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haloud · 2 years

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unnamed maria-centric fantasy au part 4

you can find the other parts i’ve written here

written for @mariadelucaweekend day 3!!

Maria and Michael stumbled into the inn past dusk, after the dinner hour. Michael handled the horse while Maria handled paying for the room; between the two of them, she was the one who’d never been swindled before and wouldn’t be starting now. Then it was an extra copper for a bit of bread and stew leftover, and the two of them, exhausted, filthy, and silent, climbed the rickety stairs to their rented room. Michael made it there first, but he stopped so short in the doorway she ran into his back.

When he staggered forward a step, she saw what froze him.

The room was small, clean and humble, tucked under the eaves with a polished glass window and a candle flickering merrily on the bedstand. There was even a tub of water; it would be cold, but Maria was ready to commit a murder to get the layers of road dirt off her skin.

Yes, the room was average in every way, perfectly adequate for travelers. Unless, that was, one traveled in a group. The room held only a single bed, tucked against the wall below the window.

Fantastic.

“Move, Guerin,” she said, letting every bit of exhaustion out in her voice. “I call the first bath. If you say anything chivalrous about sleeping on the floor, I’ll stab you in the kidney.”

They spoke as little while getting ready for bed as they had on the road. Guerin did offer a charm to warm the bathwater, which warmed her to him in turn. Eventually, the conciliatory way he deferred to her would get annoying and she’d miss their old banter, but that time wasn’t coming just yet. He even let her get in the bed first, letting her take up as much space as she pleased, before he fit himself into whatever space remained. Then, when they were both settled, he blew out the candle, leaving them in darkness.

It was a new moon. The world was utterly black and still beyond the nailed-shut window.

But, as was so often the case, it was easier to speak when they could not see each other.

“The time for secrets is past. It’s beyond past, Guerin. Michael.”

Maria spoke quiet and hoarse to the beams crisscrossing the ceiling. Beside her, Michael shifted on the roughspun mattress. He turned to face her, and they’d be kissing-close if she did the same, but she didn’t.

“I know. I’m not trying to deceive you.”

“Anymore, you mean.”

“Anymore,” he allowed, voice soft.

He shifted again but moved no closer to her. Uncharitably, she scoffed at him inside her head: the pampered princeling unused to anything but a feather bed. But that wasn’t true; she knew that wasn’t true. Guerin was raised sleeping on straw, on stone floors, on a pallet in front of the hearth, like every other poor child in the kingdom. Everything else was learned; everything else was bad habit. It was choice, not nature, that made him sly and sneaky like a noble.

“You know my brother and sister. Max and Isobel.”

“Your brother’s head is on every copper that’s crossed my bartop since I bought the place,” Maria said flatly. “I’m familiar.”

“Right. Crown Prince and all that. The thing is, he’s…not well.”

“Sick?”

That was a surprise, that the crown prince could be ill and there wouldn’t even be any gossip. And if there was gossip, Maria would have heard it.

“Cursed,” Guerin replied bleakly. He rolled back onto his back too, so they were both staring at the ceiling together.

“Cursed,” Maria repeated. “And…is that something that happens often?”

She thought of all the people who thought fairy stories were for children, never knowing there was magic all around them, never knowing sorcerers were real and apparently meant them real harm. She thought of her own mother, whose mind and feet wandered, who she’d left in Arturo’s care to go on this stupid adventure, and of every doctor who’d barely given them a look before declaring her in fine health but for an overactive imagination. Her heart pounded hard, then harder, sickly, in her chest.

“Not often. It’s grim magic. Any curse you lay comes back on you threefold, one day. But some sorcerers lay them regardless. Sometimes, people want to see others suffering more than they care for their own happiness and long life.”

She didn’t understand, but she didn’t need to. Who cared about the intricacies of how a curse came to be? There were other, more important concerns, like:

“And you know how to break this curse?”

“In theory. Or at least I thought I did.”

“What does that mean?”

“The curse was triggered when he used too much of his own magic—depleted himself beyond his body’s ability to fight it off, like an infection. His magic has been raging since the curse took over. He can’t control it, and it feeds on itself; the more magic he uses, the worse his condition becomes, and he can’t stop using magic. But there are artifacts in this world that can absorb magic and hold it, that can act as external wells of power for sorcerers.”

“That’s what you had me searching for!”

“Precisely.”

No wonder he’d paid her so well despite always protesting she would bankrupt him. If it was for the life of a prince, she should have asked for double.

“I had hoped to use the artifacts and fragments you collected to create a sort of…” Guerin gestured, his long-fingered hands waving in the dark, “A crutch, for his spirit. It’s one of my more useful skills, artificing. So he could have not just a simple well to keep the curse at bay—one that could be stolen or depleted—but a way of diverting the curse altogether, killing it once the well was empty. I was so close.”

The anguish in his voice pierced somewhere behind her collarbone, and at last she turned to look at him, the dim line of his profile, the steady heat and weight of his shoulder less than an inch from hers.

“What happened?”

“My workshop was ransacked. All my work, destroyed or stolen. Months of planning and research trampled. I could start over, but what if Max was consumed before I achieved anything? And how to start over when I’d used almost all my materials, and my supplier was…”

“Was what? I’m still here,” Maria demanded roughly. She wouldn’t even entertain the idea that he was talking about anyone other than her. “Your silver still spends. Unless, what, I didn’t work fast enough for you?”

“I didn’t know. Lady Deluca, I swear to you I didn’t know.”

“What are you talking about?”

He just couldn’t stop trying her patience, could he? Couldn’t just stick to straight answers instead of winding tales and dramatics, couldn’t just—

He turned, then, so they were nose to nose. She froze and held her breath, so she felt it in the air between them when his caught and fluttered past his lips.

“Your talisman.”

Faintly, she could see him raise his hand, hover it in the air for a heartbeat, then touch his own sternum where her pendant hung against her own chest. Had he meant to touch her? She held her breath again.

He continued, “It…it hides you, from all magic. Including your own. But if you’d lost it, at any point in any of the errands I paid you for, the defenses of these artifacts could have sensed you and…”

Throat bobbing, he swallowed so hard she could hear it.

“I think you must be mistaken,” Maria corrected, as gently as she could. Believing in magic was one thing, but this? The pendant was just a family heirloom, and besides—the reason she hadn’t laughed Guerin out of her bar when he first started talking magic was her own small magic. The reliability of her card readings, the ability to sense others’ emotions she’d inherited from her mother. None of that was hidden from her.

“When was the last time you took it off?”

“Not since my mother gave it to me the day I turned eighteen.”

“That’s good. It’s an heirloom, so you’ve protected it. But if you’d lost it at any point while hunting one of those artifacts I asked you for…there are worse things than sorcerers drawn to wells of power, Lady Deluca. Creatures that will suck your spirit from your flesh and your marrow from your bones. I put you right in the lions’ jaws, and if anything had happened to you…”

“You’re not responsible for me. I make my own choices.”

“But you deserve to make them with clear eyes and all the facts. And I took advantage of your ignorance, mistaking it for a safeguard. And, Lady…Maria. I’m sorry.”

Well. What was she supposed to do with that?

“I appreciate that. And I already know how you can begin to wipe away that debt,” she said, sounding more confident than she felt.

“Say the word.”

“You’re going to help me break a curse.”

#mariaweekend2022 #mariadelucaweekend2022 #my fic #maria deluca #michael guerin #miluca fantasy au #is my general tag for it but i honestly dont know if it will wind up miluca or malexa hahaha #this one actually has some plot in gasp

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dailyaudiobiblechronological · 1 year

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9/15/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription Part 4

Community Prayer Line:

Good evening DABC Familia. This is Nicole Simone from Brooklyn, NY, East New York, where I spend most of my days. Today is September 8th, I heard on September 7th, Candace is nope, not Candace. Candy Unraveled by God's Grace, prayer for Green Thumb from Nebraska and sister. I'm just standing alongside with you. My hand is in your hand and I'm squeezing because I'm in agreement with the prayer that you prayed over her. In Jesus name. Amen. Just wanna say someone from Texas could never get sick of hearing your voice and your testimony and how you overcome in the details of the process. And shout out to you Jill as you are encouraging us and admonishing us to go ahead and ask that question, Father, you know what is the first step for me in the process of restoration? For me? For me, I thank you for that reflection. That that question holds, I also want to, you know, jump over to August 8th. Oh, Happy birthday Max. Happy birthday, Max, Jill's son. Happy birthday. Wanna jump over real quickly in September 8th Where Kingdom Seeker then you shared the victory report for LOV. It's an island the privileged to to be amongst the prayers of yourself King this weekend, you and your lovely bride- love it when you refer to her as your lovely bride. I am full. Thank you guys for your prayers. Loving you- have a rainbow day today and tomorrow. Um, and laugh on purpose. Bye.

Good morning, family. It's Inge from Denmark. I just listened to a prayer called in by Carrie, AKA Jesus Girl. And you made me, you made me smile. That was not in my head. My heart was nodding in its head when you spoke about how you had felt this nudge to call in and that you sometimes you want to call in, but then you don't because you don't feel like you pray as eloquently as others. And I think so many of us, so many believers, we know exactly where you're coming from. We know that comparison kills, but we just can't help ourselves. And, and it just got me thinking about I have a 4 1/2 year old and I'm tucking him in at night and I will always ask him what to pray for and then I'll pray and usually he will just say things to give thanks for. That's a that's a little something to to chew on. I asked what can we pray for and he always says it talks about what to give thanks for. But anyways that was a sidebar. Then a couple of nights ago I asked him if if he would pray to Jesus first and then I would pray after him and he was like I don't know how to pray to Jesus and I said God is just waiting for you to need to call on his name, and he rejoices when he hears anyone of us call this things you just say whatever you feel like. And he said most childish little amazing prayer. But I do believe it's true what I said, it wasn't eloquent but it was from the heart. And God loves that. He loves us, when we call his name, when we approach him.

Good morning, DABC. This is Tonya calling from Suffolk. This prayer is for Kindergarten Kate, Heavenly Father, I lift up Kindergarten Kate to you Lord God. She belongs to you heavenly father. Dear Lord I'm asking you just to intervene father on her behalf. Dear father she's going through a divorce that she never thought would that would even take place. Heavenly father she's feeling guilt Lord God. But Lord God I'm asking right now on this day...God did you just remove any of that guilt that she's feeling? Father, remove all of it. Father in the mighty name of Jesus, Lord God. Father, I'm asking that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lord God, if it's your will, Father. For this divorce heavenly father, I'm asking Lord God that you just to once again to intercede while on her behalf, Lord God, I'm asking Lord God, you just give her the strength to endure father that whatever may come her way during this situation, Lord God, you give her a comfort. Lord God, you just wrap your loving arms around her. Father, I'm asking Lord God, you continue to protect her and protect her children. Heavenly Father put that hedge around them. Father just renew their mind as well. If they have any remembers of any bad things that have happened, Father that have made stunned they are on mine. Father asking Father, you just to intervene right now in the mighty name of Jesus. Remove any and everything Father that is not of you Father. In your Son Jesus name. Amen, Kindergarten. Kate, I'm asking you just to hold on to God's unchanging hand. God will never leave you nor forsake you. He know what you're going through. He know what you need. So asking again, you just continue to hold on and God will work on your behalf as always. DABC, I love you.

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bobgoesw00t · 2 years

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Top 10 Video Games of All Time: bobgoesw00t Edition (Part 09)

It's almost midnight where I live, it's -4 (-27 when you factor the wind chill in) and Winter Storm Elliot is suppose to hang around the for next few hours. It's almost Christmas Eve so I figured, WHAT BETTER TIME TO POST MY PENULTIMATE VIDEO GAME OF ALL TIME!!!!!!! >_<

Number 2 goes to the MMORPG I've been apart of for the last TEN YEARS now, the MMO that truly broke the traditional mold of MMOs by taking the "Holy Trinity" of party building, going "NOPE!!! FUCK THAT BULLSHIT!!!!!" and gave us a game that was unlike anything at the time, Guild Wars 2.

Now I was lucky enough to enter this franchise with the Third Expandalone title (yes, ArenaNet was doing expandalone games WAY before that was even a thing in most developers minds) Guild Wars Nightfall and I was hook instantly. I actually beat 3/4 campaigns in the original game on my Dervish and he didn't even have Max Armor...which is fucking nuts! It wasn't until roughly a year or so before GW2 went live that I opened his inventory and went, "OH! MY CHARACTER DOESN'T HAVE MAX ARMOR!!! THAT EXPLAINS WHY I'M TAKING AN ASSTON OF DAMAGE EVEN AT LEVEL 20!!!!!"

Anyways, so I was able to run through all four campaigns on two characters before GW2 went live at the end of August in 2012 and get 90-95% of the cosmetic stuff from the Hall of Monuments by the time it came out. I even played most (if not all) of the Beta Weekend Events leading up to launch and I was hooked even more so than with the original.

I literally don't know what to say about this game that you can't find by simply looking up information about the game other than my only real gripes I have are even after playing the game for over ten years now, I still only have one Legendary Weapon which is only due to how much fucking money you need to make all the various components combined with how a good chunk of those items are time gated and can only be made once every 24 hours or so. Thankfully, Ascended weapons are a tad easier to come by and have the same stats as Legendary ones, so it's not that big of a deal.

My other complaint is that the only way to get a Guild Hall is via an "Expedition" and if your in a tiny guild with only a few people (less 50), you'll have no chance of getting one. In the original game, it was possible to get one if you saved enough money to get the require item so it's kind of annoying.

Even with those two gripes, this is still one of the best MMORPGs I've ever played (which, while not a lot, it still a few) and I'm glad to say that I've been apart of it's community since launch.

So I'm giving Guild Wars 2 and all three of it's expansions (this score is VERY true of the most recent one, End of Dragons) a 5/5.

Honorable Mentions:

Aion: Another good MMORPG that's free to play that has combat that's a good mix of titles like WoW and an action game like Guild Wars and Blade & Soul (or as I like to call it, Boob & Soul xD)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The Smash Bros game to end all Smash Bros games. Was supported for almost three whole years post launch with two sets of DLC Fighters, including the long awaited inclusion of the Dorky Keyblade Master (who, unsurprisingly enough, was the most requested fight for the Sm4sh Fighter Ballot Sora Ltd and Nintendo did years ago) Sora from Kingdom Hearts. My Smash waifus however are Zelda (GOD her Final Smash in Ultimate is broken) and the Aegis duo of Homura/Hikari (one is fast as light and the other has STUPIDLY high knockback on her Side Smash, N-Special and Up Special).

Sorry for the short entry for my penultimate game, but I have family coming over tomorrow to open presents since some of them are busy on Christmas Day and I really want to go to bed ASAP xD. The reveal of my Number One pick will still be coming on the 27th so look for it then!

#video game #video games #top ten video games of all time #top 10 video games of all time #guild wars #guild wars 2 #guild wars 2 heart of thorns #guild wars 2 path of fire #guild wars 2 end of dragons #aion #super smash bros #super smash bros ultimate #smash ultimate #sm4sh #sora #kingdom hearts #kh sora #my picks

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nerdygaymormon · 3 years

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uhhhh david have you gotten the liahona yet bc idk how to feel about an article i found in there yesterday. it was pretty comforting and basic, but did use ssa the whole time. BUT the youth one was pretty crappy, it used ssa to the max and gave no real hope, was pretty bland and annoying about oh itll be find just believe and jesus and get hatecrimed <3 i would like to hear your thoughts on it, its the first time ive seen any queer topics in church magazines

Thanks for bringing these to my attention.

"Same-sex attraction" (SSA) is the preferred term of Church leaders. They say it's a way of not making it your identity, that this isn't part of who I am but rather is something I'm dealing with. In other words, people "have" same-sex attraction, not that they "are" gay or lesbian or bi.

There have been a few leaks from behind-the-scenes where the apostles say they use "same-sex attraction" because it's the term that people like least. People like it less that same-gender attraction or gay/lesbian. SSA includes the word "sex" and I guess the idea is it gets people to think of sexual acts and feel queasy.

SSA is the term normally used in Church magazines because they follow the lead of the First Presidency and apostles.

There's 3 items in the Church magazines this month about queer people! That's a lot for one month.

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The first is a bishop talking about how to understand and include LGBT people at church. After becoming bishop, 3 sets of parents contacted him distressed that their child is gay or transgender (I note that the parents used "gay." He also mentions contacting someone who 'identifies as gay").

His first recommendation is to follow the living apostles. (which explains why the bishop uses "SSA" even though everyone else around him used "gay"). It's a good idea for a local leader to find what the current leaders are saying because it's changed. He also says to read the Church's websites titled “Same-Sex Attraction” and “Transgender.” He provides two lovely quotes from those pages about diversity at church and being loving to people who are different.

His second recommendation is to not be afraid to talk to people who identify as gay, but instead try to have love for them and then let the Spirit guide you in what to say. We're just people, it shouldn't be scary to talk to us, that shows how different he thinks we are from the other people he interacts with in his ward.

The bishop's third suggestion is to speak to people who are familiar with LGBT "issues," share your testimony, and apologize for hurtful things you say. His list of people to contact for help understanding was a little disheartening because he starts with his stake leaders, ward leaders, other bishops, and so on, actual queer people were the last people on his list.

He continues by saying to pull aside members who are saying homophobic or transphobic things and give them some personal guidance, don't share private information that a member shares with the bishop, and just because someone has these "attractions" doesn't mean they're acting on them, and if they aren't "acting" on them then you can let them have a calling.

I have a few comments about the last few things. If no one corrects the homophobic/transphobic comments in public but instead privately suggests the person do better, every one who heard those comments thinks they stand unchallenged. The atmosphere created by the comments is unchanged. Especially if the bishop was present to hear those words, if they go uncontested then people think this is what is acceptable.

You'd think bishops know not to share private information a member shares with them. I've been around long enough to know that when a bishop is unsure what to do, he starts contacting his network (stake presidency, other bishops) asking for advice. Some bishops are discreet when doing this and others name the individuals.

While it seems basic, I recently had a counselor in a bishopric who didn't think gay people could get a temple recommend, that there's a zero-tolerance policy. That is an attitude that is outdated by a couple of decades, but it shows that people need to learn that simply existing as a gay or trans person doesn't automatically mean we are committing great sins.

I do find it interesting there appears to have been quite a few queer individuals in his ward, at least 4 or 5, and reading between the lines it seems they all stopped attending.

The bishop's heart is in the right place. I get he's following the Church leaders and that limits some of what he can do for queer people in his ward. I think his perspective primarily is of making the parents feel more welcome in the ward and not ostracized for having queer kids.

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The second article in the Liahona is written by a person with same-sex attraction and his work to overcome the shame he felt.

It's a much better article than the one written by the bishop. This person shares about the shame they felt at having gay feelings and working with a therapist to overcome that shame. He shares 3 lessons that helped him with this process.

1) God and Jesus love and accept him as he is. This is a message that doesn't often get conveyed to queer members and it's important they know this.

2) The Atonement of Jesus Christ offers healing. At first he was wanting the Atonement to cure him of being gay, but instead it helped him be healed of the shame he felt. I hear so many members who think the Atonement can change us from gay to straight, and that's not true. I'm glad he made this distinction. Our Heavenly Parents don't view being gay or trans as something that needs to be cured. I wish that message was taught more openly in the Church.

3) Build deeper connections and show compassion. Loneliness and feeling like you don't belong at church are two of the most troubling aspects an LGBTQ+ person has to deal with if they are active in the LDS Church. Developing close friendships will help with that. Also, queer people tend to be more compassionate than the average person and I believe it's because of the experiences we had to deal with of living in a heteronormative world that isn't made for us.

He includes a few useful tips at the end on how to engage with queer people.

All in all, a much better story than the one written by the bishop. He shared part of how it feels to be a gay member of this church, the idea that he should be ashamed for who he is, that being gay isn’t a burden, that he doesn't fit in.

I appreciated he said this is part of his layers of identity and at the core of his identity is that we're children of heavenly parents. That's more nuanced than the apostles who reject being gay has anything to do with identity and our only identity should be a child of God.

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The final story is from For the Strength of Youth. This piece seems like it's written by a queer person, but it's anonymous and given as general advice to show that people with same-sex attraction belong at church.

This article makes 3 main points. The first is that God loves you. That's true, although accompanying quotes to back up this principle aren't specifically about queer people.

The second point is "you belong." All sorts of people attend church, and God is no respecter of persons. Then they have a quote from Elder L. Whitney Clayton that people with same-sex attraction are welcome to come to church. To me, he's an odd choice to give this message as he led the Church's fight in California on Prop 8 to make gay marriage illegal again. Words aren't enough. Saying I'm welcome is not the same as making a welcoming climate.

The third point is that God will help you. They include a quote from Laura F. who experiences same-sex attraction. She writes about prayer, scripture study, temple and church attendance. However, she also says she doesn't know what her life will look like in 20 years, she seems to be leaving open the possibility her journey with God will lead her to romance and out of the church. I thought that was very honest and important.

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I found it noteworthy that nowhere in these 3 articles does it say being alone and celibate is good and what God wants.

I appreciate the idea that we can make our local congregations less homophobic/transphobic. The suggestions from the bishops shows that the bar is pretty low and it doesn't take much to make an improvement from how things are now.

The voices of the two gay members was important, what they shared was useful but nuanced, didn't make commitments to staying in the church long-term or testify that what the church requires is what God wants for them.

Even so, it's clear the publisher is very careful. They use "same-sex attraction" so often, I think readers would be surprised the preferred term of most same-sex attracted people would be gay, bi or lesbian. While they addressed some things, like homophobic/transphobic comments, feeling shame & not fitting in, I think they largely skated past the things that make queer people decide that this church isn't for them.

There's a part of me that says I'm glad we're having this conversation in the Church magazines, but another part that says this is too sanitized and doesn't get at the heart of things. These are very hopeful messages that make it seem that queer people could easily choose to stay in church if a few adjustments were made and if they only understood God loves them, which avoids the "doctrine" that excludes queer people from the highest blessings and joys and makes us essentially second-class citizens in the kingdom of God, at least according to our church.

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baphomet-media · 3 years

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Getting Psyched - A The World Ends With You Retro Review

Genre: Adventure Subgenre: JRPG Developer: Square Enix, Jupiter Publisher: Square Enix Platform(s): DS Release Date: July 27th, 2007 Hours Played: 42 hours this playthrough

You’ve almost certainly heard of this game, especially if you’re into JRPGs. When a game advertises itself as being “from the team that made Kingdom Hearts,” I was sold instantly as a kid. One look at the game’s box art confirms that Tetsuya Nomura had a hand at this game with his distinctive bold art style. But the game itself was something that nobody at the time had predicted. The game has an urban fantasy story unlike much that had been told at the time. Furthermore, the game was made to push the DS to its limits and create a battle system that could only work on the DS’s two screens. Does this cult classic live up to the hype, or is it just a janky mess? Let’s find out.

Story

TWEWY opens by introducing our protagonist, an antisocial teen named Neku Sakuraba. Neku unexpectedly awakens in the iconic scramble crossing of Shibuya, Tokyo. To his surprise, the crowds seem to walk right through him, and a strange pin appears in his hand that allows him to read the thoughts of passersby. Neku quickly learns that he has been thrust into the Reapers’ Game, a seven-day death game where the Players are the recently deceased that must partner up to fight the Noise, hostile part-animal-part-tribal-graffiti creatures that seek to erase the Players. What’s more, each day Players must complete missions given to them by the Reapers within strict time limits while avoiding the reapers themselves. If they can make it to the end of the week, they might just be able to return to life.

Along the way, Neku will meet a chaotic cast of characters including Shiki, the headstrong seamstress who is eventually able to get Neku out of his angsty shell, Beat and Rhyme, a pair of street-smart siblings with heavy 2000’s skater vibes, Joshua, an abrasive, sarcastic, literal Christ figure who’s somehow a good guy? Or maybe he’s a bad guy? Or… maybe he’s a good guy again? On top of that, the Reapers themselves vary wildly from the contrasting duo of the laid-back Kariya and the high-strung Uzuki to the lone radical Minamimoto. The game does a good job of having a full roster of characters without overloading the player. Furthermore, while most characters seem wacky at first, they all have motivations and layers behind them that become clearer as you progress through the story.

Without spoiling anything, nothing is as it seems in the Reaper’s game, and multiple parties are vying for control for different reasons, meaning the whole thing feels like one big political intrigue story on top of an urban JRPG. Even on my most recent replay after having played the game countless times over the years, I was hungry to put the pieces together. While the main storyline mostly follows Neku’s perspective and doesn’t explain a lot of the behind-the-scenes interactions and motivations of the secondary characters, the game fortunately has a Secret Reports feature, which are written by a certain character who seems to know way more than they let on. These Secret Reports are near essential to understanding the game’s true story, and reveal whole layers to the plot and world that the main story doesn’t even touch on.

Needless to say, I loved the story of TWEWY. Everything feels perfectly crafted, leaving no loose ends, while still leaving the player wanting more. If anything I wanted to see more of Neku and his friends after the game’s conclusion just hanging out in real life.

Gameplay

TWEWY is a JRPG, but in the loosest sense possible. In the overworld, the player controls Neku, guiding him around the various streets of Shibuya on the touch screen or with the face buttons. Unlike in traditional RPGs, outside of story events the player must deliberately initiate combat with the Noise. By scanning their environment they can read the surface thoughts of passersby, but also reveal noise symbols in the environment. By tapping on these symbols, the player can queue up battles with the noise, and can even chain multiple battles together for back-to-back fights that multiply your drop rate.

In battle, Neku and his partner are sent to separate Zones, with Neku on the touch screen and his partner on the top screen. Neku fights the noise by activating the abilities of pins he has equipped, called Psychs. Each psych has its own activation method, from swiping on an enemy to tapping empty space, to scratching on the screen, to shouting into the microphone, and more. It’s up to the player to equip Neku with the best pins, though pins level up as they are used, becoming more powerful and sometimes evolving into even stronger pins.

On the top screen, Neku’s partner fights the noise by using the DS’s face buttons to move through a combo map and select certain finishers. By selecting the right finishers, you can charge your Sync gauge to perform a powerful special attack. Both characters share an HP gauge, damage to each character subtracting from each side. If you’re following along, that means the game expects you to control both Neku and his partner at the same time. This can be tricky for new players, but you quickly get used to it. Additionally, you can have your partner auto-fight with a customizable delay, meaning you technically don’t have to control your partner at all. However, if you really want to deal major damage and wipe the floor with the Noise on higher difficulties, you’ll want to master battling with both characters at once. When I first played the game in 2007, I found the parner battling to be too difficult to keep up with, but now that I’m older and more experienced, I find the combat to be incredibly deep and rewarding. Additionally, the game rewards back-and-forth control of Neku and his partner with the Light Puck mechanic. Essentially, when one character performs a combo finisher, the light puck is passed to the other character, and passed back when that character does a finisher. In this way, you can build up a damage multiplier based on how quickly you rally the light puck. This creates a natural back-and-forth flow of using Neku until his psychs discharge, then getting a few hits in with his partner, and so on.

My only complaint about battles is that in later fights on higher difficulty the Noise will attack so frequently on the partner’s zone that it’s difficult to get attacks off with them at all. Your partner has a limited block/dodge, but it only does so much and there’s often tons of Noise attacking at once. It’s not insurmountable, but it can be frustrating at times.

Outside of battle, the player must constantly keep up with a few things, food, swag, and difficulty. Both Neku and his partner can eat food and wear clothing purchased from many shops around Shibuya. Food offers an up-front bonus as well as a permanent stat increase once the food is digested by completing battles. However, you can only digest so many times per real-time day, meaning you have to prioritize high-calorie foods before smaller snacks. I found the digestion limit to be a bit too limiting. It can be removed in the post-game, but it still makes food hard to deal with for someone that is effectively bingeing the game.

Swag are articles of clothing that offer flat stat increases, but also have abilities that are unlocked by showing it to the right store clerk. Each clerk can unlock the abilities of specific clothing, and you can unlock more by buying enough stuff from them to fill up their Friendship Gauge. I thought it was fun to slowly make friends with each store clerk, and I felt bad that I couldn’t hang out with them or reciprocate some of their obvious advances, though I’m sure it’s assumed that Neku cherishes his friendships with them after the game’s conclusion. However, you can’t just equip any old piece of clothing to any character. Neku can’t just pull off a dress and cargo shorts right off the bat. Each piece of clothing has a Bravery rating, with characters whose bravery is below that rating being unable to wear the clothing. Fortunately, bravery increases as you level up, and can also be increased by eating food. By the end of the game, you’ll be able to have Neku and company wearing whatever clothing you want.

Lastly there’s Difficulty. The game has four main difficulty levels, being Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ultimate. You begin the game in Normal, but once you unlock a difficulty, you can change it on the fly from the pause menu. On easier difficulty enemies have less HP and deal less damage, but you get fewer XP and worse pins. The reverse is true on higher difficulties, with some of the best pins in the game being available exclusively as drops on Ultimate difficulty. To aid you in this, you can also change your level at any time. Unlike in a standard RPG where your level is immutable to the player aside from leveling up, in TWEWY you can freely choose your level from one to the highest level you have achieved. For each level below your max that you set your level, you get a multiplier for drops. This can be combined with the battle chaining multiplier to get ultra rare drops, some of which have less than 1% and even less than 0.1% drop chances normally. This gives the player an incentive to level up aside from just stat bonuses, and rewards players who go out of their way to engage in battles. As above, battles are largely optional, but it heavily behooves the player to battle as much as they can, not only because you get drops and experience, but increasing your level gives you more wiggle room for harder fights such as bosses.

There are tons more smaller features, but these are the main ones. I thoroughly enjoyed the vast depths of the game’s mechanics and found the difficulty settings to be really engaging and a novel approach to RPG player advancement while still affording accessibility. I was enthralled for multiple hours as I struggled to get the best gear, feed my team the best food, and equip the best pins to get as strong as possible. Until the very end of the postgame, it never felt like mindless grinding, as you can just breeze through the story on Easy if you really want to, but where would be the fun in that?

Presentation

TWEWY is probably best known for its vibrant and bold incredibly urban street-art-themed style, which shows in not only the art, but the UI, music, and writing. The character art is that hard-outlined and overdressed Nomura art style that fans of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts have come to love, and the backgrounds are all vibrant and stylized to fit. The pixel art of the character sprites and Noise are all incredibly expressive, with Neku’s idle animation as he jams out to tunes on his headphones being one of my favorites.

The game’s music is unabashedly lyrical, covering a vast array of genres including JPop, Punk, and Hip-Hop, with many different styles of each. I loved almost every song in the game, though I found one of the overworld themes to be a bit grating at times. Other than that, the music is pretty great, and what’s even better is you can buy CDs of each of the game’s songs in the game to have your own personal sound test right from the menu, even going as far as to allow you to set the background music on the menu itself.

The game even has voice acting, though it’s limited mostly to battle quips and wordless expressions for cutscenes. I actually really enjoyed the voice acting and thought they nailed each character. I was honestly surprised at the audio quality the developers were able to pack into this game. The music was a very slight bit tinny through the DS’s audio chip as is to be expected, but barring that the vocals and voice overs were super clear and the instrumentation of the songs were well mixed.

Overall, the game’s presentation is about as good as it gets on the DS, giving even home console games a huge run for their money.

Conclusion

Honestly it’s hard to say anything bad at all about TWEWY. The game was a bit hard to approach at the time, but it’s aged magnificently. These days, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that it’s the best (at least non-Pokémon) game on the DS. Honestly though some might be turned off by the game’s quirks, I think TWEWY is a masterpiece that everyone with a DS should pick up and play. I can’t wait to see how the newly-released sequel stands up, but honestly the original is a tough act to follow.

Score: 10 / 10

#gaming #article #review #retro review #twewy #the world ends with you #square enix #jupiter

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purplecyborgnewt · 3 years

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Please don’t ask me what the hell is this - I don’t even know. It just happened in my brain this morning, and... well...

Crossover. Unfinished. Eventually, if I ever get to finish it, Westallen (very eventually – at this point neither Barry nor Iris are even proper characters tbh), but, as expected from me, with some Eobarry thrown in (though it kinda mutates into a different hero/villain ship).

Act I

Narrator: Once upon some other timeline, King Henri and Queen Eleanor celebrated the birth of their son Prince Barrence. They invited many fairies who brought splendid gifts and blessings and gifts of blessings to the newborn.

Queen Eleanor: Dear, did this random fairy just mutter something about our son getting a… twin? I’m certain I only gave birth to one child.

King Henri: Oh, you probably misheard. She most likely meant “queen”. As in, he’ll marry a queen when he grows up. Or maybe she wanted to say “sibling” but misspoke. I see the gift-bestowing is almost over, the three Speed Force Fairies are the last ones left, and after they offer their blessings it’ll be time to dance… Oh no! What is this?! The Evil Yellow Fairy we didn’t invite came uninvited!

Eobard Thawne (who looks like eyeliner-wearing Tom Cavanagh, but with red hair – and when I say “red”, I mean it keeps switching colours from pale ginger to copper to outright crimson and so on): I’m not “evil”, I’m efficient. Malefficient. Efficient at being très mal, if you will. Ha-haaa! And here’s my gift to bestow on the newborn: I promise you, Barry Allen, that you will die! On a day of your eighteenth birthday, you’ll be drenched in mysterious dangerous chemicals and struck by the lightning!

Queen Eleanor: Ah! Your cruel words are like the knife in my heart! (faints)

Max Mercury, Johnny Chambers and Jay Garrick, the three Speed Force Fairies: No! This wont’t happen! Do not worry, Your Majesties – with our combined magic powers and with Speed Force itself on our side we can override this curse! Prince Barrence won’t die, he’ll just fall asleep for one hundred year and nine months, and then he’ll be awaken by the True Love’s Kiss!

King Henri: But even if he gets to meet his True Love before turning eighteen, how will that person stay alive for hundred years?

Eobard: Ha-haaa! I’m from the future, so I’ll be there when it’s time for him to wake up. Oh, and he already met me. In the future. Or in a future. (“You’ll Be Mine” by The Pierces starts playing in the backgroung while he speaks)

King Henri: What the… Didn’t you want him to die?

Eobard: Yes. But also no. Our relationship is complicated. Anyway, I knew the Speed Force would protect him, so I tricked its fairies to interfere with my curse – and now, when Barry wakes up, he’ll have the Speed Force powers! As he always was supposed to, but wouldn’t in this timeline, if not for me! Ha-haaa! (Disappears)

King Henri: To protect my son, I hereby order every citizen of my kingdom to get rid of the… treadmills!

Queen Eleanor (who came to her senses already): Treadmills? Why treadmills?

King Henri: I… I meant to say “mysterious dangerous chemicals”, I don’t know why I said “treadmills”. It’s like some voice whispered in my ear…

Eobard (off-stage): Ha-haaa! IT WAS ME! I talked to him at a hypnotic frequency and put an idea in his mind he couldn’t fight! Now all the treadmills will be destroyed – all of them except for my Cosmic Treadmill, because I keep it safe in the future! Also they can’t hear anything I say! Well, the narrator can. Narrator doesn’t count.

Narrator: Can you stop saying “ha-haaa!“?

Eobard: No.

Act II

Speed Force Fairies: We need to take Prince Barrence to the past and raise him up under the fake name to protect his real identity, so then he’ll fall asleep one hundred years ago and will wake up in his own time!

Narrator: They attempted to do so, but, upon arriving to the past…

Max: Wait – this child – that’s not Prince Barrence!

The Speed Force: Sorry, guys – couldn’t let it happen. Prince Barrence mustn’t travel to the past – it might cause the terrible event called Flashpoint. This child I’ve replaced Barrence with is Princess Iris from the future. You need to take care of her and raise her under the assumed name to protect her real identity.

Jay: Let’s call her Rose. Also a flower name.

Max: Exactly. Also a flower name. Too similar. We’re trying to protect her, we should go for something different, to avoid suspicions. Why not Martha? Martha is a great name. Classic.

Johnny: Exactly. Classic. Every famous knight errant has a mom named Martha. What if some evil sorcerer kills her by mistake? We can’t let it happen. Let’s call her Donna.

Jay: No, Rose!

Max: Martha!

Johnny: Donna!

Narrator: Eventually they decided that on Mondays and Tuesdays she’ll be called Rose, on Wednesdays and Thursdays Martha, on Fridays and Saturdays Donna, and on Sundays Amelia. That would surely confuse whoever they need to protect her from…

Act III

Narrator: Many years have passed, Rose Martha Donna Amelia grew up and became a beautiful young woman who had no idea that she’s a princess from the future. But one day (either Monday or Tuesday) another person from the future turned up in the village... uninvited, as usual.

Eobard Thawne (who looks like bearded Matt Letscher): This Rose girl weirdly reminds me of someone who reminds me of Barry Allen. I’m going to make her fall in love with me by messing with the timeline and eliminating all the other men in her life. Including not just suitors, but her inexplicably familiar-looking legal guardians too, lest they interfere with my plans. I didn’t intend on marrying anyone when I arrived here, in this century, but if marrying her will somehow make me feel closer to Barry – so be it!

Narrator: His attempts to mess with the timeline didn’t work, but also didn’t get unnoticed.

Tenth Doctor (brandishing the sonic screwdriver): Step away from my Ro- wait, that’s not my R- whatever. How dare you trying to mess with this young woman’s life?! Only I’m allowed to randomly manipulate people’s past to make it easier for me to get off-limits books from the library, as detailed in a short story “Continuity Errors”! You are not me and therefore… (trails off, staring at Eobard in confusion and vague semi-recognition) You are not me, no, definitely not – not my future, and if you were my past I’d know – (glares at narrator) Spoilers! Shut up.

Narrator: I didn’t even say anything…

Tenth Doctor (ignoring the narrator): So why do I feel like I know you?

Eobard: Why do I feel like I know you? What is this weird drumming that starts in my head when I look at you? Where are those weird memories of orange sky and red grass started coming from? Could it be that the history books were wrong? What if my One True Love And Nemesis, my heroic counterpart who time-travels and runs a whole fucking lot and occasionally changes appearances just like I do… isn’t Barry Allen? What if – could it be –

Tenth Doctor: You?!

Eobard (smiling): Use my name, Doctor.

Cliffhanger

Narrator: Now, for our cliffhanger, let’s take a trip to Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey…

Malcolm “Malford” Pines: Ugh, my family is full of conmen and fake psychics, yet now I know some of them do have genuine powers, but those powers are beyond my reach – all because I don’t have a twin! They say it’s a bad sign for a Pines to be born twin-less, for twindom is the key to the true Pines magic, not all that fake stuff to peddle to naïve marks! If I had a twin, then the mystery of the blue flame could be mine! I mean, ours! Maybe I should invent a cloning machine to clone myself! No, the clone probably won’t count. Or will it? I won’t find out if I won’t try. But it would be easier with someone’s help. (Sighs) Why, oh why don’t I have a twiiiiin…

Eobard Thawne (who looks like a big one-eyed yellow triangle in a top hat): Twin, you say? Ha-haaa! Oh kid, do I have news for you…

#The Flash #the comicsverse #(i guess)#Eobard Thawne #and others #also:#the sleeping beauty #the cartoonverse #doctor who #gravity falls #my fanfiction #or something #looooong post

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jellyfishloveletterghosts · 4 years

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Dragons are Hoarders

@billy-baby this is your fault for bringing up Knights and Princes and whatnot, but like this definitely isn’t what you were looking for.

Dragons are Hoarders

So Billy did not slay the dragon like he was supposed to, it does not matter, and he has his reasons. One being he likes living and literally every other knight sent to rescue the lost heir has died and two after some surveillance it seems like they might get pissed off if Billy did that. He has spent the last two weeks watching from a safe distance, and found out some important information as well.

Like the hair is not a princess like the king keeps claiming but is actually a prince, which means the rumors are true and they really just did not want to admit their son got taken by a dragon and more importantly he seems really happy here. Billy is not out to mess that up just for what he needs, not when there are other options. So he does not attempt to kill the dragons, just sneaks in instead. If he can borrow the prince he can get what he needs from the kingdom and then they can go right back, Billy does not care.

Billy starts caring a little bit when Steve comes in, Billy going unnoticed at the vanity, he is stunning up close and now Billy gets why a dragon stole him away. Handsome, pretty, just utterly beautiful, Billy feels a little star struck looking at him as he drops his outer robe, leaving him in rather tight pants and a loose high collared shirt as he digs around on a bookshelf. Billy is admiring his backside when he turns, big brown eyes going wide and fire forming in his hand aimed right at Billy and shit no one said anything about fucking magic!

"How did you get in here!" He demands, angry, the fire dancing with his words, a literal threat and Billy is quick to raise his hands, charming smile sliding to his face.

"Calm down princess," Billy cannot help it, wants to tease a little, stoke that fire, and Steve’s cheeks go pink as he glowers at Billy.

"If you hurt them-" Steve starts fire growing bigger, the whole room getting warmer and Billy feels sweat prick his brow, a sliver of worry creeping up his spine.

"Your dragons are fine, kind of skipped that part, I thought you might not like it if I tried to kill them and let's be honest the chance of one human against two dragons, not the best odds." Billy shrugs and the fire dims considerably, Steve giving him a considering look.

"What's to stop me from feeding you to them now?" Steve asks but the fire in his palm goes out completely, leaving only the sun coming from the window shining in on him, making the lighter strands in his hair practically glow.

"Doesn't seem like they really eat humans." Billy found their little graveyard, well not so little the kingdom of Harrington has sent a lot of men to their deaths over the years trying to get their heir back

"Carol says it gives her heart burn." Steve says a playful smile tugging at his lips before suspicion sets back in. "So why are you here?"

"Your parents put up quite the reward, anything in the treasury and I happen to need the orb of Alorious." Billy goes with honesty, hopes it gets him what he wants and he does not have to switch to the hard way. Steve is pretty and Billy would like to get to know him, doubts tying him up and stealing him away from his real home will go over that well but he will do it if he has to. "So you come with me and after I get what I want you can come back here, or do anything else you want."

"I'm not going back there,” Billy feels anger wash over him as Steve scoffs, balling his fists. "If I go back they'll never let me leave again, I'll be trapped." Some of Billy's anger fades at the sad sincerity but he really, really needs that orb. "You don't want that orb anyway it's a fake."

"What!" Billy does not mean to shout, but he does as dread fills him and he thinks of Max sick back at home wasting away from a stupid magical curse, a curse that was meant for Billy.

"It's a fake, the real one was destroyed during a siege when I was six. Counter offer, you tell me what you needed it for and I help you instead." Steve says, hand on Billy's cheek, looking down at him with concern and Billy blinks up at him, he does not know when he moved closer.

"How can you help?" Billy sneers, this was his last hope and anger and fear are rolling in him as he reaches for the rope he used to get in here.

"Dragons are hoarders, there are all sorts of magical items here. Let me try to help you?" Steve's hand stills Billy's on the rope, and Billy sags, that makes a lot of sense actually, of course there would be magical items here. "Now what do you need it for, a lot of magical items are only for oddly specific things." Steve continues once Billy nods.

Steve shifts to pull his hand back and Billy does not want that, is quick to catch his wrist and keep him close, thumb over Steve's pulse as his cheeks go pink again. He is really distracting when he blushes, Billy can almost forget why he is here. "My little sister got hit by a curse and she's dying."

"Curses are tricky but totally manageable, we might not even need a magical object for that, I'm pretty good at curse removal, but it definitely depends on the kind. The really nasty ones there's too much backlash to do it without assistance from a magical object." Steve rambles as he shifts around Billy to yet another bookshelf stacked with books next to his vanity. Steve thumbs over the spines of the books one handed his other loose in Billy's hold.

"I don't know, none of the kingdoms healers have been able to identify it and the one witch in town came up with the same results, said she had never seen anything like it before.” Billy's hand tightens on Steve's wrist before he drops it, both hands coming up to scrub at his face before tears can come.

"Hey," comes Steve's gentle voice, suddenly right in front of him again and gentle hands pulls Billy's away from his face, revealing Steve kneeling before him. "Is she able to travel?"

"I think so, yes." Billy confirms hands held in Steve's as he nods to himself.

"Bring her here, and we'll figure it out."

"You want me to bring my sister to a dragon infested castle?" Billy snorts it is crazy, Steve makes it sound so easy but it is absolutely insane.

"You want to save her right? I can't leave here or they'll find me, I'm safe here, I only leave when I absolutely have to."

"Your parents?" Steve nods eyes cutting away to the floor. "Why are you afraid of them?" Billy quires, beginning to wonder if Steve was actually stolen or if he chose to leave.

"They aren't good people, look at how many wars they have incited since they came to power? When they found out I had magic they were delighted and started forcing me to study all sorts of terrible things, they wanted to use me to win their wars." Steve’s hands clench and Billy strokes his thumbs over them, he is right there have been more and more wars in the last two decades, the last war barely ended before the next one started up.

"How did you end up here?" Billy asks honestly curious, there are plenty of rumors but Billy doubts any of them are the truth.

"Carol found me when I was running away, saved me when I nearly got myself killed. Said I was too pretty to not be part of her horde and brought me here, made it my home, has been keeping me safe all this time." Steve's voice goes soft with adoration for his dragon host.

"So you are a prisoner?" Billy asks with concern of his own.

Billy feels abashed when Steve laughs in his face, "I am no more a prisoner than the people of the town below, Carol and Nancy aren't holding us hostage, we're free to go, but we are protected where we are, so we chose to stay." Now that Billy thinks about it the town below is said to be protected, it is always talked about in reverent tones for escaping the horrors of the wars and natural disasters that wreak havoc in other parts of the land.

"Think she was right, you are too pretty." Billy says grinning again, feeling lighter, trusting Steve despite the fact that they have only just met, sure that he is going to help Max. Steve huffs at his teasing cheeks going pinks and Billy wonders how far down that flush travels, would very much like to find out.

"Come on, you should meet Carol and Nancy before you leave to retrieve your sister so they won't flay you when you come back." Steve pulls away moving to the door, steps hurried.

"You wouldn’t let them do that, would you pretty boy?" Billy asks, catching Steve's wrist and pulling him back before he can step out. Billy turns him so they are facing, hand on Steve's hip, steadying him.

"I might if you keep flirting, I don't care for it." Steve sniffs insincerely, Billy can see the smile trying to tug at his lips before he pulls away from Billy again and this time Billy lets him walk out the door.

"Yes you do." Billy calls after him, grinning as he follows after Steve.

Now with a part 2

#harringrove #Jellyghostfic #fanfiction #st fic #prince steve harrington #knight billy hargrove #Carol and Nancy are dragons for funsies #just mentioned though

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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HBO Max New Releases: October 2021

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The fall is usually the domain of television. September and October are the months in which networks (and increasingly some streamers) debut all their new series. With its list of new releases for October 2021, however, HBO Max has decided that fall works just fine for new movies as well.

HBO Max’s new offerings this month are highlighted by two enormous Warner Bros. film releases. The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark opens things up on Oct. 1. The movie is getting a theatrical release as well but you can certainly just watch it via streaming to make Sopranos creator and film purist David Chase mad. Next up is the sprawling sci-fi epic Dune on Oct. 22. It’s long been thought that a faithful and suitably enormous Dune adaptation was impossible. Now it’s almost time to see if director Denis Villenueve pulled it off.

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Even if the movies are the big blockbusters here, HBO Max isn’t letting its TV offerings go to waste. Arguably HBO’s biggest running drama, Succession, returns for a long-awaited third season on Oct. 17. Also mixed in to the streamer’s TV offerings are docuseries like 15 Minutes of Shame (Oct. 7) and What Happened, Brittany Murphy? (Oct. 15).

October will also be a good month for movie fans looking to check out some recent heavy hitters without buying a ticket. It: Chapter Two (Oct. 10), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (Oct. 21), and In the Heights (Oct. 28) all arrive this month.

HBO Max New Releases – October 2021

October 1 Admission, 2013 (HBO) A Royal Affair, 2012 (HBO) After the Thin Man, 1936 All The President’s Men, 1976 (HBO) American Gigolo, 1980 (HBO) American Graffiti, 1973 (HBO) Argo, 2012 (Alternate Version) (HBO) Bad Boys II, 2003 Bad Boys, 1995 Bad Words, 2013 (HBO) Ballet 422, 2014 (HBO) Being Flynn, 2012 (HBO) Best Man Down, 2013 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop, 1984 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop II, 1987 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop III, 1994 (HBO) Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989 (HBO) Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey, 1991 (HBO) Billy Elliot, 2000 (HBO) Black Christmas, 2019 (HBO) Black Hawk Down, 2001 (HBO) Blades Of Glory, 2007 (HBO) Blazing Saddles, 1974 Blood Father, 2016 (HBO) Bloodsport, 1988 (HBO) Blue Crush, 2002 (HBO) Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, 2004 (HBO) Bridget Jones’s Diary, 2001 Broken City, 2013 (HBO) Caddyshack II, 1988 Cake, 2005 (HBO) Cats, 2019 (HBO) Child 44, 2015 (HBO) City of God, 2002 (HBO) Clash of Titans , 1981 Client 9: The Rise And Fall Of Eliot Spitzer, 2010 (HBO) Culpa, 2021 (HBO) Danny Collins, 2015 (HBO) David Lynch: The Art Life, 2016 Desperately Seeking Susan, 1985 (HBO) Dinner For Schmucks, 2010 (HBO) Doubt, 2008 (HBO) Down A Dark Hall, 2018 (HBO) Downhill, 2020 (HBO) Drop Zone, 1994 (HBO) Dying Young, 1991 (HBO) El Cantante, 2007 (HBO) El Profugo, 2020 (HBO) Emma., 2020 (HBO) Endless Love, 2014 (HBO) Entre Nos: The Winners 2, 2021 (HBO) Entre Nos: What She Said, 2021 (HBO) Family Matters Fifty Shades Of Black, 2016 (HBO) For A Good Time, Call…, 2012 (Alternate Version) (HBO) Full House Gangs Of New York, 2002 (HBO) Gangster Squad, 2013 (HBO) Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 1969 Hacksaw Ridge, 2016 (HBO) Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, 2008 He Said She Said, 1991 (HBO) Hearts In Atlantis, 2001 (HBO) Hitch, 2005 Hitman, 2007 (Alternate Version) (HBO) Hooper, 1978 Hostage, 2005 (HBO) House of Wax , 2005 House, 2008 (HBO) Imagine That, 2009 (HBO) Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words, 2015 J. Edgar, 2011 (HBO) Johnny English Strikes Again, 2018 (HBO) Journey to the Center of the Earth, 2008 Just Mercy, 2019 (HBO) Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2003 (HBO) Kill Bill: Vol. 2, 2004 (HBO) Kin, 2018 (HBO) Leap Year, 2010 (HBO) LEGO DC Shazam: Magic and Monsters!, 2020 Less Than Zero, 1987 (HBO) Like Water for Chocolate, 1992 (HBO) Little Man, 2006 (HBO) Lincoln, 2012 (HBO) Lottery Ticket, 2010 (HBO) M*A*S*H, 1970 (HBO) Mama, 2013 (HBO) Marathon Man, 1976 (HBO) Misery, 1990 (HBO) Monster’s Ball, 2001 (Alternate Version) (HBO) Moonrise Kingdom, 2012 (HBO) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989 National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1983 Natural Born Killers, 1994 Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always, 2020 (HBO) Night Catches Us, 2010 (HBO) Orphan, 2009 Parental Guidance, 2012 (HBO) Pariah, 2011 (HBO) Police Academy, 1984 Poltergeist II: The Other Side, 1986 (HBO) Poltergeist III, 1988 (HBO) Private Parts, 1997 (HBO) Proof Of Life, 2000 (HBO) Racing Stripes, 2005 (HBO) Reservation Road, 2007 (HBO) Say Anything…, 1989 (HBO) Sergeant York, 1941 Shaft, 1971 Shall We Dance?, 2004 (HBO) She’s All That, 1999 (HBO) Sherlock Holmes And The Great Escape, 2019 (HBO) Sherlock Holmes, 2009 Shrek The Third, 2007 (HBO) Six Degrees Of Separation, 1993 (HBO) Sliver, 1993 (Alternate Version) (HBO) Snitch, 2013 (HBO) Speedway, 1968 Step by Step, Stigmata, 1999 (HBO) Strange But True, 2019 (HBO) Superstar, 1999 (HBO) Super 8, 2011 (HBO) Talk To Me, 2007 (HBO) Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans, 2019 The Banger Sisters, 2002 (HBO) The Blind Side, 2009 (HBO) The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1990 The Book Of Eli, 2010 (HBO) The Campaign, 2012 (Alternate Version) (HBO) The Cider House Rules, 1999 (HBO) The Cincinnati Kid, 1965 The East, 2013 (HBO) The Eichmann Show, 2015 (HBO) The Internship, 2013 (HBO) The Invisible Man, 2020 (HBO) The Harvey Girls, 1946 The High Note, 2020 (HBO) The Hours, 2002 (HBO) The Legend Of Hercules, 2014 (HBO) The Many Saints of Newark, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021 The Outsiders, 1983 The Perfect Storm, 2000 The Poseidon Adventure, 1972 (HBO) The Quarry, 2020 (HBO) The Rite, 2011 (HBO) The Running Man, 1987 (HBO) The Way Way Back, 2013 (HBO) The 15:17 To Paris, 2018 (HBO) Things We Lost In The Fire, 2007 (HBO) Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, 2005 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, 2011 (HBO) Trance, 2013 (HBO) Tully, 2018 (HBO) Twelve Monkeys, 1995 (HBO) Underwater, 2020 (HBO) Up In The Air, 2009 (HBO) Wall Street, 1987 (HBO) Warm Bodies, 2013 (HBO) Wendy, 2020 (HBO) XXX, 2002

October 3 Simmer, 2020

October 4 Laetitia, Limited Drama Series Finale (HBO) Niña Furia Sublet, 2020

October 5 American Masters: Mike Nichols, 2016 American Masters: Nichols and May: Take Two, 1996 El Verano Que Vivimos, 2020 Level Playing Field, Documentary Series Finale (HBO)

October 6 Muy Gay Too Mexicano (Short), 2020 The Republic of Sarah, Season 1 Rosa (short), 2020

October 7 15 Minutes of Shame, Max Original Series Premiere Craftopia, Max Original Season 2A Premiere The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo: Amber Ruffin / Bebe Rexha

October 8 Voyagers, 2021 (HBO)

October 9 Birdgirl , Season 16 To Your Eternity , Season 1 (Subtitled) (Crunchyroll Collection)

October 10 It: Chapter 2, 2019 Nuclear Family, Documentary Series Finale (HBO) Scenes From A Marriage, Limited Series Finale (HBO)

October 11 We’re Here, Season 2 Premiere (HBO)

October 14 Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Chapter One: Dead Sea, Max Original Series Premiere Little Ellen, Max Original Season 1B Premiere Love Spells (aka Amarres), Max Original Series Premiere Teen Titans Go!, Seasons 1-6 The Missing, (aka Os Ausentes), Max Original Series Premiere The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo: Jenna Bush Hager / Sophie Fatu Phoebe Robinson: Sorry, Harriet Tubman, Max Original Special Premiere Welcome to Utmark (aka Utmark) , Max Original Series Premiere What Happened, Brittany Murphy?, Max Original Series Premiere

October 15 In the Line of Fire, 1993 Point Break, 1991 (HBO) Tu Me Manques, 2019 (HBO)

October 17 Succession, Season 3 Premiere (HBO)

October 18 El Huésped Americano (aka The American Guest), Limited Drama Series Finale (HBO) Women is Losers, 2021

October 19 Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)

October 20 Entre Hombres (aka Amongst Men), Limited Series Finale (HBO)

October 21 Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Chapter Two: Primordius Reign of Superwomen, Max Original Documentary Premiere The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, 2021 (HBO) (Available in 4K UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in English Only on supported devices) The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo: Ames McNamara / Leslie Odom Jr. Tuff Money (aka Bani Negri), Max Original Series Premiere

October 22 Dune, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021

October 24 Insecure, Season 5 Premiere (HBO)

October 26 Maricon Perdido, Max Original Series Premiere The Mopes, Max Original Series Premiere The Truth of Dolores Vazquez (aka The Caso Wanninkhof), Max Original Series Premiere

October 28 Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Chapter Three: Tidal Shift In The Heights, 2021 (HBO) Love Life, Max Original Season 2 Premiere A Thousand Fangs (aka Mil Colmillos), Max Original Series Premiere The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo: Dani & Dannah Lane / AJR

October 29 Victor and Valentino , Season 2

October 31 The Bachelorette, Season 16

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Leaving HBO Max – October 2021

October 10 Malignant, 2021

October 11 Meatballs, 1979

October 17 Cry Macho, 2021

October 18 Sabrina: Magic of the Red Rose, 2015

October 20 HBO First Look: The Eyes of Tammy Faye, 2021 (HBO)

October 25 The Artist, 2011

October 27 The Hangover Part III, 2013

October 28 Tracey Ullman’s Show, (HBO)

October 31 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 2012 (HBO) A Little Princess, 1995 (HBO) All Is Lost, 2013 (HBO) All-Star Superman, 2011 Alpha And Omega: Journey To Bear Kingdom, 2017 (HBO) Alpha And Omega: The Big Fureeze, 2016 (HBO) Antwone Fisher, 2002 (HBO) A Star Is Born, 1976 A Time To Kill, 1996 Backdraft, 1991 (HBO) Bad Education, 2004 Bandits, 2001 (HBO) Barefoot, 2014 (HBO) *Batteries Not Included, 1987 (HBO) Battleship, 2012 (HBO) Black Dynamite, 2009 Blood And Wine, 1997 (HBO) Broken Embraces, 2009 Cats & Dogs, 2001 Cesar Chavez, 2014 (HBO) Chasing Amy, 1997 (HBO) Christmas In Compton, 2012 Clerks, 1994 (HBO) Conspiracy Theory, 1997 Cool Hand Luke, 1967 Critters 4, 1992 Darkest Hour, 2017 (HBO) Dirt, 2017 Dirty Harry, 1971 Dreamcatcher, 2003 El Pacto (aka The Pact), 2018 (HBO) Empire Of The Sun, 1987 Eulogy, 2004 (HBO) Final Destination, 2000 Final Destination 2, 2003 Final Destination 3, 2006 Final Destination 5, 2011 Firewall, 2006 Flight Of The Intruder, 1991 (HBO) Flying Leathernecks, 1951 Frantic, 1988 Freaks, 1932 Ghoulies, 1985 (HBO) Ghoulies II, 1987 (HBO) Gone Baby Gone, 2007 Good Morning, Vietnam, 1987 (HBO) Gothika, 2003 Gun Crazy, 1950 High Fidelity, 2000 (HBO) House Of Wax, 2005 How To Be A Latin Lover, 2017 How To Be Single, 2016 (HBO) How To Make An American Quilt, 1995 (HBO) I’m So Excited!, 2013 Ice Age: Continental Drift, 2012 (HBO) Immigration Tango, 2011 (HBO) Irresistible, 2020 (HBO) It, 2017 (HBO) Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, 2001 (HBO) Just Before I Go, 2015 (HBO) King Kong, 1976 (HBO) Lars And The Real Girl, 2007 (HBO) Lego Dc Batman: Family Matters, 2019 Lego Dc Shazam: Magic And Monsters!, 2020 Long Gone By, 2019 (HBO) Magnum Force, 1973 Man Up, 2015 (HBO) Mccabe And Mrs. Miller, 1971 Message Erased, 2019 (HBO) Monkey Shines, 1988 (HBO) Nitro Circus: The Movie 3D, 2012 (HBO) Norbit, 2007 (HBO) One More Time, 2016 (HBO) Pajaros De Verano (aka Birds Of Passage)2019 (HBO) Pale Rider, 1985 Pepi, Luci, Bom Y Otras Chicas Del Monton, 1980 Professor Marston & The Wonder Women, 2017 Red Dawn, 1984 (HBO) Risky Business, 1983 (HBO) Santa Buddies, 2009 (HBO) Save The Last Dance, 2001 (HBO) Save The Last Dance 2, 2006 (HBO) School Dance, 2014 (HBO) Serpico, 1974 (HBO) Snow Buddies, 2008 (HBO) Something To Talk About, 1995 Space Buddies, 2009 (HBO) Spawn, 1997 Stand Up Guys, 2013 (HBO) Sudden Impact, 1983 Summer Rental, 1985 (HBO) The Bucket List, 2007 The Color Purple, 1985 The Conjuring 2, 2016 The Dead Pool, 1988 The Debt, 2011 (HBO) The Family Man, 2000 (HBO) The Final Destination, 2009 The Five-Year Engagement, 2012 (Alternate Version) (HBO) The Fugitive, 1993 The Great Caruso, 1951 The Human Voice, 2020 The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, 2009 The Kingdom, 2007 (HBO) The Last Mimzy, 2007 The Lego Batman Movie, 2017 The Sand Pebbles, 1966 (HBO) The Shack, 2017 (HBO) The Shadow, 1994 (HBO) The Skin I Live In, 2011 The Switch, 2010 The Tuxedo, 2002 (HBO) The Voices, 2015 (HBO) The Quiet Ones, 2014 (HBO) The Witches, 1990 Thirteen Ghosts, 2001 Troy, 2004 Trust Me, 2014 (HBO) Volver, 2006 Wait Until Dark, 1967 Westworld (Movie), 1973 When Harry Met Sally, 1989 Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, 1988 XXX: State Of The Union, 2005

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mikauzoran · 4 years

Text

Lukadrien: Among the Wild Things: Chapter Six

Read it on AO3: Among the Wild Things: Chapter Six: Home

For the first week after the wedding, Luka and Adrien didn’t leave the house, let alone their bedroom, much.

They got out more the second week, visiting the clearing by Luka’s bend in the river several days and going into town to run errands for the family as well as to show Adrien around to help him get his bearings and introduce him to people.

Even still, Luka didn’t let Adrien out of his sight while they were out and about, sticking close by and keeping a sharp eye on the people around them when they were in public places.

“Do you think I need to start wearing my knife out?” Adrien inquired one evening at the beginning of the third week.

Luka gave a start, cocking his head in confusion. “Why? Do you feel unsafe?”

Adrien gave his head a shake. “Not at all. Everyone’s either civil or avoids me. More often than not, people are friendly. No one’s been hostile,” Adrien assured, giving his husband’s bicep a light squeeze. “It’s just that you’re always so tense when we go out, like you’re afraid someone’s going to jump out of the bushes and attack.”

Luka averted his eyes, cheeks taking on a salmon hue in his embarrassment. “I’m sorry if my behavior has given you the wrong idea. I just…worry too much.”

Adrien leaned in to give Luka’s cheek a bolstering lick. “Would it make you feel better if I was armed?”

Luka frowned, his expression turning skeptical. “My Love…I don’t want to sound patronizing, but what would you realistically do with a weapon, if you wore one?”

Adrien shrugged. “Not much if someone used magic on me, but, if it were a physical attack, I could defend myself.”

Luka’s skepticism morphed into indulgent affection as he reached up and stroked Adrien’s hair. “Adrien, that’s a nice idea, but…”

Adrien’s eyebrow quirked. “But what? You don’t think I could?”

“I didn’t say that,” Luka replied gently with that same glint in his eye, that of a parent humoring a child.

Adrien frowned. “Luka, I realize that I’m a comparatively fragile being to you, but I’m not defenseless. I’m an accomplished swordsman, and I’ve been trained in hand-to-hand combat. I can protect myself, so please stop babying me. I don’t appreciate it.”

Luka’s pale blue eyes widened in surprise, and he rushed to repair the damage. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I was looking down on you. I’m sure you’re right that you’re very capable, but my world is a dangerous place, and you’re not accustomed to it, so I worry about you.”

Adrien fixed his husband with a gaze brimming with determination. “Well, it’s my world now too, so I’m going to have to get accustomed to it, don’t you think?”

Luka grimaced, biting at the inside of his cheek. “I suppose that’s true, but…Adrien, I love you, and the thought of something happening to you makes me feel physically ill.”

Adrien’s expression softened as he reached up to cup Luka’s cheek. “Orpheus, I understand that I’m never going to be as strong as your people. I know that I seem ‘breakable’ to you, but I really need you to start trusting me.”

“Adrien—” Luka began to protest, but Adrien placed his thumb over Luka’s lips and shook his head.

“Shh. Yes, I know you trust me, but…maybe what I mean is that I need you to believe in me,” he clarified, eyes pleading with his mate. “Back at court, no one ever believed in me. They treated me like a child and always looked down on me. They spent all that time educating and training me, but no one actually believed I could do anything with all that knowledge. No one ever gave me the chance to prove myself.”

Luka’s eyes widened in understanding, and he began to nod.

Adrien took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts. “…I guess what I’m asking you is to give me a chance. We’re supposed to be partners, right?”

“Absolutely,” Luka confirmed, taking Adrien’s hands in his own and giving them a squeeze of solidarity.

“Then treat me as your equal,” Adrien entreated. “I don’t want to be babied and coddled and protected from everything anymore. I want you to treat me like a competent human being. I’m pretty sure I could be one if someone gave me the opportunity.”

“…Okay,” Luka breathed, resolving to do his best to take a step back and let go. “I…” He swallowed hard. “I believe in you.”

“Thank you,” Adrien whispered, eyes going damp with gratitude as he leaned in to press his lips to Luka’s. “That’s the best gift anyone could ever give me.”

Step one of learning to believe in Adrien took the form of sparring matches where the young prince completely took Luka by surprise.

“You’re…” Luka struggled to find the word from his position on the ground where Adrien had laid him out flat by blocking Luka’s swing and then sweeping Luka’s legs out from under him.

“…Phenomenal?” Adrien suggested smugly as he pulled his shirt back on. “Inspiring? Incredibly good looking?”

“Definitely that last one,” Luka chuckled, accepting Adrien’s hand up only to tug his husband down to the ground with him.

“Cheating,” Adrien pouted, leaning in to nip Luka’s earlobe.

“You’re actually quite proficient at unarmed combat,” Luka remarked, pleasantly surprised.

Adrien gave a snort. “I mean, I told you so.”

“Yes,” Luka agreed, “but I’m used to mortals bragging and overselling their skills.”

“Do I seem like a braggard to you?” Adrien clicked his tongue, feigning offense as he quietly relished Luka’s impressed approval.

“Never,” Luka assured, tussling Adrien’s hair and massaging his scalp.

Adrien luxuriated in the attention for almost a full minute before cracking his eyes open and grinning impishly. “Wanna get your butt kicked by a mortal again?”

“Yes please,” Luka whimpered. “It’s unbelievably attractive when you kick my butt.”

The next step in learning to believe in Adrien came when Max, Alix, Kim, and Ondine started paying him regular visits.

At first, it made Luka extremely nervous to watch his mate roughhousing with the others. Kim in particular made Luka uneasy because Kim didn’t treat Adrien any differently from a fae whereas the others were a little more cautious around the mortal.

The discomfort gradually faded, however, as Luka watched Adrien goof around with his new friends without some tragedy transpiring.

Slowly, Luka learned that he didn’t have to worry so much. Things were okay. Nothing bad was going to happen to Adrien, and even if Adrien weren’t strictly “safe”, he could still take care of himself.

Luka had gotten to know Adrien’s vulnerable side when the weeping prince had come to Luka’s clearing for refuge and shared his fears, sorrows, and insecurities with the kelpie. What Luka hadn’t seen before was Adrien’s strength, Adrien’s resilience, and Adrien’s courage.

It was breathtaking getting to know this new side of his mate, and Luka found himself falling all over again for this spunky, capable, mischievous Adrien—and just as hard as he had for the sensitive, compassionate, thoughtful boy he’d become enraptured with three months before.

Eventually, Luka got comfortable enough that Adrien could venture out on his own or with others without Luka fretting too much.

Adrien quickly found his place within the Couffaine family.

Rose continued to adore her new brother and patiently taught him everything he needed to know about cooking and cleaning and basic home upkeep.

They often went into town together and hung out in Rose’s favourite clearing by a charming bend in the river where the tributary turned into more of a trickling brook.

Rose introduced Adrien to her friends, and, soon enough, Adrien had a devoted little following among the naiads, dryads, and other nymphs.

Unfortunately, Rose and Adrien’s sudden close friendship made Juleka feel threatened because of all the time Rose was spending with the mortal. This tension, on top of the resentment Juleka already felt towards Adrien for supposedly taking her brother away from her, did not make things any smoother between Adrien and his mate’s sister.

Anarka quickly warmed to Adrien, though. As she got to know him better and saw how Luka and Adrien were together, it was easier for her to set aside her earlier misgivings about the relationship.

Adrien soon found his place in fae society by serving as Anarka’s intern as she went about her clan leader duties.

Since Adrien had been raised and educated to one day become ruler of his kingdom, he knew a fair deal about government and policy. He found it fascinating to study the ways in which a democracy differed from a monarchy, and he discovered that he really enjoyed following Anarka around, observing how she interacted with her constituents, and acting as a sounding board to help her come up with creative solutions to the various problems the community faced.

“I can’t tell you how nice it is that one of my kids is finally taking an interest in my work,” Anarka guffawed over dinner one night, clapping Adrien proudly on the back. “Dri has a real knack for government!”

“Of course he does,” Luka readily agreed, smiling in satisfaction at his mother’s praise of his mate. “He’s intelligent, a fast learner, kind-hearted, and resourceful. It’s not surprising that he’s a natural.”

Rose gave Adrien’s hair a playful tussle, cooing, “That’s our boy!”

Adrien looked to Anarka, tentatively inquiring, “I wouldn’t be eligible to someday run for a government position, would I? There isn’t some way I could get…like…fae citizenship or something?”

Anarka bit her lip, considering. “I don’t recall anything like this ever coming up, so I’m not sure, but…if this is something you’re interested in pursuing long-term, stick with me. I’ll help you get your feet wet. Maybe then, in a few years, people will recognize you and be familiar with the kind of work you do. If enough people support you and want you to represent them, I don’t see why you being mortal should be a problem. We’ll get them to accept you into the community before too long, Mon Poisson,” she assured, resting a supportive hand on his shoulder. “Don’t you worry.”

“Thank you, Capitaine.” Adrien beamed, overflowing with delight at feeling like he had finally found a place where he belonged.

The sensation left him when Juleka spoke up.

“If you want to work in government so much, why don’t you just go home?” she asked, tone honestly curious and devoid of any of the usual spite. “I mean, you’ve got a whole kingdom to run, don’t you?”

Adrien’s gaze dropped to his plate. He could still feel Juleka’s inquiring eyes on him, and it made his cheeks burn as he bashfully mumbled, “That place isn’t my home.”

“His home is with us,” Anarka confirmed, shooting a reproving look her daughter’s way.

Juleka put her hands up in surrender and dropped the topic, not pressing any further.

“Who wants blackberry cobbler?” Rose interjected, trying to restore peace and balance. “Dri and I just made it this afternoon, and it’s scrumptious.”

Under the table, Luka gave Adrien’s knee a supportive squeeze, eliciting a tired smile from Adrien who placed his hand on top of Luka’s and squeezed back.

Time gradually slipped by, and the leaves morphed from vibrant green to blood red, burnt orange, and saffron yellow before fading to mottled brown and drifting down to coat the forest floor in a crunchy layer of debris.

Winter snuck in, putting a prickly chill into the air as it entered Adrien’s lungs.

Small clumps of ice began to form in the water, and Adrien started to worry about the lake freezing, trapping him underneath.

“Little Prince, you’re not going to drown,” Luka coaxed, pulling his mate in closer one night when Adrien awoke from the recurring nightmare.

“I feel like I can’t breathe,” Adrien whimpered.

“Here. Let me share some of my air,” Luka offered, pressing his lips to Adrien’s.

“…S-Sorry,” Adrien panted when they broke apart. “I feel like such a baby for freaking out like this.”

“No, Adrien,” Luka cooed, smoothing his husband’s hair. “It’s okay. It’s a perfectly understandable fear. Nothing to be ashamed of…but there’s no need to worry. The lake never freezes solid, and my powers protect you. You’re perfectly safe.”

Adrien snuggled back into Luka’s chest and exhaled an enormous sigh. “…My mother drowned.”

Luka craned his neck to try to get a glimpse of Adrien’s expression as he whispered a stunned, “What?”

“Almost seven years ago. When I was thirteen,” Adrien added softly. “I was terrified of taking a bath for a couple months afterwards.”

“You never said anything,” Luka accused, thinking back with dread to all the times he’d joked about drowning Adrien the first two months of their friendship.

Adrien shrugged. “It didn’t seem relevant. I wasn’t scared until I started worrying about the lake freezing over and being stuck down here. I wasn’t scared after the first time you pulled me into the river and kissed me so I could breathe. It’s just the thought of being trapped that’s freaking me out.”

Luka placed a whisper of a kiss to the top of Adrien’s head. “You will never be trapped ever again,” he promised. “I know you’ve felt that way your whole life and that freedom is still new for you, but this is permanent. Things will never go back to the way they were…and I will never let you drown.”

“Thanks, Orpheus,” Adrien mumbled into Luka’s chest, holding his husband tighter as he drifted back to sleep.

Adrien was in the kitchen, helping Rose to prepare the New Year’s feast when Juleka came down the steps from the deck and poked her head in, resting her elbows on the countertop.

“Sweetie, do you think you could spare Dri for fifteen minutes, or do you need him?” she inquired of Rose, tipping her head to the side.

“We just got everything in the oven, so I should be able to manage,” Rose replied, taking off her oven mitts and turning to quirk a suspicious eyebrow at her mate. “Why do you ask?”

Juleka shrugged. “I just wanted his help with something.” She shifted her gaze to Adrien. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Adrien readily agreed, eager to help his sister-in-law and hopefully win brownie points.

In the three months since marrying into the family, Adrien didn’t feel like he’d made much progress with Juleka, and he was keen to improve the situation any way that he could.

“Great. Get your coat and meet me on the shore,” Juleka instructed with what passed for the hint of a smile.

Three minutes later, Adrien found his sister-in-law sitting by the lakeshore, skipping stones absentmindedly.

“Here I am,” he announced his presence so as not to startle her. “What did you need help with, Juleka?”

Her auburn eyes lazily came to rest on him, and she stood and motioned for him to follow. “Walk with me. I wanted to talk with you.”

“What about?” Adrien inquired nervously, his stomach starting to tie itself into pretzels as she led him into the woods.

She kept walking, not bothering to answer until the lake was out of sight, swallowed up by the enchanted trees.

Only when they’d reached a clearing did Juleka turn to face him, breathing out a long sigh and crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m going to be straight with you,” she informed wearily. “I’ve actively tried to dislike you, but I just don’t. You’re polite and kind, and you do a good job helping out around the house. You’re a good cook. You’re fairly quiet, and you stay out of my way,” she verbally ticked off, and Adrien briefly dared to hope that this was going to be a positive conversation.

“I’ve tried to hate you,” Juleka stressed, “but I just don’t, so what I’m about to say is nothing personal.”

Adrien’s chest tightened, and he mentally braced himself for whatever hurtful thing his sister-in-law was getting ready to say next.

“What would it take to get you to leave?” she earnestly inquired and then waited expectantly for his response.

Adrien’s brow began to crinkle in confusion. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“What’s your price?” Juleka rephrased, asserting, “I know you have a price. All humans do.”

Adrien staggered backward as if physically assaulted by the declaration. “Price?” he repeated, stunned and still trying to process her words.

“What would I have to give you to get you to leave my brother alone and go back to your castle where you belong?” she snorted indignantly, losing patience as he seemed to try to play innocent.

Adrien’s ears started to ring.

“I thought Luc would have lost interest in you by now,” she grumbled with a shake of her head. “His infatuations usually pass within a month, but this is getting dangerously serious. He’s obsessed with you, and I’m starting to get scared,” she confessed, the fear evident in her flame-like eyes.

“He’s completely lost his mind. He’s talking about dying with you,” Juleka hissed, wrapping her arms around herself tighter, trying to hold in her anxiety and terror. “He says he can’t live without you. Do you know how insane that is?”

Adrien did not know, because what Juleka was describing summed up his feelings for Luka pretty well, so the sentiment was mutual.

“Our people live centuries,” Juleka stressed, trying to get her point across. “At best, you’ll live maybe another sixty or seventy years. You say you love him. If you really loved him, would you steal hundreds of years from him? Would you take away all of that time, all of those experiences he could have?” she pleaded.

Adrien averted his gaze, unable to find his voice to answer as he stared at the blades of grass carpeting the forest floor, still magically flourishing despite the bitter cold.

“I guess what I’m really asking is: Do you love him? …Or are you selfish?” she challenged.

At the beginning of the year, Adrien would have slunk away with his tail between his legs, but, in the five months he had known Luka, the three months that they had been married, Adrien had changed. He’d begun to understand an important truth: the fact that he was worth something, the fact that he was likeable and deserving of love.

Adrien took a slow inhale and swallowed hard, looking up to meet his sister-in-law’s eyes as he declared, “I love him…so the thing I want more than anything is for him to be happy…and it sounds like the thing that makes him happy more than anything is me.”

Juleka’s eyes went wide in surprise.

She had expected the normally meek Adrien to fold and give in when confronted. She had never anticipated this kind of response.

“So, I’m going to stay by his side as long as I live,” Adrien decreed with all the authority of a nobleman certain of being heeded. “I’ll do my best to persuade him to live on without me, but what he does after I’m gone is up to him and you and Rose and Anarka. If he already feels like he can’t live without me, how would it help matters to deprive him of me even sooner by leaving?”

Juleka didn’t reply. She hadn’t considered this. She’d just been thinking that, if Adrien left, things would go back to the way they were before. She’d get her brother back, and Luka would no longer be in danger.

“Besides,” Adrien added more softly. “There’s nothing you could give me to make me leave. I gave up wealth and power and comfort to be with him so that I could have freedom and love and a feeling of belonging. I already have everything I want, Juleka. I’m sorry that my happiness is making things hard for you.”

She blinked, opening and closing her mouth several times, trying to form some kind of retort but completely at a loss.

“Well,” Adrien exhaled. “If there’s nothing else you need, I should really get back to helping Rose in the kitchen. Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention.”

With a polite nod, Adrien turned on his heel and headed back home.

Later that night, after the New Year’s feast, Juleka and Adrien were in the kitchen washing dishes when Juleka muttered, “You didn’t tattle on me,” in honest surprise.

Adrien blinked, looking up from the plate he was rinsing in confusion. “I’m sorry. What?”

“You didn’t tell the others what I talked to you about earlier,” she elaborated, peering up at him curiously from the cup she was drying.

He shrugged, looking away. “What good would that do? It would only cause discord and get you in trouble, and I don’t want that. For my mate’s sake as well as my own, I just want to live here in peace and get along with everyone.”

Juleka hummed pensively, considering Adrien’s reasons.

“Besides,” he continued in a whisper. “I sort of get why you’re acting this way. You love your brother, and you think I’m a threat. You’re just trying to protect him. Honestly, we both want the same thing; we just have different ideas about how the goal should be achieved. I can’t fault you for doing what you think is right.”

Juleka gave a snort of a laugh. “No, Your Highness, you really, really could if you tried. The problem is you’re too good. Alya’s right about you. You’re a total cupcake.”

“I know that you’re making fun of me, but I’m choosing to take it as a compliment,” Adrien replied with a charming smile that Juleka had to exert a lot of effort in order to pretend that she was immune to.

“Suit yourself…Cupcake,” Juleka snickered.

Adrien had been with the Couffaines for six months when winter’s grip on the land began to loosen, and the trees stretched their limbs, yawning into bloom.

One day, Juleka came back from town early, flying down the stairs as if pursued, her basket almost empty of the items she had been sent to purchase.

“Adrien!” she shouted, stumbling into the main cabin, eyes wide in alarm.

Adrien gave a start, looking up from the strings of Luka’s lyre where his husband was positioning Adrien’s fingers as Luka taught Adrien to play.

Anarka looked up from her magazine to glare at her daughter, scolding, “Juleka, not so loud. Anyone could hear you, shouting like that. Even the fish have ears.”

Rose stood from her place on the couch, going to her wife. “Juju, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Juleka shook her head, holding up a hand to assure Rose that she was fine as she hurried over to Adrien. “Prince Adrien of the Kingdom of Agreste…right?” she inquired cautiously, as if afraid of cutting the wrong wire of a ticking bomb.

“How do you know that?” Luka growled in warning, wrapping his arms around Adrien more tightly in protection.

“You two are loud, and the walls aren’t that thick,” Anarka scoffed, half-amused.

Juleka kept shaking her head. “In town. I ran into Alya. She’s always going to the human city. She said King Gabriel…” Juleka gulped, struggling to compose herself as she tried again, “…Your father is dead.”

#Lukadrien #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Adrien Agreste #Luka Couffaine #Juleka Couffaine #Rose Lavillant #Anarka Couffaine #Fae AU #Fae Luka #Fluff #Drama #Supportive Luka Couffaine #Mikau's Writings #Among the Wild Things

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magick-sims · 5 years

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20 Gen. Disney Princess Challenge- Sims 4

Generation 1: Snow White "I'm wishing for the one I love to find me today"

Founders have humble beginnings, so what's better than Snow White? To start, create Snow White. Storytellers may create her as a teenager and make her evil stepmother, but this is not a requirement. When Snow White becomes a young adult, this story begins.

- Must be female

- Must have 7 children (dwarfs)

- Each child must have one negative trait (e.g Gloomy, Glutton)

- Each child must have the same baby daddy

- Each child must achieve something before their teenage years - this can be reaching level 5 in a toddler skill, reaching level 3 in all toddler skills, completing their childhood aspiration, or becoming an A grade student in school

- Snow may never answer the door to strangers or talk to elderly women

[EPS]: Parenthood - each child must age up with at least one positive character trait. This number can be increased if you're looking for more of a challenge.

Generation 2: Cinderella "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep"

Although you had six brothers and sisters, you always did the cooking and cleaning. Yet, somehow you loved it, as it transported you away from your chaotic home life. When Cinderella becomes a teenager, this story begins.

- Must have 'Neat' and 'Foodie' traits

- Must clean the house everyday and cook every meal

- May not marry until mother dies (This does not have to be of old age, but it may not be cheated)

- Have a maximum of 3 children

Generation 3: Tiana "The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work"

Your family has barely accomplished anything over the past two generations, and you're here to change that. This story begins when Tiana becomes a YA.

- Must have 'Ambitious' trait

- Father must die before end of YA

- Must have food Aspiration

- Must marry a Sim with green (This can be hair, eyes, skin etc)

[EPS]: Dine Out - Tiana must own and run her own restaurant

Generation 4: Aurora "I walked with you once upon a dream"

Thanks to your mother's hard work, you have everything you always wanted in life, apart from love. Your father was overprotective of you, and rarely let you out of the house. This story begins when Aurora becomes a YA.

- Must have the 'Lazy' trait.

- May only have 3 or less friends. (Family can count if you wish)

- Must meet future spouse at night while parents are asleep

- Elope (you can run away if you wish)

- Have a maximum of 2 children - (twin girls are preferred if playing Anna or Elsa next)

Generation 5: Anna "We only have each other, it's just you and me"

Your sister locked you away and you never knew why. As toddlers, you were the best of friends but now all you have are dreams. When Anna is a child, this story begins.

- Lose all contact with your sister until YA

- Find love with a criminal

- Experience near death at the hands of your lover

- Find someone new after becoming BFFs with your sister

- Marry, have one child

Generation 6: Rapunzel "You were wrong about the world, and you were wrong about me"

Your mother never trusted you or the outside world. You never knew of her past, and never wanted to. All you ever got was solitude, but that didn't matter. When Rapunzel is a teenager this story begins

- Must have 'Loner' and 'Art Lover' traits

- Must reach at least level 8 painting before YA

- May only ever leave the house for school

- May never have friends until wedding

- Elope - you have no friends anyway, have kids

Generation 7: Belle "People think I'm odd, so I know how it feels to be different"

You always loved books and visited the library often. You never cared for looks, just beauty within. Everyone wanted you, but you turned them all down. You wanted to chose your own destiny. When Belle becomes a YA, this story begins.

- Must have 'Bookworm' trait

- Date at least 5 men

- Meet the man of your dreams - an ugly Sim

- Marry, have kids

- Your spouse becomes beautiful (Changed in CAS) after first born child

Generation 8: Mulan "Could it be, that if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart"

Your parents always wanted you to bring fortune back to the family and marry someone of high status, but you didn't dream of love, you dreamed of glory. When Mulan becomes a YA this story begins

- Must have 'Active' trait

- Must join Astronaut career

- Fall in love with a co-worker once you reach the top of the career choice

- Marry, have kids

Generation 9: Jasmine "A whole new world, a hundred thousand things to see"

You hated being rich and living like a princess. You find comfort in Raja, but nowhere else. All your father wants is for you to marry rich, but you want a life without riches. When Jasmine becomes a teenager this story begins.

- Have a best friend (Raja)

- You cannot leave the house unless it is for school

- Must marry a poor street rat

- Lover must be in the criminal career

- Have a maximum of 4 children

[EPS]: Cats and Dogs - Raja must be a pet and reach companions while children

Generation 10: Merida "If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?"

You always wondered why your mother gave up her riches for a poor boy. Your adventures lead you into trouble, and you were nearly always grounded. When Merida becomes a teenager this story begins.

- Have the 'Self Assured' trait

- Lose your siblings and mother in an unfortunate accident

- Seek out a way to change the past but fail

-marry and have more than one child

Generation 11/optional 5 : Elsa "Yes I'm alone, but I'm alone and free"

Your parents always questioned where your powers came from. You were a quiet type after... the accident. All you wanted was to be alone, unable to harm anyone. When Elsa becomes a teenager, this story begins.

- Must have the 'Loner' trait

- Must not talk to siblings until YA

- Must be different in some way

- Run away as a teenager (Storytellers may have her sister find her and bring her home)

- Never marry and only have one child (it was an accident, you swear by it)

Generation 12: Pocahontas "You think I'm an ignorant savage, you've been so many places, I guess it must be so."

You come from different worlds, yet the love of your life is forbidden by your family. When Pocahontas becomes a teenager this story begins.

-Fall in love with a "different" kind of Sim

-Marry that "different" kind of Sim.

-Run away and elope

-Have a maximum of 4 kids

Generation 13: Megara "I won't say (I'm in love)"

You never had much attention as a child, but you didn't mind, everyone only seemed to do you wrong. Now you're set on finding love just as your mother before you but just as life before things aren't as easy as they seem. When Megara becomes a toddler this story begins.

-must have the 'Independent' trait as a toddler and max all skills

-must have the 'Loner', 'Unflirty', and 'Free spirited' traits after aging up

-must join some kind of club of only women

-must marry a man she meets at the gym (her hercules), any man she has a romantic interest in that she doesnt marry they must despise each other

-may only have 1 child

Generation 14: Giselle "I guess a new experience, could be worth trying"

You grew up in a perfect fantasy world where everything was perfect for you but when you grow up a tragic event leaves your family broke and you have no choice but to leave home and face the real world. When Giselle becomes a YA this story begins.

-must have 'loves animals', and 'perfectionist' traits

-must move out of her family home to a different city

-cannot marry her first love

-must marry someone who is married already and has at least 1 child, they then can have their own children only once they get married

Generation 15: Elena "Born to lead with fire in her soul, grace in her heart. This is her time."

You grew up as a princess in a kingdom full of magic, but at a young age you were forced away from your parents to find your own way in life. When Elena becomes a teenager, this story begins.

-she, along with any siblings, must live with her grandparents

-traits: 'ambitious', and 'kindness ambassador'

-must be in the politician career and work your way up to national leader

-after achieving this she may marry and have children

Generation 16: Moana "One day I'll know, how far I'll go"

You grew up as the heir to a legacy, born to rule over others; however you want to explore and see the world. You know your choices make you who you are and you hope that one day they will show you the world. When Moana becomes a teenager, this story begins.

- Must have the the 'Loves the Outdoors' trait.

- Must have 'Curator' aspiration

- Must have a close relationship with her Grandmother (who dies before Moana becomes a YA)

- Run away from home and meet Maui and become BBFs with him.

- Marry and have children (7 if ariel is the next generation, does not have to be the same father, all girls, ariel is last born)

Generation 17: Ariel "Someday I'll be part of your world"

You've always loved the water and dreamed of becoming a mermaid. Sadly, this never came true but you did find the man of your dreams, and that was good enough. When Ariel becomes a teenager this story begins.

- Must have a 'Loves the Outdoors' trait

- Must own a pool and swim in it everyday

- Must marry a beautiful Sim with at least one trait the same as your own

- Have kids

[EPS] Island Living - Ariel is a mermaid, adjust the above rules to fit the EP.

Generation 18: Melody "What's too dangerous?"

You always wanted to be a mermaid like your mother but you didn't get so lucky. You were always kept away from anything too adventurous as your parents saw danger at every turn. When Melody becomes a teenager this story begins.

-must have somekind of socially akward trait, and an adventurous trait

-must gain the cold resistance trait from points store

-must have at least level five skill in dancing and singing

-must find merkelp and become a mermaid without buying or cheating for it

-must marry a merman

-have twins(1 girl and 1 boy) and adopt 1 child(sofia)

Generation 19: Sofia the First "The new girl in crown"

You were adopted into a rich, noble family, very different from the orphange you grew up in. You plan to learn to be the perfect princess unlike your mother before you. When Sophia is a child this story begins.

-must max the following skills: charisma, piano, singing, and violin before becoming a young adult

-must have a good relationship with her two siblings

-must complete any degree at university while living at home

-may only move away from home after marrying and then they may have as many children as they like

Final, Generation 20: Venelope "You really are a bad guy"

You're different than your perfect ancestors before, you've never fit in so you're here to be the best despite what everyone thinks of you. You want to take down the big bad guys in town even though your childish ways may have you stumble along the way. When Venelope becomes a YA this story begins.

-must have 'Childish' trait

-(bonus)have to get an A in school before aging up

-rank up to triple agent in the secret agent career

-take down Nancy Landgrab one way or another

-eventually live in a big mansion and do what you want because you have completed all the generations

#sims #sims 4 #sims challenge #disney #disney princess #disney princess challenge #sims 4 disney #sims 4 disney princess challenge #sims cc #sims 4 cc #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 story #sims 4 gameplay

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fly-pow-bye · 4 years

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What’s Airing On Cartoon Network? (July 2020)

While June was a slow month for Cartoon Network, no thanks to HBO Max taking Summer Camp Island and seemingly most of Cartoon Network’s 2020 lineup, July is a bit more interesting. Alongside the return of Mao Mao, we also get the return of Apple & Onion as well! More after the break.

Apple & Onion

The second season of Apple & Onion starts on July 20th.

July 20

Champion - Apple and Onion need to get rid of a problematic dog they thought was a horse. (6:00 PM)

July 21

Falafel's Passion - Apple and Onion must stop Falafel from humiliating himself on a national TV show. (6:00 PM)

July 22

Hole in Roof - Apple and Onion must repair the hole in their roof before the impending storm of the century. (6:00 PM)

July 23

Patty's Law - Apple and Onion must look after a sick Falafel in order to go parasailing. (6:00 PM)

Bakugan: Armored Alliance

July 5th

Final Battle! Dan vs. Ajit/Secrets Exposed - It's time for the event everyone in Los Volmos has been waiting for, The Bakugan Battle League finals! Then, with the winner determined the celebration is cut short when Phantom Thief Storm crashes the party by stealing everyone's Bakugan! (6:30 AM)

July 19th

The Director/Queen Ebony - Everett Ray reaches out to Lia with an opportunity that seems too good to be true. Then, Lightning learns of a street cat named Ebony, threatening them to do her bidding or face the wrath of her Bakugan! (6:30 AM)

July 26th

Here Comes Haavik/The Fusion Bakugan Arrive - An evil shapeshifting alien has landed in Los Volmos and he has a group of robot mechanoids on his trail trying to bring him justice. Then, Chad and Trey challenge Dan to rematch but this time they have a few tricks up their sleeve. (6:30 AM)

We also get an advanced listing for an episode in August.

August 2nd

Sophie, the Bakuganist/Midnight Train Battle! - Magnus is on the trail of the illegal Baku-brawling devices and is looking to cut off the supply at its source. Then, Sophie Judson Warfield is working to put an end to all Bakugan brawling. Her latest target is the Awesome Brawlers.

Craig of the Creek

A week before, Cartoon Network suddenly scheduled four episodes of Craig of the Creek on the last week of June, which rolls into July. For the sake of completion, I’m going to put them here, too.

June 29th

The Ground is Lava! - When an intense game of "The Ground is Lava" breaks out, Craig must carefully traverse the Creek to save his sister. (10:00 AM)

June 30th

Council of the Creek: Operation Hive-Mind - Hive Mind - When bees take over the Trading Tree, Craig must assemble the Council of the Creek to avert disaster. (10:00 AM)

July 1st

The Bike Thief - Craig investigates the theft of the 10 Speed's bikes in hopes of finding the culprit! (10:00 AM)

July 2nd

Craig of the Beach - Craig gets to hit the beach with his friends and family, but starts to get worried his Dad is more fun than him. (10:00 AM)

Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart

For the first time since October of last year, Mao Mao is finally getting some new episodes.

July 6th

Mao Mao's Nakey - When MM loses his clothes while trying to scale the Ruby Pure Heart, he has to get back to Sheriff's HQ by daybreak. (12:30 PM)

July 7th

Lucky Ducky Mug - When Adorabat and Badgerclops break Mao Mao's favorite mug, he gives them the silent treatment. (12:30 PM)

July 8th

Lonely Kid - When AD has trouble making friends at school, MM tells her the story of how he made his first real friend - BB. (12:30 PM)

July 9th

Try Hard - When the Sky Pirates take Mao Mao and Badgerclops hostage, it's up to Adorabat to save the day. (12:30 PM)

July 10th

Scared of Puppets - Mao Mao is scared of puppets. (12:30 PM)

July 13th

The Perfect Couple - When Mao Mao accidentally breaks up the most perfect couple in Pure Heart Valley, he has to figure out how to get them back together. (12:30 PM)

July 14th

Adoradad - When AD's dad forbids her from working with the Sheriff's Dept because it's too dangerous, AD sets out to prove that she can take care of herself. (12:30 PM)

July 15th

Badge-a-fire Explosion - When BC comes out of a rare state of hyper-focused creativity, he may have made something that could destroy all of PHV. (12:30 PM)

July 16th

Zing Your Heart Out - When Adorabat starts to aggressively heckle everyone with her new zing power, she threatens the entire kingdom. (12:30 PM)

July 17th

Strange Bedfellows - After an insane battle, MM and OS end up in the same hospital room. But even in full body casts, the sworn enemies continue the fight. (12:30 PM)

Ninjago

We may not get new episodes of a certain other LEGO-related cartoon, but we do have new episodes of Ninjago, starting with a full hour of them on July 19th.

July 19th

Would You Like to Enter Prime Empire? - While investigating a heist, the ninja discover Prime Empire, a legendary unreleased arcade game that suddenly takes control of all other games in Ninjago. (11:00 AM)

Dyer Island - When the ninja connect Jay's disappearance to Prime Empire, they set out to Dyer Island to seek answers from the game's designer, the elusive Milton Dyer. (11:15 AM)

Level Thirteen - Cyrus Borg discovers a shocking secret about Prime Empire, while the ninja battle an escaped Mechanic in their attempt to reach Level Thirteen and enter the game themselves. (11:30 AM)

Superstar Rockin' Jay - Now inside the Prime Empire game, the ninja find themselves in unfamiliar territory, ignorant of the rules of this world, as they try to find Zane and escape Unagami's army of Red Visors. (11:45 AM)

July 26th

I Am Okino - Inside one of the game zones, a Samurai named Okino faces a crisis of faith when he repeatedly fails to lead a series of Masters to victory, causing him to lose all hope, until some familiar ninja arrive. (11:00 AM)

The Glitch - In order to stop Unagami the ninja must obtain three Key-tanas, the first of which is hidden in the game zone Terra Kerana, one of Prime Empire's most dangerous game environments. (11:15 AM)

August 2nd

The Cliffs of Hysteria - While being chased by Unagami's dreaded Red Visors the ninja must climb the 'Cliffs of Hysteria', however, they make a startling discovery: Unagami is converting players into energy cubes in order to build a portal into the real world! (11:00 AM)

The Maze of the Red Dragon - Still in the game zone Terra Kerana, the Samurai guide Okino has to choose between helping his allies the ninja, or obeying the evil orders of his Master, Unagami. (11:15 AM)

Teen Titans Go!

The sequel to the legendary “Night Begins to Shine” premieres in July.

July 10th

Night Begins to Shine 2: You're the One - The elderly Titans decide to take one last trip to the world of Night Begins to Shine only to encounter a new villain ruling the land, Ultralak. In order to stop Ultralak, the Titans must find three music stems. (6:00 PM)

#apple & onion #bakugan #bakugan battle planet #bakugan armored alliance #craig of the creek #mao mao heroes of pure heart #ninjago #teen titans go #cartoon network #fpb news

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kingreywrites · 4 years

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What obstacles fate may bring

Fandom: Tangled

Words count: 3326

New Dream Appreciation Week Day Five: Proposal

Summary: "I can't believe it," Rapunzel groaned, taking his hand to press it against her face, probably to feel the coolness of his ring against her skin. "I can't believe- this must be a curse. We're cursed, Eugene, cursed to never have a normal engagement."

"We're not cursed," he chuckled, ignoring her glare. "The doctor said it might not be permanent."

Read on ao3

@our-newdream

Eugene knocked softly on the door of Rapunzel's bedroom, more to warn her that he was coming than anything else. Actually, it was their bedroom now, he remembered with a goofy smiled, that immediately abated at the sight he was met with. The bedroom was completely dark which, these last days, wasn't unusual - with her headaches, Rapunzel was uncomfortable if it was too brightly lit. Considering her previous relationship with the sun, it was quite ironic, but she was too miserable and she missed seeing the sky too much for Eugene to even joke about it. No, what was unusual today was the fact that Rapunzel was not only laying on her bed, but was actively trying to choke herself with a pillow while Pascal squeaked comfortingly next to her ear.

"You okay Sunshine?" Eugene asked softly, knowing that loud sounds could also hurt her.

She moaned something unintelligible under her pillow and he frowned, unsure if she was sad or actually hurting. He went to sit next to her quickly, his hand going to her shoulder.

"Does your head hurt?" He might have sounded a tiny bit more panicked than he originally wanted, but who could blame him? Some days ago, his fiancee had hurt her head so bad that she hadn't woken up for twenty-four horrible hours. Rapunzel must have heard the genuine worry in his voice because she moved the pillow down, just enough for her forlorn eyes to appear.

"It's not that," she finally mumbled, "my head doesn't hurt that much anymore."

Eugene smiled but kept in a corner of his head the fact that it still hurt, even if it was a little bit. He wasn't taking any risks with that - he'd have to ask the physician about it. Said physician might end up asking for a restraining order in return, since Eugene might have harassed him a little the last four days but, joke's on him, Eugene was also the guy that managed restraining orders - plus, it was about the Princess' health, so he was right to go overboard.

Rapunzel stayed silent but, even in the darkness, Eugene could still feel the sadness she exuded. He glanced at Pascal but the frog was apparently as lost as he was, so he'd have to wait for Rapunzel to actually say it.

Or he could ask. He wasn't a patient man when it came to the health of the love of his life.

"Rapunzel, what's wrong?"

She sighed, pressing harder against the pillow as she lowered her eyes. "I'm cursed."

"Cursed? Sunshine, we talked-"

"No, I know, it's not a real curse, it's just… It feels like a curse," she bit out. Blindly, her hand seeked his and he was happy to help her find it, until she yanked it in front of her face without a warning. His yelp didn't faze her at all; she was too busy staring at his engagement ring.

Ah. Eugene understood, suddenly, what was the problem.

To be precise, it all started two weeks ago, on Rapunzel's birthday. It had been one of the best day of Eugene's life because he had proposed to the love of his life, and she had said yes, and honestly his heart still hadn't recovered from the sheer emotion he had felt that day. They had spent… an interesting night, to say the least, and Eugene discovered next morning that waking up in the same bed as Rapunzel was one of the greatest gift in life.

So, all in all, it sounded perfect. And it was perfect, really - they went to announce it to her parents, who were ecstatic and, together, they agreed to wait a little before telling the whole kingdom about it. At first, it had been Rapunzel who asked, because she wanted Cassandra to hear it from her first, and, for them to be sure that it was the case, they had to wait until they received the dragon lady's answer. Eugene hadn't minded at all, really, he was even quite glad for the relative privacy - and he took the opportunity to write to his father, so he'd be the first to tell him too.

So, how did it all go wrong? Well, considering that the Coronans didn't know about the engagement, they had started getting down the decorations they had put up for Rapunzel's birthday. Feeling a little bad that it would be tidied up only for them to send everyone into a frenzy again with their engagement, Eugene and Rapunzel decided to help clean up the decorations. Between chatting with citizens and going where they were needed, they had gotten a little separated during the day, which wasn't that unusual.

What had been unusual were the screams.

Immediately alert, Eugene had run toward the noise, not letting himself panic even when cries about the Princess had reached his ears. He hadn't asked to be let through but had been anyway, and then, the only thing he had managed to see was Rapunzel's prone form, and the blood coming from her head. The rest was a blur, honestly - he remembered going to her, remembered whistling for Max, remembered giving orders to panicked citizens with a calm his heart certainly didn't feel, and remembered rushing toward the castle… But it was all disjointed and out of focus, his memories tainted by his terror. He remembered the next twenty-four hours, remembered how scared he had been, how tightly he had held her hand, how long he had trembled with nervousness and exhaustion.

Honestly, he didn't care about much else than her well-being after that. He knew that she didn't share his opinion on the matter, but he wouldn't budge on it - she was alright, and the rest could be fixed easily enough.

"I can't believe it," Rapunzel groaned, taking his hand to press it against her face, probably to feel the coolness of his ring against her skin. "I can't believe- this must be a curse. We're cursed, Eugene, cursed to never have a normal engagement."

"We're not cursed," he chuckled, ignoring her glare. "The doctor said it might not be permanent."

"Might," she grumbled, "I still can't believe it. I can't believe I forgot our engagement."

"You had a serious head injury that resulted in a case of retrograde amnesia that made you forget the last three weeks," Eugene recited dutifully, in the exact same tone as Rapunzel's physician. "It's not your fault," he added, "and I'm very happy that it was the worse thing that came out of this. You scared me, you know."

Maybe his voice was hoarser than he had intended - maybe he was more vulnerable than he wished to be, but it was true. He had been scared, terrified that this was the end of their journey together and for what? A little fall? Rapunzel couldn't have survived their crazy adventures for her to… to… die like this. He remembered how happy he had been when she finally woke up, confused and bleary-eyes but thankfully okay - and, at this moment, every carefully constructed rants about climbing building without protection dissolved on his tongue, not important anymore. Nothing was more important than her, and if the engagement had been one of the greatest day of his life, Rapunzel was his life, easy as that.

"It seemed so beautiful," Rapunzel whispered wistfully, still holding his hand absentely while his other one was busy making circles on her shoulder. "I've seen it drawn in my journal-"

"How did you-"

"-that my mom brought to me because I'm under strict orders to not get out of bed," she answered without missing a beat. "Past me wrote detailed annotations, and drew it from multiple angles, and I- I just-"

"Hey," Eugene whispered, stroking her face as he snuggled next to her. "If you want, we can take our rings off and redo the whole proposal all over again once you're on your feet. Sure, it won't be your birthday, but you know Coronans - they'll be happy to have a second lantern ceremony! The cupcake won't be a surprise anymore, but-"

"That's not the same though," Rapunzel mumbled, closing her eyes. She looked exhausted, and probably was since she was still recovering from her concussion. "If I could just remember it, then…"

"Rapunzel," he said tenderly, kissing her cheek quickly in the hope to cheer her up. "if you want, I can propose to you a million times in a million of different ways. What's the most important to me is that you're fine because that's the only thing needed for us to make new memories. I want to make new memories with you all my life," he insisted, pushing a strand of her hair from her face, meeting her shining eyes.

She exhaled shakily, both emotional and in pain. "You're right, I'm sorry..."

"I- no, Sunshine, you have every right to be upset," Eugene rectified softly, seeing that she was getting too tired for the conversation - but it was important she understood. "You lost an important memory, anyone would feel bad about it. I would whine myself into oblivion in your situation," he smiled, drawing a laugh from her, "and you'd be the one to tell me that my health was the most important thing."

Rapunzel hummed, closing her eyes again, for longer this time. She would probably fall back asleep soon - and, as much as she missed going outside, rest was an important part of her recovery.

"As long as we're both okay, we can fix this," was the last thing she mumbled, before she fell asleep. She barely felt Eugene kiss her forehead as he fixed her blanket, leaving her with Pascal as her devoted guard, while he went to harass the physician some more.

-----

"Rapunzel?" Eugene called, pushing open the door of their bedroom, who was back to being sunny and brightly lit - once the sun stopped giving her headaches, it seemed that Rapunzel decided the window needed to be wide open all the time. However, right now, it was closed, and Rapunzel wasn't here.

Sighing, he went to sit on the windowsill, knowing that she would come at some point - until he saw a little note taped to the pane. It was undoubtedly Rapunzel's writing, punctuated with little hearts and a doodle of them kissing. (Eugene never managed to get rid of the notes. He loved them too much, and he had boxes full of them because Rapunzel wrote hundred of them that she always always personalised. Yes, he also re-read the notes quite often, because he was a sap and he loved her.) He took the note down carefully and started to read it, a little worried about her whereabouts.

Eugene,

I have a surprise for you! Go see Max and he'll know where to take you!

Love,

Rapunzel.

Eugene frowned, immediately worried, because it might be sweet but Rapunzel was barely out of bedrest, a week and a half after her accident. If she was all alone, who knew what- oh, there was writing on the other side too.

PS,

I know you're probably worrying about me already, but I asked the physician and my parents about it and they said yes! I have Pascal and Fidella with me, plus you and Maximus coming, plus a lot of people knowing where to come find me if we're not back in two hours. Now go see Max! I love you!

Well, what could he answer to that? He shook his head, smiling, and put the note on his nightstand, before going to see Max immediately. He wanted to leave her alone as little as was possible, uncomfortably aware of what happened the last time he did, and, seeing that Max was ready and eager to leave, it was apparently a shared sentiment. Eugene tried hard not to stifle her too much, because he knew that wasn't what she needed, but sometimes he wanted to bundle her up in blankets to be sure that she would always be safe. He didn't know what he would do if she wasn't.

Max led him through the forest surrounding Corona, looking proud and sure of himself when Eugene wondered where exactly Rapunzel intended to meet him. Why would it need to be so far away from home? Though, now that he was paying attention, it felt like he recognized some of the landmarks - it has been a long time since he really strolled through the forest but that tree looked sort of familiar, didn't it?

Maximus neighed, startling Eugene as his friend took a sharp corner and suddenly, there Rapunzel was, sitting on a fallen over tree in front of a campfire. Eugene dismounted Max absentely, his breath caught in his throat as the flames illuminated Rapunzel's face wonderfully - it wasn't even that dark outside but she was still glowing, her brown hair taking a fiery orange aspect which made her green eyes pop even more than usual.

"I remember this place," he said, chest warm as she nodded a little too excitedly - he could see that she was trying hard to stay seated, despite the nervous energy coursing through her.

Of course he remembered. For anyone else, this place was nothing more than another uninteresting spot of the forest, but for them both, this was where they made a campfire the day they met. It was where Rapunzel trusted him with her biggest secret, and healed his hand; it was where he trusted her with his biggest secret, and told the story of Eugene Fitzherbert the orphan.

It was where they both discovered and accepted each other for who they were, no pretense needed. He could never forget it.

Eugene went to sit beside Rapunzel, like they did that first day. Maximus made himself scarce, probably meeting with Pascal and Fidella somewhere, but Eugene paid him no mind. He only had eyes for Rapunzel - for the obvious joy in her own, the blush on her cheeks, her wonderful smile, and everything that made her the love of his life.

"Hi," he breathed.

"Hi," she laughed, eyes shining. "Do you like it?"

Eugene had been too taken with her to notice the other decorations she had set up around the campfire. There were flowers all around them, and a basket full of what seemed to be delicious sweets.

"I love it," he answered, his eyes not leaving hers as he took her hands in his. "But, though I'm not complaining, I'm wondering why you decided to come here today."

"Remember the letters Cass sent?" Rapunzel asked, apparently out of the blue.

Eugene frowned, puzzled, but nodded because, seriously, how could he forget? They had to send Cassandra another letter informing her of what happened to Rapunzel - and that their engagement was put on the backburner until she was recovered enough and, hopefully, got her memories back. Rapunzel hadn't recovered her memories as of now. However, they had received a response from Cassandra some days later. Yes, they had received something because, for the first time since she left, Cassandra addressed a letter to Eugene specifically, instead of making snide remarks in the ones she regularly wrote to Rapunzel.

Of course, when Eugene opened it, it was to discover that there wasn't a message, really - she had only wrote "ahahaha" on the whole page, mocking him from across the country for yet another obstacle coming in between him and Rapunzel being engaged. Oh, Rapunzel's letter had been "very sweet" and "full of empathy", his fiancee's words not his, but Eugene didn't believe Cassandra was capable of those things. (He still kept the letter. Bitterly, but he kept it.)

"Well," Rapunzel said when he nodded, "I asked her for advice on something-"

"And she told you to break up with me."

"No! I mean, yes," Rapunzel laughed as Eugene gave her an 'I told you so' look, "she did say that but she also added good advice. She told me that I needed to be blunt, and fix what I wanted to fix instead of dwelling forever on it."

"Fix?" Eugene echoed, suddenly worried - what would Rapunzel need to fix between them? He didn't think he had done something particularly wrong lately, except maybe be a little of a mother-hen because of her injury, but he couldn't help it! He tried hard to let her breathe but he was scared and-

Before he could continue his train of thought, Rapunzel got up, making him follow her movement gently. He opened his mouth, ready to ask her for clarifications, but she didn't leave him the chance.

Rapunzel went down on one knee and all the air left Eugene's lungs, his heart beating louder in his chest.

"This is me, fixing what is bothering me," Rapunzel beamed, her eyes shining. "You were right, Eugene - what matters most to me is that we're able to make new memories together, for all our lives. But we lived through so many moments together, and I treasure every one of them, because I treasure my time with you more than anything else in the world."

"Sunshine," Eugene breathed, unable to voice exactly just how much he loved her. He didn't think words were enough to describe the warmth in his chest overwhelming his senses, making his eyes water from sheer emotion as Rapunzel kept talking.

"This place… This campfire, that was the first time you let me in. This was the moment I really met you, Eugene Fitzherbert, my new dream even if I didn't know it quite yet. You make my life better, and brighter, and I feel so lucky to have you at my side no matter what."

"I'm lucky too," he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion, "the luckiest man on Earth."

Rapunzel grinned and, carefully, she took his ring off his finger. "I know you've already done this… and that taking the ring from you may seem counterintuitive, but-" She took a deep breath, still on her knee, now holding his ring between her fingers, her own ring shining thanks to the fire's glow. "- Eugene Fitzherbert, will you marry me?"

"Yes," he answered, too quickly perhaps as he lowered himself and put his arms under hers, lifting her up in a hug. "Of course it's yes," he laughed, and she laughed too - he could feel her smiling against his neck and he never wanted to let her go. "It's always yes."

She moved her head back a little, to be able to look into his eyes. They were both breathless and grinning, cheeks hurting and an never-ending fondness that they didn't bother containing. Their lips met, almost against their will, love pulling them together like gravity.

They breathed, and Rapunzel took the opportunity to slid Eugene's ring back on his finger - which meant he had to kiss her again, because she was his everything and she wanted him to be hers, for their whole lives.

"Let's hope," she murmured after some time, "that our curse is over."

"Not a curse."

"Uh-uh. But let's hope, anyway."

"No more moonstone related incidents," Eugene suggested.

"No more retrograde amnesia," Rapunzel added.

"Sounds good to me," Eugene grinned, before kissing her again - he was certainly lucky. Who had the chance to be engaged twice to the most perfect woman in the universe?

Only him.

(They went back home to announce the engagement a second time to Rapunzel's parents, who were, incredibly enough, as excited as the first time. Rapunzel had to send another letter to Cassandra, to Eugene's despair - she would never let him live it down.

Some days later, Rapunzel pounced on him, startling him awake at an unlawful hour. He didn't complain, though; not when he saw the absolute delight on her face as she announced excitedly that she finally remembered their first engagement. One more than necessary, sure, but when had they ever done something the usual way?

Plus, twice the engagement meant twice the celebration, and Eugene was happy to provide.)

#the plot may be a tad... convoluted yes #I just want as many proposals as possible #and I struggled so much to write this that I hope you will like it anyway lol #tangled #New Dream Appreciation Week #Eugene Fitzherbert #Rapunzel #New Dream

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thelionshymnal · 4 years

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2020 Creator’s Self-Love Extravaganza

Boy howdy, but it has been a year. So much so that I felt the need to dig up this meme so I can lavish myself with a little TLC, ‘cause you know what? I deserve it! And so do you. This year has been tough, and even in the best of times it can be a real struggle to remember that, instead of being your own worst enemy, you should strive to be your best cheerleader. Remember to be kind instead of cruel, to forgive rather than condemn yourself. Creativity is hard, and it is always a journey, never a final destination, so let’s take a moment and sight-see where we’ve been this year, yeah???

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works (fics, art, edits, etc.) you’ve created this year and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2020. If you don’t have five published works, that’s fine! Include ideas/drafts/whatever you like that you’ve worked on/thought about, and talk a little about them instead! Remember, this is all about self-love and positive enthusiasm, so fuck the rules if you need to. Have fun, and tag as many fellow creators as you like so they can share the love! <3

1) you are the light in my eyes [Kingdom Hearts - Kairi/Namine - Explicit] Look, sometimes I despair that I haven’t gotten any better at writing. That I have, in fact, lost whatever spark I had that made my writing worth reading. But that fic right there is a rewrite of a work I wrote in 2006, and while sure, there was a solid idea there in the original and an occasional phrase or way or wording that made me jealous of my past self, for the most part? It was a mess. And I didn’t really realize how bad it was until I reworked it all the way through. Writing is harder for me than it used to be, but that’s actually a good thing.

2) i want you to be happier [The Magicians - Quentin/Eliot - Mature] Okay, technically speaking I wrote most of this fic in 2019, but I finished it this year. And let me tell you, that’s only the second time I’ve finished a multi-part fic that wasn’t, like, 10k at the max! I am proud as fuck that I succeeded, especially because my main goal for getting back in fandom has been to learn how to finish things! I uncovered a lot about what I struggle with and why by completing this fic, and they were things I never could have learned if I hadn’t seen this fucker through to the end.

3) take your time [Katekyo Hitman Reborn - Reborn/Tsuna - Teen] I first started writing this fic in February, but very quickly wound up putting it on the back burner. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, and didn’t have any confidence in what I’d already written. Fast forward to May, when I’d spent several weeks genuinely contemplating giving up on writing entirely. What was the point, I wondered. I was never going to get better and I was certainly never going to be good enough. And you know what? That may be true, but thankfully I had a friend who told me I couldn’t quit, because they wanted to keep reading the stories I wrote. In a fit of ultimate fuck you to my own insecurities, I knuckled down and finished this gift fic for them. (’: It went places I didn’t expect, but I stuck with it long enough to call it complete, and while I still had zero confidence in how it had turned out, I posted it up anyway. Guess what? People like it! And even though I still struggle with confidence and will no doubt ask myself is this worth it? again and again, this fic was a good reminder that even if I’m not perfect, it doesn’t mean I have reason to quit.

4) #wannabe heroes r us - [Kingdom Hearts - Sora/Riku - Teen] Focus is one of those things I struggle with, just in case you weren’t aware. XD; This fic is on the list not just because I have loved the KH gang for...half my life? Or even because writing adorkable social media fic is pure mad fun! But because I’ve been taking measures to help my brain focus more, and it’s been interesting, to say the least. This is one of the first fics that I managed to actually go back to again and again, not because I was hyper-focusing, but because I chose to focus on it. I love it for itself, and I also love it for what that means for me.

5) my defeated heart (has got nothing to hide) - [Final Fantasy VII - Cloud/Reno - Mature] Y’know, I was gonna put a different one up that has another exhausting story about internal struggle. And like, this one had it’s own share of that! All I wanted was to write a damn pwp, but could I? NO. I started seven fucking fics, okay, I felt like screaming in outrage! But the long and short of it is that I just really like how this one came out, and that’s why it’s on this list. :D I’m going to tag less than I could because I trust you all to hit up the Usual Suspects lol, but also if you happen to see this then feel free to hijack it, tagged or not! And remember you def don’t need to do it how I did, okay? This is YOUR show! SO INDULGE IN THE SELF-LOVE, DO IT DO IT <3 @bubblesthemonsterartist @zacekova @hauntedfalcon @puppetmaster55 @beautiful-thensad-thensadder @ruleofexception @pink-contrail @rigb0ner @akai-vampire @countlessuntruths

#o boy #i hijacked the meme that went around in 2017 #with a few...colorful additions lmao #don't mind me #just getting some shit off my chest #and reminding myself that even amidst the shit #there's some GOOD shit too lolol #lion-chats #SO SELF INDULGENT LETS GOOO

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