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the-hate-keeps-me-warm · 3 years ago

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More than a memory

Sorry if this is formatted really horriblly I finished this up on mobile I hope you like this there’s about 2 paragraphs I cut of ruby nerding out

Once they got to Vacuo oscar was sorta unofficially a huntsman now laws are a lot looser here so he’s been saving quite a bit of money from going on missions after team rwby and Jaune came back it was weird they were only gone a month but so much had changed the merge was almost finished he could feel it every day he felt less like himself he didn’t even object when Theodore called him oz anymore he and ruby weren’t as close anymore whatever happened wherever they were changed her he got bits and pieces from Jaune and yang but the others kept quiet he knew that he’d be gone soon so he wanted to leave something for her kinda like proof that they ever met in the first place so he was now standing in a vacuan market at 12 am alone with a lot of lien on him this was probably a bad idea but at one point he heard ruby ramble about this gun shop that they were the best at what they do so he called made an appointment it just so happens they prefer to see let’s just say unofficial clients at night he knocked at the door it read “bikal bullets” it opened and an old owl faunas man opens it his large yellow eyes are piercing “hello mister pine headmaster theodore told me to expect you” oscar rubs his hands together “yes mister bikal he said to come late” mr Bikal leads him inside on the walls hang dozens of expensive weapons “so mr pine what are you looking for” oscar took the blue prints out of his bag and set them down on the drawing table “um im looking for something custom built its for a friend” mr bikal takes the blue prints and examines them “these are pretty impressive mr pine did you draft these yourself theses yourself” oscar nods “mostly i had a little help with the math part of it but the mechanical stuff i did myself” mr bikal nods “something like this will cost a good amount even with the discount you get for being school staff” oscar nods “do you have an estimate on the price and how long it'll take to make” mr bikal snaps his teeth “around 12000 lien and 2 weeks” oscar nods he had 140000 saved up but he did want to buy some more things for the others “alright i can uh i can afford that” mr bikal goes over to what looks like a drawing table and pins them up “i will start work immediately mr pine you make your payment on completion if you desire the school has credit with me the price includes 3 magazines and a case so that will also be custom made shall you pick it up or would you prefer its delivered” oscar stands uncomfortably as mr bikal starts measuring out pieces of fine metal “ill pick it up dont worry” mr bikal nods and says “alright mister pine your can go now its not a good look for a young man to be out so late especially so close to the red light district” oscars face gets red “yes of course” oscar leaves and walks back to the academy sneaking back into his dorm room was easy tho nora did pester him about where hed been he had left a note saying when he would be back for the next 2 weeks he kept a poker face nora helped him set up his bank account so the sudden spending of 12000 lien did give her pause so she decided to ask him about it

He was sitting on his bed reading some Treatise about some long-forgotten subject she knocked on the bedpost and he looks up “hey Nora did you need something” she sat at the end of his bed “hey what did you spend 12 thousand lien on” he hides his face “please don’t tell anyone it was on something for ruby” she smiles “ah young love I was worried that you wouldn’t make your move so what kind of thing sets you back 12 thousand it’s something big right” he nods his head “its a gun i-i had it commissioned for and it’s not really cause I’m trying to make a move or anything it’s more like a going away gift” Nora frowns and shakes his leg “where you going taking a vacation or something” he feels tears bite the edge of his eyes “Nora the merge it’s soon I know it won’t be long until I’m gone and I want you all to remember me but her especially I don’t want to be just a memory” he struggles to keep the tears at bay but nora pulls him into a hug tighter but somehow softer than her usual ones “hey you will never ever be just a memory you will always be you and even if your not you'll always be one of us we all love you so much” and then the damn breaks and he sobs into her shoulder “i don't wanna go away nora i want to live i wanna go to school see my aunt again” she rubs his back and says “i know sweetie you'll get to do all that ok i promise” he sniffles “nora i need you to do something for me if i do disappear ok i need you to go back to my aunt and tell her everything ok it can't be oz ok don't tell her how to find him it won't make sense i'll just hurt worse i dont want that for her” she nods “i won't ever have to do that ok but i promise” she holds him until he stops crying and they take a a a nap they always helped him calm down

Finally, after a long 2 weeks, he goes to pick it up when he goes inside Mr. Baikal shows him the box it’s a beautiful dark red mahogany wood he opens the case and looks at the pistol inside its silvered handle and barrel were beautiful he’s almost afraid to touch it the engravings were perfect exactly as he had drawn them if not better the moon and rose he had designed look perfect he takes it gently in his hands he looks down the sights the night sights glow a brilliant carmine red he looks at the magazine even it was of an amazing quality everything down to the smallest detail was exactly as he pictured it he sets it back into the case “thank you, mister, Bikal it's absolutely perfect” Mr. Bikal smiles and nods “I’m glad everything is to your satisfaction Mr pine if you find there is anything wrong with it or you want something changed everything I make comes with a lifetime warranty the paperwork is in the case as well as a certificate stating that I am in fact its builder” they shake hands and oscar takes it home in his bag he excitedly gets back to his dorm he sets it down still in his bag on his bed now all he have to do is give it to her

He sits on it for a few days but finally decides to just give it to her oz has his reservations about this but decided that oscar deserves this to maybe say goodbye in his own way

Ruby was going on walks around shade it’s something he noticed so he waited for her to go on one of those walks it was cool in vacuo at night the air was nice compared to the oppressive heat of the day she was meandering along the walkways he followed behind her a bit the case hung heavy in his bag even tho it wasn’t heavy at all after a while she sits at an old wooden bench overlooking the gardens he approaches and she perks up “oh hey oscar are you going somewhere” she says pointing to his bag he shakes his head “do you mind if I sit” she shakes her head “no go-ahead did you need to talk, something about Theodore?” he sits down on the other side of the bench gently setting his bag between them “no uh no I just uh I wanted to give you something” he opens his bag and takes the case out holding it out to her she takes it “it’s not my birthday is it this looks really nice you didn't have to do this” ruby says smiling “well i've been wanting to do something nice for you” oscar says rubbing the back of his neck she lifts the top and gasp gently lifting it from its case “oscar this is this is amazing” she drops the magazine and pulls the slide back making sure its clear and runs her hand along the engraving her symbol etched into the left side of the grip “oh thanks i uh actually designed it myself oz helped me with the math” she looks at him her eyes wide “oscar it took me 8 attempts to successfully design a functioning crescent rose gun design is really hard how long did you spend on this” oscar blushes “the idea kinda started in atlas i was gonna ask you to help me make one so i wouldn't have to rely on my cane but everything happen and when you were gone i kept messing with the idea and i kept thinking about you so i kinda ended up designing it for you more than me eventually do you like it” ruby scoffs “oscar do i like it i love it its probably the single greatest gift anyones ever given me” he smiles wide “really that makes me really happy I was worried you wouldn’t like it” she sets it back gently into its case “really Oscar it’s amazing you have a knack for design your gonna have to show me the draft notes and everything cause this is this is amazing I can’t wait to shoot it this is wow” she chokes up and he leans down “ruby are you ok” she nods wiping her face of nonexistent tears “no worries this is just really cool and sweet and god your so amazing” he felt his heart flutter and his cheeks heat up “the guy who built it that bikal guy you talked about was just as great as you always said” she puts a hand on his shoulder “are you telling me Hephaestus bikal made this Oscar” she says seriously “uh yeah why is that bad” she kisses his cheek and squeals “oh my god your amazing this is now even better god I could die happy wait his rates are insane how did you afford this” still recoiling from the kiss he bites his lip “uh huntsmen work” she narrows her eyes “how much did this cost Oscar it had to be expensive” he shakes his head “not telling it’s a gift you don’t need to worry about it just enjoy it” she punches his arm “I will but I am going to repay you for this somehow ok” “you already did” he says quietly he says rubbing the back of his neck “ruby I don’t really know how long I have left and I would like to spend at least some of it with you I understand if you don’t I know it might make it harder when I’m gone bu-whoa” he’s pulled into a hug she pulls his head into her shoulder and holds him tight “I wanna spend more time with you too but you will always be Oscar ok oz is oz you are you” he sighs and smiles “see what I mean by paying me back”

#rwby #rose garden #rosegarden #ruby rose #guns #Oscar pine #angst #this is sadder than I wanted it to be #at first this was gonna be sorta related to my weed garden fic #but the idea of ruby pushing Oscar away after that was too sad #for my fluffy little ass #I wish ruby got to nerd out about weapons more #Oscar is still a simp even if he’s sad #do not ask me about the gun I will elaborate #that is a threat

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monsters00km · 4 years ago

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I always thought that with the symbolism and everything of the maidens that this is what the Girls represented.

Ruby - fall - choice

Weiss - Winter- creation

Yang - Spring - knowledge

Blake - summer - destruction

But I keep wondering of may be thats wrong. And not like totally wrong I mean. What is Blake is Fall and choice and Ruby is Summer and destruction?

So, here's why I wonder if it is flopped. So, I under stand why so many think Ruby is fall. She is tied to Cinder with Yang and Weiss being tied to Raven and Winter.

But the other thing is Yang and Weiss's arcs are very tied to the location and the relics.

So, Yang is tied to the spring Maiden, her personal growth is tied to knowledge (you can't punch your way through everything, its about being smarter), one of her personal journeys happened during the mistral arc with her traveling through it(her journey with Raven and her journey with recovering from beacon), her mother lives in mistral, and she was the one to retrieve the relic.

Weiss is tied to the person groomed to be the winter Maiden, her personal growth is tied to Atlas and debatably creation, one of her personal journeys are happening in the Atlas Arc (her family issues), and she is from Atlas.

The other 2 tho aren't very clear. Ruby has had personal development and growth, but not really compared to the other 3. Yang and Weiss are related to people tied to the Maidens. Both Ruby and Blake were friends with Pyrrha and Cinder hates Ruby, but Ruby don't really care about Cinder. We don't know the Summer maiden. We haven't seen either relic...

So, let's get into why I think Blake might be Choice and Ruby is Destruction.

1. Ruby is tied to Cinder. But her mothers name is Summer. Yes, she's not the maiden. But her name is Summer. Yes, this isn't the best reason. Just kinda putting it out there.

2. Personally growth arcs. Ruby hasn't really had a very focused personal growth arc. Not saying she haven't been developed. It's just she hasn't really had the focus until v7/8.

But Blake has. Blake had a personal growth arc v1-6. V1-3 is about opening up to people and facing her past. End of v3 she has a huge set back. And 4-6 is recovering from that. So, Blake is the only one really with a personal growth arc during the Vale arc.

3. Ruby isn't tied to choice. She doesn't have any real symbolism to it. Things just kinda happen to ruby. Yes you can say she makes the choice to let it happen. But Still. Born a silver eyed warrior. Accepted to beacon 2 years early even tho she never applied there. Her and Weiss are the only pair that didn't choose each other, it was completely random. She doesn't even choose who continued in the tournament, they put it to a vote. You could say she makes the decisions and stuff as leader. But thats a leader role and not really focusing on choice.

But Blake is tied to choice and it starts before the show does. Black trailer. It's literally about Blake making making choice.. she leaves Adam. In v1-3. One of the first things that happens is the partner paitings. Blake is the one that chose Yang as her partner. Weiss is mad that blake chose to confide in sun vs RWY. Blake makes the choice to go after the white fang. She even convinces her team to join her. She refuses to go to the dance. Everyone was trying to make her. What got her there? Yang talking to her and Yang never asked or demanded her to go to the dance she says something like "if you go tomorrow, save me a dance?" She wasn't persuaded to go or forced, yang told her how important she was and how they are worried and Blake chose to go. After beacon falls shes terrified and furious at Sun for following her. Shes scared bc of Adam, but Sun still took the choice from her. (Not bashing sun) She convinces the faunus to go to Mistral. She makes the choice to reform the white fang. She helps ilia make her choice. Then chooses to forgive her. She is even in a situation with Sun vs Ilia and most would be forced to chose, and Blake chose to pleed with them and not pick aside. She makes the choice to let her parents lead the white fang while she returns to her team. She chooses this. She goes to them. V6, Even the Adam battle. He asks her about why shes so sure she can win the fight, blakes response "I don't have a choice." He also says a few lines later "I know you've made your choice, and I've made mine." Then v7. Her and Yang talking about Robyn. Blake: "I know. But next time, I wanna make sure we don't have to, and I can tell you, ambushing a Huntress who's just trying to help isn't an option I'm thrilled about choosing." And later it was Blake that reached for Robyn's hand not Yang. Blake represents courage, and what is courage? Someone choosing to do something even tho they are afraid. Blake is surrounded by choice.

4. Blake isn't destruction. Besides Adam she doesn't destroy anything. She reforms the white fang. She turns ilia instead of killing/arresting her. She chooses to trust in Robyn. She was convinced that she was the cause of so much pain. But she wasn't and her coming to this realization was apart of her arc.

Ruby is destruction. Yes, she's hope and so many things. But think about Ruby. She's is an image of the grimm reaper. She's wields a scythe. She's a SEW, who's eyes destroy grimm. Yes, to protect life, but still. Her red trailer literally set this tone. Her trailer is the only one that is straight up killing like dozens of grimm. She blows up the courtyard. She kills the nevermore in v1. She takes Cinders arm and eye in v3. She cuts of Tyrians tail. She destroys Ozpin, she asked the question. She destroys the mecha. She lied to Ironwood destroying him too. (Haha ok Cinder helped). Ruby isn't just causing it, she's the one we see constantly seeing destruction. She sees Penny in pieces. She sees Pyrrha die. She sees the aftermath of Yang losing her arm. She is the one that find Jaune in the woods, seeing the aftermath of Pyrrha death. She is shown recognizing how bad Qrows alcoholism is. She sees what the hound really is. She is asked to kill her best friend. So much of Ruby's arc is SURROUNDED by destruction.

5. Vale and Beacon. Lwst be honest here. Ruby and Yang go to Beacon for prob 2 reasons. It's closest. And team STRQ did. But Blake chose it. She's from Menagerie. And she chose Vale. Yes, mistral and Atlas are out bc of racism. But Vacuo is like the least racist. She chose Vale.

6. Blakes major personal arc, about courage and stuff. That happened at Beacon and Menagerie. Its conclusion was in Mistral. We are finally gaining steam with Ruby's arc and we are ending the Atlas Arc soon and going to Vacuo.

7. Ruby has ties to Dorothy. Theodore is Dorothy and he is the headmaster of vacuo. I know, Blake is tied to the lion and thats in Mistral. But Leo does help cause the fall of Beacon and fails at taking down Haven.

Ok. I'm gonna stop, that last one was a stretch. But you get my point.

#rwby #rwby spoliers #rwby theory #blake bellodona #yang xiao long #weiss schnee

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mars-the-4th-planet · 5 years ago

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But I don't wanna be the bees knees!

(last time on rwby fanfiction, Vale and Atlas had an unfortunate battle over the fate of Penny who was involved in the demise of Jacques who was technically killed by Neo. Penny has since been recovered by Atlas with her girlfriend Ruby, and Neo and Torchwick have kind of just been mucking about in Vale up to this point.)

"Now listen up!" Penny Polendina said, pacing back and forth on an Atlas sky cruiser. She had finally showed up, and demanded the presence of the soldiers on the ship, Ruby Rose, and even General Ironwood himself. Having become a symbol of Atlesian technological supremacy and patriotism after the battle at Vale, everyone in Atlas pretty much did what she wanted. Even Ironwood, despite technically out-ranking her. Thankfully Penny was not power hungry, but she did have some concerns regarding recent events. It was rare to see her acting so serious and firm.

"Most of you in this room have done very brave things for me." She said. "And I appreciate it, really!"

"But...?" Ruby asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Not now Ruby." Penny smiled slightly and shook her head. "I am busy relaying important information regarding my feelings. I can't help but notice that I am actively endangering people just by being something to fight over. And... I don't want you, or you, or you..." She begin pointing to her fellow Atlesians one by one, starting with Ironwood and going down the line of low rank soldiers. "...to be hurt on my behalf."

"You tell them Penny!" the always supportive ruby rose exclaimed.

"...And ESPECIALLY not you Ruby."

"Aww man! But Penny- I would give my life to protect you! You're not just some Atlas weapon or the guardian of beacon... I love-- mmph"

Ruby was cut off by Penny kissing her and grabbing her cheeks. "Awh Ruby, I love you as well. What you say is worrying to me though, not comforting. Watch:"

Penny did a flip backwards and rapidly beeped at a turret on the wall. It turned towards her and aimed. Immediately, Ruby along with Ironwood and a handful of the closest soldiers ran into each other trying to pull an "Its been an honor madame president" and block the attack for Penny. Penny looked down sadly. "This proves my point. I do not want to be on my own... But it is the only way I can keep everyone from risking themselves for me. I am sorry Ruby, Genny, and-" Penny started to cry, cutting off her sentence.

"No Penny, you can't leave! I need you here with us... And so does your girlfriend!" Ironwood insisted.

"He's... He's right!" groaned ruby under a pile of armored men. Since she was the fastest, she got in front of Penny first and then ended up being on the bottom of the pile.

"I am sorry... This does not make me happy either, but your safety comes first...i...i at least will be safe... I'm..." Penny sobbed. "C-Combat Ready, as always."

"But what about Salem? What about the white fang? What about Vale?! There are so many things we need your help with... Not just with fighting, we need you for diplomacy too! How will it look if you've disappeared and are out of control again?!" Ironwood said sternly as he got up.

Penny cried harder.

"I am so sorry Penny I didn't mean it like that... I know you didn't do anything wrong..."

"Hmph... Jerk." Ruby added.

Penny looked down. "I understand. I'm not angry at you Genny. I know what you meant... And..." She saluted. "I will take care of all of that. You can -sniff- count on me! But I do have to go on my own. I will keep in contact with both of you."

She ran over to the exit door and jumped out into the open air prompting everyone to scream until one by one they realized she could prevent herself from dying of fall damage. Penny was now on her own, flying down to remnant on her swords.

Meanwhile, back in Vale...

Roman Torchwick poked his head up out of a bush, followed by neo doing the same out of an adjacent bush. They were spying on a bank with the side blasted open. A half dozen security guards were standing around while construction work was being done.

"Ehehehehe, look at them Neo... No idea that they are about to be facing the low point in their career. You ready to do the plan?"

Neo didn't say anything.

"Show me your cutest, saddest face."

She widened her eyes and made a comically exaggerated frown.

"I guess that will have to do. These guys don't look too bright."

Neo did a thumbs up to Torchwick and got out of the bush and walked towards the guards. "Halt!" they cried out.

She huffed and pouted and made the face. "What is it lady?" One of them asked. She squirmed in front of them and held up a female restroom sign.

"Oh fine, you can go." They parted to let her into the bank. Roman chucked. "Fools... Never let neo behind you, I learned that the hard way."

Once behind them, Neo whirled her leg up and clocked one of them out with her heel. "HEY!" The guards drew the weapons and faced Neo, whole Torchwick stood up from the bush raising two canes. He began firing one after another while Neo punched and kicked up close. One fired a couple shots at Torchwick but they were so rushed that he missed. Another backed up, evading Torchwick's shots and fired at Neo who blocked it with her aura before doing a flying kick into his chest. The guard stumbled back, about to fire again but was finally zapped by Torchwick. All the guards had been stunned or dazed, and the two criminals were able to walk in without further trouble.

"Look neo! In that room... Piles of money! And dust- hey! What is she doing!"

Torchwick rushed into the vault, inside, an elderly woman was sweeping up the dust. She had filled her pan and was about to dump it into the trash chute on the wall. "STOP! That dust is mine now! We robbed this bank fair and square!"

"I'm sorry dear." She replied and dumped the dust down the trash chute. She tapped the dustpan to ensure it had all come off.

"NOOO!" Torchwick cried out, at seeing such a waste. "You..."

His eyes were in the shadow of his hat, revealing he had villainous intent. Neo patted him on the shoulder but it was no use. He picked up the old woman and shoved her down the trash chute in a flurry of lace, homesewn cotton, and old ratty shoes. She galumpfed her way down the chute and landed with a thump and a yelp.

Torchwick realized what he had just done, and he opened the chute and shouted down to her "All you alright? Sorry!"

"Fuck you dear!~" She shouted back in a voice somehow more whimsical and grandmotherly than before.

Neo silently giggled. "Yes, very funny Neo... Hehe... Let's get what is left up here." Seeing as she was apparently okay, the two criminals started bagging up pound after pound of Valebux and dust. "There is still so much in here! We can buy you a new umbrella Neo! And new gun shoes! Maybe even a new skyship! Mwahahaha, we are going to be so rich and powerful! Right Neo?"

Neo didn't say anything but smiled, winked, and made a V with her fingers. Then a siren began going off.

"Oh no... We have to get out of here, come on!" Torchwick and Neo scrambled out of the bank and into the streets, where villainy would continue. Now with sacks of cash and dust. To be continued...

#rwby #rwby rose #penny polendina #ruby rose #long post #roman torchwick #neopolitan #neopolitian (rwby)

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enigmatist17 · 4 years ago

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New Management (Rhys Strongfork x Vaughn)

I just want my boys running Atlas together and making it the best place ever :)

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Rhys liked to try and mill about among his workers. Atlas was going to be a company of peace and good intentions, and Rhys figured a good place to start was at the top. He didn’t want to be some sort of untouchable figure, no, he wanted to be the everyday guy who would drop by and ask about the kids’ ball game. It also gave him a chance to notice if something was upsetting people, or in the most recent case when it excited people. The accounting department had never been much one for interacting with most, usually keeping to themselves, which Rhys had never been one to try and break up. If a department liked keeping to themselves then, by all means, whatever kept the workspace at its most positive. Therefore it was certainly a shock to see said department cheering about something from their office block, Rhys unable to help himself as he made his way inside.

“You, my man, are now my second-in-command!” There is another round of cheers, and quietly Rhys looks into the main space of the accountant block. Vaughn is standing on top of a desk, a grin on his face as he holds up one of the older accountant’s arms in the air. He’s got the glasses Rhys made for him on, some sort of number crossing the left lens as he releases the mans’ arm. After being in Promethea for about a week, Vaughn had come to a compromise with Rhys about the state of his clothes, or rather lack of. It had taken the CEO a few days of searching before he and Vaughn agreed on some pants the other was willing to wear. They were of a khaki kind of material, Hammerlock even giving Vaughn some advice on how to break in the fabric so that it would be comfortable rather than stiff. Said advice was a good few days of hunting and crawling around outer Lectra City, Vaughn returning and looking rather pleased with himself. Rhys only shook his head and had them all cleaned up, surprising Vaughn with a fresh set of boots that earned him a rather enthusiastic kiss after Vaughn had tried them on. The shirtless man, still donning his new armored cape, had then begun his deep exploration of Atlas, and now that Rhys thought of it, he hadn’t seen his bandit boyfriend in a while.

Bandit boyfriend, man that had a nice ring to it…

“Hey bro.” Rhys nearly jumped at the voice right beside him, looking over to see Vaughn with a cheeky grin on his face. “Wondered when you’d end up down here.”

“Well, I suppose that would have been soon enough. Say, what are they all cheering about?” Rhys didn’t sound judgmental or disdained, earning a soft smile from Vaughn as he looked over at the workers slowly getting back to their tasks. They all genuinely looked happy, and the more Rhys looked around, the more he noticed changes. Each desk seemed to be filled with things each worker loved, the bright colors spilling out all over the room bringing a relaxed vibe to the space. The biggest change was a symbol seemingly hand-painted over every workstation, of a fist, reaching up as if punching through the red circle surrounding it.

"Isn't that your old Sun-Smasher design?"

"Yep! They seemed to really like it, and who am I to stop them?" Vaughn grinned, Rhys, noting the office that overlooked the main hub seemed to have been finally occupied. The former head of the accounting department had been let go during the whole Maliwan war, and his office had been unclaimed as the accountant department had been unwilling to elect a replacement. Well, until now it seemed, Rhys going to investigate as Vaughn fell in step beside him.

There are splashes of red paint all over the walls, thankfully not blood but extremely well-blended red paint. The floor is covered in countless rugs, large cushions and pillows stacked up in almost every corner of the room. The effect is almost unsettling, the Sun-Smasher logo above the admittedly gigantic desk that was covered in faux bones and skulls. The chair is massive and comfortable, looking out of place behind the bones and “blood” splashed walls, though a small skull is perched on one corner just out of view. Vaughn just grins as he adjusts his glasses, clearly pleased as he drops onto the chair.

“Well, what do ya think?”

“I couldn’t think of a more fitting office for you...strangely enough.” Rhys chuckles, noting anything vaguely corporate assuming either covered with some sort of bandit covering or shuttered out of the main view. The screen, keyboard, and mouse are the only things spared, and Rhys makes a note to have Vaughn try his new prototype to even further remove the hardware.

“You really mean that? I know you’re probably still all weirded out by the fa-” Vaughn is cut off when Rhys leans over his desk to land a kiss on his rambling lips.

“I may not understand, but it’s part of you. So yes, I really mean it.” Rhys just disarms the former chief with that stupidly adorable grin on his face, and Vaughn just hums with a dopey grin as Rhys straightens up. “So, I’ll leave you to do things then? All I ask is that you remember we sometimes have clients here, so not too much blood and bones alright? No dead organisms either, or we will be having words.” Vaughn just grins, remembering when he had brought home a dead ratch that had scared Rhys something fierce.

“Dealio! You’ll have the best accountant department, I promise.”

“I already know I will.” Rhys smiles before turning and leaving his partner to whatever other changes he was excited to enact.

So what investors found the space strange, Rhys would just smile and say the same speech. Seeing the almost bandit-like accountants glowing and excelling at their tasks was all Rhys wanted, corporate regulations or no.

At Atlas, we want all our workers happy, it’s our prerogative.

#rhys strongfork #vaughn #rhys x vaughn #I love my boys #I wanted them to be together more in the game #pls #borderlands 3 #borderlands 3 spoilers

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winter-chill · 5 years ago

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RWBY 7 - 3 “Ace Operatives” Thoughts

So thoughts...

BOO!!! they didn't work on stuff themselves.. although if it was Pietro and not just random scientists, I'll let it go :) And i'l give him props for using the Amity fights footage (i'll talk more on weapons later)

Oh, dust mines, launch site... ghiest, oh that's gonna bring back some memories

God Nora being so giddy about her stuff puts a smile on my face

and the Blake/Yang nod, the first of so many bumbleby touches this ep

They're really trying to hit hard again with Jaune and that sash, though it was a good set up for his hair cut (since I wouldn't really think of cutting it now when he's in a cold climate ideal)

Another very slight, but nice detail about having Yang be actually armless, not just fixing it while it's on her. We need more points like this, or maybe i just like the idea of it, but having those details shown off and not forgotten is nice. Also that's a beefy arm, though I swear it looks larger in the intro?

Again, having Blake have an onscreen notice of her hair leads well into why it's cut (though not showing it on screen? nor how/why her weapon's fix being gold... missed opportunity , truly)

WAIT??? Ruby got a NEW cloak? BOO, I would have thought her current one was still the original, has she been swapping it with each outfit? but, all the cuts and tears, the detail and history from her past fights, lost :(

I'll talk about the Oscar scene when it shows up, not here

Again, lovely intro to their new looks, but... could have been more. Showing them actually zip things up, buckle them in, cutting their hair themselves. Just lots of little details that would have added so much

I'll say it again, I think Yang's new glasses look weird.. too anime for the actual show style, but, I guess they 'work' ?

Also they all look to Ruby, this is her mission, her shot to call, she's back with her team (just rwby) for the first time so it's good to see them keeping the team dynamic, she was leader for a reason.

OH THIS SONG IS A BANGER!!!! also, totally a Weiss song (it said mirror)

Bunny hopping Ruby :D adorable

SUMMON SWORD SURFING!!! Finally

Blake really making the use of that ribbon, a little detail they again seem to forget about during most of 4-6 until it's necessary (running from adam in V6)

And... yep, no nonsense Yang sticking with the classics, recoil (( I take it back, Yang's arm is the same as the intro, though I still think it somehow got bigger than when she put it on ))

And end it all on an amazing pose shot

Okay Ace ops time. Harriet, let me see what that little backpack thing do. But for serious, rolling only stops you from getting hurt on small drops, not several hundred foot... Marrow though taking a similar root to Ruby, seeming to ride it down, but he's doing some troll physics there, "stand on chair, jump off building, jump off chair at last moment, you only actually fell 2 foot"

Also, boomerang, gun? Honestly I kind of dislike the generic gun looking form, would have been cooler if it didn't change, but just had a little barrel pop out an end when he needed to shoot.

And now JN- OMG ELM YES, Loving the attitude. Oh Vine what's that on your back? you wielding an expanding throwing star (three pronged)

erm, right... JN_R

so, we got, some sick new looks, Ren's ponytail especially. Jaune's hair (i was one to hate it at first) in motion looks great, the concept art didn't do it justice. Also holding his sword on his arm..... kind of reminds me of @kumafromtaiwan's design for Jaune

"okay Jaune, you got this, it's not gonna be like Beacon all over again"

Oh, is he gonna use his shield like a plow, smashing through rocks, or maybe as a wing and glide do............................

DID JAUNE JUST FORTNITE PARACHUTE SHIELD HIS ASS TO THE GROUND?

Moving on though, yep, Hard light dust was a genius move he would have stuck in his head from Argus, and opens up the question of adding (what i'm dubbing) Shield Shield, with his V4 Nuckelavee Sword Sword, to make hard light blades.... SWORD SWORD SWORD???

a quick little peak at his shield, the emblem lighting up as he shoots a blast to bounce him from hitting the floor, that better be used later too.

And another amazing pose shot!

Oh Elm, you really need to work on your social skills. Actually maybe all the Ace ops do?

POUTY NORA!!!

and, good luck bad luck duo for the final team, this'll be fun.

NEW SCROLLS! Love them, slim and cool, and with new team icons (c'mon girls, smile for your picture)

and that detail on how Ruby zoomed, Weiss had to summon, and Yang had some energy stored up, so their aura is down a bit, but Blake is 100%

THE EARS, THEY SENSE BEES

Oh Yang, adorable goof

Oh Blake, also an dorable goof!!!

And Marrow is indeed the baby of the squad, you said it well Harriet, if a tad harsh?

Weiss no, this is a bad place for your name, but you're here to make it a better one, to fix that remember!!

Has.. has no one taught Ruby to project her aura to keep her warm, or at the others just dealing with it better? Either way, same Ruby, i hate the cold

Okay, yes, Oscar chat time

I don't know what to say, I agreed with it the whole time. Atlas is in a mess, there are good and bad times to tell people, and it's nice that Ruby has her intentions, but this may have been the same path Ozma first took, hiding things "for now" but never finding a chance to tell the truth later... they just need to keep it in mind.

And Oscar, please look after the Relic, I can already see red flags over your head the moment you took it, be that from Ironwood doing shady shit, Watts/Tyrian stealing it, or Ozpin popping back up to use it's last question.

OH, Clover, hitting a man hard with that, bringing up STRQ :/ all those fanfics of Qrow ('s semblance) being behind Summer's death, they all feel more realistic

I almost forgot, Qrow's looking snazzy too, those cross buttons, the eye/feather emblem embroidery in the sleeves. No... no necklace though?

Oh god Qrow's getting shipped with everyone this volume it seems. Good catch Clover.... I MEAN LITERAL CATCH

Halfick? Halphr... what did he say? Don't bullshit me captions, that wasn't alpha

REN!!! PAY YOUR GIRLFRIEND SOME ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!! Jaune you dork, nice try?

Another great Bee moment, Yang too can sense a disturbance in the force.

Weiss this is great, but can you keep your emotional daddy issues and the racial discrimination of a whole people a little more separate. But it's nice to again see you trying to make some amends and distance yourself from being.. well, 'Jacques' and his actions

OOF, Marrow coming in, hitting hard, and then acting like he's.... a millennial "I'm just a teen who does research, what do I know, boomer"

this scene though. Issues and history of faunus oppression, followed by a Schnee apolagy, and a faunus using her traits to help fix the past for a new future... that's some symbolism

Oh, a jump scare, good thing about Blake's semblance there too

HARRIET YES!!!! BIG FISTS, JUST WHAT I WANTED!!! PUNCH THAT ROCK

And RW_Y right behind already running before the rumbles settled to help their girl

I LOVE THE GRIMM IN ATLAS. don't get me wrong, Deathstalkers are still top tier, but these things are awesome too

and now we get to upgrades!

Nice, so Yang has some trigger-able explosives, so she doesn't have to rely on her semblance to protect her when she's using his shotgun blasts

A subtle little thing there, Weiss being able to shoot an icle, not doing so from a glyph, but from the gun part of

Myrtenaster directly

Okay yes, this bugged me for so long. A scythe is a big weapon, the weight is in the blade as much as it is the handle, so having to turn it around all the time would be unwieldy and difficult in combat, so just a tiny upgrade like this is both smart, and amazing for Ruby to have realised she needed

Although I still don't get how shotting a bullet down the barrel, can give her swings an initial boost of speed........

Marrow really out here flying though the sky like he's on a zipline? though the buzz saw boomerang is, again, brilliant

Oh................ So the boy who cried wolf, can pause time? I erm- actually hold on, I need to figure out how that's logical......

I'm just gonna guess it's more "Harriet is moving so fast, he did this for dramatic affect XD

JN_R once again, taking a moment, a little nervous but willing and--- now they're very much not nervous, doing their thing, never first to run in, but never first to run away either.

Also, Vine has a stetchy arm semblance, and Elm has rooting feet semblance. Ye they make a good team (i ship them)

THERE'S THAT PURPLE SHIELD BLAST

And finally StormFlower is getting some love. I don't think they look different, but having those blades be used in more various ways... grapples were a great idea

and again, Nora using that spiked back of Magnahild for more than a place to stand when she launches herself, loving it!!!

Oh Jaune, being nervous dorky, Nora a little ashamed? or ready to be.. and Ren, quiet as ever (i think he's kind of looking up to Vine honestly) don't worry though, you kids did good

OH Harriet... you don't wanna be left out of the action do you :) RUBY YOU DORK! And that little back+forth was actually hilarious

Hmm, I was always wondering how a fishing rod could be a weapon.. i guess pulling a grimm in works, but what was your plan then, to punch the Ghiest?

OH MY GOD THAT ANIMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

again, what are you doing Clover? At least Qrow knows his semblance, acting all "i'm gonna look around, things could easily go wrong here"

Good luck bad luck eh? OH MY GOD Qrow don't make that face, the people are gonna ship you two even harder now!!!

And the hammer duo charging in first... ye Elm/Vine is just Atlas' Renora, and I love that dynamic

oh, weird dust draft from Ren stopping, sweat boiling on the rocks... this room is gonna be interesting, mess things up a bit? fluxuating gravity, hot and cold spots maybe??? Ah yes, dust energy... makes sense

And Marrow in the background while we hear him on the coms, just a great little look at how Vine seems to be "distant" from the moment, doing the whole, Ren style of vague-speak

Ye it is kinda empt-- oh. Also good work having not just the face move, but the whole midsection being rotated... kind of as if, the face is stuck to that one position... COINCIDENCE?

Erm, does this one seem bigger than the V4 Ghiest?

And now we see Ruby trying to act as leader, pause to think, to come up with a plan, where as the Ace (while more experienced) seem to have both a plan on how to take it out, and might also be a little to reliant on Clover, knowing his semblance will fix any little issues

Oh that trumpet, a very self-knowing victorious tune.

And again, Vine and Elm doing a whole of semblance work, shame we don't see them use their weapons a bit more here, same with Marrow though not using his semblance (whatever it is) at all.

HEY WAIT. those black parts weren't there earlier, nor did they appear on the V4 Grimm until it needed them to pull toge- oh... they stretched the limbs to force both a space to cut them, and for the grimm parts to sort of 'be revealed'

And another eye colour semblance indication. Loving the runners pose Harriet does too. She's not time-pausing fast... (I take back what I said about Marrow's semblance earlier?) but things do act slower, even while she's running quicker than we'd see as normal in that moment. It's not time-pausing, but it's very very fast. And the motion blur trail!!, just a tiny effect, but it adds so much detail

Marrow really is the child of the squad, he's the one to make a mistake, but again- kind of had to rely on Clover there.. Interesting to see how things pan out when he's inevitably killed, or trapped, or just isn't there

Little details here and there. Vine using his semblance not just to grab, but to push the grimm back. Harriet taunting it to get it's attention and then getting out before it can hit her (but late enough that it keeps it's attention on her and really slams it's fist down). Elm again sticking to her name, rooting that fist down, being basically an anchor in all her actions. And Marrow... throwing his boomerang

UGH.. that little medallion touch pisses me off somehow, it's so pretentious? but anyway, he had a good idea, pulling it out by it's mask, kinda really relying on his semblance to get between it and the ice chunk without bouncing off anything. Again, very semblance reliant group

Erm... she punched the grimm.. but i wouldn't say it's dead.. are we gonna ignore that??? IT'S GONNA RETURN LATER I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT

Vine again grabbing dust, would have loved to have seen Elm basically kick one to stick it to her feet instead of just catching (or pinning herself to a wall to catch it, as if it was too high to jump and catch)

And Harriet going in for the catch, only for....oh.. that's the first thing RWBY or JNR did this fight? (also no weird dust affects, i feel upset)

But ohhh, her semblance isn't speed. I had this same issue in last volume, that her semblance early on was supposed to be speed, and yet she uses it to fly, to separate into several for moments, and she can 'merge' with others to carry then, when like for Nora in V4 her reaction speed should have been way too slow to really be ready for when she was basically thrown at the previous ghiest

AY yep, I'm shocked if Ruby has control over her eyes, she never tried to flash them off during this whole scene... but again, after Maria's story, hiding them from people we don't fully trust is better

And another little bee moment, Yang flirting with them puns

Omg! Elm carrying Ruby, Yang and Nora dancing, love this group dynamic

Hey, it's that guy from last episode, why are we... Robyn?

huh, kinda spooky... flickering lights... Robyn, watts, or...

TYRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why are you not wearing your coat, it's cold remember! but that entrance, reminds me again of that "Cheshire cat inspiration" people first thought of back in his V4 reveal

HIS EYES!!! So whatever he does that triggers them is still apparent, and his stinger either still uses his own venom, or it's semblance related

And that line. He's here to mix things up... either he's finally gonna kill someone and let the police find out (unlike last ep when his victim was in a building, it'll take time till that's discovered... oh wait, blood) or he's here for info maybe?

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cayde-6 · 5 years ago

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A gift for Ikora from Cayde

So I had this old loot map from Cayde that he had gave me and told me that nothing important was in it other than guns that can be scrapped, now I know that it sounds bad but I actually need scraps for my own guns that get damaged a lot due to me getting thrown from the enemy since I keep on punching them so I took the map. Well turns out something was important inside it, a Dawning gift to Ikora from Cayde. So I carefully take it back to the Tower and I make my way over to where Ikora is at, I get scared because I don't know how she's going to react but I know that I must give it to her. When I make it to her she's looking out at the city.

"Excuse me Ikora." I call out

Ikora turns to me. "Yes Atlas, what is it?"

Drachen transmat the gift out of my backpack and into my hands, I hold my breath and I had it to her. Confused Ikora takes it.

"I found it in a loot cache that belonged to Cayde, when he gave me the map he said nothing but scrap guns was inside, I guess he forgot." I tell her scared out of my mind

Ikora opens the gift and pulls out a purple Warlock symbol tea infuser, she stares at it for a long time then she places it onto the table next to her.

"Thank you for delivering this to me." Ikora says with sadness in her voice as she wipes a tear from her face.

"Your welcome." I reply then I have Drachen transmat me back to the main part of the Tower

I walk over to Zavala and wait until he is free then I quietly tell him what happened.

"I know you two aren't talking to each other unless it's Vanguard stuff but please talk to her, it's been long enough sir and the other Guardians are wondering if you two hate each other." I say

"I'll try but she's still not very happy with me." Zavala replies

I nod and go to orbit.

#destiny 2 #destiny community #destiny zavala #destiny ikora

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jadekitty777 · 5 years ago

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Who Needs Tradition When We Have Each Other?

Hi, hello! It’s been a bit – but yes, I do still write. Amazing, isn’t it?

So this is going to be a short, four part mini-series of Summer/Tai/Qrow stories. Why? Because apparently, I have a thing about writing fluffy snippets for underappreciated poly-ships that I secretly adore. Three of four of the stories are complete – with, naturally, the second chapter being the incomplete one. Hopefully… the probably extremely small pool of people who will read these will enjoy them!

Rating: K

Word Count: 2,600

Pairing: Summer/Tai/Qrow

Ao3 Link: Who Needs Tradition When We Have Each Other?

Summary: Qrow wore three rings on his right hand. Only one was actually his.

Originally, Qrow was only supposed to have one ring.

“Pick one out, pick one out!” Summer was leeched onto his arm, hopping on her heels. She’d been practically flying on cloud nine ever since the engagement, going full bridal mode with planning it all - decorations, catering, guest lists, clothing. He wasn’t exactly sure all the activity was good for her, especially considering her condition (“It’s a baby Qrow, not a hernia.”), yet her enthusiasm was too infectious not to get swept into.

That’s why he allowed himself to be dragged out of bed at eight on a Saturday morning to decide on wedding rings.

“Aren’t they supposed to match?” Taiyang called from where he was peering into another set of cases. Qrow suspected from his distant expression that he was only pretending to look. Probably for the better, considering his sense of fashion equated to ‘if it’s clean, it can be worn’.

Summer wiggled, bumping her hip into his own. “Only if we want to be traditional. But if we’re going to wear something for the rest of our lives I’d rather it be something we like for ourselves.”

The sentiment brought a smile to Qrow’s face. The rest of their lives, huh? After so many years of never having anything permanent or feeling like he was unwanted, he couldn’t begin to describe just how the promise of such a complete commitment made him feel.

“Oh well, then I’m good.” Tai said as he walked over, wheeling Yang’s stroller between the displays. The infant had her chubby little hands clutched around her favorite teddy bear plush, occupying herself by gnawing at one of its rounded ears and growling like she was the bear.

“Really? Which one did you pick?” Summer asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

“None of them.” He replied.

“Wait, what?! You can’t pick none.”

He arched one brow. “Sums, I punch Grimm in the face for a living. Pretty sure wearing jewelry isn’t good for my hand. Or the jewelry for that matter.”

“Oh.” She deflated as she considered that. Then her eyes lit up again. “What if we turn it into a weapon?”

Qrow barked out a laugh. Typical.

“I’m serious! I bet they make those; Huntsman-specific rings that have poison barbs in them or, or – oh!! Mini guns!!”

Tai snorted, shaking his head. “Think I’ll pass.”

“Ah, come on it would be rad!” When he continued to shake his head, her pout only grew more pronounced, “But Taai-”

Qrow curled his arm over her waist, dropping a kiss against her temple. “Babe, it’s fine. But maybe we’ll get that for your ring.”

“Yes!”

They continued to explore the store while Summer tried to talk the shop keep into customizing her ring with spikes (Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t going well). Qrow ghosted a hand over the top of a case full of silver bands, wondering if that was possibly too tacky. Just as he was about to turn away, he spotted one that had potential – a ring of both silver and gold, the two metals weaving around each other like vines. He lent closer to get a better look, only for his view to get obstructed as the glass started to break, cracks spiderwebbing across the top.

He straightened up, hurrying away from the scene of the crime.

As he joined Tai’s side, the blond pointed out the white rings he was admiring. “These ones are nice. Really Team STRQ-ish.”

Qrow bent over as if he was trying to see better, but he was peeking at the other from the corner of his eyes. Despite his previous deflections, Tai seemed rather despondent. It was hard to gather why; his logic was reasonable and he knew, culturally, rings weren’t really part of the wedding tradition in Vacuo. For that matter, they weren’t part of Mistral’s traditions either – probably for the same reason: only richer kingdoms like Vale and Atlas could afford such luxuries.

Still, when Summer had declared she wanted rings for the ceremony, Qrow hadn’t argued the matter because he had no argument to give. He knew part of it was because he was selfish. He’d grown up with so little that the idea he could purchase something so frivolously expensive and be allowed to keep it forever was oddly thrilling. More so, that he would be able to display it, with no one around to tell him he was foolish or threaten to take it and trade it in for lien. The other part of it was he’d grown soft over the years away from the tribe and liked the idea of having something physical affixed to himself that symbolized his marriage.

Knowing Tai was even squishier and sappier than he was, he had to wonder if it wasn’t the same for him?

“You know,” He started off casually, “For someone who doesn’t want one, you sure are looking hard.”

“I mean, I wasn’t lying. It probably isn’t a good idea for me to wear it. But well-” Tai looked over his shoulder, making sure their other partner was still distracted, before looking back down but he seemed to be staring far beyond the jewelry. “Look, it’s, stupid? I think? When Rae and I talked about rings, she just said we weren’t getting any. At the time, we’d just put the down payment on the cabin so I just brushed it off; but it always kind of bothered me she never asked my opinion.” He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed like he usually was whenever he shared his feelings. “I guess I’m just trying to say it’s nice that you guys are giving me a choice.”

“It’s not stupid.” Qrow told him, taking his hand within his own. “Raven’s always been like that. It was either her way or no way. She’s never been the type to do anything that doesn’t specifically benefit her.”

Tai’s expression was as hesitant as his voice. “I guess you’re right?”

“Believe me, I am.” He assured, thinking of all the times his sister had tried to pull similar stunts on him. It hadn’t really ever been a problem, because he tended to stand his ground or even played her own game against her. It was only after he’d started to date Summer that he understood just how vital compromise was to any kind of relationship – and it was only after Raven left that he was able to see just how damaging what refusing to compromise could do to your partner.

Tai didn’t talk about it much, probably because it injured his pride too much, but it wasn’t hard to see just how much Raven’s actions had cut through his confidence. He wasn’t a pushover by any means but he was bright, like the sun itself, determined to speckle through even the darkest of places and bring light and warmth to whatever he could touch. It was a quality that terrible people couldn’t help but take advantage of.

Qrow would be the first to admit his record was anything but stellar in that regard – but exploiting his teammates’ who had welcomed him so readily, even after learning about his shit semblance, felt almost taboo. It infuriated him to think his twin not only didn’t agree with this thought process but deliberately was abusing it. Yet he’d been so caught up with his own life, he never even noticed what was going on right in front of him until Raven was already running out the door.

It felt like it was just another tally to add onto his growing record of things he’d done wrong and had to try and fix. Summer told him that was probably normal, since she shared the sentiment and even admitted she sometimes felt responsible, as if being their leader meant she had to be in charge of everything in their lives. When he asked her how she dealt with it, she’d said, “It’s not our job to fix Raven’s mistakes. Our job is to make this new experience for him with us a good one.”

That’s what he was thinking of when he commanded, “Tai get a ring.”

“What? But-”

“If you want one, then get one.” He urged. “And don’t pull the ‘it’s too much money’ card on me. This whole ceremony is an overpriced theater show – a few extra hundred ain’t gonna be missed.”

Again, Tai was quick to disagree, “Qrow, that’s dumb. Why would I get something I’m almost never going to wear?”

“Then I’ll wear it.” He declared. When Tai only shot him a bewildered look, he explained, “Our ring sizes aren’t too different; I bet it’ll fit on my index finger. That way you have one, but I’ll be holding onto it.” He reached out, tenderly running the back of his hand along his cheek. “Kind of like how I’ll always hold onto you, no matter where I am.”

“Wow…” Tai breathed, eyes wide, “That was oddly romantic. Sure you thought of it?”

Qrow dropped a kiss on his nose, murmuring, “Shut up and pick one already.”

His laughter was soft and warm. “Alright.”

By the time Summer rejoined them, he’d made his choice.

“This one.” Tai said, pointing at an ivory ring that had a groove in the middle of it filled with obsidian rock that shined nicely in the light.

He smiled. White and black, huh? “Yeah that’s a good one.”

“What are you guys doing?” Summer had the dejected look of a girl who had been told that she was not allowed to have a gun installed into her wedding ring. It was gone the moment they told her what they had negotiated over. “Oh Qrow!” She gushed. “That’s so sweet! I’m surprised you thought of it.”

“It’s nice to know neither of you have any faith in me.” He grumbled, ignoring the teasing grin on Tai’s face.

She pat him placatingly on the back. “It’s just not your style hon.” She bounced over to the blond’s side next, pushing him towards the counter. Though, it was hard to say if her urgency was from excitement or because she was worried he’d change his mind. “Go tell the jeweler which one you want so they can get it fitted!”

“You guys can handle Yang?” Tai asked, sparing the stroller a look equal to one a person might give when staring at a minefield.

She saluted him. “You can count on us. Well, mostly me.”

“Hey!” Qrow protested.

“Oh sorry. Only me.”

“That’s better.”

Tai laughed. “You two are too much.”

Still, it was enough to convince him, and Summer happily took up baby duty, rolling her along with them as they continued to scope out the shop. From gold to platinum, from gem-encrusted all the way around to fat diamonds squarely in the center, there were hundreds of styles, all for a particular taste. Even after he eliminated anything with a gemstone on it, it still left him with what metal he’d prefer, the thickness and design of the band, whether it would or wouldn’t have imprinted words or patterns.

“You see any you like?” Qrow asked, rocking on his heels, mesmerized by the way a set of anodized rings changed in hue. They were neat, but they probably stood out too much. Not exactly suited for a spy.

“Not quite.” She was by the titanium case. He wondered if she was trying to find something to match her brooch. She moved away, not seeming to find anything of interest and headed back his way. “You know, I was thinking…”

“About?” He asked, still swaying, watching the greens and blues shift to yellows and purples.

“We have the same ring size.”

He fell flat on his feet. Looked at her. Her lips were set in a firm, pensive line. “You want me to wear yours too?”

“Oh, no-no! I definitely want to wear mine!” She pushed some of her hair behind her ear, looking everywhere but at him. “But, when you go on missions, maybe I can wear your ring until you get back? Keep it safe. And when…” She bit her lip. “When I go back on mine, you can do the same for me.”

He sucked in a sharp breath. Oh. “So, you decided then?”

“Yes. No? I don’t, I’m not.” She placed a hand over her stomach. It was barely more than a little bump. “I don’t know what I want.”

By now, it was an exhausted topic. One they’d stayed up late multiple nights just looking at every angle of. And every time, Summer felt even less sure than the day before. She was crucial to the war Oz was trying to wage, she felt obligated to jump back in as soon as she was able; but wasn’t their child crucial as well? Perhaps not to the world, but to her. To their family. It was with the announcement of Summer’s pregnancy the three of them decided to officially tie the knot. Their entire dynamic was changing for good because of this one little life. But did that mean Summer’s life should change for good as well?

Qrow didn’t have the answer; after all, it wasn’t his decision to make.

But, as he placed his hand over hers, he told her what he did know. “That’s okay. There’s plenty of time to think about it. Just know, whatever you do decide Tai and I will support you, no matter what.” He rubbed her thumb across her knuckles. “But I’ll promise you now, if you do go back to being a Huntress, I’ll wear your ring while you’re gone.”

“Thank you.” She looked up at him, and he was overtaken by her beauty in her soft gaze and sweet smile.

He couldn’t help but kiss her.

It went without saying that when Tai heard about their silly ring trade-off idea, he was practically moonstruck over it. Corny, fairytale-esque stuff like that was always the easiest way to his heart.

They ended up choosing a pair of thin, silver rings with an opalescent finish to give it a pure white look from afar, but when held up close and in the light, had an array of colors shining across the gemstones. Elegant, but simple, matching well with Tai’s and easy for them both to wear on their ring fingers at the same time. The final touch, after getting all three fitted, was to have each one engraved with their own names on the inside of their respective rings.

When they got home, Tai worked on an early lunch while Summer put Yang down for her late morning nap. With them distracted, Qrow snuck away to the bedroom and pulled out the three velvet cases from the bag, opening them one by one.

He put on his first, where it fit snug and secure on his ring finger.

Then Summer’s, right above his. It held on just a bit tighter than his own and assured it wouldn’t fall off.

Lastly was Tai’s, slipping nice and easy onto his index finger.

Suddenly, everything felt more real than ever before. Qrow turned his hand to and fro, getting used to their presence and their weight. Held them to the light and was blinded in their luster. Settled with the idea that this was soon going to be a more consistent addition to his wardrobe.

It was a change he was looking forward too.

#qrow branwen #Summer Rose #taiyang xiao long #rwby #Golden Hummingbird #fanfiction #Chase Firekitten's Tale

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cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years ago

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Fanon characterization of the Calypso twins between me and The Wild West Pyro:

We both have the strong sinking feeling that the twins are slowly going to lose it as the game goes on, so here’s our collaborated analysis of the two:

I’ll be in non-cool text, while The Wild West Pyro will be in italics, for easier distinction between us. [There will be slight edits and changes for cohesion]

“It would be pretty interesting if we found out the Calypsos/the cult started out with 'good intentions'.”

“Hell, you can see the populism kicking in there.What did the writers say? Ah. "Your poor bandits! You're kicked around and nobody likes you, but we can give you a purpose in life! We can make you feel appreciated and loved!" [This is a reference to the Danny Homan interview] Something of that line.”

“oh yeah! the twins are also providing them with food and weaponry. i mean i can see why a bandit desperate for something better would follow them.”

“I'm guessing how this goes: The Twins start off by winning people over by talking about how they want Pandora to be finally at peace after endless war and giving the bandits a new life where they're treated like actual people. Then once they've got enough people, they say that the Raiders have to go, the corporations have to go, with the Vaults seized the universe will see no more war. Actually, I'm predicting rn that they have a very, very cult-like end goal in terms of IRL parallels.What if they choose to "cleanse" the universe with whatever power Tyreen possesses? And once everything standing in their way is gone, they can create this ideal utopian peaceful universe where there's no corporations and no more fighting. Meanwhile the Eridians are panicking because they know it's a doomed plan and the Vaults do not work like that.”

“[this is very much a] large scale Opportunity situation. literally reverse uno card as to what jack was attempting”

“Yep. Paradise for the common man bandit. OTL parallels to what usually sparks communist revolutions or popular revolutions in general. So yeah, Tyreen could very easily justify herself in that she genuinely wants to bring peace to the universe, with all means necessary. Of course, internally, the Twins just want to be gods and play at being them and hold onto their power as absolute rulers presiding over an eternally-grateful populace.”

“definitely sounds like two teenage cult leaders to me ngl. i could see them not being too secure in themselves (behind the vvv confident personas they put on) and constantly second guessing themselves and reassuring that they're doing this for everyone's own good even as things just keep getting worse and worse. could [have] a tie-in to whatever tragic backstory they might have”

“Yep and yep. And there's this internal fear that they don't know what being a god entails, if they'll lose sense of who they are or not... but put that aside. All for the greater good! I'm actually thinking about this. People note that the Twins are basically streamer critiques, which is a yes. But if you want to take them to serious universe-spanning villain territory, I think that they'll absorb the knowledge from Elpis at one point. And they start to become more detached and more frightening, and a lot more eloquent as they really start becoming gods in the BL sense. While still being narcissistic attention whores who actually like killing people off with their powers but pretend to act benevolent. Essentially, you have the Greek Gods except there's two Zeuses, one is a girl and they've both got all of Zeus's worst traits cranked up to eleven.”

“oh god are they gonna dick everything that moves? oh no... cover ava's eyes! joking aside, that sounds accurate. especially given the borderlands universe loves to tie in its greek mythology. also also i am glad someone else agrees the twins are going to elpis. i refuse to believe they'd destroy it/blow it up before going there for the info. that shit is valuable! especially if you want to convince people you're gods?? accurately predicting the future is insanely good for doing that! plus all the other cool shit you can do by knowing exactly what's going to happen.”

“It also makes the Twins much more dangerous if they can see every outcome...unfortunately, Lilith is very good at playing 4D Chess by now.”

“lilith, putting on her sunglasses and cracking her knuckles: it's time to show them what a real military organization can do. ellie is her hype woman with the drink and a towel. also also lilith is probably kicking herself for not being fast enough this time to punch the vault symbol into tyreen's face.”

“Honestly, I'd love Lilith to turn out to be this really crafty, really charismatic guerrilla warfare commander. Like an Innie leader but they're hypercompetent, not a terrorist and also have Keyes's sheer talent for analyzing battles and tactics and adapting accordingly. Lilith sitting up in Sanc-III being BL!Keyes except a lady and specializing in ground warfare would be sick.”

“yes. fucking. please. gearbox please give lily all the character development, your girl deserves it. im glad because it does seem like she's getting there when you crash land on Promethea. and even the way she handles herself on the bridge is very smooth and confident.”

“tfw you can see the future and, yet, the lady you robbed of her siren powers is outsmarting you 24/7, 365 days a year despite you being able to see the future. also you're trying to fight fate and desperate to change reality so that you can't lose like the future said you would. joke's on you, you cannot fight it.”

“There is no changing it. bonus points if ty only saw the very end, so she is utterly clueless on how the middle bits play out. so lilith is kicking her ass across elpis and she's like ‘this is NOT how i saw this going’.”

“I'd seriously imagine that life in BL corporate society really is like life in Rapture or Columbia. The upper class profits immensely and reaps all the best goods, but they refuse to do the dirty work themselves so they rely on this huge workforce who they constantly cheat, lie and exploit. The few achieve huge power and stuff at the expense of the many. Looking at the Twins in the parallels of how revolutions go, they'll basically go from recruiting the bandits to recruiting the huge lower class of every planet. Looking at records from all the planets, we've got people being screwed over again and again, corruption and other nasties. The Twins claim that they want all corporations to go, to bring some form of unified government back to the galaxy. And it works- their army size quadruples overnight and goes from there. By the time we get to Promethea, the COV are already recruiting everyone dissatisfied with corporate life. If they successfully seize control of Maliwan like I predict, they'll be a force to be reckoned with. The Twins will use the masses to achieve some sort of theocratic revolution, [they] claim that it's all for everyone's good. But in reality, they want to be absolute rulers of the universe, gods worshipped and feared by all.”

“Oh yeah, the twins are definitely feeding (maybe literally) off the huge numbers of dissatisfied people across the universe- the mega corporations are evil, no doubt there are millions of people waiting for something better. tbh, if gaige wasn't booted from the main game, I could see a whole side story of her having started a revolution somewhere, and then joining up with the Crimson Raiders once her entire party just up and joined the CoV. And [I would] 100% bet the twins started a campaign against DAHL and Atlas and suddenly nearly every bandit on pandora joined up with them. (also Athena was sitting in a chair clutching at the armrests and janey was like "don't you fuckin dare, hon" and athena is like "but... Atlas...")”

[We talk more about Gaige’s anarchist revolution and trying to topple the mega corporations in a less cult-y fashion here]

“... Bonus points 2: The COV fire up the memories of Jack to rally everyone into opposing Hyperion and suddenly Athena is like "OK I'm not going, mobilize the army." And Janey is like ‘Here we go...’.”

[we joke around a little bit more about Athena and Janey here]

“I can imagine Rhys's internal conflict, knowing that he has to make the galaxy a better place but at the same time, maintain his corporate power and control because without it, he's doomed. Then again, Rhys is no stranger to doing shady stuff. I think a lot of the Twins's evil will be in how they treat their followers.There's all the smooth-talking and promises of the future. And then when you actually get there, you're brainwashed into being another unthinking, 100% loyal attack dog for them. And you follow everything they ask you to do for 100%, even if they use you for power experiments or cannon fodder. And the game will remind us that these people weren't all bandits - over the course of the story, the COV includes people like former corporate execs, entire families, people who were just trying to get by day to day. And now we as Vault Hunters have to kill all these ordinary people to save the universe. Tough choices, eh?“

“Oh geez, you know that's a really fair point. i know borderlands likes to push the 'morally gray' aspect of things, but holy shit that's dark. (not saying i don't love it though, i totally do lol) You’re probably 100% right that rhys is struggling internally. especially after being so closely tied up with hyperion and even fiona and sasha, seeing exactly what hyperion did to people not just on helios but the people trying to live their daily lives and survive on pandora. im sure he has a similar reasoning to himself as the twins: im doing this for the better of the people. i can help so many more people with this money and power. somewhat similar to handsome jack, but hopefully lorelei (if she's not evil) helps ground him and keep him from jumping into the middle-to-deep end.”

“I'm still betting that Rhys will remain on the good side, if a teensy bit unscrupulous. I mean, the whole thing about the Twins is that they're social commentary of livestreamers and influencers and the incredibly toxic influence they can have. There are countless aspects of that to explore. If streamers can mobilize their entire loyal fanbases to bully the crap outta some poor chump or buy things or let their fans believe that they know the streamer 100% as a person and not a persona, the Twins can convince people to go to war.”

“Oooh yeah, it's not hard to imagine they probably don't even need the brainwashing for a majority of their cult, just the select few who are either on the fence or against it, but are [still] 'available'. irl streamers can be seriously fuckin scary, man, im not surprised this is the route gearbox is going for. now, it would be severely fucked up if there was a scene where tyreen demands someone kill themselves on the spot and they do without hesitation. if you watch the moze gameplay there seems to be a hint of something like that going on over the radio/TVs, she mentions something about their sacrifice or something, then you hear a dude screaming/gurgling.”

“Everyone's thinking that Tyreen will be this laughable, entertaining villain. But I'm constantly seeing hints and estimating that she is going to be far, far more scarier than we give her credit for. For one, Jack was a presence largely relegated to audio. We only physically saw him in BL2 twice. The Twins run a cult, which itself is frightening already. And it looks like we'll be seeing them in person very often.”

“Oh yes, tyreen is fucking terrifying. i mean even that she can steal siren powers is already a huge "whoa what the fuck" in my book. that one line at the end of the HBC where she's like "you're my most loyal follower vault thief, you just don't know it yet"? fucking scary, how her voice drops and gets all serious for a split second and then the hologram just cuts out. i was like "wh- wait hang on-???" i definitely think she is putting up a persona and as the game goes on we're slowly going to watch her lose it. troy will probably grow a bit distant from her as well if he doesn't lose it, too. definitely think ty is going to try and kill him once he's of no use to her, because he's just been a pain in her side because she had to keep him alive as the brains of the operation. but once the operation is done... whoops. sorry pal. don't need you anymore. they're the main villains, i can't see her holding the bonds of family in high regard at all. she could totally write off his death as like ‘he sacrificed himself for the Great Vault, now we pray to him every day and sacrifice ourselves in his name’ or smth”

“She puts up this fun-loving persona as a streamer, but she then decides the Vault Hunters get to see her true self. It is not pretty. It makes Jack look like a kitten-cuddling fluffball, that's how bad the real Tyreen is. It makes Piston and Vasquez sound like friendly guys you'd take out for lunch after work. It makes Hector's goals look very reasonable and sane. Also, perhaps she kills him and we never see how she did it, which ups the scare factor. It's like Troy disappeared and we have no idea how she killed him and how long it took for him to die. We just find a lot of irreconcilable proof that Troy is dead now and we don't know how. That is the amount of horror I'm estimating.”

“Oh man I love this. That's so horrible (in a good way), I can 100% see it happening. Jack swore revenge for us killing the person he 'loved'. Tyreen herself kills the person she 'loved' and we start to realize holy shit this is the real deal. She can't even pretend to care like Jack pretended to care (he didn't actually care about Angel as a person, but he did say things to try and make Angel think he did, just putting that out there cuz I don't wanna sound like I support him lol). There's just a complete contrast between her and Jack during the final levels of the game. Jack stops joking around "you feel that, child killer?", he's dead serious and ready to kill vs Tyreen laughing or just being off the rails bubbly for her 'streamer persona' while looking utterly unhinged”

so yeah, the convo teetered off after this a bit, but the general gist is that Tyreen is going to go absolutely off-the-wall by the end of the main story. this is somewhat supported by the Danny Homan interview that states the twins are going to have their relationship warp and twist.Tyreen is going to start going crazy with all the powers she absorbs and realize once the plan is over she won’t need Troy’s expertise anymore, and Troy is going to get sick of being relegated to the side when he’s the one with the master plan. We both have the deep feelings the twins aren’t going to stay as charismatic as they are in the little bit of promo material we’ve gotten of them. which i get, because in a lot of the official trailers, Troy looks pissed. Tyreen is always super smug no matter what shot she’s in, but Troy... he looks very angry in some shots we get. even when Ty is holding his forearm in that one shot, he rips his arm out of her grip. For example: “How many IRL streamer "friends" get into ridiculous drama and feuds with each other? Answer: a lot. Could be mirroring that with the twins. A lot of people are saying that the new villains will never match up to Jack. This is our take, and we're proud of it, and very confident in Gearbox's new writing team. ”

EDIT: some edits made by The Wild West Pyro

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #the calypso twins

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mysterylover123 · 5 years ago

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BNHA Rewatch: Episode 27 “Bizarre! Gran Torino Appears!”

mysterylover123

The Internship arc starts off with a bang! Let’s see that Full Cowl, Deku!

SORA NI UTAEBA! While the song in this intro is kinda meh to me, the visuals are amazing. I love the symbolism for all the events of the ep - tho not gonna lie, this core’s ED is better than the OP. Anyway tho, go punch that wall Deku!

We start with Gran Torino pretending to be crazy. I’ll admit, I’m kinda eh on this bit, though I love Gran. It’s probably because I found it annoying when Yoda did it, so I find it annoying here as well. (It’s really just my inner fangirl talking. Nobody makes Deku unhappy except Kacchan. Who can get away with it.)

But actually, this sets up an interesting difference between Deku and Luke, though admittedly situation isn’t the same because Deku knows Gran is Gran. But Deku’s response to this is to call All Might to tell him Gran’s gone senile. He’s so empathetic Deku why aren’t you real? (no shade at Luke there,e I love him too. Just not as much).

“I don’t have time to mess around.” Deku did not come to play.

New costume! It’s incredible how much better it is than the old one. Like, not even funny how much better. Day-um, Deku.

Pfh Gran knows exactly how to piss off Deku: Insult All Might. You clever little scoundrel.

So onto Deku’s character flaws: 1. He’s overly analytical. Deku doesn’t know how to act quickly, partially due to circumstance, but partially that’s just how he is. Hesitant. Over-cautious, over-thinks things. He needs to learn how to take action - and in this arc, he does indeed do so without hesitation, and saves Iida’s life by so-doing. Box 1 checked off.

2. Deku admires All Might too much. Like every MC in BNHA, his Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Tragedy (insert me telling you to read that essay again). It’s a problem because he doesn’t believe in himself. So he needs to learn not to imitate All Might and be his own hero. That one doesn’t really sink in until the PLE arc. But check.

3. Deku is insecure. He has a massive inferiority complex (which fits nicely into his foil’s inf-sup complex, wouldn’t-cha-know) and doesn’t believe in himself. So he needs to learn to be more confident. (Is it wrong that I want this to end with him breaking through Instrumentality to a chorus of his friends saying ‘Congratulations’?)

Gran is my favorite Teacher, as a teacher, in BNHA. I’m a teaching-major, and I kinda aspire to his techniques. What I love the most is helping students figure it out themselves. Just telling someone the answer doesn’t help them. It’s so satisfying seeing a student make that breakthrough thanks to your guidance.

Now we’re cutting away to Iida’s internship to remind you Iida Wants Revenge. This is a little exposition-y, let’s cut somewhere else.

OK good, the villains! Right off the bat, we’ve got some great Parallels with the Heroes, as Tomura decides to basically Intern with a Pro-Villain. He even calls Stain a pro. Tho Tomura really needs to work on his recruitment strategy. “Stain join us. Cause.” “Bakugou. Join us. Cause”.

I want Deku and Tomura to build a grand Hero-Villain rivalry. Tomura basically hates him for no real reason right now, and I want there to be a good reason. Other than “He’s All Might’s successor”. I want them to be the Joker and Batman of BNHA with a real complex hero-villain rivalry, where one reflects the other. They’re getting there but I want more.

“Bloodlust without conviction is meaningless.” Ooh I love me some Stain. He really elevated this series’ philosophical side with his ramblings on heroism and villainy.

OK am I creeped out by the fact that All for One just said the same thing I did about learning? A little.

Deku is so brilliant and such a fast learner tho. It doesn’t take him long to put it all together. And Gran actually really admires him for that - I enjoy their mentor dynamic a lot, since Gran has some real respect for Midoriya in a different way from All Might.

Bakugou with Best Jeanist! OMG the comedy gold of this. Though I just want to take a sec to gripe about a change from the manga to the anime: Manga! Bakugou does not charge at Best Jeanist and yell at him. He’s not dumb enough to try that on the #4 Pro Hero and his teacher. He sits still and listens to Jeanist’s lecture. The only Bakugo line here that’s from the manga is “Didn’t you make an offer for me?” This completely changes the way we perceive Bakugo in this scene, and in general. Bad change.

But in Good Storytelling-ville, I like the continuing parallels between the Wonder duo this creates: Izuku interns in a rundown neighborhood with an unlisted hero, Bakugo in Tokyo with a top pro. Izuku needs to learn to control his power and believe in himself. Katsuki needs to learn to be kinder and more humble. Izuku learns his lesson her, Katsuki doesn’t. Parallels!

Kirishima and Tetsutetsu again! 4th kind is ok. He’s probably the least memorable of the internship pros, since his gimmick is simple and his design kinda dull.

Uraraka and Gunhead! I love how well they get along. He’s kawaii and she’s a hardcore badass. Don’t you forget it!

Now for more of Momo’s arc. The Uwabami internship is usually dismissed by fans as Just Fanservice, but think about it in context, and it becomes really interesting. One, the Hero Killer arc is about Stain protesting the commercialization of heroism, so we do need to have a Pro-Hero demonstrate the problematic nature of that commercialism. Uwabami does just that. Two, we need to have Momo’s internship be unfulfilling to her, to complete her downward trajectory (before the Final Exam arc can bring her back up), so it’s useful for further embarrassing and developing her character. 3, it sets up Momo and Kendo’s future rivalry.

I’ll take more about it in future eps where it appears.

Izuku practicing and constantly hitting his face on the wall is one of those things that makes me wonder if either a) he has a secret endurance quirk or b) OFA just naturally ups your durability. How does he still have a face after that.

Here’s a hot take: Izuku with his face smashed up from spending a night with no sleep training in garbage all night is still prettier than any other guy in this series.

One of the reviewers I follow made the comparison between All Might vs Deku’s using of OFA and Korra vs Aang’s role as the Avatar. You know, All Might and Korra, both master the power pretty quickly so they get to be strong fast but lose out on the spiritual connection a bit, while Deku and Aang take their time learning ofa/the four elements, but get as a tradeoff more of the spirit-y side...(ATLA & BNHA. My 2 favorite shows, alongside FMA. I swear these are like, three sides of the same show).

While I’m watching in the Sub this time around, i wanted to note a dub-ism in this scene: it’s localized to ‘hot pastries’ instead of taiyaki. There’s a lot of bits like that, where they take Japanese food and translate it for us dumb Americans. But well, maybe that made sense in the 90s, when there maybe wasn’t as much cultural crossover, but...even I knew what mochi were before watching BNHA (Uraraka’s fave, and the dub always localizes it to ‘sweets’) and everyone has google if they’re confused so why not just say ‘Taiyaki?’ Ah well, it’s a stupid nitpick but still.

Gran’s metaphor here is so great. As a teacher I aspire to learn from this man. Teach me your teaching ways.

“THIS TAIYAKI IS ME!!!!!” Another dub-ism has him say “I’m not really a dessert” I saw a reactor once comment on this ‘Yeah, but you are a snacc, Deku.’ I wholeheartedly agree.

FULL COWLLLLLLL!!!!!!! FYEAH!!!!!

OK so there are a lot of reasons I love Full Cowl. it’s one of the series’ finest moments, emblematic of what makes it cool. And what makes Deku cool. He’s smart, and has to work his way around problems, and this solution was just...it was there, for us and Izuku the whole time, to finally sit up and take notice of. It’s about applying power in a different way. About taking what you can do and doing the best you can with what you’ve got. A big central theme for the series.

Also dayum that slow pan up Deku’s entire body as he activates it...he just looks good in this arc. Actually, post-cavalry battle Deku in the sports festival arc always looks weird and odd (because he’s beat up and in pain, duh) and prior to that he was mainly just adorable...this arc, however, is his official transition into Best Boy for Reals. He’s just...swoony. and also really cool, smart, and all sorts of great fangirl-y things.

We end on a confident Deku smile and Daiki’s adorable ‘hai.’ Basically, i really enjoy this episode. A little slow at the beginning, maybe. But that conclusion is amazing and so worth the payoff. It’s even got this amazing rhyme and rhythm to it, cutting back and forth between the different students and teachers and just having themes echo between each other like poetry. It love it.

To close off: ED4, AKA BEST ED EVER!!!! This is seriously, no sarcasm, best ED. So for those of you who don’t know, the story behind ED4 Datte Atashi no Hero is, 1: The Fantasy AU theme comes from the second popularity poll, which came out around Chapter 120/Episode 61 (yes, THAT one) and for which Horikoshi drew the top 10 in fantasy garb. 2: The Song was written by LiSa and was explicitly stated by her to be effectively about Izuku’s feelings towards Kacchan. I wrote a post analyzing it. It is, basically, the anthem for...

BKDK CORNER

“Loose…” Guess who the first person Deku thinks of to create Full Cowling is? If you sad Kacchan, ding-ding-ding!

On an analytical note, I think it’s very, very significant that the first real breakthrough Deku makes in handling his power comes by observing Kacchan and imitating him. This is one of my Top 20 Favorite BKDK moments, even though it’s completely indirect, because of how important that is in the long-run. But what about the Imitation theme? Why is it OK for Izuku to imitate Katsuki, but not All Might? Well, first of all, he does use Gran Torino’s moves as well, but mainly, I think the series is saying with this distinction that it’s OK to imitate someone if you see their flaws and acknowledge them, but if you hero-worship them and see them as perfect, you’re only going to screw yourself over. This is why Iida imitating Ingenium, Shoto imitating his mom, Deku and Kacchan imitating All Might, and yes, Uraraka imitating Deku, are all so bad for them. If you see someone as perfect, and want to imitate them, you’ll never achieve that in your mind, because you already view yourself as imperfect. So Deku can imitate Katsuki because he thinks he’s a jerk, but also an amazing fighter, and Gran because he thinks he’s weird, but tough.

Also Deku just automatically thinking of Kacchan first is so damn shippy.

BEST GIRL OF THE EPISODE: Uwabami!

RANKER: Ranking the Internship Pros, least helpful to most.

10. Uwabami

9. Mt. Lady

8. 4th Kind

7. Endeavor

6. Death Arms

5. Manual

4. Selkie and Sirius (anime only)

3. Gunhead

2. Best Jeanist

1. Gran Torino! (Deku lucked out)

#my hero academia #episode 27 #season 2 episode 14 #bizarre gran torino appears #midoriya izuku #gran torino #katsuki bakugou #momo yaoyorozu #katsudeku #bakudeku #be prepared for lots of gushing #my deku bias is strong with this one #everyone has their fave #i'm glad mine's the mc #sometimes anyway #come s5 he's gonna be like #barely around for a whole damn season #anyway so glad to be at the Hero Killer arc #let's go!

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gotmeringinghellsbells · 5 years ago

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An Unexplainable Trust

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Characters: Adam Wright, Takashi Shirogane, Sven (2011)

A/N: So I’ve been a fan of random generators lately. They make oc making a bit easier and now I’m trying with fanfics to see if I can get back on my ball. I’ve also slowly been trying to watch Voltron Force for various reasons, I will not watch the CGI series though Hunk is... thick. Anyway, this is the result.

Description: After getting sucked into another reality with limited memory, Sven is panic stricken and determined to get back to his son. Still suffering form his infection, the male isn’t very cooperative with the staff on the Atlas. For some reason, he feels drawn to a certain brunette, which causes the captain of the ship to stress.

Gray eyes watched as the tall brunette strode about the room with untrusting eyes. Whatever was going on, even if this was another reality, Sven needed to get back to his son, no matter the cost. But, seeing as he was stuck with his saviors who even offered to help his infection, he may as well wait to act before running around recklessly… again.

He needed a plan to escape, more information about this so called “Atlas” and about the lions within. Or at least, he needed to know where the pods were. But this Voltron was still skeptical of his memory and of his identity. According to the red paladin, they’d met a man named Sven before, but the two looked very different.

Sven didn’t know who or what a Slav was or anything about the information described to him. Then again, he was frantic, as any parent was when they are separated from their child. He gripped the bed sheets tighter as he tried to relax, well…. Before he was distracted.

“So you have a son?” The brunette was looking up from his tablet. THe light of it prevented teh other from seeing the friendly looking eyes from before. “Yes,” was drawn out, as if he was going to say more. Adam waited, but there was nothing. Nodding, the other removed his glasses after turning of the tablet to rub the bridge of his nose.

Now the other could see scars taking up half the man’s face. Something he hadn't noticed before. When eyes opened, he blinked. “Your half blind.” Whoops, that wasn’t meant to be a statement, or a question he wanted to ask.

Blinking a few times as he was taken aback from the statement, Adam awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. “Ah, yeah. Maybe more than that,” he chuckled as he held up his glasses. The other smiled a bit before sighing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to just.. Blurt that out.” The slightly taller gave a shrug.

“Your fine. Kei- ah, a family member blurted out the same thing when he saw me.” Keith? Family member? “Your a paladin of Voltron?” There was something about the accent that was just making Adam’s heart swell. It was truly beautiful. “No, I…. It’s complicated,” he sighed. Leaning forward, he looked into those familiar gray eyes.

He was an alternate Takashi alright.

“Sven, is there a reason you didn’t trust the staff? I mean, yeah, people around here are a little on edge but… honestly, sass them back and you should be fine.” The other was trying to joke a bit. Sven had multiple freak outs until finally Adam came in with Shiro to see what was going on. The other seemed to trust him, he relaxed for him, and now he was babysitting him; Much to Shiro’s discomfort. Though they weren’t technically together, the love was still there on both ends.

Even if it wasn’t, he didn’t want some maniac they just found in an ice tundra to hurt the guy! “Just…. Memories.” He would rather not get into it. The brunette gave a nod. “Fair enough.” He stood up with his tablet and walked across the room. “So, mind me asking what you can remember? That may… help us get you home and back to your son.”

The other shrugged. “Betrayed my comrades once more, saving the princess and my baby, and finally fighting Lotor. I don’t remember that much.” Adam hummed before walking over, glasses back on. “I’m not a doctor but, do you mind if I look at your infection?”

Keith had tons of them as a kid from never cleaning his wounds after getting hurt. It shouldn’t be anything some draining and peroxide… the hell was this? It was like a tattoo on his neck! Sven hadn't answered before the other looked. Jumping in surprise, his hand went for the male’s side, earning a yelp and a jump back from the other.

“Sorry,” Adam muttered with panic. The bearded male shook his head before hiding his face into his hands. “No, I’m sorry. I, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” The former professor frowned. Poor guy looked so defeated. “You didn’t hurt me Sven, just triggered some nerves. May I… take a look again? It almost looks like Altean symbols. Coran may be able to decipher it… or Allura… or Pidge…. or any of them.” He let out a sigh at the end of his sentence. He’d never forgive Shiro for a.” Kerberos, B.) Coming back and not seeing him, and C.) Taking a bunch of kids to war in space.

But at least they all picked up new skills and talents? Yeah, no, Adam was mad. “Yeah,” the other hummed as he sat up, offering his neck to the other. Nerves? What did that mean? The other stiffened as he felt a finger tracing the marks. “This hurt,” Adam asked, not stopping.

Sven shook his head, biting his lip. Oh? Adam chuckled softly. “Ticklish, are we?” He didn’t tease too much, but he did scratch the neck away from the wound briefly. “Nahaha!” Sven snorted after he covered his mouth, looking away. “You and Takashi are one in the same,” the former professor hummed.

His eyes were filled with a kind of love, yet had a hint of sorrow. His smile was tired, ready to break. Sven looked back with a small blush, his own smile falling when he studied the other. They made eye contact for a moment before looking away. “I’m sorry, that was highly innap,” he was cut off. “Takashi? Your lovers, aren’t you?”

Adam shook his head as moved away. “No, um, we haven’t been for a long time,” the brunette sighed. “You still care for him though, and he cares for you.” It seemed true, Shiro and him had shared a bed for a week now. But something felt off about it all. “He’s moving on,” the other assured.

He’d seen how him and a young, cute, man looked at eachother. Curtis? Yeah, that sounded right. There was a squeak before Adam was brought from his thoughts. Sven’s hand was on his side again. “You have a family too, I can see it in your face.”

He looked a bit more aged then his information claimed him to be, and he looked slightly weathered. A father, and a love. “You have children who care for you?” Adam giggled a bit before moving away. “H-Hey! No, I don’t.” He giggled, moving back to compose himself. The other smiled softly. “Keith? You said you were family?”

To be his leader’s father… so strange. This version of him didn’t look even ten years older! Well, okay the white hair didn’t agree with that, but whatever. The former professor hummed before sitting beside the other on the bed. “He’s not my son and I never truly labeled him one… but when Takashi brought him home… I was panicked. I,” he shook his head. “I even started to become my mother.”

The other snorted before looking over to the other, as if he were an old friend.”Yeah, I felt that way too. Mine was just a babe though, not sure how much time has gone by but… as long as I can hold him one more time… I think I’ll be alright.” The other frowned. “I know how you feel… kind of.”

He looked into Sven’s eyes. There was just something there, something inviting. Sven almost felt the same about Adam, never meeting someone like him before. “With Keith?” Adam gave a nod as he looked away. “Takashi… I’ve told you this much already, why not,” the taller sighed as he dragged a hand down his face. “Takashi was ill and leaving on a mission. I…. I couldn’t stop him and after he left, I didn’t see him for years. Apparently after a year, he came back, got Keith and those three other teens, and went back to space. No note, no anything.”

He shook his head. “I thought he was dead. We were checking out a cave he was drawn to and I searched every inch of it! I mourned him and Kashi both! I just…. I wish he’d just talk to me about this instead of acting like… everything is fine.” He felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him into him. The male nuzzled into Sven’s neck as he would his Shiro.

So comforting, and the beard was a nice touch. “I… I tried to save my Lance. I was attacked by that stupid flea bag and… ended up diseased. At some point I found my baby, but it’s so blurry from…. The attack on.” He rested his head on Adam’s. It had been forever since he had a partner, someone he’d willingly snuggle with… to open up to.

Adam let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry. We’ll find your Voltron. These kids, they have a way of making things work.” Sven hummed. “I’ve noticed. Well, even if they can… I don’t think I could ever face them again.” Adam sat up, with a playful bitch face. “Sven, I left Shiro before space. I had the guilt of his death and never saying goodbye for years, I felt like a monster. I punched him when he got back, I smacked Keith… and then I sobbed and it was gross and mushy. You. Will. Be. Fine. Don’t try to fight it.”

The facil haired male put up his hands. “Yes sir.” Slowly, the two started to cuddle again. It felt strange but… they both seemed so content, helped by the other. Neither knew what to say or do now. That was, until, Adam felt fingers on his stomach. Crap. “Shhhahahaven! Cut thhat out.” He slapped softly at the offending hand before feeling the mattress come up under him.

There was a chuckle before the other followed him down, gently tickling around his sides and stomach. He watched as the male squirmed and squealed. It didn’t tickle that bad, but it was the anticipation of Shiro, the new charm of Sven. Maybe Adam should go back with him? It would let Shiro move on better.

‘Shahahaoot!” There was a pig like squeal before the other covered his face. Fingers were working their way up his ribs, teasingly. “Sthaahaop, sthahahop!” Why was he so skilled at this?! “This tickle, huh? Where’s the worse place, hm? Is it… here?” Hands found a bare chest quickly before scratching around. Fuller laughter came out before the other started to relax more.

“No, you seem like a rare spotted one. How about. Back here?” He’d have to have bonded with Voltron members before, or experience from being a dad. The fun didn’t last long before the clearing of a throat caught both males’ attention. Turning, both’s smiles flattered before a bit of nervousness took over.

Veronica and Shiro stood in the door way, waiting to talk to Sven. Veronica was trying to focus on her tablet, what she was supposed to record the conversations on. She’d earned their attention and feared Shiro’s reaction. The other looked shocked, as if he’d been betrayed.

It was just some tickling, what was the big… oh. Adam blinked as he looked how the two were positioned… whoops. Sven was between Adam’s legs, pulling his knees up and pulling Adam into him as he did so. Neither were planning on doing anything like that, but Shiro seemed to feel different.

“Captain,” Veronica coughed as she noticed his still shocked expression. Composing himself, the other stood firm before clearing his own throat “Ah, I’m glad your feeling better Sven. Would you mind… if we talked in private? Maybe we could figure out how you got here?” His words didn’t make too much sense considering the information that he knew, but then again, he looked ready to take blood.

It was a look more angered than when he was trying to be “nice” to Slav. Adam rolled his eyes as he and Sven separated. “Hey,” he said getting the other's attention. “It’ll be alright. I can come check on you later, if you’d like.” Was… was Adam flirting?! No, no, he was just being nice. Right? Wait… they weren’t… maybe they should talk.

Sven smiled softly, resting a hand on the other's arm. “I’d like that. Thank you.” The two shared a smile before Adam started for the door, Veronica practically shoving Shiro out after him. There was silence, an awkward, anxiety filling, silence. “I… I guess later… if you want… we could… talk?” Gray eyes refused to meet the other’s.

There was a soft sigh. “Takashi,” Adam started before shutting his mouth again. “You should move on”, “We were so toxic at the end”, anyway to get Shiro to move past, to move on from him. Adam’s guilt was too much and-.

He looked up when a human hand found his cheek. “Adam?” The other sighed. Leaning into the touch, Adam couldn’t bring himself to do it. He… he was so selfish, he loved the other so much still. “He’s a bit on edge, go in trying to earn his trust, not like your interrogating him.”

There was a moment of shock as lips found the other’s, slowly and lovingly. It was brief but… it was needed. Shiro pulled away with a guilty blush. “Sorry, I guess I couldn’t…. Guess I kind of lost it.” Adam smiled a bit before hugging him. “Your such an idiot,” the brunette chuckled softly. Shiro smirked before tickling his sides softly.

“T-Thahakashi,” the other softly squealed before pushing him away. The captain laughed before offering a wink. “I’ll see you later?” Adam looked back to the room before nodding. “Later tonight.” He’d keep to his word, he’s help Sven the best he could.

#adashi #vld #vf #Voltron force #votlron legendary defender #shadam #veronica mcclain #sven #2011 sven #2019 #tickle #tickling #tickle fic #fan fiction #fanfic

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pyrhiic · 6 years ago

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i. you are 12 & there is blood in your teeth. you, rash & idealistic, scraped up knees & bandaged elbows, little achilles boy that’s all passionate recklessness & triumphant grins & victory over death. the sound of the world bleeding roars in your ears, but you square your shoulders ( broadening already; think atlas, it looks like they’ll be perfect for carrying the weight of the world one day ) & raise your shaky, quirkless fists again – quirkless, but not powerless. they’re already bruised from when you fended off someone’s bully that morning. you don’t notice. you are young but you already know it too well – scraped raw knuckles, broken fingers & pain. you are young but you already know it too well – crime, injustice & pain. there’s always pain. that is why you believe the world needs a symbol, & that is why your world has been reduced to a single instinct: protect. your golden heart bleeds with it, your eyes bright & blue & every story where the hero wins – suddenly you’re charging forward again with a raw, bloody scream. you don’t think about dying. you can only think about saving, so you reel your fist back with all your might & you know you’re going to be eviscerated, but – you’re not, because suddenly SHE is there. she grabs you by the arm – her grip is grounding, strong – & flings you out of the way, muttering something about stupid brats while reeling her own fist back & delivering a punch so strong the force of it sends your awkward limbs sprawling again. she looks like she could fissure the earth if she wanted, she stands so tall & proud & strong & you think, i want to be like that one day ! she turns away from her crumpled adversary, loosed hair blowing in the wind, & she is smiling down at you. you smile back.

ii. you are 18 & there is blood in your teeth. you have never known fear as you do now. she hasn’t either, you know it, there is nothing as terrible as the sworn nemesis that they face, but she’s still smiling in spite of it. of course she is. you can’t bring yourself to do the same, you don’t have the chance because she grabs you by the arm – her grip is grounding, strong, please don’t let go please don’t leave me – & you are a 12 year old quirkless boy all over again, powerless, reaching out to her as you’re thrown away, away, always able to reach but never able to save. your world stops, & as hands snatch you into safety, you can feel yourself burning alive in a truth that you do not want to accept. your world stops because she is your world & your heart is beating so loudly in your ears that you cannot hear your own raw broken screams – MASTER ! – you see her in tunnel vision; she’s getting farther away & suddenly you’re thrashing in gran torino’s grip like something feral, sobbing because she is was a mother to you. a superhero. your superhero. & you were the world she was constantly saving ( you don’t know it, but you were her world, too ) – MASTER ! – but she is gone, gone & her blood is on your sleeve. you scream. it is an awful, raw thing that tears your throat apart, & you’re still screaming when your feet come back into contact with the ground. your knees buckle underneath you ( scraped raw, you should get used to that, you’re going to be kneeling at so many graves ) & you weep. you weep with your whole being & you dirty your face & you tear at golden hair & you wish for her life, your death, it doesn’t matter as long as she’s with you. you need her. you need her – you need for her to be there when your hands begin to tremble & when your voice breaks, to help steady your fists & teach you how to roar. you have nowhere else to go. you’re homeless, now, because she was the only home you had. your knuckles are stinging, the ground is cracking; you don’t remember punching it, but now you are repeatedly, torn skin leaking red everywhere. your hands might be broken. you can’t tell. you keep swinging. everything feels broken. there’s a hand on your shoulder – toshinori, that’s enough – & suddenly all of your energy drains out of you. your hands sting & shake & when he pulls away, a weight remains bent low on your shoulders ( broader still; you were always fated to be atlas ) & you can feel the world on your back. it’s heavy, but you want it. in the end you lift with your knees, grin & endure. for her. you can do this for her. & even if you cannot, you have to.

iii. you are __ ( you don’t remember; all of the numbers in your head are a bodycount now, there’s no room for anything else ) & there is blood in your teeth. the taste of it burns acidly in your cheeks. your side hurts, pain with insatiable throbbing & you know there is something terribly wrong with it but it does not compare to the burn of your achilles rage. fury fuels the fire, yet ultimately, anger is not what drives you – instead, your broken heart pushes you to fight, what is simultaneously both your strength & achilles heel. it is your humanity, righteous vengeance; but it is still vengeance, & it is why you fall despite being victorious in combat. heroes are not allowed to be vengeful, & deep down, you know you initiated this fight in retribution, in a desperate need to avenge her. this is why the heavens condemn you – they siphon your strength but leave the world sitting heavy upon your shoulders. not for the first time, your knees bend & creak, but unlike other times, you are not able to straighten out your spine. you are doubled over, knees knocking together like doors slamming shut; your arms tremble & your shoulders shake. your intestines are spilling out everywhere, the ground looks like a slaughterhouse floor, & you think you crush one of your own organs under your foot. but was it worth it ? yes, a million times yes. for the world, for her, you would do it all over again. you would die. you think you still might, but then an arm on your shoulder tethers you for a few precious moments; you flinch, ready to fight, teeth bared & it’s no wonder you were victorious, a wounded hero is such a frightening animal, but – it’s someone familiar, the detective, & – he’s crying. so even though you are dying, even though your lips are split & your teeth are running red with your own blood, you smile, reflex, ‘ it’s... fine now... why ? ’ it’s incredible that you still have a voice, but it is like sandpaper, tongue lead, you’re choking & gasping out the words & you can’t stop throwing up ichor ( get used to it ), ‘ because you are here. ’ & your eyes, usually bright & halogen, are dim with death; when they slip closed, you see her, & now you’re 18 & reaching out all over again. but she doesn’t reach back. not yet, toshi. you still have things to do. at the hospital weeks later, they still think you’re unconscious when a nurse says, ‘ honestly, i still can’t name a hero who was actually happy in the end. ‘ another voice, ‘ you’re right. heroes may win the battle, but they rarely live through. ’ strangely, you don’t think of yourself. you think of nana, handing over her own child for the greater good & you want to weep. not for yourself, but for her. you can’t cry though. you cannot move. your body has become nothing but bones wrapped up in regrets. your mouth tastes like defeat, like crushed revolution. you won the fight, yes, but did you win the war ?

iv. you are __ ( recovery girl mentioned something about your forties, you think; didn’t listen, too busy thinking about those 44 victims you couldn’t save in an earthquake a few years back – something completely out of your control, but you blame yourself all the same ) & there is blood on your teeth. it sludges up your throat & chokes you out in your sleep; bloodstained achilles, burdened atlas, you stand tall & proud & invincible while being fragile & anxious & shaky. you are a burning candle in which the fire is fading to embers, but everyone else is blissfully unaware, so you go through the motions: smile. monologue. fight. bleed. smile. it keeps the PEACE, but it’s temporary, you know you’re dying. & that’s okay, but – you don’t know what to do. you feel 18 again. you are holding back tears. you are telling yourself to be brave, & you are smiling, but you are holding back tears. you are always the brave one, always the strong one. you know fear like a second skin, but you are brave. you have carried the world on your shoulders for so long, secured it with callouses & scars for so long that you don’t feel the ache anymore. you have simply become it. always the hero, you think, & grimace at the pain in your side. they want you to retire – they don’t understand that you can’t do that. not yet. if you are not holding up the world, who will ? but your bones shake like they’re saying, ‘ we’re tired. it’s time. go home. ‘ your home was taken from you when you were 18, though, so you tug on your costume & limp out the door. it pulls at frail shoulders so unfamiliar, so pathetic, there’s weight to it when it was weightless before but that’s okay, it’s alright, your shoulders were made for bearing burdens from the very beginning, right ?

v. you are __ ( doesn’t matter; you’re old, obsolete ) & there is blood in your teeth. you jerk awake with a fist raised, all intrinsic militaristic instinct until your side flares up with pain. your breath shudders out of you, but the tension stays, & you quietly choke on iron, a hand fisted over that wretched scar. nightmares. you’ve always had them; the remaining traces of waking panic cling heavily to your lungs, suffocating, & your eyes search the room frantically, blind to everything except for – ah, there. your young protege, curled in on himself in a chair having dozed off while standing sentinel. you exhale shakily, blinking away macabre strokes of red & afterimages of entrails splattered like a slaughterhouse floor all over again, but they weren’t yours, not this time. they were – you exhale, again, steadier this time. not real. the boy has not succumb to the same fate as you; he is not limbs & gore spread out on the battlefield, he is alive & whole & here. the tension drains from your weary bones, & instead, you sigh, because he must be uncomfortable ( a pang of bitterness hits you: all might would be able to scoop him up & tuck him in a bed with ease, but toshinori yagi cannot. but – what is done is done. you let go ). it was at his insistence – he was so scared for you after your rematch, after your world was unearthed for good & all of your shame was put out on display for everyone to see ( atlas, your shoulders are broken & the world is falling –– ). he was scared for himself, too; you knew the look, you wore the same expression when you were 18. terrified, traumatized, he thought he was going to lose you – & you grit your teeth because no, you can’t do that to him. not to him, never to him, please. you can’t put him through that, you can’t let him suffer the same way you did. you cannot imagine this boy – this self-sacrificing boy, a lamb willing to nail itself to a cross, you see too many of the dangerous parts of yourself in him – crying over your mangled carcass the way you did hers. you stand up; your old, worn body aches for oblivion, groans & protests the movement. you’re not supposed to be on your feet at all, & you’re sure your student ( you want to say son, the word sits on the tip of your tongue every day & it feels right ) would be highly distressed if he were conscious – the image garners a lopsided grin, fond – but he’s not, & what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. your world has been so much darker ever since you lost her smile; his reminds you of hers, there’s as much of her in him as you, & that brings you so much joy. one day, you’ll have to thank him for teaching you how to live again, but for now, you gently place the blanket over his small form & promise to raise him. you will support him when it all becomes too much, when his shoulders begin to shake & when his voice breaks & when he needs to be reminded on how to roar, you will be there. you have to be. no, not that – you want to be there for him. for all them, just like you always have.

‘ don’t worry, i’m not going anywhere, ’ a bare whisper, you should have learned by now not to make promises you can’t keep, ‘ i am here. ‘

( vi. you’re on your deathbed & there is blood in your teeth. there has always been blood in your teeth. you are sorry. you are so, so sorry. )

#when ur just tryna to.... remember how to write......#lfdkg;dfkg; excuse the word vom i have #no idea how this got so long ???///#i just ??? have a lot of feelings about toshi slfkg;fs;#but yea just !! a quick chara study i guess #rlly just getting a feel for him &#wanted to provide an example of !! my writing style !#sweats #hc.#ooc.#blood cw #gore cw

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strykingback · 4 years ago

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BLCOUT vs Salem....

Location: Atlas, Within Monstra/At Its Gaping Mouth

OST: Darkness Beyond Its Abyss...

Time: 9:00 PM __________________________________

“Come on Move it People!! Move it!!!!” Blade shouted running down the hallways of Monstra blasting through any Grimm that was forming in front of him with Jaune, Yang, Lie Ren, Hazel, Outsider, Oscar, Corona, and Louvel following behind them is also Emerald as well as all of them saw the exit to Monstras maw. “There goes the exit!!! Corona call in the extraction team now!” He commanded with Corona putting her finger up to her earpiece. “Extraction team this is Dark Eagle we got the package along with some defectors! Prepare for immediate evac over” “Copy, Dark Eagle coming in for immediate evac ASAP” The pilot of the extraction team replied. with Louvel stopping for a moment as something.....just something washed over him..

“Guys.. I feel a sense of cold....” The wolf faunus said looking at the darkness of Monstra and hearing foot steps to which everyone else stopped and behind themselves. “Salem is coming.....” Hazel replied. “Shit.. so whos staying the fuck behind?!” Corona said hearing Louvel unsheathe his Katana....

“Us”

Louvel answered with Outsider going to Louvel’s side and getting a battle ready position releasing a screech into the darkness as a call to challenge Salem.

“Fuck... me..and this day...” Blade said going up next to the Wolf faunus and Grimm velociraptor With Inferno and Voltage at the ready in their shotgun mode.

“Wha- Oh Hell.” Corona said contacting the extraction team, “Extraction team be advised..... Ren, Jaune, Oscar, and Yang will be arriving.. we’ll be covering their escape....” She said looking at Jaune maybe for her possible last time with a forlorn look in her eyes. “Wait.. what about you?! We can-” The pilot spoke with the Atelier gunship landing in front of the Monstra as its blast doors opened with Ren, Jaune, Oscar, Yang, Emerald and Hazel getting on.” “We’ll be fine! Just meet us at the secondary LZ!” Corona said with the Pilot inside nodding and pulling away from Monstra.

OST: Immortal Witch

“So... you must be the team that stopped Hans’ first attempt at claiming Atlas.. a shame that you are down one member..”

Salem spoke revealing herself standing in front of the Team of four as the cold feeling Louvel felt was made to the point where it felt like a blizzard hit him.

“One Member down or not we will stand against you!!!” Blade said getting ready...

“Then... I invite you all to try.. a foolish boy wanting to be a hero, aFaunus who could not bring himself to even kill, a girl running from her own past, and a grimm stalker who thinks he is an intelligent species....” Salem spoke with such bravado in her voice with a confident smirk appearing on her face.

Louvel was the first to rush in with Blade following behind swinging his Katana at the Immortal witch in an attempt to strike which was parried away and even with his own strikes getting parried from each side with Salem seeing an opening and swinging a powerful punch to the Wolf Faunus’ stomach sending him sliding back with his Aura flickering as he took a moment to breathe then vomiting on the floor. “Louvel!!!” Blade and Corona shouted with the Sniper having Talon in its Rifle mode rushing in and shooting at the woman along with Blade starting up some dust for Outsider as the raptor jumped into the smoke only to be sent flying out and sliding across the floor growling. As Blade attempted to punch her only to be forced back with a powerful push. “Shame... I expected much more intelligence from a smarter grimm...”

Salem spoke quickly moving to Corona as she formed her hands like she was gripping a hammer and perfomed a Hammer fist attack on the sniper with Corona yelling out in pain as she met the floor and then summoning some Grimm arms as Salem was met with another explosion to her face as it was Louvel holding his stomach as the explosive kunais he threw met their target. “I Hope... you burn in hell....” Louvel said until he was met with a dark spear to his stomach. as he coughed out some blood fading away with the wolf faunus collapsing to the floor of Monstra. With Outsider releasing a worried yelp “Sadly.. Im already in hell.. and you’re there burning with me....” Salem stated with Corona looking at her fallent friend grunting as tears filled her eyes and Blade looking to his best friend.... dying... and unmoving.

“LOUVEL!!!!!”

Blade shouted with fury as he rushed Salem swinging multiple attempted punches at her as the Immortal Witch dodged them all gracefully... and masterfully as she caught both of his fists looking into Blades’ rage filled eyes....

“Such rage, does it make you boil with it... if you we’re on my side I would give so much more.... the strength, and the power to protect....Oh... It was I who manipulated Mantle to attack Vacuo by the way and destroy your precious Oasis’” Salem stated to which Blades semblance kicked as one of his Golden fists struck her face causing the witch to stumble back.....

“I’ll Kill you..... ILL KILL YOU!!!!” Blade shouted until in just one moment he was met with a punch from Salem then another and another until his Aura broke as he fell to the floor. “You Think you can kill with what is immortal! Suffered more than you! I will make you know why I was in pain for so long even if it meant murdering everyone you loved and cared!!” Salem shouted continuing to punch him over and over as blood stained her fists with Blade already unconscious... and his breathing labored as she panted. Outsider on the other hand kept yelping for help turning around to see Salem slowly approaching him... “Oh and you.. Im not finished with you yet...” She said smirking ready to finish off the last stand of a team until shield met her face as it flew back to one person with Corona and Outsider looked in shock at who it was.

“KAZURA!!!” Both Corona and Outsider said with relief with the Knight of Honor looking at Salem with a pissed off look on his face with some Atelier soldiers behind him. OST: Knight of Honor.

“Your orders my prince?” One of the soldiers asked.

“Get my friends to safety now!!!!!” Kazura said with the soldiers rushing to help them with Salem moving to attack one rushing for Blade only for her fist to be met with Kazuras shield. “Your Challenger is me!!!” The knight shouted pushing her back and attempting to swing his sword down at the witch with his strike being blocked by a sword of her own with a Grimm design on it. “Then I gladly accept your challenge....”

Salem spoke with the soldiers of Brumel, Outsider, and Corona along with the incapacitated Blade and Louvel being carried out of Monstra and onto a gunship as it flew away.

Salem pushed Kazura away with enough strength attempting to also to strike him down as she swung for his neck to slit as instead her sword was met with his shield. “Hmm... this will not suffice for our challenge... upstairs shall do nicely.... where you can witness the end of Atlas and soon your kingdom....” She said moving quickly away from the Knight.

Kazura chased after her running upstairs to the top of Monstra as he looked around for her silently looking at Atlas listening to the sound of bullets being fired, roars of Grimm, and shouts of commands...

“I suppose I should give you the benefit of the doubt..... you are much more different like the others...who have challenged me and failed.”

Salem stated walking down from her secondary throne looking at the Knight. “For years I have tried to look for the relics and to become one thing that no one else would become.... a God...and soon people will bow to me and me alone. Yet you.. what makes you think you can challenge me?” Salem said with Kazura closing his eyes and thinking softly as a voice within him spoke.

“Many people... do not wish to be ruled... they seek only peace and yes, while there will be war later on... we will always rise from the ashes again and again even if we cannot kill her here. Even if we must have all five kingdoms push back against you we will stand tall” His inner voice spoke opening his eyes..

“Because you have no fight left to fight... only a fool cannot move on from the past!!!!” Kazura stated with Salem shooting a magic blast at the Knight causing an explosion and a cloud of dust to rise from it..

“I HAVE MOVED ON FROM THE PAST AND I WILL NOT BE LECTURED BY A MORTAL!”

Salem snapped with an enraged look on her face as she smiled with glee possibly knowing she killed him but...

OST: Excalibur Awakened.

“Then tell me... What is a God to a Nonbeliever...”

Kazura’s voice rang out causing Salems look of glee to turn into a look of pure rage but then surprise....

As the dust cleared revealing standing in the middle of a symbol of a sword and shield, with pillars of light blasting into the sky and with an energy unlike any other going to Kazura’s sword and shield. But Kazuras sword Caliburn was glowing along with his shield... “Seven Kings Wieldeth this sword , Seven times they hath stood tall in the face of adversity, and seven times they hath attempted to awaken the true power of this sword..... Now you are the Eighth King....... the One to awaken... EXCALIBUR!!”

A Voice of a Time Long forgotten spoke around the incantation.

“Salem.... I challenge you.”

Kazura said getting into a fighting position ready to challenge her with the awakening incantation fading away

With a look of fury forming on her face as she floated down the steps. “I am the true god, Your empress and you shall kneel!!!” She said glaring at him with Kazura returning the glare as the two charged at eachother. ... signaling the battle between the Knight and Empress has begun..

#[Sometimes A Story Has Its Heroes- Drabble]#//Oh the Reason why I called it BLCOUT was because of one reason #//ITS KAZURA vs SALEM TIME BITCHES!!!!#//THE KNIGHT VS THE WITCH

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aurmgoldau · 7 years ago

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Halloween 2017 - The Haunted House

“You … never go to a haunted house attraction?”

Facing that kind of reaction always made Mei feeling guilty. And mortified, even though this time it wasn’t only her who never went to a haunted house attraction.

“Well …” Mei looked away, requesting assistance from Anya. Unfortunately the leader had entered her “power saving mode” and was half asleep on the bed above Mei’s. “Yes …”

“Don’t make it sound like a big deal!” Rhodo put up his best defense. “It’s just creepy decoration and people with costume, right? Nothing to be afraid of!”

Ulm stared at his other two teammates with amusement and confusion. It was a rarity to see him put such expression.

“But … Miss Schnee, I heard the Grandios Karneval in Atlas has the biggest haunted house venue in Remnant …”

“So I heard … But I only attended the Karneval once.” It was a lie, Mei attended it almost regularly because SDC received an exclusive invitation from the event organizer every year. “When I was … nine, I think?”

“Oh, I see …” Ulm mumbled something that sounded like “qué pena”.

“I don’t think I miss anything by not going to a silly haunted house.” Rhodo shrugged. “Schnee is probably afraid, though.”

“I am not!”

“You’ve been avoidant in the whole talk.”

Mei crossed her arms. “It doesn’t prove anything. I never go to a haunted house attraction or such because it’s for kids!”

“It’s an art!” Ulm interrupted in horror, looked as if someone insulted a god-like figure that would throw curse at them. “A haunted house is a form of art!”

This time, Mei could agree with Rhodo about how strange Ulm’s definition of “art” was.

“Well, we have a day off tomorrow. I suggest we go there to have a look at this haunted house attraction,” Mei said.

“Awesome.” Rhodo grinned. “I’m gonna enjoy seeing Schnee freaked out in the haunted house.”

“The same applied to you too, Sir Rhodo Manthus.” Mei couldn’t help not using her sarcastic tone.

“Anya, hey, you’re coming too, right?”

Anya replied with an “OK” hand sign without turned over on her bed.

“Wait! Waaaaiitt! I know you! Wait a minute, gal!”

Mei, Rhodo, followed by Ulm, passed the bazaar gate without any problem, but then the gate guard saw Anya and stopped her.

Anya sighed. “Go on ahead, guys. I’ll catch up with you.”

“What’s wrong …?” Ulm asked.

“Nothing big.”

“‘Nothing big’?” The guard repeated Anya’s words, raising his voice in disbelief. “After what you had done, it’s ‘nothing big’???”

“Ulm, go.” Anya frowned. “Don’t let those two lost, okay?”

“O-okay …”

Ulm deliberately pushed Mei and Rhodo away, despite of their protest.

“We can’t leave her like that!”

“Yes! We have to go back! What if she’s in trouble?”

“S-she told us to go ahead,” Ulm stuttered. “I-I think she’s going to be fine! Y-yeah!” She’s going to be okay!”

“Aren’t you curious with what happened until they stop her like that?”

Mei caught a glimpse of uncertainty on Ulm’s eyes. He looked back to their leader who was still at the entrance gate, arguing with the guard.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Rhodo asked.

“I start to think she did something big around here to make him upset like that …,” Mei added. The guard’s face had turned red like a beet.

Rhodo and Ulm nodded in sync. “Yeah.”

The guard finally let Anya go. The pink-haired girl acted as if there was nothing happened.

“Why did he stop you?” Mei asked, walking side by side with Anya.

“Like I said, nothing big.”

Mei raised her eyebrows.

“A little accident happened in the past.” Anya nodded at the attendant in the shooting range game booth. “You probably like that game, Rho. Chester put extra weight at the base of the best prize, so don’t be too greedy there.”

“Don’t change the subject!” Mei scowled.

“Why nobody let this one thing go …?”

“Anya!”

“I accidentally burned down the liquor seller tent.”

Mei, Rhodo, and Ulm stopped walking. Nobody said anything for a solid three seconds.

“Y-you WHAT?!”

“Anya, there’s a huge difference between staying cool and being ignorant!”

“I paid the damage, guys. It’s all settled now. And it was, like, 4 or 5 years ago. They shouldn’t make a fuss about it anymore.”

“That’s not--” Mei pinched the bridge of her nose, suddenly felt really tired.

Rhodo let out an amused laughter after being silent a while. “You should be at Shade Academy, you know? Where everyone loves chaos and explosion! It suits you.”

“It wasn’t intended, come on …” Anya cringed. “It was an accident.”

“Kindly tell us how did it happen in the first place, please,” Mei asked the biggest question in her mind.

“You know the fire-breather?”

Mei nodded.

“I saw those performers back then,” Anya continued. “I thought it’s a convenient trick, to be able to blow fire like them.”

Mei kinda felt the need to look the definition of “convenient” in the dictionary. What was convenient from learning fire breathing skill? Anya wasn’t even close to become a performer like the fire-breather she spoke of.

“They use a special mixture for that, just for your information. I go for the cheaper, easier alternative: alcohol.” Anya smirked. “If you know where to look, you can always find half full bottle of liquor around here at event like this. I found some behind the liquor tent. Some sailors left them behind, I guess.”

“And you didn’t bring it away before tried the trick?”

“Exactly my mistake. And I didn’t consider the wind too.”

Mei pinched her nose again. With this new finding about Anya and fire, Mei was sure their leader had to be banned from playing with fire. She already wounded herself in a faulty weapon when she was a kid and now Mei knew the collateral damage Anya could cause with fire.

“They took my weapon for safety.” Anya scowled. “They better take care of it or someone’s gonna hurt.”

“That’s one serious threat, y’know?” Rhodo raised his eyebrows.

“Don’t you have enough trouble with these people already?” Mei sighed.

“It’s a serious thing when it comes to weapon,” Anya replied. “You said it yourself, weapon describe its bearer.”

Mei remembered that one. She was one of those people who viewed weapon as some sort of identity of its holder, part of their personality.

“Well, here it is. The infamous Haunted House.”

The Haunted House was a semi-permanent building, bigger than a shack, but not really close to be called a building. Mei couldn’t make what was inside. It was dark and seemed to be designed like a labyrinth.

“Beacon students?” The doorkeeper stopped them at the entrance and asked. “Sorry, kiddo, but I will need to hold your weapon before you can enter.”

Ulm didn’t ask anything and give his crossbow after ensuring its safety lock was secured. Mei and Rhodo were more reluctant.

“Why do you have to keep them?” Mei reached Alpenaster, but delaying to give it to the doorkeeper.

“Both you, students, and Hunters don’t seem to take surprise lightly. Yeah, I know it’s your job to stay alert all the time, but it ruins the fun of being scared and restless.”

Personally, Mei didn’t think “being scared” and “restless” as some sort of entertainment.

“Okay, you’re good to go.” The doorkeeper opened the entrance for them after he store Mei and Rhodo’s weapons. “No branching in there, so just keep walking on the track. No backtracking, okay? Keep moving until you find the exit.”

It was dark and cold inside. There were only few source of lights, all of them were dim, and were located in odd places sparsely, creating shadows. The sound from the crowd outside was somehow muted in here.

“They’re not gonna make me pay if I break something due to this bad lighting, are they?” Rhodo, who usually spoke loud, whispered.

“From what I see, they made it quite sturdy,” Ulm replied. It was almost impossible to miss the joy and enthusiasm in his voice. “Wise choice. Since a lot visitors react by fight instead of flight.”

“Meaning we shouldn’t punch any ghost or monster pouncing on us?” Anya added.

“I think there won’t be--”

A muffled scream echoed from the other side of the place.

“Uh ….” Rhodo rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s go ….? It’s getting cold here.”

The wooden path they had to follow made a creaking noise in some spots. So far, nothing scary appeared--

“Mei,” Anya nudged her partner, “I know you’re afraid, but don’t grab my arm so tight.”

“I’m not afraid!” Mei scowled. She released Anya’s arm, but then clung on her jacket. “I just don’t want to get separated here!”

Rhodo laughed, turned around, and walked backward. “We’re not even halfway and you already scared, huh?”

“I told you I’m not afraid.”

Mei noticed the room was different from the previous one. It was brighter with proper lamps hung on the wall and ….

“What’s this smell?” Rhodo sniffed the air. “Something’s burned? But it’s kind of smelling good.”

“Aromatherapy?”

“No, no, it’s myrrh,” Ulm said. “It’s made of resin and usually used in praying ritual in some part of Mistral.”

“What kind of ritual?” Mei asked, curious.

“Daily prayer or in ceremony to send spirits of the death crossing world.”

“I’m not from Mistral, but I don’t think they draw circle on the floor in the ceremony.” Anya nodded at Rhodo’s feet. “Like that?”

Rhodo shuffled away from the drawing on the floor. The big circle and the intricate symbols inside of it was drawn in messy lines. It looked like it was painted using ….

“Oh, yes.” Ulm looked enthusiastic. He kneeled and took a closer look on the symbol. “Is this the Old Gods’ Seal?”

“The what--?”

“The Underworld God, Arkheus. This is used to revive the dead. The seal has to be drawn using a mix of goat blood and bird bones powder.”

Rhodo’s yelp cut Ulm’s explanation. He jumped and a big wooden box fell next to him.

“Not me!” Rhodo raised both hands. “It suddenly slide and--”

The box’s lid was moving. Slowly. Really slow.

And then it suddenly stopped.

“Ha … haha ….” Rhodo forced a laugh. “There’s someone inside that thing, I know that. Ha ….”

As if someone ripped it with a brute force, the lid suddenly opened. Rhodo leapt back, tripped on his own foot, and fell down.

“Is that--” Rhodo’s eyes widened in fear. A bony hand, with gray, rotten skin, awkwardly reached out from the box--it was a coffin, apparently. The body inside raised inch by inch.

Before anything inside the coffin fully made its appearance, Rhodo had ran away first. No longer care about showing up that she wasn’t scared, Mei followed him.

“Blockhead!” Mei cried. “You dunce! Don’t leave us alone!”

“IT’S AN UNDEAD!” Rhodo screamed. He had stopped running and now lean on the wall, pale and freaked out. “THE WORST OF ANYTHING IN REMNANT!”

“But--you couldn’t run like that!” Mei trembled. “Where’s Anya and Ulm?”

“We got separated?”

“But there’s only one path … right?”

Both Mei and Rhodo looked behind. The hall was dim and previously, there was a sharp turn.

“Should we get back?” Rhodo whispered. “I mean … what if we’re the one who take the wrong turn?”

Mei didn’t want to say anything. Her voice would surely cracked if she opened her mouth. She just nodded and followed Rhodo who went back to the path they came from.

“Nothing’s gonna scare me out this time,” Rhodo mumbled to himself. “Nothing …. Not a thing. Not a single thing …. I swear.”

“Boo.”

Startled by Rhodo’s scream, Mei almost ran again, but her legs felt like weak and all she could do was backing down to the nearest wall to keep herself stood up.

“Geez, Rho.” Anya chuckled. She moved to the space with less shadow, showing herself. “Your scream is way more surprising than that corpse in the coffin.”

“That--” Rhodo, pale and couldn’t seem to choose whether to be surprised or furious because Anya made fun of him, glared at the team leader. “Goddamnit--”

“Come on.” Anya held Rhodo and Mei’s hand, herding them back to walking. “I’m really enjoying it.”

“You’re enjoying seeing us scared to death!” Mei punched Anya’s shoulder. “Not funny, Anya!”

“Ouch! Okay, okay! No more prank. Sorry.”

Anya whistled a tune while walking. She looked amused and enjoying this trip. Seeing this, both Mei and Rhodo agreed not to trust Anya’s words. Their leader should not be trusted when she was in her playful mood.

They arrived in a room that was set up like an abandoned living room. The floor and the wall was dirty. About a dozen of old photographs were hung on the wall, each of them showed a man, a woman, or a few children; possibly a family. An armchair and a sofa sat in the middle of the room, looking like something had pushed it from its previous position. There was also a low wooden table with faded paint.

One thing attracted Mei’s attention was a mirror hanging on the wall, right across the wall with photographs. Mei grabbed Anya to make sure she wouldn’t try anything funny and dragged her to come over to the mirror.

“Huh?” Anya tilted her head. “Nothing in the mirror?”

“It’s … dusty?” Mei touched the mirror surface. Apparently, it wasn’t dust. It was vapor.

Instinctively, Mei wiped the mirror.

Instead of showing Mei and Anya’s reflection, there was only one figure in the mirror. Mei immediately stopped and attempted to back away. Anya refused to follow her and continue to wipe the mirror, revealing a close up appearance of a man.

It was a picture, but there was something uncanny about it. Mei couldn’t really grasp what was it ….

Just now, Mei was sure the man in the picture blinked his eyes.

“Nothing’s interesting here,” Rhodo called. “Let’s move to the next--”

The wall with the photographs looked like it was twisted from inside. Hands and human faces formed on its surface, looked like a creature was attempting to escape from the wall. Rhodo, who stood with the wall behind his back, didn’t see any of them.

“Rho?” Anya moved her hand, signaling Rhodo to turn around.

“What? You’re not going to trick me for the second time!”

Mei whimpered, disturbed by this scene.

“Rho. Behind you.”

Rhodo--finally--turned around.

If only Mei wasn’t scared like now, she would find Rhodo’s reaction funny. Rhodo moved away from the wall, bumping into the sofa really hard. He vaulted over it and tried to hide behind the sofa.

“Rho,” Anya tugged the blonde boy’s belt, “come on, let’s leave this room.”

“They’re not going to get us?”

“Even if they’re going to get us, the right thing to do is to move to the next room.”

Mei didn’t understand--not the slightest bit--how in Remnant people find this attraction entertaining and fun? What was the fun of being constantly in fear? Mei just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. Why there seemed to be no end of this dark hall and creepy rooms?

After once again walked through shadowy labyrinth (more than once, Mei thought she caught a glimpse of white figure dashed near them, but she didn’t find anything), they arrived in a room with strange blue light.

“When will this end …?” Rhodo groaned. “What will it be this time …? Huh? What’s this?”

Being the tallest among them, Rhodo touched something hanging from the ceiling. It was white and looked like a net ….

“Oh?” Rhodo lets out a nervous, but relieved laugh. “Rope. It’s woven so it looks like a spider web.”

Mei exhaled. Finding that the decoration were made of entirely normal material was somehow relieving. There should be a trick for everything they’ve gone through, even though it did look so real it was scary. There would be no problem with this--

Behind her back, Mei heard a choked gasp.

Anya, noone realized when did she move, was leaning in the corner of the furthest wall she could reach without leaving her teammates out of the sight. She breathed faster than normal and didn’t seem to notice it.

“Anya?”

“Y-yeah?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just ….” Anya deliberately avoided meeting eyes with either Mei or Rhodo. “I just think that … we probably took a wrong turn. S-somewhere. I mean, the lighting here is a bit off, right …?”

“The path isn’t branched.” Rhodo scratched his head. “Right, Schnee.”

Mei nodded.

“Are you--sure? I mean, with all those dark hall, we might miss something. Right--?”

Then Mei remembered one crucial thing. She pulled Rhodo so he lowered down and Mei could whisper that one word on his ear:

“Spider.”

Anya had a severe arachnophobia. Any hint of spider would trigger her. From what Mei observed all this time, the initial phase was like what was currently happening--Anya was scared to death, but in order to maintain her usual calm image, she ended up making up excuses to avoid the place with the possibility of spider inside. The next phase … had been successfully avoided up until now. Mei, Rhodo, and Ulm had once seen Anya was no longer paralyzed with fear and, instead, muttering a threat to blow up or burn down the entire place where the spider was.

“There’s probably an … alternate route …?”

“Schnee,” Rhodo whispered, “I don’t think I can calm her down …. Can you?”

“I’ll try ….”

When Mei got close to her partner, Anya was hissing something that sound like a prayer from between her teeth. Mei didn’t understand any word.

“Anya?” Mei carefully touched Anya’s wrist. It was cold. “You heard the doorkeeper, remember? He told us to follow the path and that it isn’t branched.”

Anya closed her eyes and bit her lips. She looked tortured by a battle inside of her head. A moment passed and she nodded reluctantly.

“So, yes, we’re on the right track,” Mei continued.

“I don’t want to go there.” Anya mumbled more foreign words again.

“Well, I want to leave this place too ….” Mei frowned. “What if we walk through this one with your eyes closed? So you don’t need to see what’s in there?”

“That doesn’t make them go away.”

“I know.” Mei was disappointed with herself for suggesting such a childish trick. “But you don’t need to see them, if there were one or two.”

Anya didn’t answer. She glared at the next room and its fake spiderweb.

“We can try it, can’t we?” Mei said.

“Do I have another choice?” Anya replied, sounded so helpless.

“Unfortunately, not at the moment.”

“I think I’m going to throw up.”

“We’ll make it quick, okay?”

Anya reached to her back, trying to grab her flintlock. It wasn’t there, since the gatekeeper had insisted to keep her weapon during the visit.

“Do I have another choice …?” Anya repeated, but this time her voice sounded like a squeak.

“Unfortunately, not at the moment.” Mei put her palm over Anya’s eyes. She already had cold sweat on her forehead. “We’ll make it quick, okay? Now, close your eyes.”

This last room didn’t scare Mei or Rhodo like the two previous ones. It was either the burden of responsibility or they simply thought this one as went through a Grimm nest, neither Mei nor Rhodo reacted by screaming or jumping back when a giant spider unfold its legs in the corner of the room.

(Mei wouldn’t dare to imagine how Anya would respond to the giant spider’s appearance.)

When they finally exited the attraction, the first thing Anya did was sitting down and dealing with her worsened hyperventilation. (She didn’t throw up like she said previously.)

Ulm appeared not too long after that. He saw Anya and his content expression turned into concern.

“What happened?”

“Spider,” Mei and Rhodo said in sync.

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna admit this is quite scary,” Rhodo said. “Just, goddamnit, don’t ask me to come along with you again, Ulm. This will be the first and last one, you hear me?”

Mei nodded in agreement.

“Well … okay.” Ulm still looked confused, but then his expression turn brighter. “Anyway! Did you see the detail in the ceremony room? The faces carved on the wall behind the throne looks like they’re alive. It doesn’t move, but it feels alive, you know?”

Throne?

“And the room with so many cages. The blood pool looks real. I expected this would be a series of trick room, but seeing it decorated like a theme exhibition based on the Old Gods religious practice is amazing.”

“Wait--”

“Blood pool?” Mei and Rhodo repeated, in sync.

“Yes. One of the Old Gods, Youma, is said to drink so many blood and eat a hundred crows, you need to make a pool for the sacrificial ritual. The blood is from chicken, so, yeah, it’s quite expensive to hold one--”

“Ulm.” Rather than upset, Rhodo sounded confused. “Don’t make fun of us. We didn’t see whatever rooms you mentioned.”

“We went through the haunted living room and the storeroom with a giant spider after the first room with coffin and undead,” Mei explained. “What’s with the ceremony room with a throne and the blood pool?”

“I didn’t find anything like a living room or a storeroom ….”

The three of them fell silent.

“You’re not making fun of us, right?” Rhodo squinted his eyes, staring at Ulm.

“I won’t do such a thing!” Ulm retorted.

“Why we visited different rooms then?” Mei asked. “Uh … Ulm? Did you walk in front of us or behind us? I … don’t remember seeing you around.”

“Oh? I was behind you. I take longer time seeing the room.”

Anya approached them, still pale, but overall looked better.

“I’m really amazed now that you were totally calm in there, Ulm.” Anya chuckled. “It’s funny, when I think about it again, that Mei and Rhodo freaked out like that and nothing seemed to affect you.”

“Miss Schnee and Rhodo … freaked out?”