#holy I just got the blaze option after posting this | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shrimpngritcakes · 4 years ago

Text

Buddie prompt #3: 9-1-1 & Lone Star crossover idea

I’m putting this idea here for someone to claim if they wish. It was originally posted on Ao3 (now with additions), but deleted it due to ToS. If anyone wants this prompt, please comment below so I can delete it after you copy it to prevent similar stories.

His breaking point was a kiss.

One he knew he wasn't supposed to see. With anyone else he would feel like a voyeur, but all he could feel was a dark emptiness opening in his chest.

With Eddie’s truck being in the shop for a tie rod that had broken while at work, sending Eddie into a storm of cursing in Spanish, Ana had picked him up for their latest date.

And dropped him off.

If was a horrible fluke that Buck had stood up to look out the window at just the wrong moment. He should have been in the spare bedroom asleep after a grueling 24 surrounded by all the things he had brought with him when he moved in all those weeks ago.

Buck makes his excuses to leave while Eddie is completely confused and trying to get him to talk. Eddie tries to call Buck but he doesn't pick up.

Buck goes to see Bobby and Athena. It all spills out, including not feeling wanted by his parents. Bobby thinks Eddie is being an idiot but keeps this to himself. He suggests a leave of absence for mental health. Bobby receives permission from his superior to place Buck on open ended leave after giving him a brief explanation of the situation. Ending with him saying to Bobby, “That poor boy. If I ever meet that boy's parents…”

Bobby answers, “Get in line, but there may not be anything left after Athena gets them first.”

TK is surprised to find a sleeping Buck in his Jeep in the parking lot of the 126. An off duty Carlos takes him back to his place where he crashes on the couch. Buck has a nightmare and Carlos talks him down.

Owen calls Bobby saying he has his boy and they'll take care of them. He has a plan and discusses it with Bobby. The whole absence makes the heart grow fonder concept.

“Is it mutual?”

“I’m not 100% sure, but…”

“You can't tell Eddie. Even if he begs for answers for his son, you need to stand strong. It needs to be him asking for himself. If this goes wrong… We'll take Buck in here. He'll have a home with the 126. It will take a while, but we'll help put him back together as best we can until he's back on his feet. He won't be alone.”

Bobby wipes at his face, “Thank you."

“Let's hope this works.”

Eddie is worried and confused why Buck never came home. His phone is going straight to voicemail. Now he isn't there for his shift. Another man comes in and introduced as Buck's temporary replacement. Eddie asks Bobby where Buck is, but he won't give him a straight answer. Eddie is shocked as Bobby's tone is harsh and he glaring at him. Bobby later apologized and explains that Buck requested that only he and Maddie know where he is. Eddie tries to dig, but Bobby just shakes his head with a, “I'm sorry, Eddie. I can't tell you.”

Eddie asks Maddie, but she just slams the door in his face. Chim doesn’t know as she's refusing to tell them where Buck is. Chim delivers her handwritten apology the next day to Eddie. It states Buck needs space from everything, but mostly leaves out the part about Eddie (only one or two things that hint, but it goes over Eddie's head).

Athena almost breaks down and calls Eddie a fool before storming away to her police cruiser. She doesn't know where he is because Bobby refuses to tell her (which she finds annoying yet commendable), but she was there for the why when Buck broke down. She'll apologize after Buck and Eddie return. Hopefully together.

Filler with Buck and the 126 and Carlos. Judd takes him out on a horse like he did Capt. Strand. Fill a pothole on how Grace and him are so accepting of TK's sexuality despite being religious.

A Facetime therapy session where Copeland assures him its okay to get away for a while.

Eddie doesn't quite realize yet that he's slowly losing it, but the others can tell.

Paul and Buck have a conversation.

Christopher asking where Buck is because it's movie night. Eddie doesn't have an answer.

Eddie rages in the station gym trying to understand. He almost gets it, but he thinks Buck is jealous of Eddie, not Ana. Cue Hen groaning under her breath, "You almost got it, Eddie. Come on. Keep thinking."

TK, Carlos, and Paul take Buck out to a club. TK talks absentmindedly to the bartender, even showing him/her a picture of Eddie from Insta. Word spreads about the "new guy," Buck. Others keep the “creeps" away from Buck. Buck loosens up a little while there.

Buck Facetimes Christopher on Carla's phone, only for Eddie to walk in just as Buck is hanging up. He sees Buck's panicked/sad face right before he hangs up. He tries to call back, but doesn't get an answer. Carla huffs and shakes her head. "Figure it out yourself, hun. I can't give you this answer. You need to find it for yourself." Cue Eddie even more confused. This is all just about Buck's parents and jealous over Ana... Isn't it?

Roller derby to cheer on Marjan with the bartender flirting with Buck, who is all kinds of flustered. Carlos, TK, and the others tease him mercilessly.

A massive fire where Buck offers his help. Paul gives Buck as sidehug in gratitude.

Eddie almost punching the mechanic because his truck still isn't done.

Marjan takes Buck out to do something crazy because she's Firefox. (Buck is still starstruck). Maybe skydiving or they race each other at wall climbing? Cue competitive banter.

Owen keeping Bobby updated on Buck.

Buck eventually asks for a transfer. Owen asks if this is what he really wants. Buck just shrugs and asks helplessly what other option he has.

(Optional: Bucks gets up quietly at night for a glass of water and stumbles onto Carlos and TK having sex/making out in the kitchen. Buck either flees in embarrassment or is stunned into watching with Carlos and TK aware that he's there. All parties awkward and/or embarrassed the next morning until TK bursts into giggles and laughter.)

Eddie's relationship with Ana is rapidly deteriorating. Christopher has a full on tantrum. Eddie has to koala hug him on the floor, after Ana brings him back home from a not very good date as Eddie's thoughts were on Buck. Ana tries to help calm him down but Chris screams at her about Buck not being around as much as soon as she started dating his dad. “I hate you! I hate you!” He yells her to get out. Ana still tries to talk. Carla snaps at her to leave. She still tries.

Eddie is spiraling. Flashback of that kiss he really wasn’t ready for, but Ana had asked. It dawns on him that that was the night Buck disappeared. Why would Buck leave because of that? Chris is repeatedly asking her to leave, but she's not listening. She's not listening to his son. He finally snaps and demands that she leaves. She storms out. Relationship dead in the water.

Carla can only watch as Eddie breaks from it all.

The original plan has failed, so it’s time for the final attempt. A blatant hammer strike to Eddie's head to knock some sense into him.

Bobby calls Eddie into his office. He shows Eddie transfer papers from Buck along with a list of Buck's possessions to be boxed and shipped. Eddie is speechless. Thoughts of Christopher and losing Buck. He's losing Buck.

He shows Eddie an email he received and Eddie slowly scrolls through, It's full of captioned pictures. Such as:

-Buck staring off into the distance on a horse.

-Buck curled on a couch looking lost.

-Buck looking drool-worthy in club clothes. The caption: “Holy sh@t! If I wasn't already happily taken…”

-Showing Buck blushing as someone talks in his ear.

-Smiling yet not reaching his eyes while dancing.

-Sitting with his head buried in his hands on the engine’s bumper.

-Helping man a hose at a large blaze captioned with “Yes, we had permission for him to be there.” Followed by a picture of someone (Paul, but Eddie can’t see his face as he’s looking at the ground and hidden by his helmet) sidehugging a sweaty dusty still geared up Buck around the neck with a hand resting on his head.

A video. It's Buck spilling everything curled up in someone's arms (maybe Carlos or Grace). “Why am I always alone! What about me?” Mentions of Abby and Ali. His failed dates. Everyone pairing up. Losing part of his sister to Chim after finally having her back in his life after so many years apart. “And Eddie! Eddie… Why does love hurt so much?” mentioning Chris. Etc.

Eddie is shaking. It finally clicks why Buck left.

One more video. It's Capt. Strand and the 126 facing the camera. He knows where Buck is now - Austin, Texas.

“Buck doesn't know we're putting all this together. He’s asleep. We may or may not have knocked him out with sleeping pills.”

They all lay it out for Eddie. Eddie feels all kinds of stupid and blind. “Now, you have a choice here, Edmundo Diaz…”

“Why… Oh my god. This entire time… ”

“Do you love him, Eddie? As more than a friend? Or am I signing these papers?”

A few seconds after Eddie runs out of the room, a sigh comes from the speaker phone. “I'll get things set up.”

“Thank you, Owen. For everything.”

“You're welcome.”

The whole firehouse going up in a cheer after Eddie floors out of the parking lot in his thankfully finally fixed truck. Hen is shaking Chim or vice versa.

Carla agrees over the phone to keep Christopher after Eddie blurts everything out to her, ending with a “Go get him, Eddie.”

“Did everyone see this but me?” Carla is laughing as she hangs up.

Buck sees Owen call TK over and whispering in his ear. Tk has an interesting reaction before running out of the room with his phone already to his ear.

Flashbacks as Eddie is scrolling through his pictures on his phone while on an airplane. How he missed it. How he didn't understand himself. His fall had been so slow he hadn't even realized it until it was almost, or maybe is, too late. His seatmate makes a comment on his happy “family," and it’s a kick to Eddie's already flayed emotions.

Judd is there to pick him up at the airport, which surprised him.

He's dropped off at a club. Judd makes a snarky comment after handing Eddie a hotel room key card through the window. Eddie rolls his eyes as Judd drives off laughing. The bouncer, having seen the Diaz blazoned on the back of his LAFD shirt, waves Eddie inside, skipping the line. The whispering starts as soon as he enters. Word had spread and they had been hoping for Buck. “Is that…”

“I think so.”

He's shocked as the crowd starts to part for him. The music lowers in volume. People are staring and he's embarrassed, etc., but he sees Buck, who TK has made sure looks phenomenal. Taking a deep breath, he squares his shoulders and walks forward.

Buck is dancing between Carlos and TK. He feels Carlos start smacking TK on the back before they pull away from him. They’re both grinning so wide he suspects their faces are hurting. TK is not so quietly squealing in excitement.

A hand covers his eyes from behind. He immediately recognizes the body wash smell. “Eddie…”

Mini conversation/argument, neither realizing the club has gone dead silent, with Eddie yelling “Because I love you, you idiot!”

The entire club loses it with TK whooping, jumping with a fist punch, and laughing.

End there with a kiss, at the hotel room which may or may not get steamy, or Buck telling Christopher he's home with Chris tackling him to the ground.

#buddie #free buddie prompt

35 notes · View notes

yandere-daydreams · 5 years ago

Note

More Apollo with the reader, please? Maybe this is when he finally snaps and just.. takes her

It took more self-restraint that it should’ve to keep from just making everything gold. And for the sake of clarification, the Reader-Insert is a follower of Artemis, or… they used to be, at least (see this post, for elaboration).

TW: Mentions of Physical Injury, Intimidation, Jealousy and Violence.

Everything hurt, when you woke up.

Your head was pounding, pain echoing from the base of your spine to your temples, only growing more intense as you tried to open your eyes. Despite your face being hidden in thick cloth, the light was blinding, biting into your retinas and casting the room in a blazing glow, as if the walls were made of suns, rolled out and flattened into rock. You wondered if you should try to keep it blocked out, if there was any way you could stumble your way to an exit before he noticed you’d gotten up, but your legs were nearly too sore to move from simply resting in front of you.

Groaning wasn’t an option, you nearly screamed into the cot you were laying on, your throat aching at the exertion alone. There wasn’t a part of your body that didn’t hurt, your joints loosely slotted together and patches of skin sewn in the vague shape of a person, sections too light and the rest too dense, as if someone had rearranged your organs. Somehow, you managed to roll over in your agony, the pain in your skull fading as you blinked, your gaze blurry and unfocused before the room you’d been left in came into focus. There was no visible source of light, but everything seemed to glow, everything that wasn’t a brilliant white coated in a layer of gold. The bareness didn’t help, seeming to close in on you and expand endlessly at the same time, save for the single, obsidian door. Just the idea of a material so heavy made your arms ache, the urge to roll over and sleep returning in full-force.

But, the weight only seemed to concern you. As you attempted to push yourself into a more respectable position, the man you’d been dreading appeared, his hand pushing through the entrance effortlessly, like solid stone was nothing more than hollow wood. The sight of him still surprised you, something holy seeming so common, so wrong, the God you’d been taught to revere and respect standing before you, sunlight swirling above his head and his form too big, the God far taller than anyone you’d ever laid eyes on. His skin was far too smooth, his hair braided with an inhuman intricacy, even Apollo’s clothes seeming to radiate an unearthly energy.

And yet, the pure concern written into his features was utterly human.

You weren’t much better. The fear suddenly coursing through your veins was anything but godly.

If Apollo noticed, you weren’t able to tell. He did his best to relax as he moved towards you, opting to ignore the way you pressed yourself into the headboard as he got closer. His smile was wide, disconcerning, like a hunter attempting to comfort a wounded animal as he closed in for the kill. He didn’t say anything, not until he was at your bedside, resting a hand on the down-stuffed mattress before he took his seat. Still, he towered over you, your breathing quickly growing labored, frantic. Although you couldn’t quite remember what brought you here, you knew you didn’t want him here. You didn’t want him to touch you.

Apollo spoke softly, tentatively. “How are you feeling, (Y/n)?”

“Where the fuck am I?”

His expression faltered at your tone, the God reaching out, resting a hand on your shoulder. You tried to bat him away reflexively, but the effort was in vain, Apollo hardly flinching. “The temple, love, my temple. On Olympus.” He paused, letting you process the information. At your confusion, he only let out a slight chuckle. You could feel his fingertips trailing along your neck, lingering near your jaw as he traced patterns into whatever he could reach. His nails were longer than your own, painted with swirling patterns, but you couldn’t seem to focus on one trait, not when there was so much to take in. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Wait until you see the gardens, you’ll adore them, I had a new section planted to celebrate your arrival-”

“No.” Your own voice surprised you, the refusal coming out louder than you’d expected it to. Apollo didn’t react, but you backtracked immediately, drawing back and clenching the sheets in your fists as you spoke. “I don’t mean to disrespect you, my lord, but I need to return to my post. I’m dedicated to my Goddess, I can’t just… disappear. I don’t want to worry her-”

His hand was clamped around your chin before you could finish, his hold bruising and his grin remaining flawlessly, impossibly intact. Determined, you tried again to speak, only to find a gem-encrusted nail pushing against your lips, threatening to break through delicate skin at the hint of anything he didn’t care for. “I’m very aware of your standing with my sister,” He started, wincing at the mention of Artemis, as if her name in itself was a curse. “Don’t talk of her again, don’t think of her. Devote yourself to me, from now on. She’s unimportant, they’re all unimportant.”

You glared, given confidence from the insult. “Artemis is my savior. No one’s more important to me than her.”

At this, he laughed. His smile split and cracked, becoming something more akin to a sneer than a frown. The light in his eyes didn’t die, but golden irises took on a darker shade, an edge. The change shocked you, scared you, but you didn’t have time to react, not before your back was slammed against the nearest wall, your hands left to claw fruitlessly at his wrists as dark skin enveloped everything below your eyes, covering your mouth and muting any pleas you could’ve formed. “Keep her dirty name out of your mouth,” He mumbled, words muffled by grit teeth. “You already put up such a fight when I came to get you, do you really want to go through that again? You bled out so much, it was so ugly. You don’t want to be disgusting, do you?”

For a blissful moment, you didn’t know what he was talking about. But, as if he had been the one holding them hostage, your memories came flooding back, Apollo’s rage and the cliff and the fangs coming back in waves, all ending in paralyzing, unbearable pain, the tears following shortly after. You couldn’t scream, you couldn’t even whimper, going stiff as each healed cut and mended broken bone reminded you of its existence, smoldering under your skin, demanding your attention.

Apollo smirked as you stopped struggling, letting go of your jaw and letting you fall against his chest, fingers coming up to stroke through your hair. You hadn’t noticed it’d been styled, not until Apollo was toying with the tiny bells and chimes decorating your scalp. “I fixed you, don’t worry. It’ll only hurt when you misbehave.” Just as quickly as it’d come, the fire dissolved, your body cooling and going numb, leaving you to shake and sob in his hold. “The seems aren’t visible, the scarrings been repaired, you’re perfect. I made you perfect.”

You shook your head, but he was past the point of caring, only silencing you with another stroke, another chuckle, a fleeting kiss to the top of your head. “It’ll be wonderful, we’ll be wonderful, and if you make such hideous noises again…”

He stopped, pulling you towards him, resting his head on your shoulder. Letting his teeth, sharper than they should’ve been, graze too close to your neck.

“I’ll just tear you apart and put you back together until you’re beautiful, again.”

1K notes · View notes

fshhtac0s · 4 years ago

Note

Hiiiii☺️ I saw the requests were open. Can you do Kimi no nawa(your name) au with Bokuto. Sorry if the request is weird tho 👉🏽👈🏽

That's such a good movie skdbskhds

Fun fact, the first time I watched that movie I was extremely triggered lmao. Very proud of that moment.

Warnings: Nothing yet

Bokuto Hc's

Au: Your Name

Series: Haikyuu

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

•You happen to be blessed to be Kuroo's younger sister, it was bound to happen somehow.

•Ah, isn't being dragged by your rooster of a brother fun? No, it really shouldn't be but you're used to it by now.

•Mans really wanted you to meet a close friend of his, his excuse is that you're a lonely nugget that needs at least one fiend. (Kinda offended smh-)

•After the few minutes of pulling, you'd both had reached your destination, the gym. You take a quick second to pray that you'll be sane by the time you leave for home before taking step inside.

•Immediately as you set foot inside, your eyes locked with a pair of honey gold irises. God how you wanted to punch yourself at the sudden feeling of butterflies erupting in your stomach.

•"This is the friend that I was talking about. Y/n, meet Bokuto and Bokuto meet my lovely midget sister."

•Rip Kuroo, y'all just ignored him and just stared at each other. It was quite a weird event. You two didn't even talk to each other, the heck-

•As the day quickly rolled into night, you and your brother bid your goodbyes and left for home. Aha, you could just feel the sly grin that was on his face.

•"So, you two sure did-" "sH, nO."

•Closing the front door behind you, you bolted for your bedroom, wanting to forget about that awkward interaction with Testsu's friend. Surprisingly, you managed to successfully fall asleep without thinking about it.

| Oh hey, a Time Skip |

•The sunlight blazes through the window, awakening you gently as you rise to start the day.

•You yawn softly, only to pause right after. That isn't your yawn, it couldn't be.

•Looking down at your blanket covered legs, you stare at your once small hands that had now become large calloused. That's when it hit you, you weren't in your body.

•You quickly got up to find the nearest mirror only to see the reflection of your brother's close friend. Panic was all that you felt, what will you do? What's going to happen?

•"Well damn, the only option I have is to go with it."

•You left the mirror to get ready for school, which might be a problem as you don't know the layout of the school. Once finishing getting ready, you departed for school with a deep sigh.

•'I can do this, just pull a brave face and you'll be fine. You can do this Y/n, you got this.'

• Aha oh boy you were wrong when you got there, everyone was staring at you strangely. It was almost as if they knew something was up, can you really survive today as a man you barely met?

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Holy heck, I am so so sorry for that ridiculous delay. I mainly use my phone to write but it got locked as well as the app got banned from my phone.

I was mostly using my mother's computer to check if this was still in my drafts. Thank God it's on my tablet so that I could finish this.

I will be making another part to this, don't worry lol. It's 2 in the morning so I'm cutting it short until further notice, my requests are still open in case y'all have anything in mind. Ah yes, I might not be able to post/answer your requests and it might take me awhile so please bare with me!

Once again, thank y'all for reading this headcanon!

-Tofu❤

#haikyuu x reader #bokuto x reader #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x you #Im really tired send help #If you sneezed bless you #May the Haikyuu gods bless us

16 notes · View notes

gascon-en-exil · 5 years ago

Text

@k-chan95 said

Where is it mentioned or implied that Dimitri could be bi? Just curious because this is the first I’ve heard of it.

Dimitri has three paired endings with other men, two of which are brimming with subtext. I’ve cleaned up and transcribed all of them under the cut from the text dump.

Dimitri/Dedue

After his coronation, Dimitri assumed the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and his loyal vassal, Dedue, remained ever at his side. Among Dimitri's achievements was the reconciliation with Duscur: an extraordinary effort that required extensive negotiations to get past a history of betrayal and oppression. It was a trying task, but Dimitri never once considered giving up. While they behaved as lord and vassal in public, it is said that Dimitri and Dedue were more like family in private. When Dimitri finally fell to illness, Dedue tended to his liege's deathbed, and then took up a post at his grave for the rest of his days.When the time came, they were buried beside each other.

The most explicit, and an evolution of the series trope of the intimately connected lord and knight/vassal, examples of which I wrote about here. The “like family in private” bit is easily recognized code for a covert romantic relationship, and Dimitri’s primary accomplishment as king in this ending involves restoring his husbear’s vassal’s homeland. Dedue’s loyalty also extends beyond death, which places him well in the company of Finn from Genealogy of the Holy War and his powerful, continent-defining love for his lord Quan. Notably Dedue also stands sentinel by Dimitri’s grave in his solo ending. Being buried side by side is just the icing on top, a very public acknowledgement by the people of Faerghus that their king - in this ending alone of these not noted to have a queen, or an heir - had an intimate male companion who despite his gender and low birth is considered worthy of being by his side in death.

Dimitri/Felix

After his coronation, Dimitri assumed the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and spent his life ruling justly over Fódlan. At his side every step of the way was his right-hand adviser, Duke Felix Fraldarius. Their lifelong bond grew so strong over time that, when Dimitri finally passed, it is said that Felix's grief was more potent even than the queen's. The stories of their lives were passed down to future generations as chivalric tales that rivaled those of Loog, the King of Lions, and his sworn friend, Kyphon.

Framed a bit less romantically - Dimitri has a queen here - but it’s still easy to read this as something very deep and profound outside the public eye. They pass into legend in a manner that sounds to me similar to how close male relationships from actual history have frequently been described, with a heavy dose of homoerotic denial. As regards FE antecedents this one hedges closest to Eliwood/Hector from Blazing Sword, two noblemen obligated by their stations to marry, yet who maintain a suggestively close relationship in spite of this for all their lives. I still haven’t read the supports themselves, but from what I’ve heard during the events of the game they have a sort of rivalry, or Felix is resentful of Dimitri, and so their supports must get them to reconcile and arrive at this point. (Side note: Felix also gets a paired ending with Sylvain that is itself suggestive, so the guy’s got options.)

Dimitri/Gilbert

Dimitri assumed the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and spent his life ruling justly over Fódlan. At his side was the knight, Gustave, who had discarded the name of Gilbert and reaffirmed his oath of fealty to the royal family. After many more years of service, in which the trust between them grew and never wavered, Gustave finally wished to retire. Though he bristled slightly at Dimitri's request to look after and tutor the young prince, it is said that Gustave took on that duty with due patience and solemnity for the remainder of his life.

Included here for the sake of completeness, not because I think there’s much else going on here. Gilbert ends as babysitter for Dimitri’s son....

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Dimitri #dimitri alexander blaiddyd

44 notes · View notes

serious-writers-block · 5 years ago

Text

Vessel - Chapter 25

Summary: Sam and Dean thought their lives were a living hell. When they find a young girl who shares their name and family business, neither of them can help but be curious about who she is and what she can do for them

A/N: Sorry it’s been ages since I’ve posted. I’m not even going to bother making excuses tbh. Enjoy this chapter!

Series Masterlist

"You've got to be kidding me," Mary said as she entered the miniscule panic room.

"I wish we had a better option," Dean followed close behind her.

"And what exactly am I supposed to do in here?" The room was empty besides a metal bed in the center and a small metal chair off to the side.

"It's not that bad," the oldest tried.

"Dean-"

Sam interrupted her before she could argue, "Mary, we just want to keep you safe."

"Where have I heard that one before?" She rolled her eyes. The only light in the room seemed to come from the open door and MJ couldn't tell if there was working electricity in the prison-like fortress. "How long do you expect me to stay down here?"

The brothers exchanged a look, "two days," Sam decided, "tops. Just until we come up with a better plan."

She hesitated, "fine, but if I'm not out of here in two days-"

"We know," Dean stopped her, "you'll kill us."

"I assume the only reason you'd leave me here is if someone kills you," she gave him a twisted smile, "in which case, I'll raise you from the dead and kill you myself."

The brothers shared a soft laugh before saying their goodbyes and closing the door on Mary, leaving her in almost complete darkness. From her back pocket, she pulled the cellphone her brothers had given her only a few months before, "figures," she muttered, seeing that she had no signal. She tossed her phone onto the bed before slumping over in the chair.

~~~

"Wait, you just left her there?" Jody raised her voice at Sam and Dean, "what the hell were you guys thinking?"

Dean sighed, "we don't know what to do."

"Well, did you talk to Cas?"

Sam nodded, "first thing we did."

"All we know," Dean began, "is that she's apparently the vessel of something called the Holy Spirit and now she's got powers that have every evil son of a bitch hunting her ass."

"The Holy Spirit?" Jody repeated.

Sam continued, "we don't have a clue what they want from her."

"You're making it too complicated," a voice came from the hallway.

"Claire."

"Go back to the source material," she advised as she entered the room, "what's the bible say about it?"

"The bible?"

Claire rolled her eyes, " 'in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.' Your best bet is to look at the bible."

Sam shook his head. "We did. There's nothing about a vessel-"

"-or a sword like there was for Michael."

Jody stopped Dean before he could continue, "but what about the Holy Spirit himself?"

"One God, three persons."

"Anything else?" Claire asked, looking at the brothers.

"I don't know," Sam admitted.

She sighed before retrieving a book from a nearby shelf, "then you better get reading."

~~~

As Mary's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the panic room, she began to notice things she had missed when daylight trickled through the open door. On the wall opposite her, there were remnants of brackets that likely once suspended a foldable bed. Beside it, a ripped poster hung, though it was so covered in dust that MJ doubted she could still tell who it was even in the light. When she stood to get a closer look, she noticed a soft movement above her.

"What the hell?" she muttered before climbing onto the bed to get a closer look. Though all openings that once let light in had been covered by something on the other side, the texture of the grill that covered the once operating extraction fan couldn't be missed. The grill, which operated as a devil's trap, was mimicked on the ground below it. When she looked down, MJ's weight shifted enough that she felt the uneven legs of the bed wobble. She transferred her weight from her left to her right foot before determining she had better not risk the sturdiness of a bed that was undoubtedly older than her.

Upon climbing down from the rickety structure, she noticed what had been stabilizing the bed since the last occupant noticed its uneven legs. Under one corner sat a torn, dusty old book. When she tugged the ratty book out from under the bed, she discovered it was a torn-out section of the bible. She couldn't help but smile at the irony. Having accepted that she'd likely be locked in the panic room for most of the night, she decided to attempt to read the book in the dim room. She settled herself on the dusty bed and got to work.

The next morning, the Winchester brothers found Mary deep asleep, though it was clearly not peaceful. She gripped the tattered scripture in her hands while she tossed and turned on the old bed. Its uneven legs made each movement loud and pronounced.

"MJ," Dean tried to wake her gently, kneeling beside the cot. Seeing the horror that plagued her dream written on his sister's face, he made a more determined attempt, "Mary!"

Mary woke with a start and was surprised to see her brothers standing above her, "I thought you said two days."

"We wanted to check on you," Dean explained, standing up.

"And I wouldn't let them leave you here," a voice came from the doorway.

Sam stepped to the side so his sister could see who had joined them, "Jody," she said with a smile.

"How you doing kiddo?"

"I'm okay," MJ answered, sitting up, "did you guys figure anything out?"

Sam shook his head, "nothing we didn't already know."

Mary looked down at her hands and remembered what she'd spend most of the night before doing, "well, lucky for us, Uncle Bobby had a serious disrespect for sacred scripture," she held up the tattered book, "and I grew up studying it."

The brothers looked surprised. "What did you find?" the oldest asked.

"The second book of Thessalonians. I never read it before, but I remember Father talking about it during one of his meetings."

"And?"

"And in the second chapter, Paul wrote about 'the lawless one' and that 'the one who restrains' will do so only in the present."

"I'm not following," Dean admitted.

"One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is restraint of evil. You learn about it before Confirmation," she explained.

"So, what about 'the one who restrains'? What does Paul say?" Sam asked.

"Essentially, when the Holy Spirit is no longer around to restrain evil, 'the lawless one' will be revealed."

"So, you're supposed to stop 'the lawless one'," Jody concluded, "but who is 'the lawless one'?"

Mary quoted the text, "the one 'whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming.'"

"In other words?"

"The antichrist." Sam and Dean exchanged a look before their sister continued. "I have to keep the antichrist at bay. If I'm not around to do that, I essentially usher in the end of the world."

"Seriously?" Dean was noticeably frustrated, "the friggin' antichrist?"

"So why are things coming after you if we need you to take care of the antichrist?"

"Well, technically they need the Holy Spirit," Sam corrected, "not Mary."

"But if the Holy Spirit isn't around," MJ approached slowly, wondering if her brothers would put it together themselves.

"No one stops the antichrist," Dean finally realized.

Jody continued for him, "and he brings the end of the world."

"Son of a bitch."

~~~

After rescuing Mary from the darkness of the panic room, Jody set her up with a bed in her house in town. That night, Mary retreated to bed early, exhausted from stay up most of the night before. Sam, Dean, Jody and Claire sat in the living room and debated what Mary's revelation could possibly mean.

"It still doesn't explain her 'powers,'" Sam pointed out, "Chuck said she's been using her powers. She hasn't said yes yet. How does she have any powers if she hasn't consented to being his vessel?"

"If the antichrist is juicing up, maybe the Holy Spirit just wants her to be ready incase she does say yes," Claire suggested.

Before the conversation could continue, a loud crash came from the room MJ was sleeping in. The brothers immediately shot out of their seats and were quickly followed by Jody and Claire. Though Sam got to the door first, Dean immediately pushed past him.

"MJ!" he shouted. She was still asleep, but once again she was violently thrashing about in the bed. Before they could attempt to shake her from the nightmare, she awoke as she loudly inhaled.

"Mary?"

She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light. As she looked at the faces surrounding her and thought back to the moments before, she immediately sat up, "we gotta go," she said, retrieving her boots from the floor and yanking them on.

"Why?" Sam frantically asked, "what's wrong?"

She stopped to look at him, her face was pale and she looked terrified, "your nightmares? You said they were premonitions. You said that the things you saw came true."

"Yeah, but yours-"

She didn't let him finish, "I'm not risking it. We need to go. Now."

"Where?"

"Peoria. If there is any chance that what I saw could come true-"

Dean interrupted her, "let's go." He gave her a knowing look, remembering the conversation they'd had when he drove her home from the hospital after the fire.

Jody stepped in as the voice of reason. "Now, wait a minute. We still don't know what's coming after her. Yesterday you wanted to keep her locked in an underground panic room, but today you're going in guns blazing based on a nightmare?"

Dean wasn't having it, "this is her family. If she thinks they're in danger, we're going."

"You and Claire can stay here and keep trying to figure out what we're up against," Sam suggested.

"But-"

"Okay," Claire agreed, knowing Jody would come around eventually. Mary gave her a look of gratitude.

Once all of the Winchesters had packed the Impala again, they were almost ready to hit the road. Jody, still unsure about their departure, called Mary over to where she stood at the entrance of her house.

"Jody-"

"Give me a chance, kiddo," she didn't want MJ to start in on the defensive, "I understand why you're doing this; I do. I just want you to remember: those two, me and the girls, we're also your family. We just want to make sure you're safe. We don't have a clue what's coming."

Mary nodded. Taking Jody's pause as her cue, she began, "think of it this way, who better to talk about the Holy Spirit with than a priest and a nun." She offered Jody a smile.

"You know not everything in our world follows what that one book says," Jody countered, "they won't have all the answers."

"Jody," Claire interrupted before the two hunters could start arguing, "the boys want to get going."

Jody nodded, knowing it was time to hold her tongue, "just remember what I said, okay Mary?"

"Yeah, thanks Jody," she hugged Jody goodbye.

Claire walked beside MJ toward the Impala, "she's right you know. Everyone here considers you family."

Mary rolled her eyes, "I know. Why does everyone think I don't know that?"

"Because-"

"Claire, they raised me," she reminded, "when I was moved there, I lost all connection to my Dad and hunting. I just need to make sure they're okay. I need to see that the kids are alright."

Claire smiled, "you know, you're one of the only hunters I know that isn't completely jaded. You're too good for this life."

"God, don't you start too," Mary rolled her eyes.

"No, I mean," she backtracked, knowing she was starting to sound like Jody and the boys, "just don't let those two idiots ruin you."

MJ smiled, "I won't." She paused as she looked at Claire. It had been a long time since she had a friend even remotely close to her own age.

"Stay in touch," Claire said before pulling her into a hug. It was the words unsaid that touched Mary the most.

After climbing into the impala and settling in the backseat, Dean turned to her and asked, "you ready?" MJ only nodded. The brothers wanted to ask her what the nightmare had been, but they knew it would be better to ask once they were on the road.

#supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural imagine #Supernatural fanfic #sam and dean #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fanfic #Sam Winchester #Sam Winchester Fanfic #SPN #spn fanfic #SPNFamily #spnfanfiction #jensen ackles fanfiction #jared padalecki fanfiction #sister!winchester #mary winchester fanfiction #mary winchester

10 notes · View notes

frighthouseofalighthouse · 5 years ago

Note

I know it's a lot! But all of the 65 questions you aren't used to!! I love getting to know the blogs I follow!

Okay love! The last one was a freebie so I guess I’ll just leave that one out haha.

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

Na, usually it’s the opposite for me. I don’t feel important enough to be real.

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

Maybe a 3? I don’t mind the dark as long as my imagination isn’t getting the best of me, which it usually is. I always have my little touch-activated lamp in my room left on at the dimmest setting at night.

3. The person you would never want to meet?

Donald Trump.

4. What is your favorite word?

Drumonios. It’s an Ancient Greek epithet of Artemis, and it means “haunting the woods.” (hey, no one said English word)

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

*in Monty Python voice* THE LARCH

No, but in all seriousness, I’d be a willow. So gentle and comforting, like the tree leaning over to hug you and give you shade.

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

Yikes.

7. What shirt are you wearing?

A black shirt with images of moon phases that says “to the moon and back”

8. What do you label yourself as?

Is this a gender/sexual identity question??? Cuz if not I could label myself as anything. But genderwise I’m a cis female and orientation-wise I’m lesbian, biromantic, possibly somewhere on the ace spectrum?

9. Bright room or dark room?

Dark room. Or mostly dark. Dim with a yellowish lamp because I hate white lights.

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Talking to my gf on the phone.

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

tbh this year, 19. My anxiety’s been better than it ever was. I haven’t been actively suicidal at all this year. I’m just in a better place all around.

12. Who told you they loved you last?

Probably my mom?

13. Your worst enemy?

Myself

14. What is your current desktop picture?

15. Do you like someone?

Romantically? My girlfriend. In general? Everyone who hasn’t crossed me.

16. The last song you listened to?

Right now I’m listening to LA Devotee by Panic! At The Disco :)

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

Donald Trump, while he’s in a cabinet meeting so it blows up everyone else there too

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

Donald Trump or my ex

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

I don’t really want a slave? Kinda against the whole idea? But ig Thomas Jefferson bc he needs to know what it feels like (Hamilton pettiness coming out oops)

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

My eyes! Idk if I have a picture that shows them really well? But you can check my selfies tag. They’re deep hazel green with gold flecks.

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

I would look like historical Alexander Hamilton and I would hang out in history museums freaking people out.

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

Wouldn’t be a secret if I told you. ;) But seriously, I’m not very private about my talents because I’m proud of them. I write, read, make up codes, solve puzzles, sing, do calligraphy. Sometimes my eyeshadow looks decent.

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

Most of the unique things are PTSD triggers. The rest of my fears are just normal.

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

Grilled mac and cheese sandwich.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

Put it towards saving up for a Switch so I can get the new Pokemon game when it comes out this fall.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

The British Isles, where I will do historical tours and live in the Highlands for a year.

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

I don’t drink, I’m pretty against it in part because my uncle’s a recovering alcoholic, but I’d say strawberry daquiris? Idk brands, man.

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

Socialism and if you’re gonna mess up the process and turn it into communism then you’re off the island.

29. What is your favorite expletive?

Fuckweasel. Thanks, Raven Cycle.

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

My phone I guess?

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

Nothing. As much as I hate what I’ve been through (assault by my ex, manipulation by my dad) it’s taught me so much strength and made me who I am. I know red flags. I came out of my shell. I know how to say no, how to cut out toxic family.

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

Scotland.

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

FDR. We have a polio vaccine and he was my favorite president.

34. What was your last dream about?

I was doing a crossword puzzle but, like, it never ended. And the clues kept changing every time I started to write the answer. It sucked.

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]?

Nothing was inserted haha so yes. I am a good.

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

Twice. Once as a baby for my open heart surgery, and once when I was 4 for severe dehydration from the flu.

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

Yes but it’s been like 13 years.

38. What is the color of your socks?

Light blue and white stripes.

39. What type of music do you like?

Pop, rock, folk, Celtic, classical, old country, like, Woodie Guthrie, and some new country like Kelsea Ballerini.

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

SUNSETS

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

Cherry!

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

Um, I guess the OSU Buckeyes cuz that’s where I live and I hate pro football.

43. Do you have any scars?

I have a huge scar down my chest from my heart surgery, a few self harm scars left, and quite a few from old cat scratches. Also my left knee is covered with scars from being a clumsy child. And I have small birthmarks which correlate to past life injuries which is fun

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

A librarian/history or English teacher

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My weight.

46. Are you reliable?

Sometimes I flake on plans bc of mental illness, but yes. I am a strong shoulder to lean on, and I will always be there for you.

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

Am I trying for the right things?

48. Do you hold grudges?

Not consciously. But there are certain things I haven’t been able to forgive just yet.

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

Sloth dragon. Sloth with little back scales and wings who flies very slowly and breathes fire when threatened.

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

My mom and I have the funniest conversations. I couldn’t pick one. Every day between us is just hysterical.

51. Are you a good liar?

Yes. But I don’t lie anymore except when I have to.

52. How long could you go without talking?

Probably forever as long as I could write or text.

53. What has been you worst haircut/style?

When I was 9 I decided to get a shoulder length bob. My hair did not approve. Constant white-fro. I don’t have a picture of it full glory, but this is after having it styled, at age 11, as flat as it would go.

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

Noooo I suck at baking. I’ve made cookies though.

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

British, I guess? I do a good Hermione.

56. What do you like on your toast?

Butter lmao I’m classic

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

Uhhh I sketched a flower on my church bulletin last week? Nothing fancy. I don’t draw.

58. What would be you dream car?

‘67 Impala baby.

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

I, uh give political speeches to the showerhead? It’s the Hamilton mood.

60. Do you believe in aliens?

I definitely believe we can’t live in a universe infinitely big all by ourselves.

61. Do you often read your horoscope?

I don’t read my actual horoscope, but I look at those zodiac posts a lot, and I know my full birth chart.

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

A and S.

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

Both. Dinsoaurs could have been dragons, we don’t know.

64. What do you think about babies?

They’re okay til they cry or poop or throw up lmao.

Thanks bb!

#a series of essays anonymously published

1 note · View note

ijustcantholdthefeels · 7 years ago

Text

65 questions you are not used to

I saw this post right after getting into my bed back at home, and since I have 0 chill I answered almost all of the questions.

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you? On the contrary, sometimes I’m on the subway thinking about all the other people around me and it makes me feel like my problems are not that big.

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you? I'm gonna say 2.

3. The person you would never want to meet? Donald Trump.

4. What is your favorite word? If I think about it right now, the ones that come to mind in my mothertongues are "rendija" and "acàcia".

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be? ... a fucking PINE.

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought? "You look good, don't worry."

7. What shirt are you wearing? I'm wearing a dark grey onesie :')

8. What do you label yourself as? Anxoveta.

9. Bright room or dark room? Bright bright bright please ("dark room" reminds me of Life is Strange)

10. What were you doing at midnight last night? Reading fanfiction. Especifically, "Send nudes, winky face" by thephilosophah. Go read that bakusquad masterpiece.

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far? My current 22 or when I my sister was born, 7 years old.

12. Who told you they loved you last? My dad.

13. Your worst enemy? Myself.

14. What is your current desktop picture? Kirishima Eijirou's silouette :')

15. Do you like someone? Well, duh. I like my sister, I like my squad, I like a boy in my master's too.

16. The last song you listened to? Exo, by Beyoncé.

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up? *burns this question* Bakugou, don't be rude. We don’t explode people.

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face? All the pedophiles in the world.

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do? Fuck this question in particular: I'd never have a slave.

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional) My MOUTH!

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do? I'd look like a really skinny and cheerful gay boi (I really like men, they are aesthetic af) and the first thing I'd do would be jerk off.

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it? I can speak a really stupid and invented language (my sister is the only other speaker)

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of? Unhappiness.

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal. Le Poisedon from the Monoprix in Croix de Chavaux. It was made of dark bread with pumpkin seeds, salmon, cream cheese, lettuce and cucumber.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it? I'd but lots of different cakes and invite my family and friends over.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go? I just came back home from abroad, so I'm good. I'll give the ticket to my friend Belén so that she can go and meet her idols.

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? Be kind to everyone always.

29. What is your favorite expletive? ... my wot.

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? I can't pick one, I've been thinking for several minutes now.

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! ... dude.

34. What was your last dream about? I was in a relationship with one friend from a music summercamp and we were chilling in a little village near the sea. Everything was alright, life was easy.

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]? Student? Not really these days hahahaha.

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? Nope.

37. Have you ever built a snowman? Yes!!!!

38. What is the color of your socks? Dark grey with mustard yellow stars

39. What type of music do you like? I generally like everything, but these days I'm into electronic/dance music and lo-fi/vaporwave shit.

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? Sunrises are ethereal, man.

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor? Can I say cacaolat?

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer) Força Barça! (But the old Barça, the one when I was 6 years old and I played football for hours with my father in our patio dressed with the full equipation or Guardiola’s dream team, I guess).

43. Do you have any scars? Yeah, one on one side of my chin from when a classmate threw a piece of cement to my face :)

44. What do you want to be when you graduate? A happy and motivated human being.

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My self-confidence, my pessimist views. I'd turn them around to make them the opposite of what they are.

46. Are you reliable? I guess so.

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be? Are you happy with the life you have?

48. Do you hold grudges? ... fuck, yes.

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create? I have 0 doubts with this one: DRAGONS.

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had? Shit, I don't know. 404 not found.

51. Are you a good liar? Yes, but never to my mum.

52. How long could you go without talking? Less than 24 hours.

53. What has been you worst haircut/style? El kirikiTM in 2nd ESO

54. Have you ever baked your own cake? Nay.

55. Can you do any accents other than your own? I don't think so.

56. What do you like on your toast? Butter and only butter! Maybe Nutella if I’m feeling like it.

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of? I tried to draw a funicular (keyword being "tried").

58. What would be you dream car? An electric blue Seat Marbella (i like small, old cars, even though i don’t particularly like driving).

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain. I LOVE SINGING IN THE SHOWER.

60. Do you believe in aliens? A 100%.

61. Do you often read your horoscope? Nah, don't really believe in it.

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? I'm between A and R.

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons? This one is more difficult than question #49, but I'm gonna say dragons again.

64. What do you think about babies? Future heroes.

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of. You can make one (1) fictional character non-ficitional anymore. Who would you choose?

#text post #me

1 note · View note

takocosartdump · 7 years ago

Text

Sample Chapter of that Book I’m trying to get yhall to beta for me

So I really, really need beta readers and I’m sending out a call. I wrote this fantasy novel that chronically the life and times of this guy named Klin, a biracial elf soldier turned king with ptsd, alcoholism, and an overwhelming desire to turn his life around. This book is basically the real world repercussions that fantasy tropes would actually face. Klin was the chosen one who united the elven race after gaining the favor of a god and saving the princess. It was only after that queen was dethroned that he realized that centuries as a war general made him a genocidal monster in the eyes of the people he conquered, that his fantasy life was bullshit, and that it IS possible to fuck up so badly that forgiveness is not an option.

It explores the Chosen One trope, and I’ve got a subsequent book where his daughter will explore the Mary Sue trope. All of this is amidst the struggle of war, corruption, religion, racism, and a bunch of other shit. I’m posting the first chapter (I might post two or three) to see if anyone would be interested in beta reading for me. Basically what will happen is this:

If you’re interested, pm me, and I’ll send you a chapter and some questions. I need help, because I’ve never written a novel before and I really want to get this published. The questions will be on all sorts of things, like charicterization, story structure, problematic themes or issues that I haven’t addressed properly, things like that. I want this story to be good, to be representative of people who aren’t normally represented in books (like my neurodivergent self) without being exploitative.

I need help.

Opening poem and Chapter 1 included under the cut. Ok, I guess it’ll just be included here, because tumblr won’t let me put a ‘read more’ thing up. Was that cut in an update or something? It used to just pop up.

Where wonders, wars, misfortunes

And troubled times have been

Where bliss and blind confusion

Have come and gone again

Each lord dug in with pleasure

And grabbed at what lay near

Twelve platters piled past measure

Brought wine and foaming beer.

They sat there, gaping gasping

At his strange immortal sheen,

As if a ghost were passing

Every inch in green.

He looked a lightning flash

They say he seemed so bright,

No mortal would dare to clash

Against the Emerald Knight.

He blooms with blossoms set

In lines luxuriant and lush

While the notes flowing from nests,

That fill the forest hush.

He says though no one sees his face

“Why shrink back from the quest?

Though fate bring glory or disgrace

One must meet the test”.

Wherever wars appear,

Surely the Knight ought

To reign without a peer

In fields where battle's fought.

He looked a lightning flash

They say he seemed so bright,

No mortal would dare to clash

Against the Emerald Knight.

The meaning of his deadly way

Will show what words are worth-

And teach us how hard is it to play

The game of Lover's Mirth.

Her chin and cheeks are sweet

Blending rose and white

Her voice a pleasant treat

Her small lips are delight.

The beating drums to measure

Tunes that pipes proclaim,

As each man takes his pleasure

And these two do the same.

He looked a lightning flash

They say he seemed so bright,

No mortal would dare to clash

Against the Emerald Knight.

She'd such a cheerful air

Who seemed so sweet of face

And he with spotless care

Answered every case,

“My person's yours, of course,

To see you take your pleasure;

I am obliged perforce,

To serve you at your leisure.”

The blow he must wrest

To ease her troubled mind

She asked if he could quest,

And he was so inclined.

He looked a lightning flash

They say he seemed so bright

No mortal would dare to clash

Against the Emerald Knight.

Our land, not steeped in darkness

Instead this blinding sheen

The light that pierces, heartless,

The Knight in blazing green.

The whole world lies asunder

At the mind of our great queen

We've angered our own savior:

The Holy One we need.

The world falls all around us

Listen to our plight,

The people who sit helpless

Below the Emerald Knight.

Chapter 1

Klin was ten years old.

That was the absolute worst part of these memories.

Ten.

Even now, hundreds of years later, THAT was the part that ripped at his mind, tore at the seams of his sanity. Ten years old. That is the part that his wife reminded him of, when he woke in the middle of the night, crying, as if it were a comfort. That was the issue. It was no comfort. Klin had been a monster, baptized in blood, since he was ten years old.

Bruanna was crying. He was crying, but he was an adult, and she was an infant, and he knew instinctively that there was a hierarchy in these simple facts that must be obeyed. He sat up quickly, every nerve on edge, every finely tuned warrior's instinct telling him that there was a damsel in distress, that he needed to save his daughter.

“What are you doing?”

Orenda, his wife, had rolled over, and was gazing up at him, her golden eyes glowing in the darkness. He wondered if his eyes glowed. If he had absorbed enough magical energy through the years to give it off, like she had, even though he was no mage. He was just old. Broken. Tired.

“The baby is crying,” he said softly. It wasn't an explanation, it was a fact.

“The nurse will get her,” she said. It was an explanation, and he believed her.

“The baby is crying,” he repeated it exactly, in tone and volume and cadence, staring into the darkness.

“Go then,” she sighed, and pulled the blankets back up to her shoulders.

He stood, and made his way through their chambers, past the sitting room, and into the nursery. He shouldn't have been able to hear her. The nurse should hear her. It was set up this way, had been set up this way, since the beginning of time. The baby stopped crying before he reached her, settled into the arms of her nurse, who was rocking and feeding the child by the time the king entered the nursery. He stopped in the doorway and watched, transfixed. The nurse smiled at him, and told him to go back to bed, that everything was alright. Everything was always alright. Everything had been alright for over a year now.

He did not heed her advice. Instead he took a servant's staircase, winding down, past the castle's foundations and into the cellar where barrels of ale and tall shelves containing dusty bottles of wine lined the walls. He took one of the bottles, didn't look at it (very rarely did he look at them) and popped it open. There were chairs and a wooden table, but he sat on the floor, and took long, deep droughts of the thick, sticky liquid. Everything was alright.

The walls were burning around him. He was a ten year old boy, and he lived in a wooden cottage on the outskirts of the capital of the Urilian empire, where his family worked the fields and gave most of what they grew to the royal family. He woke up that morning, did his chores, and spent half the day running through the tall field of wheat with the other children, running his hands through the coarse fiber, never once screaming for them to come out. He was 'it', but he found them. He always found them. He was very good at finding things.

But that had been hours ago, and now it was the middle of the night and the cottage was on fire. He was lightheaded, and the smoke clouded his vision, and he tried to scream for his parents, but his throat burned and he coughed and convulsed. He fell on the floor, contorting, spasming from his simple straw bed, and a voice in his head spoke to him.

It was light, feminine, beautiful and otherworldly. He had never heard such a voice. It was a voice which had learned proper diction and enunciation in finishing school. A voice that was never meant to grace the ears of a lowly peasant- it was meant to sing, accompanied by a harp for dignitaries in a ballroom. And it was coming from inside the private sanctum of his own mind.

“Help me! Come to the castle! I'm in danger! You are the only one who can help me!”

He took another drink of the wine. It was sickly sweet, thick and sappy. You were supposed to water it down. The royalty watered it down. He was royalty. He was a ten year old peasant farmer choking to death on the smoke that filled his simple cottage. He was a king sitting on the stone floor of a great castle. He was ancient, possibly immortal. He was only ten fucking years old. He sobbed.

He felt a great compulsion to follow this voice. He was a good boy. The hot sun had made him resilient, the hard work had made him strong, and he had the moral compass to know that this girl was in grave danger, possibly life threatening. She could die. And he was the only one who could save her.

There was a pain in his chest, and he took another drink. He put his hand gently over the place he suspected his heart used to be, and felt the warm crystal there. The magic was flowing through it more strongly than it normally did.

His heart beat so fast he felt the palpitations in his fingers as he crawled from the burning wreckage that was once the only home he ever knew. He scuttled along the floor, because the air was fresher there, cleaner, the smoke was less dense. He couldn't die in this fire, he had to save her. He had to save her. The doorway; door ajar and slowly succumbing to the flames. The brilliant night sky beyond, choked with the thick, dark smoke, blocking the stars. He was outside. The wheat was on fire. THE WHEAT WAS ON FIRE.

What were they going to do? What were they going to eat? He knew nothing of the way his government was set up but he knew that they owned nothing and the royalty owned everything and they were going to starve.They were going to lose everything; they were going to lose their home-

The cottage collapsed with a crash and the flames devoured the straw thatched roof. Where were his parents?

He choked again. On smoke. On wine. Coughed. Cried.

“Help me, they're coming for me! I don't have much time!” begged the voice in his head, and he dried his eyes, and ran over the dirt path leading into the city. He hadn't been sleeping in his boots, and his night clothes were thin against the crisp autumn air. But the wheat was on fire, and it warmed him. A crowd had gathered, everyone in the parish had left their homes, they were all burning- there were armored figures on horseback, arrows and swords and mages in long robes throwing flames from nothing at all.

He ran.

They ran. All of them, everyone, fleeing, escaping to the walled safety of the castle, the city within. They were not faster than the armored figures with their strong horses and he saw flashes of blood, arrows from nowhere, falling from the sky with deadly precision. His heart pumped, his muscles throbbed, he was past the guards who were ushering in civilians, past the barricade set up just inside the door and... lost. Horribly lost.

The bottle was empty. He set it on the table for the servants to contend with and stood, uncorking another. Standing was becoming more difficult, as he had hoped.

Standing was becoming more difficult, as he had feared. He had never run so long or so fast, not with all his strength, not sprinting. He was healthy, and he was strong, and resilient, but his lungs were full of smoke, and his heart was full of fear, and his head was full of the voice, the beautiful voice, begging for his help. It became stronger the closer he got to the source. He inferred it then. He knew it now. He often made assumptions, had hunches that turned out to be right. He had learned to trust his gut. He never believed the people who called him smart. His existence had been one of survival. There was no extra money for frivolities like education. He didn't need intelligence, he had tenacity, strength, and courage. His father had been very keen on that. Formal training often does a man more harm than good. He begins to trust dead scholars over his own instincts.

His daughter was going to go to the best school in the empire. He had decided the moment his wife had told him that she was pregnant. She would be wise. She would never be as stupid as her father. Never be as easily manipulated. Klin was a good boy, Bruana would never be a good girl. She would question everything or he would die trying to impart this crucial skill to his only child.

The voice in his head told him to use a servant's entrance. It was deserted, and allowed him access to every part of the castle. He followed the orders of the voice, taking the steps two or three at a time, ignoring the burning ache of every muscle in his body. He emerged in a corridor lit by torches, surrounded on all sides by screams. The voice was louder now, begging, pleading, desperate. He burst into a room that he did not have time to take in.

Klin thought he knew what a girl was. He knew them. He played with them, being chased through the wheat, skirts tied between their strong legs to make the running easier. He worked with them, cloth tied around long braids to keep the hair out of their faces as they carried the wheat he cut. His father told him that he must always work the scythe, that women were too good for such heavy equipment that wore down your back and left you with a terrible ache. No woman should ever ache or hurt or come to injury if he could prevent it. No real man would ever allow a woman to come to harm.

This was no a girl. This was a spirit: an angel. There was no sweat on her brow. There was no cloth tied around the golden, silky hair that hung down her back. There was no mark upon her flesh from a fall in the fields or scrape on her exposed knees from the slippery stones in the river. There were no muscles under her smooth, unbroken skin. She was so light and airy that she could have floated away as he watched her. She was screaming.

A man, a man had her by the arm, trying to pull her from the bed. A grown, adult man, twice her size and towering over even Klin himself, who was strong and tall, and he was pulling this waif, who was short and thin and ethereal, and she spotted him, and screamed, one word that sealed his fate forever.

“HELP!”

The man looked surprised. He didn't see the boy, and the boy didn't think. He ran. He jumped onto a dresser and picked up the first thing he saw, a heavy porcelain pot containing some kind of plant that bore bright yellow flowers. He brought it over the man's head with all his strength, fueled by fear and adrenaline, much stronger than he was, much stronger than he should be. The man staggered, dazed, released the girl, and Klin jumped. He was small, so much smaller than the man, but he jumped with all his might and tackled him. The man fell, flailing, but did not fight back. Looking back, Klin knew that the man would not a fight a child. The girl must have known this too, even as she called out, panic in her beautiful voice;

“KILL HIM! KILL HIM IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!”

There was a sword on the man's side. Klin hadn't realized that it was in his hand until he had plunged it into the man's throat. The man grasped at the blade, cutting his hands, he looked up, and Klin was confused at the emotion in his eyes. No malice, just fear, confusion, wide, terrified eyes that would haunt his dreams forever. The man tried to speak, to say something, eyes darting from Klin to the girl, but his mouth filled with blood and gurgled, overflowed.

Klin was terrified. He watched those eyes slowly fade, glaze over, and become still. He watched this living, breathing, terrified person become an inanimate object. And then he kept watching. He couldn't pull his eyes away. The hand that was holding the sword, trying to pry it from his throat, stopped trying to do anything and fell, limply, to the floor. The ring that signified his royal rank caught the flickering torchlight, and glittered.

Klin drunkenly fumbled at the royal signet ring on his hand, spinning it in orbits around the finger attached to the hand holding the bottle. This one was lighter too. Was it empty? It couldn't be empty. Bottles held so much wine.

Corpses held so much blood. It was everywhere. It was on the expensive flooring, on the rugs, all over his nightshirt; some of it had even splattered on the angel's bed. But she was clean. Clean and beautiful and radiant in the flickering light. She stepped lightly, dancing, every move a work of art, and gently let her hand come to rest on his shoulder. He was crying.

He was sobbing, and the bottle had fallen from his hand to the cold, stone floor.

“You're a hero,” she said, and he did not look at her. He was still watching the corpse he was sitting on. He was ten years old.

“I'm a monster” he said to the empty wine cellar, and threw his head back hitting the shelf and hearing the bottles rattle and clank together as if he were far away and underwater, “a fool and a monster. I'm a FUCKING MONSTER.”

The crystal in his chest vibrated, and vines shot from the place that once held his heart. They wrapped his entire form and solidified, forming an intricate, beautiful suit of armor. It would protect him from any mortal weapon, any lethal blow. It pulsated with his heartbeat, and convulsed with his sobs.

“A goddamn monster.”

A little boy looked into the dead eyes of his first victim. A creature sat alone in a deserted cellar and called out to him, so hurt at the pain he had caused this child, that his soul could no longer bear it, and decided to shut off. And a blissful darkness overcame him.

#legends of xren #the emerald knight

2 notes · View notes

orangeeveningsky · 5 years ago

Text

On Getting Hitched and Its Dissociation with H.E.A

My dearest TUMBLR,

I’ve missed you so bad ever since you’ve been blocked by my country in 2018!

I know, I know.

I'm sorry that I've made promises that I would be a diligent writer and I failed it yet again because I’m such a lazy chit.

Anyway, it came as no surprise that the one thing that I would post after I went M.I.A for many moons is some food for thoughts. I wrote the initial premise back in 2018 and was planning to post the whole thing before the "positive internet" strike.

It's been a while since my first draft--originally it was a review of some sort for Because This Is My First Life, the 2017 K-drama--so, I decided to edit the draft.

It all started with some questions that I had in mind after watching the drama series and experiencing some turbulences that happened in my life during the same time:

"What is marriage?"

Is it the union of two people in love with each other and want to cherish their love for the rest of their passing breaths, in the eyes of God and all his mortals?

Is it merely a status that will ensure convenience on both parties involved, for a very long time?

Is it an old, outdated, ancient concept created by our ancestors’ to bind two people for the rest of their lives together, for them to sire legitimate offsprings?

Which one is the true definition of the holy matrimony?

Those were the questions and I have yet to find the answers. It's been two years, and it still stayed at the back of my mind. It crawls out of there every time someone mentioned marriage or weddings or starting a family, basically any marital kinds of stuff.

Well, truth be told, marriage is not for everyone.

My 16 year old, sheltered, and sickeningly romantic self would gasp in horror to that statement. It's true. I grew up in a society that viewed-- hang on, it still does--marriage as some sort of life achievement, especially for women.

The ideal life viewed in this particular society is something like this:

Growing up -> go to school -> go to university -> get a job -> get married -> have kids -> have a harmonious happily ever after a.k.a H.E.A.

In real life, that ideal life usually went down to the nearest bin, as reality sucked and bit all of it to shreds.

You know what, some people aren't keen enough to commit and be responsible for their choices, let alone to be committed to something permanent like holy matrimony, for the rest of their lives. The alarms would go off for them.

However, even those fellas might still get married. It could be because of social pressures, the need to have a "successful life", some serious case of F.O.M.O., or they just fell in love with someone and felt that they have to marry them because that's what people do after some time of dating, right?

Have a lovely wedding, go on a honeymoon to some exotic place, procreate, have lots of cute kids, and boom! you're guaranteed a wonderful life ahead of you.

..or probably not.

Most of the time, people become disillusioned with the H.E.A stories often shown in fiction, mainstream media, and even social media-- which ahem, consists of well-curated feeds-- to a point where they ignored the shenanigans and horrors that will come after the wedding ceremony. They jumped to the wedding with flowery path expectations, and when the marriage started after the wedding, they were unprepared for the rotten buds.

Those fellas who got married just for the sake of it, might crash their marriage as they were not yet ready for the responsibilities and hard work that comes with marriage, and will end up hurting their spouse (and children), through marital affairs, abandonment, or just general neglect.

It's actually very sad and disheartening that many marriages end in a divorce and most of them are for the best. Certainly, it's happier to end a broken marriage rather than keeping it afloat just for the sake of the children or just for the sake of keeping their social status, their family name, you name it. Sure, the children will suffer a lot, but I personally think it's better the parents separated earlier rather than trying to keep the broken marriage and ended up raising their children in an already ruined household.

On the other hand, we've got lots of people who are decent responsible adults, but they don't want to get married. They decided to stay single for some reasons, and hey, that's fine too. Sadly, society is harsh on them, especially if they are unmarried women. They get all sorts of names (ever heard of "Old Bachelor"? why do we only hear "Old Maid" all the time?), they get pigeonholed in the society as well, they hear hearsays and all sorts of rumor spread around about them. It's as if they had committed the biggest crime or sin just by not being married.

In my understanding, it's mostly rooted in the "marriage is an accomplishment" belief and the more religious one, "marriage is one of the pinnacles of your good deeds to your faith" as if we don't have other good deeds options. Ironically for the latter, many people did get married just to be able to get laid with their lover and not be seen as a heathen or an adulterer in their religious comunity--I'm not kidding, it happens all the time! those poor couples just happened to be dating for some years, but then some gossipy neighbors started to put fuel to the fire and lo and behold, those couples were immediately married off by their parents, nevermind that they haven't reached the legal age.

The hardcore religious people hid behind the good deeds excuse and reduced the holy matrimony into something to legalize-- halalize if you will-- their sex. Very opportunistic and dirty, indeed.

It's disgusting that it's what many people campaigned for, nowadays. Well, at least in my country they do. They even made some social media accounts, blatantly promoting marriage as an excuse to deflower some girl--gosh, I sounded like my granny here. In such campaigns, they even dared to put a list of what an ideal wife should have...in the patriarchy book. But they never put any emphasis on decent husbands.

Mostly those social media accounts just posted some corny analogies that ended up insulting females in general. It's maddening that they have a massive following and they just keep growing, even after so many backlashes.

Anyway, in another spectrum, there are also people who got married because they were in love or at the very least, can tolerate each other even during their worst moments, and they’re sure that they were meant to conquer the world together--this would be one of the coolest motivations.

Viva world domination, baby!

In all seriousness though, I think many people did get married because they liked or even loved each other at some point before they decided to wed. You see, most of us dreamed of having a marriage out of love--again, all those fairytales and fictions weren't helping.

For me personally, I used to be such an extreme hopeless romantic and would go out of my way to make sure that I would have to be head over heels with someone and they would have to be hopelessly in love with me as well before I decided to get married.

See? That's some ridiculous naivety right there.

However, it all changed--and in retrospect, I can never be more thankful-- after I’ve witnessed with my own eyes, that marriage can't last through any kind of disasters, if it's only based on love alone.

Love will fade.

That's a pity, but it will happen sooner or later in the marriage. The flames might still be around somewhere, but it needed some sort of fuel to keep the marriage blazing. That fuel might come in the forms of trust, commitment, honesty, good communication, and other secret ingredients of a long-lasting and tolerable marriage that was never mentioned in any fairytales alike, yet available to procure just by observing other people's marriages around us.

For the world domination part, let's imagine if there is no mutual orientations or visions between the couple in their marriage.

If there is no foundation for a home, it will easily fall apart.

Everyone needs a purpose in their life.

Everyone needs a purpose to keep doing what they do. They need to have some sort of goals to accomplish, or else they would give up all too soon. It's easy to break one's promise if one doesn't have enough reason and/or motivation to stick to.

Well, world domination might be hard enough to accomplish, but there are plenty of other goals that can be mutually agreed by the couple. Supporting their spouse in their aspirations, listening to each other's deepest fears and cheapest thrills, be the life companion for each other.

Raise the family if they want to have children, taking good care of their kids, make sure to provide a safe environment and good upbringing for them. Even if they were not yet ready, or not planning to raise any children and just want to adopt a pet, they need to make sure to be caring parents to their pet. And the list is endless. Good communication and transparency are important in setting these mutual goals.

Oh, one last thing, meddling families can be a chore, sometimes.

This is something that can cause problems in the marriage. However, I still think that the couple will need help from their families from time to time-- which was actually one of my issues with how BTIMFL resolved their big families hullaballoo. In real life, avoiding families and/or in-laws' is no easy feat and it's something that if it’s done, could come across as rude and disrespectful.

When we married someone, we married into the family as well. We got a new spouse and a new family all at once, how convenient!

However, maybe not so much.

Not all of the family members will welcome the new member with the warmest and biggest hugs. But still, we became part of the flock and it's important to reach an understanding with our spouse of how far our big families will be involved in our marriage.

I think most of the family members, especially the parents, only want the best for their children's marriage. The intention is noble most of the time, but the manner of their assistance combined with their ego and other dilemmas might be a recipe for a time bomb in their children's marriage.

Furthermore, overbearing family and in-laws do exist in real life, albeit many of them is a more toned-down version of their dramaland's counterparts. Thank God.

In the end, after writing this post, there are some realizations that I discovered for myself:

a) I still believe that the kind of so-called relationship goals--in regards to marriage, not dating-- that I aspire to have is the marriage of justice RBG and her late husband, Marty. Their equal marriage is way ahead of their time and is not something that many people are lucky enough to have, even in this day and age, more than 60 years after their wedding.

b) I will probably most likely get married when/if I met some guy who liked me enough, could tolerate my random ramblings, and might be willing to participate in my convoluted mini world domination plan, despite all the shortcomings and hustle bustles that awaits in the marriage jet coaster.

c) I will have a hard time to re-create something like a) but perhaps, given the right spouse--whoever he might be-- maybe I will be able to at least have a decent marriage where my future husband and I can laugh at my follies in this tumble until both of us felt giddy and breathless, in the future. Who knows.

#from me #musings #life journey #quarter life crisis #marriage #not dating

0 notes

pxiao · 7 years ago

Text

Fate/Arc-V Prologue

inspired by this post

Master page

In my many, many and I mean many travels across the dimensions, I have learned many things like keeping some of your favorite candy bars with you at all times if your money isn’t legal in that dimension and you’re starving. Or the food just doesn’t agree with you but that’s a story I hope to forget eventually.

Where was I .... right! But there is one thing that I learned above all else is that in the various dimensions, we are not alone. As you live your life, in another dimension there is another you also living their life. The differences between dimensions could be as small as finding a penny on a street or having a completely different life but make no mistake anything can happen and that’s why the Second Magic is so much fun. In this case I found something interesting in this dimension, something I have never seen before. So lets stop waiting huh? The Fun is just getting started!!! - Zelretch or Kaleidoscope whatever you prefer.

In an empty street bathed by the shadows of buildings reaching far into the sky, a young girl in ratty clothes wandered through the spaces between the buildings. The girl named Rin quickly ran into the gaps to the dirty dumpsters. Once she found the huge green but rotting boxes far larger than herself, she felt her heart race as saliva started to run from her mouth and her stomach started to growl. She ran to a metal box which was unlocked and after 30 minutes of effort which lead to a ripped right sleeve, did she finally get the huge cover to lift only to see there was nothing inside the dumpster. Rin felt her vision shake as she punched the dirty dumpster with her right hand in rage. Rin grinded her teeth to ignore the pain as she glared that the bruise on her right hand.

Rin knew that her life wasn’t easy in any way but even she couldn’t believe how rotten her luck was today. When she woke up, she found the stupid red bruise covering the back of her right hand and promptly ignored it. While it was an eyesore her hand was still usable, so she went to look for food like always. But sadly her fellow commons didn’t share her opinion and refused to let her scavenge for food in the dumpster she had always used, out of fear she had caught a disease. While she understood their fears and probably would have done the same if she was in their circumstances, she still wanted to beat their heads in. She swallowed her feelings, realizing that she would only be wasting her energy and more importantly time if she tried to argue. Deciding instead to look for any unlocked dumpsters for food before the garbage trucks came around. After five hours of searching every dumpster was either locked or filled with metal or glass, making the leftovers inedible. But since this dumpster was empty, it meant the trucks had come and gone and with them any chance of a meal.

As Rin wallowed in her anger, a man dressed in a black robe that covered even his face soon entered the very same gap as Rin. As he walked up to the dumpster, Rin heard the rustling of his robe and turned her head to face him.

She sighed and said, “If you’re looking for food, the trucks already came.”

“Is that so?” the figure said.

“Sadly yes, the sun is starting to set. Better look for shelter for tonight and look again tomorrow.” Rin said in a resigned tone as her stomach rambled.

As Rin and the figure started to walk past each other, the figure’s suddenly grabbed her right arm, startling her. Rin quickly calmed her nerves and screamed, “Let go of me, you pervert!!!”

The figure quickly throw her arm back at her and yelled, “who are you calling a pervert!”

Rin’s eyes widened in shock at the robed man’s unexpected action. While she had been grabbed many times either by other commons that tried to steal her food or because she had unknowingly entered their territory, very few cared about being insulted. She shook her head and rebutted, “You just grabbed my hand and I don’t have any food. What else would you want?”

“Trust me if I was a pervert, I would have gone for a girl that went through puberty first.” The robed man mocked in a sarcastic tone.

Rin just stared at the man and the quickly started walking away, decided that he wasn’t worth the effort.

“Wait, wait, wait!” the man frantically started yelling as Rin covered her ears with her hands.

“I know about that mark on your arm!” he yelled.

“Good for you.” Rin replied.

“That mark could make you rich!!!!!” the robed man yelled even louder.

Rin’s eyes widened when she heard him as she stopped in place. Despite herself, she turned to face the man whose face was obscured by his robe which created the impression that he was headless.

“What do you mean I could be rich because of this mark?” She asked as she pointed the bruise to him.

“That mark on your hand are command seals and it’s the sign of the Holy Grail War!” he said excitedly

“Holy Grail War?” Rin asked confused.

“A great ritual where 7 mages gather and each summon a hero from the past as familiar. They then fight to the death and the last standing mage and their hero win a wish. Said wish could be anything power, fame and of course money.” The robed man said in a grandiose tone.

Rin quickly looked at the mark and sighed, “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

“What makes you say that?” He happily said.

“Your story makes no sense. Mages, heroes from the past and all for the cup that caught Jesus’ blood when he was crucified. And to top it off that gives me a wish. You’ve been reading too many books from the dumpster.” Rin said in a resigned tone.

“It does sound insane I admit but look at your mark. Do you really think that could come naturally?” the robed man asked.

Rin’s eyes widened as she realized his point. Her bruise was crimson red, a color unlikely to appear naturally unless the person had taken some drugs and it was too neat. Her “bruise” was a made up of two lines with one line being made of two half circles of different sizes, the other being a simpler smaller half circle meeting the larger line, resembling wind with a large dot in the center of where the two lines met. No bruise could be that detailed. She squashed that thought and asked, “ok fine maybe this mark …..”

“Command Seals” the robed man corrected.

“Whatever the jargon is, even if it’s too neat, how do I know you’re not just crazy? I mean magic, what am I five?” Rin asked.

The robed man simply raised his arm, revealing a sickly pale hand. The robed man then snapped his fingers and in front of him blazing red fire appeared that spelled, “Do you believe me now punk?” Rin jumped backward in fear.

“I think I got my message across.” The robed man said in a smug tone.

“What are you?” Rin asked with a tinge of fear on her face.

“A mage.” He answered.

“In the City?” Rin asked incredulous.

“I like pizza. Sue me. Though you would only get this robe if you win.” He snarked.

Rin facepalmed and asked, “Why are you telling me this?”

“does it matter?” he said as he tilted his head.

“It does! Why would you be telling me this? You don’t get anything from this!” Rin yelled.

“Maybe I don’t want to see a brat starve to death?” he replied.

“Stop lying.” Rin said with a glare which caused the robed man to chuckle.

The robed man then pulled out an old looking book and a small pot, “Well my motive doesn’t really matter. I mean do you have any other options here?”

Rin’s eyes widened as she clutched her jaw shut which caused the masked man to chuckle again.

“Either you follow the ritual in this book or you starve. That’s your two options and I’m sure you know which option you’re going to choose. Well to be more accurate, which option you’ve already chosen.” The man said in a way that Rin knew he was smiling under his robe.

“But …” Rin tried to lie before the man raised his arm again and snapped his fingers again as a bright light drowned everything in Rin’s sight. Rin covered her eyes as the light passed through her eyelids and fingers. After a few seconds, everything went black and Rin opened her eyes and saw the robed man was gone but the book and the pot were left on the ground in front of her.

On the very top of the building next to the space where Rin and the robed man talked, the very same man smiled as he watched Rin pick up the book and pot.

“Avenger, what are you doing?” A cold but feminine voiced asked behind the robed man.

The robed man quickly turned around to face the voice and his smile grew larger as he saw the owner of the voice. He pulled down the hood of his robe to reveal silver and gray spiked hair man with a pleasant but cold smile. “Hello Ray or should I say Ruler?” he taunted her which caused Ruler to glare. He started to chuckle when he saw her expression.

“What’s so funny?” Ruler demanded.

“Nothing just I same the exact same expression before.” Avenger taunted as he pointed to Rin. “She looks pretty familiar huh? I mean she’s pretty much a younger you. Though the green hair is new and you know kinda impossible. Though I guess my hair and the red wool you call hair fits that description too.”

“Answer my question, what are you doing here Avenger?” Ruler demanded again.

“What not going to call me Zarc like old times?” Avenger joked as Ruler kept silent. Avenger smiled as he answered, “oh nothing so don’t worry your pretty little head of yours.”

“Nothing? You jumped from Japan to the west for nothing?” Ruler said with a bit of rage in her voice.

“If you don’t trust me, you could just kill me. I’m not exactly my invincible self right now.” Avenger taunted as he threw his hands in the air.

Ruler simply glared holes at Avenger as his grin grew larger and larger. “I knew it. As Ruler, you can’t make any direct actions unless they protect the grail. And right now all I did was prepare one of the masters for the war. If anything I just helped the grail so you can’t touch me.”

Ruler gritted her teeth and turned away from Avenger as she threatened, “I know you. When you interfere with the war, I will kill you just like in the last war. This isn’t a threat or a promise, it’s a fact.” After saying her piece, her body turned into light as she disappeared.

Avenger gave a sneer as he thought, “Soon everything will be in order, soon I’ll finally grant my wish as the Fifth Holy Grail war is finally about to start!” He closed his eyes as his body disappeared into the darkness.

#fate/arc-V #my fanfic

9 notes · View notes

nowonderyouhavedemons · 7 years ago

Note

All evens!

WOW I’m getting to this so fucking late I’m sorry I forgot to do this my entire day off so now I’m doing this at like midnight and I’ll post it tomorrow afternoon or something during my break

also thank you Allie once again for letting me ramble about my dumb self~

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

Maybe a 3 or so? I think it depends on if I’m familiar with the environment I’m in or not, and if the darkness is something planned. I don’t mind walking around my home in the dark in the middle of the night, but I’d be less okay with the dark if it was due to a blackout at home.

Probably shoots up to 4 or 5 when I’m in unfamiliar places. This includes haunted houses in amusement parks. I’m a huge baby I just try to hide it

4. What is your favorite word?

God, there’s so many good ones. I really like the word “dawn”. “Smorgasboard” is good too. Also “succinct” and “bracket.” Those words just feel fun to say for me!

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

“god why does my facial hair grow back so fast?”

it doesn’t really, but I like being clean shaven and I swear it grows to the point of being noticeable within 3 - 4 days and it’s really annoying.

8. What do you label yourself as?

A bunch of stuff, really! Male, straight, raver, diabetic, dropout, all that sort of stuff. Depends on the context we’re talking about too because this question feels super broad.

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

I think I was in bed getting comfy to go to sleep. I got called into work that day and I was exhausted when I got home. Basically ate some food and watching a single youtube video and went to sleep.

12. Who told you they loved you last?

Think it was my friend/coworker actually. Pretty sure she was playfully jabbing at me and roasting me. I agreed with her (because I either completely agree unless I have something wittier to reply with) and I think she was all “Ahhh, you know I love you.”

Having a good relationship with your coworkers is nice~

14. What is your current desktop picture?

Right now, it’s the Dishonored 2 main screen! I actually use Wallpaper Engine from Steam which lets you use videos and animated loops as desktop wallpapers, so I have about 50+ on rotation right now that get switched out every hour.

16. The last song you listened to?

CA$H by Barely Alive!

MAKE THE SPEAKERS *VIIIIIBbBRrAaAaAaTtEe*

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

The guy who was with his girlfriend as one of my customers yesterday when I got called in.

Listen asshole, the first thing I told you when you came up other than my “hi” was that we were out of slushies. We couldn’t make slushies. We refilled all the mix. What do you do? Ask me “what about the blue raspberry?”

“No sir, I apologize, but we’re out of slushies.”

“What about the lemonade?”

“Sir, like I just said, we’re out of slushie mix.”

“So you’re completely out of slushies?”

“Yes sir, that’s what I just said.”

and then when I gave you your change, you YANKED the bill out of my hand.

Like listen you fucking ignorant shit, you can’t be mad at me after I tried being polite multiple times and warned you multiple times and then get frustrated with you because you kept asking inane stupid fucking questions holding up my line of 20 OTHER CUSTOMERS

I hope that guy tripped later on that day and ate shit. God that pissed me off.

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

Shit. I honestly hate my body in general. I guess my eyes can be pretty nice sometimes, but the light has to be hitting me in the right way. My eys are dark brown so you can’t really see a whole lot. I’ve always wished I had a different eye colour.

That, and I’m pretty tall for a Filipino dude, I think. Taller ones are growing up in Toronto now, but a lot that I see still are like 5′6″ or shorter. Being 5′8″ ain’t too bad.

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

Not????? really???? I think? Like really anything that I could be remotely good at is already something I share publicly (which would be making music really but I haven’t even been doing that.)

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

Honestly, it’d just be the cold cut combo sandwich setup from Subway I always get except also with ham and a shit ton of bacon added, really. I get it cheese and toasted with Italians Herbs and Cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onions, cucumbers, mayo, and chipotle sauce.

I’m a simple man. The greatest sandwiches I ever have are from Subway because I never have sandwiches otherwise.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

fucking nowhere I have work dude and I get no shifts during tourist off-season I’m working as much as I can while I can

for the sake of funsies, and I know it’d sound boring, but I’d either pick California/Los Angeles or Florida. I’m not in a rush to go overseas because I feel that’d require a lot more planning and possibly learning phrases in a new language. I have family in California and friends in Florida so I wouldn’t have to worry about being alone, the Canadian dollar is weak as shit compared to the USD so I could buy things on the cheap there, and it wouldn’t be as huge of a culture shock while still being new to me (because I barely explored California with my family the one time I went because we did VERY tourist-y things.)

Also portions. I fucking inhale food, dude. Give me those US portions for meals CHEAPER than here in Canada, holy god.

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

like comment subscribe

No littering. Fuck y’all, if I’m creating my own society, I’m not letting SAVAGES in that don’t know how to clean up after themselves and throw things out properly. We’re keeping it clean here.

It’s gotta be my laptop just because it’s the most expensive thing I own that I deeply care about. I could eventually afford another PS4, I don’t need a glamorous TV or anything, and I only upgraded to the iPhone 6 because my mom got a deal on it for $100. I could use that as an excuse to switch to Android.

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

To avoid a cop-out and using California as an answer AGAIN, I think I’d really like a place in the Philippines. Not deep inner city though. Like, further away in the quieter cramped backalley houses like the one one of my aunts has there. I don’t want to be completely out in the country either.

I’d want to be able to get into the inner city relatively easily, and I want to really feel in tune with the background country more!

34. What was your last dream about?

Oh god, what was the last dream I even remember? I get so bad at remembering them now. OH NOW I REMEMBER PART OF ONE. I forgot most of it but I know at some point I ended up in the back of a large sorta hippie van? Like the back seats were removed and the back was all lined up tons of nice rugs and blankets and decorations. There were a few of my college classmates lying there with me and I was cuddling with one of them. That was a nice part of the dream I remember.

I don’t have dramatic or weird dreams. A lot of my dreams are just stuff like this. I’m really fucking romantically lonely I want physical intimacy ugggggggggggggggggh

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

Oh yeah, at least three times. I already have to visit a hospital fairly frequently for my diabetes. First time was when I was just diagnosed with T1 Diabetes, and the second and third times were when I was in danger of DKA because I wasn’t taking my insulin. Second time was worse than the third. My nurses weren’t happy both times though.

38. What is the color of your socks?

I’m not wearing socks right now! I don’t wear socks at home unless I find it cold.

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

Sunsets, since I’m not a morning person. Both are pretty though!

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

Is this that newfangled Sportsball I always hear about? I’m not hip with the times yo, sorry.

No seriously I really don’t care about sports and the only ones I MIGHT care a tiny bit about are my local ones like the Blue Jays and Raptors, and that’s just out of a sense of Canadian/Torontonian pride more than anything.

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

lol whoops I dropped out

dream goal is still to be a music producer and DJ. If that doesn’t end up panning out, I’d still like to go into something involving music or audio engineering. Sound mixing for TV/movies maybe? Doing front-of-house mixing for concerts and raves would be cool too.

46. Are you reliable?

I like to think so, but I know I slip up a lot sometimes.

48. Do you hold grudges?

To be honest, yeah, I still do. I can be pretty fucking bitter about things from my past.

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

Not the MOST, but this just happened a couple weeks ago (and it wasn’t really a conversation but whatever)

A woman came up to me while I was on cash wanting to buy something. She was holding a Canadian $20 in her hand. She approaches me, looks at her bill confused, looks up at me again, and asks “Do you guys accept cash?”

Like???????????? nothing has ever taken me that far aback before????? like I don’t????? what??? the fuck like miss??????? miss we are an establishment that provides goods for currency??????????????? damn I HOPE we accept cash at this physical shop because we’d probably come across some issues with our customers

This happened weeks ago and I still bring it up to people. It still bewilders the fuck out of me. What would possess people to think a physical store would not accept cash? What has troubled you in the past that would lead you to think that this cashier and this till you walked up to would ONLY accept debit/credit cards? Holy fuck.

52. How long could you go without talking?

To another person physically? A good while, I think. Probably a week, two weeks tops. I’ve stayed inside my apartment for a week straight before and I swear I barely talked to my mom too.

If talking to myself counts, than maybe a couple hours. Maybe. I talk and make comments to/by myself a lot.

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

God no. I’d probably be trash at baking stuff. I’m surprised I can manage some stuff on the stovetop.

56. What do you like on your toast?

Butter/margarine for the most part. I’m a simple person. I could say peanut butter and jelly too, but it’s actually been over a year or so since I’ve had a PB&J.

58. What would be you dream car?

One that worked, was fairly stable, and had a damn good audio system.

I’m not really a car person, I really wouldn’t give too much of a shit what the car was. Maybe not a pick-up truck or a mini-van though, and that’s really it.

60. Do you believe in aliens?

Not in the stereotypical image of “aliens”, but I definitely believe that the universe is too fucking huge and operates on too massive a scale for there to not be any type of intelligent life somewhere else at SOME place.

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

Either A or M. A’s probably my favourite vowel, and for some reason “LMNOP” is my favourite part of the classic Alphabet song, and M is the letter I like the best out of that section.

64. What do you think about babies?

Babies can be super cute and adorable sometimes! Other times though? Devil spawn. They can be double-edged swords sometimes.

#alliekhaleesi #ask

0 notes

diddgery · 8 years ago

Text

the “I Want To Play Fire Emblem But Don’t Know Where To Start” post

Hi! Are you one of the many people whose first and only exposure to Fire Emblem is Smash Bros. and/or Fire Emblem Heroes? Do you want to get in on Fire Emblem but feel unsure what game to play first because there’s so many? Well here, let me help you!

There are three games I consider good starting points for new fans. All of these games have been released outside of Japan, so you don’t need to worry about futzing with fan translations. All of these games have characters that you can get in Fire Emblem Heroes, so if you’ve been playing that game you can learn more about your random pulls in these! Two of them are easy to emulate as well, if you don’t have the systems or funds to play them but want to check them out.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, known just as Fire Emblem outside of Japan, is a GBA title and the first game to get a worldwide release after Smash Bros. Melee introduced the world to the series. As such it was designed with a global audience in mind; it is the first game to feature a player-made avatar (though they are not actually playable) and the first ten chapters are designed to gently ease new players into the series by gradually introducing and explaining various mechanics. This game serves as a prequel to The Binding Blade, the game that Roy is from, and one of the main characters is Lyn, who you may recognize from Smash Bros. The game lacks some of the more user-friendly mechanics that have been added in later games- namely, the option to play without permadeath- but if you play on an emulator (or on the Wii U Virtual Console) you can use savestates to make your life easier. This is the game that introduced many fans to the series, and as such it’s a great entry point.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a DS remake of the first game in the seris and stars Marth. If you’re curious how the series started, this is the best place to go, as you’ll be introduced to many of the series’ recurring themes and character archetypes. This game is also surprisingly friendly towards the permadeath mechanic; should you lose a certain number of characters the game will give you access to bonus chapters where you can pick up new characters you otherwise wouldn’t see. However, if your primary reason for playing Fire Emblem is because you like shipping, this may not be the best choice for you. The support mechanic that allows characters to hold conversations with one another doesn’t exist in this game, and as such many of the characters are woefully lacking in personality. The art style for this game is also not as colorful as other games, opting for a more realistic look than a stylized anime one. This game is available on the Wii U Virtual Console as well.

Fire Emblem Awakening is the first 3DS game and is the most accessible game on this list if you are afraid of the permadeath mechanic- because you can just turn it off entirely! This game stars popular characters like Lucina and Robin (who is customizable and can be renamed) and builds on a variety of mechanics and themes from every other game in the series. This game was designed to be the ultimate Fire Emblem game due to uncertainty about the series’ future, but as a result of its success Fire Emblem has exploded in popularity. It’s easy to understand why if you play it! This one is the most expensive game on the list and can be difficult to emulate, but it’s by far worth it.

“But Diddgery,” you may be saying, “What if I’ve played those games and I want more Fire Emblem? Where should I go next?” Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

If you enjoyed The Blazing Blade, you absolutely should seek out the fan translation for Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. This game stars Roy and takes place several years after The Blazing Blade wraps up, so you’ll be able to learn about what happened to your favorite characters and potentially meet their offspring. Some aspects of the fan translation clash with the translations you may see in games like Awakening and Heroes- most notably character names- but the fan translators did a great job of being true to the way Blazing Blade was translated. You should also consider checking out Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, the third and final GBA entry. This game features branching promotion paths and an overworld map, two elements that hadn’t been seen in the series since the NES days. If you happen to be a 3DS Ambassador, this is one of the free GBA games you received, so you really have no excuse not to try it out if that’s the case.

If you enjoyed Shadow Dragon, track down the fan translation of Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. This game is a remake of Mystery of the Emblem, a SNES sequel to Marth’s first game, and remains the only game in the series to not get a release outside of Japan after the series went worldwide. It features a customizable player avatar who is playable much in the vein of Robin. Many gameplay features that were missing in Shadow Dragon make it into this game- most notably support conversations. Another game you may consider trying is Fire Emblem Gaiden, which is a sidestory set on another continent in the same world as Shadow Dragon and features a variety of unique gameplay differences that have rarely been seen since. Keep in mind this game’s remake, Fire Emblem Echoes, will be releasing outside of Japan in May, so it may be best to just wait for that rather than play the NES original.

If you enjoyed Awakening, you should check out Fire Emblem Fates for the 3DS. It builds and polishes on Awakening’s gameplay and completely overhauls the weapon system of the series. It also goes full anime as far as story and character design goes (albeit with some censorship outside of Japan so you can’t pet and stroke your units). Unfortunately this game has its three storylines divided into three separate games; if you want to play all three, it’s going to cost you about $80 USD and will eat up a lot of time. Whether or not it’s worth it is entirely up to you. Fans of Awakening may also enjoy Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, a SNES title that Awakening drew heavy inspiration from.

If you liked any of the above, check out Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for the Gamecube. It’s got catgirls and catboys and y’all like that, right? Also this is the game that Ike from Smash Bros. first appeared. He fights for his friends, and if you play this game you can learn who his friends are and also why he fights for them.

Here’s a link to a page where you can find a bunch of info and links to fan translations, also. Happy Fire Emblem-ing!

#fire emblem

15 notes · View notes

shadyb00ts · 8 years ago

Text

Horizon: Zero Dawn - A Review

Right, gimme a moment to compose myself after the INCREDIBLE RIDE that was this fucking game.

Okay. So. Picture it: E3 2015. There I was, minding my own business, completely PS4-less and only scoping out upcoming PC titles since at the time I was a proud PC gamer. Deep down I was always bitter that I probably would never get a PS4, though, so I usually knowingly avoided any footage of PS4 games like inFamous: Second Son, Uncharted 4, etc. I’ve always been a naturally jealous person, so seeing footage from those games at the time sorta stirred up some jealousy there.

But regardless of that, I still end up seeing the original gameplay trailer anyways. And holy fuckballs, I was so pissed. There in front of me was footage of a game that was literally MADE for me, I swear to god. It had all the elements that I loved in a game. Let’s list them, shall we?

Lush open world with gorgeous vibrant landscapes and incredible graphics: check and check

Female protagonist that looks badass and is voiced by ASHLY FUCKING BURCH: check, check and check

Bow and arrow combat: check

Stealth: check

RPG elements like side quests, skill trees, dialogue trees, etc: checkcheckcheckcheck

Intriguing and mysterious story: check

Platforming and climbing mechanics a la Tomb Raider & Uncharted: check

Honestly, I could go on and on but you get the idea. I never thought I’d see the day where a game could so perfectly fit the criteria of everything I like. So 2-Years-Ago-Me was completely heartbroken since at the time I was convinced that I’d never own a PS4. It was up there with Kingdom Hearts III as the games I thought I’d never get to experience.

Flash forward to now, having been a PS4 owner for about several months. This game was pretty much top priority on what to get, so as soon as it was available for preorder, I clicked that shit so fast I almost broke my mouse. So naturally, when the game finally became playable, I completely immersed myself in it.

This may be a bold statement, but I think Horizon is going to be one of my favorite games of all time. For real.

So all those elements I listed up there were true, but there were also additional elements I love that I had no clue were even in it, prior to playing. Like for example, I had no idea just how deep into the RPG category it was going to go. This game was so freaking immersive. I was immediately in Aloy’s shoes and experienced the world through her eyes, starting from childhood. And then what a pleasant surprise it was when I discovered that the game presents you with moral choices, too! At that moment I knew that the game was going to exceed my already extremely high expectations.

There are also dialogue trees in which you can exhaust a lot of dialogue from, and I of course took every chance I got to choose all the options. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this intricate world Guerrilla Games has built and encountering its inhabitants. I loved finding out more about all the different tribes and their own unique traditions and religious beliefs, as well as their relationships with each other. It also helps that their outfits are all so fucking rad. In addition to all that, there are collectibles called “datapoints” where you could find various text, audio and holographic documents from the world of the “ancient ones”, and there’s so many interesting tidbits you can discover from these files. Guerrilla really has fleshed out this world as fully as they could. And let’s quickly touch on the diversity this game has. Man oh man, there were so many people of all different races throughout this game. Lots of strong female characters who weren’t one-dimensional, and I even stumbled upon a gay character during one of the side quests. The diversity showcased doesn’t feel contrived or there to appease the masses, it feels natural and well represented.

I was a bit worried about the story at first, since Guerrilla were definitely shrouding it in mystery and being extra vague every chance they got, which I guess a part of me did like, since it made me not know what to expect and heightened my sense of discovery while playing. But these devs have crafted a really amazing story with a likable cast of characters, including the star of the show Aloy herself. I’m a little biased about her though, since she’s voiced by Ashly Burch who I adore to pieces, but even regardless of that she was simply a wonderfully written character. I just loved watching the story unfold, finding out more and more about what happened to the world and witnessing Aloy finding out the truth about who she really is. The lowest expectation I had initially about this game was probably the story, but it didn’t disappoint at all. I was thoroughly hooked and craved to know more. I won’t spoil anything, since I want those of you who are going to play the game to be more engrossed by it as you have your own experience through it.

Those of you who have seen screenshots and/or gameplay know that this game is a visual masterpiece. The environments are lush and full of life despite the post-apocalyptic nature of it. Originally I had thought the Last of Us had the most gorgeous post-apoc landscapes of all time, but Horizon definitely takes the cake for this one, no question about it. There’s a photo mode available, and because the game itself is so beautiful, it’s probably impossible to take a bad shot. Even without using the filters provided, the graphics have that gorgeous pinkish glow that I always love in games, very reminiscent of Dragon Age: Inquisition I think. The screenshots in this review were some snaps I took using the photo mode feature, and it’s really fun to play around with. You could probably spend hours with it taking scenic shots and action shots to your heart’s content.

Now let’s talk combat. A game automatically has me sold when it has archery. My love of this developed through the 2013 Tomb Raider remake, which I’m sure I reviewed on here a long while back. It grew when I played the sequel to that remake, Rise of the Tomb Raider. This game takes that style of combat and amps it up to a hundred, adding a bunch of various unique and craftable arrow types, as well as multitudes of elemental traps and explosives. Most unique out of these is probably the Ropecaster, which allows you to tie down enemies to leave them immobilized. These are extremely useful for the flying machines that you’ll encounter later on in the game, since they can be pretty tricky. The combat relies heavily on weakpoint takedowns, so you’ve definitely gotta have real good aim in order to slay them robots, especially the bigger ones. Unlike most action games, you can’t just go in guns blazing and continuously shoot arrows at random spots on the machines’ bodies. Focusing on their weakpoints is key, as that’s where all the real damage lies. Most of the robots are also weak to specific element types, so exposing those weaknesses gives you an even bigger advantage. Some enemies you could even strip off their ranged weapons and use it against them, which I thought was fucking radical. I did it more than a few times and it was a hell of a lot of fun.

There’s also melee combat in this game, although I rarely ever used it to be quite honest. The only use I found for melee are the silent takedowns during stealth, but in battle I would say ranged is the way to go. Battles with the machines are very exhilarating and intense, since they are clearly much more stronger than you, even the weaker ones. There are also human enemies like bandits and cultists, but they’re pretty easy to pick off since all it takes are headshots, basically. The machines are the real challenge. I played on Easy since I’m a scrub, and have always had no shame in playing games on easy difficulties anyways since, unlike most gamers, I’m not much of a fan of challenge. Basically for me, Easy is my Normal. That’s just how I roll. But even easy mode was a bit of a challenge at times, at least for me. I had some trouble with the huge, stronger machines. Then again, I pretty much spent the entirety of the game doing nothing but side stuff and power-leveling, so by the last few main quests I was already at max level. But even at max level and wearing arguably the best outfit in the game, the final boss was a lot to handle.

I’ve spent the majority of this review gushing about this game, but was there anything I disliked? In all honesty, not really all that much. Most of my negatives are pretty much small nitpicks. I thought the climbing mechanics could’ve been a little bit better, since unlike Tomb Raider or Uncharted, most of the platforming can be done just by pushing the left stick and only pressing the jump button once in a while. I would’ve liked it better if the jump button was more frequently used during platforming, basically. You also can’t filter between icons on the map, and the map interface can get pretty hectic as a result since there’s so much stuff cluttered in it. Not sure why they didn’t add the option to filter between machine sites, collectibles, etc. Would’ve made for an easier time navigating.

Another negative is probably how I wish the outfits were more customizable. As it stands, each outfit is already one full set, and the only modifications you can make are by using two or three slots where you can insert mods to increase certain effects like elemental resistances, stealth, etc. I wish it was a little more in-depth in that you could get different pieces for each body part, like most RPGs, and maybe be able to insert modifications to each individual armor piece. Actually, the modification system in general, for both outfits and weapons, is a bit too simplified for my taste. You can’t really upgrade them, it’s as simple as just inserting a mod or two and you’re done. This may be ideal for more action-oriented players, but since I’m an RPG enthusiast, I find it to leave much to be desired. There are some other small nitpicks I have with the game that hold it back from being absolute perfection, but honestly they’re all pretty much easy to ignore. The positives crush the negatives.

So yeah, overall I’m extremely overjoyed with how this game turned out. It’s everything I had been hoping for and then some. It literally just came out a few days ago and already I’m aching for a story DLC or, hell, even a sequel. This game better branch out into a franchise; there’s so much Guerrilla can explore with this world that they’ve created.

I give Horizon a 9.75/10. 9.5 seemed a little too low and 10 seemed a little bit too high, so I thought fuck it, 9.75 it is. This game is near perfection, and if you have a PS4 or are going to own a PS4 in the future, then I swear to you that you won’t regret having Horizon in your game library. It’s a mishmash of various elements in open world, action-RPG gaming all rolled into an impeccable, beautiful package. And for all you trophy hunters out there, it’s pretty easy to platinum too.

Man, do I love this game. Jesus. Looks like I’ve found something new to unhealthily obsess over.

#horizon zero dawn #hzd #ps4 #ps4 games #game reviews #aloy

0 notes

unimuscleperv-blog · 6 years ago

Text

3 REASONS YOU NEED A CANDID WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

There are numerous situations that a few appearances while getting ready for their wedding. There are extreme decisions in regards to dates ( the 21st is propitious however Deepa lands from NY on the 22nd), sustenance choice - would it be a good idea for me to add the kaju katli to the menu or the cholesterol rich jalebi? what's more, how about we not begin on the procedure engaged with finding that ideal marriage dress.

These are old stresses that have been upsetting couples and their folks for ages. Presently out of the blue there is another inquiry that gauges substantial on the psyches of couple taking a gander at blessed marriage. Would it be advisable for me to go for a genuine wedding picture taker?

There are two or three things two or three should know about before they answer this inquiry and ideally the arrangement of posts on this will assist them with it.

WHAT IS CANDID WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY?

Sincere wedding photography (and close cousins like Photo-Journalistic photography) is a non meddlesome strategy for taking pictures. There will be no presenting or revamp of the occasion for the picture taker, she just demonstrates the veracity of the occasion.

The style is aware of the wedding and its significance to the members and is a narrating instrument at its center.

THAT SOUNDS SMOOTH AND SOPHISTICATED,

In the Indian setting couples have become weary of picture takers hindering holy functions with solicitations for postures and rests, collection pages and pages of relatives remaining in front of an audience in insult consideration with the couple, and when all is said in done the expansive groups of photographic artists that upset weddings with their brilliant lights and occasions.

Real to life wedding photography offers a rich option with its peaceful and significant inclusion of an occasion.

Gone are picture takers shouting at the couple to turn only a smidgen. No more will relatives need to croone their necks investigating 3 picture takers exactly when the mangalsutra is to be tied. Also, lets not begin on the variety of lights that visually impaired the couples like scan lights chasing for got away convicts.

On a very basic level, a sincere wedding picture taker approaches the wedding as a story unfurling and not an occasion to be secured.

SO CANDID WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY IS BEST NO?

Not a chance. Not generally and I'll be the first to reveal to you this.

An indian wedding includes huge number of individuals who are vital to the groups of the couple. Regularly the couple has never observed or met them. So customary photography is vastly improved at exhaustively reporting every one of the general population who turned up and the different occasions that occurred.

So also a great deal of families need to follow the different occasions that occur in the wedding and the endowments that were traded in those occasions. Again here conventional photography is better.

Conventional wedding picture takers buckle down and regularly the requests put on them are immense. We ought to perceive this. The main thing to ask is, what style works for you?

Since you have some setting around real to life wedding photography let me give you a few occurrences when I accept genuine wedding photography conveys its best.

#1 Look Away And You Miss Moments

The passionate idea of the wedding dissolves even the hardest hearts. Mothers you thought were extreme developed men cry, old companions you haven't seen since school swing up to be there for you and even the pandit shocks you amidst a function with life-decision 2-streets wander exhortation!

These are essential minutes a real wedding picture taker is prepared to catch. Frequently I request that the couple present me as a companion in the wedding. This makes the families agreeable and I uninhibitedly move about the occasion catching only these minutes. By utilizing the blaze inadequately, I end up clicking a great deal of pictures that the members are themselves not mindful of.

A brilliant affair for me is the point at which a mother of the lady or a relative sees a picture of themselves cleaning a tear or blasting into giggling and after that they recollect that specific minute! This is the thing that they would be appreciative for - catching a passing minute they were in. This is the thing that they will appreciate.

Indian Bride with her dad

#2 Those Friends From Far Away

We as a whole have those school companions who we haven't found in years. Include that nearby chaddi pals who you appear to have been brought into the world with. At that point we have our packs from school or school who used to arrange 3/6 tea at the pastry shop outside grounds.

Well you haven't seen a great deal of your companions in quite a while have you? A wedding is essentially one major synchronize where your companions originate from both LA and Lucknow come to be there for you. Insanity and wistfulness are known reactions in these circumstances and a genuine wedding picture taker catches that well.

I have stories to recount companions who dogged a lucky man to go out on a night drive like great bygone eras hours before the Muhurth. Ladies have gotten make up spread when they assemble embraced their companions from grade school. These are dissolving minutes and the companions absolutely love when they get these photos, frequently the main pictures of you all together ( there weren't mobile phone cameras in your youth years!).

I am frequently with the lady of the hour or the husband to be during the time candid wedding photography and I catch in contacting point of interest reunions of old seat mates and inverse overhang companions. The youngish period of open picture takers makes these companions agreeable and frequently they aren't cognizant around us. This is the formula for genuinely contacting real to life minutes.

3# Behind The Scenes

Mehndi, Sangeeth, Muhurtham and Unjal are wonderful parts of customary Indian weddings. They are moving services with lovely setup and profound religious significance. There is another side to the Indian wedding that frequently goes untold and uncaptured. The arrangements.

The lady of the hour preparing for any of these minutes is a straightforward precedent. Regularly a military is required to complete this. The make up craftsman, a patient kin to care for the gold assets, a cousin who serves as a driver if there should arise an occurrence of any crises and the anxious dad who continues pondering whats taking such a long time.

Covering the lady of the hour preparing is my most loved piece of real to life wedding photography. There is something I find profoundly moving about catching a young lady getting readied for her uncommon day. As a lady picture taker I gain admittance to the lady of the hour's room and subtly drift around when she prepares. My experience as a design essayist encourages me with getting those ideal shots which catch the change from straightforward young lady to flawless lady.

#wedding photographer in Delhi #candid wedding photography #wedding photography

0 notes