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spanishskulduggery · 4 years ago

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Pokemon Vocabulary in Spanish

Because I’ve been playing Pokemon a lot lately I decided to throw together a vocab list. Keep in mind that a lot of the words are usually direct translations that work really well in English or they’re closer to the original Japanese. I’ll make notes where needed.

Some of these are a little different between the European Spanish version and the Latin American Spanish version. For example, “brick break” in Spain is demolición which is “demolition”, and in Latin America it’s karatazo meaning “karate chop”. Most of these are the same, but some are regionally distinct. I’m going based off of Spain because I’m consulting my game which is European Spanish.

Note: Any official names or names of moves will be Uppercase. Me explaining what they more literally mean will be lowercase so there’s no confusion

Los tipos / Types

Normal = Normal normal = normal, regular

Fuego = Fire el fuego = fire

Agua = Water el agua = water [technically a feminine noun]

Planta = Grass la planta = plant [“grass” is usually la hierba or sometimes words like el pasto, or for a “lawn/grass” it’s often el césped]

Volador = Flying volador(a) = flying, capable of flight

Tierra = Ground la tierra = earth, ground

Roca = Rock la roca = rock [synonymous with la piedra “stone”]

Eléctrico = Electric eléctrico/a = electric

Bicho = Bug el bicho = bug [slang for el insecto “insect”, though el bicho can sometimes mean other things]

Lucha = Fighting la lucha = a fight / wrestling [la lucha libre]

Psíquico = Psychic psíquico/a = psychic

Veneno = Poison el veneno = poison, venom

Fantasma = Ghost el fantasma = ghost [surprisingly, fantasma is masculine]

Hielo = Ice el hielo = ice

Dragón = Dragon el dragón = dragon

Acero = Steel el acero = steel

Siniestro = Dark siniestro/a = sinister, shady, underhanded [in older contexts siniestro/a is “left” or “left-handed”]

Hada = Fairy el hada = fairy [technically a feminine noun]

Remember that the Pokemon types themselves are considered adjectives

Me gustan los Pokemon tipo Agua. = I like water-type Pokemon.

No me gustan los Pokemon tipo Hada. = I don’t like fairy-type Pokemon.

Los Pokemon tipo Fantasma son mis favoritos. = Ghost-type Pokemon are my favorites.

El (tipo) Siniestro es débil contra el tipo Hada, Bicho, y Lucha. = Dark is weak against Fairy, Bug, and Fighting.

El (tipo) Psíquico es fuerte contra el tipo Veneno y Lucha. = Psychic is strong against Poison and Fighting.

¿Cuáles son los Pokemon tipo Acero más fuertes? = What are the strongest steel-type Pokemon?

Los ataques / Attacks

Malicioso = Leer malicioso/a = malicious

Cara Susto = Scary Face la cara = face (el) susto = scare, fright da susto = scary

Placaje = Tackle el placaje = tackle [in football/rugby]

Derribo = Take Down el derribo = demolition derribar = to knock down, to bring down

Doble Filo = Double Edge el filo = edge, blade

Picotazo = Peck el pico = beak -azo = [suffix meaning “a strike from”; thus it’s “a strike with a beak”]

Mofa = Taunt la mofa = ridicule, mockery, taunting mofar(se) = to taunt / to make fun of

Arañazo = Scratch el arañazo = a scratch arañar = to scratch

Cuchillada = Slash la cuchillada = a slash or stab (with something sharp) acuchillar = to stab/slash (often with a knife which is el cuchillo)

Constricción = Wrap la constricción = constriction

Atadura = Bind la atadura = binding, ties atar = to tie, to tie up

Atizar = Slam atizar = to stoke, to stir up / to slam, to whack

Impactrueno = Thundershock el impacto = impact el trueno = thunder

Ascuas = Ember el ascua = an ember [technically feminine, las ascuas in plural]

Pistola Agua = Water Gun la pistola = pistol, gun el agua = water [technically feminine]

Destructor = Pound destructor(a) = destructive

Burbuja = Bubble la burbuja = a bubble

Mordisco = Bite el mordisco = a bite morder = to bite

Triturar = Crunch triturar = to crunch, to crush, to mash

Ataque Arena = Sand Attack el ataque = attack la arena = sand [or “arena” as in a stadium]

Pisotón = Stomp el pisotón = a stomp, a stamping (of the foot) [lit. “big trample/step”] pisotear = to step on, to trample pisar = to step on, to step foot on

Golpe Cuerpo = Body Slam el golpe = strike, hit el cuerpo = body

Contoneo = Swagger el contoneo = swaying, swaggering contonear = “to swing your hips”, “to walk with a swagger”, “to strut”

Bostezo = Yawn el bostezo = a yawn bostezar = to yawn

Más Psique = Psych Up [lit. “more/plus” + “psyche”]

Corpulencia = Bulk Up la corpulencia = size/girth/bulk (of the body), corpulence corpulento = large/fat, bulky

Reserva = Stockpile la reserva = reserve, a stockpile reservar = to reserve, to save up

Escupir = Spit Up escupir = to spit [they probably went with escupir “to spit” because “to spit up” in English sounds more like vomitar is more gross]

Tragar = Swallow tragar = to swallow

Rayo = Thunderbolt el rayo = a lightning bolt, a bolt

el rayo = a beam/bolt Rayo Hielo = Ice Beam Rayo Solar = Solar Beam Rayo Carga = Charge Beam Rayo Confuso = Confuse Beam Rayo Burbuja = Bubble Beam Rayo Aurora = Aurora Beam Psicorrayo = Psybeam Hiperrayo = Hyper Beam

la onda = wave [often in the sense of electromagnetic waves, microwave, wavelengths etc.] Onda Trueno = Thunder Wave Onda Ígnea = Heat Wave Onda Voltio = Shock Wave Onda Tóxica = Sludge Wave

el puño = fist / punch Puño Fuego = Fire Punch Puño Trueno = Thunder Punch Puño Hielo = Ice Punch Puño Sombra = Shadow Punch Puño Drenaje = Drain Punch

la patada = a kick Doble Patada = Double Kick Patada Baja = Low Kick Patada Ígnea = Blaze Kick

la garra = claw Garra Dragón = Dragon Claw Garra Metal = Metal Claw Garra Umbría = Shadow Claw

el colmillo = fang Colmillo Veneno = Poison Fang Colmillo Ígneo = Fire Fang Colmillo Rayo = Thunder Fang Colmillo Hielo = Ice Fang

Vendaval = Hurricane el vendaval = gale, strong wind [el huracán is “hurricane” literally]

Fuego Fatuo = Will-O-Wisp el fuego fatuo = will-o-wisp [ghostly lights]

Tóxico = Toxic tóxico/a = toxic, poisonous

Lanzallamas = Flamethrower el lanzallamas = a flamethrower [lit. “launches/throws-flames”]

Ventisca = Blizzard la ventisca = blizzard, flurry

Cornada = Horn Attack la cornada = goring [being gored by the horns or tusks of an animal]

Bote = Bounce el bote = a bounce, a jump [among other things]

Buena Baza = Assurance la baza = a trump card, “ace up the sleeve”, “secret weapon” [so literally it means “a really good trump card”]

Maquinación = Nasty Plot la maquinación = machination, plot, plotting, sneaky plan

Látigo = Tail Whip el látigo = whip, lash

Latigazo = Power Whip el latigazo = lashing, a lash, a whipping [lit. “blow from a whip”]

Azote = Flail el azote = a whip, a flail, a scourge, cat-o-nine-tails / a smack from a whip azotear = to whip, to lash

Carámbano = Icicle Spear el carámbano = an icicle

Brillo Mágico = Dazzling Gleam el brillo = shine, gleam mágico/a = magical

Absorber = Absorb absorber = to absorb

Megaagotar = megadrain agotar = to drain, to drain away, to exhaust

Gigadrenado = gigadrain drenar = to drain

Polvo Veneno = Poison Powder el polvo = dust / powder

Paralizador = Stun Spore paralizador(a) = paralyzing

Somnífero = Sleep Powder somnífero/a = inducing sleep el somnífero = a sleeping pill

Fuerza Lunar = Moon Blast la fuerza = strength lunar = lunar/moon

Rueda Fuego = Flame Wheel la rueda = wheel

Terremoto = Earthquake el terremoto = earthquake

Bola Sombra = Shadow Ball la bola = ball la sombra = shadow, shade

Psíquico = Psychic

Paranormal = Extrasensory paranormal = paranormal, ghostly, spooky

el tajo = a cut or slash Tajo Aéreo = Air Slash Tajo Umbrío = Night Slash Tajo Cruzado = Cross Chop

Sombra Vil = Shadow Sneak la sombra = shadow vil = vile, evil, fiendish

Tinieblas = Nightshade las tinieblas = “darkness” [used euphemistically as “darkness” or “the shadows”]

el pulso = pulse Pulso Umbrío = Dark Pulse Pulso Dragón = Dragon Pulse Pulso Cura = Heal Pulse Hidropulso = Water Pulse

la cola = tail Cola Férrea = Iron Tail Cola Veneno = Poison Tail Cola Dragón = Dragon Tail Acua Cola = Aqua Tail

Hidrobomba = Hydro Pump la bomba = pump / bomb

Hidroariete = Liquidation el ariete = battering ram, ram (of a ship) / striker, forward (in football/soccer, sometimes called el delantero in Spanish) [literally hidroariete would be like “hydro-ram”]

Liofilización = Freeze Dry la liofilización = (the process of) freeze-drying

Testarazo = Head Smash la testa = head [another word for la cabeza] testarudo/a = stubborn, hard headed la testarada = headbutt [another word for el cabezazo] -azo = (a strike with)

Mazazo = Wood Hammer el mazo = mallet, hammer -azo = (a strike with)

Pantalla de Luz = Light Screen la pantalla = screen la luz = light

Reflejo = Reflect el reflejo = reflection / reflex

Avalancha = Rock Slide la avalancha = avalanche [snow] / rockslide [rocks]

Alud = Avalanche el alud = avalanche [slow] / rockslide [rocks] / mudslide [mud] / deluge, spill

Picadura = Bug Bite la picadura = bite, sting (from an insect)

Zumbido = Bug Buzz el zumbido = a buzzing, buzzing noise, droning noise (mechanical)

Chirrido = Screech el chirrido = a shriek, a screeching noise chirriar = to squeak, to shriek, to screech

Descanso = Rest el descanso = a rest descansar = to rest

Ronquido = Snore el ronquido = a snore, snoring sound roncar = to snore

Sonámbulo = Sleep Talk sonámbulo/a = a sleepwalker [in Spanish it’s more “to move around in your sleep” but in English it’s “talking”]

Viento Hielo / Viento Helado = Icy Wind el viento = wind hielo = ice helado/a = icy

Torbellino = Whirlpool el torbellino = a whirlpool, a waterspout

Rapidez = Swift la rapidez = quickness

Ida y Vuelta = U-turn (de) ida y vuelta = “round trip” [lit. “going and returning”]

Infortunio = Hex el infortunio = misfortune, accident, bad luck, a jinx/hex

Otra Vez = Encore otra vez = “again”, “once more”, “once again”

Señuelo = Follow Me el señuelo = decoy, lure

Premonición = Future Sight la premonición = premonition, prediction

la púa = spike, barb Púas = Spikes Púas Tóxicas = Toxic Spikes

Puya Nociva = Poison Jab la puya = lance, spear / a sharp jab nocivo/a = noxious, poisonous

Joya de Luz = Power Gem la joya = jewel, gem la luz = light

Furia = Rage la furia = fury, rage, anger

Enfado = Outrage el enfado = anger, rage, outrage

Cascada = Waterfall la cascada = waterfall, cascade

Salmuera = Brine la salmuera = brine / pickling liquid

Escaldar = Scald escaldar = to scald / to blanche (vegetables)

Pájaro Osado = Brave Bird el pájaro = bird osado/a = daring, bold [not as common but synonymous with audaz and atrevido/a for “bold”, though more in the idea of “daring” and “reckless”... not the same as valiente “brave”]

A bocajarro = Close Combat a bocajarro = “(at) point-blank (range)” / “no holding back”, “blunt”

Agua Lodosa = Muddy Water el agua = water [technically feminine] lodoso/a = muddy, sludgy, murky (water)

Bomba Lodo = Sludge Bomb la bomba = bomb / pump el lodo = mud / sludge

Dragoaliento = Dragonbreath el aliento = breath

Cometa Draco = Draco Meteor el cometa = comet [masculine; la cometa is a “kite”]

Perforador = Horn Drill perforador(a) = perforating, something that makes holes

Frío Polar = Sheer Cold el frío = cold polar = polar, of the poles

Canto Helado = Ice Shard el canto = stone, pebble, stone chip, little piece of something / a song, singing, canto helado/a = icy

Poder Pasado = Ancient Power el poder = power pasado/a = past, ancient

Roca Afilada = Stone Edge la roca = rock, stone afilado/a = sharp, razor-sharp

Espada Santa = Sacred Sword la espada = sword santo/a = holy, sacred

Excavar = Dig excavar = to dig

Fuerza Equina = High Horsepower la fuerza = strength equino/a = horse, equine

Llamarada = Fire Blast la llamarada = flash of fire, flare-up

Sofoco = Overheat el sofoco = a hot flash / a feeling of being suffocated or stifled

Lanza Mugre = Gunk Shot lanzar = to throw, to shoot, to launch la mugre = grime, filth

Tierra Viva = Earth Power la tierra = earth vivo/a = alive, living

Corte = Cut el corte = a cut [from cortar “to cut” / not to be confused with la corte “court”]

Fuerza = Strength la fuerza = power, strength

Surf = Surf el surf = the surf [also surfear “to surf” or hacer surf]

Vuelo = Fly el vuelo = a flight [from volar “to fly”]

Buceo = Dive el buceo = a dive, diving [from bucear “to dive down underwater” as in like “scuba diving” / not to be confused with zambullirse which is someone “diving” off a diving board in swimming]

Destello = Flash el destello = a glimmer, a flash [from destellar “to twinkle” or “to shine, to flash”]

Some Pokemon moves have pretty clear patterns. You might see ígneo/a “fiery/igneous” for fire-related things or just fuego, you normally see umbrío/a “shady, gloomy, dark” for dark or shadow things, férreo/a or de hierro for “iron” for metal and steel moves, or you might see helado/a “icy” for others. Sometimes you see voltio “volt” or voltaico “electric”... things like that.

You can typically spot the patterns and figure out what type they’re talking about if you recognize any cognates in English. So if you know aéreo means “air”, then you can sort of piece together that Golpe Aéreo “Aerial Ace” will be a flying move, since it literally means “air strike”.

Día Soleado = Sunny Day

Sequía = Drought la sequía = drought

el sol pega fuerte = “the sunlight is harsh” [lit. “the sun beats/sticks/strikes hard”]

Llovizna = Drizzle

Tormenta (de) Arena = Sandstorm la tormenta de arena = a sandstorm la tormenta de arena zarandea a ___ = “the sandstorm buffets ___”

zarandear = to shake, to buffet, to knock around

Granizo = Hail el granizo = hail / hailstone granizar = to hail

Los estados, Los problemas de estados / Status Problems

envenenado/a = poisoned causar envenenamiento = to cause poison / to cause poisoning

quemado/a = burned la quemadura = a burn

congelado/a = frozen

paralizado/a = paralyzed

dormido/a = asleep

daño de retroceso = recoil damage

amedrentar = to flinch, to cause flinching [in Pokemon it’s “flinching”, in regular Spanish it means “to intimidate” or “to instill fear”]

confuso/a = confused

enamorado/a = in love [often caused by (la) Atracción which is “Attract”) estar enamorado/a de = to be in love with

debilitado/a = fainted [lit. “weakened”]

inmune = immune

Most of these status effects are used with estar given that they’re temporary and states of being

La eficacia / Effectiveness

eficaz = effective

supereficaz = super effective

poco eficaz = not very effective

fallar = to miss, to fail

el golpe crítico = critical hit

sin efecto = no effect

afectar = to affect no afecta a ___ = (it) doesn’t affect ___

evolucionar = to evolve (Un Pokemon) ha evolucionado = (A Pokemon) evolved (Un Pokemon) está evolucinando = (A Pokemon) is evolving

debilitarse = “to faint” [lit. “to weaken / to go weak, to go limp”; when someone “faints” or “passes out” it’s normally desmayarse, but debilitarse does also have this idea in it too] (Un Pokemon) se ha debilitado = (A Pokemon) fainted

Un Pokemon salvaje te corta el paso = “A wild Pokemon appears” [lit. “a wild Pokemon cuts into your way”, sort of like “a wild Pokemon cuts you off”]

#Spanish #langblr #languages #Pokemon #learning Spanish #language #espanol #vocabulario #so much vocab

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gatheringbones · 3 years ago

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Bones, how do you break it to a coworker-friend gently that her fawn response to guys being rude/demanding is something she should work on? I have a friend who I'm working a donation drive with, and I noticed when the beneficiaries get really rude, it spurs her on to make more accomodations for them for fear of them bullying another group we're on better terms with, which is a whole other can of worms. We're working on limited manpower and funds so as much as we wish we could accomodate-

All, but bitter personal experience taught me that if we tolerate negative behavior like that, they'll just keep pushing and pushing at boundaries and treat the other group even worse, bc it's what got them results. And this is what my friend isn't gettibmng, despite what I've tried to explain to her.

This is such a hard question to tackle because what you’re describing is a trauma response with decades of conditioning and survival mechanisms behind it and you’ve had such a short window of time to be any kind of an influence at all on this person on an individual level.

and I suspect very much that this question is too big for me to handle, but what I can say that you were on the right track when it came to finding a gentle way to impart this information, even when I don’t think there’s a good chance that a conversation like that can be gentle.

Because it can all too easily turn into shaming her for a survival-based response, right? It can turn into centering the problem around her failures as opposed to the multiple failures that had to happen to even give her that ingrained habit— none of which was her fault. The fawn response is a smart strategy— “You don’t want to kill me, I’m too cute, I’m too accommodating, I’m too precious, you love me”— but it’s one that takes the power differentials for granted the same way that freeze does, even if I would argue that it’s a form of fighting by virtue of the fact that the person stuck in fawn is bravely and valiantly trying to mindfuck someone out of harming them. I love fawn when done right. It means you can get someone to lower their guard long enough for you to pull something strategically interesting. But it backfires when the person fawning doesn’t realize that it’s a tactic, not something they have to do to stay alive when the stakes aren’t even that high to begin with.

I think it’s a question of how you frame the moments in which you talk about how these fawning interactions usually go; how you frame her and her intrinsic value and power as compared to the people attempting to dominate her. Not shaming or judging her or singling her out for resorting to a survival mechanism in a triggered state— but breaking the illusion that she actually was in a position of worthlessness and powerlessness and had to fawn to avoid terrible consequences. Which means reminding her of her worth. Which means talking about and framing these domineering beneficiaries as weak, toothless, and not worth the effort it takes to appease them. Which means reminding her that she’s strong and smart and capable and brave and these people emphatically do not have enough power to truly harm her. You’re building her up enough to recognize her power and to recognize the true stakes despite what trauma conditioning tells her they are.

Patricia Evans calls this Spellbreaking, and I always loved that word for it. The two of you are breaking a spell and there’s nothing harder or more worth doing on this earth. It’s also heartbreaking but you knew that already. Good luck.

#brainspace

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hpimaginesandblurbs · 4 years ago

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request: remus lupin: war ended and james and lily are still alive because it makes me cry and him like going to her and confessing his love for her because he’s loved her for years and it ending in smut??????

pairing: remus lupin x reader

warning(s): pg, fluff, feelings, mentions of war and trauma

word count: 1.4k

a/n: i decided not to include smut because it just didn’t feel right for this, ya know? just wanted a cute little remus fluff post because i’m in love with him. possibly a part 2 if anyone wants it? also i cannot recommend it enough but please go read ‘all the young dudes’ by MsKingBean89 on archive of our own if you haven’t already. and bring the tissues if you do.

The war was over and you were all finally free. Thankfully you and all of your friends had managed to survive.

James and Lily were safe from the threat of Voldemort, now able to live their lives as a happy, normal family with their two year old son. Sirius had moved out on his own, away from his tortuous family, but he was always around. And Remus. He no longer had to go away for months with packs of werewolves, constantly worried about his chance of making it out alive each time he had to leave.

Throughout it all, despite your own involvement in the Order, you were always the most worried about Remus. You knew James and Lily had been hidden appropriately and Sirius could always fend for himself even in the worst of times, but Remus’ disappearances always left you on edge. Not being able to see or hear from him for months was practically torture when the feelings you had for him were so strong.

You had loved him for years, watching him grow up alongside you. Watched him go from an anxious child, to a rambunctious teen, to a young adult riddled by the effects of war. It had started as an innocent crush in your fifth year at Hogwarts, but it grew into so much more as the pair of you grew closer in adulthood. You and your friends were forced to stick close to each other, especially after Peter’s unexplained change of heart, and you and Remus just seemed to click.

And here you were, waiting for him to arrive. He had sent you an owl, letting you know he wanted to see you almost the second after the news broke that the war was won and over. It had you giddy with anticipation.

The knock on your door startled you out of your thoughts, but you immediately launched up to grab it, knowing it was him. The second the door swung open you were practically tackled into a hug, the both of you sighing in relief with the knowledge that for the first time in years you were safe.

You stood like that for a long time, neither of you letting go and just content to hold each other. You kept repeating to yourself how it was nothing more than a friendly hug, one shared between two people who had suffered from similar traumas, but the way he was clutching you desperately made you think otherwise.

“Sorry,” he said abruptly, pulling back, suddenly aware that the hug had gone on for far too long to be considered appropriate, “I just- I just needed to see you. Make sure you were okay.”

“I think this is the first time I’ve been okay in years,” you said with a slight chuckle. If only he knew. “Come in,” you offered, pulling the door open further to make room for him to enter.

You both made your way to the couch in silence, but you immediately set to work serving him tea in the exact way you knew he liked it. You two had sat at the same dinner table for seven years together, after all.

He took it from your hands with an easy smile as you sat down next to him. You didn’t even know where to begin. You and all your friends had a lot of catching up to do. But he started the conversation for you.

“Look, I don’t know if this is the right time for this at all. I know we all just went through hell and back, but I- I couldn’t help myself. I had to come see you,” he started, staring down at his tea.

Your heart began pounding, and you knew he could probably hear it thanks to his damn werewolf capabilities.

“Re, you can tell me anything. You know that,” you said gently, trying to keep your voice steady despite the shake in your hands that you were desperately trying to hide.

His head snapped up and his eyes met yours. The look he gave you was conflicted but oh so determined, his Gryffindor braveness carrying him through the moment.

“I love you, Y/N. I’ve been in love with you for years, but it was just never a good time. I was way too young and immature to say anything back at school and then the whole war and I was scared we wouldn’t make it out so I never said anything and I don’t even know if you feel the same so this could all be pointless and-” he rambled, but you cut him off with a gentle smile.

“I love you too. I have for years,” you admitted, feeling so relieved to finally have it off your chest. You had never told a single soul for fear of him finding out, but you were sure Lily knew anyways. She always did.

“Really?” He asked, his eyes softening and a giddy smile spreading across his face.

“Yeah really,” you replied, scooting closer to him on the couch until your legs were draped over his long ones. “I never said anything either because I thought you wouldn’t feel the same, and I agree that confessing feelings in the middle of a war probably wasn’t the right timing, but here we are.”

“Here we are,” he quietly agreed, putting his cup of tea down on the side table next to him and wrapping his arms around you.

It felt so natural being in his arms. So easy. So right.

You were both feeling a little stupid and clueless to have kept this from each other for so long.

Before either of you could say anything more, his lips were crashing onto yours in the best and most anticipated first kiss of your life. You had been waiting for years for this moment, and it was even better than you expected.

His lips were so soft against yours, moving in perfect sync with you as he pulled you in closer. His tongue shyly darted out to swipe against your lower lip, silently begging for entry that you so happily gave him. His tongue explored your mouth greedily, relishing in your utter submission to him. Your body was pliant against his, letting him hold you and move you in any way that he pleased. Just being held and kissed by him was more than enough for you.

He finally pulled away and you were both breathless. Foreheads pressed against each other with small smiles on your faces, you stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

“I needed that. I needed this. You,” he said quietly, not daring to break the gentle energy in the room. “Getting to this moment, right here, was the only thing that kept me going all those nights I was away. All these years,” he admitted just as quietly.

That brought a sad smile to your face. That, despite his suffering, at least you had unknowingly brought him the same comfort he had brought to you over the past few years.

“I was so worried about you. Every time you left I could barely sleep. Rarely ate. I just needed you home,” you told him solemnly.

“I know,” he said with a breathless chuckle.

“How do you know that?” You asked, pulling away slightly with shock on your face.

“Sirius may have said something to me after the last time I came back. I made sure he kept an eye on you,” he explained, a blush coming to his cheeks.

“So all those times he came over for a cuppa wasn’t just because he wanted to see his friend?” You asked jokingly.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Remus laughed. “Of course he wanted to see you. But I may have told him about my feelings and he promised he’d keep an eye on you when I was gone.”

You just rolled your eyes and laughed. These boys never failed to shock you, even years after their pranks and shenanigans were over. You both stayed silent for a moment, just mulling over everything that had just happened, until you broke it once more.

“So what now?” You asked, a brow raised.

“I suppose this is the part where I ask you to be my girlfriend. So..?” He trailed off with a question in his voice. And although he could already assume the answer, the look in his eyes was close to begging. He wanted this, he wanted you, so desperately that you could practically feel the need radiating off of him.

“Of course,” you replied with the first genuine smile you may have cracked in years, pulling him closer for another kiss.

#remus lupin #young remus lupin #remus lupin imagine #hp marauders #young marauders #marauders #remus lupin smut #remus lupin fluff #sirius black #james potter #lily evans #lily evans potter #peter pettigrew #harry potter

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itsclydebitches · 4 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Worthy”

Happy Saturday, everyone! I mean that seriously for once. Regardless of what I have to say about this episode — and as always, there's a lot — I want it on the record that "Worthy" was leagues ahead of... pretty much everything else we've gotten lately. For all of RWBY's continuing problems, there's a level of effort here that I really do appreciate. Especially for the penultimate episode.

Our title, "Worthy," immediately conjures thoughts of Watts' speech about Cinder needing to be "worthy" of the power she craves and, what do you know, our villains work hard to prove their worth this episode. Hallelujah! We start with the heroes though and do you recall how last week I said that our opening may as well be a summary of the whole series since Volume 6, what with the grimm conveniently avoiding the team's airship and them just looking vaguely sad that the people around them are perishing? Well, same here. Or rather, same problems, different flavor. Oscar opens with the question, "What do we do now?" and no sooner has he asked that then the magic portal appears to give him the answer. Useful!

More seriously though, I've been intensely side-eyeing the group's wish since last week. Not (just) because of the awful decision to turn Penny human, but simply because the story emphasized how "smart" the group was, heavily insisting that their portal plan is a masterpiece of well thought out strategy... and I really don't think it is. There was a lot of confusion last episode about how exactly the group was using the vault, with my own interpretation — that they were funneling everyone to Vacuo's vault — proven wrong today, but one of the problems brought up was how Ambrosius could possibly create portals across a kingdom precisely where the group needs them. Yang asks him,

"Can you make a bunch of doorways in Atlas that open at a single spot in Vacuo?"

To which, simply, Ambrosius says no. He'd need, among other things, "coordinates and specs for each door" and "an explanation for bending space and time."

This is why, prior to the very end of "Creation" where we saw portals appearing everywhere, I thought using both vaults was the solution. Ambrosius knows (or can easily receive) the coordinates for his own vault and the one in Vacuo. As weird, alternate dimensions, they're potentially capable of bending space and time as necessary. If you put the portal in Atlas' vault and open it up in Vacuo's vault, you're golden. The only challenge now is getting everyone in the kingdom to the Winter Maiden's vault.

But then... that didn't happen. Apparently the vault just becomes the in-between place for everyone to pass through and the portals appear all over the kingdom, even though the group didn't provide those "coordinates and specs." What they did was show Ambrosius a schematic of the cities. That's not the same thing as telling him precisely where each portal needs to appear — which is what he asked for. I bring this long-winded explanation up not merely to emphasize "RWBY's wish isn't as smart as the story wants you to believe it is" but because this wreaks havoc on who is getting a portal. How did the group tell Ambrosius precisely where to put a portal for Jaune's group? Why didn't they try to make one appear for Qrow and Robyn? Or Winter? Or Pietro and Maria? They had to have been somewhat specific in terms of saying where these portals appeared because if they just wished for everyone to get one, Jacques and Ironwood would have gotten one too. Basically, the portals do appear for characters whose “Worthy” plot now takes place in this in-between space and the portals do not appear for those whose plot is still taking place in Atlas. That's a mess. To say nothing of how it implies that our heroes just don't give a damn about all their other allies — including an uncle (Ruby, Yang) and a father (Penny) — and that, ultimately, Ambrosius did the very thing he initially said wouldn't work. He put a bunch of doors around Atlas that opened on a single point in Vacuo without making the group meet these requirements first. The rest is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo to distract the viewer from the fact that none of this actually makes sense.

But that's a tangent. To get back on track, Jaune's group decides to "spread the word on foot" since they can't contact anyone via their scrolls anymore. What this translates to is Jaune going to one spot and Nora doing the rest of the work because she can suddenly ride her hammer like a broomstick.

You know what? I'm fine with it. Have we ever seen Nora do this before? Not that I recall. Is it a cute image that feeds my witch-loving brain? Yeeeeeaah.

They're not sure if the portals are safe though and everyone turns to Jaune as the joke test subject. Except everyone else is right behind him when the go through? Even the jokes in this show aren't consistent.

What I do like though is that we get another interesting team split: Oscar, Emerald, and Ren heading to Vacuo while Jaune and Nora help with the evacuation — even though Nora and Jaune aren't actually doing anything together. Still, I can see that (for this volume at least) RT has taken the duo criticisms to heart. It would have been incredibly easy to attach Nora and Ren at the hip again, despite her desire for space, so I'm glad that they're still striving to mix things up a bit.

Nora says that Shade is "armed to the teeth with huntsmen and huntresses." It is? I mean sure, it has its school, but so did Vale. So did Atlas. In fact, we've spent the last two volumes emphasizing that Atlas is really the only armed kingdom remaining. Remember the plan for them to protect the world after knowledge of Salem's existence threw everything into disarray? Well, the people know about Salem now. And Salem herself is attacking. And they're about to slam an entire kingdom into another one. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Nora ends her observations with the assertation that Vacuo will need as much help as they can get, but that worry feels far, far too late. Where were these concerns when Ruby made her announcement to the world in the first place? The fact that the group never went, "Hey, is it really worth telling people about Salem now when we can no longer provide the protection against the grimm that this announcement will necessitate? Yeah, we need backup, but can they even get here in time? I don't think so. Maybe we should hold off and try to find a way to solve this ourselves. Or, at the very least, just tell them Atlas is facing a massive grimm attack. That won't create quite the same panic as 'Magic immortal lady eager to kill you all' will."

Our heroes only acknowledge these problems when they're already neck deep in them. Forethought is not their strong suit.

For our obligatory humor, the people of Atlas are hiding behind the staircase after the evil portal appeared (weren't there, like, twenty of them in the last episode?) and a brave dude trying to toss a rock through accidentally hits Jaune. He — I kid you not — uses the Atlas huntsmen license gifted to him by Ironwood to gain authority over the group.

Talk about the story being tone deaf.

We segue to a shot of Penny who flies herself through the portal using the Maiden powers, precisely as she would have with her boots. Okay, I try not to pull many "I told you so"s because that's rude, petty, and all around just shit behavior... but boy is it tempting at times. Because RWBY's fandom is so staunchly against criticism that even the most polite pushbacks boil down to an equally rude "Just wait" mentality. Readers of these recaps know we were told to "just wait" for the group to talk to Ozpin. Or "just wait" for them to be punished for their crimes. "Just wait" for the complex forgiveness arc the group is sure to undergo with Emerald. "Just wait" is the go-to response when someone doesn't entirely disagree with our problems with the show, but still believes we're not giving RT enough credit. Most recently, I was told to "just wait" in regards to Penny. We don't actually know that her body is human. We don't actually know that her Maiden powers will still be the same. We don't actually know that this won't be the start of a long journey wherein she has to figure out how to use this new body, both on the battlefield and off. And the issue of RWBY failing to answer any of these questions isn’t valid criticism either because the only point being made here is that we’re not patient and supportive enough. Just wait. RT will prove you wrong.

Well... Penny's body still appears entirely human, her Maiden powers still work just fine, and now they've given her the ability to create all her old weapons out of aura, meaning she fights exactly the same as she did before.

The only thing making Penny human did was force her to fight barefoot. Oh, and erase her journey of accepting herself as an android.

Again, I don't want to be that asshole, especially when so many people want the show to be better — just like I do. By all means, hold out hope with me. But before slamming into someone's inbox to explain why they're being too negative because things are bound to be taken seriously down the road, keep in mind the staggering number of times we've decided to "just wait" and nothing ever came of it. Keep in mind that RWBY should be tackling these questions and expectations from the start. Now here we are, disappointed again. We're not pessimistic because we want to be, we're pessimistic because there's a clearly established pattern at play.

So Penny's change is, at this point, meaningless for her development and, at this point, we've lost the chance to introduce challenges later. If RT does, we're forever going to wonder why Penny didn't express any doubts upon waking up in a human body, or why she didn't face any problems while fighting another Maiden. Like Emerald getting the group to laugh and immediately being trusted with important duties, it's too late to suddenly backtrack and insist that there's still work to be done here. RT missed their chance.

That fight is a few minutes off though. For now, Oscar and the others arrive in Vacuo to discover that there's a sandstorm going on. Who could have ever expected that?

Seriously though, this is just one of the many reasons why our heroes come across as stupid. They deliberately chose to send everyone "outside the city limits of Vacuo," in a desert kingdom, after Ruby got the entire world panicked about Salem, and they somehow didn't think that a) weather might be a problem or b) grimm were going to show up? These characters have been though enough shit that they should be planning for the worst and hoping for the best, not planning for the best and assuming the worst just won't happen to them. Why wouldn't they have everyone appear inside the kingdom if they (against Ambrosius' rules) got to choose where everyone ended up? Why in the world would they rely on communications being up when CCT has been spotty since Volume 3 and Watts just took out Atlas’ entire system? Our characters don't think anything through — despite Ambrosius’ claims otherwise — and it makes for some pretty awful characterization. Because RWBY isn't trying to be a story about teenagers seriously messing up their attempts at heroics, it's trying to be a story about True Heroes... and we're just supposed to ignore the endless number of times the group doesn't think the most basic problems through. So now, Oscar and the other stand there doing nothing for the rest of the episode because a sandstorm in the desert threw a wrench in their plans.

The only reason I didn’t bring this up last week is because I had no idea they had chosen to dump everyone outside of the city. I thought they were going to the vault, or at the very least appearing inside the border. Why wouldn’t you send everyone to the city??

It’s so stupid, but then Cinder arrives and blows a whole bunch of people off the edge of the pathways. HELL YEAH.

I mean, obviously not hell yeah for the poor civilians who just took a tumble, but yay the villain causing some damage. It's small potatoes compared to what we were promised at the end of last volume — Salem decimating a whole kingdom in The Fall of Atlas — but at least it's more than we were getting last week.

So Cinder is having her evil fun when the entire group leaves Penny to go after her. Again, stupid. You're going to leave the girl who (at this point) may not have been in a position to fight with her new body and stands vulnerable with a Relic? Not a single member stays behind to guard her? It would have served Team RWBY right if Neo had shown up and just clocked Penny, taking a second Relic for herself.

Cinder taunts the group with information she shouldn't have: “Your little friend Oscar was right, but the easy part ends here" then mimics them with the question "How’d you know about that?” at their shocked looks. This starts a flashback where we return to Cinder, Neo, and Watts in the alleyway.

Again Cinder is given more development than a supposed hero like Emerald, apologizing to Neo for not upholding her end of their bargain. In fact, Cinder displays more growth here than our entire title characters combined, it's just that her growth turns her into a better villain. She apologizes to Neo, compliments Watts as a means of acknowledging the work he's accomplished — “You tore this kingdom apart with nothing but your intellect. How about we finish what you started?” — and tells the heroes that she did learn something from them: “Sometimes, if you want to win, you simply can’t do it alone.”

I quite like all of this. Again, not that Cinder should be our biggest threat with Salem on the scene, but if you remove that context this is a great moment for her. She's actually learned something, but instead of following in the rather abrupt and, in Hazel's case, nonsensical footsteps of her peers, what she's learned has made her more dangerous, not a sudden, convenient ally. Since Volume 7 RWBY has hammered home the idea that only friends can truly be a good team and now, well, Cinder is kind of making friends. She's apologizing to Neo. She seems glad that Watts is happy. RWBY took the concept of working together and applied it to our villains with devastating effect. Team RWBY has been skating by on the idea that power comes from friendship, so what happens if your enemies become weird friends too?

To be clear, this doesn't erase the staggering number of other problems with Cinder's character, or the villains as a unit, or the volume as a whole... but it is an interesting step in the right direction. Props for that.

Granted, outside of the fight itself, the villains don't really win because they're smart, the heroes are just — again — staggeringly stupid. Cinder promises to get Ruby for Neo if she can ask Jinn a question... which she does!

This moment could have been avoided if our heroes had just put the Lamp in the vault. Or not had Oscar carrying it around. Or used up the wish after they'd already summoned Jinn. Cinder's victory here rests entirely on her own enemies' ineptitude. At least she has the smarts to exploit it. She asks Jinn what the group's plan is and our three villains are shown the revelation outside after saving Penny and the discussions that took place in the dining room. They learn everything they need to inflict maximum chaos.

And it’s great.

Three other details of note:

Cinder spots Emerald with the heroes during Jinn's vision, but doesn't have much of a reaction beyond her expression tightening.

Jinn looks sad when she reveals the group's plan, reinforcing the idea that she's biased towards our heroes. I'd be more on board with that characterization if a) she weren't created by Light whose own Good Guy persona is dubious at best, and b) she wasn't so cruel towards Ozpin. Again, it's just this strange insistence that everyone adore Ruby Rose.

Neo reveals the Relic by pulling it out of Roman's hat. Uh... is that how hats work? They contain objects twice their height? While resting on someone's head? This wasn't one of Neo's illusions, she literally just pulled it out like a real world magician. That's weird. Showy, but weird.

Anyway, the flashback continues as the villains infiltration the Atlas military headquarters. I really enjoyed the music and cinematography here. It's a strangely uplifting tune — rather Cinderella-esque — which doesn't appear to work until you remember that these moments are through Cinder's perspective. Of course this is a Happy Ending for her — even if it's not for the audience. The quick cut between her summoning some fire and the whole room alight, bodies everywhere, was an excellent touch.

The happiness of this moment is then emphasized by Neo skipping as she beats people and Watts admitting that this is "everything I’ve ever wanted." I'm really digging the contrast between this scene's celebratory nature and the knowledge that the story is celebrating the wrong characters. It creates an enjoyably uncomfortable feeling for us and helps flesh out the villains more. From their perspective, life is good.

There's even a shot of that #1 Dad mug. Sometimes, RWBY gets it right.

Watts in particular is enjoying himself. He snags a discarded apple — no fairy tale symbolism there, I'm sure — and casually rubs the blood off it before taking a bite. This guy has style!

Watts watches Jaune try to send out his message to the kingdom and cuts communication at the worst possible moment. But then, we knew that already.

Elsewhere in the facility, Robyn and Qrow are trying to round up the Ace Ops. They all feel Atlas shake, realizing that the group has used the Relic, and Elm is appropriately horrified. "They'll destroy the kingdom!" Robyn says some self-righteous words about how a kingdom is made up of its people, not the land it exists on, which, while ignoring the importance of land to so many cultures, completely ignores that right now the majority of people are still on Atlas, or below it, including them. "They set the house alight!" someone cries. "Who cares about a stupid house," Robyn says, uncaring that the entire family still resides inside and she's starting to inhale smoke.

As Robyn tries to paint herself as a hero, Watts hacks one of the droids and sets it to self-destruct, telling it to run full-tilt at the group. Their weapons don't stop it and at the last second Marrow throws himself in front to take the blast, shattering his aura. Uh... after everything we've seen in this show, a single, small explosion wipes out his aura? I don't care about that so much here, but I absolutely care about it for an upcoming scene. Keep this in mind.

Also, I'm not going to get into the potential problems of trying to execute Marrow, beating up Marrow, and then blowing up Marrow. Others can tackle that leviathan of a subject.

At least he survived? But only RT knows if Robyn and Qrow bothered to put him on their ship.

Because as Atlas begins to fall Harriet, free of Marrow's semblance, races for an airship going off the edge of the open parking garage. Idk what else to call that space. I'm sure there's something appropriately military-esque, but we're going with parking garage for now lol. This is the one — one — moment where I felt like the Ace Ops were actually written like they weren't friends, what with Harriet's willingness to race off and leave them behind. Again though, it's too late and there are, frankly, other aspects to consider. Like the fact that Marrow just betrayed her. I don't think she's in the right mind for trusting the rest of her team, especially when there are only seconds to save herself.

Vine uses his stretchy arms to grab hold of her ship though and heaves himself on board.

Cutting to the jail, Ironwood wakes up and is greeted with a despondent Jacques. As Ironwood realizes that the group has the Staff, Jacques goes, "That's right, you lose! … we both lose." Before there can be any interesting discussion though, Ironwood's cell... goes out???

I suppose the explanation for this is things falling apart as Atlas descends, but man is that another moment of head-scratching convenience. What's even worse is that Winter apparently just left his weapons beside the cell. "Hey, what should we do with Ironwood's giant gun?" "Idk, leave it for him on the off chance us removing the city's power source wreaks havoc with the electrical bars?" I mean seriously. At least Qrow had to go find his weapon in a locker.

For a second Jacques is thrilled, sure that Ironwood will open his cell too... right?

He does open the cell, by blasting the whole thing to smithereens, Jacques included.

You all know I'm horribly disappointed with how they've written Ironwood, but I can't bring myself to dredge up any fury over this murder. It's Jacques. You know, the abuser and slave owner who has never shown a single shred of decency? Can't say I'm sorry to see him gone, especially since one of the Schnee girls were never going to kill him. The only other thing they could have done was have Jacques die an accidental death.

So villain!Ironwood can have another murder, as a treat.

Meme jokes aside, it's interesting that Ironwood's never-seen-before-last-episode gun produces a green blast and fire. It looks incredibly similar to what Penny created as an android and the fire around her Maiden eyes. Unlike Watts' apple though, I don't think this is a parallel RT intentionally included. Not unless we want to dig deep for more “Metal bodies = evil” symbolism, but there’s already plenty more persuasive examples of that.

Returning to Team RWBY, we finally come to the highlight of the episode: Yang falling off the edge.

Okay, I want to praise RWBY for having the guts to kill off a main character... but we all know they haven't killed off a named character. If next episode — or perhaps even next volume — it's revealed that Yang is really dead, I'll happily eat these words. For now though, this is not the consequence that RWBY critics have asked for. This is, in fact, quite a mess.

Let's count up all the ways this scene has failed spectacularly.

No one believes that Yang is actually dead. Not just because she's a title character, not just because Ambrosius never confirmed that the void was deadly or even dangerous — "Don't fall," however ominous, doesn't actually tell us what happens to someone who falls — but also because we have been here before. Three volumes ago. Remember how it looked like Weiss would die only for Jaune to unlock his semblance and save her? Yeah. The audience is both genre and RWBY savey. This cliffhanger feels cheap because absolutely no one is fooled.

Feel familiar?

Worse, Yang falls because of another round of stupidity. Nothing about this moment is convincing.

First, she notices Neo sneaking up on Ruby. What's her reaction? To flare her semblance, charge her in fury, and be horribly injured. Oh wow, where have we seen this before?

This is the exact same series of events from Volume 3. A loved one of Yang's is about to be harmed, she gets mad, charges without thinking, and takes the brunt of the attack herself, resulting in a far more serious injury than likely would have otherwise occurred. Emotionally understandable, but stupid. More importantly, it's the exact thing Tai tried to warn her about. The fandom praised Yang's arc because she got a moment of calm with Mercury, but since then we’ve ignored that development, reverting Yang to the same, impulsive fighter as before. Volume 6 showed us this problem in a non-combat setting and this moment solidifies it. Yang has learned absolutely nothing since Beacon. She's the same protective, reckless fighter she was back then, getting herself grievously injured because she can't think before she acts. What was the point of sending her on that journey if she was never going to improve?

Neo cuts through Yang's aura in a single hit. A single hit. These characters have long, drawn out fights filled with crazy attacks and you're telling me a single slice of Neo's weapon is enough to shatter Yang's aura? Really, aura has been an absurd plot device for a while, but this volume has been particularly bad. Ren's aura breaks so the group is spotted by Salem's grimm, but then is back just a few minutes later so he can see purple petals around Emerald. Jaune's aura is said to be running just as low, but then is totally fine to boost Penny for the next hour until she reaches the vault. Now, Yang has had just as much time to rest as they do, but she’s instantly taken out?

This is a problem not because the loss of aura itself sends her over, but because the hit was apparently so powerful Yang passes out. She's groggy at least, blearily looking at everyone as she falls, but not reacting to them and, importantly, not trying to save herself.

Yang could have reached for Blake's throw. She has a landing strategy. She could have blasted herself up, or towards any of the three paths she falls past. Instead she just... plummets. In a show where our characters are introduced through their ability to survive being launched off a cliff. Neo's attack needs to be miraculously incapacitating to justify — "justify" — Yang doing nothing to get out of this situation, in an episode where, minutes later, Ren's aura will also go out (again) but he's standing up and ready to fight a horde of grimm. But losing her aura through one hit somehow incapacities Yang?

Also, to ward off the expected claims: she didn't hit her head. Yang's back hit the path and her eyes were closed before she ever made contact. Neo's hit just... knocked her out.

That's absurd.

Worse than her not helping herself, no one else on her team helps either. Except Blake. Ruby, who this volume has learned that she is basically able to teleport and negate the mass of carrying someone else, doesn't fly towards her sister. Weiss, who can summon flying grimm and create platforms for someone to land on, just reaches out a hand. They all had time to do something, Blake's action is proof of that, but neither of them did. Why? Because the show wants this to be a bees moment. I say that not as someone who hates the ship, but as someone who loves it. Or at least, I've always loved its potential, but if you need to prove their devotion by erasing the devotion of others... that's incredibly bad writing. And that's what this is. The choice to have Blake the only one capable of acting sends the message that she loves Yang enough to overcome the shock of her falling. That love powers her to act. But Yang is Weiss’ teammates too! Yang is Ruby's sister.

You’re telling me neither of them had the drive to push past shock and save her?

I find it particularly insulting that Weiss comforts Blake rather than crumbling in grief herself. I find it doubly insulting that Blake cries and screams, but Ruby stoically continues her fight with Neo. In trying to show Blake's love for Yang — and hers in turn — the show has unintentionally pulled back on the love everyone else has, even between siblings. This is a far more harmful repetition of Yang's moment in the outpost: she cares more about the imagined disagreement with Blake than she does the actual fight she had with Ruby. Blake shows more emotion for Yang's assumed death than her sister has. You can't prove love by diminishing it elsewhere. The scene 100% needed all three girls doing everything in their power to save Yang, failing, and then continuing the fight while expressing the appropriate emotion for such a massive loss. Ruby can fly towards Yang and be pinned by Cinder. Weiss can start to summon and have an attack disrupts it. Ruby can scream and cry while she fights Neo. Again: that's her sister.

There's nothing about this scene that works for me and honestly? After Yang returns they better kiss. Or there better be an "I love you." Something canonical. There will never be a better, more obvious time for a confession than after Blake thinks she's lost Yang for good and if we don't get one... the ship has well and truly sunk. We're living in a post-Supernatural finale world. You can no longer take your one, implied to be queer main couple, toss one into this fantasy's version of super hell, give them a second chance together... and then leave things dangling. RWBY has to make them canon when Yang returns if they have any hope of maintaining a large portion of their queer fanbase.

As a final note on this scene, I don't like what it implies about both Blake and our lost civilians. Like Yang, (and like Penny last episode) this attack undermines the growth our characters have undergone. Yang learns not to attack out of emotion with her semblance... and then does just that. Penny learns that she's a person with an android body... and then gets a human body to make her perfect. Blake realizes that she isn't willing to kill people in this war anymore... and then goes after Neo with an intensity that implies she's ready to kill her. It's a detail that might have been meaningful if Blake's struggle had existed in more than a single line in a single scene. As it is, it just feels like they've forgotten — or are ignoring — another character beat they introduced.

As for our civilians, will the show bring them back too? Look, I'm pleased Cinder blew them off the edge. I'm glad there were finally consequences for the kingdom-wide attack, even if none of have to come about from our main antagonist. But that impact was erased the second they threw Yang off the edge too. If they bring only her back, Team RWBY look like assholes who only care about their friends, not all the people they were charged with protecting (a recurring theme in this series). If they do bring the civilians back, we've lost that consequence. RWBY never should have tossed a title character into that void especially when, as said, everyone watching knows it's not a real consequence of this fight.

This was a terribly crafted scene, imo. If the only purpose here is to push the bees to confess, we could have gotten that after the whale. Yang was captured by Salem. That's more than enough danger to justify coming clean about feelings and the volume could have easily been reworked to make Blake aware of that danger, forcing her to stew in it until Yang returned, unharmed.

Instead we get this.

Also, I don't even want to get into the implications of having Yang disappear in a cloud of glittering gold dust like Pyrrha did. That's a world building rabbit hole RWBY really doesn't need.

So Yang is gone but obviously not gone. Blake is the only one impacted by this enough to react emotionally. Penny hears her scream and comes running, showing the viewer that absolutely nothing had changed despite getting an entirely new body.

Cinder weirdly throws her voice — has she done that before? — to distract Penny and the fight continues, with Neo going after Ruby and Blake going after Neo. There's a moment where Blake realizes that Weiss is in trouble too, looking between her two teammates, unsure of who to help.

I'm calling it now: Blake will be the third semblance upgrade, splitting herself into multiple fighters capable of functioning independently, rather than just shadow clones to take hits.

It would make as much sense as anything else.

Cinder at least is fighting smart, attacking the civilians rather than Weiss directly, then blowing her glass up in Weiss' face. She then manages to catch herself in the air, but, you know, couldn't do the same for Yang.

At the very least don't have Weiss using these abilities seconds later, c'mon.

We thankfully leave this nonsense for, well... more nonsense. Vine and Harriet get into a fight about what Clover would have wanted, which means nothing to the viewer because we didn't know Clover long enough to develop that sense for ourselves. I'm sorry, but following an order to peacefully bring Qrow in for questioning is not proof that he would have seen things through in the sense of blowing up Mantle, yet that's what we're supposed to believe based on Harriet's assertions and Vine's take that "perhaps Clover was wrong." I really hate that RWBY has taken to bashing the guy before he had the chance to actually do anything. Everyone is criticizing Clover based on lies or assumptions about what he might have done if, you know, he hadn't been murdered. Qrow blames Clover for defending himself, not his own choice to team up with Tyrian. Robyn asserts that Qrow is a better huntsmen than Clover, even though the one scene they had together was Robyn deciding to attack Clover because she didn't like him doing his job. Now Vine is like, "Yeah, Clover might have tried to blow up a kingdom needlessly, but maybe he was wrong and a bad person, you know?" I don't even like Clover that much, but the story has really gone out of its way to criticize him when he's obviously not around to prove, disprove, or otherwise defend himself. That’s messed up.

The one good part about this scene is Harriet losing it, all her firm beliefs crumbling to reveal just an aching grief for losing Clover. Hark, is this humanity for the other Ace Ops I see? Some development and characterization? Vine reaching out sympathetically to comfort her because they've always been a team, no matter what Ruby might say about it?

Oh wait, no. They're interrupted by Robyn screaming as she slams her ship into theirs.

I think Robyn is, officially, my least favorite character in the series. Which isn't to say there aren't objectively worse characters than her — we saw one get blown up this episode — but no one has this particular combination of horrible acts, self-righteous attitude, and an absolute dearth of other positive qualities to distract from that. Robyn has brought nothing to the last two volumes except frustration and I can only hope she goes off to do her own thing when our finale is done.

Qrow goes feral, turning into a bird and changing at the last second to slam through Harriet's window. He taunts her about getting the fight she wanted and we see Watts hacking her ship while they're distracted.

Watts, I'm really loving the evil schemes, but don't you want to, uh... leave? Atlas is falling and you're one of maybe three people left on it. Best get a move on, chop, chop.

Those other two people are Winter and Ironwood, both of whom have come to the vault looking for Team RWBY. Ironwood lands a hit with his new gun, giving a short speech about how though he was always on the lookout for betrayal, he never expected it from her. He tells Winter to stand aside as his final order, to which she replies, “I’ve never wavered in fighting the enemies of this kingdom," preparing to fight.

I've explained the problems with Ironwood's downfall ad nauseam. I don't think that's needed again here. However, there are two final points I'd like to make.

Winter's characterization took a hit along with Ironwood's. Why didn't he think she'd ever betray him? Because they clearly cared for one another. The fact that Winter so quickly and easily gave up on Ironwood is a disservice to both of them. Even in the throes of being an emotionless killer, we still understand Ironwood's devastation at this betrayal: his shock when Winter attacked, his request that she step aside now, the single tear.

There's nothing like that on her end. No denial that the man she faithfully followed would do this. No insistence that the man who helped her escape her abusive upbringing be reasoned with. Nothing. Winter dismisses Ironwood with the same callousness the narrative has.

Which brings me to my second point: this isn't hopeful. I know the Emerald lovers don't want me making comparisons, but the story has already done that for us. You can't give us an all out villain — someone responsible for countless deaths across the series, attacks on kingdoms, lying to our heroes, willingly working for the enemy — and say that it's good to forgive her instantly, but it's not acceptable to even consider forgiving the man who has also killed, also threatened to attack a kingdom, was honest with our heroes, and always fought against the enemy. You can't give us an entire story about hope and forgiveness — Ruby reaching out to Raven, Weiss wanting to rescue Jacques, Oscar putting all his trust in Hazel — while saying that this character isn't worth compromising with. This character needs to be denounced to the whole world so there's no possibility of forgiveness. This character will commit horrific acts and his allies will immediately jump ship, but others? Their horrific acts are forgiven the moment you give them a way out. I'm supposed to believe that Yang, who knew Emerald only as the woman who attacked her school and has helped make their lives a living hell since then, will laugh with her within an hour, but Qrow, after years of being an ally and friend to Ironwood, is suddenly ready to murder him over an arrest he had no context for? That Ruby will try to make peace with every enemy she comes across, but not the guy who was the ally she betrayed? That Winter would extend more compassion to her abusive father than the man who helped her escape that? Ironwood's downfall isn't just horribly written, it messes with RWBY's core themes. Everyone deserves a second chance, is worth crying over, is worth reaching out to no matter how many horrible things they've done... except this guy here.

And when that guy is the PTSD riddled military vet who crumpled in large part because the heroes continually lied to, betrayed, and took extreme action rather than working to find a compromise... that's a really bad take. That shows a lot of bias on the part of RT. They're trying to write a story about the evils of the institution, but think they can reduce that to the evils of a single man driven to the brink. That doesn't send a teachable message to the audience and it certainly doesn't send a hopeful one. All it does is reiterate that if you rip away someone's support network when they're already falling they will, shockingly, fall harder.

Which brings us back to characters like Emerald. Because no, no one has to help Ironwood. When someone is hurting you and committing the crimes he has this volume, no one is required to extend a hand at their own, personal peril. But when the narrative is so heavily pushing forgiveness for other mass-murderers? When child torturers are extended a hand during the torture? That reframes everyone abandoning Ironwood into something unpalatable. Having Ironwood’s allies, friends, and really, family, so quickly toss him aside while other, equally bad people are welcomed in says that everyone struggling like him isn’t worth the effort. From a genre perspective, this isn’t a tragedy because the characters don’t care. No one is striving to bring Ironwood back from the brink. No one is crying over the man they lost. Hazel gets a moment of silence as Emerald kneels, stricken in the aftermath of his death, but one of the heroes since Volume 2 gets nothing but hateful looks from his second.

But we all knew we'd end up here. My current theory? The portal should still be open at the vault. Winter will fight Ironwood, escape through it, and it will close right before he escapes too. He'll fall with Atlas and everyone will act as if it's some beautiful, poetic justice for him to perish with the city.

Here’s hoping I’m very wrong!

Finishing with Oscar's group, Ren's aura breaks after trying to mask everyone coming through the portal. Oscar realizes that Penny should have come through by now and runs back to find her, only to discover that the portal is closed on this side. Why? Because Weiss wished for a "one way trip to Vacuo." Not only is this another example of our heroes being stupid — they come up with this complicated wish that doesn't actually makes sense, but don't bother to be careful with their words like Ruby was when helping Penny? — but it also just... doesn't add up? How does Oscar know what Weiss wished for? How does Ozpin? (His one line in the episode.) They recall this together, the flashback acting like a memory, but neither of them were there. Neither was Ren. Neither was Emerald. They haven't spoken to the Relic group since separating.

It looks like RT still needs to edit their scripts.

As Oscar realizes they're trapped, the emotions of the group summons a huge number of grimm to the area. At this point, my only thought was why none of them had used the time Ren was buying them to try and find Vacuo. I mean, they're not the only fighters with semblances here. They have the Happy Huntresses too and, I would think, the Atlas students (unless the army was abandoned like Pietro and Maria were. Where are Neon and Flynt?) There's no one in this huge crowed with an ability that might make scouting ahead a little safer? No one is even going to try and figure some plan out? Everyone on these teams is too passive. They encounter a problem — where's the city? — and instead of trying to solve it while they can, while they’re in a good position to, they wait around until the situation becomes unimaginably worse and they have to figure something out or risk dying. Now, the people are being carried off by grimm, they know something has gone wrong on the pathways, and Ren is about to enter another fight without his aura. Let's hope he doesn't take a hit like Yang.

Summary of "Worthy"? Excellent villains, terrible heroes. It's better than what we've gotten in a while, but choices like Yang's fall ensures it's still not good. Given the trajectory of the volume, it was inevitable that we would end up here: moments that look significant at first glance, but are (quite likely) no more than window dressing in the long run.

Finally, bingo is rather boring this week. Unsurprising, considering we're almost out of space. I'm keeping our "Army of grimm conveniently doesn't kill any civilians" square checked because the point there was for Salem to kill people, not for the group to lead the refuges into a grimm infested desert. We'll have to see how many people they lose though and whether Atlas "somehow survives." Here, like Robyn, I'm talking about the citizens, not the now clearly doomed hunk of land. At this point, Oscar doesn’t seem to at all care about his near death experience, but I'll hold off on that square until we're truly done, and there's still a near certain possibility that Ironwood will die, with a likely possibility that Qrow grabs a bottle when first given the chance. What RWBY has avoided though is a Jacques-Watts team up 2.0. Considering, you know, Jacques is dead.

Gold star for not doing the expected, iffy thing, RWBY.

That's the square I would have least minded seeing though 😬

Anyway, finale next Saturday, folks! What insanity will the end bring? Only time will tell. But I can't wait to see what state the fandom will be left in for hiatus!

Until then 💜

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps #rwby worthy

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elencelebrindal · 4 years ago

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Time to ramble about Shun

Sooo... you said you wanted my rambling to become reality. Here I go.

Shun not holding back for the whole series would have been a disaster for our dear villains, let me tell you. But let’s go in order. And I mean, from training to Hades. Obviously, this completely disregards the fact that Shun was Hades the whole time, because if I am to take that into consideration everything would end before starting. Small disclaimer, this is mostly anime-based. I’ve read the manga, but my memory is so bad in remembering what was just manga and what was just anime, and I have a better memory for the anime. Also, this is going to praise Shun a lot. No, not because of my undying love for this character, but because logically speaking, he’s freaking powerful; this young man stood against a god that was possessing his body, dammit.

Now, his training. Of course, I won’t even imagine Shun actually going to Death Queen Island, mostly because it was Ikki, and not him, the reason why he went to Andromeda Island instead. What we know, is that Shun nearly awakened his Seventh Sense there and then, when he donned the Cloth for the first time. And we know that he won the right to the trial after winning a fight against his “rival”. But, before winning, he took a good beating, because he held back. What would have happened, in the eventuality that Shun did not hold back? Well, probably just quicker access to the trial for the Cloth, but also... this might be the only time Shun not holding back would have affected him negatively. What if he, by not holding back, lost his right to the Cloth? Andromeda is famous for her sacrifice, after all, not for her brave charging into battle. This is mostly my own idea about it, because of course Shun was destined to become the Andromeda Saint, but luckily he held back, and only fought when he needed to.

That aside, now it’s time to tackle all the positive things that could have happened had he not held back.

Galaxian Wars / Black Saints Arc (forgive me, I forgot the actual name)

We had a taste of how smart and capable Shun is during his fight against Jabu, but all of that was thrown away thanks to Ikki’s appearance. Now, this doesn’t mean than Shun completely lost his competence, but he definitely held back for the sake of his brother. This is obvious when we take into account the fight they all have against Ikki, when Shun tries to help his brother rather than stop him. We already saw how dangerous Shun can be, when he faced Black Andromeda, so it’s easy to understand how much easier it could have been for the Bronze to stop Ikki if Shun was there to actively help against him. Sure, he helped in the end, but he was probably the only one (at least at that point, because remember, he was the only one to have almost awakened the Seventh Sense) capable to stand his ground against Ikki. Seiya’s success was more plot than skills, honestly speaking. Shun could have been infinitely helpful, at least in making sure they earned a faster victory with less blood spilled. To me, what we know about Shun’s power (though it’s only revealed later) makes it that he has a huge advantage that is ignored because of 1. Shun’s personality and 2. what’s needed for the plot and what was known of the plot. You all know he’s my favorite Bronze, at this point, but following a logical reasoning I cannot find something against this.

On a side note, can you imagine how fast he would have destroyed Black Swan, if only he used his brain and not his heart? Considering the outcome of his fight against Black Andromeda, and his knowledge about Hyoga’s techniques (which are kinda imitated by Black Swan), it’s not difficult to imagine he would have won. He wouldn’t have done as good against all of them together, at this point of the story, but a one vs one fight would have definitely seem him victorious.

Silver Saints Arc

I have no clear memory if that Docrates mess is in this arc or the one before it (the Italian division is a bit different and it confuses the hell out of me when I have to switch), but let’s put him here. Because come on. Shun getting thrown around like a doll? Yeah, no. Docrates might be a powerful - and not so brilliant or likable - warrior, but to the point of overwhelming a Saint like Shun with so much ease? I hardly believe it. I can believe Shun having a hard time against him, especially considering how they won that fight. Full power, I think Shun could have helped way more. I’m not saying he could have defeated a beat like Docrates all by himself, not at that point. Hyoga’s help was crucial for him to actually deal an effective blow. But I’m pretty convinced they could have had a bit of a better time - especially Saori - because power makes the difference, even if it’s not enough to turn the tide without aid.

Continuing with the same arc, we have another example of Shun being extremely competent and showing how strong he is when he doesn’t hold back. How long did it take him to completely obliterate a Silver Saint? Not even enough to appreciate how badass he was. It didn’t seem forced at all, more importantly! Most times, especially with Seiya, their victories seem so... well, convenient that it’s hard to believe they’re actually strong enough to beat their enemies. The plot armor around them is stronger than their actual armor, from time to time. This fight against Dante, instead, felt completely genuine. Shun and Ikki beating so easily two Silver Saints seemed incredibly normal and realistic, rather than feeling forced by the plot. Of course, all the other characters have their genuine moments (yes, even Seiya), but I wanted to point this out for Shun in this particular instance because it’s necessary to understand how underrated he is.

Sanctuary Arc

Moving on, we have what I like to call “Shun could have choked Saga to death and ended the entire Sanctuary Arc in less than five episodes”. Listen, does it seem so unreasonable? If it does, remember how Shun (with Ikki’s help, this is not something I’m ignoring, I like Shun but I don’t play dirty here) used his chain to break free of the Other Dimension (a place that’s supposedly impossible to leave? Hello????) and literally reached Saga where he was sitting. What the hell, are we just ignoring the fact that he legitimately broke into the throne room of the most protected place of the entire Sanctuary, stole Saga’s cheap-looking trinkets, and shattered his control over him? For god’s sake, I’m SURE he could have at least managed to try and kill Saga where he was. I’m aware he had no idea what the hell was going on, but had he used a bit more of his cosmo? A bit more of his concentration and intelligence? To me, it seems really weird that he only properly awakened his Seventh Sense so late in the arc. If Seiya was able to screw the plot over and get his precious Seventh Sense so early and easily, why wasn’t Shun given the same opportunity? Well, I know why, plot and everything, Shun’s actual power was still very much a mystery, but I’m going chronologically, and by logic. And what logic tells me is: Shun should have awakened his goddamn Seventh Sense there, realized he was stealing costume jewelry from the Pope, and at least knocked him out for the next couple hours. For as much as i like joking about it, I know Saga is smarter and stronger than the average guy, Shun wasn’t going to be able to strangle him with the chain. But a good old pointy cosmo-powered chain to the forehead, well... come on. Would have been hilarious, other than useful.

For the rest, the arc was pretty amazing. His sacrifice for Hyoga? Yeah, he wasn’t holding back there. And the fight against Aphrodite we all know how incredible it was.

Something I’m going to point out is how much Shun held back against Leda and Spica. That was all his personality, but he was able to defeat both of them in a couple seconds as soon as he used his true power. I don’t really want to count that as holding back, but I have to. Because he was keeping his strength low, and it counts. That was a time loss that could have been avoided.

Asgard Arc

Now this, this makes me mad. As soon as Shun leaves canon territory, it gets turned into this weak warrior with no desire to fight. Either that, or he gets to fight but accomplishes little. And this is exactly what happened in this arc.

By now, we know how lethal Shun can be, and we know he awakened his Seventh Sense. It’s not theory anymore, it’s not fan wishes anymore, it’s Shun with one more sense to deal with. And what happens? They give him the fight against the only enemy his goddamn chain doesn’t want to hit. Of course he gets that, and that his - actually beautiful - personality refuses to fight and instead insists on diplomacy. Now, I loved that. I love how Shun tries to find a peaceful way around the war. But, once again, this is not the point of my rambling. The point of my rambling is: Shun shouldn’t have needed Ikki to come and save the day. Let’s take away Mime’s tragic backstory for a second, and let’s put Shun in the “classic” mind of a Saint; fight the enemy to the death, or die trying. Shun would have won without any help. Sure, Mime is powerful, but Shun is as well. And we know that Shun is capable of facing enemies that use music as a weapon (as we learn later, in the Poseidon Arc). Also, I’m pretty positive he has control over his chain, is not like the chain is going to ignore him like that. That weapon has a mind of its own, that’s true, but seriously speaking Shun has to be able to control it more than the chain controls itself. That, and Shun himself refused to recognize Mime as an enemy. Without holding back, Shun would have seen him as a proper enemy, and fought with no chain deciding “oh no no no, this is a friend!” like an overly friendly puppy. Wrongfully, maybe, because as we learned Mime was, in fact, not a real enemy, but that’s not the point.

Syd doesn’t really count. Shun was actually standing his ground against him, and incredibly well. The reason Shun didn’t win right there and there was not him holding back, but the plot advancing and throwing Bud at him. I don’t know how high I should hold this opinion, though, because to me it seems a bit weird that Bud is so powerful/stealthy that no one realizes he’s there. I’ve been skeptical about him, especially considering how he incapacitated freaking Aldebaran, but it is still a good reason for Shun not having won the fight. Stealth can be more effective than raw power, sometimes. Though, I believe Shun (and Aldebaran, for what it counts) should have been able to sense him. What, they’re going to show us the Saints can sense any kind of cosmo approaching them or far from them, but not realize that there’s someone right behind them ready to strike? Eh, it’s bizarre.

Poseidon Arc

Right off the bat, he got his moment to shine against Io. THAT, my friends, was incredible, and if Shun didn’t hold back - because he did, to avoid killing him, bless his merciful soul - Io would have died pretty easily. Shun claimed his rights as Gold Saint, there, didn’t use all his power, and still beat the everloving soul out of him.

Also, the fight against Sorrento? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I literally have nothing to say, he had a reason to hold back there, and I will not give him a forced victory. Sorrento was on his level, and even though I think the Nebula Storm would have killed him (remember, that technique keeps getting more and more powerful the longer it’s used), they were pretty equal. Shun didn’t hold back, save for when he understood what the hell was going on and got an ally.

What I didn’t like, however, was how harshly he was treated when Poseidon was the threat. Damn, I’m not saying he should have been able to face a god, not without a Gold Cloth and not alone, but jeez, he ended up being completely ignored. Like “wait, I’ll help!”, and then poof. Disappeared. But in this instance, not holding back wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Unless you want to be 100% full of logic, and use the fact that Shun was already a vessel for a god, there’s no viable excuses for him to be able to fight a god on his own. Not at that point in time, and not in his conditions. Things work only if they can work.

Hades Chapter

I don’t have much to say here. Shun was incredible, he fought without holding back for almost the entire series, and showed an almost merciless side. A good handful of that behavior was Hades, if we go by how Shun was portrayed beforehand, but I like to believe he finally got his time to shine and acted competent again. After hall, he had his angry moments back in the classic, they were no different from this chapter.

What I will say, however, is how they diminished him in Elysium. Because let’s face it: a Saint that not only survived one of the most powerful gods ever possessing him, but also tricked and held him back, had every single right to be powerful enough while wearing a God Cloth to obliterate Hypnos from the face of Elysium. How are you telling me to believe that the same person that defeated the god of the Underworld just... fell asleep against a minor deity? He was the first to get his God Cloth without the plot aiding him (yes, I’m still salty about Seiya), yet he did nothing, and got defeated by Hypnos like he was a weak little boy. I understand he’s a god, but Hades was worse! I’ll tell you what would have happened. Shun would have sent Hypnos’ sorry ass back in the void he deserved to be in (I actually like Hypnos okay, Shun doesn’t) without batting an eye. Surely someone that was able to withstand Hades’ power - and overwhelmed it, even if for a short time - could resist some minor god’s power.

To conclude, on the same not, Shun should have definitely punched Hades in the face. He was probably the only one strong enough to do so, aside from Athena. And probably the one with the right to do so, also.

This is probablt the stupidest rambling I’ve ever wrote on this blog, but I regret nothing.

#saint seiya #i cavalieri dello zodiaco #los caballeros del zodiaco #os cavaleiros do zodiaco #knights of the zodiac #andromeda shun #rambling

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sooibian · 5 years ago

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Like Father, Like Daughter

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Description: Your three year old is growing up to be just like her father - Byun Baekhyun. Can you handle it?

A/N: Feedback, as always, is immensely appreciated. Hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it <3 (Little Miss Byun has my heart)</p>

Genre: Pure Fluff

Word Count: 1.1K

gif credits @tipannies

The nib of your pen dug deep into the page of your notebook as the bitsy mouth - the centre of your attention since late last evening - extended into a huge, well rounded ‘O’. You stared at it in utter amusement for a number of seconds wondering as to how such a relatively tiny mouth was capable of being stretched into such a considerably wide circumference. Her glistening eyes crinkled into half moons as she gave you an apologetic smile, and her plump cheeks looked like she had little pouches for storing away food for the winters. You gently tucked the soft unruly ringlets that fell on her face, behind her ears and pulled her into your lap, to cuddle closer.

Baekhyun announced his entry by belting out a high note breaking the enchantment your three year old had put you under.

Drawing a tally mark parallel to the 26th line you began to fret, “27 - and counting”

“Yaaaahhh, enough!” He yanked the notebook out of your hand and sprawled across the bed. A slight smile tugged at his lips as he looked at the diligent count you’d been maintaining, “She’ll only do it more if you keep staring at her.”

Your daughter jumped out of the warmth and comfort of your lap and slowly inched towards her father.

He tackled the adorable mischief maker and tickled her lightly, “I accuse this wittle babiee of using cute tricks to hold my wife hostage.” Ignoring your concern over your daughter’s unusual behavior, he amused her with baby talk, as you looked on in disapproval.

Your features softened at the sound of her giggles,

“Appa!”, she said, before breaking into another fit. Deep indentations formed below the ends of her lower lip - the only feature she’d inherited from you, other than the hair. Otherwise, she was all Baek. In form and in substance. She grabbed her Appa’s face and placed a sloppy kiss on his nose.

You had long resigned yourself to the fact that he wore the ‘Favorite Parent’ crown. “No, Baek. I don’t think it’s her trying to seek attention. I think it’s something else...”, your voice trailed off as you reached for the notebook, which lay on the other side of your wrestling children, to draw another tally mark.

“Why don’t you just Google it?” asked a distracted Baekhyun - who was holding whom hostage now - throwing you a ridiculous suggestion. He knew for a fact that googling symptoms could result in the most nightmarish outcome for someone like you. A mother who tended to freak out when her child displayed the slightest deviation from what she considered to be “normal” behavior.

With four magic words you managed to pull his attention to you, “I’m calling eomma”

“NOOOO,” he shrieked, startling both, you and your daughter. The room fell silent. Your daughter threw her head back and allowed her mouth to hang open widely while your eyes quickly darted from her to the notebook as you drew yet another short parallel line. Raising an eyebrow and crossing your arms tightly against your chest you half shrugged, demanding an explanation from your husband.

“No, I me-meant”, he stuttered.

“Go on, Baek. I’m curious”, you egged him on.

“Promise, you’ll not be mad.” He eyed you shiftily, his lips protruding in a guilty pout.

You let out a loud sigh, “I’ll try”

“You know she tends to exaggerate stuff and you’ll get more worried and you know, you know how -”

“She scares you”

“Yes, you know how she scares me. I've been terrified of her ever since we were little. Baby, please... Yah, at least look at me when I’m talking to you!”

“Who’ll keep count while I’m busy looking at you? She hasn’t yawned in”, you took a quick glance at your watch, “six minutes” You jinxed it. Within moments, it was time to draw a line across the neat stack of four.

Gently pulling the notebook away from you, he took your hands in his, “You go rest. I’ll keep track now”

You opened your mouth to bombard him with instructions.

“I won’t miss a single one”

You took a moment to think before handing him the baton. Cupping your daughter’s face you placed a kiss on her forehead, and then patted your husband’s shoulder to tell him something only for a yawn to escape your own mouth.

“One”, he teased pretending to draw a hash in the notebook.

***

As soon as you stepped out of the room Baekhyun pulled out a vial of green liquid from the bedside drawer.

“Great work, genius!” Baekhyun whispered, high-fiving his daughter, inviting another giggle from her. He put the mouth of the vial against her lips, urging her to take a sip. Dutifully, she took a small swig, gagging a little at the strong smell and taste of the medicine. Baekhyun rubbed her back helping her in the process. Like a brave warrior she eyed her father eagerly, as if waiting for further instructions. He laughed excitedly, resorting to baby-talk again, “You will feel completely alwight in half an hour. It was just in-di-ges-tion. Your Appa had this problem too when he was babie.”

“Appa had poblem”, she repeated carefully.

Baekhyun sniggered, “Yes, Appa had prob - poblem. Now, we’ve had enough fun with your mother for now. I am starting to feel bad for her. Anyway, It’s time for us to plan our next prank”

She threw herself on him, little arms trying to engulf his broad shoulders in a hug, “Plan!”

He exclaimed proudly, “That’s correct, little Miss Byun. And well played!”

A knock on the slightly ajar bedroom door caused both father and daughter to jump in fear.

“Twenty - two”, Baekhyun said a little too loudly squinting at the notebook.

“We were at thirty when I left”, your calm tone sent a shiver down his spine, “I called omonim, Baek. You knew…all this while! I am going to K-I-L-L you”

He slapped a hand against his forehead and your daughter followed suit. You glared at them both. Sensing the tension in the room your daughter slowly levelled her left hand with her face and squeezed her thumb against her index finger, in a soundless snap. It took you a few seconds to process it - she was trying to give you a finger heart!

Your husband endearingly followed suit.

***

Little Miss Byun

#exosnet #exo fluff #baekhyun fluff #exo baekyun #byun baekhyun #exo drabbles #baekhyun drabbles #exo oneshot #baekhyun oneshot #exo!dad au #exo imagines #exo scenarios #exo fanfic #baekhyun imagines #baekhyun scenarios #baekhyun imagine #baekhyun fanfic

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malaysiankpopfans · 4 years ago

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10 K-DRAMA LADIES WHO SERIOUSLY KICK ASS

Meet your new girl crushes!

Gone are the days where damsels in distress are the most common trope in K-dramaland. Instead, characters who are or become strong women who speak their minds have become the trend. While there’s no shortage of inspirational leads to admire, characters who can literally kick ass are especially girl crush worthy. Check out some highly capable women who are forces to be reckoned with here.

Gang Seo-hae — Sisyphus: The Myth

As a survivor living in a war-ravaged future, Gang Seo-hae (Park Shin-hye) has learned how to fight for her life. Sisyphus just recently began, but we’ve already seen Seo-hae exhibit close combat fighting and a variety of shooting skills. It’s such a refreshing change to see the female lead save the male lead in her quest to save the world. She’s aware that she’s putting her life on the line, but she remains confident and optimistic. How badass is she when she says “I’m not going to die today” ?!

Seo Yi-kyung — Sweet Home

Sweet Home’s Seo Yi-kyung (Lee Si-young) is a character created for the series and not in the original webtoon, but her character is essential and much loved. As a former firefighter, Yi-kyung makes smart decisions to keep the residents as safe as possible and displays leadership. She shows bravery and volunteers herself for dangerous missions despite her personal circumstances. One of Yi-kyung’s most amazing moments is when she’s fighting the spider monster in the vents. Oh, and did we mention her amazing ripped muscles?

Do Ha-na — The Uncanny Counter

Do Ha-na (Kim Se-jeong) is a Counter who has super strength and is able to sense evil spirits from far away in The Uncanny Counter. Leaping through the air and fighting demons is routine for this Counter. Although she appears a bit gruff at first, we see that she suffers from guilt and trauma due to being the only person to survive the poisoning that killed her parents and sister. Tough and resilient, she’s also a source of support for So Mun who is the newest Counter on their team. Her elevator fight scene is especially memorable!

Do Bong-soon — Strong Girl Bong-soon

Strong Girl Bong-soon centers on Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young) who has supernatural strength. While she has tried to keep her strength hidden for whole life, Bong-soon begins to stop caring as she pursues a misogynistic kidnapper. Disproving her cute and demure image, she beats up bad guys easily. Even though she thought her strength was more of a curse than a blessing, Bong-soon learns to no longer be ashamed of it. She’s definitely a superhero after our hearts.

Cha Hyeon — Search: WWW

Search WWW centers on three strong professional women, but the most badass of the three is definitely Cha Hyeon (Lee Da-hee). She always stands up for herself whether she needs to smack her cheating boyfriend upside the head or beat up a pervert in an elevator. Having a judo athlete background comes in handy when she’s laying down her own form of justice. She also proves herself to be a good friend when she helps Bae Ta-mi get revenge by wrecking someone’s car with baseball bats. You definitely don’t want to get on Cha Hyeon’s bad side.

Jang Man-wol — Hotel Del Luna

Hotel Del Luna also features a fiery main character in Jang Man-wol (IU). Prior to becoming the owner of a hotel for dead souls, Man-wol was a fierce soldier who slayed many people. While fulfilling her hotel owner duties for over 1,000 years, the Man-wol we see in the present is still bold and deftly overpowers bad spirits. She’s also not above scaring misbehaving humans while being dressed to the nines. If you have a ghost problem, you’ll want to hit up Man-wol.

Go Hae-ri — Vagabond

Vagabond is full of intrigue and action, and the same can be said for Go Hae-ri (Bae Suzy). As a covert operative for the NIS, Hae-ri has to lead a double life as a cover. Her character is shrewd and begins to piece the truth behind the fatal plane crash alongside Cha Dal-geon. Her special training comes in handy when apprehending opponents and escaping risky situations. On top of all this, she’s also loyal enough to go to jail in order to find out what happened to Dal-geon.

Go Ae-shin — Mr. Sunshine

Mr. Sunshine’s Go Ae-shin is both a courageous independence fighter and a member of the aristocratic class. With her parents dying while fighting for Korea’s independence, Ae-shin also takes up the cause on her own and learns how to skillfully use a rifle. As a noblewoman, she could easily turn a blind eye and enjoy the comforts her place in society comes with. However, she chooses to be brave and leap across roofs fighting against enemies and for her country’s sovereignty.

Cha Soo-hyun — Signal

Signal’s Cha Soo-hyun is a detective who leads a team that investigates long-term cold cases. As the drama has two timelines, one in 1989 and one in 2015, we see Soo-hyun as a timid rookie officer in 1989 and an experienced detective in 2015. Tackling dangerous criminals is just another day’s work for the empathetic detective. Even though it’s been 15 years since her mentor disappeared, she doesn’t give up searching for him. The world is a better place with officers like Cha Soo-hyun.

Ahn Eun-young — The School Nurse Files

Having the ability to see the hidden world of “jellies,” school nurse Ahn Eun-young gets rid of malignant jellies to protect students in The School Nurse Files. While she has unconventional weapons like a toy sword and BB gun, she’s an expert at exterminating harmful jellies. There are times when Eun-young dislikes her special ability and wants to be normal, but she ends up helping people even though she doesn’t get any credit for it. Eccentric but loveable, Ahn Eun-young sure knows how to kick jellies’ butts.

Which of these kickass characters are among your favorites? Watch all of them in action on Netflix!

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writings-of-a-hufflepuff · 4 years ago

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First Meetings - Arthur Morgan/Elizabeth McGill

Series: Call it Fate or Call it Chance

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x Elizabeth McGill (Plus size, Female OC)

Fandom: Red Dead Redemption 2

Summary: Arthur Morgan hears someone in distress in the woods and goes to help. It’s a small world though and soon finds himself meeting a friend of one of his acquaintances. Little does he know it’s the start of a relationship that might just change his fate.

Warning: Talks of hunting, wolves get killed because they’re trying to eat OC, sorry! Talks of canon character death, spoilers?

Rating: T

Notes: So, I don’t have the energy these days to write a full fic, but I figured if I write a series of interconnecting one-shots then I can write for these two, get the story there, but without needed them all to lead off from one another like chapters. This series will document that relationship between Arthur Morgan and Elizabeth McGill, a plus size, English OC of mine who’s basically the online character but with less of the outlaw stuff. I hope you love her as much as I do and I hope you enjoy this first part in the series.

Archiveofourown

I’m always happy for requests, suggestions, prompts, questions about this two even if my normal requests are closed. Feel free to draw my characters, feel free to write stuff for them, feel free to ask me questions about them.

“Oh, go away you bloody little blighters! Shoo! I said shoo!” Arthur heard the call over all else, a lilting English accent, soft but scolding, like a mother to a troublesome child. He shifts Dave, the large black shire who he’d allowed Jack to name, forward, just breaching the tree line to see a woman standing on the lower branch of a tree, arms wrapped around the trunk. Wolves circled the base, baying, waiting, biding their time, hoping she’d slip. They were so entirely focused on her that they gave Arthur and the large horse no mind, not caring much for them at the moment. Clearly they had decided this woman was dinner and had some sort of spiteful vendetta, if wolves could feel spite that is.

She was a plump thing, short in height, round in figure with dark chestnut hair piled high in a gibson style pompadour atop her head. Her cheeks were rouged and her lips painted a poppy red, heavy skirt falling around her feet, kicking up every now and then as a wolf attempted to jump high enough to reach her, to try for a bite. He watched her kick one a way, a well aimed kick that set the wolf flopping to the ground with a yelp before it got back up again growling. A pretty thing, for sure.

Elizabeth McGill very rarely cursed out her horse, Scrawny, but today she was certainly doing so, mentally of course. She loved her big, doofus of a horse, the gypsy cob was anything but scrawny and he was gentle natured. He was, however, a coward when it came to wolves. He had bucked her so hard she’d lost her glasses, and in her haste to climb a tree hadn’t been able to find them again. If she could see she’d just shoot the bloody wolves circling her, unfortunately, she was blind as a, well, person without her glasses, and she did not trust that she’d hit a single one. She was usually a fine shot, hunting had become part of her trade, but...she usually could see while doing it. It also didn’t help that Scrawny had run off with all but her revolver, leaving her there. His loyalty was astounding.

“Y’alright, miss?” She can’t see much, just a blurry shape at the edge of the trees, big enough to be a man on a horse, big and dark coloured. The voice is deep, a heavy southern drawl that is pleasant on the ears, even more so because she’s been waiting desperately for a helping hand.

“I could do with a little assistance, sir!” She was usually the one helping others, but today, the tables had turned and she was not going to turn down the one person who’d arrived in the last half hour. She was fed up of clinging to a tree trunk especially in a heavy autumn skirt. She hadn’t been planning on hunting that day, she’d already done quite enough on the journey down from the Adler Ranch and had been close to Valentine, expecting to simply sell the pelts, teeth, claws, and the like that she’d gathered. Her first mistake was expecting a simple, calm journey of course. Things never were simple or calm, if it wasn’t a cougar attempting to eat her, an ambush by some local gang, or some fellow in need of help, then it was bad weather or snakes. The latter of which Scrawny hated even more than wolves, if that was possible.

She didn’t so much as watch the man circle around on his horse, shooting the wolves, as much as squint ineffectively and listen to the sound of hooves clipping the dirt, snorts from a remarkably brave horse, and the dying yelps of wolves. Part of her was envious that Scrawny wasn’t that brave, had he been she could have easily dealt with the wolves herself and never ended up in this damnable tree.

“You can come down now, miss.” The man proffers a hand and Elizabeth takes it using its strength and a hand on his shoulder to keep her balance as she clambers down from her perch, she’s still blind and the help is appreciated. She doesn’t doubt that she’d easily take quite the tumble without guidance. He is nothing if not respectful, the other hand that rests at her waist to help down is placed just so as not to cause offence and is removed the moment her feet are on stable ground.

What he truly notices is just how short she really is, now she’s beside him her head barely comes to his shoulder. He feels suddenly too imposing, large, and feels the urge to make himself smaller if only to appear less intimidating.

“I...thank you, do you happen to see a pair of spectacles on the ground? My horse bucked me and I lost them...otherwise I would have handled the wolves myself but, i’m rather blind like this.” Arthur finally notices the way her hazel eyes don’t quite focus on him or her surroundings, when he speaks she can’t quite look him in the eye, but instead moves her gaze around as if trying to. Her squint is also more noticeable all of a sudden and he finds himself hastening to find her spectacles, looking across the ground careful to mind his step.

“You probably shouldn’t go telling strange men that, ma’am, some might take advantage.” He doesn’t say it to be intimidating or the like, simply out of concern. She clearly couldn’t see well without them and a lesser man, someone like Micah, would surely take advantage. Her trust in him is refreshing but concerning at the same time. He, after all, does not consider himself to be a good man.

“Well, it’s a good thing that a gentleman like yourself happened by instead then, Mr…?” She knows he is concerned for her, she is sure like many men before he thinks her too naïve, too sweet, and perhaps he isn’t wrong on some of those counts. But, she preferred not to live life assuming the worst of everyone, even if people tended to prove that they were indeed rather rotten inside. The amount of strangers in need of help she’d stopped by only to be ambushed was rather alarming at times. But, she did pride herself on her own ability to look after herself, except when she found herself without her glasses.

“Morgan, Arthur Morgan.”

“Elizabeth McGill, a pleasure. Thank you, for stopping. I might have been up there for hours otherwise, until they got bored that is, but...I’ve known wolves to bide their time.” She pretends to help because really her running her hands along the grass isn’t doing much, she can’t see after all.

“Uh, here, Miss McGill, your glasses.” He finds them a ways away from the tree, far enough that he knows she’d have never found them on her own. They’re round and surprisingly unbroken which he is oddly relieved to see for a man not at all invested in them. He passes them to her, watches them change the shape of her face, the clarity coming to her eyes as she blinks up at him with a soft smile. They suit her, feel like something she’s supposed to be wearing, not something that she has to wear.

For the first time Elizabeth can see her saviour clearly and the man certainly impressed. He was tall, that she already knew even without her glasses, and he was broad, strong, the sort of man that could clearly lift a heavy weight, tackle a man to the ground or hold his own in a fist fight. Mr Morgan had a weathered, but handsome face, little freckles marked his skin, signs of spending time in the sun, his beard was long but neat, but most striking of all were his eyes. He had the most gentle bluish-green eyes she’d seen on a man of his size.

“You gonna be okay? Your horse still around?” His brows pulled together in the middle out of concern and she found herself smiling at him without much thought. He had been kinder to her in the last 15 minutes than most people were. It warmed her heart just a little more.

“He’ll be around,” She stops and whistles, sharp, and high. Clear as crystal, and waits a few beats before whistling again. This time Arthur can hear the sound of heavy hooves galloping forward and moves just in time to avoid a large palomino gypsy cob that comes careening out from behind some trees. The horse is lumbering and large as any draft horse is, white and cream dappled coat, dirty from his escape. His hindquarters are covered in pelts, more pelts than Arthur has ever seen, and it’s clear to him that this Miss McGill is a skilled hunter and, if not for her spectacle issue, would have been just fine on her own. It changes his opinion of her, shapes it from a naive, delicate woman, to someone more capable, though still seemingly sweet and lady-like. If possible his interest in her peaked further.

She places her hands on her wide hips, scowling up at the horse, who’s nodding his head up and down at her in greeting with little nickering sounds, “Scrawny. I hope you know I’m terribly disappointed in you. Leaving me like that. I thought we agreed we were going to work on this wolf phobia of yours, or were you just conning me out of all those oatcakes?”

The horse huffs in a decidedly human way that makes Arthur grin, he doesn’t doubt the big thing had been making away with as many oatcakes as possible with absolutely no understanding or intention of facing a pack of wolves anytime soon.

“You’re lucky that kind Mr Morgan here was happy to help, what would you do if I was eaten by a ferocious pack of wolves?” The horse nickers and presses his large head against her, bumping into her hard enough for her to let out an ouph and take a few steps back. Her back hitting Arthur’s chest, he raised his hands to the tops of her arms to steady her before taking a polite step back, aware he could easily crowd her.

“I was just doing what anyone would, Miss McGill.” She turns to raise an eyebrow at his words and he feels decidedly admonished before she’s even parted those red lips.

“I think we both know that’s not true, Mr Morgan. I’ve stopped to help enough people who’ve turned a gun on me to know that you are one of a small minority of good folk, whether you want to believe you are or not.” She watches him rub the back of his neck, worn hat tilting forward to hide half his face, but she can still see the beginning flush to his skin from the attention and the creeping little smile twisting at the corners of his mouth. It makes her smile in return, this large, imposing man, bashful at a little compliment like that.

“What are you doing out here anyways, Miss?”

“I just came down from the mountains. I was visiting a friend who...well, she wasn’t there and her...her husband was dead.” There is a shaky pause, he can see her hand trembling slightly at the thought of her friend and her husband before she bunches it up in her skirt, “Did some hunting on the way down, figured I'd make my usual stop in Valentine to Ted, the butcher, usually gives me a fair price for the things I bring him.”

Elizabeth can still see poor Jake’s face, cold, frozen solid in the back of a wagon. Some animals had gotten to him before he’d frozen completely and she’d spent a whole day just digging him a grave, hard work considering the ground was almost completely solid itself. But she couldn’t leave him like that and she knew he’d prefer being buried on his own property to burned or some such. She still had blisters on her palms from the digging, despite gloves the hard work had rubbed her hands raw. Made it a tad more difficult to hunt on the way down with her bow, but she’d managed.

“What was your friend's name?”

“Mrs Adler, Sadie Adler. Used to do jobs for her and her husband when I visited...why?”

“Well, it’s a small world, Miss McGill.” He looks almost surprised at the name she’d thrown out, before smiling at her softly and elaborating, “Me and my friends, we found her oh about...3 weeks back? She was in a pretty bad state, but she’s been with us since. Awful business that with her husband, some O’Driscolls killed him.” Arthur looks apologetic and it soothes her distress to know that at least Sadie is safe, that at least despite all the bad luck in the world something had gone right for her. She hadn’t been found by someone else, someone who would hurt her and that was a small blessing in a world full of problems and bad people.

“You and your friends?” It’s said with a raised eyebrow and all he can do is rub the back of his neck and look away from her. It doesn’t feel right to lie to her, when she clearly suspects his friends aren’t just his drinking buddies. But, he’s not entirely sure if he can trust her. She seems nice enough, but plenty of people seem nice enough till they find out you have a bounty on your head. Not that Elizabeth could take him in, he doubts given the sheer difference in size that she’d manage it on her own. But, he wouldn’t put it past her to try...if she were so inclined. To him she seems both gentle, delicate, and formidable, words that seem like they shouldn’t work together until you look at her.

“Well…”

“Relax, Mr Morgan. I understand.” She does, she’s known enough ‘gangs’ of ‘outlaws’ to know that not all are as bad or dishonourable as they seem and that the need to protect their made family was great. She had her suspicions but if they had helped Sadie as Arthur had helped her then she had little doubt that they were the honourable sort of outlaw that she had little problem with. So long as innocent people weren’t getting hurt and the poor weren’t being robbed from she had few objections, even if she personally wasn’t comfortable with robbing or lying, herself.

The world was a harsh place, few could support themselves on simple law abiding trades like hunting. She was lucky in that respect. One mouth to feed was different to 20.

“Could I...I hesitate to ask, after all you’ve done for me, Mr Morgan...but could I see her? I...I can’t imagine what she’s going through and I’d like her to know Jake had a proper burial. I did rites and all. She deserves to know.” She twists her hands together, nervous of his answer. She could understand if he said no, he clearly needed to protect his gang and she was a stranger to him. But, she wanted to see her friend and most of all she wanted her friend to know that Jake wasn’t left out there to be eaten or for someone else to find. She’d even managed to gather some of Sadie’s things from the ranch in the end. Photos and trinkets that she’d hoped at the time to be able to give her if she was still alive.

Arthur rubbed a large scarred hand across his beard, the hairs scratching at his skin as he looked at her. She was small in stature, soft in body, and those hazel eyes held honest intentions. Taking her back to camp wasn’t without risk, but a liar knew a liar when he saw one. She didn’t care about his gang, she wasn’t hunting them down for a fat bounty, she just wanted to see her friend and after everything Mrs Adler had been through he thought she might want to see her friend too.

With a deep sigh and a quick thought that he hoped he wasn’t making a terrible mistake, Arthur pulled the black bandana from his back pocket. “I’d have to blindfold you, Miss...I gotta...I gotta protect them and I can’t be havin’ you know where we’re at. You understand?”

She could walk away, that was the offer. Be blindfolded by this stranger, this tall, broad, imposing figure or walk away. It was an easy decision to make. He was large and he was imposing, but the gentle way he held out the piece of cloth, the soft furrow to his brow, the way he hunched his shoulders to look smaller, all those things told her he was a good man. Not a pure man, not devoid of wrongdoing or bad deeds, but good in the sort of way that a man out here could be good. She would be safe with him. She could trust his intentions towards her.

“I understand, Mr Morgan.” She consents taking the fabric from him, it is softer than she expects, “Before we go, I'd suggest we skin those wolves. Your camp needs food I'm sure and those pelts’ll fetch you a good bit of coin, waste not want not.”

“Are you sure?” She’s the hunter after all, or it seems that way and part of Arthur can’t help but feel like she’d have done just fine without him had her glasses not been knocked off. Maybe, she’d been wanting to hunt the four wolves in the first place. He doesn’t want to offend her by taking what she might see as hers, but she just gives him another one of those looks that reminds him of a prettier, younger, much more amicable Ms. Grimshaw.

“Mr Morgan, you shot them, they’re yours to plunder. I have enough bloody pelts as it is, Scrawny here would probably complain if he had a few more to carry, right boy?” As if in answer the big cob nods his head up and down with a huff, clearly used to be used as a pack horse. He’s not sure the horse really understands the question, but it’s clear he’s a responsive horse used to a talkative owner, not like Dave who’s stood quietly behind Arthur, only occasionally nudging him with his nose and nibbling at strands of his hair as if expecting a sugar cube to be there.

“Well, if you’re sure…” She helps him skin them, while she hadn’t intended to do any skinning today and her blouse would certainly hate her for it, sharing the work would make it go quicker and she could offer a few tips as they went. Not much seeing as Mr Morgan was already a skilled hunter by the looks of things. The pelts were in fine condition, he was clearly a good shot, one rifle round to each wolf’s head, no mess, no unnecessary injuries or wasted ammunition. While they had wanted to kill her, she held a healthy respect for wolves and was glad that they didn’t die slowly. Quickly, cleanly, and humanely, something she held dear when it came to hunting.

Elizabeth grabbed a ratty cloth from her saddlebag, using it and some water from a canteen to clean her arms, it was never smart to leave blood on you and it wasn’t particularly nice either. She offered both to Arthur who gladly did the same, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, thick forearms being cleaned of blood. It was startling to her in that moment that she didn’t feel scared or worried at all. Here she was in the woods with a stranger, a broad, striking and clearly strong stranger, who had multiple guns, a hunting knife, and a bow all on hand. Yet, she didn’t feel a lick of apprehension or worry.

“Who’s this beautiful boy then?” There was a split second when Arthur, despite himself, almost thought she was talking to him. That was clearly not the case when he looked up startled to see her approaching Dave. The large shire usually disliked others, but was only watching the woman cautiously, deciding whether to bite, kick, or con her out of some food. When Hosea had given him the large beast claiming he was hard to handle and that he’d be better off selling him, something in Arthur had understood. The horse was a bit like him, he was a bit world weary, cautious of others, afraid of getting hurt, but underneath it all a soft hearted thing.

“...Dave.” He wished in that moment that he hadn’t allowed Jack to name the shire, he loved Dave. Had bonded well with him, but telling a pretty lady that your horse was named Dave rather than Boadicea was a might embarrassing especially when that horse was 17 hands high and capable of trampling wolves underfoot.

“He’s beautiful.” She likes his name, not that she says that, but it’s clear from the flush to Arthur’s cheeks that he’s not confident in the name choice. She thinks it suits. The shire is beautiful, giant compared to her and larger than Scrawny who was an impressive 15 hands high, especially considering his breed. The Shire pawed at the ground as she got closer, but she hushed him, little quiet comments and soothing sounds, a hand pulling a sugar cube from a skirt pocket.

There was always something special about getting a horse like that to trust you, to eat from your palm and accept the touch of your hand to their neck. Dave was clearly a distrusting animal, but he let her pat his neck and brush his forehead. He let her tie Scrawny’s reins to his saddlehorn knowing she couldn’t guide herself blindfolded.

“He don’t usually take to people too well…”

“Well, he just needs a kind touch that’s all. Someone hurt him real bad and he just needs to know that won’t happen again, right, sweetheart?” She says to the horse in a gentle tone, low and quiet. Arthur feels as if she’s talking about him, he thinks on the times he’s been bitten, the way he’s drawn back from people and he understands a little bit more why he and Dave work so well together. They’re two sides of the same damn coin and this woman had a way with both of them already.

She takes a few steps back, before turning and clambering up into her own saddle. Despite the sheer size of her own horse, she manages well enough to clamber on up even in a thick, heavy skirt. She settles herself, arranges her skirt and takes those delicate round spectacles off and pockets them before grabbing the fabric he’d given her.

“You’ll make sure Scrawny doesn’t run into any trees?”

“I got you, miss. Don’t you worry.” It’s with that that Elizabeth wraps the blindfold around her eyes and tightens it at the back of her head, hand holding onto the saddlehorn as they begin to move.

Arthur cannot help but be a little bit in awe at the trust she has decided to place in him.

#arthur morgan/elizabeth mcgill #arthur morgan/oc #arthur morgan x oc #plus size oc #arthur morgan x elizabeth mcgill #call it fate or call it chance #ship fic #my oc #my character #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #rdr2 fic

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talesofphantombandits · 5 years ago

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Zero to Six ~ Final Chapter.

So this is it, the last chapter. Thank you to everyone that has shown Zero to Six so much love and support, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to finish this without you guys. Unfortunately I think the only way I’ll come back to this is if another movie comes out, BUT I’m willing the next time I’m in a Ben Hardy phase to write about how Zero/Scout came to be with One and how she first met the team, that is something I want to explore.

I’m in the mist of writing a Poe Dameron story (Star Wars) so if we have any Poe stans up in here, message me and I’ll tag you when that’s up. I’ve learnt my lesson from posting this story, and I will be writing it all first before posting :’).

Thank you all again, I love you all so much. See ya <3

Warnings: Swearing, Violence.

tags: @i-am-sarah , @whothefuckstolemykeds , @drowsyrrog , @culturefiendtrashqueen , @rogue-barnes-16--main-account–main-account , @alliwantfromyouistomakelovetome, @valerie-weasley , @sueeatstheworld , @bleona2808 , @pippin248 , @myfatbottomedgirls , @httpfandxms , @cooliosmosh , @speckles-s , @walking-disgrace , @itsmeaudrieee , @fight-the-freaking-fairies , @irrelevant-pumpkin , @captain-sparkles-who , @podcasts-8-my-heart , @foulvintagenature , @imjustboredso , @loophoria @tealaquinn

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He raised the knife to slash my face but I lifted my arm up just in time.

“AHH.” The knife slashed deep into my forearm.

I kicked out in frustration, managing to knock the knife out of his hand. It slid across the deck and stopped by the edge of the pool.

I looked up from it to see the guy Four was fighting with shove him into the pool.

I gasped, at the sound the guy in front of me turned back. I looked at him, then back at the knife.

We both jolted forward, I was much smaller which meant I got to it faster but he’d managed to take me down to the floor by jumping surrounding his arms around my waist.

We both hit the ground pretty hard, as fast as I could I began reaching for the knife that I could almost just about touch with my finger nail. The guy got up to his knees and turned me around, straddling my waist.

He proceeded to put his hands around my neck, chocking me.

I could hear distant splashing and cries. How was it that I was being strangled, all the air leaving my lungs yet the only concern I had was getting to Four before something terrible happened to him.

I started reaching for the knife again, it was hopeless I knew this. The new position he’d put me in made the knife even further away. Tears started leaking as I stared to make horrible chocking sounds.

But then a cold metal brushed my finger tips, I fumbled around and managed to grab the handle of the knife. Stabbing the guy in the chest he finally let me go.

I gasped out, taking in all the oxygen I could. Pushing the guys now lifeless body to the side of me.

I got up realising that some how Four had managed to nudge the knife in my direction. Four!

I looked around and found him wrestling with a guy near the glass doors. I hobbled over and trapped the guy between us.

He just smiled and came at me, I ducked the first blow kicking him in the side. Four took his shot and tried punching him in the throat but the guy grabbed him by his jacket and shoved him against the glass. Four fell to the floor saving himself by rolling forward.

I tried to take a blow to the guys head but he managed to backhand me, I stumbled back. Wiping my bleeding lip I looked up to see him going after Four again. He kicked him to the floor, I was exhausted but I made my way to them again.

“Four.” One came through on coms.

“Help me!” I closed my eyes, holding down the sob.

“Give me a hint buddy.”

I rushed over as fast as my defeated body would let me, the guy had started hitting Fours head off the pool stairs.

I ran at him. “AHHH.” I tackled him and we both tumbled forward.

I landed at the side of the guy dazed.

He climbed on top of my back and held my head to the deck.

“Fuck you.” he whispered in my ear.

I cried as he pulled my hair back painfully then proceeded to smash my face into the deck.

He must have managed 3 strikes before I felt him being ripped off of me. I tried to fight to stay conscious by the darkness was coming and there was no way of stopping it.

When I came to the first thing I saw was a beaten looking Four.

“Hey.”

I was laid with my head in his lap in what I guessed was the helicopter, he was stroking my hair softly.

“Hey.” He smiled at me, I swear I’ve never seen something so beautiful.

“What happened?” He just beamed at me. I looked at him suspiciously. “Did you finally deck me?”

Now everyone laughed. “No, not yet.”

I reached up putting one had behind his head, his eyes were glassy like he was going to cry. I just sighed in relief and smiled at him. Grabbing the back of his head I brought him down to smash our lips together.

After a moment I released him but he kept his face close to mine. A tear had leaked down his cheek, I brought my hand around to wipe it away and stroke his cheek.

“Finally act, get ready.” We all looked at one as he prepared to open the door.

I sat up and moved to the other door, Four moving down with me keeping his arm around my waist.

Rovach entered, to say he was shocked was an understatement. The scumbag thought he’d gotten away. He thought wrong.

Honestly even after everything he’d done, dropping him off for the people to beat him till he died still didn’t seem right to me. But I wasn’t going to let myself be taken over by them thoughts.

My family was safe, we’d all come back from this alive. One had certainly Saved mine and Billy’s life which meant he had come back for us. Billy was safe, and he was beside me staring at me like I was the only thing that mattered.

That’s what I was going to let consume me instead.

One week after.

“Come on let’s go.” The bed sheets were cruelly ripped from my body.

“No I’m too comfy!” I snuggled back into the pillow refusing to move.

“Don’t make me do this the hard way.”

I peeked one eye open to find Billy standing strong at the end of the bed, arms crossed.

I sat up a little staring daggers at him. “Try me monkey boy.”

I fully expected him to just pounce on me but he reached out and grabbed my ankle pulling me down the bed.

“Listen here you little shit.” he leaned over me. “If you’re not out in 10 mins, I’m going to come back in here and you won’t like me when I’m angry.”

“Is that a threat? or a promise?” I smirked at him.

He leaned in closer, his lips grazing mine. “Get dressed before I dress you myself.”

Without kissing me he stalked out of the cabin. I just stared open mouthed at where he’d stood, then pouted at the door. I should get dressed or he really will come back.

I made it with one second to spare. I walked to the plane where all the meetings are held, the one with the little ghost on the side.

God I loved that little fella, but today Billy was standing in front of him.

“Glad to see you could finally make it.” He was simply resting against the plane, arms crossed but he made it look so hot.

“Shut up, If you weren’t so far up One’s ass you’d still be in bed with me.” I walked in the entrance and down the corridor.

But Billy grabbed a hold of my waist and backed me up against the wall. My hands on instinct went straight to the back of his neck.

“There’s no other place I’d rather be than in bed with you, but you know how he is.” He smirked and leaned his forehead on mine.

“I know, he’s a asshole.”

He leaned forwards and connected our lips. “I know.”

“If I come out there and y’all are making out I’m going to flip.”

At first One let the sappiness between me and Billy slide, but that wore off quickly. We went back to just annoying him.

“Calm yourself, where here.” We both walked in sitting around the table.

“We need to talk.” One said.

“Well this can’t be good.” what also made me suspicious was that me and One were the only ones called to a meeting.

“After what happened in Tokyo and on the boat I don’t want you in the field, I want you back on Coms and security.” One said getting up and looking at the information hung on the walls.

My smile dropped. “One, I know I got injured both times. But I really helped Four on that boat, I proved more than enough times that I’m capable.”

“I know but I don’t want you out there.”

“Why! why won’t you let me have this.” I started to feel the anger boil inside of me.

“Because I care okay.” He slammed his hands on the table across from me. “Fine I’ll admit it, I care deeply for the whole team. How could I not I’m still human. But it’s something I needed to do for the good of the missions. But you, you’re like a daughter to me.”

This took me aback.

“You were so broken when I found you, I think in a way you helped me more that I helped you. I just want to keep you safe, I know you’re brave and strong. Maybe one day when we’ve trained you to the highest levels I might let you on a odd mission. But right now I need you safe.”

I hadn’t even noticed that I’d started to cry until something wet fell on my hand in my lap.

“I can’t promise you that I won’t complain. But thank you.” I smiled at him through the tears.

“I was going to put you back in the flats.”

“Hell no.” Billy shot up.

One stared daggers into the man. “BUT I talked to the rest of the team.”

“And even if he did put you back in the flats by yourself we’d always work out where you were and come to annoy you.” I turned to see Three walk in followed by the rest of the team. “Hell Four would probably move in with you.”

I laughed wiping my tears away, Three came up and back hugged me. “There’s no way where letting you go now, Imagine how annoying Four would become, moaning about how much he misses you.”

Four reached over and smacked Three’s arm. “Ouch!”

He kissed the top of my head and went to stand by Two. She was beaming at me.

“Guess I’m not going anywhere then.” I reached for Fours hand and interlocked our fingers.

We smiled at each other.

“Here’s to our happy family.” Five said hugging Seven.

#ben hardy #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy four #ben hardy fanfiction #6 underground #6 underground four #6 underground fanfiction #6 underground fanfic #6 underground billy #four #four fanfiction #four fanfic #billy #billy fanfiction #zero to six

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axwalker · 5 years ago

Text

The Trade 11

Synopsis: Liam is running for Cordonia’s presidency. To assure his victory, Constantine makes an arraignment behind his back for him to marry the rich ambassador’s daughter: Alexis O’Brien. Due to her father’s threats, she has no other option than to seduce Liam Rhys. But what happens when she falls in love with his best friend? (AU)

Pairings: DrakexMC

Warnings: I love drama and chaos so this will probably get a bit dark. In this chapter there is mention of rape, if you get triggered by this issue, don’t hesitate to send me a message and I’ll be glad to explain what happens without reading it. A lot of angst and heartbreak

Please note that this is my first series and English is not my first language. I really love ALL kinds of feedback. Don’t hesitate to comment!

Disclaimer: Some of the dialogues and settings as well as most of the characters belong to Pixelberry (except for Alexis O’Brien and her evil father George O’Brien JR).

To catch up: MASTERLIST

@pedudley thanks for being my incredible beta reader, your comments always make me smile !! ! @mskaneko Thank you so much for this new mood-board, I LOVE it, it’s just perfect

Love you girls ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

I'm tagging those who asked, if you want to be added to the list, just ask :)

@drxkewalker @pedudley @pug-bitch @burnsoslow @lauzales @desireepow-1986 @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @yukinagato2012 @kingliam2019 @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @debramcg1106 @mskaneko

After their kiss at the Beaumont’s study, Alexis was rattled, she couldn’t allow herself to succumb to Drake anymore. Still feeling his lips on her, she decided to take a shower and try to get him out of her mind. She went into the bathroom and began undressing when a loud noise from the bedroom got her attention. She came back into the room and gasped when she saw Tariq standing in front of her, a twisted smile on his lips.

“My, my I had pictured you without clothes, but my imagination didn’t do you any justice.” He stepped closer looking brazenly at her on her underwear. She took the silky robe next to her bed and put it on.

“What are you doing here?”

He sneered again and pull a knife out of his pocket.

Her eyes widened “Don’t do anything stupid, Tariq. Leave my room, now.” She tried to sound calm and steady, but she was terrified.

“I won’t leave until we’ve had a little fun.”

Her eyes darted to the door, she tried to run to it, but he was quicker than her, so he blocked her passage.

“Where do you think you’re going? I told you that we were going to have a lot of fun tonight.” He pointed the knife at her again. “You can scream all you want but everyone is still at the party, no one will hear you. Plus, I’m not afraid of using this. You owe me, whore.”

After her attack when she was fifteen years old, Alexis had sworn to herself that something like that would never happen to her again. When she left for college in New York, the first thing she had done was to sign up for self-defense lessons. Also, she always carried a pepper spray with her, which was currently at her nightstand next to her bed.

She tried to think fast, if she screamed now, it’d only spook Tariq and make him do something irreparable, plus he was right: when she had left the party everyone was still there.

She’d definitely have more chances of surviving if she managed to convince Tariq that she would sleep willingly with him. Then, as soon as she’d have a chance, she’d mace him, kick him and run.

Alexis raised her hands. “Okay, calm down. Maybe we can talk about this, you don’t have to hurt me.”

“I knew you would come to your senses.” He licked his lips walking towards her and grabbed her by the waist kissing her lasciviously. Feeling his hands and lips on her was repugnant but it was the only way to escape.

After a few atrocious seconds, she pulled apart. “Yes.” She smiled and kept talking on a soft voice, “there’s no reason to make this horrible for either of us, we can just have fun. There are some whiskey and wine on the cabinet behind you. I could use some to relax.” She waited for him to turn to the cabinet and grabbed the spray as fast as she could, hiding it in her robe’s pocket. She watched Tariq put the knife on the cabinet while he served them both a glass of red wine.

She was ready, so as soon as he approached her to give her the drink, she maced him. He screamed at the sharp pain but immediately gripped her right arm to stop her from leaving. She remembered what Briana had taught her and used the heel of her free palm to strike him under his nose; she threw her whole weight into the move so she could cause him the most pain possible and force him to loosen his grip. She succeeded and ran to the door but just when she was opening it, he grabbed her ripping her robe. He felt like his eyes and nose were on fire, and that enraged him. He pinned her violently to the floor as she tried to kick him on the knees and screamed for help, begging that someone would hear her.

Drake was walking to his room with Maxwell’s words playing in his head over and over again. He knew the wisest decision was to wait until the morning to talk to her, but no argument was good enough, he needed to see her right then. He turned around and when he was getting closer to her room his blood froze. Alexis was screaming.

Less than five seconds later Drake ran into her room. He barely had time to register the scene in front of him, when a rage like nothing he had never felt before invaded him.

“GET AWAY FROM HER. NOW!”

Alexis took advantage of Tariq’s surprise and got loose of his grip as Drake grabbed him from his collar and slammed him strongly against the wall.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He hit him repeatedly, then tackled him to the floor immobilizing him, and turned to Alexis who was sitting on the floor. “Are you ok, Lexie?” She nodded but he saw the bruises in her arms, her black mascara all over her face and the terrified look on her eyes.

“How dare you touch her, you fucking piece of shit?” He punched him again and again until Alexis screamed.

“Drake! Stop! You’re going to kill him, he’s not worth it, please Drake, stop!” The distress in her voice made him stop giving a chance to Tariq to free himself, stand up, and reach for the knife he had left on the cabinet. He pointed it at Drake.

Drake arched his eyebrows smirking. “Do you think you’re scaring me? You’re nothing but a fucking coward.” He stepped towards Tariq.

“You better stay where you are, Drake because if you lose this fight, I’ll stab that whore right after you.”

Drake raised his hands shaking with anger. “You won’t be able to hide anywhere asshole, I’ll swear I’ll find you.”

Tariq left the bedroom and ran as fast as he could.

Drake didn’t hesitate for a second, even if he should follow Tariq, he couldn’t ignore Alexis’ small sobs. He kneeled next to where Alexis was sitting on the floor and took her chin. “Are you ok, Lexie?” She had an empty look on her eyes. “Baby, look at me.” He tilted his head so he could meet her gaze. “Are you alright?” He swallowed hard. “Did he-?”

She came back to her senses and shook her head strongly. “No, he didn’t have time.” She looked gratefully at him. “Thanks to you.”

“It seems to me that you put one hell of a fight yourself, baby. Let’s get you to bed.” He took her in his arms and put her gently on the bed, helping her to get under the covers.

“Come on Lexie.” He sat next to her and pulled her close to him. “I’m so sorry.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Tariq’s eyes looked like they were on fire”

“I maced him.” She smiled at him.

Drake chuckled. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she answered proudly. “I also kicked him and almost broke his nose.”

He hugged her smiling against her head. “You’re so brave. You have no idea how scared I was when I heard you screaming.” He held her tightly.“If anything would’ve happened to you… I…” He cupped her face as softly as he could and kissed her lips with all the gentleness he was capable of.

Alexis smiled and cuddled up against him. His gentle kisses and strong arms wrapping her were everything she needed. She felt as she did every time Drake was around her, completely safe.

Drake stroke her hair and kissed the top of her head as she began to fell asleep when someone knocked at the door. Drake stood up and opened it. It was, Liam.

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Everything was going according to plan; he had talked with his contact at The Cordonian Daily News and she was going to wait until the right moment to release the pictures.

Liam would be so humiliated that it would be impossible for him to recover from it, and if by any miracle he managed to do it, he’ll simply set the second part of his plan in motion. Recruiting Penelope had been a master move, who could suspect the mousy assistant working for the party planner? She had access to every guest on the list and as dull as she was, she understood how he felt better than anyone.

He knew she would die for him if the time came. Of course, he didn’t want it to happen but if it did, it would be for the cause. The times when he was feeling remorse were over, after all, he was the one supposed to lead Cordonia. If someone else had to become collateral damage for him to fulfill his destiny, so be it.

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“What the fuck are you doing here?” Liam shouted

“What the hell is your problem, Liam!”

Liam entered the room furiously, but Alexis jumped off the bed and managed to get in the middle of them.

“Liam! Stop it! Drake is here because he helped me. I was going to take a shower and I heard a noise, when I came into the room Tariq was there, he...he wanted to...”

She looked at Drake incapable of formulating the words, he nodded at her reassuringly.

“He had a knife, Liam, he was going to attack her, she screamed so I ran to help her.”

Liam turned to Alexis visibly worried. “Oh god! Are you alright, love? Did he do anything?”

“No, Drake was right on time.”

Liam seemed relieved. “Thank you, Drake” He squeezed Alexis’s hand. “Come on darling, I’ll stay with you.”

Alexis’s heart broke seeing Drake standing next to the door watching her.

Liam turned to his friend. “I’ll take care of her now, Drake. But thank you” His voice broke thinking of what could’ve happened. “I mean it.”

“Of course. I’ll ask security to search the whole estate, I think he escaped but I prefer to be safe than sorry.” Before he turned to leave, he looked at Alexis one last time “Please, take care of yourself ” She only nodded, the lump on her throat prevented her from speaking.

When Drake left Liam turned to Alexis “Is there anything I can do for you, love?”

She shook her head and lied. “No, Li it’s fine.”

“I don’t think you should be alone, Alexis. Let me be here for you.”

She smiled at Liam. As touched as she was by his concern, the only thing she wanted was to be with Drake again.

“I can sleep on the couch, darling,” he suggested watching how uneasy she seemed.

Alexis felt relieved. “If you don’t mind, I think it would be better for tonight.”

Liam took some covers out of the closet and prepared himself for a night on the couch. After a moment, he noticed that Alexis was turning around on the bed, and his chest tightened, he would’ve loved to take her in his arms and comfort her, but he knew she wasn’t ready. His feelings, on the other hand, were growing stronger every day. It was almost ironic how he had always been able to have any woman he wanted without even trying, and now that he actually loved one, she seemed impervious to him. Because despite his best efforts, Alexis had built an invisible wall between them, one that Liam was decided to tear down by doing anything he could to be the perfect man for her, and with time, he was sure he would be able to conquer her. Liam wanted her so badly that he could barely sleep anymore, he dreamed about her, about her body under his, about her soft voice screaming his name. He wanted to share his life with her, to spoil her, to be her world. Alexis O’Brien was driving him insane, she would have to end up loving him, no matter what. Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She was talking in her sleep, so he pricked up his ears to listen and his heart froze, she was calling for Drake.

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Drake called Mara and Franz, the chiefs of security and they all looked thoroughly for Tariq around the house and gardens but there was no sign of him anywhere. After two hours, Mara tried to convince him to stop but Drake refused. Deep down, he knew Tariq had already fled but he needed something to occupy his mind and take it far away from whatever was happening between Alexis and Liam in her room. After her attack, he was aware that Liam was probably just comforting her but the mere thought of his arms around her pushed him over the edge. Finally, he gave up the futile search and took a bottle of whiskey from Bertrand’s collection, it was going to be a long sleepless night.

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Rashad lied in bed, smiling to himself thinking about Maxwell dancing and joking with Alexis at the party. He knew he would never be able to find anyone like him again, so sparkling and compassionate. Maxwell had been able to see through his fears and insecurities and had given him a chance to be himself. He had listened to him countless times during all those sleepless nights at the Beaumont State, and he had been the first man Rashad had ever loved, the only one. Maxwell knew him much better than his fiancé for over a decade ever did, and they only had been together for a couple of years.

Rashad knew he had taken the right decision breaking up the engagement with Kiara, it didn’t make sense anymore. Sure, she was the perfect match if he wanted to pursue a political career but pretending to love each other was getting impossible for both of them; she slept with a different man every night and he was sure she harbored very strong feelings for Drake Walker. As for him, well there was no point in denying it anymore, he was crazy about Max, even if he wasn’t ready to publicly come out of the closet just yet.

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The next day, after a quick shower in his bedroom, Liam went to work in the business center of the Beaumont’s state. He hadn’t forgotten what Alexis had dreamt the previous night, but he had decided to let it go for the time being. Drake was surely a mere distraction for her, nothing serious. Alexis had been raised to be with a man like him, someone who could give her the life she was used to, who would enchant her, and Drake would never be that kind of man. Liam still remembered the agreement they had made when he had asked for his help with the campaign, Drake would stay for two years, and then he would be free to live his life away from politics. Liam knew that for Drake that meant to retire to his cabin in the woods, finish his Veterinary degree, and live a simple life with no luxuries, and that was not the life Alexis deserved.

“Good morning, Liam.” Drake sat next to Liam with a large cup of coffee.

Liam couldn’t remember the last time he had been glad to spend time with his best friend.

“Hi, Drake. Rough night?” He pointed at the coffee.

“Nah, don’t worry,” Drake smirked to hide the fact that he hadn’t slept thinking about Alexis all night. “We searched the estate thoroughly last night but there was no sign of Tariq anywhere, I’ll go this morning to his parent’s house to see if he’s there.”

Liam raised his brows. “It’s not your job to protect her, Drake. It’s mine; I’ll take care of it.”

“This is not about you or me, Liam! It’s about her. She needs to know that he won’t hurt her anymore. She needs to feel safe.”

Despite his friend’s outburst, Liam remained calm “He won’t. I’ll make sure of it. That bastard will never get near her again. I’ll engage some security; they’ll look up for him.”

Drake sighed and nodded. As long as Alexis was safe, he didn’t care about the rest.

After a few minutes of quietly working and drinking coffee, Drake spoke. “We need to prepare for the rally in Castelraillan.”

“I agree, it’s a top priority. Can you take care of it?” Liam asked, coldly.

“Yes, I’ll go look for Kiara so she can brief me on the preparations that Joelle has already made.”

Drake stood up to leave the room but before he could get out of the door, he heard Liam’s voice. Something had been bothering the candidate since the previous night.

“I really appreciate what you did for Alexis last night.” He paused, “what I cannot understand, it’s how you heard her screaming. Your room it’s on the other side of the house. What were you doing on the west wing?”

Drake was tired, he hadn’t slept all night, and Liam’s attitude was starting to seriously annoy him; he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I didn’t know I had to give you a detailed report of my whereabouts, Liam.”

Liam stood up as well “You’re not answering my question.”

“And I’m not going to. Where I go or not after I’m done working it’s not your problem.”

Liam raised his hands “Fine. Don’t tell me. I, however, will tell you this for the last time.” He cut the distance between them and added with a threatening tone of voice. “Get away from her, stop pretending to be her friend or her knight on shining armor or whatever it is you’re doing. She wants to be with me, and you’ll have to accept that.”

Drake’s fist clenched. “What I can’t understand, it’s why are you being so fucking jealous if you’re sure she wants to be with you.”

Liam glared at him, they were standing only a few inches apart. “I don’t care what you think, just stay the hell away from her.” His blood boiled at the thought of Alexis saying Drake’s name in her sleep. “Or I swear, you’ll regret it.” Liam tapped his finger on Drake’s chest.

Drake shoved him. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

Liam was about to push him back when the doors opened, Alexis entered it but she stopped in her tracks, immediately sensing the tension in the room.

Her eyes darted from one man to the other. “What’s going on?”

Liam approached her “Nothing, love. Drake and I were having a misunderstanding, but I think everything is clear now. Isn’t it, Drake?”

His dark eyes did their best to hide the pain in his heart, as much as it hurt to admit it, Liam was right, she had chosen him. “Crystal.” He turned to Alexis, even after everything she had done, Drake had to make sure that she was fine “How are you doing this morning O’Brien?”

His voice had the power of making her terribly nervous, she had to swallow before answering “I’m fine, Drake. Thank you”. They locked eyes on each other for a second and they both blushed.

“Yes, you were sleeping soundly when I left your room this morning” Liam smiled, circling her waist with his arm and kissing her cheek, possessively.

Drake had to turn his head, seeing Liam being so affectionate with her and talk about their night together was much more than he could bear. “Alright, I have work to do. See you later”

Alexis reached for his shoulder to stop him from leaving. “Um, actually I was looking for you. I need you to give me some information so I can write Liam’s speech for Castelraillan.”

Drake nodded; maybe that would be a good opportunity to talk to her about what Maxwell had told him the previous night. “Of course, I can postpone my meeting.”

Liam cleared his throat visibly uncomfortable. “Don’t bother Drake with that, Darling. I can help you myself.”

Alexis turned to Liam exasperated “That’s not your job, Li. Plus, you told me that you have a meeting with the leader of the farmer’s union this morning. And I need to start writing this as soon as possible. The rally is tomorrow.”

Liam looked at his expensive watch, he needed to leave right now if he wanted to be on time, but the idea of leaving Alexis alone with Drake drove him mad.

“Come with me to the meeting, I can give you all the information you need on the ride there. And, we can go for lunch later. I have a surprise for you.”

Alexis sighed angrily because he wasn’t leaving her much of a choice. “Okay”

Drake arched his brows fighting the urge to punch Liam in his smug face. His attempt to control Alexis was as blatant as it was obnoxious. But Alexis had made her choice, there was nothing that Drake could do about it. “If that’s taken care of, I’ll go meet with Kiara,” he said angrily before leaving the room.

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The riding to the meeting proved infructuous for Alexis, Liam didn’t have the information she needed to write the speech.

“I apologize love, I can talk to you about policies and agendas but as far as the logistics go, it’s not my area of expertise.”

She took a deep breath. “I know Li, that’s why I needed to talk to Drake, I know you don’t like it, but I have to work with him in this.”

“I’ll ask my assistant to give you all the information you need, Drake has other things on his mind right now.”

“It’s not going to be the only time, Liam. We’re supposed to work together, you don’t have to worry about it. I’m with you.” Alexis placed her hand on his arm.

Liam chose not to answer, they rode in silence until the chauffeur stopped. “We’ve arrived, come on, love.”

After a long meeting with the farmer’s union, Liam and Alexis were free to go for lunch.

“God, I’m starving! I would kill for a cheese bacon burger and extra-large fries.”

Liam cocked his left brow smiling. “Extra-large?”

She laughed. “And with cheddar on top, obviously.”

He stopped to look at her, she was wearing a simple sleeveless white dress, but the way it hugged her curves was tantalizing.

“Well, I apologize in advance dear, but I don’t think they serve any burgers where we’re going.”

He took her to the roof of the building where a helicopter was waiting for them.

She turned to look at him surprised. “Where are you taking me?”

He kissed her. “If I tell you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

Two hours later, the helicopter landed. Alexis was exhausted so she had slept almost the whole trip.

“Love, we’re here” He kissed her hand “I would like to cover your eyes, so you’re really surprised when we get there”

She gave him a small smile. “Oh, that’s fine”

He put a silky scarf on her eyes and guided her to the car, then to an elevator. When it reached the top floor, he helped her step out of it and he stood behind her to untie the scarf. Alexis had to admit that she was more than surprised. They were in Paris.

He kissed her bare shoulder. “Welcome to La Tour d’Argent, Love”

The gesture was amazing, it was the most splendid thing anyone had ever done for her, but she couldn’t feel a thing.

The waiter took them to a table on the terrace, the view of the Notre Dame cathedral was incredible.

“I hope you like this, Alexis.” He took her small hand between his larger ones “I’m only doing this because I want you to understand how special you’re for me.”

She smiled at him reaching for his hand. “Thank you Li, it’s beautiful”

The waiter approached them with the menus, after a moment they both order the food and Liam asked for a bottle of champagne.

“I didn’t know you spoke such impeccable French.”

“I went to boarding school here. I arrived when I was 5 and left at 18.”

“So, I’m guessing Paris it’s not as impressive for you as I thought.” He grinned.

She looked at the sight “Paris is always impressive, Li. And I definitely wasn’t planning in having lunch here when I woke up this morning. It was a beautiful surprise.”

They spend the afternoon talking, eating and drinking wine. Alexis couldn’t deny that Liam was a very charming, interesting man, but her soul had been irremediably stolen by Drake.

At the end of their date, Liam took Alexis’s hand between his. “This was a delightful afternoon, love. Did you have fun?”

“Of course, Li. It was great.”

He took her chin between his fingers and kissed her carefully. “I’m aware that we’re going too fast, Alexis. The coming elections are definitely hastening things between us. I know my father is pressuring me and I’m guessing yours is too?” He tilted his head to meet her gaze.

Alexis wanted to be honest with him, at least once. “Yes, he is.”

Liam nodded. “That doesn’t mean I’m not completely crazy about you. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, Alexis.” He took a small velvety box from his pocket. Alexis's heart started to beat so fast she feared Liam might hear it. He opened it and took out a huge diamond ring off it. “Would you marry me, love?” His eyes were filled with hope and vulnerability.

She wanted to run as fast as she could, but her fate had been sealed 10 years earlier when she had taken the worst decision of her life. She managed to smile, and pass her desperate tears for happy ones. “Yes, Li, I will.”

He slipped the ring through her finger and kissed her hand. “You just made me the happiest man in the world, darling.” He sealed their engagement with another searing kiss.

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The next day, the whole campaign team including George, Constantine, and Regina were having breakfast in the hall room before leaving for Castelraillan. Liam was nervously expecting Alexis to show up so they could announce their official engagement together. As soon as she entered the hall, Liam caught her eye and gave her a knowing look so she wouldn’t be surprised at the announcement.

“Good morning to you all, before we head to Castelraillan, we have some news we will like to share with you. Come here, love” He gave his hand to Alexis.

She had spent the night awake thinking about Drake’s reaction, hoping that she would be able to tell him before everyone else, but Liam had beat her to it.

“Yesterday, I asked Alexis to marry me, and to my great joy, she said yes.” The guests immediately clapped happily, most of them standing up to congratulate them.

Drake watched the scene like it was in slow motion. At Liam’s announcement, he felt an acute pain on his chest, not a metaphorical one, but an actual physical pain ripping his heart apart. He felt nauseated at the sight of Alexis in his arms, his mouth on her cheeks, on her lips, his ring on her finger. Suddenly, he felt someone touching his arm.

“Put it together, Walker. They made their choice. Almost everyone else has stood up and congratulated them, it’s our turn.”

Olivia and Drake made their way to the head of the table, Liam and Alexis were talking with Regina who was already busy making plans for the wedding.

“Well, it is going to be a society wedding, of course, anyone who is anyone in Cordonia will have to be there,” Regina said, excitedly.

Alexis wasn’t listening anymore; all her focus was on Drake. The man that had helped her so many times, that had held her when she had felt lonely and scared making her feel safe for the first time in her life. The man that had saved her and took her away when she had needed it. The man that had made love to her, making her feel things she didn’t even know possible. The incredible man that she loved more than everything. Alexis cursed herself, the pained expression on Drake’s eyes was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Congratulations, O’Brien.” He extended his hand.

“Please, Drake she’s going to be like your sister now that she will marry Liam.” Regina patted both their backs “You should hug each other.”

Drake locked eyes with her and saw a profound sadness on them, something he wasn’t expecting. He took her in his arms and held her for a few seconds, enjoying her soft body against him. Drake could’ve sworn that she was trembling slightly, but he didn’t have a chance to ask her anything, Liam was watching them closely.

“Thank you, Liv, Drake. We’re planning to get married as soon as possible, not later than a month. We’re desperate to be together.” Liam told them proudly.

Olivia arched her brows smirking “Just in time for the elections. If I was a cynical woman, which of course I’m not, I would say that that was a huge coincidence.” She threw a disgusted look at Alexis.

Maxwell spoke up desperate to end the tension. “Attention everyone, I have ordered mimosas to the kitchens so everyone can cheer to the- er happy couple.”

Everyone raised their glasses. Drake couldn’t take it anymore, he gulped his drink and left the room, followed by Maxwell.

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The whole trip to Castelraillan Liam had been thinking about the decision he was about to make. He knew Alexis wouldn’t be happy about it, so he arranged a meeting with Constantine and George to help him explain to her why he was firing her as his speechwriter. Of course, he didn’t tell them the real reason, that he wasn’t going to let her work with Drake and risk losing her. Liam had a whole other set of excuses ready.

Alexis was surprised when Liam asked her to go to the Estate’s office, and even more when she saw her father and Constantine sitting on the couch.

“Well, no one told me we were about to have a family reunion.” Or I would’ve taken a bottle of vodka with me. “What’s going on?”

Liam cleared his throat, going straight to the point “Love, I called you because I need you to step down as my speechwriter.”

She arched her brows. “What? What do you mean?”

George stood up. “What you heard, you can’t be his future first lady and his speechwriter, the electors would see that as a sign of nepotism.”

She ignored her father and addressed to Liam. “You have got to be kidding me, Liam, your whole cabinet grew up with you. I don’t understand what the problem is.” She saw the closed look in his face but insisted anyway, her job was the only thing that was keeping her sane. “Please, don’t do this, I love my job. I want to be more than a decorative figure on your arm, Li. I know I can help you get elected.”

Liam felt bad for her, but he wasn’t going to change his mind, she would have to understand.

“The decision is made, love. I’m sorry”

“You’re pathetic. I know why you’re really doing this, and you can go fuck yourself!”

She slammed the door on her way out.

George poured himself a tumbler of whiskey “Don’t worry, son. She’s always been a little wild, but she knows what’s best for her. She will be back tonight.”

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

Alexis was furious. Until then she had felt guilty because she was lying to Liam, who she considered a good, caring man, but that new side of him was frightening. She had no choice than to marry him, so it terrified her that he would turn out to be as controlling as her own father was. That she would have to live a similar life than her mother’s with a man that had no interest in the woman she really was.

Maxwell found her drinking a glass of whiskey on the stairs. “Blossom! I was looking for you. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry about it, Max. Liam and I just had a fight; he doesn’t want me working on the campaign anymore.”

“Oh! I’m sorry hon, I can think of a way to cheer you up though, I want to take you to my favorite spot.”

She smiled. “Yes, that sounds like a great idea, I could drink a gallon of whiskey right now.”

Just when they were about to leave in Maxwell’s red Porsche, Liam came running into the parking lot.

“Come on love, I’m sorry I had to make that decision but it’s best for everyone. Come back into the house so we can talk.”

She arched her brows. “You can talk about it with our fathers, you seem to value their opinions much more than you do mine. Come on, Max, let’s go”

Maxwell threw Liam an apologetic look, but he started the car and drove away.

After what seemed like half an hour Maxwell pulled the car at the beach.

Alexis didn’t understand. “Is this your favorite spot? The beach?”

Maxwell grinned “Here? Please, Blossom; It would need four walls, an expensive cocktail bar, two different dance floors, and three Dj’s to make this old beach acceptable for me. It is, however, someone else’s favorite spot.”

Alexis recognized the place, it was the beach where Drake had taken her the night they had met.

“Hi, O’Brien. I think we need to talk.” His deep, manly voice sent a jolt of electricity through her spine. Alexis knew that if she stayed on the beach with him, she was going to succumb to him again.

“I don’t think so, please Max take me back to Castelraillan.”

“I will, if you really want me to, Lexie, but I think you two truly need to talk. I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep your secret, but it was breaking my heart seeing you so sad.”

Drake approached her carefully. “Please, O’Brien talk to me. I saw your face this morning when Liam announced your engagement.” He stood in front of her and stroked her face. “I know something is not right.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone. Text me when you’re done, I’ll take you back to Castelraillan, Blossom.”

Drake offered Alexis his hand, and she took it. He was going to really hate in a few minutes when he knew the truth of what she had done, so she wanted to make the most of her last moments with him.

He took her to the cove, where he had set a blanket on the sand and lighted a fire. He had also brought a bottle of whiskey with a couple of glasses and the ingredients to make S’mores.

Alexis smiled widely, it was wonderful. It felt like home.

They sat on the blanket, Drake poured them a glass of whiskey and she took a large sip.

They didn’t say anything for a while, just enjoying their moment together staring at the fire, eating S’mores, and holding hands.

Finally, Alexis broke the silence. “I will tell you the truth because you deserve to know it. I didn’t say anything before because I wanted to protect you, but I only made things worse. What I’m about to tell you, will change how you feel about me. I’m a horrible person, and I deserve everything that’s happening; I’m just sorry I dragged you and Liam with me.”

He shook his head and squeezed her hand. “You’re an amazing, brave woman Lexie, and I promise you there’s nothing you can tell me that would make me think any different.”

She snorted but a streak of tears started to run through her face. “You have no idea what you’re saying. I’m exactly like your mother. I abandoned my own child.”

Drake’s eyes widened but he continued to hold her hand. “Tell me everything from the beginning, baby. What happened?”

“After … my attack … my father sent me back to the school in France. It was a very difficult time, I didn’t know how to cope with what had happened by myself, and I was sick all the time. Finally, one of the nuns saw me throwing up one morning and she guessed that I was pregnant. I was terrified, Drake”.

Drake’s chest tightened at her profound sadness. He moved to sit behind her and pulled her body to him so he could hug her tightly, with her back leaning against his chest. He moved her hair to one side of her neck and kissed her cheek. “I can only imagine what you felt, Lexie.”

Emboldened by his strong arms around her, she continued. “The nuns called my father who was beyond furious. His only concern was that he had paid my expensive education so I could marry well, and I had ruined his investment. I was kicked out of school, of course. It turns out that prestigious catholic schools don’t like pregnant girls.” She gave him a bitter smile. “So my father took me back to the States with him. During the flight, he made it very clear that I had two options. Either I gave up the baby for adoption or he’d cut me out entirely and I would have to survive by myself. The truth is that I felt mixed emotions concerning the baby. One part of me already loved her intensely, but the other part resented her just as much because she was a reminder of what had happened to me.” She drank her glass. “My father didn’t want anyone to find out that I was pregnant so he sent me to a house for rich girls who had the same kind of problem as me. It turned out to be a solace, the nurses who worked there were very nice, and I made friends with the other girls. The best part was that they had a psychologist and she really helped me to figure out a lot of things. When my final trimester arrived, I had decided that it would be best for the baby if I gave her up. I felt extremely guilty, but I had no qualifications, no money and I didn’t know how I could take care of her. My father had chosen a wealthy couple who would adopt her.” Alexis stopped unable to speak for a few moments. The memories were too painful, and she couldn’t stop crying.

Drake held her tightly stroking her hair and face. “It’s ok, baby. Cry all you need, it’s fine. I’m here with you.” She took a while to gather herself while Drake kissed the top of her head and wiped the tears off her face. After a moment she was calm enough to proceed.

“The day she was born was the most amazing and the most horrible day of my life. Giving birth really is an extremely beautiful and painful thing. I can still remember her smell when the nurse brought her to me. The way her little hand gripped my finger, the way she looked directly at me.” She started to cry again. “I changed my mind right there, I wanted to keep her but I had already signed the papers and no one wanted to upset my father.” She stopped to take a sharp breath. “They took her after the first time I fed her. The woman seemed very nice, she asked me if I had named her and then she promised she would call her the same. She also said that she would send a picture of her every year so I could see that she was healthy and well.” Drake wasn’t a man that cried often, but her broken heart was too painful for him, he couldn’t avoid the tears in his eyes. He hugged her as tightly as he could knowing that nothing in the world would be enough to calm her pain.

He cupped her face with his large hand and turned it to his, placing a kiss on her front. “How you named her, baby?”

“Abigail, like my mother’s mother. She’s ten now.”

“Did the woman send the pictures?”

“Yes, to my father who then sends them to me.” She pulled out her phone and showed her the pictures of a beautiful brunette little girl.

He grinned. “She’s beautiful Lexie, she looks like a little version of you.”

She smiled proudly. “Yes, I have a picture of me at the same age and we’re really similar.”

He shifted positions and sat in front of her, rubbing her face with his thumb. “How could you think I was going to hate you, Lexie. Or even compare you to my mother, a grown-ass woman with an income who abandoned her two children in the middle of the day with a note. You were sixteen, scared, and alone baby. It’s not remotely the same.”

She simply nodded taking refuge in his arms for a few moments.

He took her hand between his and grimaced at the sight of her engagement ring.

“And Liam? Why are you with him? Maxwell said your father was forcing you.”

“My father made a series of bad investments, and he has lost a lot of money. He wants to control Cordonia’s commerce, but the current president won’t let him have as much access to the transactions as he’d like. So, he made a deal with Constantine. If I marry Liam and my father donates enough money to his campaign, Constantine will convince Liam to give him all control over the exports and imports between Cordonia and The States. Every big company would have to have my father’s approval to make business here.”

Drake shook his head furiously. “So he’s using you as a bargaining chip. You can’t let that happen, O’Brien. You can let him control you like that!”

She stood up furious as well. “Didn’t you understand what is at stake here? I’m talking about my daughter, and if you’re thinking that he’s bluffing or that he would never hurt his ten-year-old granddaughter, well, think again Walker! Why do you think he sends me those pictures of her? SO I know why I’m doing this.” She gulped her whiskey tumbler.

“Do you know what did he do when my grandmother, his own mother, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s? He put her in a home. He has all the fucking money in the world to hire a nurse who could take care of her in the house where she has lived all her life. In the house where she feels safe. Or, at least, he could’ve taken her to a good facility where she could have the best medical care possible, but no! That … that asshole just ditched her on a cheap nursing home and never looked back. He didn’t visit once. I had to pull a lot of strings and ask my ex-boyfriend who is a doctor for help so I could change her to a good place, where she has good care.” She rubbed her face tiredly. “You know the sociopaths they talk about in the movies? The narcissist, egotistical characters everyone thinks they’re too evil to be true? Well, that is my father. He truly has no feelings, he never loved my mother or me or even his own parents. So yes, he really would be capable of hurting her, and if he does, I … I ...” She burst into tears.

Drake cut the distance between them and took her in his arms. “Shhh, it’s ok baby, I’m sorry, you’re right we have to be smart about this.”

She cupped his face so he could look at her. “No, Drake. There is no way around this. I didn’t tell you all of this, so you could help or save me. I told you because you deserve the truth, but I’m marrying Liam in a month, and there’s nothing you or me or anyone can do about it. I’m sorry.”

Drake didn’t answer anything, but he knew he wasn’t going to lose her without putting a fight. Not now that he knew that she didn’t love Liam. He took her chin with his hand and wiped the tears off her face, placing a soft kiss in her forehead, a gentle one in her right cheek, and a last one in her nose until finally, his lips found hers crashing into a desperate, hungry kiss. He knew it wasn’t the right moment to tell her everything he felt for her, so he tried to convey every feeling he had, into the kiss. All his desperation, his passion, his love for her where there. Finally, they parted, breathless. He couldn’t help but think how beautiful she looked under the firelight, with her bright eyes, the blush on her cheeks, her efforts to steady her breath after his kiss.

He held her in his arms until they had to text Max so he could come back looking for her.

They were so devoted to each other that neither of them saw the man staring at them from the blue van, with a camera on his lap. He pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. “Yes sir, I followed her. And, you won’t like what I just discovered.”

#drake x mc #drake walker #trr #drakefanfic #thetrade #twrape

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auburnfamilynews · 4 years ago

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Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Time to Barn Hard

Here we go... With under 24 hours until the kickoff of Auburn’s 2020 season, the luminaries here at College & Magnolia offer their sage opinions on what Tiger fans will see tomorrow afternoon. Most of us see a close contest destined to give us that all too familiar fall Saturday heartburn but there are a few brave souls who are prepared to barn hard no matter what.

Auburn (-7.5) vs Kentucky (O/U 49.5)

2019 Auburn fans won’t recognize 2020 Auburn. Bo Nix is going to take a huge leap forward. His receivers are healthy for game one. Our fearless leader has finally found someone he trusts enough to manage playcalling duties. The defense will reload with All-Conference (and maybe All-American) talent. A talented (and deep!) group of hard-hitting running backs. Pre-season optimism has overwhelmed pre-game jitters for me. Look for Chad Morris to show off all his weapons Saturday. He has a tendency to put up a lot of points in his first game at a new school. Brace yourselves, Wildcats. Let’s barn hard, yall.

Auburn 48

Kentucky 14

-Josh Dub

I was talking with a friend of my wife’s the other day and she asked how I thought Auburn would do. I was raised by an old school Auburn fan who taught me to sandbag and say that we were just hoping that everyone buckled their chin straps correctly and that they just had fun out there. That was met with my wife telling her, I always do this. I responded by saying that I just lower the bar so that, when they win by 40 in a game I don’t expect, I get the rush of being a kid again and genuinely happy when Auburn wins.

That said! HERE WE GO!

Auburn has got stars everywhere on the outside and in the backfield but a bunch of green horns on the starting line on offense, so IF Chad Morris (or Gus if he is still calling the plays) can use quick screens and....this route called a slant...to hide the fact that the Auburn offensive line will look a lot like the French army circa 1938, then they might buy a few chances for Anders to kick some field goals.

On defense, you don’t lose D Brown and Marlon and get better. You probably don’t maintain the production you had last year on the D-Line. You can get back there, but that takes time and experience. That said, I am a bit more bullish on the defense as a whole. There is a ton of talent to go around on the line and the secondary and the Linebackers may be the best in the conference. Once again, the defense will keep Auburn in every game for the most part. And that new line will be tested against a really well coached, running offense that Kentucky brings to the Plains.

I love what Mark Stoops has been able to build in Lexington, and sort of done what Matt Campbell has done at Iowa State, that team you just don’t want to see cause they are scrappy and will take advantage of your mistakes. On the betting lines, I am staying away from this one with spendy cashy monies but with fakey non-existant moneies, I love the Cats getting a touchdown and a hook because I see this one being in the 3-4 range with Auburn probably winning, just based on history and going with my heart, but I could totally see Kentucky pulling this off as well.

Gimme Auburn over Kentucky 27-24 and the defense had to get a late stop to seal this one away. Nothing like a late missed FG to start that stomach ulcer.

(betting pick: UK and the points, Over at 51)

-Drew Mac

Auburn *should* win this game. Auburn *should* have the talent advantage. But hey, this is 2020. Who knows what havoc Covid will have wrought on install for any given team.

That being said, I trust Bo Nix’s development as a true sophomore. I think this Auburn team, while still going through some growing pains, will finally start to hit on explosive plays with a veteran WR corps. This Kentucky defense is not the one that one 10 games two years ago.

The only way things go sideways is if the retooled defensive line can’t stop the Kentucky ground game, which is an extremely valid concern. The Wildcats have three returning backs who combined for 1,900 yards and 18 TDs while sharing the spotlight with Lynn Bowden Jr last year, and Terry Wilson is no slouch. I think the Auburn linebackers are going to have to earn their keep as best LB group in the SEC here in week 1.

Auburn takes this one with some big plays through the air and a defense that bucks up in the second half. 27-13 Auburn.

-Ryan Sterritt

I’m a huge proponent of playing a patsy in week 1. In a normal season fall camp doesn’t really give a complete picture of how an offensive line communicates in real time, how well the quarterback has his timing down with his receivers, if the tailback has fumbling problems, mike linebacker being able to switch the defensive alignment based on tendencies, etc. etc. But if you can’t play a patsy I’m a huge proponent of playing a top 10 team who will keep you engaged without distractions leading up to kickoff and will tell you so much about where you can go from here. What you don’t want is a trap game in week 1.

Folks what we have here is a trap game in week 1.

We’re 14 points better than Kentucky. I genuinely believe that. Talent wise and coaching we’re at least 2 scores better than this football team at home. And it does not matter one bit thanks to COVID.

I am so concerned over what we’re going to look like out there considering how many guys were held out at various points of our extended fall camp thanks to COVID. Which wouldn’t be as big of a deal in a normal year, even though it would still be a big deal, but OH YEAH WE HAD NO SPRING PRACTICE. So in keeping with my tradition of being absolutely God awful at Barnin’ Hard, this tiger ain’t changing his stripes for this one.

Keys to victory:

- Stop a Kentucky ground attack with a defensive line that is fully capable of plugging the gaps and have your linebackers make plays in space. This will only work if our corners, who will be in a lot of one on one situations, make plays. Jaylin Simpson is the guy that will get picked on, and this is a fine opportunity for the redshirt freshman to get thrown into the deep end to see if he’ll sink or swim in his first meaningful snaps. If he can hold his own, we’re in good shape.

- Establish an intermediate passing attack early in this game. Keep their defense off balance early on the offensive script and allow Bo Nix and an offensive line that will struggle but has a higher ceiling than that of the last 2 seasons gain some confidence early.

- Get the fastest player in all of college football 10 touches/targets for the day. This one may appear in all 10 entries of “Keys to Victory” for our schedule this year. Scheme to get Anthony Schwartz the ball in multiple ways. And then scheme off of it to get other players in positions to be in favorable coverages.

- Rotate your running backs in a way that makes sense instead of giving the “guy with the hot hand” 25 carries. This running back room is deeper and more talented than it has been since the healthy parts of 2016/2017 for Pettway and KJ. Give these guys a chance to punish Kentucky’s defense with fresh legs for 4 quarters. Make them hate playing us.

- Oh, and finally, get some sound sleep and show up alert for an 11 AM kickoff. I don’t need to explain to any of you why this is obviously something we should all worry over.

All in all I think being at home does matter, despite 20,000 people in the stands. Traveling in these uncertain times has to account for something, right?

Auburn 27 Kentucky 21

-Josh Black

If the first few weeks of football are any indication, I’m expecting some low scoring sloppy games on Saturday. And while Auburn’s rivals have essentially “warmup games” to start their season, Auburn will play another ranked opponent in Week 1. That’s JABA right?

Anyways, I’m really excited to see this group of Running Backs led by Captain Shaun Shivers this season. I’m really excited to see Shaun get the opportunity to start and it’ll be interesting to see how many carries he and the rest of the RBs get on Saturday. This is an experienced receiving corps too led by Seth Williams, “Flash” Anthony Schwartz and veteran Eli Stove.

The biggest question to me (other than the offensive line) will be the defensive line as it’s hard replacing Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson. And we can all hope for better O-Line play this season and a more mature Bo Nix as he enters Year 2 as the starting QB.

As I said earlier, I’m thinking this is a low-scoring game and I’m a bit concerned about this one, with the 11AM kick and all but I’ll take Auburn in a close one.

Auburn 17 Kentucky 14

-Will McLaughlin

I firmly believe Auburn has a significant talent advantage at the skill positions in this matchup. Yes the Cats have an athletic QB, a strong stable of backs, intriguing WRs and a surprisingly good secondary but across the board I’ll take Auburn. However, it won’t matter if the Tigers lose the line of scrimmage battle which is way more likely than any of us wanna imagine.

As you have probably read, heard, seen by now, Kentucky has one of the best offensive lines in the country. This isn’t a group made up of 3-star kids with heart. Left tackle Landon Young was a 5-star recruit. Center Drake Jackson was a 4-star ranked as a top 150 player. Future NFLer Darian Kinnard was a 4-star recruit as well. This is both an experienced AND talented front who enjoy physically beating the hell out of their opponents. Everyone in the world knew that a run play was likely coming last fall and it rarely mattered. While I trust Rodney Garner & Kevin Steele to rebuild this front 4 for the Tigers, I am concerned about them being ready to go week 1. Even with Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson last year, Oregon pushed around the Tigers for one half. This UK OL is of the same calibre and it wouldn’t shock me if they came out the gate with similar success.

Then there’s the other side of the ball where the UK return plenty of experience of a solid front 7. However, they were actually pretty porous against the run last fall allowing over 5 yards a carry against SEC competition. The problem is I am not sure if Auburn is ready to take advantage. In most years, when I see a defense susceptible to the run, I expect an AU victory that borders on dominant. I just don’t know if the Tigers though will be ready to go on Saturday.

That’s why Anders Carlson will be the x-factor. I think Auburn’s offense will look disjointed but generate enough explosive plays to get into UK territory consistently. They don’t put the ball in the end zone as much as we would like but Anders knocks through 4 big kicks. The defense rebounds from a rough first quarter to limit the UK offense to only 2 touchdowns on the day. Auburn recovers a late onside kick to escape with a hard won victory.

Auburn 26 Kentucky 20

-AU Nerd

Auburn at 11am.

Auburn in season openers.

Auburn as favorites vs hungry teams.

Yuck. I am finding it hard to Barn as hard...——record scratch—-

(The boys are back in town starts playing)

Just kidding!

The Boys are back!

Guys we are gonna kill em.

Auburn 34- Kats 24

-Son of Crow

Most of the time I have some idea of what to expect. There’s a gut feeling, an inkling, an intuition. Even days when I publicly avow a big win, and we end up losing, I realize that I knew it deep in my soul. This time, I have nothing. I guess that’s what 2020 will do to a man. I can’t pick this game with my heart or my gut, so I have to go with the limited knowledge that we’ve been able to glean from the practice fields. Somehow, Gus has kept it tighter than usual this season. He’s keeping spies, leaks, and COVID out of the fold.

It’s not a big secret that Auburn’s level of talent is superior across the board, but Kentucky might have the mix of experience to go along with its skill to make this a very scary opening contest. We’ve heard that the Wildcats’ lines are both going to be solid, and that gives us a flashback of what the Oregon offense was able to do for about a half last year in Arlington. Auburn can’t afford a slow start on Saturday, because we’ll be breaking in a new offensive line. Now, that might not be the worst thing in the world — our line last year was nothing much to write home about — but they started to get better down the stretch. That said, this year’s group might be more maulers than linemen. Sometimes you just need some dudes being guys up front to push people around. We might have that, thus the run game could come to life with a much more talented group in the backfield. Not to mention, Bo Nix’s sophomore development with a true quarterback coach could be something unparalleled.

Kentucky will give us a fight, but there’s no way I’m picking us to lose this game. It’ll probably be close, and uncomfortably so for a while I’d wager. Still, the home “crowd” and the overall talent win out in the end. I think someone else mentioned Anders Carlson being a weapon in this one, and I agree. I think he hits 3 kicks and Auburn scores 3 touchdowns. Tigers 30-21.

-Jack Condon

In our preseason predictions I pegged this as one of the three games that Auburn could lose, and had it at the top of my list as the one I’m most worried about. That may seem weird, but we really just have no clue how any team, including our own is going to look on Saturday. We’ve all seen how bad some of these other teams already playing have looked, and I guess people think that there’s no way their own team could look that bad, but I’m not so sure. That said, I believe this Auburn team has all the components necessary to be better than last season and thus easily handle a Kentucky team that is, well they’re Kentucky. The new look offense should give an older, more seasoned Bo Nix a chance to throw some higher percentage passes, we have an SEC caliber stable of running backs for the first time in a couple of seasons, and presumably a fully healthy group of receivers. The new-look offensive line doesn’t concern me at all, because, well, I’ve lived through the last two seasons. At this point Kevin Steele and co. have earned my utmost confidence that the defense will pick up right where they left off.

Tigers 37 - Cats 12

-AU Chief

Man alive I wish I wasn’t so worried about this. Kentucky is well coached. They know what they are, and they don’t try to do things outside their comfort zone. Their strengths could cause problems for us. And yet, Auburn has more talent. 2020 is going to be a weird year, but I think having better athletes is going to win out more often than not, because teams are going to have to keep things simple. I like everything I’m hearing out of fall camp. I still don’t know about that line though. I could see a backdoor cover for UK where Auburn has to recover an onside kick to clinch things. I could see a front door cover for Auburn putting the game away late. I’ll stay on the safe side.

Auburn 24

Kentucky 17

(Auburn wins, UK covers; under)

-James Jones

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/9/25/21456468/staff-picks-8-auburn-vs-23-kentucky

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