they did still jiggle a hell of a lot.

(Y/n) bent down daintily, pressing a kiss onto Daichi’s cheek. Lipstick smeared on his sweaty cheek, leaving a dark imprint on the side of his face. (Y/n) seemed to finally take notice of all the astonished stares directed at him.

Should he A, stand beside his boyfriend awkwardly and pick at the loose thread of his dress or B, put on his confident drag persona and play it off?

He chose B.

(Y/n) smirked and leaned on on of his feet, placing a hand on his hip. “What? Like what you see, boys? I’m afraid I’m already taken, though.”

Fuck. Fuck fuck. Fuck. Even with the confident display, (y/n) couldn’t help but stay somewhat behind Daichi, trying to shrink behind his 10 inch heels.

Immediately, a bald guy and a kid with a bleached strip on the front of his head erupted into excitement.

“Yo! Sick dress, dude!”

The atmosphere lightened up tremendously. (Y/n) let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Well thank you, Mr. Bleach strip.”

The bald one, who introduced himself as ‘Tanaka’, slapped Daichi on the back. “Dude! What’s with all the surprises?! You tell us you have a boyfriend but you didn’t tell us he was a drag queen?!”

“I-to be honest I didn’t know he was in drag today-I didn’t know he had work.”

The closet door opened, with Hinata and Kageyama walking out from placing the net inside. Hinata gasped excitedly, while Kageyama froze. Hinata practically bolted towards the unknown person wearing heels and jumped up to his height. (Y/n) choked on air. This kid practically flew at him.

“Wow! Are you one of those ‘drag queens’ I see on tv sometimes?! Cool! That’s so cool! I-“

“ARE YOU QUIMCHI?!”

Hinatas throat closed up, along with (y/n) after hearing his stage name being called out so...dramatically. The boy continued.

“...F-FROM THAT ONE INTERVIEW THEY DID ON THAT ONE CLUB ON THE LATE NIGHT SHOW WITH SHIN’ICHI HATORI?!”

Kageyamas booming voice rang through the gym as he pointed at (y/n) with wide eyes. Everyone’s gaze went from (y/n) to Kageyama, who was frozen in place. Even (y/n) was a tad bit confused.

The club he worked at recently had a special done on TV, and (y/n) was only in the background. He didn’t know how this...boy recognized him from that, or why he was even watching the drag special on that show in the first place.

“...yeah...yeah I am,” (y/n) smiled awkwardly and a boy with blond hair and glasses chuckled from somewhere in the gym.

The boy, with another guy with dark-green hair, walked out from the storage closet aswell. “Who knew the king was into that kind of stuff? Drag queens? No disrespect, ma’am-sir.”

Kageyama seemed to unfreeze just to glare at Tsukishima with a flushed face. “I-IM NOT! MY STUPID SISTERS JUST A BIG FAN, IS ALL!“

Kageyama turned to (y/n), and marched scarily fast towards him. He stopped abruptly and bowed his head so far it made (y/n) take a step back.

“M-MAY I HAVE AN AUTOGRAPH FOR MY SISTER?! AN-AND MAYBE A PHOTO TOO?!” Kageyama stiffly held his arms to his sides as he kept his head down. Small chuckles and snorts sounded from all around the gym, (y/n) even joining in and patting the black haired boys head.

“Sure thing, doll.”

————

“Your team was nicer than I thought.”

Daichi looked up questionably, fastening his seatbelt. (Y/n) started up his car. “What do you mean, nicer?”

“Well-I thought they were gonna be a bunch of meatheads banging their heads together. They’re actually more interesting than I thought they were going to be. Especially that Kageyama guy.”

Daichi smiled contently. “I’m glad you like them, then.”

A comfortable silence breezed by them, the only sounds audible being the hum of the car engine and the soft tapping of Daichis nails against the armrest. Daichi stole a glance at (y/n). His wig was discarded, placed neatly on the backseat with the wig cap and hairpins resting underneath it, and his hair was slightly damp and messy due to being constricted. His lipstick was a bit smeared from when he kissed him on the cheek, and droplets of sweat gathered near his hairline.

Daichi set his fingers lightly on the spot where the lipstick mark sat, caressing it softly so the lipstick wouldn’t smear more that it already has. He exhaled softly and shifted his gaze back down. He wouldn’t mind if he came to his practice again.

“...so wanna come to my show tonight, Daikkun?”

“It’s at 2am, no.”

—————

Extra:

Kageyama: miwa.

Kageyama: MIWA.

Miwa sighed and checked her phone, sliently scolding her brother for bothering her. She stretched and rubbed her eyes. She swore, if Tobio wanted a ride home from practice...

Miwa: mm

Kageyama: -photo sent-

Miwa: DUDE

Miwa: AJDJSKDKF

Miwa: HOW THE FUCK

Miwa: TELL ME YOU GOT QUIMCHIS AUTOGRAPH DJFJDJE

Kageyama: -photo sent-

Kageyama: I DID. I GOT ONE FOR U AND ONE FOR ME

Kageyama: HE WAS SO TALL TOO

Kageyama: LIKE HE WAS A HALF FOOT TALLER THAN ME EVEN WITHOUT THE HEELS

Miwa: WHY WAS HE AT UR PRACTICE WHSHD

Kageyama: apparently he’s dating my captain

Miwa: WHAT RHE FUCKCIDNEBRJ

——————

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shijiujun · 4 years ago

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I noticed that you've done Chinese calligraphy (very pretty btw) and I wanted to ask if you know of any good resources for beginners?

heya!!!! thanks for that!! this is a timely ask because i was thinking i’d do a round-up anyway some time down the road so this is good XD

firstly tho, i’d like to put out a disclaimer that i’m no expert at this and am pretty much an amateur. so i took calligraphy classes for three years at a national calligraphy center (not that it made me a pro or shite because i don’t one bit have a natural affinity for it). if there are any calligraphy experts on this site, please feel free to add to this or correct me.

once again, i’m not claiming that everything i know is super accurate, all my basics were taught by a teacher so i’m not super sure where to go for self-learning but here’s what i know in brief for an unreliable, personal crash course:

↳ there are a lot of types of calligraphy, but i’ll just simply go on two types for now:

(1) normal calligraphy 书法 with a 毛笔 (calligraphy brush)

(2) contemporary calligraphy 硬笔书法 that’s done with a pen (can be 0.7/1.0 ball point or fountain pens with thin/thick nibs etc., although using fountain pens is considered something influenced by the west, and a lot of people prefer to use inky ball points instead for better flexibility)

↳ in terms of font/style there are five main groups (of which examples i will give in calligraphy brush, not a normal pen), and the first two are the most commonly used ones:

(1) 行书 - semi-cursive script

(2) 楷书 - regular script

(3) 草书 - cursive script

(4) 篆书 - seal script

(5) 隶书 - clerical script

↳ what are the differences and how do you pick a style to begin with?

in general people start with either 行书 or 楷书 especially for young adults these days because honestly, these are the more clearly visible forms that most of us that read chinese can decipher, as you can probably tell from the above differences. it’s literally chinese as most of us know it.

even those who’ve practiced calligraphy for a really long time are still kind of arguing on whether beginners should start with 行书 or 楷书, and the 楷书 camp advocates for the learning of regular script before they start inventing with semi-cursive 行书, which has its own merits. after all, with 楷书 you do learn the basics of how to start a stroke, end a stroke, the structure of characters split for the best composition (that’s why a lot of people practice on grid paper), but there are those who started with 行书 that say it’s easier to go to 楷书 after you learn semi-cursive.

the rule of thumb is, learn the style you like best and you think you can follow best. i began with 楷书 and honestly haven’t figure out 行书 much i have to say. although personally, if you are not familiar with chinese characters in general, i’d recommend going with 楷书 first. only because you know exactly how many strokes there are etc., whereas with semi-cursive there are some tricks to it that you might not need to know right now.

篆书 is considered like an ancient form of writing font and was used in certain periods and dynasties not that i know which ones, but if you watch certain cdramas, you’ll definitely have seen this font - this font is also commonly used to make stamping seals (i’ll explain what’s written on seals below)

隶书 was invented sometime after that for, as the name suggests, administrative purposes where clerics required a faster font to write with. lastly, there’s 草书, which as you can tell, is a hell lot harder to decipher! this is because this font was created more as an aesthetic, art form than actual like reading. there are some that are of course written clearly, but the extreme curves and like sometimes even thicker brushes are used for aesthetics/style sake like this one:

↳ some general advice when you’re practicing

(1) this is a time-intensive practice and requires a lot of patience but is incredibly rewarding - it’s not something that will come immediately even if you watch tutorials and practice a single word for like a week. just like english calligraphy, you’ll probably have to practice for months/years depending on how much you can practice BUT it’s not as if you need to put up ‘perfect’ work each time, and it’s more important to find your own style after getting the basics right

(2) my teacher and a lot of calligraphy enthusiasts always nag and say: chinese calligraphy is not about just technique, you need to write with the heart - [练字重在热情, 只要能坚持就好] this sound incredibly philosophical but is pretty much the old adage of if you like something and have passion for it, keep at it and you’ll get it eventually

↳ brushes

okay, here’s where it might get a little complicated - the type of brush you need depends on the type of font you’re going for, and of course if you don’t have that many choices, just go for whatever you have as long as the ends of the brush aren’t split [cr: https://www.sohu.com/a/343812958_161249]

(1) 硬毫笔 (hard): made of wolf, horse, rabbit, deer hair etc.

(2) 软毫笔 (soft): made of sheep hair etc.

(3) 兼毫笔 (medium): mixed with hair used to make both hard and soft brushes

(4) i think there are now brushes made of synthetic hair as well now #technology especially if it’s a cheap brush, also there are only so many animal hairs you can grab XD

obviously, is it more difficult to start with (2), the soft brush - it is said that once you begin with the soft brush and master it, you can use any brush. i started with a hard brush, especially for 楷书 because you need a hard brush to help you end the strokes precisely but that’s because i’m half a noob

for 行书 and 草书, because it’s cursive right and requires flexibility, of course a soft brush works better!

length of the brush matters as well - it is easier to control a shorter and slightly thicker brush than it is to control a lengthier and thinner brush - i’ve tried both, and i died with the second one, you can see the different varieties here:

*most calligraphy brushes for daily normal practice have pointed tips, the one you see on the far left is obviously a wide tip and this is only used for larger or huge pieces, those with four characters, and typically used with 草书

size of your desired font matters too - if you’re going for a dainty size, do use smaller, shorter and thinner brushes like these:

regular sized fonts would do well with brushes like these:

↳ paper

(1) print

square paper is your best friend - beginners should honestly start with grid paper and the type that sections the square nicely for you here, but once you’re familiar, any square/grid paper will do for practice, any size works as well, depends on what size font you’re trying to go for

square/columned/blank paper for final product

(2) paper types

yellow or white thin calligraphy practice paper, made of rice or normal paper - usually comes in a huge stack, feels a little like felted paper - they’re also usually folded into huge scroll-like stacks

normal A4 grid or column foolscap/paper - this list is not exhaustive, you can technically use any type of paper as long as it helps you to space out the words nicely

↳ miscellaneous accessories

(1) ink and ink holder - there is a special kind of ink for calligraphy called 墨 and people usually just buy it in bottles these days. in ancient times you had to 研墨 rub/scrape the ink out (which you can see with the rectangular pieces below). it honestly has a really pungent smell in my opinion for certain brands especially the cheaper ones, but that’s the authentic type i guess!

as for ink holders, just use a tiny plate or a tiny sauce plate (i stole one from my grandma XD)

(2) brush holder － not really necessary unless you have a lot of brushes and need a place to hold them. the reason to have one of these is also because it’ll help the brush keep its shape and will help it last longer as well

(3) stamps - for a final product, you should end it with a stamp! there are different types of stamps and different types of fonts, you can use the seal font for this as well, or just usual regular script this is your watermark/signature for calligraphy pieces

shapes come in ovals, squares, circles

characters in the stamp - it can be your surname, your full name, or even like a full poem for a huge stamp

ink - usually when you purchase a stamp and have it carved, it comes also with a red ink stamp pad, traditionally, stamps on calligraphy pieces are stamped in red

(4) felt base - we use felt bases so that when you write the ink doesn’t seep through the paper! but honestly newspaper works as well, but i bought it for real cheap on taobao

(5) paper weights - buy some nice chinese-style paperweight or just use whatever you have on hand because the papers are REALLY THIN and always end up flying somewhere

(1) get your strokes right first

honestly, get all your single/compound strokes right first! which means starting with words such as 一，二，三 and others

some videos:

youtube

(2) move onto other more complex words, one at a time

youtube

(3) print practice papers, get tracing paper and trace over each

here’s one but any works: https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20191230AZP1AK00?refer=spider

---

so that’s all i have!! let me know if you’ve got any other questions or need some other resources for me to point you to!

#calligraphy #chinese calligraphy #chinese #calligraphy 101 #毛笔 #书法 #also i'm trying to put the read more button i cannot #i literally can't edit this

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angsty-omi · 4 years ago

Text

oikawa x fem! reader

warnings: i think none? maybe toxic relationship?

fluff in the beginning, but overall angsty as f!$@

“so, how did we get here? plates smashing, suffocating tears, and suitcases being packed.”

you and tooru met during your second year. while he was being bombarded with fangirls, it just so happened you were in the class down the hall by yourself. as he tried to escape the hormonal girls, he hid in one of the classes. which, “luckily” happened to be yours.

as he ran in and shutting the door quickly while also breathing heavily, he didn’t seem to notice you. you just so happened that day had to stay in for remediation. you glanced at him, and then looked back down at your textbook. obviously you weren’t actually reading the textbook, however, you couldn’t look him in the eyes. just because you weren’t one of his stans, you still couldn’t ignore how his brown eyes glisten in the warm sun, or how his hair always looked a little messy, but still looked beautiful nevertheless. he pulled a chair in-front of you and ignited the conversation.

that’s where it all started.

everyday, he would be meeting you in that class after practice, and you’d talk about your day. how is it possible that he didn’t even know your name, yet was so intrigued in your life? although, you didn’t mind because talking about things feels more comfortable when they don’t really know you. this suddenly became an on the clock’ routine. he’d come into class, pull up a chair, and he would share his milk bread with you.

until one day, he didn’t show up. you shook it off because he wasn’t yours. you guys weren’t dating. so then, why’d your stomach drop. and why did you wait hours, so much so the janitor had to kick you out. days suddenly became weeks. and for some reason you really could not shake this feeling. had you gotten too close to him? hell he didn’t even know your name, y/n.

you were not the one to just let life go on. you wanted to take charge, because no one else can/will do it for you. you needed to take life in your own hands. screw the universe. and so, it was pouring that day, as you looked out your window, thinking about what you were going to say. your heart started beating rapidly, when you imagined how tooru would answer. would he accept your confession? or would he just think you’re one of the fan girls? he sure does get a lot of letters everyday. it was a variety of girls that you were prettier than, but also uglier than some. you shook your head, because you truly didn’t want to go there. girls support girls. after school, you had to retake the test you were remediating anyways so it gave you enough time to stall and wait for tooru’s practice to end.

on your walk there, you hear the loud smacks of the volleyball hitting the ground. you flinched, thanking life you weren’t reincarnated as one of those balls. you waited outside the gates for him, but under a roof, because it was pouring after all. as you hear the coach whistle, you knew it was showtime. tooru walked out with this really tall, buff guy. with his gym bag in one hand, and an umbrella in the other. you make your way over there stopping in-front of him. “hi, i’m l/n y/n, a second year, and oikawa, there’s something about you that i can’t shake. ever since we stopped seeing each other, i have had this pit in my stomach. i didn’t really want to fall in to the category of pick me girls, but you’ve put your spell on me and i can’t help it. either you need to accept my confession or reject me. i don’t want to be lead on an unrequited love.” you shut your eyes, looking down, not even realizing the rain was drowning you. his eyes widened at such a confession. his friend nudged him and walked away. oikawa sighed, “l/n, first of all, i’m glad you think our meetings were special. i haven’t gone recently because nationals are coming up soon and our coach has been making us practice everyday for a longtime. and i never thought you saw me in that light. but i’m really glad you did.” you opened your eyes because you stopped feeling the rain on you. as you looked up, you saw him staring at you with such eyes that you could just dissolve right then and there. the umbrella in his hand was now over you. leaving him in the pouring rain. the umbrella wasn’t big enough for the both of you. so you took your arms around is waist, hoping for the best. he slowly bent down and wrapped his arm around you, so the umbrella could dry both of you off. you swore you could’ve been in that position forever. he whispers in your ear, “let’s go out okay? see where it takes us,” as he could feel your growing smile against his chest.

months go by, and both of you couldn’t be happier. it was your 1st year anniversary, and tooru had just invited you out to eat at a fancy restaurant. you curled your hair, and put on light make up. nothing wrong with heavy make up, but light was more your style. you put on a black babydoll dress and headed out on your date.

as you got to the place, you decided to get seated first. minutes go by and you were waiting. waiting. and waiting even longer. you couldn’t even express the embarrassment you felt from the spectators around you. you called him so many times. no pick up. the waiters kept asking for your order and you continued to deny them, saying “my boyfriend’s gonna be here soon,” with a grin. coming up with ideas in your head to why he’s not here yet.

when the restaurant started closing, you headed out. at this point, you weren’t even making excuses for him. it was pure anger. you got dolled up and for what? to be stood up? you just wanted to the night to be over.

you quickly took off your clothes into a huge t-shirt. whys it so huge? oh. it’s tooru’s. you washed your face and went to bed. the shirt still had tooru’s scent on it. the smell that made you feel safe. the smell that you would recognize a mile away. the smell you familiarized when you gave your body to him. and soon with those thoughts, you started bawling. you were left alone with your thoughts. “am i not good enough?” continuously repeating in your head. you just wanted this night to be over with.

as the bright sun shined on your face from the small crack of the window panel, you checked your phone. there was a few texts from oikawa. here we go. the tears have dried and you were ready. it read,

tooru: god y/n, I really am sorry.

tooru: practice was dragged out for so long i completely forgot

tooru: nationals are coming up soon, you remember right? that’s when we confessed?

tooru: meet me at the park at one. please. let me make it up to you. read 12:48

“was this truly a good idea?,” you thought to yourself. again, it was pouring and you could catch a cold. but you needed answers. so yes, in your mind, it was. you didn’t even get ready. he did not deserve the luxury of seeing you try for him.

you walked to the park in the clothes you woke up in. you saw him from afar, sitting at the bench, fiddling with his calloused hands. you sat next to him, with a huge gap in between you two. “hey,” he went first. you looked and gave him a small grin. though you looked like you were fine, boy was he gonna get an earful. as you were about to express your leash on him, he interrupted “the reason i couldn’t pick up, was because of volleyball.” you seriously glared at him, you didn’t even get to put a word in? and why was he so blunt with it? “listen y/n, i never should’ve put volleyball over you. it was our anniversary and i forgot about our date. if i could go back in time and punch my yesterday self, i would do it.” you giggled, maybe you weren’t that pissed. “it still hurt, tooru. a lot. i can never show my face there again. while i was furiously walking home, i was seriously doubting you... doubting us,” you teared up. good thing the rain could hide your tears. at least you still had your pride, right? instinctively, he grabbed both your hands and kissed them over and over. up to your arms. to your cheeks. to your lips. then you just melted. this feeling of unknown relief. “i love you, y/n and one day i’m gonna put a ring on this finger,” he said while kissing it. “i will never put you over volleyball again...”

so, how did we get here? two years later, plates smashing, suffocating tears, and suitcases being packed.

—

author’s note: helloooo this is my first fic so bear with me! there might be some spelling errors and i’m sorry, these are written at 3 am! it will get better. should i make a part 2? please let me know ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶. please like, repub, or follow if you wanna see more of me!

#haikyuu angst #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #oikawa x reader #oikawa angst #haikyuu!!

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jokertrap-ran · 4 years ago

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Collar X Malice ~Unlimited~ Shiraishi Kageyuki Character CD’s Mini-drama Translation

「 Steam with Two」

*Commissioned by a Shiraishi fan , Thank you! *Spoiler free: Translations under cut

Commissions are still open!

Collar X Malice Character CD: Mini-Drama [Steam with Two]

This is a convenient dream for one such as I. Of a future to come that may or may not happen on a stroke of good luck. Although, no one knows for sure whether what’s happening now is an illusion or reality itself. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that it is a treasured time of mine.

The time that I can spend with her without any distractions in the way is calm, peaceful; warm and welcoming. It’s really heartwarming. And even if I’m still unsure of it, I’m pretty certain that these feelings blooming within my chest are real.

—— —— ≿————-　❈　————-≾ —— ——

Heh~? So this is the famed Hot-Spring Inn in Kyoto? What tasteful preferences you have. We could have gone overseas, you know. Who would have thought that you’d be okay with just a trip to the Hot Springs?

Well, it’s also my first time going to one so I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I guess I wouldn’t have ever stepped foot into one in my entire life if it wasn’t for you.

Yes, yes; don’t tug on me. The Inn won’t be running anyway from you anytime soon.

Now that we’re here...Was pillow-fighting one of the first things you should do in a place like this, again? No? I see. Then is it only something one does at night? I see, so that’s how it is. Speaking of, wasn’t there a rose bath here? You were reading a pamphlet on the Inn and I happened to oversee it. But that’s girls-only so do tell me how it is later on! Let’s head on straight to the Hot Springs once we set our belongings down. I’ll be entering too so how about we decide on a time to meet back up again?

—— —— ≿————-　❈　————-≾ —— ——

So this is a Hot Spring...Seems like there are different properties in the water depending on the area…? This one here revitalizes the skin, helps with muscle aches and...beautiful skin? Does this mean that she’ll come out with silky smooth skin? It’s usually nice to the touch; I wonder how much it’ll change once she gets out of there. Oh, yes; maybe I should ask her to let me touch her skin once she gets out later. I’m usually satisfied with just a shower, alone, but who would’ve thought that soaking in such a large expanse of hot water’s this calming?

They have different colours and scents in the many areas and there’s even water coming out from that area over there. Heh. This might be more interesting than I originally thought it was. Still, it’s a little lacking in something...It feels as if I can’t get the full experience alone by myself. I wonder if she’s enjoying the rose bath right now? Strange...People are normally just pawns and I have no qualms using them to attain my goal. Else, they’d simply be observational subjects for the greater good; that’s all they were to me. I knew that I’d always be alone out in the world and that was how I lived, more or less. There are times when it’s relaxing to be close to her, but sometimes, it makes my heart flutter and become abuzz with something. Choosing my words wisely, thinking twice about my actions and worrying about what I can do to make her happy. This love was something that I thought I could live without ever knowing; It was thanks to this that I learnt how important it was to understand others. She’s something I’ll never let go of. For someone like me, someone who doesn’t hope; who doesn’t dare hope. She is the one thing I’ll never lose.

I can no longer return to pretending not to know. I wonder if I’m broken? She was the one who broke me.

—— —— ≿————-　❈　————-≾ —— ——

Hmm...she’s late. I do hope she didn’t fall asleep while she was still in the rose bath. I don’t think that’s even possibly, actually. But she did say that she didn’t manage to sleep quite well yesterday since she had trouble falling asleep...Now I’m concerned. And peeking into the girl’s bath...no, that’s a bad idea after all. Oh? Thank goodness! Seems like you’re still in one piece. No; I was just worried because you were late. I thought that perhaps you fell asleep while soaking in the hot water or maybe you spaced out for too long and got yourself into an unfortunate accident.

What, so you were running late because you were drying your hair? Me? I’m fine with my hair being a little on the wet side. You want to dry it for me when we return to our room? Mmph...You’re so coddling. Maybe it’ll be more manly for me if I leave it to dry on it’s own. Let’s head back then. Hm? This scent...I knew it! You have a sweet scent wafting off you. It’s nice. Oh! So, how was the hot spring? Did it make your skin beautiful like they were advertising? Hm? But I can’t check for myself unless I get up close and it’s not like I can enter the rose bath either. Plus, I can’t check and see the effects of the Hot Spring if I don’t touch your skin, right? That’s why, hugging’s the easiest way out! I wonder if the scent will stick onto me too if we stay like that long enough. It might not be too bad to have the same scent as you.

Embarrassed? Isn’t this amount of skinship normal though? I mean, even you pull off antics that leave me shocked at how embarrassing it is at times. Yes, yes. Well, I got to see an interesting expression of yours so I guess all’s well and fine. Besides, we’ve got an entire day to ourselves so I can always throw a hug your way. Yeah, I’m happy. Of course, I was also looking forward to this trip with you.

I seemed no different from my usual self? You’re as dense as ever. Won’t you have figured it out if only you had observed me a little more?

—— —— ≿————-　❈　————-≾ —— ——

It’ll be boring if we just returned to our rooms and there’s still some time before dinner is served so a walk would have worked too...what are you doing? Table-tennis? Even I know what tennis is. It’s the thing where you take rackets and hit the ball with it, right? Seems like these paddles are free for all Inn guests to use.

Hm~ You sound pretty confident about it. How about we go against each other then? Here’s a racket. You can get the first serve. Don’t worry about me being a beginner. Huh, this is pretty normal. I was most certain tha-...The ball would be sent flying like this. Was it too quick for your eyes to catch? But it entered your coat, so I suppose that’s a score to me? Ahaha, you look frustrated. You really do put your all into everything you do, huh. Winning or losing something like this has no effect on your future so you really could just tone it down a little, you know. Ah, stop right there. Let me take a guess as to what you’re going to say right now, shall I?

“At least put some effort into it if you’re doing it!” Am I right? Here’s the serve. So you want to clinch a win above all the effort you’re putting into this, yes? Even I can tell something as blatant as that, at least. That’s why I’m not slacking off on my end either.

Heh? Aiming for the corner, I see. But I won’t let something like this get past me! Now, what will you do? Heh? The loser has to comply with anything the winner says? Now, isn’t that tipping things way too into my favour? Does this mean I can do whatever I want to with you? Wait a minute, whatever I wa-...? Ah-

I’ve been had...Come on, that was really mean of you to use the opening I presented while in the middle of thought- I suppose not. It is a match after all so I suppose that’s just the strategy you chose to deploy against me. However, the same thing won’t work twice on me. Pulse, I’ve already read through your style. I now know how you react before you go in for the blow.

Sure. I’ll play along with you for as long as you want. Seeing such intense concentration on you’s not a bad sight. Plus, I’ll have to go all out if there’s a reward to reap at the end of this all!

—— —— ≿————-　❈　————-≾ —— ——

Haa...That’s the first time I’ve ever eaten this much in my life. Yeah, I’ve always eaten the bare minimum amount to survive. Still, that was really delicious! I thoroughly tasted the food, of course. Right, right. There’s that egg that was cooked in the Hot Springs here, right? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen such a runny egg so I was really surprised. Huh? You can make it even back home? Could you make one next time then? I’m sure it’ll taste much better if you’re the one making it. Yup, it’s a promise then. So? The futons and all are already laid out so how about we do it? I don’t know how well it’ll go since it’s my first time too, but...I’ll try my best. Yeah, I will!

So...we just have to throw these pillows at each other with all our might, yes? Huh? What’s with that face? Aren’t we going to have a pillow fight? Okay, I’ll put down the pillow first. Oh, I see. So that’s how it is! Pillow fights are something one does only on a study trip...I suppose throwing projectiles at each other with all your strength can get pretty dangerous. Other things...Oh, yes! How about aroma oil therapy? It’s normally done in pairs, right? ...You’re fine without…? I see...Well, if you say so then...Let’s sleep, I guess.

Hey? It’s still nine, there’s no way I can sleep. Besides, I won the table-tennis match we had, remember? Yup. I want to talk about a variety of things with you. Why are you laughing!? There’s nothing I’ll get out of it? It’s rewarding enough for me. Then...Where should I start…? If you had to choose between meat and fish, which would you prefer? What do you think was the most delicious among all the things we had for dinner today? Oh, maybe I should ask about what your favourite fruit is too? And is the person you li-- Huh? Oh...Is a question 101 session not something you do on a trip?

What, is this something only students do when they go on a trip together too? Aw, and here I thought up about lots of questions to ask too...It’s not me being clinical; I just want to know more about you. I want to come to like the things that you do and when it comes to the time where I want to do something for you, I wouldn’t even know where to start if I didn’t know what colour or thing you even like, don’t you think? Honestly speaking...I don’t have the confidence for this. I’m personally fine with living my life dubbed as the worst human in the world, but it’ll reflect badly on you too. Like...remember how you tugged me back by my coat back in Shinjuku? Ah...Are you embarrassed by the memory? Same here, it makes a buzzing feeling go through me when I do.

As Kageyuki Shiraishi, I never once had a mission that made me fall in love with another. That’s why I’m trying my hardest not to hurt you or our relationship. I didn’t really understand you...But, it really tickled when you told me that you didn’t hate me for what I did.. It made me happy. From that time onwards...I……

...Are you asleep, by chance? And right when I was getting all emotional too. I suppose there’s no helping it. I suppose I should sleep too. Whoa-!? What, you were awake? We’ve got an early start tomorrow. That Wagashi Store you were looking to; it seems like the popular sweets sell out fast so there might not be any left if we’re late. That’s right, I searched it up. I’d much rather see you happy than disappointed. It’s fun talking to you like this as well, but I’ll really be troubled if you overslept tomorrow because we stayed up too late talking. So how about we both turn in? Am I okay with not doing anything? But there’s nothing else left to do? I mean, earlier you- Hey? Are you the type that can’t sleep unless you’re sleeping next to someone? I mean, that’s what you’re trying to tell me by moving over to my side, right? Ahh! But I don’t think I’ll like it all that much if you’re cosying up to other guys like this too! If possible, I’d want to be the only o-

Ah- I-I see. So you only do this with the person you love. Um, hey? Can I hug you…?

Warm...It’s almost as if this isn’t real. My name, my feelings, my everything. It feels as if everything has been resetted and I’m living for yet another one of my goals. That was how I’ve been made to be. But yet, you...you called out my name. You’d come after me no matter how much I tried to put distance between us and you wouldn’t give up even after how much I hurt you. Why...Would you go so far for someone like me… You’re really...such an idiot...There’s no saving you. But that’s what makes you, you. And...all so...precious.

I’m not crying! But, if I did...it’s your fault. You moved my empty heart and made it overflow. But, I guess that’s proof that I’m human.

It was really fun today. I’m sure tomorrow will be fun since I’ll be together with you. I think I’ll laugh lots, be entranced by you and then fall even harder. There are still a good load of things out there that I don’t know so I might cause you some problems when the time comes, but…

You’ll wait? No hesitation; what a speedy reply. Then, can I test out the limits of your words? Not just today and tomorrow, but even the days after that. I think that nothing will bring me more happiness than you staying by my side from now on and forever. But, I suppose I’ll have to study more for that to happen, don’t I? I’ll say it properly, one day. When I’m finally able to bring joy into your life with my own hands. So, won’t you wait a little more? Even if it’s just a little happy dream that I have in my head. I will definitely return to you. Now, maybe we should really sleep. I pray that I’ll wake up to you beside me. Good night and see you tomorrow.

Shiraishi Kageyuki, Kimura Ryouhei.

#Collar X Malice #Collar X Malice Unlimited #Collar X Malice -Unlimited-#CxM #Otome #Otomate #Drama CD #Translations #commissions #comission #Translation comission #Shirayuki #Shiraishi Kageyuki #Kimura Ryohei

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desperationandgin · 5 years ago

Text

The Beat My Heart Skips (Market Price One-Shot)

Rating: General Audiences

Also Read On: Ao3

Summary: Jamie attempts to surprise his pregnant wife with the foods she craves.

A/N: From a prompt @smashing-teacups sent me like 8 months ago! This is also my dear BFF’s very BELATED birthday fic. ilu so much <3

I adjusted a little but I hope the spirit of the prompt lives on!

The Beat My Heart Skips

The texts from Claire had started at two in the afternoon while he was at Lallybroch, deep in planning the next few weekends’ worth of farmer’s market details.

Burgers for dinner? 😘

He’d replied he would pick them up from her newly-declared favorite place for burgers, and promised chips to go along with them. A half-hour later, the next message arrived.

thinking more about the pork rolls we had the other night.

He’d replied:

Instead of the burgers?

Think so. Sorry. Baby’s picky 🤷‍♀��

It made him smile, swiping to the home screen only to see the latest in his growing collection of photos featuring Claire’s belly. The bump was only clearly visible when she was unclothed, but it was there, a swelling proof of life, and he’d found he could stare, stroke, and murmur to that growing roundness for hours on end. He’d finally responded with a quick dinna fash and assumed that would be the end of it.

He was wrong. The next messages had come in rapid succession, mildly alarming until he could read them.

I think pizza would be better

Remember the burritos we had at Mazama?

Jamie, I don’t know what your child wants…

Kebabs??

Would you like to contribute an idea?

Thumb hovering over the phone, he’d tried to decide if he should pick one thing from her list, or offer something completely different. He’d decided, in the end, to go with a solid favorite.

Thai noodles, Sassenach?

The three telltale bubbles had appeared, then dropped, then appeared again before another text came through from his wife.

That sounds good too.

It was the ‘too’ that convinced him of what needed to be done.

You only need to be prepared with an appetite when I’m home. 5p. No later.

Now, he’s sitting in the passenger seat of his sister’s mini-van while Jenny drives.

“How many places is it, total?” she asks, glancing over.

Scrolling on his phone, he counts aloud. “Six. No, seven. I need more ice cream.”

“Alright, weel, we have to be strategic about it. Ice cream last, obviously. Then I’ll just drop ye back at yours and both of ye can come over tomorrow for Sunday supper. We’ll finish the plannin’ then, ye get your car, all done.”

Jamie looks over at his sister, impressed. “Thought it all out, have ye?”

“If you take a pregnant woman hot, fresh food that’s been left to steam in its containers only tae go soft and damp, she’ll throw it at yer heid. Trust me.”

He snorts. “Should I ask Ian?”

“He’ll no’ bring me soggy chips again, I’ll tell ye that much.” Jenny pats her own very round belly. “Learned wi’ the last bairn.”

Suitably impressed (and making mental notes he never knew he needed), they make a plan beginning with pizza and ending with a very quick stop inside a corner shop for two containers of Neapolitan. By 4:45, Jamie’s outside of his home, hands loaded with takeout bags. Leaning down into the open car window, he holds up his bounty.

“Thank ye, truly. I owe ye, Jen.”

She waves him off. “Ye’ll babysit soon enough.” Her face softens, though, and she meets his gaze. “Da would be proud. Mam, too.”

Lowering his head, Jamie swallows, but when he looks up again, there’s a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I always hope, but hearing it from you, especially, is important.”

“Why me?” she asks as he steps back.

“On account of ye bein’ the wee ball-buster in the family,” he teases fondly, thanking her again before watching her drive safely away. Juggling bags and keys, Jamie lets himself into the house, calling out.

“Sassenach?”

“In here,” she calls from the living room, and he ducks into the kitchen.

“Stay there, I have a surprise for ye. And dinnae try to peek, ye’re no’ verra sneaky anyway,” he says in return. As he sets everything up along their counter, buffet style, he can hear her moving about.

“I assume this surprise is in regards to food,” she deducts.

“Always kent ye should ha’ been a detective,” Jamie smirks, able to hear her huff from the other room. “I’m almost done, ye can bide a second longer.”

“One,” she says pointedly. “Your child is starving.”

“I’ve noticed ye tend to refer to the bairn only as mine when ye cannae make your mind up about something.”

Her voice is closer when she speaks. “That’s because you’re stubborn,” Claire retorts, standing directly out of sight.

“Oh, am I the only one?” he asks as he finishes by propping the pizza open. “I always thought ye were a relatively patient woman, Sassenach, until I got ye wi’ child.”

“I am bloody patient! It’s the only reason I haven’t stepped foot into the kitchen to throttle you yet.”

He can’t help but laugh silently for a moment, drawing it out a few seconds longer before finally poking his head around the corner only to come face to face with her. “Alright, a nighean. Ye can come in.” Stepping aside, he watches as she enters, taking in the sight of her realizing what she’s seeing.

“I figured we could make a good go of it, and now we have plenty for tomorrow,” Jamie explains.

Claire stares at the bounty in front of her in stunned silence before looking up at her husband. “You went to all of these places?”

“Aye. Well, me and Jen. Ian was home and she was desperate to get out of the house for a bit anyway. So she drove me around, and now you and the bairn have whatever ye’d like. Including more ice cream.”

Too moved for a moment to say anything, she simply blinks at Jamie, afraid to open her mouth because she’s sure she’ll cry.

A good thing, then, that he knows to step forward, reaching out to rest his hands at her hips. “I wanted ye to have whatever you wanted, Sassenach.”

That does it: the flood gates open (because hell if she has any control over her hormones anymore) and she finds herself cradled to his chest. “I cannot believe you,” she mumbles into his shirt affectionately, arms looping around his waist.

“I do try to keep ye guessin’,” he murmurs into her hair, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

“Do you also plan on helping me eat all of this?” She pulls back after placing a soft kiss to his chest before getting a plate and trying to decide what to attack first.

“Oh, aye, I’ll be eating plenty. I’ve been eying a burrito since we picked them up,” he promises, having no intention of letting his wife eat alone. Pointing out the different varieties as she picks and chooses, he loads a plate for himself and takes it to the living room, settling with her leaning against the arm of the sofa sideways, legs across his lap.

Bringing a forkful of noodles to her mouth, she pauses to look at him. “Thank you, Jamie. For indulging me.”

Balancing his plate with one hand, the other squeezes her calf. “I figured if ye’re going through all the trouble of making a person, Sassenach, the least I can do is feed ye what ye want.”

When she smiles, it’s as though his entire soul flares with warmth, and it’s difficult to take his eyes from her.

Which is why he sees it the instant all color drains from her face. What happens next requires zero communication as she sits up, he takes her plate, and her legs swing from his lap. Within thirty seconds, she’s in their bathroom bending over the toilet, vomiting. Wincing in sympathy, Jamie simply stares for a moment at the two plates full of uneaten supper in his hands.

Putting the dishes on the coffee table, he rises and makes his way to the bathroom to join her, reaching out to hold her hair out of her face. “I’m sorry, a nighean.” Jamie’s always very aware that he’s the one who did this to her anytime she’s miserable, and it makes him regret being quite so boastful about it.

When her stomach finally calms, he stands with her and leans against the doorframe as she rinses with the mouthwash that is now a permanent fixture on the countertop instead of tucked away in the medicine cabinet.

And then he watches as she begins to cry, confusion making his forehead furrow, wondering what this new mood swing is and how to handle it. Reaching out for her, he doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her in an attempt to soothe as he rubs her back. “Dinna weep, lass,” he murmurs, more concerned as she clings to him tightly.

“Fuck, Jamie,” she manages, sniffling when she finally pulls back, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand.

“Likely no’ right now,” he tries to tease gently as he lifts a hand to stroke her cheek.

She doesn’t even react, simply chooses to ignore him and move on even as tears brim on her lashline. “I can’t eat any of that food right now.”

“I realized it soon as ye got up from the couch,” he points out, kissing her forehead.

“But you went to...Christ, how many places was it?” she asks as new guilt washes over her in an irrational wave. “And Jenny was with you,” she laments.

He doesn’t know how to fix this, exactly, and so he simply guides her by the hand to their bedroom to avoid the smell of various foods in the front of the house.

“Mo nighean donn, why would Jenny be put out? She’s been pregnant a dozen times, she kens how it goes,” Jamie points out gently.

“It was so thoughtful of you. I wanted to be able to enjoy your effort,” Claire admits as his arms encircle her.

“Ye still can when ye feel like eating. All of it will still be there, Sassenach. Doesna matter if we eat it this evening or tomorrow.”

“You aren’t annoyed?” she asks, knowing the answer but needing to hear it.

“Only at yer hormones, but no’ at you,” he promises with a kiss to her knuckles, over her wedding ring.

“Well, I’m annoyed at my hormones too,” Claire exhales, recovered now from the bout of tears but not the nausea as she lies down on the bed properly. “When your aunt called, she said being sick all the time is the sign of a boy.”

“Should ask Jen, she might have some light to shed on it, havin’ had both,” Jamie suggests as he lays propped on his side and pushes his hand under her shirt to lightly stroke her stomach.

Closing her eyes, she concentrates on the feel of his touch rather than the vertigo. “Do you want to find out what we’re having, or let it be a surprise?”

His fingers still for a moment before continuing as he ponders her question. “I never considered it. Does it matter to ye, for decorating and buying things?”

“Not particularly. There aren’t very many things that can truly be left a surprise in life.” She can’t help smiling at the idea of it, of not knowing until their child is in their arms.

The look on her face makes it clear her mind is set, and Jamie drops a kiss to her abdomen. “We’ll leave it a mystery then, Sassenach.”

“We’ll have to pick a name for either scenario,” she points out, taking deep breaths in and exhaling slowly as she wills away her symptoms. When Jamie doesn’t respond right away, she cracks one eye open only to find him lost in thought. A hand lands in his hair, gently scratching his scalp. “Where’d you go?”

He makes a soft noise in the back of his throat. “I’m here,” he promises with another kiss. “I was only thinking...if it’d be alright wi’ ye...we could name the bairn after my da.” When he chances a glance up at her, his eyes are suspiciously damp.

If ever there is a key to getting her nausea to dissipate, it’s the sight of her husband’s vulnerability. Her hand shifts from his hair down his face to cradle his cheek. “Brian,” she murmurs, nodding her agreement. “And if it’s a girl?”

He’s quiet, ghosting his lips across her skin now, trying to will her hormones to settle for a while.

“Hmm. Weel, there’s always, simply, Brianna,” Jamie suggests.

Claire tries it on her tongue, adding a second name. “Brianna Ellen Fraser. Or Brian Henry Fraser. What do you think?”

Scooting up on the bed now, he pulls his wife close, needing to kiss her ring again, to say a silent prayer for the love of this woman. “That ye’d honor my parents that way, Claire-” It makes him more emotional than he would have ever imagined, the way his wife’s heart shows itself.

“I thought, since we’re having - what was it, ten by your last count? - since we’re having ten children, the second could be named after my parents,” she suggests, knowing it will happen now that she’s said it.

“It’ll no’ be ten if ye feel like this every time,” he says with equal parts concern and frustration that his wife simply can’t eat when she’d like.

“Jamie,” she murmurs, gliding her thumb across his jaw. “This amount of illness is normal. And it’s getting somewhat better. Today was unfortunate,” she allows, a hint of apology in her tone.

“Dinna fash, Sassenach,” he assures her as he sits up, leaning down to drop a kiss to her forehead before finally standing. “Now we have plenty for breakfast and lunch. If ye dinna mind noodles before ten in the morning.”

She chuckles, the waves of nausea somewhat less turbulent. “If my stomach can manage, then so will I.” But she already knows the noodles will never make it to morning. She’ll be awake at three in the morning, eating when her hunger finally kicks in.

“I’ll go and put everything away, then we’ll see if ye’ll do wi’ a bit of light reading,” he offers. He’ll also quickly eat while he isn’t in front of her.

“Reading in bed?”

“Aye, I’ll no’ make ye move,” he promises, reaching out to cradle her cheek before stepping back.

“Then you’ll know where to find me when you return,” she says lightly with a small, fond smile.

“Which is exactly where I want ye to be, incidentally.”

She chuckles, waving playfully at him to go. “I’m looking forward to reading your next pick.”

Before he can make it out of the room, she calls him back.

“Aye?”

She takes a moment to look him over, still in his jeans and button-down from the day, curls askew and his scruff just past its normal length.

“I’m very madly in love with you, you know.”

When he smiles he ducks his head, and the way his ears turn bright red makes her want to laugh in sheer delight of him.

“That’s verra good, Sassenach. On account of I happen to be mad wi’ love for ye myself.”

“You’d better go, before you say something very Jamie Fraser and make me cry,” she warns with a more playful smile at the end.

He can’t help doubling back, this time to kiss the soft round apple of Claire’s cheek before nuzzling it with the tip of his nose.

“I’ll bring ye back a ginger ale.”

When he finally leaves her to rest, Jamie puts everything away in record time - except for the noodles. He places them in a separate container and sets it in the fridge with a sticky note on top.

For the bairn xx

#outlander #jamie x claire #jamie fraser #claire fraser #outlander fic #my fic #market price

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terminally-karkalicious · 4 years ago

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allow me to rant about the only thing that has been in my brain for the past two months and that is doll customizing babeyyyyy

i know there’s a 90% chance that you wont give a Shit about any of this but here we go anyways

SO first you gotta choose a doll. preferably one with a high range of motion to avoid creating new joints or having annoying limitations like not having elbow joints for some fucking reason. what the fuck mattel. give monster high dolls back their ball jointed shoulders and elbow joints. smh

the most common dolls ive seen used as bases are monster high and ever after high. most customs ive seen are highly stylized so the stylized face molds work well for those types of dolls but dolls like barbies are good for when you want a more realistic face-ups.

once you’ve got your base picked out you gotta wipe that bitch’s face off with like. acetone or nail polish remover or something strong like that. you can also use acetone to shrink doll heads which is cool as hell imo. n e way once the face is wiped you gotta chop off the hair and remove the hair plugs from the inside. ive seen this done several ways but the easiest and most common way ive seen is to dunk the head into boiling water for ~30 seconds until it gets squishy and malleable. once you’ve got the head back, you can use pliers (i think tweezers would work in a pinch) to pull out the hair plugs which are kinda icky because theyre covered in glue and other gross shit. ew

now you must decapitate the doll. dunk em back in the boiling water to soften them back up then just tug the head off. the neck pegs look funky and are usually a different color than the body so thats cool ig

once the head’s off, you can start the face-up which is basically just giving the doll a new face using stuff like watercolor pencils, acrylic paint, gouache, and a whole lot of other stuff. hell ive seen people use person makeup on these dolls.

next,,,,, hair. there’s about twenty million ways to do hair from gluing yarn wefts to sewing to rerooting with purchased nylon doll hair or yarn wefts but i’m gonna talk about the most common one ive seen which is rerooting and gluing.

before you can reroot, you need doll hair. which, as i mentioned, can be bought at stores like the doll planet or made at home with yarn in literally any color. have fun with it! make rainbow hair or something idk

to make homemade wefts, you take some acrylic yarn, cut it twice as long as you want the hair to be (keep in mind you can cut and style the hair once it’s been rerooted), fold them in half, and tie it to something sturdy like a wire coat hanger for the next step.

once you’ve got your yarn tied to your hanger, use a pet brush and brush the yarn until it’s wispy and looks like hair. then take a straightening iron and iron the weft flat. then remove from the hanger and boom. hair wefts. ta-da

to reroot the wefts onto the head, use a rerooting tool (which can be as simple as a needle with the eye cut at angle) (just google it please i’m shit at descriptions)) to poke small sections of the hair into the head. you can use the pre-existing rooting holes for your own reroot as they’re usually pretty reliable. to reroot, take a small length of you doll hair (about 10-15 strands), loop it in half, and put the middle of the loop into the reroot tool. poke the end of the tool with the hair on it into the pre-existing hole and remove the tool. the hair *should* stay in and fill up that plug!! also remember to plug thickly at the hairline and part of the hair where it's most noticeable. it doesnt matter as much in the center of the head as that’s not usually visible on the doll. once you’ve rerooted, squeeze in strong glue through the neck hole and squish around the head to make sure it covers all the plugs and secures them in place. then pour hot water onto the head to make the hair lay flat for styling later.

also, you can reroot yarn directly into the head to make thicker, more textured hairstyles. and since the yarn is thicker, you dont need to glue the inside of the head for the hair to stay in place!!

if youre not doing body modifications (which are also cool as hell) then it’s time for clothes but clothes are boring and i like body mods more so i’m gonna rant about them instead

the material ive seen most doll artists use is apoxie sculpt, which is like play doh on steroids. it comes in two parts which you gotta mix together for some reason. why dont they sell it pre-mixed. what was the reason. also once it’s dry it’s super super strong and you can sand it, drill into it, paint it, and all kinds of stuff. very nice and i want some for myself.

you can use hand saws and drills and shit to whack off doll limbs to make stuff like digitigrade legs or new joints. also dont be afraid to use other mismatching doll parts when customizing like heads and bodies and forearms and hands and shit. it literally does not matter if youre gonna recolor the doll anyways so have fun with it. make frankenstein’s doll if youre feeling spicy

accessories my beloved. stuff like tiny beads and clay baubles and shit will literally transform the entire doll plus they’re adorable and multi-purpose

i suppose i must talk about clothes now. ah well. you can find great clothing patterns if youre new to customizing on other customizer’s etsy shops and probably google although those will probably be lower quality than paid pattern pieces. and keep in mind that if it exists as clothing irl, you can likely make it doll-sized. there are literally no limits to your clothing options as long as you can execute your idea.

the once all your components have been made, you can assemble the doll again!! and finally see what all the parts look like together!! very cool 10/10 stars.

ight that wraps up my doll rant. i could really go into more detail on certain parts but thats a whole other rant for a whole other day smh. sorry for fucking flooding your inbox ender ahaha……………. you asked for this

little did you know that dolls have been one of my favorite things since like ever. if i can read a 25 chapter long fanfic i can read this B)

mattel definitely fucked up by completely ruining MH doll designs and just stopping EAH, alot of their profits most likely came from people who collect and customize dolls and by changing MH doll designs/Stopping EAH dolls they 1. most likely lost a small (or big if we're not jus talking people who customize dolls) part of their profit and 2. made it harder for doll customizers to make dolls/get commissions out rather quickly because they probably have to waste more time making joints or learning how to make joints.

EAH/MH dolls (specifically MH dolls) had AMAZING MODELS because there was so much variety with height, face shapes, etc (my favorite molds had to be the short/tall dolls and the cat molds because of the tails) and doll customizers really went all out with enhancing a molds unique features. The only "downside" abt MH dolls is that they (or atleast most)(from what i remember)) had slimmer faces but wider eyes while EAH dolls have wider faces with slimmer smaller which left a canvas for the face and not the eyes (and vice versa for MH dolls)

I've never seen any videos where a barbie is customized (maybe because i absolutely despised barbies at the time) so I'll definitely have to check those out but they seem to be good for realistic makeovers. I've seen like like semi realistic makeovers for EAH/MH dolls that were pretty good too tho (pretty sure mostly EAH dolls since yk MH dolls were used for creature makeovers while most EAH dolls weren't)

yeah i was always amazed by the head shrinking with acetone. honestly i still am?? idunno i have no idea how that chemical bullshit works. Ive seen a few of uh makeovers that just pain over the face (in multiple layers ofcourse) but that's usually when they're painting the entire body a different colour (again usually when they're turning a doll into a funky little baby man). I've also seen a few that just chop the hair off and take out the hair plugs yk without uuh like softening the head or just go straight for the hair plugs after taking off the head (i used to do that it was funny to me??). i always really liked when they used watercolour pencils or just colour pencils in general to draw/sketch on the face cause like wow ur drawing on ur doll without ruining it?? kinda epic maybe even poggers and pogchamp?? oh god my brain is failing wjshsmsj.

Watching them putting the hair back on the doll was, other than the face stuff, was the BEST part for me. Favorite type of hair was iuuuuuh was either thick yarn or brushed out yarn. Literally worship the people that would reroot the hair, theyre the most patience people on this earth!! it's literally insane but i guess that's what happens when you've been doing that for years? you guess kinda get used to it. when they put glue into the head does it just become stiff?? like it's just a clump of dried glue or does it like..hollow out again??

dude you literally cannot convince me most of the supplies used for doll makeovers. APOXIE CLAY LOOKS SO FECKING GOOD. its edible and i will die on that hill. The body mods are literally so amazing!!!!! it's so impressive how theyre able to imagine certain features THEN LIKE ACTUALLY MAKE IT LOOK ACCURATE TO WHAT THEY WANTED TO LOOK LIKE AFTER LIKE ON TRY (or many yk trial and error is very necessary for..everything). Absolutely loved when doll customizers would saw off a dolls legs and use different ones or just completely get rid of the torso to use a different one. it's like uuh that one big guy that's mismatched and sewn together. very cool. The accessories are so fun!! just small little details you seen really need but can add because it's your feckin doll!! I used to be absolutely obsessed over the doll clothes i would find on etsy, so much so that i started sewing shitty shirts and dresses for my uh "customized" dolls (they were absolute HORRORS idk WHY my mom let me feck up my dolls like that).

Thank you for this!! i haven't been able to talk about any of my interests for a while and this just really made me happy!!

Question fer u my fellow MH/EAH enthusiast: what was your favorite MH/EAH movie/episode and doll series. Mine was The fusion dolls (MH obvi) and that MH movie "Haunted" cause we got to know more about Spectra :D

#YOOOO LONG POST?!#long post #:) hehehe #this was very fun to read cant wait for ur next fanfic length ask #asks :D #theoreticallyjasper

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lovemollywho · 5 years ago

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Thoughts of the Past - Reimagined

Alright fair warning, this is a lot more angsty (?) than the other chapters, and I am not sorry about it.

CW: Angst...like I’m not kidding this hurt to write

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

When Lorcan walked into the gallery with Aelin and Rowan he was greeted by a friendly staff member who directed him how the show should be viewed. She handed all three of them a pamphlet that contained the artwork and prices for the pieces that were for sale, mentioning that the proceeds tonight benefited public schools in the area keep their art programs. Aelin thanked the staff member and whispered something to Rowan who nodded before she slipped away.

“Aelin is going to look for Elide, do you want to come with us or…?”

“No,” Lorcan responded. “I’m gonna look at the pieces that Elide did. I should,” he cleared his throat, “I should appreciate them, I mean her,” he sighed, “I mean the art.”

Rowan chuckled slightly as his friends' nervousness, nodded and followed after Aelin. Lorcan nodded at the staff member and followed a couple of people who were walking into the first part of Elide’s show and stopped.

All the air that he had left his body.

The first portrait he saw was of him. It was of him sitting on a curb, elbows braced on knees, a lit cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Jack in the other. His hair was windblown around his face and he was smiling.

He got closer to the painting and looked at the label, First Smile, Oil, and Acrylic on Canvas, 18 x 24, Elide Lochan.

Lorcan looked at the painting closely, there were some parts of the painting that were blurred or out of focus - his eyes, for instance, were squinted from the smile on his face but were painted in a way that looked like they were painted over. The main focus was his smile though, everything from the cigarette that was placed in his hand near his mouth, to certain windblown strands of his hair. But the title. First smile?

This portrait reminded him or so many days spent with Elide or even Rowan that he couldn’t pinpoint where or when this portrait was supposed to take place. He decided to move forward and was confused by a banner reading ‘Once upon a time’. Looking at the pamphlet that the staff member had given him he found that the exhibit was split into five parts that told an overall story.

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

“Ellie, wait please.” Aelin followed Elide into the bathroom that was near the bar. “You just said that you wished he was here.”

Elide was pacing in front of the sinks, “I know what I said,” she moved to take her hair out of a ponytail and into a bun before remembering that her hair was styled so she did the next best thing - she washed her hands….furiously.

“I said it in a way that any person wishes to stumble across their ex to show off that they are doing really well without them.”

“Well that’s definitely the case here.” Aelin sighed handing her a couple of paper towels to dry off her hands.

“I don’t think,” Elide sighed, balling up the paper towels and throwing them away, “I don’t know if I want to talk to him.”

Aelin walked over to the settee couch that was placed in the bathroom for the exact reason of having secret, deep, or meaningful conversations. “Listen,” she said patting the spot next to her, “I am on your side no matter what, I need you to understand that. Okay?” Elide sighed and sat next to Aelin. “I’m not going to like what comes out of your mouth, am I?” She asked crossing her arms. Aelin huffed a laugh, “Probably not, but you need to hear it anyway.” Elide took a deep breath and motioned for Aelin to continue.

“Lorcan and I were never destined to be friends.” Elide’s head shot up to Aelin’s face. “I have never met anyone that was objectively more of a pain in the ass than I could be on any given day. He is moody as hell, standoffish, and he’s about as nice as a carnivorous plant.” Elide opened her mouth to say something but Aelin held up a finger telling her to wait.

“Still, I could see the way he looked at you and knew that if anyone could help smooth the edges of his soul it would be you.”

Elide lifted her face and began to try to blink back tears. Still looking at the ceiling she responded. “It is not my job to fix him.” The words came out sharper than she had intended especially because she knew that Aelin’s words were coming from a good place. Aelin’s hand took hers. “I know that. That wasn’t what I was trying to say. I only meant that...” Aelin sighed. “There is something that I’m not supposed to tell you. In fact, I don’t think I’m even supposed to know but Rowan told me and even if I can stand Lorcan now, doesn’t mean I have that much loyalty to him.” Elide brought her index finger to gently dab under her eye, careful not to ruin her makeup. Aelin stood up and grabbed the box of tissues next to the sink before sitting down again.

“What is it?” Elide asked.

And then Aelin explained that for the past month and a half since Elide had left, Lorcan had been going to AA meetings with Rowan and with the couple’s help was not only going to therapy but also had quit his in cybersecurity and gotten a new one working in software engineering, finally accepting Rowan’s offer to put his degree to work. That not only was he and Rowan finally working together after all this time but that they were developing a program that would help the families in Terrasen easily find resources to help them within their communities anonymously so that they didn’t have to worry about seeming weak or being judged.

“I don’t...understand.” Elide said slowly once Aelin was done talking. “I mean it’s not like I didn’t know that Lorcan was capable of doing amazing things but I just don’t understand why now.” Elide grabbed another tissue and blew her nose.

“I think he’s just trying to show you that he’s changed...or I guess changing would be a better way to describe it.”

“He hasn’t called me once A. The only time I’ve talked to him was when I asked to meet him so he could sign the disclosure release.”

“I don’t have all the answers El. Talk to him, don’t talk to him. You broke up with him for a reason, and if you decide to ignore him for the rest of the night that’s is 100% complete valid, Ro and I will keep him away from you. However, if there is just some tiny part of you that doubts or second guesses whether or not you made the right decision in leaving, take this chance to make sure.” Aelin handed Elide the small clutch she came in with. “Inside are wet wipes, mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss. Fix yourself up, I’m going to look at your art.” Aelin stood up and checked herself in the mirror.

“This is your night babe, you’re a badass with a great ass.” Aelin winked at Elide who let out a small laugh before heading out of the bathroom.

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

Lorcan may not have known much about art but he knew the story that was being told. It was his story, seen through Elide’s eyes and admired by the random strangers who were here. He heard some people discussing how this was not only an impressive collection of work but also a change of pace from her usual pieces, combining a variety of mixed media with paintings. Lorcan kept his ears open for remarks made about the pieces if only so he could understand and mimic key phrases that the people around him used, but it was hard when he knew the story behind Elide’s art and not just a theory of what it was about.

Five sections; The Beginning, The Sex, The Love, The Pain, The Future.

Walking through The Beginning was like a blast from the past. Every bit was a memory or story that he had experienced with Elide. Four 16x40 inch black canvases had bubbles blowing through each, and while you couldn’t tell who was blowing the bubbles, Lorcan knew that it was Elide’s hand. Hidden within the bubbles were little clues about their relationship, so minuscule that no one but him knew. They would just see a Farris Wheel, a teddy bear, a popcorn container, and a rocking chair.

“There seems to be a reoccurring theme of security in each of these pieces, don’t’ you think?” Lorcan overheard a couple talking.

“I was thinking the same thing, like this piece over here with the lightbulbs, and how each time someone gets close to it they turn on. Like that’s such great imagery to being safe. Parents turning on a night light during bedtime, coming home from a long day and the lights are on because your significant partner is already inside. Or even the painting that used gum wrappers, is reminiscent of childhood.” The couple began to walk down to look at other pieces and Lorcan couldn’t help but follow them with their eyes. Was that how Elide saw him? As something safe to come home to at the end of the day? There were times at the beginning of their relationship when she said she would rather be with him than go home. When they first met he knew that she had just moved out of her Uncle’s house. Aelin always got a dark look in her eyes whenever Vernon was mentioned but Elide had never said anything….and like an idiot he had never asked.

He continued walking.

The next part of the exhibit - The Sex, was a much different layout. The lights were dim to highlight the use of neon lights and blacklight paints. The pieces in this part of the collection were bigger and took up more space but there was a rhythm here that could be felt. The paintings are more obscure and vague here, less of the innocence that was seen in the beginning, but if this was still following his and Elide’s relationship - as he was now finally figuring it was, the sex had never been the problem in their relationship. They could always find each other in bed...or the couch...or the kitchen island...or...well you get the point. Words and feelings that he could never say allowed were whispered onto her skin in breathy moans or grunts. The way he would breathe out praises to the Gods when she was on her knees before him. Lorcan shook out the thoughts and continued past this collection, trying to block out the fact that Elide had basically put their sex life on display even if he was the only one who knew.

The Love was a much brighter place, golds and yellows blended with pinks and lilac colors. There were symbols of holiness and domesticity in portraits. But as Lorcan moved through the collection he saw blackness creeping in. At first, it was small, used only for details or outlining, but as he walked, it started to grow in shadows and on the edges, starting to look like mistakes or spilled ink. Lorcan could feel his heart beginning to race and then he was moving past a heavy, thick black curtain into a pitch-black room. He could vaguely make out the other people in the room with him who were standing - and listening.

Overhead, playing on unseen speakers, was a couple fighting. Not just any couple - him and Elide.

“I’ve only had like one drink.” He heard himself slur. Elide huffed out a laugh. “One? Try again, there are four bottles lying next to you.”

“They were all basically empty, I don’t even know why you’re upset.”

“You were supposed to meet me at the restaurant!” Elide said. Her voice sounded tight, she wasn’t yelling at him - that was something that Lorcan was remembering, she never really yelled at him.

“I didn’t want to go! They all would have judged me anyway, I had a long day, and if I wanted a drink then I was going to have one in the comfort of my own home.”

“Who would have judged you? No one would have judged you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Then the audio changed. Eldie was crying on the phone. “I just don’t know what to do, I keep trying to talk to him but it’s like he doesn’t even see me anymore. I come home and he doesn’t even respond when I say hello.” She sniffed. “Every time I try to talk to him we always get into a fight, I’m so...I’m so tired of fighting with him. I’m just so….so tired. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“I just don’t get it,” Aelin’s voice filtered through, “...says he’s the most loyal person that he knows.” The audio cut off Rowan’s name, but Lorcan knew. “Listen, why don’t you come and stay with us a couple of days?”

It got quiet in the room and Lorcan heard some people leaving. After a while, the audio started up again. The argument was different this time, but it ended with Lorcan dismissing Elide and her accusations and her walking away or crying. Some of the audio was done journal entry style, where she explained her thoughts and fears, of how every time they got into a fight she felt like she wasn’t what Lorcan wanted or how she felt he didn’t love her anymore. Some of the audio was them making up, him apologizing, and her saying that it was okay. That she understood. That she loved him, of course, she loved him. Him promising that it was going to be better - that he was going to be better. And then another fight would happen.

She never used his name though. He knew it was on purpose, that despite having him sign a disclosure, he knew that he wanted everyone to feel the experience with her, and by adding names it took the audience out of that experience, it was why even Rowan’s name was censored out. He stood in that room for a while, listening to the fights that had been recorded over and over, hearing them sober and knowing just how deeply he fucked up. He knew now why Elide hadn’t accepted his apology at the coffee shop, understood that he had already apologized and that it hadn’t changed anything.

He finally walked out of The Pain section, although a part of him had just wanted to stay in there and torment himself.

At first, Lorcan thought that he had finished the exhibit, before remembering that there was one final part, The Future. There were blank canvases on the wall, and Lorcan could feel Elide’s emotion with each one he passed. The uncertainty, the fear of the unknown, the lack of assurance and confidence. Everything that he had ever felt throughout their relationship, he was beginning to understand that she felt too.

Stupid, idiot, asshole.

He was so blinded by his own insecurities that he didn’t even think about Elide’s. She had always been there for him, but he had never been there for her. Not in the way that it mattered. There was one final piece on the wall, he could hear the chatter of polite conversation around the corner, where he knew he would find food and drinks for the people who came tonight. It was a wall covered in pictures and painted over. Some like Aelin’s and Manon’s were untouched by paint. Others like Fenrys and Rowan had almost little to none and some were completely painted over in black, in the center was a plain canvas like the ones leading up to this, but the one that Lorcan couldn’t take his eyes off of was the one of his face.

It wasn’t completely painted over, but it had more paint on it than others. The picture was blurry and convoluted, the paint on outlining his face. As if Elide had wanted to keep the picture but wanted to symbolize that she was unsure of whether or not to let him go completely.

And that gave him hope. He couldn’t stop staring at the picture. He didn’t know how long he had been standing there but he saw Rowan appear in his peripheral.

“What are you thinking?” His friend asked.

Lorcan released a long breath. “That I never deserved her, and that I’m an ass for putting her through everything.” Lorcan started to fidget with the ribbon hair tie on his wrist. “I messed up so bad Rowan. I will never be able to make this up to her. It would be better if I just left her alone.” Rowan placed a hand on Lorcan’s shoulder.

“The main goal tonight wasn’t to have her get back with you. In fact, the main goal tonight wasn’t for you to even talk to her, not really. It was to step up and offer the silent support that she needed from you. You two could never talk again, but you coming to her show tonight is going to mean a lot to her regardless of how much you fucked up.”

“What if I only made her hate me more?” Lorcan asked.

“Then she’s entitled to her feelings. You cannot tell her what to feel, but just make sure that the next time she talks, you listen.” Lorcan nodded, still looking at the final artwork.

“I’m gonna get a soda, do you want one?” Lorcan shook his head, and continued to stare. A couple of moments later he felt a presence coming up to him.

“Actually, I do want that drink.” Lorcan said.

“Aelin said you weren’t drinking anymore.” The voice responded. Lorcan stiffened and turned to look at Elide who was staring at him with hesitancy in her eyes.

Tags:

@nalgenewhore @safewithintheheart @bibliophileaddict

@acer6437 @tswaney17 @starseternalnighttriumphant @bat-wing-rhys

Let me know if you want to be tagged <3

#thoughts of the past #Throne of Glass #lorcan x elide #Thoughts of the Past Four #Am I sorry for this chapter #only slightly

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slo-liveblog · 5 years ago

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Witch’s Heart Final Thoughts

Hellooo! It’s been a bit! I figured I’d go ahead and post that big ol’ thoughts and rambles post before I went ahead and started the Bonus Stage. I’ll probably be doing some similarly styled things in the future... anyways, I hope you’ve all been doing well, and don’t mind the long post!

CHARACTERS

Claire: Oh my god. I would give my life for Claire in a heartbeat. I was honestly expecting to not care for her much, not that RPG maker games don’t have plenty of female protagonists I like but they’re almost exclusively children. On the adult side of things, not so much. I was expecting a mostly silent audience insert at best and an annoying, shallowly written protagonist at worst. Thankfully I was 100% wrong and ended up absolutely loving her and rooting for her all the way. I probably said at some point but she reminds me of Hiyoko Tohsaka, the protagonist from Hatoful Boyfriend... yes, the bird dating simulator, don’t even get me started. Maybe a little bit like Emma from The Promised Neverland, too. Pure of heart, dumb of ass female characters that could beat the shit out of anyone AND are incredibly compassionate and enjoyable to watch are just too damn rare. The ways in which she interacted with the other mains felt completely organic and I was never skeptical as to why she was spending time with them, which is something I tend to take issue with in games with a scenario/route structure. On the flip side, the reactions the mains had to her were completely understandable- as far as they were meant to be, anyway- and I found myself at least somewhat identifying with their thoughts on her. Like Leon, I too am in love with Claire.

Ashe: Oh Ashe. Fuck Ashe. In terms of livening up any situation he’s in, for better or for worse, he’s an absolutely perfect abomination of nature. Every time he enters a scene I either laugh or am filled with pure, unfiltered rage, which I guess is a good sign. He’s definitely an excellent wild card that makes the experience better no matter what way you look at it. However.... in hindsight I think he might actually be the character we understand the least at this point, despite being the first person you meet and the first to get a scenario (if you play it in the order I did, anyway). Even Wiwardo, who’s silent 90% of the damn time, does have a pretty clear motivation. It seems likely that Ashe’s wish is to bring back his family, but not only do we not know anything about them or how they died, we also don’t have any context as to how Ashe became the sort of person he did. So it’s hard to really have a full grasp on him... I appreciate his character for what it is, but I’m not quite as enthusiastic about him as I am some of the others... yet.

Reynaldo: Reynaldo makes me want to start throwing things, in a good thing. I didn’t liveblog the beginning of the game, but I distinctly remember telling my friends he was my favorite initially- the bizarre name, the gun sprite that inexplicably makes me laugh, seems like just a sexi guy. I adore the reveal of what the curse/his wish was, and I think despite not knowing much about the particulars yet it says enough about why he is the way he is that it works perfectly even without the missing information. He’s a fascinating character and has a TON of the best moments in the game, for me personally anyway. My one major complaint would just be like... c’mon, I know he’s the stoic type but I would’ve liked just a liiiiittle bit more reaction from him in some of the bigger scenes, such as when Claire confronted Invective. Also I hate him and I’m gonna beat him up

Sirius: Baby boy. Baby. I want to hold his hand. He’s the character that I think is the easiest to understand at this point in the game, as his cards are almost all on the table. We’ve seen snippets of his childhood, gotten him to reveal pretty much all his thoughts and relevant knowledge to Claire, we’ve literally seen him go to hell, all the good stuff. Male tsunderes, at least ones that are still generally nice people like Sirius, are sooort of my weakness. There’s not a lot to say about him that I haven’t already said but he deserves the world.

Leon: BABY BOY. BABY. Okay, granted, I don’t... really care about Leon that much. Don’t get me wrong, I love him and nothing bad should ever happen to him ever again. But since he didn’t really get to be present in the other’s scenarios, I don’t feel as connected to him as I do the others. BUT with that said, now that the ball has finally dropped and his whole deal isn’t a secret anymore, at least not entirely, I’m hopeful that him not being around enough’ll be rectified by the bonus stage and final endings. He’s never done anything wrong in his entire life.

Charlotte: Charlotte’s in a weird place for me where I’m intrigued but not quite into her yet. I feel like we’ve only really scratched the surface, so I’m interested to see where she goes from here. She got so many interesting scenes like the one with Noel, Fiona, and Lime in her backstory that REALLY hit the mark for me.

Zizel: Not a lot to say about Zizel, just that her interactions with Claire were absolutely adorable no matter how morbid the context. Love her.

Lime: Lime.... oh boy. I have some. Emotions. About Lime. She definitely seemed like the most one-note out of the demons when she first appeared, just sort of a cutesy masochist anime girl, but wow. I love her relationship with Charlotte and her fascination with Leon is really interesting. I kind of hope going forward that she develops more of a relationship with Claire? I dunno, feels like there’s just some untapped potential there, with Claire being as empathetic as she is and Lime being... as confused about emotions as she is.

Rouge: Again, not a ton to say about her, but her relationship with Leon ended up being way more interesting and heart-wrenching than I expected despite how little we saw of it. I appreciate that she really does care.

Overall & Final Score The characters were fucking fantastic. My only complaint is that I haven’t seen enough of them yet. 9/10

STORY

Ashe’s Route: My least favorite route, I think, though that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It does have the advantage of being completely new (if you played it first like I did) and Claire and Ashe’s relationship was so fucking cute and entertaining to watch. It does really feel like an introductory route though- it was mostly setup, which isn’t bad. Just not as gripping as the other routes. And the ending is... a little anticlimactic, considering you can see Ashe’s murderous tendencies coming a mile away. But there’s nothing in particular I think I would change, solid but not incredible.

Wiwardo’s Route: My second favorite route, which... I have a feeling will be an unpopular opinion. I dunno, I just really enjoyed it from start to finish. The partner swapping was hilarious and did a lot to flesh out the dynamics between the characters, Invective was really fun and fleshed out Claire’s personality as well as a lot of demon lore, and I think Reynaldo’s conclusion might be my favorite in the whole game. I was really questioning where any of it was going towards the end, it definitely had me on the edge of my seat. The main complaint I have about it though is that we... don’t actually see that much of Reynaldo. Like, at all. I mean, he’s THERE, but as I mentioned prior he doesn’t... react to much. Of course he doesn’t need to be overly emotional, that’s just not in his nature, but a few more moments where he actually had any sort of stake in what was going on might’ve been nice. The majority of the scenes he’s in prior to the boss battle hardly get any dialogue out of him at all. But like I said, the ending really made it worth it. Fighting Ashe was probably THE most cathartic boss battle in the game and the realization about what Reynaldo was going to do moments before it happened gave me chills.

Sirius’s Route: My favorite! Love my boy!! God Sirius’s route was incredible. Definitely the one that was the most consistently gripping. Exploring hell was such a cool way to make the route continue after Claire’s death and Sirius’s character development was top notch. It really felt like we were finally getting some answers, too, which was satisfying. I will say, despite being my favorite, it probably has the weakest actual conclusion. Like, the confrontation with the monster made me Feel Things, but since we don’t actually know who or what it is there’s not really as much weight as the other routes that end with Claire’s death. Still, the juicy plot revelations and character development more than made up for it.

Leon’s Route: It may not be one of my favorites but this shit fucked me up. Definitely elicited the most tears, the whole goddamn thing’s miserable. Leon’s route feels slightly lacking in the charm department for me, which probably sounds weird but... I guess it’s cause the whole thing is so laser focused on Claire. Like, obviously Leon is primarily concerned with her, so it feels like there’s less emotional or interesting moments with everyone else and the ones that ARE there aren’t as impactful as they could be since, y’know, he’s really only here for her. But that’s mostly just a personal preference and since that was the whole point I can’t really complain. Leon’s relationship with Claire was wonderfully executed and I really appreciate this poor boy.

Torch Backstories: Like. They didn’t HAVE to add all this stuff in but they sure did and wow does it pack a punch. I was always super excited to see the next one after finishing a scenario. I do wish we had a little more variety instead of half of them being Lime though, as much as I adore her character.

Overall & Final Score My only real issue with the story is, again, I haven’t seen enough of it yet, and that it sliiightly dragged in some places. Plus there were some small elements I took issue with, like the use of the ??? character, but nothing major. 9/10

GAMEPLAY

Fighting: No major complaints with the fighting mechanics, it was actually a really nice change of pace since most RPG maker games I’ve played don’t have battles. I do wish Leon had something a little different to set him apart from Claire, since he essentially has the exact same fighting style, albeit with a knife this time.

Demon Requests: This was a mixed bag. I liked the concept, especially how it wraps in a little bit of lore and everything. But some of the requests, like the ones that involved fishing, were just tedious. I probably would’ve preferred if demon requests were either just a liiiiittle less frequent or had more lore sprinkled in to keep me interested.

Scenario Mechanics & New Items: The whole idea of the scenarios is... good, but not flawless. I think giving the option of doing Reynaldo’s scenario first probably wouldn’t work very well and giving the illusion of choice only for it to just be which of the two you play first is a little redundant. But that aside, I really love the way they’re strung together with the hell room and all the things you can do there. Setting up a routine in this kind of game was a really good idea. I also looooved the new items you get each scenario, the lighter doesn’t do much but the wand and broom really feel like they broaden your horizons.

Gift Giving & Minigames: Not super into the affection system to be honest. Like, the plushies are super cute, but the gifts and minigames feel pointless and tedious. I would’ve liked if there was some sort of scene, or even multiple, per character that you get when you max their affection, you know? Obviously this is a small complaint considering the absurd amount of content in the game but I was a little disappointed by how underwhelming the gift giving was.

Other Puzzles I didn’t take issue with any particular puzzle, they were all reasonably easy and fun to do. I really enjoyed the majority of them and if I didn’t they were either over quickly or optional, such as Ashe’s damn slider puzzle.

Overall, Final Score The gameplay isn’t anything crazy, but it does what it’s meant to do. 6/10

ART & SOUND

Character Design: I don’t have a ton to say about the designs, I think they’re all really effective and well thought out, especially for the demons. No two characters look too similar despite the simplistic art style making it very easy for that to happen, and I thoroughly enjoy everyone’s outfits.

Sprites and BGs: There are a few wonky sprites here and there but for an RPG maker game I was pleasantly surprised by their overall quality. And ability to make me feel things. And quantity! Like damn, there’s so many sprites for each character, I never feel like I’m seeing too much of the same one.

OST and Sound Effects: I know none of the songs were composed for the game itself, which is common in these sorts of games, but the selection was excellent regardless. I still listen to the soundtrack a lot just for fun. The sound effects are really cute too, no complaints there either.

Overall, Final Score It’s crude at times, but the art and music is perfect for what it wants to be and elicits a hell of a lot of emotion. 7/10

I adore this game and I can’t WAIT to start Bonus Stage!

#slo lbs witchs heart #slo talks #slo reviews #no really ive been thinking abt wh for forever im dying to finally keep playing it

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ashleyspinelliburnbook · 5 years ago

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S1E5: King Gus/Big Brother Chad

Before starting this post, I wrote a light analysis of the opening sequence, and in it, I realized that probably most of my previously-held beliefs about Gus’ character come from that alone. He gets gum all over himself and falls into the ball bin, which is on wheels, so it goes flying. Which is just...so not his character at all, it turns out. I mean, he might not be all Army macho like his dad, but he’s not a dweeb, either.

Anyway, this first episode just serves to further prove me wrong, and I’m cool with that.

King Gus

You know how the first season of a network TV show usually sucks? Like, it gets by on what it can get by on — famous actors, okay writing, a fun premise, or...famous actors — but if the show gets picked up for more seasons, it becomes the season where you’ll be selling it to your friends as, “If you must watch the first season, take it with a grain of salt”?

Animated kids’ shows are not! like! that! Some of the things that this show has already gotten into are, like, season three minimum for a network adult show. You know, let the characters live their daily lives for a bit, then start throwing wrenches. But already, we’ve had “what if two characters kissed,” “what if one of the main characters joined the Ashleys,” “what if Miss Finster had a boyfriend,” and now we’re getting “what if one member of the gang became king?”

That’s right — Gus, meek, dweeby Gus, is king of the playground. Temporarily. Until King Bob returns from his tonsillectomy.

How? Well, King Bob doesn’t want someone stronger than him, or smarter than him — someone who the people might like more than him. He wants a regular guy, someone who’ll do what he’s told, who can think for himself. And, as luck would have it, there’s our boy Gus getting gum all over himself (literally, as it turns out) — right place, right time.

TJ and Spinelli are stoked that their friend is king, and they start brainstorming all the ways that they’ll finally have a say in the goings-on of the playground now (Spinelli, for example, expresses an interest in becoming “Lord Emperor of the West Playground”). Gus is less excited, likely because he didn’t ask for this, but TJ assures him they’ll be around to give him advice along the way. In the meantime, he’s just gotta be “kingy,” TJ says.

(Side note: Without all his stuff on, King Bob kinda looks like a turn-of-the-century football player. Tell me I’m wrong.)

So anyway, Gus is sworn in, and he’s immediately taken by the idea of all the snacks he can eat. King Bob’s henchmen bring him crackers and his preferred brand (and vintage!) of apple juice, more snack food, a glow-in-the-dark yo-yo, and...cookies. We’ll get to the cookies in a bit.

Meanwhile, things on the greater playground aren’t going so well. TJ and the gang want to go up to visit Gus, but they learn there’s increased bureaucratic nonsense they have to endure first — namely, a ton of paperwork that may or may not ever go through. (You know the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode where Amy is trying to submit paperwork for a block party request, and she does it all correctly, but she still somehow doesn’t have the right forms? It’s like that.)

Gus is then tasked with his first royal judgment: deciding which of two girls gets to keep a doll they’re fighting over. In true King Solomon style, he suggests cutting the doll in half. When one girl is fine with this and the other is visibly upset, Gus...gives it to the girl who’s fine with this. Oops.

“It’s the second-best decision you could have made!” his henchman says, and we continue.

Angered by not having the proper kind of cookies he desires, Gus imposes a cookie tax on the playground: every day, each student must bring him two cookies. He’s tasking the third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders with building a cookie mine in the meantime (as well as renaming kickball “Gusball” and mandating that each recess begin with the student body singing a song about...Gus).

It’s then that the gang say “to hell with bureaucracy” and just walk up the jungle gym to see King Gus, who’s happy to see them until they start questioning his motives. TJ, then Gretchen, then the rest of the school (more or less) get locked up — except for the poor kid who can’t pay the cookie tax, who’s sentenced to hard labor.

The kids stage a protest to usurp the throne of this cookie-centered dictatorship, but before it can escalate to riot levels (well, aside from the dodgeball-throwing and Spinelli getting a few good punches in), King Bob returns. There’s a smooth transition of power, and suddenly, Gus is no longer king.

“Uneasy is the head that wears the crown,” Mikey says, as the gang decides whether or not to be mad at not-king Gus. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Gretchen adds. And soon enough, they’re all friends again.

Spinelli does hear back about her application to be Lord Emperor of the West Playground, and I really want to know if that worked out and that she’s just, like, doing that from here on out. Maybe that’ll be my personal headcanon.

Takeaway: Boy, oh, boy, do we keep getting these #deep Gus episodes or WHAT? When are we gonna get a good Gretchen episode?

Big Brother Chad

This isn’t the most important part, but after watching this episode, I have to ask: Does this type of stereotypical nerd exist...anywhere?

Not to spoil the episode’s first big twist right away, but here’s the scoop: Vince, who, um, plays sports(?), has a big brother named Chad. And Chad...is a geek.

See, Chad uses pocket protectors. His suspenders hike his pants up past his ankles, he wears glasses that are taped together, he’s in chess club, he has a pet turtle, he’s the scorekeeper on the baseball team, and his idea of a good time is going to Compu-Hut and watching the employees “unpack the latest mousepads.”

Your garden-variety ‘90s geek, basically. A person I have never seen before, and a person who may not have ever existed all at once like that.

But see, the real twist is unraveled throughout the episode. Vince is bragging to the gang that his big brother is going to pick him up from school that day, and word spreads around school fast. Everyone remembers Chad — who it looks like his about five years older than Vince — but they haven’t seen him in a long time. (How big is this town supposed to be? Anyway.)

The entire student body is waiting outside after school to get a glimpse of Chad, who arrives...on a bicycle he’s fashioned himself along with a sidecar, which he calls “the Chadmobile.”

“Why, he’s nothing but a nerd!” King Bob proclaims, and the students all leave disappointed.

To Gretchen, a self-proclaimed geek, it all makes sense. “What fifth-grader would want to hang out with kindergarteners?” she asks, referencing the gang’s earlier reminiscing about all the things Chad taught them when they first started school. The next day, though, Vince isn’t convinced, even as Gretchen doubles down with, “Take it from someone who knows.”

At dinner that night, it all starts to click, though, as Chad regales the table with tales of his “really neat” biology class and the aforementioned mousepads story. Vince has a breakdown, crying, “It’s true! It’s true!” and that’s when things start to get a little weird for me.

See, Chad hasn’t been hiding any of this. The sign on his bedroom door says “Chad’s room: Earthlings keep out!” He sleeps in a racecar bed, upon which he’s playing 3-D chess. And, well, his whole look.

“You’re a geek,” Vince tells his brother, thinking he’s telling Chad something he doesn’t already know.

“Yeah, so?” Chad replies.

Weirdly, the thing that sells it for Vince is that he always thought his brother was cool because he listened to CDs. But Chad explains they’re “geek CDs: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sondheim, Gilbert and Sullivan.”

“Sorry, Vince, but I am what I am,” Chad says. “And the fact is, I’m a geek.” And then he logs into a chatroom he’s in with his friends.

Look, okay, part of it is weird that Vince didn’t notice that Chad was who he was sooner, especially when the stereotypes are in your face like that (and one of your best friends also fits those stereotypes to a T). But even if we haven’t all had the experience of checking in on a much older kid later in life, we’ve all grown up ourselves. In kindergarten, the fifth graders were impossibly tall, and therefore impossibly cool. In third grade, I knew someone who had a sister in high school. But as I reached those ages, I didn’t feel impossibly cool, or old, or anything. I knew myself a little better — I knew that I liked hanging out with the band kids, even though that wasn’t “cool” — but I wasn’t trying to be anything to younger kids. I was content having grown into myself (as much as any angsty high schooler can).

What really drives this point home is the end, where a bully that Vince got to stop bothering some younger kids earlier in the episode shows up with his big brother, who’s out to teach Vince a lesson. Chad shows up and threatens this kid...with not helping him with his math homework anymore, after which the other big kid immediately backs down.

“Just because I’m a geek doesn’t mean I’m not a cool geek,” Chad says. Because isn’t the real reward being confident in who you are — or, in this case, confident in who your older brother is?

Takeaway: What do we think of the name “Chad” these days? I think this was how I always pictured “Chad” as a kid, perhaps because of this episode and perhaps because I didn’t know any other Chads. Now, um, that name is seen...quite differently, isn’t it? I greatly prefer this Chad.

#recess

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fullymechanized-consoomer · 6 years ago

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40K factions and you

Space Marines:

Your favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla, but occasionally you might try some Neapolitan, if you’re feeling dangerous. You’re faction’s lore is designed from the ground up to accept your self-inserts, and the models are some of the easiest to paint in the entire range. None of this matters because no matter how unique you think your super-cool “realistic marines who use real tactics maaaaan” are they’ll always come out looking like a slight variation of the ones below

8th edition has finally allowed you to feel a tiny sliver of the unbalanced and over-costed hell other factions have been stuck in for years, but unlike them, daddy GW is more than willing to spend a little extra on his bulky good bois so they still get all the coolest gear and lore. Like vanilla, small children love them, but they grow out of both eventually.

edit: it was only a matter of time before GW stamped its foot down and made the inevitable decision that its favorite kid needs to be busted again. Then again in all fairness they toned down their overpoweredness from “godlike” to merely “demi-godlike”

Imperial Guard:

You’re a big “history fan”. You’ve seen Enemy at the Gates, watched some history channel shows about Nazi wonder weapons, and make 54 karma post on r/history_memes recycling debunked Eastern Front jokes. Only your intelligent eye is able to conflate this factions obvious Metal Slug levels of cartoonish design and tactics with realism, and you make sure to remind everyone else of said realism by comparing your tabletop exploits to your military experience in the reserves. Everyone used to like you back when the faction was actually made up of underdogs and under appreciated, but the Guant’s Ghosts references have gotten kinda stale, and no one appreciates the brass balls of these Starship Trooper knockoffs now that 8th edition supports and rewards the very same mindless horde tactics the Guard used to be mocked for in Lore. Despite having some of the most tried and true designs in the game, as well as an incredible amount of options, you will quickly find how limiting the only “realistic” army is in terms of customization and paint schemes, as anything but camo, grey, or tan looks goofy and reveals how silly this faction actually is.

edit: If your army consists of wrapping 30 guardsmen around basilisks I recommend you take a short fall down a long flight of stairs. Fuck you, Evan.

Eldar:

You’re a real shooter. You know what you like and you stick with it, cause lets face it, it takes a lot of loyalty to stick with these arrogant pricks. Their designs are unique but dated, their lore is a uneven mishmash of 40k grimdark schmultz Tolkien telephone, and Oliver Twist-esque whipping bois for whenever GW writers need to remind us how cool Space Marines are. But none of that matters because you know the truth: Eldar can kick tons of ass on the board, and look good doing it, as their unique designs lends them to all sorts of brilliant color combinations

And unlike other armies their rare design updates improve on their aesthetic while keeping their 40k-ness, something that is becoming increasingly rare in this era of Tacticool marines and Fantasy-creep. Just don’t expect to be taken seriously by anyone but the old-heads.

Edit: Leave it to the whipping bois to be outshined in their own event and get a single model update. Thanks GW, very cool.

Dark Eldar

You are one of two people: a meta hopping smooth brain who only jumped ship once these guys got one of the best updates in 40k history, or a true intellectual who understood their hidden merit all along. Other faction players like to make fun of you for being edgy, when in reality you know that the Dark Eldar are just a bunch of sociopathic theater kids. They, like you, know how fucked from top to bottom this universe is, and instead of getting depressed they exclaimed “how can we be the best cartoon villains we can be?”. Despite having a relatively bare army list, the fact that these d-bags come in 3 flavors of crazy in a single army offers a ton of variety: the mustache twirling villainy of the Kabals, the crazy bloodstained snuff-stars of the Wych cults, and the BDSM horror show of the Covens. All three offer substantial benefits and drawbacks and must be played carefully in order t-

Who am I kidding? You’re just gonna stuff a bunch of Kabal warriors into Venoms and zoom around the map, aren’t you? Enjoy that speed, because your abysmal save stats wont protect you anything more than a furiously thrown walnut. At least your corpses will look rad clad in some of the grimest armor and gear in the game.

edit: no longer anywhere near as dominent as they were in the earlier years of 8th, but they still look slick as hell and play great.

Orks

Your IQ randomly jumps from 20 to 200 throughout the day. There is no predicting this, no planning around this, no stopping this. You’re best bet is just to go along with it, and that’s why you play Orks. Orks are roudy good-time buddies who love slapstick slaughter, not having thoughts, and occasionally pulling of cunning plans that human savants would struggle to comprehend. Orks seem to be the only faction that know what joy is, which is why you as a player spread it to everyone else. Yes, the memes and screaming can be a bit much to others sometimes, but like with any other mentally handicapped child everyone around just grits their teeth through your bad episodes if it means not upsetting your unique sensibilities. And considering that this army’s aesthetic revolves around cobbled together nonsense, you have a lot of uniqueness to give. Orks are easily the most creative faction in the game when it comes to conversions. Nothing is too goofy, too dumb, or too silly to scrap together. As for performance on the tabletop? Go ham. This is an army that rewards merry bullshit and randomness. Remember, you didn’t pick Orks to win, you picked them to have fun.

edit: So are Orks actually getting anything or what? GW’s plans for this faction is as chaotic as the minds of the ADHD scrambled minds who play them

Necrons

You have a very specific taste in... funky weird-science space Egyptians. Seriously, these guys are practically a completely different army to what they were a decade ago. Gone are the terminator references and eldritch lore nonsense, and here to stay is senility and glyphs. You lie to yourself, saying that you’re not really sure why you chose Necrons, but I know the truth: you chose them because they used to be busted. They used to be unfair. They used to be able to take out top-tier tanks with their version of pea shooters and come back after every turn. So overwhelmed were you by their dazzeling stats and bullshit cheese your brain’s wiring fried and the erratic firing of billions of flayed neurons made you think Necrons had cool lore and interesting models. But now they’ve been nerfed to hell, and you’re no longer stuck in that lasting state of sensory overload. Like a drunk snapping awake with a hangover you come to the painful reality: Necrons are kind of dull. So like me, you put them away in a shoebox forever, leaving their fragile sculpts to slowly fall apart.

Edit: FUCK WHERE IS THE SHOEBOX WHERE DID I LEAVE IT OH GOD OH OH NO OH FUCK THEY’RE ALL BROKEN MAYBE I CAN PUT THEM BACK TOGETHER BEFORE 9th EDITION LAUNCHES I’M SO SORRY FOR WHAT I DID TO YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER I NEED YOU, I NEED MY BOOOOOOOOYS!!!

Tau

You will forever be hated by the community unfairly. You are accuse being anime - and this is true - yet the Eldar get away with being copied wholesale from 80′s space anime and no one seems to notice. You are made fun of for your bad melee, despite having one of the most comprehensively designed niches in an otherwise sloppy game and dominating with nearly every edition. You are made fun of for your lore, despite being largely separate from the cliches and story traps that everyone else has fallen into. You are hated because you are different; hated because you are Asian.

Tau are an anomaly in 40k: a completely new faction that wasn’t directly ripped off of some other franchise and with an aesthetic that is wholly their own. I won’t be making fun of them because they get enough of that, and you don’t deserve it. Just know this dirty secret: Tau outsell almost every other xenos faction, and despite the supposedly unanimous hate are probably one of the strongest factions in terms of play-style and modelling in the franchise.

Edit: The tau are grittier than ever, happy now? They still do the same thing they have always done anyways.

Chaos

Unlike the DE you actually are edgy. You worship satan, you throw rocks at homeless people, you start fires because your dad doesn’t spank you enough. Chaos are the closest things that this cluster fuck of a universe can get to being the main villains. Their lore is at once intricate and stupid, both childish and metal as hell. You play chaos because getting your fingers pricked by the models’ spikes is the closest you can come to feeling anything anymore. Just like the chaos lore you love to hype yourself up, to puff your chest and revel in the darkness inside, but when confronted you tend to fold like wet tissue paper. You’ve stopped playing public games with these guys, because the other players don’t understand you and abuse the meta and make fun of your painting skills and everything is so unfair and don’t you think that chaos marines should get buffs for their points cost, fuck?

Edit: The new models are slick and more power-metal minivan than ever, though the rules are still abysmal despite GW desperately wanting everyone to takes these guys seriously for once.

Sisters of Battle

GW writers and designers hates Catholics and they hate women, so naturally they hate Sister of Battl. They also hate you for playing them. Because of this SoB are a monument to neglected potential. They have one of the best female armor designs in fiction, great lore, and an interesting playstyle that relies on faith/determination based feats of strength and valor... but GW hate Catholics and women, so SoB get shafted everywhere all the time. More often than not you will be disappointed reading about their exploits as they continually get unfairly slaughtered, corrupted into the horny service of the pervert god, or used as receptacles for blood-based paint when the writer’s favorite faction needs to fight demons. With no plastic models in sight for over a decade everyone began to come to the slow and dreadful realization that GW was looking to Squat our favorite estrogen warriors, until a new revamp was announced. Unfortunately the beta rules look as lackluster as ever, but that’s fine, because as a SoB fan you have learned to expect that GW hates you, Catholics, and women.

Edit: GW found God and got woke because now they love women and Jesus’ one true Church, but let it be known that reformation doesn’t occur overnight, as the SOB’s faces still betray GW’s lingering discomfort in the female form:

Their rules are fun, and if every codex was designed like it 40k might actually be a fun game

Tyranids

nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom no- and that’s it that’s the Tyranids. I don’t know anything about them besides that, and neither do you, cause that’s their lore. Yes they have cool models, but next to no reliable updates. I’ll pray for you.

Edit: it really looks like GW has just completely forgotten about you poor souls huh? The Night King, a character who is closely associated with the totally-not-reconned-Tyranid-invasion, comes back and not one word about you guys. They don’t even actively hate you like, say, they hate the Eldar. It’s just... apathy.

Grey Knights

HAHA AHAHAHAHA HA HA UHAHAHA HAHAAHAHAAHAH HAHA ha ha Ah......... he. hehahaaaAHAHAHAHA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

edit: I hope you all realize that Grey Knights are far too specialized in fighting the permanently under performing forces of chaos to be 40ks “elite among elite.” You and your entire faction has been made completely obsolescent by the Custodes. The rough times will continue, say hi to the Squats in heaven will you?

Custodes

You are either insufferably full of yourself or a fine practitioner of the model making craft. Most likely though you are neither, and you picked them because you only need gold and red paint to make them look good. Custodes are the space marine’s space marines, and they’re better than you and everyone else. period. At least in lore. On the table their incredible individual stats and elite status are reflected in points cost, so for most large games you will be fielding what amounts to any other faction’s skirmishing army. Unfortunately, since 40k is a stat-sheet battler that favors raw bulk of rolls and stats over the quality of them, you’d be hard-pressed to do well in any serious game. However, for the luminous of mind, the small size is a blessing in disguise since you don’t need to buy and paint as many units as the other armies, and no matter how hard the guard player trashes you his 50 unpainted manlets will never look as good as your 15 gloriously crafted golden Chads. Stick to smaller games, and the individual strength of each model will make up for the glaring absence caused by their loss.

Ironically enough despite being an elite faction from a relatively obscure part of 40k lore, these attributes make Custodes the perfect casual player’s faction. It is my personal theory that if GW didn’t grossly inflate their prices to such a high degree everyone would have a Custodes army.

Oh yeah, Henry Cavil plays these guys, because of course he does.

#40k #warhammer 40k #table top

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shastelly · 6 years ago

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Dance - March Klance Prompts from MonthlyKlance - Day 18

Day 18 – Dance

Lance straightened the bow tie on Keith's sort-of-tux.

"There." He smiled over at the other boy who was blushing like crazy and looked so uncomfortable in the get up that it wasn't even funny. "You look nice." Lance offered trying to help.

"Sure." Keith practically collapsed in on himself in discomfort. "I feel like an idiot. This is not me."

"Then pretend to be someone else." Lance offered back with a smile. "Someone suave and sophisticated and who looks awesome in a tux…oh hey, just pretend to be me." Lance did a quick spin turn and finished with finger guns. It had the desired effect as Keith choked on laughter, sputtering something about hell freezing over.

"It's like going to prom." Shiro declared from the other side of the room. He looked stunning in his solid black tux and black tie. But he was also wearing a frown.

"What you didn't like prom? I figured you would have been the Prom King?" Lance puzzled.

"I was." Shiro blushed.

Hunk chuckled, "I can totally get why, you were their golden boy."

"But then why didn't you like it? I would have loved to have been Prom King." Lance asked eyes full of stars.

"Well, I…it…um…so as the guy that was supposed to be the Prom King, I was pretty much expected to take the girl that was supposed to be the Prom Queen." Shiro managed.

"You took a girl to prom." Keith stared eyes wide.

"Yeah. I did. I thought we could go, as friends, and just have fun and get pictures and not worry about it." Shiro ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "She had, um…other expectations."

"How? I mean didn't she know?" Pidge had wandered in and joined the conversation. She was wearing a tux that Coran had altered for her. The pants legs were overly wide, and the jacket cropped at the waist. It was actually darling on her.

"I told her. I just guess she didn't believe me or thought she was going to turn me straight or something?" Shiro blushed even harder when Lance practically fell over laughing. "Yeah, that didn't work out so well. She really didn't like me after she caught me making out with someone else in the hall." Keith snorted.

"You were the Prom King, ditched your crazy Prom Queen and hooked up with someone else? Sounds like a great Prom!" Lance giggled.

"So, Keith, how was your Prom?" Hunk asked trying to give Shiro a break from blushing.

"I didn't go." Keith frowned. "I don't like dances or dancing or dressing up or that many people."

"Okay, antisocial Emo boy skips Prom. Not the most shocking headline ever." Lance teased, though he sounded almost sad.

"So, what was your Prom like, we know you weren't the King." Keith turned back to Lance.

"My Prom was awesome and awesome." Lance smiled easily. "Me and my good buddy Hunk here went together."

"You were his Prom date?" Keith raised an eyebrow at Hunk.

"Sort of." Hunk smiled fondly at Lance. "I didn't have a date."

"Their loss, my gain!" Lance chirped.

"And Lance couldn't pick a date." Hunk laughed elbowing his friend. "So, he suggested we go together, and I have to admit we had a great time. Lance is a pretty good date."

"I am a great date. I brought flowers." Lance corrected.

"Yes, a great date. He did bring a boutonniere and he made sure I had fun the entire night. We danced - he had me dancing with all kinds of girls and he was dancing with everyone. I'd been to that kind of thing before and just ended up being a wallflower, but not with Lance around."

"Shiro, you may have ditched your date, but Hunk and I, we stole so many hearts that night it was a felony." Lance joked complete with crazy eyebrow wiggles.

Pidge snorted.

"Sorry, Pidgie, you weren't there for Prom, were you?" Lance turned regretful eyes to the Green Paladin.

"She's been to Prom." Shiro looked over suddenly amused.

"Yes. I have been." She answered mysteriously.

"How and why do you know?" Lance looked confused.

"Matt took her." Shiro supplied. "He told me about it."

"Really? Why? I mean, you're great and all, but you're his sister." Lance looked dumbfounded, no doubt imaging taking one of his siblings.

"His date dumped him, literally the day before Prom." She supplied, her smile was sad but fond. "He'd already made reservations that couldn't be cancelled, had a limo and a tux and the whole nine yards and she dropped him for a football star." Pidge sniffed her distaste.

"That is cold." Hunk sighed.

"Yeah, but Matt, he's not the type to let someone get the best of him. So, he knocked on my door, and asked me to accompany him to the Prom. I was going through a phase, so I happened to have something to wear." Pidge blushed a little.

"Wait. What kind of phase?"

"I believe Matt called it the Disney Princess years." Shiro supplied slyly and Pidge chucked a comb at him. He dodged it easily laughing. "The dress was lovely Pidge, you looked nice in green then too."

Pidge smirked mollified for now, "Anyway, he was sweet, and I had a good time and that bi…"

"Language!"

"Not nice person,” Pidge correct with an eyeroll, "got drunk on spiked punch and spent most of the evening puking in the bushes outside."

"You spiked the punch didn't you." Keith stated looking over at her grin.

"There is no proof."

"Proof of what?" Allura asked as she breezed into the room. The pink ball gown she wore would put Cinderella to shame.

"Wow!" Lance jumped up. "You look beautiful!"

"Don't drool." Pidge elbowed him.

"Thank you, Lance." Allura smiled at him. "You all look wonderful as well. Are we ready?"

"Do I get to dance with you?" Lance asked with a wink.

"I'm afraid not. As the official negotiator of the alliance we propose, I am not permitted to enjoy the dancing, I must sit at the negotiation table. It is up to you all to mingle and dance and make friends with the people of Umbelan."

"So, we have to dance?" Keith asked.

And at the same time, "I'm sorry you'll miss the fun." from Lance

"Yes, you must dance. Thank you again Lance, but there will be other parties. The people of Umbelan are convinced that dances are the best way to get to know anyone. You will be observed by many and asked to dance many times. The dances are simple, and they are aware you are not from their planet and will not be familiar with them, so do not be worried about being judged for your dancing talents." Allura gave Keith a soft smile as he was clearly uncomfortable. "Use the dance time to talk and get to know whomever you dance with. It is expected that you will ask them questions as well as answer questions that they have for you."

"Great." Keith muttered.

"Keith, if you could at least do, two dances?" Allura offered. It was clear the situation was distressing for him, under his usual forceful nature was an undercurrent of uncertainty and genuine discomfort.

"Okay. I can do that." When he met her eyes there was gratitude there and she smiled back at him.

She did not miss the look of relief on Shiro's face or the way Lance's shoulders relaxed.

Lance's first dance was with an older Umbelan. She said she was an ambassador for a nearby planet. She asked him about the alliance and what planets he had visited and about earth and its culture. No military secrets, just diplomatic questions about languages and cheeseburgers. Lance smiled and laughed and when it was his turn, he asked about the dancing custom and manners and what was okay to ask and what wasn't. By the time they had finished the dance, Lance bowed gratefully, he felt like they had both learned a lot. He didn't have to look far for his next partner. A smiling young man was waiting to step up.

"Hi, I'm Rex." He bowed.

"Lance." Lance bowed back and moved to take his partner’s hands as the dance began. He found the steps easy enough and was soon able to focus on his dancing partner.

"You learn fast." He complimented.

"Thanks, I like dancing." Lance smiled easily.

"So, I'm Rex, like I said already. My mom is a general in our military. She's in charge of security tonight." He offered. "So um, you're the Blue paladin?"

"Yes. I pilot Blue. She is awesome, one of the legs."

"So, the lion is a she? Does she talk to you?" Rex asked eyes wide.

"Yeah, I feel like she's a she and she doesn't like talk out load, more like in my head." Lance tapped the side of his head with his finger.

"That must be weird." Rex frowned.

"Sure, but no weirder than finding out about this war and fighting Galra and 10,000-year-old evil guys." Lance shrugged.

"So, your planet did not have space travel?"

"Well, yes, but very limited. Nothing like what Blue or the Castle of Lions are capable of doing. We didn't really even know there were other inhabited planets. So, coming out here was a really shock." Lance laughed a little. The young man across from him was purple, as all the male Umbelans were. They were basically humanoid in shape, but about an average six inches taller and completely covered in fur. His fur was shaved short over his face and neck, but long at the top of his head which was plaited into a long braid that hung past his shoulders. The shaving of the furs seemed to vary a lot between individuals and offered a lot of variety in hair styles. He wore a plain black tunic that hung past his knees and was belted with a simple gold cord. Clothing seemed to be more uniform and functional.

"That would be a shock. I've grown up around space and wars. I think it might be nice to not have to focus on anything like that for once. Mom is always so worried about what might happen and planning for the worst." He rolled his deep blue eyes. "I love her, but I don't think she has any idea how to relax."

"What kind of things do you do to relax?" Lance asked.

"Oh well, I love painting and riding Herxbirds." Rex smiled.

"What's a herxbird?"

"Well, they are about half the size of your lion and covered in fur that is super long and soft. They come in all colors and have big leathery wings, two on each side and four legs. Their heads are long and narrow and the have big noses and tongues. We strap a seat onto their backs, and you can ride them. They are trained to follow commands, but really good riders learn to communicate with them with their minds." Rex explained excitedly. It was clear that he was really into this.

"I would love to see one, sounds like a giant horse with bat wings." Lance returned the excitement level. He was setting up a time to go flying with Rex when something caught his eye. Keith was dancing with a very large Umbelan male. The guy was a foot taller than Keith. This fur was shaved short in a stripe between his eyes and down to his chin. There were several small braids hanging from his chin. And Keith, well Keith just looked pissed. He wasn't talking, he was barely moving and everything about his body screamed he didn't want to be there.

"Who's that?" Lance asked Rex, not really an appropriate question, but his worry over rode any worry about decorum.

"Oh, that's General Wythop." Rex answered with a sneer.

"Don't like him?" Lance turned with concern.

"No. He's a pompous ass." Rex frowned. "He danced the first dance with your friend, he shouldn't still have him."

"Oh." Lance looked over even more concerned.

"I would get him out of there if you could. Wythop has a lot of power in the government. And…" Rex seemed to shrink back into himself.

"What? And what?" Lance pressed something dark circling in his gut.

"He's…um…forward?" Rex's face turned a shade of green. Lance wasn't sure if he was blushing or nauseous.

"Forward? Like pushy or mouthy or forward like he's capable of hurting my friend." Lance asked turning serious.

"I…we should get your friend away from him." Rex looked down. "No one's ever come forward to speak against him, but there are rumors."

"Okay, well Allura, told Keith he only had to do two dances, so after this one, he should be out of there. I'll keep an eye on him. Thanks for the dance, Rex, and I do hope to see one of those Herxbirds tomorrow."

The song ended and Rex bowed to Lance and Lance returned the gesture. He turned to watch Wythop bow to Keith and Keith glare back at him. The Ubelam had Keith's wrist grasped firmly in his hand and was not letting him go. Keith frowned and tugged and the Ubelam said something while frowning. Keith looked down at the floor with another glare and the next song started. Wythop grabbing Keith's other arm and starting the dance. Keith didn't even pretend to move. He just stood there and didn't speak.

Lance frowned and scanned the crowd. He saw Pidge over by the punch bowl and rushed over to his side, apologizing to the young woman that had started to walk up to him with a grin and a wave. He practically grabbed Pidge and pulled her out onto the dance floor.

"Lance!" She protested trying to pull away.

"Shush." He whispered, getting her attention. He watched the dancers around him and soon fell into the appropriate steps for the song. Pidge struggled but tried to match. "We have an issue."

"What?" Pidge narrowed her eyes and looked around.

"See that guy with Keith?" Lance asked quietly maneuvering so that she could see them over his shoulder.

"Why is he even still dancing?" Pidge asked frowning. She knew he didn't want to be out there, and he'd filled his quota.

"I don't think that guy let him go. He had ahold of his arm when the last song ended." Lance frowned. "The guy I was dancing with explained he's a real jerk and we ought to get Keith out of there, but he's also really high up in the government. So, we need to get Keith away without letting him know that's what we are doing and not piss him off."

Pidge nodded agreeing with the plan so far, "So, what do you have in mind?"

"Going to break in at the end of the next dance. Accuse Keith of hogging the General and say that he forgot he promised to dance with you. Then you use the next song to dance him out of here and figure out what exactly is going on." Lance plotted.

"Yeah, and what about you?" Pidge narrowed her eyes.

"I'll just dance with General Pushyface there and then when the song ends explain I have to go and that will be that." Lance nodded.

"Okay, but aren't we getting Keith away because the General might be dangerous? Why is the plan for you to put yourself in danger instead?" Pidge hissed.

"Well, I'm better with people. I'm sure I can talk my way out and if not, Shiro and Allura are like right here, I'm pretty sure a good yell for help and they'd be right on the guy."

Pidge nodded slowly. She didn't like it, but she didn't have a better plan. "Okay, I'll do it, but if Keith says anything wonky, we are going straight to Allura and if you don't get out of that dance at the end of the song, I'm sending Shiro over."

Lance smiled, "Okay Pidge."

Lance moved them across the floor until when the song ended, they were right next to Keith and the General. When the guy bowed and still held Keith's arm again, Lance went into action.

"Oh, hey Keith!" Lance moved to stand between them. "You have totally been hogging this big guy's time. That is not good manners, man." Lance winked at the general. "On top of that you promised Pidge a dance and she's pretty upset."

Pidge put on one of her angry faces and crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

Keith looked completely confused and when he got Pidge's glare, he sputtered an apology. The general's grip had loosened on Keith's arm in the confusion and Lance slipped his hand in between, pulling the general's hand into his.

"Go on, Keith. I've been waiting for my chance to dance with General Wythop here." Lance waved his other hand at him over his shoulder dismissing him. Keith frowned and glared back at the general while Pidge slipped in front of him and pulled him away.

Lance pretended not to notice the glare the general was now directing at him. He didn't however appreciate the near bruising grip the guy had on his hands.

"Hey, big guy, lighten up." Lance tried to wiggle his fingers to loosen the general's grip.

The general narrowed his eyes and tightened the grip, stopping Lance from moving his hands at all and smiling at the wince he saw in the young man's face.

"Why did you interrupt my dance?" He growled.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. As I understood, it wasn't nice to keep the same partner dance after dance." Lance answered evenly.

"It's also not nice to interrupt or to not answer questions. Your friend was quite rude to me. He wouldn't talk or dance." The general growled, looking down at Lance.

"You are in luck because I love to talk and dance." Lance plastered the best fake smile he could. This guy was giving him some serious creeps.

"Perhaps." The general smiled then, and it was not pleasant. "Please tell me about the Castle of Lion's defensive capabilities."

"Oh, hey now, that's like top secret military stuff, man. If you are a spy you need to work on subtlety." Lance blanched.

"This is supposed to be an open discussion. I think I find you paladins to be closed and defensive. I'm not sure I can vote in favor of an alliance." The guy had the nerve to tighten his grip even further and Lance ground his teeth together feeling the bones in his wrist grind together unpleasantly.

"Now don't be that way. I'm sure there is something we can talk about. For instance, the Castle of Lions has some great medical technology that I know Coran will be happy to discuss with your people and very efficient food production. You must understand handing out a list of our defenses to just anyone isn't feasible. You wouldn't hand me the defensive playbook for your team either." Lance tried to reason out of the anger he could feel building in the other guy.

"I don't know what this playbook is that you speak about, but I assure you that I am not playing." The general growled and Lance realized he'd been moving him slowly to the edge of the crowd. "I want you to call your friend back. I was not done talking with him and he owes me a proper dance. I will not let him leave until he has satisfied my demands."

"That is just really not going to happen. If you keep this up, we are going to have a situation here. I mean, have you seen the Black Paladin. You do not want to mess with Space Dad." Lance pulled uncomfortably at his wrists, his hands were turning purple and tingling from lack of blood flow.

"I don't care about your father or the Black Paladin. I am not afraid. Get your friend now." The general growled. Lance started to respond when the jerk twisted his left wrist sharply and Lance was certain he actually heard the bone snap.

"Let me go! That's enough." Lance pulled away with his other wrist, his eyes flashed angrily.

"No." The general sneered squeezing his broken wrist so hard that Lance felt his knees go weak and struggled to stay standing.

"You have like two ticks and then I'm yelling, and you can explain." Lance spat, his eyes dancing with spots.

"Scream. No one will hear you in here." The general laughed and Lance realized they had entered a hall.

He looked around wondering if anyone could hear him. After all he could be pretty loud, and the guy might be bluffing. Talking a deep breath, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"LET ME GO!"

The general growled and letting go of his broken wrist swung a fist into Lance's stomach knocking the air out of him. After a few ticks when no one came, the general laughed and hit Lance again.

"See. No one heard. Now take me to your friend." He pulled Lance up by his good wrist and lifted him off the ground.

Lance groaned, but he'd seen movement behind the general. Someone had heard him.

"No." Lance spat and the general shook him by his arm. The pop that sounded from his shoulder seemed really unfortunate to Lance. He saw movement again. His breath was coming in gasps from the pain and he was having trouble keeping track, but if someone was back there to help, then he needed to give them an opening and maybe get out of the line of fire. Gritting his teeth against the pain he knew it would cause he swung himself back and kicked forward with all his might, aiming for what he hoped was a sensitive spot on the Ubelam people. Apparently, it was. The general's face turned a shade of blue and he flung Lance away from him. Lance collided with a wall and slid to a stop at its base, not moving.

"Lance!" Pidge's voice echoed as she ran for him. The general turned to grab her and was surprised when his hand went straight through the hologram.

"Hey, asshole." Keith appeared from around a corner, bayard drawn.

"There you are." The general growled. "We could have been friends. Why do you insist on making this difficult? Perhaps you just enjoy pain."

"You aren't interested in being friends and I'm not interested in what you are offering." Keith spat.

"Well come on then, if you think you can take me." The general crouched into a defensive posture drawing a large knife.

"Oh, I'm not going to attack you. I'm the distraction." Keith grinned as the Green bayard connected with the general's back sending jolts of energy convulsing through his body. When he fell to the ground Pidge was standing behind him willing the bayard to shock him into unconsciousness.

"Nice, Pidge." Keith complimented as he passed the fallen general on his way to Lance.

Pidge kicked the guy in the knee for good measure as she went to join Keith.

Lance was groaning and moving when they got to his side.

"Oh hey." Lance winced. "This prom sucks, can we go home."

Keith smiled softy and Pidge smirked.

"Come, on." Keith managed to get under Lance's good shoulder and help him up. Pidge snaked an arm around his waist.

"Let's let Shiro know what is going on and get you back to the castle." Pidge spoke softly eyeing his obviously broken wrist and the bruises forming.

Lance nodded.

"Now you know why I don't like dances." Keith muttered.

"Seriously, this is why you don't like dances? This has happened before?" Lance asked eyes wide.

"No, I mean, sort of, she wasn't that big, but she had some seriously sharp nails and promised to ruin my reputation at school." Keith answered blushing.

"I." Lance blinked mouth opening and closing. "That sucks." He finally managed.

"Yeah it would, but I totally just made that up." Keith looked over at Lance face bland. "Seriously, I'm just a bad dancer and I don't like doing it."

Pidge snorted and burst out laughing.

Lance shook his head, "Okay, you got me. Thanks for confusing the guy with the concussion."

"Sorry." Keith smiled.

"No, you aren't." Lance huffed. "Just for that, you owe me a dance."

Keith's smile softened and he met his eyes, "I owe you more than that. Thank you."

"Yeah well, I'll be cashing in on this dance, don't forget." Lance leaned further against Keith as they entered the ballroom. He could hear Shiro yell over the crowd and Allura demanding answers. He caught Rex's wide eyes and the young man nodded to him. It was going to work out.

Keith leaned over to whisper into his ear, "I'd like dancing with you I think."

Lance smiled feeling a blush rise in his cheeks, yeah it was all going to work out just fine.

#monthlyklance #monthlyklance march 2019 #klance #voltron fanfic

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koalas-koalas-everywhere · 5 years ago

Text

Live blogging the Hobbit pt.7

Flies And Spiders

I’ve been looking forward to this one.

“There were black squirrels in the wood. As Bilbo’s sharp inquisitive eyes got used to seeing things he could catch glimpses of them whisking off the path and scuttling behinf tree-trunks.” I should write a fic about this myself, but I think it would be a funny scene to have Bilbo, with his sharper eyesight, mention the squirrels and the dwarves just. Have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about? What squirrels?? Bilbo: … the squirrels. Dwarves: wut. B:The squirrels that run around every once in a while. And him trying to point them out but being unable to because of their speed and their black colour. Eventually, after they’ve been in the woods a while, becoming irritable and kinda muddled and just really freaked out, Bilbo snaps and out of nowhere throws a rock at one of them, only stunning it, but effectively bringing it down. The dwarves are all like, Bilbo wtf, both because it was very sudden and because they didn’t know he had that good of an aim, but he just goes “you see it? you see it? oh thank heavens I was starting to think I was going crazy and just imagining it.” That’s when they decide to try to shoot them and eat them and when they realise… well, I’ll keep it for that bulletpoint.

“Even the dwarves felt it, who were used to tunneling, and lived at times for long whiles without the light of the sun; but the hobbit, who liked holes to make a house in but not to spend summer days in, felt that he was being slowly suffocated.”

Lmao why does he always get the worst of it? Tolkien, I’ll see you in hell.

“They tried shooting the squirrels, and they wasted many arrows before they managed to bring one down on the path. But when they roasted it, it proved horrible to taste, and they shot no more squirrels.”

Here it is, back to the story, they hunt the squirrels, realise they’re gross, and are like, “Bilbo, you’re the most weirdly skillful yet useless person we’ve ever met.”

‘Dori is the strongest, but Fili is the youngest and still has the best sight.” Fili is the what

“All the time he was wondering whether there were spiders in the tree, and how he was going to get down again (except by falling).”

why not

“They did not care tuppence about the butterflies, and ere only made more angry when he told them of the beautiful breeze, which they were too heavy to climb up and feel.” It is kind of tacky, Bilbo

Double fuck, my bookmark fell off and the spine got cracked. This has literally never happened to me before D:<

In theory, leaving a mark that something’s been used and loved is a concept I like. In practice? This is bothering me.

“That night they ate the last scraps and crumbs of food; and next morning when they woke the first thing they noticed was that they were still gnawingly hungry, and the nest thing was that it was raining and that here and there the drip of it was dropping heavily on the forest floor.” I mean, they’ve eaten the last of the food and they’re still hungry — chances are that even if they’d known they were almost out of the woods, they wouldn’t have made it anyway. (So certain authors can stow it.)

“There were many people there, elvish-looking folk, all dressed in green and brown and sitting on sawn rings of the felled trees in a great circle.” Why elvish-looking and not just elves?

“They were lost in a completely lightless dark and they could not even find one another, not for a long time at any rate. After blundering frantically in the gloom, falling over logs, bumping crash into trees, and shouting and calling till they must have waked everything in the forest for miles, at last they managed to gather themselves in a bundle and count themselves by touch.” First off, I want to serve this as an example of and proof that Tolkien, while not going quite so low as to make scatological and fart jokes, used plenty of slapstick comedy. Second, oh my god you guys, that is not the way to find each other in the dark!

“Thorin said: ‘No rushing forward this time! No one is to stir from hiding till I say. I shall send Mr. Baggins alone first to talk to them. They won’t be frightened of him--(‘What about me of them?’ thought Bilbo)-- and any way I hope they won’t do anything nasty to him.’” All praise the fearless and generous leader!

It reminds me of a fanfic I really like, still in progress, where the fanon dynamic for Bagginshield (and indeed, most common tropes of romance) gets subverted by having Thorin trust and rely on Bilbo to protect him instead of being overprotective. It was started after the first movie but before the others, and I can really see it in the book. (Of course, that probably has something to do with the fact that Tolkien didn’t write it to be romantic.)

“‘They are the best I am likely to get in this beastly place,’ he mutteres, ad he lay down beside the dwarves and tried to go back to sleep and find his dream again.” Dwarf(and hobbit)pile!

“He was deep in thoughts of bacon and eggs and toast and butter when he felt something touch him. Something like a strong sticky string was against his left hand, and when he tried to move he found that his legs were already wrapped in the same stuff, so that when he got up he fell over.

Then the great spider, who had been busy tying him up while he dozed, came from behind him and came at him.” Almost executed for daydreaming about breakfast in the middle of Mirkwood at night crimes.

“He beat the creature off with his hands--it was trying to poison him to keep him quiet, as small spiders do to flies--until he remembered his sword and drew it out.”

Bilbo: *balls up fists and swings them like cartoon boxer* Let’s do this Shire style!

But also, I want to point out that it says he beat it off not tried to beat it off. That implies success.

Also, I’m kind of freaked out at the implication that that’s a small spider.

“Then it went mad and leaped and danced and flung out its legs in horrible jerks, until he killed it with another stroke; and then he fell down and remembered nothing more for a long while.

There was the usual dim grey light of the forest-day about him when he came to his senses.” Fair.

“Bilbo was a pretty fair shot with a stone, and it did not take him long to find a nice smooth egg-shaped one that fitted his hand cosily. As a boy he used to practise throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and even birds, got out of his was as quick as lightning if they saw him stoop; and even grow--up he had still spent a deal of his time at quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wand, bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort--indeed he could do lots of things, besides blowing smoke-rings, asking riddles and cooking, that I haven’t had time to tell you about. There is no time now.” There are so many levels of hilarity here, like

1- Bilbo used to be a fucking menace. And he didn’t quite get over it either!

2- They only ran away when he stooped? This just makes me think that he might have done nice things to make them at least tolerate him otherwise, instead of outright avoiding him or attacking him. Like, “ah, it’s that little boy, who’ll either feed us, he’s so nice and- uh oh he stooped, time to go boys.” Alternatively, it’s genetic memory warning them away from Bilbo. I was thinking maybe it was about all hobbits, but it does say “until they got out of his way”, meaning there was a time when they didn’t.

3- That’s such a hilariously late time in the story to introduce us to the fact that the main character has not only good aim but a strong enough arm to throw a stone right through a giant spider’s web, which would be thicker and probably more durable than the normal variety, already stronger than steel. And then kill the spider on the other side.

4- “Other quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort.” Idk man, other games of the sort, figure it out yourself.

5- I want to know about the other stuff Bilbo can do.

“This is what he sang:

Old fat spider spinning in a tree!

Old fat spider can’t see me!

Attercop! Attercop!

Won’t you stop,

Stop your spinning and look for me?

Old Tomnoddy, all big body.

Old Tomnoddy can’t spy me!

Attercop! Attercop!

Down you drop!

You’ll never catch me up your tree!

Not very good perhaps, but then you must remember that he had to make it up himself, on the spur of a very awkward moment.” Tolkien, shut up, it’s beautiful.

Also, lol, about to be eaten by spiders, how awks.

“Standing now in the middle of the hunting and spinning insects Bilbo plucked up his courage and began a new song.” Bilbo: If I’m gonna die, it’s gonna be as annoyingly as possible.

Honestly, though, this is my favourite song in the book.

“Bilbo’s next job was to loose a dwarf.” Very different from losing a dwarf, which he’s already done x14 (Thorin counts twice, especially considering he hasn’t even realized he’s lost him yet).

“Suddenly Bilbo noticed that some of the spiders had gathered round old Bombur on the floor, and had tied him up again and were dragging him away. He gave a shout and slashed at the spiders in front of him. They quickly gave way, and he scrambled and fell down the tree right into the middle of those on the ground. His little sword was something new in the way of stings for them. How it darted to and fro! It shone with delight as he stabbed at them. Half a dozen were killed before the rest drew off and left Bombur to Bilbo.” Bilbo’s gone berserk.

Also, Sting shone with delight? What a bloodthirsty blade.

“Away behind them now the shouting and singing suddenly stopped.” DUN DUN DUUUUUN

“Things were looking pretty bad again, when suddenly Bilbo reappeared, and charged into the astonished spiders unexpectedly from the side.

‘Go on! Go on!” he shouted. “I will do the stinging!”

And he did. He darted backwards and forwards, slashing at spider-threads, hacking at their legs, and stabbing at their fat bodies if they came too near. The spiders swelled with rage, and spluttered and frothed, and hissed out horrible curses; but they had become mortally afraid of Sting, and dared not come very near, now that it had come back. So curse as they would, their prey moved slowly but steadily away. It was a most terrible business, and seemed to take hours.” Love this part. All very heroic.

“They knew only too well that they would soon all have been dead if it had not been for the hobbit; and they thanked him many times. Some of them even got up and bowed right to the ground before him, though they fell over with the effort, and could not get on their legs again for some time.” I can imagine Bilbo all flustered, going “good. Hope you’ve learned your lesson and won’t be doing that again. Limit yourself to fawning.”

“All of a sudden Dwalin opened an eye, and looked round at them. ‘Where is Thorin?’ he asked.”Lmao, finally!

“They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise.” Feral.

“All this was well known to every dwarf, though Thorin’s family had had nothing to do with the old quarrel I have spoken of. Consequently Thorin was angry at their treatment of him, when they took their spell off and he came to his senses.” Another change done for the movie: Thorin’s family wasn’t involved in the feud.

Also lmao this weapon, a prisoner and all “how dare you”.

I’m not going to talk about the conversation between Thorin and Thranduil bc it’s probably been done to death.

Definitely my favourite chapter this far. Main character’s skills and learned courage begins to show? Check. He uses them in a fight that gives him extra confidence? Check. Heroics mixed with witty commentary and one-liners? Check. Team begins to see them in a new, more positive light? Check. Elves being made fun of and painted as kinda ridiculous? Check. (This one’s very subjective ig.)

#The Hobbit #liveblogging #Bilbo Baggins #Thorin Oakenshield III #dwarves #hobbits #The Company of Thorin Oakenshield #Gandalf #Elves #Mirkwood #Spiders

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ladala99 · 6 years ago

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Spyro Reignited Countdown - A Hero’s Tail

And finally we get... I guess it’s not really a return to form but it is a return to greatness.

A Hero’s Tail uses the Spyro characters and basic mechanics and makes it a modern (for the time) platformer. This does eliminate one of the franchise’s core features (finite gems), but ultimately, it did a good job and did the franchise justice.

And it also officially introduces Ember, who Spyro fanficcers liked to ship with Spyro, especially as a rival ship versus Cynder of later titles. Yes, that was a part of the fanbase I frequented. I am not sorry.

Gameplay

Spyro’s controls are brought to the modern (again, for the time) age, with a much more responsive camera and really that’s the only major difference. Spyro feels like Spyro. He flames, he charges, and he glides.

...Well, aside from the fact that they swapped the Flame and Charge buttons, and now you have to hold X to glide rather than just press it. I first played this game as a demo and legitimately thought the change was a mistake, but nope. Not entirely sure why it was made, but it was. Perhaps it aligns with other PS2 platformers better?

Mini rant, courtesy of how 3-year-old me remembered the controls: Circle is flame because it’s red and the mouth makes an O. Square is Charge because the sides are pointy. X is jump because the X is blue like air and you are in the air while jumping. Triangle is zoom in because the bottom represents a really wide view and the top represents a really narrow view. Why would you change this?

But anyway, it works for the game. Aside from not matching previous games, it’s easy to adapt to and the controls are very responsive. They’re not quite as tight as in the originals, but they’re very close.

Additional Playable Characters

We’ve got a few this time. There’s Hunter, Sparx, Sgt. Byrd and the new character Blink. Totally new. What are you talking about with the “but he appeared in a GBA game”?

While Hunter was technically playable before, this is the first time you can platform with him. His moveset’s pretty similar to Spyro’s, aside from one of his main attacks being very ranged. Aside from his arrows, he’s basically Spyro, but not as maneuverable. Yeah, he can scale walls and Spyro doesn’t in this game, but that ability originally belonged to Spyro, so it doesn’t feel unique.

What is unique is that one section that you’re forced to play as him as part of the story. That was neat. And frustrating because he does not platform as well as Spyro does, since his movements are floaty and you can’t correct them with gliding like you can Spyro’s, and this area has a lot of small platforms.

Sparx has a completely different gameplay style this time: rail-shooter. It’s honestly not that bad, especially in comparison to Season of Ice’s Speedways. I just prefer the other Sparx gameplay.

Sgt. Byrd, speaking of Speedways, takes over for Spyro during them. And his levels are definitely not designed in the same way the old Speedways were designed. It used to be that there was a clear linear path to take from one object to the next, but that is not the case here. I like these Speedways better than Season of Ice’s, but I don’t like them much.

As far as actual controls go, Sgt. Byrd does just fine. Sometimes his turning is a little difficult, but it works for how wide open the areas are.

Blink controls very similarly to Hunter, with the main difference being how the level is designed. Blink’s levels are all underground, having a specific set of enemies and such, and they’re all considered minigames with the goal of destroying Dark Gems. He suffers from the same floatiness as Hunter, and there’s certainly a lot of platforms. Somehow, though, his levels never got me stuck like Hunter’s did in that one section.

Sometimes I feel that Eurocom wanted to make a Blink game, not a Spyro game. While Blink’s levels are minigames, they’re really fleshed out and well-designed. They have plenty of variety, if not in appearance.

Collectables

Gems are not just currency to be used at Moneybags’ shop. They’re found everywhere, and can be collected from enemies multiple times. At the beginning you’ll be hurting for them, but by the end of the game you’ll have much more than you know what to do with. At least, that’s my experience.

Dragon Eggs return, with a twist. They’re pretty much optional, and much less valuable than the other main collectable. This time, dragon eggs come in different patterns and if you collect a set, you unlock a thing. A lot of those things are just the ability to play minigames from the main menu.

The things that I care about are the concept art gallery (as that’s always cool) and the Ember and Flame skins. Mostly Ember since I like playing as female characters. It’s just a skin, though, and it changes back to Spyro in cutscenes plus uses his sound effects. Still: first time skins are in the game, unless you count the color cheats!

Finally we get Light Gems. They’re used to power up gadgets and open doors. They’re required for progress in certain places, but not always. They’re always rewarded on the second round of minigames, which means everybody talks about how worthless Dragon Eggs are in comparison. We don’t want these unborn children, give us the shiny thing!

Oh, and Dark Gems. They aren’t collected, but destroyed. You need to smash all of them to continue. They’re just scattered around the levels. You’ll come across them.

Powerups

Supercharge returns! Sort of! It’s one of the powerups that the Professor unlocks for you when you collect enough Light Gems. It really doesn’t feel the same, and it’s used for a few doors, some of which you can’t just charge to from the pad.

There’s also invincibility which works like it did in Lost Fleet, allowing you to travel through acid. Just with a stricter time limit and now it makes Spyro metal rather than red.

Finally I’ll mention the orb-thingys that let you use a ranged version of your breath abilities. I literally have never used them, but they’re there. I can’t say one way or the other how useful they are, but they definitely are not necessary.

Other Modes

The other minigames, as all minigames repeat, are turrets and ball gadgets.

Turrets aren’t hard, but they are stressful. You need to protect the thing while other things try to steal/eat/whatever it. Or you need to protect yourself and hit a huge number of enemies. I don’t like this minigame. Especially the baby turtle one.

Ball Gadgets are much more fun to watch than they are to play. The controls work, but it takes a bit to stop. There’s also a couple of on-rails ones that are really trial-and-error. Even knowing what to do, you’re going to fast to react so you need to memorize every action.

Breath Abilities

This game continues the trend of having them! And acts like it’s the first time at the same time. Enter the Dragonfly is apparently not canon.

Fire acts like it always has. They didn’t do the particle effect thing like Enter the Dragonfly did so it moves forward with you as it should.

Electricity starts out as a weaker Fire and then ends up being much more useful. It takes longer to defeat enemies, but there are certain enemies that are immune to Fire but not Electricity. After a point, it’s not worth it to switch back, since Fire just isn’t universally useful like Electricity is.

Water is just used for puzzles. Nothing else. This is also the only time Water is an element in the series.

Ice freezes certain things (like steam vents so you can use them to pole spin), and enemies of course. There are certain enemies in the final area that are only weak to Ice. (Maybe Water too, but I haven’t tried) Otherwise it freezes enemies so you can charge them like in other games.

Bosses

Finally, we get some new ones!

Gnasty Gnorc returns as the first boss. He’s actually far stronger than he was in Spyro 1, ironically enough. The fight itself is a pretty fun platformer boss fight, but his personality... it’s so childish. It’s like they didn’t know who he really was before.

Ineptune is a new character. The fight itself is, again, great for this style of game. Her character is kind of forgettable, though.

And then we get Red, who we fight twice. The first time is actually harder if only for the fact that you’re in an icy arena and thus the controls are more slippery. He’s not a very complex villain, but his fights are pretty fun, but very similar to the other two.

Special mention to the mammoth, who wins via being in a cutscene. You never see him again, having no chance to best him. He is truly Spyro’s greatest foe.

Levels

Continuing from Attack of the Rhynocs, the levels are much more seamless. They’re still very distinct, but in a lot of cases (moreso early-on than later) they feel like the same level as you begin in.

And again like Attack of the Rhynocs, the levels don’t have concrete ends. You can check your map and see how many Dark Gems are left, but it doesn’t really feel like you’ve finished even after you smash them all.

There’s no main conflict to defeat or anything, it’s just exploring and smashing Dark Gems, and occasionally finding a Dragon Elder to give you new skills. You get a checklist, but it’s not the same.

The theming is fine, if generic. Older Spyro games tended to have an irony to them, but not this one. Everything is played straight. Which, of course, makes it so this game doesn’t stand out very much.

Story

I don’t even know if I fully understand it. So Red’s an evil dragon who mined some Dark Gems to spread evil throughout the lands. And the Elders are very hesitant to tell you more.

Eventually it comes out that Red used to be an Elder, but he betrayed them. I really don’t understand why they couldn’t just tell Spyro that. Do the Elders just have a reputation that they don’t want to sully or something?

We get no motivation on Red’s part, and normally I’d be fine with that, but with all the secrets I expect a bit more. Also: who’s Ineptune in all this?

There’s parts where I feel I missed a game. Ember knows Spyro, and Spyro appears to know Ember. I feel like I should know who Ineptune is just because of how little introduction she gets.

I read that there was going to be a TV show that got cancelled but the games didn’t, but it was literally one forum post and it may have just been someone making things up. It would certainly explain things, though.

Unique in the Series?

Yes and no. It definitely has a unique feel as far as the series goes, but it’s very generic at the same time.

A lot of what it introduces is used again in later games, even though that part of the series is very different.

But yeah, Water Breath, Pole Spinning, and Wall Kicking are unique to this game in the series. They aren’t unique in general (See: Mario. Yes, even Water Breath. See: Sunshine), but for the series, definitely.

It’s at that weird awkward part in which it’s not anything groundbreaking, but it’s still really good.

Conclusion

Best post-Insomniac Classic Spyro, if only by default. It’s generic for its time, bringing Spyro fully into said time. It works, it’s fun, and I wish there were more to this part of the series that weren’t... well, Orange.

#spyro #a hero's tail #video game review #spyro reignited

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katana-no-neko · 6 years ago

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Preview for Lucid

Alright folks

So it’s been about a year since I first posted a rough draft of the first chapter for a story titled Lucid on fanfiction.net.

I didn’t want to start posting the story before I was done with it because I didn’t want to end up with an abandoned story, but I wanted to generate some responses.

Anyways, I’m still working on it, but I can feel my motivation start to wane, so I’d like to get some more feedback from a different audience than the few who responded on fanfiction.net.

This first chapter does have a lot of exposition and crap, of course, but the story does gain some more meat as it goes on; trust me on that.

So here you go. Please, please, please, tell me what you think.

Lucid Chapter 1

In a world where war looms just beyond the horizon, magic exists just beyond mortal sight, and the monarchy holds the power, Lucy just wants to escape her father’s manor. However, she fears what she can manage to do beyond her pampered life. Can the literal “man of her dreams” bring her the adventure she craves?

Rating: T Genre: Romance/Adventure Nalu-centered, with other ships coming in eventually

"That is all. You may return to your bedchamber, Lucy."

"Yes, Father." The seventeen-year-old woman bowed out of the room. She put on a stoic face as she headed towards her room, nodding to servants as she passed in recognition of their bows. She tried to walk as she was expected to, lightly and lady-like, but all the servants who saw her couldn't help but notice that her steps were heavier than normal, her strides were hurried, and her nods were curt. They could tell that she hated whatever her father had said.

Lucy was finally to her quarters. She opened one of the huge double-doors and tried very hard not to slam it. "Virgo?" she called. "Please fetch for me my nightgown. I think I shall be retiring for the night." It was only seven, but Lucy was emotionally exhausted from trying to hide the anger she held for her father. Lucy lounged on a velvet loveseat within the first of her rooms and closed her eyes as she massaged her temples.

"Yes, Princess," the pink haired maid said as she appeared with her mistress' favorite raspberry-green tea to cheer her up. Virgo had not been immune to figuring out Lucy's anger. The girl was always angry after visits with her father. Lucy thanked her maid, took a drink of the fruity delicacy, then sighed.

"I am not a princess. I'm only a duchess, and I don't even want to be that." Virgo often called Lucy by the nickname and while it was odd, it normally didn't bug the blonde all too much. But right now, Lucy wanted nothing to do with it.

"The Heartfilias are next in line for the throne after the Dreyars, so you're almost a princess," Virgo pointed out. Lucy shot her a glare. Giving Lucy her nightgown, Virgo sat down beside her. "What happened this time?" The girl asked bluntly. Lucy shook her head, not knowing where to start. "Would you like to take your anger out on me with punishment?" This time Lucy shook her head at the maid's ridiculous suggestion. "Shall I retrieve Lady Levy, Princess?" Lucy took another sip of her tea as she nodded. Virgo nodded back, then stood from the loveseat and bowed herself out to retrieve Lucy's close lady-in-waiting and friend.

As she waited, Lucy strode to her bathroom, changed into her night clothes, and brushed her medium-length, golden hair out of its ornate style so that it was straight. "Ow!" Lucy yelped. She frowned, then pulled the hidden pin out of her hair so that it wouldn't yank again. By the time she was setting her brush down on her exquisite vanity, her maid and lady-in-waiting had both arrived back. As usual, the bluenette that was Levy had a pile of books in her arms. She must've been in the library before Virgo fetched her, Lucy thought.

"What'd he say this time, Lu?" the blue-haired friend asked, getting right to the point.

Lucy sent Virgo away, then sighed. "The heir of the Prominence family will be arriving tomorrow, and I'm 'expected to show that I'll be a good wife', so that the 'Heartfilias can continue to prosper with the wealth your marriage will give'! I haven't even met Lord Prominence, and he already expects us to get married! I know that's the custom, but it's a stupid custom and one that even the royal families have moved away from!"

"Wasn't Prominence supposed to marry the lady of the Titanose household of Bosco?" Levy started. This was not really the time, but her curiosity could not be willed away.

Lucy understood her friends love for learning, so she didn't worry about not getting advice yet. "It was called off. I'm not sure why, I just heard something about 'bad behavior'."

"Oh. Alright," although Lucy could see that Levy was not quite sated and would certainly be delving through documents for more information. Luckily, the advice came next as Levy sighed and shook her head. "I've told you: if you hate it here, then you should run away! I'll even come with you so you won't be alone! It would be just like this book I re-"

"That's just it, Lev! I'm not in a book! I wouldn't know the first thing about living outside of the manor, even if you are there! I have no skills! For all my years, I've had everything I need and have barely been allowed to do anything for myself, so what would I do when I couldn't get things at the snap of a finger!?" Levy grew quiet. She just didn't know what to say or what advice to give. "And besides," Lucy started again, her voice returning to the steady tone that told Levy her next sentence would be one that Lucy practically rehearsed to herself to justify staying. Levy noticed that it did sound a tad regretful, though. "I need to be ready to run the kingdom should something dreadful become of Prince and Princess Dreyar." Lucy sighed.

"You know as much as I do that it's very unlikely for Mira and Laxus to be rendered unable to rule anytime soon. And stop talking so formally. I know you hate it."

Lucy just sighed in response. She had dropped some of the formalities after leaving her father’s study, but she was still a tad stuck in it, apparently. She also knew Levy’s first words were true. Both members of the couple were formidable fighters, the Princess Mirajane possibly moreso than her husband. If anyone were to attack them, it wouldn't turn out great for the one doing the attacking They’d probably be announcing an heir to the throne sometime soon, as well. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep. Thank you for talking with me. Good night." Lucy stood up from the loveseat and went into her main bedchamber, closing the door behind her. Levy sighed. Perhaps she could find more books for her friend. Those always help her escape, if only for a short while. With that thought, she left, hoping that she could cheer her blonde friend up somehow.

Lucy slumped onto the foot of her bed. Sighing deeply, she climbed under her thick, woolen covers. She rested her head on the fluffy feather pillows billowing at the head of her bed and pulled the covers up to her neck, curling up into a ball under them. Trying not to think of her father, Lucy closed her eyes and drifted into dreamland, hoping for some adventure there.

The woman found herself in the clearing of a forest. Or, what she imagined a forest to be like. Oak trees surrounded her and a plethora and variety of plants spread across the ground. Vines crawled up the trunks of the trees, releasing a mystical feeling into the clearing. Being a noble, she hadn't spent much time traipsing in the wilderness, so it all had to be arranged from descriptions in stories. Lucy loved to read. Epic fairy tales were her favorites. The adventures in them were exciting, and she so desperately wanted to go on such epic quests. Just as she had told Levy earlier, though, she had no clue how to. One of her favorite stories, as well as her mother's, had had fairies in it. As a child, she had often dreamed of going to forests and searching for fairies. Her mother had promised they would do just that sometime. Unfortunately, such a trip had never happened, and never could. Her mother had died when she had only been a little girl.

Lucy saddened a bit at the memory of her mother and the trip that could never happen. With the death of her mother, she'd been left without a proper parent figure. Her father hadn’t been a parent to her ever, so perhaps the closest she’d had after her mother had been her butler, Capricorn. Capricorn had been very close to Lucy’s mother and had thus always been there for Lucy, too. Lucy smiled at the memories of Capricorn before she heard a long groan and a loud crack behind her, followed closely by a crash. Turning around, Lucy saw that a tree trunk at least four times her width had fallen through the edge of the clearing to create a wall across it.

"Cool! I just knocked a tree over!" A voice called. Lucy watched the owner of the voice, a boy that seemed to be her age, jump onto the trunk and pump his fist in the air proudly. At the sight of him, she immediately felt a strange relief and smiled softly, but also felt a pounding feeling in the back of her head. She ignored the sudden headache in favor of studying the man, though. He had bright, spiky, pink hair covering his head, and eyes that shined with excitement, but when Lucy's eyes were drawn to the cheery grin on his face that seemed to exude excitement and happiness, Lucy noticed that her own mouth widened to mirror it. His grin was too contagious to not react in such a way, and she had the strangest feeling that she'd seen that grin before. She was certain she would've remembered this strange-seeming boy, though, had they met before.

Suddenly, the log lurched, causing the newcomer to slip and fall off, landing on his back with a dull thud and a groaned out 'ow'. Lucy was concerned for a bit, about to race over to him and see if he was okay, but then he darted up off the ground and started waving his fist at the log.

"You want a piece of me!?" he yelled. "I'll teach you to make me fal-" He was interrupted by a fit of giggles and turned around to see a blonde girl, holding her sides and bent over at the waist with laughter. The boy felt the same relief and pulsing in the back of his head as the girl had, not that either knew of the shared feeling. He hardly noticed it, though, used to having headaches from falling, fighting, and simply being whacked in the head for being stupid. The boy couldn't help but smile. The jovial and bell-like sound of her giggling was too contagious for him to avoid laughing along with her, and it even sounded a bit familiar to him. Why was that?

The two's laughing slowly rolled to a stop. Once it did, Lucy let out a shaky breath and wiped at her eyes. She winced a little at the pain in her sides, not used to laughing so much. Her father thought that laughter was such an obnoxious sound, so the most she could ever do was giggle lightly when with a friend. "I'm sorry for laughing," she apologized with another shaky breath, "You just took me by surprise, and then the tree-" Lucy giggled again, causing her partner to also snicker once more.

"It's fine! It was pretty funny. I'm Natsu! Who're you?" The pink-haired boy, Natsu, asked. Lucy blushed a little at his forwardness. She knew this mysterious boy's first name right away, something she wasn't used to. Strangers were always referred to by their family name until she deemed them a friend. For example, Levy she had dubbed "Lady McGarden," until they had gotten to know one another. It was likewise with her own name. All the visitors outside the manor knew her as "Lady Heartfilia," and most of the servants beyond the ones she thought of as friends were to keep formalities and call her "Lady Lucy."

This Natsu person didn't seem to go by those customs. She hadn't met any nobles who didn't follow them, so that meant the man was most likely common. This was a dream, though, so he probably wasn't even real, merely a figment of her imagination. Whether he was real or not, her father would throw a fit if he knew she was talking to a commoner, let alone reveal her name to one, and that spurred her to continue the conversation. But that wasn't the only reason she decided to tell her name. Natsu had a certain air around him that made her feel comfortable, as if she were speaking to her best friend. She felt she could trust him. She felt comfort around him.

"Hello? Are you gonna talk anytime soon, Weirdo?" Natsu snapped his fingers in front of Lucy's face. Lucy jumped with a start as she realized that she had been staring into space and completely silent while she thought. Her cheeks puffed put in annoyance when she realized what he had called her, and Natsu decided that seeing that was almost as great as hearing her laugh, and just as oddly familiar.

"Weirdo!? Maybe I won't tell you my name!" Lucy suggested, with both an angry tone and a joking tone in the words.

"Well, I have to call you something! If you won't tell me your name, then I'll have to stick with 'Weirdo'!" Natsu grinned as he teased her, causing Lucy to not only roll her eyes, but also blush again.

"Lucy!" She suddenly said.

"Huh?"

"My name! It's Lucy!"

Natsu stared at her for a bit with a blank look, then smiled to her once again. "Okay, Loony!"

Lucy's eyes bugged out. "Excuse me!? I'm over here, deciding that I can trust you enough to reveal my name, and you have the audacity to make fun of it!?"

Natsu, instead of being apologetic, as Lucy expected, just looked confused. "Odd Ass City? Where's that?"

"What!? No! Audac-" Lucy shook her head, not wanting to bother explaining, and decided to just yell, "You're an idiot!"

Lucy had expected him to get defensive, but the strange boy just chuckled and gave her his bright grin again. "I've been called that before!"

Lucy scoffed. "That's to be expected! You are one!"

"You seem nice," Natsu said. "I like you." To Lucy's surprise, there wasn't a hint of sarcasm in his voice. It had been a genuine comment. Lucy's cheeks became tinged with pink again.

"Well, I like you, too. You seem nice as well." Lucy could see him smile at the comment, and she couldn't help but smile back.

Very suddenly, Natsu felt the sensation of cold water washing over his face, and he disappeared from the forest and from Lucy's dream, putting an abrupt end to their conversation. "Natsu?" Lucy called. "Where'd you go?" She turned and checked all around her for the pink-haired man and came to the conclusion that she was alone in her forest of dreams. Then, the scenery around her began to fade, and she found herself in her bedroom, awake and in the dark.

"Natsu?" she quietly questioned the empty room. Lucy shrugged and decided to lay back down and go back to sleep, but she still had lingering thoughts of Natsu left on her mind. Is he real? And if he is, then who is he?

The rest of her night went dreamless.

Natsu jerked up out of his dream to wake up in a courtyard. Lush, green grass was speckled with brown patches of dirt. Who was she? Lucy had been her name, he could remember. She had yelled it at him pretty clearly. She was weird. At that thought, he smiled. He heard a snicker beside him and looked up to see a man with dark hair above him, holding an empty bucket.

"What's with the smile?" the man asked with a smirk.

Natsu scoffed and sent the image of Lucy away. "Nothing," he claimed, making the asker wonder what had happened. Natsu scratched the back of his head and felt that his hair was cold and wet. Tch. So he did dump water on me, he thought, remembering the bucket. "Why'd you wake me up, Gray? And when'd I fall asleep?"

Gray, the man with the dark hair, became straight-faced. "The king would like to see you in his study. He has too much paperwork to do, or he would've gotten your ass himself." Then he smirked again. "And to answer your second question, about five minutes into our duel when I knocked you out." Natsu hated the cocky look on the speaker's face, so he punched him just there. "Hey!"

Natsu ignored the indignant call of his rival and stood up. Looking around, the eighteen-year-old spotted his sword a little farther away and picked it up, putting it into the sheath attached to his belt. He loved his sword. It was a broadsword, although he didn't use the advantage of a one-handed sword to carry a shield; a shield would just weigh him down. If he was fast enough to dodge, then there was no need for a shield, which was part of why he chose a broadsword. It was lighter than some of the other options. Another reason he loved the sword so much was the hilt's design. The hilt was fashioned as a dragon, with the wings acting as a guard and the dragon's open mouth leading to the blade. He didn't know what the blade was made of, but he liked it. The metal was a slightly reddish color and was very shiny, giving it the awesome illusion of fire when it glinted in light. All those features caused him to dub the sword "Fire Dragon".

Gray, nineteen, often made fun of Natsu's sword, but Natsu personally thought his was much cooler than Gray's. Gray's sword was a claymore, which he had called "Icecalibur". Besides being inspired by some legend that Natsu never cared to remember, the name had partially come from the light blue gems that sparkled along the guard, almost giving it the appearance of ice. The blade was of another bright, shiny metal that Natsu didn't know the name of, but it didn't have the reddish tinge of the Fire Dragon's blade. It was just a plain silver colored metal.

What Natsu really didn't get about Gray's fighting was that he had a shield. Despite the difficulty in using both a shield and a two-handed sword in combat, though, Gray used both quite frequently. The shield was made of the same shiny metal as his Icecalibur, and had some more of the tiny ice-like gems on it. It was kind of shaped like a star, and if Natsu had to guess, then he would say it had fourteen or fifteen points on it. When he had first seen it, Natsu made fun of it, saying it looked like a flower. That had earned him an angry punch in the face. Apparently, Gray had made the shield with his old mentor or adoptive mother or something just before she had died, about twelve or so years ago. She had taught him the basics of swordplay and being a knight.

Natsu gave his friend another punch before heading into the castle from the courtyard. He would have to fight Gray again later, but make sure to knock him out in the first five minutes. After walking through some long, red-carpeted hallways and climbing up some tall, winding stairs, Natsu had arrived to his destination. He opened one of the heavy wooden doors and went in. At the large, regal, wooden desk covered in paperwork sat a red-haired man: King Igneel Dragneel of Kasai. Natsu cleared his throat and called to him.

"Hey, you wanted me, Dad?"

#nalu #natsu x lucy #fairy tail #anime #anime and manga #manga #lucid #fanfiction #nalu fanfiction #fanfic #monarchy au #natsu dragneel #lucy hearfilia #katana-no-neko #gray fullbuster #levy mcgarden #lucid fanfiction

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