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celeste-clearwater-06 · 3 years

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hello. it is i. so! i was wondering if you could do a little ditty abt nail polish with the company and/or the fellowship? basically like modern girl in middle earth type stuff, and she realizes that she has nail polish on her which is something they totally don't have in middle earth. basically headcanons abt like how they would react to painted nails and which one of these mfs would let me paint their nails. cuz like - they dont know its just a "fem" thing here so no toxic masculinity. ty <3

OMFG I'M SO HYPED FOR THIS! I just picked a few random Tolkien characters that seem to have a lot of attention, so I hope you like this!!

Nail Polish (LOTR/THE HOBBIT X READER)

Frodo~

I feel like Frodo would be very skeptical at first

Because, come on, a girl falling into Middle Earth out of nowhere??

However, his interest is certainly peaked, seeing you twist the brush away from it's blue colored bottle as you smile down at it

"What's that, you've got there?"

"Oh, just some nail polish!"

He watches with curiosity as you perfectly decorate your nails with the periwinkle color

"How interesting..."

He may not want to have his nails painted at first, but has this deep fascination with how perfectly you can paint them without screwing up

Soon, he forgets all about the ring as you paint your nails, sitting cross-legged and starting with those huge blue eyes with interest

If he allows you to paint his nails, he would smile the whole time

I mean HIS TINY HANDS?!?!

What a bean 🥺

Tries his best not to chip the color when he leaves for Mordor with Sam

Gollum is actually really interested with his nails

"whAT IS IT prECI0us?!?1!1?"

But Frodo will swat his hands away, because "it's a gift from someone important."

The one thing that keeps him smiling along the way 😊

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Legolas

Elf prince is so interested!!

He thinks the spring green color looks so pretty in the bottle

He's obviously not used to most thing from your world

Asks politely;

"How do you use this?"

"...can I show you?"

So whenever the Fellowship stops for the night, he watches with amusement as your brows furrow and you stick your tongue out in concentration

Legolas sits very still, so it's easy for you to paint his nails

How does he keep them so clean?!

He's low-key obsessed with how satisfying it is...

wAIT...

Now HE wants to paint YOUR nails?

THE PRECISION...

He's so good at it!

Legolas is so patient and calm

He says it reminded him of making flower crowns I guess?

And he doesn't even mess up once 😳

THE MASTER NEEDS TEACHING, DAYUM-

He gets so happy with how the color matches him!

Forgets that you have to let it dry at first, so it gets a bit smudged when he draws his bow

Upset Legolas :(

But you fix it for him, and he's happy again!

CAN

NOT

STOP

LOOKING

He's amazed!!

And so proud!

Pretty Elf 🥰✨

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Pippin

Pippin is very confused, to say the least

He though it would be something relatively close to a nail filer

But once he sees the pastel yellow color, on your own fingers, he has to have some!!

WILL

NOT

SIT

STILL

While you're trying to paint his hands and feet (by request), he's telling you great tales of the shire, a throwing his limbs around to exaggerate his story

You've to clonked him on the head and scolded him quite a few times

For some reason, he's saying it tickles??

"It does! The brush is like feather!"

Painting his toes it a lot easier, seeing he can't really feel much on his feet

The color goes perfect with his green eyes 🥴

Also, let's not forget that Pip is the definition of "disaster-on-legs"

After the polish dries, it immediately chips, since he's busy causing trouble with merry or practicing his hand with Boromir

He really wants to paint your nails, and you let him do so...

Poor hobbit has zero clue with how this shit works 🤦‍♀️

He feels so bad about getting it all over your fingers, but you assure him it'll be fine and that it will eventually wash off in a few days

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Boromir

HE WANTS TO USE IT RIGHT AWAY-

Pink, as cliche as it sounds, suits him so well

He's just amazed!

Also, really likes the smell 🤔🤔

Is grinning like an idiot while you're painting his nails

"Such talent and patience you have!"

"Pfft, it's really nothing. Takes a bit of practice is all."

Afterward, is flashing his bright pink nails at everyone

"Look at Y/N's spectacular skill of hand!"

I think Boromir would have a habit of picking at the polish after it dries

But that's okay, he doesn't mind too much

It gives him more time to spend with you while you repaint them!!

He's afraid he'll screw up your nails if he tries to paint them, so he never offers

That's alright though, since you know he only means well 😊

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Thorin

Oh he's so regal

You were in Rivendell, digging through your purse, and suddenly

Tada!!

A deep navy blue bottle, probably about half empty was revealed

He was curious, but tried not to let it show, since that would damage his royal ego 🙄

"What is that?"

"Oh, just some nail polish. Wanna try some?"

Thorin would insist that you show him how it works first

And so, you did

He definitely admires the color

But defied any suggestion of you painting his own nails

That would be "un-kingly" 😤

Okay so maybe he lets you paint his pinky finger when nobody is around

But he smiles (a rare sight) while watching you paint your nails

And does give a somewhat compliment at your articulate handwork

"It looks exceptional as artwork."

"Erm... Thanks?"

He definitely thinks the color matches you beautiful skin tone 😌

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Kili ~

Prince Dumbass LOVES red

It reminds him of Tauriel 🥰

One night, you left your bag opened on the ground as you went off to get some food from Bombur, and Kili couldn't help but notice the glittering ruby bottle inside

He grabbed it, being the nosy prince he was, and examined its glow in the firelight

"What kind of jewel is this?"

"Oh hey, my nail polish!!"

Very confused

"Why does it smell so strange?"

Thankfully, being a dwarf, his fingernails are a bit bigger, so there's more room and it's easier to paint

He, like Pippin, has issues with sitting still and gets you really annoyed

"I swear to all things fluffy, if you don't sit still I will cut off all of that hair in your sleep-"

"😳"

He immediately smudges them, and then you have to paint them AGAIN

Once they FINALLY dry, he won't let anyone touch them

"Stop it, Fili! You'll damage them!"

He can't stop touching them, since it's so smooth!

The others tease him, but he doesn't mind, as long as they stay nice and clean

Turns into a whiny toddler the MINUTE they chip

"Y/nnn! I need you to repaint them!"

"I just painted them yESTERDAY-"

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Fili

A mix of Thorin and Kili when it comes down to it

Definitely prefers gold 😌✨

Sees you painting your nails one night in the library in Erebor

"What have you got there sagh (friend)?"

"Just some nail polish. Wanna try some?"

Once again, he wants to see what it does like Thorin

And you of course happily oblige

Admires the color greatly

He says it reminds him of the gold floors in his kingdom, and it makes you chuckle

Fili loves to have his nails painted, and especially with such a regal hue 💅😌

DAMN does it bring out those baby blues 🥴

After that, you stare at his hands a lot, proceeded by his flirtatious teasing

Shows up Kili's sparkly red polish with his "more extravagant" color

He is also very protective of his nails and tries his very best to keep them from chipping

You love watching him hold his weapons and spar with his pretty nails 😳

Even with his larger hands, made for forging and wielding huge swords and axes and smelting, he had an incredibly steady and gentle hand when it comes to this subject, so he's AMAZING at painting his and your nails

Fili insists that you have matching nails all the time, and it's a regular thing for you to hang out and talk about your day while you paint each others nails 🥺

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Thranduil

Have you MET this man?!

KING OF DIVAS 💅💅

At first, he's very weirded out

"What do you have in your hand, mellon (friend)?"

"Oh, just some nail polish."

"Interesting..."

Thranduil watches intently over your shoulder as you carefully decorate your nails with a glossy black polish, sitting directly next to his throne

"Do you want me to paint your nails?"

"Hm?"

He reluctantly agrees, placing his BEAUTIFUL hand in yours and stares down at your gentle talented work

He loves the color more than he cares to admit, and much like his son sits very still as you lead the brush over his clean nails

The elf king loves seeing your tongue stick out in concentration

You remind him that it'll need time to dry out

And as he says in his notoriously sassy voice;

"I thousand years is a mere blink in the life of an elf... I'm patient... I can wait."

Ofc, you just scoff at this and tell him it'll only take about five to ten minutes

He just nods and stares back down at them with admiration

Thranduil doesn't do much around his kingdom, except maybe get a bit drunk and direct orders to his guards, so it's no worry about him chipping or ruining his nails

I hope you liked this, just as much as I enjoyed writing it!! Have a lovely day, and don't forget that requests are open as always!! ❤❤😊

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nancylou444 · 3 years

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In my opinion, the problem with the angels, being a result of the writer's strike and Erik Kripke, needing a way to get Dean out of Hell, wasn't the issue that angels got introduced. Sometimes you need a bit of a short cut to get from one point to the next. I think the problem was that they as in Castiel massively overstayed their welcome. For Season 5, they worked fine. They offered a very unique conflict with the topics of belief and non-believers and how despair can make you cling to ridiculous hopes. I just think that Kripke could have maybe polished the whole true vessel stuff a bit more to show what makes Sam and Dean so unique, and why they have to be picked.

But yeah, in the storyline, they were supposed to be in, aka season 4 till 5, maybe till the begin of season 7, if you really wanna stretch it, they worked. But as soon as Castiel got resurrected with that weird trench coat scenes (seriously, why the heck would Dean keep this coat around; I could see him maybe burn it in sort of a symbolic funeral), it was over. Like that was the moment, where Castiel was beginning to seriously overstay his welcome and the writers scramble their brains for some new ideas. I am not gonna lie, I did enjoy Gadreel's introduction, but that's probably because I love story arcs, where Sam is evil or gets possessed, so I am biased in this field.

But when it came to Castiel, the writers seem to no longer know what the heck, they wanna do with him. He got extremely dummed down, reckless and a hypocrite (now that wouldn't be a problem if the writers actually chose to make that a character trait and not some accident). Honestly during the latter seasons, I became increasingly annoyed with his scenes, because I had no clue how the heck they were advancing the plot along. It all felt like pointless detours. If anything, shouldn't the angels have just evicerated him for casting him out? Like shouldn't it all have been on sight? Honestly, the writers legit can only bring him back, because Gadreel is there!

But for me, the moment where I really started to hate Castiel, where I was like Okay, you lost any saving grace, was the moment where he allowed Lucifer to possess him. Especially given that he did it, because he couldn't stand being on the sidelines. He had to play hero and did so by releasing his own murderer and Sam's tormentor. My brain legit just went What the fuck? Did your memories hit a hard reset or are you just that stupid?.

Leave alone, that Misha cannot act as Lucifer at all. At least with Mark and Jared (especially in season 5), you have the feeling that this is the same character, who just happens to be in a different body. With Misha, I am like Am I watching Lucifer or did one of the Leviathans accidentally yeeted its ass out of purgatory again? Because that is the only comparison, I can draw. Honestly Casifer is so badly acted, it makes Season 11 such a slog to get through. I am literally dreading the episodes he appears in. And problem is, I don't think I can skip them. Ugh.

But yeah, in summary, what Kripke used as a short cut got expanded upon way what was necessary and ended up overstaying its welcome. Hope you don't mind me adding my two cents to this. :)

So much agree with this. 💖

I liked Castiel up to when he died in Hello Cruel World. He had redemption before he walked into the water.

Dean (and Sam) should have salt and burned the trenchcoat NOT cleaned and neatly folded it THEN moved if from one car to another. Remember Baby was put away and they were using random cars, so IF (and that's a mighty big OOC if) Dean was 'saving' the trenchcoat, why not leave it safe in Baby's trunk?

Castiel should have stayed dead with the angels storyline in general ending with his death.

Bringing him back was a disservice to a great character because his return only led to fanservice. What purpose did Cass' return bring to the show? What purpose did the continued existence of angels bring to the show?

Bringing Claire and Lucifer back for the sole reason of giving Cass a storyline shows that he had NO reason for still being in SPN.

Having Cass say 'yes' to Lucifer makes you wonder if season 4-6 Castiel was a different character from Cass, since Castiel would never have fallen for that bullshit. Castiel was a badass warrior angel, Cass was an eunuch.

Killing Cass in All along the Watchtower only to bring him back AGAIN continued to make a mockery of an once great character.

Misha acted in his first go around, but once Singer bought him back, MC had job security so that's why we got Lucifer!Cass, Empty!Cass and whatever he was in the AU.

Kripke's shortcut was fine BUT he allowed Misha's "popularity" to dictate killing Anna and promoting Castiel to top angel. I'm sure if he had stuck to his original angel plan, angels would have been a done deal a long time ago.

#paradiseturnedhell #i used to like castiel #anti castiel #anti misha #antimisha his bad acting #supernatural #anti angels

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phoenixblack89 · 4 years

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Secret Crushes

My second one shot is pure filth. Gotta warn ya. Might make a sequel... Dunno... But the lovely Travis is getting one next.... Then that amazing bad boy Mac.

@lilythemadqueen @fandomsaremykryponite enjoy sweeties!

Warning: Pure smut. Feels. Arsehole sibling. Underage drinking.

Fuck knows how many words this is cos ain't got a clue.

Edit: I've fixed the fucking errors I saw and added some to it. And got the read more to work! Yus! Enjoy sweetums

PART 2 Part 3

The party was in full swing and you hated it. Why your older sister had insisted on throwing a wild party while your parents were away was beyond your understanding. Must be a cool girl thing you thought as you wandered down the stairs to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. The house was packed to bursting with her friends and their friends. Hell, you're sure some of the teenagers weren't even from your town, not recognising the vast majority. Word of mouth had turned it from a small party for her classmates into a full on rave.

Sighing you pushed your way through to the kitchen your mother would no doubt be dismayed at seeing at the moment. Your mother was somewhat house proud and the kitchen was her pride and joy. Never ever letting dishes pile up in the sink, the shiny chrome polished within an inch of its life. You secretly couldn't wait for the fallout in the morning when they got back and saw the spilled alcohol, cigarette butt's and various other less savoury things spread from the party. Your sister was in soooo much trouble.

"Watch it fat bitch!"

You grit your teeth at the oh so creative insult as you shoved the jerk away from you. He glared down at you from his 6 foot height.

"What's an ugly fuck like ye even doing here?"

"I live here arsehole." You spat back, shouldering your way past and out the back door. Taking a deep breath you wandered the gravel path down to your secret escape at the bottom of the garden, hoping no one had tried to get in. Smiling as the old barn came into sight you felt the tension ease. As you neared you slowed, hearing two distinct and familiar voices. Your mouth suddenly felt drier as your heart pounded.

"Oh Connor!" Your sister moaned and you froze.

She wouldn't... Would she?

She knew you had a somewhat strong crush on the elder MacManus brother. His blue eyes and kind smile making butterflies in your stomach every time you saw him. Tears sprang to your eyes at her betrayal and you hurried your steps past the barn, hearing her shriek in shock. Connor and her eyes following you as you stormed past.

"Sis!"

"Fuck off Sara! Get back to the party!" You called after her, as you broke the treeline at the edge of the property. Tears fell slowly and silently as you pulled out a crumpled and almost empty packet of cigarettes. You slipped suddenly and fell head first down the bank to the stream running at the bottom of the hill. A shriek escaped as you braced for the very cold and surely sudden dip. You stopped quickly and waited for the impact against the icy water but it didn't come. Opening one eye you realised you were being held up by a pair of strong arms. A deep breath of relief came from you as the arms set you down on the ground gently.

"Ye alright?"

Your head turned and you gave a weak smile. Murphy's eyes were lined in pink hues, almost as if he, himself, had been crying like you.

"Could ask you the same."

"Aye... Just... Connor ye know."

"Yea... Sara."

He bit his lip and offered you a cigarette. You took it and shuffled to sit beside him. You both smoked and cried silently together. Both content to not mention the fact you were crying to the other, taking the comfort from each others pain and not judging.

"Older siblings, am I right?" You tried to joke, wiping at your eyes. "They sure know how to hit a sore spot."

"Connor's younger than me." Murphy laughed, wiping at his own cheeks. You smiled weakly and shrugged.

"Here's me thinking ya were twins."

"Aye... But I'm older. Fuckin' bastard knew I liked her as well." He sighed and ran his hand through his shaggy dark hair. You nodded and flicked your cigarette into the water, watching silently as it floated away.

"Yea... My sister she... Erm... She knew I liked Connor. Well... Was..... Damn... That I had a bit of a crush on him... Sorry."

"Yea? Bitch. Ain't a good sister doing that when she knew ye liked him" Murphy said, wrapping his arm around your bare shoulders at the shiver that ran you with the cold. He smiled as you wrapped yours around his lower back. "What a pair we make, eh? Our siblings are over there fuckin' like rabbits and here we are wishing it was us instead"

"Nah. We know better... Sara is just a bitch and Connor... He'll soon learn she's one too."

"Yea? What about you? Don't think I caught ya name lass?"

"Y/N. Everyone called me other things though." You gulped, biting your lip and giving a shaky sigh.

"Oh aye? What's that then?" He smirked at you, thinking it was some cute nickname.

"Mostly fatty, bitch, ugly... I'm not pretty or slim like Sara and I get why Connor would see her before me. She's everything I'm not."

"I... I don't... You are pretty. And so what if ye not some skinny bitch... I like ye and any one who can't see how amazing ye fuckin' are don't deserve ye time." He smiled sweetly down at you, his fingers grazing under your chin to make you look at him as you ducked your head.

"Thanks. But that's not true."

"Course it is! I say it is! And I always, always tell t' truth." He smirked, puffing out his chest. You giggled and shook your head. You leaned your head against his shoulder and sighed.

"I just wish someone would see me for me... And not what they always see. Fat ugly little bitch... Wish he'd of seen me..."

"He ain't worth ye time."

"She's not worth yours..."

"Aye. I see that now." He shuffled down to lay on his back, pulling you with him and smiled.

You lay in quiet contemplation for a while, the distant sounds of creaking wood and stifled moans making both your hearts ache.

"We should go get a drink! Drown our sorrows." You suggest, despite being not keen on alcohol. Murphy laughs and sits up, reaching into the pocket of his coat and pulling out one of your dad's whiskey bottles.

"Damn. Read my mind lass." He smiled and opened the bottle, gulping it down without a grimace before handing it to you. You choked down a mouthful and smacked his chest lightly as he snorted at you.

"I'm not a big drinker like you MacManus!"

He smirked and leaned over you so your faces were mere inches apart, a smirk curving the right side of his lips upwards.

"Aye... What else ain't ye big on then?"

"What?! What the fuck does that mean?" You feel your cheeks burning in embarrassing red.

"Well... I'm here and ye here.... Thought we could forget our sorrows another way... If ye up fer it?"

"You mean... In.... What way? I mean... I... Fuck"

You sound like a fucking fool, stumbling over your words as his hand draws patterns along your waist slowly. Biting his lip he closes the distance between you and his lips meet yours. It's different to how you imagined your first kiss to be. You always imagined it to be a burning passionate, uncontrolled thing but this was soft, unurgent and gentle, sending a thrill of something to your core.

"How old are ye anyway, lass?" He asked, pulling away suddenly. You bit your lip and avoided his eyes until his finger brought your face to his once more. "I don't wanna get in trouble..."

"I just turned 18... You?"

"19... You... Have ye ever done this before?" His blue eyes searched yours for a moment before he sighed.

"No... But... I... I... Want to... If... If you want to leave you can. I won't stop you. I get most guys don't want someone so inexperienced."

Murphy glanced around for a moment, seeming to decide on the right course of action before slugged his long leather jacket off and laying on the ground beside you. He nudged his head to the side, your eyebrows creasing in confusion. He gave a smile and a chuckle before lifting your hips and sliding you on top of his jacket. His lips find yours again as soon as you shift yourself over on to his jacket fully and you wrap your arms around his neck. Gasping slightly as his hand drifts under your shirt and traces along your ribs. Pulling back slightly you take in his eyes, now darken with needful desire. He kisses your cheek softly and runs his palm upwards slowly and bits his lip, his white teeth shining brightly against their rose hue.

He licks his bottom lip as he tugs your shirt upwards and lowers his head to kiss along your stomach, you squirm in embarrassment. You hate the extra fat that gathered along your stomach and hips. His head raised to your face and he sighed.

"Ye beautiful lass. Every single inch..."

"Don't... I know its not true." You reply, tears coming to your eyes again in frustration. Anger at yourself for the lack of control you have over your own eating habits. You comfort ate, it was a habit nothing seemed to break you of. Murphy kissed you gently again and gazed down into Y/E/C eyes softly. His thumb running along your cheek softly.

"Told ye. Always tell t' truth. Believe me... Ye beautiful... Absolutely... Beautiful." He whispered between giving you soft kisses along you jawline and down your neck. You moaned as he kissed a sensitive spot. He smirked against your skin and focused on that one spot, sucking, licking and grazing it with his teeth. His hand reached under your shirt and stroked gently over the chubby plains of your torso to your chest.

A sharp gasp released from your mouth as his fingers ran along the edge of the unattractive sports bra you wore. Smirking against your collarbone he slipped his fingers inside and tweaked your nipple. A flood of arousal dropped into your panties and you moaned, arching upwards into his touch.

"Ye like that lass? Feel good, aye?"

You nodded and pulled his lips to yours. He groaned, your hips bucking upwards into his at the sensations he was causing to rush through you.

He pulled away and leaned back onto his knees, his hand running down your body to your covered core. He licked his lips and glanced at you as he ran a finger along your jeans button. Nodding at him, he smiled and flicked it open before dragging the zipper down slowly. His hands slipped inside and tugged them down over your hips as you bit your lip in nervousness.

You sat up slightly and reached for his belt, eyes boring into his blue ones as you pulled his belt from his jeans, tossing it to the side carelessly and reaching for the waistband. Shuffling slightly he helped you ease them down over his hips before laying you both down again. Only your underwear separating the heat of your bodies as he kissed you passionately, his hips rocking slowly into yours. Your hands found their way into his hair and tugged slightly as you both began panting at the friction of your hips. Your underwear was damp with your slick.

"Are ye sure ye want this lass?" Murphy panted into your mouth as his hand reached between you to cup your wet core, rubbing it hard causing you to gasp and squirm under him to get more pressure, more friction, more... Something, you didn't know.

"Please... Murphy..."

"I got ye lass." He whispered as his finger reaching under the elastic of your plain cotton underwear and ran through the folds of your dripping core. His fingers slid into you as his thumb found the bundle of nerves at the centre of your thighs. Rubbing his thumb in smooth, lazy circles he kissed against the spot he'd sucked a dark mark onto on your neck. His pants and moans echoing loudly in your ear as his fingers thrust in and out of you in time of his circling thumb. Your heart sped up and pounded against your ribs as a totally new sensation began building in your gut. "Cum fer me beautiful."

It felt like something inside had snapped and your body tensed all over, your legs shaking around Murphy's strong arm, your breath caught in your throat and as sudden as it began, it ended and you felt yourself more relaxed than you could ever remember being before.

"Good girl."

"Fuck... Murphy..."

He raised his head and smiled cockily down at you. He bought his hand out of your underwear and raised it to his mouth. You could see the glint of your moisture coating his long, graceful fingers in the weak starlight as he began to lick and suck his fingers clean. Your jaw fell open at that sight. You had heard of people doing it but to see someone do that, and with your juices no less, caused a rush of shame and desire to course through you.

His face lowered to yours once more and he smirked against your ear.

"Maybe next time... I'll lick this delicious pussy out..."

"Murphy..." You gasped, feeling slick pooling once more.

"Aye lass?"

"Please..."

He kissed you once more, hands finding the waistband of your underwear and gently lowering them down and gazing down at your core. Your legs closed in shame as your cheeks heated. He chuckled and pushed them apart again and studied you intensely.

"Fuckin' perfection."

He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet, fishing out a condom and ripping it open with his teeth. His eyes found yours as he shuffled out of his boxers and grasped his hard thick cock in one hand, pumping it up and down for several moments, his eyes never leaving the sight of your bared core. He rolled the condom down his cock and leaned over you once more.

"Are ye absolutely sure beautiful?"

"I'm sure Murphy." Your voice replied, an edge of nervousness obvious in the way your voice sounded so quiet and wavered slightly. He smiled and kissed you, his tongue slipping into your mouth as you felt his cock brush against your mound as he positioned himself between your thighs.

His tip ran along your slit as he guided it and you gasped at the foreign feeling. His eyes held yours as he slowly pushed into you. A sharp cry of pain came from you and your body tensed under him. He reached for your hand, which was clawing at the fabric of his coat and grasped it in his own. Holding himself still and steady until you adjusted. You nodded slightly as his lips ran along your cheek, kissing away the tears that had slipped from your eyes. His cock inched slowly deeper into your unexplored pussy and he paused again to look you in the eye, making sure you were okay with each slow thrust.

"Ye alright?"

"Hmmhummm." You replied, gritting your teeth as you felt the burning grow sharper as he inched forward more. He gave a groan and shook with restraint. His heart was pounding in his ears at the feeling of your tight cunt squeezing his cock. He had never been with a virgin and but knew from Connor's numerous boasts that they felt tighter than anything else. He was by no means a virgin himself and was determined to make this a pleasurable experience for you.

Even if it killed him.

He gave a loud moan as he finally bottomed out inside you and kissed you passionately allowing you a moment or two of adjustment. You ran your fingers through his hair over and over as your tongues battled. You felt his cock twitch deep inside you and gasped into his mouth as his thumb once more began circling your clit.

"Murphy please..." You moaned, twitching your hips to encourage him to begin moving. His thrusts were slow and steady against you, taking his time to build until you both were absolutely sure you felt no pain anymore. His hand held one of your thighs around his hip and the other circling your clit, pleasure building slowly for the both of you. Sweet kisses left against each others necks as he began thrusting a little faster with each thrust.

Your back ached up to his chest as he hit a spot inside you that made you feel a sharp jolt of pure bliss.

"Ohhh... Fuckkkk.... Murphy..." You gasped into his mouth as he began aiming for that spot over and over, increasing his circling thumb's speed and pressure. Your toes curled in your boots as you suddenly were blinded by white light and your orgasm ripped through you. A loud shriek of unadulterated pleasure ripped from your throat. Murphy smirked and thrust harder, chasing his own release now he'd made you have a chance to cum over his cock. The walls of your pussy fluttering around his cock and your clit twitching under his thumb. His hair hung around his face in sweat soaked strands and you brushed them away to kiss him, still shaking in post orgasmic bliss. His body tensed against yours and he came, a guttural moan echoing loudly around you. His breaths coming sharp against your neck as he slumped over you and gave a little huff of pleasure.

"Fuck lass. I've never had one like that before."

"Huh... Guess that means it was okay?" You panted, suddenly nervous again. Would he feel satisfied? Did he really enjoy it? Was it good? Were you good?

He pushed himself onto his elbows and kissed you deeply, fucking your mouth with his tongue.

"Beautiful, I ain't ever lettin' ye go! Not after that."

You smiled as you kissed again with a laugh.

"MURPH! WHERE ARE YE?!"

You both froze and looked at each other. Murphy quickly pulled his cock from you, grimacing at the slight splattering of blood on the condom as he pulled it off and pulled his boxers and jeans on as you, too quickly dressed once more. Footsteps and the sounds of snapping twigs coming closer.

"Murph?!"

"Aye! I'm 'ere!" He yelled back as you stood and dusted down his jacket, handing it to him so he could swing it back onto his body. He grabbed your face and planted a sweet kiss on your lips quickly and smoothed down your hair as he gave your cheek a sweet kiss.

"There ye are! Oh..."

Connor paused and glanced between you two with an eyebrow raised.

"What’s going on here then, Murph?" He smirked. Murphy pushed his brother back in the direction of the house.

"I was helping her. She seemed upset. Dunno why though." He glanced over his shoulder at you and winked cheekily. "Kid needed a shoulder t' cry on. That's all."

"That right... Well come on. We best get home before Ma sends t' alarm out. Ye know how Uncle Silas is."

"Aye."

The brothers walked away and you followed slowly, Murphy glancing back over his shoulder at you with a happy but shy smile ghosting his face every now and then. Connor waved goodbye at the door to Sara and blew her a kiss in return to the one she'd blown and you rolled your eyes at the pair. Sara tried to grab your arm as you passed and you shrugged her off, rushing upstairs to your room and locking the door. You went to the window and watched as the twins walked down the drive.

Murphy paused before he left the gate, looked up and smiled widely at you and raised his hand. The streetlight lit his face up and you smiled, giving a small laugh as Connor shoved him ahead with a laugh and a glance upwards. You ducked away from the window quickly and lay on your bed, a ridiculously wide smile bracing your own face as you bit your lip and gave a small laugh.

Maybe tomorrow at school wouldn't be so bad. Not now you had a secret thing going on the darker haired MacManus.

#normanreedus #smutty goodness #murphy macmanus #Murphy macmanus fanfiction #Bds fanfiction #Murphy x reader #Bds smut #Murphy macmanus smut #PhoenixBWrites #boondock saints fanfiction #boondock saints smut #Secret Crushes

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itsbenedict · 4 years

Text

I didn’t post about everything I played this year, so here’s my opinions on the stuff I played that I didn’t make a rec post for:

Raging Loop

Raging Loop is one of them twisty meta Zero Escape-y branching-path visual novels where an ensemble cast is trapped in a mysterious circumstance where people are dying gruesomely, and you have to find out what’s happening and stop it by looping a bunch.

I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it, because... it tries to have its cake and eat it too with the supernatural elements. Clearly magic is real and has important impacts on the scenario, but then other parts are trickery you’re supposed to see through, and it’s entirely uninterested in cluing you in to how that trickery was accomplished. Not exactly a fair play mystery, in that regard- you have to kind of just be along for the ride, rather than try to figure it out.

That said, it’s a good ride- pretty strong character writing, and the central conceit of the Werewolf/Mafia-style murder scenario creates really interesting drama. It’s more concerned with making itself feel clever than letting the player feel clever, but it’s still well-paced and gripping and has a pretty decent resolution.

Detective Grimoire

I recommended Tangle Tower, the sequel, pretty strongly- and this one, while obviously a little rougher around the edges with the art and mechanics (the suspicion tracker system is a total dud; I didn’t even realize it existed until I realized I was missing an achievement for using it), it’s still pretty darn good. Really fun character designs and animations, fully-voiced, and a solid whodunit backing it all. Plus- while the two are more or less self-contained, the continuity threads with Tangle Tower raised some really interesting questions.

Contradiction - the all-video murder mystery

This one was pretty fun, largely on the strength of the actors. The main mechanic of interrogating people on evidence and using their own statements against each other was some good stuff, too. Definitely had that Phoenix Wright quality to the deductions, and Jenks is a really fun character. (Had a few points where progression was just linked to standing in a certain previously-abandoned area of the map where a clue was suddenly there for no reason, there- good thing it had a hint system.)

As a mystery, it could use a little work- most of what you end up finding out is sequel bait (for a sequel that never actually came together, unfortunately), and the actual whodunit is just sort of hiding in the cracks of all that. And... cornering the culprit just sort of happens out of nowhere once you’ve got your hands on the right piece of evidence, without much fanfare. You’re following up on leads like usual, you find a little lie in someone’s testimony, and then- oh, shit, they’re just confessing everything! Unlike all the previous times you questioned them and they were super evasive like everyone else! And then the game is over.

All in all, it’s pretty meaty and entertaining and I’d recommend it, but unfortunately the creators have moved on to other things, so there’s not going to be any follow-up on the stuff it left unresolved.

Ikenfell

Ikenfell is a tightly-designed RPG about kids at a magic school, with Paper Mario-style action command mechanics and a battle system that makes a big deal out of careful positioning and movement, which was really enjoyable. The difficulty’s a little high (I recommend always always always speccing into max damage because killing things before they kill you is worth more than any amount of defense, speed doesn’t work, and healing is cheap), but I found it really satisfying.

There’s... something... off? About... I don’t know how to put it, it’s... doing that “yes, everyone is queer and mentally ill, deal with it” thing, which, sure, okay. But for a lot of them it’s such a background thing, like... half the playable cast is unambiguously nonbinary, but like... I don’t know if it’s trying to make some statement on how there are no rules to being NB and you can 100% perform a particular binary gender presentation but still count, or if they wrote the whole story and then changed the pronouns of some of the characters for Representation Points, or what. Probably the former? I dunno, it just feels weird. Maybe I’m just not woke enough to Get It.

(unrelatedly: why the heck is the official art they use everywhere so... off-model? none of them look like they do in-game- they look like the creator commissioned someone to draw a group shot with one reference image each and didn’t tell them anything about the characters. how much you wanna bet they commissioned a friend and it came out wrong but they were too polite to say “sorry, no, this is wrong, can you do it over?”)

Trails of Cold Steel IV

Hoo boy. It’s... not great, and it’s not great in a pretty predictable way for an even-numbered entry in the Trails series. It happens every time- first there’s a game in a new engine with new characters and a new world to explore, and it’s really nice and does interesting things... and then it ends on a cliffhanger, and then there’s a sequel game in the same engine with the same characters and the same world, reusing as many assets as possible. Also the League Of Generically Evil Anime Supervillains is there causing trouble for reasons they refuse to explain, and the plot is a storm of magicbabble and macguffin-chasing that makes little to no sense.

Cold Steel IV is that for Cold Steel III, full stop. Welcome back to all the same places you visited last game, except this time there’s some stupid magic apocalypse happening (not that it stops you from taking the time to do random sidequests constantly, of course). The whole “oh, the evil curse mind controls people and that’s why they do stupid bullshit that’s in no one’s interest” plot point is leaned on super hard, and it’s just a big yawn the whole way through.

It’s still really fun, though, because the battle system remains really well-designed. (The same battle system that was just as fun in Cold Steel III, mind you, but it hasn’t gotten old.) And- though they’re struggling to square it with the dumb mind control apocalypse plot, the NPC dialogue continues to make the world feel believable and lived-in. They don’t slack on the parts that make Trails good- it’s just the parts that make Trails bad are making themselves more evident than ever.

did finally get to date Towa though so that’s a win

One Step From Eden

OSFE is... uh. It’s fucking hard is what it is. It’s sort of a deckbuilding roguelike, and there’s this combat that takes place on a grid, and- wait, it’s like Mega Man Battle Network, it’s exactly like Mega Man Battle Network. Man, I forgot about that, but the mechanical influence is extremely obvious. It’s MMBN meets Slay the Spire.

Except it’s super duper hard as hell, because unlike MMBN you can’t pause and swap out chips or anything- everything is just always happening so much, all at once, everywhere, and you have no recourse but to git gud and learn all the enemy patterns and the behavior of your own spells and develop the twitch reflexes necessary to not fucking die from all the shit that’s on the screen always.

(What’s the story? Uhhhh, there was some kind of magic apocalypse, and some anime girls are trying to reach a city for some reason that doesn’t really get explained ever. The game doesn’t really care to build its world at all- it’s all mechanics plus a little token character dialogue that doesn’t say much.)

The point is it’s really frickin’ hard but I am an epic pro gamer and I got ALL THE ACHIEVEMENTS, MOTHERFUCKER. If you’ve played it, I expect you to be really god damn impressed with me, okay???

A Short Hike

This one was really relaxing! It’s a platformer where you explore an Animal Crossing-y island of cartoon animal people, collecting mobility upgrades- but like, mainly it’s about straight chillin’. The flight controls are fun and there’s lots of little secrets to find and it’s just a nice time that doesn’t drag on too long. Not too much to say about this one.

Pokémon Sword

Ehhhhh.

I’m not here for the hot takes about how Dexit is good actually. Development hell happened, they had to make cuts for time, I get it. It’s disappointing and makes the game a little bit worse, but it’s not the end of the world.

Apart from that... perfectly serviceable? The Wild Area could’ve used a little more technical polish (as could most things in the game, really) but was a step in the right direction, giving the player a wider array of early-game team-building options than ever before. No HMs is good. Story and characters were kind of nothing, but that’s par for the course. “At least this time they’re not shoehorning in some kind of stupid evil-team-wants-legendary-pokemon-to-destroy-the-world apocalypse plot”, I thought to myself before they managed to shoehorn one in at the last minute with zero buildup- but, hey, beats wasting half the game on it.

It’s nothing special and it’s missing a lot of polish, but its problems are mainly due to being rushed, and presumably next gen they’ll be able to reuse a lot of the models and animations (maybe even improve the animations so they’re not so boring??? a man can dream) and make something interesting. SwSh seem like they were testing the waters for something else, and not taking too many chances in the meantime.

(yo why would you sell all these cosmetic items and then turn them all off during gym battles, though)

Hades

Hades is- oh, who am I kidding? Everyone knows Hades, it’s the game of the year, greatest thing since sliced bread, Supergiant are heroes, yada yada yada. I’ve played almost 300 hours of it and I’ve completed everything except all the Resources Director levels (currently a Sigma Wraith), it’s extremely fun and you don’t need me to tell you that.

Petal Crash

It was that thing the Paranatural creator helped on? It’s, uh. It’s a block-sliding puzzle game thing, sort of in a Puyo Puyo vein. It has fun character designs and some good dialogue, like you’d expect from Zack’s involvement, but it didn’t really leave an impression otherwise (besides how got dang infuriating some of its Turn Trial puzzles can be.) The story is... kinda heartwarming, kinda didactic, kinda childish, not especially deep or interesting. Hard for it to be, when it’s told through little bits of fluffy character dialogue that exist to set up a puzzle battle as quickly as possible. Not super recommended unless you really really like block-sliding puzzles.

Hollow Knight

Man, why’d I sleep on this for so long? It’s a metroidvania platformer with heavy Dark Souls inspiration, in terms of tone and difficulty and death mechanics and environmental storytelling. And it’s... apart from all that, just really good as a game, with tight controls and juicy movement and great animation. Progression is linked as much to mastery as it is to upgrades collected- I found myself in lategame areas facing down things that would’ve killed me ten times over at the start- not because I had the best gear, but because I’d learned the game’s language and understood how to move in ways that wouldn’t get me killed.

(Usually. Sometimes I’d walk into a room and sit on a bench and suddenly there’d be a boss fight and I’d get slaughtered. Ain’t that just the way it goes?)

Anyway, on top of all that it’s just charming as hell, with a really unique and well-realized world full of little bug people. I love how, like, your character is clearly some kind of eldritch abomination, but it’s small and cute and so everyone (besides enemies that attack you on sight because they’re possessed by some kinda evil mold) is like “awww, who’s this little guy? want some help, little guy?”

(except Zote, who is just an ass hole. i love him.)

#game rec #also some game non recs #long post

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inventors-fair · 4 years

Text

“Two Mechanics” Commentary: It All Comes Together

Well, this was a surprisingly popular contest. I know there was a fair bit of hype for it, but we got enough entries that I had to worry about shutting people out. That’s unusual to say the least, but quite pleasing to know that so many people are engaging.

I’m going to take a lesson and look at these from the lens of intention rather than explicit nit-pickiness. There will be a “nitpicks” part at the end, but that’s just for minor improvements if need be. I make small mistakes like that all the time, and if you wanna ignore that and focus on the commentary, feel free to do so. However, the nitpicks are reflections of polish. The extent to which something has nitpicks does affect judgement.

Additionally! If you’re reading this, we’d like to know: do you read your own commentary, all the commentary, or do you skip it entirely? And if you’re skipping some or all of the commentary, what would help you engage with it? I would like to point out that reading the comments on everyone’s cards can potentially help with your own experimentation in the future and help with design choices. However, if that’s not what you’re after, we would like to know how to improve that experience.

Some cards are marked as “JUDGE PICKS,” which are cards that were close to being runners-up or winners but, for lack of space, are presented here as examples instead.

Let’s get to your wonderful blends.

@abzanhero — Herald of the Saviors (JUDGE PICK)

What I like: I really never expected to see Imprint and Fateful Hour on the same card together. I like how this is a strange, fragile tutor that can really improve the late-game if you adjust it just right, but in a build like Solemnity/Unlife Combo, this can be an insane win-con.

What we can improve: There’s not much to improve upon here. My two main issues are that 1) there’s an expectation that Fateful Hour cards have a smaller effect that’s improved by the hour (Gather the Townsfolk) although that’s not a requirement, I suppose, and 2) Imprint could have just been a search/exile clause, and there’s no real need for it to have that specific keyword. That said, there’s no reason that it couldn’t have it; it’s just minor flavor questions.

Nitpicks: “Fateful Hour” should be italicized. Mechanically, you need to point out that there needs to be “tokens that are a copy of a creature card exiled with Herald of the Saviors,” as the ETB trigger can be copied.

@aethernalstars — Collective Knowledge

What I like: Blue toolbox is a pretty fun archetype, and I do like that last option the best of all. It’s a pretty crazy mill strategy that can work really well with wheel effects. Spiral/Crypt builds could use this card for sure.

What we can improve: Without reminder text, anyone looking at this card without extensive rules knowledge would be absolutely lost. I get the vibe you were going for, but this card begs for reminder text. At uncommon, there’s no excuse for this many options without it. I understand that you might have been extremely cluttered for space with reminder text. In that case, that should have been a clue to go back to the drawing board. Flavorfully, I’m also getting major clashes between the two mechanics you’re using. Escalate is a vibrant, exciting feel of increasing public power. Cipher is a covert and subtle mechanic antithetical to Escalate’s vibrancy. I don’t understand what feel this card was going for at all.

Nitpicks: See notes about reminder text.

@askkrenko — Mocking Goblins

What I like: Goblin Diplomats comes to mind here. I can imagine that on the table in a 4-5 person commander game, this could get amazing in the late-game. Putting Overload on a permanent is actually pretty interesting, and I’m fairly certain that that actually works, right? I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t. Because of the multiplayer aspect I imagine that if this was drafted it would be in a Conspiracy-type set... Wow, yeah, this would be a fun limited card.

What we can improve: There’s not too much to improve here mechanically. I will say that the name and flavor text aren’t grabbing me at all. It’s been done before in similar ways, and heck, that’s fine for tropes. Just could have used some more spice.

Nitpicks: Definitely needed reminder text here, once again, as most non-evergreen mechanics do.

@bluebread-mage — Vorel, Rejected Strategist

What I like: I actually didn’t know Vorel’s full story, so I appreciate you adding that in there. It gives an interesting explanation of the mechanics you chose to use, and this is a slightly different version of +1/+1 counter interaction that I’ve seen around for contests like this, so kudos for that.

What we can improve: I won’t go ahead and say that this card straight up doesn’t work, but the hoops you have to jump through to make it actually do anything are difficult to say the least. So, you have Riot, and he gets a counter, and all your creatures gain evolve. Do you play a creature after that? Probably not if this is turn three. But then next turn... How do you get a counter on Vorel now? And if you do, without the means of a specific continuous counter generation like Forced Adaptation, you’d need to cast a spell to give him a counter, which means that you’re probably spending mana, which means you have less mana for a big creature, which means that the creature you DO cast probably won’t trigger evolve, and — do you see where I’m going with this? He’s asking for too many resources to make the effect worthwhile. I love the flavor idea. I love what you tried to do. It’s just not practical in gameplay terms.

Nitpicks: Your “evolve” reminder text should have been reworded to show what it would do for every creature; as it is, it would only do Vorel, which isn’t what your rules text says.

@col-seaker-of-the-memiest-legion — Diabolic Seer

What I like: So, I was reading the text, and then I got to the last line, and I was really pleasantly surprised that you brought the exploit back around to add the flash clause. Pretty great name, too, if a little meta; if the cards you were riffing off didn’t exist already, it would be radical.

What we can improve: In short, this card is balanced, assuming that:

You’re not playing any sacrifice strategies in the two colors with the most sacrifice strategies.

You don’t have any other creatures to search up a recursive win condition.

In constructed, you’re not playing fetchlands.

You’re not searching up further answers after already searching up recursion.

...and that’s my main issue with this card. Repeatable tutoring is absolutely bonkers good in literally any format whatsoever. Four-mana repeatable tutoring is, to say the least, broken. And you’re potentionally giving it flash? That is, IMO, a break. Small personal notes: I don’t know why this card doesn’t have a subtype; and the flavor text is vague. I don’t understand the character’s goals, role, or place in the world.

Nitpicks: “...put it into your hand, then shuffle your library. Until your next turn, if a creature was exploited this turn, you may cast that card as though it had flash.” Additionally, I understand the artist is Nataša Ilinčić, but I had to go on a Google expedition for that. Anglicizing to “Natasa Ilincic” may have been a better choice.

For those interested, the artist is actually fantastic. Check ‘em out HERE.

@corporalotherbear — Underworld Escapist

What I like: “Spirit Rogue” is an interesting combo that I like. Gives some neat little feeling of why it’s an escapist, or at least it’s a complimentary type. I also enjoy the idea of the escape being an adventure flavorfully.

What we can improve: ...does this card work? SHOULD it work? So it goes on an adventure, you cast it normally, it dies, you cast it from your graveyard on an adventure, rinse and repeat. Okay, that’s probably what you were going for. In that case, my goodness, this needs to be rare. Nigh-infinite recursion that can make bodies is probably too powerful. Personally as well, I understand the Amass and the flavor text, but what does a rogue making an army have anything to do with escaping? And why would it be an escape if you can cast it from your hand first? I’m really iffy on the eventual flavor of it all.

Nitpicks: None, as I understand the comprehensive rules would need to either be rewritten or re-explored for the second side to work. Hm, but wouldn’t it be cool if it was “You may send ~ on an adventure from your graveyard.” But, again, that’s more of a hypothetical question than even a nitpick.

@dabudder — Davriel, Pact Breaker

What I like: Bringing back characters for further exploration is always fun. We got a couple cool folks from WAR, certainly, and it’s always a pleasant surprise.

What we can improve: I just straight up don’t like the gimmick at all. Planeswalkers shouldn’t even have gimmicks, IMO. The first ability is fine, I would respect that if the rest of the card was completely changed. Fateseal is an unfun mechanic that, on this card, you can activate easily. I don’t have much to say about this card because of how it’s based in unfun gimmicks. I read through the wiki to get an idea of what Davriel’s like, and while I do appreciate how you tried to capture a lot of complexity in a single card, this isn’t it. I feel you’re trying to tell a massive story in a way that it doesn’t need to be told.

Nitpicks: Make sure you change your rarity, which I will assume was a mistake.

@deafeningsandwichpeach — Tempting Angel

What I like: Well, this card is weird. And I need to clarify, this is in the “What I like” section because I do like weird. It’s not broken, which is fine. Wow, though, the... Exile then Show and Tell and all? On a 9/9 flier? This card would destroy some games, and I could see it being a cube all-star and a crazy commander blink monstrosity. Once this hits the board, it needs to be removed IMMEDIATELY. Oh, and then... Containment Priest nonsense. Man, this could be a wacky card.

What we can improve: I will say, that a 9/9 body may be way too big. A six-mana 6/6 may have been more appropriate, and more balanced. In the late-game, if your opponent doesn’t have great draws, they’d probably be out of a card to put onto the battlefield. I have the feeling this couldn’t be a draftable card for that reason alone... Eh, maybe I’m just paranoid.

Nitpicks: Flying and Convoke need to be separated by a comma, not a semicolon. I think the same can be said for “permanent” and “then” in the second line.

@dimestoretajic — Gruul Rampager

What I like: That flavor text is friggin’ phenomenal, man. It’s a Gruul feel, it’s an orc feel, it’s a berserker feel. You captured an uncommon feel as well, too. I like how it’s a little more red than green, even though the two are definitely in good alignment with each other.

What we can improve: +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters should not go on the same card. Full stop. I know it’s mechanically cute, and I’ll be honest, I like how they work on this card. But it’s one of those Magic rules to avoid confusion and to stop weird triggers. The game can handle it, but it’s not fun to figure out. There’s acceptable weirdness and then there’s just inherent guidelines.

Nitpicks: Why does this card have a color indicator? Also, you misspelled “Berserker” in the typeline.

@evscfa1 — Burning Trails (JUDGE PICK)

What I like: This is a very difficult card to judge. Searching up two lands is powerful, but there are more efficient ways to do it eternally, so this card itself isn’t broken. Jund Lands and Gruul Ramp love it absolutely. I’m thinking of this in commander because, well, there’s no other reason for a rare ramp spell like this. I’d hate to open this in draft...or would I? Slightly different/better/multicolored Cultivate isn’t the worst thing in the world, possibly. This card is making me think. The versatility is pretty interesting as well, and I can see where land-matters cards would like it.

What we can improve: I’m really torn on whether or not this card needs both kinds of recursion, because as interesting as it is, my gut really isn’t understanding why they both NEED to be there. Is there an interaction I’m not seeing? I don’t think so, I think it’s just different recursion, and yeah, there’s lands-in-hand-for-retrace, plus the sacrifice to filter, but that’s just efficiency, not necessarily synergy. Honestly, this could also be an uncommon for that cost, I think. It would be a powerful-as-all-getout uncommon, but it just doesn’t feel rare to me in terms of crazy power level.

Nitpicks: None.

@forteleijon — Cordeceyp Crawler

What I like: Well, besides your lovely photograph, I think that the mechanics you chose work well flavorfully. A mutating fungus that can crawl out of the grave is pretty cool!

What we can improve: Firstly, if you can, I would highly recommend downloading Magic Set Editor for complex cards like this. Secondly, did you forget the escape cost about exiling cards from your graveyard? Otherwise, you can just cast this from your graveyard every turn without restrictions like Gravecrawler. I mean, this card isn’t Hogaak, but still. That probably wasn’t your intention, but once again, we come to reminder text. Rare cards sometimes eschew reminder text in complex sets, but mechanics like Mutate demand reminder text through and through.

Nitpicks: Since “escape” is a verb on almost every creature card that uses it, the last ability can say “You may have Cordeceyp Crawler escape mutated onto target creature you control” as opposed to a trigger. Additionally, is that a misspelling of “Cordeceyp?”

@fractured-infinity — Emmara, Voice of the Conclave

What I like: I’m sort of content with the fact that Emmara is everyone’s Selesnya favorite. In terms of this card, I think that you chose two good mechanics to represent her and her guild. PT checks out, mana cost checks out, wording all checks out.

What we can improve: ...but she doesn’t do anything by herself, and that feels a little frustrating to me as a rare card. There’s nothing inherently or objectively wrong with this design, and there are plenty of proliferate cards that just proliferate by themselves. I would much rather have had a rare card that did at least something to make those abilities better. What if she made a token upon entering or placed a counter or something? I dunno, I’m just iffy on her power on the board.

Nitpicks: The word “Populate” you put in the reminder text should be lowercase.

@gollumni — Danz, Ascenscion Assistant

What I like: “Demon Noble” is a great typeline. I can see how this would make politics very, very complicated. Do you want to build around having no cards in hand and perhaps using the graveyard as a resource? You can discourage people from attacking and make political blocks as well. This is a very political card!

What we can improve: I can’t think of any specific improvements to this card. I think that it’s one of those cards where you yourself don’t want to be the monarch, and that’s a complex idea that I don’t know will always work out well in a draft environment like this may be intender to supplement. After all, 99% of limited games are won through combat damage. Such is fate. I think for this particular contest, I’m a little saddened that Partner doesn’t really...do anything. This contest was supposed to be about two mechanics interacting, y’know? And Partner is a mechanic that doesn’t really interact with any other on-card mechanic in the same way that our winners did.

Nitpicks: “Ascension” is misspelled in the name.

@greensunzenith — Eversworn Tombguard

What I like: Hell yeah, this card is cool. A knight sent to protect a grave or graveyard? Well, it’s not mechanically tied to your graveyard, but maybe it’s a burial site! I see that Orzhov symbol in the background. Interesting, how they might be using new techniques to protect themselves on a new Ravnica. This is an amazing draft card with possible constructed potential. I’m a big fan.

What we can improve: Besides the eternalization being a Bolas mechanic, I feel that, unfortunately, this is one of those cards where the Afterlife mechanic would be better being a different one, or no mechanic at all. Of course, that’s not your fault, and this contest asked for it. If you’re saving this card for a cube or a custom set, I would replace Afterlife with just a death trigger. Maybe it would read better, if you want to keep Afterlife, as “Eversworn Tombguard has afterlife X, where X is its power.”

Nitpicks: None.

@haru-n-harkel — Wistar, Lab Rat

What I like: I was absolutely not expecting a multicolored adventure or even an off-colored adventure. This poor ratty is going off and learning about everything, and then they come back and distribute their knowledge. So strange! Adventures are interesting cards for sure. I’ll have to find the download for that, because I just scoured my MSE and I can’t seem to find it. And you know what, I was going to gripe about keyword counters technically not being a “””new mechanic””” but whatever, that’s a personal interpretation that doesn’t change the fact that this is a fine card.

What we can improve: Is this supposed to be on Eldraine? I don’t really understand why this card is black at all. What lab are they supposed to be in? I see “lab” and I think “Innistrad” but that’s bias... What does research have to do with returning a creature? Are scientists clerics? ARE they a scientist? The gist of what I’m getting at is that this card has a couple cool mechanical ideas but I have no idea what it’s really supposed to represent. I don’t get a sense of place or strong meaning from this card.

Nitpicks: It’s hard to tell the difference between abilities in the main body; another indentation might fix that, or it may just be too much text. And also... This is the pettiest, most useless nitpick I’ve ever given, but your set symbol in this specific frame is really hard to distinguish. I would futz around with it for a bit.

@hiygamer — Woven Repetition

What I like: I can see how you got clever with this one. The splice and the rebound make for some interesting combinations. The cost is probably appropriate, if a bit high. You’d want to make some really carefully calculated decisions, unless you’re just pitching lands, to give that big spell rebound.

What we can improve: Rebound absolutely needs reminder text. Someone opens this in a booster pack and it’s going to be a head-scratcher for sure. I’m glad that it works (Thanks, Cast Through Time!) because I almost thought that it didn’t, but man, a lot of players will be confused with this at common. That’s the major issue; was that a misclick or something? This is most definitely an uncommon or rare card for complexity alone. Personally, I think that it would be best to also only exile one card, and you know what, this really could be mono-blue. What’s the white in it?

Nitpicks: None.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Steam Blast

What I like: Yup, that is indeed someone getting blasted by steam. It’s a solid bounce card that feels both Izzet-y and could see play on any other world. It’s a powerful spell in the UR archetype that could see plenty of nice draft play. The consensus is that the replicate will indeed see the entwined-ness. Hm, will it see more than one mode? Complex ideas at play here!

What we can improve: I know you have a style to maintain, but modal spells are significantly improved by the bullet points, and this card is hard to parse. As a rare, while complex, it’s a lot of colors to invest in a removal spell. Fine for an archetype, but I suppose that’s the nature of replicate. I don’t know, this card just doesn’t grab me. Maybe it’s the name, maybe it’s the nature of rare removal. There’s nothing inherently ‘wrong’ with it, though.

Nitpicks: None.

@ignorantturtlegaming — Heartwarming Reunion

What I like: This is indeed a feel. You chose a good image and flavorful bond for this card. With a few tweaks, this could actually be a really powerful GW archetype card with some great draft implications and enchantment synergies.

What we can improve: There are a few things to work on with this card.

The name “Heartwarming Reunion” implies a moment that would best be represented on an instant/sorcery card. I’m thrown off by its continuous nature.

Soulbond doesn’t affect how a creature is cast. “Nontoken creatures you control have soulbond” and it would affect them like Rhythm of the Wild.

What does bolstering have to do with being a reunion? A relationship I can see but there’s a massive flavor disconnect. Also, it should be “paired creatures” and not “creature pairs.”

I understand what the flavor text is trying to do, but it bunches up the text above it and also doesn’t say anything that the name hasn’t told us already.

In short, there a few great ideas but they’re stuck between a couple of stumbling blocks.

Nitpicks: The last ability should be shortened to “Paired creatures you control have lifelink and vigilance.”

@joecurryat — Forsaken Devotee

What I like: I remember seeing that art a little while back, the Eldrazified Vampire. I loved Innistrad’s art direction. Anywho, though. I think that indeed Monstrosity is a fine enough mechanic for the Eldrazi.

What we can improve: See above comments about reminder text. The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that it’s a human cleric. Even excusing the vampiric origins of the art, why is it becoming monstrous? It feels like there’s a disconnect between what the card wants to be and what it is. Annihilator was certainly...a choice. If you play this on turn 5-6 and monstrosify it on turn 7, you get a 9/9 lifelink with annihilator. The desire for powerful cards is strong, but annihilator isn’t fun, was never fun, and needs a major overhaul to be fun again. This card just isn’t it. Additionally, and this is more polish, but what on earth is that flavor text trying to say? Who’s saying that? Who is them? If it’s that hard to parse, it’s even harder for it to add meaning to the card.

Nitpicks: “has,” not “gains.”

@kavinika — Undercity Thug

What I like: The Ravnican (I’m assuming) undercity is a fantastic place for all sorts of mercenaries. The name’s not going to win any awards, but it gets the job done in a cool and flavorful way. That’s a very strong exploit ability, and would almost be first-pickable in a lot of drafts. The extra potential removal makes this formidable.

What we can improve: See notes about reminder text. When looking at this contest, we were hoping that there would be instances where the two mechanics compliment each other. This is the second revolt/exploit combo of this contest, and I’m a little frustrated that they don’t have any meaningful interaction. Sure, they both involve potential permanents leaving the battlefield in different roundabout ways, but it’s not attacking on the same turn that it’s exploiting a creature. The distance just isn’t working.

I usually don’t comment on this, because I respect the fact that we’re not professional writers, but that flavor text needs serious revision. An active antagonistic oppressor is fine in a game about conflict. The language is... Well, it needs revision.

Nitpicks: None.

@koth-of-the-hammerpants — Ceaseless Soul-chief. (JUDGE PICK)

What I like: “Orc Spirit Warrior.” Hell. Yes. It’s a big smasher, a big finisher, an anthem, a warlord, and they’re so full of souls and anger that they’ll return even stronger than before. I want to draft this card, I want to build casually with this card, and I want to see a world in which this card can come back strong again and again.

What we can improve: I can’t think of any significant improvements. I will say that it might have been better, unfortunately, if this card was not a spirit. I can make my personal justifications however I want and I may love it, but ghosts probably shouldn’t have other ghosts in them.

Nitpicks: “Chief” definitely needs to be capitalized.

@machine-elf-paladin — Legacy Forger (JUDGE PICK)

What I like: The name actually captured me. it’s a great warrior name for sure. Mentor and Renown are two +1/+1 counter mechanics that don’t necessarily have amazing synergy, but you made them work here. This is a powerful combat tool, great use of mentor in green, and makes combat complicated for your opponents. Really awesome use of just using keywords to get your point across! Simple and effective.

What we can improve: The flavor text could use some clarification. Reads a bit clunky.

Nitpicks: Are you using MSE M15 Mainframe? If not, I would recommend it so you can get the flavor bar in and space out the words more.

@misterstingyjack — Promenade Parade (JUDGE PICK)

What I like: You can be aggro in a pinch, or you can wait and go a little wider, and even pick up a better token in a pinch! This is a pretty cool card that makes fantastic use of Ascend to bring across a flavorful card. “If you have the city’s blessing, the city grows with citizens.” Like — that’s so awesome?? I loved how you made a really surprisingly happy card in the aftermath of an otherwise dark event. And heck, it’s not a bad card either.

What we can improve: The only real “issue” that’s not even an issue is the flavor text and the name/flavor combo. The flavor text itself is in “gets the job done” territory, which you know what, that’s fine, they don’t all have to be Hemmingway. But I would also assume a Parade would be, like, a bigger event, and you could get a lot of people there. Right? Am I going crazy? This is a serious reach, so don’t take this as a design critique per se. All polish and pedantry. You did good.

Nitpicks: None.

@morbidlyqueerious — Swarming Platoons

What I like: I had to read this a fair bit to really get what was going on here. This is actually really complex, and I like the implications of what’s going on! You can get a 4/4, a 2/2 and two 1/1s, or two 2/2s. Like, that’s a lot of options in two words and two numbers! I think that I actually like the mechanics of this card a lot more than I had upon originally considering it. That text would make for a really great sort of Modern Horizons-y card.

What we can improve: I’m really lost as to how you decided to place this card in the universe. Servos are artificially created inventions, sure, so...are they natural now? Is that how Kaladesh is evolving, per your flavor text? Why is it offering answers? I don’t really see the question. You’ve made it a construct, and yet calling it nature. And the name “Platoon” is a soldier-y thing, and doesn’t convey an insectile invention feel. In short, fantastic mechanics, flavor is all over the place and confusing.

Nitpicks: “Platoon” also doesn’t need to be pluralized.

@naban-dean-of-irritation — Starforged Legion

What I like: That’s a badass name, so that’s a great start. I’m amazed that that second ability is only a single sentence that I actually can’t find any flaws with, so that’s impressive to say the least. I assume this is sort of Theros-based? “Starforged” seems to imply that, but you know what, even though I can’t place it, this card makes me want to learn more about the world. That’s a point in its favor.

What we can improve: I don’t think there’s much to improve aside from the fact that it’s narrow. Incredibly narrow. Unfathomably narrow. Seriously, getting this card to work at all is an absolute mess of mana. Many players would love it, and I mean, fifteen mana for thirty power across six creatures would be pretty cool! But god, the effort that would have to go into making this really work and live the dream... Maybe it’s okay, you know? It’ll never see any play outside of someone’s five-color kitchen sink mess-around-and-find-out deck, but... Shoot, y’know, maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. Can’t call it a winner, but it’s a winner in my heart.

Nitpicks: None.

@nine-effing-hells — Arcanist of Ulamog.

What I like: I will definitely admit that I did not expect devoid to show up again. I also did not expect a processor wizard. You know, this card has some interesting multiplayer aspects. Your opponents also have flashback, but that flashback can be used for your own cards to copy, and... Heh. This is a cute idea with some technical interaction that I like a lot.

What we can improve: This card is also basically unplayable without dampers. Giving all cards flashback? Unless you have Leyline of the Void, Drannith Magistrate, etc, but in limited, that’s going to backfire like nobody’s business. And if your OPPONENT has either one of those cards, good lord... Yeah, this feels like a crazy bas time for you the controller. Sure you get a 4/4 for four out of it, but I don’t think that’s enough to combat the amount of crazy flashback you’ll be getting to oppose your plans. Could be fun in multiplayer though.

Nitpicks: That wording on the second ability seems correct. Someone smarter than me might find something wrong with it. Worth checking a rules guru.

@partlycloudy-partlyfuckoff — Pharika’s Forgotten

What I like: Using dredge was a bold, bold choice. Despite it being a broken mechanic, the fact is that in a vacuum this card could work really well. I think in limited there could be some fun graveyard shenanigans for eventually getting this card back or for using other resources from your graveyard. Honestly, this card is not top-tier, and it has to be that way, because otherwise whoo boy that would be a mess. No, it’s middle-of-the-road, pretty natural, pretty great, pretty synergistic, and not the worst it could have been for using a still-broken mechanic.

What we can improve: I don’t think there’s much that needs to be improved, even though this didn’t really grab me by the throat and make me build around it. I’ve never been one for reckless self-mill but I love mill as a strategy. Who am I kidding, this card’s probably fine. Would make for an INSANE cube uncommon.

Nitpicks: 1). “...mill three CARDS.” 2) Missing two closed parentheses. 3) Needs an emdash after Escape and no space between the dash and the mana cost. 4) “Exile” should be capitalized. And the fifth you already knew about, so don’t worry too much.

@rasputin-gold — Resonant Call

What I like: This card caused a lot of potential discussion in the chat. The ruling is something completely unusual and would have to have a lot of crazy stuff following it in the comprehensive rules. In general, the consensus was that it worked, and it would have a lot of statistics around it that people would talk about. Interesting cost, interesting wording, and the name is actually kind of weirdly nice.

What we can improve: And this card is unfathomably broken. If you have four copies of a card you haven’t drawn, and you’re going first, and you put a single counter on Resonant Call to name something, assuming 51 cards left in your library, what is the probability that you hit the named card? ... I don’t know my math that well, but in limited, if you have a single card you haven’t drawn that you’d like to cast for free, you have a little over a 60% chance of hitting that card. For a common, this is insane and build-around-able for cheating out literally anything you want faster than most any other card. And that’s pretty busted. I don’t think this concept is salvageable. It’s just too risky. Also, see notes on reminder text.

Nitpicks: Not a critique, but is that a flea in the art?

@real-aspen-hours — Seedsower Oke

What I like: This card is pretty delightful. They’re a druid, a tree, and they make little tree babies. What’s not to love? Convoke is a fantastic mechanic, EVOKE is a fantastic mechanic, and this card could be used for a variety of getting things on and off the battlefield. It’s a card I’d love to see in limited and I think for a very casual commander audience it could work well too. I don’t think that conceptually there’s much to improve upon with this card. It’s got a great feel and I like who they are.

What we can improve: I feel that you could really have made this a 4/4 or even a 4/5. It deserves better stats for a big tree boy! That’s all, just one degree more of pushing to really make him good.

Nitpicks: Evoke should always be the last ability on a card.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Zataz, Renegade Researcher

What I like: I’m going to assume that there are some three-color counter cards in this archetype that you’re envisioning? Or at least, three-color draft support. It’s pretty reminiscent of Master Biomancer, actually. That’s not a bad thing, because that card was great, and as a three-color legend that makes artifact dudes this card is pretty great too. I would have to see a lot of support to make him work in a draft, but 100% he would be an awesome counter-based commander.

What we can improve: There aren’t any major gripes with this card. He does feel...busy. Maybe it’s the frame, maybe it’s the nameline. But I’m seriously questioning “Vedalken Elf” Those are two majorly separate species that aren’t connected in any significant way, and maybe you’re going for a Simic kind of blend but honestly, it’s far more confusing than innovative.

Nitpicks: Perhaps you could have just said “Zataz’s power” instead of the full name. Wouldn’t have made a huge difference, but.

@shakeszx — Recurring All

What I like: Two-mana 3/3s are a big risk. Aggressive greenery is pretty standard for the archetype and often shows up in competitive aggro builds, so I appreciate you channeling this. Cute name, too!

What we can improve: I’ve already talked about +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters, and again, it’s cute how you’re making them work here, with the evolve and all, but they just don’t belong. Maybe it’s just me but I also don’t understand the flavor text at all. Do the Golgari have an ooze issue? I thought they liked oozes. Slime Molding says otherwise. Boros would have made sense, perhaps Azorius. Not Golgari.

Nitpicks: Use shift+enter to separate quotes and attribution in your flavor text on MSE.

@snugz — Roar of Revival

What I like: Confession: I never played Battlebond and don’t like team Magic at all. So, forget all that, let’s talk about it from the perspective of someone who DOES like that sort of stuff! This card is invaluable. A big win, pulling life out of your butt and going crazy. Big life gain isn’t my favorite thing either, but you managed to make it new and improved and flavorful and interesting and gave it camaraderie.

What we can improve: I don’t really have any major improvements for this one. It’s everything that a lifegain spell can be. I think my only caution is that, well, this only really works in 2HG. You gotta target two players, and in commander, that other big multiplayer format, this card is useless. Actually, in basically any other format this card is useless. Unless you want to play Tainted Remedy combo. ... Hmmm...

Nitpicks: This card might read better as “Each of up to two target players gain X life.” Or, if you wanna keep 2HG stuff, “Two target players each gain X life.” Also, have you considered reinstalling to the newest MSE? You don’t have to, you just seem like someone who could really push that stuff to its full potential.

@somethingtothatextent — Expansive Growth.

What I like: It’s an interesting use of cost mechanics. Overload necessarily costs more, but Convoke helps it cost less. I like that balance! The method of making rare cards feel rare and making their effects seem awesome isn’t always easy to do. I think that you dipped into some nice territory here.

What we can improve: Firstly, the name doesn’t feel as expressively creative as it could be. Without even a little context, the complex/unique mechanics lose a bit of touch. Mechanics are more important though, and I think that the way you were forced to make this mechanic happen resulted in the wording being really clunky.

Now, I do have a potential solution: Imagine a card with: “Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control, then you may double the number of +1/+1 counters on target creature you control.” So the spell now can give a counter and potentially double another creature, OR you can go ham with it like your costs want to. Does that make sense? I want to play with this card for sure. It’s good! It’s straight up a good card! Just needs world placement and some wording adjustment.

Nitpicks: None.

@sorustyitshines — Phagus, Eater of Worlds

What I like: Mythic dragons are always a smash and a hit. The devouring of historical permanents combines with the flavor text in such a way that actually makes the flavor text kind of moot. Like, it’s eating history! That’s pretty great! Hardcasting this card will always make for some groans, but the reduction gives it an appropriately mythic status. I think that it’s really powerful as hell, but it’s not unbalanced, I don’t think.

What we can improve: Really, the only major improvement is the name and the mechanical link. “Eater of Worlds” has been done in a lot of IPs. It’s cute, but. Mechanically, I feel disconnected between the cost reduction and the devour. Both of them have an interesting flavor link, I’ll give you that. They just don’t have anything to do with each other, and you’re building effectively two different decks. The things you might sacrifice to Phagus aren’t going to help you cast it again, right?

Nitpicks: “Haste” should be lowercase. The ellipses in your flavor text should be a comma and the period after “all” could possibly be a colon. Or, tbh, this card would be fine without it. That’s a lot of text. Also, I’m curious as to why you need “historic permanents” (which should be “historic permanent CARDS”) instead of just regular historic cards. The card’s already hinted at the fact that it can eat concepts.

@starch255 — Frantic Recruiter

What I like: Replicate now can indeed work with casting permanent spells, so kudos for that. I just had to look up casting and copying and the comprehensive rules for how replicate and rebound work, and as far as I can tell, yeah, this works exactly how it should! I feel the kinda Boros vibe throughout this, and casting from exile with a bunch of tokens, well, yeah, that can be pretty gnarly. A bunch of 1/1s are interesting. What you’ve done is effectively made a RW Reclaim the Wastes that can be doubled. And... You know, I wanna build with it, so that’s cool. Rally the Peasants forreal.

What we can improve: See notes about reminder text. This card is super confusing without it. If you had printed the reminder text I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have needed to look up all that other stuff, harrumph. (I probably would have anyway.) In all seriousness, all my notes about reminder text are here to express that complex ideas need space and you can’t ignore that it’s a necessity especially for ideas like this.

Nitpicks: *GAIN haste UNTIL END OF turn, not “have haste this turn.”

@thedirtside — Lunch Break

What I like: This was one of the most popular and loved cards in the mod channel, so take some kudos there. We loved it. “I’m gonna exert myself and get some food. Y’all can wait for me.” It’s pretty obviously silly, and that’s honestly great. I’ll be honest, silly cards like that outside silver-border rarely win contests, but they’re good for a laugh as long as they’re good.

What we can improve: The first iterations that you submitted, however, were a lot better in my opinion. There’s no reason for this card to be an instant, right? If you’re doing this during a declare attackers phase, that’s not going to change much from if you were to do it during your precombat main phase. Also, the wording really got messed up. I feel that you could have spent more time on flavor text as well. The card’s feeling is great up until then.

Nitpicks: So, a revised card would be a sorcert that reads. “Whenever a creature you control attacks this turn, you may exert it. If you do, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn and you create a Food token. (An exerted creature won’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.)”

@walker-of-the-yellow-path — Spellchaser Hound

What I like: Doggies! Yeah, I don’t even need to see the good boy to know I love him. Mutate feels fresh and funky, the counters are reminiscent of Ikoria without necessarily being set there, and there’s some potential for flavor in the dog fetching more prowess counters as things get crazy.

What we can improve: I really do appreciate the prowess counter reminder text. It might not say what prowess counters do, but that’s another issue. And the fact that you need that shows what we already kind of knew about prowess triggers: they’re complex as hell. Ability counters are...frankly, they’re awful for memory issues as is if you don’t have some kind of ability to remember them and they get equally weird with older cards that check and give permanent abilities... The point is, ability counters are weird as is, and prowess counters are pretty egregious. I don’t think this card is a mistake, but I think it’s really, REALLY complex in the world of Magic, and I would watch out. For what, exactly? ... Don’t worry about it.

Nitpicks: If you don’t have a certain frame, you can ask the chat or ask for a mod who can do their best to make a render of cards like miracle/mutate/etc. The MSE Discord also has a tech support section.

@wolkemesser — Orca, Doom of Argenti

What I like: You managed to make me look up ancient Dominaria lore and yes indeed, Orca and Argenti are Magic people and words that make sense of it all. Gotta love that deep stuff!

What we can improve: See above notes on reminder text. See above notes on +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters. But on this card, it’s especially egregious; she enters with haste, perhaps, she dies, then she returns with persist and a +1/+1 counter and starts all over again, and is basically unkillable because the counters will cancel each other out. Additionally, from what I could find, I don’t understand why she’s an Elemental when the story and her Oracle text mark her as a Demon. With flavor, I also don’t really understand the flavor text at all. She’s based on the real Orca, right? Any in-world flavor text would probably have been more appropriate.

Nitpicks: None beside the aforementioned ones.

I’m going to go hug my dog. Please keep questions and comments about commentary in mind, and if you’re reading this, be loved and be safe. Tomorrow enters a new dawn, a new time... Hm, time.....

—@abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #contest #entries #two mechanics #commentary #long post #this is almost seven and a half thousand words #inventor's fair

14 notes · View notes

notasiren21 · 5 years

Note

Lukanette 24, 86. First day at university/college?

Hell yea bud I gotchu (even tho I have classes in the morning and finished this af 4AM but lol idc)

Rootbeer Floats & Milkshakes

Rating: Teen basically

Pairing: Lukanette

Word count: 3,839

Prompt(s): (24) “Wanna go grab a drink?” & (86)”Don’t be scared, I’m right here.”

Characters: Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain Cheng, Ayla Cessaire

Description:

Marinette’s first day at university comes with a surprise planned by a certain quiet girl off somewhere else for school and her best friend/roommate Ayla. It’s been two years since Luka and Marinette last saw each other and inner thoughts get spilled and fluff takes place.

So many boxes.

That’s all there was to it. There were too many boxes she had carried up and unpacked between her and Ayla that filled their new university dorm room.

In fact, she was almost certain there was a god out there when a student happened by saying he was taking spare boxes to store away for a later time.

She collapsed onto her bed, black high waisted skirt spanning the mattress and covers, pink silk blouse hanging off one shoulder. An arm carefully draped across her face to avoid makeup, lips parting in an exaggerated moan of exhaustion.

“You alright there, girl?” Ayla snickered, folding her clothes and swatting Marinette’s thigh to get her to move.

“If by alright you mean, questioning my life choices and events that led me to here and disdain for being limited to colleges because of my other persona needing to be here for an akuma, then yes. I’m alright.”

Ayla whistled lowly, “Damn, bug. And here I was, worrying about that small thing called tuition and student loans.”

The bluenette sat up in a huff, leaning against the wall with eyes closed rubbing at her forehead.

“Right, that. God, the thought of starting university scared me, but being here is downright terrifying.”

And then she heard it.

“Aw, Mari, don’t be scared, I’m right here.” And there standing was the owner of the smooth and calming voice. Grinning with his perfect teeth and one snake bite piercing ring on the bottom left of his lip, hair more of his natural black roots and electric blue tips, and a few tattoos.

She was screaming excitedly and hurling her body into his for a hug before Ayla had the chance to turn around and the poor boy could blink.

“Luka!” She smushed her face against his middle ribs, feeling the muscles of his now matured figure and the soft cotton blend of his black hooded long sleeve.

Ayla still folded, more than pleased Juleka involved her in a scheme like old times and reunited the two after Luka left for university for those two years and spent breaks being Jagged Stone’s new protégé.

He placed a kiss to her hair, squeezing her tight and feeling his face burn from her presence altogether. “It’s nice to see you too, Ma-ma-Marinette.” He teased, watching as she pulled away and wiped some small flecks of glitter highlighter away from his shirt. “It’s fine, I don’t mind it.” He said, carefully grabbing her hand and bringing it down to rest between them.

“I didn’t know you went here.” God, her eyes were so blue.

“I could say the same. I came to visit because Ayla said she needed help with boxes and Juleka told her I attended the same school and lived in the same building.” He raised their hands, placing a kiss to her knuckles, “This is by far the greatest surprise though.”

Marinette blushes heavily from the gesture. She used to whenever Luka was sweet around her but the time spent apart seemed to reinforce her feelings. She smiled before a frown took over her features. She quickly whipped around to stare at the taller female.

“Why didn’t you just invite him over sooner? We would’ve finished forever ago.” Only receiving a huff and glance to her.

Luka blinked, “Oh, so you don’t need any help?” Great, now he was feeling like he was intruding and a possible nuisance hanging around.

He was about to offer to leave them so they wouldn’t be distracted when the small and petite girl he spent his last teenage years loving squeezed him into another hug.

“Oh my god, you being here is more than enough help. I think I can see the light, is this it? Seeing Luka has killed me with such peaceful serenity I’m able to leave this horrid place for a possible paradise?”

He gave an amused laugh that rushed out of him, staring wide eyed to his old friend with glasses.

“Don’t even bother. She spent a summer with Chloé having to serve punishment by working in her family’s bakery and everyday it was nonstop dramatic monologues until their shifts ended.” She smiled, “It was amusing and did get better as time went on though.”

He only nodded, hating when she let go and moved to put small and casual heals on, long hair falling over her shoulders as she lent to the side, finding solid balance along her bed post.

“Well since it’s a reunion and all, wanna go grab a drink?”

Luka only dimpled down at her in response, excited she wasn’t ready to part ways with him just yet.

“You even have to ask?”

~*~

There was no question about it in her mind; Luka had definitely gotten hotter in their time separated.

His hair was messy in his young rockstar way but still gravitated the urge for Marinette to play with from across the table. His eyes seemingly more of azure than just regular blue when he was younger. Eyelashes and brows black and more defined.

How in the hell did his features harden after two years?

Marinette played with the straw in her milkshake, glancing up frequently to catch a glimpse of Luka who was at the counter ordering a root beer float. She coward every time he looked to her like he felt her stare.

Ayla passed on the reunion trip, saying she was going to go visit Alix and then spend the rest of the day with Nino who attended the same school as them.

“Sorry I couldn’t take you to a bar or something to ease your nerves, I can’t drink.” He said, sitting down and alternating between a spoon and a straw for his drink.

“You can’t?” She was surprised, most university students would frequent shops and stores to buy out the liquor section back home.

He shook his head, the curve of the spoon sitting on his tongue before he spoke. “Nope, alcohol intolerant. Pass out the second it hits my system, I get sick and the worst hives ever.”

“That sounds awful, how did you find out?”

He laughed lightly, “My roommate was in charge of making punch for a party he was going to later when I would be out buying a new release of this one game. He asked me to try it and only told me of the fruit ingredients, wondered if it needed more sugar. Had no clue until I woke up in the campus’s infirmary.”

She grabbed his hand with hers, white nail polish tips visible to him on short nails of hers. “If it makes you feel any better, I had planned to order a Shirley temple or something had you taken me to a bar. Never like the idea of drinking anyways and I don’t have the luxury of freedom to.” She faltered before she smiled at him.

“Yeah, never know when one will need to run across the rooftops of Paris huh?”

She went impossibly still before he realized what he confessed.

“You knew?” Her voice was a mere whisper, eyes growing wide and beautiful mascara lashes blinking rapidly.

He let go of her hand quickly like he just hurt her, opting to lean on his elbows on the hard table and mess with his hair nervously, avoiding her gaze.

“I mean, I’ve always known since I first met Ladybug in person,” he was speaking quietly to avoid drawing attention. “The way you spoke was just, it was mesmerizing and like a song in itself. When she talked to me, all I could hear was you. And one day you approached me from behind and said my name in that way you do that gets to me and I turned around and saw her instead. And I just knew, I mean that day I was more sure than I had been the first meeting.”

The air suddenly turned thick and she didn’t know how to respond until she thought about certain things he said that she could focus on and giggled.

“And yet the people I spent everyday with in class never picked up on it. You truly are one of a kind, Couffaine.”

The hand that messed with his colored locks stilled, eyes meeting hers that were amused and he felt himself burning like mad. Clearing his throat and sipping the soda from the ice cream concoction.

“So, how’s Adrien?” He wouldn’t dare give himself hope like last time when he first fell for her.

“Adrien? He’s fine. Why do you ask?”

“Haven’t you guys hit like your third year yet? When was that anniversary?” He really didn’t want to know but it would provide him a slap of reality before getting hurt again by his own damn self.

She giggled again, head hanging low and bit her lip in a way that made his chest tighten. “I wouldn’t know. We broke up a few months into our first year because we just weren’t made for one another. We’re still great friends and that’s all we are to each other. Nothing more.”

Ah fuck...the hope is seeping in.

“Huh, didn’t see that coming.”

She added some sprinkles to her shake that sat on the ice cream parlor’s table besides the napkins. “We were younger, thinking everything made sense and it would work out. In reality, I just had some tween love obsession goggles on that inhibited my logic and real life objectives.”

He was smiling now, arms folded with one able to eat the soda flavored ice cream, “You really grew up, huh?”

“I could say the same to you. Wonder how a Viperion would look today than from two years ago? Sexier? More fitted? Definitely hotter no doubt.” She flashed a smile and her shoulders shook when he coughed harshly and choked on his spoonful, looking at the way the red traveled down to his neck and his eyes shook in panicked awe of her. “You okay there, Vipey?”

“Vipey?” He hit a fist to his chest, drinking the soda at the top again. Questioning that one little thing was far easier to draw attention to her teasing compliments.

She waved him off like that new nickname wasn’t twisting his heart in the most delicious pain he ever felt. “Always wanted to call you that but Chat was such a jealous and possessive thing back then, I was afraid he’d claw you to bits if I gave you your own pet name.”

Did she really not know what she was doing to him?

Wait.

“Okay, I get it. It’s a cute name.” He leaned towards her again, “On another note, is this you confessing that Chat Noir is Adrien? Because I kinda already figured.”

She gaped before smiling, “You’re just too good, aren’t you?”

“Not really. I mean, a socially repressed kid who lives by a set of rules and is made to be perfect all the time suddenly gains powers, and what is he expected to do? I would think look untamed and be unfiltered as much as possible. It wasn’t that big of a leap when I knew she was you. Well, a small fraction of you at least.”

Marinette ignored the last part. “You know, most people love to say her name. Ladybug’s. Why don’t you?”

His dark brows furrowed before he held a spoonful of his ice cream up to her lips, still leaning forwards and meeting her eyes. “I like your name better, Marinette. You’re what makes her, you’re always Marinette. Why call you by something else unless it’s required of me to do so?” She pretended like the hitch in her breath wasn’t obvious and ate the ice cream, noting the way his eyes didn’t dart down to watch her eat it like most boys would but instead held her gaze, and only dropped to grab more for her.

“What do you mean by that?”

He gave a sad smile, “You’re a smart girl, Mari. Ladybug isn’t who you are, it’s just a persona you created to ease the worries of an entire city that’s heavily populated. Someone you made real to stand up against someone with a power and lust for evil when I’m sure you wanted to hide away like the rest of us. Who you are behind the mask is so much more powerful than the one presented to us because you’re human. You made her to get through the challenging times and give a hero to a city when you wanted to be protected and safe just like them. I admire Ladybug for all she’s done, but I admire Marinette more for the sacrifices she’s made to help Paris and the victims of akumas.” He wiped the corner of her lips when the tinted ice cream caught his attention, his smile dropping. “Every time Ladybug got hurt, my heart didn’t break for her, it broke for you.”

“Me, what why?”

He chanced it and leaned his forehead to hers. “Because everyone saw you gain injuries throughout battle and they cried for Ladybug. Then your purification presumably took away the pain and injuries, but I always assumed some lingered. And that the memories in fact did stay and I wondered how many sleepless nights you had where you jolted awake in fear of getting hurt again, and I prayed to whatever deity there was that you didn’t cry alone in the dark.”

She wanted to cry now.

“People worry about the hero and then the fight is over, then worrying about themselves and the close calls. No one ever stops to worry about the person behind the mask though. I’ve always hated that.”

“No one but you, huh?” They had quieted down significantly and whatever had been flickering between the two had grown to sparks that remained unsettled inside them.

Luka glanced down at their hands that were close to one another’s, taking a deep breath before pulling back. “C’mon, I’ll take you back.”

The walk back was silent, Marinette holding onto his arm that was lazily available while his hand rested in his shirt pocket. He gave her a small smile when she took off her heals to walk through the carpeted dorm hallway, offering to carry the small shoes for her that now dangled from his free hand’s hooked fingers. He watched her step on the patterns in graceful ways, dancing around them to his humming in the near empty hallways.

He assumed there was a first day party raging on somewhere in the building.

They stopped at her dorm, finishing out keys and letting him walk inside to place her shoes down on the rack she brought with her from home. He looked up just in time to see a familiar bracelet presented to him, a snake kwami floating near it and a red one zipping in the back to eat baked goods from home.

He couldn’t find words for how surprised he was, looking between the little god and then her and the bracelet.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Sass won’t mind. I just felt like I would’ve had a great partner in Viperion if I was given the chance to work with him more.”

He willed himself back, “How do I know this isn’t some elaborate excuse to check me out in a skin right suit?” He nearly prided himself when she became equally as flustered.

“That’s only a quarter of the reason why I’m offering, Luka.” She pouted, avoiding his eyes and shifting her weight nervously. He smiled down at her, grabbing her arms and wrapping them around his waist as his crossed over her shoulders, cheek resting to her hair again.

God, this felt like home.

“When have I ever said no to you, Mari?” He could feel her excitement shoot through her and the small squeal of excitement reached his ears as he laughed. Letting her pull one arm from her shoulder and slip the bracelet on. “Hi, Sass. I’ve missed you.”

The snake smiled, glancing between Luka and the smaller girl in his arms that was beyond content with the turn of events for the night. “Not assssss much asssss her I presssssume?” Earning a snicker when he winked to the small god.

“Luka, the main reason I asked you?”

He pulled away, letting her sit on the bed on her knees, messing with her skirt in her hands.

“Yeah?”

“It’s because, I’m, um,”

“Take your time, Marinette. I don’t mind.”

She took a breath, “I’ve never trusted anyone with my inner thoughts and feelings like I do with you. You read me like an open book and try to keep it to yourself so I never become embarrassed. But you know the real me behind the mask that most others don’t even if they know my secret, and that counts for something.” She met just azure eyes, “Who better to protect me than the one who sees I’m just as weak as any civilian.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, instead walking closer to her and letting his right hand guide the back of her head to his lips as he placed a kiss to her forehead.

“Is that a yes?”

He nosed her hair, “Maybe I just want to hear you call me Vipey again.”

She giggled in kind, flicking his nose. “It’s a cute nickname for a cute boy who is a cute superhero.” She nudged the tip of his nose again, “With a cute, button nose.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were flirting with me, Dupain Cheng.”

“It took me a few years to gain the courage for it, but yeah, I guess you could say I am.” She blinked up innocently at him. He crossed his arms with a smirk.

“You know it’s dangerous for cute and beautiful girls like you to make guys like me hopeful right?”

“Is it?” She tried matching his height, even with the extra inches of the bed she only reached to his chin while she stood on her knees. “You said I’m smart, meaning I’ve learned my lesson this second time around. It’s okay for you to be hopeful, right?”

“Marinette?” He couldn’t move, afraid he would scare her off and praying to those kwamis he knew what was happening next.

“Luka?” She nudges her nose to his chin, giggling lightly when he shifted down to meet her nose like she wanted. He couldn’t and wouldn’t make the first move, she knew that. He respected her too much to read too far into things she did. “You know I always had this crush on you, right?”

“You what?”

She frowned, tears glistening around the blue hues of her eyes. “I really did miss you while you were away.” He forced a swallow, ignoring the matter that no one has ever spoken those words to him before and the weight they carried to him. “I’m not messing up this time, Luka.”

She pulled at the collar of his hood, bringing him down to her lips as her name died on his tongue and his hands slipped out of the pocket of his shirt to find support from her waist. His eyes screwed shut in fear of it all not being real or worse, her realizing it was a mistake to take with him.

But she still let her hands travel to his hair, giving a small happy noise with the ability to now play with it and feel it between her fingers. That alone coaxed him out of his potential nightmare slowly and encouraged him to move his lips against hers , feeling her smile when he found the bed to sit on so she wouldn’t have to lean up and felt her legs draped over his lap sideways.

He couldn’t bring himself to do anything when she broke the kiss, scared she’ll kick him out or express regret. Instead she gave a shy smile and then pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, hands framing his face before she hugged him with enough force to send Luka tipping backwards into her pillows with her on top of him.

She didn’t move off of him, only brought her face up to rest on her arms on top his chest while he refused to look at her. She held his face again, feeling the heat of the blood rushing to his face.

“Is it my turn to say how cute you look when you’re a blushing mess?” Her impish smile widened when the depths of his blues met hers, his jaw hardening in response to let her know he was at a loss for words. She ran a hand through his hair, noting the way he couldn’t stop the hum from escaping his throat. “You always were the one who got away, I didn’t want to risk it this time around and knew it the moment I saw you step into the university dorm that it had to be.”

He swallowed nervously, fingers twitching on her back. “Does this mean you want to be-,”

“Boyfriend and girlfriend for the time being? Absolutely.” She gave a firm nod, lips pressed in a straight line to make him laugh finally. He tried not to think about the her response and what the “time being” could lead to, hopefully a future together like he always wished for.

“Okay. I want that too.” She grinned, resting her chin on her arms again and staring up at him with an awed look. “What?”

She shook her head, leaning up to peck his lips before darting down to his chest and resting her cheek against his heart, “Nothing, you’re just really cute, Luka.”

“Oh my god, you’re going to kill me.” He muttered, arms leaving her and covering his red face.

“You okay?”

He whimpered, “Peachy. I meet up with the girl I’ve had a crush on forever and have a date with her and she ends up being my girlfriend before the night is over. And she’s the type to shower me in compliments. I’ve sighed my own death wish.”

“While you’re dealing with that, you mind if I turn the television on and catch up on an anime I’m watching?”

He uncovered his face to look at her then the tv across her bed, “Does this mean we have to move?”

She shook her head, moving to grab the remote and he noted he recognized the show already from some posts and expressed interest to himself of it before.

“No, I’m too affectionate to pass up on cuddling.” She sat up to grab a blanket before resting on his chest again, tangling her legs with his and giving a happy wiggle when he hugged her close. “You smell nice, I like it.”

“Fuck, you’re really too adorable, Marinette.” Luka sighed, forever grateful the university he didn’t care much about had one thing he would give the world to and she wanted nothing but him instead.

“You’re adorable too, Vipey.” Giggling when he squeezed her in retaliation and muttered to just watch her show and cuddled him.

#luka couffaine #miraculous ladybug #miraculous lb #miraculous luka #luka x marinette #mlb luka #marinette dupain cheng #marinette dupain cheng x luka couffaine #love #lukanette fic #lukanette fanfic #prompt #fluff #mentions of viperion #answered ask #i need sleep #lukanette

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writing-the-end · 4 years

Text

WS Chapter 37: Seasons Change

Previous Chapter

Masterpost

So anxiety’s been a real pain lately, but i”m not going to let it stop be from writing. I did get an ao3, though I’m just putting up LoL on there right now.

either way, another hermit meets the wanderers! Reminder that all of this was written at the beginning of s7, so this is before Keralis became stupid rich.

Red belongs to @theguardiansofredland

Ecto belongs to @cooler-cactus-block (red teach me your waysplz)

“You keep disrespecting the magic, Grian, some day it’ll come back to haunt you.” Scar hums, still put off by Grian trying to get rid of the crystal he’s been giving him. These are priceless, and yet Grian finds so much joy in tossing them around like trash.

“Sure it will, Scar.” Grian chuckles, kicking the sand of the desert beach Iskall has laid claim to. Grian holds the rowboat over his head, rolling his eyes but smiling.

“You of all people should know not to challenge magic- you’re a magical creature yourself!” Scar turns around, putting his hands on his hips and jutting out his chin.

“Just get in the boat, Scar. You’ll ‘ave lots of time to berate Grian in there.” Stress points out, tossing her vessel into the water with relaxed ease. Avon sets down the fresh jungle boat carved for her and Ecto. Mumbo plops down his boat, looking at Red.

“Getting in?” He questions. They have just the right people to fill every boat.

“Red doesn’t need the boat.” Ecto chuckles.

“What do you-” Red’s holler cuts Mumbo off as he goes running into the Hermiatic sea, leaping into the warm waters. “Right, fish person.”

Red swims through the water, her streamline from cutting through the sea. Water rolls off her scales and skin, tossles her hair, and clings to her clothes. Welcoming the kipling back home. It’s a welcome return to her natural habitat, with dolphins squeaking and whistling to greet her and a curtain of tropical fish becoming a mosaic around her. But it feels like a hollow return. This isn’t her ocean. When she gets home, will it still look like this? Is it already destroyed by that Blu?

Red rubs her eyes, exhausted from everything that’s been happening. They were attacked, and Red was helpless as her friends were gravely injured. They managed to escape to this world, only to lose each other. The fear of losing Ecto and Avon, even for just a short amount of time is terrifying. What would he do without them now? Without Ecto’s keen observation skills, or Avon’s unrelenting determination.

He grabs hold of his backpack, surfacing quietly and watching the hermits and his friends. He sees Ecto, wounded across the back. He watches Avon’s hand grip her side, covered in bandages. Losing his friends would be just as bad as the knowledge that he may lose his family. His friends are his family. Red’s fingers run along the emerald eyes of the statue Scar gave him. The smooth gold and polished emerald have become a way for Red to calm down by rubbing it. Fred may be creepy, but he’s helped him through a lot.

Red swims up beside Scar and Grian’s boat, poking her head out and kicking her legs to keep up with them. “So where are we going? Do we need food? I’m really good at fishing, I really am.”

“Keralis lives on another shore of the Hermiatic sea, and he definitely should know where Xisuma is.” Grian answers.

“I would love some fish. I didn’t bring any more potatoes.” Scar chimes in, hearing his stomach growling at the mention of food.

“How many people live on this hermiatic sea?” Red questions. She feels like she’s met so many already, are there more out there?”

Grian taps his finger, letting go of his oar. “I think we’re twenty two strong this time around?”

Red’s eyes widen at the thought. So many people, all gathered together. Red isn’t sure she’s ever seen that many people apart from villages. But these guys definitely aren’t village folk. She dives back underwater, zipping ahead and snatching fish with her teeth and claws. She drops her catch off with Scar, leaving the freshly caught cod on his purple robe. She’s like a cat, leaving fishy surprises in all of the boats. Ecto and Avon know to protect themselves from a fish, but Mumbo can only whimper and groan as a scaley salmon is tossed into his lap.

The group of travelers follow the shoreline, watching the beach change to jungle, and jungle to savanna. Acacia trees sparsely cover the rolling, dry grass. But for the wanderers, it leaves a bad taste in their mouths. It reminds them of Blu, the whole reason why they’re here, why they aren’t continuing their journey to Red’s home. Avon tries to feel better by reminding herself that they can at least gather information while they're here. Learn more about who that person was.

“So...who is this person we’re going to see? To show us the way to the world wizard?” Ecto isn’t sure she likes how many people are joining in on this journey. Her fellow wanderers were already a handful to remember and keep track of. Adding in Grian and Scar, previous people she had come to know and trust, was about the most she could handle. But now she has to worry about this Iskall guy, Stress, and the creature they call Mumbo.

“His name is Keralis. He’s a master builder. Honestly sometimes he puts me to shame when it comes to house designs.” Grian states, pulling up to row beside Ecto and Avon.

“We may have locked him up like we did you guys as well.” Scar winces, offering an apologetic smile as everyone glares at him. Still some negative sentiments there. “I mean, when you see the man, you’ll understand why we thought it. He’s like...twenty percent eyeball and thirty percent mouth.”

“There’s his base. Or… at least his starter home.” Iskall points to the hillside near the water. Blue containers stack atop one another, and construction machines sit idle in the turned up dirt. A few villagers are hard at work in the construction zone, though they all stop and stare at the incoming strangers. When Avon draws close, the villagers back away. Even in another world, they still fear her. Even in another world, she’s still a monster. She can never escape it.

“Hello my beautiful friends! Oh, and some new faces!” Keralis leans out a window, waving his hands vigorously. He leans farther so that they can see him more, and loses balance out the window.

The band of hermits and wanderers all wince, the heavy thud of Keralis hitting the ground below the open window. Stress rushes over to help, but Keralis is back on his feet before she can grab his arms. He wipes dirt from his wide eyes and gives the crew a wide smile. “Aww man, I had a record going...three days without an accident.”

“Damn, that’s a pretty good record around here.” Iskall hums.

“Who are these guys? Beyond new friends?” Keralis creeps closer to the wanderers, his curiosity met with the same from Red. The two look at one another, sizing the opposite up before breaking out into giggles. Apparently both deemed the other a worthy friend.

“I’m Red, the tall one is Ecto and the scary one is Avon. Trust me they’re a lot nicer than they look. They’re awesome friends.” Red squeezes her friend’s hand.

“Ah, well welcome, welcome. I hope my friends have been treating you well while you’ve been in our world.” Keralis shakes hands with Red and waves to those that don’t seem interested in interacting physically.

“Oh, ah yeah about that…” Scar grimaces, hoping to pave over such a sensitive topic.

Unfortunately Grian beats him to it. “Scar thought they were aliens too. Locked the wanderers up in Area 77 too.”

Keralis’s eyes and smile freeze, becoming cold as he turns his head from the wanderers to Scar. Keralis’s voice hisses through his teeth, dripping with anger. He still holds a bit of a grudge. “Did he now?”

“Whoa, hey we all cleared it up, right? We’re all friends now.” Scar backs off of Keralis, knowing the man can be particularly vicious if he wants to be. Behind those bug eyes and agape mouth is a killer. He’s a master at Head Hunt.

“Scar let me pet his cats!” Red coos, and luckily for Scar her cheery attitude towards him seems to be enough to quell Keralis’s blade.

“Alright, alright. New world, new leaf.” Keralis pulls off his helmet, tousling his hair free from the yellow safety hat. “What can I do to help you guys? Wanna buy a book?”

“Actually, we were lookin’ fer some info. Do you know where Xisuma is based?” Stress rubs her neck. She actually could use another mending book, but she isn’t carrying the diamonds on this journey.

“You want to see Bee-shwamy? What fore?” Keralis tips his head, sitting on a barrel next to his heavy work machinery. He was just with him the other day.

“He may have information that our friends here need.” Grian fills.

“He’s the smartest guy in the world when it comes to general facts of life. Man’s a wizard for a reason.” Iskall adds. “Sorry Scar...a real wizard.”

Ecto steps forward, bumping a mumbling Scar out of the way. “We were attacked in our own world by these creatures from the nether. They destroyed my home.”

“You mean pigmen?” Keralis frowns, looking over the hillside to see if Porky’s there. He didn’t think pigmen were that organized.

“He wasn’t a pigman.” The winged one, Avon, hisses. “He could talk, and he definitely wasn’t zombified or anything.”

Keralis rubs his chin. He has no clue about anything of that sort. The only person he could think that may know more is either Xisuma...or perhaps Tango. “That’s definitely some strange news. We should get to see Bee-shwamey to get this sorted out. Follow me!”

Keralis hops off his boxes, waving for the team to trail after him. Across the grasslands, another jungle rises. Trees with high canopies and vibrant leaves brush in the dry savanna wind at the interface between plains and forest. Avon is quick to grab onto both Ecto and Red. She’s not losing them again. If she had a lead, she’d put them on it.

The other hermits stick close as well. All of them have gotten lost in their own jungle, it would be so much worse in a jungle they have no knowledge of. Keralis, however, has no trouble hopping over short oak trees and swinging through the vines. His cheeky grin never falters, constantly wide eyed and taking everything in. Observing every inch of the world around him.

The jungle doesn’t stop, even when construction starts. Vines and trees creep around the white concrete, and pathways arch over the leaves below. The forest is as much a part of the construction as the scaffolding. Just as much a part of the build as the chests and lighting. Somehow, the sleek, futuristic style perfectly blends with the chaotic, ancient patterns of nature. Whoever has built this is in tune with nature.

“Oh hello there friends.” Xisuma waves, tangled up in vines that he has gotten caught in while flying. His pockets are filled with jungle saplings, clumps of dirt falling from the roots and across his mask. He spits out a pebble. “What can I do ya for?”

#hermitcraft #wandering stars #hermitblr #ecto #avon #red #mumbo jumbo #grianmc #gtwscar #keralis #stressmonster101 #iskall85 #minecraft #mineblr #mcsona #minesona #writing #writeblr

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cygin · 4 years

Text

HC : CYRIL + THE ALMYRAN ARMY / CAPTURE BY HOUSE GONERIL.

ATTITUDE.

so i’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about cyril’s time as a child soldier, and thinking carefully on portraying it true to the few clues we’re given as well as realistic to the situation and circumstance he was in.

at a glance, it seems like cyril is completely resentful of his time there. you can trace interactions alluding to that in more than one support, though the one with claude sticks out the most in my head. however, there’s another conversation with byleth that cyril has after hilda’s paralogue:

Cyril: They aren't really trying to cross Fódlan's Throat. I'm not saying they're not serious, but fights like this one aren't really invasions. Byleth: Then what are they doing? Cyril: They just start fights like this sometimes. It's so they can show off how strong they are. I think it's pretty dumb. I mean, people are getting killed! And why? So some guy can think he's tough? After every fight, they do a big feast, and everybody eats and dances and there's music... It's supposed to honor the dead, but I figure they just like to make noise. I think they're all idiots, but if I'm real honest, it wasn't the worst way to live life. Byleth: Feeling homesick? Cyril: Nah, I'm where I belong now, and I don't really like Almyra. If they wanna show how tough they are, then they oughta look after kids who've lost their parents.

it’s a conflicting account by all means. cyril sounds fond when he describes it --- but when byleth asks if he’s homesick, he quickly sobers and points out that he’s too angry about his past to feel that way.

i don’t think cyril actually hates almyra or almyrans. he’s said more than once that there is nothing for him there, and it’s true; he has no family, no land, nothing to really live for. and furthermore, he witnessed his parents and brother be murdered in something that wasn’t even a true battle, but a petty skirmish between almyrans and fodlanese soldiers. so in that sense, he speaks scornfully of his experience. he’s bitter about what war took from him. who wouldn’t be?

CONSCRIPTION INTO THE ALMYRAN ARMY.

so next we go to the fact that cyril says he was picked up and served in the almyran army. he was nine years old when that happened; the army picked him up and didn’t put a sword in his hand, but realistically speaking, he’s an orphan who came from a family with no money and a farm he can’t tend. his farm was seized by the army, divided and sold, and cyril ... well, he frankly would have died had they not taken him in. i’m sure they believed it was the only thing of value that cyril could do, working for them.

being young, cyril mostly performed menial tasks: tended the horses and wyverns, polished swords and armor, washed clothes, strung bows, etc. in exchange, he was fed and ( somewhat ) protected. i imagine that some of the soldiers probably befriended him. some probably even started out just like him. they told him that when he got older he could be a soldier too and take revenge on those who killed his family. cyril, a child, didn’t care for those things --- he simply wanted them back. but knowing he was lucky to be alive and perhaps wishing he’d perished with his family, he says nothing and simply nods.

for an orphan from a rural town, joining the army is more or less his only future. he will have nothing otherwise. so they treat him as a boy who will one day join their ranks when he becomes a man. they teach him basic skills, to fire a bow and to hold a knife, things like that. it’s for hunting, but they’re honest in telling him he may one day need those skills for something else. none of these men are his brother and his father, but they’re all he has, for a while.

he’s small and quick; at best, they use him to send messages and sneak past guarded lines to plant or sabotage things. he knows the things he has to do cause people to die. he knows what they want when they tell him to sneak into camp and poison water supplies, fire arrows from a safe distance, and so on and so forth. those are the scariest things he has to do, but he does them because they’re his job. still, he knows that these are the most dangerous tasks he has to perform and that if he fails, he’ll likely be killed.

after a battle, they always celebrate. they laugh when they feed him wine and he spits it out, too bitter for his underdeveloped palette, slapping his back a little too hard, promising him that whichever warrior they honor could be him one day, with a stoic face like that. with strong arms like that. on those days, the feeling of death so close to him he’s sure it’ll take him. but the euphoria afterwards, the dancing, the singing, the feast ... it’s something like happiness. it’s one of the only time they see that boy smile.

FIRST KILL.

it’s an accident, honestly. cyril is sending a message when someone falls on top of him and hisses in shock that it’s a child. it’s the dead of night, and he’s a soldier in nightclothes. he doesn’t let cyril go. cyril knows better than to scream and draw attention, but he struggles uselessly against one much stronger than him. the soldier underestimates the boy --- reaches for his weapon and turns his head, and cyril doesn’t hesitate to lodge his little skinning knife into his throat. the soldier falls, and cyril feels the cold rush of terror and the sickness that comes with taking his first life ... but he knows the soldiers were right : if it wasn’t the soldier, it would have been him, and he perhaps needed the skills they taught him after all. he takes the knife back and haggardly returns to camp --- blood - stained, sunken, sick to his stomach. no one coddles him; this is war. his job is to survive, and nothing more. he wants his mother.

CAPTURE BY HOUSE GONERIL.

he’s ten when he’s captured. he’s survived a whole year to see the battle at fodlan’s throat, and its the most gruesome one yet. he cannot hang in the back lines --- there are none. he’s seen enough to know that they’re going to lose. he knows it the moment the captain falls, crimson staining sandy plains, tainting the shifting soil red. he knows there will be no surrender. he does what he did when his family was killed --- he runs. he’s fast, but not faster than a horse. not faster than the heavy hand that smacks him to the ground, lance pointed at his throat as he desperately scrambles with his back to a tree. he remembers his brother. he was killed for fighting. he remembers his father, killed for intervening. he remembers his mother, killed for sobbing. he does none of these things. he looks up with fear, with hatred, with morbid anticipation ill-fitting a boy so small: do your worst, his face seems to say.

is it luck or not that the soldier who captures him prides himself of being a man of the church? should he be fortunate that he found it repugnant to kill a child? his wrists are tied and he’s made to lay on the horse, and he wonders if surviving this war is worth it. he wonders if he is better off than he would have been being here and not fallen in the valley with the other soldiers.

he’s the only survivor of this battle, and he knows it when he sees not a single other person of his kind bound in the camp like he. he’s brought before lord goneril, and the soldier asks the question with an air of chilling simplicity: it’s just a boy. what do we do with him? he knows there is a chance he still may die, but the more he thinks on it, the less unappealing it sounds: he ran, didn’t he? almyrans didn’t like cowards. he’d be killed if he went back. there wasn’t anyone to go back to. if they killed him, he thought, no one would lose anything of value --- not even him.

but they don’t. they take him to serve instead.

they don’t like him. they don’t feed him like the almyran soldiers did. if he gets one meal a day, he’s lucky. a bed of hay is where he lays his head. he cleans, he works. they speak about him as if he’s some kind of horrifying caged beast that they’ve captured, as though he were a lion cub: sure, they could raise it, but don’t you worry it’ll grow to turn against you? they think he doesn’t understand what they say. he is careful not to correct them. some know --- you can hear us, boy, can’t you? --- they never have anything good to say. just like in the army, he thinks that every day, he might die here.

there are simply no more feasts.

#♕ 𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 . 〉hc.#i may further elaborate or add onto this but this is the main idea.#death /#suicidal ideation /#slavery /#ask to tag /

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ellewritesathing · 5 years

Text

So Close - S.S. XIII

Summary: The universe has a funny way of putting the things you want right in front of you, but just out of reach. Stiles and Y/N have been best friends ever since Scott brought him home, but when Stiles realizes that he might want to be something other than best friends, she leaves to go to some fancy private school up North. Now that she’s back though … maybe he’s got a shot? A Teen Wolf AU in which the reader has always been so close to Stiles and yet so far.

Prologue - S2E1 Part 1 - S2E2 + S2E3 Part 2 - S2E4 + S2E5 + S2E6 Part 3 - S2E7 +S2E8 Part 4 - S2E9 + S2E10 Part 5 - S2E11 + S2E12 Part 6 Part 7 - S3AE1 Part 8 - S3AE2 + S3AE3 Part 9 - S3AE4 Part 10 - S3AE5 + S3AE6 Part 11 - S3AE7 + S3AE8 Part 12 - S3AE9 + S3AE10 + S3AE11 Part 13 - S3AE11 + S3AE12

Word-count: 3.7k+

A/N: I’m starting to feel like three seasons of slow burn is getting a bit much but I’m super excited for you guys to experience the angst that is 3B. For now though, I really hope you guys like how I wrapped up 3A!! Let me know what you think :)

Oh and there’s like one swearword in this part if you guys need a warning

When the alarm woke you up, Stiles had already left. He left a post-it note on your phone with his reason; that he had to go tell Lydia what was going on before school. He found your mom’s keys and left them on the bedside table for you so you could drive yourself to school. How chivalrous.

The rest of the day wasn’t much better. You didn’t have the same classes as your friends, so you only saw them when the lunch bell rang and you found them in the hallway. You were on the phone with Isaac when you did and he was telling you that Blake had taken Chris in the bank vault. You weren’t really focused on what he was saying anymore because you were watching Lydia drag Stiles into the bathroom.

“Allison and I are heading to school now so-”

“Uh, Isaac? Don’t come to school. I’ll grab the others and meet you at Deaton’s. I’ll call you back once we’re on your way.” You hung up before he had the opportunity to argue with you and shoved your phone into your pocket. Something didn’t feel right.

Ignoring the pit in your stomach, you pushed the door open and went inside. It took you a second to find them, and it felt like your heart was being ripped out once you did. They were kissing. In your hurried attempt to leave, you knocked over a trash can. Stumbling out an apology, you rushed out and ignored their calls after you.

“Hey, Y/N! Y/N, will you please slow down?” Stiles caught your wrist and pulled you back. “That wasn’t- it wasn’t what it looked like.”

“So, what, Lydia was just helping you out with your algebra homework?” you asked, shaking your head. “Stiles, it’s not like we’re dating. If you wanna make out with Lydia, that’s your own-”

“I wasn't making out with Lydia.”

“So what were you doing?”

“I was-” Stiles sighed. “Look, she kissed me, okay? I didn't kiss her back.”

“You didn’t exactly pull away either.” You pulled your hand back and got ready to start walking again, but Lydia made you stop. She had that weird look on her face again.

“Has anyone seen Ms. Morrell today?” she asked.

---

You filed away your anger as you, Lydia, and Stiles rushed to Morrell’s office. When Danielle said she didn’t know why Morrell was late, you all agreed that if she wasn’t on time for a session, then she was probably missing. Stiles started digging through her desk for clues.

“Those files are private,” Danielle told him.

“Yeah, she’s kind of right,” Lydia said. She looked uncomfortable, but her discomfort faded as soon as Stiles started handing out files.

You’d been seeing Morrell when you transferred to Beacon Hills, and when Stiles dug out your file, your curiosity got the better of you. You only managed to skim a few phrases - problems expressing your emotions, defensive, in a sense of denial of why you’d been kicked out of Willow Creek - before Stiles and Lydia started talking again. Lydia’s file was full of her tree drawings.

“It’s the same one I always see you drawing in class,” Stiles argued.

“It’s a tree. I like drawing trees,” Lydia said simply.

“No, but it’s the exact same one.” Stiles came closer and you closed your file so you could be more involved. Stiles grabbed Lydia’s notebook and started flipping through the pages - they were all littered with drawings of the exact same tree. It reminded you of when you used to draw the wolves.

“Okay, you can have my session! You’ve got bigger issues,” Danielle said as she gathered her things and headed for the door. You would’ve laughed if the situation hadn’t been so eerie.

Lydia was breathing heavily with tears in her eyes as she stared at the pages in front of her. “What is this?” she choked out.

Stiles flipped the book around slowly. What you all thought had been the top of the tree, from this perspective, was now a dense root system. Like the one in the woods that Cora told you about.

“I know where they are,” he said.

“Well, are you gonna tell us where they are?” Lydia asked.

You and Stiles shared a look before each grabbing one side of her and beginning to walk outside. “It’s the nemeton,” you explained. “That’s where they are.”

You barely made it ten feet before you heard someone yelling for Stiles. This time it was your dad.

“Alright, look, go to Derek, okay?” Stiles told you and Lydia. “He and Peter have been there before. They’ll know where it is.”

“I’m not leaving you with him,” you said. “Lydia, tell them it’s the root cellar, okay?”

Lydia nodded and walked away quickly, which left you and Stiles just enough time to plaster some smiles on your faces and turn to face your dad.

Rafael nodded at you before turning his attention to Stiles. “Did you know your dad’s car is in the school parking lot and has been since last night?”

“No,” Stiles lied. “What does that mean?”

“It means he’s officially missing.” Rafael looked down and sighed. “Can I talk to you in private for a minute?”

“Actually-” you put on the sweetest smile you could muster and reached for Stiles’ hand “-I have this really big geometry test Monday and Stiles said he’d tutor me, so we’re just gonna head out if that’s okay with you.”

“Actually, Y/N, no. No, it’s not,” Rafael said. He sounded like he hadn’t slept in a few days. He looked like it too. “I’m going to talk to Stiles, and you’re going to wait in the hallway until I come out to get you.”

You started protesting but Stiles said it was alright. He shook you off and went to speak to your dad. Alone. In private. You mumbled a good few profanities before slumping down in a chair outside the classroom they were in.

You almost didn’t see Deaton through the haze of annoyance you were in, but you stood up as soon as he opened the classroom door.

“Fine,” Rafael said. “But I don’t want you going home alone. Do you have someone you can stay with tonight? Someone who’s not my daughter.”

“He’s with me,” Deaton said.

---

When you and Stiles got to the animal clinic, pretty much everyone who wasn’t kidnapped or playing secret agent with the Alpha Pack was already there. You sat on one of the countertops and bounced your leg while Stiles spoke.

“It has to be on one of the telluric currents - or maybe even at the axis of two,” he explained. “Or where they all intersect.”

“It’s where Derek took Paige when she was bitten,” you added.

“My dad and Gerard were there once. But Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn’t remember where it was,” Allison said. She ran a hand through her hair. “And my dad obviously isn’t here to tell us now.”

“Yeah, mine either,” Stiles said softly.

“Then how do we find this place?” Isaac asked, always asking the relevant (if un-answerable) questions.

“There might be a way,” Deaton said after a moment. “But it’s dangerous.”

“When is it not?” you asked, pushing yourself off the counter.

“And we’re gonna need Scott.”

“Why?” you asked. “We’ve been trying to find him since he left and he’s not answering any of us.”

“This is important. He’ll be here,” Allison insisted.

“And what if he’s not?” you asked. “Then what? We just let our parents die?”

“Actually, Y/N,” Deaton’s gentle tone and thoughtful expression sliced through your angry exterior. “Now that I think about it, you should work just as well.”

---

Deaton explained what you’d be doing beforehand: you’d be surrogate sacrifices for your parents. If it went right, you would only be dead for a few seconds. By doing so, you’d give power back to the nemeton - which would make it a beacon for the supernatural again - and the darkness around your hearts would follow you for the rest of your lives. And if it went wrong …

As cheery as the explanation left you feeling, your heart somehow managed to drop further when you stared at the ice baths in front of you. You clutched onto the necklace in your hands as you watched Isaac empty out another bag of ice into the tubs.

“Alright,” Deaton said, “What did you bring?”

Stiles brought Noah’s badge. It looked pretty banged up, but Deaton assured him that it would work fine as long as it meant something. Allison brought a ceremonial silver bullet that her dad made.

“Y/N?”

“My mom, uh, got this necklace from my gran when she turned sixteen. Said it was the nicest thing she ever got growing up. She just about cried when I spilled nail polish on it one day when I was little,” you explained quietly. “But, um, looks don’t matter, right?”

“No, they don’t,” Deaton smiled. “Now, the three of you will get in and each of us will hold you down until you’re essentially … well, dead. But it’s not just someone who will hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you. A kind of emotional tether.”

You and Stiles looked at each other while Deaton was talking, but you looked away quickly. You were still upset with him, and you both had to go under so it wouldn’t matter anyway. You hoped.

“Isaac?” you asked softly. He nodded and put an arm around you. Lydia and Allison were already holding hands in a corner.

“Well, Doc, I guess that means it’s you and me,” Stiles sighed. “And Scott, you know, if he ever shows up.”

Stiles was the first one to stand in front of the tubs, and Allison was the first one to get in. Judging by her reaction, the ice bath was going to be - unsurprisingly - absolutely freezing. You took a breath and then stepped in, slowly descending into the icy water. Your feet were the first to go numb, and then your hands even though they were still above the water. Were you shaking? You couldn’t tell.

You looked over to find Stiles sitting in a pretty similar position to you, except he was staring at you. You couldn’t help but laugh. “What?” you asked when you were done.

“Nothing. You just look …” he didn’t finish.

“Yeah, well, I know this is serious and all but I just-” you looked down. Your anger felt silly now. “Are either of you surprised by just how fucking cold this is?”

“Yes!” Allison laughed. “Like I get that it’s an ice bath but-”

“Are you ready?” Deaton asked. “If we’re doing this, we should really get started.”

The laughter died down and the three of you nodded gravely. You felt Isaac’s hands on your shoulders and took a deep breath. He asked you something, but you didn’t hear it properly. You just nodded. You were ready. You had to be.

The cold was smothering as he held you under and you thrashed to the surface, even though you knew you had to be still. The ice swirled around your head and you watched the last few bubbles of air in your lungs float to the surface. One … Two … Was that three? Should you be counting the groups of bubbles? Did any of it really matter?

You guessed you were a stronger fighter than you thought, because the next thing you knew you were crashing through the surface, gasping for air. Only, you weren’t in Deaton’s clinic anymore. You were in a big, white room with Stiles and Allison. None of you spoke as you got up and out of the water.

You were the first to go to the big tree stump that felt like an eternity away. The nemeton. The eerie silence only added tension to the situation, but none of you were brave enough to break it. Stiles was the first one to reach for the roots, and the sound of you begging for him to stop was deafening. He didn’t answer. Allison reached out next. Now it was your turn.

You kneeled in front of the tree, closed your eyes, and touched one of the roots. Taking deep breaths, you counted how long you could stay still before waking up. You stopped as soon as the silence broke.

Water was running nearby in a steady stream you could hear the birds in the distance. But what really shocked you into opening your eyes wasn’t the feel of the breeze or the smell of the damp leaves, it was the sound of laughter. Children’s laughter.

“Guys,” you heard a little voice whine. “It’s getting dark. How much longer are we gonna be out here?”

The kid in front of you looked about nine years old, definitely not older than ten. He had the same goofy haircut that Scott had at that age. And his ears were also slightly too big for his face. And the same little-

“Well, we would’ve been out of here an hour ago if you knew your lines.” The little girl rolled her eyes. She was in a tiny white, flowered dress. You had the same one when you were little. She was holding hands with another boy, who could barely contain his laughter.

That was you, Scott, and Stiles. Getting married on top of the nemeton.

“Okay, fine! By the power vested in me-”

Everything went black and you clawed at your throat. Air. You needed air. You reached up and pulled yourself to your feet, ignoring the pounding in your head as you gasped for air.

“I know- I know where it is!” You looked around desperately, needing someone to hear you. You were back in Deaton’s clinic. Scott stood up and rushed over. He picked you up, out of the tub, and wrapped you in a towel. “When did you get here?” you asked.

Stiles and Allison were busy telling the others about what they saw and where the nemeton was, but no one was answering. They all looked like they knew something you didn’t.

“What?” Allison asked. “What’s wrong?”

“You guys were out a long time,” Isaac said.

“How long is a long time?” Stiles asked.

“Sixteen hours,” Deaton answered.

“If we’ve been out sixteen hours then-” you looked at Scott desperately. “The full moon rises in like three hours. Scotty, she has to still be alive. She has to.”

“I know, I-” Scott took a breath. “We need a plan.”

---

“No!” Stiles argued. He was mostly dry now but you knew he was still cold in his bones. “Dude, you are not going back with them.”

“I made a deal with Deucalion,” Scott said.

“Does anyone else think that sounds a lot like ‘a deal with the devil’?” Stiles asked.

“What does it matter, anyway?” Isaac asked.

“He doesn’t think we can win without them,” you said. “Right? I mean, they killed our friends but it’s whatever so long as they kill her too, right?”

“Y/N, it’s not like that.” Scott sounded so defeated and you knew you were wrong to snap at him like that. He didn’t like them any more than you did.

“Circumstances like this,” Deaton started wearily, “Sometimes require that you align yourself with people you’d normally consider enemies.”

“So we’re gonna trust him?” Isaac asked. “The guy that calls himself Death, Destroyer of Worlds? We’re gonna trust that guy?”

“I wouldn’t trust him, no,” Deaton answered. “But you could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may be the enemy, but he could also be the bait.”

It was quiet enough for you all to hear the sound of the door creaking in the entryway. You heard one of the twins asking Deaton if they could speak to Lydia.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I need your help,” he said.

Stiles stuck his head out to glare at him. You felt Isaac squeeze your hand lightly to distract from the overwhelming feeling of jealousy that spiked. “With what?”

“Stopping my brother and Kali from killing Derek.”

---

The plan that formed after that was arguably not your best plan, but it was the plan you were going with nonetheless. Lydia and Ethan went to the loft (Hale Duty); Allison, Isaac, and Scott went to her apartment (Weapons and Cavalry Duty); and you and Stiles went to find your parents (Rescue Duty).

“Will you cut that out?” Stiles asked, annoyance in his voice.

“Stop what?” you asked, still sounding annoyed.

“Bouncing your leg like that and ripping apart my seatbelt,” Stiles answered. “I get you’re mad at me for the Lydia thing but-”

“You think this about you and Lydia?” you asked and rolled your eyes. “Stiles, we are driving through one of the biggest wind storms I have ever seen to save our parents from getting ritually sacrificed. Sorry that I’m a little jumpy.”

Stiles sighed and slowed down slightly. “I’m sorry, alright?” You didn’t answer. “I didn’t know she was going to kiss me. You’ve gotta believe that I- that I wouldn’t-”

“Tree branch!” you yelled. In the time it took Stiles to look back to the road and swerve, you’d already been hit. And when he swerved, he lost traction underneath and the Jeep crashed into the tree in front.

You recovered quicker than he did, but you could feel the blood running down your forehead. As long as you could still move, you didn’t really care about the other injuries you might have. “Stiles?” No answer. You struggled to unbuckle and moved his head off the steering wheel, laying him back in his seat. “Stiles, I need you to wake up.”

You got out of the car and rushed to his side when he didn’t respond. You threw open the door and laid the seat down. “Stiles, can you hear me?” Nothing. You cursed and climbed on top of him, checking to see that his throat was clear. Time for CPR, you guessed. You didn’t know what else to do.

“Okay, listen to me, you little-” you bent down to give him air “-I don’t care that you made out with my best friend. I just-” air “-Need you to wake up. Okay?” Air. “I can’t lose you. Stiles, I- I love you-” air “-and if you die, I’m gonna kick your ass. Alright?” Air. It wasn’t working. “Come on, Stiles, please. I need you to-”

“Ow,” he groaned. “What the hell are you doing on top-”

“Oh, my god. There’s no time!” You pulled him up so he was sitting. You were still in his lap. “Can you see? How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Uh, three?”

You looked at your two fingers that were up in a peace sign and sucked in a breath. “Good enough. We need to go.”

The two of you started stumbling, rather messily, to where you thought the nemeton stood. Stiles made you stop to get his bat out of the car and you grabbed your baton from your bag. The ground was collapsing around the nemeton, and it took you guys a minute to find your way inside. Isaac was struggling under the weight of it all. Stiles shoved the bat into the space to give some support, and you did the same with your nightstick.

“I always said aluminum was better than wood,” Noah said. Stiles pulled him into a hug, but their celebration was short-lived. The rubble was quickly filling what was left of the cellar around you.

Melissa pulled you close before you had the opportunity to say anything, and you felt the tears fall on your cheeks. Your mom was whispering all these things about how you were together now and that everything would be okay, but you weren’t listening.

“We need to get out of here,” you said. “Isaac, can you-”

“The eclipse’s started,” he said. “I can’t do anything.”

Turns out, he didn’t need to. In a few seconds, the wind slowed to a stop. The rubble wasn’t encroaching your space.

“Is it over?” Allison asked.

You all slowly took your hands off what was left of the roof, and Stiles reached for the phone in his pocket. “Scott? Yeah, we’re okay. We’re all okay.” He smiled at you, and for the first time all day, you smiled back. “How about you, you okay?” He paused, listening for an answer. “You think you can come get us? Oh, and, uh, bring a ladder. Please.”

---

“Listen, uh-” you looked up to find to Cora standing in front of you. Even though the world as you knew it had pretty much changed forever last night, Cora coming into the library to find you was the most surprising thing today. “Derek says you and Stiles are the only reasons I’m still alive and, um, I don’t know how much of a help he was so I, uh, just wanted to say thank you.”

You moved your bag over so she could sit. “Well, I mean I was the one that technically saved your life. He just kept us from being mauled by the twins so …”

Cora gave you a small smile and sat down. “I’m not really good at this,” she confessed. “Making friends, I mean. But you seem like a good first time.”

You were going to make a joke about promising to be gentle, but you didn’t think she’d find it funny so you kept quiet.

“I know this is sudden but Derek and Peter are going away for a little while.” She looked down. “I was wondering if I could stay with you until they get back. I- I can stay on my own, if it’s a problem, but I didn’t really want to be alone again.”

“It’s not a problem,” you promised. “But we are going to have to ask my mom.” Cora nodded. “And she’s going to make you go to school.” She paled. “But I’ll help you! Seriously, anything you have a problem with.”

“I guess-” she took a deep breath. “That’s a part of being normal. And the only reason I’m not going with them is that I want to be normal so … when can we talk to your mom?”

Part 14

#stiles stilinski #stiles stilinksi x reader #stiles slow burn #stiles stilinksi imagine #mccall!reader #so close #teen wolf #teen wolf au #teen wolf rewrite

115 notes · View notes

m39 · 4 years

Text

Beyond Canonical Extravaganza - YEAR 1: Chapter 12

youtube

You tried to say something for over an hour with no progress. All you did was screaming into your pillow, staring at the floor, cursing more than an armada of drunk sailors, and more. Before all of that, you had been staring at this picture for around twenty minutes:

You are now sitting. Your head is on your desk. All you can think of right now is to grab some Skooma right in front of you and-

NO!!!!!!

No! I will not succumb to another alcohol libation like that one time with the weaboo troll from Hiveswap: Friendsim! I still must rant about this one thing that will make you public enemy #1 in Homestuck’s fandom’s eyes if you say anything bad about it!

Because hey, if you couldn’t catch up with my clues in the past, let me scream it in your faces right now:

I DON’T FUCKING LIKE FLUSHED DAVEKAT!!!!!

gasps

Yeah! You fucking heard it! And I’m confident to say it since the worst cesspool from this site moved to Twatter after the NSFW purge of 2018!!

huffs & puffs

Okay… okay… Let me calm down in a minute.

sigh…

Let me explain myself. The truth is that there are worse, more nonsensical ships in Homestuck, canonical or not. Now that I can think about it, flushed Davekat is painfully mediocre as one person told me (I am not going to tell who for their own safety). Unfortunately, it is still my least favorite ship because this shit is everywhere! Almost every Homestuck artist I saw, drew this ship at least once. And most of the time, it was in the style of UwU Daveu-kun, Karkato-kun, kawaii desu UwU shit. If I had a gun pointed to my head to say which ship from Homestuck is the most overrated, it would be this one. I think I only liked two artworks with flushed Davekat and only because of the funny factor they generated. And you know what’s the saddest/funniest thing about all of it? I think that the Pale Davekat is really fucking good, to the point that I might consider it my BroTP.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t like this or draw fanart of it etc. I’m just saying that I don’t like this ship. Nothing more to add.

Now since the rant is over (or at least the bigger part of it), let’s hypothetically say that I am a fan of flushed Davekat. Would I still like what happened in Homestuck^2?

…

No. I don’t think I would. You wanna know why? Because it’s not the Alpha timeline. It’s the Meat timeline, and characters from this timeline (and the Candy cesspool) are not canon. So why should I care about a ship that isn’t even from the Alpha timeline? Hmm? Exactly.

Is there at least something worth talking about? Well…

Umm…

Ergh…

This line from Dave was pretty good:

And uhm…

I…

There is…

There is nothing.

…

Seriously, there is nothing to say about this chapter. Half of it is just Dave having personal drama and Karkat telling him to pull himself together, while the other half is shit that I explained earlier. Just yesterday I was praising the quality of the previous chapter! What the fuck happened!? This chapter feels like fanservice stuffed filler to make Homestuck’s fanbase forgive this comic’s more controversial aspects.

I didn’t even mention how Davekat was partially forced upon by Doc Strider because he wanted his OTP to be true, just like Caliborn before him.

And now, I’m done with this. I’m done talking about it. Let’s hope it will be the last time I talk about it (for a long time at least). But hey, look at the bright side! It can’t get any worse from no-

You suddenly memorized that the last, two chapters of YEAR 1 are in the Candy timeline.

You finally snapped.

a few hours of alcoholic euphoria later

OOOhhhhhhhhhhh yyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeee brother! Imma li-lizard kingi!! 8D

You suddenly hear a loud knocking. Even though you can barely stay on your legs, you manage to reach the door and open it. Behind it, there is a bunch of robe-dressed individuals. Some of them wear accessories based on Dave and Karkat. Others have their skin painted in gray.

Oki Doki towel aaaaaaaAAAAAAAsses. I’m gonna hic say it only once… Ge- belch Get back to that game y- you came from. I’m not interestit into Cabal POOOOOOOOORRRRRRN! YA GOT DAT?!?!

Cultist: Salvete haereticus reputandus.

Pardon me?

Cultist: Non vidistis quod de nostra religione dixisti.

Polish, please?

Cultist: Nos, autem membra non sustinebunt gentes, quæ non CabalCo DavidKattus darent, neve macularent.

Wait wha- OH!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! You must be the fans of CatDaVe!!

Well excuuuuuuuse me, princess, but I’m n-n-nooooooOOOOOOOT a fan of this shippppppppFFFFFFFFFFF! Butt eeyyyyyyyy… We can sti-still accept that nobody is the same and… hic oh god… and not everyone will like a certain ship, rrriiight????

The cultists say nothing for a while. Suddenly they pull their weapons out of their robes.

Cultist: GEROXE BIBOX MALAX!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

technical difficulties

#homestuck #homestuck 2 #homestuck meat #chapter 12 #review #dave strider #karkat vantas #Beyond Canonical Extravaganza

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overplannedbutunnamednpc · 4 years

Note

otp askboys!! for kiya/timeless: 1 15 17 23 for hmmm... gladelent 5 13

sam i owe you my life and livelihood for asking about kiya/timeless, the ship only i care about with absolutely no “canon” interaction except in my own head because i’m a bastard who Just Thinks They’re Neat.

Kiya/Timeless:

1. What are things they both find funny?

it didn’t use to be like this, but i think at this point kiya does find humor in the fact that she has no Fucking clue what timeless’ deal is, and timeless has always found it funny that No One knows what their deal is. also, I think they both find a great deal of humor in the antics of MFU and MFL. timeless tends to know things kiya doesn’t know, and kiya tends to know things timeless doesn’t know. makes for a good time!

15. What are traits they dislike in one another?

kiya doesn’t actually like that timeless keeps so many secrets. she really likes Knowing things and having Information, and timeless’ whole Thing is that fucking no one knows what their deal is. they protect that jealously, and even if kiya understands that there are some things that she will not be able to know, and things that she will not be told, she still very much dislikes that she has to take “you just don’t know and no one will tell you” as an answer.

timeless dislikes kiya’s apparent inability to treat herself. they very much believe that when you find something or someone good, you should take it with no hesitation, and keep it as you would keep something precious. kiya will like, tell them that she doesn’t know if she should have x or y because of her past and her guilt, and they will just go ???. part of this is because guilt is a bit of a foreign concept for them, but they also very much admire kiya regardless and quite dislikes that she tends to deny herself basic hedonism and indulgence.

17. What senses (sights, smells, feelings, etc). remind them of each other?

timeless is reminded of kiya with most magical things. this is partially because of their deal with her/MFU, and the fact that they do produce magical items for MFU and are usually thinking of that when looking at magical items. they also very much like chocolate for kiya-related reasons - she has a usual “coffee” order that is basically hot chocolate, and she tends to have one in hand when stopping by, trying to catch timeless out of their shop somehow. they have come to associate that smell with kiya.

kiya is reminded of timeless when addressed with a certain Tone, that tends to be accompanied with a smile you can hear and a “kiyaaaa” on an exhale. she associates the cheery ding! of a bell coming into a building with timeless. there’s also the drape of any heavy fabric, especially velvet, like on a cloak or skirt or robe. anything heavy and clearly form-hiding. she also has a very strange positive association with the smell of ozone, because timeless tends to smell as such when he comes to the storefront from “””””the back””””””.

23. Write a ~300 scene between them with no dialogue, only body language.

Kiya is looking the selections of hempen versus silk rope, considering how much she’ll need to pick up for the new adventurers, who apparently haven’t learned yet that tying themselves together in a dangerous part of the Underdark is never a good idea, and lost most of their adventuring kits as a consequence.

She’s also waiting, though she doesn’t know that she will cop to that.

The employee currently behind the counter of Timeless’ Highgrasp shop looks bored, their job pretty much done when she came in, they asked her if they could help her with anything, and she had politely declined. She has the feeling that they know she’s waiting.

She loops the hempen rope around her arms a few times and has just moved on to the pitons when she hears a barely-there whisper of thick fabric dragging along the floor and turns around.

Timeless’ prettily polished leather beak is pointed down, towards the rope that she has, admittedly, ruined the display of. They are fixing it, their gloved hands quick and deliberate. Kiya moves on, to quick-packed dry rations, and watches over her shoulder as Timeless, deliberate, moves to fix the pitons she left.

It’s about then that Kiya starts smiling. Mostly because she didn’t actually mess up the piton display, and this is very clearly teasing, at least, as teasing as Timeless can be without actually speaking or showing facial expression.

She flits around the store for the next few minutes, shadowed by her fabric-draped dance partner, smile slowly blooming into a grin. From rations it’s candles, then vials of oil. She stops at the ink bottles only to rearrange them, without picking any up, and moves on to the soap.

Once her arms are most of the way full and she can’t justify staying any longer despite her shadow, Kiya turns around, and almost smacks into a beak as a result. She schools her grin into a (badly acted) expression of shock. “Timeless! I didn’t see you there! Can you ring me up?”

“Ah, Kiya! Of course, my sweet, I didn’t notice you either. Come with me.”

Glade/Relentless:

5. What activities do they enjoy together?

from rp experience: glade and lent making fun of mfu Very funny and good. see: the conversation about what the hell happened with zaani. I think it’s VERY funny if one of their together activities is being A Little Messy. like not a lot because lent is very much lawful good. but also. i feel like she still gets a little >:3 when glade is like “guess what damien Ate Shit at the farmers market today” bc. who doesn’t wanna hear about damien crownsguard faceplanting into horse shit.

13. Name something they would never do for the other person.

I think glade might draw a line at lent actually going back to the crownsguard, without any apology from the crownsguard/amaunator/etc. like if lent just went “maybe I was wrong? i’m going back to be ground under their heels again like i’m not the most luminous person anyone will ever have the privilege to meet” then glade literally might have to go. okay. i will not let you bring our daughter into that kind of thinking and i am sorry that i was not able to convince you that you are worth more than anything they say of you, but our (my) daughter will never be told that she is nothing without the law to tell her who she can be.

#spaghettoland #human kiya #timeless #glade

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mooberg · 5 years

Text

Among the Statues

Chapter 4: Polishing Stones

And here’s chapter 4 friends! Not much to say about this one except I’m sorry. Don’t read if you’ve had a bad day but I feel like that’s just standard operation with my stuff now...

Word Count: 4017

No warnings except angst

Enjoy!

The sky was just barely beginning to lighten when they arrived back on campus. Gamma didn't say much. She had learned pretty early on that when Horns got like this, he just needed space. But that was a commodity they couldn’t afford in that moment, so she kept him moving forward, but at his own speed. The sprawling fields that made up the campus grounds came slowly into view as they crested a hill. Between trees and buildings, statues dotted the greenspaces. This was a sight they had become uncomfortably familiar with in such a short span of time. Gone was the hope for some sort of movement, some sort of break from this curse. But replacing it was determination. As they walked in step, Gamma glanced over to him, seeing that same emotion spark in him.

“We have to keep strong.” She murmured. “For them.”

Horns nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath. “For them.”

The dorm's curtains were drawn shut, no light slipping past to give away their position. With the violent confirmation of another unfrozen virus existing somewhere in the Capitol, and likely the one who caused this whole mess, they couldn't risk being found. Gamma had even elected to ditch the motorcycle early and walk into campus, avoiding any attention drawn by the noise. If the two of them were responsible for leading someone back to their team, they’d never forgive themselves.

The team was still awake when they entered, collapsed in the living room defeated and deflated. It was easy to read the worry and frustration on their faces. They had never done anything to quite this scale before, and the toll it took on them was great. Psi stood when he caught sight of Horns, his expression unreadable.

“I know, I know.” Horns sighed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “That was stupid and reckless and impulsive, and I shouldn't have run. I just...”

Psi remained neutral as Horns' hands dropped to his sides, the rest of him deflating along with them.

“I've never... I haven't... all those people. Gone. And we were too late- I was too late... I just don't know.”

“I understand.” Psi's softened tone had Horns looking up in surprise. “That is no easy thing for anyone, particularly the lot of you. It is different for us. Gamma, myself, and... the others. We have seen... we know. In your case, I should not forget that. I am thankful you have not experienced these things, until today in any case, and I hope they only change you for the better. Many lives were lost because of this, let us continue forward for them.”

“We have to keep going.” Gamma added. “With all the craziness going on this is far from the last thing we'll be up against.”

“But we don't even know what we're up against.” Equo countered. “Or who.”

“Maybe if Horns has another vision...?” Jolly offered.

Horns nodded. “Could be some more clues, I guess.”

“Then you should all get some rest, if you can.” Psi said. “I can see in your faces how tired you are. You have done good work today. We will strategize where to go from here when you wake.”

For the second time that night, the team split to their respective rooms. Horns shut his door with a sigh, resisting the urge to hit his head against it. He let his emotions get the better of him, and that could have cost them so much more than just some wasted time. This was not going to be an easy situation, and he needed to keep his head on straight or there was no telling what could happen. He turned, heading to his bed, as a calming scent met him. The little spider plant Psi had given him sat on his desk, now inexplicably sprouting lavender. It reminded Horns of the numerous times Psi had aided him in his meditations, including that fateful day he discovered his mind diving powers. The very power that now possibly held the key to ending this curse. He smiled as he turned off the light, thanking his mentor silently as a deep sleep took him.

~~~*~~~

“... which begs the question of why. Why would someone freeze an entire city- or... well we still don't know how far this goes. But why freeze an entire city and just do nothing?”

“But they didn't do nothing.”

“True. But then. Then. If you're going to freeze and then... smash an entire city, why do it little pieces at a time? Why not just steamroll everything? If that is your intention. And then if that's not your intention, why freeze anybody at all? Someone with access to magic this powerful could easily have controlled everyone in a multitude of different ways. Why frozen?”

“Maybe it's Elsa.” Horns suggested, groggily stepping out of his room to Jolly's conspiracy rambles. She, Callow and Glitch were in the living room.

“But if it was Elsa, she wouldn't have frozen everybody, now would she?” Jolly continued, a wild glint in her eye. “And when she realized what she'd done, wouldn't she have tried to reverse it? Or reached out for help? Or made her presence known in some way?”

“Well there aren't any reanimated snowmen wandering around and the skies are clear so I think we can rule that one out.” Callow said, his voice suggesting Jolly had been at this for a while.

“So then if it's not Elsa, who is it?” Jolly asked. “Who would have frozen an entire city- or is it not freezing at all? Is it something else? Is it-”

“Jolly?” Horns softly cut her off and she glanced over at him with wild eyes. “I don't have nearly enough coffee in me for this. Do you think you could cool it on the Unsolved rambles here?”

“Fine, but we'll continue this later.” She pointed at him in a way that somehow managed to be threatening.

He just nodded, heading into the kitchen as his nose registered the smell of coffee. Callow watched him go, popping up on his knees on the couch to ask over the cushions,

“How'd you sleep? Get any spooky-ooky visions?”

“They are premonitions, you dick, and no. Nothing.” Horns replied. “Where're Gamma and Psi?”

“Sleeping.” Glitch said, glancing over at the closed office door. “Cal and I kicked 'em out when we woke up a couple hours ago. Figured we'd let them rest too, they need it just as much as we do.”

Horns just nodded in understanding, pouring way too much sugar for anyone but him into his coffee before returning to the living room. A small alert noise sounded from Callow's tablet where it rested on the coffee table, drawing everyone's attention.

“Ah shit.” Callow dove for the device, swiping it open quickly.

“What does your padlet have to say?” Horns asked.

“It's a tablet, Horns.” Jolly corrected.

“Whatever, technology's weird.” Horns dismissed her.

“Ok Victorian-er.” Glitch smirked.

“Movement detected in Que Village. I synced our surveillance to my tablet so I could monitor on the go. Even after all this is done, I'll be able to see anywhere in the Capitol any time I-” Callow cut himself off, quickly glancing between his teammates. “Uh... Psi definitely does not know about this.”

“Cal-”

“And it's going to stay that way unless a certain someone wants Psi to find out what happened to the cactus Sammy bought us.” Callow said pointedly. Glitch's mouth shut with an audible click.

“Should we wake the others?” Jolly asked. “What's the commotion?”

“I just got coffee...” Horns grumbled quietly.

Callow was silent for a few moments, swiping quickly between things on his screen. Finally, he sighed, “no. It was just some deer.”

“Good. I'm finishing this coffee.” Horns continued to grumble.

“So what you're saying is, we have no new leads.” Glitch huffed, staring dejectedly at the ceiling.

“Yes, but why is this happening anyway?” Jolly asked. “What possible motive-”

“Jolly oh my god.” Callow cut her off.

“Look, I'm just saying.” Jolly held her hands up innocently.

“If it were me, and I had that kind of power, there's definitely a few dozen people I'd want to freeze so I didn't have to worry about them being mean to me, or getting to me, or think about them in any way ever again. I'm not saying I'd smash them, necessarily, but-” Horns cut himself off, glancing up to three surprised expressions as he registered what he was actually saying. “Uh... I mean... y'know, people suck and all and some people wouldn't be missed- uh not that I'd do anything to them or anything, but it's crossed my mind- I'm just going to shut up.”

“Might wanna chug the rest of that coffee, Horny.” Glitch suggested. “You have no filter when you're tired.”

“He makes a fair point though.” Callow said. “For someone to go after everyone in a city, they aren't trying to get back at specific individuals, they're trying to get back at the city itself.”

“We're looking for a deeply angry person.” Jolly agreed. “Someone like that... there's really no telling what they'd do next.”

~~~*~~~

The two of them slept a dreamless sleep, limbs tangled together in a desperate attempt to hang on to something. Anything. Whatever they still had left. Psi grabbed hold of Gamma the minute they found warmth under the comforter of his futon, not letting go even as the two fell asleep. An exhausted kind of rest that came from a day of suppressed raw emotions. Fear, anxiety, loneliness. Their family had been bigger once. They, the 99 that remained, couldn't afford to lose another. But staring into that courtyard and not knowing if that orange was Tripoli or the shop owner three doors down...

And Psi, in his deepest thoughts, can't help but think how much easier it would be with her there. Tripoli, Foxtrot, anyone. And he wakes, tears silently sliding down his cheeks, mingling with Gamma's. He wants his family. He wants Rho. Yoke. Kilogramme. He wants his parents. With his eyes closed, he can almost pretend the arms wrapped around him are Sammy's. At least he knew Sammy was safe. But everyone else...

Gamma's arms tighten around him in her groggy state, thinking for just a moment it's Beta. Waiting for just a moment for the twins to burst in and demand her attention. But she knows. She's already felt the absences across the mind link. She just wants to talk to Juliette again. Hear her comforting voice soothing her worries. She can almost feel the warmth of Quebec wrapping her up in one of those hugs that makes the world melt away. But the world doesn't melt away. She opens her eyes and blinks groggily until the fog of tears clears. Until she can look up and see Psi. Her brother. The only other one left.

Slowly his eyes open too. Slowly, the two of them face the world. Slowly, he pulls her in closer. And the tears don't stop. Not yet. Loss doesn't work like that, even if it's not technically loss. It's as good as.

These are the thoughts that sustain their grief until there's no tears left.

But then Psi remembers Sammy's laugh. Gamma remembers Quebec's proud smile. Psi remembers Sammy's soft voice in the morning. Gamma remembers Beta playing fetch with all their dogs. They remember the mansion, and how it was never truly quiet. They remember Victor humming to himself as something bubbled on the stove. They remember Prep scaring them in the middle of the night when she hung from the ceiling. They remember Liverpool singing to his heart’s content. They remember feeling at home. Finding a family. Feeling safe.

And they get up. They wipe away the tears and square their shoulders. They have a job to do. They have a city to save.

They have a family to save.

~~~*~~~

The rest of the team woke eventually, slowly filing into the now quiet living room. The mood was still low from their nighttime excursion, the memories fresh in their minds. They kept themselves distracted in their own ways, but the waiting was uncomfortable.

“See anything last night?” Equo asked Horns cautiously when she flopped into an armchair, somehow managing not to spill her coffee.

“No, but... now that I’ve had some time to wake up and think about it…” He frowned, letting out a nasally sigh. “I felt weird all night.”

“Weird how?” Gamma leaned over the back of the couch.

“Like... restless.” Horns said. “Like I couldn't relax, I didn't feel safe.”

“I mean... we kind of all feel like that right now.” Glitch replied.

“Yeah... I guess so.”

“What're we supposed to do now?” Jolly asked Psi as he, too, slipped into the living room, sitting on the ottoman under the TV.

Psi and Gamma shared a glance. “With no new leads or inclinations, our best bet would be to patrol the city.”

“The whole city?” Equo exclaimed.

“But,” Gamma cut in, “since most of you are inexperienced in that field, and since Callow's set up surveillance, that doesn't seem necessary.”

“Besides, this person could strike anywhere in Dashland.” Psi added.

“So... we just sit here?” Glitch slumped into the couch.

“That about sums it up.” Gamma confirmed.

“Well I’m going to meditate.” Horns said. “If I dive any of you, I'm so-”

His words were cut off by the sharp alert once again blaring from Callow's tablet.

“What is that?” Psi asked cautiously, familiar with Callow's antics.

“Surveillance.” The gator virus responded quickly, not focusing on his mentor. “Linked the two. Movement detected...”

“Is it deer again?” Glitch asked wryly.

Callow ignored her, swiping furiously at his tablet in a completely different manner from last time. At his silence, the whole team tensed.

“I don't... know.” He said finally. “There's movement but I can't tell what. And it's getting closer.”

“How close?” Gamma asked lowly.

“About... 50 kilometers from here.”

“That's close.” Equo breathed.

“We should go investigate.” Gamma decided, standing straighter to assume a more authoritative image. “Everyone gear up, I want us out in ten or less.”

The team rushed away quickly, gathering any necessary equipment. Horns stopped Callow in the hallway.

“Are there... any densely populated areas near there?” He asked.

“No, it's mostly just forest. Let me see...” Callow buried his nose back in his device and Horns waited with little patience. “Actually, here. It's close to campus. Rotherglen Park, it's got a lot of picnickers.”

“Let me see.” Horns reached for the tablet, thankful when Callow released it easily.

“No, you can't- Horns, hold it by the edges so you don't swipe-”

“I got it, I got it-”

“Just- come on, let me get you back to the right screen-”

“I can do it-”

“No you can't-”

“Yes I can-”

“We've been over this. Just- there.”

Horns shot him a half glare before focusing in on the screen. His pulse peaked violently as he gasped, “I know this place. I know- I've seen it before. Gamma, Psi!”

“What?” Gamma spun around to him, Psi leaned out from behind her, his interest also piqued.

“They're going to hit Rotherglen Park.” Horns said. “I'm sure of it.”

“How sure?” Psi asked.

“I'd bet my life.” He replied, the echo of “you may have to” clear in his mind.

~~~*~~~

Clouds had blown over the sky, heavy with the promise of rain, by the time the team hit the woods. It was hard to tell whether the stillness of the forest was due to an impending storm, or something bigger. Horns had never experienced such quiet among these trees before, and he found himself bracing for impact.

“How much further?” Peony asked over the comms.

“Just over a kilometer. Should start to see the trees thin soon.” Callow replied, tucking his tablet back inside his bag.

“Get low and stay quiet.” Gamma ordered. “We're not going to let whoever's doing this harm anyone else, but we need to get a read on them before spooking them off.”

Horns gave a nervous hum. “Got a bad feeling about this...”

“Let's just hope it's not like last time.” Callow said.

The trees did start to thin a few minutes later, allowing glimpses into the field beyond. Through the branches, they began to make out shapes. Faces. People; still as intact and frozen as the rest. In their own ways, the members of Gamma-Psi reacted in relief.

“Looks like we beat 'em here.” Glitch commented.

“And somehow I don't like that thought.” Equo replied.

“Now we wait.” Psi said. “Fan out and hide.”

The team did as directed, scattering along the northeastern edge of the park. Their footsteps were dulled by the now gently falling rain, and they were all secretly thankful for at least something to cut the silence. Thunder rolled far off in the distance, solidifying the threat of a heavy storm.

“You gotta admit, the ambiance is pretty dope.” Glitch said.

“Quiet, Glitch.” Psi scolded over a smattering of agreements from the team. Gamma just smiled at his ever-suffering sigh.

A resounding crack echoed from the south end of the park, louder than thunder but just as alarming. A maelstrom of swirling wind and debris broke free of the trees, leaving a swatch of broken branches in its wake. One of these trees, a large old oak, broke toward the parkland.

“That family...”

“It's gonna smash them!”

“Psi...”

The 99er acted with barely a twitch, branches from a nearby tree growing rapidly to entwine with the oak. The whole team let out a breath of relief. The small windstorm slowed in the middle of the field, noticing the change in the treeline. There was an area clear of any viruses, and it began to lower itself down into the clearing, shrinking in size as it approached the ground. It burst with a nearly audible pop, dropping the virus who had been inside the last few feet to the ground. And finally, Gamma-Psi could see just who they were up against.

Her dark brown hair fell about her shoulders haphazardly with the dying wind, coming to rest on a black cloak covering a simple red and black dress. Her dark skin was accented by fine features, and dark red veins, which pulsed quickly as she looked around with eyes that could not keep her soul at bay. The deep red wisps floated up to mingle with the falling rain.

“There's no use hiding from me!” She called out, voice strong but soft. “I know you are there.”

“What do we do?” Glitch asked over the comms.

Psi and Gamma shared the briefest of looks before he stood, striding his way out of the treeline.

“There you are.” The woman greeted almost warmly. “I must say you are not what I was expecting.”

“I am sorry to disappoint.” Psi replied, crossing his arms in front of him. “What, perchance, were you expecting?”

She just hummed thoughtfully. “So, do you have a name, tall dark and handsome?”

“Call me Nightshade.” Psi said. “And yourself?”

“You may call me Dragon, my dear.” She offered. “Now are you going to bring out your friends, or shall I?”

“How do you know I am not alone?” He asked.

“I know who resisted my spell.” Dragon leaned forward with a smile just a little too sweet. “And you are definitely not it.”

Psi held her gaze for a moment as he mulled over the decision. Eventually he let out a small sigh, waving the team forward without looking.

Dragon took in the team as they emerged with an exaggerated expression of surprise. “My, my, quite the group you have here.”

“Well, you have raised some concern.” Psi said.

“What do you want?” Jolly asked. “Why are you doing this?”

“My reasons are my own, sweetheart. I just want to know-” She cut herself off as her eyes landed on Horns. He had picked his way through the grass slowly as his stomach roiled with nerves. He looked up and froze as their gazes locked, intrigue washing over her face as she finished, “if you're going to stop me.” He squirmed under her gaze. It felt like she was dissecting him and undressing him at the same time.

“You're hurting innocent people.” He spoke up, trying to steel himself. “We can't let that stand.”

“Oh, my dear.” She jeered. “No one in this world is ever truly innocent.”

Psi cleared his throat and Dragon looked back to him. “Regardless, we wish to see this taking of lives come to an end. What can we do?”

“What can you do?” Dragon echoed mockingly. “You can stay out of my way.”

Psi barely had time to react as she slammed her foot into the ground, spikes of ice erupting forward to barrel into his chest. He managed to lessen the blow with vines sprouting from his arms but hit the ground hard as Dragon swiveled to face the others. Gamma shot up into the air, ready to strike as the team on the ground moved to retaliate. They all went to strike, falling back on the meticulous training of their mentors. She had quick reflexes, however, managing to rebuke them with a gust of wind, or a flash of ice.

The team froze at the familiar sound of Gamma’s laser canons firing off, waiting for the shots to land. Dragon threw up a wall of ice just in time, blocking her attack. When Gamma paused, Dragon threw the ice her way, freezing her wings solid. Psi and his venus fly traps rushed to catch her, the rest of the team momentarily distracted. That was all the time Dragon needed. Horns' attention had not wavered from her, but her intensity scared him, so he'd kept his distance. He watched with absolute dread as wind began to swirl around her, giving her a moment of protection as she murmured something too soft for anyone to hear. And he knew. Somehow, he just knew.

“No, don't-!”

There was a flash of bright blue-white energy, the wind bursting around her once again with an audible pop. The field once again lay still, seven new statues added to the garden. Horns had shied away from the blast, curling in on himself for protection from the debris caught up in the wind. He stood, taking in the sight of his team back in the terrifying state he'd found them just a day before.

“What did you do- what did you do to them?” Horns shouted. “Stop, let them go!”

“Hush now, my little psychic.” Dragon cooed at him. “It's just you and me.”

“What do you want?” Horns asked, stepping back guardedly.

She matched his step, not letting him gain any distance. “Oh, nothing yet. Soon, but not yet. I still have more to do before I can deal with you.”

“What are you planning?” He gripped his dagger tighter.

She brushed his question off, instead humming in amusement as she began to circle him. “How powerful you must be, little psychic, to resist my spell. Twice now, in fact. Not powerful yet, no, but the talent is there. Hidden. Oh, how I would love to shape that mind of yours. I could teach you so much. More than these people ever could. That potential is just waiting to be unleashed.”

“How would you know?” He scoffed. “You don't know anything about me.”

“Oh, I know more than you think.” She whispered smoothly.

“How?”

“You'll find out.” She said. “In due time.”

“Why in due time?” He asked. “You've got me here, without my team. Why don't you just finish it?”

She circled back around in front of him and he glared in her direction. “Because I am curious to see what you make of what's to come.”

With a twist of wind, she was gone, her figure disappearing with the falling sand that had been kicked up. Letting out a panicked breath, Horns turned to his team; frozen again. He was alone.

Again.

#lvc #larka's virus community #moo writes #i'm so sorry #also i've been sitting on this villain reveal for like 4 years omg #i'm a big fan #even though i kept having to stop myself from spelling her name dargon #also that chapter title took way too long #let me know what you guys thought #my fight scenes need work #among the statues

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brownskinsugarplum76 · 5 years

Text

Deceiving Looks, Pt. 1

I have several kiss prompts in my queue still from a few months back, and I’ve finally polished up the first bit of the next one. This comes from @callmethehunter's request and is for a forbidden kiss. I guess you could say this isn’t forbidden as much as it would be less likely... There are a few reasons why this couple would turn heads in the early 70s.

I intend to write more of this, including smut (this first installment is PG-13-ish). This is a fun pairing! ❤️❤️❤️

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

Robert makes his way to a bench and sits down before he stumbles again. He watches Bonzo stagger around the pool and through the front door of the hotel. He is too out of it himself at the moment to be of any use to his friend.

He sweeps his curtain of curls to the side and produces a joint that was resting inconspicuously behind his ear, and he pulls a slim pack of matches from his back pocket. He lights up. He figures any hotel staff unlucky enough to be walking the grounds at 5 a.m. will only care if he doesn't offer a puff or two.

He stretches his long legs but can't get any relief. His jeans are clinging to his body tighter than usual in the humid, cloud-covered Honolulu morning air, and he can't wait to peel them off for the last time before going to sleep.

He exhales, closes his eyes, and lets himself go from the frenetic dash to the show, the volley of energy thrown at the band from thousands of fans, and the good, bad and ugly of the groupies available for the choosing for hours after the final note had been played. He closes his eyes and smiles. It's good to be Robert Plant, he thinks. It has become a mantra for him when he gets homesick, or when the last journalists without a clue insist on writing negative reviews.

"You've got something there that I need, I think. May I?"

The voice is feminine, throaty, and assured. Almost seductive. His smile grows to epic proportions.

He prepares to feast his eyes on a lass who seems to have followed him back to the hotel, but his sexy comeback gets caught in his throat. Rather than a twenty-something in a t-shirt, jeans, and shorts, he sees pink heels, brown legs, and a rose-colored Chanel skirt, with its matching suit jacket draped over an arm ending with gold bangles and colorful rings. Above her white sweater shell, he finds the smiling face of a woman who, he's sure, always gets what she wants. Her poise is perfect as she stands, and a rolling suitcase rests next to her. She has the regal sensuality of Diana Ross, and the flawless makeup and hair to match. He smooths his hair a bit, but he knows it's a losing battle, after the night he’s had.

His smile falters. "Ma'am?" he stutters out. He realizes with horror that his accent must make it sound more like "mom" to her ears, and he can't fight the Mrs. Robinson fantasies that flood his still-sluggish brain. "Miss?"

“Your cigarette,” she says. She realizes that he’s a little out of it and smiles sweetly, waiting for him to come around.

“Well, ah, it’s not a typical cigarette, I’m afraid… It’s, uh--”

“--I know. Trust me, it’s exactly what I need right now… I hate flying." She sits down next to him and places her hotel key in her purse. She holds out a hand of slender, tapered fingers that have never seen a day of manual labor. Her smile is still open and encouraging.

“Oh… Ah, I see now... Here you go.” He passes his joint to the woman. “You’ll have to excuse me. I’m a little out of sorts… It’s been a long night and a long morning.”

“I see you’re a little worse for wear right now. But,” she says, brushing a strand of hair from his eyes, “I can also see that you’ll clean up really nicely. What a handsome face...” She takes another hit of the joint and passes it back to Robert.

“Now, what have you been up to all night long?” She crosses her legs slowly, and the look on her face is stern.

Robert stares blankly. He opens his mouth to speak, and then closes it. “Uh…”

“Relax! I’m teasing you. Besides, I think I can imagine...”

Robert puffs a couple of times before passing back to her. He curses himself inside for being so tongue-tied. He’s not sure why he’s at such a loss for words, but he’s hoping the edge will wear away soon, so he can give the mystery woman the full effect of his charm. He knows that she is enjoying making him nervous, but he senses that she would prefer a little more flirtatious back and forth, even if it feels like he’s the last person who should have her on his arm.

She smokes some more. “But I must ask: Where did you get the money for this? It’s top quality.” Her expression relaxes noticeably as the high slowly makes itself known.

“Ah… A fan of Acapulco Gold, then? It just has a way of showing up for us at the concerts, you know? I mean, certainly we have our favorite friends with the best of herbs, but it’s everywhere, wherever we are. Nothing but the best.” He takes the joint back and smokes some more.

“Concert? We? Are you in a band? Must not be an American band, by your charming accent.”

“That’s right, it’s a British band. Led Zeppelin’s the name. We have 4 albums out now, came together in 1968. Maybe you’ve heard ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on the radio?”

“Well, I just listen to Motown, but Led Zeppelin… I think that name sounds familiar... I do know there are a lot of young rock bands, a lot of them from England, making a lot of noise… Free, sexy noise... A bunch of wild boys, stirring up all kinds of feelings with their guitars… What’s your name, dear?”

“Robert. Robert Plant. I’m the singer for Led Zeppelin. And I know my fair share of Motown.” He grins.

“Do you, really? Sing something for me?” She crosses her legs the other way and gazes up appreciatively when Robert stands. She could tell his legs were long when she first saw him, but she’s not prepared for him to be so tall. She realizes that he’s wearing boots with heels, but still.

“I might be a little rough right now… The concert was about three hours long, and I haven’t had a second of rest since then…”

“Three hours? That’s a lot of stamina, young man...” The joint dangles in her mouth while she takes this information in.

Robert can feel his manhood slowly waking up. “Bloody hell, you’ve got as much cheek as me… Uh, excuse my French, by way of West Bromwich…”

“I’m used to hearing all kinds of language, so it doesn’t bother me. And don’t let the Chanel fool you; I’m originally from Harlem. So, which song are you going to sing for me?” She inhales more of the weed.

“Hmm… City upbringing checks out, I think, because that’s very New York minute of you, the way you cut to the heart of the matter… OK, miss…?”

“Call me Josephine, Robert.” She looks him in his eyes, but the bulge in his pants that stands defiantly at the edge of her periphery keeps tempting her to shift her gaze.

“Right. Here goes…” He smiles and takes a deep breath.

“If I have to sleep on your doorstep all night and day

Just to keep you from walking away,

Let your friends laugh, even this I can stand,

'cause I wanna keep you any way I can.

Ain't too proud to beg and you know it,

Please don't leave me girl,

Don't you go,

Ain't too proud to plead, baby, baby,

Please don't leave me, Jo,

Don't you go.”

“You clever devil… Slipping my name in! Wow… Bravo, Robert. Where’d you get so much soul and passion from? Your voice is so rough one minute, and then so loving the next. I… I can’t tell you how much I love the way it sounds…”

“How about you show me, if you can’t tell me?” Robert sits back down, grabs the joint and then stubs it out and places it in his pocket. He gazes in Josephine’s eyes, and his wry smile means that he’s back on his game.

He’s not sure where this brazenness is coming from or, more accurately, he has mixed feelings about propositioning an older woman. He doesn’t think he’s misread her flirting, but being with her doesn’t seem as easy as it is with someone more his age. But he doesn’t have long to ponder it, because her face draws near and her lips connect with his.

She grabs his hair. He realizes that passion is the same, no matter the age or color of the person at the other end of the kiss. He cups her face and invites her tongue to dance with his in a sultry tango.

“Somebody’s hit his stride, and I like it! Would you like to continue with me in my room, Robert?”

“Yes. Yes, Mis-- erm, Josephine. I think we have a lot we could learn from each other.”

“I think so, too…" She stands up. "Say, give me 20 minutes or so and meet me at my room? It’s room 548.”

“548… I’ll be there.” His eyes sweep her body, and by the time his eyes search for hers, he realizes she’s also appraising his youthful, athletic frame.

“See you soon, Robert,” she says over her shoulder as she wheels her suitcase toward the hotel.

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

The rest of my stories are here, or search for the hashtag #brownskinsugarplumlibrary.

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cowardsanctuary · 6 years

Text

Into the Object Hole:

Why is Nearly Every Object Show Flash-Animated?

(warning: a big, gigantic ramble generated by the mind of a comic artist)

I’m asking this question because I was bitten by the “Object Show” bug myself! It’s become a niche but easily replicated genre of its own within the animation community. Starting with the eponymous Battle For Dream Island (a show I think we’re all familiar with), we’ve seen many creators follow suit in the seemingly simple formula of having a bunch of inanimate objects participate in a game show-esque competition.

This is not to claim that Object Shows are unoriginal or overdone at this point: on the contrary. With the advent of resources for learning writing, animation, et cetera, I feel there’s a massive amount of potential that this community has, until now, mostly neglected. Battle for BFDI is, from what I can tell, reveling in its own, unique premise in the way it wants to. Inanimate Insanity’s second season has, as of late, recognized its potential to communicate a story about change and growth within individuals and the world around it. Unfortunately, I haven’t watched many shows, but I feel I’ve gotten my point across.

In another post, I asked about shows that didn’t use Flash, so i’m going to be responding to those before I embark on my tangent.

@apcwoc said: djshjksjhhdj most of the shows are probably done on flash because a lot of them were started when the og creators where much younger and flash is the easiest and most reliable to use when people start out animating

that’s a common thread i’ve been finding!! one of the earliest object shows, Animation Island by legotd61, was created a year after BFDI—and at the time, legotd61 was 7 years old. granted the animation & visuals aren’t the most jaw-dropping thing in the world, but they were a kid so it’s automatically charming. in like, a kid sense.

@demi-gray suggested Modern Objects as a non-asset-using show!

youtube

Unfortunately, it still relies on assets for arguably the most important visuals: the characters! They do use the capabilities of Flash more extensively than other shows (that I know of), which makes watching the characters do their thing a lot more fun and engaging. The unique style compared to other shows definitely helps out a lot as well!

@payjayisgod said: i mean, i do frame-by-frame all the time, but for the sake of saving time i’ll be using assets for the bodies (gonna try doing everything else with frame-by-frame) in my own series i’ll be making with some friends ^^“ if you wanna see my animations my youtube is Icedog McMuffin :0c

PLEASE show me your show when you do it, because your animations are!!! really cute!!! also i’d LOVE to see stuff that takes the path of Modern Objects: with asset bodies, yes, but everything else is done according to the needs of the visuals. Use your medium to the best of its ability!

@dottival said: I once saw someone who Wanted to do frame-by-frame, but they never got their show off the ground. Mostly because they never really started??

you can’t just. tell me this. and not say who this person is (unless they want their identity under wraps, which i’ll respect)!!!! I’d love to ask them about their thought process towards their show, unless they didn’t actually plan much. I want to do some... ReSearch....

Speaking of planning, the thing that enchants and haunts me most about object shows is how much is going on behind the scenes. This is for any animated show, really, because as a bitty comic artist, I had no clue where to begin. I’ve started to draft and worldbuild for my own show, but I can’t help but wonder how much of it is done for other object shows.

(this is a thumbnail for a setting on my show!)

The medium, by default, demands attention on the characters at the forefront. The premise generates interest, the aesthetics (aren’t necessary but) lead viewers in, and the subject(s) of the show is what keeps audiences engaged. No matter what the creator(s) choose as the subject, they must make sure it’s polished to their best abilities, while ensuring other elements of their medium is properly balanced.

If you’re creating a character-driven narrative, for example, you’ll want to focus on the development of your characters. And, since it’s easiest to relate to concrete characters, that’s what novice content creators focus on developing as their content’s primary subject (and what professional content creators master).

However, the development of, say, a character is more often than not put into the hands of the viewers. How? Viewer participation: having the audience vote off who leaves a competition.

An interesting concept as, typically, animated shows require oodles of planning in order to convey the story it wants to the best of its ability. This makes the typical object show a challenge (forgive the word-play) to pull off properly, despite being deceptively simple enough of a feat on the surface. Character development can be volatile, as any character can be booted off (depending on how well you can predict a character getting eliminated).

Following this, the difficulty of creating a cohesive and well-written story through the Object Show format is very, very high. After all, you need to place time in your resources as wisely as possible, in order to avoid taking too much time on an end product you may not even like a little while later. The elimination of one character may upset a part or the entirety of the show’s plotline, if a creator is not careful.

Inanimate Insanity’s writing was able to excel at its greatest the moment viewer voting was dropped. One of the best shows in this genre (in my opinion), Modern Objects, isn’t even an object show: it’s formatted like a sitcom, and focuses primarily on characters and comedy. The one object show I was able to find that was primarily frame-by-frame animation (thank you, @bfb-basard!), Race to the Mansion of Tomorrow, is 100% script-driven; meaning, no viewer participation. This is the same for a few other shows as well, though I am not aware of them at this point of time.

(a snapshot of my animation process: this is for an animation of my OCs Milt and Malt, put to the audio of Big Bill Hell’s Cars.)

So why Flash? The answer is because it’s just easier. Not in the sense that the animators of these shows are lazier, but because animating in Flash saves time. Unless you’re putting all your stops into your show, or the contestants will always be present / aren’t quite as important to the narrative, you absolutely cannot afford to waste time and energy on things that can get thrown away later. Either that, or you don’t know where a character or a plotline or what have you will build up to, so you want to make sure whatever you do make isn’t wasted.

(Granted, I always feel there’s always time for weird plots to be resolved until it’s the very end, but retcons are also an option?)

You see this video? It’s a pretty simple animation of just a little softball walking around.

It took me 2 or 3 hours, give or take, to finish. Nearly every frame is unique, and I drew them all with my hands and my tablet, nothing else. All moving parts are either animated in 2′s or 1′s—the latter of which being 1/24th of a second. There are 35 drawn frames overall, stretched out onto 127 individual frames that constitute the entirety of the animation.

In other words, this clip is 5 seconds long.

If you want to finish an object show within your lifetime, let alone within 5 years, then Flash will be your best friend. It’s good, revolutionary technology that will make your life easier. With Flash, you don’t have to draw things over and over and focus instead on the motion, not the artwork.

Not only that, but being able to finish in a timely manner will help smaller content creators as, since we’re small and have small audiences, not everyone has a long enough attention span to hang onto you for decades. Certain shows like BFB and Inanimate Insanity have the advantage of popularity, so they can take their time with both the show and life (but they’re still rushed by their audience anyways so it’s a double-edged sword).

If you want to tell a story, consider what medium you tell it through wisely. Animation isn’t the only way, but I know for a fact that, if I get there, my show will be frame-by-frame. Why? Because I consider the artwork and the motion in my story just as important as my characters, if not moreso. You might not.

You can make it 3-d animated, claymation, traditionally animated, digitally animated, Flash, frame-by-frame, what have you. You can write your show as a novel, a script, a screenplay, a radio play, what have you. You can illustrate it as a children’s book, a comic, a graphic novel, or even an illustrated novel.

One of my favorite shows, up there with Modern Objects, is a comic by @swabsbloo called Escape From Abject Reality (which you can read on it’s own blog at @efarwebcomic! Please read it! PLEASE READ IT! PLEASE!!! PL). Swabsbloo takes the premise of object shows and simultaneously puts it on its head while playing it straight: a bunch of objects wake up in an oddly absent field, only to figure out they’ve been trapped in a game show-themed death trap controlled (...?) by a(n apparent) sociopath named Snake Oil. You should read it. You should read their comic.

Hell, does your object show even need to be an object show? You can create stories that are beyond inanimate objects, or stories beyond competitions. Again, Modern Objects isn’t a competition show. You can base your characters off of objects as well, without needing to make them explicitly an object. The show I mentioned earlier, Race to the Mansion of Tomorrow, takes this latter approach for the most part!

youtube

As a storyteller, what I obsess about the most is storytelling. I love seeing all forms of it, and the potential that this community’s genre has astounds and fascinates me. The way in which we view the story doesn’t have to be important, but I find the ones I enjoy the most are the ones that utilize its medium to the best of its ability. It doesn’t have to be the best, it just needs to try.

So what do you want to try?

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