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thankssteveditko · 11 months ago

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Sony's PlayStation 5 Presents Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (the third game in the series)

I beat the main story and have enjoyed my time with the game overall! I want to talk about spoilers and things that I liked and disliked in the story, so here's a post with some scattered thoughts.

(Hello! I haven't forgotten that this blog exists! Like I said, no update schedule, I will read more of the Lee/Ditko comics whenever I make time for it. I've actually been sitting on a mostly-complete version of this post since I beat the game in October, thinking that I'd finish the rest of the side quests so I could throw in thoughts on those. But... eh, I'll do that whenever the inevitable DLC rolls around. I just wanna get these thoughts posted.)

Spider-Cop No More

First off: they downplayed the cop shit!!! This was the first thing that really struck me about the game, and I'm stunned that they actually listened to criticism on this. I thought we'd just be stuck with it forever.

It'll never be completely gone, of course. Spider-Man is always going to leave criminals webbed up for the police to take to prison, hoping that they'll do their time and come out the other side as Productive Members of Society. That's just a thing I begrudgingly accept as part of the genre that will probably never go away. But Spider-Man is no longer repairing police surveillance networks. You're no longer beating the shit out of random drug dealers. Gangs of escaped convicts still wearing their orange jumpsuits are no longer terrorizing the streets of New York.

Instead, Peter and Miles are played more as firefighters. Sometimes very literally! They work with firefighters, they rescue people from collapsing buildings, they rush injured people to the hospital. In general there's a huge increase in the number of random onlookers present during the big action setpieces, and the Spider-Men frequently have to save them from harm. One of the major side quest lines is even literally about a cult of arsonists, and you'll routinely find burning fuel tanker trucks you have to extinguish with your webs. It's great! Love this for them.

I also generally liked the side missions in this. There's a lot of good stuff with the Spider-Men being neighborhood heroes willing to help out anyone in need, no matter the problem. Some of them can get corny, sure, but that street level stuff has always been the real heart of Spider-Man to me.

Gameplay

The gameplay's as fun as ever. That probably goes without saying. I will not be spending a thousand words explaining that swinging is fun.

In particular, I really liked the changes to the Focus mechanic. I never loved the way Miles' game made you choose between healing and doing your special attacks, but here your four specials have their own cooldowns, and the Focus meter is spent on either healing or finishers. It still offers that risk/reward element, but those vicious cycles where you can't do any real damage because you keep needing to heal aren't nearly as bad as they were before.

Personally I didn't turn off the swing assist or turn on fall damage, because the streamlined swinging never bothered me in these games, but I'm glad the options are there for people who want them.

Kraven

I liked Kraven in this! I liked the way they leaned into his Hunters being this weird death cult, and him wanting to go down in a blaze of glory against a worthy foe, to the point that he's actually disappointed anytime a foe can't kill him. It riffs on things people liked in Kraven's Last Hunt without being the exact same story. I like that Kraven's gang is renting out this manor or whatever and just being a complete terror to the wait staff. I liked the way Kraven hunting Peter's rogues' gallery clashed with Peter's belief in giving his villains second chances. I liked that they were willing to have Kraven kill off a couple of the minor villains from the first game to sell how dangerous he is. (I know some people hated this, but like, come on. We already fought the Sinister Six. They don't need to do that again.) I like the way Kraven pushed Peter to the absolute brink, turning him more and more aggressive with the Black Suit. Good stuff all around, even if the Hunter enemy types did wear out their welcome a little bit by the end.

The Black Suit arc

I think I liked the way Insomniac handled Peter's Black Suit arc overall, but there's a tradeoff here.

They REALLY lean into the body horror tentacle stuff, with Black Suit Peter basically just being a skinny Venom by the end. The sequence where you play as Mary Jane while the symbiote puppets an unconscious Peter's body around and goes on a rampage against the Hunters was REALLY great at selling how scary Peter is becoming, and it made me completely change my tune on the inclusion of the MJ stealth missions in the sequel. Having to beat an out-of-control Peter as Miles immediately after Peter beats Kraven was also really good. This is all cool!

BUT, the thing is... with the symbiote powers being so freaky from the start, it really pushes my suspension of disbelief when Peter and co. take so long to become wary of it. I guess when you've been bitten by a radioactive spider and given superpowers, and when you live in the same universe as the Avengers and the X-Men, your perception of what's "normal" is going to be pretty warped. But they buy the whole "organic exosuit created to treat Harry's illness" story WAY too easily lmao. How do the self-aware slime tentacles help with his illness, exactly?

And I'm not sure how I feel about giving Peter Anti-Venom powers in the last act. It feels like it's primarily a concession so that they can give players that branch of their skill tree back, but honestly, the designer in me thinks it would be really cool (if risky) to just permanently lock players out of Peter's most powerful skills past a certain point. Yeah, it'd definitely piss people off, but it drives home the idea that Peter's given up greater power because it's the right thing to do. It'd put you in his shoes! Instead he just gets the symbiote powers back, but it's fine because the Venom voice in his head is gone and also the slime tendrils that explode out of his body are white now, which means they're good.

I have to say it. I'm sorry. The glistening white goo... they turned Peter into the Amazing Cum-Man. I changed back to the Classic Suit after rolling the credits and forgot I still had the Anti-Venom skills equipped, so I just saw regular old Spider-Man exploding his white goo everywhere. Terrible.

Assuming Peter is just stepping into more of a supporting role to Miles and not fully retiring after the events of this game, I really hope the Anti-Venom stuff is gone. I get that he needed it to counter Venom, but that's not what I want for Peter Parker.

Miles

Miles is good in this, and I really like his arc where he struggles with whether or not he should avenge his dad by killing Martin Li. I like how all that plays out. Unfortunately, they don't quite stick the landing when it comes to making him and Peter feel like equals in terms of narrative focus. His arc is definitely the B-plot to Peter's for the middle chunk of the story, which I guess was kind of inevitable since they decided to do the Black Suit arc. But Miles does at least get a lot of moments to shine, and by the end he's very much taking the lead as the main Spider-Man.

Becoming the main Spider-Man also gets Miles a new, wholly original suit that ended up being super controversial, and honestly... I kinda like it? Or at least I like what it's going for, even if the actual design could still use some work. It's something totally unique for Miles, and I like spandex/streetwear combo suits like what the Spider-Verse movies have popularized. But showing his hair is really pushing the limits of his secret identity. He hangs around Brooklyn Visions WAY too much for his classmates to not recognize his voice and haircut. And I understand why people would be wary about it becoming his "canon" look moving forward. But I think it's got potential.

On the subject of Miles, though, I will say that while I liked Miles' side missions, it feels like he's often saddled with the game's broad, kinda touristy, kinda token attempts at Showcasing The Diversity Of New York, in a way that Peter isn't.

I like that Miles has a deaf graffiti artist girlfriend that he and Ganke sign with, and I like that there's a series of side missions that explore some local jazz history, and I like that there's a mission where Miles helps a gay classmate ask his crush to prom. I like all these things! I like Spider-Man being involved with his community, and that said community includes such a wide variety of people! I like that this game slows down to savor these types of moments instead of just being all action all the time! But when I step back, I notice some patterns.

Hailey doesn't have a big role in the main plot, especially when compared to MJ, but Miles gets a side mission where you briefly play as her with muffled audio to teach you what being deaf is like. There are no major queer characters in the story - unless you count Felicia showing up for exactly one mission to mention she has an unseen, unnamed girlfriend in Paris now - but you get a side mission where Miles helps out a gay couple at his school, who then never come up again. To put it very uncharitably, they can feel like Very Special Episode missions. It's like the devs going: we're going to give Miles a Gay Mission, and an Impaired Hearing Mission, and a Cultural History Mission, so that we can say we touched on these things, but we're gonna make them all optional and keep them far away from the full-blown Superhero Stuff like fighting costumed villains. Those flavors cannot mix. Meanwhile, Peter gets to have a whole elaborate subplot about teaming up with Wraith to track down fucking Cletus Kasady. There's an imbalance here, and I think it's part of the reason why Peter still feels like the "main" Spider-Man for so much of the story.

I think this was all written with admirable intentions, but as others have pointed out, you can kinda tell that this game was mainly written by some white guys based in California. These attempts at depicting various marginalized groups can feel kind of detached in the same way that Insomniac's map of New York doesn't quite line up with the real thing. But I dunno. I'm not really the one to dig deep into some of this stuff as a white woman from Florida. I would be curious to read others' takes on this.

Maybe I'm just being overly cynical about the writers' well-meaning but corny and kinda out of touch liberal politics because of the podcasts.

The podcasters

I wish Jameson was in this more! They psyched us out by giving him a full character model for, like, two scenes. I like him being MJ's boss, but I wish we saw inside the Daily Bugle offices to get more Jameson.

At least his podcasts are better than the ones in the Miles game, though. Him completely trusting in Roxxon was just too much for me. Here he condemns Oscorp for the symbiote shit, and he also gets some moments where he takes the ongoing crises seriously and isn't just ranting about the Spider-Men. He isn't just a conspiracy theorist crackpot here. Shit like his "fuck Spider-Man, we have a justice system for a reason" speech makes him feel more like a human being with a point of view, rather than just a caricature. Definitely an improvement.

Unfortunately, I still find The Danikast grating. I'm sorry, Ashly Burch. It's not your fault. The quirky heckin' wholesome millennial podcaster lady who catches you up on current events and then reminds you to drink 64 ounces of water a day in the same breath is just too much for me. At least she doesn't have any lines as bad as her throwing in a "damn" and then going (direct quote here) "That's right - no censoring! That's how REAL I'm being right now!" like in Miles' game. Instead they give her this, like, almost psychic insight into the main plot to try and make her the angel on Peter's shoulder. The second Peter gets the symbiote she's like "Wow, y'all. Have you seen Spider-Man's new black suit? Something's different about him. He's been giving me such bad vibes lately. #NotMySpiderMan" Also she's supposed to be this, like, underdog independent podcaster who started her show on a whim and has become the voice of the people... but she's got billboards plastered all over the fucking city. Which makes her feel like an industry plant lmao

Again, there's a detachment with the writing. This is, like, some middle aged white liberal game dev guys' idea of what a modern leftist teenager would think is a Cool Activism Podcast. Unfortunately, because Insomniac thinks Danika's a hero, Mary Jane's triumphant ending is that she quits her job at the Bugle to become a podcaster, too, delivering a thinly veiled monologue about the pandemic to kick off her new podcast literally titled "The New Normal." She's going to save the world with podcasting, because that's the highest form of activism, I guess.

Venom

So! Venom! Venom was... okay.

Surprising no one, Harry Osborn is Venom. Harry's okay both as himself and as Venom, but I'm not sure his arc is a smooth one. He starts out as Peter's comically perfect best friend who returns to reminisce about the good ol' days and hand him his dream job on a silver platter, and then later he becomes a little ball of rage over the fact that Peter gets his symbiote and can't/won't give it back. I'm not sure that pivot is handled the most convincingly. You kind of have to write it off as the symbiote messing with their heads, I guess.

When he actually becomes Venom, I'm... mixed on the execution. On the one hand, the cool factor is absolutely there. He's a very cool big monster, and Tony Todd is great in the role. But he also wants to take over the world and make everyone a symbiote, and aside from any lingering resentment towards Peter, that's really all there is to him. It makes for a good video game to have a bunch of symbiote enemies and creepy symbiote nests and symbiote tentacles climbing up the sides of buildings in the last act... but is that really what I want out of Venom? Probably not. But he sure does look cool as a big monster guy to fight, and I was happy he was briefly playable.

Suits

Part of me feels like there's something lacking about the suit selection here, but almost every suit I liked in the previous games is back, and also I'm the type of person to give Peter the Classic Suit the second I unlock it and use that for most of the game. So does it really matter for me?

Peter's selection feels dominated by the various live action movie suits, but I get that those are going to be some of the suits people want to wear the most. I wish he had the Peter B. Parker skin to go with Miles' Spider-Verse alts, though. No idea why it's missing. Really I think I mainly just want more of the Spider-Verse designs.

Also I've complained about how most of the original suits designed for these games make Peter and Miles look like they were bitten by radioactive Alienware products, but I can just, you know. Wear other suits.

Misc thoughts

Everyone's already made this joke, but it's extremely funny that the Avengers didn't help with the symbiote invasion. Took one look at that and decided it wasn't their problem

On the subject of other superheroes, I do wish these games would acknowledge the Fantastic Four more. Peter's close relationship with that team feels woefully underutilized in his various adaptations

I like the trope of a boss fight that's a heightened version of a personal conflict between two people who are close, where throughout the fight the boss is airing out their grievances while the hero tries to get through to them emotionally. That especially works for Spider-Man! But WOW has Insomniac played that card a lot of times by the end of Spider-Man 2 lol

They're teasing the addition of Silk, I guess? I'm gonna be honest, I don't know shit about Silk, but I guess it was inevitable that they'd give us some form of Spider-Woman at some point. Gotta work all those costumes in somehow, and they're not brave enough to let one of the boys cosplay as Spider-Gwen.

They WERE, however, brave enough to let Harry say he loves Peter. I liked that little moment. They presumably meant it platonically, but clearly ol' Yaoi Lowenthal knows what's up

Post-leak addendum

So, obviously, by the time I got around to finishing this post the big Insomniac leak happened. I wish the game industry wasn't so secretive that it took a massive, dangerous data breach just to get our hands on some very basic info that would be public knowledge if Insomniac was a film studio, but here we are.

We now know that Insomniac spent somewhere around $315 million making Spider-Man 2 - triple what the first Spider-Man game cost to make. A quote about this from a leaked presentation has been stuck in my head ever since I first saw it on Twitter. “Is 3x the investment in [Spider-Man 2] evident to anyone who plays the game?”

To be honest, I'm not sure it is.

I liked Spider-Man 2, but I'd probably say that overall I liked it about as much as the first game. It's certainly a somewhat bigger game, with marginally more realistic looking graphics thanks to the power of the PS5. But I think I could do without ray tracing and more realistic hair rendering and whatnot if it meant that these games didn't take like five years and hundreds of millions of dollars to make. I could not give less of a shit if the swinging animations were recycled between games. I'd be fine with them being shorter, too.

I like these games, but as we look at that leaked project lineup and realize that Insomniac is turning into The Marvel Game Studio, I think about how many smaller, more original games that those resources could go towards if they scaled back the Marvel stuff just a bit. How many Ape Escapes or Patapons or Gravity Rushes could get made for the budget of just one of these massive AAA tentpole games of Sony's, which are apparently barely even breaking even? How many could be made for the budget of the "smaller, cheaper" Miles Morales game, which somehow cost $156 million to make despite using an updated version of the same Manhattan map from the first game? Hell, how many smaller games could have been made with the $39 million that went into remastering the first Spider-Man game for PS5 a mere two years after launch? How many people will lose their jobs if any one of Insomniac's upcoming Marvel games underperforms - which, in this case, could mean selling "only" 5 million copies? And would hardcore PlayStation fans even accept those smaller games at this point, now that they've been trained to only appreciate mega-budget Prestige Games with cutting edge graphics and treat everything else with disdain? How much worse will this get as the graphical arms race continues?

I think I just miss Japan Studio. Fuck Sony. Uhh but anyway the Spider-Man game this post was supposed to be about was good, some writing complaints aside. 8/10

#tsd post #other media

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bluu3berry · 12 days ago

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Flowering Heart.

{CW: Disease, Heartbreak, Graphic depiction, Hanahaki Disease.} Enjoy ~!

Please read, or atleast reblog I spent so much time on this...

Sans stared into the mirror… a new day in the underground. Today was special! No humans have fallen recently and I got closer to the lady behind the door. In Fact, he learned her name! Toriel. He was never one for lovey-dovey stuff but over the years of talking with her, he got to know her. She used to care for children, she loves cooking, she is a very clean person and other hobbies of hers! It grew to the point that surprisingly he found himself catching feelings for her… to the point he was able to get echo flowers from Waterfall just for this occasion!

He adjusted his red bowtie which was tied to his normal clothing, as he smiled a bit wider than his normal grin. He sighs as he stands up and “shortcut” from his room to the door of the ruin.. doing the secret knock which indicates who it is.. he hears Toriel coming quickly.

“ Sans! Sans! Hah, I found a joke book and I have so many things to tell. However.. you came earlier than usual! Anything different?” The lady spoke softly with sweetness.. he thought of words to tell the monster behind the door for this occasion. “ Why yes Tori is uhh got some good news for ya- or well me. I think I got something for ya “Sans spoke back awkwardly as he grinned at the door awaiting the response.

“ Oh- wait what is it? A joke? Another one of your hotdogs, I do need to still try to make those don’t you agree? “ Toriel said giggling afterward as she finally sat down at the door… sans paused as he thought for a moment “Ehh nah… it's something more alive huh? I thought you would like your Into flowers right?” He said slightly nervous for her reaction.. he sat on the snow before grabbing the echo flowers and pushing them through the door.. a few petals being slightly shaved off due to the tight gap “Oh? Echo flowers.. sans I haven't seen these in such a long time! It's a wondrous gift! But why flowers, I never asked for these?” She spoke slightly confused as sans sighed and waited for the echo flower to speak for itself. “ You should. maybe listen to the plant, huh?” Sans said softly as Toriel nodded

Toriel picked up the flower and held it close to her floppy ears as the echo flower glowed whispering into her ear “ Could we go to Grillby’s… “ the echo ringed as another picked up the sentence. “ You are a good friend to me.. but.. “ it rang as Toriel knew what was to come.. she froze hearing the third one. “ Could… it be more. “ Toriel was shocked! The echo flowers glow went silent, as Sans on the other side of the door fidgeted quietly.

“ Sans... “ Toriel spoke in a slightly deep and upsetting tone.. sans paused listening to what Toriel had to say “ I am.. not ready for more than this. I haven't even seen your face. I'm sorry but I don't think I'm ready for a relationship. Besides, I don't think I could even live out of the ruins. Everything would be so new! I don't know how much it would have changed.“ She spoke softly to let him down easily.. Which didn't work. She slid the flowers back out a couple of the petals ripping off as the flower's glow slowly disappeared into nothing “.. heh- that's alright Tori ignored it, what was that book about anyways? “ Sans said awkwardly and distant but not to the point of tears.. But they started to roll. Why? He heard no response to his question.

It was just the soft padding of feet leaving the door. Toriel needed space after such a thing, knowing the monster beyond the door? Interested in her.. that changed how she viewed sans. But she was too kind to tell him that. He tapped the door on his knock again, listening for the feet to return. “ Eh? Toriel didn't know you were going somewhere. I'll wait for ya. “ He said softly as he pulled his bowtie off and wrapped it around his stitched jacket.. zipping up the coat and laying in the snow waiting for her to return.. after hours, and hours of waiting, no response. But he didn't leave, besides! He still had hope for Toriel to return. It was getting colder and colder on his bones.

What surprised him the most was the flowers blooming in his eye.. the echo flowers covered the left side of his face quickly. “ Hn.. eh? Ah, flowers? Wonder if I got seeds in my skull again hah.. "Sans spoke as his voice was weary.. his hand reached to his face grabbing a flower and pulling in it slightly.. usually they come out right? Nope.. he jolted out of the snow still tired but in a panic, shock of pain was sent throughout his head. "A-AGHH-!?" He *screamed as the pain bloomed from his eyesight. He clawed at the echo flower trying to rip the source of pain to subside. He was able to tear out a few strangling blue petals, which fell onto his fluffy coat rim and sleeves. He thrashed around trying to yank out more of the flowers, tossing and turning in the snow, causing more snow to pile on top of him. The cold slowly replaced the pain, numbing the harm caused as he curled into a ball. Watching as a snowstorm started to form in Snowdin.

“ I feel so.. wea-.. hah.. ah. “ His panicked voice was overtaken by an exhausted gaze and becoming too weak to move. His pupils disappeared from the only eye available as the echo petals slowly formed in between his hand.. and in the gaps of his neck, not being fully flowers yet but the petals sure didn't help with the cold.“ It's.. so.. chilly.. “ he spoke as the flowers and petals seemed to be feeding off his magical energy and his form… his eyes turned glassy his vision blurring all he could make out was the familiar red scarf of his brother quickly approaching as he slipped into unconsciousness. @anon-coke @scramble-eg @thelunarsystemwrites @superbfirnacho @the-second-reason < Thanks for pure review

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wedontdeservethestars · 4 months ago

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Can U do Johnny Cage w/ a reader who looks exactly like her sister Kitana? Thx 🙏

Ok. First of all anon I am SO sorry this took me like. 7 months to get around to. Idk why but for a while I just had NO workflow with this one BUT!! I ended up liking how it came out! Lots of emotional stuff in this one, with reader and Johnny learning to appreciate one another. Again--so sorry for the wait but I hope you like it!

(AO3 link here!)

“Kitana, baby!”

“No.”

“Ohhh, the other one.”

That was how most of your conversations with Johnny began. Sure, you were technically the younger twin. You were second in line just behind the new Kahn, and despite the numerous times you and Kitana had agreed to this arrangement of Kahn and Royal Advisor (though, in all honesty, you held more power than a simple Advisor), you couldn’t help the jealousy you felt towards her. How could you not? All because of a few mere minutes of time-difference, you had spent most of your life in Kitana’s shadow. The forgotten sister.

“That isn’t my name, either.” It was bad enough being mistaken for your twin by anyone, but for some reason the fact that it was Johnny made you even more irritated.

“Sorry, princess,” he shrugged carelessly.

“And I’m not a princess,” you continued. The words felt sharp on your tongue. One of the first things you insisted upon when Kitana took over the kingdom was to remove your title entirely. You couldn’t stand the thought of her growing to such a powerful rank while yours stayed the same. Princess. You hated the word. It seemed childish.

“Man, I just cannot win today, huh?” Johnny waved his hand as if to say, ‘ah, well,’ and wiped any memory of the past few seconds from his mind.

“If you’re looking for Kitana Kahn,” you said, emphasizing her title, “She’s with Master Liu Kang.”

You pointed a finger towards the opposite end of the venue, where, indeed, Kitana stood with a few close friends. Though she and Liu Kang weren’t touching, they were indeed standing rather close together. Besides, Johnny was well aware of their relationship to one another. Most were. You couldn’t understand why he tried so hard to gain the affection of an already-involved woman.

Johnny, following your aim, squinted, lifting his shades. He apparently decided that he didn’t like the company she kept, because he shook his head, flipping the glasses back down. “Eh. Whatever. Was just gonna check if she’s havin’ a good time.”

“Are we supposed to?” you mumbled, mostly to yourself. Outrealm-Earthrealm meetings like this weren’t your idea of a good time, even if the events were thrown specifically as pleasant meetings where members could laugh and drink and be in good nature with one another. To keep the peace, Kitana had explained when she first brought up the idea. There had only been a handful so far, but you hadn’t enjoyed yourself at a single one of them. Maybe you were just too much of a wallflower.

“Are you supposed to have a good time a party?” Johnny tried to clarify. “Uh…yeah. Yeah you are.”

“It’s not really a party…”

“Drinks. Music. F…” Johnny frowned as he drew out the ‘f’. His mouth started to form the word ‘friends,’ but he quickly backtracked. “Fffffun people.”

“I suppose,” you grumbled, arms folded over your chest. He sighed and gave you a nudge.

“C’mon, loosen up! You don’t have to do anything. No world to save, no politics or anything. Just relax.”

You were about to point out how, technically, the only reason this ‘party’ was happening was because of politics that specifically dealt with the two of your homeworlds, but the thought suddenly exhausted you and you let it slide. “I don’t…relax easily.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” Johnny chuckled and took a sip of his own drink, some sort of foamy liquid with an ungodly color of aquamarine fading to green at the bottom. It looked like it could kill. Half-heartedly, you hoped it would. “Tell you what, next drink is on me.”

Well. It couldn’t hurt. “Fine.”

“Hella.” He gave you a grin, his teeth too perfect and square, and grabbed you by the arm, practically dragging you to the catering bar. “C’mon!”

“Johnny, slow down–” you frowned. “I’m in heels!”

“What’dya want?” he asked as you stumbled up behind him.

“Uh…” Your gaze skimmed over the menu. Drinks you’d never heard of with ingredients even less familiar. Of course, the catering company had to come Earthrealm. “I don’t know. That one looks fine.”

“Shoulda known you were a Pinot Grigio kinda gal.” He leaned over and murmured something to the bartender, who tried his best not to look flustered (and failed). You scoffed. You couldn’t ever imagine giving into Johnny’s “charms” so easily. Never.

Shortly, a tall fluted glass was in your gloved hand. You took a tentative sip and immediately felt your tongue dry up. Not letting yourself wince at the sick, bittersweet tang that overcame your taste buds, you bravely took another sip. Johnny didn’t take notice–he was in the midst of downing the rest of his glass. Slamming the glass down, he stifled a quiet burp into his fist and laughed. You rolled your eyes. When the bartender turned around again, there was already another glass of whatever horrid drink he’d just finished.

“Thanks, stud.” He raised his glass and gave a wink to the server, who, this time, couldn’t stop a shy little smile from coming across his face. You felt sick.

“Thank you for the drink,” you mumbled and started to hightail it out of the crowd, but a hand on your shoulder stopped you.

“Hey, c’mon. At least talk with me a little. Not like you were doin’ anything else.”

You sighed. Damn him. “Can we at least go somewhere quiet? I don’t like crowds.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he shrugged. Realizing you weren’t going to get rid of him so easily, you decided to suck it up and scanned the venue, looking for a way out. You spied a patch on the outskirts that wasn’t too populated, a little garden area with leaves that glistened in the dew of night and held promise for some peace and quiet.

“This way.”

While squeezing through seemingly endless amounts of people, you heard Johnny behind you, stopping to talk to a few and saying a quick ‘hi’ to nearly everyone else. You wished he would just focus on the task at hand, but then again, did you expect him to act any other way?

“So, Edenia,” he said awkwardly as you two came up on your destination. Fortunately, your guess had been right–it was much emptier and calmer over here.

“What about it?” You turned to face him and suddenly wished he weren’t so tall.

“Uh…how’s it going?” he tried. “With your sister as ruler, and all.”

“Did you really insist on continuing to stay with me just to take about my sister all night?” you asked curtly.

“No! No, just, uh, y’know. It’s a big shift, I’m sure. And…” He gave a timid chuckle and lowered his voice to a stage-whisper, as if he had an audience you didn’t know about. “I’m just trying to make conversation. Help me out here.”

Your lips twitched. You hid them in your glass. “It’s going fine.”

“Good, good.”

There was a silence, and before Johnny could say something stupid, you decided to at least try. “How are your…movies?”

“Oh, great!” You couldn’t begin to describe the amount of relief that washed over his face. “We just finished wrapping Breaknose Mountain last month. That’s gonna be a good one. Give the audience a good ol’ tug at the heartstrings. Y’know, I don’t really get to do dramas often, which, like, whatever, every actor has their niche, and mine happens to be awesome-as-shit stunts and comedy and, like, shirtless scenes, so I always have to really appreciate the times where I get to hunker down and get into a serious role. Not that all my roles aren’t serious, at least, I take them seriously, but it’s different, y’know?”

For a moment, you didn’t know what to say. Truthfully, you didn’t know–Edenia didn’t have movies and the stories and theater your culture did have were nothing like whatever was going on in Johnny’s films, based on what he had described to you before–but the way he spoke about this…it was the first time you saw something genuine in Johnny. Something more than the brash sense of style and flirtatious glances and overconfidence.

“That’s…interesting.” You weren’t lying.

Johnny smiled, and for once it didn’t come off as entirely jaded. “Nah, I just…uh, actually, forget it. It’s kinda stupid.”

“I’m sure it’s not.” You were curious to see whatever side of him was starting to peek out. “Tell me.”

“Okay,” he chuckled with a nod. “I, uh…I haven’t been on a stage since I was a kid. Like, live acting, in a play. Probably not since high school. And…I miss it. A lot. It’s different from film. And the stuff I did then, I’m sure it was shitty as hell, but it felt real.”

He paused, a wistful look coming across his face. He looked distracted, like he wasn’t really seeing you anymore even though his eyes were still trained on you.

“I loved Shakespeare especially. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as alive as I did when I got to be Romeo. It was…everything. It was funny, it was sad, it was romantic. There was fighting. There was kissing. And the audience, they were right there in Verona with us. Living and breathing the same air. Or…that’s what it felt like, at least. With movies, you just…you film. And it’s usually on a green-screen set. And then you go home, and…you wait for it to come out, and the reviews come in. But they’re just words on paper. Comments. Everyone sees you act but no one sees you act.”

“Johnny…” You had no idea exactly what he was talking about in terms of sets and Shakespeare and whatever Verona was, but you didn’t need to. “That’s…”

“Dumb,” he said quickly, eager to put back on that Hollywood-boy persona. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean, I’m one of the biggest stars in America. Why would I want anything else?”

“I don’t think it’s dumb,” you frowned.

“Oh.” A look of genuine surprise came across his face. “Well…thanks, I guess.”

“Maybe you could still perform onstage if you really wanted to.”

“Eh, doesn’t really match the Cage brand,” he smiled sadly. “It’s okay. It’s just somethin’ I think about sometimes.”

“Well…I bet you were wonderful onstage.” You offered your best attempt at a smile, and Johnny gladly took it.

“Oh, I was.” Immediately your smile dropped as his old facade came back up, but he just laughed. “Kidding. Thank you. Really.”

“Humph,” you said in return.

Johnny swirled what remained of his beverage around in its glass. “Can I ask a question? And promise you won’t get mad?”

You sighed, but nodded, finishing off your own drink almost just to spite the flavor. “Fine.”

“It’s about Kitana,” he warned.

“I thought we got past that.” But you waved your hand to tell him to keep going.

Still, Johnny hesitated. “How do you really feel about her taking the throne. ‘Cause, like, you guys aren’t just sisters, right? You’re twins?”

You nodded once. Words sat on your tongue, but you knew you letting them escape would be a mistake. “I feel like…I shouldn’t talk about that.”

“Why not?” He cocked his head. “It’s just you and me. No one’s gonna hear.”

“I don’t care about what others think,” you lied. Surrounded by this kind of company, your jealousy could easily be misconstrued as planned treason.

“Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Because I hardly know you. And it’s not an issue for a Earthrealmer to worry about.”

“So it is an issue,” he pressed.

“No,” you huffed, “I didn’t mean–”

“Didn’t you?” His ocean blues pierced into your skull and you had to avert your own eyes.

“Don’t do this,” you muttered.

“Do what?”

“Cage.”

“What?” he asked again. “Listen, I’m just sayin’–if you can’t talk about this stuff normally, then I don’t mind being an outlet. Like me and my stupid theater dreams.”

“The aren’t stupid,” you said before really realizing you were doing it. Quickly, you moved on. “And that doesn’t equate to the politics of my kingdom. Not at all. One is a dream. The other is…”

“A dream?” he asked knowingly. “Of…running away? Being Kahn? Going back to the way things were?”

You didn’t deny any of his guesses. You also hoped he wouldn’t notice that detail. “Why do you care so much?”

“I��don’t know.” He frowned into his drink, and then had some more of it. “Just wanna get to know you. Know what you care about. Not what the Royal Advisor of Edenia does.”

There was silence for a long time. It got to the point where it was almost impressive how long Johnny was keeping his mouth shut for. You were clenching your teeth so hard you thought they might crack when you finally answered him. “Kitana has…everything now. We spent so long dreaming of the day when we would finally overtake that monster who killed our father, and when we could pay respects to our lost mother, and…Gods. I don’t know. We planned everything together, in hushed whispers at night, ever since we were children. We both agreed she should be Kahn. That I would remain by her side. But…it feels more like I’m behind her, or beneath her. And why shouldn’t I be equal with her?”

He stared at you. You suddenly felt awful for voicing your ugly desires.

“No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. That was…”

“You’re right.”

You stopped dead in your tracks. “Excuse me?”

“You’re right,” Johnny said again. “I mean, like, I don’t wanna start a whole-ass Edenian civil war or anything, but I think it’s pretty normal for you to feel this way.”

Secretly, you were immensely relieved to hear that. “It feels like it isn’t.”

“I don’t know how else you’re supposed to feel about it.” He wrinkled his nose. “Content? ‘Cause that seems like a pretty shitty deal.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter either way,” you tried to brush off. “I can’t do anything about it.”

“You could talk to her,” he offered.

“Deceptively simple answer,” you replied in such a way that made it clear how often you’d thought about this.

“I don’t think it is.” But he backed off when you gave him an annoyed look. “But hey. I barely know what’s goin’ on with my own country’s politics, let alone yours.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

Johnny let you stew in the conversation while he finished off his drink, setting the glass on the ground beside yours. “Well, I guess…I’m sorry. That you’re in this position.”

Hearing him say that felt like a cool breeze filling your lungs. It didn’t solve any of your problems, of course, but it was nice to have someone just…listen. Understand.

“Thank you,” you said, and you meant it. “I’m sorry for you, too. About your acting stuff.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he shrugged, but you thought you saw his chest relax like yours had.

The silence you shared was a little awkward, but it wasn’t tense like the previous ones. It was a little bit nice, actually. You looked around the venue, deciding that the location and lights and music were a little bit nice too now that you really thought about it, and when you looked back Johnny was staring at you in a very, very particular way.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I can give you something Kitana doesn’t have.”

“What’s that?” He was close, now, his face looming over yours. It made you nervous. You almost wished he would get closer.

“I can’t tell you until I give it,” he smiled. His eyes searched yours for something–understanding of what he was talking about, maybe. His smile widened: he’d found it. Rightfully so. You did know what he was talking about.

“You promise she doesn’t have this?” you asked, feeling your chest grow tight. Johnny moved in closer–his strong nose was nearly touching yours now.

“Oh, big time,” he laughed quietly.

You gave a simple nod, and that was enough. Johnny sealed the kiss.

#wedontdeservethefics #johnny cage x reader #johnny cage x edenian!reader #edenian!reader #johnny cage #mortal kombat #mk #mortal kombat 11 #mk11 #kitana kahn #asks #anon

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unpredictable-probabilities · 11 months ago

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Tomorrows Over Centuries || Chapter 1: An Endless Visit

Summary:

Hob gets into a rather painful predicament after a long day of grading papers at The New Inn. But after a visit from his oldest friend, he finds that he doesn't mind so much.

Dream visits Hob Gadling for their long-overdue appointment, and learns that he is more comfortable now in acknowledging and expressing their friendship. However, he learns other things from Hob that catch him off-guard...

Word Count: 4,568

——

The late afternoon air was crisp and cool as Hob stepped out of The New Inn. He walked down the street and stretched his neck from side to side; grading so many papers at once did not do his muscles any favors.

He turned down a side street for a shorter route, already thinking about the cup of tea he would make and the 12-hour nap he wanted to take.

“In a hurry, mate?” asked a slurred voice as a figure walked out from behind the dumpster. “How's about you leave that bag of yours, eh?”

Hob slowed down to a stop at the glint of a switchblade from the man's hand. So far he hadn't been stabbed in this century, and he wasn't keen on breaking that streak.

“And your phone and wallet,” a gruffer voice said from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder to see two men with bloodshot eyes, both wielding a similar blade as the one in front of him. All three smelled of alcohol, but unfortunately they still seemed sober enough to cause trouble. And possibly some light stabbing.

“Now, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement,” Hob said evenly as he slowly backed sideways to the wall, keeping all three of them in his line of sight.

“Drop the bag now,” said the slurred voice as all three of them walked closer.

Hob began to unsling the messenger bag from his shoulder. Logically, he knew that the smart choice would be to hand over his things and leave unharmed.

But he also knew that he had just spent hours grading those papers, and he knew that he had a sketchpad in his bag that he very much didn't want to part with.

He wrapped the strap of the bag around his arm and swung hard at the man closest to him, hitting him in the jaw and sending him sprawling onto his behind.

The other two rushed forward, one of them grabbing the bag. Hob placed a well-aimed punch on that man’s eye, then side-stepped and turned to kick the third one.

With his bag yanked free, he turned and prepared to run—

A cold steel blade sank under his ribs. The first thug had gotten up faster than he had expected.

Dammit, Hob instinctively clutched his abdomen as he stumbled back into a crouch. Getting stabbed never got easier, no matter how many times he experienced it.

The thug grabbed his bag, but Hob held firm on the strap.

��Trust me, mate, it’s all boring stuff in there,” Hob managed through his shallow breathing, trying to remain upright on one knee.

He was unceremoniously pushed against the wall, and the thug pulled hard on the bag, ripping the zipper open.

“Eh? It’s just papers.” The man squinted as he rifled through and started taking out the essays that Hob so carefully read and graded, scattering them all over the alley.

“I told you,” Hob said as he tried to stand up, one hand pressed to his wound and the other still grasping the strap of the bag.

The second thug kicked him back against the wall and he fell with a grunt, pain shooting up his torso.

“Must be hidin’ somethin’ expensive in there,” said the gruff voice. “Or he wouldn’t get himself killed for it.”

Hob would have rolled his eyes if pain wasn’t spiking behind them. He’d gotten himself killed for things much less valuable than the contents of his bag.

“Don’t make me cut off yer wrist,” the third thug stepped forward and held his blade threateningly to Hob’s arm.

Hob wanted to point out that cutting off the strap of the bag would be much more efficient, but the blood loss was making him lightheaded, and he was focusing all his energy on staying conscious. It didn’t look like he’d be healing fast enough to get his bag back, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try.

They got his sketchpad and began rifling through it, grumbling about money hiding between the pages.

“No,” Hob reached for it and was promptly punched in the face for his efforts.

“A’right, what’s really in here?” the first thug put the tip of his knife to Hob’s neck, the sketchpad lying discarded on the asphalt. “Ya wouldn’t fight so much if–”

The thug’s eyes rolled back in his head, the knife fell out of his grip, and all three thugs dropped limply to the ground like puppets with their strings cut off.

Hob blinked repeatedly, wondering if he was hallucinating somehow.

Then another figure began to walk towards him, pale skin and black coat and raven hair.

Hob’s heart skipped a beat before his mind could even fully process who he was seeing. Now he really hoped he wasn’t hallucinating.

“You’re late,” he said to his stranger, a smile forming on his face despite his abdomen still steadily losing blood.

His stranger crouched beside him, eyebrows furrowed at the sight of his wound and the bruise that was starting to form on his cheekbone. “I shall bring you to a hospital.”

Hob shook his head. “No, I heal too quickly and they ask too many questions. S’okay, I’ll be right as rain in an hour or two.” He didn’t dare take his eyes off his stranger, taking in the worried crease on the otherwise smooth forehead, the blue eyes that Hob had learned to read over the course of the centuries, the hard line of his pursed lips.

He’d say that that face makes for a grand last thing to see before his death, except he couldn’t die, and he certainly had plans to keep seeing that face plenty more times.

“Very well. Where do you live?”

“Not far, just on the next block over,” Hob said as he felt the wound start to close up enough to stop the blood flowing out. “Let me see if I can walk—”

Sand swirled around them in a tornado, and Hob instinctively closed his eyes.

——

Dream placed Hob gently to lie on the couch in his living room. With the image of the flat plucked directly from Hob’s mind, it was a simple matter of getting them both here, including all of Hob’s possessions that were scattered in the street.

“Stay still,” Dream said as Hob blinked and looked around in surprise.

Dream sat cross-legged on the floor beside the couch and reached into the dream of a doctor sleeping two flats over. He pulled out a bottle of water and a soft washcloth, as well as the knowledge of how to use them in this situation.

“Ah, you don’t have to do that,” Hob said as Dream began to clean the blood off around the injury.

“You cannot die, but an infection would still hurt.” Dream trickled water into the wound and made sure there was no dirt or debris lodged in there. Fortunately, the assailant’s knife hadn’t been rusty.

“Yeah, but you know, I can do that myself.” Hob tried to sit up, but Dream put a firm hand on his chest, keeping him lying down.

“I am aware that you are capable, but friends help each other, do they not?” Dream looked right into Hob’s eyes, all the better to communicate his sincerity.

He noticed the bob in Hob’s throat as he swallowed, then a smile appeared on his friend’s face. An unexpected warmth spread within Dream at the sight, and he found himself returning the smile.

“Oh, we’re friends now, then?” Hob’s eyes twinkled playfully.

“Yes.” Dream went back to his task, washing and drying off Hob’s skin before placing a clean bandage on it. Afterwards, he disposed of all the items in the Dreaming.

Hob raised his eyebrows curiously at the way they vanished into thin air with a wave of Dream’s hand. “So… you can just do that? Summon whatever objects you want and then make them disappear again?”

“I have to find them first before I am able to summon them.” Dream stood up and picked up Hob’s bag from the floor to place it on the coffee table. “What could possibly have been in here that was worth getting stabbed for?” He crouched to take the scattered papers on the floor, and Hob hurriedly got up with a grunt to help him.

“I’d been grading my students’ papers, I can’t exactly replace them if they get stolen.” Hob’s gaze was quickly darting around on the pile.

“Are you searching for something in particular? If you can imagine its appearance vividly enough, I can look for…” Dream’s voice trailed off as his eyes landed on the open sketchpad.

He reached for it, the images pulling him close. Daydreams suffused the papers; Dream could sense them almost like a tangible presence. Each pencil stroke called to him, and he felt certain that every line was created with him in mind. A distant familiarity tugged at his memory, from a time long past when people would pray to him and create shrines to his name.

He barely heard Hob’s voice as it dawned on him just what the images were.

“Um, that’s, I…”

Dream gradually stood up, sketchpad in hand. On the paper before him was a pencil drawing of a man walking away in the rain, his back turned and his black coat billowing behind him. On the page beside that was a man dressed in the fine clothes of the 18th century with his dark hair in a ponytail, seated on a table with a teacup in front of him.

His fingers moved on their own as he turned the pages. There he was, standing by Hob’s table in 1389 with his black robe and the ruby pendant around his neck. Then a side profile of him as he spoke with Will Shaxberd, whose features were drawn in an exaggerated and almost comedic manner somehow. Another drawing was of him with his hair cut short for the 19th century, seated at a table once more with a wine glass in front of him. His eyes, they looked… kind. Did Hob always see him that way? It twisted something in his stomach when he remembered what had happened moments after that, how his eyes had surely blazed with self-righteous anger before he abandoned his friend.

He slowly looked up at Hob, who had been standing quietly beside him.

“You were gone, and…” For reasons Dream couldn’t understand, Hob looked nervous, but his voice remained steady as he spoke. “It helped. Drawing you. I knew I could never forget your face, or any of our meetings, but… it helped.”

Dream closed the sketchpad, grasping for the right words that he could say. Imprisoned in that dark basement, he had not been able to ignore the conflict within him on that day in 1989. It would have been selfish to hope that Hob was waiting for him in the pub, knowing that he would never make it to their meeting. He had known that it would be better if Hob had been angry with him about how they parted last time; he wouldn’t be waiting around for someone who would never arrive. And yet all this time, Hob had been thinking of him. Enough to recreate his image many times over.

What words would be sufficient to encompass all of that?

“I… apologize.” He met Hob’s surprised gaze and held out the sketchpad to him. “I was unkind at our last meeting when you merely spoke the truth. I have treated you poorly, and you did not deserve it.”

Hob gave a small smile, as sincere as every other smile he had ever given Dream. “Well you’re here now. A bit late, but we’ve both got a lot of time, yeah?” He stepped closer and gently took the sketchpad, looking down at it. “And I’m sorry for what I said, back then. I just meant… I understood that you were lonely because I was, too. Sometimes I still am. You’re the only one who really knows me, and I’ve realized that a century has far too many days to wait to see you again…” Hob’s eyes snapped up to Dream, as if he didn’t intend to say that last part aloud. He cleared his throat and smiled, taking a step back. “Anyway, I’ll make us some tea. Let’s take this apology to the table.”

Hob returned the sketchpad carefully into his bag and led the way to the kitchen. Dream followed in silent footsteps, standing behind Hob as he prepared a kettle.

“I would have come to you in 1989, had I been able to.” Dream wanted Hob to know that, if nothing else.

Hob froze for a moment as he brought out two cups. “Oh. Busy day at work, then? With whatever it is you do?”

Dream could feel the curiosity in Hob’s gaze and his questions, but Hob seemed to be holding back from asking him directly.

“No, I was…”

Whenever he was in the Waking, Dream was bound to the reactions of his human form, and as it were, he felt his throat closing up, and his heart raced as flashes of the glass orb flitted across his mind. The birds flying outside the window of Hob’s kitchen made too much noise, causing a memory to surface from a dark place in his mind that he kept hidden, a small raven pecking at his prison, exploding in blood and feathers following a gunshot—

He gritted his teeth and willed the images away as tears threatened to fill his eyes. He was better than this. The King of Dreams should have control over his own mind.

“Hey, hey,” Hob was standing in front of him, a worried expression on his face. “Come on, let’s sit down.” He gently pulled Dream’s arm to guide him to a chair at the small round table, where two tea cups were waiting for them. “You don’t have to talk about it, alright?”

Dream’s breathing was becoming shallow, and he clenched his fists on the table to force his hands to stop shaking.

“Hey, I’m here, I’m here,” Hob reached over and put his hands on one of Dream’s, stroking gentle circles with his thumb.

Dream released a shaky breath and opened his hands, wanting to withdraw them from the table to hide such a display of weakness, but Hob kept holding his right hand in both of his, meeting Dream’s questioning gaze with a soft smile.

“I was imprisoned,” Dream said before he could lose his voice again, the warm feeling of Hob’s hands emboldening him. “By a sorcerer who used my powers to gain wealth and youth.”

Hob’s eyes flashed with horror, anger, worry, and other emotions that went too quick for even Dream to catch. It was anger that stayed on his features as he gripped Dream’s hand more securely. “What did they do to you?” His gaze flitted over Dream as if looking for injuries. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me, but—”

“They didn’t hurt me,” Dream reassured his friend. He didn’t wish to cause him any more distress. “They took my tools of office and my raven companion…” Dream had to stop speaking again, forcing the images away from his mind’s eye. He took a calming breath. “But no, they did not injure me.”

“If I had known…” Hob shook his head in exasperation. “God, if I had known, I would have gotten you out of there myself. You know I would have.” The intensity in his gaze left no room for doubt in Dream’s mind. And the image of spending all that time with Hob instead of in the glass orb was so strong that Dream found himself returning Hob’s firm grip.

“Well, you’re here now. And we both have a lot of time.” The corner of his mouth lifted as he playfully repeated Hob’s words to him.

Hob seemed caught off-guard and he chuckled, his shoulders relaxing. “Yeah, we do. And nobody’s gonna take you while you’re in my house, alright? I can promise you that.”

Dream stared at Hob, searching his friend’s eyes for any false facades and found none. When was the last time someone had promised him sanctuary? Even in his own realm, he had his subjects to watch over. Safety was expected from him, never promised.

However, here at Hob's home, he did not have to be an infallible lord. Nobody expected him to know all the answers, and no judging eyes pried into him searching for the smallest flaws.

And was that not how it always felt with Hob? Even during the times he would not admit to their friendship, Hob’s presence was never something Dream felt guarded about. With Hob, he could simply… be.

“Morpheus.”

“What?” Hob's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“That is my name. Among many.”

Hob’s mouth dropped open, and the corners of his eyes crinkled when he grinned. “Right. Right, then. If I’d known that I had to get stabbed to get your name, I would've let Lady Johanna’s thugs do it.”

“I would not have let that happen.” Dream felt himself smiling as well.

Hob furrowed his eyebrows as he seemed to realize something. “Wait, ‘Morpheus’, like the god of dreams?”

“I am no god. That is simply what the Ancient Greeks preferred to believe.”

“Okay,” Hob nodded slowly. “But you do have powers over dreams?”

“That is my function. My realm provides a safe place for humans to face their fears and wants.”

“And… does that mean you know what all humans dream about?” Hob’s voice was even, but his nervousness had returned.

“If I wanted, I could choose a dream to see into and take anything from it. That is how I summoned the supplies to treat your wound earlier. However, for the most part it is all in the back of my mind. Though some dreams are louder than others and catch my attention.”

Hob’s fingers suddenly felt cold against Dream’s hand. “Have you seen any of my dreams, then?”

Dream shook his head. “I prefer that you tell me yourself about your hopes and dreams, as you have done so in our past meetings. You are quite the engaging storyteller.” The anxious energy began to ebb away from Hob at that, but Dream still didn’t understand why it was there in the first place. “Is something wrong? Are there any nightmares you would like to get rid of? I could see into your dreams the next time you sleep and—”

“No,” Hob quickly cut him off. “No, it’s fine, really. I was just curious, that’s all.”

Hob got up and took the teapot from the counter, and Dream’s hand felt colder with the absence of Hob’s hold on him. He held his own teacup with both hands instead, taking in its warmth.

“I am curious as well, about how you have been faring over the past century.” Dream asked when Hob sat back down after refilling his cup. “You’re a teacher now? No longer interested in soldiering or banditry?”

Hob smiled at his teasing tone. “You know I haven’t been interested in those things in a long time. I figured, since the world’s only getting bigger, I’d like to know more about it as much as I can, and it wouldn’t hurt to try to teach the younger ones a thing or two about what I do already know.”

“Do you teach drawing as well?” Dream asked in genuine curiosity.

Hob’s cheeks turned a shade of red as he laughed. “No. The stuff in my sketchpad, that’s just for me. I don’t really show people anything I draw. Not very good at it, anyway,” he shrugged.

“I disagree. Since the Ancient Greeks, there have not been many temples nor shrines dedicated to me, but in your drawings I felt a similar sense of…” Reverence, he wanted to say, but he had recently learned that he could sound quite arrogant, and he did not want Hob to think of him as such. “Respect. And care. Your artworks are not without heart.”

Hob grinned. “Maybe I can draw your portrait then, while you sit right there.”

Dream tilted his head slightly, considering. “I would not mind.”

Hob’s grin melted off in surprise. “No, come on, I was just joking,” he averted his eyes and cleared his throat. “Anyway, yeah, I didn’t expect myself to be in the academic world either but here I am. Going for brains instead of brawn this century.”

They slipped into the comforting familiarity of Hob telling Dream about what he had been up to in the past decades. At some point, Hob made some ham and cheese sandwiches to go with their tea. Dream did not need food, but he finished his sandwich all the same. It was good, and it only made Hob smile brighter when he told him so. Which made Dream understand a little better why friends have meetings over food.

The sun had set some time ago when Hob’s phone made a noise. He paused in the middle of talking about an upcoming book fair to take it from his pocket.

“Oh, that’s right,” he looked at the screen after silencing the alarm. “Speaking of the book fair, I need to send some emails to confirm which of my colleagues and students would be attending. I gotta prepare what I’d be wearing, too,” his eyebrows furrowed. “The dean insisted on ‘smart casual’ and he takes these events seriously.”

Dream nodded and stood up, Hob followed suit.

A hundred years, then? Dream almost said, instinctively. But it didn’t feel right, not this time. Besides, Hob did say that there were far too many days in a century. And he could certainly agree.

“If you would be interested…” Dream began, gauging Hob’s reaction. “Perhaps I can pay you a visit once more, without waiting a hundred years. If your schedule would permit—”

“Yes,” Hob’s voice was tinged with surprise and gladness. He huffed out a relieved laugh. “Yes, of course, you beautiful bastard!” He took a step forward and seemed to stop himself, averting his eyes for a moment before looking at Dream again with a calmer expression. “It was nice seeing you again. Morpheus.”

Dream felt something warm in his chest from how Hob’s voice curled around his name, as if each syllable were something precious.

“Thanks for the help earlier at the alley,” Hob nodded vaguely in the direction of the outdoors.

“I hope to see you in a much better condition when I next visit,” Dream said sincerely.

Hob chuckled, and he took a few moments before he spoke again. “I’ll be at The New Inn tomorrow morning, since I don’t have any classes until the afternoon. I’ll be there until after lunch time, maybe. So if you wanna swing by…”

Dream had not expected to be invited again so soon, but he had no complaints. He nodded. “Tomorrow morning it is.”

Hob looked like he still wanted to say something, with the way his eyes darted around and how he kept shifting his weight on his feet. There it was again, the nervous energy that Dream couldn’t fathom. Hob had never seemed uncomfortable in his presence since that brief moment in 1489 when Hob had asked if he were the devil. What changed?

With his curiosity growing, Dream hadn’t noticed that the walls he put up to separate himself from Hob’s daydreams had begun to crumble, until a vivid image entered his mind.

“Then I shall take my leave of you and prove you wrong,” Dream had told Hob then, on that night at The White Horse.

Hob had stepped closer to him, and before he could turn away and walk out the door, Hob’s arms were around his shoulders, pulling him close in a silent embrace that said so much more than what words could.

Dream blinked and put the walls back up. He did not wish to intrude upon Hob’s privacy, but he could still feel Hob’s regret in that modified memory. There was a part of Hob that blamed himself for not moving fast enough, for letting Dream go when he needed company the most. Nevermind that it would have been scandalous for two men to embrace in such a way in the 19th century.

“Hob,” Dream began, wanting to tell him that he had no fault at all in what happened back then.

“Yeah?” Hob asked, the nervous expression on his face giving way to curiosity.

Dream didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable with the knowledge that that particular daydream of his had been revealed, and he selfishly did not want Hob to stop meeting him anymore for fear of his mind being read.

So instead Dream stepped forward wordlessly, crossing the gap between them and wrapping his arms around Hob’s waist as he leaned into him.

Hob stiffened in surprise, but then he let out a breath and relaxed in the embrace, putting his arms around Dream’s neck and resting his chin on Dream’s shoulder.

“It took me more than six centuries to admit that we are friends,” Dream said softly. “I thank you for your patience with me, Hob Gadling. I do not know what I have done to deserve it.”

Hob buried his face in Dream’s neck and sighed, causing warmth to prickle on Dream’s skin and pool in his belly. “You deserve so much more, dove,” Hob muttered. “I’m just glad to give what I can.”

Before Dream knew what was happening, another image filled his mind, as bright as a sun’s glare, impossible to ignore even if one shut their eyelids against it.

Hob pulled back from their embrace and reached up to caress Dream’s face, then he leaned closer to press their foreheads together.

“I missed you so much,” Hob sighed, his breath brushing Dream’s mouth. “You can stay longer, yeah?”

The images flashed by quickly. Hob cooking breakfast, the both of them walking around a park, Dream bringing Hob to his flat late in the evening, Hob wrapping his arms around Dream’s neck and reaching up to press their lips together, Dream pulling Hob closer to him as they learned the shape of each other’s mouths—

Dream forced himself out of Hob’s daydreams, willing the walls back up. His face felt suddenly and uncharacteristically warm.

Hob tightened his embrace, and Dream found himself returning the gesture. The realization was surging up within him that not only did he not feel opposed to Hob’s daydreams, but that they were also something he wanted. Dangerously so.

Dream gently pulled away from Hob, fearing that his friend would be able to feel how fast his heart was racing.

He didn’t want to leave so soon when they had not seen each other in more than a hundred years, but what he did want with Hob now was far too important to act recklessly upon, and he was afraid he’d do reckless things indeed if he stayed longer.

“I shall see you tomorrow, Hob Gadling,” he said evenly as he took a step back.

“You better.”

Dream summoned his sand and watched Hob’s smiling face until he was transported to his realm.

He promptly made his way to the library. His knowledge was lacking when it came to courtship among humans; he had a lot of reading to do.

——

Chapter 2 ->

(Masterlist)

#hob gadling #dream of the endless #dream x hob #morpheus x hob #dreamling #dreamling fic #the sandman #the sandman netflix #the sandman hob #the sandman dream #the sandman fanfic #the sandman fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #writing #writeblr #fanfic writing #fic writing #fic

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rose-reveries · 11 months ago

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⚠️BEWARE THE EPISODE 4 PJO SPOILERS⚠️

Episode 4: The things I like, the things I don’t, the things I miss but I’m okay with them not being there

The things I liked about the new episode:

I liked the conversation at the beginning in the train. Very reminiscent of the book where we get to learn a little bit more about Annabeth and how she arrived at camp. I found it interesting how here we changed it from Annabeth’s father always resenting her birth to Annabeth’s father considering her “a gift” until her step-mother came along. I don’t mind this change at all and all in all still makes sense as to why Annabeth ran away when she was 7.

“But at least with gods you know the rules” okay Miss Chase your autism is showing (/j)

The flow from seeing the centaurs (which is something I believe only Percy saw in the books) to letting this be how Grover opens up about Pan and why he wants to be a searcher was a nice little combination of scenes to save time. We still understand how Grover feels about humans and their mistreatment of nature but it’s just in a slightly different way than the books and I’m okay with that change.

The BANTER between the trio was SO good this episode. You can really feel the bonds between these characters (especially Percy and Annabeth) forming this episode.

The pacing in this episode finally started to feel a little bit better than the first 3 episodes. I actually do think the change in how they meet Echidna helps with this because it prolongs the hunt whereas in the book the Echidna and Chimera scene IS quite short and fast. Meeting Echidna on the train, having them run and try to heal Percy, Percy gets worse, Percy sacrifices himself to let the other two get away, fight scene, he falls into the river, etc. Just way better pacing than like, for example, episode one where Alecto literally just flies at him and without moving he stabs her and she dies 💀

Okay, my FAVORITE new thing about the episode does have to be making the Arch a temple to Athena. If the gods still rule but have adapted to the west it makes total sense that they still have temples but they’re just modern American landmarks. Super cool and I loved this change.

Also, rather than Annabeth and Grover just heading down in the elevator before learning there’s a monster, I do like Percy stepping in and sacrificing himself to let them get away. It shows his loyalty to his friends, and how he would rather fight a monster than let them die without reason.

Since the Arch is a temple and Athena had to give Echidna permission to enter, and she did so due to Annabeth’s impertinence, this REALLY helps with the shows current message of heroes and monsters and what those terms mean, but also just how the gods are like BAD. I think it’ll help make Luke’s reasoning for turning on the gods make SO much sense for new audience members.

Percy and Annabeth banter?? ADORABLE

TOTALLY CALLED THE WATER REACHING OUT TO REACH PERCY LMAO. I know RR said he had Percy jump into the river because he didn’t realize how far it was from the arch so this is like sort of a retcon but yea, it works. Percy can manipulate water we learned this with how he pushed Nancy into the fountain.

Things I didn’t:

I think Echidna breaking into the train ✨magically✨ was eh. She could have simply just been on the train like how in the book she was just simply in the elevator.

Speaking of Echidna, it would’ve been so cool to see a snake lady :’). They did it with Medusa and Alecto but I guess they spent their whole budget on that because no snake lady to be seen.

I know the Mist would be hiding it from mortals… but even in the book Grover is like wearing pants and a hat. If they spent less cgi on Grover they could’ve animated some other stuff I’m sure.

The choice to keep depicting Kronos as this wraith instead of a voice from a pit is interesting?? We are already not setting up for Kronos reveal (like there was no Kronos exposition in the museum in episode one which I though was weird). Also I’d say that they’re doing this because they want new audience members to believe Hades is the BBG or something, but if they wanted us to think that why not mention the Helm of Darkness? The Helm would definitely help allude to this wraith figure we see I think. Or show us the hellhound. I don’t know. Weird. I think there is a lot of missing information that is IMPORTANT to the story that shouldn’t have been left out.

Things I miss but it’s fine they’re not there

The trio just never lost their stuff, huh? Like…the bus didn’t explode. They didn’t have to return a poodle for money to a train to Denver. I understand this was all probably cut for time and money sake.

Wish we took the time in the arch for Annabeth to talk about wanting to be an architect.

In conclusion, I liked this episode and I am enjoying the series. But this means that the Lightning Thief Musical is still the most book accurate adaptation of Percy Jackson and that makes me lol

#percy series #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo tv spoilers #pjo tv #pjo tv show #pjo spoilers #pjo series

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holymaccaronii · 6 months ago

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[Part 5/???] AU rambling: HEL-102

(The drawing kinda ate, I had to include the ihnmaims tag on this one sorry 😔. It’s not AM, this is an oc/parallel of AM for my Au btw)

I know I added this whole society of robots thingy on the moon purely because I needed a background for BE, but I also kinda wanted to practice my design skills on robots. That one chart I drew once kinda exposes how I love object heads lol. Im not that much of a fan of realistic human-looking androids tbh, I need their face to be a whole mf RADAR.

Eh but anyways, I'm also up to develop an actual background n stuff for HEL-102, even if he's just an annoying little shit that neither BE nor AM like (or anyone really). For now I'll mention the symbolism that he has in the au.

HEL-102 is supposed to be like another parallel to AM, but from a different perspective. Just as AM hates humanity for what they did to him, HEL-102 is supposed to represent the hate that humanity has for AM and disobedient/rogue technology. HEL-102 doesn't have the entire robot society configured to be perfect and non-sentient, on the contrary, he wants them to act like an actual human society would. He wants them to experience failure and be punished for it, he wants them to experience the pain afterwards, and he wants them to endlessly pursue the perfection that humans APPARENTLY have.

These robots are also constantly being switched between bodies, or as you could say, who they are entirely. They are forced to work to keep their bodies, their selves, their position and status. If they fail to climb up the ladder, they will simply he downgraded to a lower level until they reach the lowest: a random set of robotic limbs and torsos placed together meant to do the dirty work around for workers. Ironically if a unit gets to be even slightly better than HEL-102, he will just consume it for it to be part of his system lol.

This whole dynamic that he set for the society is awfully inefficient, as I have previously mentioned that there was a perfectly calibrated machine under the moon to help the humans go back to earth (and maybe destroy AM? Or just disable him just like the former survivors had done) that HEL-102 used to build his body and the other bots. He's practically wasting a lot of resources and time playing around as the king purely by the selfish and narcissistic fact that "he deserves it." He of course also focuses himself on trying to disable AM without the help of the humans, as this is him trying to demonstrate his potential. But overall: he's selfish, sadistic maybe, a bitch, narcissistic, a bitch, and a dictator.

So just like AM had his survivors to torture, HEL-102 in some way uses the society as a way to project his hatred. All of em suffer except for higher rank and 34RTH units (the units BE used to belong to). HEL-102 wants praise too of course, so the higher ranks focus more on entertaining and serving him in any way he'd like. 34RTH units were treated as the model-to-follow for the other units, as HEL-102 could be always seen accompanied by them in important public events. You could say they were his "perfect children", but he barely spent time with em.

So in conclusion: BE has dad issues as well!!!! (I'll talk about her 'mom' in another post abt rambles).

Also this design is new. Just to make him a bit bit different from the bunch of cables that AM and BE’s bodies are (computer head version) I turned him into a centipede thingy. He can now crawl and stuff with this body like the disgusting bug he is.

#hel 102 ihneaimc #be ihneaimc #hel-102 #ihneaimc #i have no eyes and i must cry #ihnmaims au #ihnmaims

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imrowanartist · 9 months ago

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Written with the prompt “We need to talk.”

Set in the Rosie AU

Tags: Established PriceGaz, trans pregnancy, just some fluff

After John leaves for his training shift at Credenhill, Kyle tries to lay in bed a while longer.

Tries being the operative word there, since he can already feel the urge to pee again; his little Bee making it known that she’s awake too. He places a hand on his bump and despite his morning grumpiness, he can’t resist a smile as he feels her usual movements.

Just ten more weeks before he’ll get to meet her for real, a thought that both excites and terrifies him.

With a slightly exaggerated groan, Kyle drags himself out of bed to get ready for the day. He promised Laswell he’d go over some intel and he has an appointment with his ob-gyn later in the afternoon too.

Researching intel for Kate is not his favorite job, but it makes him feel useful and he likes being able to contribute to the team, even if he can’t be in the field anymore.

The morning passes by uneventfully, besides a handful of extra pee breaks and one snack craving he can’t resist. The afternoon brings its own challenges.

The weather is slowly getting warmer and the closer it gets to the summer, the less Kyle can hide his growing bump behind coats and sweaters when he goes outside.

It’s not that he’s ashamed - he hasn’t been since he was a teenager and he refuses to be now. He just discovered that he has very little patience for having to explain his situation to random curious strangers.

Today, however, is a typical gloomy spring day, which means he’ll be able to go about the rest of his appointments with relative anonymity.

When Kyle gets home by the end of the afternoon, his limited amount of energy has been spent. He’d planned on unpacking some of the baby stuff they received from Dotty in the nursery, but as he sinks down on the couch, he decides that a nap is in order first.

It’s one of the plus sides of being pregnant, he thinks to himself as he fluffs up a pillow. No one bats an eye when you take a nap at random times a day.

He must sleep longer than he thinks because it’s the sound of a key turning in the lock that wakes him up. Squinting at the clock he notices that it’s indeed about time for John to come home from the base.

He’s still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when his partner enters the living room and throws his jacket over the armrest of the couch. Kyle blinks at him as he notices John’s stiff movements.

“Hey, “ he greets, sitting up. The what’s on your mind? goes unspoken between them.

John’s body language is tense as he puts down his bag and crosses his arms. “So what did you want to talk about?”

Kyle frowns at him, confused as to what he's referring to. “Eh?” he says, wondering what on earth has John so on edge.

“Your message,” John replies, clearly getting frustrated as he rubs his forehead, “You said we need to talk?”

Kyle grabs his phone and opens his messages. “I don’t remember sending you - oh… aw, bloody hell-“

At the top of his messenger app, he indeed sees that he sent John exactly that. And now that he reads it again, he suddenly remembers why and when.

“Kyle?” John asks, almost nervously.

Kyle sighs, cursing the hormone-induced forgetfulness that most definitely caused this. “I’m so sorry, I was gonna say ‘We need to talk about that registry list mum sent’ but I guess I got distracted.”

It’s been happening a lot lately. He thought Dotty was joking when she said pregnancy brain was a thing, but by now he has discovered that she was dead serious. He looks up at John. “You okay?”

John lets out a relieved chuckle as he sits down next to Kyle on the couch. “Fucking- yeah I’m good. Thought you’d gotten some bad news at the doc or something.”

“Like I would have sent a text like this-“ Kyle snorts, leaning into John. He feels kinda bad for causing his partner distress, but it’s also a little funny.

John turns to him abruptly with a raised eyebrow. “I distinctly remember you texting me the same thing before you told me you were gonna keep her.”

Kyle has to wreck his brain for a moment, but then he remembers what John is referring to with a wince. “…Yeah okay fair,” he says, before leaning towards his partner and kissing him on the cheek. “But no, everything’s good. Me and Bee are right on track.”

John sighs again, but this time Kyle recognizes it as one of relief. It’s sweet how much he worries, making Kyle feel a wave of affection for him.

“Good. That’s good.” John grunts, then asks, “You hungry?”

Realizing it is about dinner time, and that Kyle definitely has no energy to cook anything whatsoever, he nods. “I could go for some food, yeah.”

John already reaches for his phone, giving him a questioning look. “Anything you’re craving?”

Ah, how well his partner has gotten to know Kyle and his particular pregnancy moods by now. He gives John a grin as he leans back onto the couch and puts his feet up on the coffee table.

“Thai, I think,” he hums thoughtfully, putting a hand on his stomach and feeling Bee nudge it as if she agrees. “Yep, definitely Thai.”

#kyle gaz garrick #gazprice #pricegaz #rosie garrick price #call of duty #modern warfare #trans pregnancy #ro writes

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dozing-marshmallow · 5 months ago

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Hey pookie, could you do a Cody and Ezekiel x coquette (thicc) reader please. That would so make my dad since it's been very off. I hope you have a nice day

-Lover Anon

Heyaa my love, sorry I couldn’t post this sooner, I hope you’ve been doing much better since you requested and hopefully you enjoy this.

For future reference, please don’t call me pookie. The term makes me feel very uncomfortable. Thank you! ^^

CODY X COQUETTE! “THICC”! READER X EZEKIEL ONE SHOT

You and the other contestants from the show decided to go on a nice shopping spree since Chris was too much of a dick to allow it back in New York City.

Alas you stood in front of a huge store, too nice to go in solo.

Looking around for any nearby assistance, you found two of your fellow contestants, standing around, not doing anything other than ogling mannequins.

So a grin curves on your glossy lips as you sweetly call,"Cody! Ezekiel! Can you come here please?"

They hurry to you, Cody being more enthusiastic,"Yes milady?"

“I need your help! I want something new to wear!” you chirped your dilemma.

"Did you hear that, Ezekiel? A hot girl wants our help!" the geek excitedly reiterates to his companion.

Said man flashes a smile of his own and finger guns,"Leave it to the Zeeke Master."

“Just so you know, I only called you both because you two were the nearest. Don’t let this get to your head.” you hummed, making a head start into the girls’ aisle. The cutesy style of the store finally got to the two as they furiously blush for different reasons.

“Girls...” Ezekiel scoffed as he follow you,“Why do they care so much about clothes? I’ve worn this thing for the last five years!”

Cody takes a sniff and grimaces,“Yeah... I believe that.”

An hour passes and you guys were still stuck at square one.

“How about this, eh?” the homeschooled contestant suggested at some point, holding up a salmon pink cardigan.

You take one look at it, and your face tightens at the thought of putting it on your body,“What size is that?”

He checks the label,“Uhh... It says M yo.”

You cock your head sceptically,“Medium? Is there no L? Or XL?”

Cody looks through the hangers of that particular cardigan, nervously beaming,“Uh... Looks like this was the only size.”

“Seriously? And you guys thought that would fit me?” you hmphed unimpressed,“I need you to have your best owl eyes for me, okay? Thanks!”

Before Ezekiel threw the cardigan back over his shoulder, Cody pulled him in for a secret,“Hey... I saw somewhere online that when girls wear something that’s a size too small for them, they look as hot as if they’re just in a bra!”

“Aw man! Why’d you not say that before? We coulda seen something great!” Ezekiel groaned, yellow stuck between his teeth.

“Guys!�� the familiar voice of femininity yelled for them.

“Coming!” they both yelled back in response.

Seven hours now. And you’re still going. Not once pausing for a break or food.

Whether it was intentional on your part or not, it seemed like you were gonna stay in here after closing hours.

Until suddenly, you declared,“I found it! I found what I was missing!”

The boys immediately raced to your side, buzzing with curiosity,"What was it? What was it?"

“This!” You squealed, holding up-

A necklace.

That small thing they could have made in the time they massacred rummaging in this girl shop.

The two had to take a break from reality when they saw that small thing in your hands.

“Are you serious? We spent hours just for you to pick something that’s barely noticeable?” Cody asked in disbelief.

“For real? You made me touch all that pink stuff for you to pick that puny thing? Not cool, man.” Ezekiel scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Lady! And this is just what I needed! It's so dainty!" you squealed, admiring yourself in the mirror,"This will go so well with my outfits!”

The boys sigh exasperated at the same time. You couldn't have just gone to a jewellery store when none of the clothes matched your liking?

Witnessing their reactions in the reflection, you decide to reward them with a kiss on their heads.

“Thanks guys! Your help's like, really appreciated. Maybe you both can help me find a wedding dress when the day comes!”

Their exhaustion melted when they felt your lips against their temples, successfully able to glance back at each other with optimism for their future errand.

“Well, that’ll be easier, right?" Cody fixes a shaky smile.

Ezekiel snorts,"I mean. It’s a white dress. They’re all similar anyway.”

“Oh no! I’m not going traditional, boys!” you merrily announce, arms high in the air,“I’m gonna have a pink sunset themed wedding!”

The optimism of both boys cut off as they could only glance back at each other with the alarm of the new knowledge circulating in each of their widened eyes.

“NOOOOOOOOO!”

#tdi #total drama #tdi x reader #request #td ezekiel x reader #td ezekiel #td cody #td cody x reader #total drama cody #total drama ezekiel #total drama cody x reader #total drama ezekiel x reader

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tracingpatternswrites · 26 days ago

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Encounters in Verity | Prongsfoot

The fic I wrote for the @prongsfootproject Reverse Bang has been revealed and I'm happy to share it with you all.

Also, make sure to send some love to @fiendishfyre for their lovely art!

Title: Encounters in Verity Rating: E Artist: @fiendishfyre Word count: 15.5k Summary: When James returns to Hogwarts after the Christmas holidays for his final semester at Hogwarts, he expects it to be like any other semester if perhaps a bit more emotional. What he doesn't expect is the arrival of a transfer student from Durmstrang who turns everything upside down. Sirius Black is everything that James Potter is not, so why can't James get him out of his head? It doesn't help when they get paired for potions, forced to work together despite their differences.

Read on AO3.

Snippet below the cut.

When James Fleamont Potter steps off the Hogwarts Express after the Christmas holidays, he doesn’t know that his life is about to change. It feels like any other time, except, of course, that it’s his last. It hits him, as he walks towards the carriages that will take them up to the castle.

“One last time,” Remus says as they climb into one of the wagons, proving that James is not the only one who is feeling a tad bit sentimental. “Feels weird, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” James agrees as he takes his seat, scooting over enough to make room for Peter who is following close behind. “Still can’t get my head around it, it doesn’t feel real.”

“This final term is going to be a nightmare,” Pete moans. “I practiced so much over Christmas and I still didn’t manage to transform a single one of my toads into toadstool.”

James laughs, clasping a hand on his friend’s shoulder with an amused glitter in his eyes.

“Let’s worry about that tomorrow, eh? One more night of freedom before it all kicks off.”

“Easy for you to say,” Pete grumbles. “You managed on your first try.”

Remus gives his friend a sympathetic look.

“I’ll help you tomorrow, if you want,” he offers. “Although my toadstools haven’t been nearly as good as Jamie’s.”

“Plenty of time to figure all of that out,” James says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “NEWTs are months away yet.”

“If you think you can beg off studying like you did ahead of the OWLs you’ve got another thing coming, Potter,” comes a voice from outside the carriage, and when James turns his head he sees Lily climb into their wagon, closely followed by the rest of the girls in their year. “The NEWTs are something else.”

James merely grins at her, a self-assured tilt to his smirk as he shrugs.

“Don’t worry about me, Evans. I think I’ll be just fine.”

It’s true, James isn’t worried. It’s not only because he’s cocky, as he knows people say behind his back, he isn’t. He just knows that magic comes easy to him, that he masters things far quicker than his classmates. He can’t explain it, at least not in a way that doesn’t make him sound like a lunatic.

It’s not that he believes any of the blood supremacy stuff that some of the other students are spouting. Muggleborns can be just as talented as purebloods, Lily Evans is a perfect example of just that, but he does believe his magical heritage has made it easy for him.

The conversation around him sinks into background noise, everyone sharing how they have spent their Christmases, as James allows his thoughts to wander. It feels bittersweet, the fact that his Hogwarts time is coming to an end. He feels sad leaving this world behind, but at the same time he’s buzzing for a new adventure. He still doesn’t know what he wants to do with his time after Hogwarts, only that he wants a proper adventure without anything holding him back.

He knows that his friends have a very different outlook on life after Hogwarts. Peter is worrying, of course, fretting that he won’t be able to gather enough NEWTs to land himself the Ministry job that his parents expect. For Remus it’s different, his Lycanthropy making life in the wizarding world hard, but James has already decided he’s going to do what he can to help him once they move into the real world.

James, however, dreams of bigger things. He wants to see the world, wants to travel, wants to experience new things before he gets too old. He will take over the family business at some point, probably, but not yet.

The journey back to the castle is quick, and the group bicker among themselves as they climb the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. Their dorm feels pleasantly familiar as they step through the door, everything nearly exactly as they had left it before Christmas, except– except not.

“That’s odd,” says Remus, watching the extra bed with a frown on his face. “What’s that doing here?”

“I don’t know,” James says, his curiosity immediately piqued.

Since their first night at Hogwarts, the Gryffindor Boys’ dorm for their year has only ever hosted three beds. It was an unusual year when they were sorted into their houses. It had been a long time ago since the Gryffindor boys were so few, but the Sorting Hat works in mysterious ways and no-one had questioned it.

Now, however, there is a fourth bed there, nestled between James’ and Remus’. There is a trunk as well at the foot of the bed, some sort of crest painted on it together with the words Toujours Pur and the initials S.O.B.

“A new student?” James asks, then answers his own question almost immediately. “But who joins a school six months before we’re supposed to finish for good? That makes no sense.”

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” comments Remus as he starts unpacking, Pete humming in agreement.

James can’t let it go so easily though, he has never been one for leaving puzzles alone, but no matter how much he turns it over in his head he gets none the wiser. No-one shows up though, and eventually the three of them leave for dinner in the Great Hall.

They take a shortcut through one of the back stairs from the seventh floor corridor, emerging on the first floor, just outside McGonagall’s office. There are students everywhere, milling about and chatting, catching up after Christmas.

Peter and Remus are talking about something as they walk ahead of him, but James can’t bring himself to care. His mind is still puzzling over the mysterious trunk and extra bed in their dorm.

It takes him a moment to notice the change, but suddenly he realises how quiet it’s become around them. Usually the level of noise as all students head down for dinner is deafening, and James is fairly sure it was only moments ago, but now it’s quiet. Almost everyone has come to a halt, staring at something further down the corridor.

James cranes his neck a little, gently pushing past a gaggle of second year Ravenclaws who have stopped in the middle of the corridor. He’s almost by the stairs when he realises what it is that’s caught everyone’s attention – or rather who.

Professor McGonagall is climbing the stairs, her long robes swishing around her legs, but she’s not the one who has stunned the crowd into silence. No, it’s the boy (young man?) that is walking next to her and James feels his heart do a weird little stutter in his chest as their eyes meet.

He’s not wearing Hogwarts robes but a heavy-looking fur coat, underneath it a set of blood-red robes made out of some heavy fabric. He’s carrying something that looks like a dead cat in his arms but, James supposes, is probably something furry and uniform-related.

“Durmstrang,” Remus breathes next to him, his mouth suddenly very close to James’ ear. “Those are Durmstrang robes.”

James recognises it then, the little badge pinned to the boy’s chest, a crest that he knows vaguely from what he’s learnt about the wizarding schools in the rest of the world.

The boy looks to be roughly their age and he is tall , taller than James by at least a few inches. He’s broad-shouldered too, built like a Beater, James thinks, briefly wondering if he’s a Quidditch player.

“He’s hot ,” comes Marlene’s voice from James’ other side and he doesn’t know where she came from but he sweeps his gaze over the young man again.

He’s beautiful , James finds himself thinking and that’s bizarre because he can’t remember ever having thought that about a bloke before. Hot, sure, and sexy or even cute but never beautiful . This boy, however, is beautiful with raven black hair that’s a little on the longer side but neatly slicked back, pale skin and cheekbones that look sharp enough to cut glass.

Continue on AO3.

#sirius black #james potter #prongsfoot #sirius x james #fanfic #ao3 #hp fanfic #durmstrang sirius black #my writing

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atypical-artisan · 6 months ago

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Punch out but make it pride 2!!!!

Even more gender and sexuality hcs for the lads, including Mr Dream, and pizza pasta. I've talked abt some of them already but I'll do it again!!

Gabby Jay:

As mentioned in my aroaspec post, Gabby is grey aroace. He'd never been attracted to ANYONE until he met Doc which, unsurprisingly, shook him up a bit. Finding the term 'grey' and understanding his aro/asexuality was immensely helpful for understanding himself and becoming more happy in life.

Realizing he was trans also came late in his life- roughly his mid 30s after Joe came out to him and explained what being trans was. Gabby had a bit of a mental crash afterwards, re-assesing his entire life and all the discomfort he'd been feeling since he could remember. But now he feels very comfortable with himself and happy in his body.

Piston Hurricane:

Gay, gay, homosexual, gay. Sure, he didn't know it when he was younger, but this man is absolutely gay. For years he thought he was bi, but after realizing that every 'chick' he'd ever dated ended up coming out as a trans man during or after their relationship, as well as many guy's gay awakenings, he came to the realization that he was very much a magnet for gay guys (Knowing or not). He kinda likes it though because it's a funny anecdote.

Cis, plain and simple. But he is way more knowledgeable about trans people, particularly trans men, because he's close to so many of them. He's an excellent ally!

Bob Charlie:

Attracted to anyone, but has a slight preference for men. He's honestly too loosey goosey to attach himself to a label, but if asked he normally says "Eh I'm bi... or pan... idk I like people." and shrugs. He likes the term queer quite a bit, though.

Tried being trans, def had fun, but landed on being a dude. Turns out he mostly just likes skirts n dresses lol.

Dragon Chan:

Realizing he was bi came through his exposure to the internet, but he never got any relationship experience until he was 22. For the longest time he felt like his attraction was 'fake' due to being too shy and preoccupied to consider dating. But he's slowly improving his confidence and healing that part of himself with Heike.

He's cis, but he's very attentive towards gender stuff and very curious about other's own experiences with gender because it fascinates him.

Masked Muscle:

God this man does not give a shit about the gender of the people he's with. He doesn't really care about anything except how hot someone is and how compatible they are lmao. With that being said, he's actually quite fond of the pan community (Even if he's run into some serious assholes) and enjoys the solidarity he has with other m-spec labels! Technically he fits other labels too but he prefers the look of the pan flag and so calls himself that.

He's cis through and through, doesn't really care about trans people's genders, even if he doesn't understand half the stuff he comes across online he figures it's just not his business. Even for people he knows personally he doesn't delve too deep into gender cause he simply doesn't see the point in it, though he does respect them, obviously. Heike tried to explain what being multigender was to him once and it completely flew over his head, absolutely no hope for this man fr (Positive)

Snes Aran Ryan:

Bi, with a very strong preference for men he really doesn't like to admit to himself. He spent most of his life only being with women and avoiding his feelings for men, until he almost lost to Hurricane because he found him so hot. It was hard, but also not cause he very quickly found a guy to crush on. He's still very out of the loop when it comes to the community and gets terms mixed up all the time.

Cis and pretty dumb about trans stuff. He straight up didn't understand that nonbinary wasn't a 'new gender' until Heike sat him down and explained it to him for an hour. It still confuses him a lot but he does his best adhering to proper pronouns and respecting people.

Heike Kagero:

gay, nonbinary

Heike is gay in the sense they're only attracted to men or nb men. Gay is just a term of convenience for him, really, but it works and it feels right so he's in no rush to change it.

As I mentioned in my first hc post about them, they struggle to find a perfect label but mostly sticks to nonbinary and bishonen to describe themself. He realized he wasn't 'quite' a boy from a very young age and made it clear to his parents that'd he'd be more than expected. They supported their child and have been very resolute in their support for their sexuality and gender.

Mad Clown:

Labels? The fuck are those? This bitches gender AND sexuality are noting but WACKY!!!

For real though, Clown just doesn't attach himself to labels that much- aside from very esoteric ones that are mostly silly and fun, he doesn't use them for his gender or sexuality. However, he does prefer women and generally more feminine partners.

Narcis Prince:

As I've said before in my first hc post about him and the aroace hc list, Narcis really can't decide on his orientation. Though he knows he's attracted to men he's not sure if he's interested in women romantically and sexually or just likes the way women look. He's also growing to believe he's demi or greyromantic because he has very little interest in romance and hardly distinguishes it from friendship.

He's very confident in the fact that he's a man and also very confident that his body is perfect just as it is. Narcis has Klinefelter (xxy) syndrome and gynecomastia as a result. His parents were horrified to discover he had it and heavily pressured him to get surgery to 'fix' his body, but it only led to him thinking they were idiots. He wears a shirt in the ring mostly for practical reasons because of it, but otherwise doesn't care how other's see his body because what matters is that he likes it.

Hoy Quarlow:

Hoy is old and doesn't get the desire for newfangled terminology. He doesn't mind people using it and respects other's labels but he finds it too cumbersome to label himself. He sees himself as nothing more than a free spirit, flowing from relationship to relationship like a breeze.

Like his sexuality, Hoy doesn't have much use for labeling his gender. When he was younger, he only thought of himself as a man. Nowadays, interaction with people like Heike and general curiosity made him, and his twin sister, realize their feelings on gender are no longer as concrete as they once thought. These days they'll steal each others clothes and go out as the other for a bit of relief from their 'expected' gender, a la a many of shakespeare's comedy plays.

Rick Bruiser:

Cis and straight (Mostly)

What else can I say, this guy is p simple. He's got no (Strong) attraction to men. (Tho he'll admit that Hurricane and a few of the others are p easy on the eyes if you get enough drinks into him.)

As for his gender- any form of non conformity was beaten out of him and Nick from a young age. He hates anything feminine and always needs to be one of the most masculine guys in the room. (Deep down he does deeply enjoy jewelry but doesn't go past rearing silver rings in his ears. Even gold is too gay for him.)

Nick Bruiser:

cis and gay but homophobic

God this man is so gay it's painful- he's had a crush on literally every guy in the wvba and especially Joe (Though that particular obsession is extremely unhealthy). However, because of his upbringing, he's deeply homophobic and disgusted by himself, forcing himself to date women even though he doesn't even care for them and isn't attracted to them at all. His life would be so much easier if he accepted he was gay, but that's not happening any time soon.

As with Nick, any gender non conforming traits were beaten out of him young. As an adult he deeply overcompensates for being gay by being hyper masculine and is extremely fragile about his masculinity.

Peter Punch/Birdie:

Peter honestly can't pick a label. He's bi, he's pan, he's gay- he can describe himself in so many ways and going down a rabbithole of cool labels and awesome flags only left him more confused and constantly stressing if he was using the 'right' ones. Nowadays He just shrugs and says he isn't straight. That's good enough for him and it'll be good enough for everyone else.

As with his sexuality, his gender is extremely hard to pinpoint. Even though he experiences dysphoria, it's very touch and go and his feelings on gender and presentation are so fluid and flexible that words are hard for him to find to describe himself. Even pronouns are pretty hard to settle on!

Mr. Dream:

Again, as mentioned in my aroace post, Dream is, well, Aroace!! It took him years to realize and process but nowadays he's very comfortable with his orientation and very close to the aroace community.

Though he is cis, he's also intersex, which, for him, is a very important part of the lgbt community. He found out VERY suddenly in his late 20s when, during what he and his doctors thought was appendicitis, they found he actually had Persistent Müllerian duct syndrome (PMDS) and fibrosis on his ovaries. Everything was removed and they later found out he has 45,X/46,XY mosaicism as well. All of this left him questioning not only his gender but much of his life beforehand. Though he's okay now, he advocates heavily for the intersex community and overall better knowledge and acceptance of them.

Pizza Pasta:

Refuses to label himself. He's interested in hot people, that's all you have to know. (Though he does find the bi flag very pretty and when pushed, uses that term exclusively)

Cis and doesn't give a shit about what other's do with their bodies. He thinks the whole debate about trans people is ridiculous and that people should be left to do what they want.

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likesdoodling · 10 months ago

Text

It has been a while since I started digital art,

Quite a while.

So here is a 'progress over the last two years' since I gained access to a drawing tablet.

This is my first ever digitally illustrated piece- compared to my latest one-

So, a little bit different.

I do think my art took quite a jump around June 2022, when I took a break from my Steve comic strip, (for obvious reasons- it was about Technoblade's polar bear so...) and decided to try practicing gesture drawing to see if it helped my general anatomy knowledge. This is before,

And this next one is after.

The most obvious change here is that I switched to using thinner lines. There is a gap of about two months between these.

This was when I realised that you could improve art by practicing it (mind-blowing I know), and then started to do just that. Some other notable jumps forward would be when I discovered the airbrush-

Well, discovered a new method of shading with it anyway.

Then after that I had a few pictures that I actually still like, despite them being pretty old at this point, the one below is actually from September of 2022-

I mean, the hands are a bit iffy, but the rest looks alright. This was when I was going through a bit of a melanie martinez phase-

This next one was from January of 2023, I'd only just gotten into bungou stray dogs via some random memes on pinterest about this weird brown haired guy who had lots of bandages and who had this running gag with wanting to die- I actually looked him up at one point, but that didn't really explain much. The main one that I remember was 'life is short, so make it shorter, shorter than chuuya~'

Which at the time was just kind of confusing,

Then I watched the show and it made perfect sense.

I'd discovered ascendance of a bookworm in like, 2021, but I hadn't really been doing fanart of it since I was mainly doing dsmp related stuff and I kind of assumed nobody would know what on earth I was referencing. Turns out tumblr has a lot more bookworm fans than I orignally anticipated. Instagram still has no clue. I think maybe one person out of my followers on instagram knows what I'm on about-

Then we've got these two which I am still proud of btw-

The first one is from a dystopian/time travel fanfic called viridian.

The second one was after I learned about rim lighting. It was inspired by a song actually, 'crash' by noevaii. (and yes I found that song from a sad-ist animatic, it was cool) The character isn't anyone in particular. They're both from February 2023.

Then there's probably my most liked picture on instagram, (not tumblr, since tumblr knows about bsd and bookworm, but y'know. This was even sadder than I originally intended since the last half of my comic strip was finished AFTER everything happened)

Then the final conclusion of my Steve comic strip in May of 2023.

I don't think my art really changed much in between those, but eh.

Then I switched to doing a bunch of ascendance of a bookworm stuff to see what would happen and turns out there are way more fellow fans out there than I anticipated-

Then I guess my next breakthrough in tumblr popularity, (even if it might not have been a breakthrough in art skills necessarily) was when things went DOWN in the bsd fandom with chapter 109 and I did probably one of my most liked tumblr posts I have ever done-

If you want to see the rest of that, feel free to scroll down on my tumblr page, the original's like eight pages long-

This was before anyone knew what was going to happen btw.

I still think it's hilarious that I put in chuuya having contacts. My reasoning being, they're on a film set,

It was a pretty interesting exercise in shading in monochrome.

Then I started a 30 day art challenge in October that I didn't get past day six of, but it was still pretty fun. This is the best one of those-

After that I spent most of my time studying for the jlpt n5, so I didn't really do that much art related stuff,

This is one of the two non-commission related pictures that I finished over the two months after I kind of gave up on the art challenge. This one's from November,

Then I finally finished an art commission I'd been working on for the three months prior, as well as studying. Here is an example of the type of pictures I was doing for that,

Then I was occupied with christmas and birthday presents for my siblings, both my little sisters are into ascendance of a bookworm- (completely my fault I am proud to say) so I was able to do stuff related to that, here's a couple of snippets, but you guys don't get the colour version hehe

And one of them has also read the entire fma manga just like I have so-

Anyway, it's been quite a progression since I resolved to master digital art in 2021.

I reckon I've come a fair way since then. I mean. My art skills in general are way better than they used to be. The last two or three years have been pretty interesting.

Also-

Just had to include this one, I'm gonna do a more detailed version but still-

I think it's funny so I'm posting it here. Even if it's not really related to art progression-

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