#i mean i could probably put monster hunter in this list but that game barely has writing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mst3kproject · 3 years ago

Photo

The Neanderthal Man

Since I'm taking a break from fishmen, I might as well let Bigfoot catch up a bit. The Neanderthal Man isn't exactly a Bigfoot movie, but it’s along the same lines and its entire starring cast has MST3K pedigrees. Robert Shayne was in Indestructible Man and Teenage Caveman. Richard Crane was Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! Beverly Garland was in Swamp Diamonds and Gunslinger. Even the composer, Albert Glasser, wrote music for Invasion USA, Last of the Wild Horses, and almost all of MST3K’s Bert I. Gordon movies.

Some little mountain town in the middle of the Sierras (which the Portentous 50's Narrator takes some trouble to tell us is a primeval place where 'the defacing hand of civilization has fallen but lightly') is having a rash of saber-toothed tiger sightings! At first these are laughed off, but when the game warden himself sees one cross the road in the middle of the night, it's time to do something about it. The warden shows a cast pawprint to Dr. Ross Harkness in Los Angeles, who is interested enough to come up and see for himself. Local Mad Scientist Dr. Groves pooh-poohs the whole thing, which is enough to tell me that we're not dealing with a local cryptid here. Somebody is making prehistoric monsters.

So... I may not have actually run out of movies, but I seem to be running out of plots, because this is a remarkably similar movie to Monster on the Campus. The major difference between the two films is that Dr. Blake turned himself into a caveman by accident, while Dr. Groves here is doing it on purpose.

Another difference is that Monster on the Campus' story, while silly, was linear – events escalated in a way that felt logical, and there were reasons why things happened when and where they did. By contrast, The Neanderthal Man feels like a first draft. At the beginning of the film, we're dealing with the saber-toothed tigers that Groves has been creating by injecting cats with his de-evolution serum. We hear about these slaughtering game and livestock, and it seems like only a matter of time before they move on to human beings. The beginning of the film is quite upfront about the fact that Groves is responsible, too, as it is only mildly mysterious in its depiction of one of the creatures escaping his lab.

Sometimes the saber-tooths are represented by an actual tiger, usually filmed from behind or at a great distance so nobody has to put the prosthetic teeth on it. They do have prosthetic teeth, but they're only visible in a couple of shots. Imagine being at a bar and some guy tells you his job is sticking fake fangs on real tigers for a caveman movie! For close-ups, there's a hilarious puppet head that looks like the sort of thing you'd see mounted on a frat house wall as a joke. The director had the sense not to linger on this in motion shots, but later we see still photographs Groves has supposedly taken of his experimental subjects and they're even stupider-looking than we imagined.

Anyway, this goes on for a while with rising action, as the game warden goes to get Harkness and they manage to shoot one of the animals, only to have it vanish from the kill site when they try to show it to Groves (the movie never bothers to explain how that happened, incidentally. The ending suggests that the creatures change back when they die, but there's definitely no dead kitty cat at the scene, either). The whole movie could easily have just had the cats and their creator as the antagonists, perhaps even ending the same way as Dr. Groves proves his work to the other characters by injecting himself. That's not what happens, though. Instead, the story mostly forgets about the cats one we find out Groves has also been carrying on human experiments.

(Before himself, Groves' first experimental subject was his disabled Latina housekeeper. Another series of photos show her half-transformed into a cavewoman who for some reason is wearing drag queen false eyelashes. And as long as I'm talking about the movie being gross and bigoted, there's a bit where a woman is violently raped. This happens off camera, but the audience is not allowed to entertain any illusions about it.)

The problem is that before we see him give himself an injection in the arm, we have had absolutely no indication that Groves has been giving his serum to anything besides the cats! Cats are stealthy, cryptic creatures and if one of those has been seen wandering around killing things, then surely a full-on caveman beating people to death would not be able to stay out of sight! If what we were seeing were the first time Groves had tried the formula on himself then that would be an explanation, but his notes reveal that he's been doing it for so long that he's on the verge of losing control of the transformation and permanently reverting to a pre-human status, as indeed he does for the climax. Much like the stupid dinosaur in The Beast of Hollow Mountain, the movie's main monster is given no build-up whatsoever!

There's worse yet, though. The main characters, Dr. Harkness and Groves' daughter Jan, are barely involved in the 'caveman' part of the plot. They get phone calls about the various murders that Groves is committing in caveman form, and they snoop around the lab to figure out things the audience already knows. The same story could have been told without them, perhaps with the game warden and the hunter as protagonists, and it would probably have been more interesting. The script also repeatedly has Dr. Groves wander in and bluster about how the tiger sightings are hallucinations and tall tales, which seems a little unnecessary when we already know he's responsible. The film-makers can't seem to decide whether they want us to know that or not.

Dr. Groves wears glasses. Maybe the reason his primitive alter-ego is angry and breaking shit (although it does politely open and close the window it climbs out of, which made me laugh) is because it can't see. This is also my theory about why the Hulk smashes, and what do you know? In Avengers Endgame he's got Hulk-sized spectacles and only smashes when he's told!

The direction of The Neanderthal Man can probably best be described as 'serviceable'. It shows us what's going on, but doesn't particularly add anything to the proceedings. The 'Neanderthal' mask is immobile and uninteresting, not much better than somebody's Party City Sasquatch costume. Even the eyes are just painted on, meaning the poor guy in the costume can’t do much because he can’t see where he’s going.

The dialogue is often very strange, with characters talking like they're in a Jules Verne novel. If only one person did this, it might seem like a character quirk – it works for Dr. Groves, for example – but it's everybody. Seeing the cat carcass is gone, Harkness declares, “I refuse to believe in the supernatural! There must be some logical cause and effect to this unholy adventure!” Groves' fiancee Ruth berates him for ignoring her, saying, “I want you, the man I once knew! The good companion, the cheerful friend. I want the happiness we once found in each other.” It's bizarre to listen to, and often audibly awkward for the actors.

Monster on the Campus was kind of trying to be about how humanity must choose to evolve away from our inner savage, although the finale didn't bear that out. There's a scene in The Neanderthal Man in which this movie seems to be trying to go in the opposite direction, saying that we were never savage to begin with. Dr. Groves is speaking to a panel of scientists about the size of the brain in various 'primitive' species of human. He points out that by the time we reached Homo erectus we were already working with four times the cerebral jelly of a chimpanzee, and argues that our ancestors would have been recognizably human in their behaviour and problem-solving capacity.

(Amusingly, his chart of human evolution includes Piltdown Man, which was proven to be a hoax literally a few months after this movie's release. What makes this even more tragic for the writers is that their list of primitive humans seems to be the only place where they actually did any research.)

The problem with Dr. Groves' theory is that he already knows it's wrong. We soon learn that he's been experimenting on himself with his serum for a while already, and his notes show that he knows very well he regresses into a near-mindless animal. The movie does not even try to reconcile these ideas. If Groves were continuing his experiments in the hope that perfecting his serum would give him a more accurate reconstruction of ancient man, that would be one thing, but the script never goes there.

So now that we've had two 'man turns into caveman by injecting science juice' movies, of course I have to ask which one is better. Monster on the Campus wasn't a good movie but it was definitely an improvement on The Neanderthal Man in several respects, and although I don't have any way to find out for certain, I suspect it was an intentional remake. It's definitely more entertaining and gets bonus points for including the Meganeura dragonfly, but nothing in it is nearly as funny as The Neanderthal Man's fake tiger head. I guess if you're gonna watch one or the other, stick to Monster on the Campus, but if you're gonna watch both, start with The Neanderthal Man and do them in chronological order, the better to spot the inspirations and references.

Before I go, a fun paleontology fact: current thinking is that the saber-toothed cat's eponymous fangs actually didn't show when it had its mouth closed! There are zero cave paintings or ancient sculptures of a saber-tooth cat with teeth visible, and when scientists looked at the structure of the enamel in the canines, it suggested that in life the teeth were hidden by big, fleshy, St Bernard jowls. Google 'smilodon lips' and behold how this looks fully three hundred percent more ridiculous than you're imagining. I love nature.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #the neanderthal man #tw: rape #50s #curiously caucasian cavepeople

21 notes · View notes

megan-is-mia · 4 years ago

Note

Number 7 on the monster prompt for rook please NSFW if possible, female reader

7. “You scream and cry over me but how do you think I feel?" (Yandere! Rook Hunt x Fem! Reader) (WARNING NSFW AND NON-CON AHEAD) “So what’s your type Hunt?” (Y/n) said rather suddenly making Rook’s head shoot up with a bemused expression spreading on his face. Epel and Vil who both had the misfortune of also being present let out grunts and sighs respectively. “What was that Mademoiselle Aeon?” Rook said tilting his head to the side. He hadn’t expected this sort of question out of the second-year girl but that did not mean he was not intrigued by it and her by extension. “You heard me, what’s your type? You like em tall, short? Dark and dusky or pale and fair?” (Y/n) rattled off the list of traits on her fingers. “Everyone has a type Hunt, tell me what’s your?” the girl reiterated smoothly. “I am a fan of all beauty, it’d be a damn shame to discriminate after all” Rook said knowing that his answer would not satisfy the girl and reveling in the knowledge that he was irritating her. “Fine, okay. Personality then! You must have a personality preference! I’m gonna hedge my bets on someone smart but not as smart as you right?” (Y/n) said stoutly refusing to let her annoyance be shown. “You’re wasting your time (Y/n) he isn’t goin to give you a straight a—“ Vil began before being drowned out by a burst of laughter from Rook. The dorm head merely leaned back and resumed reading the cosmetic manual he’d be perusing before. “You’re right on the money Mademoiselle Aeon. I do like them a little less clever than myself, a hunter cannot be outwitted by his prey now can he” Rook said once he had control of himself after laughing so hard. “Ah-hah! I knew it! I knew you liked the clever type! Ohhh Cotton is gonna own me 30 gems for this!” (Y/n) said with a childish grin. “The silly bunny said your type was probably the baby-faced but dirty-mouth type” she went on which caused Epel to choke on his drink nearby. “I do appreciate those too, but my heart cannot resist a wily mind. What can I say? I am but a mortal man” Rook said tilting his head to the side. “Someone with a beautiful mind and a beautiful physique is my dream partner” he added sending a loaded look (Y/n)’s way which she missed as her eyes were directed on Epel. “Well I’m off to bed” (Y/n) declared swinging her legs off the couch she’d been lounging on and preparing to stand when Epel suddenly put his cup down to wrap his arms around her waist. “Do you have to go already?” Epel asked older girl pressing his face into her side. He’d grown attached to her, looking up to her as a big sister figure of sorts. More importantly he didn’t want to be left alone with Rook and Vil who’d get ‘ideas’ when the first-year lingered to long. “I gotta get some sleep, I volunteered to be the student first aid giver at the kendo club’s match tomorrow morning” (Y/n) said affectionately as she ruffled Epel’s hair and gently detangle herself from his arms. Going up the stairs to her room, the girl did not bother locking the door as she undressed and slipped on pajamas to sleep. Turning off the lights and pulling up the covers she was soon asleep. Only to awaken a few hours to the sensation of someone on top of her and her arms bound above her head. “Welcome back to the waking world Mademoiselle Aeon~” Rook chirped from his position atop her as he pulled down the covers of the bed and gazed at her barely covered form in her nightwear. Almost immediately (Y/n) opened her mouth to scream for help when Rook stuffed one of his gloves into her mouth and gave her a chiding look with his finger wagging at her. “Oh we’ll have none of that, we wouldn’t want to wake Vil from his beauty sleep now would we?” Rook said gently tapping (Y/n)’s lips with his still gloved hand. “I need you to stay quiet if this is to remain a pleasant experience for both of us” he added letting his hand drift down to squeeze her throat lightly before releasing its grip and wandering down to her bosom. “You look oh so cute in this pajamas but I’m more curious how cute you’ll look without them” Rook cooed pulling the wide neckline of (Y/n)’s pjs down and under her boobs for his easy access. (Y/n)’s nipples stiffened in the chilled air and she experienced a full body shiver. “It’s almost a shame you hide such magnificent breasts under an ill-fitting uniform every day” Rook said with a sigh cupping a boob in each hand and massaging them lightly. The difference between the cool leather on one side and warm skin on the other made (Y/n) lurch violently as tears formed in her eyes as she tried to scream through the impromptu gag that was the leather glove in her mouth. “You scream and cry over me but how do you think I feel? How I’ve pined for you ever since you became a member of this dorm?” Rook said pinching both of (Y/n)’s nipples harshly making her flail in pain until he released his grip. “How I’ve tried to catch your eye only for you to be oblivious or worse mistake my interest in you for friendly banter?” he went on dipping his head down to suck feverishly at one peak and then the other to turn them red and puffy. “Tonight for a moment... I hoped. When you asked me those silly questions I thought that was your way of confessing your feelings back” Rook said staring up at (Y/n) with lusty eyes. “But it seems I was mistaken, you only have eyes for Epel as it were” he added with a sigh moving down and taking both the sheets and (Y/n)’s pajama bottoms with him. He let out an approving hum at the sight of how soaked his darling already was from his ministrations. “I respect your taste, but you could have done better. You could have had me after all” Rook proclaimed as he began to strip down, tossing his clothes around the room willy-nilly in his excitement. “You’re so clever after all, how could you have missed out what I was offering you (Y/n)?” the blonde went on before sticking his fingers in his mouth to lube them up before slipping them one by one into (Y/n)’s exposed cunt. (Y/n)’s toes curled in response to Rook’s probing fingers as they mercilessly pressed her sweet spot. “But I suppose you were still not smart enough to realize what could have been. That’s alright though, I’ll just have to show you what you’re missing, what you could have” Rook crooned pulling his fingers free of (Y/n)’s pussy to coat his cock in her fluids and his remaining salvia. “I almost forgot to ask, are you by chance a virgin?” Rook questioned as he positioned himself right at (Y/n)’s entrance. The averted eyes and lack of a clear nod or shake game him his answer as he slowly plunged in. Rook lowered his head to his darling’s neck planting kisses and lovebites to distract her from the pain of loosing her maidenhood. (Y/n) kept her eyes squeezed shut trying to block out the experience both of having her virginity stolen and Rook’s efforts to comfort her through the pain. The glove in her mouth was removed as Rook pressed his lips against hers, his tongue teasing her own gently. “That’s it almost there, just hold on a little longer love” Rook cooed softly as he fully sank into (Y/n)’s heat. He was still for a moment to allow her muscles to grow accustomed to his presence, then he slowly shifted into action using his years of experience to make it more pleasurable. One hand slipped down to toy with (Y/n)’s clit to help her relax more while the other braced against the headboard to hold one of the girl’s captive hands. Rook played (Y/n)’s body like an instrument. Able to pull out all kinds of cute little gasps, moans, and whines from her unwilling lips. He was also determined to make her cum before he himself lost it in her inviting depths. Picking up speed he pounded her into the mattress, giving no heed to the possibility that their dormmates might hear the sound of the headboard banging against the wall from the force of their lovemaking. (Y/n) was starting to see stars as her vision began to blur and the ecstasy of orgasm overtook her. She was too dazed to realize that Rook has cum in her not long after until he’s pulled out and jizz dripped out of her bloated cunt. She was also too weak to resist the kiss he forced on her as he undid her restraints and yanked the pj top she was still wearing off onto the floor. “I think you can see my point now (Y/n). No man will be able to satisfy you like I can” Rook murmured as he made himself comfortable beside (Y/n) and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close. “Tomorrow we can make it all official to the rest of the dorm that we’re dating alright?” he added kissing her nose and nuzzling his face against her chest as he drifted off. (Y/n) stared out the window at the moon unable, unwilling to accept the terrible fate she’d been dealt... THE END

#Yandere Twisted Wonderland #Twisted Wonderland #Yandere Rook Hunt #Rook Hunt

180 notes · View notes

standbi-ghost · 4 years ago

Text

Hand in Mine, Into Your Icy Blues

Words: 2872

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child neglect, implied abuse

Hey hey, you you, prefer reading fics on ao3? https://archiveofourown.org/works/27850118

AU where ghost hunting is a respected profession and captured ghosts are used as tools in order to find other ghosts, *insert Danny angst because I love seeing the boy suffer*

The Fentons are America's top ghost researchers, famous for their work, infamous for their neglectful habits. Jazz finds their newest research subject down in the lab.

It was weird to live with the fact that your parents are “big shots” in their profession when you have to come home to them every day. Especially when you didn’t seem to know your parents at all when all you saw of them were the shadows behind their studies.

Growing up as an only child was, in the nicest way possible, lonely. Which is why Jasmine Fenton found herself raised by the books on her shelf and the curiosity in her heart. Sure, her parents were there at the start, it would be cruel to leave a newborn baby to fend for herself, but the moment she showed signs of independence.

It was fine. Everything she could ever need she could find on her own. She taught herself to cook, to clean, to spell the extra difficult words in her 3rd grade English class, to solve the laborious equations in her honors Pre-Cal class. She earned the food she made, she reveled in the clean citrus smell of her room, she earned the praise from her teachers. And when she found she couldn’t connect to the other students, she just reminded herself that she didn’t need the warm embrace of a mother, the thunderous laugh of a father, nor did she need friends. She could take care of herself.

Which is why she found herself sat in front of the only thing her parents ever shielded her from.

It was a sad sight to say the least. It seemed like it was more bruises and taunt broken bones, if it even had bones, than skin. She had always been known for her soft heart, always giving others second chances even when they were undeserving. Which is why she found herself in front of the very thing that shouldn’t ever be shown that kind of weakness.

Apart from the obvious signs of abuse, it was all teeth and claws, snarling at her even now. She was sure that if she were to let it out, it wouldn’t hesitate in killing her and her parents.

The growl that erupted from its chest broke her away from her thoughts. The cold basement floor seemed to get colder as she stared into its eyes. There was a flash of something before his gaze was consumed by guarded anger.

“Hey, it’s okay,” the closer she got the more aggressive it seemed to get, “it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. Look!”

She opened her palm to reveal a cookie she had snuck down with her. If Pavlov taught her anything, it’s that the favors of any being, be it a dog or undead monstrosity, can be won over through positive stimuli.

“Here see, I’ll have some too! It’s really good, I’m sure you’ll like it!”

At this point in her life, she wasn’t really sure of anything anymore. Life had been so much easier when her parents were just some far to reach superheroes she barely saw. She used to think like them, that ghosts, if you could even call them that, were just balls of left-over emotion from when a person died. That ghosts were some kind of monster in the closet that her parents could just scare away with their presence. That they were less than the dust bunnies under her bed. But there were skeletons in that closet too. Awful, immoral experiments, living dissections, and the screams. She doesn’t hate her parents, far from it, she loves them with all her heart, but the studies they were a part of? The less empathic members in their field? Hunters? Those were fair game to hate.

She split the cookie into two messy halves, popping one in her mouth as she nudged the other closer to the teeth in front of her. The teeth glared back.

“Okay, I get it, I’ll be on my way, but this isn’t the last you’ll see of me.”

With that, she got up, dusted her jeans off, and with her took the only light present in the basement lab.

She didn’t catch the small ‘thank you’ that followed.

Once in her room, Jazz let the tears slip. Whatever was in her parents’ basement was really pulling at her heartstrings. The thing looked to be no older than 15 years old, it was a child. But looks can be deceiving. She couldn’t begin to count how many of these child ghosts had attempted a massacre, how many of them seemed innocent enough to fool someone out of their own free will. Child or not, whatever was in the basement was dangerous. She was playing with fire here. But the look of hurt in his eyes seemed real; felt real. And, if anything, he seemed more at risk of being hurt by her rather than the other way around. He was as thin as a twig and too exhausted to do much of anything. If she could only-

Jazz shook the thoughts out of her head, plopping herself on her bed. Since when had ‘it’ become a ‘he’? And more importantly, why was there fear in his eyes?

“Jazzy pants, we’re home! We’ll be in the lab if you need us. “We left 20 bucks on the dinner table, go ahead and order some take-out for yourself!”

She sighed as she pushed herself off and out of her room. As she dialed the number to the first restraint that came to mind, she couldn’t help her thoughts wandering to the bag of bones locked in the lab just beneath her feet.

“Hi, thank you for calling Shanghai Inn what can I get started for yah?”

“Yeah, can I get some Vegetable Chow Mein and two Egg Rolls please?”

By the time her parents had finally stepped out of the lab, the food had long since gone cold. She tiptoed down into the basement and cracked open the door into darkness. There was a green glow and something of a soft hum emanating from something shoved in the corner of the lab. Taking a deep breath, she mustered up the courage to fully plunge into the shadows and crept towards the covered cage. One hand holding a plate of Chinese take-out, she fumbled with her phone until it pierced the darkness.

Almost instantly the hum ceased, again plunging her into a deafening silence.

“Hey, um, I’m back and I brought more goodies!”

There was a sudden sound of rustling before a quiet sniffle was heard. At that, she closed the distance between her and the cage in front of her and she peeled back the sheet over it.

She almost threw up there and then.

It- he was barely holding himself together, literally. He was tightly hugging his bleeding torso. A less perceptive person would’ve pegged it as the remnants of whatever was the creature’s last meal, but Jazz saw the jagged cuts he was trying but failing, to conceal. He’d been vivisected. He’d been vivisected by her own parents.

She dropped to her knees, the meal in her hands forgotten. That seemed to startle him back to reality because he began his growling again. This time a lot more defensive and a lot less forgiving.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s just me see? It’s just me.” She said as she put her hands up in what she hoped was a universal surrender.

He seemed to study her as his head tilted, growl dissipating. In another life, she would’ve called it cute, adorable even, but right now she was trying her hardest not to scream out of instinctual fear. After he seemed to deem her safe enough to his standards, he went back to picking at his chest, the quiet hum returning to the room.

“I don’t know if you can understand me, like, at all, but I can help you with that,” she pointed to his exposed chest. She hadn’t noticed it when she first walked in, but it seemed to be the source of the soft glow in the room. He was sluggishly bleeding what she guessed was the ectoplasm her parents studied.

Again, he responded with empty eyes and a head tilt.

Were her parents right? Was this an unfeeling killer she was kneeled in front of? Of course they were right, how could she, someone who’s never even thought of looking into ghosts before, compete with the two most respected researchers in the field. Hell, they’ve got to have their PhDs mounted somewhere in this lab. She should’ve known better. She should’ve-

A whine echoed through the lab. She looked up from her lap to find the dead’s eyes locked on her. Once he seemed sure that her attention was on him, he gave a slight nod of his head, gesturing to his shredded torso.

“You want me to help?”

Another nod.

“Okay, alright, that’s good- I mean, not good, but, okay”

She scattered away from the injured boy, mentally making a list of materials she would need to stitch him back up. She would need a first aid kit, naturally, she would also need some kind of suture that would actually hold, the Fenton net might. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out how to do the task at hand. The poor kid wasn’t in any shape to move, so how could she tend to him from outside the cage? Unless-

“Okay, for this to work we’re going to have to trust each other okay?” she paused, was she really going through with this? “I’m going to have to be able to trust that you won’t just randomly decide to kill me and make me your next meal,”

At that, he made an adorably disgusted face. Ancients he was definitely growing on her.

“and you’re going to have to trust me to not cut you open or something, deal?” she pressed her pinkie into the cage. She didn’t know why she did it, it was a childish gesture she grew out of ages ago, she was 18 making a deal for her life for crying out loud, not some child promising friendship, to a dead who probably didn’t even understand the gesture nonetheless.

The boy gave a small smile a wrapped his own pinkie around hers.

“Deal”

It was small, if she hadn’t been overanalyzing his every move, every sound, in fear of her life, she would’ve missed it. But she didn’t.

“You can speak?”

Everything in her parents’ research pointed to the fact that ghosts were incapable of complex thinking, they were just echoes of a former person after all. Yet here this boy was, spitting in the face of her parents’ years of research.

A small nod was all she got in return.

“Okay,” she was starting to think her vocabulary was slowly diminishing to just the word ‘okay’.

“Alright, I’m going to go upstairs and look for what I need to fix, that,” she gestured to him, “I brought this up here,” she said as she picked up the overlooked food, “It’s not much, and not very healthy, but it’s all I have at the moment and It’ll do. Feel free to munch on it all you want, I should be back in a minute, my parents went out with some old college friends and shouldn’t be back till tomorrow afternoon.”

He simply watched her ramble on in fascination. She didn’t know where these mother-hen instincts were coming from, but she wasn’t complaining. The kid was nothing short of adorable.

“uh- anyways, you probably want this,” she said as she pushed the plate into the cage.

She watched in mirrored fascination as he sniffed the food and began eating it. That didn’t faze her though, what caught her by surprise was that he very clearly knew how to use the chopsticks provided with the meal, especially with one hand fighting to keep himself from spilling onto the basement floor.

Leaving him to finish the meal, she set to finding the supplies in her mental checklist. Once she had what she needed, she made her way down into the lab, making sure to swipe the keys hanging by the entrance to the lab.

She unceremoniously dropped everything in front of the ghost boy, startling him into a flinch. She winced.

“Sorry.” She sent a sheepish smile to the kid who sent his very own.

This is the moment she’d been dreading. There was no way she would be able to stitch him back up and keep him locked in the cage. She would have to defy her parents’ one rule. Never trust a ghost. But her parents had been wrong before. They said ghosts can’t feel pain, yet the ghost boy wined every time he placed accidental pressure on his wounds. They said ghosts can’t form complex thought, and yet he could, enough to speak to her at least. They said ghosts don’t need to eat, that they sustained themselves through ectoplasmic energy, yet here he was eating, using chopsticks.

“Okay, I’m going to let you out, but remember our deal,” she could still go back, she could still take all evidence of tonight, lock herself in her room and pretend this never happened. But as she looked into his green eyes, she couldn’t help but noticed the pale freckles splashed over his cheeks, noticed the way his hair frizzed from the dampness in the air, noticed the way her parents had left her with this supposed monster. The monster that was now attempting to balance one chopstick over the other.

“I trust you, and you trust me.”

With that, she unlocked the cage and instinctively stepped back.

She was expecting teeth and claws like when she first came across him, or maybe a slow crawl towards her, what she hadn’t expected was a pair of pinprick green eyes latched onto her in fear. He was scared of her.

She slowly made her way towards him, exaggerating her movements as to not startle him.

“You think I can carry you out of there? It’ll be easier for me to work out here rather than in there.”

There was a stiff nod before she carefully picked him up bridal style. He couldn’t weigh more than 50 pounds which she had no idea whether or not that was in a healthy range for him. Careful to not further aggravate his injuries, she put him down gently onto a clear area on the floor.

“Alright, I’m not going to lie, this is going to hurt, a lot, do you want me to talk to you while I do this?”

A nod.

“Okay, is there anything you like, or do you just want me to talk random?”

There was a hesitant look on his face before speaking for the second time that night,

“I like space.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know too much about space, but I do know some neat stories I can tell you!”

That’s how she found herself telling story after story of the few constellations she knew while stitching up a ghost kid she met not even 24 hours ago. A couple of stitches in and her hands began shaking, but the boy didn’t seem to mind. He was lost in her words and the worlds she was building for him. She hadn’t even noticed she was done until she went for the next stitch only to find an unmarred surface.

“and in his anger, Poseidon created Scylla to wreak havoc on seas and the seacoast!” she waved her fingers at him.

“Cetus”

“huh?”

“He created Cetus, not Scylla, she’s a six headed monster.” he cheekily pointed out, sticking his tongue out for good measure.

“Okay mister know-it-all,” she cheekily grinned, “I think it’s time to head to bed.”

She quickly checked her phone to confirm it was half-past 4 in the morning and way too late (early?) to be discussing sea monsters.

Pocketing her phone, she looked up to see a terrified look yet again plastered on the ghost’s face.

“Please don’t put me back in there!” he wheezed, “I promise I won’t cause any trouble and you won’t have to see or hear from me ever again!”

“Hey, breathe, remember what I said about trust?”

He seemed to make a point of nodding at a neck-snapping speed.

“Well, right now, I can’t trust my parents, so come one, you’re staying in my room until further notice!”

“...really?”

It would be hard. Sneaking in extra food for him, keeping him quiet, hell, just explaining to her parents how the ghost in their lab escaped from right under her nose, was going to be tough. And her parents weren’t stupid. Neglectful? Yes. Valued their work over their own daughter? Understatement of the year. But it was worth a try for him.

And sure, she had always said she was fine being on her own, she had even declined her parents’ attempts to get her a kitten when she was 12, arguing that she was better off on her own, a lone wolf of sorts. But now, looking into the eyes of a kid, ancients he really was just a kid, who’s seen much more pain than she could ever imagine, having a little brother didn’t seem half bad.

“Yeah little bro, let’s go”

#Danny Phantom #danny fenton #danny is a bit feral #not too feral tho #the fentons arent the best parents #Danny loves space #You can pry that trope out of my cold dead hands #fanfiction #phanfic #danny phantom au #guess I'll just keep making Danny phantom aus #someone stop me #scratch that someone please help me #if you get my title reference just know my messages are open #danny phantom fic

50 notes · View notes

wazafam · 4 years ago

Link

The year 1999 was a big one for Star Wars fans. There was the release of The Phantom Menace, the first entry in George Lucas' prequel trilogy. And it also marked LEGO's debut adventure into a galaxy far, far away.

RELATED: Star Wars: 10 Awesome Characters Who Barely Had Any Screentime

The toy manufacturers released a variety of different sets to celebrate TPM hitting theatres and, in the years since, have pumped out many new recreations. However, not everything in the Star Wars movies has been brought to life in shiny, plastic form, with a few potential cool sets still missing in 2021.

10 Naboo Throne Room

Naboo is a Star Wars planet that has become iconic in the time since its first appearance. It's a beautiful place ruled by Queen Padme Amidala and features in all three of the prequels, albeit to varying degrees of prominence. While it's pretty, it's also, unfortunately, become associated with Anakin Skywalker's infamous 'I don't like sand' quote.

Yet the throne room is majestic and definitely deserving of the LEGO treatment. It's where Padme conducts numerous negotiations with the Trade Federation and is a popular battleground on the Star Wars: Battlefront 2 video game. Should it be made, it would allow obsessives to recreate some epic scenes from the first prequel movie - and they'd definitely be onto a winner.

9 The Senate

When The Phantom Menace first came out, some complained about the sheer amount of political talk crammed into the blockbuster. But nobody had an issue with the Senate chamber itself which, thanks to the use of some advanced technology, still holds up when compared to the special effects that go on in Hollywood today.

It's a grandiose building containing hundreds of small pods. It would obviously be a complicated set for the team at LEGO to put together but would certainly be worth the effort, especially considering it's the setting of the epic lightsaber duel between Palpatine and Yoda in Revenge Of the Sith.

8 The Jedi Temple

Also introduced in The Phantom Menace, and appearing again in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, is the Jedi temple. And out of all the sets on this list, this one arguably has the best potential of the lot.

RELATED: Star Wars: 10 Things Fans Would Change About The Rise of Skywalker

It could contain the Jedi chamber where the council congregates, putting Anakin Skywalker on the spot numerous times in the process. Another feature may include the library where Darth Vader goes on a murderous rampage in Revenge of the Sith. And it would certainly be worth including the training room where Yoda puts young Jedi through their paces. All in all, it's certainly a surprise this hasn't been done already.

7 Kamino

While Attack of the Clones released way back in 2002, finishing fourth in the box office standings for that year, LEGO still hasn't done anything with the planet of Kamino. It's a significant place, being the setting where Jango Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi do battle while also being the birthplace of all the Clone troopers who, in time, would become stormtroopers for the loathsome Imperial Empire.

So this is another that deserves the brick treatment. Re-enacting the aforementioned scenes would be immense fun and it could contain rare Minifigures such as Jango, young Boba Fett, and even Lama Su, who makes the introduction between Kenobi and the Bounty Hunter.

6 The Petranaki Arena

When it comes to big battle sequences, Star Wars is never stingy with the action. And Attack of the Clones produced a memorable final fight at The Petranaki Arena on Geonosis, with Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padme Amidala all sentenced to death by Count Dooku having previously been captured.

RELATED: Star Wars: 15 Most Hated Characters

All three individuals face certain death but, fortunately, they're able to scrap their way to survival. LEGO has produced small Geonosis sets over the years but not the arena itself, which should include minifigures of the monsters, Dooku, and other Jedi as well. Fans have given it a go over the years but something official would definitely go down well.

5 The Lars Homestead

Of all the locations in Star Wars, the planet of Tatooine may just be the most memorable. Yet, despite that, there's still been no LEGO set of the Lars Homestead. This is where Obi-Wan leaves Luke Skywalker at the end of Revenge of the Sith, with the Jedi shown growing up there with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru during the events of A New Hope.

There are rumors this may indeed come out in 2021 but, until there's clarification, it's merely speculation for the time being. If true, minifigures of Luke, Owen, Beru, and Kenobi should all be considered essentials, given their association with the place.

4 Yavin Temple

LEGO has released some massive sets in recent years, especially when it comes to Star Wars. Large-scale versions of Endor, Bespin, and Tatooine have all been released to great receptions. And another that deserves the same treatment is the Yavin Temple, which appears in A New Hope and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Given A New Hope is arguably the greatest title of the original trilogy, and it's the place where the Rebel Alliance orchestrates the destruction of the first Death Star, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a huge version of Yabvin brought to life in plastic form. Minifigures such as Mon Mothma, Leia Organa, and Jyn Erso - all in their appropriate outfits - must all be included.

3 Canto Bight

Star Wars: The Last Jedi certainly split opinion upon coming out back in 2017. And scenes set at Canto Bight appeared to attract much negativity, probably because they took place at the same time things between Kylo Ren, Rey, and Supreme Leader Snoke were coming to a head.

RELATED: Star Wars Original Trilogy: 5 Most Likeable Characters (& 5 Characters Fans Can't Stand)

However, while that's the case, Canto Bight looked fantastic. Everything was golden and the casinos and fondness for gambling made it a hive unlike anything else seen before. Rian Johnson may have had criticism leveled his way but a Canto Bight LEGO set would still be appreciated regardless, especially for people eager to recreate the eighth movie in the saga.

2 Death Star Ruins

LEGO has released some smaller sets over the years and, for lightsaber duels within the saga, that's a move that certainly makes sense. There was the Mustafar battle pack, while a special set was constructed for Luke and Darth Vader's showdown on Bespin. So, for The Rise of Skywalker, the fight between Rey and Kylo Ren should get the same treatment.

It is, after all, a memorable moment: the grandchildren of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, the two biggest bad guys in the whole saga, locking sabers. A minifigure of Han Solo would also be pretty sweet given how he pops up, turning Ben Solo back to the light side of the force despite being murdered on Starkiller Base two movies previously.

1 Exegol

Speaking of battles, nothing regarding Exegol has been put together so far. Which, when considering it's the place Palpatine is finally defeated after all these years, means it warrants being given the LEGO treatment.

Ben Solo and Rey, with their blue lightsabers, would have to be included. And so would an updated minifigure of Palpatine, perhaps with a rotating head to represent his rise back to full power. Exegol was a brilliant planet to introduce in the final movie of the saga, one that could be revisited further down the line.

NEXT: Star Wars: 10 Ways Obi-Wan's Story Could Have Turned Out Differently

Star Wars: 10 LEGO Sets That Have Never Been Done (So Far) from https://ift.tt/325qx5i

#Blogger

2 notes · View notes

chasseurdeloup-retired · 4 years ago

Text

Brownie Points || Evelyn and Kaden

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Perfect Pint PARTIES: @thronesofshadows and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Evelyn and Kaden have an unexpected guest at the bar.

It had been entirely too long since Kaden had seen Evelyn. They kept making plans but White Crest had a way of delaying those. Whether it was due to weirdness or death or goddamn mimes, it didn’t matter. Either way, it was a welcome relief to walk into the Perfect Pint and see a football game on (a real football game) and a friend waiting for him at a table. “Hey, good to see you,” he said with a small smile. “I see you already have a drink. I didn’t keep you waiting, did I?” Kaden had gotten much better at being punctual since dating Regan but he still wasn’t fantastic. He sure fucking tried though. “And here I was going to ask you what you wanted. How’ve you been?”

She found Kaden’s company enjoyable. Despite the fact that he might have not been the sort of person who she would have first gravitated toward back in England, she was a new person, now - had been the last four years, she supposed. So when the two of them had finally found a time to see one another, she’d jumped at the chance. Certainly, the Perfect Pint has nothing on the Artesian but it was miles better than some other bars in town, and had a certain feeling of home. Or at least of her time at Cambridge, going out to pubs with friends. Evelyn had arrived early and grabbed one of the free tables, ordering a drink for herself. After a few moments she looked up and spotted Kaden entering the bar. Her face lit up and she motioned for him to come to her table. “Well, you know, one must consistently survey one’s competition.” With a small smirk, she shrugged. “You can get the next round, how does that sound? I have been well. I have to say, I would have thought a beachfront property would be entirely ideal - however, the ocean - for whatever reason - keeps causing quite a few difficulties.” She made a face. “How about you though? How have you been?”

“Oh, of course. Though I think you might attract a bit of a different clientele,” he said with a small smile. Kaden settled into the seat across from her and put in an order of beer with the waitress. “I think I can handle that, though. Assuming you’re letting me pay for something for once.” He wasn’t exactly rolling in money or anything but he always felt guilty whenever Evelyn just paid for things or gave him stuff or gave him money to help with shit. He couldn’t pay for anything like that for her but he could get a round of drinks or two. Hell, this was the most money he’d had at one time if he was being honest. He’d never had a steady job a day in his life aside from hunting. And hunting didn’t exactly pay on its own. As shitty as White Crest could be, this was the most comfortably he’d lived since possibly when his parents were alive. “Good to hear. Still can’t believe the ocean went fucking black. Only in White Crest.” Kaden went to pick up his drink, only to find it wasn’t on the side he’d left it. It was in his right hand last time, right? But now it was on his left. Odd. He just reached over and took a sip. “I’ve been alright. You know all those eyeballs everywhere back a bit ago? All human. Missing persons. A lot of work for the WCPD and the morgue to identify as many as we could. One of them was the last animal control officer. Which, uh, that was great.” Maybe this wasn’t the best topic of conversation for what was meant to be an easy evening with friends. Too late. Putain.

“I do indeed.” She raised an eyebrow. “Though I do remain surprised that prior to my opening my bar, something like this did not exist.” Evelyn shrugged, “though I suppose that a small town in Maine should not be expected to be quite as high class as London.” She crossed her legs, “yes, I will permit you to pay for something. I think I would be able to manage that.” She took a careful sip of her drink as she listened to what Kaden was saying. “So it would seem. You know, I would have thought a beachfront house in Maine would have been ideal but given everything that this town has gone through in the past few months, I am starting to wonder if I had made a terrible mistake. Not that I plan to move, I have put far too much work into my home, but I would prefer to have things on my beach remain a bit calmer. Though perhaps that is too much to ask.” She placed her drink down and nodded for a moment before her eyes grew wide. “Human?” She shook her head. “That sounds like a ton of work and - oh. Oh no.” She reached out for a moment, placing her hand on Kaden’s arm before pulling back again. Ready to take another sip of her drink, except that somehow it was closer to where Kaden was sitting now. “Apologies, I must have moved it and forgotten.” She grabbed it and brought it back over to where she was sitting. “I hope that other than that, things have been going well?”

“Well this is what you get for owning property in White Crest. But it could be worse, I guess. It’s not like your house flooded or anything right?” Kaden couldn’t even imagine owning property so the whole concept was still a little foreign to him. Renting a place all by himself without desperate need for a roommate or begging one of his hunter connections for help was a big step up for him. “Hey, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” he said, trying to bring the mood back up. He hadn’t meant to tank it so soon. “I’m alright, really. I’m just glad Regan isn’t trying to work twenty-four seven on the whole thing now that it’s calmed down. I mean, she still would probably work that much if she could regardless but it’s nice that she doesn’t have to.” Not that she could due to the whole necklace time limit thing. There was a clang to their left and Kaden looked down at the silverware sprawled on the floor. Huh, it must be his. Did his elbow knock it over? He wasn’t sure. Didn’t matter too much. He reached down to pick them up and placed them on the side of the table. “Guess I’ll just have to ask the waitress for--” When he looked back at her, he had to stifle a laugh. “Uh, you want to tell me why there’s a napkin on your head? Latest fashion trend?” he joked. “It doesn’t seem like it’s quite your style.”

“It did flood, once, actually.” Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “And although it was a bit abnormal in what actually happened, I suppose flooding can happen if one lives in close proximity to the ocean or another body of water.” She shook her head. “Listen, we are here for conversation. I spent many of my years growing up listening to people lie through their teeth about how perfect everything was. I hardly need all conversation to be peppy.” Evelyn grinned. “However, we can move beyond the conversation. I am not one to force anyone on anything.” She nodded as Kaden continued to talk. “I am glad for that as well. I ought to reach out to her again sometime. I find her company enjoyable and I would like her to know that,” especially despite everything confusing that happened with Alain. She followed Kaden’s gaze to the floor before he looked back up at her and began almost laughing. Before she could frown and inform him that it was not polite to laugh at friends, she felt something on her head just as he was asking her and she pulled it off quickly. “Not my style, nor is it a fashion trend. Save for the occasional headband or hair tie, I do not tend to do much with my hair. Least of all napkins.” She threw it on the floor and for an extra step of good measure, ground the heel of her shoe into it. “I like to be effective whenever possible.” She grinned. “Though I might ask you, what exactly is a spoon doing behind your ear? I thought that was most often a place for pens or other writing instruments.” Just then, a glass shattered on the table next to them and Evelyn made herself jump just slightly. “Perhaps my tolerance is no longer what it used to be, what with everything I feel like I am seeing. This drink is hardly anything strong.”

So many fucked up things had happened in this town that Kaden almost forgot the red sky, the flooding, and the fish rain. Almost. “Right. Yeah. I guess I’m not used to people really wanting to hear much that isn’t surface level.” Then again, he spent a lot of time avoiding anything deep or meaningful with people. It was easier to up and move if he didn’t care about anyone and if no one cared about him. “I’m sure she’d enjoy that. She thinks she doesn’t have a lot of friends. Which isn’t really true but hey, I guess I say the same.” And yet here he was with a friend, sitting at a bar, talking to a friend, and laughing at her dramatics with the napkin. “I pr-- I didn’t put it there, I can assure you. Wait, what?” His brow furrowed as he reached back to feel the metal utensil resting behind his ear. “Putain de merde, how in the hell?” He was about to start looking around for something, anything that could have caused this, when his head snapped towards the direction of the clatter of glass shattering. “Yeah, I barely had any of mine. I don’t think this is inebriation.” Then he saw it, a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Sure looked like a monster to him. Not that he could make out the details. As soon as it noticed that Kaden had caught a glance, it gasped and turned invisible. “It’s either a brownie or..” he mumbled to himself, forgetting he was in company. “Uh, I mean a brownie sounds like a great idea right now. To eat. If they have one. You think they have one? Hey, where’s that server,” he asked, frantically glancing around for their waiter. And checking for the fucking borwnie at the same time.

“Do not worry, it is new for me as well. Back home? So much surface level knowledge. I can tell you all the designers that people wore to parties and probably list multiple accomplishments, but not many actually deep pieces of information. In case you have not noticed, I do not always share so very much.” It admittedly felt odd to even admit that much, but Kaden was someone who Evelyn did consider to be a friend, and so perhaps it was okay. “I think you are both delightful people and likely have more people who you might consider a friend than either of you think.” She shrugged. “I mean, I did not think you had, though -” she scrunched her nose up, before Kaden’s gaze shifted and she had to look towards where he was looking. “No, it has to be something -” something in the corner of the bar moved and then it was gone. Well, that wasn’t normal. “What? I am not sure if a bar will serve that sort of thing but it never hurts to ask.” She let Kaden wave the waiter over as she scanned the room. Something was amiss, and the only question was to try and figure it out without Kaden wondering what was going on - she didn’t know everything about the supernatural by any means, but she did know that bizarre and unexplained things in this town could frequently have that sort of explanation. The waiter arrived and Evelyn flashed them a smile. “My friend and I were wondering if you offer any sort of desserts here. Brownies? Admittedly, I do not love sweets,” or any human food, really, “but he mentioned it and now I can’t get it out of my mind.” She flashed them a smile as she moved her body to look behind them, spotting a flash of something on the bartop, just as another glass fell off and onto the floor.

Funny, Kaden hadn’t expected Evelyn to talk about shallow friendships or what not. Maybe it was just because he assumed most normal people formed connections easier than he did. Without the whole hunter bullshit, it almost seemed easy. Or something. Then again, when she pointed it out, he realized there was a fair amount about her he was unaware of. “Guess that’s true. But neither do I. I like what I know so far, though,” he said with a shrug. Of course she’de noticed something was off, too. He hoped he could sneak away, excuse himself to the restroom or something and deal with the brownie on his own. But now the waiter was coming. “Brownies, yup. Just had a, uh, hankering?” Was that the right word? He didn’t know. It sounded painfully american. “Hankering, yes,” the waiter replied in an Irish accent. It sounded just as stupid on his tounge as Kaden’s. “Sorry, sir, I don’t think we have any brow--” Just as the waiter was talking, Kaden saw the monster grabbing for glasses behind the bar, likely to throw or smash. And it looked like the thing was going to throw it at the waiter. “Doesn’t matter! Duck!” he shouted and pulled the waiter away. “I changed my mind. Don’t need that brownie. It’s fine.” He had to figure out how to deal with this monster while she was here. Putain.

“Better to have a select few things you like than a multitude of low quality accessories.” Evelyn gave another shrug. “Perhaps we will have to get to know one another more, sometime.” About everything save for the whole not-being-human thing. “I like what I know about you so far too.” Except that now the waiter was coming over and Kaden was all of a sudden actually talking about brownies and the waiter was looking at the two of them and responding and Evelyn offered him an apologetic smile before Kaden was yelling at him to duck and she moved too, the glass just missing the waiter. “Yes, too much sugar.” She gave a shrug as the waiter quickly moved away, muttering something about messy bar patrons when Evelyn bit her lip. Something was up and she wasn’t sure what to do about it. She didn’t know exactly what was up in the first place, and she wasn’t about to out herself as having more knowledge than a socialite from London was supposed to have. “I feel like I owe you. Every time I end up in a bar with you things go awry. I don’t see any mimes this time though.” She glanced around the bar again, trying to track wherever whatever the being was, was. “Which I do not mean as a joke, I am relieved for that at least.”

Kaden was relieved that no one was hurt at the flying glass, but he still wanted to know what the fuck was going on. It was highly unfortunate that this shit always seemed to happen to him in bars that weren’t the Bullet. Was he cursed or some shit? “Nah, don’t worry about it. I think this is me, not you.” He shook his head and took another sip of his beer. I wonder if Morgan would eat this. His brows furrowed and looked at her. “Would she eat, what? A brownie?” Did zombies eat brownies? “Wait, you know Morgan, too?” As soon as he asked, a creature, about the height of a toddler, with green leathery looking skin and long floppy ears, just appeared on the table. And took it’s long clawed finger and touched it to Evelyn’s nose before growling and laughing. Kaden sat there blinking, jaw dropped, unable to move. He should have grabbed a knife, grabbed it, anything, but it just disappeared as soon as it came. And she’d seen it. No doubt. Moment of truth, right? “Uh, so, you, uh…” He couldn’t figure out what to say. His code said to keep the supernatural from humans as much as possible. It was a good policy, ignorance was bliss. But was she ignorant to the supernatural? Putain. “That, uh, you saw--”

Evelyn made a small face. “No, I think…” What exactly did she think? Something unnatural was going on here, but she couldn’t exactly say that to Kaden. “It is not you. I think that the misbehavior that occurs in this town is quite a bit more extreme than I have seen in other places. Or, well, at least when compared with London.” Just take Felix’s hand. It’ll make you feel better. “Whose hand? You know I am dating Alain, right?” She blinked. “What did you say - yes. I do know Morgan. We talk about literature a great deal. She might eat a brownie.” All of a sudden some thing jumped up in front of Evelyn and she made a face of utter disgust. Which perhaps was cruel of her, but then again, she was startled in the moment. As much as she could be. Surprised, more than anything else. Then it was gone almost as quickly as it had come about and Kaden was staring at her. “I - I think?” She turned her head to the side, pursing her lips. “Something weird, but I have been sleeping funny lately. Did you see something?” Knife. “Did you need a knife for something? Were you asking about that?” She brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. “For the brownies?”

“Sure is a weird town, alright. Nothing like Ly--” His hometown was a supernatural hot spot of its own right, it’s why his parents had made it their home base. “Well, alright it’s perhaps a bit like Lyon but the weird was never so consistent there,” Kaden said. His brow furrowed at her question. “Of course I know you’re dating Alain, I lost that bet if you recall.” He huffed out a small laugh remembering that night. Putain, he’d been so stupid not to see that Regan was a banshee then in hindsight, the cracked glass. So many small pieces of the puzzle kept filling even now. The sheer amount of willful ignorance he clung to then. He couldn't say shit about Regan’s resistance to the truth, not after that. “That’s, uh, that’s good you know Morgan. She’s--” He still didn't know how he felt about Morgan. “She’s an interesting person.” If zombies were people. Jury was still out on that. At Evelyn’s reaction to the creature, or lack thereof more accurately, Kaden’s face pulled into a thin line instead of the smile he was trying for. Not going to talk about it. Great. He could deal with denial. Putain, he was dating denial. “Yeah, weird, very-- Huh?!” His eyes went wide at the mention of a knife. Was she reading his mind? Is that why there were odd gabs and leaps in their conversation? Shit. Don’t think about being a hunter. No, not a hunter. Never once had he hunted a werewolf or killed a brownie just like the one right there a minute ago. Stop, oh god, why couldn’t he stop thinking about every hunting trip he’d ever taken in his entire life just then? “Yeah. Knife for the brownies. That’s--” Kaden panicked and looked down at his watch. Wait. That was on his other hand. He looked at his watch. “Oh is that, the time? I have to… Go. Fee Abel. Soon.” He stood up from the booth. “I’m sorry, maybe we’ll do this some other time.” He pulled out his wallet and put down some cash that looked like it ought to cover their drinks and a tip and an apology for all the bullshit damage that had happened that wasn’t even his fault. “We could try a cafe next time. Might have more luck.”

“London was never quite so weird either.” Evelyn gave a small shrug. “I know you know that - I thought you said something else. I am still sorry about you losing that bet but you were right. Even if we hadn’t started dating when you first started asking me about it.” She gave a small shrug at his comment about Morgan. “She is interesting, yes. We met on purpose but apparently she knew who I was because of the whole former model thing. Which is not a connection I expected to make here in America, but there you have it.” She bit her lip for a moment at his confusion. He was human - the whatever-it-was must’ve startled him. “...how you cut them?” She turned her head to the side. “Of course.” She stood up too - perhaps a bit too suddenly. “We can do this any other time you want. I’d agree with a café. Or just come by my place. We’ve had luck there.” She fought away the urge to throw down a couple hundred dollars - she had told Kaden she would let him pay, hadn’t she? “I think we should give bars a pass for now, though I swear, mine’s been fine barring that one incident that we shall not speak of.”

#wickedswriting #chatzy #evelyn #thronesofshadows #brownie points #writing

11 notes · View notes

linchxpin · 5 years ago

Text

GET TO KNOW THE BLOGGER.

Can be used for RP and non-RP blogs to get to know a bit about the person behind the screen!

1. FIRST NAME: i go by masha online :v

2. STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: when i was five years old, my family and i lived in a nursing home :oc or a. i guess technically it was more of a. oh. i mean it was a nursing home, but it was one that was specifically Set Up to handle seniors and Others with. erm. psychological issues coughs

i still remember some of the residents, and i also remember occasionally helping out with some of them, too. you know. in Very Small Ways bc i was just barely Not a literal toddler lmao

3. TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON: uhhhfjfkea;gerrr???? i’m automatically drawn to noses for some reason, particularly if they’re. A Certain Shape. also eyebrows/eyelashes thinking emoji and uhhhhh idk i guess maybe hands/wrists?? idek dude i’m frickn asexual as hell lmao

4. A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF: so i usually say dumplings of any sort and from any cuisine (potstickers, ravioli, empanadas, pirozhki, steamed buns, u name it), but i was recently reminded that scotch eggs are A Thing and

inhales

5. A FOOD YOU HATE: HOMINY......... CAULIFLOWER............. whispers asparagus hhhhh i also can’t do stewed tomatoes oh g o d

6. GUILTY PLEASURE: right now it’s probably dollmakers and watching hetalia mmd videos on youtube lmao lies down

7. WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN: whatever clothes i wore the day before finger guns

8. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS: i mean probably neither, but if i had to choose, i’m. a little bit. ??? toward flings 6_6

9. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE: g o d. the two biggest things i can think of are that i wouldn’t have dropped out of school rip i guess maybe in the long run it wouldn’t have changed much in the way of my schooling, but. idk. maybe i’d still have a friend or two rip

the other is that i wish i’d managed to live alone longer than i had

10. ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON: to those i know well, yes

11. A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN: fjife;a kung fu panda 2 lmao also honestly a lot of the x-men movies fall under this for some reason

12. FAVORITE BOOK: a little princess, house of leaves, on the beach, and almost anything by h.g. wells, but especially war of the worlds. also i can’t not mention the secret garden and little women

13. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE: i mean, i admit i am the type of person who is inordinately happy keeping dogs as pets bc they pretty much hit every one of my Needs for a pet, but the idea of owning like. something really really Big and fluffy Sends Me ngl

WAIT LET ME COME IN DAYS LATER AND ADMIT THAT HAVING A PET SEAL WOULD PROBABLY BE MY DOWNFALL

14. TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL]: oh lord UHHHH don’t judge me ok but my favorites are probablyyyy

) beerus/whis (dragon ball) ) euroshipping kaiba/bakura (yugioh) ) sora/kairi/riku (kingdom hearts) ) i think it’s called stormshipping now?? fubuki/manjoume (yugioh gx) ) bad friends trio OT3 (hetalia)

y. yeah. tried to go with a Variety of different fandoms rip

15. PIE OR CAKE: whichever one cheesecake counts as >8| but honestly probably pie, bc i frickn love pumpkin pie, chocolate silk pie, lemon meringue pie, cherry pie, key lime pie, hershey’s cookies & cream pie-- i mean the list is practically endless lmao

16. FAVORITE SCENT: SO MANY. cucumber melon, aloe vera, lysol, rubbing alcohol, BLEACH......... sweet pea, gardenia, actual rose, actual vanilla, ginger, white tea g o d you will find me literally standing in the soap and body wash aisle for a good thirty to forty-five minutes just smelling what they offer there lmao......................

17. CELEBRITY CRUSH: idk uhhhh weird al? lmao

18. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: I WANT TO GO TO RUSSIA SOMEDAY but also i’d love to revisit sorrento and capri and florence and assisi

19. INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT: in the middle-ish but leaning somewhat heavily toward introvert :v

20. DO YOU SCARE EASILY: i am a very Jumpy person lmao but. other than that, it really depends on what you’re doing to scare me thinking emoji history has shown me i tend to keep a cool head in emergencies

21. IPHONE OR ANDROID: telegram. ya whippersnapper *tapdances out*

22. DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES: at the moment? no orz but i still consider myself fans of games like animal crossing, kingdom hearts, twewy, uhhhhh monster hunter, super smash brothers, MARIO KART.... and also majora’s mask is probably my all-time favorite game thinking emoji

i’m also a big fan of star fox and any number of survival horror games, but they’re generally too Difficult for me to actually play rip

23. DREAM JOB: god for probably like ten years or more i’ve dreamed of being a comic creator lies down i’ve pretty much given up on that one tho. but i’d also just Love being able to do something related to drawing-- especially in animation. i also will always mourn not being able to be a teacher bc i love the act itself of teaching, but. well. mornings and me Do Not Mix. so. when i’m feeling more practical, the truth is i want very much to be a hospice nurse

24. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS: l o r d firST THING-- get my education squared up and out of the way >:u and probably also pay off my student debt i already have. hrmmm. maybe buy a house. definitely move out, that’s for sure. take my mom to italy and/or ireland

25. FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE: iiiiiii. er. i mean, i can’t think of any off the top of my head?? i don’t tend to hate characters tbh scratches head the most i get is neutral toward them lmao

26. FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER: well. i kinda tend to cycle through old fandoms, so i can’t really think of any that i was once part of that i also have no interest whatsoever in going back to

i guess there’s some that i hesitate to get drawn too deeply into, just bc of their reputations or. honestly sometimes just bc i’m Just Not That Into It lmao

i could maaaybe put star wars here? bc it was technically my very first fandom back when i was like ten years old and the phantom menace had just come out fjfie;ahg YES I AM THAT OLD SHHH i was really into it at the time, and i still enjoy the universe itself and all, but. i can’t say i’ve felt compelled to really Join The Fandom

tagged by. whispers stolen from @sakuraari

#;dash games #ok i finally finished this hhh #long post

3 notes · View notes

coolgreatwebsite · 5 years ago

Text

Breviews for June 2019 - November 2019

Every time I beat a game, I immediately mark it off on my Backloggery and write down my thoughts in the provided review field. Now I’m putting those thoughts on my website, too. Sometimes they’re stupid, sometimes they’re serious, but they’re always 500 characters or less. They’re Breviews!

Secret of Mana (SNES, 1993)

I can understand why Secret of Mana made an impression on people. From an audiovisual standpoint, it's an incredible leap forward from Square's previous output. The plot, while paper thin, can be weird and charming at times. But oh my GOD the gameplay is 100% rotten. Attacking feels like unresponsive dogshit, hitboxes are nonsense, ally AI is braindead, the only reliable way to do anything is to abuse magic, you constantly get stunlocked, leveling up is a colossal grind... it's just miserable.

Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2019)

Mario Maker 2 rules in a lot of ways, but it's a regression in some others. All the new creation elements they added are awesome, but there's a lot of things around the edges that are just plain worse than the first game. Like, it has zero integration with your Switch friends list for some reason? The touchscreen controls are more clunky too. It's nothing game murdering but it's baffling. Also the online multiplayer is the least fun I've had with a video game this year, even when it's not laggy.

Pokémon Shield (Nintendo Switch, 2019)

Pokémon Shield is not a disaster. It is very half-baked, however. The new monsters are probably the best new batch they've ever done, but the region is just so boring. The Wild Area is small and feels very haphazard, the routes are the most short and straightforward they've ever been, and there are zero dungeons. The story and characters are all very throwaway too, but at least they aren't super intrusive. There's other issues as well, but ultimately it's still fun in the way Pokémon always is.

Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy, 1991)

Final Fantasy Adventure is the first game in the Mana series and it's simply okay. The gameplay is kinda like a simpler Zelda but with RPG mechanics. It's an early-ish Game Boy game and that fact really shows in how straightforward and janky it is. The game also suffers from the Link's Awakening problem of the Game Boy's limited buttons forcing you into menus constantly, but it's worse here because of how sluggish and unintuitive the menus are. It's still enjoyable, but by no means a must-play.

Space Invaders Extreme (Nintendo DS, 2008)

Man this game still whips ass. I played a ton of it back in college but I don't think I actually beat it back then? Which is dumb because it's very short, but I had a flash cart and just jumped between games all the time. Anyway! Space Invaders Extreme is a super smart evolution of the classic Space Invaders gameplay with a lot of fun interlocking mechanics. It's super stylish too. Very reminiscent of Rez. My only complaint is that the bonus rounds maybe break up the flow a bit too much.

Judgment (PlayStation 4, 2019)

I really liked the main plot of Judgment, but not so much the part where you actually play it. While the combat's better than in Yakuza 6, RGG Studio still wasn't able to make Dragon Engine combat feel engaging or rewarding here. The detective elements range from barely-there search sections to excruciatingly interminable tailing missions. The new sidegames, such as drone racing, are mostly lame too. I did overall enjoy my time with Judgment, but it mostly made me excited for Yakuza 7's changes.

Puyo Puyo Tetris (Nintendo Switch, 2017)

Puyo Puyo Tetris is a mashup that mostly works except for where it doesn't. Where it works is in the regular Versus and Swap modes, which make you pick a side and switch modes mid-game respectively. Where it doesn't work is... kinda every other mode? Fusion mode is a boring, confusing slog. Party mode is a lame score competition. Big Bang is fine I guess? It's just a fever battle. Basically every mode outside of the core two is no good. The story mode has a ton of filler too. Still decent!

Super Kirby Clash (Nintendo Switch, 2019)

This is an expanded version of an expanded version of a sub-game from Kirby Planet Robobot and it's as okay here as it was in its origin game. It's basically Kirby's take on Monster Hunter. You have four weapon classes and go out on boss fight missions with people online. The boss fights all sort of have the same rhythm to them so they aren't super exciting, but it's fun enough. The game's free-to-play, but it doesn't feel obtrusive until after the first credits roll so I guess it's fine? Maybe?

SEGA AGES: Sonic The Hedgehog (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

This is an accurately emulated release of Sonic 1 (finally, a truly perfect version on a portable system!) with some added gameplay features like the spin dash and, for the first time, Sonic Mania's drop dash. That's all good but weirdly enough, the online leaderboards were the real standout for me with this. Attempting to get as many rings as I could without getting hit and trying to get a high score in the Mega Play version were refreshingly unique ways to revisit a game I've played to death.

#review

5 notes · View notes

destiny-smasher · 5 years ago

Text

Always Gotta Don’t Stop (speculating about Smash)

So with Byleth incoming in just a few days, we also got other noteworth announcements that got me pretty excited about the possibilities for what could come to Smash Bros. Ultimate over the next two years. I felt like having some fun and came up with multiple lists using this template by Matthew Lovenzka, and I tried to find a balance between various factors -- perceived popularity (not just with Western Smash fans but that’s part of it), moveset potential (they CAN make a moveset out of anything but Sakurai specifically focuses lately on bringing new mechanics), and also a twist of marketing (since that IS part of it, as Byleth demonstrates).

Long post is LONG, I’m goin’ ham.

First up, just some general predictions for Fighters Pass Volume 2:

Now, I don’t believe we will get Sora AND Geno, but it DOES feel likely we will get another Square character, and those two feel like the most popular picks with people from Square. I could Nintendo trying to get Sora in first and foremost, but if legal complications (or Square just being fussy) got in the way, they might compromise on Geno. I feel like with how big Activision/Blizzard is, they’d want a character in, and if Nintendo likewise WANTED to parley with that, and go for another western-themed pick, Bandicoot makes the most sense. Crash didn’t get into Playstation All-Stars but everyone still inherently associates Crash with the Playstation One, so it’d be a great pick and feel similar to Banjo-Kazooie in a lot of ways. I could see moveset being a little standard but they could probably come up with some fun elements. Given how much emphasis the Crash franchise has put on Coco more recently (made her fully playable in the Crash Trilogy, given her lots of attention in CTR Nitro-Fueled), it would feel in-character and also just be neat if she was added as an alt costume. Capcom: I feel like we’re all expecting a new Capcom rep, and that by no means entails we will get a new Capcom rep, buuut it feels pretty likely. Capcom is on good terms with Nintendo, Ultimate already has plenty of content from them, they even pitched in plenty of new music tracks to Ultimate. The real question is, who would Nintendo want from Capcom, and who would Capcom give their approval on? I would’ve thought Resident Evil a couple months ago, but since we just got RE spirits added, I’m starting to think that if a new Capcom rep got chosen, it must’ve been from somewhere else. (Maybe RE was considered first and they did spirits and all that but then it got cancelled or switched, I dunno). There’s plenty of possibilities, including multiple desired characters who have already been in Marvel vs Capcom. Personally, my money is on a Monster Hunter rep just because the game is so huge in Japan, and recently finally broke through to worldwide popularity. Next, a Bandai/Namco rep. Given that the company works on the series, it’s actually strange to me that B/N costumes from Smash 4 were removed, and we have yet to get anyone new added in. Pac-Man is still the only Bandai-Namco fighter in the game. As for who they’d add, most of the obvious picks might feel redundant (Tekken? Soul Calibur?) but if they went with something like Dark Souls, they could incorporate a stamina managing mechanic, as well as that grim-dark aesthetic (I feel like ONE of these six newcomers will be from a grim-dark game.

A year ago, you wanna know who EVERYONE was expecting to get into Smash? When it was revealed that NINTENDO was deciding the DLC, not Sakurai? Wanna know who everyone expected? ‘The new Fire Emblem protag.’ Which is...exactly what we got. I would say that at this point, we can’t really expect anyone or anything from Smash, but the exception to that rule is to expect a first party, corporate overlords pick. Could be a Gen 8 rep, could be Travis Touchdown to promo NMH3, could be a new Zelda rep to promo BotW2, I dunno, could be a new Splatoon character to promo that series (and whatever is coming next from it) but I feel it in my bones that one of these six will be first party, from a more recent game, basically to just be Nintendo flexing their own brands.

But something we learned over the past year is that they are actively trying to add more franchises and characters via Mii Costumes. So here’s some theories as to what we might get from 1st/3rd party Mii costumes in the couple years to come. It feels like we’ll prolly get more Nintendo themed Mii costumes, and tbh I just feel like with more Pokemon DLC coming, they will want to push that here. Especially if we get a new Pokemon fighter/stage, it would feel natural for them to throw in a trainer-oriented costume.

If we get a new Square rep, which feels likely because Square is just THAT big, then I would suspect we’d get one or two more Square costumes, but I’d expect them to be underwhelming. So, like, bring back the Chocobo hat. Bare minimum, that’s been Square’s creed when it comes to Smash.

While Resident Evil feels like it didn’t make the cut, I could totally see them adding in one or two RE themed costumes as kind of a peace offering for the franchise. Leon/Claire would make sense with the RE2 remake being such a hit, and Leon’s history with Nintendo hardware.

TBH it feels kind of criminal that Chun-Li isn’t in the game in some way outside of a spirit and a music track. At least give that lady a costume, for Din’s sake.

2B is also technically Square, but her creator has been very open about being interested in just...selling her likeness all around. I feel like 2B could be a fighter, of course, like she already is in Soul Calibur 6, but I also feel like if Nintendo was going to aim for a Square character, they’d have their sights set on bigger fish. She would please plenty by appearing as a costume, at least.

OK, so, I have played a Minecraft or two over the years. Hell, I played it WAY back before it was even officially finished/released. I can definitely see the appeal of Minecraft coming to Smash, though more as a stage than as a fighter. I could easily see a Minecraft SOMETHING making its way in, and it is very possible to show up as a fighter, but a Mii Fighter skin feels more likely imo.

So something else that hasn’t officially become a pattern yet but has definitely set up an anticipation is indie games getting their dues with ‘premium’ Mii costumes. So here’s my picks for those. I think three of these are actually still quite possible to be fighters, if IF IF Nintendo is willing to truly throw an indie a bone. But it feels more plausible that that bone would be much smaller, and we’d get popular indie reps in the form of these premium skins with music tracks. I feel like I don’t even need to really explain most of these, but VA11 HALLA is here more because I personally like it a lot, it’s a popular enough visual novel internationally, and it has a banging OST. But tbh if I could decide on a Stardew Valley skin that would’ve gone there instead, just because of how prominent the game is. You could likewise replace Cave Story with Stardew, except I feel like Cave Story was THE indie game that kind of kickstarted this whole ‘indie revolution.’ Tricky part there is the complicated and unfortunate nature of the series’ ownership (essentially taken away from its creator).

The other four, though, I could easily see them as fighters with their own unique gimmicks/mechanics and stages with cool music and aesthetics. The only other indie game/character I could envision more than them is coming up. I feel like if this indie trend continues, one of these is bound to show up.

So Sakurai made a weirdly big deal about the concept of ‘echo fighters’ only to like...add three and call it a day? There’s so much more you could get out of the concept, and as many have discussed, doing an ‘Echo Fighter pass’ (or just piecemeal adding in Echo Fighters) over the course of the next two years would make extra bank, please lots of folks, and not actually take up more resources. The trick is they’d all have to be first party characters from already establishes franchises in Smash, otherwise I just don’t see them happening. To be a proper echo fighter, they would need to be slightly different than another fighter, but different in some way. This usually entails at least one special move being totally different, but it also often entails changing the characters’ properties in some way. To be clear: Tetra - Toon Link, Medusa - Palutena, Octoling - Inkling, Gooigi - Luigi, Impa- Sheik, Dixie - Diddy.

Personally, I think Impa would make the most sense of these to be her own fighter, and she has many forms she could take (pictured above is the Hyrule Warriors version), which tbh could just mean an entirely original, new adaptation, like they’ve already done with Sheik and, arguably, Zelda. But she could totally get away with being a Sheik echo, as well. You can probably imagine differences on your own, but if we were to get more echo fighters added, these are some of the more popular and perhaps plausible picks that might possibly please the higher proportion of people.

So I don’t think any of these feel specifically likely outside of a Monster Hunter rep, and even then, I feel like Byleth essentially got the ‘gimmick’ you’d give to a Hunter fighter (like they got in MvCI), so you could swap the Hunter for a Palico or even a Monster or something, I dunno. I want someone from Monster Hunter, and I want a Monster Hunter stage/music. But I do feel like at this point, anyone feels possible for Smash, so these are picks I would personally DIE OVER, like I did with Mega Man, Lucina, Banjo-Kazooie, and Joker before them. Ones that I personally have great affection for and would main regardless of play style, but which also feel prominent enough and appropriate enough where you imagine them in Smash, imagine many people knowing who they are, etc etc.

ARMS was such a lovingly made game that just didn’t have mechanics deep enough to hold people’s attention in the long run. Which is a shame, because the characters, the world, the aesthetic, it’s all so well done and I adore it. I do feel like we’re bound to get at least one more Ninty rep (probably two or even three depending on how much Nintendo wants to dabble with third parties this go-around), and I feel like ARMS is a franchise worth inspiring interest in. The game did well, it just didn’t do SPLATOON well, and I don’t want Nintendo to abandon it. Give us the four most prominent characters from the game as different skins, use colors to reference the ones who are shaped differently from them, give them a unique mechanic with their arms and the swapping-fists element.

I do think we may very well get an Activision/Blizzard rep, and while I ain’t happy with that company right now, I do think they’re one of the biggest western companies who’s not in the game (Bethesda being another one, who I am also not happy with atm but who has much less defined characters). Tracer would tick many boxes in terms of what I want from a newcomer in Smash. She has lots of personality, she’s a woman (a thing sorely lacking in new Smash characters lately), she has what could be a VERY unique gimmick, and she would help advertise Overwatch 2 and other Blizzard games that have been coming to Switch. Make it so she doesn’t have a Final Smash but has an Ultimate that charges over time (and the Smash Ball just insta-fills it), but make it not as powerful AS a normal Final Smash. Give her Blinks and a Rewind but no traditional recovery, so you have a real intriguing balance between managing her cooldowns to either maximize offense at great risk, or grant very safe recovery but then lack ways to overcome neutral. Tracer’s kit could encapsulate just about everything interesting about competetive Smash gameplay. The only real downside is that Overwatch doesn’t have much in the way of music -- so incorporate other Blizzard stuff to make up the difference. Overwatch already crosses other Blizzard content into it, anyway.

Undertale may have gotten a nod in Smash already, and arguably in the form of one of the most desired characters/tracks added, but I also think the game is big enough of a deal that a full-on fighter/stage as the first indie properly added would feel...I dunno, fulfilling. Appropriate. Not to mention the moveset potential. Whereas Sans is already repped well enough tbh (even the nature of him being a costume FITS his too-lazy-to-actually-show-up-in-person mood), a concept for the actual player character of Undertale has way more potential imo. Not to mention that Sakurai/Nintendo seem much more keen on adding the primary/player character to rep a game before anyone else. Frisk could be played in a dual style: either a hyper defensive passive style that relies on turning the opponent’s strength against them, OR a hyper aggressive rush-down style that is fast and fierce but easily punishable if you make mistakes. The key to creating a truly fitting Undertale rep for Smash would be finding that balance of player choice between peace and violence and working it directly into the character’s kit. HOW you would implement it would be tricky -- ideally, you’d want to reward players for actually committing to ‘Frisk’ style or ‘Chara’ style, and punish them for middling between the two. Not only this, but an Undertale stage would bring with it one of the decade’s most beloved gaming OSTs, and you could probably get people in the gaming world who’d be JUMPING to arrange those tracks for Smash. The stage itself could take many forms but I think one that plays with the various characters and their attack styles would maximize the creativity of the team. If I had to pick one single character/stage to get added to Smash, I’d vouch for this one, probably, and I’d make it either the first of this pass, or the last; it’d have the biggest impact on either end but would be a big deal regardless.

Kat from Gravity Rush is, arguably THE least likely out of everyone here to show up in Smash, mainly because she is a Sony character. Unlike Joker or Crash, she isn’t a third party character who is associated with Sony, she is a Sony-owned character, to my knowledge. But out of every first party Sony character, she makes the most sense to me as a Smash character. She’s cute, cartoony, she has a primary gimmick that a PLATFORMING fighter could take full advantage of (imagine managing a gravity charge to go sideways or underneath the stage for kills, BUT dooming yourself if you mess up), and she would be a real “oh whoa wtf” moment in terms of bringing Sony into the fold. Main problem is, if Sony was to let of their characters in, it would probably be someone else, just because it seems they’ve lost sight of value in this series, unfortunately. Though, tbh, I’d be pretty damn down for Aloy, as well, I just think the stage/moveset wouldn’t be nearly as exciting or new.

Lastly, I want more Splatoon. We all want more Splatoon. I don’t know if the series has gone into hibernation until the next Nintendo hardware, or if a spinoff is coming sooner than we think, or what. But Nintendo knows how big Splatoon is. And the series FEELS big enough over the past decade to warrant more representation. I feel like we’re getting a new Ninty rep or two, anyway, and I’d much rather it be Splatoon than more Pokemon or Fire Emblem or JRPG etc. (nothing against those things, we just HAVE plenty of them). The pop idols of Splatoon have won the hearts of many, and you could definitely come up with a new moveset for them in many ways. It could be a tag-team moveset where the player swaps between them (maybe even on time intervals like a musical performance), it could be music-themed instead of ink-themed, it could be Ice Climbers -esque, I dunno, there’s a lot of possibilities. A Splatfest themed stage with multiple variations could keep things tied to the actual gameplay of Splatoon, as well (or they could do a Salmon Run based one, that mode is INSANE). It would drive up appeal in the brand even further, it would capitalize on the fanservice angle, it would highlight just how much the series has accomplished these past ten years -- for fuck’s sake, there are PHYSICAL CONCERTS YOU CAN GO TO to watch these characters perform. Who the hell else in Nintendo history can you say that for? And these characters are still pretty recent! That speaks a lot. If I had to rally for any first party add, it would be this, honestly. And yet, we already have Splatoon, but I think the brand is fresh enough and fun enough to warrant a whole new fighter.

So that’s my hopes, some predictions, and some shots in the dark.

The past year has been a WILD ride. The next two years will hopefully follow suit.

#super smash bros #smash ultimate #fighters pass #Nintendo #video games

2 notes · View notes

supersleepygoat · 6 years ago

Text

Glass Houses: Part Two

Pairing: Sam x Sister!Reader, MOC!Dean x Sister!Reader, Styne Family

Summary: After you left the bunker, you take on a few case. You get some experience under you belt but let overconfidence lead you into a dangerous situation that would be better left for your brothers. Set in Dark Dynasty (10.21).

Word Count: 6,042

Warning: Angst. Violence. Mention of Character Death. TW: Mentions of Rape. Nonconsensual Blood Play. Nonconsensual Knife Play. (No Explicit Smut)

Part One

Masterlist

You had just gotten off the phone with your boyfriend, Nathan. You had left the bunker and pulled off to the side of the road. You needed to talk to him. Talking to him always puts you at ease. But as soon as you hang up the phone, that ease morphs into dread.

You curse yourself for being unable to let him go. It is selfish and you know it. He will always be in danger as long as he is in your life. But you love him. In a different world, you know without a doubt he would be your end game. He would be the one to save you. He would give you the apple pie life you know you should want. But that’s not who you are. You will never be the girl who could walk away from her family to start a new one.

No matter how your brothers make you feel about yourself, Nate always grounds you. He tells you how special and capable he thinks you are. And for a moment, you believe him. So, in a perfect world, he would be who you are driving to right now. But, instead you are headed out of town and seeking out danger. You are a Winchester. There is no apple pie life waiting for you. Everyone knows how the game really ends for a Winchester.

As much as it killed you, you had to lie to Nate. You had to tell him your brothers took you out of town and you’d be gone for a while. You know you have to end it with him when you get back. But you don’t have the strength to burn that bridge right now. That bridge holds a view of hope, so you’re not ready to watch it burn quite yet.

Besides, Nate deserves for you to explain yourself in person. But if you show up now with this bruise on your cheek, he’ll only go on a testosterone induced rampage. He has always hated the fact your brothers push you aside. He hates that they treat you like a second-class Winchester. So, if you tell him things have escalated to a physical level, he’ll only see red. He won’t listen to a word you say. And, you need him to hear you. He needs to understand that he will always be the best thing that ever happened to you.

But, your destiny is to pursue the family business. Whether your brothers like it or not, for you there is no getting out of this life. You want to fight alongside your brothers. It’s what you’ve always wanted. So, it’s not safe for Nate to be attached to you or this life. You need to let him go before he ends up like Jessica or Lisa. He deserves better than the danger that comes with being with you. He deserves better than you.

You started small. You left your brothers only three weeks ago but you already have two solo cases under your belt.

The first was a simple salt and burn. Unfortunately, the ghost’s human body had been cremated. But, it wasn’t hard to figure out that the jilted lover’s spirit was tied to her wedding ring. Her unfaithful husband still wore it on a chain around his neck. Little did he know, he was carrying around a beacon for pain. You burnt the tarnish silver symbol and moved on.

The second case was a step up. Your first demon. You didn’t have the demon knife or an angel blade so you had to rely on an good old-fashioned exorcism to get rid of the thing. It worked out because you were able to save the meat suit, or Shannon as she preferred to be called. She was shaken up but grateful you were able to spare her.

After you prove your point and you return home to your brothers, you may have a talk with them. You will remind them that they tend to forget that the meat suits are really people. They use the demon knife and angel blade as if the quick solution is the only solution. But there is another way. Maybe they could learn something from their useless baby sister after all.

You are running on a string of highs. Are you getting a bit cocky? Perhaps, but you feel as though you are finally doing something useful with your life. You are no longer waiting at home for your brothers to get back from a hunt. You are no longer living vicariously through their stories of heroism. You are the one who is living now. You are the one making a difference.

You know what you’re doing is dangerous. If you had a clear mind, you would realize your luck is bound to wear out eventually. But you are misguided by the illusion that Winchesters always come out on top. You are starting to feel untouchable. If your brothers were here, they would be able to teach you that arrogance is a leading cause of death among hunters. But, they aren’t here. That is lesson you will have to learn for yourself.

One more. You decided one more hunt will do the trick. If you can close three cases all on your own, your brothers will have no choice. They will have to acknowledge that you are a capable hunter. You have enjoyed being on your own but it’s gotten a little lonely.

The whole reason you wanted to start hunting was so you could spend more time with your brothers. You want them to include you in their lives. You don’t want to hunt just for the sake of hunting. This little trial period of solo hunts is merely a means to an end. The end goal will always be to be accepted by your brothers. You are doing this so you can fight with them, not against them.

You may want their love and approval, but that doesn’t mean you’re not still pissed at them, especially Dean. But like any other set of siblings, your best revenge will be to make them feel like shit for ever doubting you. You can’t wait to stroll back into the bunker and throw Baby’s keys back at Dean. He’ll see you were responsible enough to take good care of his favourite girl. There’s not a scratch on her. Then, you’ll tell them every gory detail of your hunts. They’ll realize just how much of a badass you are.

They’ll be mad, Dean may even kick your ass again. But they’ll be proud of you, they have to be. But if they are still unwilling to acknowledge you, then at the very least you have proven to yourself that you are a legitimate hunter. You will just continue going at it alone until they let you in. You won’t give up.

For your last case, you found something a little odd. It’s not a classic monster like a ghost or a vampire. But rather, it is something that is just too gross to not be your kind of case. You going to prove that you can handle even the weird cases.

So, you’re headed to Omaha, Nebraska. A woman was reported to have her throat slit and her eyes gouged out. Not to mention, the guy who done it jumped out of a third story window and ran away without so much as a limp. Definitely your kind of weird.

Your best guess is that he may be another Doc Benton. Sam and Dean told you all about that creep. Plus, you read about someone like him in your dad’s journal. These types of monsters were once human. But they harvest the organs of young and healthy people to remain immortal. You assume that’s why he only took the victim’s eyes. Luckily, John’s journal told you that if you burn them alive, they will stay dead.

You were in a nearby town when you caught the case. It didn’t take long to drive to the scene. By the time you and Baby pulled up to the office building, the victim’s body was still inside. The janitor who found the girl and saw the killer’s great escape wasn’t very helpful. He was too shaken up to tell you anything more than what you heard over the police radio.

The building manager shows you security footage of the man’s three-story jump. Either than the fact he walked away without even a scratch, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the man. He looked human. But you know looks can be deceiving in this line of work. At least now you know his face. You know who you are looking for.

The manager gives you all the information he has on his murderous renter. You know it is all probably fake names and bogus addresses, but you have to start somewhere.

“More FBI?” The building’s landlord asks Sam and Dean as they each flash their badge.

“What do you mean more?” Dean asks with slight irritation. He hates when the real feds intrude on their cases. They always get territorial over their jurisdiction. Dean doesn’t have the patience right now to get into a pissing contest. He has a job to do and prefers to do it without interference.

“Yeah, an Agent Hart was here yesterday. That girl looked like she was barely out of diapers. You guys are recruiting them young now, aren’t ya?” The man asks.

Sam and Dean share a knowing look. Sam’s eyes widen as Dean’s narrows. You always used to babble about what fake FBI names you would use. Agent Hart was always at the top of your list. The brothers lost count of how many times you made them watch Miss Congeniality. So, they would know that name anywhere.

“Is this her?” Dean asks while showing the man a picture of you on his phone. The picture is of you sitting on Dean’s lap while you force him to smile for the camera.

“Yep. That’s her,” The land lord confirms. “You two close? Luck man,” he gives Dean a coy smile.

Dean does not return that slimy smirk. Instead, he clenches his jaw and holds himself back from punching the man. He hates the idea of anyone sexualizing his baby sister. You’re better than that.

Sam reads Dean’s reaction and steps between the two men. “Did she leave a phone number for you to reach her?” Sam asks with hope in his voice.

“Uh, yeah” the man says while he searches his wallet for your card. When he goes to hand it to Sam, Dean reaches over and snatches it away. Dean is about to leave the room when the man interrupts him. “Don’t you want to see what I showed her?” He asks reminding the agents why they were there in the first place.

The brothers crowd around the man’s tablet. He plays the security footage of the perp’s miraculous escape.

“Wait, freeze there. Zoom in,” Sam directs. The footage clearly shows the man is sporting a distinctive tattoo on his right forearm.

“Same ink as the Styne’s,” Dean says what both brothers are thinking.

In a panic, Sam pulls Dean away from the other man’s earshot. “Dean, if this is the Stynes, and Y/N is working this case, then she doesn’t know what she’s walking into. She left the bunker before Charlie called us about the Book of the Damned! She doesn’t know anything about what the Stynes are capable of or how hard they are to kill!” Sam informs his brother.

Dean’s teeth grind together. Before Sam can blink, Dean’s fist collides with the nearest piece of drywall. He shakes his now bloodied knuckles. “Son of a bitch!”

Sam looks back at the horrified landlord. “You can send the bill for repairs to head office,” Sam says with a sheepish smile. He hurries his brother out of the room before Dean snaps again.

Dean pushes his brother’s guiding hand off of him. “We need to find her, Sammy! Now!” Dean barks.

Over the past few weeks, Dean’s sole focus has been on finding you. However, Sam has split his attention between finding you and trying to find a way to remove Dean’s mark. But now, his missions have collided. Now more than ever, both brothers are feeling the urgency. You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into.

Dean and Sam get into the crappy car they have been forced to use since your departure. Dean slams the door shut behind him. “How could she be so stupid? I raised her better than this. She knows better than to…” Dean is too infuriated to finish his train of thought. You’re going to get yourself killed trying to prove a point to your brothers. The fear inside of Dean is morphing into uncontrollable anger. “I am going to kill all those Frankenstein sons of bitches if they so much as lay a finger one her!” Dean grips the wheel and peels out of the parking lot.

“Agent Hart,” you greet into the receiver of your phone. You love pretending to be professional.

“Y/N?” You hear Sam’s soft voice and your stomach drops.

“S-Sam?”

You hear shuffling on the other end of the phone. The next voice you hear makes you heart stop. You thought you were over it. You told yourself you that what Dean said and did to you was driven by the mark. That wasn’t your brother. You thought you were over it. But even hearing his hardened voice makes fearful tears pool in your eyes. Your bruises have long since healed but all the sudden you can feel your cheek sting again right where he hit you.

“Where the fuck are you?” Dean growls at you. Your eyes widen. You knew he would be mad that your left. You knew he would be pissed about you taking Baby. But, you thought his rage would have eased in the three weeks he has had to cool down. “You know what, it doesn’t matter,” Dean stops you before you can respond. “Get your ass back to the bunker, now! You have no idea what you’re dealing with, kid!”

Your anger rises to match Dean’s. He still refuses to acknowledge you. He still insists on treating you like a child. Apparently, you still have something to prove. You’ll take care of this weirdo all on your own. Then, you’ll rub it in his condescending face.

“I know exactly what I’m dealing with! A freak who has been harvesting people’s organs so he can live longer. I even know his name, Eldon Styne. Plus, I know where to find him,” you inform your brothers. You’re proud of all the information you have been able to dig up in such a short time. This guy left more a paper trail than you were expecting. He’s kind of sloppy.

“No, Y/N! Don’t you dare! It’s more than that! That ‘freak’ and his family aren’t something you can take on alone! These aren’t amateurs you’re dealing with, Y/N. So, they can’t be taken down by an amateur!”

In Dean’s misguided mind, he thinks he actually doing a good job in convincing you to back down. But, all he is doing is riling you up. Before, you had something to prove. Now, you feel like closing this case out of spite.

“I can do this! I may be new at this but I’m not an idiot. I am careful and I am capable. Back off, Dean!” You bite at your brother before hanging up on him. As if beating you down wasn’t enough. He always has to pour salt into your wounds by making you feel inferior.

You turn your phone off and pull out the battery. You have a long drive a head of you. You don’t need your phone ringing incessantly. Nor do you need your brothers tracking you down through GPS. You pull the map out of Baby’s glove compartment and find your route to Shreveport, Louisiana.

“Here’s how you redeem yourself. First, clean up your mess in Omaha. Next, you will track down these Winchesters who murdered your brother Jacob and who may now have in their possession the Book of the Damned” Monroe Styne instructs his son.

“It will be done,” Eldon responds with fearful obedience. He knows his father is not one to make idle threats. If he fails to deliver again, he will lose his position as heir and will become the family lab rat.

Eldon and his goons leave his father office on a mission.

Just then, you pull up to the cute yellow house. The mouldings scream southern charm. But the two armed men guarding the front door, tells you that you are exactly where you need to be. You did a little research on the Styne family. Their history isn’t as developed as you first assumed it would be. They seemed to have popped up in the 1800s out of nowhere and have been causing trouble ever since. If you had access to the bunkers library, you may have been able to learn more. But for now, all you need to know is that they kill people to harvest their body parts. Which means they fall under your jurisdiction.

You sneak around to the back porch and slip into the house through the kitchen. You are armed to the teeth. But so far no one has gotten in your way.

The further you slip into the house, the faster your heart starts to race. You see a group of men discussing something in the hall in front of you. To stay hidden, you slip into what you think is an empty room.

You close the door behind you. You jump out of your skin when you hear a throat clear from across the room. You raise your gun and point it in the direction of the sound.

The man looking down your barrel doesn’t seem phased in the least.

“And who might you be?” Monroe asks you with a curious smile. His southern drawl would be charming if he didn’t look like evil incarnate.

“I’m the girl who’s going to kill you,” you inform him. You try to match his threatening persona but can’t help but feel like you’re failing miserably.

Monroe laughs a genuine laugh. He gets out of his seat. “Drink?” He raises a pitcher of sweet tea in your direction.

You narrow your eyes at him in confusion. You’re not in the mood for small talk. So, you pull your trigger you land a shot straight in his heart. He doesn’t fall. He barely even flinches.

The gun shot didn’t kill him. But, it did alert the house to your presence. Within minutes, the door is kicked open and all the men from the hall barge into the room. Every shot you land hits their mark dead on but these men do not fall. It is as if the bullets barley leaves a sting.

It doesn’t take long for you to be surrounded. Your gun is kicked out of your hand and you are stripped of all your weapons, except they never find the knife in your boot. You are pushed onto your knees as your own gun is pointed at your head. You recognize the man holding you down as the man from the video, Eldon.

“Shall we try this one more time, girly? Who are you?” the grey-haired man asks you again.

You debate your options. Sassing him will only get you killed faster. So, you decide to try a little honesty. “Y/N Winchester. And I’m guessing you’re the patriarch of this little band of killers. You must be so proud,” you feign a smile up at the man. You told yourself you weren’t going to sass the man with a gun to your head but you just couldn’t help yourself.

“I have my moments. But tell me darling’, Winchester? Any relation to Sam and Dean?” the older man asks you.

You shift on your knees. “Y-You know my brothers?” You hate how shaky your voice comes out. But you’re starting to realize Dean may have been right. He may have warned you about this family for reason. You thought he was just being an asshole who thought you couldn’t handle any situation. But you’re starting to understand he was referring to this specific situation as being above your paygrade.

“They killed my eldest boy,” all charm is gone from Monroe’s voice. He steps forward so he is towering over your kneeling and helpless form. His lips fall into a hard line. He contemplates what to do with you. You can see his wheels turning against your favour. He is no doubt imagining the most painful way to kill you or which parts of you to harvest. That thought makes a shiver run down your spine.

“Daddy, the girl may be useful.” Eldon interrupts his father when he sees the murderous glint in his eyes. “If she really is their sister, I think they’d be willing to make a trade. We give them her and they give us the book. Those Winchesters seem just stupid enough to think it would be a fair trade.” Eldon offers a solution.

Monroe considers his options for a moment. “No,” he states with finality. “We do not barter with animals. That is beneath us. We will get the book back on our own terms. They stole from us and we shall not negotiate.”

“Then what are we to do with this one?” Eldon nudges you with his knee and you stumble off balance.

“She is a Winchester. You know as well as I do the power of Winchester blood. The Winchester lineage is a lot like ours in many ways, special.”

“So, what do you want to do, bleed her out?” Eldon asks slightly confused.

Now you think is a good time to clarify a few things. “I am only their half-sister! I don’t have any of that special sauce you are talking about. I’m just a-” a firm back handed slap across your cheek cuts you off.

“Don’t be stupid, boy. Think bigger. She may only be a half breed Winchester but she is still a Winchester. And Winchester blood will mix well with our own. It will add a certain potency to our linage. Strengthen the family tree so to speak. I’ll tell you what, we’ll make a deal. Cousin Eli seems to think you are incapable of handling your assignment on your own,” Monroe addresses his son. “prove him wrong. Kill that little redheaded who stole my book and I’ll give you the girl as a reward. She can be yours.”

“To do what with, exactly?” There is a glint of hope in Eldon voice that makes you shudder. But Eldon needs to clarify his father’s meaning before he lets his hopes run wild.

“You expect me to spell it out for you! You are my son and heir! That means you too will need an heir one day. Breed your new bitch. I don’t care how it happens. Marry her or simply lock her up in the basement and breed her when she’s at peak fertility. Like I said, I don’t care. But, you will mix our bloodlines.”

“Yes, Daddy!” Eldon beams with excitement. He reaches down to pick your stupefied body off the ground but Monroe slaps the back of his head to stop him.

“What the hell you doing, son?” Monroe shouts. “I said she is you reward for you fulfilling your duties! You have already disappointed me today. You have not earned your reward yet. You don’t get her until the job is done. And, if you fail… she will go to the man who can follow orders.” Monroe’s eye travels from his son over to his nephew Eli. A little familial completion is guaranteed to get the job done, especially since the incentive to succeed is so sweet. “You boys better get going. But leave her with me.” Monroe turns his attention to you. “We have some things to discuss. She will be well prepped in her expectations for your return.”

You are pulled off the ground. The feeling of someone touching you pulls you out of your shocked state. You fight against their manhandling with all the strength you have. But they drag you along like your violent efforts mean nothing. You are knocked around like a ragdoll. You can’t help but feel the same way you did at the bunker. Dean kept knocking you down so easily. You should have listened to him when he told you that you weren’t ready, you weren’t strong enough. Now, your overconfidence in your own abilities has condemned you to a nightmare.

Eldon tries to strap you to a wooden chair but your limbs refuse to comply. You scratch at his face and make his job as difficult as possible.

“Control your broodmare! If you cannot handle her now, how can I trust you to handle the breeding process?” Monroe shouts at his son.

Your eyes widen in fear but a full fisted punch to your temple knocks the fear out of you. Your mind goes hazy and your muscles go limp just long enough for Eldon to tie you down. You are brought back to reality when he leans in and kisses your temple. He puts his lips right over where his fist just landed. “I promise not to mark up your face anymore after this. It was just this once. But don’t think that the rest of you isn’t fair game,” he smiles against your skin. You pull on your restraints as tears pool in our eyes.

“Enough! Get to work. She’ll be waiting here for your successful return. Do not come back without that redhead’s blood on your sword,” Monroe threatens his son one last time.

Eldon nods and leaves the room without another word.

The throbbing in your head is dulled by the disgust bubbling within you. “If you know my brothers, then you know they will kill you. They’ll find out I’m here one way or another. Then, you are all dead!” You spit your venom at the patriarch. You hate the idea that you are relying on your brothers to save you. You want to save yourself. But right now, that isn’t an option. You only hope you didn’t cover your tracks as well as you thought you did and Sam and Dean find you before it’s too late.

“Time for a history lesson, girly.” Monroe says ignoring your every threat. “By the time school is out of session, you will understand the full power of my family… excuse my rudeness, our family.” He offers you a wicked smile. “We have been funding destruction for centuries. We cannot be taken down by the likes of your brothers. So, you may as well settle in. You are one of us now, sweetheart.”

“I will never be a part of your twisted family! You can take your egomaniacal self-indulgence and shove it up your-” a firm hand closes over your throat and blocks your words from coming out.

“This is a goddamn privilege! Baring Styne children is a gift. You will be grateful or will not like what happens next!” The pure rage in his eyes is more threatening than his words.

The forceful hold over your throat is causing your vison to blacken. Monroe loosens his grip and stands up straight. He walks back over to his desk and takes a seat. All he does is stare at you while he waits for you to choke the air back into your lungs.

“You finished? We have a lot of ground to cover.” Monroe says as he leans forward in his chair and interlocks his fingers.

After your family history lesson, you were left to sit alone in Monroe’s office. He didn’t seem to have an issue leaving you alone. He says he trusts his new daughter to behave then left. It feels like you have been sitting here for days on end. Although the agonizing cuckoo clock on the wall tells you it has only been a few of hours. You struggle against your restraints to reach the knife still in your boot but the ropes are too tight. You have to wait until someone comes to untie you.

The hours tick by but no one comes for you. No one comes to feed you or let you go to the bathroom. Exhaustion takes you over and you drift to sleep. You don’t know how long you were out for but you are awoken to the study door bursting open. You jolt awake and try to ready yourself for a fight, but then you remember you are strapped to a chair.

To your surprise, it isn’t Monroe but rather Eldon who comes through the door. He drops his bloodied knife onto his father’s desk. He turns to you with a triumphant smile. “I held up my end of the bargain. Father says I can play for a while before I go find your brothers. He says it is important to reward small victories. It prompts motivation for further success.”

He takes a step toward you. “Touch me and I will rip your lungs out!” you threaten the man using Dean’s best line.

Eldon clenches his jaw before crossing the room and punching you in the stomach. If you weren’t restrained you would have doubled over in pain. He is a man of his word, you have to give him that. He didn’t touch your face.

“I thought Father taught you your place here, bitch? You don’t get a say in what happens to you. Your body is mine and your womb belong to our family now. Get in line or I’ll have to put you there,” Eldon threatens you. “I earned you. I am entitled to my reward,” he says as if you are bartering over gold stickers and not your body.

“You didn’t earn shit! Your father is not in charge of when I spread my legs! You can go fuck yourself but leave me out of it!” You spit at the man in front of you.

“You got a mouth on you, girl. No wonder your brothers sent you into the lion’s den all on your own. They were probably itching to get rid of you and that smart lip. I am probably doing them a service taking you off their hands and putting that tongue to better use.”

Before you can correct him, Eldon lunges forward and claims your mouth in bruising kiss. You struggle against your restraints and try to jerk your head away. But a firm hand grasps your hair and holds you in place. You bite his intruding tongue but that earns you another punch to the stomach.

Eldon pushes away from you and walks back over to his father’s desk. He picks up his bloodied and discarded knife before coming back over to you.

“Do you know whose blood this is?” He asks you as he crouches down to your eye level.

You shake your head because your swollen lips are too afraid to part.

“I believe you know her. Apparently, she is a family friend of you Winchesters.” Eldon licks some of the blood off his knife and your cringe with disgust. “Charlene… Caroline…” Eldon struggles to remember her name.

“C-Charlie?” you squeak with utter dread.

Eldon’s wicked smile of affirmation is his only response. You heart drops into your stomach as violent tears stream down your cheeks. You had no idea Charlie was the redhead they were talking about earlier. Why didn’t you make that connection? Why didn’t you kill them when you had the chance? Now, Charlie is dead because you couldn’t handle them on your own. She is dead because of you.

Your head is hung low but Eldon hooks his finger under your chin. Your watering eyes meet his empty ones. He licks his blade again. Then, he kisses you again. You can taste Charlie’s blood on his tongue and you sob into his mouth.

He cuts you free of your restraints and throws you over his shoulder. You kick against him and let out a string of curses as he carries up the stairs to his bedroom. He locks the door behind him then throws you onto his bed.

“Strip,” to him it is such a simple demand.

You start by taking off your boot. The second it is off your foot you reach inside the lining and pull out your knife. You swipe it across his face and leave a nasty gash. He doesn’t even wince.

There is no pain in his eyes, only rage. He grasps your wrists and bends it back until the bone snaps and you let go of your little knife. You whimper in pain but he pays you no mind. He picks up your knife and pushes you onto your back. He hovers in over you and holds the knife to your throat.

“Kiss it better,” he orders you. When you refuse to move he presses the knife into your skin until it draws blood. You debate whether you should let him kill you, it would be better than being his bitch. But, you know he won’t let you off that easy.

You lean forward and kiss his cheek, right above the bloody cut you left there. That simple act causes bile to rise in your throat.

“I’m sure you can do better than that. Let me show you how it’s done,” Eldon says as he takes the knife and cuts along your collarbone. A line of blood appears and you bite back your cries of pain. He lowers his mouth onto you wound. He sucks and kisses the cut until there is no more blood dripping down your chest. “Just like that,” he says when he’s finished. “Your turn!” he leans his cheek closer to you.

You refuse to reciprocate.

He clenches his jaw. “Fine then. I guess I’ll just have to keep going until you get the memo.” He rips open your shirt and starts cutting into the skin along your chest and stomach. You writhe in pain as it is a never-ending pattern of cutting and sucking. He holds you down with his inhuman strength and forces you to endure his confusing torture. The knife hurts but his lips heal.

His trail ends at the hem of your jeans. But soon he takes them off you and cuts your panties off you too. You have been naked in front of a man before but you have never felt so exposed. He keeps your legs spread as he places the cold blade against your core.

“Please don’t,” you beg him through the tears. You are starting to realize just how bad he could make this.

“Shh, baby girl.” He crawls back up your body. “I would never cut you there… unless you asked me nicely. No, I plan on ruining your pretty little pussy in a different way.” He smiles at you and you hear him unbuckle his slacks.

You kick, punch, scream, and beg. But you are no match for him. You have a broken wrist and mere human strength. He will have his way, whether you like it or not.

He takes you. You try to close your eyes and pretend it is Nate splitting you open but Eldon forces you keep your eyes open. He wants you to watch as he lays his claim. He owns you now and each brutal thrust seals the deal. You push Nate out of your mind.

Soon the Styne’s seed will paint your walls. You stopped fighting him. You figure this is your punishment for being unable to prevent Charlie’s death. You deserve all the pain, violation, and humiliation.

At some point during the night, you stopped wishing your brothers would find you. You don’t want them to see how quickly you broke, how quickly you crumbled under Eldon’s forceful hand. You don’t want them to see how weak you are.

You don’t want them to say I told you so.

Series Tags: (I know it’s been a long time since you asked to be tagged so sorry if you’re not interest anymore)

@bee-wrecker

@unicorndreamer1622

@algud

@wtfcas

@oliolioxiclean

@miraxo-xo-supernatural

@thatcrazybokwormgeek

Forever Tags:

@phonegalhelp

@mogaruke

@arses21434

@spn-ficfanatic

@winchestersister55

@itstuesdaytoo

@andkatiethings

@coltcas

@jackles-jadalecki

@iliketowrite02

@hobby27

@jaremish

@85natalie

@chocolateturtlepeanutopera

@atc74

@bumber-car-s

@bojabee

@trumpettay

@jessieray98

@waywardrose13

@justafandomsuckup

@cherry-3point14

@lonely-skys

@dean-winchesters-bacon

@call-me-jaayy

@supernatural-bellawinchester

@jensensjaredsandmishaslover

@deansbbysblog

#supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #spn #spn fanfic #sister!winchester #sister!reader #dean x sister!reader #sam x sister!reader #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #angst #trigger warning #tw: noncon

178 notes · View notes

kayteonline · 7 years ago

Text

Strange Magic: I Put a Spell on You

Characters: Dean x Reader, Sam, Brad (OMC)

Summary: If you loved When Harry Met Sally… this isn’t it. But it’s got its flavor. Witches are bitches, and this one has a parting gift for you that stirs things up for you and Dean in a way you hope to never experience again

Warnings: Language

Word count: 4.3k

Series Master List

Tags: (At the end. I tag alotta of peeps, but you are never obligated and always appreciated. Feel free to let me know if I tagged you incorrectly or you would like me to take you off! I totally understand. Its been awhile so tagging was kinda hard.)

A/N: My beauties.. it’s been awhile! I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this! I’m so happy to be back. I hope you love a ride because this is definitely that. A total 17k word ride! Strap in ;) Italics in this part are flashbacks.

I had a lot of fun writing this. As well as set backs and writers block, life,etc... but I made it out and I’m excited to share this! It was born from a challenge put on by the wondrous @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog and her forever ago Romcom challenge with the prompt ‘Except for the part about my penis, that’s true.. It’s bigger than coins’, and a long ago spnkinkbingo square ‘Coming Untouched’. ELO’s song Strange Magic further inspired the title and also inspired Dean x Reader throughout. It’s so grossly late it doesn’t count of course but if you read it, I hope you enjoy it! THANK YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK to my patient, sweet, imaginative, encouraging beta @butiaintgonnaloveem for putting up with this beast and my huge fic ;) And more huge thank yous to my other great friends who looked this over and kept me going early on: @mrswhozeewhatsis @manawhaat and @saxxxology

I love hearing from you all! Thank you for reading! XOXO

*Aesthetic by my super talented wonderful friend @saxxxology <3

“I’m so glad that’s over and done with.” Dean’s smile held a sense of pride as he ducked into the Impala.

Sliding behind the wheel he nodded in approval first at Sam, who nodded back in agreement before he shifted and nodded at you next, a slight smugness pulling at the corner of his mouth. He didn’t wait for your nod before he turned back to stick the key in the ignition, firing up the engine.

You shook your head with a laugh, the attitude in his display not going unnoticed. “Yeah? Which part, Dean? The case, or Braaad?” You drew out his name adding a wistful sigh for additional effect knowing each time either you or Sam said it you’d get a reaction out of him.

He rolled his eyes, throwing on a face of disapproval, the corners of his mouth dimpling as he glanced at you over his shoulder. Sam caught his gaze and laughed in amusement, making Dean’s mouth fall into a hard line. “Whose side are you on?”

“He was your idea,” you reminded him with a self-satisfied smirk, coming to Sam’s defense, “or did you forget that part?”

He mumbled to himself, likely mocking what you’d just said, and threw the car into reverse without another word, pulling out of the parking spot in front of the motel room you’d just checked out of. It made you giggle in amusement, just as it had every other time he pulled this attitude, and what made it even funnier was if it weren’t for Brad coming to your aide, the three of you would have ended up with a cold case, or worse; you’d have ended up dead.

Dean dropped his phone on the table rubbing at the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh. “So, we’re up shits creek here if we don’t find someone. And I’m not about to be this witch’s next meat puppet.”

“Me either, I’m all out too. You know just about everyone I do, and they’re all a day's drive or more away,” Sam conceded next, closing the thick leather bound journal and setting it beside him on the bed before tossing his phone there, too.

Scrolling through your contacts, you chewed your bottom lip when you saw the name. You hadn’t talked to this person in almost eight months now, and you’d hoped you wouldn’t have to reach out to them, but with Sam and Dean both coming up empty it seemed as though you had no other choice.

“I have one last person I can try,” you finally spoke up, breaking the short span of silence in the motel room. Meeting two sets of curious eyes, you let out a small sigh. “His name’s Brad. He’s a long time friend of mine that I originally began hunting with back in the day. He lives in Gary, just a few hours northwest from here, and last I knew he was mostly out, but available if needed.”

Dean scoffed. “Brad? That’s a stupid name. What kind of hunter’s name is Brad?”

You and Sam both looked at each other, eyebrows pulled together in question. “Uh, the kind you should hope is available to cover your ass. Unless of course you prefer to be witch souffle,” you shot back leaning back in your chair across from him.

His lips pressed into a flat line. “And how good is this… Brad?” He waved a hand around dismissively.

“He’s fantastic,” you smiled wide before continuing, “Smart, level-headed, there for his friends whenever you need him; he doesn’t let his his emotions get in the way of a case, he’s brave above all others’ fears or concerns of a situation, and strong of course... physically.” you added with a small smirk. As you continued to think about his other qualities, your words fell off and you stopped talking altogether as it dawned on you how closely you’d just described Dean if someone were to ask you about him.

Dean kind of stared at you as you spoke, the look on his face something you couldn’t quite read. It had you wondering if he’d caught on, and knew who you were actually talking about. He let out a heavy sigh then pulling you from your thoughts, seeming to concede to the fact this was the only option, and looked to Sam before his eyes returned to yours. “Alright, call him. If he’s annoying, even just a little bit, I’m shooting him first chance I get.” He stood with his last words and walked into the bathroom.

Pulling the car onto the main highway, Dean headed in the direction of the bunker, the three of you content with a closed case under your belt. You were after a witch; a powerful one at that. She was believed to have died long ago, and resurfaced after Lucifer was set free when the seals were broken. She’d succeeded in keeping herself concealed for years until a couple of hunters stumbled upon her during a summoning ritual she was performing, ending up as sacrifices, and popping up in a news feed Sam was subscribed to a day later.

Upon further research into the disappearances, and an eleven hour drive to Fort Wayne, Indiana, it was discovered the guys knew more about her than they had originally thought. Dean remembered reading something in their dad’s journal about a similar case he’d worked in the early eighties, where he killed an equally dangerous witch performing similar spells to summon a powerful demon that required multiple human sacrifices.

It sounded easy enough, find the witch and end her before any more harm could be done.

That, however, rapidly changed when they were conducting interviews in her neighborhood and ended up on her front porch. She’d recognized both Sam and Dean immediately as being the sons of John Winchester, the man who’d killed her mother, and attempted to trap them. She proved to be equally as powerful as her late mother, and a whole lot of pissed off; the boys narrowly escaping the swarm of bees she conjured.

Needing another way to get close enough to kill her, Dean had come up with “Plan B’’. With Brad available to meet you that afternoon, the two of you would be going in as new neighbors to get in and complete the job.

“I thought you were friends with cool people Y/N, not tools,” Dean snidely commented as the three of you watched Brad heading for the diner’s entrance when he arrived.

You could tell by his unsuccessful attempt at covering the shock on his face, he’d probably been picturing someone similar to Garth: gangly, a shy bookish looking type you would think had zero game with the ladies, and most likely couldn’t hold his liquor. So when he saw a good looking guy that resembled him a little bit from his younger years, he was having trouble hiding his jealous discomfort.

Brad was tall, an inch or so over Dean, but not quite Sam’s height, with a strong jaw and a perfectly proportionate body, his muscled chest on display through his snug t-shirt. With the days-old scruff on his face and open weathered flannel button down, he looked more like a man straight out of some lumberjack fantasy than someone who hunted monsters.

“His tool is none of your concern, Dean,” you shot back with wink. “He hunts as good as he looks.” Your smile was wide and proud, and you barely caught Dean’s rolling eyes from the corner of yours when Brad spotted you in the window. He waved your way, making Dean’s face light up in amusement.

He laughed low taking in the way you smiled at him as you waved back. “He's got a small dick, doesn't he?”

You balked at his direct question. “One look and two sentences, and you think you have him figured out?”

“One look and two sentences, and I know I have him figured out. Look at him. Walking like some Abercrombie model reject. He's compensating. Especially in that joke of a plastic truck.”

You should have said something in Brad’s defense, but your words failed you as your cheeks went hot knowing he was right. Why was he always right? “Ok, fine! He's ok.. I mean he might only be about as big as a roll of silver dollars, but he knows how to use it very, very well. Have I had bigger? Yeah. Obviously,” you gestured towards Dean. “Doesn’t overshadow the fact that he’s a great hunter.”

Sam’s head shot up at your motions, stuttering out a, “Wh-what?” that both you and Dean ignored.

“Gotta put that anger somewhere,” Dean remarked, a smug smirk pulling at the corner of his lips that made you want to reach across the table and smack him. Even more so when he continued to talk. “Told you I’d finally get you to admit you’d slept with him.”

Squinting your eyes in annoyance you had a great comeback for him, ready to fire it off when a familiar voice sounded just above your head. Your eyes widened, the heat flaring in your cheeks again to the point it felt like they were going to burst into flames from the pure embarrassment that he’d likely heard all of that. Slowly turning your head you looked up at him with a meek smile.

“Oh, we’ve definitely rolled around in the sheets a few times. Except for the part about my penis, that’s true.” His hand landed on your shoulder giving it a firm squeeze as he continued, “It’s bigger than coins, come on Y/N.” He nodded, eyebrows pulled high and gratified as he smiled coolly at the brothers blank expressions. “I haven’t met you guys yet, but I’d be happy to prove it if you like.”

“Yeah, we can go to the bathroom right now, and I’d be happy to show you what a real dick looks like,” Dean replied, his smile huge and condescending, keeping his eyes intently on Brad.

“Dean!” Sam scolded him under his breath with a shove of his knee into Dean’s thigh. “Dude, what’s gotten into you?” he hissed quietly.

“What? I’m playing nice,” he shrugged. He didn’t budge though, continuing his epic stare down with Brad, his smile still as self-satisfying as ever as Brad smiled back, unfazed by Dean’s attitude.

“I like him already,” Brad commented, breaking the growing tension as an elbow nudged into your bicep and he pushed into the booth beside you, signaling the waitress over. “So, what’s the low down on this big bad witch we’re after?”

You met Brad years ago through a close family friend that often partnered with him on cases, and the two of you hit it off immediately. You partnered up not long after when a horrific hunt left his friend severely disabled.

He was a genuinely great guy, that was not only attractive, but smart; he could make you laugh even on your darkest days and the two of you worked well together. You trusted him with your life in any situation you ended up in, and he always had your back.

Having him around again, it was painfully obvious the huge torch he still held for you, even after his eventful arrival. It made Sam snicker, while Dean turned ‘alpha male’ like he was marking his territory any chance he got. It had you double taking at the change in him given the fact you and Dean were only friends.

If you had to categorize it, you were basically friends with benefits, and neither of you seemed to ever care to put a label on it, or want to put anything more into it after any night you ended up in bed together; and that was fine by you. Throughout the 5 years you’d been hunting with the brothers, sex with Dean had been on occasion; usually after longer hunts and some heavy drinking. You cared about one another, of course, but it was never anything more than one friend caring for another’s safety in this line of work. You could only speculate that Brad’s arrival brought some of Dean’s deep insecurities to the surface.

One particular moment stood out to you from a few days ago as you and Brad got ready to head out to your temporary housing. You’d caught Dean eyeing a shirtless Brad as he dressed on the other side of the small room; his fitted black slacks hanging low on his lean hips, his bright smile infectious as he laughed with you at a story he was telling about one of the many crazy hunts you’d been on together. His scars from battles past were on full display, spread out over the expanse of smooth, set lean muscle, silently proving to them he was more than just a pretty face.

Dean’s eyebrows were pulled together in deep thought, not really giving the conversation his full attention, and he pulled his own shirt out, toying with the fabric and shifting uncomfortably in his chair, trying not to stare too long at him. You could have been misreading him, but he looked like he was comparing himself to Brad, physically, and it still made your stomach sink when you thought back on it. You found yourself wanting to go to him and tell him everything about him was perfect in your eyes, he was gorgeous, and there was nothing about him you would ever consider changing. As the thought crossed your mind, it had you stopping for a moment, wondering why that affected you like it did. You were all for boosting either brother’s self esteem when needed, but that was different.

Sam and Brad walked a few feet ahead as the four of you made your way around to the back of the house you and Brad would be borrowing when Dean quickly strode up beside you, leaning close as he spoke low. “I can see now why you’d be all googley-eyed for him. I thought he was just another douche, but, he’s admittedly a pretty cool guy.”

You eyed him curiously at his choice of words, but went on defense as you knew this was probably another attempt at phishing for information, like he’d been doing for the past few days, about yours and Brad’s previous relationship. It took you a minute to see it, but his sly tactics weren’t as well hidden as he thought. Why was he trying to get a read on your feelings?

“Ok, I am not, nor have I ever been googley-eyed for the guy, Dean. We’re just friends,” you hoarsely whispered back. “So we had sex twice, that’s as far as it ever went. He is wonderful, yes, and he deserves the best girl out there, but that girl isn’t me.”

His mouth pulled into a half smile and you could see his face visibly relax, looking like he was a little relieved to hear that. “Crazy drunk nights after a hunt. Been there. The road can be a lonely place.”

“... I wasn’t drunk,” you responded meekly. “And neither was he.”

“Oh,” he said, pausing for a relieving few minutes before speaking again, “So, what happened? He wanted more and you bolted?”

You let out a deep breath in an attempt to reign in the irritation his question sparked and shrugged, “In a way I guess… I went one way, and he went the other technically. We weren't seeing eye to eye anymore, so it was better for the both of us.” Coming up to the steps that lead up to the back door you quickly stepped in front of him placing your hand squarely on his chest to stop him. “What’s this about, Dean? You’ve been asking about him pretty often lately. What are you trying to get at?”

He scoffed, laughing low and averted his eyes the way he did when he’d been caught. “I just want to be sure I know who I’m dealing with. That’s it. We don’t know the guy, and it’s been months since you last saw him, let alone talked to him. What if he’s some crazy psycho serial killer out for revenge?”

You laughed out loud at the absurdity of his assumption catching his eyes, his cheeks turning pink at your reaction because he was partially serious about what he said. “That I know for a fact is not true, ok? You and Sam can rest comfortably knowing Brad’s harmless to anyone who’s not a monster,” you assured him, still giggling. “You know what I think? I think, that you’re thinking, I’m gonna ditch out on you at the mention of you wanting more because we’ve slept together.” You watched as all emotion fell away from his face. “Well I’m not, Dean. He just wasn’t the right person for me.” Holding his gaze for a beat longer, you turned on your heel and made your way up the steps not waiting for a response.

The brothers made themselves scarce after you were settled, only calling to check up on you throughout the day. It was mainly Sam, which didn’t surprise you after the last conversation you and Dean had. When you’d hung up with him after the last call, you made up your mind. After this case was finished you were going to find some way to get it out of him what was going on.

Working together again with Brad, things fell right back into stride. He was still the same ol’ sweet protective guy you remembered, and it felt like it had been only days, not months, since you last saw one another as you put together a plan of action to get close to the witch and take her out. His subtle attempts at making a move on you weren’t missed either. In his own roundabout way, he kept making it known he still carried feelings for you. And like Dean, Brad kept slyly prodding you for information about your other relationships to see how good his chances were at rekindling what you once had.

It made coming up with the best way to tell him the two of you were just friends that much harder, and that you and Dean often slept with each other; not to mention you admittedly kind of liked him. A lot. So you left it unspoken until the right words came to you, and instead prepared for part one of your plan; gain access to her home and find clues about what the witch was planning on summoning.

After successfully being welcomed into the witch’s house, things went sideways, fast.

Unknown to you or Brad during your light conversation, she snuck in a little something of her own into the brownies you’d made as a ‘new to the neighborhood’ gesture. As the spell completely immobilized you, Brad was able to get a good swing in on her before she could take him too and quickly ran out the back door.

Not bothering to go after him, she smiled knowingly at you as if to answer your unspoken question about why she wasn’t worried about him getting away. She revealed to you then she knew exactly who you two were the moment she answered the door. With the help of a location spell and some of Sam’s hair she’d snatched, she was able to eavesdrop on several occasions.

As she spoke, the pounding pressure in your head doubled, and you could barely make out the next words before you passed out; something about Dean caring about you deep down, and with you here, you’d become the perfect leverage on her quest for revenge.

After finally coming to, you found yourself shackled down in her basement as she readied the next part her plan. The Latin incantation she recited next was old, unlike anything you’d ever heard before, and with a puff of red smoke she had stolen your voice.

You could only stare in utter shock as she used it to mask her own, and lure Sam and Dean to her. It worked too as you listened in on her side of the conversation she was having with Dean.

To make matters worse, the spell she cast didn’t just take your voice, it was slowly constricting your throat with each breath you took.

Thankfully it wouldn’t take Sam and Dean too long to get to you, but she was ready for them. She had learned from the last attempt, and subdued them quickly. With the brothers writhing in agony on the concrete floor the moment they set foot in the basement, things were beginning to look grim for the three of you.

As your vision began to go fuzzy around the edges, your chest burning from the lack of oxygen, Brad barged in; gun raised and dirt smeared across his face as he demanded she let all of you go. He looked so angelic in that moment, standing tall above you, the light from the one hanging bulb casting a glow around him as he inched further in the room attempting to get himself between you and her.

Reciting another piece of Latin, she snapped her fingers and turned towards Brad. Before she could take another step, he pulled the trigger sending a bullet right between her eyes.

You’d never felt more relief in your life than that first deep breath after the spell was lifted. Whatever she cast over Sam and Dean was gone too, the two of them already up on their feet praising Brad on his perfect shot and thanking him for saving all of you.

With her body disposed of and your things collected, you all agreed a hot shower and a few stiff drinks would be a perfect ending to your brushes with death. The guys offered to buy the first round for Brad’s victory as Dean pulled up to the motel, but as he fidgeted in his seat, he kindly declined before asking to talk to you off to the side when the car was stopped.

“Is everything ok?” you asked when the two of you were a few feet away from the Impala. “I was really looking forward to you coming out with us tonight. We’ll be heading out tomorrow now that the big bad witch is dead, and I don’t know when I’ll see you next. I was hoping we could catch up some more.”

“Everything’s great, Y/N. People are safe again, the bad is gone.” He smiled sweetly down at you, shoving his hands in his pockets. “The thing is, I was kind of hoping it could be just you and I celebrating the win tonight. Alone. The last few days had me thinking about how good together we’ve always been, and how truly sorry I am about how things ended with us. So, I want to make it up to you... if you’ll give me the chance.”

You sighed heavily knowing this was coming, but hoping you’d dodged that bullet when it hadn’t come up. You were still feeling entirely unprepared to say what you needed to say right now, but forged on, “Brad,” you started, pulling one of his hands from his pockets as you put on your bravest smile and took a deep breath. “You’ve been one of my oldest, and closest friends I’ve ever had in my life. We are great together, we will always be great together in this life. I just... don’t see us being anything more than friends.”

“So us sleeping together back then… that meant nothing to you?”

“What? Of course it did. You were what I wanted… back then. It’s just, can you look at me and honestly tell me you felt something more for me after either time we had sex? Because the way it ended sure didn’t seem like it.”

He tore his eyes away from you after your last words, and slowly pulled his hand away, catching Dean's eyes when he’d glanced over from the Impalas open trunk. Following his gaze, you gave Dean a tight smile when your eyes met before looking back to Brad.

“Look, Brad, I’m sor-” your words were cut short as Brad’s hand came up.

“Save it, Y/N. Thanks, but no thanks. This is what I get for saving you today? A ‘Hey Brad, I have zero gratitude to show you for saving my life today. Let’s just be friends, I’d rather go celebrate with the Douche-chesters’.”

Your mouth fell open, completely taken aback at what he was implying. “You know what..“ you started, ready to lay into him when you were stopped short, catching Dean out of the corner of your eye already heading over having heard the rising anger in Brad’s voice. And by the looks of him, he didn’t miss the insulting nickname either.

“Hey!” he called out. “Why don’t you dial it back a little bit there, buddy. She doesn’t owe you jackshit for today. None of us do. So how about you apologize to her for your own douchebag attitude, and go find your gratitude with some local bar skank.”

Narrowing his eyes, he stepped closer to Dean. “You don’t have to tell me twice, buddy. Just remember, all of you would be dead right now if I hadn’t come to when I did,” he spat back. “So how about the two of you…. go fuck yourselves. Hmm? Sound good? Good. She’s a terrible lay too by the way; enjoy.”

Raising both of his middle fingers to each of your faces, he made sure to look at both of your dumbfounded faces one last time before stalking off. He grabbed his stuff from beside the Impala and tossed it into the back of his truck as you and Dean looked at one another, knowing smirks on your faces before you burst out laughing.

“Worse has been said,” Dean commented loud enough for Brad to hear, and threw his hands up with a shrug, the two of you still laughing as he shot you both one last dirty look before getting in his truck, speeding out of the lot.

When you woke that next morning, something felt off.

Part 2 - Do you believe in Magic?

Tags from my list, @mrswhozeewhatsis awesome list and the @spnfanficpond XO: @butiaintgonnaloveem @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @quiddy-writes @aprofoundbondwithdean @manawhaat @winchesterenthusiast @littlegreenplasticsoldier @deandoesthingstome @salvachester @chelsea072498 @mirandaaustin93 @ohmychuckitssamanddean @kittenofdoomage @eyes-of-a-disney-princess @faith-in-dean @for-the-love-of-dean @thedevilinthedetails @skybinx-blog @myfand0msandm0re @winchesterfiesta @sandlee44 @mrsjohnsmith @supermoonpanda @samanddeanwinchester67 @feelmyroarrrr @beachy2014 @its-my-perky-nipples @gryffindorable713 @meganwinchester1999 @fangirling-instead-of-working @mamaimpala @notnaturalanahi @scorpiongirl1 @mysupernaturalfanfics @imadeangirl-butimsamcurious @babypieandwhiskey @jpadjackles @supernatural-jackles @faegal04 @jotink78 @mogaruke @autopistaaningunaparte @emoryhemsworth @taste-of-dean @sassysupernaturalsweetheart @supernaturalismylife @revwinchester @supernaturalyobsessed @just-another-winchester @there-must-be-a-lock @winchester-family-business @canadianjelly @deansbabygirl01 @pretty-fortune @kitchenwitchsuperwhovian

#dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader mini series #dean winchester x reader mini series #spn fan fic #spn fan fiction #spn fanfic #spn fanfiction #supernatural fan fic #supernatural fan fiction #supernatural fanfic #supernatural fanfiction

156 notes · View notes

whispersandwhiskerburn · 7 years ago

Text

The Christmas Con

Angel’s 2017 Christmas Drabble #5 (Christmas Drabbles List)

Request: @plaidstiel-wormstache said: OMC OMC OMC - Dean, the impala, mistletoe hanging from the rearview mirror. Pairing: Dean x Reader Word Count: 1,820 Warnings: Dean is being a bit of a Grinch. Kinda relationship angst/kinda fluffy? Flangst maybe? Reader is a bit maudlin at one point, but I’d call this fluffy and cute...idk, you guys tell me. Author’s Note: This image in my head was great, and I wish I had a gif of it. Thanks for always providing such great inspiration to my writing, Jess. :) Also, it was almost painful how many times I messed up while trying to switch to first person narration on this fic, but I wanted to try on your favorite style for your request.

Even from the beginning, I knew life on the road with the Winchesters wasn’t always going to be easy.

Frankly, they both could be rather grouchy, Dean especially. Around the holidays it always seemed to be worse.

Don’t misunderstand--I love them both, but sometimes….

“Dean, seriously? That’s the third time!”

The three of you had just checked into yet another off-putting hotel for the third time so far this December. No case this time, at least not yet, just moving on to a new spot after the conclusion of a last one before the local cops started asking too many questions about the paperwork.

And at all three hotels, Dean had made a point of sneering at the clerk’s “Merry Christmas” greeting and accidentally knocking over or damaging some piece of Christmas decoration in their lobby. Sam was doing his best to ignore it, picking his battles I guess, but I’d about had enough of this Grinchy-behavior.

“What?” His voice was immediately on the defensive as he dropped his suitcase on the bed closest to the window. Sam had made a bee-line for the bathroom, the coward, as I squared off against my boyfriend.

“‘What?’ nothing. You know exactly what I’m talking about, Ebenezer. And don’t even!”

His mouth had been open, the words ‘bah’ and ‘humbug’ hovering on his lips when I’d preempted him.

“What exactly is your beef against Christmas anyway? I know you and Sam fought off that pagan Christmas deity pair, and you didn’t have the greatest Christmases growing up, but does that mean you have to stomp over everyone else’s good mood on the holidays?”

My hands were on my hips, and I was even surprised myself at how vehemently I was arguing the issue. Dean’s attitude must have been bugging me more than I’d realized.

He looked genuinely surprised by my rant too, sitting down on the bed and pulling me close to him.

“Why does it matter, Y/N? Christmas is really just another day on the job for us anyway, and it’s not really the holiday mood I have an issue with, it’s people who are cheery for no reason whatsoever. They bug me the other 11 months of the year too, but you don’t call me out about it then.

“So the real question, Y/N, is what’s got you so hot and bothered?”

If he had asked it in a condescending way, or accusing, I probably would have kicked his ass on principle. But a sincere Dean Winchester was a hard thing to resist or get mad at.

I rested my hands on his shoulders and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what was bugging me so much. It didn’t take long.

“I’m new to this hunting game, Dean. I didn’t grow up in it like you--Hell, I didn’t even know monsters were real until I was an adult. My childhood… it wasn’t perfect, but I can remember Christmas being amazing, and a part of me misses it. Decorating, shopping for the perfect gift, the excitement on Christmas morning, going sledding and ice skating, quiet time with family, making snowmen and snow angels….”

My voice drifted off as I lost myself in memories for a moment. Dean brought me back to Earth with a gentle squeeze on my hips through my sweatshirt and denim.

“Babe, that sounds nice and everything, but we don’t really do Christmas. It’s all for tourists--with the wrapping paper and the shopping and the nativity scenes. It’s not really part of the hunter lifestyle, you know? Sometimes you just have to let those things go.”

I eyed him, judging if he meant it or not.

Maybe he was right. Hunting didn’t leave time for much caroling or candy canes. Maybe this was just another adjustment I’d need to make.

“Okay, Dean. I’m going to take a shower and get to bed. I’m tired.”

Sam had emerged from the bathroom, apparently having judged our volume as safe-enough-to-risk-it, and I stepped back out of Dean’s reach, grabbed my toiletry bag, and claimed the bathroom.

A hot shower, no matter what the water pressure in this crap hotel, was sure to be some improvement on my maudlin attitude. There wasn’t much sense in wishing for childish things… what was that poem again?

I sat on the toilet and googled, my mind tugging at a remembered phrase about childhood and childish things, until I found the poem by St. Vincent Millay. I skimmed it, nodding to myself.

Yes, I’d left that particular kingdom behind the same day I’d met the Winchesters, grieving over the horrible deaths of my parents. And the holidays were the time I missed them most, remembering the fun they always put into the season, the closeness, the warmth, no matter how cold it got outside.

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, and I put the phone down, internally scolding myself. I reached over, turning on the hot water before turning on my phone’s music to drown out the sound of the groaning pipes.

Moping would solve nothing. I had a new family with the Winchesters, after all, and a new purpose in hunting.

And that would have to be enough for all the holidays to come.

“C’mon, Y/N, wake up, sweetheart.”

I groaned and tugged on the blanket. There was no telling how long I had actually been asleep, but my internal alarm clock was reading “not long enough”.

Stupid Dean didn’t get the message.

“Y…… N……” Dean’s voice was particularly annoying right now. He apparently was okay without having sex again anytime soon if he kept that shit up.

“C’mon, gorgeous, you’ve got to get up. We’ve got to get some coffee in you and get on the road. We’ve got a new case.”

I groaned, recognizing his tone. Dean was in hunter mode--relentless and impatient. There was no way I was getting back to sleep this morning.

“Fine. I’m moving. But if I don’t have a coffee cup waiting for me by the time I get out of the bathroom, you won’t be.” My voice was grumpy grumble as I rolled out of the bed, heading for the tiny bathroom. I dimly noticed that Sam wasn’t in the room and Dean was sitting by his computer.

As I shut the door I heard Dean chuckle, “that’s my girl.”

When I came back out five minutes later, marginally awake but still in desperate need of caffeine, Sam had returned and was bearing Starbucks, the saint that he was.

I made grabby hands until he laughed and passed one over, “good morning, Y/N.”

“Hmmph.”

I sipped slowly at my hot beverage, barely listening as Sam and Dean continued a conversation they’d apparently started last night or this morning.

“We can’t just not help Garth. We owe the guy, and besides--I’d feel bad if he got killed.”

Sam shook his head, “but we can’t ignore Bobby either. I say, divide and conquer. I’ll take care of Garth, you two follow up on Bobby’s lead.”

Dean frowned, then nodded, the plan making sense to him. “Why not? We should both get done quicker that way, maybe meet up in a couple of days at Bobby’s place.”

“We might even make it in time for Christmas.” Sam smiled, but Dean rolled his eyes, his mind apparently not changed at all since last night.

I finally felt alive enough to interject, “when are we leaving?”

Dean eyed me up and down, a smile on his face. I probably still had bed-head or something, but at least he was too smart to say anything about it.

“Just as soon as you finish that coffee.”

Ten minutes later, I had packed my duffle and thrown it in the trunk of the Impala. Sam was going to wait at the hotel for Garth to give him a ride while Dean and I followed whatever lead Bobby had given him while I’d been asleep.

I sighed a bit as the festive decorations on the front lobby of the little hotel caught my eye. Hunting a monster wasn’t exactly how I had wanted to spend the last few days before Christmas.

But life was change. I’d adjust soon enough.

Dean was already behind the wheel, and I could practically feel his impatience to get started, so I opened my door and slid in.

And immediately stopped.

“Dean, what is that?”

“What’s what?” Dean’s voice was carefully hiding something--amusement? Excitement?

“This.” I reached out and tapped the small bunch of mistletoe hanging from the rear view mirror. Maybe it was some kind of warding, but it hadn’t been there the last time I got in the car.

“I’m shocked, Y/N. Don’t you know what hanging mistletoe is for at Christmastime?”

I finally tore my eyes away from the plant to see Dean’s mischievous smile. I hadn’t seen that smile since the time he’d put benadryl cream in Sam’s toothpaste tube.

“You bastard.” I whispered as it all clicked in my head.

He laughed then, pulling me across the seat to kiss me under the mistletoe.

I kissed him back briefly, then pushed at his chest to get some space. “So all that talk about Christmas not being a part of the hunting life? It was a prank?”

He shook his head, his hand threading through my hair.

“No, not really. I haven’t paid much attention to Christmas since Sam was a kid.” His other hand reached for the charm that always dangled around his neck.

“But if it matters to you, I have no problem indulging. And it might be fun.” And the way his eyebrows waggled at that last sentence clued you in about another layer of this elaborate hoax.

“So this case that we’re on….”

“Isn’t a case. Bobby’s loaning us one of his hunting cabins for the rest of the week. Sam’s going to meet us at his place on Christmas day and we’ll have a family get together. Sound good?”

I smiled, touched that he’d apparently put all this together, noticing how I felt about Christmas even before last night.

“It sounds perfect, Dean.”

“Good.” He drew me close for another kiss which I was much more enthusiastic about now, and he was the one who had to pull away for breath, turning the key in the ignition and starting the growl of the Impala’s engine.

“I can’t believe you set up this ridiculous con though. I love a surprise, but really Dean?”

He put his arm on the back of my seat, looking over his shoulder as he backed out of the parking space, his mouth twisting into a pleased grin.

“Yeah, but you should have seen your face, babe. Now, that was a good Christmas gift.”

I elbowed him lightly, but he only chuckled as he pulled out of the lot, headed for a Christmas getaway that I suddenly couldn’t wait for.

This fic will have a sequel! Keep an eye open for it!

Did you like this? Check out my MASTERLIST! Feedback is life!

To my Forevers, the ones who keep me writing:

@2wonderinsighlents, @adaliamalfoy, @alcpegasus22, @andrastesflamingtitties, @angelofwinchester17, @alexastacio, @anokhi07, @ariethegreat98, @atc74, @arryn-nyxx, @autopistaaningunaparte, @avasmommy224, @babypieandwhiskey, @bennyyh, @benjerry707, @boxywrites, @bringmesomepie56, @bucky-thorin-winchester, @but-deans-back-tho, @captainemwinchester, @carry-on-ms-believer, @casownsmyass, @cfordwrites, @chaos-and-the-calm67, @dancingalone21, @d-s-winchester, @deafgirlsarecooler, @deandoesthingstome, @deanfuckingwinchesterrr, @deansarms, @deanscherrypie, @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog, @deanwinchesterforpromqueen, @deanxfuckingadorablexwinchester, @deliciouslyshadowymilkshake, @demonangelimpala, @demondeansdomme, @end-lessnights, @faith-in-dean, @fandommaniacx, @feelmyroarrrr, @fiveleaf, @gallxntdean, @graceforme86, @i-is-for-inspiring, @ilostmyshoe-79, @impala-dreamer, @jalove-wecallhimdean, @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes, @jencharlan, @jensen-gal, @jotink78, @just-another-busy-fangirl, @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms, @katnharper, @kittenofdoomage, @kristaparadowski, @lipstickandwhiskey, @littlegreenplasticsoldier, @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid, @love-kittykat21, @loreleilara, @lunarsaturn88, @luv4jensen, @lynnebla, @marilynnlew, @millaraysuyai, @mogarukes, @moonstonemystyk, @mrsbatesmotel53, @mrsjohnsmith, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mzpearlz, @nightmaredean, @notnatural-supernatural, @paintrider13-blog, @pinknerdpanda, @plaidstiel-wormstache, @rizlowwritessortof, @roxy-davenport, @salvachester, @seenashwrite, @septicxsoulxdarkxmind, @scorpiongirl1, @skathan-omaha, @spnrvt, @supernatural-jackles, @supernaturalyobsessed, @theafinnerup, @thedevilinthedetails, @thegreatficmaster, @vote-for-pedro, @waywardjoy, @wi-deangirl77, @wonderange, @wheresthekillswitch, @withoutaplease, @wonderless-screwup, @xtina2191, @yoursmilemakesmeloveyou, and @yume-deaimashou

If you want to be removed from or added to my forever tag list, send me a message/ask! Only 18+ please!!

#Angel's Christmas Drabbles #dean x read #flangst #fluffy dean #slightly angsty reader #fluff #angst #idk you tell me #I liked it #hopefully you will too #dean x reader

98 notes · View notes

inyri · 7 years ago

Text

Equivalent Exchange (a SWTOR story): Chapter 27- Black Hole Sun

Equivalent Exchange by inyri

Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic Characters: Female Imperial Agent (Cipher Nine)/Theron Shan Rating: E (this chapter: M) Summary: If one wishes to gain something, one must offer something of equal value. In spycraft, it’s easy. Applying it to a relationship is another matter entirely. F!Agent/Theron Shan. (Spoilers for Shadow of Revan and Knights of the Fallen Empire.)

Comments are always appreciated! Visit me at:

Archive of Our Own

Fanfiction Dot Net

Black Hole Sun

Everything hurts.

Her body’s heavy, muscles aching like she’s been running for hours and scintillating patterns dancing on the reverses of her eyelids until she forces them open. Whatever she’s laying on, it’s cold beneath her back; the ceiling’s a dark void stretching far above her head and the walls of this place, wherever it is, the same solid black, so dense she could reach her hand out and press it flat against the surface.

And then there is a light shining bright into her eyes and the light hurts, too, but it’s hard to move so instead she just turns her head to the side, away from it. That helps a little. Nine blinks, once and then again, as a figure wreathed in shadow coalesces out of the dark.

At first she thinks it’s Theron, implant on his forehead glimmering as the figure moves toward her, but no- the location of the hardware’s all wrong and so is the shape of the face, the contour of his bald head-

“Hello, Cipher.” Watcher X smiles wryly as he draws alongside her prone body. “I thought it was time we had a little chat.”

She twitches, forcing herself onto her side, away from his outstretched hand. “You’re dead. Leave me alone.”

Does anyone stay dead any more? The thought drifts vaguely in and out of her mind, bothering her less than it probably ought to. First Revan, then Valkorion and now this- it’s absurd, really. Or- wait. Am I dead?

(If there is such a place as hell, it would figure she’d be destined to share it with the rest of the monsters.)

“Quite,” he agrees. “You made very sure of that. Quick and professional. Though I must say-” with a shrug, he sits down beside the bed- no, not a bed: too sterile, too metal-smelling- in a chair that she’s completely certain wasn’t there until he gestured- “watching oneself die really is disconcerting.”

She swallows.

“And no, you aren’t dead.” She didn’t say that out loud. How did he- “Your body is sleeping. Recovering.”

It’s easier to move now, her muscles unlocking; she sits up on a too-familiar operating table, runs her fingers over an irregular stain on the rim nearest him. (Eleven years ago she focused on that stain for nearly an hour, trying not to scream or gnaw through her own lip, while wire by wire he laid the implant along her spine.) “I’ve gone insane, then. I killed you. I hallucinated you as a side effect of the Castellan restraints and I’m hallucinating you now.”

“Did you really?” Watcher X crosses one leg over the other with a knowing smile. “And you went to the Archive all on your own, and somehow you knew exactly the right search parameters to solve a problem you didn’t even have a name for.”

Rubbing her temples- dead or mad or neither, she’s got a ferocious headache- she narrows her eyes at him as she considers. It was so long ago. She barely remembered what query she’d entered to pull up that first recording of the Minister, but she must have figured out-

She must have-

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“You put yourself inside my head,” she scowls. “How?””

His smile widens. “You’re cleverer than that, Cipher. What do you think?”

“The implant, I assume. Straight shot to my nervous system.” At his approving nod she continues, tucking her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins. “But you’re not really Watcher X, are you? Not a ghost- a program? An AI?”

“Not precisely, but near enough that the difference isn’t important. The programming was somewhat rushed.” Hands pressed against the bridge of his nose, he looks at her over his steepled fingers. “It retains my personality, my knowledge base, but was meant to be an observation platform. You provided an ideal opportunity, but accelerated the timeline.”

“I really ought to have known better.”

He chuckles. “Yes, you ought to have. But you were very young, then.”

(She had been, hadn’t she? Scarcely twenty-two when Keeper sent her to Nar Shaddaa, she was so certain of things, so convinced of her own cleverness. She hadn’t trusted Watcher X, of course- he’d been imprisoned in Shadow Town for a lengthy list of very good reasons- but she’d thought he-)

“As I said,” he murmurs as she cuts the thought off abruptly and she crinkles her forehead in irritation- he needs to stop doing that, inside her head or not- “you were very young. But I’ve seen so very many interesting things though your eyes. You really do lead a fascinating life.”

She makes a face at him as he continues. Stars, if he’s seen everything she has- but then, Valkorion’s doing the same, isn’t he?

What an unpleasant thought.

“But my death threw rather a wrench into the works, to put in mildly, and this fragment is now all that remains of me.”

“If you think I’m sorry, think again.” If she’s asleep, why can’t she wake up? She shifts over, dangling her legs off the edge of the operating table. “Whatever assistance you claim to have provided, you’ve been silent for ten years and frankly I preferred it that way. Now tell me what it is that you want.”

“Right to the point. Efficient. A credit to your training.” He nods, lowering his hands into his lap. “I’ll be brief, then. Your new guest claims to want to help you, Cipher. Do not listen to him.”

She thinks she’s strong enough to stand. “I haven’t been.” Pushing herself up with both hands, she eases herself down until her feet touch something solid in the darkness. “Which hasn’t stopped him from trying to bore holes in my brain. But what do you care?”

“I know what it’s like to live with a bomb inside your head. There may come a day when you find yourself wishing it would go off.”

She shakes her head. “You, maybe. Not me.”

“As you say. Regardless, fragment or not, my continued existence is dependent on yours: if you die, I die. And if your consciousness is driven from your body, well-” a shrug, nonchalant- “I do not think its new occupant will permit me to remain.”

“I don’t plan on dying.”

“Neither did I.”

“Force, you’re a broken fucking holo. I’ll say it one more time-” half a turn and she’s facing him, arms folded across her chest- “what do you want from me?”

His smile is almost gentle, then, an uncanny thing. “I want you to survive. I can help you fight him.”

He doesn’t need to clarify who him means- she knows that perfectly well, and she suspects there is a reason he’s avoiding the name.

(It’s like the old game they used to play in school, crammed into a pitch-dark bathroom and chanting the rhyme toward the mirror in unison, where if the words were said in just the right way three times in a row- nothing ever came through, of course.

But rumor had it that in the Sith Academy, sometimes something did.)

“I can only fight so many wars at once,” she snaps. “I’m busy enough trying to keep his children from killing me, and he could have let Arcann do so at least once already. I’ve no choice but to tolerate him- for now, at least.”

“Like the Minister wanted to help? Like Hunter?”

Her lip curls. “Shut up.”

“As you wish. Your control block will help for the time being.” Snapping his fingers, he gestures away from her as a glowing outline forms on a far wall. “But he will keep trying until he finds a weakness he can exploit. I can- how did we used to say it?-” he considers for a moment- “run interference, but I thought it better that I make you aware of it first.”

“Now you decide to ask permission?”

Another shrug. ‘I’m strictly digital. His magics cannot hurt me, and his pursuit of me might give you some respite.”

“No.” She shakes her head immediately, not even allowing herself time to consider. “If you’re in here forever, so be it, but I won’t give you free rein of the place. I learned that lesson well enough the first time.”

Damn him. The implant has to stay- she and Lokin discussed it years ago and agreed there was too much risk of damaging her spinal cord to remove it, and even knowing what he’s done she’d rather risk a continued mental stowaway than permanent paralysis. But she trusted him once, more fool her, and now her head’s even more crowded than she’d thought.

“The offer remains. If you wish to reconsider-” another gesture, the outline broadening into a door- “I will be here. I will always be here.”

She takes a few steps toward it, her footprints leaving bright marks behind her on the ground. “Noted.”

“Then farewell for now, Cipher Nine.” His outline’s starting to fade as the door opens, a shadow against the growing light. “And don’t be too angry when you awaken. Your lover means well. But he doesn’t know what this place is to you.”

The brightness catches her, an irresistible pull forward even as she startles and tries to turn back toward him. “What do you-”

For a moment she is falling- or flying, she’s not sure which, weightless and graceful and haloed in the glow until she has to shut her eyes against it before it burns them out entirely. Someone’s calling her, somewhere far away.

Come on, Nine. Wake up. Please wake up.

She opens her eyes.

***

She opens her eyes.

For the first few seconds they won’t focus and all she can make out is a shape moving in front of her.

“It’s been two hours, and she’s still out.” Theron’s facing away from her, jacket off, shirtsleeves pushed up to his elbows, pacing back and forth between her and a hovering holoprojector; his incessant motion makes if difficult to see past him to whomever he’s speaking to. She blinks, once and then again, as the room takes shape- industrial and sparse, ferrocrete walls and a corrugated metal roof. Too clean to be Dynamet. Where are they? “I don’t have a scanner here, but it’s not infection. None of the raks got that close to us, and I checked her skin once we got here. She was fine and then her nose started bleeding and then she just dropped-”

“Theron.” Lana glances past Theron as he moves out of the way, eyes meeting hers, and cuts in with one hand raised.

If he heard Lana he doesn’t show it, still pacing. “-and I can get her back to the ship, but if she doesn’t wake up I-”

“Theron.”

“-don’t know what else I can do besides-”

“Theron, would you stop?” Clapping her hands sharply together, Lana sighs at him as he finally stops pacing. “She’s awake.”

He startles and spins around abruptly, crouching down beside her cot (familiar, somehow, tucked back against a wall, the angles of the ceiling above pinging off a memory she can’t pin down) as she glances around the room and starts to try to sit up. She’s barely dressed, just her shirt and underclothes. What-

“Wait,” he says, “go slow. Are you dizzy at all?”

“No. I’m-”

I’m losing it, she doesn’t say. I’ve just spent the last Force knows how long talking to the AI living in my spine about the ghost living in my head. Never better.

“I’m fine.” As she says it Lana looks at her skeptically and Theron steadies her with one hand, helping her into a seated position; there’s a streak of dry blood across his forearm and a dark blotch on the front of his shirt. “I just fainted, I think. Give me a moment and I’ll be ready to go.”

“If you’re sure, Comman- Nine.” Lana sounds as doubtful as she looks, but does manage to catch herself on the title. “Another run-in with Valkorion?”

She nods and Theron looks at her sidelong, a flicker of surprise and something else she can’t quite read in his eyes. She should have told him sooner- no one else knew but Lana, even now, but he didn’t know that; she can feel the hurt radiating off him that she’d kept it hidden, just for a second, before he tamps it down and turns back toward Lana’s image.

But there wasn’t anything to be done for it. He’ll only worry that much more, and he worries enough already.

“Crisis averted.” He shrugs an apology at the holo. “Sorry for pulling you out of the meeting. I just wasn’t sure if-”

“It’s fine, Theron. You were right to call.” Rolling her shoulders backward until one cracks audibly, Lana stands up straighter. “Will you be heading back to Alderaan now, then?”

She nods. “As soon as we’re back to the ship from wherever this place is. We’ve got what we came for. If I hadn’t-” she gestures vaguely toward herself in lieu of words, wrinkles her nose in irritation at herself- “we’d have been gone already.”

“Let me know if I can assist. Oggurobb’s asking for more supplies again, so I’m sure I can twist his arm a bit if you need to co-opt some of the research equipment- metaphorically speaking, I mean.” Lana’s smile rather suggests a more literal approach. “But until I hear differently, I’ll plan for our usual update tomorrow.”

As she and Theron nod again, Lana waves and disconnects the call. She tries to push herself back up off the cot; her legs seem mostly steady, and with Theron’s hand still on her shoulder she manages to stand with minimal wobbling. “Was I really out for hours? I must’ve hit my head pretty hard on the way down, or-”

“You didn’t,” he says. “You were still right beside me. I caught you- well, you and the sample box, but then you seized, Nine, and I couldn’t get it to stop.”

She blinks. No wonder she’s still so fucking out of it, and- she wrinkles her nose. That would explain the acrid odor, as well. Lovely.

“Finally I remembered I had a dose of sedative in my medkit. That helped, but…” Theron frowns. “Seriously? You tell me it’s nothing and next thing you’re-”

She takes a step forward, out of his reach. “It was nothing. Just the nosebleeds, that’s all it’s ever been. I’ve never had a seizure in my life.”

“Well, you have now.”

“Apparently.”

Behind her, he sighs. “Sorry. I’m not angry, I just-”

“I’d certainly hope you’re not,” she snaps, “given that it’s completely out of my control.”

“You know that wasn’t what I- oh, damn it-” She’s nearly to the doorway- out to the main area of the building by the look of the room beyond- when he finally catches her hand in his and tries to hold her still. “I was afraid you weren’t going to wake up, okay? Or you weren’t going to wake up… well, you. ”

“But I did. And I’m fine now. Still me.”

Theron shakes his head at that, but if he had a clever reply he doesn’t say it. After a moment, he takes a deep breath. “Will you at least sit for a little while longer? We ended up with a big pack chasing us on the way here, and you might need to gun while I drive.”

“You can ride gunner, if you’re worried about my aim,” she says, pausing as he laces his fingers through hers; she’d have pulled away again if it was anyone else, but there’s a sweet affection in the gesture that stops her and makes her turn back toward him. “I’ll drive.”

“Nice try. You drive like a maniac at the best of times, let alone postictal. I’m driving.” He reaches up. At first she thinks it’s to trace along her cheekbone, one of his usual gestures when he’s trying to soothe her temper, but he stops at the neckline of her undershirt, at a scattering of droplets beneath one strap. “Once we get you cleaned up. I washed your armor, and I thought I’d gotten most of the blood off you while you were out, but it looks like I missed some.”

“It does have a tendency to get everywhere.” Though she doesn’t remember it being quite so bad- it must have started up again during the seizure.

Seizure. Shit. If it happens again, if she’s alone in the field-

It won’t. It can’t.

Shoving the thought aside, she turns back toward the main room. “Is there a refresher here, whatever we are?”

Theron nods. “No hot water, though. This place was decommissioned years ago. Honestly, I was a little surprised it still had power, but it was the closest quasi-secure building to the hospital that I had on my map. Before they shut it down, it was an-”

She steps through the doorway and the memory breaks on her like a sunrise and she knows this place, she knows it: a round table in the room’s center with her armor and their gear and the sample box laid out atop it, four chairs, a few empty shelves. Three more doors just like this one- two across the way, one to her left on the wall she’s passing through. An entrance corridor, further left. To the far right, the ‘fresher with its door standing open, once-white tile grimy with years of neglect but water beaded on the floor where he must have rinsed her things, drain in the back corner like every other ‘fresher in a prefab building like this one-

If she looks hard enough, she almost imagines her own bloody footprints, a lurid line across the threshold from tile to cold duracrete.

So that was what Watcher X meant.

-”old SIS safehouse,” he finishes.

(She knows.

It’s just that her room was opposite this one; she hadn’t placed it at first because she was used to seeing its reverse when she opened her eyes. The room Theron put her in, the cot she’d slept off the sedative on, had been Chance’s.

The one next to hers was Hunter’s.)

She inhales- one, two, three, four- and holds the breath in, filling her lungs, keeps counting and lets it out slowly, slowly, slowly. “I know. I’ve been here before.”

“You-” The catch in his voice is audible, and when she looks back over her shoulder at him he’s gone still and tense, jaw set and teeth clenched. “Oh, fuck me running. This place would still have been an active site back then.”

“Yes,” she says, and takes another few steps toward the open refresher door because the alternative is to keep moving away forever and she’s so, so tired of living that way. “Do you remember the night before we hit the Hoth fortress? You woke me up from a bad dream, and we spent the rest of the night talking about it?”

He nods.

Her bare feet leave marks in the dust as she crosses the threshold, turning fully around- as she does she could swear there’s a glint of glass from beneath the drain grate and stars, that’d figure after ten whole years; Republic cleaners always were shitty at their jobs- and raises her right arm out straight in front of her to chest height, palm upturned.

Theron blanches, presses one hand to his mouth. Clearly, he remembers.

“I didn’t know.” His voice is muffled behind his hand. “I promise you, I didn’t know. Let’s just go. The speeder’s right outside the entrance. If we run, the raks might not get scent of us until we’re already moving.”

“You couldn’t have known.” She lowers her arm. “There must be a dozen safehouses on Taris.”

“Fifteen,” he mutters. “Counting the decommissioned ones. But I should have-”

Forcing her pulse into regular time, her breathing to ease, she closes her eyes as a whisper starts to build in the back of her head. Oh, Cipher. Such a-

She pushes it away. No. They’re dead. Hunter’s dead, and Watcher X is dead, and Valkorion is dead, and her body is hers. She locked that door a long time ago and threw the key into the Void. She will not be a puppet. Not again.

No, she snarls, silent, and the voice goes quiet.

“You couldn’t have known, Theron,” she says again. “But you’re right. I ought to get cleaned up.”

Before he can stop her she presses two fingers against the panel to activate the water.

It’s as cold as she remembers, the stream fast and heavy, shocking her into alertness as it hits her skin.

“What are you-” Startled into motion by her audible gasp, Theron crosses the rest of the room in three steps and stands in the doorway, reaching his hand in to try to move hers off the panel as she keeps hers stubbornly in place. “Are you crazy? I told you, there isn’t hot water. You’ll freeze.”

Pulling her undershirt over her head, she looks down at the smear of blood running angled along her chest. She ought to clean her clothes, too, soiled with blood and worse; they’ll be back to the ship soon enough. What’s an hour’s discomfort, bare beneath her armor? She drops the shirt at her feet and unclasps her bra and slides her underpants down over her hips and lets them all sit in a heap beside her feet, water soaking into them. “I’m not crazy. You know I’m not.”

“Of course you aren’t. That wasn’t-” Alarm flashing across his face, he reaches toward the panel again- that wasn’t what he meant to say and she knows it as well as he does, but it still stings when the voices in her head are actually real.

(This time around, at least.

Or maybe she is crazy. Maybe all of them are. Given those options, she hopes the voices are real.)

“Please,” Theron says, trying to nudge her hand down with his. “That’s good enough, Nine. You can finish up shipboard.”

She doesn’t move. “It isn’t so bad once you’re used to it,” she says, teeth chattering, and watches the blood trickle down her body to disappear down the drain, “and I can always turn it off when I want to. Can’t I?”

He looks down, watching the water swirl around her feet, and then turns silently and walks out of her line of sight; she can hear his footsteps echo across the room. After a long moment, as the water starts to run clear as she rubs at her skin with one fisted hand, she can see him again, standing just outside the door with the cot’s fitted bedsheet held out toward her.

He just stands there, holding the impromptu towel, until she’s finished.

When she finally shuts the water off and the last drops fall from the nozzle overhead, Theron waits for her to move, waits for her to take the first steps out of the ‘fresher into the room, and when she does he wraps her up in the sheet, arms around her body, until she’s warm again.

“Come on.” He looks down at her, chin resting atop her sodden hair, her face nestled into his neck. “Let’s get out of here.”

This time, she nods.

“Okay.”

*** A change of title for this chapter, which stubbornly refused to go where it was meant to, and as this seemed like a natural pause point given the profound lack of writing time I've had recently I thought I'd let it go here.

Next: Scientific Methods (for real this time), in which we build a better rakghoul.

#inyri writes #equivalent exchange #imperial agent #theron shan #cipher nine #nine/theron #a song to fit a mood i think

21 notes · View notes

8bitsupervillain · 5 years ago

Text

End of the Year 2019: Games of the Year

Hello everyone, it's that special time of year again! Time for me to shower praise upon some games that I absolutely adored, while mentioning some games that I liked, but not really enough to put on this list. For a remarkable change of pace I have a full list of ten for the best of 2019, however I only have four for the pre-2019 so that's a bit disappointing. If you notice any glaring omissions for the best of the year the simple explanation is that I probably just didn't play it, or I didn't play it enough for it to enter consideration. I also didn't really play anything this year that stands out as particularly bad, there was maybe one game, but I don't have it in me to write a full length thing to expound upon its terrible state. There are also some games that I'm disappointed I didn't get to play, but hopefully I'll be able to in 2020.

Honorable Mentions:

God Eater 3. I've sunk almost twenty hours in to this game, but I haven't played enough of it to really make a declaration that I think it's good. I still intend on playing the game to the finish, but for all I know the game could take a real nose-dive in quality towards the end. I have a desire to go back and play the previous God Eater games as well, so I guess that could be considered an endorsement. I like the visual style in this game, the models all look very nice, and the monster designs are pretty neat to look at as well.

Remnant: From the Ashes. I never quite got to finishing this game, but from what I played this was a pretty fun little co-op shooter. There are some things that the game does that I don't particularly care for, some of the one-shot enemies in the swamp level, the confusing design of this one dungeon in the desert area being particularly troublesome things I remember. I would love to go back and finish this one, but as it stands it'll have to stay with an honorable mention.

King of Fighters XIV. I'm not great at fighting games, but I still enjoyed this game a whole hell of a lot. But like I said I'm not great at the game, but it's a fun one to pop in every once in a while just to get annihilated by all the killers online.

Death Stranding. Please don't post spoilers here. I've greatly enjoyed my time with this game, but as with Remnant and God Eater 3 I didn't finish this one. I've played maybe about twelve hours into this one, but I don't know if that's enough to really comment on the games overall quality. As with God Eater 3 for all I know it could take a real nose-dive in quality.

Hollow Knight. I played a very little amount of Hollow Knight, but I liked what I've played so far. Hope to go back and finish this one before Silksong comes out.

The Elder Scrolls Legends. I quite liked the Alliance War and Jaws of Oblivion expansions. It's a shame they've cancelled all further expansions for this game, because I liked the story based ones they've put out in the past and I was hopeful for more sets in the future. It was never a particularly great game, but I liked what they had going for the longest time.

Pre-2019 Games of the Year

04: Death Mark

This is a fun little RPG/Visual Novel horror game that came out in 2018 that I got a chance to play back in May. It's an investigation game where your character and a host of other characters are trying to solve the mystery of their death mark. A strange design that looks like a bite that materializes on their bodies one day. If they don't get to the root of the problem they die a horrible grisly death. I like the episodic nature of the game with each chapter revolving around a mystery involving a different type of vengeful spirit than the other chapters. There is a small combat element that happens toward the end of each chapter that isn't particularly deep to deal with as it's more puzzle-based rather than being an actual combat engine. It doesn't feature much in the way of blood and gore, but what's there is frankly mortifying to look at. I played it on the Switch, but the game is available on the PS4 and PC as well. Death Mark is definitely worth playing through at least once.

03: Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate

I'm ever so slowly going through my 3DS backlog and finally played through this one. I can understand why people say that 4U is their favorite Monster Hunter game because it is just an absolute blast to play through. I really like the design of the monsters in this game especially Gore Magala and Masharu Magala. I don't know if I would recommend it over World or Generations Ultimate but I had a hell of a time playing through this game.

02: Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

I love the way the combat in this game feels. I love how you can climb on the monsters and start stabbing away at them. Magic and ranged combat feel really good, and I especially like the Pawn system so you can keep trying out other player's pawns until you hit that sweet spot of the type of combat you want to have for the game. The story is a little basic, kind of your typical "slay the evil dragon" storyline even though it's great how the game gives you a personal reason to want the dragon dead. Guy stole your heart after all, literally ripped it from your chest. I liked the story towards the end when you actually face off with the dragon and all that occurs from then on that was great fun. I played this on both the PS4 and the Switch port that came out earlier this year (I guess I could've put this in the 2019 category), and I was surprised at how well the Switch was able to play the game. The game doesn't look completely awful in handheld mode, and it kept a stable framerate throughout my playthrough. The PS4 and PC versions look better of course, but the Switch version keeps the spirit of the game rather well and is just as good to play there as on the other consoles.

01: Nioh

Bill Nioh's adventures in feudal Japan was a great time. This game made me consider the notion of a mission/loot based Diablo done in a Dark Souls style to not be the worst thing I've ever heard. My only major complaint with the game is that there's too much vendor trash in this game. There's also the problem that you'll be constantly switching from one version of your weapon to another with barely any time to gain "familiarity" with your weapon. Familiarity means you hit slightly harder than you would with another version of that weapon, but with how many variations on whatever weapon your using you'll constantly be scrapping older versions of your weapon and armor without really raising your familiarity. I wish that the game would've gone with an experience meter per-weapon deal rather than loading you up with a million variations of each weapon. Like a leveling bar for Katana, Dual-Blades, Nodachi, and so on, there's already a skill-tree for each weapon, so I think an experience meter for each weapon would work better. It's not a deal-breaker by any means, but I think it might work better. I like the mission-based focus of this game rather than being a pseudo-open world affair like most Soulslike games. I still need to play through the expansions before Nioh 2 comes out.

Games of the Year 2019

10: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

This was a good Metroidvania to play through, and certainly better than I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed the various weapons you can acquire throughout the game, the spear and great swords were particularly fun in my playthrough for instance. I have some minor complaints that arise towards the end of the game, but they're not major issues. A boss fight or two will just absolutely destroy the framerate while you're fighting them (I can only imagine how they play on the Switch if the game was dying on the PS4 Pro). I liked some of the extra bosses you can fight like the Millionaire's Bane and the bonus boss that's Definitely Not Simon.

09: Untitled Goose Game

An amusing game to play, and I had a fun time playing it. It's definitely not the deepest or longest game to come out this year (from start to finish the game is maybe four hours long), but it's a fun enough "nuisance simulator." It reminds me of playing a game like Hitman, cause Goose Game is definitely a stealth game, even if every time I completed an objective I unfurled my wings and honked to assert my dominance over the people in the village.

08: Samurai Shodown

As previously mentioned I am not good at fighting games. Yet despite my being bad at them I find myself constantly going back to SamSho just to get obliterated online. I positively adore the art style in this game and the completely vicious gameplay. Unlike some other fighting games you can be destroyed within mere seconds of the match starting. If you play super poorly your opponent can cut your lifebar down from 100% to next to nothing with one or two moves. It's very exhilarating when that happens, or when they do a super that just destroys your lifebar. It reminds me a lot of samurai movies in that way where guy does the move and the opponent just stands there for a second then falls over dead. I get the impression that this is going to be a "small pond" scenario where there's the handful of godlike players and everyone else will just get bodied everyday, but I really love this game. I absolutely despise the final boss in the arcade mode.

07: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Speaking of games that are absolutely torture to play. Sekiro is really insidious, the first half or so of the game is relatively easy, but then you hit a certain boss and the game decides its done toying with you and will just start absolutely and utterly destroying you. Every single boss fight from that point forward are some of the most brutal and agonizing fights that have been put in a video game. I had to give up on playing this game for a few weeks because I was getting too tired of throwing myself against the wall in the hopes that this time I'll get the best of this bastard. After finally killing the final boss I had vowed to never play the game again. Then two days later I started a new-game plus playthrough. Whoops! I love the verticality of this game, being able to jump and use a grappling hook was absolutely great. Despite my complaints about the sheer difficulty of the bosses I love the combat in this game. It is particularly exhilarating when a guy makes to stab you with a spear and you stomp it into the ground and take him out yourself. Masataka Oniwa and the Divine Dragon are hands down the best fights in the game, with the final boss being a particularly noteworthy bastard of a fight. Oniwa and the Dragon are great because of the sheer spectacle of the fights, whereas the final boss is great because of he is a great amalgamation of everything the game has thrown to you at that point. I liked this game a lot, but I certainly don't hold it against anyone who decides the difficulty is too much.

06: Nioh 2 Beta

Meanwhile Nioh 2's beta was an absolute gem of a thing that I played this year. Sadly I didn't get into the private alpha towards the start of the year, but I did download the public beta and proceeded to sink nearly thirty hours into it. I love the new weapon they added to the game the switch glaive, which is a combination knuckle weapon/spear/scythe depending on your stance. In low stance it's a lot like Bloodborne's switch-axe or spear in that the blade covers your fist and you punch it into enemies. Mid-stance it turns into a spear, and high turns it into a scythe and I had great fun trying out all the forms in this beta. I adore the fact that the game gives you a devil trigger for your spirit animals, and I love the fact that this game has a character creator. It seems like they're keeping the volume of the drops to the same level as the first game, but that's fine. I cannot wait to get my hands on the full version.

05: Devil May Cry 5

This was a great game, filled to the brim with some amazing set-pieces and great moments. It very much feels like a "greatest hits" version of Devil May Cry combining all the elements from the four original DMCs and also bringing over some stuff from DmC. I was worried a bit about the game being similar to DMC 4 and splitting the action into "Here's the Nero section, here's Dante's, and V's" but it worked out pretty well. It gives you a mission or two to get used to how the characters play but not too much time that it feels like "you've learned this character, but screw that learn Dante." It all blends itself really well. They each have their own feel which works really great with their differences in character, but for my money Nero is the best to play as. The story is also really fun to play through, it has some amazing moments even if some of the stuff is really silly. Also the game gives us Nico, and she's really great.

04: Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

The jump in difficulty from the High-Rank quests to Master-Rank was crazy. Maybe it's because I got rusty, not having played World since roughly February, but I was not really prepared for the increase in difficulty. That said I still adore this game, plus they added both Zinogre and Stygian Zinogre, the only way they could've made an already great game even better is if they were like "and here's Gore Magala and Masharu Magala." I like the new hunter's hub, and they made the game so much better with all the variations of monsters they added to this game. I like the Seething Bazelgeuse and Blackveil Vaal Hazak a lot, and the Ebony Odogaron has an amazing looking set of armor. My only wish was that they add some variations to other monsters, I would've loved to see a variation to Kushala Daora or Teostra and Lunastra. I like the clutch-claw very much even if it's the reason my deaths in hunts has skyrocketed. I can't help but wonder what they're going to do for the next Monster Hunter. What can they do to improve this for the inevitable PS5 and Xbox versions? HD version of Gen Ultimate?

03: Blasphemous

The past couple of years I've grown really dismissive of pixel-art 2D games. Just something about the way they look made me grow weary of them, and maybe I've missed out on some amazing games. Then I believe it was E3 2017 I saw a trailer for Blasphemous and I was instantly drawn to it. There was some combination of the religious horror and gore that just made me very excited. Then the game more or less disappeared, then I laid eyes on this game's trailer and I was instantly back in. This game is absolutely wonderful to play, I love the unlockable moves the game gives you as well as the amazing bleak tone and atmosphere in this game. I like the fact that the more you die in the game the more the game covers up your available MP meter, that's a nifty little mechanic, and I liked the paying money to cure yourself from that problem. It's flavorful, and fits with the tone very nicely. I plan to one day go deeper into why I think this game is as good as I think it is, from both a gameplay and aesthetic sense, but I don't think here's really the place to do it. It's a very good 2D exploration game, and I love it to pieces even if I do think some of the bosses aren't good.

02: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Aside from Monster Hunter and Samurai Shodown I probably spent the most time with this game. One campaign playthrough took me over a hundred hours, and I'm presently ten hours into a second playthrough (of four). I went with the Blue Lions for my first playthrough and I really liked the story the game presented to me. It's not without its faults but overall I quite like what it did, I felt that it was a nice upgrade from the storyline from Fates. I get the distinct impression that there was originally going to only be the Red Eagles and Blue Lions routes but then someone at IntSys just went "give the Golden Deer a path" and so here we are. I don't entirely understand why there's the weapon degradation system in this game, for the relic weapons sure, but for your standard weaponry it doesn't make sense. That said I do really enjoy the missions in this game, there aren't any that really stand out as horrible. I like most of the characters in this game, and it kept me gripped for the entire length of the campaign. A ton of fun this game.

01: Resident Evil 2

I played through this game six times in a month, and once more while I was writing this list. I really, really enjoyed my time with Resident Evil 2 and it is positively astounding that Capcom did such a great job with this game. There are some minor complaints I have with the game, the second run having the completely silly and superfluous handgun with its own ammo certainly stands out. However the game is positively gorgeous, sounds phenomenal and is just ridiculously fun to play. In addition to the wonderful base campaigns there's also the revised 4th Survivor and Tofu modes, then in the summer Capcom released the Ghost Survivor DLC missions which are fun little challenge modes to play. I love everything about this game Capcom really knocked it out of the park with this one, and I cannot wait to see what they do with Resident Evil 3.

The real game of the year was all the War of the Spark pre-release, and the drafts I did. Both IRL and in Magic Arena and Online. That and Core 2020 Pre-release.

#games of the year #end of the year #GOTY #mtg #War of the Spark

0 notes

wildcardwriting · 7 years ago

Text

Live for the Night #1

[Final Fantasy XV]

Next Chapter | Previous Chapter

Live for the Night on AO3

Tags: FF15 TIME TRAVEL. Prompto centered. BAMF Prompto No one dies (except for evil scientists and the Empire of bad people but that’s normal). Confused Kingsglaives, Crownsguards and a ton of people.

Summary: When Prompto wakes up the past with some magical additions, he sets out to change everything.

Things to keep in mind: I’ve seen only ff15 brotherhood, Episode Prompto and parts of the ff15 game so some of what I’ve written will obviously be off. Additionally, I will be throwing various parts of cannon in the trash.

Chapter One

XXxxxXX

“Will you go back?”

XXxxxXXX

Prompto wakes on a bed in a quiet, dark blue room and has a panic attack. He knows this room even years later because he still had, has pictures of it on his camera. He knows very well where he is even if the thought of it actually makes his stomach do flips because this can’t possibly be real.

Jumping off the bed, he lands neatly on the floor and reaches for a weapon, for his guns for anything, and his fingers clutch around the metal of cold steel while he makes his way to the door. Even if this wasn’t some illusion, the fact that he can see the moon through the window to left—a fact that nearly sent him to a panic attack, (no hunter worth his salt went to sleep without a watch, it was suicide) he makes his way through the house quietly, carefully.

Until he can make some sense of where he actually is, he refuses to let himself freak out.

This could be another trick of Ardyn’s or it could something else. But he will not freak out until he knows.

He makes it down the stairs, ears listening for anything out of the ordinary, listening for daemons, listening for scavengers, anything. The silence is as deafening as always, and he’s tempted to retreat back to the room and barricade himself in to wait out the darkest parts of the night, but he pushes forward because he needs to know.

Where is he?

He gets to the ground floor landing and scans the room, one gun in his right and another in his left watching for motion. He very quietly slides to the floor taking the time to ensure there really isn’t anything under any of the furniture before finally making his way to the windows.

He needs to know how strong his defenses are before he’s able to do anything to build up his new base, or even if he needs to move to another shelter. Moving from the floor to one of the walls near the windows he looks out and nearly has a heart attack.

There are streetlights and people.

Out at dark.

“Impossible. This can’t be…!”

He banishes one gun back to the armiger, and in two motions jumps on top of the roof, the beginnings of doubt already settling in his mind. Ardyn was a sneaking bastard, and magic user of the Caelum line but he had limits to everything he did, including how far his illusions could go.

As he looks around him, it finally hits him what’s he’s seeing because nothing he knows has the power to do what is currently in front of him.

Insomnia whole and alive.

His knees hit the roof of the house, his house now that he finally lets his brain make the connection he had ignored earlier, as tears trail down his face. His vision is blurry from the tears but as he watches the city he loves he can’t help but think he’s never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

There are people and dogs, and everything that makes a city alive and it’s dirty and chaotic but it’s a thousand times better to the existence that humanity was clinging onto after the sun went out.

He shifts and sits on his roof and just takes everything around him in.

He can't believe he forgot what his hometown was like, what Insomnia was like, but he has. Reaching out once again to the armiger he retrieves an old forgotten friend.

His camera sits perfectly in his hands and holding it up he takes a picture for the first time in forever. Half so he can remember forever and half so he can’t ever take it for granted again.

This is a picture of a city alive.

And he’s going to keep it that way.

XXxxxxXX

He wakes up to the sun on his face a few hours later, beady-eyed and drowsy.

Apparently, he had fallen asleep on the roof, somehow without falling off. Rubbing his eyes, he makes the trip back into the house and starts searching for information. Anything on the time and date.

if he was really in the past, he needed all the information he could get. Was he still in school? Was it summer? Was he already in Crownsguard training? He didn’t know, but he needed to know.

Spotting some bills on the table he scanned for the date.

May M.E. 751

He shifts through the other papers eyes wide. But he gets the same result for all the bills. It’s May of the year seven hundred and fifty-one the year he and Noctis meet in high school and become friends and more than ten years into the past.

The thought is mind-boggling. He knew he was in the past, but to be sixteens in the past was something he hadn’t quite expected, at most he’d thought he'd have a few years before everything went to shit, but this is incredible.

And world changing.

If he can get it right.

Heading back upstairs to his room he finds his old cell phone, an old flip thing that’s charged and has notifications on it. He flips it open and looks through the list pausing at the day momentarily before moving on. Beyond noticing that it’s summer and the fact that it’s Wednesday neither really has any importance to him.

In the old timeline, he’d be focusing on his exercise routine right now but in his current condition that’s no longer necessary…but at the very least he needs to blend in a little. The last thing he needs is to get the attention of anyone important before he’s even accomplished anything, and a scruffy man going around looking for information on an enemy nation will definitely get attention.

Especially one that looks like a Nif.

At the bare minimum, he needs to shave his goatee off and color his hair. Blond is just too noticeable. Heading to the hallway restroom, he gets another surprised when he looks in the mirror and sees himself. Instead of the rough and tumble thirty years old with a goatee, he looks young…like he’s fifteen again.

He sighs and just completely pushes the whole question of why he looks like a fifteen-year-old again to the back of his mind. He wasn’t going to try and figure out the ins and outs of time travel, and he probably will never figure it out anyway so he just accepts it and moves on.

At the very least Noctis will be getting his friend back, Prompto thinks a bit happier. He had been a little afraid that even if he saved the world his friend would grow up even more closed off and introverted than he was in the original timeline.

It’s a small thing but frankly, Prompto is so tired of losing friends that he will do anything to keep the people he cares about safe and happy this time around. Even if it means he can be there in some small way for his friend as he grows into a King and actually gets to live his life.

(Because Noct will live a good long life if Prompto has anything to say about it).

He takes a nice long and more importantly warm shower, something that just wasn’t the same when he lived in the Haven in the old Magitek Factory, especially since he constantly had to be quick in case something came up, such another machine failure or monster attack. He tosses his clothes into the hamper and walks into his room in a towel as he digs through his clothes looking for a set of nondescript clothes that will help him blend in while he makes a trip into town.

He ends having to give up on the idea through when after digging through all the clothes he has in both his dresser and his closet as the only clothes he comes across are bright and colorful. No one wore bright colorful clothes in the future because bright colorful clothes meant daemons could see you more easily.

Resigning himself to getting something more appropriate for his excursion into the outer parts of Insomnia he grabs a faded white t-shirt with a picture of a gold triangle and a pair of forest green cargo shorts. Changing into them he took a seat on his bed and started going through the money he had. He ignored the old wallet on the bedside table knowing full well that it didn’t have cash but credit card that his parents would regularly put money into for both his necessaries and the bills. He wasn’t going to use it if he could help it.

insomnia may not have had the same level of technological advancement as Nifihelm but checking credit receipts was something even the Kingsglavies could do. He’d rather not use anything that led back to him, so he was only going to use the money kept in the armiger.

But it wasn’t a whole lot. Even with his status as a high-profile hunter, money was always hard to come by. Most of the time he’d be given some extra bullets or food for a mission he’d complete. Rarely money, because once the sun stopped raising other things became more valuable such, as food and potions. Still, as Prompto counted through the money again, he felt himself getting frustrated. He only had a few hundred gil. Nowhere even close to the amount he’d need if he wanted to traverse across Insomnia in any sort of reasonable time.

He supposes he can hitch a ride in either one of the Empire’s trains or maybe even in one of the cargo ships going across the ocean between Insomnia and the main land, but the chance of getting caught was something he’d rather avoid if possible.

Maybe take up some hunts?

It wouldn’t be impossible, he has just enough money to get a bus ticket and pay for passage on a ship but after that, he’d be broke. He still has access to the armiger and his own handmade guns so taking a few easy hunts wouldn’t be out of the question, and it would give him both a reason to go asking for information as well as getting some idea of where the major MT factories are....

But what were the drawbacks?

There was the time he would be wasting and the fact that he would have to be careful interacting with any people, but beyond that, there wasn’t anything else he could think of.

As it stood no one knew anything about Prompto Argentum, and no one was watching him, so if he did intend to sneak off and destroy the Empire there was no one who would notice him yet. After he befriended Noctis he’d have to be more careful but for now, he had freedom.

Making up his mind, he went back to the closet and started tossing some clothes into the armiger before he went to his bed and stripped it of its extra blankets and pillows. He went back to the restroom and grabbing his toiletries started going through the medicine cabinet looking for any potions or medicines that might be useful. He found two potions, some painkillers and to his delight, one elixir. Tossing everything into the Armiger and digging through both the fridge and the cabinets for food, he threw the leftovers away and packed the few perishables into his bag while he put all of the canned food into the Armiger. It might not be nowhere close to the food Iggy used to make but it would do for now until he started earning some real money.

Sling his bag over his shoulders he made the rounds around the house making sure all the windows and door were locked. He had no idea when he would be back, and beyond knowing he had to come back for school Prompto felt bittersweet leaving the city he had only gotten to see alive again.

But he comforted himself with the fact that this time, he would be back to see the light again.

Locking the front door, Prompto left, sparing only one backward glance to his childhood home.

XXxxxxXX

Author’s Note: Next time, Prompto the hunter! Prompto starts getting started on getting rid of the Empire and surprises. Someone does notice Prompto's absence!

Next Chapter | Previous Chapter

Live for the Night on AO3

#ffxv #prompto argentum #time travel #fanfiction #live for the night

2 notes · View notes

coolgreatwebsite · 6 years ago

Text

Cool Games I Finished In 2018 (In No Real Order)

Man! Wow! 2018! 2018 was a wild year for me. I managed to deliver those elbow drops I talked about last year and ended up doing a lot of of things. I left my job and moved cross-country in the span of like 2 and a half weeks! I took a new job in the video game industry (play Ninjin and Override)! I took a trip to Vegas a week after that! I got in a relationship! I got out of a relationship! It’s been a ride. A ride that hasn’t left me a ton of time to play video games or write about video games, but I’m like 1000 times happier now so it’s probably a fair trade. No matter what though, I will always be here at the end of the year to make a bunch of terrible MSPaint banners and provide you with another one of these. Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2018.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PlayStation 2, 2004)

Nocturne is a game that I haven’t been able to get out of my head since I beat it. It’s so damn cool. It starts with you witnessing a demonic apocalypse where only you, your two friends, your teacher, a reporter, and the man with the world’s wildest widow’s peak survive. These people are, with a couple of notable exceptions, the only real characters in the entire game. You barely see them, and when you do your meetings are usually pretty brief. Sure, you talk to and recruit a horde of demons to your side as party members, and you interact with a handful of demonic antagonists and various demonic NPCs, but for the most part the game is just you. You, alone, wandering the weird hellscape remnants of Tokyo. It’s one of the most solitary-feeling video games I’ve ever played, and it nails this atmosphere flawlessly. The music, the visuals, the writing, every element gels with every other element so smoothly to create a prevailing, almost overbearing feeling of loneliness. The combat and gameplay mechanics are what I understand this series to mostly be like (this being the only mainline SMT I’ve played), and are fun and engaging in a way that’s not too dissimilar from the Persona series. The only knock I have against Nocturne is that the dungeon design super sucks. I’m fine with endless corridors, my love of the PS2 Persona games can attest to that, but almost every dungeon in Nocturne has an annoying gimmick to it, and they all essentially boil down to different takes on a teleporter maze. I was kind of almost dreading navigating dungeons by the time I got to the last fourth of the game, but my intense love for literally everything else saw me through. For those of you who like JRPGs and haven’t played Nocturne, I’m sure you’ve heard this plenty of times, and I was like you once. I didn’t listen. But now I’m on the other side of the tunnel, so I get to say it. You should really, really play Nocturne. It’s good.

Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

Octo Expansion is what Splatoon 2′s single player mode should have been from the start. Don’t get me wrong, the packed in single player campaign is fine, but it’s basically a level pack for Splatoon 1′s. Octo Expansion, on the other hand, is 100% fresh. Structurally it’s much more diverse, with the campaign taking place over 80 mostly-bite-sized missions with varying objectives. There’s a couple of stinkers in there, but overall the quality of the missions is much higher than what was in the original single player campaign. They can actually be pretty tough sometimes too! It was fun to see some actual challenge in a Splatoon campaign. Everything wrapped around the core gameplay of Octo Expansion is kind of phenomenal. The setting and visual design is super weird, the music is way more mellow than anything else that’s come out of the series and creates a great sense of atmosphere, and the writing is actually genuinely pretty great. There’s a lot of funny dialogue and good character moments. They made me like Pearl! The weird gremlin that eats mayo! She’s my friend now! The last half an hour or so of Octo Expansion is also straight up my favorite sequence from a game I played this year too. Don’t sleep on this thing just because it’s DLC. It’s legitimately great.

Monster Hunter: World (PlayStation 4, 2018)

At the outset I was incredibly skeptical of Monster Hunter: World. This wasn’t entirely fair to the game, as a lot of this feeling was based on its initial E3 reveal trailer kinda sorta matching up to some mostly not true pre-E3 leaks, namely that it would be much more action heavy to cater to Western audiences and tie into the then unannounced Monster Hunter movie (which, as an aside, looks like a trainwreck that I desperately want to see). You can probably pretty easily find some tweets and posts from me around that time saying that the game looks like trash because of some misinterpreted new game mechanic. I am here to say that I am a big wrong dumbass and Monster Hunter: World is very good. You might be surprised to hear this, but it’s Monster Hunter! With a bunch of good and well-executed gameplay refinements! And graphics that aren’t repurposed from a PS2 game! It’s a ton of fun and I put a lot of time into it, but it’s not without its flaws. The number of monsters and weapons is comparatively way lower than in previous games, mostly due to that whole not repurposing PS2 models thing. It’s still kind of clunky in a lot of the places Monster Hunter has been historically clunky in, but also in some pretty big new ways, mainly around playing multiplayer. Also the story, while it’s as bland as it’s ever been, is exponentially more intrusive thanks to the addition of voiced cutscenes (which need to be triggered before the game lets you bring other players into story missions, causing a lot of that clunk I mentioned earlier). It’s all nothing game-ruining, of course. The game wouldn’t be on the list if it was! Monster Hunter: World exceeded my expectations, and I’m super looking forward to playing the recently announced G Rank expansion when it comes out next year.

Contra: Hard Corps (Sega Genesis, 1994)

I wish I could go back in time and kick my own stupid ass for not playing this sooner. I’d written off Contra: Hard Corps for the longest time based solely on some bullshit I read on the internet at an age where I just took other peoples’ opinions and made them my own. This and Castlevania Bloodlines were the bad ones, the ones some weird b-team crapped out for the Genesis while the SNES got the good stuff like Contra 3: Alien Wars. Well, it turns out... they were right about Bloodlines. But MAN were they wrong about Hard Corps. Hard Corps is the best Contra game. It fucking rules. I would have gone on with my life never giving the game a glance if not for this excellent Giant Bomb feature happening, and a couple of episodes in I knew I had to play it for myself. Contra: Hard Corps is fucking nuts. It’s balls to the wall 100% of the time. There’s so many unique enemies and wild bosses and they’re all never not exploding. The game has four characters with unique weapons and multiple different level paths that have totally different levels, bosses, and story beats. Oh, and the soundtrack fucking rips. Sometimes it’s a little too much, and there are definitely some sequences and boss attacks that are total gotchas that you can’t survive without prior knowledge of how they work. I’d also be remiss not to give a special shoutout to level 4′s awful, tedious, unskippable-on-any-route boss. But god damn if the rest of Hard Corps doesn’t outshine these flaws. It’s the high water mark for insane non-stop 16-bit action.

Deltarune (PC, 2018)

Does this count? It’s a demo for a full game that won’t be out for a real long time... I suppose it does, it’s self-contained enough. Deltarune, the free demo for the sort of but also sort of not sequel to Undertale, is unsurprisingly good as hell. Less surprising for sure, as Undertale is a known quantity these days, but I’m still way into it. The story is interesting and full of charming characters, and the battle system has been overhauled to include things like multiple party members with different abilities while still keeping all the things that made Undertale’s battles novel. The music is, of course, fantastic, and the visuals look much nicer while adhering to the same general style as the previous game. It’s fairly short, and some character development feels a little rushed because of it, but again, it’s a small chunk of the beginning of a much larger game. I can’t imagine any of this stuff wouldn’t be expanded upon. It’s hard to judge this thing story-wise due to the nature of it being a demo. I thoroughly enjoyed what is there, though, and look forward to playing the rest of the game in 50 years or whatever.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

This game is so much. Even though the first thing I learned about this game was “everyone is here”, I still wasn’t ready for how much it is. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is maybe too much. Of course, as previously stated, everyone (meaning every single previous playable Smash Bros. character) is here. Most of the previous stages are also present. This was all known. Where the game really, truly goes overboard though is in the single-player content. There’s the usual classic mode for every character, this time specifically structured around a theme for each character, but the vast majority of it is actually comprised of the all-new spirits system. Spirits are non-playable video game characters that you can collect and equip to your fighters for special abilities, sort of like a less terrible version of Smash Bros. Brawl’s stickers. You collect these spirits through spirit battles, which are fights themed around the character the spirit represents via extremely clever usage of already existing fighters and mechanics. These battles range from the obvious (Big the Cat’s battle tasks you with fighting a giant purple Incineroar), to the obscure (fight the main characters from Zangeki no Reginleiv as represented by Link and female Robin while you’re giant-sized), to the creative (Porygon’s spirit puts you in a fight against wireframe Little Mac and Akira from Virtua Fighter, normally an assist trophy), to the downright in-jokey (the spirit of Ness’s Father, displayed as the telephone spirte from Earthbound, makes you fight an invisible Solid Snake). There are like 1200 spirits. The vast majority of them have an associated battle. And you don’t just experience these battles through a menu, at least half of them are implemented into the 30 hour long adventure mode, World of Light, which has you fighting spirits, navigating dungeons, and facing bosses. It’s insane. They focused on spirits in lieu of collectible trophies this time around and they absolutely made the correct choice. The trophies in the last two Super Smash Bros. games were fine, but easier access to existing 3D models of most represented characters made them inherently less exciting than Melee’s tailor-made collection of high quality (considering the time period) renders, many of which would never receive a 3D model again. The spirits system manages to be exciting in the same way Melee's trophies were, fostering a genuine sense of anticipation to see what they cooked up next, but in the context of gameplay. They completely knocked it out of the park. Smash 4 made it on one of these lists long ago, and I essentially just said “it’s more Smash Bros. and that’s good”. Smash Ultimate is also more Smash Bros., but it’s SO much more Smash Bros. It’s so much more extremely good Smash Bros. The only things I can ding it for are some totally subjective stage preferences (where the hell is Poké Floats) and some slightly less than optimal music sorting decisions. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is, ultimately, the ultimate Super Smash Bros.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Nintendo Switch, 2018): Remember Castlevania 3? Inti Creates sure did! This prequel to the still unreleased Koji Igarashi Kickstarter project Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an unabashed love letter to Castlevania 3, and it’s pretty good. Mom Hid My Game! (Nintendo Switch, 2017): A charming little game in the style of those old escape the room Flash games. It even looks like one (in the literal sense, not the pejorative). It’s not tough or replayable really, but it is $5 and consistently absurd and surprising. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PlayStation 4, 2018): Yakuza 6 is kind of a weird juxtaposition. It’s the final chapter of Kazuma Kiryu’s story, but also the first game to use the Yakuza team’s new Dragon Engine. The story end of things is a good, solid sendoff for a bunch of characters I’m going to miss very dearly, but the gameplay feels very formative and limited in a way that sort of reminds me of Yakuza 1. I had a good time with it overall, but I hope they manage to dial it in like they did with the previous decade of Yakuza games and make something truly excellent again. Looking at you, Judge Eyes. Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (Nintendo 3DS, 2017): Etrian Odyssey V is a return to basics for the series, ditching things like overworlds and sub-dungeons and just pitting your party against one big labyrinth. Honestly, gotta say, I miss the stuff they left behind! The core of Etrian Odyssey is still super strong so I had fun regardless, but the overall simplicity of the game and the changes to how classes work had me missing EOIV more often than not. Soundtrack’s great though, as expected. Sonic Mania Plus (Nintendo Switch, 2018): To be completely honest, most of the stuff they added to Sonic Mania in Plus really isn’t that fantastic. Mighty’s spike and projectile immunity is fun, but Ray’s flying is more interesting than effective. Encore mode is largely disappointing, with most of it feeling identical to the base game outside of its all-new (and too hard for their own good) special stages. HOWEVER, Sonic Mania Plus was an exceptional excuse to play through Sonic Mania another six or so times. Congratulations to Sonic Mania for being game of the year for two years in a row. WarioWare Gold (Nintendo 3DS, 2018): A good compilation game, executed much better than in the team’s previous Rhythm Heaven Megamix, but lacking in reasons to come back after you’ve played all the games. There’s the usual toy room stuff WarioWare has had since Touched!, but it’s bogged down by reliance on a currency system and the fact that sooooo many things you unlock are just parts that feed into a larger, not that interesting thing. The part where you play WarioWare is great though, and the new visuals make it all feel fresh even though it’s mostly older games. Mario Tennis Aces (Nintendo Switch, 2018): I had a brief, passionate love affair with Mario Tennis Aces. The core gameplay is rad as hell and more like a fighting game than a tennis game, with multiple different special shots and a focus on meter management. I played like 40+ hours of it between the full game and the demo and never even touched the single player (which makes it technically not count for this list, but, shut up). I got 2nd place at its very first tournament at CEO 2018. Then I... stopped playing. It had some weird balance issues, sure, but I think it was more a victim of circumstance rather than anything else. I moved basically right after CEO and just never went back to it. It’s still incredible though. I hope this game’s systems are the standard for Mario Tennis games going forward.

We made it! Bottom of the list! It was a shorter trip this time, but I’m still proud of you for making it here all the same. Thank you for reading the words I typed about video games. I’m looking to get this web page back into gear in 2019, so you can probably expect part 2 of The Best Babies sometime in January. Hopefully I’ll actually play some video games too so I can bring back Breviews on the first of February. Until then!

#article #year wrapup

14 notes · View notes