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carmenxjulia · 4 years ago

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I put together a transcript of the 2 hour Q&A Interview the Carmen Sandiego Discord did with Showrunner Duane Capizzi. All of the questions were submitted by server members. You can read everything below the break!

Duane Capizzi:

Hi there!

Am I in? Is this thing on?

PizzaHorse:

Hi, welcome!

Yep, you're in the right place!

Duane Capizzi:

Sorry I'm late, I was wandering around some empty Discord hallways looking for the right room haha

PizzaHorse:

No worries. Let's get started!

Who is your favorite character?

Duane Capizzi:

Moose Boy!

KIDDING!

Alright, how to NOT get myself in trouble if my answer isn't "Carmen" haha.

But really, they are ALL my babies.

So I know it's going to sound like a cop out to some that I can't pick just one. But hmm, some for instances...

I love that she's so morally evolved at such a young age; her ability to always take the high road and never lower herself; her drive and conviction and dedication. Her ability to kick serious booty and look good while doing it. Her progressive values, her fashion sense. I could go on and on. But then there's Shadowsan and his arc; Chase and his. Julia, who's every bit as strong as Carmen but shows it in different ways. The Cleaners don't get enough love.

I'll close that question with an anecdote about The Cleaners ...

I love that all our characters are embraced and that everyone seems to have favorites. Our sound engineer Marcel is a pretty serious guy: he has a serious job that takes high levels of focus and attention. He's always deeply focused and not prone to small talk. Anyway, we were in the middle of our first or second sound mix, and he suddenly stops in the middle and turns around to face us. I'm thinking, "uh oh, we're giving too many notes." That's when I notice he's freeze framed the Cleaners. He says "I really like these guys." Then he turns around, hits play and gets back to work.

PizzaHorse:

What was the biggest challenge for coming up with new stories and plot for the reboot?

Duane Capizzi:

THE biggest? Sigh. I'm not sure I could come up with just one. Plotting is always challenging and we had the brain trust of the room, our trusty white board, and writer assistant to keep the threads of the ongoing storyline together. I think the single biggest ONGOING challenge was tracking which character knew what at any given time.

The caper part was challenging - coming up with new capers and keeping them interesting and fresh. But, it was the characters and their interactions that kept things fresh and interesting. Another museum heist? That's okay - Chase is on the case and he gets to interact with "X" this time (for instance).

There were also some episodes - Duke of Vermeer and Crackle Goes Kiwi come to mind - where there was SO MUCH SET UP needed to get the payoffs to work. I was really worried about too much talk/too much detail. Very "Swiss watch!" It took a lot of work to make sure it all clicked and was clear - hopefully it seems effortless on screen but I can't say there wasn't some sweat and the occasional tear (mostly from me - I'm a big cry baby

But really, what made it fun was that we had so many buckets to draw from: sometimes a story germ initially began with a character idea; sometimes it was inspired by global location; sometimes it was a clever way to update or reimagine an idea from old Carmen lore. Usually, it was some combination of all of the above!

PizzaHorse:

What was your favorite scene to write?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we have a theme here! "How can I pick just one ...?"

As a film buff, I got to indulge in some serious fan nerdery on this show: I got to write spy movies, yakuza movies, spaghetti neo-westerns (though turning it on its head: spaghetti westerns usually involve REVENGE and because of Carmen's character make up, this was sort of anti-revenge).

Is writing coming up with the idea or typing it? Haha. An "if a tree falls in the forest" question. The writing team and I had so many cathartic "that's how it goes" in the room. But on my own, writing the Pilot, was a very inspiring time for me: I remember laughing out loud the moment I thought of Chase falling on his own car (in part because of doing my spin on "that trope" that we've seen in so many hard boiled movies recently). But also how emotional I got when I imagined the simple but potent image of Black Sheep deciding to take her destiny into her own hands and walk that long corridor to the Faculty who we were about to meet for the first time.

I think I've cited this in another interview, but there was a period where I was completely immersed in Chase's arc and the scene where he would crack the location of VILE island ... by listening to Julia in a dream ... was a big one for me. It revealed he was finally open to admitting he needed Julia more than he would ever admit - yet, it was his own subconscious speaking.

The next morning, after cracking that scene, I bumped into Raf Petardi (voice of Chase) ... at the supermarket! It was very strange and hilarious

PizzaHorse:

Did you scrap any lengthy or funny scenes that you would be able to share?

Duane Capizzi:

With few exceptions, most scene cuts are done at the script stage so that the story board team doesn't waste effort over boarding. A variety of trims to any script are common, but they are usually for the better

The easier question to answer might be scenes were part of our "wish list" at writer room stage, but never made it to story or script. I hesitate to go too deep here (in the event that we might ever do more Carmen episodes in this canon - I'm not giving up hope). And there were cases where things we wanted to do earlier in the series wound up getting nixed or not fitting for whatever reason, but we got them in later - USUALLY FOR THE BETTER. So there's sort of a reverse Murphy's Law/rule of good fortune somehow in these things. But some fun things that didn't make it into the show, that leap to mind were: a Bollywood dance sequence (!). A Vegas caper involving Brunt wanting to steal an Elvis jumpsuit against the backdrop of an Elvis impersonator convention. We also thought it would be neat to get Maelstrom imprisoned so that Julia could interrogate him and he would play mind games with her - very Lector/Clarice!

PizzaHorse:

Were there any different treatments of Carmen you pitched before settling on the one we ended up with?

Duane Capizzi:

I was one of several "pitches" that I'm sure HMH heard before running with my version. But I can honestly say I've never pitched anything as fully formed: the take on Carmen felt so right to me, and clearly HMH and by extension Netflix agreed

I'll answer your question with an anecdote: I had the entire Pilot pretty well worked out, and pitched it in the first meeting. But one key thing that changed (much for the better!), simply because it wouldn't have fit without slogging things down ...

In my Pilot pitch, Black Sheep's escape on the boat was off screen: we see Shadowsan corner her, then we cut away. The rest of the Faculty show up to find SS's broken sword on the rocks, and are led to believe BS killed him (!). In the present, Crackle points his weapon at Carmen and prepares to pull the trigger. We know that Chase is on the way and may rescue her. The compartment door opens to reveal - not Chase - but Shadowsan! Big surprise! Then we cut back to BS's escape and find out what really transpired etc etc.

Crazy, right? SS would have been hanging out with the gang in season 1; we might not have gotten to 203 with his back story, since his sword was broken and he couldn't return it. Just one of those magical things where "things work out" the way they are supposed to. THAT SAID, it made for a heckuva pitch

PizzaHorse:

Are there any characters that ended up taking a direction you didn't initially anticipate?

Duane Capizzi:

GRAY.

I didn't know we'd make him amnesiac when I wrote the Pilot, that was something we came up with in our first week Writer Room.

And even then, when it became clear he'd be a key piece of the bigger puzzle, we didn't know how exactly (mostly the Season 4 stuff).

We did get very deep with a version where 404 ended with his protective streak for Carmen kicking into high gear, and they would be fighting off Vile Guards back to back in perfect tandem. Then, having chosen Carmen over VILE, it was Carmen who actually orchestrates Gray going "off grid" so that VILE can never find him again. Funny, I know that is arguably the version of Gray's arc that many fans might have preferred seeing. But in the tradition of spy thrillers and film noir, and for a lone wolf character like Carmen who is focused on her life mission and not romance, we stand behind where we went with him. We felt it was so much more compelling ... and truly more emotional that he totally has a get out of jail free card when he sacrifices everything (including his life, potentially) to save Carmen.

when she needs him most!

I know I made some controversial comments about Gray "not being good enough for Carmen" and I'd like to clarify that I meant, until that final episode. What he did was so selfless and heroic. Is there hope for them in the future? Who knows?! But I do hope we get to explore that one day

I'm sure Gray is living off the grid somewhere now, inspired by Carmen's selfless good and thinking of her from time to time.

PizzaHorse:

You mentioned in the interview with Alicyn that Carmen is a love story, but you were cut off before you could finish discussing. Could you elaborate on your answer now?

Duane Capizzi:

Ugh, yes! Sorry about that. I actually answered that privately for someone so will cut and paste that response here. Let's see if it works.

Something we never said in the show, but something I imparted to the creative team was: Carmen Sandiego is (among other things) a LOVE STORY, where every character in our ensemble is in love with Carmen in one way or another. Even if they don't know it! That love can take different forms: we see how spurned by Carmen Coach Brunt feels and why she retaliates so excessively. Chase eventually comes to realize that he too loves Carmen, even if he wasn't initially aware of it haha. One of the most moving things to me about the series is how all of the different factions come to Carmen's rescue at the end when she's not "in her right mind," without knowing the others are there too. It's a massive group effort to bring back the Carmen they love. But we weren't looking for a fairy tale ending for Carmen with ANYone - Carmen's a classic lone wolf anti-hero, that goes with the territory. At least at this stage in her journey.

PizzaHorse:

Were there other locations that you wanted to feature in the show that didn't make it?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we managed to cover a lot of ground and "cadence" between different countries/cultures/continents was important to us. Many "iconic" locations of course, and it would have been nice to explore some lesser known locations if we had more episodes.

One that we almost did was Niagara Falls, Canada - actually literally going to the Falls and doing a big hydro-electric caper, where Player could actually get into the field with Carmen and the team.

But ultimately, we wound up bringing Player into the fold the way we did and wound up stronger as a result. It made his "first face to face" with Carmen even more impactful, IMO.

PizzaHorse:

Were there any changes in production between the first half and the second half of the series?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there was that Covid thing

But while it was no doubt a colossal undertaking to get the entire staff transitioned to work from home (animators! and their equipment!), we managed to make up for lost time WITHOUT a dip in animation quality. My fedora's off to our amazing team at Wildbrain for pulling it off!

We did lose some staff between orders, but that is a natural part of production unfortunately. Namely, one of our episodic directors Kenny Park, our first storyboard artist Dennis Crawford, and our story editor May Chan were among those who moved on to other shows during the break. But, as hard as their shoes were to fill, fill them we did!

PizzaHorse:

What is your favorite season?

Duane Capizzi:

Easy. Hands down, Season 3.

(crickets)

KIDDING!

Again, another "they're all my babies" answer (and yes, I love Season 3 equally

It's hard, because really when you step back I'm sure you'll agree it's a series, with stand alone capers; but it's really all ONE BIG MOVIE.

Season 3 is like the scherzo of a symphony: the shortest movement of four, and the one that tees up the big finale.

That's my hoity toity answer but I'm going to put to rest all of the various theories on what happened with season 3. It was a combination of two things: Netflix's desire to experiment with different ways of "dropping" seasons, and their desire to do a holiday themed drop (in this case Halloween, naturally). It became our challenge to come up with a theme (easy enough: masks), and the bigger challenge to serve their need while not interrupting our ongoing narrative. A challenge to be sure, but a challenge met. I think the biggest bump was perception: it was a short season and I know that was disappointing to many. But, by design.

So, Season 3 = an essential part of the whole. I don't think there's a wasted episode, and it gets everyone into position for the big finish. I can't pick a favorite season - you can't make me

PizzaHorse:

Were there any characters you had wanted to give more time to but couldn't due to time/plot restraints?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there's the "what was on the white board" answer but hopefully some of those ideas will see the light of day in some way, shape or form some day. I think if we had more episodes, we would have shaken up the internal dynamic of VILE a bit more (as hinted at Brunt's displeasure with Maelstrom for leaving her hanging out to dry at end of 405 - a seed we planted "just in case," as some have noted). And we had more scenes in mind with Chase's partnering with Carmen for the first time that we had to cut to the bone because of what little room we had in that otherwise packed episode (worry not: it's mostly more gags, more embellishment, more twists and turns - but the important stuff is there). Mostly, and I don't think it would have been right for Season 4 but I hope to tell in the future, I think there's an interesting history between Shadowsan and Lady Dokuso - possibly tragic - that I would love to explore one day. (She was a cameo in Duke of Vermeer at the dinner party BTW, I'm not sure if anyone noticed. And we built a bigger role for her out of that)

PizzaHorse:

What are some pre-2000/nostalgic Carmen references you snuck into the show? Do you have a favorite reference that was included?

Duane Capizzi:

Doing that was so much fun! I'd say roughly 60% of the characters were from previous iterations of Carmen, though often in name only. We had fun reimagining most everyone to make them more relevant or updated or giving them a more colorful personality for starters.

"Suhara" was Carmen's Japanese mentor when she worked at the ACME Agency in a flashback episode in the 90's series, for instance. I don't think I need to spell out how we turned that one inside out

And Tigress was also one episode only: she was a "rival thief" to Carmen, but revealed to be an ACME agent in disguise - a persona created solely to bait Carmen. It was really cool of course, but it seemed like untapped potential so we made her an ACTUAL Vile Thief.

My own internal rule was to make sure the references/easter eggs wouldn't confuse anyone - they were there for those who were in the loop and window dressing. The one and only time i broke that rule was Dark Carmen's line from 407: "I do it for the mental gymnastics." It was one of the most absurd lines from the 90's series (IMO) and i was determined to have it come out of Dark Carmen's mouth. I'm sure it left some 7 year olds scratching their heads

aside from that, the key references were the music: I still tingle at how we worked the Rockapella theme into the Interactive Special; and the 90's main title theme (composed by Mozart!), in our Vienna episode ("They're playing my song"). If you wanted Rockapella or Carmen as a bad guy, well ... be careful what you wish for!

PizzaHorse:

Was there any improvised content from recording sessions that made it into any episodes?

Duane Capizzi:

Yes! Not much, because a lot of it would have pushed us into TV-MA haha

Mostly Mary Elizabeth - Coach Brunt has a POTTY MOUTH!

Mikey and Abby usually riffed their banter WAY beyond what was on the written page and had us in stitches. Some bits definitely made it in! But mostly there was too much or it would get off point (hmmm, much like my interview answers maybe? haha)

Sharon Muthu did rise to Pun Goddess status with "Mask and you shall receive." And Raf pitched me "Chasse means hunt in French" after one session and I said: "I'm going to write that in." I don't think he believed me. You can't say I'm not a straight shooter.

PizzaHorse:

If you could get more season, would you do it, and what type of story would you tell?

Duane Capizzi:

Well if that hasn't been clear so far, ABSOLUTELY

There have been discussions of course. It's up to the powers that be at this point. I will say this: the beauty and tradition so far has been that every iteration has been its own thing. I definitely think there are more "different canon" versions of Carmen that can be had and be a part of this wonderful tradition. After all, there were many naysayers for our version when it was first announced.

I will also say that if we don't get to tell any more stories in this canon with these characters, we've left a perfect gem that will stand the test of time. I would rather go out on a high note than overstay our welcome.

All that said, we worked within the allotted episodes given, ended it as we wished, but left the door open for other stories. I'd love to do an expansion and a deepening: pick up where we left off; find out what happened in those two years; and proceed to do the equivalent of Godfather II or Better Call Saul as related to the amazing originals they followed.

Let's hope! Keep putting good vibes out there!

PizzaHorse:

If you could pick a character on Carmen Sandiego who'd you switch places with for a day (you get to control their life and they get to control yours) who would you pick, and why?

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, THIS is difficult. So you're going Freaky Friday on me?

on a Sunday?

Hmmm, I know Ivy would get along with my cat ... but then I'd have to hang out with Zack!

That's the trick: I can't pick my favorites cuz I couldn't hang out with them!

(not that I have favorites - they're all my babies haha)

Okay, I have one: ROUNDABOUT. I could fill Shadowsan's seat - how cool is that? Then, I could enact all my evil fantasies - but still have a get out of jail free card cuz he'd be sitting at my desk!

(cut to Duane being brain wiped - D'oh!)

PizzaHorse:

Who are two characters who don't really interact in the show that you think could be good friends or work really well together?

Duane Capizzi:

Hmmmm. Okay, now I'm going to give you quick and sassy answers. Gray and Julia! They'd be so cute banding together to rescue captive Carmen (for instance). And they could also duke it out and maybe settle things between themselves re: shipping controversies instead of dragging me into it

PizzaHorse:

The FINAL QUESTION. Have you learned anything super impactful while working on the show?

Duane Capizzi:

Aside from Iceland's terrifically low crime rate?

I think I have learned to never underestimate how meaningful characters can be to fans. Social media has obviously brought us a lot closer to our fan base in more immediate ways: it's been really gratifying to hear/see/read feedback and not be writing things in a vacuum. It's been gratifying to see that ideas that were meaningful to myself and the creative team on Carmen that were crafted with care, have also resonated with our fan base. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has traveled on this journey with us - for embracing Carmen's world view, and her friends and foes alike. Take care everyone! Stay safe! This has been fun, thanks for having me!

PizzaHorse:

HUGE thank you to Duane Capizzi: for being here today.

Thank you everyone for watching and reacting!

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, gotta run - just gotta find the door

Anyway, really: THIS HAS BEEN AMAZING. I speak for everyone involved in the creation and production of Carmen: it has been an amazing and inspiring series and we're elated to see it connect with such a CREATIVE, TALENTED and INTELLIGENT fan base. Take care everyone! Until next crime...

#Carmen Sandiego #Duane Capizzi #CS Crew #Interview #Transcript

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hartigays · 5 years ago

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3. “It’s always been you.”

billy storms out of the apartment, seething and fighting back tears. because billy hargrove does not cry. ever. he didn’t back when he lived with neil, he didn’t after his mom left, he didn’t when he got arrested for possession and almost lost his scholarship to UCLA.

he’s not about to start now.

not because steve pretty boy harrington has to go around acting like a grade-A asshole, with his soft hair and big eyes and pouty lips, screwing everything with a goddamn pulse. no sir. billy won’t give him that luxury.

the reality is, steve has always had a thing for plowing his way through as many people as humanly possible. or so billy heard all those years ago when he’d first arrived in hawkins and started inquiring about the pretty-faced indiana boy who billy just couldn’t seem to stay away from.

but billy thought all of that was behind them. they live together, for fuck’s sake. they’d moved out to california together so billy could go to school, and so steve could take a position at one of the offices of his father’s company in LA. steve hasn’t been seeing anyone, billy hasn’t been seeing anyone. they’ve been happy. content.

and okay, so maybe they aren’t dating. maybe billy hasn’t exactly told steve how he feels. but, like, steve should know. billy has gone out of his way to make it glaringly obvious. steve may be oblivious, but he’s not dumb. not like everyone thinks.

billy is pretty damn sure there’s no way steve isn’t aware of how he feels.

the worst part is, billy thought steve actually felt the same. at least, he had up until today, when he walked in on steve sitting on the couch with some girl, laughing and smiling and whatever the fuck else. he’d walked out before he could see anything more, despite steve’s desperate pleas for him to come back so they could talk.

there’s nothing to talk about. billy thought steve liked him, steve doesn’t. it’s done. he just needs some time to... process it, or whatever. billy finds himself on the beach soon enough, and he slips off his shoes so he can stick his toes in the sand, plopping down with a sigh.

it’s a private beach tucked a ways away from the pier, but billy knows the owners of this plot. they don’t stay at their beach house until the winter, when they want to escape to somewhere a little warmer during the colder months. he’s pretty sure the rest of their time is spent in aspen. so for now he’s safe to sit here and think, staring out at the water as the sun sinks below the horizon.

billy has brought steve here a lot. they’ve picnicked here several times, and billy even brought steve out a once or twice to teach him how to surf before they knew that steve was irreparably bad at it. the thought makes billy’s heart squeeze, and he has to pinch himself as a reminder to not be such a pussy.

because it’s whatever that steve is into some air-headed cheerleader type with a tiny waist and hair like strands of gold. it doesn’t bother billy one bit. not at all. he Does Not Care in the slightest.

maybe if he keeps telling himself that, it’ll somehow become true.

“thought i might find you out here.”

billy doesn’t turn around at the sound of steve’s voice, keeping his eyes forward even though his stomach sinks. “congratulations, you’ve finally managed to develop critical thinking skills. let’s bust out the champagne.”

“i can go if you want me to,” steve says softly, even though billy feels him sink down onto the sand next to him, close enough that their arms brush.

billy just snorts, shrugging. “i don’t give a shit what you do, harrington.”

steve just sighs, and for a long time he doesn’t speak. out of the corner of his eye, billy can see him staring out at the sunset, looking rather forelorn. billy wishes he could turn that look into something soft, something happy, but steve has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t have that right.

“you know, i remember the first time you took me here,” steve says finally, and billy can’t help but glance over at him. steve’s smile is warm and soft, but tinged with something like sadness. “you tried to teach me how to surf. the first time, i mean. i slipped off the board and busted my ass so hard on it you had to carry me home.”

“you suck at surfing,” billy acknowledges, nodding. “badly.”

steve huffs a soft laugh. “yeah, i do. i just remember thinking that it was still one of the best days i’ve ever had. because that was the day i knew you loved me as much as i love you.”

billy goes completely still, his heart leaping up into his throat and his eyes watering, because what the fuck? where does steve get off making an admission like that just to make billy be less upset with him?

“don’t do that,” billy says, his voice rough. “you don’t get to do that. don’t pretend like you feel the same just because you don’t want me to be pissed at you.”

“billy,” steve starts, sounding distressed. he pauses, meeting billy’s eyes and fuck, they’re filled with tears too and billy doesn’t know how he feels about that. “it’s you. it’s always been you.”

the words break something inside of billy, and he crumples. he can’t pretend to be mad anymore when the truth is that he’s devastated. plain and simple.

“you sure have a funny way of showing it,” billy tells him, sniffling and wiping his nose on the back of his hand. “i saw you two. you were two seconds from playing couch twister. would’ve been if i hadn’t walked in when i did.”

“leanne is gay, billy,” steve groans, burying his face in his hands. “she works with me and she’s gay. has a nice girlfriend named annalise. they have a fucking kid. we were just- jesus, i can’t believe i even have to explain this. to you of all people. i’m the dumb one, remember? fuck. we were just going over some fucking spreadsheets. yeah, riveting stuff. super romantic.”

“i didn’t- are you fucking with me?” billy asks, because he’s starting to feel really fucking stupid and a small part of him is hoping he didn’t just throw a (rather humiliating) tantrum over nothing. “you guys were giggling. and sitting so close, i just... i thought you were making a move.”

“god, you can be more dense than me sometimes, you know that? we were giggling about you, dumbass. i told her that i liked you and she wanted to know more,” steve explains, shaking his head in disbelief. “it was just- i dunno. like two friends at a sleepover giggling about their crushes.”

“would you quit calling yourself an idiot?” billy huffs. primarily because he can’t think of anything else to say - his mind is racing too much. but also because it’s true. “this kinda proves that if anyone’s an idiot here, it’s me. i just- i don’t understand why you never said anything.”

steve is shoving his hands through the sand repeatedly, watching the sand run between his fingers. “you know i’m bi, i told you as much. i figured you were like me, or gay, or- i dunno. i just thought you weren’t ready to talk about it yet. i left the ball in your court, thinking that once you were ready, we’d, y’know. address the fucking elephant in the room.”

“the elephant being... ?” billy trails off. and he knows, but he really just wants to hear steve say it again.

steve rolls his eyes, laughing. “you know what i mean. but fine: the elephant being that i’m in love with you. and that i’m really, really hoping you love me, too.”

“i do,” billy says, his voice soft. “and i’m an idiot. i’m sorry.”

“you’re not an idiot. i probably would’ve thought the same thing if the roles were reversed and i walked in on something like that.” steve glances over at billy, giving him a tender smile. “just... next time, let’s talk to each other, yeah? i think that’ll save both of us a lot of grief.”

billy just hums, nodding his approval. they sit in comfortable silence for a little while, both still too nervous to make a move despite having just confessed their love to each other. at this point billy just finds it endearing, but he really, really wants to be closer to steve, and not just emotionally.

“i am gay, you know,” billy starts, his palms sweating, “and i really want to kiss you.”

“i know. and i think i’d like that.”

steve’s lips are soft and yielding beneath billy’s. his kisses feel exactly the way billy imagined they would - tender and sweet and a little shy, but curious. billy tries to keep it slow, not wanting to shove them into uncharted territory, but it’s only a matter of time before billy has steve’s back hitting the sand, hovering over him, their lips never breaking apart.

steve just sighs into the kiss, embracing the new position without complaint. he relaxes into the sand, one hand threading through billy’s curls, the other curling into the tufts of hair at the base of billy’s neck. it’s a kiss that billy never wants to end. but he knows there’ll be more. so much more.

“i’d say at least now we can get a cheaper apartment, but i think we’ll both still need our space every now and then,” steve says when billy pulls away, staring up a him with big eyes.

“yeah. plus it’s... ” billy trails off, his cheeks flushing bright red.

“it’s what?” steve asks, his brows coming together in confusion. “seriously, what were you going to say?”

“it’s home,” billy says gently, bracing both arms on either side of steve so he can swoop down to capture his lips again whenever he wants to. “home is wherever i’m with you, but- y’know. i like our place. it feels like us.”

“you’re such a fucking sap, oh my god,” steve laughs, but he’s smiling so brightly that billy thinks the whole beach could stay lit up for the rest of the night. “billy hargrove, secretly soft and mushy inside. who would’ve thought.”

“wasn’t, ‘til i met you,” billy tells him honestly.

and it’s true, for a long time billy hardened himself to the world, protecting himself with an armor of indifference until steve came along and melted him to his core. but billy isn’t one to complain, not when it means he gets to go to sleep and wake up to steve’s smile every day now, for the rest of his life. forever, maybe, if steve is up for that.

he wouldn’t have it any other way.

#is this a modern au? does this take place in the 80s? the world may never know #hope this is enjoyable bby!#❤️❤️❤️#harringrove #my fics #ask #gideongrace

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itsomgitsgreenblogging · 4 years ago

Text

Xhorhassian Castle Strategy: A Shadowgast fanfic

Shout out to the ETFC. I swore I wasn't going to write this...and then we had such an amazing conversation that I just had to write this because of the vibes. The Queen's Gambit is a great show on netflix about chess...which I know nothing about and I just figured since that there are no rules for the dnd equivalent dragonchess so I could do whatever I wanted lol. This is really here for the vibes.

Enjoy! Read on AO3 The hotel was a swanky joint, one of the most expensive hotels in all of the Dwendalian Empire. Essek didn’t have much use for the light and the noise...it wasn’t like they were trying to make anything easier for him and he wouldn’t have asked regardless. However, once they all got past the formal stilted manner of most Empire competitions during the actual playing, the after-affairs tended to be rather convivial and light-hearted. Most players knew each other from circuits and practice and other competitions, so it wasn’t too surprising to see players who had just been engaged in tough matches to reach each other and ask to meet up for dinner or a drink. Essek, as a rule of thumb, couldn’t be bothered with those kinds of things and didn’t really know anyone besides. After all, he was the only Dynasty dragonchess player who had been invited to the tournament...and it had been done out of obligation rather than a sense of sportsmanship. You couldn’t claim to be running the “Dragonchess World Championship” without the top players from across the world...even if they were your political enemies. Essek was sure they would have rather had Adeen (who had come in last or second to last in the past five World Championships) just to save their glorious Empire sense of superiority. But Essek had trounced him months ago so decisively that Adeen had gone to “find himself and his play style” out in whatever backwater Greying Wildlands hovel that artists went to go and starve for their creative vision in. And so, Essek had been invited and now was on track to win. There was only one final obstacle in his path. The Zemnian was there with the others, milling about after the day adjourned. He had finished his game quickly. Though Bryce was known for their elegant and thoughtful play on the board they got discouraged quickly. The Zemnian had made quick work of them as soon as he smelled discomfort. Brash and bold on the board, cocky almost to a fault in contrast with his placid demeanor-he played to win and was out for blood every time. He had smashed through Bryce’s defence almost instantaneously the minute the other had faltered. Essek, though he wouldn’t like to admit it, had a much harder time with Beauregard Lionett. She was the opposite of the Zemnian. Though her personality was all bluster and edges, she played a precise and precocious game-was flexible and agile upon the board. It was like trying to capture a swallow-though in the end, she had been cornered and forced to submit through gritted teeth.

Essek made his quick escape up to his room, not wanting to be pulled into an obligatory conversation or useless pleasantries. For a while, he lay on the couch and let the tension seep out from his back. When he played he often felt numb to everything but his thoughts. It was wonderful and freeing and exhilarating. However the minute he stopped playing he would feel his stress pounding in his ears...locking up his jaw and neck and joints. It was like a residual pain that haunted his body and he did his best to just block it out. In his mind, the moves echoed there like footsteps. He could almost ignore the pain when he focused on them. Clicking into place in a rhythm of the clock and-

“Essek? We’re back,” Verin said as the door opened and revealed him and his mother. It startled Essek, but it shouldn’t have. His brother had never had a good sense of privacy. Verin set a bottle of water by the table for him, and Essek took it and swung himself into a seated position despite the complaints in his muscles. “Well? Congratulations on making it to the finals.” “He was watching me again,” Essek sighed as he took a sip of his water and not having any time for his empty congratulations considering his only real challenge was ahead. Essek would only accept congratulations when he won. Which he would, of course, but still. He eyed his notebook where he had written down his notes the dragonchess matches from that day. He should have been studying his only real competition’s moves, he should have been mentally preparing, but the only thing he could think of was his eyes. Blue and piercing and digging into his thoughts. It was infuriating if he was being honest. “Who?” Verin asked curiously, tipping his head to the side. “The Zemnian,” Essek said, annoyed that he even needed to clarify. “Why?” Verin asked, still clueless as ever. Essek tried to breathe his irritation out and settle his mind. Victory only came when your mind was as still as a pool, it was an old proverb that Leylas Kryn liked to say to him. “He unnerves me,” Essek admitted.

“Oh please,” his mother, Deirta sighed from where she was lounging, dramatically draping herself as if she had no time for his concern. “You don’t really believe he will beat you, do you?”

“The reason I dislike you mother is because you are so incapable of surprise. You lack imagination. I know I don't,” Essek said as he got up with a huff, unable to be in the room with them any longer or else he was going to kill them. And he couldn’t do that...he needed them to get home. “I’m going to get a drink.”

His mother threw her hands in the air but let him leave from the hotel room they were occupying. He got a few looks from people as he walked down the hallway but didn’t pay them any mind. Drow weren’t a usual sight in the Empire, and he knew he had a reputation. Essek Thelyss, the young upstart dragonchess prodigy-representative of the hope of thousands of others to break through and make the Empire bend the knee in any way they could. Personally, Essek could do without it all. He wanted-no, he needed to win to satisfy his vanity and ego. But he didn’t care about the hopes of his country. Honestly, it was exhausting to pretend he did. But he didn’t want to lose, and if he didn’t want to lose then he had to put up appearances so the Dynasty would bankroll his way to competitions.

He stood in the elevator, the other tenants hoping off on the way down. In his mind he replayed the game in his mind and visualized the moves of the game. Barbarian to C5, Monk to 4D-then the Archmage Reversal formation. If he had just put the Rogue in an offensive decision the game probably would have been decided three moves sooner- The elevator opened, and the Zemnian stood for a minute. His face was a study of surprise, as he blinked rapidly at him. Essek felt his back straighten as he held his head high and refused to give the Zemnian more than a cursory nod of greeting. The Zemnian walked in, looked at the button for the lounge that Essek had already pressed, and then stood a few steps away from him. Essek for a minute closed his eyes and tried to breathe, refusing to look at the Zemnian. The pressure in the air could have made Essek’s ears pop-the weight of his attention chafed against his flesh like cheap fabric and almost made him squirm.

“The opening was surprising for you,” the Zemnian finally said. His voice was much quieter than Essek had expected. Essek was sure he had heard him speak in interviews before, but it was still a surprise. “You prefer the Xhorhassian Castle Strategy.”

“Beauregard Lionett is a student of Grandmaster Dairon,” Essek said, insulted by the insinuation and folding his arms over his chest. “Expositer’s Gambit. Only an idiot would play Xhorhassian Castle against a Monk lead. I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes as Obann.”

“You studied her game against Obann?” the Zemnian asked, a quiet reflective surprise in his voice. Essek refused to turn his head and look at him. He didn’t want to see him-see his blue eyes or his rugged jaw or the lines in his face.

“A decisive and well played match,” Essek said curtly. “I make it a habit to work through all of my competitors’ matches, no matter how unknown or new they are.” “I see.” “I know you see, you’ve been watching me,” Essek said as he watched the elevator buttons continue to light up as it moved down. Surely this was the longest conversation of his entire life and he was going to personally murder whoever had built this elevator for forcing him into it. “I imagine you were doing the same.” “Of course,” The Zemnian said, and Essek was glad he didn’t bother to deny it. Essek could feel his gaze digging into his neck and it made him want to swat at his own skin. “If you want to enjoy staring at me longer, it may be worth your time to invest in a photo,” Essek said, tapping his foot at the elevator that hit the floor before their destination. He couldn’t hide his irritation.“I have quite a few good ones in the Dynasty Times.” “I know...I’ve seen them,” the Zemnian said. Essek refused to flush or flinch, and clenched his jaw so tight he was sure he was about to crack a tooth. “Of course you have,” Essek said with a controlled sigh as the elevator finally hit the floor and opened. Essek took a few steps out only to turn and see the Zemnian reaching out his hand. Essek stared at him. He couldn’t have been more surprised if the Zemnian had grown a second head and started singing Marquesian folk songs.

“I was going to meet with my friends,” he said, his expression was soft-like Essek was a slightly feral creature he was trying to soothe. “We were going to go over the matches so far. Would you like to accompany me?”

“You mean my matches,” Essek said, unable to help narrowing his eyes. His hand returned to his side in response. “With who? Beauregard Lionett? Veth Brenatto? Jester Lavorre?”

“As well as Fjord and Caduceus,” he said with an almost-smile. “Is it not practice in the Dynasty to do the same?”

Essek almost grimaced. It was standard practice for groups of skilled dragonchess players to go over games and sequences and practice together. Essek never did. Standard practice to be bogged down by old players stuck in their old ways, to be told you were too young or too ambitious or too reckless or too careful. There was nothing to be learned from such sessions that you couldn’t learn on your own or from just watching.

“Dragonchess is an individual affair,” Essek reminded him. “At the end of the day, you and I are going to face each other alone. I’ll win on my own terms.”

“I played like that before, but I find this way more enjoyable,” he said with a tinge of humor to his tone.

“I know you did, back when you had a different name and a different circle you ran with,” Essek said simply. “Your play style hasn’t changed too drastically-you always were a stickler for the scorched earth tactic no matter how you like to present yourself.”

“My name is Caleb Widogast,” the Zemnian told him, an unreadable expression on his face.

“It doesn’t matter to me what you call yourself-Nine Hells, you could call yourself King Dwendal and it would make no difference to me,” Essek told him. “My only request is you meet me on the board at your best tomorrow. Show me the best you can do. If I wanted to beat a player like any of your friends, I would just play them again.”

“That’s a big request coming from the youngest Xhorhassian Grandmaster in history,” Caleb said with a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth where Essek was definitely not looking.

“Said the youngest Zemnian Grandmaster in history,” Essek pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

“Have a good evening, Herr Thelyss,” he said with a look that Essek refused to register as something deeper. Their eyes met, and for just a single moment Essek wondered how it would feel to be seen like that all the time. But the thought was fleeting. After all, victory came from clarity...and his greatest clarity was only found in solitude.

“Have a good evening, Mr. Widogast,” Essek said quietly, not for an instant feeling regretful.

And so they parted ways without a single look back. After all, Essek had his eye on the prize.

#critical role #critical role fanfic #shadowgast #shadowgast fanfic #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #queen's gambit au #dragonchess

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duck-writer · 4 years ago

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Aphrodite’s Broken Heart: Donald’s Slumber

You can read the first part Here

Scrooge’s grip on Donald was like a vice, “He’s not waking up...why isn’t he waking up?”

“I placed him in a slumber,” Xandra answered.

He felt his eyes sting with emotion as anger began to rise. Never did he think he would feel this way about the Goddess of Adventure but he'll damn and curse any and all deities who dare hurt his family! His family had lost Della because of adventure. He had lost Della to adventure, and as much as he hated it and denied it, he cost Donald his twin.

Adventure was supposed to be he legacy and badge of honor, not the source of pain and heartache.

She didn’t flinch when Scrooge snapped his head at her and demanded the reason for her actions. Xandra began with, “It was his request."

Scrooge practically growled at her because he couldn't believe that. There wasn't any way that Donald would willingly allow himself to be kept from his boys. There was more to this, more she wasn't telling him!

Xandra could see how difficult it was for the older duck to accept it, so she did her best to explain. "The world's ability to love stems and originates from that heart. Not anyone's love would be strong enough to replace that of godly proportion. Donald's love is fueling the world's. I know it hurts, but it needed to be done. He did it for the world. He did it for his boys." The Three Caballeros were her heroes, and losing one of her champions was devastating. "He didn’t want the boys to see him without love...the love for them was the only thing that kept him going for over a decade. And now, that same love will keep the earth alive.”

"Wake him. Please." Scrooge pleaded quietly. "Surely it can't be that bad. We can find a way to fix this!"

"I'm sorry, Scrooge. The deed is done. There's no reversing it. There is...nothing to fix." Xandra told him sadly.

"I CAN'T LOSE HIM TOO!" Scrooge cried out. Xandra's eyes widened slightly. For all she's heard and seen of Scrooge, losing his composure or cool, wasn't really his style. At least, not with this much emotional pain. He looked at her pleadingly, "We've recently made amends...but there was still more...more..." He swallowed thickly as he blinked away the tears, "He's my boy! I needed to be there more for him. Please...as one of earth's best adventurers, I beseech you, help me save him!"

"I am sorry, Scrooge. But I will not undo Donald's last request."

~~~

Gyro looked at the machinery that Scrooge sent for him to bring the to manor. Fenton was pulling everything along, chatting but he only heard every other word. Scrooge’s tone was...different. For better or worse, depending on who you asked, Scrooge was unapologetically...Scrooge. Gyro had his moments of feeling light ire for his employer but it was mostly when his funding was affected. It didn’t last too long since Scrooge allowed him funding at all and didn’t try to tell him too much about what he could and couldn’t do...although asking him to make sure his intentions didn’t go evil every so often. Which they didn’t! They were mostly just misunderstood! Anyway, the point was, he knew how to pick his moments of when to address Scrooge about his projects and funding depending on his tone. Sometimes dealing with other board members put him in a mood. Certain dates did so as well. But he hasn’t heard the tone Scrooge had on the phone since....well, since the Spear of Selene.

“Are we not going through the front door Dr. Gearloose?” Fenton asked as he kept following the goose towards the back of the manor.

“Scrooge made the order. He wants a secure route.” Gyro answered.

“A secure route? Why? Is the front door of the manor not secure?” Fenton asked.

"I'm assuming this isn’t something the children know about and he wants to keep it that way,” Gyro spoke honestly but with a tone that he hoped Fenton would catch. He didn’t mind Fenton’s plucky attitude, at least not as much as he used to. But there was a time and a place and something in the pit of his stomach was telling him that whatever they were about to learn was on the somber side.

Fenton only paused for a moment to tilt his head before he began to understand this was a far more serious business matter than he initially thought.

As they approached a back door, they were greeted by Mrs. Beakley. She was a hard person to read, but given her background, it wasn’t too surprising. Though Gyro wished he could read more about what they were about to walk into.

“Follow me, please. And try not to make too much noise. The children are enjoying their television time.” Mrs. Beakley told them.

“So they don’t know...about whatever this is about?” Fenton asked quietly. Then followed up with, “What is this about, exactly?”

She sighed sorrowfully, and Gyro watched as Fenton’s eyes widened in a slight panic. Before he could accidentally make a scene that would make too much noise and call attention from the children, Gyro spoke, “These machines will need a proper energy source. I couldn’t bring it today, but they’ll need a generator.”

“Will they work properly tonight?” Mrs. Beakley asked as she led the way.

“Yes. Scrooge might see a spike in his energy bill though.” Gyro commented. He didn’t want to be blamed, or have their funding cut because of this.

“He won’t mind.” Mrs. Beackley said.

Both Gyro and Fenton stopped and shared a look with each other before staring at Mrs. Beakley as if she grew another head. She was very aware of what she said, so she added. “Come on. You’ll see.”

When they stepped into the room Mrs. Beakley showed them to, it wasn’t hard to spot Scrooge or the reason they were there. Scrooge was sitting next to a bed that had Donald resting on it. Or it looked like he was resting...but with how tightly Scrooge was holding his hand, it was clear something wasn’t right with the younger Duck.

“Set up the machinery as needed. Being mindful of the cords and the addition of the generator tomorrow.” Mrs. Beakley told them.

Gyro nodded and began setting up the machines. Working around Scrooge and not bothered by being ignored.

Fenton helped here and there but he was more focused on the duck lying in bed. He knew he should probably keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t help but state, “He doesn’t look hurt. He’s not, is he?”

The machines began to boot up before Mrs. Beakley could answer. There was a heartbeat beeping, there was a rise and fall of Donald’s chest, and the numbers of other vitals popping up on screens. Fenton’s been in the hospital enough times to know what each number meant and for all intents and purposes...Donald was fine.

“My boy will be alright. He’s just...resting. He’s very tired and he’ll have his rest. But he’ll wake...he’ll wake soon.”

Fenton frowned lightly at the wording as well as the tone. It was...off somehow.

Before he could comment, however, Gyro answered Scrooge. “Of course he will.”

Gyro gave him a small stare, which Fenton’s recognized by now and kept quiet. After explaining to Mrs. Beakley what each machine did, adding information about a few others that were also set up but not connected to Donald directly, Fenton learned that one of them provided a warding barrier of some sort, while the other worked as a sort of power detector.

Mrs. Beakley walked them back out and once they reached the door and Fenton was sure they wouldn’t accidentally be overheard by anyone he asked, “What happened?”

Mrs. Beakley told them all she knew. Discovering Donald’s duties to the Goddess of Adventure, Xandra, what she’d asked of him, and what he’s given up.

“And the children do not know this?” Fenton asked with a frown.

“No.” Beakley shook her head. “Donald made an excuse about helping out an old friend and didn’t give a date of return. Scrooge is hoping to...fix this and hopes to spare the children of this knowledge.”

“He sounds...” Fenton didn’t really know what the proper term was.

“He’s been researching nonstop for a few days. Locked himself up, making excuses it was company business. The truth is too close, but he’s unwilling to accept it, no matter how glaringly obvious it is.”

“The truth?” Fenton echoed.

“Donald’s lost.” Gyro stated.

It was heated but unlike other times when hearing that tone, it wasn’t also laced with irritation. At least not with him or anyone nearby. The words hit Fenton a bit hard. “But...but he was...his vitals are fine! He’s alive and his heart and pulse are strong!”

“The heart beats to circulate the blood, the lungs inflate and deflate to allow him to breathe. He is alive...but he’s lost. The last time Scrooge was like this...” Gyro began.

It took a moment to realize, but Fenton felt his heart sink as he remembered Donald wasn’t the first twin Scrooge has ‘lost’. “But Della came back! Donald can come back too!”

“Scrooge will try,” Beakley stated.

Gyro nodded, “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”

She nodded and Gyro and Fenton began making their way out of the estate. Fenton kept eyeing Gyro, really unsure of what to say.

“How can we help?” Fenton finally asked.

“Honestly? There’s little we can do. We can use science to monitor him and make sure he gets the nutrients he needs but considering it was caused by something mythical, there’s little we can do to help Donald himself. That said...he won’t be able to keep this a secret from the rest of his family too much longer. The kids will be affected the most.”

“Pobre chiquitines.” Fenton muttered. It hurt to imagine their heartache.

~~~~~~~~

"I can fix this!" Scrooge insisted.

"I know you'll mean to try, sir. But the children are beginning to worry. About their uncle as well as you. You know them. They'll begin to investigate. It won't be easy...but it will be better if they hear it from you." Beakley told him gently.

His grip on Donald's hand tightened. Whenever his eyes hurt too much from his research and he couldn't read anymore, he would sit by Donald's side and watch his vitals. Holding his nephew's hand he would obsessively watch the monitors that were connected to Donald until exhaustion took hold and he had yet another restless sleep.

It was like losing Della all over again, yet with a new spin of heartache. Donald wasn't lost as Della had been. He was right in front of Scrooge...physically there, vitals strong, and he honestly was sleeping!

Yet...

"Organize a family meeting..." Scrooge mumbled.

Beakley nodded and went to inform everyone in the house.

Scrooge remained for a while longer. "You've got a lot of adventure stories to tell me, lad. I plan to hear them. Every single last one. And maybe join you and your friends on a Caballero quest if I may..." He tried to smile and feel some hope, but his smile quickly turned into a frown. "I should have tried harder, Donald. I'm so sorry...I'm going to fix this. I promise you I will!"

He took a moment longer to simply watch Donald before he went to do his best to tell his family what happened. Their reactions were all as he expected. Varying in shock and anger and disbelief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite the evidence she had about what happened, she just couldn't believe it. She refused to accept defeat! She was Della Duck! Between her and Scrooge, they would find something! They had to! Though Scrooge told her there wasn't any point in visiting any of the deities that remained on Ithaquack, she still had to try.

“I’m so sorry Della...but it’s simply not possible.”

“Don’t give me not possible! Do you guys even care?” Della cried out, tears of frustration falling down her cheeks.

Selene sighed and gently brushed them away. “I won’t take that personally, for I know how much your heart aches. Storkules is beside himself as well...”

“Then help us! Do something!” Della begged.

“We simply cannot. Even if we wanted to. Not I, nor Storkules though he is more than willing, and not father. Even if he wanted. Which...he doesn’t. But the point is my dear...no god or goddess can undo the work of another deity.”

“This isn’t fair! I came back from the moon, from practically the dead, for my family! Not just my kids! I came back for Donald too. He’s my twin! My other half! This...this isn’t how it was supposed to go! Especially not for him! He gave up everything for my boys! Me coming back wasn’t just so I can get my time with my boys, but it was to make amends with Donald. And somehow help make up for everything he’s done and has personally given up for me and the boys!" She was panting after her burst of emotions. Sniffing a few times, she continued to beg Selene to understand her plight, "I’m hurting this bad....they’re hurting even worse! Can’t Xandra understand this?”

“We’ve spoken with her...”

“You have?” Della asked, a bit shocked.

“Of course. After father refused to help and then reminded Storkules as to why he can’t, my brother went straight to her. He asked, he begged, he threatened...”

“Threatened? Storkules?” Della was glad someone was doing something, but it was still strange to hear of sweet and friendly Storkules wanting to use force.

“For his Donald? Anything...”

“What did she have to say?” Della asked as she wiped her eyes, even if it seemed futile as more tears just kept appearing.

Selene sighed again, “It wasn’t an easy task to ask of him. But Donald was a hero. Not just an adventurer. He had a lot more to do under Xandra’s guidance. A lot more than what some of the adventures with your uncle have called for. In the end, she refused to hear my brother’s pleas and told him it was for the boy’s sake...and his as well.”

“That’s bull,” Della grumbled and crossed her arms.

Selene gave her a sympathetic smile, “Your brother was so full of love, Della. It fueled him as much as his anger did. He melded the two, and used his love to fuel his fury and wielded it like a weapon to protect his family. That...is the brother you remember. That is the Donald my brother and your boys know and love. That is not that Donald they will meet should we wake him.”

“Wha...I....but....”

Selene reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry. I am. And though Donald without love wouldn’t immediately mean he’d be cruel...but he would be indifferent. I’ve only met him once since you two stopped visiting after your accident. And trust me, with Storkules, I’ve heard plenty of him in between and since...and even filtering out my brother’s feelings for him, he was an amazing person. Who cared. Despite how angry he could get at their actions of heroics and dangerous deeds, under it all...it was worry. Because he cared and loved those who did those dangerous heroics. All of that is gone, my darling. He won’t care if the boys are ill, or if they get hurt, he won’t care if they did well in an event or if accomplished something incredible...”

“That would hurt the boys.” Della relented.

“I know...and so did he. It was his choice, Della.”

“I won’t stop looking for a way to fix this!” Della declared, anger burning behind her desperation, along with love.

Selene smiled gently at her and repeated, “I know.” The doors to the pantheon opened and an exhausted, dirtied, bruised, dejected, and defeated Storkules stumbled through. Selene and Della watched him pass silently, before Selene added, “Trust me...you’re not alone.”

~~~~~~

Huey:

“I made this for you today,” Huey said as he placed the new sleeping mask on his uncle’s closed eyes. “Violet helped me with the elastic band. It’s really tricky. I remember you used to do it for me...I kinda wanna learn it to impress you when you wake up. But I also want you to be the one to help me master it. Violet says hi, by the way. She’s actually helping Webby research. I promised to join them later...I just had to check on you first. I’ve made sure all the monitors are working and calibrated. I’ll check them again before I go to sleep...we’re gonna find an answer. Ducks don’t back down! You taught me that...and there’s so much more. We’re gonna be hitting puberty soon and honestly, I want to learn to shave from you. No offense to Scrooge or Launchpad...I also just miss you, Uncle Donald.” ~~~~~~~

Dewey:

“And it was all so epic! But in the face of danger, I did the responsible thing!” Dewey exclaimed, but then he lost his confidence a bit as his shoulders sagged as he looked at his uncle’s unreactive and unmoving form, “At least I think I did. I uh...It’d be nice having you seeing me try to be responsible...so I’d know it was the responsible thing to do.” He closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again and pleading, “Please wake up Uncle Donald...” ~~~~~~~~~~

Louie:

It was late at night and Louie didn’t care if he looked like a baby at all. He was curled up to his Uncle Donald’s side, holding on tightly and hiding his face in his uncle’s chest. Small sniffles could be heard in the spacious room that didn’t feel as much as Uncle Donald’s room as his hammock on the houseboat. Into the darkness and against his uncle’s form, he whispered, “If I promise to be good from now on, will you come back to us, Uncle Donald?”

#Aphrodite's Broken Heart #Fanfic #Ducktales 2017 #Donald Duck #Huey Duck #Dewey Duck #Louie Duck #Della Duck #Scrooge McDuck #Gyro Gearloose #Fenton Crackshell #Bentina Beakley #Selene(Ducktales)#Mention of Storkules #Feels #Xandra Goddess of Adventure

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datawyrms · 5 years ago

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Floating a Question

Dannymay 2020 Day 14 - Breathe (This was meant to be connected to Science/Gloves but tbh the link is tenuous at best.)

“I think you’re getting ‘Truce’ and ‘friends’ mixed up, Phantom. I’m not going to just forget you’re the scum that ruined my life.” Valerie scowled at the ghost, trigger finger itchy to just blast him for being so presumptuous.

“I know I’ve said it like eighty nine times, but no I didn’t.” The ghost gave an eye roll, but hovered slightly further away from the huntress and her board as he flung the thermos on his back. “I’d still rather not be enemies, you know.”

“Right, that’s why you narked on me to my dad. Because you’re such a nice slimeball.”

“Hey! I am so not slimy.” he kicked his feet up, as if pretending relaxing on an invisible lawn chair would make him less dangerous. “In my defense I kinda needed to steal the Ecto-skeleton before you did. The suit would have killed you anyway,” a small shudder interrupted the snappish retort. “Probably would have killed me if I didn’t luck out at the end there.”

“Newsflash, you’re already dead. And who said I even needed you to decide what’s best for me, huh?” Her suit helpfully prepped a shoulder gun, not bothering to suppress the smirk as the black suited ghost fumbled into an upright position, breath coming more quickly as he tensed to dodge. Not that she’d fire first. She wasn’t letting this ghost of all things make her break a truce.

“Okay, okay! Sorry! Well intentioned dick move! My bad!” He kept his hands up, still clearly expecting some sort of attack.

“Ghosts don’t know what well-intentioned means.”

“You want the textbook definition? I can probably do that. I was totally passing English.”

“No I don’t, Phantom. Just because you’re a decent fake doesn’t mean I fall for it. You can knock off the breathing thing, you’re glowing and twenty feet in the air.”

Instead of looking offended, her nemesis smirked. “Says the other ghost hunter who’s floating twenty feet in the air while glowing.”

“With assistance!” Being similar in any way to this pest wasn’t a welcome thought. Ever since she’d found out about Danielle ghosts had gotten complicated. Even though they shouldn’t be, she was human and different than the usual creeps that came to town. Yet now she kept noticing things that shouldn’t matter, like how Phantom kept up the breathing act, or the usual pack of terrors would remember her. They didn’t usually banter as much as the ghost boy insisted on, but they were starting to feel more like real people with personalities. Obnoxious ones that should be shot and shoved right back to the dimension they came from, sure. It was easier when they were all like that stupid dog, but now she couldn’t help but hear more of the words. They’d stopped being meaningless babble, just in case one really was like Danielle, and not really a ghost at all.

Which is why she agreed to this stupid truce in the first place. Even if Phantom was doing his level best to make her regret it.

“That wasn’t a qualifier, so I’m still right,” the so called hero relaxed a bit.

“You caught your pal. Shouldn’t you be vanishing off to wherever the hell you go to?” Instead of wasting her time, ideally.

“Youngblood is not even close to ‘pal’.” he grimaced. “I actually wanted to ask a question,”

Her brow furrowed, wondering if she should be shooting after all. “You know I barely tolerate you, ask someone in your fan club.”

“Little problem with that. Barely tolerating me makes you the best person to answer this. You’ll actually be honest.”

“If this is some sort of trick-”

“It’s a question Val, what kind of trick could I pull? Not sure if you’ve noticed, but you’re immune to my thermos.”

The ecto blaster in her hands gave a high pitched whine of warning. “You don’t get to use my name, ghost.”

Phantom let out a long sigh. “See! Perfectly honest. Feel free to use mine, it’s nicer than ‘scum’ or whatever you like to call me.”

Again with the breathing. Why did he insist on doing that? It made him seem more human than he had any right to be. “Then get on with it. I actually have things to do.”

“What do you think ghosts are, exactly?”

They stared at one another in silence for a long minute. “I’m looking at one. What kind of stupid question is that?”

He looked more frustrated at her answer than he usually did when she shot at him, pressing his face into his hands with a groan. “This is gonna be harder than I thought.” his head snapped back up “Okay. You’re looking at a ghost. What am I to you, then?”

Well, that was easier. “An ectoplasmic, smart mouthed, life ruining pain in the rear.”

The ghost rolled his eyes “Again with the-whatever,” he cut himself off, flipping upside down to look down at the huntress, managing to bring that irritatingly human face closer to hers without technically moving. “You don’t think that about every ghost, right?”

“Everyone checks the life ruining and pain in the rear boxes nicely. Oh, and I should have added ‘should stay in the ghost zone where they belong’. Happy?” her scowl turned into more of a confused grimace when the ghost actually smiled at that.

“Everyone! So you do see we’re individuals!” The sheer excitement over being insulted was a little disturbing. Would it really make sense to fake being that excited over one aspect of her answer?

“Well I answered your question, so now you owe me.”

“Pretty sure every time I offer help you don’t need it from ‘ectoplasmic scum like me’” he made air quotes for emphasis before flipping back upright. “What do I owe you then? Letting you capture me isn’t gonna happen, before you suggest that. Had enough of that last time, thanks!”

How one ghost could be so infuriating and familiar at the same time was incredibly vexing. In a way he was right, the sooner the ghost boy was gone, the happier she should be. She shouldn’t want anything from this pest. “Why do you bother with the breathing?” It was a foolish thought. Just because Phantom resembled Danielle didn’t mean the reverse was true. He’d said as much himself.

The simple question seemed to throw him. “You try talking without expelling air and let me know how that goes. Duh.” he tried to play it off, but looking away and pulling an arm behind his back almost broadcasted the ghost was lying. Danny was similar, he couldn’t manage to lie while looking you in the eye.

Valerie shrugged, attempting to feign disinterest. “Should have known a ghost would just lie.”

“It’s not a lie.”

“Lying by omission is still lying, ghost. Which I’m sure you know.” she paused, making sure the ghost was still paying attention. “Can’t keep up the ‘ghosts aren’t bad’ image all that long without slipping up, huh?”

Phantom squirmed under her glare, muttering something under his breath. “I do out of habit, alright? Don’t know why you care now but there you go.” he rubbed at the back of his neck, toying with the collar of his jumpsuit. “Honestly I didn’t think you’d believe anything I said anyway.”

“Neither did I.” Maybe admitting that to her nemesis was a mistake.

“Like I know you don’t like me, and yes I’ve screwed up, but I really do mean not all ghosts are evil Va-er...yeah.” he frantically stumbled over her name, rather ruining the attempt to appeal to her.

“Uh huh. Maybe I’ll believe it when ghosts aren’t attacking my town on a daily basis.”

“Okay, fair, but really-” Phantom stopped himself, biting his lip as those unsettling green eyes stared Valerie down. He took two more tries to actually start talking again. “Shooting first isn’t always the right answer.” the ghost stopped yet again, searching for some sort of hint in the fed up ghost hunter’s face.

“I have a life, Phantom. Get on with it and get lost.” She shouldn’t be hearing him out, she should be yelling at him to stop endangering people and go back home already. Homework couldn’t be worked on with him roaming around unchecked.

“Okay! Like some ghosts do come here just to be a problem, I get that, but not all of them.”

“I assume this leads to saying you’re one of the ‘good’ ones?” her scowl deepened, but the ghost shook his head in a hard no.

“No, I mean some of them are just upset and need a little help, and they won’t stop showing up until that’s dealt with.”

“Well if someone didn’t keep cramming ghosts into thermoses before I could waste them, they’d stop being a problem.”

The ghost let out another groan, pulling at his face. “I was like you at first! If I’d known not all ghosts just wanted to fight I might have been able to keep Cujo from ruining your life, okay? So okay, yes, I ruined your life! Just...not how you think I did.” the ghost’s shoulders tensed, looking a bit unsure if he’d actually meant to say all of that.

“You’ve got about five seconds to try and make that make sense,” her free hand tightened into a fist, trying to not let the anger of this ghost gloating over his actions make her be the one to break the truce. She was human, she was better than this thing.

“I didn’t get why he kept coming back. I guess he figured as a ghost I’d be able to help him? So I’d put him back in the ghost zone, but he’d just get out again because he needed to find something that was here. If I’d figured that out instead of just trying to force him back there probably wouldn’t have been as much lashing out and damage, and yes I really am sorry it wasn’t on purpose-he just wanted his toy Val. He was just a confused puppy.” his rambling only increased in speed as he went, as if mishearing might make it better.

“So out of all ghosts you try and make a case for the only one I hate more than you. Seriously?” That monster was a puppy? That wanted a toy, really? She was this close to ramming her board into the floating menace.

“Have you ever seen him since?” It was more of a plea than a question.

“Why should I pay attention to exactly what ghost animal I’m shooting at, huh?”

“I think you’d notice the ghost who ruined your life, as someone on the other side of that grudge.” Normally it would be a snarky comment, but the ghost didn’t even make it sound like a jab, just a statement. “You don’t have to believe me, but you’d believe a human, right?”

“Not someone just repeating your stupid story that makes you look better, no.”

“How is saying I messed-no I’m getting distracted.” he clapped his gloved hands together, taking another steadying breath. “Ask your dad what happened to Axiom’s guard dogs. He should know that. And maybe think about it?”

“If you touched even one hair on my dad’s head-” she nearly growled, trying not to enjoy how the ghost seemed to jerk backwards in fear.

“I swear, I haven’t even looked at him. This is something he’d know because of his job, not because of ghosts or anything.” the ghost twisted, legs melting away into the wispy tail she usually saw retreating in the opposite direction. “Thanks for not shooting me?”

Before she could even give a retort the ghost zipped off, out of human sight in moments and vanishing from her radar soon after. She really needed to figure out how that menace managed that. She wasn’t going to ask her dad such a stupid question. She hadn’t seen any dogs at Axiom.

She was going to ask him, wasn’t she. Stupid ghosts, making simple things complicated.

#dannymay2020 #Danny Phantom #valerie gray #yes that title is a pun an i have NO SHAME #my stuff #who best to run ideas by when trying to prove something to your ghost hating parents?#your ex who personally hates half of your guts!#great idea danny #i have two modes #goofball fluff or total angst #there are no other settings #sorry for typos/misspellings the closer it gets to 9 the less time i have to actually check lol

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haberdashing · 5 years ago

Photo

I made a bingo board of predictions for what’ll happen in Season 5 of The Magnus Archives! Wanted to make sure I got it in before the trailer came out.

Written version and further explanations of what counts under the cut.

B1, “Jon gets new powers”: What exactly these new powers are is open-ended. Are they from the 160 ritual? Does he switch/gain allegiances? Are they just the natural progression of his current Beholding powers? Whatever the case, so long as he shows powers he definitely didn’t have before Season 5, it counts!

B2, “Basira remains a Badass Normal”: This is mostly intended as “Basira doesn’t become an avatar”. Her dying doesn’t necessarily rule this one out. Bit of a judgment call here as to what breaks the “normal” bit, but her becoming an avatar would definitely nix this.

B3, “Jon goes by The Archive”: Doesn’t matter whether this is in a statement, in an introduction in person, etc. Though I will say if he’s just repeating Jonah’s words back to him or something, it doesn’t count; he has to be claiming the title for himself, not just saying that others may use it.

B4, “We meet Rosie”: Remember Rosie? The Institute’s front desk person who helped Elias field the police that one time? Yeah, this space is for if we meet her in Season 5! Admittedly this might be a long shot, but who knows?

B5, “The 160 ritual gets reversed”: I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory. The fearscape that got unleashed in 160 is put back and the world goes back to its previous state, or something like it.

I1, “Jon kills someone”: Also pretty self-explanatory. It does need to be a new, in-person killing, though, not just discussion of Peter Lukas’ death or the like.

I2, “We meet Annabelle Cane”: This needs to be an in-person meeting, not just statements or recordings.

I3, “Georgie’s lack of fear is important”: The exact details of this are iffy, but if her not feeling fear gives her an advantage in some way in the fearpocalypse, it counts!

I4, “The Extinction emerges”: Another one where the details are a bit up in the air, but I feel like we’d know if it happens. The Extinction emerges more fully as a distinct fear. Whether this causes complications doesn’t matter.

I5, “Someone gets shot”: Needs to be a new shooting, not a recording or whatnot. The person doesn’t need to die for it to count, but the shot does need to land. Also, someone gets shot, not something, though admittedly the lines can get blurry...

N1, “A fake ‘death’ happens”: The listeners and/or characters are led to believe that somebody has died when this is not in fact the case.

N2, “Someone becomes Not-Them”: The loose Not-Them takes on the persona of a character. What character doesn’t matter, but it does need to be a known one rather than it pretending to be a random stranger or rather than Not-Them causing havoc without any disguise.

N3, “Martin is not okay (free space)”: Self-explanatory. The creators have already confirmed this one. I thought about making the free space be “I want to cry”, but honestly, aren’t they the same thing?

N4, “The Institute is destroyed”: I’m open to this being either the physical building getting destroyed or, via Jonalias’ death or whatnot, all connections to the Institute being forcibly severed, so long as it’s clear that the Magnus Institute is no more.

N5, “No regular statements”: Jon stops reading from old statements from the Archives. Him getting statements in person, forcibly or not, doesn’t rule this out.

G1, “Simon Fairchild returns”: In person, specifically.

G2, “The web lighter gets used”: Specifically in a plot-relevant way, though what exactly that use is, and whether it’s ultimately beneficial or not, doesn’t make a difference.

G3, “Someone says ‘I see you’”: Not a recording of a previous instance. Referencing a previous instance may or may not count, depending on the details. It does need to be that exact wording, those three words in a row.

G4, “Jon dies”: Fates worse than death do not count. What matters is whether his consciousness, his being, his self, is permanently lost. Note the permanently there--if it’s reversed, it doesn’t count!

G5, “Martin says ‘I do’”: Doesn’t necessarily have to be in a wedding context, but does have to be in a meaningful way, not just tossed out in the middle of small talk. Does need to be those two words exactly.

O1, “Jonah Magnus dies”: If the body of Elias Bouchard is killed but Jonah Magnus lives on in the Panopticon, this doesn’t count. Jonah Magnus specifically has to die for good here.

O2, “Oliver Banks returns”: In person, specifically, though I might be willing to consider new statements or recordings from him.

O3, “Daisy is lost to the Hunt”: This does not need to be irreversible, but it does need to be to the extent that “Daisy” is no longer clearly present, as the Hunt has taken her over.

O4, “Another ritual occurs”: Another one that we’ll probably know if we see it happen. A ritual that’s enacted to reverse the 160 ritual may count, so long as it generally seems like a ritual.

O5, “Martin dies”: Again, fates worse than death don’t count, irreversible loss of consciousness does.

#tma spoilers #tma s5 #tma s5 predictions #tma season 5 #tma #the magnus archives #personal

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pictureswithboxes · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 6 of Understanding The Heathers is up.

AO3 Link [x]

There was a phenomenon where if a domestic cat was left on its own long enough, it would revert back to its feral state. Her father had told her that this was referred to as going ‘house feral.�� After seeing and hearing about how often The Heathers’ parents were out of the house, Veronica was sure that The Heathers had gone house feral. That was the only way to explain the horror show that was the game of Monopoly Veronica found herself part of.

Though, she was less of a player and more like a referee.

“Heather, get off of Heather!” Veronica exclaimed when Chandler had tackled Mac onto the floor after she had bought ‘Pennsylvania Railroad.’

“You know that it’s my strategy to buy all the Railroads!” Chandler growled.

They paid her no mind as Mac wrapped her legs around Chandler’s waist and reversed their positions handily. “It’s everyone’s strategy to buy the Railroads! You’ve already got two, I couldn’t let you get them all! It’s just good sense!” She pinned Chandler’s hands above her head with one swift motion.

Veronica averted her eyes, feeling rise to her cheeks. Her mouth went a little dry, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was intruding on a private moment. Especially with how close Mac and Chandler’s faces were, their noses were practically touching and their lips were mere inches apart.

“She’s right, Heather and you know it. We’re all in it to win.” Duke said, she looked more interested in reorganizing her money than with whatever the hell was going on right next to her. “If you guys fuck up the board, you’re going to have to fix it.”

“Oh my god, fine, Heather!” Chandler rolled her eyes. “Just let me up!”

Mac sat up, not taking her eyes off Chandler. “Just remember, I can do this any time I want.”

Veronica cleared her throat. “Heather, it’s your turn.” She said, nodding her head toward Duke.

If Veronica had known that playing a game with The Heathers meant that there would be acts of violence, she would have thought twice about betting against them. So far Chandler had already torn the three property cards in half, Mac was balling up her bills and throwing them at the people she owed money to, and Veronica already had to wrestle a hammer from Duke. She didn’t even want to know what Duke was going to do with the hammer.

Duke rolled the dice and let out a loud cheer when she saw the result. She’d landed on the Free Parking space.

“Fuck you entirely!” Chandler shouted, slamming her hands against the coffee table.

Duke laughed as she collected the bills from the center of the board. “You’re just mad because half of this came from you.”

“That’s exactly why I’m mad!” Chandler snapped. “Just you wait, you’ll land on my hotels and I’ll get all your fucking cash.”

Veronica looked at the board and had to admit, Chandler was right. Each Heather had their own different strategies, Chandler had elected to buy and develop around one of the corners of the board so it was almost impossible to avoid landing on a property owned by her. Duke aggressively bought up properties as quickly as she could, she didn’t even bother with the Utilities. Mac’s strategy looked like she only wanted to sabotage the other two more than she wanted to win.

Meanwhile, Veronica was simply trying to survive.

“I’m so scared.” Duke rolled her eyes.

“It’s my turn.” Veronica announced, rolling the dice. She was at the point where she almost wanted to go bankrupt. It was exhausting to be the banker, babysitter, and to actually play the game.

She rolled a five and landed on ‘Luxury Tax.’

“Tough break.” Mac said as Veronica doled out seventy-five dollars.

Veronica shrugged and passed the dice to Chandler. “Your turn.”

Chandler didn’t roll immediately, instead choosing to take a few moments to assess her properties.”I want to put a house on Kentucky Avenue.” She said, passing Veronica the appropriate amount of money.

“Sure thing.” Veronica took the money and handed Chandler one of the tiny, plastic houses that came with the game.

Chandler rolled a seven and landed on a Chance square. “Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw.” She muttered under her breath after reading her card.

Veronica was about to ask what the hell that meant when Chandler cut her off.

“Enjoy the charity.” She rolled her eyes and tossed a fifty dollar bill at Veronica, Mac, and Duke.

“Gee wiz,” Duke rolled her eyes. “This is life changing.”

“Shut up, Heather.” Chandler snapped, handing the dice over to Mac. “It’s your turn, Heather.”

The game continued and this level of hostility never wavered as time wore on. The closest thing to a fight that happened was when Mac took Duke’s plate of pizza and frisbee tossed it across the room when Duke started a housing crisis. Veronica was less horrified by the sound of the plate shattering, and more so by the way The Heathers had disregarded the sound. Going bankrupt was a blessing, if Veronica was being honest.

Two hours in and they were still going strong. This had to be a world record.

“Please.” Veronica groaned, she was now laying on the floor and blindly doling out the cash as requested. “Please tell me it’s almost over. I’m so tired, you guys.”

“Fuck off, Veronica.” Duke snapped. There wasn’t a trace of exhaustion in her tone. “I’ve got Heather on the ropes.”

“No you don’t!” Chandler growled back.

“Please, Heather.” Mac scoffed. “The only reason you made it to this round was because you were in jail for so long. “If you roll a one through five, you’re paying me. And you barely have any liquid assets left as it stands. You’re going to have to start auctioning off your properties.” She let out a little laugh. “Well, more of your properties.”

Veronica didn’t bother to look at the board to see what Mac meant.

Chandler eventually went bankrupt and the other three had to physically stop her from flipping the board. It was another half hour after that before Duke ran out of money and Mac took home the victory. Veronica wasn’t sure how the hell that had happened, seeing as Mac’s main goal from the beginning was to simply hinder the others’ progress.

“I can’t believe it’s over.” Veronica murmured as she, Duke, and Chandler cleaned up the game board. “I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this.” She turned to the two of them. “You’ve scarred me for life, I never want to play Monopoly again!”

Mac yawned from her spot on the sofa. The winner never had to clean up the mess, apparently. “Now that I think of it, Monopoly is kind of a trash game.”

“We should play Ticket to Ride, next.” Chandler said as she carefully counted the houses to make sure there weren’t any missing.

“No way, we should play The Game of Life.” Duke argued.

Chandler scoffed. “Please, Heather, you always try to sell your kids when you get in a pinch.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” Veronica found herself saying. She glanced at the clock and was horrified to see that it was nearing one in the morning. “How the hell did you three manage to stretch a monopoly game for almost four hours?”

“We all really wanted the bragging rights.” Mac replied easily. “Which reminds me, Heather, Heather, is there something you wanted to say to me?”

The other two sighed before chorusing “You are a titan of industry” to Mac in an annoyed tone.

“Am I a pretty titan of industry?” Mac asked, batting her eyelashes.

“You’re beautiful.” Duke and Chandler sighed together.

. .

Veronica sat at the lunch table, looking over her study guide for her AP Lit class. She wasn’t worried about the test that day, but it was still important to have a bit of a refresher. The Heathers, who had that class during second period, assured her that it would be a piece of cake, but Veronica would rather be safe than sorry.

“Honestly, if you even read the back of the book you should be fine.” Chandler said, looking bored out of her mind. “All you have to know is that Edna is trapped in her little gilded cage and wants to bone Robert.”

“The hardest part is trying to spell the names right.” Mac added offhandedly, she was working on her math homework and therefore not paying much attention. “Ms. Fleming said she’d mark us down if we spelled the names wrong.”

“I think that was directed at us, specifically.” Duke said. “She was still a little miffed that Heather called Mademoiselle Reisz an old crone.”

Chandler laughed a little. “In my defense, I thought it was funny at the time. How was I supposed to know that the sewer witch that is Ms. Fleming would go off the handle?”

“She’s more of a gutter hag.” Duke said after a moment of thought. “Her being a witch implies that she has powers.”

“But I’d rather be in a gutter than in a sewer.” Chandler frowned before taking a sip of her Diet Coke. “Let’s go with sewer hag. That way she’s in a sewer with all the rats and shit and piss, but also she can’t cast spells.”

“It’s decided, Ms. Fleming is a sewer hag.” Duke said as she and Chandler high-fived with a smile.

“Of course you guys would have a committee to create insults.” Veronica found herself laughing.

Chandler and Duke grinned at each other.

“So, Veronica,” Chandler said, leaning forward and resting her weight on her elbows. “As much as I hate to change the subject, Halloween is fast approaching...”

“And?” Veronica furrowed her brow.

“And,” Duke rolled her eyes. “We, as in Heather, Heather, and myself, always do a group costume. Now that you’re part of the group, we figured we’d see if you wanted to... you know, be part of the group.”

Veronica thought for a moment, usually she and Martha gathered up the worst, most D list, scary movies they could find and make a night of it. This year, however, Martha’s grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary was on the second of November and she was to go out of town with her whole family for the long weekend, starting right after school on Halloween. Veronica was planning to just stay home and pass out candy with her parents.

“Sure thing.” Veronica shrugged.

“Cool.” Chandler looked at Mac. “It’s Heather’s turn to pick a group costume, by the way.”

“You guys don’t go trick or treating, do you?” Veronica asked. She couldn’t picture the three of them going door to door begging for candy.

The Heathers looked at each other.

“Not quite.” Mac replied. “We’re doing that volunteer thing through the school where you take a few kids trick or treating around the neighborhood and then their parents come get them.”

“You should sign up if you want.” Chandler added. “We always need more people and it’s an easy way to get volunteer hours. The kids do whatever you say, it’s basically just going for a walk around the neighborhood. You don’t even really have to look at them.”

“We’re gonna watch our favorite scary movies after, you should come.” Duke said, looking over to Mac. “Do you know what we want to be, Heather?”

“I’m gonna need some time to ponder.” Mac said, closing her math book. “I don’t know any iconic groups of four off the top of my head.”

The first group that came to Veronica’s mind was The Teletubbies. There was no way in hell that she was going to tell The Heathers that, she didn’t want to risk it.

“We need an answer by Wednesday.” Chandler said, pointing at Mac sternly. “Halloween is fast approaching and we need to look good.”

Mac mock saluted Chandler. “I’ll start brainstorming tonight.”

“Speaking of making plans.” Veronica figured this would be the best time for a subject change. “My parents want me to have you guys over for dinner.”

The Heathers looked at Veronica like she’d grown a second head.

“Why?” Mac asked.

Veronica’s brow furrowed. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with you guys, is it so weird that my parents would want to get to know the people who are taking up some real estate in my life?”

“I guess not.” Chandler frowned. “Do they think you’ve... you know... gotten in with a bad crowd? Or something?”

“No.” Veronica shook her head. “Well, my mom thinks you’re all weird as hell, but they don’t think you guys are bad seeds.”

“So... They just want to meet us?” Duke asked.

“Is it seriously so weird that my parents are taking an interest in my life?” Veronica exclaimed.

“... Yeah, kinda.”

. .

Veronica was nervous as she helped her mother set the table. The Heathers would be over any minute and while Veronica was sure that her friends knew better than to be inappropriate or rude to her parents, she was terrified that they might start bickering at the dining table. Her parents already thought that The Heathers were weird as hell and they had barely interacted, Veronica was sure that if The Heathers were themselves in front of her parents, she would be banned from seeing those girls ever again.

“I’m so excited to get to know your friends a little better.” Veronica’s mother said as she put out the napkins. “I already know Martha so well, I feel like getting to know them will help us get to know you more.”

Veronica laughed. “You might want to run and hide if you get to know me too much.”

Her mother sent her a fond smile. “I certainly hope you’re joking.”

Just as Veronica was about to speak, there were three sharp knocks on the door. Veronica froze, half expecting to hear her name being screamed from outside. It was jarring to say the least.

“I’ll get it.” Veronica’s father said as he walked to the door.

“Is that them?” Veronica’s mother asked. “No one’s screaming.”

“Yeah,” Veronica nodded. “It’s kind of an inside joke between us.” She shrugged. “Heather Chandler does that to all of us.”

“What a card.” Her mother said with a confused look on her face.

“To say the least.” Veronica nodded, turning toward the door as her father led The Heathers into the dining room. “Hi guys.”

The Heathers had all elected to wear something more conservative than their usual outfits. It was like they were trying to look business casual.

“Hi Veronica.” They chorused together.

“Thank you so much for having us over, Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer.” Chandler said as they entered the room fully. “Is there anything we can do to help out before dinner?”

Mac and Duke both smiled and nodded, looking at Veronica’s mother expectantly.

“You’re just in time, actually.” Veronica’s mother smiled. “Dinner is ready and Veronica and I have got the table all set. Why doesn’t everyone sit down and Mr. Sawyer and I will bring dinner out.”

Veronica moved to the dining room table while her parents entered the kitchen. “Take a seat guys.” Veronica said, gesturing to the table.

Mac and Chandler sat on one side of the table while Duke sat beside Veronica on the other side. They sat ramrod straight, like they were awaiting a job interview or something. Veronica had to admit that it kind of felt good to know that they were taking this as seriously as she was.

“I know we just told you to tell your mom to make your favorite,” Mac whispered, she looked a little concerned. “But what did she make?”

“Spaghetti with extra oregano.” Veronica replied.

Mac let out a sigh of relief. “Okay cool.”

Her parents returned and they began to break bread and eat. They made some small talk for a little while, Chandler and Duke led the conversation a little more than Mac did. Veronica was surprised that Chandler hadn’t ordered Duke to shut up at least once since dinner had started. She was expecting it.

“So, Heather.” Veronica’s father paused. “Uh... Heathers. What do you do outside of school? Are you part of any groups? Any hobbies?”

“Well, I’m the senior class representative to the PTA.” Chandler said, sitting up straighter. “I'm also a member of the NHS. I used to be on the debate team, but it conflicted with student leadership. So I had to drop it in my sophomore year.”

“We’ll it sounds like you keep busy.” Veronica’s mother said with a smile. “And what do the rest of you do?”

“I’m head of the yearbook committee.” Duke said. “It’s a lot of work, I assign most of the stories and me and the advisor are going to edit and put the yearbook together. I’m also in the NHS with Heather. And I do a lot of reading.”

“What kind of books do you like?” Veronica’s father perked up. “I, myself, like spy novels.”

Duke smiled and nodded. “I’m more of a fan of the classics, myself. Moby Dick is an old favorite, but right now I’m reading Of Human Bondage.”

Veronica frowned at that. “I’m sorry, what are you reading?”

“Of Human Bondage, by W. Somerset Maugham.” Duke said, turning to Veronica. “It was written in like nineteen-ten or something, and it’s all about this orphan with a clubfoot living in London.”

“Oh, I think I’ve read that with my bookclub.” Veronica’s mother smiled. “It’s a little wordy, don’t you think?”

“So far, it’s pretty good.” Duke shrugged. “It’s no Moby Dick, though.” She turned to Chandler. “Heather has some opinions about Herman Melville.”

Veronica watched Chandler fight an eyeroll.

“And Heather, what about you?” Veronica’s father prompted.

Veronica fought the urge to laugh at her father’s poor attempt at a subject change. He only ever read trash books and beach reads, the classics didn’t hold his interest in the least.

“Oh,” Mac looked a little like she had been taken by surprise. “I’m head of the cheer team. It’s my job to help the coach put together stunt formations and choreograph routines, I also run the pre-practice drills. I’m also part of NHS.”

Veronica had almost forgotten just how perfect these girls were on paper. They were every parents’ wet dream, people sent their children to school in the hopes that they would fall into The Heathers’ crowd. And here Veronica was, in their crowd, completely on accident.

“Wow, you girls certainly keep very busy, don’t you?” Veronica’s mother sounded very impressed, and also a little concerned. “You are making sure to take time for yourselves, right?”

The Heathers looked at Veronica’s mother with confused faces.

Chandler recovered first. “Of course we do.” She smiled sweetly. “It’s just important to be well rounded, you know?”

“It looks good on a college app.” Duke added.

“I’m just full of school spirit.” Mac grinned.

Veronica laughed at that.

The rest of the dinner went off without a hitch. The Heathers were perfectly perfect in every single way. Veronica wasn’t sure what had her so anxious in the first place, if The Heathers knew anything, it was how to put on a show. They’d even offered to clean up after dinner. By the time they’d left, Veronica was sure her parents would be under the same spell as the students of Westerburg High.

“You liked them, right?” Veronica asked after she’d watched them leave in Duke’s Jeep.

“Oh, they’re lovely girls.” Veronica’s mother said. “A little stiff, though. Were they nervous?”

“I don’t think they are physically capable of feeling nervous, Mom.”

. .

“I’ve decided what we’re going to be.” Mac said, sitting down on Veronica’s desk once their Econ teacher gave them independent work time.

“Oh really?” Veronica asked as Duke sat beside her and Chandler perched herself on Duke’s desk. “Was today’s lesson about resources and scarcity inspiring?”

Mac laughed at that. “No, I wasn’t listening to that at all.” She set her text book on her lap and began to fill out her worksheet. “I was too busy thinking about Rose McGowan in Jawbreaker.”

“I don’t understand the logic.” Veronica said.

“She watched Jawbreaker last night and loves Rose McGowan.” Duke said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“We had a whole conversation about it last night.” Chandler added. “I swear, Heather went on for hours about how she’s in love with Rose McGowan. I was getting kind of jealous, if I’m being honest.”

“Why would you be jealous?” Veronica asked, earning an annoyed glare from Chandler.

“As I was saying,” Mac cut in. “I’ve decided that we’re going to be the Flawless Four from Jawbreaker.”

“The original Flawless Four or the one with Fern?” Duke asked.

“The original, duh.” Mac replied with a grin.

Veronica frowned and tried to remember the last time she’d watched the movie, Jawbreaker. She’d watched it with Martha, who had a habit of talking through movies, and was never really able to get into it. She remembered being entertained, nonetheless.

“And who’s gonna be who?” Chandler asked.

“Well, I want to be Rose McGowan, obviously.” Mac said.

“Heather, you don’t have brown hair.” Duke pointed out.

“Wig technology exists.” Mac turned to Chandler with a pout. “Please let me be Rose McGowan. I never get to be the mean one.”

“They’re all mean, Heather.” Chandler was averting her eyes from Mac’s. She was desperately trying to avoid eye contact.

“Come on, Heather.” Mac leaned into Chandler. “Please!”

“Just let her be the bitch.” Veronica sighed.

“Veronica is right, Heather.” Duke said, earning a glare from Chandler. She met the glare, not backing down. “Please.” She scoffed, smirking a little. “Heather already had you in her back pocket, it was just a matter of time.”

“It’s true.” Mac nodded. She whispered something into Chandler’s ear that made Chandler’s cheeks turn slightly pink. “I had you on the ropes.” She said at full volume.

“So who are the rest of us gonna be?” Duke asked. “I don’t want to be the dead one.”

“No one wants to be the dead one!” Veronica had to struggle to keep her voice down.

“Veronica has to be Rebecca Gayheart.” Mac said quickly. “She’s the tallest, and so is Julie.” She looked between Duke and Chandler. “One of you has to be the dead one.”

Chandler and Duke stared each other down for what felt like almost a full minute before Chandler spoke.

“I sure as hell am not going to be Foxy.” She said confidently. “So I guess I’ll be the murder victim.”

“You’d rather be dead than Foxy?” Veronica asked, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice.

“I just figure that at some point during the night, you guys are going to have to carry my limp body around during the party.” Chandler shrugged. “And I, for one, think that sounds very fun.”

“Oh yeah, we’re definitely gonna haul you around!” Mac nodded excitedly. “We have to make you a jawbreaker lump and everything!”

“Well, now that we have that settled,” Chandler snatched Duke’s worksheet from her and began to look it over. “Let’s get this assignment done.”

“How many times have you guys even watched Jawbreaker?”

. .

Signing up to chaperone kids while they go trick or treating turned out to be a better idea than Veronica had originally thought. The rules were simple, each chaperone was to be assigned four kids, sent out with their group for two hours, then had to return their four kids to the adult in charge. She didn’t even have to deal with parents, and it was even encouraged for groups to go together.

“I can’t believe that this was basically a two hour walk through the neighborhood with my friends.” Veronica asked Chandler for clarification as she and her group joined The Heathers’. “It can’t possibly be this easy.”

“It is.” Chandler nodded, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “All we have to do is not die of frostbite.”

“I told you to bring mittens.” Mac said, turning around. She had been walking a little ways in front of the group and had to walk backward to show off the thick, yellow mittens she was wearing. They each had a little, red triceratops on them.

“Yes, I know, but I didn’t listen, so here we are.” Chandler rolled her eyes.

“I wore mine.” Duke said from Chandler’s other side. She showed off her own pair of mittens, they were green with bears on them. “You should have worn yours.” She looked at Chandler with a smirk. “Your Nana worked so hard on them.”

“Your Nana made you all mittens?” Veronica couldn’t help but laugh a little at the thought. She couldn’t picture what Heather Chandler’s grandmother was like. “That’s adorable.”

“Yeah, her Nana’s pretty cool.” Duke shrugged. “She’s way better than my grandma.”

“What’s wrong with your grandma?” Veronica asked. If Duke’s grandmother was anything like her mother, she could understand why Duke didn’t care for her.

“She’s really sweet, but also really religious.” Duke replied as they stopped outside of a group of houses. “When she came to America, she got really into Jesus. And she’s really hateful about the weirdest stuff. Like she’ll go off about women with short hair and we always have to be like ‘What would Jesus say about you having so much hate in your heart?’ And then she gets all teary eyed.”

Veronica frowned. “I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that.”

“Her grandma doesn’t even look at me whenever I’m around her.” Mac added.

“That’s because she hates the Irish.” Duke shrugged. “I told you not to use your last name when you first met her.”

“I was nine. She threw a potato at me before asking me if I liked being a part of the IRA.” Mac grimaced.

“This is really putting a lot of pieces of the puzzle together.” Veronica laughed. “It just explains so much.” She turned to Chandler. “Please tell us more about your Nana that knits you and your friends adorable mittens.”

“Hers have stars on them.” Duke smiled.

Chandler sighed. “She’s a ridiculously old and rickety lady who’s horrible to everyone except for me because I’m the baby of the family and I have the most pinchable cheeks of all her grandchildren. And my complexion is perfectly peaches and cream that she could just eat up.” She smiled a little. “I’m her favorite.”

“Every answer brings more questions.” Veronica couldn’t help but laugh.

Veronica watched as their groups of kids returned to the four of them with grins on their painted up faces. The smallest one, a girl who was dressed as a witch, ran up to Veronica.

“They gave me two pieces!” She said with a smile that showed off her lost tooth. “Do you want the other one?”

Veronica felt her heart break a little at how cute this kid was. “That’s so sweet of you!” She took a fun sized candy bar from the little girl’s hand and gestured to another group of houses. “We should try and hit as many houses as possible before we have to get you to your parents. Don’t you want a huge haul?”

The little girl and the rest of the group all nodded.

“Then we’d better motor!” Mac announced, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet.

The kids cheered as Veronica and The Heathers led them toward the next group of houses.

“We need to think about heading back soon. We don’t want the kids to be late.” Chandler said.

“Good, every minute I spend not watching the first or second Scream is a minute wasted.” Mac said, earning a nod from Duke.

“And I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Duke added.

“Do you guys just really like movies that have Sarah Michelle Gellar in them?” Veronica asked.

“We love SMG.” Chandler said. “Heather changed her house’s voicemail to ‘Omega Beta Zeta, you’ve reached The McNamaras.’”

“My dad still hasn’t noticed.” Mac grinned, turning around as their groups ran up to them. “Whatcha guys get? Anything good?”

Veronica watched in horror as the children slowly pulled toothbrushes out of their candy sacks. “Now that’s just awful.” She said.

“People like that need to be stopped.” Chandler said, crossing her arms. “What do you guys say we head back to the school? Maybe hit some houses we might have missed on the way back?”

The kids let out a little cheer before heading off in the school’s direction. Veronica and The Heathers trailed behind them, they were chattering about how excited to get back to Mac’s place. Veronica listened as they walked, she’d normally love to join them, but when she’d asked her parents if she could go over, they’d told her that just because it was a holiday didn’t mean it wasn’t a school night. Her curfew was still in effect unfortunately.

They made it back to the school a few minutes before eight and filled out their child return paperwork. It almost felt like they were returning books at the library. Except instead of a fine for a late return, she would be suspended and probably charged with child endangerment.

“Your parents said it was okay for you to come to Kurt’s party, right?” Chandler asked while Duke and Mac turned their children in. “Because we’ll look really fucking stupid without you.”

“Don’t worry.” Veronica said, leaning against the lockers. “My mom was actually kind of worried that I’d be depressed and lonely because Martha’s gonna be out of town this weekend. And my dad just kept reminding me to call him if anything happens and that I wouldn’t get in trouble if I did.”

“You know that’s a lie, right?” Chandler crossed her arms. “That’s what they always say, then you call them and next thing you know, you’re grounded into next month after being screamed at for an hour straight.” She let out a humorless laugh. “Not the kind of family bonding I was hoping for.”

Veronica almost told Chandler that her parents, unlike Chandler’s, were good and normal parents. Almost. Instead she just hummed an acknowledgement. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Chandler nodded. “I look ridiculous in my costume, by the way.” She said after glancing toward Mac and Duke. “Heather’s lucky she’s cute, otherwise I would not have agreed to be a murder victim wearing skimpy pajamas for Halloween.”

Veronica smiled a little at that. “What did you want to be?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chandler shrugged. “It was Heather’s turn to pick.”

“You guys are kinda cute, you know.” Veronica gently shoved Chandler’s shoulder.

“Of course we are.” Chandler scoffed. “Don’t let it get around though, we’ve got a reputation.”

“Cross my heart.”

. .

Stepping into Kurt Kelly’s Halloween party was awkward to say the least, and not just because their terrible date was still in the back of Veronica’s mind. It was mostly due to Heather Chandler’s insistence that she, the dead body of the group, should be carried into the house like it happened in the movie. So there Veronica was holding Chandler’s legs, while Mac supported her middle and Duke had her under the arms, hobbling up to Kurt Kelly’s front door just so Chandler could get the entrance she wanted.

It was so dramatic and stupid that Veronica didn’t even really mind it.

People turned to watch them as they carried Chandler over the threshold and into the house. A few guys wolf whistled at them as they hobbled by, Veronica was sure it was more due to Chandler’s outfit, or lack thereof. The girl she was dressed as only wore a pair of panties and a tank top in the scene Veronica and The Heathers were recreating, and Chandler was definitely going for accuracy with her outfit. It had taken the combined efforts of Veronica and the other Heathers to convince Chandler to wear a pair of flesh colored tights,

“Aren’t you glad you wore those tights?” Duke grunted as she readjusted her gip. “It’s cold as fuck outside and you’re basically in a tanktop and panties.”

“Shut up, I’m supposed to be dead.” Chandler replied, not opening her eyes.

“Then stop wiggling.” Veronica demanded, trying to maintain her grip on Chandler’s legs. “When can we put you down? I swear, you are the worst murder victim ever.”

“I don’t mind carrying her.” Mac said, she was smirking a little.

“That’s because your hand hasn’t left my ass since you guys picked me up.” Chandler snapped. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“I swear to god I’m going to drop you if you don’t shut up.” Duke groaned.

“So, uh, what’re you supposed to be?” Kurt asked, approaching with a tray of jello shots. Veronica had no idea what his costume was supposed to be, but it involved being shirtless. “No wait, let me guess... You’re...” He paused and took a closer look at Chandler’s neck. “What the fuck is on your neck?”

“It’s a jawbreaker.” Chandler replied, kicking her legs a little. “Veronica, put me down.”

Veronica obliged and dropped Chandler’s legs so she could stand up fully. The giant lump on her throat was unsettling due to the amount of time Chandler had spent making it look as real as possible. She looked like a real choking victim.

“Well, you ladies look great.” Kurt said, not taking his eyes off Chandler. “Maybe I’ll be able to unmask you later? See the woman beneath the costume...?”

It had to have taken all of Chandler’s self control not to vomit all over Kurt at that line. He must have been thinking of that since before the party.

“Anyway,” Kurt continued, shoving the jello shots forward. “You all need a jello shot! I made them myself!”

Veronica almost scowled at the memory of her first jello shot, but took one anyway. Maybe this time she wouldn’t end up spilling half of it down her face. “Thanks, Kurt.” She said as he wandered away, offering his shots to anyone with an open hand. “How the hell do I eat this thing without spilling all over myself?”

Mac laughed and took Veronica’s shot out of her hand. “First you have to loosen the mold.” She said, squeezing the shot container before passing it back to Veronica. “Then you either use your finger or your tongue to guide it into your mouth and slurp it into your mouth.”

“You could use a spoon too, but then you’d have to make the walk of shame to the kitchen.” Chandler supplied before downing her shot. “I use my tongue because I don’t want to have to deal with having a mess on my hands.”

Duke followed suit. “Same here, but you might want to try using your finger for your first real try.” She looked like she was trying not to laugh.

Mac rolled her eyes. “Just finger the shot a little, it’ll loosen it up.” She started poking at her own shot to demonstrate. “Once you have it nice and loose from the fingering, you tilt your head back and just let it slide down your throat.” She downed the shot quickly before smiling. “See? One day, you’ll be able to just do it with your tongue, but you need to get used to it.”

Veronica did as Mac instructed and poked her shot probably a little too roughly before tipping her head back and letting it slide into her mouth. It tasted a lot better than the first one she’d taken, that was for sure. And she didn’t lose half of the shot either. It still tasted like crap though.

“Kurt cannot make a jello shot to save his life.” Duke said with a shake of her head.

“It’s because he doesn’t let them cool long enough.” Chandler said, linking arms with Veronica and pulling her toward the backyard while the others followed. “They don’t set properly and they start to separate.”

“And it’s gross.” Duke scowled.

“Where are we going?” Veronica asked.

“We’re going to the keg!” Mac grinned, throwing an arm around Duke. “Gotta get this party started!”

Kurt’s Halloween party was very similar to the party at Ram’s house earlier in the year, except everyone was in some kind of costume. There had to be at least fourteen Batmans running around and twice as many girls dressed as cats, what surprised Veronica the most was how many bumble bees there were wandering around. She didn’t know that was a popular costume at all, and yet there they were.

“There are a lot of bees.” Mac said, passing Veronica a red solo cup.

“And Batmans.” Veronica nodded, taking a big swig of her beer and scowling. It was god awful. “Will beer ever taste better?”

“No.” Duke shook her head. “It’ll always taste like death. Sorry. Don’t worry, though, we’re not staying here all night.”

“What’re we doing after this?” Veronica asked. “A seance in a graveyard? Break into an abandoned house?”

“First off,” Chandler said with a scoff. “Did you learn all of your pastimes from teen movies?” Veronica’s cheeks heated up a little. “Second of all, it’s not even actually Halloween, so spooky shit isn’t even really on the table at this point. We’re going to take advantage of my parents being away and after-party at mine.”

“Oh cool.” Veronica nodded. “How come we’re here then?”

“Because I look fucking good.” Chandler gestured to her outfit. “And it would be a waste not to show off a little.” She took a sip of her beer.

“Why didn’t you throw a party then?” Veronica asked. “You’d be able to take advantage of your parents being out, and show off.”

“I don’t want all these people at my house.” Chandler replied, gesturing around her. Everything was a huge mess already, there was trash everywhere and someone was vomiting in a decorative vase. “Look what they’re doing here. I don’t want that at my house. I’d be the one who has to clean it up!” She looked disgusted at the thought.

“And I don’t want to have to help you.” Duke added, grimacing when a junior boy ran into the room shouting.

“Heather!” He pointed at the group. “Down in one!”

The phrase inspired everyone around them to start chanting. “Down in one! Down in one!”

Mac shrugged and tipped her head back, finishing her drink in one gulp. She gave Duke a little shove.

Duke rolled her eyes and followed suit, looking to Chandler when she was done. “Down in one, Heather.”

Chandler wrinkled her nose and finished her drink. This earned a large cheer from everyone before they went back to their own business.

“I hate that.” Chandler scowled, filling her cup again.

“What’d Kurt even get, PBR?” Mac passed her cup to Chandler for it to be filled again.

“I don’t know how you can even tell, all beer tastes like asparagus piss.” Duke grumbled as she held her own cup out for a refill.

Veronica’s nose wrinkled at that. “That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard, Heather.” She said. “Congrats.”

Duke raised her cup in a mock salute with a dry smile. “Glad to be of service.”

The party was pumping and it looked like Kurt and Ram were being kept entertained by a pair of cheerleaders. Or a pair of girls who were dressed as cheerleaders. Those two seemed to be the only two guys at the school who felt confident enough to approach The Heathers, so they were mostly left alone during the party. This allowed them to do shots without someone making a blow job joke, Veronica had even been able to watch Duke do a body shot off of Chandler without having to hear a threesome joke being made. By a guy at least.

“I would love to get in the middle of that.” Mac muttered, Veronica assumed it was to herself.

“I don’t think there’s anything stopping you.”

. .

Veronica stumbled into Chandler’s house, her legs sort of felt like jelly and she had to use Mac and Duke for support. She was definitely drunk, she’d done a lot of tequila shots at Kurt’s party, it took her a few tries to remember what order she was supposed to do them in. Just the thought made her break down in a fit of giggles.

“What’s so funny?” Mac asked with a little smile as she and Duke started to drag Veronica up the stairs.

“I don’t know how to drink tequila.” Veronica giggled, putting all of her weight on Mac. “How c-come I’m just... so thrashed and you’re not?”

“Because you insisted on taking shots until you got it right.” Chandler said as she locked the front door. “Do you want to borrow some pajamas?”

Veronica laughed again. “I-I never got the shots right... d-did I?” She paused. “Salt, lime, shot. Right?”

“Wrong.” Duke grunted. “Why is it that I’m stuck carrying people around all night? First Heather and now Veronica? Next year, I’m the one who’s getting carried around.”

“What am I, a pack mule?” Mac muttered.

Veronica was led into a spare bedroom before Mac and Duke all but threw her onto the bed. “Aren’t you supposed to buy me dinner before you take me to bed?” She giggled.

“Do you want some pajamas or not?” Chandler demanded. “I’m not asking three times.”

“Why do I need pajamas?” Veronica asked, trying to sit up before falling back down again. “Whoops.” She giggled at that. “We’re supposed to be after-partying!” She sat back up and threw her hands in the air.

“I’m going to push you back down and if you can sit up again, we’ll after-party.” Mac said before shoving Veronica’s forehead back.

The rest of her body followed head and she fell back onto the bed. She tried to get back up, but every part of her, not just her legs, felt like jelly. Besides the bed was so comfortable, there was no point in getting back up.

“I live here now.” Veronica mumbled, closing her eyes. “This is my life.”

“Heather, go get a big t-shirt from my dresser.” Chandler sighed. “We’re gonna have to get her into some pajamas or she’ll bitch about it in the morning.”

The last thing Veronica heard before she fell asleep was Duke and Mac agreeing before a door slammed shut.

#heather chandler #heather duke #heather mcnamara #veronica sawyer #chandlamara #mcduke #chanduke #the heathers #my writes #7000 words for this chapter #almost double my last one #can you tell that I had a lot more fun doing writing this chapter than I had with the other one?

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mymarvelbunch · 5 years ago

Text

Be Your Own Hero - Steve Rogers x Reader (Part 4)

Masterlist

Summary: Y/N has lost all her family and most friends in The Decimation (I refuse to call it The Blip). Refusing to believe their deaths are permanent, she dedicate years to find a way to reverse it. When she finally finds something that might help, she searches for the Avengers. It’s Steve Rogers x Reader, but there is also a lot of Badass!Reader. Also, Non-American!Reader. If you are American, think of a country you’d have loved to be born into :D

Warnings: none!

Note: Y/Co = your country. Y/Ci = your city; Y/N/L = your native language.

Previously: Romanov asked to speak alone with Rogers, and two left the room. Scott looked at you. “They probably think it’s a trap.”“I’ll bring Wong here if I have to”, you replied instantly. “I spent three years finding a way to bring my family and friends back. I won’t give up now because the Avengers think I’m HYDRA, or whatever.” There must be have been something in your expression that frightened Scott, because he quickly looked away. “I believe you”, he said in a low voice. “I have to.”And you understood. You had to believe in yourself, too.

Part Four

In the end, you did have to bring Wong to the Avengers’ headquarters - without Scott, because Romanov and Rogers didn’t want to ‘risk anything’. At least Uber was cheap.

As soon as you identified yourself as an apprentice from Y/Co, who studied the Infinity Stones under a Master’s supervision, Wong recognized you. He asked you many things and agreed to confirm your story to the Avengers.

“Forgive me for my skepticism, sir”, Rogers said when Wong finished talking. “But I’m curious: if all Y/L/N said is true, why hasn’t any of your sorcerers come up with this idea before?”

“Because none of us had the idea of joining magic and science to do it”, Wong replied instantly. “Had Strange survived, I don’t doubt he’d have reached a similar conclusion. He and Miss Y/L/N are rather similar in that aspect.”

You were pretty sure he was praising you, so you thanked him. “If my task is done here”, he continued, “I’d like to go back to the Sanctum. I have important work to attend to.”

Rogers nodded and opened the door for Wong to leave. You offered to pay an Uber ride, but he said it wasn’t needed. When the doors closed, you turned to Rogers. “So, are you going to believe me now?”

He sighed. “I suppose so. Still, none of us have resources to create a... what you called it? A time heist. We’d need help.”

“So, we go get it”, Scott said. “Where is Tony Stark?”

The following day

Stark’s new home was a few hours away, so Romanov suggested they all got proper rest before getting on the road. You promptly agreed; you haven’t slept well since the day you boarded the plane to Los Angeles, nor eaten well for that matter.

Unfortunately, there was barely no food in the kitchen. Romanov apologized and blamed herself; she had postponed grocery shopping for quite some time now. “You can order something, though.”

“Maybe, if I knew how to. Or where to. I have no idea how delivery works here.”

She frowned. “Just like in any other city.”

“Yeah, any other American city. I’m from Y/Co, I’ve never even used dollars before this week.”

The former assassin raised her eyebrows. “Oh, you’re not from US. Well, neither am I, but I’ve learned how to order food online. What do you want?”

Eventually Rogers and Scott showed up hungry as well, so you ordered two big pizzas. While they waited, Romanov asked you about your life. You told her (and technically the men too) about your former job as a doctor, your deceased family and friends, and some of your journey to get what you were now. At one point, after the pizzas arrived, Rogers started asking about Y/Co, and you animatedly gave him details, glad to change the subject.

You wanted to ask them about their lives too, but refrained yourself. They were only asking so they could judge your character, not to make friends with you. At least, that’s what you believed.

You slept on where used to be Scarlet Witch’s room. There were few of her personal belongings, since she had taken most with her upon running away. Honestly, the lack of decoration was comforting; you didn’t think you’d be able to sleep well in among the reminders of a ghost.

Rogers took Scott’s van to the road, due to the machine inside. The ride was mostly silent, despite Scott’s attempts at conversation. You were all tense; Tony Stark was your best shot at putting your plan in motion.

You arrived in a big wood house in the middle of a small forest. Rich people, you briefly thought as you got out of the van and followed Rogers and Romanov to the house.

You recognized Stark from the news as you got closer. His hair was partially dyed blonde, and he was playing with a little girl. You smiled a little; you had read somewhere about his daughter Morgan Stark, and there she was.

Stark raised his head and made little attempt to hide his surprise. “Hello guys”, he said. “It’s been a while, huh?”

“We need your help, Tony”, Rogers said matter-of-factly.

Stark sighed and asked for his daughter to go inside. Then he stood up to face them - or rather, Captain. “Of course you do”, he said. “With what? And who are those?” He glanced at Scott, but set his eyes on you.

“You may not remember me”, Scott said, “I’m Ant-Man. I was on Cap’s side-”

“-On Germany. Yeah, I remember you now. Thought you were dead. And you?”

“I’m Y/N Y/L/N, Mr. Stark.”

“She’s kind of the reason we’re here”, Romanov added. Stark frowned and gestured for them to sit down.

A two-hour explanation later

At that point, they were all in the living room. Pepper Potts had joined them after letting Morgan play in her bedroom.

“I know it sounds crazy and impossible and surreal”, you said at the end. “And it’s probably a poorly written movie plot somewhere. But this... this is a real change. To bring everyone back. Half the freaking universe. Just... please, Mr. Stark. Give it some thought.”

You felt tears threatening to fall, and then a hand on your shoulder. You turned to see Romanov looking softly at you. Behind her, Rogers had a soft look of his own.

Then you turned back to Stark, who sighed. “Look, there is a lot at stake here. I’m well aware of what we lost, but Morgan is not the only child born after the Decimation. Even though you are telling me time travel only creates alternate timelines, there is no telling nothing will truly change here. Are those children’s lives worth the risk?”

You took a breath. “Honestly, I haven’t thought of that, because in my mind they wouldn’t be at any risk. At all. If we play our cards right, people will only notice we did something when people start to come back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that, we go back in time, get the Stones, come back to same moment we left here, make our wish and voila! Everyone comes back. Your daughter wouldn’t even notice you were gone. No one would.”

A brief silence. “I need time. Not to think whether I’ll do it or not. But we have to find a safe way to travel back in time. We don’t even know if we’ll make it alive. Scott has survived, yes, but we don’t know if we can reproduce it.”

“Actually”, Scott interrupted, “it is possible. I wasn’t the first one to get stuck in the Quantum Realm.” He briefly told them about Janet Van Dyne, who also seemed to have been unable to tell how much time has passed.

“This Quantum Realm sounds like Narnia or something”, you mumbled, but Stark heard you.

“Exactly, Y/N. That’s why we need to make our safety top priority. Only then we map our strategy. I won’t risk anyone’s lives.”

Rogers nodded. “Fair enough. How much time do you need? Do you need any help?”

“A month. Scott’s van has the machine that took him to the Quantum Realm, right? It’s gonna be useful. Don’t worry, I’ll get you a car to drive back to New York. Also, Scott’s experience on the machine will be useful, so I’d ask you to stay around. Do any of you know how to get in touch with Banner? He’d be a great help in this. Also, Nebula and the Raccoon. Is there any way to contact them?”

“The Raccoon?”, you mumbled. Scott look equally bewildered. Romanov, however, was unreadable.

“I get in touch with all of them on a weekly basis. It’ll take a while for them to get here, but it’s manageable. Anything else, anyone else?”

“I’d say our quasi-sorcerer over here, but honestly, Y/N, you look a little sick. I’d suggest you all to use the following month to gather as many allies as possible and get some training done. We don’t know what we’ll find in this time travel thing. We all need to be prepared.”

You looked down at yourself. While you couldn’t notice anything alarming, Stark wasn’t wrong. In the year you spent at Y/Ci’s Sanctum, you did little exercise and ate only the strictly necessary to avoid hunger from distracting you.

Stark stood up to bid them goodbye, but suddenly the little girl ran downstairs. “Daddy, Daddy! Who are these people? Are they your friends?”

She saw you and ran to you. “You seem nice”, she said. “Are you nice?”

Giggling, you opened your arms in invitation. She climbed to your lap. “I don’t know, you tell me! By the way, what’s your name, little one?”

The girl beamed. “I’m Morgan! Are you Daddy and Mommy’s friends?”

You looked around the room. Potts just nodded and gestured for you to keep going. “Yes, we are. Why do you wanna know that, Morgan?”

“Because Daddy and Mommy’s friends are my friends too! Do you wanna play?”

Your face showed genuine sadness. Poor girl probably didn’t have many friends around to play with, given the secluded place she lived in. “Oh Morgan, we’d love to, but we have to get going. It’s a long way to New York.”

Morgan asked to be taken along, because she wants to visit New York so much, but Scott managed to get her attention. Potts thanked everyone, and especially you, for giving them hope, and led them to the garage.

“You are good with kids, huh”, Rogers commented as you followed Potts. You shook your head.

“Don’t let that moment fool you, Captain. I’m actually a disaster.”

He let out a small laugh, but didn’t reply as they arrived at the garage. “Tony loves cars”, she explained. “It’s a rich men thing. Pick whichever you like.” They left the choice up to Rogers, the driver. The first sentence said on the car after they left the house was spoken by Romanov: “I honestly thought this was going to be way harder.”

You wanted to say it was easy for her to say that when it was you who spent two hours straight talking, with only a couple intermissions from Scott, but you kept your mouth shut. The Avengers knew each other for a decade; the woman could be talking about something else entirely.

“Now what?”, you asked instead.

“I’ll contact all of our allies, as Tony told us to do”, she replied. “Despite the Decimation, we have quite a number of them. Meanwhile, Steve will train you.”

You could almost feel Rogers’ question as he briefly turned to his teammate, but he said nothing on the subject. Soon you arrived back at the Avengers headquarters.

“You heard her”, Rogers said at your side as you got in the building. “Training time. But first, let’s get you in shape. You do look a little sick.”

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

I decided to dedicate a part exclusively to training month, so we can have more detailed moments between the two of them. So, part 5 will feature training and recruiting. We’ll see the remaining Avengers coming together to save the universe!

Part 6 will feature major changes in Endgame canon. I want the Reader’s presence to actually change the course of events, not just Steve’s storyline. So be prepared!

Taglist (open!): @autobotgirl15-blog @starstrucknature @cheeseburgersstuff @aamzter2013

#Steve Rogers #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #captain america #captain america x you #captain america x reader #marvel cinematic universe #scott lang #natasha romanoff #tony stark #pepper potts #morgan stark #avengers: endgame

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vannahfanfics · 5 years ago

Note

Hello! For the alphabet challenge reward, the first character I'd like to request is Baby 5! :)

Thank you again for your donation! Here’s the first reward~ I hope you enjoy it!

Fluff Alphabet: Baby 5

A- Activities: How do they spend their time with their s/o?

Baby 5 lives to please her s/o in all aspects of life, and therefore, she always looks to her s/o to see how they want to spend their time together! Staying in, going out- Baby 5 has no preference as long as she’s with the person she loves. If her s/o insists on doing something she wants, there will be a bit of back-and-forth at first, but if her s/o is insistent enough, she’ll cave. Believe it or not, Baby 5 is more of a homebody and would love to just snuggle up with her s/o and watch a movie, play a fun board or videogame, or cook together! She’s a simple gal and simple things make her happy, but nothing more so than being with her s/o!

B- Body: What does this character appreciate about their s/o? What part of their body are they most proud of, and in reverse, what body part are they ashamed of and how do they respond to their s/o gushing over it?

As has been addressed, Baby falls in love comically easily, and at first, it’s hard to determine if there is any one thing that she loves about her s/o. If one pays attention long enough, though, you’ll notice one thing about Baby- she loves to lay her head on her s/o’s shoulder! Whether they’re taller or shorter, or they’re just walking around town together or cuddling, she just loves to wind her arms around theirs and lay her head down.

As far as Baby is concerned, she actually is pretty proud of her silky black hair. She takes special care to shampoo and condition it nightly, and loves to accessorize- bows, frilly scrunchies, hats, the whole nine yards; she loves calling attention to it! So, when her s/o points out how lovely and soft her hair is, she’s a gushing mess and so pleased that they noticed and complimented her!

That being said, Baby is a bit self-conscious about her legs. She knows she’s a tall gal and her legs make up a lot of her, and sometimes she wonders if that’s intimidating or makes her less cute! Despite her wearing outfits that showcase them (because, after all, a girl needs to be able to move in a fight), she worries that her s/o doesn’t like them. The first time her s/o compliments her legs, she’ll be over the moon instantly; the fact that her s/o not only accepts but appreciates that part of her almost makes her self-consciousness vanish instantly! She’ll definitely take more care to show them off for her s/o, wearing slim-fitting pants or dresses that highlight that part of her!

C- Cuddles: Is this character a cuddler? What is their favorite way to cuddle?

Baby 5 loves to be all over her s/o, and cuddles are a must! As mentioned before, Baby loves to lay her head on her s/o shoulder (bonus if they stroke her hair!) but she doesn’t mind other ways either; spooning in bed, sitting between their legs on the couch watching a movie, curled up in their lap while they hold her in their big arms- Baby is all game!

D- Dreams: How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Once someone is in Baby 5’s life, she can’t imagine life without them. Baby 5 has it planned out from beginning to end- a beautiful wedding, having several children, retiring to a nice little island with a beach and spending the rest of her days with her s/o taking sunset walks or just admiring the scenery. She has goals like these, but honestly Baby 5 is going to align herself with her partner’s goals more than anything; she’ll go wherever and do whatever they want, because as long as they are in her life she will be pleased!

E- Equivalence: Is this character the dominant force in the relationship, are they passive, or is the relationship more or less even?

Baby 5 is definitely a passive sort. Her head-over-heels-in-love nature takes the spunky edge that she has with other people away from interactions with her s/o. In due time, once she is comfortable in the relationship and realizes that she is her own person, she may take up the playful banter and slight independence she has with others, but she definitely won’t take an active role in decisions. Baby will definitely need someone who always considers and welcomes her insights into things, lest she be easily taken advantage of.

F- Fights: How does this character respond to arguments with their s/o? What would they fight about, and who would cave and apologize first?

Baby 5’s desire to please can get a little grating sometimes; a caring s/o would want her to think for herself for a change rather than solely exist for them, and this can lead to some spats. It will definitely take Baby 5 some time to realize that she doesn’t have to be this way. Of course, it will be less of an argument than Baby simply sobbing and begging forgiveness even if she really doesn’t understand why her s/o is mad in the first place; she just knows that she has done “something” wrong and needs to apologize. After she finally gets it through her head and alters her behavior, though, life is honestly smooth sailing with Baby. She’s patient, understanding, considerate, and caring, and will give little cause for arguments at all. Well, except for maybe her inability to say “no” even after all this time…

G- Gratitude: How does this character show their s/o that they are grateful?

Baby 5 is very thoughtful about her gestures! She loves to thank her s/o every day for their wonderful life together in some way, whether its cooking, massages, gifts, or just telling them outright! She’s dreamed of a meaningful relationship her entire life and is so grateful to her s/o for providing her one, and so she’s going to go the extra mile to express her gratitude. She takes very careful note of their likes and dislikes to tailor her gestures to them.

H- Honeymoon: If this character had a honeymoon with their s/o, where would they go?

Baby 5 loves the beach, and a honeymoon in a tropical paradise with her s/o would be absolute heaven! Romantic walks in the morning or under the moonlight, scuba-diving or wildlife tours, lounging in hammocks drinking cocktails, late-night swimming in pools or the ocean- it’s enough to make any girl’s heart get to thumping! She would collect pretty shells for her s/o and get excited at all the cute little fish and other creatures around. As in her nature, though, even if this isn’t the case, Baby 5 will be overjoyed to go anywhere with her s/o for a romantic getaway.

I- Insecurity: What is this character insecure about? How do they deal with their insecurities with their s/o?

Baby 5 is fully aware of her personality and incessant need to please everyone, and she knows this can grate on her s/o after a while. Despite that, she just… can’t… help herself! This will lead Baby 5 to question if one day her s/o will have enough of her and leave her, which terrifies her to no end, and this will result in her going to even greater lengths to make them happy so they won’t ever, ever leave her! Baby’s gonna need a smart s/o that can recognize this behavior, because the poor dear isn’t going to be able to herself. Once her s/o sits her down and explains that she doesn’t need to go so far for them, that they love her and she makes them happy just by being, Baby 5 will have a bit of a revelation and tone it down. She’s still going to be excessive with the gestures, but simply because it makes her happy and not because she wants to please her s/o enough to stay around.

J- Jealousy: Is this character the jealous type? How do they deal with being jealous?

Baby 5 has a mild jealous streak, but not extreme. If she sees someone coming onto her s/o, she’ll definitely plaster herself all over them (if she isn’t already) to make it obvious that they are taken. Baby won’t try to hide her jealousy if she’s approached about it; her feelings are so strong for her s/o and she just can’t stand the idea of someone else having them, and she’ll be honest about it. If someone tries to goad her into a fight over her s/o, however, watch out! Baby will definitely bite back and you may end up on the receiving end of her Devil Fruit powers! No one is gonna steal her s/o on her watch!

K- Kiss: What does the character want their first kiss to be like with their s/o? How does it end up happening?

Baby’s a romantic soul, and so of course she’s going to fantasize about her first kiss. Her daydreams are the stuff of romance dramas, the perfect setting, the perfect moment, the perfect kiss. For the first kiss, Baby won’t initiate; she wants it to be like all the stories, and her s/o has to engage! It really depends on her s/o on how it ends up. Whether it’s planned or spontaneous, like the movies or a little not, though, Baby’s gonna melt into a pile of happy mush. She’s a bit shy with kissing at first, and she’s definitely gonna be blushing and cute!

L- Love Confession: How does this character first profess their love to their s/o?

Baby feels her emotions right at the surface and has no qualms about expressing them, so professing her love is no great ordeal for her! Baby will come right out and say it, no shame, no fear! It won’t really be a grand event, either; whenever Baby thinks she may be in love, she’s just going to come right out and say it right then and there- they could even be in the heat of battle and she’s just gonna shout it out!

M- Marriage: How does this character view marriage? What is their ideal wedding like?

Baby 5 is so gung-ho to get married! She loves the idea of being forever bound to someone in love. Her ideal marriage wouldn’t be excessively grand, but definitely a stylish, big wedding with all the people she and her s/o care about in attendance! She loves the idea of wedding traditions and will for sure enact a few at her wedding. The garter and bouquet toss, shoving cake in your partner’s face, being carried across the threshold- it gets her dizzy with happiness just thinking about it!

N- Nicknames: What does this character like to call their s/o?

Baby’s a bit traditional when it comes to nicknames- “honey,” “darling,” “dear,” etc. She has a whole plethora of them that she just randomly tosses around because she loves her s/o dearly and wants to express that love in so, so many ways!

O- On Cloud Nine: What is this character like when they’re in love? Is it obvious to others, or are they good at hiding it?

Baby 5 is a lovesick gal and it is so obvious to everyone and anyone. When Baby’s in love, her entire demeanor changes; she’ll be the happiest gal in the world, practically radiating positive energy like the sun! Her s/o will always come in the chatter- how great they are, how much she loves them, anything and everything she wants to gush about them! It can be a little overwhelming to those who can’t deal with her passionate personality, but she just can’t help it; she’s got too much love to contain! She’ll burst if she doesn’t tell the world!

P- PDA: Does this character like PDA? If so, what kinds of things do they do in public to show off their s/o?

PDA and Baby 5 go hand in hand… Pun intended. ;3 Baby loves to show the world her love, and so she constantly has to be showing some sort of affection to her s/o: holding hands, leaning her head on their shoulder, little kisses, clinging to their clothes. Baby 5 always keeps it tame, though. There are some things not meant for the public eye, and if her s/o gets a little spicy in public, she’ll definitely blush!

Q- Quirks: What random traits or quirks does this character have that positively affect the relationship?

Baby 5 is a very neat person. Part of this was fostered by her incessant need to be useful and clean around the Doflamingo household, but this habit has carried over into her love life. As such, her s/o never needs to stress about a messy home or things to do when they come home; Baby has it covered! This in turn ends up leaving with them a lot of time to spend time together, because things are always done in a timely and orderly manner! Baby never wants her s/o to have to worry about chores, so they can focus on spending time with each other when they can!

R- Romance: Is this character a hopeless romantic, or a bit on the low-key side? Are they cliché when it comes to romantic gestures, or can they get a little bit creative?

Of course Baby is a hopeless romantic! While she may get a little predictable with nicknames, our Baby 5 is real creative when coming up with her gestures for her s/o! She wants each one to be exciting and show just how much she loves them. From something as simple as giving them a flower she found to cooking a full-course meal for them to surprising them with romantic weekend getaways and everything in-between, Baby 5 never ceases to surprise her s/o.

S- Secrets: Are there any secrets they hide from their s/o? If so, how do they deal with it when those secrets finally come out?

As has been expressed, Baby 5 is an honest person with her s/o. If her s/o does not know of her past with the Doflamingo family and multiple (now deceased) fiancés, Baby is going to be forthcoming about it all, because she would hate for a kept secret to be the undoing of their relationship! She may tone down a few parts, because she would hate for her s/o to think of her of some horrible person, but she would never lie. After all, she wants to be loved more than anything, and wants that person to love her in her entirety, not some façade she presents.

T- Thrill: Does this character prefer routine in their relationship, or do they like to shake things up every once in a while?

Baby doesn’t mind falling into routine; there’s a lot of comfort in the ins and outs of just simple daily romantic life. However, if she begins to think her partner is growing bored with the way things are, Baby will for sure throw a wrench into the mix to shake things up a little! Suddenly going out to a new place or changing up how she does things to keep her partner happy and interested is definitely not a problem. As such, she will also respond positively to her s/o doing the same, because if her partner wants to shake things up, she wants to, too!

U- Understanding: Is this character level-headed and empathetic toward their partner, or do they sometimes have trouble figuring them out, which leads to some butting heads?

Baby 5 doesn’t like to rock the boat in her relationship, and she knows the key to happiness in a relationship is knowing her partner well. She’ll know her s/o more than they might know themselves! She’ll be so in tune with their habits, personality, quirks, and whatever else to make sure that hers align perfectly, tailoring the relationship to maximum harmony. Sometimes, though, her s/o will do things she just can’t predict or understand (normally in terms of her inability to say no or desperate need to please which undermines her identity). As previously discussed, this may lead to some discord here and there, but overall, Baby 5 knows what makes her partner tick.

V- Value: How does this character value their relationship with their s/o? How does it hold in comparison to their goals, ambitions, etc.?

A relationship is all Baby 5 ever wanted out of life, and to her, it’s the most important thing ever! Baby 5 cherishes her s/o and their bond, and any goal or need that she has is always secondary to her relationship. Sometimes this can grate her s/o if they want Baby 5 to have more of an identity, but that’s just how she is. Nothing can get in the way of her love!

W- Wild Card: Any random fluff headcanon that does not fall within the other categories!

Before she wants a child, Baby 5 wants a pet to share with her s/o! She knows that such things are very important steps in their relationship, and Baby 5 wants to make sure her s/o isn’t overwhelmed with the idea of caring for another human being when she broaches the topic to them. Baby 5 loves dogs,, their devotion and unconditional love, and would love to have one or two of them with her s/o! They would be perfect to guard their little children whenever the time comes, too!

X- XOXO: How does this character show affection?

Baby 5 is definitely in the camp of the “touch” and “acts of service” languages of love. When she’s not doing something for her s/o, taking their coat and asking about their day, cooking them dinner, catering to them if their ill, she’s all over them. Hand-holding, cuddles, massages, little kisses- Baby 5 just loves to show her affection in this way! She just wants her s/o to know how much she loves them and can only express it in such a manner.

Y- Yearning: How does this character deal with time apart with their s/o?

Baby hates being away from her s/o! She misses them dearly when they are apart. Oftentimes she seeks comfort from something her s/o owns, a jacket or a shirt or whatever she can get her hands on, because holding it makes her feel like they are there. She will definitely be more depressed than usual, and bringing up her s/o at all might make her tear up a little! Baby would never stop her s/o from leaving, though, if it was very important; she knows that being there, waiting for them to come home, is an important duty as well. She just gets so damn sad doing it.

Z- Zeal: Is this character willing to great lengths for their relationship? If so, how far, and how long does it take to get to this point?

As pointed out earlier, Baby 5 values the relationship very highly and of course would go to great lengths to preserve her relationship! If she caught wind that her s/o was in danger, she would charge in guns-a-blazin’ with zero hesitation at all! If a problem threatened to tear her and her s/o apart, she would do everything in her power to make it right. Baby 5, being the overzealous, loving woman she is, gets to this point almost a little too quickly, which can be overwhelming to a timid s/o’s. Baby just loves with every fiber of her being, strongly and wholly!

Want a full fluff alphabet for your favorite character? Support me on Ko-fi!

#fluff alphabet #reward #buy me a coffee!#one piece #baby 5 #baby5 #doflamingo family #headcanons #request

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un-deux-zero-quatre · 5 years ago

Photo

“come be my teacher”

→ pairing: kim seokjin x (f) reader → genre: fluff, crack, if you squint it’s slow-burn → part i: 2,208 words → author note: inspired by a cute TA and my miserable effort in a korean language course while studying abroad. unlike y/n’s bold self. i never actually made efforts to get to know boys on campus, but then again i was never blessed to attend school with worldwide handsome jin. this is my first fic so hopefully you enjoy it, let me know what you think :)

(gif found on sbs website)

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You dabbed at the sweat droplets that formed on your forehead as the elevator to the sixth floor dinged to signal its arrival (fucking finally, you thought to yourself). You stepped out alongside a few other students heading towards room 605 for intro to Korean. A student sitting on the floor with his back against the windowed wall caught your peripheral. You glanced in the most casual manner you could pull off, but he was too busy looking down at his phone and you were forced to keep walking in the throng of students in the busy hallway. He looked cute, but honestly, half the campus was attractive boys that never gave you the light of day. Plus, having hiked half a mountain and power walked a large portion of your campus, the only thing on your mind was finding a seat to sink into, getting your heavy backpack off your sore shoulder, and downing the ice cold water in your HydroFlask. Not another cute boy who would ignore you. You made a beeline for a desk near the middle of the room, next to the giant windows. After not so carefully dumping your backpack on the desk table, you reached over to pull the window open, wondering why the hell you thought that wearing a long sleeve hoodie over black leggings during spring in Seoul seemed liked a good idea when you got dressed this morning. “I think my last brain cell stopped functioning the minute it started getting warmer,” you say to your deskman and friend, who is immersed in her music but gives you a sympathetic smile. Being that it was just the first week back to school, the classroom was still half empty. Most students would likely pile in gradually after managing to find the correct classroom… Yonsei was not exactly a small campus. Even local students found it difficult at times to navigate the famous campus.

You took this as an opportunity to lazily get going on the notes projected on the board. It was mostly stuff you’d get on the syllabus anyway, but you figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a digital copy; you did have a knack for misplacing important documents when you needed them the most and you did not want to have to suffer anymore than you anticipated from a course titled ‘Survival Korean.’ Despite having lived in the capital city for a couple months, your Korean had barely progressed from being able to order coffee and read instagram captions. Err, 70% of some instagram captions. So here you were at 8:45 am on this warm and cloudy day, sitting next to your practically fluent friend, mentally playing off your anxiety about being forced to brokenly speak in front of people who probably were only taking the class for an easy A. Before you knew it the professor was calling for attention to commence the class. You barely listened but maintained eye contact and nodding confidently to assert dominance. At least thats what you thought your half-assed efforts were doing for you. “Throughout the following weeks you’ll be working closely with a group of hand selected TA’s who will help you on your weekly tasks. They have worked hard to prepare engaging activities for all of you so please look forward to their lessons.” He signaled at a few older students scattered across the wall opposite to your seat, who flashed friendly smiles or lifted their hands up to identify themselves. You scanned and your eyes fell on one boy with wispy bangs and a soft pout on his lips.

Your one brain cell, as lame as it was at times, immediately recognized him as the boy who was sitting outside the classroom before class started. Getting a better chance at seeing his features you realized he was lowkey more handsome than other boys you’d seen on campus. Everyone knew Yonsei was notorious for attractive and bougie students but you did not expect to have a TA that looked like an Oscar nominated actor. You wondered if he was as kind as his eyes presented, or if he was a case of reverse-bitch face. You were brought back to consciousness when he turned and your eyes connected. You remained expressionless when his plump lips curved upward slightly. You felt your chest clench of embarrassment and quickly shifted your eyes at other students, focusing on each one for a few seconds to play off the fact that you were obviously drooling for this stranger. Why did you feel yourself burning up? It’s not like you have never seen a pretty boy. You weren’t the type to get so worked up over that. You cringed at yourself for feeling so affected that you didn’t even notice the professor had finished talking and students were shuffling to put their stuff away.

You felt your friend poke your arm, “Dude, let’s go.” You looked up at her and slammed your MacBook shut. “Oh— yeah sure! Do you have class right now?” She looked at her phone and groaned, “Ugh, I still have a whole hour before it starts. Let’s go chill somewhere.” Swinging your backpack over your shoulder you followed her out the classroom’s back exit, lowering your gaze to fiddle with your AirPod case just in case another opportunity for you to make an ass of yourself presented itself. You snapped the case open, swinging your hair around to plop the earphone in, missing handsome boy who was standing by the podium by the front door, watching you with curiosity, a tiny smile once again on his lips.

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“I seriously cannot believe we never realized they sell kaya toast here! Why do we always play ourselves?!” your friend sighed as you trudged up the massive concrete steps to Daewoo Annex Hall. “Maybe it’s because we always insist on going off campus to our fave cafe, we just can’t help being so loyal.” The main floor was buzzing with the loud chatter of students mingling in between classes, many of them ordering or waiting for their ritualistic iced Americanos to be served. You joined the short line to order, glancing at the menu above the case of baked goods. Your mind foggily drifted back to handsome boy from earlier. You wondered if he found you weird for staring so intently. By no means did you have a resting bitch face, but your natural expression doesn’t exactly scream approachability.

Though it had only been a few seconds of staring, you recall how sparkly his eyes had been. His wispy hair framed them perfectly, and alongside his dark eyelashes it was no surprise you were so immediately entranced… You caught yourself; who can even manage to look that attractive so early in the day?! Since when did good looks even mean that much to you? He was probably an asshole anyway, using the TA position only to exert power over undergrads who couldn’t afford do much but beg for mercy during office hours and rant online about shitty policies.

You felt your nose scrunching up into a frown when a loud laugh brought you back to the present moment. Looking down from the menu to the register you noticed a wavy haired, uniform clad barista throwing his head back at what seemed to be the funniest joke in the world. He flashed a boxy smile at whoever was leaned over the bar waiting for their coffee all while his hands expertly handled the register, tucking away won bills and passing a receipt to the customer who just finished ordering.

“Wow, I guess all the cute boys decided to torture us today,” your friend whispered, raising her eyebrow at you. You couldn’t even try to argue with her, this boy definitely contributed to evidence that only attractive students attended Yonsei… kind of like how handsome boy did as well… As if the universe had heard your mind ruminating, and decided it was time to intervene, the person leaned over the counter turned to look in your direction, and you had to bite your tongue to not gasp when those sparkly brown eyes connected with yours.

* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚

You know those cheesy rom-coms where the protagonist finally meets her true love (or whatever) for the first time and the world magically melts away so that it’s only the two of them? Or how in Bollywood movies when the heroine locks eyes with the bad boy love interest and boom, cue sensual but still cute song with perfectly timed choreography? You loved that shit but never for one second believed it applied to the real world.

So why, God why, did you feel like time had stopped the second his eyes met yours and nothing else, especially not your midday politics class, mattered? “Hey! You’re one our teachers for survival Korean, right?” Your friend’s voice cut through your bizarre cinematic moment. She had stepped forward to order while she greeted none other than mister handsome boy. Although it had felt like an eternity, only a few seconds had transpired so the odds of you looking like a blithering idiot to others was very slim. “Yeah, you have a good eye, there’s about 10 of us there,” he smiled at your friend. “Are you both in the class? My name’s Seokjin, I’ll be teaching the lesson in a couple weeks.” You friend shot a quick smile at him and turned to the barista to order. You glanced quickly at her, the barista whose name tag read Taehyung, and then back at handsome b— err, Jin.

Since both your friend and Taehyung were busy in a transaction, you had no choice but to keep the conversation alive. “Uhh yeah, we are… my name is ____,” your eyes finally settled on his. He straightened up from the coffee bar, starching his arms up and brushing the back of his head.

Fuck, he was tall.

“Are you gonna order coffee, too? Speaking of, where’s mine? Ya! Tae!” He motioned over at the register and you remembered the sole reason for you climbing a steep hill 10 minutes away from your next classroom. You mumbled a soft oh, thanks and faced back to the register to order. It looks like Taehyung had abandoned his spot to make Jin’s drink, so a kind-eyed but sleepy girl took your order instead.

Stuffing your loose change back in your cardholder you made your way over to the main lobby where your friend stood with Jin and two other boys. “Ugh, I think I’ve had enough of feeling awkward for today,” you thought as you slowed down your steps. Always a queen with perfect timing, as you arrived you heard Tae scream out Jin’s name and order and Jin waved goodbye. “See you next week! Don’t forget to pick up a good notebook!”

“What,” you deadpanned as your friend turned on her heel to stare at you with an expression you only saw when stumbling across an aesthetic new cafe.“What are the odds of us getting such a hot TA for the easiest class ever?! And he’s not a complete jerk, wow.” HA, your lips pursed out as your inner monologue from an hour ago quickly flashed in your find. “I mean, maybe now he’s nice before he actually gets to teach us, what if he completely switches up? Also excuse me, but easiest class ever if you already speak Korean only! I’m not ready to take L’s in front of everyone,” your hands ran through your hair as you plopped down on a couch. “It’ll be fine, maybe Jin can be your motivation.” If the eyes emoji were based on anything, no doubt it was your friends iconic expression. As you opened your mouth to protest she dove away back to the coffee bar for your drinks.

Blowing air out gently from your pursed lips you dwelled on what’s to come. Okay… maybe if you kept an open mind the class (and this very specific TA) wouldn’t be so awful. You did choose to come abroad to a country where didn’t speak the language in hopes of eventually becoming fluent, after all. What good would negativity do? And anyway, it’s not like Jin would be teaching the entire course, so he probably wouldn’t even be able to clock how awkward he made you act (not that you understood either, its not the first time you see a cute boy.) As your friend came back holding two iced caramel macchiatos you resolved to just be as gentle on yourself as possible this semester. You had faced high stress and lost enough sleep last semester over things that were not worth it in the long run, and the thought of handling things the same way again felt draining. Even if it meant looking like a dumbass in front of the class asking wtf anything meant after reading a wall of text, you were going to put in effort in doing well to avoid issues later on and nothing was going to distract you. Not even soft, perfectly messy hair or pretty brown eyes or pillowy lips that curled around words so perfectly you had to restrain yourself from daydreaming.

* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • part one: end * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚

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journeynaut · 5 years ago

Text

This decade I went from being 14 to 24. From my understanding this means this decade has pretty much shaped my tastes, beliefs, and personality more than any other decade will. It’s also an important decade because at the beginning of the decade I felt like a real person, and now I feel like a ghost that occasionally almost inhabits the same space as this flesh prison.

Anyway, here’s a list of games that shaped me in reverse chronological order for maximum pretension. Spoilers and typos will be abundant.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)

I like little, mostly irrelevant prepping activities in games. Currently, I’m playing Death Stranding, and my Norman Reedus always puts on a cap. Mostly to cover up his weird little pony, but also just as a thing to do to focus before a mission. Like, listening to Friends in the Armed Forces by Thursday before the helicopter lands. Like, grabbing your wallet in the morning. Or, like in Arthur Morgan’s case, putting on a bandana before being a nasty crime boy.

Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true. I always play characters as good and pure as possible. But after I got done doing my good boy crimes I could always return to camp. Sure, camp was always moving as we ran, but the people were there every time. The world of RDR2 is beautiful, I think the characters were my favorite thing about this game. The entire plot was that camp, the outcasts in it, and the dreams they followed. They fused a cowboy simulator with a cult simulator. It says, don’t worry, friend - just keep going and Eden is the next job.

This is a game where you give, break, and are broken in pursuit of a lie. This is a game where your perfect life never arrives and the simple pleasures you find are taken. In the end, you only do whatever little bit of good you can, thank your horse for carrying your weight and the weight of everything you carry, and lay down to go peacefully.

Night in the Woods (2017)

This last decade took my memory from me. When I was a freshman in college taking an intro psych class, the class took a short term memory test. I got second in the whole class. Now I’m sitting here trying to remember who said what in this game. But regardless, one character says something like, “Getting older is your list of first times growing shorter while your list of never agains grows longer.” Heavily paraphrased, probably.

I think there’s a Bojack Horseman episode where he says, life is a series of closing doors, isn’t it? In our modern capitalist hell, very few don’t get trapped. This game understands that sometimes you can’t get out, and sometimes you just need to break some fluorescent bulbs at a dumpster. Or in my case, procrastinate on my life by playing this game while everything fell apart around me.

World of Warcraft: Legion (2016)

Tanking in WoW was my most fulfilling gaming experience of the decade. I wasn’t great, but I could be good occasionally. There are a few moments of genuine pride I can remember. Which, now that I think back, might be some of the last times I felt pride.

I had never played WoW or even an MMO before Legion, but everyone has to get into an MMO when they’re in college, right? So I got into it for about a year, and I played it way too much. So much so, I lost myself after I stopped, both personally and in games. It was hard for me to stick to any game for a long time after I stopped playing, and it honestly still is.

It wasn’t the tanking or the pride or the addictive design elements that kept me coming back - it was the people. This became a Return To game for me. Whether I was playing seriously or just goofing off, I would return to the trans mog shop in Stormwind. There were a few players who would gather consistently and talk between queues. I barely knew anything about these people but I spent hours there with them. There was my healer and best friend who I played with every day. There was the carpet layer from Hawaii. There was the player we always assumed was a young girl but turned out to be some rich man? And behind the anonymity of my characters I was able to comfortably interact with the regulars and the passerbys and mess with the assholes. I learned that pretending to be an actor playing someone else is the best way to talk to people.

Even though I barely knew these people they became friends in the modern way people become friends where you see them every day, but are also shocked to find out any detail of their personal lives. I often wonder what happened to all the people I played with. I never said bye to them or anything. I wasn’t planning on never playing again. One day it just happened.

I’ve often thought about playing again. When WoW Classic came out I thought about playing it. I’ve even thought about getting into FF14. But you can never go home, right? Some things that were good can’t be good again.

Inside (2016)

God, this is extremely my shit. I don’t have anything touching or personal to say about this. Every moment of this game is so tight and perfect, and the aesthetic is spot on. Run on, my child, go be one with your blob friends.

Or maybe I just like it because I too am a disgusting blob monster haunted by a dreary dilapidated landscape.

Firewatch (2016)

The plot of this game is messy overall, but I think about the character interactions all the time. This is a perfect example on how good dialogue isn’t realistic. It should be what we want reality to be. Henry and Delilah have such a believable relationship, strictly because I wanted to believe in it. I wanted to believe two people could always be so perfect and so witty.

And Firewatch just won’t let you believe in it. At the end you can beg and beg for Delilah to stay, and she won’t. The game gently pats you on the head, and says, sometimes people are too broken to be perfect with each other.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

The PC version lets you set custom music to play as you drop in from the helicopter for your missions. This led to me hearing the beginning to Thursday’s Friends in the Armed Forces god knows how many times. Sure, maybe a 2009 emo song blaring out of a helicopter in 1980’s Afghanistan doesn’t exactly fit, but the mood fit. And it helped set the mood for the routine of going on missions.

Routine is what this game does so well. It’s an incomplete game with a not great story, and it fails at being a good Metal Gear Solid game. But the routine and mechanics blend together to create one of the best playing action games ever made. I never got tired of walking around my base, of boarding my helicopter to go drop into the desert, of launching random animals into the air with reverse parachutes.

This game also led to me formulating my Return To/Go Out theory of games, which I believe most games fall into. An old Mario game is a great example of a Go Out game. You never return anywhere; the princess is always in another castle. The Animal Crossing games maybe exist as the perfect example of a Return To game because you never even go out anywhere. You’re always there, where you mean to be. MGSV falls mostly on the Return To side of the spectrum, as it focuses on building up and managing your base and the people on it, something I’ll always be a sucker for.

Her Story (2015)

This is one of the last games that made me feel smart. As a person who feels chronically dumb as shit, that’s pretty rare. Sure, everyone in my life, and the university I went to, and all my grades say I’m not dumb. But we know that’s just because I tricked them all, and I’m actually a complete fool. But diving into this game’s wild and twisting non-linear story made me feel like a detective.

The Witcher 3 (2015)

Move out of the way Skyrim. The Witcher 3 was actually the best fantasy game of the decade. I played through all of The Witcher 2 in preparation for 3. I became so invested and involved with this universe. I feel like I should have so much more to say about this. In what was a very turbulent year of my life, this was the perfect escape. The world, writing, and characters are all so beautifully done. The DLC provides an emotional finale for the story. I never understood Gwent? But I did everything else in this game, and I still think about escaping into it again.

Also Triss for life.

Also also god, that show sucks shit though, doesn’t it?

Life is Strange (2015)

I love everything about Life is Strange. I love the melodrama, the stilted dialogue, the songs that still make me cry. I love the weird high school that resembles no high school ever. I’m not too much of a fan about what it says about me as a person though.

See, I let the entire town die to save Chloe. The crazy part is that I didn’t even think Max and Chloe were good together. When the game gave me a chance to kiss Chloe, I didn’t take it. I thought they had been apart too long, that they had too much personal baggage, that they were going through too much. But when the moment came I couldn’t let her go. I let the entire town get blown away to save her.

Transistor (2014)

Hey, do you want a cyberpunk, post-rock fueled, murder revenge love story?

Transistor had such an impact on me that Red and the Transistor are still my phone’s wallpaper and lockscreen. It’s the game I always mean to get around to playing again, but year after year I don’t. Maybe one day I will, or maybe that’s just what I tell myself about most things in life.

Regardless, this game acts as a perfect spiritual sequel to the studio’s first game, Bastion. In Bastion, everyone wanted to live in the perfect world that had been, but was now destroyed. In Transistor, the world exists - it’s there and could theoretically become whatever people want, and yet, no one wants to live in it. You’re not even trying to save the world; you want escape as much as anyone else. You just need revenge for the small part of your personal world that has been taken.

Also, at the end you get to basically fight yourself, and I’m such a sucker for when games have you fight someone with the same powers as you.

Gone Home (2013)

I had never been in love when I played this game. I thought I had, but being a teenager is dumb and weird. Of all the first times I wish I could experience again in games, this is up there on that list. Maybe even the top. Mainly because I understand love now, and I think it would make this game hurt more.

Both times I played Gone Home I sobbed, and I’m certain if I played it again, I would sob again. This was the first game to impact me in that way. As I’ve grown more and more dead inside, as I feel less and less, I seek those experiences out. Why yes, I would like to play whatever the sad new indie game is. Why yes, I would like to listen to that song that makes me emotional over and over. That scene in a show made me cry? Yes, I will absolutely watch it again.

Gone Home, like Spec Ops, taught me so much about what games could be and do. In a decade of walking simulators, Gone Home still stands out as one of the best.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2013)

Animal Crossing is the best goddamn game series of all time, and this is the best one because you can stack fruit.

Hotline Miami (2012)

I have never done cocaine in the 80’s, but that’s pretty much this game, right? This murder simulator game does something to your body on like, a visceral level. Imagine it’s like your 20th attempt on a level. Your hands are shaking with adrenaline, but you have a careful plan. It immediately goes bad so you just panic and start running around knifing fools and it somehow works out anyway. That’s the thing that makes this work so well, and also the thing the devs absolutely did not understand when they made Hotline Miami 2.

You know what else makes this game great? The vibes. Miss me with your vibe checks if you’re not putting off Hotline Miami vibes. It’s the trippy and psychedelic story, it’s the way you have to walk through the bodies of everyone you just murked at the end of the level, it’s the game constantly asking if you feel good about what you’re doing. Hotline Miami and Spec Ops made me reevaluate how I thought about violence in games. Which isn’t to say I don’t play violent games, just that I think more about what the games are asking me to do.

Borderlands 2 (2012)

My experience with Borderlands was different than how most people played it. I didn’t really uh, have friends, so I played it alone. But it wasn’t an inferior experience. I got to play my haiku spouting sniper at my own pace. All the guns were mine. I could laugh at the dumb jokes as long as I wanted.

Hey wait, actually, is this game still funny? If I thought it was extremely funny originally, would it still hold up? Like, Mr. Satan being Mr. Torgue still has to be funny, right?

Anyway, most of the DLC for this game is pretty mediocre or just straight up bad, but the Tiny Tina DLC is some of the best DLC of the decade. Those madmen just made D&D in a goofy ass game where guns yell at you when you shoot them, and somehow made it an emotionally resonant end to the story.

Spec Ops: The Line (2012)

We all really missed what this game was trying to tell us, huh? It constantly asks you if you’re okay with the dehumanization of minorities and the glorification of imperialism and the military that runs rampant through games. Here we are going into 2020, and goobers are still trying to argue games don’t have politics in them. Anyway, gamers are dumb as shit, and we should have listened to Spec Ops more.

Portal 2 (2011)

This came out at the beginning of this decade, huh? Guess I gotta break out the walker and sign up for AARP. Anyway, being funny is hard. I mean, I’ve never managed to be funny so I assume it’s hard. I mean, sometimes my life is funny in a cosmically ironic way, like I’m god’s personal clown and not in on the joke.

Anyway, anyway, the puzzles are fantastic, and Portal 2 is funny as hell in a way I’m pretty sure would still hold up. The humor is definitely more overt than the original Portal, but Cave Johnson is a god tier character. I can’t remember what I did yesterday, and I still remember Cave Johnson lines from like, 8 years ago.

Minecraft (2011)

*twirls mustache* Not to sound like a hipster, but I started playing Minecraft in 2010 before release. My first world seed was the most perfect seed I ever encountered. It was a large island, the size of which, I never encountered again. Like, it was big enough that it felt like I had to branch out to explore, but also small enough that I could know it all. Playing on that island was the most pure experience I had with Minecraft, in retrospect. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I didn’t realize that actually everyone else was way better at building things and playing the game than I was.

But eventually you get bored of everything, right? So I found a server and joined the forums. Over time I grew a bit bored of the game, and eventually realized I wasn’t very good at it. But I stuck around on the forums. Like, for years. Playing on that server, even as my time actually playing lessened, and being on the forums defined my teenage years.

I had a complicated relationship with the forums and the game, though. I’m not good with people. That’s just something I’ve had to learn to accept. But I’ve actually gotten better over the years. Back during my teenage years I was awful with people. I was antisocial, standoffish, pretentious, etc. I also felt like I couldn’t get anyone to like me, which I now realize was my own fault. There was a group of players I wanted to be a part of, but also could never really break into. The game and forums became what I was experiencing and also everything I couldn’t experience. It’s what I did every day but also what I was missing out on. Even today my thoughts on Minecraft are complicated. That one song, you know the one, always makes me emotional.

I originally had a different end planned to whatever this list is. It was gonna be a pretentious ending about how a few years ago I tried to go back and play Minecraft but just couldn’t because you can never go home again. I was gonna talk about my first world seed and the optimism and exploration I experienced, and it was obviously gonna mimic my decade. Because, you know, pretentiousness. But I can’t do that now.

See, I just looked up that server, and I found out it’s still active. The website looks like when I left. The same people are in charge. It’s like a time capsule. Due to a lot of personal turmoil, I asked for a server ban and a forum ban to stop myself getting back on in January 2015. That was when my time with Minecraft came to an end. But here’s the crazy thing: a couple of weeks ago, almost 5 years after I quit, someone posted on my forum profile that they missed me. And we weren’t even close friends, I thought. I mean, no one liked me, right? And it wasn’t just this one person. Multiple people had left similar messages on my profile over the years.

Normally I don’t like when people have memories and perceptions of me. Like, hell is other people, right? But this kind of hurt my insides deep down, like nothing has in a while. I don’t quite have words for it because it’s so personally tied to how I felt about Minecraft, and thus the forums, and thus a lot of this decade. Does this mean that multiple people I’ve encountered over the decade miss me? That some amount of people greater than zero miss me not being around?

Anyway, this has gotten off track, but also maybe it hasn’t. The point I was trying to make was to make a pretentious list about how silly little things we do in our free time can affect us years later in ways we won’t realize and sometimes can’t understand.

In conclusion, games track better with the most personal moments of my decade better than almost anything. Games are great. The people who play them are often terrible. Video games forever.

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ask-the-crimson-king · 5 years ago

Note

Alternate ending + thousand sons stay loyal / magnimagic doesn’t break imperial webway OR ... post-heresy redemption posting?

[Alternate Endings]

[Part 2 to be answered below the cut]

Instead of breaking the Imperial Webway and accepting Tzeentch’s power, Magnus attempts to look for a way around it. He knows that Horus has turned traitor, he witnessed it himself and the Emperor must know this information. However, he also knows that his power and time is running fast, so he tries to find someone he can trust with the information, at the very least, if he cannot find another way to contact someone like Malcador since the Emperor seems to be preoccupied. While this is breaking the Edict, at the very least a warning will have been sent and potential consequences can be dealt with at a later date.

He would then immediately return to Prospero and begin rallying his Legion in order to prepare their homeworld in case Horus wishes to bring his Legion and whomever else he may have turned with him. Of course Tizca is highly defended, thus it would be costly for them to attack, but Magnus now knows too much.

Once he feels certain Prospero will be safe, he prepares to set out into the galaxy in order to warn as many of his brothers as possible. He knows that many are against him and his Legion when it comes to utilizing psychic abilities, so he sends out separate Fellowships in order to cover more ground. Magnus also sends quite a few messages to Terra, and eventually receives a message from Dorn stating that they needed to speak.

Magnus explains everything he saw and expresses concerns that others will have turned with him, and Dorn agrees that this matter ought to be dealt with, and the Emperor needs to be informed. The Emperor asks Magnus to go onto the Golden Throne so that the Webway can be kept stable while he is away, but he explains no more. The Thousand Sons remain on Terra, though a portion return to Prospero to ensure their home is kept safe and secure, and to see if any other traitors are sailing the stars. The Isstvan III and Isstvan V events still occur, although now with the prior warning, the traitors are stopped and trounced much earlier. The Emperor returns to Terra and completes the Webway, which Magnus then operates, and peace returns to the galaxy. In a way.

With the return of Roboute Guilliman to the Imperium, Magnus decides to try and meet his brother. Instead of the clash on Luna, or at least the clash being so violent, Magnus fights only in order to defend himself, and not to truly harm Guilliman. He came to talk, and he means to be genuine.

At first there is, of course, incredible suspicion, but Magnus calls off his warriors and there is a momentary ceasefire. He explains how he is honestly a little glad that Guilliman has returned. Maybe the Imperium can stop stagnating as horrifically in his care. Perhaps it would even be able to rebound and become somewhat similar to how it was during the Crusade, though even then it was not very... sustainable, truly. There were some good worlds, but there were also those that were ravaged and merely left to rot.

Before Guilliman can truly react, Magnus sends both of them into the depths of the Warp where he knows neither of their sons nor affiliates will be able to hear them (or so Magnus believes). He explains to Guilliman the true purpose of why he came, and why he brought them both to this small expanse of the Warp. When they return, only seconds will have gone by, though Guilliman still seems dubious.

He is ready to finally sever himself from Tzeentch, though he is not sure if it will be in any way successful. However, he also offers an alliance to Guilliman, and makes it clear that, even if he DOES free himself, he has no intention of rejoining the Imperium. He wishes to be able to have his own system, his own people, his own home. However, that does not mean that Imperial citizens will be barred from visiting. Essentially, he wishes to remake the Sortiarius-Prospero system into the vision he saw Prospero becoming ten millennia ago. He wants there to be a bastion for knowledge and for learning and mastery, a place of enlightenment again. It will be open to anyone who wishes to come, no matter what they wish to study. Guilliman thinks this to be a trap, and Magnus releases both of them, and they return to where they had been standing on Luna. The Thousand Sons leave, though Magnus lingers, stating to Guilliman,

+I shall be waiting for when you change your mind.+

Slowly, he begins to make changes within his Legion. Those who are Tzeentchian zealots are sent away from Sortiarius while he confides in the few he feels he can trust. He reveals his plans of severance, and to make the system into a place of enlightenment for anyone across the galaxy. A new age would be coming. There is unease, there is suspicion, and there are a few who are hesitant to make an opinion.

However, a handful do stand with the Crimson King, and others soon follow suit. Enough join where Magnus feels confident enough that he can begin planning in earnest. Those who were sent away were sent to find whatever caches they deem valuable, and to eliminate any Imperials who may be lurking nearby. Even with the return of Guilliman, if he ever did consider their alliance, he would still defend himself and his sons until an official edict was decreed.

It takes some time before the next generation of Aspirants are ready to join the ranks of the Legion, and said Aspirants are also on board with Magnus’ intentions, as the Crimson King himself vetted those who were allowed to train them versus those who were not. Old teachings of praising Tzeentch were subtly exchanged for ones reflecting the older doctrines of Prospero, putting more praise within the ability of the psyker while also recognizing that yes, Tzeentch exists, however one should not depend on him for power. Those who were deemed too radical, once a major force within the Legion, slowly become more and more outnumbered. More psykers are brought to Sortiarius to be trained in the ways of the Great Ocean, and eventually, those deemed too dangerous to the plans are outright killed. Others take their places. Others who share in the vision that Magnus has for the system.

Everything begins to fall into place. A domino effect begins. Libraries and magnificent archives are beginning to be built in earnest. There are some expeditions to Prospero to recover any scraps that may be left behind, and to see if it would be more hospitable to the humans who wished to come to the system than Sortiarius. Eventually, Sortiarius may be made hospitable, but Prospero could work for now.

Upon receiving a message from Guilliman concerning negotiations over the purposed alliance, Magnus takes a warband with him for both protection and to demonstrate that Magnus is not speaking alone. His ideals are ones shared by his Legion, too. It takes a bit of time before Guilliman reluctantly agrees, and Magnus tells him that if any Imperials come with the intent of being hostile, he will defend his home and what he has built. Guilliman acknowledges this, and the two part ways.

With everything now somewhat settled, Magnus calls upon Ahriman and offers him a chance to fully redeem himself. He asks if he will help reverse the Rubric and save his brothers, to which Ahriman agrees. The two then begin to concentrate on it, while the rest of the Legion continues to build up Sortiarius. On occasion, Magnus sends out a call throughout the Warp inviting psykers to come to the system. A promise for them to learn how to wield their powers to the fullest extent, or merely just a place to learn without being persecuted for their abilities.

Sortiarius gains a human populace.

It takes many years before Magnus finds everything to be satisfactory. Many long, arduous years. But one day, he finally feels as though he can unveil it to the galaxy at large. Of course, he knows that no one will come at first. No one will truly trust them.

So, in order to combat this, he invites Guilliman himself to see everything.

Of course his brother arrives with a large escort because no one trusts Magnus [and he does not blame them for this in the slightest], but he gives his brother the grand tour and demonstrates everything he envisions of doing with whomever wishes to come. He invites some of the mortals who had come with him to explore and learn whatever they wish, despite being fearful of the Inquisition. Magnus even remarks how it can help dismantle the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy’s hold on the Imperium to Guilliman privately later on.

He also asks if his brother could try sending a few groups of mortals to the system, psyker or not, who may be interested in what he has to offer. He also says that they can be watched or escorted by whomever he needs in order to feel more confident that no brainwashing or indoctrination will occur. He does this for the betterment of humanity. Knowledge is power, and now that he spent so much time under Tzeentch’s control, he knows how to keep these psykers out of his hands, for the most part. He can help them, if only Guilliman will allow him to help them.

Again, it takes more time, but slowly, ever so slowly, there is a trickle into the system, and people are either staying or returning to the Imperium at large with more knowledge and they can recognize exactly what had been going on around them. Overtime these programs begin to weaken the hold of the Imperial Cult, and there is a steady flow both in and out of the system. But the system is never deemed an Imperial one. Magnus doubts it ever could be, and he never wants to join for a slew of reasons. Perhaps one day, in the far future, he could change his mind. But for now? He is content with his new home, and with how it functions. One day he could truly open it to the galaxy at large, welcoming all sorts of species on the grounds that no one is to ever pull a weapon on another. There will be no hatred, no prejudice. Everyone who is present came for enlightenment, and it will not be denied merely based on birth.

It could lead to a more unified galaxy as a whole, even.

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semirahrose · 6 years ago

Note

I hear some people are accusing Sam and Cas of abusing Dean to get him to do what they wanted, what do you think about that?

My reaction: Utter befuddlement.

(gif credit: sebstans)

I haven’t seen the latest episodes, so I can’t go in and take a critical look at whatever supposedly “abusive” behaviors Sam and Cas are displaying, but I’m gonna guess—as has been the pattern for a long while now—that one or both of them vehemently expressed their disagreement with Dean’s plan, probably more than once. They were probably sad. They might have even *gasp* shown their emotions. (How very dare they) And Sam punched Dean. ** Not something I’m comfortable with, to be honest, but that’s personal and is neither here nor there.

Part of why I love Sam so much is this: as much as he can, to the very limits of his endurance, he tries to trust in people and respect their decisions. He is (despite his lack of faith in himself) slow to wrath—or at least outward expressions of wrath. He is calm, and he is faithful, sometimes even to his own detriment. (Sam has never been able to deal well with losing Dean, though. That’s a long established canon fact.)

But:

Not being able to pretend everything is all right is not abuse. Telling a person (even repeatedly, even convincingly) that you really don’t want them to do something is not abuse. People are allowed to have emotions and reactions that do not mesh with my own. Wanting something or even needing something and showing you need it is not abuse.

Being broken, unstable, or on uncertain footing is not abuse. Needing and seeking support is not abuse. Needing and seeking support even when the person you are seeking support from is, himself, broken and in need of support you are unable to provide is not abuse. It’s tragic, but it’s not, by any stretch of the imagination, abusive.

Hitting a person is not abuse. Here’s where it gets sticky. Hitting a person is violence. It is not a healthy response and should never be encouraged. But abuse, by its very definition, is more than violence. Abuse requires a pattern (whether of violence or of financial, emotional, and/or social control) that is enacted specifically to achieve a desired result: to put the abused person under the abuser’s control.

(Under a cut because this gets long and no one should have to deal with my disconnected rambling unless they wish to. Analysis below of whether Sam [and Cas, to the best of my limited knowledge and ability, since he’s unfortunately not part of my hyperfocus] meet the criteria. tl;dr they don’t)

So. A pattern. And an unequal dynamic.

A pattern?

Sam is very, very rarely violent when he is in control of his actions (i.e. not possessed or under the influence of a supernatural substance). The instances where he has initiated physical violence in all 14 seasons can be counted on one hand. It does not create any real sort of pattern.

I could talk for a long time about how Castiel’s occasional violence does not also constitute a pattern of abuse, but though I like him, I haven’t spent as much time poring over his scenes word for word and am not sure how clear it would be, and additionally, it’s a little questionable to expect a being who has been brainwashed and molded for thousands of years to be a perfect soldier to a) understand and b) act in accordance with human relationship dynamics without a lot of trial, error, and patient explanation (which he didn’t get with any consistency from the person whose ideals he clung to when he first appeared [Dean].) I lived abroad in a country whose customs and social expectations were a bit different from my own, and I had the opportunity to do extensive research in advance. I still had pretty intense culture shock and an adjustment period. There were some things I simply couldn’t fully wrap my mind around, and some things I disagreed with. And it was only some thousands of miles of land and ocean that separated us. Arguably, it can’t even be applied to Castiel in those first seasons. Asking him to relearn in days, weeks, or even years things that have been beaten into him over millennia is… ambitious, to say the least, and something that needs to be considered in any nuanced analysis.

Then the show humanized Cas. It made him make some well-intentioned mistakes while trying to seek a leader and do what he believed to be good for his family…the family he has grown up with, again, for millennia. The show took away his powers, his memories, his sanity. But it did not change his role. Castiel’s arcs over the season have specifically emphasized his discomfort and inexperience with being perceived as a leader. When he was unstable after having taken on Sam’s overflowing trauma from his broken hell wall, he was very much not in a position of power, and… if anyone was being abusive, it wasn’t Cas.

But perhaps people are talking about emotional/psychological abuse? Again, both Cas and Sam have expressed desires and tried to explain differing positions from Dean and have been under powerful supernatural influence (the Siren, demon blood, Leviathan, etc), and have made decisions on their own without seeking Dean’s permission—and, oops, that just highlighted our second criterion.

An unequal dynamic (specifically, abuser in a position of power).

Neither Sam nor Castiel is in a position of power over Dean. Only in season 11 did Sam and Dean’s dynamic start to level out a bit. The big struggle in early seasons, the one that literally carried us to the season 5 finale, was that Dean treated Sam as a kid/subordinate, not as an equal, and Sam felt he needed to seek permission to do anything. Actual quote from “Swan Song” (and I admire this development in Dean so much, even if the later seasons dismantled it):

DEAN: The whole “up with Satan” thing. I’m on board. SAM: You’re gonna let me say yes? DEAN: No. That’s the thing. It’s not on me to let you do anything. You’re a grown – well, overgrown – man. If this is what you want, I’ll back your play. SAM: That’s the last thing I thought you’d ever say. DEAN: Might be. I’m not gonna lie to you, though. It goes against every fiber I got. I mean, truth is… You know, watching out for you… it’s kinda been my job, you know? But more than that, it’s… it’s kinda who I am. You’re not a kid anymore, Sam, and I can’t keep treating you like one. Maybe I got to grow up a little, too. I don’t know if we got a snowball’s chance. But… But I do know that if anybody can do it… it’s you.

Some people will try to claim that Sam is in a position of power because he tried to go to college or because he can leave Dean and (somehow??) holds that over Dean’s head repeatedly (??????????), but if someone is in a position where, for even their own education or mental health, they’re not allowed to be apart from someone or even think about seeking something for themselves, that’s not abuse on the part of the person who seeks separation. And when Sam (young, so young), left for college, the only control he had was his own autonomy, his own two feet that brought him out that door. He was disowned for choosing to do what he needed for himself, after growing up in a family he had a hard time feeling a part of. That’s not abuse on Sam’s part. Maybe Dean did need Sam there beside him. But doing something for his own mental health and personal growth is not abuse by any stretch of the imagination. I call that courage.

The same goes for Castiel, especially considering that, despite his greater physical strength (when he was a fully-powered angel), he still tends mostly to act as if he is a subordinate or inferior, possibly from the millennia during which he was a soldier in a garrison: he was looking for a leader, a superior officer, even when he left. He found Dean.

“But what about when Sam and Cas do things behind Dean’s back??” Some people might ask. Again, I feel like (especially in the case of the Mark, where, due to its powerful influence, Dean was significantly altered and violent/controlling) if characters are so afraid to seek permission/understanding that they fear that they have to do something completely in secret… that just…. that’s not evidence that these people scurrying around in breathless terror are somehow the ones in a position of power?? Quite the opposite, I’d say. I mean, MoC!Dean literally said they weren’t a team; it was a dictatorship.

I’m sorry there are so few examples. Honestly, I could go on for hours and for pages and pages and pages, but I don’t have the time or the brainpower to make that post, so this is what I have. I’m sorry it’s not as complete as it could be or that it doesn’t include examples from s14, since I haven’t seen anything since pretty early in the season.

In short/tl;dr: Sam and Cas neither display a pattern of control nor find themselves consistently in a position of power over Dean. (And I cannot stress enough that Sam trying to seek his own path/seek education/do things for himself does not count as abuse and it disturbs me that people think it does.)

In fact, the opposite is most often the case: Dean is generally in the role of the leader. Recent seasons have begun to change that dynamic a bit, but neither Sam nor Cas have reversed the dynamic.

** Re: Sam punching Dean: I understand the circumstances and his reaction makes sense to me, but I’ll be honest: I’m personally uncomfortable with violence as a problem-solving method. So I don’t like that Sam did it, but I understand that both brothers grew up in an environment where less destructive/self-destructive methods were not consistently modeled for them. I understand that there are situations in which people might feel like words are useless and their only recourse is a physical response. I get pain and tragedy and desperation and terror and loss… but it doesn’t mean I’m any more comfortable with it.

#bittersamgirlclub #sam winchester #castiel #negativity for ts #my meta #my stuff #sam and abuse #sam and fandom #sam and family #dean winchester #moc!dean #sam and cas #anonymous #semirah replies

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itsclydebitches · 6 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 6. Argus Limited

This is a re-posting from Oct. 27th, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Volume Six is here, folks! I am so very, stupidly excited for this season. Heartfelt thanks go out to my friend who was all, “lol yeah sure” when I begged to use their FIRST account to watch. There are heroes in this world and they’re one of them.

A quick note about recaps from here on out: they will (my productivity willing) be uploaded sometime on Thursday or Friday proceeding the new episode. This is partly so that I’m not scrambling to post immediately afterwards—stress and bad writing all around—and partly so that, you know, we can actually recap stuff before the next episode airs. So yeah, that’s the goal.

Let’s do it!

We open on a gorgeous, snowy scene with ROOSTER TEETH PRESENTS smack dab in the middle. You know that feeling you get when you hear the Harry Potter theme at the beginning of a new film and the whole theater loses their shit? Same with Doctor Who and Star Wars? Whatever your preferred fandom, the point is I get the same chills when RWBY comes back and it’s excellent.

The animation really is gorgeous though and I sigh happily whenever I see it, thinking back to the days when cookies disappeared directly into Ruby’s mouth. There’s nostalgia, sure, but it doesn’t beat this detail.

We hear the distant sound of a train and then we’re thrown into exactly what we’ve wanted for literal years now: Team RWBY back together again, fighting not creepy adults but just some good, old fashioned grimm. They’re chimeras and… griffins? Ngl I’m not entirely sure, but they’re big, flying, fire-breathing nasties, so that’s really all we need to know. Luckily everyone falls back into old habits, easily supporting one another and executing perfect attacks (a contrast to the residual tension we’ll see in just a bit). Ruby is so busy posing after a successful kill that she misses the grimm coming at her from behind. Weiss saves her ass with a cheeky, “Thank me later!” At the end of the fight we get a reversal wherein a hit nearly sends Weiss tumbling off the side of the train, though Ruby grabs her at the last second with her own, “Thank me later!” It’s a fun little exchange made better when we think back to the Vytal Tournament. Weiss still “had her back” then too, but was more resistant to Ruby’s proclamation that they’re BFFs. Now the teasing is on both ends.

Notably, Ruby saves Weiss by taking her into her semblance, creating a cloud of rose petals that are half red, half white. Now combined with the old team-ups and some shots in the new opening, this has led a number of fans (myself included) to wonder if a WhiteRose pairing is in our future. Which also means that the ship wars are in full swing. Needless to say I’m not about that nonsense and I’ll only point out here what I said episodes back: if it’s a queer relationship with one of our main girls, and not a random side character who was previously out to murder a whole family? I’m on board.

Back in the fight though. The rest of team RNJR appears with Nora exclaiming, “Why is it always something?” God that’s a mood. Welcome to adulthood, kid. It’s just one crisis after another—except in your case the crises are objectively more dangerous. Sorry about that. We get to see Jaune’s improved reflexes as he fends off all the fireballs with his shield while Ren and Nora team up to knock some of the monsters out.

Honestly, I love this trope in action stories. Where—as Nora does here—a character just shouts out a friend’s name to get their attention and they immediately know what kind of move they’re about to pull off. It’s made more hilarious to me given that RWBY once had attack names and Jaune at least made the attempt with JNPR...but apparently they're not needed anymore. So unrealistic, yet so very cool when used.

So yeah, things are going pretty smoothly… up until Oscar yells out “Tunnel!” Ruby saves Weiss from falling, they manage to get over or between the cars, and in the sudden darkness we transition to what we only realize later is a flashback. At least, I didn’t realize it until later. Totally thought we’d had a time skip and they were just hopping another train…

My stupidity aside, before we hit the train station we actually see a familiar hallway filled with angry voices discussing the disaster at Haven—one of which is Adam’s. I really enjoyed this technique, wherein we slowly pan across the room as the voices grow more frantic and the sounds of fighting break out, the camera revealing bodies scattered across the floor. By the time we reach the throne—and Adam on it— we realize that the fight occurred prior to this moment, something that Adam is now remembering. He goes all skyward scream on us as he howls menacingly. Okay, dude. Compared to Cinder and Salem you’re really not all that.

Now we’re at the train station where Qrow is narrating a letter to Ironwood. Hell yes, please bring back the badass, protective Ironwood who defended the students at Beacon and stood up for Weiss. I’d be very pleased if he joins the RWBY gang by the Volume’s end. Qrow’s optimistic about the trip—they’ve plans to reach Ironwood before the letter does, which says either good things about Remnant’s transportation or bad things about its mail—though of course we as the audience know it’s not going to be nearly that simple. We learn that only two weeks have passed since the battle, but people are still reeling from all the implications. Lionheart tragically lost his life defending the school and oh, some students coincidentally were there and did some stuff. Excellent choice in showing us the mindless crowds while we hear this, the naive masses who, yes, would absolutely believe a story like this.

It’s easy to criticize no one supposedly noticing Salem, magic, the finger Ozpin has in every pie, etc. but ultimately people believe what they’re told—especially when it’s much easier to swallow than the truth.

Enough of the doom and gloom though. Ruby is having the time of her life.

Qrow: “What’s with the running?”

Ruby: “What’s with the standing?!”

I love this girl so very much and it’s wonderful when we get to see her acting like the kid she is. She uses her semblance with abandon because yeah, if I could turn into rose petals I’d be doing that all the time too. Ruby teases Yang with something from the gift shop and I really hope we get to see what that is. Yes, we end the episode with everyone left stranded in the wilderness, but if Yang’s bike can survive then so can Ruby’s souvenirs.

(Seriously though they presumably lost all their luggage that sucks.)

Everyone else is in top, feel-good form too. Nora daydreams about hitting the beach, complete with a thought bubble of topless Ren and a beachball. Weiss quips about how she spent all last Volume getting out of Atlas, thanks, but Ruby reassures her that at least she’s back with the team now. When two jokers arrive boasting about how they’ll be the ones keeping the train safe from grimm, Ruby and Yang act exactly as nieces should when your cool uncle is telling them off. AKA, making fun of them behind his back.

God they must have been terrors as toddlers. I mean we already know Yang carted Ruby off into the woods one day so yeah, I’m pretty confident in expressing my surprise that Tai doesn’t have a full head of gray hair.

The two Nice Guys go on to specify that they’ll provide extra protection for a “generous tip,” which—while essentially a throwaway line—reminds us how most of the world functions outside of our close-knit cast. Money, and more specifically Schnee money, quite literally dictates who lives and who dies. Not everything about RWBY is fantasy oriented…

We learn that everyone is just waiting on Blake— “as usual”—and we cut to her with Ilia as the two of them say their goodbyes. Ilia will be helping Ghira lead the Faunus in a “new movement” and is supposedly 100% on the straight and narrow now. Cool? I guess? To be honest I’m fine with her taking a back seat for this Volume. There’s a moment where we get a shot of Ilia and Blake’s feet, the former’s angled forward in a classic kiss pose, and I was super glad to see that they were just sharing a hug. I really don’t want the first LGBTQIA kiss on RWBY to be iffy on consent, considering that Ilia knows Blake isn’t interested. Hug though? That was super sweet.

Sun and Neptune show up to say their goodbyes too. They’re heading to Vacuo to meet up with the rest of their team because, in Sun’s words, he’s the “worst leader” ever. You kinda are, dude? I loved Sun up until they had him following Blake without her permission and continuing to do so after she asked for space, all in the name of the guy supposedly knowing what the girl really needs. The reminder that Sun abandoned his team to do this just reinforces how much I dislike that plot-line.

Sun gets the kiss—on the cheek—and after leaving Neptune lectures him on “letting [Blake] go.” Except it’s not about you? Blake is off to quite literally save the world and the fact that these guys view that as a threat to any potential relationship is… icky. Ugh. Oh well. They’re presumably gonna be offscreen for a while.

The train finally arrives and everyone piles in. We’re back to bunk beds! And of course Team RWBY is situated exactly as they were in Beacon’s dorms. Weiss gets annoyed with Ruby’s cloak hanging down over the side. Blake has a book in her lap. Ruby challenges Yang to a video game. Cue nostalgia. I fully expect fluffy AU fics where they ride the train all the way to Atlas and treat the trip as one giant, dramatic sleepover. This is non-negotiable.

Tension seeps back in though when Yang moves to pull her luggage from the rack and Blake immediately hops up to help her. In a super guilty “I know I fucked up and now I’m gonna smother you” way. Really excellent voice acting here. Yang ends up reassuring her. No, things aren’t perfect between them yet… but they’re definitely improving.

While short, for me this scene was perfectly balanced between acknowledging the girls’ complicated relationship without totally undermining the happy mood. Nicely done.

Then Qrow shows up with a drink. A drink with a slice of orange on the side. I have never enjoyed a moment more and I was so surprised I didn't take a screenshot of it. Clearly I was too distracted and am I too lazy to go back for one now? You betcha. The point is everything is fine, dandy, and filled with alcohol.

So of course RT goes and ruins it for me. Something hits the train and in a split second everyone is on high alert. A quick peek out the window reveals grimm and Blake mutters darkly that it’s “just my luck.”

Qrow: “Not yours.”

Are they gonna leave the safety of the train to those bozos from before? Hell no. Especially when one guy is grabbed right when the fight starts. I mean, poor dude, but he also kinda sucked as a Huntsmen. He wouldn’t have even made it past Beacon’s initiation, let alone graduated.

…I guess he’s kind of like early Jaune? Useless, wannabe hero who acts more confident than he actually is? Aw, now I really do feel bad.

He’s grimm food though. Gotta move on with our lives.

The other dude isn’t doing too well either, though RWBY and NJR + Oscar quickly show up, coming full circle to where we began the episode. Oscar insists that he’s got this fight under control which tells me (hopefully) that in the past two weeks they’ve had serious conversations about if and when Ozpin gets to have control. That’s super great, though I do wish we could have seen it. Flashbacks, maybe?

As the fight begins Ruby announces that the plan amounts to “don’t let anyone else die.” Uh...Ruby? Buddy. Pal. This is why people die. Because they didn’t have plans! Pyrrha—god rest her reckless soul—went off after a freaking Maiden by herself. Jaune got Amber killed because he didn’t obey the plan of watching the door. Lionheart frantically calls Salem with no real plan for what he’s going to offer her in exchange for his life! Plans are important, Ruby. You’re the team strategist. It was a badass line, I grant you, but please do not.

Luckily, no one (else) dies. That would have been pretty brutal for a premier. +1 point for world building where we see that trains like this have built in defenses to fight off grimm. -2 points for how useless it ends up being. As Qrow quickly points out, the turrets are drawing all the grimm to the front of the train where the passengers are. So, not good. Oscar is charged with telling the surviving goon to knock it off already while Qrow faces off against the super fierce chimera grimm. Not gonna lie though, when its tail first started up I thought Qrow was getting attacked by a dove…

This time when we hit the tunnel everyone makes it back safely inside with the exception of Goon #2 who gets his arm injured in the scramble. He’s literally crying on the ground when, in a pretty harsh move, Qrow drags him up and demands to know what the hell all that was. Civility and benefit of the doubt? Not Qrow’s strong points. It allows Ruby to take control of the situation though. How do you make sure that your cast of kids is continually calling the shots? A) isolate them and B) when you can’t do that have the adults act like children instead. We see that a fair bit in RWBY.

Jaune steps in to heal the guy’s arm, which is an unexpected surprise. I honestly thought we'd get a whole Volume’s worth of him figuring out how to access and control his semblance, though I suppose once it manifests you’ve got the basics down. We’ve seen that semblances can be improved upon—Ruby turning other people she carries into petals; Ren dampening the emotions of a whole train—so presumably Jaune will be able to heal more complex and life-threatening things in the future. We also hear in the ensuing conversation that he can amplify someone else’s aura…to be decided what exactly that means, how it connects to healing, and what the limits of the skill is.

During some theorizing about the attack Ozpin brings up that grimm are attracted to the relic they’re carrying and… oh boy. Here we go. Is it tradition that every recap the fandom goes for Ozpin’s throat while I stand here defending him? Might be. Let’s create a (semi) comprehensive list:

This might have been less of a secret and more of a slip. The guy is thousands of years old and the forces they’re dealing with are stupidly complicated. He can’t info dump every detail of a multi-century war in one sitting. So—

He might have thought this was one of those innocuous things that shouldn’t take precedent right now. Not the sort of thing he needs to worry them with. He claims in the promo that he didn't lie to the group and he quite possibly didn't. There's a big difference between lying and not telling someone every single possible thing that might be pertinent. Especially when—

We know that grimm are already attracted to people/negative emotion and they’re sequestered within a whole train full of presumably stressed travelers. There’s no reason to think the artifact would put them in more danger than they already are and therefore isn't at the top of the list of revelations to dole out. Especially with—

Qrow and his bad luck semblance. He literally just implied that the grimm were there because of him. There’s a reason he didn’t want Ruby near him during the fight with Tyrian and now they’re all stuck together in close quarters. The grimm were coming anyway. Even if we didn't have Qrow's semblance and big crowds we can also assume as much because of—

Those turrets. They weren’t there for a fashion statement. The whole train was crazy armored. They’re clearly very used to getting attacked on this route. It's a normal thing.

All of which is to say that the relic is one of MANY reasons why they might have gotten a buttload of grimm on their tail. Ozpin mentions this as one possibility in a very “Here’s something else to consider” way and everyone (characters and fandom alike) jump on him like he’s solely responsible for this predicament. Besides, what would they have done differently? Not carry the relic? That’s not an option. Be more on guard? They’re already constantly on guard. None of their actions would have changed had they known.

Really though, it’s the keeping of secrets that people are mad about, not necessarily what the secret is. So if we ignore the possibility above that Ozpin legit didn’t think this was worth mentioning/even forgot about it, we have a) he withheld the information because it might have made them wary about traveling with others, but they need to get to Atlas as fast as possible and the train is the best way to do that. So yeah, that’s a possible change, though I agree with Ozpin’s theoretical logic here. It was worth the risk.

b) he didn’t tell them because—again—worry is a negative emotion and that might have just doubled their problem. Awful as it is, knowing you're carrying a thing that might attract more grimm is one of the best ways to make sure that you do, in fact, attract them. Knowing what the relic does is dangerous.

c) he doesn’t trust them with all the information about these super powerful relics that are going to decide the fate of their world. Which honestly? Kind of fair. Yeah, I know he promised them no more secrets, but this is a centuries old, god-like entity making a promise to a child. It’s not even really a matter of trust anymore. We’ve got a core group of nine here and everyone has someone else they’re close to. Ruby isn’t going to keep secrets from Tai. Blake will probably fill Sun in when she sees him again. Weiss is close to her sister. Etc. In short, as soon as this many people know a secret it isn't a secret anymore. Ozpin is no doubt aware that anything he tells to their now massive group is fair game and he has to carefully consider what he wants to risk going public/landing in Salem's hands. A general doesn't tell every lieutenant the details of every plan. That's a good way to lose the war. Fate of the world vs. a promise made to Yang? C’mon. There are priorities here.

d) finally, we’ve seen evidence—particularly after the iconic food fight—that Ozpin desperately wants his students to be kids as long as they can. He might keep information to himself simply because he doesn’t want to burden them. And given all the reasons listed above for why they'd be dealing with grimm anyway, what's the harm in giving them what little peace he can? It's not perfect reasoning and if this is the case the others have a right to be annoyed, but it's understandable. It certainly doesn't make Ozpin the monster I see countless posts painting him as.

Plus, Yang? I’m not sure you have the right to get indignant about keeping secrets right now. Granted, there’s some ambiguity surrounding whether she’s mentioned Raven as the Spring Maiden, but regardless we haven’t seen any evidence that she’s told the group the details of what happened down in the vault. That’s a pretty big thing to be keeping to yourself.

A lot bigger than, “Oh yeah this relic attracts the thing we’re attracting anyway. My bad.”

Why the relic attracts grimm is another question. Because it’s connected to the original brothers? Just because Salem wants it and she seems to be the grimms’ creator? We’ll have to see.

Ruby interrupts everyone’s fury to point out that they have bigger issues at the moment and Ozpin’s expression kind of kills me? He looks so shocked to have anyone standing up for him, even if it’s a defense of practicality instead of his actions. I wonder if this Volume is going to have the team starting to lose a little faith in Ruby. Given the clear divide here (angry Ren, Nora, Weiss, Yang, and Blake on one side; Ruby, Oscar, Ozpin on the other) this might be a major theme moving forward. It would make a lot of sense too given Ruby's past relationship with Ozpin. To Yang he's just her headmaster; to Ruby he's the headmaster that let her into her dream school early. To Blake he's someone who wanted information from her before she was ready to give it; to Ruby he's the adult who gave her advice at the dance and was emotionally open with her about committing more mistakes "than any man, woman, or child." No matter how far she's come, they'll always be a part of Weiss that sees Ozpin as the teacher who didn't give her the leadership position she thought she deserved; to Ruby he's the man that has put a staggering amount of trust in her: by letting her into his school, giving her a team, sending her to Mountain Glenn, etc.

Now, it might be time for Ruby to put her trust in Ozpin.

Fight temporarily averted, they decide to separate the teams… which felt a little forced to me. I mean I get it. As said, giant group. It’s hard to write and keep track of that many, so let’s knock three offstage for a while. Jaune, Ren, and Nora will see the people to safety while Ruby and the rest of the gang eventually catch up. We get a glimpse of Maria—the old lady with awesome glasses—clearly plotting something and then everyone heads back to the roof to finish the fight with the grimm.

Blake has a quick vision of Adam; the last time she separated a train car. Excellent touch there. Ruby tells Ren to use his semblance through the scroll, but we also get a glimpse of their signals getting weaker. Another nice touch considering how important we know the scrolls are throughout the RWBY universe: how the team keeps in contact during the Volume Four short, the damage that the fall of the CCT tower has caused, etc.

We get a final, epic showdown with a massive grimm where everyone’s teamwork proves to be some top tier stuff. Blake and Yang capture it using Blake’s ribbon. Weiss freezes off its wings. Then—in a fantastic split screen—Ruby and Qrow both use their scythes to cut the creature in two. I’m here for the power family moves.

Only problem is that a final fireball from the grimm hits the train, derailing their section. Weiss keeps them all from dying an awful death, but now they’re kind of stranded.

I mean, they already were stranded before, but I guess the hope was the back of the train would have carried them farther down the tracks before losing momentum?

In the final scene we have an unexpected voice happily proclaiming that they’re still alive but boy, that was a close one! Maria hobbles out, having clearly planned to be with this group when they went their own way.

My personal theory? She knows (and to some extent recognizes) Ozpin. I can’t believe he wasn’t involved in a conflict like the Great War. Hell, he was probably at the center of it and Maria looks very old by RWBY standards. We have no concept of how long people in this world can live so I don’t think it’s a stretch to put her in her 90s or well over 100—old enough to have fought in the War and potentially recognize one of the central figures, even in a new reincarnation depending on her instincts, knowledge, and semblance. Her name lends a bit of credence to her age, if nothing else. As far as I know “Maria” doesn’t mean/isn’t evocative of a color… though I’m far from an expert. Could totally be wrong about that.

Regardless, we’ll see. More info arrives next week!

Other Details of Note

The grimm are at a distance when we first spot them and they actually look a lot like crows. The same motif we’ve seen with Raven and Qrow’s entrances but, you know, bad.

I really liked Qrow’s line to Ironwood about how they’re bringing “more than bad news.” It’s appropriately vague—can’t go admitting that Oz is back with the group—and at the same time quite up-lifting.

I personally take Ozpin’s “I hope they’re not from Beacon” as more of a joke than a true worry. If you’re telling me that this old as balls control freak doesn’t remember every student that’s ever passed through those doors… I don’t believe you.

When Blake is saying goodbye to Ilia and Sun we have lots of animation for her ears, helping to express her emotions. It says a lot about her character development that she hasn’t re-adopted the bow in such a crowded, human packed space.

Neptune is pursuing the “wrong tree” okay lol that was good.

When Neptune and Sun discuss re-uniting the team we briefly hear the soundtrack from their Vytal Festival match. Excellent.

Interestingly, Oscar gives Ozpin control immediately during the conversation about the relic, almost like he already knew what was going to be revealed and understood that it was important… I wonder how much they’re sharing thoughts now, two weeks later.

Here, have a beach Ren and happy birb. Yes, I went back for the screenshots...

#rwby #rwby spoilers #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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