#the worst part of 2022 was so not even bad just very annoying that i don't even accept the full 12 months of that year | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

if-i-was-a-cucumber · 1 year

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my love for mew | only friends

to be absolutely frank, i was super hesitant to make this post because i’m a bit shy to make only friends (2023) content.

this is mostly because of its explicit nature? everyone on the planet has known that this is the Sexy Show™ (at least everyone in the bl community) and i’m very squeamish with that sort of thing. i’ve only been tentatively watching the show because i know it’s definitely going to be a mark on the community, just because of how popular it already is, but as a somewhat sex-repulsed asexual i sort of only started watching it because i knew it was making some sort of history, even if as just a small blip.

but omg i was wrong. on so many levels. and maybe i’ll make a post about the other levels someday, but for this one i want to talk about how wrong i was about specifically MEW.

1. mew as a character - my first impressions

six main characters in only friends, right? top, mew, sand, ray, boston, nick. basically everyone in this show has a “thing” about their except for mew. top is a sort-of asshole who sleeps around; boston is an even bigger asshole (like HUGE) who sleeps around even more, except he’s less rich; nick is kinda cute in personality but is actually a bit deranged; ray is needy and spoiled but everyone lets him get away with it; sand is responsible and tired of everyone’s bullshit, even his love interest to an extent.

but mew? since the beginning, all we ever got was “virgin.” he’s innocent, sexually pure. that really didn’t do it for me — meaning it didn’t intrigue me. i was fully prepared to go in and come out of this show with mew as my least favorite character, not because he was bad or evil or anything, but because he was boring. the worst crime you can commit in media is to be boring.

even his relationship with top, as the episodes progressed, was very bland. yes top was a cheater, but that didn’t quite affect mew’s characterization, other than that it reiterated that he was a little naïve in this field. great, more virgin mew. i just really wasn’t into this little perfect smart boy who’s never had sex before and is so sweet and innocent and kind to everyone that even his friend ray is in love with him.

there was a small beam of hope, though, in the episode 2 date with top. i liked his agency, i liked how he wasn’t so drawn in by top. and i especially liked the following line:

as quick as that hope came, though, it faded. that’s not what this post is about though, and i’ll get to it in a sec. for now:

2. book kasidet as an actor - my previous biases

before anyone says anything, this is not meant to be slander against book. the whole next section is talking about book specifically in the context of the characters he’s acted as before, not about him as a person. he is a great actor who portrays all of his characters exactly as they are. this is not really about him — the only real reason i’m bringing him into this is because he’s mew’s actor.

book’s only other main roles in a series have been as théo in enchanté (2022) and cher/laem in a boss and a babe (2023). which is amazing, considering how recently he debuted, but i digress. the point is, at least in the thai bl industry where i can probably recognize 80% of the actors in any given bl, who the actor is and especially who they have played in the past is really important to me when i watch a series.

forcebook has never quite been my cup of tea, in the least offensive way possible. i dropped enchanté on its first episode (because the plot annoyed me) and a boss and a babe on its second (i couldn’t get over the workplace unprofessionalism). i’ve never been super involved in the forcebook fandom, either. not to mention a part of force’s appeal is his physical sexiness and as an ace person, that really doesn’t appeal to me. what i’m trying to say is that i had no initiative nor care for either force or book as actors and had no previous attachment to them that would draw me to love their characters.

an example of this actor-bias working positively are a couple who are in this series: first and khaotung. the eclipse (2022) was one of my first ever bls and i absolutely adored it from start to finish. i rewatched it twice and have since gone through reoccurring phases of firstkhaotung obsession. and in only friends, sand and ray (played by firstkhaotung) are my favorite couple.

i won’t say this is strictly because first and khaotung portray them, because that’s not at all fair to how sand and ray are as their own individual characters and how much i love them as well. but i can’t say it doesn’t contribute.

an example of this actor-bias working extremely negatively was pond naravit from fish upon the sky (2021). i don’t know if i’ve mentioned it on this blog before or not but i have a very hate-love relationship with that series. for one, the approval of disgusting fan behavior icks me to no end and i can’t help but scream at mork in every scene of the later episodes; for two, mork’s disavowal of every one of pi’s rejections sends me to non-con city, without my consent. (and yes the above picture was taken out of context but mork deserves it.)

but on the other hand, for some god damned reason, i’ve rewatched the entire series not twice, but three times. but i’m digressing again. the point is that for a very long time, i refused to watch never let me go (2022) just because pond naravit was in it, and at the time, i thought i despised him because of how mork acted in fish upon the sky. of course i gave it a try and watched a pondphuwin interview or two and now i love him just as much as the next fan, but the actor-bias theory is real.

so, back to the original topic, a part of my initial dislike for mew was not only that his character was boring, but that i didn’t care enough for book kasidet as an actor or forcebook as a couple to carry me through that dislike. i really wanted mew to have personality, to have something special that differentiated him from a slab of cardboard, even if it was a negative trait.

3. the moment it all changed - only friends episode 6

the real meat of this post. the reason i’m posting any of this in the first place. it’s because i wanted to share the moment everything about my perceptions of mew as a character changed.

for a while i’d been thinking of mew as maybe a little more than the cardboard he appeared to be. he had some sense of agency, he wasn’t completely dependent on top, even if he did fall in love so soon. even if their romance had zero chemistry, at least mew was taking things on his own terms. i even supported him punching ray, at least in the context of creating character for mew, because that was something interesting that surprised me.

what really surprised me was THE SCENE. you all know what i’m talking about.

after mew’s birthday, after ray made a mess out of the whole thing and turned mew’s special day into a shitshow, after mew decided it’s okay and let’s spend sweet sexy time with my boyfriend, he pulls THIS:

AND WITH THAT SMIRK, HE PLAYS BOSTON AND TOP’S SEX TAPE RIGHT THEN AND THERE. I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW HARD I GASPED.

and then there was more.

their ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC has changed. they’ve been building up the whole past 6 episodes of mew trying to be in charge but top always getting what he wants in the end, like with mew trying to take things slow but eventually he does sleep with top. mew having his own reservations about LASIK but top eventually convincing him to get it, making him physically vulnerable to top for an entire evening.

no matter how much agency mew is trying to garner himself, top always, ironically enough, ends up on top.

but here? right here? there’s no question about it. this whole evening, mew achieves the control he’s been trying to find throughout this entire relationship, and it comes in the form of his boyfriend fucking his best friend. you KNOW top has lost control because we’ve never seen him look so blank and powerless, have we?

but it gets better.

because mew wasn’t only in charge once he started playing the sex tape. he’s been affecting the mood of the scene since the beginning.

he hugs top when he enters the room and gives him a false sense of security. he even brings up ray. he lit that candle in the back just a moment ago. he’s literally and figuratively setting the tone for everything.

“when we fuck someone like boston, it’s hard to stop fucking them. don’t you think?”

top tries to isolate mew from ray again. he takes every chance he can get to insult him. and mew lets him believe that it’s working. (of course top’s insults also make sense in the context that ray was being an asshole that morning but we’re talking about mew’s characterization right now.)

and most linguistically of all to contribute to the change of atmosphere: mew is on top of top.

fangirls, fanboys, and fanneithers of the jury, i believe mew is moving up the ranks.

#gmmtv bl #thai bl #only friends #only friends series #character study #mew #topmew #only friends episode 6 #mew pre–ep 6 and post–ep 6 is a big enough change that he could host his own eras tour #please share your thoughts on the only friends characters!#i love reading about them #i read that one about boston and machiavelli #it was so good that i'm writing an english essay on a machiavellian-esque character from a short story #i feel like top and mew are going to be more interesting from now on #we do need to have a talk about their severe lack of chemistry though #it's not like forcebook doesn't have any?#the lack of chemistry must be a creative choice for topmew #especially since it's so noticeable in comparison to sandray and bostonnick #bl meta

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susandsnell · 10 months

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1, 6, 24 😉 xx

eeee, thank you so much ditty!!!! you're an absolute gem, hope this solstice thursday is treating you well!! <3

choose violence ask game 🔥

1. the character everyone gets wrong? pick a Batman Rogue. any rogue. literally any of them, and they will be Flanderized to hell and back over one to two traits they may not even have canonically possessed for two to three decades. I readily and wholeheartedly admit that this is not entirely the fault of fandom, and is at least partly owing to the broader problem with having long-running comics universes, because there is such a huge variance in characterization (and quality of said characterization thanks to the overabundance of edgelord and bigoted comics/comic media writers), in the gravity of their actions and where they land on the moral spectrum, and even in motivation that it is nigh impossible to even say what getting said character 'right' means unless the person is talking about a specific iteration (ex.: someone writing fic or making headcanons about specifically Paul Dano's Riddler from The Batman 2022, who has a very particular voice/ethos/motive distinct from your other Riddlers, though there are core shared traits). But of this bunch, i'd have to say my poor Ivy gets it the worst. I'm truly glad she's evolved beyond being just another Temptress of Men Who Hates Them But Also Needs Their Validation Through Constant Sex (although done right she's still a great femme fatale wasting their time and catfishing them for eco-terrorism purposes), and of course as a canon queer character she means the world to me, but as is the case with every popular female character, she's either Holding The Braincell (aka everyone's mom, and I don't mean in the kink way), or Irredeemable. A lot of this does arise from how poor the execution of modern canon Harlivy has been because of respectability politics, but reducing her to Snarky Husky Voiced Plant Lady Rolling Her Eyes At Harley's Antics, making her have her shit way too together (she's always sent to Arkham!), making her the one-sided babysitter/healer of Harley's problems (and by extension, the problems of any other woman), making her a snarky queer auntie to the Batkids (vomit, it's as cringe as the rest of mainstream Batfam fanon), making her have way too much emotional intelligence to the point of counselling others (she's not even one of the psychologist rogues!), having her whole existence revolve around Harley....it's exhausting. (And again, unfortunately something the writers are fucking up in canon constantly, too.)

Fandom as a whole is allergic to women having flaws that impact the narrative concretely without demonizing them for it (when the dudes doing the same and worse are adored and worshipped for it), doubly so if she's BIPOC or queer (because again, double the respectability politics), so they flatten out those flaws and it's like, is she even a villain anymore with her own motivations and ethos, or is she a big tiddy witch gf from a paywalled phone app dating sim? Let her be as complex and angry and jagged and hypocritical as the other male rogues, my god!! (Sidenote that I'm not against retooling characters' designs/presentations/tactics anew entirely for a new universe iteration, especially if it refreshes the narrative, so long as they're interesting and true to some spirit of the character. In other words, masc Ivy's are fine and more than welcome lol.)

6. Which ship fans are the most annoying?

Oh, you really want me to swing my bat at the hornet's nest with this one, huh? While the cheat answer for this is "all of them if you spend enough time in any given ship fandom", I'm the most frequently exhausted by migratory Good Girl Fixing Bad Boy fandom. Fuck it, I'll name names with periods. The Zutar.a/Reyl.o/Darkli.na/Dae.myra et cetera fandom. The ships themselves, I can take or leave (though my main gripe is frequently their execution is just boring). There's no moral objections on my part, to be clear. I'd be hypocritical to take that tack considering my own tastes in markedly more fucked-up shit and like, hello, I cut my teeth in Phantom of the Opera fandom since I was 12 and love gothic romances, so like, glass houses. My issue comes in where these types without fail are consistently smug about the potent feminism inherent to ships they specifically in fanon interpret in the most boring, gender essentialist, wattpad daddy-dom-size-difference kink ho-hum ways imaginable because...it makes them horny, and woman horny about traditional gender roles equals feminism somehow. If it stopped there, I'd've never developed such an animosity, but no no. They make arguments about how much more feminist it is than the (often canon) hero/heroine ships because Feminism Is When Woman Is Treated Like Property By The Man I Find Attractive. They act like cishet romances, usually between two white characters, is the most marginalized thing imaginable and whinge that artists/studios/creators are "too cowardly" to "include romance" if it doesn't go canon in the way they like, as if more marginalized romance stories aren't fighting tooth and nail just to get off the ground. And on that note, the bigotry I have witnessed firsthand in these circles is just appalling; this is a fandom-wide issue and certainly not exclusive to any one shipping community, but the amount of times I have seen them come off as just frothing at the mouth to be homophobic should a slash shipper not bend the knee to the Great Potent Feminism of their ships, and the amount of times the mask as come off is just. Whew. It's okay to just be horny. It really is. One does not have to make a Social Issue Thing about it.

24. Topic that brings up the most rancid discourse? Weird corollary to the above question, and kind of an overbroad answer so I apologize, but Appropriate Amount Of Condonation Versus Condemnation of both characters, and works of fiction as a whole. I feel like the purity culture discourse has gotten so toxic it's gone completely 0 or 100 "if you watch something where something bad happens You Yourself Are Guilty Of This Thing" or "nothing fictional has any impact whatsoever", when my take is a more nuanced idea of media normalizing and reinforcing certain biases, but also, it's not real lmao. If the work itself espouses certain troubling viewpoints it's unsurprising if the audience takes that on (ex: Frank Miller perpetuating racism and misogyny through his writings), but people are such whining babies about so much as glimpsing any kind of Problematic Media (especially miserable if you're a horror fan) that I understand how the knee-jerk defensiveness arose. On the other hand, the baby got thrown out with the bathwater, including by opportunistic bigots who want to shut down any and all critical discussion of social issues present in or surrounding their interests, lest it Spoil Their Fun (and to silence people over whom they're privileged), to the point that any critique from a moral standpoint is immediately branded as Purity Culture with no regard to nuance or the context of the perspective of the person making the critique. So for example, you have people who throw hissy fits about Catra from She-Ra getting a redemption arc and you have people who thoughtfully point out how the writing of certain tropes in a given work perpetuate transmisogyny, and they're all thrown in the same basket and it's exhausting. No space for nuance, you're either Pro or Anti, and to quote Sarah Z's excellent video on this issue, I for one am a tax-paying adult woman.

#thank you SO much for giving me the opportunity to bitch #hope you're doing wonderful!!! <3 #ask night

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anyways-wonderwall · 7 days

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Album of the Week #82

Norman Fucking Rockwell!

(2019)

by Lana Del Rey

Overall Rating: 6/10

TL;DR: I hate Jack Antonoff’s soulless, echoey, cowardly music. If that’s the track Lana wants to take then I don’t see a point in listening to her stuff anymore.

(album cover: very americana, very iconic, but who is this guy???? 7/10)

Worst hiatus yet so sorry gang. Senior year of college started and this is the first time I’ve been able to breathe.

Overall Thoughts

Look, you came here for my opinion right? Not some cowardly rolling stone review that calls everything art and won’t give below an 8. Objectively there are a lot of beautiful things going on in this album. Subjectively, I just don’t like Lana Del Rey’s music.

This all boils down to two things: I hate melodrama and I need texture/grounding in what I listen to. I feel like given the first thing it's not a surprise I didn’t like this album, most of the songs are half-note chord piano ballads. Luckily Lana is such a good writer that her lyrics distract me from my annoyance. I end up listening intently and get sucked into the imagery, forgetting that the musical parts of the piece sound like Lana is lost in a cave and can only play three notes at a time on the piano. The world needs sad songs and she’s great at writing them, this was moderately annoying but not my real problem with this album.

The real problem is how soulless it is. I’ve talked about before how I don’t like spacey indie music because it feels like there’s nothing for me to latch on to. It's so slippery it falls through the sewer grate into oblivion, despite how much I try to reach for any part of it. The piano is always sustained and has an echo filter on it, every percussion and instrument part is electronic, and the vocal part is double, triple tracked and autotuned to the point all of the personal-sounding lyrics feel like they're being echoed by a robot.

The final track on the album “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it” exemplifies this undermining of emotional vulnerability perfectly. The piano is fuzzy but mixed so low that this song might as well be acapella, something that would make an incredibly personal song feel even more vulnerable. Except this vulnerability never feels real because her voice is echoey like someone who is bad at karaoke. From a musical point of view I just think this is cowardice, hiding behind a computer filter unnecessarily, especially when we all know she has an amazing voice. God it just pisses me off so damn much.

For all of these reasons, I’m fine never listening to another Lana song. Jack Antonoff has stolen her musical genius away and drowned it, running it through enough machines that there is no human resemblance on the other side. A real shame because songs like “Venice Bitch,” “The greatest,” and “Happiness is a butterfly” are almost perfect. They just need to dry out a little.

Next week's review: x‿x (SMiLEY) (2022) by YENA

#album 82 #album of the week #album review #music review #album recommendation #music recommendation #indie #lana del rey #jack antonoff #norman fucking rockwell

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angeldiaries777 · 11 months

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extreme trigger warning for everything. please don't read if you know it could potentially upset you. !! also very personal. so if you don't want to know then also u might want to skip this post. i understand if i lose followers because of this rant but ive always shared my struggles on here so i thought i might share what ive been through to vent and release my own anxiety and maybe help someone else.again read at your own discretion and ofc this isn't even a fraction of everything just a very very very very tiny snippet. this is also a draft from two days ago.

recovering from my ed slowly but those thoughts never go away. i practically quit school for ed blogs and twitter. chasing results is a never ending journey. if you get bad enough they will never end until you die. i'm not talking like skipped lunch once. no i legit had to recover myself just to stay alive while dealing with a million other mental illnesses and life issues. everything alone. it used to make me so beyond sad for myself i was stuck in a loop of self pity and now i don't feel anything anymoreso i am trying to use my numbness for good. know that if you feel not alone per say. but like if you don't fix your issues yourself or help yourself out of actual living hell that it will only continue to get worse. but also know that whatever it is you have to feel it till you get so bored of your own shit. im always annoyed and upset with people cuz i am sensetivie and very mentally ill but we know u cannot control a single thing outside of yourself. let yourself feel the affects. i myself had to literally lose parts of my vision to want to recover from everything and had to see what 3 years of pure isolation and self destruction/abuse did to my face and body and it was terrifying. 15 years of just pure self hatred and dealing with crippling anxiety/depression and inferiorty complex took such a toll on me. i feel physically sick everyday. i would not only not take care of myself i would harm myself mentally, emotionally, physically even repress and shame myself sexually. i was a mess. im at a point where i don't remember much of it in detail despite it being a few months again. with my last attempt being barely a month ago. you have to see it through. human survival instinct will try to keep you alive more than anything. ive always known ive had imense potential cuz its been drilled into my brain since i was a child so my ego was keeping me alive. also for the fact that at my lowest low i had also stopped believeing in god and i didnt know what would happen after death. death scared me. of course it didnt scare me enough to not try. one night i was laying on my living room i think this was a little bit before december of 2022 it was night time and i had turned the lights off i was home by myself and i just lined up every tool i had used for cvtting/sh in general and then some kitchen knifes and i fucked up my arm, thighs everywhere. i was crying so hard during it i could feel it in my head and heart and at that point i had already been through a lot. i just everything in me was telling me that life will never be worth it and neither will people. before i could shove a knife in my throat my mom entered the house and took all the knifes and razor blades etc away from me.

she just kind of looked at me like she knew i would do this but i didnt care. all the intensitity i felt. i knew it was too much. i knew i was my own worst enemy. i knew i was taking things too personal and i knew that the worlds problems were not mine yet still i had nothing to live for. once you get past a certain point. the pain just becomes permentant everything in the world becomes dim and all you have is yourself...

i will type more later but i just needed to vent.

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breezyrainybaby · 1 year

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also 9 Mar 2022

A small talk to myself

I’m thinking of taking a break from everything for a while, and I’m thinking of you.

I kinda had a breakdown last Tet lol. Mom and dad and grandma and grandad kept complaining about how late I was staying at night and how bad the light was regarding my working conditions (at their home). Bruh they were sooo annoying that I couldn’t hold back one or two teardrops, because ya already know how much of a mess our thoughts are and how silent we can keep until it’s too late not to burst out. Other than that, mom and dad and grandma and grandad were very lovely and family love was great, but I strongly recommend staying home no longer than a couple of weeks to avoid conflicts and stress lol.

I miss us a lot. Bro your fashion was the worst seriously. We didn’t have a lot money, or it might have been the lack of access to the right supplies, or the courage to go out there to the shops and be like “Miss, how much are those pair of trousers?”. We relied on mom for a living, and would wear whichever she bought. To be honest I prefer to be dead than to wear our style back then.

I wonder if I would have a crush on you if I were not you. I doubt that. Some girl that is not so pretty, and a bit pretentious. Perhaps it’s because I’ve got to understand you too well to love you. I could be proud of our unlike-anybody-else type of personality, but how would I ever fall in love with you?

And hey guess what, you would change a lot as you grow up, but not that much. You would hate the same people you hated, despite how hard you have tried to find a reason behind their actions and to force yourself not to judge. You would always thought you’re special and the world kinda needs a living thing like you, though in fact, the only people that think so that often, are mom and dad. You are shy, and find it hard to express yourself to the world, well, less than in your teenage time, as you have grown comfortable with your flaws somehow, but the struggle would still be real. You feel lonesome sometimes, if not all the time, as the core trait to your existence is being insecure.

I miss us a lot.

You wouldn’t believe this, but I do auditing. Bet you’re gonna be like “Bruh?” because me, too – even I still can’t believe this is happening. Wtf is accounting and what does it have to do with our 24/7 obsessions? Such a weird dilemma it is that in the most pessimistic scenarios, I still appreciate what I am doing in this place and these people around me wholeheartedly.

The thing is it’s not about how your life would change for the better and how accomplished you could be in the future. You are a human being not with a head full of dreams, but rather with lots of unrealistic and unqualified fantasizes.

The moment you breathe, you live, you become what you are, and that’s it.

Like shaking uncontrollably when delivering a 2-minute presentation. Wandering through Vũng Tàu. Suffering through the thesis semester. Playing with the kids in the English center where you used to be a teaching assistant. Feeling ugly. Studying and being indulged in a subject you love for hours in high school. Feeling uncertain and lost in college. Smelling the freshness of the air while seeing the city sparkling in the bright sunlight. Listening to some songs and watching some movies - nothing was real but the experience. End of the day, getting on the bus, floating in the ocean of thoughts like, “How could I ever be a part of this hustling, bustling city?”, and just heading home. All the things that have ever happened and gone without your notice, were the only things that were real.

Why are we realizing this just now?

Btw I don’t know why but I’m listening to some Christmas songs in the middle of February when the peak season is at its peak, after a good cry. Yay. Santa Claus is coming to town~

#my dumb writings

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

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It might come across as irrational overreaction, but I get so annoyed and angry whenever I see people complain about getting too much likes and not enough reblogs and how it is killing their creativity, because a part of me, as a creator, understands that frustration, but they are also forgetting or, at worst, ignoring why likes are more common than reblogs as of 2022.

Call-out posts.

The reason why likes are now more common than reblogs is because of call-out posts.

Y'all remember those things? Posts made by people for a wide assortment of reasons that mostly involves the OP to stalk through your post and record every single reblog, interaction, and post you have made over years, even stuff you forgot about, no longer cared for, or, God FORBID, no longer agreed with?

That stuff changed the entire landscape of fandom. It made people terrified to engage with content.

Because for most, there is nothing on this world that would make you want to interact with something if it might end up pissing the wrong person so bad they end up doing something to make your online space a pure hell.

People prefer likes more because they can be private. They are more able to go under the radar (unless what you like has less like than, say, 200).

Reblogs? Unless your blog is private, they are more visible. The only way to erase your name on the notes is by erasing your reblog.

When they complain of likes vs reblogs, they are ignoring a very huge shift in fandom culture that created it. They are ignoring people's scars, fears, apprehension. I know that sounds dramatic, but there is no other way to describe it. Some people are genuinely traumatized. They give up engaging because it just brought them pain for the most ridiculous reasons.

Some people* turned something that was meant for informing and warning online people of genuine, criminal dangers within fandom spaces, into lambasting people for shipping the wrong pairing or liking the wrong character.

*three guesses on who these people are. I will give you a hint: they have a four-letter acronym they do their darnest to change because of ~bad publicity~

Who would want to deal with that? I certainly don't! I am not gonna risk my mental health for a bunch or lines on the paper someone deems to be more important than I, a real living breathing human being. Neither will the others.

So you want to get angry at someone? Get angry at the people who created this situation. Get angry at Alice from Karenpolis or Bob from Kenville who saw someone ship their NOTP and thought it was an unacceptable thoughtcrime that must be stopped at all costs, no matter how much fact they need to disort to achieve it.

Not at people who are made to be scared of fandom because of Alices and Bobs lurking within.

TBH, the real reason they're not getting the notes they used to is that tumblr keeps deleting the porn bots.

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firethecanonsfanfiction · 3 years

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The Taste of Your Lips

Title: The Taste of Your Lips

Pairings/Characters: Ron/Hermione

Summary: Ron and Hermione spend some time together before Harry's rescue from the Dursleys.

Warnings: Very sutble sexual references.

Challenges/Prompts: 'DH Missing Moment' trope for @romione-trope-fest

Originally published: March 21, 2022 on ao3, Fanfiction.net and Tumblr.

Reposted: N/A

The days were warm in the lead up to the plan for rescuing Harry. And they were busy.

There was so much planning to be done, from who was going to travel with who, to planting the false information with the Ministry, to the more finer details such as the Portkeys.

There was hardly any time for relaxing or thinking about anything else.

Hermione didn't mind, of course, because it was for a good cause, but her mind felt full. While others worried about getting Harry from his aunt and uncle safely, she and Ron also had the issue of the Horcruxes to worry about.

She had no idea when it'd be time to leave. Ideally after Bill and Fleur's wedding, but she wasn't taking her chances. In these times, something could happen at any moment and she was preparing for the worst.

She was packing — little things every few days. Clothes for herself and Ron — and for Harry when he got here. Books she thought they might need, a small medical kit because she wasn't expecting it to be easy, wherever it was they went.

So, in what spare time she did have, she used it to prepare for other things.

She'd just come down to the pond by the Burrow to collect some of the weed in there. She hadn't realised at first, thinking it to be just standard water weed, but her books bad alerted her to the fact that it contained a type with healing properties.

She hadn't asked, but she sure Mrs Weasley wouldn't mind if it meant it could help them along their way (though she didn't really have any intention of letting Ron's mum know what was happening anyway).

"Hey. What are you doing?"

Hermione stood up from where she was crouched by the water's edge, stuffing some of the weed into a flask. Rather than answering, she handed an empty flask to him. "Help me collect it," she said.

For a moment, Ron simply stood, staring at the object in his hand. Then he asked, "Why?"

If it had been Harry, she knew he would have just done it without any questions, but Ron always had to know why she was doing something. He was never happy by the fact that she just knew. As annoying as it was, she was actually glad. It made her rethink things and realise she'd made a mistake at times.

"The pond weed has healing powers," she explained. "I thought we might need it."

"For tomorrow?" Ron questioned as he knelt by the water and started pulling off long strands.

"And for other things."

He nodded, needing no further explanation.

For a while, they worked in silence, filling ten flasks with the weed. Then, after setting the last of them aside, Ron sat back and looked out over the water.

Hermione joined him, feeling their shoulders brush as she sat.

"Things are going to change tomorrow, aren't they?" Ron asked.

Hermione nodded. She didn't know if he meant the bigger picture being the fact that Harry's protective charm would be broken after tomorrow, meaning he could be more easily hunted, or the much smaller picture that Harry was going to be present again, with them.

She really did love Harry dearly, but there was a tiny — maybe rather large — part that had enjoyed her few weeks at the Burrow with Ron, alone.

Something had shifted between them in the course of the few weeks, and whilst neither of them had the time or the energy to act on it, nor did she think it was appropriate to do so in the scheme of things, she enjoyed all the possibilities of being alone with him.

There seemed to be an understanding between them now, something that had never happened before. They had worked out where they stood with each other, even if they'd never discussed it verbally. She didn't know if they'd ever discuss it in a way normal people might, but she didn't think they needed to.

Whatever was unspoken between them was enough; at least for now. When she knew it couldn't progress further than what it currently was.

Anything more would complicate their plans. Wherever this Horcrux search took them, she didn't want to worry about him along with everything else. Of course, she'd always worry about him, but it was much easier to worry about Ron, her friend, than if it was Ron, her something else.

And she was confident he understood that as clearly as she did.

"At least we have now, this peaceful moment," Ron added. "Before the chaos begins. Once Harry's here and we're all safe, you realise Mum is going to go into complete wedding mode. We'll probably be busier than we are now."

Hermione nudged him with her shoulder, smiling.

"What?" he asked, smiling back.

"At least it will be something good to be busy about."

"I didn't think you approved of Fleur."

"I am well aware that you do," Hermione retorted. She meant it as a joke, though Ron's infatuation with Fleur Delacour bothered her more than she'd care to admit. She knew that it wasn't real, and that it was probably due to the Veela in her, but it annoyed her. Whenever Fleur was around, Ron wasn't himself. He had some desire to impress her, to do anything to get her to notice him.

Then, when she wasn't around, he was his normal self again.

She hated it and wished he was better at controlling himself around her, even if it was subconscious and he didn't know what he was doing.

Ron went red at her comment. "That's… that's not true," he mumbled.

It was, but she decided not to press the matter. Instead, she said, "We're meant to have a partner for the wedding, right?"

"I don't think so," Ron answered, frowning. He suddenly looked worried. "Are we?"

No, probably not, you clueless — adorable — idiot.

She sighed. Apparently she wasn't very good at making her intentions clear. She'd made that mistake last year when she'd not clearly stated she wanted him to be her date to Slughorn's party.

"Well, we can solve that problem by going together, can't we?"

It didn't take him long to understand. "Oh, I suppose that does solve the problem."

She caught a smile from the side of his mouth and felt pleased. Sure, nothing serious could happen between them, but one night wouldn't hurt, would it? It was a wedding, after all, a celebration of love.

Their hands were resting on the long grass, almost touching, but not quite. A year ago, she wouldn't have had the courage to do what she did now — but a year ago, she wasn't certain of her own feelings, let alone his.

But now she was, even if they hadn't spoken of them, so she moved her hand and covered his.

If he was surprised by the gesture, he didn't show it. Instead, he laced their fingers together and said nothing.

They both sat there grinning like idiots, the happiest maybe either of them had felt in weeks.

After a moment, he asked, "So, just to be clear, you want to be my date to my brother's wedding?"

"Unless you've arranged with someone else…"

"No, I haven't!"

"Then, yes. If that's okay with you."

"It's more than okay!" His reply came out quick and breathless, and he seemed to realise what he'd said, because he withdrew his hand and was now a very deep red. "I mean…"

He was trying so hard and she didn't think he realised that with every gesture, every little thing he said or did, won her over just a little bit more.

"Is this pond good for swimming in?" she asked quickly to save him the embarrassment she realised had encompassed him.

"What?" He blinked.

"Can you swim in it?"

"I… I guess you can."

"Why don't we swim, then? It's a nice enough day. The sun is shining…"

His eyes widened.

"Come on!" Hermione said. "What's the harm?"

"I've got my clothes on!" he protested as Hermione climbed to her feet. She tugged on his hand, dragging him up too.

"Would you rather be naked?" she asked.

His whole face had turned a bright red. "That's… that's not what I meant!"

"Come on, jump in the water!" She gave him a little nudge, but he was bigger than her and resisted easily enough.

"I'm not!" he argued, seeming to understand that this was a game. He now smiled. "Not unless you come with me!" He spun, his hand gripping around hers. And because he was bigger than her, he was able to pull her into the pond.

Hermione felt herself go under, felt something tickle her face, and then when she reached the surface, blinked and found a very wet Ron grinning at her.

"I wasn't ready!" she cried, splashing him with the water. It really wasn't very clean or clear, and yet she had never felt more refreshed. What was magic for if she couldn't enjoy a moment or two like this with her… friend?

"Are you a good swimmer?" Ron asked after a moment.

"I'm alright, why?"

"Because I grew up learning to swim because I had to race against my brothers. Do you think you can beat me to the end?"

Before she had a chance to respond, he took off across the pond, leaving Hermione to go after him. He beat her by a mile, being longer and having a head start.

"I thought you were supposed to be good at things," he teased.

"You cheated!" She splashed him with her hands, and he splashed back. For a while, they kept at it, getting into some battle that had them laughing and giggling. Their worries from the day, for tomorrow, were gone, at least for the moment.

When it died down, when they were both breathing heavily, Ron moved forward so suddenly it took her by surprise. She braced herself, almost anticipating him to kiss her, but then he reached out his arm and pulled a long strand of the pond weed from her hair.

"You're a mess," he said, stepping back again and leaving Hermione alone with her thudding heart.

"And you're not?" she retorted, feeling goosebumps rise up on her skin that had nothing to do with the air or water.

"At least I don't get weed in my hair." He came closer to her again, pulling out more of the stuff that had tangled itself into her hair. She didn't move, but let him do it, because despite her wild fantasies that sometimes came to her, this was the probably the closest she was going to get to having his fingers running through it.

After a moment, he laughed.

She jumped back, looking up at him. "What?" she demanded.

"Nothing." He smiled down at her. "We should probably get out now before we get too cold. Or Mum sends someone in search of us for shirking our duties."

"I need to clean up," Hermione confessed, and they began a gentle swim back to the edge. When they climbed out, they both laid against the long grass. Side by side, their arms almost touching.

Ron rolled onto his side and propped himself onto his elbow. She turned her head to find him watching her.

"What?" she asked warily.

"I like this," he said.

"Swimming?"

"Being with you."

She smiled, looking him in the eye despite the urge to look away. "I like it too."

They continued to look at each other, and although it had never happened to her before, she could sense that maybe in a moment they would kiss. She wanted to kiss him, even if the logical part of her brain screamed at her that if she went there then she couldn't come back. If she gave in, then she'd break all the barriers she'd put up to protect both of them from any further worry. At the same time, she needed his comfort right now more than ever.

She felt more than saw the shift — he was already close enough to her, but his head lowered towards hers. The arm that he wasn't using to hold himself up moved around her waist, firm, yet soft at the same time. He'd never touched her like that before and she loved the way his hand felt on her.

His lips were so close now she could hear his rapid, excited breathing. She closed her eyes, feeling his arm tighten around her, embracing for the impact.

And it never came.

"Sorry to interrupt this cozy catch up."

Hermione opened her eyes, a wave of disappointment washing over her. They'd been so close. Seconds away from it and then Fred had just had to show up.

Hermione and Ron both sat up, turning to Ron's brother who was smiling brightly at both of them.

"So, whatcha both doing?" he asked cheerfully.

"What do you want?" Ron snapped, his face red once more.

"To let you know that Mum is looking for you. She's got jobs for you both. If you'd rather I tell her you're otherwise occupied… I can. But then she'd want to know just what was more important than ensuring Harry's safety, so I'd have to explain my version of events…"

Ron scowled, scrambling to his feet and looking very put out by the interruption. "You keep your mouth shut," he said.

"At what price?" Fred asked with a wide grin.

Ron seemed to contemplate Fred's words, but then shook his head. "You just keep your mouth shut and we'll all be happy."

Fred didn't answer, but continued to look at both of them knowingly, causing Hermione to blush. This was the reason she hadn't wanted to start anything. Not because Fred caught them, but because if he told Mrs Weasley then she'd be furious that they were having fun when Harry's life depended on them. And then she'd do everything in her power to keep them apart.

"Well, I can't make any promises," Fred said. "But you two better get cleaned up and do everything Mum tells you."

They both nodded and began making their way back to the Burrow without speaking.

Though, Hermione did sneak a glance Ron's way, discovering that he was watching her too.

Despite herself, she smiled, and he smiled back. She was disappointed nothing had happened, but at the same time she was relieved. Kissing Ron would have completely taken her focus away from what was important — she probably would have wanted to do it again. And she — they — needed to stay focused; on Harry and the job Dumbledore had given them.

If they got through this and came out alive, then, maybe things would be different if he still wanted it to be.

Until then, she was happy with the way the day's events had played out and she would remember what the edge of his lips had felt like against hers until she got to do the real thing.

#romione #romione fanfiction #romione trope fest #trope #missing moment

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tanakavox · 3 years

Text

A look into the multiverse chapter 8 SAOA

Many thanks to my friend friend @bssaz97 for his work on the reactions. And TheGoldenBoy2188 for the strict for SAOA making writing easy. The next reaction will be a suprise so stay tune.

Amidst the streets of Mantle, Whitley Schnee walked towards a destination while wearing a disguise consisting of a coat, scarf, shaded glasses, and a flat cap. He had a mission and he would not waste this opportunity!

It was not every day that he could simply leave the manor without Father's permission or notice so he needed to be quick but not noticeable. He had waited months for this day to arrive. Whitley had pre-ordered the latest MMO game of his favorite game series a week before the initial release date and had come to pick it up. Having connections in the right places certainly did have its benefits. The only downside was he had to acquire his prize somewhere outside of his father's notice. So what other place to go than Atlas's sister kingdom.

Outside of his notice, a young white haired faunus woman with sheep ears followed close behind him. Fiona Thyme was out picking up some food for the rest of the Happy Huntresses when she noticed an unfamiliar person walking around. She knew almost everyone on this side of Mantle, so a new person popping out of the blue was very suspicious. Normally she would have reported this back to Robyn but upon further inspection she recognized who this person was.

It was the sole son of the worst man on Remnant and the newly appointed heir of the Schnee Dust Company, Whitley Schnee! Why was he here in Mantle?! Fiona determined he was up to no good and decided to follow him. Wherever the SDC goes, trouble usually follows!

Whitley finally arrived at the destination he was seeking… the Post Office! Now all he had to do was open the door, enter the establishment aaaaaand- stare dumbfounded as the inside of this place was a theatre.

"What the-? This isn't the post office. Where am I?!" Whitley shouted at no one in particular.

"Ah-ha! Caught you right where I- Huh? Where the hell? This isn't the post office!" Fiona also dumbfounded.

"Whitley?" Both Weiss and Winter stated in a mix of shock and disbelief at seeing their little brother. Maybe some hostility on Weiss part.

"Weiss? Winter? How-?"

"What the hell is this?!" A loud female voice shouted as four more people arrived out of nowhere. Consisting of two normal sized humans, a bunny faunus and a very large man.

"Coco/Velvet/Fox/Yatsuhashi!" Teams RWBY and JNR said collectively.

"Oh hello everyone! This… is a surprise! When did you get to Vacuo?" Velvet asked the group.

Fiona turned towards the new strangers, "Vacuo? What are you talking about? You're all in Mantle?"

"I'm most certain we're in Vacuo at the time." Yatsu spoke.

"You are in neither at the moment." Ozpin spoke up.

"What the- Teach? Weren't you supposed to be dead?!" Coco confusingly points out.

"I believe an explanation is in order."

*One short but informative explanation later*

"Wait so we were brought here to watch… alternate realities?" Fiona says after she and all the new arrivals had been told everything about the theater.

"We call them viewings but yeah pretty much." Ruby said.

"Hold on, I can understand why all of you were brought here, seeing as you all are huntsmen and huntresses. But that doesn't explain why I'm here." Whitley, having taken off his disguise.

"A great question indeed." Weiss mutters.

"I think I have a theory." Blake stepped forward. "So far now, I've noticed that the people who are here have at least some involvement in the viewings that we have been seeing. Remember that one viewing we saw of Whitley being stuck inside a video game?"

"I was stuck in a video game?"

"Also if you die in the game you die for real." Nora added.

Whitley's eyes widened at the implications.

"Well you're still stuck as far as we know. But apparently you're very good at the game so you might be fine." Jaune clarifies. Slightly feeling guilty that his alternate is the one who traps him there.

"Oh joy, now I'm trapped inside a place against my will in two realities!" Whitley throws his hands in frustration.

"Oh boo hoo! Is the rich boy gonna cry because nothings going his way today?" Fiona says in a mocking tone.

"Oh I'm sure you would know so much about crying and complaining about trivial things, thief." He shot back at Fiona.

"At least I think about the people of Mantle! When was the last time you thought of someone outside of yourself, Schnee!" Fiona retorted.

Winter sensing that this conversation was going nowhere stepped in between her brother and the happy huntress.

"Enough! None of us came here by choice so let's just stop this pointless arguing and move on."

Fiona huffed, "I couldn't agree more." She stomped away from the two siblings and found herself a seat in the theater.

Winter sighed, "It may not be ideal but as long as you are here Whitley, I would just suggest sitting tight and wait until you or all of us are able to leave this place."

"Hmph, very well. Thank you sister, it almost sounds like you care." Whitley took his leave and found a seat that was about four seats away from Weiss's team.

"Isn't there anywhere else you want to sit," Weiss practically hisses.

"Oh but Weiss it's the only seat that's close enough to you." Whitley affirmed.

Weiss groans in frustration, 'Hopefully it's only for one viewing…'

An acoustic guitar plays in the background as a montage of the events of and post-Episode 1 appears on the screen and a narrator began to talk.

" A month had passed since that fateful day. When everyone's world got all twisted, leaving them stranded in a castle in the sky. Since then, 2000 poor souls came to an abrupt and tragic end. Some by bad luck, others by sheer stupidity. I mean, really. Why would you just stand in fire? Anyways, that didn't bother The Kid none. He only cared about one thing, and one thing alone. Himself. 'Cuz in a game of life or death, you either live... or you die."

The scene transitions to Shirou leaning against a wall with an annoyed look on his face.

"What?! Two thousand of the players have died already!" Ruby yelled, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Not surprising, seeing as many of them looked weak last viewing." Cinder coolly replies.

Many huntsmen and huntresses glared at the red clad woman. She paid them no mind.

"Well thank you very much Narrator, you're doing a wonderful job of explaining the total death count of this video game prison." Whitley commented dryly.

"Oh, WOW. What brilliant insight! It's so deep it loops right back around to being stupid." Shirou snarked.

"The Kid ranted at no one, it slowly dawning just how alone he truly was" Narrator continued..

Whitley's eyes narrowed, "Am I being sassed by the narrator?"

"Maybe you said something to piss them off." Fiona added.

"Wait, what was that?" Shirou asks, shocked.

"He asked the sky, like a preacher to his silent gods."

"What gods? What are you talking about?! It's all bullshit metaphors with you!"

"He cried, not knowing the difference between a simile and a metaphor. The tininess of his brain dwarfed only by the tininess of his di-"

Whitley's eyes narrowed and face twitched at how much of an annoyance this narrator was being.

Weiss was doing her best to conceal her smile but was failing and breathes out a laugh. She was enjoying the exchange that her brother was going through and found it amusing. Her team gave her a side glance while Fiona and a few others laughed at the roast session the young Schnee was being given.

"Narrator off." Shirou commands the system with an annoyed tone.

"YOUCANSILENCEMEBUTYOUCAN'TSILENCETHETRU-" The narrator got cut off.

"Dick."

"Thank gods that's over, that narrator was extremely rude." Whitley sighed thankfully now that the narrator was silenced.

Weiss and Fiona grumbled that their fun was ruined.

Fade into December 2, 2022, on a strategy meeting led by man called Diabel. He gave a big smiled out to the crow

"Hey everyone. Thank you all for coming to our little powwow. Now, I know many of you may be discouraged by the fact that 2000 people have died so far."

" WHAT?!" A player screamed

" 2000 PEOPLE ARE DEAD?!" Another screamed.

"IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN A MONTH YET!"

"OH MY GOD, WE REALLY ARE FUCKED!"

"Pretty much, sucks to be you!" Mercury laughed.

"These are the people that have to survive this game. Honestly what was blondie expecting," Emerald facepalms.

"Hey! Just because they've lost numbers doesn't mean that they have to lose hope!" Ruby glared at the two assassins.

"And I know even more of you are a little down because we haven't even cleared the First Floor yet." Diabel added, trying to keep the smile on his face.

"WE HAVEN'T?!"

"I THOUGHT WE WERE ALMOST DONE...!"

"You were saying." Cinder looked back at Ruby.

"Well…" Ruby trailed off, thinking of a way to defend these players.

Diabel's smile wavered

"Uh, you guys do know there are 100 Floors, right?"

"WHAT?!" A crowd of players yelled.

Diabels sighed a bit.

Ruby, despite her best attempts, also sighed and sat back down.

"Oh jeez, I am just making things worse. Point is, we found the Boss Room!"

The crowd gasps.

"Now, we've formulated a few strategies with some help from the beta testers-"

"BETA TESTERS?!" A voice yells out.

"Oh goddammit!" Diabel groaned argnily

A player named Kibaou jumps in.

Kibaou, what do you want? Diabel looked tired addressing this player.

"Beta testers? They're the reason we're stuck in this game!" Kibaoyu sneered

Many that heard this player's statement and quickly frowned at his blatant accusations towards these 'beta-testers.'

"This guy can't be serious, right?" Coco stated.

Dianel looked at Kibaou flatterausted at the stupidity of the statement he heard

"What?! Do you have any evidence to back that up?"

Kiabrou scoffed at the question. "Pfft! Evidence. I don't need no evidence. Isn't that right, Jesus?" He points to a player named "Jesus"

" It's pronounced "Hey-Zeus", and I don't know you."

"Wow, really selling your reasoning by having no one else to support your claim." Jaune stated while crossing his arms.

"Well, they still should have helped us newbies!" He exclaimed

"If I might interject...:" A deep voice called out.

A big muscular man gets up and comes to the stage.

Velvet taps Yatsu's arm excitedly, "Hey you're in this game too Yatsu! …oh gods you're in this game too."

"So it seems," Yatsu, doing his best to keep a straight face.

Coco lowered her shades along with a confused look. As far as she knew, Velvet was the only one who played video games on their team. Unless...

"And who the hell are you?!"

"I am known by many names.", "Closed eyed demon. The memory easer., "Hooked clawed tiger". But you? You may call me... "Velvet".

"Velvet huh? That's a... pretty masculine name." Kibaoru said adwarkley

"Shouldn't be. It's a woman's name." Velvet replied casually.

"Damn it. I had a feeling but I didn't want to be right." Coco cursed quietly while shaking her head.

"Wait, why would Yatsu have a character named after me? That doesn't- ...Oh ...oh my gods." Velvet's eyes widened at the implications, tears starting to build. That is until she felt a nudge on one of her shoulders. She turned her head and there was Yatsuhashi looking at Velvet with a gaze that said, 'It's not your fault.'

"Kay, I don't know how to talk to you."

"Good. Then you can shut up and listen. Does everyone here have this book in their inventory?"

" Yeah.

" Yes."

"Yup."

"Yeah."

" No... Wait, can I change my answer?"

Velvet/Yatsushi held up a book to show to everyone.

" This book is full of tips and strategies on how to survive this game, put together by the beta testers. Everyone read it, yet some people still died. The beta testers did everything they could."

"Yeah, that means Mace Hair has no reason to blame the beta testers!" Ruby points out.

Many of her friends nodded and Yastu's team smiled at the sound defense his alternate presented.

" Actually, I didn't read it." One player chimed up.

"Yeah, I didn't read it either."

"I skimmed it."

"OH COME ON!" Many members of the audience shouted in agitation.

"What? Didn't ANY of you read it?! It is literally a matter of life and death." Velvet exclaimed

"Well, dude. It's like 80 pages." A player pointed

"2000 people are dead!"

"THEY ARE?!"

"Again. These are the people that have to survive this game." Emerald reiterates.

Brief pause. Shirou looks shocked at their stupidity.

"I am so done with you people." Velvet mutters, walking off the stage.

" What do you mean "you people"?" A player asked a bit offended.

The Faunus in the room narrowed at their eyes at the implications made by that player.

"What do you mean, "you people"?" Fiona asks no one in particular.

Velvet and Kibaou take their seats.

Diabel continued with the meeting. "So, as Mister Hooked clawed tiger was saying, this book has some great strategies, including how to beat the First Boss, Illfang."

He clears his throat and starts reading from the guide.

"So as you enter the Boss Room, he's gonna throw wave after wave of disposable minions at you... and you must answer in kind."...?

"Uh, what?" A player asks, mirroring Diabel confusion.

Many in the audience reacted just as confused. All except Whitley, who had a good feeling where this was going.

Diabel continues

"Send the weaker players first. Good rule of thumb: If a player asks you for gold 2 seconds after meeting you, front lines."

"Ha, serves 'em right!" Kiaboru said with a laugh

"If they hijack conversations to rant about their political views, front lines."Diabel said with a smirk looking at Kiaboru.

Kibaou went pale. "Aw, shit."

"Ha! Serves you right!" Nora laughed.

"If they ask female players for pics of their boobs, front lines."

"OH BULLSHIT!" One player screamed out in rage.

"THAT'S DISCRIMINATION!" Another one howled.

"BOO!"

Many of the women in the theater frown at the way those players reacted. Winter was more than certain that those players were the type that participated in the mentioned acts the speaker spoke on.

Diabel smiles and waves them down. "Now, now, people. I think there are some valid points being made here. Now, it goes on to say when Illfang's health goes into the red, he's going to switch from his axe and buckler to something called a "Talwar". At that point we should initiate a strategy called "The Final Solution" and- I'm just gonna stop reading! Jesus, who wrote this thing?"

Shirou giggles evilly.

"Of course Whitley wrote that book." Weiss sighed.

"Why sister, it sounds like that didn't surprise you in the least." Whitley pretending to act hurt.

"Please. The manipulative tone of the text almost makes one sound too much like you." Weiss bit back.

"Well I suppose you would know." A wide smile on Whitley's face.

Weiss scoffs turning her head away from her traitorous brother.

Team R_BY and Winter watched the exchange and sighed.

"Okay, so the guide's a bust. But it'll be fine. I'll come up with a great plan for us." Diabel smiles at the crowed.

"Like what?"

" Well... we... could... Uh... Uhhhh... I'm open to suggestions."

"Woah, guys, we could- we could, you know, like, group up and-"

"And hit it 'til it DIES!" Another yelled finishing the other player sentence

"Woo, nice!"

"Yeah!"

" High five!"

The two hive five.

"Well. It's something, right?." Velvet does her best to be optimistic.

Many of the more experienced members of the theater shake their heads.

"That's... a good start. But let's hear some other suggestions."

"I'd like to hear more about this "Final Solution"." A player in a german accent piped up.

"Fuck it, group up." said Diabel said tirely.

Shirou slides down the seats towards a girl, named Fiona, who's on her own.

Fiona blinks in surprise, "Oh my gods, that's me! I'm in the game! Hey other me, stay away from the Schnee!"

"You have my condolences." Weiss says to the sheep faunus.

"So, why aren't, uh, you joining anyone's group?" Shirou asked.

"I have my reasons." She said mysterioly

" Is it because you're a girl?"

"No. It's because... I don't know how to play."

"Because you're a girl?"

Many of the females and males who enjoy video games, such as Yang, Ruby, Velvet, Nora,, Jaune, Oscar, Ren, surprisingly Mercury and Emerald, along with Fiona herself, threw questioning glares towards the current heir of the SDC. Weiss and Winter glared at him as well but for other reasons.

Whitley looks around to see all the glares directed towards him. "Why are you all looking at me? I said nothing."

"No!" Fiona snapped. "It's just... I don't know how to open the menu."

"What?" Both Fiona and Whitley asked.

"Jinx!" Nora shouts.

"What?!" Shriou looked at the girl in shock. "But you can't do anything in this game without the menu. How have you survived all month?"

Cut to Fiona holding a piece of bread. She is staring at it intensely. "HOW DO I EAT YOU?!" She screamed at it.

Many laughs were had at the poor girl's predicament, despite some of them doing their best to not do so but could not help themselves.

Fiona slowly sank into her chair, covering her face in shame. Her alternate was the utter definition of a newb player.

Back to the present.

"It's... been a challenge…" She muttered before looking at Shirou. "What about you? Why haven't you join the others?"

"Oh, lots of reasons. Mostly because they're a bunch of mouth-breathing neckbeards who think "LMAO" is how French people laugh."

" Ha ha, that's so Le Mao!" Said one player far away causing to Shirou shudder.

Whitley in the theater also shudders in disgust. If these were the people that he would have been surrounded by inside the game, then he too would have avoided them like a plague.

"Wow. You certainly... speak from the heart."

"Funny, I thought I was speaking from my mouth. But, eh, shows what I know about biology." He said with a smirk.

"No one else wanted you in their group, did they?"

"Shut up! It was mutual!"

"And who would blame me? Have you seen the players of this game? I'm honestly surprised they lived this long."

"You're just saying that 'cause no one wanted a smartass on their team." Fiona smirked.

"I'm sorry, were you speaking Menu Girl?" Whitley nonchalantly retorts.

Fiona's face grew red in embarrassment and agitation. She wanted nothing more than to raise her hand and activate her semblance right now. 'Give me a reason Schnee, I dare you.'

It cuts back to Diabel smiling and clapping his hands.

"Alright, looks like everyone's grouped up. Get plenty of rest tonight, people! We leave at noon!"

A player groans "Noon?"

"That's so early!"

Diabel sighs. "Alright. What about 1 o'clock?"

" Dude, come on!"

" God, fine! We leave at the crack of... 2:30, I guess. Lazy butts…"

"Christ, I'm gonna have to set my alarm."

Everyone in the theater did not have high expectations for these players as they would face their first challenge.

Cuts to December 3, 2022 Floor 1: Illfang's Tower, 7:30pm. Everyone's at the Boss Door and everyone except Diabel is exhausted.

"Okay, so there were a few more stairs than we realized. Apparently real life athletic ability translates into the game. Good to know." Diabel looked out to the sad sight in front of him.

"Oh, god. I can feel my lungs trying to kill me." One player whined.

" Is this sweat?!"

" I peed a little."

" Jesus, this is sad." Diabel said with a grimace.

One player vomits.

"Congrats Jaune, someone else has now become the new Vomit Boy of this viewing!" Yang exclaimed.

Jaune rolled his eyes at her attempt at making him feel better.

"Fuck it. Why don't you all just take a Cheetos and Mountain Dew break, and we'll reconvene in an hour."

1960 Batman-Esque transition with Cheetos and Mountain Dew.

" Dammit, guys! I was kidding! You weren't supposed to actually take an hour!" Dibal said in a rage."God, we've lost so much time. Let's just do this already! You all know the plan!"

Illfang jumps into the center of the room and roars. Kobolds pop in, and an error message pops up on the third one that says "Error: "Sentinel_ " not found."

Ruby and Nora laughed at the mob that got glitched.

"Alright, men!" Diabel began,"Form up and-"

"EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!" A player screams

The armies converge on each other.

"Are they serious! You can't just go gung-ho in a boss battle!" Jaune exclaimed at the increasingly apparent, dim-witted players.

"What?! No! Goddammit guys!" Diabel begins to bark out orders. "Squad B, quit attacking the Boss and keep the Sentinels off us! C, D, stop attacking from the front! Do you even know what "flank" means?! Squad F, for fuck's sake! Stop playing Bejeweled! *Groans* Squad G, get in there and help A and B!"

"Got it!" Shirou said with a nod rushing in.

"Don't talk back to…" Diabel did a double take."l Holy shit, really?!"

"How is Whitley the most sensible minded player in this game?!" Weiss asked.

"Weiss, have you seen the other players?" Blake asked her in a deadpanned tone.

"...Yes you're right, that's actually too much of an insult." Weiss admits.

Shirou attacks a Sentinel, leaving Fiona to finish it off.

"Okay, Fiona! What you're gonna wanna do here is-"

Fiona lets out a Battle Cry and kills the Sentinel in one hit.

Fiona in the theater perked up at this display, "Oh my- I can fight! Oh thank gods I can fight!"

Shirou eyes widened in shock "Wow, I thought she was hopeless, but her technique is flawless. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's even better than I-"

"Hey Shirou! I killed the thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?! Fiona cried out to him in fear."

Shirou rolls his eyes"Or... maybe... not."

"Miss Fiona, either your alternate is very lucky or is very out of base with technology. I can't tell which it is." Whitley stated.

"Shut up Schnee, she's trying!" Fiona defends her other self.

Illfang's health drops into the red. He snarls at the players and he tosses his weapons.

"Alright, men! This last part's gonna take careful coordination…" Diabel ran towards Illfang. "which is why I'm just gonna do it myself!"

Diabel charges his weapon art. Illfang draws his Ōdachi.

Ruby's eyes widened, "OH NO!"

Shirou looked and saw the weapon and his eyes widened calling to Diabel. "Oh shit! Diabel, look out! That's not a Talwar! It's an Ōdachi!"

"What's the difference?!" Diabel ask still running towards Illfang.

"Well, a Talwar is of Indian descent while an Ōdachi is Japanese! While both are primarily slashing weapons, the Talwar was favored by cavalrymen, as opposed to an Ōdachi which was mainly used for dick measuring!" As Shirou is talking, Illfang starts jumping off the walls.

" What's your point?!" Diabel asked impaintely.

"Well if you let me finish, I was getting to that! You see…"

Diabel gets hit by Illfang, screaming in pain.

Many of the huntsmen and huntresses in the theater either gasped in fear or looked away at the surely doomed player.

"What's happening? Did I miss something?" Fox called out.

"Oops." Shirou sheepishly said.

Illfang hits Diabel again, sending him flying.

"DIABEL!" Kibaou yelled out.

Illfang pops down in front of Kibaou and roars. A message pops up "Bonus Item: Soiled Pants". Above Kibaou

"Hey, rare drop!' A player said cheerfully.

Mercury laughed at the joke while most of the others were disgusted by the fact that that achievement was unlockable.

Shirou runs over to Diabel and holds him up.

" I was trying to say an Ōdachi's a little bit longer than a Talwar, so it'll have more reach and do a bit more damage."

"And why couldn't you say that first?" Diabel asked weakly

"Yeah you dummy! You almost might've killed him!" Ruby cries out.

Whitley was actually taken aback by that statement. Sure he had moments of pride and arrogance, sometimes he looked down on people but he didn't believe he would ever intentionally kill someone.

" I like to think of myself as a teacher. Anyway, drink this."

Shirou tries to give Diabel a healing potion but he stopped Shirou shaking his head.

"No. It's better this way. I just can't do it anymore. I had such high hopes at first. But now? Our best player is a girl who thinks DPS is some kind of sex thing." Both turned to glance to Fiona.

"I know. It's weird, right?"

Fiona sulked more into her chair.

"You're clearly not like the rest of them. How do you stand it, Shirou? Where do you draw your strength?" Diabel look at Shirou like a sage.

Shirou sigh and drops his wisdom onto him. "I've been playing MMO's a long time, Diabel, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that lions do not concern himself with the opinions of sheep. Just take that little voice in your head that tells you to be tactful and understanding... and shoot it. Shoot it in the goddamn face."

" You are so wise. If only I'd met you sooner. Perhaps, things would have been different. You must lead them now. Show them this game can be beaten." Diabel let's go of Shirou wrist.

Weiss was taken aback that this man was actually willing to place trust in this alternate of her brother. This stranger who barely even knows him placed the lives of all the players into his hands. Much like how she tried to trust Whitley once… this caused a bitter frown to grow on her face in recollection. Even if this was a different version of him, it was still Whitley in her eyes.

Shirou smiles fondly at Diabel. "Another life... in another time... I think we could have been friends."

"I... doubt it." Diabel gasps out before turning to shattered glass, dying.

" Well fuck you, too!" Shirou said angrily his smile dropping into a frown.

Fiona slips in by Shirou's side and began to lay out a plan.

"Alright, Shirou. Here's what we'll do. One counters his blows to knock him off balance and the other switches in to attack. Rinse. Repeat. Victory."

Shirou looked at her with one eye. "You came up with that, but you can't open a menu."

"Shut up!" Fiona cried out.

Illfang roars and they take off running toward him.

"Alright, so you counter and I'll attack!" Shirou yelled to Fiona.

"What? No, it's my plan! I should attack!" Fiona yelled back.

"Fine, just get ready!"

Shirou makes a battle cry and counters Illfang's attack.

"SWITCH!"

Fiona moves in and gets her cloak destroyed by Illfang before attacking revealing white curly hair and sheep ears.

" See? You almost got yourself killed! I'll attack him!" Shirou yelled again and began to attack Illfang.

"Oh, that was a fluke, and you know it! He's mine!" Fiona yelled back.

Fiona attacks Illfang.

"Oh shit. They're actually giving that boss the work!" Coco called out.

"He's mine!" Shirou yelled.

Shirou blocks Illfang's next attack, but Fiona attacks him before Shirou can do so himself.:

"Mine!" Fiona screams

"NO! HE'S! MIIIIIIIIIIINE!"

Shirou slices Illfang and he explodes. Everyone is stunned. Lame party kazoo sound effect and a banner with the word "CONGRATULATION" appears.

"Yeah!" A player cheer.

This caused almost everyone in the audience to laugh. Despite the dark humor of it all, it was still pretty hilarious.

"What happened? Did they win?" Fox asks

"Oh yes, I'm sorry Fox! They beat the boss and a victory banner came out."

"...heh." Fox chuckled.

Shirou is panting. He gets an item as a reward for defeating the Boss.

"Congratulations!" Velvet said, patting him on the back. "That was even more impressive than that cat that learned to play."

Cut to a player with a cat's head, with another player staring at it.

"Meow."

"Huh what did you know?" Yang replied.

"Oh my god! You guys can see it too?! So I'm not crazy! Isn't that great, Jesus?!" We see things from the players' perceptive, with a giant hallucination of Jesus Christ looming over the crowd.

"That's right, Jeffrey. Now... kill them all." Jesus said, his voice growing darker.

"As you command, my Lord." Jeffrey whispered.

"Somethings very wrong with that guy." Qrow states.

"I honestly agree with you, Branwen… Blegh! That left a horrible taste in my mouth." Winter stated.

Cut back to Velvet talking to Shirou. The other players are applauding his victory.

"You've led us to victory, Shirou. These men and I will follow you to hell itself. Now... address your people." Velvet is smiling and pushing Shirou to the crowd.

Shirou gets up and smirks. "I always knew this day would come. Ahem. Fellow gamers! We have traveled far and up many stairs to get to this point. Fighting side by side, noobs, and leets, alike. I'd like to take a moment to say that I couldn't have done it without the help of each and every one of you."

"Aw, that's a nice thing to say-" Velvet was cut off when Shirou counties.

"Of course, I'm not a liar, so I'm not gonna say any of that."

"Oh shit."

"I thought as much." Weiss states.

Shirou grins look at the group. "I mean, really. I could've done this whole Boss Fight myself. But to be fair, I guess you did absorb a bit of damage for me, which was nice. You were an adequate meat shield, and no one can ever take that away from you."

"Fuck. Fuck! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Velvet started to say.

"So for those of you who came in late, and that one guy playing Bejeweled back there... shoot for the stars... it'll make it more fun when I kick you back into the dirt."

"You're not better than us!" Kiaboru said.

"Yeah! What makes you think you're so cool?!" Nora shouts to the screen.

Shirou equips the coat he got for beating Illfang and smugly looks at the group."My sweet-ass coat begs to differ."

"Dammit, he's got us there." one player muttered.

Shirou ascends the stairs out of the Boss Room. Fiona follows him and grabs him by the shoulder. "Shirou, wait!"

Those in the audience looked on at Fiona's alternate in hope. Surely she could turn him around after their excellent display of partnership.

"I want half." She said, staring at him blankly.

That hope was quickly squashed, shot at, and finally burned to death via gasoline and cracking a fire dust crystal.

Shirou turns to her confused. " I'm... sorry. What?!"

"I want half the coat. I did half the work, I should get half the coat." Fiona explain and extends her hand for him give it to her.

"No! It's not fabric I can cut! It's just a bunch of 1s and 0s!" Shirou was getting frustrated.

"Fine, then give me the 1s."

" Fuck you! I want the 1s!" He groans and open the menu. "I am not having this argument. I'm disolving this party." Shirou opens his menu and "Di-solves" their party.

"Shirou! If you walk away with my half of the coat, I will make your life a living hell!" Fiona screamed.

"You know what? Fine! I'll give you the damn coat! Just send me a trade request."

"A... what?"

Fiona's eyes widened as she watched from the theater, "No…"

Shirou grins viciously "Oh, it's quite simple really... Just open your menu." Shirou starts laughing maniacally as he walks out the doors as Fiona screams at him:"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" At him.

Outro Plays.

Fiona screams, "I can't believe the nerve of that-! GRAAAAH!"

"Can you please stop screaming! You're going to cause everyone's ears to bleed." Whitley said while using a handkerchief to rub his ears.

Fiona huffed then matched off, going to another place in the theater.

"Well that was interesting. So you all say there's other viewings where we see other worlds besides this one." Coco asked the group.

"Oh yeah, we've seen a couple worlds ourselves, but only a handful I'd say." Yang admits.

"Well as long as we're here, we might as well take time to catch up." Velvet smiled.

"Yeah, this will be great! It's almost like we're back at Beacon, right Weiss? ...Weiss?" Ruby looks beside her but noticed that her partner was not with them anymore.

In another side of the theater, the all three Schnee siblings stand together. Both of the youngest siblings look at Winter who brought them here.

Winter clears her throat, "I understand that there are some… tension between the three of us during this viewing. So I asked you both here so that we may come to terms with our situation."

Weiss scoffs, "Come to terms with him! I highly doubt that."

Whitley crosses his arms, "Yes it does seem like a lost cause Winter."

"Enough! Both of you!" Winter raised her voice causing both of her younger siblings to go rigid. "I'm not expecting you to get along or even apologize to each other at the moment. What I ask is if you two can at least act civil with one another while in the theater?"

Both Weiss and Whitley looked at each other and sneered at each other.

"Why of course I can be civil with Whitley. It is a virtue of a lady to be civil at all times." Weiss said with hidden venom.

"Quite true, but being civil is also a quality an heir of the Schnee family must cultivate as well. So I look forward to spending this immeasurable amount of time with you my sisters." Whitley said with his best presentable smile.

"Yes, how I enjoy us taking this time to reacquaint with each other." Weiss said while one of her eyes was twitching.

"Well then sister, shall we?" Whitley gestured for Weiss to go ahead of him. Almost would have been believable if one did not notice the glint in his eyes and his strained smile.

Winter watched as both Weiss and Whitley walked back to the auditorium where everyone else had remained.

"...This can only end badly."

Hope you enjoyed.

22 notes · View notes

deadwriter16 · 3 years

Note

Controversial? opinion(s):

The females in BNHA are not the best written but they’re not the worst. Could they have been better? Yes, absolutely, I think most agree. But at least some of them have defining personality traits compared to 1 dimensional females in other series. And you don’t have to be badass to be a good written female character.

Also, some fanon takes on characters are sometimes annoying when they’re over done (ex. Uraraka being broke as her entire personality, Eri being a gremlin child, shiggy being crusty, Shouto and kettles, or Bakugou viciously hating Deku even though in the anime, they’re relationship is not as bad as it was. Idk it just gets on my nerves). Maybe I think the jokes are too old and they’re just not funny anymore.

okay let's see...

every single female character is really badly written. with the exception of toga and maybe jirou, for the most part every other female character just...is written badly. and frankly that's probably just because they're not that imporant. with the exception of ochako, there's no excuse for her. she's just very badly written. but yeah they could definitely be a lot worse. and no, you don't have to be badass to be a well-written female character! let girls be wimps challenge 2022 /j dw but actually. u dont have to be badass to be a good female character, although i tend to define a badass girl as like...literally any girl ever just on principle of being an awesome girl. but like yeah

as for fanon takes:

uraraka being broke as her entire poersinality - agree that sucks

eri being a gremlin - i love gremlin eri Actually but only when it's like casual gremlin after spending a lot of time w bkg or something. idk what kinds of shit actual legit fanon gremlin eri gets into so

shigaraki = crusty: ....i think he's crusty sorry

bkg hating deku: he literally doesn't they're gay and in love actually

but yeah fanon takes can be a bit much sometimes for sure

#thanks for asking <3 #this one got long #well thats what happens when i have opinions #rip me

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fumingspice · 4 years

Text

guardians

original work! im bored to death and i have nothing much to do so i guess maybe i could post this and see if people like it or not. mallorie whyte is sarah paulson 🤜👱🏻‍♀️

01 | oakwood academy

october 24th 2022

eli, ma. andromadex

-Madison

THE FINAL WORDS that Madison's stepmother Inez had jokingly yelled out the car window at her before she sped off to work were fairly sticking with her all throughout the day. She had driven at neck-breaking speed as she often had a habit of doing, and then braked so hard that she probably would have given any other passenger in the car a pretty bad whiplash, which Madison was convinced that Inez is immune to it by now, and then rolled down her window and told her; "y’know, if you want to actually make some friends you should really quit acting so bitchy."

Mind you, this was after she had gone on at her for days on end about being herself.

Madison was not opposed to making friends at this school. She wanted to. It's just so difficult when the fantastic, gold-crested reputation of your parents follows you around everywhere you go, and it's even worse when everyone else in your school completely matches that reputation.

To her, there's nothing worse than extra-cred class. She could promise you that. Especially when there are only fifteen more minutes left of the school day until the school bell rang sweet salvation and the students were released from the clutches school for another day. The classroom was decorated in crisp oranges, reds, yellows and browns; and the smothering scent of the ten-plus pumpkin spice candles could probably be smelt from miles away.

Madison's teacher, Ms. DuBois, was from Salem, and she loved nothing more than talking about witches in Salem. DuBois continued to rattle on about the executions that took place during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692- and since they were in Eli and not Salem, Madison could not fathom a single plausible reason as to why her extra-cred class had decided to adopt the Salem Witch Trials.

Oakwood Academy, Madison's new school, had managed to work its way to having one of the top academic records in America by providing an extra area of study for every year that a student attended. It was just one of the classes that would act as a "relaxer" for the workload that the Academy dumped on their students. They allocated five sets of twenty-five students to five different classes. For example; her older brother was allocated into a class that studied some of history's most famous serial criminals. The girl had been hit with a low-key pang of jealousy when she looked at his workbook, but she would never admit that.

Serial killer documentaries from Buzzfeed Unsolved was for her what World War II was to her brother Tiano.

Halfway through the class, Madison decided that Ms DuBois' babbles were nothing more than folklore and legends. There is no possible way that witches could exist, and even if they did; they would have become so sparsely spread out throughout the centuries that bloodlines would have become diluted into non-existence.

Madison had finally just about given up listening, getting ready to switch to her earphones when DuBois began talking about Gwendoline Proctor and Marie-Anne Dufosett. Judging by the amount of borderline useless word scrambles and pop quizzes that she had been bombarded with since August in which their names had popped up in, this would no doubt be just as bleak as the rest of the topic.

"Marie-Anne Dufosett was burned at the stake along with her mother and some other accused women-"

Well, that's just peachy.

"-However, does anybody know who accused Mademoiselle Dufosett of Witchcraft and Conspiring with the Devil?"

A few hands shot up. Oh, great, Madison thought, another room full of Hocus Pocus lovers.

DuBois picked on a boy at the back of the room wearing a black turtleneck underneath his blazer. "Perrone Goguillon," he answered.

Well, at least I know that instead of how to pay taxes.

Ms DuBois clapped her hands together and was about to praise him when Madison poked her head up and blurted out, "who in fresh hell is Peregrine Goujon?" The class burst into a peal of abrupt laughter and her face flashed a red that was possibly close to her burgundy uniform.

DuBois waited patiently for the laughter to die down, giving Madison a well-intended smile. She'd been trying to pry Madison out of her shell for weeks. "Miss Delvaux, I'm so happy that we've finally been graced with your conscious presence," she said. "Perrone Goguillon was one of the last witches to burnt at the stake in France."

What has that got to do with Salem?

There was a pause.

Turtleneck Boy piped up yet again. "Wasn't Perrone Marie-Anne's mother?"

Ms DuBois nodded, what followed probably should have been a moment for shock factor was cut short by Madison's unimpressive comment of; "Sounds like someone gained some serious mommy-issues."

Apart from a few smirks and sniggers, the room stayed in a star awkward silence. It was that moment when Madison had realised that making fun of witches in this classroom was possibly as close as you could get to treason.

The bell finally rang out before Madison could embarrass herself any further. She pulled on her coat and started speed-walking to get out of the school. She found listening to Toxic by Britney Speers always made her faster.

The crisp Massachusetts air stung at her cheeks hard, nipping at them until they were a hard red. The leaves crunched with a prominent sound and the wind blew quite fiercely. She hated fall- she missed the sweet Florida summer and sunshine that she had become so accustomed to. She missed splashing about in their swimming pool with her friends, sitting on her boyfriend's shoulders and having matches of pool basketball. They could get very competitive and Madison was certainly no stranger to having her head pushed underwater for the sake of one of her friends scoring a goal.

Her family had just moved to Massachusetts for her stepmother's work, as they often had moved around for that reason numerous times in the past. Inez worked with companies that were hanging on the edge of bankruptcy. A quick call to her office and she would work on the case as soon as possible. Most cases she could work on from home or online, but every few years a huge opportunity or promotion would come up that would require a move. It was always worth it. Inez was a wizard with a logbook and her incredible finances knowledge; she would advise the company and work with as many people as possible to save the company and boost its profits massively.

The job also came with a pretty hefty paycheck. Inez had been in Madison's life for as long as the girl could recall memory.

Now that the latest- and hopefully final- addition to the Delvaux family had come, Madison's father spent most of his time at home taking care of baby Thomas. In contrast to Inez, Madison's father came from a long line of "old" money; decades ago, his family was incredibly wealthy Franco-Belgian gold merchants, owning around 40% of the most flourishing gold mines in Belgium and France of which together bestowed them with a huge amount of the finest Belgian gold. Although the number of which lowered to about 750 tons of gold, the family net worth was still well into the billions.

Madison's father broke away from the complete gold-mine owning tradition and earned a job as a professor of physics in certain prestigious colleges across the country, although, there were still plenty of goldmines still to his name.

However, despite their needless fortune, most of the family, along with Inez, managed to stay incorrupt, helping to build many schools, hospitals and jobs in developing countries and donating thousands of millions of dollars to charities, side-lining with the Delvaux-Proveux Foundation to help create a better society with whatever difference they could cause.

Her parents did their best to remain humble- which sometimes proved itself difficult when the next five generations of their family could probably eat from solid gold plates if they chose to.

Needless to say, they spent only what they needed to, didn't exploit their riches, lived in the slightly more luxurious suburban homes. Madison was sent to Oakwood Academy; possibly the most unnecessarily expensive school in the north-east of America along with her adopted older brother Tiano and her adopted little sister Safina; the second youngest, Aleja went to an elementary not far from their home, and baby Thomas just did his best not to poop his pants straight after his diaper had been changed. Madison was convinced he did his best to poop at the worst possible time.

The house they had recently moved into was a beautiful country mansion, overlooking a lake and meadows, the balcony that showed a complete view of the landscape was perhaps Madison's favourite part of the house- apart from her bed of course.

She walked briskly up the pathway leading to the front door, doing her best to not show that she was absolutely freezing to death despite the massive coat. No sooner had she got in the door that she turned the heater on full blast and ran upstairs, diving into her bed.

Inconveniently, she was now too warm.

Madison rolled her eyes and then rolled out of bed with a slight thud, ran downstairs, lowered the heating, then ran back upstairs again- now at a slightly more satisfactory temperature. Her phone began to buzz; an incoming facetime from her friends back in Florida.

Madison jumped up promptly, fixing her hair and trying to make it look like she wasn't considering an attempt at home-made abseiling down the wall beneath her window. She accepted the call and lo and behold the screams and squeals of five of her best friends burst from the phone from on the other side of the country. Meghan, the girl in front and centre, called out Madison's name with an ear-piercing screech.

"Woah, Woah. Calm down, Meghan I'm not hoping to go deaf anytime soon," she muttered, pretending to be annoyed, making a particular fuss of changing the settings on her hearing aid. Meghan playfully rolled her eyes and began talking over the other girls.

"Oh, shut up, Maddie. How's Massachusetts? Find any cute warlocks that we need to come out and see?" She asked.

"Meghan, this place is amazing and beautiful- there's so many other things here than witches and warlocks and Harvard's array of nerds," she said, pretending she didn't want to hop on her tricycle and go home.

To be truthful, it was obvious that Meghan could see straight through the blatant lie.

"Well, if you say so, babes. Give us a tour of your house! We need to see chez Madison after stalking it for an hour on Google Maps."

Madison gave a hearty chuckle. "Well, if you insist."

Madison began her own rendition of a virtual tour around her house, showing everything from the luxury bathrooms to the heated pool in the basement. The ooooooo's and ahhhhhhhhh's were constant. The house was beautiful- that was undeniable. However, the crowning glory of the house was a massive stain-glass window depicting a woman by the lake.

"The realtors said that the builder of the house had it built in 1876 to memorialize the women persecuted and killed during the witch trials," Madison said, admiring the beautiful display of colours on the floor from the sun shining through the window.

"That's cheery."

That's typical Meghan.

"Now, more important than your sexy house; are you or are you not coming to prom?" Meghan asked, expectantly.

Madison shrugged, "I'm not sure, we only just got here, and I don't think my parents would want me flying across the country all by myself."

Meghan let out a slightly satisfied sigh. "So, does that mean Dylan is now free for me to take as my date?"

Madison gritted her teeth hard. Only forever has Meghan been trying to steal Dylan away from her. "Sure, as long as it's just as friends," she answered, fully emphasizing the word "friends".

Meghan laughed emptily. "Well, how else would I be taking him? Trust me, Maddie baby, if I wanted Dylan so bad, I would've gotten him months ago." There was a coy smile and awkward glances shared by the others.

Madison bit her tongue.

"Yeah?" She called out into the empty house. "Coming now, Nez!" She looked back at the screen, told them, "talk later, gals, Nez wants me to help her in the basement," and hung up without waiting for a response, already knowing that Meghan would be commenting on how strange she was acting.

Madison and Meghan had been stuck to each other's waist since pre-school, grew up in close neighborhoods, and had practically been raised together. One time, Madison's family took Meghan to Disney Land, then straight to Universal Studios after. To say they were spoiled rotten in childhood because of the Delvaux family wealth was an understatement. It was only now approaching adult years was Meghan taking full advantage of her best friend's wealth- hinting off about getting her into Yale or Harvard, Madison smiled and nodded when she brought these things up, knowing full well Meghan didn't hold enough brain cells to even use a dishwasher.

The jangle of keys and the opening of the door sounded from downstairs. "The party's home! Maddie honey, you here?" Inez called, audibly struggling with grocery bags. "Coming!" she called back, skipping down the stairs two steps at a time. Inez relieved herself of one of the six bags she had carried from the car.

"When are you going to learn to walk down the stairs without the risk of breaking your damn neck?" she asked, walking to the kitchen and setting half of the bags on the counter, and doing the same with Maddie's bags. Madison laughed and shook her head, "when we confirm that the birds don't work for the bourgeoisie."

Inez rolled her eyes and pulled Madison into a hug. "Well, in that case, I may as well buy a neck brace and put the hospital on speed dial."

Madison gave a real laugh this time and pulled away, throwing a damp washcloth at Inez's face. "Megan facetimed me earlier with Linda, Karlie, Houston, Seoul and London.

Inez pulled a face, "yeah, and how did that turn out?" Madison sighed, "she asked me if she could take Dylan to prom."

Her stepmom stopped unpacking and lurched into deep thought. "Why are all your friends named after cities?" Madison was about to continue when she stopped to think about the question.

"Back to the topic, Nez."

Inez’s eyes widened in shock. "She did not, did she?" Madison nodded carefully, bracing herself for Inez launching into a huge monologue, as she often did when something morally wrong happened. "After everything that we've done for that girl- everything that you've done for that girl, this is how she repays you?" Inez barely stopped to breathe. "She has known about our plans to move here since last Summer! The sneaky little bug kept this behind your back and knew it would be safe to tell you that she was going to steal Dylan from you as soon as you were a safe distance away-"

Madison promptly stopped her, knowing this could and would go on all night. "I'm not as bothered as I should be, Nez. Dylan and I were drifting even before the move. I think this is just my final sign that we just aren't meant to be- God, I always knew nothing serious would become of Dylan and me," she admitted, sipping on a diet coke that Inez had just slid down the countertop. Her stepmother pursed her lips, her incredible dark brown eyes glazing over as they always did when she fell deep into thought, as Madison often admired them doing so when she was trying to find a solution to a particularly difficult business situation, then, within seconds, bounced back out of it once again.

Inez presented an envelope to Madison, addressed to her. "Well, this might bring your spirits up at least," she placed in front of Madison. "I just know it is what it is."

Madison's jaw dropped as she read the letter.

Months ago, while they still lived in Florida, Madison's tutor convinced her to take part in a writing competition. The competition was hosted by one of New York's most prestigious publication companies, namely by their founder; Mallorie Whyte, possibly one of the most sought after and revered journalists in the Western Hemisphere. Madison completely worshipped the woman. Whyte being a first generation French American was the main factor in inspiring Madison to learn the language; not for the benefit of her Senegalese brother.

But he did not need to know that.

Inez spoke again, mainly just to make sure that Madison hadn't become paralyzed from shock. "Is she telling you to buy a damn dictionary or was your spelling fine?” Inez teased. There was no response, but Madison was finished reading, and Inez became heart-scared that she would lick the page.

Madison was dumbfounded for a few more seconds. "I got first place in the contest. She wants me to come to New York and meet her! Bloody hell, she thinks I could help her out with new ideas?" Maddie took another break before screaming the house down. "The Mallorie Whyte wants me because she thinks I could help her-"

She completely froze up in shock, her frightened stepmother running behind her in case she fell backwards. "Three weeks?!" Madison screeched, loud enough to wake up the dead. Inez almost jumped from her skin, laughing when she recovered.

"Three weeks, Maddie! We have plenty of time," she attempted to reason, even though trying to calm Madison down when she was as excited as this was next to impossible.

Madison looked highly offended. "Three weeks? Do you see the state of this house? It needs to be perfect!"

The house was next to gleaming spotless.

Inez rolled her eyes and tugged Madison's belt loop as she was about to run into the hall. In her lifetime, she had met many people that she could consider crazy, but no one came as close to her stepdaughter when she was fangirling over Mallorie Whyte. "Yes, honey that's all well and good," Inez said, attempting to calm down the lunatic in front of her, "but in the meantime, I want you to tidy your bedroom, do your homework and do some studying."

Madison nodded obediently, grabbed her Cola, and ran upstairs, careful not to spill anything on the grey carpet. The fragrance of her apple blossom burning in an incense bowl wafted around the room, and her speaker was set to play music from her playlist when it detected motion in the room. The past few moments of excitement had wiped what had happened before the letter out of her mind.

Dylan.

Meghan had practically taken Dylan away from her- not that she cared, not now anyway. Mallorie freakin' Whyte had sent her a handwritten letter for Christ's sake, she wasn't going to be moping over a boy that her supposed best friend has had her eyes on for months. She had known since before announcing the move that the boy was falling under Meghan's spell, she had seen it; the messages, the winks and the giggles, the almost-too-close kiss under the stairway. She was never ignorant to the fact that there was something between Dylan and Meghan going on behind her back- they were both horrible liars and barely tried to cover it up- she just did her best to pretend nothing had happened.

It's not as if she wasn't the jealous type- she used to be- Dylan had been around most of her friendship group while she was crushing on him. She had just grown an indifference to seeing him flirt with other girls. She had grown used to it.

The notification of her computer sounded, distracting herself from her slightly depressing thoughts. It was an email notification, from Mallorie Whyte herself. Madison almost fainted at the sight of it. Not only had she just received a written letter, but she had also taken time to contact online. Madison caught her breath at the possibility of having a conversation with this woman three weeks before they met, she opened the email, scanning every word;

Madison,

I apologize for reaching out to you in such an informal manner, but I just couldn't wait to get into correspondence with you sooner! Your entry into our contest here at Whyte’s Journalism and Publications utterly rocked my soul at the core, your work blooms amazingly at your young age.

The reason I picked your entry was that after many hours of reading and re-reading hundreds of thousands of entries, I realized that yours spoke to me in a way that no other one did. The beauty of your language and knowledge of how our world and society works touched me in a way no other did- heart-breaking, yet somehow warming, in the same way, to know that there are still people in this world who still have a love for life.

I noted in your information folder that Halloween was your least favourite holiday- a complete juxtaposition of my own opinion. Samhain is the best time of year- and I am excited to spend this glorious time of year with you and your family starting next weekend, as I've just finished sorting arrangements with Ms. Inez.

Best regards and wishes, and excitement to meet you,

Mallorie Whyte.

Inez smiled to herself from downstairs, setting her drink down and running up the stairs having heard the rather obvious sound of Madison's delighted squeal and subsequent crash on the floor.

#anyway #this is original for once LMAO #yeah i promise there's some gross billie fluff coming at some point #writeblr

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matchstickwords · 6 years

Text

a/b/o Masterlist

Read the tags/warnings once you click on the link. Includes Heat/Mpreg adjacent stuff and playmating stuff (of the real and fake type)

IN: incomplete CO: complete

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Small town blues series by Rhiw (21,781 words. IN) Alpha Billy

Nancy and Steve break up before Tina's party. Steve finds himself on the rebound, damned and determined to have some fun. Billy just wants to get laid.

Aka: The ABO of Stranger Things no one asked for. Written while drunk, with drunk characters, and lots of angst and smut and shit. Enjoy.

Don’t belong to anyone (else) by Sparkleeye (11443 words. IN) Alpha Steve

And he does, just Billy’s fucking luck, because Harrington licks his lips and hoarsely goes, “I fucking knew it, fuck Hargrove, you’re in heat.”

He shudders as Harrington takes a step towards him. The tangy, warm scent of alpha has him struggling to stand upright, already slipping into the too far gone state and it’s fucking Harrington’s fault because he still won’t leave.

Better yet, he knows, he can smell the sweetness of omega, particularly herbal and saccharine like lavender and vanilla - Billy knows he smells like a girly little candle, okay - flooding the air between them. He could push Billy over and take him there, on the floor, push his face down onto the cracked, dusty concrete and fuck him stupid.

aka -- Billy is a stubborn idiot and goes to school during his heat.

More than instincts by Morganadelacour ( 2022 words. IN) Alpha Billy

Billy is looking for his sister but instead finds Steve Harrington in full heat, so he helps him out. However, things get more complicated afterwards.

This spell I’m under might last by Universealternating (1810 words. CO) Alpha Billy

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here!” Tommy exclaimed, jerking the door open. He didn’t say anything after that, probably sizing Steve up and trying to figure things out.

“I’m in heat.” Steve admitted, not looking at Tommy.

“Aw, jeez.” Tommy said with a sigh. “Alright, alright. Guess I can just call and try to explain it to Carol from your place?” Tommy grinned but it didn’t really reach his eyes.

What a wicked game(s) series by ToAStranger, Brawlite (125,823 words. IN) Alpha Billy, Alpha Steve.

Billy knew Steve Harrington would ruin him. Steve knew Billy Hargrove was nothing but trouble.

They never expected it to end up like this.

Oh to be young (and greek) series by Hoppnhorn (9771 words. IN) Omega Billy, Omega Steve

Billy rushes Steve's fraternity and gets in, which sucks, only when it doesn't. Drunk Steve has a hard time staying away from what isn't good for him.

Turn me loose by Hoppnhorn (3321 words. CO) Alpha Billy

Billy is a dominant, powerful alpha with a slew of omegas dying to win his affection. He loves it, lives for it, except when he’s in rut. Steve is an omega and fights it every damn day. But when his body goes into heat, needs to breed, he can’t do anything to stop it. Billy is in rut and Steve is in heat when a freak heatwave knocks out the air conditioning in their shared apartment complex. Open windows and rampant hormones? What could go wrong?

High demand by Underthegrave (13,256 words. IN) Alpha Billy

In a dystopian society where the vast majority of people are betas unable to reproduce, alphas and omegas are kept as second-class breeding stock.

Billy and Steve are the most anticipated pairing of the year... but they aren't quite getting along as planned.

Don’t threaten me with a good time by Oop (7508 words. IN) Alpha Steve

Billy doesn't keep it a secret. He doesn’t use suppressants, doesn’t chase other omegas around like he’s lead by the nose, doesn’t do anything too particular that screams alpha, but that’s what people seem to hear anyway.

"Hey," Steve says, exhaling smoke at the sky. "This is gonna sound weird, but... What cologne are you wearing?"

Heaven by femmesteve (219 words. CO) Alpha Billy

Something short about a very horny, omega Steve basically.

Suppressants by femmesteve (12,430 words. CO) Alpha Billy

Billy finds out about Steve

Steve Forgets by femmesteve (1,242 words. CO) Alpha Billy

Steve forgets his heat and Billy is there to be a jerk and fuck him how he needs.

Heatstroke by Hobbitspacecase (8022 words. CO) Alpha Steve

Billy is out of suppressants and going into Heat. Steve finds him. It's too bad Billy can't have this every time.

First part / Second part by Lipgallagher (5712 words. IN)

“You’re leaking, Harrington. It’s gross.”

“You’re gross.” Steve’s head hurts, his entire body is just aching, and he is so fucking horny that it’s goddamn embarrassing. This is a heat, he knows that, but he also knows that the first day isn’t ever the worst one.

One by eightiesboys (390 words. CO) Alpha Billy

steve’s heat starts up during basketball practice without him noticing the telltale signs (excessive sweating, added body temperature) because he’s too focused on trying to keep the ball away from billy

One by Snow (515 words. CO) Alpha Billy

“Billy, hey…Billy? C'mon, man, wake up already…” Steve murmured, starting to frown. Billy always slept like a dead, and while at one times it was kind of adorable, at the other times, like this, it was annoying.

Hawkins happy day daycare by Chiefette (4584 words. IN) Alpha Billy

Steve is just an omega daycare teacher stuck in a tree.

Billy is just an alpha firefighter that helps him down.

It's obvious to the 6 kids of Hawkins Happy Day Daycare that they need to get the two to fall in love, and how do you know when two people are in love? They have a baby of course!

Not that Steve and Billy need much help.

Short looks into an extremely self-indulgent daycare AU

Mind over matter series by Hati_skoll (4358 words. IN) Alpha Billy

Steve gets wet for Billy.

(Less porn inside than implied.)

Heat of the moment by Akayn (2614 words. IN) Alpha Billy

Steve crouched down to grab the shampoo when he felt it. That warm heat curling low in his belly. Steve froze. His heat shouldn’t be here this early, there was no way. He had been on suppressants since he’d presented two years ago. Under a strict regime that controlled when his heats struck. And he was six weeks early.

Sweet scent that has me fallin’ to my knees by sens8tional (1253 words. IN) Alpha Billy

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Billy growls as he cornered Steve in the empty hallway. “Do we have ourselves an omega in dear ol’ Hawkins?”

Steve has been hiding the fact that he's an omega for a few years now, ever since he had his first heat and his parents put him on suppressants but everything comes falling apart when new boy Billy Hargrove comes into town and corners Steve in a hallway, leaving the omega confused and desperate to keep himself far away from the Alpha no matter what his biology wants.

Learning each other by Poisonousflower3 (1358 words. IN) Alpha Billy

"Billy hated being an alpha. He hated how it made his sense of smell stronger and smell the despair that always seemed to linger in this town. He hated how he was always so angry, though he knew that part of it was the abuse from his dad and his temper.

What he didn’t hate was how it let him get a good whiff of Steve whenever he was around."

In which case home starts to include Steve Harrington for Billy.

I never injured thee by Sachanpwns (812 words. CO) Alpha Steve

Billy should have known the second Steve’s teeth broke through his scent glands that shit was going to go down at school. He should have known that coming off his suppressants and presenting to King Steve as an omega would end up causing fucking drama. He should have known.

I don’t need you (but I do) by Sachanpwns (1274 words. CO) Alpha Steve

Billy's in heat, and he doesn't need Steve.

Except he does.

Not done until I say so by Sachanpwns (1132 words. CO) Alpha Steve

Steve likes that, even as an Omega, Billy has the bite and bark of an alpha.

My status (I hate it) by Sachanpwns (774 words. CO) Alpha Steve

Billy does everything he can against his natural instincts as on omega.

Collision course by Cherryfleash (7835 words. IN) Alpha Billy

Takes place just after season 2. Billy struggles with his aggressive alpha nature, made worse by the abuse at the hands of his father. Steve leaves the hospital with a diagnose of his own. In a world with little to no correct information of this mystical medical phenomena, can two teenage boys navigate that rocky path on their own?

‘Cause We Feel Young and Wild by beautyinchains (1515 words CO) Alpha Steve

Soon, is Steve’s best guess. Soon like the subtle itch beneath his skin that intensifies with each passing day. Soon like the voracity of his appetite as his body begins to prepare itself for the upcoming marathon. Soon like the aggression that continues to build and threaten to spill whenever another Alpha so much as glances Billy’s way. Soon like the way he’s been tenting his sheets, his slacks, his gym shorts at so much as a gentle breeze.

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Adjacent stuff

Bound by Luv_haze ( 38544 words. IN) Alpha Billy

Steve's high school sociology class suddenly becomes the focal point of his dreary winter in Hawkins when the teacher assigns a semester long project that makes absolutely no sense but apparently counts for his entire grade.

The class assignment reads: "This semester we will be understanding social roles in a pack or clan like dynamic through the wonderful world of Alpha, Beta and Omega personalities!"

And Steve's individual assignment is a string of several words that coil deep in his gut and might as well be in Klingon. "You are Omega #1. Mated to Alpha #1."

He hopes his "alpha" partner is anyone but that jackass Billy Hargrove, but then this just hasn't been Steve's year, has it?

Build it better by Anonymous (29853 words. CO) Mpreg Steve

“Congratulations, Steve. You’re having a baby.”

Your tongue is sharp, but I miss the taste of it by Thecopperkid (7683 words. CO) Fuck or die Billy

Billy looks sweaty as fuck. Abandoned his denim jacket, drenched through his thin t-shirt. He’s like, unbuckled, rolling around in the seat, all hunched in fetal position. Grabbing the crotch of his fucking pants.

Then he really fucks with Steve’s shit.

Says, “I need to come, I think.”

Billy had one job -- don't take off the scarf. / Science is probably not Steve's strong suit, but he's really trying to make sense of why Billy's suddenly found him so appealing.

Put a baby in me, baby by femmesteve (353 words. CO)

Billy and Steve play with Steve’s pregnancy kink

The real stranger things by femmesteve (1025 words IN)

My AU where Billy is an alien and Steve is a human who loves him dearly.

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09/2018 (if you want to send me your faves fics, head canons or anything to update this I’ll add it when I get the time again)

#harringrove #masterlist #a/b/o #fic rec #mpreg #heat sex #fuck or die #alpha billy #alpha steve #hello im a trash goblin nice to meet you #fic rec master list

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Saints Row Fans Are Already Calling Reboot Too “Woke”

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

It’s only been a couple of days since the Saints Row reboot trailer debuted during the Gamescom opening night ceremony, but that’s all the time it took for some of the franchise’s fans to wage an online campaign against the title that’s largely based on their belief that the upcoming reboot is too woke, hipster, and, ultimately, too different from the previous games in the series.

It started on YouTube where the reboot’s debut trailer quickly garnered 22k dislikes vs 16k likes (as of the time of this writing). If you haven’t watched that trailer yet, I highly recommend that you give it a look and (if you dare) check out the comments below when you’re done.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

There’s certainly some variation in terms of the specific complaints people have about this trailer, but they tend to focus on the ways that this upcoming reboot will seemingly alter the theme and tone of the original Saints Row games. While some are simply upset that this upcoming game will seemingly abandon many of the series’ famous characters and locations, the most vocal complaints so far tend to focus on the idea that the Saints Row reboot is aiming for the “Gen Z” crowd by incorporating “woke” characters, “hipster” themes, and a more youthful and playful overall vibe that some say is at odds with the dark undertones of previous games in the series.

Actually, a lot of the complaints so far tend to focus on the reboot’s cast of characters. Some are calling them a forced attempt at diversity (again, we’ll get to that in a bit), but the most common criticisms so far revolve around the perception that they’re cleaner, younger, “hipper” protagonists who somehow don’t belong in a Saints Row game. Others just say that they don’t seem to be particularly interesting.

You should also know that this discourse isn’t limited to the comments section of that debut trailer. In fact, it really took off on Twitter when the Saints Row Twitter team began responding to critical fans in some surprisingly direct ways.

pic.twitter.com/SLcoK801vL

— Saints Row (@SaintsRow) August 26, 2021

pic.twitter.com/pJb2QSSfJ2

— Saints Row (@SaintsRow) August 26, 2021

We wanted to do something brand new

— Saints Row (@SaintsRow) August 25, 2021

As you can see, the Saints Row development team at Volition is not hiding from these complaints. In fact, they’re really leaning into the idea that they are, in many ways, taking a look at the franchise’s past and altering things that they simply wouldn’t put into a game today. Here’s what studio development director Jim Boone had to say to PC Gamer on the subject:

“We love [the old Saints Row games], but we also recognize those are games of a time. They made sense within that era, and we were able to do things that felt good back then. But that tone is not something that we feel like we want to do today. We had a different kind of story that we wanted to tell.”

So, it turns out that some of Saints Row‘s early critics aren’t being entirely paranoid. The Saints Row team is aiming to change the tone of the series somewhat with this reboot, and they are looking to reexamine certain aspects of previous games that they’re not entirely comfortable with today. From there, it’s really just a matter of what you think about that change in philosophy.

Personally, I think that some of these early criticisms are odd and are perhaps based on issues that are much more serious than the Saints Row reboot. Having said that, some of the concerns about this game may not be entirely unwarranted, even at this early stage.

The thing that I can’t get past is the idea that there’s somehow a sacred theme that the Saints Row series has stuck to up until this point. The first Saint’s Row game was basically a more outlandish GTA game that honestly did emphasize a style, tone, story, and characters that you probably wouldn’t want to put in a game today, and for good reasons. At worst, it was occasionally offensive, and at best, it was all pretty basic.

From there, the Saints Row games just got wilder. Saints Row 2 tried to keep things slightly more grounded (although the insanity was absolutely getting turned up at that point), but Saints Row 3 just threw all attempts at logic out of the window in favor of embracing its predecessor’s wildest concepts and upping the ante. By the time we got to Saints Row 4, we were playing as superpowered gangsters tasked with defending the universe.

If there is one thing that all of those Saints Row games had that this reboot seems to be lacking in these very early stages, it’s an “edge.” The Saints Row games often combined over-the-top violence with over-the-top sex and used all of it to accentuate over-the-top moments. It was always a bit more South Park than Goodfellas, and while that’s part of the reason a lot of people fell in love with the Saints Row series in the first place, Saints Row 4 certainly left many wondering how the series was possibly going to raise the bar. It’s not that Saints Row 4 was a disaster (it was occasionally a lot of fun), but it definitely felt like we were starting to reach the point of diminishing returns and stylistic awkwardness. There certainly may be a bit of “absence makes the heart grow fonder” in play here, though many of these criticisms seem to be coming from those who never grew tired of the series’ edgy absurdity in the first place.

So while I suspect that some fans were hoping that this reboot would bring this series back to the Saints Row 2 style (which honestly probably came closest to properly balancing absurdity and open-world crime drama), it’s honestly hard to fault the Saints Row reboot team for coming to the conclusion that it’s time to mix things up. It probably is time to mix things up, and given that Saints Row is usually at its best when it’s doing things differently than the competition (which honestly includes moments of character diversity and sex-positivity spread throughout the series that shouldn’t be overlooked if we’re having a fair discussion about this franchise), I’m not willing to buy into the argument that this is inherently a bad idea. I’m just not convinced that the best things about the original Saints Row games are somehow being completely abandoned here, based on what we’ve seen so far.

Having said all of that, the debut Saints Row trailer did leave a lot to be desired. The popularity of CG debut trailers that don’t showcase gameplay is generally annoying, but in this particular instance, I think it’s safe to say that Saints Row maybe didn’t put its best foot forward when it came to selling everyone on these new ideas, new characters, and a new world while also establishing how this game will tap into the series’ best qualities. Thankfully, the game’s latest trailer already looks like a big step in the right direction:

The discourse about Saints Row‘s tone, style, messages, and characters will go on, but it’s ultimately up to developer Volition to sell us on the idea that the path they’ve chosen is the best one for this series moving forward. I do think that there’s a strong argument to be made for changing things up, and I think that the team might be on the right track when it comes to non-gameplay-related ways to do just that. It really comes down to whether or not they’re moving beyond their edgy past because they’ve grown and learned better ways to do things, of whether this change in style is more about them being embarrassed by aspects of those older games but not entirely sure at this time what the best alternative is.

We’ll find out if it all comes together when Saints Row is released on February 25, 2022.

The post Saints Row Fans Are Already Calling Reboot Too “Woke” appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3kvz0aT

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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lovemesomesurveys · 8 years

Text

5,000 Question Survey--Part twenty-two

Uh... so I found this in my drafts. Apparently, I went from part twenty-one to twenty-three, skipping right over this one. So... here it is. Out of order. I’m leaving what I had answered already, so the answers aren’t current until 2053. Not that it matters, but yeah.

2001. Can you believe that we have only gotten through two fifths of this survey so far? I’d probs be further along, but it’s taken me awhile. I forgot about it for a bit.

2002. What is your opinion of Dave Coulier? I don’t really have much of an opinion on him. I know him from Full House, but that’s it. Oh, and that he dated Alanis Morrisette, which her song, “Oughta Know” is about. 2003. If you were to a write a Choose Your Own Adventure book, what would it be about? I used to love those books as a kid! They were fun. I don’t know, what kind I would write. Probably a mystery one like the ones I used to read. 2004. What was your best find from a flea market, garage sale, ebay or thrift store? I haven’t gotten anything from any of those things/places. 2005. What do you not have enough money for right now? Anything. I’m broke at the moment.

2006. Do you believe that Teras for Fears were right when they said, "Everybody wants to rule the world?" Nah. I know I don’t want to rule the world. 2007. What is the design on your beach towel? I don’t have a beach towel. 2008. What stirs something deep and animalistic inside you? Uhh. I don’t know. 2009. Have you ever cross dressed (even as a joke)? Nope.

2010. Do you own anything with a rainbow on it? I don’t. 2011. What would be the worst object for a child to take on a long car ride with you? Anything that made a lot of annoying noises. Or played something repeatedly. 2012. What's the Best Beatles song in your opinion? I don’t have a favorite. I like a few, but that’s it. 2013. Why do you suppose that diary sites are more popular with females than males? I don’t know? 2014. What do these color combinations remind you of: orange and pink: Sherbet. pink and green: A pink flower. green and gold: Money. purple and gold: I don’t know. gold and red: San Francisco 49ers. red and white: Candy canes. blue and grey: Not sure. 2015. What is one selfish thing you tend to do? I’ve been kind of selfish this past year dealing with my health stuff. Chronic illness can be very isolating. I’ve pushed people away. I’ve holed up at home. I haven’t been there for my friends. It hasn’t been good. 2016. When do you think technology will catch up with the Jetson's? I don’t know, man. It’s funny to think that people thought it would be that way by the year 2000. We’re a digital age for sure, but there’s still no flying cars. Though, I don’t even know how that work to be honest. Can you imagine all those cars in the sky? Everyone would have to take flying lessons. Learn the routes. It would be expensive as hell. Craaaazy. 2017. What made you laugh today? My brother. 2018. Do you ever stick your entries in any of the diary circles? I don’t use LiveJournal. 2019. Can you freestyle rap? Haha no.

2020. Are you: stylish? I don’t know. I wear what I like, so since I like it that means I think it looks cute/nice. I follow some trends, but not because it’s “in.” If I like it, I’ll wear it. There’s a lot of fashion trends that I’m like, ...no.

shiek? Is this supposed to be chic? If so, isn’t that the same as stylish? smart? Meh. I guess. I mean, we all are in different ways. I always think of the Einstein quote that basically says don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. That’s not it’s area or its skill. But put it in its environment, and it knows what to do. 2021. Do you find you self only buying brand name products? Not always. With some things, yes. 2022. Would you ever want to buy an article of clothing or an acessory because you saw a celebrity wear it? If I saw it, and liked it. Not just because that celebrity wore it. Like I said, I wear what I like, not just what is “in.” 2023. What song do you feel the sexiest dancing to? I don’t feel sexy.

2024. Who do you know who looks silly when they dance? Me. 2025. Sweaty sex or clean sex? Virgin. 2026. Which is more important to you: being kind or being right? Being kind. 2027. Can you do any special dances like swing, tap, or ballroom? Nope. 2028. Are you scared of monsters? No. 2029. Who would you like to remind people of? I don’t know. No one? 2030. Do you walk to school or do you bring your lunch? I’m no longer in school. 2031. Rate your skills from one to ten (10 = you are the best at it): socializing: making friends: working with computers: arts: crafts: dancing: skating: talking other people into things: writing: living life to the fullest each day: cooking: gardening: cleaning up after yourself: playing poker: surviving in the woods: managing your time: attracting the opposite sex (or same sex if you prefer)? 2032. Have you ever been to an indian reservation? No. 2033. What is going to happen tommorrow that you can celebrate, even if it's a little thing? I don’t have anything going on. 2034. Do you save things for special occassions or is everyday a special occassion? I certainly don’t feel like everyday is a special occasion. 2035. What is one thing you are terrible at: Just one thing? 2036. What's your favorite: rap song: country song: industrial song: cover song: punk song: odd song: 2037. What do you get your teacher or your boss for the holidays? I only got a few teachers something for the holidays, it wasn’t something I did every year. I probably did it more often in elementary school. It would be something a box of candy. 2038. Do you like to read books by Virgina Wolfe? I’m not familiar with that author. 2039. What is your favorite tv show from when you were a kid? When I was like 4 I was obsessed with Barney. Like obsessed. I’d be upset if I had to miss an episode, so my mom would record them lol. I’d re-watch episodes, and I was always singing the songs. I’m sure I was rather annoying. 2040. What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake. What do you imagine? I don’t know. 2041. What has been passed down through at least two generations to you? Like a physical item? Nothing. As for something genetic, there’s some health stuff. 2042. Do we live in a particularly bad age for romance? No? 2043. Have you ever cheated on someone? No. Do you believe that once someone is a cheater they can never be trusted? Not necessarily. But it would take a lot of work getting that trust back. 2044. Have you ever gone: christmas caroling? Yes. pumpkin picking? Yes. on a hay wagon ride? Yes. on a romantic valentine's day date? No. to a new year's eve party? Yes. to a memorial day parade? No. to the Macy's thanksgiving day parade? Nope. to search for gold coins on st patrick's day? Nope. 2045. Have you ever done any modeling? Ha, no. 2046. Would you consider yourself to be psychologically damaged? I got some issues. 2047. How aware are you of the reasons behind your actions and words? I don’t know how aware I am? Like I don’t know how to rate that. 2048. What is the sickest you ever drank or drugged yourself? I’ve gotten pretty sick from drinking. Not fun. 2049. Would you prefer it if clothing was optional? No. 2050. What is one interesting fact about you: I’m obsessed with giraffes. I don’t know if that’s interesting, but that’s what I got.

2051. Are more people depressed because they are alone, or are more people alone because they are depressed? It’s like a loop for some people. 2052. Have you ever gotten a mug, t-shirt, key chain, etc. that was personalized with your picture? Nope. 2053. What was the last thing that you experienced for the first time? Golden Double Stuffed Oreos dipped in coffee. I’ve talked about this a few times, but it’s SO good. 2054. If you were going to die tomorrow and you were leaving a postcard for someone to read after you were gone what would it say? I really don’t know. 2055. If you were about to be executed what would your last request be? I wouldn’t be concerned with that. I’d be scared about the fact I was being executed. 2056. What kinds of people do you find intimidating? The intimidating kind. 2057. How much conviction do you have in your feelings and beliefs? I don’t know how to put an amount on that. I truly believe what I believe and feel what I feel? Maybe my feelings aren’t always justified, or maybe they’re exaggerated, but I still feel them wholeheartedly. 2058. In your house where is the: crazy glue? We don’t have any. flashlight? My dad has big, bright one he keeps in his closet. 2059. Out of everyone you know who has the most personality? Hmm. My younger brother or my mom. 2060. If you could go back in time to experince a musical movement or era, which one would you choose to live through? I’m not sure. 2061. Do you suffocate people with your love? No, I don’t think so. 2062. Do you feel your life is charmed? No. 2063. What character do you identify the most with from Winnie the Pooh? Pooh Bear because he’s always hungry and thinking about honey, which same but instead of honey I’m always thinking about food and the next meal. I’m also like Piglet because I’m anxious and scared of everything. 2064. When do you do your best thinking? In the shower or while lying out on the beach. 2065. What motivates you? Nothing. :/ 2066. Look back at all the people you've dated. Has there been a pattern? There’s only been two, so. I can’t really make any patterns out of that. 2067. Things change but what will always remain the same for you? My love for my family. And to be a downer, I’ll always have my health issues. 2068. Is divorce something you would ever consider or do you feel that marriage is permanantly binding? If I ever got married, and things just weren’t working out after we tried working on our marriage and used the resources and help available to us, then divorce would be the next step. I believe in trying to work things out first, if possible. Unless it’s an extreme case and abuse is involved. 2069. What's the strangest movie you ever saw? Hmm. There’s been a few. A Clockwork Orange came to mind first. 2070. If you could go into virtual reality and set up your life there to be perfect and it would seem real but not be real would you trade your life now for the virtual life? I’d sure like to try it out at least. 2071. Does it seem like life is more difficult for you than for anyone else? We all have our struggles. Sometimes it might seem like other people have it all figured out and don’t have many problems, but truth is you just never really know what someone is going through. I guess; though, because we are the ones experiencing our life and the difficulties we face, it may seem more difficult in comparison sometimes just cause it’s your reality. That’s why I don’t like when people say you shouldn’t be upset because others have it worse. It doesn’t make what I’m experiencing any less or any better. It’s very real for me. 2072. What are you grateful for? My family first and foremost, a roof over my head, clothes to wear, and food to eat. 2073. What was a choice that you didn't want to make but you had to? Health related things. 2074. Have you ever had dental surgery? Yes. 2075. At what point exactly are you grown up? I don’t think there’s a certain point that everyone is automatically a grown up. Legally, you’re an adult by a certain age, but being “grown up” is different. 2076. If there was a weightloss procedure that would destroy your ability to taste food so you wouldn't be tempted by junk food, would you have it done? No. I don’t need a weight loss procedure. 2077. What is one thing that happened that you never expected? Again, some health related things. That’s the focus of my life if you haven’t noticed. It’s really the center of everything. 2078. If you called one of your friends and they said "It's nothing personal but I don't want to talk to anyone right now," would you take it personally? I would try and understand because that’s how I’ve been feeling. For quite awhile, actually. And yet, I probably would be bothered by it slightly. Ridiculous, I know. I definitely shouldn’t. 2079. What is your favorite girl's name? I don’t really have a favorite girl’s name. 2080. Do you ever feel guilty for being more fortunate then others? I feel fortunate, grateful, and appreciative. That’s why I try not to take things for granted. I feel sad others aren’t so fortunate, and I wish that wasn’t the case. It doesn’t make me a bad person or should feel guilty about because I am, though. 2081. If you had to wear a shirt with one word on it for a year, what word would you choose? Coffee. 2082. What is evian spelled backwards? Naive. Ha. 2083. You drop 10 pounds of feathers and a ten pound bowling ball off the top of the same building. Which will hit the ground first? Isn’t it the feathers? If I recall correctly. 2084. Even though you may never get what you want, are you happy because you're trying? I’m not happy. :/ I don’t give myself a lot of credit. I feel like I could be doing more than what I am. 2085. If you started a petition what would it be about? I have no idea. 2086. When was the last time you asked someone to do something and they said no? Hmm... not sure. 2087. Do bad things happen to you on friday the 13th? Something bad might happen, but not because it’s Friday the 13th. Bad things happen other days, too. So, I wouldn’t say any more so. 2088. What's your favorite: Madonna song? John Lennon song? Michael Jackson song? Doors song? Rolling Stones song? David Bowie song? Elvis song? 2089. If you had started a relationship with someone and they said that it would be best if no one knew about it just to see how it goes, would you be offended? Absolutely. I wouldn’t be okay with that. 2090. Do you know any self defence? I’d be kind of screwed. How about CPR? Nope. 2091. If you had to look into a mirror and see your naked soul stripped of all delusions and pretenses (Never ending Story style)could you handle it? Uhhh. 2092. Are you a genius? Haha nooo. Not even close. I’m very much average. 2093. How did you find out that Santa Clause wasn't real? I think I saw the presents were already put out or something like that. 2094. Which is your favorite tarot card? I don’t have one. I don’t believe in that. 2095. Does the internet seperate people or connect them? It can do both. 2096. Have you ever written a letter to a soldier? No. 2097. Does pain and fear make you feel alive? No. 2098. Are you: good looking? I don’t think I am. thin? Yes. happy? No.

successful? No. confident? Noo. 2099. Are you deciseive or wishy washy? I’m very indecisive. 2100. Do you feel pop stars should be morally responsible to set a good example for their fans? That’s not their responsibility, no. If they want to be, great, but it’s not their job.

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