#for some reason i cannot explain HELP /pos | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

reginalusus · 1 year ago

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Retro tutorial?

Disclaimer: Tumblr, for some reason, likes to dullen the colour of the screenshots, just know that they're actually a bit more saturated and brighter than how they appear here.

So, after posting my recent retro drawings on Reddit, and getting some comments that genuinely made me cry (/pos), I noticed I also got quite a few comments asking me how I actually do these drawings.

Er, I'm not the best teacher, really, and honestly, there's probably an easier, faster way to do it. But, this is my way of doing it, lmao. I work on a Gen 2 iPad Pro with a Gen 1 Apple Pencil, just in case you're wondering.

Firstly, here are the four apps I use for this kind of drawing:

From left to right: Sketchbook Pro, Pixlr, Photoleap and CapCut. Sketchbook Pro is what I use to draw everything. You could honestly use any drawing app though. We will talk about the other three when we get to them.

Step 1: draw whatever it is you want to draw.

I'm going to use the first drawing I did in this style to help me explain: my simpy Spamton drawing! Firstly, basically draw whatever your little heart wants. Get your sketch layer down. Here's what my sketch layer looked like:

Looks bad, no? Lol, it always starts that way. Just get your drawing down first. I rely heavy on references for clothing. I found this particular pose on Pinterest. Pinterest is great for finding references.

Notice that I have some spaces filled in with the word 'black'. This is literally just to remind me that the particular space will just be filled with a solid black.

This particular pose and setting is tricky, I'm just using it as an example and because I still have the original files for it. I recommend maybe starting with a portrait or a face first.

Step 2: fill in and clean your lines. This is important, especially for the anime look.

When I do linework, I tend to make the lines thicker wherever they meet one another. For this style, it doesn't really work, and I had to train myself to stop doing that.

As you can see, I made some changes along the way, such as making Spamton's expression softer and making him grin instead of smirking. How do I know when to make something solid black? This is mostly for clothes. If you are following a reference, and you notice that some of the shadows are darker than others on the reference, make those darkest shadows your solid-blacks.

So, here we have the finished lines! Remember: no making the lines thicker where they meet! Keep the lines thin all around. If you're wondering what brush I use in Sketchbook for the finished lines, it's this one:

This is the ONLY brush I use for the retro drawings, besides a pencil for the sketch layer. It provides a nice, solid, thin line.

Step 3: Filling Flat Colours.

The easiest step IMO. Choose your colours, fill those babies in.

Unfortunately, I think I deleted my flats layer (I have no idea why, but I cannot find it, lmao), so I don't have an image to show for this step. But, it's self-explanatory. Just colour it in with your flats.

You can choose saturated colours if you wish, but we'll be editing that sort of stuff later.

Step 4: Shading.

Ooh, the tricky stuff. But this is what will make or break the look of the drawing. Besides lines, shading is important as fuck for this style. I recommend pulling up some screenshots from actual 80s/90s anime. For this Spamton drawing, here's some of the ones I used as a reference:

Remember to make your shading on separate layers! You may want to change their tone and opacity later, as I did.

The shading in old anime is usually done with one colour, which is cooler-toned than the flat it is based off. Remember to keep the shading as simple as you can if you want to actually make it look like a screenshot from an anime or cartoon.

For shadows, I used the multiply tool or the overlay tool. You can mess around with these to see which one suits your drawing best. It mostly depends on the colour.

For 'lights', I used either the soft glow tool or the overlay tool. However, I don't recommend spending too much time 'lighting' your colours. Retro anime tends to focus more on shadows rather than lighting (obviously there are exceptions).

As you can see, the only 'lighting' I used on Spamton was a small section of his hair, and a shine on his suit. The rest is either shadows or flats:

For clothing, follow a reference or follow where your light is coming from. For this, I followed the reference.

Step 5 (Optional): Adding Gradients.

You don't need to do this, but to help with the 'mood' of the drawing, I added a gradient over the top of the layer. I chose a dark purple/blue to give that city vibe, then I used the darken tool and turned the opacity down. So, it looks like this:

The difference isn't much, but it will add a lot to the vibe!

Step 6 (Optional): Backgrounds. *Shudders.*

I'll be real, I can't do backgrounds for shit. Well, I can sort of do them, but I definitely don't enjoy it. If you can do your own backgrounds, this will probably come easier. I have a sneaky, maybe cheaty method, however, to make it look good.

Firstly, make sure any 'windows' or areas in your drawing that you want to add a background to are empty. The windows in Spamton's car here are transparent. You'll want to put your background layer at the very bottom, behind everything else.

Firstly, I choose a solid colour and fill the entire layer. I chose a navy/purple for this one, since it's always dark in Cyber City.

Then, and here's the cheat part, I find a stock image of a city skyline. I deliberately picked one that had sort of 'basic' buildings. Put this on top of your solid colour and use the hard light tool.

The hard light tool tends to focus on the lights and basic outline of the image. I did do some smudging and added some lights to give it that 'retro' feel. The lower quality it looks, the better. So then it looks like this:

But the car needs windows! Easy. I chose a blue colour with the soft glow tool and added them like so (on top of all the background layers):

Step 7: Editing in Pixlr.

Now, this is my favourite part: the editing to really make the image pop! Firstly, we are going to use Pixlr, so save your image and open it up in Pixlr.

So, in Pixlr I only do two things: choose some overlay editors and up the saturation. Firstly, the overlay editors. The ones I choose for the retro look are:

Antonio - this blurs the lines somewhat, and makes it overall darker/softer. I obviously do not use it to its full capacity (there's a slider you can mess around with under each tool to find your desired effect, though I recommend using Antonio only a little.)

Hagrid - this will make it look slightly more saturated and sharper. It also adds a sort of 'burn' effect on each outline of the colours. Again, I use this one only slightly.

Ivan - One of my favourites for Big Shot Spamton. Again, I only use it slightly. This one will add an orange effect and 'fix' some of your shading. Though, it only works to its full potential if you have your shading as best as it can be.

Sara - Another really good one for retro anime. It's sort of like Hagrid, but softer. Depending on your colours, it will also add a soft 'glow' effect. Because of this, I only use it a little, as older anime does not have the intense glow you see in more recent anime, in general.

There are lots of other options. You can play around to see which one will suit the vibe you're going for best!

Then, we go into the general menu and up the saturation if needed!

Step 8: Editing in Photoleap - then back to Sketchbook!

Why the fuck do you use two editors? Simple - Photoleap has some cool options that Pixlr does not, and vice versa. We won't be spending as much time in Photoleap compared to Pixlr.

Now, Photoleap does NOT allow screenshots within the app, so I just have to explain it without any images.

In Photoleap, we're only going to be doing two things, and one of those things are optional. Firstly, using the grain tool. This will really add to that 'old' look. Don't go too hard on it!

The optional thing you can do is add a red chromatic abberation. It's under the 'effects' tab in Photoleap. However, sometimes this will take away from the retro look, so use it carefully. I only used the tiniest amount for this drawing to make the lines look 'cleaner'.

Once I'm done in Photoleap, I save the image and export it back into Sketchbook. This is where I'll add/fix some things, such as adding a shine in Spamton's eyes, a shine on the car window and the smoke coming from his cigarette. I also bring the gradient layer back up and mess with the colour a bit (optional).

Have you noticed the large, black border to the right of the drawing? Yeah, that'll be cropped. I decided to make the overall image smaller and, unfortunately, Sketchbook Pro does not allow you to change the canvas size once you've started a drawing (please add this option, Autodesk!)

Step 9: CapCut Editing.

This will seriously be the cherry-on-top to actually make this thing look like a screenshot. Save your image and open it up in CapCut.

Firstly, you'll want to add an 'effect' to the photo. Under 'retro', I personally choose 'frosted quality', because it adds a moving grain and gives an 'old cartoon' feel, which is what I'm after. There are lots you can choose from, it's up to you to play around with it! You can also adjust the effect as you wish. I tend to turn the blur completely off.

Then, the last step in CapCut: adding a caption, if you want. I make the text yellow and add an italic effect to make it seem like an actual subtitle.

Step 10 (Final): Exporting.

That's us basically finished! I'll export it as a video from CapCut, crop it using my iPad's default editing software in the gallery, then export it as a GIF. Exporting it as a GIF lowers the quality a tad further, which is a bonus for this type of drawing. Viola! You now have a retro-anime-inspired piece!

Final Notes

Again, I'm not a good teacher and this is kind of all over the place, lmao. But, I hope it can guide those who wish to try this style!

If you do try it, maybe tag me and let me see if my tutorial worked for you? Or maybe you were just curious, lmao. There's a LOT of steps here, lol, and I'm not a professional artist by any means, so...

Anyway, that's all from me for now!

#reginalususart #art tips #art tutorial #retro aesthetic #anime inspired #manga inspired

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fragmentsoffatezine · 1 year ago

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If there were a lot of people wanted the project to donate to support Palestine in some way, why didn’t you delay the charity announcement? I can understand that many items haven’t gotten through borders and some people advise not donating financially right now, but we don’t know what the situation will be like when you open preorders in late May. I have seen plenty of projects announce charities later than applications, many announce around preorders opening, and a few don’t even announce until they donate. I think you could have easily delayed this vote by several months so you could include supporting Palestinians as the people who filled out your interest check wanted you to.

Hello,

Our response is lengthy, so we did decide to put it under a read more.

We first want to say you do have valid points that we did consider during our discussion. You have a big heart and we understand that everyone else who asked for assistance with Gaza does too.

Though, we do want to explain why we went with this decision and to clarify a few things.

Our first concern is unfortunately, we do not know if the borders of Palestine will be open by May as you have mentioned. They currently need emergency aid that we cannot provide at this time. (December 2023). We will only be able to donate after the POs, the production phase and leftovers sale finishes up.

We cannot guarantee the world situation when donations come in, so we are focusing on an ongoing, but also important issue of criminal justice and prison reform/animal support. Though we do want to clarify this again since it was put in our interest check: our biggest focus for this project was for the donations to be directly related to the themes of the game. (Which is criminal justice + prison reform and animal assistance.)

We do apologize on our foresight about this, but we also know a lot of people do consider zines that do not introduce charities they would like to donate to beforehand as massive red flags too. So we wanted to make clear to our audience that these are the charities we are leaning towards.

We did mention this on twitter, so we will here too: We are open to changing charities if either the LDF or Purrfect Pals does end up being bad choices (reports of charity fraud, abuse of funds, etc.) or even makes blatant statements of supporting Israel. If Gaza does open our borders again as we hope before POs end, we can also bring that possibility back on the table too. We will keep everyone updated if we do decide to change the charity for any reason.

Right now, we are working with the information we currently have and know can be donated ethically.

As a side note for those reading: Palestine still needs help and we'd like to remind everyone that right now, the best thing to do is boycott the official boycott list + social media presence. Please do not stop taking about Palestine.

Again, thanks for your concern.

#ghost trick #faq #anon #palestine #current events #charity discussion

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councilblr-voting-rights · 2 years ago

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No1 Councilblr Weirdo Bracket (BEHIND THE SCENES)

First things first, I should note that ALL NOMINEES were included in the bracket. I only excluded TWO users for not having obvious ties to Councilblr. And when I spotted "the whole t4tnavyseal hivemind" I thought it would be funny, FOR THE BIT, to let in every hivemind member I could track down and include them in the bracket (which does mean there were contestants with no nominations).

This lead to a strange number of contestants, so I myself nominated rumiracle-whip and rubysparx to help even it out (one of them is an understated weirdo and both of them are fans of Exandroth so I call that immediately weirdo-worthy).

With a full list of contestants I got to work on the bracket. Users colestyle and burning-sol got separated to help with the odd number of contestants and to avoid any large sweeps. The regular nominees and the hivemind were separated with two exceptions, who I picked just based on *shrugs*. Users with a higher number of nominations I attempted to spread out and everyone else was randomised. I also made some other personal choices for the hell of it. Basically, it was a system of executive choices and also just a luck of the draw.

That's about everything I have to say on the behind the scenes. Since I have experience now, hopefully the next bracket will be easier to run.

Anyways, here are ALL the responses (aside from a few ommissions). CONTENT WARNING: many of these nominations were certified NOT WEIRD and dare I say NORMAL <- next time I will NOT be nice and NOT include everyone because you all cannot be trusted.

21 - colestyle

"i mean. cmon. the gillion eggs post." "i think the gillion lays eggs post is a good reason" "Have you seen his blog???" "are you kidding me" "you know why" "egg post 💀" "do I even have to explain this one" "do you really need to ask that" "funny guy. something deeply wrong with him. fussy. eggs. etc etc etc. need I say more" "eggs" "yeah" "do you even have to ask" "gillion egg webweave" "do i need to?" "self explanatory <3" "eggposting." "obviously" "Fussy, titstrider Tuesday, that gillion egg post" "very strange and off putting" "have you seen !!!!"

8 - burning-sol

"The Everything /affectionate" "Eldritchstrings and general exandroth posting" "i mean ‘weirdo’ in such a kind and positive way here because but i think if the council were to be exposed to his blog they would take some kind of psychic damage from the pinned post alone" "Many reasons, including being the person that started the Morse hivemind clicks" "just look at them" "Because they're my friend, and we can't all possibly nominate Lukas Colestyle" "excessive exandroth and eldritchstrings posting (/pos)"

5 - misty-lilies

"niklaus simp" "they want to get destroyed in a poll" "niklaus apologist 100 emoji" "accidentally started the t4t navyseal hivemind" "my favourite moot who makes banger charcter analysis posts and also is a simp for niklaus hendrix"

5 - navysealt4t

"^_^ get freaky wit it!! am a lil navyseal lover <3" "navyseal and t4t, they are cool and my mutual <3" "1 out of the 2 og t4tnavysealers…." "Them and t4tnavyseal started the t4t navyseal hivemind" "he literally WROTE an entire song for jay based on the idea of a musical. also she's my favorite mutual. so. i must be biased"

4 - willotstreet

"absolute killer.Murderer. SOMEHOW being able to rolan deep post so much im astounded. Thumbs up" "crazy insane rolan deep guy /pos" "honest;y whatever that guys got going on is infinitely funnier than anything else. i log onto this webbed site, watch ren post about their breakdown, then watch them post about how rolan deep is their wife."

3 - jadejemdoesstuff

"Scrimbles" "Hits post limit Way too frequently to be normal" "scrunkly"

3 - nickyclose

"First of all,had the SCUcondi username which was iconic,they are the ceo of Ashe winters and are my friend :}" "SAYS SO MUCH IN THEIR POSTS.SO MANY IDEAS. SOMEHOW. never runs out. Freak behavior. IDEAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! slash pos" "constantly brainrotting about npcs"

3 - spacedustmantis

"they r cool and understand gillion tidestrider" "really into plays that's kinda not normal right" "eel boy tidestrider"

2 - sp4rk-p1ug

"if he doesnt get in im blowing this whole fucking website up and deleting the cringe comp and the councilblr discord server and my blog" "i’m colestyles boyfriend"

2 - the-albatross-sails

"british representation" "called old man earl a top, british, just look at my pfp and that's all the evidence you need"

2 - dracolunae / pretzel-the-frogtopus

"No one can run that many update blogs and be considered an average blog /aff" "Beasty beastly beast best beast ORANGE Also they run like all of the update accounts All of them"

2 - alkalineleak

"1. i watched hymn liveblog making the undersea headcanon doc on discord 2. beloved jrwi riptide mutual" "big naturals"

1 - fiveminuterice

"omegaverse post"

1 - atlix2

"he's gotten a litle too silly"

1 - unwitnessprotection

"sorry for shipping william wisp and william wight. ok. sorry. god itd be so funny though. sorry also for contemplating shipping william with the wisp illusion of him. i havent gone to confession in years i could keep going"

1 - xaeyrnofnbe

"I think they are very nice :)"

1 - twinkfromconvergence / maybewren

"im their friend an i think it would be funny"

1 - viewfinder-chernobyl

"They wanted to be nominated"

1 - t4tnavyseal

"they have a cool blog :3"

1 - grrsalot

"freak (aff)"

1 - tragicfaggots

"they are silly :3"

1 - thanatosyaoi

"technically this is discord interactions based rather than blog based but. uhhh. yknow lets just go with “you had to be there” i dont need to disclose what happens in boo’s insane room"

1 - apple-the-bluebird

"You said we could nominate ourselves. Also. The year of the yaoi thing and having multiple posts on the cringe comp"

1 - chaos-caverns

"rand"

1 - seraphex

"Vibes"

1 - verdellium

"as a good friend of rosemarys heres my list on why she is weird and insane: - sent me a video of her doing an "autism jig" (intense stimming) over gillions i hate you speech - sent me a video of wym crying at 1 am over the bitb finale. unnerving and weird to wake up to at 6 am and see that video. - has a 1000 word note in her notes app about how one of his pieces in band perfectly fits albatrio. refuses to share it with me. - wrote like. 200 words to his mutual about band and jrwi. - in her drafts, there is a post that says "gillion is an exmormon. i said it." i dont know where this came from.

1 - tranny-tidestriders

"they reblogged the charlie twerking GIF about 15 times in a row. and he has autistic tboy swag"

1 - enderspawn 1 - fragilecqpricorn 1 - goatmanwithstrawberrytea 1 - asteraeliana 1 - everwizard

Someone simply submitted "ohmigoshiloveyou" and nothing else. The user "firefox-official" was nominated with the note "must i explain" but I couldn't find any obvious ties to Councilblr so I didn't include them, "sadmushroomgoblin" was nominated with no comment and excluded for the same reason.

#2023 no1 councilblr weirdo

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iamthecomet · 1 year ago

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Hoot!

(Finally replying, heh)

I honestly really hope that the meds will work too. I‘ll keep on taking the same ones I take now and take the other ones in addition, but they actually benefit? each other (as in, both probably will work better when taken together)

I‘ll most likely start tomorrow, but it will take 4-6 weeks for them to actually make something change. And also my symptoms of like dizziness and headaches will likely get worse at the beginning (this will get better over time tho)

They can also make you feel more suicidal in the beginning (which is because they make you more aware, including more aware of problems) but that also gets better after those 4-6 weeks when the actual effects set in (the new one is a kind of antidepressant)

So like, I’m pretty nervous about that

Yeah, going outside is pretty good but also hella hard to do. Sometimes my friends manage to drag me along, which I very much appreciate (they also need to go slower when we go somewhere by bike because of me, but they do that without ever complaining, for which I’m very thankful).

And you‘re so right. In the past, I’ve sometimes not treated them very kindly because of my insecurities and how I’m scared of being a burden, which is also why I isolate myself a lot, but whenever I feel a little less bad they always welcome me with open arms (they‘re also the reason I can watch movies/series, because 2 of them are so aware of my phobias that they will make me feel safe whenever something triggering happens. It’s literally so damn good, because when I’m watching with them, I can actually enjoy watching without being constantly scared that something triggering could possibly happen)

Also seriously, the way one of them immediately offers her hand for me to squeeze while simultaneously covering my eyes is just the sweetest thing ever

But like, there are other good news I think!

I‘ve been thinking about using a cane for at least months now. I sometimes feel very dizzy, to the point of pre-syncope (even though I never actually fainted before) and especially in the past few days, I feel even more unstable when walking than I usually do. I‘m very scared to go outside, especially on my own and just really don‘t feel safe. And especially during disability pride month, people where explaining what mobility aids can be helpful for what, and dizziness was often mentioned for canes.

And I honestly really think that it would help me a lot, and give me a sense of standing/walking more safely.

I always wanted to wait because I was/am scared that I’m just telling myself all that because I want a cane to get attention.

But my dear ex roommate (and one of the sweetest people alive) actually was like “well if you‘d benefit from it, who cares even if would be partly for attention? What about attention is so bad?“

And I think that they are very right. (They also added that canes do look cool as hell and they are also very right about that. I cannot wait to put stickers all over mine if I actually get one)

So on the next appointment I’ll have with my doctor, I’ll ask her if I can get a prescription for a cane.

Oh god, this got long again. Sorry about that

At least it included a lot of (pretty) positive things I think

At least for me, engaging a lot in fandom content helped me with my post-Ritual depression (as far as it was related to that cause I got regular depression going on as well xD)

But it seems like you‘ve been doing that /pos

~ @owlishanon

Finally digging this out of my drafts SORRY! ♥ I'm so glad things have been looking up! I hope that your meds aren't too hard on you during the adjustment period, and that your side effects are minimal. I'm glad you're friends have been so supportive, and are so good to you. I've probably already said it, but real friends are going to be there for you no matter what--they love all of you (even the not as fun parts) and I'm glad you have some like that. I'm with your ex-roomate on the cane stuff. If it's going to help you, you should do it. Who cares what other people think. If it makes you feel safer, more stable, you shouldn't hesitate to get one. I hope that your conversation with your Dr. about it goes well and you can get one and that it helps! Lots of love to you, I hope things are still going well!

#comet comments #owlish #comet's anons

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lilfluffyfeather · 4 months ago

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Hi! Im about to go into my second year at college and here’s some things I did last year!

First and foremost I had an agere backpack. I don’t have much gear so it was easy for me to find a small backpack to put most of my stuff in. I kept it hooked to my bed frame.

You can also absolutely have a drawer to put your agere stuff in once you get to your dorm as well!

I. CANNOT. RECOMMEND. ENOUGH. TO. GET. CLEANING. WIPES!!!! I literally get mine from the dollar store: fisher-price pacifier & toy wipes. This is SUPER helpful if you have paci’s/teethers/toys that you put in your mouth!! It saves you a couple trip to wash them in the bathrooms, but it’s STILL SUPER IMPORTANT YOU WASH THEM NORMALLY AT POINTS!!

^^ I will sometimes pack them in my bathroom caddy/clothes when I’m going to shower so I can just wash them discreetly but thoroughly.

I also brought A TONNNNN of coloring books!! It’s easy to explain that those adult coloring books are too visually overwhelming and simple coloring books help you relax a lot more. Honestly though, no one really cares what kind of coloring book you have, many people prefer simple kids ones for all kinds of non-agere reasons.

I also have a good collection of stuffies here at college with me. I never needed an excuse or explanation for them :) again, honestly a lot of people don’t really care and/or have many stuffies themselves for non-agere reasons.

I feel like it’s important that I note: a lot of people really don’t care about a lot of things (/pos). Ofc there’s always mean people, but the most of them just think your business is your own business and you don’t really owe an explanation to anyone. It’s nice.

My prime regression time was watching a movie and coloring! I might not have been able to use my paci and stuff while my roommate was there, but it’s a very quiet and discreet regression time I could do with people around.

I also made sure I had some fun snacks around that made me feel so happy when I felt little!

I had lofted my bed last year and put my body pillow against the railing so it gave me more privacy from the room. That let me feel like I could use my paci some nights. I often kept a paci & teether tucked in my bed by my wall & pillow.

I also utilized weekends my roommate had gone home. Those were the nights I was able to fully regress and spend as long as I wanted to with my agere.

It was important that I just kept things that comforted me in my space. It’s all the little things (pun unintended) that add up to make agere in college accessible 🩵🩵

OH! P.S. I also brought divider plates with me! Again it’s easy to just say I don’t like my food touching/I like my snacks separate when studying. I lovvvee my divider plates and snack containers, they make even simple snacks feel catered to my small side :)

i’m going to college soon, does anyone have tips for age regression in college?

what did you have/bring? where did you hide your stuff? how do you regress when you don’t have much privacy? any other tips you have?

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thinkingisadangerouspastime · 3 years ago

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hi! i really like your posts and recently i came across some anti kataang arguments and i would like to see your opinion on that (if you want to answer because you must be very tired of answering those lol)

“i remember perfectly aang forcing himself into katara. not only once, but a lot of times. in that talk they were having during the play it was one of the moments aang was intrusive”

“i saw people saying that katara was jealous of aang with that kids in kyoshi island, which she obviously was not. she was annoyed at them”

“kataang had no development. it feels like a ship made out of nowhere”

“aang is completely obsessed with the idea of katara being his. proof is that episode were the guru tells him he has to let go of her and he choses to break the connection. it’s like: look what i did for you, you should stay with me. aang learning to let go would have been a evolution for his character”

“making them stay together in the end just because aang is the protagonist and has to stay with the girl is boring and adds nothing to the plot”

“he spend years after a girl that never felt the same for him”

hi anon! im very flattered you like my posts 🥰💛 and you’re not wrong that sometimes it gets a lil tiring addressing anti kataang arguments, but that’s because 90% of them are the same foolish rhetoric dressed up in a different costume, lol. i finally have some free time, so i’ll take a stab at these for you!

“i remember perfectly aang forcing himself into katara. not only once, but a lot of times. in that talk they were having during the play it was one of the moments aang was intrusive”

not gonna lie, this particular “argument” made me crack up laughing because they “remember perfectly… lots of times” but can only name one instance 😂 like i am on the floor, because trying to get away with that in a formal essay would earn them nothing more than a goose egg. you need evidence to support a claim, which this “claim” has none of. i mean,, when does aang force himself onto katara?? when katara initiates every cheek kiss they share?? when they are mutual participants in several shared hugs?? don’t get me started on DOBS - the Now or Never Kiss that falls under literally requires reciprocation from both parties, lol. but regarding the ever-so-infamous EIP episode they bring up:

This post talks specifically about EIP and the play’s portrayal of Aang and Katara (and how it cannot be used to define their relationship). This post explains the true source of Katara’s conflict in turning down Aang (i.e. the war itself and the risks the war presents for both of them) and why the EIP kiss did not “ruin” Kataang’s relationship. This post explains how the EIP kiss was resolved through narrative parallels. This post explains how the EIP kiss is so often blown out of proportion. This post explains how Aang did not “threaten” Katara in EIP (with some excellent commentary in the notes, too).

the fact of the matter is that yes, aang overstepped a boundary with katara there. no one has ever contested that because to do so would be to disregard canon, and here’s the thing about kataang shippers: we love atla canon. it gave us everything we wanted and more. (imo, that’s what anti kataangers don’t understand.) the EIP episode can be interpreted as a “low point” for many reasons, but the primary “takeaway” is that the play performed was imperialist propaganda that preyed on the gaang’s insecurities and demeaned them (much to the pleasure of the Fire Nation audience), which had negative consequences, one of which was aang kissing katara largely out of desperation. no one has ever excused that! thus, what i think isn’t clicking with anti kataangers is that aang and katara’s miscommunication in EIP is not a representation of their relationship being doomed to fail. aang made a mistake and immediately backed off without question or hesitation. katara has time to make her own decision and chooses to forgive him. doesn’t it strip more of katara’s agency away to conclude that katara could never ever ever forgive her best friend for a single mistake that - comparatively - could have been a whole lot worse?

(im just saying.)

“i saw people saying that katara was jealous of aang with that kids in kyoshi island, which she obviously was not. she was annoyed at them”

honestly, i have a question for whoever came up with this jfksjdasks. okay, yes, she was annoyed. that’s a given based on her exasperated eye rolls and sighs. but why was katara annoyed with them, hmm?

here’s my thing about katara’s feelings in this ep: jealousy and annoyance are not inherently the same, it’s true. a person can be annoyed without being jealous (obviously). as such, there are essentially two possible interpretations that have validity, although one in my opinion has greater weight in canon:

1. yes, it is possible to interpret katara’s annoyance that episode as being solely related to their delays on kyoshi island. one can reasonably argue that katara’s romantic feelings for aang were not as strong so early in the series (it’s only episode 4, after all, although lbr - she was Looking at aang’s tattoos in episode 1 lmao), and therefore the primary reason she was annoyed at the fangirls is because they were one of the causes extending their stay on the island when katara felt they needed to leave. it’s a fair interpretation.

2. a different and stronger interpretation, in my opinion, is that katara’s irritation was a product of both annoyance at their extended stay and jealousy of the fangirls’ obsession with aang. because here’s the thing about jealousy: it doesn’t have to be some extreme, exaggerated emotion/reaction! when katara gets jealous of on ji in book 3, she makes a single comment about aang and on ji dancing together. when aang gets jealous of jet in book 2 (because of sokka’s teasing), he, too, makes a single comment (i.e. that it would be a bad idea for katara to kiss jet). i bring these two moments up because they explicitly demonstrate within atla canon that reactions of jealousy do not have to be dramatique and outrageous, à la zuko throwing ruon-jian across the room in book 3, lmao. jealousy can be simple! kept to oneself! as such, katara’s disgruntled manner in that episode - which, might i add, is largely if not only shown in reaction to aang with the fangirls - can certainly be interpreted as a quieter form of jealousy akin to several other moments within canon.

more than that, however, if the writers did not at all want jealousy to be an interpretation on the table… why on earth would they have bothered to mention jealousy as a possibility? here’s the relevant excerpt from the episode transcript:

Koko: [Stomps her foot in annoyance and puts her hands on her hips, while another girl happily waves at Aang; irritated.] What’s taking you so long, Aangy?

Cut back to Aang and Katara; the former enthusiastically waves back at his awaiting fangirls, while the latter raises an eyebrow at the scene.

Katara: [Slightly mocking.] Aangy…

Aang: [Enthusiastically.] Just a second, Koko!

Katara: [Sarcastic.] “Simple monk,” huh? [Annoyed.] I thought you promised me that this Avatar stuff wouldn’t go to your head.

Aang: It didn’t. You know what I think? You just don’t want to come because you’re jealous.

Katara: [Close-up; angrily.] Jealous? [More high pitched voice.] Of what?

Cut to a broader shot. Aang moves back slightly, when an irritated Katara resumes to ferociously stuff the basket with more fruits.

Aang: Jealous that we’re having so much fun without you.

Katara: [Irritated.] That’s ridiculous.

(sidebar, but can i just say that seeing “ferociously stuff” to describe putting fruits away is arguably the funniest thing i’ve ever read sjkdhsjalks)

to me, this excerpt alone all but proves katara’s irritation is a mixture of annoyance at the girls’ (and aang’s) behavior/their delayed departure and jealousy regarding how the fangirls’ fawn over aang. katara clearly demonstrates frustration at aang’s seeming lack of concern for their time crunch and how he’s letting his status get to his head (and remember, y’all: this is very early book 1 aang, he’s barely begun to truly reconcile what it means to be the avatar and the last airbender, which is understandable and a-okay! can’t have growth if he doesn’t start somewhere!). that checks out. but next thing you know, katara’s reaction proceeds to dramatically heighten when aang teases the idea of jealousy to her. again: why include this moment if jealousy was never on the table whatsoever as an interpretation for her feelings of irritation? why make katara’s response intensify so strongly if she’s not jealous even a little bit?

in sum, while i don’t think katara’s aggravation is solely fueled by jealousy, the episode itself points to jealousy as at least a part of it. simple!

“kataang had no development. it feels like a ship made out of nowhere”

this take screams willful ignorance, like did they even watch the whole show?? it’s not worth addressing over and over, ngl.

This post and this post explain how Katara’s feelings for Aang develop throughout the series. This post explains how Aang consistently supported Katara throughout the series. This post demonstrates how Kataang is literally ingrained in every episode.

“aang is completely obsessed with the idea of katara being his. proof is that episode were [sic] the guru tells him he has to let go of her and he choses [sic] to break the connection. it’s like: look what i did for you, you should stay with me. aang learning to let go would have been a evolution for his character”

“completely obsessed” h e l p i weep for the lack of brain cells 😭 it is so hard to just say “kataang isn’t my cup of tea” and go?? seriously?? i thought we were past making stuff up to support shipping agendas. lord help us. real quick:

This post explains how Aang never acted like he was “entitled” to Katara’s affections. This post explains how Katara and Aang do not “idolize” each other. This post and this post talk about Aang’s chakra being blocked and unblocked, and how it had to do with fear, not attachment. This post talks about Aang and the Avatar State, explicitly discussing “The Crossroads of Destiny” and the notion of attachment/letting Katara go.

okay, let’s take this claim one sentence at a time:

“the guru tells him [aang] he has to let go of her [katara] and he choses [sic] to break the connection.”

first of all. FIRST OF ALL. can you imagine the hellfire that would have rained down if aang hadn’t chosen to go rescue katara? here is a piece of the episode transcript:

… Right before he is able to completely open the final chakra and master the Avatar State, however, he hears a shriek from Katara and sees a vision of her in chains. At this, he jumps out of the energy sphere and runs away from the Avatar Spirit. The energy bridge that leads him there slowly vanishes behind him until it catches up and falls from underneath him, causing his image to plummet toward Earth. This cuts his connection to the Avatar State, which forces him back to reality.

Aang: Katara’s in danger! I have to go! [Prepares to exit.]

Pathik: No, Aang! By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra! If you leave now, you won’t be able to go into the Avatar State at all!

Aang hesitates but leaves anyway, leaving Pathik concerned and disappointed.

aang chose to leave because katara was in danger. if he had chosen to stay,, dear god. the vitriol that would have been thrown around. “aang doesn’t really love katara! he chose not to save her!” “aang is so selfish and greedy! he chose power over love!” it’s literally a catch-22. damned if he does leave, damned if he doesn’t leave. #fandomlogic

anyways, yes, sure, aang chose to leave, which at the time broke the connection. he was indeed in avatar state limbo for a Hot Minute. whoop de do.

“it’s like: look what i did for you, you should stay with me.”

logical fallacy: ad hominem, hasty generalization, ∴ not worth our time 💛

“aang learning to let go would have been a [sic] evolution for his character”

i have amazing news for those who perpetuate this take. aang did let her go! he would not have been able to enter the avatar state in COD if he hadn’t! point blank, it is utterly untrue to pretend aang did not “let go” of his attachment to katara. now, im not going to get into the concept of “attachment” here and what it truly meant for aang to have “let katara go” in the book 2 finale (if it was good, bad, etc. etc.). there is a lot of material to work with there that would require like,, an entire post to dig into, if not more. the fact of the matter is that aang did let katara go, and the proof is that he successfully entered the avatar state before azula killed him. the above claim thus sits in complete contradiction to canon and is a moot point.

“making them stay together in the end just because aang is the protagonist and has to stay with the girl is boring and adds nothing to the plot”

“making them stay together” again, is it so hard for someone to just say “kataang isn’t my thing, im gonna stick to fanon pairings, but y’all have fun” i mean that really, really does not seem so difficult to me! also, “making” is a hilarious word to use just because,, atla is a work of fiction. in that respect, the writers “made” everything happen. you cannot escape their sphere of control.

anyways. that’s just funny to me lmao

but no, aang and katara did not get together in a romantic fashion just because aang was the lead male protagonist and katara was the lead female protagonist. i refer back to these posts from earlier:

aang and katara got together because their relationship had been developed since episode 1, duh. reducing their relationship to “lead guy + lead girl” completely disregards the legwork done and the foundation laid for their romantic partnership. like, all someone has to do is rewatch the show 😂 and i hate to break it to whoever created that take, but to say kataang “adds nothing to the plot” again ignores how their relationship is one of the two most important in the show (the other being aang and zuko’s relationship as narrative foils). it is not a cheap coincidence that kataang embodies multiple complementary themes/motifs of atla: push and pull, yin and yang, air and water, oma and shu, etc. etc. their relationship adds emotional depth! how is that not relevant to the plot! atla is a show where just about every relationship is important in some regard (this post touches upon how aang alone transforms all of his friends - think of the bigger picture, then, and how every other dynamic weaves in a crucial thread to create the beautiful tapestry we call atla!).

my point is that kataang is relevant to the plot the way every relationship in atla is, whether or not someone ships/enjoys them. you cannot have a good show without having intimate relationships (emotionally, i mean). can you imagine if someone said zuko and iroh’s relationship wasn’t relevant to the plot?? there is a reason it is such a powerful moment when iroh and zuko reunite in the finale. similarly, there is a reason yue’s sacrifice and sokka’s consequential (and lasting) grief is so poignant. there is a reason it is so heartbreaking when katara and sokka have to leave behind their father at the beginning of tsr. to tie back to kataang, there is a reason it is so hard to watch katara dismiss aang in that same episode. there is a reason so many people are moved when katara pulls aang out of the avatar state when appa is stolen. there is a reason emotional reactions are incited during atla and it is because these relationships are so important!! i don’t care if someone thinks kataang is “boring” - that’s their opinion, they have a right to it. but to insist their relationship wasn’t relevant to the plot? to the story? when in fact it was a key component from episode 1?

are you kidding me?

“he spend years after a girl that never felt the same for him”

“years” lol doesn’t atla take place over the course of a year at most? pretty sure this person didn’t even watch the show 😂 for a third time, i refer to these posts:

i hope i addressed these (nonsensical) arguments to your satisfaction, anon! a lot of them are the same tried-and-failed anti kataang arguments, smh. not to incite new discourse lmao, but it’d be nice if there was at least some variety 😂 thank you again for your kind words, my friend! 💛

#kataang #aang #katara #aanglove #atla #avatar the last airbender #atla analysis #kataangtag #amy answers #anon #amy analyzes

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bookwyrminspiration · 2 years ago

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Hi :] so this is my first time doing an ask so I apologize if this sounds awkward or anything. But anyway, I saw a couple of your kotlc song analysis and was wondering what you think of Creature by half alive for Fintan or any character in general?

I don't exactly know why my mind was hyperfixated with this song and Fintan but it just did. Hv a nice day :]

Hi, Nonsie!! No need to apologize, you're doing just fine I promise. And I love that song!! It's one of my "my spine is being turned inside out" (/pos) songs that's just so *clenches fist*

There are so many lines that could fit Fintan!! The first one I think of is "Even the depths of the night cannot blind me / When You guide me," specifically in relation to Everblaze. It's like this thing he reveres, that calls to him, the power overwhelming and awe inspiring. And nothing an withstand it's fury, no darkness or hesitation or doubt, it's incandescent and ethereal and all consuming and he can control it--or at least work in enough harmony with this flame to achieve his goals. But this line specifically reminds me of that one scene where he's explaining it to Sophie before stopping, realizing she doesn't understand the appeal because she's not a pyrokinetic. The line just has that sense of openness and awe, if that makes sense. I don't know how else to explain it but it's falling to your knees in reverence, arms open to the sky, speechless.

for some reason the line "Haunted by a darker side / Transcends to walking in the light" reminds me very specifically of his relationship to everblaze as well. He's more than that but it's what my brain is focusing on rn. But the "darker side" could be his history with it, being the only survivor of an attempt to summon it gone gravely wrong, ending in multiple deaths of people who were probably his friends, but any hesitation or grief around it transcends instead to that reverence I mentioned before. He finds the beauty in it, finds the calm, finds the storm, finds himself, finds the light of the everblaze burning through everything it used to be to him. Now the past that haunted him has been transformed into something new and dangerous

oh and then there's "Hidden in the space between / Hero and the enemy" like that was a whole thing in the early books!! Sophie trying to figure out who were the good guys and who were the bad guys because they're not as different as we want them to be. And Fintan has a point about the treatment of pyrokinetics and the complacency of the council and how things aren't working--those are sentiments our hero would agree with, yet he turns around and kills people and manipulates them and tries to help force another species into slavery, which are bad!! Two conflicting parts of him where it's like he's a hero gone wrong, but we can't vilify every single thing about him because he's more than just a bad person, he's this grey area. He's helped people, he wants a right denied to him, he wants change. He's a hero and an enemy and a mix of everything in between, but he's still not a good person.

It's just!! It has this sense of Fintan that's much more personal and gentle and strikes a nerve, rather than him being a super powerful evil person, but more as...a person? I don't know if that makes sense but it's like it taps into a side of him we don't see as often and i love it!

thank you for the suggestion because I always love looking at this song, and I will do my best to have a good day! I don't have to do any homework today so!! off to a good start!

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc music analysis #fintan pyren #quil's queries #nonsie #I also associate the song with sophie. at least pesonally #so that could fit well with the fintan/sophie parallels #or the 'fintan is trans time traveling sophie' thing #but also I just like the song :)#I actually had a project a few semesters ago where we had to define/conceptualize happiness through different things #like artwork and music etc.#and for the song one I chose this song #i bet I could find it if anyone was curious #could show you how I conceptualize happiness

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bandgeek4life8 · 3 years ago

Text

Guardians - chapter two the lost city of atlantis

Chapter 1

WC: 3, 453

Season 1, Episode 2: The Lost City of Atlantis

Previously on Guardian in Jim's POV "The Nightmares have emerged once more." Pabbie told everyone.

"GREAT GRONKA MORKA!!" Blinky exclaimed.

"And they attend to assimilate an army. They already have the witch Gothel, the bogeyman Pitch Black, the dragon tamer Drago Bludvist with his mother of dragons Red Death, the prince Hans of Southern Isles and Duke of Weselton, the cursed bear Mor'du, the Pirate "Captain Hook" Killian James, and the Boggan Mandrake. And I have a list of who they want. From my visions. But only two people I wish to say it to: Vendel and... James Lake Jr. Because she wishes it."

"Who wishes for me to know?" I asked him.

"Starling."

Some people are chosen for this life and have no choice but to accept its transgressions. Others spend their life completely in the dark about this life we lead. Some, like me, choose to live this life. It is a lot of work for anybody. Not just anybody can get into this life and survive its trials and tribulations. But we were born for this. To become guardians. But I'm not a guardian yet. I'm just an apprentice.

|{[INSERT_OPENING_SEQUENCE]}|

"Welcome to the first meeting of the Druidia Order." I announced.

"Did you have to name us after a planet in your favorite Star Wars movie?" asked the raven-haired time-traveller Wilbur Robinson.

"Spaceballs is not a Star Wars movie, Wilbur." Currently undercover spy, Walter Beckett told him.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Did your dad teach you anything about Star Wars?" asked blonde enpath/ hockey-player from Wisconsin, Riley Anderson.

"Only that he hated the sequels, he loves the originals, and respects what the prequels tried to do." Wilbur said.

"Can we please get to the topic at hand please?" I asked everyone.

Everyone in the room grumbled out a yes and we continued with the precedings. Wow. That sounds way too formal for me.

"Well what can we do? We already made allies with the Arendelle trolls via Elsa and Anna. We had Grand Pabbie alert the Trollhunter of the Nightmares." said Ted Wiggins.

"Which means a group of you have to go find the essence stones." Megamind appeared with a plate of, "who wants cookies?"

"Are you growing soft on us, Meg?" Megamind basically growled at Wilbur for the nickname he used.

"I am trying to babysit Gru's oldest daughter and her friends." Megamind told him looking the kid dead in the eye.

"What do you know of the essence stones?" I asked him, ignoring the intense staredown happening between the two makes.

Megamind turned his attention away from Wilbur only for the time-traveller to blow a raspberry at him and Megamind to turn back and glare at him I rolled my eyes. The same old stupid antics. "I know where you can find the essence stone of the ocean."

"If you tell me we have to befriend Poseidon or-."

"It's in Atlantis." Megamind said.

"Or that." I facepalmed. "And how would you know that?"

"Because I have an evil underwater lair in the city of Atlantis." Cue another facepalm from me.

"And why...? You know what? I don't want to know. So how are we getting there?" I asked.

"It's not a matter of how we, but rather how who is getting there." Megamind said.

"That makes no sense whatsoever, dude." Hiro said as he walked into the room followed by Lucy Tuchi.

"Some of us will go on the mission while the rest research the rest of the essence stones." Megamind suggested.

"You know... your ideas are normally terrible. But this one is actually a good idea." Wilbur told him.

The alien growled. "Easy now, Megamind. When we heading out? And who is coming along for the ride?"

"You, Rayla, Ezran, Callum, Sisu, Hiccup, Jack, Light Furry, Walter, and Toothless." Megamind told us. "And you will leave tomorrow. After school."

"Alright. Before we do anymore planning, I need pizza." I walked over to where Hiro plopped the pizza on.

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL HERE]}| "

I cannot believe he has the audacity for this! He knows we're not on the best of terms, and yet he does this." I sighed.

"I'm sure he has a reason." said Hiro.

"It's Megamind. It's a stupid-ass reason." I told him.

Hiro sighed. "But you miss hanging out with Toby and Jim. And you-."

"Don't even finish that sentence. I know what you were going to say." Hiro gapped at me. "I know what you were going to say. Only three people know it. And one betrayed me."

My phone vibrated in my hoodie's pocket and I opened it up to see a text from my grandmother, Margaret. "Is that Marge? What she said?"

"She's wondering about the you-know-what with the you-know-who." I told him. She wants to know about James Lake Jr being the Trollhunter. Grandpa would not be pleased with this anyway. But he's dead. And he doesn't matter.

"You have gym next block right?" I groaned. Of course I forgot. And why of all days did we have to do the Pacer test today!

"And we're doing the pacer test today too!" I would have banged my head on a locker if we weren't coming from History. "Kill me now! Woe is me!"

"Stop being overdramatic. And I'm off my way to Robotics." Hiro said once we got to the hall where we would part ways.

"Don't take over the world of robotics without your team first." I called out to gim.

"Yeah, yeah. Just focus on making chemistry after gym, but preferably during." the smart-ass called back.

I'm gonna kill him one of these days. Just you wait, Hiro Hamada. I grumbled and continued on my way to the ends of the earth. Also known as gym. Because I lack the athletic ability of a worm. My arms are basically noodles before submerged in H20. I got dressed in my PE clothes and walked outside to the bleachers where I plopped myself down on. Gym. The one class I don't have my safety net to catch me. The one block where I feel alone. Completely and helplessly alone.

"Hey, [Y/N]. Mind if we sit here?" asked Toby.

It was just him and Jim. What on Earth are they up to? I scooted some ways away from my spot and patted the spot beside me. Jim took the spot beside me while Toby took the bench in front of us.

"We haven't hung out just the three of us in awhile, huh?" Toby remarked.

"You both seem busy since the semester started. I can't blame you for that one." I told them. The pair shrugged at me, but it was a lying shrug. I would know. I do the same ones. "Anyway, what are we doing for our History Project, Jamie?" I looked over at him.

"I don't know. Wanna brainstorm some ideas after school?" Jim asked me.

"Can't. I have a family thing." Lying to them has gotten harder since I found out. Hopefully they don't catch. But they're idiots. They won't catch on... I hope. "I can come over tomorrow after school if you want."

"That... Th-th-th-that'll be gr-gr-gr-great." What's with the stammer? It's weird. "Oh, don't forget about Pig Zombies on Saturday."

"Don't worry. I have it all set in my calendar. So, what time is the movie?" I asked them.

Toby and Jim shared a look. Oh that is never good. "We don't actually know."

"Then, what are we going to do about Saturday?" I asked them.

"We're more of idea men." Like they're any close to being men. "Creating a plan is someone else's problem." Of course.

"You two haven't changed at all, have you? I'll get to work on that sometime this evening. You guys still have email, righr?" I asked them.

"Who still uses e-mail anymore?" Toby inquired.

"Good point. I'll just have Lucy drive us to the theater anyway." I replied. "So, how are you and Claire going, Jamie?"

"O-o-o-oh, m-m-me and Claire?" stammered Jim. That's strange.

"Yes, you and Claire. You two are dating, aren't you?" I asked him.

"Oh, y-y-yeah. We're g-g-g-good." Hmm. Peculiar. But Jim's always been like this when pertaining to Claire. Nothing suspicious about that.

I hope.

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL_HERE]}|

Jim

"So, you have a study date with [Y/N] tomorrow huh?" Claire teased me while we walked to Blinky's library.

"What-. Wait! You told her!" I exclaimed to Toby who was on my left side.

"Of course, I did. Dude, you've been hopelessly obliviously in love with this girl since she stole your first kiss on the monkey bars when we were nine. And she-."

"She clearly has feelings for you, but she's not gonna act upon them since you know we're fake dating and all that jazz." Claire said.

I sighed. "You're the smart one. Couldn't you have come up with something... um... better?"

"What? Because a wuss like you was going to ask her out if I didn't say we were dating?" Claire asked him, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

I sighed once more. She clearly had a point. And Tobes seemed to catch it too. "He tried to ask her if she wanted to go see Pig Zombie 6 for her sixteenth birthday, but dragged me along with them because he wussed out of calling it a date."

Claire tapped her chin in thought. I do not understand girls. Then, she did the thing where you smack your fist against your hand in an aha! idea moment. Which is what transpired next. "I have a perfect idea for your movie date on Saturday."

"Am I going to regret this?" I asked her.

"I hope not. I'm helping you whether you want me to or not." Yea me! Internal frown.

We made it Blinky's library in which the four arm troll was talking animatedly to Vendell. About Essence Stones? What the fuzz buckets are those?

"Um, what are the Essence Stones?" I piped up.

"The Essence Stones are the only thing that can combat the Oncoming Storm." Vendel explained.

"Which is why we should be looking for them! We already know where one is! The Sea Stone!" Blinky told him.

"I already told you the Starling has this under control. This is her fight. Not ours. We shouldn't-."

"But then why have Pabbie tell us about the resurgence anyways?!" Blinky cut him off. I don't think Blinky has ever interrupted Vendel before. This is a first.

"Because to warn us of an even greater danger, Blinkous!! One that we have to face on our own! As Trolls!" the elder roared.

I never saw a look of fear as intense as the look that crossed Blinky's face when Vendel told him that. A greater danger? Even Aaarrrggghh! and Draal had the same look as Blinky. What did it all mean? Vendel left the library.

"I don't care what the goat says. We're getting the Sea Stone." Blinky told us.

"And how do we acquire it?" asked Claire.

"Hate Gyre." Aaarrrgghh! cried. Oh.

"And where would we find the Sea Stone?" Toby asked. "It's underwater right? And we can't breathe in water? So is it in an aquarium? Washed up on a beach?"

"I'll tell you where when we get to the Gyre." Claire, Toby, and I shared a look before shrugging our shoulders and following Blinky to the Gyre.

When we got there, we reached the Gyre and hopped in. "So, where are we going?"

"Under the sea. In an underwater palace where there is no water inside located in what you humans refer to as The Bermuda Triangle. Get ready for Atlantis." And before the three of us could protest, Blinky put in the coordinates and we zipped off towards... did he really say Atlantis? And the Bermuda Triangle?

But I didn't have time to question it as we arrived in a palace? And our clothes were soaking wet. But we never submerged in water? You know what? I shouldn't question it. Me and my friends huddled for warmth. It'll be awhile before we're dry. But why isn't- you know what? Never mind. I don't care.

"Okay, so where do we go first?" asked Toby.

"We head for the treasure room. The Jewel of Atlantis is the Sea Stone." Blinky told us.

"Why are we wet, but you aren't?" asked Claire.

"No clue." Blinky shrugged his shoulders.

The three of us grumbled but followed after Blinky with Aaarrrgghh! and Draal taking the rear. This is going to be a long evening. Our little group trudged, our squeaky footprints giving our location to anyone who would be here. And I think someone was here. Because a familiar ball of silver and blue was charging at us. Not us. Me. Followed by a march larger greenish-blue dragon.

"Hi, Azymondias." I said to the baby dragon when he jumped into my arms.

"I see you humans have already met the Prince. Starling's Zym seems to like you Mr Lake." the green-ish blue dragon said. Um... do dragons normally...

"YOU TALK?!?!" Thanks for that, Tobes.

"Of course, I do. I'm Sisu. Starling sent me after Little Azymondias to make sure he stayed out of trouble." Why aren't Blinky, Aarrrgghh!, and Draal freaking out about there being another dragon? And the elf being here?

"You six, now-seven, looking for the Treasure Room?" asked Sisu.

I shivered as a breeze went by. Why was there a breeze? We're in a dry castle underwater! This is just too weird.

"We were headed that way right now!" Blinky told the dragon.

Azymondias coughed. Or sneezed? I don't know. But he zapped me and I yelped and I'm... dry? Well alot dryer than before. Uh, thank you. Living dryer thay could kill me at any given moment. But you're still cute. So you're forgiven if you do.

"Well I wouldn't go that way! That's where Meg put his evil lair at." Sisu told us.

"Lair?" "Meg?"

"Meg is what the time-traveler calls Megamind. And he placed a lair here when he was going through his 'evil' phase." I did not know Dragons did air quotes.

"Time Traveler? Like the Doctor? Or Loki?" askes Toby.

"Looks like a mix of Matt Smith and Loki as a tween with too much hair gel. Alright, kids follow me." Sisu told us.

Zym appeared on my shoulder, wrapping his small body around on my shoulder and we followed the hopping dragon towards the treasure room. We had reached the treasure room, avoiding all the traps (that was on the ceiling for some strange reason). We arrived there. And Sisu peered inside before letting us enter. Strange.

But I couldn't help peering over Sisu's sboulder "Are you really angry that the Trollhunter keeps unknowingly stealing your pet?" That sounded like... no it can't be.

"Azymondias is not my pet. My pet sounds like I chose to take care of him. The bundle of zappy madness chose me to take care of him. So if anything, I'm his pet." Please tell me that's not who I think it is. But the-I'm guessing- Startouch Elf looks nothing like her. Not one bit. Well maybe except for the nose. And the eyes.

"You make absolutely no sense. And yet you love him anyway." the other voice said. A male with slick-back hair. This must be the time-traveler Wow. Sisu was spot on.

"Kids, easy now. We wouldn't want this to get into the wrong hands. Not this close to the Cotillion." A brunette male that appeared to be the oldest of the group. Why does he look so familiar to me?

"I have a question for you, pig snout. Meg said you wouldn't be here. Why the hell are you here? And why are you even here?" the elf asked.

"I stowed away because none of you are smart." the time-traveller said.

"Says the royal dumbass." the female elf sighed. "I'm so young and yet I feel so old." she emphasized. I was half expecting her to do a dramatic fall like they always seem to do in soap operas notthatIwatchsoapoperasinthefirstplacethat'sabsurd.

"I already knew that, dumbass." time-traveler said.

"Go on, Trollhunter." Sisu used her tail to push me toward the elf's group to retrieve the essence stone. "Introduce yourself."

And suddenly I stumbled upon the room making the group's attention turn to me. "Um...hi." Cue the awkward wave. "I'm... James Lake Jr? I'm the... Trollhunter." I held out the Amulet of Merlin. I could practically sense Toby and Claire facepalming at this.

"Starling, I think this one is for you to handle." I now noticed the brunette boy that stood beside the other elf. Is that... Callum Schlott?? Um... I hope if that is him, he doesn't tell [Y/N] about this.

"I am the one they refer to as Starling as you must know. And we don't need you here. To help us." The girl's hand were running up and down a strand of her waist length periwinkle hair. [Y/N] did the same thing when she had long hair. Not the time Jim.

"I think we do. Because the Seastone is missing if you've forgotten." the other elf said. She sounds like Rayla. And sort of looks like her too.

"THE SEASTONE IS GONE!?!?!?" Blinky exclaimed.

"Unfortunately so. Now, one advantage turns out to be a setback." I didn't notice the other brunette who had a black dragon that was acting like a cat by his feet.

"Do you have any leads?" asked Claire as she stepped forward.

"Just a Roman Penny. No clue from where though." Starling told us. "Now, I think it's time you kids return to California. Don'tyouthink."

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL_HERE]}|

"So Atlantis was a flopp?" I had already told Draal about the whole atlantis situation.

Luckily mom had another night shift at the hospital, so Draal could walk around freely while I made dinner for myself. Elbow Pasta and Meat Sauce it appears to be.

"Yes, it was, Draal." I turned the TV on and started flipping through the channels to find the one I wanted. "At least, I met Starling. She was not what I was expecting."

"Most elves aren't. You humans expect them to be small and cute because of the Claus, but they aren't." Draal told me.

"Actually, I think," I found what I was looking for. The French food competition show the World's Greatest Chef Competiton. "she was the exact opposite of what all of you were saying. Sure she was a tad harsh to us, but I think she didn't want to involve us in the Essence Stones. Like she didn't want anymore added help. I don't know." A knock sounded on the door.

"Were you expecting anyone?" asked Draal.

"Not that I know. Toby and Claire wouldn't knock. They'll just barge on in." I told him.

And before I got to the door, the door opened to reveal a boy with white hair, incredibly pale skin wearing a blue sweatshirt and brown trousers. "Don't be such a pussy, Hiccup." That was Sisu.

"Yeah, we're only here since Zym wants the trollhunter to be his dragon rider and to train him how to combat magic." white hair said.

"Um... what are you doing at my house?" I asked them as I held my wooden spoon in my hand, ready to strike them if necessary.

"You and Punzie would be great friends, squirt." The platinum blonde ruffled my brown hair to make it messy. My hair now looks like the dragon boy's hair.

"We're here to train you. I'm Hiccup. And this is Jack. Jack Frost." Wait. What? I'm lost. "I live over in Berk Manor. And you have wandered in a den where you cannot get out of." the brunnette introduced.

"Which is why Starling didn't want you to get involved. By trying to help us with the Seastone, you and your friends have put a target on your back. Starling didn't want that. But now we have to help you. To train you. Hiccup here is a Dragon Rider. And even though Azymondias isn't big enough to be ridden. He will be. I suspect sooner than you think, so he's going to train you to ride him. And I and many others are going come here to help you train against magic. Since the people who will come after you to kill you will have magic." Jack Frost told me. Now I'm really lost.

"So let's begin."

@trollhuntersfanatic

#trollhunters #tales of arcadia #trollhunters x reader #onward trollspies #rise of the brave tangled dragons #the futuristic four #x-villains #miraculous ladybug x tales of arcadia #jim lake x reader #jim #jim lake #jim x reader #jim lake jr x reader #tales of arcadia x reader

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cloudy-leonhart · 4 years ago

Text

AOT Characters with a filipino S/O!

[Author Note: I just made this out of impulse lol, I’ll make a part two with the AOT veterans- if it’s requested then I’ll make a part three with the Marley Warriors- feedback is also appreciated on all my posts :))]

[Summary: It’s just headcanons, AOT with a filipino S/O lol, that’s it. that’s the post.]

Recommended song: Sa Susunod Na Lang - Skusta Clee ft. Yuri.

Gender Neutral Reader.

Theme: Fluff, Modern AU.

TW: Swearing.

Characters: Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Marco, Connie, Sasha.

Eren Jaeger

He probably fucks up his greetings with your parents, surprisingly your dad loves him, both of them talk about basketball and boxing, whenever Many does a fight, you and him come over so Eren could watch with you dad.

This man gets bodied by your dad ALL THE TIME during basketball, it’s valid because your dad used to be a basketball player.

He eats with his hands, yes he also got that from your dad. Your mom always comes up to you, while Eren and your dad talk, she’s happy that you found someone, and that Eren reminds her a lot of your dad.

Mans swallows rice like it was no one’s business, he eats that shit with barbecue and vinegar.

You can’t tell me he gets drunk with your dad and his friends?? They watch boxing matches and eat peanut while drinking beer.

For some reason he acts like he lives there?? Like the whole community knows about him, the kids like playing with him, the guys like doing karaoke and drinking beer with them, and the titas and lolas love talking about your relationship with him and how they would totally marry a guy like that if they ever met someone like that when they were younger.

His favourite thing about the culture? Probably how open the people were, they were very generous and kind.

Armin Arlert

When you first told him, he was kind of like, “okay??” but he also took time out of his day to research your culture, he’s the type to catch you in a sad mood where you really miss your country, and take time out of his day to try his best to make food from your culture.

He’s mastered to cook Tofu Sisig and Halo-Halo. You always ask him to make it for you whenever you’re sad.

He could never understand how your family’s able to sit in your traditional clothing, he tries his hardest not to scratch, he literally looks at you with a look begging for help because he was itchy but he didn’t want to take it off.

You had to explain that he doesn’t always have to participate in your culture, because respecting your culture was enough for you. Mans cried because he thought he was horrible for not wearing the Barong for the whole ceremony.

He does loves trying filipino recipes, he loves seeing you cook adobo or tapsilog in the morning, it just fills the house with an amazing aroma.

he knows how to say ‘i love you’ in Tagalog and he has fully replaced ‘I love you’ with ‘Mahal Kita.’

Favourite thing about the culture? The language, he just loves learning new words everyday, his favourite saying so far is, “Huwag kang mag-alala. Akong bahala.” (Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.)

Mikasa Ackerman

Poor baby was confused, she caught you talking on the phone in another language and she just stared concerningly at you, forgetting about whatever she’s doing.

She was also afraid to try your food?? Until you shove a ube-filled riceball (in filipino, Buchi) in her mouth, she ends up making it her comfort food, she asks you to make Buchi with her, she likes to eat the left over filling.

she actually wants to keep trying some of your culture’s food, her favourites so far is definitely Taho and Kaldereta, and of course Buchi.

She can’t say much in tagalog but she does know traditions, she did the binasuan dance with you once, amazingly she kept all cups in balance for her first time.

She knows how bless and actually calls people tita and tito, or ate and kuya. She was kind of, ahem, convinced, to call your parents nanay and tatay.

Your parents always complain about how you haven’t married Mikasa yet, Mikasa was confused about why she could hear them talking about her, but you reassured her that it was only just your parents egging you to marry Mikasa. In which she blushed in return.

Mikasa also learns recipes from Armin, those two cook for ther S/O’s so much that even their S/O feel like their not filipino enough, they got to try things even they didn’t know filipino culture had.

Jean Kirstein

SUPRISINGLY, he knows what blessing is, went as far as saying “Mano po.” whenever he did.

your dad hates him for some reason lmfao like your dad’s always staring at him with a weird expression.

He’s scared of your dad, no cap. first time you guys went on a date and didn’t have a house together, he almost shit himself talking to your dad.

You tried to teach him to do the tinikling dance and he almost broke his leg.

You and your parents conversed by yelling at each other, like Sasha, he too thought that you were arguing with them and he tapped you on the shoulder like, “Should I leave?-” You were confused as he was, you had to explain that yelling was a way filipinos communicated.

He was concerned when you would hit him while laughing, you also had to explain that was also something most filipino’s communicated.

He tried picking the language up but he just butchers the pronunciation.

Favourite thing about your culture is the places, if he could he probably would’ve bought a private island.

Does this man know how to cook filipino food?? Yessir!! He’s absolute god at cooking, imagine when he finds out we have a whole CHEESE ice cream-

Mans was confused confused, why..would you like cheese ice cream?? surprisingly he likes the ice cream, it’s sweet and salty??

Connie Springer

THIS MAN- he thought filipino was a sexuality?? when you told him, he’s like “so, what gender do you prefer then?”

HE WAS DUMBFOUNDED WHEN HE FOUND OUT WHAT FILIPINO MEANT-

I just know he shared filipino swears with Sasha, he actually grew accustomed to them, once in a while you’ll hear, ‘PUTANGINA’ throughout the house, because he stubbed his toe.

ugh he rocked the barong too, AND HE ROCKED HIS TINIKLING DANCE.

your titas seemed to love him?? Every time you talk to them, they ask if he’s doing okay.

He actually is a simp for filipinos, he was awestruck with how much beautiful women and men there were in the Philippines.

you cannot tell me this man doesn’t watch Manny Paqcuiao’s boxing fights.

In general he tries his best to respect your culture and not disrespect them, but he cannot bless for the life of him.

favourite thing about your culture is the adobo, he says its “bussin’”.

He drinks with your titos and your dad. No way he doesn’t, he also plays basketball with them.

traumatized somehow by the naked children running down the street sometimes- Filipino streets man, a little too comfortable-

He was shocked to find out that some people showered outside?? Like comfortably?

Man covers his whole face bc he feels like a perv.

Marco Bodt

Absolute researcher in your culture, like Armin, he actually makes sure he’s not disrespecting it or anything.

HE DOES THE BLESS GESTURE, but he whispers in your ear about how he accidentally blessed one of your titas too hard

his favourite filipino dish is Buko Pandan, he literally couldn’t help but get seconds when your grandma offered him a cup.

tbh he rocked his barong, he looked so good, like GAH DAYUM.

he picked up some words since he really loved being around your family, you were lively and your family was so open to accepting him.

you and him danced in a barong and baro’t saya for your wedding reception.

genuinely, he was in fearful awe when you caught a rat your parents have been complaining about in their house, remind you rats in the Philippines are as big as kittens

He also calls you Mahal, it’s kinda cringey but you thought it was cute.

Favourite part of your culture, the clothing, he’s always asking to go to parties just so he can wear the barong.

he’s also deathly afraid of the bodies of water the Philippines has, he doesn’t know if murky water scares him more than clear water in the islands.

Mans tried his best to corporate your culture into your guys’ wedding, until your Tito Philip brought a WHOLE ASS LIVE CHICKEN as a wedding gift?!

he was kinda sad y’all didn’t keep the chicken.

Sasha Braus

Sasha honestly didn’t know that your were filipino until you spoke your language with a family member, you guys were yelling at each other and Sasha thought y’all were fighting-

she wants to learn the language BUT ONLY THE SWEARS, connie and her both.

she loves when you speak to her in your langauge, she loves guessing what you’re telling her. SHE ALSO LOVES WHEN UR PARENTS TRY TO SPEAK TO HER AND THEIR ACCENTS COME OUT.

you guys actually went to the Philippines for your guys’ honeymoon. did she almost spend all your money? yes, did you let her? duh.

Her most favourite thing about your culture is definitely the food, and beautiful people like you.

Genuinely rocks the Baro’t Saya, her short hair goes well with the dress, her colour was a dullish-pastel pink, she had a matching fan with it too!

She wore it for your birthday, almost ruined it by almost spilling fruit salad on it.

THIS WOMAN- SHE WAS LITERALLY CRYING TEARS OF JOY WHEN SOMEONE BROUGHT OUT THE LECHON (a whole roasted pig).

Yes, she almost ate half of it, she would’ve probably finished it if it weren’t for her eating everything else, a human compost bin, you got leftovers? She’ll eat em.

She loved going to Jollibee with you, you and her have dates where you literally eat almost everything off the menu.

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onecanonlife · 4 years ago

Text

In which Tommy travels back in time and tries to prevent a nightmare from happening to everyone he knows. Everyone else, meanwhile, is highly concerned.

(fic masterpost w/ ao3 links)

(first part) (previous part) (next part)

(word count: 4,598)

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

Part Three: Wilbur

Wilbur oversleeps.

He doesn’t mean to. He never means to. But he does, and when he wakes up and finds the sun halfway to its peak, definitely mid-morning rather than the predawn he was hoping to find, it serves as a shock to his system, and all he can think is, shit. Because sure, he’s been pretty fucking exhausted lately, but that’s no excuse. He’s supposed to be the leader here, and leaders can’t lead when they’re sleeping.

And gods above know what Tommy’s managed to get into this morning, or what Dream’s done, because Dream’s been suspiciously quiet over the past few days and there could be an attack at any moment now, and shit, shit, shit.

He fumbles his way through dressing, tries to neaten his hair, fails utterly, and gives up and pulls his beanie on over it. Not very professional, but it’s fine. This is fine. He can’t hear any screams, so nobody’s dying. Probably.

He steps outside of the hastily-constructed house he claimed for his own, and it’s less of a house, really, than a single room with walls and a roof liable to cave in at any second, but it serves for now, and he never claimed to possess his father’s building prowess. There will be time for infrastructure development after independence is secured. But he steps outside, squinting against the sunlight, and finds—everything in order. Everything looks fine. Nothing is on fire, except for the ever-burning camarvan. The walls still stand.

That should be his next step. The walls.

He climbs his way up, surveying the area. The surrounding lands appear just as they were left last night. No ominous structures set up. No fucking TNT cannons. All is calm, peaceful, and he has learned not to trust peace, these past few weeks, but if everything is alright for now, he’ll accept it gladly. Even if it doesn’t last.

He sighs, bracing his hands against the battlements. All too often, these days, he’s found his mind wandering down paths they never would have before. He can’t help but wonder what Phil would think if he knew the full extent of what he’s up to. His father tried so hard, when he was younger, to shield him from war, from the legacy that he and his best friend laid out behind them. And Wilbur cannot blame him for that protectiveness; his first experience of war has only been a few weeks long, and he’s finding he doesn’t care for it, even if he’s discovered a knack for tactics.

The thing is, though, he’s always wanted a legacy of his own.

Phil always said that it would be through his music. He never told him that he had his doubts about that, that he loves his songs but that something in him always calls for more, something just out of reach, just beyond the crest of the next hill. He’s not sure his father knows how ambitious he really is, in the end.

He should probably write him. He’ll do it after the war is over. After he has a country to invite him to see. After he’s built something that his dad will be proud of. And if he leaves out the struggle it took to get it, nobody has to know but him, because it’s certainly better that Phil doesn’t.

“Hello, Wilbur,” Dream says, right by his ear, and he jerks, pulling his sword from his inventory in an instinctive motion. How he missed the bastard’s approach, he has no idea, but Dream is standing right there, right on the walls next to him, covered head to toe in netherite armor, smiling mask firmly affixed to his face. He holds no weapons yet, but Wilbur knows all too well how quickly that can change.

“You’re trespassing on L’Manberg property,” he snaps, trying to disguise the frantic racing of his heart. His feet shift into a ready stance, a movement that’s old hat by now, both from this war and from Technoblade’s training when he was a kid, even though the sword will never be his weapon of choice. “With armor on, too. You’re not allowed to wear armor within our borders.”

He doesn’t know why he bothers to try. Dream won’t obey. He never does. That’s why they’re at war in the first place.

But then, to his shock, Dream chuckles, inclining his head. And then, piece by piece, the armor disappears, accompanied by the familiar clink of metal landing in an inventory slot.

“Right, right,” Dream says, as if he hasn’t just blown all of Wilbur’s expectations out of the water. “Of course. I guess I really should be trying to get off on the right foot with you, here. Congratulations, by the way. I’m sure you were happy to hear the news.”

What is he—?

What is this? Is he trying psychological warfare now? Is that what this is? Because Wilbur has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about. Is he supposed to know what he’s talking about? Dream’s acting like he should know what he’s talking about, and he doesn’t particularly want to give him the upper hand by revealing that he does not, in fact, have any idea what he’s talking about.

“Thank you,” he manages, a beat too late, but Dream doesn’t seem to notice, just continues on blithely.

“I just figured we should set up an official meeting of some kind,” he says. “One country leader to another. Get some peace treaties drawn up, write some trade agreements, draw some official boundaries, all of that stuff. I’ll admit, I’ve never done any of that before, but it can’t be too hard, right?”

“Right, I’m sure,” Wilbur replies, nodding along. Because, what?

“It doesn’t have to be right away,” Dream continues, and he just keeps talking. “I can give you a day or two to settle in, get stuff in order. There’s no real rush, but we should get it done soon. I don’t want to leave anything up in the air. That’s not the kind of thing that promotes stability.”

“Of course,” he says.

Dream goes to say something else, and then stops, tilting his head again. This time, it’s less mocking, more curious. “You do know what I’m talking about, right?” he says, and the game is up. Wilbur feels caught, but he breathes deeply, fights off his rising blush, gathers up all his composure.

“I’ll be entirely honest,” he says. “I’ve got no idea what the shit you’re on about right now.”

He’s not expecting that to make Dream laugh. But he does, tossing his head back and carrying on, loud and long, and then it devolves into a tea kettle wheeze. Genuine amusement, then, though at what, Wilbur isn’t sure. He doesn’t appreciate being laughed at, but he can’t help but feel like there’s something going on here that’s going straight over his head. He doesn’t appreciate that very much, either.

“Oh my god,” Dream manages, as soon as he’s capable of speech, mirth still dancing in his voice, “he didn’t tell you? Still?”

Something icy gets its claws around his heart.

“Who didn’t tell me?” he demands. “Who didn’t tell me what?”

“Tommy,” Dream answers, and those claws squeeze. His heart skips several beats, and suddenly, he’s casting back in his mind to the last time he saw Tommy. It was last night, wasn’t it? Just last night? He sent him to bed, because Tommy often tries to take late watches, claims himself capable, but he’s not even quite sixteen yet. Wilbur may have pulled him into a war, but he’s still a teenager, and Wilbur’s going to do his damnedest to make sure he comes out of this as intact as possible. And that means getting enough sleep.

He looked fine, last night. He was fine. He has to be fine.

He’s moving before he realizes it, his hand fisting in the front of Dream’s hoodie.

“If you’ve done something to Tommy, I’m tossing you off this wall right here and now,” he snarls. “Don’t test me, Dream.”

A year ago, a month ago, he never would have pictured himself making a threat like that. Never would have imagined himself capable of following through. But he is different, now, from the way he started, different already, and there is a part of him, a part of him that whispers to him in crows’ voices, that is scared of what he will be by the time the war is done.

“I haven’t done anything to Tommy!” Dream protests, raising both hands, though he sounds unconcerned. “I swear, I haven’t. He gave us a really good chance to, last night, but we didn’t take it. You should thank us for that. It was pretty stupid, what he did.”

“Explain,” he demands. “Explain right now.”

Tommy’s a resourceful kid. He can picture him getting himself in and out of an altercation easily. But the way Dream says it, it’s like he put himself in the situation in the first place, like he sought it out, and what the hell was Tommy even doing, outside of the walls so late at night? The walls are there for a reason. The walls are there for protection. The walls are there to keep his people safe, because maybe he didn’t exactly set out to start a country, in the very beginning, but he’s going to see it through. By all the gods, he’s going to see it through.

If, that is, this kid doesn’t give him a heart attack first.

Dream shoves at his hand, and he lets him go without an argument. Dream takes a step back, putting a bit more space between them, and then leans against the wall.

“Tommy came to us last night,” he says, “and traded his discs for L’Manberg’s independence.”

It’s a simple sentence. A very simple sentence. But somehow, the words don’t make any sense.

“Congratulations, President Soot,” Dream says, and he knows, he knows the bastard is smiling under that mask. “I look forward to establishing relations between our countries,” and he isn’t, Wilbur knows that he isn’t, but he’s enjoying this because he’s just dropped a bomb on him and he knows it, because—

“Leave,” he rasps. “Get out.”

Dream does a little salute, short and mocking, and then hops over the side of the wall. Wilbur hopes he takes damage, hopes he breaks his fucking legs. The sound of water hitting the ground tells him that he doesn’t. He can’t even be upset about it, because his heart has jumped into his throat, pounding in his ears, and all of the words were fine individually, but all together, they’re too much to process.

Tommy gave up his discs. And now L’Manberg is free. Just like that, the war is over. And Tommy gave up his discs. Tommy walked straight into enemy territory without telling him and handed over his most prized possessions, all for the sake of L’Manberg’s independence. And he succeeded. He got it. He sacrificed something dear to him, something that Wilbur never would have asked him to give up, and he did it for them. For L’Manberg.

Giddiness is the first emotion that fills him, and next is pride. Because this—this is above and beyond. He never would have asked Tommy to trade away something so important to him, but somehow, he found it within himself to do it, and he got what he wanted from it. He got what they all wanted. Somehow, Tommy managed to end their struggles in one fell swoop, and they’re not related, neither by blood nor by adoption or anything like that, but Wilbur thinks that this must be the sort of pride an older brother feels when watching the younger grow up, watching the younger go on and accomplish great things.

They are free, and it is because of Tommy. He feels like he’s on cloud nine. He feels like he could fly.

And then reality crashes back in.

Tommy didn’t tell him that he was planning this. Tommy didn’t tell him, might not have told anyone at all, and that means he strolled straight into the arms of their bitter enemies, people who might have killed him without a second thought. No one has died yet, and he always intended to keep it that way, but the thought of Tommy alone, at night, creeping his way into the belly of the beast, sends a chill down his spine.

Tommy could have died. Tommy could have died, and he wouldn’t have known until he woke up this morning, woke up late, and saw the message on his comm. TommyInnit was slain by Dream.

And then, another thought occurs to him: Tommy hasn’t come to him. Hasn’t come to brag, hasn’t even come to just tell him, to tell him that he’s just single-handedly won their independence. And that is not a Tommy-like thing to do, to let something like that go unremarked upon.

Something is wrong. Dream might have lied. He could have hurt Tommy. Tommy could be injured right now. He doesn’t even know for sure that he made it back.

Tommy gave up his discs for L’Manberg.

It still barely makes any sense to him. But there’s no time to make sense of it. He rushes back down the wall as quickly as he can manage, and then it’s off through their settlement, eyes darting around, hoping for a glimpse of him. He checks Tommy’s house, first, the ramshackle, makeshift thing he’s been sharing with Tubbo until they can get better buildings erected, and he’s not there, and Tubbo isn’t either. The camarvan turns up nothing. He’s considering leaving L’Manberg entirely, going to check by Tommy’s other house, the one built into the hill, when Tubbo comes up beside him.

“Morning, Wilbur,” he says, and then frowns. “You alright, man? You’re kind of pale.”

“Tubbo,” he says, and grabs him by the shoulders. Maybe a bit too emphatically, because he suddenly looks a bit alarmed, but he’ll be concerned with that later. “Tubbo, have you seen Tommy today?”

Tubbo’s frown deepens. “I was coming to see if you knew where he was,” he says. “He was being a bit off last night. Think he had a nightmare or something. But he’s not with you?”

“No, he’s not.” With every word out of Tubbo’s mouth, he feels his own panic grow. It is one thing for Tommy to hatch some sort of plot and not tell him. That is—well, it’s not fine, but Tommy doesn’t tell him everything. But to keep Tubbo out of the loop? To, presumably, visit him before leaving and yet still not tell Tubbo what was going on? It’s unlike him. Very unlike him.

“Okay, well, he’s got to be around here somewhere,” Tubbo reasons, his brows creased. “L’Manberg’s only so big. Should we go look for him together, then?”

“Right,” he says. He breathes, in and out. Tubbo’s a good kid. Very sensible. Very down to earth. And he’s right, of course. Tommy has to be around here somewhere. Any other possibility is out of the question. “Right, of course, let’s go look.”

So they do. They take a systematic approach, first checking all the most likely places and then combing every inch of their land in a grid formation. Tubbo’s suggestion, again. But that turns up nothing, either, and he can feel the panic creeping back in, because what if he actually didn’t make it home? What if he was out there in the dead of night, distraught and alone, and something took advantage of that? What if some mob looked at him and recognized him for an easy kill?

He’s not dead. He can’t be dead. There would have been a notification. But he could be injured somewhere, incapacitated, in pain and all alone, and he can’t let that happen, can’t let Tommy be hurt like that on his watch—

“Oh, wait,” Tubbo says, and pulls on his sleeve. “There he is.”

Wilbur jerks, and stares in the direction he’s pointing. And sure enough, Tommy’s there, right in front of the camarvan, and Eret too, it looks like. He doesn’t think he’s ever felt relief as pure as in this moment.

“Gods,” he breathes, and starts toward them, calling out, “Tommy!” And as he approaches, he gets the sense that something is off.

The first thing he notices is Eret’s expression. Pure, unbridled confusion, mixed with what perhaps might be something like anxiety. And the reason for that is clear enough: Tommy is holding their face very firmly in his hands. Which is bizarre, and Wilbur blinks a few times to make sure he’s seeing this right, because Tommy doesn’t—he doesn’t just do that. That is a gesture reserved only for people he is very, very close to. Tubbo gets that treatment. He’s been on the receiving end a couple of times himself, but not often. And he knows that Tommy and Eret get along just fine, are friends, just like all of them are, but he really didn’t think that the two of them were close enough for this. And judging by the look on Eret’s face, they didn’t think so either.

And Tommy is just standing there. Not speaking, not doing anything else. Just staring Eret in the eyes—or the glasses, rather—with a startling intensity.

“Tommy?” he asks, as soon as he’s close enough that he doesn’t have to shout. “Is everything alright?”

And Tommy startles. Withdraws his hands from Eret’s face as though he’s been burned. Turns to look at him, and Wilbur freezes in place, because just for a second—

There is fear on Tommy’s face.

He doesn’t understand what could have caused it. But it is undoubtedly there, only for a moment before it is smoothed away into something more neutral, if strained. And he hates it, hates it viscerally. He never wants Tommy to look at him with that expression on his face. It makes him feel sick to his stomach.

“Ayup,” Tommy says, and his voice sounds—rough. Like he hasn’t slept at all. “Morning Wil, Tubso.”

It’s casual. Far too casual for what Wilbur has just learned, for the panic he’s felt for the past half hour or so, unable to find this kid, this kid who is basically his brother, for all he pretends to protest against the moniker. Tommy is his family. Tommy is his family, and he risked everything last night, gave up everything for the sake of Wilbur’s everything, his grand ideals, his great vision, and now he’s standing there like nothing at all has changed.

“Ayup, Tommy,” Tubbo says. “You feeling any better this morning?”

At Tommy’s side, Eret shifts uneasily. Their expression is still one of concern, and Wilbur wonders exactly how long Tommy had been standing there like that, or what their interaction even was to get them to that point in the first place. It’s confusing. He’s confused.

“I’m great,” Tommy says, and—no, no, they’re not going to do this.

“Tommy,” he breaks in, and Tommy stiffens. “Tommy, last night, why did you—you just—why wouldn’t you tell me?”

It’s not quite what he should be asking, but it’s what comes out. And his voice is annoyingly desperate, and he hates showing off so many emotions like this, especially in a public space, but he can’t stop himself.

“What about last night?” Tubbo asks.

“Last night?” Eret echoes, and looks to Tommy, who blinks, his gaze darting between the three of them but landing on Wilbur most of all, and it’s like he’s nervous, almost, anxious about how he’s going to react, and—does he think he’s going to be angry about this? Perhaps he is, but only in the sense that he’s angry that Tommy took such a stupid risk. Below that anger, that anger born of fear, his pride burns bright. Surely, Tommy must know that?

“I—look, I knew you’d say no, alright?” he says. “But I knew that I could do it, so I did it. Simple as that.”

Simple as that, he says. As if he didn’t give up his greatest possessions. As if he didn’t win them the war, win them their freedom, win for them the reality of the values that this country was founded upon.

“What’s going on?” Eret asks.

“Yeah, does this have something to do with what you were saying to me the other night?” Tubbo says, and then looks at him. “Wilbur, what are you talking about? What happened last night?”

Tommy sighs, and says nothing. Wilbur swallows, and maintains eye contact with him as he speaks, searching for some kind of reaction.

“Dream came to me this morning,” he says, and does not miss Tommy’s flinch at the name, “not even an hour ago. He said—he said that we were free. That the war was over, that L’Manberg was its own nation, that he wanted to set up a meeting for diplomatic ties and whatnot. He called me the president. And, um, he said that you won it for us, Tommy.” He pauses, just for a moment, trying to get his emotions under control. He mostly fails. “He said that you came to him, last night, and you traded your discs to him for L’Manberg’s freedom.”

“You did what?”

Tubbo’s voice is dismayed and disbelieving all at once. And Tommy flinches, draws into himself a little, and that’s not the reaction Wilbur would have expected, but literally none of this is what he would have expected.

“Yeah,” he says, sounding quiet, a bit defeated. “Yeah, I—I did. I knew he’d take the deal. And I just wanted—I wanted the war to be over, yeah? Before anybody got hurt. And I knew this would work, so I just went and did it.”

“You couldn’t have, though,” he finds himself saying, before he even know what he’s going to say next. “Maybe you could’ve guessed that he’d go for it, but—Tommy, what if they’d killed you? Taken what they wanted and killed you right then and there? I just—” He breaks off running a hand through his hair, remembering too late that he’s got his beanie on. His fingers dislodge it, and he readjusts it with more fervor than is necessary. “I just can’t believe you did that without telling someone. Without telling—” Me, he wants to say, but holds himself back. No matter his feelings regarding Tommy, the deep respect and even deeper love that has grown in him over the course of their friendship, he doesn’t have a monopoly on Tommy’s attention. Perhaps he would have preferred for Tommy to tell him, but he’d have settled for Tommy telling anyone.

“What, are you worried?” Tommy says, and Wilbur only spares a second to wonder why he sounds so disbelieving, because—

“Yes,” he bursts out. “Gods, Tommy! Dream came to me with this and my first thought was that you’d died! Or that you hadn’t made it back, that you were out there somewhere, alone and needing help, and I didn’t—Tommy. Tommy, please tell me you thought of this. Please tell me, tell me that you were prepared, at least. Tell me that you—” He cuts himself off again, shaking his head hard, and under any other circumstance, he would be kicking himself for the display, for the outburst of emotion, for the lack of eloquence, but he thinks he can be excused for the moment.

Tommy’s mouth works for a second.

“Oh,” he finally says, weakly. “Um, right. Sorry, Wilbur. No, I had it handled, trust me. Sorry, I didn’t, um. Didn’t mean to scare you like that. Sort of just—did it, y’know?”

“It’s okay,” he says, even though it kind of isn’t, because Tommy’s continued to shrink into himself, and he doesn’t want that. “It’s okay, Tommy, I’m just glad you’re okay. And, gods above, what you did—” He steps forward, then, unable to help himself, and takes Tommy by the shoulders. Tommy stares at him with wide eyes. “I never would have asked that of you. I couldn’t believe it when Dream told me. And Tommy, I—I’m so, so sorry. But I am so damn proud of you. You hear me? So damn proud. I know what that must have taken, for you to do that. And I’m so fucking proud of you.” He smiles, then, wide and a bit watery. He’s not going to cry, he’s not, but emotion is rising up in his throat, thick and overpowering. “You did it, Tommy. You won us L’Manberg.”

Tommy returns the smile, if a bit tentatively. “Yeah,” he says, “I guess I did, didn’t I?” And then, the smile widens, and he puffs out his chest, putting his hands on his hips. “I hear that makes me the leader now. You’re speaking to Mister High President King Lord Innit, so show me the respect you owe me, eh?”

“Absolutely the fuck not,” he replies, but he’s laughing. “No, no, enough out of you, go, take Tubbo and go get yourself whatever you want out of our rations, you’ve fucking earned it, Toms.”

Tommy offers him one last grin, and then he ducks out of his grip, grabbing Tubbo’s hand and dragging him in the direction of their storage. He can hear Tubbo’s voice already, high and offended at the fact that Tommy went and did this without telling him, and perhaps all is right with the world after all. Some things do not change, even when everything else does.

He went to sleep last night a rebel, a general. He woke up a president. How about that?

“Do you think he’s alright?” Eret asks, and he starts, almost having forgotten they were there.

“Probably not,” he admits. “Not entirely. Those discs meant a lot to him. But we’ve got time to figure it out.” He turns to them, then, makes eye contact with himself in the reflection of their sunglasses. “What was he doing with you, before we walked up?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” they reply. “He came up to me, sort of yelling a bit? Punched me in the shoulder a few times. Couldn’t figure out what that was about. Then he thanked me for something, and then he hugged me, which was a bit odd, and then he did the, uh, thing, with the holding my face? And then you and Tubbo arrived. I honestly don’t know what any of that was about at all.”

He hums, and looks out after the boys, at their retreating backs. As he watches, Tommy slings an arm around Tubbo’s shoulders, his other hand gesticulating wildly.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he says softly. “It’s Tommy. He makes it his job to be unpredictable.”

“You’re right about that,” Eret says. “I suppose congratulations are in order, President Soot?”

President Soot. It’s got a nice ring to it. He is the leader of a free country now, and it is thanks to the kid he sees as a younger brother, whether he’ll admit as much out loud or not. He is the leader of a free country, and that means there is much work to be done.

But he gives himself a moment longer, and smiles at the way the midday sun shines in Tommy’s hair.

It’s all for them, after all. Land is just land; as long as he can give his loved ones the freedom they deserve, that’s enough for him.

#mcyt #dsmp #dream smp #dsmp fic #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #dreamwastaken #tubbo #eret #/rp #cw swearing #cw death mention #cw injury mention #both of those are hypothetical #cat writes fic #long post #time travel au #surprise!! bet you weren't expecting a new chapter of this today!!!#:DDD

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darkiecat · 4 years ago

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Politics...

After finishing the angsty 二哈和他的白猫师尊 (erha), I have started 杀破狼 (sha po lang).

Unfortunately, politics has never been a strong point, though I try to understand. From having read the first two volumes, I will attempt to collect my thoughts (this is long...):

Chang Geng does not have political power; Gu Yun controls the Black Iron Camp and is currently fighting in the northwest (he’s restricted there by conflict, not region)

After the rebellion at sea in the east by the second prince, the first prince (emperor) decides to make managing everything easier so he divides military power into five territories. (Gu Yun still controls the Black Iron Camp and can take over any operation in case of emergencies using the Black Tiger Emblem).

The Black Tiger Emblem allows Gu Yun to fully take control of any military power. The Drumming Order is needed for officials to deploy troops.

Supervisors were assigned to each commander, whose sole purpose was to request the Drumming Order from the Ministry of War.

The Ministry of War is responsible for appointment and removal of military personnel, salary, rations, armor, and equipment.

Gu Yun continues fighting in the northwest with all of this. He is responsible for expanding and protecting the Silk Road.

The Silk Road is there largely for the ziliujin (which is an entire issue of its own).

The Black Iron Camp develops good relations with the country Lou Lan.

So far, I have a relatively stable understanding...I think...

Then we reach the point in the point where I start loosing understanding:

After the incident in the south, Shen Yi is assigned to by the commander there.

This incident was caused by the bandit leader, who was being fooled with wealth by some mysterious dude. Mystery dude has something to do with Gu Yun and is doing massive-scale Big Things (good or bad- we know not).

The original commander of the south was hated by his supervisor (not the kind that requests the Drumming Order; the commander is still opposed to it). He had his own plans, unrelated to mystery dude.

The two events came together because mystery dude knew/heard the emperor would send Gu Yun and wanted to get away with the ziliujin cargo in the chaos.

This arc ends. It leaves me with the obvious who/what/etc. of the mystery dude, but I am also the emperor’s reasons for the envoy sent. I know it was explained but it’s rather hazy in my mind. The Drumming Order’s role in this arc confuses me. Anyways, everyone returns to the capitol:

The emperor becomes more concentrated in disbanding the black market. He even thinks of putting the pre-previous emperor’s old, brutal set of rules.

A discovery is made by his personal spies that Lou Lan has a huge reserve of ziliujin. This is suspicious as the Black Iron Camp could find absolutely no sign of this even after apprehending then silencing the bandits with the info and searching a few years.

The emperor tells Gu Yun they must invade the country for the ziliujin.

Most of the ziliujin from the market came from the western countries or overseas. Someone big must be coordinating something big overseas.

Gu Yun is warned to stay low, since he’s in on the black market scene.

Gu Yun refuses invasion, gets punished.

During his time in punishment, he cannot command his forces. However, at this moment, three small countries to the west developed a conflict.The country Ku Cha attacked Lou Lan.

Gu Yun cannot do anything due to house arrest. Everybody has to wait for the Drumming Order in order to go help Lou Lan.

It should not be possible for Ku Cha to have that many Sand Tigers, and the force is way too big for fighting the unequipped Lou Lan.

There’s some power conflict between the current guy commanding the Black Iron Camp (let’s call him, deputy guy) and the commander of the northwest region.

Deputy guy will probably close off the Silk Road and the border. He cannot deploy troops so there will just be a blockade thing going on.

Chang Geng comes in and starts to break apart what is going on and adds a bunch of political intricacies. So, dearie me, here is where I get veeeeeeerrrrryyy confused:

This is not just some attack force. There is too much power for the intention of the attack to purely be fighting one country.

Change Geng seems to suggest that the attack was originally intended to increase tension between the emperor and Gu Yun.

Gu Yun gave up the Black Tiger Emblem but it is essentially a useless action since people would listen to him regardless. This will give the emperor a feeling as if half the country is at the disposal of someone else. It’s a threatening feeling.

Deputy guy will want to take power from the northwest commander to use the Drumming Order to promote his own actions.

Chang Geng starts his suggestions to postpone the problem and not irritate the kind-of-already-paranoid emperor:

Deputy guy will ask the central commander for help first. Send a message to central commander to not be so hasty in sending troops- focus on medicine and rations.

Tell deputy guy to chill about the Drumming Order command. He can not follow it if he wants, but arresting the northwest commander and offending him is extreme.

Give the emperor a good reason why Gu Yun gave up the Black Tiger Emblem. Explain the northwestern region needs good control, and request someone be appointed to fully take matters in control.

So, Gu Yun does this, the border is temporarily stable, the emperor pardons his house arrest and allows him to recover his health (saying he will give the Emblem back and can go into command after recovery). Gu Yun goes to the northern suburbs of the capitol for recovering his health at a hot spring. He almost gets assassinated.

The commander of the northern suburb camp and the mayor are investigating and meet a guy. At this point, we get some palace drama revealed from old, hidden palace guy committing suicide:

Chang Geng’s mother and aunt manipulated the old emperor (the one who died most recently) through black magic and forged letters to mistrust the Old Marquis.

Chang Geng’s mother and another palace official plan for suicide guy to arrange an assassination attempt. Soldiers are tattooed with wolves to mislead people.

Emperor wakes up from the dark magic, chases away sisters (though still doesn’t know who that palace official was), and starts to take care of little Marquis (Gu Yun) as a sort of atonement.

Palace official joins with suicide guy and they plan on killing Gu Yun. The third prince ends up being the victim on accident. Suicide guy is convicted and apparently killed but he actually ran away and lived his life as a commoner.

According to the peasant, that palace official was the current emperor’s uncle.

The peasant also commits suicide.

The last part confuses me but probably due to the unrevealed reasons. What does Gu Yun fear the commander of the northern camp will do? Go straight for the uncle?

Well, dear people who have read this, I hope I have gotten this right. The politics are very confusing to me. It would help if I had a more concrete map. I really am a visual person so some of this is rather difficult to visualize. If anyone does bother, feel free to add comments or corrections. I have only finished volume 2 (chapter 55) recently.

#erha #2ha #sha po lang #politics >.<#looooooong #二哈和他的白猫师尊 #杀破狼 #erha is really angsty but it has a happy ending #not all extras were translated yet though and my Chinese is quite limited #apologies for the length

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milknette · 4 years ago

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day 01 - cafe

i'll make a cup of coffee, with the right amount of sugar.

tumblr month: @auyeahaugust

links: ao3 | ff.net

MARINETTE doesn't exactly know what makes her answer yes.

Maybe it's from all the overnight shifts she's been taking, or the coffee fumes she's been inhaling daily finally taking a toll on her brain— or maybe it's because he's the most handsome man she's ever seen walk into her cafe (fact: it's most definitely the third reason), but Marinette can't bring herself to say no to him.

And as things always come with her, a well-intentioned yes easily snowballs into a mess of epically huge proportions. (Though in her defense, she doesn't know that yet.)

Marinette plasters on a smile directed at the customer. "Of course we do!" She replies, noticing a little too late that her voice is a notch higher than usual. "It's just that we don't— uh, have it now! Out of stock, haha, y'know how restaurants go… well, maybe you don't, but there's this thing called supply and demand, and… I mean, I don't want to assume you're dumb or anything— in fact, you're probably a lot smarter than me I went to a fashion university, can you believe that? Like, I went abroad and everything. I learned a lot then, but—"

Horrified that she was tripping over her words, Marinette inhales deeply, then wills herself to stop talking. "— so, anyway! We'll probably have it in stock some time soon, so come back then, okay? I'll have a piping hot coffee ready for you to drink with those pretty lips of y— I mean! Maybe I could call you when you can stop by?"

Marinette only has a moment to reflect on how suggestive that may sound before the customer laughs, effectively breaking her thoughts from spiralling any deeper than they already were.

"Sure," he says, and Marinette briefly wonders if love at first sight has more truth to it than others may believe. "Can I have your phone? I'll put in my number."

His voice is smooth and confident, and Marinette feels the burning need to disappear into a puddle. She hands over her phone gingerly, and takes a moment to appreciate his arms as they type away at the screen.

He returns her phone and smiles. "I'm really lucky I stopped by your cafe. I didn't think there was any place in Paris that had it available," the stranger explains. "Even when I was in America, it was already hard to get a hold of. So thank you…"

The stranger pauses, then looks down at her nametag. "Marinette." He nods his head toward her as a gesture of appreciation, then disappears out the door.

The moment he steps out of her cafe, Marinette feels her knees give out and falls to the floor.

And as she always does when she makes a mess of things, she calls her business partner.

"Alya, I may have messed up… again."

ii.

"What the hell is Kopi Luwak coffee?"

It's a valid question, and Marinette has no idea how to answer. After all, she doesn't actually know what it is either. "His order?" She answers back (completely unhelpfully).

Alya sighs, then pinches her forehead. She's the more level-headed one from the two of them, and therefore the one who always has to fix whatever mess Marinette had gotten into at the time. They're at her office— Alya usually handles the more managerial parts of running the business, whereas Marinette is more on the production of food and drinks side — as she inputs the term into the search bar.

The results are quick to show up:

KOPI LUWAK: THE MOST EXPENSIVE COFFEE IN THE WORLD!

Their faces consequently morph into ones of expectant horror. Alya clicks on the link, and has to visibly stop the sudden gasp that escapes her throat. The cost of one cup of coffee ranges from $35 to $100, with a single kilogram of beans worth almost $700.

Marinette almost snatches the mouse from her hand as she quickly scrolls through the article, clinging onto the (very likely futile) hope that it's probably someone's terrible idea for a joke.

Unfortunately, it isn't.

Alya's the first to speak up, and it's a simple question. "Was our customer a millionaire or something?!"

"I don't know!" Marinette responds, panicked. "I mean, if he were it'd make sense why he's so attractive but he never said anything!"

"Why did you say we provided this?! We can't serve hundred-dollar coffee, we're barely paying rent as it is!"

"I know, I know!" Marinette repeats, pulling at her hairs in stress. "I just thought it was some other kind of regular coffee! How was I supposed to know he wanted that?!" She extends both her arms to point at the computer screen, then shakes her head. "Only an insane person would pay that much for a drink!"

Then, a pause. And in a quieter tone: "Why can't I meet normal guys? Is a cute boy too much to ask for?"

Alya rolls her eyes, then suddenly puts her hands on the table. One returns to massaging her forehead. "Okay, Marinette. We can't serve this to him. You'll just have to tell him the truth."

"But I can't do that!" Marinette frowns, as if the very notion of telling the truth is impossible. "He'll find out that I lied to him and he'll hate me and start going to another cafe instead!"

"— then you shouldn't have lied in the first place!" Alya points out, wagging her finger. "It's better to tell him now before he comes here again and finds out for himself!"

Marinette shifts in place, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. "Maybe we can find cheaper alternatives somewhere else?" She asks. "I bet if we ask our suppliers, someone's bound to grow those beans—"

"Afraid not, girl," Alya says, turning to look at the computer. "These aren't regular beans. Apparently they're made by—," she suddenly pauses, as her face contorts into one of pure disgust. "Ew!"

"What?" Marinette walks toward the computer and leans over, only to feel the need to gag upon reading what came next: Coffee beans are digested by a civet cat. Their excretions are sold as the rare Kopi Luwak.

"So you mean…" Marinette begins, shivering. "That this coffee is basically… cat poop?"

Alya looks at her solemnly, then nods. "Yup."

At that, they finally burst into laughter— though whether it's from entertainment, the absurdity of the situation, or the realization that she's helpless in securing a date with the stranger, or all of the above, Marinette can't tell at all.

iii.

They agree that Marinette tell the truth to the Cute (And Apparently Rich) Coffee Stranger even though it'll very likely ruin all her chances with him. Nothing is, as Alya says, worth spending hundreds of dollars on cat poop for.

Except that Marinette Dupain-Cheng cannot follow directions.

Instead, she contacts a special supplier internationally and pays almost a thousand dollars total to have a kilogram of the beans at her doorstep not more than a week later. (Marinette finds comfort in knowing that the coffee doesn't smell like actual feces.)

She messages the stranger, who left his contact name as a single coffee emoji:

hey we restocked and are ready to serve tomorrow! can you drop by? :)

The reply is almost instantaneous:

That's great! I'll stop by in the morning. Thank you so much!

Marinette reads and rereads that message until she finally falls asleep.

iv.

For the first time since the history of her business, Marinette doesn't arrive to work late.

She doesn't know exactly what time the Coffee Stranger will arrive, but she knows that she doesn't want to miss when he does. Marinette takes the morning shift (something that all her co-workers were understandably surprised by), and she waits.

Coffee Stranger arrives an hour later.

He greets her good morning, and Marinette short-circuits. She reaches out her hand. “Hi! I'm Marinette!"

He laughs. "I know," he says. "Maybe you don't remember me? I gave you my number. I'm the one who asked for the Kopi Luwak?"

"Sorry. Of course I remember! I could never forget you," she replies— blurting it out, to her complete horror.

Coffee Stranger, thankfully, doesn't look all that bothered. In fact, he looks entertained, more so than anything else. "Great," he responds, the smile still on his face. "Then I'll have that."

Marinette nods, and she gets to work on his coffee. She gets it done quickly (Marinette had practiced making it at home; pleasantly surprised to find that it tasted wonderful), and hands him a perfectly hot cup of coffee. "That'll be… eighty dollars."

She cringes at the cost, but the Coffee Stranger pulls out a hundred dollar bill without hesitance. "Keep the change," he tells her, as he takes a sip. "This is even better than what I've had before! Definitely worth more."

The barista blinks in disbelief. "You really think so?" She asks, to which the stranger enthusiastically nods. Marinette feels her body buzz with joy from the sudden compliment, then she points at the macarons on the counter. "Here," she begins. "It's on the house."

The stranger looks up in surprise. "Are you sure?"

Marinette smiles. "It goes great with the coffee," she explains. "I think you'll like the passionfruit flavor. It mixes well with the cat po— the Kopi Luwak."

"Perfect," the stranger responds. "Passionfruit's my favourite flavor!" He grins, then pauses. "And… it's Adrien."

"What?"

Coffee Stranger's eyes go up to meet hers. Green. A forest of green she wouldn't mind getting lost in forever. "My name's Adrien," he says, reaching out his hand to hers. "Nice to meet you.."

Marinette suddenly feels her throat dry. She suddenly forgets that she spent a thousand dollars just to make him happy. It feels worth it.

"Nice to meet you too."

Adrien quickly becomes a regular.

He makes it a point to stop by whenever she's working, sometimes having his coffee to go, and other times staying in to do his work at the cafe. Marinette likes those times the most— and she almost always sneaks in a little macaron or some other snack to help him get through the day. It's small and short exchanges, but they learn more about each other and that's more than enough to make her happy.

She finds out a lot about him. He's kind. He has a sweet tooth. He lives with his best friend, a DJ. He owns a cat. (He clarified, however, that all he does with Plagg's feces is throw it away.) He's rich, but it mostly came as savings from his younger years. He was a teenage model, but nowadays he prefers being the one behind it. (A waste, Marinette thinks, but she respects his decision.) His mom's gone, and he doesn't speak much with his dad. He treasures his friendships more than anything.

Adrien tells her that he treasures their friendship. Marinette's smile doesn't quite reach her eyes when she thinks about how that's all they'll probably be.

She willfully ignores Alya's unimpressed looks and how her bank funds steadily drain into the danger zone.

vi.

At some point, Marinette can't ignore it.

The bank tells her that she can't withdraw anymore, because her funds are almost completely depleted. She paces back and forth her room, visibly stressed. Her current bag of coffee beans would likely last her a few more days— but afterwards, it'll no longer be an option.

Alya says that it's easier to tell the truth.

As per usual, she's right. Marinette promises to herself to talk to Adrien when the coffee's gone completely.

vii.

"I was lying to you."

Marinette decides to be upfront, delivering the statement along with his final cup of coffee.

"What do you mean?" His look is serious, and it's a complete change of pace from how he usually is. It makes her stomach so uncomfortable turns and her knees buckle together in fear.

She sighs. "I was… lying about the coffee." She says it quickly and in one breath, and Adrien's eyebrows knitting together makes it clear that he understood none of it.

"About what?"

"The coffee!" Marinette basically shouts, then pulls him aside as they notice the customers pile in line. Another co-worker takes over, and throws them a concerned glance before focusing on their task completely.

Marinette brings Adrien to one of the empty storerooms, and when they settle, he speaks up. "What do you mean you lied about the coffee?"

"We never sold Kopi Luwak," she explains.

"No," Adrien argues. "That's definitely what I've been drinking, though?"

"Yeah," she replies, shaking her head. "But the cafe doesn't officially sell it. I was taking from my savings to buy the coffee abroad and make it for you." As Marinette says the words aloud, she begins to realise how outlandish the very idea was.

"What did you do that for?"

Marinette frowns to herself. "I guess I just didn't want to disappoint you… or something." Her cheeks redden, and she looks down. "I wanted to see you again too… I didn't want our only meeting to be that one time."

Marinette thinks she hears a hint of laughter, but it disappears so quickly she may have imagined it. "You know," Adrien begins. "If you wanted to see me again, you could've just asked." He smiles at her, but it looks almost sheepish. Adrien scratches his head. "I mean, I was really only ordering coffee so I could keep meeting up with you."

What?

Marinette fumbles over her words. "You… me… meet up?"

Adrien laughs, full-blown now. "Yeah. I thought you were cute. And when I got to know you better, it was just… I couldn't stop myself. I might have caffeine overdose, but I think it's worth it." He turns toward her and wraps his arms around her waist, and Marinette finds a laugh escaping her throat.

"Been having trouble sleeping, then?”

"Haven't slept since the day I met you," he replies. "But I don't mind, because you're a dream come true."

Marinette rolls her eyes at how silly it all is. "That's corny."

"I like to think of myself as a corny jokes and puns connoisseur," he explains teasingly. "Maybe you'll let me tell you more over dinner?"

"How forward of you," Marinette laughs, but nods all the same. "I just have to warn you, I'm broke from all the coffee beans you made me buy."

He smiles. "Then I guess I'll have to pay for all our dates from now on?"

Marinette hums, then grins lightly. "I wouldn't be against that."

"Then it's a deal." He replies, suddenly looking at her directly. "Want to seal it?"

She has a vague idea of where he's going with this, and the smile practically blooms on her face. "Yes."

It doesn't take anymore waiting until he kisses her.

(And she's glad to say that he tastes like roasted coffee beans and a warm fire; not at all like cats or feces or anything of that sort.)

#auyeah2020 #mlauyeahaugust2020 #auyeahaugust #auyeah august #adrinette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #ml #miraculous ladybug #milk writes #ml fic #ml fanfic

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morievna · 5 years ago

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Mafuyu in mix_4

Since mix_4 got fully translated (link) so I decided to write some afterthought – I noticed that last time I almost omitted Mafuyu, so I will make it up this time. Besides, I want to thank everybody who liked or reblogged my previous post – it is really encouraging ^^

Firstly, I want to explain why I focus more on parallels between Shizuragi and Akigetsu than Shizuragi and Akiharu. I don’t want to say that it is wrong to interpret it that way, but I am not sold on that due to storytelling reasons. These similarities don’t exist in vacuum – they are for specific purpose and are related to main protagonist of the story – Mafuyu. I find both Yukimafu and Akigetsu similar, and I think that Mafuyu learning of Akihiko’s and Ugetsu’s story was important in his arc, because it reminded him of tragedy of his past. Without doubt Shizu’s words had effect on him for the same reasons.

In this chapter Mafuyu mostly listened passively and didn’t have too much to say. It seems that he was stunned, because he didn’t expect Shizu to have thoughts like that and also bringing out Yuki in conversation thrown him out of balance. Overall it resemble of another occasion where Mafuyu was like that – mostly listening to other’s story – during chapter 17. Imo these both scenes have the same goal in storytelling sense – to remind Mafuyu of his fears and past relationship with Yuki. It is even more interesting if you see both scenes as metaphorical descent to underworld:

In the archetypal hero’s journey, the katabasis, or journey to the underworld, is an iconic component for the hero’s process of transformation. The underworld, of course, can be an actual underworld, or it can be interpreted as a state of darkness for the individual.

Of course, in Given it is metaphorical – chapter 17 took place in Ugetsu’s basement (which is half-underground and was described as devoid of light) and in mix_4 Mafuyu and Shizu were sitting at end of descending stairs during the night. Not to mention that both Ugetsu and Shizu are rather in dark state of mind – feeling low and unworthy of love.

The unknown reflects the underworld journey inward into the place of one’s own fears and shadows, haunting even the most optimistic adventurer. These shadows reflect the mythical aspect of the human condition: the repressed, often frightening elements of the psyche. The shadows, according to C.G. Jung, also symbolize “natural attempts to reconcile and reunite opposites within the psyche,” and naturally “heal the split” within one’s soul.

It connects nicely with Strawberry Swing, where it was revealed that Mafuyu has wound inside his soul. It can be interpreted both as loss of Yuki and as his shadow – repressed feelings caused by this tragedy - his guilt of what happened, the fact that he is still not ready to forgive himself and Yuki as well as the fear that this situation will repeat in the future. Both chapter 17 and mix_4 remind Mafuyu of these feelings and since he is still processing his trauma – he is a bit withdrawn in both situations. Shizu’s words about “stopping for his own good” with band or Ritsuka “if he is not ready or have tenacity” are most likely Mafuyu's own doubts about this situation.

In the underworld lies truths that cannot be hidden because within the dark, everything can come to light. This is where the underworld journey can take flight. Being courageous to look at the darkness within allows for a conscious transformation to take hold, a death of the shadow and rebirth into a new way of living.

[source]

In hero’s journey there is always ascent after descent - just like it was after chapter 17. In next one there was argument between Mafuyu and Ritsuka. As Mafuyu spent more and more time on learning music, it created a rift between them and Ritsuka was feeling uneasy about it. It is really just like in the past situation with Yuki. What’s important is that Mafuyu took action and tried his best to resolve this issue and not repeat his past mistake.

So for mix_5 – maybe we will see Mafuyu taking action again? I would like to get that ^^ New chapter is in few days, so there will be answer soon.

On larger scale I want to Mafuyu be able to talk about Yuki freely. In chapter 23 he couldn’t find words about his feelings about past relationship and also clock that reminded him of one in Yuki’s flat caused him distress. But since he is learning to express his feelings more and more, it will happen that he will be able to talk it out. Personally I want him to pass his and Yuki’s story to others as means to help “those in darkness” like Ugetsu and Shizu. I think it would be great way to show how much he grown up - at beginning of story Mafuyu mostly leaned on others support, but as story progressed he started to wanting help others around him. And sharing his life experience and personal tragedy would show as well that he is finally ready to move forward. In addition, it would cause that Yuki would be not forgotten and be alive even if only in this way as story passed to others. If I were Kizu Natsuki, I would do this that way ^^

#given #mix_4 #mafuyu sato #sato mafuyu #yagi shizusumi #murata ugetsu #ugetsu murata #given meta #given manga #satou mafuyu

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saiilorstars · 4 years ago

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The Beginning of Everything

Ch. 25: Stolen Planets

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 10th Doctor x Female OC

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Chapter summary: Renata, the Doctor and Gabby travel to the Shadow Proclamation to find out where Earth has been taken to and discover that it's not the only planet missing. Meanwhile, Donna meets the one and only Rose Tyler.

Donna felt a wicked headache when she finally came to. The hard ground was underneath her, explaining the headache, and though she wasn't fully aware yet, she could feel someone shaking her.

"Donna! Wake up! Donna!" Her mother, Sylvia, was getting more frantic as the seconds passed by.

"What? What happened?" Donna groaned and sat up, soon realizing she was on her kitchen floor. Her eyes found the window and saw the sunlight was gone - it was night. It had been daytime last time she remembered. But lots of weird things had happened to her in the past day. One thing she was sure of, though, was that she would never visit UNIT again. Some weird alien fortune teller had thrown her into a parallel world just for fun! As soon as Martha and UNIT had pulled her out of that world, Donna had demanded to go home to be as far away as possible from the building.

The parallel world, as scary as Donna was sure that it was, seemed to fade away as the hours passed by. She could barely remember it now but she knew that things had been terrible, far more terrible than what she'd already seen in her travels. Even now it gave her chills trying to remember it, but actually...

Her eyes widened suddenly. One huge detail had just come back to mind.

"I gotta call the Doctor!" She jumped from the floor, ignoring her mother's shouts for her to stay. She was just about to call when she passed the open doorway and saw something that caught her eyes.

She backtracked and slowly emerged from the house, first seeing her grandfather shouting at nothing in particular with a bat in hand, but then she saw the sky. Her mouth went dry.

There was no sun, no stars, only big planets accommodated around each other.

"It's them aliens, I'll bet my pension!" Her grandfather, Wild, raged. "You get back inside, Donna. They always want the women!"

Donna shook her head and ran back into the house. She needed to get ahold of the Doctor and Renata now!

~0~

Inside the TARDIS, each of its inhabitants were in the same state of shock and terrible confusion. The Doctor had stopped running around the console now and was immersed in the monitor in hopes of making contact with somebody on Earth. At this point, he'd settle for anyone in order to figure out what happened.

Gabby was still by the doors, staring into space - the spot where planet Earth used to be - and still couldn't believe it was gone. She did think of something that pulled her into reality after a moment. "But... if the Earth's been moved... they've lost the sun! What about my family? Cindy! Donna! They're dead!? Aren't they? They're all dead..."

Renata hurried over, her night robe flowing with her quick strides, to pull the girl away from the open doors. She shut them behind them and turned Gabby back for the console. "We don't really know what's happened…"

"But that's my whole world - it's just gone," Gabby felt like her world was spinning - well, her world was gone but she was sure it was the feeling.

"There's no readings, nothing. Not a trace," the Doctor was getting frustrated by the monitor. "Not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology. And good technology."

"Doctor, let's focus less on the quality of the technology and more on the reason someone would even build that type of technology in the first place," Renata brought Gabby to the Captain's chair in hopes that sitting her down would prevent the girl from collapsing straight to the floor.

"What are we going to do?" Gabby still held a little hope that not everything was lost. Her eyes flickered from the Doctor to Renata and vice versa. They had to know how to do something that could help them. Yes, they were still arguing but when things were this bad, they would surely put everything aside to solve the problem.

"We've...got to get help."

Renata did a double take at the Doctor, unsure if she had heard him right.

"From where?" Gabby feebly wondered. He was the Doctor - who could he ask to help him out?

"You don't actually mean…?" Renata walked over to him, her face still shocked he was openly admitting that this time - just this time - they would need to go to…

"Well Renata, seems like we're finally going to the Shadow Proclamation."

"I don't like being right this time," Renata had just enough time to say before the Doctor started the TARDIS.

~0~

Donna helplessly dialed for the TARDIS number the Doctor had given her, but it just wouldn't work! She'd tried at least a dozen times but the call wouldn't go through.

"Have you gotten ahold of him, dear?" Wilf came into the kitchen.

"No! There's no signal. This number is supposed to call anywhere in the universe! Something must be blocking it!"

"Dad! Donna!" Sylvia cried from the living room. The two ran to see if she was alright (in what fit) and saw the television on.

'Unidentified spacecraft heading for Earth' was flashing across the screen.

'We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships. The Pentagon has issued an emergency report…'

"They're saying spaceships," Sylvia shook her head, eyes closed to tears.

"C'mon Doctor," Donna dialed her phone with new hope that maybe this time things would work out.

"Who are you calling?" Sylvia demanded when she caught Donna putting the phone over her ear.

Donna only waved her off as she turned away, walking out of the living room. She returned to the kitchen and peered out the window again. This time she saw the huge spacecraft flying over them, looking pretty menacing.

'Exterminate!'

Donna froze. Had that…?

'Exterminate!'

Donna's eyes widened in horror. She had never seen them but the Doctor and Renata had done a good job of explaining to her how monstrous a Dalek could be. They were part of the reason why their entire world was gone...and it seemed like it was Earth's turn now.

~0~

"So...so we're actually going to the police?" Gabby was holding onto the Captain's chair as the TARDIS continued jerking every which way. The Shadow Proclamation seemed to be on a bumpy road. "You mean all this time there has actually been a space police!?"

"Yes!" Renata exclaimed. She was gripping the underneath of the console so she wouldn't slip.

"So how come we never met them!?"

"Doctor, you want to take that one?"

The Doctor's face went momentarily flat at Renata. "No. I just never thought I would need them!"

When the TARDIS finally came to a stop, the Doctor was careful as he led the two women out. He warned them they might not be so welcomed considering the messes he'd made in the past. As soon as they came out of the TARDIS - or rather slid out, one by one - they were greeted by a group of armed Judoon. Each gun soon took aim on them and one by one, the trio raised their hands to show they were on neutral terms.

"Sco po tro no flow jo ko fo to to," one of the Judoon began to say. Gabby watched in terror, wondering if they were truly dead now.

"No bo ho so ko ro toe so," the Doctor responded in the same manner. It definitely grabbed Gabby's attention. "Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo!" Whatever he said had made the Judoon lower their guns. "Ma ho." Once the Judoon began filing out, the Doctor turned to Renata and Gabby. "They know why we're here. They're getting the Shadow Architect."

"I'm in the Shadow Proclamation...in my nightie…" Renata had just realized that detail and looked terribly embarrassed. "This is not the place to be in my nightie."

"There's no time, c'mon," he made a motion for her and Gabby to follow. Gabby kept quite close to Renata as they passed several Judoons.

The Shadow Architect turned out to be a tall, Albino woman. She seemed a bit condescending and very much in disbelief of their very presence.

"Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species," she said, eyes flickering between the pair in front of her. "You cannot possibly exist."

"And yet here we are," Renata waved one hand while the other arm kept around her waist. She'd become very self conscious now that she realized how terribly under-dressed she was.

"We've got a missing planet," the Doctor rushed to get things moving along, but the Shadow Architect sighed in annoyance.

"Then, you're not as wise as the stories would say. The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor - twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky."

Gabby nearly keeled over. "How many!?" So not only was her world gone, but there were 23 others!?

"And you never thought to make this information public!?" Renata seemed almost outraged. If they had made the information known then perhaps each planet would've had a chance at surviving whatever pulled them from their orbit. "It could have given people a chance! At the very least the knowledge that they needed to be on red alert!"

The Shadow Architect did not like her actions being questioned, but Renata had a glare that nobody could win against. "I...did not think they would believe us."

"If 24 planets are missing I'm sure somebody would've believed you if you had just said something!" Renata couldn't help that her tone had turned into a loud shout. There were too many peoples' lives at stake and nobody had done a damn thing about it so far.

"Show me which planets are missing," the Doctor instructed and since the Shadow Architect had already crossed one Time Lord, she obeyed without a fight.

The group were brought to a high tech computer that held a list of all the planets they had recorded as vanished.

"The locations range far and wide. They all disappeared, leaving no trace," the Shadow Architect explained while the Doctor studied the list. The more he read, the less he understood.

"Callufrax Minor, Jahoo, Shallacatop, Woman Wept, Clom - Clom's gone?! Who'd want Clom?"

"That's rude," Renata remarked beside him. "Whole planet's gone, Doctor!"

"Right," he mumbled and went on.

"All different sizes. Some populated, some not, but all unconnected," the Shadow Architect added.

"Wait, what about Pyrovilia?" Renata found herself asking. "Remember-" she looked at the Doctor briefly, "-way back when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing. Bet nobody batted an eye at it."

"Is that an ancient planet?" Gabby wondered, but in asking she garnered a condescending response from the Shadow Architect.

"Who is the female?"

Gabby scrunched her nose. "Excuse you! I might not be 'the stuff of legends' but I'm every bit as important as Time Lords, so give me some respect. Also, my world just vanished so I demand some sympathy."

Both Renata and the Doctor smiled proudly at Gabby. They'd never seen her act so authoritative and much less that confident.

"Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant," one of the Judoon in the room replied.

"How do you mean, 'cold case'?" Gabby asked him.

"The planet Pyrovilia cannot be part of this, it disappeared over two-thousand years ago," the Shadow Architect said.

"Like I said, nobody batted an eye at it," Renata motioned the Doctor to scoot out of the computer's way. "I wonder how many other planets just 'disappeared' without anyone wondering why?"

"What are you doing?" the Doctor saw her switch tabs on the computer.

"Going through the planets that disappeared long ago - aha look!" she pointed suddenly. "Remember the Adipose and Miss Foster? She said their breeding planet had disappeared a long time ago!"

"Oh, brilliant! You're brilliant!" the Doctor started exclaiming once he understood the true gravity of the situation. "The planets have been taken out of time as well as space! Scoot!" He scooted her away just like she had done earlier. He re-organized the list of planets into a hologram set in the center of the room for the others to see. "There's something missing. Where else, where else, where else, lost, lost, lost, lost...? OH! The Lost Moon of Poosh!"

"The Lost Moon of what?" Gabby raised a finger and watched as a very small planet - a moon - appeared last in the string of hologram planets.

"This moon, lost ago, - Donna and I heard about it on Midnight," the Doctor said dismissively. He was arranging the planets in a specific way in the air.

"What? When you went to that luxury planet?"

"Yes, now shush!"

Gabby scrunched her face and glanced at Renata, wearing an expression akin to 'we should've gone'. Renata rolled her eyes but let it be. It wasn't her fault that neither of them got to visit the spa planet. That was the day she and Gabby had visited 52st century China in order to see a new art gallery that was having their grand opening. It had been loads of fun for Gabby to meet with current popular artists and see their creations.

But on the other hand, she and Renata had missed the whole ordeal on 'Midnight', the planet where the Doctor and Donna had nearly died. They'd found some strange alien that was so intelligent it almost managed to get the Doctor thrown out of their train by some scared, manipulated humans. Renata had been outraged to hear what happened to the Doctor and demanded that they all go to whoever was in charge of the spa to get it shut down.

"Well…" the Doctor's new arrangement of the planets was interrupted when the stolen planets literally re-arranged themselves into an optimum pattern. "Look at that. Twenty-seven planets in perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous!"

"I'm getting tired of saying this, but...Doctor? Stolen planets!? Focus!?" Renata waved a hand at the holographic planets between them.

"Why'd the planets arrange themselves like that?" Gabby went around the hologram, eyeing each of the planets.

"Like pieces of an engine…" the Doctor mumbled in a half-thought. "It's like a power house. But what for?"

"Who could design such a thing?" The Shadow Architect breathed in awe and yet fear. Someone who could design a power tool like that was strong and fear-worthy.

"Wait…" Renata froze but she felt the wave of dreariness begin to wash over her. "It can't be...it can't be…"

"No, no…" the Doctor said rather fast but as he turned back for the computer, Renata swore she saw a look of panic flash across his face for a second.

"Ren?" Gabby feebly moved towards the Time Lady. "What's going to happen? Are-are we going to get them back?"

Renata had no idea what to say and it showed. Her eyes flickered to the Doctor and the Shadow Architect, both huddled by the computer again. None of them had the answers Gabby wanted to know and it killed Renata. "Why don't we go back to the TARDIS so I can get changed?"

Gabby knew the attempt of distraction and what it meant...and it scared her to pieces. Because if neither the Doctor nor Renata didn't know what was happening, then things were truly bad. "I-I want to sit down." Her legs felt like puddy the more she thought of her family and what they must be going through.

"Okay, we can do that," Renata quickly ushered the girl towards a staircase and sat her down on the first step. "You sit here and I'll be back in a bit." She closed her robe tighter and hurried off.

Gabby exhaled heavily. She felt so useless just sitting there with nothing to offer to the table. Her world was gone! She had to do something but...what?

In her distant thinking, she didn't notice an Albino servant coming by with a glass of water. "You need sustenance. Take the water, it purifies."

"...thanks," Gabby whispered and took the glass.

"There's a fluttering around you."

Gabby looked up at the man questionably. "Excuse me?"

"The same fluttering that's around your friend - the Time Lady? Only she is golden, and you are lavender."

Gabby's eyes instinctively flickered to the Doctor as if by extension it was the same thing looking at Renata.

"You are each something new."

"I really doubt it," Gabby took a long drink of water.

"Such a nice group of travelers...I am sorry for your loss."

Gabby lowered her glass to her lap and studied the servant for a second. For a brief moment she thought he might be playing with her feelings but...he looked earnest enough. "Yeah, thanks, I guess. No real words to tell someone when their world is gone."

"No, I mean the loss that is yet to come. I'm very sorry for you all," the servant lowered himself just enough to whisper. "But the butterflies could perhaps save you."

"Excuse me?" Gabby blinked. The servant was grim as he went on his way.

A short moment later, Renata returned wearing much more appropriate clothing. A nice, white buttoned-up blouse tucked under camel-colored pants. She went with the camel-colored flats thinking there would be some running ahead.

"Have we learned anything new?" She went over to the Doctor by the computer, but judging by his lost face there was nothing.

"Gabby?" He called to the girl by the stairs who was still trying to process what the servant's words meant. "Just think for a minute, please? There must've been some sort of warning. Was there anything happening back in your day, like... electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?"

"Other than the freaky stuff when I met you two?"

"She got you there," Renata whispered to the Doctor, something he was fast to wave her off for.

"Well, Donna did mention that she heard the bees were disappearing…"

"The bees disappearing," the Doctor sarcastically said, shaking his head. "The bees disappearing."

"You don't need to be rude - you asked me!" Gabby frowned.

"Oh...the bees disappearing!" The Doctor realized Gabby (and Donna) were very right in the matter and he was just about to brush it off. He returned to the computer with a new hope that, in turn, pulled Gabby and Renata.

"How is that significant?" The Shadow Architect studied each of the trio to understand what was so important about the insects she had only read about.

"Well, on Earth we have these insects - annoying but very useful - and according to our friend, Donna, a lot of them have been disappearing," Gabby explained.

"Or... they were going back home!" the Doctor exclaimed.

Gabby raised an eyebrow. "Back home? What do you mean…?"

"The planet Melissa Majoria."

"Bees are aliens!?"

Renata put a calming hand over Gabby's shoulder. "Your Earth is just full of surprises, isn't it?"

"You're telling me we have alien bees!?"

"Don't be so daft," the Doctor told her. "Not all of them. But, if the migrant bees felt something, some sort of danger, and escaped... Tandocca!"

"The Tandocca Scale," the Shadow Architect was beginning to understand by the looks of it.

And that's when the Doctor took off in a rambling speed that absolutely no creature should be able to master. "The Tandocca Scale is a series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees. Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it. It's like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara!"

Gabby's face was a mixture of bemusement and horror, so she glanced at Renata for a better version of that and some plain answers on how the Doctor could possibly do that.

"Centuries have passed and I still have no idea," Renata exhaleed tiredly. The Doctor seemed to know exactly what she was talking about because he rolled his eyes at her.

"Just look!" He grabbed both Renata and Gabby and brought them to the computer screen. "There it is! The Tandocca trail!" There was a trail of blue light almost glittering on the screen. "The transmat that moved that planets was using the same wavelength! We can follow the path!"

"And get to Earth!" Gabby excitedly jumped. "Well let's go!" Now she grabbed the Doctor and Renata and yanked them for the TARDIS. Earth was at the tip of their fingers!

The Doctor somehow got in the lead and went straight for the console's monitor to pull up what they were looking for. "We're a bit late. The signal's scattered, but it's a start!"

"Uh, Doctor?"

He stopped to see Renata was at the doorway, pointing outside. He hurried back to see the Judoon all gathered behind the Shadow Architect. "I've got a blip! It's just a blip, but it's definitely a blip!" He told them.

"Then according to the strictures of the Shadow Proclamation, I will have to seize your transport and your technology," the Shadow Architect's words made him pause.

"Oh, really? What for?"

"The planets were stolen with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor! Right across the universe! And you will lead us into battle!"

The Doctor wanted to be surprised...but he just couldn't be. It was such a predictable thing the Shadow Proclamation would pull. It was why it was far more fun when he glanced at Renata with a smirk. For one moment, they weren't arguing at all. They were just themselves again. "You want to take that one?"

The Time Lady was not remotely amused with his smugness. Of course he'd be smug. She was always on his case about never going to the Shadow Proclamation when things were bad, and much less let them handle things. Now that they were here, doing what she always said they should do, it turned out to be very bad.

"I…" she sighed, "Dammit." She had to admit defeat. "Let us go get you a key," she told the Shadow Architect with a polite smile then yanked the grinning Doctor behind her. He gladly let the doors close and immediately began to laugh as he trailed after her. "It's not funny!" She stalked over to the console. "I just lied to the Shadow Proclamation!" For her, that was blasphemy!

"Yeah you did!"

Renata stopped once she was at the console and glared at the Doctor. "I just lied...to one of the biggest, most official, departments."

"I told you-"

"-shut up!"

Gabby secretly smiled on the side. If they were bickering, making fun of each other, then it meant they couldn't be angry with each other, right?

~ 0 ~

Donna didn't know what was worse: having the Daleks roaming their world and kidnapping humans or having to explain just how terribly dangerous they were to her mother and grandfather. Her mother was scared beyond belief but that didn't stop her from disbelieving every word Donna was saying.

"I'm telling you, Mum! They're aliens from-" Donna pointed a finger above her head, "-space! The Doctor and Renata told me all about them!"

Sylvia would shake her head and mumble that they were going crazy and that if she was going to die, she would have some tea in hand. Donna groaned and let her head fall to the kitchen table in a loud thud. Her forehead would definitely hurt later.

"You couldn't get ahold of them, sweetheart?" Wilf sat right beside her.

Donna raised her head only to shake it. "They must have blocked the phone signals or something. I don't know what else to do. Martha's not picking up either and she's the only other one I had around here…"

Something peculiar happened that froze everyone in their spots. A knock on the door. And then two. And then three.

"The...whatever they're called? Is that them?" Sylvia huddled by the sink, but Donna shook her head again.

"Daleks don't knock, mother."

"No, you stay here," Wilf told her once she started heading out of the kitchen. "There's a lot of crazies right now."

"Yes, but no crazy banging nor shouts," Donna pointed out. She had hope that maybe it was Martha coming to help or at the very least to keep each other company. But when she opened the door she found a blonde on the other side with a massive gun in hand.

She was no stranger.

"I met you," Donna blinked in realization. "In-in that...that parallel world thing the fortune teller put me in! But Martha said it was all gone-"

"Hi Donna, I'd love to talk but can we do that inside where there's no Daleks lurking?" Rose Tyler had a big smile on her face despite the chaos around them. Donna wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but she nodded and stepped aside. Rose was happy to come in and leave behind the darkness, at least for a moment.

"Hold on!" Donna went after her. "Parallel worlds - the Doctor told me about that! You're not supposed to be here!"

Rose removed the hangar from her gun and set it on the couch. "Well, I was trapped...and then...things happened…" It had taken a lot for her to finally get to the right world and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way.

"You were in my world!" Donna reiterated in a frantic shout, almost begging Rose to agree so that Donna knew she wasn't crazy.

"I was," the blonde nodded her head. "I've been travelling from world to world, trying to find this Earth."

"But I don't...the Doctor said parallel worlds are sealed off. That's why…" Donna trailed off awkwardly. Reminding Rose of the terrible parting with the Doctor 2 years ago was probably something Rose didn't want to remember.

"Donna, who the hell is that?" Sylvia had come out of the kitchen with Wilf. The first thing Sylvia noticed was the massive gun on her couch.

"She's a friend of the Doctor's," Donna said with a light smile. Well, there was no Martha but they had Rose now. One for one.

"Rose Tyler," the blonde waved a nervous hand at them. Last thing she was thinking of was going through a proper greeting. Time was their only weapon, after all. "Donna, can you call the Doctor?"

"I've been trying but he's not picking up!"

That sentence alone seemed to rip through Rose. "What…?"

Donna sighed wearily. "I've been trying like mad but the signal doesn't go through. Wherever they are in space...it's not getting the signal."

"In space?" Sylvia repeated condescendingly.

"Oh mother, hush!" Donna unexpectedly snap. "It's all real, you know? Just take a look at the sky, for God's sake!"

The yelling between the two didn't seem to break through Rose. She dejectedly leaned against the couch as she processed that her only plan was on a halt. "You're my last hope. If we can't find the Doctor…"

There went the universe...universes.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS had gone through a series of violent jerks until it suddenly stopped and threw everyone to the ground.

"Are we here!?" Gabby peeled her face off the floor and quickly laid eyes on the door.

"It's...stopped…?" the Doctor sounded confused and if he was confused then things were bad again.

"N-n-n-n-no don't say it like that, please!"

Renata got up first then helped Gabby. She was thinking like the Doctor that they couldn't have stopped. He was already at the monitor to see exactly where they had stopped.

"The Medusa Cascade," he said quietly. "I came here when I was just a kid. Ninety years old. It was the center of a rift in time and space."

"So...are the twenty-seven planets here?" Gabby left Renata's hold to see the monitor for herself. The space was beautiful with colors of blue and yellow and red all swirled together...but she didn't see her home planet. "Where...where are they?" She looked to see the Doctor was once again wearing that expression she hardly saw, because he never showed it. Hopelessness.

"The Tandocca Trail stops dead," he stepped away from the monitor, perhaps to hide his hopelessness. "...end of the line."

Gabby watched him like he was crazy. She'd never heard him say something like that, much less appear like he believed that. Her head turned to Renata in a snap to see what she would say.

She wasn't like the Doctor, but Renata had learned long ago how to hide her true feelings. Yet another gift from her family. Even if she was upset, if she was helpless, or hopeless, she should always wear a smile for everyone.

"We'll find it," Renata said. Her eyes blinked rapidly - she was thinking about Martha on Earth - and Gabby could hear the heavy inhales she was taking. "I don't know how but...we'll find it."

In any other situation, Gabby would've loved to point out how Renata and the Doctor had taken each other's roles. Renata, who was used to reality, was now daring to believe in the impossible like the Doctor and he was taking her perspective of reality to the last point. The irony.

~0~

Without Donna's working phone, Rose resorted to a computer. She didn't expect much from it but at the very least it could help with something.

"The thing is…" Donna was sitting right next to Rose in the kitchen, "In that parallel world...how did you know me?"

An amused smile spread across Rose's face while she went through the computer. "I told you that already: you're the most important woman in the universe."

"Oh come off it," Donna waved her off. "There were plenty of people connected to the Doctor after you. There was Martha-"

"Heard about her, lovely but she wasn't the one I needed."

"Alright, what about Gabby? She's young but she's definitely added something, right?"

"Gabby Gonzalez is not my domain persay."

"What do you mean?"

Rose visibly swallowed hard. "You have to remember, Donna, that I visited a lot of parallel worlds before coming to yours. I've seen versions of Gabby that...don't end so nicely."

Donna was quick to be horrified. "She dies?"

"No…" Rose tilted her head, wondering if this was even an appropriate conversation to have. With a sigh, she pulled her gaze from the screen to look at Donna. "There were a couple parallel worlds where something - I think a space art gallery of some sort - would contaminate Gabby and then she would end up as this…huge-" she made the gesture of something large with her hands, "-cosmic butterfly. And she wasn't a very nice cosmic butterfly."

"But that can't be. Our Gabby went to a space gallery too and-and nothing happened to her."

"Different world, different results. Maybe it just wasn't her."

Donna was sure the Doctor examined Gabby after Zhe's gallery, finding that Gabby was also exposed to the same toxins now hurting Renata. Maybe Gabby just wasn't hit with the same amount? Or because she's human? But then if it wasn't Gabby…

"Maybe it was someone else…" Donna whispered when it donned on her who'd been taking the worst hit from that space gallery. "Oh God, if it's Renata…"

Rose once again stopped on the computer and side-glanced Donna with a sharp look. "Renata? A Time Lady? Don't tell me you have one of her too." Donna met Rose's eyes, suddenly nervous when she remembered the whole ordeal between Renata and the Doctor. Rose presumed that was Donna's way of saying 'yes' and groaned. "Not her!"

"What? You know Renata?"

"Unfortunately. She's a Time Lady in the other worlds I crossed to but she was no help at all. She didn't care about the stars dying, nor that the Doctor didn't exist in her worlds or that he was dead."

"Well that can't be Renée," Donna used the Doctor's nickname for her as if she was trying to say that couldn't be his Renata. "You know, our Renata, she's very good at hiding her true feelings. I'm willing to bet that she was lying to you. She kind of does that." Rose didn't seem so sure. She went back to work instead, but Donna still had one more thing to say. "Our Renata here, she was contaminated badly and she's been having health issues…the Doctor's told me that he thinks she might be regenerating soon, or at least her body will try to." Donna remembered how terribly grim the Doctor was when he shared that detail with him. He was truly terrified of what could happen to Renata and there was nothing that he could do about it. Renata had been contaminated with something that nobody else had. And before the Doctor even knew who she was, he had already fallen for her. With all those feelings the situation had to be even more terrifying. Who'd want to lose someone they loved?

"Then I'm betting she's going to become the not-so-nice cosmic butterfly," Rose murmured, not particularly concerned for that bit.

Donna was worried, though, very worried. Could this have been the prediction Gabby told her about? Is that how Renata was supposed to die? And was that here? At this moment? They really needed to find the Doctor.

'You will obey Dalek instructions without question. You will obey your Dalek ma-'

Rose froze when the computer went pitch white. She blinked several times at it, wondering if they were about to catch a break.

'Can anyone hear me? The subwave network is open, you should be able to hear my voice…'

"Yes! Yes! I can hear you!" Rose was quick to say. Even Donna had leaned closer to see who was trying to talk to them. "

"Is there anyone there?"

Rose gasped. "I know that voice...!"

"This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't much time. Can anyone hear me?"

The screen cleared up a few seconds later and had Harriet Jones on the other end, flashing her ID at anyone who watched. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister!"

"Harriet! It's me, it's me!" Rose soon realized that Harriet couldn't hear her at all. She looked at Donna who shook her head.

"It's my grandad's computer!"

"Have you got a webcam?".

"No," Wilf answered from the couch. "She-" he nodded at Sylvia beside him, "-won't let me. She said they're naughty."

Rose sighed and looked at the screen again. "Well, I can't speak to her then, can I?"

So close and so far.

~0~

Renata had opened the TARDIS doors to the empty Medusa Cascade. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but at least she was doing something. She extended her hand, focusing on that sneaky energy that had caught her off guard far too many times. Now it was her turn to control it and maybe, just maybe, it would do something good for them. There were quiet wisps of energy that would emanate from her fingertips, but nothing too significant.

"Don't hurt yourself," the Doctor came up behind her. "We still don't know what that energy can do to you."

"If it'll get us somewhere, then I don't care." She closed her eyes to try again, but this time the Doctor lowered her. With a sigh of annoyance, she opened her eyes and turned around. "Stop that. I need to try again."

"But what's the point?"

Renata simply couldn't believe that those words were actually coming out of his mouth. He even looked the part of someone with zero faith. "The point is that I'm trying to do something! Just like...just like you would."

"Well who taught you that?"

Renata's expression went full-on incredulous. "You!" She frantically gestured to him. "In your annoying, talented way. It's the thing I've never been good at but you... you've always done that. I wish I could've been like that from the start."

The Doctor gave a light shake of his head. He moved around her to close the TARDIS doors. "Maybe you've been right this whole time. It's best to see reality." If he had seen reality before, way back on Gallifrey, then maybe he would've avoided all the pain he'd carried since then.

"Don't say that, please," Renata whispered. She felt terrible thinking that her words had finally cut through the Doctor. That's never what she wanted to do. "Because the day you start thinking like me...then it's really over."

That's how badly she thinks of herself, the Doctor concluded. He wasn't that surprised, though. Zuriah usually wasn't very confident, even when she had the ability to make anyone smile. She was always so good at making everyone - anyone - feel welcomed, feel at home and Renata was just as good. As soon as she was finally settled in her new traveling life with him, she made him feel at home in his own TARDIS. She was a warm, kind woman…

He forgot how he used to feel around her.

"Doctor, it's Zuriah. She's here. She's alive and she's here. The universe is giving you a second chance to be happy."

"She has a point," Donna's input made the Doctor turn his head at her. "You've told me how much it hurt to leave her behind, especially when...when your war was over. But she's alive."

She was alive and yet he was still so scared of what would happen. He still felt the anger towards Renata even when he knew - when he accepted - that he was still in love with her, but maybe this is what Martha meant. There wasn't time to waste but it was difficult to move on right now. Maybe it was just 'right now'. He'd have to come back to that when all this mess was over...

"I know you must not value my words right now - or ever again - but I have to tell you how much you've...changed me." Renata stepped closer to him but was a bit afraid that he wouldn't want to be in such close proximity to her. "I never really got the jist of planet Earth and much less the humans...but you've changed that this past year. I finally get why you're always there to help them. They're amazing - albeit a little narcissistic sometimes - but they're people worth getting to know. And I thank you for that. Now I just want to help however I can and make that girl over there-" she nodded over to Gabby who was blankly staring at the ground, "-happy again. So, yes, my energy might not do a damn thing but I will keep trying even if it kills me."

It was impossible for the Doctor not to feel at least a little bit special. Time was, he always tries to show Zuriah the best of the world through his words. She would always question his obsession with the humans, commenting on how he should redirect that attention to their home instead. But here she was, thinking almost like him.

There came a beeping noise from the console, startling the trio inside. It was hard to tell what it was for a few seconds, until…

"PHONE!" Gabby actually fell out of the Captain's chair in her shock. The Doctor dashed for the console with Renata hot on his trail.

"That's Martha's phone! It's Martha's!" Renata was too excited when she saw the Doctor picking up the ringing phone.

"Martha, is that you?!" the Doctor called but there was nothing on the other end. He pulled the phone from his ear to see the screen. "It's a signal…"

"Can we follow it?" Gabby jumped back to her feet, albeit a little wobbly from her fall. "Like back to Earth?"

The Doctor had a stethoscope on the phone and the phone in front of the monitor, with no intention of letting the trace go. "Oh just watch me!" Renata beamed at him. He couldn't just give up - it wasn't him. "Got it! Locking on!" he cheered. He didn't warn the other two that the TARDIS was about to once again shake them - he just pulled the lever and started her up.

Renata shrieked at the sparks that flew from the console and nearly hit her face. Her arms flew over her face and in doing so, the TARDIS had an easier time throwing her back.

"Renata!" Gabby yelped from her spot.

"I'm fine, just keep going!"

But a moment later, the console went up in flames and forced Gabby to let go. She shrieked as well when she went down.

"Sorry! We're travelling through time! One second in the future!" the Doctor explained in a loud shout. "The phone call's pulling us through!"

"Just get us there!" Renata, again, yelled from the floor.

"THREE! TWO! ONE!" The Doctor yelled at the top of his lungs whilst the TARDIS shook like it never had before.

The TARDIS hurtled towards something new, exactly to where Earth and the other lost planets truly were. The fire, soon, started going out on its own.

Renata eventually climbed her way back up using the dry parts of the console for support. Her back ached and that warmth was coming back to her skin. "Please tell me we're here?"

The Doctor's grin was answer enough. He helped Gabby stand up while Renata hurriedly moved to the computer.

"The twenty-seven planets!" she beamed. "And there's the Earth, Gabby, very much present!"

"Let me see!" Gabby left the Doctor's hold to see for herself that the planets were all there. "But why couldn't we see it before?"

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found them!" The Doctor had come to the monitor in time to see the screen blurring. "Oh, oh... what's that?"

"Someone's trying to reach us," Renata really hoped it was Martha and Donna. She needed to know they were okay.

"Some sort of... subwave network!" The Doctor anxiously waited for the screen to completely clear up. He did his best from his end to help the network come through, but it was mostly up to their luck.

Jack Harkness was the first to appear in a square of four, followed by Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones and then their own square.

"Martha!" Renata beamed at the sight of her best friend. Martha grinned in relief to see their network had finally reached them.

Jack Harkness laughed in the same relief but it was followed by an angry, "Where the hell have you been!?" It made the trio blink in collective surprise.

"Well, rude," Renata muttered but she couldn't stop smiling. They were alive right now and that's all she cared for. "Wait - who's that?" She pointed a finger at Sarah Jane.

"Oh, Sarah Jane!" The Doctor was the next to beam. "An old friend! Who's the boy?" He spotted the brunette teenager standing next to Sarah Jane.

"Is Donna around there?" Gabby squirmed her way in-between the Doctor and Renata, momentarily looking like their curious child trying to see what was going on.

"Donna!" Renata gasped. Her eyes laid on Martha but it was only her.

"She's at home, I'm assuming safe? All communication is down."

The trio's hearts stopped at the questionable fate of Donna.

"You picked up another one?" Jack raised an eyebrow at Gabby.

"She's mine," Renata answered with a proud smile, truly looking the part of a mother.

"I'm Gabby Gonzalez," Gabby gave a meek wave of her hand at the screen. "And I'm not a child, no matter how Renata makes it seem."

"Doctor, it's the Daleks!" Jack exclaimed.

"They're taking people to their spaceship!" Sarah Jane added and was followed by Martha's input.

"But it's not just Dalek Caan!"

~ 0 ~

In Donna's living room, there was an equal relief to see the Doctor and Renata on their computer screen, although Rose paid more attention to the former than the latter.

"They're alive," Donna was grinning from ear to ear. "And that means we can still win this!"

"Win what? The world's ending," Sylvia said from behind.

"Mum, not now!" Donna sighed as she watched everyone jabber along on the computer. They were unable to join.

"So you do have the cosmic butterfly and the Time Lady?" Rose didn't seem too sure about them when she glanced at Donna.

"They're incredibly kind women, I swear," Donna assured her.

"She-" Rose tapped her finger over Renata, "-didn't care for humanity in your world. She was in hiding...and she knew the Doctor, but...she didn't care that he was dead."

"To be fair, that's also a version of Renata that never met the Doctor again so...she never got attached to any human like Martha...me...and Gabby," Donna said sadly. She wondered what that other version of Renata felt like being alone. She remembered how scary the Doctor had been the first time she met him. He had no control of himself, no care for his own life because he felt so utterly alone. She presumed the other Renata had to been similar.

"And she-" Rose moved her finger to Gabby, "-can be very dangerous. She was a fixed point in time in a lot of the other worlds. She was dangerous, Donna, I swear."

"I believe you," Donna promised. Rose looked very sincere in her worries and Donna couldn't just wash them away when Rose had seen things with her own eyes. "But please trust me when I tell you that these versions are not who you think they are. They're here to help."

Rose bit her lower lip and turned her gaze back to the computer. All this time she hadn't felt her stomach churn the way it was right now - despite the Dalek situation and the universes crashing - but now looking at Renata and Gabby made things feel a lot worse. It scared her even more.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was fondly watching all of his previous companions jabber over one another, trying to explain the situation. He had no idea what they were saying but he didn't care. He was so happy to see all of them. "Look at you all, you clever people!"

"These are all previous companions?" Gabby asked him with a growing smile on her face. People just like her who would understand all of her stories!?

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded. "That's Captain Jack-" and just before the man in question was about to open his mouth, the Doctor pointed a warning finger at him, "Don't you dare!" Gabby blinked but smiled at the brunette man on the screen. He was kind of cute. "That's Sarah Jane - we go way back."

"Centuries," Sarah Jane agreed. "Now I must ask who is that?" She was talking about Renata who'd been pretty quiet but nonetheless looking just as happy as everyone else.

"Renata," the woman answered. "Nice to meet you...even though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"This is like an outer-space Facebook!" Gabby laughed once she realized the comparison. "Can we make this a daily thing? You know, when the world isn't ending."

"Oh Gabby," Renata laughed and side hugged her.

"Everyone except Rose," the Doctor distantly commented after a moment.

~ 0 ~

"I'm here, Doctor. I'm here," Rose whispered with an urgency that Donna could practically see radiating from her.

~ 0 ~

The screen in the TARDIS turned into white noise all of a sudden.

"No, no get them back!" Gabby frantically said, even banging the side of the monitor to get ahead of the Doctor.

"There's another signal coming through, there's someone else out there!" The Doctor did indeed follow Gabby's plan and banged the other side of the monitor.

"Would you two stop banging the monitor!?" Renata yanked their two hands off the poor screen. "Maybe it's Donna."

But the voice that followed was definitely not Donna. It was a raspy, almost ugly, voice that froze the two Time Lords in their places. "Your voice is different, and yet, its arrogance is unchanged."

Gabby wasn't sure who it was but judging by the looks on the pair's faces, she knew it could not be good.

"No, but he's dead…" Sarah Jane was the only companion who seemed to share the Time Lord's horror.

"Welcome to my new empire, Doctor," Davros - creator of the Daleks - emerged from the darkness to reveal a rather unappealing appearance.

"Ugh…" Gabby found herself retracting a few steps, repulsed at the terrible creature on the screen.

"I've never actually seen him…" Renata sucked in a breath of terror. Flashes of the war came back to her mind suddenly.

"It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek Race," Davros said, but the Doctor only stared in silence. "Have you nothing to say?"

Gabby took the Doctor's silence as a very good reason to be afraid. "We're-we're in the TARDIS. We're...we're supposed to be safe, right?"

"But you were destroyed," the Doctor finally found some words to say. "In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysiem. I saw your command ship flying into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you…"

Renata's double-take on him nearly hurt her neck from how fast she'd done it. "You did what?" Never in her lives would she ever try to save someone like Davros...but of course the Doctor would.

"It took one stronger than you," Davros told him. "Dalek Caan himself."

The Dalek himself flashed in the background, singing his words with an insane undertone. "I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times!"

"Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself," Davros further explained, or explained better since the other Dalek was deliriously laughing.

"But the entire War is time locked!" Renata, outraged, yelled. How could a creature like that be able to penetrate the most sealed event in history?

"And yet, he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine - a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"

"And you made a new race of Daleks," the Doctor could only assume.

"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." Davros revealed his rotten form underneath his suit. His ribs and heart were almost entirely visible. "New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?"

The Doctor was still pretty shaken from the fact that Davros was there so Renata felt like it was appropriate to answer for him. "I am Renata and you ruined our world! So the only thing we're going to do is say goodbye you horrible, ugly monster!" She reached for the lever across and yanked it down with all her might, sending both the Doctor and Gabby to the floor.

The TARDIS began its descent towards Earth, never the smooth ride.

Author's Note:

Ah, so it's all coming now. Donna still went through the paralell world but now she's back on Earth helping Rose out where she can. And Rose started foreshadowing what could/might happen to Renata...or Gabby...or Renata...

And guys...they finally went to the Shadow Proclamation! But poor Renata, in her nightie, and it all blew up in her face. They were NOT helpful at all and the Doctor finally got to show it. This moment will come up later on too xD.

Can you guys believe that there's only like 6 chapters left in this story (if I don't decide to split up a few chapters). I'm so excited for the next story that I thought I'd leave behind another snippet of it. Actually, this is quite literally the beginning of the next story if anyone's curious!

P. S: As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.

#ocappreciation #doctor who fics #10th doctor fics #10th doctor imagines #doctor who imagines #dw imagine #10th doctor imagine #dw imagines #oc: Renata Cartwright #fic: the beginning of everything #gabby gonzalez

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