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motimatcha · 1 year ago

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"nostromo"

PART 2. White crow.

parts: one | two | three | four | five

dbd Xenomorph (alien) x fem!reader. attention: murder

“Let me introduce myself, my name is Ellen Louise Ripley. I am the only survivor of the Nostromo crew.”

Ellen spoke without pride or enthusiasm. Her voice was filled with bitterness and sadness, with the horror and fear of facing a monster from the depths of space one on one. Ripley looked like a woman who couldn't be broken no matter what the odds got in her way, and that made you respect this strong woman.

The fire from the fire was crackling steadily. The thrown firewood slowly turned black, turning into coals. The flame did not warm, but gave everyone present a phantom feeling of calm and safety. The territory of the survivors, fenced off by a white soothing fog, did not allow killers and creatures from other universes to reach the fire, but many still preferred to stay, if not in groups, then at least in pairs. Because it’s so safe, because it’s so comfortable. So profitable.

And among all this multitude of people, you alone felt out of place. White crow among black crows. It would seem that you could maintain a dialogue with each potential team member, taught and learned something new, but you did not have the same mutual understanding as Dwight and Claudette . You couldn't talk to Mikaella and Honas about enchantments any more than your basic knowledge of totem blessings allowed.

You were yours. But you were a stranger and in case of danger, they would be the last to save you.

“I will share with you my knowledge regarding the Alien or Xenomorph , as it is also called. This is a new... killer, as you call them here, who has a number of abilities.”

The conversation around the fire began to gain momentum. From time to time you asked your questions to Louise in order to better understand what to expect from the Alien. The information was, to put it mildly, depressing. You sincerely wanted not to compete in the tests against this monster, but everything was the will of the Entity and a little of your luck.

For the next three trials, you come face to face with the xenomorph . Perhaps he remembered you and holds a grudge, otherwise you cannot explain to yourself how it happened that in the first test you were sent to meet with the entity in the first place, the second time you were allowed to leave through the gate as the only survivors, and the third time you have successfully stumbled upon a hook.

In every unnatural-looking shadow, you saw the outline of a xenomorph's vertebrae . You heard his cry when he got caught with his paws or tail, seemingly behind his back. You could feel his saliva on and under your skin as the sixth test passed, and the creature from outer space continued to pursue you.

When for the seventh time, having completely resigned yourself to your fate of being an eternal victim of the Alien, you are incredibly lucky. You were ready to go to Ghostface , if not kiss, then something like that. And although the latter would be glad to get his first victim so soon, the other survivors looked at you more than strangely and would have suspected you of colluding with the maniac if they did not know your situation.

Laurie patted you on the shoulder sympathetically whenever you managed to cross paths.

“I’ve never felt so disgusting,” Claudette said irritably , sitting down on the edge of a fallen tree near the fire. You sat a little further away, so you could hear her words. “All this time it stood almost behind us, while we... while we...”

“Let’s be honest, we were lucky that we at least escaped without injury,” Jake Park, who apparently underwent the test with Morel . “It wasn’t pleasant for me to run through the bushes with my bare ass.”

“Do you think I really liked it?”

The guy wrinkled his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. You, interested, eavesdropped on someone else's conversation, trying not to frighten off the source of information; It will be better for you if the couple believes that their most interesting conversation was left without due attention.

You shivered when clouds of cold fog touched the bare skin of your legs and pulled them towards you, bending them at the knees. Wrapping your arms around yourself and adjusting the jacket thrown over you, you looked at the sky: beautiful and cloudless, strewn with stars - almost the same as you saw on the Nostromo , except that the satellite was much larger or closer to the surface of the planet.

Jake about something . Her active gestures and talking face clearly hinted that the girl did not agree with the words of her boyfriend, but the latter was unshakable and calm to match the emotionality of his partner. Soon their quiet conversation died down, and you understood only one thing: a stranger was watching them while the couple had sex.

Funny. And scary.

Ellen said that the xenomorph is evolving.

“It looks like my next test will be with you,” Ripley sat down next to her , oh which you thought a second ago, smiled warmly, and then looked at the stars. “I liked looking at them too.” In childhood. I dreamed that I would explore space and make discoveries, but...”

There was a moment of silence, which became awkward with each passing second. Did the girl deliberately leave the sentence unfinished to make you feel uncomfortable, did she want you to ask your question, or did the silence seem tense only to you?

The wood in the fire continued to crackle rhythmically, breaking the silence in the clearing. As you watched the once glowing scarlet wood turn to jet black, you couldn't help but notice the analogy with human determination and faith. You believed that the xenomorph would someday leave you alone when he satisfied his desire to take revenge on you, reveling in the feeling of the chase.

Faith, like a weak flame, faded away.

"But"?” you ask, hinting to hear the continuation of the story.

“When I thought that death was about to take me away and I would get rid of this nightmare, I ended up here. And he too.” Ellen shrugged. Her tired gaze turned to your figure, slightly trembling from the cold; Louise herself did not care about any weather, be it the stuffiness of an abandoned cemetery somewhere in the desert or the bone-chilling cold of Ormond. “Honestly, I thought that the monster would hunt me more than others, but watching you, I made a small assumption...”

You raised an eyebrow in surprise and anticipation . You were very interested in other people’s words, but at the same time you felt somehow uneasy. If a stranger really needs something from you, then you can safely assume that his pursuit will never end and someday his razor-sharp fangs will end up in your body. The prospect of becoming his prey did not please you at all, but so far you have managed to escape even while being possessed by him.

“So, what's your guess?”

The former officer is silent. The look of her dark eyes slightly alarms and frightens you, and the next moment the girl will turn into her sworn enemy and attack you. The acidic blood will burn through your skin and reach your bones, with its claws it will open your stomach to tear and devour your insides with its sharp fangs. Fear bubbled in your chest.

“The next time you meet him, pay attention to whether the monster has left its scent on your body. Saliva, blood...”

...The xenomorph is behind you. He hisses when he receives a blow to his chitin-covered head from the boards. A nail driven into the wood manages to scratch the strong armor, causing green poisonous blood to spill. You scream when drops of acid fall on your legs - running immediately becomes painful and difficult, a stranger can easily catch up with you and hook you with his tail. But when you turn around to see if the killer is following you, you find that he is simply standing still and watching, and then walking in the opposite direction of you...

...The viscous saliva of the xenomorph spills across the floor in front of the locker in which you hid. The secretions of a creature from deep space are mixed with your blood, flowing down your arms and legs after a recent attack - the xenomorph's tail brushed your side. With a sharp movement, the monster opens the iron cabinet door, but instead of immediately picking you up with its main weapon, a huge paw hits the back of the cabinet next to your head. The big head creeps closer to you, and you think that your end has come, that now the second mouth of the xenomorph will make a hole in your head. The xenomorph's saliva running down your cheek makes you think about a lot of things...

“Suppose, if it was, then what?..”

Ripley sighed heavily before giving her answer.

“Then I have bad news. He chose you as his mate to create a new colony here.”

Finding yourself on the Nostromo again no longer seemed something scary to you, rather than meeting one-on-one with a xenomorph . The faint hope that in today's test there will be some other killer, and not your personal nightmare, was dispelled to dust as soon as one of the points of movement of the monster was noticed. The control center located directly in front of the generator gave the alien easy access to attack from behind without being noticed. Your hands trembled weakly from fear, but you went to the generator at your own peril and risk.

You retrieved and installed the remote fire turret before sitting down to repair the generator. Fearing the worst-case scenario and knowing your luck, you specifically made the fruiting of the Entity to successfully and quickly repair the generators in order to quickly escape from the cage created by the Entity. Your comrades: Meg , Ellen and Claudette , should have tried to buy you as much time as they could.

“Most likely, his next step will be courtship. For these creatures, it is the presentation of corpses as an indicator of their strength, so that the future couple will evaluate the abilities of the future partner.”

Ripley ’s words came at the wrong time, because you almost miss the reaction check, almost blowing up the almost finished generator. A nervous chuckle escapes your lips, but then you have to hold your attention as soon as the turret begins to warn you that the killer is close.

Having finished with the generator, you took the turret and moved to the next point, marked for you by the Entity in red. It was difficult and long to move with the installation, but it was better to do so, constantly knowing whether an alien was nearby, than to run away and evade the attacks of its tail. The generators marked in red formed a good triangle, depriving the killer of which was your first priority - the ideally close location of all three points allowed you not to waste time.

The fire turret began signaling almost hysterically as soon as you approached the generator and installed the equipment. In a couple of seconds, you reach the nearest stone shelter, which completely hides your figure behind it, before a tall xenomorph figure appears from the control room . He screams heart-rendingly, as if in pain, and you yourself also wince, either from the unpleasant sound, or because the creature is somewhat pathetic. With one blow, the creature destroyed the turret, which brought it out of its crawling state, depriving it of its main weapon, after which the killer looked around in search of the next victim.

The perfect weapon was so evil that during the long chase he failed to catch a single survivor, and now he was completely set on fire by the turret.

Not finding his next victim, the alien returned back to the dungeon, but you understood that it was too early to leave the shelter - perhaps the xenomorph was only hiding, and in fact was sitting near the exit from the tunnel, waiting for the brave man who had installed a weapon here. Long minutes pass and only then do you decide to return to the strong point, get a new fire turret and start repairing the generator.

When the generator was half finished, Meg's scream was heard . Most likely, the creature touched her with its tail or claws, then there was the sound of falling boards and another scream - acidic blood fell on the girl. You couldn't go help her even if you wanted to because your main task was fixing the generator.

This is how helplessness feels.

A heavy feeling settled in your chest. As if if you were there, you could help, but being obsessed with the xenomorph , he simply would not pay his attention to you, continuing to chase other survivors until you are the last one left. And one Entity knows that a creature from deep space will rise up, who also wants to make a new colony with you.

It is impossible to have children in the world of the Entity. This is an indisputable fact proven by many survivors, but hardly the stranger knew about it, otherwise why does he continue to haunt you? Unless, of course, the reason lies in close communication with Michael Myers. Thinking about this, a faint shadow of a smile appears on your exhausted face. The picture in your head of how a silent killer telepathically conveys some instructions to an extraterrestrial being, and he shakes his head and wags his tail like a dog, amused you. Perhaps you had simply gone crazy, but now it was difficult to imagine the xenomorph as a serious threat.

Until the moment you come face to face with him again.

Suspiciously quickly, Ellen is hung on a hook, and she comes to the point of fighting the Entity. The girl, who is not quite used to everything, loses several times in the fight, and you can clearly hear her bones cracking and crunching. This makes you feel uneasy, but you forcefully hold yourself in place and finish fixing the generator. Wounded Claudette is forced to run from the killer, and Meg is too far away to save Ripley . At your own peril and risk, hoping that the killer does not decide to change course, you run up to the brunette hanging on the hook and save her from the clutches of the Entity.

“Thank you,” the survivor nods gratefully as you begin treatment. The toolbox remains lying nearby while, armed with someone else's first aid kit, you heal the wounds of the former officer. “Next time, don’t take risks. I have no more attempts to save myself.”

Biting your lower lip, you could only nod obediently, agreeing with the words of others. If the girl is telling the truth, then it really won’t be possible to save her and the next hanging will send her to a meeting with the entity. I wonder if others have at least some attempts to save themselves or are you the only one who can still try to get off the hook? After saying goodbye to Ripley and picking up your tools, you go to fix the next generator.

A body that fell nearby made you scream in fear, and then the generator exploded, illuminating the area with hundreds of sparks and revealing your location to the killer. You froze, like a rabbit in the face of a boa constrictor and don’t know what to do: run, attracting attention to yourself and, perhaps, the stranger will be distracted by you, abandoning his prey. But the stranger who notices you is only watching.

“...presenting corpses as an indicator of one’s strength...”

Excruciatingly long.

“...so that the future couple can evaluate their abilities...”

You don’t even know where this creature’s eyes are, but you can say with certainty that the gaze of the alien monster is sliding over your figure.

"...future..."

The xenomorph slowly pierces Ripley's body with its tail. Lifts him in the air, turning him to face him. You see the grimace of horror on Ellen's beautiful face. A second later, the xenomorph's second mouth pierces her head, leaving a large hole in her forehead.

"...partner..."

With gloomy calm you watch the alien creature. It throws a lifeless corpse at your feet, as if it is appreciating its work. You can clearly hear that unspoken “are you satisfied, my future couple?” in the shrill squeak of someone else. You manage to stand still with all your willpower, especially when the monster comes inappropriately close to you. You feel the iron smell, heavy cold breath above your ear, and viscous saliva mixed with blood that flows down your shoulder below.

The xenomorph suddenly turns its head to the side when it senses the presence of another survivor. It was Meg, who came out at the wrong time from around the corner of the Nostromo wreckage. Her gaze darted from Ellen's corpse to the xenomorph standing next to you.

originally there was a paragraph in this chapter where the reader reflects on the outcome of his ordeal, but does not remember how it all ended. this is due to the fact that I am an adherent of the theory of amnesia of survivors and killers. Unfortunately, I had to abandon this, but I do not exclude the possibility that references could remain somewhere in the text.

#dbd x reader #dead by daylight x reader #dbd xenomorph x reader #xenomorph x reader

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thelocalconstellation · 4 months ago

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I'm having Thoughts about physical manifestations of Chat. Y'know, like Tubbo has bees, Ranboo's would be the particles, etc. Etc. Etc. and having recently (in the last month or so) fallen down the rabbit hole that is Lifesteal smp, I wonder! Who has what?

Kaboodle's is bunnies, I think. Stream starts and a whole bunch just poke their heads out of the ground and follow after her. On brand!

Part of me likes to think the default form for a Chat is either voices or ghosts, so for Clownpierce part of me thinks he'd get a standard version of chat, but part of me also likes to think crows. Because a group of crows is called a murder, and seeing crows or ravens can be an omen of death sometimes too. I feel like he has mischief birds. Vibes.

Still slowly wiggling my way around more POV's, but lmk? Thoughts?

#clownpierce #kaboodle #lifesteal smp headcanon #lifesteal smp

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loquatsloquatsloquats · 11 days ago

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Cookie Run as Incorrect Quotes

Part 2! The Deceit Quad

( Plus Some Adjacent Characters For The Last Few )

Truthless Recluse: I’ve become a bread crumb dealer to four crows at the lake. They pay me with a bit of everything. Like shiny things, fabric, or pens. But recently they paid me with a 20 dollar bill they found somewhere. So I decided to buy them some more expensive bread. They loved it. So they understand what to do. Give me money. I’ve probably racked up about 200 dollars at this point. Is it morally wrong though, I mean. They’re the ones who steal the money from others. Or perhaps they just have a big pile laying somewhere. Should I keep on doing this?

Black Sapphire: You sound like the start of a Batman villain.

Candy Apple: So, Black Sapphire, do you have a crush on anyone?

Black Sapphire: The only crush I have is this crushing anxiety.

Shadow Milk: Ugh, there’s always that one in the group who isn’t down with murder.

Shadow Milk: *glares at PV*

Pure Vanilla: Well, sorry I have morals!

Shadow Milk: If you aren't someone The Witches wanted dead 3000 years ago, are you really living?

Shadow Milk: .. .----. -- / … --- .-. .-. -.-- (translation: I'M SORRY)

Truthless Recluse: What's that?

Shadow Milk: Remorse code.

Truthless Recluse: I'm even angrier now.

Black Sapphire: Please could you go to the shop and get a carton of milk, if they have avacodos get six.

Candy Apple: *comes back from the store with six cartons of milk* They had avacados!

Shadow Milk: Pure Vanilla is off at an appointment, so while they’re gone, I’m going to cut the sleeves off all of my shirts.

Black Sapphire: Why?

Shadow Milk: They’re like 90% of my impulse control.

Pure Vanilla: If you took a shot for every time you made a bad decision, how drunk would you be?

Black Sapphire: Maybe a bit tipsy?

Candy Apple: Drunk.

Shadow Milk: Wasted.

Truthless Recluse: Dead.

Pure Vanilla: Do you even, cuddle, bro? Do you even lift, bro… each other up with kindness? Do you tell your loved ones that you care about them regardless of who is listening? DO YOU EVER RESOLVE CONFLICTS, EMOTIONAL ISSUES THROUGH COMPROMISE AND COMPASSION RATHER THAN ANGER AND DENIAL?!

Candy Apple: You know, sometimes dandelions remind me of Pure Vanilla.

Black Sapphire: Aww, is it because they’re like a little sunshine, spreading light and hope everywhere?

Candy Apple: What? Gross, no, it’s because they’re like a weed that you can’t get rid of!

Black Sapphire: I want a bf.

Shadow Milk: Do you mean best friend, boyfriend or bread feast? Because you’re being really vague here.

Pure Vanilla: I am an expert at identifying birds.

Shadow Milk: Okay, what about those ones flying over there?

Pure Vanilla: Yeah, they're all birds.

Shadow Milk: I learned a valuable lesson from this.

Black Sapphire: I’m guessing they are all horrible distortions on the lesson you actually should’ve taken away…

Shadow Milk: DEATH ISN’T REAL AND I AM BASICALLY GOD!

Truthless Recluse: Do you see yourself as a glass half-full or glass half-empty kind of person?

Shadow Milk: Half-full, definitely.

Shadow Milk: Half-full and constantly rising.

Shadow Milk: Soon the water will escape its container and consume us all.

Silverbell: I bet you’re wondering why I gathered you here today. It’s because we need to have a discussion about how some people in this room aren’t getting along with other people in this room.

Black Sapphire: Why did you say that so vaguely? Mercurial Knight and I are literally the only people you called in here.

Black Sapphire: See, the problem is, Mercurial Knight, you’re playing 3D chess. I’m playing 4D.

Mercurial Knight: I’m playing checkers. I don’t know what you’re playing.

Silverbell: You know, Black Sapphire, when you generalize, you tell general... lies.

Black Sapphire: ...Are you trying to teach me moral lessons through puns?

Mercurial Knight: We’re all in this together. If one of us falls, we all fall. Nobody is expendable on this team.

Black Sapphire: Sounds fake but ok.

Silverbell: I’m this close to falling in love with Black Sapphire.

Mercurial Knight: Your fingertips are touching.

Silverbell: Exactly.

Black Sapphire: We should be partners.

Silverbell: You mean like- partners in crime?

Black Sapphire: ...Yeah ...that’s precisely what I meant.

1 | 2 (You Are Here) | ?

#cookie run #cookie run kingdom #crk #pure vanilla cookie #truthless recluse #black sapphire cookie #candy apple cookie #shadow milk cookie #incorrect quotes #silverbell cookie #mercurial knight cookie #sapphirebell #blackbell

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possiblyunhinged · 13 days ago

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I keep trying to write about the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of “woman” in the Equality Act and how it affects trans people—but I can’t. Not because I don’t have anything to say, but because my brain short-circuits from the sheer, mind-splitting exasperation of watching people talk about lives like they’re theory.

Watching cis men—many of whom wouldn’t lift a finger to stop a cis woman being assaulted in public because “what if I get stabbed”—now crowing about “women’s safety” in comment sections like it’s a sport they just won? Fucking nauseating.

These aren’t feminists. These are people who’ve found a socially acceptable way to be cruel and dressed it up as virtue. It’s not safety they want—it’s a socially sanctioned excuse to hate.

This ruling isn’t going to stop women from being murdered, assaulted, or harassed. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s going to have virtually no impact at all on the vast majority of cis women. So what will it do? It’ll make life harder for people who are already struggling to survive.

If you’re celebrating that? I’d suggest you go outside, touch some fucking grass, and try making a friend who isn’t a hateful little prick from the internet—because honestly, I think you’re starved of kindness and compassion. You just want to feel something. And for some reason, you’ve chosen cruelty as your weapon.

And no, I don’t think your average person is running around Sainsbury’s flapping about whether a trans woman is using the bog next to them. I think they’re tired. I think they’re broke. I think they’re being told, every single day, who to blame for the erosion of their quality of life—and trans people are just the next ones being handed the bill.

What people forget is this: A tiny number of loud, hateful people make up most of the online discourse, and the rest of us are left with a bleak, terrifying impression of what everyone thinks.

What reflects reality? Cis male violence. What gets conveniently ignored in all this panic about toilets and changing rooms and “safety”? Cis male violence. What still isn't adequately being addressed? Oh yeah... cis male violence.

You think I’m walking extra quick down a quiet street because I’m scared Dylan Mulvaney’s going to jump out from behind a bush? An impassioned TikToker? Get a fucking grip. We are spending our lives navigating the behaviour of cis men. Our quality of life is shaped by them—whether they’re legislators or the men we (most likely) knew who harmed us.

And look—I do think there should be space for reasoned, open debate. I think any so-called democratic country should have that. But first, you’ve got to be honest about where you’re coming from. And right now, the level of disingenuous bollocks surrounding this discourse is fucking disgusting.

Where’s the outrage over the growing wave of violent misogyny being flagged by teachers’ unions in classrooms? How many more teenage girls need to be murdered by radicalised boys before these so-called “real men” are charging through the streets demanding actual legislative change? Or do they only do that when it gives them an excuse to be racist, crack open a couple of tinnies, shout slurs, and lob bricks at the police?

Where’s the legislation for that?

People call this “whataboutery.” I call it being fucking sick of bad faith arguments about something that, frankly, has very little to do with most of the people frothing over it.

Because I’ll tell you what this isn’t: a win for women. If anything, it’s a win for the exact kind of men who never cared about women’s safety—until it gave them permission to punch down.

And while people are busy foaming at the mouth about trans teens trying to survive school, we’ve got an entire generation of boys radicalised online into believing women are inferior—and no one seems half as outraged.

If you think banning trans girls from the bathroom at school makes anyone safer, you are not protecting women—you are telling the most vulnerable group in society that they are acceptable collateral damage in your war to feel righteous.

And if you think I sound angry—good.

I’m fucking fuming.

I can’t reason with this decision, because it’s unreasonable. It’s senseless harm, designed to appease a growing culture of cruelty that’s poisoning the UK. And it won’t just make life harder for trans people—it’ll hurt the people who love them, too.

It’s about the bloke I see at 6am every day on the dog walk, who has a trans daughter who doesn’t leave the house. Who’s too scared to go to school. And he walks this dopey, beautiful little dog he only rescued for her, because he’s trying everything he can to keep his little girl alive. Because there’s no healthcare for her. No support for him. And what does this country think is sensible? Making it harder for them? Fuck off.

And if we can’t make room for truth, fear, compassion, and basic fucking sense all at once—then what the hell are we even doing?

If you feel equally as helpless, here are some great charities to donate to: notaphase, transactual, genderintelligenced.

#uk politics #british politics #trans uk

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love-x-deepspace-headcanons · 2 months ago

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Sylus' info~

comes from a broken home (his drug-addict mother left when he was 5, father was an abusive alcoholic and gambler)

was a constant troublemaker in school

self-taught genius (had extremely high IQ but was too bored by how ‘easy’ school was, so he put no effort in and failed out time and time again; spends most of his free time not at home, reading and learning)

naturally exceptionally talented in physical activity (sports and dance), as well as music (singing and playing instruments) that all his teachers lamented that all his talents would go to waste and he’d end up in jail his whole life

was transferred to different schools many times for how many fights he’d get into (especially anyone who learned about his family situation and tried to humiliate him with the truth around peers)

by 9, he’d joined up in a street gang of middle and high schoolers for somewhere to belong, starting off as a scrappy grunt who was treated like a nuisance younger brother

by 13, he was the right-hand of the gang leader (who was 19) because of his intelligence, skills, natural fighting ability, and his talent for always getting something done discreetly

by 15, he challenged the leader to a fight and won, taking over as the gang leader

he rebranded the gang, calling them now ‘Mephisto’, and making their symbol a crow/raven

by 16, Mephisto had challenged and defeated/dissolved/absorbed many rival youth gangs, having total control over the troubled youth of the city

by 18, Mephisto had become a full-blown underground criminal empire, evolving from petty thefts and fighting to ‘legitimate’ underground business

when 19, he was discovered by a kpop agent (Rafayel’s paternal aunt) when he upstaged a performance at a formal event to rap while his best Mephisto boys (Kieran and Luke, who are half-Asian/half-American) worked to hack certain businessmen’s accounts to acquire funds.

Sylus was so damn good that Raf’s aunt immediately dragged him to the Agency after his performance and a deal was struck- the Agency would try to ignore and sweep Sylus’ bad youth record under the rug if he became a new group’s rapper (that group was Love x Deepspace)

he keeps his bad boy personality and the fans stan him because they love it and think it’s just a stage persona, when he really is just that way

he still leads Mephisto, of course, but subtly because he’s so skilled by now to not get caught

it is a requirement for all Mephisto members to buy his albums

Luke and Kieran attend every show, and to the public, they’re his ‘younger best friends’

His father died when he was 17. Sylus came home to leave at least a little money for food (though his father only spent it on booze), and his drunk father stumbled home before he could leave. He began to beat Sylus (who could have killed him easily but took the beating on purpose), even smashing a bottle on his head and making him bleed profusely. His death? An accident, of course. His drunk father stumbled over his own feet while following him to beat him more, and simply slipped down the stairs. Sylus *definitely* didn’t nudge him.

many suspected the troubled teen of murder but the violent evidence of how badly hurt Sylus was proved to investigators that he was a victim (“i took the beating because I just couldn’t raise a hand to my own father even after all he’d done, officer”, an obvious lie for sympathy)

a year into his kpop debut, info of his father’s death and his abusive childhood were leaked (coughs in Luke and Kieran), and it garnered sympathy among his stans who loved him even more for what he endured

he likes to be shirtless so much on stage and in music videos to show off his huge crow wing tattoo. To stans, he just looks like a sexy bad boy. To those in the underworld who see him, it’s a threat to not mess with Mephisto because the kpop group is internationally famous

bro is a bird whisperer whom all the crows/ravens seem to adore

Sylus’ most prominent tattoo is the set of large crow wings on his back/arms, but he also has a small ‘N109’ tattooed over his heart. In interviews, he never answers questions about what his tattoos mean

his tattoo kind of looks like this

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ronanlynchdefender · 5 months ago

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The Raven Cycle Arcane AU

Combining the two things I love and imagining what would happen if the trc characters existed in Piltover/Zaun.

SPOILERS FOR ARCANE SEASON 2 AND THE RAVEN CYCLE / DREAMER TRILOGY

1. Ronan and Jinx would be best friends. She’d tell him about how she murdered her whole family, he’d say something like “damn, that’s hardcore.” Then him, Jinx, and Ekko would all blow up the hexgates together to save the tree or something. Also, Ronan probably dreamt Ekko’s tree.

2. Adam would be a Zaunite living in Piltover just like Viktor, but they would be rivals. Cue the “there can only be one of us at the top” societal commentary.

3. Blue Sargent would be demanding the council to do shit to help the impoverished and sick populations of Zaun. All the topsiders would be side eyeing all her wacky outfits but she don’t give a fuck.

4. Blue would 100% be helping Ekko run his refugee community.

5. Gansey would be a councilor although he’d hate his job. Gansey brings Adam in initially as an assistant, similar in how Mel has Elora, but then he would have heard how Jayce calls Viktor his partner and insists on calling Adam his partner. Adam is so fed up with Gansey because dude is like um you know all the other councilors are manipulating you, right? And Gansey would say something like oh? Are they? How unfortunate.

6. Declan Lynch would absolutely FOLD for Mel Medarda. A beautiful, powerful black woman who can paint? Yeah he’s a goner. Also Declan/Mel/Jayce/Viktor polycule.

7. Jayce and Gansey would stare at each other awkwardly and with confusion. Sorta like looking in a funhouse mirror. Wait. Am I the golden boy or are you the golden boy?

8. Jayce, Gansey, and Henry Cheng make up the most ridiculous friend group you’ve ever seen. The Academy Boys or some shit. Henry finally gets to live out his dream of being close to Gansey. Adam and Viktor are additions to the friend group later, and Henry happily enjoys the drama that ensues.

9. Ronan would absolutely be getting drunk and crashing out along with Vi and going through a pit fighter era because Adam went to live in Piltover to work in politics.

10. Vi is the big sister Ronan never had. Declan is jealous of their dynamic.

11. Ronan and Opal would be the cutest editions to the Sevika, Jinx, Isha found family. ISHA AND OPAL SISTERS. ISHA AND OPAL SISTERS.

12. How Ronan and Jinx meet probably:

Ronan: Get that pistol away from my bird.

Jinx: What do you care? It’s just a stupid crow.

Ronan: It’s a raven, fuckface. Her name is Chainsaw.

13. Sevika, at some point: It’s not enough I got deal with Jinx by herself. Now I gotta deal with the fucking chaos twins and their pipsqueaks.

14. Gansey would probably develop an interest in Zaun, but soon discover the horrors that exist down there and meet Blue. Similar to how Heimerdinger does and meets Ekko.

15. Gansey: So you fell in love with a mage?

Jayce: Yeah. And you fell in love with a witch?

Gansey: Apparently. She acts as a magical mirror.

Jayce: Huh, that’s weird. My girlfriend is a magical mirror too.

Gansey: Really?

Jayce: Yeah.

*more confused funhouse mirror staring*

Jayce: Well… my girlfriend used her powers to save my life in an explosion.

Gansey: Oh okay. Mine is destined to kill me with a kiss.

Jayce: Oh, well that’s totally different.

16. In the end, Gansey would give up his seat on the council to Henry Cheng. Henry and Sevika are the only people on the council getting shit done.

17. When Viktor is taking over the world with his glorious evolution, he takes Adam and Jayce’s souls. Ekko and Ronan work together so Ronan can save Adam. When Viktor touches Ronan to evolve his soul, he appears as a giant eldritch horror in the astral plane. Him and Viktor have big boss god battle in the cosmos. The jayvik and pynch soul merging scenes happen separately in the astral plane.

#arcane #trc #the raven cycle #the raven cycle au #arcane au #ronan lynch #adam parrish #blue sargent #richard campbell gansey iii #declan lynch #henry cheng #jinx arcane #ekko arcane #jayce talis #viktor arcane #vi arcane #mel medarda

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colorisbyshe · 5 months ago

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List of my Veilguard Complaints... just all together... getting it out of my system and then making it reddit's problem:

This game felt so emotionally flat. I think... the reviewers calling out the game for "therapy speak" weren't entirely wrong. It's more exposition speak and the fact that EVERY SINGLE feeling EVERY SINGLE trauma EVERY SINGLE event needs to be processed, out loud. It's not "too woke," it's just emotionally... spacious. Because you're forced to explore EVERYONE'S interiority... it feels like they have none left, does that make sense? No one has hidden depths because they announce and process every thing they go through, often immediately after it happens. It's hard to imagine any additional depth

It's also hard because... no one... has that much depth. Everyone has weaknesses and bad things that happened to them but it feels like there was a lack of... real character arcs? People had character sub plots. "Accept this thing about myself" was the main one. Which... doesn't help the therapy speak accusation.

No one is a bad person. The crows? The human trafficking, child soldiering, murderous gang? They're the good guys and we should be happy they rule Treviso! Lucanis is just a good guy doing good work. Neve works with Magisters and Templars and some of them are bad... but not her friends. She only works with the good ones! The dalish form a group with Qunari and human members and they're just a diverse coalition who... love mages now (despite having kicked them out last game?? okay). Literally NO ONE is allowed to be EVEN A LITTLE morally dubious unless they'er a Bad Guy or they're fucking solas

I MISS BIOWARE GREY MORALITY! THATS HOW BAD IT IS! I FUCKING MISS IT I MISS IT I DO BRING BACK ANDERS BRING BACK ZEVRAN BRING BACK MORRIGAN AND FUCKING CULLEN AND FUCKING BLACKWALL BRING BACK ISABELA BRING BACK MERRILL AND HER DEMON SHIT! BRING IT BACK

"Oh, we're treasure hunters but we're not COLONIZERS! We don't steal cultural artifacts! We return them to the real owners, we're pirates but we're NICE AND RESPECT PRONOUNS!" CHRIST ALIVE!!!

EVERYONE WE MEET IN TEVINTER IS NICE??? EVEN THE GANG??? THE THREADS GANG IS NICE!! THEYRE SCAMMRES BUT THEYRE SO GOOD ITS A HAPPY ENEDING IF ONE OF OUR COMPANIONS RUNS THEIR GANG??? WHAT???

It was... a little bit awesome to have dorian become a violent revolution man but like????? Then Minrathous gets nuked so the game is too cowardly to even do that shit

AND THATS THE OTHER THING! This game made sure NOTHING matters choice wise! Oh, you chose to save Minranthous? It gets nuked at teh end. Oh, your choices fro previous games? Only matters if you romanced Solas but Dorian might call your Inquisitor "Amatus" in a non-cut scene dialogue. FUck you if you romanced anyone else. Southern Thedas is just.... all dead now... it's over... so any choices you mad ether eare NEVER going to be relevant. The companion personal quest choices really don'tmatter and won't matter next game.

THEY KILLED THE DNA OF A DRAGON AGE GAME! No grey morality, no meaningful choices, fuck... barely any romance once you flirt (NO POST-ENDING ROMANCE SCENE!!! EVEN MORE SHY ABOUT NUDITY!), AND NO FUCKING THEMES!

What was the theme of this game? Following Solas' story, it might be redemption or letting go of the past, I guess, but?? Do the main stories tie into that? Not really. We have ONE part of a hcapter be about Rook letting go of regrets... for deaths that jUST happened not even anything lingering.

Plots around OPPRESSION ANTI-ELF AND ANTI-MAGE DISCRIMINATION?? Gone... IN A STORY ABOUT TAKING DOWN SLAVERS... LIKE THE OG SLAVERS??? Yeah, it doesn't matter. We have idle talk about slave revolutions and that's... it?? I'm an elf in Tevniter and no one cared. What? Qunari and Elves and humans are all besties except the Antaam (some of which still become besties)... what? How do yo drop the single strongest through-line in the series?

"Oh, well it takes place in the north, it's different rfrom the south!" OKAY BUT THE FALL OUT IN THE NORTH LITERALLY NUKED THE SOUTH OUT OF EXISTENCE, I CAN'T GET SOME LINES ABOUT CULTURAL DIFFERENCES! Or like... a line referencing what happned to the southern wardens after... y'unno... the whole betrayal thing last game? That's all chill?

Varric's plot twist was fucking stupid. See: this post.

The romance with Neve was sooo promising btu felt passionless towards the end. Maybe there are better choices but... the lack ofreal closure burns. No final kiss, just a wobbling "I love you" that sounded like it came after pulling teeth like... no passion for real?

Taash's nonbinary plotline sucked. I'm sorry. It did. As a nonbinary person I can say that.

Harding was so OOC it fucking hurt.

I chose her for the mandatory death because that wasn't my harding. It's absurd that that limited the mandatory death thing to two potential characters?

Larger casts are always hard but it feel slike they rly struggled to make all characters relevant to the main plot. Taash's mom/gender struggle could've been skipped. Emmrich was amazing but felt like he was a part of an entirely separate game. Bellara's archive plot felt close-ish to teh main plot of letting go of the past but the fact that you can choose to keep it going kinda... makes it less relevant. Idk.

Besides... Lucanis... and sometimes Bellara and sometimes Harding no one feels like they're reacting to the plot. The fact that a character can die but it's skimmed over after a scene and some chats is insane. The pacing is terribleeeee like oh I can watch Harding and Taash's terrible romance (I'll say it!! Harding acts liek a doting mom and NOT in a sexy way) in dialogue across several missions in the Lighthouse but we zoom past companions dying? THe world ending??

The world was beautiful BUT THE WORLD BUILDING SUCKED! Sorry but SOOO many locations make NO sense construction wise. Why is a chest in the middle of street? Why does this bridge only appear when I have a quest? It's hard to tell when an area is inaccessible because you haven't figured out how to get there vs you literally aren't allowed to go there yet. It makes the world feel more like Oh I'm playing a game rather than you're exploring a real place. They did not navigate inaccessible areas well as a concept.

CHARACTER MOTIVATION EQUALLY AS FUCKING MESSY! I still don't know what Elgar'nan/Ghilan'nain's plan rly was even though Ghilan'nain literally wails about them. They wanted to rule, they were blight addled so I guess they're insane, but... why did they have to do it this way? What were they gonna do as rules?

Solas wanted to tear the veil down ti imprison them even harder except tearing the veil down lets out the blight except letting them out of prison also lets out the blight and don't worry when he tears the veil down he'll imprison/kill them again and make sure the blight isn't too bad even tho the veil was the only thing keeping the blight in?? And oh haha killing them lets down the veil. Also, AFTER killing htem, the veil takes a while to be torn and actually stays in place long enough for Solas to feel bad and patch it up with his own essence... okay?

The Butcher Antaam dude looooves Treviso so he accepts the blight into his body to rule it but you have to fight him.. to prove you're worthy of keeping him... from destroying Treviso? He loves it and also wants it destroyed. Again, he's blighted so he's CRAAAZY but... what?

Even with Emmrich! He's scared of becoming immortal because he's a afraid of death. So you resolve that by either pressuring him to never die by being immortal... or by not letting his friend die? Huh? We conquer fear of death by just... not letting things die?What?

Not the same thing but why would dorian stay up in the north to become an archon if he romanced an inquisitor who is fighting for their life in teh soutH? again this continuity SUCKS

#veilguard spoilers

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usuallydyinginside · 5 months ago

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⚠️This entire post is one big spoiler for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. You’ve been warned. ⚠️

I accidentally created the most angst-filled story possible my first time playing, and I desperately need to tell someone so here it goes.

Okay, so we begin with Rook as all DAV games do. Mine is a mage from Treviso. A Crow who is in trouble for ignoring orders to save a group of prisoners (Varric among them). When she does this, it endangered a larger operation, and she basically got sent away as punishment. That’s okay, though, because she gets to go help Varric on his fun little mission to stop Solas.

Enter: Neve Gallus. She’s beautiful, funny, and my god is the absolute icon of a detective I never knew I needed in my life. It’s love at first sight for me (though less so for Rook). Their banter is 10/10 from the get go.

At the ritual, we’re tasked with choosing someone to go with us into further danger. I was terrified the person would die, and I came into the game SO excited to have Harding on the team, so I couldn’t risk her. I brought Neve with me instead.

Which, of course leads to Neve being visibly hurt for a solid first bit of the game. Literally just me standing over there flirting while she’s got a massive bruise across her face that came from my decision. Yay.

When The Choice comes up it takes me by surprise. What the hell does the game mean I have to choose a city?!? How can I choose between my own hometown and the deeply beloved home of my one true love? (Because yes, by now Rook is smitten but I have given this woman my whole heart). Because of the way the choice is presented (that it’s civilians most in danger in Treviso) and based on it being my backstory-related place, I figure the best narrative is saving them.

Besides, Neve will understand…… right?!?

As anyone who’s gone this route knows, Neve is PISSED. She leaves the party for a while and sends notes you can just feel the hurt wafting off of. It’s obvious why when you visit Dock Town. The choice warns you about the cult taking over… but not that basically every single Shadow Dragon will be murdered, blighted, or absent for the large majority of the rest of the game. Not that Neve’s own home is destroyed along with every possession she has that isn’t currently in the Lighthouse. Not that the literal base of the SDs is destroyed and the org is basically no more.

Like, of COURSE she’s mad.

By this point, I miss Neve, and I feel guilty as hell, so I go down all of the quests that I can in her city. It changes nothing because approval doesn’t happen when she’s not in the party and Neve’s return is based on the main plot moving forward. Which means that I basically shot myself in the foot and made it ten times harder to win her approval, because most of the easiest quests are done and gone.

So when Neve gets back, she stays pissed and sad a LONG time. I have her in my party for every quest and it takes nearly all of them to get her even with the rest of the party in Act 2, because now she has the “hardened” status.

But finally, eventually, I do get her there and I’m able to romance her!! She understands my impossible choice now that she’s had some time, and we get adorable cut scenes.

All through these, the theme is clear: Neve’s driving character arc, particularly in romance, is that good things don’t last. Every spot of luck comes with a catch.

So you? You must be a temporary thing to her. She can’t count on you to be there, because somehow, she will lose you.

Which, of course, takes us to the point of no return.

Neve’s final romance scene before you go off to face the gods (again) is essentially an argument. She refuses to talk about you both having a future together because it scares her to even try to believe it’s possible. She calls you her favorite nickname a lot—Trouble and even notes she chose it well. That you’re loads of trouble for her once carefully protected heart.

On the choice between Bellara vs Neve, I chose Bellara because I do not trust this game, and I am finishing this goddamn romance at this point or so help me. This is actually the more tragic outlook for Neve though! 🙃 First, she disapproves and believes that it shows you don’t have faith in her as she suspected, confirming her belief you can’t be counted on. Then, she’s not lost in a fog of blight for days.

Oh no. She gets to be there to feel ALL of it.

When Solas tricks Rook and locks her in the prison of the fade, Neve’s worst nightmares come true. The catch has made itself known. The tables have turned. Fate has proven her cynicism right once again.

Good things don’t last.

Neve spends TWO WEEKS kicking herself for believing it could be her have been different. The whole world is doomed as far as she knows, and that’s not what she’s thinking about. Even with Dock Town at the center of the fight—the city she adores and never stops talking about—that’s not where her head is at.

It’s locked in the fade with you. Her heart.

When Rook reappears, Neve can scarcely believe it. She talks about the fact that somehow after all that, she did have hope you’d come back. That part of her was holding onto Rook’s personal brand of optimism even through her panic.

Her first words to you in that cutscene are “You came back.”

You can hear her surprise. Like even then, she can’t quite believe it.

Finally you hit the turning point where Neve stops living so cautiously she can’t enjoy the present and what you have together. She’s able to admit she loves you.

And when the game ends, Dock Town is even more destroyed from the events of Act 3, but this time, Neve doesn’t use it as a way to push you away. This time, she knows you’re in it together. They you’ll help rebuild together.

After every impossible choice… every tragedy… every hardship, you’re together.

Now, you can only prove it was worth all the trouble. ❤️

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stusbunker · 11 months ago

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Spotless: Vivace

Chapter Twenty Five

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean/Bela

Other characters: Bobby, Tiny, Lee, Kevin, Annie, Pamela, Sam, faceless fans and support staff

Word Count: 2900

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, jealousy, grief, musical backstory and hope

A/N: The band played on.

Series Masterlist

You held your breath as Bobby gathered the band backstage. Two dozen roadies, stage crew, and security stilled as he looked past the boys and Pam to their support staff, only Charlie and her team were missing, already in place in the booth. You shivered and waited. Jody’s voice echoed behind the bend thanking the crowd and promising a great show from Phantom Traveler to come. Andy slinked around and continued to snap pictures, despite the glare it earned him anytime Bobby caught the lens pointed toward him. The ragtag group buzzed with excitement and you silently prayed that it would go off without a hitch.

Finally, Bobby began to speak, “I know a lot of you are nervous about tonight, ‘bout this tour— hell about this band. But it means a lot that y’all signed on for another round of nonsense with these idjits. It means you believe in them, that you’ve got faith they can pull together and get it done. Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not a time to worry, because ain't no other band that can do what these guys do. It’s a time to celebrate. Let’s get out there and fuckin’ rock’n’roll.”

Lee hooted and people cheered, you couldn’t help but clap and shriek along. Then everyone crowded in for the circle of hands and chanted “Phaaaaaantom TRAV-ler!”

The band and crew maneuvered in the dark, letting the interim instrumentals keep the crowd distracted as they set up. You scurried back to where you had left Bela in the wings, under Tiny’s care.

“Everything alright?” Bela asked out of the side of her mouth, shifting in place as she tried to clock Dean amongst the many moving shapes.

“Aces,” you replied, bouncing on the balls of your feet as the crowd started to clap with an increasing beat.

You spotted Sam and Kevin’s silhouettes high five and then Lee strummed a teaser chord. Walkie talkies crackled around you as the all clear was called. You kept an earpiece in, but without much left for you to do, you turned it to the lowest setting besides mute.

It was go time.

“Bring ‘em up, Charlie,” Bobby prompted over the line and the Forum erupted.

Lights and wavelengths of sound shot off in every direction and Phantom Traveler took off.

You wouldn’t have stopped yourself from screaming bloody murder even if you had remembered you were directly beside your very posh best friend and her security detail.

It was happening. They made it back home.

“Good evening Inglewood!” Dean greeted, pointedly accurate. Plus you could tell he was grinning from where you stood, from just the sway of his head and a glimpse of his profile.

There was no other chit chat, no grand speech thanking them for coming out, it was just the band, the music, and the audience.

They started off with ‘Woman in White’, their first major single and something high energy enough to get people out of their seats. Then on to the B side of their first EP, which was a cult favorite called ‘Playthings’ that featured something affectionately referred to as ‘the beat off’ between Sam and Pam.

But at the time it was written, it was played by Sam and Cas.

Pam did it better.

It was like someone was racing up the stairs or against time itself as the two rhythm setting musicians fought for dominance. The crowd ate it up. And you could tell they both were already dripping sweat by the time the song ended and they tuned it back and finally jumped into their last fateful album.

‘Scarecrow’ was haunted and foreboding, reminiscent of early 90s metal that you knew Dean adored. It was also Cas’ favorite track off that entire album. And Kevin killed the bridge as the keyboard turned into an ancient organ chasing the crows away with the dawn. Charlie even added a cackling Vincent Price at the end that couldn’t be topped.

“How’s everybody doing tonight?!” Lee took the words out of Dean’s mouth, which earned him a kick in the ass. They were having a blast up there and it was infectious.

The crowd roared.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Dean bellowed. “I hope you don’t mind, but we’d like to bring somebody out for this next number.”

Shrill ruckus pierced the air, they knew what was coming.

“She’s our very dear friend and we just so happened to convince her to tag along with us this tour. You know her, you love her, please— give a very warm welcome to the incomparable Ms. Annie Hawkins!”

Everyone screamed and stomped, watching as the spotlight followed Annie from the farside of the stage towards the standing mics centerstage.

“Oh, she looks amazing,” Bela spoke for the first time since you’d gotten back. And she wasn’t wrong.

“The girls probably had a blast with her in their dressing room,” you tacked on thoughtfully.

“Her top though,” Bela continued. “I want it.”

You chuckled at Bela’s priorities and quickly got sucked back into what was happening barely thirty feet away.

“You sure you’re ready over there?” Annie teased as Dean adjusted his mic after rushing to set down his guitar.

The crowd laughed in unison.

“I’m ready, do you think they’re ready?” Dean asked coyly, gesturing to the crowd.

All around you camera screens glowed and flashed burst through the darkened arena. Concert security lined the stage and guarded the partitioned areas for the crew and band to navigate the area. Until that moment you really hadn’t been able to pull any single response from the cacophony. You hadn’t been trying anyway. But when Annie goaded Dean a cluster of women in the pit got your attention.

“And here I thought you were out here warming them up for me?” Annie teased.

The crowd loved it, but one catty comment made it feel like you and Bela were right there up on stage with them. “Bela needs to get her man before that cougar gets too cozy up there.”

They eyed your little corner below the VIP suspiciously. You missed whatever Dean said in response, instead watching the women glare and Bela adamantly ignore them in equal measure.

But then the song began. A slow and slinking start reminiscent of Springsteen’s Fire. Which you clocked the first time you heard it, but that was just the intro. The lyrics started up as a quick conversation, a compromise even and then they were harmonizing into the chorus.

The band hadn’t done many duets, even with such talented singers in their ranks. It wasn’t their style. But this song felt like it had always existed, it was timeless and familiar and really fucking catchy. Annie beamed at Dean when he slipped closer on stage and they belted out the final lines.

It made you feel like they were performing only for you, for their people. It was honest and intimate, but this wasn’t rehearsal or karaoke and the audience would not be forgotten.

Everyone cheered. Even the judgy bitches that kept watching Bela at your side.

Dean hugged Annie and made sure she got the reception she deserved, egging the crowd on and bowing in homage to her talent.

She rolled her eyes, did a snarky curtsy and waved her way back off stage.

“You guys seem to be digging that one. Maybe we could play some more new stuff for y’all tonight?” Lee asked. “I mean— the album isn’t out yet.”

Naturally, the crowd shouted and begged for more.

Bela turned to whisper to you. “They’re not gonna get in trouble for this are they?”

You shook your head. “They’ve got permission to do a few songs until the album is actually out and then they’ll change up the set list to cover more of the new stuff.”

“Got it.”

“Yeah, bootlegs always exist, but this way they’re building excitement but not giving away the farm.”

“Lee!” Dean admonished playfully.

“What?!” Lee spat back, smirking.

“Sam— tell him.”

Sam shook his head, always stoic on stage.

Dean kept up the ruse. “I don’t know if we should. Pamela?”

Pamela thudded the bass drum and hit the crash.

“Okay! Pammy’s in— Kevo?” Lee kept the momentum going.

And without any warning or time for Kevin to actually respond, they burst into the opening of 'Prophet and Loss'.

“I would kill for a drink—- is there somebody we could send to concessions?” Bela asked midsong. And you looked around, wondering if any of the staff could actually leave their posts without getting in trouble.

You suddenly felt like a bad host. “We’ll get you a box for Vegas. I know this isn’t as fun as it sounds standing for two hours straight.”

“Y/N, I’m fine. Promise.”

“Okay, well I’ll go after the next song. You want anything, Tiny?” you asked your silent companion.

“All good, boss.” He replied and straightened his stance, clasping his hands in front of him.

Kevin silenced the space with the burst of chords at the beginning of his solo, showcasing what Julliard training could do and how rock’n’roll could still be classy as hell. The key changed, turning the mood broken and lamenting as they stumbled into the bridge where Dean pelted out about losing Cas without so much detail.

Dean let the note hang in the air. “'Prophet and Loss', everybody.”

Whistles filled the air, keeping the mood somber but with enough reception to know that small offering was gratefully accepted.

“Thanks— uh, I, we really appreciate being here tonight and being able to share some of the new album with everybody. But we know you wanna hear the stuff you know, too. So we’re gonna hop back to it and have a kick ass night. How’s that sound?” Dean checked in.

The crowd cheered.

“Did you hear something?” Dean asked Lee jokingly.

The crowd got louder.

“I don’t know if they’re up for much more,” Lee taunted back.

You rolled your eyes and turned to Bela. “Okay, I’ll be back, text me if you think of anything besides drinks.”

The crowd continued to take the bait, howling behind you as you made your way out of the off limit areas and up a side stairway towards the general admission cavern-like hallway. For the first time it felt like all day, you exhaled. Your pass flapped against your chest as you strutted quickly towards the concession area, bypassing the VIP lounge because you didn’t want to get distracted by Madison or any of the mid-level suits that might be milling around.

You could have stolen something from the dressing room, but that wouldn’t have taken nearly as long and you needed some time off of Bela duty tonight. Which made you feel guilty as hell. She was your best friend! She didn’t do anything wrong. And yet you were incredibly frustrated with even the thought of her.

So you waited in line, ordered two extremely overpriced and depressingly weak cocktails, and put them on your expense card.

The thing about regret is that it isn’t a one time experience. There might have been a moment in the process of you contriving this scenario for Dean’s redemption where you second or third guessed yourself. But the biting sting of seeing him play happy with Bela online and even in person had come at you in waves.

Regret was bearable if it meant it worked, if Dean could have some peace.

But this wasn’t just regret, it was petulance and jealousy and injustice.

Because Bobby had asked all the way back in the beginning, why couldn’t it have been you playing arm candy? And the fact that people could see what you had tried so hard to bury and ignore plain as day, well, it made you feel incredibly small and even more pathetic.

There was no reason for you to be the one at Dean’s side. But damn did you want to be.

And somehow you had managed to keep that from one of the most important people in your life. So it wasn’t just that Bela was getting a part of Dean that you’d never have. Or parts. You shuttered at the thought of where his mouth had been. It was that your best friend hadn’t even clocked the elephant in the room.

Like she didn’t even know you at all.

Or maybe that was on you too. Maybe you hadn’t been honest with yourself until it was too late. How could you put that blame on her too?

You slammed your drink and got back in line for a replacement, not wanting to return with only Bela’s cup like some kind of maid. You could hear the crowd singing along with Lee on ‘A Reaper’s Offering’, a bluesy cut from their second studio album.

You probably had another two songs before you’d miss anything else new. But you also knew Bela was waiting and the longer the show went on, the more drunk and ballsy random fans could get. You couldn’t leave her with the forever nonplussed Tiny for backup. You smiled at the woman working the bar cart apologetically and ordered another husk of a cocktail.

After another stream of applause, the opening bars of ‘Abandon All Hope’ started and you knew you had to book it. This was Jo’s song, you couldn’t miss it. You never left Dean to get through this one alone. Huffing down the service steps with two drinks in hand in heels was something that you managed only from practice, but you made it in time for the first chorus.

“Oh aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Bela murmured to her drink before sipping it and wincing. “It’ll do. Took you long enough,” she teased and winked, hip checking you as you struggled to get your breathing under control as you mouthed along with Dean’s words.

“Trapped by your side with no exit, we had to let you go—”

Bela quickly picked up on your shift in mood and reeled in the playfulness, for which you gave her a grateful glance before turning back to try and lock eyes with Dean on stage.

“Defending that night while trying to give comfort, we should have known—”

“To abandon all hope,” you sang out, the last lyric rising up to hover in the air.

Dean turned and glanced in your direction and then looked again once he finally saw you. He nodded and tapped his heart and you returned the gesture, you both kept her safe as you could now. He blew a kiss to the ceiling and bowed.

The crowd continued to echo around you, suffocating yet as distant as thunder.

“Alrighty, folks, we’re gonna take a short break for Sammy to find another shirt and we’ll get you one last sneak peak,” Dean explained. “Kevin? Think you and Pam can keep ‘em busy for me?”

“Aye-aye,” Kevin said and saluted, out of range of his mic stand.

Pam started in with the count and Kevin peeled in down from the upper registers, like he was sliding in from Heaven and crashing a party. The instrumental interlude was a mesmerizing feat of jumping genres and killing time while showcasing just what all each of them could do. But you weren’t even paying attention. Dean made a beeline for the back of the stage and he wound around security until he could find you.

He gripped the ball of your shoulder and leaned in. “I didn’t see you until the end— had me worried, Trouble!”

He had to talk over the crowd, his back firmly towards the nearest wedge of fans.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be!”

He stared at you, sweaty and down to a single layer, earpiece still in his left ear.

“You’re killing it up there,” Bela said, making you both stop and blink. Dean grinned and pulled her into a hug, a boyfriend hug, arms tight around her waist so her arms can loop around his neck. She even kicked a leg back for balance.

God was she good.

“You keep an eye on her, okay? She’s gonna need tissues for the next one,” Dean warned playfully down his nose at Bela about you.

She rolled her eyes. “You are a menace on the emotional, aren’t you?”

“All in a day’s work,” Dean shrugged and set her back on her own two feet.

The crackle of a nearby walkie made Dean look around for whoever was sent to find him. “Sam’s looking for you,” an unimpressed lackey of Benny’s pointed out from ten feet away.

“Yeah, I bet he is. Alright, well, see you ladies later— Tiny,” Dean stepped back nodding. He soon disappeared only to hop up on the wing of the stage, grabbing an acoustic and sliding it on.

After the chaos of the crowd dissipated from Pamela’s and Kevin’s antics, Dean and Sam walked on stage and sat down on a pair of stools that had been left out for them. They didn’t look at each other or even the crowd and you knew in that moment that Dean hadn’t been lying. You weren’t gonna survive the next song live with a dry eye.

‘Brothers Keeper’ nearly took down the entire venue.

Cell phones and lighters blazed in the dark, enraptured space as Dean and Sam sang about each other, about family, and about forgiveness.

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

@brightlilith

@coldhearted93

@djs8891

Chapter 27: Polyphony

#spotless series #rockstar!dean #dean winchester/reader #dean/bela #dean x you #rockstar au #slow burn #fake dating #love triangle

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tyranno-snore-us · 11 months ago

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Incorrect Quotes to celebrate JWCT 🎉

*Everyone is giving advice to Kenji* Sammy: It's okay to ask for help. Yaz: You're not a burden. Ben: Murder is okay. Darius: Your feelings matter.

-x-

*In a group chat* Yaz: A pegan just flew into my window. Sammy: Pegan? Darius: A what? Kenji: Ah yes, my favourite bird, Pegan. Ben: I thought you said penguin for a second, LMAO! Kenji: Just a normal day with flying penguins crashing into my window. Ben: You have pigeons flying into your window? Can't relate, I have penguins flying into my window. Yaz: I literally just made a typo-

-x-

Kenji: Hey, how did my phone break? Darius: You were drunk yesterday. Kenji: And? Sammy: You threw it. Kenji: Why? Yaz: You turned on airplane mode and kept screaming “FLY DAMN YOU!” Kenji: And why didn’t you stop me?! Ben: We were busy laughing our asses off.

(note about this one— Kenji is 22-ish in chaos theory, so no underage drinking took place 👍)

-x-

Darius: What state do you live in? Yaz: Constant anxiety. Kenji: Denial. Ben: Perfection. Sammy: TEXAS!

-x-

Darius: Guys! I found a 100 dollar bill! Darius: *looks around* ….Should I keep it? Sammy: Darius, just do the right thing. Ben: And put in your bag. Sammy: No—

-x-

Sammy: I bet you’re wondering why I gathered you here today. It’s because we need to have a discussion about how some people in this room aren’t getting along with other people in this room. Darius: Why did you say that so vaguely? Kenji and I are literally the only people you called in here.

-x-

Kenji: Oh, so when crows remember people who wronged them and hold grudges, its “intelligent” and “really cool”. Kenji: But when I do it, I’m “petty” and “need to let it go”.

-x-

Yaz: Remember, if you get captured, no matter what they do, don’t talk! Kenji: What if they torture us? Yaz: Just don’t talk! Kenji: Can we scream a little?

-x-

Yaz: Self-care is suppressing all your trauma until it comes back and hits you in the face with the force of 7 very large trucks.

-x-

Ben: It's not like I try to blow things up, exactly. It just sort of happens. You've got to admit though, fire is fascinating.

-x-

Darius: I’d like to live through a week that’s not a whole new verse of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

-x-

Yaz: Ow! Ben: What’s wrong? Yaz: I have this weird pain right above my eyebrow. Ben: It’s called a stress headache. I got my first one when I was four.

-x-

Brooklynn, entering the room: Hey guys, what’s up? Yaz: BROOKLYNN?! Sammy: We thought you died! Brooklynn: I walked it off.

#with this one I played a little game called “does it feel like I’ve done this quote before? does it matter?”#also shoutout to my bestie the perchance incorrect quote generator for helping me find stuff #jwct #jurassic world chaos theory #kenji kon #sammy gutierrez #yazmina fadoula #ben pincus #darius bowman #jwct spoilers #only for the very last one #jwct brooklynn

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pixiedurango · 1 month ago

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a murder of misfits

@ezriell @alystrin03 @nyx-de-riva @only-slightly-terrified

So, there was a banter yesterday (which I was tagged in but only found when everything was said and done), that our Rooks somehow end up being buddies along their training/young crow years. I felt inspired and sat down to write something. This piece today only includes Xander and Cara, but it is meant to be a setup for a group thing if anyone wants to jump onto the bandwagon. I think it can be considered as some kind of AU, where all our "Rooks to be" are still just Cara, Xander, Alecto, Nyx and Micah and be thrown together into being roommates in one of the Crow's fledgling houses. Let's have fun with this. We don't have to create a masterpiece of chronology or with deep shit plot drama happening. (OK, maybe a little drama, because we are Crows, we love drama) - let's get bonkers together! I will start tagging stuff that belongs to this little group with #AMOM

“Dumb!” Cara muttered to herself, while she was walking down a narrow street that paralleled the market and led her closer to the drowned district. “Dumb and pointless!” she kicked a stone, which was jolted dangerously close to one of the ground-floor windows of the house she was just passing, but it only hit the wall. She carried a huge and obviously heavy, well worn leather backpack that was stuffed to the max. A spiked shield was hanging on her left arm, because the backpack was in the way to carry it in her back as usual. Her clothes were dark and would not give away, that she was one of the Antivan Crows. Still a fledgling, but she hoped being considered soon to be initiated, eventually allowed to be called a full Crow. A girl more than a woman as she looked rather young. But looks could be deceiving, especially here in Treviso. She was human, with fire red curls, that were cascading down her back and proved to be rather untamable as they were framing her light skinned face. A grim expression made her green eyes pierce even more than they were normally. Cara de Riva was annoyed. It had been just today that she got note, that she would move housing. Within the hour.

It was not uncommon among the young Crows in training, to be rehoused from time to time. Viago de Riva, Talon of the 5th House - and Cara’s half brother - had made it a rule, so the fledglings won’t grow too attached to each other. In his opinion it was better to prevent friendships going too deep just as much as he preferred that hook-ups and affairs among his younglings remained as casual as possible, so that not too many feelings could get into the way of professional assassin business.

Of course, how Viago wanted his proteges to feel was one thing. As their highest superior of their house he only could very well decide, what he wanted them to do… But forever since the start of time, feelings had always been something that each and every individual had to themselves and therefor were out of the 5th Talon's grasp to determine.

For that matter, Cara knew of many tight bonds, deep friendships and a whole lot of really dramatic stories of love and devotion among the Crows - and that was just her own house. Antivans - and especially Trevisans loved to be dramatic. It was just who they were. And in her opinion it needed passionate people to make them the most feared Assassins Guild in all Thedas.

She finally reached her destination. A house that looked as if it had been violently squeezed between the two houses to its left and right but did not quite fit. Dark windows, but here and there she recognized rays of light so dim, it had to be candlelight that was crawling out between the dark blinds and the window frames. Lanterns, that were installed out of her sight, probably somewhere on the rooftops, sent beams of various colors through the dark alley. Only when she came to a halt at a very specific spot, all the subtle lines aligned with each other and projected a purple spot, which resembled a stylized de Riva sigil next to what seemed the main door.

Cara had been given a key, but it was no key. She already knew that. Keys to fledgling housing spaces would never just unlock. First of all, they only would unlock a specific door, but other than that, they were nothing more than fancy lockpicks. So coming home, was always first a test of their finger’s dexterity and their ears’ ability to figure out, when the moment was right to turn the lockpick that would unlock the mechanism. This way they were kept safe from intruders and trained their senses and abilities at the same time. The whole lockpick thing was especially fun after a night out drinking. Just not for the unlucky fledgling, who lost the paper stone scissors and had to take on the task to open their door, piss drunk and the target of the mocking of their equally piss drunk companions.

With a still annoyed sigh, Cara, let her shield and backpack slip from her arm to place them on the ground next to her. She needed free range of motion and no distraction to get that done. Because lockpicking was not really Cara's best discipline. This one was harder than all the houses she had lived in before. It was always quite the ordeal for Cara, to have to adjust to a new mechanism every so often, as Viago seemed to love, to send her around, meeting new people - as if to show everybody that he did not play favorites, by keeping his own blood around, living in the comfort of his house, protecting his sister from the hardships of Crow training. Favoritism was a thing he would never allow to be accused of, when it came to his Cara. On the contrary. Most of the time, she felt, that Viago was especially hard on her, just to silence every accusation before it was even made.

“Will you succeed any time before midnight?” A deep voice with a badly suppressed mocking undertone almost made her jump. But Cara knew better than letting show that she was rattled - and close to desperation, because the damn lock was not willing to snap open.

She forced herself to calm down and get up very careful and slowly. The hand that did not hold the key was already reaching towards the hidden pocket, where her stiletto was waiting to be drawn for a surprise attack, in case she needed to defend herself. Having a shield leaning against her backpack was a good distraction to fool people into the belief, that a shield and sword fighter would be defenseless when surprised without their gear in hand. She was, indeed, able to fight just as quick with a smaller blade than most of the other Crows, but rarely showed that skill off among Crows to not wear off the element of surprise. But something about this voice sounded familiar.

Cara tried to figure out where she had heard that rich deep bass before. She could not quite place it or even put a face on it. Once she had turned around, her 5.4 frame saw herself in front of a wall of a man. Surely more than 6.1 of height, with a grey-blueish skin tone and the distinct horns of a Qunari. For a moment she was unsure, but then their eyes found each other and instantly she recognized him. She would know his eyes out of a million. The kindest eyes, she had ever seen - not only on a Qunari.

“Xander! What you doing here?” A broad smile appeared on Cara’s face. It’s been years that their paths hadn’t crossed, but they had spent living a few years together, when they both had been very young, very scared and very new to the Crows.

Xander de Riva had been her first training buddy, her first comrade against the bullies that were hating on her for being Viago’s sister and her first friend among the Crows who always had her back. And as it was custom, they had been separated and sent to different quarters, once someone had caught wind of them being close. That they now met in front of a new de Riva quarter, could only mean, that he would live here, too. Or already did. No matter how, it must have slipped somehow, that they knew each other so well.

Before Xander even said a single word, he had lifted her up and all in a sudden, Cara was caught in the warmest and tightest hug she had experienced in a long time, swirling around, he held her tight while he laughed. All the bad mood, anxiety and annoyance that had been part of Cara all day long, evaporated. “Cara, mierda! What are you doing here?” Every Crow, no matter where they hailed from, adopted at least this word into their vocabulary. “How long has it been? Years, dammit! I missed you!” The big Qunari slowly came to a halt and carefully let Cara down to her feet again. She was just like him - all smiles. “I was told to move in here with the resident fledglings.” Her smile got even wider and in a hopefully casual move, she wiped a little tear from the corner of her eye, hoping he would not recognize it. He would never stop calling her out for being a sap! “Someone must have made a mistake, if you reside here, too. But I won’t tell and I won’t complain. Or are you just visiting?” Cara really hoped that this would not be the case.

“No, no. I was moved here about 6 weeks ago. It’s acceptable. Have lived in worse quarters, to be honest. I’ve already banded with the local misfits.” Xander’s grin couldn’t possibly get wider than it already was. “Come on in. You’ll like them. And I’ll make them like you if they want to be stubborn about it! But first, let me handle that shit lock. Tomorrow I’ll show you the trick.”

Cara grabbed her stuff, and before she even had fully turned back to him, the door was already open. She shrugged. Nothing would be able to cloud her mood again. At least not tonight.

#AMOM #A murder of misfits #OC: Cara de Riva #OC: Xander de Riva #Micah Alecto and Nyx will chyme in soon I hope #Crows my beloved #nothing to see here only a bunch of silly misfits making Viago's headache worse #Antivan Crows #Dragon Age the Veilguard #kind of

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lets-go-hurt-someone · 9 months ago

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I know this is a BG3 blog, but humour me.

A good decade before Astarion could step gracefully out onto our computer screens and into our hearts, there was Zevran Arainai. I want to shine a little love on my first delightfully murder-y elven rogue.

Ruminations beyond the cut. Fair warning, it’s long and there’s heavy discussion of how they each reflect on trauma and abuse. The similarities are honestly never ending.

Of course there is the obvious— they’re both blonde, they’re both pretty, they’re both the unambiguously pansexual elfy rogue boy of the group. They are sassy and sarcastic and cynical but in a fun way! Oh, and the accent! You take them along for the sneak attacks but keep them for the delightful snark.

And of course, they both introduce themselves by tricking and then trying to murder you.

It makes absolutely no logical sense to trust either of them, really: they’re both prolific killers who express no real remorse, but instead some enjoyment, in what they do.

They’re quick to sleep with you, but slow to trust. If you show them compassion, it confuses them. They both have trouble understanding love, wanting love, being loved. After all, they were both slaves. And they both have only been free for all of about 30 seconds when they meet you.

And once they realise they care about you… they stop sleeping with you because their past has so warped the way that they relate to their own bodies and sexuality that they don’t even know what to call it, let alone how to cope with it.

Because they’ve both been forced to make their entire identity seducing victims for slaughter. They’re both survivors of pretty horrific mental, physical, and sexual abuse.

But there’s the difference: that statement is true of both Astarion and Zevran, but only one of the two would really describe it that way. Astarion knows he’s been abused. Zevran… has convinced himself he’s thankful for his lot in life. Until he’s not.

Zevran has late aughties sexism and edgy sexual banter written all over him, to be sure. He outright sexually harasses pretty much every woman he meets, and a few of the men. It’s meant to be light-hearted teasing, but not all of the dialogs have aged well. I remember not thinking much of it back then, it was standard stuff, but now… now I just read it a different way. I don’t know if this was the writers’ intention, but to me he’s always clearly been a victim of sexual abuse who’s coping using hypersexuality. He’s rationalising the hell out of the fact that he sleeps with all his targets (which is rape, of course, but rape perpetuated by someone who has been so abused as to be unable to even consider framing it that way… or he’d have to consider reframing what was done to him, too). Unlike Astarion, a killer and a practiced lover are the only identities Zevran has ever had: so he leans into them, holds them close.

I feel like they managed to sweep some really heavy nuance under the rug by making Zevran seem like he’s just another shallow playboy stereotype for the player to “fix.” Like he’s telling you all these charming stories about bedding his targets before assassinating them, telling you how he’s been trained to be an expert in seduction, and it’s all very intriguing and compelling but then you think… he’s like what… 24? The math from the extended universe puts him out as a working assassin when he was 15 or 16 at the latest. He says he dodged sexual abuse as a child growing up in the whorehouse, and that being sold to Crows was a better alternative… but really, the Crows pimped Zevran out the same exact way Cazador did to Astarion. They both had no choice but to lure countless people to their deaths with their looks.

But while Astarion resents it, Zevran tells you all about it with a wink and a grin… so we get to sigh in relief and move on. You don’t have to interrogate it too much if you don’t want to. But it’s there. And it’s damaged both of them. Right to the end, if you tell Zevran you love him, he will lament it as cruel — he can’t comprehend anything else.

Zevran paints a more impressionistic picture of someone coping with abuse, but with Astarion the game takes us a step further and gives us a closer look at the internal struggle of actually healing. If the archetype is moody sassy trauma elf, Zevran to Astarion is the most wonderful progression of the character trope I ever could have hoped for. (And I’m sure there are some Fenris stans who could write an essay on where he falls in the pipeline.)

What I boil it down to is this: While Zevran was a bit more of a veiled, blink-and-you-miss it sort of representation that hugely reflected what was socially acceptable at the time, Astarion gets to be a fully-fledged meditation on trauma and abuse. He gets to be ugly, and seen as ugly or sympathetic depending on how you treat him. He gets to examine why he acts the way he does, and consider new ways to relate to the world. He gets to make what was only really implied with Zevran explicit.

And finally, at the end of his arc, Astarion gets to say “I love you.” I just love that for him— and for me. The young person I used to be who saw herself in Zevran has grown up and saw herself in Astarion, too, now more mature and nuanced and reflective, putting herself back together piece by piece. These two characters somehow each struck me at a very particular time in my life, in a mirrored way that reflects how their stories mirror each other.

For me, before Astarion, there will always have been Zevran. Two characters I never thought I’d see in a video game, that I can’t help but be dumbfounded at how they each helped me process my own trauma. It’s incredible. It feels important. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, at least about Astarion.

But I do wonder how many other people have held onto Zevran in a little piece of their hearts too, the way that I have. For all his flaws, he’ll always be my first.

#bg3 #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #dragon age: origins #dragon age #Zevran #zevran arainai #astarion ancunin #tw: sa #tw: abuse #astarionology #bg3 meta #dragon age meta

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