#but I'm mostly at this point just waiting for battle city honestly

[im-tempted]

i think s1 (ep 35-37 i think) the finally fight of duel kingdom is so interesting especially with the B plot of whatever the fuck is going on with the ring fucker

cuz it's the first real time we actually see the millennium items in action yugi/yami obviously but also with bakura and Pegasus

during the big duel it's the first time (in anime) that we really see the puzzle boys communicate in any real way

but also we see Pegasus using his eye (which is notable at this point for not holding a ghost) in a way to effect peoples minds setting the precedent that that's what they do

but at the same time having yami Bakura be fully just summoning demons into the real tangible world

i definitely like the manga way they roll out the items better (faaaaar sooner)

but i think it's interesting how they choose to right at the end of the season just absolutely shove as much lore as they can at you

[sky-scribbles]

Playlist for my Aeor longfic

I failed to figure out how to do a fancy spotify embed like the kids do but uh. Here's the playlist for Gravity!

I listened to this while planning and writing, and there are even a few shout-outs to the songs in the fic... Songs are arranged chronologically, so you should be able to hear the story happening, hopefully :'D

Further yelling about song choices under the cut!

A Matter of Time - This one is... sort of the fic's opening titles in my head? I wanted to start out with an instrumental, to capture the vibes of the months before the fic opens - Essek and Caleb apart, thinking about the T-Dock, and each other. Wondering. Waiting.

Horse to Water - Essek in Chapter 1, knowing his life as the Shadowhand is ending, waiting for Caleb to come and take him away to whatever comes next. (I'm normally very picky about not putting songs that reference modern day stuff on fantasy playlists but this one's vibes were too perfect)

Dear Fellow Traveller - Two wizards heading into Aeor together.

Conquest of Spaces - A song for Aeor. A dark, beautiful city, the remains of a people who lived by greed and power. (And two wizards in the ruins, trying to draw closer to each other.)

Neptune - This is mostly for Essek's breakdown in chapter 5, as he worries he'll never break out of his Shadowhand manipulation, wanting to be closer to Caleb and not knowing what that would even look like. And it's a little for Caleb in chapter 6, too, grappling with his feelings for Essek and his fears that they'll ultimately be bad for each other.

Please Don't Say You Love Me - ... and as they move past those fears, this song is for them tentatively acknowledging what they might be to each other. Not yet. But maybe soon.

Woodwork - This is for the chapters 6-9 span, as they learn more about Brashaar's plan. The pressure of a crisis has an odd way of making them realise just how deep their trust and care for each other runs.

Two Evils - Since we're at the point where Brashaar shows up, she gets a song now! This is pretty much her internal monologue during her confrontation with the wizards (though she really should have paid attention to 'if you're not careful, you will lose her' in reference to Quaera...)

Winter - Travelling northward, and yearning. Wishing they had more time.

Mind - A song for a young Quaera, slowly forming a personality, wondering about who she is and how her identity forms...

The Tower - ... and having their own breakdown.

What Could Have Been - I love me a good villainous breakdown, and this is a song for Brashaar's. This is how I imagine she feels during the final confrontation, raging against the gods, against Caleb and Essek, against Quaera after they turn from her. Not quite able to let go of what she thinks Aeor could have been. What, in her eyes, the world is meant to be. (As a bonus, I think the second verse sounds a bit like a retort to her from Quaera...)

Everybody Wants to Rule the World - This is such a fun cinematic cover, and I can't tell you how many times I've imagined a mental AMV of the final battle with Brashaar set to it :'D

Ori, Embracing the Light - I wanted an instrumental here too, because... Essek is dead, Caleb is in shutdown, and Essek and Quaera are communing with the Luxon, a being that doesn't really speak with words. Also, 'embracing the light' is exactly what Quaera does at this point.

Would That I - I know we all use this as Caleb's 'learning to live and love again' song... and I am no exception. This is for him after the T-Dock, finally fully acknowledging his grief, and his love for Essek.

First Day of my Life - Just two wizards realising that they have a future, and agreeing to slowly work at what's between them.

Ready to Call This Love - This one speaks for itself, honestly.

Five - Both of the wizards in the final chapter, but especially Essek realising how isolated he's been from the world, and letting it all in so he can feel it. (Also, studying the universe is a love language - )

Gravity - Gravity is a metaphor for love!!!!

[lover-of-mine]

You don't have to answer this question at all if it's too personal . I won't feel bad. I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect. I'm agnostic and wasn't raised in any religion. I don't even know really anyone who practices Catholicism. The only thing I can interpret from my friends who are Christian is its definitely, harsher??? Values ingrained in them. I was wondering if you were raised religious and had to battle being queer vs any pre conceived notions you held or your family may have. I swear you said something once about Nuns crossing themselves when they passed you for having colored hair? Sorry if I'm wrong on that. I just feel like if they are doing this they are really doing it and what a story of deconstructing yourself might look like.

Okay, this is a complicated question. I was raised religious and for all intents and purposes, I still am, but while I am christian, I was never catholic. I was raised with spiritism as a belief and they are a lot more open to stuff than different churches. The experience I had with catholic people telling me stuff like being queer is wrong was in school, because my city is very catholic and because we had a religious study class that was mandatory and the teacher was very Sunday school type vibes even though it wasn't supposed to be a catholic leaning class, but at that point I was old enough to push back, so I was constantly fighting my teacher. I'm not out to my family because while my parents never had a problem with queer people, my dad has made some comments about bisexual people that make me scared even tho they weren't fully bigoted, it's just boomer talk, being ignorant, and, honestly, I think he knows and he's waiting for me to say something because there was a situation with one of my cousins a few years back that got me really heated because her side of the family is very religious, and she's some shade of queer and people kept using religion against her, and my dad suddenly started talking about acceptance and stuff like that while supporting how frustrated I was with my uncle, but honestly, at this point I'm kinda settled into only coming out to them if there's a girl I want them to meet. I did go to university in a very religious city and I had to deal with multiple people commenting on my appearance, specifically colorful hair, the nun thing did happen, I had blue hair and I was wearing a shirt that had a cross made of skulls, they didn't like that, but I've had people tell I'm not getting into heaven and my sin was pink hair. I can't really help with this particular aspect because my struggle with being bi was never about someone telling me that loving women is wrong, it was always I do like men, so I just thought people felt that way about everybody. I fully kissed another girl and didn't accept I was bi until like, 3 years later lol. I will say that catholicism as a whole is very engrained into latino culture, and I did experience that adjacently, the whole being gay is a sin thing, but since in my house I didn't have that, I pushed back, I pushed back enough that my whole school believed I was a lesbian by the time I hit highschool (I grew up in a small town, everyone knows everyone)

Now, applying the whole thing to Eddie, I think with the way that Eddie talks about religious pressure defining some steps he took with his life, deconstructing his relationship with religion and the concept of God would be important for him to fully accept himself if that's where they're going. Mostly because I think he needs to confront the way he views the works and when you grow up religious, it does affect the way you look at things even if you don't believe that religion anymore. But I don't think I can give anything more insightful given the way I don't know how it feels like to experience catholicism the way Eddie does. I do believe that Eddie finding himself does mean Eddie accepting he is some shade of queer, and since they touched on the whole catholic guilt last season, that's a good way to force him to accept that there's nothing wrong with him, but it's more about the way I watched people go through similar stuff, not any personal experience.

[spookymystery67]

I Wish I Could Walk In Heels

AN: Getting closer and closer to when Ada makes her appearance guys! I said it was slow burn and I meant it. On a seperate note, my motivation is draining and it's scaring me because I've done this shit before and have an entire other story I have yet to finish. I will not say what it is. I will try not to do that for this one.

Also. Also! Fucking Neil Newbon guys. Honestly, didn't pay much attention to him or know his name until very recently because of Astarion from Baulders Gate 3. Point is, did y'all know he played Karl Heisenberg from RE Village? Or fucking Nicholai Zinoviev from the RE3 remake? The very rude Russian dude that, spoiler, makes another appearance in this chapter? I didn't! Found that out this morning actually. Those dots did not connect! I was shocked. Dude has range. I'm impressed. And slightly jealous of his talent.

I guess I didn't pay attention because I was more of a Lady Dimitrescu girl than a Karl Heisenberg girl. Thought I finally figured out I was a lesbian too until Astarion existed. So thanks to Neil Newbon, I'm confused again.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

TW: Zombies, violence, fire, Nicholai, Nemesis, ect. The usual. Idk, I didn't re-read again. Sorry if I traumatize anyone. NO MINORS!

Chapter 5:

-September 28, 1998-

You both made it back to the station safely. You were out of breath, but continued to run down the stairs hurriedly to your destination.

You finally made it down the stairs and saw Carlos.

"Nice job, supercop. I'm impressed. You did good too." He added the last sentence for you and you waved him off. 

"She did most of the work." You said.

"We back in business?" Jill questioned.

"Yeah, mostly. But we need thirty to forty minutes to finish maintenance." Carlos said.

You all jumped when the shudders to your right opened. Nicholai and another U.B.C.S soldier appeared.

"Nicholai. How we doing?" Carlos asked.

"The town's crawling with those freaks. No chance of fighting our way out of the city." Nicholai said. He noticed Jill and I. "Why is she here?" He asked, pointing to Jill angrily.

"She's helping get the trains running again."

"Bad times to start carrying dead weight, friend." He made his way closer to Jill. "She's unreliable. Can't pull the trigger when it counts." 

You move to stand slightly in front of Jill, ready to fight the man if necessary.

"Hey, take it easy." Carlos tried to calm him down.

"She can't even fight her own battles. Has her pretty friend here protecting her." Nicholai said, smirking at you in a way that made your stomach curl in disgust.

"If anything, I'm protecting you from her." You scoffed. 

He stared at you for a moment and you raised a brow at him, challenging him. He tsked. "She'll get you killed." He finished, walking away.

"Sorry about that. Everyones a little worked up." Carlos said. You shrugged.

You all jumped when you heard a loud bang. You sighed, already knowing what it meant.

"Awe come on. Not again." Carlos said.

Jill rushed to press the button to close the shutter gate. She crawled under and you and Carlos followed.

"It's me he's after. I'll buy you some time." Jill quickly ducked under the gate again before it fully closed. Leaving her on the side of danger and you and Carlos on the other side.

"Hey. Hey wait. Stop!" Carlos said.

"Jill no! Damn it, Jill! Don't do anything stupid!" You shouted, watching her run away from the persistent monster.

You huffed as she and the monster ran out of sight. You didn't know what to do. You can't help her with the gate blocking the way. And she clearly didn't want your help at the moment. You just hoped she would be alright.

"I have to make sure everything is prepared for when this train leaves." Carlos said.

"What do you need me to do, Carlos?" You asked, wanting to help.

"Well, if you're up for it, there's a building not far from here that has some supplies we need. Ammo and the like. We left it behind when it was our temporary safe house. If you can get them, that would be awesome."

"Sure, which building?" You asked.

"The one under construction near here. You know it?" You nodded. "It's just the one case. Not a lot, but it's something. I'll even let you take your pick of whatever you'd like. Here, take a radio. I'll let you know when we are ready to leave. You'll hear Jill too if she calls." He said, handing you a radio.

"Like a three way call. Got it. I'll be back." You told him, making your way out of the station through a different exit.

-September 28, 1998-

You made it to the building a while later, finding the case of ammo, first aid and food supplies that could be useful. You pocketed some of the handgun and shotgun ammo and a single first aid kit. You also took a couple clean water bottles and granola bars, before shutting the case and turning to leave.

"Carlos. Can you hear me now?" Jill asked over the radio. You quickly grabbed the radio with your free hand.

"Jill? Oh thank god. Everything okay?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, I'm alive. I lost him." She said through the speaker.

"Jill, you're okay! I told you not to do anything stupid, you stupid woman." You scolded her, tying the case to your backpack. It's a little heavy even though it's not that big, but you will make do.

"Relax. He's gone. For the moment at least? Where are you?" She asked.

"Gathering supplies the U.B.C.S left behind in some building under construction. I was about to leave." You said.

"Great. The subway's ready to go. We'll leave as soon as you two make it back." Carlos said.

"Sound's good." You said. But Jill remained silent. You hoped she was okay.

Just as you thought that, Jill came running through the opened shudder door. She tried shutting it, but flames made her back up. You quickly ran up and kicked it fully shut.

"Y/n!" She yelled, surprised you're there.

"Jill! Run!" You grabbed her arm and started running.

"It can use weapons?" You asked as you ran.

"I just found that out." Jill answered.

"Where did it get a flamethrower?"

"No idea."

You both made it to a yellow ladder and you climbed up first. As Jill was starting to climb, the monster found her and began shooting the flamethrower. Jill barely escaped unscathed as you quickly pulled her up.

"Thanks." She gasped.

"Don't mention it."

You both run up the stairs, having nowhere to go but up. As you passed a set, the monster used its tentacles to grapple up through the gaps in the floor, scaring both you and Jill. You and Jill moved quicker. Continuing to run through the construction sight, over temporary planks used as bridges and carefully avoiding the flames being shot at you.

You jumped over a gap and realized the flames were spreading quickly. You need to get out of here. 

The flames licked your back as you climbed and made you feel sweaty from the heat. You jumped over another gap and waited for Jill. She too jumped, but the plank gave out and you quickly grabbed her hands and pulled her up, preventing her from plummeting to a fiery, painful death.

Another set of ladders, this time making Jill go first as she is clearly more danger prone at the moment. You both finally made it to the roof, jumping down from the temporary structure onto concrete.

As you both landed, the monster crashed through the roof and landed in front of you. You sighed and grabbed your shotgun.

"You don't suppose that this will do much, do you?" You asked Jill.

"No, but this might." She said, holding up her new weapon.

"Is that a grenade launcher?" You asked incredulously.

"Yup, found it in the sewers." 

"Ah, that explains the smell." You joked. She glared playfully and gave you the middle finger, before focusing on the matter at hand.

"Alright, let's do this." Jill said. You both dodged a stream of flames shot at you, hiding behind piles of construction materials.

"How about you distract it and I shoot the tank on its back?" You suggested, assuming it would explode like those red barrels lying around.

"Good thinking." She nodded in agreement. 

Jill distracted the creature, avoiding flames and shooting generators to stun it as you aimed your shotgun at its back where the fuel tank sat. You eventually succeeded at getting the tank to blow up. The creature was now on fire, but somehow still alive.

And even more pissed off.

"It's still kicking?" Jill asked incredulously.

"Maybe you should use your special grenade launcher." You suggested as you dodged the creature speeding toward you, shooting a couple rounds at it.

"Yeah. Might have to." She said as the creature growled. The growl sounding like the word 'stars'.

It felt like you two did a lot of running in circles and wasted a lot of ammo to finally get that thing stunned. It fell to its front and you gasped for breath, the air incredibly hot and hard to breathe in due to the flames.

Things begun to explode and Jill tugged you to the edge of the building, pulling you off the side to slide down some slanted glass windows before you even had time to think.

You screamed as you both fell onto one of those outside elevator things that window washers use. It shakes violently and snaps on one side. You screamed again as you rolled off and Jill caught your hand to keep you from plummeting to your death, hanging on as tightly to the elevator edge as she could with your added weight. Which was a lot thanks to the bags on your back.

She looked down, and before she could even try to pull you and her up, the elevator went down lower, shaking you two off and making you land painfully on the ground below you, Jill landing on top of you and knocking the air out of you.

You noticed the elevator about to fall and quickly rolled yourself and Jill away from your spot on the ground, just barely missing it as it fell where you once lied.

You two gasped and groaned in pain, Jill still on top of you. You stared at the burning building and sighed, feeling her elbow digging sharply into your ribcage. 

"Jill, you're crushing me." Jill quickly rolled off of you.

"Sorry." She panted, trying to calm her rapid heart.

"It's fine." You noticed that your back was touching the solid ground and sat up. "Where are my bags?" 

Jill pointed to where your bags had somehow come off in the process of the fall. You slowly stood, groaning in pain from your left shoulder and torso area. And your legs. And pretty much your whole body. You had been badly beaten up the last few weeks and the pain meds are clearly wearing off.

"Next time you want to jump off a building, a little heads up would be nice." You jested weakly as you limped to your bags.

"There wasn't any time. Sorry." Jill said, joining you on her feet.

"It's alright. You saved me by doing that. And we're alive, so I'll call that a win." You said. You both started to make your way out to the street, slightly limping due to pain.

Jill took out her radio. "Carlos, it's Jill. Do you read me?" She gasped out.

"Loud and clear. You alright? I can't get a hold of Y/n." He asked. As you were checking your pockets to make sure the drive was still there, which it was, you pulled out your radio from your back pocket and saw that it was broken.

"She's fine, she's with me. She just broke her radio. And the bastards' dead." She finished.

"Good. Fuck him." You snorted at his simple response. "But what were you thinking? Turning yourself into bait? You could have been killed."

Jill sighed. "Don't start. I did what I had to."

"I know. And uh…thanks." Carlos said. "The subway's ready to go. Hurry back." He finished.

You and Jill started forward, doing the usual dodge and kill with any zombie that game near you. You realized the area you were in was near the police station and made a mental note to make it back after you saw Jill off.

"Hey, wait. I wanna check something out real quick, okay?" Jill said, pointing to the "Gun Shop Kendo" sign.

"Alright." You agreed. She'd know this area considering this was right next to her place of work. Maybe she knew Kendo.

You walked into the building with her in the lead. As you explored, you jumped when a man in a yellow plaid shirt jumped out from behind a wall with a shotgun.

"Don't move!" He paused in recognition. "Shit, Jill." He said, putting the gun down. He noticed you, but determined you weren't a threat since you were with Jill.

"Kendo. You're alright."

"Yeah, well, alrights a stretch. Who's your friend?" He asked, seemingly a little nervous.

"Y/n, this is Kendo, the owner of the shop. Kendo, Y/n. She's been helping me." She explained.

"Hey. Nice to meet you." You said with a wave.

"Nice to meet you. Sorry I got a little jumpy there. Didn't know quite what to expect." He frantically looked around for any signs of something.

"No shit. Look, we're using the subway to get people out of town. You in?" Jill asked him.

"Subway. Well…that's good thinking." He glanced at a door in the far back, seemingly in thought.

"When we get out there's gonna be a lot to do. We could use a man of your skillset." As she said that, he continued to stare at the door, debating something in his head. Jill tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing. Just uh…just bad timing is all." He seemed almost worried. Were we too late for something? "Look uh, don't worry about me. I'm gonna make other arrangements. Okay?"

"You better. You're the best gunsmith around." Jill said.

"Oh no." He laughed nervously.

"Don't do anything stupid." Jill said sternly.

"Oh that's-that's your job right? Take care, Jill." He said, walking to the back and through the door he was staring at before, you assumed it was his current hideout.

"If you're heading to the station, take that service alley out in front of the shop, okay? The key's hanging on the wall." He shouted from behind the door.

Jill nodded, and after one final glance at the door, she turned to grab the key hanging on the wall.

"Alright. Let's go." She said, leading you out the front and to the service alley gate. She unlocked the door and you pulled out your shotgun, shooting one of the mutated zombies with something parasitic on their head, killing it instantly.

"Nice shot. Your aim is getting better." Jill praised.

"Thank you kindly." You joked with a country accent, curtsying like people used to do in the olden days. That's what the movies told you anyways.

"Pfft, last time I will compliment you." Jill snorted, amused with your behavior.

You laughed and walked through the back door to someone's house. Was it Kendo's house? Whose house was it?

You shot another zombie with a parasite on its head, hitting directly on the orange eyeball, making it explode and die.

You searched the house for anything useful, finding a couple explosive rounds and handing them to Jill. You didn't think you were ready for anything like that. Plus, her weapon was the only one compatible with the rounds.

Finished with the house, you walked through the front door and out onto the street. This street, like all the others, was ruined and filled with debris and wooden fence blocks. Once again. Too quiet. You followed Jill, as she seemed to know where she was going.

Before you could make it any further, an object on fire suddenly fell from the sky right in front of your path. Clearly thrown by something. You and Jill turned and saw that, once again, the creature was there. Alive and still on fire. It carried a fancy box that looked like something Umbrella would use to hold something high tech.

Oh, it's Umbrella. Duh, Y/n. They sent this thing to kill all S.T.A.R.S members in the city. No wonder why it's so persistent in killing Jill. You felt stupid for not making the connection sooner. Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to your brain.

The creature slammed the box to the ground and it opened. It pulled out a, what was, IS THAT A ROCKET LAUNCHER? And it had a light pointer on it to help aim. Fancy.

"Rocket launcher, really?" Jill exclaimed.

"Fucking bullshit! Pardon my language!" You grabbed her hand and pulled her to a run, miraculously avoiding any rocket that was aimed in your direction.

You turned the alley, avoiding a zombie as you had no time to even glance in its direction, let alone kill it. The creature ran towards you, clearly not in the mood for taunting with slow walking anymore.

You dodged and Jill aimed her grenade launcher at the rocket launcher, shooting it and stopping a rocket from hitting us. It briefly distracted the creature and you took that to your advantage to get more distance.

A rocket hit a car in front of you, causing it to flip in the air, making you and Jill jump out of the way, landing harshly on the ground. You both gasped in pain and Jill's radio went off, signaling Carlos trying to get a hold of the two of you.

Jill stood up and answered the radio. "Jill, are you two okay?" He asked.

"Carlos, that monster on my ass again!" Jill exclaimed.

"Are you shitting me? I thought you killed it!" Carlos said.

"Me too!" She exclaimed as the monster landed on a truck not too far from us. It was taking the height advantage to get a better aim at us with its seemingly endless amounts of rockets.

"How many rockets does that thing have?" You asked.

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?" Jill snarked as you both dodged another rocket aimed at the two of you still running.

"No, I'm good." You told her.

You weaved through cars on the street, getting cut off by another rocket in front of you making the area ahead burst into flames. You looked over just as another rocket aimed at the two of you hit the road, just nearly missing you two, but knocking you off the side of the street.

You and Jill managed to land near each other, yelling in pain as the hard surface of the street scraped your skin and made you bruise.

You gasped and sat up as fast as you could, taking in your surroundings. Let's see, there's really only one way to go. The entire street is blocked by debris on fire so you'll have to climb up the stairs on the side of the building.

"You good?" You asked Jill, offering her a hand up.

"No." She gasped, taking your outreached hand and using you for stability for a moment.

"Great. Come on, up the stairs." You said. Still holding her hand, you dragged her to the stairs of the temporary build on the side of the building. 

You walked the long, wooden, walkway and reached a ladder. "Are you good to climb?" 

"Yeah. You?" She asked, noticing your slight limp.

"Barley. After you." You tell her.

She does as you said and you kept watch for any monsters or rockets. When the ladder was clear, you climbed up after her. You took a right and jumped to the roof of the building next to you. The radio went off once more.

"Jill, you there? I think I know how to slow that fucker down. Head back towards the station." Carlos's voice sounded through the speaker.

"And lead him right to you?" Jill asked incredulously.

"It's okay, trust me." He said. Jill sighed and shut the radio off.

"I guess we're going to the station." She told you.

"Okay then. Lead the way." You said.

You made your way down the building and to a street full of shops. One shop being the "Toy Uncle" with a giant statue of a head of a mustached guy on top of the building.

You ran up the stairs toward the Toy Uncle. As you did you saw a rocket fly toward the head, knocking it right off and making it roll down stairs toward the two of you.

"This is insane." Jill sighed tiredly, pulling you to run away from the head taking up the whole street. It would surely crush you if you get too close.

You quickly ducked back into the alley you came from and the head slowed to a stop. You maneuver around it and head back up the stairs toward the Toy Uncle. You take a right and see a dead end. You take another right and see a gated alleyway. The gate was, luckily, unlocked and you ran through it.

You took a left and saw Carlos up ahead.

"Jill! Y/n! This way!" He yelled, beckoning you to take a right and follow him.

You made it to a gas station when a rocket launcher exploded at your feet. Sending you and Jill sprawling on the ground for what felt like the millionth time that's night. You quickly stood and pulled Jill with you, taking a left around the corner.

Once the creature made the same turn, a bomb lit up with a red light and exploded near it, knocking the monster into a military truck.

Carlos came up behind you two. "Hey, you okay?" He asked.

You and Jill looked at the creature, which was now back to its feet. "Go. GO!" Carlos yelled.

You two started to take off as Carlos tried shooting it with his machine gun. You both paused.

"Come on! Forget about him!" Jill yelled.

Carlos grunted and ran after you two. You made it to a building and Jill pressed the button closing the metal shutters. Carlos shot a gas truck before it closed and made it explode, rolling under the shutters just as it shut to block the explosion.

The shutters dented inwards from the impact of something. You assumed the monster. Carlos stood. "Come on. Let's get out of here." He said. You both nodded in agreement and began making your way to the subway platform.

"Carlos. I know we didn't get off to a great start, but, thanks for the save." Jill said.

"Yeah, thanks Carlos. That was awesome of you." You said.

"Hey, you saved my ass first. You're a hell of a lot braver than me. So don't mention it. You have the case?" He asked you.

"Yeah, please take it. My back is aching from the weight." You said, handing him the case.

"Could also be from being thrown onto concrete and walls over the last few hours." Jill added.

"Hey, that could be it." You laughed weakly.

"Well, what matters is we can get everyone out of the city now." Jill said.

"Yeah. You'll both be safe." Carlos said.

"What about you?" She asked.

"From the sound of it. I won't be catching the train."

"Why not?" You asked.

"There'll be new orders. If it means I can help save the city, that's fine by me." 

Damn, he's probably the nicest man from Umbrella that you've met so far.

You finally reached the train and walked up to Mikhail and another man. Mikhail turned and saw Jill.

"Good work. Your reputation is well deserved. Get inside. The train is about to leave." He turned to Carlos and the other man. "Carlos, Tyrell, you have your orders. You need to go back out into the city and find Nathaniel Bard."

You perked up at the name. The same Nathaniel Bard that Irons and the Senator befriended. The guy who works for Umbrella. Why do they need him? Is there a cure for all this he was working on?

"This isn't the last ride out of town, right?" Jill questioned from near the train door.

"Do not worry. Once the civilians are safe the train will be back." Mikhail said.

"It's alright, you two go on ahead. I'm not gonna die on you and leave you in a cold, cruel, Carlos-less world." He joked.

You huffed a weak laugh. "Now would be a good time to mention that I'm not leaving." You said as you leaned against the train by the door where Jill stood.

"Why not?" Carlos questioned.

"Well, like you, I have a mission of my own. Something I've already put off for too long. Hopefully I'm not too late." You said.

"You know, he might not be alive anymore. You might not be able to get out once this train leaves." Jill said with a furrowed brow, worried. She didn't want you to go back out there alone.

Your chest ached at the thought of leaving her alone, but you had to go back. You had to see if your friend was alright.

"I'll be fine. Maybe when this is all over we can find each other and have that sleepover we talked about." You joked. "Now, give me a hug before I go. I'm not usually one for hugging, but I think you've earned it super cop." 

She snorted and put her arms around you. "The flash drive is in your front pocket. Don't lose it." You whispered in her ears, having to tiptoe slightly to reach. She nodded and you gave her a tight squeeze, before letting go. 

"Take care of yourself. If I find out you died, I'll kill you." You pointed at her.

"Pfft, yeah. Okay. Take care, Y/n." After one last smile was shared between you two, she turned and made her way into the train.

You turned to the other three. "Okay. Nice meeting you three. I'll see you around, Carlos."

"You gonna find me too?" He joked. 

"If you want me to. Maybe you can join the sleepover." You chuckled at his confused face, before walking away with one final wave.

"You'll need to find this scientist. His vaccine research could save us all." You heard Mikhail say as you walked away.

You didn't have time to focus on that Nathaniel Bard man. You had to get to the police station.

Hopefully you weren't too late.

[antialiasis]

Have you played Scarlet/Violet yet?

Playing it as we speak! I've done something like five badges, three Team Star bases and four Titans so far.

You did not technically ask for my thoughts but here is some rambling:

The game is absolutely janky as hell, but I've yet to experience any kind of crash, softlock, or major graphical glitch persisting for more than a couple seconds, and the overworld performance issues only very occasionally get significant enough to be properly disruptive, so all in all it hasn't really stopped me enjoying it. I am invested in Arven and his doggo and the Team Star bosses who all seem very pure actually. Also Koraidon is doggiest bikederg.

That said, it really is janky! I hope they do come out with a patch, though I'm keeping my expectations somewhat reserved with regards to how easy it would be to improve some of the performance stuff without some kind of major overhaul of the engine. Honestly the top of my list is fixing the PC; with my style of rotating teams (training every new Pokémon + my shinies + the Normal Tera Type Scyther I caught early on), I do a whole lot of opening my boxes, and the bizarre graphical jank that happens when you do is so weird. And whyyy on earth is loading in the Pokémon's simple 2D box sprites the laggiest thing in the entire game. What is even happening there, I want to understand.

I had seen some people praise it pre-release for making battles snappier, but that kind of made me expect more - there are still frequent several-second waits between messages in battle for little discernible reason, even while the Pokémon are just doing idle animations, and some abilities and moves just become really lengthy, e.g. Anger Shell insistently writing out messages and showing an animation for all five stats it's modifying every time my Klawf goes below 50% HP, or Bellibolt's Electromorphosis firing for every hit of every multi-hit move even though it only stores one charge. Definitely a thing where I feel like the game is deliberately choosing to show messages for at least a couple of seconds but it could really do with at least letting us press A to continue sooner.

As I've talked about before open-world games aren't really my thing generally, but I think the game has handled it well and I've been enjoying it more than expected, honestly. I like the three main plotlines sort of tugging you in a few different directions with a sense of purpose and investment behind each (well, less so for the gym storyline which so far is mostly just "Nemona really likes battling you guys"), and I've gotten to run around getting myself in trouble while horrendously underleveled, which I always enjoy. I've even managed to get into exploring a bit in the past few days; been running around some lower-leveled areas I never went to for the hell of it. This is not very remarkable for anyone else, I realize, but like, because I don't play these sorts of games my brain is not very used to navigating wide open 3D spaces in a video game where I only have a limited camera view to orient myself in, and I tend to just find it annoying, so the game must be doing something right for me to even want to. I never felt compelled to explore in PLA, for instance, just made a beeline for whatever the next objective was and maybe went a little out of my way to pick up an item I saw or whatever. That's how I started Scarlet, too (hence all the lower-leveled areas I never went to), but one way or another I got to the point of just wanting to get to the places I hadn't been on the map, which is a success.

I do miss having more building interiors and more interesting stuff in cities in general than "one billion identical sandwich shops that are just a menu", but the exteriors are pretty and they've spent some effort trying to give each city and gym some character, which is nice.

Also, after not finding any up to this point, I caught two shinies today, a Psyduck and a Murkrow, which is very impressive for me but still not a record since there was that one bizarre time I somehow got three shinies in PLA in like twenty minutes.

All in all, it's a flawed game but I'm having lots of fun with it and enjoying the storylines so far. It does feel quite lovingly made, just clearly short on time to fully polish it all the way.

[mrcrowblargs]

The final set of missions to get Gortash's netherstone: sabotage the steel watch, iron throne, and punking the greasy bastard himself. Roleplay wise I figured these would all have to be done in quick succession as once Gortash knew we broke his alliance, well, he commanded the city and I figured all the city guard would be aggro on us. Even without the watch, it would be annoying.

Catching up on my play logs, spoilers beyond!

Leading up these missions, I refused Wulbren's mission to blow up the Steel Watch factory and stole the runepowder bomb from him. Could be handy for later. Once inside the factory, I agreed to help the Gondians and went for the Iron Throne which was both fun and very frustrating.

Okay so, the fustration mostly came from my own hubris lmao. I had a rough idea of what to expect and figured I'd do a dry run to see if my loadout would work. Despite fucking up a bit I got everyone out, even Wyll's dad, but then when doing a last check of the map I was like, wait, what're those chests to the north? Reload...

two tries later THE CHESTS WERE JUNK... I thought they would be good shit because a notepad above mentioned that the place was formerly used for research and projects might still be left behind.

reload again... and then I kept having problems with bugs. The gnomes would Dash and then not move at all. On one try I got everyone except Karlach ran out of movement 3m before the ladder. Another I accidentally quickloaded lmao. in the end I got everyone except Phoenix Lubbins out... the dash bug was just too stubborn.

Omeluum's a cool dude. Very helpful for getting people out. Glad we got to see it again. :D

The real prize of the Iron Throne mission: THE WAVEMOTHER'S ROBE! Had to get everyone to try it on though maybe should have washed the blood off first.

I do believe Aldiirn wore it best, especially when dyed into his colour. Dayumn.

Back to the Steel Watch Factory, we were warned about the huge titan defender or whatever. Lae'zel makes her badass boast. LAE'ZEL MAKES GOOD ON HER THREAT. When that thing went into defense mode, she just fucking wailed on it hard enough to break the shield on her own. hot damn.

meanwhile Wyll was doing this lmao.

All the Gondians int he factory except the one temp companion guy beefed it, which sucked but they would not stay away from the exploding steel watch. Freaking gibbed, man. Seems they changed the AI behaviour in a recent patch so might be nice to try out again.

Also the bit with using Illithid Persuasion to control steel watch in the city? That was really cool. Narrating the watch's body as YOUR body of metal and gears. Loved it. Honestly I fucking love the whole zombie brain control thing they had going on. Good body horror shit.

Then KABOOM! No more Steel Watch and Barcus unites the gondians and ironhand gnomes! I'm proud of him, like dang in Act 1 he was just a little guy strapped to a windmill. Like truly the littlest of guys. But he put himself out there and stepped up to make a difference!

Back at camp, Wyll got to reconcile with his father! Ulder was so freaking harsh on the guy but I'm glad he chilled and had a good heart to heart. Wyll's going forward as the Blade of Avernus! Aldiirn talked him out of going on a roaring rampage of revenge against Mizora, maaaaaaybe a little selfishly, but revenge is no way to life. But hey, if Mizora just HAPPENS to get in the way... smack her!

I had actually already done Wyrmway at this point but apparently took no screencaps. Fun little puzzle dungeon then WOOOAAAHH WHAT??? story moments. And EPIC battle.

All this meant Gortash was next on the chopping block. Ohh it was so good to basically be like, "Karlach, go fuck him up." Enlarge -> Soul Coin -> Rage just buffing her to hell on the first round. And then um. Everyone got exploded by the GREASY TRAPS!!! Fuck Gortash. Second try, I had Astarion sneak to the back and begin combat by launching an exploding arrow right at Gortash and all the traps around him. Went perfectly, Karlach stomped him to pieces, no notes.

Karlach's breakdown after was so sad though. like shit. she did not deserve her situation one bit. She deserves hugs. hugs and good things!!!! let me hug her pleeeaaaase

[phoenixyfriend]

b, f, i for the fanfic asks?

FanFic Ask Game

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

Well, certain elements of The Discourse of Annie Storm, but I think this question is more about fics like Ghost Ladies, Sowing Discord, Starbucks in the City (and Soap Operas in the Park), that sort of thing. It's only ever elements, though.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

Plenty! A regular one is omegaverse (mostly reading), and author tract nerd tangents (when writing) that I don't have to remove since I'm writing for free and I can add what I want.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it. (Doing this one last so I can toss it under a cut)

I'm really happy with a lot of the layered-meaning conversations in my time-travel fics, but let's go with something I'm proud of just because of how much fun it was to write in Bare Your Teeth, Soldier:

“Ow…” Anakin groans. He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

Obi-Wan questions this, in the way of someone with a recent head injury, which is to say that he forgoes words in favor of an aggrieved grunt that could, in some universe, be parsed as a ‘what is wrong, oh child of my heart and soul whom I love most dearly,’ but would most likely just be interpreted in this universe, and their last, as ‘what’s up?’

“How are we in Coruscant?” Anakin demands.

Obi-Wan makes another noise of confusion.

“Yes, I am looking at the ceiling of the Council room,” Anakin snaps. “It’s daylight and everything.”

Anakin still doesn’t get up. There are people here, people he knows, but he doesn’t want to. He’s injured, and he hasn’t slept, and also Obi-Wan is hurt. He can be petty and tired and stay on the floor.

With a noise, Obi-Wan flops over. Anakin doesn’t see him do it, but he can hear the shift of fabric and groan of pain and clatter of armor. “Well, then. Odd.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“I may have a concussion,” Obi-Wan acknowledges. “I also may have been poisoned. Hopefully it’s one or the other, not both.”

Anakin groans and slaps a hand over his eyes. Then he gags, because there was blood on his hand, and now it’s on his face. This is disgusting.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan says, ever pleasant.

“Hm?”

“Nobody’s addressing us.”

Anakin thinks this through for a moment. Someone almost comments, but chooses not to. They’re probably waiting for him to talk himself into a hole, or if they’re nice, just waiting to see where this all goes.

“Honestly,” Anakin says, “I figured they were waiting for me to stop being annoying like usual.”

“Oh, you’ve noticed!”

“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Anakin says, not a little offended. “I’m ‘abrasive and ill-tuned to the emotions of others’ and ‘competent in battle and in interactions with lower class civilians, but to be removed from engagement with any high-ranking politician or social figure, given the risk of intentional insult,’ but I’m not stupid.”

Obi-Wan seems almost impressed. Anakin hopes he is. The question is obvious. “…who are you quoting?”

“I dunno, it was from an anonymous performance review,” Anakin dismisses. “Point is, I’m an asshole who’s not great at people, not a moron.”

“At least you’re self-aware,” Obi-Wan sighs. “I remember the days when you used to read romance novels just to find the best way to insult me with fancy language since you—”

“Who are you people?”

Hm.

That’s not the usual response they get, even if Master Windu does sound just as frustrated with them as usual.

Anakin lifts his head just enough to look around the room. It’s the full council. They haven’t been assembled in person like this since the war started.

He squints. That’s Coleman Trebor. Huh.

“Weren’t you dead?” He asks. The man himself blinks at the two of them. “Wait, is this time travel?”

Obi-Wan groans. “That’s a new one.”

Anakin drops his head back to the floor. He’s too tired for this shit. “You don’t sound surprised, Master.”

“I stopped being surprised by unconventional applications of the Force after that time you were twelve and accidentally melted a droid with your brain.”

“I apologized.”

“Be that as it may—”

“Ahem,” Master Windu interrupts.

Anakin smirks at Obi-Wan about him getting interrupted instead of Anakin, but Obi-Wan isn’t looking at him. Obi-Wan is frowning at the ceiling, brow deeply furrowed, and looks to be in pain. That ruins it a bit, then. Anakin can’t be smug when his master is hurting.

Well, he can. He’s just prefer not to, in this particular situation.

“Strangers to you, we are not,” Yoda’s ever familiar voice interrupts. “Strangers to us, you are. An explanation, have you?”

“Investigation. Sith Temple. Anakin’s fault.”

“Hey!”

“I told you not to touch the—”

“I was pushed—”

“Because you refuse to pay attention to the people trying to kill you—”

“Well excuse me for trying to save your life, Master, maybe next time you’re getting shot at while a Sith Acolyte is trying to cut your head off, I can pay more attention to which direction she’s kicking me while you flirt with her—”

[wasabito]

thank you to @sparkexplosive and @vs-redemption for beta reading it for me! merry christmas & happy holidays everyone ♥️

➽ synopsis: being a member of the royal guard is a grueling and thankless job, so you decide to remind katsuki a little of what it’s like to be young again—what better way to do that than with some healthy competition.

➽ word count: 1.7k

➽ tags: fluff, budding romance, royalty au, childhood friends

➽ author’s note: i had a ton of fun participating in my first ever secret santa!! this is my gift-fic to the lovely @katsushimaa​ hope you enjoy, yssa!

"So, this is where the hell you've been hiding?"

His voice tore through the midday stillness like a blade, equal parts raspy and gruff. He sounded irritated and mildly fatigued. Not that Katsuki Bakugou would ever admit to being anything less than a hundred and ten percent. He climbed off his steed, heavy boots crunching under the weight of his feet, and secured his horse against the stump you were leaning on.

You flipped the page of your book, not sparing the man even a cursory glance. You would prefer to keep your attention occupied by fictitious worlds, warriors, and battles fought in the name of love and justice.

It was much easier to allow yourself to become the bearer of fictional hardships, because at least they could be solved through a well-constructed plot with each turn of a page, as opposed to the realities of your actual life, a slow spiraling disaster in comparison.

Bakugou stood in front of you, vein ticking on his throat with every clench of his jaw. His arms were crossed tight over his chest, red gaze pinned on your hunched form. He wasn't at all the kind of person anyone could easily ignore. His very presence demanded attention and drew eyes like a magnet.

Case in point, no matter how much you tried to ignore him, you simply couldn’t.

"Please tell me you aren't going to stand there the entire time. Take a hint will you." You went to turn another page, but Bakugou reached over and snatched the book from your hands with deft fingers and speed you couldn't hope to match.

"Give. It. Back."

"Nah, I don't think I will just yet." He sneered, thumbing through the pages. "I was told to bring your dumbass back to the estate, so that's exactly what the hell I'm 'bout to do."

You blew a puff of air from your lips, eyes blazing with a kind of defiance that only burned harder the more you glared at him. "Then I guess you'll just have to drag me back kicking and screaming."

Bakugou only smirked, teeth spread in a feral grin that sent a chill down your spine.

That had always been his intention.

Almost an hour later, you stood before your parents, clothes dusty, creased, and smudged from having been manhandled like a sack of flour before promptly dumped in front of your waiting audience.

A frown marred your delicate features as they began their lecture.

Your mind drifted elsewhere the more they reminded you of your lineage and that you were royalty and how it was imperative you behave as such. You’d heard it all before, known this for as long as you could remember. As the King and Queen of your home country, your parents never failed to emphasize the importance of keeping your every move in check because of the reputation you had to uphold.

Katsuki stood somewhere behind you, and although he stayed mostly silent, you could almost hear him grinding away at his molars. The King and Queen were taking turns subtly digging into him as well, implying that his incompetence was a stain upon the royal guard perfect record of achievements. If he couldn't keep you in line, what was the point of holding rank?

They annoyed him way more than they did you, but he dare not voice it, not if he wanted to keep his head attached to his shoulders. Far be it from him to send himself to the guillotine

You both were in for a long night.

“Honestly, this kind of behavior is unbecoming of someone of your status. What will our countrymen think if they see you roaming about unattended like a vagabond?” Your father stroked his beard as if waiting for a response. But everyone in the room knew he really just liked to hear himself talk.

He was no better than a machiavellian swindler in expensive robes. A puppet if you would.

The real leader of the land was your mother. After all, she had only married into the family, having been the daughter of a mere advisor with no royal blood. She spoke little, but her glare was more than enough to convey just what she was thinking.

By the end of the lecture, you felt like all of your energy had been sapped from you, but thankfully your parents left you to retreat into your bedroom for the remainder of the day. Bakugou escorted you, following close behind.

“You’re gonna do it again, aren’t ya?”

You paused, foot nearly catching against the carpeted floors of your bedroom. Fiddling with a piece of your hair, you shrugged. “...maybe.”

“You’re a huge idiot.” Bakugou shook his head with a low laugh.

A tiny smidgen of a grin danced on your lips as you considered him. He was your childhood friend. No one knew you better than he did. And he was also the guard most assigned to watch over you and keep you safe from harm.

Despite that, you’d come to notice how much he’d changed. He wasn’t the same Katsuki you grew up knowing and you missed him dearly. Occasions like this, where a part of his guard was let down, were becoming few and far between. There had to be something you could do.

“Let’s make a wager. If you can manage to find me, I’ll do one thing at your command.”

“Challenge accepted.” He reached into the folds of his uniform, pulled out your little novel, and slapped it right into your open palm. "No matter where you run off to, I'll find ya. Trust me on that, princess."

His eyes were like candles in the night, ignited by a spark of passion. Not a single lie could be detected.

"I won't make it easy on you, Katsuki, just so you know."

"Heh, you better not." He sniffed, tucking his hands into his uniform pockets. And with a final half-wave, he was gone.

In and around the capital city, winter had completely lost it's bite. The weather was tepid, swinging a mild breeze that coasted through the countryside. It was the sort of winter where one felt as if woolen clothing were worn more for comfort than necessity. In what should have been the chilliest part of the year, Bakugou found himself traversing one of the many beaches that hedged the southern peninsula.

After a full week following the challenge issued in your bedroom, Bakugou realized you were entirely too good at evading him or any of the other guards at the kingdom’s disposal, for that matter.

Day in and day out, he spent his shifts searching tirelessly for you, just to stumble upon you in the most random of places and only when you had wanted him to find you. The running score was six to five in your favor, but he was determined not to lose to you again.

And there you were, standing at the very edge of the shore, as if a mere thought had manifested you right before his very eyes. Your loose billowing dress of soft satin waved to him like a white flag of surrender in the air. He'd finally found you.

"Not gonna run off this time?"

"Nope! You won this round." Your cheeks creased in a smile.

Given the boots he'd worn, it was no surprise that his feet kept sinking into the sand. You said nothing as he toed off his shoes and socks, bare feet settling into the depths of warm, grainy sand.

He couldn’t help but feel more relaxed. Over the past few months, he’d found himself losing sight of his goals, caught in the dredges of the mundane and routine.

The cool waters lapped at both his and your feet, fizzing and bubbling, leaving behind traces of salt. You went further into the water’s touch, your back to him as the tides licked at the your calves. Even he had to admit, the view was a beautiful one, possibly even more so with you against the backdrop.

“I’m glad you found me,” you called over the cry of seagulls. “For a second, I was worried you’d lose this round.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Tch, as if I’d ever lose to you, princess.”

“Naturally.” You laughed.

“What the hell are we doing out here anyway?”

He knelt to roll up his pants, a mere moment away from following after you like always.

“I... really just wanted to show you the view. Do you remember when we used to come down here as kids? Remember how we used to dare each other to see who could go the farthest into the ocean?”

Of course he remembered. Those were some of his most cherished memories of his time spent with you before duty to the kingdom took precedent.

You reached a hand out to him, an open invitation. “I just thought you needed a little reminder of what that was like.”

For some reason, Katsuki was determined not to meet your gaze, scowling at some point on the horizon, until you came over and nudged him with your elbow. “It wouldn’t kill you to admit that I’m right.”

With a sigh, he reached over and tugged you into a hug. You snuggled close to his chest, gripping the back on his uniform. It may have been your imagination but you could’ve sworn you felt the soft press of lips against your temple.

“Thanks... you know... for everything.”

Beaming, you leaned back to get the full view of his heated cheeks.

“Of course, of course.”

There was something earnest in his eyes that told you no matter how far you went, or however far you traveled, he’d always be a step behind you. It sent your heart hammering in your ribcage. You were suddenly all too aware of the way he held you secure against him like he would never let go.

“What are you thinking, princess?”

You blinked owlishly, taken over by your feelings and mumbling a hushed. “Oh, nothing.” The two of you were just a royal and a guard, bound to one another by duty.

If there could be anything more than that...well, only time would tell.

[revchainsaw]

The Crow (1994)

Alright Cult of Cult. Do I really need to introduce this one? Let's get all 90s and gothy and maybe brace ourselves for a bit of cringe, but like in a fun way. It's the Holy Grail of Hot Topic, 1994's the Crow Starring Brandon Lee.

Sermon

Apparently before the auto industry totally crashed Detroit was already a total fucked to death pile of burning shit, or at least that's what the crow would have you believe. Sorry Bruce Campbell, and other people from Detroit, but mostly Bruce Campbell. According to the Crow the city of Detroit is the kind of place where gangs of warlock anarchist arsonists will bomb buildings, and murder and rape whoever they feel like and then walk around bragging about it the next day with absolutely zero consequences. Funny then that if Detroit was so bad they had to go to film this movie in Wilmington North Carolina which is definitely a fucked to death pile of burning shit. I can say that, I'm from there and I got the fuck out. My brother is going to kill me if he ever reads this. (It's okay, these are all jokes people). Did you know they also filmed the Super Mario Bros movie there ... also cuz they needed a really shitty looking distopia. Moving on ...

The ludicrous criminality of the Crow's Detroit is particularly on display on Halloween. In Detroit (apparently) Halloween is known as Devils Night and it's legitimately just a night of pure lawlessness and chaos and kids aren't even safe to get candy, except later when we do see trick or treaters. Eric Draven, hunky goth rocker who sort of looks like he could be Bruce Lee's Kid and his fiance are murdered by a gang of vicious criminals. One year hence, Eric is resurrected by a mystical crow (that is actually a Raven), to exact his revenge on the gang that murdered him.

He paints his face like sad Alice Cooper and refuses to listen to Joy Division, just covers. He murders Tin Tin (a knife guy) just for his long gothy duster, he murders Fun Boy and forcibly ejects heroine from her arms and tells her "Go be a good mom now" which actually works. (have I told you about our Lord and Savior Sting? He gave me the strength to get off drugs), he blows T Bird up dick first, and then comes for Skab? Scraap? Scooby? in a meeting of all of Detroits villains and just about kills them all.

He is supported by the most 90s little girl to have ever graced the screen, and I am here for it, and Officer Albrecht, who's played by Ernie Hudson but I like to call him Zeddemore: The Most Underrated Ghostbuster. The leader of the bad guys, who I cannot beleive wasn't played by Brad Dourif or Tom Waits, is pretty interested in the occult. He keeps his witchy girlfriend around and she makes him fun dishes like smoked eyeballs, and her main use is that she knows that the Crow is the Crows weakness. They set Tony Fucking Todd on the bird, and I guess you just have to hurt the bird and not kill it, and Eric loses his healing factor and other macabre undead powers.

The Crow, Jimmy the Raven, pecks out Dr. Girlfriends eyeballs, I honestly forget how Tony Todd gets offed, and Top Dollar gets Gargoyled (that is impaled on a gargoyle). Funnily enough that is more Gargoyle related impaling on screen then in the actual movie Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness where a Gargoyle is supposed to have impaled a guy.

The Benediction

Best Feature: Injustice League

In the Crow we have not only a set of super memorable villains but they are played by the bad guy all stars. John Polito as the most lowly of the bad guys as a kind of sleazy pawn shop owner who buys ill gotten gains. Tony Todd, who's size is really on display here, the freaking Candy Man is in this movie. T Bird is the head of Top Dollars goons and is played by David Patrick Kelly, you might know as the "Warriors Come Out and Play!!" bottle guy from the Warriors, or as Jimmy Horne from Twin Peaks, and of course Top Dollar himself is played by Michael Wincott. Wincott is not a particularly celebrated actor but has played villains effectively in Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, and Dead Man.

Best Set Piece: Detroit Style Hot Dogs

The Set design of the Crow is perhaps one of it's most fantastic features. It's very moody and ethereal. It's just real enough to not take you out of the film, but fantastic enough to set mood and theme above realism. From Eric Draven's apartment, to the church where the final battle occurs they are all fantastic. I think that's why I really wanted to shine the spot light on a very minor set piece that would get nary a mention but just as effectively represents the qualities I was just talking about and that is the Maxi Doggs Hot Dog Stand, where a lot of the films exposition for audience surrogates takes place.

Worst Effect: Freeze Frame

At a few points in the movie the film makers made a strange decision to do these freeze frame transitions. I only noticed it twice in the movie where it was particularly stupid. I'm sure the film makers at the time thought it was a moody and atmospheric choice that highlighted the suffering that Eric Draven was going through, but it didn't age well. If you don't have the sensibilities of a goth girl from 1994 then it's very very hard not to laugh at just how self involved the movie is about it's super sadness.

Worst Feature: Tragic Accident

Solely based on the film itself, it is that very gothic and dated sensibility that hurts the Crow. The little sarcastic dance he does when he flees the police, quoting Edgar Allen Poe, and bowing to Albrecht. These affected behaviors that I'm sure seemed snarky and right on to the target audience only serve to make Eric Draven seem like an unbearable neck beard edgelord and not the troubled dark soul he's supposed to be. I'm sure at the time it seemed unique and gothy but that shit went out of style for good reason, people could see through it. It's a shame that the Crow himself was some of the cringiest parts of this movie now that I'm seeing it as an adult and not a 13 year old middle class boy with no real problems.

This however is not the low point of the movie. It's not news now and if you're reading some dudes review of The Crow on Tumblr then you probably already know the story. The worst thing about The Crow is that Brandon Lee was horrifically killed on set while filming this movie due to some negligible prop malfunctions. A series of unfortunate events that lead to the actor spending 6 hours in surgery fighting for his life before eventually passing. It was not a quick or painless death and it's really impossible to watch the movie without an appreciation for the fact that this kind of fun dark adventure was going to be a vehicle for Brandon Lee's career wound up taking his life. He was 28. I really wish I could have just bitched about the goofy goth stuff and moved on, but that's not the world we live in.

Best Effect: The Gargoyling

Maybe I should have called this best kill. But I'm not sure which it is. The slaying of Top Dollar at the Climax of the film was just super effective. The pointed wings impaling his chest and that horn coming out of his mouth, it was morbid and excellent and just fit the tone of the movie perfectly. I mean how many other movies can you say Cause of Death: Impaled on a Gargoyle.

Best Bird: The Raven

I tried very hard to look up the name of the bird that primarily performed in this movie and could not find anything. There was a Raven once upon a time called Jimmy the Raven, but that was in the 50s and I don't think birds live that long. There was a team of Ravens performing as the crow, they were chosen over crows for their larger size, and more imposing silhouettes. I just think it's so wonderful to see these often maligned birds get a chance to show off their talents. Corvids of all kinds are incredibly intelligent creatures. Im a sucker for animals, if you haven't already figured that out. I really liked seeing the ravens hit their marks, particularly the one whos job it was to drop the wedding ring into Sarah's hand at the end of the film. You can see that greedy little bastard do his trick and then look of camera at his trainer like "treat please!". It's very cute.

Best Actor: Top Dollar Performance

I'd love to take this opportunity to just put praise upon Brandon Lee, he truly gave everything for this role, but unfortunately with what was put to film we actually have very few character moments with Eric Draven. Stuff happens to him, and he does killings and fights. There's definitely some personality, but I felt like I walked away knowing almost nothing about who Eric Draven was. He was clearly a good dude but that and a few hobbies and a relationship and you don't really have a character yet. He's unfortunately not given a lot of acting to do, instead just relegated to stunts and action sequences. That were notably cool.

The bad guys in the Crow have a lot more character and among this who's who of character actors, Michael Wincott takes the cake. Hell he was standing next to Candyman himself, Tony Todd and still stealing the scenes.

Best Character: A Few Good Apples

Is the best character in The Crow really going to be the cop? The commissioner Gordon stand in? yeah, it is. Not to be political, but I don't like cops, but I guess in a world with magical birds and eyeball smoking I can suspend my disbelief and let Ernie Hudson be #1 cop dad. His character is really the heart of the film, since all Eric can do is brood and fight, we have to care about someone in this movie.

Best Sequence: Halloween Party

The best sequence of the movie is of course the scene where Eric Draven busts in on the Devil's Night party planning commission. I think Top Dollar brought Scrappy Doo there just so he could lure out the crow, knowing the baddest assholes in all of Detroit would be gathered it was likely that somebody was going to kill the beast, or if they couldn't at least Top Dollar could get a feel for his enemy. It's a bullet flying action sequence with a ton of weight. I can't put my finger on this all to common weightless third act problem that big budget super hero and action flicks have nowadays, but whatever that issue is, the Crow does not have that issue. From this point on the Climax feels earned and I am invested. For that reason, The Crow is honestly better in spite of its awkwardness, than many of the super hero movies out today.

Worst Sequence: My Guitar Gently Weeps

Speaking of brooding or fighting. The best sequence was fighting, the worst is brooding. I get that Eric was in a band or something, but didn't he have shit to do. It seemed like it was a cool idea for a shot, but for like a whole seen, watching somebody play an 80s guitar solo, that stood out so brazenly from the choices of music in the rest of the movie was extra corny. It felt like someone's( dad trying to relate to their kid. Oh you like Music. The Dresden Dolls eh? Oh man, then you're going to love Slash's Snake Pit!

Summary

The Crow is dated. It is iconic but I wonder how many of the people that hang that poster on the wall have watched that movie since they were kids. It's interesting how what i've liked and disliked about this film have changed so much sense I was a kid. It's a cheeseball fiesta. If you have matured at all beyond thinking that being sad is the same as being deep then you're going to like it a little less than you did when you were younger, but it is still solid. There's not much to hate on. I'd watch it over and over again. I was really afraid it would not hold up at all, but returning to The Crow was a completely positive experience.

Overall Grade: B

[jace-the-writer-guy]

The Stray of Atlas (Part One)

///Set in “The Brave and the Bold” AU///

“One twist of fate, in the blink of an eye, everything fell apart and faded away for Jace. His family, his innocence, and nearly his will to live were lost and his heart was shattered almost irreparably. His future was uncertain until a group of certain people gave him aid in his time of dire need and he was then accepted into Beacon, and another two gave him his arm. Nearly five years later, Jace has a new family in everything from close friendship, to his brother, and to his mate. The foreign exchange program came around once more at that time and with that new family by his side, Jace returns to a place he hadn’t been in since before the fateful day his life was so terribly altered.”

Word count: 3,646

*Twenty two years ago*

Jace sat in his seat in the airship, his eyes far from looking at the open book in his hands. The fingers of his prosthetic hand lightly gripped at the pages of the fantasy novel, and his real ones did the same with the pages on the other side but definitely not as hard. His eyes looked out over the sea they flew over, almost like he was in some strange trance. He had been like this for the last ten minutes or so. Raine and Auron sat across the small table from him. Auron had his hat over his face and seemed like he was sleeping, and Raine was making sure she had all her cleaning supplies for her weapons so she wouldn’t have to buy anymore for at least a while longer.

As for Alyss, she was at Jace’s left side, looking up to him with slight concern on her face. Through the bond they shared in the form of the mate’s marks on their shoulders, she felt multiple different feelings of her mate almost like they were battling for control of what he should feel. Nervousness, anxiousness, fleeting calmness, fear… None of them were too nice, and the calmness being the feeling she felt the least out of them all and slowly disappearing made her frown. The cat Faunus’ ears twitched a bit and she reached for his prosthetic hand, pulling it away from the fantasy world he paid no mind to. The fingers of her right hand intertwined with the mechanical fingers of his, and the covered the outside of his hand with her left. She knew very well that Jace could feel it, and she thanked doctor Seabolte so much for his work to allow Jace that comfort after losing his arm.

“Hey,” Alyss spoke up lightly and squeezed his hand, feeling the warm mesh of the palm and insides of his fingers against her own, and she began to do her best to send feelings of calmness to him through their bond, “It’s okay, sweetie. We’re here with you.”

Jace blinked and he let out a long, pent up breath. He pulled his vision away from the window and marked the page of his book, then he closed it and put it on the table. “I'm… still not sure about how I’m gonna react.”

“Just don’t try to hide any feelin’s,” Auron said and sat up straighter in his seat, and he put his hat on the table, “Take it the best you can. I kinda felt like that when we went to Haven a couple years ago, but I know there ain’t nothin’ comparin’ to what happened to you.”

Raine looked up from her things and she offered Jace a smile. “You’re one of the strongest people I know, Jace. You can do this. You have Alyss,” She smiled a bit more and put a hand on her own shoulder, “and you have her mark. You can make it.”

Jace closed his eyes for a few moments, doing his best to accept the calmness Alyss sent his way and take everyone’s words to heart. He knew he could do this, but he was worried he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Hey, is everything alright?” They all heard Aulin ask, who stopped by and leaned over, resting her elbows on the table, “Hangin’ in there, Jace?”

Jace opened his eyes. “I'm…  something.”

Alex stopped next to Aulin there and offered him a grin. “Hey, I know it’s gonna be tough, but at least you don’t have to worry about them.”

“Yeah… Thankfully not.”

“You know, your ass is hanging out for everyone to stare at, right?” Raine remarked to the ever-confident leader of team SLVR, “I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, honestly.”

Aulin snickered at that and looked at her best friend. “You’re just saying that because you’re not on the side my ass is facing.”

“I have a mate, you know.”

“Hasn’t stopped you from staring before, you know.” Aulin stuck her tongue out at the fox Faunus.

Raine rolled her eyes, her ears twitching a bit in amusement. “Bite me.”

“Let me!”

Despite Jace’s feelings at the moment, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Now there’s some improvement!” Aulin cheered and let out a bigger grin.

Alyss giggled a bit. “You both make great friends.”

“If only Vivi could share! Or Raine for that matter, damn~” Aulin licked her lips, “That cat’s ass and thighs look so-”

“Oh alright now, that’s enough from you,” Raine cut her off and looked up to the purple haired girl’s boyfriend, who was shaking his head in amusement, “Control your woman, Alex. She’s about to get something pierced other than her ears.”

“You know I can’t control her, Raine,” Alex replied and began to pull Aulin from the table, “C'mon now before Belle tracks us down.”

Alex took Aulin away and left the group in silence for several long moments. Jace took another deep breath and looked over toward the greatsword that was leaned against the seat between himself and the window. It wasn’t his own. It had a bit of a wider blade than Legacy’s, and the blade itself was five feet long, with the hilt being a foot long itself. The sword was single-edged, and the tip of the blade was a mix between a tanto-point and clip-point blade, with the edge running back down along the backside for a foot in length. The blade for the most part was dark grey while the edges and an inch past them were silver. Jace never let that sword leave his sight if he could help it and when it was left at the bottom of Beacon Tower four years ago with his blood surrounding it, it affected his mind greatly. And when he finally claimed it back at the Reclamation of Vale nearly a year later, it made him feel such great relief.

The weapon was named Standoff, and it was his fallen brother’s sword.

“It’s been so long since we’ve been there…” Jace murmured to himself and to the blade.

“Too bad it ain’t for a tournament,” Auron remarked and pulled out a bag of his deer jerky, and he stuck a piece in his mouth, “At least they still do the foreign exchange stuff though.”

Jace sighed at that. “Guess we’ll never get our chance.”

“Passengers, please return to your seats and prepare for landing.” The calm voice of the female pilot of the airship said through the intercom system, signaling their arrival to their destination. 

Atlas

Jace looked out the window once more and saw that they were entering the city’s limits, which was on the ground. There were murmurings that that would soon change one day in the future and that Atlas would take to the sky, but for now the city was still grounded, and no one knew how long it would take for it to go airborne. Jace put his book in the bag he carried with him and he prepared himself mentally as much as he could, which was made immeasurable easier thanks to Alyss’ calming feelings coming through his mark.

After a few moments, everyone felt the airship touch down and a few moments later, everyone was called to depart. Alyss stepped out of the booth and grabbed her bags from above, along with the weapon case housing Soul Leaf, and she stepped aside for Jace. He put Standoff on the left side of his back, held by the magnetic plate attached to the harness he wore under his uniform jacket, and then he reached up to grab Legacy and he placed it on the right side of his back. Jace was very much used to it. Ozpin had allowed him to carry Standoff with him to every class after he was accepted into Beacon, and when he created Legacy and reclaimed his brother’s sword, he was mostly seen carrying both massive blades on his back.

Raine stepped out of their booth and grabbed Amaranthe, slinging it across her back with the string over her chest, and then she grabbed the weapon case on the floor that housed Shagohod. After her was Auron, and he slung his bags over his shoulders and grabbed the sheath that held Last Call, slinging it over his right shoulder. He didn’t have to get Smoke & Preacher from anywhere, as he had them in their holsters at his hips. After gathering all their things, team JKDW made their way off the airship and they beheld the sight of Atlas Academy, and the sight made Jace freeze up a bit.

He looked up toward the very top of the school and he felt a lump grow in his throat, and he just felt… locked up for several moments before he felt his hand being squeezed, and he looked down to see the comforting smile on Alyss’ face. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and he leaned down to press his head against hers, his tail wrapping around her thigh.

“Thank you, Alyss. I love you.” Jace said softly to her.

Alyss smiled and kissed him on the lips. “I love you too, Jace.”

“Daddy!”

“Hey, there’s my baby girl!” Auron exclaimed and gave a big smile before he walked over to where his girlfriend and his two-year-old daughter were standing.

Shyla giggled at that. “She’s missed you, Aure.”

“Awww have ya, Holly?” Auron asked with happiness in his voice before gently taking his daughter out of Shyla’s arms, and Holly nodded and gave a smile to match his before she hugged his neck, “I missed you too, honey,” He kissed her on the side of the head, “Gods, just one more year an’ I can spend a lot more time around you both.”

“I don’t think either of us can wait for that,” Shyla said and Auron gave Holly over to her, “Do you want to go to dinner after you all get settled?”

Auron nodded. “I’d love to. Talk to you later, Shy,” He looked to Holly and ruffled her hair, causing her to giggle, “Bye sweetheart. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

“Bye-bye daddy!”

Auron walked back to his team after that and they could all see the huge smile on his face. “Gods, just knowin’ me an’ Shy made somethin’ so beautiful is still enough to keep me goin’.”

“She’s still just as cute as ever,” Alyss remarked and smiled at him, “We’re all glad you’re still moving forward, Auron.”

“Thanks, Alyss. I hope she can meet Pyrrha at Heaven’s Clearin’ someday.”

“Speaking of babies, have you and Vivi made any progress in researching artificial pregnancy?” Jace asked his partner.

Raine hummed a bit as they all walked on toward the amphitheater. “A bit. We found out that they’re still experimenting and it might take a while longer before anything substantial happens.”

“And have you decided who is gonna carry your baby?” Alyss asked this time.

“Now that… we’re still not sure on.”

“Oh, did I just miss Holly!?” Aulin exclaimed nearby when she saw the back of Shyla’s head moving off in the other direction, “Auron, why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Because I wanted to hold my daughter an’ I know you woulda kept her to yourself,” Auron replied and grinned at her, “You’ll get more chances to see her, y'know.”

“Well yeah! But-”

“Aulin, please calm down,” Belle laughed next to her, “Let the man have a moment alone with his daughter.”

“You know telling her to calm down isn’t going to help anything.” Inuvali remarked.

“True, but still.”

“You guys need to stop ganging up on me!” Aulin complained and turned her head away from them, “Can you believe them, Alex?”

Alex laughed and shook his head. “No I can’t. How could you guys treat your sexy leader like that?”

Raine rolled her eyes and grinned, and she looked back to her team. “Come on, we should head on in and ignore her.”

Her teammates nodded and they all walked inside Atlas Academy, and Jace felt a small chill run through his body. He honestly never expected to walk through Atlas’ doors again. The last time he had, it was to go home for a break from school with Genesis, and then everything was taken away from him. It was always such a painful memory for the unnatural Faunus, and being back in Atlas was making it all come back to him. The ambush, the kidnapping, the experiments, feeling his father and his brother both die in his arms, losing his arm, all the people he killed in order to survive, all the innocents he and Genesis had put to rest from their suffering…

It took everything in Jace’s power to keep from falling to his knees, but even still he had to lean against the wall, covering his mouth in his real hand as his prosthetic clenched into a fist and trembled. Tears began to fill his eyes as the memories replayed in his mind. He lost everything so quickly, and then when he found someone to love and take comfort in the presence of, she was nearly taken away from him as well and that immense rage he felt still made him sick to his stomach.

“Jace!”

He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he felt his back against the wall, and two slender, gentle hands holding his shoulders. “A-Alyss-”

Alyss quickly brought her mate in for a tight embrace. “Shhhh, it’s okay sweetie. Take a deep breath. We’re here for you.”

Jace trembled in her arms before he wrapped his own around her, not wanting to let go of her. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but he couldn’t find any words. He just didn’t know what to say. Soon, he felt a hand on each shoulder, one large and one smaller, and he could easily tell it was Auron and Raine. The two squeezed his shoulders and Alyss continued to keep him in her arms, and she kept doing her best to flood calming and soothing feelings into his Mark to counteract all the fear he was feeling. Several long seconds ticked by that felt like minutes to Jace as he stood with his back against the wall and in Alyss’ arms. After a while, he started to finally take deep breaths like Alyss told him to do, and he felt like he was finally starting to calm down enough to speak.

“I-I don’t think I’m ready…” He murmured, his voice barely audible.

“You are ready,” Raine told him and patted his shoulder, “After what happened with Auron a couple years ago at Haven, we all knew you would be taking this even harder than he did. It’s just moment of weakness. We all have them, but it doesn’t mean you’re not ready to be here again.”

Auron nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Y'all know it was… real bad for me. All the memories o’ what I seen almost took all my strength from me. I remembered havin’ to watch Preacher get his leg blown off an’ retire an’ I had to watch dad just slowly die in a hospital bed, an’ before all o’ that I had to see mom get bit an’ poisoned. An’ then I…” He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, “I seen you layin’ at the bottom o’ Beacon Tower with Standoff stabbed through your gut, an’ I seen Qrow come down with Pyrrha’s circlet… All o’ that was about too much to bear rememberin’ like that. I can’t imagine what you’re goin’ through right now, man.”

Jace closed his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks, soaking into the hair between Alyss’ cat ears. “I miss them both so much…”

“We know you do, Jace,” Alyss spoke softly, reaching a hand up to gently rub the back of his head, “You can get through this. You know we’ll stay right by your side the whole time. We’re your family. And you have Alex, Aulin, Inu and Bell, and you have Ruby and the others too.”

“I heard my name!” The always-cheerful voice of the leader of team RWBY exclaimed nearby, and she and her team walked up to them, “Is everything okay?”

Jace took a shuddering breath. “Just… remembering.”

Yang gave him a small, sympathetic smile. “I guess it’s harder for now you since you’re here, huh?”

“Umm… yeah.”

“Will you be alright?” Weiss asked him, “I haven’t seen you look like this since we first visited you four years ago in the hospital.”

Jace shook his head. “I-I don’t know, Weiss… I just don’t know. I didn’t think this would just… hit me so hard.”

Blake stepped forward and put her hand on his arm. “Let Alyss help you, Jace. That’s one of the most beautiful things mates can have with each other with the marks. You know that. She’ll help you more than anything. You just need to do your best to calm down, and let her help keep you calm.”

Jace hugged Alyss a bit tighter and nodded. “I’m scared to lose her just like I lost my family, j-just like I almost lost her to the Fang…”

“But you didn’t, sweetie,” Alyss looked up from his chest and looked into his sky blue and emerald green eyes, “I’m still here, because you saved me. Their torture was nothing compared to what I felt from being taken away from you. I’ll always be here for you. Please, calm down and breath. Everything else can wait.”

“You can get through it, Jace,” Ruby said and flashed him a big smile, taking Blake’s hand in her own, “We’re gonna head into the amphitheater now. You guys take all the time you need.”

Ruby led her team off as Yang put her arm back around Weiss’ shoulders and left team JKDW there in the hallway. Jace felt himself slowly shuddering less and less in the comfort of his team and in the comfort of Alyss’ arms. He knew he needed to calm down but it was just so hard. The memories had never gotten to him like this before, and that made it so much harder to keep himself calm. One of his greatest fears was losing Alyss after she was kidnapped after the Reclamation of Vale. Not only was Alyss kidnapped, but so were the mate and son of one of their friends. Jace had felt such crushing grief when Alyss went missing that day, and when he found out that she had been kidnapped by the White Fang, that grief was replaced by absolute, burning rage.

Neither were feelings he never wanted to feel again.

Several moments ticked by as Jace closed his eyes and let his emotions settle with the immense help from the feelings Alyss sent through his mark. Those moments passed and Jace finally felt like he was okay and ready to continue on, so he said so to his team and they all continued on toward their destination. The whole way there, Jace clutched Alyss’ hand like a lifeline. He didn’t squeeze so hard it hurt her, but he definitely squeezed it with a lot of force. Alyss squeezed back though, and continuously rubbed her thumb across the top of his hand, humming softly to him to help soothe his mind.

She did that the entire time all the students were being addressed in the amphitheater as well as General Ironwood welcomed them all to Atlas. He went over the basics of Atlas’ policies and told them all the rules of the academy, and shared in the collective disappointment that another year was going by without the Vytal Tournament taking place. He had told everyone that he hoped that they still had a wonderful time in Atlas and that he along with the professors would do their best to answer any questions anyone may have. It was a standard speech he gave them all, but it was necessary to keep it like that to prevent from wasting so much time that could be spent elsewhere for the students, such as getting used to their surroundings.

“…Above all, we at Atlas and the Atlesian military would… like to once again apologize for the events of four years ago,” Ironwood began to say at the end of his speech, “Because of our lacking security, we unknowingly played a hand in the fall of Beacon, and the loss of so many lives both young and old. To this day, I still regret letting that happen and I place all of that blame on my own shoulders.”

Ironwood took a deep breath, and he let it out evenly. “It takes years to build trust, but only a moment to destroy it. I can only hope Atlas continues to build that trust once more, and it is never destroyed again. You’re all dismissed, please spend the rest of the day to relax and become familiar with the school.”

[pffbts]

hello my baby! are requests still open? can I request a Taehyung imagine where he's been in love with a co worker noona for sometime but he is afraid to confess but finally gets his chance? its ok if you dont answer this request right away! your well being is more important. always remember that I'm here for you 🥰

―genre: fluff; angst; crack; minimal smut.

―characters: kim taehyung x female reader | no supporting character.

―w.c: 2.1K

―author`s note: i, honestly, have no words but this is such a good request i had to like dive in with all my love – i guess. also no, i did not just almost write a sappy kissing scene. thank you for the request, didi. much love

[08:50 PM] [the city during the night times is always the best time for someone to see the outline of someone`s presence]

―the blue haired guy beside your cubicle is out of this world attractive. you know it, the guy who sits in the other cubicle beside this guy knows it, the women of all age in this office know it, your dog knows it, and most importantly, the desktop which sits right in front of him, on top of his desk – knows it, mostly.

the blue haired guy – our shamelessly beautiful protagonist, kim taehyung felt like he had never seen a woman this beautiful in his whole life as if sometimes he can`t even see what is beyond you in his field of vision. it was tempting and satisfying. even though your presence affects him this much, you were completely unaware of his thoughts. but it was only because he is good at hiding it.

you always thought that taehyung is a hard-working guy, who watched anime and read comics during his free times. he`s always the one who greets you first thing in the morning but you didn`t know that he did all this because he wanted to keep in touch with you as long as his time permits him to do so.

to be frank, office workers work late – sometimes the shifts are so late that when you return home, your heels are legitimately giving you nightmares back to back. but things like this are part of your life. but to be given a choice that you can skip such activity then you would probably be the first one to raise your hand up and with that simultaneously, the blue-haired guy because then he`ll probably have no work in the office without your presence beside him all the time.

this is pathetic, taehyung thought. because even he knows there are a thousand reasons why this thing for you of him will not work out. first – you`re older than me and it`s not just by age (four and a half years) but also career-wise, you`re much senior to him; second – his looks, strangely enough, he`s aware of the wavering glances the younger female co-workers give to him, taehyung knows that he has killer looks and to that he thanks his parents every day but then what is the use of such good looks when he can`t even make you fall in love with him. why must he get the such-a-hard-working-junior pat on his head every day whenever he greets you in the morning?

also – ridiculous, this is so fucking ridiculous, like why is that weird breaded man hanging over your head as you speak about this project you`ve taken up while scrolling through the draft and bullet points – like dude, back the fuck up or else, taehyung might lose his good boy persona and that`s definitely not good news.

taehyung clenched his fist – his fingers hovering over the keyboard mid-typing as he watches everything from the corner of his eyes. suddenly, the tie around his neck was suffocating and his toes were twitching with rage inside his shoes. this is impossible. without considering any other thoughts, taehyung jumped in, “sir!”

both you, with wide eyes and the weird-breaded-guy looked at taehyung`s direction.

“yes, mr.kim?”

“sir, i-.”he started, only to be cut off.

“mr. kim you can see i`m currently talkin-.”

“washroom!” a panicked taehyung squeaked in, “can i please be excused?”

well, what the fuck, kim. taehyung felt like if only the ground would open up right at that moment and just swallow him up then he wouldn`t have to watch your face giving him strange expression.

“of course you can. it`s not school anymore, mr. kim.”

even though the breaded guy laughed for a second, taehyung felt like all of his bad deeds since childhood had been relived and he felt helpless under your funny gaze and everyone who had stopped typing and looking at his direction, sly grins on their face and weird whispers from their mouth.

without another glance towards anyone, taehyung got up from his place and swiftly walked away from the secret laughter, away from you whose eyes have softened when you realized something was completely wrong with his face – this is not the taehyung you know. this taehyung is flustered and probably looks like fighting a battle within himself. this taehyung looked like someone had touched a very sensitive part of the reel of his memories.

after an hour and talking about your project sidelines, you looked to his side. the seat was still empty and somehow, you know, you shouldn`t be feeling like this – because there`s really no reason for you to feel like this – you shouldn`t really be missing him. you looked back at your computer screen, waiting for the next word to follow your thoughts.

washing his face vigorously and making a mess of his bangs against his forehead, taehyung looked back at his reflection. why was this so difficult – to just tell you everything and just be confident with it, or was it something that`s not feeling right within himself. taehyung was all at once not confident – not confident enough to look at his reflection, the way his eyebrows are always on the flick, his eyes that has only intensity looming in them, his skin, his lips which is shaped just like a heart. maybe because he`s nervous – to confess his true feelings to you because he fears that if you see his true self, the reasons behind his morning greets, his assuring smile every once in a while then you would completely cut him off from your life.

maybe, you don`t even consider him as a man who is capable of taking over your heart. maybe you see him as a friend – or worst, brother. then, what would he do? will he try to cover up his shattered insides with a white cloth filled with smiles or just leave you and let you give the time to regret your decision?

no! he can`t do that. another splash of water against his face and taehyung inhaled as quickly as the water dripped off his face. he can`t just make you regret something you weren`t even responsible for doing. but, you`re so far away, so far away that sometimes he thinks distance is like snow which melts away no matter what and that it was never a real thing. pushing his hair back, taehyung stood straight up, his shoulders slouched and his jaw lose.

maybe if that`s how it is – then he`ll definitely give it a shot. maybe he`ll give his best and get through this exam without a red mark on his report card. maybe this time he won`t have to come back home with his heart in his hand and no one in front of him without a stretched out hand waiting for him to pass his heart to that person.

it was probably getting quite late and for a moment you thought why not take a breather in the office balcony while watching the night view of the city that spreads itself oh so beautifully under the night with no clouds but stars. pushing your chair, your eyes flickered to taehyung, who was sitting, his body leaning forward and it was clear he was writing something instead of typing. a smile came across your face at the thought of his sudden smiles that he gives often out of nowhere.

getting up finally, you softly padded towards the balcony – the cool wind already making your knee-length skirt flow in soft waves. you walked forward, cutting the air and soon, your hair was flowing on your sides – some of the loose strands over your face. your hand found the purchase of the railing and you breathed in closing your eyes in bliss.

a few minutes later, you stayed still against the flowing air around your body and soon, you heard a voice – and it was such a good voice you tried to remember how it felt like in your ears.

“maybe this is what people mean when you can`t see anyone but the one in your field of vision,” opening your eyes, your eyes flickered on an ethereal looking taehyung, his chin resting on his palm whose elbow rested on the railing, his eyes on you, his lips in a loose pout and his blue bangs messy and moving along with the air. it was such a sight and you still were unaware of his words.

taehyung tried again but this time, he pulled himself up and moved closer to you – so close that the end of your right shoulder met with his sternum. taehyung is definitely a decently tall guy with a pretty handsome face, not to forget his voice was something you would love to wake up every day to.

wait, what are you even thinking? you asked your clouded brain. the air was cool and soon taehyung was eye level with you, a little bit distance and his nose would almost touch you, you thought again.

“i can`t do this anymore,” he started again, his breath falling over your face.

“taehyung, what do you-,” you stumbled on your words and closed your eyes as he leaned in dangerously close to you at once.

“pretending like i just don`t have any sort of feelings for you. as if my smiles are just empty box of gifts, as if my eyes don`t find you every day, as if i don`t call out your name every time you smile back at me.” standing straight up and making you move to face him with his hand on your waist, he leant in, his face almost close to you. this is – why? – what is happening?

in no minutes, you felt a soft warmth against the corner of your lips. your breath hitched and you opened your eyes, to see nothing but the blue of taehyung`s bangs and his inhales and exhales too distinct on your skin.

“noona,” taehyung pressed his lips against the left half of your lips, “no,” a  microscopic giggle, “y/n, i,”pulling himself away from your lips for a second, taehyung looked at your closed eyes, your batted breathe, your stilled body, your hair that tickles his face. leaning in again, this time taehyung completely pressed his lips against yours but before you pull him against you, he pulled away with a “love you.”

“taehyung…”

your arms reached his neck and you pulled him against yourself, putting his mouth on yours again as if this was the kind of breather you were waiting for such a long time.

“i`ve loved you for a long time,” pushing his face against your collar bones, he whispered against the bare skin there, “i`ve watched you for a long time. i love you a lot. i know it`s silly but i really love you.”

looking at the sky right now is like watching sudden spaceships out of nowhere. the air against your body was different – there was a sudden heaviness in it, as if someone filled up a void in it, pushing all of their emotions, their strength into that void to let it be the strongest filled up void. the boy against your throat, the painfully leaning boy looking too drained to keep his head up – as if he has already used up his everything.

and at that moment, you just moved your palm up and down his back, feeling the muscles underneath the white cotton shirt and soon, you`re holding him close against your chest, your face against his hair and a smile there on your face, all over again.

[asknightqueendany]

I read a thing about Dany burning the food in that battle and how it was going to be so awful and all kinds of stupid shit. It's not going to matter, right? I'm a little worried but like Dany can figure out how to grow more food can't she? She FREED ALL OF ESSOS. She can figure this problem out too. Growing food isn't that hard. Idk sorry lol I'm just too stressed waiting for the new season! Anyway, can you make me feel better?

Everyone’s always harping on about that but honestly, I don’t think it will even come into play next season. D&D almost always skim over things like that and a simple solution is presented. Plus, they just don’t have enough time to worry about it much. My guess is from the start of the season to the end of the season, it will last a total of 2-4 months max, at least so far as the second Long Night is concerned. Dany may give birth at the very end, but I don’t think it will be while a battle is raging against the Night King outside. That would have already been taken care of.

So - my guestimate - the army will really only need food for half a year max (after that, I think it’s highly likely the Dothraki will go back to Essos, possibly the Unsullied as well if they wanted to form a sellsword company, what have you). One thing Jorah said back in season 1 is that the Dothraki have two things in abundance: grass and horses. They’re not in the Dothraki Sea so they’re not going to eat grass. But if they really needed to, they have the horses.

Another possibility is Dany having food brought in from Essos. She has ties in many cities. I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume she could get in contact with Illyrio and have food brought in from Pentos or even Daario and the Bay of Dragons. Would actually be a perfect job for Varys as he’s not a fighter and won’t have much to do next season. But again, this will all likely get glossed over.

@instantbouquetface-me has a great meta on the food issue HERE. She points out that after the Loot Train Battle, no one ever mentions food again, even though Jaime tells Cersei that Drogon burnt 1000 wagons. Odd right? If Jaime was so worried about feeding their men and their horses before they sacked Highgarden, wouldn’t he be doubly worried about it after Dany supposedly burnt it all? When Jaime is talking with the soldiers about going to Winterfell, one of them mentions that it would take them a fortnight to gather supplies…this would have been the perfect opportunity for Jaime to mention a food shortage. But he doesn’t mention it.

Also, when Jon and Dany are talking about the Dothraki riding on the Kingsroad to Winterfell, they don’t talk about supplies and what the Dothraki are taking with them. You would think this would be a really important issue if there was a food shortage. But again, no one is talking about it. It’s never mentioned again.

So if no one’s worried about food at the end of S7, I think it’s highly likely Drogon didn’t burn many wagons containing food. As pointed out in the meta above, Dany skips burning grain carts and indeed, many carts containing food seem to have been skipped.

The wagons Daenerys has Drogon burn mostly contain barrels. You can see them going flying in several shots.

Now, I’ve pointed this out before, and people seem to think I’m making it up, but what else could be kept in barrels? The episode is called Spoils of War. Just the word spoils connotes luxury items. The sacked an entire castle. They stole all the Tyrell gold. They probably took anything and everything of value that they could from Highgarden. Wine, clothing, weapons, fabric, jewelry, hell maybe even cutlery and silverware if it was of value…which it probably was, coming from Highgarden. The rest of the wagons also likely were carrying things like weapons, medical supplies, extra armor, camping supplies (thousands of soldiers aren’t just gonna stay at the local Holiday Inn).

TL;DNR: So basically 1) I think it’s highly unlikely Dany burned much food in the LTB, if any. 2) There are means for the army all to eat. It’s possible. It doesn’t all have to come from Highgarden. 3) I don’t even think it will come into play next season anyway because D&D have a tendency to gloss over things like that.