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ladykailitha · 2 months ago

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The Caged Bird Still Sings Part 24

Well, this is the end. I'm a little sad to see this one end. It's been a wild journey and one I loved every minute. The highs and the lows.

Special thanks to my discord @dreamercec, @bookworm0690, and @forgottenkanji, who helped me work out the kinks and cheered me on when I got discouraged.

Thanks of course to everyone who stuck with this story to the end and who liked, commented, and reblogged.

Next week, "You're a Dream to Me" will take over this slot as a full time regular.

The boys go a victory tour and put Hawkins in their rearview mirror. A life well lived really is the best revenge.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23

And go here for a little fun ficlet I did about the dangling chains the CC boys wear: Extra Scene

Steve woke up the next morning in a warm embrace and he just smiled to himself. If someone had told him six months ago that he would be living a hotel with a rockstar boyfriend, he would have called them crazy.

He thought Tommy and he were for life. That they would runaway together and live somewhere where there were sunny beaches. But he knew that never would have happened even if his dad hadn’t walked in on them making out. Tommy had always been down for a good time, not for a long time.

But Eddie?

Eddie was all in from the moment he sidled up to Steve at the Hideout. Steve might have been looking for a one night stand and warm place to sleep, but Eddie was always going to want more than that with him. His dad kicking him out just made it easier to dote on him.

He rolled over and nuzzled Eddie’s neck.

Eddie hummed happily as he awoke. “Good morning, little Canary.” He brought Steve’s chin up so he could kiss him deeply.

One thing led to another it was at least an hour before either of them got up and by the time they had showered and gotten dressed, (Steve briefly dashed over to his room to drab some clothes and came back) it was well past time for breakfast so they ordered lunch.

And as they waited, Steve curled up on Eddie’s lap, his head tucked under Eddie’s chin.

“You’re so soft, Stevie,” Eddie murmured, rubbing his thumb over the stripe of skin that was exposed in the gap between Steve’s jeans and shirt. “That’s one of the things I love about you.”

Steve snuggled in closer. “My dad called it my biggest failing. That in order to survive in this world you had to be hard. Cruel.”

Eddie pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Well, maybe in his world, but not mine. Here, I want to you to stay soft, safe, and secure.”

“And I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

There was a knock on the door and then it opened to reveal the porter with their lunch. He pushed the cart over to them and removed the cloches.

Eddie tipped him and the man went scuttling back the way he had come.

They settled down to eat, just laughing and talking about just the little things that made up their lives. Funny stories about the kids, struggles with the record label.

The soft things.

“So what are your plans for today?” Eddie asked, moving the cart in the hallway for the staff to collect after they had finished their lunch.

Steve straddled his lap when he came back to sit on the sofa and instantly Eddie’s hands came up to his waist to steady him. He looked up into Steve’s eyes and smiled.

“I figured we had two options,” Steve said, low and sensual. “Either go around to all our friends and Wayne, telling them we finally got our heads out of our asses...”

“Or...?” Eddie asked reaching around to cup Steve’s ass and giving it a hard squeeze, causing him shriek.

“Or we can go back to bed and make Rosa hate us for a week,” Steve said, jutting his head toward the direction of the bed.

Eddie pursed his lips and cocked his head thoughtfully. Then in a single swift motion, he stood up, taking Steve with him. Steve scrambled to wrap his arms and legs around Eddie so he didn’t fall.

Eddie cackled. “I’ve got you, baby.”

He walked them over to the bed and quickly stripped Steve of his clothes.

Steve mockingly glared up at him. “You are far too good at that,” he huffed with an eye roll.

“I’m good at a lot things, little Canary,” Eddie teased. “I’m a going to have the best time showing you what I know.” He pressed a kiss to Steve’s nose, then his cheek, then his jaw. “I’m not some dorky high school washout who’s only experience is you, I’m a rockstar and I’m going to rock your world.”

Steve let himself go boneless and his fingers tentatively stroked the skin on Eddie’s arms, his hands shaking from the pleasure.

“Let yourself go, Stevie,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I’ll catch you, no matter how you fall.”

So Steve fell.

That night while Eddie was getting a shower, Steve called Robin.

He sat on the bed and tucked his knees under his chin, listening to the phone ring.

“I’m assuming since you didn’t call last night bawling your eyes out it went well?” Robin answered with a huff of laughter.

“Yeah,” Steve murmured. “We did talk first. About what we both wanted from the relationship and how to work as a team.”

“That’s good, Steve,” she said fondly. “I’m glad you’re getting everything you wanted.”

“Hey,” he said firmly, “don’t forget, I’m still buying you that car and once you graduate, I’m making you my personal assistant so you have to come with me wherever we go.”

“Deal.”

They ended up doing their little victory tour of their friends the next day, with them starting with Eddie’s bandmates.

The second they walked out on the veranda where the three other members of Corroded Coffin were having breakfast, Jeff burst out in a cheer while the other two moaned in despair.

“Ha!” he cried. “I win the bet!”

“I can’t believe it!” Gareth moaned into his hands. “I thought for sure it would take another week before they fucked like rabbits!”

Brian shook his head and said, “I didn’t think they would do anything. I figured they pine forever, if I’m honest.”

“Not with Stevie looking like that,” Jeff said shaking his ruefully. “He knew what he wanted and I had no doubt he was going to get it.”

“I saw them at the bar,” Gareth wailed. “I was so sure that they were going to admit their feelings for each other and then ease back into the sex now that they knew they were on the same page!”

Eddie and Steve looked at each other sheepishly. Because yes, that is exactly what they should have done. But with Steve looking like sin and Eddie like sex on legs, there was no way they were going to keep their hands off each other for any length of time.

They sat down at the table, blush high on Steve’s cheeks while Eddie’s grin was feral.

“What can I say?” Eddie said, picking up a menu. “I like making my little Canary sing.”

The blush on Steve’s cheeks deepened and crept up to his ears and down the column of his throat.

“Well,” Brian said, pulling out his wallet and handing Jeff a one hundred dollar bill, “I, for one am very happy for you both.”

Gareth slapped another hundred into Jeff’s other waiting hand. “Yeah, we really are happy you guys are together. Maybe female fans will stop throwing themselves at Eddie and give the rest of us poor bitches a passing glance.”

Jeff snorted, pocketing the money. “Not fucking likely. If I can’t get dates being the lead singer and Eddie being out as gay, Eddie having a very public boyfriend ain’t gonna change jack shit.”

“We’re doomed!” Gareth wailed dramatically, burying his head in hands.

“At least we won’t have albums worth of sad long songs,” Brian said cocking his head to the side ruefully.

Eddie smacked his shoulder. “Hey! I only wrote one album of sad songs after I broke up with Quinton thank you very much!”

“And three notebooks worth of absolute trash,” Jeff said rolling his eyes. “I was so grateful when Hunter came along because then we got the angry metal and that was some really good stuff.”

Steve shrunk in on himself. Hunter and Quinton? How many more guys were notches on Eddie’s bedpost.

Gareth’s eyes narrowed on Steve. “Hey, guys knock it off with the exes talk, we’re celebrating Steve and Eddie, not ragging on Eddie’s exes.”

Eddie looked over at Steve and wilted. “Baby, they’re exes for a reason, okay? You are not, and never will be like those assholes. It’s why I love you.” He pulled Steve close and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“Yeah,” Brian said contrite, “I shouldn’t have brought it up, that was my dumb mistake.”

Steve just nodded and curled up into Eddie’s side, where he stayed until they finished breakfast.

They told the kids all at once, dragging everyone to the arcade with Eddie and Claudia in tow, almost daring the management to repeat the last time Steve brought the kids here. But management wisely said nothing and even put them in the event room for privacy.

Eddie getting positively gleeful about being able to splash his money around.

When it was time for pizza Dustin asked. “All right, this is fantastic and all but really, why are we here?”

There was some hissing from a couple of the other kids while Eddie and Steve laughed.

“We just wanted to tell everyone,” Steve said, gently taking Eddie’s hand, “that Eddie and I are officially going steady.”

“About time,” Mike huffed and then took a huge bite of his pizza. “We were starting to think you were gonna grow a fucking forest with all the pining that was going on.”

Will snorted and he hurried to cover it up, but it was too late. Everyone had heard him.

“Sorry!” he said with a grimace. “But he’s right! You guys have been dancing around each since Eddie got back and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.”

Eddie and Steve looked at each other and then shrugged.

“To be fair,” Steve said dryly, “he was traveling on tour for a good portion of our relationship so that did put the breaks on it a bit.” He held up his finger and his thumb really close together.

“Will’s mom didn’t help either,” Max said with a wince. “Like if she hadn’t been harping about Steve getting a job, they probably would have gotten together soon after Eddie came back, instead of having to deal with the fall out of the attack on Steve.” She looked over at Will and then muttered, “Sorry, but it’s true.”

Will shrugged. “It’s true though. She hounded Steve and if she had backed off even a little things would have gone smoother for Eddie and him.”

“Thanks Will,” Steve said with a smile. “Are Nancy and Jonathan going to join us later?”

Will lit up and started talking about Jonathan and Nancy.

Steve just sat back, leaning into Eddie’s side, watching his kids having fun and just being themselves for awhile.

The parents were at once easier and harder then the kids. Claudia and the Sinclairs were happy for them, Sue couldn’t have care one way or another who Steve was fucking as long as he didn’t do it front of the kids, and the Wheelers were clearly pained, but openly supportive.

Hopper clapped Eddie on the shoulder. “You’re the only one I trust to take care of Steve,” he said as they had gone to sit on the porch for a smoke. Steve was inside with Ellie learning different plaiting methods because he wanted to braid Eddie’s hair.

Eddie tilted his head to the side. “I’m not sure I know what that means, but I’ll take it.”

Hopper shook his head. “It means that that boy has a big heart and he wears it on his sleeve. No matter who he dated, they were going to think he was too much. Everyone but you. Because if he love is the ocean, then you are the shore.”

Eddie blinked back tears. “Thanks. I really appreciate that. He means the world to me and I will make sure he’s as happy as I can make him.”

Hopper nodded and they both finished their cigarettes in silence, watching the sun set on the horizon.

Joyce came and sat down next to Steve, where he was practicing a French braid on Ellie’s hair.

“Are you sure this is what you want, Steve?” she asked gently.

Steve looked her dead in the eye. “Is it because he’s a man, because he’s rich, or because he’s Eddie fucking Munson, that you have a problem with him? Because I’ve never been able to pin it down exactly.”

Joyce bowed her head and then ran her hands over her face. She tapped Ellie’s shoulder. “Go see what Will wants for dinner.”

Ellie looked up at Steve and only when he nodded dis she stand up to do as Joyce asked.

“I wish I could say none of the above,” she said softly. “But it’s probably D- all of the above. And I’m really struggling with that because I know–” she stopped, a pained noise escaping her throat. “I suspect that Will is gay, too. And I’m going to have to come to terms with the fact that I will probably have a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law. But I don’t know how to do the right thing for him.”

Steve took her hand. “Just treat him and whoever he brings home the same way you would treat any girl Jonathan brings. And love him.”

She gave his hand a squeeze and nodded, choking back tears.

Wayne was thrilled that they had finally gotten together and promised them that his home would always be their safe harbor no matter where the wind took them.

Steve was happy to see Hawkins in the rearview mirror after the holidays. Eddie wanted to show him his house in LA to see where Steve really wanted to live, plus it was time for the band to get back into the studio for their next album.

As they boarded the plane that would take Steve far away from Indiana, he sighed. “I wish there was a way that I could give my dad the middle finger, you know?” He shook his head. “They say the best revenge is a life well lived. But it doesn’t do any good if he thinks I’m lying in a ditch somewhere.”

Eddie scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I think I have just the thing, baby.”

Steve was handed a stack of postcards and bright pink pen.

“Wherever we go,” Eddie said softly, “whatever we do, send your parents a postcard letting them know you’re out there having fun.”

Steve grinned up at him. “This in addition to that exclusive you gave Nancy?”

Eddie chuckled. The weekend after they landed in LA, Eddie sent out for Nancy and Jonathan to do a full spread article about being gay in the music industry, the AIDS crisis, and the announcement that Eddie and Steve were a couple. It had ran in every major newspaper in the country.

After The Hawkins Post got it for the first twenty-four hours.

There was no way his parents missed the picture of their son, cuddling up with the biggest metal star in the world.

Maureen walked to the mailbox in front of her large mansion in Hawkins. Honestly, she was thinking of asking Clint to just sell the place. It wasn’t as though they needed it and they were hardly there in the first place.

Even before this whole mess with the disaster with the Hagan boy.

She opened it up and sighed. She closed it again, stomping her foot. She huffed out another sigh and then opened the mailbox again.

She pulled out the only item in there and closed it again. She walked into the house and called out, “He sent us another one!”

Clint came barreling out of his office, like a bull on a rampage. “Where is that wastrel of a son now?”

Maureen turned over the card and read. “Looks like he’s in the Bahamas with Rob Lowe sipping on mai tais!”

“That the third one this month!” Clint bellowed. “First it was in Paris with Twiggy! Then it was with Cher in LA! He travels more than we do!”

Maureen burst out into tears. “I want to go to the Bahamas! You never take me anywhere nice anymore!”

Clint ripped the card out of her hand and tossed it on the growing pile of postcards. All from Steve. All of them with pictures of him on the lap of that depraved rockstar, Eddie Munson’s lap. All with the same message:

“Out here livin’ my best life thanks to you! XXX- Steve”

-The End

Tag List: COMPLETED

1- @itsall-taken @wheneverfeasible @zerokrox-blog @beelze-the-bubkiss @blondie1006

2- @gregre369 @a-little-unsteddie @themoonagainstmers @cryptid-system @maya-custodios-dionach

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1

5- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

6- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

7- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @w1ll0wtr33 @sticknpokelightningbolt @just-a-tiny-void

8- @scoops-aboy86 @kurofuckingshi16 @watermelonmite @eyehartart @dreamercec

9- @little-birch-boy @yearningagain @micheledawn1975 @sadisticaltarts @steddieislife

10- @fearieshadow @kultiras @thesecondfate @tartarusknight @genderless-spoon

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #age difference #ten years between steve and eddie

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skirlts · 2 years ago

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★ . . . meme bios / bio p doentes igual eu pt3

1. te chamei aq pra casa mas nao vai tirando essas roupas nao seu seboso a gente vai ver compilado de cute moments do loona olha que linda a choerry

2. cortando meu cabelo p nao corta meu pescoco

3. cuspa em gatos chute idosas bata em recem nascidos mas nao fale do aespa sua desgracada

4. prendendo a respiracao ate meu pai falar que me ama pela primeira vez eita morrikk

5. vem falar da gowon p vc ver o que eu faco sua ratazana de esquina resto de aborto de castor desdentado

6. Ola eu sou jesus cristo usando esse, meu.filho para enviar esse alerta . Que eu estou voltando ! se vc me negar 3 vezes na terra eu negarei vc no ceu. Se n tem vergonha de mi. Mim de um pix de 90 conto , mando a conta na dm so pedir. Gloriaamem

7. se for sensivel favor nao ler meus tweets sou uma pessoa tenebrosa taco hate em todos xingo a todos falo mal ate de idosos pedintes NAO sou uma boa pessoa FUJA

8. neymar do pix se eu te vejo na rua voce corra tenho assuntos inacabados com voce seu canalha

9. estou em processo de cura espiritual favor nao me contradizer ou os demonios que estao em mim vao se soltar nao vai ter agua benta que pare eles

10. reza a lenda q se voce der descarga 3 vezes e falar "karina karina karina" eu apareco atras de voce e te levo pro inferno pra parar d falar o nome da minha mulher talarico do krl

11. amo todas as mulheres homens o q tenho haverkkkjj

12. amor a bolsa estourou calma ai meu bem o gfriend precisa de mim

13. tweetando and deletando

14. karina mulher canalha serial killer de pudor alheio

15. giselle e vivi IRMAS COM CABELO ROSA NATURAL

16. lesbica nao praticante

17. tatua ai neon machi fly like a butterfly nal meolli deryeogal wings, wings

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mostbelovedaewwrestlertournament · 3 months ago

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Most Beloved AEW Wrestler Tournament 2: Week 1 Statistics Dump

Howdy friends, it's Saturday and that means I get to treat you all to an assortment of statistics (before reading further, just remember these stats are in progress. They should not be considered fair to anyone until the tournament is over and all brackets have been tabulated)

Total votes thus far: 70,711 (average of 129.5 votes per matchup)

The Ties

Now I've seen a handful of ties in my tournaments, but those were happening more when there were fewer votes and fewer brackets. I didn't think there would be any here. But there were. Twice.

The Crushing, Crushing Defeats

I am very pleased to say that there were no unanimous victories this week. However, there were two instances of a wrestler only getting a single vote

The Top 20

Above are the stats for the first 7 days of the top 20 frontrunners (I know they're tiny and probably illegible, but I have so many numbers and don't want to deprive anyone of them)

Wins VS Losses

With this tournament formatted how it is, it is only possible for 1 person to have 155 victories and 1 person to have 155 losses. There are currently only 20 names that have a perfect record of wins and 29 names with a perfect record of losses.

The Stock Market

This is where I'll list everyone's rank and pretend it's a little stock market so you see if people are going up or down. In future weeks, I'll add little arrows so it's kind of fun, but since this week is the first, everyone will just have their rank listed

Kenny Omega - 1

Kris Statlander - 2

Swerve Strickland - 3

Orange Cassidy - 4

Jon Moxley - 5

Konosuke Takeshita - 6

Julia Hart - 7

Toni Storm - 8

Adam Page - 9

Eddie Kingston - 10

Willow Nightingale - 11

Jay White - 12

Wheeler Yuta - 13

Chuck Taylor - 14

MJF - 15

Samoa Joe - 16

Kyle O'Reilly - 17

Daniel Garcia - 18

Will Ospreay - 19

Jamie Hayter - 20

Mariah May - 21

Claudio Castagnoli - 22

Queen Aminata - 23

Kota Ibushi - 24

Katsuyori Shibata - 25

Evil Uno - 26

Hook - 26

Kazuchika Okada - 28

Harley Cameron - 29

Athena - 30

Danhausen - 31

Riho - 32

Brody King - 33

Kip Sabian - 34

Bryan Danielson - 35

Matthew Jackson - 36

Nyla Rose - 37

Buddy Matthews - 38

Mercedes Mone - 39

Anthony Bowens - 40

Powerhouse Hobbs - 41

Juice Robinson - 42

Hologram - 43

Kyle Fletcher - 44

Isiah Kassidy - 45

PAC - 45

Christian Cage - 47

Nicholas Jackson - 48

Komander - 49

Yuka Sakazaki - 49

Hikaru Shida - 51

John Silver - 52

Jack Perry - 53

Dustin Rhodes - 54

Deonna Purrazzo - 55

Killswitch - 56

Darby Allin - 57

Mark Briscoe - 58

Matt Menard - 58

Emi Sakura - 60

Skye Blue - 61

Thunder Rosa - 62

Trent Beretta - 63

Sting - 64

Penelope Ford - 65

Ruby Soho - 66

Lee Moriarty - 67

Bandido - 68

Ricky Starks - 69

Abadon - 70

Billy Gunn - 71

Cope - 72

Taya Valkyrie - 73

Keith Lee - 74

Nick Wayne - 75

Bryan Keith - 76

Red Velvet - 77

Colten Gunn - 78

The Beast Mortos - 79

Angelo Parker - 80

Mark Davis - 80

Adam Cole - 82

Darius Martin - 83

Serpentico - 84

Roderick Strong - 85

Dante Martin - 86

Austin Gunn - 87

AR Fox - 88

Matt Taven - 88

Anna Jay - 90

Shelton Benjamin - 91

Marina Shafir - 92

Malakai Black - 93

Johnny TV - 94

Dr Britt Baker DMD - 95

Ricochet - 96

Bobby Lashley - 97

Kiera Hogan - 98

Mr Brodie Lee - 99

Lance Archer - 100

Alex Reynolds - 101

Rey Fenix - 102

Leila Grey - 103

Cash Wheeler - 104

Leyla Hirsch - 105

Wardlow - 106

Marq Quen - 107

Max Caster - 108

Colt Cabana - 109

Mike Bennett - 110

Brian Cage - 110

Angelico - 112

Tay Melo - 113

Big Bill - 114

Jeff Jarrett - 115

Brandon Cutler - 116

The Blade - 116

Lio Rush - 118

Mercedes Martinez - 119

The Butcher - 120

Diamante - 121

Dax Harwood - 122

Chris Jericho - 123

Scorpio Sky - 124

Luther - 124

Jay Lethal - 126

Matt Sydal - 127

Sammy Guevara - 128

Peter Avalon - 129

Lee Johnson - 130

Paul Wight - 131

Rush - 132

Josh Woods - 133

Preston Vance - 134

Michael Nakazawa - 135

Saraya - 136

Ortiz - 137

Action Andretti - 138

Toa Liona - 139

Shawn Dean - 140

Bishop Kaun - 141

Satnam Singh - 142

Kamille - 143

Ariya Daivari - 143

Rebel - 145

Tony Nese - 146

Griff Garrison - 147

Madison Rayne - 148

Dralistico - 149

Miro - 150

Vincent - 151

Dutch - 152

Anthony Ogogo - 153

Serena Deeb - 154

Aaron Solo - 155

Nick Comoroto - 156

Funniest Notification Award

The notification that made me laugh the most this week was this one by @sendhook on Hook vs Orange Cassidy

I promise there will be more stats next week cause I'll have something to compare it to. If anyone wants to see a particular trend or know a stat, let me know in the tags or send an ask. Can't do anymore thinking beyond this cause I've spent 2 hours on it already and I wanna go play Supermarket Simulator

#most beloved aew wrestler tournament #aew #all elite wrestling #I've gotten faster and more efficient at posting brackets at least so that's something

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burstfoot · 1 year ago

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Figured I'd make a post outlining Arknights' auxiliary material for those who want to see more of the universe and aren't aware of all that's out there! ANIMATION Arknights Prelude To Dawn (S1) and Perish in Frost (S2, currently airing): [Crunchyroll]

A straight up adapation of the main story, up through Chapter 0 to Chapter 6! It's much more fast-paced than the story, so I wouldn't use it to replace actually reading it, but it's very cool to see some of these scenes in full animation. Lee's Detective Agency: (Youtube)

A mini-series animated in a chibi-style with a comedic tone focused on the adventures of the Kuroblood-illustrated Lee's Detective Agency! Distributed by Crunchyroll globally, but entirely free to watch.

Closure's Secret Files: (Youtube)

A cut-out styled series of shorts hosted by Closure which outlines a lot of the game's basic mechanics!

Holy Knight Light: [Youtube]

A short Youtube OVA focusing around Penguin Logistics delivering a package, celebrating Arknights' first anniversary!

[Upcoming]: Kay's Daily Doodles: (Twitter Annoucement)

Another free youtube mini-series that starts airing December 1st, focused around Ceobe! Here's some additional animations! Each event usually also has a 15 second 2D animated preview of the event, but there's so many of those that I can't list them all. Official Anniversary Event 3D Animations: Lone Trail Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow Il Siracusano Ideal City Stultifera Navis Invitation To Wine Near Light Dossoles Holiday Under Tides Bonus 3D Animated Shorts: Legend of Chongyue Arknights Special - IL Siracusano Lo Scontro Youtube Shorts: Ch'en and Lin's Watermelon Splitting Game Part 1 Ch'en and Lin's Watermelon Splitting Game Part 2 Amiya's Siracusan Food Guide Part 1 Amiya's Siracusano Food Guide Part 2

Comics, Manga, Manhua

Officially Translated Rhodes Island's Records of Originium: Rhine Lab: (Offical Website)

A canon manhua centered around the circumstances that lead to Silence falling out with Saria and joining Rhodes Island with Ifrit, as well as Ifrit's attempt to save a dying infected stowaway on the landship. Essential reading for understanding the Rhine Lab storyline and characters - read it right after Mansfield! One of the characters, Darya, is mentioned in both Ifrit's module and briefly in Lone Trail.

Rhodes Island's Records of Originium: Blacksteel: (Official Source)

A short story focusing on the lives of the Blacksteel operators aboard the landship. While it often gets overshadowed by the Rhine Lab manga which is bigger in scope, this is a great read especially if you're interested in Franka or Liskarm.

Rhodes Kitchen -TIDBITS-: (Official Source)

An anthology story related to the cuisine that's important to a variety of operators. While it might seem unassuming, the art is gorgeous and it's really well-written. I particularly recommend the Goldenglow (Chapter 4) and Rosa (Chapter 5) chapters.

Unofficially Translated

Arknights Comic Anthology: (Mangadex)

As the title says, a series of non-canon anthology stories regarding the cast of Rhodes' Island! Note that the link provided only has complete translations up to Volume 4 (and Vol. 4 is missing Ch. 7), and most of the chapters avaliable after that point were MTL'd, so I can't vouch for their accuracy. Chapters I'd recommend are: Volume 1: Chapter 12 (focused on Myrrh trying to improve her medicine), Chapter 14 (focused on Saria and Silence trying to put apart their differences to take Ifrit on vacation, afaik the only place where they are directly referred to as her "moms") Volume 2: Chapter 1 (Manticore tries to make friends), Chapter 3 (The LGD gets drunk), Chapter 11 (Texlapp and Mosexu yuribait), Ch. 13 (Magallan tries to find a pet), Chapter 16 (Ethan spies on the interior lives of Rhodes operators) Volume 3: Chapter 6 (Snowsant, Ifrit, Nian and Shaw are forced to make friends), Chapter 7 (Gummy flashes back to Chernobog), Chapter 10 (FEater and Shaw yuribait), Chapter 13 (Blackout on the landship, as well as Ayerscarpe and Leonhardt yaoibait)

Volume 4: Chapter 4 (Thorns tries to make friends with Weedy [this one is my favourite]), Chapter 6 (Tomimi tail spankings), Chapter 9 (Elysium helps Frostleaf get along with Dur-Nar) Volume 6: Ch. 1 (Whisperain opens up to others) [this one isn't MTL'd afaik]

123 Rhodes Island: (Mangadex)

A series of non-canon gag 4komas! Many of the games' offical stickers are done in this series' art style.

Arknights: Operators!: (Mangadex)

A compilation of 4komas posted on the official ArknightsJP twitter account! Thank you to @sleepywoodscans for their work on translating these, please show them some love!!

[Edit: For clarities sake, the only stuff here that has used MTL is later chapters of the Comic Anthology! Sleepywoodscans’ work on Operators! is all done by hand (they’re a native Japanese speaker). Again, I really appreciate their work!]

Arknights: A1 Operations Preparation Detachment: (Mangadex)

Part of the Terra Historicus website and not yet officially translated, focusing on Fang, Kroos and Beagle, and a catastrophe striking the Columbian city of Tkaronto. Unfortunately, only translated up to Chapter 6, but one of the characters (Elba) has a brief cameo in Light Sparks in Darkness! Edit: Chapter 7 has been translated by @pooce-art, and they're working on Chapter 8!

Angelina: Sketches of THIS Messenger's Journey: (Mangadex)

Also published as part of the Terra Historicus website and not yet officially translated, focuses on the adventures of Angelina travelling across Terra as a Messenger! Recent chapters relate to the upcoming Sami event & IS4, as well as the upcoming So Long, Adele.

Prelude Suite: Unrestrained Play: (Wiki)

Unfortunately, I can't find a full translation for this one - an epilogue to Hortus De Esscapismo focusing on Arturia's background. Of course, major spoilers for Hortus apply - if you can find a full translation yourself.

As well, an upcoming manhua focused on the Break the Ice cast was annouced during the 4.5 Anniversary stream. As far as I'm aware, chapters have not begun releasing yet!

Other:

Arknights Ambience Synesthesia: (Youtube)

youtube

A series of concerts (3 so far), focusing around Arknights' music! A live performance has been done every year, with skins released in-game for the concert's theme & 3D animations produced featuring the skin's cast in 2022 and 2023.

Monster Siren Records: (Spotify) (Official Website)

Arknights' official (and-in-universe) record label publishing game OSTs, themes for almost every 6 star operator that releases, and occasional bonus songs.

Arknights: Endfield: (Twitter)

An upcoming 3D action gacha game from Hypergryph, set in the far future of Arknights' universe on another planet. Currently in closed beta testing for their CN servers!

Arknights: Nomad City: The Founders: (Youtube)

A to-be-released CN Arknights board game! Unclear of if it will ever be translated or released globally, unfortunately...

Terra: A Journey: (Wiki)

An upcoming CN lore book focused on the intricate details of Terra's worldbuilding. As well, unclear if it will be translated or released globally.

UNOFFICIAL:

Some fandom-developed tools that might be of use to you are the Arknights Terra Wiki - which just transferred from FANDOM to wiki.gg, and has very detailed information on both game mechanics and world-lore.

As well, the Arknights Story Reader can help you catch up on stuff you don't want to or can't read in game!

Finally, Aceship's Toolbox provides access to a variety of tools, including a levelling calculator, a calculator to ensure the best recruitments, and all the CGs, backgrounds and character sprites that are avaliable in-game.

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading! I hope this provided some new information to you or at least provides an easy reference resource in the future. There's a lot to check out even outside of the game, and I hope you find some stuff you enjoy!

#arknights #ohhhh my god this took way longer to write than expected #dont want to reblog beg but they would be greatly appreciated!#take care with the mangadex & non-offical links #I can't guarantee their safety #i could've sworn who is real had a 3d trailer but it mightve been an ambience synthesia vid

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shiorihyugawrites · 5 months ago

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The Legendary Black Cat

Selena de la Rosa, known across Marley as the Legendary Black Cat, is the world's deadliest assassin—a master of agility, precision, and deception. When Marley turns against her, she is shipped to Paradis as a living weapon, chained and drugged, with her survival all but assured to be short-lived. But Selena is no ordinary prisoner.

Bound by no one, loyal to none, Selena plots her next move, determined to seize her freedom by any means necessary. Yet, her plans are complicated by the Scouts who captured her, particularly Captain Levi Ackerman—the so-called Humanity's Strongest Soldier. Selena is intrigued by his strength and reputation, but her pride refuses to acknowledge him as her equal.

Caught between Levi’s unrelenting gaze, Selena plays a dangerous game of manipulation. She’s biding her time, but when the moment comes, will her calculated escape bring her freedom—or will her path collide violently with Levi’s unwavering resolve?

The Black Cat has always landed on her feet, but for the first time, she might meet her match. (Levi x OC)

Table Of Contents:

Snippet of Chapter One

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 |

The Caged Hummingbird | Erwin x OC Oneshot

Masterlist | Patreon

Join my Taglist

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rascalentertainments · 1 year ago

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🌟Wish Granted AU🌟 👩🏾🌟🐐✨

(Wish Rewrite Currently in Progress, so this'll be updated casually)

Official Story Synopsis

Chapters: 📖

Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time... 🏰

Chapter 2: Into the Woods 🏞

Chapter 3: This Wish ⭐

Chapter 4: You're a Star?! 🌠🎵

Chapter 5: Welcome to Rosas 🌹🏙

Chapter 6: Welcome to Rosas (Part 2) 🌹🔥

Chapter 7: Royal Pains 👑⚡

Chapter 8: Trouble A-Brewin' 🌩🌟

Chapter 9: In the Dark of the Night 🌘

Chapter 10: Hellfire 🔥🌳

Chapter 11: (Not So) Jolly Holiday 🐮🐎🐔

Chapter 12: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Doom 🔮✨🌟

Chapter 13: Poor Unfortunate Souls 👸🍪🐂

Chapter 14: Finding Flazino 🐭🏰

Chapter 15 (Coming Soon)

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Ao3

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Characters Bios/Desgins 👥

Asha

Star

Valentino (Coming Soon)

Magnifico, Amaya and Sabor

The 7 Teens

Gabo (Individual)

Flazino: The Sorcerers' Apprentice

Sabino (Coming Soon)

Sakina and Tomas

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Locations: 🌎

Star's Home: The Startopshere 🌌

Asha's Home: The Hamlet (Coming Soon) 🏞

The Kingdom of Ross (Coming Soon)

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Bonus Features:

How Asha got Valentino (Short)

How Star Came To Earth (Short)

What Happened to Tomas? (Coming Soon)

Wish Granted Ship Dynamics

Magic System of Wish Granted

Magic System of Wish Granted (Part 2)

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Fan Art Gallery (Coming Soon)🎨

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Wish Granted Askbox!: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Here's some more Wish rewrites created by awesome writers if you want some more Wish content!

"Kingdom of Wishes" by @annymation

"The Fallen Star" by @signed-sapphire

"Reach for the Stars!" by @oh-shtars

"The Assistant and The Star" by @tumblingdownthefoxden

"The Wishing Kingdom" by @chillwildwave

"The Girl and the Star" by @mythartist21

"Wish: Rewrite the Stars" by @gracebethartacc

"A Home in the Stars" by @ahomeinthestars-wishrewrite

"The Kingdom of Thorns and Roses" by @your-ne1ghbor

"Upon a Star" by @snackara

"Kingdom of the Stars" by @thisnameisnotspokenfor

"The Last Star" by @yurikalonesome

"Wishing On a Star" by @jojo-ker06

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humanmorph · 2 years ago

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i know i said this but its also impossible for me to not click on said tagged spoilers. its the ‘oh a button on my dashboard i have GOT to click it wait fuck no’

i hope everyone is going to be soooo nice and tag spoilers. #palisade spoilers. i cant listen until either tomorrow or way later today

#i think theres an xkit feature that makes it possible to just hide posts when they have a tag you blacklisten or w/e #but that annoyed me so bad when i wanted to look for fanart or just view posts after id gotten caught up with listening #anyways i listened to the last 10 minutes of C/W 05 today and then some twilight mirage soundtrack and then the last 15 minutes of TM 63 #leaving palisade for tomorrow even though its gonna be way too fucking hot again... my lovely walk...#rosa talk

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covid-safer-hotties · 6 months ago

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Also preserved on our archive (Daily updates!)

Weird how this "endemic" German strain is poised to dominate worldwide... That almost sounds like a pandemic :O

By Ahjané Forbes

KP.3.1.1 is still the dominant COVID-19 variant in the United States as it accounts for nearly 60% of positive cases, but the XEC variant is not far behind, recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows.

"CDC is monitoring the XEC variant," Rosa Norman, a CDC spokesperson told USA TODAY. "XEC is the proposed name of a recombinant, or hybrid, of the closely related Omicron lineages KS.1.1 and KP.3.3."

The variant, which first appeared in Berlin in late June, has increasingly seen hundreds of cases in Germany, France, Denmark and Netherlands, according to a report by Australia-based data integration specialist Mike Honey.

The CDC's Nowcast data tracker, which displays COVID-19 estimates and projections for two-week periods, reflected that the KP.3.1.1 variant accounted for 57.2% of positive infections, followed by XEC at 10.7% in the two-week stretch starting on Sept. 29 and ending on Oct. 12.

KP.3.1.1 first became the leading variant between July 21 and Aug. 3.

The latest data shows a rise in each variant's percentage of total cases from Sept. 15-28, as KP.3.1.1 rose by 4.6%, and XEC rose by 5.4%. Previously, the KP.3.1.1 variant made up 52.6% of cases and XEC accounted for 5.3% from Sept. 15-28.

Here is what you need to know about the XEC variant and the latest CDC data.

COVID-19:Your free COVID-19 at-home tests from the government are set to expire soon. Here's why.

Changes in COVID-19 test positivity within a week Data collected by the CDC shows a drop in positivity rate across the board, while the four states in Region 10 had the biggest decrease (-2.7%) in positive COVID-19 cases from Sept. 29, 2024, to Oct. 5, 2024.

The data was posted on Oct. 11.

Note: The CDC organizes positivity rate based on regions, as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Here's the list of states and their regions' changes in COVID-19 positivity for the past week:

Region 1 (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont): -2% Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands): -1.9% Region 3 (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia): -1.3% Region 4 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee): -0.6% Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin): -2% Region 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas): -0.8% Region 7 (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska): -1.7% Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming): -1.2% Region 9 (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau): -1.3% Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington): -2.7% The CDC data shows COVID-19 test positivity rate was recorded at 7.7% from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, an absolute change of -1.8% from the prior week.

COVID-19 symptoms The variants currently dominating in the U.S. do not have their own specific symptoms, the CDC says..

"CDC is not aware of new or unusual symptoms associated with XEC or any other co-circulating lineage of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19," Norman said.

The government agency outlines the basic symptoms of COVID-19 on its website. These symptoms can appear between two and 14 days after exposure to the virus and can range from mild to severe.

These are some of the symptoms of COVID-19:

Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache Loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea The CDC said you should seek medical attention if you have the following symptoms:

Trouble breathing Persistent pain or pressure in the chest New confusion Inability to wake or stay awake Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds

#mask up #covid #pandemic #wear a mask #public health #covid 19 #wear a respirator #still coviding #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #XEC

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raffaeleitlodeo · 10 months ago

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Andrea ha 15 anni, la madre lava un paio di suoi pantaloni rossi ma stingono e diventano rosa. Andrea non ci fa caso, li indossa e torna a scuola. Inizia così a essere preso di mira. Vessazioni e umiliazioni di ogni tipo fino alla creazione di una pagina Facebook dal nome IL RAGAZZO DAI PANTALONI ROSA.

Andrea si toglie la vita. È il 2012. Sarà il primo minore che in Italia si uccide a causa del bullismo e dell’omofobia.

Per sua madre Teresa si aprono le porte dell’inferno. Fino a che un pomeriggio scopre quella maledetta pagina Facebook e legge tutto il male riversato su suo figlio.

In mezzo al dolore più atroce trova la forza di battersi contro questo fenomeno di violenza sui social. Va nelle scuole, scrive un libro, incontra associazioni.

Il 10 ottobre al cinema uscirà il film Il ragazzo dai pantaloni rosa. Teresa ha trasformato il dolore in speranza. Che nessun altro genitore viva quello ha vissuto lei.

Amen

#Pride2024

Claudia Sarritzu, Facebook

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doubleddenden · 1 month ago

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Okay, onto gen 5 characters. I've said it before, but gen 5 is probably my favorite for a lot of reasons, and in this case, it's the most like home imo, and the characters are fantastic all around.

Starting with Hilbert, the male mc of BW1. Hilbert is basically a callback to Red in a few ways, but he's also the protagonist I have always found the easiest to project onto. Why? As a teen, that was probably the closest to me a Pokemon mc would get. The thick brown hair and brown eyes especially. The outfit is simultaneously a disaster and pretty cool, I'd maybe unzip the hoodie, perhaps untuck the shoes, and maybe I'd just have a regular backpack, but he's probably my favorite vanilla MaleC out of all the others. Hilbert and Hilda are supposed to be a little older than past protagonists, and their designs definitely have a broader range of age most could project onto imo- basically a Scooby Doo situation, where you can be anywhere from 15 to late 20s and kinda pull off whatever you're going for. 9/10, Samurott coded

And of course, the best vanilla MaleC is paired with the best vanilla FemC. I might be biased by the short shorts and ponytail, but when I was a teenager, Hilda came in around the same age I was and really NAILED that American girl look- other than the vest and wrist bands, this could literally be any number of girls I grew up with and had a crush on, my age, slightly younger, or older than I was. Hell, to this day, this is still how a lot of girls dress in the summer here, maybe subbing the boots for tennis shoes or sandals. To me, that's the PERFECT blank slate for those people, perfect for any age range really. Other FemCs tend to be more girly girl in design on a vanilla basis, but Hilda really is that tomboy girl friend you had growing up. 10/10 design.

We'll skip a little to the bw2 protagonists. There is a slight change of art style that I think is probably my favorite interpretation of the Pokemon art style by none other than Yusuke Ohmura. He has a pretty nice shading style that really works well with character design, and the Pokemon he designs are pretty top notch- Samurott and its family being some of them.

Oh GOD NO. NO NO NO. Not this one. Okay look, BW2 are my favorite games in the series, and I do like a decent chunk of the outfit- except the hair and hat. Some fan art manages to fix up the hair, but official art just makes it look awful as they can on every level. Nate is such a huge downgrade from Hilbert in so many ways that it's so hard to project onto. I know they're going for a sporty triathlete look, and from the neck down he has that covered- maybe a little TOO pasty, but it's passable. But with the head and hair, he reads like of those dorky aged 40 to 50 something people that are athletic, but wear the stupidest clothes possible- except Nate also looks like he's having that midlife crisis at the ripe old age of 14. 5/10 man, that hair and hat just ruin everything. Such a shame because it's literally my favorite game and my favorite gen.

Rosa on the other hand is definitely the standout protagonist of bw2. Other than the hair and hat, I've definitely seen women my age (at the time, so 17 or 18) or older wear a look like this. The hair is definitely stand out, but Princess Leia twin tails is such an iconic look that it just works really well for her. Maybe the short shorts a little frilly, but I have seen joggers wear dolphin shorts with leggings like this, and tbh I've seen people without the shorts going to Walmart. The shoes sort of combine the style and sensibility of Hilbert and Hilda and the top is honestly a nice choice for a sporty look- if I could ever find them in my size, I'd love to wear baseball shirts like this. I remember the bra? Bikini top? Whatever that pink thing is peaking- it caused some ruckus when she was first revealed, but honestly it's fine and I think it's a cute addition- plenty of people would expose more and be safe in a realistic setting. I wouldn't say she's as good as Hilda, but she manages to retain that neutral age range where you can sort imagine whatever you want, which to me she reads as 18 or so- although I do think it is harder to call her a blank slate with as much personality as she has. Still, a fantastic design, and proooobably when a lot of guys starting played as the girl simply because they tend to look better than the guys. 9/10, we can pretend Nate doesn't exist, right?

Now onto the rivals, starting with BW1, and probably my favorite cast of rivals given their stories

Cheren is a good mix of analytical and competitive in my mind, and certainly read like a character that would have gone Sasuke on the rest of us were it not for intervention from Alder. His team is also pretty unique and decent, and I personally just can't see him with anything other than Serperior as a starter. He's a decent challenge- not scary like Route 110 May or Azalea Town exit Silver, but he keeps you on your toes and is a decent friend to you- maybe not to Bianca at first, but I kinda ship em after a bit. An 8 for a really good story arc, I really thought he'd end up as another dragon chosen in the Pokemon Grey we never got.

Design wise? Oh God we stole ALL his rizz. It's definitely just shy of "um ackshualee" nerdy, the hair just... boy, who cuts your bangs? Fire them please. And also, I fucking hate pants with exposed ankles- nobody but hipsters wear pants like that. Nobody. No. "But I do" no you don't, you don't exist or you're a hipster. I think this is actually the start of the fad of exposing most male ankles in the series and it drives me up the wall. Get regular fit pants, the skinny jeans ruin it, and please fix your bangs, bro. 5/10 on design

Congrats on the transition, Barry- oh sorry, force of habit- Bianca. Jokes aside, again with the green and orange. Someone at game freak was craving carrots I stg. The outfit definitely read as someone that was sheltered by her daddy for a long time, an innocent and sweet type that's kinda clueless to the world- especially its fashion sensibilities (I headcanon Elesa helped her pick out better clothes eventually). Its definitely an outfit I might have seen on some of my church girl friends- in different colors mind you. Its fine, but it definitely isn't something you should reasonably be exploring with imo. 6/10, bw2 is just a better fit

On a character level, though, I really do admire her for at least trying to come out of her shell. She didn't land among the stars, but the decision to leave home against her father's wishes to *find herself* is such a relatable experience I've always felt I could have experienced had things gone only slightly different at home. She is such a sweetheart, and her heart is stupid big (like her forehead). I feel like she's actually more dangerous than other rivals in some cases, often ambushing you at really inopportune times. Technically, I think she might be stronger than most female rivals, too. I definitely feel like her character could have used a little more development in BW1, but BW2 finalizes it in a way that I can't help but just really enjoy her character. 8/10

Cheren BW2- not so much a rival anymore, but a mentor figure now and the first gym leader we fight, taking up the Normal type from Lenora. I definitely still abhor the bangs and the ankle exposing skinny jeans, but he does look better and more realized. He's nervous about his new job, but he's doing a fine job as a gym leader and teacher. He did lose the glasses for some reason- wonder where they went hmmmm? But honestly, I think he looks better without them.

I do love how he's still super gung-ho about stopping Team Plasma, even with his new job. He's still our bro in arms, and I gotta respect that- I will say, I do think being a normal type kinda comes from nowhere, unless maybe Bianca lent him her Stoutland or something- maybe in exchange for those glasses hmmmm? But all teasing aside, I guess starting as the first gym leader- a role meant to endure loss after loss- shows remarkable character growth from the previous game of being obsessed with strength. That, and I guess you gotta start from the bottom if you're going to become a gym leader. In my ideal BW3, I'd see him become a mix type final gym leader akin to Blue tbh.

Design is an improved 7/10. Character arc is an 8.

Oh honey, you look so much better and much more comfortable. Bianca looks so much more sure of herself, too, now acting as Professor Juniper's assistant, and imo should hopefully become a future professor. Her BW1 outfit felt super restrictive and tight in some places, but her BW2 outfit feels a bit looser, a bit more cozy, and honestly kind of a good representation of what happens when she finally follows her own path rather than her dad's wants or the gym path. The green and orange even look better here! And- HEY THERE'S CHEREN'S GLASSES! What a cutie lol.

I really love her character in BW2, going from a girl that's unsure of which foot to step with first to becoming a big-sister type mentor to us. She's a lot braver and even travels with us through Reversal Mountain in a mutual aid to each other- I've definitely grinded my ass off in there a few times with her to help heal my Pokemon. Honestly, probably one of the best character growths in all of Pokemon.

Design is an 8/10, character is a 9/10

Hugh, our rival from BW2. He definitely has Nate beat in terms of drip and hair. Probably one of my favorite rival designs in the entire series- ruined by ankle GOD DAMMIT WHO AT GAME FREAK IS FROTHING AT THE MOUTH TO SEE MALE ANKLES SO BADLY!? Well, in any case, he has that edgy look DOWN, with a really nice blend of navy and red that avoids being outright black- as evident from his gloves and shoe accents. The white also really helps his design stand out. The design really makes him seem like this super badass, and he kind of is on some level. 9/10 design

On a rival level, though, he's less of a rival and more of a bro, which is kind of surprising given the Adidas Sasuke vibe he's got going on. His little sister's Purloin was stolen by Team Plasma two years ago, and that's enough to send him on a revenge quest, recruiting us to help him in this endeavor and only testing our strength a few times in game to make sure we're still up to snuff. He is RIGHT in the thick of it, their down fall and the rescue of that cat being the only thing this guy cares about. It is kind of admirable and cool on some level, although he definitely isn't as good of a character or rival as Cheren and Bianca. In fact, once he gets the Liepard back, his character kinda halts into just testing your strength. Also, his team isn't really the most fleshed out- he does have some interesting picks like a starter he bred from an egg, a Bouffalant (probably what he's best known for), a FLYGON, an Eelektross- unfortunately, for most of the game, he only really uses his starter, Unfeasant, and a Simi-ape. It reads a bit like he's too tunnel visioned and single-minded to bother training too many Pokemon, being too busy taking out Team Plasma to find that Pokemon.

As a character, I'd give him an 8. As a rival, maybe a 7.

Finally, probably the most complex character from gen 5 and maybe the most complex rival of all time- because he's also a puppet evil team leader, champion, king, and chosen hero of a legendary. Unlike every other rival, N's teams are never the same, basically only being comprised of Pokemon he's locally captured and then released so that he can allow them to be free. As a character, he's the first in the franchise to really bring the question of whether Pokemon battles are even ETHICAL, and he's also the first evil team leader to be a champion, AND the first rival to use a legendary against you. He's a super complex character, believing Pokemon to be inherently abused and misused by humans strictly because his "adoptive" father (green hair adopts green hair? really?) basically manipulated him childhood into only being exposed to abused and neglected Pokemon. Given the information he's working with, it's honestly no surprise he's willing to go so far to save Pokemon, and is kind of admirable to see just how far that conviction takes him. The information fed to him is a lie, but his belief in doing the right thing is real, and that I think makes him one of the best "villains" of the entire series. I especially love that he mellows out after BW 1 and is dedicated to learning how to enjoy Pokemon battles- in BW2, he even has rotating WEATHER teams based on what season it is. He's clearly super smart, just mislead, and when given the opportunity to do right, he's quick to do so once he understands things. As a character, I think he's super cool. 9/10, I sincerely hope we reunite the BW1 protagonist with him canonically (and not in Masters).

Natural Harmonia Gropius, though? Man wha the- that's a fucking 1/10 name. I am so sorry your dad hated you, bro.

On a design level, I think it's a pretty clever one. In BW1, he wears an outfit that pairs pretty decently with the BW1 protagonists, and the hat is a very interesting choice- a call back to Red's in a way, much like how Hilbert and Hilda are gen 1 callbacks to a certain extent, but his hat is black and white- much like the games, and also to sort of flip the original script. The outfit is pretty clean, although I will say, it does not read much like a "king" or "evil team leader" by any means. It does read like someone purposely trying to blend in, though, so that does get points. The green feels like a call to nature in a way, yet his eyes are *empty*, as if lifeless- very unnerving, especially with his super fast text speed (fun fact, it is actually a little faster than the fastest text option, and will play that fast even on the slowest setting) and his ability to talk to Pokemon. It's all pretty evident of a character that's being manipulated or maybe a little insane. He literally is Black and White, a man of both Truth and Ideal. 9/10 on the character design.

Oof. And then next is gen 6.

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ladykailitha · 4 months ago

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The Caged Bird Still Sings Part 17

Sorry to leave you on that cliffhanger. If I hadn't screwed up you would have only had to wait a week instead of two. But tada! The mysterious [REDACTED] from WIP Wednesday.

Steve recovers from his no good horrible bad day with the help of those who love him.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Steve raised his head and peeked out of the covers. “Eddie? How are you here?”

Eddie was at his side in an instant. “Hey, sweetheart,” he murmured, stroking Steve’s hair. “The tour is over beautiful. It’s coming home day, did you forget?”

“Mr. Munson,” Bob said, moving away from the bed. “We were trying to get him up before you came back. But it was harder then we planned.”

“You did an admirable job,” Eddie assured him. He turned back to Steve. “Robin told me about what happened. I’m sorry, little Canary. I wish I could have protected you from that.”

Steve let out a little whimper.

“What’s your name?” he asked Rosa and when she supplied it, he said, “would you go a draw a bath for Steve? I don’t think he’s up for a shower.”

She hastened to do as he asked.

“Bob, go ring up the kitchen and have them prepare a light meal. Soup, salad, chicken that’s light on the sauce. Anything that wouldn’t hurt an already upset stomach.”

Bob nodded and moved over to the desk phone to do just that. Eddie carefully removed the blankets as they were sticking to Steve’s skin.

He picked him up and carried him to the bathroom where he stripped Steve of his underwear and socks and lowered him into the bath.

“You just stay there, and I’ll be right back to wash your hair, mmk?”

Steve nodded and dumped half the bottle of bubbles into the water causing Eddie to laugh.

Steve laid his head back on the rim of the bathtub with a sigh. He could feel the heat of the water seep into his bones and muscles as he relaxed for the first time since he was forcibly vacated from his job.

Eddie came back in a moment a later and knelt behind Steve’s head. He tipped Steve’s head forward as he poured water over his hair. Steve hissed as the warm water hit his head a shoulders.

“Is it too hot, sweetheart?” Eddie asked gently, stopping his pouring.

“No,” Steve assured him. “I just wasn’t expecting it. It felt good.”

He smiled and began pouring again, once Steve’s hair was completely wet, he added shampoo to his hands and scrubbed it through his hair. He rinsed out the shampoo and washed it again. He continued to do this until all the stickiness had been washed out of the hair. He grabbed the conditioner and ran it gently through Steve’s hair, massaging his scalp.

“You think you can scrub yourself while that sets, beautiful?” he asked, getting to his feet. “I need to go see about your dinner.”

Steve nodded and set to work doing just that. Eddie patted the edge of the tub and walked out, leaving him to finish cleaning himself off. The bubbles almost towered of the top of the water, making the work harder and more fun. He had built a tower of foam by the time the other man came back.

“Someone is having fun,” he huffed and Steve smiled for the first time in days. “Let’s get your hair rinsed and you toweled off. Your friends have gone for now, but they promised to be back after you eat.”

“Okay.”

Once his hair had been rinsed out, he got out of the tub and toweled off, slipping on the yellow frilly robe Eddie had got for him the day he met Robin. He buried his nose into the collar and breathed in the scent of lavender soap that Rosa always used when doing his laundry.

He walked out of the bathroom to find that his bedding had been replaced and the floors cleaned. The carpet was still damp in places where it had been scrubbed.

“Sorry about that,” he muttered going over to sit on the chair.

“It’s all right, little Canary,” Eddie said gently stroking his wet hair. “You shouldn’t have had to go through that. I’m sorry that you had to at all.”

They ate in silence and then Steve’s friends came back in and Eddie slipped out so that Steve could talk to them.

“He’s a good man,” Rosa said firmly. “But I thought he was, eh? Primo?”

Bob grimaced. “That was just something to help keep Steve safe. He’s more...” he waved his hand back in forth, “novio? Ish?”

Steve snorted.

He wasn’t sure there was a term in Spanish for what Eddie was to him. Hell he wasn’t even sure there was one in English. Or at least not a polite one, anyway.

“You let him take care of you,” Rosa huffed, “and I won’t get some many grey hairs, yes?”

Steve burst out laughing. “If you wanted more money to pay your hairdresser, Rosa, you should have asked. I would have been tipping bigger.”

She swatted at him with her towel, but they were both smiling at each other, so Steve considered it a win.

Once they were satisfied he was going to be fine, they left him alone. He let out a shuddering breath and let out all his emotions that he had bottled up since the incident at work. He let out another breath and then another. He was amazed at the end that he wasn’t a sobbing mess.

Steve got up and called Robin.

“Steve!” she admonished. “God, I was starting to get really worried about you. Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “I just needed some time to process what happened. It was so messed up. I mean Tommy and I were assholes in school, but we wouldn’t have pulled something like that. That’s insane!”

“Yeah,” Robin said slowly like the word was dragged out of her. “I was thinking about that too. Like, yeah there was some bullying, but the usual shoving people against lockers and giving them wedgies, but this? This feels malicious in a way I have no words for.”

“It feels like something my dad would do.”

That statement hung between them for a moment and Robin’s breath stuttered at the weight of it.

“Shit, Steve,” she whispered. “I–I just never realized how bad things were you with your parents. I guess I pushed how bad it must have been for you under a rug in my head because I didn’t want to face how badly you’ve been treated. I’m sorry.”

Steve let out a long suffering sigh. It had always been the point of contention among all the kids, most of the adults, and yes even Robin, that they just didn’t understand what Steve was going through.

“I’m not sure it’ll make you feel better,” she said softly, “but according to your little nuggets, Hopper downplayed the argument he had with Joyce.”

Steve blinked for a moment as he tried to remember her saying something about that. The way she had first said it made it sound like that they merely had had a conversation and Joyce had agreed to back off.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” she hedged. “So Will said that they had a really bad fight. Hop was saying that if she hadn’t been such a hard ass on you about the job, you wouldn’t have gotten assaulted twice. Joyce complained, saying that he had just told her who was bankrolling your stay, this would have never happened.”

Steve closed his eyes and flopped on the bed. “Shit.”

“It gets worse,” she said dryly.

“How could it possibly be worse than that?” he asked, suddenly sitting up.

“Hop told her that she would have behaved badly if she knew who had rescued you,” Robin continued. “She didn’t like that. She said that she didn’t care who was taking care of you as long as she had a name.”

Dread pooled in Steve’s stomach and began to twist. “He told her, didn’t he?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, “and as predicted she flipped her shit. Hopper told her the ‘you waiting for Monty to get off work’ line so you could spend the night at his place. But know she thinks he’s your sugar daddy and blew up at Hop for thinking that was appropriate to have around Ellie.”

“She didn’t.”

“She did,” Robin said. “Hopper pointed out that not only had Eddie been on tour for three months he’d been taking care of you, but that marrying someone rich and letting them take care of you wasn’t the sin everyone made it out to be.”

Steve did a fist pump. “Score one for Hopper! That’s incredible.”

“Yeah,” she sighed wistfully. “And then he told her that he would trust you and Eddie before he trust you with anyone else in the whole god damned town!”

“Wait,” Steve said, suddenly frowning, “Will told you all this?”

“Ellie, too,” Robin said warily. “The whole thing was a shit show and right now Hop and Joyce aren’t talking.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” he muttered. “How are the rest of the kids taking it?”

“Like even Mike is on your side,” she huffed with a bitter laugh. “Which is really saying something. But I think the most surprising is that Jonathan is mad at her for the whole thing. Apparently he had been trying to warn her for awhile. He said he suspected it might be someone like Eddie who was helping you out. Which blew everyone else’s mind let me tell you.”

Steve chuckled, twirling the phone cord around his finger. “You’ve got to be careful, it’s always the silent types that surprise you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Robin scoffed. “But anyway, I’m glad you’re feeling better. You up for a BBF day?”

“Not to today,” Steve said with a sigh. “Maybe tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know that I was alive and that you didn’t have start planning a funeral or some shit.”

“Message received loud and clear,” she said cheerfully. “And thanks for the heads up. You have a nice pamper day and call me tomorrow, okay?”

“Roger that!” Steve said, a smile on his face. “Bye!” He hung up and flopped on the bed again. He stared up at the ceiling in awe. He never meant for Hopper and Joyce to blow up at each other like that. He just wanted her back off and now...

“I can hear you catastrophizing from here,” a warm voice said with a chuckle. “It’s not your fault with what happened between Hop and Joyce Byers. She shouldn’t have kept pushing like she did.”

Steve scrambled to wrap the robe around his waist as the belt had come loose during his talk with Robin, showing a lot more than was probably decent for company.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly coming over to sit in the chair across from the sofa. “I forgot you were coming back in everything that was going on.”

“That’s okay, little Canary,” Eddie said with soft smile. “You needed the comfort of your friends and I’m happy you’re up and doing better. You’ve got color back in your cheeks. You were so pale when I came in.”

Steve blushed adding more color to his cheeks.

“I’ve got a room across the hall from you,” he murmured, “so if you need anything, just come on over. I’ll be in most of the time, but I would like to visit family a little while I’m in town.”

“Oh gosh!” Steve gushed. “Of course. I’m not your keeper, you can come and go how ever you like. I’ll just do what I always do.”

“Which is what exactly?” he asked with a dimpled grin. Steve wanted to bite them. “I’ve been out of touch for awhile.”

“This and that,” he said with a shrug. “I draw some, I go see movies, I’ve been trying all sorts of hobbies and things. My latest is learning how to skateboard. One of the kids I used to babysit is teaching me.”

“That explains all the purchases at the skate shop then,” he said with a wink. He patted the seat next to him. “Come sit by me. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

Steve chewed his lip for a moment and then nodded. He got up and slunk over to the sofa and sat down. He turned to face him and put his elbow on the back cushion, drawing his knee up under him.

“I’ve spoken to Hopper,” Eddie said, “and he agrees with me that you should remain here in this hotel room at least until the whole mall thing blows over. And by that I mean you’re free to go, but you’ll still be living at the hotel in this room, specifically.”

Steve let out a long shuddering breath. “That’s a relief honestly,” he said with sigh. “I like the people here. I feel safe here.”

“I’m glad,” Eddie said with a warm smile. “As for what happens in the future is going to be play by ear. The rest of the band in town visiting their families, too. In fact everyone but me got their own old rooms back.”

“Oops!” Steve said with a grimace. “No takesbackies!”

Eddie laughed, throwing back his head. “Never. I like how you decorated the place so I’m not going to force you to move.”

“Thanks for everything,” Steve murmured, bumping their shoulders together. “With the hotel room and the money and the car, my dad still hasn’t found out where I am. Which apparently is making family dinners very tense.”

“They think the bouncer...” Eddie said snapping his fingers, “what was his name?”

Steve smiled. “Monty.”

“Monty!” he crowed. “That’s it! So they think ole Monty has you stashed away somewhere?”

“Pretty much!”

“Well, I think once people start seeing me around town,” Eddie said seriously, “they might put two and two together. But as I said for the long term this is your home, until we can find you something safer.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Can I tell people who my mysterious benefactor is now?”

Eddie laughed again. “Yeah, sure, little Canary you can tell whoever you want.”

Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24

Tag List: CLOSED

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