#guh. hope those tags are right | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

prettymrswright · 2 years ago

Text

Lockdown.

pairing: koffee!singer x black!fem choreographer/artist

content: fluff, barely angst, innuendos, a lot of patois (Koffee is from Spanish Town, she has a strong JA accent), mentions of God/spirituality, artistry, choreography, flashbacks.

background: you had been spending quite a lot of time with the reggae artist after meeting her at a Reggae Fest a few months back. as time went by, the two of you grew closer, but in attempt to keep up your guard and protect yourself, you pulled back. the artist didn’t like that too much, and def used she would double down on her interest. she wasn’t letting you go that easy.

a/n: to this day, there are not Koffee fics to be found so guess who’s here to change that like the manifestor human design that I am?? ME! i unintentionally made this character almost identical to me.. by accident. there are so many things about y/n in this book that is my true life story lmaooo.

I’m gone try to insert some translations here and there, even though patois is still english, I know some things are harder to comprehend. But it’s important I insert it because 1, it’s sexy and 2, I like to maintain accuracy. hope unnu like it. <3

translations:

deh - there

yah - here

nuff - a lot, plenty

dung - down

guh - go

unnu - you (plural, like you guys/ y’all)

dem - plural, noun (i.e friend dem (friends) )

pan/pon - on

guh - go

suh - so or how (A suh you feel? That’s how you feel?)

dolly - slang for attractive girl/woman

taglist: @dejaonline @saintwrld @inmyheadimobsessed @venusdraco @vampzxi @msplayas @abenomeiiii @vixentheplanet @pinkwright @verachii @shuriszn @shurislover @sapphicvqmpires @ventingfanfics

if you wanna be apart of my taglist, apply through the link pinned to my page!

If you wan to opt out, or only want to be tagged for someone specifically, those are also options!

LOCKDOWN PART 2!

"Okay sexy!" Your friend and fellow artist, Sabirah-Amani paraded your ear with praises and hype as you checked yourself out in your hotel mirror. You had been working for the past few months, project after project, and although you were grateful, you were two hops and a skip away from burnout. Between choreographing for artists and late nights in the studio in hopes of being your own artist, you hadn't much left to give. You were very clearly overextending yourself in all areas. You were ambitious and focused, precise about your work; You're an artist, and you were sensitive about your shit! However, you were beginning to neglect yourself emotionally and spiritually. You and Sabi came to the mutual decision that a vacation was much needed. The two of you spent the week catching appointments, pampering and refreshing your appearance. You give a small giggle before looking at her briefly and mimicking a hair-flipping motion. "Look you," She continues in her trini-yunese accent. "In short ting. All yuh collarbone outside." The two of you erupted in laughter. "And all of Jamaica will continue to see my collarbone, okay?" you responded, still laughing. Ochi was so beautiful. It was full of sights and bashments and raves and just beautiful people having a beautiful time. For a reason unbeknownst to you, everything out of Jamaica just resonated with you and held your heart so deeply. It had been your first morning in JA, and as expected, the sun was blazing. The bright sun and tropical breeze shone through your plexiglass balcony doors. You and Sabi were going to get breakfast as well as check out the rest of the hotel. A cocoa-beige brown triangle bikini set hugged your body, overlapped with a long, knitted skirt of the same color. A white, knitted long-sleeved cropped coverup laid baggy over your toned arms. Your feet rested in some rhinestone encrusted strap sandals. Your hair was braided in cornrows falling right above the dip in your lower back , swirl designs in every direction. It was entirely too hot for a full beat, so your fresh lash set was holding you down. "You ready to go?" You asked. "Let's do it. " Sabi replied, and with that, you were out of the room and off to the lobby.

After getting off the elevator, the two of you walked through the lobby to reach where you would be having breakfast at. After filling up your plates at the buffet, you took a seat in the far corner of the restaurant, a clear view of the beach across from you. "I know we just got here and everything but," Sabi started. "I kinda wanna jump into the vibes tonight." "Um absolutely, that was the plan from jump," You say in sort of a 'duh' tone. "But I know you need your rest. You know, some unwinding time." She says concerningly. Sabi was always looking out for you in that way, it was one of her greatest assets as a friend. "Girl, mi neva come a Jamaica fi lie dung. I got another week and a half to rest!" You say in a comedic way, but you meant it. You were already starting to feel better being in a newer and fresher feeling environment. Rest would come, but right now? Vibes. "Okay, okay!" Sabi laughed in a hearty manner. "Yo you and this Patois accent, knowing you not even Jamaican is frying me." You playfully rolled your eyes. It was true. You were in love with all things of different cultures, so each one you immersed yourself in, you began to pick up. Growing up in NY, all you were around were Caribbean people, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for you. "Speaking of Jamaicans," Sabi began, and somehow, you knew what direction this was going in. "When's the last time you spoke to Mikayla?" "Who?" You lie, lazily spooning through your bowl of porridge. "Mikaylaaaa, Mikayla, Koffee, Big bad reggae artist from Spaintown, Jamaica, your woman--" She goes into a rampage and you cut her off. "Alrightttt, alright, alright. I get it" You rush her to end her tangent, hoping no one around you guys heard. "I don't know.. March?" You say, voice dying down at the end in cowardice. "MARCH?" Sabi's draw drops. "Y/N..it's June." A guilty expression washed over you. "I know, Sabi." "Why you duckin' her?" Sabi cocks up her left eyebrow and leans forward, curious to hear your answer. "I--" You drop your utensil in audacity. "Why you assume it was me?" "Girl, please okay. She was on your ass like back pockets at that Roc Nation Brunch. We both know you're Miss Ghost Town." Sabi says reading you for filth, pulling an accidental laugh out of you.

“I mean, she’s a big artist, she could have anyone she wants.” You shrug. “Her not hearing from me is barely putting a dent in her life plans.”

The truth was, prior to your disappearance, you two were becoming closer by the minute. You really liked Koffee. And with that, your body began to do that thing that it does when you’re about to be fully consumed by that feeling of infatuation. It wasn’t so much the idea of a relationship that you were scared of, but more-so of the uncertainty of its stability. Koffee was now an international artist, who meets thousands of people every day. You knew how it was in the industry, you were in it. It was one thing to really like someone, but to like someone in the entertainment industry was like setting yourself up for heartbreak. And you had entirely too much on your plate to go through that shit again.

“Who reached out last?” She asks.

“.. Her.” You say in a “so” type of tone.

“Mm.” She responds, strategically setting up her “aha” statement. “And who gave who an unlimited backstage pass for all her shows, in ANY city?”

“…her.” your defeated responses began to get smaller.

“And who—“ you cut her off, in attempts to stop the physically pain of her being right.

“Okay, okay, damn,” you laugh. “But you know how that shit go, Sav. One minute she thinks she wanna be with me and the next, she’s in some European country, with who knows, doing God knows what.”

“Uh, uh.” She says in disapproval. “Now you know she ain’t hunching with no white women.”

You burst into laughter. She could always tie something together comedically while simultaneously giving you the real.

“It don’t hurt to just say wassup, Y/N/N. I mean besides, when’s the last time you had any ‘fun’. Let loose a lil. If anyone needs to, it’s you.” Sab says, voice full of concern, but direction.

You looked off outside the window, pondering on her message. You missed her dearly. Who were you trying to fool? I mean maybe you were a little harsh. She didn't really give you any reason to be. Sure you'd seen some photo ops with her and other female artists, but that was her job. You didn't like the feeling it gave you though. When you look back towards Sabirah and her now empty plate, she was smiling at her phone. "And who exactly got you smiling like that?" You ask, now shining the figurative spotlight on her. "Oh it's nobody for real," She waved off. "Nobody huh," You chuckle. "What nobody say?" "Well actually, Nobody is gonna be at this party tonight that I planned on dragging you too." "Party?" You say frowning. "With all these white folks? Since when you wanna go to a resort party." "Oh girl, be so for real," She says scoffing. "My cousin JJ and his girlfriend are here at her family house, and they're throwing a bashment, off the resort." Your eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. You were actually ecstatic to be getting into some real vibes off the resort. I mean, truly you had no real complaints, after all, you were in Jamaica. But country had the homegrown, feel good energy you were dying to be around. It was more authentic. "See now, that's what I'm talking about!" The two of you embraced in a dap across the table. "How we getting there?" "You ever been on a dirt bike before?" Sabi asks sincerely, yet you think she's joking. "What?!" ꨄ︎ Night begins to fall and as you and Sabi make your way out of the resort, a warm breeze surrounds your body. You two are greeted by JJ and his friend, Dwayne, and hop on the back of their blue and green dirt bikes. You wrap your arms around Dwayne's torso, tightly shut your eyes, say a small prayer and with a loud rev, you pull off into the rocky roads. When you finally gain to courage to open your eyes, you're blown away by how beautiful the scenery was. The hue of the sunset was mixed with orange, pink and purple, and tall trees took space along the sides of the open road. Each refreshing breath you took smelled like rain-bathed plants, summer and adventure. As a result of the fast-paced vehicle moving swifter and in the opposite direction of breeze flow, your braids flew past you forwardly. You couldn't help but to smile, in awe of all the beauty around you. "Woooo! JAMAICA WE REACH!" Sabi yells, cheers carrying across the sky, 80-mph. You beamed at her enthusiasm. Truth be told, you were just as excited. 20 minutes later, you pull into a backyard seemingly as big as 1/3 of the island. You were nowhere near the DJ booth, but you could feel the bass bumping through your entire body. If it weren't for the spacious area, you'd be packed like sardines. Everybody from the parish you were in were in attendance. Men dressed in their straight jeans, belts and button downs, marinas and cut-up shorts; most with spliffs in hand. Women in their mesh top and shorts, mini skirts, mini dresses, heels and bamboos, nails done and hair laid to the gods. This definitely wasn't the event to come looking regular. The aroma of seasonings and a burning grill slithered through your nose canal, causing you to avert your attention behind you, where hot plates of food and alcoholic drinks were being given out to the people in the line. It was definitely a vibe. "Ayeee allyuh mek it!" Sabi's cousin JJ comes and greets us both with a hug. "I saved two plates for y'all, cuz if it was any later, you'd be chewing your lip." You all erupt in laughter. "Omg J," you began. "You're the literal best because I am starving." "No sweat," JJ throws his hands up, emphasizing the 'no big deal.' "Your plates are in the fridge in the kitchen. Shelly's mom is holding it down, so you don't gotta worry about nobody theifing it." "Thanks Knucklehead," Sabi pinches his ear.

"Ouch! Remind me, I ent doing anyting nice fa yuh no more, yuh could starve!" JJ says to Sabi, rubbing his pinched ear.

"yUh couLd sTarVE!" Sabi mocks him. The two of them couldn't get along for more than 5 minutes, but it was always love behind their quarrel.

"Well look at you twooo!" JJ's girlfriend, Shelley approaches you with beaming smiles and open arms.

"Hot gyal Shells!" Sabi starts. "It's been a long time."

"Naa tell no lie! When JJ told me you two were visiting a resort so close by, I had to pull you for at least one night." Shelley says holding both you and Sabi's hands individually.

"Your home is beautiful Shells." You sincerely confess. "Thank you for the invite. Look at the turnout! You doing your big one."

"Thank you, babydoll. You know you're welcome absolutely any time. And I gotta put my ex party-promoting skills to some use!" Shelley replies.

Shelley threw crazy parties back in the day. She always was hosting, and was sure to not only bring in a crowd, but a GOOD one. Amongst many talents, she had the gift of gab for sure. She also always had artists in her venues. From Spice to Konshens, Shenseea to Aidonia. Everyone knew Shelley.

"I know that's right. Besides, I was getting tired of the resort food." Sabi says honestly, making us chuckle. The food was still good, but definitely a watered down version.

"Well!" Shelley clasps her hands together. "Dolly nuh come a party fi hug up pan wall. Unnu guh dance!"

"Don't nobody wanna dance with Paula the Preying Mantis." JJ teases Sabi, bending his arms up like the insect.

"Shut up, JJ!" Sabi says, giving his shoulder a hard nudge.

"Leave Sabi alone." Shelley follows up with a back-handed slap over his other shoulder. "I ain't wanna dance with you when we met. I just felt bad."

"Ohhhhhhh..." You and Sabi both say simultaneously, gagged by the way she just read him.

"Now why you had to go there? You ain't ha-" JJ began and Shelley cooed, half consoling him, half mocking. You and Sabi laugh your way all the way to the middle of the backyard, where the bulk of the party was.

You took in the scene around you and allowed yourself to get lost in the music. Sean Paul & Sasha’s I’m Still In Love with You is pouring out of the speakers and into your ears, filling you with nostalgia. You begin to rock side to side and slow whine your hips. It was definitely a bittersweet feeling. This was one of the songs you danced to at Reggae Music Fest with— her. You missed her. But she could’ve reached out right? You know, besides the 3 times she did already, that you were seemingly to busy for? That didn’t mean give up!

You and Sabi spun each other around and shared some whines and some laughs. You truly felt at peace for the first time in such a long time. You broke away for Sabi for one minute, and the next, she had a new dancing partner. You smiled at the interaction, and before you could really take it in, somebody approached you to dance with you as well.

“Excuse me likkle miss,” A tall, brownskin man with locs down his back approached you with a smooth, but respectful hand on your waist. “Beg yuh a dance nuh?” He smiled, showing off his fanged teeth.

He wanted to dance. Why not? You were out there to enjoy yourself. And at least you know the two of you could dance and that be it. It’s not like he was your type anyway— (obviously). What was truly the harm?

You gave him a smile, accepting his request & began to dance with him. Long before you knew it, you were dancing to another song with him. The man knew how to move. And he smelled phenomenal. Your moment was disturbed, however, when you began to notice two men in the far, right corner of the yard staring at you. And not in the admiring way; it was almost as if they were discussing you. Like they knew you from somewhere. The guy obviously felt it too.

“Yuh know dem from someweh?” He asks, semi-concerned. You just gave him a confused head shake, no.

“Yow yow yow, people, if yuh a enjoy yuhself tonight, mek some bloodclat noiseee!” The dj scratched and lowered the track to speak, and the crowd erupted.

“Outside nice, man. Good weather, sexy ladies, hot tunes. If a Jamaica yuh come from and yuh proud of it, buss a blank!” He continues.

Gun finger emotes fill the sky, followed by mimicked gunshot noises.

“This next song yah is fi all a di people dem weh love the Caribbean.”

Soon as the song begins, you feel your heart drop to your stomach and you’re adrenaline begin to rush.

Balenciaga 'pon me structure

Who them talk, push get the duck yah

I-i-i-io!

Everybody begins to cheer and holler to the feel good song.

It was West Indies.

West Indies was your favorite song by Koffee. It was such a feel good song, and you were there while she was constructing it. You knew it was close to her heart. She had even asked for your input. You encouraged her to push it out and make it a single. You knew the people would love it just as much as you did. And they did.

You felt yourself begin to get emotional, but you stopped the tears from advancing their welled-up position behind your lower lids. You migrated away from the main section, simply to avoid being asked to dance again. Not to this song. Too personal.

Sabi found you in the crowd and shot you a look of sympathy. “You okay?” she mouthed. You gave a closed lip smile and nodded. You decided to go get a drink and take some edge of. As bothered as you were, you still loved the song.

“One rum and pineapple, please.” You ask tell the lady serving drinks. You know you don’t have to pay anything, but you slip her a $10 anyway.

The mixed beverage slides down your throat and coaxes your nerves and you begin to let loose.

Coming from the West Indies

And you know say we giving them the best indeed

Anyweh we deh, we do a flex 'pon street

And the stylе weh we do no moderatе stampede

As you sway back and forth, cup in hand, approaching tipsy, you see a group of girls walking by, double-taking your face and your frame. They then begin whispering. All you could make out was “Koffee” and “Girl”.

Alright. What the fuck was going on?

You tried your hardest to ignore it, returning to your state of groove. As the chorus began to approach, the dj lowered the music once again.

“Alright everybody, mek some noise and big up Koffee!!!”

You froze. Immediately. Ironically when all you wanted to do was melt into the ground.

She was here. Of course she was.

And there she stood. In her black tank, showing between her opened and collared olive green button down, with olive green straight pants to match. She stood in black clarks. Her toffee brown skin being complimented by gold chains and gold bangles. Her medium-long locs held back in a hair tie in a loose bun.

Damn. She always looked good. But she would be looking her absolute best when you’ve been semi-dodging her.

If you know me, I'm having the time of my life

Don't you slow me down, beg you pardon me

I wanna just party (yeah)

I wanna just, I wanna just

I wanna just party (yeah)

I wanna just party, yeah

She walked back and forth the backyard stage, she captured the entire audience and held them hostage with her stage presence. If you weren’t in such a state of shock, you’d be in awe too. She was alluring in that way.

Sabi looked back at you from the crowd with wide, just-as-shocked-as-you-are eyes. Koffee spotted her and followed her gaze, making eye contact with you. There she stood, taking you in. Almost immediately, she gives you a warm expression with soft eyes and a wide smile, showing off her braces. A couple people looked back to see who or what she was looking at; others continued to vibe.

Instantly you felt your body heat up, and you failed an attempted fight not to smile back. You missed her, and she looked great, but you couldn’t help but feel guilty for letting so much time go by. However, something was telling you that she wasn’t phased very much. Seeing her up there in her element, you couldn't help but to think back to when the two of you first met at Reggaefest. She had been on the rise, heavy in the media, and the crowd was absolutely losing it. She had amazing stage presence. She wasn't too harmful on the eyes either. She went right after Lila Ike, who's dancers you choreographed. Koffee and her dancers walked up to the end of the stage and took a collaborated bow, hand in hand. Thank you Reggae Sumfest! You sat sideline, watching in awe. Her set was amazing.

Not to mention she wasn’t too hard on the eyes either. She had on a pair of light blue shorts, accented with white lines, a plain white tee, a blue fitted and AF1’s that looked like she bought them right before this set. Neck and wrists laced with that Caribbean gold. Her skin was glowing and glistening, sweat parading the circumference of it. Her locs were out, falling and standing right beneath her shoulders. With her team following, she walked and exited stage right, where you had been standing. She looked at you, and your rose your hands to clap for the artist, giving a closed-lip smile. She stopped in front of you gave you a small bow and a smile, appreciating your acknowledgement. You killed it, are you kidding?

A dat yuh seh?! She exclaims and smiles brightly. Respect, respect mama, thank you. Her speaking voice was just astonishing as her singing voice. The accent wasn’t making it any better either. What's your name? Y/N. She hummed at the sound of your name and repeats it. Y/N. I saw you and your dancers dem inna Lila's rehearsal. You have nuff talent. I'm a fan honestly. You scoffed in disbelief, shrugging off the compliment. Oh please. If any one should be a fan, it's me. Well I'd love if you came by one of the rehearsals. Y-you want me to choreograph? Absolutely. She stood trying to read your expression. Not sure if you were happy about the idea. I mean if yuh nuh want to, yuh nuh have to-- No I'd love to. Cool. She smiled brightly. Gimmi yuh numba and mi wi sen yuh all e details dem. If that's ok with you, of course. Yes of course. She takes out her phone and you type in your information. "Y/N." It was nice meeting you officially, Koffee. You can call me Mikayla. The pretty girls nuh have to call me by fi mi stage name. She throws you and wink and walks off to meet back up with her crew. If you weren't a professional at work and if you didn't have any morals, your clothes would be off. You felt your cheeks warm-up and you began to smile against your will. Not knowing this job opportunity would lead into a far more deeper connection.

You came back to reality, visited with a bittersweet feeling of a fond but seemingly distant memory. How did you get here?

She performed a few more songs before making her way off stage to navigate through the crowd and do her rounds with all her people. Panicked seized you as you ran to grab your friend.

“We gotta go, neowwww” You grab Sabi’s arm and begin tugging her away from whoever she had been dancing with and towards the direction you so desperately wanted to go in.

“N-now? But we just got here!” She replies in a semi-whiney tone. You in fact had been there for a couple of hours.

“Yes now— JJ! You ready?” You ask him.

“You ready to go?” He whisper-mouths. You nod & he takes a small sip of his red-stripe beer, taps his friends next to him and off you guys were.

As the two of you approached the resort again, a feeling of relief washed over you. You were somewhat disappointed that you let your anxiety take over you, but at least you left before you were confronted. And you knew you would be.

You hug the boys and thank them before walking in and heading up to your room.

“That party was active, wasn’t it Sab?” you say, walking in, somewhat telling the truth. somewhat deflecting.

“Yeah, until you busted it, party pooper.”

You drop your jaw and gasp, fake taken aback as if you didn’t know what she was referring to. “Whaaat? me? What did I do?”

“wHaT dId i Do!?” she mocked you. “You chickened out on the vibes cuz your girlfriend came and you dodging her.”

“I did not! And she is not my girlfriend.” You start picking things up around y’all room and tidying up, needing something to focus you.

“Nah, Y/N/N, you on some wack shit right now, I won’t even front.”

She wasn’t wrong. If she did want to talk, what was the harm? She didn’t even do anything to you. But what if she hated you? And now you made it even worse, because she SAW you and you ran. She probably thinks you’re dodging her. But aren’t you? You desperately wished you would get it together.

“I mean what was I supposed to do?” You turned to face her.

“I don’t know, maybe talk to her? I mean what you think she gone say, marry me?” She semi-chuckled.

“K likes you, a lot. I can tell. And I think she’d be really good for you. But you gotta believe that you deserve it. Don’t let your overthinking cause her to slip out of your hands.”

You chewed at your bottom lip in thought, pondering on all of the different ways the night could’ve went. You always did this. Self-sabotage, and then beat yourself up over it. It was starting to get old, even for you.

“Imma let you sit with that. I’ll be back, I’mma hit the bar down in the lobby. Get me another lil drinky-drink, okayyy!” She says grabbing her things and you playfully roll your eyes.

“What? Okay don’t look at me like that, your night is over, not mine!” You give a hefty laugh, and slightly nudge her. You do your signature handshake, and she’s off.

Quickly after she unlocks the door with her key and runs back in.

“Almost forgot my hand fan. You know that liquor coat get serious. K bye love you!” And she’s out again. You laugh to yourself. That girl could drink.

You continue tidying up, even though there’s not much to tidy. But any form of cleaning/organizing grounded you, and now in this moment, you needed nothing more but to be grounded.

You were on your way to sit down when there was a subtle knock at your door. Leave it to Sabi to have forgotten something.

You walked up to the door, unlocked it, and began opening it. “What’d you forget this time S—“

Startled, you jump at the sight of who was actually standing before you.

“M-Mikayla?”

“Oh, so you do know who I am?” She says tauntingly, letting herself in. You close the door behind her, eyes following her movements, still in shock.

“I was starting to think seh yuh did forget about me eno?” And she flashes that smile again.

“How did you find me?” You ask sincerely, feeling sort of turned-on, not that you would admit it.

“The gyal who Sabi cousin deh wid told me you’d be here.” Shelley. I should’ve known. It was no coincidence that out of all people, Koffee would be performing there when I was. It started to click. This was a collaborative effort from Sabi and Shelley.

You gave an exhausted sigh as you prepared to plead your innocence. “Look, K, I didn’t mean to run off how I did I j—“

“Oh so you weren’t dodging me then?” She pries, stepping closer to you, waiting to see if you’d lie.

“I-i mean, no. Well, not on purpose.” You half tell the truth. She wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

“Oh suh yuh dweet fi accident?” She gives a sarcastic laugh. Your cheeks were burning with embarrassment, and for once, you wish it was from sunburn and not your own shame.

“I just thought..” You paused, debated telling her the truth or not. Awaiting your answer, she folds her arms across her chest and raises her eyebrows.

You decided to give in. She went through all this trouble.

“I don’t know, I ain’t really think you’d be checking for me like that. You know, with everything you got going on.”

Sheepishly, you looked down at your feet, fidgeting with your bracelet, ironically, the one she brought back for you on your second date. She looks down at it, giving a small, satisfied smirk, thankfully feeling not totally closed off from you like she almost thought.

“A mi tell yuh dat?”

You shook your head no.

“So you assumed,” She began. “I mean which part mek yuh feel like seh I wasn’t ‘checking’ for you?” She lightly mocked. “The repeated calls, or the double-triple texts?”

You chuckled bitterly at her sarcasm, and also at the fact that you couldn’t pin her to be wrong.

“If yuh nuh interested anymore,—“ She began and you couldn’t stomach her even continuing that thought.

“No, no.” You quickly interrupted her. You gave a heap of sigh before you would began to be totally honest with both her and yourself at the same time.

“I like you. I really fucking like you. And that’s the problem. You’re charming, you’re charismatic.. you fine…” you say trailing off that last part, making her laugh heartily.

“You have such a big heart. And if I, as the tough cookie and critic that I am can fall for you, I know girls all around the world are. I’d be lying if I said the thought of that didn’t make me ragingly jealous, but I also like you so much, that I don’t wanna deprive you of that opportunity. There could be someone far better for you out there. You could meet her tomorrow, hell, you could’ve met her already. See i’m all over the place and I—“

“Y/N.” She gently grabs your elbow and gives it a tug to bring you closer. “I appreciate your interest in my well-being. But mi neva ask yuh fi do dat, baby.”

“I chose you fi a reason. If mi really felt like seh a somebody better out deh fi mi, mi woulda neva run down yuh phone.” You laugh at her comedic delivery.

“I’m not perfect, but when mi love somebody mi love deep. A you mi want, and I knew that then and I know that now. All mi ask of you is to put it a likkle effort.”

She raises her hand to wipe the couple of tears that began to fall from your eyes. When you finally looked up at her, all you could do was nod. Nobody had ever went these lengths to show you that they cared before, and it meant so much that the person who was doing so was someone you considered your best friend. Mikayla knew you like the back of her hand. She could pull you out of any mood and place you in a better one, no matter the circumstance. And right now in this moment you felt so safe and so seen. And all you could think about was how silly you had been acting, and how silly it would be to let her go.

“Don’t cry baby.” She pulled you close to her and held you tight.

“I-i’m sorry for n-not answering you I—“ You let your vulnerability take over, and she consoled you before you could even get it out.

“Yuh nuh have to explain to me. Just mind yuh nuh pull away from me like that again, y’hear?” She pulls your chin up to her, switching her gaze between both of your eyes.

You lean into her and the two of you share a kiss. A pair of lips you have been longing to feel and haven’t felt in months. Instantly you felt a rush of emotions, all of which you felt when the two of you first met.

“Cuz mi need. All. of dis. yah love yah.” She repeatedly pecked you between each fragment, making you giggle into her lips.

“Okaaay, okay!” You say fake fighting her off. Truthfully you couldn’t think of anywhere else you’d rather be. You wrapped your arms around her neck and hoisted yourself up, locking your legs around her waist. You missed this feeling. You missed her. But you don’t know peace. Not yet.

“.. So who was that girl on stage who was tryna dance with you?” You playfully start an argument.

“Oh nuh start yuh fuckry, Y/N please.” She laughs and carries you out to the next room. And the two of you fall into each other all over again.

#prettymrswright hot ficpic #koffee #koffee x reader #black sapphic

156 notes · View notes

andysims-keiproject · 2 months ago

Text

some writing for haji bc he's the character i project onto

tags: trans man character, bottom dysphoria, gender dysphoria, menstrual cycle, descriptions of Period Things, blood and descriptions of it, kinda gross, author using his beloved oc to vent, hajitarou, gay men <3, probably more i just can't think of atm

"Guh," was all that came out of Hajime's mouth as he leaned on the wall for support. Fuck, he felt dizzy. And lightheaded. And his stomach was cramping and-- oh fucking hell, it was shark week. Just dandy. Gathering up his books, Tarou murmured, "Hajime? Are you okay? You look pale. And you don't normally do... that when you stand up." Shaking his head, Haji shifted himself back onto his feet with a groan, haphazardly cramming his laptop back into his backpack and zipping it sufficiently shut. "M' fucking bleeding," he grumbled, holding his head. "Gotta get back to our dorm." Worried about his boyfriend, Tarou reached out to support him before being waved off. Oh, he supposed he should have expected that. Haji never let anyone help him, especially when his period started. He always spent the first day grappling with dysphoria which meant he refused everyone's help because "he was a big guy and he could do it on his own." What an idiot. Tarou was really concerned.

At lease Haji wasn't so stupid as to take the stairs down. Instead he teetered and tottered his way to the elevator back to the bottom floor of the class hall, the sudden downward motion enough to make his head spin a little. He got back to the dorm a little sooner that Tarou did, halfway through changing into sweatpants with no small amount of wrestling by the time it dropped its bag on the ground. "Have you eaten at all today?" Tarou asked, clipping his shaggy hair back in a claw clip with one hand and rummaging for his makeup remover with the other. "If you haven't, that's probably why you're dizzy." It got a rather pained "reh" noise in return and the sound of its boyfriend flopping onto his bed, already accepting defeat.

Oh, how Hajime was sick of this. He'd only been dealing with it for about an hour and he was fucking tired of it. Because now he'd start getting crampy and uncomfortable and nothing he did ever made it go away and then he'd start cursing his own body and then it would just deteriorate into feeling gross and wrong. He didn't want any of this. What he wanted was a dick. And he knew it was possible but he was also very much a college student with barely a penny to his name. He couldn't afford it, and it ripped him apart. And he couldn't miss class. That was a death sentence in this school. With a groan, he rolled over on the bed, rubbing his aching stomach in the hopes the feeling would go away soon so he could function. But seriously, he never got lightheaded before. And Gods knew what the fuck that meant. Maybe Tarou was right. Maybe he just needed to eat. Then he shivered as he felt one of those stupid little blood clots and realized he should probably do something before he bled into his boxers. Which meant wearing one of the two pairs of underwear he had leftover from high school that he only held on to because you can't stick a pad in boxers. And there was no way in hell he was using a tampon. He didn't even fucking know where to stick the damn thing.

Heaving himself off his bed, Haji waddled to his dresser and into the bathroom to dig the box of pads out from the back of the space under the sink. As he set about putting the damn thing on, he grumbled, "Stupid fucking body. Stupid fucking shark week. Stupid fucking cramps. Stupid fucking dysphoria. Fucking stupid, stupid, stupid!" There. It was on. And there was minimal blood on his boxers. Good. "M' gonna get lunch," he huffed, pulling on a hoodie and a pair of slippers that probably weren't meant to be worn outside. "You coming, Tarou?"

The taller man stood and stretched, the way his nose screwed up really highlighting how different he looked sans-eyeliner. Well, that didn't change when he was bleeding, Haji supposed. His boyfriend was always so pretty. WIth a considering little hum, it eventually replied, "Yeah, I'll come. I wanna spend time with you anyway." So the two of them set off on the short trek to the cafeteria, the cold winds making both of them shiver.

"So are we gonna talk about why you always get so pissy when this happens?" "No." "You sure? Because it's, y'know, kind of important given how it happens literally every month." "Yes, I'm sure. I don't wanna fucking think about it. And I'm not pissy." "Yes you are. You're being pissy right now, actually." "It's almost like you want me to yell at you." "You know I don't, kinako." "I know."

When they got their food they ate in silence for a little while, Tarou leaning against Hajime a little on one of the plush couches in the dining room. Eventually, Haji sighed, "I just... I wish I was done with this already. I'm this far on T and it still isn't over. When the fuck is it gonna end? It's bad enough that I get sick to my stomach when I look down in the shower. Why does it gotta keep bleeding? I'm so tired of feeling like this. I wanna like myself." He swallowed back the lump in his throat and willed away the tiny tears in his eyes. He was a prizefighter for fuck's sake, he didn't cry. But the way Tarou snuggled into him and made him feel big and protective... okay, maybe he could cry a little. They spent the next 20 minutes totally not on the brink of bawling, both of them trying to catch their shaking breaths by the end. To Tarou, hearing Hajime talk about himself like that was a nightmare. It didn't care what Haji had down there, but it knew it mattered to him, and that was enough to make it sad on his behalf. "I love you so much," it breathed, "I'm so sorry. But I promise you'll get there eventually. And know that I'll love you then too."

For something so short, it made him feel a lot better. Sometimes he got scared that he was only loved because he could still bleed. That Tarou would leave because the surgery looked weird or was "too fake." But he wouldn't. And that was just enough to make him feel okay.

i made myself cry at the end

#sorry if it doesn't make sense #i wrote this at like 1 am #i'm just. feeling it dawg #my ocs #kei project #POWERRRR #mana #hajitarou #my writing #transmasc character #bottom dysphoria

0 notes

zacksephreunion · 1 year ago

Text

sorry it took me fiveever to reply @moisttwaterr hope u dont mind me tagging u its the song Hero that i assume was commissioned kinda? for the og release of the first spiderman movie back in '02. Damn. Im old 😭

I just love it bc I personally feel it all lines up with crisis core so well. The rock, the strings, the sunset color scheme that bleeds through everything from that movie down to the cover art (? Forgot what these things are called) of the song.

I was also watching the crunchy ass music video (i know!! archaic) and guh just the imagery of spiderman catching mj as she falls -insert just right meme here- makes me vibrate with thoughts of zack and sephiroth who, metaphorically fell. and also literally rip

I just like to crossover all my fandoms oop

Like I mentioned before, it's also two guys doing the vocals so that's great. And some lyrics just especially gut me? But I'll probably copy paste those separately lol anyway

Like come ON why are the lyrics so fuckin perfect?? And its a duet???? And it's rock????? But also with strings???????? My personal zackseph anthem fr

AND the sunset aesthetic for the official mv, it doesn't get better than this 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

#excuse my rambling #reblog #reply #hero #love me that hero shit #hence why i wanna make a hero mv #GUH

6 notes · View notes

limitlessgojo · 4 years ago

Text

Blood Bound: Red Strings of Fate (Ch 7)

Warnings: Action, Coarse Language, Fighting, Descriptions of Blood

Previous Chapter: Speed of Sound

Next Chapter: Red Strings of Fate

Tags: Soulmates AU, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Reader

Taglist: @lessie-oxj @rizzo-nero @whoreuc @fkngkumiko @isl3t @gojoussunglasses @onepotatostand-blog @s-t-f-u-b-i-t-c-h @sunaswife

Notes: If you want to be tagged for every update, please mention it in the comments below ty <3

Double Update today, because these two chapters go hand in hand. It didn't feel right to upload one without the other.

Chapter 7: Bird of Flame

You faced Todo off in a clearing. Everyone else was at the far side watching. “Just run away if it gets too much.” You worriedly said to Miwa and Mai pushing them back.

“It’s okay, I’ll hold off any attacks.” Noritoshi assured you. You beamed up at him, “Thanks senpai.”

“Someone’s being awfully friendly today.” Momo half coughed and half murmured out. Noritoshi just gave her the side eye.

As per your style of fighting, you stayed still if you did not know of your opponent’s cursed technique.

“I won’t immobilise you this time since we are sparring.” You called out to Todo. “Fine with me!”

You could hold out your protective space warping around you for several hours. You just had to make sure it was activated in the space around you.

Todo didn’t hesitate to start off with punches and kicks. Nothing moved you of course. 5 minutes passed with him getting nowhere. Is that all he has?

You narrowed your eyes, but lifted a hand to push him back into a tree. You manipulated its branches such that they were all pointing to him. He was about to hit them until he clapped his hands and suddenly, you were there.

Your eyes widened, barely having time to brace yourself as you guarded for impact. You hit the branches hard. “Shit.” Looks like you might have to use your extended techniques against him.

He was in front of you in a split second and you quickly moved to dodge. You tried to maneuver your way around him, but it was hard to pinpoint the exact origin of the hits as he kept swapping your positions before landing a hit.

Sometimes, when you brace for a hit, he doesn’t swap your positions. How annoying!!! Of course your spacial barrier is still active and taking the hits for you, but it does have its limits.

Moving at mach speed in a short distant range won’t help you too much as it’s better for transport rather than combat.

You breathed out low and slow, before channeling your concentration into your 6th sense. Spatial awareness. Faster and faster, you started bracing for his hits and pushing him back.

And when he was unprepared you lashed out with your hidden twin blade only for him to dodge it. You can’t deny that the 2nd year's have more experience than you in battle. And Todo's specialty is obviously close combat.

You had both blades out now quickly slashing at him dangerously. He avoids it and the slashes cut all the way to the trees behind him.

You gave in, sheathing your blades and turning around to recuperate but he was faster as he finally caught you by the arm. “I got you!”

You grinned. Who got who?

With one hand, you straightened 4 fingers out towards Todo and folded your thumb into your palm. “Extension cursed technique, focus range: Niflheim”. Your applied cursed technique slows down the movement of molecules in an enclosed area, forcing items to freeze.

A layer of ice covered Todo’s entire body. The branches that binded around him were also covered with ice, stretching behind him in an ice pillar.

You quickly released your hand from his hold and slowly breathed to the sky, releasing an icy smokey breath. You turned around with a slow smile. “Checkmate”

He struggled against the ice but, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. That is way under 0 degrees celsius. You might lose a limb or 2 Todo senpai.”

He sighed, “I g-g-guh-give!” He could barely utter the words as his teeth chattered. You gently focused on raising the temperature, melting the ice off of Todo first. You couldn’t do it too fast or else he would combust.

As soon as he was free you reached out and applied your reversed cursed technique on him, healing the cold in his body. “Thank you so much for the match! It’s been a while since I felt that much fun in battle!” You excitedly said.

“Good game. As expected of my little sister, you’re very strong.” Todo patted your head. You stared, “Excuse me, whose little sister??”

“You should have buried him y/n!” Momo exclaimed. “Hear hear.” Mai chanted. Mechamaru just said, “I almost got buried by her once. She should have done the same with him.” You just laughed, “It’s okay, I’m satisfied with this.”

You turned to Noritoshi and he walked up to you and Todo went back. At this distance, the others couldn’t hear your conversation. “That was incredible.” He had a very proud smile on his face. “I hope you take our fight seriously as well. That’s all I ask of you.” He whispered.

“Of course I will senpai. But like with Todo senpai, I won’t use immobilisation techniques so we can spar properly okay?”

“Okay” he patted your shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before moving backwards. ‘Kamo clan, blood manipulation. They can manipulate their blood freely.’ you thought to yourself.

Your eyes zeroed in on his bow and arrows. The smell of blood was always on him, but you bet he had blood on those arrows. “Begin!”

He launched arrows at you only for you to stop them. Projectiles were the worst thing he could do. You frowned as you turned the arrows on him and sent them back. He dodged and shot more.

What on earth? This was so ineffective against yo-

He suddenly came from the side and punched you. Diversionary tactics dummy, you didn’t think about it.

You got pushed back from the force but stood your ground. He was insanely fast for a human. He is currently faster than Todo and any of the male cousins whom you’ve fought with.

It was a jarring experience. “Flowing Red Scale” He moved backwards, one eye wide open with a red blood x mark on it.

Your brain went into overdrive in a hurry to connect the dots while you defended against him. Blood. Red blood cells. Oxygen. He’s increasing his physical abilities.

You quickly lashed out with a double kick only for him to bring out a blood bag. “Blood manipulation: Crimson binding”. Blood strands wrapped around you and caged you in.

But you froze them and easily broke it in the process. You hurried to try and bring him down with mixed martial arts, not wanting to hurt him too much.

Sparring with him actually felt like a dance. You dodged and had an instinct as to where the next move would come from, and he was the same. Barely any hits landed on each other for a while.

Ah right, you promised to go hard on him. You put two hands out in a V shape, with palms facing him. Noritoshi’s eyes widened at the familiar hand signs. It’s the very first one you showed him.

“Tatsumaki” A huge horizontal cyclone hit him and forced him back. “Enhanced Gravity: Output level 4%”

“Aarghhh” Noritoshi groaned as he was forced to the ground. You didn’t notice his hands moving.

“Convergence! Piercing blood” a sudden fast stream of blood shot out and grazed your cheek. It would have been worse had you not moved your head aside. Noritoshi’s eyes widened as blood poured from the wound.

You quickly made tree branches hold his hands apart and forced him back onto the ground. You pointed both your twin blades at his head. “I give!”

You released your technique and knelt down. “Are you oka-”

“Are you okay? I hit your face!” He exclaimed in worry, hand hovering just over your cheek. You stared at him in amusement. “It’s a serious matter!!” he insisted.

You covered your face with one hand, then wiped off the blood to reveal a flawless cheek. He gaped, “Reverse cursed technique. I see. Good fight” He wheezed out.

"You actually hit through my defenses in battle. That was amazing Noritoshi senpai." You whispered in amazement. There was something different about the blood he manipulated.

His bond to it was far stronger than your hold over his blood. So if you tried manipulating his blood, it's a low chance that you could get it to attack him.

You can manipulate anything and everything, even at molecular levels to some extent. But you can't produce what's not there. There seems to be a limit to your manipulation over certain items.

"I still lost. Thank you for the match." He said.

You held his hand for the first time as you pulled him up, when suddenly a searing pain hit the inside of your wrist.

"Ouch!" You exclaimed while Noritoshi winced as well. You both pulled back your sleeves to see a large bird surrounded by flames just below the inner wrist on your right hand. Noritoshi had the exact same symbol, but it was in the inner wrist on his left hand.

You quickly pulled over both your sleeves to cover the markings, “Just say we both got wounds, let’s keep this a secret.” You pulled back and acted on purpose, “Good fight. You almost got me there.”

He naturally followed your lead, but there was a brightness to his eyes that told of something else. “.... Yeah you got me. I’ll do my best to catch up to you next time we spar.”

“What happened?” Utahime ran towards the both of you upon seeing you both flinch forward. “No, Utahime sensei we just got some scrapes that stung badly, nothing too bad.”

“I see. I have a first aid kit on hand, feel free to use it if you need to.” She said, and pushed you two back to where everyone else was.

You both stayed at the back watching the other students ask to spar with each other. Noritoshi quietly tugged at your sleeve, hidden from view with his own large and wide sleeves.

You tugged back twice on his sleeve and grabbed his hand to squeeze it. His hands were rough and calloused from fighting, but also had a tenderness and warmth from the way they tried to hold onto yours.

Both your marks flashed with heat when your hands touched. Noritoshi turned to you with all the world's curiosity in his face.

But you pulled back and put some distance between the two of you so it wouldn't look too obvious. "That binding technique that you did earlier was cool. Is it possible for you to manipulate the blood even after I freeze it solid?" You asked to try and divert the attention.

"Actually I haven't tried yet. But I should be able to as the main composition is still my blood." He admitted.

The remaining time left on the field was spent mostly on the others working on their cursed techniques against each other, and with you engaging in tactical discussion with the other students.

You all bid each other goodbye and went your separate ways. Except… Noritoshi mouthed "library" after he waved you off.

You lifted your eyebrows silently in agreement and walked back with the rest of the 1st year's.

Blood Bound: Table of Contents

68 notes · View notes

theshy1sout · 4 years ago

Text

Inseparable - Chapter 11

Tags: Not Rated, Slow Burn Fluff, Broppy, Trolls Mythology Au

Ao3 is here

Notes: Ok, so in the last chapter were some plot holes or more like understatements, but let me work on them later. There're many chapters before us, there will be a time for fixing them, but now, back to some fluff :3

________________________________________

It's time. Poppy is bouncing with excitement, the huge grin doesn't leave her fave. She's all happy. She's all one ticking bomb waiting to explode.

- I'm scared now - Branch chuckles, watching as she's almost dancing. - What is this surprise? Is this something erupting from the ground or... How big is it?

The goddess giggles with genuine joy in her melody voice. She looks at him with sparks of thrill in her eyes.

- Bigger than you thought! - She beams. And then she reaches for the Staff. - Calm down, it would be great!

- I hope so - He throws, twisting his face. He hesitates to give her the Staff. - I know it’s ridiculous, but I'm really stressed, this is overwhelming, you don’t have to...

- Nah nah nah, shhh - She puts her finger on his mouth, making him freeze. She looks deep into his eyes, and says slowly with a calm, quiet voice: - It won't kill you, ok? It's a surprise. A gift. All you have to do is just follow me and watch. Easy?

The god blinks when her finger lets go of his lips. He takes a deep breath, keeping his eyes on her.

- Easy - He breathes out, nodding slightly.

She smirks at him and finally grabs the Staff of the Light, taking it from his hands. The world slowly fills with shades of red and pink, birds start their welcoming-the-day serenades. Branch gazes tense at the sky, waiting for a huge loud explosion or something like that.

- Where should I look? - He asks.

- Just sit here and wait - Poppy says. She starts opening flowers' cups on the meadow. - And watch the sky. It will come slowly and smoothly, the first part hasn't got a big entrance or something.

- The first part? - Branch chuckles. - Maybe I shouldn't have asked how big it is, but how long it is.

The goddess of the Day smiles, not stopping her work. The blue god knows he is supposed to watch the sky and wait, but it is so easy to be distracted by her.

Poppy gently opens every little or big flower cup. She touches them so carefully to not damage any of the sensitive pedals. The Staff shines gold in her hand, its Light brightens her rose complexion. Her hair looks so soft and majestic in its golden glow. He wonders how it would feel to sink his fingers into it. And her tiny, twinkling freckles... He wishes she would let him count them all, one by one. The touch of her smooth, warm skin was so delightful…

Not like his. His skin is always cold. He all is cold. But when Branch's with her it's not that bad. Especially if she gives him a bit of her warmth... How is she doing that? Her smile makes his heart gets warm, he feels warmth, a real one, inside him, and it's like nothing else in this world, it is something so addicting, he wants more and more of it, but he's scared of asking. It's like a little fire inside him, a little fire that he wants to burn him one day or night, he wants to be burned by this fire and he doesn't know why...

And this pink beautiful lady, this gorgeous brisk woman, this sunshine dancing with the flowers on the meadow, this spotless gold heart and a bright, pure mind, this cute smiley face and two sparkling eyes, she... She's here. With him. She's giving him a gift. She likes him and likes hanging up with him. It is so hard to believe. But it makes him feel so good.

- I told you to look at the sky! - Poppy laughs girlishly and sound. Her cheeks turn red when she notices he's staring at her.

Branch smiles as he feels his face gets warm and probably purple. He used to get shy because of it, but he kinda starts liking it. Like, a lot.

- Guh, you got me! - He chuckles and lifts his arms. - I'm busted at adoring you. What a shame! I should've known that you're not the sky!

The goddess actually blushes even more after those words.

- It's also kinda your fault, you were interrupting the sky - The god smirks. Oh my goodness, maybe this is cruel, but it’s so satisfying to see her like that.

- Stop it! It's you who is supposed to be red right now - She giggles, sitting down next to him with the Staff in her hand.

- Why?

- Just look at the sky, you dork!

He chuckles and listens up. And now he's wondering how he could not notice that. How could he not notice that the whole sky, the whole frickin sky, the whole existing horizon...

Is BLUE.

Blue. Clear beautiful azure. Not milky white as always. But blue. The exact same shade that his eyes have. Blue. Azure blue. He even doesn't notice that his mouth is open wide until Poppy closes it with her hand.

- Now, I should say - She catches his sight and shows him a sweet smile. - How much I like sinking into your beautiful azure eyes.

He has no idea how his face looks right now. His mind just stops working, his sight gets lost somewhere between the sky and Poppy's eyes and smile. He tries to gather his thoughts.

- I... don't know what to say… - He breathes out, after a while.

- You don't have to say anything! Aren't you the god of Silence?

He spits a chuckle.

- I am

- Branch, I just want to show you that... - She looks down a bit shyly. - I adore you as much as you adore me. I... - She sinks her fingers into her hair. - You know, it's this weird, funny feeling...

- Yeah - He smiles at her, grabbing a strand of her hair that falls on her face. He puts it behind her ear and lets his hand stay a bit there. - I know.

She's smiling, but not this huge, wide sunny smile she has when she gets excited, but a little, gentle one, much more similar to the smiles he does, a cute one. His thumb moves slightly through her warm cheek. Her face is so small, his hand cups almost half of it. It is so weird and so enjoyable that she likes it, but he lets go of her face. He lets go, fearing the desire in his chest, the desire to never let go of her warm soft skin.

Poppy's sigh of delight is such a pleasant sound, another thing he can't get enough of.

- Are you ready for the next part? - She lifts her eyebrows with a smirk.

- I don't think so - Branch smiles.

- Well, you have a break now, I have a few things to do, and then the Midday and... you know - She shrugs her shoulders. - Responsibilities. But after that, I'll show you one more thing!

- And I will be following you whole this time like a creepy ghost - He jokes. - Maybe there is something I can help with?

Poppy gets her eyes up and twists her face as she's thinking.

- Well, I can find something for you.

* * *

- After the first part of the surprise - Branch screams to be hearable in the loud sounds of rain. - I've imagined the second one much different than that!

They are wet, they are so wet. But the feeling of uncomfortableness fades with the sweet melody of Poppy's laugh.

- It's kinda prolog of it! - She yells at him. - We have to wait until the end of the rain!

- Yay! What fun! - Branch jumps and waves his hands, pretending that the situation is really enjoyable. The goddess laughs. It is the only reason he's still here in the rain. He raises his arms, tilts his head back, closing his eyes, and roars with displeasure. Cause this is displeasure. He stays like that. He drops his arms, but his face and hair are facing the droplets with all of their wetness. The tepid water is flowing over his whole cold body. The calming hiss is in the whole forest. He feels like the water cleans his mind leaving nothing but the sound of the droplets’ hits and the warmth of the rain.

- Actually - Branch murmurs. - It's quite pleasant.

After a long nice moment, when the rain lets go a bit and becomes a drizzle, the god hears Poppy's voice calling his name.

- Look! - She points at something in the sky.

He glances at it and gasps. There is a big hole in the grey clouds, with a clear, bright azure shining at the Land. And below it... a long translucent colorful ribbon streams from it down to the forest. The seven colors of it are so clear and beautifully illuminating against the background of grey rainy clouds. Mesmerizing bright colors. Wonderfully clear and pure. Strikingly splendid and simply gorgeous like a tender smile. Branch forgets about the world for a minute. He can’t take his eyes off it.

- I called it 'a rainbow' - Poppy says with pride. - It was so hard to design and to make. But Satin and Chenille, you know, the twins' goddesses of Beauty, are two geniuses! They helped me a lot. But sadly, a rainbow appears only in the drizzle. It's made with a mix of tiny droplets and Light. So I asked Trollazart to make it rain today - She chuckles, looking at the wet god. - I'm sorry.

He stares at the rainbow in Silence. She isn't sure if he adores it or gets lost in his thoughts. But the Silence is way longer than ever was.

- Umm, Branch?

His lips vibrate slightly as if he wants to say something, but he hesitates.

- What if - He starts really slowly and now Poppy is sure his mind is somewhere else. - What if we make an endless source of drizzle?

She frowns.

- When water falls into another water from a high height - He explains, showing the thing with his hands. - It makes a drizzle around. So if we create something like... A river falling from a height in the sunny place...

- It will make a drizzle and rainbow in it all the time! - Poppy gasps. She jumps excitedly. - Branch, it's so genius!

- Let's do it right now - He says, looking around to find the nearest river and starts walking quite fast. Poppy runs after him, bouncing slightly with joy. Are they going to make something together? Oh, this day is so fun!

When they arrive at its shore, the rain stops pouring. Poppy puts her hand into the water and calls the god's name. After a few seconds, the navy face, slightly illuminating violet, shows up from the water and two, big eyes gaze at them curiously.

- Hi Synth! - Poppy beams at the smiley god of rivers.

- Hi Pops! Hello Branch! - He cheers. - What's up, my fellows?

- Can you make a river for us? - Branch asks. - We need a river that will be falling from a high height in a sunny place.

- Crazy! - Synth yells. - I like crazy! Come with me!

And he dives into the water, disappearing.

- Umm, Synth? - Poppy calls him once again.

His smiley face immediately shows up from the water. Again.

- Yes?

Branch clears his throat.

- Oh - The river god realizes. - I'm sorry. Let's go on the Land!

And with that saying, he steps on the ground.

- Do you know a place where you would like to see your river? - He beams at them both, putting his hands on his hips.

- I think I know a good place - Poppy replies and shows the direction.

When they come there, well, what to say more, it is a perfect place for their idea! The cliff is in the beautiful, sunny area, wild horses pasture nearby on the steppe. Synth calls the water from the Ocean and after an hour a brand-new river is ready and beautiful, streaming through the field. They call the place where it falls a "waterfall".

- I give this beauty the name "Lora" - Synth announces. - I don't know why, but this river looks exactly like Lora.

- Sure - Branch nods, not getting. - Thank you for creating Lora for us.

- You're welcome! - The god salutes. - If you want something else, you know where to find me! - He throws, diving into the water of the new river.

- Bye! - Poppy waves him goodbye.

- Ok, come here with the Staff of Light - Branch asks her.

The goddess comes close to the waterfall. She feels the fresh drizzle on her face. They both glance at it and gasp happily.

The rainbow appears above the water's surface.

- It's so beautiful! - The god is amazed. She never heard such a swoon in his voice. - I mean, the colors are so clear and vivid...

- Yeah - Poppy smiles.

They stare at it for a long while, just adoring its beauty. At the very same moment when the goddess wants to suggest that maybe they could sit down here and spend a bit of time together, the god jumps up with saying:

- Guh, it's so inspiring. I have a huge idea - Branch turns to her. - Can I keep it as a surprise?

Poppy looks at him kinda confused.

- Well, yes, of course!

- Then, I'm going to make it - He says, walking away.

The goddess of the Day stands very still, close to the waterfall, watching the smaller and smaller silhouette of the god of the Night on the horizon. She imagined that they would be sitting somewhere, talking about anything and just enjoying each others' company, as always. But now? She is just shocked. Only one, simple word, filled with surprise and disappointment, slips from her lips.

- What.

___________________________________

Index

13 notes · View notes

dust-broken-berry · 4 years ago

Text

IT'S FINALLY DONE!

(Sorry about the caps, I'm just excited)

Part 1 should be all up and ready to go, along with part 2 and 3 soon. I wanted some more to be done before I started posting so there wouldn't be as big of a cap between posts.

Also sorry for the wait I've just been getting distracted with other things.

Oh and I'm gonna try and use tags so hopefully I don't do something wrong.

Anyways, here is part 1, with hopefully more to come in the future.

Dust Broken Berry

It was dark and empty, my vision a blur as I did something I had to do

I had to risk so much but for what? No...I already knew why.

I gave them my word and even if I didn’t, this will end it, end it all

Whatever it takes....

“Right?...”

It was a normal day like any other. Dust and Blue were walking through UnderSwap. Blue seemed nervous about something and Dust noticed.

“Blue, what's wrong?”

“Do you really think that this is a good idea? I mean we don’t have to go do this…”

“That’s what you’re worried about?”

“I think it's a reasonable worry Dust.”

Dust understood why Blue worried he had every reason to. It had been maybe just about two years since him and Blue started seeing each other, and they’ve kept it to themselves for just about the entire time. The timing really couldn’t have been worse though.

Just before they started seeing each other, Dust had been given the title of leader by Nightmare. Both Dust and Blue knew why.

But Dust sighed, putting a hand on Blue’s shoulder.

“It will be fine”

“Maybe...but you know that’s already been...rough…”

“More than most”

“I think the whole BluePrint just made it worse…”

“I already know that you don’t blame BluePrint.”

“Of Course not...I just think that....you know…”

“Ya I do…”

They kept walking Blue occasionally being greeted by some of the monsters in the underground. They continued walking until they made it to a rather big yet hidden building. Blue stopped still a bit unsure. He knew that this wouldn’t go well, so that wasn’t the question. So the only thing he was wondering was how bad this would go.

Blue breathed and walked up to the door. He raised his hand to knock then hesitated. He stood there for a moment then knocked on the door.

*Knock* Knock*

Blue stood there waiting for someone to answer the door, Dust stood behind him. They heard footsteps then someone walk up to the door. The door opened with a tiny *click* and they both saw Dream standing in the doorway.

“Blue? What are you- Wait Dust!?”

Dream was confused and scared, quickly taking out his bow and pointing it at Dust.

“Why are you here!?”

“Well this is going well…”

Dust said sarcastically.

“Dream now this isn’t anything-”

“This isn’t what!?”

“It’s obviously not what you think it is.”

Dust said, moving Dream’s bow away from his face.

“Trust me when I say I am not here to fight”

“Then...what’re you doing here?”

“That’s a long story”

“Stop it Dust”

Blue said, looking at Dust with an irritated expression.

“Blue, why are you so relaxed about this?”

“Well… There’s kinda something I need to tell you...and everyone else…”

“Ok?.. But you seem nervous…”

“Just a bit but-”

“You can say if he is doing anything to you? I’ll shoot him.”

“Well...I mean...I am doing things-”

“SHUT UP!”

Blue screamed now red in the face and, a bit embarrassed. It took a second but Dream realised what was going on.

“Wait...are you two…you know”

“It depends what “you know” stands for. We are seeing each other but I’m also-”

“Just be quiet Dust!”

Again Blue screamed blushing. Dream smiled awkwardly about the mistake and put his bow away.

“O-Oh I uh…”

Dream didn’t really know what to say.

“You won’t shoot me?”

“Uh ya...I won’t shoot you right now…”

“Good enough”

“Um anyways I kinda need to talk to Ink…you know...about this...”

“About this?”

“Ya...so can you-”

“Well you guys can come in if you’d-”

“That may not be such a good idea.”

Dust said already knowing that if he walked in there he would most likely be attacked like he just was.

“I can tell them you’re here before you walk in, I wouldn’t just send you two in there.”

“Er...I guess and thanks Dream.”

“Welcome Blue”

Dream said quickly, closing the door and walking away. Dust turned to Blue.

“Do you think he might’ve just left?”

“He wouldn’t do that…”

Dust looked at Blue sceptically.

“Ok he maybe wouldn’t do that, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be-”

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE JUST OUTSIDE!?

“I mean they’re just outside, and stop yelling. I haven’t even told Ink yet.”

BUT YOU JUST LEFT THEM OUT THERE!?

“God Cross it’s not like they’re going to do anything, I mean Blue’s out there too.”

Dust smirked a bit

“That seems to be going well”

“Ya...and it’s only Cross… If he’s that explosive, then I don’t even want to think about how Ink will be”

“He may actually blow up.”

“Don’t be a douche”

“Ouch ok”

Dust said, still grinning to himself.

They waited for a few minutes then Dream came back to the door.

“Ok they know you’re here.”

“I heard”

“And...let's just say that they were a bit surprised.”

“I also heard”

Again Blue looked at Dust angrily, so he shut up.

“Thanks and we did hear how...difficult of a conversation that was.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, they said they won’t kill Dust.”

“I would like to hope”

Dust said almost sounding realieve.

“So do you to want to still come inside or-”

“Well you did go through the trouble...so I guess we will if no one trys to shoot Dust.”

Blue said, laughing nervously.

“Don’t worry that shouldn’t be a problem right now.”

Dream said, moving out of the way and letting in Blue and Dust.

Dust was surprised by the aesthetic look of the inside of the building. It was very clean and looked rather nice for an occasional meeting site.

“Geez…”

“Hm what is it?”

Dream asked

“Oh it’s nothing”

“Ok…”

Dream was confused but let it go as they kept walking. Blue was shaking as he followed, and Dust noticed.

“Calm down… We haven’t even been shot at. So this is going better than we thought it would.”

Dust said jokingly trying to make Blue calm down, it didn’t help.

“Ya not yet but we haven’t seen anyone other than Dream, and even he tried to shoot you!”

“I said I was sorry about that.”

“I know but that’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

“It’s just the fact that it happened at all. I know Dream can control himself but everyone else…”

“Blue there not-”

“Dream you know how they can be.”

“...”

Dream didn’t say anything after that.

“Uuuuhhhh Berry I think you’re just overreacting.”

“I really don’t think I am Dust…”

Blue said as they walked closer to the room everyone else was in. They heard talking.

“This is clearly not a good thing.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“How are you not sure?”

“Maybe we can use this you know, get info when we want it.”

“That is a good idea, but eventually it would get to be...suspicious.”

“You? Worried about being suspicious?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, those monster aren't stupid.”

“They are rather cunning if you could believe.”

“They are and we both know that.”

“So if they're so cunning then who says this isn’t some big ruse?”

“No one, this very well could be.”

“I’d believe it.”

Blue, Dust, and Dream kinda just stood there for a moment. Dream looked over at Blue and Dust.

“They...don’t mean that…really they-”

“It doesn’t surprise me…”

“Dust…”

Blue said, but not knowing what else to.

“I mean we were just as suspicious about Error...then Cross. So it’s not hard to believe that they really do think that way.”

They stood there for a second, half listening to the talking. Dream then walked up to the door.

“Ok...come on”

Dream said, as he opened the door. A big surprise to everyone inside.

“Dream I didn’t think you would be that quick.”

Ink said, a bit surprised. He looked at Dust and Blue.

“And it looks like Dream was telling the truth…”

“It might just look like it.”

Error said, snarkily then adding.

“Is this some albrite plan you and your other associates came up with? Do you want something?”

“Not this time”

Dust responded, Blue could already see that this wasn’t going well. So he decided to try and ruin they’re initial assumption.

“Ya...I’m not being held for some ransom or something…

Blue said, still he could tell that everyone was suspicious. Error then said.

“If you say so.”

“Then what’s going on here?”

Cross asked almost angrily.

“From what Ink said, it sounded like Dream already told you, or at least tried.”

Dust then smirked a bit.

“The in particular loud conversation you two had was proof enough of that.”

Cross grumbled angrily, Blue elbowed Dust in the gut.

“Guh!”

“Stop instigating Dust.”

“Yep, got it Berry.”

Dust said, sounding a bit frustrated.

“So...this is actually something? You two?”

Ink asked skeptically.

“Y-Yes”

Blue answered nervously.

“Blue....this is a bad idea. Not probably, not maybe, this is a bad idea.”

“Ink it really isn’t that bad, it been a bout two yea-”

“Two what?”

Ink asked surprised

“Years…”

“How did you hide this for that long?”

“We just weren’t near each other when you guys were around.”

“Still…”

Ink said, almost angrily. Blue was now becoming less nervous and more angry himself.

“Still what?”

“Blue even if you do…“Like each other” this is still a bad idea. Those monsters including him can and are very dangerous. They aren’t good anything. Trust me the only thing that can come from this is something bad.”

“Ink...are you kidding me?”

“...”

Ink went silent, Blue was still angry.

“I’ve met them Ink, they aren’t bad monsters. They don’t know-”

“They don’t know what? They don’t know how they almost killed me?..”

Cross said almost regretting saying it the second it came out. Error then said.

“Oh and it wasn't just him either, it was me and everyone else here. Including you.”

“They’re right Blue, this is bad not just for you but us too. You are putting us and BluePrint in danger just by being near that guy.”

Ink said, basically adding fuel to the flames that was Blue’s anger. He mine as well have exploded as he went off.

“Ok number One?

I’m sorry if it is oh so very hard to believe that I actually have a life outside of this place, but sorry I do and I have for years now.

Two

You can not talk to me like I’m some kid or idioic buffoon that hasn’t understood what has been going on for the past many years. I mean even then I believe that any creature under the sun could understand what has been going on here.”

“Blue that’s enough-”

“And three

Don’t you ever dare talk about my son as if you've ever been near him for any longer than . a. Second.”

Blue’s words stung and his tone was venomous. Ink grumbled angrily saying.

“Well you can’t have both, neither of you can.”

“I thought you'd say that.”

Dust said, Ink still looked mad.

“You can’t be between us and them.”

“I never said that-”

“Trust me you didn’t have to. It’s already clear enough.”

Dust and Blue just stood there, so Ink kept talking.

“You Dust either stay or leave, I don’t care if that means you leave this room, you’re friends, or Blue. But you have to-”

“He doesn’t have to…”

Ink looked down at Blue.

“What do you mean-”

“I mean...no...just…”

“Don’t Blue…”

Dust said, trying to stop Blue, but Blue just smiled giving Dust a peck on the cheek.

“It’s fine…”

“Blue?... What are you saying?”

Ink asked, confused

“I’m...saying goodby...I’m not building this up...I’m not giving you a big story for why or why not… It’s just gonna be bye…”

“Blue that’s not what I-”

“You meant Dust...and...I’m not going to let him do that to himself. When it would be so much easier for me…”

Blue said, Ink just stood there for a second then said.

“This won’t end well Blue…”

“Maybe...but I know it won’t be as bad as you would think.”

No one said anything after that, so Blue finished.

“So before this gets any worse than it already has...we’re going to leave...don’t try to stop me...please.”

Again it was quiet, Dust looked at Blue still unsure if he was really going through with this. Blue just turned around quietly followed by Dust, and they just left.

#undertale #dustberry

10 notes · View notes

dumbsnakefan · 4 years ago

Text

Thou Shalt Love

Chapter 2: In You I Take Refuge

A/N: This took longer than expected but here it is! Also, if you want me to tag you in the next chapter please let me know!

Hidden away in a small Inn in a town surrounded by only nature, Nea watched over Allen’s prone figure. A thin layer of sweat covered his nephew’s body from exertion. His mind still tried to fight the inevitable of his awakening. Well, Nea supposed that Allen was too stubborn to ever give in so easily. Not that it wouldn’t make a difference in the end. The Noah memories were like an unrestrained storm as they tore into the brain.

Letting out an aggravated sigh Nea said to himself, “Why did that bastard Cross have to die on me like that? He always manages to piss me off.” His eye twitched as he remembered the debts the man had hoisted upon his former host. Despite all his hatred for the General there were too many questions left unanswered. From what Timcanpy had shown him Allen had forgotten everything. What’s more, he had gotten younger. It was like trying to put together a puzzle without most of the pieces.

Had Cross not had answers for that at least Nea could have used his magical skills. That four eyed idiot had done something strange and outside his own abilities. As best he could figure, however, their “separation” hadn’t accounted for the Noah gene. He could laugh if not for the absolute mess of it all.

There was something strange about this memory as well. It was like none of the others as far as he could tell. Allen’s inner Noah was swaddling him in a thorny embrace, like a babe in need of protection. Compared to his own, a destructive thing that had him clawing at his skin in agony, it was soft. Nea felt an urge to pull his nephew close and never let go again. The strangeness of Allen’s memory was oddly fitting.

Lacking any new information to dissect Nea could only move on to other things. Specifically how the Noah family would react to this. Like Nea they had to have felt the surge of a new memory breaking into the world. They would want to pull him away from the dreaded 14th as soon as they could, lest he “corrupt” their new brother. A smile stretched across Nea’s lips as he swore to keep his dearest friend by his side.

What a family reunion they’d be having. If Mana had any real sanity left Nea would have liked to share one last tender moment before the end. Fate and that detestable God were not so kind as to give any Noah such a merciful gift though. They would forever seek to destroy them for being in the way. Should Nea succeed he would put an end to their farce. His brother would be freed at long last.

Keeping Allen far away from this whole affair was very important. The attachment he’d formed with Mana could turn into a crushing weight when the truth was revealed. Those bonds of father and son were already so entangled with tragedy; Nea wouldn’t let another disaster play out. Mana’s insanity could drag them all down if left unchecked.

From what Timcanpy had shown of Allen’s time as Red, his brother had been attached at the hip with him. Nea knew that he’d forgotten it all just by the way he treated his nephew. That didn’t mean that Mana wasn’t drawn to him, oh no. Even when not a wisp of Nea’s presence had been visible the Earl had targeted Allen. Drawn like a moth to a flame, they circled each other. Now under the calming lull of the Noah memory inside Allen Mana would chase him wholeheartedly.

Then there was the other Noah to consider. Road and Joyd seemed to have the strongest bond with Allen of the family. While the others weren’t as close, they all appeared interested when interacting with him. Being a true part of the family could only grow their connection. It made Nea sick just thinking about it. The need to keep Allen close and out of their grubby hands echoed from his own Noah.

Wasn’t keeping Allen by his side the best way to make sure he was safe? Those disgusting roaches that scuttled about the Order were still searching for Allen. Nea had seen how easily they had hurt their beloved comrade. All throughout the past Timcanpy had shown Nea there had been pain. His nephew’s past was a constant spiral of suffering. Taking him away from the world that was so ready to tear him apart could only be a kindness.

Tension had built to a boiling point in Nea’s body and he forced himself to release it. In an attempt to calm down he scouted closer to the bed. A new bead of blood pooled along Allen’s stigmata that Nea wiped away. Unconsciously he pushed into the contact. Warmth bloomed in Nea’s chest. Seeing his dearest friend like this, utterly peaceful, was something he’d truly missed.

His senses registered the Noah memory shift from it’s dormant state and Nea braced for another wave of pain. More blood flowed down from Allen’s forehead as he became restless. The once lax expression of sleep twisted in pain. That’s when the screaming started, scratching Allen’s throat raw. It was hard not to wince at the sheer volume of his screams.

As the screams faded out Nea felt a new presence join them. Annoyed and reluctant to leave Allen’s side Nea turns to face the intruder. Standing before him is the Demon Eye, expression a mask of indifference. Rage so obviously simmers behind the facade but Nea finds it as threatening as a wet kitten.

His smile is packed full of malice as he says, “Didn’t know they’d let you come alone to see me kid.” The twitch of annoyance from Wisely’s reincarnation is so sweet. “You’d think with how easily I killed you last time you would all be a bit more careful.” Bloodlust oozes off Nea in waves, making the air thick with it.

Only when Allen’s scream rise back up does he stop. Nea is so tempted to return to his side to comfort him. The possibility of an attack is what holds him back. Wisely would be more than happy to slit his throat and take Allen away for good; or at least attempt to. There was no way Nea would give him that kind of opening.

“Would it kill you to be nicer, dearest 14th? I’m here to give you some friendly advice after all.” The moniker has Nea gnashing his teeth. He knows that smug bastard is enjoying himself. What an asshole.

Tilting his head Wisely says, “Like you’re one to talk. You really hold the title of world's biggest asshole.” Of course the little creep was reading his mind. Even in his new life Wisely refused to learn what privacy means.

Moving closer to the other Noah, Nea glares down with cold eyes. “Cut this bullshit and tell me why you’re really here.”

“We won’t let you keep him from us.” The brat dares to step closer to Allen and Nea watches him like a hawk for a single misstep. “You can’t hide no matter how hard you try. Someday soon we’ll bring our brother home, where he belongs.”

Something in Nea snaps. Anger grips his heart like a vice. Unwilling and unable to hold back, he shoots towards Wisely. His hand wraps around the bastard's neck. Blood drips from where his fingernails bite into WIsely’s skin as Nea squeezes his windpipe. The choked panic gives him no satisfaction. Painting the walls red with his blood is what he needs now.

His grip tightens, drawing a wheeze from the pathetic Noah. “He’s mine. Allen is mine.” Nea says with unhinged glee. “You can never take him from me. I’ll kill every single one of you if you try.”

It’s only when a burst of stabbing pain sweeps over Nea’s mind that he returns to reality. He let’s go reluctantly, Wisely falling at his feet. Such a shame he couldn’t kill him, but Nea is patient. Now is not the right time to crush Wisely beneath his foot. Later he’ll make sure to make his end painful.

Between satisfying coughing fits Wisely manages to bite out, “Ru-Road said to, guh, give you a warning for old t-times sake.” The venom behind the glare he gives Nea is almost impressive. “Shouldn’t have listened to her. You deserve to watch as your world crumbles around you and you fail.” It makes him laugh, the thought that Nea would lose to the likes of him.

Wisely’s face twists up in amusement. Nea keeps himself in check as he moves towards Allen. Fighting this close to Allen could only end in disaster. Even as the rat bastard patted his nephew’s head he held back. Truly, his restraint was worthy of the highest praise.

“I can’t wait to see what our new brother is capable of. He was already such an interesting human...” The little shit was lost in his own mind as he brushed hair off Allen’s forehead. It’s a herculean effort on Nea’s behalf to stay his hand. Perhaps killing him was worth the risk after all?

However, what Wisley said next stopped him dead in his tracks. “I do wonder why the Earl is already so attached to Allen?” What? No, this can’t possibly be happening; it’s too early. “I knew that you’d have answers. There’s something slipping just outside my reach, no matter how hard I search.”

Desperately Nea snaps his mind shut to leave only unrelated drivel in its wake. He needs to throw the Demon Eye Noah off his scent. Now. “Why don’t you ask Mana yourself?” The wince he gets is a good sign. Raising his voice and stepping into Wisley’s space Nea tells him, “Now get out of my sight.”

Gold meets gold as they assess each other for weakness. Finding nothing, Wisley moves to finally leave them be. With every step Nea feels better. On the threshold of the door, however, he turns back. Body going tense Nea prepares for whatever the creep plans to throw his way next.

“Before I go, you might want to find a new hiding place. There are some Akuma out there who aren’t very good a t playing nice.” An Explosion rocks the building, punctuating his statement. The string of curses that Nea lets out would have a sailor blushing. “Hope you enjoy yourself 14th!” His smug face watches on as Nea fumbles for their things. The Ark gate behind him swallows Wisely up but Nea pays it no mind.

Screams fill the air in a terrible crescendo of horror. With Allen out of commision Nea can only run. Scooping up his struggling nephew Nea makes sure Tim grabs their luggage. Ignoring the town below he calls up his own gate and the three disappear from sight. The humans left behind in that remote town are mowed down with mercy. Chaos creeps around every corner and the scent of blood blankets the air in a red mist. No one will discover the scene of pure carnage until weeks later.

8 notes · View notes

carynsilver · 5 years ago

Text

Wayward Son

So, I just finished Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell. Be warned, this post does have spoilers, so continue at your own risk.

After a quick peruse of the tags, I’m surprised at all the negative reactions. I mean, I understand that gut-punch feeling, but assuming this is a series, Wayward Son is the Empire Strikes Back of it all. If this was a stand-alone book, well, then I’d get the vitriol, but obviously from the end it is set up for book 3. (Also with the whole Epilogue at the beginning/Prologue at the end thing.)

I’m more worried that the negativity would somehow affect the desire of writer or publisher to write the third book than whether the third book would give that satisfying Return of the Jedi kind of ending. (Though, if there is never a book 3, I reserve my right to be retroactively pissed, because that would make this book horrible.)

There were so many good things in this book. The Ren Faire. Simon and Baz loving each other. Shepherd. Penny and Agatha being BAMF. Simon flying (loved that!). Baz actually learning some stuff about being a vampire (that moment with the fangs--guh!). Simon fighting and showing how he is still himself even without magic.

I also felt like Simon, Baz, Penny, and Agatha were showing realistic levels of... not sure the right words, but PTSD or depression or the effects of the trauma they’d lived through for years before and through the end of Carry On. Agatha just walked away from her life--family, friends (even her Normal British friends). Penny, holding onto “normal” with nothing but her fingertips and a strong will, and then cracking when she realized something she believed was true (Micha) wasn’t actually.

Simon, who suffered the most IMO (killing his father, losing Ebb, losing the magic which was so intrinsic to his identity, losing his freaking identity as the Chosen One), was fully believable with that depression. But the real gut punch to me was finding out that he doesn’t remember life in the care homes before Watford. Like... what is he repressing? From the little we got, it really seemed like he’s also buried some sexual abuse in there somewhere. I mean, just the PTSD and depression would be enough to make romance/sex/desire dicey, but there is also something big hidden in those lost memories--otherwise, why even bring them up? There was enough trauma without them. And that would be the biggest thing that would make book 3 a let down for me; not resolving that.

And Baz’s struggles dealing with a depressed Simon felt real to me, as someone who has dealt with depression in others where I didn’t know what to do. Plus his hunger to find out about his vampire side... that was heart wrenching and the way he just lit up in response to Lamb... Like, Lamb seems like an opportunistic bastard, but Baz craving a father figure in that area of his life felt so real. Ug, and that bit about him being so malnourished from feeding off of animals was so painful. And yet I was so proud of him, how he stuck to his morals in a town where there would’ve been literally no repercussions otherwise.

As much as it hurt, it actually made sense to me that Baz and Simon didn’t really talk much in this book. Like, I wanted them to. I wanted to bang their heads together and lock them in a closet until they told each other what they were thinking. But it was realistic with the depression and the communication issues they both already had, which were cannon in Carry On. I don’t think they are dysfunctional or an unhealthy couple in general, but they are going through a bad patch and need some help and time to get through it. A lot of people, it would be too much, but considering this is their story, I have faith they will figure it out in the end.

My only real complaint (assuming, as I am, that book 3 is a foregone conclusion) is that I wish there’d been a little more closure at the end. I’m not saying closure on the emotional arcs. It makes total sense to me that we don’t have resolution on that in an Empire Strikes Back kind of way. And, not even with the Now Next, as it feels like we settled that plot, as well. But... just the actual ending bit felt like it cut off basically in the middle of the scene. I’m not sure quite where would have been a good place to end, but the end of Empire Strikes Back feels like an ending--a, we’re stopping here, but we’ll be back. The end of Wayward Son felt like I was watching a show on TV and the power cut off at the worst possible moment.

Wish list for book 3:

* SnowBaz resolution, obviously. With talking and honesty and loads more kissing. Them realizing that they are real and that they don’t have to be so damned careful with each other. (Though the care and the fear and the fragility felt real to me for this book.)

* Baz figuring out more about the vampire thing and where he fits in to that world vs. his old word. Also learning how to do stuff like sip from a willing human (you know Simon would be willing). Though, I did like his thing about never having tasted human blood because you can’t go back from that. So, some kind of good resolution between that and the malnourished thing, OK?

* Resolution on whatever trauma is locked in Simon’s memories from before. As well as him deciding what he wants to do with his life--be it becoming a traveling show on the Ren Faire circuit or having the wings and tail removed so he can return to life as a Normal. Finding what would make him happy.

* Penny and Shepherd paying off on what I’m hoping is the relationship she never expected but will be great for her. And curing his curse.

* Agatha being able to meld the two halves of her life together somehow in a way she can be happy.

* A book that is long and introspective and gives weight and resolution to the emotional issues that have been playing out so well in addition to a rollicking plot like we know she can deliver on.

I sure hope we don’t have to wait four more years, though...

#wayward son #wayward son spoilers #carry on #snowbaz

64 notes · View notes

wheremytwinwatches · 5 years ago

Text

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 19

Last time, Ross lived and was snuck out to Xing, Ed got yet another reason to hate Scar, Barry met himself, and Gluttony paid Riza a visit. Onwards!

Oh dear, all Roy can hear is gunshots from “Elizabeth”’s end. Go, Flame Alchemist! Save your bestie! Never mind, let’s just ignore the fights and go back to Sword Guy utterly disregarding the notion of Confidentiality. He says that Barry says the Colonel’s got a plan to smoke out the Goths from the Fifth Laboratory. This causes Al to head out, searching for Hughes’ murderer. Stop whining Ling, Al will tooootaly tell you when he gets back. Later, Winry! Episode 19 - “Death of the Undying” Uh oh, Gluttony’s got Riza by the neck, and she’s out of ammo. The Goth just chuckles at his multiple headshots, he’s about to eat Riza someone quick dog? Where’d the dog come from. Oh hey, Fuery’s here! Thanks for tossing Riza a new pistol, you’ve almost made up for ruining my Fuhrer Fury joke with this! Two people shooting at once is a bit more effective, but only just. Gluttony’s knocked to the window but his big frame doesn’t fit, and he’s healed up from the bullet holes in a few seconds as Riza and Fuery click their now-empty weapons. Ok, time for the backup of the backup to arrive!

Oh my Leto it is so satisfying to see that Goth go flying out the tower to the caption of [Gluttony screams]. Nice timing, Roy, good hustle! Riza… is not exactly appreciative of the rescue, yells at Roy for leaving his post and blowing his plausible deniability. Fuery just chuckles at them going at it, looking down at the charred body and wondering who the fat guy was. Ok, now get down there and finish the job, Gluttony isn’t finished off just- Whoop, Bio!Barry’s making a break for it, with the homicidal Soul Armor in pursuit. Roy and Riza bark out orders to the minion and mutt respectively. Then slooowly walk down the stairs as Riza thanks Roy for saving their life, Roy’s too focused on the mission to see her smile. Daw. Huh, once again Roy makes better time than I thought, Havoc’s barely run a few paces before he pulls up in a car and tells to loser to get in, they’re going Goth hunting. And then Al shows up! Buckle up buddy, time for a chase through the city. Well at least Barry’s having fun, chasing down the meatbag to do an impromptu funeral. Riza’s reloading and wondering if Blubber Man’s going to stay down, less sure than Roy after her own bullets had next to no effect. Al asks if he had an Uroboros tattoo, when she confirms seeing on his tongue he identifies him as a Homunculus. Hey, watch where you’re driving Roy! Said Colonel isn’t exactly happy to learn that the Goth probably survived the barbecue. Much later, looks like they’ve cornered BioBarry in the Third Laboratory. A direct tie to the military, then? Well, with that connection they can pull back. Uh, Barry? That is the opposite of pulling back. And Roy’s happy about this? Oh I get it, the crazy Soul Armor goes running in, and Roy’s Crew get to follow “in hot pursuit of the crazed murderer”. You other cops, go and secure the perimeter or something. Down into the Basement of Dramatic String Music they go, but then they face the bane of adventuring parties: a split corridor. Oh yeah, split the party, this can only go well. Roy and Havoc are going around, remarking at how dilapidated everything looks- Uh oh. Lust. Havoc, beware the Angry Girlfriend! On a more serious note, oh crap the party is split up in a basement presumably with multiple Goths. Might be time to stage a retreat. Ok ok, another laugh at how Havoc is a fool for honkers, but for real, back to seriousness. Roy asks about Hughes, and when Lust taunts him he goes for a kneeshot. It shows she’s a Homunculus, but it’ll take more than that to- Roy interrupts her monologue with the rest of his clip, it’s about as effective as we can expect but at least it shut her up for a few moments. But the claws come out, and Lust… stabs herself? Oh. Oh dear. That’s a Philosopher’s Stone. So if all the Goths are built around this miraculous tool of Transmutation then they’ll just keep coming back. On the plus side, now we have a clear weakness: destroy the Stone and they lose their regeneration. Quick Roy, shoot the Glowing Weak Spot! Nope, too slow. Now that Lust is finished talking to the Soon-To-Be-Dead-Men, she disarms them… and slices a water pipe, rendering Roy’s Ignition Gloves useless. Well, crap. Both men run screaming for the exit, tumble outside while Havoc asks what they’re gonna do. But Roy’s happy? Oh! He may have lost his signature ability, but he’s still a State Alchemist who can transmute any materials on hand. Say, a bunch of water into hydrogen gas? Thanks for cutting that pipe, lady! Here, have a lighter!

Al and Riza pick up on the Big Boom, but Riza just steels herself and keeps searching for their target. Good trust in your boss, here’s hoping you two don’t end up in the same situation. After the Jean Havoc/Lust narrator cards, Roy and Havoc are searching the now-torched room. A bit of snarking about the busted ex-girlfriend gift how bad cigarettes are, Roy says aw man why did you say that without a body. She’ll be just in the next room and or no she’s in this one under the rubble! Havoc’s been spiked! Oh crap oh crap, Roy’s still weaponless in a room with Lust, this isn’t good. Oh right, Havoc’s gun which good Leto is rather strong, Lust is down an arm. She’s still boasting about how Roy can’t put her down for good… while her Stone is exposed. Yoink! It’s rather effective, and Lust actually crumbles away. A bit anticlimactic, honestly. But now Roy’s got the MacGuffin! Now to heal Havoc, give it to the Elric Brothers, and the show’s over! I wonder what complication is going to come up now. Roy gets ready to cast Heal and GUH OH MY LETO NO NO NO Lust just grew back around the Stone, her half-formed body chided Roy for being so forward, and Spiky Fingers to the chest. And now HE’S here! [Lab Guard Captain]: “Uh-- Uh… Your Excellency!” [Fuhrer Wrath]: “What’s the current status?” This is not backup! This is the opposite of backup! Lust dumps Roy on the ground, oh-so-sad that she’s been forced to kill such a promising sacrificial candidate as she shreds his glove and leaves him to watch Havoc die before he himself bleeds out. Um. Wow. I can hope that with Lust pulling the classic “Leave before you see them die for sure” mistake that they’ll be ok? Please? Havoc? Come on, answer me buddy. While this awfulness is going on, Al and Riza arrive in an incredibly bright white room with a large Alchemy Symbol (the same on we saw in Xerxes?) on the wall, and Barry looking down at the lifeless remains of his old body, commenting on how a soul shoved in another form is so harmful. This of course shocks Al, makes him wonder if he’ll survive as a Soul Armor until they can reform their original bodies. Al… *Sigh* Riza, just put the pistol down, we’re perfectly aware at how effective that is against the Goths. Lust demands to know why Barry is helping out our guys, he basically says it’s for the heck of it and he wants to kill her anyway. The Goth just complains about how she’ll have to kill a second candidate now since Al tagged along, at which point Barry gets tired of waiting and charges and he’s dead now. Whelp. So long, Barry the Butcher. So now that that’s out of the way, Lust prepares to send Riza after her superior. Riza… does not take the news well. [Furious!Riza]: “You biiittch!!” She empties one pistol to mournful music, same with the second, and finishes with a revolver. All to achieve Lust standing back up and patronizingly asking if she’s done. Aw hell no, don’t you fucking dare call Riza weak. Al, pound her face in. Damnit Riza, take this chance and get out of here! Al’s the only one who can at least slow her down with his Transmutation ability and the fact that he’s friggin metal while you’re flesh and blood, get moving! But no, they keep doing the “save yourself, no you save yourself” thing heroes do while Lust stands there annoyed.

How old is Al again? Whatever it is, it’s way too goddamn young for him to be standing his ground against this murderer, screaming about how [Al]: “I’m sick of watching people die! And I can’t just sit back and take it anymore!” -to a montage of all those touched by death in this show, including that time someone got stabbed while inside him. Friggen Leto, this show. [wait, WHAT?!]: “Well spoken… I couldn’t agree more.” Al IMMEDIATELY earthbends up a shield to protect him and Riza as the room gets filled with ALL OF THE FIRE, it clears to see charred Lust looking oh-so-satisfyingly shocked as The Badass Roy grits out that he got her on her knees, after all. Then the camera pans to oh my Leto I did not expect to see The Badass Roy’s chiseled abs today but I am happy that I did, as he stands there in all his determined glory clutching his stab wounds with one hand and holding the not-so-broken lighter in the other. Or still broken, but The Badass Roy didn’t let that stop him as he just uses the flint to get a spark and a TC carved into his own hand. Cue EVEN MORE FIRE as Lust whines about how he should have bled out by now, but of course The Flame Alchemist seared the wound closed, admits that he aaaaalmost passed out from the pain before MORE FIRE. Now, about that claim that he couldn’t kill you? Let’s see how many FIREs it takes to get to the center of a Gothie-pop, huh?! Again! And again! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! BURN, YOU BITCH! No no fuck no you don’t get to suddenly be patched up and charging towards The Badass Roy no no no [The Bitch]: “You killed me.” YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS Lust is crumbling to ashes now as The Badass Roy’s attacks have seemed to finally have damaged her Stone. But she wouldn’t be a Goth if she didn’t go out with a disparaging monologue, pleased that she at least was killed by a man with such cold and focused eyes, looking forward to the day those eyes are wide with agony. [Lust]: “It’s coming... It’s coming…” The Philosopher's Stone falls, and crumbles away. Finally, Roy falls, the effort of his attack and his injuries overcoming him. Riza and Al brush off his thanks and prepare to get a medic aw HELL no I’d forgotten about Bradley, he’s just outside the room- but he just sheathed his sword and walked away. Bwuh? You’re letting them live? What’s your game, Wrath? Ok whatever, the Fuhrer is being mysterious, what else is new, just get Roy and Havoc some help right now! Oh yeah, Winry’s been left at the hotel all day. She’s telling herself over and over that Al’s alright. And here he is! A bit worse for wear, but nothing a little bit of TLT (Tender Loving Transmutation) won’t fix! And he can even do it himself, so no worries Winry! [Winry]: “Moron! Welcome back!” [Al]: “Uh, okay… thanks!” Aw, laugh it out you two. And maybe get some glue for Al’s arm. Wait, Barry’s still alive?! Oh, Lust missed his sigil with her attack, so he’s down to just that little piece of sheet metal. But he’ll be back- wait, BioBarry’s still alive?! How in Leto’s name did he survive all of the FIRE? Well whatever, we get a part-funny, part-bittersweet moment as dumb old BioBarry paws at Barry’s sigil, wiping it away and sending The Butcher off for good. Sayanora, you homicidal maniac. Thanks for your help in the end. Oh hey, Al! How you doing, Protagonist? The Mighty Armstrong and Breda are seeing him off at the train station, is he finally going back to Central to rejoin the Blonde Kids? Well, at least Al will have one heck of a story for him. Never mind, looks like a detour to the graveyard… where there’s someone there? In a brown coat with blond hair… no, it can’t be… It’s him. The man we’ve only seen in flashbacks and the intro. The man who’s forever covered up in pictures. It’s Papa Elric. It’s Hohenheim. … And THAT’S WHERE WE END THE EPISODE?! WHAT THE-

#wmtw #where my twin watches #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 19 #ranubis

2 notes · View notes

cutepresea · 5 years ago

Text

XD0-5 Gjallarhorn Prologue: A Chance Meeting

Sorry again for the spam. This will be the last of these before Valkyries’ Summer in late June.

If you want to blacklist these, you can use either the tag #gjallarhorn prologue or #xdu scripts

Reminder that these are copied straight from XD Unlimited itself, so any grammatical weirdness, mistranslations, and/or mischaracterizations are not my doing.

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Watch out!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "It's coming this way!"

Miku Kohinata: (I promised Hibiki. I promised that I was going to protect her!)

Chris Yukine: "I can't believe how big this thing is..."

Maria: "It really is massive. I have no idea where to start."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "You could broil it up and feed an army."

Kirika Akatsuki: "Sh-Shirabe? You aren't planning on eating it, surely?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Baked or broiled, nobody is eating anything until we bring it down."

Maria: "Yeah. Let's take it down before it makes more Karma Noise!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Yes. The early bird gets the worm, after all!"

Chris Yukine: "I'm gonna skewer this thing with bullets!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "Wh-What?! Her bullets went right through it?!"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Can it possibly be ephemeral?"

Maria: "That's not it. When her bullets passed through it, it wavered slightly."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Meaning that it isn't completely immune to the laws of physics."

Kirika Akatsuki: "So it's like the first Karma Noise that appeared in this world?"

Maria: "Possibly. If we can just get our attacks to land somehow..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "All we can do is trust in our songs, and keep fighting!”

Tsubasa Kazanari & Maria: "Yaah!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "We're right behind you!"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Let's go, Kiri-chan!"

Chris Yukine: "We'll cover you from afar!"

Miku Kohinata: "......"

Chris Yukine: "Hey! Are you listening?!"

Miku Kohinata: "Y-Yes, I hear you!"

Miku Kohinata: (I have to help Hibiki, and everyone else. I won't fail this time!)

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Our attacks are landing, but...." [1]

Kirika Akatsuki: "I can't see any sort of damage being done."

Chris Yukine: "Yeah... Its body just shakes and seems to fade for a second."

Maria: "I'm not sure if our attacks are dealing with the miasma, but it seems we've kept it from making more Noise."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "But we need to find a way to damage this creature."

Kirika Akatsuki: "We'll just wear ourselves out at this rate."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "HQ, any leads on a strategy to deal with this?"

Elfnein: "We're analyzing the data now!"

Elfnein: "I will try to temporarily recode the tuning algorithm for the Phase Contrast Barrier."

Maria: "Also, what's the status on the evacuation of the local population?"

Aoi Tomosato: "The effected area is very large. Not even half have evacuated yet." [2]

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Please work on both tasks as quick as you can! We don't know how much longer we can contain it!"

Chris Yukine: (And that's not our only problem, either...)

Miku Kohinata: "Haah... Haah... Haah..."

Chris Yukine: (She's exhausted.)

Chris Yukine: (Even in a normal battle, she'd be dead tired by now wielding a Gear she isn't used to yet.)

Miku Kohinata: (My body... won't do what I tell it to anymore.)

Miku Kohinata: (I have to fight on Hibiki's behalf!)

Miku Kohinata: (I promised I would protect her. But now, she's going to--)

Chris Yukine: "Snap out of it, moron!"

Miku Kohinata: "Huh?!"

Miku Kohinata: "Aaaah?!"

Chris Yukine: "Guh?!"

Miku Kohinata: "Ch-Chris!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Yukine!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "Chris-senpai!"

Chris Yukine: "Oww... You okay?"

Miku Kohinata: "Forget about me! What about you?!"

Chris Yukine: "Don't sweat it. It takes a lot more than that to take me down."

Chris Yukine: "Now get your head back in the game! Got it?"

Miku Kohinata: "Y-Yeah..."

Miku Kohinata: (I'm holding everyone back again...)

Tsubasa Kazanari: (Guh! We're losing our formation!)

Maria: (It's taking advantage of the lapse in our assault.)

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: (Damn, we lost our grip on it!) [3]

Kirika Akatsuki: "It's coming this way!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Get back into formation! Prepare to engage!"

Chris Yukine: "Watch out, I feel like the next one is going to be big!"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "What can we even do?!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "There's nowhere to run or hide, you know!"

Maria: "Everyone, get behind me!"

Maria: "Ngh!"

Maria: (Please, I just need a little longer...)

Maria: (Crap! I can't hold it back!)

Wielders: "Aaaaaaaaaah?!"

Maria: "I-Is everyone all right?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Barely, but thanks to your shield..."

Kirika Akatsuki: "We're alive..."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "For the moment, that is..."

Chris Yukine: "Tch. This is so not fair..."

Miku Kohinata: "What can we do?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I can't think of any way to stop it..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Even if we used our Superb Songs, would they even get through to that thing?"

Maria: "I agree. This isn't something we can solve with brute force."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "But if we don't do something..."

Kirika Akatsuki: "I don't want to see us all die here."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "What?!"

Maria: "Oh, no... It's got even more energy than it had before!"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "An even larger energy source is converging on the enemy."

Aoi Tomosato: "There's... so much energy!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "What's wrong?!"

Aoi Tomosato: "If this much energy is released at once, the city and the surrounding area will be reduced to ashes!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "What?!"

Genjuro Kazanari: (We haven't even evacuated all of the civilians yet, but we can't just leavea all of our wielders in there--)

Aoi Tomosato: "Everyone, retreat immediately! Get out of there!"

Maria: "Retreat? Have the civilians been evacuated yet?!"

Aoi Tomosato: "They..."

Maria: "Then there's no way we can leave yet!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "If we run now, it's going to blow up the whole city, right?!"

Chris Yukine: "How the hell could we just run away?!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Girls..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: " guardian is both a sword and shield for the innocent. Abandoning those I am tasked with is unacceptable."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Tsubasa!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "It's coming!"

Maria: (Don't fail me now, Airget-lamh...)

Maria: "Everyone, get behind me again!"

Elfnein: "That will never work! The energy of this attack is far beyond the previous one!"

Maria: "If I can dampen the attack's power even a little, the others will have a better chance of survival!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Yeah, as long as we have the strength for a single attack, there's still hope."

Chris Yukine: "I'd give my life to slit that thing's throat!"

Miku Kohinata: "......"

Miku Kohinata: "Before it's too late, I want to try something."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Try what?"

Miku Kohinata: "My Superb Song. I don't know if it'll work, but I at least want to try!"

Chris Yukine: "What the hell are you saying?!"

Miku Kohinata: "If doing nothing means we're all going to die, then I..."

Miku Kohinata: (Instead of being a burden, I can sacrifice myself, if it gives them at least a chance to survive--)

Chris Yukine: "No! Do you think that idiot would ever forgive us if we let you die?!"

Miku Kohinata: "But what about--"

Maria: "Oh, no! It's--"

Aoi Tomosato: "Get out of there!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "How could this happen..."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Aaaah!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "Wh-What was that light?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "It was like blue lightning!"

Chris YUkine: "Forget about that. Are we still alive?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Yeah, somehow..."

Maria: "Did it cancel out the monster's energy blast?"

Miku Kohinata: "Huh... What happened?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "What was that light?"

Maria: "Wait, there's someone behind us!"

???: "Wow, that was a close one." [4]

???: "Can't cut it much closer than that."

Maria: "I'm guessing she isn't a civilian straggler?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Who are you?!"

???: "Stand aside, girls."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "What?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: (She raised her hand to signal to someone.)

Tsubasa Kazanari: (Does she have reinforcements hiding somewhere?)

Kirika Akatsuki: "It's that light again!"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "It's heading right for the monster!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "It's working?!"

Maria: "Look... The monster is disappearing!"

Chris Yukine: "What the hell was that?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "She beat that thing? Or did it just disappear?"

Elfnein: "All signs of the monster's presence have vanished. The Gjallarhorn alert has stopped, but what was it?"

???: "What you saw in this world was only its projected reflection. The real one is in another dimension."

Maria: "Its reflection?"

Chris Yukine: "You're shady as hell. Just who are you?"

???: "I don't have time to tell you my life story, but let's just say that I'm not your enemy."

???: "So, do you happen to have Gjallarhorn by any chance?"

Wielders: "What?!"

???: "Yep, that reaction speaks volumes. You do have it, don't you?"

???: "By the way, is the girl on the ground back there all right?"

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki?!"

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki!"

Miku Kohinata: "Oh, good, she's okay."

???: "But wow, I can't believe there are seven of you."

???: "Yes, I understand."

???: "Well, I've got a monster to chase. I'll be going now."

Chris Yukine: "Chase? But how?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Wait! We still have questions--"

???: "You have Gjallarhorn, so you'll likely see me again very soon. I'll tell you the rest then."

Maria: "Because we have Gjallarhorn? What do you know?"

???: "The World Serpent is gathering strength, and parallel worlds are being destroyed."

???: "There will come a time when this world will also fall prey to its onslaught."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "When you say the World Serpent..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: (Was that the monster we just fought?)

???: "It's a magical beast that travels across the many parallel worlds, siphoning life from the stars."

???: "I'm sure you've been hearing it. The footsteps of ruin, I mean."

???: "Could you wielders be the sword that slays the beast?"

???: "Wielders of Gjallarhorn's choosing, we will meet again soon."

Maria: "She's gone..."

Chris Yukine: "What in the hell just happened?"

Kirika Akatsuki: "This is just crazy! I can't believe someone else knows about Gjallarhorn!"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "She knew all about the parallel worlds, too."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "So that monster was the World Serpent... A magical beast siphoning life from the stars."

Sakuya Fujitaka: "Well, we've somehow managed to avert a crisis."

Aoi Tomosato: "Yeah, the city was saved, and our wielders made it back alive, but..."

Elfnein: "......"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Where in the world did that woman come from?"

Aoi Tomosato: "When she disappeared, several life forms in the area vanished from our readings at the same time."

Aoi Tomosato: "It's likely she didn't come alone."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Could she have come from a group with a technology to easily drive off that monster?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "I can only hope that they are on our side."

Aoi Tomosato: "Commander, there's more. When they disappeared, we had energy readings like those of Gjallarhorn's transport."

Genjuro Kazanari: "What?! Then that much mean..."

Elfnein: "They can travel between parallel worlds, too."

Genjuro Kazanari: "But how do they do it without the Gjallarhorn?"

Elfnein: "I cannot say for sure..."

Elfnein: "But they seemed to know even more than we do about Gjallarhorn and parallel worlds."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Hmm..."

Elfnein: (That aside, what could this World Serpent that is destroying parallel worlds be?)

Elfnein: (If something like that really exists, it is going to affect more than just our world.)

Elfnein: (The World Serpent, the destruction of parallel worlds, and Gjallarhorn...)

Elfnein: (The wielders have traversed many parallel worlds, rooting out abnormalities along the way...)

Elfnein: (But it appears the real battle has yet to begin.)

Notes:

[1] a rare four dot ellipsis

[2] "effected" should be "affected"

[3] Just like with Serena a couple parts ago, this was originally "dame" and probably would've been better translated as "No!" to stay a bit more in character

[4] Her name is Mina. Or Miina. Or Mena. Depending on how you wanna spell it.

#senki zesshou symphogear xd unlimited #symphogear xd unlimited #senki zesshou symphogear #symphogear #gjallarhorn prologue #xdu scripts

1 note · View note

darkhymns-fic · 6 years ago

Text

In a Sea of Promises

In all of the promises Lloyd had made to Colette, one of them had been how he would teach Colette how to swim. And he always made sure to keep his promises.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairings: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel Rating: G Mirror Links: AO3 Notes: For @colloydweek Day 1: Promises! Expect fluff.

In Iselia, the summers were usually dry, everything so enclosed within thick forests, but the earth would smell rich after a sudden shower from the skies. It was after these rainy days that Lloyd would go rushing downstream, following the winding river that snaked past his house and into glades that reflected brighter green underneath the sun’s rays.

Colette was not supposed to go past the town’s perimeters unless accompanied by priests, but summer days made everyone lax, including those who would guard the gates. So she and Lloyd had easily passed, soon finding his favorite wading spot among the leaves, where flying insects that would sometimes skid across the water.

“You wanna come in?” Lloyd asked her. He was already waist deep in the water, his jacket and shirt laying on the grass, his pants now soaked. He was trying to catch some fish that slipped by his legs with his bare hands, all his attempts turning out unsuccessful. But he knew he’d get it eventually!

Colette was seated on the edge of the river, boots off to let her feet splash in the water. Her hair was slightly damp with sweat from the heat, her overcoat taken off to get her some relief, leaving her in her dress. But she shook her head. “It looks kinda deep in there…”

“Just a little! Only when you go over here-” He demonstrated by stepping a few feet to his right, then slipped underwater suddenly. His head broke through the surface again after a moment, shaking his now soaked hair. “Guh! Uh, yeah! Just a little bit.”

Colette giggled, her hands clasped neatly over her knees, moving her legs back and forth. “Hm, I can’t really swim though. And.. I might get in trouble if they knew I was trying to swim.” Her whole dress would take too long to dry off if she tried diving with it.

“Aw, okay.” Lloyd and Genis would go swimming all the time, and though he knew Colette couldn’t really join him, it hadn’t stopped him from asking. Even still…

“Maybe I can teach you next time though?”

Colette raised her head. The sun shone brightly on her hair.

“Yeah! I can teach you! That’d be okay, right? I can bring some of my clothes so you don’t have to use your dress when swimming.” He didn’t notice the blush on her cheeks as he tried devising this plan.

“Is that really okay?” she asked, her voice low, enough that he needed to swim a bit closer to her to hear.

“Sure! If you don’t believe me then… I promise to teach you how to swim! Okay?”

Colette smiled, her feet splashing the water happily. “Y-yeah! Next time, for sure!”

“Hey, you’re splashing on me!”

They both laughed, all while the sun was beginning to set, coloring the sky numerous shades of red and orange. “It’s getting late… but next time then?” Colette asked hopefully.

Lloyd nodded. “Yeah, I told you! It’s a promise!”

But that had been just a few weeks before Colette’s journey, and in a bunch of other promises he made, that particular one had slipped his mind…

The heat underneath Tethe’alla’s sun was much like Sylvarant’s, but the salt spray from the ocean made it different, especially when combined with the humidity. Not like the dry heat of Iselia’s forests, where instead of salt, it was the scent of pine that invaded your senses. But it didn’t make Lloyd not want to go into the waters any less!

“Colette! Come on!” Lloyd was already dashing on the sands, the giant diving flippers he wore nearly making him trip. Some people stared at the boy who not only wore the giant flippers but also diving goggles complete with a snorkel, some of those people including a sighing Zelos.

“He’s such a kid. Never going to get anywhere with anyone dressed like that, right, hunny?” He leaned near a certain voluptuous lady, grinning wide in his speedo and donned sunglasses.

Sheena narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you talking to me?”

“Lloyd! Too fast!” a voice called out across the beach. Colette was rushing after Lloyd, her bare feet gently padding along the shore, her braided hair bouncing across her back as she moved. Once she reached the water, she flinched, even as the water pulled back, damping the sand beneath her. “It’s cold!”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be!” The rivers near his home were not at all like the waves that kept crashing on Altamira’s shore. Lloyd was already diving through them (forgetting to lower the goggles over his eyes), before coming back to the surface. He accidentally swallowed some of the water which was really salty, but he was okay after coughing for a little while. “Come in already! (Cough!) We can play water tag!”

Colette, however, remained at the shore. Though she smiled as the water rushed around her ankles, she made no move towards Lloyd. “Umm.. I think I’m okay here!”

Well, that wasn't any fun though. Unless she wanted to make some sandcastles, but he and Genis had already started making some earlier that day… until Genis got mad that Lloyd was making a better sand castle than he was.

He was getting distracted, so Lloyd swam back onto the shore, half of a flipper getting caught inside the densely packed sand until he freed it loose. “Is something wrong?”

Colette scratched the side of her cheek nervously. The sun beat down on her hair, burnishing it an even brighter shade of gold. “Ah, sorry! I'm just a little… it's very different from the rivers and…”

The answer soon came to him before she could say it. “Oh man, I forgot already!” That’s right, Colette didn't know how to swim!

“I'm sorry,” she apologized again, knowing what he meant. “It looks like fun though! Maybe Zelos will join you.”

“I don't think he's going to really...” Lloyd mused. At one end of the beach, he could see Zelos being yanked by his hair. Sheena had curled his locks around her fingers, dragging him down as a high-pitched yell erupted from Zelos’ throat. “He looks busy.”

Oddly, Zelos’ screaming jogged an old memory of Lloyd’s.

“Hey, didn't I promise you something?” Okay, well he promised a lot of things but this one was particularly important!

“Oh? What is it?” she asked.

“I said one day I'd teach you how to swim, right?” He remembered the river, Colette seated on the bank, her smile much wider than it usually was, always wider when they sneaked away from the town. “How about it?” He grinned. “We can have those swimming lessons finally!”

“Ah, really?” She looked suddenly so excited, before tempering that away. Just like back then, she pulled back to nervousness, hands fiddling with the tied-up sash that circled her waist, covering part of her bathing suit. “Oh, but… I don't want to get in the way. It'll probably be boring to teach me and we don't get to relax often…”

“No way, how would it be boring?” That didn't make sense to him. The beach was nice and there were no weird worries about the town getting mad. He reached for her hand, noting how wet and clammy his own palm was against her own. “It’ll be fun!”

Still, Colette hesitated, looking at the ground. The water lapped around their ankles before leaving them in the surf. “The water does feel nice…” she murmured. Maybe she still had all those fears from back then, even if right now they didn't matter. He had to come up with a way to convince her...

“If you learn to swim today, um… I’ll give you something!”

Okay, wait, what actually?

Colette turned back to him with wide eyes. “Oh?”

“Yeah!” he said, already going full on ahead with this choice. “Think of it as like… a reward! For doing stuff!”

“That sounds really fun! What reward do I get?”

Lloyd had no idea. “It’s a surprise!” He really had no idea. “That makes it more fun!” Yeah, he had no clue.

“Oh, it does!” Colette readily agreed. “Then… I guess should try to learn today! And I’ll try to do good too! I hope I don't slow you down.”

“Nah, you won’t,” he said, pulling her along. Maybe he had a spare necklace in his pack somewhere. “And… I’ll promise it’ll be a good reward too!” Now he was just digging himself deeper…

But he could keep his promises to her, and he was sure he could keep this one too.

It was a bit different out here than in the river. The water moved constantly around them, the currents of the waves stronger than either were used to. But Lloyd kept ahold of Colette’s hand until they were just waist deep in the ocean, where the waves didn’t build up as much.

“When we go in a little further, our feet won’t reach the ground anymore. But I got you, okay?”

Colette had her other hand outstretched in the water, her eyes focused around them. “Okay! Do we go out further now or…?”

Lloyd was thinking on how exactly to do this. He had never taught anyone to swim really… and he just sort of learned how to by himself. (Dirk had always talked about how dwarves just sank in deep water.) Then he remembered something that Noishe would do when he swam.

Lloyd reached out for Colette’s other hand, gripping it tight. “Here, first let’s try the doggy paddle! That one’s easy enough.”

He knew immediately that would get Colette’s full attention. “A doggy paddle?” Her eyes widened with glee. “Does that mean doggies swim this way?”

“Yeah, basically!” He didn’t see any dogs on the beach though, and Noishe was stabled somewhere, too afraid of the people again. “But you can also swim with dogs like this!” He pulled at her arms slightly, getting her body to stretch out in the water. The end of her twin braided hair was soaked now, falling beneath the surface. “Just kick up your legs from behind and you’ll start moving.”

Colette looked a bit reluctant to just have her feet leave the seafloor. He could see her hopping a little, fingers entwining with his. “Mm, but what if I trip?”

“I don’t think you can trip in the water… well, maybe!” With Colette, anything was possible. Then another idea took over. “It’s like flying, isn’t it? When you just float in the air? It’s the same thing here! But you’re floating in the water instead.”

With that explanation, he felt some of the tension in Colette’s fingers loosen. “Oh! I guess so…”

“Yeah! Go on, try it!”

Colette had always trusted Lloyd, especially when he was encouraging. She soon moved her body, letting the water buoy her as got she into a horizontal position. “Is, um, this okay?”

Lloyd made sure to keep his grip on her, smiling wide. “Yep. Now try kicking your feet.”

There was something incredibly adorable in the way Colette had to follow his next suggestion. It was like she worried that her feet would still find some way to betray her, but he heard the splashing from behind Colette, the slow way she moved towards him.

Lloyd started to float backwards, helping her along through their clasped hands. “See? It’s easy!”

She was smiling so wide, the sea spray damping her hair, the water hugging her, reflecting flashes of the sun all around her. “Hehe, it is kinda easy… and fun!”

Colette didn’t kick as fast as Noishe did, but she was still doing it! Lloyd figured that was the important thing. After a few minutes of them going across the ocean’s surface this way, Colette kicking as happily as can be, Lloyd decided to try the next step.

“Okay, so I’m going to start letting go a bit more, but you keep on kicking like that, okay?”

Colette blinked, her cheerful expression soon marred with worry. “Ah, are you sure?”

“Yeah! I’ll go slow, so it’s like…” Carefully, Lloyd let slide his fingers over her own, so that their once clasped hands now loosened. The water made the action happen a bit faster than intended. “Just keep swimming, Colette! Use your hands to paddle when I let go!”

“O… okay! Just, um..” He felt her fingers reflexively curl around his, but still he kept trying to go through their lesson. Both their arms straightened out as the space between them widened. The water, with its ever-shifting currents, helped with their separation. Maybe too much though, as Lloyd noted Colette’s kicking had turned from an even rhythm into small flailing.

Before he could say anything, Colette’s upper body then began to sink a little – she had gone overboard in her paddling! As if she was desperately trying to swim over to him but lost her balance while doing so. Her chin went in the water, eyes widening in surprise.

“Ah!” she yelled, or tried to, as her voice was muffled by the water.

“Whoa, it’s okay, I got you!” Maybe they had done this part of the lesson too quick. Lloyd tried to pull her up, reaffirming his grip on her hands. Soon, Colette was already rising to the surface.

And then above the surface, and then – wait, now she was pulling him instead! And upwards! “C-Colette! Wait a second!”

“Oh, whoops!” Colette giggled as she hovered in the air, her wings spread out behind her. “I got nervous… sorry.”

She wasn’t carrying him up too far just yet, but Lloyd could feel himself stretching, his lower half still in the water, as he more or less hung onto Colette. “Did you just panic summon your wings?”

“I didn’t mean to!”

Laughter bubbled in his throat. Part of him wondered if he should just let her carry him like this, flying them both across the ocean. But then, they wouldn’t exactly be swimming anymore if they did that. Lloyd shifted his hands so that they traveled up her forearms for a better hold, urging her to come back. “You dork. You won’t get your reward if you just fly!”

“Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry!” Gently, Colette fluttered back to the water’s surface. She let herself submerge, just up to her torso. Her own hands held onto Lloyd’s arms now. “I won’t mess up this time!”

“And no more apologizing,” he reprimanded. Still, this had been even more fun than expected. He saw a flush of excitement on Colette’s cheeks, whether from the swimming or the sunshine, he wasn’t sure. But she looked really happy – it was always really strange that she was never allowed to do something as simple as swimming. But there were a lot of things she hadn’t been able to do, and Lloyd wanted to help change that for her.

Also, he still needed to figure out a prize for her… Maybe he could win something at the casinos! Oh wait, Regal said he wasn’t allowed to play there. Well, last minute gifts were his specialty anyway, one he was aware of as he saw Colette’s necklace hang down her neck, the sunshine reflecting off its metal surface. The salt spray wouldn’t ruin the finish or rust the chain, forged of special materials known only to dwarves. But he could probably make something better…

“Am I being too much trouble though?” she suddenly asked.

He smiled. “Hey, I promised I’d teach you and that’s what I’m doing! Unless you wanna stop.”

“Mm, no, I want you to teach me.” She nodded. “I want that a lot!”

“Alright!” He tightened his grip on her arms. “Let’s go!”

Lloyd and Colette might have let time get away from them, and they may have forgotten their friends back on land, who started to leave for the comfort of the hotel one by one.

“Hey! We’re going now!” But Genis’ voice couldn’t seem to reach them. He could still hear them splashing, Lloyd’s own loud and encouraging voice traveling over the water, but only aimed at one person. “Ugh, they’re too far out.”

“They’ll be alright,” his sister commented, already heading up towards the beach exit, gesturing for him to follow. “Now let’s go. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

“You just don’t want to be near the water…” he grumbled, but went after her. His two friends apparently had more important things to be busy with today.

Colette had been doing a few swimming techniques Lloyd had taught her – the doggy paddle, a few ways to dive, and even how to float on her back. But Lloyd still tried to get her to actually swim, and once remembering how she tried to get to him when he moved away, it gave him another idea.

“You’re balancing okay?”

Colette’s hands were sifting in the water, but she was afloat, standing within the water despite her feet not touching the ground. “Y-yeah, I think.”

“Okay, now try to catch up to me!”

“Wh-”

Lloyd was soon swimming further out, feet kicking through the water until he was quite a bit aways. But he turned back to her, hands waving. “Over here! You can do it!”

Colette hesitated, but not for too long. “R-right!” Cheeks puffed out and eyes bright, Colette employed everything Lloyd taught her, letting her body get held up by the water, using her arms to paddle through it. She nearly upended herself a few times, somehow, but got back into position, slowly cutting through the water to reach Lloyd.

“No wings!” he called out. “Well, unless you really need them!” If Colette found herself overwhelmed by the currents, her wings could help her out with that.

“I’m… okay!” she gasped out, and soon enough, she was just a few feet towards Lloyd, limbs a little shaky, but still there. To help her out, he reached out to grab her arms, and then swung her around, the water droplets falling off Colette and onto him during the momentum.

“Lloyd!” she said with a laugh, and soon she was lowered back to the water, half-falling against him, her hands placed against his shoulders. “I would have tripped!”

“Nah, I had you!” He squeezed her arms in reassurance.

Colette was raising her head to him, her eyes soon seeing past him towards the sky. “Oh, it’s getting dark.”

Lloyd blinked, then raised his head as well. The sky was painted with hues of red and orange, the sun leaving trails of its light within the expanse. The air felt a little colder too. How long have they been out here?

“Ah man, my hands are probably all wrinkly and stuff,” Lloyd complained. Then remembered something even more important! “Agh, we probably missed dinner too!”

Colette lifted her head at that, then looked towards the beach. “Oh! I guess so. Genis isn’t here.”

Well, Lloyd supposed he could munch on some gels instead… “Still though, I can’t believe I didn’t notice the time. I was really into those lessons!”

“Yeah!” Colette readily agreed. Her braided hair was unraveled a bit now, Lloyd noticed. The sea breeze picked it up, lifting it to the air. “Me too… Did I do good, you think?”

Lloyd gave her a thumbs up. “Yep! I’d say you passed the lessons. You can swim for sure now!”

With a cheerful laugh, she bounced a bit in his hold, the water current unconsciously bringing her closer. “Thank you, Lloyd! So, um…” She fiddled with her hands. “You said I’d get a prize if I learned, right?”

“Hm?” A low, passing wave shifted them again, and somehow making him remember. “Oh! Right, that was… yeah!” Maybe he could say it was in his room. And then, quickly make her a bracelet or something in 10 minutes? He might have some spare ones…

“Lloyd?” she asked curiously, seeing him hesitate. “It’s okay if I don’t get anything though. Swimming was really fun.”

“No, no, just uh…” He could come up with something, couldn’t he? And then it did, and then it wouldn’t leave his head.

It was really the only thing he had left on his mind. He couldn’t make her a figure out here, or win her a prize at the amusement park, or anything that sounded at least somewhat cool. But he still wasn’t entirely sure where the idea came from.

When he kissed her, he felt Colette shiver, but not pull away. The water held them both, all throughout his clumsy kiss, tasting the salt on her lips. There was a small sound from her, very soft, and her hands then moved against his chest as her mouth pressed against his.

So, uh, he had to keep kissing her. For the reward, and, yeah.

“U-um, Lloyd,” she whispered, lifting her lips away slightly. How come…? “Your goggles…”

Oh. Oh! “Oh, sorry!” He pulled back, seeing the slight indentation of his goggles against her forehead. Ah man, he had been too stupid. “Sorry, didn’t mean to uh…” Maybe Zelos was right about this dumb thing. He never actually wore it!

Also, he had just kissed her with no warning at all. It just seemed… like a thing to do? He started to let go, but Colette hadn’t moved from him at all, although she rubbed at her forehead a bit. Man, he was an idiot.

“Um, should probably go back, I guess,” he said. Also, he should probably make her an actual prize instead of just whatever that had been…

Then he heard her say, “Thank you, Lloyd. For keeping your promises to me like always.”

That had surprised him to hear. He looked at her, at the way she smiled up at him, the line in her forehead finally fading. The waves shifted around them again, paralleling the hues of red and orange from above.

“And for the prize, too! I’ll… try to earn some more!” Her smiled morphed to a grin, hands still on him, the water so comfortable between them.

“Huh, well… I think you’ve earned plenty more?” Lloyd said, again wondering where all this was coming from. “And I still probably need to give them to you.” Wow, he really didn’t understand but here he was, talking about it.

Colette seemed very okay with that. “Without the goggles though?”

Lloyd laughed, pulling at the strap around his head. “Y-yeah, without the goggles.”

He gave her a few more prizes for her hard work then, the waters calm despite the darkening sky. He’d made a lot of promises to Colette over the years, but he was really glad he kept this one to her.

#tales of symphonia #colloyd #lloyd irving #colette brunel #colloydweek2019 #colloydweek #fanfiction #one shot

23 notes · View notes

merigreenleaf · 6 years ago

Text

WIP Rambles Thing

It's been forever since I did any tag games, so I'm super excited that @bluemartlet tagged me in this! And @toboldlywrite asked to be tagged, too. I feel like such a weird writer, though, because everything I’ve worked on in the past five years has been the same series. So I guess if you forgot about dorks, here’s dorks! (There’s info about the characters here or here if you’re on mobile.)

1. Colorweaver (rewriting/editing the guh... 4th draft? Parts have been rewritten six times, but some parts only twice, so I guess that averages to a 4th?) Genre: These are all the same comedic contemporary high fantasy series POV: 3rd person close/limited, multiple POV; in the current draft there are 3 (Adair, Blythe, Dray) plus letters/journal entries from Rosalie Blurb: Adair Cerulean is an amateur cartographer with the ability to make his drawings have the semblance of life. Like the other creators who possess magic and channel this through art, Adair is a Weaver. Adair is in the process of working on the project that, once complete, would advance him in rank when he discovers it missing! As its new owner seeks out more Weavers, Adair feels a tug from his creation to follow. This pull leads him to a carnival where he meets a healer standing guard over a stricken performer. It turns out that his thief is more than a mere robber and there’s more at stake than just a stolen map. Will Adair get it back and stop the thief before anyone else is hurt?

2. Sentinel (writing the 3rd draft, but technically there have been 6 versions; the others were detailed outlines. This has been hard to nail down!) POV: Ditto; POVs are Adair, Blythe, Firedrake, and Rosalie who gets normal chapters in this one. Blurb: Adair has recovered his stolen map and acquired a new family who will -- with luck and a lack of imps -- protect him in the future. His elation is short-lived, however. The other artists refuse to accept his choice of sentinel-intended or his desire to help as magic in the capital city begins to go awry. When an enemy thought to be defeated returns to team up with someone from Adair's past, he and his family start receiving cryptic advice seemingly from the future. Caught between past and present, and hoping they don’t muck up said future, the dorks must decide how far they’re willing to defy authority, their own arcane training, and calendars.

3. Untitled (brainstorming 1st draft) POV: Ditto, although by this point I might throw in a 5th and add Camille into the mix. This book snuck into a previously-planned trilogy a few months ago so it’s the newcomer of this quartet. Blurb: Adair has been begrudgingly promoted and is now able to practice his cartography wherever he chooses. The dorks, along with their fledgling carnival troupe, are asked to travel to the neighboring country to check for anyone showing signs of magic. This is a cover to hide their real task of investigating the possible source of the arcane glitches happening back home in Concordia. They soon find out that Galanvoth’s plotting goes deeper than anyone thought. It’s up to the dorks to do their own kind of bizarre plotting involving disguises and a fake marriage trope to get to the truth. Will they be able to uncover the people responsible before the magical disruption turns into permanent damage to their home?

4. Iconoclasm (first draft started, but needs to be massively re-outlined) POV: Ditto and I have no idea who else might be joining by this point lol Blurb: As if the previous assignment wasn’t weird enough, a being straight out of history approaches the artists with a plea. There's trouble in his home and he asks that the help he once gave be returned. His only requirement is that the dorks be the ones sent, much to their dismay. Three of them are fugitives and Montglace doesn't exactly embrace outsiders with open arms. Fortunately there's a resistance brewing and those rebels are more than happy to accept strangers into their midst-- at least until they realize how strange said strangers are. When the dorks are forced apart, they begin to realize that they can never truly be separated. If they can find a way to weave their magics into each other and face their greatest fears, they just might be able to help bring down a stagnant and cruel mythos. And hey, if they can do this, facing their own people to tell them that they kinda broke artisan tradition (again) and mucked with magic (again) won’t be nearly as bad, right?

I have two more under the read more. :)

5. Shadowweaver (book 1 in the next trilogy. 1st draft is sorta started-- it was originally part of Sentinel before I pulled Gilly’s subplot out of it and moved her later in the series) POV: Still 3rd person limited, multiple. Likely Gilly, Grandeau, and Astra, but this trilogy is weird because it takes place in two points on the timeline with one of the MCs serving as a bridge and I’m not sure yet how much of Astra’s plot fits into the first book. (I introduced Gilly, Chell, and Ametrine here. Ametrine is the dorks’ adopted son, Astra is his younger sister [not adopted], and Grandeau is Gilly’s brother although she doesn’t know that yet.) Blurb: Gilly is a carnival performer, thief, and ghost-freer who shares these jobs with her roommate/best friend Ametrine. While the two of them are tracking down art that was illegally gained by a dishonest art dealer, the dealer’s sister catches Gilly in the act. She gets away, but is intrigued by this girl whose weak voice is oddly captivating. She finds herself drawn back and soon discovers that while Chantrell is confined in her own home, she isn’t as sick as she appears, nor is she as dead as people seem to think she is. Gilly is determined to find out the truth and, with Ametrine’s help, set her new friend free.

6. Sciamachy (book 2 in the next trilogy, brainstorming) Blurb: Chantrell has joined Gilly and Ametrine on their thieving and ghost hunting adventures; with her magical ability to produce any sound, Chell is the perfect distraction for the others’ heists. It’s during one of these encounters that Gilly notices a shadow that shouldn’t be there. Meanwhile Astra, twenty years in the future, notices the same thing. Someone or something is trying to reach out to the girls using the shadow magic they both share. Could this be connected to the elementals that Astra has discovered are being used to power Galanvoth’s inventions?

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

I have other stories in progress or in the planning stages, but those are short stories, so I didn’t include them here. I have ideas for way more books because my plan is to make this a huge sprawling series that spans centuries and locations (and possibly worlds). Like I want to write one about the founding of Concordia and the Muses and my immortal character back when she was very young, and maybe more following that character at different points on the timeline, and one that follows the “antagonist” of Colorweaver, and... well, I’ve been working on this series for five years and I’d gladly work on it for another fifty. :D

I’m not sure if you’ve done this yet, but I’m going to tag @lynnafred @elliot-orion @lady-redshield-writes @homesteadhorner @perringwrites @joshuaorrizonte @thatwriternamedvolk @theguildedtypewriter and anyone else who happens to see this and wants to play because I’ve been gone WAY too long and I need a recap on what everyone is working on. So if you’ve done this before or have a similar post already shared, feel free to link me to it or tag me in it. No need to do a tag game, I just would love reminders of what everyone is writing. <3

#writing #writeblr #my writing ramblings #unexpected inspiration series #tag game #wip tag #blurbs are so hard #there are so many subplots going in these books that I could barely mention #like lizards #and gods #sort of gods anyway #I love how the dorks keep being dragged into things #because they can't leave well enough alone #and keep making really bad decisions that sometimes work out #I swear the only reason they survive their own stupidity to have kids later #is because they keep messing with magic in ways it's not supposed to be messed with #and because Adair's artisan bond makes them unkillable when the stupidity is individual #let's just not have more than one or two of them do something dumb at once okay?#ooo this is reminding me of a character world building thing I meant to share when I came back!#so all this tag rambling was useful lol #writing tag

26 notes · View notes

mashounen1945 · 3 years ago

Text

Oooh, constructive Shadow the Hedgehog discourse! I hope I'm not late for this. But I'll do this in parts.

Preserving tags:

#Shadow isn't an edgelord damnit

2) I've recently started to watch anime and play videogames with their original Japanese voice-acting, and I've noticed that Shadow originally didn't even sound or feel like the Sonic series' version of Vegeta. On the contrary, Shadow felt a lot more like Piccolo and Knuckles always was the one who felt much more like Vegeta, not only because of the voice-acting but personality-wise as well; coincidentally, that open rivalry SEGA currently say there is between Sonic and Shadow would feel more natural for me if it was between Sonic and Knuckles instead.

3) On the other hand, I can see why even people who are more familiar with the early 2000s era of Sonic would see Shadow as a bit of an edgelord. Many (if not all) branches of the story for the Shadow spin-off game lean hard into his behaviour's more stereotypically "edgy" elements. He can get pretty cocky sometimes, too; in SA2, it's hard to see because of how the models for the characters' muzzles were made, but Shadow smirks... so much! All the time! Of course, it's all superficial, none of these things defines him and he can still be heroic and caring, but we can't deny it: a bit of edgelord blood has always run through Shadow's veins.

4) SEGA certainly don't understand most of the Sonic series' support cast anymore, but I'm not sure if Shadow's portrayal by Shirō Maekawa shortly after SA2 was really the best either. Both SEGA (when turning Shadow into Furry Vegeta) and Maekawa (when keeping Shadow as one of the heroes and someone ultimately caring) seem to think this character can be good only if he stays in some sort of vicious cycle of emotional trauma, constantly reminding himself of Maria's wish and his memories of her; Maekawa also made Shadow amnesiac again after SA2, starting the whole "What even was Maria's wish?" thing all over again, and the Shadow Android subplot @caliginouscalico mentioned was also there (admittedly, Maekawa did have at least some plans for Shadow after Sonic 06, which sound really nice [https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/3/39/MaekawaIntENG.png/revision/latest?cb=20191121102243] [https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/5/56/MaekawaIntJP.png/revision/latest?cb=20191121102243], and @kingprinceleo had a great idea for a story with Shadow and Silver in Silver's good future, which would fit into those plans [https://kingprinceleo.tumblr.com/post/661338620545875968/for-yall-who-keep-asking-about-silver-their]). Also, probably the videogame lore surrounding Shadow was always kind of a mess because he was supposed to stay dead after SA2 and only came back because he was so popular (yes, there was a time when people thought Shadow was cool, the world was indeed a very different place 20 years ago). The only place where Shadow demonstrably survives, retains his memories, actually overcomes Maria's loss and goes on with his life while remaining a genuine hero is the Archie comics... Yeah, we're not gonna see Best Shadow ever again, are we? We all know both the fandom's and SEGA's opinions on the comics (okay, to be fair, the fandom largely admits Shadow was one of the very few things Archie did right; meanwhile, SEGA are the ones who don't care about any kind of "Western material" whatsoever).

5) By the way, Maria's disease is called NIDS only in the comics. It's not very complicated or an allegory or anything too deep, though: whoever was the writer back then (Karl Bollers, most likely, since he wrote the 1st attempt at an SA2 adaptation) saw Maria's disease and gave it a name.

5) After what @caliginouscalico mentioned about Shadow's family tree and him having canonically killed one of his dads, I can't help but think about similarities between Shadow and Samus Aran from Metroid, especially when we include the plot of the recently released Metroid Dread. @beevean, feel free to add this to the list of similarities between Sonic and Metroid.

6) The Shadow spin-off's story and all those ramifications are ultimately inconsequential for the videogame lore as a whole, but they might be useful as deconstructions and studies of Shadow's character from different angles. @beevean wrote extensively about it on these posts [https://beevean.tumblr.com/post/673575035098873856/could-you-make-a-masterpost-with-your-shadow-2005]. That game is also starting to be appreciated once again because it did some stuff most big videogame companies wouldn't dare to try today, as @shuttershocky explained here [https://shuttershocky.tumblr.com/post/676329048893472768/why-do-we-need-more-edgy-heroes-a-preteen-would].

7) I think we all know this here: no matter how much creative freedom the Sonic 3 live-action movie's writers have, they'll never do with Shadow anything remotely similar to what we have in the games.

wait i just saw an edgy post about shadow the hedgehog and they mentioned something about his back story?? what is this man’s backstory?? /gen

#long post #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #shadow the hedgehog #shiro maekawa #shirō maekawa #shadow the hedgehog 2005 #shadow the hedgehog (2005)#sonic adventure 2 #sa2 #sonic 2 spoilers #sonic movie 2 spoilers #sonic 2 movie spoilers #spoilers #spoiler #sonic 2 spoiler #sonic 2 movie spoiler #sonic movie 2 spoiler

17K notes · View notes

tozier-boy · 7 years ago

Text

The losers club Hogwarts AU

I said I would have done it and I did it. So here’s the first chapter of my Hogwarts Au! Any feedback is appreciated, and if you want to be added to my still nonexistent tag list, just say so!

All We Know

Chapter One Main pairing: Reddie Words count: 2306 Ao3

There was something oddly familiar in the smell of the train’s vapor, Eddie realized as he walked down the Hogwarts Express’ corridor. If he turned his head and glanced outside the window, he knew that he could have spotted his mother in the crowd, waving her arms (and probably elbowing anyone near her) and yelling some reminder about the pills being in the suitcase. But Eddie wasn’t turning his head, and he kept walking fast, praying for the train to leave soon.

It wasn’t like he wasn’t grateful to his mother for all the things she did for him, such as paying for his school supplies and send him treats from home every now and then, it was just that he was about to start his seventh and last year at Hogwarts, and the first years’ parents weren’t nearly as apprehensive and excited as his mom was.

It was embarrassing, and Eddie wasn’t having any of it. Not on his last first day, anyway. He was 17, for Merlin’ sake.

“Did you take your pills, Eddie-Bear? You know how dusty the library is! And your allergy might get pretty serious. Did you remember to pack your inhaler?” “Yes, mom.” “What about your Remembrall? So you’ll never forget to take your medications.” “Yes, mom.” “You’ll write to me, won’t you, Eddie? You wouldn’t forget about your mommy, right?” “No, mom.” “Will you be careful? You always need to be safe, Eddie. Do you promise you’ll always be safe?” “Yes, mom.” “You’re such a good boy, Eddie-Bear. Come give mommy a kiss.”

There was objectively nothing wrong about the whole dialogue. Except that it was entertained five minutes before. In the middle of the platform. In front of everyone. And of course, Mrs Kaspbrak knew nothing about keeping her voice down.

Getting on the Hogwarts Express was the thing Eddie looked forward to the most during his summers. September the 1st had been his favorite day since he was eleven years old, and nothing had changed that over the years. September the 1st meant Hogwarts. It meant friends and classes. It meant he got to sleep again in his cozy, warm bed in the Hufflepuff dormitory instead of bleach smelling sheets and it meant getting away from home. Eddie loved his mother, he really did, but Sonia Kaspbrak knew how to make it hard for him. Eddie didn’t feel like he needed his inhaler when he was at school, but he used it on a regular basis when he was at home. His mom lived in a muggle neighborhood. She moved there with Eddie’s father, since they both believed it would have been a safer and quieter choice, and decided to stay there after he died. Soon enough, she started to blend herself perfectly among muggles. She almost had a breakdown when Eddie got his letter, too afraid that something could have happened to her little angel in the wizarding world. If it wasn’t for the self washing dishes in the morning, Eddie would have believed his mother had lost her powers over the years. “Eddie-Bear! You’re such a good boy! Come give daddy a kiss!” Eddie stopped on his tracks as he heard that voice. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling tired already. When he opened them again, Richie Tozier’s head was popping out of a compartment. Eddie prayed that he was being mistaking, but Richie seemed taller, which was honestly unfair, because he was already the tallest of the group and it was just inacceptable for him to keep growing like that. His hair, over the summer, had grown wilder and messier, a splash of freckles still covered the boy’s nose and his front teeth were still a little too big, but that didn’t stop Richie from smiling from ear to ear. His eyes, as usual, looked way bigger behind his huge glasses. “Shut your mouth, Tozier.” Eddie hissed. Of course Richie had listened to the whole conversation he had with his mother, because that was just Eddie’s luck. “That’s it? You haven’t seen me in months and that’s the first thing you want to say to your best friend?” Richie said, in mock shock. “Bill’s my best friend.” Eddie reminded him, rolling his eyes and walking past him into the compartment. Richie brought his hands to his heard and bent in two, whining and moaning in pain. “For fuck’s sake, Richie, sit down and give us a break.” Stan scolded, leaning against the seat and sighing loudly. Eddie giggled and sat down next to him, and the two boys bumped their fists together as Richie sat in front of them, folding his arms on his chest. “You are both so lovely today, aren’t you?” He launched his legs between them, and yes, Eddie could definitely tell that Richie was taller. Eddie wrinkled his nose, but a smile was tugging the corner of his lips. Of course he had missed Richie. He had missed every single one of his friends, obviously, but Richie was the loudest, hence the one you’d immediately notice if he was not around. Yes, Richie was loud and annoying and obnoxious and his jokes were honestly terrible, but they all loved him immensely. “Am I particularly handsome today? Because you’re staring, Eds.” Richie said, smiling widely. Eddie’s eyes widened and his cheeks turned bright pink as he moved his attention to the window, pleased to see that the train had started moving. “I wasn’t. And don’t call me that, I hate it when you call me that. Eddie is already short for Edward. It doesn’t need to be shorter.” “I don’t know, Eds, you’re pretty short yourself.” Richie said, laughing at his own joke, which only made Eddie roll his eyes and fold his arms on his chest. “Your jokes are getting old.” “Not as old as your mom.” “That’s not even an insult! It’s a mere fact!” “The fact that I bang your mom is a mere fact!” At that point, Stan got up and left the compartment, which didn’t surprise neither of them. Richie was grinning, and Eddie, despite himself, was too. As weird as it might have sounded, he had really fucking missed this. The bickering, the arguing, the awful jokes and the look of absolute joy that would lit up Richie’s eyes anytime he was getting attention. Things were already back to normal, and Eddie couldn’t have been more grateful for that. “Watch your trash mouth, Trashmouth, or there might be a missing student when we get to the castle.” Eddie said, but his smile hadn’t vanished. “You know, for a Hufflepuff, you’re rather hostile.” Richie said, gesturing towards the Hufflepuff’ patch on Eddie’s robes. “You guys!” They both turned their heads at the same time, but Richie was the first one to get up, lifting Beverly Marsh off of the ground and spinning her around. “Miss Marsh! Long time no see! How are you doing on this fine day?” Richie said happily, without putting her down. Beverly laughed lightly, wrapping her arms around Richie’s shoulders and planting a firm kiss on his lips. Anyone who might have seen them, would have thought they were a couple. A power couple, actually. They were both gorgeous: Beverly, with her wonderful auburn hair and her green eyes, and Richie, tall and lanky and with amazing cheekbones. They were both Slytherins, which meant they spent a great amount of time together, and they both had a crude sense of humor and a tendency to ignore whatever rule was given. But no, they weren’t a couple. That was common knowledge. They had been best friends since the very first day at Hogwarts. Inseparable, actually. “Let me down, you giant fuck. How fucking tall are you? Did your folks watered you overnights?” Beverly laughed, reaching up to ruffle his hair as he pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. “Hi, Eddie!” She said happily, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. “Hi, Bev, did you have a nice summer?” Eddie asked cheerfully. “Horrendous, thanks for asking.” She replied, just as cheerfully, as Richie and her flopped down on the seat at the same time. “How about you?” Eddie shrugged and opened a pack of Skittles, which were always a great hit among those who weren’t used to muggle stuff. “Just as boring as usual, I guess. My mom still thinks I’m a fragile toddler, but what’s new about that? So yeah. Boring.” “He missed me.” Richie said confidentially, elbowing her lightly and making her laugh and shake her head. “Keep telling yourself that, Richie.” Eddie said, throwing a skittle at him and raising his eyebrows when the boy caught it with his mouth. Impressive. “Uh-uh-hello guh-guys!” Bill, already in his Gryffindor uniform, was standing in the doorway, smiling at pointing to his left. “Any ruh-ruh-reason why S-Stan’s buh-banging his head ah-against the window?” He asked, amused, and Richie gestured vaguely with his hands. “Leave him be, Billiam, he’s just being pissy.” He said, making room on his right. “Have a seat! Have a skittle! Why the hell took you so long to show up? Have your feet started stuttering as well?” Bill couldn’t help but giggle, but he choose to sit by Eddie’s side. The two of them hugged each other and Richie rolled his eyes. Bill had been Eddie's best friend ever since they could remember. Bill's parents were muggles, and they lived just next door to Eddie's house. The boys had met each other while playing out in the garden, and they could barely believe their eyes when they both got their letters. Bill even more so, since his parents were muggles. Eddie, on the other hand, was kinda expecting it. Bill had been there when Eddie's dad died, Eddie had been there when Georgie was born and Bill had to learn how to be a proper big brother. “Bill’s got a hug and he barely said hello to me.” He muttered to Beverly, loud enough for Eddie to hear. “Now who’s the one being pissy?” Eddie inquired, smiling smugly, hoping he wasn’t blushing. “Anyway, I wuh-was with G-Georgie. It’s his fuh-first day. He is a bih-bih-bit nervous.” Bill explained shoving a fistful of skittles into his mouth. “He duh-doesn’t want to be a S-Slytherin buh-beacause I’m a Gh-Gryffindor.” Richie and Beverly eyed each other. They hated how people seemed to believe that nothing good could ever came from Slytherin. If you asked them, being sorted into Slytherin, had been the best thing that had ever happened to them. Both Richie and Beverly didn’t come from pleasant families, so finding a new one at school had been more than they could have ever asked for. “Don’t worry, Bill, we’ll keep an eye on him if he’s sorted into Slytherin.” Beverly said, smiling at Bill, who smiled a grateful smile back. Everyone knew how much Bill loved and cared for his little brother and how much he missed him when he was away. “Who’s gonna be sorted into Slytherin?” Mike Hanlon, already in his black and yellow Quidditch sweater, was smiling brightly. He had been working out over the summer, because, Eddie noticed, he was way more built up. Among the boys in the group, Mike was probably the only one who already looked like more like a man and less like a boy. “Bless their soul, anyway. Being in the same house as Richie. Hellish.” Mike joked, bumping his fists with the boys and high fiving Beverly. “Ya’ll so nice to me today. I’m moved, I’m touched. Pour all that love on me.” Richie said, flipping them off, and they all laughed. Eddie could feel his heart feel up with joy as he watched at his friends: Beverly’s legs were thrown on Richie’s and her eyes were bright and slightly wrinkled at the sides from all the laughter; Mike was stealing some Skittles from the bag and talking to Bill, who was laughing and clapping his hands together. And Richie, of course, whose smile could have lighted up an entire city. Eddie felt his heart skipping a beat when Richie met his gaze and winked playfully, but ignored it and stuck his tongue out at him. “What did we miss?” Ben, who had grown taller as well over the summer, was grinning, but his gaze was fixed on Beverly. By his side, with a grumpy frown, was Stan, who sat down next to the window, greeting everyone who wasn’t in the compartment when he left. “Hello Ben, did you have a good summer?” Beverly grinned, shifting closer to Richie to make space for Ben next to her. Ben smiled back at her, slightly flushed on the cheeks, and sat down. Here we go again, Eddie thought, eyeing between Beverly and Ben, wondering if they were going to get their shits together this year. “Hey Ben, we’re going to beat your Ravenclaw’ asses on the field this year.” Mike teased. They had both been in the respective houses Quidditch teams since their second year. Ben was a beater, Mike was the chaser. It had became a bit of a tradition to go to every single Quidditch match together. Even if any of them were playing, they would go and root for their houses. “Bitch, you wish.” Ben and Stanley replied at the same time. “Yuh-you’re not even in the tuh-tuh-team, Stan.” Bill said, chuckling, and Stan shrugged. “But I’m still a Ravenclaw. And I enjoy watching Quidditch so, of course, I root for my house.” Ben and Stan bumped their fists together and Mike shook his head lightly, giggling. “This is gonna be a damn good year!” Richie shouted, cupping his mouth to make his voice louder. As if there was any need for that. “Almost as good as Eddie’s mom’ bl-“ “Shut up, Richie!”

#reddie #chapter one #all we know #fan fiction #hogwarts au #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #stenbrough #benverly #hogwarts houses #the losers club #losers #los(v)er #it 2017 #it movie 2017 #it stephen king #fanfiction

419 notes · View notes