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infinitethree · 1 month ago

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It’s only a week into his time more seriously going to the Swords and Shields’ training hall that someone suggests that Daz take part in a training exercise.

The idiot who suggested it was clearly trying to do it as hazing– to make sure he understood his place.

Unfortunately for him, he picked one of the worst possible ones.

Blind man’s bluff– a game in which one person is blindfolded and has to try and suss out the location of nearby hiders. Once located, they need to hit their target with something.

It’s a terrible pick because, see– Daz helped get this specific one as part of the roster. Once Aster started bringing in games like Bedwars and Manhunts for training, Daz kept an eye out for similar things that could be of use.

He sees Aster immediately clock that not only is this happening, but that Daz will make them regret trying to test him.

His eventual husband looks vaguely pained as he says, “I’m…not taking part in this. To ensure it’s fair, I’ll only be observing.”

The group thinks that he’s being harsh to Daz, when really, he’s just saving his own skin. Daz knows more about Aster’s behavior and physicality than most of the hopeless idolizers in this group could ever fathom.

In short, Daz would hit him first and hit him hard.

Setup is fast. Aster gives him a dedicated bow and arrows, letting him get a feel for it before tying the blindfold on.

“Go easy on them,” Aster pleads as he spins Daz around, voice quiet enough that it won’t carry. “I’d rather die,” Daz hums, equally quiet, but also cheerful and petty.

A long, tired sigh comes from Aster, even though Daz knows damn well he sleeps just fine.

Retreating on light footsteps, Aster barks with surprising authority, “Ten seconds!”

Daz stays completely still, cataloging where everyone goes. It’s not hard– they’re in the fairly small cafeteria and there’s barely more than a dozen people present.

Audibly resigned, Aster announces, “Go.”

He doesn’t need any hesitation before firing shots– one, two, three, four, all in a cluster.

“Holy shit,” someone breathes, and promptly gets shot for it.

There’s a protest of, “That has to be cheating–” “I’ve had eyes on him since this was suggested. He hasn’t opened his console, nor taken anything. I tied the blindfold and gave him the bow myself. Are you calling my integrity into question, Lorne?”

A meek mumble of, “No, sir,” comes, along with an annoyed huff from Aster.

Out of spite, Daz shoots them again despite them being out.

“Hey, what the fuck?!” Aster tells him, “Don’t hit people that aren’t active, Daz.”

He shifts his aim around, giggling, “Oopsie, my bad! I thought there was a mouse over there.”

There’s a soft huff of laughter, and he fires at that person. Based on a muffled squeak, he fires another.

After several long moments of failing to hear anything else, he slowly makes his way around the room. Avoiding the tables is easy, because he’s easily able to orient himself based on the hum of the vending machines against one wall.

There are only tiny tells that give the others away, but it doesn’t matter. Soon enough, Aster tells him, “Congratulations, that’s one of the fastest times I’ve seen.”

He smiles brightly as Aster undoes the blindfold. There’s a wry smile as his future partner says, “So, you know– good job.”

In a move he knows is going to ruin Aster’s entire week, he flings himself forward and hugs him tightly. “Yay! I’m sure they went easy on me, but that’s okay! I’ll get good enough that I can beat them when they really try.”

Someone says, “Uh, maybe you shouldn’t cling to the boss like that–”

He looks at Aster, who is completely rigid and seeming to struggle to react properly. “Star, does this bother you? You’d tell me if you were mad at me again, right?”

Aster looks away as he awkwardly pats Daz’s hair. “It’s– I would, yeah.” “And you’re not saying anything, so…”

“Daz.”

He giggles, beaming brightly at him. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist!”

There are several long moments of silence, during which Daz does not let himself enjoy the hand on his head or think about how it’s both familiar and not.

Then Aster clears his throat, and Daz sheepishly withdraws. “Sorry, I’m just really clingy with people I like.”

“People you like?” The question from a nearby Puffy makes Daz giggle again. “I mean, like– gosh, Aster is super admirable, you know? That kind of strength is like…super impressive, especially when you’re starting from like, nothing. And– I mean, I’ve always thought that? From the first moment I met him, he’s kinda been larger than life!”

Like he’s shy, he steals glances at Aster, whose eyes abruptly go wide.

“Wait,” he says, a rushed tone to his words that makes Daz deeply curious what he just saw, “was that…”

There’s a moment of hesitation as Aster seems to work out how to phrase what he wants to ask.

“Daz, have you given me special…wait, what’s the usual budget for clubs and groups?”

Ah, so he finally found out about one of his little secrets.

Deliberately donning a nervous look, he laughs and stammers, “I, uh– I mean, it’s not really– I’d have to look, you know?”

“I’m going to assume I got much more than usual, then. Where did the extra money come from, Daz?”

He pretends to try and come up with another answer, and then makes his body language deflate.

Awkwardly, he admits, “I paid for it myself.”

There’s a long, tense silence, and then someone asks the obvious question of, “Paid for what?”

With a little shrug, Daz fiddles with his earrings. “You know, uhm…startup costs. Not– not all of it, there was still the usual stipend, but I kinda…maybe…”

He gestures at the room around them. “Uhm, paid for this. Like, the building. And the planning. The stipend mostly went to, like…some equipment and upkeep and stuff.”

It’s really, really, really obvious that Aster is having a bluescreen from trying to accept this information.

But, what– was Daz supposed to let this be shitty?

He’s rich. He’s been rich for a long-ass time. His pay compared to his spending is completely unbalanced without even touching his extra trade deals.

This is his project; his goal. Not leveraging his resources properly is stupid.

Aster, an unfamiliar tone to his voice, asks, “Why?”

Though he knows what Aster is actually asking, he answers, “I have, like, lots of money and I super believed in the cause. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make sure it was as good as it could be, you know?”

With a little laugh, he admits, “It’s kinda nothing for me, anyway? I have, uh– I get paid a lot. Like, a lot a lot.”

Because it’ll be good cover, he perks up. “Oh! I can show you, maybe? I’ve seen what you do here, maybe you can come see what I do? I know you’re kinda a hermit on your days off–” “Which you know how?”

Daz blinks at him a few times, then cocks his head to the side like it’s confusing why he’s asking. It’s all for the ruse; he knows Aster is a hermit because he had to threaten the idiot into bonding with the Swords and Shields outside of training.

Barbeques, and thus Aster’s grilling setup, were Daz’s idea-slash-demand.

He answers, “We live next to each other, duh? Also, like– you kinda draw attention, and people talk when you go places. That means that it’s abnormal for you, so like…it’s kinda obvious you prefer being at home.”

Then there’s a soft, wry huff of almost-laughter from Aster. “Alright, I guess. Might as well see what the hell you even do to get that kind of money.”

Good, that'll provide a reason for this. No sense in being sloppy about that, after all– not when that kind of thing would lead to some messy questions getting asked.

Cheerfully, Daz says, “I’m one of the highest-paid people on the server! Only Management gets more. I’m, like– not to sound like I’m bragging, but I do kinda do something really important.”

A Dream, baffled, asks, “What’s important enough for that scale of a paycheck?”

Daz hums, cracking his neck as he mentally orders what he does in a day.

“I mean…I, or other Welcome Wagon employees, are the first consistent contact most people have. Even for exceptions like Protege Tommys or other stuff that involves drawn out code alteration, we visit and ensure everything is taken care of. A non-exhaustive list of our responsibilities include coordination for housing, therapy, banking, coms, and groups of interest; obviously orientation is a huge deal, because, like– information gets lost in the shuffle otherwise, leading to people being confused and frustrated; we provide temporary shelter and supplies while long-term plans are made; we help those who decide that Sanctuary isn’t to their liking in finding and getting prepared for going to a new reality…for people who have been here a while, we’re also like an information desk. You can stop by and we can tell you or direct you to things to do, places to eat, maybe even stuff for, like, weddings!”

He beams at the way that list has made everyone have a sudden and near-violent reconsideration of what his workload is like.

Also at the way Aster chokes a little at the word wedding.

I thought you were being nicer to him, Innit huffs, and Daz retorts that it’s funny to bully him like this.

With another giggle, he repeats, “But that’s, like– not everything. I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff.”

Then he steps forward and grabs Aster’s arm. “Since we’re sparring buddies now, I made lunch!”

As expected, Aster perks up. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Because it’s a habit and because he’s himself, Daz teases, “Careful, I might start to think you’re, like– starting to crush on me.”

Aster extracts his arm and ruffles his hair again. “Blame yourself for being charming, then.”

Daz freezes, bluescreening as Aster gives him a smug look and turns to walk away. With a little wave, he’s told, “When you’re ready to eat, I’ll be in my office.”

In his head, Innit cackles mockingly at how easily it got flipped around on him.

#chronotag #dazzlingvoid #shiningaster #innerinnit

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flicksnfilms · 2 years ago

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Black Adam (2022)

In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam was bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Black Adam. Nearly 5,000 years have passed and Black Adam has gone from man, to myth, to legend. Now released, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher and Cyclone.

TL;DR: Do I recommend it? > Yeah, sure, why not. For the entertainment value.

The long of it:

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Writer: Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani Music: Lorne Balfe Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Shahi Runtime: 125 minutes IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Official Site

Watched: at the cinema on November 5th

Reaction: ± It was entertaining with a good super"hero" formula. Some things i don't necessarily like but some things that i do. :) [SPOILERS AHEAD likely] I didn't know anything about this franchise coming in so it was a mostly new experience. That Teth Adam instantly knew english was weird but maybe a kind of allspeak is part of the Shazam powers. Which was demonstrated after he depowered, so i'm fairly okay with that. They did their best to address what changes in story needed to be made to include it into the DCEU so i guess we'll see how it goes. Still kind of odd that they would face him up against Superman rather than Shazam, since that's been established cinematically already. It's probably the monetary performance. But more Henry Cavill so yay~

The characters were fairly interesting. Aldis Hodge is super jacked compared to when i first saw him on Leverage and Supernatural. My faves were 1 Pierce Brosnan's Dr. Fate --cause how could you not love his performance-- and 2 the mom --what a badass. The kinda-peeves were the son --kid could not stop talking-- and Atom Crusher --he kinda didn't do anything that no one else could.

Memorable aspect of the movie: + Casting. + Acting, particularly from Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Shahi. + Music. Lorne Balfe composed really strong once again.

#films i watched in 2022

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red-eft · 8 months ago

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ooo 1-2, 10-11, 20-21, 30-31, 40-41, and 50-51 for Ruarc and Fiensal... >:)

waoo thank you for the ask!! slapping this under a readmore since it got really long. like im not kidding this is probably the longest post i've ever made 😭

quick overview of my story setting for my new mutuals/those unfamiliar with it- my story takes place in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. the world was basically just like ours, but then there was an apocalypse where magic came into existence and society had to recover after being set back a couple hundred years. the story i'm writing takes place about 250 years after the apocalypse. ruarc is the protagonist. there are elves and dragons and stuff . yay

1. what’s the lie your character says most often?

ruarc lies about what he is. he calls himself a human, or even a "dragon-hearted human" but he's literally just a dragon whsdklf

fiensal’s most frequent lie is probably “i’m fine.” he tends to push himself too far too often, and then his chronic pain will flare up. his friends and family frequently ask how he’s feeling to try and look after him, but he has a very good poker face when he lies.

2. how loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

ruarc doesn’t use it very strictly. if you’ve done him a favor, he'll call you his friend. easy as that... though in reality, he doesn't actually consider anyone a friend until they've known each other for a few months and he feels like he can truly trust them. lorne, ivy, cordelia, and fiensal are probably the only people he actually considers his friends.

in stark contrast, fiensal is very hesitant to call anyone a friend, even if he thinks of them as one. it takes a while for him to use the actual word aloud or in writing.

10. what fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

at first, ruarc doesn't really share anything with others unless he's been asked to or the situation requires it. once he gets comfortable around someone, though, he's happy to tell them random facts about his interests every now and then.

fiensal enjoys telling people facts about the pre-apocalypse world. while he wasn't alive in that era, ydrenth was, and she taught him all about it. his favorite fact to share is that there used to be the internet, where you could instantly talk with someone across the globe and have all the world's information available with the press of a button hgfdhgh

11. if someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

they’d ask ruarc to shapeshift into his full dragon form, since he’s the only guy around that can do that. if shapeshifting isn't an option, then lorne would ask him something in his language. only ruarc's friends know he can speak that language, and it's not a common one, so it would become obvious if someone was trying to impersonate him.

if someone was impersonating fiensal… they’d ask him to tell them about his parents. he never actually knew them, but only those closest to him know this, so it’d be an easy way to tell who the real one is.

20. who do they like as a person but hate their work? vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

ruarc likes his father, soren, as a person while hating the work he does. soren is the head of the noble house- house vargoba. they're in constant competition with other nobles for all kinds of reasons. soren is vicious politically and will basically stop at nothing to ruin his opponents. ruarc hates this. however, soren is a pretty good father and does have a much softer side when he's not trying to make house vargoba more powerful.

fiensal hates ydrenth (magic user), but loves her work- she’s the greatest mage that’s ever lived, how could he not be impressed by what she does? he hates how she uses it, though (necromancy) and also just. hates her as a person LOL

21. what common etiquette do they disagree with? do they still follow it?

ruarc disagrees with a lot of "noble" etiquette - fancy rules that serve no purpose other than showing you were born into the "right" family and grew up as a noble. he upholds etiquette when meeting with noble houses other than the one he was born into, but when with his own family, he'll do little things that go against etiquette on purpose. he's a little rebel.

fiensal doesn't really like typical elvish etiquette since he grew up apart from them. he doesn't have a problem with the etiquette itself- more so that whenever he encounters it, he's expected to know it and it makes him feel alienated. poor guy.

30. when they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

ruarc was raised to keep his emotions separate from his work as a noble, so he doesn’t feel as guilty when he makes a professional mistake compared to when he messes up personally. this changes when he leaves house vargoba, though :)

fiensal feels guilt the same way in professional and personal situations. he's got that catholic kind of guilt that people like to meme on where he carries it with him constantly and blames himself for basically everything that goes wrong.

31. when do they feel the most guilt? how do they respond to it?

ruarc feels the most guilt when he accidentally hurts his friends. he cares for them deeply and is terrified they might retaliate or end the friendship over the smallest things. he feels very guilty that he ever could hurt the people that trust him.

fiensal feels a lot of guilt whenever he thinks too long about his apprenticeship with ydrenth. she taught him so much about dark magic and how to use it over the course of a decade. but his body almost shut down from overexposure/overuse, and she refused to teach him any more because he was too weak.

without another magic user to kinda keep her in check/ensure she used dark magic ethically, ydrenth began practicing necromancy and harming others for her own personal gain (for those unfamiliar with my story- she's the antagonist). fiensal feels incredible guilt over this. he believes it was his fault for being too weak. if he'd been stronger, he could have been there to stop her from becoming such a vile person. oh well!

40. how do they respond to a loose handshake? what goes through their head?

ruarc immediately gets the impression that the person with the loose handshake is weaker than him and that he has some kind of advantage over them for that. then he immediately feels a little bit bad about it and tries to ignore the thought.

fiensal would be a little surprised, but he probably gives a pretty delicate handshake himself because of his joint problems/chronic pain. he’d be a little relieved that they’re being gentle with him and wouldn’t think too much of it.

41. what phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone/somewhere else?

ruarc grew up in a noble house, so he starts out speaking a little more formally than most people do, but as he meets people from other walks of life, he starts speaking more casually. he also adds a lot to his vocabulary from lorne (who speaks a different common tongue, since he’s from a different country) and ivy + fiensal (who speak elvish). ruarc also displays some draconic mannerisms like tilting his head to the side, flexing his claws, etc. whenever he’s shapeshifted to have those features.

thanks to his decade-long apprenticeship with ydrenth, who was alive pre-apocalypse, fiensal grew up with a lot of “old-world” phrases and mannerisms. he would 100% know some slang from the internet today. he also spells and pronounces some words differently since language would probably change post-apocalypse (no internet, limited communication and public education for a while)

50. what belief/moral/personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

ruarc believes the ends justify the means as long as they’re for the greater good (read: his own perception of what's good). collateral damage is worth it in the end. however, he grows out of this mindset when he leaves his house vargoba and begins caring about others more :x

fiensal thinks lying is bad and opposes it strongly- but he lies pretty often, which makes him a hypocrite wksdfkh

51. what’s a phrase they say a lot?

ruarc says

fiensal says a lot of old-world phrases. if someone surprised him, he'd say "oh my god" in singular form because he heard ydrenth say that so much during his apprenticeship with her (before the apocalypse, the world was like ours where that phrase is common; post-apocalypse, the existence of multiple gods is established so people started saying "oh my gods" etc.). there are others but this post is long enough LOL

----------

actually. here's some bonus stuff- a drawing of two of ruarc's main forms.. once he gets the hang of things he can transform freely between a human, dragon, and an in-between form (drakonian). he usually goes around just as a regular human, but i didn't feel like drawing that today.

i forget if i mentioned this or not, but i ended up combining adonis and ruarc as characters. ruarc was a human that got injured bad enough to need a heart transplant when he was very young.

the doctor that fixed him up had an ulterior motive and gave him a dragon's heart, which made him what he is now. he likes being what he is, but he's also a bit messed up from it, to say the least.

ruarc is technically a true dragon thanks to his dragon's heart, but he prefers to call himself a dragon-hearted human. he clings to his humanity as much as possible since he was raised to think of his draconic side as monstrous.

true dragons are very seclusive and rare to encounter in my story world. they're so rare that some people believe they've gone extinct. as far as he knows, ruarc is one of a kind.

#also ummm hi irl mutuals. if you're reading this well. this is basically just me rambling about a story im writing wooo #asks #magmacannon #c:ruarc #c:fiensal

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boopsterliv · 10 months ago

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Ooh yay! I’ll also do five, I think that’s a good number

Buffy/Spike: They’re my profile picture after all. Spuffy is my OTP. It’s to the point I ship them as a set. I can’t imagine one without the other (and I love giving them additional partners). Their chemistry, their banter, their epic love story. I love it all. Crushing your partner with an organ is the pinnacle of romance.

Faith/Oz: One of my rarest pairs. I think they’d be adorable together. They’re also my horny couple 😈 Look, I think at the end of the day, Faith is the one who humps the leg. They wrestled while Oz was in wolf mode too, and honestly I think Faith would be into a werewolf boyfriend. Not to mention trying to flap the unflappable.

Bi Disaster Angel: This deserves its own spot on the list. Angel has so much chemistry with most of the male characters he interacts with. Wesley, Doyle, Xander, Gunn, Giles, Lorne, Spike, etc. I think Angel should get to fuck dudes is what I’m saying.

Fred/Wesley/Gunn: I can’t decide which of these three ships I love more. As I do many times with love triangles, I decided to just pair them all together. I think they all have so much chemistry and I want them to be living their fullest lives. Fred with her boys, Gunn with his nerds, and Wesley with his deeply traumatized badasses.

Cordelia/Doyle: They’re adorable. I love their dynamic. Doyle trying hard to impress her and Cordy just not being impressed. I wish we could’ve seen how it would’ve played out longterm, but alas, we did not. I wish they could’ve had many nights where they came home from a hard case and cuddled on the couch, hanging out with Dennis and maybe a pet.

No pressure tags: @ashmaenas and anyone else who wants to participate (I don’t remember usernames right now)

Buffyverse Ship Tag Game

I thought it'd be nice to spread some positivity and love for our favorite ships around! My challenge to you is to say something nice (fav moment, something you like about their dynamic, etc) about your favorite Buffyverse ship(s), without putting down any other ships. Let's spread some love around! Then tag some other people.

I'll start. Since I have a lot of favorite ships, I'm going to try and limit myself to like, five.

Spike/Angel: I just really love their bantering dynamic, the years of history they have with each other, and of course the forehead kiss.

Buffy/Willow: Honestly I'm a sucker for friends to lovers, and they have so much chemistry with each other. I love watching their friendship grow over the course of the show, my only wish is that they could have gotten romantic. I guess that's what fanfic is for!

Buffy/Riley: They've got some super cute moments in season 4, I love how cute and awkward they are with each other. I've a couple fav moments, like when Riley goes to Willow for advice and she tells him that Buffy likes cheese. Then Riley tries to flirt with Buffy by telling her he likes cheese. So cute! I also love the scene where Riley is hurt and alone, but he's holding onto Buffy's hair...thingy (whatever it was). Gets me every time.

Buffy/Angel(us): Their dynamic is fascinating to me. Even when he's evil and soulless, I think they still care for each other. And I love the scene in S2 when they both get possessed by ghosts...it's great.

Giles/Joyce: Band candy is one of my favorite S3 episodes, need I say more? I just think they're so cute together!

No pressure tags: @leatafandom @idabbleincrazy @somekindofadeviant @feelsnotfeelings @boopsterliv @desicat-writer @sunnydaleslayer and anyone else who wants to <3

#tag game #btvs

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codenamesazanka · 6 years ago

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We’re getting the League of Villain profiles!

#yay #league of villains #the league of villains #Shigaraki Tomura #toga himiko #Twice #Mr. Compress #spinner #dabi #there's a second page with shigaraki's profile #shigaraki-ankle's gonna translate it later #but i made a rough sneak translation myself #sorry lorn!!!!!!#this is the general takeaway #there's more tho #they'll translate it completely!#sorry again!#i couldn't wait!#nalslastworkingbraincell

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kasdeyalilith · 3 years ago

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Lorn (III)

Lorn I, Lorn II

It wasn't long after you joined the Watatsumi Army when you crossed paths with an interesting traveller. What strikes you the most at the first meeting is his braided blonde locks and golden eyes, you're pretty sure that you've encountered someone with the same features. If you're guessing then they might be relatives like twins but it's been 500 years since you last saw that certain person and it didn't end well. Maybe Aether is her descendant? It's a reasonable explanation you thought.

The traveler is accompanied by a floating small person called Paimon; spending time with them made you like her since you both have a love of food and even composed a song whenever the two of you encounter a vendor.

"Paimon is so hungry, can we go back to the city and grab a snack? I want some dango 🍡 "

I nodded at that and looked at Aether with the best puppy eyes I can muster

"Guys you know that Teppei is waiting for us at Watatsumi right? It's rude of us if we kept him waiting" Aether looked at Paimon and me with a stern face

"But-"

"Aether is right Paimon" I said then winked at her in Aether's back. "Let's go eat dango later when he's busy"

"Yay you're Paimon's best friend now! Unlike someone" she crosses her arms and stick her tongue at the traveler

"You're my emergency food after all Paimon" he chuckled and I joined too which made Paimon have a mini tantrum

"Hey! I'm not an emergency food! I'm Paimon!"

"Whatever you say Foodie"

"(Y/n)!!! I thought you're on my side!"

"Sorry hahahaha let me make it up to you by cooking some sweet madame"

"Good!"

Aether simply shook his head and lectured me on spoiling Paimon excessively. I laughed at him and promised to keep Paimon from overeating later on. We arrived on Watatsumi Island later thanks to Aether's boat, and it was the last time I rode on a boat with the traveller driving because he always makes the boat sail faster than it should, leaving me hurling my lunch into the sea. I told Aether about it, and he blushed and apologized, but it turns out he just likes to do it, according to Paimon.

I've been assisting the army for months, and Teppei met me while I was teaching some of the soldiers. He's an ambitious and kind young man, so it's not surprising that I struck up a friendship with him. He reminded me of the feisty and daring friends I had back then. He's the one that shows the traveler about, and I decided to accompany him because Kokomi doesn't have any work for me right now.

"Teppei!!!"

"Oh good you're all here! Paimon, Aether, and (Y/n), by the way Her Excellency wants to speak to you traveler. She said it's very important, come I'll lead you to her"

Our party followed the wooden bridge that connects the shrine from the village, I sometimes poke the jellyfish around me while Paimon rides on one. I said a quick goodbye to the trio, telling them to go meet the Priestess without me as I saw the soldier Kokomi assigned for helping me find Kuni.

"Hi Yato!"

"Oh lady (Y/n)!"

"I told you to not call me lady, it makes me feel so old"

"My apologies (Y/n), it's not everyday that I get to meet a deity"

"Oh shush it Yato besides I've been nagging you everyday for information, I'm sure you've had enough of me being an annoyance to you"

"Of course not la-(Y/n) besides I think you'll like the new information I gathered today"

"You don't mean that-"

"Yes. After months of spying their camp, we managed to see a person that perfectly fits the description you gave us. A short man with purple hair that looks like the Electro Archon!"

"That's Kuni!!! He's really here! He came back!" I had tears already forming in my eyes as I clasp my hands near my heart to prevent it from bursting out

"But he doesn't have a long hair unlike the description you gave and he's not dressed in their usual uniform, he's more like a civilian to me that has a big hat"

"Maybe he cut it short, it's been years after all. If he's not wearing their uniform then he's already quitting the Fatui, that must be why he came back home although I don't get why he didn't go straight to our house" I sighed feeling sad all of the sudden, Yato took notice of my defeated stance and immediately reassured me

"He might be finishing some unfinished business with them, it's the Fatui we're talking about. They're strict with their soldiers"

"Yeah you're right. I shouldn't meddle with his decisions but can I ask where did you last see him?"

"He's at the Tatarasuna island, we don't know why the Fatui are camping there but there's a lot of them going to the island every passing day"

"What's for sure is that they're up to no good, I'll tell the Priestess about this. She might know something about it. On the other hand, thank you very much Yato! You kept your word when you said you'll help me find him. I'm forever in your debt, ask anything of me and I'll try to make it happen"

"It's nothing (Y/n), it's a small repayment of you helping us be stronger. Without you, I'll be flailing my arms around using a spear" he chuckled while scratching the back of his head

"That won't do, let me treat you of anything. Oh I know! How about I give something for your wife and unborn child" I reached for my hair and unpinned the green butterfly pin I'm wearing

"Here have this, a friend gave it to me a long time ago but I think your wife needed it more than me"

He gaped at the pin and shakes his head. "I can't accept such valuable gift my lady, it must be worth of millions of mora!"

"It's my gift for you to express my gratitude, it has the power to heal any discomfort you may experience such as headaches. It can't heal severe diseases though but it helped me deal any mild pains cause I'm clumsy back then hehe"

"Thank you so much (Y/n)!!! I'll never forget your kindness"

"It's nothing Yato, if you'll excuse me I'll report to Kokomi now. It seems that they're finished in discussing with the traveler"

"Of course, have a good day (Y/n)!"

"You too" I waved Yato goodbye then skipped my way towards the center of the shrine. I still can't believe that Kuni is here in Inazuma, I'm itching to go after him in Tatarasuna but it can wait. There's a reason why Kuni didn't go directly at our house and I have to carefully plan my next steps. If I can wait for years, surely I can wait for a few days more.

"Kokomi!"

"Hello (Y/n), you look like you're in a great mood today"

"They finally found Kuni" I beamed

"That's great news! I'm happy for you (Y/n), are you going to meet him then?"

"Not today, it seems like he's still finishing something with the Fatui and I don't want to trouble him. Yato said he doesn't look like he's a part of the Fatui anymore since he doesn't wear their uniform"

"That's good to hear-"

"Wait your boyfriend is part of the Fatui?!" Paimon exclaimed

"Was I think but yeah, he followed after them to help him with his powers" I told them about how the Fatui promised to help Kuni in exchange of him joining their ranks.

"Oh then he's a part of those bad guys that made trouble with Liyue and Mondstadt. Especially the harbingers, they almost killed Paimon! And that harbinger named Scaramouche tricked us! Good thing our friend Mona knew before he made a move to kill Paimon with his hat "

"Hat? But sadly yes, I heard of what they did from Barbatos and Morax too. It's still unbelievable for Tsaritsa to be behind all this, she changed a lot over the years"

"Wait!!! You know tone-deaf bard and Zhongli??! How am I only hearing this now?!" She's now hysterical as she throws her hands in the air while the traveler only looked at me deeply

"(Y/n) is a goddess like them-"

"but not an Archon" I continued

"You're like the god of Salt that Zhongli introduced us to" Aether replied

"Yup"

"If that's so.... can I ask something about my missing sis-"

"Lady Kokomi! My apologies to disrupt your meeting but our front line is being attacked by pirates. They've formed a large group and greatly outnumbered us and took all our supplies!" A soldier with jet black hair was panting with a panicked look on his face

"(Y/n) can I ask for your assistance? I need you in the front line to help our army, I'm so sorry that I have to place this to you but I can't go there personally as I'm still negotiating with someone to aid us"

"Sure thing, you can count on me" I looked at the traveler and Paimon who seemed equally worried as me. "I'll entertain your questions later Aether and Paimon but for now be safe"

"You too (Y/n)! Don't forget our dango eating contest!" Paimon shouted at me while the traveler merely nodded at my direction

I smiled at them and followed the soldier to the boat that'll lead us to the front line.

By the time we arrived at the camping site, almost all of the barriers and supplies are gone. I can see wounded soldiers are being taken in from the fight while others are repairing the damage the best they can.

I walked over to Gorou who's close to snarling at this point, his tail is down and ears are twitching.

"Hey, Kokomi sends me here to help. Are you alright?"

"Yeah but a lot of the soldiers are wounded badly. The pirates attacked us out of nowhere, it looks like it's a planned attack and I didn't even see it coming" his ears dropped and his tail even lower

"Gorou it's not your fault, someone must've helped those pirates to attack the camp like this. They usually steered clear of us but this time they got confident, they must've someone backing them up. Don't worry we'll get to the bottom of this but for the meantime let's fix what we can"

"You're right, thanks for us helping us (Y/n)"

"It's my pleasure"

Throughout the day, I made medicines from plants and cured for any broken limbs. The sun is already rising by the time I'm finished wrapping the bandage around one of the soldiers that got impaled by a sword in his shoulder. Gorou is busy in helping soldiers patch up the barriers that surrounds the ground, I haven't told him about the good news about Kunikuzushi as it'll be inappropriate in this situation. I'll be stuck here for a while since I have to cater to their wounds, meeting Kuni will have to wait.

It wasn't long before we ran out of plants to use as medicine, even the herbs I grew in my garden is not enough so I have no choice but to go out and gather for more. If only wolfhooks grow around these parts, they're good at treating wounds but for now I have to settle for some sweet flowers.

I was humming a ballad when I heard a commotion behind me, twig branches snapping as someone stepped on them. I looked around, and to my horror, I had gone too far in picking flowers. I'm now close to Tatarasuna, and the air is dense with electricity. How could I have missed it? A couple more twigs snapped, but this time I'm ready to confront the person hiding behind the bushes. They could be the Fatui, and I'd rather fight them than flee. The anticipation of who was making the noise became stronger and louder until that person emerged from hiding and confronted me.

I was stunned for a moment, dropping everything I was holding as I glanced at him; he has the same expression as I do. Our eyes are both wide with surprise, but I'm the one who broke the silence and raced to him first.

"Kunii!" (Y/n) hugged me so hard that I stumbled and dropped my hat in the process. I saw my soldiers immediately emerging from the ground thinking that she's attacking me but I managed to make them go away with a harsh glare before she notice.

I was surprised to see her here. According to the soldier I assigned to care after her, she's meant to be on Watatsumi Island with the Priestess's inept army. Not here, I'm on the verge of hitting her since she's going dangerously close to our camp without realizing it's (Y/n). He'll never be able to forgive himself if he hurts his lover, so he's lucky he saw her face first.

"You're here! You came back to me, I missed you so much!"

"I miss you to- ouch what's that for?" I cradled the spot where she punched me

"That's for not contacting me for years! And not replying to my letters. Do you know how much wine I owe to that sneaky bard for delivering those letters? Or you didn't receive any of it?!" She gasped and apologized for hitting me. I stared at her for a few seconds because I can't get enough of how cute she is kissing my cheeks while saying sorry.

"The Fatui must've treated you badly and took all of my letters from you! You're not a part of that organization now right? I'll show that Cryo Archon to not mess with me or you or anyone just because she have powerful harbingers. Such awful individuals killing and hurting from many lands just to gain something"

I internally choked at what she said, I know the Fatui have a bad reputation among people but it still hurts to hear it from her. She also indirectly said that I'm awful and my heart squeezed in pain at her words, she have a good reason to say that though.

"Yeah I'm not part of them anymore, I managed to escape their grasp but I'm not fully out of the woods yet. I'm sorry for not looking for you the moment I came back" Lies. He immediately went to your shared home the moment his boat docked in Ritou. His past judgements gone, he just wanted to see your face even for a brief moment. He opted to see a glimpse of you as he hide behind the big Sakura tree but you're not there.

After dispatching a search party for you, he discovered that you had joined the army in Watatsumi. His fears and uncertainties flooded his mind; did you forget about him and join the army? Maybe you got bored of waiting for him because he hadn't spoken to you in a long time. That didn't stop him from sending someone to find out everything about what you're doing on that island, and he's relieved once his soldier relayed that you're merely assisting the army and serving as their doctor. He also informed him that you are still unmarried, which made Scaramouche relieved because he was about to pass out.

There is a possibility that you still love him, and he clutches that possibility hard, telling himself to complete the task here quickly and return to you. His initial plan was to unleash the locked power within him in order to strengthen himself to protect you, but he's now so drunk with power that he's reconsidering his decision to leave the Fatui. Tsaritsa offered him a world devoid of Archons. If she succeeds in her plan, he want such world for himself and (Y/n).

He knows how much you've hurt because of the gods back then and he wants to kill every last one of them to prevent it from happening again. He can achieve it through the Tsaritsa, for now he needs to lie to you. It's for your sake, he keeps repeating to himself. He needs to change his plans, pretend that he's not part of the Fatui anymore as you won't be agreeing with him since they poisoned your mind about the organization. He just have to convince you little by little until you understand him.

"Really? That's good to hear Kuni, you're gonna stay then?" She hugged me again while she buries her head in my neck, taking a deep breath which made me blush. I have to stop doing that now since I have a reputation to protect but my soldiers are out of sight so I let her coo at me like I'm a baby.

"Uh for now that is (Y/n)"

"Wait you're still gonna come back to them?"

She unwrapped herself around me and I already hate how her warmth left me the moment her face looked at me with hurt.

"I still need to fix something with them as I said earlier but I promise that it won't be long" I pulled her in for a kiss as I can't control myself anymore, I don't care if anyone catches us. I just want to bask in her presence forever.

Part 3 is out whew, I'm sorry if this took so long but I plan to finish this series before 2022 comes so fingers crossed! Thanks for reading as always

#scaramouche+angst #genshin #genshin impact #genshin angst #kunikuzushi #scaramouche+x+reader #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche

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trainofcommand · 2 years ago

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Time for some more fic recs that feature Major Lorne! Yay. It's been a while, so let's do this.

Words are (very) unnecessary, by @brumeier, Lorne/Ronon (T+ rating, ~2400 words): Part of the author's summary is Ronon's life as a Runner was hard, but his life in Atlantis poses its own challenges. This is Ronon POV, and his hearing was destroyed by the Wraith while he was a Runner. It's such an interesting perspective/take on the city and its inhabitants, and how Ronon adjusts. @brumeier packs a lot of stuff in 2400 words, it's a great read. Here's a snippet of the story, the very beginning of it, and it really sets the tone - Ronon's perspectives on things, and where Lorne fits into it.

Everyone was talking at once, mouths moving and hands gesticulating. Especially McKay, who was also getting red in the face and jabbing his finger in Sheppard’s direction. No-one was directly facing Ronon, so he couldn’t make out any words, but that was fine. He had no desire to get pulled into an argument.

Evan tapped Ronon on the arm to get his attention before slowly signing, “John wants to blow it up.”

Ronon nodded his understanding. It wasn’t exactly newsworthy. Sheppard always wanted to blow something up.

(Three more recs below the break)

Mine is an acidic muse, by anonymous, Lorne/McKay (G rating, ~ 5300 words): Ahhhh, this is so satisfying, Lorne's perspective on Rodney and working with him, and, as the author puts it 'courting via caffeine'. It's a slow build, and has some great Lorne characterisation, and I love it. I really wish I knew who wrote this so I could look to see if they've written other things! Beginning snippet:

“Ah, good, Major Lorry,” McKay says, with a brief glance and snap of fingers. “Make yourself useful and bring some coffee.”

Evan inhales deeply through his nose and says, “Lorne,” because he’s not in fact a British truck, and he wants that to be clear before bringing anyone anything. At least McKay got his rank right.

It all works out in the end, by @chaos-monkeyy, Lorne/Sheppard (T+ rating, exactly 500 words): OK, so what if Lorne was the CO of Atlantis, and Sheppard was a major, and also, a menace? As @chaos-monkeyy puts it in the tags, Lorne is CO and has to deal with Major Sheppard's bullshit. But it has its perks. Wonderful, hot perks. Poor CO Lorne. But also, lucky CO Lorne. This is delightful. A snippet:

"Sheppard," Lorne barked, and the Major rolled his eyes, sighed, and finally sat up straight.

"Understood, sir," he answered. "Does this mean disciplinary action?"

And finally, Unofficial Guide for Uninformed Officers, by Icarus, Lorne POV (T+ rating, no pairing, ~1400 words): Lorne tries to figure out what he's going to be dealing with on Atlantis - and later, when he's been around for a couple of years, provides unofficial briefings to new military personnel. This is Lorne's POV on Sheppard, first in trying to figure out what his new CO will be like, and later sharing what he knows. It's really lovely, and also sad in some ways. But it also showcases Lorne's 'getting stuff done' attitude, and I love that.

A little snippet, as Lorne tries to figure out what he can expect from his new CO:

Sheppard. He was never the colonel, or Colonel Sheppard, or John. He was always just the vaguely disrespectful "Sheppard."

#fic recs #stargate atlantis #major evan lorne #lorne/ronon dex #lorne/mckay #lorne/sheppard #awesome stuff you should definitely read

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lightthewaybackhome · 2 years ago

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Stargate-Atlantis S5: E17 Infection

Yay! Another Todd episode! I was hoping they wouldn't leave that storyline where it was. My favorite part of this was Todd saying he knows doctors save lives and soldiers, like Sheppard, take them. Keller corrects him. Soldiers save lives too just with different tools, because her life has been saved many times by Sheppard and his team. And then Sheppard helps save them by telling them how to land and advocates to free Todd. So, yeah. It was also nice to have another team episode and more Lorne.

#stargate atlantis #john sheppard #ronon dex #rodney mckay #teyla emmagan #the team #todd the wraith #currently watching

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rodneymckays · 3 years ago

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stargate episodes that should have been, part 51: [TEAL’C VOICE] AND NOW, THE CONCLUSION. sheppard and sg-1 are making their escape from ba’al’s prison. teal’c has a staff weapon and sheppard has a zat, and vala has taken her pin out of her hair again and is holding it like a knife. everyone else is unarmed. sheppard’s newbies are asking questions which draw the attention of two patrolling jaffa, who teal’c takes down mostly single-handedly (cam and sheppard both try to help but fail). yay, more weapons! teal’c gets a second staff weapon that he zip ties to the first staff weapon with some zip ties that happened to be in his pocket to create a double-sided staff weapon, cam gets the other staff weapon, sam and vala get zats, and sheppard’s newbies get told to keep quiet. vala pins her braid back up. it’s beginning to get quite messy. over to lorne. the jaffa who found his team are spies from the free jaffa. lorne quickly explains why they’re there and the jaffa agree to help them sneak into the prison. we see lorne’s team and the jaffa sneaking into the prison on one side… and then pan around to the other side of the prison and see sheppard and sg-1 sneaking out. lorne’s team makes it to the cells and finds an empty cell, door cracked open, with a bit of blood on the floor. they conclude that sg-1 and sheppard have escaped, when one of the free jaffa suddenly points his staff weapon at them and they are surrounded by ba’al’s jaffa. he was a spy, and lorne’s team along with the actually free jaffa are forced into the cell that sg-1 just vacated. later: nightfall. sg-1 and co are camping in the woods before heading for the gate. a jaffa runs up to them: the “free” jaffa from earlier. he informs them that lorne’s team, mckay, carson, and a few other free jaffa have been captured but he managed to escape, he thinks his cover is intact, and he can help them sneak back in to rescue them. cam is like 🤔 but sheppard and teal’c insist that they have to rescue mckay and the other free jaffa, respectively. they head back towards the prison. on the way, cam and vala have a quiet conversation about how the jaffa is suspicious; cam thinks so because he has trust issues and vala thinks so because he’s a hot jaffa and no one that attractive is honest. look at her, for example. cam rolls his eyes. meanwhile in the cell, mckay is fiddling with the panel that sam was fiddling with earlier. she was about five seconds from cracking the lock, so it takes mckay about five seconds to get the door open. they’re free! they start sneaking around and run into sg-1 and co, who have entered the prison and are also sneaking around. they see that the jaffa who betrayed them is with sg-1, and mckay immediately informs them of that fact by yelling “you!” the jaffa goes on the offensive and shoots one of sheppard’s newbies point blank with the staff weapon and hits sheppard really hard on the head with the blunt end. he also aims a zat at cadman, but she’s pushed out of the way by carson. the jaffa then takes off down the hallway. teal’c takes him down with his own staff weapon and carson, getting up after being zatted (ow) checks on the newbie. he’s dead. he checks on sheppard next, who is still conscious but is bleeding a little bit because ow, staff weapon to the head. carson bandages sheppard’s head and they get moving. unfortunately, all the firing of staff weapons attracted the attention of more jaffa and they have to run for it. they make it back to the gate with teal’c covering everyone with his double-sided staff weapon, and mckay dials earth really fast. they all run through the gate to see colonel reynolds standing in the gate room, just about to leave and come rescue them.

TEAL'C'S DOUBLE BARREL STAFF WEAPON omg 🤩🤩🤩 he might as well be carrying a tank into battle, in terms of comparative firepower 😂 do. not. mess.

i love how the respective teams are like ships passing in the night. and i also super love how the 'we gotta rescue them' scene highlights sheppard & teal'c's similarities in terms of sheer stubbornness (to the point of wilful blindness sometimes 😅) when it comes to helping their people. oh boys 🥺 and cam & vala's rapport ofc.

sam “loosening the jar” for mckay will never not be hilarious. and i may or may not have shouted CARSON out loud at the top of my lungs. what a hero 🥺

i wanna know McKay’s exact dialling speed, he’s got a lot of practice under fire by now. like in wpm except gate symbols per minute. im sure he's calculated 😂

#sheppard (and everyone) hating his new team is my favourite thing asd;fkaj #sorry that guy died tho :(#sg1 #sga #asks

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mj-spooks · 3 years ago

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Ok, so now you got me curious, it's been several years since I last watched The Zeppo, but your rant on it and the library/research scenes made me want to hear your rant about, if I understood correctly, Cordelia (which, solid choice for a favorite character, she took me a bit to love, but she's definitely up there in my list)

Okay, so. Firstly, Cordy is absolutely top tier quality Buffy character, she is absolutely my favorite of the OG cast, second only to Spike and Lorne in terms of favorite ever, and all around an absolute role model.

And the way she gets treated after her and Xander break up is fucking appalling.

This is gonna be a long one, y'all. Like, super long.

For a refresher, The Zeppo opens up with Xander being awkward and clumsy and making a fool of himself, because he's Xander and that's kind of what he does. If they would've let his entire characterization be this I would have liked him infinitely more than I do. Unfortunately instead his character traits also include "obsessed with Buffy even when other way out of his league girls are literally right fucking there making eyes at him for some ungodly reason" and "withholds information from Buffy and lectures her as he sees fit even though she's, you know, the chosen one, and he's an idiot teenage boy who doesn't in fact know better than her," and the ever so wonderful "super irrationally prejudiced against allies of a demonic nature, except when he's fucking them because then it's okay I guess"

I want to like Xander, okay, because when he's good he's really good, and a lot of his character flaws are very #relatable. I have many high school memories that make me feel like a Xander in hindsight.

But gods, he makes it impossible to like him.

Cordelia, on the other hand, is a character who at first is extremely easy to hate, indeed, designed to be hated, but eventually grows to be like, just. The best. Alright. When I did my most recent rewatch of S1, I actually found I liked her from the jump, in that "I now have the wisdom to understand why she was like that and frankly I support her except when she's mean to Willow specifically" kind of way. But also, Willow was friends with Jesse and Jesse like, openly and very grossly perved on Cordy, so even then I'm like "alright the bullying is a bit much but I see why y'all have Issues." Point being, look, yes, she's a Queen Bee Mean Girl archetype, but she's also doing a pretty good job at Faking It Til She Makes It, and that's admirable. High school sucks, C. I get it.

So, in S2, Cordy's in danger and Xander makes with the saveage, and that makes her see him kind of differently. Then we get the high school foe yay, and they have their whole secret relationship turned real relationship, and it's actually really good? He's not good enough for her but like, her being with him humanizes her, makes her more likeable because she's not as shallow, and she also brings out the best in him in a lot of ways. Go Fish is a ridiculous episode but I love it specifically for the bit where she sees a Fishman in the pool, thinks it's Xander, and monologues about how she still cares about him even though he's a fish monster. She's gonna make it work with Fish!Xander, by God, somehow someway. Like, how fucking sweet was that?

They were good together. Like, legitimately good.

And then he cheats on her with Willow.

This plotline... irritated me for many reasons. It was so unnecessary. The only good thing we got out of it was Anya. And honestly, Anya was just the replacement for Cordy after she moved to LA to be on Angel. Much as I love Anya, because I do, she's my next favorite after Cordy, she's still just C's replacement from a narrative perspective, filling in much the same niche. So, I'm not a fan of the "cheating Willow and Xander break Oz and Cordy's hearts" thing. It's dumb and bad and I hate it.

And then. Then! Cordy tries to slips back into her Mean Girl role to cope with the fallout of being cheated on by Xander Harris, who she committed social suicide to be with. And the show frames this as bad? It makes it out like she's the bad guy? Like she's an asshole?

Fuck that!

Cordelia gave up everything she had ever been and everything she'd ever known and all the friends she'd ever had to date this guy, and he cheated on her, with his best friend that he could have had at literally any point because she was in love with him for literal! years! And she lost her whole world, basically, because she's been hanging out with Xander and Xander's friends in light of having ostracized herself from her own, and most of her time was spent either hanging out with them or doing Scooby stuff with them. Xander cheated on her with Willow, and Buffy is friends with both of them, so they get Buffy in the divorce (which, I have to say, really bugs me? I feel like Buffy should have at least been a little more supportive of Cordy, even if Cordy didn't take it. Ask to go to the Bronze, just the two of them, offer to hang out, etc). So Cordy has nothing, and they wanna demonize (hah) her for trying to regain her previous standing? Hell, no.

And then! The Zeppo happens, and when Xander does something dumb at the start, Cordelia is catty at him, extremely righteously so, and we're supposed to feel bad for Xander? Xander who cheated? Xander who basically ruined her life as far as she was concerned? The episode, otherwise a perfectly good episode that I absolutely love, both begins and ends with Cordelia dishing out some Grade A snark to him, which she absolutely deserves to get to do! And when, at the end, he just kind of smiles smugly and shrugs it off, and she's left gaping at him like "how dare he?!", we're supposed to be happy for him!

No! I want Cordy to tear him to shreds, metaphorically. Maybe literally! The fact that her Vengeance Wish sucked so much is a total ripoff and I for one think she deserves a re-do.

All hail Queen C.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #cordelia chase #xander harris #this is an anti-xander space #all hail queen c

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tomeandflickcorner · 3 years ago

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Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: A Ghost Grows in Brooklyn

Okay, there were a few minor points in this episode that kinda made me faceplam, but if you look past those moments, we’ve got another gem on our hands.

It opens on the Ghostbusters, dealing with a ghost haunting a greenhouse. The sign out front identifies the place as Lorne's Greenhouse and Garden Center. Initially, the ghost evades the Proton Streams and ventures deeper into the greenhouse, so the Ghostbusters have to head further in after it. Although, Mr. Lorne announces that he’ll wait outside. (Why weren’t you waiting outside to begin with? Considering the Ghostbusters were already firing the Proton Packs, you were just being in the way.) As the Ghostbusters continue their search, the ghost makes some valiant efforts in fighting back. Such as making a hose come to life and hitting Ray with a jet of water, and shoving Winston into a pile of compost. Eventually, Egon and Peter (who is suddenly wearing a safari hat for no discernable reason) locate the ghost hiding among a display of potted geraniums. Peter fires his Proton Pack and successfully restrains the ghost while Egon gets a Ghost Trap ready. But before the ghost can get pulled into the trap, it manages to latch onto one of the potted geraniums. Which enables the ghost to covertly enter into the geranium, thereby escaping the pull of the Ghost Trap. As Peter and Egon collect the Ghost Trap, Egon announces that he thought he saw the ghost vanish before he even opened the trap. But Peter brushes this off, telling Egon he should probably consider getting new glasses. And he then proceeds to lead the way out of the greenhouse. Of course, this leads to my first issue with the episode. Isn’t there a way to check to see if a Ghost Trap has a ghost inside it? Like having a light on the side flashing, indicating that the trap is full? I would have thought this would be an obvious feature to include in the design of the Ghost Trap. Otherwise, how could you tell a used Ghost Trap apart from an unused one? At the very least, you’d think Egon, being the practical man he is, would have at least double-checked things by making a final sweep with his PKE Meter, just to ensure there’s no ghostly presence remaining. But, for the sake of the plot, we just have to allow those two oversights to happen.

In any event, as the Ghostbusters start to file out, Mr. Lorne reappears on the scene. To express his gratitude to the Ghostbusters, he gifts them one of his prized geraniums. And, by sheer coincidence, he selects the same potted geranium the ghost had entered. As the Ghostbusters head back the Firehouse with their new geranium, Peter starts complaining about how Mr. Lorne should have just rewarded them with money. Which leads to Egon and Ray treating us to a round of science talk, discussing how it had been scientifically proven that plants do seem to respond to emotional stimuli, with Ray referencing an experiment conducted in 1954, in which Boxwood and Hedges had determined that hibiscus responded positively to violin music. (Based on those names, I suspect this particular experiment didn’t actually happen in real life.) Of course, none of the Ghostbusters seem to notice the fact that the Geranium is slowly growing bigger.

When they return to the Firehouse, Janine instantly notices the Geranium Egon is carrying, and she voices her admiration of it. She also suggests that Egon should do something about the pot, as it’s too small for the Geranium. Egon states that he has some spare pots at his place, as he used to use plants in some of his experiments, until the plants all died. Right away, Janine concludes that Egon probably overwatered them, and advises Egon read some books written by Professor Phil Dendron (yay, more plant puns), who is the world’s leading plant psychologist. She goes on to suggest starting with I'm Okay, Your Plant's Okay, How to Be Your Begonia's Best Friend, and Mulch to Success. On a personal note, I really enjoyed this scene as a fan of Janine’s character. It’s a nice reminder that she is an intelligent, well-read woman, and possibly a call-back to Movie Janine, who announced that she reads a lot, to the point where people accused her of being too intellectual. Anyway, Egon is visibly impressed by Janine’s knowledge about plants, so he decides to let her have the Geranium. And Janine is clearly appreciative of this, deciding to view it as a gift from Egon. She comments on how geraniums are very romantic, with little cartoon hearts appearing above her head. They even have a close up of their hands brushing against each other as Egon hands her the Geranium. (I love when they throw us Egon/Janine shippers a bone.) Of course, Peter decides to ruin the moment by butting in, asking Janine if they got any messages while they were out

An undetermined amount of time later, we see Janine heading home to her apartment in Brooklyn via subway train, the Geranium in tow. When she reaches her apartment, we get to see she already has a nice collection of plants sitting out on a table. However, Janine ultimately places the Geranium into a windowsill planter. When she ducks back inside after replanting the Geranium inside the windowsill planter, the Geranium once again starts to glow and begins to grow even bigger. It immediately cuts to the next day, when Janine is heading back to the Firehouse. When she heads out, the city is experiencing a heavy thunderstorm. (Indecently, I had to raise an eyebrow here. We just heard Janine talking to Egon about overwatering plants less than two minutes ago, and now she’s leaving her new flower outside in the pouring rain. Talk about mixed messages.) Janine eventually arrives at the Firehouse, where she immediately finds Peter complaining about being extremely bored. So Janine suggests he try play catch with Slimer, who chooses that moment to pop up for a brief cameo. Of course, Peter decides to be a bit of a jerk and refuses to play catch, going so far as to throw Slimer’s ball out the window. He does, however, suggest playing a game of ‘Hide and Don’t Seek,’ in which Slimer hides somewhere with Peter not bothering to look for him. Slimer, gleefully but naively, falls for the trick and flies off to hide.

Back at Janine’s apartment, the Geranium is now rapidly growing out of control, with large vines entering into sewer manholes, storefronts, etc. (And we get a genuinely funny moment when a random secretary pauses upon seeing a taxi cab being lifted into the air by vines outside her office window but then immediately goes back to typing without a word.) Eventually, the Ghostbusters are called in when the vines overtake the Brooklyn Bridge. When they reach the Brooklyn Bridge, they barely have time to access the situation when a man suddenly comes running up. Turns out this is Professor Phil Dendron, that guy Janine mentioned earlier. No idea where he came from, but whatever. Professor Dendron tells the Ghostbusters that he has no intention of standing by and letting them destroy this plant, stating that it must be saved for scientific study. Egon assures him that there will be no needless destruction done to the plant.

That’s when Ray notices that his PKE Meter is getting a reading from the vines, indicating that this is not an ordinary plant. But before more could be said or done, one of the vines wraps around Ray’s ankle, and he’s lifted up high into the air. To help their friend, Peter, Winston and Egon start shooting the vines with their Proton Packs, but this results in Ray falling. Before he could hit the ground, he luckily manages to gain access to one of the oversized leaves, which allows him to slowly glide back down, thereby avoiding serious injury. (Although, a part of me is questioning the realism of this. Would simply holding onto a leaf slow your fall? After all, it’s not as if Ray was holding both ends of the leaf like an improvised parachute.) With Ray safely back on the ground, Egon takes a moment to examine the vines, seeing that they barely made a scratch. He concludes that they can’t fight the vines with conventional weapons. Their best chance of fixing this problem will require them to locate where these vines originated from. So they head out into Brooklyn to locate the source of the growth.

Here, we get a scene that genuinely confuses me. They end up getting a ride to shore on a tugboat, with them jumping off and walking the rest of the way through the waist-high water. First of all, why did they need to take a tugboat to begin with? They were on the Brooklyn Bridge a moment ago. So, why not just walk across the bridge on foot? Second, why did they have to jump off the boat and trudge through the water? Couldn’t the boat have dropped them off at a dock? In any event, they eventually reach dry land, only to find Professor Dendron has caught up with them. Because he isn’t willing to miss a chance at being a part the biggest horticultural event in the past 100 years. The Ghostbusters, for some reason, decide to allow him to tag along with them. Ray suggests they try utilizing a slash and burn method to deal with the multitude of vines, but Egon quickly rejects that idea, pointing out that it could result in a massive fire that would destroy every square inch of Brooklyn. Professor Dendron then decides to step up to the plate, announcing that this plant is a living creature (which is an odd thing to say as I thought the word ‘creature’ just pertained to animals), and that they should try to communicate with the plant. By utilizing the universal language of love. Yeah, I don’t think I have to point out how dumb this plan is. Especially considering the Ghostbusters had already figured out by means of Ray’s PKE Meter that this wasn’t an ordinary plant, and something paranormal was going on. However, the Ghostbusters, for some reason, decide to allow Professor Dendron to approach the vines. Which results in him getting snatched up. The Ghostbusters try to jump in, but Egon stops them, telling them that Professor Dendron is a dedicated scientist who might not want them to interfere. (Egon, did you completely forget Ray’s previous conclusion that this wasn’t an ordinary plant?) Thankfully, Professor Dendron has finally decided to wise up and shouts at them to simply kill the plant already. So the Ghostbusters begin to run after Professor Dendron as the vines continue to carry him off.

This chase goes on for a little while, until the Ghostbusters follow the vines carrying Professor Dendron into a back ally and find themselves at a dead end. They end up scaling the large wall in front of them with the grappling hooks they just happened to have with them. As they climb, Egon starts wondering if there might be some significance to the fact that these overgrown vines are clearly from a geranium plant, just like the one he’d previously given Janine. Ray, however, dismisses this as a coincidence. Until they reach the top of the wall and see that the source of the vines is indeed Janine’s apartment. Upon discovering this, the Ghostbusters figure out that the ghost they had tried to catch in the beginning of the episode must have taken over the potted Geranium. Egon kinda gives Peter the stink eye here, reminding him that he had suspected the ghost never made it into the trap. Peter, being Peter, brushes this off, telling Egon that he should take this as a lesson and never give a woman flowers. (No, a better lesson would be to trust Egon’s judgment and double-check things before returning home after a case.)

As the Ghostbusters approach Janine’s apartment building, they overhear Janine’s scream. Because she had returned home a short time ago to bring her Geranium some plant food. Egon announces that he’d recognize Janine’s shriek anywhere (which is strangely adorable), and he leads the charge to her apartment. When they arrive at Janine’s apartment, they find Janine and Professor Dendron being forced by the vines to continue nurturing the possessed Geranium. The Ghostbusters start to aim their Proton Packs, but Egon stops them, telling them that they can’t risk hitting Janine. Still, the possessed Geranium still seems to know the Ghostbusters are a threat, and it fights back, throwing a piano at them before wrapping up Ray and Peter, and latching onto Winston’s Proton Thrower (which results in Winston accidently misfiring and hitting a cabinet holding some of Janine’s dishes.

At that moment, Egon gets an idea. He ducks back into the hall and fetches a fire hose. He then proceeds to use it to try and overwater the possessed Geranium. Although, he seems to have a bit of trouble aiming it at first. Which is a bit strange. What, you’re telling me that Egon can handle the recoil of a Proton Pack on a regular basis, but can’t handle the recoil of a fire hose? Still, Egon’s plan ultimately works, and the Geranium’s vines soon turn brown and die. And the ghost inside the Geranium has no choice then to vacate the plant, resulting in the ghost’s successful capture.

With the day saved, Egon drops down the ground in exhaustion. And Janine, once free from the vines, hurries over him. But it’s not to thank him for saving her, but to complain about the state of her apartment. Okay, yeah, Janine’s apartment did sustain some damages. But come on! You could show a little more gratitude, Janine! As for Professor Dendron he announces his intention to dedicate an entire chapter to the day’s events in his next book, Geraniums I Have Known. He offers to send each of them a signed copy. But Peter declines the offer, stating he’d prefer to just wait for the movie.

Yeah, there were some minor issues with this episode, but it was still largely enjoyable. And apart from some brief moments where he seemed to be mildly out of character, Egon certainly had his chance to shine here. Which is probably fitting considering the day I’m posting this review should have been the 77th birthday of Harold Ramis, the original Egon, had he not tragically passed away from an autoimmune illness in 2014. Incidentally, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is finally out in theaters, after being pushed back a few times due to the ongoing pandemic. If you haven’t done so yet, I highly urge all fans of the Ghostbuters franchise to see it. I can’t see how you wouldn’t enjoy it. Or feel moved by the ending.

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#the real ghostbusters #rgb episode review #ghostbusters franchise

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