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ephemeralstark · 4 years

Text

Let This Moment Be the First Chapter

by @ephemeralstark for @where-rmysocks for the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange

Rating: T

Relationships: Tony Stark & Peter Parker

Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan

Summary: Peter Parker: intern, Spider-Man, has never met Tony Stark in his life.

Tony Stark: has to do a speech at Midtown, knocks a bully down a peg or two, almost gets shot but is saved by...his intern?

Note: so I kinda combined two of the prompts and I hope you enjoy ahhh!!

Click Read More! or read here on ao3

“This is such a waste of time,” Tony grumbled as he shrugged on his suit jacket, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see if Pepper was paying any attention to his dramatics – she wasn’t. “This is a school, and it’s going to be full of greasy, sweaty children who care about nothing more than who’s dating who and where they stand in the popularity ranks.”

“You were a kid once,” Pepper said, “were you like that?”

“Yes!” Tony said sounding exasperated, “Pep, I was exactly like that, I mean I was a genius of course, but I was still a stinky, greasy teen.”

“You need more interns and college students are great, but your image would be much better if you were showing an interest in the youth of America.” Pepper said, still not glancing up from her phone as she arranged Tony’s security detail for the day. “An internship with you could help these kids nail a scholarship or give them an edge over their competitors, and we need their knowledge to get an edge on our competitors.”

“Yeah, obviously, but Midtown?” Tony asked.

Pepper sighed and finally graced him with a stare of utter disbelief, “Tony, you have an intern who goes to school there.”

“I do?”

“Yes. Peter Parker, he’s fifteen, straight A student, has an interest in his extra-curriculars and he’s on his decathlon team.” Pepper said.

“How do you know all of that?” Tony asked.

“Because we moved him to R&D.” Pepper said. “Because he’s one of the best interns you’ve ever had and because he’s the kid you should want to keep, you need a brain like his – treat him well and he’ll take this company far.”

“You’re already organising my next in line?” Tony asked, arching an eyebrow at her. “Shouldn’t that be our kid?”

“We don’t have a kid.”

“Not yet.”

“Peter Parker.” Pepper repeated, placing a folder in Tony’s hands and ignoring his muttered ‘I don’t like to be handed things’.

Tony continued to grumble as Happy appeared and said the car was ready. He continued to grumble as they drove to the stupid school, and he even grumbled as he was surrounded by a rather impressive security team.

In fact, he didn’t stop until he was standing in the principal’s office. He paced back and forth as he listened to Principal Morita talk about how proud they were to have him there speaking to their students. It was the usual bootlicking, annoying speech that everyone gave – hoping to stroke his ego and get their school put up on a higher pedestal than all of the others, so Tony zoned out, that was until-

“I don’t mean to alarm you, but there is a certain student here,” Principal Morita said carefully, as though he was unsure how to word things, “he’s been through a lot, he was orphaned, his uncle died a few months ago, so it’s normal that he would act out a little-”

“Is he a threat?” Happy interrupted, hand resting casually on top of his suit jacket, but Tony knew full well what sort of weaponry lay underneath. He wanted to snap at Happy not to pull a weapon out in a goddamn school but thankfully he was beaten to it.

“No.” Principal Morita said quickly, “no, no, no, no threats here. It’s just he’s been making up some lies, he was caught talking about an internship with his friends – an internship with you that is.”

“Oh,” Tony muttered, rolling his eyes, before remembering that Pepper had mentioned they had an intern who went to school here, he hoped that no one was giving his intern any stick, “what’s the kid’s name?”

“Sorry?” Principal Morita asked, Tony wondered whether it was just the other school kids who were giving that kid a hard time, he really hoped that the teachers weren’t joining in too – especially if the story about his uncle only having passed away a few months ago was true.

“The kid who claims to be my intern, what’s his name?”

“Peter.”

“Oh Parker.” Tony said. “Yeah, that kid works for my company, in fact I was considering turning his internship into a paid one – he’s a great kid.”

Principal Morita seemed to turn a strange grey colour.

“You wouldn’t have given him any, I don’t know, detentions, would you?” Tony asked, eyes narrowing, “nothing that would go on his permanent record?”

“I’ll remove them instantly.” Principal Morita said, and Tony was satisfied to see a guilty look appear on the man’s face.

He wanted to plough on and make the man feel as shit as that kid had probably felt for being punished for a completely unfair reason, but a small throat clear from Happy convinced him to move on. He knew the security detail was anxious about the length of time he would be in the school and he wasn’t supposed to be dragging it out any further. He didn’t want to create more of a risk than there already was.

“Shall we then?” Tony asked.

Principal Morita seemed to remember the reason for Tony Stark being in his school, and he instantly jumped to his feet, bumping into his desk and knocking over his pen pot, “yes, yes, yes,” he said as he gathered them back up and made his way to the door, giving Happy a wide berth.

“The students will already be in the hall now, and I believe some of your bodyguards have taken the liberty to install temporary metal detectors and bag search everyone… thoroughly.” Principal Morita said.

“Standard practise.” Happy grunted.

“Yes, yes, of course, I quite understand.” The man said even though it was clear from the small frown on his face that he most definitely didn’t understand why they had done that.

How could he?

It wasn’t like there were people out for his blood. Well, maybe the odd parent or two, Tony paused thinking about the ruthless parents he’d come across in his time as they tried to convince him that their little cherub was the most important child in the world and should get a Stark Internship because of their family’s status.

Maybe Tony should lend the man his own security detail.

They walked into the hall and Tony was met with silence, he wasn't sure that he'd ever seen a hall full of students be so quiet, it was rather unnerving - this was all Pepper's fault, she could have done the presentation and offered up the temptation of an internship to the students, she was so much better at public speaking than he was and that was purely because he knew he would drop an 'f' bomb somewhere. He was incapable of not.

Thankfully the silence didn't last long, and Tony heard the whispers start to break out.

Tony Stark!

Iron Man!

Did you hear what The Bugle said about him last month...

My dad said that he once met Iron Man at…

I wish I was his kid, imagine what a life that would be…

Ha, Penis, I bet you're going to be so embarrassed when he exposes you for the fraud you are! Or rather, when he doesn't acknowledge you at all, because why would he? He has no idea who you are.

Well, that kid sounded like a delight, maybe Tony would prove him wrong - he was obviously talking about the intern that he actually didn't know, but would happily pretend to if it would improve the kid's chances at a peaceful school life. Although, maybe his good intentions would go wrong as the other kids may pretend to be his friend to get closer to Stark Industries, Tony had dealt with that a few times in his life.

"Alright, alright," Principal Morita said, standing slightly too close to the microphone, a squeal rang out through the hall and the students covered their ears with exclamations of annoyance, "settle down now, if you want to hear what Mr. Stark has to say then you all need to quieten down."

Tony watched as an excited hush fell upon the hall, some of the students looking as though they were minutes away from jumping out of their seats and launching themselves at him. For what reason though, he was unsure.

"Now, I know this week has been long and difficult," Principal Morita said, "between the tests and presentations you've all been through, you've all done remarkably well, but now we will finish off our career week with a speech from Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries. Over to you, Mr. Stark."

Principal Morita stepped back, leaving Tony to wonder what the hell sort of tests a school could be giving to its students during a career week - back in his day they had been the perfect time for a skive, and yet all of the students he was looking at had bags under their eyes and tired shadows on their faces. School had definitely changed from his time.

"Thank you Principal," Tony said politely, Pepper would be proud of him, "now, I know that you've probably had some great speeches this week, they have most likely inspired and motivated you all to look into the careers that are available to you and maybe some of you have already decided what path you would like to pursue - my speech will be nothing like those."

Tony paused while a few students laughed.

"I'm not known for being a perfect person, I've messed up in the past, I've had my fair share of scandals, but what no paper can say about me is that I don't know how to run a business - because I do," Tony said confidently, "I haven't created a worldwide brand out of my name for no reason - Stark Industries has changed the way we look at energy, we've changed the face of clean energy and we've adjusted all of our practices in the workplace to leave as little a carbon footprint as possible.

"You may be thinking, 'why? What's the point in that?' well, I'll tell you what the point is - we are trying to improve the environment and improve the way we view the world."

He noticed a few confused glances - they were probably wondering why Tony Stark was lecturing them on clean energy, after all he hadn't managed to fully get rid of the image of being a weapons producer yet, he was still viewed as that person even though he'd made a pretty big deal about removing himself from the market.

"I know, I know, what's the point of all of this?" Tony asked. "Why should you guys care what Stark Industries is doing to fix the world? Well, we've started employing interns to help us, we were employing college age students, but now we're reaching out to school kids. We want to pick your brains and figure out what you’re doing in your day to day life and figure out how we can use our technology to improve efficiency and reduce negative impacts on the environment."

A hand popped up.

"Yes?"

"So, you don't already have any school kids as interns?" A kid asked, and Tony recognised that voice as the one that had been calling the other kid 'Penis' earlier – likely the main bully of the kid that was his intern.

"Well, we have one that goes to this school," Tony said casually, grinning internally when the kid who had asked the question paled, "he's the reason I'm doing this speech here, in fact, because he's doing such a great job at his internship that me and my fiancé - Pepper - figured that we may as well try and get some more interns with a similar mentality as what he has, and where better than the place where he was taught, where his friends are."

Tony watched as the kid gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish - before he drove the final blow home.

"In fact, he doesn't know this yet, but he's going to have a final say on who we take on as new interns." Tony said. "We will do the shortlisting and then once we're down to five potential candidates we'll ask him who should get the job."

"B-but-" the kid stammered.

"Yes?" Tony asked.

"What if he's biased and chooses a friend?"

"Well if that friend has made it to the final five then they probably deserve the position." Tony said with a shrug. "So long as you're not bothering him, I don't think you should need to worry."

Tony realised that he had spent the whole time talking about the kid without even knowing which one he was, that and he'd made plans for the kid's future at the internship without actually making sure that he was alright with them.

"Anyway, now that we've addressed all of that; Peter Parker - can you come forward please?" Tony asked.

He scanned the students from behind his sunglasses, pleased that they would stop the rest of the hall from seeing that he had no idea who he was actually looking for. There was a small commotion somewhere behind the kid who had asked the question - the bratty bully - and a short kid with curly hair was pushed up to his feet by an unimpressed looking girl.

The kid was wearing a dorky T-Shirt with a science pun on it, he looked as though he was about to faint or run away and Tony wasn't sure which option would be the least embarrassing for them both.

"C'mon up here Pete." Tony said.

Peter apprehensively made his way up to Tony and stood a few metres away, casting side glances at the older man every now and then before returning his gaze to the floor.

"This is Peter," Tony said, "I'm sure you know him, probably better than I do, although I doubt you guys have had to deal with him stealing the last slice of pepperoni pizza and leaving you with the Hawaiian like a heathen."

Peter frowned as though he was wondering himself if that was something that had actually happened, or maybe he was offended at the insinuation that he didn't like pineapple on pizza - Tony wasn't sure and he wasn't convinced that he would want to know the reasoning behind it.

Pepper would have been better off doing this presentation - she wouldn't have hijacked it to prove a point to a stupid school bully. Why couldn't Tony just follow simple instructions? Give a speech, grab an iced coffee, go home. It would have been so much easier.

It turned out that Tony's decision to prove a point to a bully would save his life as four things happened in rapid succession.

Peter's head snapped up and he stared at Tony with a look of horror that sent fear spiralling through Tony's stomach.

A window shattered above them.

Tony was shoved to the ground by a force that he would have likened to that of being hit by a car.

A bullet imbedded itself into the wall just behind where Tony's head had been.

It was impossible. Peter had moved faster than the bullet, he had known where it had been intending to hit, but there had been no laser, no inclination that there was a gun on him, nothing - so how had Peter known? He couldn't have been behind the plot to kill him as he wouldn't have bothered to push him out of the way. Not only had he saved Tony, but he'd done it with such a strength that it made him suspicious.

"Kid?" Tony asked, looking at the child who was staring wide eyed at the hole in the wall. "Are you alright?"

"I- uh- yeah?" The kid muttered, making Tony keenly aware that he was not ok in the slightest.

Tony tried to push himself up but he found that Peter's hand was stuck to his suck jacket...but... his hand wasn't closed around the fabric - it was open, his palm was sticking as though there was glue or something on it, but that was impossible. People couldn't just stick to things, not unless they were- oh.

He was sticky. He had sensed the bullet coming. He moved faster than humanly possible. He was stronger than an average person.

The kid was Spider-Man.

"Come on kid, unstick yourself, people will notice." Tony murmured quietly, tugging on his suit jacket slightly to try and catch the kid’s attention again.

"I-" Peter's gaze shifted from the hole in the wall to his own hand and he stared at it as though it had betrayed him. He pulled it back to his own chest as though it had never been stuck in the first place. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Tony said, "I don't think anyone else noticed."

"Noticed what?" The kid said, as though he had any chance of denying the obvious.

"Tony!" Happy was there in an instant and they were surrounded by his security detail - it was like a wall between them and the outside world. "Are you alright? Did they get you anywhere?"

"No, the kid was in the right place at the right time apparently." Tony said.

"Should we be suspicious?" Happy asked, obviously wondering if it was more than a coincidence that Peter was there when he was needed.

"No." Tony said surely, feeling a headache forming behind his eyes from the stress of the near-death experience and the screaming of the students in the hall.

“This was meant to be cool.” Peter mumbled, a distinct whine in his voice, Tony was sure that he wasn’t meant to hear it.

“Happy, get us out of here.” Tony said. “The kid is coming back with us.”

And that was how Tony found himself standing in the middle of his workshop with a defensive kid sat on one of the workbenches both of them sipping sugary mugs of cocoa – to help with the shock of the day - as they watched a video of Spider-Man swinging in front of a bus and stopping it with his hands.

"That's you." Tony stated.

"No, it's not." Peter lied.

"Yes. It is."

"If you already know then why are you doing this?" Peter asked cocking his head in a mix of confusion and irritation.

"You saved my life." Tony said.

"So you're going to what? Expose my identity in thanks?"

"Are you always so sarcastic?" Tony wondered.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked, narrowing his eyes.

"For the last four months I've been keeping tabs on the Spider-Man, trying to figure out his motives, see if he's a threat - the usual shebang, you know?" Tony asked, Peter didn't answer but that had been expected. "And then I learn that it’s you, you're the Spider-Kid, why do you do it?"

"Do I need to have a reason?" Peter asked.

"Everyone has a reason for doing things, sometimes we don't know our reasons, but we always have them." Tony said.

"So maybe I don't know why I do it."

"That's a lie," Tony said instantly, "come on kid, cut the bullshit, why do you do it?"

"Why did you point me out in the assembly today even though you’ve never met me before and you had no idea who I was before today?"

"I heard that kid calling you... names earlier and your principal had warned me that there was a kid that was lying about working for me." Tony admitted.

Peter snorted, "figures he wouldn't believe me either, but what you're saying is that you did it because you felt like sticking up for the little guy?"

"That's why your Spider-Kid isn't it?" Tony asked, knowing that he was right. "You know that most heroes are fighting the bigger threats to the world as we know it, and no one is stopping the petty crimes that are happening close to home."

"I wouldn't call assault a petty crime." Peter said.

"Fair, that was poor word choice." Tony conceded.

"But, yeah," Peter said with a sigh, "I'm looking out for the little guy."

"What motivates you to do that?" Tony asked.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked with a small frown.

"I mean what makes you put on that onesie and jump around Queens saving people and bicycles?" Tony asked, feeling bad for phrasing it like that when Peter flushed bright red and looked away.

"It's not a onesie." He muttered.

"It isn't?"

"I did my best to modify some old pyjamas and a hoodie," Peter admitted, "I wasn't all that great at sewing so it was the best that I could do."

"I mean all things considered, it's not the worst." Tony said graciously. "But come on, what motivates you?"

"You're not going to let this go are you?" Peter asked.

"Come on Kiddo, I'm Tony Stark, I don't let anything go." Tony said with an eye roll.

"Fine," Peter said with a weary sigh that almost made Tony wish he could turn back time and forget to ask the question. Almost. He was also very curious, "I guess I figured that when you can do the things that I can, when you have the ability to save people, and you don't, aren't you partially responsible?"

"You think you have a duty to protect the people in your neighbourhood?"

"I know I do." Peter corrected him.

"You aren't responsible for the wrongdoings of others." Tony said, hoping that the kid already knew that.

"Aren't I?" Peter wondered. "If I see someone being mugged, and I don't stop to help them doesn't that make me guilty?"

"I can see what you're saying," Tony admitted, "but where does that responsibility end? How much pressure are you going to put on yourself before you crack?"

"It's not that bad, I only patrol in Queens, and I do have a life outside of Spider-Man." Peter admitted.

"Good, because you're young," Tony said, "you can't have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

The kid glanced away, and Tony wondered if the kid already did. Hadn’t the principal said he’d recently lost his uncle? How and when exactly had that happened?

"Right," Tony continued after sensing that he wouldn't get much more out of Peter on that subject, "now, I don't think anyone noticed your sticky situation-"

"Don't call it that!" Peter insisted, flushing.

"-but should anyone bring it up I've taken the liberty to put my number in your phone," Tony said, holding out the device.

"When did you even take this?" Peter wondered.

"So if anyone mentions it, call me," Tony said, ignoring Peter's question, "I have a stack of NDAs already prepared and I can be there in ten minutes with the Iron Man suit."

"You'd do that for me?" Peter asked with wide eyes.

"Kid, you saved my life," Tony said, "I'm upgrading you to my personal intern and your newest project is to help me design a new Spider-Man suit for you. If I have to fly across the city to protect my intern's identity, then I'll do it in a heartbeat."

"You mean it?" Peter asked, Tony was almost afraid to say yes because he was worried the kid might burst into tears.

"Of course I do."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." Peter rambled as he launched himself at Tony and hugged him tightly for a brief second before backing off with wide eyes as he remembered who it was he was talking to, "ah sorry, I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I'm just so grateful."

"Don't stress," Tony said, waving off the apologies, "besides, just wait until Pepper bursts in here."

"Pepper Potts?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, she can’t wait to thank you for saving my life today." Tony said with a grin. "Don't worry, I didn't tell her your secret but don't expect her not to figure it out, she's a formidable woman with a brain to rival mine."

"She sounds great." Peter said.

"I'll remind you that you said that in a few months’ time when she's chasing you off the ceiling with a broom."

"Mr. Stark, I would never crawl on the ceiling," Peter said with a look of shock, but Tony could have sworn that he heard a whispered, "at least not when you'd see me."

And so, the unknown intern turned into the kid who risked his identity to save Tony's life and in turn would eventually become his prodigy, not that he knew that fact yet - but as they settled down to start sketching out new blueprints for a Spider-Man suit, Tony had a feeling that he could get used to having someone to teach, someone who looked up to him, someone he felt protective over.

#spider-man #Iron Man #peter parker #tony stark #mcu #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #intern peter parker #fic exchange #friendly-neighborhood-exchange

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spell-cleaver · 4 years

Note

(Luke Palpatine AU) Since becoming Emperor, Luke had grown accustomed to the fact that people were going to spy on every little thing he did, so when he started watching a holo drama, he knew that it would not last long. What he didn't expect was for Nova to join him.

Previous parts on the masterpost here!

Since becoming Emperor, Luke had grown accustomed to the fact that people were going to spy on every little thing he did, so when he started watching a holo drama, he knew that it would not last long. What he didn’t expect was for Nova to join him.

But there she was sitting next to him, just as swaddled in blankets as he was, the long colo claw fish V— Luke had received the previous night acting as a pillow long enough for both of them to use. The rest of his gifts were snuggled around them on the large sofa as well, and Luke felt so… comfortable, lying atop cuddly toys and watching something pathetic and ridiculous like this, like he was half his age.

When the episode finished, Nova glanced at him. “Do you want to watch the next one?”

Luke blinked. “I can?”

“Of course you can,” she said simply and patiently. “Do you want to?”

He glanced at the holo projector. “It’s not a good show.”

“It’s really not. But it’s fun to watch.”

“And it’s getting late.”

“Yes.”

“And I shouldn’t waste my time on this sort of trash.”

Nova pouted. “That’s your father talking.”

“It’s me talking—”

“C'mon, you’re fourteen. You should be having sleepovers and watching trashy shows until your eyes bleed.” She swatted his arm. “Do you want to watch the next one?”

“I— no,” he decided, getting up. The nexu toy tumbled off his lap and landed on top of the holoprojector, its face being cast into odd, slightly comical shadows by the blue light. “No, I don’t want to.”

Nova said, “Hmmm,” and watched him go.

And then the next morning, she said to him, “How many times how you spoken to someone your own age?”

He looked at her. She knew the answer to that. “Zero,” he said.

She wrinkled her nose.

“Well then.” She patted him on the shoulder and walked away. “We should fix that.”

“Nova,” Luke said that afternoon, staring at the two teenagers sitting awkwardly on one of the sofas in the entrance chamber to his quarters, as far away from each other as they could get without standing up and being explicitly rude, “what did you do.”

It had to have been her. No one else would’ve done this.

“You said you’d never spoken to someone your own age,” she said cheerfully. Luke flushed berry-red, and hated the look one of the teenagers, a girl dressed in white with a bun of dark braids, gave him at that. It was far too close to pity.

“These two agreed to meet you, and you just have to watch one movie together,” she badgered, taking Luke’s shoulder and steering him closer. He felt like a five year old. “If you decided you all hate each other, then you never have to socialise again, but until then, please give it a chance, Luke.”

She whispered. “It’ll be good for you.”

Luke swallowed tightly, hating the way the two teenagers—likely infinitely cleverer, more socialised, more experienced than him—were gazing at him. It was probably scorn—scorn for the child emperor who couldn’t even talk to his peers—

Then Nova ushered them all into the living room of his quarters and sat them down around the holoprojector. They each took separate chairs or sofas, and Luke was intimately aware of the confused glances his Noghri bodyguards were giving and receiving from the newcomers, but he stubbornly tried not to flush again.

“So, uh,” he said. “I’m Luke.”

“We know,” the girl said.

He nodded. “Right.”

She took pity on him and smiled. “This is Zevulon Veers,” she said, and the other teenager—a tall, dark-haired human—gave her a look.

“I was going to introduce myself, thank you.”

“Well, now you don’t have to.”

“Any relation to General Veers?” Luke asked tentatively.

Zevulon… didn’t frown, but he didn’t smile, either. “My father. I hardly ever see him.”

Ah. If only Luke had had that pleasure with his father, he might not have disappointed him as much.

“I met him yesterday,” he offered. “Apparently Vader roped him into teaching me how to shoot.”

“You don’t know how to shoot?” asked the girl. Her voice was loud, regal, and it brimmed with confidence. Luke felt like a shadow next to her.

“No,” he said tightly. “My training never covered that. But Vader and Nova thought it would be a good thing to learn now.” He decided not to mention the whole fight there’d been about that. “The general was a good teacher.”

Zevulon nodded. “He is. When he’s around.”

“When he’s not off slaughtering people?” the girl chimed in.

Zevulon tensed. “Excuse me?”

“What? He’s a general. That’s what he does.”

“It’s his job, he’s good at it. Doesn’t mean you get to insult him for it.” He bristled. “Who even are you? It’s pretty creepy that you know who I am but never thought to return the—”

“I,” she said, glaring daggers, “am Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.”

Oh.

That made sense—Luke recognised her now. She’d been dragged in front of holocams just as much as he had as a kid.

Zevulon snorted. “Ah. That explains it.”

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. She puffed herself up. “And what does that mean?”

“You’re all Rebel sympathisers on Alderaan, aren’t you? No wonder you hate my father.”

“We're—” That seemed to have taken the power out of her engines. She grimaced and said, tensely, “That’s not true, and I never said I hated him—”

“No, you just—”

“Can you two… not fight?” Luke asked. “It’s kinda awkward sitting here watching it.”

Zevulon stopped immediately. Leia’s mouth opened and closed for a moment before she did the same. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Luke winced. “Don’t do that. Don’t call me Majesty. I’m just Luke.”

The princess actually smiled a little, at that. “And I’m just Leia.”

“I’ve met your father as well,” he said to her, smiling back. “During the talks with the senators. He was nice. Had some good ideas.”

She nodded. “That’s my father.”

He turned his head. “And Zevulon—”

“Zev.” He fidgeted. “While we’re exchanging names, I’m just Zev.”

Luke nodded. “Alright.”

Then he glanced at the holoprojector. “Do either of you know what you want to watch?”

“This is stupid,” Leia said, her mouth full of cake. “Monarchies don’t do arranged marriages anymore, that’s archaic.”

“Hey, you’re the one who randomly decided we should introduce Luke to daytime holonet shows. It’s called Crown of Stars, what did you expect it would be like?”

“I have heard of a few arranged marriages in recent years, mainly between magnates and industrial leaders and Moffs and stuff,” Luke admitted, reaching for the tray of food Nova had sent a droid in to deliver for them. The jogan fruit was sweet when he bit into it; juice dribbled down his chin. “But yeah, it’s not that common. And why does she need to marry that guy anyway? His system doesn’t exactly have any resources that her family would exactly need, and they’re on the edge of Wild Space.”

“It’s a holodrama, it’s not meant to be logical!”

Luke shrugged. “Shouldn’t they at least try?”

“They’re more interested in the drama,” Leia said, drawing out the word a tad longer than needed. “To keep their viewers hooked.”

“To keep their viewers confused?”

“That too.”

“Oh stars, the wedding scene.” Zev cringed away. “I can’t watch.”

“Getting invested, Veers?”

“She’s about to marry someone twice her age while her one true love watches in agony! I can’t bear it!”

Leia rolled her eyes. “Then let’s turn it off—”

A pillow smacked her in the face.

“Hey!” She glared at Luke.

“Shhh, it’s getting tense.”

She chucked the pillow back at him. He threw himself against the sofa to dodge it.

“Oh no,” Zev whimpered, peering through his fingers, “he’s gonna kiss her…”

“Wait, look!” Luke leaned forwards. “Is that—? I don’t understand.”

“Shhh, let it finish.”

“The lover burst in and read out a law that declared the marriage illegal,” Leia drawled. “A law which doesn’t exist, by the way—”

“Oh, that’s a sweet ending.” Luke smiled at the projector.

“They’re kissing and riding off into the sunset together, it’s literally the most cliché ending in the galaxy.”

“But it’s sweet.”

Leia had to smile when she glanced at the holo again—at the woman’s beaming face.

“Okay,” she admitted, “it is pretty sweet.” She glanced at Luke and Zev, and cackled when she saw they’d both inched their chairs and sofas closer to the holo, as well as closer together. “You sappy romantics.”

The credits began to roll.

Luke glanced at the time. “Uhhh,” he said, “the time Nova said she was going to lock us in for is up. If you don’t want to stay any longer…”

“Are you kicking us out?” Leia asked. Zev looked hurt.

“No! I just thought… if you did want to leave…”

“Well.” Leia grabbed the remote. “He can leave, but I’m not going to go until you’ve been introduced to a holonet show that is actually good. How about—”

“Are you kidding?” Zev burst out. “They haven’t resolved the secret letter arc yet, and the Count is still missing! Luke has to finish watching the series!”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“One against one.” Zev crossed his arms. “You’re a senator, Leia—”

“Aspiring senator, I’m actually an apprentice legislator—”

“—you like voting. Luke gets the deciding vote.”

Luke smiled. “Crown of Stars.”

“No!”

“There’s too many plotlines that haven’t been wrapped up yet!”

Leia glared at Zev. “You’ve ruined his taste forever.”

“Shhh,” Luke said as the theme began to play. “It’s starting.”

Send me the first sentence of a scene from this AU and I’ll continue it!

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#luke palpatine #sabé #leia organa #zevulon veers #space twins #my writing #random words on a page #luke skywalker

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undignifiend · 4 years

Text

Idiots in a Tiny Kitchen

A scene I wrote forever ago about an ogre character inspired by the World of Darkness setting. Under the cut for the sake of the Dashboard.

+++++

Someone was in his apartment. Brock bit back the urge to growl, and focused on keeping his breath even. Let them think he was still asleep. Whoever it was, they were in the kitchen, opening cabinets and making no effort to keep quiet. Did they even know he was there? Granted, he probably just looked like an abnormally large pile of discarded sheets on the bare mattress in the corner of his tiny 'living room', but shouldn't a burglar be more thorough in scoping out an area before getting to business? Maybe it was an amateur? Carefully twisting out of the sheets, Brock slunk across the carpet, hiding under the kitchen bar. Every footstep and rustle of cloth seemed deafening to him - stealth wasn't his area of expertise, after all. But the intruder didn't seem to notice, obliviously waking the dead as they shuffled through pots, cans, and boxes of pasta. Brock entertained the idea of turning off his Mask. That would be fun. Stupid, but fun. He'd have to kill whoever saw him before rumors could spread, of course. Most humans didn't pay attention to urban legends and lunatics, but hunters did... Hiding the body, or rather the bones, would be a chore. In a pinch, human flesh was a treat, and money was tight enough to pinch pretty hard lately. Waste not, and all that... Serves 'em right for wandering into an ogre's lair. But he rolled his eyes as his more rational side spoke up. He'd already eaten two overconfident hunters since his return from Arcadia. If he ate this burglar, that would make three in three years. Not the best habit to form in a human-dominant territory. Someone would notice a pattern sooner or later. The Courts probably wouldn't care much, but it was something of a faux pas, and the Spring Court might hound him for it. Their whole point was to find ways to adjust to human life and to appreciate the finer things. It was a difficult philosophy to reconcile when one considered human flesh to be one of the finer things... Spring also put a lot of emphasis on aesthetics, and for Brock, that was dangerous. Like most ogres, Brock was a sucker for pretty people. But people were also delicious. He hoped this burglar wasn't attractive. That would be weird. He could just picture the unlucky individual partially tied to a chair while they both awkwardly shared a pot of coffee and sorted out this little mishap. Brock would be up all morning arguing with himself over whether to eat them or try to get their number. Decisions, decisions... Spring had a strong point, though. Most changelings he'd met were human once, including himself. This burglar wasn't doing him any real harm, and Brock was more sentimental than he cared to admit. He decided to let this one off with a warning. That's when he heard the telltale crinkle of a bag of chips, and the crinkling continued as the intruder began to rummage in earnest. They found his stash and most likely understood what it really was. His apartment was otherwise stark and unappealing to any enterprising thief. They knew what they found. Time for a big breakfast. Wisps of Brock's human visage peeled away in dark, airy tendrils and faded into nothing. His clothes, baggy even on his large frame, tightened to conform to his real size as he gained an extra couple feet in height. To anyone who could normally see through his Mask to what he really was, the change in size was all they'd notice. To anyone who couldn't, it was far more dramatic. Tendrils of illusion floated off him, revealing red hide and gold eyes; one in his left socket, and one in the center of his forehead. In his right socket was nothing but a shadow. A pair of horns flanked either side of the third eye, and rows of sharp white fangs peeked from behind his lips. Brock resisted the temptation to sigh and stretch. Taking the Mask off always felt like being freed from shackles, climbing out of a small box, and taking the first breath of fresh air he'd had in ages. He lunged into the kitchen, dominating what little space there was, and seized the intruder from behind, intending to crush the back of their neck in his jaws. But several things occurred to him at once, and he paused as he processed what he was seeing. This person was tiny. Granted, most people were tiny compared to him, but this one couldn't have been over four feet in height. They had been standing on the counter, and now their feet dangled in the air as his huge hands wrapped around their arms and torso. They were completely covered in clothes that were too big for them, save for a sparkling pink Hello Kitty jacket that seemed too tight. Their hood was up, and their sneakers were so comically massive it was a wonder they didn't slip off. Cold horror stabbed Brock in the gut. Was this a kid? Had he almost killed a kid? It was kind of awful, the look of his monstrous, claw-tipped hands juxtaposed with the innocent jacket. Brock never suffered any anxiety or shame over being an ogre, but realizing what he almost did made him queasy. "Close your eyes. Don't move unless I tell you to," Brock warned, his tone authoritative, belying the panic he felt. His Mask took hours to recharge, and now that he turned it off, how was he going to get the kid out of his apartment without being seen for what he really was? Someone might even try to check on him if the kid screamed at the sight of his face. "Ah, shove it," replied a nasally voice. A goblin glared at him from under the little pink hood, his gigantic ears folded within it, and his bushy mustache quivering with nervous outrage. "This is yer own damn fault," he scolded, waving a bag of chips as much as he could with one of his restrained arms. "Hoardin' like this. It's cheatin'." Brock dropped Cornchips the Whiner and staggered back, sagging against the fridge with a mix of irritation and profound relief. "Dammit, Chips! One of these days, I'm gonna eat you! You keep pulling stunts like this, and I can't guarantee it won't be an accident." The goblin dusted himself off and pushed back the hood, his gigantic, pointed ears regaining their natural shape once they had room. "Great. Perfect!" He folded his arms and eyed Brock reproachfully. "On top a' everythin' else, my big, dumbass chump partner tries t' kill me. I should've expected it. Everythin' looks breakable or edible t' yeh ogre types. I coulda kicked yeh awake, but I decided to be thoughtful and let yeh sleep while I cleaned up yer mess! And here's the thanks I get! Now what's the meanin' a' this?" He pointed a little claw up at the cabinet full of chip bags. Brock rolled his eyes. "Kinda hard to get a hold of you in an emergency, Chips. Sometimes that vending machine ritual takes too damn long. So I figure, why not have it prepped? All I gotta do now is this..." Brock snatched the bag of chips out of the goblin's hand, recited the sacred phrase "Shut up and help me, sir," and popped the bag open. Cornchips vanished with a fart, leaving nothing, and in the next instant, furious grumbling could be heard from inside the bag. "Speed-dial summoning," Brock explained smugly, looking into the bag. "Genius, eh?" "Yeh can't do that, yeh butt-wart!" Cornchips jumped out of the bag, defying physics by not ripping it open despite his size, and landing lightly on his huge feet. "That spell's not a damn toy! Every time you delay it, I get this itch! And you got bleedin' near seventeen a' them spells in that cabinet ready to go at any second! Everyone thinks I have fleas now! Yeh can't get a date when yeh got fleas! No one understands how hard my life is!" Brock's claw-tipped hands were too big, so he held the bag up and shook a few chips into his mouth, crunching on them as he listened. "So it didn't work out with that spider-girl, huh?" Cornchips groaned. "Esther's good wit' her hands, up until she slaps yeh. Wit' all of 'em. I never did anythin' to deserve it. She thought I was chattin' up some pixie, but I swear I was jus' askin' for directions." Brock grimaced. "You can't patronize me, either. It's your job to know your way around." "An' it's your job to make my job easier!" Cornchips pointed at the cabinet he couldn't reach. "Now get rid a' them things before I burn the place down, an' listen up! I didn' jus' come here t' set yeh straight. Yeh got a big job ahead. Orders from Naomi herself." The silence that followed weighed on Brock. He was grateful he didn't do something embarrassing like choke, but he still had trouble deciding how to take this news. "Herself? She didn't send no one?" "Did I stucking futter?" Cornchips demanded, fists on his hips. "Yeah! I'm important enough t' talk to!" Brock frowned. "What does she want us to do? Steal the Queen's purse?" "Naw..." How Cornchips managed to look so smug with that mustache, Brock could only guess. "Babysittin', more like." When he didn't elaborate, Brock's chest rumbled in an uncomfortable growl. "Out with it." "Let me savor this. I like watchin' yeh suffer." Brock dropped the bag and grabbed Chips by the front of his pink jacket, pulling him face to murderous face. "Okay, okay!" the goblin flailed. "Naomi rescued another one from Arcadia, alright? She can't trust the Courts wit' this - she's got too many enemies, even there. You gotta play mentor and bodyguard for this kid - jus' fer a while." "What makes her think they'll be safe with me?" Brock asked, gesturing with his free hand to the whole apartment. "You broke in without me noticing." "I'm the only other one who knows about this," Cornchips swore. "An' yer a lowly grunt, Brock. No one'll think t' connect you with someone as important as Naomi's own kid." Brock released Cornchips with nerveless fingers as a new, uncomfortable facet of the Universe fell into place in his mind. Landing on his feet seemed to help Cornchips recollect his composure, and his posture exuded a kind of sadistic delight. "Don't worry, buddy," the goblin grinned. "Naomi's one a' Winter's top assassins, after all. If yeh fuck this up, yeh won't have t' regret it fer long."

#ogre #goblin #changeling #smuggling partners irritating each other in the wee hours of the morning #modern setting #summoning rituals involving vending machines #Cornchips and his stupid disguises #Brock sweating over whether he's more hungry or lonely #defective Mask #mentions of eating people

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grownups-are-the-real-monsters · 5 years

Text

My Friend Emmett Kelly

Summary: Eddie pulled away and looked off into that bright orange sky. “I miss them.” He frowned as he started walking up to a dead freight car. Mike followed and accepted the helping hand of his friend when it was apparently came time to hop inside and sat at the edge. “I miss them and I couldn’t even remember them a few days ago.”

{IT happened but these 3 idiots meet-up before the 2nd showdown w/ Pennywise. They’re about 28 in this story}

By the way, just in case you don't know: Emmett Kelly was a circus performer, who created the clown character "Weary Willie", based on the hobos of the Depression era :)

{She doesn’t care but I dedicate this to the #1 Emmett Kelly fan @m-o-o-n-thatspellsblog ;) !!}

Words: 5,184

Ship: Reddie,

“No one wants to ride and train when they can just jump in a Ford and go.”

The Hitchhiker came and went through the bloodied recesses of Edward Kaspbrak’s mind often. He would repeat old time-y sentiments that were not necessarily blatant horror, sentences Eddie could take as calmly as a pill only a little too thick to swallow on the first try. But they were the kind of words that ripped another stringy clot of skin from the wound that the first had created.

Sometimes,The Hitchhiker would open his mouth to a gentle ‘O’ and out would pour the sounds of an old radio trying to tune itself to a station. Static would salt out of his painted lips before landing on something like Roger Miller singing ‘King of The Road’.

“Third boxcar, midnight train, destination Bangor, Maine Old worn-out suits and shoes I don't pay no union dues...”

Though The Hitchhiker hadn’t started doing that until he tunneled his way out of Eddie’s mind and bled into the real world. But there was also the likely possibility that Eddie had manifested the character into the air by building him a subconscious bridge.

The train-yard in Derry, Maine was the first place that he saw his little friend slinking around a plain of existence that Eddie hadn’t made-up.

It was late-afternoon with the company of a low-hanging sun and nice screeches coming from under the wheels of great long freight trains. Passenger trains long since halted their run in the town. But the freights were loaded with goods to bring into places to the north and to the south. His favorites used to be the ones which had gleaming Fords and Chevies because it had been a real dream of his childhood to own a car like those.

His little hitchhiking friend must have known of this affection for the yard because that afternoon, when he was back in his hometown to watch over his sick mother, the sad man was just sitting on a paused freight.

His eyebrows frozen in what looked to be an upward quiver and lived under a flat little brown hat. A shadow of paint took over his chin like a beard and made the white around his lips truly stand out. But most notably, a ball of red sat in place of his nose.

Eddie recognized the familiarity of the man in an instant. For he...was what Eddie had begun to associate with patterned, fuzzy memories that sometimes came back into his head. They were never complete nor useful, just sentences that could be a mighty pain to that first wound. But the man on the freight was the image they were almost always voiced from.

In an old worn out suit, lived an Emmett Kelly looking clown who sometimes appeared to Eddie in passing thought. Of course, he was never quite sure why he’d first began to associate a clown with old childhood memories but it never much bothered him until he set foot back into Derry.

And in that moment, as he sat on the train with a clutched fist around a small sack, the Kelly lookalike seemed so real.

The man turned to Eddie and spoke one of those charmed little sentences but this time, he had his very own voice because there was the absence of him being trapped in Eddie’s own internal narrative. “No one wants to ride and train when they can just jump in a Ford and go.”

That had been his mother. Sonia. Eddie was sure that she had once said something of that sort to him when he asked about the trains that ran through town. It was a plain sort of comment she’d thrown into her little story but nonetheless, it had pained the boy in that childhood memory who adored trains for whatever odd reason.

Emmett, Eddie supposed he could refer to him as such, reached out a hand which poked out from the boxcar. Eddie flinched in some sort of sweaty fear but calmed slightly when he realized he had only been pointing to a crate sitting in the cinders.

Eddie was sort of paralyzed with either fear or shock but decided to take a peek when Emmett covered his eyes in a playful manner. As if to say ‘Hey! I’ll look away, if you want’!

So Eddie tipped his body and took a small, gentle peek into the crate that was clicking around and caught sight of something eerily familiar. Slithering and crawling inside were 4 lobsters. Printed across the side of the box in faded yellow paint were the words; ‘Take em’ home to yer mum’.

“Oh, Fuck off” He shook his head and stepped back to his original spot. His memories of the early days had begun to clear up ever since he returned to Derry some days ago and if he recalled right, this had once happened to him before...in a different way.

When he glanced back to the train, Emmett had disappeared altogether.

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

Four days later, Eddie decided to sort out all the closets and his old bedroom for any hidden treasures or shit to just jog his memory. He ran into an old looking photo-book and some old books he decided to bring to the library because he doubted his mother would ever miss them.

Plus, it was a good excuse to leave the old home. So Eddie took a nice mid-afternoon stroll through Derry with the small box of books under his arm.

He went through the train-yard, walking along track 4 and browsing that old photo-book. He glanced up every few minutes but never once did he catch a glimpse of his Hitchhiker Emmett.

It was strange...that kind of fear that his little Hitchhiker caused him now. Bouncing from mind to reality like that and something about clowns absolutely terrified him lately. A fear that, he again didn’t notice until returning to Derry.

The air smelled strongly of dark brown perfume and mild touches of wet autumn leaves as Eddie moved back towards the main street. He found the library in mere seconds and attempted to balance the box and the photo-book underneath it as he took the stairs and strolled inside.

His forearms itched, that dirty itch, when he set the box onto the main counter. Which felt like bugs had crawled under his skin and were now making themselves comfortable.

“You wanna donate these or-...?”

Eddie glanced up when the man didn’t finish his sentence and found a nice looking dude looking completely wrecked with shock.

Little Emmett Kelly was back in his mind, opening his mouth and tuning it specifically to a song...“Like the pine trees linin' the windin' road I've got a name, I've got a name...”

“Mike-...Mike Hanlon?” Eddie heard himself say out-loud before he truly could place him. But when the man smiled back at him, wide and lovingly, he found his place and Emmett smiled too before the image left his mind.

“Eddie Kaspbrak!” Mike reached out for a hug that felt amazingly soft. Eddie melted into him like butter...and kinda like a man about to breakdown and cry. But the long lost pal just tightened his arms around him and sighed with something like relief and pride.

‘Long lost pal...that reminds me of a song...’ Eddie paused to think. ‘Something another friend used to sing-’

Emmett reappeared in his mind’s eye for a brief second and used his magic mouth-radio to play just what he was looking for.

“If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al...”

Eddie nodded to himself and pulled away from Mike even though he desperately didn’t want to move an inch.

The man before him was so obviously placed now that Eddie couldn’t believe he’d forgotten. He was just as charming, handsome and grounded as he was in their childhood days. Michael Hanlon. 1 of 7. : : : : :

Before Eddie could stop himself and maybe be polite enough to leave Mike to his work, he had begged him to come walking with him. He hadn’t felt that deeply connected to anyone in many years so he planned to enjoy it while he had the time. It sucked that the catch-up had to take place in Derry, of all places, but it was a town that would live in each of them for as long as they lived even if they forgot for a while. ‘How fucked was that?’

That photo-book now curled up in his fist. He took Mike back by the train-yard and the two strolled down track 4 while the sun bathed them both in colors deserving of Summer even though it was mid-fall.

“And I suppose...once you leave, you’ll memory will fade again.” Mike finished his long story of their fucking shitty childhood nightmare which seemed to drag Eddie down like the thick filmy sweat that use to coat his body after a long summers day in the Barrens, the one that made him realize that day was over.

“I’ve been seeing a clown-...”

Mike snapped his eyes directly to Eddie’s, they were filled with dreaded fear.

“No-...It’s not like that...” Eddie couldn’t really explain himself because he wasn’t sure if it really made sense out-loud. “It’s this character that I sorta created a few years back, the angel and devil on my shoulder or something.” Eddie scratched behind his ear and Mike hopped off the rail and strolled closer.

“When memories pop into my brain or weird shit that I can’t place, it speaks through him in my head. Which is fucked-up I guess but I didn’t really give a shit about it before. I just thought it was something I did, y’know? He was a train-hopper kinda...dude. Which I always liked but now...”

Mike pulled Eddie’s sleeve just to let him know he was safe to speak.

“Mike, he scares the shit outta me. Not because he’s doing anything scary. But when I got to Derry and started feeling things the way I used to...Clowns just didn’t fucking sit right with me-”

Eddie broke into a loud laugh which Mike had to join in because their lives were too fucking weird.

“One time, I was driving this client of mine, right?” Eddie bumped their arms together and laughed. “And my little Hitchhiker popped into my brain when a really good song was on-...‘Roll Me Away’ Bob Seger, I think...-and in a clear impression of Richie Tozier, which I now recognize and can place as I’m telling you this, he said ‘Life is just what happens in between long drives.’.”

Eddie sighed like he couldn’t believe his own words. “That’s what Emmett does. He repeats things like that to me...like a moment’s reminder not strong enough for me to keep remembering but strong enough to deepen a wound I didn’t know I had.”

His eyes were watery when he turned back to Mike, which he didn’t realize was breaking Mike’s heart a little. “Emmett?”

“Oh, That’s what I call him. Because he isn’t a Bozo kinda clown...looks more like an Emmett Kelly, you know him?” Eddie asked and suddenly pulled out an inhaler to suck on which sent Mike back some years ago. “Anyway, I think Richie told me that once when I got my license and drove him to a K-Mart one town over.” Eddie giggled.

Mike smiled with a touch of sadness that now broke Eddie’s heart. “If there’s anything I learn from staying here in Derry, Eddie, it’s that you can’t live your todays being scared to wake up for the tomorrows.” Mike gently put his arm around him and squeezed. “It’s not a good way to live and...” He looked to him with warm eyes.

“If there’s no reason to, don’t start convincing yourself to be scared of your Hitchhiker. We all got our angels and devils on our old shoulders. And don’t let the memories of...IT...-” Mike hesitated before he said that “Overwhelm you. No use in giving it a thought unless there should come a day when we have to.” Mike added that with a look of sorrow but found the joy to smile again.

“I should live by those words, Mike.” Eddie shook his finger and repeated them in his head, like a mantra. ‘You can’t live your todays being scared to wake up for the tomorrows.’

He thought upon all those horrible nights spent wide awake and being scared of how many times he might lose his breath the next day. Clutching his inhaler like an anxiety filled mess.

Eddie didn’t notice he’d been anxiously clasping and unclasping his hands until Mike held out his arms for a hug. He fell into Mike’s grip as if the number of years hadn’t actually passed and they were still teenagers who saw each other everyday. Mike rubbed his hand in a circle on his back. “We have to be there for each other...”

Eddie pulled away and looked off into that bright orange sky. “I miss them.” He frowned as he started walking up to a dead freight car. Mike followed and accepted the helping hand of his friend when it was apparently came time to hop inside and sat at the edge. “I miss them and I couldn’t even remember them a few days ago.”

Mike watched with a tilted chin as Eddie paced the length of the old boxcar in that nervous way he had always approached stress with. It brought a little light into the car, Mike thought. He could only be what the situation handed him in moments like this, where he was pretty vulnerable. And the situation tossed him a memory of joy so he smiled at his friend who’d been young once too despite the speed in which they’d all had to grow up in. “I can’t imagine how you’ve been feeling. Considering you didn’t forget.” Eddie dropped his shoulders and sat back down.

Mike shrugged like it was no big deal but there was a bit of pain behind his kind eyes that gave him away.

“I mean...at least we got to forget all that shit and have the luxury of not being aware we had any trauma. What the others made of it, I don’t know but...” He waved his hand out into the air but let it fall. “Well...who’s there for you?”

Mike’s lips trembled which was strange to see. “I don’t if either of those two options is great, Eddie.” He rolled his lips together when his friend raised his brow. “Remembering our trauma for the six of you is extremely exhausting. But also...forgetting trauma leaves room to pick up unhealthy habits again...”

Eddie clutched his inhaler and blinked back some stress tears. He looked off towards the middle of the train-yard and found his little hitchhiker in the distant boney and dead grass. Emmett was shaking what looked like his very own inhaler except when he went to suck on it, water squirted out and drenched his face. He frowned and made brief eye-contact before tossing the thing deep into the field, looking betrayed.

‘Yeah’...Eddie decided the Hitchhiker was nothing to be scared of.

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

“For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside. That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...” Bruce Springsteen lyrics. That’s what Emmett tuned his good ol’ mouth radio to in Eddie’s dream last night.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he was aiming for with that but decided it’d be best not to think too hard about it. Instead, Eddie made his mother some breakfast and tried not to self-diagnose the itchy spot on his arm as eczema.

The bushel of pink-painted roses covering the delicate plate was covered in scrambled eggs and a side of bacon made just for Sonia.

They say the older you get, the harder it is to forgive & forget. Fixing up moist yellow scrambled eggs...for a mother only surviving on the given notion that her son was too much of a victim to say no...-Eddie was finding that saying to be true. He plopped the mess of food onto the table in front of his mom and remembered something simple.

Upstairs & and on his wooden bedroom window-sill there was a small carving. Eddie smiled to himself and took of for his room, no matter how his mom complained that they needed to spend actual time together. He just had to see if it was what he thought it was...

Kneeling down, he dragged his finger against the wood he couldn’t see until he felt the markings. He dipped himself to take a peek & found that it was still there, of course. ‘BADLANDS’

The song in which those Bruce Springsteen lyrics had come from. “Holy shit.” Eddie mumbled to himself and slapped the window-sill in pure shock. He laughed to himself, a deep sort of chuckle that may have sounded a little crazy.

Richie Damn Tozier. The memory was getting a little clearer now.

Fourteen year old Tozier had carved that into the weak wood with the butter knife Eddie had used to spread butter onto his toast that morning.

The Hitchhiker spoke in Richie’s voice as he reappeared in Eddie’s mind- “I’m tellin’ ya, Eds. You gotta listen to the song, there’s this part that reminds me of you. Listen-....” Emmett paused and instead of continuing with young memory version of Richie reading out the lyrics, he tuned that good ol’ mouth radio and sounded out that specific part.

“You wake up in the night With a fear so real You spend your life waiting For a moment that just don't come Well don't waste your time waiting”

Bruce sang out lyrics that eerily reminded Eddie of what Mike had said a few days ago; ‘You can’t live your todays being scared to wake up for the tomorrows.’

He really couldn’t blame Richie for associating that lyric with him. Eddie smiled to himself and dragged his thumb across the carving once more before standing. The dork had carved the title in so Eddie wouldn’t forget to listen to it.

His heart skipped a beat or two and he tried to wrap himself in that happy memory.

: : : : : : : :

A call came in through Eddie’s cell when the man was showering some two days later and was answered by his loving mother. Sonia picked it up without a moments hesitation because she had as much of a right as her son, after all she had paid for his living for around 17 years.

“-Is Eddie there, Mrs. Kaspbrak? I have an important message.”

She paused and glanced up the stairs to listen for a stop in the running water but it was still going off and probably splashing onto the tile because her boy always left a mess in there. “Michael Hanlon, right?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

A small snort escaped her lips because it felt very much like the past when those rowdy kids would ask for him to come play. “What is so important? Don’t you know Eddie is here to take care of his sick mother? Is that not more of an emergency-?”

Sonia was cut off not by Mike but by Eddie who’d suddenly burst down the stairs and snatched the phone out of her hand. “Mike? Sorry, it’s me.” He spared a look to Sonia, who only shook her head and left to lay across the couch in the other room. “What is it?”

“Nothing bad, actually. I think there’s someone down at the library you’ll want to see again.”

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

“ED’S!”

“Richie fucking Tozier, what on earth blew you into town?” Eddie jogged towards the main desk and threw his friends a warm grin.

“More like who on earth blew me into town!” Richie broke into that little chuckle he used to do whenever he was being a little shit. Mike and Eddie only tossed each other annoyed looks and waited for an actual response. “-Yeah, nobody did...ha...Not funny, huh?” He swiped his curled knuckle under his nose and shook his head.

Mike rolled his eyes fondly and thumped their arms together to urge Richie to spill. “Um, yeah I-” Richie awkwardly began and ran his palms down the legs of his jeans. “I’m just visiting my parents for the weekend. Wentworth is being a little asshole, say’s he wants to redo the living room.” Richie shrugged. “So ma called me to try and y’know, talk him outta it...distract him - which is my talent after all -” He broke for laughter.

“But my ulterior motive, you ask?” Richie waved his arms and smugly grinned.

“Oh, tell us!” Mike chirped happily from behind the desk.

“I want to try and convince ol’ Went to hand over all his old or vintage luggage and suitcases to me, y’know?” He leaned back onto the desk and shrugged. “He’s got tons of nice junk perfect for me stuff my shit into. I just gotta get him to make the big journey to our storage unit place.” He grinned madly.

“What did you pack your stuff into to get here if you are without that necessity?” Eddie narrowed his eyes and came to stand against the desk, to Mike’s left and Richie to his right.

Richie waggled his finger and clicked his tongue. “A garbage bag-”

“Jesus, Richie-”

“What it wasn’t a used garbage bag, Eddie. I have some class.”

“Yeah, you’re the picture of class. Just drop the C & the L.” Eddie shook his head and feigned his attention elsewhere which always used to annoy his friend. A few seconds of silence passed them.

“Oh, I’m the ass?”

“Congratulations, you figured out the joke!” Eddie playfully clicked his own tongue and pretended he was more interested in the books stacked just next to his elbow. Richie reached over and smacked his other arm off the counter.

“Don’t start with me Kaspbrak, I can so pick up where we left off back in fifth grade & you stole my Twinkie!” Richie was now trying to smother his laughter and playfully swatting Eddie’s hands.

But his friend paused for a second and turned to Mike. “So, you remember that?” Eddie turned back to Richie. “What else are you remembering?”

“Oh, the killer fucking clown? Yeah, no - Mike helped catch me up to speed.” Richie stuck his finger out to point at him and laughed but it was not at all happy. It was bitter and miserable which could strike any Loser’s Club member with fear. The three men went quiet again, which the library was probably thankful for. The sour change in the mood easily took them over and kept them from enjoying the nice reunion. “Anyway, why are you in town?” Richie gently tapped Eddie’s hand.

The strong smell of his mothers perfume suddenly filled Eddie’s nose as he let himself frown. “My mom is sick.” His throat suddenly tightened and he knew it was because the anxiety was trying to worm it’s way into his body again, the subject commonly triggered it. He dragged his pointer finger around in small circles against the cold counter. “It’s nothing serious, I mean I know that but...you know Sonia.” He sighed.

“Boy, do I know your mom!” Richie automatically fell into a joke but realized his mistake when Mike thumped his palm onto the back of his head.

“She’s really laying the guilt on thick this time.” The misery was clear in his voice and he was kind of embarrassed. “Telling me to move back because she’s very weak-” He rolled his eyes “Your father was sick, Eddie-bear. I took care of him just as I took care of you. I’m sure you’re grateful for that, aren’t you?” He mocked her voice and shook his head.

“Eddie-” Both Richie and Mike started, knowing exactly where this was going. The panic on the man’s face was clear and sad.

“I sure as shit don’t want to come back here, guys. Jesus, I hate to think about living here with her again but...” Eddie was finally having the mental breakdown he’d been pushing since just before he left New York. “What if it kills her? Fuck, my leaving again could really upset her and-”

“Hey, hey, hey-” Richie Tozier’s hear shattered into a million pieces and he clasped his hands around his friends arms to calm him. “Ed’s, you said it yourself, she’s not seriously sick. I hate to say it...y’know what? Maybe I don’t...but I hate your mom!” Richie let go to wave his arms and a few people stared when he laughed. Mike gave them a charming grin and laid his gentle hands on both pals. “She manipulates you. It’s all she’s done since we were kids, man.”

Eddie blinked a few times and shook his head. “I know...I know that-...” he shrugged. “But she’s my mom. Shouldn’t that mean something?”

That broke something in Richie. The boy he’d grown up...loving with the entirety of his thirteen year old soul (not that he’d speak a word of that memory), was absolutely wrecked. “It should, yeah-” Richie nodded. “And that’s why it’s so fucking shitty that she treats you like that, Eds. ”

Mike nodded. “You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your happiness and well-being for your mother. That’s not a good relationship.” He spoke in a more reserved and mature tone than Richie but seemed to be in agreement.

Eddie slowly nodded and leaned away from their grips. His mind somehow went back to the train-yard and all the childish thoughts of traveling he’d used to express to himself there. Dreams of being a wanderer who didn’t get worked up from simple messes. No, he went wherever the trains took him. He couldn’t imagine having that sort of lifestyle because he was nowhere near the type of person who could handle it. He could barely ask to bum a ride off a co-worker, let alone hitchhike.

Emmett returned to his mind’s eye, as he so often did these days, but this time he carried a garbage bag as if it were filled with extra clothes. Next to a deserted road, he stuck his thumb out. It was the kind of uncertainty that Eddie couldn’t even entertain at the moment but used to admire as a silly kid.

Mike took the moments where Eddie was in deep thought to admire the way Richie was so blatantly staring at the nervous man. The wonderful thing was that Mike didn’t need to piece it together like his friends did, he just remembered the way those two drifted together. He wondered if Eddie’s little Emmett friend would help him remember that. “Why don’t you two take a walk? I gotta finish my shift and you have some catching up to do.”

Eddie shook himself out of thought and smiled. “I could use the distraction.”

Richie playfully smacked his arm and started ushering him away. “See ya later, Mikey!” He blew several kisses and tried to hide the small blush on his face from the touching.

Mike had to laugh.

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

“So why do you want to steal Went’s luggage?” Eddie asked after several minutes of silence which had succeeded Rich’s story about his old gig as a radio DJ for the collage that ate all of his money.

“Oh, I’m thinking of moving out to L.A.” He nodded. “New York just isn’t my place and I don’t-”

Eddie stopped walking and was overcome with the giggles. “We were in the same city, dude. I’ve been living in New York!”

Richie let his mouth hang open for a bit. “I wonder if we ever crossed paths.”

“New York is a huge city, Rich. I doubt it.” Eddie shrugged and started up the stroll again. “It’s not like Derry when we were just a bike ride away.”

Richie looked back at Eddie, a pace or so behind him, and was struck with how much he’d grown. Jesus, Richie's world had pretty much revolved around walking him home from school and earning his laughter. And now...Well, there was no school to chase him away from. They were both grown-ups...

“Badlands?” Eddie interrupted his thoughts with a strange sort of laugh.

“Huh-?”

“You were whistling. You used to do that all the time when you were nervous. Badlands by Springsteen.” Eddie smacked his arm like there was a joke between them but Richie didn’t get it. “Un-fucking-believable.”

“Ed’s, let me in on the joke or I’ll kick you in the shin.” He pushed up his glasses and pretended to kick out his leg.

Eddie looked off in thought again like he was debating something but he soon settled on an answer. “It’s just...you carved that song title on my window-sill, remember? So I would listen to it? I found the carving.”

“Ohhhhh, Well, did you listen to it?” he grinned.

Eddie rolled his eyes but nodded. They kept on walking that natural stride towards the Kaspbrak household while the sky faded into a cloudless blue.

They hadn’t had a childhood innocence since about thirteen but the simplicity of being young and stupid was to be grieved just the same. Sweaty days of summer spent climbing trees, riding bikes like no damn car was ever a desire...and falling out of trees. All of that was behind them and Richie would be lying if he said he didn’t want just a taste of that kind of joy now. What was the adult equivalent of that nice itch you got after rolling down grass hills all day? ‘Is there a dirty joke to be made there?’ Richie paused.

“We’re gonna forget each other again soon.”

“What a downer, Eds.” Richie frowned.

Eddie stopped at the steps of his home and twirled around. And there, sitting on a neighbors porch a few houses away, was his Hitchhiking buddy. Emmett's head was hanging so low that he couldn’t spy his quivering brows or the tired and lonesome frown. He waited for the clown to repeat something or...do something at all but he just sat there on Mr. Walsh’s steps. Dejected and lonely. Longing for something?

‘Fuck’. Eddie realized that maybe he, himself, was the one feeling dejected and lonely. Emmett was a manifestation of his own thoughts and feelings, wasn’t he? And he knew damn well what he was longing for.

So, with a little skip step, Eddie bounced closer to Richie and fell into his arms.

Richie made an exaggerated ‘oof’ sound but instantly returned the embrace and even rested his head atop the shorter mans. “I’d really like to kiss ya, Eds.”

The man pulled back and stared at this friend who he’d forgotten and felt all the sentimental love shit that a person could feel. “Do it then, Dick.”

Richie moved in and kissed him gently.

And Emmett bled back into Eddie’s mind and away from the real world.

#dont be surprised if i publish a book later & it shares this plot lol #idk why i had this idea #but i did #SO?#;)#eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #reddie #the losers club #mike hanlon #my fanfiction #it chapter 2 #it chapter two #stephen king #stephen king books

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wheremytwinwatches · 4 years

Text

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 39

Last time: The Blondes finally met back up with the Brunettes, Yoki was an idiot who tried to burgle the Leto-damned ARMSTRONGS, and Scar either kidnapped or “kidnapped” Winry. Onwards!

New Intro! We’ve got the two young brothers separated by wind, then the title drawn in sand before it’s white text with a glowing red TC and the brothers running in opposite directions. Are we going to have a Party Split? Nevermind, they just slowed down to the middle of the screen. Bright light, Ed should have brought a hat to this sunny bunch of rocks. Then he looks off all dramatic like as camera goes to Al trudging through a desert before he too does the Dramatic Protagonist Stare. Both brothers back to back against the Xerxes mural ok seriously betting on a Party Split here with all the opposite directions going on. Now the Elric Brothers are running at each other and yep just phased through to become Red (Ed) and Blue (Al). Looking around for each other? Whatever happens I guess Al is with May since he has Shao on his shoulder and her gripping his hand, Ed’s got Winry in unzippered gear on his side. Camera pans out to show Al with May, Scar, and Marcoh to the left, Al, Winry, and Granny Rockbell to the right. Then a bunch more people start popping up? Can’t tell who is on which team anymore. Short image of Al’s Body in the whitespace, becomes a Stone which shatters to show a smug-looking Pride. Now Ed’s running about striking shadow blades in a forest (Ed vs Pride fight?), Al’s in the rocky desert fighting more toothy Pride blades. Wrath in what looks like a basic longsleeve shirt and vest (no uniform?) fighting LING YES TURN AGAINST THE GOTHS MY GREEDY LITTLE PRINCE Envy’s in Titan form getting sliced up by YES BRING BACK BADASS NINJA BODYGUARDS. Now it’s Armstrong The Great looking serious, Sloth burst out from snow to be used as target practice by Sideburns and a bunch of tanks but Kimblee swoops in and blows the shells up. Beard’s walking along with his briefcase frowning towards Central in the distance. Ed and Al stand back to back in a TC in the desert (not as rocky as the one Ed was in, but not as sandy as the one Al was in), shot of the Door of Truth opening and shattering, ends on the Alchemist Watch covered by the title and silhouettes of the Elric Brothers. Back where we left off: It’s a cloudy and windy day in Baschool, where Scar is carrying Winry’s limp form and glaring down at Kimblee. The Ishvalan comments on how they’ve changed positions from the last time they met, the Alchemist says he shouldn’t be so confident. Episode 39 - “Daydream” Oh no Winry’s in trouble so Ed is grabbing Kimblee’s coat and yelling at him for letting his mechanic get captured, Kimblee tells him to move aside while pulling off his gloves (hey, he’s kinda Roy’s opposite in that regard), Ed blocks his arms so that he won’t hurt Winry by attacking Scar. The Ishvalan then shatters the building, creating a nice big dust cloud to walk away in. Kimblee’s about to chase after him but a mustached soldier says that it’s too dangerous to go close to the damaged building, they need to fall back. Oh, and there’s a snowstorm incoming so they have to find shelter! Man, it has just not been Kimblee’s day, has it? Ed, Sideburns, Al and some soldiers are walking along, Miles compliments Ed on his performance aha, called it! Ross Deception! Ed’s not happy about having to play along with the “stupid charade”, though. Flashback! Scar isn’t apologizing for the death of Winry’s parents. She has every right to pass judgement on him. Winry… walks away, reaches into a box, and pulls out some cloth. Oh, wow. It it wasn’t already clear, Winry is Best Girl. Bandaging an injury on her parent’s killer? Ed and Scar are equally shocked at her compassion and what. What is that face. I’m sorry, this is a sweet and touching moment and all, but Scar? What is going on with your face here?

That is quite possibly the best Does Not Compute face I’ve ever seen. Just, Scar has no idea how to process this. Winry’s saying that if her parents saved his life before, then there must have been a reason. But like Leto does this mean that she’s forgiven him for his murders. She’s not gonna cry though, she promised… wait, I thought it was Ed who promised that the next time she cried it would be tears of joy? Ah whatever. Ok, you’ve got Scar bound up. Angry boyfriend proclamations aside, time to make him decipher the book NO DON’T CALL HEADQUARTERS YOU IDIOTS. Aaaargh. Wait Scar’s asking Sideburns what he meant by “one of your people”, can’t understand how an Ishvalan could stomach being part of the Amestrian military. Sideburns responds that he’s working on the inside to change Amestrian views of Ishvalans, Scar is shocked at such an idea, and that it was an Amestrian that set Sideburns on the path. Scar can only look down. [Scar]: “Look at me. I am a festering wound of hatred born of the Ishvalan War. I am thankful that there is someone like you out there.” Aaargh but just as Scar is realizing that maybe wanton murder isn’t the way to go about things the call goes through, and Kimblee is on his way to “deal” with Scar. This drives Marcoh and May to reveal themselves. Finally! Oh, and now May can patch up Scar’s arm! Outside the Mustached Mook is noting the stormy clouds, Kimblee tells them to hurry up (gee, I wonder if he’ll get there in time?). Marcoh and May are yes thank you for Leto’s sake it took long enough they’re saying that they’ve got groundbreaking Alchemy/Alkahestry research but the only one who can read it is Scar. Sideburns notes that May is the Alkahestry girl they’ve been searching for as well, says that she needs to come back with them to Fort Briggs. Add in that Scar’s needed to read the notes and it’d be just as bad for Marcoh to be recaptured, looks like all three need to go back to the Fort. Ed’s just a mite unhappy with needing Scar’s help, Sideburns knocks him upside the head with the fact that the Goths are pulling some sort of giant TC shenanigans, they need all the info and help they can get right now. Ed stands down after the suggestion that with Scar’s help they can disgrace Kimblee and get Winry away from his clutches. One Ishvalan Oath later Scar’s judgement is postponed… and the Chimeras are waking up, uh oh. The kids balk at Sideburns’ orders to kill them, the Chimeras sadly agree with Sideburns, saying that they can never go back to their old lives. Al tries reasoning with them, appealing to their families but they’ve been told they’re dead. And it’s not like they can go back like this, we’d just be imitating the 2005 Fantastic Four, and nobody wants that.

But Al does get them to yell that “of course they want their old bodies back”, when they quite reasonably say that it can never happen Al does the helmet remove to show his Soul Armor state. [Al]: “Well I’m going back. No matter how long it takes. I’m not giving up.” Ooh, is Al getting some followers? Watch him form an army out of Chimeras tossed aside by the Goths, take them down with their own creations. Unfortunately the snowstorm’s coming in, meaning that they can’t reach the Fort until it passes. And Kimblee’s on his way, so they need a plan- [Yoki]: “This is a mining town, isn’t it? Why don’t we just go into the underground tunnels?” [Everyone]: *turns in surprise to the secret tactical genius in their midst* [Yoki]: “W-what’s wrong? I mean, this is a pretty large mine, right? So surely there’s a tunnel that can take us beyond the mountains, uh… I think?” [Everyone]: “That’s it!” [Yoki, Tactical Genius]: “H-hey, give me some credit; this is what I did for a living!” Ha! Way to finally pull your weight, you C-tier flashback antagonist! Confirming that the tunnels go past the mountains- wait. Wait wait wait. Isn’t the whole point of the mountains that they are between Amestris and Drachma? Ooh, do we finally get to see another country?! Please let my dream of missionary Drachma’s with Leto pamphlets be a reality! Sideburns gives Marcoh notes for any Briggs soldiers the meet after the tunnel (watch them run into Drachmans first and cause all sorts of problems: “These people have notes written in Amestrian! They must be spies from Fort Briggs!”). But what about Winry? If she just up and vanishes with them then Kimblee will suspect the Elrics of foul play! [Winry]: “Um, I hate to be the one to suggest this, but, uh… What do you think Kimblee would do if I was suddenly taken hostage by Scar?” Whoa, so kidnapped!Winry was Winry’s idea? Props to you, mechanic! Mid-ep pictures of Winry Rockbell and human Jerso/Toad and Zampano/Boar. Ed and Al are understandably uneasy with the plan, but Winry shouts them down about being able to at least choose her captor if she’s a hostage either way. Come on Protagonists, learn that you don’t have to or can do everything by yourselves! Scar again promises to protect Winry before Ed lets him loose, when the Chimeras as to be taken along as well. They’ve failed which means Kimblee’s going to kill them either way… [Boar]: “Besides, we don’t want to give up either.” Look at you go Alphonse, already with your two inhuman followers! Also, they’re just a little confused and upset about all this talk of this band of misfits trying to stop some catastrophe that threatens their families along with all of Amestris. Y’know, just a minor detail. Kimblee’s inbound, better hurry. Sideburns asks wait what they’re back to human? Uh ok, with all the talk about being monsters I was kinda assuming that their beast forms were permanent, not something that they could consciously deactivate. Kinda undercuts the whole “we want our human bodies back” if they can shapeshift back like this. The groups are splitting up (to my surprise it’s not the Elric Brothers who are going different ways, at least for now), a soldier remarks that Winry needs to remove her earrings ok what. Seriously, what? This just totally broke my immersion, you cannot tell me that now is the moment when having metal earrings in the frozen north would cause discomfort and haven’t been an issue yet, especially when she came up north specifically because her boyfriend’s metal arm was seizing up. But whatever, she gives them to Ed for safekeeping before promising to see him back at the Fort. Ed gazes up after her, clenching his fist and probably crushing those precious earrings that he was just trusted with. Nice going, kiddo. Explosion! Acting! Snowstorm! Those left in Baschool are sheltering in a building, alternately looking at girlfriend’s jewelry, wondering where their fellow Chimeras have gone, and arguing for planning the next leg of the search. Then Sideburns gets a call from the Fort? Ooooooooh, right. There was that whole “forces from Central showing up to look for Raven” thing going on last time. And our guys are walking right into that mess. Whoops. Down in the tunnel Marcoh’s going on and on about how the Rockbell Doctors were widely respected during the Ishvalan War, how they helped all without regard for themselves. Meanwhile Scar’s walking in the back having flashbacks to Winry’s “I don’t forgive your wanton murdering”, an Ishvalan Elder telling Scar that while he should never forgive the Military’s “wanton murder” that he must abide it-

-to break the chain of hatred, and his brother saying he studies Alchemy to replace hatred with understanding. And here is Scar, following the orders of an Ishvalan who willingly works in the Military to change it, representing the ideals of Scar’s brother and Elders. So what does that make him? Yoki’s having the group stop in an underground office, to pick up a more detailed map of the tunnels. Man, who’d have thought that freaking Yoki would be the most useful party member at this point. Or ever? Inspired by Al, Toad and Boar are pestering Marcoh about any clues in the journal (that he can’t read), they banter with each other about their families. Aw, they’re actually friends! Nice to show that even the Central forces have loved ones, hopefully for real this time after that infuriating Bradley & Selim fakeout. May? What’s wrong? Oh. Oh yeah. Her whole mission was to learn the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone, only to find out it’s based on suffering and the obtaining of immortality for one at the expense of so, so many others. And His Imperial Highness, aka her father, apparently would make one without a moment’s hesitation using any number of his people. So apparently he leans more towards Wrath’s philosophy of leadership than Ling’s. But if she doesn’t bring back the secret of immortality, her clan is in danger from all the others. Marcoh says that the notes might have the humane secret to immortality, they just need to hurry up get to the Fort so Scar can get a-translating. [Ed]: “What do you mean, ‘the Fort is no longer safe’?!” Welp. Just when we get Armstrong The Great as an ally, she’s been summoned back to Central and a Military Officer’s getting put in her place, along with a bunch of other Central forces. So now the Tunnel Team is walking into a hostile environment without knowing. They have to be warned, but how? Ed wants to go but he’ll freeze before he gets anywhere close… [Al]: “There is a way! Listen: send someone who doesn’t have a body. That storm won’t freeze me to death!” Uh, Al? Sure I guess you wouldn’t catch hypothermia, but you’re still a giant suit of steel armor. Remember how there was that whole “Ed’s arm freezing up” problem that was fixed by replacing his entire arm? You don’t have body heat like a living person, your limbs are just gonna ice up. Actually, how the Leto hasn’t that happened yet? Huh. I guess Souls act as armor heaters too, Al’s having more trouble just seeing where he’s walking in the blizzard than actually moving. He sees the path but the winds picks up and the screen whites out from the snow GAH ZOMBIE AL! Oh shit how did Al end up in the Whitespace? Uh, well you’ve found your body? Quick, grab it and let’s get wait no it was an illusion. What, you getting snow madness buddy? Oh. Oh shit. We’ve got a flashback to Barry musing that foreign bodies can’t hold souls for too long, Al’s freaking out about his body trapped in Whitespace, pulling on his soul as it’s rejected by his armor… he can’t think about that right now, he has to hurry. Without the map now, since he dropped it after that vision. Oh hell it’s this asshole. [Uncle]: “Alphonse Elric. Edward Elric. And also… there’s… Van Hohenheim. Izumi Curtis, she’s a possibility-” Aside from all the awfulness of listing off Potential Sacrifices, which is looking a lot more like ‘killing all of these people, not just one or the other’, did you just purposefully knock over Izumi’s piece? Rude, and I can’t wait to see her punch you. “That leaves one more.” New end credits! Rapid guitar music as we race through a 3D hallway/tunnel, outside looks like Ed’s standing in the ruins of the Elric house, Al’s somewhere else standing among some tall square rocks. Flashes of red-eyed Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Pride, and Uncle (what, no Lust, Greed or Sloth?) A look at Riza’s scarred back with that strange symbol before she turns and I am very sorry for walking in while you were changing ma’am, I’ll be going now. Roy’s still in his eveningwear outfit probably trying to get someone to take all those flowers off his hands, Beard is oh Leto what is happening with your face, are you actually smiling. That looks so weird, stoppit. Oh hey it’s Mama Elric, so sad that we lost you before we could fully appreciate your snark. Ah there’s the scowling Beard that we know, go kick Uncle’s ass. We’ve got Ed jumping and Al and LING YES BRING HIM BACK and a lion and monkey oh my Leto is Al actually going to build a Chimera Army this is the best thing of all time yeah there’s Toad and Boar we are totally getting Rebel General Al. Also there’s Alchemist-Slayer Scar on their side now but who cares CHIMERA ARMY ok fine we also get May and oh Marcoh’s getting in on the action looks like he lost a few teeth wait Yoki no we need you as the secret tactical genius get off the front lines. Selim’s there looking all cute and innocent in his little schoolkid guise until his shadow gets teethy and attacks Ed. Winry’s power walking through a hallway (can’t see if she got her earrings back). Then a bunch of hands reaching up, one larger one grasping a smaller one (which ship will sail?!) before we’re back in the tunnel, shots of Ed and Al and Beard before a final map of the country-sized TC.

#wmtw #where my twin watches #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 39

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b-rainlet · 5 years

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Just out of curiosity who do you picture as the bodyguard? and who do you picture as the person needing guard? and for what reason?.

Funny that you ask! Not like I spend 8 hours daydreaming about this and getting so excited that I set up the post to be as unspecific as possible so someone would ask me about this! (I did but that’s besides the point)

Both possibilities work very well.

In both cases Reggie is some eccentric billionaire guy who adopted (a) kid(s) to inherit his wealth. Probably does some investment stuff that I am too gay to understand.

Possibility A: Reggie adopts a son. Diego. But Diego doesn’t wanna play nice and has no interest in meeting up with some old dudes to talk about politics and lick their conservative boots. He’d rather go out and party, blow some (most) of his money on alcohol and pretty girls.

(He’s a little fuckboy lmao)

Cue Reggie’s most loyal Guard, normally responsible for walking patrol around the house at night - and the only guy Diego can’t bribe so he doesn’t tell his Dad when he tries sneaking in again past curfew. Diego hates that guy a little.

Reggie instructs him with watching over his idiot son before he gets himself killed and Reggie has to look for another person to continue his empire.

(No one knows why Reginald hasn’t just thrown Diego out??? Let’s just say he’s old and soft for his quasi son - at least in this AU)

So now you have Luther following Diego like a shadow, trying to keep him out of trouble (breaking up fights Diego picks on purpose, driving away shady guys, treating Diego like a ‘damsel in distress’) and you have Diego, trying his damn best to get rid of Luther.

(Except during those weird moments when he catches Luther’s eye and Luther looks away like he did something wrong, like he was caught staring. What’s even weirder is Diego’s desire to look away too, cheeks pink and hands sweating).

But of course it’s unethical to fall in love with someone you’re paid to protect so Luther decidedly doesn’t talk about that one time he crowded Diego into a bathroom stall at some rich prick’s party and kissed him silly and Diego decidedly doesn’t care.

(He cares a lot but that’s not the point. Luther isn’t supposed to know how much he cares).

So now there’s added sexual tension and it’s awful on both of them. So awful in fact that Luther barges into Diego’s room to declare that he quit his job and smooch the protests right from Diego’s mouth before he can get it wrong and work himself up over it.

(The new bodyguard is good but strict. They don’t let Luther sleep over so Diego keeps sneaking out only this time it’s so he can cuddle with his boyfriend instead of partying).

Possibility B: Reggie has some (biological? No ones sure where they come from actually) children. Luther and Vanya.

But it’s Luther who will inherit everything, as the son and older one of the two.

This time it’s not so much about keeping Luther out of trouble but more about actually protecting him. He doesn’t need a babysitter because he rarely ever leaves his room to party and ‘go wild’ but because he’s so used to his sheltered life he’s at a higher risk off being taken advantage of or kidnapped or killed or whatever else.

And lately he’s been following after Vanya, insisting on watching over his baby sister but his baby sister has taken a liking to a. hanging out in extremely shady places and b. is not the one Reggie worries couldn’t handle herself.

So that’s where Diego comes in. Thrown out of the police academy but with enough experience in hand to hand combat and a knack for knives he figures the job can’t be too bad. Also, he desperately needs the money.

Luther is nice enough, polite and well-mannered but sometimes Diego has the intense urge to slap him because how can someone be so naive.

“They seemed like nice people.” - “They tried to rob you!” - “They were really polite about it though.”

How Luther managed to get this far in life is beyond Diego. He takes uncovered drinks, blurts out his full name and address without prompting, befriends everyone, no matter how shady they seem and is just a general hazard to himself.

And then instead of staying home and working on his adorable little poems - that Diego will read one day, no matter how much Luther protests, it’s kinda his duty to get all up in Luther’s business anyway - they have to hang around in bars Diego would never ever set foot in otherwise, just because Vanya is there, having the time of her life (and probably a mental breakdown. Looks pretty similar).

“You know, if you’re so worried about your baby sis, why don’t you pay someone to look after her? Something like - hmm, let me think about it - a bodyguard.” - “She refuses to have one. Gets rid off all of them one way or another.”

“Why?”

Turns out some crazy stalker pretended to be a trained bodyguard so he could get close to Vanya, make her fall for him. And he got lucky.

And then he proceeded to spilll every single dirty secret Vanya ever told him to every tabloid that would listen to him, just because Reggie double-crossed him once, or something. Pathetic.

So Vanya decided to just not give a fuck anymore, to lurk around in places no one will care who she is or isn’t and swore to never ever let anyone ‘look out for her’ again.

“And that’s why we’re here.”

And yeah, maybe this Leonard is the biggest creep in existence but Luther being so adamant about protecting his sister and so angry about what happened to her - “I liked that guy, Diego, I congratulated her on her catch!” - makes something inside Diego’s chest swell and maybe he can’t look at Luther for the rest of the evening.

“Patch, you’re still doing your detective business, right?” - “What do you need?”

Diego convinces Patch to do some “simple person observation, easy a pie” for him, so Luther doesn’t worry that much anymore.

Patch is his oldest friend, they grew up in the same orphanage before Patch got adopted and Diego...didn’t. They briefly dated but figured they’re more like family. Weird, unusual Family who roast each other on the daily but would also die for each other in a heartbeat.

“What’s in it for you?” - “See you’d do me a huge favour, it would be less work for me, watching over two people is tedious-” - “Diego.”

“.....I would have more free time?” - “You mean more alone time with the brother.” - “.....Maybe.”

“Falling in love with your employer? Classy.” - “His father pays me! And it’s not like I didn’t walk in on you fingering your clients on more than one occasion!” - “Touché”

To wrap this up before I get too into it: Patch watches over Vanya “discreetly” - which means that Vanya immediately spots her and starts flirting with her, hoping for a fling. Then Diego blows it completely by admitting that he knows Patch and yeah, that’s a bit shitty of him.

(In his defense, the bar was really crowded and Luther was leaning down into his space and whispering something in his ear, hand wrapped around Diego’s bicep and his brain kinda short circuited, so sue him for yelling Patch’s name when he saw her walk up to them with Vanya).

Long story short they sort of end up on a double date and everything seems good for a while and thanks to Patch, Diego can lure Luther to go on dates with him he denies are dates. Well, at least until Luther says “I hope this was a date because I really wanna kiss you right now.” that’s when Diego inists on those meet ups being the date-iest dates to date.

......But of course it all goes to shit.

See, Patch likes Vanya and she really doesn’t want this to be built on a lie so she admits that she actually has the job to watch over Vanya and Vanya...doesn’t take it well.

Luther also doesn’t take it well as soon as he figures out that Diego was the one initiating this.

“I told you she has trust issues! And you just go and lie to her face? To my face?? Make her fall for someone who’s lying to her the whole time - again.”

They break up before they go on their third date, so maybe it’s not really a break up but Diego feels like it is. In fact, he feels like utter shit.

So the next few weeks are just full of Vanya and Luther watching romcoms together and binging on ice cream, while Patch and Diego get shit faced together and trash talk people until fights break out.

(By the end of it they have to resort to drinking at home because they’re banned from all their usual bars).

I’m not further in my musings about this but somehow they all make up and end up gay and happy. Tada!

Also just for the hell of it, I desperately want someone chatting up Luther in both AUs and Diego being unreasonably jealous - because it’s not like they’re dating, not at all - and insisting that this person is bad news, either in a “Trust me, I’m your bodyguard” way or in a “I feel unsafe and you’re here to protect me, aren’t you?” way.

Well....this got long, lmao

#luego #bodyguard au

14 notes · View notes

cloudyhyunjin · 7 years

Text

Nights

You notice a certain red and blue vigilante has started making sure you get home safely

Member: Felix

Warnings: idk I use a lot of commas and im kinda a shitty writer so have fun i guess. (ALSO THIS FIC USES INCORRECT FIRST AID DON’T EVER WIPE A LACERATION WITH A RAG OKAY!!!)

Genre: Fluff and a pinch of angst, Spiderman au

Song Rec: Nights-Frank Ocean (I did totally listen to WOW by 3racha on repeat while writing this though)

Word Count: 9.5K

Author’s Note: This takes place in Queens but i’m from chicago so don’t expect accuracy in locations and stuff cuz that’s where spiderman is from, also in highschool, and because we don’t know how tall Felix is he’s gonna be taller than you in this scenario but I only mention you being shorter than him like once so… yeah

It wasn’t your fault that heads started turning in your direction when you walked through the halls in school. Nor was it your fault that the quiet whispers eventually got loud enough for you to hear.

‘Apparently he follows them to their job after school’

‘I could’ve sworn that I’ve seen him watching them walk home from the convenience store.’

‘Do you think they know each other?’

At first the comments scared you. Who was following you home at night? Was it someone who was trying to hurt you? The fear of this person was so prevalent that you convinced a friend to drive you from school to work every day for a few weeks until you found a more convenient way to travel. Of course, it would have been more helpful to have a ride home from work. Walking home at night was the scariest part of your day. But that wasn’t possible, so you opted for a small can of pepper spray, and your house keys between the fingers on your dominant hand in order to help you feel more safe during the walk. You only had to walk in the discomfort for a few days however. The comments in the halls helped you to feel a bit less scared.

‘Why would Spiderman follow them home?’

At first you couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t because of the shock of the spiderman following you home, more that you thought it was just a ridiculous rumor started by your classmates. Your classmates also helped in voicing you other concerns.

‘What’s so special about them?’

You couldn’t think of anything that was special enough to warrant a superhero taking the role of, what was essentially, your own personal bodyguard. The idea stayed in your head that maybe you weren’t special. Maybe spiderman did this for everyone that he saw walking home alone, which was the real question. Was it really only you had had gotten this treatment? You hoped, if spiderman was truly making sure you got home safely, that you were the only person who got the treatment. It did make you feel just a bit more special.

That week prior where you were unsure of who was following you home had been the week when you feared walking home from work the most. Your mother constantly tried to convince you that taking a bus home or getting a ride from a friend was safer than the mile long walk, but your father went a different route and tried to get you to take self defence classes. Your friends gave you the most concern, they were constantly trying to provide you with rides home or trying to get you to go to their house instead as they lived closer to your job. You understood where their fear came from. With all the weird aliens and criminals showing up the crime rates in Queens had doubled lately. Maybe that was why you suddenly had a red and blue shadow.

It took a while to notice him, but once you did you couldn’t stop seeing him. You had seen the dark figure running across the tops of buildings trying to keep up with your fast pace. Felt the air whipping behind you, which you could only attribute to the hero swinging on his webs past you. Occasionally you heard his footsteps pattering on the sides of buildings. There were a few times in which you almost started a conversation with him, you would stop and look for him only to make what you assumed was eye contact for an uncomfortably long time and then return to your walk. It gave you a weird sort of reassurance knowing that he was there, you felt as if he would try his hardest to protect you. It made you feel slightly attached to him.

You had grown so used to the presence being there that you grew worried when you didn’t seem him right away. The worry didn’t sprout from fear of you not being okay, more from fear that he wasn’t. However he always made an appearance. You were comfortable with him constantly surrounding you. It would have been okay with you if you only ever contacted him through the long stares. So one could only imagine how strange it felt when you started making more contact with him. A small piece of paper you found attached to your locked with a web.

‘Good luck on your math test today! Don’t worry about the web on your locker, it should dissolve in a few hours’

The first letter sat on your locker for a few hours before, like he said it would, the web dissolved and the small paper fell to the ground. You walked back to your locker the next morning to find another note.

‘What you don’t like my notes?’

A small frowning face was drawn next to the words and you smiled slightly to yourself before pulling the note off the locker and slipping it into your back pocket.

“No it’s just different.” You whispered to yourself before turning and walking to your first period class. You were painfully aware of the note in your pocket every second of the day, every slight movement in your chair and you felt the piece of paper digging into your body. It was almost funny to you that Spiderman went to your school. He wasn’t some strange 30 year old man who decided to take an interest in you, nor was he just Tony Stark’s newest recruit that had suddenly grown fond of you. It scared you that you probably knew him and you knew for a fact that he heard all of the rumors that went around the school. The rumors that you might be related to him or maybe his partner. Some people said that you might have even paid him to protect you. He had to have heard everyone grasping at straws and trying to figure out why spiderman suddenly took an interest in you. But now that you knew he went to your school, maybe you could finally ask him yourself.

Note after note started appearing on your locker, every day like clockwork. You would show up at your locker to find a note attached with that stupid little web. Sometimes they were helpful reminders, but other times they were just compliments or variations of ‘Have a good day y/n’. It was cute, and after only a few days the whispers in the halls started to pick up on the notes. The questions turned into more accusing statements and they grew louder. It seemed that they didn’t care if you heard at that point.

‘There’s no way they aren’t dating spiderman.’

Full blown conversations and theories flying past you as you walked past them. The judgement didn’t last long however. The people of the school eventually came to find it cute, different types of aww sounded off every time they caught you smiling at the notes. Deskmates started asking you about it as well. If you knew who he was or why he was trying to make contact with you. You never had an answer for them, and it upset them every time. You did continue to entertain the idea that maybe you would tell them everything that you knew about spiderman, and you would tell them about him when you were comfortable. They were, of course, oblivious to the fact that you knew just as much about him as they did.

Some days you would find that the halls would get increasingly more quiet as you drew near to the locker. You always knew why the second you turned the corner into the hall where your locker was stationed and saw another little sheet flapping slightly as people whipped past it. You were usually immune to the letters, not showing much emotion when you saw them as to not give your witnesses a show. But this day, for some reason unknown to you, was a bit different. A small smile plastered itself on your face and you turned your head downwards as you walked quickly towards it. You stationed yourself in front of the locker and read to note.

‘Ooh fancy I’m breaking tradition again. It’s cold out so make sure you wear a jacket.’

“Fancy it is Mr. Spiderman.” The note was once again pulled off the metal it stuck to and tucked into your back pocket. You didn’t mind him breaking tradition if it meant that you could hear from him just a bit more. You lifted your head to look at the combination lock on your locker only to have your eyes quickly covered by a pair of hands.

“Guess who?” The voice rumbled behind you, you knew exactly who it was but you played along with him anyways.

“The grim reaper, here to bring me the sweet release of death so that I never have to interact with Felix ever again.” You answered and wrapped your fingers around his wrists pulling his hands away from your eyes. You dropped his hands and turned around to lean against your locker. He stood in front of you slightly hunched over, a baggy grey sweatshirt with the hood covering his black hair. Matching black bags under his slightly closed eyes. He hadn’t been sleeping much, it was easy for you to tell.

“How are you y/n?” He pulled his hood off only to run a hand through his hair and pull the hood back up. The black hair was different from the bleach blonde that he had been sporting for the past few months.

“You dyed your hair.” He tilted his head at your comment, upset that you dodged his question. “I like it. It really brings out the bloodshot in your eyes.” You smiled and tilted your head as well, mimicking his movements. He chuckled at the comment but he didn’t let his prior question go unanswered.

“What are the notes making you uncomfortable or something? You know I would totally beat up spiderman for you.” He teased and poked your shoulder a bright smile adorned his face, you had definitely gotten used to that smile.

“You’ll beat up the spiderman and win. Yeah, sure.” You scoffed and pushed yourself off of your locker and turned around putting in your combination, you opened your locker and swapped your books. “And besides I don’t mind the notes.” Felix muttered a small ‘Good’ and smiled at you. He stood on your left side so that he wouldn’t be blocked by the locker door and leaned his left shoulder against the brick wall that separated two sets of lockers. His head leaned against the wall as well and he closed his eyes. A small ding sounded from his phone and he groaned before pulling it out of his back pocket. He rolled his eyes as he scanned over the notification.

“I’m sorry I have to go, uh… Aunt May wants me for something. Put on a jacket it’s cold outside.” He turned around and ran towards the exit before you could say goodbye. It was strange for a few seconds, and you couldn’t help but wonder ‘what is it’s him’. But the Felix you knew, he was afraid of heights. A few months prior you had tried to take him to one of those indoor skydiving place only for the both of you to chicken out at the last second. The idea left your head as quickly as it entered. You closed your locker and threw your bag over your shoulder, walking out of the school with the note still sitting in your back pocket.

The walk to work was indeed cold and you scolded yourself for not putting on a jacket like you were told to. The usual 30 minute walk took a good took an extra twenty minutes; you were alone on this walk. It felt strange to not get any signs of him, no footsteps, no sights, or sounds. It scared you a little bit and every few steps you would slow down and look around, hoping to see or hear something, anything. But there was nothing.

You pushed your way into convenience store and walked to the employee room. Hanging up your backpack and slipping on the red vest, you sighed and closed the door when you were done. Ever day seemed all too familiar. Spider Man’s appearance in your life was a much welcomed difference in the same old routine, as you walked behind the counter you only hoped that his lack of appearance today didn’t mean something bad.

As the hours went by, you still couldn’t get the thought you of your head. Was he going to be okay? Would you be okay walking home alone? You could only hope that the answer to both of those questions was yes. God was this stranger tearing you up inside. Not knowing who he was of if he was okay were the only thoughts on your mind. However, your thoughts were disrupted by a small thudding sound coming from the front of the store. You looked around the brightly lit room for anyone before you walked around the counter and towards the front door slowly. As you approached the door you found a light brown bag pressed against the outside of the glass door, surrounding it was that familiar white web. You laughed and smiled brightly then you walked outside of the store and cut the bag free with a key on your keyring.

You walked back into the store and locked the door behind you, deciding that it was time to take your break. You positioned yourself on the front counter so that you were facing the front door and you opened the bag. Inside was a Sub sandwich from the shop across the street, and of course a small note. It as written on a small brown napkin instead of the normal white notebook paper

‘You should make sure that you’re eating something.’

“How considerate,” You took the wrapping off of the sandwich and took your time eating it, the shop usually wasn’t very busy once it got late which allowed you to do so. A few people passed by the shop and gave the left over web on the door strange looks as they did so. Occasionally they would look at you as well, but you just smiled back at them. It was good that no one was showing up to the small shop, it gave you extra time to attempt to work on some of your school work. Keyword being attempt. It seemed stupid and repetitive but he was still on your mind. He had been at the sub shop across from your work while you were at work. That was the most disappointing, he was so close to you and you could have caught him but you didn’t.

A loud knocking disrupted your thoughts once again and you lifted your head to the front door. Felix stood in the same grey sweatshirt and smiled at you when you made eye contact with him.

“Are you open?” The sound was muffled but it was easy to understand what he was saying. You set the sandwich down and walked to the door. You unlocked the door then opened it for him, he stepped in and the both of you walked back to the front counter and took a seat on it. He had been looking tired lately, you assumed that it was because the semester was ending and he was trying his hardest to prepare for finals. He had a bad habit of letting his grades get a bit too low and then having to study profusely in order to pass his classes. You always offered to help him with subjects where he wasn’t the best but he turned you down every time. Making up an excuse that Aunt May needed his help with something or that he was able you pass the classes on his own. You never bought any of the excuses but you didn’t ever press it. He would tell you why he was “Busy” when he was ready, right?

“No offence Felix but you look like hell.” You pulled the other half of the sub out of the brown paper bag and handed it to him. He put one hand up in protest and shook his head.

“No thanks. I don’t like swiss on my subs.” Your eyebrows furrowed at the comment.

“How do you know it’s swiss?” You shot back. His cheeks got slightly more red and his eyes widened when he heard you. It only lasted a few seconds though, he chuckled and replied.

“You always get swiss on your sandwiches, silly.” Muscles in your shoulders relaxed, you didn’t know they were so tense until that moment. He was right; you did always get swiss on your sandwiches. How did spiderman know that? Maybe it was just a guess.

“I didn’t get it for myself.” He didn’t seem surprised.

“Let me guess it was your shadow.” Felix said. A fake bitterness in his voice and you laughed at the mock jealousy. He was always good at making you laugh, to be completely honest he was always good at making everyone laugh. You had always wondered why Felix didn’t have more friends when it would have been so easy for him to make more. He claimed that it was because he was busy enough with you that he didn’t have time for anyone else. Of course, you always felt a bit guilty when he told you this. You couldn’t have taken up that much of his time right?

The two of you sat on the counter for the rest of your shift and spoke all throughout the rest of your shift. When it came time for you to go home you clocked out and grabbed your backpack back from your locker, replacing it with the red work vest that you had been wearing earlier. Felix offered to walk you home and you gladly accepted, he lived close by and you knew that he would be able to make it home around the same time as you.

The walk back was filled with light hearted conversation and laughs. A bit of ice cream was even involved in the trip. Felix had suggested that despite the cold weather, ice cream was always a good option. The walk took longer than usual but you were okay with that, it was a good distraction. So good in fact, that you didn’t even notice spiderman’s absence.

You walked into your first period class after you picked up the note from your locker.

‘Be extra careful tonight! I heard there’s some dude running around town mugging people. I’ll keep you safe but still”

At first you questioned why he didn’t just say that he’s take care of it instead of saying that he’d keep you safe. But after a few minutes of thinking about it you realised that it was obvious that he had been spending a lot of his time in making sure that you were okay recently. It made sense in that capacity, but you feared that he was becoming too occupied with your safety over the city.

Felix was the first person that you saw, not that he saw you though. His head was buried in his notebook as he tried to finish the homework from the previous night. You laughed at the sight; he looked so small hunched over in his chair. You walked over to him and pulled out the chair from the desk next to him. He looked up at you and smiled, you returned the expression.

“You look like you haven’t slept in weeks.” You commented on his appearance as you sat down in your seat. A low chuckle rumbled from his chest as he looked over his right shoulder at you. He closed the notebook and put it in his lap, he then laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes. A small smile still held itself on his lips, and you looked at his face for a bit. You grew exceedingly concerned the longer you looked over his face. His right eyebrow had a deep cut through it that wasn’t there yesterday. The same could be said for the left side of his bottom lip. Felix opened his eyes to find a worried expression plastered on your face.

“What is it now?” He lifted his head off the desk and leaned back in his chair maintaining eye contact with you. You brought your hand up to his face and ran your thumb along the cut on his bottom lip. His lips parted slightly and his breath hitched at the action. Your eyes travel to his lip but his eyes stayed right on you. The two of you were silent for what felt like far too long for Felix, when you finally brought your eyes back to his he saw nothing but concern in them.

“What is this?” You pulled away your hand from his face and put it in your lap. He shook his head at the question.

“It’s nothing y/n” He spoke softly and the small smile from earlier found its way back onto his face. Your concern morphed into something else that had a hint of annoyance. He knew you wouldn’t like that answer. He was right, you hated that answer with every fiber of your being. “I promise, okay? If it was something important I would tell you.” You turned away from Felix and muttered a small ‘okay’.

It stressed you out that Felix wouldn’t talk to you, and for a few seconds you questioned your friendship with him. Why couldn’t he trust you? He used to trust you with everything so why wouldn’t he tell you? He must have sensed that you were so pressed about his safety, because before you knew it both of your hands were enclosed by his and he was looking straight in your eyes.

“Hey, I’m alright I promise. It just really isn’t important what happened.” His smile this time was larger and brighter, you didn’t miss the slight wince as the cut on his lip stretches a bit too far. You smiled back at him and nodded your eyes still on his. If he really didn’t want to tell you, there was nothing you could do about it. So you took the explanation and turned back to the front board freeing one of your hands. However his other hand never moved from yours, it stayed throughout the entire class. He used his left thumb to draw lazy circles over the back of your hand. Every single time he squeezed you hand your heart seemed to beat just a little bit harder. It stayed in his even as he walked you to your second class through the whisper filled hallways. It was definitely something that you could get used to.

The walk to work that day seemed even more lonely and cold than the day before. There was no sign of spiderman again, nor was there any sign of him during work. You sat through your boring shift with no sandwich to brighten your mood, and no Felix to keep you busy. It the world seemed to stop during your shift. Not many people came during the brighter hours compared to how busy the shop usually was when the sun was still shining. Your shift ended after an eternity and you began your walk home, once again feeling more alone than usual. You shuffled your feet and picked up your pace as you went on your way and tried to ignore anything else that was going on around you.

“Please don’t hurt me!” But how could anyone ignore that. Your head whipped to the sight across the street. A large man stood in front of a much smaller woman, he was holding a large knife out in front of him and she was doing the same with a purse. You didn’t have to think twice before you ran to the other side of the street and a bit further into the dark alley where the scene was taking place.

“Hey!” You called out, both of thme turned their heads in your direction. “Don’t you know Queens has been getting dangerous recently? It’s not safe to walk home alone at night!” The man laughed out loud and turned in your direction. You made eye contact with the lady and smiled slightly at her as the man continued to walk towards you. It wasn’t until he was only five or six feet away from you that you started taking steps away from him trying to get him as far away from her as possible.

“You mean like you are?” He spoke suddenly and smirked. The sudden realization hit you, you didn’t have protection right now. Spider man wasn’t around to keep you safe which meant that you had just thoroughly fucked yourself over. You looked back at the woman and nodded your head at her.

“Run!” You yelled at her as the man lunged towards you with the knife. You jumped back and stumbled over yourself before tripping and falling. A sharp pain shot through your upper arm and you put your hand where the pain was, your hand seemed to make the pain worse so you pulled it away quickly. The street was dark but a few of the lights from the small empty restaurants behind you aided you in your vision, and the sight you saw didn’t make you feel at ease. Your hand was covered in blood, and a decent amount of it you. You continued to crawl backwards away from him using your legs to push you and your good arm to help keep you upright. The man lunged at you again and you squinted your eyes, preparing for the worst.

But the worst never came, all you heard was a loud thug and a pained grunt from who you assumed was your assailant. You kept your eyes shut though all of the yelling and small yet sharp noises, your hands flew over your ears as well and you ignored the throbbing in your arm that only seemed to get worse with the movement. What was probably only minutes seemed like hours as you sat on the ground just outside the small dark alley, but it ended eventually. Two large hands wrapped around your hands and pulled them away from your ears. You flinched at first but when your eyes shot open and looked up you instantly relaxed a little bit. You chuckled a bit to what you assumed was his amusement and opened your mouth to speak.

“It’s good to finally meet you Mr. Spiderman.”

You found yourself sitting on top of a tall apartment building across from the hero. The lights from nearby buildings making it easier to see, however not all too easy. You had pulled the sweatshirt off of your body and you sat in a thin t shirt, it was cold out and you shivered at any wind. He tried to make keep the sweatshirt on at least half of your body, however you ultimately won the argument and ended up taking the entire sweatshirt off. You did seriously regret it though. The streets were especially cold this late at night, but being as high up as you were made it even worse. You had also tried to convince him to just patch you up on the street, but that was an argument that you couldn’t win.

You looked at him with an intensity that you didn’t ever think your eyes could hold. Where had he been? Did he ever really leave you or were you just too oblivious to see him? Every single question you had sat uncomfortably in your mouth, ready to be asked. But for some reason you just couldn’t ask, you couldn’t bring yourself to initiate any sort of conversation with him. He pulled a bottle of water and a package of gauze pads out of a grocery store bag. He also insisted that he was the one who grabbed everything needed for cleaning your wounds. You could only imagine the faces of the people in the store as the spiderman walked in and bought medical supplize. You would never know though, he dropped you off on top of the building before his supply run.

He opened the box of gauze and pulled out a few of the small packages, you tried to reach for the water bottle so that you could open it but he smacked your hand away before you could reach it. You pulled both of your hands back and put them up, another wave of throbbing pain shot through your arm ar the sudden movement and you winced. His hand was wrapped around your wrist within the blink of an eye in order to stop any sudden movement.

“Don’t move.” He said, a deep grumbling voice disguised whatever his real voice sounded like. You were angry at him for that, he knew so much more about you than you knew about him. However, you doubted that voicing your concern would do anything about it. He pulled your wrist down slowly and pulled you a bit closer to him gently. He let go of your arm and opened the water bottle, then pouring some over the gauze pad. “This is probably going to hurt a bit sorry.” He said before grabbing your arm a bit gentler than the first time around.

“That would sound a lot more sincere if you didn’t have that voice thing.” You scoffed, he tilted his head to the side at that comment. You could only imagine that look on his face underneath those squinted white eyes. You laughed a bit at how the suit could change eye shape, the eyes softened when you laughed and his shoulders relaxed slightly. “How am I even supposed to trust you if I don’t know who you are?”

“You’ll know someday.” He wiped the gauze over the injury and you hissed at the contact. He pulled back a bit at the sound. “I’m sorry. I think I failed health class when we learned all of this.” The speech was rushed but the apology still seemed sincere underneath the artificial voice. He looked at you again, you nodded and prepared yourself for the pain. It hurt but not as bad as the first time around, he was definitely being more gentle than he was the first time. It took a solid twenty minutes for him to figure out how he was actually supposed to clean and wrap the wound, but he did a pretty good job overall. You threw the slightly bloodied sweatshirt back over yourself once you finished. The sleeve was still slightly wet and you mentally cursed at how you had ruined the sweatshirt. You pulled the hood of the sweatshirt off of your head and opened your mouth to tell spider man something, but when you looked up you found him standing by the edge of the building. You turned your body slightly and looked over the city, still keeping your distance from the ledge.

“Felix would hate this.” You said. He looked over his shoulder at you and made what you assumed was eye contact. “He’s my best friend. He’s terrified of heights.”

“He’s not afraid of heights.” He quickly spoke back and kicked one foot lightly over the edge of the building, an act that shook you to your core. You scoffed at the comment.

“What do you know him or something?” You asked. He didn’t answer at first, only turning his head away from you and back to the skyline.

“Better than you think.” He said so quiet that you almost couldn’t hear it, you assumed that he didn’t mean for you to hear it so you didn’t say anything back. You both sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, nothing needed to be said and you enjoyed it. You only ever shared moments like this with Felix, it felt reminiscent of one of those moments. You hadn’t had one of those moments with him in a while, so you enjoyed the one with Spiderman as much as you could. The silence was only broken as you realized how truly cold you were. It was a nice moment while it lasted, but you needed a jacket.

“You know I would probably be enjoying this a bit more if I weren’t also afraid of heights.” You stood up and wiped your hands off on your pants, ignoring the dull throbbing in your arm. You thought you heard a small chuckle from spiderman, but you brushed it off. He still stood on the edge, the tips of his feet hung slightly over the side. He muttered something and started to turn around to look at you.

“What’s so bad about hei-“ Mid-turn his left foot slipped off of the side of the building. You heard a small yell as he disappears from your sight behind the ledge. You gasped and ran to where he previously stood, almost losing your footing and falling off the building yourself. You stopped just before you could see over the side of the building and mentally prepared yourself for what you might be about to witness. Your knees hit the hard material of the roof and you bent over slightly, wrapping your hands around the ledge in the process. You cautiously moved your head over the side of the ledge. He stood on the side of the building fully vertical, a web coming from his right hand and attaching to a spot just below the ledge. You could have sworn that he was smiling, but the mask and lack of light made it impossible to tell. An annoyed expression formed on your face at the sight.

“Aww you do care.” He teased, you rolled your eyes and smiled a bit in response. You sat back on your feet right next to the ledge and he pulled himself up to sit right next to you. He hung his feet over the ledge and leaned back on his hands. He looked over his shoulder at you for a few seconds before once again turning back to the city. You stood up and walked closer to the middle of the building before shouting out to him.

“Come on. I should probably be getting home soon.” You put your right hand on the handle to the door that lead into the apartment building and started to twist it, you opened it slightly before a red hand slammed the door shut. You looked to your right and there stood Spiderman, he shook his head when you made eye contact.

“Nope, we take my way home.” He grabbed your right hand and walked towards the ledge, fear filled every part of your body and your muscles stiffened. He looked back to you once he made it to the ledge, the fear in your eyes must have been apparent to him. He pulled you a bit closer and grabbed your hands then wrapping them around his neck. “I’m gonna keep you safe alright. Just hold on tight.” He walked the two of you a bit closer to the edge, you breathed deeply. He wrapped his left arm around your waist which definitely did not help with your breathing situation, you wrapped your arms around his neck a bit tighter and dug your head into the crook of his neck.

“I trust you.” You said quietly but ou hoped he heard you. He chuckled and the close embrace let you feel the laugh before healing it. It sounded familiar and comfortable, you could get used to that sound.

“I know you do.” He said as he jumped off the edge of the building.

The next few weeks after you met Spiderman were some of the most comfortable you ever had. Felix seemed a bit better rested, and you thanked the heavens every time you saw him smile. A real genuine smile wasn’t something that you saw from Felix very often, so whenever it did happen it felt almost as if the heavens were thanking you instead. You had also started seeing spiderman more often, which was something that you definitely weren't’ against. Sometimes he would swing by your work, literally. It would always happen late at night when there were no people around, and he would quickly swing past the front of the shop so that you got a quick look at him. It was enough to know that he was okay and you were forever grateful that he thought about your poor heart.

The notes were still showing up as well, sometimes they found their way into your backpack which confused you to no end. You knew that he was sneaky but you didn’t know that it was to that extent. Sometimes the notes were even accompanied by other presents, they were usually small though. Simple things like a cup of coffee or a breakfast sandwich from a coffee shop close by. A full bouquet of flowers though, that was no small present.

You stood at your locker and stared at the flowers for what was probably far too long. Red roses wrapped at the stem with white lace, you took a step towards them and pulled the note apart from the rest of the bouquet.

‘Red roses, cliché right? You probably don’t have any place for these but I couldn’t risk dropping them off at the end of school and having someone seeing me. I hope you understand. And that you like the flowers!’

You sighed at the note, slightly upset that he couldn’t give them to you himself. But you understood that with that you would also want him to do it without the suit, and you didn’t know if he was ready for that yet. Sure it tore you apart inside that you still didn’t know who he was but you couldn’t just force him to do it. You had to be patient, but that seemed like the most unfair part about all of this. He held all of the control in this situation, of course you could retaliate somehow. You could stop reading the notes, let them all just fall to the floor like you did with the first one. Hell you even could have left those flowers there, but you weren’t heartless. You pealed the boquet off of your locker carefully as to not break any of the flowers.

“Fancy, he left you flowers.” Felix leaned his left shoulder against the lockers to your left as you continued to struggle with the boquet. “Kinda cliché though.”

“I like cliché.” You responded. You were finally able to pull the flowers off the locker after a minute or two of trying and that was when you were really able to admire them. A few chunks of loose web might have still been stuck to them, but they were still pretty. You turned to Felix and smiled, he didn’t smile back but he still looked content and that was good enough for you. Felix walked you to first and second period that day, just as he did every day. You were happy with the way your life was panning out, it seemed as if nothing could ever bring you down.

What a silly little thought that was.

The very next day you walked to your locker to grab your books and the note. The people passing by could only imagine everything you felt as you found a locker without a note, you tried to shake off all of the thoughts and feelings that were running through you and continue with your day. That couldn’t mean much could it? You grabbed your books and ignored all of the curious conversations about you that had once again become quiet. You rushed to first period and walked into your class, you didn’t want to wait for Felix at your locker that day. To your surprise you sat in class alone that day, Felix never showed. It wasn’t like him to not show up and to not give an explanation as to why he wasn’t there.

Your next three days went the exact same way. No Felix, no note, no Spiderman, no sense of normalcy. Felix hadn’t even bothered to call and tell you why he wasn’t around, ever text you sent him went unread and every call unanswered. On the fourth day without Felix you decided to take matters into your own hands. Felix didn’t live far from you, so you sent him a text message that you were going over there and you walked to him place.

The walk was cold and scary. You knew spiderman wasn’t out there this time to protect you, which was the most difficult part of any walk you took. You didn’t feel safe again until you stood in front of Felix’s apartment door. You knocked a few times, you were even surprised at how loud the knocks sounded. You reasoned that it was probably all of the feelings that you bottled up being taken out subconsciously, but you knew that it was just because you really wanted someone to answer the door. The door opened a few seconds later, Aunt May opened the door with a smile but it softened the second she saw you.

“Hi Y/n, how are you?” She asked kindly, you always liked Aunt may. She was like a second mother to you and this apartment was like a second home.

“I’m doing good. Is Felix here? I need to talk to him.” May’s facial expressions grew sad at your question. You knew where this was headed right away. She stepped outside with you and closed the door slightly.

“Y/n, I don’t know if right now would be the best time for that.” She spoke quietly, almost as if she didn’t want him to hear that you were there. You grew even more frustrated at her words, it definitely wasn’t the best time for an argument though so you tried to calm yourself down.

“Aunt May please.” You pleaded with her, she looked even more upset as you spoke. But you still couldn’t stop yourself from accusing her. “Why don’t you want me to see him.” May put her hands on your shoulders and rubbed them slightly after that comment. She shook her head at you and tried to smile.

“It’s not that I don’t want him to see you. If anything I think that’s exactly what he needs.” She stopped speaking for a few seconds and contemplated the next words that would come out of her mouth. “He just doesn’t want to see you Y/n.” You stepped away from Aunt May’s the second that the words finished leaving her mouth, if it was even possible she looked more upset at your action. Tears filled your eyes and you tried to keep yourself from crying. Aunt may kept speaking but you didn’t hear any of it, you didn’t understand any of it. You took a deep breath in and spoke again.

“You know just tell him to text me or something. We started a new unit in math and I don’t want him to fall behind.” You made up some stupid reason for him to contact you and walked as quickly as you could from that stupid apartment. Aunt May called after you but you ignored her, you didn’t feel like talking anymore. You sprinted home from the apartment, not out of fear but because you wanted to get as far away from Felix as humanly possible.

You locked yourself in your room that night and into the next day. You told your parents that you just weren’t feeling very well, at least it wasn’t a complete lie. Truthfully though, you had never felt worse. It seemed ridiculous to be upset over things like this, but it was the only way that you could feel in the moment. It just seemed so much more different now that you weren’t getting the notes, and ow that spiderman wasn’t giving you some sense of comfort as you walked home at night. It especially felt different now that Felix wasn’t talking to you or even acknowledging your existence. Any sense of what was normal had been ripped out from underneath you, that was what was most difficult to cope with. So you decided not to cope, and you sat in your room for two whole days.

You ignored any texts from your friends, and you ignored and knocks at your door from your parents. It was so easy to ignore people, you had almost understood why Felix did it. But that didn’t mean you forgave him, especially because he hadn’t contacted you yet let alone said sorry for ignoring you. You missed him. More than you had ever missed anyone before. You missed his smiles, his voice and laugh. You desperately wanted to be able to talk to him again, in any way possible. But there was only so much that you could do, the rest was up to him. So you waited for him. You cried and in the small periods of time when you weren’t crying you slept. That was your new normal for those two days. And then in one of those small periods you where you used to sleep he finally broke the silence. It was a text at 6am, of course he couldn’t realize he wanted to talk to you in a few hours after you got some sleep.

‘Can you meet me on the roof of that ugly apartment building on First Street?’

You laughed quietly at the text, it was the first time that entire week that you felt any real joy. You sent him a quick text that you were on you way and snuck out through the fire escape outside your window. The entire way there you felt a bit more comfortable, the feeling reminds you of the times when you knew spiderman was following you but you knew that he wasn’t. Your legs couldn’t carry you there fast enough, but you were so sleep deprived that running wasn’t an option. When you finally did arrive you tried your hardest to make it up to the roof as quietly as possible, which meant that it took even longer to get up there. But as you opened that stupid grey door and saw Felix it somehow all seemed worth it.

He stood at the edge of the building with the tops of is feet hanging over the sides. He had that familiar grey sweater on and the hood up, he wasn’t facing you, but you could already feel the tension in the air. You stepped out onto the roof and the door slammed loudly behind you, Felix turned around at the sound. He thanked every higher power in that moment that the sun was just coming up behind him so you couldn’t see his face yet, he knew you wouldn’t like what you saw. He took only a few steps away from the ledge of the building towards you, but he kept his distance still.

Any positive feelings left your body for a few seconds as you remembered what he put you through. There’s was only a burning anger in you at that moment, the urge to cry was so much strong that it was that night in front of his apartment. But this time, you didn’t hold back your tears.

“Start talking.” You snapped at him. Felix didn’t expect you to sound so weak, nor did he expect to feel so weak himself. “Where have you been? I’ve tried to text and call you, I even went over to your place but Aunt May said that you didn’t want to see me. Why didn’t you want to see me?” He walked even closer to you while you yelled at him, you would be lying if you said that you thought he didn’t deserve your anger. He left you alone with no reason for an entire week. He eventually got within about two feet of you, and he tried to take a step closer but you took a step back. That was one of the most painful things that he had ever experienced.

“I’m sorry,” He started, his voice was quiet and sad. You had only seen this side of him a few sides. You hated seeing it though, and you wanted to get rid of it as quick as possible. “I should have answered your calls, or told you what was wrong. I should have been honest with you from the start, but I wasn’t and I’m so sorry for that.” He took a few steps closer to you, you didn’t take any steps back this time. Your eyes started to adjust to the lack of light, and you wished they hadn’t. The two cuts on his face from before couldn’t hold a candle to what he looked like in that moment. A dark purple bruise sat on his left cheek, deep cuts were littered across his face, and his lip was busted open. You stepped closer to him and your hands went up to his face, every ounce of anger left you and you just felt guilty. How did you let this happen to him?

“I’m sorry Felix.” The apology came out as nothing but a whisper and more tears started to leave your eyes. Felix brought his thumbs to your cheeks and wiped the tears away.

“Do not apologize to me. You didn’t do this.” He said sternly before continuing his earlier monologue. “I didn’t tell you what was going on and I let you worry about me. Believe me I wanted to tell you everything so badly. I had planned to tell you on Monday but something went down on Sunday and I was pretty much bedridden for a few days. Aunt May’s orders, of course.” The two of you laughed, you could have only imagine how terrified Aunt May would have been when she saw Felix like this. You knew it was probably worse though, you got chills at the thought that Felix could have been hurt worse than what you saw before you.

“What happened on Sunday?” Felix opened his mouth to say something but then quickly shut it again. There was no doubt in your mind that he was going to tell you that it wasn’t important. However he realized that he had to start being honest with you, so he took a few more seconds and tried to choose words that wouldn’t make you as upset.

“I was doing my normal rounds and I saw these guys robbing the bank across the street from your convenience store. I went in to stop them but there were a few more people than I could handle and I kinda got my ass beat.” He laughed at the story as if it was actually funny, but you were horrified by it. You pulled your hands off his cheeks and held onto his hands that were still attached to your face.

“Why the hell were you trying to stop a bank robbery on your own? You idiot. You should have called the cops or something.” You punched his left shoulder, not very hard but enough to make a point and then pulled both of your hand off of his. He studied your worried expression for a while before pulling his hands off of your face and reaching into the pocket of his black sweatpants. @lets-talk-about-kpop

“That’s what I wanted to tell you about on Monday.” He pulled a small piece of old white notebook paper out of his pocket and held it in his palm for a while, the two of you stared at it intensely. “I had this weird dilemma after Sunday. I just felt so guilt that I wanted you in my life, especially with how dangerous it can get sometimes.” He made eye contact with you and continued. “I don’t want you to get hurt because I really love you.” A blush crept its way to your cheeks and a warm feeling spread throughout your entire body.

“Felix I love you too but what the hell are you talking about?” You might have been happy and in love but that didn’t stop you from being confused. He smiled brightly again, the split lip making it a bit more difficult and painful but he dealt with it for the moment. He lifted the white paper in front of your face and you grabbed it out of his hands. You looked back up at him then unfolded the paper.

‘Good luck on your math test today! Don’t worry about the web on your locker, it should dissolve in a few hours’

The whole world stopped turning for a few moments, your eyes grew wide at the note. It seemed like there was no way that Felix would be able to drop off a note every morning without anyone catching him. So you thought about it for a bit longer, and you played with the idea in your mind. And suddenly, everything just made so much sense. He knew what you got on your sandwiches and how you liked your coffee. There was also no doubt in your mind that Felix would do something as cliché as leave a full bouquet of roses on your locker for everyone in the school to see. You looked back up at Felix and giggled like a child. It was funny to you that only an hour ago you were completely broken over him. But in that moment everything seemed perfect. You took a step closer to Felix, now only inches away from him. The sun gave the roof a bit more light as it slowly rose. The two of you became engulfed in an orange glow.

“I guess I do take up all of your time then don’t I?” Felix let out a real and genuine laugh at your teasing; it was so nice to hear him laughing again. He put both of his hands on your waist and pulled you right against him, smiles adorned both of your faces.

“When you said you loved me earlier, that wasn’t platonic right?” Felix asked you, he seemed genuinely confused at your confession. You just laughed at him and pushed the hood off of his head before wrapping your arms around his neck. “I love your laugh.” His lips were on yours the second he finished his sentence, it felt normal and so natural to you. You scolded yourself mentally for not doing this sooner. You wanted to scold him for not confessing sooner, but you pushed it aside and let yourself get engulfed by the kiss. His lips were as soft as you had imagined them to be, and you tried your best not to irritate the cut on his lips but you guessed that he didn’t really care. He squeezed your waist lightly before moving his hands down to your hips. He was taking it slow, but you didn’t mind. You unwrapped your arms from his neck and placed your hands on the sides of his neck instead. You felt a thin material covering his skin so you pulled away with a confused expression on your face.

“What is this?” You asked Felix. Your fingers played with the edges of the blue and red spandex that stuck out of the collar of his sweatshirt. Your eyebrows relaxed as you made eye contact with him again, another one of those blinding smiles was staring right back at you. You decided in that moment that you could get used to everything exactly how it was.

“You know Y/N,” Felix rubbed his hands lightly at the sides of your hips. “I am the Spiderman after all.”

#Here she is #PLEASE don't let this flop lol #IM ANXIOOOOUUUUUUS #I dont know what to tag this with so be patient with me please #stray kids #stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids fanfic #stray kids fluff #stray kids angst #lee felix #stray kids felix #felix scenario #lee felix scenario #felix flull #felix angst #lee felix fanfic #masterlist #straykidznet

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skelezbian · 7 years

Note

“I’m egging a random person’s house to relieve stress and you join me and as it turns out the house belongs to your ex and now they are chasing us as well as the police and now we’re both in jail waiting to be bailed so um you wanna talk about it?” AU with your swapfell papyrus and the reader?

request was from here

(listen…… this is Canon how the reader from bones picked clean meets the sf brothers in their universe… also i changed it a bit because egging someones house gets you 90 days in prison and a 1k fine so you just. don’t get caught)

There were few times that Sans actually threw his weight around the house. All in all, he was content to let Papyrus do what he want, so long as it didn’t directly affect his work ethic. The recently-reappointed head of the Royal Guard was often tasked to shadowing the queen alongside her personal bodyguard, which left Papyrus with a very empty house and very little to do. Of course, Sans had extended the invitations to him on more than one occasion but, in the year after Chara had freed the monsters from Underground, the meetings were far too involved to hold his interest when he wasn’t directly involved.

But Sans had come home early from an international conference and found Papyrus slothing about the house, disheveled and miserable, and officially banned him from the house. “AND DON’T YOU DARE GO TO MUFFET’S! CHANNEL YOUR ENERGY INTO SOMETHING OTHER THAN DRINKING AND PROJECTING YOUR FEELINGS ONTO RANDOM, UNDESERVING HUMANS.” Which had been the first time Sans had ever really pointed out his shitty coping mechanisms and, uh, it had stung pretty bad. Bad enough that, when he left the house, he didn’t even take his shortcut to Muffet’s out of habit.

Almost stubbornly, Papyrus circles their house, like a dog that’d been put out for bad behavior. He cringes at the metaphor- after his failed stint as part of the Snowdin Guard, it wasn’t inaccurate to say he was often barking up the wrong tree. Yeah, he really did deserve this one. The giant barbecue stain on his shirt and the fact that he smells like a Frisco sour cocktail was definitely too much. He’d planned on cleaning up before Sans got home but…

Well. Guess it was going to be a night on the town, then.

He wanders around uselessly through their neighborhood- after a few odd glances and watching as cars slowed down as they passed him, he’d zipped up his jacket. If he had skin, it’d be crawling. There were few things that made him more uncomfortable than several people looking at him at once- sure, sometimes he’d bury his problems in a one-night stand, but that was drastically different from the burning looks of passerby.

So the usual means of channeling his simultaneous loneliness and detachment was out the window. Quite literally, considering that he’d fallen out of their first floor after Sans’ lecture, to his brother’s mild panic. He’d pulled him back up by the ankle, but Papyrus kept trying to crawl away from him (partially out of shame, but more so because he was grimy enough that he didn’t want Sans to see him like this and he was drunk enough to move on impulse), which dragged some of the foliage from the bushes outside the window into the house… He’d quickly dropped him and simply let Papyrus sort himself out. And he’d sorted himself right out the door.

It might’ve been the leftover bourbon from the cocktail, but he ends up at the corner store, a strange feeling of euphoria in his veins. It’d been years since he pulled a dumb prank like this… Years since Undyne hadn’t attached live flamethrowers to her home just in case he did something like this. He blew six gold on four cartons of eggs and was going to wreak havoc on some poor shmuck’s house.

If Undyne hadn’t moved in with Alphys, who he’d seen benchpress a car, he definitely would’ve tested his aim on her new house on the Surface. If only for old times’ sake. And also, maybe, to see if his best friend was still up to her old antics and making killer defensive traps like she’d always wanted to. After what he’d seen with Dogamy and Dogaressa, he was always a little nervous about bonded couples- he pulls out his phone and makes a note to check on her in the morning, after he’s taken a shower and doesn’t look skeletal ransom note covered in barbecue sauce. A real feat, balancing the egg cartons on one arm and penning a reminder on his phone while walking.

After he finishes setting the reminder and pockets his phone, he realizes that, by walking in a straight line, he’s ended up in a part of the neighborhood he doesn’t recognize. At least, not at 11 PM, he doesn’t recognize it. In front of a dull green house with paled yellow shutters, he has the crowning realization that no one’s home. He sets the boxes down on the ground and pops one open with its creaking styrofoam sound. Picks one egg up, examining it.

Then he throws it as far as it can go- it splatters on the leftmost window, eggshell scattering into their bushes. Papyrus can tell by the weight of his arms, how everything feels both too heavy and too light, that he’s definitely still drunk but damn if this isn’t the most fun he’s had in weeks. He laughs and tries to launch two eggs at one time, even though one just falls out of his weak grasp.

He’s onto his fifth egg when he hears someone start walking up and, about to shortcut out of sight, he’s stopped short by your laugh.

Your semi-hysterical, oh my God I can’t believe this laugh. “Holy shit.” You say, and he whips around, wondering who would laugh in response to seeing a strange skeleton egging their house. “Oh my god- I was just trying to get my stuff back from him, but what did he do to you?” Your laugh gets loud enough that you start snorting, then you try to turn your face away from him. He can’t help it- you surprise a laugh out of him.

He doesn’t know what you’re talking about but… “hey, you want a go? i’ll egg you on.” You start to laugh harder and he launches the one in his hand higher than he wanted it to go- it skims the second-story window and lands on the roof. When you finally calm down (after wheezing and brushing tears from your eyes), you lean down and grab one of the eggs. You toss it up into the air, like you’re testing the weight of it then, with a half-step and powerful baseball throw, launch it directly at the lower window.

Just like every one of them before, the runny yellow yoke stains the paint and the bright white eggshell sticks to it. You turn to him, surprised and laughing, rocking on your heels. “Holy shit! That was-” You give a shaky and large hand gesture. You look fairly rattled, but he’s not exactly sure why. “Eggs-elent! You mind if I…?”

“knock yourself out.” It’s almost more fun to watch you throw the eggs- he had just been doing it to do it, but you seemed to throw like you had some vendetta against the house. He watches as you do a baseball player’s stretch and then sling an egg over and into the bushes. It misses, and you look disheartened. He feels the need to cheer you up, if only slightly, “good idea- they won’t notice until it starts to rot.”

You raise your eyebrows at him, and you bubble out a laugh. You pick up an egg and, to deflect from your surprisingly infectious laugh, he picks up one and aims for the porch. “Really- who are you? What’d Jason do that you’re egging his house?”

“who the hell’s jason?” He asks, which you must’ve taken as another joke because you laugh again.

“You’re right! Who the hell is Jason!” Your throw actually splits the yoke right in the middle of a window. You introduce yourself, running your hand across the back of your forehead and leaving some of the sticky white on it. You don’t seem to notice, or mind.

“name’s papyrus. uh…” As much as he doesn’t want to know, he kinda wants to know what kind of douchebag must live in this house that some stranger would join a stranger to egg his house. “so, what’d jason do to you?”

“He’s my piece of shit-” You punctuate your sentence with another egg. You finished off the carton and you shoot him an apologetic look. Wordlessly, he opens the next one and offers it to you. “-ex-boyfriend. We used to live here together-” Another egg, this time on the door. You have killer aim. “-but he broke up with me over text. And changed the locks. And kept all of my shit. Threw my clothes out on the lawn, kept my tv and my headphones and my computer…!” You trail off, as if it were a long list of things and, stars, what an asshole.

“shit, that kind of week, huh?” That’d explain why you look terrible- he wasn’t in any position to judge, but he definitely has some sympathy for your dark circles and uneven smile. You look like you’re about the same level of strung-out as he’s felt for the past few weeks. Papyrus nods to himself, thinking. “hey, does he have a security system?” No close neighbors, and it was fairly dark…

You snort. “Too cheap. Nah, nothing like that. But he should be heading home soon, if you want to hike it soon.”

“damn, at least allow me a finale.” To your absolute wonder and excitement, he lifts the remaining two egg cartons with magic and, like he was sparring with Sans, opens the carton and sends the two dozen eggs sailing at the house in a barrage of yellow and white. The door, completely covered with egg, looks like he’d tried and failed to make scrambled eggs. You clap for him, a fast theatrical clap that gets him to smile back at you.

Just as he starts to see someone’s headlights turn into the neighborhood. “Shit, let’s go!” You swing your arm low and pick up all of the containers in one foul swoop and, stars, he could’ve just taken a shortcut back to his house and leave you like a deer in the headlights, but he finds himself caught up in the moment, running alongside you. He feels young and weightless and, suddenly, he understands what humans mean when they say they feel ‘out of their skin’. He pulls his hoodie over his head, knowing the headlights would’ve reflected and he would’ve been spotted immediately.

You’re in your casual clothes, however, with no chance of disguise. Without really thinking, he reaches out and pulls you closer to him, hiding you in his shadow two steps ahead. You both keep running and running until his ankle bones start to ache a little and, when he turns around, he sees that you both weren’t even pursued. He slows down, then laughs when you continue to still run. He calls out your name with a laugh, doubling over and resting his hands on his knees. “he wasn’t even chasing us…!”

“Well! I wasn’t about to risk it! And check!” You’re as out-of-breath as he was, and just as pumped full as adrenaline. He feels your hand on his back, patting at him and laughing. “Not exactly what I was going to do when I came to his house but I guess some things are just…” You make a gesture at him.

Destiny? He hadn’t believed in that since he was a babybones and Sans used to have the time to read him stories. He straightens his back, stretching and taking even breaths. “wouldn’t say we were meant to cross paths. just seems like jason was just due a really bad day, i just ended up being the one to socket to him.” He winks at you, and you give him that lopsided smile.

“Still. I really… uh… appreciate it? I mean, we totally just committed a misdemeanor at the very least, but I’ll take it to my grave if you do- this was. I don’t know.” You cross your arms and smile at him- a full smile, but a shy one. It’s been a while since someone’s looked at him like that. “You said your name was Papyrus?”

“yup. i live down the street. sort of.” He just realized that he’s a lot farther from home than he thought he was. “listen, i had fun. this was… this was fun. uh. vandalizing your piece of shit ex-boyfriend’s house.” It was weird, doing this without the fog of drinks over the both of you- his well of charisma feels like it’s run dry. Not a lot to drink from when he wasn’t trying to get someone into bed, as it turns out. “so. if you want to… do it again…?”

“Pft, I don’t think so- I think if we did this again, we’d probably get caught eventually. But, uh, if you wanted to hang out again, I can give you my number.” You put your hand out, palm-up, and he puts his phone into your hand like he’s handing over a sensitive diplomatic treaty.

When you give it back to him, you’ve set your name as ‘Hard-Boiled’, and his head snaps up to look at you, an incredulous look on his face. “i love it.” Papyrus shoots off a text to make sure you got his number and, when your phone buzzes in your pocket, you give him a thumbs up. “well, it’s pretty late, now- i can walk you back to your car, if you’d like…?”

“If you wouldn’t mind- I’m staying with a friend until I can get my own apartment, so I drove over here in her car.” You stuff your hands in your pockets, rocking a little on your feet. “I parked a little bit away, so I wouldn’t mind someone walking with me. In the dark. In this unfamiliar neighborhood.”

“cut it with the ribbing, you already had me at ‘wouldn’t mind’.” Again, he thinks about how easy it would be to just… take a shortcut. But he almost doesn’t want this adrenaline-fueled rush to end. “so, about your douchebag ex-boyfriend. you wanna talk about it?”

“You wanna listen?” You ask, sounding surprised. It kind of hurts to hear that disbelieving tone in someone else’s voice instead of his own.

“what? i may be all bones, but i do have a bleeding heart.”

#papyrus x reader #papyrus #papyrus ut #undertale imagines #swapfell papyrus #swapfell #my writing #Anonymous #this is 2k.... i'm copying it to my ao3 i thinkg

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vrahno · 7 years

Photo

Most dubs in my country are rubbish, cartoon dubs especially, and that goes for the four Bionicle movies too. I went through them to see how many translation screw-ups I can find, just to share my (and probably other Hungarian fans’) long-held frustration with an international audience. You may need a few years to spare cause it’s a lengthy list.

Mask of Light

The title, ”A fényálarc” (The light-mask) is already iffy, as in the movie the artifact is called “a fény maszkja” (the mask of light). They also had some trouble with character titles like Toa or Turaga -- in this language, titles usually come after a person’s name, but the dub kept the English word order. Interestingly, the local release of the books (written by one of the movies’ translators) did mostly pay attention to this.

Unity, Duty and Destiny are correctly rendered as Egység, Kötelesség, Végzet, yet in the sequels and the books, they become Egység, Felelősség, Kötelesség (Unity, Responsibility, Duty). As a side-note, the G2 webisode dubs went back to the original translation.

Not technically a translation issue, but Pewku’s name is always pronounced as “Pevku”.

For specific examples in the dialogue, I’ll quote the original lines first, then translate the dub’s lines back into English as accurately as possible, with their errors intact.

Hold your Rahi, I'm coming! Hold the Rahi, I’m going! - “Hold your horses” is not a meaningful expression here, but they kept it in the dub despite there being other animal-related idioms they could have used.

Your own Captain of the Guard... The new Bodyguard Captain... New?

Must I unleash those who should never see the light of day? Must I unleash those who must never see light? - Another expression taken literally.

Their unity can be poisoned, their duty will be broken, and their destiny I must shatter. Their unity I can poison, their duty I can break, and their destiny I can prevent. - Terry’s talking about the Rahkshi powers here, so the last should have been kept as “shatter”.

Shadows that cower in the depths. Exactly as foretold. The shadows cover the depths, just as the prophecy said. - Mishearings and mondegreens are a staple of this translator couple’s work (yes, there were two people working on this shit). Did they even have the original script?

“But you wander off every chance you get looking for stories. What about your story?” “I don't have a story.” “Only 'cause you won't stand still long enough to make one.” “But if you have the chance, you wander off looking for stories. What kind of story do you long for?” “I’m not longing for a story.” “Only because you can’s stay in one place for long enough.” - So Takua’s looking for stories, but he’s not, because he’s too busy looking for stories?

“Keep 'em busy. I'm…” “Running away and leaving me!” "Keep him busy. And I’ll...” “I’d rather run away.” - Maybe not a mistake, there’s room for artistic freedom after all (and I think Takua’s line is kinda funny), but given the other examples, it’s just as likely they simply misheard the line.

Lewa in this dub doesn’t use treespeak. Instead... Word is deep-wood that you seek the Seventh Toa. The world is a deep forest if one’s seeking the Seventh Toa.

If Toa Lewa helped on your search, might he be a... spirit-lift? Say, if Toa Lewa helps you search, will he also become an... elevated spirit? - I know he’s kind of an Indian-hippy mix in this movie, but the fuck is that supposed to mean? He’s only asking if his company would lift Jaller and Taku’s spirit, as in cheer them up.

Er, I've been a second! But, er, I've never flown one myself. Um, I’ve seen such a thing, but I’ve never flown on one. - MNOG is not canon in the dub. (Or perhaps Takua means the Gukko he rode didn’t look like the movie design?)

Your village has fallen to… Rahkshi! The Makuta's sons. Your town has recently been... attacked! By Makuta’s sons. - So how do T&J know what a Rahkshi is if they don’t hear the name?

Frozen? What could do this to them? They’re frozen, how could they harm us? - This is another habit this translator couple has, reordering the original words and inserting some new ones to get a different meaning out of them. At least in this case, the line still fit the situation.

Takua’s grumpy “Tunnels.” line is missing.

Makuta originally says “They will not disturb you.” to Mata Nui, but the dub reinterpreted the line to refer to the three new Rahkshi. Some other dubs also did this.

Do you think the Turaga were right about us? What do you think, was Turaga right? - “Turaga” is not the name of a single character.

But, united, our power defeated the Rahkshi! But if we unite, we will defeat the Rahkshi! - Beyond mixing up plural and singular words, these translators also have a hard time interpreting past, present and future tenses.

I have but one destiny. Yours lie with the Matoran and the Turaga. We don’t share our destiny. Yours is tied to Matoran and Turaga. - The intended meaning is somewhat there, but sounds hella awkward.

Summon the Matoran! Conjure up the Matoran! or Subpoena the Matoran! - Yes, “summon” can mean those too, but the relevant meaning here is “gather”.

My duty is to the Mask of Shadows! My doom is the Mask of Shadow! - Eh. Both lines sound random, but I guess they sort of make sense if you consider Makuta’s originally intended characterization as a well-meaning guy who has been corrupted by his mask. To be fair, the ending scene of the movie is a mess even in English, so whatever. But it’s still not a correct translation

The city of the Great Spirit, my island home, refound. The city of the Great Spirit, my island home, has recovered. - I think the translators didn’t get Vakama was talking about Metru Nui here. Seems they thought he was referring to the villages on Mata Nui being rebuilt.

Legends of Metru Nui

The translated title has “legend” in singular. Not a big deal. What is a bigger deal is that titles like Toa and Turaga are now correctly placed after the character names... but they went overboard with it, as even the Toa Suva becomes “Suva Toa”, which makes no sense. It’s not a Toa named Suva, it’s a shrine dedicated to the Toa.

Pronunciation-wise, Dume is not only spoken aloud as “Duma”, he’s even called that in the subtitles. Nuju became “Nuyu”.

Prove yourselves worthy Toa. Prove that you are worthy for the Toa. - Again, it makes some sense but sounds awkward like that. Why not “for the title of Toa”?

Mask maker, you saw Toa Lhikan last, right? Mask pourer, you saw Lhikan Toa last, right? - But Vakama carves masks, he doesn’t pour them into molds.

... we sought out, found and recovered these Great Disks. ... to find and discover the Great Disks. - Great redundancy.

Cross the sea of protodermis, and be honored as Toa. Cross the protodermis, so we may greet you as Toa. - Since the word “sea” is missing here, Makuta’s callback at the end loses some of its context.

“Do you thing they went this way?” “Why do I bother?” “Ah, do you think they went this way?” “What does it matter?” - A joke died here. Nidhiki’s supposed to be lamenting Krekka’s stupidity (the Toa hopped into a one-way transport chute, so they couldn’t have gone any other way), not responding to him with a nonsensical answer.

Matau’s “Check out these wings.” line becomes plural in the dub, even though he’s only talking to Nokama.

“Stock boy” is translated as “numbskull” (I guess Onewa would say such a thing, but it’s still incorrect) and “record keeper” as “record holder”. The word “record” of course refers to “records of the past”, what with Whenua being an archivist, not “record achievement”, which is what the translators thought.

Look beyond your history, and see what is. Look beyond your past, and see what it is. - The exact opposite of what Lhikan meant.

You (singular) shall help both your brothers (plural). You both (plural) shall help your brother (singular). - Onewa is a single person and there’s two of his brothers there, you fucking shits.

I believe it is time to depart. I think it is time to split up. - But they don’t split up. They just leave the cell. He said “depart”, not “part”. This is another line multiple dubs misinterpreted.

"Follow me!” (in singular, since Krekka’s talking to Nidhiki only) “Hmm. No. Get down!” “Follow me!” (plural) “Hmm. Fools!” - The fuck happened here? Why are both Krekka and Nidhiki suddenly multiple persons each?

It's amazing what you can learn when you're not always speak-teaching. It’s amazing how much you can learn when you’re not being taught. - Nokama’s a teacher. She is the one doing the teaching, not the one being taught. Again the line completely changed its meaning.

Maybe he sneak-passed! Maybe he snake-sneaked! - Can’t decide if it’s “snake” or “sneak”, so just go with both?

“Hey, Nokama, I see us taking a romantic ride-drive.” “And you believe Vakama has odd visions!” “You, Nokama, do you feel-see what a romantic journey we’re on?” “And do you still think that Vakama’s visions are weird?” - Another joke lost. Matau’s fantasizing about a future ride that only he sees. Not only that, Nokama’s retort is worded wrong, as the emphasis is placed on “do you still think” instead of Vakama’s visions.

As mentioned, Dume doesn’t say “sea of protodermis”, so Makuta’s callback becomes the following: Perish in the real sea of protodermis. Die in the protodermis’ really-big sea!

Without the Mask of Time, it will take a lifetime's journey to find both our destinies! Without the Mask of Time, both of us can spend a lifetime searching for our lost destinies! - But their destinies aren’t lost. It will just take a long time to find them.

In MoL, the line “This is they way of the Bionicle” was translated as “This is the rule of Bionicle”. Here, it becomes “This is the law of Bionicle”. The third movie will have a third variation because another thing this translator couple hates is consistency.

Web of Shadows

The title on the DVD cover, “Árnyak hálója” (Web of Shadows) differs from the one they actually use in the movie, “Árnyak hálójában” (In the Web of Shadows). That’s a warning sign right there.

I gotta say this is one of the worst dubs of anything I’ve ever heard. Sure, there are dubs that are far worse on a technical level, and this one at least has passable casting and the dialogue mostly matches up to when the mouths are moving (or flashing). But there’s a thick aura of uneasiness, the line delivery sounds awfully stilted and forced throughout, and you can tell none of the people involved wanted to be anywhere near the recording booth. The translation is an even bigger mess than ever, and the VAs under and overact at all the wrong spots. There’s a few moments where the dub actually sounds great, but as a whole it’s a cringeworthy experience. I guess they were really fed up with these movies by this point.

Titles are again arranged in the English word order. As for pronunciations, Sidorak is for some reason called “Sidoraak” and Keetongu becomes “Keeetongooo”. And as if to make up for ditching Lewa’s treespeak in MoL, Matau’s chutespeak is cranked up to eleven, to the point where he ends up sounding like a fucking Gungan.

The Toa united in a dutiful pledge. They made a pledge to the Toa Metru vow of obedience. - The what? It’s also of note that the dub actually calls them Toa Metru, which never comes up in the original. In fact there’s lines not only in this dub but other as well that can’t be heard in the English version, so I wonder if the translations were based on some preliminary script.

“Well, that stunk.” “It would appear there was an error in our transport. Pilot error.” “Wow, this is smelly.” “It seems that an error has slipped into our transportation. A grave error.” - Fuck you.

Well, there goes the old neighborhood! That there is an old acquaintance! - Another expression interpreted too literally.

The Onu-Metru Archive houses a specimen of every Rahi beast ever discovered. At least… it used to. The Onu-Metru Container is chock full of the widest varieties of Rahi monsters. At least... the discovered ones. - Yet again they remove the main point of a sentence.

We go to the Coliseum, we rescue the Matoran, we leave. We go into the hall, finish our work, leave. - They said Coliseum in LoMN, so why not here?

I assume your telling me this without twitching uncontrollably means the Toa have already been captured. I assume when you talk about this event you have already trapped the Toa. - Leaving out chunks of sentences that can be tricky to translate is another forte of this couple.

“Well, fire-spitter, we can't say you didn't show us the city. 'Course, we can say that you got us captured, poisoned, and, seeing as I don't think we've been brought up here for the view, imminently smash-dashed.” Onewa barely audibly muffles „not Vakama's fault”. “He agrees!” “We can’t complain-say you didn’t show us the city. And perhaps nor that it’s your fault we got catch-caught, poisoned, and because we haven’t been brought here for the view, it’s your fault we die." “Baloney.” (clearly audible) “I agree!” - I agree too, but this is more than baloney, this is bullshit. How did “of course we can say” become “perhaps nor can we say”? Well, at least they got “we” and “say” right.

When Vakama starts mutating, the dub has the others react with: Whenua: “Hey, ho, ho, be careful already!” Matau: “Wow, that’s so dangerous!” Ruining what was meant to be a serious, disturbing scene.

Even now their broken bodies are being brought to me. And their broken bodies have been brought here to me. - “Even now” and “are being” are not past tense.

What do you say, mask smelter? What do you say, mask pourer? - Again with this pouring. Maybe they misheard “smelt” and thought it was “melt”?

Unity, duty, destiny. It starts with unity. Unity, responsibility, duty. Starting with duty. - Reminder that two translators got credited for this.

I'm sure it could have helped our old Toa selves, but… now? It obviously helps us reacquire our Toa selves, but...now? - The meaning is yet again changed to complete nonsense. So the Temple helps them change back, but it doesn’t because they’d have to change back for that first? And why is “it could have helped” translated as “it obviously can help”?

“You're not worried they're going to tell him you said that?” “They are loyal to me.” ”Right. Like you are to Sidorak!” “… Yes.” “Aren’t you afraid these are going to tell him what we’re talking about?” “They are loyal to me.” “Of course. Like you are to Sidorak!” “... No.” - The subtitles actually do say “yes”. So watching the dub with those turned on is an experience onto itself.

“I wonder what's taking the Rahaga so long, I mean how hard is it to get directions?” “Well, when they're to a creature that has not been seen since the time before time… hard.” “How hard can it be for Rahaga to discover-find the direction?” “As in the case of creatures that hasn’t been seen since before the beginning of time... hard.” - This doesn’t even make grammatical sense. However, maybe I’ve misheard a particular word (amit - amik), so just in case, here’s a different interpretation: “As in the case of creatures that haven’t seen since before the beginning of time... hard.” - Does this make more sense perhaps? It’s grammatically more correct, but it suggests that these supposed “creatures” are blind. In either case, the sentence is totally wrong, since the word “creature” in the original line is singular, not plural. Unless they meant that there’s more than one Keetongu, which is just as wrong. Or maybe they meant the Rahaga? That’s even more wrong.

Because of you, the Rahaga will be put where they belong: in a cage. Thanks to you, the Rahaga have been put where they belong: behind bars. - On one hand, I applaud the translators for taking advantage of Sidorak’s extra lip movements and fitting the words to them. On the other, the line still isn’t accurate.

What I applaud them even less for is their wrecking of Matau’s speech to Vakama at the end. In the original, the writers wisely held back his chutespeak to make the speech that much more convincing and serious. But in the dub, they stuff it full of these stupid made-up words that just make it laughable. I won’t attempt to type them all here. Just imagine it’s Jar Jar in Matau’s place or something.

Still, there are yet more things wrong with that scene. In English, Matau brings up the three virtues woven into his speech in succession, reminding Vakama of his life as a Toa. In the dub, both duty and destiny are translated as duty, meaning there’s only two virtues. Also, there’s this: You're our leader, Vakama. You're my leader. You’re our direction-leader, Vakama. Our leader.

Not strictly an error, but throughout the film, the terms “defeat”, “strike down” and “destined to fail” are all translated as “destroy”. Also, “elemental powers” never come up. Instead, they’re “special powers”.

In light of all you've given, you owe us nothing. Despite that I know you’ve given so much, you owe us nothing. - Again they turn part of the line completely around. Keetongu owes them nothing because he’s done so much, not in spite of it.

He wants to know why you'd want that. Seeing as you've made peace with the beast within. He wants to know why you wish that. Have you made peace with the beasts within you? - And yet again. The second sentence is not a question, it’s a statement.

The Makuta! He is gone. Makuta! He’s gone from here. - As usual, the wrong part of the sentence is given emphasis. The point is that he truly has escaped, like Norik claimed. Not that he’s gone “from this specific place”.

As for this line, the delivery is just as bad as the translation. I’ll attempt to convey it through writing: We'll find a way to defeat him. Because that's what Toa do. We find a method to defeat him! That’sthee... Toowah’s... faith. - And no, they didn’t choose the Hungarian word for “faith” because it fit better to Vakama’s mouth movements. Translating the line literally (”Mert ez a Toa dolga”, instead of “Ez a Toa hite”) would, on the other hand, have perfectly fit. But they didn’t. So they got both the translation and the lip sync wrong, and as a result the delivery is shit too because the VA had to make these silly pauses and needlessly extend the words where necessary.

“This is the way of the Bionicle” is rendered here as “This is the way of life in the world of Bionicle.”

So the couple who localized these movies are actually some of the most prolific translators working in the country’s industry, with decades of experience and thousands of scripts, books and comics to their name. Yet their grasp on both the English and Hungarian languages just keeps deteriorating further, and to this day they continue to wreck every almost dub they touch. I’m gonna stop fucking around and name them: László Katona and Zita Csányi. The former also translated the few Bionicle books we got in this country, and while they have plenty of issues, the translation is much more competent. Most people mainly have a beef with Csányi, whose dubbing scripts for animated productions are consistently some of the worst in the industry, and she’s especially infamous for the wretched translation work she submitted for the Ben 10 and Steven Universe franchises. I’m a fan of neither, but as a mere casual cartoon watcher, I’m appalled by the sheer stilted-sounding nonsense I keep hearing whenever I come across any of those shows on tv. Mishearings, taking foreign idioms literally, constantly confusing past-present-future and singular-plural, or just straight-up rewriting the dialogue into something completely detached for their original meaning.

But moving on to everyone’s favorite Bionicle movie (note: this sentence was translated by Zita Csányi)...

The Legend Reborn

Now, at the time Lego’s Hungarian website advertised this as “A legenda újjáéled”, until the web team got notified that the DVD is actually called “A legenda újjászületik”. A red flag already. The dub was produced by a different company and a different translator who was somehow just as bad. With this film, they didn’t even try to sync the dialogue to the mouth movements, so that’s the level of quality we’re dealing with here.

You never hear the word Glatorian in the dub. They’re just called gladiators, which gives me vibes of all the European DBZ dubs that avoided saying the word Saiyan at all costs. Also, the Skopio is merely a scorpion. Yet they kept everything else. The Great Beings are inconsistently called “Giant Beings” or just “Giants”. I take it the translator thought the Great Spirit Robots were supposed to be GBs? Not that the movie makes it clear.

Its name echoed my rebirth – the Mask of Life. My rebirth can thus be summarized as such: the life born from the mask. - That’s one way to overwrite a simple sentence.

You just won me a lot of bets. You won me heaps of money. - Bets in this case referred to Kiina’s conviction that there’s life on other planets. Maybe there was money involved (does Bara Magna even have currency?), but the translator probably just thought Kiina made a bet on Mata Nui’s arena fight. Which would make little sense as he wasn’t even scheduled to fight.

The Glatorian are headed for Tajun. The gladiator is headed for Tajun. - Ah, good ol’ singular-plural confusion.

Those Bone Hunters are gonna be eating Skopio belly for weeks. The scorpion’s stomach is gonna be digesting Bone Hunters for weeks. - This is the fucking opposite.

Not an error, I just think it’s amusing that instead of calling him a “filthy thief”, Kiina calls Berix a “goddamn thief”. I call him worse.

I like fixing things, and I'm good at it, too. I mean, c'mon, who do you think got the lights working, huh? I like tinkering with things, and I’m pretty good at it. Who’d have thought the lights here work? - Maybe it’s just me, but this doesn’t give me the impression that he was the one who patched them up.

Wait, what you did with the Vorox tail and Click, could it work with these? Wait, what have you done Click and with the Vorox tail, could you do it with this? - Did this translator speak either of the two languages required for his job, I ask?

Of course! Fire is your elemental power. The Mask of Life has simply ignited it. Of course! Fire is your elementary element. The Mask of Life simply recognized this fact. - This just sounds stupid.

Guess it's a stand-off. I think this is a dead-end. - I guess technically. But there’s more suitable expressions he could have used.

I told you, Raanu, pitting Vastus against Tarix would pack 'em in! I told you, Raanu, it’s a mistake to pit Vastus against Tarix. - That means the opposite you dumb fuck.

I saw them being dragged away. Through the hot springs. I saw that they dragged them away to the hot springs.

Did you ever think maybe you weren't the only one that needed to believe there was something more? Did you ever think that you were the only one who wanted to see more with it? -Huh? With what?

I am closer to becoming the warrior I must be if I am to reclaim my empire and free my people. If I reclaim my empire and save my people, I will become the warrior I wanted to be. - No. He has to become a warrior because he wants to save them. It’s not that he has to save them because he wants to become a warrior, you mongrel piece of fuck translator. To be fair to him, TLR sucks. Technically, the others do too but the dubs suck more.

If anyone’s wondering, or I should say if anyone even made it to this part of the post, there’s only one major translation goof I recall from the 2015 webisode dub: they called Skull Basher Skull Grinder. Oh, and the introduction episode just plain wasn’t dubbed at all, if you count that as a goof. The Journey to One wasn’t dubbed or subbed either cause Netflix’s online content still hasn’t been localized here.

#Bionicle #translation #Hungarian dub #Mask of Light #Legends of Metru Nui #Web of Shadows #The Legend Reborn #errata #mistakes #long post #Bonkle #Pevku and Nuyu #dubs

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odogaronfang · 7 years

Note

Hey, can I hear about your Breath of the Wild au? It sounds cool

thank u so much for asking and i’m sorry i made u wait for this!!

i’m actually kinda in the process of redesigning them so i might post some sketches later but basically

[yeesh this got long ill put a readmore]

-vio is half-sheikah and a traveling merchant, wanders hyrule foraging and hunting and selling things, makes a lot of money because he’ll bring his wares places they wouldn’t usually be found (for example, bringing lurelin great sea fish to the gerudo desert). he has extensive knowledge of hyrule’s topography and flora and fauna, and enough history under his belt to know where to avoid, or just be very prepared for. he doesn’t stay in one place much, the sheikah in kakariko will lend him a room when he stops by, but he did buy out that empty house in hateno and uses that as HQ, mostly in the winter when it’s dangerous and foolhardy to be on the roads.

-blue started as a hylian spearfisher in lurelin village. she grew up there, the people that cared for her are still there. but life as a fisherwoman is very slow and not at all the kind of life she wanted to lead, so when she was 16 she snuck off in the middle of the night and hauled ass to the lakeside stable near lake floria, used the money she’d made from fishing to rent a horse until she could find and tame her own, and abandoned lurelin. she left a note, told everyone what she was up to, but didn’t go back for a long time. now she goes back a lot, it’s how she makes her living after all, spreads lurelin’s good name and gets them (and herself) lots of business.

-shadow is a merchant as well, sort of, sells really only meat and the odd gems and precious materials he can scrounge. it’s more a side-job, a way to get pocket money, because mostly he bums off the others- takes some fish and crabs from blue’s hauls to sell, stays at vio’s house during the winters, you get the picture. no one’s sure of his origin; everyone just assumes hylian. his dirty little secret is that he’s an ex-yiga, successfully emancipated. not something he wants to share with anyone, obviously. because of that, though, he’s inherently and irreparably tied to ganon- and, by extension, the blood moon. it isn’t something he shares until years after he’s met the squad™ and gotten comfortable with them, and that’s a main driving point in the au for me: finding out how (and if it’s possible) to free shadow from ganon’s influence.

-green is half-gerudo and raised fully hylian, in a more or less single-parent household, as his mother has many duties to attend to in the gerudo royal guard. he’s very close with his father and they probably send postcards back and forth even if they only travel to the market. he works as a mercenary of sorts: a for-hire monster slayer. he’s a huge history buff, has always loved reading about ganon and his previous incarnations, and was enamored with the idea of being in the princess’s guard detail since he was very little. that, of course, is not possible, so monster-hunting is the next best thing (he’s deathly afraid of keese, though.) he really likes shield surfing even though he’s not great and usually ends up with scraped knees and a dented shield afterwards. and if he isn’t fulfilling a contract or rolling down hills or hanging with his dad he’s probably gardening. he likes gardening. (he sucks at gardening. everything dies. even cacti.)

-red is zelda’s (not the princess) little brother. he’s not really sure what he wants to do quite yet, but he, unlike green, is good at gardening and sometimes helps out hateno’s farmers for some money, and sometimes just because he’s a nice person. also, he found out while trying to make zelda a birthday gift that he’s very good at the more delicate parts of metalworking, stuff like wire-wrapping and the intricate designs like the zora do. he’s thinking about following through with that, but it’s not a definite. he likes exploring a lot, too, but he was never given any formal training in fighting, so he’s leery of it until he gets some proper instruction from the others.

-zelda is not THE zelda, in this au. she was named after The Princess Zelda™ as an honor and a tribute to the latent princess, as many have come to call her. she bears the name with pride (as she should). she’s a seamstress, mostly, with a good eye for detail, and aspiring to learn the spear, because, yknow, weapons are fun, and she needs to protect her little bro. she’s not always with the squad, she has things to attend to in hateno and needs to develop her trade, but when she does she absolutely kicks green off his throne and starts calling the shots, with vio as her tactical advisor and blue as her bodyguard. also she doesn’t let anything near red, ever. she kicks ass, end of story.

some fun, random facts:

-vio’s horse’s name is mocha. he got her when she was just a filly, and raised her himself. and as a silly, literal-minded child, her coat reminded him of coffee. (she’s a sooty bay quarter horse with a mane like a palomino’s, and an irregular blaze and snip on her face.)

-do not, ever, challenge blue to a spar. she’ll knock you on your ass with her spear in .5 seconds. she also teaches zelda how to work a spear. technically the form isn’t correct, as she was brought up taught how to spearfish, but it works well enough.

-red is insanely resistant to changes in temperature. he and zelda lived in hebra for a little over a decade, before their mother died and they moved to hateno. zelda bundles up in 4+ layers if the temperature dips below 70, but red? 40 degrees, he’s out in shorts and a tank top. he lives. whenever they kill a wizzrobe he’s given its rod. no one else can be trusted. he also makes killer hot chocolate.

-green is very good with history but can’t be trusted with maps. he just… doesn’t know how to read them, somehow. if you ask him where any historical landmark is he can give you its coordinates, latitude and longitude and regional climate, but hylia help him if he has to use a map.

-zelda, practiced as she is with her fingers from all her years of seamstressing, is an excellent pickpocket. she doesn’t admit it, and doesn’t want people to know for fear of tarnishing the good noble name of zelda. but she can take your wallet, your keys, your child and your heart and you’d be none the wiser. how could such a sweet girl with such a dignified name do anything of the sort?

-much as shadow likes to brag about being the “””tough guy”””, hes Not. sees a keese? screams. moblin? nope, let the other guys take this one. he and green do bond over hating keese. but otherwise he’s mercilessly teased, once he’s found out. it’s part of the reason he ditched the yiga- too many dealings with those things. he eventually gets over it, because he has to, but he is NOT happy about it.

-red and zelda kick ass at snow surfing. it was their favorite thing to do when they lived in hebra. they’d put selmie to shame. they can shred a mountain like shawn white all day and go back for more the next morning. don’t dispute their titles. it will end poorly for you.

-blue whittles. it’s a big stress reliever, keeps her hands busy, and it was a necessary skill in lurelin, where new fishing spears had to be made nearly every day. she’s also pretty good at basket weaving, for the same reasons, although the lack of sharp objects in it pushes her more towards whittling.

-vio makes his own bows and arrows. along the same vein as blue’s whittling, it’s something to do and at least that way he’s assured of its quality. sometimes they trade projects, or they’ll randomly etch things into vio’s bow, like a strange and permanent game of telephone. more than once she’s carved a dick into his bow. it would be covered in them if vio didn’t find a way to make them into abstract works of art. he tried to retaliate, once, and carved one into the staff of blue’s spear. she picked it out in gold leaf and wore it like a badge of honor until that particular spear broke (embedded in a lynel’s flank). your move, vio.

-they split the task of making food, usually:

green is good at cooking, insofar that vegetables/herbs are involved. if you add meat it’ll taste like garbage. but he’s very good with vegetables.

zelda is insanely good with spices and sauces and if you let her she’ll burn your tongue out. they get into competitions, to see who can withstand her stuff the longest. no one can beat her. she is feared and respected. mostly feared.

blue does the seafood, predictably. it’s a delicate and precise art, of which she is the master. usually she’s a huge fan of spices but on seafood she vetoes it (most of the time) because, as she puts it, “it’ll be f-ckin’ delicious without anything on top”. she’s right.

vio does all the fancy stuff. as a kid he’d get bored and just read whatever he could get his hands on- many of them were cookbooks. so if they’re looking for a big meal with a lot of weird obscure and really good (if small-portioned) stuff they’ll get him on it, and he delegates helpers from there depending on the dish.

red does mostly bread and desserts, his specialty being pastries and honey candies, and really anything heavily sugar-based. sometimes he’ll saute things in honey and it’s honestly to die for, even though a lot of it sounds kinda weird, like honey-glazed chicken thigh. just trust him. also his pasties are in VERY high demand on long journeys.

shadow is bad at most things but he’s actually really good at soups, mostly because all it entails is throwing things in a pot with salt water and butter and waiting. he just has a good sense for what to throw in. other than that please never let him in a kitchen. he’ll burn it down, and then somehow manage to burn the ashes. trust red, don’t trust shadow.

-there’s a running joke that green was some kind of forest spirit in a previous life. wild animals will just walk right up to him as though they’ve known him a lifetime. deer will approach him, rabbits hop right up, foxes trail him, birds have landed on his head. no one knows why. he likes to name them, and gives them scraps of his dinner. it’s a sad affair when shadow, oblivious or just apathetic, makes them into the night’s dinner, but at least it’s made with love. green might (definitely) cry a little bit.

-vio has long hair, and one of the favorite traveling games to play is to see how much shit they can get into it before he notices. leaves, twigs, burrs, feathers, small rocks, literally anything is fair game as long as you can sneak it in without him knowing. and if there’s a special occasion, and everyone’s all dressed to the 9′s, and vio’s got his hair done up, they play a different game where they sneak the pins out of his hair one by one. whoever pulls the pin that undoes it completely loses and has to take responsibility for the whole thing. bets are placed, and vio absolutely gets revenge wherever possible. it doesn’t stop them.

#four swords #blue link #vio link #shadow link #red link #green link #zelda #fs zelda #god this was SO much fun #ask me anything about this au #or any au #i will gladly give you everything i have #skye rambles #my au #au talk #botw au #blease ask more ill love u forever if you ask about my aus

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lunamanar · 7 years

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have any favorite au's for FFVIII? bit of an au junkie here

AUs…yes, but they’re all mine, or shared AUs, haha, so I don’t have any fics to point you to, if that’s what you’re asking (again, I am not a good person to ask for fic recs because I am painfully slow to read…when I have the time, I prefer to write). All of them are pretty Squall/Rinoa-centric, still. That part never changes.

But, to name a few:

- I have an expansive headcanon about witch/sorceress history and what things were like before Centra was ruined by the Cry. While I think it plays just fine with canon in its own right, it’s just kinda fun for me to imagine Squall and Rinoa living in that time, instead of the game’s timeframe. I actually have several half-finished AUs which have them running into each other, under various circumstances, in that distant past. Of course, I set it up for them to have a relationship, haha, but the venue is just different enough, it’s a good way to explore their relationship in a slightly different way. For instance, in my past headcanon, Hyne’s descendants were both revered, and had acquired a totalitarian grip on the world’s political bodies, in spite of their relatively small numbers. They were seen as demigods, and feared as such…and their behavior as a ruling class, if not as a unified group, only served to fuel those fears. They enslaved people as it suited them, even bred and trained prospective Knights and kidnapped women who were known to be capable of receiving Hyne’s power to make bodyguards of them–all to ensure that they would have a source of augmented power/stability from the former, and someone to take their powers should they die, in the latter. It was how they maintained their power.

But, Not All Sorceresses, yadda yadda. While being raised in one of these very political families, my AU!Rinoa came to despise the whole thing and figured on taking it all down. Depending on the exact story I was writing–I must have started over 15 or 20 times–Squall’s role was always a little different. In one version, he was part of an organized faction bent on hunting sorceresses to their extinction, and had met Rinoa while undercover at a fete–and yeah, a dance, har har–but stuff happened, his ‘mission’ was ruined, his base of operations destroyed, and…he really had nowhere to go, no one to contact. Except her. He knew enough to know she was a rebel among sorceresses (and in this story she’d been one since her mother died). He took a risk and sought her out. Story story blah blah blah from there.

In another version, he was one of slaves, either kidnapped or bred (the former in his case) for the express purpose of being a Knight Prospect…or if he failed to be chosen, a soldier in a sorceress’s army, or a gladiator, or at the very least, a disposable source of energy, depending on which sorceress was buying. This one branches out even further…in one variation, he was chosen by a reluctant Rinoa, as much to pull him out of those abusive conditions as because she admittedly liked him. In another, she lived near the “school” which trained him and they bumped into each other when she’d escaped her home at night in an angry huff after a fight with her father and tutors; he was hiding out on the edge of a recreational area, avoiding various other people on his campus. Both scenarios made for some really good dialogue bits, and I like playing with the idea of sorceresses as being viewed as a sort of natural, even inevitable predator, when they were in their prime as a political force. It puts some weight on a particular aspect of Squall and Rinoa’s relationship that is very important to me (and which I guard jealously, if I’m honest).

In yet another version, he was unrelated to any of that, and was just a sort of no-one’s-man, having spent his life living with and, ultimately, caring for Ellone after she herself became a sorceress. She fought the power…and it slowly ate her alive because of it. He knew nothing about it, had no access to the education he’d need to help her, so he watched her wither away. When she eventually died, he was consumed by grief, and wandered for quite some time before Rinoa found him (by chance, because I’m the writer and I said so dammit). Or he found her. Another variation, but it doesn’t matter too much, either way. In this scenario, he has nothing left. He either sees her coming for him, and figuring she’s probably going to kill him, puts up a surprising fight before collapsing under her power, or he sees her first, and after a great deal of consideration, comes out of the shadows and, when he can be coaxed to speak, more or less gives himself up, once again imagining she’ll just drain him to death like sorceresses are known to do. Of course, that doesn’t quite happen.

Oh, and it’s not uncommon for other characters to follow them to these once-removed universes, but for the purposes of answering your question, it’s easier to just focus on how it affects Rinoa and Squall.

You can find similar themes in both my AUs and my canon-based fanfiction…Maaayyybe it’s because, from a writing standpoint, I came to this fandom from a horror fiction perspective…though I wouldn’t classify most of my FFVIII writing as horror, mind–it’s actually a departure from the sort of story I’m typically drawn to–but I’m kind of fascinated with both tension and resolution in violent power dynamics, and predator/prey symbiosis is a big one for me. There’s a lot about FFVIII’s world that sets up and leaves a lot of room for that sort of relationship between both Hyne’s power and its host, as well as sorceresses and their knights.

Obviously, that’s my headcanon/interpretation, but it’s one of the things I saw right away when I first played the game, and it’s stuck with me ever since. So any time I wander off into an AU to sandbox with an idea, that concept is never too far away. The scenery changes, the timeframe, sometimes even the world they’re living in, regardless of the context, Squall and Rinoa are just perfect for messing around with power dynamics in relationships, for a lot of reasons, and while that’s certainly not all I write about in regards to them–no no no, there’s plenty of teen angst and abandonment issues and poignant connection and entertaining domestics and all of that is important to me, too–it definitely is a mainstay, and I enjoy exploring it under a multitude of different lenses and filters.

#ff8 #fanfiction #writing #ff8 alternate universe #squall and rinoa #squall leonhart #rinoa heartilly #the great hyne #sorceress society #ff8 world #asks #Anonymous

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ladala99 · 6 years

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Pokemon XD: A Modern Review

Something I see somewhat often is people wishing there were more games like Pokemon Colosseum and XD. Up until recently, I was really confused by this: the main draw of these games were POKEMON IN 3D! and we have that in the main series now, so what’s the point?

Well, I got to wanting a Lucky Egg in Gen III, and decided out of playing the entirety of the copy of XD I never got to, and going on a frustrating Chansey hunt in FireRed, XD would be the more enjoyable course of action.

I’ve just recently finally obtained my prize after a long and harsh game, and I now understand why people miss it. It’s not the 3D (but it certainly doesn’t hurt), it’s the battles. It provides a fundamentally different experience to the main series, even now, and now I join those wishing for something else like it.

But as great as it is, it has its flaws. I’m going to review it now in the context of now, and see how it holds up to GameFreak’s latest games.

Graphics

I’ll start off the review by looking at the graphics. Simply stated: they don’t compare with the Alola games.

The polygon count is low, especially for Gen I Pokemon. Their models were not updated from the Stadium series, and it shows. Trainers appear in battles, always behind the Pokemon, and they just look ugly. Although there are a couple of interesting designs (notably Lovrina, who looks a lot like a certain Team Skull Admin), for the most part they’re dull and unremarkable.

The environments are also not very interesting-looking in comparison. Alola is vibrant and has a few different landscapes. XD takes place in a desert, and mainly indoors in places that look made of tin. There’s a couple pretty places, but you don’t spend that much time in them in comparison to the ugly places.

One plus though, is the animations of the Pokemon. They take a long time, but they are filled with personality that the main series never matches. Especially the more cartoony animations of the Gen I and II Pokemon from the Stadium games, such as Misdreavus disappearing into its necklace and Vileplume melting when fainting.

Story

It’s probably unfair to compare XD to Alola, but I’m going to anyway. XD’s story is almost non-existent. Spoilers follow for XD if you care, so skip this section if you do.

It starts off with your friendly professor being kidnapped after he has designed a Snag Machine for the remote possibility that Cipher will be back. Surprise surprise, they are back. After rescuing him, you just go to various places where they’re stated to be in hopes to stop their clearly evil plans and snag their Shadow Pokemon. They’re also talking about this amazing un-purifyable Pokemon that they’re trying to make.

They do all sorts of evil things, like turning Pokemon from the destroyed SS Libra Shadow (where are their trainers?), having two bases, and attempting to replace everyone in a town with imposters. I seriously don’t know what the last has to do with anything other than giving you another place to go.

You annoy them enough and eventually they reveal that their main base is on this place called Citadark Isle. You go there, snagging every Shadow Pokemon you can, find out that their unpurifiable Shadow Pokemon is Lugia, Snag it and all of their leader Greevil’s team, and Cipher is stopped for good.

Also, after you defeat Greevil, it turns out his bodyguards are his sons and one didn’t really want to be evil. There’s a touching moment that was never foreshadowed, and the credits play. Like, I didn’t care about these guys at all.

Compare this to Sun and Moon where I care deeply about nearly everyone involved, especially those on the evil teams, and it’s a no-brainer which is better. Cinematics in Sun and Moon also are far superior, as characters other than the protagonist emote during cutscenes, and there are actual camera tricks used. Say what you want about your ability to skip them, but since I don’t play the same game in a row too often, and I always read the dialogue, Sun and Moon do way better.

Gameplay - Shadow Pokemon

I’m actually going to cut Gameplay into a few sections because there’s many aspects to it. The first is Shadow Pokemon.

In main series, including Sun and Moon, when you enter a battle, you have a single goal. If it’s a wild battle, it might be to gain experience or it may be to capture the opposing Pokemon. If it’s a trainer battle, you want to win.

In XD (and Colosseum), you do both in the same battle. And that is one thing that makes these battles much more intense. It’s often easy to win. It’s not so easy to have your attention divided between defeating certain Pokemon and not defeating others. Surviving against Pokemon who hit you with Super Effective attacks 100% of the time while not trying to defeat them, relying on luck that they’ll stay in the ball.

And here’s where one of the mechanics from Gen III that was changed in Gen IV really messes with you: if a Pokemon is defeated, the next is immediately sent out, and if you have both Pokemon targeting a single slot, your second Pokemon will attack the next Pokemon to come out. Which may be a Shadow Pokemon with extremely low defensive stats.

That combined with some battles which must be fought in a row, and you get a pretty naturally difficult game.

Gameplay - Double Battles

This one isn’t better or worse - just different. And different is good! After you catch your first Shadow Pokemon, every battle in the game (aside from some Battle CDs) is a Double Battle. Double Battles have different tactics to Singles, and thus different Pokemon are good in them.

It also really helps with multitasking when capturing Shadow Pokemon. Throw a ball and see if it works, and if it doesn’t, have an attack aimed at it. Or throw balls trying to get the Shadow Pokemon out of the fight while you aim attacks at the non-Shadow.

Double battles also leave your opponents able to take advantage of Double Battle strategies. Some as simple as using Rain Dance when they have a Water-type also on the field, while others include using Earthquake when all their other Pokemon have Levitate or are Flying-type.

Gameplay - Pokemon Variety

For a game where you can nearly only obtain Pokemon by stealing them from others, there’s a pretty hefty list of unique species available, even before the final dungeon.

This includes 46 unique Shadow Pokemon, 9 Pokemon from Poke Spots, and 4 Pokemon from in-game trades all before the final dungeon.

For comparison, Kanto has 79 unique Pokemon families in the entire Pokedex, including Legendaries and Pokemon only available late-game. Add in all 36 endgame Shadow Pokemon, and we have ourselves a Pokedex of considerable size!

Obviously, that’s not anywhere near how many are available in Alola, but considering how many Pokemon total there were then, it was a pretty impressive number!

Gameplay - Difficulty

The AI is idiotic. I found that most of the time, when an opponent has a move that’s Super Effective on one of my Pokemon, and Not Very Effective on the other, they’ll use it on the Pokemon it’s Not Very Effective against.

Which is great because of all the other things stacked against you. I used a team of purified Pokemon after the beginning, which meant I had no defense against Shadow Pokemon. The fact that the non-Shadows were being idiots made my survivability easier.

What’s not fun is the level curve, especially on Citadark Isle. It starts out in the low 30s and ends at six Shadow Pokemon around level 50. There are not enough trainers to make up this difference, so unless you’re using the Shadow Pokemon you’re snagging along the way, you’ll need to take extensive trips to Mt. Battle to get your level up, and that isn’t fun.

Sun and Moon do way better in this regard, with the dynamic experience system. Simply having that would have made XD a lot more doable without extensive grinding sections.

In general, though, Shadow Pokemon fights make XD hard. Totem Pokemon fights make Sun and Moon hard. There’s more Shadow Pokemon fights in XD than Totem Pokemon fights in Sun and Moon, so XD is in general harder. Perhaps not in individual fights, however.

Gameplay - Tutorial

XD has a tutorial, but it’s completely optional and kinda out-of-the-way. You can do some Battle Sims in the first area that teach the basics, but they’re kinda tedious to do.

I’d say it’s better for veterans than Sun and Moon, but definitely worse for newcomers. But the Stadium series (which XD is a successor to) was never for newcomers anyways, so it’s not really needed. It’s a good bone to throw at newcomers so they aren’t completely lost, though.

Gameplay - Progress

Definitely one of XD’s weaknesses is how difficult it is to gauge how far you are into the game. The main series has a definite amount of badges (or Trials), so you know, depending on how many badges you currently have, relatively how far into the game you are. Similarly, in Alola, you know there are four islands and seven/eight trials. You can tell how far you are by how many trials you have done.

There is no gauge like that in XD. You can kinda tell when you’re getting far into the game because your map starts looking full, but still more locations are added beyond that. The closest gauge is the Shadow Monitor, but you only get the data for the Shadow Pokemon you haven’t found yet right before you enter the final level. And it’s pretty obvious that it’s the final level.

Now, not every game has this sort of progress gauge, so it’s not a bad thing to lack. Still, I found myself seeking out guides not because I didn’t know what to do, but because I wanted to know how much I had left. The game sends you on so many quests that seem irrelevant that it was hard to tell if it was ramping up, or if I still had a long ways to go.

Gameplay - The Lucky Egg

I’m just going to mention that in order to get the Lucky Egg, you not only have to complete the story, but also finish a round in a facility that matches your level, and your opponents have EV trained and IV bred Pokemon. They also have actual strategy (luck-based ones in this round) and AI that doesn’t hold back.

Also, there’s nothing between the end and it, and the lowest level the opponents can be is 10 levels higher than Lugia.

I imported an in-game team that I made that abuses Sandstorm and I feel like I earned that Lucky Egg. It took a few, extremely frustrating, tries. And that was after an extended visit to Mt. Battle because they were only level 54-56.

Conclusion

XD, while it doesn’t look as great as Sun and Moon, is a unique experience which doesn’t disappoint. It even gets frustratingly difficult at times. I was shouting “Oh, come on!” at my screen so many times, when I really only did that twice in Ultra Moon (both times against Necrozma).

What stands out the most, though, is that it isn’t a game for beginners. GameFreak has said that the 2019 titles will be aimed at veterans, so I wonder how those will compare.

#pokemon #pokemon xd #pokemon xd gale of darkness

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