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duhragonball · 1 month

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Chainsaw Man ch. 48-52

Gosh, I wish that was me.

Last time, Chainsaw Man got suckered in by a cute girl named Reze, who turned out to be some sort of assassin with explosion powers. Now they're fighting it out, but Denji's usual strategy of "hit them with chainsaws" is kind of ineffective against someone who can repeatedly self-destruct and regenerate.

Parts of Reze's transformed body look like a mass of cables, maybe primacord. One of her fingers gets cut off and it's still stuck on Denji's chainsaw after their next exchange, and she uses it like a bomb. I'm not clear on how her powers work exactly, but she seems to be able to remove any part of her body and use it like a bomb, or just blow it up while it's still attached. Also, she seemed to have a duplicate body she used as a decoy, so good luck explaining that one.

The point here is that the explosions are just the beginning. Reze knows how to use her abilities in a very tactical way. One might assume that she tried to seduce Denji because she was too weak to challenge him directly, but we see here that this was never the case. She just wanted to try a subtle approach, but that was never the only option.

But fighting Denji in the open means you also have to deal with his comrades in Public Safety. Aki lops off one of her hands just when it seems like she's beaten Denji, and then she has to fight him for a while. Recall that Aki has a new power courtesy of Future Devil, which gives him a slight insight into the future. This allows him to anticipate his opponent's actions, although he doesn't mean he'll necessarily be quick enough to do anything about it. Still, it's enough to keep him alive while he duels with Reze, at least until...

Violence Fiend shows up to pull him out of harm's way. Violence Fiend tried to fight Reze earlier, but he got overwhelmed and ran away. I'm seeing this a lot with the Public Safety guys. They'll sometimes just turn tail and run, then come back when you least expect it and actually do something useful. Is that cowardly? I guess it depends on how you look at it, but if Violence had stood his ground earlier, he proabably would have gotten killed, and Aki would have died later on with no one to rescue him. These guys pick their spots. They're hunters, not warriors, so it's kind of ridiculous to expect them to stand and fight their prey when they're at a disadvantage.

Anyway, the key thing here is that Aki says this is the first time he ever wanted to be friends with a devil. So at long last, he's beginning to come around to the things Himeno wanted him to understand. Aki's grief, his craving for vengeance, and his absolute disdain for devils was working against his ability to fight and survive in this line of work. Now, as the story picks up steam and the battles become more desperate, he's learning to be more flexible about his attitudes.

Violence might have been enough to turn the tide here, except Reze has her own backup in the form of Typhoon Devil, who was also after Denji but they seemed to be working independently of each other. They crossed paths back in Chapter 43, and it was all awkward becuase they got in each other's way, and Reze told Typhoon to obey her for a while to make it up to her. So now she's calling him in.

I... feel like I should have more to say about Typhoon Devil being a pile of viscera with baby legs and a baby head with an exposed brain sticking out of its broken cranium, but... I kind of don't care? I don't know if I'm just desensitized at this point, or maybe the design really isn't that big a deal, but I feel like it should be.

Anway, Denji recovers once Beam and Angel feed him more blood. Notably, Angel Devil uses blood from a fatally wounded civilian, and he mercy-kills the lady before taking her corpse to Denji. That's important because Aki asked him to do something similar earlier in this arc, and Angel refused, more out of apathy than defiance.

Angel suggests that Chainsaw needs to step up his game, and asks Beam to tell them everything he knows about Chainsaw, since he seems to know him better than he lets on. Beam mentions that he used to use his chains to get around. I'm not sure what this is referring to, because it's like he's talking about the Chainsaw Devil before Denji got this power, and... well, that's just Pochita, right?

I think the implication here is that Pochita used to be a much more fearsome creature before he met Denji, and Beam might be the only one who remembers this. Anyway, I think it's pretty clear that he was talking about Denji swinging around and using his chains like Spider-Man webbing, but Denji's an idiot so he puts the chain in Beam's mouth and rides him through the air like a horse.

But it does look pretty awesome, so maybe he's got the right idea, I dunno. Denji doesn't tell me how to do my job, so I shouldn't tell him how to do his.

During all of this, Typhoon Devil produces a storm, and Angel Devil is nearly carried away by the high winds. Aki catches him, but can barely hold on, and Angel's like "Just let me go, I sort of want to die anyway, it's cool."

But Aki refuses to give up, so he grabs Angel by the hand, which is a really bad idea, because Angel's touch will automatically drain a human's life span. That brief contact alone took two months off the time Aki has left, but it was the only way to save Angel. Angel asks him why, and Aki tells him that he's seen too many people die already, and if Angel really does have a death wish, then he should make sure to die while Aki's not around to stop it.

Okay! Right there, Aki finally started to turn this around. He's actually having a character moment with Angel, and growing as a person. He's matured, but more importantly, he's rubbed off on Angel a little. Angel's actually cooperating without Aki around to force him to, and Angel actually seems to care about other people around him. That's because of Aki.

And this is a good thing. I'm still not very high on Aki right now, but at least he's finally reached a threshold where he feels like more than just a bystander. His personality is still "I don't want people to die" and "I want revenge on the bad guy", which is pretty flat, but at least he's having an impact on the plot now.

Back to Chainsaw Man, the reason this storm kicked up is because Typhoon's trying to defend himself (and Reze) from Denji. Earlier, Denji managed to cut off one of Reze's legs, and Typhoon spit some of his blood at her to help her recover, but now Typhoon's on his own while he waits for her to heal. The thing is, Typhoon's so big, and Beam is so agile in the air that Denji can hit him with ease.

So Typhoon goes down, and then Reze divekicks Beam to take him out of the fight, so we're back to Reze vs. Denji. Only this time, Denji's figured something out. When she blows up one of his arms...

... he shoots out chains from his stumps, and attacks her that way.

He tangles her up and wraps them both together, then falls off whatever they're standing on and they fall into the ocean. Apparently Reze can't detonate underwater, although I'm not sure how Denji would know that.

And then, Reze wakes up on the beach. Since Beam is there too, I guess he pulled them both up to the surface. Reze is surprised that Denji didn't kill her, but he explains that he would have regretted it, so he spared her.

He thinks there's still something between them, even though she keeps insisting that she was faking it the whole time. But if she was so determined to kill him, why didn't she finish him off at the school when she had the chance?

Denji still can't quite believe there was nothing between them, so she briefly feigns affection again, then breaks his neck to incapacitate him. Denji can recover from this, but he can't move until he does. Anyway, he tells Reze he'll see her at the cafe today at noon.

Except she doesn't show up. I'm not sure why he thought she would. I guess it's just wishful thinking? Someone does arrive, though...

And it's Power, returning to duty after her blood-draining procedure. She's back, and she tracked Denji down by his scent. When she sees the flowers, she tries to take them for herself. It's not clear that she plans to eat the flowers, but that's what Denji does, so I just assumed she had the same idea.

So what did happen to Reze? Well, she tries to flee to... somewhere? Maybe she's headed back to that cafe to try to take one more crack at Denji? All that matters is that a bunch of rats follow her into an alley and they form a big rat pile which becomes...

Makima? So she has rat power? Whatever.

I should explain this thing she says about the country mouse. You know the Aesop's Fable about the town and country mice, and each of them envies the other's lifestyle until they try to live there and find out it's not so great. In this arc, Reze brings it up to Denji, and Angel talks about it in a separate scene. It... kind of went over my head, but the characters seem to agree that being a Town Mouse is like being in the Public Safety scene, and being a Country Mouse is like living a more tranquil, normal life as a civilian. Denji is team Town because he likes the excitement, while Angel is Team Country because he hates working for Public Safety. Reze said she was Team Country, but I think that was just to convince Denji to run away with her so she could murder him.

Anyway, Makima apparently heard their conversation, as indicated by her line that she agrees with Reze about Country Mice. But Makima likes it because she has a friend on a farm, and every fall she goes down to help him exterminate all the mice in the field before winter sets in. This involves digging holes to get them out of their burrows so the dogs can chase them down. Makima finds this "calming".

The point I think she's making is that the country life isn't all that different from the work she does in Public Safety, sending her "dogs" to find and kill "mice" like Reze.

Reze tries to fight Makima, but she didn't count on Angel Devil throwing spears down at her from the roof. I guess Reze might be kept alive after this, but this whole scene reads like an execution. Reze took her shot and missed, and now Makima is eliminating her before she can try again. That's a shame, because I really enjoyed Reze's whole run here, and I'd be down for more of the same.

Anway, Makima originally ordered Angel and Aki to be here together, but Angel came alone, and Makima realizes that Angel didn't want Aki to be involved with killing a girl like this. Makima praises Angel's kindness, and yeah, some genuine character development here thanks to Aki. Nice stuff.

That last shot of the mouse kind of bugs me, because I think the town mouse/country mouse was meant to be deeper than I'm able to understand. The thing is, the fable was never about which side you'd prefer. The point of the story is that you tend to take your own circumstances for granted, and assume that some other guy with a different way of life has it better. And then you step into that way of life and realize it's not all it's cracked up to be. You're going to have problems no matter where you go, because in the end you're still a mouse.

Although, the mice and rats in this story have it pretty good when you think about it. The devils in this story are only after humans and human blood. Sure, Power ate a bear, and she's probably not the only one to go after animals, but who'd waste time picking on mice? How much blood can they have? No, the mice will go on no matter how this plays out. Makima can exterminate them in her friend's farm, but they come back every year, and the mice in Tokyo aren't going away anytime soon. They'll be around long after the devils and hunters are all dead.

#chainsaw man #denji #reze #aki hayakawa #beam #violence fiend #power #angel devil #makima

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cheapsweets · 10 months

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The indecorous Holghras

My response to this week's Bestiaryposting challenge from The Maniculum!

The style here is less specifically bestiary influenced than my previous entry (I've had to hide my copies of bestiaries in the house, in case I get spoiled - I'm pretty sure I remember reading something like this in one of them, but I can't remember exactly what it related to...), might try and switch back to more stylised art for next week.

Again, I'm very out of practice, so I appreciate the impetus to learn how to draw again (including composition, which I feel was one of the areas I struggled this week, and how to use a pen with a fude nib!)

Reasoning for the decisions below the cut...!

This was a tricky one, as the description was entirely related to behaviour, with no description of what this critter looked like (except for 'bird').

Most of the weird animals from medieval bestiaries and classical natural histories seem to be from the continent of Africa (and, fair; giraffes, okapis, aardvarks and elephant shrews, oh my!), so my immediate thought was for it to be a ratite; my main reason for changing this was because of the note about the mama bird pretending it had a broken wing (I'm not sure that would work with an ostritch!). I tried to keep the long legs, and figuring that if the mama birds also pretend to have injured legs/feet, it must still be a primarily ground-dwelling bird, so galliformes it is!

Taking the 'unlean' description more literally, I tried to think what sort of bird the writer of a medieval bestiary would describe as unclean. The obvious option there is vultures, so I've gone with a mostly bare head. At this point I couldn't help working in some elements of one of my favourite birds (honestly, look up guineafowl, they are awesome!), so amongst other things we have some wattles on the male Holghras looking on approvingly from next to a tree...

"one male mounts another and in their reckless lust they forget their sex. The Holghras is so deceitful that one will steal another's eggs." - This immediately made me think of the gay penguins from the Central Park Zoo in New York, but since penguins are strictly Southern Hemisphere in the wild, it seemed unlikely this was the inspiration for this critter! In the foreground, we see a crafty Holghras legging it with a stolen egg...!

"The nests built by Holghrases are skilfully fortified. For they cover their hiding-place with thorny bushes so that animals attacking them are kept at bay by the prickly branches. The Holghras uses dust to cover its eggs and returns secretly to the place, which it has marked." - Spot the mound of dirt covering the eggs in the next, surrounded by thorn bushes. I really should have looked up acacia before drawing this, as acacia thorns (and trees) are way different to what I was expecting!

"The females often carry their young" - Mum bird bus! I really should have made this the focus of the drawing, as this is by far the most fun (and cute) part of the description!

"if any man approaches the place where the Holghras is brooding, the mothers come out and deliberately show themselves to them; pretending that their feet or wings are injured, they put on a show of moving slowly, as if they could be caught in no time; by this trick they act as decoys to the approaching men and fool them into moving far away from the nest." - I recognise this behaviour from a lot of birds, notably, plovers; this hasn't done the mother of this clutch a lot of good, as she looks on indignantly as one of her neighbours is running off with one of her eggs!

"The young are not slow, either, to watch out for themselves. When they sense that they have been seen, they lie on their backs holding up small clods of earth in their claws, camouflaging themselves so skilfully, that they lie hidden from detection." - As noted above, I was initially thinking that the Holghras would be a ratite like an ostritch, so my mind went to the baby birds holding up clods of earth with grass in it, in one of their long legs, and pretending to be a small tree. It made me laugh, so I continued to roll with that, though as noted earlier I really should have made this more of a focus so I could have drawn it a lot bigger; I fear a lot of the potential details have been lost, but hopefully it gets across the general concept!

#Holghras #maniculum bestiaryposting #bestiaryposting #be gay do crimes

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intheticklecloset · 3 years

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Where's My Raincoat? (Haiykuu!!)

Primary Universe

Summary: See the prompt above. Substitute hoodie for raincoat.

A/N: I love Hinata and Kageyama prompts - especially if they're lee Kageyama! Thanks so much for indulging me! I really love how their storyline is progressing through these fics and I can't wait to see where it leads! Enjoy! ^^

Word Count: 1,700

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“Kageyama, have you seen my raincoat?” Hinata asked, turning to look at his friend from across the gym. “I thought I left it right here.”

“I don’t keep track of your stuff,” Kageyama replied gruffly, zipping up his gym bag.

Outside, there was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a roar of thunder that made both of them jump.

Hinata hesitated. “Maybe it’s not safe to go out there right now.”

“Do you want to spend the night in the gym?”

“I mean, it’s not the worst place to get stranded during a thunderstorm.”

Kageyama grunted. “Sure.”

Hinata looked around for his raincoat again, even though at this point he was seriously considering just spending the night here. It was better than getting swept away by the insane wind or struck by lightning. Seriously, where was his raincoat? He’d left it right here, by his gym bag. It was only the two of them in the gym. If it wasn’t here and Hinata hadn’t moved it, that only left…

All of a sudden, all the lights in the gym went out at once, and they were plunged into darkness.

Hinata yelped in surprise, but Kageyama didn’t seem fazed. “It’s just a blackout, you wimp. Stop freaking out, already.”

Another flash of lightning lit up the gym for a split second, giving Hinata a brief view of where Kageyama was standing just on the other end of the net. Without thinking, he sprinted for him, wrapping his arms around him and tackling him to the floor.

“Ow! Jeez, Hinata, what’s the big idea-AHA!!” Kageyama squealed, blindly reaching for his shorter friend even as he felt giggles bubbling out of him faster than he could try to stop them. He grinned widely. “Nohohohohohoho! Dohohohohohon’t do thahahahat!”

“But I’m scared,” Hinata whined playfully, using another flash of lightning to orient himself and Kageyama’s positioning so he could shove his hands up under the setter’s shirt to scribble directly over his belly. “I want you to cheer me up!”

“You ihihihihihihidiot!” Kageyama giggled, but he didn’t sound angry. He squirmed underneath Hinata’s touch and snickered openly for several moments. “Stahahahahahap! It’s wohohohohohorse when I cahahahahan’t see you!”

“Oh?” Hinata sounded wickedly inspired. Kageyama felt a sharp mix of fear and excitement shoot through him at the teasing word. It was a good thing for him the redhead couldn’t see how big he was smiling. Hinata dragged his fingernails up and down his belly, careful to avoid that one spot. “Would it help if I teased you more?”

“Nohohohohohoho!” Kageyama pleaded, a whine in his voice he didn’t intend. He cursed himself. Surely Hinata could hear how excited he was. “Plehehehehease, Hinata!”

“Aw, what’s the matter, Kageyama?” Hinata chuckled, using a baby voice that Kageyama both hated and wanted more of at the same time. “Does not being able to see where I’m tickling you make it tickle more? Hmm? Does it tickle more when all you can do is focus on the tickling and the teasing and nothing else? Do you like it that way?”

“Stahahahahahahahahap!” Kageyama begged, bringing his hands up to cover his face even though Hinata couldn’t see him, either. “Plehehehehehehease, this is wohohohohohohorse!”

“But you’re not stopping me, are you, Kageyama?” Hinata chuckled, scraping his nails along the grooves of the setter’s ribcage now. “Maybe I should up the ante, hmm? Where did you put my raincoat?”

“W-Whahahahat?! I d-dohohohohon’t hahahahave your raincoat!”

“Well I put it with my gym bag earlier, and now it’s gone, and we’re the only ones here. So if I don’t have it, you must have hidden it somewhere.” Hinata used another flash of lightning to smirk down at his friend, inspired and encouraged by the wide-eyed look he saw for a brief moment. “Is that it, Kageyama? You wanted me to stay and tickle you so bad you hid my raincoat from me?”

“N-No! I d-dohohohon’t hahahahave it!” Kageyama was so flustered he could hardly stand it, finally reaching down to try and pry Hinata off of him through his giggles. “Plehehehehease!”

“Oh, well, that’s too bad.” Suddenly Hinata was climbing off of him, leaving him lying on the floor in confusion, sides and ribs still tingling from the leftover sensations, craving more. “I guess I’ll have to look for it myself, then.”

“W-Wait,” Kageyama stammered, frowning, disappointed. “That’s it? You’re not…?”

“Not what?” Hinata’s voice came from somewhere nearby, but the setter couldn’t see him to read his expression. To know what he was thinking.

“You’re not…not going to…?” Kageyama hated how pathetic he felt. “You’re not going to tickle it out of me?”

There was a pause. Then suddenly Hinata’s voice was right at his ear. “So you do have my raincoat.”

Kageyama gasped, falling back again, startled. How had he gotten so close?! He must have taken his shoes off to stay quiet, that sneaky little decoy. Still, he replied, “Y-Yeah, so I took it. What of it? What are you going to do about it?”

It was painfully obvious that he was baiting Hinata into tickling him again, and he hoped desperately that the redhead would understand him this time. There was a long pause. Then, without warning, Kageyama felt a weight settle on his legs, pinning him to the floor by his shins. His shoes came off first, then his socks. “H-Hinata?”

“So not only do you have my raincoat, but you lied to me about it.” Hinata scribbled his fingers along the setter’s soles. “That’s not nice, Kageyama.”

Kageyama let himself dissolve into giggles, too relieved to care that he was probably going to regret this in a few minutes. “Deheheheheheal with it, neheherd.”

“Fine, then.” Hinata grabbed the toes of his right foot to hold him still and scratched a single finger at the base of them. “Gonna tell me where it is?”

“Nohohohoho way,” Kageyama shot back, secretly thrilled that his plan was working after all. “Y-You’re nohohohot gohohohoing outside anywahahahay, right? Whahahahahat does it mahahahatter?”

Hinata laughed, finally letting his own façade slip as he dug all ten of his fingers into all ten of Kageyama’s toes, and soon the both of them were laughing openly in the darkened gym.

For a few minutes Hinata focused on his feet, then eventually moved on to his knees and finally straddled his waist to tickle his belly again, drawing out laugh after screeching laugh from Karasuno’s setter. The redhead kept up the “where’s my raincoat?” play the whole time, but it wasn’t until he pushed Kageyama’s shirt up to his chest that the taller boy knew Hinata was getting serious about this “tickle interrogation” thing.

First came the raspberries. Those long, horribly ticklish raspberries that made him toss his head back and scream with laughter, kicking and writhing and eventually begging for them to stop. He pushed weakly at Hinata, who used the opportunity to snatch up his wrists and pin them underneath his knees so he couldn’t fight back anymore.

Kageyama whined. “Plehehehehehease, no mohohohohohore!”

“Gonna talk?”

Another whine. “Nohohohohoho…”

“More it is.” But rather than go back to raspberries, Hinata carefully – very carefully – scratched at the place where Kageyama’s ribs met his belly, making the setter gasp and jerk hard beneath him, his giggles turning panicked.

“Nohohohohoho, not thehehehere, Hinata—”

“It’s okay,” Hinata said, but he stopped. “Just a little? Really lightly? I promise I won’t use it to torture you. I just want to help you like it again.”

Kageyama felt the heat of a blush rush to his cheeks just as all the lights in the gym suddenly turned back on. Both boys grunted in surprise, squinting and blinking to adjust their eyesight, but as soon as they had, their gazes met.

“Please?” Hinata asked. “Just a little?”

Kageyama hesitated. He did use to love having that spot tickled, but it had been so long…

“I…I need you to stop when I tell you to,” he said at last. “Okay?”

Hinata’s face lit up so much that Kageyama instantly felt at ease, knowing the redhead would be careful like he promised. “I will.”

The touches were light at first. Kageyama squeezed his eyes shut, trying to focus on resisting the urge to laugh already, instead squirming horribly and digging his bare heels into the floor of the gym. He bit his lip but couldn’t stop the first few snickers from escaping.

“Wow, this is a seriously ticklish spot, isn’t it?” Hinata asked, more curious than teasing. He scratched a little harder, and Kageyama’s dam burst, laughter pouring out of him freely already. “Doing okay?” When the setter nodded, the redhead used all of his fingers to gently dig into that spot, smiling when Kageyama yelped.

“NOHOHOHOHOHO!!” He laughed, bucking his hips, trying to dislodge the little middle blocker. It tickled so much already, and he was still being really gentle! “PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!! HINATA IT TIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!!”

Hinata beamed. “Hey,” he said, voice teasing but also sincere, letting him know with just that one word that he’d still stop whenever Kageyama asked him to. “Where’s my raincoat?”

Another jolt of panicked excitement. Kageyama whimpered, laughing despite himself, shaking his head and trying to block out the sensations for another few moments before finally crumbling. “THE STAHAHAHAHAGE!! THE STAGE, HINATAHAHAHAHA!!”

Hinata slowed to a stop, releasing Kageyama’s wrists but still sitting on him, grinning. “You good?”

Kageyama was blushing, but he didn’t care. He took in a big breath, let it out in a sigh. “Y-Yeah. I think so.” Then he lifted his head and smirked.

Hinata’s eyes widened in the split second before their positions were suddenly reversed, with Kageyama pinning him down and straddling his waist, wasting no time in digging into his bottom ribs, making Hinata scream with the brightest, loudest laughter. “NAHAHAHAHAHAHA KAGEYAMA!! I STOHOHOHOHOHOHOPPED!! PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE, NOT THEHEHEHEHEHERE!!”

Deciding it was really only fair for him to be merciful since Hinata had kept his promise despite his tendency to overdo things, Kageyama slid his fingers down to the redhead’s sides and scribbled there gently, enjoying the bright smile and helpless giggles he pulled from his friend.

“So,” he said, smiling wide, “still feel like spending the night in here with me?”

#fanfiction #tickle fic #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#hq #shoyo #hinata #tobio #kageyama #kagehina #raincoat #blackout #playful #fun #fluff #wholesome #tickling #ticklish #tickle

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crazyyanderefangirlfan · 3 years

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Living up to the Name pt 3

"Out of all possible scenarios, he chose this," Jack grumbled. As he and Ruggie tried to concentrate on finding a familiar smell.

"Don't be a buzzkill, Jack. Besides, she looked excited." The hyena pointed out. Recalling how the girl bounced excitedly at Leona's suggestion.

"Still, This feels wrong." He retorted.

Leona decided to move their training to the forest, in his words 'to give a fair advantage.'

"Oi! Jack, be quiet. You'll give away our position." A jaguar upperclassman harshly whispered. He and two more students were sniffing the air, then the jaguar froze.

"Shit, she-" A kick to his face cut him off before he could finish. The figure leaped up and landed on a tree branch high up.

"You guys have to do better than that to catch me~" A sing-song voice called from above.

Valerie smiled sweetly above them, but her mocking glare proved otherwise.

Thanks to her transformation, all her abilities have been drastically enhanced. She was faster, her kicks were more powerful, and her danger sense, or what she likes to call 'Bunny sense' was dialed up to a 100. Making it easier to avoid predators, aka Savanaclaw.

"Gotta go. I have more faces to kick and prides to ruin." She blew them a kiss and disappeared through the thicket of the trees.

"She's so hot."

Heads' snapped to the bear first-year, whose glazed eyes still stared at the spot she's been on.

"Fangirl about her later! We're still in the middle of something." The jaguar snapped at him. The bear blushed and muttered incoherently under his breathe.

Ruggie ran his fingers through his hair. They need a strategy to catch her, which involves teamwork, and knowing how NRC students are, this will be hell.

"I wonder how that lazy lion is doing?" He mused.

She was better at hiding than Leona gave her credit for.

The first half-hour of their training was spent looking for the girl. Which wasn't hard, with that delightful scent of hers. It leads them farther to the forest, where the foliage is dense enough to hide a dead body.

Clever, Herbivore. But not enough.

Honestly, he was a little disappointed with her idea. He was expecting a challenge since she loved giving it to him.

Tearing through the thicket, he and his dorm mates prowled the area. Each of them in various corners, in an attempt to locater her better.

"Senior Leona." A jackal beastman spoke up.

"What is it?"

"It's miss Valerie's scent. Something's up." He replied, sniffing the air.

Leona took a whiff, and sure enough, it smelled faint and all over the place?

"Masking your scent with mud. Herbivore? Heh, at least your trying."

The lion nodded to his dorm mates, who proceeded to split up and try to find their prey the girl.

The jackal perked up when the sweet aroma was much more potent. Nudging to a leopard beastman who seemed to realized as well.

As quietly as they could, they snuck up to a large hedge that permeated with her scent.

They crept closer and closer and closer...

They pounced. Once the students felt something soft, their hold tightened.

Leona paused from tearing another bush. Happy shouts were clear as day.

Good, they found her.

He jogged his way over to his fresh babies. However, as he got near, there was a change in the atmosphere. Silence replaced the noise; it was almost ominous.

Valerie's scent changed the most; it was so faint and different.

He finally reached the clearing. Their backs were turned to him, and he couldn't see what they were holding.

"Oi."

The jackal and leopard rapidly turned to face him, hiding their captured prey behind their back.

"S-Senior Leona!" The leopard stammered.

"What's up with you two? Didn't you shout you have her?"

"Uhh...W-wait! Senior Leona!" The jackal exclaimed in surprise when the lion marched towards them. Pushing them aside to see the girl-

That's not Valerie.

In front of him was a large and plump brown rabbit, and it was wearing her vest.

Everything up till now began to make sense, causing Leona to chuckle.

"So that's the real plan, huh?"

His ears twitched as the wind picked up. His eyes narrowed.

"Move back!" The lion ordered. Jumping to the shade of the trees.

But it was too late. The freshmen were down before they could do anything. Standing on top of their bodies was the very girl they were chasing.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out. You really are losing your edge, Kitty."

Valerie giggled at Leona's snarling face. She tugged her vest off the rabbit; before disappearing.

Leona could feel his blood boil. From frustration or excitement, he wasn't sure at this point, but he does know one thing.

Valerie just cemented her role as prey.

-----------------------------------------

It's been hours, and not one of them had a chance to catch her. There were a few close calls, but she always managed to be two steps ahead of them. It doesn't help that she mocks them for every failed attempt. One of them got angry enough a tried to bite her, but Valerie kicked his jaw before he could.

On the bright side, the boys could feel their bodies improving. They still have a long way to go, but it's progress.

Valerie nimbly landed on the ground, catching her breath. It's been a long time she did something like this.

A wistful smile formed on her face as she remembered the times she and her mom played tag. Her mother used the game as a form of training for her speed, stamina, and agility. Being a competitive child she was, she got too into it.

'Thinking about it now, mom used a lot of ordinary games as a form of training.' The opal-eyed girl mused.

Wiping her brow, she glanced at the sky. She couldn't tell how much had passed, but she could guess it was nearly noon.

Suddenly, her ears stood up. There was aloud howling in the distance, followed by more animalistic sounds, till it became a wild symphony.

"The hell?" The brunette muttered in confusion. She winced and held her head. The downside of having enhanced hearing is that everything is louder, and this wild symphony giving her a headache.

"Pull it together, Valerie. You dealt with worse." She mumbled, even slapping her face for good measure.

With new vigor, Valerie pushed forward through the forest, even as her whole body screamed to find somewhere to hide.

Sigh, prey instincts.

Though she kept her opal eyes ahead, she in-tuned with her surroundings. Her ears now worked as antennas, constantly on high alert to warn her of predators.

Her ears twitched; she jumped left just in time to dodge a pouncing jaguar beastman. A low growl escaped the jaguar's throat and pounced again.

Valerie waited till he was near enough and delivered a front kick beneath his jaw. He staggered back in pain, giving her enough time to rush forward, and low swept him. He groaned in pain once his back felt the impact.

"You predators are really losing your edge if you kept getting your asses beaten by a rabbit. But then again, it's me" The girl deviously smiled at the fallen student.

The girl sensed another presence behind her and jumped to the trees. She narrowed her eyes at the culprit.

"Such an arrogant statement coming from a tiny herbivore. Looks like we have to put you in your place."

Leona emerged from the thicket with a cocky smirk in place and an unreadable glint in his eyes.

Valerie remained silent, simply assessing the number of beastmen present. There were seven of them; easy. There was also no sign of Jack and Ruggie, but they could be hiding.

"How can you call my words arrogant? I'm simply stating the truth." She retorted, smirking down at him.

"Let's just see how true your words are when I have my fangs on your neck."

"Before that, perhaps should I suffocate you between my thighs?"

"Heh, only after I crush your legs."

"Are...They flirting?" Questioned a bewildered ocelot beastman.

"I thought she was stupid when it comes to romance?" Added a dingo.

"Try not to think about it." Advised a lynx.

"Sorry, kitty kay, I may have agreed to help you guys in training, but I'm not going to bow down to you."

"Likewise, Herbivore."

A mischievous smile formed on her face. The girl launched herself out of the tree and aimed a kick to his face, but he blocked it. Valerie quickly switched to jabbing his left side.

Leona slammed his eyes shut, a deep growl resonated within him. He attempted to grab her arm. But she leaped up and delivered a front kick to his chin, pushing him away from her. However, she was now surrounded by other beastmen.

Valerie avoided an oncoming punch from the dingo and delivered one to his gut. He recoiled in pain and clutched his stomach. Her ears twitched and sidestepped, just in time for a charging lynx to crash into him.

Twitching again, she turned around and caught the ocelot's leg; she spun him around while knocking out three more before throwing him.

Satisfied that she took care of the beta males, she turned her attention back to the alpha. Only to realize that he disappeared.

Her whole body was on high alert. She took a battle stance, surveying her surrounding. She cursed herself for being so careless; he used them as decoys. Like she did.

"Touché, Kitty." She muttered.

Deciding she stayed long enough, she ran in the opposite direction.

Valerie bit her bottom lip once she heard footsteps behind her.

He really wanted to turn this into a real hunt.

Fine, she'll give him one.

Increasing her speed, she sprinted through the area utilizing the trees as boosters.

She glanced behind her and clenched her jaw. Leona was nowhere in sight. She had two ideas: Either he took a detour and was waiting to pounce on her or, she lost him; she hoped it was the latter.

Biting her inner cheek, she was about to take a turn when she heard footsteps. She jumped back, narrowly avoiding a claw to her face.

"I was wondering where you were, never thought you actually risk an ambush." The opal-eyed girl remarked as she kept her distance from him, taking up a fighting stance.

"If I'm up against you? I'll try anything." The male retorted mirroring her movements.

The wolf and rabbit glared at each other, waiting for one of them to make a move. It was as if the area went still around them, blocking out all noise; only the thumping of their hearts was heard.

Jack was the first to move. He ran forward with the girl following the suit, but once close enough, she leaped up and stomped on his head. He staggered back, gritting his teeth and holding his head. Valerie landed behind him, giving a swift kick to his side; the wolf fell to his side, hissing at the impact.

A deep growl escaped his throat when he heard her laughter; he swiped underneath her legs. The girl fell back, wide-eyed, and internally cursed herself for letting her guard down.

Picking himself up, he grabbed her ankle and flung her to the trees. The girl shrieked in pain, coughing; she found specks of blood on the ground, her blood. Although she struggled to stand up, she had enough energy to avoid Jack's next attack.

Jack swung his fist to her face, but she intercepted by grabbing his arm and flipped him to the ground. He grunted in pain when Valerie placed her foot on his chest.

"I thought I might return a favor fluffy." She smirked at his fallen body. He glared up at her. She was about to make another comment when her ears twitched, frowning; she leaped up to the trees and glared at the intruder.

"Damn, and here I was going to surprise you. Then again, those ears of yours work just like satellites, shishishishi." Ruggie laughed as she strolled through the area.

"I keep getting more surprises."

Just like lighting, she sprung herself out of the tree and delivered a direct kick to Ruggie's gut. The poor hyena coughed up blood upon the impact and curled up into a ball once he fell on the ground. All the while groaning in pain.

"And here I thought he would at least withstand half of it, oh well." She ducked down, already sensing Jack's incoming punch, and kicked his chest.

It knocked him a few feet away from her; Jack felt something dribble down his chin, wiping he found bits of blood coating it.

Clenching his fist; a low growl erupted his throat; charging, he swung his fist narrowly, hitting her face. Valerie responded by front kicking his chin; Jack grunted but didn't falter in his movements.

Valerie unleashed a barrage of kicks, driving him back until he felt the tree behind him. Jack gritted his teeth but bared with it; he waited until he found an opening between her kicks. She paused for a second, but it was all Jack needed. He socked her in the gut, successfully pushing her back.

She gasped at the impact, wincing at the pain on her stomach that she failed to notice Jack grabbing her body and slammed her to the ground. He reached to grab her ears, but the opal-eyed girl rolled away and swiped under his legs. Jack fell back, glaring up at the now standing girl.

"You know you can't beat me." She panted.

Blood was dripping down at the side of her face. The sun was behind her forming a shadow over her eyes giving them a glow. She looked like a predator.

"I know, but he can." He countered.

Before Valerie could decipher his words. She was lifted up again, but this time pinned to the ground.

"Looks like you forgot something, Herbivore." Hot breathe tickled her face as familiar hands kept a firm grip on her.

"A lion always waits for their prey to lower their guard."

________________

"Ughhh, it hurts." Ruggie groaned. He laid on a bed with an ice pack on his stomach.

He and the rest of the Savanclaw students are in the infirmary. Each of them was the victim of the girl's brutal beatings.

"How the hell is someone so tiny is that insanely strong?" The leopard beastman muttered, nursing his jaw.

"The question is, is she even human?" The ocelot commented, bandages covering his body.

Speaking of her...

Valerie hissed when the ghost rubbed a special ointment of her back to heal the swelling. She was behind a curtain, giving her the privacy she needed.

"And there we go, you can put your shirt on and make sure to not put too much strain on yourself, young lady. I heard from the ghosts in Ramshackle you're the reckless type." The ghost gave her a mirthful smile. She chuckled.

"Yeah, I will."

"No, she won't." Grim chimed in.

He sat next to her on the bed and shot the girl a knowing look, to which she laughed nervously.

"I promise, really."

"You better, and you call me troublesome."

"Okay, okay, let's go." She picked him and stepped out of the curtain. She winced a bit when she saw how badly bruised they all looked.

"You really went all out on them." The cat monster commented; almost half of them were covered in bandages and band-aids.

"You know me, I always love a challenge." Her grin was filled with mischief.

She walked up to her favorite Savanaclaw trio. Jack was getting his face treated since she kicked there the most while Leona sat next to Ruggie since he had minor injuries.

"Hey, guys, who are you feeling?" She asked.

"Like a truck ran me over." The hyena retorted. The girl nervously laughed.

"Right, sorry."

"Don't be. You went all out; it's insulting if you didn't." Jack interjected. He hissed when the swab touched his hips lower lip.

"Don't talk, young man." Scolded the ghost.

"You were pretty good out there, Valerie. But you let your guard down too soon. Your lucky it was only training. Otherwise, you would have gotten eaten up." The lion smirked.

"As if I let you." She huffed.

"But, it has been a good experience. Might as well do this again next time." He added.

"Sure, I love to kick your butts and win next time." She gave a devil-like smile.

"Anyway, I have to wash up and head to Heartslyabul." She turned around, only bumped into the beastmen.

"Ah, I'm sorry-" She didn't get to finish when he briskly walked past her. Valerie observed his appearance; he had a pumpkin-colored reptile tail with burgundy fins and bronze horns. His body was wrapped in gauze and had bandages covering his arms.

"Don't take it too personally. He's still not used to being beaten by a woman." Leona spoke up.

"Mm? What do you mean?" The girl was puzzled.

"You see the guys with dragon tails?" He asked. Glancing around, she did notice a few of them. She locked eyes with one, he immediately looked away.

"They're from Cloud Valley; in their culture, women are treated lesser than men, always expected to be submissive, fragile, and obedient. The complete opposite to the women in the Afterglow Savannah." He elaborated.

"So it's a big shocked for them to know such a tiny prey can beat them so easily."

That filled her with pride. Her family raised her to be independent and strong; and above all, never take shit from misogynists.

"Oi! Kemonohito!" A voice boomed. Valerie winced at the frequency of his voice. Everyone's heads turned to see a dragonkin with a scarlet tail and white fins standing in front of her.

"I demand a re-match! Your abilities were just enhanced because your half rabbit. I refuse to acknowledge defeat by a woman!" He boomed.

"Maybe next time." She simply replied.

"Oh? What's this? Already backing down? Expected for a female to be too scared-"

"No. I already have plans this afternoon, not to mention your too injured. The opal-eyed girl interrupted, taking note of his bandaged face and body.

"This is nothing! Fight me!"

"Young man, no shouting." One ghost staff scolded, quickly leading him away from the girl and her monster.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go. See you guys."

________________

Valerie hummed a random tune as she dried her hair. Thanks to Amane giving her his credit card, she was able to buy the things she desperately needed, such has extra cleaning supplies , bathroom necessities and a hair dryer.

Putting the hair dryer down, she examined herself on the mirror. She wore a Heartslyabul uniform, switching out the pants with a pleated thigh length skirt, a white thigh-high on her right leg, a white crew length sock with black diamond pattern on her left and red and white sneakers. She also tied her ears with a black ribbon around them.

"Are you almost done?" Grim lazily drawled. He was sprawled on the bed, his pudgy stomach on display.

"Already am." She answered.

"Good, cause your phone was ringing." He rolled to his left, revealing the girl's phone. Picking it up and opening it to her messages, the sender read 'Braincell 1'

'Yo Val, you and Grim have to walk here by yourselves. Me and chicken boy can't pick you up cause we have an emergency and it requires all dorm members cooperation.'

She texted back

'k'

Picking up her little gremlin, strolled out and headed downstairs.

"Where Ace and Deuce?" questioned Grim.

"They have an emergency which required all dorm members." She answered, walking out of the house.

"Huh, probably something related to food." The cat proclaimed, as he climbed up to her shoulders and draped himself there.

She merely hummed.

They arrived in mirror hall. As she stepped in, Valerie almost got knocked down by a rushing students.

"S-sorry, miss Valerie." He apologized before running again.

Glancing at each other, the Ramshackle duo continued their journey, all the while watching students tripping over their feet looking for something. It wasn't long before they spotted a familiar redhead and bluette by the bushes.

"Damn it, where are they? They couldn't gotten that far." Ace muttered.

"Maybe we should try a different spot." Suggested Deuce.

"Guys?" A feminine voice snapped them out and turned around.

Their eyes bulged out when they saw her ears. A palpable silence overtook them, until...

"Pffftt-"

All eyes turned to Ace as he covered his mouth with right arm, and shaking. Finally he blew up.

"HAHAHAAHA! Oh great seven this hilarious! You're an actual rabbit!" He kept on laughing. Deuce had small blush on his face when he stared at her, she looked like a porcelain doll.

"You know very well I hate those." Valerie monotonous voice rang out. A displeased look covered her face from being compared to an item she hated the most.

Crap, he thought out loud.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" Deuce bowed, which made Ace laughed louder.

"Its fine." She huffed. "Anyway, what happened? What's the emergency?"

Ace shut up and Deuce tentatively bit his lower lip.

"Its the hedgehogs, they broke out in their cages again. The unbirthday party will start soon and no one has found them yet." The peacock-eyed boy answered.

"Riddle almost lost control when he found out, and its not getting any better." The cherry-eyed boy added.

"I could help." The girl offered. "My ears are practically antennas, and they've been a great help in dealing with Savanaclaw, I think I can find the hedgehogs in no time."

They seem to contemplate her words, before nodding to each other.

"Alright, Princess, we're counting on you." Ace grinned.

The girl gave a mock salute before taking Grim off her and dropping him on Ace. She sprinted away, she picked a small clearing.

Valerie crouched down and closed her eyes. She blocked out the noise surrounding her, focusing on the chitter and footsteps of the hedgehogs. Breathing softly she waited for even the faintest noise.

Instantly her ears twitched, perking a bit she turned to the left. Sprinting off she found a red and blue hedgehogs under a tree. Valerie slowly made her towards them and crouch to their height.

"Hi." She gently called out. Slowly reaching her hand out, it sniffed it before coming near and rubbing itself on it.

"You guys are bunch escape artist huh?" She mused, delicately picking it up. Her ears perked up, catching a faint conversation. Following till she found herself with two mobs.

"M-miss Valerie!" They exclaimed in surprised, especially to her ears.

"Here." She placed them on their hands.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Now if you excuse me, I got more to find."

She did this a few more times: She would listen to the hedgehogs, find them and give them to a nearby Heartslyabul student. So far she found at least 20 or so for half an hour.

Valerie huffed and fanned herself using her shirt, she having a particularly hard time in finding these guys. The tiny things were master on invasion and giving her a good challenge. Inhaling she concentrated once more, walking silently as she did in hopes to hear the better.

Finally, soft rustling in the bushes caught her attention. Nimbly making her way to the source, she pulled it back to to find a red, green and orange hedgehogs staring up at her.

"C'mere." She scooped them up and made her way to the nearest students, whose hair perfectly matched the hedgehogs she's carrying.

They blinked at the sight before them, heat rising to their cheeks at the adorable sight.

"V-Valerie." Riddle stuttered, clearly didn't expect this.

"Yeah, hi." She sheepishly grinned.

"This is an interesting turn of events?" Commented Trey, fixing his gaze on her ears.

"Vally, you look so cute!" The strawberry blonde gushed, taking out his phone and snapping pictures of the girl.

"Haha, thank you Cater." She did cute little poses. Holding the hedgehogs up to her face.

"#Cutie! #Rabbitears #foundthehedgehogs #livinguptothename." He quickly uploaded it.

Riddle quickly regained his composure and took the hedgehogs out of her hands.

"Thank you, Valerie now we can resume the unbirthday party."

"So." Deuce started. "What happened to you?"

After placing the hedgehogs in their cages, everyone was seated on the tables and enjoying the party, and were quite curious of her ears.

The girl summarized on what happened yesterday and this morning. Ace snickered at the end of her explanation.

"Jeez, Val, your a total disaster magnet." He ran his finger on her ears.

"It gets worse when I'm with you guys." She teased.

"Your so mean, Princess!" Ace dramatically placed his hand over his heart, 'hurt' by her words.

"But you look so cute! Look how much likes your photo is getting." The leaf-green eyed male showed her his phone, which was gradually getting likes.

"They don't make you uncomfortable, do they?" Trey asked, as he handed her another strawberry tart. Which she gratefully accepted.

"Besides having more sensitive hearing, I'm good" She replied. She moved her hands up, away from Grim's greedy outstretched paws. Trey handed him a blueberry cheesecake.

"This transformation has been a great help, especially when dealing with Savanaclaw. You should have seen the amount of students I sent in the infirmary." She added with a giggle.

"There was even a dragon there that wanted to challenge her. But he got dragged off." Grim chimed in, taking large bite of his cheesecake.

"A dragon?"

"He brushed off my abilities because of the potion." Just remembering his words gave her a headache.

Ugh, if mom was in Cloud Valley she would have made every man there submit to her.

"But in the end, you still sustain injuries." Riddle interjected, examining her bandaged arm. He sipped his tea as the girl's face flushed.

"T-that's a mistake in my part. I got ahead of myself, I would have still beaten Leona if I had been more aware of my surroundings." Frustration crinkled her eyes, with those ears of hers should would have heard him and at least give him a black eye.

Mom would have scold her for her carelessness.

"Aww, don't make that face Vally; let's just enjoy the party." Cater coaxed bring her and Grim for a selfie, which was soon joined by Ace, Deuce and Trey who grabbed Riddle with him.

"Say cheese!"

________________

"Miss her ears already." Deuce mumbled, as he stared at the girl.

As promised, Crewel gave her the antidote and she reverted back to her normal self. Although, some were beginning to miss her ears.

They just looked so cute on her.

It was P.E and they were doing some warm up stretches. Valerie was just doing splits when a shadow fell over her.

"Kemonohito! Re-match now!"

This guy...

"We're in class. Can we do this later?" She reasoned.

His face twisted in anger, before a whistle blew.

"Alright! I prepared an obstacle course! Whoever reaches the finish line first in the shortest amount of time will receive a plus points!"

One by one the boys took the course, Vargas always saved Valerie for last cause he knows that she might destroy everything.

Vargas focused his gaze on Valerie.

"Kemonohito you're up!"

As she took her position, she examined the field. High walls, mannequins, vaults and beams, perfect for her rabbit self, but it wasn't there anymore. She shook her head, she trained for years, she didn't need it.

The whistle blew

She blurred through the field. Destroying the mannequins and jumping over the high walls with ease. By the time she finished it, she left a path of destruction.

"2:05s! The fastest one yet! Fantastic job, but next time don't destroy everything. Seriously I just got this raise." The man grumbled more as he scribbled on his clipboard.

Meanwhile, her idiot trio stared at her, shock written on their faces. When she walked up to them, they bombarded her with questions.

"How did you do that!?"

"Can you teach me!

"I thought you weren't a rabbit anymore."

All she could do was shrug.

"Maybe I got the leftover DNA. But whatever the case is, I love it."

She had a wide smile on their face, oh this was going to be good.

A/N: Cloud Valley belongs to @phoenix-manga

@poisonapplecakes1312

#twisted wonderland #twst #valerie kemonohito #twst grim #ace trappola #deuce spade #cater diamond #trey clover #riddle rosehearts #leona kingscholar #jack howl #ruggie bucchi #heartslabyul #savanaclaw #divus crewel

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thecagedsong · 3 years

Text

Forgotten Light Chapter 16: Djinni

A/N: Posting this now so I don’t accidentally go back on my word and post the Tess chapter. Seth is up to Shenanagains of the life-threatening sort, just as he ought to be. Baby tries so hard.

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

Chapter 15: Djinni

Unfortunately, they could not leave that afternoon to investigate the poisoned pool like was planned, as the Triclops didn’t give them an opportunity. It spent the whole afternoon and evening swinging an uprooted tree back and forth around the confines of their little sanctuary.

“All right,” Seth said, that night, “Need a new plan.”

“The plan is to get some sleep and try again in the morning. This island is big, he’ll go somewhere else eventually,” Warren said, rubbing his eyes, “You’re on Fablehaven’s timezone, right? No way you aren’t exhausted.”

“But the longer we wait to get a good look at the pool, the more likely we lose our clues,” Seth pleaded.

“Believe us Seth,” Vanessa said, “We know and we don’t like this. If it is still there in the morning, we’ll change the plan so that Warren and I act as decoys, luring the triclops away so your group can investigate. Preserves are too dangerous at night if it can be avoided.”

“Maybe too dangerous for you,” Seth scoffed.

“I understand your frustration,” Vanessa said, “I love Kendra too, and at least she knows that you are her brother. I will not face her having lost her brother, the only one she knows even a little bit, to preventable dangers. Sleep. I have potions for you if you need it.”

Seth looked behind her to Warren, who gave him a warning look that his arguing was at an end. He looked back at Vanessa’s dark eyes and firm set features.

“Fine,” Seth said. “I’ll take a sleeping potion, but not one that knocks me out completely.”

“More of a drowsy solution, I promise,” Vanessa said, going to her dufflebag. She mixed some powders and fruit juice, and held it out, “It will not work right away, so you can get back to your room, even if you drink it now.”

Seth tilted his head, “Hey, if you controlled me in my sleep, could you use my shadowcharmer abilities? Shadewalking, speaking to the undead, that kind of stuff?”

Vanessa didn’t answer until he drank the potion, then said, “I do not know. I have controlled wizards and felt their magical cores, but without their knowledge of spellcraft, I was unable to use their magic. Magic is not for the use of mortals. The best comparison would have been controlling Kendra, but her mind was protected, and I could not seize her. I would have to re-bite you and attempt, as Bracken broke off our previous connection. I could not attempt to guess, Seth, and I won’t experiment with you. If your abilities are needed, I trust you to use them well, as I hope you trust me to keep you safe during the attempt.”

“That’s actually really touching, I’m touched Vanessa,” Seth said, holding a hand over his heart, “I must be the most unique thing you aren’t interested in biting.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes, “I have bitten creatures of the dark, and they all taste nasty. Creature of the shadows, and teenage boy? That is a very easy pass.”

“You actually taste people when you bite them?” Seth asked, “Who tasted the best? Was it Kendra? I bet it was Kendra. I bit her once when we were kids.”

“And we’re done with that conversation,” Warren said, stopping Vanessa from answering. “Forever. Off to bed before the drowsy hits, scoot.”

“What? You don’t want to know if you tasted better or worse than—” Vanessa started teasing, and Seth was quick to back out of that conversation. Fourteen years old, and he did not need to know biting preferences for Vanessa, and how her boyfriend ranked.

Seth fell asleep, and woke up to the moon hitting his face, almost blinding. He felt refreshed and awake, not a hint of drowsy. It was rare he woke up like this, normally Kendra was awake first. Seth sat up. Or, he tried too, but sleeping in a hammock made sitting up a test of abdominal muscles. He rolled out of his hammock, took note that Tanu was sleeping across from him, Calvin wrapped up in a handkerchief for a blanket on the windowsill, and Seth quietly made his way out of the hut.

He wandered until he realized that the whispers of the undead were getting louder. Then he walked with a purpose up spiral stairs and across rope bridges he stopped before a door carved into what had to be the biggest tree in existence. It felt like the Blackwell, though a little less desperate. Instead of suffering pleas, there were questions about directions.

Left here, and again…or was it right?

A thousand repetitions of this circle should get me out…

Does wandering endlessly truly break up the monotony of eternal existence?

“I see…this is what it means to be a shadow charmer,” Savani’s voice broke his listening, and he saw the woman step onto the platform behind him.

“Yep, walking around in the middle of the night to figure out where the undead are,” Seth said. “And your excuse?”

Savani held up a bracelet of three large shells and several smaller shells, “We have three caretaker homes at this preserve, each designed to better weather certain seasons. This is the winter quarter, even though I should have welcomed you in the spring mansion. This bracelet alerts me whenever someone or something approaches one of the prisons at any of the homes, and will transport me to interfere. I assume you were not planning on releasing these entities.”

“No, just wanted to know where they are,” Seth said, looking back at the door, “They sound different than most of the undead. Like they’re…wandering. They think they are going somewhere.”

“The spirits here are trapped by a maze, just as much as they are by the barrier,” Savani said. “My people learned how to draw unwanted entities into certain designs, tricking them into wandering those corridors rather than through the village. It is a complicated magic, but one that does not require a wizard if you have the right blood and soul.”

“So like, at least they get puzzle books with their prison sentence, I approve,” Seth said, “They sound a little less miserable than the undead usually do.”

“Are you familiar with Djinni?” Savani asked.

“Genies?” Seth said, the name sounding familiar, “A little. My other Grandma tried to make a deal with one, it got to ask her three questions she had to answer truthfully. When she refused to answer one, the Genie turned her into a chicken.”

“I lost one of my staff to similar circumstances concerning the Djinni that rests just inside this door. A spirit that wandered here from the mainland; they were not so easily trapped by our mazes, but fell remarkably easily to four walls,” she said, thinking, “My sister, Alma, engaged in the question game, three for three, taking turns, and learned that the sunset pearl had been taken off the preserve before Djinni asked how to unweave spirit mazes and she refused to answer.”

“They only know about stuff inside the preserve right?” Seth asked.

“Only when asked can she gain access to her sight, which extends to past and a little into the future,” Savani said. “My sister’s remaining questions that she could not ask were about who took the sunset pearl, and the location of the Weki flute that soothes the triclops.”

“I can go in and ask her,” Seth volunteered.

Savani laughed, “I could never ask you to go in with so little preparation!”

“Seems to me everyone fails at the game because they had too much preparation,” Seth said. “You need to let your non-local idiot walk in with absolutely no preparation. I don’t know anything about this preserve or what might free her. Sure I know some secrets, but nothing that would help her get free. And it’s just information. She can’t ask me to do things for her, right?”

“The young always risk their lives for so little,” Savani said, shaking her with a quiet laugh. “Even if I were willing to lose another ally to that monster after losing my sister, something I’m sure you understand, none of your protectors would let you go over them.”

“That’s why we do it here and now,” Seth said, “I’ve negotiated with tougher customers than this. I’ve talked down both the Totem Wall and the Singing Sisters. And I convinced a centaur to let me ride on his back. I’m pretty talented at walking away from these things.”

“That is impressive,” Savani said, “But even with those dangerous consultations in your past, our situation is not so risky. And wandering towards the most secure prison at night alone does not convince me that you have the discipline to converse with this creature. Any word out of your mouth that is not the answer the answer to her question after you enter her chamber is a lie and gives her freedom to leave. You strike me as the sarcastic sort, and that will get you killed.”

“Yeah, some of my wraith friends didn’t get my jokes either,” Seth said, remembering Whiner. “I suppose knock-knock jokes are out?”

“Most definitely,” Savani said, “You are refreshing to speak to. Much like Warren, but less burdened. Does the chill of this dungeon not bother you?”

“Chill?” Seth asked, looking around, “It’s been ridiculously hot since we got here. It finally feels nice.”

“The unnatural dread make many fail to converse with the Djinni,” Savani said thoughtfully. “After speaking, I am a bit more inclined to let you try with the Djinni, and hold back my assent almost solely on the rifts I do not wish to cause with the rest of our allies. Should the triclops still haunt us when they awake, I will allow you to present this plan as an option to them.”

“Sounds like permission to me,” Seth said. He spun and grasped the door handle. In that touch, he found himself on the opposite side of door. Apparently just touching the doorknob was enough to get a mortal inside the prison, though he was willing to bet it would take the caretaker to get out. There was a single door to his right, and beyond that a spiral staircase covered with woven mats of crazy designs. He felt the presence of wraiths and the undead just before him, and it took a bit to figure out that they were trapped inside the mats.

Then a phantom stumbled up the stairs, and he realized not all of them were trapped in mats. Just to his left was a door with another handle and no hinges.

Expecting it this time, Seth reached out and grasped the handle.

“Oh? Two visitors so close together after a century of silence,” the Djinni said. “A baby shadow charmer, no less. I assume you are here to play my riddle game like that last one.”

The Djinni was surprisingly pretty. Usually Kendra got the pretty ones, and he got the cool ones who were half skeleton half putrid guts. The flowing pink dress threw him for a second. But she had white skin, red eyes, and choppy blue hair. Her skin was smooth, except for the bags under her eyes, and her hair looked like it could use a good washing.

Seth nodded to the Djinni’s question.

Then he breathed in, and a hand came up over his mouth to stop him from gagging. His eyes left the Djinni to the ground next to her, covered partially by her cloak. For some reason, when Savani said her sister had been killed by the Djinni, he had never imagined what had happened to her sister’s body. This wasn’t like the zombie farm, or even when Coulter died in his arms. The body was weeks decayed. Skin and organs were liquifying and leeking over the floor, bones starting to jut out on the ribcage and he could only be glad he couldn’t see Savanni’s sister’s face.

“I have a fondness for little adventurers,” the Djinni said with a rosy smile, watching him watch the body. She even threw in a casual caress of her last victim. “I will recite the rules for you if you nod now.”

Seth nodded, suddenly regretting everything. He made himself focus on the Djinni.

“Very well, my rules are simple,” she said, standing up but still leaning against the wall of her prison cell, “You may only speak the answers to my questions and questions of your own. You have as much time as you need to answer. Should you speak else, I may extract a price from you for disturbing me, and as you can see, it includes killing you. Should you speak a lie, I am freed from my prison and will enjoy wrecking the meager protections left to this house on my way out. My sight it limited to this preserve, but it extends to everywhere in this preserve and all the way through the past, and twenty-eight days into the future. You may indicate you are unsatisfied with my answer, but may not ask follow-up questions, I can do the same. Upon being satisfied with my final answer, you will be teleported out of my diminutive abode. Nod if you are ready to begin, little adventurer.”

Simple rules. Follow the rules, and they can’t touch you. He would just have to think through his answers before speaking. Despite what Kendra says, he can think before talking. At least, that’s what Kendra used to say, and probably wouldn’t take long to say again. Seth nodded and made himself remove his hands and accept the smell. The smell wasn’t worse than the zombie farm, even if the body was.

“Then I, Skamboli, ask this for my first question: what are the ways out of my confinement that you know about?” she asked.

Seth thought for a minute, going over each way he thought might work.

“I only know a few,” Seth said slowly, “if I tell a lie, you are free. I assume that if the caretaker released you, you could go free. I don’t know for sure, but I assume if someone busted down your door from the outside, you would probably be freed. Burned the tree prison down, though you might die that way. And…a trained shadow charmer, not me, could probably unlock your door. People have told me that once I learn control over my powers, I can undo locks, but I don’t know how yet.”

Skamboli waited, but nothing happened. “Very honest, I approve. Though a wiser adventurer would not volunteer information about their weaknesses. You may ask your first question.”

Better ask Savani’s questions first. “Who took the sunset pearl?”

Her red eyes flashed white for a second then went back to red. “The dark unicorn goes by many names, but you know him as Ronodin. He stole the pearl on his first visit to this sanctuary.”

That was bad and good. Bad, because Ronodin likely put it where he was keeping Kendra, on the Phantom Island, but good because it narrowed their goals and they were already working on getting to the Phantom Isle anyway. Maybe he could use the horn to send a message to Bracken to pick up the pearl on his way out with Kendra?

Seth nodded at the Djinni, hopefully indicating he was satisfied with her answer. Not looking at the body. She never said he could verbally say if he was satisfied, just dis-satisfied, and didn’t want to risk it. He didn’t want to talk more than he had to.

“Is there any questions I could ask that you would be unwilling to answer?” Skamboli said. This was the question that left grandma laying eggs for months.

Again, Seth thought carefully.

“Plenty of things I wouldn’t want to answer,” Seth decided, “Embarrassing moments, secrets about our plans against the dragons in the upcoming dragon war that I promised not to share, too much information about my friends and family. Secrets that would result in my death if I shared them with you due to other promises I have made. Really don’t want to share that one, it wouldn’t benefit you at all and would end up with me dead. That one is about my dealings with the Singing Sisters, and wouldn’t interest you at all, so please don’t ask that one. But I would share any of it, if you asked, because I need to take the answers to my questions back to my friends.”

Skamboli waited, then nodded at Seth. Seth hesitated for a moment, because the name of the flute Savani mentioned five minutes ago was already lost from his head. He needed a minute to carefully pick his words.

“Where is the magic flute that can soothe the currently rampaging triclops?” Seth asked at last.

Again, her eyes flashed a blinding white.

“The Weki flute is buried amongst the treasure of the Fairy Queen’s shrine on this island,” Skamboli said.

Uggh, normally they left the fairy shrine stuff to Kendra, though the Fairy King might let him take something from there. Or maybe getting Fairy Struck Tess to ask would be better. Still, much better news than the flute being lost forever. Seth nodded.

“What would convince you to free me from my prison, little adventurer?” she asked, sounding tired.

Seth had not expected that question. What would convince him to free a dangerous being? He took longer to think through his answer to this one than any other. The smell and taste of the last life she had taken all around him, so much worse than the zombie farm.

“A sincere and binding promise to never hurt another sentient being again,” Seth said, at last, and his eyes finally went back to the body. He saw the swollen, distorted face of Savani’s sister, and knew he wouldn’t ever forget it. “But from everything I know, that is against your very nature and an impossible promise to keep.” He looked away and back at her, “Still, if you were able to convince me you’d do that? I’d do my best to help you. I would do my best to convince Savani that you won’t attack her, help find a nice new lair for you somewhere on this preserve. You could have been a lot meaner, a lot stricter and done more to trip me up, but you didn’t, which makes me like you. I have been double crossed a lot in my life though, so I refuse to free you on anything less than a perfect, binding promise.”

Skamboli waited, then nodded, a small smile on her lips. Now it was time for the real reason he had jumped into this encounter, the information that would make it all worth it. He thought over his question a couple of times, looking for loopholes or ways to get more information out of it, and asked.

“Where will my sister Kendra be on the preserve in the next twenty-eight days?”

Again, her eyes flashed white, though this time they softened slowly back to their red. “The future is not certain, but many futures show Kendra at this preserve in 77 hours and making her way to the sacred pool. She will venture into the domain of a wraith, then leave. It grows hazier, but Kendra will also visit the Bridge Cove, then Baga Lao sometime after that. Leaving Baga Lao, she does not return within the time of my sight.”

Kendra. Here. Seth almost said something, almost said thank you, then stopped himself with a snap of his jaw. He nodded.

“That concludes my little game. Congrats, you are the first to pass without retribution in a while. You are right, I cannot promise not to harm in exchange for my freedom. Still, this has been quite entertaining, and in Jighandi even. You have goodness in you, little adventurer, try not to die too quickly on this preserve.”

Seth was transported out. Savani was standing in the little hallway, arms folded, when he appeared. She grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him towards the exit

Savani forcibly shoved him out of the prison, where Grandma was waiting for him.

“So, good news, I wisely used my resources and found out vital information on where Kendra is going to be, as well as the sunset pearl and the flute to stop the triclops” Seth said. “Bad news, I’m going to throw up.”

Seth rushed to the edge of the platform and started heaving, losing the dinner he had eaten.

“I understand now what Ruth and Stan warned me when letting you out of my sight,” Grandma Larsen said, putting a hand on his back. “Of all the trouble I was watching out for, you purposefully going to chat up a djinni never even crossed my mind.”

Tears leaked out of his eyes as he threw up some more. It was horrible, he’d thought that after everything, after regularly conversing with the undead for years, after seeing so many people die, he would never loose his stomach over something like a dead body. But the smell…

…he gagged some more, even though there was nothing left. He was sticky and gross and the humidity made it feel like the vomit was sticking to him more than he knew it was. Eventually a glass of water was offered, and he used it to rinse his mouth. He nodded his thanks at Savani, and accepted the wet towel as well.

His breathing evened out and he said, “For Kendra. I did it for Kendra.”

“Seth, you are part of a team now,” Grandma said, “And you aren’t leading things here like you were back at Wyrmroost. We work together, or not at all. Savani told you she didn’t want you to speak to the Djinni, and you disregarded her. This is her home, hers to protect, and you violated that trust. How is what you did any different than Knox going into the dungeons with Tess to check out the barrel?”

“Savani said the only reason she didn’t want me to talk to the Djinni was that she worried about setting off everyone’s ‘protect Seth’ sensors,” Seth said, not looking her in the eye, “I thought I figured it out, but you’re right, I didn’t know, I wasn’t ready. It’s what I thought I had to do, and I’m sorry.” Savani’s sister’s body flashed in his mind again, the way Skamboli stroked sagging flesh, and he pressed his face into the towel.

He was stronger and braver than this. He was. He had proved it over and over, and he’d seen people die. He’d seen his sister poison herself into a frothing, empty shell. He’d seen battle wounds from the battle of Zzyzx.

This shouldn’t be worse than that, but it was.

Grandma sighed and rubbed his back. “What happened? Tell me.”

“It’s nothing,” Seth said, pulling himself to his feet. “Nothing I haven’t seen before. It just…I wasn’t prepared. I promise I won’t act on my own again.”

“That is not the answer to my question,” Grandma scolded, standing as well, “I don’t care about how Ruth and Stan let you run about and keep secrets, and I don’t care about what you’ve seen before. We are going to confront a demon for training tomorrow, and you have been unsettled and you have been reckless, so we are going to talk until I trust that you can handle what’s going to happen.”

“It doesn’t matter if I talk about it or not,” Seth said, “We need to get me trained so I can get to the Phantom Isle, and we need to do it fast. I can handle a demon, I won’t lose it like that again.”

“Seth, Honey,” Grandma said, and she pulled him into a hug he resisted, “Even those of us who have done dangerous missions on magical preserves our entire lives need people to talk to. People to trust. Time to break down. Mortals aren’t meant for the kind of exposure you and your sister have been through. Special abilities or not. Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing, I mean it,” Seth said, and his eyes found Savani over Grandma’s shoulders, who had been watching patiently the entire time. “It wasn’t worse than seeing Kendra’s stingbulb kill herself, and I got through that, so I’m okay.”

“Shadow charmers have a reputation,” Savani said quietly, “Of moving and operating in the dark, with demons who seal their secrets sworn in blood. I would recommend letting things come to light, if you can. If you are trying to spare me, I think I have guessed what unsettled you. I had hoped this Djinni to favor the clean and quick kill, but we knew the consequences.”

“I’m sorry,” Seth said, hoping she understood the extent of his apology.

“Ahh,” Grandma said releasing him, “Death. You have dealt far too much with loved ones and friends dying for your age, and you have dealt much with those long dead, the process in between is…unpleasant, unsettling.”

“It smelled really bad,” Seth admitted, closing his eyes and seeing the body all over again. “Worse than the zombie farm. I don’t know how I breathed, much less talked. It was just…everywhere in that small cell. I won’t try something like that again, not without a lot more preparation and talking it out with everyone.”

Savani said nothing for a long moment, “You make raising my own son look easy, Seth Sorenson. I believe your sincere desires, though it will take a while for me to trust your restraint. Gloria, remain by Seth’s side for the remainder of his stay here. He does not understand our magic, and while that saved him from knowing anything that could help the Djinni, it also made him dangerous to the integrity of the Woven Prison.”

“That is acceptable,” Grandma said.

Savani sighed, and shook her head, “That being said, the information you gathered is invaluable and I am also in your debt for asking. I was listening at the door and recorded everything. We will work on securing the flute, preparing for Ronodin’s return, and locating the Sunset Pearl. We will have much to discuss when the rest of our companions awake.”

Grandma nodded, “I agree, come Seth. There is still three hours until dawn, and we need what rest we can, even if sleep is gone. You will be sleeping in my room from now on.”

Seth winced, but it was hardly the worst punishment he could have gotten. Probably better than he should have gotten. The women turned to leave.

Seth went to the room his Grandmother had been using, to laid down in the second bed, while Grandma Larsen curled up in hers. No more hammock after tonight. He thought he had been past his impulse issues. He had been careful at Wyrmroost to not take unnecessary risks, to consult Kendra in most things, and he had felt good. Like he had learned his lesson and finally grown into someone worth trusting with important stuff.

Now it felt like he was back to square one. Back to being the dumb kid that captured fairies overnight and trusted demons.

Seth missed his sister.

#Forgotten Light #Fablehaven #Dragonwatch #Seth Sorenson #Finally I don't start a chapter with a handwritten note #baby seth #tw: gore #I guess #graphic description of a decaying body

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alecmagnuslwb · 3 years

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Love Me Tinder - @doubleredweek Day 5

Read on AO3

Roy doesn’t know why, but he’s fairly certain that Jason Todd is trying to kill him. There’s no other explanation for the scene before him. Firefighters don’t actually do this; he should know he’s been one since he decided to drop the sidekick gig at eighteen and never once before has he seen a firefighter actually wear nothing but tight-fitting jeans and suspenders while washing one of the firetrucks.

It’s just not something they actually do except maybe for the annual charity calendar which it’s nowhere near being the time for that photoshoot and no one has a camera. Well no one except those two girls he saw across the street about twenty minutes ago that were definitely not being subtle as they took a few shots he’s sure will make their way onto Instagram and then from there turn up in some tabloid later.

He can see the headline now: Bruce Wayne’s sexy ward gets wet. It’s like a bad porn he kind of wishes he was starring in.

For a brief only slightly insane moment he contemplated chasing after the two women and asking them to forward him whatever videos and photos they took for his own personal use. Luckily his logical brain took over for his horny brain before he could do anything so absurd.

Roy lets out a literal groan when Jason pauses in his work and runs a soapy wet hand through his hair the little white streak near the front being pushed all the way back.

“Go to your bunk if your gonna start making noises like that,” Dick says as he leaps up beside him twisting himself into an impossible sitting position on the picnic table out in front of the station that Roy’s been happily planted at for forty-five minutes now pretending he’s reading the book in his hand.

Haley, their own personal little firehouse mascot comes trotting out. She pushes up with her three strong legs and settles on the bench beside him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Roy says indignantly looking down at his book that he realizes now is definitely upside down. Dick chuckles clearly seeing the realization cross his face. Roy hastily flips the book right side up ignoring his best friend.

“If you’re gonna ogle at least make your decoy convincing,” Dick says reaching down and picking up Haley cradling her in his arms like a baby.

“I am not ogling your brother,” Roy huffs casting his eyes down to his book. He starts reading and realizes he has no clue what’s going on, he’s pretty sure he just kept turning pages to seem like he was accomplishing anything but daydreaming about Jason’s six pack.

“You are totally ogling my brother,” Dick says as he starts literally rocking Haley to sleep. “You should just ask him out already, I’m like 99% certain he’d say yes.”

Roy gives up on his book tossing it off to the side. The thud of it against the table disturbs Haley from her drifting slumber the small grey pup giving him a warning look. He scratches behind her left ear the way she loves in apology before looking up at Dick.

“You want me to ask out your little brother?” he says in disbelief. He always assumed Dick would be very much against the concept of his best friend and his little brother.

Dick just shrugs. “Yeah, why not? Little Wing’s been a hell of lot better off since he finally quit the whole Outlaw gig and if it weren’t for him randomly running into you that never would have happened. Your good for him and considering how lovesick you look all the time when he’s around I’d say he could be pretty good for you too.”

Three years ago on a random chilly Gotham night Roy walked his way into a hostage situation by accident, the infamous Red Hood had broken it up, but not without a little help from the former Speedy.

Jason had been grateful for the help, but behind those eyes he could also see a hell of a lot else going on. He looked tired, worn down by life. Roy knew the look well; it had hit him before he could even legally rent a car. Mostly Jason looked like he could use a friend, so Roy decided then and there to be one.

Within the year Roy knew more about Jason’s life since being brought back from the dead than even his own brother and six months after that he’d convinced Jason he didn’t have to hit the streets anymore if he didn’t want to.

Getting him the training and into the vacancy in their firehouse had been easy with Dick vouching for him as well.

“Batman might beat me up though,” Roy says leaning back and finally letting his eyes stray back to Jason who it seems has sadly finished his job. A dry t-shirt now covering his Adonis like chest, suspenders hanging at his sides.

Dick whacks him on the shoulder with a huff. “Batman will not beat you up, I’ll beat up Batman if he even thinks about it.”

Roy chuckles at that his eyes still following Jason as he talks to a few of the other guys.

“Okay, since you’re willing to protect me from the big bad bat I’ll ask him to have dinner or something sometime,” Roy concedes looking at Dick with a ‘does that make you happy’ face.

“Fantastic,” he says with a big grin slapping Roy on the shoulder once before tumbling gracefully off the picnic table to stand in front Roy, Haley still perfectly held in his arms. “I got a shift with the other job,” he says with a wink lifting his shirt to reveal the Kevlar of his Nightwing costume. Roy gives him a playful salute that Dick returns as he wanders over past Jason.

“Hey Jay!” he shouts as he passes him by. “Roy wants to ask you something!” And then he’s off blowing Roy a condescending kiss before he disappears into the firehouse.

Jason turns his attention to Roy those perfectly white teeth showing as he makes his way over to the bench. He sits down straddling the same side of the table where Roy sits those tight pants stretching perfectly over Jason’s thick thighs that have been the star of some of Roy’s most pleasant dreams of late.

“What’s up?” he says ruffling out his rapidly drying hair. He’s so bright, so much happier than the fatigued anti-hero Roy met all that time ago.

He’s also annoyingly handsome with his hair sticking up in an array of directions from drying in the hot summer sun. Roy thought being best friends with an absolute smoke show for years was frustrating, this is so much worse. One day he wants to ask Bruce if there’s some sort of pre-requisite that Robin’s needed to look like they’d grow up insanely handsome to get the job.

For a moment Roy pauses and considers chickening out, Dick ran off so it’s not like he can force this to happen.

The thing is Roy really wants this to happen, plus Dick will continue to stick him in situations like this if he doesn’t just bite the bullet so he takes a deep breath and the biggest leap he’s taken since he was literally jumping across rooftops.

“You want to get dinner with me some time?” he asks holding his gaze with Jason those blue green eyes of his shimmering in the slowly waning evening sun.

Jason squints one eye at him the start of a smile on his lips. “Dinner as in a date or dinner as in two friendly firefighting friends?”

Roy smiles. “While I find your alliteration fun I was thinking of it more as a date.”

Jason’s half smile grows full and he swings one leg over the bench. “Sounds great, it’s about time you asked.”

He stands and starts walking backwards eyes still on Roy’s.

“Well you could have asked me,” Roy says holding his hands up in a why not gesture.

“Pfft,” Jason says still cautiously walking backwards. “I’m way too emotionally stunted for that and you know it.”

Roy huffs out a little laugh kind of in awe that Jason had ever considered asking him out first.

“You still off shift Friday?” he asks just as Jason has one leg in firehouse the other out.

“Yep.”

“Good, I’ll pick you at seven,” Roy says catching Jason’s bright smile and nod of agreement before he disappears inside the firehouse. Roy opens back up his book with a smile starting it from the beginning knowing good and well he won’t comprehend a single word of it once again. Just this time his distraction won’t be watching Jason, it’ll be thinking about Friday.

#my fic #jayroy #jayroyweek2021 #jason todd #roy harper #writersmonth2021

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diplexchimera · 3 years

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Hey people considering college-

I have some tips for you. Now, take into consideration that I am technically a college drop-out (didn't have enough money for a second semester).

- my college required Freshman to be in a campus dorm. We got to select whether we preferred someone quiet, someone loud, or someone in between. In my experience, someone loud = an extrovert who will have many people visit them, someone quiet = a person who prefers to keep their room more private, and someone in between = a person who wants their roommate to be okay with a noisy room & people over, but also wants to be able to say they need quiet time (or they aren't sure what they want, but want neither a silent room or a busy room).

- if you have to eat from the cafeteria, that's okay. They tend to have a wider selection anyway but! I would suggest memorizing the breakfast/lunch/dinner availability hours. Some schools are very strict, and will lock the doors which = a skipped meal for you.

-I would also suggest getting the app 'MyPlate Calorie Tracker'. College meals will most likely be different than what you've eaten at home and school. The MyPlate app is pretty simple, and can help you make sure you're getting the right amount of food into yourself, as opposed to too much or too little. If I remember correctly, it also keeps track of how much protein and stuff your food is supplying you.

- sugars, fats, calories, and carbs are not bad for you. Your body requires them. Your brain literally will not function if you cut out any one of those items. Remember, you don't need to avoid being fat, you need work today being healthy. Your body will sort itself out (over time dude, give it time) if you supply it with the necessary nutrients and such.

- dude, vitamins. They can be expensive, but if you have insurance, ask your doctor how much of every vitamin you should be having. They can tell you, give you a list, and they can ask your insurance if vitamins are covered. If you can't get to a doctor, try to do research. Here is one from Harvard that I think is good, but you should always cross check things. Getting all the vitamins and minerals you need is exceedingly important. They help you go to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up, help your brain and body to function and adjust, help keep you feeling healthy and happy. If you feel tired and depressed, it can be really difficult to accomplish tasks and enjoy/ appreciate being alive.

- I would not suggest starting your year by completing assignments before the start date of said assignments. For one, doing assignments as they come helps you get a feel for a natural schedule. Another reason is because it helps to be in the moment, instead of too far ahead to be able to keep track of what's going on and when. Wait until you have a hang of how and where to research, and a firm idea of how much you can hold onto mentally, so you don't fail tests. You'll also likely feel guilty later on when you begin to struggle to stay ahead as assignments get longer and more difficult.

- yo if you can get a used textbook that comes as a three ring binder instead of a hard or soft back, do it. It's cheaper, and so much easier to handle and copy. Heck, you can even take the pages out of the section you're using and put them in a folder -- boom, no more 40lb back pack. Also makes more room in any bag you use for the essentials, which I'll list next.

- here are some backpack essentials:

• earbuds, Bluetooth if possible. It's okay to have more than one type of listening device. "I prefer headphones!" You say. You can't hide over-the-ear headphones if you end up in a classroom which doesn't allow something like that. Sometimes you're just having a sucky day, sometimes you need extra stimulation to concentrate, sometimes you want to spend your time listening to a podcast that explains the current subject better than your teacher does. Sometimes you want to watch a movie casually. Earbuds also take up MUCH less space.

• an extra charging cable for every portable device you use. Roll them up, and secure each one individually with cable ties or bread bag twist ties. I say extra, as in, keep your original cords in your dorm room and Don't Take Them out. Get a secondary cable and charger for each device, and let them live in your backpack.

• 3 or 4 different colors of pen. Multiple colors, for whatever reason you want-- easily scanned notes, for different subjects, etc. These can serve a variety of purposes, and you never know when you need them.

• 3 regular pencils, and a good hand sharpener or silent mechanical sharpener. 3 in case the other two get broken lead or happen to suck. Regular pencils can be finicky.

• 2 mechanical pencils. 2 in case one of them fails, runs out of lead, or the lead breaks up.

• decoy pens and pencils! Get as cheap or expensive as you want. At some point, someone is likely to ask for one, and you don't want someone else using your favorites. You also may not get them back, or they get broken. I would suggest a couple of each, as it may happen in more than one class. You don't have to have decoys, but that way, at least you don't have to choose between either feeling guilty for not loaning out the items you like, or being uncomfortable that you did have to loan one. If you loan the decoys out, and don't get any back, and someone asks you for a utensil later that day, you have both a convenient reason you don't have an extra you're willing to share, and you already put the minimum effort towards being prepared.

• Water! You're going to get so dang dehydrated! You're going to have full days, much of the time, from trekking across campus, to class time, to meal times, to study time, to hang out time -- you need to have water with you, as opposed to having to track it down, and possibly have to pay for a bottle of water. Hydration is a main component in bodily functionality and brain processes. I would suggest a minimum of a 30-ish ounce container of any sort. A plastic water bottle you refill, a thermos, a sippy cup, a hydro flask, a camp flask, whatever works for you.

• I would say snacks. If you're eating meals throughout the day, I guess they aren't "technically" essential, but can confidently say, they are useful. Snacks can be an energy boost, a brain function boost, a hunger soother, a friend-maker, or just plain stimulation. Cut up some apple slices, maybe grab some peanut butter, or a portion of nuts, or a tangerine, crackers, pretzels, chips, the choice is yours. It helps if you can get ahold of some of those cheap reusable silicone ziplock baggies. You can wash them to be used again, and you don't have to deal with carrying plastic trash around with you.

• a pair of socks. I know that sounds weird, but it doesn't take up much space, and weird stuff happens. They get wet, or it's hot and your feet get sweaty and yucky, or food get spilled on your feet. Stuff happens.

• b12 tablets. They work with your system in a healthy way, as opposed to caffeine, and does the same trick. Just follow the directions on the bottle, and may I suggest, start with half the recommended dose. It affects different people more or less. My husband takes the recommended two, while I only need a half. We both have adhd, and are closely similar in body weight. If you need a wake up boost, don't slam your system with caffeine.

• baby wipes. You can get a small pack, and they can help clean up almost anything. Someone spill sticky tea? Got it. Fell and scraped a knee, and it has dirt all over it? Baby wipes and a little water. Need to blow your nose, and there are no tissues, or just feel like you need to rinse your face off in class? You're covered.

• chapstick is a very small item, but Lordy Lord if those classrooms aren't parched of all moisture in the air. You gone get cracked, chapped lips.

That's kinda it for now on backpack essentials. There is definitely more you could have, so supplement whatever helps you. You could add a hairbrush or comb, a hat and rain jacket for cold weather times, sunscreen during the hot times, hair ties and bobby pins, etc. It's all for you pal.

- keep in touch with your professors. Make yourself known to them. An occasional casual compliment is often helpful, and a good way to connect (you explained stuff really well today/your teaching style is helpful/I appreciated you taking time to answer my questions). They are people after all.

- if you have stuff going on, let your professors know. If your pet is sick at home and you're worried about them, give your professors a heads-up that you may seem less attentive that week, but that it isn't disinterest. If you figure out you have depression, and you're struggling to complete assignments/sleep/wake-up, tell them. Let them know you don't expect special treatment, you just wanted them to know that it isn't due to immaturity or lack of interest.

- always do studying and homework first. If you're able to accomplish these things while with friends, that's great, but if you can tell you're struggling, prioritize schoolwork. You'll have time for fun stuff later, usually later that evening.

- it's okay to drop a class. In fact, if you severely dislike a class, don't understand the coursework, or you realize you've taken on too much at once, it's better for your overall wellness and your grades if you drop it. If you have a professor suggest you drop a class in mean way, don't feel like you have to prove them wrong. This is your experience, and they can stuff it for being a rude brat. You don't need to prove yourself to them, and you cannot control their thoughts or actions.

- try to take classes that happen twice a week, which start later in the day than 8 am, at least for your first semester. There is a lot going on in college. A lot of changes to acclimate to. Take it a little easier at first, to give yourself time to work out what all is where, and how everything works.

Well, that's the end of 'dip's (college) tips' for now.

#dip shares stuff #stuff to know #dip's tips #college

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helbertinelli · 3 years

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How do you feel on au ideas of Jedi Padme and Senator Anakin from Tattoine

Ignoring the fact that Tatooine does not have a Senator, before people are gonna get up on this post like “But Tatooine doesn’t have a Senator...“ In this AU it does...

I like that idea. But... Anakin still has to act like Anakin and Padme still has to act like Padme. Like their personalities and most of their backstories shouldn’t change as well. Otherwise it’s just genderbent Anakin and Padme and it’s completely different. Also Anakin can’t be Force Sensitive at all or the Chosen One. Padme must be the Chosen One.

Here is my idea for an ideal AU and this is based on the events of Star Wars because their story was perfect, but with Anakin and Padme’s roles swapped.

Anakin was a former slave on Tatooine. He got released by Watto after winning that pod race and he gets to be Senator when he’s older. He’s mentored by Palpatine. He’s emotional and angry at the Republic that they’re not doing more and he’s trying to push for a lot of change. Then you have Padme, who met Anakin on Tatooine when she was a Padawan and he was a slave. She’s about justice and democracy and freedom for people and she’s very diplomatic, but she isn’t beyond throwing hands with someone as well. She was the Padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn, who died on Tatooine in the duel with Maul. Then Qui-Gon’s former Padawan, Obi-Wan, who was a Jedi Knight already when he joined Qui-Gon on his mission to Tatooine, defeats Maul and agrees to finish Padme’s training. And yes, Anakin still falls completely in love with Padme when they meet on Tatooine.

Anakin is trying to change so many things so fast and he’s also against spending money on wars when there’s so many people in need, so he’s a threat for Palpatine’s plan and the separatists. Palpatine tries to get him assassinated but his attempt fails because Anakin comes to Coruscant on a different ship. He doesn’t really have handmaidens or whatever the term would be, like Padme did. Maybe he sent a cloaked droid as a decoy on the main ship that gets blown up. I don’t know.. anyway... Palpatine says he should get protection from the Jedi. Anakin is against it at first, but then Palpatine assigns Obi-Wan and his Padawan, Padme look after him. Anakin is happy to see Padme again and he’s cool with the plan. He also meets Jar Jar on Coruscant and he talks to him about his worries about Padme not remembering him and he tells Jar Jar he’s been thinking about her everyday.

Then Padme and Obi-Wan get there. Padme is like “My goodness Ani, you’ve grown.“ And he’s like “So have you... grown more beautiful... for a Jedi.“ Padme is extremely flattered by him calling her beautiful and she starts having some feelings for him, but she tries to ignore them. Then the other stuff from AOTC happens and the council decides, Anakin should be guarded off Coruscant and Obi-Wan is sent to investigate the assassination attempt.

>>> I’m putting the rest of this + Padme’s tweaked backstory + notes about the AU under a Read More, because it got super long. So if you want to read about Senator!Anakin and Jedi!Padme in AOTC/ROTS/OT keep reading...

Padme was originally from Naboo and she was found by Qui-Gon right before she had to start her training as a Queen. The Naboo didn’t like that she had to leave to join the Jedi, but they also didnt want to get in a conflict with them. So they found another Queen. So because Padme didn’t start her Jedi training right away, she knew her family and she even kept in contact secretly with her family.

She takes Anakin to Naboo and asks her parents to stay at the Lake House to protect Anakin. All the scenes at the Lake House still happen just the same, except it’s Padme playing with the Force with food. Then Anakin reveals that he’s in love with her, but she turns him down because she’s a Jedi and he’s a Senator.

Then Anakin has a dream that night about his mom needing help and Padme has the same dream. Anakin tells Padme about the dream and she tells him about hers and they decide it’s too much of a coincidence and they go to Tatooine. They find out what happened to Shmi and they both go to find her. She still dies in Anakin’s arms. Anakin gets really angry and he gets his blaster out and starts shooting at the Tuskens who attack both of them. Padme kills some of them with her lightsaber to defend both her and Anakin and to try to leave. Anakin keeps killing Tuskens well after they aren’t attacked anymore and Padme is kinda shocked by that at first.

When they get back to the Lars farm, Anakin has his breakdown and Padme consoles him. They get Obi-Wan’s message and transmit it to the Jedi temple. Padme feels guilty about bringing Anakin to Tatooine and about what they had to do. She tells Anakin she wants to go save Obi-Wan but she doesn’t know what to do. He tells her they should go. They get to Geonosis, they get captured, Padme tells Anakin that she loves him, and they kiss.

Then the fight happens with all the Jedi and the clones. Padme, Anakin, and Obi-Wan go after Dooku. Dooku attacks Anakin, leaving him unconscious and Padme gets angry and starts fighting him without Obi-Wan, she then gets knocked away by Dooku. Obi-Wan has to fight Dooku by himself and he gets knocked out. Padme then attacks Dooku again and they fight. He cuts Padme’s arm. Yoda comes in and fights Dooku. Anakin regains consciousness and her runs to Padme and hugs her.

Padme and Anakin return to Naboo and they get married in secret.

>>> Now for ROTS and the OT... there will be a lot of changes!

Padme comes back from saving Palpatine and she gets reunited with Anakin. She tells him she is pregnant. She isn’t showing yet, but she’s worried about what will happen once she starts showing. Anakin reassures her and he tells her this is the happiest moment in his life. Then there’s the balcony scene where they’re super cute and romantic to each other and talk about how much they love each other. They say that they should go back to Naboo and raise the baby.

Anakin starts having dreams about Padme dying. Padme starts having the same dreams too, but also other dreams of Mustafar. Anakin becomes concerned of losing Padme.

Anakin talks to Palpatine about bringing people back after they die, and Palpatine tells him it is possible. He tries to get more information from Sheev about this and he ends up telling Palpatine about Padme. Sheev tells him that the Jedi won’t allow Padme to leave the Order and keep the baby and more stuff about how the Jedi are evil and Anakin shouldn’t trust them. He convinces Anakin, who is well-liked and respected in the Senate, to introduce and pass more legislation giving Palpatine more power so he can control the Jedi better.

Anakin figures out later on that Palpatine is also a Sith. He tries to go to the temple to talk with Padme but runs into Windu instead and he basically convinces Anakin to tell him what he wants to tell Padme. Anakin tells him about Palpatine and Windu goes to arrest Palpatine. Palpatine wins this time, though. He then uses the fact that Windu and other Jedi tried to attack him and he has Anakin backing him up (because he promised he’d save Padme if Anakin helped him), to declare the Jedi outlaws and he has the clones execute Order 66. He doesn’t make this public though and makes it seem like the clones are unstable and they should stop production. A lot of Jedi die, but some manage to escape.

Meanwhile Padme goes to Mustafar because it kept appearing in her dreams and she wants to know what’s important about it. She is attacked by the Separatist who are waiting for Palpatine there, but she defeats all of them. She is badly injured and Obi-Wan tracks her down and takes her to the medical station. He tells her that Anakin turned against the Jedi. Padme refuses to believe him and tells Obi-Wan about her marriage and about her being pregnant. Obi-Wan along with Bail, take Padme to Alderaan to recover from her injuries safely and to stay there until the twins are born. They keep telling her they’ll try to bring Anakin to her. She believes them at first, but then she gets kinda tired of waiting.

Anakin asks Palpatine to find Padme and he tells Anakin that Padme died during Order 66. Anakin is completely devastated by this. Palpatine asks him to help him rule the Empire and he uses the fact that Anakin is so popular to basically get whatever he wants from the Senate with little resistance. He gives Mustafar to Anakin as a gift for all of his help.

Padme runs away from Alderaan and tracks Anakin down to Mustafar. She’s really late in her pregnancy by this time, kinda like she was during the ending of ROTS. She’s reunited with Anakin. She tells him what Palpatine did and Anakin tells her that Palpatine said she died. Anakin leaves the Empire behind and him and Padme join the Rebellion.

The Rebels are not very happy about Anakin and they don’t trust him at first, but Padme sticks by him and Anakin proves that he’s on their side, too. Padme and Anakin have their own little Rebel cell. They have a ship, the Twilight, that they use for transportation and as a home-base basically. Padme gives birth to twins and they name the twins Luke and Leia. They raise the twins on the Twilight while they fight the Empire.

The Rebels win in the end and they make Bail chancellor of the New Republic. Padme and Anakin eventually move to the Lake House on Naboo after the war is won. The twins are about 3-4 by then.

When the twins are older, Leia trains with Bail to be a senator. Luke is more interested in the Jedi and he wants to restore the Jedi Order. He finds Obi-Wan and asks him to help. In the end, Padme and Anakin leave behind their careers and just focus on being parents and enjoying married life. They have other children too, all of them are Force sensitive as well. Luke ends up restoring the Jedi Order, but better since he takes out the rule prohibiting attachments and he makes it more of a thing to join rather than something you’re forced into. Leia ends up succeeding Bail as Chancellor of the Republic.

>>> Some notes:

- Padme and Obi-Wan don’t bicker as much as him and Anakin did. Padme is more inclined to listen to Obi-Wan. That being said, she does make her own decisions and she does goes completely against his wishes when she thinks it’s necessary. She just doesn’t try to reason with him about why her way is better.

- Palpatine tried to get Padme on her side, but she was hard to control. Anakin is much easier to manipulate since he views Palpatine as a father while he’s training with him.

- Padme’s story of joining the Jedi Order is similar to Anakin’s from the movies: Qui-Gon finds the Chosen One and asks the Jedi to train her. They’re not cool with the idea at first, but decide to let her join in the end.

#anidala #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #anidala au #thanks for the question #i had fun writing this #Anonymous #ask

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mylittlegemlins · 3 years

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Hello tumblr, during my childhood I was really obsessed with smurfs and since I found out that they released a reboot, which unfortunately I haven´t yet been able to see, I think I had some inspiration and ended up writing this.

I don't usually post this kind of blog about series unless I'm too immersed in it because I feel like it's too childish but to hell, blogging about-analyzing series for kids is my entertainment method and if I can't post about my likes on Tumblr I don't know why have an account.

So I present:

How to catch the Smurfs

This is the definitive tutorial on everything Gargamel ever did to catch the little blue critters.

It is based mainly on the animated series from the 80s and the 3 films that were produced between 2011-2017, I watched several episodes again to write this, but I still hope I don't forget some important information.

Following these steps:

1. Why catch the Smurfs?

During the comics, the series and the recent movies there were many reasons why Gargamel and other humans wanted to capture the Smurfs that change over time, among its main uses we have:

- They are ingredients for exotic dishes.

-Turn them into gold

- Ingredient for the Philosopher's Stone

- Use its essence to obtain magic

- Their tears serve as an ingredient for spells

-Their skin serves as a treatment to cure diseases

2. Points to consider:

This is a set of rules that fall between the lines when using a Smurf for any of the recipes mentioned above.

2.1 How many are needed:

In some episodes Gargamel was about to cook a single Smurf, so 1 is enough to eat them.

To turn them into gold you need at least half a kilo, about 6 smurfs.

2.2. They don't need to be alive

I didn't remenber any place where it said that Smurfs must be alive to use them in recipes.

2.3. Smurfette doesn't always count

She has to be a real smurf or else it won't work, during her first appearance before the papa smurf spell and the episode "smurfette unmade" where she reverts to her original form she is not a real smurf, so it wouldn't work unless that is in its blonde form.

2.4. Fake Smurfs:

The reason Gargamel can't just create another Smurf and use it in his recipes is because his creations are blue clay with a conscience, to turn them into real Smurfs you need the “true blue”spell

2.5. Artificial Smurfs:

Smurfette, Sassete, Kactus, Vicky and any other Smurf they come up with in the future, count as real Smurfs only after their transformation.

To clarify the points, these are the steps:

3.Locate them

The Smurfs are in a village protected by a magical force that makes it invisible or unreachable, it is only possible to find the village if a Smurf guides you to it, even after finding the exact location it will have disappeared if you try to return, so the best It is marks the surroundings of the village and look for them in the places that the Smurfs frequent.

It is possible to capture them when they leave the village, force them to guide you, enter the village using teleportation spells or hoaxes.

4.Traps

Catching smurfs is relatively easy, you can chase them with butterfly nets, catch them with your bare hands, using a cat or any other hunting animal, now that I think about it a hound would be very useful to track their scent.

Using some classic traps to hunt animals also works with Smurfs, traps with cages or hidden holes in the ground, or camouflage in a bush until a Smurf is close enough to catch it, you can't use traps like an obvious cage with food in it, they are too smart to fall for that.

It is more effective if they are placed in strategic places such as a field of smurfberries which is outside the village.

Small female creatures are also used as decoys, such as female smurfs, little mermaids and lymph to make a smurf fall in love and thus leave the village to a point where they can be captured.

5.Which Smurfs to capture

Personally I think there are Smurfs that are easier to catch, although Gargamel could not have a list of all with so many times that they have passed by his house, he should already recognize one or another Smurf and I remember that there is a episode where he knows some of his names.

The main cast, Smurfette, Hefty, Brainy, Clumsy, Greedy, Grouchy, Jokey and Handy as far as i can remember, they´re the ones that have been captured the most times and also the ones that have escaped the most, since they're easy to capture, it would be convenient to take advantage of this, but since they know how to get out, they should change the cages with them, put the cages in another place, move the objects that previously used to get out, and above all not to fall the same tricks again.

Papa smurf has been captured many times, he is the one who most leaves the village and if in one of his trips they capture him, maybe the others would not notice his absence, it is something difficult because he already knows how to escape and he can use spells against you, but if you manage to kill him the others would be lost without their leader, and with the disaster they would be easier to capture.

Lazy smurf takes naps during his work outside the village so it's a good chance to catch him, hopefully he might still be asleep while preparing the recipe and he won't try to escape.

According to his debut episode sickly smurf was never able to escape from Gargamel and Azrael; it is so easy that he catches him with his bare hands in 20 seconds.

Baby Smurf is more vulnerable for obvious reasons, the negative side is that there is always a Smurf looking after him, but if they manage to separate the baby it would be easy to cook , considering the life expectancy of the Smurfs is more than 500 years, it may remain a baby for the next 10 years so there is time to execute your plan.

Nat, Snapy, Sassete and Slouchy, the 4 children Smurfs that appear in season 5 are in almost the same circumstances as Baby Smurf.

In Wild Smurf's first appearance he kicked Gargamel in the face and easily made Azrael afraid of him so it might not be a good idea to mess with him.

I guess Smurfs like scaredy would never leave the village unless they forced it so the only times he gets caught is when they capture all 100 together.

6.Don't let them escape

In many occasions the Smurfs escape when they have already been captured by Gargamel, either from his hands, cages and in their closest attempts they escape from the pot.

These are the points to keep in mind:

6.1 Capture only one

If you capture a single Smurf than two or more as it will take a while for them to realize that one is missing and they will not come to their rescue, the more they are, the more likely they will find a plan to escape, so keep them in mind. separate cages.

6.2 The others will come

Once Gargamel has one or more Smurfs, it is 100% certain that the others will come to rescue him at his house, so it would be convenient to go to another place away from the forest where he can cook the Smurfs without others being able to find them. Gargamel has a basement with a secret door, he was able to hide there and pretend he didn't have them until the rescuers leave.

6.3 catch rescuers

Knowing that more Smurfs could come, you could use it to your advantage by placing traps on the doors and windows, or on the contrary, closing everything so that it is impossible to enter without having a key.

6.4 They will leave him for dead

In the episode "the tear of a Smurf ", it seems that if they don't find a missing Smurf it only takes a week for them to surrender and prepare for his funeral. You can hide the smurfs with their mouths tied up in a drawer and pretend you don't know what they are talking about until they give up, then it will be time to execute the recipes. If Gargamel had enough brain cells to keep the secret, he could eat the Smurfs and the rest would think they were eaten by birds or something and would not take revenge.

6.5. Do not look any further

If you already have 99 it is enough, even if you have only one, it is not worth risking it to find one more, it is a trap.

6.6. Don't open jokey surprises.

The characters always forget that gift.

6.7. Don't listen to them

On several occasions they try to make conversation to buy time, they trick him into thinking that he will bring more Smurfs or that he cannot eat him, everything is a trap.

6.8. Just kill them

He never did that but it's a very obvious choice, I don't remember somewhere saying that smurfs have to be alive for recipes, Gargamel has repeatedly expressed his desire to destroy them. Wouldn't it be easier to kill them before throwing them into the pot? if you can't, they don't even have to be dead, just unconscious or asleep. Gargamel has drops of lava in his lab for some reason, how come he doesn't have substances to knock them unconscious? In case he have many captured you could use classic techniques such as placing the cage in a tub of water until they drown, even stepping on them would be enough since they are very small.

6.9. Papa Smurf's books

If Gargamel tries to kill them with an epidemic, papa will have the cure, if he casts a spell, papa has the antidote, since he has been in the village on several occasions, he should take the opportunity to steal or destroy their books, he could look for the true blue spell and perhaps find another useful spell.

7.Enjoy your smurf soup

If that's all i came up with, you can already eat or become a millionaire at the cost of a smurf's life, hopefully you'll have to face a horrible revenge from papa smurf, but i'm not responsible for that.

8.Other methods to get smurfs:

This is a set of theories for alternative ways to get smurfs without capturing one from the village.

8.1. create smurfs:

In the second live action movie gargamel gets the formula for the true blue spell, so from here technically he could create smurfs, then transform them into real smurfs and do whatever he wants with them, during the series he had to look for the formula instead to look for smurfs.

8.2. Clone Smurfs:

In the episode "the hundredth smurf" Vanity creates a clone of himself that eventually integrates into the village, it is a genetically exact clone so there is no doubt that it is a real smurf. He just needs to place a mirror in front of a smurf and get it struck by lightning, Gargamel could capture a smurf and make clones that will work, he wouldn't even have to keep the original and he would have an infinite smurf machine.

8.3. Kidnap Baby Smurfs:

During the blue moon it is possible that a zork came to the village bringing a baby smurf, it can take up to 200 years without bringing one but if you are alive when that happens, you can try to hunt the zork and capture the defenseless baby.

8.4. Repeat the fake smurf technique:

If it is possible to create fake Smurfs like Smurfette, it might work on a second try, Smurfs are not very cautious around strangers, once Smurfette arrives in the village no one wonders where she came from or why she was in the forest, but rather Immediately they offer him a house, Gargamel could create a smurf and this time instruct him to lead all the smurfs in the village into a trap and make sure he does not turn good, he can also turn himself into a life-size smurf costume, Nobody will notice that there is an extra Smurf and he can repeat the same trap,third time’s a charm

9.Conclusion:

Surely there are many other methods to catch Smurfs but I can't see the whole series again even if I wanted to, because it is a series for children Gargamel never learns from his mistakes I think that catching Smurfs is not that exaggeratedly difficult, especially for someone who has access to magic may be as difficult as capturing a talking rabbit, Gargamel is just stupid.

The end.

#the smurfs #hashtag so that the blog is not invisible #smurfette #gargamel #azrael #brainy smurf #sassete #sickly smurf #no smurf was harmed during the making of this blog #vanity smurf #papa smurf #clumsy smurf #smurf village #I should look for some images #ready #a picture

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mooncaps · 4 years

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The parallels between Catra and Glimmer keep sticking in my mind. They don't quite mirror each other exactly, visually or thematically, but there's a lot of overlap. They're similar in so many ways, but the inverse of each other in certain ways as well. Their natures are so alike that if their circumstances had been swapped, they'd probably just become each other.

So, I guess I’m picking up my shovel and digging into this. I wanna examine the ways they’re alike, the key ways they differ, what shapes each of them, and why their intersecting journeys are significant. There’s a lot to unpack and this is gonna be a long post, but if the subject matter sounds interesting to you, then read on.

Their parallels are most evident in Season 4, but are also woven throughout the show. I'm thinking back to 1x07 when Adora explains to Bow and Glimmer what being raised by Shadow Weaver was like and Glimmer, without missing a beat, says: "Okay, sure, Mom stuff." Completely nonchalant, with a casual shrug, as if nothing sounded out of place. All of these characters are impacted by being embattled in a militaristic conflict, of course, but Catra and Glimmer are both getting particular parental experiences from their mother-figures, the only parent in either of their lives. Notably, they don't have the same experience. Angella's a much better mother to Glimmer than Shadow Weaver is to Catra. Shadow Weaver is abusive, manipulative, power-hungry, and especially cruel to Catra above all others. Even when Angella is harsh, she's constructive and supportive.

But both of these children end up with a strong desire to prove themselves on the battlefield. Both want their mothers to be proud of them, to recognize them as worthy. Catra spends the early part of her life suppressing the urge to prove herself, pretending not to care about it while secretly being deeply upset when she finds herself overshadowed by Adora. Glimmer, on the other hand, openly thirsts for opportunities to be a great commander and earn recognition for her accomplishments. They both have somewhat of an inferiority complex as well. Catra comes to decide she doesn't want to be the sidekick. Glimmer is insecure about being the princess who has to recharge.

In 1x08, Glimmer's jealousy toward Bow and Perfuma is essentially a microcosm of a key dimension of Catra's arc for the show. But Glimmer is much quicker to learn the lessons and grow. Due to her experiences, Catra's walls are much harder to break down. I'll swing back around to that point later.

As Season 1 draws to its close, Glimmer and Catra both gain a little more independence, though they do it in very different ways. Catra does what Glimmer wanted to do at the beginning of Season 1. She presents valuable tech and a valuable ally to her commanding officer. Glimmer gets closer to her mother and they both start to understand each other better. Catra defeats her mother-figure in combat. Glimmer and Catra both gain favor in their respective armies and get the much-desired chance to prove themselves in the Battle of Bright Moon.

In 2x02, Glimmer and Bow take Catra hostage and the ways in which these two characters differ are really highlighted. Glimmer is tempted more than once to be as ruthless with Catra as Catra would be with her, but Bow talks her down when push comes to shove. "We're not them." Catra doesn't have a person in her life who talks her down. Not anymore. Catra sees the reliance on friendship among the Rebellion as a weakness. "It's why you're never going to win."

With the environment she grew up in, Catra's understanding of concepts like friendship and love are primarily in relation to power and manipulation. She's quick to seize upon the closeness between Glimmer and Bow as a way to force Glimmer to use up her magic. Catra's own love for Adora is, in the early days, selfish. She doesn't want to share Adora, whether with friends in the Horde or friends in the Rebellion. And it's why she believes that Adora doesn't feel the same way. If Adora wouldn’t take things to the same selfish extremes, then she must not feel what Catra’s feeling. This is what Catra believes because her experiences have given her this very specific, and flawed, understanding of love.

Glimmer's relationship to love is different. She comes from a more supportive environment and even in the rare instance when she does trend toward selfish love, she's more able to accept and understand the flaws of it.

But focusing on 2x02: Glimmer and Catra push each other's buttons. Each of them instinctively knows how to hurt the other one, though Catra is more willing to inflict that hurt. They’re both paying attention and learning each other’s vulnerabilities. The one moment where Glimmer touches a nerve with Catra is: "How did Adora take years of this? She didn't run away from the Horde. She ran away from you." And Catra immediately pushes back: "You think she's not going to leave you behind too, Sparkles?"

It's somewhat telling that Catra sees Glimmer as having taken her place in Adora's life. Again, similar, but not the same. The relationship between Adora and Glimmer is different to the relationship between Adora and Catra, but Catra, with her limited and warped understanding of love, can't tell the difference anymore than she could when Adora first befriended Lonnie. Catra sees Glimmer as having the same place in Adora's life that Catra used to have. And as much as Catra wants, at this point, to tell herself she's over Adora, she's still angry.

So we’re kind of flipping between parallels and inversions, but a key factor starts to become clear at this point. What Catra and Glimmer hate in each other is what they fear in themselves. Glimmer hates that Catra took her as a hostage, but she's also frustrated that she can't be just as cruel when she has Catra as a hostage. She wants to be cruel, and yet she hates herself for wanting it. Catra hates seeing Glimmer step into the role of Adora's sidekick and she mocks the Rebellion for "the power of friendship" because she hates how vulnerable she felt after opening her heart to Adora. She wants a loving relationship, and yet she hates herself for wanting it. Catra and Glimmer see their own perceived flaws, weaknesses, and shortcomings in each other, which is why there's so much friction between them. It's really an interesting concept that develops further as the show goes on.

The next minor point of interest is 2x04. Glimmer sees the primary conflict as being between herself and Catra. It’s not much, just a little look into how Glimmer is thinking about things.

Seasons 2 and 3 are paired together in terms of themes in a way that other seasons aren’t. At the end of Season 2, or midway through the story threads, Catra loses her mother-figure. At the end of Season 3, Glimmer loses her mother. Once again, the circumstances differ. Angella is truly gone, but Shadow Weaver has simply switched sides. Glimmer’s arc going forward is very much driven by Angella’s absence, whereas Catra’s arc is driven by Shadow Weaver’s presence...as an enemy combatant.

And Shadow Weaver doesn’t just join the Rebellion, she starts working her way into Glimmer’s life. Her opening pitch that gets Glimmer to free her plays on a familial connection - the fact that she taught Glimmer’s father. They go to the Fright Zone together and of course they run into Catra, who discovers Shadow Weaver quite literally taking Glimmer by the hand.

All of this sets the stage for Season 4, where the Catra and Glimmer parallels are at their strongest. The two of them become much more similar to each other in this season. Glimmer is now receiving guidance and familial connection from the very person who shaped Catra into the person she is.

Both Catra and Glimmer effectively take control of their respective armies. Glimmer literally becomes queen and, in the very same episode, Catra seats herself on Hordak’s throne. Glimmer is reluctant to take the throne, Catra is eager to. At the end of the episode Catra says to Hordak, “I think you and I are going to do great things together.” This line echoes what Shadow Weaver said to young Micah and baby Adora. And of course Glimmer is also stepping into her mother’s role.

From there, the two of them find themselves on similar paths. In 4x02 they both have the same idea to recover Mara’s ship. In 4x04 Glimmer wants to think like Catra and asks Shadow Weaver to teach her. Glimmer ends up in a fight with Catra and Catra marvels at Glimmer’s tactical decision to use Adora as a decoy. Where Glimmer was previously unwilling to be like Catra, now she’s determined to do anything for victory. And of course the idea to use Adora as a distraction came from Shadow Weaver and Catra’s recognizing this change in Glimmer’s tactics without quite realizing why it should feel familiar.

Some things happen at different times for these two, but there’s so much overlap. Glimmer starts the season dealing with boring meetings and itching to be out in the field, jealous of her friends. For Catra, she starts the season in the field, but as her plans advance she finds herself stuck in the Fright Zone while Hordak does the field work.

Both of them are focused on success, no matter the cost. They both become so stubbornly obsessed with winning the war that it fractures their friendships. They reject all counsel and push away the people who care for them. In spite of being hurt by losing the trust of their friends, they both double down on trying to win, expecting total victory to be the thing that brings them peace of mind, the thing that makes everything worth the cost.

There’s a push and pull between the two of them throughout the season. Neither can succeed in their chosen path without destroying the other. And yet they can’t seem to destroy each other without losing themselves. Metaphorically, destroying each other would mean destroying their own shortcomings, and both of them want those weaknesses and doubts erased, but neither of them can manage to strike the final blow.

Catra gains the upper hand in the war by having Double Trouble work the cracks in Glimmer’s friendships. Glimmer gains the upper hand by having Double Trouble drive a decisive wedge between Catra and Hordak. Double Trouble’s duplicitous allegiances and feigning of friendships are key developments on both sides of the battlefield and their services are weaponized by both Catra and Glimmer to target each other. Double Trouble essentially acts as a messenger, sent from both of these two characters to tear the other one down. Catra and Glimmer personify to each other what they fear in themselves and Double Trouble gives voice to the doubts of both characters, acting on behalf of each of them in turn.

Double Trouble gets to Glimmer by suggesting that Adora is undermining the queen’s authority. They work from an understanding of Glimmer’s genuine desire to be a great queen. However, and this is a key point, when Double Trouble confronts Catra, the tactic is completely flipped. “You try so hard to play the big bad villain, but your heart’s never been in it, has it?” They work from the understanding that Catra’s apparent desire to lead the Horde to victory is not genuine. As opposed to Glimmer, whose heart has always been in it; her heart’s so in it that she becomes blind to the risks of her plans.

Part of Double Trouble’s speech to Catra can apply to Glimmer’s insecurities as well. “They didn’t believe in you, didn’t trust you, didn’t need you, left you. But did you ever stop to think, maybe they’re not the problem? It’s you. You drive them away, Wildcat.” Obviously it applies to Catra, but it also describes what Glimmer has just been through with Bow and Adora. Glimmer and Catra have so many overlapping fears and this messenger sent by Glimmer to throw Catra off balance ends up making this statement that labels Glimmer’s recent mistakes just as accurately as it does Catra’s.

The key difference between the two of them comes down to their hearts being in it. For all the similarities between Catra and Glimmer in Season 4, this climactic moment emphasizes that, for Catra, a lot of it is an affectation, a costume.

Which brings me to an element of the visual storytelling. I recently read an interesting post about the thematic significance of Catra’s mask. I also made my own post about the change to her hair in Season 4. The visual storytelling has many facets in this show. This post is about parallels though, so what I’m focusing on now is the fact that Catra and Glimmer both change their costumes in Season 4. The first scene of 4x01 features the reveal of Glimmer’s new look and the last scene of 4x01 features the reveal of Catra’s.

One of the first things I noticed about Catra’s outfit is that her new black sleeve and shoulder armor are covering the area that was damaged in the portal reality. At a guess, I’d say she wants to guard against feeling whatever that felt like again. Again though, my focus is on parallels. Let’s have a look at their outfits side by side.

Glimmer’s is essentially an evolution. She’s growing more into herself. She now has both shoulders covered. Hard to say if these shoulder pads are decorative or could serve a protective function. They kind of look metallic. Her legs are newly covered; her neck and chest are newly exposed. There are a few changes to Glimmer’s outfit, but not a lot that’s truly new to her.

For Catra, there are a few new elements in her outfit. The single sleeve, the fingerless gloves, and at the shoulders she seems to have upgraded from fabric to something that looks more like it could be armor. Her legs are more covered than they were in her previous outfit, but there are still small exposed gaps. Her feet were never covered before, but now there’s a partial covering. And there’s also what fandom has dubbed the “boob window,” though this show isn’t one that gives focus to things like cleavage. The new elements for Catra bring her outfit a little bit closer to Glimmer’s.

I’ll be interpreting exposed skin as representing vulnerabilities. Of particular interest to me is the fact that they both wear single sleeves now, one white, one black, and they cover opposite arms. Glimmer has no mask on her face; Catra has no cape covering her back. Glimmer’s boots seem especially enforced at the heel and toe. Catra’s heels and toes are exposed. You know how I’ve been saying that they see their own shortcomings in each other? Now Catra is visibly vulnerable where Glimmer is guarded and vice-versa. The particular asymmetry of the sleeves brings to mind ideas of imbalance, both internally and between them.

Catra’s sleeve looks durable; Glimmer’s sleeve looks decorative. Glimmer’s sleeve leaves a gap of skin exposed below the shoulder pad; Catra’s sleeve covers the full length of her arm. On Glimmer’s unsleeved arm, the glove barely covers her hand; Catra’s glove covers a portion of her forearm. Remember 1x08, that point I said I’d come back to? Glimmer’s quicker to learn the lessons. Catra’s walls are harder to break down. Now it’s visually represented in their outfits.

I’ll reference the visuals as I go on, but let’s get back to thematic analysis. As the Season 4 finale draws to a close, Catra and Glimmer end up together and both have been brought low. Double Trouble has just seen through all of Catra’s walls and read her for absolute filth. Glimmer has to reckon with the fact that her own hubris nearly got everyone she’s been fighting for destroyed. Both have come closer to total victory and closer to total defeat than they’ve ever been. Coming off a string of mistakes and pushing away the people who care about them, they end up together.

Glimmer has the chance to attack a willingly defenseless Catra, but spares her. Moments later, Glimmer is threatened by Horde Prime, but Catra’s intervention saves her. It’s a layered action from Catra, certainly not altruistic, but it saves Glimmer nonetheless. I think something in each of them feels hesitant to see this person, in whom they see their own flaws reflected back at them, destroyed.

And now they’re stuck with each other, quite literally cut off from everyone else. They’re each wrestling with the weight of their own failures and shortcomings, so of course they’re both trapped with the metaphorical representation of everything they never wanted to face in themselves.

They’re together, and yet they’re separated. A barrier stands between them. Catra is at liberty to move about the ship, but there’s nowhere to go and no escaping the watchful gaze of Horde Prime. She’s frustrated by this illusory liberty: “If I’m a prisoner, you might as well make it official.” Glimmer, on the other hand, is in a cell and she wants out, even though there’s nowhere to go. For a brief moment, the barrier is taken down when Catra and Glimmer are invited to dine with Horde Prime. One very effective way to bring people together is to give them a common enemy. They’re only physically together when they’re united in defending themselves against him.

Horde Prime understands the similarities between the two of them and breaks through both of their walls at the same time with the same tactic. “You Etherians are all alike. Such strong connections to one another. It’s what makes you weak.” It’s the unguarded vulnerabilities in Glimmer that poke holes in Catra’s plan of “parsing out information like a bargaining chip.” Though Catra and Glimmer have a common enemy now, they’re not yet coordinated and working with each other.

So we return now to the scene from 5x03 at the top of this post. Even the way it’s framed is significant. The scene could presumably have been presented from the other side, but seeing it from this angle allows me to infer some things about what’s being communicated.

They start out facing each other and we see their sleeved arms. Neither is quite ready to trust the other, so their walls are up. When they stand face-to-face with what they fear in themselves, they put their guards up. They’re both more-or-less equally guarded and equally vulnerable, but the guarded side is what the show’s creators are showing the audience, as well as what Catra and Glimmer are showing to each other in this moment.

The scenery around the two of them shows a stark contrast. Glimmer’s cell is brightly lit with simple architecture. Much of the space around Catra is dark and complicated.

As they open up to each other emotionally, they turn back-to-back and we’re shown their unsleeved arms. When they look away from what they fear in themselves, they let their guards down. Both of them lay a hand on their unsleeved arms, almost as if they’re subconsciously worried that they might need their walls at any moment to defend these vulnerabilities.

Their body language relaxes, though only fractionally in Catra’s case. Glimmer is a little more at ease, but Catra won’t let herself be quite as open and unguarded. Her fingers remain on that unsleeved arm, alert and ready to defend at a moment’s notice.

I’ve talked a bit about walls and defensiveness, but the way these two came to construct their walls is also important. Glimmer and Catra have both experienced hardships in their lives. Both of them grew up with only one close friend. They both felt pressure and a desire to prove themselves and they’ve both endured great tragedy in their young lives. Glimmer has developed more of the emotional tools to work through her pain and begin to heal. Catra is only at the beginning of the healing process and her pain comes from a very different source.

Glimmer spent the majority of her young life believing her father had been killed and then she lost her mother as well. Catra was either given up or orphaned and then taken in by an abusive family. Both experiences were surely traumatic. Catra’s walls are tougher for a reason though. A few reasons. The primary reason is that the source of her fear and pain was also her mother-figure.

Being traumatized by someone who should be on your side is different than other sources of trauma. And because Shadow Weaver is her parent, Catra also bonds with her and wants her approval. This is emotionally confusing and compounds Catra’s issues. Wanting love from Shadow Weaver is one of the reasons Catra hates herself for wanting love at all.

Not only is Catra traumatized by her parent, she also lacks any other parental guidance to help her process her trauma. Glimmer, even after losing her father, still had her mother. It’s after losing her mother that Glimmer really starts to lose balance emotionally. Though Catra had Adora, that kind of comfort is not the same as having the calming influence of a supportive parent to help a child cope with their trauma and assure the child that things will be okay. Further to that are the wedges that Shadow Weaver (and later Light Hope) employed to ensure that Catra and Adora would doubt each other. Then finally, Adora left the Horde and whatever comfort Catra had received from her turned poisonous. This was the thing that threw Catra’s sense of safety into chaos and unraveled any semblance of emotional balance. For much of the show, wanting love from Adora is one of the reasons Catra hates herself for wanting love at all.

This is all a roundabout way of explaining why Catra’s walls are so much thicker than Glimmer’s and why everything around her is dark and complicated. Glimmer has her own walls and coping mechanisms, but they’re constructed differently. Catra is largely driven by defensive panic responses. Glimmer is reactive and even reckless at times, especially after losing Angella, but she’s generally more able to slow down and sort through her feelings. Glimmer’s walls are constructed in such a way that they don’t impede her ability to grow and heal. Glimmer’s walls don’t keep as many things away, but her capacity to let the right people in is the trait that serves her best. The contrast between these two characters speaks volumes.

Season 5 is where Catra and Glimmer begin to learn from each other. They get past the initial reaction of simply being disgusted by seeing what they fear in themselves. They both make some appeals to each other for information and help. The barrier between them comes down again and Catra enters Glimmer’s space.

The audience is shown both sleeved arms. Walls are up. Catra uses both hands and takes Glimmer by the sleeved arm. The cake is in her unsleeved hand; it was an appeal to her vulnerable side. The full appeal from Catra that acknowledges Glimmer’s walls is the one that actually reaches her and gets Catra the information she wanted. It’s an appeal so strong that it can reach Glimmer through her walls, not just some simple ploy to prey on her softer side.

“You can’t tell him.” Glimmer uses both hands and takes Catra by the unsleeved arm. This is an appeal to Catra’s vulnerable side. And it echoes something that has previously frustrated Catra. “It’s always the same with you, Adora. I have to do this. Oh-oh, we have to do that.” This appeal to her softer side isn’t enough.

“Do one good thing in your life.” Glimmer uses both hands and takes Catra by the sleeved arm. The audience is shown both of their unsleeved arms. They’re both vulnerable here. It’s this appeal, which acknowledges Catra’s walls, that reaches her. Catra still reacts in fear, a response pattern that runs deep with her, but the message reaches her through her walls.

After processing some of her emotions, Catra returns, offering Glimmer her unsleeved arm. This is a vulnerable action from Catra.

Glimmer takes Catra’s hand with her sleeved arm.

This is the turning point. They represent each other’s insecurities, each vulnerable where the other defends. Glimmer has the tools to balance out Catra’s vulnerabilities. Glimmer’s sleeved arm meeting Catra’s unsleeved arm is like saying: “I’ve got your back.” If they’re confrontational to each other, or if they ignore each other, they’re both equally defended and equally vulnerable. But if they stand side by side...

...they can compensate for each other’s vulnerabilities. They embrace and understand the insecurities they were afraid of and together they have the tools to present a balanced front that can protect them both. Neither one of them was going to be able to succeed alone, but together they can accomplish more.

Catra knew where the teleporter was and could have escaped on her own, but that would not be success. As Glimmer pointed out, even if Catra runs away it won’t matter when Horde Prime destroys the universe. As Catra pointed out, Adora would still come to rescue Glimmer. It’s their combined knowledge that leads to the solution.

Getting Glimmer out is the key, but Glimmer is unable to do this alone. Catra has the knowledge of the teleporter, Catra has the knowledge as well as the physical combat skills necessary to overpower the clones, and Catra has to be the one to take down the barrier that divides the two of them. Only Catra is in a position to achieve this. In terms of emotional metaphors, Glimmer is ready to let Catra in, but that fact alone isn’t enough. Catra has to be willing as well.

And the plan succeeds. It’s Catra’s most vulnerable action yet and she stands willing to sacrifice herself. Catra sends Glimmer, this metaphorical representation of her own insecurities, to Adora. This action is the very thing that ultimately saves Catra. She’s stuck with Horde Prime and her defenses are all ripped away, but it’s this show of vulnerability that affords Adora and company the opportunity to come in prepared and save this defenseless cat. Glimmer’s willingness to forgive Catra is significant for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that Catra is the party most responsible for the conditions that led to Angella’s sacrifice, and Glimmer cites Catra sacrificing herself on Horde Prime’s ship as the reason she’s willing to help Adora go back and save Catra.

And once she’s saved, when Catra next gets the liberty to determine her own outfit, as she treads a path of vulnerability and learning to follow her heart...

...the sleeve and fingerless gloves are gone. The costume she put on when she took her seat on Hordak’s throne has fallen away. That’s not who she wants to be anymore. Now she’s ready to start on the path of growing more into herself.

The push and pull contentious relationship between Catra and Glimmer has reached its conclusion, but there are still a few moments of interest. In 5x08, there are several instances where Catra questions what seem to be tactically unsound decisions from the Rebellion and they shrug off the concerns. Near the end of the episode, it’s Glimmer who questions the tactics and Catra who shrugs it off. This shows that they’re both getting more comfortable with each other and also both getting more comfortable with the parts in themselves that make them similar to each other.

In 5x10, when Catra finds herself in trouble, trapped and confronted with rising water, she calls Glimmer, knowing now that Glimmer is someone she can trust when she comes up against the limits of her own vulnerabilities.

In 5x12, Catra goes to Bow and Glimmer, looking for Adora. Glimmer informs Catra that Adora left them behind. Catra says: “Of course she’s gone. That’s what she does, isn’t it?” Glimmer was caught off guard by this, but Catra has recognized this vulnerability in Glimmer since Season 2. “You think she’s not going to leave you behind too, Sparkles.” This time Catra’s not just here criticize; she’s here to help. She warns Bow and Glimmer about Horde Prime’s plans and volunteers herself to take over helping Adora. Glimmer comes up against the limit of her vulnerabilities, but she can tag in Catra to help her now.

In the literal sense, this shows the value of letting other people in. In the metaphorical sense, it shows the value of accepting oneself. Learning from others, finding the common ground, gives us a fuller understanding than we can achieve on our own. No one can do everything alone, but working with people who are skilled where we come up short, guarded where we are vulnerable, and open where we are closed off is what unlocks the potential to accomplish things that would have otherwise been impossible.

I love that message, but I also love the metaphorical message. Glimmer and Catra have repeatedly seen in each other the things they were afraid of in themselves. Hating each other is tantamount to hating themselves and their acceptance of each other is tantamount to accepting themselves, which makes both of them more well-rounded and helps them to move forward.

And those lessons, to me, are among the most significant things about their intersecting journeys. They accept the differences in each other, they recognize the similarities in each other, and they come together to build each other up. It’s at once a journey of learning to accept others and a journey of learning to accept themselves. They learn that greeting their shortcomings with anger is ultimately self-destructive, ignoring these vulnerabilities is perilous, and it’s only through acceptance that they can begin to understand themselves, compensate for their limitations, and better themselves.

They each look into a mirror, see their own insecurities staring back at them, then decide to give that person a hug and say: “I’ve got your back.”

#SPoP #Catra #Glimmer #long post

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static-fanatic-1 · 4 years

Text

(Reincarnated Goddess Reader)

Shinnok has always looked down on them, not just the Elder Gods, but the weaker Gods as well, not just the Gods, but the Earthrealmers too. No one was safe from his undying hatred against all that opposed him. Though there was someone in particular that the mighty fallen Elder God hadn't looked down upon, even after he became a fallen Elder God. She was the graceful goddess of souls and light, also known as the guidance of souls.

~~~

A female with (s/c) skin, silky (h/c) hair, and vibrant (e/c) eyes walked through a grocery store with a mission in her head. To get the frosted lemon bread before someone else took it.

As the cart rumbled it's way through the isles filled with more important groceries, the female made her way to the bakery area of the small store.

There it was, right in her grasp, right in front of her face. A pearly smile graced (y/n)'s lips as her fingers grazed the surface of the plastic container filled with the last of the sweet lemon bread.

Though the little joy was quickly taken by a dirty blonde man standing at about six foot with darkened sun shades. "Hey! That was literally in my hands!"

The guy paused and looked at the girl, dipping his shades and taking them off. "Sorry sugar cakes, but I'm not giving these away."

(Y/n) huffed and whipped her hand to the man, taking back her sweet treat. "Who are you anyway?" She puffed her cheeks, put her treats in her small buggy, and crossed her arms at the man in front of her. "And what the hell does sugar cakes mean?"

"The name's Johnny Cage, world class actor and Special Force agent." He looked at her with an injured look inside his steel colored eyes. "As for sugar cakes, look at what you took from me."

"Excuse me, but YOU took this from ME." She moved in front of him so he couldn't even dare to take it from her cart.

The guy huffed in irritation. "Come on, I'll pay you back, I just REALLY want those lemon cakes!" Johnny pleaded, placing his sunglasses on his shirt making it drag down and show a small amount of a larger tattoo.

"No! These are mine! Why are you even here if you could go somewhere more fancy or something. Special Forces discounts or something?" (Y/n) complained.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." The girl took her small cart and walked her way to the check out. The man followed behind her and still followed her to her car even after she paid for it, begging for the sweet treat. "No, no, and no! Sorry but these are mine, go to another grocery store."

"But it's out of the way." He whined.

"Nope, sorry."

He watched her get in her car, for some odd reason helping her with her groceries. "Next time they are mine. Right?"

The girl sighed and rummaged around in a bag, getting out the plastic container with the lemon cakes. "Get in the passengers side."

"You aren't gonna kidnap me right?" He smirked at her.

"God no, I'm too lazy for that." She popped open the plastic, taking one and motioning to sit with her. "Want one or not?"

Johnny, finding the girl to be no threat, joined her in her car, leaving the doors wide open, and took a piece of the lemon bread.

"Okay, you're Johnny Cage right? Why would you join the military if you are an actor?" (Y/n) turned her head to the man, his amused look making the girl smile.

"Well I met the love of my life there."

"Geez, that's sappy." She replied back.

"Haha, yeah. Best choice of my life too. Had a sweet little girl too, much older now, but she's still my baby girl."

"Your an open book." (Y/n) sarcastically said, knowing it was the truth.

~~~

Time passed and it wasn't too difficult to become friends with the famous actor, and he truly was an open book. He didn't seem to mind though, about his relationship with his family and even the fact he started to ramble on about another world and a tournament to save Earth.

It was even more strange to know he didn't seem like he was lying or joking, but who was to judge? I mean, it sounded familiar for some reason, but a reason one couldn't point out.

"Your strange, you know that right?"

"Yup, Sony said that too." Johnny laughed to himself, the girl joining him for the heck of it. "Hell, I should get going, thanks for not being too much of an asshole."

"Hahaha, you too you piece of shit. It'd be nice to see you again, think I made a new friend."

Johnny nodded and left, waving before getting in his own car and driving off. "Oh shit my ice cream!" (Y/n) quickly took her leave, driving in front of the man she had just become friends with, and speeding none the less.

~~~

Johnny finally made his way to the Special Forces base, with time to spare before the sun drifted into the clutches of the stars.

"What took you so long Dad?" Johnny gave his attention to his daughter, a beauty made from two of the hottest people alive.

"Met a fan, nice person too."

"Yeah right," she shoved his shoulder as the two laughed at each other. "Anyway, Raidens' here and mom wants you to listen, it's something bad."

"Again? Geez, alright alright let's go."

The two Cages walked into a meeting room, Raiden, Sonya, and the others in Cassie's crew standing at a table. "Johnny Cage." Raiden stated.

"What's up Raidenny's." Raiden grumbled under his breath, something clearly wrong. "What's wrong?"

Sony placed her hands on the electronic map table and rested herself there while staring at her husband. "Raiden has found out something, well, more like somethings." She nodded to Raiden, allowing him to speak.

"Shinnok's amulet has been taken, replaced with an impressive decoy. We need to find it as fast as possible no matter the costs." Raiden paused, his brows furrowing.

Johnny noticed this and held his hand upon the thunder gods shoulder. "What's the other thing."

Raiden sighed and looked at everyone at the table, each person waiting intently. "If Shinnok is to be revived, then I know his targets. The Jin-Sei and another Goddess, one that has been dead for thousands of years."

"Why would a fallen Elder God Look for a dead God?" Johnny asked, his voice serious.

This time Cassie spoke up. "Apparently Raiden's Dad is Shinnok, and he thinks that Shinnok will try to reincarnate the Goddess. He said if she is reincarnated then Shinnok can do much more than kill people, he can control their souls and body. You know, like Quan Chi but in full control, and Quan Chi is an Elder God."

Johnny but his lip nervously. "How do you know this Goddess, Raiden? What does she even look like?"

Sony pushes herself off the table, though it was Kung Jin that replied. "We should worry more about the amulet Mr. Ca- Raiden?"

All eyes looked at Raiden, his shoulders and hands upon the table while they lightly burst with lightning. "The Goddess had (h/c) hair, (s/c) skin and bright (e/c) eyes. I remember she had a sweet tooth to Earthrealmer sweets."

"Who is she, Raiden?" Johnny pressed on, earning a mixed expression from the others in the room.

"My mother!" Raiden slammed his hands against the table, breaking it and shooting lightning through its now fried circuits. He heavily breathed in for a moment. "She is my mother, and Shinnok will not rest until she is revived."

Everything paused, the whole room going dead silent. Something hit Johnny though, something he needed to tell the God. "Listen, Raiden, I saw someone of the discription."

The thunder God looked up in a deepened sadness. "What?"

Everyone looked at Johnny as he continued. "Met her at the store, same description, even seemed to have a sweet tooth."

There was a deep sigh, but his body was still rigid. "We need to find her. Where does she live? Did she have her abilities as before?" So many questions were running through the God's head, like is she even okay?

"No and no, seemed to be normal. I'll send Cassie's team to find her, you guys have to look everywhere." Johnny pointed to his daughter, she was baffled by the sudden information, as everyone else was.

Sonya stood up straight and crossed her arms. "The rest of us will find the amulet." Everyone in the room nodded, understanding the mission at hand. "Johnny, go with Cassie. Raiden, what's her name?"

Johnny didn't allow the God to answer, trying to see if who he found was the right person. "(Y/n)."

Raiden nodded once at Johnny, probing his point that the girl he found was who was going to be hunted by the mighty fallen Elder God.

~~~

(Y/n) sighed and pulled out a small chocolate bar from her small stash of snacks. She pouted due to her ice cream melting to the point it became inedible, sitting on her small couch to continue to sulk.

From the time she had dashed from the store to get to her house, it had been about five hours, and those were a long five hours of sitting in front of the TV doin nothing.

(Y/n) sighed and grumbled, getting up from the couch once more to wonder around because the show had become a little too boring. The second she walked past the couch her door bell rang through out the house.

She paused, getting a strange feeling as she walked to her door. "Who is it?"

"I was wondering if you would like to see my product? It's is cheap and one hundred percent guaranteed to work."

(Y/n) cocked her head to the side in a confused motion, opening the door to see who was behind it.

Though she didn't have enough time to see who it was as a large hand wrapped around her face and tightly grip her neck. She gagged and thrashed in the persons grip, the sound of her front door closing behind them. Was there more than one person? If so then how many?

"Lord Shinnok will be pleased in your capture." A deep voice echoed through the apartment. A multitude of footsteps followed the voice, something that felt like hair wrapped around (y/n)'s waist and arms and dragged her closer to another person, their hands replacing the larger ones. Whoever was holding her now was clearly a female of sorts, a strong one at that, she could resist (y/n)'s struggles with ease.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" (Y/n) thrashed even more in an attempt to escape, but the female was stronger than that, and the new set of arms holding her legs together didn't help her. "Who-Who are you guys?!"

"Where are my manners? I am Quan Chi, faithful servant to Lord Shinnok." The deepest voice rang.

"I am Queen Sindel." The female voiced from behind (y/n).

The third voice followed, possibly the one that held her legs together. "My name is Lui Kang, Emperor of Netherrealm."

Listening to these foreign titles the fearful female struggled harder, especially when her limbs started to be tied behind her back and such. "Why are you doing this?!"

The deep voice, Quan Chi, replied to (y/n)'s fearful pleads. "Lord Shinnok is in need of your presence, and when D'Vorah gives me the amulet, he will return." (Y/n) could sense the smile upon Quan Chi's face, and it made the now bounded female shiver.

Another knock on the door sounded through the apartment, all heads moving in the direction of the wooden surface. "Hello? Yeah is this (y/n)'s residence? My name is Takeda Takahashi and I'm a friend of Johnny Cage."

Again there was a comical pause, but it quickly ended when (y/n) muffled up a scream and thrashed harder than ever, making her crash off her couch she was placed upon.

Dainty hands scooped (y/n) up and held her close, making her screaming and thrashing come to another halt. Though it was too late for the kidnappers, for the Takeda person had already heard what was behind the doors.

"Guys! Over here!" The once locked door was easily opened by a young man with black hair and cocky aura about him. "Don't make another move egg head."

"Your insults do not matter, it is the plan that must be rearranged." He looked at his captive, then at his slaves. He nodded in Liu Kang's direction, giving him the signal to take action as Quan Chi made a portal to Neatherrealm.

Takeda whipped out his weapon and allowed it to reveal its blades. Liu Kang rushed to meet his challenger. "You will meet your end young one."

"You'll meet your end, again."

"Your humor is dry."

"Geez, thanks." Takeda lashed his whip at Liu Kang, making the revenant jump out of the way as more challengers approached the two. A blonde female and a black female, each armed and ready to fight.

Sindel whipped her hair at the blonde, taking her gun away before she could even begin to use it. The black female grabbed Sindel's hair and tugged with all her might, making Sindel grunt and fall to the ground from the force.

Liu Kang eyed his new enemies, rushing up to the blonde female by jumping over Takeda. The revenant bicycle kicked the blonde until she was shoved off the railing of the second story apartment building.

The black female still kept a tight hold on the hair, and so to keep both revenants on their toes she took the white and black hair and wrapped it on Liu Kang's leg. Not knowing her hair was connected to her teammate, she retracted her hair and accidentally pulled Liu Kang back in the building, his head smashing hard against the railing.

Takeda whipped Quan Chi on his back, making his progress pause, but it was too late, the portal has already opened. The revenants seemed to be taken back into reality, the both of them rushing to Quan Chi.

The blonde had finally made her way back up to the apartment, now being joined by two others, a bowman and Johnny Cage.

By seeing her new friend the bounded female wiggled around once again. Quan Chi grabbed (y/n) and lifted her over her shoulder quickly, the two revenants rushing through the portal.

"We will have to meet another time, Mr. Cage."

"I don't think so, shit face." Johnny spat, clearly having some sort of vendetta against the spell caster. Just as the jokester said, Quan Chi wasn't going anywhere, for the blonde and the bowman shot the sorcerer in the same shoulder. Johnny then tore the female off his shoulder and punched Quan Chi unconscious.

The group of young adults assisted in freeing (y/n), a burst of questions coming from the girl. "Who the hell is that? Who the hell were the other two? Who are you all?"

Takeda grimaced at the bombardment of questions, though Johnny was the one to quickly fill it all in. "They are the bad guys, we are the good guys, anyway, we will explain it on the way."

"On the way where?"

The black girl sighed. "We're going to base, Special Forces base."

"How did I get into this? Johnny what did you tell them?!"

Johnny lifted his hands from tying up Quan Chi. "I didn't do anything, why would you expect that it was my fault?!"

Everyone took a sweet moment to look at the actor, and then at (y/n), the blonde stepping up to say something. "Yeah, what did you tell mom, dad?"

"Cassie, c'mon, let's just go."

~~~

(Y/n) walked around the base, it was just like how a military base would look like, if it was a bit more high tech. Either way it was fun to look around, seeing all the weapons, all the people, especially the ones with more of a strange look.

"(Y/n)."

(Y/n) turned her head in the direction of a blonde woman, older than the one that helped save her. "Um, yes?" She revealed her hand, wishing to shake the newcomers hand, which she did.

"My name is Sonya Blade, I'm the one in charge around here."

"Oh, uh, hello Mrs. Blade. I'm (y/n)."

"I know, if I could ask you to kindly stay in a close vicinity, that would be appreciated." Sonya has a bossy speech to her tone, and (y/n) didn't know if it was just because she was the boss or if it was because she had a bitter attitude.

"Um, sure. Yeah, of course."

"Thanks, there is also someone I want you to meet. Follow me."

(Y/n) nodded and followed without much of a question, all other than the one stuffed in the back of her mind. 'Who was she about to meet?'

She passed a metal case, one large enough for a male to be encased within its hard walls, she knew this is where that Quan Chi guy was, and by passing it she was given chills.

"Sorry," Sonya started. "But he won't be here for a while, he's looking for something important."

"That's fine, I don't mind waiting." (Y/n) bit her lip, wanting to ask something that has yet to be explained in all of this strange mess. She was already told about how there are more than one world, realms as they call it, and how some of the people had different abilities. Not to mention that Earthrealm was at war with another realm called Outworld, and even Neatherrealm if you look at the tension between the realms. But one question remained, why was she here in the first place? Okay, she had way more questions than one, but still, when were they going to be answered?

Sonya paused, as if hearing something that was off. She pulled out her gun and looked around. Then a sudden flash of lightning splashed in the middle of the clearing in the base. "There he is." She voiced, watching as the lightning disappeared as fast as it came, revealing a man with blinding white eyes under a bamboo hat and a, almost, martial artist outfit. It had accents of blue and small amounts of gold, counting the thick belt tightly around his waist.

(Y/n) leaned near the General and whispered one of the million questions in her mind. "How the hell did he do that?"

"Lady (y/n)," The seemingly godly man beamed. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you again. Earthrealm is in a state of panic, we need to get you to the Jin Sei to unlock your abilities, and your past memories."

"Wait-wait, memories? Abilities? I-I don't even know who you are, less of what you are talking about." (Y/n) interrupted.

"My manners," The man shook his head and bowed, which seemed to be an odd thing to Sonya, for her face became slightly surprised by his actions. "My name is Raiden, I am the protector of Earthrealm and the God of Thunder. As for the rest, I will only be able to show you."

"Just go, we don't have much time, and your help could mean the end of the war." (Y/n) turned to Sonya with a surprised look upon her face. "Trust him and go." She ordered once more.

Raiden extended his hand once he rose from his bow. "You will answer some of my questions, right?" The God nodded, earning a hesitant hand from the questioning female. Lightning engulfed her being, but it didn't hurt, instead it tingled through her skin and tickled. Sparks danced across her skin, giving off a comfortable warmth as her surrounding could not be seen anymore. The sparks died down, revealing a Chinese inspired temple surrounded by lamps in the darkness the surrounded the building. Rain started to drizzle from the thick clouds above.

"Lady (y/n), if you would follow me please." (Y/n) followed what he wanted, trailing behind him as he walked through a stone courtyard.

"Where are we going?" The female kindly asked.

"The Jin Sei, it is a force I am connected to, it gives me power as well as keeps Earthrealm protected."

"What would it do to me? You said it would give me powers that I already had, memories too? How would that even work?"

Raiden softly smiled to himself from her many questions and her clueless demeanor. "You are a reincarnate of a Goddess, your past life could, in theory, be unlocked by the Jin Sei."

(Y/n) didn't believe the God, then again, she had just learned there were Gods and other worlds, so heard this just added to the other crazy stuff she had been told. "What type of Goddess was I? How could I, even as a Goddess, stop a multi-realm war? It seems like an impossible fight."

"It seems like it would be, but being the Goddess of souls, you can do far more than fight. You are the most powerful Gods ever created, and you were one of the original Gods at that. I have no doubt you can do more than you think."

The two beings walked up the stairs to the temple, the rain falling faster and harder than before. "Wait, if I was so powerful, how did I die in the first place?"

Raiden's eyes were covered under his bamboo hat. "An Elder God by the name of Shinnok killed you. You had learned of a power you possessed and you planned to use it against him, once he found out he killed you." The God gritted his teeth, his brows furrowing. "The Elder Gods took care of him after your death, he swore vengeance."

"I'm a threat, to someone more powerful than you. I can't imagine that." (Y/n) lightly laughed as she entered the temple, waking deeper as she still followed Raiden. "Did I know you, in my past life? I guess you sound and look familiar, like deja vu."

"Yes, yes you knew me. We-we were close." He bit his lip as light began to illuminate their surroundings, a beautiful swirl of light showing itself.

"Wow." (Y/n) mumbled to herself. "Is this the, uh-?"

"Jin-Sei, yes. All you should have to do is step in it, and all should be revealed." Raiden looked down at the female, giving her a sympathetic look. "You must hurry, Shinnok's amulet has yet to be found and I fear the worst is yet to come. We need you."

(Y/n) nodded and took a long look at the Jin-Sei before slowly walking to the glowing swirl. "I just step in?" She asked, looking at Raiden to see if she was correct, he nodded in return to her question. Biting her lip once more she walking into the swirling mass of magic, a sudden feeling of being in antigravity lifting her body further into the tornado of energy. (Y/n)'s mind went blank for a moment as the energy took hold of her being, cleansing her of all of her filth, she felt pure and refreshed when stepping in.

Raiden watched as her body relaxed from its once tense stature, making her look exactly as he remembered. Raiden hoped Shinnok would not return and take her again, this time he was going to stop him.

~~~

Heavy steps resonated through the temple, an obsessive aura seething through the already thick atmosphere. A hand tightly gripped the amulet while a bug creature dragged Johnny Cage's body to the temple.

Shinnok could feel Raiden, he could feel the Jin-Sei, and he could tell someone he desired was here as well. The former Elder God gripped the amulet even harder, storming his way into the sacred room, the faint smell of alcohol and blood behind him.

Shinnok's white eyes scanned the room, finding the God assisting his mother from the Jin-Sei. "Raiden." The Elder God growled, placing his amulet upon his belt. "Your blood will paint the floors."

"Stop this, Shinnok! You have no reason to be here!" Raiden snapped back, spitting venom within his words.

Shinnok stepped forward, D'Vorah taking care of Johnny. "I have every reason to come here, you know that." He summoned his weapon as Raiden placed the Goddess down on the chilled steps of the inside of the temple walls and prepared himself for a fight. Lighting flashed over his arms and bit at his skin in a comforting feeling, though this was everything but a comforting time.

Raiden and Shinnok rushed at each other, both with the intention to kill each other. Raiden summoned lightning through his hands and shot at Shinnok, the Elder God dodging and summoning skeletal hands from the ground. Raiden flew above to dodge the hands, but they easily kept up with him, almost catching him every time.

The former Elder God grinned at Raiden's useless struggles, a hand being able to grab the God's leg and drag him back to the stone floor.

Raiden, before more bone hands could take a hold of him, electrified his whole body in a sudden burst. The lightning fluttered through the whole room, pausing D'Vorah's work and Shinnok's focus on the boney hand.

Raiden backed up, his back facing (y/n)'s unconscious body, his lungs burning from his weak attempt to stop Shinnok. "Your attempts are useless, Raiden! Fighting will get you nowhere." The former Elder God snapped, throwing his weapon into Raiden's shoulder. The force knocked Raiden back into a wall and with a struggle he pulled out the bladed staff.

"I will not stop, never." Raiden coughed out, a mumble and shuffling being heard behind him, though he didn't dare take his eyes off his enemy.

Shinnok on the other hand looked at the movement, a gleam of lust hitting his vision. He watched as the Goddess rose from her small slumber, her gaze hazy and mind fuzzy. It took a moment for her eyes to focus, and when her eyes locked with Shinnok, her mind rushed into a frenzy of treacherous memories. "Y-you!" She staggered up from the ground and pointed at the former Elder God, he had come back to collect her.

All her memories have been restored, keeping the ones she created in her short mortal lifetime as well, meaning she still knew what was going on. "Leave my son alone you fiend!" She stood beside Raiden, placing her hand upon his chest and slightly stepped in front of him as if to protect him, a motherly instinct.

"He isn't just-" Shinnok had started, but was being rudely interrupted by the Goddess.

"You never cared for either of my sons, you have no right to call them so." Her hand reaches for where a belt buckle would be, but what she wanted to feel wasn't there. Her own amulet has gone missing. In a fearful panic, (y/n) swiftly let her eyes travel around her waist to see if her golden and green amulet was anywhere to be found, but to no avail.

"Are you looking for this?" The Elder God cocked his head to the side, lifting up the amulet he had grown to call his own, as he listed over its power and its original user.

"By the Gods." (Y/n) cursed under her breath, stepping back and pushing Raiden with her. "That is mine."

"Not anymore." Shinnok summoned his bone hands and weapon one more time, clasping Raiden within the hand as he twirled his weapon around. (Y/n) just barely managed to jump away from the hands, needing to keep on her toes so she wouldn't get caught.

The Goddess huffed and summoned her own weapon, hoping fear wouldn't take over her like it had done before she was killed. Her weapon was that of a war hammer, similar to the one her other son had taken as his own, but instead of silver hers was gold with green gem stones. It held no specific power, but that was for another object, her stollen amulet.

The two beings looked at each other's souls through their whitened eyes, one glaring immensely, the other with amusement. They ran at each other, their weapons clashing producing sparks that danced across in the air until they fell dead onto the ground.

Shinnok was physically stronger, thankfully not as strong as Shao Kahn, but still strong none the less. The fallen Elder God uses his strength to push down the Goddess, (y/n) allowing her hammer to push his weapon to the side instead of her falling. She recoiled her hammer and slammed it against Shinnok's head, making him stagger back with blood dripping from his nose. "I forgot how skilled you were, darling."

"Your sweet words hit deaf ears!" She slammed her hammer down on his shoulder, then his back up under his jaw. Shinnok's bones cracked loudly, but he still stood tall. (Y/n) didn't stop though because she was getting the upper hand, just a little more beating up and then she could snatch her amulet back and trap him once again.

(Y/n) hit him harder and harder every time the war hammer collided with his body, she could feel the adrenaline and Raiden's aura cheering her on. Finally, after a long and hard beating, Shinnok had fallen, and with a quick throw of her hammer she allowed it to collide with D' Vorah and nock her out cold.

"It is over Shinnok, after all these years you have been taken down by what you loved the most. Serves you right." He seemed to be limp on the ground, so she grabbed him by his collar and lifted him to his knees, she moved her hand to take her amulet back, but it was nowhere to be seen.

(Y/n)'s eyes widened as she was head butted by the fallen Elder God. The Goddess staggered back and held her nose in pain, the God in front of her revealing the amulet. "I will never die, especially by your hands." A gorgeous but venomous light emerged from the amulet, dragging the Goddess into its clutches. Darkness engulfed the Goddess, making her feel as if she was floating in nothing, this was the end for her she thought.

~~~

Light emerged from the amulet, and (y/n) fell out of it in a daze. Quickly realizing she must have escaped somehow, and hoping desperately it was Raiden or her new friend Johnny Cage, she whipped her head around desperately. Though who looked back wasn't who she desired to see, the two figures proving they had absolute power over the situation, and she was the weak lamb to the hungry wolves.

The first figure, Shinnok, tightly held her so she wouldn't fall into the blue oblivion below. He floated, smiling down at her with a crazed look in his eyes.

The other figure though, was the worst thing imaginable. It consumed the realms and the Elder Gods as the two away from him watched in awe or horror. This being was the One Being, and the sights of him proved that Shinnok had won, and that he and her would be stuck together forever, never to be apart.

#Yandere Mortal Kombat #Yandere mk #Yandere shinnok #Yandere shinnok x reader

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cybernaght · 3 years

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Guardian rewatch: episode 10

The tone of this recap is going to be the crackiest so far. The production quality plummets dramatically here, in a way which is as unintentionally hilarious as it is endearing. I have very little of import to say on events of this episode, and there is nothing much for me to hyper focus on, so a lot of this write-up are snark and bad jokes. Apologies in advance. I would not be getting annoyed at a show I did not care about.

Day two of the Road Trip starts with Zhao Yunlan waking up with a splitting headache and his own jacket draped carefully over him. I choose to believe Shen Wei left it there.

Zhao Yunlan wakes up - and discovers that Wang Zheng had slipped a sedative into the party’s water, effectively knocking them all out. He even discovers that she left her doll-body behind as a decoy; thankfully, it’s still Li Siqi and not the blow-up doll from the previous episode.

With the daunting realisation that he’s been betrayed, Zhao Yunlan instantly spirals into hurt and anger, and this is the moment Shen Wei chooses to appear out to nowhere. He enters offering comfort, his entire focus on making Zhao Yunlan feel better by assuring the man that his subordinate is not one of the bad guys, but rather one of the self-sacrificing ones. How SID manages to function when it’s full of people with non-existent sense of self-preservation is beyond me.

“Professor Shen, why are you okay?”

Zhu Hong narrows her eyes. Zhao Yunlan’s look is the one of vulnerability, not suspicion, almost as if he is silently asking to please not be betrayed by his newest partner.

“I didn’t drink the water she gave me.”

Another thing I would like to question here is the reasoning behind Shen Wei waiting until the morning with this. He knew that Wang Zheng was about to do something, since he refrained from drinking the water she offered. Everyone else being unconscious would be a perfect opportunity for him to go full Hei Pao Shi on her, or follow her quietly, or do literally anything but wait for the morning.

“What is your purpose of coming here?” Shen Wei asks because he needs to know how much Zhao Yunlan knows. He does so with a perfect set of puppy eyes.

We cut to Wang Zheng entering the chamber which houses the pillar/totem, and witness the absolute devastation of her hearing her love’s voice for the first time in a century, as he mistakes her for the enemy and calls her a rat.

I should say that while I’m not always on board with Li Siqi in this show, props to her for acting her heart out opposite a literal pillar. Her reunion with Sang Zan is incredibly touching; she really is wonderful here.

Flashback 1. The execution of Ge Lan.

This method of execution seems so inefficient, I actually tried to find if it has any legs in history. As my research yielded exactly no results, I am guessing this is the producers showing hanging without actually showing hanging. They kind of accidentally made the whole affair infinitely worse. People are weaker than gravity, the angle offers no possibility of the neck being broken, so this would be a very slow, and very painful death. Yikes, is all I can say.

Flashback 2. The montage.

Sigh.

This imagery is so carelessly contemporary it’s killing me. I’m not saying it’s completely impossible for the heart shape to have been known to represent love in this fictional tribe on a fictional planet. I’m just saying it’s a boring shorthand for romance, made worse by the fact that so much of the show’s imagery is otherwise fairly intelligent. I am not angry, I’m just disappointed.

Wang Zheng and Sang Zan’s reunion triggers another earthquake, which is felt all the way back in the village, and shortly thereafter Zhu Jiu interrupts the couple, knocking Wang Zheng out. This - her being knocked unconscious - cuts to Zhao Yunlan wincing while clutching at his temples, which almost implies that he can feel it when his people are in danger. Which would be very cool if true.

Shen Wei, in the meanwhile is remarkably good at keeping his Professor’s mask on the whole time, offering enough information without betraying his own knowledge or motives, but it is clear by now that Zhao Yunlan starts to see right through it.

The chief sprints into action when Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng arrive, instructing the two to join him in investigation. Shen Wei opens his mouth to volunteer to come with, but ends up hesitating before saying anything out loud.

Zhu Hong, too, makes a move to go after the three men, but is firmly instructed to say behind and look after Shen Wei. She proceeds to loudly explain that this is the wrong time and place to be fussing over this guy.

Shen Wei looks like he has no idea what to do with this display of emotion.

Zhao Yunaln whispers to Zhu Hong to watch the professor for him: which could equally be him manipulating the Yashou into staying, or a sinking realisation that Shen Wei will actually try to join them either way, or genuine desire to find out what the professor will do next. Or, indeed, a combination of the above. Zhu Hong will attack her task with conviction.

Sure enough, Shen Wei finally voices his desire to go with the group. Zhu Hong reminds him that he has his own people to look after and instructs him to return to the house with barely contained resentment.

Shen Wei will predictably try to sneak out very shortly afterwards, and will be, equally predictably, caught by Zhu Hong. Why the man who can teleport would not just teleport out of the house before proceeding on foot is anyone’s guess.

“He surprisingly views you as a good friend”, says Zhu Hong when she stops Shen Wei from leaving. “You surely noticed it, right?”

He certainly did, although he will always have trouble realising that he is actually cared about in a way which is anything but casual.

Shen Wei obediently sits down and follows Zhu Hong’s instructions as she attempts to hypnotise him. Those instructions are anything but subtle.

“Professor Shen, look at the flame closely”.

Meanwhile, the other party has successfully deduced the location of the Hanga tribe cave/shrine, and heads there, only to find no visible entrance. Thankfully, gaining access to the mountain is not particularly hard for the party. Mostly because this part of the mountain is made of foam.

This is where I want to metaphorically pat Guardian on its non-existent head, cooing, “Oh, Guardian. Baby. What have you done.”

On the bright side, this is also where Guo Changcheng accidentally shocks Zhao Yunlan with the Fear Stick, and Chu Shuzhi literally gives him a thumbs up. Those two are a duo for the ages.

Youchu appear to fight our heroes, and after the first wave is eliminated, Zhao Yunlan decides to go inside, leaving the other two fend them off near the entrance. Considering that the beasts are all hiding inside the cave, rushing in without backup seems incredibly ill advised. Zhao Yunlan instructs Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng to run away if the danger becomes too great. Which he must know surely that they would never do: his department does not leave people behind, and his subordinates will never abandon him.

To no one’s surprise, the cave is crawling with Youchu. Zhao Yunlan goes on the offensive, kicking the feet out of the monster, but failing to incapacitate it. I am going to do my best to ignore how the scale of the beast fluctuates as it falls down, and focus on Bai Yu’s excellent reaction when his character realises that he is about to very much die.

Luckily for our protagonist, Hei Pao Shi sends a ward his way with a note, warning him of the danger ahead and ordering him to return. Zhao Yunlan makes no move to do as instructed and uses the upper hand he’s gained on the Youchu to get out his gun. Before he can fire however, he once more experiences the painful flashback of the devastation this gun carries, and freezes.

This is when Shen Wei shows up in person, jumping in front of the gun and gutting the beast.

The jumping in front of the gun part of the action is sweet, because it indicates, albeit indirectly, the absolute trust Shen Wei must have in Zhao Yunlan’s instincts, knowing that the man will not accidentally shoot him in the back.

The gutting itself happens in reverse grip, with Shen Wei being easily within reach of the beast’s long stabby claws, and as such really questionable to me in terms of logic. I would have not minded it if he had been moving through the space in front of the beast, slicing it while passing through. That would be at least an indicator of both speed and dexterity enough to make me believe Shen Wei made a clever avoidance of the claws. But he doesn’t: he just materialises dead-on in front of the monster and the later just.. lets itself be killed.

Let’s just say that maybe the beast is supposed to be deliberately slow here, and park the long essay in regards to the bladework until the next episode.

“Chief Zhao, are you alright?”

Everything about Hei Pao Shi in this moment screams of Shen Wei-ness. Well, maybe not the sword. But the obvious concern, the tone of voice, the general air: it’s all Shen Wei. It’s remarkable that Zhao Yunlan does not see it. Or maybe, I suppose, he does, without even realising it. His cheeky grin suddenly appears; the corners of his eyes crinkle, as he goes into a very long-winded, almost flirtatious away about thanking Hei Pao Shi, teasing him for not always arriving on time.

Unperturbed, Shen Wei chides Zhao Yunlan for not listening to his warning, and Zhao Yunlan defends himself in a very playful kind of manner, adding that he’s not leaving his people behind. To Shen Wei, this is to be expected, so instead of arguing he goes into a lot of detail on how the road ahead is dangerous, as if he is not really expecting Zhao Yunlan to accept help.

He is wrong of course: proud though he may be, Chief Zhao knows when he is outgunned and outnumbered, and only grins, happy for the Envoy to join him on his mission.

Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan exploring the cave is interspersed with pretty damn harrowing scenes of Zhu Jiu torturing Wang Zheng as her trapped lover screams for mercy. It’s a lot; in fact it’s so much even the cave ghosts attempt to intervene, because while they may be very much pro-murder, they are evidently anti-torture.

As the two keep exploring, they bump into another three of the beasts, which Shen Wei slays in three slick moves. It’s actually pretty cool, despite slightly sketchy teleportation effects.

“Wow!”

(Apparently, this “wow” made Zhu Yilong corpse so much he nearly laughed his mask off. Which sounds adorable)

Shen Wei proceeds to inquire Zhao Yunlan about the gun, party to confirm that it is indeed the dark energy weapon he knows, and partly having noticed that the other man failed to fire it. I wonder how many times Zhao Yunlan froze in the past, considering how easily he once again slips into his mask of playful deflection, claiming that he never planned to fire the gun at all. It’s almost tragic how this person keeps feeling like he needs to prove his own capabilities over and over again.

Interestingly enough, in this particular case Hei Pao Shi actually does own up to a weakness. It’s calculated: he knows this is something Zhao Yunlan must already be aware of, but still, “full disclosure” is not something Shen Wei usually does when it comes to his own capacities.

What he admits to, on the other hand, does not seem very consistent with the rest of the show. He says that he can only use half of his power above ground, which - okay. But he also states that he can’t spend a lot of time here, and I am a little bit… confused? He lives above ground. He spends absolute majority of his time here. I really don’t want to think of this as a writing inconsistency, so please let me know what I have missed; I’ll appreciate it.

Hearing the admission, Zhao Yunlan grows serious for once, asking which they they should be going next. Shen Wei barely smothers a smug smirk seconds before he scries the surroundings with unbelievable panache.

Show off

Unfortunately, his search does not yield any result, as whatever readings he is getting are muddled by the Hallow. Luckily for them, and to Shen Wei’s great dismay, Zhao Yunlan has the Dial on him which he is uses as a compass.

Shen Wei’s wordless reaction conveys a million questions from “what the hell?” to “are you completely stupid?”

Instead of asking any of those things, he settles for a more neutral “I’ve told you not to use the Hallows.”

“You are very much like a friend of mine”, remarks Zhao Yunlan.

Which is, incidentally, also the title of this episode.

Even behind the mask it’s clear to see Shen Wei’s blind panic as he realises he may have just blown his cover sky high. Fortunately, Zhao Yunlan reads the reaction as bashfulness rather than existential despair, and laughs it off.

Now that they know which way to go, they finally make it to the chamber which houses the pillar/totem, which now has Wang Zheng tied to it.

This show sure does like tying their characters to totems containing souls of people significant to them, huh?

In all seriousness though, as parallels go, this one is… uh… unparalleled.

(I am so very sorry.)

Zhao Yunlan makes a move towards his trapped subordinate, but Hei Pao Shi, again in a way which is extremely Shen Wei-like, grabs at his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

Zhao Yunlan obediently halts, and calls Zhu Jiu out, correctly guessing that the Undergrounder lured them here deliberately. Shen Wei, on the other hand, relays in a hushed tone information what he had observed so far: namely, that the Hallow stored here is the Dire Awl, and that something is incredibly fishy about Wang Zheng.

As he does so, he is staring at Zhao Yunlan’s lips. It is neither the time, nor the place, but hey, I’m not complaining.

They have a brief discussion about the next moves, in which Shen Wei just says he would like to try something, and Zhao Yunlan nods, letting him do it without asking for any details.

Flashback 3: the Backstory.

We hear the full tragic tale of Ge Lan and Sang Zan: how they met, representatives of the warring sides of the conflict, two people from two different worlds; how their love did not stop the awful bloodshed; how it could not be enough to overpower the politics; how it lead to Ge Lan’s death, and, finally, how Sang Zan could not bring her back to him. They hear how the man changed once he lost the only person he cared about.

Zhao Yunlan is visibly moved by this story, recognising echoes of it in himself.

“The most basic dignity of a man is to ensure that the person in his heart stays safe. If the person I love gets destroyed in my own hands ruined under the system I established myself, it’s very likely I’ll hate these people more than I hated the former tribe leader.”

How much did he harden after his mother was taken away from him? How much of his initial hatred of all those from the Underground stems from that day? And, of course, how much will it break him when he will not be gifted this dignity in his own future?

Shen Wei is near vibrating with how much his very soul resonates with the tale he has just heard. He, who has met someone from the other world, who was lost that person, is visibly weighed down by his own memories.

“That’s right. Even if they’re cut into a myriad of pieces, the hatred would be hard to dissolve.”

Zhao Yunlan stares at the other man, astounded, wondering what hardships and losses the Envoy endured in his long and eventful life, as the episode draws to a close.

And I am left here trying to soothe my aching heart, bruised once more by this show’s relentless fatalism.

Next up, episode 11: Oh Boy Do I Have Sword Opinions

---

Notes.

Look. It’s been a long week okay. Besides, I am basically marathoning my way through Zhu Yilong’s entire filmography.

The normal service in terms of analysis will hopefully resume next week.

#guardian #shen wei #zhao yunlan #recap #rewatch #sometimes my brain is like this

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inventors-fair · 3 years

Text

Animal Planet - Full Commentary

Like I mentioned earlier, there were a lot of great entries this week. Full commentary below the cut. - @teaxch

@bread-into-toast - Indomitable Tardigrade

Tardigrades are famous for their ability to live through anything, and indestructible plus protection from everything covers almost every effect in the game that might remove a creature, with only non-targeted non-destruction removal getting through. I also like temporarily gaining indestructible on a tardigrade more than I like it on some other creatures that have gotten it as a replacement for regeneration (Drudge Sentinel, Icehide Troll), because Tardigrades really do become indestructible, rather than just putting themselves back together.

@deg99 - Anikole-Watusi

The flavor text is doing a lot of work on this card, helping justify an ability that otherwise would be a bit incongruous. With a reasonable statline at base rate, the card is less reliant on the second ability than the similar Stormwild Capridor, and it’s also threatening enough that preventing it from being bolted or fighted to death is valuable even if you have no ways to trigger it yourself.

@demimonde-semigoddess - Beetle Colony

The design of this card is interesting in that it is both a card that you don’t want to play in a deck with no forests, but also has incidental added value if your opponent is playing forests. (You could play the card in a deck with no forests, with the intent of only ever using the last ability, but that’s pretty far below rate, so I don’t think it makes the cut if you’re on that plan.)

The big boundary-push on the card is that it’s an aura that taps, and one that goes on a card type that people often tap pretty casually. Tapping enchantments appeared in Future Sight as a thing that Magic hadn’t done yet, but otherwise haven’t appeared. I’m not sure that this card crosses the threshold of what it would take to be worth breaking that rule on its own (as opposed to being an additional upkeep trigger or something), but it would be reasonable in a set that included other tapping enchantments.

@dimestoretajic - Bara, Friend to All

This is a strong tech piece; a fair number decks across a range of formats have few, if any ways to deal with a card like this mainboard. It’s fast enough that it’s not practical to go under it, it requires specific pieces of removal to handle, and even if it is handled eventually it can often put an aggressive deck effectively out of the game. (That said, most decks do have answers for something like this in the board, although not reliably great ones.) This might be safe in a product that skips standard, but it’s not totally clear whether this is something that would make it in a commander-focused product. (It’s not too powerful for Commander as a format, but it’s not something that all commander-product decks have many good ways to deal with.) I’m also not sure whether this could go in a product meant to be drafted. If this was introduced into certain non-rotating formats, it could certainly be an interesting role-player.

@fractured-infinity - Cunning Cuttlefish

There’s currently no shapeshifters in Magic that use this technology in quite as straightforward a way as this - Cryptoplasm might come the closest, with Dimir Doppelganger also playing in that space. This was one of a few Cuttlefish entries this week, and shapeshifting with controlled size is a pretty clever way to implement a Cuttlefish’s abilities. This card also allows for some shenanigans if you control an evasive creature and a creature with a saboteur effect. I wasn’t initially sure whether this should only last until the end of the turn, but precedent suggests that it’s fine for it to persist.

@ghoulcaclulator64 - Snake-Head Larva

Morph and saboteur abilities go together naturally, enough so that Headhunter, Silent Specter, and Haunted Cadaver all play in this space. For its morph cost, this card has a fairly brutal saboteur effect, and it’s appropriate to put it at rare for that reason. That said, as long as it only connects once, it’s pretty fair, and if the other morph cards in the set obey the KTK-forward soft rules about the size of creatures with cheap morph costs, then it can at least be blocked safely.

@gollumni - Zhalfiran Zebra

This card homages two existing cards, Master Decoy and Zhalfiran Decoy, rather than alluding directly to something that the animal is known for outside of Magic, which is a novel twist on the prompt. The card entering the battlefield tapped presumably references those two cards needing to tap to use their abilities. It reads a little oddly in a vacuum, as it’s not a drawback that appears often on white cards, but the connection to the second ability helps to to feel part of a piece. I do think that there’s room to push this card a bit - even at common, sorcery-speed tapping for one turn isn’t worth a huge amount.

@grornt - Nude Defenders

Surprisingly one of three cards this week that made use of the Skulk mechanic, Nude Defenders is a spin on Rat Colony that’s more insular and that has less power, but gains the aforementioned mechanic. I’m not sure whether Skulk plays well into the fantasy offered by the rest of the card of building up a large group of creatures that are themselves individually large, however. It still has some utility in that it can help get a last few points of damage in and generally prevent very large creatures from blocking (the Defenders in many circumstances will at least trade, rather than just getting eaten), but the two parts read as negative tension.

@helloijustreadyourpost - Clever Octopus

The second of the skulk entries this week. It’s clear what this card is doing - it steals small objects when it attacks (including things like food and treasure, which octopuses value) - but executing that ends up requiring a lot of text. I see the value in keeping your opponent from sacrificing whatever it is you target with the ability by preventing sacrifices of artifacts entirely, but most card just accept the fact that sacrificing a permanent is an answer to abilities that would steal it. I think that the extra text may be worth it here because the set of things that the octopus can steal includes a lot of things that can easily be sacrificed, but it’s on the line.

@hypexion - Abyssal Angler

I really like this design overall. “Creature that can force a creature to attack, but also must block the attacker” is a combination of abilities that I was a little surprised doesn’t already exist on a creature, given the very clear story it tells. I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I like the subtle drawback of the ability being mandatory; if your opponent has only a 4/4, you must commit your Angler to blocking that creature if it’s untapped, which is a missable but relevant interaction. It does tell an interesting story of an Anglerfish in over its head, however.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes - Battle-Ready Emu

It’s hard to do a card with a single short line of rules text that’s both novel and a complete and understandable reference to a real-world phenomenon (or event, in this case), and I think this card pulls it off. In many environments, the Protection is largely trinket text, but as evergreen colored artifacts allow Wizards to print more and better equipment at lower rarities, it’s something that has a growing chance of mattering.

@jsands84 - Eclipse of Moths

Cards that allow your opponent to escape part of their effect by paying a certain color of mana aren’t common, but I like this more than Quenchable Fire for two reasons. First, the hybrid cost to buy out of the effect means that more, but not all, decks have the option to do so. Second, the repeatability of the effect means that the cost can legitimately add up over time. There are shades of the not-so-popular Rhystic mechanic, but I think in small volumes it’s fine, especially when tied to clear flavor, as this is.

@juggernaut-is-a-metalhead - Decaying Waverider

I wasn’t completely sure what to make of this card; the card mostly holds together, except for the art (although the dog is very cute), and doesn’t seem to be a top-down representation of the animal depicted, unless I’m missing something. Skulk and the ability to destroy cheap things on ETB is an interesting combination, as depending on your opponent’s curve, this might remove the only creature that can block it.

@loreholdlesbian - Coveted Rabbit

This is a strong design for a card that goes in a deck with spells that target your own creatures, specifically because it itself is a creature. The simplest execution of the mechanics of this card would be to just make the foot itself an equipment card, but this implementation allows you to up the creature count in an aura- or combat-trick-heavy deck by being a creature itself.

@misterstingyjack - Beaver Dam

The bulk of the power of this card is vested in its last ability. Being able to pitch lands for business is worth a lot in the late game, and the defensive nature of the card as a whole helps support a longer-game plan. The rest of the card tells a nice and flavorful story as well. +0/+1 counters aren’t a tool that’s used any longer, and I’m not sure if this card crosses the threshold for making it worth bringing them back; the card could use another counter type and scale with the number of those counters, if +0/+1 counters weren’t being used.

@nicolbolas96 - Protective Mother Boar

I’m not sure if there are any “mom will fight you if you hurt one of the other ones” cards that represent the mother creature itself rather than the baby, which is an interesting point of novelty. This card represents potentially quite a lot of face damage, but cleverly uses the Crested Sunmare trick of tying a powerful effect to a tribe that tends to be used for limited filler rather than for serious constructed shots. (Although the number of Constructed-interesting boars has gradually crept up over time.)

@nine-effing-hells - Aposematic Display

Menace and Deathtouch as a combination mean that blocking the creature is very costly, so there’s some synergy there - your opponent will generally treat the creature as unblockable. (Which is completely fair for the card’s cost - in blue, auras that make creatures unblockable can cost a single mana.) What I mostly want to talk about is the interaction between menace and the last ability. Because of the nonobvious way those abilities interact (if your opponent has only one creature that can block the enchanted creature, they don’t have to block it, but if they have two or more, then the targeted creature and another creature both have to block the enchanted creature), putting the two abilities on the same card is probably a complexity flag, but the card is uncommon. The specific combination has the interesting (but not necessarily desirable) effect of making Menace a drawback a significant fraction of the time, as the second ability is nullified entirely as long as your opponent doesn’t leave up two or more blockers.

@reaperfromtheabyss - Sandfish Skink

I didn’t think much of the ability at first, but the more I thought about it, the more impressed I was with its flexibility. It spoils a range of combat tricks, it lets the Skink block a large creature and then swap to a small one, and it allows the Skink to block things it wouldn’t normally be able to block. There’s a lot packed into a simple ability, which makes for an impressive design.

One small note - it should probably be limited to targeting attacking creatures that are attacking you or a creature you control. While I believe the game rules can handle the circumstance where you target one of your own attacking creatures, the Skink itself, or a creature attacking another player in a multiplayer game, it’s probably better to sidestep that entirely by limiting the legal targets.

@snugz - Bombardier Beetle

This is an interesting design, and another in the category of cards that seem like they should already exist. The big question with this card is: Is it green? Almost all similar effects (with a fixed amount of damage) are red, and in practical terms the ability functions a lot like Double Strike, but only against creatures. Not every card needs to be in the color that’s number one in something, but this ability feels borderline in Green, which doesn’t have a long history of creatures being able to one-sided fight nonfliers without external help. (That said, I guess the fact that it’s blocked or blocking is sort of like it’s fighting?)

@starch255 - The White Whale

This is a wrath attached to a large body, with a bit of a twist that players o-ring one creature each instead. Putting a card that some players will interpret as a Whale tribal card in a color with no Whales might disappoint some players slightly, but it’s a pretty on-flavor way to keep the card from affecting itself or other copies of itself. This is currently one of the easiest to cheat out/reanimate/blink wraths in the game - it’s pretty standard for creatures that wrath on ETB to only get that effect when cast from hand, or to require some additional investment or action.

@typical-davinci-impersonator - Leyline Cuttlefish

This is already a bear, so the card is basically serviceable in limited even if the ability doesn’t end up mattering, but I’m assuming that this exists in an environment where color matters. Depending on the way that color-matters is implemented, there’s an argument that this could maybe cost 1 instead, but given that 2/2 for 2 isn’t a statline that colorless gets much, the ability can be pretty marginal and this is still an interesting card. Being directly tied into what Cuttlefish can do in a very literal way limits the environments where it makes sense as a card, but makes it quite resonant if there were a reason to print it.

@walker-of-the-yellow-path - Blue Glaucus

I had to look this one up - for the benefit of anybody who’s in the same boat, this is a slug that preys on jellyfish-like creatures and actually stores their stinging cells in its own body for defense. It’s also immune to the stings of some such creatures.

The card has a lot going on, and a lot of it is novel, although most of the text directly references the abilities of the actual organism. The third ability is interesting in that it can be proactively built around, although Deathtouch creatures more often die on your opponent’s turn than on yours, making the mana potentially more difficult to use.

I’m not totally sure that the creature needs morph, but morph + deathtouch is a good combo, so it’s reasonably justified if the set it appears in already has morph.

@wolkemesser - Magical Hat

If I had done Honorable Mentions this week, this would definitely have made the cut. It’s super rare that such a clear and clever story can be told with just one relatively straightforward line of rules text. I respect the decision to leave off flavor text even though cards with three lines of rules text almost always have it; the card doesn’t need any help explaining what’s going on. I had a hard time gauging the rate on this card, but I think it’s within the band of fair.

#Inventor's Fair #if-animal planet #commentary #MtG #custom card

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sleepyxdarling · 4 years

Text

Little mouse (karasuno volleyball team x male reader)

Something other than BNHA woah I know lol

This will be talked about sometimes during this series but reader has a feminine body as well as more plump parts (wide hips, thick thighs and ass)

Warning: story contains yandere behavior, my lack of volleyball knowledge

You were a mouse that crows love to eat...worst part was that you didn't know you were a prey. When you joined the team you weren't really anything to gawk at besides your curvy 5'7 body and adorable baby face. It was when you spoke that shocked them.

"I'm a middle blocker and I will make sure I do my best so let me join please!"

Everyone stared at Hinata and tsukishima as if gauging their reaction to another middle blocker but tsukishima scoffs while Hinata simply smiled and patted your shoulder

"I'll teach you all my tricks so you can be the best! You won't be better than me though haha I'm the decoy!"

"really? That so cool! Can you show me some time? You're shoyo Hinata right?"

That was the first time you were prey to a crow..hinata stared at you in shock and this felt different than anything he ever felt before and a surge of warmth filled his chest.

why did you suddenly sound so sweet and cute to him..why was he feeling so vulnerable? Ever since then he changed...he got a lot more playful when you're around and he made sure to practice extra hard.

The next crow was nishinoya..he was practicing and the ball flew over the net to try and hit a water bottle just to see if he could so as an impulse you ran and jumped high before spiking the ball down. You jumped so high your full body was quite above the net and you spiked the ball so hard down it created a loud boom sound.

He was smitten..

"woah! That was amazing! You're small but mighty! If Hinata is the tiny giant then you should be..hmm the soaring crow! Or maybe flying squirrel! Maybe firework? maybe something cooler than that..we'll work on it!"

"Haha thanks senpai but it's fine really..but yeah jumping is fun" you said softly and laughs.

That's what did it for him..you called him senpai..he was your senpai. He loved your laugh..so cute. He couldn't help but yank you into a hug while his hands wrapped around your waist.. amazing. Your body felt way better than any girl.

Slowly one by one each boy found themselves hungry for your adorable laughs and smiles..all of them besides tsukishima and kageyama. It was time for the trip to Japan to practice with other teams and you were really sleepy. That's when you got them.

All of them wanted to sit with you but you sit next to kageyama..damn. kageyama wasn't a fan of you since Hinata would constantly ask him if you could be the setter for a match..it was weird how he wanted you two to be a combo duo. Kageyama looked the window when the drive started..he soon felt something on his shoulder and that's when he saw you cuddled up to him with your head on his shoulder.

He was going to wake you when he noticed several glares in his direction as soon as he attempted to so he left you Alone. He didn't understand why the others adored you..your soft innocent face did nothing for him when it came to feelings.

Those plump soft lips, small but bruised up hands, those thick thighs that he found himself eyeing as his eyes landed on your wide hips..it was as if your body wanted to be a female..hips like those were made for childbirth or something. As you groaned softly and gripped his arm he found his eyes softening at the sight of your flushed chubby cheeks and he moved hair from your face and at that point he was whipped....fuck.

You stayed like that the entire trip and kageyama was able to hold your hand as well Since you were so out of it..so cute. He found himself wanting to take in this sweet scent forever.

When the bus stopped he groaned to himself before he slowly shook you awake. You sat up and yawned before rubbing your eyes while looking around only to see eyes on you. You gave a nervous laugh

"did I snore or something?" You mumbled out only to get a bunch of frantic answers

"no no angels don't snore"

"you were perfect!"

"snore? Not possible!"

You laughed it off and got off the bus but the moment you looked at the building a wave of nervousness hit you hard. You played volleyball all your life...played official matches for middle and elementary school..but this was your first high school match despite it not being official.

You held your stomach as the others got off the bus and you went to nishinoya before you leaned down and put your head on his shoulder.

"noyaaaaa...I think I'm gonna pukkke"

The short libero tensed up as he rubbed your back while also unsure of what to do. He pulled you back before putting your forehead against his.

"woah! You need to cool off stressing like this is giving you a fever" he said softly and you two locked eyes for a moment before Hinata and kageyama roughly yanked you back while glaring at the male.

Things were getting tense and you could feel it as a stare down was happening. You didn't understand why though.. oblivious you.

"h..hey guys! Come on let's go" you said nervously with a laugh. You gulped and held your stomach as you let out a low groan which caused the fighting to stop immediately as they all looked at you before daichi sighs "[name]..go to bed the rest of us will play a few matches.."

"but captain!"

"no buts..do it.." he said as he walked up to you and placed a hand on your forehead while his eyes had a gentle look to them.

"you have a fever...get some sleep"

You huff as you got settled while the others got changed..the tense air grew before Hinata broke it.

"how come nishinoya got to run [name]'s back and craddle him!" He huffs out angrily.

"not my fault they felt comfortable with me rather than you!"

"daichi got to touch his head!"

"don't drag me into this Tanaka I'm more concerned about kageyama and [name] cuddling..what relationship do you have with him?"

"they sat next to me! What was I supposed to do!? I didn't wanna wake them up"

Coach ukai watched for a while.. lately he's been letting daichi lead his team how he wants but this was getting out of hand..you were going to split the team apart at this point.

Ukai clapped his hands before glaring at his team. He was tired of this and knew they needed to work this out before they kill each other cause the glares they had were like nothing he ever seen before.

"raise your hand if you are in love with [name]"

Every hand except tsukishima went up..oh dear. Ukai had to think of a way to get the team to work together..and he just thought of it.

"you guys are fighting over [name] when your real enemies are the other teams! [Name] is a treasure and you guys need to work together to protect him! Be his knights! Why fight over him when you can share him?! Winning and showing whose the best is a way of showing power!"

There was silence and all of them seemed to have this amazing idea...share..you. they would do just that..all of their eyes seemed to gain a determined gleam as daichi took over.

"if this is going to work we need rules! I know [name] can love all of us! We can all kiss and hold him just like we want! What do you say team?"

The boys cheers before going to discuss rules and guidelines. Tsukishima walked over to ukai who looked worried.

"coach...I think you created a harem of beasts" the blonde said with a shake if his head and ukai eyes tsukishima curiously.

"why don't you like [name]?" He asked out and the male scoffs "as if I would love that fatass..don't lump me with these weirdos" he said and walked away from his team and went to find where he and the others would be sleeping.

As he walked his breathing got slightly more excited and he opened the room door where the team was supposed to sleep only to find you sleeping peacefully.

Tsukishima took off his glasses before he put them in his pocket and he crawled ontop of your sleeping body. He leaned down before placing his lips onto yours..so cute.

"[name]...one day I'll kiss you when you're awake..for now take these sleepy kisses from me" he whispers out before he kissed along your neck leaving hickies and bites..mostly to piss off the others.

"as if I'll share you.. you're mine..mine to kiss..mine to touch..mine to have" he whispers out and licks the marks he made on you.

He straddled you and took out his phone before taking pictures and putting them in a secret folder he had...a file of over 3,000 pictures of you. From you changing to you just practicing or even some of you eating. He put his phone away before leaning down to kiss your delicious lips again..he wished you would kiss back. He slipped his hands under your shirt feeling how warm your body was..you did have a fever.

"I'm sorry [name]..I have to pretend to hate you to throw them off my tracks..you understand don't you? Yeah of course you do.." he whispers as he lifted your shirt and kissed your chest but heard a voice outside the room.

"I'm gonna check on [name]"

Fuck.

Before he could move the door opened and asahi was staring at the scene his smile turning into a look of hate...he saw your sleeping body.. tsukishima ontop of you.. those dark marks on your neck. All of this was too much for him and out of rage he threw the male off you and out the room before he looked at you...how could you sleep through that? You must be quite sick and tired..

He kneeled down and saw your lips were a little red from tsukishima roughly kissing them..asahi was usually a nice guy but his mind filled with ideas of killing tsukishima. He touched your neck softly and gave a soft hum "I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you" he whispers before walking out the room and glaring at tsukishima before dragging him away to the gym..it was up to daichi what is to be done with him.

#anime imagines #yandere imagines #haikyuu!!#yandere haikyuu #haikyuu imagines

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