#everything ive ever learned about league has been against my will

[katsukota]

Mean and Meaner

(Part one)

Katsuki Bakugou is notoriously vicious, and just down right cruel in most circumstances. The class of 1-A had just started to grow accustomed to him, however, a certain turn of events changes the balance of the hero course students.

Training Arc spoilers, most likely differs from canon since its been a fat fucking minute since ive watched / read that early into the series + My writing is a bit rusty so my b 😨

Part two coming soon ! ! Requests open as well 😈

Katsuki Bakugou was the epitome of anger, explosive behavior, even having a matching quirk. In the most blunt way possible, he was fucking mean.

Izuku, anyone close to him, and even anyone anywhere in a mile radius can testify for this fact.

If Katsuki is walking in the middle of the hallway, it's you who should move for him. If you somehow convince him to hang out or have a movie night, it's a given he's calling the shots and picking the movie. It doesn't matter whether you snap back, or are the embodiment of sweetness. He'll blast you into tomorrow at any verbal backlash, and kind words will be ignored if you're lucky.

Nevertheless, he was an integral part of UAs Hero Course. As loud, and brash as he was, he earned his way into the school, earning his spot at the very top of the entrance exams, and the sports festival. Despite how difficult it was starting out, and even though he'd never admit it, he'd made friends in 1-A, and stupidly enough, he thought, cared for his classmates.

That's probably how he got into this mess, is it not ? He trained vigorously, was absolutely naturally talented, bright as ever-- No logical explanation, even though he was there, being the victim of the crime, would make him understand how he ever got here. In a dingy, mildew ridden, room, tied and strapped to a chair. It was raggedy, and had an annoying scent of iron that wasn't even slowly, but definitely surely, driving him insane. This was nothing like the wealthier and more comforted parts of his or Dekus home. The change in atmosphere continued to unease him, despite how he'd stay firm in his angered stance.

Before he could let himself even acknowledge how uncomfortable it really all was, what he thought was going to be a second villain encounter, charged at him head on.

You, unwavering, glaring, and everything Katsuki deep down despised in himself, stomped up to him and pushed your finger into his unguarded chest.

"Hah?" He wasn't scared, not of a weakling like you. Youd just be another run of the mill villain, and despite how grim his chances were, no way in hell was he giving up. "Just who the fuck are you ?"

His confidence wavered for only heartbeat, when you just laughed right in his face.

How fucking rude.

"I could be asking you that. I thought the league captured people with potential. Not some dumb bitch who's still cuffed up and has his tail between his legs like a lost puppy stranded in the rain."

His jaw dropped a bit, but before he could even bite back, you just about ripped his throat out with tiger-like fangs.

"God. I was actually hoping I could have an escape buddy, not some hero wannabe. This is fucking embarrassing, im glad I never enrolled in those shitty, stuck up school. You're too busy learning how to wipe your ass to protect yourself when it comes down to it. Pa-the-tic."

He looked at you, shocked. For one of the only times in his life, Katsuki Bakugou was dumbfounded. He didnt even have the chance to attack before you basically clocked him. All of his insecurities and fears bubbling up.

Is this how Izuku felt ?

He was quick to snap out of it though, when he saw a familiar, snarky grin. Where he remembered it from, he was unsure.

"And who are you to be saying that ? You look about my age, so it's clear you're just a no brained drop out who had no other options but to be a fucking whore to some loser villain gang. You wouldn't stand a chance against the heroes."

There it was again, that grating, irritating laugh, that echoed throughout the damp room, and through each bone in his body. Hes not scared, is he ?

"God, you really ARE dumb." You genuinely laughed, usually finding amusement in how easy it was to tick people off, but this was just absurd. "You sure are jumpy, scared. Especially with conclusions. Your critical thinking skills are in desperate need of a first grade class, how'd you even graduate ?

He looked at you, growing more angry. If it weren't for the stupid binding, and the hope the heroes would find him before he had to take things into his own hands, he wouldve knocked the shit out of you yesterday.

"What do you mean, fuckface ? If you have something to say, just spit it out already. No one has time for your shit."

You scoffed. "Clearly the league does." Before he could accuse you of anything else, you pulled out a large cuffed hand locking device, in the metal, a name was carved in. "The league scouted me first, obviously thought I was stronger. More worthy than you." You stuck your tongue out, teasing him with salt in his wound. "Of course I don't have time for that bullshit. Both heroes and villains are way out of their fucking minds. They look like little kids tripping over themselves to play pretend." You looked him dead in his ruby red eyes, "You all need to grow up."

He was beyond pissed at this point, who the fuck did you think you were ? Just who were you ? Was that name yours ? No way you had a fucking custom made handcuff. Was it due to your strength ? How long have you been here ? What have you even been doing to get found by the League ? Who are you ?

Before he realized it, his boiling anger turned into an itching curiosity.

But over his dead fucking body would that be clear.

"Great, so you're a dumbass and delusional. What makes you think getting kidnapped is a compliment ? Did they take you from the fucking psych ward ? For everyone's sake you should be put back in."

You laughed, again. The way his words barely even effected you irritated him, the way youd easily bite back with something arguably even meaner, you irritated the fuck out of him.

"Then what is it, ready to accept the fact you're just that weak then ? If it's not a compliment, what is it ? A show of how gullible you "Heroes" are ? Nice fucking try."

The argument stopped there, but for the next few days, the bickering between you rarely ceases.

Occasionally, a league member will come in to shut you up, and re cuff you, scolding you for 'escaping.'

You, not even waiting for the villain to exit, but as soon as they turn your back to you, would unlock them with ease.

"If you can get out so easily, why dont you just fucking leave ? For someone who pretends to be so smart and strong, you really have a lack of self preservation."

"Hah, rich coming from you ! What are all those muscles for ? Can't break out of some chains ? Bet you're just a fatass pretending to be strong."

"HEY ! Fuckin watch whatcha say. I could get out quicker than you, kill every lowlife here, " He paused, looking you in the eyes as intimidatingly as he could, "Including you, and escape with time on my hands."

You laughed and punched his shoulder, slowly but surely getting closer and more annoying throughout the days. He hated to admit it, but your punches weren't light. They had a kick to them. It was a little relieving, knowing it wasn't just him and a dead weight.

"Okay, keep dreaming. And you say I'm the delusional one. If it weren't for some big shot hero school, you'd be applying for residential hospital services. Maybe we would've met there."

"Dont get fuckin sappy, the heroes are gonna be here soon, and ill be back to my life and forget you ever existed."

"God I fucking hope so."

[tahthetrickster]

i just want you to know that everything ive ever learned about league of legends has been against my will, but with the express purpose of having (some) context so that i can read your fics bc i enjoy them that much

LAUGHS anon im so sorry for dragging you kicking and screaming into learning about legal legends lore i hope youre at least enjoying the fic enough to make up for it mwah

[excusethequality]

My 2023 in Film

Part 5: 201-250

I was nearly done with this section before I remembered that my October movie gauntlet began in this chunk...Which meant I had already written descriptions of the spooky ones for those posts I did in October! I also saw that some of those were better than I ones I had just written, so I went ahead and stole from myself.

Link to Part I

Link to Part II

Link to Part III

Link to Part IV

* = rewatched

[++] = I loved it [+] = I liked it [=] = I am indifferent about it [-] = Not my thing [--] = I hate it

Click on the list number to get a trailer for it.

201.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) * ---Sports Comedy

A hotshot NASCAR racer must rediscover his passion for racing after a new racer comes to town and knocks him off his pedestal. [++]

202.

Fremont (2023) ---Drama Comedy

Donya is a former translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan who is now living as a refugee in Fremont, California. Lonely and struggling to come to terms with her new life she decides to try and make a connection. [+]

203.

Brewster's Millions (1985) * ---Comedy

A minor league baseball pitcher named Monty Brewster is a given a bizarre opportunity: a chance at 300 million dollars. But in order to get it he must successfully spend 30 million dollars in 30 days without giving it away, gambling it away, or gaining anything tangible from it. [+]

204.

Little Big League (1994) * ---Children's Sports Comedy

A 12-year-old inherits the Minnesota Twins baseball team and decides to make himself the general manager. [+]

205.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) * ---Animated Fantasy Adventure

In a land where everyone wants dragons dead, one young man dares to try and befriend one. [+]

206.

Step Brothers (2008) * ---Comedy

Two juvenile grown men who live at home are about to get forced together when their parents get married. [+]

207.

Certified Copy (2010) ---Relationship Drama

While in Tuscany for a book tour a British author takes a drive with a French antique dealer. A look at the nature of relationships, art, authenticity, and how the nature of those things can change over time. [-]

208.

Game Night (2018) *

see #167

209.

Redline (2009) ---Animated Sci-Fi Sports

A racer from the streets attempts to win the biggest underground car race in the galaxy. [=]

210.

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) * ---Coming-of-Age Magical-Realism Horror

An urban fairy tale about a group of orphans who band together to try and survive in a city being destroyed by the cartels amidst the Mexican drug war. [++]

211.

Dumplings (2004) ---Horror

An aging movie star hears a rumor of a woman who makes dumplings that can make you look young again. But when she learns how they're made she must decide just how important looks are to her. [+]

212.

You're Next (2011) * ---Home-Invasion Horror

A woman goes to her boyfriend's parents' anniversary party only to learn that the family has just been targeted by a group of killers. [++]

213.

Skinamarink (2022) ---Experimental Horror

A young brother and sister wake up in the night to find that their parents are gone and all the doors and windows in the house have disappeared. [-]

214.

The Thing from Another World (1951) ---Sci-Fi Creature Horror

A military base at the North Pole discovers a crashed alien spaceship and are subsequently attacked by an alien plant monster. [-]

215.

Dave of the Dead (2020) ---Animated Crime Against Humanity

You don't need to know what this is about, because this is currently in last place on my list ranking everything I've watched this year. Dead last in a group of over 300 movies. And I know that nothing seems to make people want to see a movie than someone saying they think it's a worst of the worst, but I can assure you that it is not fun bad; it is just bad bad. I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would have ever paid real money to create such a thing.

If you don't believe me go ahead and try to watch it (no multi-tasking) and you see how long you can last before your brain starts to atrophy and you regret even attempting it. Then report back to me so I can say, "I told you so." [--]

216.

The She Beast (1966) ---Horror

A long-dead witch possesses the body of a newly married woman who was on a road trip for her honeymoon. [-]

217.

Bell, Book and Candle (1958) ---Fantasy Romance

Just to be petty, a modern-day witch enchants her neighbor to fall in love with her. [=]

218.

Doll Shark (2022) ---Horror Comedy

The ghost of a killer shark goes into the body of shark plushie in order to get revenge and continue its reign of terror. [-]

219.

An American Werewolf in London (1981) * ---Horror Comedy

Two American friends are backpacking in Europe when they are attacked by a werewolf. [+]

220.

Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971) ---Queer Horror

Dr. Jekyll is investigating a hypothesis that female hormones could be the secret to extending ones life. When testing his theory he learns that this hormone cocktail temporarily transforms him into a woman they name Mrs. Hyde. But while Jekyll wants to continue refining his experiments, Hyde begins to become discontent with being hidden away and she is determined to take over as the dominate personality. [++]

221.

Puppet Shark (2023) ---Anthology Horror Comedy

An anthology film about killer sharks told entirely through puppets. [--]

222.

Son of Dracula (1943) ---Horror Drama

An heiress in Louisiana invites a vampire who may or may not be Count Dracula to town only to learn that he has his own fiendish plans for this new world. [-]

223.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) ---Horror Drama

Dr. Jekyll fears the danger of man's evil impulses. To keep himself pure he invents a way to separate someone's good aspects from their bad. However he must soon find a way to reverse it when his evil side starts to get a little too evil. [=]

224.

The Bewitched Inn (1897) ---Spooky Short Film

A weary traveler wants nothing more than to get some rest at an inn, but discovers his room is haunted. [+]

225.

The X-Ray Fiend (1897) ---Spooky Short Film

An x-ray machine gives us a peak at people's insides. [+]

226.

Titane (2021) ---Queer Drama and Body Horror

A dancer with a fetish for cars must pretend to be a missing boy in order to hide from the police. [+]

227.

The Girl from the Other Side (2022) *

See #22

228.

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) ---Anthology Horror

A fortune teller reads the dark fortunes of the other occupants of his train car. [=]

229.

Werewolf by Night (2022) ---Action Fantasy

A group of monster hunters are gathered for a contest to see who will inherit an artifact of great power. [=]

230.

I Blame Society (2020) ---Comedy Horror

An out-of-work filmmaker wants to prove to everyone that they've been underestimating her by making a movie about how she would plan a perfect murder, but things quickly get out of hand. [++]

231.

Los Reyes (2018) ---Documentary

What began as a documentary about the kids that frequent a skate park in Los Reyes becomes a look into the lives of Chola and Fútbol: two street dogs that make their home there. [++]

232.

Bluebeard (1944) ---Crime Horror

A painter who feels compelled to kill the beautiful women he paints tries to fight these urges by making puppet shows instead. [-]

233.

Escape Room (2017) ---Horror

A group of rich friends go to an exclusive escape room for a birthday party, but soon learn that this one could be deadly. [-]

234.

Prey (2022) * ---Sci-Fi Horror Adventure

In 1917 a Comanche woman sets out on a trial to prove her worth as a warrior by hunting something that's hunting her. But she is soon to discover that her prey is far more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. [++]

235.

Astonishing Tales of Terror: Rocktapussy! (2022) ---Comedy Horror

An investigative journalist, an out of work miner, and assorted others must stop an evil being that was accidentally unleashed during a mining test. [-]

236.

The Demon (1963) ---Horror Drama

In a small Italian village a woman is treated as an outcast and believed to be a witch. But if you're already being mistreated for being a witch, what's to stop you from trying witchcraft? [=]

237.

Sea Fever (2019) ---Horror

An Irish fishing boat becomes stranded at sea when their ship encounters a strange creature. [+]

238.

Maximum Overdrive (1986) ---Horror

When machines start trying to kill people a group of survivors find themselves trapped in gas station by a pack of killer semi trucks. [-]

239.

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) ---Fantasy Drama

The ancient Inuit legend of brothers, spirits, revenge, curses, true love, and more. [++]

240.

Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013) *

See #46

241.

The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976) ---Drama Horror

An alcoholic woman's trauma from her childhood drives her to act out in increasingly wild and deadly ways. [=]

242.

I Married a Witch (1942) ---Fantasy Romance

A witch and her father are released from their ancient imprisonment and seek to wreck havoc on the world. But things get tricky when a spell goes awry and she falls in love with a human. [=]

243.

The Monster Club (1981) ---Anthology Horror

A horror author saves a starving vampire and is invited back to his favorite club as a gesture of gratitude. [-]

244.

Intruder (1989) * ---Horror

Things go from bad to worse when the overnight crew at the local supermarket finds themselves trapped inside with a murderer. [+]

245.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) * ---Comedy Horror

A Mel Brooks spoof of the story of Dracula. [-]

246.

I Was a Teenage Wereskunk (2016) ---Horror Comedy

An homage to the drive-in horror movies of the 50s about a boy who is bitten by a skunk and starts turning into a murderous wereskunk whenever he gets aroused. [=]

247.

The Devil's Backbone (2001) ---Horror Drama

In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, a young orphan is left at an orphanage that's hanging on by a thread. But he soon learns that evil doesn't just lurk outside the walls when he a discovers a ghostly presence that haunts the halls. [+]

248.

Spirit Halloween: The Movie (2022) ---Kids Horror

A group of kids decide to spend Halloween night in the scariest place they can think of: a Spirit Halloween store! [=]

249.

Arachnophobia (1990) * ---Creature Horror

A rare and deadly spider winds up in a small American town where it proceeds to turn all the spiders in town into its minions. The local doctor better get over his fear of spiders fast if he's going to be able to save anyone. [=]

250.

Tales from the Hood (1995) ---Anthology Horror

A mysterious funeral director tells 4 spooky tales to the group of drug dealers that visit him one night. [+]

[sanstropfremir]

hi ik this is sorta different from what you usually post about here but im wondering what you think of k/da's 'villain' mv!!

hi!! at first i was like "....wait when did i ever give any indication that i know anything about league....????" but then i remembered that k/da is technically kpop because it has (g)idle members in it and then everything made sense. you're actually very lucky because i literally phoned a friend for help with answering this, since one of my best friends of 15 years is an animator that works in the (semi) big leagues doing mostly 3d animation! i could have probably answered this without him but i wanted an excuse to talk to him (we did literally have a phone call) since i hadn't heard his voice in a while and i really like talking about art with him. we both have slightly differing opinions on the villain mv and on k/da in general, which isn't that surprising if you know us, but i also think it speaks to the success of the ideas behind k/da, i suppose.

first, an intro for anyone who doesn't know what k/da is (because there will definitely be some of you). k/da is a fictitious animated girl group made from four characters from league of legends, that are voiced by two kpop idols (miyeon and soyeon from (g)idle) and two american singers (madison beer and jaira burns). the project was conceived by riot games after having success with a similar project pentakill (basically the same thing but using metal instead of pop/kpop). k/da has handful of songs and three music videos: pop/stars, more, and villain, all of which are completely divorced from any of the lore of the game. honestly you don't even need to know anything about the characters either if you can get past the fact that they yanno, look like video game characters. pop/stars and more are the whole group (there's another champion feature in more) and villain is a concept video/solo song for one member, evelynn.

personally i don't have a lot of opinions on k/da as a whole; i remember when pop/stars dropped and all my friends when bananas (i don't play league and i don't play multiplayer games at all), but i don't really get the appeal of them because i don't think they're doing anything with k/da visually that's intrinsic to being animated (other than the concept itself, but i'm going to come back to this). my friend however, likes the concept a lot and thinks that the animation has more appeal on a broad approach than a traditional kpop mv. i will fault him for this logic because that last girl group he followed was snsd when we were 13, but he does kind of have a point. the animated nature does temper some of the more surrealistic elements of kpop mvs and makes it more 'palatable' to a non-kpop viewing audience, but personally i don't agree with this reasoning and people are just boring. we do both agree that pop/stars is the best of the three mvs, though. it's the most fun and has a few really interesting moments that do utilize the animated medium (mostly akali's parts with the blacklight), and the stylization of the animation itself is fun. more and villain lean more into realism and i don't find that as interesting even if it is more of a technical achievement. the thing about both more and pop/stars though is that despite the concept needing to be animated (because the characters aren't real), a lot of the shots and content within the frame is pretty similar to shots you would see in real life kpop mvs. there is absolutely an extra heightened nature to it because of the medium but honestly? they could be doing a lot crazier shit instead of trying to emulate something that already exists with some extra flair.

i like villain i think the most conceptually because it does make a fuller use of the medium (regardless of the fact that it's not a lot of actual animation and is mostly just really really good texture sims. this is a pendantic point that my friend decided he had to correct me on). a good chunk of the shots hinge on the fact that it is animated, and this kind of atmospheric mv is less common for kpop; they pointedly don't show evelynn's full face at all, which they can do because she has a very recognizable and totally designed silhouette, which is something that you can't achieve in quite the same way with an actual human being. villain's ability to capture the mood of the song is successful because of its lack of emphasis on the main character; something that i find kpop mvs sometimes struggle more with because of the industry emphasis on face (and subsequently the fact that a lot of idols can't act). riot does also get it mostly right with giants, which is from another fictional champion group, which is mostly 2d animated.

[iyeriing]

Tricky Patrols (test)

Before this start i would like to say that i def dont know how to write on tumblr yet, im going to post this first headcannon that ive made up with my own character about bat family just for testing reasons (lmao yeas im a old lady in a body of a 19 yrs old woman).

second point is that english is not my first language so, ignore the mistakes and non senses phrases. Beside those things i just wish a good reading and please leave you feedback to help me learn how to write in this shit :): ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TW: mentions of murder and blood.

gender: neutral -------------------------------------- Another day of patrol, another day of work, everything was normal… at least in my conception of normal. The patrol had started early that day, and it was already dusk, I guessed it was 7 or 8 pm, my partner at the time was Red robin aka Tim Drake, spending the day patrolling with him was light, there weren't many questions or embarrassing conversations , only when he asked for advice himself or wanted to know something about my life. I couldn't judge him, despite being working with the Bat-family or being part of the so-called Gotham Knights for a long time, or...like...5 years… I hope it's considered a long time… My past continued to make appearances or call my name, luckily my two most problematic identities ended up dying without much effort, since the scarecrow or the league of assassins didn't really care about having someone who certainly put them in danger opening the identity. Eventually Gotham ended up giving me a proper name in the 4 years I worked alone, Ghost… I was the Ghost of Gotham, so stealth that even an animal couldnt notice me, criminals ended up adopting that codename for me and I did matter of keeping it… why wouldn't I? it's a nice name. Most low-severity criminals feared me as much as Nightwing, Batman or Red Hood, regardless of methods… but morals are for another conversation. Anyway, anyway, I didn't give up that identity when I joined Batman, and I didn't even expose it to the public, many still fear me because they think I'm going to solve the situation like I used to when I was solo, and that's actually a great advantage . Obviously I didn't look for that place, I just let Bruce come to me, and eventually trust was re-established over time, but there are still doubts, but I don't offend.. it's understandable that they exist in this context. ''I hate patrolling in this shitty weather.''

I mutter grumpily as I feel the chills on my skin beneath my uniform. The weather was really shit, 5 degrees cold plus a completely ridiculous light rain, it made me annoyed. ''I thought it motivated you to hate criminals more… that's what you said before leaving the mansion.''

Tim simply counters using the grappling hook to climb to the top of the building we've been assigned. ''Don't use my words against me RR, I have a reputation to uphold.''

I fight the urge to tap my chin in sheer cold, but even so, my voice comes out in sweet amusement. I hear the younger one's laughter grow further away as he escorts him to the top of the building with the hooks ''At this point I think your reputation has already-''

An abrupt cut in his speech makes me forget about any external sensations and go up faster to make sure he was okay, there weren't many things that would leave someone who grew up in Batman's shadow surprised to the point of being speechless. As soon as my feet touch the edge of the building and I look up, whatever words have been in my head are gone, and my stomach churns instantly, the scene was indeed shocking, nothing compared to what I had ever done or witnessed. Tim was just as shocked as I was, the two static staring at a completely open body, guts scattered, with a phone number and a name written on the wall, there was a location too, apparently the killer had done all that and still left his contact. I squint at a Robin, he was whiter than a sheet of paper. I analyze that scene putting aside any kind of emotion or feeling I might have had, and my reaction is what I least expected, what Tim least expected. Wet footsteps echo off the roof as I walk closer to the body finding a small note that reads "Blood and death tend to frighten those with clean hands and intentions far more". My laughter breaks through the mood of the gloomy night and even darker after this discovery. ''I didn't do it.''

I hasten to say, explaining my unusual reaction to an apparent death. Tim takes his slightly more resigned but still pale gaze to my face making me pull down the hood but keep the mask on. ''Then why are you laughing?''

His low voice suggested he was certainly prepared to start a fight with me, is like I said, doubts about who I am from my past will always linger, and they don't bother me as much as they should. ''Because whoever did it is a freaking genius''

My voice comes out in amusement and I lightly kick the body on the floor in order to make him realize that it was latex, fake blood, that it was all a big montage, a big time trap for whoever made it. ''The whole morbid scenario is fake, this isn't a murder it's a trap with a name, location and a phone number, and the note suggested that whoever did this hoped I wasn't here, but someone else, and that it was his only mistake, a small mistake of lineup.

I explain by handing the note to the teenager who had barely recovered from the first shock and was already in another. I take some pictures of the place while Tim seemed to analyze in full brain what had happened, I knew that now that things were clearer he would be able to notice things that I even thought to notice, we were a good pair for that, what I didn't usually notice was what caught Tim's attention the most, who now seemed to be in his personal amusement park, analyzing, taking pictures and putting it in the batcave database. ''Hey, Ghost! We need to get back to the Batcave now, I just found DNA fragments and some extra information on this doll.''

I nod, walking to the edge of the building without much thought analyzing the data I've collected. ''Ghost! Wait! Before we go, I wanted to apologize to you right now for thinking that you actually killed someone, it's something I can't help but consider… but you know you're like a sister to me right?''

''Relax Timmy, I know it's not bad, I'm used to it… and yes I know you love me.''

I can't help the smug smirk on my face before I drop my body to that huge height and head for BatCave, which would probably be a lot warmer and more comfortable than this patrol. mental note: ask for a hot chocolate for Alfred when I get there.

[sunsoothed]

lightness

jang hanseo character study kinda fic i promised. i'm not sure if this is a character study anymore. i have no idea what this became. anyway! i wanted to explore hanseo and give him a bit of a backstory, so here it is!

*deep breath* content warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, physical abuse, blood, injury, canonical character death (not hanseo), recreational drug use, underage drug use, implied drug abuse

word count: 1866

read on ao3

hope you like it!

-

When Jang Hanseo is seven, he is acquainted with elder brother. Regal; nine-years-old and already hunting.

He still hides behind their father with him when he pretends to be terrified of the sound of gunfire.

Hanseo says nothing. He never brings up how his brother had thrown the bloodied rabbit and his rifle to the servant attending him, never brings up how thoroughly he washed his hands to hide the evidence of his independence from his father.

Never brings up how his brother assessed him with just a look and nothing more.

The first words Jang Hanseo’s brother says to him are as follows:

“Don’t call me hyung.”

Jang Hanseo blinks, traces his eyes over the leather of his brother’s jacket, over the blood that drips from his gloves, over the rifle he holds in his hands. He smiles.

“Okay, hyung-nim!”

A scoff, but some appraisal. Jang Hanseo doesn’t understand the half-smile he receives that autumn afternoon, but he remembers it until he beats his brother with a hockey stick, striking his head trice ‘til he’s out and his back once just for good measure, just to see the blood coming up to his mouth for him to choke on.

-

The first time his brother hits him, Jang Hanseo is eight. The ice rink is dark, and his brother is more geared up than he is.

Jang Hanseo misses thrice, scores once. He is rewarded with a swipe of the hockey stick on the back of his calf, and he thinks it is a game.

For that, he is rewarded with his first broken bone and a seared memory of a hand heavy on his throat. A laugh without mercy.

-

When Jang Hanseo is thirteen, he is offered alcohol at a party his father is hosting.

He declined, having seen first-hand what alcohol does to you, what a rage it puts his father in as he breaks porcelain, the scar he left on his mother’s cheek that lasted till the day she died.

-

When Jang Hanseo is fourteen, his brother kills four people. Classmates, he tells him, when he comes home with red speckled on his face. They weren’t worthy of being my classmates.

-

Jang Hanseo celebrates his fifteenth birthday with the diagnosis of his brother being a psychopath and accidentally tearing open the letter of a one-way ticket to the United States.

Instead of cake, he consumes his own blood, and instead of a pat on the back, he has a dislocated shoulder.

When he wakes a day later hooked to an IV, his brother is gone. The phantom of his laugh lives on, searing long into Hanseo’s conscience.

-

At fifteen-and-a-half, his father sends Hanseo to his grandmother’s for the summer. His father is undergoing a trial, on the charges of bribery, abetting murder, and perjury. With one son shipped off to the States and another to Jeju Island, he has no pawns he will feel ill about sacrificing. It’s not that he loves them. It’s that letting your son die because the ransom money you can very well afford would require you to take some shares out, and that’s too tedious of a process to go through.

So Jang Hanseo boards the short flight, stares out of the window for the longest one hour and fifteen minutes of his life so far. He’s never met his grandmother.

He wonders if she’s like his father, knowing she’s raised him, or if she’s worse.

She’s leagues different from anyone in his family.

Halmeoni scans him up and down when the driver drops him off at her estate. At the front door itself, she says, “We have a lot of fixing-up to do.”

It leaves an impression, that’s for sure.

-

The best summer of his life, Hanseo learns how to uproot weeds and catch a chicken without screaming like his life was being threatened. His halmeoni owns a farm, some 150 acres of greenery and animal and mansion.

Halmeoni teaches him first how to eat well, how to fill his plate and not feel bad about it, how to overeat and regret it. Halmeoni teaches him second that he is the most important person to himself; never his father, and not his hyung-nim.

Halmeoni teaches him third that he has no one else in the world but himself.

This, Jang Hanseo remembers the most.

(But his brother’s —)

-

With his brother’s absence, an anxiety sets into Hanseo’s veins so intensely that upon looking up his symptoms, he sees words like psychosis and personality disorder and promptly closes his laptop shut.

Unbidden, but not unwelcome, he remembers the rages his father fell into. He remembers the embers of gold in those small wide glasses that abeoji owned, remembers the crates of bottles that they used to have moved into the house. He also recalls the putrid smoke that used to emerge from the study. The smell of something burnt and something that made him cough so hard it alerted his father of his presence.

It’s in the boys washroom that he smells the scent again. By the open window, out curls smoke.

Jang Hanseo catches the eye of the assailant. Oh Yeonwoo will get him into this mess and then out. He will be Hanseo’s first true friend.

-

Jang Hanseo tries it for the first time on the terrace of the school. One joint between the two of them and nothing but heaving coughs from him until he learns how to take air after smoke and allow its natural passage back up. The joint is over by then, and Hanseo feels nothing.

Yeonwoo bumps their shoulders together, carelessly tossing the filter over the railing of the terrace. “You’ll get the hang of it,” He assures. “I didn’t even make it after a couple of joints, so you’re doing better than me already.”

Hanseo lends him a half-smile. Better than him, he thinks. When have I ever been better than anyone?

“Hanseo-yah, what’re you thinking with that scowl, hm?” Yeonwoo bumps their shoulders together again. “You’re so scary when you space out.”

“I am?”

Yeonwoo nods again. Hanseo notes something hazy in his eyes, something completely unguarded in his demeanour. He blinks cautiously.

“Hanseo-yah,” Yeonwoo whines, “Stop staring at me.”

“I’m not,” He replies. “Are —” Are you okay? Hanseo was going to ask. Stupid. Yeonwoo has settled against his shoulder now, humming some tune. He stretches his legs out in front of him and sways his feet to the rhythm. He seems better than okay.

So this is what it does, Hanseo thinks. Lightness. He wants to be light.

-

And so, Jang Hanseo, age sixteen, falls into something whose magnitude he cannot guess. Addiction is only the half of it. The other half had started the day Yeonwoo showed him something called shotgunning, which had taken his first kiss and his first experience with intoxication whose harm had lasted longer than its euphoria.

When he lies beside Yeonwoo, all too hot and all too cold, unable to distinguish which fingers are his when they hold hands, he finds it. The lightness. When Yeonwoo turns and exhales into his neck, prickling sweat and prickling hair to stand on edge, Hanseo smiles.

And when Hanseo wakes up, the dread in his gut is deeper than it’s ever been.

(— his brother’s —)

-

So it seems that boys with no family and boys with brothers who know nothing but violence and boys with a terrible, terrible blankness to them can also, by some grace of humanity, fall in love. And so it seems, as Hanseo feels the telltale thumping of his heart and lightness in his abdomen, that Yeonwoo will keep having this effect on him.

Subtlety, Yeonwoo tells him, the afternoon they sit on the roof and stare at the sky and at the smoke. Subtlety will let you get away with everything.

Subtle touches, then. Hanseo’s fingers lingering a moment too long on Yeonwoo’s arm, Hanseo’s hand firm between his shoulder blades. Subtle words, and subtle smiles, and subtle smoke between their mouths as they chase lightness.

Subtle kisses, too, when Hanseo feels he can see his own eyes in Yeonwoo’s, when Hanseo still finds the thrill of sealing his lips with Yeonwoo’s to be a minefield of his own feelings. Subtle kisses that Yeonwoo always blackens — drags them down into teeth and tongue and desire. Hanseo doesn’t know, then, that this is what differentiates them. What puts him on a curved, unshapely parabola and Yeonwoo on a straight line.

Feral, Hanseo once thinks, his gaze only slightly unclouded, as Yeonwoo bites at his lips, his neck. Feral, in the way he never kisses to coax Hanseo’s mouth open; never to cherish feeling. Only to chase after something so much deeper.

-

At seventeen, Jang Hanseo implodes from heartbreak.

Transfer student. Short, ebony hair, in that oh-so-timeless straight bob. He has a nice smile, even Hanseo can tell, and he has a charming walk. He’s also assigned a seat beside him. This, of all things, was the catalyst.

Yeonwoo didn’t want to kiss him anymore. Yeonwoo wanted to smoke with him, but Yeonwoo also bought a new companion along with him. Yeonwoo, it seemed, never wanted what Hanseo did. Yeonwoo, it seemed, never felt the way Hanseo did.

Hanseo knows that he knew, somewhere, beneath what his world had become, that this would not stand for long. Its foundations were, in the end, smoke.

-

But it does not surprise him, Hanseo thinks, seventeen and a quarter, something vile in his veins. It does not surprise him that he’s here.

His head hits, dully, the floor under him. He laughs. And he laughs some more, as the world turns from dust to sky to ocean. And he waits for the servants to find him in his father’s study.

-

They tell him that he’s lucky, later, in the hospital. Jang Hanseo thinks this is what death feels like, on the verge of eighteen. He states blinking at the ceiling. Hospital rooms are white on all six sides, and heaven is supposed to be white on all six sides as well. He wants to laugh, so he does.

And it hurts.

Hanseo stops laughing.

(— his brother’s laugh —)

-

Hanseo laughs. Ten years past, ten years perished, Hanseo laughs until his heart hurts. His brother’s heart is still beating. His blood is still warm, the three hits to his head and one to his back hadn’t kept him down. Hanseo laughs as the blood splatters on his face, sprinkled red on his chin and lips, a sprinkled red dancing in his eyes as he brings the hockey stick down, down, down.

For everything Hanseok has made him — less, more, just enough. For all these little things that had changed Hanseo more than broken bones could. For lost love. For things that weren’t, in the end, Hanseok’s fault.

Hanseo beats him till his heart stops fighting back and the blood pooled in his mouth flows quietly. Till Hanseo feels no fight left in him, and then some, till the exhaustion in him takes over.

Hanseo slumps over his brother’s dead body, and Hanseo laughs.

(But his brother’s laugh will always be louder.)

[satoshi-mochida]

Rabbit & Bear Studios, a Tokyo-based studio formed by key creators of the Suikoden series, has announced Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, an ambitious new RPG planned for release in fall 2022. A Kickstarter campaign seeking $500,000 USD in funding for a PC release—with a single stretch goal to unlock PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Switch versions (or next-gen Switch, if one is available)—will run from July 27 at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET to August 28. A trailer will also debut when the campaign launches.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is led by Suikoden I and II veteran scenario writer Yoshitaka Murayama, alongside series veterans Junko Kawano, Osamu Komuta, and Junichi Murakami. The project marks the first time these four creators have worked on a game together, as well as the first time Murayama and Kawano have collaborated in 25 years.

“The first thing we decided when our members came together was, ‘It’s about time we made a really interesting game that we ourselves want to make,'” project lead Murayama said in a press release. “We chose Kickstarter in order to make an interesting game with the players in mind, hold the rights to the planning, world, and story of the game, all while keeping the fun of the project. Please lend us your support in this new challenge of ours! We promise to create something that heeds the call of your voices.”

Speaking to Gematsu, Murayama shared more information on the game’s similarities to Suikoden and what elements of the series will carry over.

“Eiyuden Chronicle is about war, or more importantly, the intention and feelings of the 100 heroes who fight that war from a variety of perspectives and for a variety of different reasons,” Murayama told Gematsu. “And of course the drama that can only occur when a group of different people from different walks of life come together and must wage a war of life and death.”

Murayama continued, “And the many characters that participate in this war aren’t just pawns added in as ‘war fodder,’ they have a living breathing soul and begrudgingly must fight to protect the things they believe in. Additionally, there are non-combat specialists, researchers, and other ‘heroes’ on the periphery that can help win battles or lose them. Each and every one of them is a living breathing character that the player gives life to through their choices.”

Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses that can be leveraged to help the player form a balanced team.

“Some characters are good are some things and bad at others,” Murayama explained. “But if you combine them with other characters that can strengthen their weaknesses, you can end up with a really balanced team. And based on that delicate balance your team make be more apt at mining or adventuring which will affect the overall game progression loop. One of the core game loops in Eiyuden is to experience the wide variety of different characters and personalities in your 100 person army.

“With each new character your ‘fortress town’ grows in size and ability. It is a key system in the game. As you increase your teammates, some members will be blacksmiths, some chefs and whether on the battlefield or not, each character will play a role in strengthening your resolve as an army. There are guilds that you can join which will largely change the visual make-up of your fortress town and grant different abilities. The more people you recruit, the stronger the snowball effect. As you level up, new trade options appear along with enemies and thieves that randomly attack your town in an effort to impede your progress. You need to make choices whether to strengthen your walls or hasten your progress. Each choice will make every play session feel different and have its own consequences.”

According to Murayama, all of this is “just the tip of the iceberg,” meaning that fans can expect much more to come.

Here is an overview of the game, via Rabbit & Bear Studios:

■ About

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an ode to the classic Japanese RPG genre from the PlayStation era that will feature classic Japanese RPG exploration and battles in high-resolution 2.5D graphics, pixel-based characters, a story of war and friendship, a diverse cast of 100 unique heroes to join the protagonist’s endeavor, and a fortress building system to grow their army.

The game will feature a guild system that allows players to change their fortress attributes based on the guild they join. Battles will be turn-based with parties of up to six members and feature dynamic boss battles that change camera angle and rotate depending on the environment.

■ Studio and Staff

Rabbit & Bear Studios

Founded March 26th, 2020 by Yoshitaka Murayama, Rabbit & Bear Studios asks the age old question, what do gamers really want? It’s something we must never forget as creators. To continually focus on giving the fans the experience they really want.

We have created Rabbit & Bear Studios as the first step in realizing that dream and to have the responsibility that comes with it. That’s our core philosophy and we plan to lead by our actions.

Staff

Story: Yoshitaka Murayama (Suikoden, Suikoden II, The Alliance Alive)

Character Design: Junko Kawano (Suikoden, Suikoden IV, Arca Last)

System Design and Direction: Osamu Komuta (Suikoden Tierkreis, Suikoden Tactics, Arca Last)

Art Direction and Production: Junichi Murakami (Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, OZ)

Composers: Michiko Naruke (Wild Arms series), Motoi Sakuraba (Tales of series), and more.

■ Story

Welcome to the Continent of Allraan

“Our story begins in one corner of Allraan, a tapestry of nations with diverse cultures and values.

By dint of sword, and by way of magical objects known as “rune-lenses,” the land’s history has been shaped by the alliances and aggressions of the humans, beastmen, elves, and desert people who live there.

The Galdean Empire has edged out other nations and discovered a technology that amplifies the rune-lenses’ magic. Now, the Empire is scouring the continent for an artefact that will expand their power even further.

It is on one such expedition that Seign Kesling, a young and gifted imperial officer, and Nowa, a boy from a remote village, meet each other and become friends.

However, a twist of fate will soon drag them into the fires of war, and force them both to reexamine everything they believe to be right and true.”

■ Characters

Nowa (Default Name)

Sex: Male

Age: 17 years old

Home: A remote village in the League of Nations

Favorite Food: Anything with meat in it

“That’s who I am. A meddler. Always will be—just ask Leene. So don’t tell me to do nothing. I may not be able to help them, but I have to at least try.”

When the League of Nations recruits warriors to assist in a joint expedition with the Galdean Empire, our protagonist answers the call and leaves his remote village to test his skills. On the mission, he finds an ancient rune-lens, unaware that the discovery will spark a war between the League and the Empire. After the conflict begins, he joins a unit in the League’s border guard.

The protagonist is the “leap before you look” type. He doesn’t always weigh the pros and cons before springing to action, and while his constant need to involve himself in other people’s problems sometimes creates headaches for his companions, they like him for it and know his heart is in the right place. After all, if they ever got into trouble, he’d be the first person there.

Seign Kesling

Sex: Male

Age: 18 years old

Home: A noble house in the Galdean Empire

Favorite Food: Poached eggs

“I can dream all I want, but it won’t change a thing. The world is not that kind. So if the only way to achieve my ideals is to betray them first, then I will do that—unflinchingly. You have my word.”

The second-born son to House Kesling, a powerful imperial family. His older brother died on the battlefield. Seign is exceptionally gifted; after achieving outstanding grades at military academy, he was placed in command of a company of his peers and sent on the expedition to find the ancient rune-lens. During the mission, he meets the protagonist. The two warm to each other as they overcome adversity, and they learn of one another’s ambitions.

Seign’s strategic mind allows him to analyze things from a broad perspective and make sound decisions. People often confuse his clear mind for a cold heart, but he is guided by strong ideals and a deep passion to fulfill them.

After his brother’s death during a border rebellion, Seign began to think long and hard about what it means to fight.

Marisa

Sex: Female

Age: 16 years old

Profession: One of the Guardians who watches over the forest

Favorite Food: Herbed chicken

“You just leave the forest to me. I know where the water springs, where the rabbits burrow—and most importantly, where your enemies will try to hide.”

A young member of the Guardians, a clan that hallows and protects the forest. Since Marisa was very little, her family has instilled their ways and traditions in her. She has a warm, affable smile—except on the battlefield, where she wears the countenance of a warrior.

Although the Guardians live as one with the forest, they have respect for the outside world’s culture and technology, and they are not against integrating the parts of it that make sense to them. Marisa is particularly forward-thinking in this regard, and loves new things—especially cute things.

Over the generations, the Guardians have developed a unique method of wielding the rune-lenses. For that reason, both the Empire and the protagonist try to win them over to their camp. Whom the Guardians choose will prove to be a major turning point in history.

Melridge

Sex: Male

Age: 27 years old

Profession: A scholar of natural history

Favorite Food: Duck soup

“You should lay down arms and surrender. That’s the quickest way to end this… No? Very well. Then I suppose I’ll provide you with the next best thing: a winning strategy.”

A young scholar who specializes in natural history. He yearns to know of every last thing in the world, and exactly how it got there. He also happens to be a genius tactician, and will be a valuable asset to the protagonist.

That said, he views warfare as the most pointless of all human endeavors, and any personal contributions to it as a complete waste of time.

Garr

Sex: Male

Age: 32 years old

Profession: Warrior in a clan of mercenaries

Favorite Food: Pancakes slathered with whipped cream

“Only a soft-brained leader runs headlong into danger. Anyone who knows what’s good for him will tell you you’ve lost it, kid. But not me. If blaze-of-glory’s your thing, count me in. We all die in the end. Might as well make it interesting.”

A veteran beastman warrior. He and his clan make their living as mercenaries, and their vast experience and sheer brutality put them in high demand. War is all Garr has known, and to him life is one battlefield after the other until you die.

When a conflict breaks out, every army wants as many beastmen as they can afford. Because mercenary contracts are made with individuals and not the entire clan, it is not uncommon for Garr and his fellow beastmen to face each other as enemies in the field.

Lian

Sex: Female

Age: 16 years old

Home: A martial arts dojo

Favorite Food: Super-spicy ramen

“Uhh, maybe I’m dumbing this down a little, but—like—if a bunch of arrogant swine strut into YOUR home and started acting like they owned the place, what would YOU do? ‘Cause there’s your answer.”

After the Empire’s forces invade League lands, Lian is infuriated and runs away from home…without even the slightest semblance of a plan. She decides the first thing to do is hoof it to the biggest town she can find, and luckily that’s where she meets the protagonist and his companions.

Lian was born in a dojo, and her father wasted no time in teaching her. She was doing roundhouse kicks before she even learned to walk properly.

Mio

Sex: Female

Age: 27 years old

Home: The Far East

Favorite Food: Bamboo-wrapped sasa dumplings

“The road you walk is one, and yet its endpoints are myriad. You can still choose where the road takes you.”

A swordswoman who is journeying to perfect the way of the blade. She has a stoic personality and rarely speaks, unless it’s to challenge someone she views as a worthy opponent.

When she does open her mouth to say something, it’s straight to the point and usually dripping with wisdom, so the people around her have taken to calling her “sensei.” However, even the greatest of senseis do have the occasional brain fart…

■ World

The Waterstead of Quinja

The Seaside Cavern

Watch a gameplay teaser video below. View the first screenshots and artwork at the gallery.

[let-it-raines]

Catch Me If You Can (30/40)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

a/n: I am not a fan of the fact that there are only 10 chapters left. Like, not at all. Where did all of this time go? How are we at this point in the story? I feel like I was just writing it!

Anyway, it seems fitting that this chapter posts in a week where a lot of us have gone home to see family because Killian is going home with Emma to meet Ruth😘 Thanks to you all for being you and thanks to @resident-of-storybrooke​ for reading these words for me and checking my facts!

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-/-

“Did you know that it’s Friday the thirteenth and a full moon?”

“Thank you, Alec Trebek.”

“No, seriously. That’s what it says on my phone.”

“Love, I know the date.”

“But did you know about the moon thing?”

“I did,” Killian sighs, picking his suitcase up off of the security belt and placing it on the ground while Emma grabs her sneakers. “I read about it the other day, and I am prepared for all of the haunted werewolves to come out to play.”

“Shut up,” Emma laughs before she plops herself down on a bench to tie her shoes.

It’s a little past four thirty in the morning, and JFK is nearly empty of anyone who isn’t traveling in some kind of suit. He and Emma are surrounded by people in black blazers and tailored trousers only traveling with a sleek black suitcase and their briefcase. He and Emma, meanwhile, are both in joggers with t-shirts on (Emma has on his Vandy sweatshirt over hers) and their hair tucked underneath baseball caps.

Emma got in from Detroit late last night, only taking five minutes to kiss him hello and take a quick shower before collapsing on his bed on top of the covers. The only flight they could get so last minute that wasn’t an exuberant amount of money is at the ungodly hour of six in the morning, so Killian insisted that she just stay at his place last night so that they could leave from the same place and save time. Considering they woke up ten minutes before their Uber arrived and could barely brush their teeth before they left, that didn’t exactly work in the whole saving time department.

It doesn’t help that Emma has pretty much been deadweight this entire morning until she started to wake up right before they went through security.

He, on the other hand, is wide awake. Nervous jitters run through his body, his stomach twisting in knots, and for someone who doesn’t get nervous for many things other than baseball, Killian is pretty much a wreck when it comes to meeting Emma’s family. Ruth is the last one, the final piece of the puzzle, and as intimidating as David was to meet, his mother might outrank her.

Killian both wants to spend the entire weekend sucking up to her and thanking her for taking Emma in and giving her the love she’s never had but has always deserved, but that could prove to be a bit much.

Then again, if Ruth hadn’t taken Emma in thirteen years ago, Emma would have never met David. If Emma hadn’t met David, David would have never taken her to the baseball game that truly allowed Emma to fall in love with sports. And if Emma hadn’t done that, he doubts she’d have ever gotten into broadcasting and found her passion there that makes her so damn happy.

The two of them also would never have met, and that thought sends a shiver down his spine.

It’s funny how such little things can change absolutely everything.

Everything.

So, yeah, Killian is most definitely a little nervous to meet Ruth.

“You want to go find some coffee, Swan?” Killian asks Emma as he props his foot up to tie his own sneaker. “I think the two of us are in some desperate need of caffeine.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll be able to find a coffee shop in an airport. There are never any coffee places here.”

“I don’t appreciate all of this sarcasm so early this morning.”

She pokes his stomach. “You’re the one who woke me up.”

“We’re going home to meet your family.”

“I don’t see your point.”

“You should.”

“Well,” Emma huffs, standing up and pulling up her pants so that he sees a flash of tanned skin on her stomach, “you should. Onto coffee we go.”

They both grab onto their bags and start walking down the terminal, passing gate after gate and store after store, but everything is black with the lights turned off and bars pulled over the stores. Nothing is open, not even the convenience stores, and the moment Emma realizes this, she stops walking and buries her face in his shoulder.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“There are vending machines,” he soothes. “I think they have coffee.”

“But it’s gross coffee,” she wines before wrapping her arms around his stomach. At first, Killian thinks that she’s being affectionate, but then he realizes that she’s using him so that she doesn’t have to stand on her own. He’s not sure he minds either way. “I need real coffee, and I need it in an IV.”

“Okay, Lorelai Gilmore.”

Emma laughs into his shoulder, the vibrations working through his shoulder. “You’re learning. I’m so proud, babe.”

“I might have watched an episode or two.”

Emma’s head pops up then, the bill of her cap hitting him in the chin. “When?”

“While you were gone. It was on Netflix, and it just kind of happened.”

“Good choice, twenty-nine. Good choice.” Emma’s lips brush against the corner of his jaw, and he tugs her a little closer as his hand runs up and down her back while she presses up on her toes to make contact with his lips. “I need a diet coke or something, and then when the stores open, I’m buying the biggest damn cup of coffee in this entire airport.”

“Whatever your heart desires.”

-/-

The flight is only an hour and a half, Emma sleeps the entire time despite them getting her the biggest damn cup of coffee in the airport right before they boarded, and Killian spends his time answering emails before closing out the app so that he won’t see anything else work-related for this entire weekend. It’s a conscious decision, one he’s happy to make, and it’s almost refreshing to know that he doesn’t have anything to worry about for at least a few days.

Well, anything to worry about except for Ruth Nolan and making sure that he can impress her.

-/-

The taxi they get from the airport takes them directly to Ruth’s house, so Emma doesn’t get much time to show him around, only pointing out a few landmarks. They pass the minor league baseball stadium here, the Portland Sea Dogs, and Emma tells him that she’s never actually been despite having such easy access. She was too caught up in everything having to do with New York and getting there that she never really thought about it. He teases her and tells her they’ll have to go to a game, but Emma turns him down by saying that she needs a break from baseball.

He does too.

So that’ll probably be knocked off the itinerary that Killian is sure Mary Margaret has made. Luckily, though, she and David won’t be here until early evening since they both had to be at work and school for half a day, so they’re pretty much free to do whatever they want with Ruth today.

He’s still slightly reeling from his injury and their fight and everything that came from that. He’s not angry or upset, but this is all still such an adjustment. He should be playing. He shouldn’t be here, but it’s his own damn fault that he is. He screwed up on so many levels, and owning up to it all has been a tough pill to swallow.

Hurting the people he loved nearly killed him, and he doesn’t want anyone to hurt because of him ever again.

In the blink of a bleary eye, they’re pulling up to a quaint two-story Victorian home with brown and white details and bright green bushes lining the brick-paved walkway to the front door. It’s a home, undoubtedly, one much the same as all of the ones in the city and yet entirely different in that he can see vibrant green grass and flushed trees that spread out all over the neighborhood. It reminds him of growing up in Ohio, even if they were not the ones to have the spaciously fenced-in backyard, and a little fluttering of his heart takes place as Killian takes it all in.

He’s always kind of wanted a place like this – away from everything.

“So, this is the place?”

“This is the place.”

“It’s nice.”

“Yeah, I’ve always thought so.” Emma hikes her bag up a little higher on her shoulder and turns to look at him, trepidation written across her face. “We can still turn around if you want to. There are hotels around here.”

“We’re going inside, love.” He leans down and quickly brushes his lips over hers. She tastes strongly of coffee just from the little taste that he got. He’d like to kiss her more, to have the privacy of the hotel so he can show her just how much he’s missed her the past few days of her being gone, but they’re not doing that. “Besides, I believe I just saw Ruth peeking her head through the window looking at us, so it’s too late to turn around now.”

“Yeah,” Emma sighs, “I guess it is.”

Emma steps forward and begins moving up the path, Killian following right behind her, and Emma barely gets a chance to knock on the door before it’s swinging open and Ruth is lunging forward to practically smother Emma with a hug.

Damn. Ruth Nolan is a force of nature.

Then again, she was already for being a single mom most of her life and still taking in foster children, especially one as stubborn as Emma. He can’t even begin to imagine.

He fully intends on finding out this weekend. There are a million questions running around in his mind.

“Oh,” Ruth coos, shaking Emma in her embrace. A dog escapes the front door and comes to sniff at Killian’s feet. This must be Wilby. “I have missed you so much. I think I’m going to have to move to New York so I can see you more often. Do you have room in that apartment of yours?”

“Only if the couch is comfortable for you.”

“I think it may kill my back.”

“No, it’ll definitely kill your back. I have no doubt. It kills my back. Killian’s couch is super comfortable, though.”

“Well, I hardly know the man. I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to sleep over in his apartment.”

“Who cares about proper, love?” Killian teases. “I would be remiss to not let a beautiful woman sleep over at my apartment.”

The words slip out of his mouth before he’s able to stop them, and he immediately regrets them. Ruth may not be Emma’s mom, the title something that Emma still struggles with no matter how much she loves Ruth, but she’s very much a mother figure. Yet here he is spewing words that pretty much scream in her face that he doesn’t care about proper and has been fucking Emma for months now. What a smooth start.

The pit in his stomach becomes a heavy, solid weight, one that’s going to have him breaking the wood of the wraparound front porch.

Shit.

But then Ruth is leaning her head back in laughter, her eyes shining brightly as her hair falls off of her shoulders, and that weight lessens a little bit.

“I’m not much of one for proper either,” Ruth says with laughter still on her lips. She releases Emma and steps toward him, wrapping him in a hug as well, even if this one isn’t quite as smothering. It likely helps that he’s larger than Emma. “Hello, sweetie. SoSo, you’re the infamous Killian Jones I’ve been hearing about?”

“From Emma?”

“No, my grandson. He loves you. I think he was probably more devastated about your arm than Emma was.”

“How did you know I was devastated?”

Ruth pulls back from him to look at Emma. “Intuition told me that you’d be upset over the fact that your boyfriend is injured. Mary Margaret gave me all of the other details.”

Emma’s eyes roll. “Of course she did.”

“You know she can’t keep a secret.”

Killian looks over to Emma to see what she’s got to say, thinking that this first meeting is going rather smoothly, but then Ruth’s eyes are snapping back to him and looking him up and down in a way that has him feeling rather naked under her scrutiny.

Obviously, it was wishful thinking for him to assume he was quite out of the woods.

“You’re much more handsome in person than on TV.”

“Thanks,” Killian laughs awkwardly as he reaches up to scratch behind his ear. “I, uh, appreciate that.”

Emma looks over to him with raised brows that are pinched together, probably wondering when he turned into a stumbling fool instead of someone who can charm anyone, and all he can do is shrug is shoulders at her. She shrugs back before squatting down on the porch to scratch behind the dog’s ears.

“Have you eaten breakfast yet, Ruth?” Emma asks, obviously trying to save him. “We’ve had coffee but not food, and we’d love to take you out to breakfast.”

Ruth waves her away. “Nonsense. I’ll cook breakfast for all of us.”

“You really don’t have to do that, Mrs. Nolan.”

She smiles at him. “It’s Ruth, and yes I do. I hear you’re quite the baker, so you can help.”

“Well, who told you that?”

“Mary Margaret. She’s where I get all of my information, don’t you know? Emma and David don’t give me nearly enough.”

“You know, Ruth,” Killian smiles, “I have heard a little bit about the two of them not sharing a lot of information. You practically have to drag it out of them. I would never do such a thing as keeping secrets.”

Emma scoffs but there’s that loving, playful smile. “Too soon, twenty-nine. Too soon.”

Ruth guides them inside and sends Emma off to take their bags to her old room. Killian raises his brow in question to make sure it’s okay for them to share a room, and Emma simply rolls her eyes before taking both of their bags up the stairs while Ruth ushers him into the living room.

It’s just as homey as the outside. Everything is covered in warm colors from the deep brown of the leather couch to the inviting green of the wall. Two windows sit on either side of the stone fireplace where the television is mounted, and that’s when Killian spots the myriad of picture frames on the mantel, as well as on the bookshelf in the corner of the room.

This is exactly what he’s been so excited about.

(Besides getting to spend a weekend away with Emma where she spent the last of her teenager years.)

There are a few photos of David as a child, ones of him alone and then ones of him with both of his parents. Most of them, however, everyone is a tad bit older. Killian knows that it’s so Emma can be included in all of the photos, and his heart swells a bit at the thought of Ruth being that thoughtful so that Emma doesn’t have to feel left out in any way.

A picture of David, Mary Margaret, and Emma sits in the middle of the mantle. David and Mary Margaret look much the same, if not younger than they look now, but with different hairstyles. Killian makes a mental note to tease David about his shoulder-length hair. Emma, though, is definitely a teenager here. Her face is rounder, far less angled, and he can see the tepidness of her smile as she leans into David in the picture.

“Are you looking at how cute I am?” Emma questions as she walks into the room.

Killian turns to look at her and at the shy smile on her face now, and he opens up his arm to let her walk into him so that her arm can wrap around his back while her head rests on his shoulder.

“How old are you here, love?”

“Um, that’s a question I don’t know the answer to.”

“Sixteen,” Ruth supplies, and Killian doesn’t miss the way she’s smiling at the two of them standing there. “That’s from Thanksgiving. Emma still wasn’t too sure about us.”

“I’m still not.”

Killian squeezes her hip. “Liar.”

“Nope, I’m serious. You’ve only just met Ruth, so I don’t think you can judge her character yet.”

“Oh no, darling, I can. She’s promised to tell me stories about you while we cook breakfast, and that’s good enough for me to love her forever.”

Emma groans and dips her head down. “Just let me sulk, and I’ll come to the kitchen when breakfast is ready.”

“Just like when you were a teenager,” Ruth teases.

The morning is mostly spent in the kitchen where they eat waffles and bacon, which is definitely not on his diet but he’s not playing right now anyways, and he gets to listen to Ruth tease Emma all about what she was like as a teenager. Emma’s cheeks are painted red, the embarrassment very clearly there, but she takes it like a champ and smiles and laughs along even when Ruth tells a story about Emma nearly breaking her arm while trying to sneak back into the house after meeting a guy who she wasn’t supposed to be meeting.

“Not my finest moment,” Emma admits as she bites into a piece of bacon. “And definitely not my finest boyfriend.”

The stories continue, and as the day passes on, Killian’s stomach hurts from all of the laughter. Everything about his time here just seems so…perfect. And he knows that there is no such thing as perfect, but the crisp breeze of the air with the sunshine filtering through the leaves of the trees tells him otherwise as the two of them help Ruth with some of her yardwork. Of course, he hasn’t done yardwork in over a decade, so he’s a little rusty. Ruth and Emma make sure to point that out to him every time he cuts a shrub in the wrong way or manages to screw up turning on the lawnmower.

It was complicated, okay?

And Killian definitely wasn’t aware that this is how they’d be spending the first part of their afternoon. It was not at all mentioned in Emma’s pitch of asking him to come here.

Not that he would have ever said no to helping. It’s good to feel useful when he’s been feeling a little useless lately no matter how well he thinks that he’s handling his injury layoff.

It’s decidedly different than the first time around. It likely helps that the injury isn’t as serious and that Killian knows that the end of it is in sight, even if there’s still bits of uncertainty that no one can answer and predict for him. Yet, it also has everything to do with the fact that the people closest to him know exactly what’s going on instead of him letting it all fester inside of him. Honesty is the better policy this time, even if his hand was the slightest bit forced.

Watching Emma easily guide him through Old Port with a beatific smile on her face may help as well.

No, it definitely helps.

She’s such a force of light in his life, even if she doesn’t like admitting that sometimes, but the fact almost seems reinforced after having been apart from her and facing the thoughts of what his life may be like without her in it outside of being someone who he works with.

Frankly, it would be kind of dim. She’s integrated herself so easily into every aspect of his daily routine, and while at first, he thought it really only had to do with her clothes in his closet and her shampoo bottles littering his shower, it’s more in the way that he’ll be sitting with Elsa and look over to see her texting Emma or the way that whenever he wakes up in the morning and she’s not in bed with him, his first thought is to check his phone for a text from her. It’s ridiculous and yet also…not.

She annoys him more than anything or anyone in the world, but he also loves her more than anything. It’s easy in a way that it’s never been before, and Killian wonders if this feeling of fluttering deep in his belly is what he was missing in the past.

They grab a late lunch at a quaint little seafood place, one he can tell is family-owned simply from the atmosphere, and instead of sitting inside, they settle down at one of the umbrella-covered tables outside so that they can have a view of the ocean with the salt-water breeze wafting over them.

He’s missed the water.

Of course, he’s been around it living in Manhattan and traveling to several places around the country that are surrounded by water. Hell, he’s even been back in it in the three years since the accident with Liam. But it’s been a long damn time since he’s sat and simply enjoyed getting to spend time near the water.

During the off-season, he and Emma are going somewhere that’s surrounded by water for at least a week, and they’re not going to let any outside distractions get to them. It’s making plans for the future, and that’s all that he wants right now.

(Some would call it baseball mating season, and while he doesn’t plan on them reproducing anytime soon, they can sure as hell practice.)

They get a call that David and Mary Margaret are nearly there when Emma is showing him some of the lighthouses while using a ridiculous voice that she calls her “tour guide” voice, so they quickly gather their things and start walking back to Ruth’s car since she absolutely cannot wait to see the rest of her family and refuses to have them be at her house before she can get back to her house.

David and Mary Margaret get there first because they are apparently the fastest drivers on the planet today.

And Leo practically tackles Ruth in all of his ten-year-old glory when he sees her.

That’s how Addy and Lucy are with Elsa’s parents too, and Killian imagines that being a grandparent is a hell of a lot of fun since you aren’t in charge of molding a little person into a functioning human being. You just have to give them candy and all of the things their parents don’t want them to have.

Or, at least, that’s what he thinks Ruth does.

(That’s what he does as an uncle and wishes his mom could have done as a grandmother.)

They all eat takeout dinner together from an Italian place that Emma and David swear by, and while it’s certainly not the best thing he’s ever had to eat, it’s pretty damn good. Then again, he’s had so much to eat today that his stomach very well may explode soon. He’ll have to get up and go for a jog in the morning.

But right now, it’s a little past ten at night, he’s been up for over eighteen hours, and all he really wants is to sleep. His body is dragging enough that he imagines he’ll have no trouble falling into a slumber as soon as his head hits the pillow.

He’s wrong.

Because then he sees Emma’s teenage bedroom and sees just how empty it is. It’s absolutely nothing like her apartment in New York full of throw pillows and blankets and every artificial plant known to man with a colorful paintings above her headboard. Everything here is rather…beige.

Emma walks out of the bathroom where she’s been getting ready for bed, and he watches as she rubs lotion up and down her hands and her forearms. “Why that glum look on your face? Are you still trying to figure out better ways to argue with David over soccer? Because that dinner conversation is long over. I thought Leo was going to climb on top of the table and start beating on his chest or something equally ridiculous.”

“Hm, no,” Killian chuckles, opening his knees so that Emma can step into them and his hands can find their spots on her waist, warm flesh against his fingertips.

“Then what?”

He blinks up at her, not entirely sure if now is the right time to ask, but then he sees the glint of his mom’s ring falling against Emma’s chest and is reassured in who he is to Emma. “I can’t help but notice that your room here is not quite as colorful as your room at home.”

Emma sighs, and he squeezes her hip in response so that she looks down at him and smile. “It’s kind of a stupid reason. You don’t want to hear about it.”

“I’d love to know more of your beginnings, Swan.”

“Haven’t you heard enough about them today?”

“There is never enough information, love.”

She smiles and reaches to push his hair back off of his head, her hands a magic touch as they move through the strands there. “I’m not a sentimental person. Or, I wasn’t.” Her right hand leaves his hair to find the chain around her neck. Killian’s heart stutters at that movement. “And I never trusted that I was going to stay in one place for very long, so if I had the chance to decorate my room, I didn’t. I kept everything I owned in a little box that was always ready to go.”

His heart may actually break for Emma in this moment, the sad reality of what she’s telling him something that’s hard for him to take in. He can’t imagine what it must be like for her to have lived that way.

“I think this place worked out for you, though.”

“Yeah, it did.” She smiles again, but Killian can see the twinge of sadness in the corners of her lips. “You sure you still want to know about these beginnings of mine when they’re a little bit sad?”

“Like I’ve said before, love, we make quite the team, sad backstories and all. I do, however, think that you need a little something on these walls of yours.”

“I think all of the home décor stores may be closed.”

Killian winks. “Well, I think I’ll just have to get a little creative then.”

His hand slides around her back to squeeze her ass before he’s pushing Emma back from him and getting up from the bed to walk out the door. Everything is darkened with the lights turned off, and since he doesn’t want to wake up everyone else in the house, he uses the flashlight on his phone and quietly walks down the stairs to find his way to the kitchen where he knows there were sheets of paper in the printer as well as a few pens in a cup right behind it. Emma is on his heels, questioning what the hell it is he’s doing, but he doesn’t tell her until he’s grabbing the paper and a thick blue marker.

“What are you doing?” Emma hisses.

“I’m making you some artwork for your wall.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s endearing.”

“You say that about every weird thing that you do.”

“Because the weird things are endearing,” he corrects, looking back at her and smiling. “What kind of drawing do you want? I’m pretty talented, if I do say so myself, but it’s been awhile since I’ve drawn anything.”

“Just…do whatever you want. I’m going to fix myself a hot chocolate. Do you want one?”

“Does Ruth have any tea?”

“I’m going to make you the hot chocolate. It’s better than tea.”

Killian rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t protest as he starts sketching out what he can remember of the view of the lighthouse today. It’s rough, definitely not his best work, but considering his original plan was simply going to be writing her name out, it’ll have to do for quick work.

Strange things happen when he’s far past tired.

“Milady,” Killian sighs, picking up the paper as well as a bit of tape before walking the few steps toward Emma as she sits on a barstool at the island with two cups of hot chocolate, her mug piled up with whipped cream and sprinkles of cinnamon, “I present to you your artwork for your wall.”

Emma’s eyes glance over it before glancing up at him with a slight smile on her face. “You’ve got to sign it.”

He taps the corner of the paper where he’s scribbled in his number. “Already done.”

“Ah,” Emma laughs, “how could I have missed that?”

“You were distracted by the beauty of the picture.”

“Exactly.” Emma presses up over the countertop and leans forward to quickly brush her lips over Killian’s, and while a part of him wants to deepen it, he doesn’t want to get carried awhile while here. “Thank you. That is very sweet of you to do.”

“Endearing, right?”

“Sure.” She shakes her head and slides his mug over to him so that he can have some of his hot chocolate. “I hope today hasn’t scarred you for life, especially since you still have to survive tomorrow.”

“It’s been fun, Swan. I’ve been…I think it’s gotten me majorly out of my own head. I needed that. And I liked getting to see you be so happy. My only complaint is that I’m under strict instructions not to make your bed squeak. I don’t like that rule.”

Emma reaches over to slap his shoulder, but he moves it out of the way quick enough that she doesn’t get it. It also causes a slight twinge in his shoulder that reminds him that he needs an ice pack for tonight. He hasn’t gotten to put ice on it all day. So, he turns toward the fridge and opens up the freezer, grabbing one of Ruth’s ice packs, and placing it on top of his shoulder before turning back to Emma whose fingers are tracing over the drawing.

Emotion lodges in his throat again, something that’s been happening quite a lot tonight, and it’s what propels him forward to step behind Emma’s back and wrap his arms around her stomach before resting his chin on top of her head.

“I’m not going anywhere, Emma,” he promises, meaning every word. “Not unless you tell me to go. So, you can plan on hanging paintings and making plans and keeping little trinkets in more places than a box. I love you more than I know how to tell you. That’s not going to change.”

Emma audibly sighs, something that he feels under the palms of his hands, before leaning back into Killian and simply staying in that spot so that he can breathe her in.

“I love you,” she breathes out as her head tilts up so that her lips can move across the underside of his jaw. “Let’s take the hot chocolate upstairs and go to bed.”

“And your picture?”

“Yeah, that too.”

-/-

Killian’s arm tingles, the feeling nearly gone, when he wakes up in the morning and finds Emma’s body pressed around it. This isn’t how they fell asleep, not even close, and he’ll probably never have use of his arm again. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, and he flexes his fingers a bit before nuzzling his nose into the back of Emma’s head in an attempt to get to go back to sleep.

They were up until maybe two in the morning talking, sleep never really coming to either of them no matter how much they both wanted it, and judging from the dim light coming through the blinds on the window, it’s still early yet.

He desperately needs coffee. He’s probably not going to be able to go back to sleep, and he desperately needs coffee.

Slowly, Killian begins to extract his arm from Emma’s grip, stopping when she flinches, and after several careful minutes, he’s able to quietly get off the bed and step out of the room, leaving her door cracked so as not to make any kind of noise. He walks down the hallway and uses the guest bathroom before walking down the stairs and wandering to the kitchen in search of coffee.

To his surprise, David is already there sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop open and a cup of coffee sitting next to him, the smell wafting toward Killian.

“Hey,” Killian greets. David nearly jumps out of his chair and knocks everything over, and Killian can’t help but laugh at the shock on his face. “Did you really not hear me coming down the stairs?”

“I, uh, I – ” David is stuttering, obviously at a loss for words, and Killian can’t quite figure out what’s going on. He doesn’t think Dave is usually this flustered in the mornings. “I wasn’t expecting you or Emma to be up this early.”

Killian shakes out his arm, still trying to wake it up. “Believe me. I wish I wasn’t up. Do you always work this early in the morning on a Saturday?”

“No, I don’t, but my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing with emails this morning, so I came downstairs to see so it wouldn’t wake Mary Margaret up.”

“Ah, I turned off my emails this weekend for that exact reason.”

“You probably shouldn’t have done that.”

“What’s that, mate?” David coughs in response, and Killian steps forward to the table and sits down across from David, confusion running through him as his stomach twists and turns. “Seriously. What?”

David can’t look at him, not really, and that doesn’t help calm any of Killian’s nerves as he tries to figure out what in the world is going on with him this morning.

“I didn’t know this was happening, I swear. I’d have stopped it if I got one whiff of it, but there’s been an article.”

“An article?”

David turns his computer around, and Killian reads a headline that he’s always expected to see and yet has always hoped to avoid.

The Truth Behind Killian Jones: A Story Told by His Father.

“Fucking hell,” he murmurs, his eyes taking in the picture of his father that’s plastered on the screen. Killian hasn’t seen him in years, actual years, and yet he looks exactly the same. “What kind of shit is this?”

“It gets worse.”

“How could it possibly get worse?”

“Look at the journalist.”

Killian’s eyes glance toward the screen again, his gaze finding more words he didn’t want to see.

Walsh Osborne.

As in Emma’s ex, Walsh Osborne who she still works with at ESPN. Though, this article is decidedly not on ESPN’s website.

Holy fucking shit.

Killian’s got to go back to bed. This isn’t real. This is all some kind of messed up nightmare that he’s experiencing, and soon, he’ll wake up and none of it will be real. And yet Killian keeps scrolling through the article, skipping the words to instead look at pictures of himself that Killian hasn’t seen in years. His father shouldn’t have these pictures. Liam should have all of them. And yet, somehow, he doesn’t.

Childhood pictures are nothing, though, at least for right now, when at the bottom of the article are pictures of Killian and Emma standing in the airport yesterday with Emma’s arms wrapped around his waist as well as a picture of them kissing in his car from who knows when. Then there’s one that he knows is from the hallways of Yankee stadium in what was supposed to be a private room.

“Everyone knows about you and Emma,” David tells him. 

This is too much. It’s all too much, and he doesn’t know how to handle the reappearance of his father and the very public reveal of his private relationship.

Fuck.

[stillness-in-green]

Changeling: The League (3/3)

Bonus Miscellanea!  A sampler round of various other villains and some AU-of-the-AU versions of the story and characters, including some alternate takes on characters using other game lines from the World of Darkness.  

This post is the last one I have in mind for the concept, but I hope everyone who was curious enough to read them enjoyed them.  There’s some fun stuff in this post in particular, I think--the Word of Darkness really is a very versatile setting.  Find the explanations and the League of Villains here, the follow-up with the Meta Liberation Army here, or just hit the jump for the bonus material.

THE MINIONS

All for One’s direct loyalists and followers.  All are dual-kithed or otherwise eyebrow-raising in kith/seeming combination, and all have a high enough Wyrd that their kith abilities are starting to evolve--serving AFO does have its benefits.  With AFO imprisoned back in Faerie and the cycle stalled out, AFO’s followers are finding themselves facing an unclear future, and so each is having to come up with what they want to do going forward.  Mostly want Tomura to come back and get things moving again, having little sense that there is a world out there that’s more “real” than the one they currently inhabit.

Kurogiri

Type: Palewraith Darkling, Chatelaine dual kith.  Once a caretaker for Tomura, he opts to find Tomura out in the real world in hopes of resuming that directive.  When Tomura does not show even a shred of recognition, Kurogiri opts to set up a bar in the local Hedge, making himself “available.”  

Mantle: Winter, season of secrecy.  Has a servant’s circumspectness with a loyalist’s desire to keep his secrets, as well as a deep, very old melancholy that even he doesn’t really remember the reason for anymore.  

Contracts: Fleeting Winter I, Sorrow-Frozen Winter I-III, Dream I-V, and Smoke I-IV.  For Smoke, he has the old 4-dot Smoke-stepping clause rather than the more modern Murkblur, which is something of a tell regarding his true age.

 Ujiko

Type: Chirurgeon Darkling, which shouldn’t actually be possible by the categorizations as the fae understand them.  He’s been in AFO’s hands for a long time, though.  Current fear: what’s going to happen to the realm if the cycle continues to stall?  Gears can only grind against one another for so long before something explodes!

Mantle: Autumn.  A mad scientist with a deep appreciation for breaking things open to find out how they tick.

Contracts: Artifice I-III, Shade & Spirit I-IV, Spellbound Autumn I-III, and Goblin Delayed Harm III.

 Gigantomachia

Type: Stonebones Elemental, Gargantuan dual kith.  AFO’s most loyal monster.  Would have tried to find Shigaraki sooner, but he’s far too removed from the human he once was to be able to find his way through the Hedge without aid.  Probably spends the first few parts of the story giving All Might trouble in Faerie.  

Mantle: Courtless.  Has no emotional affinities that don’t track back to All for One.  

Contracts: Oath & Punishment I-V, Communion (Earth) I-III, and Stone I-V.  Like Geten, a close replica of his canonical powerset.

OTHER VILLAINS 

Muscular: Bloodbrute Ogre.  Ex-gladiator; current terror.

Moonfish: Gristlegrinder Ogre.  Current cannibal; also current terror.

Mustard: Blightbent Elemental.  Looks cuter because he doesn’t have to wear the gas-mask to protect against his own fumes.

Stain: Razorhand Darkling, give or take a Pischacha dual kith.  Broken very deeply by Arcadia from the strict and upright man he once was, but Lost society was pretty much created to provide a safe haven for that kind of damage.  A Summer Court enforcer of some notoriety.  

Gentle Criminal: Windwing Beast.  Refuses to be ground-bound, and is posting videos of himself doing impossible stunts that are drawing some attention, for better or for worse.   

La Brava: Drudge Wizened.  Falls in love with Gentle for showing her that you don’t have to shrink into what other people tried to make of you.  Has absolutely dyed her hair bright pink.  Somehow amazing at stealth anyway.

Gag Inclusion That Makes No Sense With the Lore But Is Perfect Anyway So I’m Not Changing It: 

Overhaul: “Don’t be ridiculous.  There’s no such thing as magic.”  

A banality-riddled Dauntain, from the previous incarnation of the game.  This is how Magne survives--he doesn’t kill her, but rather nukes her glamour reserves/Wyrd score access so badly she has to spend the next three months in the motley’s Hollow living in as much fae decadence as they can afford her, dining on hedgefruit, pampering herself, and keeping up with her various dream pledges while she recovers.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSES, ALTERNATE TAKES  

Hero Court, Villain Court: There is a version of the story where Heroes and Villains are old labels from a time when the freehold was built around a now-collapsed Sun Court/Moon Court dichotomy, headed up by All Might and All for One.  In the days following the catastrophic last battle, changelings of the Hero Court and the Villain Court alike have begun picking up the pieces and realigned to what everyone hopes will be a more stable Seasonal Court model.  Endeavor is the Summer King, a changeling who somehow had four three children when it’s all but unheard of to have even one.

Final Boss Shigaraki: There is a version of the story that centers on Deku, and in that version, what Shigaraki learns is this: everyone and everything has an end waiting for them somewhere.  As the game story progresses through power creep and mounting stakes, dramatic revelations and shifting priorities, Shigaraki moves away from Autumn and becomes more attuned to the fatalistic but liberating philosophy of Dusk.  As such, he gains the Entropy Contract clauses, I-V.  In this fashion, Shigaraki is paralleled by Final Battle Deku, rising champion of the Dawn, who is likewise gaining mastery of the Contract of Shonen Protag Powers Potential.  Will they be enemies in the end?  Allies?  Either way, their fates are connected.

Changeling All for One: There is a version of the story in which All Might and All for One are both changelings, in which the entirety of My Hero Academia is a story being played out in some far realm of Faerie.  All for One here is not Shigaraki’s Keeper, but merely a mentor who, when expy!Kamino happens, takes the opportunity to get Shigaraki out, knowing that he himself has been gone from the world for far too long to ever make the return trip through the Thorns intact.  In this version, All Might is an unknowing Loyalist who follows Shigaraki out, determined to capture him “for the good of society”--which would, of course, entail dragging him back to Faerie.

Destro the Revolutionary: There is a version of the story in which Desto is not one of the Gentry, but rather a changeling from years past, one who was spearheading a huge movement advocating that the Lost should reveal themselves to human society writ large--that Faerie predation could never be stopped as long as humanity didn’t know about it, and changelings had the power to, well, change that.   And weren't they tired of living in hiding; didn't they wish they could tell their loved ones the truth?  And that was a message that a lot of changelings liked, but it was also a message that terrified changelings in equal measure, and so in the end, an operative/operation from the Seasonal Court freehold put Destro down.  

In that take, Re-Destro is a successor to Destro as someone who came out of a similar durance and the MLA is a group planning a retributive war against the Seasonal Courts for their perfidy.  Shigaraki and the League could either stumble across the plot or be actively approached as a potentially sympathetic party after Shigaraki's relationship to AFO comes out and endangers his position in his own freehold.  

Re-Destro the Prince: There is a version of the story in which Re-Destro is not a changeling at all, but rather a vampiric prince, heir to a forbidden blood discipline.  He and his followers catch wind of the League motley: not vampires, but not normal humans, either.  They seek the motley out to find out what their deal is and whether it will be a complication to the MLA’s plans.  Vampires are far more immediately dangerous than changelings, but changelings have so many wonderful little tricks up their sleeve, especially against people who are careless with their battle banter.  (But I’ll be real, I hardly know a thing about Vampire: The Requiem--I’m much more familiar with Masquerade.  This version of the story mostly exists because I’m a Shigaraki/Re-Destro shipper and I am not immune to adventures in sexy blooddrinking.) 

THE WIDE WORLD OF DARKNESS

There are many other spins one could put on various MHA characters that would be fun to explore.  I kept all the relevant characters fae (or Fae) because if I started thinking about all the things the characters could be, I would actually never stop--and anyway, I’m more familiar with Old World of Darkness meta than I am New World of Darkness.  A lot of the ideas were still fun, though, so for your perusal, here are some of the ones I came up with:

The Shie Hassaikai is an extremist Hunter cell dedicated to weeding out supernatural creatures of all sorts.

Ujiko is a wildly amoral retired Hunter running a mad scientist lab funded by dubiously sourced money from his fae patron, as long as he’s spending a requisite amount of time per month working on AFO’s projects.

There exists a Sin-Eater and his resident Geist who have become so tangled in each other that they no longer retain separate identities, and are now merely “Kurogiri.”  

Kurogiri is a changeling.  Yamada Hizashi is a Sin Eater.  Aizawa Shouta is a Hunter, and he and Hizashi both are trying to dig up information on what happened to Shirakumo Oboro, but neither one of them is anywhere near getting at the truth of the matter.  (This one might actually be true for the purposes of the main Changeling!AU story.)

Midoriya Izuru is a mortal taking his first, faltering steps into the great wide world.  He’s had no durance, no first change, no sire, no awakening--he’s just a young man who stumbles across a secret and has to decide what to do with it.

[nidhoggssoultrap]

Headcanon Part 3

Dress up game...one character...inspired all this...wow. But, I was able to dig up some old “flames” because of this, so it’s all good.

Previous “Headcanons”:

https://nidhoggssoultrap.tumblr.com/post/190472389157/my-headcanon-nidhogg-louie-and-yvette-mostly

https://nidhoggssoultrap.tumblr.com/post/190581277697/headcanonsvingettessnippets-part-2

1. Since I have a special fondness for Camaros, I decided that Nidhogg will be driving that. A powerful black one that is a blast to drive. >:) My biases are showing, I know.

2. My "adaptation" is a cross over with Ultima. This is a very old series that has been an inspiration for years. Want an old school RPG to play? Try the Ultima series. The NES port of Ultima IV, Quest of the Avatar is excellent. But, the PC versions are better with Ultima 7 being considered the best and unfortunately going downhill from there. Still, it is an amazing old school series that is worth checking out and they are either free or low cost. Anyway, the Blood Curse problem is solved by instituting a "Virtue System" with Louie as one of the "Avatars", a shining example of virtue. Yvette will be one too as will quite a few others. The "True King" used to be like this, but because of his curse, he lost all virtue and is no longer an Avatar.

Nidhogg had NO idea that Louie was such a thing. No one did until he revealed it after the fight. Nidhogg had been trying for another power and as stated in the second batch of headcanon, he failed. Because of this, he is hit with a second curse, one that is not only painful, but scarring. Unlike the Blood Curse, only an Avatar can alleviate the pain once it flares up and there is no way to free someone from such a curse.

The "Fail Curse" basically means that you must follow the path of the Avatar and live in service to them. Failure to do so means being burned alive. Since Nidhogg isn't stupid or interested in killing himself(he did, however, consider it), he follows that path. The scarring goes from the heart and covers the upper left side of the body, except for the neck, face, and private parts(think heart attack area and that's generally where the scarring is). Still, having such scarring puts someone at a disadvantage in styling contests. The "Scarring" is the term I will be using in my "headcanon".

3. Remember the "He can't keep getting away with this!" Yvette says about Nidhogg? She tells Louie this and he point blank says, "he's not going to." This one came up recently, but I'm going to roll with it. It's based on something that apparently happens in a new Yvette Dreamweaver. After the death of Lunar,  Louie decides to pay her a visit in Lillith due to their mutual connection to Nidhogg. She's seen Louie before in Apple(first while he was on his motorcycle and second at a restaurant bar)  and thought he was "gorgeous." She considered the woman he loved "a very lucky woman". Nidhogg was NOT happy with this, but he acted like it was "no big deal". Anyway, Yvette and Louie tell each other about themselves a bit and he reveals that not everything about the Prime Minister is false, but does confirm that the Colonel is the "genuine article".  Yvette is sorry about Lunar's death and, of course, so is Louie. They agree to work together to stop Nidhogg. This would happen while Nikki and Kimi are in Apple dealing with Reid.

4. Speaking of beach theme in the last headcanon, Nidhogg's idea of "beach theme" is a t-short and boxer shorts. That's it. He's the same way with the Pajama theme.

5. I have another bunny involving Louie taking advantage of Nidhogg's love for him. It's basically a plot to steal back the White Blossom. It's a "date" that ends in "bedtime" and well, Louie succeeds in stealing the White Blossom. Needless to say, Nidhogg is well...displeased at being so used. It does not end for either one of them as they fight at the grave of Louie's father. Yea, mean bunny. I get those sometimes.

6. Nidhogg's parents were high ranking NCOs in the military. His father(I named Liam) was a "King of Cups" sort while his mother(Madam Zosha) was a "Queen of Wands." If one had to choose, it's agreed that Nidhogg took after his father and became "The Page of Swords" and ultimately "The King of Swords." He loved his parents very much and was present when they died. Liam died the same way Micheal Collins did(shot while going between cars). Zosha died soon afterward trying to avenge him. This is quite possibly his most painful memory and won't likely be surpassed. He was eight years old.  He lived for two years on his own before being discovered in Black Rock City by Louie's father. Yea, Nidhogg knows some hardship and knows how it feels to watch someone being accused of things they did not do (Liam was falsely accused of treason) and lose everything because of it.

7. Nidhogg learned to drive when he was 13. Self-taught on a manual shift jeep. He stalled only once, decided that it would never happen again and it didn't(that is, until the very end of the chase when Yvette finally fights back). He was a few years older when he learned to fly, but was quickly surpassed by Louie. However, as stated in previous headcanons, Nidhogg is a better driver.

8. There are four "loopholes" around the Blood Curse: 1. Medicines(Regent 7), 2. Inability to feel pain. 3. The ability to feel pain and pleasure as one. 4. Immune/Highly Resistant to curses. Louie becomes the 4th one due to Avatarhood.

9. It should have gone without saying that Nidhogg is a loner(which was why he was happy that Louie was similar). In fact, Shade was shocked that he would continue desiring Louie. Shade had assumed that Nidhogg didn't need anyone. Nidhogg's response? "Who said anything about need?" A lot of my favorite characters are like this.

10. Confession Bear: While thinking of the car chase story, I kind of laughed at the fact that there are two grown men embroiled in "gay drama" in front of a young woman, two teenage girls, and a talking cat. In the end, pretty much everyone knew what went on between Louie and Nidhogg, not something either of them wanted much.

11. In Headcanon 2, I made it clear that Louie was blinded by hate/rage. Because of this, some of his actions were a bit unbecoming of an avatar(this Ultima, this happens too. The point is that things can get complicated and being virtuous doesn't always work). Like: twisting and turning Nidhogg's words until it suited his purpose, ascribing words/actions to Nidhogg that he didn't actually say/do, using Nidhogg's actual words against him, and well, subterfuge. Louie succeeds in getting a good number of people to defect, but they end up siding with ORLANDO. Either way, League Tyr suffers losses because of it. Part of the reason Louie acted the way he did was due to desperation, but also the rage he felt toward Nidhogg, but it wasn't pure rage as he still loved his elder "brother"/friend.

At the end of their final duel, Louie strips him of his cape, his medals, and his weapons. He tells the girls, "If you have any last words to say to him, say them now because it'll be awhile before you ever see him again, if ever." He also uses Nidhogg's quote about fate against him("This is your fate").   All of this was done while Nidhogg suffered greatly under the "Fail Curse." Louie could have alleviated the pain while before banishing him, but deliberately chose not to.

He's also said this(when Morrison/Grey Raven was captured): "The opinions of others mattered little to your parents. Where are they now?" Er, yea...lowblow. Nidhogg's response? A raised eyebrow and he continued his argument as if Louie had said nothing of the sort and was STILL trying to persuade him to join the Night Order.

During the "chase" he finally does get to Nidhogg when he basically says, "The freedom you will bring is false!" And even worse, "I wish you had died as a child, buried in the snow with no one to give a damn about you. Then, I would have never known you and I wouldn't be cursed with the memories of you!"

He says a lot more, but that's the gist of it. Had it been anyone else, it would have the effect of a sneeze in a tornado, but because it was Louie, it, well, got to Nidhogg in ways no one else was able to. Yvette and Nikki simply angered/irritated him. Louie...well...made him cry. Er, sort of. I mean, this is Nidhogg, after all.  At that point, Nidhogg basically says "you never understood me, you never really tried" and makes a declaration that sends Louie in tears. Soon after that, Nidhogg tells all of them that there is no use arguing anymore because "you will never agree with me and I will never agree with you, so that makes things rather moot, now doesn't it?" When Louie offers a reconciliation, Nidhogg says that it's "too late now."

In the end, Louie regrets all off of it because he knew that Nikki was right: It was needless cruelty. He was also reprimanded by the Seer of the Avatar, who said the same thing and that vengeance had no place for an Avatar. Later on, Nidhogg tells him that he would have never been so cruel had the situation been reversed.

12. Of all those in the Night Order, only Nidhogg faced any real consequences. It was decided that being "Scarred" was punishment enough. Plot twist: He was set up by Ryan all along and Ryan was the one who finally inspired Yvette to become her own White Knight. Remember Ryan?

13. That power Nidhogg so desperately wanted and needed Yvette in order to obtain it? It would have destroyed him completely as his mindset was a bit "reversed" at the time. So really, Yvette and co. saved him and his soul.

14. Nidhogg, imo, is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. If he's poor, he's jealous. If he's rich, then he's a hypocrite. If he's straightforward, he's an asshole. If he sugercoats, then he's a liar. He learned early on not to give a damn what others think for this reason as his parents went through the same thing.

15. The issue is that there was only one way to settle disputes. So, the stylings contests were something that seemed freeing, but it wasn't. It was a sugar coated tyranny. Such a thing created internal turmoil, hence "false peace."

16. Confession Bear: My first impression of him in his uniform other than "OMG HAAAWWWWT" was "OMG FASCIST!" But, then I looked up the Iron Cross and found that it predates any thought of Fascism/Nazism by about 200 years.

17. Nidhogg KNEW that there would be chaos. "Of course there would be chaos! Did you think I wouldn't know that!? But from chaos will come a new order and it will be under my firm, guiding hand!"

18. Yvette looked at all the gifts Nidhogg had given her after all that had happened. While keeping a low profile in Lillith, she wondered how much contempt/disdain/hate he actually had for her. It wasn't the first time she had such "friends", but Nidhogg's deceit hurt her the most. She found that people being honest with where she stood with them was far more preferable.  She thought of throwing the gifts away, but Kiki told her that the gifts didn't do anything, so she shouldn't. Yvette chose not to. She also remembered the "I like me speech" and that she had true friends.

19. Liliana(this is the 'artist' in my fic) works as a cleaner/maid in the capital building. She is a friend of Bobo and ultimately Yvette. She draws all sorts of things, including designs. Nidhogg actually used one of her drawings to make Bunny Stockings ("That's not his style.") Unlike the thief, he gives her credit and thanks her for being able to look at her sketches. After the coup, she thinks that he may have been looking at her sketchbook/photo album to see what she knows.

20. Nidhogg has a "take all you want, but eat what you take" attitude when it comes to food. This is from the military.

[sportsnightnut]

I'm missing my dad a lot right now and I would love a little father-daughter moment between Mulder and baby girl if inspiration strikes you. The way you write them is sweet. ❤️

Oh, dear anon. I’m sorry to hear you’re missing your dad. I hope this little bit helps. ️❤️

(Also, as a heads up, I took some liberties in erasing anything that “happened” with Monica in the revival because as far as I’m concerned, CC can shove that storyline somewhere the sun doesn’t shine.)

Written on my lunch break, briefly edited/revised. Tagging @today-in-fic​ and a couple of my pals, @baronessblixen​ and @viceversawrites​. 😊

The room is dim, a soft glow coming from the light above the bed. The faint beeping of monitors and IV pumps can be heard from down the hall, but it’s quiet in this room, which makes this different from so many of their previous hospital stays. No agents stationed outside the door, no cops coming to ask questions about potential suspects, just nurses and doctors making their rounds.

The sweet L&D nurse, Lauren, comes to check on the trio in the early hours of the morning. She finds Mulder lying in the bed next to Scully, his right arm wrapped around her. His left hand is gently stroking the small patch of red hair on his daughter’s head.

“How are you doing?” Lauren whispers, tapping her ID badge against the reader to wake up the computer.

“We’re good,” Scully says, smiling. Caroline is asleep in her arms, having just finished feeding not long ago. “We’re really good.”

Lauren types a few notes into the chart. “I’m glad to hear that. Do you want me to take her to the nursery for a bit, let you two get some rest?”

Scully looks to Mulder, unsure. Uninterrupted sleep sounds incredible, but she doesn’t know if she can stomach the thought of being separated from Caroline. Mulder understands this from her expression; she doesn’t have to say a word.

“Nah,” he says. “We’ve got her. I’ll let her mama get some sleep and I’ll take her for a while.”

“You got it,” Lauren agrees as she heads for the door. “Just let me know if you change your mind or need anything, okay?” Scully thanks her with a sleepy nod.

Mulder untangles himself from Scully and from the blankets, happy for the opportunity to stretch his limbs. When he stands and gets a good look at his wife, he realizes she’s blinking back tears.

“Hey. Hey,” Mulder says soothingly, reaching over to cup her cheek in his hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Scully sniffles, wipes the back of her hand across her nose. “I’m just a little scared to be this happy.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Mulder’s voice is soft, reassuring. “We’re okay. Everything is okay.”

“I know.” He’s wiping her tears away with his thumb when she smiles up at him. “I guess I had just convinced myself we’d never get to do this. Somehow it didn’t feel real until I actually got to hold her.”

“Yeah. Me too. But look at her, Scully. She’s perfect. And she’s ours.”

Mulder kisses her forehead before she gives Caroline to him. He paces back and forth with her for a few moments and adjusts the tiny knit cap on her head.

“Mulder?” Scully’s voice is soft, almost shy. She’s cast in that soft glow of the light above her bed, looking almost angelic in this moment. It’s a thought Mulder would never voice out loud, but one that makes his heart swell anyway.

“Hm?”

“Thank you. For everything.“

"You don’t need to thank me. You’re the one who did all the work.”

“Yeah, but…” Scully smiles. “I couldn’t do this without you. And I wouldn’t want to, either. I love you. I hope you know how much.”

Mulder smiles back and leans down to give her a kiss. “I love you, too.”

He flips the switch to turn the light off so that the room is now illuminated only by the sliver of light coming in from the doorway.  

As soon as Scully falls asleep (which is almost immediately), Mulder shifts his focus down to the baby girl in his arms. She’s awake now, but quiet and calm.

He takes a seat in the recliner and looks out the window next to him, the sky shifting from black to shades of deep purple as the sun prepares to rise in a couple of hours.

“Hey, pumpkin,” he says quietly. “While I’ve got your attention, there are a few things I need to tell you. First things first: that woman over there, your mama, is the most important person in the world to both of us. We wouldn’t survive without her. I will do anything to protect her, and you too, okay?”

Though her eyes are still open, Caroline yawns.

“I can’t be boring you already, can I? Nah. You don’t even know what boredom is yet. I’ll just keep talking. Here’s the second thing you need to know: in this family, we are Yankees fans. The Red Sox are scum. You are so lucky that you were born a fan of the best team in major league baseball.”

“I also have to tell you ahead of time that I might not always get this whole dad thing right. My father wasn’t good at it, and I’m a little afraid I won’t be, either. But I’m going to do my best. And when I mess up, you just have to let me know so I can fix it, because I want to be the best dad in the universe for you.”

Mulder looks over Scully and grins. “You’ll find this out really quickly, but your mama is very smart. She’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. You might decide someday that you want to be a doctor like her. Or maybe you want to be a psychologist like your old man. Or maybe you’ll be a writer, or a teacher. I don’t know, pumpkin. But I do know you’ll be the best at whatever it is you choose, and we’re going to love you and support you no matter what.”

Mulder rocks gently back and forth in the chair. “Let’s see…what else do you need to know? Oh. Here’s something. If a man or a woman ever breaks your heart, you come to us right away, okay? We’ll take care of them for you, no questions asked. This is just one benefit of your parents being FBI agents.” He chuckles to himself.

Caroline yawns again as her eyes start to close. “Tomorrow you’ll get to meet your godparents. Your godmother’s name is Monica. Monica is one of the nicest people you will ever know. She’ll always be there to have movie nights with you and cheer you on in life. And your godfather’s name is John. He only wants the very best for you, so he’s gonna want to grill your significant others, too. I wasn’t so sure about John at first, but I warmed up to him eventually. You’ll learn quickly that I’m kind of stubborn, baby. But Monica and John were there for your mom at a time when I couldn’t be. They helped her and took care of her, and I know they’ll take care of you, too.”

“I really want to tell you more about your grandmother. Her name was Maggie. Oh, she would have loved you so much. We miss her every day. But you’ll get to see the best parts of her in your mama. And I promise we’ll try to make banana bread just as good as she made it.”

“I think that’s a good start for now, don’t you? We should get some sleep. Well…I should get some sleep,” he corrects himself, as Caroline has already been asleep for a few minutes. “We’ve got plenty of time to teach you everything you need to know. The only thing you really need to know right now is that you are by far the most loved little girl in the entire world.”

Mulder places a kiss on his daughter’s forehead. “Oh, and aliens are real, honey. Don’t ever let anyone try to convince you otherwise.”

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

Ok two months to go lets hear it: Who lives and who dies?

My death list is actually kind of short, but (probably) controversial:

The Mountain

Beric Dondarrion

Melisandre

Varys

Viserion

Cersei Lannister

Jaime Lannister

Jorah Mormont

Euron Greyjoy

Theon Greyjoy

The Night King

Sansa Stark

Jon Snow*

(*but he will be resurrected)

You’ll notice one very big name - perhaps the biggest - happens to be absent from my list. I’m not so sure I believe the leaks. *shrug*

My explanations and reasoning under the cut.

The Mountain

Of course, The Mountain is already dead, so this feels little redundant. I don’t think Cleganebowl is happening. The Mountain isn’t the same person Sandor had beef with, and Sandor isn’t the same person he once was. *shrug* I’m personally rooting for the Arya-takes-down-the-Mountain theory.

Varys

There’s a good chance that Melisandre is wrong about Varys’ death (like she’s wrong about well, almost everything):

“I have to die in this strange country, just like you.”

But we pair that with the line from Daenerys:

“If you ever betray me, I’ll burn you alive” 

…and it seems to seal his fate (I don’t buy for a second he’s got allegiance to anyone but himself). Of course, there’s a chance it could be a line foreshadowing someone else’s death that’s been ‘leaked’. We’ll see!

Viserion

I could argue that Viserion is already dead… but since “(The Night King)’s done the same thing to Viserion that he did with Craster’s sons,” I assume he’s a dragon version of an other. That’s probably not too important, anyway.

I think Viserion will be taken down by Drogon, mirroring Viserys and Drogo *shrug* I love my parallels, don’t I?

Cersei Lannister

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. Eh, eh?

For as much as everyone cries “cliche!” about Jaime being the valonqar, imagine if all that foreshadowing was traded in for some shock value, and someone like Sansa does it. *shudders* Nah, man. I want Jaime to mirror himself - the Kingslayer/Queenslayer who took down both mad monarchs threatening to ignite King’s Landing in green flames - finally getting recognized for his act of heroism. That’s much more satisfying than a quick shock that has no buildup. But I suppose, there is a pretty good chance the valonqar is Euron.

(Though I do admit - I would actually love for Cersei Lannister to make it out of this alive, somehow)

Jaime Lannister

“I cannot die while Cersei lives. We will die together as we were born together.”

Both twins have weird lines like this. So, it’s fair to assume if one dies, they both die. And if one lives, they both live. So if Cersei is brought down, Jaime will be, too. How do I see it happening? Perhaps by one last (poisonous) kiss - wherein Brienne comes in to cradle him as the life drains from his body? I dunno. But after all, he wants to die in the arms of the woman he loves, and for better or worse - that’s Brienne.

Jorah Mormont

It’s been long speculated that in season 8, we’ll be seeing a ‘beloved’ character turn into a wight - and I think the best candidate is Jorah Mormont (keep in mind we’re talking show Jorah, who is leagues better than book Jorah).

Admittedly, I do notoriously give D&D more credit than like, anyone else around here. That said - I’m not sure the polar bear thing was entirely for “coolness” factor, like they claim. The moment I heard this line, followed by Jorah looming eerily over Beric…

I thought for sure we’d see this paid off in the very same episode. To me, it just seems wildly out of place and a waste of dialogue. I hope it’s some clever foreshadowing that we’re going to see a dead 'Bear’ of Bear Isle biting someone next season.

Of course, there is always a chance that the greyscale might play some sort of role in preventing Jorah from turning… I guess we’ll see!

Lastly, I’ve always been intrigued by Jon holding a Mormont shield during the BotB - I have a tendency to read too much into everything, I admit - but wouldn’t it be great if Jorah died saving Jon’s hide?

Euron Greyjoy & Theon Greyjoy

For as formidable as book Euron may be - I don’t see him living. This series just isn’t about evil prevailing. What I think he will do, however, is attack Jon and/or Daenerys at sea, perhaps as they try to flee the north. I’m one of those annoying people who thinks very few lines of dialogue are wasted in-show, and this one is a fucking thorn in my side:

I think Theon will succeed in taking down Euron (I think this scene is a great foreshadowing that he’s going to save house Greyjoy by saving Yara), but it will likely be at the cost of his own life. I suspect he’ll not only save Yara - but perhaps some members of his other house, too. After all, he’s a Greyjoy and he’s a Stark.

The Night King

Oh, this one is fun, isn’t it? I’m probably the only person who doesn’t want the Night King to die - but I’m pretty sure he will and that I know how it’ll happen. First, we’ll finally get to see Vladimír Furdík’s stuntwork paid off in the final season, which almost ensures there will be an epic showdown between Jon and the Night King.

But you shouldn’t want Jon to defeat him! (Or Daenerys, for that matter!) Why?

“The gods hate kinslayers, even when they kill unknowing.”

This quote is specifically told to Jon by Ygritte when she recounts the tale of Bael the Bard. Interestingly, Bael the Bard heavily mirrors Rhaegar x Lyanna. And what also happens to mirror Lyanna, is how Sam and Jon become friends. Jon comes to his rescue as he’s getting his ass whooped by his fellow black brothers - just like his momma coming to Howland Reed’s aid. Both Jon and Lyanna go out of their way to further humiliate the tormenters, too.

I predict the Night King will disarm Jon Snow and in this crucial moment, and that’s when Sam the Slayer will thrust Heartsbane through his back (perhaps melted down into more wieldable daggers by Gendry?), Howland Reed-style, saving Jon’s life and frankly, blowing everyone’s minds.

Because after all…

“Everything that happens will be something that you’ve seen before.”

Buuuut it’s going to be about as satisfying as Arthur Dayne’s demise - as we’re going to learn of the Night King’s history, and perhaps that his death marked not only the death of the wights and white walkers - but all of Craster’s sons, perhaps wiping out a whole misunderstood race.

‘A villain is the hero of the other side’, after all - and if you’re familiar with my theory that the Night King is the one using his greenseeing powers to manipulate the visions in the flames that the followers of R'hllor see… then this line by Beric might foreshadow his death:

And that our heroes, the 'enemy’, will win.

Sansa Stark

Before anyone comes for me, there’s a fair amount of eerie foreshadowing - at least in the books. If the season 7 script leaks are to be believed, Sansa might still be the 'lone wolf’ she warned against last season, distancing herself from her family out of jealousy or paranoia.

The way I see it going down, though, (if it does at all) the Stark girls will mirror their direwolves - and Sansa just might die in her sister’s place, saving her life.

Jon Snow

First, let’s look at the conversation between Jon and Melisandre prior to the Battle of the Bastards:

“Any advice?”

“Don’t lose.”

“If I do, if I fall don’t bring me back.”

“I’ll have to try.”

“I’m ordering you not to bring me back.”

“I am not your servant, Jon Snow.”

“You’re in my camp. I’m the commander.”

“I serve the Lord of Light. I do what he commands.”

“How do you know what he commands?”

“I interpret his signs as well as I can.”

“If the Lord didn’t want me to bring you back, how did I bring you back? I have no power. Only what he gives me and he gave me you. Why? I don’t know. Maybe you’re only needed for this small part of his plan and nothing else. Maybe he brought you here to die again.”

Other than that, we’ve got some fucked up lines from Sansa:

(Thanks, Sansa. Great job.)

As well as Beric:

Alternatively, there is some amazing book foreshadowing that Jon will live.

Why include in the story Beric has come back from the dead multiple times, at all? Why tell us that each time he comes back, he’s a bit less of himself? He’s not a major character. Is it all just for 'flavor’ - or are we being groomed to see it happen again to someone we love?

And how bittersweet would that be - seeing Jon come back a second time, but not quite the man he used to be - the one we all grew to love.

I love the theory that Jon Snow is Dany’s mount, treason, and fire for love - and that she’s the one who commits treason against him, by possibly demanding he be brought back 'against his will’ (though, considering he’s a father-to-be and potential newlywed, I don’t think he’ll gripe about it as much in season 8 as he would’ve in season 6.)

When Jon died the first time - I thought for sure he’d come back in some blaze of glory. That they’d try to burn his body, but he’d have this epic 'Unburnt’ moment, like Dany (lol). I’d like to see Dany wake a dragon a second time with some sort of similar funeral pyre that she walks into… except that two people walk out instead of one.

I know, I know. *adjusts tinfoil hat*

But Sam Tarly happens to agree with me:

Always.

Beric Dondarrion

Considering the man gave his life long ago for Catelyn to become Lady Stoneheart in the books, I think his entire purpose for still kickin’ around in Season 8 is to give someone the 'Last Kiss’. Not really a unique idea, no. Popular candidates tend to be Sandor (after all, he tells him 'We will meet again’), Daenerys, or one of the Stark kids. But my money’s on Jon.

Melisandre

I’m an atheist (like GRRM), and therefore, I more or less despise Melisandre for basically convincing what used to be a good man to burn his daughter alive. That’s some Abraham and Isaac shit right there (and that shit better happen in the books because it’s powerful AF commentary and I’m here for it).

All that said, what I’d love to happen with Melisandre is to see her realize her god isn’t real (assuming the Night King has been messing with her visions), and have a personality crisis/breakdown. Afterward, if my theory about Jon happens to be true, she’ll play a role in bringing him back, perhaps even lending her life in the process. Buuuut I wouldn’t mind Gendry’s future wife avenging his cousin’s death and closing her 'blue eyes’ forever.

As for the rest…

People I’m unsure will live or die:

Drogon 🤞

Ghost 🤞

Nymeria 🤞

Davos Seaworth 🤞

Tyrion Lannister 🤞

Sandor Clegane 🤞

Grey Worm 🤞

Bronn

Ned Umber

Alys Karstark

People I think will live:

Samwell Tarly

Gilly

Daenerys Targaryen

Arya Stark

Bran Stark

Little Sam

“Boatbaby”

Rhaegal

Gendry

Missandei

Jon Snow (resurrected)

[bluboothalassophile]

ngl, ive had a shitty v-day. i got strep :)) would ya mind brightening my day with a bit if jayrae?

Hello,

Sorry to hear you’ve had a shitty Valentine’s Day, and I hope you get better. Strep is NO Fun At All. So I hope you enjoy the JayRae for Valentine’s Day! =)

Only Chick Flick Day of the Year

Jason stared at that ass, those hips, the legs, fuck she wasgorgeous. He liked the way she was so damn, deceptively delicate. But her legs,her ass, her hips…

He smiled when she turned to him. Her long, thick black hairtangled loosely, and she had a smile on her lips. Jason watched her closely asshe walked over to him slowly.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“First time I saw you,” he admitted.

“How’d that work out for you?” she asked him as she leanedover him.

~~~*~*~*~~

Jason had cased the joint for months, he had been patientand waited for his moment to strike. Once he was sure he could get into the damnTower and not be annihilated by Dick’s traps, and all the tech that is.

But that meant watching all the asshole’s teammates. He hadalso studied the footage of Dick’s Red X persona very closely. He was sure thatif he got the suit he could fake being Red X enough to get Slade off that moron’stail. He was only in this fucking mess because of Talia, and B, and everyoneelse; and even if they didn’t like him or want him, well… they were the closestdamn thing he had ever had to family.

Dick’s tastes in women still sucked.

However, if Jason could learn to flirt with Babs as Robinthen he was sure he could flirt with this new fiery chick. He didn’t get whatit was with Dickhead an redheads with green eyes. He really didn’t. Granted theorange fiery chick was smoking hot, tall, curvy, vivacious, but she was so damninnocently naïve. Jason had trailed around after his ‘brother’s’ idiot group offriends and had to admit that thus far he was vastly unimpressed.

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. The moron had pulledtogether a pretty solid team.

There was a cyborg, which Jason was betting money on beingthe same cyborg from the Invasion which had helped the ‘League’ against theInvasion. Yeah; Jason might live life in the fucking caves these past few yearsbut he still had access to google and he wasn’t a fucking moron.

There was a freaky greenling, which he thought was more annoyingthan an asset. Still, he was a dangerous enemy with an arsenal of animals athis disposal, but the kid was unimaginative.

The sexy redhead was a bit of a problem, she had powers,energy base if he was to hazard a guess, and she was trained in combat. No wayshe’d be an easy opponent, but he could totally take her.

Dickhead was still Dickhead, and Jason had grown up, outgrown his ‘brother’s’ (he sneered at the association) shadow. He was more dangerousthan Dickhead could ever be, or hope to be. Jason knew it, so he did not foreseeDickhead being a problem; as long as he could stay in control.

However, the only problem was the unknown variable in theequation.

She was tiny, had legs, ass and hips; all of which he was eyeingat the moment as he saw the teen leaning over the counter. Holy FUCK! He had tofocus on breathing despite everything that was running through his head. Her shortviolet hair bobbed as she turned on him.

Now, despite her youth she was so damn sexy he reallyfocused on breathing so his body didn’t react. Still he shot her a rogue grin.Her eyes were dark, he could quite figure out their color, her skin was so paleit wasn’t white, but she still had that ethral quality. Her upper lip was plump,and fuller than her bottom lip. She had sharp, proud features, but there was asorrow in her features. It reminded him of a Navajo woman he had met once, but italso reminded him of Holocaust survivor pictures. She was breath takinglygorgeous.

“Can I help you?” her monotone was smoky. It should be, hesupposed, she seemed to be composed of shadows.

“No, just picking up a few books, you?” he asked.

~~~*~*~*~~~

He saw her again that night, and smiled behind his mask ashe went for her first. Removing her was not fun, but he felt it necessary. Shewas the only real distraction for him. He even indulged in unnecessary flirtingwith Starfire to fuck with Dickhead before making his escape.

He really wanted to tease the little shadow, but didn’t ashe escaped.

~~~*~*~*~~~

It felt like forever since he had first run into Raven with shortviolet hair, that pale gray skin, and more apathy than a poker player.

Now he stared at his best friend resting against him, herhair was long, midnight black with natural violet undertones, that mask ofapathy and more genuine empathy for others than anyone else he had ever met.

“I thought you were hot, and Dick had terrible tastes in women,”Jason admitted.

“And now?” she asked.

“Dick still has terrible tastes, and you’re still theclassiest woman I have ever met,” he clarified for her.

“Should I be offended or amused?”

“Neither. It’s just a fact Raven.”

“Is classy a down grade from hot?” she asked.

“An upgrade really,” he said. Raven was so damn far out ofhis league it was kind of painful, he was pretty damn lucky she thought himworthy of her companionship. Else he’d still be Red X and probably watching herfrom afar.

“Kay, is’t Valentines Day, so what are we going to watch?”

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s?” he suggested.

“Really? A chick flick? From you?”

“Audrey Hepburn,” he stated.

“And that clarifies why you’d want to watch it,” she mused.

“Are you kidding! She’s gorgeous, and awesome, only tolerablechick flick ever made.”

“Fine at least it’s not the Notebook,” Raven decided.

“Trust me, you’ll like it.”

“I do trust you, it’s part of the problem.”

“Come on little bird, it’s the only day of the year we canbe saps.”

“True.”

“And we both don’t have dates.”

“Also true.”

“So why the fuck not?”

“Fine. I’ll get the popcorn.”

“You are a Queen,” Jason announced.

“I know,” she dismissed.

“And still hot,” he mused as he watched her get up and walk away.Seriously, woman could turn heads with those hips, that ass, and them legs!However, she’d demolish all the moment she opened her mouth and showed herintellect. Raven was pretty fucking amazing that way.

“I heard that.”

“I might be your best friend, but I’m a GUY Rae!” he shoutedback.

“Fine, you got hot thighs Jason,” she admitted.

“Don’t objectify me,” he mocked.

“Then quit staring at my ass.”

“Stop walking away and I might,” he lied. Things had been easierlike this since that ‘date’ Cass had tossed him out on.

“I’m getting popcorn!” she protested.

“I got the movie,” he announced setting it up.

Less than five minutes later he had her tucked up againsthis side and they were watching the start of the movie.

“Rule, only day of the year we watch chick flicks,” hedecided.

“Deal,” she nodded.

“And here’s a beer for you, one for me, we’re set,” he announced.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“I think I learned my lesson on that, Rae,” he assured her.He could still see her naked! Granted that was years ago, but that was besidethe point.

[bitsfordays]

Work Visits

Another part to my nurseydex children series! Ive offically deemed this Au “Things That Stop You Dreaming” and it can be found on AO3 under that title!

Enjoy Addy being cute af, plus an introduction to Bella! 

(pst, i posted this in two parts on AO3 but yall will get it all in one bc im lazy)

“Daddy, are we there?”

Derek sighed and looked at his daughter for probably the seventh time in the last 10 minutes he's been driving. This was the seventh time she asked.

“Addison, I know you have the route to the rink memorized, so I know that you know that we are literally in the arena parking lot. You don't have to antagonize me.”

Addison gave what could only be described as a shit-eating grin from her spot in the back seat. She swung her legs happily. “I know Daddy, but Papa says that I should mess with you more often. He says its funny”

Derek was going to kill his husband.

He pulled into one of the parking spots reserved for players families and shut off the car. He turned around so he could make proper eye contact with his daughter.

“Okay Addison, Papa is playing against Uncle Jack tonight. Uncle Bitty was in town already for his book tour and so he brought Bella with him and we’ll be sitting with them in the family section. Do you remember the rules for when Uncle Jack plays against Papa?”

“Boo when Papa gets checked but don't cheer if someone on Uncle Jacks team gets checked, unless it's by Papa.” Addison explained neatly.

“Anything else?”Derek prompted.

“Don't curse?”

Derek couldn't help but laugh. Addison had learned her fair share of curse words, despite only being 6 years old. It's what happened when a child had an uncle whose name was literally Shitty.

“Not quite, lovely but that's a good one. I was actually going for ‘don't heckle Uncle Jack.’ He needs to stay concentrated on the game ”

“Oh.” Addison shrugged her little shoulders. “I can do that. Can we go inside now?”

Derek laughed. “Yes, Addy. We can.”

They got out of the car and made their way inside, not even bothering to wave their passes at the security guards, who they knew by name and had for years now. They went to their seats in the family section, directly behind the glass and found their family already there.

“Bella!” Addison tore her hand from Derek's and ran to greet her best friend/pseudo-cousin. They hugged tightly in the way that only young kids could.

Bella was a year older than Addison but that didn't stop them from being as thick as thieves. They lived three hours apart so they didn't see each other often but they adored each other just the same. Bella was more soft spoken than Addison was,

“Nursey!” Bitty grinned and pulled Derek into a tight hug.

“Hey Bits.” Derek laughed and hugged the other man back, just as tight. “How was the book tour?”

“Oh, you would not believe...”Bitty launched into a story about his time touring for his newest cookbook and Derek let his thoughts drift as Bitty rambled on.

“Oh, there they are!” Bella interrupted her father, pointing down at the ice as the players skated on for warm ups.

Jack and Will  were both easy to spot. Even from under his helmet, Will’s ginger hair was easy to spot, just as Jacks distinctive blue eyes were easy to spot behind his face guard.

“Papa!” Addison jumped up and down in front of the glass and waved her arms furiously. “Papa! Papa, over here!”

Derek could see Will’s grin from the other side of the ice. Will waved at his daughter, who waved back energetically. Derek could see Jack’s shoulders shake as he laughed and saw Jacks mouth move in some chirp. Will grinned and said something back before they skated their separate ways to warm up with their teams.

Addison kept waving her arms, trying to catch her father's attention again until Derek had to put a stop to it. “Add,let Papa warm up in peace. You dont want to throw him off his game, do you?”

“Its preseason, Daddy, it doesn't effect the season.” Addison responded, not looking away from the ice. Bitty chuckled from his seat.

“Addison. Leave him be until after the game, okay? Then you can harass him as much as you want.”

“Fiiiiiineeeee.” Addison backed away from the glass and sat down between Derek and Bella with a pout but Derek couldn't help but chuckle. There were times where he wanted to do the same thing.

Addison kept pouting and Derek took pity on her. “Hey Addy, how about you tell Uncle Bitty how your skating classes have been going? Im sure he would love to hear about them.”

Addison perked up immediately and Derek smiled.

This was going to be a good evening.

Rangers beat the Falconers 4-3, with Dex getting the game winning goal at the end of the 3rd period. Jack clapped Will on the shoulder during the handshaking and from the stands, Derek could see him say something and Will laughed before they both went on to shake more hands.  

They met Dex outside of the Rangers locker room. He was sweaty and gross but he still beamed when he saw his husband and daughter. It made Dereks heart do flips, the same way it did when they met in college.

“Papa!” Addison tore her hand from Dereks and did a flying leap towards her father. Will dropped his hockey bag to open his arms as his daughter slammed into his chest. “Hi Papa! You played really good tonight!”

“Thanks baby.” Will hugged her tightly. “Did you enjoy watching the game with Uncle Bitty and Bella?”

“Yeah! Did you know Bella is taking figure skating classes? Im gonna have her show me all the stuff shes learning there and Ill teach her everything Im learning in my hockey skating class!”

“Thats wonderful, Addy-Girl.” Will smiled. He set her down and looked over at Derek. “Hey babe. Did you enjoy the game?”

“You know I did.” Derek smiled and kissed Will on the cheek. “Nice check on Jack during the 2nd. Had him rattled for a second there.”

Will shrugged. “He got me back in the 3rd, twice as hard. I felt my brain rattle.”

Derek frowned. “How's your head?”

“It's fine, Der. They got me all checked out and I'm fine.”

“Good. I like you better with your brain intact.”

“Same.”

“Quit being gross!” Addison jabbed Will in the leg to get his attention.

“Ow, Addison. That's not how you get people's attention.” Will chided.

“Sorry. Can we go see Uncle Jack and Bitty and Bella now?” Addison said.

“Sure. Lead the way.” Derek said.

Addison lead them around to the visitors lockers, just in time to run into Jack, Bitty and Bella, who was currently asleep on Jacks back.

“Nice game, Cap.” Derek said with a smirk.

Jack sighed. “I havent been your captain in over a decade, Nurse. Please stop.”

“Ah, but you were the best one Ive ever had. Sorry Bits.”

Bitty and Jack both rolled their eyes.

“We would love to stay and chat with you two but we gotta get headed towards the airport.” Bitty said. “Especially since Bells already asleep. Shes been up since 6am with me and is just bone tired.”                                                             

“Okay Bits. We’ll see you in a few weeks for the Falconers home opener. Wanna get dinner before hand, while our husbands do their thing?”

“Sure. We’ll see you then. Have a safe flight you three.”

“See yall later!”

The Zimmermann-Bittles walked away, leaving the Poindexter-Nurses on their own. Addison tugged on Dereks hand. “Are we gonna go home now?”

Will grabbed Addison's free hand and smiled. “Yes, Addy-Girl. Home for now.”

“Okay.” Addison gave a tired smile. “It was a good game, Papa.”

“Thanks baby.”

Together, the three of them left the area at the end of another good day.

Derek Poindexter-Nurse hates writing. Its difficult, its time consuming and tedious to do. He hates writing with an undeniable, fiery passion.

Which is why he does it for a living. Obviously.

When it comes to writing, Derek’s been lucky. Hot got published only a few years after college and he quickly made it onto the bestseller list. He has hordes of teenage fans who would probably commit many crimes if he asked them to, all of them clamoring for another installment, another book, another bonus story, another anything. He could give them a five hundred word shit stain and most of them would probably be content. Literally anything.

Which is of course, how Derek found himself holding down the ‘H’ key for ten minutes, thumping his head continuously on his desk, as if that will make the ideas come faster. Usually when Derek gets into a slump like this, he just goes and talks to Will but its early May and the Stanley Cup playoffs are looming in front of the Rangers, so Will’s at practice and will be for another four hours, meaning that Derek is stuck stewing in his own mind indefinitely.

Indefinitely doesnt last for long. Dereks stewing is interrupted by a knock on his study door and it being pushed open to reveal Addison in all of her 13 year old glory.

“Are you okay Dad?” Addison said, looking at her father with a mixture of concern and vague disgust.

“No.” Derek sighed. He thumped his head aginst the wood again.

“Um..” Addison walkedd ina nd leaned against the desk where Derkes head currently was. “Maybe stop hitting your head against the desk? I dont think getting a concussion would be very good for you. Besides, Papa’s gotten enough for the both of you.”

Derek leveled a glare at his daughter but he lifted his head off the desk and sat up. He rubbed the red mark on his forehead. “Ive gotten my fair share of concussions too, ya know. I did play hockey for a lot time.”

“I know, I know, all im saying is that Papa had a concussion like, a month ago. “ Addison shrugged. “So his might be a little more relevant.”

It was true. Will had gotten a harsh check and was out of the game for a while because of it. It was rough on all three of them, just as it always was whenever Will got hurt during games. It always made Derek worry, usually about how much longer Will could play in the NHL or if they should continue letting Addison play in her junior league. It sent his head in swirls and him and Bitty and Caitlin have spent hours talking about the stress of being married to three of the top players in the NHL. And Derek knew that their children have had similar conversations about being the children of NHL stars.

“Dad? Hello?” Addison waved her hand in front of Derek's face to get his attention. “You still with me or did you actually give yourself self a concussion? Do I need to drive you to the hospital?”

“You can't drive yet, Addison. You're 13.”

“I know but I figured that if you had a concussion you would let me try anyways.” Addison grinned.

“And that's where you're wrong.”  

“Worth a shot. So what's wrong?”

Derek let out a long sigh. “Writing is hard, Addy. Don't do it. It isn't a viable career. “

“I mean, it wasnt on my list. I was more thinking hockey.”

“Huh?” Derek stared at his daughter and his heart thumped extra hard. “Really?”

“Well, yeah.” Addison shrugged. “Its what makes sense and I like it a lot. Is there…..something wrong with that?”

Derek let out a breath. The idea of his daughter, his pride and joy, one of the two most important people in his life, playing a dangerous game that both him and his husband loved made him feel nauseous. He knew first hand how dangerous the game was and while he knew that Addison took after her fathers in her love for the game, part of Derek wished that she didnt.

“Just..be careful.” Derek said carefully. He didnt want to admit to her how much it scared him. “You have time to decide. Most kids your age have no idea what they want to do. But, me and Papa will support you no matter what, okay?”

“Okay Daddy.” Addison leaned over and hugged him tightly. Derek hugged her back, putting all of his concerns and hopes into that hug.

“So, how can I help you get past your writing block right now?” Addison asked, pulling away from the hug.

Derek glanced at his laptop, which was just showing a word document full with the letter “H”. An idea tickled at the back of his brain. Something about an over-do meeting between a main character and their parent. A nice conversation about fears. Derek grinned

“You've already have.”

[junker-town]

How NFL players are reacting to the new CBA before voting

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Former and current players share their opinions about the new collective bargaining agreement.

The divisive new NFL collective bargaining agreement was sent to the league’s players for a vote this week. The 32 team player reps voted by a slim margin (17-14 with one abstention) to pass it along early Wednesday morning. The NFLPA executive committee, in contrast, voted 7-4 against the contract earlier that day, while NFL ownership approved it last week.

The wider player vote is slated to happen within the next couple of weeks, but no date has been set yet.

Some of the biggest issues (among many) are the addition of a 17th regular-season game and the profit split between players and ownership. Though the first steps to approving the deal have been made, players around the league have become increasingly vocal about the deal on social media. Below are some of their thoughts on what’s at stake, both critical and positive.

From the executive committee and team representatives

Aaron Rodgers, the Packers’ player rep, explained why he voted against the deal in a post Wednesday. His concerns mostly centered on inadequate adjustments to the offseason and bye weeks to accommodate the 17th regular-season game proposed by the owners.

My thoughts. # pic.twitter.com/VOmCSNiI4f

— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) February 26, 2020

Richard Sherman, who also serves on the NFLPA executive committee, expressed his support of Rodgers’ note and shared that he had voted against the proposed deal.

Health and Wellness of our men is always the most important aspect. There is no price you can put on that and that is why I Voted No. I respect the Men that have been part of this discussion and stood up for their locker rooms. https://t.co/mL0Yj3E6d9

— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) February 26, 2020

Sherman had shared his dissent last week as well, and retweeted a post critical of the NFLPA’s proposed “CBA Fact Sheet.”

https://t.co/PhPFNlHtgh

— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) February 21, 2020

Leadership! I am with you! Please communicate with your team rep. https://t.co/JucZbwqoa2

— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) February 21, 2020

URGENT THREAD: The CBA "Fact Sheet" provided by #NFLPA is a joke. It's also the repeat of a common tactic that has led many people to make poor decisions because important details of the actual contract are conveniently omitted. pic.twitter.com/07x6MLRjSA

— Sheilla Dingus (@SheillaDingus) February 21, 2020

Chargers tackle Russell Okung, who is on the the NFLPA executive committee, has been among the most vocal on the board about the negotiations so far.

Roger Goodell has the best healthcare in football and makes QB money. Crazy.

— Russell Okung (@RussellOkung) February 21, 2020

He elaborated on some of his concerns about the deal in a longer thread last week, focusing on the NFL’s history of neglecting crucial player health and safety issues — especially around brain injuries.

While the @NFL is laughably trying to sell 17 games for a profit, how about we discuss how 16 and less games played out for generations of players? (NEW THREAD) https://t.co/aLhTJEWby1

— Russell Okung (@RussellOkung) February 21, 2020

Calais Campbell, who is the Jaguars’ player rep, posted a thread encouraging players to read the deal themselves and offer feedback to their reps — and suggested it had been challenging to decide which way to vote.

Fact: all players now have a chance to educate themselves on the proposed CBA! Everyone has a vote and a voice! And having just went through hours and hours of discussion...it’s not easy. Most Reps were torn on which way to vote.

— Calais Campbell (@CalaisCampbell) February 26, 2020

Quarterback Chase Daniel, who is the Bears’ player rep, expressed a similar sentiment.

SO MANY rumors on what this deal entails for the @NFLPA...any player w any questions/concerns about this deal please reach out 2 me! Ive been at every meeting the past 3 months. Would love to tell u exactly the economics behind this. Player leadership has worked tirelessly for u!

— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) February 26, 2020

The Bucs’ Sam Acho, who serves on the NFLPA board, publicly denied a report from ProFootballTalk that he had flipped at the latest union board meeting to vote against the current deal — suggesting he advocates for passing it as-is.

This report is 100% false and the “league source” is a liar who can’t be trusted. I understand reporters have to do their jobs, but hear it directly from me. There was no secret vote. I stand where I stand. https://t.co/CIpeyXwP6H

— Sam Acho (@TheSamAcho) February 26, 2020

Adam Vinatieri, who serves on the NFLPA’s executive committee, favorited this tweet from retired player Matt Chatham.

Our union can’t do anything if the players aren’t willing to do it...this lesson learned over & over again in our business. More often than not, the membership is unwilling to do the things necessary to not get “rolled.”

— Matt Chatham (@chatham58) February 26, 2020

Steelers rep Ramon Foster has corrected what he views as misperceptions about the CBA, and compared voting against it without understanding it to voting for Donald Trump in 2016.

That 250K was eliminated so that no player making over 4.2Ms would be sacrificed making less than their contract stated. Guys are made whole in their contract. EVERYBODY EATS, no one is cut short. Clear that up please. Everyone gets their chickens. Shout out to @MoneyLynch https://t.co/9xNGa0XBJp

— Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) February 26, 2020

Make sure they actually know the details first. I know I gave y’all all the info I had. Some just go off hearsay and twitter CBA experts. But what do I know ‍♂️ https://t.co/g571Mh3AUh

— Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) February 26, 2020

No one ever explains why, it’s just no. Kinda like voting for Trump in 2016. A lot of folks said they didn’t, but the polls and the end result said differently. No that’s not my political stance and I’d never discuss that publicly. I’m still kinda old school https://t.co/9fJQlehafL

— Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) February 26, 2020

Say this louder for the folks who don’t come to rep meetings. This discussion of the deal has been in place for years. We’ve withheld our royalty checks for years prepping for this. Oh now it’s important. Stay Woke people. Say I’m lying? https://t.co/uy9Fx7vdje

— Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) February 26, 2020

Say this louder. They just honor it. @KirkCousins8 got fully guaranteed. People never say anything about this when they criticize guys about being spoiled rich athletes. But now they are CBA experts. https://t.co/5axPxKjkHI

— Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) February 26, 2020

Lions rep Devon Kennard shared his surprise at the response to the deal.

I’m not going to lie a hard NO stance by some players that I’m seeing is surprising me. Not saying I like everything about the deal but it’s worth serious discussion IMO.

— DK (@DevonKennard) February 21, 2020

He later explained his affirmative vote:

My vote was YES. pic.twitter.com/Z9kgkLhBdI

— DK (@DevonKennard) February 27, 2020

Jarvis Landry, the Browns’ team rep, had jokes — although it’s worth noting the CBA doesn’t expire until the 2021 offseason, leaving plenty of time for avid football fans to cultivate XFL fandom in case of a holdout.

Look like y’all better start getting y’all XFL tv packages together!!

— Jarvis Juice Landry (@God_Son80) February 21, 2020

Team representatives and executive committee members in conversation with other players

Russell Wilson made his dissatisfaction with the current offering clear ...

The @NBA & @MLB are doing it right. Players come first. ALL @NFL players deserve the same. WE should not rush the next 10 YEARS for Today’s satisfaction. I VOTE NO.

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) February 26, 2020

And NFLPA president Eric Winston responded, reiterating the care that the board had put into negotiating the current deal. Winston is one of two retired players serving on the NFLPA’s board.

No one is rushing into anything. We have spent the last 300 days listening to our guys and negotiating this deal. The proposal will be sent to all players and if somebody doesn’t like the terms once they’ve seen the entire package, I understand. That’s why every player gets a https://t.co/DT1DpeZdKd

— Eric Winston (@ericwinston) February 26, 2020

Robert Griffin III and Washington player rep Nick Sundberg also went back and forth on Twitter about the deal — Griffin advocating against it, and Sundberg for it. Sundberg’s first tweet is the start of a thread; what follows are Griffin’s rebuttals.

Simply put. The positives vastly outweigh the negatives. I wasn’t willing to risk a work stoppage over a little less time during OTA’s. We got a ton of the things we targeted last March at rep meetings. Former player pensions/medical facilities, current player benefits skyrocket. https://t.co/cpFjHmzkg5

— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020

Hold out til when? Do you honestly thing an extra % is worth ripping the deal up? The owners told us if we didn’t get a deal done before now, they wouldn’t negotiate again until February, when we would have to start from scratch. It took us 10 months of negotiating to get here... https://t.co/PcV5HAWerQ

— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020

You still have to look at the possible outcomes of every situation. If we go back and try to get more and they tell us to kick rocks, then what? Strike? Are all 2100 players who paid dues last year in a position to sit out TWO years? How long would it take to make up that money?

— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020

That’s a super easy thing to say. “Just get more.” But at what cost? Two years of a strike? We’d lose over 13 billion in player money in that time. Say we get to 50/50 after that. It’ll take 20+ years to recoup those lost funds. And guys careers will end because of that action. https://t.co/p6HFGrrNO3

— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020

You’ve got 6 XFL teams and probably 6000 collage kids coming out this year and next to fill rosters while we picket. You gonna be on the front lines at the stadium and facility every day fighting this? https://t.co/gvLiRKaRMe

— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020

That’s funny bro. We are a part of a union. We have to make hard decisions for the majority of our membership. 65+% are on minimum contracts. Every one of those guys gets paid more, better benefits, and better work conditions. https://t.co/Nrz6TlwIfV

— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 27, 2020

If we hold out and say no now until we get a better all around deal and protect our health and safety, that 65% you are referencing gets even more pay, more benefits and we all get better working conditions https://t.co/lgtiLRJzkg

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 27, 2020

Griffin had been expressing his dissatisfaction with the deal alongside fellow Raven Marlon Humphrey (who is the team’s alternate player rep).

It’s up to the players now to take a stand and vote no https://t.co/43CCDPgqp6

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 26, 2020

Saints tackle Terron Armstead fact-checked ESPN reporter Adam Schefter.

I don’t believe this statement is accurate Adam. NBA and NHL get 50% and MLB gets 48%-52% on player-owner revenue split! https://t.co/vqj1o9jWW5

— Terron Armstead (@T_Armstead72) February 26, 2020

The Saints’ Thomas Morstead, who serves on the NFLPA’s executive committee, countered.

When you hear about percentages in different sports they are all based on different definitions. It’s not apples to apples comparison. https://t.co/ktFiqxi8Uw

— Thomas Morstead (@thomasmorstead) February 26, 2020

To all commenting displeasure with my tweet. I love our troops. I’m not complaining about pay. We don’t get paid to represent the players. It’s an honor! Just making the point that relative to most players and “experts” I’ve spent a ton of time educating myself.

— Thomas Morstead (@thomasmorstead) February 22, 2020

From players outside union leadership

Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey posted a vehement rejection of the deal on Instagram, and asserted his twin brother — the Chargers’ Mike Pouncey, who is the team’s player rep — felt the same. Pouncey insisted he would be happy to help less established players if the current negotiations threatened their pay.

Maurkice Pouncey is strongly against the CBA. He posted this (NSFW) a couple hours ago: “I vote no. Our NFLPA, the dudes at the top, the leaders, that’s f’ing bs. F that. They’re not looking out for the best of the players. If y’all want my vote, the Pouncey twins vote no.” pic.twitter.com/hp4AqlG7Qu

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) February 26, 2020

J.J. Watt was similarly vehement last week.

Hard no on that proposed CBA.

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 21, 2020

As was the Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett.

NO DEAL!!!! #DealOrNoDeal https://t.co/fFJSkXRmeb

— Tyler Lockett (@TDLockett12) February 21, 2020

Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari has expressed frustration with the process over the past week.

48-48.5% split (roughly) between 1,700 players. 52-51.5% split among 31 owners?!...Yet this equation is supposed to make sense. ‍♂️ Not to mention the .5% only happens if we agree to an extra game a season. #KnowYourWorth https://t.co/v1jNZG7ml9

— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) February 20, 2020

So can we just let an executive group of NFL agents be a part of our counsel to negotiate our CBA?!? This is rediculous...

— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) February 26, 2020

I implore all of the current players to reach out to their agents and consult with them before voting on the CBA proposal. Please get informed by the people who YOU chose to give a percentage of YOUR contract to. Remember, they will act in YOUR best interest. #NFLPA #CBA

— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) February 26, 2020

Bears receiver Allen Robinson suggested doing away with the franchise tag which, as ESPN’s Brooke Pryor notes, wouldn’t be possible since the player reps have approved the current deal.

Get the franchise tag out the new CBA

— Allen Robinson II (@AllenRobinson) February 26, 2020

The Vikings’ Stefon Diggs votes no.

I VOTE NO...

— DIGGS (@stefondiggs) February 26, 2020

Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs shared that he wanted a 50/50 revenue split, as well as his preparedness for a lockout.

50/50 https://t.co/41Dsn2UvYp

— Nino (@qdiggs6) February 20, 2020

We know he working for the owners spreading lies.. https://t.co/1AIFIDTUTW

— Nino (@qdiggs6) February 26, 2020

I wish the next generation of QB’s were older during this CBA negotiation period.. those voices carry weight.

— Nino (@qdiggs6) February 21, 2020

I’m cool with the lockout buddy my chickens in line! https://t.co/iRBent73W1

— Nino (@qdiggs6) February 26, 2020

Raiders tackle Trent Brown lamented offseason demands ...

Offseason program needs to be shortened‼️ shit a waste of time

— Trent Brown (@Trent) February 26, 2020

... while defensive end Cam Heyward (the Steelers’ alternate player rep) pointed out that voluntary offseason workouts are still voluntary.

The 250k cap was a real sticking point w/ 17th game but don’t hold ppl back from VOLUNTARY workouts. If you are old than don’t go

— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) February 27, 2020

[aion-rsa]

Who is the Kingdom Come Superman of Crisis on Infinite Earths?

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Brandon Routh looks like the Kingdom Come Superman in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but there's more at work.

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This article contains Crisis on Infinite Earths spoilers.

“Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two” introduced us to the Superman of Earth-96, played by Brandon Routh. This Clark Kent is a little older and wiser, having suffered an unimaginable loss. He’s now the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, displaying the same fondness for brown suits that Routh’s Clark did in Superman Returns. His Superman suit, however, in addition to simply being possibly the best live-action Superman costume ever, is inspired by the Kingdom Come Superman, which brings with it a tragic backstory of its own.

Earth-96

Earth-96 received its numerical designation because Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross was first published by DC Comics in 1996. In that book, the world of Kingdom Come is a slightly more “mature” DC Universe, set in a near future where the Justice League members are older and living very different lives. When it was first published, Kingdom Come was something of a statement on the state of the comics industry at the time, a boom period where new superheroes couldn’t be created (or forgotten) fast enough, each of them armored, cybernetically powered, heavily muscled and/or weaponed, and many with little regard for human life or collateral damage. 

At the time, the best thing that had happened to Superman, from a sales standpoint, in years was his death and subsequent resurrection in 1992-1993. But there was an increasing sense that Superman was becoming impossibly old-fashioned, not cool with the kids and not viable commercially within the industry. Kingdom Come took that sentiment and turned it into story. 

read more: The Actors Who Have Played Superman

However, let’s be clear: the Earth-96 as we meet it here in Crisis on Infinite Earths isn’t explicitly the Kingdom Come Earth. There’s nothing to indicate that “traditional” superheroes have fallen out of fashion. Instead, it’s a way for the TV version to pay tribute to the year this important work was first published.

Kingdom Come Superman

In Kingdom Come, Superman has grown into middle age and remains the protector of Metropolis, even as a new generation of increasingly brutal heroes has sprung up around him. Graying around the temples, broader in the torso, and perhaps more powerful than ever before, Superman is secure in himself and his mission, despite the tide of public opinion beginning to favor a newer, flashier, more violent breed of heroes.

But then the unthinkable happens. The Joker leaves his usual stomping grounds in Gotham City and decides to go bother the citizens of Metropolis for a while. And by “bother” I mean he unleashes a gas attack in the Daily Planet offices that leaves 93 people dead, including Lois Lane. Superman captures the Joker, and in the process of bringing him to stand trial, Joker is killed by one of the new heroes, Magog. Superman arrests Magog for murder.He is promptly acquitted, as the public hails Magog as the real hero for his decisive (and final) action. This leads Superman into self-imposed exile.

You can certainly see elements of that in the Batwoman episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Joker (who isn’t named, but it’s clearly supposed to be him) killed dozens of Daily Planet staffers (including Lois Lane) with a gas attack. But this world’s Superman didn’t go into exile, and instead carried on his never-ending battle for truth, justice, and tolerance both in costume and out of it, where he took over as Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet. In other words, despite the costume and the similarities to the story, this isn’t explicitly the Kingdom Come Superman.

So who is he?

The Christopher Reeve Superman Returns via Brandon Routh

The Superman that Brandon Routh is playing here is intended to be the version of the character he played in Superman Returns...who was also supposed to be the same incarnation of the character Christopher Reeve played in four films between 1978 and 1987. The first clue is the use of the famed John Williams “Superman March” at key points. While that has popped up from time to time on everything from Smallville to Krypton, it’s more prominent here, and they even use “Can You Read My Mind,” the love theme from Superman: The Movie to introduce this Clark to Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane.

There are more specific indicators that this is supposed to be in continuity with those earlier films. Earth-96 Superman’s heat vision looks very much like how it appeared in Superman Returns rather than the more ambiguous energy emitted by Arrowverse Kryptonians. Earth-96 Clark, upon meeting baby Jon Kent, says he “looks just like Jason.” In Superman Returns, it was revealed that Clark had unknowingly fathered a child with Lois Lane, and that kid’s name was Jason. Jason would be about 19 now if we’re on the Superman Returns timeline, so perhaps he’s still around somewhere.

But the biggest one for Christopher Reeve fans may be a line uttered after the Earth-38 vs. Earth-96 Superman fight. Earth-96 Supes (holy moley, this is getting confusing) says “This actually is the second time I went crazy and fought myself.” He’s referring to the events of Superman III, nobody’s favorite Superman movie to be certain, but it contains a triumphant moment where the Man of Steel is turned evil by synthetic Kryptonite, before splitting into two versions of himself, with his good side finally winning out. Of course, Superman Returns was intended to only be a vague sequel to the first two Christopher Reeve Superman movies, essentially ignoring the generally regrettable Superman III and the even more unfortunate Superman IV. 

read more: The Actors Who Have Played Superman

But let’s not worry about that for now. The most important events for the Earth-96 Superman seem to be his origin story and first encounter with Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie followed by his conflict with General Zod and two other exiled Kryptonian criminals with a vendetta against his father in Superman II. It was in the latter film where he also renounced his Kryptonian birthright and powers (sound familiar?) so he could be with Lois Lane. Presumably, this was when Jason Lane was conceived. He regained his powers in time to get rid of Zod, Non, and Ursa, and then let’s just assume that the events of Superman III and Superman IV took place in fairly short order, before he learned Lois was pregnant. He then left Earth for several years on a quest for his Kryptonian heritage, and came back in Superman Returns. There’s another 13 years of adventures we don’t know about until he recounts the tragic events at the Daily Planet here in “Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two.”

What About the Comics?

So now that we’ve established that the Earth-96 Superman is a hybrid of the movies and Kingdom Come, there’s still the matter of how he fits into the larger story. The original Crisis on Infinite Earths story framed the Superman of Earth-2, the original 1938 Superman of the DC Universe, as a central character. The Superman of Earth-2 also eventually married Lois Lane, became Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, etc. His hair was gray at the temples and his "S" was slightly more stylized to make it easier to distinguish him from his younger Earth-1 counterpart. I won’t spoil anything, but expect the Superman of Earth-96 to have a major role to play in coming chapters. He’s already been identified as the Monitor’s “Paragon of Truth,” but don’t be surprised if there’s more to the story.

Mike Cecchini is the Editor in Chief of Den of Geek. You can read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @wayoutstuff.

Read and download the Den of Geek Lost in Space Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature

Movies

Books

Mike Cecchini

Dec 10, 2019

DC Entertainment

Superman

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Brandon Routh

Superman Returns

from Books https://ift.tt/2qE6lsi