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dailytatsu · 4 years ago

Note

Hello! I love your writing and I recently saw a post of yours about the reader being the God Of Chaos and I was wondering if you could make a part two with characters of your choice, if it’s not that much of a trouble! Remember to drink water and rest well <3

Tysm! I’m really happy to see that a lot of you enjoyed it, and being honest, chaos reader now have a special place in my heart lol

Then let’s write a second part! Hope everyone likes these as well! ( ✌︎'. ')✌︎

Thanks for the request!✨

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[II - HC] God of Chaos! Reader & Genshin Characters

Characters: Bennett, Tartaglia, Scaramouche, Ganyu, Chongyun

Gn! Reader

Sorry for any mistakes!

Request are open!

Genshin Masterlist

<- First part

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BENNETT

First of all, how dare u

This boy already has a chaotic life for you to arrive and making it worse.

But being honest, it wasn’t intentional, just like always.

Besides he’s a kid. The chaos of a kid + chaos of his bad luck, I mean- how were you not supposed to meet him?

That day was really strange, for the very first time the chaos wasn’t attracted by you, but you were attracted to chaos. Like a moth following a lantern on the street, something that you felt like you had to do, some kind of childish curiosity that guide your way to find Bennett in the middle of his adventure.

Poor boy was charging his pyro attack to max until a barrel exploded near him, he flew in the air waiting for a rough landing before his trajectory sent him where you were standing, still looking for the origin of that uneasy sensation of curiosity.

Luckily for him you could see his shadow just in time to react. You looked up because of the strange silhouette on the ground next to you and there he was, surrounded by a cloud of smoke and fire, with his screams getting louder and louder as he falls.

You trapped him in your arms, with the situation turning even more strange when the first thing he said was “nice catch!” with the bright smile of his.

Like if his hair on fire wasn’t a big deal.

It’s raining men ig

Before you could ask anything, a crowd of angry hilichurls appeared from the same direction where Bennett came at first.

The white haired boy jumped off from your arms and tried to grasp your hand to run away together, but instead you pulled him near and then behind you before rising your hand to the front, pointing the stampede of furious creatures about to reach you both.

Not even a leaf fell from a tree before the hilichurls stopped, all of them felt your presence immediately, the primitive sensation of danger that meant a silent threat. Following the message that another camp of them told long ago, ‘get away from that stranger’.

Bennett was surprised, kind of scared at least. He wasn’t sure about how to call that feeling.

Are you a beast tamer?! Maybe an adventurer that discovered a secret about hilichurl’s behavior! Wait- where are you going? Don’t leave him behind, the doubt won’t let him sleep tonight!

You explained to him that it was dangerous for both to be near each other (more dangerous for him than for you), still you needed to get away. To protect Bennett and the other adventurers that were exploring nearby.

But why? He was so excited about meeting someone who could react that fast and precise! Like the heroes in the legends!

Please show him your ways, he’s begging you, how can you be rude to Bennett? That literally illegal.

When he heard that there was a God of Chaos exploring all over Teyvat like an errant he connected two points (even if there wasn’t a single thing to connect in first place).

You’re like him!

Hello ?? You’re literally ?? the most qualified to be part of Benny’s Adventure Team ??

Negative plus negative is positive, isn’t it? Maybe if you roam near Bennett his bad luck can collide with your chaos to neutralize each other!

You told him that you were leaving after that short conversation, but in reality you just hide from his sights and followed him from behind.

That kid really put you on your nerves, running into danger without knowing. Was that what Zhongli have to deal with every time you visit Liyue?

The old man really deserves an apology.

You’re not doing this an habit, of course not! You’re the all mighty God of Chaos, the ultimate troublemaker! How was even possible to think about wanting to protect a human just because he has bad luck? That’s ridic-

“Watch out!” You had to abandoned your hiding spot to reach Bennett again, pulling him away from the place where a bunch of hunter’s traps were. “Barbatos, why all your children have to be like this?…” You whispered for yourself, actually waiting for a answer, maybe a little too much because you didn’t free Bennett. His feet were just barely touching the ground.

“Oh, it’s you! Hello again!”

Enough of babysitting, that’s it, both of you are heading back to Mondstadt. This boy is a danger for himself, who allowed him to be an adventurer in first place?

After abandoned him in front of the city’s bridge you turn back to the forest, believing that it was the end, even if in the process your chaos took the life of some pigeons nearby.

Next morning you were sleeping peacefully on the branches of a huge old tree, feeling the wind of your bard friend greeting you from the distance.

Then a storm started out of nowhere; your fault.

And almost immediately you heard a cheerful voice below you, calling your name like a lost child searching for their parents.

As Bennett climbs the tree to talk with you a lightning strikes near enough to make both of you jump because of the surprise, falling from the branch and meeting each other on the mud below.

“Sorry, my bad.” Bennett and you said at the same time, to later laugh because of that.

It seems that both are more alike than you would expect

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TARTAGLIA

How do I explain that this guy already knew about you-

As you may suspect, yes, his only reason of wanting to meet you was to fight you.

The first step for taking the thrones of gods is beating one of the youngest, isn’t it? It would be a good start, and you’d be also one of the best opponents he ever fought! The only thing still needed was a way to make you accept his challenge.

Tartaglia’s first try was by attacking you without hesitation, not even a warning, just shooting an arrow for behind and waiting for you to counter. And yes, that didn’t go as planned, the rope of his bow snapped even before aiming.

It wouldn’t be that easy, the distance is always boring for a fight, why not just attacking directly?

Because you learned from Morax that you must not hurt mortals; the reason of your trip was for appreciate the human’s life, to understand why you exist, to have a reason to not end with everything that crosses your path.

To convince yourself that you’re not only destruction.

But it was hard to stay calm if he constantly provokes you to fight back. Always dodging, always running away, always breaking his weapons.

Barely holding yourself to not to break his Vision at this point.

Dodging one of his attacks again you ended up on top of a nearby structure by the side of the road, watching him from above and begging for him to stop for once.

Tartaglia clicked his tongue in annoyance, you would escape again. He was as sick as you of that senseless hunt. Maybe was the stress what impede him to think wisely, because his next strategy was like a death wish.

The water blades disappeared from his hands and, for the first time, he had a casual talk with you. Smiling and waving his hands to look relaxed.

Then he mentioned the incident with Osial, a event that almost became a tragedy. And the only reason you knew about that was because Morax told you about it, about his contract and the reason why he left his position as an Archon the next time you visited him.

It was your fault, isn’t it?

“… what?”

"As you heard! The conditions for summoning Osial was ideal, bringing back a sealed god filled with hatred and hungry for destruction couldn't have been possible if you hadn't been around Liyue that day.” His hand lifted to pointing at you, also smiling as your expression turned into a concerned one. “Oh, our God of Chaos, you were successfully satiated as the catastrophe filled the ocean! Bring us back the destruction, because it's the only thing you ever knew!”

He was obviously just mocking you, but still Tartaglia managed to actually make you think about it.

Your fault. Your chaos.

And even with that, Rex Lapis didn’t seal you or tried to eradicated you like the burden that you are for every nation.

It’s just a matter of time before you destroy all humane existence when you get bored of your fantasy of not being a spirit of chaos.

An infinity of negative and dark thoughts began to fill your mind.

It was sad, it was so sad that the erosion already began to have an effect on you being so young. You were afraid, you were concerned, the stress ate you inside while you tried to convince yourself that it wasn’t like he said.

Your mind collapsed, and you left the wrath take the control for the first time in centuries.

A fight? That’s all he wanted? Easy, that’s easy, just kill him and everything will end. His annoying voice won’t torment you ever again, his words won’t hurt ever again.

It’s easy, so easy. Mortal life is so easy to end.

He’ll defeat the gods, he’ll take their thrones and will witness the world’s end in the final battle he planned since his first encounter with the traveler.

But that day Tartaglia noticed the difference between your strength, it wasn’t huge, neither significant enough. But you were stronger, and it’s well known that wrath and despair can provide extra energy when it’s needed.

The perception of time disappeared, the world did too. Nature, men creation, everything will succumb against chaos, existence itself will be reduce to ashes.

That’s why you exist, to make sure there’s not too much heroes trying to make the nations a boring place. You just need to accept it!

But…

‘There’s no other way?’

The question sparkle inside your mind, bringing you back out of nowhere. There’s a lot of irregularities in the ground nearby, the land was broke for something that impacted with an inhuman strength, even the structure where you step on top was gone, just the remain of a building was left.

And your hands were holding something bland and soft, the warm sensation on your palms and the strange movements caught your attention to look down. Your hands were strangling Tartaglia.

From the other side his hands were trying to remove yours, his strength was minimal, not even able of closing his fingers around your wrist.

A expression full of pain and regretting of his decisions, question by question filling his mind while the air became harder to get.

A broken bow, his Vision has been thrown away. Now it was a human versus a god.

You took a step back, afraid of what you were about to do. You have to stay calm and quiet forever? To prevent catastrophe, to bring peace to mortals? Who’s the one you have to blame for creating you? How you could think that coexisting with humans was possible? Even if you say that you don’t want to make any problems you would stay near them.

“Just… leave me alone.”

Was the last thing you said, a whisper that wanted to apologize for a whole eternity, a regret that couldn’t be forgot. And then you left that place, escaping one last time.

But wait for him, Tartaglia thought, he didn’t need your compassion.

Sooner or later he would have his revenge.

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SCARAMOUCHE

Finally! With Shogun Raiden’s gnosis on his possession and the all mighty hero of Mondstadt weakened there’s no way things can go wrong for him!

A little delay in his plans, but still a smile remained on his face. Kunikuzushi couldn’t wish for anything else right now.

But you already know what is going to happen next.

In this world exist Murphy’s Law?, because anything that could go wrong went wrong after he claim for victory. Even being far away of the factory it seemed that the karma reached him immediately.

He just got his guard down for a couple seconds, and then, whoshh. Now you see it, now you don’t. The gnosis disappeared from his pocket, not here, not there. The annoyance filled his chest and then a irritated growl came from his throat.

What in the world happened?

Scaramouche looked to a huge tree in front of him, and there you were. On your favorite place to sit, above from everyone else in a branch. Holding the gnosis as the board piece it looks like, playing throwing it up a little and then catching it again and again.

Who you think you are to act that carefree on his presence? If you wanted to die so bad then you could just have asked for it.

Even if he called you and made a question first you counter it with another one, what was he doing with that thing?

You were sick of those who defy the gods thanks to his ‘workmate’.

Scaramouche ordered you to give him the gnosis back, threats and insults came out from his mouth as a distraction; in reality, he was just ready to set the first hit from behind.

But something made him stop just in time when you talked again.

“I don’t care what you are planning, but if it involves the ones who I’m in debt with, you will surely fail.”

“Another clairvoyant? Hah, your type are more words than an actual subject matter, but I have to admit it, they’re also very skill to escape.”

“It was a warning.” You said, throwing again the gnosis, this time to his direction.

Scaramouche reacted in time to rise his arms but in midair something caught the chess-like piece before his fingers. Surprising him again and making the irritation event more unbearable.

It was a tanuki. The same that looked behind a second before running even deeper in the forest.

The chaos isn’t necessary a huge disaster; a little accident, an inconvenient, a failure, it depends time and place to be considered like a catastrophe.

Scaramouche had a killer gaze just for you in his face, in respond you smiled at him, then covered your mouth with both hands to fake surprise.

“What a shame! Better luck next time, gods defier.” Your laugh could be heard all over the woods, like a spectral echo that chased him his way to get back the gnosis.

He got it back after a few minutes of a stressful walk through the forest, found the tanuki dancing on a stone before disappearing again. When he got closer he found that piece, making sure it was the real one and not just another trick.

The following days he received endless reports of Fatui soldiers and entire camps being reduced to rubble aside lost or destroyed materials; it was a higher level sabotage done by who they said was someone of relatively young appearance in strange clothes, the one that enjoyed staring at them until something goes wrong.

Nobody could defeat them, not even get closer. And with that, Scaramouche knew they were talking about you.

Was that what you meant with “warning”? Who are you exactly? Not even holding a Vision, how could you… ?

A quick order was enough to deliver him a book full of ancient legends, part of the Fatui private collection. Texts that were lost and the world had forgotten, his only hope was that you weren't exactly mortal, and if that was the case they could take advantage of your nature.

Hah, he found you.

God of Chaos, a body sculptured by the blood and bodies of the ones who died in middle of the wars. At first they were just a being full of anger and affinity for taking the life of every living being on earth, until the same hand that created them gave them a human heart of their own. Made without any prior basis, without being the remains of the deceased. Something one of a kind, the mortal heart of a god.

When human emotions filled the vessel they were released into the world, to mourn over the spilled blood and to know how everything of their existence originates. Born from the red that stained the fields and being the bud that seemed withered, the same that now has the deepest roots ever found.

Hmm, that brings back some memories…

But hey, that vital energy could be useful.

Don’t be surprised if one day you wake up chained and feeling dizzy as Scaramouche drains your life. You know what? Just wait for it! Running away as you did with that idiot won’t work this time.

Every possibility can be foreseen, every inconvenience can be solved. And if you think that you’re an exception then you’re stupider than you look.

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GANYU

Bold of you assume that Zhongli didn’t introduce you to everyone the first time you travel to Liyue.

The difference between your meeting was that it had to be really short. Ganyu is always busy so you couldn’t know her better before her duty called for her again.

Obviously you heard a lot of stories of her childhood thanks to Cloud Retainer. The day she knew about it Ganyu avoided you, next week she apologized with you about it. It was very rude, please pardon her.

Such a big sister vibes ngl

An Adeptus working that hard to human’s matters. It was so cool to follow her from a significant distance to see how was her routine.

If you could only live that peacefully near humans without causing any problem! What a dream! The envy was killing you.

Ganyu didn’t mind about you stalking her, the feeling of a companion was always present and she also knew that you had to keep some distance from everybody to not cause any accident. She appreciated your consideration.

Until a soldier from the millelith arrested you for harassment, wait- you’re innocent! Don’t get closer, hold on! Hold on!

The handcuffs broke almost immediately, though.

When Ganyu resolved the misunderstanding she hold your hands to apologize again, it had to be really stressful to be aware of any chaos you could create accidentally.

What if you… wait for her on the surroundings of the city?

Please, she have a lot of work, don’t interrupt her, she’s begging you.

Ganyu thought you heard her request, but she knew that you were just hiding when a window opened out of nowhere and a lot of documents flew away in the room.

You appeared hanging upside down from the other side of the window, jumped down and entered to pick up the documents. You hand her over all the pages and then you leave through the space on the wall.

“… I’ll be in Huaguang Stone Forest… ”

“Thank you.”

Even though you both agreed that you would return to the stone forest, she couldn't help but feel guilty as the hours passed, did you feel like a nuisance? Maybe she should apologize. Again.

When another successful day at work ended, she realized that repeating the same words over and over was not the best way to show her regret. That’s why a better idea formed in his head as she approached the abode of the rest of Adeptus.

Ganyu found you being scolded by Mountain Shaper for unintentionally releasing the trespassing intruders along with other creatures from their amber prisons.

After rescuing you again, she was able to propose her idea to you. With a calm and charming voice she asked you if you would like to learn about Liyue's traditions from the human perspective.

Sure, Zhongli could tell you about the beginning of traditions and festivities, but the way to celebrate them and pay tribute to the Adeptus was something that only a person who had lived among mortals for years could explain to you.

Your eyes shone in gratitude but no words really came out of your lips, kind of embarrassed you said some nonsensical things and then another amber cracked when you brushed its surface.

Mountain Shaper kicked you out without thinking twice.

But hey! The next day your classes on Culture from the Mortal Perspective began! A quick but calm walk through Liyue that got spread when a bunch of kids recognized you.

How could they not remember the person who plays with them every time they get a chance?

Ganyu sat by the side of the road on an empty bench, watching you scamper the children who seemed happy at your mere presence. Like the occasional accidents of a child, the curious and outlandish nature cannot be controlled, only accepted.

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CHONGYUN

Don’t move! The future best exorcist in the world, Chongyun, will put an end to your legacy of misdeeds and pranks! No evil specter that causes bad luck will survive to-!

Just by lightly tapping with your fingertips you were able to break the seal of the talismans that surrounded you out of nowhere. Pushing back the boy who was convinced that he had beaten his yang.

how dare u interrupt him.

Another of Xingqiu’s pranks? Isn’t this going a little to far? He hadn’t learn about not believing everything his friend says smh.

Let’s just mess with him a little.

‘Measure your words, human. In the presence of the God of Chaos, the first thought that should run through your mortal instinct is to beg for your life, since those who dare to defy them will be punished and displayed as a trophy in the infinity of the abyss from which the catastrophe came out.’

You took a few steps closer to him, while Chongyun kept backing away. The scene was so dramatic that you had to stop when the boy summoned his sword.

Haha jk, nice to meet u.

It's nice to know that there are still such dedicated exorcists out there.

But wait-, so you're not an evil spirit? A God? Why is there a god causing accidents all over Liyue!? That makes no sense! If you think you can deceive him by pretending to be a deity then he shall punish you severely for disrespecting them!

After a detailed explanation of your identity, Chongyun's mood plummeted again due to another failure as an exorcist.

He sat silently on a rock and remained silent, his expression showed so well his disappointed that it made you feel like it was your fault.

Ohno, a sad human child, your weakness-

At the end you sat next to him to listen to what he had to say.

Did he really want to see a spirit so badly? Those things are horrible, wearing strange clothes and yelling all the time, buagh! The thought of it gives you chills. But there's nothing you can do, after all they are drawn to your chaos.

When you finished talking so indifferently about what you lived through from day to day, you looked back at Chongyun, finding his expressive eyes filled with astonishment and disbelief.

Are you a magnet of evil? Chaos and destruction? Demons and spirits alike appear wherever you go?

Then you stopped him, it wasn't something to take so lightly; there’s also the chaos of the butterfly effect, natural disasters, unforeseen events, influencing the mood of evil people, losing your favorite pair of socks-

But you attract spirits, right!? You have to help him! How can you say ‘no’ to that face?

The next day he took you to one of his commissions as an exorcist, a house that had numerous reports from its previous tenants. He stayed outside and asked you to come in first, obviously you refused, if your chaos broke something inside you would have more problems besides the ghosts of the house.

He insisted a little more, it worked. Now you were waiting to feel the presence of some spirit trying to attack you. You could feel it, their energy was spread throughout the building, but still there was no movement. Neither hostility, neither terror, just the presence of a soul.

When it was Chongyun's turn to enter you explained this to him, his yang was also easy to perceive, you could describe it as a blizzard in the middle of the storm. But despite this, that presence didn’t react to his energy, nothing changed.

Then you understand it, your energies neutralized each other. Your chaos and his yang ended in a stalemate that went nowhere.

“I was really hoping to see an actual spirit and not only stay still in the middle of the entrance… “

“Well, I can still curse you. Want to try?” Chongyun crossed his arms, annoyed for your jokes.

“Maybe I should exorcize you instead… ”

“Ohh, so the little exorcist wants a deity to be his personal dummy? Let’s make a pact then. Promise me your soul.”

“I-I thought you said you weren’t actually a demon!”

When you stroked his hair he couldn't help but think about how much he still had to learn, so much so that even the gods were taking pity on him.

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thoughts-on-bangtan · 4 years ago

Text

JK Day 2021

...and what a day it was. I know we’re a bit late with this when looking at KST but in our time zone it’s still September 1st so it counts, right? Besides I wanted to wait until the day was over for them so I could have everything the members would post for JK so I could put it in this post as memory for us to look back on in the future.

Furthermore, as extension for the celebrations, I want to finally sit down, write and post our post about JK and his bonds with the hyung line since it’s been so long since two anons asked us about that so what better time than the weekend after JK day, right?

Anyway, let’s get into it, shall we?

The day before JKs birthday he came onto Weverse and posted three different things, including a cute selca:

Everyone of course turned up their creativity to post something for JK and also wondered among themselves what he planned on using those lyric comments for, and if he would use them for anything at all.

Sometime later before the new RUN episode aired, Seokjin appeared on Weverse and, for whatever reason, commented birthday wishes for JK under the Weverse post about the upcoming RUN episode. Because of course he did.

More than an hour before midnight KST everyone got a notification from vlive that JK had gone live:

And truly, considering it was about to be his birthday, I love how it felt more like it was ours with the gift that kept on giving that this vlive turned out to be.

Lots more below the cut:

Remember those posts that JK made in the morning on Weverse? As many, including myself, had guessed, JK gathered some of the lyric comments he liked most, or thought would work best, and proceeded to turn them into an actual song right before our eyes. The instrumental was gorgeous with a acoustic guitar and ballad like melody and it was truly fascinating watching him figuring out how to sing the lines, record them, redo them whenever he felt he could do it better, add adlibs in some places, and slowly but surely a song was created with lyrics in both English and Korean.

This really was the content I’ve always craved and I’m so, so happy we got to watch JK do this instead of him just showing us the final thing. You could see him having fun, even when he got a little frustrated at times or he wasn’t quite sure how he wanted to continue or how he wanted the words to sound like, and that he really knows what he’s doing. So many claim that Bangtan have no idea about producing and recording songs, which truly is such a stupid argument to make considering Yoongi is literally Producer SUGA and we know that, if the members want to make mixtapes they have to do them themselves, which we know Namjoon, Yoongi and Hobi have done. So JK doing all of that in the vlive? Checkmate against those idiots. Especially since it also isn’t the first time we’ve seen members work on tracks, like the behind the scenes of rap line working on DDAENG or Hobi working on songs, or even JK with Stay, even if we didn’t know it’s Stay at the time.

Once the song was finished JK went on to show us several more instrumentals he could’ve worked with, each one with a different vibe, before switching to singing a song by Justin Bieber saying he really loves his songs a lot. And then it was nearing midnight so he unpacked the cake he got, white icing/fondant with purple lettering spelling out STILL WITH YOU JK, very cute.

Right as midnight hit someone started to bang on the door so JK got up to see who’d come and, surprise, it was a very excited Hobi wishing him a happy birthday including singing the birthday song for him upon JKs request while JK lit up his golden heart shaped candle.

Hobi again returned two minutes after he’d left (between when at 1:18h JK mentioned that, for the first time that night, he’d do one more song to finish off the vlive, ha) to give him an ice cream cake he’d prepared, but also to get his phone which he’d accidentally forgotten in the room JK was in.

Once Hobi really left and JK got a taste of his ice cream cake, as well as the white cake which turned out to be chocolate flavored, the vlive concert began and, at the time, none of us knew what we were in for since we all thought he’d really do one or two more songs and that would be it. And yet that very much is not what happened, at all, and I’m so grateful for it.

This might just be the funniest screenshot in existence (please take note of the time stamps):

No wonder that, eventually, Seokjin decided to come onto Weverse to post wishes for JK a second time while also saying this (the picture is from their unit photoshoot for Winter Package):

The imagine of Seokjin just sitting in bed or whatever watching JKs vlive and hearing him say last song every like ten minutes and every time he just kept going...and going...and going while Seokjin is just waiting...and waiting...and waiting? Hilarious. But it’s also really cute how he’d wanted to wait until JK was done to not interrupt him or pull ARMYs attention away from the vlive. Truly I adore their bond, it’s adorable and chaotic and so wonderfully them.

Yoongi also posted his wishes for JK while the vlive was still going.

The one who waited until it was over was actually Namjoon who, with what he said in his tweet, actually revealed that he’d watched JKs vlive as well. In his vlive JK said that at the end of their concerts Namjoon used to always give his speech like a (school) principal, as in his long ending ment speeches, and that’s why Namjoon ‘signed’ his tweet with principal as well.

Truly I love how JK was just having fun singing their songs, taking requests from ARMY, rediscovering songs, like him wondering if they really have a song called Paradise (since the Korean title is different) and finally fulfilling ARMYs wish of hearing BTS sing it live, as well as being surprised and confused by requests for Heartbeat asking himself if them really have a song like that. But since ARMY kept asking for it, he finally looked it up and his reaction to realizing that, yes, it is a real song of theirs and also that that’s the song we were talking about which he’d completely forgotten about? Hilarious but also kind of heartbreaking for all the Heartbeat enthusiasts.

Here is the full list of all the songs he sang, some for longer, some shorter:

One thing that this vlive showed really well was just how amazing of a singer JK really is. It’s easy for people to dismiss his talent during concerts or performances, since they could always argue that him and the others get help due to the backing track etc., but here we had his raw voice singing along to their songs much the way any of us do. And he sounded stunning beginning to end. He’s such a talented singer and he’s worked so hard on his technique and voice and it’s really showing. Thinking back to what he said in his BE comeback Weverse interview about how he’d like to one day he brave enough to do a three hour concert on his own, I’d say this vlive shows that really shouldn’t be any kind of problem at all. If ARMY can listen to him essentially do karaoke for one and a half hours, then attending and enjoying a full on JK concert would be no issue whatsoever. It’d actually be amazing, I’m certain, and I’d totally be down to seeing that potentially become a reality one day in the future.

After two and a half hours, the vlive ultimately came to a close and JK said his goodbyes.

Hours later Hobi appeared on Weverse wondering what pictures of JK he could/should post for his traditional picture “spam” and everyone was immediately super excited. Hobi’s gallery holds some wonderful treasures so we all looked forward to what he would end up posting, though it would take a few hours until it would happen.

The funny thing is that he posted the first twt twice since the picture with Namjoon in it had Hobi’s iPhone in it which, as good Samsung representative, was a no, no, so he deleted the twt and posted it again with some stickers covering the phone. So cute. And his picture choices are wonderful. I particularly love that picture of JK in the white room dressed in black from back in 2019 when they performed Boy with Luv. And also their picture from a dinner the two of them went on together back in 2018.

In the meantime before Hobi posted his pictures, as requested in the picture that BH had posted for JKs birthday on the staff BTS account at midnight, one of the members posted his meal though it’s unclear which one of them it might’ve been. Looks super yummy though, wow.

And eventually the final member to come and wish JK a happy birthday was Jimin (and yes, I know Jimin’s twt came before Hobi’s but considering Hobi already wished him a happy birthday at midnight, that makes Jimin the last one):

Trans (cr. haruharu_w_bts):

our maknae happy birthday i wish <you a happy birthday> a lot and a lot #KkookieHappyBirthday #JIMIN #HAPPYJKDAY

Taehyung didn’t post anything but considering his track record of doing something for the members off social media for their birthday, like giving Namjoon a forehead kiss, sending birthday wish videos to Seokjin (including roping others into doing it as well), or wishing Jimin a happy birthday as part of the MOTS ON:E exhibition, I wasn’t all that surprised by this.

And with that JK day 2021 came to a close. It started with a surprise (as in both the song based on ARMY comments and also the concert afterward) and ended with one as well, as in the In The SOOP Season Two announcement.

I hope JK had a wonderful day, celebrated happily with his members, friends and family however much that’s possible in these times, as well as with their busy schedule, and that this new year will be a happy one for him full of success, personal but also career wise. I’m curious and excited to see what will happen.

#Jungkook #jungkook birthday #Jungkook vlive #BTS #Namjoon #Seokjin #Jimin #Hoseok #Yoongi

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miss-smutty · 4 years ago

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Immortal Chapter 3

A/N- My first OC and I'm super excited for it and this story! Hope you love her ☺️

Summary- Thor learns more about his mystery love interest

Word count- 1,952k

Pairing- Thor x OC

18+ Only!

Posted: 21st June 2021

Taglist:- @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @longlostinanotherworld @mostly-marvel-musings @darklydeliciousdesires

Part 1. Part 2.

The last thing Aria remembered before her vision pooled with bright lights and stars, was a car heading straight towards her. She felt the impact, her body flown through the air and crashing back to the ground with a sickening thud. She expected to hear her bones fracture into pieces with the impact of the car, to see her life flash in front of her eyes as she floated through the air. The world around her paused, time going incredibly slow, the speed causing the wind to blow her hair around the curve of her jaw in slow motion. She'd expected to feel the rough tar of the road, peeling away her skin as she landed in a heap, to feel tiny fragments of gravel imbedded in her soft and malleable flesh.

When none of that came though, she wasn't overly surprised. Instead of feeling excruciating pain, she revelled in the feeling of flying, enjoying the moment while it lasted until she was pulled back to earth and ultimately, back to reality. The reality of knowing the look on people's faces as she stood unharmed after a brutal collision that should've left her for dead.

Aria kept her eyes screwed shut, willing herself to just disappear and not have to deal with the backlash. The accident drawing unwanted and dangerous attention to her, attention she'd worked so hard to avoid. I mean she'd run away from her Prince Charming just to avoid this sort of attention, it was kind of ironic really.

Aria slowly opened one of her eyes, her vision blurred and glassy, there were people around her. Lots of faces she didn't recognise, hazy shapes all merging together until her eyes settled on one familiar face. Thor.

His distinct features standing out through the obscurity of her vision. Piercing sky blue eyes shone brightly, until that was all she could see. Eyes so clear she could see straight into his soul, a soul so pure it made her eyes sting. Thor's story playing through her mind like a movie, she blinked repeatedly willing it to stop, wrinkling her eyes tightly shut again.

"Everybody move out of the way, give her space. MOVE!" Thor bellowed over Aria, the crowd dispersing at once with his all commanding tone. He crouched down beside her, giving her body the once over, gulping deeply at the feel of her curves under his touch. Shaking his head while trying to ignore the unwanted thoughts that so helplessly followed. Wondering morbidly if it would be the second and last time he would be able to feel that magnetic pull he felt when their bodies touched.

Aria's tense muscles relaxed at the feel of Thor's hands smoothing down her legs and arms, checking for broken bones he was never going to find. A gasp left her lips when he lifted her T-shirt up just above her belly button, his fingers prodding gently at the softness of her flesh. It took all she had not to giggle, as his fingers tickled against her bare midriff.

Thor continued kneeding his hands softly around her precious torso, more than sure he would find something life threatening. Knowing there was absolutely no way a Midgardian could escape a collision like that with absolutely no lasting scars. His brow furrowed with suprise at finding absolutely no broken bones. Not even one. Even more surprising he found no cuts or bruises, not even a graze.

Aria lay before him, a vision of perfectness, her dark as night hair blanketing her defined features. She bent her hour glass curves, bringing her knees up to her chest. Thor's eyes widened, drawn to the definition of her hips and the swell of her backside in the tight black jeans she wore. He reached forward to stroke the silky hair away from her face, anxious to see her flawless skin and the rosy pink flush of her cheeks.

Aria's eye's fluttered open when she felt Thor's cold fingers brush against her clammy cheek. She recognised the painful look of anguish in his expressive blue eyes, the worry set deep within them.

"I'm ok, help me up please." She stuttered, trying to raise her head from the ground, twisting her body around. Thor's arms immediately reached out, cushioning his large hand behind her head.

"I don't think that's wise, you've been flung about five metres down the street. You need medical assistance. How are you even…"

"Thor I'm fine, just dizzy. Help me stand please." Aria stopped him mid-sentence, desperate to get out of there before the ambulances arrived, not knowing how she was meant to explain how she was completely fine after being hit by a fast moving car and thrown at speed for quite a distance. The car alone should've broken bones and left her with internal bleeding and that's before she shattered onto the ground five metres down the street. She shouldn't even be alive, never mind perfectly capable of walking away unharmed.

Thor gave in and helped her to her feet, hooking his arms underneath hers and pulling her up gently. Aria's legs buckled when she stood but Thor was there to catch her and hold her steady, the bulk of him stood behind her as he waited for her to find her feet.

Shaking loose from his grasp, squirming free, she turned to bolt but not before his thick fingers wrapped around her wrist. Aria's heart sank when she realised she wasn't getting away from his restraint, not then and maybe not ever. Thor wasn't about to lose her again, not after she was nearly taken from him for good.

The crowd of people that had gathered around to witness the miracle, the deception of logic, begin whispering between themselves. Sounds of astonishment filled the air at the spectacle before them. Thor pulled Aria against his chest, wrapping his arms around her back in an embrace. The warmth of his body was comforting for her,

the familiarity of his heartbeat thrumming against her ear. The sounds around them melting away as they held each other on the sidewalk, as they became lost in each other once more they heard the faint signs of cheering.

Aria let herself smile, she let herself be happy in the moment if for only a minute before the cheering and whistling was drowned out by the sound of approaching sirens. Thor noticed the visible panic on her face as she pulled back from him, searching the streets for a place to hide.

If he knew anything after seeing that look in her eyes, that terrible look of fear in her emerald green, Doe eyes, he knew he would do absolutely anything to protect her. Thor knew it the first time he ever laid eyes on Aria, he would always do everything within his power to keep her safe.

Without a moment's hesitation he pulled Aria by the hand, taking her with him as he ran down the street. Glancing at her through his peripheral and taking a moment to appreciate the sight of her next to him, the feel of her fingers wrapped tightly around his hand as she gave her trust to him. The wind blowing through her shoulder length hair as they ran and realising that he hadn't needed to slow his pace so she could keep up. She was running at the exact same speed as him, running along side him effortlessly as they dodged the obstacles in their paths. Aria was just as agile, just as strong and with the exact same level of reflexes as Thor.

If Aria wasn't in a state of panic she would have enjoyed the feeling of running alongside Thor, to finally not have to hold back any longer. It was a big deal for her to put her trust in anybody let alone somebody she had just met but she didn't have much choice. She needed to get out of there and fast.

They turned the corner together, down a narrower street lined with trash cans and through an even smaller alley.

With no where else to go, they stopped at the end of the alleyway, a metal gate blocking their way. Closed in with no where to escape but luckily no one to escape from. Thor leant one hand against the sturdy gate, studying Aria closely. Waiting with bated breath to see whether she would need to catch her breath, instead she looked up at him bright eyed, crinkling her nose in the cutest way. Then he heard the most glorious sound he has ever heard, like sweet music to his ears.

Aria couldn't help herself, she looked up at the god of Thunder, a look of confusion etched on his chiselled face and she laughed. Not a cute little girly giggle either but a full belly laugh, holding on to her knees as she struggled to breath through it. The truth was, she hadn't felt that exhilarated in years, running away from danger usually wasn't so exciting for her but having a tall, strong, literal God by her side made her feel invincible. Cheating death also added to the thrill, to that untouchable feeling. She knew it wouldn't last long, it never does, but she would enjoy it while it lasted.

"Why are you laughing?" Thor couldn't hide the amusement in his voice from the warm feeling it gave him seeing Aria laugh.

"The look on… People's faces." She struggled to get out between laughing. Her pink cheeks turning red, her head feeling light from lack of air. "On your face." Her chest rattled as she finally started calming down.

"Yes, although it wasn't funny at the time, I can see why it would make you laugh." He leaned his body against the gate. The sound making Aria jump, goosebumps travelling up her arms as her ears pricked, the laughter dissipated.

"Relax, it's just me." He soothed, taking note of how easily she startled. Not only eyes like a doe but the behaviour too. "So you're unbreakable, you have no trouble keeping up with my speed and your stamina almost matches mine. That's without even mentioning the feeling I get when I'm near you."

The uneasy feeling came, as she knew it would. She was deluded to think she would automatically begin to trust. To forget about the way people had used and hurt her in the past. So much so that she'd built a giant wall, locked her heart up and thrown away the key. Luckily Thor had his own hammer to knock down that wall and nothing would stop him finding that key.

"So what are you saying Thor?" She didn't hide the annoyance in her voice. Resting her back against the brick wall and slumping down to the ground.

"I want to get to know you, to figure out why we're quite clearly connected in some way. I don't even know your name?"

"My name is Aria and I don't know what I am. I've spent my lifetime trying to figure it out. And I don't know, ok?" Aria sniffs.

"It's ok, I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you Aria. What about your parents?"

"I don't know my parents, they probably realised what a freak I am and sent me away."

"I can help you." Thor pushes back from the gate and slides himself down next to her. "We're similar. And you can not deny the connection we have." He nudges her with his elbow, willing her to look at him just as the sound of footfall echoed down the alley towards them. They both turned their heads at the same time, in the direction of the noise. The footsteps drawing closer.

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scariusaquarius · 5 years ago

Text

it’ll be alright.

Todoroki Shouto x Reader

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A/n: I am not online at the time of this post airing. I may not want anything to do with the BNHA fandom, but I do miss writing for BNHA. Here's a little something that I cooked up. I wouldn't take this as 'omg lyn's coming back to the fandom' because that isn't what this is. This was self-indulgent more than anything. Still, I hope you guys enjoy. The timeline for this thing is kinda all over the place, so I guess just ignore the canon timeline cause I’m not caught up all the way just yet and i hadn’t really tried to keep it within canon.

Summary: After a terrifying encounter with the League of Villains, you find yourself unable to sleep. Todoroki, who is also sleepless, comes across you hanging out on the balcony of the common area.

Songs: Listen Before I Go by Billie Eilish, Mr. Rattlebone by Matt Maeson, I Love You by Billie Eilish

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Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Friendship Rated: Mature Warning: Angst, Blood, Graphic Depictions of Blood, Minor Character Death, Panic Attacks, PTDS, Nightmares, Canon-Divergent from Canonical Timeline

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Author: scariusaquarius

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It almost felt like you were underwater. Your lungs were begging for breath, trying to find any sort of oxygen as they constricted. Your head was hurting, pounding harshly as the lack of air began to get to you. Heart racing, you were trying not to remember the event that had happened a week prior.

The League of Villains were not only a dangerous organization, but they were hopelessly persistent. Instead of trying for Bakugo again, however, they had taken an interest in you. You guessed that it wasn’t to be unexpected.

After all, your quirk was Blood Letting, and it allowed you to control the blood of those who you cut, including yourself. You could cause a person to bleed out if you wanted to, forcing their blood out of even the littlest cut until there was nothing left in them.

You could cause it to clot inside of them, forcing them into a heart-attack and nobody would even suspect foul play. You could keep someone from dying or kill them in an instant if you wanted to.

You were a great advantage to the League of Villains, and they were determined to have you.

However, the League of Villains had been much more careful this time. They had meticulously planned their abduction plan down to a T, figuring out your schedule and where you liked to go; where you would avoid, and even your home within the city.

Even though all students were required to live on campus since the last attack, there were students who would stay at their homes for a few days at a time. It was a compromise that most parents had asked for, and Principle Nezu hadn’t been too keen on denying them despite his wishes for the students to stay at U.A full-time.

The extension was given to third-years and graduating students only, but most of the students were still able to find ways to bypass the rule. You were a third-year, but you usually spent most of your time in U.A. Your home-life was almost an exact replica of Todoroki Shoto’s, the famed son of Endeavor, the number one Pro-Hero.

Except, your father was no pro-hero. Instead, he was just a drunkard who got off on beating his wife and child because how else was a quirkless man to feel powerful? Usually, your mother would come to visit you to get out of the house, but sometimes a visit to your home was inevitable.

The League of Villains knew this and knew that it would be easier to go straight to your home. Your father was a coward and wouldn’t think twice about giving you away. The only thing the villains had to wait on was time itself.

When it came time for the students to choose whether or not to take a small vacation to their parent's homes, you had chosen to go after your mother called you to tell you that she wouldn’t be able to come to visit.

You had no idea what you were going to walk in on.

The League of Villains were in your living room, seeming as though they had made themselves at home as they lounged in your living room. Your mother was in the kitchen, making dinner for the entire League while your father sat in his recliner, shaking in his boots.

You had no idea what to do. Standing in your front door, you were frozen by the feeling of a hot hand on the back of your neck. The temperature of his hand was astronomical, almost burning you without his blue flames, and you were too afraid to move.

Your mother was shaking, eyes wide in fear as she passed out the food, and Shigaraki sighed in satisfaction.

“Ah, my favorite…you can go ahead and take a seat. We have much to discuss.”

“I’ll stand, thanks.”

You replied, edging for your knife on your wrist, but a hot breath fanned across the shell of your ear.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, doll. One wrong move and this whole place will turn to ash.”

You froze. Even though you wanted to fight back, you knew that Dabi wouldn’t hesitate to burn you and your whole family alive. You really didn’t give a damn about what happened to your father, but your mother was who you were scared for.

She was seated on the loveseat, Mr. Compress holding a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place. Whether as a warning or something else, you weren’t entirely sure.

“Sit down.”

Dabi ordered you roughly, and you were almost tempted to tell him to fuck off in true Bakugo style. However, you kept your mouth wisely shut as Dabi tightened his grip on your neck, and he forced you to move before you were sitting on the right of Shigaraki.

Dabi was seated next to you, keeping his hand on the back of your neck as you listened to the league eat their dinner. Your mother kept her eyes on you, but you were glaring at Shigaraki, watching him eat. Your hands stayed flat on your thigh, and you almost hissed when Dabi’s fingers began to play with the hair at the nape of your neck.

Shigaraki let out a satisfied sighed, placing his chopsticks down before folding his hands together. He said to you, tilting his head a bit as he trained a crimson eye on you.

“Do you know why I am here?”

“I don’t suppose it’s to taste my mom’s cooking.”

Shigaraki chuckled, and you were almost distracted by Dabi’s fingers trailing along the back of your neck.

“No, but it was a great surprise. I’m here for you, (Y/n) (L/n). You have an incredibly fascinating quirk…Blood Letting, you called it?”

You snapped at him, Dabi’s hand enclosing tightly around your neck in warning.

“Fuck off, Shigaraki! I’m not joining your damn league!”

“Easy, doll.”

Shigaraki let his hand up, Dabi immediately going quiet, and Shigaraki sighed.

“I really don’t have time for you to be getting on my nerves and stalling me, so I’m going to make this quick. You are going to come work for my league and give me inside information that I need so that I can destroy U.A, the Pros, and society altogether! If you refuse…”

Shigaraki flicked his finger at your father, the man screaming as he turned to dust, and your mother wailed in fear. You were shocked, watching as the man crumbled to a pile of dust in the recliner. Despite hating the man with all of your being, you didn’t want him to die.

Knowing that Shigaraki was willing to kill so quickly made you afraid. What were you going to do? How were you going to escape this? You weren’t willing to be a double agent, but you couldn’t risk the life of your mother.

Before you could open your mouth to give your answer, there was a burning smell. It wasn’t coming from Dabi, and Dabi’s hand tightened significantly on the back of your neck.

The front door to your home suddenly exploded, and you yelped from the loud sound before taking the moment of distraction to slip your knife from your pocket and slice into Dabi’s thigh.

Dabi let out a growl, and you activated your quirk, forcing his blood to come rushing out of the wound. Dabi immediately began to convulse on your couch, and you shot up, using Dabi’s blood to slam Mr. Compress into the wall. Shigaraki was furious, and you were quick to get to your mother’s side, ushering her out the backdoor.

“Go, mom! You have to leave!”

Your mother didn’t think twice, running out into the backyard to safety. Releasing Dabi, you were surprised to see Endeavor step through your front door. He was almost terrifying in person, standing at 6’4” and flames reaching even higher. His turquoise eyes were on Shigaraki, and the hero ordered you.

“Get out of here. Now.”

You nodded before running out, almost tripping in your haste to leave. You hadn’t expected to see Todoroki, and his bi-colored eyes were surprised when he saw you.

“(L/n)!”

At the sight of seeing your friend, all of the fear came crashing down on you, and you immediately ran into Todoroki’s arms, crying.

“Todoroki!”

Todoroki was shocked by the gesture, but held you close, guiding you away from the fight. You were almost hysterical, sobbing into his shoulder, and Todorki was almost unsure of what to do. Should he let you cry? Should he try to say something? In his silent thinking, Todoroki almost missed you speaking.

“I…I told him I wouldn’t do it…I won’t do it!”

“What do you mean?”

You covered your face, shaking your head as you kept it pressed into his shoulder.

“He wanted…wanted me to help him destroy everything….destroy it all…because of my quirk…because of how dangerous I am.”

Todoroki was immediately reminded of Bakugo and when the League first attempted to kidnap and use one of U.A’s strongest students. You cried harder, shaking your head.

“And he killed him…he killed my father right…right in front of my mom and I! I…I was so scared he would hurt my mom too…oh god, Todoroki, I almost said yes because of it…”

Todoroki kept you close, rubbing your back gently, and he coaxed you softly.

“It’s not your fault, (L/n). You were given a hard choice…it’s alright.”

It was a day that you were never going to forget.

After the incident, you had gotten closer to Todoroki. He was a quiet comfort in your life, giving you solace in your times of darkness. At first, it had been a little awkward for you two.

You two hadn’t really interacted too much outside of school, nonetheless while inside school either. You weren’t even sure that you could consider the two of you as friends…up until now, at least. Todoroki was a constant hovering cloud upon you, but you weren’t complaining. You were glad to have him help you through this.

Ever since the incident, you had been plagued with nightmares about the incident; about all the ways that it could have gone, about Shigaraki,and about Dabi’s touch. None of it left you. It was almost obvious to see that you were still affected by the event; that it was hurting you far worse than you were letting on.

The only one who could really see what the event had done to you was Bakugo, who understood you perfectly. He knew exactly what you were going through, but just like Todoroki, Bakugo had no idea how to comfort someone.

He wasn’t easy with his words when it came to such things, so when in passing, Bakugo would just give you an understanding glance. Despite there being no words between you and Bakugo, you knew what it said.

‘I’m here if you want to talk.’

But just talking didn’t help. It didn’t help you get through the pain and the fear and the trembling. You were struggling to breathe again, and you were so caught up in your panic attack that you hadn’t heard the door to the balcony open.

“(L/n)?”

It was Todoroki’s voice, echoing through your haziness like the beam of a lighthouse, guiding you back to reality slowly. You could see Todoroki kneel before you, placing his hand gently on your knee as you struggled to breathe.

“Focus on me, (L/n). Can you look at me?”

Your hands came down from your head, latching onto his hand tightly, and Todoroki didn’t hesitate to clasp his left hand over yours, basically holding your hands within his own. Your eyes were on his, though your eyes were blurry from your tears.

“Breathe with me.”

You nodded, and as Todoroki took a deep breath, so did you. Slowly, the two of you breathed together, your panic slowly dying down. Todoroki was patient as you began to breathe better, taking deeper and deeper breaths before you were finally calmed. Todoroki asked you, giving you a soft look.

“Are you alright?”

“I...I think so.”

At least for now. Todoroki nodded lightly before sitting down beside you on the swinging bench, keeping your hands within his. He gently swayed the bench back and forth with his foot, a comfortable silence overcoming the both of you. You said softly, Todoroki looking over at you with focused eyes.

“Thank you, Todoroki…for being here with me and for me. I know this is probably weird for you, but I appreciate the effort.”

Todoroki looked down at your conjoined hands, a strange sensation of fluttering in his chest, and he replied to you honestly.

“This is what friends do. We support each other…it’s what a hero would do, right?”

You looked over at Todoroki, smiling lightly.

“Yeah…you’re gonna be a great one, Todoroki. I know you will.”

Todoroki looked away from you, almost bashful, and he replied honestly.

“I think that you’ll be a great hero too.”

“I don’t know…I think I should just…transfer to the Reserves or something…or even enlist in the Rescue Corps with Recovery Girl…I don’t think someone like me can be a true hero.”

Todoroki shook his head, replying.

“That’s not true. Your quirk might be better for healing in the long run, but you are an incredibly skilled combatant. Your quirk enables you to stop a villain with sheer will as long as you have cut them. Your quirk would be an incredible advantage when facing a villain.”

Todoroki sighed and added after a moment of gathering his thoughts.

“Besides, you were able to not only render Dabi useless but save your mother from Mr. Compress as well in the same breath. You may not believe it right now, but you do have what it takes to be a hero.”

Goddammit all. Your eyes were glassy again, and you sniffled deeply, replying softly as you gently squeezed Todoroki’s hand.

“I just...I keep thinking about what would have happened if I accepted…what I could have become…what I can become.”

“But it won’t happen because you don’t have what it takes to be a villain.”

You looked up at Todoroki in surprise, and he shook his head at you.

“It is foolish to think about things that will never happen. You aren’t a villain just because your quirk is dangerous. If that were the case, then Bakugo would have been kicked from the hero course long ago, as well as many others. All Might, for a example. He was dangerous...and yet, he was the Symbol of Peace..a person that we all looked up to.”

Todoroki gazed intently at you before sighing.

“You are over-thinking…you do it a lot, you know.”

You sighed and gave an exasperated look to Todoroki.

“Thanks.”

“You are welcome.”

You were almost given whiplash from his bluntness, but you didn’t say anything to him about it. Instead, you chose to stay quiet, reveling in the comfortable quiet. Todoroki’s gaze was settled on your conjoined hands, feeling the softness of your hand within his own.

It almost felt too good to him…how nice it was to hold your hand; how warm your hand felt within his cold one. Todoroki asked you after a couple of minutes of rocking the bench quietly.

“Do you feel better?”

You nodded and answered, laying your head against his shoulder.

“Yes….but if it alright with you, I’d like to sit here with you just a little bit longer.”

Todoroki nodded, letting his head rest against yours.

“Yes, I’d like that.”

[END]

Please leave a comment/reblog if you enjoyed this work. Please support your content creators.

BNHA Taglist: None Todoroki Shoto Taglist: @adelheidvonschicksal @burnedbyshoto (I thought you two might like this fic.)

#queue #Todoroki Shouto #Todoroki Shoto #Reader #Todoroki Shoto x Reader #Todoroki Shouto x Reader #Todoroki Shoto Fanfiction #Todoroki Shouto Fanfiction #MHA #BNHA #My Hero Academia #Boku no Hero Academia #MHA Fanfiction #BNHA Fanfiction #My Hero Academia Fanfiction #Boku no Hero Academia Fanfiction #tw: panic attack #tw: character death

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a-40k-dad-showcase · 4 years ago

Text

AZORIAN FLUFF MASTERPOST

FORGE WORLD AZORIA — Aϱ-LXXXV

Affiliation : Adeptus Mechanicus Geological Radius : 2250 km Surface area : 15,910,000 km² Surface gravity : 7,85 m/s² (0,8g) Population : 9 billion (estimated)

World Classification : ϕ-ϱ-η Alternate Class : Knight World (House Sarrokkæn) Household Grade : Secundus

Tithe Grade : Aptus Non Aggregate : 1,000: Aestimare : B800-C1 Production Grade : IV-Secundi

FOR ALL THOSE WHO APPRECIATE HOMEBREW LORE, HEREUNDER YOU WILL FIND THE ONGOING AZORIAN LORE CuRRENTLY BEING COMPILED INTO A SINGLE POST.

Summary :

Azoria is a Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus located in the Segmentum Tempestus, roughly in the middle of the triangle formed by Bakka, V'Run and Solstice. Rediscovered late M32, Azoria was originally a feudal / knight world rich in materials needed for ship-building. At first ruled by Terra, it has been transfered to Martian control at the end of M33 after the discovery by archeological expeditions of a host of strategically minor STCs. Profoundly altered by the transformation into a Forge World, Azoria's ecosystem has been all but destroyed despite the negotiation of unique conditions for the Adepus Mechanicus' take-over. Although officially run by the Adeptus Mechanicus, Azoria enjoys an unique joint-governance status, with the Fabricator-General overseeing the vast industrial zones, and a Planetary Government overseeing civil affairs. A production tax as a form of planetary-rent allowed the civil government to elevate Azoria as a thriving commercial hub for the sector and beyond.

Azoria's civil government rules over a competent and well-equiped law enforcement force spread within all its hive cities. The Adeptus Mechanicus protects its industrial zones with their legions of Skitarii. In remote plains away from the hives, the Knights of House Sarrokkæn, in vassalage to the Adeptus Mechanicus, keep sovereignty over their historical territories, called “The Wastes” by most hivers. These barren lands are populated by the Free Folk of Azoria, a parallel society living under the feudal rule of House Sarrokkæn.

Azoria is an important planet in the sector in terms of production, commerce and military might. Though the dispersed nature of its governance, and the long and difficult negotiations that lead to this arrangement resulted in the reluctance of both Terra and Mars (and by extension, Segmentum Command) to call upon Azoria for military contributions.

At the beginning of M42, Azoria issued a distress call to Bakka. Sabotage on a massive scale had taken place within the industrial areas and several Hive cities either declared themselves in open rebellion or went dark altogether. If the Skitarii and the Knights of House Sarrokkæn could clear up the industrial areas on their own, pacifying the hives or gaining access to the hives that shut off, proved another task entirely. Under the pressure of the Fabricator-General, who required the return of workers to the production facilities, the civil government had no choice but to make the call.

Transported by Naval Battlegroup Bakka's Fury, several regiments of the newly formed Spectris Cadiae and one detachment of Tempestus Scions were dispatched, alongside a regiment of the Death Korps of Krieg sent by mistake. By the time the Imperial Guard regiments had established their command posts on the desolated Azorian plains between the western border of Sarrokkæn Territory and the outskirts of Hive7, almost 5 months after the initial attacks, a formal enemy still hadn't been identified by the local defense forces.

Without clear guidance, and in the absence of an unified planetary organisation, not to mention, having to manage the expectations of the Death Korps men who were eager to lay waste to the unresponsive Hive Cities, the General Staff of the Spectres of Cadia were at a loss. Engagement-wise, troops on the ground suffered daily, morale-sapping losses during their attempts at pacifying the Hives.

Specialised in hostile environment operations and sent to Azoria under the false assumption that their presence was requested to secure the production facilities, the Spectres of Cadia were ill equipped for their urban pacification mission. They are currently still fighting an uphill battle, though Azoria definitely isn't the worst affectation in these regiments' history warfare.

The Azorian landscape in the Hives region.

The outskirts of an industrial area, weeks after the reclaiming operations lead by the Skitarii.

Early history and governance negotiations :

After being hastily incorporated into the IoM at its rediscovery, Azoria had managed to remain more or less untouched by change for a millenium, until the end of M33, when the Adeptus Mechanicus negotiated with Terra the rights to Azoria, projecting to turn it into a Forge World dedicated to the building of commerce fleets and the manufacturing of the various STCs discovered there.

At the time, Azoria, while still governed by the feudal reign of its Knightly Houses, had elevated its population and technological status to that of the smallest Hive Worlds.

The arrival of the Adeptus Mechanicus wasn’t well received and multiple conflicts ensued. The Knightly Houses of Azoria banded together, lead by House Sarrokkæn and managed, by threatening to destroys the STCs, to force Imperial authorities and the AdMech into fairer negotiations.

Out of which came the following decisions : Azoria wouldn’t become a Forge World as the Adeptus Mechanicus would have made it had they had free rein. Instead, the Adeptus Mechanicus’ implantation would not be allowed to extend over 30% of the total surface of buildable land. However, to circumvent this inconvenience, the AdMech built both deep and high on their alloted territories.

The Knights while accepting the Adeptus’ official leadership, would retain a comfortable amount of sovereignty over the Azorian people.

The civilian planetary government created especially for the newer urban areas - or hives - would also be allowed to evolve naturally, and not fall under the immediate rule of the Fabricator-General. A marginal part of the Forges’ production would also have to be ceded to the Planetary Government, as an exploitation’s tax, allowing Azoria to develop its commerce with nearby worlds.

Over the next centuries, House Sarrokkæn effectively absorbed all smaller houses and became the sole Knightly House left on the planet, ranking in to the higher tier of Grade Secundus with approximatively 300 war machines in its care.

At the dawn of M42, House Sarrokkæn still rules over a portion of the population willingly staying in “the wastes” or the non-urbanised areas found in the vicinity* of the Obsidian Keep, their ancestral homestead.

*(ca. 1.000.000 sq. km surrounded by a few hive cities and an Adeptus Mechanicus production megastructure. The closest hive to the Obsidian Keep is Hive 7)

While the House’s rule might not have changed, the level of comfort and quality of life of all from serfs to masters had tremendously improved, only to be set back by the pollution and the contamination of the planet.

The Wastes are under the jurisdiction of House Sarrokkæn and these lands are protected and policed by the House’s own army, the Milites Gregarii.

Law and order in the urban areas and hives is under the planetary governor’s jurisdication, protected by the Azorian PDF and policed by various local enforcement agencies.

Azorian economy relies on planetary and space mining, ship-building and the manufacturing of unique goods thanks to the retrieved STCs, the commerce of which with nearby worlds plays a tremendous part in Azoria’s economical growth and thus, in maintaining its privileges and independence.

HOUSE SARROKKÆN

Current Full House Crest with the motto “Parva Sub Ingenti”

“The small under the great” ; denoting the duty of protection of not only the people of the Free Territories, but also of their general interest, which has been paramount to House Sarrokkæn for over seven millenia.

Coat of Arms until the end of M33 — though not official anymore, this design is still widely in use.

Coat of Arms M34 onwards

INSERT 1 : “ARMIGER”

With a chilling mechanical wheeze, Ruinstride is clamped down onto the elevating platform. As soon as the giant becomes immobilised, cloaked figures begin scurrying about, as if they appeared out of thin air.

They engage in a ballet danced back and forth between Ruinstride and the various control panels placed on the platform. The Sacristans — responsible for the maintaining of House Sarrokkæn’s war machines — are but shadows moving in the murky, dying light of the Azorian twilight.

From within the piloting post of the Knight, very little of what happens beyond its metal shell can be heard. Not the strong, poisonous winds roaring through the desolate plains, not the noise made by the Milites Gregarii vehicles guarding the area, nor the clanking done by the ground crew at work. The pilot couldn’t hear anything other than the gentle, yet disquieting hum of the Armiger’s active systems, further intensifying the pilot’s feeling of being safely nested into a cocoon. A terrible cocoon of immeasurable might.

Sitting deep into the belly of the beast, Liwa stares at her control monitors. She is now linked to the platform’s security network and flicks through the various video feeds. There is no specific purpose in her actions, she merely passes time, waiting for the Sacristans to finish the preparations for the long ride down.

Suddenly, one of the monitors displays a communication channel opening, showing the spectrogram of the inbound signal.

“Mistress?” inquires the Sacristan supervising the re-entry procedures. —”Ready when you are, operator.” Liwa replies, in haste. The sacristan produces a few vowels trying to begin his sentence. He stops for a second to better verbalize his thoughts with the appropriate deference. —”I’m terribly sorry if I mislead you, Mistress, but I only wished to inform you that departure will be delayed for a little while longer : Battlebound is in sight and will be travelling down with us.”

Liwa smiles for Battlebound is steered by her twin brother Leto. “Understood, operator. —Ruinstride, out.” she replies before tuning into her brother’s vox channel.

With an ever growing smile locked on her face, the young woman takes a moment to prepare her opening remark : “They told me that we had to wait for another passenger on the ride down, but I would have hoped it wouldn’t be a lowlife such as yourself.

Her satisfaction hits a high as she finds the vox’s clics a fitting punctuation for her comment. The answer comes back into the audio feed without delay :

“If I didn’t know you any better, I’d swear you were trying to hurt my feelings.”

Liwa chuckles as she taps into the distant surveillance feed, tracking Battlebound’s whereabouts.

—”Not in my wildest dreams, brother.” she says.

Leto’s Armiger arrives in visual range and soon walks onto the elevating platform, taking place in front of Ruinstride. The restraining mechanism bolts the war machine down and the Sacristans begin a new dance of preparing, checking and organising.

“Anyway, what have you been doing up here today?” she inquired.

—”I’ve been working on my short-range accuracy in the south-eastern ruins” he sighs. “I learned I wasn’t as good as I thought I was because the preceptor had me retake the drills over and over again. Truthfully, this was a bit of a painful day for me.” he concludes, a hint of frustration still stuck in his throat.

“But anyway, what about you?”

—”I simply went out for a long stroll. I needed a moment alone with Ruinstride, I feel like I need to focus on my synchronisation with the machine-spirit”

The voxcaster’s incoming transmission click interrupts their chit-chat :

“Mistress, Master, we are ready to depart. Today’s descent duration will approximate 30 minutes. Your respective maintenance crews have been notified and are ready for your arrival. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride. —Operator out.”

As the voxcaster clicks signal the end of the transmission, a faint rumble can be heard from within the metal carapaces that begin to vibrate.

The young pilots experience the shivering of the platform as it begins its journey downwards. Soon they disappear into darkness, swallowed by the seemingly endless vertical tunnels running deep beneath the surface of the Wastes.

Where those lead, very few surface-dweller actually know.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE I

PRINCEPS NEFO III SARROKKÆN

High-Monarchs of House Sarrokkæn are destined to pilot the infamous “Sovereign Fury” a Dominus-pattern Knight Suit of incredibly domineering nature. Sitting at the helm of Sovereign Fury is extremely demanding as the Machine Spirit has developped a hatred of weak-minded or less-than-stellar pilots.

However, with proper tutoring, it is possible for most pilots to learn how to stay in the good graces of their steed’s Machine Spirit, for a time. Although, when the first weaknesses of age make their appearance, the Machine Spirit will invariably begin to rebel and cause glitches and malfunctions. When this happens, it signifies that it requires a new pilot, one still in his or her prime.

Upon receiving confirmation of the Machine Spirit’s desires by the sacristans, the ruling Princeps will hold an abdication ceremony and his heir apparent (or pressumtive) will be crowned Princeps of House Sarrokkæn in his or her stead.

Usually, it doesn’t end the former Princeps’ piloting career, as he or she will usually join the ranks of the precepts of House Sarrokkæn (or choose another role if they so desire).

If a High Monarch decides to ignore the signs however, Sovereign Fury’s malfunctions will become more frequent, and more serious. If the Monarch persists and refuses to abdicate and pass on the suit to their heir, the Machine Spirit will take hold of its pilot’s mind and seriously compromise their sanity, with impairments as varied as apathy, amnesia, catatonia, dementia, coma and even, death.

Therefore, the reign of a Monarch of House Sarrokkæn is expected to end somewhere between his mid 50ies and mid 60ies. To ensure that Princeps are mature enough for their duties, if the heir to the throne is less than 25 years of age on his or her coronation day, the household is placed under regency, elected by the previous Monarch and their High Court.

Nefo II Sarrokkæn, father of the current Princeps managed to hold the reins of Sovereign Fury into his early 70ies before the first signs of the Machine Spirit’s discontentment appeared. This is definitely a rarity within the household’s long recorded history of High Monarchs.

FORMER PRINCEPS : NEFO-THE-ELDER

INSERT 2 : “Reins of Fury”

Blood pounding under the temples, the Princeps’ limbs twitched as his steed murmured directly into his mind. Not in words, but rather in a slow, continuous and menacing hum, an unnerving cybernetic growl of which he somehow could make sense.

RELEASE. ME. NOW.

The lift carrying his lance to the eastern borders of Sarrokkæn territory still was a good ten minutes away from its destination.

MAKE. US. KILL. RELEASE. THE. FURY.

Nefo tried to concentrate on his breathing, to let go of the tension in his body. His head tilted forwards has he tried to relax his tense neck. As much as he tried, he couldn’t get rid of the stiffness between his shoulder blades. An unpleasant sense of unease began to grow within his guts. Those remaining minutes promised to feel excruciatingly long.

I. AM. FIRE

The Princeps spoke softly to himself within the silence of his Knight Valiant’s cockpit. “Inhale. Hold. Exhale.” He tried to distanciate his conscious mind from the overwhelming will of the Valiant’s Machine Spirit.

I. AM. FURY.

“Just two more minutes. Just two. Two short minutes” Nefo said, those words intended as a way to keep himself focused rather than meant as an answer to the machine-voices gushing into his brain.

I. AM. SOVEREIGN.

Energy discharges started flowing from the Throne Mechanicum’s electroencephalic connectors into the Princep’s brain. A chorus of unintelligible voices faded in, seemingly creeping out from the back of his mind.

YOU. WILL. BRING. ME. TO. OUR. ENEMIES.

His Knight was unrelenting but the newly appeared chorus had become gradually clearer. Amidst their whispers, Nefo heard ghostly yet familiar voices softly speaking in unisson.

“Tune Him out”

-I know, I know! Nefo replied in the apparent loneliness of his cockpit. WE. SHALL. INCINERATE.

He is angrier than usual. WE. SHALL. OBLITERATE.

Many individual voices talked over each other for a short moment but Nefo managed to make out a few sentences out of the ghostly chaos : “You call that angry?” “You haven’t seen angry, lad.” “I’d call that eager, at most?” Nefo could swear he also heard some manic laughter in the background. Probably the ghosts of the pilots turned mad by the machine spirit, or those responsible for the machine’s spirit ill temper, depending on which part of the family lore one is enclined to believe.

“Focus on me now.” said the voice of his grandfather, who had also been his preceptor when he was but a squire in waiting of his becoming ritual.

“Tune Him out.” the spectral voice repeated.

INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE.

Nefo weakly grabbed the motion-control sticks and exhaled loudly.

“We’ve done this countless of times.”

added the memory imprint belonging to his father.

-I know.

INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE.

Nefo closed his eyes and consciously slowed down his breathing. From within his own mentalscape, he pictured a door opening. The door was so small, it could hardly let an insect through. The door flung open and brought a light into the darkness of his mind. He pictured channeling everything the Throne was feeding him through that narrow passage. As he focused on this point within his mind, the overhelming input of Sovereign Fury’s Machin Spirit trying to dominate Nefo’s brain was being slowly filtered out.

INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCIRATE. OBLIRATE. INRTE. OBLTRTE.

He kept his eyes closed and his mind focused on the bright dot within until the knight’s voice became but a constant hum.

INSSSS. BLLLL. IUHMMMM. BHMMMMM. MMMMM.

It is done. He is within me. I feel his needs, his desires. I will heed them, feed them : we will incinerate, we will obliterate, but it is I who holds the reigns of our Sovereign Fury once more.

The Sarrokkæn Family Branches

Each branch is lead by a Baron (or Baroness) Prime who is also part of the Princep's Exalted Court. Traditionally, the role of a Baron(ess) Prime received in court stays within the same branch. Some changes may occur, but some roles are inherently linked to certain families, for instance, the role of Forgemaster has been within the Highgate branch since time immemorial, while the Princeps of House Sarrokkæn has been stemming from Deepgarden for at least 6 millenia.

Deepgarden (Baroness Prime Gesunna, Lady of Deepgarden — Mistress of Justice)

Dimwall (Baron Prime Rikken, Lord of Dimwall — Broadhailer)

Downspire (Baron Prime Nidar, Lord of Downspire — Master Tactician)

Highgate (Baron Prime Weralt, Lord of Highgate — Forgemaster)

Tornash (Baron Prime Agleizo, Lord of Tornash — Loremaster)

Outwark* (Baron Prime Hagus, Lord of Outwark — Gatekeeper)

*The Knights of Outwark are currently on deploiment off-world, fighting wars for the Imperium, bringing glory to themselves and to House Sarrokkæn.

Breakdown of Sarrokkæn Knight numbers by pattern.

There are roughly 300 full-fledged Knights within the household, making it a high-tier Secundus-grade house. In these numbers, the smaller Armiger chassis reserved for Squires and Vindices (veteran/retired milites employed as bodyguards) are not counted. They amount for roughly an additional hundred war machines.

Traces of House Sarrokkæn history can be found in its organisation. Azoria originally counted several Knightly Houses of which The Sarrokkæn were the most influential. This influence ultimately lead to their absorbing the other smaller houses.

This was done through an alliance which fought for a better treatment by the newly-arrived planetary ruler, the Adeptus Mechanicus. Arrangements and compromises were made between the houses, among which was the construction of a fortress-city and the abandonment of all previous titles in favour of a “branch-name” to honour the memory of incorporated Households.

The names of the original noble families never were passed down in records. If they were through oral tradition, these names never were uttered again. Similarily, which branch had stemmed from the first Sarrokkæns was never disclosed.

There are however hints, that can, if not point to the right branch, at least help winnow the branches to a few plausible candidates.

One of these hints lies in the repartition of Knights through the branches. Open-records state that after the Communion of the Houses, the Warmachines were more fairly distributed among the branches. But if the rearrangement was made to be fairer, it wasn’t done equitably in the strictest sense of the term.

Some postulate that the repartition might be indication of a particular House’s original strength and influence over Azoria’s pre-Adeptus Mechanicus past. If the theory seems to hold water, there is actually no way of knowing if the Sarrokkæn, first of their name, hadn’t forseen this eventuality and chosen to forsake their former strength in an effort to make the past harder to decipher for further-away generations.

Hereunder you will find a breakdown of the Knights of House Sarrokkæn by family-branch and chasis type (including additional Armiger counts for the sake of thoroughness). It is important to note that House Sarrokkæn also possess three Acastus suits (two Porphyrion and one Asterius) which are kept deep within The Obsidian Keep's vaults. These suits are not assigned to any particular branch of the Sarrokkæn House and do not have designated pilots. The Acastus suits are considered a collective heirloom and would only be fielded under the most dire of situations.

Deepgarden (branch of Princeps Nefo and Mistress of Justice Gesunna) Questoris-Pattern : 62 Dominus-Pattern : 8 Cerastus-Pattern : 5 Armiger-Pattern : 36 Total : 75 (+36)

Dimwall (Baron Prime Rikken, Lord of Dimwall — Broadhailer) Questoris-Pattern : 26 Dominus-Pattern : 4 Cerastus-Pattern : 2 Armiger-Pattern : 16 Total : 32(+16)

Downspire (Baron Prime Nidar, Lord of Downspire — Master Tactician) Questoris-Pattern : 44 Dominus-Pattern : 6 Cerastus-Pattern : 0 Armiger-Pattern : 26 Total : 50(+26)

Highgate (Baron Prime Weralt, Lord of Highgate — Forgemaster) Questoris-Pattern : 57 Dominus-Pattern : 8 Cerastus-Pattern : 6 Armiger-Pattern : 32 Total : 71 (+32)

Tornash (Baron Prime Agleizo, Lord of Tornash — Loremaster) Questoris-Pattern : 38 Dominus-Pattern : 4 Cerastus-Pattern : 0 Armiger-Pattern : 24 Total : 42 (+24)

Outwark* (Baron Prime Hagus, Lord of Outwark — Gatekeeper) Questoris-Pattern : 32 Dominus-Pattern : 3 Cerastus-Pattern : 0 Armiger-Pattern : 16 Total : 35 (+16)

This breakdown shows that the Highgate and Deepgarden branches both hold the largest pools of Knight armours while the Outwark and Dimwall branches currently hold the smallest amount of Knights.

It is however hard to come to definitive conclusions as historically, the Knights of Highgate have been affected to the protection of the Principality and the Free Territories, as the Highgate branch can be traced to the families most invested in the design and construction of the Obsidian Keep and its subterranean network of tunnels and caves know as The Burrows.

As for Deepgarden, it is the branch of the current Princeps and a fluctuation of the number of Knights into the service of the ruling branch is a known phenomenon.

Moreover, the recent records of each branch show a slower, natural fluctuation of their strength according to inter-branch betrothal, births, number of members actually being knighted, etc.

#azorian fluff masterpost #azoria #house sarrokkæn #40k #fluff #warhammer 40k #homebrew

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Green Eggs and Ham: “Train” Review or A Little Better Now (Patreon Review for Emma Fici)

Hello you happy people and all aboard! We’re back on the Green Eggs and Ham Train for a Train themed episode. Train. As you can tell I like trains... admitely I don’t see enough episodes et on them and I don’t buy books or obess on them but I like the idea of a train, the comfort, the use of a mode of travel that was once common but is now simply used on occasion with the dawn of air travel, and it confining our heroes to a smaller space with limited room to move. it’s good stuff. I even tolerae the band train... I mean yes their music is okay at best, but the lyrics.. are wonderfully delightfully insane. Who else would use a garbage bag as a genuine romantic metaphor?

When last we left off things ere a bit ehhhhhhhhhhh: Sam went from delightfully quirky with some issues ot adress to annoying, and Michelle went from kin dof a bitch ot ENTIRELY THAT BITCH. Outside of Guy’s mental breakdown/heatstroke episode involving hallucinations of green eggs and ham, yes that did in fact happen, it wasn’t much to write home about and I worried the series simply had a good PILOT but the series itself wasn’t going to be fun sit through.

If I was right or I was rilla.. will have to wait till after the cut. But first as always i’d like to thank the person who payed for this episode Emma Fici. Emma is one of my closest friends and one of two patreon patreons. If you’d like a reivew of your choice eveyr month guarnateed, then please hop over to patreon.com/popculturebuffet and back me at the 5 dollar level. You also get access to my exclusive discord where I ocasoinally post about work in progress stuff and tlak to my falns, to pick a short any time I do one and EXCLUSIVE review, as well as helping me hit my stretch goals. So line up, sign up then join me under the cut.

So we pick up where we left off with Guy hurtling into a lake. Eh I dunno i’ve heard being naked ina lake is pretty neat.

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All you’d have to do is take off the hat and your there. But Sam saves him wiht the weird train of hats he put at the end of the car for some reason, and our heroes are saved.. but down a vehicle. Oh and Sam’s vehiclular neglgence costs a bunch of fish their home.

And our heroes are without a car and Guys at the end of his rope with Sam.. I mean granted he’s been there since he met the guy but it’s down to like the tiniest thred, not helped by Sam casually stealing his wallet to pay for train tickets depsite Guy , UNDERSTANDABLY, not wanting to hang out with the guy who has stolen with him, gotten him implicate din animal trafficing and dosen’t really respect personal space. Also it’s taken me embarassingly long to remember Micheal Douglas played my boy Hank Pym in the Ant Man and the Wasp films. Seroiusly I don’t know HOW I forgot that, him being aged up and thus unable to do ANY of the things he is constnatly denied credit for in canon (Founding the avengers, being the first ant man.. and the first goliath and the first yellow jacket and the first giant man.. and the only doctor pym...).. but instead the film kept his troubled nature and ego, but removed the domestic abuse (which is something I will not go into but needless to say the comics version went above and beyond to try and make up for that and redeem himself soley because it was the right hting to do) and by making im older still gav ehim a roll as Scott’s mentor. What i’m getting at is I freaking love Hank Pym and I could’ve been making hank pym jokes for several episdoes now. That’s a mistake I itned to recitfy.. right away as Guy looses his suitcase as a result of it and whie he lcaims not to be bothered his voice says otherwise. Eh i’m sure the world can wait for ultron Guy.

So anyway, Guy reluctantly agrees to the train travel idea and being parked across from Sam on the grounds he has no real other options. Meanwhile the BAD GUYZ.. and i’ve also decided to drop spoilers as the series is two years old, most people reading this have probably seen the series, and it makes analysis rough when I have to dance around spoilers. So yeah the BAD GUYZ aren’t villians.. kind of a dickhead on the blue guys part, but not EVIL. They figure out their going by train it’s a whole thing.

ON the train we run into michelle again...

Yeahhh for the first half she’s as inusfferable as she was the last two episodes and it lead me to believie the rest of the series was going to be constant suffering as she’d be in every episode, likely because they DID get Diane Keaton for this and you don’t waste Diane Keaton. You just don’t. But while they got their money’s worth in having her on screne wise they just..w asted her for the first 2 and a half episodes: Michelle is a judgemental, unpleasnt suffocating bitch and it’s going to take a lot , even if this episode helped, to make me truly like her as a person.

Case in point her first two scenes this episode are just.. dragging her daughter past a play place uncarring about her feelings because while I DO get she cares about her child’s saftey and is terrified afte rloosing her husband.. it dosen’t EXCUSE her actions. It dosen’t forgive her locking her daughter up constanlty, not talking to her like a human being and oh yeah PUTTING A FUCKING LOCK ON HER SHE CAN CONTROL. I mean my god I don’t think they INTENDED for her to come off as abusive as she does, and i’ve seen far worse inteitonally and untietionally, but it’s still not remotely plesant. There is a larger issue baked into that the episode brings about, but we’ll get to that.

And naturally at breakfast.. she procedes to top herself. ONCE AGAIN she treats guy like trash as guy UNDERSTANDABLY didn’t want to talk to her after her previous layers of bullshit which, just as a refresher, involved insulting his invention constnatly (even if it turned out ot be dangerous she did not know that till the last second) then refusing to help a man BAKING in the desert and mocking him to his face.

So yeah unsuprisingly instead of you know, APOLOGIZING for that episode or anything else she mocks him again and calls him sad. I just.. I get they were trying to have her come off as a jerk and then slowly develop.. but you can’t overdue the jerk part. It has to be juts the right amount and if it is this much there has to be a commpuance. There is none as far as I can tell because god is a spiteful two faced prick.

So naturally Sam forces the two parties together, and orders green eggs and ham for everyone, except guy who refuses. We do get a really great bit though as EB turns down the idea and we get a tremendous rant from Micheal Douglas as he talks about how a girl in his clash, veyr likely just him, got a rash from tring new things and you shouldn’t and to watch out for the scarlet beetle he’ll steel your ants and try to conquer your planet and is not a guy in a costume but in fact an actual beetle. EB naturally tries it.

We get a brief interlude with Snerz that’s funny enough: he outright calls his visotrs flunkies, they enter to the song money, and his minon throws dollar bills at their feet. I imagine this is what visitng Mar a Largo is like. They turn up his noses until he mentions getting a chickarffe for his animal crutelty wall. And i’m torn about Snerz. On one hand he can be generally entertaining in his dickery.. but ont he other I do question why he’s in EVERY episode. We don’t NEED him in eveyr one and I feel he’s only in them because Eddie Izzard was expensive so they had to get him as a regular to justify the cost. We really DONT’ need this scene funny as it is and it adds nothing so far. Maybe i’m wrong and these guys end up being important. I don’t know.

So yeah so far this episode was miserable getting through and I expected it to be another long sit... I was wrong. The second half.. is really damn good and reminded me why I liked this series so much. No really. We get two stories,both really good following one half of each pair teaming up. As for why their split Guy is annoyed with Sam, as well as dosen’t want him letting the chickaraffe out because you know lots of people dosen’t want ot go to jail and leaves to find a quiet place to work on watching paint dry while Michelle tucks a sleeping EB in, her first really truly humanizing moment, which should NOT have taken three episodes but hey, i’ll take it, and goes to find the same.

So starting with Sam and EB, naturally Sam takes all of a minute to let his buddy out and it gets loose on top of the train. EB hears the familiar sound and gives chase and the two meet properly. After Sam covers for his buddy and realizes the creature is asleep in his car safe now, he properly talks to EB and we get a truly magical sequnece: The two talk with Sam whoelheartdly supporting her free spirit and finally giving the girl what she badly needed: someone who treated her not as something to be tied down but you know.. a child who just wants some expression and as she literally lets her hair down, It’s truly adorable and it just has a magical quanitity as they enjoy the beautiful view from the train top.

Granted this takes at urn later when EB brings up her mom, and Sam.. supports her mom, pointing out she’s just looking out for her.. which she is but in a deeply unehalthy way and I don’t like the show just.. brushing over Michelle’s terrible actions because “she’s her mom”. But it’s also hard to tell if they are: Sam’s mom left him as we’ll find out, so he likely colors his memories of her rosey and simply envys EB still HAVING hers. It’s not BAD stuff but I don’t like a work saying “You should love your family just beacause your related”. Instead of because they lovea nd support you and if they dont’ love you or treat you remotely well or don’t give an ass about you fuck them. Thankfully I DO love my family and have no issues with them, my immediate family at least, but i’ve had friens with downright abusive or neglectful parents. It’s not that black and white. Ducktales also hammered in the family theme but was transparent in how it can me messy, harm each other and that it took true love and consideratoin for it to work at it’s core.

It’s still not a terrible scene and what comes next is neat as earlier it was shown the train has loops, because Seussworld, and now that’s a problem because their on top of it. Michelle’s jail braclet thing ends up coming in handy the first loop, as while she can’t unstick it means she and sam can suririvie it. They do get it loose, turns out the password was indeed password, because of course, and they end up narrowly suriving a roller coaster bit of track, with the help of MR. Jenkins who I can finally name because EB names her in the next scene. Understanding her need for a pet, Sam deputizes her, and gets her back in bed in time for the next plot.

Speaking of which winding back a bit as these two go back and forth, Guy goes through two rather hilarious cars: First a bath car that has a bubsby berkely style water number and then a model train car.. with the train on the track showing guy watching guy watchin gthe train etc.

It’s great. Guy ends up finding the quiet car.. and Michelle. And in her first scene of acting like a human being and not if julie powers was a soccer mom, Michelle, while standosfish as usual, not only unites with guy to shush a loud guy in the car, but is genuinely apricative when Guy helps her get her place back, she was doing some literal bean counting.

The two genuinely hit it off, first with some adorable silent bits and then by talking, with Michelle appreciating his now safer job and warming up to him. Keaton and Douglas have GENUINE chemestry and it annoys me itt took the series this long to use that instead of wasting Diane Keaton on being

It’s really great stuff and i’m actually rooting for the two.. once she gets her shit together obviously. Guy does make the mistake of lying abotu knowing about the chikcaraffe.

This ends up being bad as he finds out EB knows the next day and after she leaves the car RIGHTFULLY tears the fuck into same for getting him accused of crime, stealing from him and now puttin ghim in a precarious situation. While Guy DID lie, he idd so well meaningly and trying to impress someone whose ineherntly judgmeental. Douglas also does REALY well in the scene, calling sam out but it dosen’t feel cruel.. it’s justified. While guy is miserable and does need to work on himself.. Sam also needs to work on himself and is putting guy in serious danger just by forcing him into his animal smuggling scheme.

So Guy leaves.. and naturally given the unvierse hate shim runs into the BAD GUYZ, who aren’t much better. No really they refuse to belieive guy might be innocent, use excessive force on everyone. They have better GOALS than sam but I woudln’t really call them good people. Smash to black and we’re out.

Final Thoughts: This one was better. As I said the first half or rather third drags slightly but once we get to the two seperate plotlines it’s REALLY damn good stuff and reminded me what the series was capable of in character in creativity. Hopefully it keeps this up

Next Time on the Blog: We return to mewni for the penultimate chapter of season 3 as Moon and Eclipsa have some fundemtnal disgareemnts on how to handle Meteora that wind up costing both dearly.

See you at the next rainbow

#green eggs and ham #guy am I #sam I am #dr seuss #netflix #animation #patreon

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itsclydebitches · 5 years ago

Text

Welcome back, everyone!

A quick note before we begin: after the previous recap a couple of lovely friends and anons explained to me some discrepancies in my work, mainly about how Fox's semblance functions and how much info we’ve gotten on that previously. They're worth a read if (like me) you haven't read After the Fall and would like a more accurate picture of this whole project. However, I have to admit that sadly past!me didn’t think through the usefulness of those posts and tag them appropriately... so they’re just somewhere in the mess that is the “rwby” and “mymetas” tags. Still, I wanted to acknowledge their existence, both for your potential use and as another disclaimer along the lines of, “I’m reading what amounts to a sequel and recapping as I go. Prepare for a bumpy ride.”

We're on chapter five now (of twenty-two! Holy god I’m slow!!) and truth be told I actually enjoyed this opening. We're in Yatsuhashi's head this time around and he's likewise enjoying Vacuo's Meeting Spot, an "artificial oasis" that reminds him of his mother's healing gardens. I wonder what "healing" means in this particular context. A generalized benefit to your body, mind, and spirit in the form of meditation? Or a more literal, magic-based healing with its roots in aura use? In a world with RWBY's possibilities, a healing garden that someone like Ozpin might run—let's take time to settle ourselves and reflect—vs. one that someone like Jaune would create—let me use my semblance to literally heal your wounds—are rather different things. I'd be interested to know which category (or another) Yatsuhashi's mother falls under.

Regardless, it's a satisfyingly quiet scene. Yatsuhashi comments on both the beauty of the oasis as well as how that beauty, in turn, raises the desert in his eyes. Nothing like not having to deal with a hard landscape to make that landscape seem more bearable, alluring even, and this moment managed to capture that feeling rather well. The only downside is that, in a recurring theme, I once again got whiplash upon realizing that Yatsuhashi is not standing alone in the peace of the early morning, like the description had led me to believe. Apparently Velvet is there. As well as the whole freaking student body! Myers* has this strange habit of writing one kind of scene only to suddenly reveal that the scene is actually radically different from what his writing had encouraged you to imagine. Yatsuhashi is going on about healing, natural beauty, and the peace of an early morning. What's peaceful about dozens of students speculating beside him? Have you ever met a school of sleep deprived young adults dealing with a surprise announcement before breakfast? That’s as far from peaceful as humanly possible.

Mood, kid.

(*Also yes, we're working to write Myers' name correctly this chapter. If I'm going to drag his work so much the least I can do is not add an additional 'e' to his name lol.)

Along with the entirety of Shade Academy to break the peace, Yatsuhashi tells us about dromedons and mole crabs. The former, according to the wiki, is a "camel-like Grimm that can spit acidic venom" and also sports an armored hump. Fun! The latter, according to Yatsuhashi, is a "horrifying" creature that "slept just below the sand and could cut a person in two with their massive claws." And they're the normal, non-grimm animals! Screw Salem. Humanity needs huntsmen just to keep people safe from the everyday wildlife. Crabs cut people in two, Zwei is capable of being set on fire and launched at a mech... it's a miracle that anyone ever steps outside their home.

I do write this with full knowledge that Australia exists, but still.

As Yatsuhashi moves away from thoughts of killer crabs, we begin what is easily the strangest bit of repetition this chapter. Yatsuhashi's shoulder is sore from having tried to break down the hideout door and I'm going, "Wait no, you used your sword” and frantically flipping back through my PDF. To Myers' credit, there is a detail that suggests Yatsuhashi uh... rammed the door? I think? Last chapter he "Stepped forward and Fox heard him grunt with exertion." That's the only thing I can think of that would explain his shoulder unexpectedly being sore hours later: if he'd charged it instead of doing something insane like, oh, I don't know, trying the doorknob first. Odd choice of continuity, but okay. What's super weird though is that Myers repeats the detail again:

Yatsuhashi crossed his arms, then grimaced as a fresh pain shot through his shoulder. Come on, Aura, he thought. Do your thing.

I'm sorry, how badly did you hurt your shoulder? Why does a supposedly intelligent student immediately resort to what is apparently somewhat serious self-harm when faced with a closed door? Why is Myers choosing this of all things to tell us about? Is this incredibly random shoulder injury going to hinder Yatsuhashi during the test? Spoilers: I don't think it does considering that I searched for "shoulder" in my PDF and there's just a lot of hands on shoulders coming up, but nothing that, at first glance, seems to make this kind of set up necessary. So I say again: weird.

Meanwhile, weirdness doesn’t even acknowledge the continued inconsistencies with aura. Jaune heals a cut on his cheek instantaneously, but hours later Yatsuhashi needs to gripe at his aura to hop-to already? So either Jaune’s aura is far more powerful than the average person’s (never established outside of Pyrrha’s “You have a lot of it” comment), or Yatsuhashi really hurt his shoulder that badly. Hard enough that with the rest of the night and early morning to heal him, his aura is still working overtime.

Alrighty then.

So the whole student body is just kind of hanging out, striking up casual conversations. Velvet asks how Yatsuhashi is doing and he says he's fine, "Thanks to you." Wait... what did Velvet do? I mean yeah, she was there last night and she's here now, but so is the rest of the team. I don't really recall her helping Yatsuhashi in any specific way. As is the norm now, I remain mildly, endlessly confused by this novel.

But we don’t have time to delve into the gratitude attached to events I’m not actually sure happened. There’s more chit chat going on as everyone tries to figure out why they've been summoned so early in the morning. "It's not always about us," Velvet says and I nod along in agreement even though I know, as a reader, that it's absolutely about them. "As I'm often reminding Coco."

Coco fires back with how it "could be about us," noting that it would be pretty coincidental if something else was going on right now, plus Rumpole may have realized they were out last night. (Remember, Yatsuhashi wasn't subtle about trying to break down that door). This is one of those moments where I agree wholeheartedly with Coco's logic, but kind of hate to encourage the 'It's all about us' attitude. Velvet might be smiling, but as previously established this is an ongoing theme within RWBY's characterization that it could really stand to do without.

Yatsuhashi then offers some "unsolicited advice" about how Rumpole could afford to slow down some and "let things come at their own pace," to which I respond, "Huh?" Where in the world did this come from? Previously the whole group—including Yatsuhashi, considering he didn't speak out against it—was concerned that Rumpole wasn't doing enough to track down the Crown. That is, do more, move faster, get it done already. You haven’t gotten it done? Okay, we’ll do it instead. Now he's providing this subtle criticism in response to a meeting, as if that's an inherently odd or bad thing for a headmistress to do. You want the woman to do extra work faster but slow down when it comes to her actual job?

It reads to me like Myers is trying to put a lot of wise-sounding dialogue into Yatsuhashi's mouth—you know, the Asian character who keeps bringing up things like meditation and mindfulness—but hasn't bothered to think about whether that dialogue makes any sense. Of course, we then immediately backtrack to reveal that his comment was really about Coco not pushing the team too hard, but... that's not what he said? And Coco clearly didn't get the message. And the hidden meaning of the words didn't come across too well if your reader is squinting at what was said until the author has to straight up go, 'This is what Yatsuhashi actually meant.' Maybe just... have him say that? Give us some significant looks towards Coco, at the very least. Something to clue us in here that Yatsuhashi is (weirdly) blaming Rumpole for Coco's flaw.

Then he just ruins the whole scene further by mentally commenting that if all this extra work was hard on them, "what would it do to SSSN?" Ugh, look. I don't even like SSSN very much. I didn't shed a tear when they left the main series and would shrug if they ever came back, so you know the story is ragging on them too much when I'm standing up for the group at the bottom of my Character Adoration list. The duality of 'SSSN is so incompetent I don't even know how they're alive' and 'That, in comparison, makes us the best team ever' got old forty pages ago, yet I have the distinct feeling it won't be letting up any time soon.

Headmaster Theodore finally arrives to break up this thrilling conversation and the students erupt into thunderous applause. "It was what [he] expected. It was what he inspired whenever he appeared." That... is absolutely hilarious. This guy is so much of a showman, so insanely over the top, that he expects people to treat his everyday appearance as a spectacle worthy of praise and they agree. You know who he reminds me of?

The king himself, Alex Louis Armstrong. I'm digging this already. It's absurd and I will forever question RWBY's ability to balance comedy with its darker tones... but I'm counting this one as a win so far. There's got to be something to praise about this book.

Just as important, we get a description of Theodore's positively insane outfit. I immediately googled to see if someone had drawn him and the fandom did not disappoint. I'm not going to include the image here in case the artist, Edisu, doesn't want their work reposted like that, but I highly recommend you check out the link and get a visual.

The only thing left to say about this fashion monstrosity is that he has a "flowing gray-blue cape, the color of a stormy sky." I'll let our favorite textile engineer make my point for me:

Honestly, between Ruby's cape and Weiss' hair someone is going to end up in trouble one of these days.

In this world free of horrific cape tragedies, we've segued into a flashback which is, frankly, kind of boring compared to the others we’ve gotten. It's just the group meeting Theodore, information and characterization that could have easily been distributed to the audience in the present. It's starting to feel like the structure of including a flashback each chapter is hindering Myers somewhat, just because every chapter doesn’t necessarily need one, but that’s far from the biggest issue to tackle.

We learn that Theodore (really Rumpole) did a bunch of research on all the students involved in the Vytal Festival and they're very pleased that Team CFVY has joined them now, despite the horrific circumstances. We again hear about how judgmental Coco can be, that her judgements are rarely wrong... but if they are wrong she's the last to admit it. So really that's less of a 'This character has good instincts about other people' and more 'This character is just, as said, judgmental and then stubborn about it when she’s wrong.' Theodore, however, seems like a cool dude:

“Ah, she speaks!” Theodore strode toward Velvet. His voice softened. “You didn’t fail, my dear. You fought. You stayed, far longer than anyone would have asked or expected of a student. And now you’re here. Do you want to be here? Will you fight for Shade the way you did for Beacon, Velvet Scarlatina?”

This is great. This is the kind of reassurance I would expect from a headmaster who, thus far, has received a fair amount of praise. Unlike his students, Theodore understands the risks Beacon students took and when it was time for them to make a life-saving retreat. He's inspiring while also being empathetic and honestly? That's the most I've had that 'You're a good person' sense from RWBY in a very long time.

Now watch Theodore turn out to be evil lol.

He cuts the tension of the serious conversation by proclaiming that if any of them doubt whether they should be here, they should take it up with him via a fight. Theodore announces this while striking a pose. I say again:

We then get some more reflection on how Theodore compares to Ozpin:

Ozpin had believed in you before you did, almost like he knew your true potential, despite what your transcripts or fighting abilities looked like. Theodore believed you had potential, but you had to earn it and prove yourself to him first.

I agree with that and I'm pleased to see that this time the comparison didn't involve criticizing Ozpin in an effort to build Theodore up. It’s likewise a useful description and I think it provides us with at least one interpretation of why the RWBYJNR group has discarded Ozpin so thoroughly. The addition "despite what your transcripts or fighting abilities looked like" implies that Ozpin sees potential in everyone. It doesn't matter how presumably flawed you might be—in physical strength, like Jaune; in morals, like Lionheart— Ozpin will see the good in you and give that good a fighting chance. That's why he's the one tasked with doing something as crazy as uniting the whole world because he's the one person capable of seeing that potential in literally everyone. That much is true. But the flipside of this is that, unlike when in interacting with someone like Theodore, no one expects to have to work for Ozpin's faith, his praise... his trust. With Theodore you have to "earn" the respect he gives you right from the start. With Ozpin it's free! So surely that means such faith extends to every possible situation, right?

Which is when you run into trouble. When the situation is no longer "I'll give you a chance in my school" but something much more serious like "I'm risking the whole world on your character." Ozpin is an optimist, but he's also cautious as hell (with good reason), so though he sees the potential in everyone he knows he can't let his own hope for humanity blind him to reality. That person might betray you. They might turn on you. They might give up and hurt you in the process... even if you want to believe that people are simply better than that. Wanting doesn’t make it so.

If someone who had as little interaction with Ozpin as Team CFVY did nevertheless developed such a strong sense of, "Yeah, he believes in everyone!" then it seems likely that Team RWBY, already sporting a special connection with him, thought they were shoe-ins for every possible secret and task they might ask of him. Their time at Beacon was defined largely by both intentional favoritism and coincidences that could arguably be read as such. Ruby gets to go to Beacon two years early. She gets to be team leader. The sisters stay together despite teams supposedly being random. Team RWBY goes on missions not meant for first years. Team RWBY is given a nudge-nudge-wink-wink about The White Fang so that they can do what they’re able to help. Team RWBY was friends with Pyrrha, next in line for the Maiden powers. They got used to Ozpin simultaneously solving all the real problems that showed up and letting them play at being important, all while the rest of the school had to follow normal rules. They’re special. But then Beacon falls, the game is over, and they're blindsided by having to earn trust and privileges in the real world. Playing at huntresses in the safety of your headmaster’s school is over and Ruby in particular never got that there was a massive difference between that and a real war where the fate of the world hangs on your trustworthiness and ability to keep it together. It’s why she announces to the Argus guards that she is a huntress while attacking the people she’s meant to protect.

Which would be a fantastic arc to give them if the show ever had someone sit the group down and tell them how childish and selfish they're being. Instead, they're still being handed that trust and privilege—you can go into Atlas despite stealing from the military, you get your licenses years early, you get to carry an incalculably valuable relic around—while likewise still getting mad that the adults around them don't give them more. This comparison here, though realistically just a throwaway passage in a novel rather iffily connected to its original series, starts to highlight the excellent situation RT set up... and then didn't do anything with.

But I've gone on about this long enough. There are just two other things I'd like to point out about this flashback. The first is that it may help us get a handle on Ozpin's age (if we're willing to accept these books as canon, despite their other inconsistencies). Earlier we're told that "Headmaster Theodore’s whole style should have been ridiculous for a man likely in his forties, maybe older" and here, in describing their different approaches, we get "Headmaster Ozpin, who had been younger but seemed much older." So that could potentially put Ozpin his his late 30s if he's noticeably younger than Theodore in his 40s. Or, in his 40s if the "maybe older" part is right and Theodore is in his 50s. I can’t imagine that Theodore is in his 60s. Not much to go on, admittedly, but I'll take whatever I can get. The interesting thing is that if Ozpin really is that young and Qrow is now (presumably) in his early 40s, wouldn't that have made them basically the same age during his Beacon days? Perhaps even giving us an Ozpin who was younger than his oldest students? I don't know. It's really less of a definitive piece of information and more messy speculation to add to the pile—which is par the course for RWBY nowadays.

The second detail I wanted to point out was that despite all their supposed differences, Headmaster Theodore and Professor Rumpole have a very Ozpin-Glynda relationship going on. For all the cosmetic changes it boils down to the same dynamic. Both headmasters are powerful, quirky men who at first glance appear to be rather useless at their jobs, requiring the confident headmistress to swoop in and manage the daily running of a school. Those two do the heavy lifting while their bosses work wonders from behind the scenes (a la The Wizard). When I read Rumpole chastising Theodore for claiming he investigated the students, or when she reminds him that there isn't time to have an impromptu duel with his students, I couldn't help but think about Glynda reluctantly letting Ozpin invite Ruby to Beacon early, or cleaning up the cafeteria while he shrugs off the mess. To be clear, I don't necessarily mean this as a criticism, just an observation. In truth I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it adds to the overall sense that Shade is just Beacon with a slightly different coat of paint. As I've mentioned previously, for all the text's insistence that Shade isn't like the other schools, the story hasn't done a good job of demonstrating that cultural difference in any meaningful way and similarities like this only add to the feeling that this isn't really a unique Kingdom—or at least not one with a firm enough identity to be persuasively unique. Same rule breaking team sneaking out on their own mission. Same secondary team who’s talented, but not as special as the protagonists. Same strange man with his responsible woman running the school. The details differ, obviously, but the structure feels largely the same.

As mentioned above, once the flashback ends Theodore tries to spar with one of the students but is quickly shut down by Rumpole because, you know, they have a meeting to hold. Apparently there have been complaints lately from the local security about Shade students interfering with official huntsmen business.

“I told you it was about us,” Coco muttered.

Coco, when you hear that people are pissed that you, an unlicensed student, are disrupting the careers of professionals every night the takeaway should not be, 'Aha! I knew it was all about me.'

Yatsuhashi at least provides a more nuanced perspective. "This wasn’t right, though. If they hadn’t interfered, those Huntsmen would have kidnapped an innocent person." He's right. They did help someone, but what they've failed to learn is that an individual good deed does not excuse the unlawful steps they took in getting there. If Team CFVY had just been out on the town and happened to spot some shady characters pulling shit, then put a stop to their kidnapping, that's fine. That's heroic. What is not heroic is them going out with the express purpose of fixing a situation that trained professionals told them they should not be trying to fix—key word being “trying,” given that they all understand Rumpole’s worry that they’ll make things worse. It was enough to send them back home last night... after Yatsuhashi failed to break into the hideout. The problem is not the "I helped someone who needed it" part but rather the "I'm arrogant enough to think that my presence is necessary" bit.

If having students conducting investigations was wanted or necessary, it would be a part of the curriculum: acknowledged or otherwise. AKA yes, Ruby. It would be very helpful if you'd head on off to Mountain Glenn, under the observation of a seasoned huntsmen, and report back if there's any dubious activity going on over there. Ozpin said, 'Yes please' to the extra (highly controlled) help while these professionals are saying, 'No thanks.' The fact that Team CFVY acts is if they're justified in continuing this investigation—and worse, that the story keeps validating those feelings—undermines their otherwise heroic actions. RWBY really is a series that struggles with giving its protagonists compelling reasons for getting involved in the fight. ‘Because I want to help’ might be a noble motivation, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. The Mountain Glenn mission was like a chef allowing a talented, aspiring teen to help them with a dish, all of it done under their tutelage. Team CFVY’s investigation is like the teen sneaking into the kitchen after dark to doctor all the prep for the next day’s cooking under the assumption that they’ll make it even better. Hell, maybe they will! But that’s not the point. Your help was not invited — explicitly denied, actually —and there’s a very good chance you’ll mess something up.

So because this group of eight continually insists that they know best, the whole school is required to stay on campus after nightfall. Huzzah!

It’s just too bad these consequences hurt others just as much as Team CFVY. The other students are pissed about this. I would be too! Team CFVY remains adamant though that they did the right thing, no guilt here, relying on the reader inaccurately comparing ‘saving lives’ with ‘losing free time off campus’ in order to come out on Team CFVY's side. They still fail to understand that helping people is not the reason they’re being punished.

Theodore and Rumpole reiterate that they are working on a solution and that no one else should be getting involved. Team CVFY is no more persuaded by this speech than they were the previous ones. The announcement then segues into discussion of the former Haven students which produces... boos from the audience?? My god, what is wrong with this school? I mean I get it, school is brutal—both in real life and fiction—especially when the social dynamics of your school are written much more like a high school than a college, but usually if characters are going to drag new students it's in the semi-privacy of a bathroom or an empty hall. Groaning over the existence of war survivors in front of your headmaster is a level of confident cruelty I didn't expect.

Then again, RWBY is the show that gave us Cardin pulling on Velvet's ears in the middle of the cafeteria, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised.

Theodore quickly bypasses the whole 'A decent number of my students hate these other students' issue and instead acknowledges that it is "difficult to adjust to a new school, an entirely new group of classmates, and most of all to life in Vacuo. Yet some of you have been separated from your original training teams.” Which is a nice way of saying that a good number of these teammates are dead. So what's the solution here?

Reinitiation Ceremony!

I'm sarcastic, but in all honesty I don't hate this idea. Far from it. Partly because I have a strong love of competitions in shonen-esque stories. Tests, trials, the obligatory tournament arc... they've always been some of my favorite parts of a series, largely because they allow the author to develop whacky and creative challenges that show off important characterization. See: Killua using a skateboard during the tunnel run before deciding that if Gon can manage running it, he can too; or Izuku using the mines and a piece of scrap to blast himself ahead of Bakugo and Todoroki. The structure of such tests forces characters to demonstrate creativity and critical thinking skills alongside strength, and that in turn reminds us of why they're our heroes. RWBY managed this a little bit with the Vytal Festival, but overall I don’t think the teams did anything particularly impressive to win. Team RWBY worked together, Nora hit people really hard with her hammer, Weiss' injury pissed off Yang enough to tap into more power... it was all stuff we had seen before and very little of it required planning or creativity. The Vytal Festival functioned more to set up the plot developments of Volume 3, which is fine, though for a while I had hoped that we would get a huntsmen license exam to do this sort of work... which obviously didn’t happen. Disappointing, but we’re at least getting something like that here.

So I love the concept. I even love the general reasoning behind holding the ceremony at all. Anyone who had spent five minutes on this blog knows that I think the groups need to learn to play well with others. Yet I also can't deny that the team dynamics provide stability for these characters, even if they've come to rely on that stability to an unhealthy degree. We've got students whose teams were presented to them not just as a professional tool, but their primary support system. You live with these people, attend all the same classes, spend your free time together, and survive life-threatening situations on a fairly regular basis. It's work, family, and friendship all rolled into one, so if the headmaster suddenly says that you get a new team, that's a whole lot more devastating than just learning that you've got a new project group to deal with. It shouldn't have come to that—a school looking to teach a profession that requires working with a wide variety of individuals should never have told four students to rely one each other and each other alone—but now that we're here you can't just break them apart with no notice. Especially with a traumatic war going on. It's hard to come to a new school, meet new people, learn a new culture... so let me rip away the one piece of familiarity you have left.

Of course, I don't really think that the teams will be broken up irrevocably, if at all. Rather, I simply want to acknowledge that despite my appreciation for these kinds of stories and despite my desire that the teams get some distance... it shouldn't be done like this. Even more-so when it’s abundantly clear—to us if not the instructors—that this little stunt is causing their students to re-live a whole bucket load of trauma. Yatsuhashi thinks about how this feels like an “out of body experience” and “It reminded [him] uncomfortably of the evacuation of Beacon Academy… He felt his breath catch in his throat.” Coco’s order to stick together “[brought] him back to the moment,” re-emphasizing that he was lost in the past for a while there. He’s clearly struggling.

Now, to be fair, this could all fall under the category of flawed characters. Meaning, anytime something awful happens in fiction we can interpret that as a skill on the part of the author: they wanted to write a scenario where the teachers are screwing up and unintentionally hurting their students. Or they know they’re hurting their students and consider that to be an acceptable sacrifice under the justification of ‘They have to get over Beacon at some point!’ There are lots of ways to paint this as Myers/RT writing complex, human characters who make ambiguous choices—a testament to their ability to write “realistically.” But to be frank I don’t really buy it. Simply because I’ve had a lot of experience now with how RWBY handles subjects like trauma and it’s only rarely been written respectfully and engagingly. I could be proven wrong as the novel continues, but it seems more likely that Myers wrote the instructors coming up with this test, wrote Yatsuhashi panicking over it, and intends to continually imply that these two things are separate plot points. Bringing both together in a narratively useful way would require acknowledging the instructors’ motivations—Why this test? Why now? Do they realize the harm they’re causing? If so, do they think it’s worth it?—and then coming to some sort of resolution, either via some recovery on CFVY’s part due to the instructors’ choices (this test did help us move past Beacon), or the instructors learning something about empathy and trauma via CFVY’s reaction (we never should have done this). I highly doubt we’ll get either.

Thus, everyone is (justifiably) horrified. The teams are gone and either the shock of that made Team CFVY prioritize feelings of safety over strategy, or they're just not going to demonstrate any of the intelligence I look for in this kind of arc, because they immediately start obsessing over staying together.

He needed to keep his team close to him. Especially Velvet. If they weren’t separated, they couldn’t be assigned to different teams.

Yatsuhashi, that is not at all what Rumpole told you:

“It’s already begun,” Rumpole said. “Everything you do from this moment forward will factor into your evaluations for new teams.”

Where in the world did you get the idea that you wouldn't be assigned a new team so long as you stuck with your old one? If I were one of the instructors here that choice would make me more likely to separate them. "Everything you do from this moment," Rumpole says, meaning that how they respond to this information is a part of the test. The team that panics and refuses to separate is the team that either can't function without one another, or at the very least believes that they can't. They're not willing to work with others and thus they're precisely the type that needs to learn this skillset. You're the ones they'll want to give new teammates to.

Of course, fate has different ideas about how things should go down. And by "fate" I mean "A completely ridiculous plot device." Team CFVY is separated because... the crowd is large I guess? It’s ridiculous. Four fighters already standing beside one another and who are now hyper-focused on staying together are not going to get swept away by a Shade size crowd who probably also want to stick with their own teammates. There are far better, far more convincing ways to keep them apart. Ozpin shot students one-by-one into the forest! Literally anything other than what we got, really.

Still, that’s what we wound up with. Yatsuhashi and Coco both try to keep the team together only for the immense power of other people existing putting a stop to their plan. Alrighty then. Before they’re dramatically swept away on different ships, however, we do get two other noteworthy bits of information that I'd like to end on. The first is Rumpole’s announcement that “When you reach your destination, your goal will be to locate a gold figurine and bring it back to the school” to which Fox replies, “Great. Glad this is fair for everyone. Who can see.” And you know what? He's right. Maybe Fox and I will both be proven wrong (I feel like I'm writing that a lot this chapter...) but unless there's some miscommunication here or a surprise in store, a goal of "locat[ing] a gold figurine" is indeed a sight based challenge and, when placed in a test that is deliberately separating Fox from his team, puts him at a severe disadvantage.

The second is simply that the year levels of the students will not be a factor in the creation of new teams. “What year we are? Yatsu thought. This can’t be right. How could a first-year keep up with fourth-years?” to which I respond, "Um... that's the entire show?" The webseries RWBY is about how Team RWBY, starting out as first years, has surpassed everyone around them, to the point where they're now beating the best team in Atlas. Time-wise they're still second years—far as I can figure out, anyway—so if second years can beat elite military operations, a first year can stand toe-to-toe with second, third, and fourth years. More crucial to Yatsuhashi's thought process—because as an in-world character he doesn't necessarily know what Team RWBY has been up to post-Volume 3—he's still seen how well first years did at Beacon. Ruby was let in two years early. Pyrrha is such a phenomenally talented fighter her face is on their cereal boxes. A first year, Yang, went on to compete in the Vytal Tournament final (even if it was rigged. Yatsuhashi doesn't know that), and Team CFVY fought beside a number of first years at the Battle of Beacon. Now, you all know that I think education and experience are damn important. I'm not saying Yatsuhashi is flat-out wrong to question whether there would be any issues attached to slamming, say, a first year, two second years, and a fourth year into one team (especially when you consider practical questions like going to classes), but the general takeaway of "How could they keep up?" seems a tad strange. You know first years can keep up. You watched it happen, both in your former school's curriculum—first years get to go on an upper-level mission—and in real life battle. This knee-jerk response reads as even worse after five chapters of looking down on Team SSSN. Team CFVY really thinks highly of themselves, huh.

Honestly, it feels like our authors didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the implications of the dialogue/thoughts they’re giving to the characters which is, again, par for the course at this point. Like the questions attached to the test, this feels less like giving Yatsuhashi a flaw (he, as an in-world character, hasn't bothered to think through whether his knee-jerk assumption about first years is supported by his experiences) and more like a flaw of the creators. That sounds like a legitimate concern—in the same way that Yatsuhashi's advice to Rumpole sounds generically wise—but poke at it a bit and you start finding a number of cracks. An author who is well aware of the world they've built and strives to adhere to it might have had Yatsuhashi acknowledge some of the amazing things he's seen first years do and still conclude that there are problems with this decision. That's legit. As it stands, Yatsuhashi just sounds ignorant and (again) overly confident, which I don't trust to be a moment of character insight as opposed to an authorial blip.

Which is about where we end. The team is split on different airships, no one is happy about it, and we're left with this somewhat unsettling image:

Headmaster Theodore was waving and whooping, like it was all some terrific game, while Professor Rumpole watched silently, her hair whipping around in the wind and an unsettling grin on her face.

This gives me some hope that the story will treat the problems attached to this test respectfully. The description of Theodore acting "like it was all some terrific game" is a mark against his character and Rumpole straight up has an "unsettling grin on her face." Is she one of the baddies? Potentially. Will I ever again get adult characters who aren't depicted as inept, traitorous, or just so flawed that they unwittingly cause great damage to their students? Probably not. These two desires remain constantly at war with one another. RWBY introduces issues that the story should tackle, but the only issues it acknowledges are those attached to the adults. So we have everyone doing a range of iffy things, but only the elders are likely to be punished or (better yet) learn something over the course of the tale. The double standard remains so strong across the franchise that at this point I just want to raise a THE ADULTS DID NOTHING WRONG banner and call it a day. Not because they're actually free of mistakes or even, at times, downright cruelty, but because if our protagonists constantly get that free pass I'm not sure why everyone else can't too.

Anyone for a spot of denial?

But I've now written nearly twice as much as the actual chapter in question. It's time to stop! At this rate I’ll have written the equivalent of five Before the Dawns in my attempt to recap just one. #yikes

Until Chapter Six 💜

#rwby #BTD Recaps #Before the Dawn #mymetas

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dragoler · 5 years ago

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The Pale King - Death From Regret

This is a theory post about Hollow Knight and contains spoilers, so if you haven't completed the game you should probably not read this post. This was originally posted to Reddit but i’m putting a copy here too.

I am of the belief that the Pale King was not killed by the void of the Abyss, nor did he take a new form, but instead died from his regrets.

To start with i'll explain why the Abyss probably didn't have a hand in his death. The Pale King's corpse when you find it is intact, there is no void in his eyes and no cracks on his shell, the only tell that he is dead is a raggedness to the bottom of his robes. This indicates there was no struggle and that void did not get inside of him, which seems to be the way it kills other bugs within proximity to it.

Next is the void itself. The void begins without unity and therefore cannot act in a coordinated way, as mentioned in the dream nail dialogue of the Abyss creature holding the void bowl:

...Void... Power... Without unity...

The argument can be made that the shades of the vessels have wills of their own, but it still seems unlikely for them to go after the king. To start with most vessels died very shortly after they hatched so would likely lack the knowledge needed to be vengeful towards him. Secondly the shades don't appear to be very sentient. They attack the Knight on sight despite being siblings of it, until the Knight acquires the Void Heart which grants it control over the void. This suggests that the shades, despite taking on the form of the Vessels, simply act as the void would and have no strong wills of their own remaining (in the Hunter's journal they are described as having only a fragment of a lingering will). Lastly there is the White Palace itself, which the King brought with him into the dream world when he fled, meaning that if any shades were to leave the Abyss they would still be unable to find him without a guide to lead them into the dream.

So now for the explanation of the darkness in the throne room, my main source for this will be from Confessor Jiji. Lore wise Jiji helps bugs come to terms with their regrets, which she describes as "black stains":

I am Jiji, and if you have found your way into my chamber you must need my help. You see, sometimes we leave our regrets behind in the world, like black stains. If we don't deal with these regrets, hope starts to drain from us.

Jiji assists the Knight in acquiring its shade when it dies while also referring to it as a regret, from this evidence we can conclude that void and regret are considered one and the same by her.

Now I know what you may be thinking, we don't see other "black stains" around the kingdom, we have to travel below the City of Tears before void starts appearing in its "natural" form. The game does however offer a potential explanation for this in another substance - Soul. Soul can be found in the air everywhere, even when we cannot see it, which is demonstrated by the function of the Deep Focus charm:

Naturally formed within a crystal over a long period. Draws in SOUL from the surrounding air.

It is likely that the void works in much the same way, only becoming visible to most bugs once it reaches a critical concentration. It is Jiji's job to deal with regrets, therefore she needs to be more sensitive to void than the average bug, and even comments on the darkness of the kingdom in her dream nail dialogue:

How long I must have slept. This land is so much darker now, so thick with stains of regret.

Even the air is murkier. If I sleep again, will the darkness creep in here and swallow me whole?

Whether regret may be the only source of the void is unknown, however, this does explain why the throne room is the only room within the White Palace besides the void workshop that is dark.

Now onto the evidence of the Pale king's regrets, the first thing to establish is that he actually cared. The Pale King it well known for a phrase he says more than once in the game - "No Cost too Great". This is either the motto of an uncaring psychopath, or of a character who is doing something they really don't want to do, but believe they have no choice. The evidence points to the latter conclusion.

To start with the creation and choosing of the Hollow Knight - I will be using this theory as my basis, and will also add that the Wanderer's Journal has since given further support to it.

The Pale King waited at the top of the Abyss until only one vessel, or at least one "pure" vessel reached him. At this point the king left the Abyss, sealed up the door and placed this lore tablet outside:

Higher beings, these words are for you alone. Our pure Vessel has ascended. Beyond lies only the refuse and regret of its creation. We shall enter that place no longer.

He did not wait even a second longer than he had to in that room, we can see this at the end of the Birthplace memory where he leaves before even seeing the Knight hanging from the ledge. This could be viewed as callous, but consider what he was really doing here. These were his own children, being hollowed by void to be used as tools. A truly pragmatic king would have taken more than one as assurance. I believe the Pale King is such a character who would take such precautions. He did not only create the Hollow Knight to seal the Radiance, but also the Black Egg and the Dreamers, all shielded by additional seals as multiple layers of protection. Furthermore, the Pale King keeps plenty of void constructs within his palace, a vessel could be raised to be just as loyal as a Kingsmould but many times more powerful if the Pure Vessel is anything to judge by. Instead the Pale king locked the door immediately, using a lock that only he could ever break. He then directly refers to the remains on the other side as "regret", this sentiment is further supported by dialogue from the Mask Maker:

Has it witnessed that truth most tragic? The Wyrm's great shame sealed away.

These are all the actions of a character who hates what they are doing and stops the moment their obligation is done. The next evidence that the king truly cared is the Path of Pain. This path exists purely to seal a memory at the end, one the king kept a close secret:

To witness secrets sealed, one must endure the harshest punishment.

The path is very well hidden, and far more difficult to traverse than the path that leads to the king himself. At the end of it, we see a memory of the Pale King and young Hollow Knight sharing a moment. It is brief, but it holds a lot of weight given the context of where it's found. Despite the importance of his plan, the Pale King could not help himself but get attached to his chosen vessel, thus tarnishing its purity and dooming his kingdom.

Lastly, we have the king's final thoughts:

...No cost too great...

...

The pause at the end is telling to me, it suggests that he had been telling himself this phrase over and over again, but had stopped believing it.

So now why are the Kingsmolds on the way to the throne room dead if the void did not rise up? The White Palace is a mix of dreams, memories, and reality - the Path of Pain is an obvious example of this, as are the retainers who explode into white essence upon death. The majority of the White Palace is likely constructed this way, but I believe the dead Kingsmolds are an indication that the end section of the White Palace is REAL. Without the king to command and maintain them, the Kingsmolds simply died from neglect. I would also use the nature of the White Palace to rule out the void that killed the king coming from the void workshop. The void workshop can be accessed from the lower right of the room you find its entrance in, but upon exiting it you end up in the top middle of the same room. This geometry makes no sense, suggesting that this room is likely to have come from a memory rather than being the real deal.

Lastly why I believe the Pale King is dead for good. When the Wyrm became the Pale King it created an egg-like structure within its body where you collect the Kingsbrand, which is mentioned in the Wanderer's Journal. This suggests that metamorphosis requires a cocoon and there is no indication of the king having created one in the White Palace.

To summarize, the sacrifices the king made took a great mental toll on him, and when his plan failed he ran away with his palace and isolated himself within a dream where he believed he could not be found. In this isolation, the regrets of what he had done resulted in a depression that eventually lead to his death.

So in a way the void did kill him, but not really. He was not killed by void rising up against him, he was killed by his failure to deal with the void building up inside his own mind. The void formed by the regret of a million dead children, one child chained up alone in the dark, and an entire kingdom who relied upon him for leadership, left abandoned.

#hollow knight #lore #theory #pale king #void #spoilers #rewrite

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todisturbtheuniverse · 5 years ago

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FIC: Set All Trappings Aside [5/8]

Rating: T Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition Pairing: f!Adaar/Josephine Montilyet Tags: Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Class Differences Word Count: 4000 (this chapter) Summary: After months of flirtation, a contract on Josephine’s life brings Adaar’s feelings for her closer to the surface than ever. It highlights, too, all of their differences, all of the reasons a relationship between them would not last. But Adaar is a hopeful woman at heart; if Josephine can set all trappings aside, then so can she. Also on AO3. Notes: While the context for this story is the Of Somewhat Fallen Fortune questline, some of the conversations within it didn’t quite fit for this Inquisitor. The resulting fic is a twist on the canon romance. This Adaar and Josephine have featured in other fics, so you may miss a little context if you haven’t read Promising or Truth-Telling, which both come before this one.

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Usually, Adaar liked nothing better than being on the road. Clear nights like these were best of all. It was easy to pick out constellations she knew, stars she'd once navigated by on her own, crisp against the velvet map of the heavens. She'd lain on a thin bedroll staring up at that sky more nights than she could count, and when she'd closed her eyes, she'd slept peacefully.

The view afforded her very little peace just now.

Four more days to Val Royeaux. Six more until this party that Adaar was supposed to appear at. She'd made up her mind as she left Josephine's office, though. She hadn't promised anything. Leliana had sent along the tools and information Adaar would need to deal with the House of Repose. Damn the woman, but she had done Adaar that small favor.

Her people answered to the Inquisitor, not the Ambassador. When they arrived in Val Royeaux, she would do what needed to be done. No more games.

Josephine would be angry, but the damage to their friendship had already been done. What did one more blow matter?

Best not to think about that. To hope, as was her habit, that Josephine had kissed her back and meant it. That it hadn't just been relief, or gratitude, or the heat of the moment, or…

Adaar would send her back to Skyhold with Leliana's people when it was all over, but she would not be escorting them. The additional protection Adaar and her companions offered would no longer be required. They could ride far faster than a handful of carts. They would go south, to the Emerald Graves, and Adaar would get back to doing what she did best.

She did not plan to go back to Skyhold for a long, long time.

She shifted a little in the open bed of the cart, easing her legs out of one position and into another. Wouldn't do to get too cramped if someone crept up on them in the dead of night. She needed to be quick. Quicker than she'd ever been. She blinked her bleary eyes and surveyed the lonesome wilderness around their meager campsite again, searching for anything that didn't belong.

Behind her, canvas rustled. She turned her head to note it, squinting through the dim starlight. Paranoia prickled at her, insisting that an assassin had slipped by both her and the four others on watch, but the part of her still capable of logic expected to see one of their own party leaving their tent.

She just didn't expect it to be Josephine.

Adaar looked away, back to watching the road and sparse woods behind. She briefly considered the merits of lying down flat in the cart, concealing herself from view entirely, but that was both too childish and too dangerous. She knew how likely she was to fall asleep, even on these hard boards, if she arranged herself horizontally.

So she listened, with pricked ears, to Josephine's footsteps. She hoped they would circle away, paired with whatever guard had the unfortunate task of protecting people while they pissed, but instead, they drew closer.

Shit.

They hadn't spoken much since leaving Skyhold. She'd avoided Josephine, staying close enough to watch her back but far enough away to ward off conversation. Josephine seemed to have picked up on this, accepted it; she hadn't said anything beyond a simple greeting this morning.

But they'd also been surrounded by others: scouts, guards, Adaar's companions. Perhaps she'd just been waiting for the right moment, when they'd be overheard by the fewest possible ears.

The right moment for what, Adaar had no idea. Another plea for Adaar to understand? An apology for being so cursed stubborn about this? A reprimand for kissing her? An entreaty to do it again?

Josephine paused when she drew alongside the back of the cart, just within Adaar's peripheral vision. "Inquisitor," she said softly.

Adaar watched the woods. "Ambassador."

The cart dipped a little with Josephine's weight. For a moment, they sat in silence, two feet of space between them. Adaar saw Josephine's head tip back, taking in the view of the heavens, but only out of the corner of her eye. She didn't think knowing the way starlight looked on that face would make this any easier.

"I brought you something," Josephine said at last, and Adaar realized she held a small wooden box. She set it down on the cart between them and opened the lid. "If you're not going to sleep, you'll need your strength."

Adaar glanced down at the box. A pile of little round cookies nestled on a linen napkin inside it, some of their edges crumbling.

Well, maybe she could rule out a reprimand, at least. That was...something.

"I don't know that sweets are the best choice for a long watch," she said, but she took one, anyway. "I don't recognize these."

"Polvorones. My favorites. My father's, too. He sends me quite a few of them, for fear that I'll get too homesick, the way he's always done. I usually hide them away for myself, but…" She clasped her hands in her lap. "I thought they might be an adequate peace offering. Or the beginning of one, anyway."

Adaar turned her attention back to the road as she took a bite of the cookie. It crumbled in her mouth, on her hands, sweet with a trace of almonds. She swallowed, took a sip from her water skin to wash the rest of the crumbles down as she considered.

It was abominably hard to tell this woman No, which was why she'd avoided situations where she'd have to do it at all costs.

"Danaya," she said, raising her voice.

Josephine's head turned toward her, but she didn't interrupt. Quick footsteps approached.

"Yes, Your Worship?" the guard said.

"Watch the rear. I am being distracted."

"Yes, Your Worship," Danaya agreed, and wisely moved a solid thirty feet down the road to take her post without further comment. Good woman. Didn't make a single face whatsoever.

"I'm listening," Adaar said to Josephine.

She heard Josephine's relieved breath. She unfolded a napkin over her lap, and her elegant fingers dipped into the box to pick out one of the polvorones for herself. "I've been thinking, these last few days. I realized how poorly I've behaved. We had an agreement. If you still want to deal with the House of Repose directly…I am a woman of my word. I won't argue further."

Adaar blinked. The possibility of an apology had occurred to her, and not even as a long shot; Josephine was mindful of other people's feelings. She'd certainly noticed how...off...Adaar was. Adaar was not that adept at concealing it.

But this? She hadn't expected this.

"Okay," she said slowly, testing. "That does make things a little easier, since I planned to do just that when we arrived in Val Royeaux."

Surprise—distress—flitted over Josephine's face, but it quickly smoothed. "That is fair."

"I would have told you," Adaar said, compelled to defend herself, "but frankly, I don't hold up very well to your silver tongue. Best not to risk it."

Josephine chuckled, a little sadly. "No, I understand. I just have one request."

"For my sake, please make it a reasonable one."

"Even when you have every right to be angry with me, you are amusing," she said, but pushed on before Adaar could reply. "I would like to explain why I've been so opposed to your plan, to Leliana's plan. Prove to you that I'm not being mulish, or stupid, or naïve, or..."

"I don't think you're any of those things." Adaar picked up another cookie. She'd finished the first one without noticing. She did tend to eat her nerves. "Well, maybe a little stubborn. Usually that's a good quality. But if you'd like to tell me, go ahead."

Josephine dipped her head. "I used to be a bard, you see."

She paused there as if deliberating, and Adaar tried to imagine it. She was a deft negotiator, but Adaar had a hard time picturing her in such a place at court just now, with the pretty ocean-blue shawl held around her shoulders to ward off the chill, her long dark hair woven into a loose braid over her shoulder. Rumpled by sleep, or maybe a lack of it. She belonged among her books and her missives, her pen and her ink. Hard to imagine her hiding daggers in her clothes instead.

She'd had a letter opener in her sash that night. Adaar pushed the thought of it, its inadequacy, as far away as it would go.

"What, like Leliana?" she asked. "With the singing, and the story-telling, and…"

"The spying," Josephine finished. "Yes. I was young, attending university in Val Royeaux. It sounded so...romantic, so exciting. Trysts, secrets, fascinating people. Very different from my responsibilities to my family."

"Ah," Adaar said. "So even you can get tired of paperwork sometimes."

"Especially at that age." Josephine sighed, as if the memory embarrassed her. "So I put on a mask, told myself that my siblings would get along without me, and practiced the Game in as thrilling a way as I could."

"I suppose I can imagine that. Well," she amended, "parts of it, anyway."

Josephine nodded. "Parts of it, yes. The charming conversation, that I was good at. I had some skill with a harp, though my singing has never been as good as Leliana's."

Adaar made a mental note to find a harp at the first opportunity, then remembered herself and crossed it out again immediately. Her plans after Val Royeaux had not changed. She would maintain the distance between them. It was for the best.

The words would ring true someday, she was sure.

"And the other parts?" she said. "How did that end?"

Josephine drew her shawl a little more tightly around herself. "Very poorly. You know that I am not a fighter. I had an aversion to violence, even then. But I convinced myself that I needed to play the part, that I could learn, that I would adjust to it. I practiced."

"You got hurt," Adaar guessed when Josephine hesitated.

"If only." She straightened up as if steeling herself. "During a particular intrigue, another bard was sent to kill my patron. We...fought, if you could call it that. It did not feel very much like the epic duels we sang about. I was terrified. I think that he was, too. We were at the top of a steep flight of stairs. He drew a knife, and I pushed him away from me…you can imagine the result."

Adaar could see the shame on her face. The guilt, even after all these years.

Adaar remembered the first person she had killed, too. The way she'd thrown up on her knees in the dirt after. It took a lot of practice to stop doing that part. Demons were easier. Hell, Red Templars were easier. They weren't really people anymore.

"It was self-defense," she said, trying to be gentle. "He would have killed you."

"But it was such a waste!" Adaar had rarely seen Josephine so animated: the words burst out of her, not loud, mindful of the guards, but sharp. Devastated. Her eyes gleamed, and Adaar fought the impulse to touch her, to comfort her. "And when I took off his mask, I knew him. We'd attended parties together. If I'd stopped to reason, if I'd used my voice instead of scuffling like a common thug…"

It was just another blow to an old wound. Adaar weathered it. She knew Josephine didn't mean it like that, would never be that cruel, but Adaar knew the truth about herself, too. Knew, and accepted it.

Cassandra kept saying that she was the person they'd needed, exactly when they'd needed it. Stood to reason that sometimes the world needed a common thug.

"I will always wonder who he would have turned out to be," Josephine said. "That is why."

Adaar returned to the problem at hand. "These aren't boys on their first run, Josephine. They're part of a guild of assassins—"

"I know that. I know." She shook her head, impatient. "It is not their lives that most concern me, though I do think their deaths would be pointless. For what? For an old grudge so easily forgotten that the surviving descendents would sweep it away for a favor of status?" She scoffed. "They're bound by that old agreement, but no one else feels the same."

There was truth enough in that. Adaar had seen some of Josephine's exchanges with the Du Paraquettes. Hard to imagine that a hundred years ago, these families had been at each others' throats. They were just strangers now.

"What most concerns you, then?" she said.

Josephine looked up at her. Her fingers had pulled one of the cookies apart in her lap; it was a pile of crumbs now. "The lives of our people. Any of them could get hurt, could die, trying to destroy this contract. You could die."

Adaar considered her for a long moment. "You see our impasse, then," she said at last. "You are not willing to send me into mortal danger, and I am not willing to let you stay in the same."

"Yes." There was disappointment, but understanding, in Josephine's eyes. "I do see. And you have honored my request, above and beyond our agreement, so you can do what you see fit with a clear conscience. I won't protest."

Damn her. Even as she released Adaar, she bound her. Adaar wondered if she'd just played the Game for so long that she couldn't stop playing it, that she did it even subconsciously. That she knew, instinctively, that where pleading or begging wouldn't change Adaar's mind, this would.

And Adaar admired Josephine's idealism. Always had. Maybe she was cutthroat when it came to maneuvering alliances, but it was in metaphor only; she did her best to mitigate harm. She advocated for opportunity, for a future, not an ending.

Adaar wanted the world to work that way.

"This is exactly why I haven't talked to you in four days," Adaar muttered. "I knew you would talk me out of it." She took another cookie to console herself and stuffed it whole in her mouth. Maybe the crumbs would choke her, put her out of her misery.

"I mean it," Josephine pressed. "Do what you think—"

"—is best," Adaar finished. "Yeah. Wish I knew for sure what that was." She dusted her hands free of crumbs. "If this minister so much as looks at me funny—which is very likely, given the manners these kinds of people usually have—I'm storming the House of Repose that very hour."

Josephine reached across the space between them to touch her hand. "Thank you."

Adaar only nodded. Hard to do anything else as she looked at those soft fingertips grazing the backs of her knuckles, thinking inevitably of the last time they'd touched.

Josephine withdrew, and Adaar hoped that she would get up and leave; that she had gotten what she wanted, and there would be no need to discuss anything else.

"There is one other matter," Josephine said, her words more hesitant by far now.

Adaar didn't dare look at her face. She listened, waited, for the guillotine to drop.

"You kissed me," Josephine said, and Adaar closed her eyes against it. "After…"

Adaar would never forget it. Never. The relief she'd felt all the way down to her weary bones when she arrived outside Josephine's door to hear voices, to hear her voice, to realize that she was safe, alive—only for that relief to twist, become a terror so stark she'd never felt its like—

"I only…please understand, I don't want to assume that you harbor any tender feelings for me, I just…" Josephine let out a frustrated breath. "Listen to me stutter. I only want to understand what you meant by it."

Adaar opened her mouth before she even knew what she planned to say; she shut it again. Josephine waited, patient, not pushing.

Adaar could lie. Wave it off. Make the same excuses she'd imagined Josephine would make. Things would be awkward, probably. After all this, it was hard to imagine that they'd ever be as close as they had once been.

But Josephine deserved better than that. She'd gone out of her way to apologize, to explain. Now she asked to understand, to be given the same courtesy in return.

It would still be awkward, but maybe they'd get past it, someday. She could hope. It had carried her this far.

"I care about you," she said. She sounded steady enough. "Very much." She paused, cleared her throat. "Thought it was sort of obvious."

Josephine didn't reply. The silence—a few seconds that felt like years—pressed down on Adaar, threatening to crush her. She had to look, had to see…

Josephine stared at her, eyes wide, lips slightly parted. She looked an awful lot like she had after Adaar had kissed her.

Breathlessly, she said, "I thought...I thought it was possible, but…"

"I know. I didn't send an eyebrow poem." She fell back on bad humor like it was some kind of defense, like it wouldn't just make things worse. "Just a bunch of stupid trinkets. Awfully unclear of me. Look, I'm sorry if I made you uncomf—"

She had not known that Josephine could move so quickly; she'd pushed the box of cookies out of the way, thrown herself against Adaar's side, and pulled Adaar's head down to kiss her before Adaar knew what was happening.

She'd tried not to remember. In those moments before the few hours of sleep she'd scraped for herself, she'd tried not to think about how it had felt. Josephine clinging to her, safe and warm and alive; Josephine pressing close to her, matching Adaar's desperation with her own fervor; Josephine's soft, sweet lips yielding beneath hers.

She was just as demanding as she'd been that night. Adaar had never expected, never imagined that—when she'd dared to imagine, anyway. That Josephine had a fire burning inside her to match Adaar's torch, and when their lips met, they knew one another's heat.

Josephine's hands framed Adaar's face, held her in place. Without Adaar's explicit say-so, her arms had wrapped around Josephine. She drank in the blissful noise of delight that came from Josephine's lips, didn't bother to catch the shawl as it fell and fluttered to the cart. Josephine touched her like she was something beloved, and she melted beneath the worship of those fingers, fell to pieces beneath the care of this deepening kiss, sweet with that lingering taste of the polvorones. Another few seconds of those soft lips moving with hers and she'd be tumbling Josephine down into the bed of the cart, and she doubted very much that Josephine would protest—

One of the guards called to another. Despite the heat, despite Josephine's body against hers, she heard it. It was a proprietary remark; there was no danger. But it felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over Adaar's head.

She tugged away, just enough to break the kiss, letting the cold night air come between them. "Wait."

Josephine made an impatient noise, following. "There are no assassins out—"

"It's not that."

Josephine's eyes searched her face. They looked a little glassy with want, with lust, with starlight.

It was a very good look on her, but it wasn't helping Adaar keep her head straight.

"Then what?" she asked. Her thumb ran over Adaar's cheek, once, twice.

She would not get through this if Josephine kept touching her, but she had to tell herself to let go three times before she actually took her arms from around Josephine. Josephine settled back to the cart, waiting, brow knit with confusion.

"This isn't a good idea," Adaar said.

Josephine leaned a little away, clearly stung. "Why not?"

Adaar glanced down the road, toward the nearest guard. Danaya's back was to them, but she wasn't far enough away, not nearly.

"People talk," she said. "As you've told me yourself. Even a short entanglement—"

"Short entanglement?" Josephine repeated, a thread of anger weaving through the hurt. "I am not interested in a fling, as you well—"

"Let me finish. Please."

Maybe something on Adaar's face convinced her; she took a breath and gestured, as if to say go ahead.

"This whole deal is going to restore your family's status," Adaar said. "Right?"

If Josephine found the change in subject strange, she didn't comment on it. "It will take more work than that, but—yes, this is the necessary beginning."

"How do you think that status would dip if everyone knew you were involved with me? What trade opportunities would you lose? Who would exclude your siblings from parties, your parents from plans?"

Josephine didn't answer right away. She thought about it, giving it a moment, turning it over, before she answered. "No one who has not already excluded us," she said. "No opportunities I have not already lost."

"Are you sure of that?"

"No one can ever be absolutely certain of anything," Josephine said evenly. "But I do not care."

"I know that isn't true. You've worked so hard to make this happen. Not just these last few months—years and years of work. What if just…being with me…would reverse all of that?"

Josephine slid off the cart and turned to face Adaar. Silently, Adaar offered out her shawl, and she took it, but let it hang loose from her hand.

"For my family, yes, I have worked," Josephine said. "So that they might get along without me, one day, if the worst were to happen. But I set all my trappings aside to join the Inquisition, knowing that I might well be cast as a heretic with the rest of you." She lifted one shoulder in a shrug, as if this didn't trouble her at all. "It does not appear that this is our trajectory any longer. I've turned a deaf ear to many slights, but there are fewer of them every week."

"You'll have to turn a deaf ear to many more," Adaar said. She had to make Josephine understand. "Supporting me politically is very different from declaring a romantic relationship with a common thug."

Josephine looked at her, silent, inscrutable, and Adaar almost squirmed under the weight of that gaze. It felt like Josephine saw a great deal. Things Adaar didn't want her to see, things she didn't intend to show her.

"You know that I don't see you that way," Josephine said.

"But other people do," Adaar argued. "Other people will—"

"Other people think many silly things," Josephine cut across her.

"Tell me if this is silly, then. When this is all over, if I'm still standing when the dust clears, I will have a very simple life left to me. A little land, a little house. You have connections, responsibilities, that won't fit in the space I have to offer. Would you give all that up to sink to my level?"

Josephine let out a low breath. "I see."

The way she was looking at Adaar, Adaar very much doubted it. "See what?"

"You are afraid that I am going to hurt you."

Adaar spluttered. "That's not what I—"

"You think that when this is over, you will not be special anymore, and I will not want you anymore." Josephine stepped forward, just enough to wrap the shawl around Adaar's shoulders. "You're wrong."

She patted the fabric into place, as if to protect Adaar from the chill. Every touch of her hand weakened a little more of Adaar's resolve.

"I am not going to change my mind," Josephine said. "When you have gotten over your reservations—"

"My reservations? You're the one who should have—"

"I will be here, Herah," Josephine said, relentless. "And I will still want the same thing. Lest you accuse me of manipulating you with my silver tongue, I will leave you to think."

Adaar had lost all language, all ability to protest. Josephine took one more polvorone from the box, but left the rest with a last pointed look at Adaar.

She was not afraid.

...Was she?

Go to Chapter 6 -->

#josephine montilyet #inquisitor adaar #f!adaar x josephine #f!adaar/josephine #dragon age #inquisition #mutual pining #friends to lovers #developing relationship #class differences #universe writes

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cake-writes · 6 years ago

Text

Little Lies (Part Twelve)

Pairings: Steve x Reader // Bucky x Reader // Slight Natasha x Reader // Slight OC x Reader

Chapter Warnings: Angst, Implied Smut, WLW & Bisexuality, Dubious Consent, 18+

Summary: You went to Bucky when you wanted punishment. He’d be rough with you because he understood your self-loathing, and he’d leave bruises on your hips that wouldn’t go away for a week. You loved it. He didn’t.

You went to Steve when you wanted reassurance. You went to him because he liked to whisper sweet, sweet things into your ear as he made love to you. He’d tell you that you were perfect and amazing and beautiful. Then you’d get your fill, just far too much of it. He cared too much.

It all came to a head when the three of you went on a mission together. You’d done it a hundred times, even during this mess of a situation, and still neither of them was any the wiser. Your little lies always slipped right through the cracks - until one night, they didn’t.

Part Eleven / Master List

Tony definitely followed the limousine back here that night. Over the past three days, your hunch was only further confirmed when you caught glimpses of him in the sky every now and then. He was always way, way high up in the clouds, almost unnoticeable; in fact, you only noticed because you were purposely looking for him.

Now, he’d just flown by again. It was unfortunate that you hadn’t had a chance to call him out on it yet. You didn’t want him to get hurt.

Luckily, you finally had a minute to yourself, so you used it wisely.

Marisol was in her office down the hall, meeting with her first and second in command about an upcoming shipment. You recently snuck into that same office in the middle of the night and gathered as much intel about the shipment as you could – photos, mostly, but you had no secure way of sharing them and you didn’t have enough time to get into the finer details over comms.

That was the other reason why you put the device back into your ear. You knew it was suspicious that you’d taken out your earpiece that night, but you needed to keep it well-hidden for something like this. Because of your quick thinking, it hadn’t been confiscated like the rest of your electronics had been. Instead, Marisol had given you another phone – one that had her number pre-saved as Mi Corazón.

My Heart. That was what you used to call her once. Kind of ironic that you’d used that very same phone to steal some intel about her operation.

“If you think you’re being discreet, you’re not,” you commented dryly into the earpiece.

“Jesus, kid!” You could hear Tony’s relief plain as day. “What the hell happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you responded, letting your bedroom curtains fall back into place. As much as you would have liked to catch up, you couldn’t. “I don’t have much time. There’s going to be a shipment next week. Meet me at Coco Bongo on Friday - we’ll be there at 8.”

Friday was another three days from now, so hopefully you’d be able to unearth some more intel before then. You had plenty of information about this shipment, but you wanted more about the rest, about her entire operation.

“What the hell?” came Bucky’s question – almost too quiet to hear, probably muttered under his breath.

At the same time, Steve immediately jumped on another part of what you said, and his tone was anything but nice. “’We’? What do you mean ‘we’?”

He would have already known, but he wanted you to say it anyway.

That was when Marisol’s office door creaked open again much sooner than expected, and even though you wanted to say something – anything – to fix this shitshow of a situation, you just didn’t have enough time. “Shit! Friday at 8. Don’t be late.”

“Roger,” Natasha said just as you ripped the device from your ear and shoved it back under your mattress, where you’d kept it hidden since you arrived. The moment you finished, Marisol was already walking into your bedroom, and you quickly started straightening your sheets to make it look like you’d just been tidying up your bed.

“Oh, kitten,” Marisol purred, pulling your hands into hers, away from the bedding. “Don’t waste your energy on this. I pay my employees well.”

You were well-aware that she had a full complement of staff to maintain the residence: a head chef and kitchen hands, maids and butlers, and a groundskeeper, not to mention all of the armed guards posted outside. They were also her eyes and ears, though, too, a fact you remembered from the last time you were here.

In response, you gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. I’ve just gotten so used to doing these things myself.”

“I know, but you don’t have to. Not anymore.” Her voice was kind, but the implied order wasn’t; she was telling you to stop doing things yourself and just let her take care of you like she used to. Then she pressed a kiss to the back of your hand, lacing her fingers with yours as the two of you made your way downstairs. “Lunch is waiting for us in the garden. It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

“Nothing else compares to the weather here,” you admitted. “I’ve missed it.”

That was the truth. Some part of you did miss it.

After a butler opened the French doors to the garden, you and Marisol walked outside hand-in-hand to bask in the warm sunlight. Spring and summer were typically quite hot, but today, the temperature was just right. When the balmy breeze blew through, the delicate fabric of your sundress brushed pleasantly against your thighs and a genuine smile came across your lips.

You had missed this. The weather. Not Marisol.

She smiled back at you and squeezed your hand.

That was a lie. Maybe you did miss her just a little.

The gazebo was surrounded by beautiful flowers and greenery, wafting a sweet aroma through the air and as you approached, the perfectly-manicured grass tickled your bare feet.

It was familiar. It was lovely. It was home – or at least, it had been once.

That was when you got the feeling that you were being watched. You knew you were; your teammates were likely still in the area looking for a way to rescue you, but they wouldn’t find one. The fences were reinforced, and there were far too many armed guards posted everywhere, inside and outside the gates and on the roof – not to mention your life would be at risk if they even tried.

The two of you started on lunch: a lovely spread of cured meats and cheeses, finger sandwiches, and champagne. Marisol toasted your arrival – “To new beginnings,” she said, and you cheerfully clinked your glasses together. Her happiness was real. Yours wasn’t.

While you easily held up your end of the conversation, your heart wasn’t in it. Of course it wasn’t. Steve and Bucky were clearly not happy about your choices, but you couldn’t blame them. You’d done so many terrible things, too many of which they’d seen let alone the history you had here in Cancun: a history with Marisol, and a home with her, too.

You couldn’t help but scan the tree line, looking for any sign that your boys were there, but they’d taken your feedback to heart. Now they were being so discreet that you couldn’t spot anyone.

When you first left Cancun, you didn’t know how to cook, clean, or do laundry – and now that you were back, those mundane things proved to be good distraction. The normally boring chores you’d otherwise be doing right now back at the compound helped you twofold: to get your mind off of things, and to play Marisol like a fiddle.

One evening, you spent a couple of hours over the stove, preparing a lovely dinner for her. You had nothing else to do, and you thought that it might be a good way to show her that you cared. In truth, however, it was just another way of manipulating her. Not that she noticed.

She’d been extremely busy and cooped up in her office, so you set the table, lit some candles, and laid out the three-course meal you made. It wasn’t anything special compared to what her chef could have done, but she swooned at the hard work you’d put into such a kind, loving gesture, and after dinner she drew a bath for the two of you.

She, of course, ensured that there was a large selection of scented bath oils and bubble bars on display just for you. Some small part of you was flattered that she still remembered your favourite scents, but you were disgusted with yourself because of it. Slowly but surely, she was creeping back into your heart, and you hated it – hated her just as much as you once loved her.

Maybe in some warped way, you still did.

While you soaped up her back and shoulders, she aired some of her frustrations about the upcoming shipment. She didn’t say when or where it was, just that tensions were high between the buyer and herself and she might need to find a new one depending on how things went. It wouldn’t impact the shipment itself so much as where the product went after.

That, at least, was a relief. You didn’t want to show up with useless intel.

Worse still, you found yourself seeking comfort in her arms and in her bed. You wanted to forget everything, but you knew you never would. She was toxic. Some of that toxicity had seeped into your bones and poisoned any other relationship you may have had.

Marisol was unforgettable in the best of ways, and the worst.

The next day, you went back outside to the garden. It was nice to see how much the plants had flourished in the five years you’d been gone. The trees were taller, the bushes were larger, and there were so many more colourful flowers than before. Your original plan was to pick some for a bouquet, but you wound up chatting and helping to plant some seedlings with the groundskeeper you’d met so long ago.

When you got back inside a couple of hours later, Marisol took in your dishevelled appearance with pursed lips. The sweat and soil on your skin wasn’t exactly ideal, and unsurprisingly, you could read her like a book. She wasn’t happy. You were her porcelain doll, prim and perfect; her caged bird.

Clearly she hadn’t remembered how headstrong you were. You didn’t take kindly to orders. Never had. Your gardening was an act of rebellion, and she knew it well.

Before she could get too worked up about it, however, you offered her a coy smile and the colourful bouquet, which she begrudgingly accepted with a quick peck on your lips – but she was adamant that you not get your hands dirty again. The look in her eyes was dangerous and dark, meant to remind you of your place here.

You knew how she was – how she’d always been. Controlling. Domineering. She didn’t want you to lift a finger. No, she wanted to take care of you. She wanted to give you everything, and you were happy with that once. Ecstatic, really, because the two of you used to have ‘holier than thou’ attitudes. Once upon a time, you’d seen yourselves as above that kind of work. Only in recent years had your opinion changed on the matter.

By doing those things yourself, it was a clear statement that you’d changed in the last five years. She still seemed to be in her own little bubble of delusions, like nothing had changed at all and you were both still madly in love. You weren’t, but you sure could act like it, so that was what you did.

It was a façade you knew entirely too well. What you despised most was that some small part of it was real.

Coco Bongo was one of the busiest nightclubs in Cancun. Before you left, you conducted a lot of your business in the upstairs VIP area overseeing the dance floor. It seemed that things hadn’t changed much. The only difference was that Marisol had taken over in your stead.

This was her domain now. The VIP lounge was purposely not very well-lit in order to help conceal deals and identities – yours being one of them.

When you first arrived back at her estate, she asked you to come out with her tonight to see all the work she’d done over the last few years. You soon learned that she came here every Friday night, just like you did once. You only came along this time because it was a good spot for an in-person meet-up; you didn’t want to spend any more time with her than necessary.

After you passed on the intel, you were going to drink so much that you forgot your own name.

It was really doing a number on your psyche, playing along with her delusions. You were a great actress and an even greater liar, but you could only handle so much. She was insatiable to the point that you’d lied about having your period, and even that wasn’t enough for her. Your fingers and mouth worked just fine, she told you, so you used them as unwilling as you felt.

Despite your many talents, even you couldn’t get Marisol to take ‘no’ for an answer. Never could. Never would. And now, you were starting to break.

You were already a few drinks in, feeling loose but nervous. Her hand rested on your thigh as she organized deals and shipments right in front of you. There was no need to be discreet here, and for that, you were thankful; you were getting plenty of information to pass along.

“I’ll be back,” you whispered into her ear, before you pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Nature calls.”

At that, she smiled and smacked your ass when you stood. Maybe you would have winked at her once, but tonight, you were in no mood for it. Instead, you just offered her the ghost of a smile and half-stumbled your way down the stairs. Her laughter followed you until the bass took over.

Maybe you’d had a bit more to drink than you thought.

The music was much louder on the ground floor, booming in your ears as you tried to find a quieter, more secluded spot for a meet-up. What you wound up doing was actually going to the bathroom: the men’s near the east entrance. Unsurprisingly, it was empty. This entrance was still rarely used even after half a decade.

Shoving your comms into your ear, you reported your location under your breath. “Men’s room, east entrance.”

You expected Tony to be the one to respond, but it wasn’t. It was Steve. “Copy that.”

Hearing his voice only tied your stomach in knots. Your fingers drummed a anxious cadence next to the sink as you waited for him to come in. Of course it was Steve; he probably volunteered for this just so he could read you the riot act. Over the past few days, your troubled mind wound up overanalysing every single word he said to you over the past couple of weeks, and now you’d all but convinced yourself he hated you.

Why wouldn’t he? You were an awful person. You always had been.

The door was suddenly shoved open, then, and you jumped. Deafening music spilled into the small room before he shut and locked the door behind him. At first you didn’t recognize him, and you very nearly said that it was occupied – at least until you realized who it was.

Steve hadn’t relied on sunglasses and a baseball cap for his cover this time. Instead, he was wearing tight black t-shirt and jeans, along with a pair of thick-rimmed glasses and some week-old scruff. Probably hadn’t shaved since the gala.

Natasha surely would have had some input considering you hadn’t even recognized him, but damn.

Both of you just stared at each other for a moment, with so many unspoken thoughts floating between the two of you but not a single one came to mind. All you could focus on was that the terrible fluorescent lighting brought out the blue in his eyes – eyes that trailed down your body, taking in every inch of shimmery exposed skin.

The short, tight dress you wore to the nightclub did nothing to hide your curves. Rather, it embraced them, and the glitter all over your body only added to the effect.

Steve used his tongue to wet his lips before he met your eyes again, but by that point your face was flushed. You blamed it on the alcohol.

Despite the butterflies in your stomach, which you also blamed on the alcohol, the way you greeted him was impersonal. “Rogers.”

It broke the spell.

“What do you have?” He nodded down to the phone in your hands, and his tone had a certain bite to it that made you wonder if he was accusing you of something, rather than just asking what intel you’d gathered. The offense must have shown on your face because he quickly rephrased, “What intel, Agent?”

He wouldn’t even say your name. That stung.

“Here.” You flipped to your new phone’s gallery and offered it to him so that he could take a few photos of the screen. Despite his unfamiliarity with technology, Steve would have known just as well as you did that you couldn’t just email them because they’d be tracked. As he took the photos, you explained further, “She’s got weekly shipments on Monday nights at the port. They land in the US every Wednesday. Still trying to figure out where.”

“We’re working on that,” Steve told you, continuing to flip through your gallery, taking notes every now and then until one photo in particular made him freeze.

You tilted your head. “What?”

“I don’t know,” he spat, shoving the phone back at you. “You tell me.”

It was a photo of you and Marisol laying in bed, naked, with just the sheets covering you both. You were fast asleep with your head on her shoulder, and she was taking the selfie, running her fingers through your hair as you slept. Sweet. Intimate. Fake.

Well, not to her, it wasn’t. It wasn’t fake to Steve, either.

“I was just playing along,” you explained as evenly as you could. Truth be told, you didn’t even know she’d taken the picture. That bothered you, but you wouldn’t let it show. “If I win her back, I can get us a ton of intel.”

“If you win her back— Christ, after all the shit you’ve pulled, you expect me to believe that?”

Here it was, the riot act you’d been waiting for. Even though you’d been expecting it, however, the shame you felt from his words made you look at the floor, chewing on your lower lip. You’d told him the truth, but he didn’t believe you. Of course he didn’t. You lied to him for months, hurt him in so many ways that he couldn’t trust you anymore.

“Steve, she's nothing to me.”

Not like you.

He let out a long sigh at that, one full of annoyance and irritation.

“Yeah. Alright.” He clearly didn’t believe you. “Thanks for this,” he added, waving his phone briefly before he pushed it into his back pocket. “We’ll work on it. You just keep doing what you do best, you know, being you.”

That stung, too. Being you was punishment enough.

When he went to leave, you reached out for him before it even fully registered in your brain. Instinctive, almost.

“Wait—”

His skin was always so hot to the touch, and the feeling of his callused hand in yours sparked all sorts of emotions: loneliness, longing, happiness – or at least the ghost of what could have been, once.

You missed him, but he wasn’t having any of it. You realized as much when he pulled his hand from your grasp and gave you a look in warning.

“I’m sorry,” you told him, holding your hands up in front of you in surrender, doing your best to keep your tears at bay. You hadn’t drunk nearly enough to ugly cry yet, but it was definitely coming if the way your voice wavered was any indication. “I’m so sorry, Steve.”

“Jesus, doll,” he said, exasperated, muting his comms before he reached over to mute yours, too. This wasn’t a conversation either of you would have wanted the others to hear.

Steve’s fingertips accidentally brushed against your cheek as he pulled his hand away from your comms, and your heart stuttered within your chest.

You missed him.

You missed him so fucking much.

“I never meant to hurt you. I’m stupid and selfish and—” A sob escaped you, then, “and you didn’t deserve any of it. I’m so sorry.”

You weren’t sure why you were apologizing. You didn’t apologize. That wasn’t who you were. You’d hurt him – him and Bucky – and you’d never once apologized for it until tonight. Still, you meant every single word.

That was why it hurt so much when he bit out, “That’s low, even for you.”

Your head snapped up in surprise, eyes wide. He didn’t trust you. He didn’t believe you. He thought you were still trying to manipulate him.

Of course he did.

That realization was what finally made you cry.

Steve exhaled slowly and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, looking away from you – away from your tears like he couldn’t bear the sight. The bitter way he spoke your name made your heart weep. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. Just when I think we’re on the same page, you do something else and then we’re back to whatever the hell this is.”

“I know,” you croaked, sniffling. “I know, Stevie. I’m sorry.”

You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to get the tears to just stop, but it didn’t work. Then you blinked them open in surprise when you suddenly felt his palm on your cheek, large and warm and so, so familiar. It was hesitant, the way he touched you, but it made your face burn all the same.

There was the barest hint of a smile on his lips when he said softly, “You’re a real mess, you know that?”

At that, you couldn’t help but laugh a little, leaning into his touch. “I know.”

Your gaze drifted from his eyes to his parted lips and back again; you couldn’t help it. His body was closer now, so much that the breath caught in your throat, especially when you realized that he was looking at you in the exact same way.

Embarrassment coursed through your veins. It hadn’t exactly been an ugly cry, but it wasn’t pretty either, what with your smeared makeup and running mascara. You were a mess in every sense of the word, and you knew it.

Steve had seen more sides of you than you cared to admit.

Your skin flushed hot under his touch and the butterflies in your stomach multiplied as you stared up at him, almost in a daze. His eyes were always such a gorgeous blue, kind and gentle, even now – and for the first time in days, you felt like things were going to be okay.

“Can I trust you?” Steve asked you again, quietly, like he was afraid of the answer.

This time, however, you placed your hand atop his and gave him a watery smile. For the first time in a long, long while, you were completely honest. “Yes.”

That was the right answer, because he pulled you into his arms, flush against him as he pressed a kiss to the crown of your head and whispered sweet nothings into your hair – things like, “I’ve missed you,” and, “Come back with me,” and, “I’ll take you home.”

Your fingers caught in the fabric of his shirt as you breathed in his comforting scent – clean, like fresh laundry and soap and home.

Three little words were on the tip of your tongue, but you forced them back. As tempted as you were to say them, you didn’t; and as desperately as you wanted to go with him, you couldn’t. This was the best opportunity any of you would have at shutting down the operation for good. Having someone on the inside was better than trying to gather information externally, especially considering how reclusive Marisol was let alone the fortress she lived inside.

You knew that he knew it, too.

You weren’t sure how long the two of you stayed like that, holding each other under the too-bright fluorescent lights in that small nightclub bathroom, but it must have been too long – because when you finally returned to the VIP lounge upstairs, Marisol looked positively treacherous.

Part Thirteen

#steve rogers x reader x bucky barnes #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #little lies

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ketoeasyrecipes · 5 years ago

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simple meal plan to lose weight

Looking for Simple Meal Plan to Lose Weight?

Alright, well it’s safe to say that you won’t find any of these recipes on any diet or weight loss program you’ve ever tried before. Life is short! and I believe that just because you’re trying to lose weight, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able have a little fun. But what if I told you that you can “have your cake and eat it too”? What if there was a little secret that actually allows you to eat naughty-food and not gain a single ounce of fat, or undo all of the hard work that you have put in along the way.... Well there is, BUT you have to make me (and yourself) a little promise, OK? I’ll give you these undercover “cheat-secrets” but you have to promise that you don’t take advantage of it. This little trick that I use with my in-studio clients only works if you use it sparingly and with precision. Use it too much and your body will get “wise” to what you’re doing and it will lose its magic.

Deal?

Alright let’ s get into it!

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STEP 1

PLAN THECHEAT DAY

Before using any of these recipes I want you to wait at least 10 days. This way you will have about a week and a half of resetting your hormones and upping your ability to manage carbs and sugars more efficiently. Also, your 4th weight management hormone “leptin” will be asking for a high-caloric dose to speed up your metabolism and fat burning capabilities. This is key in plateau prevention and energy balance.

STEP 2

PREP YOURMETABOLISM

On the day that you plan to indulge in any of these recipes or have any sort of cheat, you must create an environment that is ready for the extra calories plus the potential excess carbs and sugar. There’s no specific rule here for exactly what to do with this step, but the bottom line is: Just keep it light leading up to the cheat. Maybe opt for one of the smoothies for breakfast and have a salad-based meal for lunch and then “go nuts” for dinner (vice versa if you’re having a breakfast cheat). Depending on what Phase you are in (Launch or Ignite), you have either one or two meals with “power-carbs” in them; a good idea here would be to sub in some extra veggies (angel carbs) for the starchier, Power Carbs. This will help with “making room” for the extra cheat meal carbs plus the extra fiber will prime an insulinsensitive environment. If the cheat meal pops up unexpectedly or you fall-off-track one day, just use this idea on the day that follows the cheat. This will help your body counteract all of the sugars and extra calories ingested on the previous day.

STEP 3

THE PRE(OR POST)CHEAT DRINK

This is a little drink that I use sparingly when I know I’m going out for a big meal or a couple drinks. It works unbelievably well and actually programs your metabolism to use any of the “less than healthy” calories for good instead of evil. I’ll warn you, I do get some complaints that this little concoction doesn’t taste too great, but the meal that follows tastes even better knowing that all those calories are going to work for you, instead of landing on your tummy.

Here are the ingredients and of course, the corresponding reasons as to why they’re in there.

¼ TSP Cinnamon Create an insulin sensitive environment.

¼ TSP Ginger Aids in digestion and help “eliminate” any of the leftover nasties the next day.

2 TSP Lemon Juice Provides an anti-inflammatory response and prevents a slowdown in your fat loss hormones

2 TSP Apple Cider Vinegar Triggers immediate use of stored fat for energy

1 OR MORE cups of water I personally use even less than this just to get it over and done with in a gulp or two :)

STEP 4

EXERCISE

Although this step is optional, I always recommend burning off a couple extra calories on the day of, or day after the cheat. This is kind of a no-brainer but trust me, every bite of that cheat meal will taste better knowing that you “made-room” for the extra calories. Either perform one of the “Movement-Sequencing” workouts from Accelerator, go for a brisk walk, bum around in the garden for an hour – Whatever, just do whatever you need to do to burn a couple extra cals before you dig in. Finally, the closer you get this activity in prior to the meal, the more likely the cheat meal calories will be soaked up by your muscles to use as energy the next day. It may seem like a lot, but as I’ve mentioned a few times throughout, that meal is so much more satisfying and guilt-free knowing that every calorie of that cheat is being put to good use. And to be honest, using each and every one of these steps each time you cheat is going beyond the call of duty, but I like to make sure you’re always covered and have each and every tool you need at all times.

And that’s it. Alright, eat up!

simple meal plan to lose weight

1. Barbacoa Burritos

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 dried guajillo pepper

½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon whole cloves

1 pinch “allspice”

1½ tablespoons dried Mexican oregano

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 clove garlic,

¼ cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

6 to 8 ounces beef (sirloin or roast cuts are best)

Salt and pepper

1 flour tortilla (gluten free if you want to keep it classy)

Beans, rice, or vegetables of your choice

Salsa, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the guajillo pepper in a bowl and pour hot water over it to cover. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Grind the cumin seeds, cloves, and allspice in a spice grinder. Drain the guajillo pepper, remove the stem and any seeds, and transfer to a blender along with the ground spices. Add the oregano, thyme, garlic, onion, and vinegar with a little water and puree to a paste.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Rub all over with the spice paste and marinate for 4 hours, covered, in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a small roasting pan add the meat. Cover the pan tightly with foil and roast until the meat is fork tender, at least 1 hour, depending on the thickness. Shred the meat with a fork or pull apart with your hands.

Heat the flour tortilla and layer with the shredded meat and beans, rice, or vegetables of your choice. Roll up into a burrito and serve with salsa on the side.

NOTES

Also try this 18 Quick and Easy Dinner Recipes

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simple meal plan to lose weight

2. KFC™ Coleslaw

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

8 cups finely chopped cabbage (about 1 head)

¼ cup shredded carrot (1 medium carrot)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1/3 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup milk

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup buttermilk

1½ tablespoons white vinegar

2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Be sure cabbage and carrots are chopped up into very fine pieces (about the size of rice).

Combine the sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, and lemon juice in a large bowl and beat until smooth. 3. Add the cabbage, carrots, and onion, and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Serves 10-12.

NOTES

Also try this 16 Delicious Fat-Burning Healthy Desserts Recipes

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simple meal plan to lose weight

3. Caesar Salad Dressing

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup egg substitute

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon anchovy paste

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon coarse ground pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes, crushed fine

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

Use an electric mixer to beat ingredients for about 1 minute. Alternatively, you may use a blender too.

Cover bowl and chill for several hours so that flavors can develop.

NOTES

Also try this 16 Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes

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simple meal plan to lose weight

4. Blackened Chicken Pasta

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

Cajun Blackening Spice

¼ cup paprika

3 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons celery salt

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon chili powder

Chicken and Pasta Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 teaspoons Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/3 cup diced Roma tomatoes, plus extra for garnish

¼ cup Alfredo sauce, homemade or store-bought

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 ½ tablespoons grated Asiago cheese

For Serving

8 ounces linguine, cooked according to the package directions

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

Do ahead: Make the Cajun blackening spice by combining all the ingredients; store in a tightly covered container until ready to use. (This mix makes more than necessary for this recipe, so feel free to add some Louisiana heat to other dishes.)

Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the chicken and mushrooms. Sprinkle with the Poultry Magic and cook the chicken all the way through. Add the garlic and diced tomatoes and sauté for another minute.

Lower the heat and add 2 teaspoons of the Cajun blackening spice, the Alfredo sauce, and the heavy cream. Stir well to combine the ingredients, then take the pan off the heat and add the Asiago cheese.

Portion the cooked linguine onto 2 warmed serving plates by using tongs and swirling and mounding the pasta onto each plate. Top with the chicken and sauce. Garnish with diced tomato and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

NOTES

Also try this 19 Quick an Easy Dinner Recipes for Every Day of the Year

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simple meal plan to lose weight

5. Spicy Chicken Fillet Sandwich

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

6-8 cups vegetable oil

1/3 cup Frank's Original Red-Hot Pepper Sauce

⅔ cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon paprika

⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

4 chicken breast fillets

4 plain hamburger buns

8 teaspoons mayonnaise

4 lettuce leaves

4 tomato slices

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat 6-8 cups of oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees.

Combine the pepper sauce and water in a small bowl.

Combine the flour, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, paprika and garlic powder in another shallow bowl.

Pound each of the chicken pieces with a mallet until about 3/8-inch thick. Trim each breast fillet if necessary, to help it fit on the bun.

Working with one fillet at a time, coat each piece with the flour, then dredge it in the diluted pepper sauce.

Coat the chicken once again in the flour mixture and set it aside until the rest of the chicken is breaded.

Fry the chicken fillets for 8-12 minutes or until they are light brown and crispy. Remove the chicken to a rack or to paper towels to drain.

As chicken is frying, prepare each sandwich by grilling the face of the hamburger buns on a hot skillet over medium heat. Spread about 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise on the face of each of the inverted top

buns.

Place a tomato slice onto the mayonnaise, then stack a leaf of lettuce on top of the tomato.

On each of the bottom buns, stack one piece of chicken.

Flip the top half of each sandwich onto the bottom half and serve hot.

NOTES

Also try this 18 Easy Keto Dinner Recipes You'll Want to Make ASAP

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simple meal plan to lose weight

6. Oreo Cookie Shake

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

3 cups vanilla ice cream

1 ½ cups milk

8 Oreo cookies

Whipped cream, for topping

2 maraschino cherries, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix the ice cream and milk in a blender and process until smooth.

Break up the cookies and add to the ice cream while the blender is running on low. Blend until the cookies are pureed—a few chunks are okay.

Pour the mixture into 2 chilled glasses and garnish with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

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simple meal plan to lose weight

7. Buffalo Blasts

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Pulled Chicken Breast

12 Wonton Wrappers

¼ Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (Optional)

¼ Cup Crumbly Bleu Cheese (Optional)

1 Egg Beaten

½ Cup Flour

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Tsp Black Pepper

1 Tsp Salt

Oil for frying

Buffalo Wing Sauce

⅔ Cup Franks Red Hot

1 Stick Unsalted Butter

1 Tbsp Worcestershire

¼ Tsp Garlic Powder

¼ Tsp Cayenne Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Make Buffalo Wing Sauce:

In a small pot, combine ingredients listed above and heat until butter is melted and ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Make Pulled Chicken:

This method can be achieved by slow cooking (best method), pressure cooking, stove top simmer or microwave.

Stove top simmer involves a pan with some water on low heat for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The microwave method involves a microwave save dish (glass dish) and submerged chicken in water. Cook on High for 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

Once your chicken has been cooked thoroughly, I actually just use my hands to pull the chicken apart, very similar to how you pull string cheese.

Toss the chicken into a bowl and pour approximately ½ Cup of your buffalo wing sauce and mix the chicken into the sauce Season the chicken with salt & pepper.

Bread & Fry:

Fill each wonton with approximately 1 Tbsp of Pulled Chicken or whatever appears to fit nicely Add just a sprinkle of Shredded Cheddar Cheese or Crumbly Bleu... or both! Whatever you prefer. Wet your finger with water and seal up the wonton much like you would an envelope how you have to wet that sticky thing in order for it to seal... Same thing here.

Get a shallow pan with a ½ Cup of Flour, 1 Tsp Garlic

Powder, 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper, 1 Tsp Black Pepper & 1

Tsp Salt and mix it all up

Beat an egg in a small bowl or shallow pan

Dip the sealed wonton into the egg mixture and then into the flour mixture. Repeat these 12 times

Get a frying pan or deep fryer with oil and set it to 365°F or medium heat. Fry each wonton until golden brown on both sides. This will take approximately 1-2 minutes.

Plate with garnish, celery stalks and a ramequin of bleu cheese dressing and the remaining buffalo wing sauce.

Eat it and take a nap.

NOTES

Also try this 14 Easy Dinner Recipes for a Family

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simple meal plan to lose weight

8. Canadian Cheese Soup

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 cup finely diced carrots

½ cup finely diced onion

½ cup finely diced celery

2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups half-and-half

3 cups chicken broth

2 pounds Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

Garnish

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Diced tomatoes

Diced jalapeño pepper (Optional) Bacon Bits

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large saucepan, heat the butter and sauté the carrots, onion, and celery. Do not brown the vegetables; they should just be soft. Whisk in the flour and stir for a minute or two, then add the half-and-half and simmer over low heat. Don’t let the mixture boil, just let it simmer until it is thickened.

Gradually add the chicken broth, whisking the mixture to combine all the ingredients. The broth should be slightly thickened, like a cream soup. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes so the flour has a chance to cook.

Stir in the cheese, whisking constantly, until it is completely melted. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, garnish with the parsley and, if you like, tomatoes, bacon bits and/or jalapeño.

NOTES

Also try this 19 Delicious Vegan Dinner Recipes

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simple meal plan to lose weight

9. Bonzai Burger

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

1 pound lean ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup teriyaki sauce, divided

4 slices sharp cheddar cheese

8 pineapple rings

8 tomato slices

1 cup shredded lettuce mayo

4 burger buns with sesame seeds

Teriyaki Sauce

½ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

¾ teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

INSTRUCTIONS

For the homemade teriyaki sauce (use store bought if you like instead and skip a step) whisk all ingredients together in a small sauce pan. Stir constantly while bringing to a boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat and transfer to a heat-safe bowl to rest until ready to use. on the grill). Cover the grill until cheese is melty (about 1-2 minutes).

In a medium bowl combine ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, and 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce. Mix well, then form into 4 equal sized patties.

Place pineapple slices and patties on a preheated grill rack. Grill patties over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side until cooked through to desired doneness.

When fully cooked, turn off the grill, transfer pineapples to a platter or serving tray, and place a slice of cheddar cheese on top of each burger patty (still on the grill). Cover the grill until cheese is melty (about 1-2 minutes).

Assemble burgers by spreading mayo on the insides of the burger burns. Top bottom half of bun with burger patty, teriyaki sauce, pineapple slices, tomatoes, and shredded lettuce. Serve warm.

NOTES

Also try this 19 Healthy Dinner Recipes Under 10 Minutes

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simple meal plan to lose weight

10. Georgia Chopped Pork

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

4 large lean Pork Chops

¼ cup Peanut Butter

½ can Mushroom Soup

¼ cup Milk

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon Salt

⅛ teaspoon Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Brown pork chops.

Pour off fat.

Top each chop with a thick slice of onion.

Mix peanut butter, mushroom soup, milk and seasonings.

Pour mixture over chops.

Cover and cook over low heat for 45 minutes.

Chop the pork chops and serve on buns with Famous Dave’s BBQ Sauce.

NOTES

Also try this 14 Delicious Healthy Recipes to Lose Weight

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simple meal plan to lose weight

11. Pad Thai

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

Sauce:

½ cup low-fat coconut milk

6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice

½ tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons grated gingerroot

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Chicken Stir Fry:

½ tablespoon canola oil

½ tablespoon dark sesame oil

1-2 teaspoon curry powder (optional)

1 lb. chicken breast or (shrimp), cut up into bite size pieces

6-8 ounces frozen sugar snap peas

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped (lightly salted) cilantro

½ lb. cooked noodles or ½ lb. cooked pasta

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl; set aside.

Cook noodles or pasta; drain and set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook chicken (or shrimp) and onions in canola and sesame oil. Halfway through cooking, add garlic to pan. When chicken is done, add sugar peas; stir to heat for 1-2 minutes.

Add sauce mixture and stir to coat chicken.

Little by little add cooked noodles or pasta; stir to coat.

Serve garnished with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

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simple meal plan to lose weight

12. Mama’s Meatloaf

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon basil

¼ teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup parmesan

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup tomato juice

2 eggs

⅔ cup milk

1 medium onion

½ cup of ketchup

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mince the medium onion very finely. In a large bowl, knead the onion and dry ingredients into the beef. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and tomato juice. Add in the liquid a little bit at a time, mixing the meat with every addition of liquid. If your meat loaf feels too soft, you can always add in more bread crumbs.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a 9 x 5 pan. Form the meat into a loaf shape on the top of the parchment paper. Spread a layer of ketchup on top of the meatloaf. Bake for 1 hour.

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simple meal plan to lose weight

13. Loaded Potato Skins

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

4 Russet Potatoes

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tbsp melted Butter

¾ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

½ cup Chopped Crispy Fried Bacon

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Wash, scrub and dry potatoes.

Pierce each multiple time with a fork.

Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 1 hour.

Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut each potato lengthwise into thirds.

Reserve middle slice of each for something else.

Use a spoon to scoop out white middles of each remaining slice, leaving about ¼ thickness in each.

Brush potato skins with melted butter and bake for 25 minutes until crisp.

Sprinkle with cheese and bacon and return to oven until cheese is melted.

Serve with sour cream and sliced green onions.

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simple meal plan to lose weight

14. Signature Cheesecake

simple meal plan to lose weight

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

¼ cup finely chopped pecans

¼ cup finely chopped walnuts

¼ cup finely chopped almonds

¾ cup finely chopped vanilla wafers

2 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

1 ½ lbs. cream cheese

1 1/3 cups sugar

5 large eggs

16 ounces sour cream

¼ cup flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Crust Directions:

Mix all nuts and vanilla wafer crumbs with melted butter and press into a 9-inch buttered springform pan, trying to line the sides as much as possible about 1 ½ up the sides of the pan, set aside.

Cheesecake Directions:

All the filling ingredients should be at room temperature.

Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy with an electric mixer set on low (keep the setting at low during the entire mixing process).

Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until creamy.

Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg.

Add flour, vanilla and lemon juice, mix well.

Add the sour cream and beat well.

Pour cream cheese mixture into the springform pan.

Place on the top rack in the middle of a 325-degree F preheated oven for one hour and 15 minutes.

When time is up turn oven off, prop open oven door and leave in oven for one hour.

Remove from oven and let cool then refrigerate for 24 hours.

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simple meal plan to lose weight

#vegan #keto #milton #family #dinner #mouse #animals #imgur #video #frog #hungry #bug #eat #snack #up

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vaguely-concerned · 5 years ago

Text

I am reading the Rogue One visual guide and I’m going to ramble at you about it

Starting with Baze and Chirrut facts because nothing is more important than Baze and Chirrut

- The Guardians of the Whills believe very deeply in the Force but their cosmology doesn’t center any fight between light and dark and they believe mortal minds can ‘encompass the totality of the Force’ with the right training (seemingly even for non-Force sensitives). *thinks of a little green baby who’s going to need some help with his place in the universe one day and how reductive the light/dark side dichotomy can be* good to know good to know. yes everything eventually comes down to baby yoda and his poor stressed out dad. protect them

- “Opposites in balance. Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus share a homeworld and a history, although they strike a compelling contrast. Baze is a hardened pragmatist, while Chirrut’s faith flourishes even in trying times. They both claim to act as the protector of the other.”

in every way they are #goals. bffs/partners to lovers is Everything. ‘They both claim to act as the protector of the other’ is very funny and very sweet and very true; my favourite thing

- this book describes chirrut as baze’s ‘best friend and moral compass’, which is a funny way of spelling ‘husband of 30 years’ but who am I to criticize

- baze is just. he’s so good. they say here pragmatism is his biggest trait but you can tell how much love has been at the center of him (and probably continues to be under it all) from the totality of his rage. I don’t think you can be this deeply hurt without loving just as deeply first. (like chirrut says, he used to believe more than anyone and now he’s thrown aside literally everything about the guardians except chirrut) it’s like he’s suffered a moral wound just seeing what’s happened to his home and it won’t heal and it never does, he just loses chirrut too and then at least it’s over. jesus christ it’s so soul crushingly sad in a quiet undramatic way

- “Though both are Guardians of the Whills, Baze and Chirrut could not be more different in their approach to combat. Traditionalist Chirrut still carries weapons associated with the ancient order, while Baze adopts an implement of modern warfare. Their methods suit them individually, and both are effective extensions of their distinctive personalities. Though Baze may chide Chirrut for his antiques, and Chirrut may decry Baze’s reliance on soulless tools, they trust each other’s defences to such weapons.”

THEY TRUST EACH OTHER’S DEFENCES TO SUCH WEAPONS. YOU HAD TO WORD IT LIKE THAT HUH. YOU HAD TO GO AND MAKE IT CLEAR THEY’RE EACH OTHER’S MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD. WHAT. THE FUCK

- it’s implied baze’s hair used to be shorter when he was a Guardian! he’s just let it grow past what’s customary for them (and an excellent choice too his hair is wonderful)

- his repeating blaster is described as ‘modified and highly illegal’ hahaha

it also weighs 30 kg and is meant to be mounted on a tank

baze is the best

- chirrut built his own lightbow! apparently used to be a thing the guardians did to symbolize the end of their training. I wonder if baze used to have one too? even more I wonder if they’ve always been part of the same uh ‘divisions’ or what have you within the guardians, because I think there are some implications that baze has been more of an assassin/focused on violent conflicts even before the empire came and chirrut hasn’t

- this book does not adequately capture chirrut’s trickster/funny side, making me wonder how much of that was an addition by the actor and how much was planned out

- honestly... more baze & chirrut (well baze/chirrut let’s not play here) prequel books WHEN. what does their living room look like (because we do know they live together) how did they meet, when exactly did baze lose his faith and chirrut his sight, what was their first kiss like

inquiring minds want to know (it’s me I want to know)

- unless the wording is deliberately misleading here chirrut was not born blind (though he won’t discuss how he ended up this way) and he’s learned his current fighting technique over a prolonged period of time

- bodhi is a bit of a gambling addict! and specifically one who’s pretty good at it; even after the empire knows he’s a defector he gets past their restrictions because he’s saved up all the credits/favours/even id-vouchers he’s owed by other imperial grunts fsdhfksdjf precious I love him

- saw gerrera’s medical droid a) has been modified so its programming won’t stop it from being able to dispense drugs at dangerous intervals, b) professes sheer bafflement that saw is still alive and c) is ‘frequently deactivated to prevent it from building an ethical case to discontinue treatment’. I find the whole thing darkly hilarious.

- there are literally whole subplots going on in the crowd scenes on Jedha about a mad evil surgeon who ‘decraniates’ people (essentially turning them into mindless servile husks with all of their head above the nose cut off, somehow), a masked cop from the Milvayne Authority who’s gone rogue to do the right thing and hunt him down against orders, a death cult, a bunch of different religious sects, a translation droid who has befriended a group of local orphans and shares his credits with them so they can eat and he’s SAVING UP FOR A PROCESSOR UPGRADE SO HE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF SPIRITUALITY ;_____; what the fuck I want a tv-series about this droid IMMEDIATELY

- this book shows you just how crucial K-2 is as an asset and what a masterstroke cassian’s reprogramming of him is... and it says some very, very sweet things about cassian as a person under all the trauma and spy stuff that he essentially treats him as his best friend instead of a tool. cASSIAN he deserved to survive and have SO much therapy ;_____; ah well at least we’re getting a prequel series about him right? pls be good

- oh cassian was a proper separatist during the clone wars! he probably has some very interesting points of view about the republic pre- and post empire huh (this is what I love about the clone wars era; they have built SUCH a believable and interesting political world here, all shades of grey. there were separatists with very valid points even thought they were lead by a guy named COUNT DOOKU played by CHRISTOPHER LEE, the first sign that you should look inwards and ask yourself... wait are we the bad guys)

- it’s so much more understandable to me now who in the rebel leadership is for following jyn’s plan and who is not. (namely: the ministers of finance and industry are both Not Into challenging the empire directly, kind of understandably)

in depth description of weapons technology... I sleep. deep dives into the political structure of the alliance leadership and their backgrounds and motivations? I have never been happier

(this. sort of should have been in the actual movie tho things would have made more sense)

- BAIL ORGANA Leia’s actual dad out there lookin’ fiiine, being righteous and good, almost making me forget he’s going to die SO SOON oh fuck :(

- orson krennic is, presumably straight faced, described as ‘a cruel but brilliant man’ which is PATENTLY LUDICROUS because krennic is by literally every indication a fucking idiot, he needs galen to do all the real work for him, he mouths off to DARTH VADER and then tarkin just effortlessly swoops in and fucks him over in the end, easily outmaneuvering him... orson krennic is a fucking loser I don’t care if he’s the one who introduced brutalist architecture to coruscant

lol lol lol *arrow pointing towards krennic’s head* ‘Keen mind dissects architectural puzzles and conspiratorial plots’ okay I see what happened here orson krennic wrote this book

- oh galen erso is kind of one of the most interesting and heartbreaking characters in all of star wars. (and I do not say this just because of mads mikkelsen’s cheek bones) he’s incredibly intelligent but from a really poor family and wanted to eliminate the difference between rich and poor and invent a new form of infinitely renewable energy... and technically he did achieve that, except his old college buddy orson krennic immediately found a way to use his technology for genocide and he didn’t realize until it was too late :’) there is something so comforting in the fact that in the end galen still got the last laugh in the most epic but unsung way. he’s the sort of quiet Magnificent Bastard who doesn’t even care he’ll never get the credit as long as it worked. u did good on that one jyn

also several of the scientists galen is leading on eadu are in the same category as him -- captured and forced to work for the empire. so that’s great and not at all upsetting

- galen and lyra’s falling in love story is kind of sweet (though naturally it pales against baze and chirrut’s whole deal but then who could compare) and the sheer effort and detail that’s gone into building the farmstead in the beginning we end up seeing for 5 minutes... dude (it feels very convincingly like somewhere a family would live though)

- *sees that ‘databook’ is a concept that exists apparently; groans in fic research I thought ‘holodisc’ might do the job but maybe this is a better fit*

- I will say that my largest gripe with this movie is how glaringly unnecessarily male it is. there’s literally no reason for most of the rebels and ESPECIALLY all of the scientists to be male but here we are.

well the stormtroopers could all canonically be any gender behind the armor so uh that’s. something lol

- despite being all desert-y jedha is apparently quite cool! temperature-wise I mean though the huge ancient statues lying everywhere are pretty awesome too

- wow stormtrooper armor really does just suck huh. it’s like ‘well it might protect you from a blaster bolt if you stand upwind and angle yourself just right, who knows’. I guess this is why everyone and their grandmothers are drooling over mando’s beskar lol

- star wars’ insistence on sticking to single-biome planets is so silly and I love it. stick to that incomprehensible world building decision lucasfilm I respect you

- mon mothma! basically the most important character in the star wars universe who most people won’t know about lol she’s like the anti-palps. for the most part she is one of the most Big Goods in all of star wars (along with bail) but also she’s played by the actress who voices moira in overwatch so I do instinctively distrust her whenever I hear her talk haha. called palpatine a ‘lying executioner’ to his face which is both admirably bold and remarkably restrained, considering all the things palpatine is.

- oof the two people mentioned the most on anakin/vader’s pages are palpatine and obi wan. that’s. hurtful and bad and awful. the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making me watch ‘clone wars’ because watching ‘clone wars’ actually made me care about anakin skywalker :(

-ah shit this is a lot of pages about pasty empire dudes i’ll uh come back to these lol

#first post of 2020! keeping it on rambling brand into the new decade #star wars #rogue one #baze x chirrut #meta #if you're here for information about baze's hair and how overwatch has coloured my view of a star wars character...#boy have I got a post for you lol

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beatriceeagle · 5 years ago

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I think my TV meta ask reported an error so I'm going to repeat my questions, feel free to ignore any of them! 1) I love Looking for Alaska the book, and whilst I'm not worried about the TV show as an adaptation, I am worried about it being good... should I watch it? 2) Are you excited for Bojack Season 6? 3) How do you feel about Agents of Shield as a TV show that's constantly changing? I'll never forget their pivot in season 1! 4) SPORTS NIGHT! Why do I love Dan Rydell so much?

I don’t think I could love a meta ask more unless it included Farscape. This is phenomenal.

The highlight is that the Looking for Alaska adaptation is good and you should watch it. To get deeper, without getting spoilery, I’ve heard a lot of people say that it improves upon the book, which I don’t exactly agree with. What Looking for Alaska is is a very smart adaptation.

Basically, Looking for Alaska, the book, pulls off a thematic trick using its limited point of view. Miles spends the first two-thirds of the book wildly idealizing Alaska, and often very much in the dark about the exact specifics of her relationship with Jake, but also with Takumi and even the Colonel. Then when the turn comes, that becomes the point: Miles might have loved Alaska, but the Alaska in his head was never the real Alaska, and that means that he can never really understand what happened.

We spend a lot of time hearing Miles’ very precocious, pretentious narration, and also Alaska’s precocious, pretentious dialogue, and a lot of that has seeped into the culture as being the book, as if there’s no deconstruction happening. But there is! Miles is a little bit self-deluding, and Alaska is almost always putting on a front, and neither of their words can ever be fully trusted. This is a book about a guy who never really knew a girl.

The writers of the series, I think, wisely realized that that dynamic was going to be incredibly difficult to replicate on-screen. No matter what they did, viewers were going to get an objective look at Alaska, and the time constraints of television (ironically, the fact that they had to fill out more time) meant that they would have to go outside of Miles’ perspective. So they ditched that idea entirely, and instead dedicated themselves to expanding wherever they possibly could. We get so much more Alaska than the book gives us. She is more real than she possibly could have been in the pages, because we get to see her, not Miles’ view of her. But we also get much, much more of the Colonel, more of Sara, more of Takumi and Lara, more of the Eagle and the Old Man. And it’s wonderful! Some of the show’s most incredible scenes are between characters who are neither Miles nor Alaska.

But it does undercut the theme, somewhat. (Especially when combined with some other adaptation decisions that I won’t get into, because they are spoilery.) Looking for Alaska, the series, gives up some thematic impact in favor of a great deal of character richness, and it’s absolutely the right call for the series, given its format, and given the context in which it was released. But it was a trade, and I think it should be acknowledged.

(The other thing the show does that I think is necessary from an adaptation standpoint, but makes for a kind of weird viewing experience, is that it adds a whole plotline to the middle of the series that doesn’t exist in the book. I do think that this was necessary, because there’s not a lot of structure to the middle of Looking for Alaska, and while that’s fine for a book, a series needs a plot with some kind of forward momentum to hang itself on. But the problem is that the inevitable arc of the book means that this new plotline has nowhere to go, and it ends up just sort of fizzling out, once the book plot takes over.)

Anyway: Looking for Alaska. Very good show, very good music, exceptional performance from Denny Love. Definitely check it out if you loved the book.

I am very excited for BoJack season 6! I’m just waiting to watch it with my sister. I have hope that, since this is a planned final season, it’ll give the writers space to move the characters forward, and actually give people like Diane some measure of peace, and people like BoJack some measure of atonement.

I think that being the kind of show that was a different show every season was the smartest choice that Agents of SHIELD ever made. (The least smartest choice that Agents of SHIELD ever made was “Fitz and Simmons can never be together for more than six episodes at a time,” even if it has led to several individually successful story arcs.) It makes the show infinitely adaptable, so for instance, if they kill off their lead character thinking that the show is ending, and then suddenly get renewed for two (!!!) more seasons, it’s very easy for them to bring the actor back without walking back the story they’ve told; the show is capable of going to almost any place or time, and pulling on almost any trope of sci-fi or fantasy.

It also makes the show really interesting. One of the problems with season one of Agents of SHIELD was that the MCU is this giant world, full of lots of different settings and genres, and in comparison, AoS felt bland. The genre it was taking on (sci-fi procedural) isn’t inherently boring, but it wasn’t a particularly fresh take on the idea, and the visual trappings of the setting were incredibly sterile. But post-Hydra reveal—and especially post-season four—AoS is like the MCU in a microcosm. It can be anything! It can do a season in the future, a season in space, a season in a computer simulation. It can do pulpy action and messy comedy and gorgeous, lyrical sci-fi.

And also, it manages to do something that’s incredibly difficult (even The Good Place didn’t quite manage to get the hang of it until literally just this last episode) which is to rewrite the characters’ realities over and over without losing track of their character progressions. So, for instance, Fitz has been regular Fitz, and then he’s had his entire reality rewritten by the Framework and become the Doctor, and then he married Jemma and died, and then we reset to cryo!Fitz. And throughout all of that, the show has always been very clear about where the current Fitz is emotionally, and how all of the past and alternate versions of him affect his mental state—but also how he is distinct from any past or alternate versions of himself. And they do this while carrying on actual physical trauma from season 2; if you pay attention, Fitz still briefly loses words when he gets stressed. (As someone who takes a medication that makes me forget words easily, this is my ACTUAL FAVORITE THING on television.) The end result is that you actually know more about Fitz from seeing his reality rewritten so many times—and he still has a coherent character arc.

Of course the downside of this constant shifting is that sometimes AoS will find something that really works for it, and then leave it behind. Like, over the course of seasons three to six, they built up a lot of texture and a deep bench of characters to the space setting, and I would probably say, at this point, that Space AoS is my favorite version of AoS. But the latter half of season six ditched that setting almost entirely, and it’s not clear to what extent we’ll be going back there at all for season seven. Similarly, Fitz’s character arc remains coherent, but I’m not sure the current version of it is my favorite version of it.

But at the end of the day, I think that’s a fair trade for a show that’ll change Daisy’s name halfway through and stick with it, you know?

Well, I don’t know why you love Dan Rydell, but after putting a great deal of thought into this over many years, I can tell you why I love Dan Rydell: He is, setting aside some baseline Sorkin patronization, a legitimately great guy, going through a legitimately tough time.

Like, in the grand scheme of things, there are a lot of people who have it a lot worse than Dan Rydell, but one of the cool things about Sports Night is that the narrative is genuinely engaged with that fact: It’s aware of Dan’s privilege, and it makes Dan aware of his privilege, in a way that future Sorkin properties never really manage to do. Think of “The Apology”: “No rich white guy ever got anywhere with me comparing himself to Rosa Parks.” Think of Bobbi Bernstein, a woman who Dan calls crazy until she proves that she was right. Think of “The Quality of Mercy at 29K,” an episode that’s basically all about turning Dan’s privilege inside out.

What makes Dan likeable is that the show is aware of his privilege, it points his privilege out to him, and he learns. When Isaac calls him out, he’s immediately contrite. When he sees someone in need in his office, he overcomes his immediate reaction and tries to help. And when he realizes his error with Bobbi, he grants her an immediate, complete, and sincere apology.

The thing is, Dan wants so desperately to be a good guy, and it’s just really hard not to like someone who is trying so hard. He’s incredibly good to his friends, and honestly, I think the turning point is “Mary Pat Shelby.” You give Dan and Natalie’s scene in “Mary Pat Shelby” to a halfway decent actor, and how do you not come out of that scene loving Dan? This incredibly unselfish, incredibly well-pitched moment where, while everyone else is freaking out and trying to get something out of Natalie, Dan just says, “No, I’m not going to tell you what to do, I’m just going to tell you that I am behind you a million percent.” How do you not love that person?

But the other thing is that Josh Charles is not a halfway decent actor, Josh Charles is a phenomenal actor, so actually the turning point isn’t “Mary Pat Shelby.” It’s the speech in “The Apology.” The speech in “The Apology” isn’t Sorkin’s best writing—“high as a paper kite” is a choice—and honestly, that scene is a lot to ask any actor to take on. Performed competently, it would be kind of embarrassing.

Charles fucking impales himself on that monologue. He leaves blood and guts on the anchor desk. And he somehow does it without overacting? It is a very subtle, precisely-balanced act of self-dismemberment.

What I’m saying is that right from the very beginning, Dan opens himself up to the viewer, and we see all his vulnerabilities, all the ugly, painful pieces of him that make him. And because Charles is a really, really good actor, it’s all very believable, and it’s all very magnetic—you’re drawn to it. And he does it all while being so likeable, and so good.

So of course people love Dan Rydell. He’s generous, he learns and apologizes, he tries incredibly hard, he’s got level 25 charisma, and he’s an open book of emotion—not to the people in his life, but to the viewer.

(Hey, while you’re here, have a link to an amazing Dan Rydell vid!)

Send me meta prompts to distract me from my migraine! (Yes, I still have a migraine.)

#looking for alaska #agents of shield #sports night #dan rydell #aos #mcu #meta #congratulations asker i am now rewatching sports night

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thevoidcannotbefilled · 6 years ago

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Jm or daisira prompt: “I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough.”

(I’m doing a 100 follower special!!! Send me prompts :D)

Daisira. Scars. Wounds. Surprising softness. Let’s gooooo~

——

Daisy tries not to look at Basira’s scars.

They’re a complicated matter, as everything in their lives. Daisy herself has no shame in scars, on others or herself. In fact, if a person hasn’t racked up a good scar or two by something or another, she didn’t consider them living enough. Soft skin meant easy lives, and nothing easy ever comes for free, especially in this world of monsters.

But on Basira…well, Basira is different. Before the Buried, Daisy hunted for the rush, the fight, and the inevitable kill. However, Basira is Basira and Basira is hers, and the idea of anything damaging what’s hers makes her blood rush far louder than any monster prancing about. If Basira were to even feel a twitch of fear from someone or something, Daisy would be on them faster than a starving bear after hibernation.

Which is why Daisy hates seeing Basira’s scars. It’s not that she isn’t proud that Basira knows how to defend herself, how to survive. It’s just this logic doesn’t stop the fierce protectiveness that fills in her mind when she sees the shiny scars that mar Basira’s skin.

Because scars at that point aren’t a sign of Basira’s success; no, they’re Daisy’s mistakes, Daisy’s inability to take care of the things that threaten to hurt them. It doesn’t matter how logical it is that Basira would have scars from times she worked in other sectioned jobs. It doesn’t matter that Daisy couldn’t have possibly protected Basira from every nick she’s gained between the Unknowing and now. It just…doesn’t matter. Every scar makes her grit her teeth, and even now, when she tries not to listen, the roar of blood is oh so tempting even if it means she doesn’t have to count any more shiny marks.

But she’s made her choice. This isn’t just about Basira. Isn’t even about Daisy really. That’s the point. Even if it meant she’d fade into nothing but bone only the most desperate dogs would gnaw on, Daisy would not give into the Hunt. She would not hurt innocents for her own satisfaction. Not anymore.

Her choice is harder to understand on days she has to take care of Basira’s wounds.

They sit on the ground near the one of the more permanent beds the post-Unknowing crew set up. Antibiotics, numbing agents, and piles of bandages surround them, and their clinical smell almost drowns out the blood in the air. Basira refused to go to a hospital, and Daisy wasn’t going to make her. Hunters attack when their prey was their most vulnerable, and the smell of blood makes Basira easy to find within the medical halls. No, the Archives, for the evil it holds is their evil, and right now it at the very least offers some protection.

Basira also refused Jon’s help. This Daisy found less wise, but the stony look on Basira’s face when she outright said she hadn’t wanted him here made it difficult to argue otherwise.

(Daisy and Jon would not-talk about it later. They would share a few looks, one bloody the other knowing, and he would offer this brittle smile that let her understand how deep his wounds cut. Despite not losing the world, neither technically won, and she’d wonders how long it would take until Jon would demand to see Martin safe instead of spending his days Knowing he’s upstairs, away from them on his own terms. They would share a space in a loud silence, not uncomfortable, but distracted nonetheless, until Jon would nod to the door. “She’s waiting for you,” he would say, “Have fun on your…date night,” and the awkward little grin he’d give would twist her heart. It’d be broken, but sincere, and it’d make her want to rip it off, in hunting or protection, she wouldn’t know. But she’d clap his shoulder, and a little smile of her own would sneak through when he nearly jumps out of his seat from the sheer force of it. Another look would be shared, but it’s different this time. They smile, and it feels real).

The worst of it is over now. Basira’s stitched up and the bandages are more for pressure than anything. Bright white and practically glowing against Basira’s dark skin, they wrap around her torso in a tight but practiced pattern. It’s not professional, but Daisy does know what she’s doing. Now, she’s just looking for the less pressing wounds.

At least, she’s trying to. She keeps getting distracted by the scars on Basira’s back.

There aren’t many. Certainly not as many that Daisy has, but Basira took off her shirt to let her get the bandages right, and with only a bra in the way, there’s nothing to hide the vast expanse of little scars dancing from arm to arm, and a few down the expanse of her back. Again, mostly nicks, and most of them look natural. But there’s definitely one on her back that is definitely from a stab wound.

Who patched her up then? Was it Martin before the Lonely? Or was it Melanie, angered filled and all?

Did Basira have to do it herself? Was it always there and Basira just never told her?

“Something the matter?” Basira asks, firmly, but not harshly. Daisy blinks, and she realizes she’s been tracing the outer edges of the largest scar. Well, formly largest considering the new one.

It’s easier to dwell on old scars, Daisy thinks. She could imagine pretend scenarios where she was able to save the day with a clinical eye. Strategy without emotion. Plans without context. Scars without impressions.

As gently as she can, Daisy traces the upper part of the bandage. She’s barely touching the fabric, but Basira tenses immediately. Daisy stops.

“I’m sorry,” she says automatically. She goes back to finding cuts. It’s easier.

Basira doesn’t grant her that reprieve. She shifts, and while she doesn’t face Daisy, Basira puts less of her weight in her lap. “It’s fine. Now what’s the matter?”

Daisy pauses, considers the question, and decides no, she will not answer fully. There are too many things wrong to list when Basira’s like this. She’d be shocked that Basira is as coherent as she is, but not much can be a surprise these days.

She cant mention anything big. Not the immediate dangers, but she knows Basira won’t be satisfied with the small ones either.

Daisy doesn’t trace the bandages again, but she eyes them with a frown. “I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough,” she says quietly. It’s at the hint of what they should be talking about. She can still feel the rush of panic, at seeing Trevor and Julia. At seeing them, with Basira, knives and jutted teeth, ready to tear, ready to hurt-

Daisy takes a breath. Maybe if she breathes enough, her vision would stop going red.

“It’s fine,” Basira grunts our after some time, and both the silence and her tone tell her perfectly well that no this isn’t fine. Because of course it isn’t.

They haven’t been fine in awhile. Daisy doesn’t even know if she’s ever been fine.

Daisy doesn’t reply. Their conversations are left with too many words unsaid nowadays. It’s easy to stay within familiar territory. To pretend that no, they haven’t changed when they know damn well that everything is different. They pretend that they don’t talk with Jon about how exactly different they’ve become. They pretend to be Daisy And Basira because if they are just Daisy and just Basira, they would both be lost in their heads, following the call of calling blood and endless trails.

As long as both of them are alive, they’re Daisy And Basira. And so Daisy after cleaning up the last of the cuts, takes a moment to be just that. Careful not to touch her bandages, Daisy leans forward and presses against Basira’s back and wraps her arms around her neck.

Basira’s warm. So warm. Full of blood and life. Her warmth sleeps through Daisy’s chest and arms, and she can’t help but nuzzle into Basira’s neck for just a little bit. Just enough to feel her drumming pulse. It’s heavy, pumping faster than normal, and if it’s from her wounds or Daisy herself she can’t tell. She finds she doesn’t really care either, both bring a rush at the thought.

Basira on her part is tense. Her breath catches. Even if Daisy can’t see her face, she can imagine the thousands of thoughts running through her mind. But Basira was never much of a planner. She has no strategy other than to act, and as tired and hurt as she is, it doesn’t take long for her to relax against Daisy’s hold and lean back until she’s practically in her lab.

They’re quiet. Breathing. Basira takes Daisy’s hand and stares. Daisy wonders if she’s trying to count the bones that seem to jut out against her sickly skin. Basira holds it gently, and takes a considering look.

She guides Daisy’s hand to her lips, and presses gently. A kiss. It’s just as warm as the rest of her, just as soft, but so much more anyway. It’s feather-like, and faint, almost not there, but it makes Daisy catch her breath because this is hers. The kiss, the affection, all hers, all from Basira.

Even as Basira guides their hands away, Daisy doesn’t breath, too busy trying to memorize the way Basira’s lips moved against her skin and how the warmth blossomed under the single touch in a way far more fitting of her name than she’d ever be.

She only breathes when Basira intertwines their fingers. Hers look so small in Basira’s hand. Too pale. Too gone. But if Basira notices or cares, she doesn’t give an inclination. She just rests their hands against her chest, and gently dusts her thumb across the top of Daisy’s hand. It’s calloused, and there shouldn’t be an affection in them. But it’s Basira, and her palms are warm, and the callousness are not like scars. They’re not signs of a fight, but show dedication in a way that scars can’t. Years of practice can be known just from one look at her rough fingers.

Dedicated is a good word for Basira. And so callouses fit her. They make Daisy smile.

She buries her smile in Basira’s neck. She hears her huff in response. It’s a pleased huff though, and it only makes her hidden smile go wider.

They will need to move soon. Basira needs to rest, and the floor is never a good place to settle after getting stab wounds. There will be talks and discussions, and many things left unsaid in them, and the world will probably crash around them again.

For now, they hold on another, feeling each other’s warmth, their life, their forms, and just letting themselves be Basira And Daisy instead of be thousand other people they probably are at the moment. Scars are hidden from Daisy’s view and Basira can’t mistake being weak for being dead.

Here, there are no monsters. There is no apocalypse. The horrors of the world can wait another moment. For now, they are just simply them.

And it is quiet.

#the magnus archives #tma #daisira #ask the void #the amazing written word #100 follower special #the void's writing #jon and daisy friendship #though it's mostly just a mention of it #you cheated a little maddie but I'll allow it~#LOOK I DID A SOFT #maebmad

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