#still have that grudge against him for the end of disk one. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

maguro13-2 · 2 months ago

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The Dark Picture REPAINT Pt.9 ~ Origins of the Ink Demon : Operation Drawcia Pt.10 ~

*Sonic SFX : Jet Roaring*

Ashley : [To Commander] Who are you?

G.U.N Commander : Why...? I am the Commander of G.U.N, I operate the entire military of the United Nations, I am in charge of the operations on taking out the things that we caused in San Francisco. Despite all of our efforts in the Space Colony ARK, all of men have been jeered by the public and I had no choice but to AWOL them as well.

[Break you down by Yutaka Minobe]

Ashley : San Francsico, The police, Eggman's ambitions, it was you! You ordered all of that to get in Eggman's way of conquering the world! You were the ones for trying to kill both Sonic, Shadow, and including his friends as well!

Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre : [To Commander] How dare you used your grudges against others! I will used my flames to melt your body from your bones!

G.U.N Commander : Excellent deduction, girls. Of course that was me who did it, well the secretary of defense has been arrested for doing that to the Blue Hedgehog. In any case, Shadow must die, a farewell gift to the Black Arms.

Ashley : [To Commander] So that's what you're after, Shadow's involvement with his alien dad!? Are you crazy!? If you kill him, there won't be any appearance in Sonic's games! Your abusing your power against others, but what are planning to do with that contraption that you're controlling.

G.U.N Commander : For this? I am going to crush Shadow in this machine once and for all! So stay out of my way!

*DBZ SFX : Blasting off*

Ashley : Man...That Gun commander is crazy as AF. So he's the one responsible for sending the military to destroy both Sonic and Shadow back at the Space Colony ARK incidnet.

Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre : I didn't know that G.U.N was controlled by one man all this time, but where are the others generals?

Ashley : Probably AWOL'd or something like being demoted to the outskirts.

Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre : Guess they got what they deserve for messing with the Blue Blur himself and despite the mad scientist's recklessness, I wonder he had any sort of connections with the Black Arms?

*Meanwhile at Eggman's Base*

[E.G.G.M.A.N. (Doc Robeatnix Mix) by Paul Shortino & Jun Senoue]

*Eggman and robots are watching a footage of the battle*

Eggman : Look at them, those idiots! Ever since the Space Colony ARK incident, those aliens have waited to comeback for 50 years after Maria was shot dead, but I never got a chance to see her, all because of him. But if I only met her, I would've been involve, because I was afraid to go into space. But for me, after Metal Sonic took everything for using the power of Chaos, he's still in the slammers after starting a renegade with a diabolical coup!

*slams*

Eggman : That does it! First Chaos, then Metal Sonic, now this!? I am at my limits and I would be prepare to do anything since Rail Canyon and Bullet Station have been renovated by Grim's army men. So that is why I am sending in the new Eggman Fleet! CHARGE!

*The Egg Pawns runs for battle*

*Scene changes to Prison Island*

"PRISON ISLAND...4 Years later"

[Prison Island (Shadow the Hedgehog) by Jun Senoue]

Grim : What do you think, Seto? Is this the place where Shadow was held for 50 years ago?

Seto : Hai.

Grim : So this is where he was kept alive, but we need to find top secret disk? But be careful, this place is contaminated with green fluid since all the waters used to be clear, it was once a beautiful paradise that they installed since a huge reaction of explosives were implanted into this facility, in which the scientist used as a death trap to put an end to Sonic. Thankfully, for his friends efforts, he was able to get out of cage alive. But...Sonic Man of the year, he wasn't jeered by the public like in the past, so I'm thinking that he was jeered by the public 1997, but in reality, that never happened, unless, he escaped San Francisco to seek revenge, if it wasn't for rotbotnik's recklessness, he would've made the humans hating on all hedgehogs.

Seto : That's seriously illegal hot water! ?No wonder why G.U.N wanted to kill Sonic in the first place. Humanity is always an arrogant species, they trusted him and his friends in the 1990s before that happened in the Space Colony ARK incident. Luckily, we were able to find those Top Secret Disks? Well...What's a Disk?

Charmy : Only I get to say that...The military has been ackin' Cray-Cray since 2001!

Seto : [To Charmy] Huh? AAAH! A bee! *Gets behind Grim*

Charmy : Hey, Come on, now! I' mean no harm, I was just asking! I'm only here to help.

Seto : *from behind Grim with a mean look* I don't even like insects, thank you very much!

Charmy : I just wanted your help, that's fine by me.

Grim : No need for rudeness, Seto. This is Charmy...Charmy the bee and you are...

Charmy : That's right, and we're the Team Chaotix!

Grim : Oh, I remember you ring-holding heroes, you were with Knuckles back in the 32X title before the company was left out of the hardware industry.

Charmy : *Sweatdrop icon* Uhh, thanks by the way, Yeah we used to be with Knuckles in the 32X title before all of Sega's hardware assests ceased all operations on making consoles since the Playstation beat us to it.

Seto : Oh...That's why. It's a pleasure of seeing you, guys back at the company, but who acquired Sega back in 2004?

Charmy : Sammy.

Seto : Wow...The industry had not much to change since I played a playstation to make Sega go out of hardware business because of that.

Charmy : You do? Well, the Playstation version of Sonic Heroes definitely really looks weird and kinda stupid looking, but hey, it's okay. At least the Playstation is the best console in the world, Sega also had harships with Nintendo back in 2001 one when they unveiled the gamecube.

Seto : Really? Thanks so much, since Sega's out of hardware business, they can get along with their rivals. They sure know how to be common rivals in the industry since humanity had the technology to create games even brighter and cool!

Charmy : You used to play them as a kid, you know?

Seto : Yeah. But right, this is the Real World we need to wake up.

Charmy : I get it. No problem! Just in case,

*Grabs Saber*

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Hey, put me down!

Charmy : Arthur Boyle, the First Meister of the New World.

Seto : You brought a woman, I mean that woman is Excalibur's original first meister?

[Have a Nice Talk by Yoko Shimomura]

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : You knew that I was the first meister all along, didn't you? Ah, yes, Grim...Grim the reaper or should I say...Grim the hedgehog.

Grim : You must be Arthur Boyle...Did you have some sex changes after your original resurrected through reincarnation as a woman?

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : When you have that in favor.

Seto : What's a former comrade to the Devil in a woman's body in the first place?

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Well...Since the Time Eater arrived and destroyed the entire Ohkuboverse, we completely lost our originals and had to resurrect ourselves into new ones, for me, I was resurrected as a stuck servant, I felt a strange emptiness within me. I recalled longingly of the days hustling money in joustin, the rush of swordsmanship combat, and partnership with Shinra, those guys from the Nasuverse cannot quell these yearnings. So...I had to slip out of the Nasuverse and headed towards to America to reunite with Shinra, who I has last seen at the vicinity of the Garden. No offense, but the Garden for him is like some kind of retirement home.

Seto : But this is the last time I ever get to see everything, but despite all of my efforts I've finally get a chance to see this happening, in all of my life. But you, a famous swordsman, a knight in a woman's body, but...I do feel so weird about having muscles on my back...But doesn't that make you sound not weird?

Saber (Arthur Boyle)) : Yes...I have muscles with a slim body...but I was given a cup size on the melons...yes this body is a woman and weird, and especially hate it! But rest assure...I've discovered that I found the first of the four Top Secret Disks, and the last one should be right here.

Seto : [To Saber] Where exactly?

*scene changes*

Seto : (groans in boredom) This is taking for ever, there's nothing on this island, nothin' but green liquid stuff, burning plants, and eventually prison cells that used to hold prisoners, everybody's dead. But for the warden, what happened to the warden of Prison Island.

Grim : Well...

*flashback*

Grim : [To the Warden] Why are you people keeping the Blue Blur held as prisoner, foolish human? And what are you humans trying to do so on attempting that Sonic was the criminal?

Prison Island Warden : I...I thought he was Shadow so that we could detain him on this island.

Grim : In a color blindful attempt to kill one hero? Nice try, but it seems that all of my men would do for the talking and humans like you should take their responsibilities for letting others take the blame, the way you meant to take Shadow's.

*The Egg Pawns are closing on to the warden*

Prison Island Warden : [in fear] No...N-No...NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

*changes back to the present*

Grim : [To Seto] So you see, Seto? I had to teach those humans a lesson for letting to do all the messes and then had to do all the forbidding.

Seto : [To Grim] You really mean it, grandad? That sounds interesting. 50 bucks saying that this giant military-facility is now washed-up toxic wasteland with all of it's remains.

*hears a board screeching sound*

Seto : [To Grim] Is that the haunted Chalkboard from that cartoon I was watching?

Grim : [To Seto] This is no haunted chalkboard...this is a survivor from the incident.

*They see a G.U.N Soldier making screech sounds with Knife*

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : What do we have here? A visitor? A fellow survivor? Must be my lucky day. I'll go talk to him.

*walks over to the soldier*

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Excuse me, sir? Are you ok? Do you need some help or anything? Sir, I am asking you a question. Do you seriously need like some therapy session or--Woah!

G.U.N Soldier : Gaaaah!!!

*gets caught by the G.U.N Soldier*

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Hey! Hey! Hey! What are trying you to do, stab me!?

G.U.N Soldier : Grim reaper! I remember your face coming down to this facility. I've been in Prison Island's bunker for four years and had eaten every single food and water once in my life! You all saw the same the thing, the Kusakabe Family, the madness, all just part of the influence of Shinra and tell who in the hell is Demon Vibe, that Sabotaged Shinra's world?

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : *Straining* He...He opposed himself as the mysterious evangelist and he wanted all of us dead, but we helped Shinra to stop him and banished him to that dimension where he could never be forgiven!

G.U.N Soldier : [To Saber] Guess what...? I used to be a firefighter like you, I saw everything, Demon Vibe wanted to use Shinra's world as a hot bathing ball of death and destruction, he wanted to use all 8 hearts to unleash the darkness that is Demon Vibe, I tried to get a hold of him, but I died, and then becoming the bod of another soldier.

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Yeah? Well that's in the past! We're just looking for the Top Secret Disks! Those Disk could lead to the unknown truth about 50 years of Shadow's past.

G.U.N Soldier : You want it? You got it!

*releases Saber*

*DBZ SFX : Thud*

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : *coughs out*

G.U.N Soldier : There is no way that the Ohkuboverse long gone, The truth about it was hidden by the influence of Shinra Kusakabe, and the industry had nothing but to blame Shinra, blame the entire world for it! But for Gerald, he put the blame on humanity by mistake, he only want revenge on not us, but Black Doom! That's all he ever had to do!

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Why is that?>

G.U.N Soldier : Because...Bad Parenting! Why in God's name would he trust an alien to give Shadow's life!? Just for the sake of parenting!? But congratulations on making it this far, I've got the last Top secret right here, and if you don't mind, Shadow has already acquired the Chaos Emerald at another castle. Here just take it, I won't be needing it anymore. *he holds out the fifth and last Top Secret Disk*

*Sonic SFX : Cha-ching*

Charmy : The Top Secret Disk! I got the last one!

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : This should be a piece of cake.

*Takes the disc*

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Mission accomplished.

Charmy : [To Saber] : That's exactly what I'm going to say.

[Round Clear by Jun Senoue]

Charmy : Great! Now let's get these to Vector right away.

*before the group leaves*

G.U.N Soldier : [To Saber] Arthur...Listen to me...I have one request from the Ohkuboverse.

*the group stops*

G.U.N Soldier : ...The World is gonna burn for what we did to ourselves.

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Huh? N-No! Don't! STOP!

*G.U.N Soldier committs Hara Kiri by neck*

All : [exclaims]

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : *gags+covers mouth*

Charmy : [In horror] ...Okay. I think that was the scariest thing I ever seen a man committing suicide in my entire life.

Seto : He...He committed suicide before he noticed on telling the truth about what happened to your world. Isn't that right, Arthur Boyle? *take a sip of her hot chocolate*

[Tragedy by Kenichi Tokoi]

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : (sighs) It's true. After Shinra created the New World that is Soul Eater, I realize that Excalibur was the only who could never die, but eventually, he did die when the Time Eater had no reaction of that Excalibur Face meaning that Excalibur is not very affective to him. So...Both the Time Eater and it's relative, Homura Akemi, annihilated all of us with expungement and erased the Ohkuboverse for good riddance Shinra was scolded for creating the New World. And now...look at me, this is what I become...As an aide to the Devil who saved all of humankind in the Ohkuboverse, I used to be a handsome dude who has blonde hair and blue eyes like me, but the loss of the Ohkuboverse, I lost my own body, and resurrected into a new one by going through reincarnation, but it's not reincarnation or not just reincarnation, it was Isekai Resurrection from the Nasuverse,and I, Arthur Boyle, still proclaim that everyone in Japan calls me Saber, but my real name is Arthur, I'm a man trapped within a woman's body. I've got nothing but my self in the real world.

Seto : And then what happened?

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : So after that resurrection stuff, the only job that I could ever get from the Nasuverse was to be a stuck up servant who serves nothing but teenagers like him.

*a photo of Saber and the Fate S/N is shown*

Seto : That's your resurrected form, you're a servant that serves youths?

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : Yes, that's me and the group, we were part of a large game that serves nothing but teenagers, but apparently, the game that I played turns out to be a visual novel made by type moon, the creators of the Nasuverse, and I believe that this considered to be made for grown ups, but despite being an H-game, I do believe that the servants have acted their selves as a power system, but why would me, a man woman's body, would offer a young boy's just to have sex?

*Shadow the Hedgehog SFX : Mission Failed*

Seto : Ehh, what? You offered to do what with boys? [To Grim] Master, what is Sex? Does Sex have to be a thing in the Nasuverse

Grim : [To Seto] Only when you grow up, and you are right? Sex can be a thing in the Nasuverse.

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : If I was something kid-friendly and not kid-friendly about being a major part of the nasuverse, then you could say that--"SEX" IS REALLY A THING IN THE NASUVERSE! That's what it is, in the world of Fate, Teenagers offers me to have nothing but "Sex" in the plot! Oh what am I going to do about a man in a woman's body giving SEX!?

[Comedy by Hideaki Kobayashi]

Charmy : Ooh, geez. I mean...heheheh...Take it easy, men. You use the word "Sex" on TV, Oh wait, you can say that on TV.

Seto : [To Saber] Maybe you're going to need some serious counciling, so what are you thinking about being a man in a woman's don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this.

Charmy : And of course. [chuckles] We gotta give these to Vector.

Vector via Walkie Talkie : CHARMY! WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG!? HURRY UP AND GATHER THOSE TOP SECRET DISKS!

Charmy : [on Walkie Talkie] Leave it to me, Vector! I'll lead them to your way!

Vector via Walkie Talkie : Good. Good. But how are you going to be at Eggman's base? Espio and I needed those discs!

Charmy : Easy! Just jump right through to this Warp pipe!

*SMB2 Victory Fanfare*

Charmy : [To All] Alright, who wants to go first?

Saber (Arthur Boyle) : I do. Even though, that I am a man in a woman's body, but I guess you could say that it's ladies first. Time to go!

*Mario Jumping+Warp Pipe Sound*

Grim : [To Seto and Charmy] You heard the man, ladies first. That means you, Seto.

Seto : Hai. Time to head to the base!

*Mario Jumping+Warp Pipe sound*

Grim : You there, bumblebee. Get in. We need to head for the doctor's base.

Charmy : [To Grim] Yeah, uhh, no problem.

*Jump+warp pipe sound*

Charmy : CANNONBALL!

*WARP PIPE SOUND*

Kaguya the Clown : Now I finally understand, what you beings of the planet that you really are. Protecting the planet was your priority, I mustn't let anyone done that, even if it costs us the planet itself.

"What will happen next if one's universe could lead to the downfall?"

~ Mission 09 : The Shell of a Woman ~

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iamanartichoke · 3 years ago

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Natalie Holt implying that Loki slept with Sif before cutting off her hair honestly makes my blood boil. The first Thor movie showed us a sympathetic character that was an outcast in Asgard, and a scapegoat in his family. Everything now just seems like Marvel trying to take all of that away. So many people are saying, "Well, now I know why Sif doesn't like him, lol!" And that is exactly as intended. We are supposed to see Loki as an ass and everyone else as a saint for putting up with him. :(

I'm just really baffled at how it's either a) supposed to make sense, or b) explain anything about their dynamic?

Like, okay, let's assume that they do hate each other bc they slept together. Why would that be? Even if you catch feelings and get rejected, that's not really justification to hate someone. Ideally you'd just go your own separate ways but since Loki and Sif shared a social circle, that probably wasn't an option, in which case the next best thing is to just be civil while you move on/get over the feelings. No hatred necessary, and certainly not for centuries.

I don't believe that either of them is stubborn enough to harbor a grudge over being rejected. Sif bc I wouldn't believe that she caught feelings for Loki anyway, and Loki bc while he would certainly be hurt, and his pride would be wounded, I just don't see him holding onto that for longer than it would take for him to move past it.

And where is the hair-cutting supposed to come in? Are we implying here that Loki is so childish and petty that he cut off Sif's hair in retaliation for her not returning his feelings? (Seeing it written down like that, I am guessing this is exactly the implication, bc of course it is, smh.) Was he 12 when they fucked, or ??

So here's the thing, though. You pointed out that the first Thor movie showed us a sympathetic character who was an outcast and a scapegoat but no, actually, it didn't. Thor 1 showed us a jealous, vindictive loner turned villain. That's the problem - the MCU isn't taking anything away as much as they're trying to re-establish the characterization they intended for him to have all along.

Thor 1 left things out that would provide more context to Loki's motivations. Thor 1 actively deleted scenes that showed Loki as sympathetic. Thor 1 set up a "good brother vs evil brother" black-and-white dichotomy between Thor and Loki, in which the narrative and the supporting characters all behaved as though Loki was innately the evil brother and there wasn't even a question about that. Thor 1 was Thor's movie, and while I obviously have no problem with that, it being Thor's movie means that to a lot of the audience, Loki was never going to be perceived as sympathetic. In order to make Thor the hero of his story, Loki has to be the villain and most people just accept that at face-value.

Is Loki sympathetic? Yes. Was he an outcast in his society and a scapegoat in his family? Yes. Was he evil at heart? No. Did he do bad things? Yes. Did he intend for them to turn out as terribly as they did? No. Etc.

These are all things that a lot of us know because we've taken the time to know them. One needs to be interested/invested enough in Loki to make the effort of interpreting his motivations and his characterization but, that said, having a vested enough interest in Loki to be an active fan doesn't necessarily mean interpreting him sympathetically. There's this weird divide and things that seem obvious in hindsight, such as Loki's sympathy as a character or the nuances of what he was really trying to achieve in Thor 1, are things that a lot of the audience + his fandom either don't pick up on or don't care to see.

There's a reason 2011-13 Loki isn't as popular as Ragnarok Loki. There's a reason there are so. many. posts. in this fandom that start off with "I love Loki, but -" and then proceed to drag him. There's a reason why a lot of his fans are like "lol I mean he did murder all those people though?" or why the "you just like Loki/apologize for Loki bc you want to fuck Tom" argument is so prevalent. There's a reason why headcanons like "Loki just fucked his way into the GM's inner circle" are treated as canon, or why nobody questions whether or not it actually made sense for Loki to randomly betray Thor right before the obedience disk scene.

The reason is that Thor 1 didn't show us who Loki really was, and because of his portrayal in that movie and in Avengers (subtext and word-of-god confirmation is clearly insufficient for the wider audience to realize that Loki wasn't acting of his own accord - no, he's just evil), there are very many fans who are just never going to see him as anything besides villainous at worst or "a fun but greasy little shit" at best, who causes trouble and does shitty things for the lulz.

"Loki cut Sif's hair for no other reason than to be a dick after they fucked" falls perfectly in line with that characterization, and the result is that you get tons of fans who are like "LOL that's SO Loki!" or "No wonder Sif hates him!" etc. And if, in 2021, ten years after Loki was introduced into the MCU, people are still coming away from his narrative arc + his own series believing that he is, or ever was, just a rotten little shit who caused trouble for the lulz? Then that is clearly the Loki that they see, that they stan, and that means whatever he means to them, and regardless of how our portion of the fandom may object and cry foul, there's honestly just nothing we can do about it.

So, I mean, there we are. People can feel however they want about Loki. It is what it is. And I think I'm just tired of getting upset about it. Re Loki/Sif, I will share my opinion that it's a trash headcanon and laugh at it, but I'm tired of allowing myself to get genuinely upset about how other people perceive this character, especially when there's nothing I can do about it and the only person who ends up suffering is me when my mental health spirals downward (bc I care way too much about fiction and I have no problem admitting it).

I didn't intend for this to be so long, and obviously this is not any kind of rebuttal against you or your ask personally, anon. It just gave me an opportunity to put into words what I've been feeling for quite awhile. It is what it is.

I also feel it's worth mentioning, again, that I think Natalie's soundtrack is absolute fire and I have nothing but respect for her as the composer in this series, but I do not think that earns her any merit in how she perceives these characters. Loki/Sif is her headcanon, and she also said that Loki looks at Sylvie the way he looks at his mother, which is like, and how do you think he's looking at his mother, Nat? Cause uh. I don't think they are the same. I know most people won't agree, but I feel like her words need to be taken with a grain of salt and not accepted as canon based on nothing more than her position of being someone who worked on the show.

I should put this behind a cut, but meh. Also, I know a lot of people reblogged/added onto my Loki/Sif post from last night and I was going to engage but I just don't have time, so please accept this as my general response + stance on the entire clusterfuck.

#asks #charlotte replies #a nonny mouse #this isn't really negativity i don't think #just my feels #loki pokey artichokey #if anyone feels i should add any tags they've blacklisted just let me know and i'll add them

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michibikionmain · 4 years ago

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Who Blew Up the Community House?

This is a very pressing question to me in the Dream SMP lore right now, and I’ve seen a handful of theories surfacing and I’d like to explain and post some of my own/the more popular ones.

Dream

This seems to be everyone’s favorite theory right now and I can see why. He does the most things off stream, he’s been one of the most violent and active villains on the server since the very beginning. On top of that, there’s him mentioning to Punz that he planed on doing something that would “upset everyone on the server”, which could be referring to blowing up the community house. It would also be the last thing of value left to him on the server and destroying it would completely detach him from everything, meaning no one has anything that could resemble power over him.

The only thing holding me back from thinking it was done by Dream is that I’d like to believe that his character still holds some things special and important and that things like the community house would be one of those things. He clearly holds some reverence for places on the server based on the fact that he hasn’t touched church prime and abides by and listens to the laws of the holy land. If he’s willing to respect something that was built by him, Tommy, and Tubbo, it would make sense for him to respect the home he built with his closest friends, George, Sapnap, Sam, Callahan, etc.

He also has no other home and refers to as the only place he still felt safe on the server, since he’s turned nearly everyone else into his enemy. It could be him, but there are a couple of other possibilities I’d like to discuss.

Tommy

While less likely than Dream destroying the community house, this seems to be everyone’s theory in canon. Tommy has a long history of destroying things on the server, especially things related to Dream. He even mentioned the other day on stream that he wanted to destroy the community to get back at Dream. Living with Technoblade would also have definitely given him access to the materials to do so. His main motivations lately have revolved around getting revenge on Dream in order to get his gun back, so he has the ways and means to.

There’s only a couple of things that make this unlikely. For example, Tommy rarely does anything off stream, so for him to do something so massive off stream is a bit strange for him. It would also be weird for him not to make any kind of ultimatum threat before hand. He also seemed rather insistent that he did not do this, swearing on church prime.

It could be him, and this is definitely something Tommy would have done, but I feel like he would’ve done it in a very different way.

Technoblade

So if Tommy himself didn’t do it, what about his closest ally at the moment, his only real ally right now? Technoblade has shown no hesitation to destroying things, having no qualms for doing them with little warning like when he spawned the wither the other day in L’manburg, giving them no time to discuss alternative bartering chips because he just wanted to destroy L’manberg and still wants to destroy L’manberg entirely. He even talked about doing this with Tommy.

He definitely could do something like this, but I don’t believe he would. Techno currently owes Dream a favor, and is well aware that the community house is important to Dream. This would leave him in an unfavorable position and Techno is too smart to do something like that. There’s also the fact that Techno has no real motivation to blow up the community house.

Yes, he said he might help Tommy with that, but his fight isn’t with everyone on the server or with Dream, it’s specifically with government. The community house isn’t associated with L’manburg, who he hates for personal grudges, or government, which he is morally opposed to. He could’ve done this, and maybe would’ve if he was directly helping Tommy at the time, but probably wouldn’t have done so alone and off stream.

Quackity

This leaves my final, and probably most interesting theory: Quackity. This might seem like it’s coming out of left field, but I have my reasons okay trust me. If you think about who has gained the most out of the festival today with the least losses, Quackity comes out on top. While he didn’t technically kill Dream properly, and they lost the disks, if he’s behind this he would have brought Dream to his lowest possible point, which is arguably more useful to him than having Dream completely dead if his goal is power on the server. He brought Tommy out of exile, where not only is he useful but also serves as another jab at Dream.

The only thing Quackity “lost” is that he officially left L’manberg, which isn’t a real loss since he has the political power of El Rapids now, which he is completely the president without a proper vice or cabinet to oppose him. Destroying the community house would also destroy George and Sapnap’s last remaining tie to Dream, further separating them from Dream and hopefully getting them more on his side. I’m sure Quackity is going to push the theory that Dream blew up the community house, and he could easily use that as yet another weapon against Dream to gain power. He also technically has L’manberg as an ally against Dream, at least for tomorrow. Quackity lost nothing in the destruction of the community house because it doesn’t matter to him. He wasn’t around for the early days of the server and has shown that he doesn’t particularly care about the history of the server when it doesn’t completely benefit him.

This works even better if he’s being possessed by JSchlatt, like he’s hinted at, the parallels between the new festival and the old one: both being planned with malicious intentions then being turned on their heads to end in a violent betrayal. From a literary standpoint he’s the most interesting option, and from a character development standpoint he’d get the most development from doing this. When it comes to the actual story Quackity is the best option to have blown up the community house.

Is Quackity the most likely answer? No, but I sure can hope that they’d give this to him and flesh out his identity as a character and take his possession arc somewhere cool. It could be any of these four and the only one that would really surprise me is Technoblade, all are really compelling and lead to different places for the story to go in the future.

#dsmp lore #dsmp analysis #dsmp theory #dreamwastaken #tommyinnit #technoblade #quackity

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sun-stormz · 4 years ago

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Ok, so, after watching the part where Techno & Tommy run into Dream I get why People are worried about Techno betraying, And based on his tone of voice it can be seen two ways

1.) Hes testing dream, he knows Dream will not use it due to it being leverage. It indeed did sound very cocky and Testy and ive been in enough DnD Roleplay situations to recognize that Cockyness from 3 miles away.

2.) Its a threat, now i know that sounds weird but it just sounded like a threat, puting dream in a headlock of words. Cause if dream really wanted tommy gone he would have taken it, but he didnt. If it was due to him really having a dfferent use for it or if his Powerhungery ego didnt let him use it is up for debate.

Either way, the tone Techno had, it was way to cocky to be a simple ‘cash it in and ill give him to you’. Dreams reaction to Techno defending Tommy was something. It seemed a bit shocked and takenaback. He was rather quiet, came across like he was looking for words.

Dream cant Intimidate Techno like he can everyone else, and now he cant really intimidate Tommy either.

Now, People are saying Techno is manipulating Tommy into hating Tubbo, but keep in mind, with Technos Standards when it comes to Friendships, tubbo is a horrible friend always standing by and then even exileng him. Techno doesnt know wht we as viewers know, he knows what he sees and what tommy has said.

Now, do i think Techno will betray tommy? No, cause it wont count as a betrayal. Techno has been rather upfront about how they are biussness partners, Yes i do think he is sofening up to tommy due to their shared trauma of betrayal, but When the time comes where Techno and tommy go against L’manburg i do think Tommy will betray Techno first by trying to protect tubbo, cause at the end of the day, he does still care about him, under all the grudges. I think that Tommy will get his disks or they will be destroyed but the conflict wont go away like he thinnks it will. it will remain beacuse the sorce is Dream being Powerhungry.

He will not help Techno Kill tuboo and destroy more of L’manburg and that will make Techno fell betrayed, again and probably loose it depending on where Philza is in all of this.

Keep in mind i have missed a good amount of Technos streams latley so this post might just be caned after watching those.

I think Dream will realize he needs better leverage over Techno, that Leverage being Philza, cause Tommy may be chaotic and such but at the end of the day Dream can easiely get rid of him, Techno protecting tommy? thats where problems start again. So what dream is most likley Planning: Get Techno out of the way and the Tommy is easy game.

Also i know everyone loves the SBi dynamics but i dont think that them being Family (i do think they are considering Techno is the only one that wont go by it and that sounds very in character for him) will keep them all together.

#dream smp #dreamwastaken #tommyinnit #Technoblade #tubbo dream smp #Mcyt

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satsurikusajira · 4 years ago

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Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty 01

words: 2108

Grimmjow just wants some lovin’ like the cats in the World of the Living. Chin-scratches escalate to something more.

He stood on top of a pole, watching the humans walk by, just as the sun was beginning to set. He had been sneaking out from Hueco Mundo often enough to make it a habit, and recognized some of the people on their way home. Grimmjow had taken a liking to watching them, and would occasionally follow one or the other to see how they lived. He was mostly bored, and itching to go back, but his visits to the World of the Living had an ulterior motive. Usually, he would escape the wrath of Aizen, or in rare occurrences, one of the other espadas, and he couldn’t fight his way out of whatever trouble he had found himself in. So, instead of skating on thin ice, he would cool off in the small town neighbourhood.

The jingling of a bell caught his attention and he turned to see the one human he had actually taken an interest in locking up what he had found out to be a small bookshop where she spent her days working. He frowned at her change in attire. Two weeks ago, she was wearing a short sleeved blouse. Today, an oversized knit sweater slipped off her shoulder and a handkerchief was tied around her neck. Had it gotten colder? Grimmjow barely noticed the temperature changes, but other humans were starting to bundle up as well, so he shrugged it off. He hopped down to the pavement to keep her in his line of sight as she shut off the lights to the shop and vanished up the stairs in the back.

Since his last visit two weeks ago, he had learned she lived alone above her workplace. Well, not alone. This was why he had taken an interest in her. She had a cat. The thing was massive. It was a cross-eyed, lazy, white maine coon with an overbite. At least it wasn’t one of those inbred, flat-nosed persians. His interest wasn’t the cat per se, but the way she interacted with it. Something about the way she ran her fingers through its fur and cooed softly at it as it made itself comfortable on her lap sent a pang through him that confused him to no end.

Grimmjow sat on the neighbour’s roof and watched through the window as the cat stretched languidly across the couch and shook its head to rid itself of any sleep still clinging to it. It sat and stared straight back at Grimmjow. He was used to it, animals could see him perfectly well, but that cat seemed to have a grudge against him. Every time he visited, the animal would glare at him through the window. When the woman finally entered her small apartment above the shop, the cat turned, hopped off the sofa and padded over to the door to greet her, as it always did.

“Hello, my love!” Grimmjow heard the muffled conversation between human and cat through the glass. Every time she talked to it, it would meow back at her, in varying degrees of tone, length and volume. “How was your day?” it purred loudly at her. “Really?”

And so it went on as she slipped off her shoes and made her way to her bathroom. The door was wide open during his first two visits, but the damn cat had noticed him leering at her as she showered, so he took to leaning its heavy body against the door to slam it in his face ever since. Grimmjow scowled at the closed door and listened to the shower run, a very faint aroma of soap reaching his nose. It wasn’t long before she finished up in the bathroom, a knit cardigan and fluffy socks added to her usual short nightgown.

Grimmjow watched as she made a beeline for the old record player sitting in the corner and put on a black disk of smooth music. He rather enjoyed her taste in calm tunes, even went so far to crane his neck once in an attempt to read the square paper the disk was encased in. It read ‘JAZZ’. He had no idea what that was. After she adjusted the volume to her taste, her next stop was the refrigerator. She made a plate for herself out of leftovers, something that looked like a lumpy beige sauce and white rice. Grimmjow could smell chicken after she had reheated it. He never had the need to eat proper food, being an Espada, but the smell enticed him enough to make him lick his lips. He watched enviously as she hand-fed the cat little pieces of chicken, berating him on how he had his own food on his dish. Grimmjow growled as the thrice cursed animal actually turned to sneer at him, while rubbing his side against her calves.

“What are you looking at, Hemingway?” She glanced out the window. “You want some fresh air?” She received a loud meow as an answer. Standing, she made her way to the balcony window and slid it open just enough for him to slip out, purring and chirping as he slid past her ankles. “Just until I’m done eating, okay? It’s getting colder. Don’t wander off into the neighbours.” Another meow and his prompt plopping of his furry butt down on the balcony chair was her answer. “Good boy.” She went back inside, leaving the door ajar.

“Who are you to have taken an interest in my mistress?” came a raspy voice from the feline, much to Grimmjow’s surprise. “Yeah, you, with the hole in his stomach. You’re not a hollow, I can tell that much.”

“No, I’m not.” Grimmjow studied the cat more closely. He was busy licking his paw and running it over his whiskers. “The fuck are you?”

“Do you mean to harm my mistress?” The cat, Hemingway, if he recalled correctly, completely ignored his question. Grimmjow remained quiet. He had no idea what he wanted from the woman. “You’re a cat too, of sorts.” It wasn’t a question, so he received no answer. “I will not share my mistress with a stray. Off with you.”

“Why, you little--” Grimmjow sonidoed to the balcony and grabbed the cat by the scruff of his neck. A loud yowl and a swipe to his arm startled him to the point of dropping the furry asshole. Grimmjow was shocked to see four long gashes on his forearm.

“Hemingway?” The woman’s voice came through the gap in the window, accompanied by the dining chair scraping on the floor and her footsteps approaching. The cat scampered back inside just as she stuck her head out to look at the balcony, her gaze immediately landing on Grimmjow.

It was a split second decision. Grimmjow saw her chest inflate and her mouth widen to what he was sure would have been a scream, but he snapped his hand to her mouth and bodily forced her inside.

“Don’t scream.” He growled at her. Her eyes were wide, and her cardigan had slipped off her left shoulder, but her hands instead went to his chest, where a transparent force pushed him away from her.

“Who are you?” She panted. “How did you get past the wards?”

“The what?” Grimmjow rubbed his chest, but he wasn’t hurt.

“I allowed him in.” The raspy voice called from the sofa. “He’s just a stray, probably after some food.” She glanced at the cat, but turned quickly back to the intruder with a questioning frown on her face.

“A stray?” Her stance was still cautious. Grimmjow was confused. How could she see him, he felt no reiatsu on her.

“He’s stupid, too.” Hemingway snickered. Grimmjow made to grab his sword, but his arms were glued to his side as soon as the woman snapped her fingers.

“Now, you listen here, Mister!” she pointed her finger at him and he felt his arms squeeze further into his sides. “This is my domain, and I will not have anyone threaten me or mine!” He faintly saw a green aura surrounding her body as she spoke, but could not feel any reiatsu whatsoever.

Grimmjow, however, was the sexta espada, and would not be held immobile on any account, so with little effort, he broke through whatever invisible restraints were around him and finally pulled out his sword, pointing it at the woman’s chin. As soon as he did so, the scratches on his arm burned so fiercely, he was forced to grab his arm, though he managed not to drop his sword.

“Your doing, Hemingway?” The woman asked, eyeing the scratches. The cat appeared to nod, and before Grimmjow could ask, he explained:

“Those will keep you from harming my Mistress.” The white cat was relaxed on the couch, his paws crossed and green eyes trained on Grimmjow. “I have already said I will not share my Mistress. Be gone with you, vagrant!”

“I’m not a vagrant!” Grimmjow had no idea what a vagrant was, but he understood he was being insulted.

“Then where is your home?” The woman’s voice softened a bit. “What’s your Mistress’ name?”

“My Mistress?” Grimmjow relaxed when the burning in his arm subsided, but he did not sheathe his sword.

“You are a cat, are you not?” She asked. How could she know? “Whom do you serve?”

“Aizen-sama.” Came the bitter reply.

“Aizen? Never heard of her. Is she new in town? Hemingway, do you know of any new arrivals?”

“Aizen Sosuke is a man.” Grimmjow finally sheathed his sword. “We don’t live here.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Was the last thing he expected to hear as she took a step closer. “Is that why you look like that? I always hated Warlocks and what they do to their familiars, just look at you.” She clicked her tongue and reached out to touch the bone on his cheek. Grimmjow grabbed her wrist and glared at her.

“What. The fuck. Are you talking about, woman?” He growled out.

“He’s not a familiar.” Hemingway had his eyes trained on Grimmjow’s hand as he held his Mistress’ wrist. “He’s part Hollow.” Grimmjow let her wrist slip free as she gasped and stepped back in shock.

---

“So, let me get this straight. Lora, is it?” Grimmjow was sitting at the table across from the woman, trying to absorb the new information she and Hemingway were dumping on him. “You’re a witch.” She nodded. “This is your familiar, some kind of...animal servant.” he pointed to the cat currently on her lap, who yowled, outraged at his description. “And you’re telling me that there are Warlocks, male witches, who abuse their familiars.” His mind snapped to Aizen.

“Well, most of them do.” Lora nodded. “I’ve met a few who are...civil.” She scrunched up her face. So, definitely not Aizen.

“But you know about Hollows?” He asked.

“And Shinigamis, but I don’t know what an Arrancar is.” She looked at him expectantly. Grimmjow wasn’t too worried about explaining anything to the human. Instead, his eyes snapped to the empty plate she had pushed aside when they sat to talk. He hadn’t touched the tea she served him, but the smell of her dinner still wafted around the apartment. She noticed with a small smile as he licked his lips. “Would you like anything to eat?”

“Don’t feed the stray, he’ll never leave us be!” Hemingway protested.

“I’m not a stray!” Grimmjow barked at the cat. “And I don’t need your food.” He stood to leave, but a small hand on his forearm stopped him.

“Here.” She pushed something into his hand, but otherwise didn’t stop him from storming out into the night.

“You fed him. Now he’ll keep coming back.” Hemingway sighed as he stretched and made his way to her bedroom.

“He looked so lonely…” Lora looked out into the night, but seeing no trace of their guest, she shut the window and shivered, switching the lights off and retiring to her bed, Hemingway curling into a warm ball at her feet.

---

Grimmjow stopped a few blocks over and looked at the package in his hand. It was a white triangle, wrapped in plastic. He pulled the film off and sniffed at the riceball. He smelled fish and spices. Taking a tentative bite out of it, his eyes were blown wide at the taste. He had tried human food before, but it didn’t make him care much for it. This simple riceball was cold, but awakened his tastebuds in a way he hadn’t thought possible. He scarfed the whole thing down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before opening a Garganta back to Hueco Mundo.

#grimmjow jaggerjack #bleach #grimmjow #fanfic #fanfiction

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merkerlerspeaks · 6 years ago

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Let’s talk about Chameleon, it’s been on my mind a while.

Oh, Adrien you sweet pure little baby kitten you’re such a good kid, but oh my word Honeybun you’re so wrong.

Lila is a bad person. She’s a liar. She’s manipulative. She has the power to get everyone wrapped around her finger as soon as she enters a room, and the girl doesn’t even need an akuma to do that. Yeah, she’s still just a kid, but this isn’t something you just grow out of. Not with age anyway.

You’re right Sweetpea. Lila isn’t going to become any better of a person if she’s humiliated. She’s not the type. She’s going to hold a grudge and a strong one at that. Because of this, she is so easy. She’s a prime target for Hawkmoth. She is dangerous.

But here’s the thing, Sunshine, she is literally manipulating your friends. She’s lying to them outright and they’re falling for it. I don’t know how she does it, I don’t know how she turns Alya against Marinette. I don’t know how she manages to fool the smartest kid in the class that a napkin could take out his eye with no scientific facts behind it or citation, only the mere claim that she’s seen it happen. But there is obviously something underlying there.

In the origins episode it is said that "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing!" but honestly I find that to be complete bogus. If doing nothing was the answer then Ladybug and Chat Noir would have never been a part of Paris. Hawkmoth would just send out akuma after akuma trying to lure Master Fu out, hurting innocent people and eventually become frustrated and his hunt would just continue. If good people just do nothing in response to evil, evil will, in most cases, prevail.

Now I do argue that, if they’re really your friends, they should believe you over a stranger. If someone is your friend they’re supposed to trust you more than someone they hardly know. I’m not excusing them for what they do around the girl, and sometimes it angers me enough to think “maybe they deserve to be lied to and manipulated if they really place so little value in their friendships”, but Lila is obviously a pro at this. She’s been doing it for years and knows what she’s doing. So here it comes, what this whole thing is about...

You’re really just going to sit there and watch your friends be manipulated?

Exposing Lila will infuriate and humiliate her. But your friends will know the truth and won’t be being made fools of any more. Their eyes will be open to the manipulation and they can keep an eye out for it in the future, be it from Lila or someone else entirely.

For Marinette this is the first time they really turned around against her, because Lila is a pro as stated before. In other situations they have been right by her side doing whatever she asked of them simply because she is that good of a friend. It should infuriate her to see them so easily manipulated, she should want to expose her to save her friends from her.

And Adrien, dearest, it’s so nice of you to not mind being friends with her but h o n e y. Love, smol sweet little boi, for as long as she is lying to you, for as long as she is trying to manipulate you into doing what’s best for her and never lifting a finger for your benefit, she isn’t your friend. That’s not what a friend does. You should never befriend someone like that because you can not ‘fix’ them. All they are going to do is use you for what they want, emotionally manipulate you into staying by their side with guilt trips and more, and until you leave them you’re going to be subjected to their lies over and over again. Friends are people you can trust. You can’t trust that girl. She’s just going to use you. Your friendship isn’t the blessing she needs to turn a new leaf and become a better person. She needs to be stood up to. Shown that if she continues to lie like that she is going to end up alone. What she chooses to do with that is up to her but in the end. Someone like that will never be a friend, and innocent yet oblivious people need to be shown that, otherwise they will just be used by her as well.

So Adrien, Son, as wonderful as you are, this is one case where I simply can not agree with you. As a matter of fact, in this instance, you baffle me.

EDIT: Since writing this, I’ve read some things that hold a compelling argument. While I keep a firm stance on my case, Adrien’s approach does make more sense.

I’ve been aware that him stopping Marinette from trying to out Lila during her left ear right ear break in her lie was the appropriate thing to do. It wasn’t the right time. She would have just been shot down faster than if she were a disk in a skeet shoot, and been hurt even more. Her approach was a downward spiral, because she was nitpicking at everything Lila said (albeit with a good reason) and by attacking her every which way, she would just make the “jealous yandere” label on her even worse.

And from his POV, he hasn’t seen everything we have, and I’m not just talking about the scene in the bathroom. He has no clue that she is willingly akumatizing herself, greeting the butterflies with a smile. He’s concerned about Marinette causing more harm for herself by fighting an endless battle with a pathological liar.

While I see this point, and understand it thoroughly, I still stand for showing everyone that they’re being fooled by her. They’re wildly out of character by just dancing around Lila like love-struck puppy dogs begging for a treat and shoving Marinette aside like last weeks bone. They have done so much for her in the past, as she has for them. I see it much more as a situation where she needs to stand her ground, but bide her time- Marinette that is. There will come a time when Lila slips up. She may not be physically hurting anyone, but she is setting up a path that will hurt them all emotionally. It could damage the trust they put into others. We have seen that Lila is willing to manipulate relationships before- whether it be to gain one for herself or to split them up (both platonic and romantic). With the trust her classmates put into her she could end up hurting Marinette whether she does anything else or not by driving her friends (except Adrien, of course) away from her.

With this post I am by no means saying that Adrien was wrong in stopping her at that moment in the end of Chameleon. I’m saying that it isn’t enough that him and Marinette know, that if you have the opportunity to show your friends what’s going on you need to show them. I’m saying that while outing her lies has only caused destruction in the past, if you show your friends her true face they won’t believe the lies again. No more ‘attempts’ would be necessary. The longer they partake in this idolizing ‘friendship’, the more it’s going to hurt to find out that she was lying about all of it. I’m not saying try to ruin Lila’s life. Give her a chance to change. Give her a chance to turn a new leaf. But if you can help it do not let your friends be manipulated. It may not be hurting anyone now but you never know when its going to pick away at them psychologically.

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tisfan · 6 years ago

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One Hand Washes the Other

Title of Piece: One Hand Washes the Other Also on A03 Square filled: A4 - WTF Warning: unrepentant fluff, weird coping mechanisms, first date Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: Bucky doesn’t always eat with the team. It takes Tony a while to figure out why. Created for @tonystarkbingo

Barnes didn’t always join the team for dinner. Tony didn’t always notice when he wasn’t there. At first, it was because maybe Tony was there; they weren’t exactly on friendly terms. But as time went on, and Tony was a rational, reasonable person, the enmity faded. Grew into something like grudging respect, and then grudging admiration. And then, because it was Tony, it might have turned into something like a reluctant crush.

Tony didn’t like to admit that he liked someone; it hadn’t usually worked out well for him. Case in point: Pepper Potts was back on the West Coast again, and sometimes missing her was like an extra hole in his chest, and he was beginning to believe that his emotional make-up was something very swiss-cheese in composition, and he didn’t need any more random aches and pains, thank you very much.

So, Tony tried not to notice when Barnes wasn’t around.

It’s not like Tony showed up to every single one of them, either.

To keep people from fighting about food, team dinners were two different protocols; ordering takeout was on a semi-random, preference oriented schedule. Which was to say, everyone entered in their personal favorites and Friday would select what people were getting for dinner. Which meant pizza was regular, as well as Chinese take away. Burgers.

The other protocol was the cooking roster, because some of the team liked to cook, and others on the team liked to sit down to a home cooked meal. Bruce, for instance, made the words best baby back ribs and absolutely would not tell anyone his secret, even swearing the AIs to secrecy and Friday diligently kept her word (traitor) and refused to allow Tony to access the kitchen camera. Not that Tony could cook, most of the time, but it was the principle of the thing.

But eventually, Tony noticed a pattern, because it was Tony.

The first night they’d done cheeseburgers, Barnes had eaten his portion with a knife and fork. Okay, weird, but a lot of Europeans did that, too, and Barnes had spent a lot of time in Europe. Tony, who drank a lot of his meals (sometimes they were smoothies and sometimes they were booze, and who asked you anyway?) didn’t comment, but Clint did.

And Barnes stopped showing up on burger nights.

He’d never showed up for pizza.

Barnes showed up for chicken one night, but he’d backed up and left in somewhat of a hurry when he saw the containers and realized it was fried chicken, not baked. Clint had waved a drumstick at him, trying to tempt him, but Barnes didn’t even look back.

Tony couldn’t help but notice a pattern after a while.

Barnes never showed up -- or left quickly if he did show up -- when the meal was something eaten by hand. Spaghetti nights, he was as deft with a fork and spoon to twirl pasta against as anyone. He ate epic amounts of steak and potatoes. Raw oysters disappeared like crazy, and sushi was a big hit, but peel-and-eat shrimp or crab legs were right out.

The guy wouldn’t eat popcorn on movie nights, either.

Well, Tony knew all about weird hangups that manifested in odd behavior, and he wasn’t going to call the guy out. Maybe it was some sort of shame-thing about the metal arm, even tho Shuri’s design was top notch, really quite elegant. Or something weird about the way it clicked when he moved it, but… well, it wasn’t Tony’s business, was it?

It wasn’t until one particularly bad bout of engineering fuge where Tony hadn’t slept in days, but had to stagger out of the workshop because he was out of coffee downstairs, and staring at the fabricator wasn’t going to make it run any faster that he actually saw Barnes.

Alone.

[more below the cut]

Sitting in front of the television, watching some late night, black and white, movie marathon and eating out of a bowl.

At first, Tony thought he had some of the left-over noodles -- there were always Chinese noodles of some sort or other in the fridge -- because the bowl was small, he was holding it under his chin, and he was wielding a pair of chopsticks with his left hand. The ridiculous mock up lightsaber kind that Tony had bought from Think Geek, because it was cool, and also because he was a little jealous that he hadn’t thought of it first.

Barnes didn’t take his eyes off the television, dipped the chopsticks into his bowl, and something crunched.

Not like a bamboo shoot, or a water chestnut, either, but…

“Are you eating Cheetos with chopsticks?” Tony couldn’t help but burst out. “Barnes, what the fuck?”

Barnes scrambled to put the bowl down; the chopsticks disappeared like a magician’s trick. “What? I was jus’ watching a movie, can’t always sleep--”

“No, no, that’s fine,” Tony said, waving that away. He knew quite a lot about not being able to sleep. “Can I just ask why?”

“Why what? Why can’t I sleep?” Barnes’s wide-eyed innocent look was both very good and damned endearing, but he wasn’t fooling Tony.

“Why do you eat like that, it’s so--”

“Weird. Creepy. Fucked up. I know.” Barnes heaved a sigh and by the time he was done, he looked somehow smaller and more fragile than Tony had ever seen him. This man, the one in front of him, blushing uncomfortably and fidgeting, that was a man that Tony could call Bucky. Not the cold-blooded killer, or the reluctant Avenger. He rubbed thoughtfully at the palm of his metal hand with the thumb from his right.

“Hey, I don’t let people hand me shit,” Tony said. “I am the last person to give you grief about weird coping mechanisms, I’m just wondering why.”

“Did you know that your computer keyboard has twenty thousand times more germs than a toilet seat?”

That seemed like a non-sequitur if Tony ever head one. Also, pointless. Supersoldiers didn’t get sick.

“There might be a reason I use hard light and projected imagery instead of something as quaint as a mouse and keyboard system,” Tony said. Also, projected imagery was a lot cooler than a clunky board.

Barnes spread his metal fingers to their max extension, all the little plates opening up to allow for the movement. Gold and black, it was gorgeous, and Tony wanted to touch it, poke at it, because, well, he generally had a boner for engineering, even if it wasn’t his own.

“Dust gets caught up in here,” Barnes said. “An’ other stuff.”

Blood, Tony read between the lines.

“There’s no cleaning features? That just seems like a failure in--”

“It was a little easier with th’ old one because there wasn’t a lot on th’ way of actual sensitivity. Used to brush it out with compressed air, but that shit is cold, and this hand can detect temperature extremes,” Barnes shuddered. “There’s coating on the circuits, that makes it waterproof, so like, I c’n wash my hands and stuff. But it’s disturbin’ as hell to wash my hands and see… grease an’ crumbs drippin’ out. Put m’ hand in th’ sewer a few weeks back, durin’ that fight with th’ Wrecking Crew. Took me almost forty minutes t’ wash all the muck an’ grime and other people’s shit out of it.”

“Well, that’s a disturbing image, yes, I can imagine,” Tony said.

“I jus’... don’t like to touch my food with it. And I’m left-handed, so eatin’ right handed is awkward.”

“So, you don’t eat things that you can’t use utensils for,” Tony said.

Barnes’ chopsticks appeared again and he hefted a cheeto and crunched it. “Saw this on one of them videos on YouTube, some girl showin’ how to eat without messing up your makeup, or getting chip dust all over your fingers.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Tony said, and his mind was already whirring, because that’s what his brain did. Problems existed in order to be solved. Bucky’s chopsticks would work well for small things; chips and french fries and popcorn, but what about pizza? Cheeseburgers?

For that matter, what about raw sewage? No one should have to put up with that inside their bodies, even if Barnes couldn’t get sick, hadn’t he already gotten the short end of the stick with the unwilling body modifications?

“It works, at least,” Barnes said. He crunched another cheeto with pleasure.

Tony got a second bowl out of the cabinet, and snagged a pair of chopsticks. “Mind if I have some?”

“You pay for the groceries,” Barnes pointed out, but he poured out a serving of cheetos for Tony.

“Thanks.”

“What’s this?”

“Add-on,” Tony said, handing over the little disk. “It’s a-- well, consider it a deflector dish. I didn’t get a test audience on the branding, but since it’s only for people with high tech prosthetics, I don’t expect they’ll care what it’s called. Here, it goes on the back of the hand, here--” Tony picked up Barnes’ metal hand without really thinking about it, and the man froze. Tony was standing much closer than he usually did, and when Barnes glanced up at him, they were practically close enough to kiss.

“Right? Then what?” Barnes asked, not pulling back, and his blue eyes went deep and liquid.

“Well, I was studying the princess’s specs, and your arm still has an unreasonable amount of circuit heat, thus the plate mechanism, in addition to flexibility and strength, provides the cooling. So, we can’t quite do without it, yet, but she and I are doing a little collaboration, maybe make Steve Austin Mark III a little less clunky…” Tony said. “But for now… here, come here, and put your hand in this.”

There were not words for the look Barnes gave him, as Tony led him over to a bucket of slime.

“Go on, test it out.”

“I’m gonna make you clean all this shit out,” Barnes threatened.

Tony gave him a smile. “Deal. Put your hand in there, Buckybear.”

Barnes grumbled, but pushed his fingertips into the slime, which hastily shifted and pushed away.

“What th’ fuck?” Barnes -- no, Bucky’s -- eyes lit up, and the smile on his face was beyond joy. Wonder, amazement.

“It’s not very strong, but it extends about an eighth of a millimeter past the plates. Consider it a sort of electrostatic… skin. Works just like our skin,” Tony said. “Keeps all the dirt out, and…”

Bucky swirled his fingers in the slime. “I… can feel that. I can feel it. Not just pressure, not… I can feel that, Tony.”

“Yep, sunshine, that was the plan,” Tony said. He nodded to a cloth on the side of the bucket. “You’ll still have to wash it off, but--”

Bucky wiped his hand free, and then, before Tony was quite aware of what Bucky planned, those metal fingers were stroking down the side of Tony’s skin.

He told himself the tingles that it raised was nothing more than an effect of the electrostatic shield. He was lying, because he’d already tested it, several times, and he knew that there was no way any normal human would detect anything different about Bucky’s arm. That it would just feel like metal, smooth and supple.

“Tony, I can…” Bucky’s eyes filled and a tear spilled down one cheek.

“Yeah.”

“Why?” Bucky pulled his fingers back, rubbed them against his shirt, then held them out again, marveling. “Why-- thank you, but why?”

“Well, mostly, because out of all of us, you deserve to be able to eat a cheeseburger in peace.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said again, and he cupped the side of Tony’s face, as if still enchanted by the way Tony’s cheek felt under his palm.

“You’re welcome,” Tony said.

“Uh, can… will you join me, for a cheeseburger?” Bucky asked. And Tony might not have thought anything of it, except at the very end of the word, Bucky winked.

“Are… you asking me on a date?”

“If I said yes, will you say yes?”

“It’s a date, then,” Tony said.

#tonystarkbingo2018 #tonystarkbingo #winteriron #tony stark #bucky barnes #Bucky's metal arm #fluff

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roxannepolice · 6 years ago

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Your character analysis for IX makes so much sense that I’m nervous and feel like I’m indulging reylo too much. I’m losing confidence in their relationship ending unambiguously. It seems like her arc is going to be very separate from his.

Ok, so… I’m actually surprised? What I wrote boils down to Star Wars are gonna go big or go home and we came to a point where it can be interpreted as they gonna go small, chaste and proper?

Sis/bro in waiting, don’t worry they gonna go BIG! All of my disagreements with usually accepted reylo predictions boil down to how they gonna get triple wedding with Finnrose and Poe tearfully giving BB-8 as a bashful bride to BB-9e instead of faking their deaths, living in an exile or waiting for prison sentence to finish! Because those endings? They aren’t likely to happen, just as Kylo Ben isn’t getting an individual redemption and Rey isn’t a static character.

The fact that the fandom or actually entire audience is so freaking keen on making Rey a static beacon of light is what probably baffles me most. Because tbph, if Rey is the character we’re repeatedly told in a way forbidding any questions that she is, then she is a pretty boring character, not because of being “overpowered” but because of having no serious moral struggles (we’ve seen her faced with temptations - but not dilemmas). Audience is sexists as hell is questioning her skills and what is also sexist is lack of proper female villains in the main SW movies but I think what people don’t want to put their finger on is that Star Wars have never given us characters who simply are good, always, regardless of their backgrounds and circumstances - on the contrary, they’re very keen to show how nurture affects the grown up character, I would actually say it’s one of the features that makes this fairy tale stand out, the characters seeming just good or just evil being fairly well up in their years. Rey stayed good in a harsh life of a scavenger on Jakku? Wheeeelp, Anakin also stayed good in a harsh life of a slave on Tattooine - it’s transition to the comfortably poisoning life of a jedi knight on Couruscant that lead him to become Darth Vader. Obi-Wan was a paragon of jedi training gone right, Padmé had a loving nurturing family, same for Luke and Leia regardless of whether they were farmers on a desert or royals on Alderaan, Han’s lack of family shows - as do the strong primal social groups of corellian underground he lived in, Finn formed relationships as positive as one can have in a totalitarian military organisation and Kylo Ben needed to be groomed for two freaking decades before his messed up but loving background gave in.

So no, I’m not buying Rey being an infallible maiden of light that also happens to be a master psychologist Padmé and Obi-Wan weren’t (you know while I totally agree there’s much symbolism to her being a scavenger, can we all agree human psyche is a teensy bit more complicated than starships?). Nope. I actually have this pet theory - while it seems pretty clear that Kylo Ben’s story is what Darth Anakin’s would have been if we were watching OT knowing PT, could it also be that in Rey we’re getting a surprise dessert of near-repetition of Anakin’s fall without anticipating the fall? I really think she could turn out to be a character tailored to make the audience feel the same near-blind hope that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had for Anakin and OTrio had for Ben. A near-blind hope that instead of helping fulfill that hope made them destructively pose for someone they weren’t.

light side my ass

But that’s exactly why this effed up yin yang will come together. I think that while everyone keeps pointing out yin yang symbolism in reylo, fewer reflect on its actual implications - black dot, white dot and the fact that yin and yang change places the moment you spin the disk. Which brings me to another point I’m in disagreement with majority of reylo meta writers: I really don’t think you’ll turn-you’ll be the one to turn implies they’ve seen the same vision of mutual hae. Their body language is too anguished/defensive for that. Basically, a you misinterpreted-no, you misinterpreted situation is too obvious for neither of them to think of it - if they have seen a mutual hae. And since databank confirmed they have both seen some future and Rey speaks of a solid and clear vision which dismisses the possibility of them seeing an abstract act of turning as one youtuber tried to interpret, we’re left with either deconstruction trope (f*ck prophecy, to quote Jaime) or them having seen the other one acting in a way implying allegiance to the side they currently don’t belong to. And since TLJ made their political stance pretty clear��

The thing is, the last act of TLJ saw both Rey and Ben having their sand castles destroyed - for Rey it was admittance of denial (denial, not hope, I don’t care how much material will insist on calling it hope) she’s lived in for some 15 years that did nontheless keep the darkness in her controlled, for Ben it was Luke’s sacrifice blowing another huge hole (next to the one Han’s sacrifice created) in the sand castle of lies Snoke built around him to keep the light away. And neither of those idiots acknowledges the implications. Also, may I strip away the surface of but he’s in charge of a dark side organisation and she’s the hero of a light side organisation! and rephrase it into he’s responsible for loads of people he holds no grudge against and she’s a highly pressurised member of a minor but desperate paramilitary organisation.

The bottom line is, if my predictions/analyses can make one pessimistic, consider that I try to take as little for granted about those movies as I can, assuming practically only some happy ending, consitency of general messages (is bendemption obligatory? no. but if we held Anakin to the same standards, then he didn’t get redeemed either. and considering that Lucas actually stated somewhere that the idea is that he got redeemed through his children then I say his children f*cked up allowing Anakin’s shadow to be used against his grandson - thus, it depends on Ben getting a hae to complete Anakin’s redemption and actually make the central message of the saga real I will finish what you started indeed) and psychoanalitical symbolism (like really, whenever you doubt hae as hell reylo just read Jung; I also recommend Mozart’s Magic Flute which is swarming with conscious/unconscious, light/dark, male/female symbols and guess what there’s actually an adaptation that, albeit tounge-in-cheek employs Star Wars esthetic). And I still arrive at the same basic conclusions as the writers with more optimistic, sure and static premises. So if I say we’re gonna get an angsty af life-and-death reylo duel where she actually kills him with his silent consent then I also mean gurl gonna channel all her love/light and pain/dark combined into healing him and then while the dark princeling tries to come up with a spontaneous thanksgiving paslm, the scavenger princess gonna grab his shirt and suck those plump lips till they both run out of breath. And porgs will be throwing flowers at them.

#reylo #asks #episode ix speculation

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drabblemeister · 6 years ago

Text

a Study in Red {4}

Read this chapter on Ao3! Pairing: JayTim Author’s Notes: I meant to post this last week but I got sick - boo! Sorry about that! Thank you for all of the kind comments, likes, and reblogs! You all are the absolute best. Hope you enjoy this next chapter! Chapter 4:

It was half past midnight when Roy slouched backwards against his chair, rolling his head back dramatically. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

It was enough to draw Tim’s attention from the couch, where he sat cradling one of Jason’s laptops. He’d borrowed it an hour or so earlier, intent on reading through all of the end-of-day reports he’d missed from WE.

“Too bad,” Jason replied, flinging the bow’s cracked cam piece at Roy’s unguarded chest. “It’s not going to fix itself.”

Even though Tim’s energy had been focused on stocks and upcoming company projects, he’d occasionally glanced over to the dining room table where Jason and Roy had decided to work. The night’s goal seemed to be re-wiring Roy’s bow, and due to the fact most of the replacement supplies were in the bay, they hadn’t made much progress.

“It ain’t gonna work even when it is fixed,” Roy said, tilting backwards in his chair. He’d caught the cam as it’d fallen to his lap, and now lifted his head in order to flick it back Jason’s direction. “Tension’s all wrong.”

Tim watched Jason catch the disk with both hands before setting it onto the table with a snap. A moment later, he kicked the leg of Roy’s chair, which sent Roy scrambling to keep his balance while yelling an offended, “Oi!” Jason’s direction.

Sliding an elbow forward and onto the table, Jason simply sighed before balancing his chin on the upturned palm of his hand. He delivered Roy a questioning smirk and said, “Don’t tell me it’s past your bedtime?”

For a moment, it looked like Roy might stay annoyed, but Jason’s slow smile seemed to give him life. “Why? You got somethin’ more fun to do?”

Tim filled the small gap of silence with loud clacking, his fingers dancing across the keyboard rhythmically. As the report came to life in front of him, he saw Jason’s gaze shoot his way in his peripheral vision. It only lingered for a moment, and that was because Roy made a sudden, sharp sound that evolved into a wistful sigh.

“I’d love to watch you restring my bow, Jaybird.”

Jason snorted. “As talented as these hands are, I don’t think they’re the solution to your problem.”

Without pausing in his typing, Tim said, “You should probably try a thicker gauge.”

The comment sat for a moment, drawing attention Tim’s way; even so, he continued on with his report. Roy’s tech was strikingly similar to a project he and Lucius had tackled a few years back, and so it was easy to see the gaps in what Roy had put together so far.

“If that wire snaps, my fingers go with it,” Roy finally said.

This time, Tim looked up, his typing slowing but not coming to a stop. “It won’t snap if you use a hard cam,” he commented before raising an eyebrow. “You’re probably using a round because it’s quieter, right?”

When Roy’s head tilted back, his hair fell loose across his cheek. “Can’t use a hard cam ‘cause it ruins the system. The shot ain’t reliable.”

Tim glanced at the bow, though he could only make out the bottom limb from where he was sitting.

“You’re using a hybrid?” he asked.

Roy nodded.

“Use a single. Custom doesn’t always have to mean more complicated. And if the sound is still an issue, switch out the arrester.”

Tim caught Jason staring at him with lidded eyes, wearing an expression he couldn’t quite place. It felt like one he should remember.

“Well, that settles it,” Roy slapped a hand onto the table just before pushing himself up. “You’re hired. It’s all yours.”

As Roy waved a hand across the entirety of the table, which was scattered with parts and pieces, Jason calmly caught his wrist. “Tim isn’t building your bow.”

“Ah, Jay,” Roy sighed, gently shaking his way out of Jason’s grip. “I wanna see if his hands are as talented as yours.”

Tim didn’t miss the unimpressed frown that tugged as Jason’s lips and Roy didn’t either, because his grin went wide as he glanced between them.

Roy said, “Maybe when he’s done, you can get him to polish your gun.”

Jason’s mouth opened, but Tim beat him to the chase.

“I have no intention of handling either of your malfunctioning weapons.”

Roy pressed his long fingers to his chest in feigned offense, looking lanky in the dim light.

In contrast, Jason slouched back lazily in his chair and rubbed his nose. “My weapon works just fine, thank you very much.”

“Hahaha!” Roy laughed. “Doesn’t mean Red here can’t help with the maintenance. Rumor has it you bats don’t get a lot of hands-on with pistols.”

Jason rolled his eyes and reached for his water bottle, which was tangled in cable wire.

Recognizing a challenge when he heard one, Tim sighed and swept section of hair behind his ear. When he spoke, his tone came languid; easy.

“You’re right,” he said, matter-of-fact. “Most of my hands-on involves my staff. It may not be much to you, but it’s long and gets more than eight rounds.”

Tim had expected a moment of quiet, one where he could hold Roy’s gaze in a silent dare to continue.

He did not expect Jason to spit up the water he’d been drinking in one, dramatic spray that soaked the entire table and it’s contents, threatening to kill the candle.

Roy didn’t bother looking at Jason; he simply kept his eyes on Tim, as if seeing him for the first time.

“Ohhh,” Roy drawled. “I like this one. Let’s keep him.”

Tim shifted in order to pull his phone from his back pocket. He hummed to himself as he said, “Opening calendar...right. Let this day be remembered as the one where I got the last word in against a certain Roy Harper.”

As his fingers poked at keys, Roy offered a dramatic bow of respect and tossed a smirk Jason’s way. And Jason - he responded by glaring from between his fingers, which he’d been using to shield his face, which had gone slightly red. He asked, “Weren’t you going to bed?”

Roy grinned like he’d won some unspoken battle, and gave Jason a significant waggle of his eyebrows. “You’re right.” Stretching his hands high, he took a few lofty steps away from the table and made a show of sitting on the edge of the couch. “Upsy-daisy. I’m sleeping here.”

Tim stared up at him. “What?”

Various pieces of Roy’s bow went clattering to the ground as Jason pushed up from the table, flicking a pointed finger Roy’s direction before tossing his thumb another, a clear and decisive demand for Roy to move it to the bedroom.

“Aw, but Jaybird,” Roy said. “You’re gonna make an injured kid sleep on the couch?”

At that, Tim felt offended. “Um, not a kid?”

“Roy,” Jason stated. “Get.”

As expected, Roy laughed, not at all intimidated. Tim watched him huff an amused sigh just before meandering down the hallway where he turned into the room Tim suspected housed an actual bed.

“I’m going to grab you some clothes,” Jason said, but Tim didn’t miss the grudging edge to his tone. He opened his mouth to tell Jason he was fine sleeping in what he had on, but the words didn’t make it to his lips.

He had class later, and wasn’t going to have time to run by his apartment. He’d have to make do wearing this outfit again. So, when Jason returned with a bundle, Tim simply set the laptop onto the coffee table, not bothering to close it.

Jason noticed.

“You need to get some rest,” he said.

The comment had the opposite effect. Instead of feeling any of his own exhaustion, Tim simply noticed the tired, darkened circles under Jason’s eyes and once again remembered the red-circled Friday on the calendar.

“You too,” he said, rising to his feet while holding out his hand for the clothes. He glanced down the hallway, distracted by the sound of Roy whistling. “You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

At the mention of the exam, Jason’s demeanor shifted; his gaze wandered and he seemed to remember that was a thing. He groaned, looking exhausted, and dragged a hand down his face.

“Ugh. Tomorrow is Friday.”

Tim thought that Jason’s anxiety had more to do with the significance of the diploma rather than his ability to actually get it.

“It’s only 2am. You have plenty of time,” Tim decided to say, just before giving Jason a questioning look. “Bathroom?”

There was only one, and it was a narrow space wedged at the end of the hall, just across from the bedroom. Tim got a modest glance at the space - saw a shape that resembled the foot of a bed and a square piece of furniture he assumed was a dresser.

The view was intercepted by Roy, who was dragging a heavy bag towards the door. When he caught sight of Tim, his lips folded to form a grin and he waggled his eyebrows in invitation.

Tim allowed his expression to fall flat with disinterest.

In the bathroom, one lone candle flickered, it’s wick burned to a hairsbreadth. Tim made quick work of changing, not entirely surprised when Jason’s loose, cotton sweat-shorts fell past his knees and hung loose on his hips. Less shocking was the size of Jason’s shirt; it’s wide neckline dipped low against Tim’s skin, not quite covering the smooth lines of his collar bones. It fell nearly halfway to his thighs, reminding Tim that Jason had a good seven inches on him.

When Tim ventured back to the living room, he watched as Jason returned his gun to its holster on the underside of the coffee table. When it was secure, Jason glanced up, only to look caught off guard.

“Yeah, I know,” Tim waved him off. “You should really take it easy on the protein bars.”

Jason’s eyes lifted until Tim caught them with his own. He expected a witty comeback. Instead, Tim watched Jason bite at his lower lip, as if whatever he had planned to say, he’d decided against it. Then, he was standing.

“Is there anything else that you need?”

Tim watched Jason’s eyes look everywhere but him. “Just your all clear to leave later,” he said, finally. “I have a class at eight.”

At that, Jason’s attention slid towards the bedroom. “If we haven’t been ambushed by now, I think we’re good.”

Tim agreed, but it felt like the right thing to get permission, seeing as to how it was Jason’s safehouse they were attempting to keep hidden.

Quiet stretched, one that felt strangely empty. Tim opened his mouth twice only to realize he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to say. Eventually, Jason drifted towards the table, picking up the bow parts he’d scattered earlier. Not too long after, Tim watched him disappear down the darkened hallway from above the screen of his laptop.

When his thoughts wandered too far, he pulled them back to his work. It was another hour before he finally decided to sleep.

***

By the time Tim’s alarm sounded, he was already awake. Jason had ventured out at some godawful early hour and Tim hadn’t bothered asking why; Roy’s cacophony of snores had woken him up as well.

He and Jason shared the couch, bookended and blearily dozing until Jason decided to do them both a favor and make coffee. It was the pick-me-up Tim needed, and within the half-hour he was dressed and ready to head out. When he confessed he would probably be about fifteen minutes early – a record, really – Jason shoved a protein shake at him and refused to disarm the premise until at least half of it was gone.

The bay looked the same as Tim remembered, and when Jason turned on the overhead lights, Tim blinked at the brightness. He was in the process of tugging on his helmet when Jason asked, “We on for tonight?”

It took Tim a moment to connect the dots, realizing tonight was Jason’s final opportunity to cram. He nodded. “My place?”

Jason tipped his head back to yawn and held his hand up, waving it no. When he could speak again, he managed a “Mine,” smacking his lips just before scratching at his scalp, sending his hair into a disheveled frenzy. “I’ve got a date with Ermanno Endrizzi tonight. Something tells me he’ll be wanting his breadsticks to go.”

Tim snorted as he righted his bike and took a heel to his kickstand. “Just text me. I’ve got two classes and a lab, and I should probably shower at some point.”

Jason looked impressed. “That’s it? By golly, that sounds like a light day.”

Tim said, “Whatever will I do?”

“Have dinner with me, apparently,” Jason replied. He took a moment to look smug about it, and Tim pulled his helmet down and over his face.

With a smirk, Jason raised the bay door and waved him off and Tim raced against time to make it to campus.

***

It was nearly evening when Tim left his lab, in dire need of both caffeine and answers. The former was easy enough to remedy, but the latter meant a quick trip to Wayne Enterprises. Since Tim had his own transportation today, he weaved inner-city rush-hour traffic and parked in an emptied, private lot.

This late, the building had mostly cleared out. Floor managers bustled in the lobby, overseeing registrars and receptionists as security shepherded their departure. His entrance meant undue attention and he wasn’t at all surprised when a manager came jogging after him in order to say, “I’m sorry, but the building is closing.”

The comment brought Tim to a halt; he’d nearly forgotten that he wasn’t dressed for the occasion. Fresh from classes, he was wearing faded denims, a graphic tee, and a jacket distressed more from wear than aesthetic. When he turned in acknowledgement, he threw his head a bit in order to slant his bangs sideways and out of his eyes.

“The internship program hours are nine-to-noon,” the manager went on to say, and Tim couldn’t help but be amused. The man was just like Bruce liked his floor-people: sour-faced and suspicious.

“Timothy Drake-Wayne,” Tim stated, holding out his hand. He’d long-mastered the art of standing his ground, and the look he delivered was enough to at least earn a pause. “I was hoping to catch Bruce before he left. Is he still around?”

When the floor-manager shook his hand, it was calculating. “Mr. Wayne wasn’t in today,” he said, and Tim felt slightly annoyed. Mostly it was because he couldn’t tell if he was being told the truth or being dismissed.

One of the elevators pinged, and since the lobby was nearly empty, the sound was loud enough to fill the space. A receptionist across the room scurried from behind her desk to greet whomever had descended and when Tim turned to see for himself, he bled a sigh of relief.

“Timmy?” Dick questioned, and he looked incredibly dapper in a suit he probably hadn’t worn in well over a year. His hair was artfully slicked back, and when his eyes danced up to the floor-manager, Tim found his hand immediately released.

“Hey,” Tim said, wondering what bet Dick had lost in order to be here, dressed like that. “Did I forget about an event?”

Dick laughed and it was perfectly charming. Since the receptionist had approached to ask if he needed anything else, he did the polite thing and told her she was free to leave for the evening – and while he did so, Tim delivered a smile to the floor manager that could have been interpreted a thousand ways. In the end, it got the manager to step aside, muttering a small apology before stepping aside, leaving Dick and Tim with due privacy.

“I thought you were sick,” Dick commented when he was close enough to give Tim a knowing look.

“I was,” Tim said, rolling his shoulder for show, “and thanks to modern medicine, I’m getting better. I just got out of class. I haven’t been able to get ahold of Bruce all day. Did he decide to go to the course?”

It was a code they’d used for forever, the course alluding to Justice League meetings, which typically came out of nowhere and meant no contact for days.

“Yeah,” Dick said. “You know how he likes to show off. He asked for me to drop by today since you’d be out. There’s a lot going on, you know?”

Tim nodded, not having to read between the lines. The extent of the cartel issue made more sense now that he knew the Triad was involved, and Tim suspected that Bruce had been reluctant to leave with so much up in the air.

“Walk you to valet?” Tim offered, and Dick looked pleased, giving a genuine smile at the invitation. There were less ears on their way to the curb, and Tim could still feel eyes on him - as if the late-shifters were attempting to memorize his appearance since he looked so different outside of starched material.

Together, they strided to the front door. Dick leaned forward to prop it open, leaving Tim to turn back and wave goodbye to the eyes that followed. When he was sure his words would go unheard, Tim asked, “Do you need me tonight?”

It had been two nights since his injury, which was more than enough time to be considered well enough to get back on the job. He hadn’t forgotten about Jason, but he knew this Endrizzi business would run late.

“If you could cover first patrol, you’d be saving a life,” Dick admitted with a wistful sigh. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast. By the time I realized I was hungry, this place had already sucked out my soul.”

Tim laughed. “Dramatic, much?”

“I dunno how you do it,” Dick replied. “That being said, Bruce won’t be in tomorrow. He wanted me to ask if you could fill in.”

As they rounded the corner to the valet desk and Dick retrieved his receipt from his wallet, Tim took the opportunity to dig his phone from his back pocket to navigate Bruce’s calendar.

Two hedge fund calls, an email reply to a state auditor, a new-hire tour and meet-and-greet. Nothing too taxing, though Tim wasn’t entirely sure what work he had to make up from missing both yesterday and today.

“So,” Dick said when he drifted back, digging hands in his pockets. He made an effort to watch the traffic beyond the lot, but only for a moment – and when his eyes found Tim’s, they were full of questions. “You and Jason, huh?”

Tim frowned. “Me and Jason what?”

Dick considered the question, searching Tim’s face before his lips folded to a smile. He abruptly seemed to decide the lot was more interesting. “Nothing.”

Dick’s car arrived before Tim could even feign curiosity and so he let the comment slide without a chase – immediately regretting it when Dick ruffled his hair, a habit he couldn’t seem to relinquish himself from.

“I’ll take over at 11. Sound good?” Dick asked, perfectly happy to let Tim jostle his hand away and take a cautious step back.

“Don’t be late,” Tim said, because he figured Jason would text by then. Dick straightened and saluted with all the seriousness he could muster, and then he was in his car and off to wherever he was staying while in town.

Tim watched traffic for a moment, debating on what he should eat before heading back to his apartment. In the garage, a white van drifted through, weaving other valet retrievals as if searching for an exit.

Tim watched, frowning.

In his hand, his phone buzzed, causing him to take a quick glance at the screen.

Might be finishing early, a text from Jason read.

In their line of work, early was relative.

Please, Tim texted. Take your time. I won’t be free until 11, and that’s if Dick’s not running late.

Boo, came Jason’s reply.

By the time Tim looked up again, the white van was gone. __________________________________________________________ A/N: Somewhere along the way, Roy became my fave character to write, LOL. I love how he picks on Jason, haha. Anywho, plot’s pickin’ up...

#jaytim #a study in red #ladelle writes

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ladye11e · 6 years ago

Text

Deception pt 34

The conflict between the Assassins and the Templars is getting out of hand. Lies, deceit and subterfuge, now you must pick a side...

Tagging @geekgoddess813 @sweet-flash @ermergerd517 @i-wontgivein @imakemyownblog 💕

If anyone else would like a tag, shoot me a dm 😁

Link to the full fic so far is Here.

Jumping up off your sofa and peeking through the spyhole in your door when three heavy bangs came from next door, you gingerly poked your head out into the hallway, and coughed loudly to get the delivery boys attention.

"They're on holiday. I'll sign for it."

Gist had sent the package with excellent timing after you had told him that the old couple next to you had gone away; letting him send you something without it getting trailed back to you. Signing for the expected package quickly and slamming the door shut in the poor delivery boys face, you ripped open the cardboard packet, and tipped its contents out on your counter eagerly.

Carefully picking up the disk; dismissing the thick bind of papers for the moment, you put it in your laptop and grabbed your headphones, drumming your fingers impatiently while you waited for it to load up. A whole month you had been waiting for this. Weeks of sneaking around, late nights and chasing numerous dead ends, but hopefully Gist had helped you find the proof you needed. Picking up the translation transcripts that Shay had done for you when several male Russian voices blared in your ear, you flicked through them quickly, almost dropping them when the person you were looking for appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Daniel. My my, you have been a naughty boy," You chuckled with a wry grin. "Sorry to throw you under the bus like this, but it's either you or me."

You knew there was something, off, about Daniel Cross as soon as you had met him in Russia on your last assignment. He had seemed, cagey, and your spidey sense was going mental every time he visited the new bureau, plus there were the little telltale signs that you used to do when you first started working with the Templars. Dismissing his withdrawal jitters as he was going through rehab for his drug problem, he always had a habit of disappearing whenever Shaun had made a new breakthrough in the security programmes, or had managed to locate a consignment that would stop the Templars from funding their work. Then there was the barrage of questions that seemed innocent at the time; such as when more people were coming over or how well you got on with the Russian assassins, but thinking about it afterwards, there was no reason for it, unless he was up to something. If you hadn't have been doing the same thing, you would never have noticed, but unfortunately for Mr Cross, his luck was about to run out.

Having the perfect scapegoat within your grasp; plus a plan B under your belt in case this didn't work, a wicked grin crept up your face as you came across the translation of what he had just said to a man who was hiding exceptionally well in the shadows.

"Bratstvo ne znayet. Now take me to Vidic."

Jackpot.

Reaching over and grabbing your phone, you keyed in Gists voicemail number that you had committed to memory before your old phone had been taken off you, and hummed softly to yourself while you waited for it to kick in, clearing your throat when it beeped so you didn't sound as excited as you felt at the moment.

"You wonderful men. Thank you ever so much, it's exactly what I wanted. Hopefully, I'll see you soon."

Downloading the video off of the disk and sending it to Altaïr through a dummy (and fingers crossed) untraceable email address, all that you could do now, was wait.

In attempts to keep yourself occupied for however long it would take, you had given your apartment a much needed clean; as you could have made a sculpture out of all the dust that had accumulated, and now had your music turned up full blast while you attempted to catch up on your mountain of overdue paperwork. You were so engrossed in writing up all of the mundane tasks that you had done over the past few weeks, that you didn't notice that your phone was ringing until it nearly vibrated off the table.

Catching it in the nick of time and grabbing the remote so you could turn the music down, you answered the call as nonchalantly as you could when you saw that it was Desmond ringing you.

"Hey, what's up? If you're calling to send me out on another bodyguard errand, forget it."

"(Name)! You're not gonna believe it! I can't believe it! I dunno how, or what happened, but, but, it's great!"

"Woah Woah, Desmond, calm down. What's great? You finally beat Altaïr in a fight or something?" You snickered, knowing full well what he was babbling on about, but decided to entertain him anyway.

"No, it's better than that! You're in the clear! You all are! They found the traitor!"

Sitting back with a beaming smile as he carried on enthusing about how brilliant this news was, you looked at your phone when it beeped in your ear in between Desmond's ramblings, just resisting the urge to burst out laughing when it was a message from Jacob saying he was, 'Freeeeeeeeeeee!!!!'

"(Name), (name), you still there? Aren't you happy?"

"Course I am! Was just waiting for you to take a breath. So who betrayed us then?"

"Oh. Sorry." he chuckled sheepishly. "Dunno who it is, the boss wouldn't tell me. He said he's gonna have to investigate into it more, but you're definitely out of the weeds."

"Thank god for that. Thanks for letting me know, we still on for the gym Sunday?"

"Course, wouldn't miss the opportunity to get my revenge! See you then."

Taking a massive sigh of relief as you hung up and dropped your phone back on the table, you clambered up when your stomach started growling and plodded over to the kitchen, rummaging through your cupboards before settling on a share size bag of chips to munch on while you worked. No sooner had you sat back down your phone buzzed with another message, but figuring it was Jacob yet again you just ignored it, determined to get caught up on your work once and for all.

"Right, where was I... Time log...Time log..." You grumbled to yourself, trying to remember the exact millisecond you had threatened William Johnson's secretary in Starbucks.

Clicking your tongue against the roof of your mouth when your phone went off yet again, you snatched it up with every intention of replying with a lengthy abusive message but instead scrunched up your brow when the texts were from an unknown number. That was soon replaced with a sly smile though when the first message said 'Coffee?' looking around furiously when the second said 'Put down the Doritos and let me in X.'

You about jumped out of your skin when a soft rapping suddenly came from your window, more than slightly bewildered when you opened it and let Shay climb in from the fire escape, all dressed up and carrying a couple of expensive looking bags.

"What you got there Romeo? You didn't need to climb all the way up here, I'm off the hook." You grinned as he planted a kiss on your cheek and scanned your apartment.

"Aye, I know that, the chatters gone crazy. Your entourage are still downstairs, so didn't wanna raise any suspicion just yet. Nice, place you've got here."

Rolling your eyes when you could tell he was being sarcastic, you peeked into one of the bags when he dropped them on the table; pushing them towards you and gesturing for you to take them, but you couldn't see anything apart from tissue paper.

"They're for you love. Go an get changed; we're going out."

"Where?"

Holding the bags to your chest when he picked them back up and handed them to you, then gently guided you to what he assumed was your bedroom, you raised your eyebrow when he just chuckled and ushered you inside, pulling the door to with an alluring wink.

Slightly stunned as you finished doing up your shoes and smoothed out your dress, you adjusted your pathetic excuse for a mirror so you could see most of yourself, and deemed you looked pretty damned good considering you had only spent fifteen minutes getting ready. The dress fit you perfectly, a simple black thing with spaghetti straps and came down to your ankle on one side, with a lace panel running down the other that stopped just above your knee; which meant you had to forego knickers to wear it. Cheeky bugger, you sniggered to yourself as you reemerged from your room.

Barely suppressing your smirk when Shay gave out a low whistle as you struck a pose for him, you stuffed your phone and keys into your bag that you had fished out before taking his hand and clambering back out of the fire escape.

"You going to tell me where we're going yet?" You asked again as you walked through the back streets behind your apartment.

"Always need to know don't ya? C'mon, in ya get."

Your eyes widened when he opened the door to an Audi r8 that was parked a couple of streets away, recognising it immediately from the garage at Templar headquarters as you slid into the front seat.

"Take it you've made up with Haytham then?"

"Yeah. We've had our falling outs before. Nothing as bad as this time mind, but life's too short to hold a grudge like that. Was gonna borrow the Rolls, thought that might've drawn a bit too much attention though."

Thinking he made a good choice as you definitely didn't want to be in that particular car again, you let out a little chuckle and spent the short drive in silence, trying to figure out where the hell you were going by the route he took. You had completely given up by the time he'd parked down some dank alleyway and took your hand to lead you through a side door, taking you through a very busy, and delicious smelling kitchen. A couple of the chefs looked up as you went past, but none seemed fazed in the slightest that you were there; making you slightly on edge that they would be used to people coming in through the back.

Your mouth formed a small 'o when you were finally taken to a small private room upstairs, and you could see out of the patio doors onto the balcony, now knowing that you were in the L'Espalier restaurant right next to Shays hotel.

"What's the occasion?" You asked, barely above a whisper as you took your seat at the candlelit table for two when the waiter pulled the chair out for you.

"Realised that we've never actually been on a date, figured today would be the perfect time to change that." He said simply, but by the look on his face, you could tell that there was something that he wasn't letting on.

"Hmm, I figured you for more of a bowling kind of guy."

Grinning when he just rolled his eyes and chuckled, you opened the menu and pouted when you couldn't read a word of it, promptly snapping it shut much to Shays apparent amusement.

"Ya don't need to worry lass, the owner here's a friend of mine, and it's Templar run. No eyes on us here."

It was only then you realised that you had been looking about and over your shoulder, making a mental note of possible exits and hiding places in the room, smiling sheepishly as you sat back and relaxed slightly.

"Sorry, force of habit."

Even though you had never been to a restaurant this fancy before you were aware of the etiquette, (letting Shay order for you thank god) and using the obscene amount of cutlery from the outside in and so forth, surprisingly enjoying being spoilt like this. Catching up and filling each other on everything that you had missed over the past few weeks after not being able to see each other; nearly spitting your wine across the table when Shay told you that Christopher had managed to electrocute himself mildly the other day, you eventually stopped giggling when your food turned up, which was nothing short of heaven on a plate.

Delicately crafted hors d'oeuvres, followed by a beautiful soufflé that was so light felt like you were eating clouds, delectable meats, vegetables and fruits, every bite so delicious that you wished you had room to eat it all again. You couldn't remember a time when you felt so, content if that was the right word for it. Talking and laughing until your ribs hurt, wined and dined like a queen, and tonight, you weren't an Assassin, nor a Templar spy, just an ordinary girl out on a date with her partner.

Your initial instincts that there was more than one reason for going out tonight were confirmed when the waiter poured two glasses of champagne before retreating to the shadows, narrowing your eyes playfully when Shay took your hand and led you out to the balcony.

"When are we gonna get the chance to do something like this again? Might as well make the most of it, love."

"True. Tonight has been amazing. Thank you," you breathed, placing your glass down on the small table and leaning on the rail as you took in the view.

You never realised Boston could be so serene. Usually, you were too busy running around to notice things like this, and from up here it almost seemed picturesque, not on the verge of becoming a battleground. You closed your eyes as Shay wrapped his arm around your waist and nuzzled into your neck, softly sighing when he placed a soft kiss just below your ear and squeezed you gently.

"(Name)?"

"Hmm?"

Flickering your eyes open when you felt his other arm curl around your front, your heart jumped when you saw a thin silver chain woven around his fingers, a beautiful rectangular pendant dropping in front of you when he opened his palm.

"Happy birthday."

Now you knew why he had gone to so much trouble tonight, you hadn't even noticed the date even though you had spent most of the day writing it down. Swallowing hard as you timidly took the pendant in your fingers, you brushed your thumb over the intricate lines on the front, turning it over to reveal an engraved phrase that was in a different language on the back. Your stomach was doing somersaults as he carefully fastened it around your neck and spun you around so he could admire you wearing it, before cupping your face with both hands and kissing you deeply.

"What does it say?" You whispered when he pulled back slightly, your face breaking into a broad smile that a Cheshire cat would have been jealous of.

"That side is Ogham, the first written language in Ireland. This side..." He paused for a moment as he turned the necklace over and ran the tip of his finger over the words. "Is Gaelic. It means..."

You both let out an exasperated groan when he was cut off by your phone ringing loudly from your bag, mentally chiding yourself over and over for not putting it on silent while you were out tonight. Just when you thought whoever was calling had finally rung off, it started up again immediately afterwards, Shays phone joining in a split second later from his jacket pocket.

"Both of us?! We better see who it is love."

Cursing under your breath as you fished your mobile out of your bag, your brow furrowed when you saw it was Altaïr calling, only just resisting the urge not to snap when you finally answered. Cocking your head when Shay mouthed that it was Haytham calling him and he responded to his phone, you both just stared at each other wide-eyed as you each listened to the frantic babblings, blurting out 'On my way' and hanging up at the same time.

"The warehouse?!"

"Aye. This isn't good. You still have some stuff at the hotel, are you sure you're up for this?"

Giving him a determined nod and grabbing your bag, you took a deep breath before almost sprinting down the stairs and towards the Mandarin; thankful that it was only about a minute away, hoping that Altaïr was exaggerating and that you weren't about to join in a full-blown war.

#assassin's creed #assassinscreed #modern au #fanfic #reader insert #shay cormac #shay cormac x reader #sfw #desmond miles

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sullivantwissarcana · 6 years ago

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RWBY Original Character 26

Name: Gin Aurum

Origin and Influence: “Gin” is Japanese for “silver”; “Aurum” is Latin for “gold”

Age: 24 (Birthday is October 6th)

Symbol: A naginata passing through an oval-shaped portal

Species: Human

Appearance: 6′2″ with light skin, cerise-colored eyes, a toned and muscular physique; has short golden blond hair with silver highlights; wears a set of samurai armor in battle consisting of a bodysuit with a belt, helmet, chestplate, shoulder guards, shin guards, and boots (overall, the armor is a simplified version of this); eventually, Gin upgrades his armor to resemble this

Personality: Gin is a cheerful man who loves to help people and this was is motivation for becoming a Huntsman; he’s a loving and accepting big brother to his sister, Vinyl, who really looked up to him and was partially the reason she chose to become a Huntress herself; with his own experience as a Huntsman, Gin knows that the world of Remnant is a harsh and dangerous place, but continues to move forward and keep protecting others who deserve it; he can also be childish at times by using his powers and skills for mundane uses or even just show off; while Gin is also the type to hold a grudge against people who anger him, he won’t allow them to be hurt if they are only a bystander with no means of defending themselves; he will kill Grimm, but he’ll never take a human or Faunus life unless absolutely necessary; Gin will also prioritize the safety of innocents and teammates over a mission’s success or his own honor; Gin is not without his own dark moments and can be very brutal against somebody who angered him

Backstory: After recently graduating from Beacon Academy and becoming a Huntsman, a more naive Gin was on a mission with his team when they ended up battling a horde of Grimm that ended up injuring his teammates severely. When the Grimm were defeated, Gin was the only one with minor injuries and he tried to bring his friends to safety. Managing to bring the three warriors to a nearby village, Gin collapsed from exhaustion and woke up to the news that his friends died from their injuries despite the treatment that they were getting. Hearing that their last words were about how he did his best to save them, Gin continued to push forward and continue being a Huntsman.

Theme Song: “Just Live More” and “Raise Up Your Flag” from Kamen Rider Gaim

Weapon: Gin uses a variety of different weapons such as kunai, swords, bows, shields, guns, and various other melee weapons, but he prefers to use a katana with a built-in handgun and a sword that can be combined into a naginata; several of his weapons aren’t that very special, but he makes up for it by having numerous of them at his disposal; After working alongside Vinyl to create a new weapon, Gin also uses a high-tech matchlock-style gun that fires an assortment of energy rounds. By moving the disk on the side of the weapon, he can switch between different energy rounds such as machine gun fire, cannonballs of energy, and shotgun blasts. The gun can also combine with one of his swords to create a larger and stronger blade that is useful against tougher foes at the cost of extra weight and requiring two hands to use more powerful slashes.

Aura and Semblance: Gin’s orange-colored Aura allows him to defend against several types of attacks and utilize his Semblance very well; Gin’s Semblance, “Connection”, takes the form of a pocket dimension that he can access through glyphs that bare his emblem after he says “Connect” (he doesn’t have to say it, but he prefers to because it’s fun); while he can use this pocket dimension to travel short distances within his line of sight by opening another glyph near where he can see, his primary use of this power is storing weaponry and other objects that he can easily grab whenever he needs them; the pocket dimension perfectly preserves the objects stored inside as if time itself stands still while the object remains there; this power is especially useful in combat as Gin can grab whatever weapon he needs for the situation at hand or even throw something as a distraction (such as a fruit he was saving for later); Gin can also create a glyph near an object in order to grab it or next to an unsuspecting enemy to strike them when they can’t see the portal (this can also be used in reverse as a defensive tactic to redirect enemy attacks)

Fighting Style: Gin’s battle style mostly revolves around use of his various weaponry which he has trained extensively with, but he is also skilled in hand to hand combat and dance for when he doesn’t fight with his weapons; using agile movements, Gin can maneuver past most foes before striking with great power; Gin is also a good shot with his ranged weapons, but prefers close quarters combat; using a number of different weapons at his call, Gin’s battle style can be very unpredictable and tricky when he’s armed; the main weakness of his battle style is that he isn’t as strong in hand-to-hand combat against other opponents, so he’s more vulnerable if he can’t get to one of his weapons

Done with another character that I’ve been trying to figure out for a while.

@bunnyhoplollipop @ventus-rogue @unashamed-shipper @kjthetalekeeper @jkl930 @lilglitteringstar @chuckles-the-jester @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer @nalufever @nightlockedx3 @emmathehalf-bloodhunter @neon-apocalypse and anyone else who’s interested in seeing my newest RWBY OC.

#Sully speaking #RWBY #Original Character #Gin Aurum

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rainstormcolors · 7 years ago

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A post that will only be of interest to maybe like two of my mutuals, but whatever, I want to write it. It’s a summary of the garbage Azureshipping fic I wrote many many years ago, while the dubbed Yu-Gi-Oh! anime was still airing. I included some excerpts from this story as well, though I’ve already shared them with a few of you. This story was never given a title, was never given an ending, is 350 handwritten pages long, and is crap. But I’m very fond of it even still. (BTW, this summary is very -very- streamlined. The work as a whole is a pure mess.)

Kaiba Corporation mysteriously goes under, and Seto and Mokuba are left penniless. I didn’t bother to going into detail regarding this, but it’s implied dark forces are at work. In the meantime, the brothers scrape by, living in a shabby apartment, and Seto seems to have given up. Yugi and Tea visit the brothers and Yugi offers to give them money, to which Seto’s attitude is, “Piss off! I don’t want your charity!” but as Seto’s turned away, Mokuba snatches the money from Yugi’s hand and whispers, “Thank you.” Meanwhile, in his dreams, Mokuba sees strange fragments of the past and the future.

Seto is deemed an incompetent parent to Mokuba by social services and Mokuba is taken away, but Mokuba runs away from the agency and takes to living on the streets for a string of days. A new Duel Monsters tournament is being held in a nearby city and Seto enters, hoping to win the grand cash prize, and is full of misery. Joey and Mai also enter this tournament. Seto and Joey duel, the two exchanging insults, but Seto wins and he proceeds to the finals. (I should mention I didn’t actually write any of the duels in this story. The moves are kept vague.) The final game is between Seto and Mai. Joey’s still unhappy about losing to Kaiba, meanwhile Yugi, “Yami,” and Tea watch the duel silently and uncomfortably. Tea then sees Mokuba in the crowd, watching his brother, and so in that moment she begins to cheer for Seto. Seto wins the duel and Mai doesn’t really seem to mind at all. But Seto isn’t given the prize money, because the tournament’s host has a grudge against Kaiba Corporation. (I don’t give any details for why.) And Mokuba vanishes, remaining hidden in the streets.

That night however, the Millennium Ring takes on a life of its own and teleports onto Mokuba’s body, and Yami Bakura’s energy possesses him. (I was making the Millennium Ring possess random people before DSoD made it cool!) Possessed Mokuba goes to the hotel Yugi and co. are staying in and he steals the Millennium Items, Joey’s deck and duel disk, and Tea’s cellphone, but Yugi and Tea catch him in the act. Possessed Mokuba races off into the night with the pair of friends in tow, when suddenly a man in a truck snatches up Mokuba (such an original plot point) and the Items from the street. The man rushes to an airplane held at the edge of the city, drives the truck into its cargo bay, and it flies off towards Egypt.

At some point around this part I decided this was going to be an Azure romance. While I realized the woman in Seto’s vision during his duel with Isis was far and away most likely not going to actually be Tea, I decided to give Tea a vision of that moment with the implication it’s her.

After finding him, Tea tells Kaiba what’s happened and he’s infuriated. Tea tells him to try tracking her cellphone and he does (just somehow), and they pinpoint his brother’s location in Egypt. Tea has enough money for two plane tickets, and while Seto isn’t happy about it, he needs to rescue Mokuba of course, and so she and Seto go together as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan explain the situation to Mai and she decides to front the money for the four of them to fly to Egypt on another later flight.

Mokuba is still possessed by Yami Bakura as he’s brought to an underground temple in a secluded corner of Egypt. There are three siblings, who I make it clear care very much about each other: the oldest brother, the middle child who is the head of the group—a woman with short purple hair and wearing a black dress, and the youngest sister who has brilliant red hair and is in white robes. (I was ripping off the Ishtar siblings as villains before DSoD made it cool!) (I’ll also note it doesn’t seem they caused the collapse of Kaiba Corporation from earlier.) I wrote this story before the Millennium Scale was revealed in the anime, and it’s the Big McGuffin here. The siblings are the protectors of the Scale, which is said to be the most dangerous of the Millennium Items. The Scale is welded to a stone and only the chosen one may remove it, King-Arthur-and-the-Sword-style. There’s a prophecy inscribed in the temple walls, which states in part that the wielder of the Millennium Scale will become a vessel to filter evil from the Shadow Realm into the mortal world, and the siblings believe Mokuba is the chosen bearer of the Scale. Yami Bakura is gleeful at the chance to take hold of another Millennium Item but his spirit is unable to budge it, and touching the Scale ejects his grasp over Mokuba’s body. None the less, the siblings jump to the conclusion that they were mistaken, this boy is much too young to be the bearer anyway, and that it must be the older Kaiba brother who is the chosen one instead. Despite being the villains who kidnapped him, the trio are actually fairly hospitable to Mokuba. The middle sister is grouchy about how things have gone, though she’s happy to keep the Millennium Items for herself, and she has the friendly and pretty youngest sister (who is Mokuba’s age at that) take Mokuba into town in the morning.

Tea and Seto arrive at Egypt together and head to the place they’ve pinpointed, and in the town they find Mokuba waiting, and he and Seto have their sweet warm reunion at last. But tensions are high. Tea and Mokuba decide they need to get the Millennium Items back, and Seto agrees begrudgingly after Mokuba confronts him with, “How is it better?! What’s happened to you? You don’t care about anything anymore. […] If you go home I’ll come, but if you care, then help Tea get that stuff back.” Mokuba leads them to the temple in the nighttime and they sneak inside. They grab the collection of Items, but before they go, Mokuba finds himself strangely drawn to the Millennium Scale. It’s as if there’s a magical tug, and he goes to it and nudges it, whispering, “It is me…” before Tea and Seto call him to leave.

(Stuff gets really convoluted at this part and I’m really streamlining it here.) As they escape, Tea loses her sandals. There’s a confrontation with the trio of siblings, and soon Tea and Seto only have the Millennium Rod as all the other Items are stolen back, and the purple-haired woman challenges Mokuba to a duel for some weirdo reason, summoning the Shadow Realm as a test or something. Mokuba duels using Joey’s deck and duel disk but flounders. Tea shouts for Yugi, and with this, thousands of miles away, Yami realizes the others are in trouble. But as Mokuba’s about to lose, Seto uses the Millennium Rod to shatter the Shadow Realm, and so Mokuba’s soul is safe. Seto, Tea, and Mokuba steal the siblings’ car (noticeably not the truck; I don’t know what happened to the truck or airplane) and drive off, back towards the town.

Shadi appears to Mokuba in a vision spouting lofty nonsense about destiny at some point.

At nightfall, Tea and Seto have this embarrassingly written romantic moment:

[from pages 206 to 211; it’s goofy and bad and overwritten and so so so woobified]

““Oof!” she groaned w/ a loud thud, Tea had rolled off her bed onto the floor. There was no difference from when Tea had her eyes shut and when she had her eyes open, it was darker than the pitchest of blacks. “Hrmm,” she groaned rubbing her eyes, she was still very sleepy. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she could see an extremely dim light barely visible to the human eye seeping through the cracks of the flap hung over the back entryway as a tacky, cheap cover. Tea pushed up against the side of her invisible bed to help her stand and from there she felt her way round the tiny room, pushed through the flimsy flap to the outside world which left her totally breathless.

It was beautiful, the sky was speckled w/ what seemed like a trillion stars. Tea had never seen so many stars in her life. Back in Domino City, the bright lights almost always left the nightscape completely starless. Now that she was out in the middle of nowhere there wasn’t a single light source to fade the sky and everything from up in the heavens shown through, and she could see to the edge of the universe. Then Tea saw a dark figure radiating a faint silvery lining. It was Seto, staring off into the unknown. Seto didn’t seem the type to enjoy something as simple yet precious as stars, but this didn’t surprise Tea. There had been enough hints of his fascination w/ the sky. From how he held his tournament on a blimp and a high up tower, to him simply peering out the window as they flew here. Even his favorite duel monster could fly far up into the atmosphere.

She walked over and stood next to him. They didn’t look at each other, they didn’t say anything, there was absolute quiet, but the quiet didn’t bother Tea this time. The 2 just stared off into the silvery-blue desert silently. There was a gentle breeze, a soft whirling sound pierced the air.

“Why are you up?” Seto finally said in a tender voice, his eyes still fixed up to the moonless starscape.

“hmm, oh, I fell off my bed,” Tea quietly replied, “and why are you still up? We found Mokuba and you’ve been awake for several days straight.”

“more like a month”

“A month? You haven’t been to sleep for a month? Is that even physically possible?”

“Unless you count me passing out, yes.”

“Why?” He didn’t say anything, he shut his eyes like he was trying to sleep standing up. Tea looked at him, he was so broken. “Seto? Erk- I mean Kaiba!” she shook her head trying to snap some common sense into herself, “Sorry, I’ve been hanging w/ Mokuba too much and I’m starting to talk like him.” Why do I keep calling Kaiba Seto? I-

“Tea, Seto’s my name,” he reopened his eyes slowly, “you’re suppost to call people by their name. I never got why you and your pals call me Kaiba.”

“Well that is your last name,” she pointed out to him.

“My adopted last name. The name of my evil, wicked stepfather. Don’t even have the company anymore.”

Seto’s stepfather, a topic his mind seemed hopelessly stuck on. It haunted him in ways no one else could ever really understand, as icy essence that would always linger in the back of his thoughts. He was a little boy, the forgotten boy lost in time, forever running from this tangled fear, forever trapped in this endless chase, too afraid to stop and be devoured by this monster locked inside his frigid heart. Too afraid to even look back.

“You really don’t like your past, do you?”

His eyes were hollow and lifeless. Seto slowly rocked his head back and forth, lost somewhere in a numbing trance.

“Was it really that bad for you? I mean if that creep hadn’t adopted you, you never would of…” Tea stopped herself. Since he no longer held the position of president for Kaiba Corp, all the good had been sucked away from his adoption.

“It depends whether you value youth or not. Guess I did. But I just have to put all that behind me.”

“You mean forget?”

“It’s nice for your little friends to spit at me for that, especially when they have no idea what it was like.”

“You’ll never forget trying to forget, because in trying to forget you’ll remember and it will always be there. Don’t try and forget, try and let go,” Tea explained. Seto remained stuck in his daze. “So do you not like being called Kaiba? Besides Mokuba, and me too I guess, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody call you by anything else.”

“It was alright when I owned Kaiba Corp, it was one of my accomplishments, earning that name. But now it shows my failure.”

“If it bothered you so much, why didn’t you tell us?”

“What ever.”

“Ah. Well anyway, why can’t you sleep?” she asked getting back to the point, returning the conversation’s personality back to quiet and mellow.

“I just can’t, I lost my company, I lost Mokuba,” he explained to her.

“Stressed out then?”

“I’m a failure, a throwaway…”

This was not the Seto Tea grew to know, before all this rained down on him, Seto was always going on how much more superior he was to the others, now he was ranting how much more worthless he was. “Oh come now, you’re not a failure. Your company was stolen, I know you don’t believe in magic, but it was some ancient magic power that did this. You’d only be a failure if it was actually your fault, and it’s not. You’re really smart and skilled, I’m sure you’ll eventually bounce back. We’ll fix this. You know what they say, when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up.”

“And you fall right back down,” he grumbled.

Tea was not getting through to this guy, “What do you mean?”

“What do you care? This is only going to result in one of your long, annoying speeches like it always does.”

“It does not.”

“Oh yes it does. You don’t even know the half of it.”

“Tell you what, if I promise to not say a single thing will you tell me?” she coaxed trying to come to a compromise.

He hesitated, feeling Tea’s waiting gaze upon him. “Look at my life, it’s a disaster, it just goes up and down, up and down, it never stops.” Seto quivered a little as he spoke, “Everytime I think things are starting to look good, I plumbit back down. My and Mokuba’s parents died, our remaining relatives stole our inheritance and then just dumped us off at an orphanage and no one cared for us. I tricked a rich CEO into adopting us and I thought things might change, but he turned out to be a heartless, dictating snake, so I overthrew him and took control of his company. Things were okay for a while, and now this! I have nothing, everyone hates me! My life has been ripped to shreds!”

Tea looked at him, she had never heard Seto talk so openly. His eyes looked so sad. She had known a little about Seto’s rugged past, but for some reason hearing it made her finally understand Seto’s bitterness, his distrust for people. “Everyone does not hate you, what about Mokuba? He doesn’t hate you.”

“Yes he does. And I can’t blame him. I’m a horrible person…”

“He just wishes you’d be more light hearted, try having fun. I mean, why aren’t you ever happy? Try smiling every once in a while.”

“Yes, I should try smiling, who cares how I actually feel? I should just pretend to be happy and smile, even if I’m dead inside, cause as long as I’m smiling everything’s alright.”

Tea thought about that for a second. “Are you really always that unhappy?”

“Speech, Tea. This is turning into a speech.”

“Well I can’t help it, you’re ranting on about how tenuous a life you have, and maybe you’re right, but you’re afraid of your past, you’re afraid of your future, I strongly doubt you like your current position, what is it you want? What would have to happen to make you happy?”

He finally turned to look at her, his deep blue eyes reflecting the dazzling stars. Tea felt a bizzar pull to him, like some force was bringing them together, it was weirding her out. Just a week ago the thought of talking to Seto left a foul taste in her mouth, she had been beating herself up for dragging herself here w/ him. But not anymore, instead of talking at him, she was talking to him, she could see the world through his eyes, everything had changed.

“You promised you wouldn’t say anything,” he gently said.

“Sorry, I forgot,” she whispered back. The 2’s personalities were an absolute contrast, there was no chance of ever hitting common ground, Tea was a jovial, kind-hearted girl, Seto was a bitter, withdrawn boy who lost his place. Still, there was a strong connection between them as they gazed back up into the star-frosted heavens, absorbing it’s pale silver glow.”

That same night, Yugi, Yami, Joey, Tristan, and Mai arrive in Egypt.

In the morning, Seto gives Tea his shoes, and she, he, and Mokuba have a “day of fun” in the town since they don’t know how they’ll get home yet. Seto plays a casual duel with Tea as if it was a lesson. Seto and Mokuba go off together and leave her alone for a bit as well. Later, sitting and watching the sunset together, Seto finally falls asleep and he slumps gently against Tea.

Then Tea’s friends find them and it’s all bustle and explaining things. They decide they’ll make another attempt to re-capture the Millennium Items because this shit is dangerous. Seto leaves them. When Tea meets him later, he pulls out the Millennium Rod from under the bed and asks her why she didn’t tell her friends about it, and she tells him it’s his. He forces it into her hands but she holds it back out to him. Seto then places his hand over hers on the Rod and bends down to her but she stumbles back, saying she should be getting back to the others now, and he lets her go.

Tea, Yugi, Yami, and Mokuba go to the temple and approach the Scale on the stone together (apparently the sibling villains are really really incompetent at guarding it). Tea guesses that Yami is the chosen one and he steps forward, but something feels wrong and evil, and Mokuba begins to see things and is able to read the scripture on the walls. Tea tries to comfort him. Then the purple-haired woman confronts them. She tells the group it’s one of the Pharaoh’s rivals who can pick up the Scale, and Mokuba feels confused as he hears this. She gives them the Ring as a peace offering. She offers to return the Millennium Necklace to them if they would be so kind as to bring Seto Kaiba to her to activate the Scale.

Tea and Yami aren’t sure what to do next, but as they leave with the Ring they find Seto standing outside the temple. As it should turn out, some kind of hallucinatory vision had carried him along with them and he’s just as confused as they are. They tell him about the situation. Mokuba, knowing he’s the only one who can remove the Scale and wanting to put an end to all this, tells Seto to try it. Seto does and is able to lift it with ease, and Mokuba is shocked. (The idea is Mokuba’s nudge was enough to free it, but he didn’t realize that.) The purple-haired woman is ecstatic, reveals that there’s dark magic inside the Item, and she challenges Seto to a duel to claim the Item’s powers. The youngest sister goes to Mokuba’s side. The woman and Seto duel, everyone watching, and Seto wins.

And so Yugi, Yami, Seto, Mokuba, and Tea leave with all the Items in their possession, but Yami and Tea are very concerned. They return to the others, and Mokuba is disturbed as things are explained and considered.

Here’s another excerpt:

[from pages 305 to 316; bad bad bad and overwritten and woobified again, now with terrible melodrama]

“Seto leaned over the sink in the inn’s bathroom. It’s edges were lined with scuz and sludge ringed the foucet, it’s handle was very loose. There was a shower, but it didn’t work. Washing his hair in the sink had grown used to him. He had done it back when he and his brother were living in that broken down apartment of deferred dreams and causes, and at the airport in London while waiting for his and Tea’s plane to arrive, but being without soap he couldn’t get it too clean. He wished the water was colder.

“Seto, are you OK?” Mokuba asked him standing in the restroom’s doorway.

He didn’t look up, “Why?” he said through the dribbling sound of running water.

“Because the girl you decided to f-“

“Mokuba, please.”

“Sorry,” his eyes shifted to the millinium scale that had carelessly been laid on the floor, “Heads up, Joey and Tristan might try to steal that from you.”

“Steal what?”

“The millinium scale, for some reason they seem to think it’ll make you go crazy or something.”

“Idiots. And let me guess, Tea-“

“Did nothing. Talk to her already, or do you want me to do it for you?”

Seto finally pulled his head out from under the grummy, near-broken sink. “Mokuba, you’re not helping,” he said as he squeezed the water out of his tangled hair with his fingers. Then he picked the polished scale off the floor. “See, this is why I don’t make friends,” he grumbled, “I knew this would happen.”

“Seto, you can’t just give up, that’s so unlike you.”

“She’s made her choice, let it be.” He walked out of the restroom, his hair damp and spirit low, “I have nothing, I don’t deserve her care.”

Mokuba stared blinklessly at his brother a bit horrified at what he was saying. Seto walked away and disappeared down the sliver of a hallway.

Hours were swept away never to be retrieve or re-lived again. The brief sandstorm had passed away a short while after noon broke, and the gang would of probably started to head to a city and airport so they could set their sights on home, but w/ this idea an ugly problem showed it’s face. Not even half of them could fit into that pathetic car to transport them anywhere, so for the moment they were stuck.

“OK, here’s my plan,” Tristan announced.

“If it involves leaving Seto and I stranded here…”

“First off, no it doesn’t,” he replied to Mokuba. Everyone was sitting outside in a ring formation, discussing ideas and ways to tackle this issue, everyone except Seto. He was off leaning against the side of a building feeling feverish and soaking in his aloofness. “Tea, did you ever get your cell phone back?” Tristan continued on.

“Umm,” Tea reached into the shallow pocket of her brilliant apple red skirt with grey, yellow, and forest green cross hatching, “yeah, why?” she said as she felt it’s hard, plastic surface.

“Cause we can call someone up then to come and pick us up or drop off another car or something.”

“And who do you propose we call Tristan?” Mai said.

“I dunno, anyone.”

“Yo, Kaiba! Do you have any ideas?” Joey yelled over at Seto, who was nodding off, “Hey, wake up! It’s not night time yet!”

“You always have to find some way to make a nussence of yourself Wheeler, don’t you?” he said, “figure something out for yourself for once.” Seto pushed off the building and walked away wishing not to be bothered anymore.

“Fine! We don’t need your help!” Joey barked at him as he left.

Tea watched as he turned into the building. “Ahh, I have to go to the bathroom.” She hopped to her feet and followed Seto’s footprints that he left in the pale, colorless sand. Mokuba crossed his fingers.

Unaware of the fact Tea had followed him, Seto let himself fall limp onto one of the beds, his worn out body, as weak and tired as it was, had reached it’s limit. How he could stay as perky as he’s been he’d never figure out. He heard someone else enter the room. “Tea?” his heart lifted a bit.

“Um, yeah, Kaiba, where’d you put the millinium rod? Cause the thing of it is-“

*Clank* Seto had quickly pulled it out from under the bed and threw it bitterly against the wall. The loud sound it made as it clashed against the wall made Tea flinch, she hadn’t expected him to throw it. He didn’t throw it at her, in fact he had thrown it at the opposite end of the room from which she stood, sending a strong message.

“Take it,” he spat.

She glared at him for a second, then moved over to pick it up. Right now she didn’t know how the rod’s magic might affect Seto, and it was Yugi’s. It was wrong for her to have handed it over to him to begin w/.

“Tea?” Seto said, his voice had calmed down and now came off as tender.

But Tea ignored him and went back outside. The second she passed through the cloth flap though she stopped and looked down into the millinium rod held in her grasp. What had she just done? Part of her wanted to run back immediately into the room and return it to him. No, she couldn’t do that, what was wrong w/ her? She wished it would just disappear right out of her hand.

“Tea? You took it back?”

Tea shot her head up. There Mokuba stood before her, his glassy, oversized eyes reflecting the deep navy sky painted over w/ pale pink clouds.

“Huh, oh, well it’s Yugi’s,” she said.

“You’re taking it back because you’re afraid he’s evil aren’t you?”

“No, it wasn’t mine to give away to begin with. I’m taking it back because it’s my friend’s,” she told him.

“Seto is your friend!” he cried.

“Um,” Tea became figety and nervous, she squeezed the millinium rod so hard her knuckles turned white, “I have to go, they’re expecting me back you know.” She brushed past him and headed back to Mai, Joey, Tristan, Yami, and Yugi.

Mokuba clamped his teeth hard together. He couldn’t just let it be, this was wrong. “Why are you ignoring Seto?!” he angrily yelled at her.

Tea didn’t even get 6 feet away. She stopped and turned back to look at him, “Mokuba?” she weakly muttered.

“How could you just of forgotten this past couple days?” Mokuba had so many things worrying him, so many thing picking at his stability, but he thought he could finally stop worrying about his brother being friendless. He wasn’t about to let Tea piss it all way. “He opened up to you, doesn’t that mean anything? I’ve never seen him open up to anyone before until now. Why have you just thrown it all away?” He looked at her, hungry for her reply.

“I- Mokuba. It’s really complicated and we just don’t know. I’m sorry my friends don’t trust him right now. My friends and I have been through so much together, I can’t just abandon them,” she explained.

“So you abandoned Seto?!”

She didn’t know what to say. Mokuba was exactly right. “Look, this is really hard for me-“

“-Not as hard as it is for him.” Mokuba cut in, his voice grew serious and low, “No one has ever cared for us before like this, until you. Even when Seto pushed you away, you still stuck by him. And it meant something to him, it really did.”

“Mokuba, what am I suppost it do?! My friends mean more than anything to me and they’re concerned,” she cried, “And I mean more than anything to them. Our friendship is forever.”

“Your friendship with him could be forever too…”

“I’m sorry Mokuba, I just can’t.” She slowly turned back around, staring empty into the ground. But before she could head off anywhere, Mokuba said one last thing that caused her to freeze up.

“He loves you!”

Tea quickly jerked her head back around, “Love? That’s an awfully strong word.”

“Well he does.”

“Mokuba, don’t take this the wrong way, but your brother doesn’t seem the type to fall in love,” she told him.

“I know, and that’s what’s so cool about it. I never thought Seto could grow so attached to someone, but he did, and it’s you!” Mokuba looked pained, she could see he was telling the truth. “He loves you, he told me! It was yesterday, when we went off for a walk…”

-- “Seto,” he said snapping his pendant shut, “I have a question. It’s about you and Tea.”

“What about me and Tea?” he lazily replied snapping his pendant shut as well.

“Are you guys like friends or something? I mean I’ve never seen you like this before,” Mokuba asked.

Seto had his eyes fixed over the sands of the desert as they bathed in the deep orange rays of the sun, “Yeah, well, no one’s ever cared for me like this before,” he replied in a tone that Mokuba never quite heard his brother use before.

“I care,” he said.

“Not like this, this is this is different…” his voice was so soft.

“Oh my gosh,” it hit Mokuba, his later bloomer brother was finally, “You lo-“

“Weird, isn’t it?”

“I never thought I’d see the day where Seto Kaiba falls in love,” he said joyously, “Tell her!”

“Mokuba, we’re going to have to go back to reality eventually. You’ll be placed in foster care, who knows where I’ll be, and once Tea meets her little friends again, she’ll forget about us,” he cooly explained.

“No, Tea wouldn’t do that!” Mokuba argued, “Tell her!”

Seto let out a weak sigh, “We’ll see…” he said, shutting his eyes slowly. --

“… And he was right!” Mokuba cried, “The second your stupid friends showed up you forgot about us!”

“… Seto loves me?” Tea slowly mumbled as if in a dream, and to be honest, not all too surprised to be informed of this.

“Yes, or at least he did. But then you started ignoring him,” he said calmly, “Tea, I understand that you would care much more for your old friends than you would ever for Seto, but you mean so much to him. Very few people have ever gotten to his heart, in fact there’s only 2, me and you. But once you’re there, trust me on this, you’re never coming out. You know, I always knew eventually down the road you’d be forced into choosing, but I thought it’d be Seto’s doing, not your friends, what does that tell you about them?”

“Mokuba, it’s not like that!”

“Are they really your real friends?”

“You know how close we are, of course they are!” she growled disgusted.

Mokuba paused, he paused for a long while, staring longlingly into her eyes. And then he walked away, off towards the rising silver sliver of a moon.

Tea watched him as he shrank away into nothing, she was alone now, left to think over everything that had just been told. The millinium rod was a retreat, for her to compare the Kaiba she once knew to the Seto she now knows. Tea stared into the gold for several minutes, studying the warped reflections. Her decision was made as she remembered she was wearing Seto’s shoes. He had been walking around bare foot this whole time.

The sun was swallowed up by the earth, a few white speckles had been sprayed into the deep heavens. The clouds that hung in the sky had transformed into a brass color, it was pretty.

“Where the heck is Tea?!” Joey grouched.

“Calm down Joey, girls always take a long time in the bathroom.”

“Hey!” Mai spat at Tristan, who snickered.

“She’s probably off talking to that brat Kaiba again. What the heck is going on with them?” Joey grunted.

Yami? It was Yugi, his spiritual essence hovered around Yami like a mist.

Yes Yugi? All their talking was done telepathically, both being souls trapped in the same body.

Don’t you think it’s kind of mean to assume Kaiba might go crazy from the millinium scale? Yugi had been neutral since the start of all this, in fact the truth was he was rooting for Seto. And Yami had been neutral too up until this morning, but something changed.

These items are dangerous. We have to protect Kaiba and Tea too. Yami replied.

Who do you think you’re kidding? This isn’t about us and Tea, this is about you and Tea. Ever since we saw them watching the sunset you’ve been weird. I can see your thoughts. I think you’re jealous.

Jealous?

Can you admit it or not? Talk to her.

I can’t.

Why not?

Yugi, I live inside a piece of jewelry, just a spirit who takes temporary control over your body. I’m not even sure how long I’ll be here…

What will it hurt? Hey, you 2 have been through so much together, how could she reject you? If it calms you down, I’m for it.

Different parts of Tea’s head pulled her different ways. Eventually Seto had come out of the room. If he had seen her, he gave no acknowledgement. Up against the grit wall, Tea just observed him for a minute. Once again she found him staring up into the sky speckled w/ silver. She walked up silently to him.

“Seto?” she barely murmured. He didn’t look back at her. “Seto?” she repeated, a little louder this time.

“So you’re calling me Seto again?” he finally said, his voice cold and dead.

“Well that is your name,” she playfully replied, but it was obvious Seto was in no such mood.

“I’m not sure I want you calling me by that anymore.”

She held out the millinium rod to Seto, despite the fact he wasn’t facing her, “Here, take it,” she insisted, “I didn’t give it back to Yugi. You don’t take back a gift.”

Seto stood stiff, still staring into the sky’s great vastness. Everything became a shade of blue as the stars and moon cast majestic silver shadows over the earth.

“Mokuba said you loved me.”

“Did he?”

“You’re not angry at him, are you?”

“Why would I be angry at him?”

“Because he either lied to me or spilled out your secret.”

Seto finally spun around to her, “Is it really that big of a secret?”

Tea looked away, “… no.” She already knew, ever since she first cheered for him when he dueled against Mai, she felt something changed. That was the turning point. She looked back over at him, “Seto, I’m sorry. It’s just- my friends just appeared out of nowhere, and you guys kept fighting over nothing, and they got worried about these stupid items and prophecies, and I didn’t know. We’ve been through so much, but th-“

“Tea, stop talking.” Seto took 2 steps towards her. She found herself staring into his eyes. She had never noticed before how they changed color. Sometimes they looked turquoise, other times they were almost lavender, now they were very distant and dark. Hope lived in them again.

And that left her to think about yesterday, when they almost- If her friends hadn’t suddenly shown up, would she have gone through w/ kissing him? The more she thought about if she’d have done it, the more she saw herself doing it.

He was so close to her, it should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn’t, it really wasn’t.

Are you sure about this? Yami asked Yugi.

What are you afraid of?

They were slowly traveling over to where Tea had vanished off to. Yugi and Yami at this point had figured that, being gone for as long as she was, Tea had gone off to Seto. But they were OK w/ this. Yami just wanted to get the facts known and get the facts out there. What was Yami so nervous over? It’s not like Seto had any romantic interest in Tea…

Yami froze, and from a distance watched the lip-locked couple numbly. Yugi was in shock as well.

… that’s… interesting…”

I know there are about 35 more pages to the story, but it’s at this point when it begins to fizzle out. It’s more that it takes that many pages for the story’s thrust to finally die.

I wrote this story during a dark place in my life and it became a kind of oasis for me. I felt alone and full of anger and self-loathing, but when I was writing, those feelings dimmed and it was like I could breathe for a moment.

I’m sorry to anybody whose time I wasted with this nonsense, but this was once something very meaningful to me. That’s all.

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magewardensurana · 7 years ago

Note

For your writing prompts! Ema/Maya, chocolate?

Sorry this took awhile!

Ema knocked on the door to the Wright Anything Agency, but didn’t wait for an answer before she pushed it open. It was business hours, after all.

“Mr Wright?” she said, not looking up from the folder she was absorbed in reading. "I was wondering if you could take a look at - Oh.“ She stopped when she did look up, and saw that the person in the office was not Phoenix Wright, or his daughter, or Athena Cykes.

“Heya, Ema!” The woman greeted her with a bright smile and a wave.

Maya Fey. It was always a slightly awkward moment running into a highly attractive old friend. Even more awkward when the last few interactions had involved murders, arrests, testimonies and cross examinations.

“Maya, hello. I wasn’t expecting -” The folder got transferred to under her right arm and her left hand automatically went for the bag of snackadoos. "Have you been in LA long?“ That seemed like a safe topic choose.

“Just a few days. Probably be here a few more. With Trucy in her senior year and Apollo in Khura'in, Nick’s a little short staffed. So I said I’d help out for a bit.”

“What about Miss Cykes?” Ema’s mind had gone blank of anything except the most inane of small talk. She suddenly wished she had a crime scene to examine (not that she wanted the Agency to be the scene of yet another crime. It was more a desire for a general crime scene) or a testimony to give. Forensics would give her something to talk about, and distract her from the fact that she hadn’t washed her hair in several days and her lab coat still had that stain on it from last week.

“Thena’s running way more trials now, and Nick’s taking the whole mentor thing really seriously.” Maya grinned, “Doesn’t really like me reminding him of the days when he couldn’t get through one trial without yelling for Sis to help. So, it’s time for the real head of Wright and Co. to take her rightful place in the office again.”

Ema untucked the folder from under her arm. "I’ll just leave this here, then,“ she said, slipping the folder on the desk. "If you could ask Mr Wright to look at it. It’s not important, just something I thought he’d find interesting.”

She turned to go.

“Ema, wait.” Maya was leaning over her desk, her hand on Ema’s arm. "It’s been ages since we spoke properly. And arrests and cross examinations don’t count as a proper reunion.“

Ema blushed, and Maya sighed. "Is that why you’re acting so weird? Look, if I held a grudge against everyone who accused me of murder or testified against me I’d have no friends except Nick.”

Ema managed to smile in return.

“I am sorry about that. I could’ve got you and Mr Wright killed.”

“It’s no problem. Happens all the time. Come on, I was about to make hot chocolate.”

The kitchen at the Wright Anything Agency was still well stocked despite the fact that the Wrights no longer lived there. Maya found milk and a saucepan, measured out the milk and put it on the stove to boil.

“Milk?” Ema asked, surprised.

“Yeah. What else would I use? Water?” Maya slipped a glass disk into the pan. She caught sight of Ema’s guilty expression.

“Oh, Ema…”

“What? It’s quick and less work. That efficiency is necessary for the busy working woman.”

“If you want to kill all the taste. Also, that’s coco.”

“What’s the difference? In scientific terms, please.”

“S-scientific, huh?” Maya frowned, thinking.

Ema rolled her eyes. "Look at the basic nature of things, Maya”

They stared at each other for a moment, then Maya shook her head. "This is all sounding way too familiar. Besides, if I used water then I think Sis would channel herself into me and throw it all out.“

It was still strange to hear Maya so casually talk about spirit channelling, despite everything Ema knew of the Feys and had seen in Khura'in.

“Do you speak to your sister often?”

“Not as much as I used to,” Maya replied, rummaging through the cupboard to find the chocolate flakes. "We spoke loads before I went to Khura'in, though.“

"How… exactly do you talk?”

“Is this your scientific curiosity?” Maya asked, a tub of chocolate flakes in her hand. She added a generous amount to each mug and stirred in some cold milk. "And it’s not that difficult. Either we write notes to each other, or Pearly channels Sis and we talk face to face.“

Ema considered this. Scientifically she knew spirit channelling was impossible, but empirical evidence said otherwise.

"It must be nice,” was what she managed. She thought about her own parents, a man and a woman she barely remembered, and wondered what it would be like to see them again.

“I guess. We haven’t talked since I turned twenty seven. It just -” Maya shrugged, and stirred the milk and chocolate flake mixture again. Ema tried to think of a way to change the subject.

“Did you know I didn’t actually realise our sisters were dating?"

Maya laughed. "Yeah, I know. Sis and I had a bet going on how long it would take for you to realise.”

“I was pretty focused on my school work.”

“Emaaaaa. They were living together. In your house.”

There was a rattling of the glass dish as the milk came to the boil. Maya poured the milk into the mugs and added a whipped cream and a sprinkling of marshmallows to each. "Ta-da! Maya’s Super Special Hot Chocolate!“

"It shall be drunk,” Ema replied, reaching up to adjust her glasses, “In the name of science. You proposed the hypothesis that this is superior to water-made hot chocolate. I intend to test this. Scientifically.”

“I intend to drink it ‘cause it’s delicious. Later I’ll probably test the hypnosis that whipped cream straight from the can to my mouth is just as good as adding it to food.”

The mental image of Maya Fey and whipped cream caused a small and sudden coughing fit from Ema.

“You okay, Ema?”

“I’m… fine.” Ema replied, running through the periodic table in her head to refocus her thoughts. "Let’s go drink, shall we?“

They took their drinks over to the office’s couch, Maya curling up on her seat with the comfortable familiarity of someone who had thought of the place as a home for a long time. Ema studied her over the top of her mug. They’d known each other a long time, but then lost touch after Lana ended things with Mia. Despite their mutual defence lawyer friend they hadn’t properly reconnected until just a few months ago. And now they were drinking hot chocolate and talking like the years of separation had never happened.

Romance was not Ema’s strong suit. In wasn’t that she lacked experience in the field. More that her usual approach was impossible. Dating wasn’t something that could be treated scientifically. What worked with one person wasn’t guaranteed to work with another. Each partner required a whole new set of formulae. Klavier hadn’t been Kay, and Maya wasn’t Klavier (which she was very grateful for since being interested in one Klavier Gavin had been bad enough), so there was no reference to draw on. No way of telling if her interest was requited.

"Did you know,” Maya said, breaking the silence. "Meeting your sister really helped me.“

"Oh?”

“I’d only ever really had Sis to compare myself to. So I figured there was something wrong with me ‘cause I didn’t like guys. Kurain is really, really straight and Sis liked girls, buuuuuuuut she also liked guys. So it wasn’t until I met Lana that I realised it could be a thing.” Ema didn’t realise she’d been staring at Maya until the other woman blushed, then pouted.

“Shit. You did know I’m gay, right?”

“A little hard to miss,” Ema replied, wryly. "We were mutuals on tumblr, remember? You url was mayagay and your description was ‘I’m a lesbian and I like Steel Samurai’.“

"Still is. And it’s still true. So, what was with all the staring, then?”

“It’s just - I went through the exact same thing. Growing up my only frame of reference was a lot of heterosexual people and Lana. So I thought attraction was an either/or deal, and that I was an outlier. Then I met Mia, and adjusted my theory to fit the new information.”

“Y'know, a quick Google search would’ve given us the same answers.”

“True.”

Maya raised her mug in a toast. "Here’s to being a couple of really weird kids.“

Very carefully, so she didn’t dislodge any of the marshmallows or whipped cream, Ema accepted the toast.

#ace attorney #maya fey #ema skye #emamaya #bluuuuuuurgh #it's bad sorry #surana writes

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tremolux · 8 years ago

Text

Darkness Rising

Over the past two years, many of you have asked if I would ever write a followup to my original Lucas theory, Uber A: What’s in a Name?

Well my friends, the wait is over.

The end is near.

The darkness is upon us.

Darkside/Lightside

Grunwald: I've never considered the content of dreams to be important; it's the impressions they leave that affect me... In this case, the dream left me quite unsettled. The sense was strong enough that I felt compelled to come here.

Hanna: The sense of what?

Grunwald: A darkness, around you and Caleb.

Those of you who have already ventured down the rabbit hole of my original Lucas theory will remember a very literal interpretation of one of Mrs. Grunwald’s impressions that singled out Lucas as “the one Alison fears the most.”

My interpretation of that scene has not changed since it was written. Not only was Grunwald speaking in reference to Lucas back then, but she still is now.

In 7x08, Mrs. Grunwald returns to Rosewood with an ominous message about "a darkness" around Hanna and Caleb. Several factors make that statement particularly interesting. Not only are they standing in Lucas’ apartment when she says it, but the idea that “the darkness” lingers specifically around Hanna and Caleb as opposed to the others seems to point towards Lucas. After all, Hanna and Caleb seem to be Lucas' only friends in Rosewood, as far as we can tell.

Aria: It’s no coincidence that he turned dark after the masquerade ball.

Spencer: Well, Jenna has that effect on people.

Aria: Yeah, but she’s been gone all summer, and he’s still ‘Boo Radley.’

Have a look at 3x01, the episode that Marlene King called "the return of Uber A" when it initially aired, and watch for when the liars observe Lucas in the cafeteria. Aria calls Lucas "dark," point blank, and then says that he's been that way since the masquerade ball, which is when he started hanging around with Jenna. The Boo Radley reference is also a play on words, foreshadowing Lucas’ suspiciously skulking about at Radley later in the third season.

Lucas is "dark" + Hanna & Caleb his only friends = "darkness" around Hanna & Caleb

Hanna lives in Lucas’ loft. Caleb is there all the time. Caleb is an investor in Lucas’ business. Hanna is doing business with Lucas.

Lucas is the "darkness," just as much as he is "the one Alison fears the most!"

The Grunwald strikes again! Just like in the previous theory, the profile fits Lucas like a custom tailored suit.

Having studied Latin, I'm well aware that the name Lucas is rooted on the Latin word lux (lucis), meaning light. "Bringer of light" is the meaning typically attached to the name Lucas. What a perfect synchronicity for a character described as one who “turned dark!”

Interestingly enough, the "bringer of light” meaning is equally applicable to Lucifer, a fallen angel commonly associated with Satan.

Stunningly, this recent message seems to allude to a fallen condition:

Embrace your darkness, Em. I’ve had to. That’s how you win the game. A.D.

What’s fascinating is how A.D. seems to offer a glimpse of something personal here, as if speaking from experience as someone who “had to” embrace their own darkness.

Why did they have to, I wonder?

Perhaps in order to win a game in which A.D. was an actual participant. A player, as opposed to the conductor.

Or maybe the oppressed, rather than the oppressor. Sound familiar?

Lucas is someone who took a dark turn, just like Aria pointed out. Maybe he felt that going dark was the only way to win the game he had been dragged into, as in Mona’s original A-game.

It’d be kind of a Batman move to do so, wouldn’t it? Kind of a Dark Knight feel to it?

For Love of the Game

When Lucas returns to Rosewood (post time jump), he’s shady from the get go. He’s barely been in town five minutes before he bumps into Hanna, which comes across as planned. Heavy stalker vibes. He immediately makes it known that he’s extremely rich, as if he’s been patiently waiting for the moment to impress Hanna with the fact that he drives a Jaguar and owns houses all around the world.

Later on, Hanna asks him to be her alibi for the night that Charlotte was murdered, and Lucas has no qualms about lying to the police, even though he’s terrible at it (or purposely flubbing the story.) That’s shady enough as it is, but it’s not long after that when the first message arrives, stating “you know who did it and I’m going to make you talk.”

Of course Lucas should have suspected their involvement from the moment Hanna approached him for a fake alibi. But he questioned nothing and carried on with a foolish looking white knight act. Of course, you have to consider that he’d really have no need to press Hanna for answers if he could do it more effectively (and anonymously) as Uber ‘A’.

But by far the most important thing to take away from Lucas’ arrival is that he mentions he’s a highly successful game app developer. Not just software, but specifically games; which is exactly the skill set one would require to create such a monstrosity that combines aspects of a traditional board game with modern technology and real life consequences. The centerpiece is of course an iPhone running a custom designed app.

It simply can’t get any more on target for clues that Lucas is Uber A. Considering this game has to be his greatest creation to date, his masterpiece, then the very execution of the game becomes a motive in itself.

There was a brief time (before the messages were signed as ‘A.D.’) when they referred to the sender as “the techie.” Uber A’s work space has been shown full of stray PC boards, disk drives, wire, soldering gear, and electronic test equipment. Definitely “techie” stuff, but the only legit “techies” we know are Lucas and Caleb.

There’s literally no wiggle room here, folks: it’s either Lucas behind this game, or some new techno-wiz character we haven’t been introduced to yet. It’s getting to the point where it’s impossible to deny that Lucas is involved. Caleb might have the technical skills, but he certainly lacks the specialized game design experience that Lucas has.

Furthermore, the level of personal detail involved in this game means that the creator has to know everything about the players, the rules, how it’s all supposed to work together, and the game’s ultimate purpose. So there's no chance of pleading ignorance or passing the buck when the nerd finally gets caught.

Revenge of the Nerd

Please excuse the brief rant, but this needs to be said:

Good luck to Marlene King if she thinks she can pass off this dude as Alison’s twin, or Spencer’s twin, or some other physically impossible, equally nonsensical garbage. It just doesn’t work in any way, shape, or form. And the devil’s advocate argument that “A has all kinds of helpers” gets tiresome and annoying, because it’s pointless and anticlimactic to have an uber villain who never actually gets their hands dirty.

On the other hand, Lucas has about the right height and build, and the capacity for explosive anger. The sadism and latent misogyny inherent in the cattle prodding of Hanna comes across when this guy beats the pulp out of Ali. I would wager that once Lucas found out Alison covered up the death of her own husband, it enraged him. He saw the perfect opportunity to terrorize her, and he seized it.

Lucas was low-key happy when he heard Alison was in the hospital after her fall, and I’m sure he’d be thrilled to send her back to the emergency room for a second visit.

From the very beginning, A’s style and attitude has been an intentional mimicry and mockery of Alison DiLaurentis. Now we have ‘A.D.’ as a new incarnation of the same old patterns. Could it be that Uber A’s endgame strategy is the ultimate set up: to pit Alison’s friends completely against one another, turn them to the “dark side,” and then pin the blame for everything on Alison “A.D.” DiLaurentis? Is that not a brilliant method of destroying Alison once and for all?

“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.” -Oscar Wilde

Back in high school, Lucas swore that one day Alison would one day “get what’s coming to her.” An old saying goes that living well is the best revenge, and Lucas certainly lives well, but there’s always the chance that maybe that’s not enough for him. As another saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold. And seven years after high school is certainly a cold dish.

Never underestimate a patient nerd who harbors a long term grudge.

Uber ‘A’, Ubergeek

Since the time jump, the Lucas clues have been dropping so frequently that it's hard to even keep track of them all. Lots of people have noted how comic references like The Wrath of Kahn (Star Trek) and The DArkest Knight (DC Comics, Batman) could be a nod towards Lucas and Uber A’s ubergeek status. His bedroom during high school contained several Batman figurines on display.

Most recently, Emily mentioned the exam that A.D. passed for her; a situation that serves as a reminder how Lucas was known for selling test answers in high school.

And then there are more subtle hints, like Jenna saying "we have an Uber waiting for us," which seems a cheeky double meaning of an Uber driver and Uber 'A', and recalls the season six prom when the Liars saw Lucas and Jenna together, and Spencer remarked that "she probably thinks he Uber'd her there."

That’s all cute, but the important point is:

Nobody doubts that Jenna and Uber ‘A’ are connected.

Everyone associated with Jenna turns out to be bad news.

Lucas has been connected to Jenna since the masquerade ball, yet he's managed to dodge suspicion thus far. How? Why? Just because he seems nice and friendly? Because he let them use his apartment? It doesn’t matter how secure their phones are if they’re always hanging out in an apartment that’s wired with secret microphones and cameras.

The fact that Lucas has consistently been involved in sketchy situations since the very first season, but somehow stayed off the radar, makes me confident that he’s not simply a red herring.

Noel Kahn was the latest of Jenna’s long time co-conspirators to be exposed and brought down. And although the narrative hinted towards him being the one who tortured Hanna in the barn, he died before we could get proper resolution on that.

However, this leaves the door open for a hideous and shocking betrayal when the curtain is finally pulled back on Lucas, and reveals that he was the one who stripped Hanna down to her underwear, hosed her down with cold water, and sadistically tortured her with a cattle prod.

Now that’s what I call dark.

The very idea that this superficially nice and friendly guy would do this to his friend, business partner, and long time crush will send shock waves throughout the fandom, and blow the minds of those who never saw it coming.

Lucas will be exposed as the one behind the masks, and the one behind the game. And then like a broken dam, the truth will come rushing forth, concerning everything he’s done since day one of playing the game with Mona.

Lucas is the darkness.

Lucas is “the one Alison fears the most.”

Lucas is the genius behind the game.

Lucas is Uber ‘A’.

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