#they weren't exactly enemies or allies either

[fulltimecatwitch]

big fan of whatever Fringilla and Cahir had going on

[south-of-heaven]

Damian x Reader

Enemies to Lovers where they are forced to team up against Indi and Dexter and they ending up picking a win and kisses her out of the sudden

Spark || Damian Priest x Reader

Summary: Everyone knows you and Damian don't get along. When an unexpected line of events force the two of you to team up, you didn't expect sparks to fly like they did.

You had never gotten along with Damian Priest, to say the least. From the moment you crossed paths, there was an undeniable tension between you. Some would even go as far as to say that you were enemies, always finding yourselves on opposing sides in the wrestling ring.

However, fate had a funny way of bringing unlikely allies together. A mutual feud with Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell forced you and Damian to team up for a tag match against the formidable duo. The idea of working alongside someone you didn't get along with didn't exactly fill you with confidence, but you knew that you both had to put your differences aside to win.

As the match began, the intensity was palpable. It was a brutal and hard-fought battle, and the fact that you and Damian weren't on the best of terms didn't make things any easier. But despite the clashes and disagreements, you both managed to work surprisingly well together, feeding off each other's strengths and covering for each other's weaknesses.

As the match wore on, you could feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins, and it was clear that Damian was feeling the same way. The crowd was on their feet, and the energy in the arena was electrifying.

Then, in a shocking turn of events, you and Damian emerged victorious. The final bell rang, and you stood there, panting and trying to catch your breath, the adrenaline still coursing through your veins.

But what happened next completely took you by surprise. Without a moment's hesitation, Damian reached out and pulled you into a deep, passionate kiss. It was as if time stood still, and the world around you faded away. All that existed in that moment was the two of you.

Sparks flew, and it wasn't just the pyro from the arena. There was an undeniable chemistry between you that neither of you had anticipated. The tension that had always been there between you seemed to transform into something entirely different – something that left you both breathless and wanting more.

As the kiss ended, you both pulled back, looking into each other's eyes, stunned by the intensity of the moment. You could see the surprise mirrored in Damian's expression, but there was something more there – a glimmer of something deeper, something that neither of you had acknowledged until now.

"I... I don't know what just happened," you stammered, trying to make sense of it all.

Damian's eyes softened, his hand reaching to gently cup your cheek. "I don't either," he admitted, his voice filled with sincerity. "But I can't deny that there's something between us."

You took a deep breath, trying to process your emotions. "I've always thought we were enemies," you said, a hint of vulnerability creeping into your voice.

Damian gave you a small smile. "Maybe we were just too stubborn to see what was right in front of us," he said. "But now that I've kissed you, I don't think I can go back."

A mix of excitement and uncertainty swirled within you, but in that moment, you knew that you didn't want to go back either. There was something special between you and Damian, and you were both willing to explore where it could lead.

As the cheers of the crowd filled the air, you and Damian stood there, looking at each other with newfound understanding and affection. The path ahead might be uncertain, but one thing was clear – sparks had flown, and it was a feeling neither of you wanted to let go of.

[akystaracer22]

Okay, I honestly just want to say this but my siblings and I actually prefer Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

This will be purely about gameplay by the way, so no spoilers on the actual story of either games. I enjoyed both regardless.

Firstly, we both preferred how much more there was to do in HW compared to AoC, and playing the actual levels were a considerably more enjoyable experience. Keep in mind we played both games in two player mode, so that might impact our opinion.

In HW, I was often using Young Link in the levels, and I was my sibling's player two, while they used Link. In AoC, I played Mipha while my sibling played as primarily Revali when they could.

We both found AoC a much more stressful experience for us, and not in the good way. The missions often felt like a slog in some parts where we had to just be everywhere at once with little reprieve. The AI of the allies was also lacking in that nothing would happen if we weren't actively playing them. In HW, my siblings and I would sometimes be surprised by random keeps or outposts being taken or lost even though we weren't anywhere near there. It made the game feel more alive in a way AoC just wasn't.

We also had to struggle with an unexpected difficulty spike in AoC after the master sword was recovered. Suddenly Revali and Mipha weren't doing any damage despite us having a pretty decent level on them. Link also was suddenly taking out entire boss weak point with a couple strikes. It made my experience incredibly poor and made the game feel really unbalanced.

Finally, there's the upgrades for each character. I can only talk about Mipha compared to Young Link though so keep that in mind. In Hyrule Warriors, badges were the main way to get upgrades aside from weapons, and for me personally when playing Young Link the most important aspect was filling my magic and special attack bars as fast as possible to be in Fierce Deity mode as much as I physically can. With Mipha, the only option for upgrade aside from her attack gauge weapons and hearts was how many combos you have. In HW you can increase how fast you take keeps, increase how long your powerups last, increase how much damage you do to enemies with their guard up. There's just... more.

From what I've seen online it's not exactly a popular feeling, but I just think Hyrule Warrior's is a better game than Age of Calamity gameplay wise, for me at least. I felt like I was getting more from HW than AoC.

[mysticstarlightduck]

OC Interview Tag

Thank you so much for the tag, @mk-writes-stuff!!!

Rules: answer the questions as an OC

I'll go with Maryon from my WIP Of Starlight and Beasts for this one!

Are you named after anyone?

"I'm not exactly sure, if I'm being honest. I vaguely remember reading something about someone named 'Maryan' being a popular character in a beloved folk tale in the kingdom where I was born, so I think that could be where I got my name from. It's not like I can ask my biological family that, though. They've been dead since forever - maybe if the roads weren't so godsdamned riddled with bandits that wouldn't be so. But noo, the King of Tirawen has 'more pressing' matters, or so I've been told. Well he can shove those 'pressing matters' up his royal arse, nothing will ever be an excuse to neglect his citizens' needs - ! But I digress, do move on."

When was the last time you cried?

"Oh, that's a rather interesting question! I don't quite remember, if I'm being honest. It's not like I'm bottling up my feelings or anything like that - far from it. I just that I haven't had a reason to cry in a while. Things have been going pretty great. Despite the, you know, looming war that's on the brink of changing the continent forever and all."

Do you have kids?

"Goodness, no, there's far too many things I want to pursue before even thinking about having children. It's an endearing thought, sure, but certaintly not enough to be one of my top priorities within the next ten years or so."

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

"Only when I'm severely annoyed. I think that, while irony and sarcasm can surely add an interesting layer to any communication, there are more effective ways of making your words sting. Like speaking them while pointing a poison dagger to one's throat, for example! Just kidding. Or am I? (winks) We'll never know. But in all seriousness, I prefer keeping those kinds of confrontations to a minimum - being polite and kind often solves more disputes than rage, and those are words I try to live by."

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

"I'm quite perceptive - being the adoptive daughter of the most powerful spymaster in all of the Frosts has definetly given me an edge when it comes to reading people and deciphering their true intentions without even needing much effort on my part. People usually do all the hard work themelves - their choice of words and body language reads like an open book to me after just a simple conversation. So there's quite a lot I can notice about someone after first meeting them - but their intentions, feelings and morality are definetly the main ones."

What’s your eye colour?

"Dark forest green. Or so I'm told - Eidan, my boyfriend, can be quite the romantic. Either way, I rather like that color and I find his description of it to be very sweet!"

Scary movies or happy endings?

"I adore reading any kind of book, the more intriguing the story is the merrier! I usually don't have a strong preference as long as the tale is gripping enough to keep my attention focused after the first ten pages of the book and especially if there are deeper meanings to be found beyond just pretty words. If I had to choose, I would say a balanced mix of scariness and happiness in a story is ideal, though I do lean more towards the scary!"

Any special talents?

"Oh, many! I've been trained in the arts of espionage, dyplomacy and politics from a young age, and I've also learned quite a lot of fighting techniques, poison recipes, and languages! I'm also an expert knife thrower, and know how to survive in the wild. I know how to manipulate an enemy to fall into a trap I've laid out for them, just as I know how to persuade a potential ally to help with our cause, with just my words as my tools. Currently, I'm still working on learning how to cook without causing a potential fire in the castles, but I'm getting better at baking!!!"

Where were you born?

"I was born in one of the many provinces along the outskirst of the capital kingdom of Tirawen. My birth parents - from what vague childhood memories I can still remember - were very successful merchants. However, one of their many trips out of the kingdom's main road would prove to be our last - bandits, you see, as I mentioned before. A very tricky sort. I don't remember much of what transpired, if I'm being quite honest. What I can remember is being lost in the woods of the Frost for a while before being saved by the man who would go on to become my adoptive father, a spymaster otherwise known as the 'Serpent of the Frosts'. He took me, then a lost child of around five years of age, under his wing as his own child, and gave me a chance at the life I have today."

Do you have any pets?

"I have a 10 year old cat whom I named Sir Thurston who seems to love randomly appearing and disappearing at random places around the castles at will. I've also got twin pet snakes named Knack and Snap, one purple and the other white. And though they're highly venomous (and capable of breathing out ice shards like a dragon does fire) they've only ever bitten my enemies. They're also real cuddle buddies and very sweet if you give them something tasty to eat!"

What sort of sports do you play?

"Well, if these count as sport where you come from: swordfighting, archery, knife throwing, martial arts, tavern brawling (on occasion, but don't tell Father, haha), climbing random stuff so I can get to high places. If you count chess as a sport of sorts - though it is more of a competive, strategic tabletop game - I'm rather good at it!"

How tall are you?

"Shorter than most of my friends, or so it seems. Eidan especially. But no matter. Being smaller has its advantages too - it makes sneaking around easier and makes spooking my friends by randomly appearing behind them that much fun!"

What was your favourite subject in school?

"I had private tutors, other than my own adoptive father himself, so not exactly a school in the traditional sense of the word, but my favorite 'subjects' were politics, foreign ancient languages and botany (especially when it comes to rare plants and their effects). I also really like poetry, especially the ones from the fallen kingdom of Idraven - its very interesting to see how that society saw the world, though their demise never fails to bring me a strong sense of sorrow whenever I think about it for too long."

What is your dream job?

"Becoming a spymaster, like my adoptive father. Not only have I been trained for this since I was a child, but I also really look forward to being able to serve the land which took me in when I had nothing else in the world. Being a spymaster is a high honor in the Frosts, and nothing could fill me with more pride than being deemed worthy of serving our Queens and protecting the realm from behind the scenes."

Tagging (gently, no pressure) @eccaia, @cowboybrunch, @tabswrites, @littleladymab, @little-peril-stories, @oh-no-another-idea, @rickie-the-storyteller, @thepeculiarbird, @cabbojage, @the-ellia-west, @clairelsonao3, @crowandmoonwriting, @steh-lar-uh-nuhs, @winterandwords, @willtheweaver, @forthesanityofstorytellers, @gummybugg, @doublegoblin, @autumnalwalker, @moonandris and OPEN TAG

[jedifighterpilot2727]

Somebody That I Used to Know

Just a little fic that that's based on the canon dialogue that occurs between the female Dragonborn (Aria), and Serana after Serana has been cured of vampirism. Takes place after the defeat of Harkon when Serana and the dragonborn are seeing each other for the first time post cure.

It had been two months since Serana had left.

Aria had offered to go with her, but Serana had insisted that the journey was one she needed to make on her own.

In a way, Aria understood - becoming human again was a very personal decision. But on the other hand, she knew how traumatic the experience of becoming a daughter of Coldharbour was. Serana didn't talk about it often - or really at all - but Aria knew enough. Between the many books of Daedric lore that she'd read on her travels, and the vocal nightmares that she'd had to wake Serana up from, there wasn't much she couldn't piece together.

The knowledge had certainly made the task of killing Serana's father Harkon a lot easier. If she were being honest, she had sparred with a few trees the morning of the siege on the castle in hopes that the blade would be a little dull when it cut through his skin. She didn't really know if vampires felt pain the same way that humans did, but it made Aria feel better at least.

A small act of vengeance on behalf of her friend.

And that's why she'd offered to accompany Serana when she went to Falion to ask him about curing her vampirism.

- Not that Serana needed to be cured of vampirism, she'd more than proven herself as a friend and an ally, despite her . . . unconventional diet. It's not like she'd ever tried to feed off of Aria - pretty good restraint for a vampire who'd been locked in a crypt for over a thousand years. Besides, there were plenty of evil people who deserved to lose some of their blood. Hell, Aria had helped kill dozens of bandits and murderers; who was she to care if someone like Serana wanted a little snack first? -

But she'd wanted Serana to know that she wasn't alone anymore. That she had friends - that she had Aria. That it didn't matter if it was killing her undead father or helping her become human again, or living life as vampire if that's what Serana wanted - Aria was here for her. And Aria could be there for her from afar too, that's exactly what she'd done these past two months.

Once Serana had left to find Falion, Aria had returned to Whiterun to check in with the rest of the Companions. It had been too long since she'd seen her shield siblings, and she needed some good old fashioned skull bashing to take her mind off of things. She mostly picked up jobs with Farkas, finding he was the easiest to talk to since she'd been named Harbinger. It made no difference to him what title she held, he treated her just the same as he always did; like a beefy older brother who would tease her and smack her a little too hard on the shoulder but would definitely knock somebody's lights out if they dared to look at her the wrong way.

It was nice to not have to do any hard thinking and just work for a change, and her pockets weren't complaining either. Between the bounties and the loot they's stolen off bandits; Aria had enough money to spring for the expensive corkbulb bolts that she preferred for her crossbow. That's exactly why she and Farkas found themselves trudging through Dayspring canyon, headed for Fort Dawnguard.

"I still don't understand why you can't just use a greatsword." Farkas grumbles. "Eorlund makes those right at Skyforge, and you don't have to keep buying them, just sharpen it every now and then."

"It's a little hard to be sneaky when you're heaving a giant hunk of metal around and grunting like a boar. Haven't you ever noticed that you never really sneak up on any of our enemies?" Aria asks, squinting into the sunlight.

"Don't need to sneak up on people when I can just bash them with my giant hunk of metal." Farkas returns, and Aria can't really argue with him there.

"Well I like slicing through people just as much as you, but occasionally the situation calls for a little more finesse. Or at least distance." She crinkles her nose. "Weren't you glad for my crossbow when we had to take down that troll that smelled all the way from here to Riften?"

Farkas belly laughs.

"I'll give you that, even with your crossbow, Aela complained about us smelling bad for a week! Guess she forgets she smells like a wet dog."

"Funny how you can really smell it when you're no longer a werewolf, huh?"

"I'll say, no wonder I was getting funny looks around town for so many years."

"To be fair, you still don't smell great." Aria teases, and Farkas gives her a playful shove that's still strong enough to send her stumbling up the last of the steps to the fort.

"Watch it, shield sister."

They're both laughing as they make their way into the Fort, Farkas having been her a handful of times so that Aria could restock or so they could pick up intel on the remaining vampire covens.

Isran has really made progress with the place since the the last time they stopped by, everything's not quite as dusty and Aria doesn't feel the constant urge to sneeze like she usually does.

Sorine's workshop is somehow even more cluttered than normal, Dwemer scraps laying about in haphazard piles. Really, it was a wonder that Sorine got any work done at all.

Of course, Aria only exacerbates the problem, trading a few Dwemer trinkets she'd picked up along with some coin to refill her stockpile of crossbow bolts. She and Farkas chat with Sorine for a while - Sorine somehow roping them into checking out a Dwemer ruin halfway across Skyrim for some weapon schematics. When they finally say their goodbyes, Aria decides to have a look around the rest of the fort, see what else is new besides the lack of cobwebs. Only, she finds something, or someone, she isn't quite expecting.

Right there in the rotunda, sitting in the beams of the noon day sun without so much as a hat on, is Serana.

The sight stops Aria so abruptly that Farkas slams into her back.

"You alright?" Farkas asks, his hands reaching out to her shoulders to catch her before she hits the ground.

The commotion has drawn Serana's attention, and Aria meets her eyes across the room.

Serana's eyes no longer have their vampiristic glowy quality, but Aria still finds herself completely mesmerized.

"You alright?" Farkas repeats, and Aria tears her gaze away from Serana to look at him.

"Yeah, yeah." She pats his hand thats still on her shoulder in reassurance. "Just, uh wait here for a minute, okay?"

"I will remain on guard here." Farkas gives a mock salute, and Aria finds herself grateful once again at his ability to overlook things that most people would ask questions about.

Her eyes once again find Serana's as she makes her way to the bench along the wall where the other woman is sitting. She resists the urge to check her armor for grease and blood. - it's Serana - she reminds herself, she's seen you in way worse shape than this.

Still, one hand tugs on her sword belt to center it, and the other adjusts her helmet where the collision with Farkas had set it tilted. It was her old Imperial officer's helmet; Arias much preferred the hard hat's protection to that of a hood, unless she was trying to sneak around; plus, it usually got her brownie points with the local guards.

If Serana notices her preening, she doesn't mention it, though her lips do curl up in a smirk.

"There you are. I'm - I'm back."

Aria's heart stills and then takes off at a gallop when Serana speaks, and she hopes she isn't imagining the grateful sigh she hears in Serana's voice.

"I was wondering when I would see you again."

Wondering? More like you've spent every waking moment for the past two months trying not to wonder when you'd see her again.

"Here I am." Serana shrugs. "Human as ever."

"And you're good? Everything is good?"

Mouth insert foot. Aria shakes her head.

"The world is alive and so am I."

"That's good." Aria cringes inwardly. "I'm glad. I uh, I missed you."

"I missed you too."

They stare at each other for a long moment, and Aria wracks her brain for something - anything - to say. She'd spent over a year fighting by this woman's side, battling the living and unliving alike, and she can't think of a damn thing to say. All the hours spent in conversation about everything from the fate of the world to how the smell of flowers hadn't changed in the thousand years Serana had been underground.

All that and she has nothing.

"I should - uh - I should get going, I guess. Farkas is waiting."

"Ahh," Serana jerks her chin over Aria's shoulder at the man mentioned. "Is he the thug?"

"He's not a -" Aria begins heatedly, but she follows Serana's gaze to where Farkas is standing in the middle of the doorway with his arms crossed looking like - well, a thug. "He's a good friend." is what she settles for in the end.

A look she can't quite place flickers over Serana's face, but then it's gone.

"Right. Well, I'll let you get back to your friend then."

The words feel like a dismissal, and they hit Aria like a punch to the chest; a wave of emotion thats crests over her, leaving her floating and listless in the aftermath. Tears spring unbidden to her eyes, and she turns her head before Serana can see them.

"Right. I'll see you around." Aria spins on her heel and crosses the large room back to where Farkas is waiting, brushing past him without speaking.

"Who was that?" his voice timbers out gently behind her, and she thanks the nine that she's at least she's managed to teach him to not always speak in a bellow.

"She's just - " Aria's voice cracks and the unshed tears blur her vision.

She doesn't know what she expected to happen when she saw Serana again, but it certainly wasn't that. That felt like a conversation with someone she barely knew - definitely not with someone she'd spend the better part of a year calling her best friend.

Serana's moved from the bench in the rotunda to a chair in the hall, and they've passed by no less than three times.

Damn Fort Dawnguard and its maze like layout.

"You ok?" Farkas asks, and she can hear the worry in his tone.

"Just, just get us out of this stupid place, would you? I swear the damn entrance keeps moving."

If Farkas has anything to say about that, he keeps it to himself; but he does take over the lead and Aria tucks in behind him, using him as a shield to block her from Serana's line of sight.

Once they've made it back outside, she swipes at her eyes, and Farkas gives her a studying look before tossing an arm around her shoulder and dragging her down the path that will lead them back to Jorrvaskr.

"You know I love you like a sister, but if you want to talk about whatever happened back there, you should probably wait and talk to Vilkas."

It's Arias turn to laugh, and she feels at least a little better.

It only lasts a moment though until she sees Serana once again in her mind's eye, and the weight of fallen hopes settles like lead in her stomach.

If only she could figure out what she'd been hoping for.

[waeirfaahl]

"Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time" game issue

When the game was announced, I was very skeptical and absolutely unenthusiastic about it, because I hated 5 season. It was just a bad fanfiction, which can not be fixed at all and has no reasons and no possibilities to exist. The only thing the authors can do is to appease shippers by creating the full happy ending, where Ashi is alive and lives with Jack in the past. And exactly that happens. Basically how the show would have ended, if 5 season was made in early 2000s on Cartoon Network. The full happy ending for sobbing shippers is the only reason why the game exists. But in this post I'll mention specific problems of the story in this game and some weird moments, which actually had some potential and interesting ideas, which weren't developed at all, hence their existence makes no sense here.

1. The Between-Time pocket. 5 season itself already added various new abilities to Aku and broke the character, the universe, where he exists, and the story makes no sense because of it. Also, this moment below again shows that Aku had perfect chance finally to kill Jack. Like, pierce or crush him now! Why don't you do this?! And why Jack didn't just cut off his fingers?! Brah!

The game continues this tradition, this path of stupidity. If Aku was able all this time to open the time portal and travel immediately, why he didn't do this in 10 episode of 5 season and didn't kill Jack and Ashi?! Moreover, if Aku himself can travel in time, why he didn't travel to the past and didn't kill both Emperor (during "Birth of Evil" episodes — I don't think that Emperor could defeat the two demons — the newborn one and his experienced and more powerful version from the future) and baby Jack and didn't destory the sword?! Like, there's no time paradoxes for Aku, so he literally could resolve the problem without "help" of any other characters.

Now Aku can create Between-time pockets with perfect replicas of any being or robot or even location from the real world. Yep, for these, I guess, 5 seconds he creates this time pocket (what's a point of conquering the world, if you can create your own world with lots of amazing locations and habitants?! You're already a literal f*cking god!) and traps Jack here instead of killing him. And for some reason Aku doesn't hide those necklaces with own face, he doesn't try to kill Ashi, who's the only one who can free Jack and return to the time tunnel. WHY?!

And here's other questions. If Aku created all this from scratch, then what the f*ck was it to create characters friendly to Jack with useful stuff and to create the enemies that Jack has already defeated and now he has experience in it?! Why not give new enemies, thereby creating more problems and difficulties for Jack and playing on surprise and unpredictability? Why not make friendly allies on the contrary creepy and hostile, if "everything is not what it seems" as Aku claims? In the game Aku again had lots of moments, when he could kill Jack. For example, here he could just either pierce him or crush or tear apart or cut in half.

Or here. Why he didn't kill him?!

And he again ignores Ashi and doesn't try to kill her (the perfect chance!), while she tries to free Jack... somehow... being absolutely unexperienced and without knowing how to use these sudden new abilities especially in these conditions... She is still Mary Sue... even being mostly off-screen in this game...

And WHY didn't Aku just erase this pocket along with Jack?! He created this Between-Time thing, so he easily can destroy everything in this pocket and this pocket itself! He could resolve this problem immediately!

Tartakovsky and the team again turn Aku into irresponsible idiot... How long can they mock this poor character already? They already disgraced him in 5 season, and it was not enough for them, I guess...

Seriously, instead of destroying the human brats, due to which Aku is near death, he just plays with Jack and does everything for him to succeed. Ah, badass Wolf from "Puss in boots 2: The last wish", come to Aku and teach him the one important lesson, please. And kick butts of Tartakovsky and the team also.

2. The plot holes. I realized this moment during the recent last playthrough, when I had already collected all 50 kamons. If we take into account that this pocket Between-Time is completely created by Aku (respectively, everything in it is created by Aku magic ��� from inhabitants to locations), then… WHAT THE HELL ARE THE LOCATIONS AND ENEMIES OF 5 SEASON DOING THERE (from 1-3 and 8 episodes with local enemies — the seven sisters and Lazarus, for example), if Aku DID NOT KNOW about all this in season 5 at all, because he absolutely ignored Jack at all in 5 season?! WHERE is it from here?! And HOW did he know that Ashi had sisters at all?! Damn...

And since Aku created them for this pocket, why the hell he again got into only Ashi and transformed into a crooked thing only her, and not all seven, so that it would be harder for Jack to fight, and so that he could not know which of them was Ashi, and therefore he'd worried about not hurting her?! Moreover, why he didn't create hundreds of exactly Ashi's replicas to trick and to break Jack morally?! That would make a bit more sense instead of creating plot holes for fan-service.

3. Cheating the emotions with meaningless and unintentionally morbid moments, which repeat the scenes from 5 season, but make them even worse. Sorry, but this plot element, apparently intended to be tragic, actually made me laugh. Like, Jack repeats his lines from 3 episode of 5 season about choosing path and making decisions here, but it makes even less sense. Jack perfectly knows that the Between-Time pocket was created by Aku, hence all inhabitants are not real, but just bland replicas without past and future.

Why he tries to communicate with the seven sisters and especially with this Ashi in attempts to "make them to reject Aku's path and to choose own path of goodness"? In 5 season it was already quite stupid, because he knew nothing about them, they already in 2 episode stated that they'll chase and attack Jack until either he or/and they die, and they can not choose anything else, because they're brainwashed and they carry out the mother's order on pain of death.

Then this moment. You know, that's actually not a bad idea. I mean, possibly that could work. Like, if you do anything right and successfully save all Ashi's sisters, exactly after this the true happy ending will be unblocked or whatever. But it could work only if it was alternative time line or travelling to the past (to the beginning of 5 season) or some kind of deadworld void or whatever, where all souls of deads are. In the setting the game chose it doesn't work. Again, all in the pocket is created by Aku, all these locations and habitants are not real, and they probably can not exist beyond the Between-Time. Jack knows that everything here is not real. Then why he so blindly believed to the voice "Save my sisters!"?! Like, he heard only the voice, he didn't see Ashi! He saw her only in the void, in the crevices between those levels Aku for some reason didn't block or seal! Jack had to realize immediately that it isn't the real Ashi, because the real Ashi tried to save only him, and it's just another Aku's prank!

Then this scene, which copies the scene from 2 episode of 5 season. From one side, again, why he cares about them and their death, if he knows that they're not real? From another side, this scene is cringe, because in 2 episode of 5 season Jack didn't know who are they and that they're humans. Here he knows and was asked to help them instead of killing, but still kinda kills accidentally instead of knocking them out and feels guilt. Why?!

And now this scene... Like, Jack kills the six sisters and for some reason tries to convince this Between-Time Ashi to become his ally. It is amusing, how he kills her sisters and then just tells her how good and pure-hearted she is... And she for some reason starts to hesitate... Again, the fake replica without past and future for some reason somehow has memories about the ladybug (I don't get it, whether he means the ladybug from her childhood or from this island in ocean in 4 episode) and kinda wants to befriend with this random guy who killed her sisters...

Thanks, Aku shares my thoughts and just ends this soap opera...

And Jack, having fast reaction, for some reason didn't lower the sword... Although, Aku just gently pushed her, not with all the force...

I can not for the life of me understand, why he cares about this replica, if he knows that she is not real. Like, I could understand, if Jack saw how Aku captures Ashi (another illusion, made by Aku for prank) and therefore thinks that she is among these six replicas and is under the spell and he has to save her and make her remember about their journey again, but no...

At least, this moment was pretty cool. That is what should be in 9 or 10 episode of 5 season. However, as we can see, Aku is a puppetmaster here, he uses her corpse.

So, again, Jack knows that this "monster-turned" Ashi is not real, that she is dead and that Aku now is inside of her... Why he still refuses to fight and to kill Aku?!

And of course, the real Ashi somehow knows how to use these abilities and how the Between-Time pocket and its portals work, arrives exactly now to burn the fake Ashi and... for some reason is sure that Jack has to move to the final level with Aku's castle instead of trying to expand the portal so that Jack can get to her as soon as possible and successfully.

Why they didn't do this earlier, but only now in the final of the last level?

And Jack again ignores Da Samurai, Rotty, Scotsman and his daughters, while they helped him in both season 5 and the game...

4. Take two, why Aku died?! Here I already discussed that the ending of 5 season makes zero sense in all aspects and that in the past (or even in the future) Aku after defeating had to become imprisoned in the stone tree again instead of death. Simply saying, 5 season again ruins the canon of the classic seasons. But what we see in the game? Well, after fight Aku from the future for some reason dies and fades away in ashes, at the same time claiming that it's not over as if he just returned to the future... WHY?! Like, Jack just hit him with the sword and nothing more! No piercing in the chest, no burning and cutting him, no absorbing him into the sword or whatever! In the classic seasons Aku was hurted and exhausted even more than here, then what a hell?! If they so wanted to kill this character, why not to think the way of his final defeat through?!

Why the Between-Time pocket started to collapse and Aku was surprised by this, if he is the one who created this pocket and has to know everything in it?!

The game itself is pretty nostalgic, but if you start to think and to analyze the story... you'll discover the pure madness and your eyes start to roll and blood to boil. And, as I said earlier, this game was created only for this:

[starmagnets]

Spellcasting styles is such a fun thing to talk about when it comes to my headcanoning of characters because with some characters it's a really good window into how they were trained (or weren't, in Mags' case) and sometimes it's just like, wow, you literally have no idea the sort of power you wield do you.

So anyways I'd like to talk about spellcasting and how it affects my interpretations of some characters. This is a long one and delves into a lot of my personal headcanons involving both characters and how magic functions, so buckle up.

First of all, magic. It's something in the kirbyverse, which, in my interpretation, makes up souls and powers bodies, and the excess can be channeled into what is commonly known as magic or spells.

Everybody has some sort of magic in them. Some, like Magolor, have more than others. Some, like Susie or Bandee, have less and can only use it to channel elements into their weapons.

Depending on the amounts of energy one's soul generates, some may even let it off while they're sleeping if it goes unused, like how Magolor floats in his sleep if he doesn't cast a lot of spells in some of my writing.

Now that that's out of the way. Let's get into the character stuff.

Magolor, like most halcandrans and jambandrans, has a lot of magic in him. Practically overflowing with the energy it needs to make magic. And he's been pretty decent with it his whole life, having learned some of the simpler spells as early as seven despite being entirely self-taught since his father didn't know magic. His body was tough enough to keep up with it as far as non-offensive spells, but he's not properly trained. He doesn't know the technique or the form that goes with it. He only knows that rifts are a good hiding place and that he's got a surprisingly good handle on a number of elements. Not the strongest caster before the crown, well, y'know, but he's capable of holding his own in a fight and can fire off some pretty powerful spells before needing a break to recharge. A bit spammy with the magic orbs, but it's how he learned to fight and he's sticking to it.

Marx didn't know any spells outside of mirror tricks before he made his wish, though he, like Magolor, has quite a lot of magic in him, doubly so once he'd gotten some powerful magitech in him. He knew the basics of a healing spell, but when a dreamlander healing spell requires hands to cast, there's only so much he could do. Then he's got magic. Powerful stuff, too. He's on top of the world! Unfortunately, like Magolor, he has no idea where to start with form or technique. He'll spam the craziest spells he's got, along with some mirror tricks he'd picked up. He's just having the time of his life, man. He does get some sense of technique by the time Star Allies rolls around, but he's pretty similar to Mags in that he knows his way of fighting and he's gonna stick to his teleport spams and black holes, as sick as they make him feel.

Taranza, unlike Mags and Marx, was properly trained. He grew up learning the basics of puppetry and how that applied to his own magic, as well as knowing the basics of spellcraft itself (see: queen's phantom). He views casting similarly to swordfighting. Tactics and timing are key to winning, and spamming spells the way his friends do is not the way to win in the slightest, no matter how many times he might lose in practice matches. It's important to him that the art of magic is kept just that, an art. Even if he is a little envious of the way his friends can just whip spell after spell at enemies like it's nothing.

Zan Partizanne is an interesting case. She had a lot of magic in her, yes, but she didn't know how to control it, and her mother's way of teaching it wasn't exactly intuitive to Zan, either. This lead to her basically being a walking plasma ball. Touch her at this stage in her life and you'll receive an unintentional shock, at best. This lead to some... Disastrous consequences, and eventually to her discovering that she needed a spellcasting focus (which her partisan would become) to properly control her magic. She has a surprisingly similar casting style to Magolor once she can control her magic, though much more electricity-focused, rather than Magolor's rift and multi-element blasting "technique."

Francisca and Flamberge were also very much introduced to their magic via Hyness, but, unlike Zan, they didn't necessarily need a casting focus to control it. They just needed to learn the basics of magic and how to use it. Their focuses are more of a failsafe should anything go wrong. And wrong they go.

Hyness is similar to Magolor in that he was mostly self-taught post civilization split. He did learn quite a lot of basics and spellcraft as a young sorcerer, but beyond that? He taught himself the majority of the actual spells he knows and uses on a regular basis. He's a lot less spammy than Magolor, but definitely has a less careful fighting style than Taranza, acting as a sort of happy medium on the casting style spectrum.

Susie, and other non-element granters (except DMK, more on him in a minute) do have magic. It's just that their souls don't generate the same amounts of energy as other characters do. This leads to them not being able to cast elaborate or wide-ranging spells. They can, however, elementally enchant weapons, such as swords, spears, even blasters and mechs if they know how! It's a process and a learning experience, but once they've got it down, it's easy to incorporate into one's fighting style.

Now onto Dark Meta Knight and other reflections of characters. Even generally "nonmagical" characters do have "magical" reflections. Mirror magic, while relatively uncommon in the non-mirror world, is something most, if not all, reflections at least are aware of, if not able to perform with relative ease. These tricks can be enhanced by elemental enchantments (see DMK's mirror-influenced moves), but they're also magical all on their own. Most reflections don't incorporate such magic into their fighting styles, but it is noteworthy nonetheless with characters such as DMK actively using mirror magic in his moveset.

Anyways that's all thank you for listening to my endless ramblings about magic and how training or lack thereof can affect how one uses it.

[pure-garbage]

Moniker For A Gastropod? Multiplying Enemies And Diminutive Allies!

Lana watched through the eyes of the transponder snails as a host of events played out across the island. There wasn't much that made sense to her. She saw enormous children being shepherded through the halls, steered carefully clear of a wide path of devastation that she recognized at once as Zoro's handiwork. The sight brought a little smile to her face.

"Not one for subtlety," she noted with some amusement.

She saw men outside struggling to gain entrance to the lab and watched with grit teeth as the situation grew ever more dire for her crew. In a hallway, one scene tore her attention away from all the others.

The swordsman who'd defeated her was getting his ass absolutely handed to him by a man wielding a bamboo shoot. Lana shuddered a little.

"Guess the smug bastard had a beating coming, but... how powerful is that other guy anyway?" she wondered. "His haki must be outrageously strong if he can handle that swordsman so easily."

She wouldn't have been able to tear her gaze away from the spectacle, but something else caught her attention.

"Zoro's not the only friend I have the lab right now," she realized, zeroing in on one snail's feed in particular. "Chopper? What's he doing in there? Mixing up some kind of medicine? Ugh, there's too much going on! None of it makes any sense because I have no idea what's going on... okay!"

She took a deep breath, hoping to calm her agitated thoughts and slow her racing heart.

"I need to focus. Luffy's been captured, my focus needs to be setting him free. That's the first goal. Obviously, duh."

She rose, releasing the influence of her power on the room around her and lifting the library Feng-sui. The footsteps she heard from outside were faint and far away. A quick peek back inside the mind the transponder snail informed her that no one was close.

"What a useful little slimy thing you are," Lana purred, stroking the snail's shell. She could feel its apprehension, yet unsoothed by the time they'd spent together. To be fair, Lana could only assume her trips inside its consciousness weren't exactly pleasant for the little creature. "Maybe I'll take you with me... would you like to come along with Auntie Lana and be her cute little eye-in-the-sky pet? Hmm? Good snail..."

She dashed through the halls, using the snail to find the blind spots of its comrades and avoid patrol groups. A quick peek across the other channels informed her that Luffy, Robin, Franky and the marines had all been tossed in a cage along with the power-holder swordsman. Zoro, meanwhile, was on the move. She slapped a palm to her face in consternation.

"How the hell did he get all the way to the other side of the lab so fast?! What's he trying to do anyway? Gah, I guess it would just be too convenient if we could meet up and he could help me defeat the two holding our crewmates... Do I have time to chase after him? There's no way I can take on the guy that beat up that swordsman with the fluffy hat. That would be suicide... but Zoro's just getting farther away by the minute! Damn it! I need a plan!"

Another straw hat caught her attention, streaking past a video feed in a furry blur. Chopper wasn't far away at all. In fact, he was currently making himself as small as possible, peeking around corners to keep an eye on Luffy and the others.

"Hm... Chopper, huh?" Lana mused. She changed direction and made a beeline for the gaggle of her crewmates. "He can't beat haki man either, but... with the right plan..."

Lana knew haki man was out of her league, but the lab was full of lesser minions that wouldn't pose her any challenge at all. On top of that, she knew the lab held more than just enemies.

"I can use their own stuff against them," she reasoned. She had one hand in her pocket, maintaining contact with her abducted transponder snail. She used it once more to search through channels, flipping her attention from one set of bestalked eyeballs to the next while she looked for the items that would help her rescue her crew.

"I should give you a name," she mused as she browsed through the differing fields of vision the snails had to offer. "Do... do you already have a name?"

The snail was deaf and mute, but it could feel the intent of her question. It responded with vague intent of its own. Lana got the feeling that it did not, in fact, have a name.

"Let's pick a name," she grinned while she flew through the halls. She had found what she was looking for. All she had to do now was get it. "How about... Reggie? Marie? Claus? Oh! Kipper!"

The snail offered nothing but dismay at the suggestions, so Lana kept cycling through the random names popping into her head, hoping to settle on one that her little pet would take a liking to.

________________________________________

'This is bad!'

Chopper watched the events unfolding around the corner from him with growing concern and alarm. He hadn't forgotten the reason he was in the lab to begin with, but he couldn't just walk away from his captive crew either.

"Psst! Pssst!"

"Huh?"

Lana summoned Chopper's attention from the end of the hall to avoid startling him. His eyes grew wide and he dashed over to her at once, all but knocking her off her feet with his enthusiasm.

"Lana! I'm so happy to see you! Where were you?! Everyone was so worried when we woke up and you weren't with us!"

He spoke in a whisper, but his tone was fervent.

"I'm fine, I got in a fight and it took me away," Lana explained briefly, dismissively.

"A fight?! When, after we were all gassed?!" Chopper asked with confusion as he tried to envision the progression of events. "Did you wake up before the rest of us?"

"I never passed out."

"What?!"

"Yeah, it's a crazy coincidence, but the gas they used to knock the crew out was derived from grey clover," Lana explained. "I've got a tolerance."

"Why would you have a tolerance to... oh."

Chopper's expansive medical knowledge lent him an understanding of what must have happened, albeit one that he didn't realize until a second later.

"Oh! That's right, I've read that grey clover is commonly used as a means of birth control in the West Blue. I uh... wow, yeah, I guess it would make sense for you to have a tolerance if you've been using it," he reasoned. His cheeks flushed slightly under his fur as he was filled with eagerness to move on from the topic. He noticed the sack Lana was dragging with her and seized the opportunity it presented. "Hey, uh... what's in the bag?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Lana replied with a grin. "This bag is full of stuff that's gonna help us free Luffy and the others."

"It is?"

"Yep. Now listen close. Here's the plan."

_______________________________________________

<== Previous Chapter

Next Chapter ==>

== First Chapter ==

[gmanwhore]

0h? Wh0 1s that? 1 am k1nda cur10us n0w-Gaz

I think he called himself the Master? I dunno. He was a right cunt but Professor had something going on with him. Like they weren't exactly enemies but weren't friends either. But yeah he tried to kill a bunch of my old friends by allying with some cheetah people and he turned into a cat guy. Then he died.-Ace

[beatrice-otter]

This is not a new thing. Radfems have been allying with Consersvative Christians against sex stuff since the 80s at least.

See, one of the major beliefs of radical feminism from the very beginning was that sex with men was inherently degrading to women and exploitative. This was especially true of any sex act in which the woman gets penetrated. They weren't exactly thrilled about f/f sex, either, but they focused on the evils of m/f sex.

If you are a woman who think you enjoy sex with a man, you are either brainwashed or participating in your own exploitation or both. Worse, you are contributing to the continued oppression of women.

If you are a woman who makes a choice to have sex with a man for money you are also brainwashed, participating in your own exploitation, and contributing to the continued oppression of women. Sex workers might be pitied and "helped" out of their jobs, but the second any of them say anything other than "oh, thank you kind radfem for helping save me from evil men!" they become the enemy. The term SWERF (Sex-Worker Exclusive Radical Feminism) didn't get coined until, like, the 2000s, but that's because the vast majority of radical feminists were sex-worker-exclusive all along. It was the default position of radical feminism.

Under these beliefs, all pornography is inherently evil, because it's about the exploitation of women. (The idea of women having sex drives and either making or wanting to watch/read pornographic or erotic material was not considered ... and if it was, such women were either considered brainwashed by the patriarchy/only doing it because their man wanted them to, or participating in their own exploitation and the continued oppression of women.)

Long story short, if you look at who in the 1980s was actively against sex work and pornography, you get basically two categories of people: Conservative Christians, and Radical Feminists. So they allied. The radfems gave the Conservative Christians cover, so they could tell mainstream America "see! this position that's bad for women is actually good for women, these feminists say so!" And the radfems got a lot more power to act against pornography and sex work.

Thing is, though, when you look at "which group got more of what it wanted" the answer is hands-down the Conservative Christians.

Bro radfems are so funny what even is this lol

[bravevolunteer]

@horrorsuntold asked: 75 for the music meme // send me a number ( 1-130 ) and i'll explain why that song is in my muse's playlist!

75. Allies or Enemies - The Crane Wives

ha you got the sibling angst song lmao

seriously, i do associate this song with michael's feelings towards his siblings. he IS at fault for the animosity between himself and evan as well as the tension with elizabeth following evan's death, michael knows this and even if he is unable to acknowledge why to himself for awhile, there ARE a good handful of reasons why he was inclined to act this way. it does not excuse his bullying towards evan, but since it largely had to do with his personal emotions.... it didn't exactly get RID of the value michael had for him either. michael too often struggled to STOP himself from saying and doing things he did not truly mean, and he hurt both of them because of it.

"The words I speak are wildfires and weeds / They spread like some awful damn disease / I swear I didn’t mean what I said / I swear I didn’t mean it. / Now listen close, you owe me ears for dropping eaves / Forget it all, you caught me in a moment weak / Sometimes I just can’t help myself / Sometimes I can’t help myself at all"

i do firmly believe things weren't always terrible between them— there were MOMENTS where the hostility faded and the three of them got to act like normal siblings even just for a few minutes, where their love for each other was apparent, and michael reminisces on this with HEAVY regret for not treating evan better.

"Remember when I could tell you not to smile when you were mad? / And you would always crack / And we’d both be laughing in the end / Now you’re not so quick to forget"

the repetition of "are we allies or enemies?" and not wanting to continue fighting can canonically relate to his and elizabeth's relationship post '83 as well as any au where evan and liz don't die following their incidents. where michael is TRYING to make up for everything he's done but feels so guilty he doesn't think he deserves it and does not automatically stop making mistakes either. all he wants is to have what he pushed away, he just wants someone to think he's decent, but he won't let himself believe it, and he's struggling to figure out if mending their relationships is even possible.

[ceescedasticity]

to avoid writing an essay on someone else's post

To me the interesting thing about the Second Kinslaying is that while it was a war crime*, unlike the other two it wasn't a betrayal and it shouldn't have been a surprise.

[*: 'War crime' doesn't actually have an objective, universal, unchanging definition. A war crime in the commonly accepted modern definitions.]

The Noldor and the Lindar of Alqualondë were friends and no one expected things to go so badly. I think even Fëanor thought the worst case scenario was bullying the Lindar into giving up their ships, no bloodshed necessary. That was a betrayal and a surprise to everybody.

With the Third Kinslaying… It's more ambiguous, but the Fëanorians had been holding a defensive line for three decades and probably employing Sirion and/or Balar as 'behind the lines' for anyone who couldn't be on the front lines as well as supplies, because that's what was left. They weren't on speaking terms or working together exactly, but they were working in parallel. The Fëanorians had never attacked other Noldor before. And iirc Elwing didn't give a hard no to their letter — she stalled, said they had to negotiate with Eärendil and he wasn't there. So it was a surprise, and a betrayal of a (tacit and chilly) alliance.

But the Second Kinslaying—

Doriath and the Fëanorians were never allies. They were allies-in-law. And Thingol had solid reasons to refuse alliance — their attack on his brother's/his* people, their being generally rude and condescending-at-best, perhaps a not unreasonable perception of them as untrustworthy — but it was his refusal that meant they never became allies. (This got long, sorry.)

[*: Whether Thingol still considered himself king of all the Teleri is an interesting question but not relevant to this discussion.]

So they weren't allies, and after Dagor Bragollach Doriath demonstrated very clearly that they weren't allies by keeping its borders closed to Noldorin refugees. And Thingol was the one who chose to get Doriath involved with the Silmaril, claiming one when he had no right to* (and also arguably angling to use the Sons of Fëanor to get rid of Beren).

[*: No right by our standards. I… am not at all sure ownership of material goods not currently in one's possession is any more objective and absolute than war crimes are. I am not sure that's a universal paradigm in thinking about material goods. You may need to attach a certain amount of importance to material things before that makes sense.]

Of course then Celegorm and Curufin were the ones who chose to respond to this by being severely antagonizing. There were a lot of things they could have done to try to come up with a compromise — like, maybe, an agreement that Beren will give the Silmaril to Thingol and Thingol will immediately ransom it to the Fëanorians? Thingol probably would have refused, but they didn't try. And then attacking Beren and Lúthien in the wilderness has nothing to do with the Oath, it's just spite.

If Doriath didn't see the Fëanorians as definite enemies before that it certainly did after. And with Nargothrond also cutting ties (and Finrod in particular gone) the allies-in-law relationship was more remote.

Maedhros made a sincere attempt to bring them into the Union, to establish a proper alliance. But— He didn't offer to seriously punish C&C, much less extradite them. He offered "let's all pull together and fight Morgoth". Which he's doing anyway.

The possible benefit of Morgoth being defeated would be the same whether Thingol helped or not. The possible consequence of the Sons of Fëanor being more/still pissed at him was irrelevant behind the Girdle. So Thingol either (a) picked not associating with Evil A over fighting Evil B or (b) looked at the military situation with a cold clear eye and possible benefit of Melian's foresight and decided that they wouldn't win even with Doriath's help so why should he send his people to die pointlessly.

So they stay enemies.

After the Nirnaeth Arnoediad they are no longer allies-in-law (except possibly through Círdan, but no one ever listens to Círdan). (Gondolin really isn't allied with either of them.)

On top of that, there are several good arguments to be made that between the Nirnaeth and the Second Kinslaying, Celegorm had more power and influence among the Fëanorians than at any other time. Maedhros gambled everything on the Union and lost. Generally speaking military leaders who do that lose influence. (Plus, his mental state was likely… poorer than usual.) Celegorm has more reasons to hate Doriath (both good and bad), and less of a record of being conciliatory in general. He is not going to be trying to keep things calm.

They're definitely enemies and they all know it.

Fast forward through the loss of the Girdle (which the Fëanorians couldn't overcome) and Lúthien (who Celegorm was probably scared of). The Sons of Fëanor demand the Silmaril.

Of course Dior et al don't want to hand it over. There's the fact that Celegorm and Curufin were outrageously awful to Beren's parents — who just recently died, who he is grieving — and who wants to give them anything. And all of Doriath may be feeling a bit sunk-cost about the Silmaril. And, possibly, Silmaril+likely-cursed Nauglamír may be doing unfortunate things to people's judgment.

On top of that, though, I can see why Dior would say they had no right to it. First, there's the possible differing perspectives on legitimacy of remote ownership. Second, there's the argument that the Silmarils are semi-sentient and don't like the Sons of Fëanor anymore. Third, heck, Thingol's position was that he was king of all Beleriand, kings can demand exorbitant tribute sometimes.

I can see why they would choose not to give up the Silmaril, and I can't say they were definitely in the wrong. But they should have made that choice fully aware that it would result in invasion.

There are people who were probably shocked to hear there was another, deliberate kinslaying, who still hadn't expected the Fëanorians to sink that low. Probably some of the Fëanorians were shocked they were doing another kinslaying.

But no one in Doriath should have been shocked! They've been acting like another kinslaying was possible since they found out about the first one!

They weren't friends with the dwarves of Nogrod but they trusted them enough to have business arrangements within the Girdle, which was more than they ever trusted the Fëanorians. That went horribly wrong over the Silmaril, which the dwarves didn't even have any prior connection to.

Obviously the Fëanorians would attack.

So given that, and given that even without the Girdle Menegroth itself was extremely defensible — was built by dwarves, to be defensible — why was the Second Kinslaying a slaughter and not a siege? How did the Fëanorians get in the front door?

Someone screwed up badly.

(Or I suppose you could flip it around and say Dior let them in the front door because he was planning to give them the Silmaril after some grandstanding and telling them how much they sucked, but they didn't know that and attacked before he got that far. Or because he pissed them off. But there's no evidence for that.)

Backing up, from the Fëanorians' perspective, they/their lords have a right to the Silmaril — because Noldor (and dwarves and hobbits and probably Númenóreans) do believe in persistence of property ownership — and the Iathrim wouldn't spit on them if they were on fire, so even without C&C's particular grudge it's not… unthinkable. There's the "don't kill people" thing, but… they may be a bit, ha, deadened to death by now, after several disastrous losses. A lot of them probably had to kill Easterlings they thought were their allies. Death seems a bit cheaper now, probably.

But from a practical perspective they clearly did not put enough thought into how costly an attack would be, and of course it required just sort of… ignoring the ongoing Morgoth situation.

[waheelawhisperer]

Vol 8's climax was simultaneously depressing 'cuz I was never too keen on Winter actually becoming Winter^2 (and hey, neither was she); heart-gouging for the 'oh hell they all think each other's dead' angle, and interesting 'cause Cinder may never have it as good as she did here again: bottomless pit hazard, foes running on fumes with fleeing civilians to worry about, and an ally/pawn in play who's out for her main threat's neck. And then Cindy gets to 'doom' them *both*.

Spoilers blah blah because this is about as current as it gets with RWBY's canon etc.

Yeah, I definitely agree that this is as successful as Cinder is going to get as a villain. I think the show is setting her up to break away from Salem eventually, and I also think that the end of Volume 8 kind of showed her that maybe Salem isn't all that's cracked up to be. She can be beaten, outmaneuvered, tricked... and she doesn't have as much power over Cinder as Cinder thought she did. I'm not exactly sure how Cinder's going to come to the realization that she isn't going to get what she wants by sticking with Salem or what she's going to do after she escapes, but I think that she will, and I think she'll do it soon (within the next few Volumes). To be honest, I'm not great at predictions or theorizing regarding the future of the show, so I don't think I can get too deep into Cinder's trajectory, but I do think that her days as Salem's enforcer are drawing to a close.

In terms of the actual tactical situation surrounding the fight, you're right when you say that this was pretty much ideal from Cinder's perspective. She's fresh and her opponents aren't, she gets to start the fight on her terms with an ambush, she's surrounded by civilians against opponents who care about protecting them and will sacrifice themselves to defend them without hesitation while she and her ally think collateral damage is the height of comedy, she can fly while her opponents are trapped on a series of winding walkways that offer limited space to maneuver, Neo's initial ambush removed one of the two most dangerous fighters on the enemy side, she and Neo are able to split the enemy throughout the fight and repeatedly manipulate their foes' concern for both each other and the civilians to take free shots or give themselves favorable 1-on-1 or 1-on-2 matchups, her ally is specifically dedicated to countering the one enemy that has a power that she's specifically vulnerable to, and she gets to stab Neo in the back once she's served her purpose.

You know what? I wasn't initially planning to do this, but I think I'll go ahead and do a fight breakdown for the finale, paying special attention to Cinder's strategy and tactics. She does a great job throughout the fight of turning what could have easily been a 2-on-8 if RWBY and JNOR had concentrated into a series of smaller engagements where she and Neo achieve local superiority.

The fight opens up with Cinder drawing everyone's attention, and the brief engagement at the start shows that she's capable of taking on all four members of Team RWBY at once. They'd probably have done better in this fight if they weren't all tired, but they are, which means Cinder knows that she can handle drawing all the aggro to give Neo her shot (or maybe she's just arrogant enough to think she can handle it. Regardless, she's right). I'm not sure if her little speech is an active attempt at breaking Team RWBY's morale and throwing them off their game or just gloating (hell, it could be both), but either way, it's working. Team RWBY is focused on her, just the way she wants them to be.

Neo gets the gank off, and while it doesn't take out the intended target, the result is almost as good: Yang is the most dangerous fighter on Team RWBY and arguably the single most dangerous of the 8 heroes actively escorting the civilians at the moment, given Penny's visible struggles to adapt to her flesh-and-blood body throughout the fight. The psychological effect of losing the team's best fighter, as well as the Team Mom/Cool Big Sis/Love Interest, was clearly a pretty nasty blow, given the way Blake goes straight for Neo's neck with pure berserker fury that would make any Viking proud. Team RWBY is not in the best mental state, nor are Team JNR or Penny, whereas Cinder is fully in control and riding high, while Neo is pissed that her initial attack hit the wrong target and focused on killing Ruby, but doesn't seem to be shaken enough for it to affect her performance.

Ruby gets a lot of criticism for not reacting "properly" to Yang's fall, whatever that means, but to me it's always been pretty clear that she was in shock and struggling to process what had just happened for the literal 2-3 seconds that the show gave her to respond before Neo was on top of her and going for the throat. I do think the show could have done a better job of making it clear that no one could have reacted in time to save her: Ruby has been knocked to the ground by Yang's charge and Weiss is facing away due to how she was previously oriented when the group was trying to flank Cinder from four directions previously (the correct tactical choice based on what they knew at the time). Weiss is just barely turning her head when Blake is already moving in Yang's direction, and she doesn't have time to do more than raise her arm before Yang has gone off the edge. We know Weiss uses gestures to activate/focus her glyphs, and I simply don't think she had time to use her Semblance before she lost line of sight on Yang. Ruby, for her part, is still in involuntary motion from Yang's push when Yang's Aura breaks, looks stunned and disoriented from her landing, and just barely has time to raise her head and catch sight of Yang before her big sister goes over the edge. I think, based on the visual evidence, that she straight-up couldn't process what was going on in time to activate her Semblance to save Yang.

Blake, meanwhile, is booking it. Seriously, girl is moving. She looks like a cheetah hopped up on amphetamines. Blake is in a full-on sprint by the time Weiss even turns her head. Weiss hasn't fully raised her arm by the time Blake is past her and getting ready to launch Gambol Shroud into the void. The writers/animators deliberately placed her in the physical position to see what was happening and respond instantly, while also putting her as far away as possible while still maintaining the flank, which served to both make the way Blake feels about/is attuned to Yang as clear as possible and prevent her from saving Yang despite that depth of concern and instantaneous response. This was really well done by the crew in terms of... scene composition? I don't know if that's really the right word I'm looking for, but they positioned the characters in the set really well here, is what I'm trying to say.

I think what the crew intended to convey with this scene is that it all happened too fast for there to be any chance of stopping Yang's fall, but the use of slow motion hindered that. It was suitably dramatic for the emphasis such an important moment deserved, but I think it convinced a big chunk of the viewerbase that because we, the viewers, had time to process things, so should the characters in the scene. I know I had to watch this sequence of events several times to get a clear picture of just how fast Yang's fall was supposed to happen in-universe. There's a good 35 seconds of actual screentime between Neo making contact with Yang and Yang's ultimate disappearance into the void, 19 between contact and the beginning of Blake's throwing motion, and 25 between contact and the moment where we know for a fact that Gambol Shroud has missed. That's a lot of time for the viewers to come to an understanding of what's happening, but all of this is in slow motion. In-universe, things are going significantly faster, but the extended slow motion sequence can make that hard to pick up on. I'm not 100% sure how to improve clarity here without ruining dramatic impact, but I can see why the scene didn't hit as I think it was intended to with some people.

Anyway, Yang is gone, Neo's gunning for Ruby, Blake is gunning for Neo, and Weiss is just kind of thinking "Oh, God, I'm going to have to be the one to hold things together, aren't I?" Unfortunately, this leaves her squarely in Cinder's sights. Right now, Cinder is getting what she wants: her slippery ally, who she doesn't even like, is the target of two of their three opponents (including the one who at minimum soft checks Cinder), leaving her, the strongest fighter on her side, in a solo matchup against the support. Cinder's inner Zed main is salivating at the chance to carve up an unprotected support fighter here, and if the other three weaken each other while she's doing it, so much the better.

Penny comes in to improve the odds and square off with Cinder, but we see immediately that she is used to fighting as a robot and not as a human: she reflexively attempts to summon Floating Array and gets dunked on for her troubles. She compensates by using her Maiden powers to create a copy of her old weapons, but we can tell she's already a bit off balance. With Weiss to help her, she does okay for a moment, but then Cinder exploits the heroines' concern for the civilians they're protecting by trying to hit Weiss with an AoE that she can't just dodge. Weiss has to block it, and she has to block the whole damn AoE. She can't just use a glyph to hop out of the way because that would expose the vulnerable civilians behind her, so she's forced to use more of her Aura to defend, and Cinder gets a free shot at her on top of that. Cinder has cleverly set up an attack that lets her win either way: either she gets uncontested damage on Weiss or she forces Weiss to abandon civilians to save herself, crippling her morale.

Blake looks over and sees that Cinder is clearly individually superior to Penny, especially since Penny does not have full access to her previous capabilities. She notices that Cinder is winning, while she and Ruby are not making particular headway vs. Neo. Blake has to make a choice, and she chooses to kick Cinder in the skull. I know a lot of people, myself included, were expecting a Semblance evolution for Blake here, but instead she just chooses to put protecting the people she loves over revenge, which... works, honestly, but I think it has less impact than the Semblance evolution overall.

This is where I think Team RWBY starts slipping tactically (understandably, they're not in the best frame of mind at the moment after losing the heart of their team, but they're still not making the optimal decisions. I'm not calling them out for this, but it's important to point it out as a contrast to Cinder and Neo, who are still very much in control). I think Team RWB + Penny's best play here is to try to force a 3-on-1 against either Cinder or Neo and assign whoever is best at stalling to handle the other one. There are a few ways they could have done that. Neo's already fixated on Ruby and Ruby's Semblance makes her slippery as hell, so Ruby could have fought defensively and kept Neo occupied long enough for Blake, Weiss, and Penny to gang up on Cinder. Alternatively, Penny has the ability to fly. She could've either stalled Cinder and tried to make her chase her or she could've taken to the air and bombarded Neo with Maiden Magic. Being able to move through the air is a huge advantage in this kind of fight, and either she or Weiss could have potentially leveraged that against Neo. Blake or Weiss could also have tried to hold off either Cinder or Neo with the innate disengage tools in their kits, though they'd most likely have an easier time delaying Neo than Cinder. Regardless, I think it would have been smart to try to find a way to bring Ruby's silver eye powers to bear against Cinder ASAP and in circumstances of their choosing, or as close to it as possible.

Yes, many things could have gone wrong with this strategy, but the one they actually went with resulted in a loss, so I think it would have been worth a try. Again, I'm not saying the protagonists should have been unfeeling machines that always make the most logical choice, I'm just trying to point out the difference between how they and their opponents are approaching the fight. Cinder and Neo had the luxury of picking their moment and planning out their attack, while the protagonists are exhausted and stressed. This was a very clever move on the part of the villains, is what I'm getting at here.

Ruby's still going up against Neo, whose superiority in terms of pure fighting skill is evident. We get Weiss punting Neo through a portal in the funniest moment of the whole fight and Cinder gets an advantage in the 2-on-1 in the background. What we see here makes me wonder if the strategy I proposed above would have worked at all, but I think it's still at least as viable as what they actually do. Ruby's not fighting defensively here, which leaves her open and forces Weiss to come to her aid. If she'd focused on delaying Neo instead of beating her, maybe the others could have capitalized on their numerical advantage. Or maybe not. Maybe this was just unwinnable from the moment Yang went down and Jaune and Nora committed to helping the refugees. That happens sometimes.

Cinder again exploits the fact that the protagonists are willing to sacrifice themselves for other people to get another free hit on Weiss specifically and break her Aura. She's got Weiss pegged, that's for damn sure, and this is the point where I think the fight truly becomes next to impossible for the protagonists to win with the resources they have on the field. Without Weiss's support tools, the only paths to victory I see are receiving reinforcements or activating Ruby's silver eyes, which have already been established as unreliable. Crescent Rose falling into the abyss kind of seals the deal, but Ruby pulls off a very clever little move to bait an opponent who is clearly superior in terms of technical skill but emotionally unstable into a trap. This was really smart by Ruby, if a bit concerning because of her willingness to use herself as bait, but it's a great reminder that while Ruby is generally sweet and pure and innocent and so on, she also can and will go for the throat if she thinks it's warranted. Tyrian learned this the hard way.

Cinder, once again, identifies and takes a free shot against a distracted opponent. She's still getting everything she wants, because now she can both remove one of the two remaining significant threats to her and get revenge against her underling at the same time. She already knows she can beat Blake, Weiss, and Penny. She's been doing it all this time. She's happy to trade Neo to remove Ruby. This is a winning play for her.

Cinder gets another free shot on a heroine who is concerned with saving someone else when Blake and Penny try to rescue Ruby. She's been identifying and taking these opportunities all throughout the fight, and it lets her land an attack on the other significant threat still in the game in exchange for giving her opponents the chance to rescue a fighter who is out of Aura and has no weapon. Cinder has done a great job picking her trades since the fight started, and this is no exception.

Blake and Ruby are now gone, disappeared into the void. This cost Cinder nothing. With two fireballs, she's gotten damage on Penny and eliminated two opponents, and all she has to give up in return is a couple hits when Weiss shows up wielding Gambol Shroud. Sure, Jaune is now here to help them and is fresh in comparison, but Cinder was winning when Blake was here, and Blake is much stronger than Jaune. Penny takes more damage protecting Weiss, by the way, because Cinder knows that targeting the helpless works against these foes and sees no reason to fix what ain't broken.

Cinder once again baits Penny into protecting her friends and then isolates her opponents with a clever use of her Maiden powers and gets an uninterrupted, uncontested strike on the biggest threat remaining. She cripples Penny in the time it takes for Weiss to get around the obstacle she created and engage her, which leads us into a scene that quite a number of people absolutely fucking hated, myself included. I honestly don't recall seeing a single positive response to this choice. Maybe my opinion will change once we see where this storyline goes, but right now, bringing Penny back just to kill her off again just feels cruel. Having Jaune, a character who has already received considerable backlash for perceived theft of the spotlight, be the one to strike the killing blow just makes things worse. I know a lot of Penny fans felt like the writing was basically telling them to go fuck themselves, and I can see why they felt that way. Again, I might change my mind once we get more content that shows us where the narrative is going with this, but as things stand, it just makes a couple of plot threads from the Atlas storyline feel pointless. Winter being the Winter Maiden was a red herring and Penny getting the powers was a twist? No, wait, Winter's the Maiden now. Penny has come back to life and is taking part in the group's adventures? No, actually, she's dead again, and may very well be revived a third time at some point in the future. Based on what I know now, rather than what may be revealed in the future, this is one of the worst writing choices RWBY has ever made. I truly hate it. It just feels mean.

That said, I don't think having Jaune kill a mortally wounded teammate is inherently a bad storyline in a vacuum. He's a healer, a defender, whose powers and skillset focus around healing, enhancing, and protecting his teammates. Forcing him to take a friend's life after he's already lost his own partner, even if (as the narrative wants us to believe) there was no better choice, is a fantastic vehicle for character development for a character like him... but there was no way it was ever going to go over well when Jaune is already such a controversial character within the fandom and a lot of people feel that Team RWBY doesn't have enough agency within the main plot. Not a choice I would have made when considering the context and the likely fan reaction, that's for damn sure.

I also don't think the show does enough to set up the idea that Penny's wound is actually mortal or that killing her was the best way forward. It looks like Cinder's Grimm hand penetrates her torso when the attack initially lands, but we don't see any blood, nor are there any visible wounds when Jaune tries to heal her. We don't get any concrete evidence that healing her will unambiguously fail and we don't see any sign of significant strain on Jaune's part, he just tries to heal her and Penny almost immediately shuts him down and says he can't do it in time. It's not really a surprise that Penny thinks about it this way. She's been trying to sacrifice herself the moment she has a chance for the whole damn Volume. She wants to make this choice, but I think we needed a better visual indicator or a line of dialogue or something to make it clear that this choice was anything but stupid. I'd have been a lot more willing to accept it if we'd gotten, like, a few seconds of Jaune visibly struggling to heal Penny's wound, followed by him saying "It's not working" or something, and then Penny makes the choice to sacrifice herself, now that it's clear that her death is inevitable and the only thing left is to make it mean something (obviously, this is an extreme off-the-top-of-my-head rough draft that could use a lot more polish, but I hope you get the idea regardless).

Anyway, after that, we get Maidenbowl, where Cinder is meaningfully challenged for the first time in this fight. Winter seems to be winning, but yet again, Cinder gains an advantage by directing her attacks at a vulnerable target her main opponent cares about protecting. She's done it so consistently throughout this fight that it is 100% a deliberate strategy, just like the way Yang destroys the terrain to give herself an advantage in combat, and despite my intense dislike of the specific story beat mentioned above, I think the writing/animation/storyboarding etc. crews did a great job of telling Cinder's story with this fight. She's definitely smarter than a lot of her haters give her credit for.

To be honest, I don't like Volume 8 very much, for a lot of different reasons. I might expand upon that in other posts, but this one is long enough as it is.

[schattenmagier]

" Huh, I see. It does also sound kinda boooring. At least to me! "

Well, it also isn't like she had ever been to a wedding. Lilli had seen them on TV of course! But it was usually in movies, and there was always something exciting happening. Like... villains or monsters or whatever crashing the party, or a murder happening on the party... Yeah, she is watching that kind of movies.

The vigilante then let out a chuckle, though wasn't exactly sure what he meant with his joke about 'office politics'. She also didn't went to ask.

" To late~ "

She lilted, before the cellphone is taken from her hand, and she shoves another big piece of sushi into her mouth. Actually, Schatten had not expected for him to actually give her his number. Perhaps they were basically on a neutral ground with each other. While she wouldn't exactly say they were allies, they sure weren't enemies either. And the Agency wasn't on her target list so... This was fine.

" Oh, I vould never! I am more someone vho prefers to text anyway~♥ Ah, and please don't take it personal vhen I von't answer zhe phone either sometimes~ Might be a bit busy too once in a vhile! Heh~ "

Not only with her job as barkeeper but also at other things as vigilante. She can't really pick up the phone when she goes around to beat up a few people to gain information.

" But, knowing you at least a little now, I vould guess and say you ain't much up for phonecalls either, eh~? "

The woman then takes her phone back, to save the contact... But then she hesitates, and a mischievous smirk appears on her face... Just to raise her phone again, and open the camera app.

" Smile for zhe cam, Anti~ I need a contact picture for you~ "

"Hey, free food is free food. Even if I have to watch two people I barely know make goo-goo eyes at each other." He actually doesn't mind it all that much. However all the talk of spending a future together and what-not that one is usually subjected to at weddings often made him feel.......alienated?

"Pffft, I wish they were marrying each other more often." Antares took another bite of his food in between talking. "Would probably be better than all the -," he made a vague little hand gesture here, "- office politics."

He was just joking here too, of course. As long as it didn't effect him personally, he didn't really care what his coworkers were up to as long as they were still alive and kicking.

"I was just kidding about the number..." Antares sighed. It seemed too late to take his words back though. The vigilante who was sitting opposite of him was already typing something into her cellphone. "Whatever. Give it here."

He took the phone and entered his work number. He supposed an unaffiliated contact wouldn't hurt. He doesn't have the full picture on what Schatten was actually capable of but rumors of who she have taken down around town did sound promising. Not to mention the fact that Agency HR had taken interest in her.

"Now don't go calling me all the time though. I'm a busy man."

He returns the phone to her. Of course, he didn't even try to snoop. That would just be in bad form when he's sitting right across her and eating right out of her wallet.

[coolkidslikecats]

night knuckles : peter parker

series : song titled writings.  part one. 

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥  night knuckles 

peter parker x male!reader <3

song: night knuckles by cavetown. 

.

pronouns: he/him, you/your/yours (yk) :)

warnings!: fluff! 🐑, slight angst, vulgar language, peters pov, lack of plot, mentions of blood and injury.

a/n: I’m going slow with my writing since I’m not used to writing longer and more descriptive things yet! this is just a warm-up but I still hope you enjoy it! (this could also be either platonic or romantic, it’s kinda a mix of both!)

summary: you’ve been waiting all day for peter to come back to his house so you guys could work on your science project. peter comes back with a few cuts and bruises which immediately makes you worry.

.

.

“are you sure?- I mean we could always do it another day... no rush, you know?” your calm voice said over the phone. a pang of guilt shot through peters chest, he wanted nothing more than to start and finish the science project that had been assigned to the both of you. with you.

but he was an avenger, he had to uphold his superhero duties no matter how bad he wanted to hang out with his friends. not that you knew that. he hated keeping secrets from you but it was only to keep you safe. spider-man will always have enemies who want to take what is his away from him. thus not telling you about his “double-life”.

peter quickly hopped down into an empty ally, still on the phone with you. putting you on speakerphone he started stripping down to just his boxers.

“no no! it's okay, I want to get it done today! ah!- opps-” he'd stumbled over his pants that were down to his ankles. he was panting as he struggled to get his clothes off and into his backpack as quick as he could.

“are you okay, dude? you sound like you're in a rush.” once peter finally got his clothes in his backpack and had started to put his suit on he snatched his phone up and put in on his shoulder and used his head to keep it in place.

“yeah- yeah I'm okay, I'm just...” he was tired and stressed, he yearned to go home and get his hair ruffled up by you as you plopped onto the couch with one of your many comics in hand. he just wanted to be a normal teenager for a day or two, he loved his job, what he does every day is his biggest reward. but he can't help but want to know how it feels to just be oblivious to death and destruction like most kids.

“...I’m just, I just need to be somewhere right now. I love you-” he slipped his mask on and started sprinting down the ally till he could get somewhere he could properly shoot a web. “-stay safe and stay at the apartment, I promise I'll be there soon, okay?”

he heard your soft chuckle through the phone, causing his face to flush under his mask. you sighed and he swore he could hear you say he was cute.

“I’ll hold that to you, darling, I love you too.” peters stomach erupted with a swarm of butterflies, he felt light-headed at the simple pet name you had used in turn of his name. it was time for him to end the call though because he could feel his grip on his phone loosening the more he hopped from building to building.

“byey/niloveyouanddontmessupmyroom!” he rushed out before abruptly ending the call.

on the other side of the phone, y/n smiled and muttered to himself, “time to mess up his room.”

.

.

hours went by and peter still hadn’t come home, you were beginning to get worried since he didn’t tell you exactly what he was up to. you trusted him to keep himself safe, he was smart so you knew he could get himself out of a situation.

but he was your best friend, your only friend, besides ned and mj, of course. you also weren't the worrying type, you were the calm friend in the friend group, always there to reassure everyone that everything was going to be okay. except when it came to peter, he always seemed to be getting himself into trouble, whether he was sneaking off randomly during class or just skipping it altogether, or making up excuses as to why he couldn't attend an event.

you were starting to become suspicious about his whereabouts, you knew it wasn't any of your business what he did in the shadows, but you were his best buddy. it hurt that he didn't open up to you about what was going on behind your back. you were the only one in the dark, mj and ned both seemed to brush it off or help convince people of his excuses, sharing knowing looks between each other. so they obviously knew something no one else did.

you sighed and shook those thoughts away, trying to focus back on your comic. it didn't matter where peter was, as long as he was safe.

but this time it doesn't seem like he was as safe as intended. the boy crashed through the open window in his bedroom, his suit nicked in some spaces, showing fresh-looking cuts and bruises through the open fabric. he ripped his mask off and tried to steady himself by leaning on his dresser.

your mouth dropped open in shock, your comic falling from your hands and onto your stomach. peter caught his breathe and ran a hand through his hair, moving it out of his face. he winced at the movement, he was sore from the mission.

“what the actual fuck.” you blurted out, causing peter to flinch, he whipped around to see you laying on his bed, head propped by a pillow as your wide eyes and slacked jaw stared at him in shock.

peters expression mirrored yours, he hadn't expected you to be in his room when he came back.

“y/n I-”

“holy shit you're spider-man-” you said flabbergasted, you looked him up and down, his suit looked way too good to be a costume, “I’m best friends with fucking spider-man! my balls just dropped, this is freaking insane!-”

peter rushed over to you, signaling for you to be quiet. you nodded obediently and stood up to look him over, just now noticing his rough appearance.

“okay, okay, I'm gonna clean you up-” peter shook his head, you rolled your eyes and grabbed your backpack, rummaging through it to find your small carry-on first aid kit. you grabbed his arm and forced him to sit on his bed so you could get better access to his cuts.

peter had been silent the whole time you were cleaning him up. he felt guilty for not telling you and that you had found out like this, but he was also scared for you, having his two other best friends in danger was enough, but now you? you were something else, you were his bud, his motivation. he couldn't just put you in danger.

“so I suppose I’m not supposed to tell anyone about this, right?” peter nodded and directed his eyes to the floor, hanging his head down low. you clicked your tongue and placed your index finger under his chin, lifting his head back up so you could dab a cut on his face with a warm, damp cloth.

you pursed your lips, still holding onto peters chin.

“look, peter, I'm not mad at you for not telling me, you know that right? I- I just want to let you know that I will always. always, be here for you, I'll always love you.” peters eyes welled up with tears, he immediately wrapped his arms around your middle and started sobbing, all of his stress and fear coming out through his cries.

your eyes went wide in surprise, you patted his head awkwardly, trying your best to comfort him.

“I’m so tired, y/n, and I'm scared, I don't want anything to happen to you, or ned, or mj. I'm so sorry for not telling you I just can't afford to lose you right now, if ever.” your breath hitched at his words, you've never heard him sound so vulnerable before, especially when it concerned you.

“dude, you- you don't have to worry about me, I might not be the strongest but I have hands- fists, I'm ready to deck someone if needed, you know?” you laughed making peter let out a small choked-up laugh. you placed both your hands on either side of the boys head, making him look up at you.

“this is so fucking cheesy, but, if you want we could watch a movie together after you take a shower? it- it’s just a suggestion so I don't kind if you don't want to.” peter smiled and nodded. his smile dropped though as he realized something.

“what about the project?” your smile widened before you hooked your arm around his neck, putting him in a loose headlock, you curled your fist together and gave him a noogie. peter shouted and tried to bat your hands away from his head.

“I already finished it since you were gone so long, spiderboy!” you laughed, even though this action hurt peters head and neck he still managed to blush at the close proximity of your body to his.

“now get in the shower so we can watch a movie.” you let go of him and push him into the bathroom, making him laugh.

“alright, alright, I’m going! you get to pick the movie.”

“of course I do, I have the best taste here.”

“right..”

he felt normal around you for once, his secret was finally out. now all he had to do was keep you safe.

.

.

a/n: sorry it was rushed at the end! I really just finally wanted to finish a writing so I had something to post! hope you enjoyed!

[cheesy-mak]

Finally got the motivation to do this! Makanendez oneshot (probably unless requested for more) coming through your way!

Title: "Cigarettes and War."

Trope//Prompt: Rivals to lovers(?)

Characters: Vladimir Makarov/Raul Menendez

I actually wrote about this in my notebook a bit ago, may take some bits from that. First time writing a fic on Tumblr! (Also, forgive me if Menendez or Makarov is a bit or ENTIRELY OOC, I still need to watch through a good majority of BO2 and get used to writing Mak :'') )

Also, he has a room of his own that's nicely protected, but not in the beginning of this fic >:)

Menendez woke up, and strangely, it wasn't to the sight of the light shining through his window in the early morning. In fact, he instead woke up to darkness. The only light luminating his room was from the moon outside. This wasn't normal. He never woke up this late in the night. He doesn't even know what time it is, but considering how groggy he feels, he knows it hasn't been 2 hours since he slept.

He knew something was off. And he knew that off feeling he had wasn't good. He looked out the window of his room and wondered what woke him up, perhaps the noise of a bird hitting the glass of his window woke him up? That can't be, that'd be stupid. Though he has heard that you could wake up if someone you don't know is around you. He sighed and groaned, staring up at his ceiling for a moment before slowly getting up from his bed, unsure on what to do.

It was then that he smelled the scent of smoke. The type of smoke you get from cigarettes. It was the scent of freshly lit cigarettes, and he could see the smoke from outside on his balcony through the window. Someone was on his balcony. But how can that be? His home was strongly protected, how could his men let someone climb up? Unless, that someone took down his men. Shit, so someone is on his balcony, and the men who were protecting his home were dead. Just great.

He sighed once more in annoyance. "Could've came here in the morning, when I'm not trying to sleep," he angrily grumbled as he looked in his drawer and grabbed his pistol which he prepared if a situation like this were to ever happen. He checked the magazine and luckily it was fully reloaded.

He slowly stood up from his bed and sneakily went to his balcony door which was closed. He braced himself and slowly opened the door and quickly rushed in and pointed the gun at where he thought the intruder would be. "You have to be more sneakier than this, I could see the smoke from inside."

He thought it was some stranger that decided to try and kill him, or an American soldier who thought it was great to have a smoke break right outside of his room, but since he was still mostly groggy, he didn't realize it was someone he fought with for a long time.

"Menendez.. It's been such a while since we've met. When was it, on the battlefield?"

He took a moment to process who he was talking to, and his eyes widened as he realized who it was. It was his enemy, his rival. They weren't exactly enemies but they weren't allies either, they talked through radios and phones a lot for enemies, but most conversations were full of insults, threats and a sprinkle of anger.

"..Makarov?- Vladimir Makarov.. What is someone like you doing here?!-" He kept his guard up as the russian warcriminal in front of him smoked a bit more before dropping the cigarette bud and crushing it under his shoe. "I came here, to you, to ask you something. And also," he looks down below from the balcony and under them laid the bodies of his men and also a rope that hung down and was hooked to the edge of said balcony. "I knocked out your men to get up here, was really easy."

"Not surprised someone like you could take them out easily, and I heard you want to ask something. Ask, or in ten seconds you're dead!" Menendez commanded, his gun still up and pointed towards Makarov. The other stayed calm and leaned against the railing, as he looked out to the view. "I feel like we should, stop fighting. I've heard of what your little army is fighting for, you want revenge for what they've done, to you, and to your sister." Menendez's brows furrowed, he was easily losing his patience. "Get on with it, don't try to delay your fate."

"I'm not, Raul! What I want to say is.. I want to help you. I want to help you grow your army, make your plan known to the world and get others to help you, either willingly or not." Makarov then turned to Menendez, his back leaned against the railing as his green and blue eyes shone lightly as it reflected the moonlight.

Menendez was surprised, he didn't know if it was the pleasant type or not. He couldn't believe him, not yet. "How can I believe you? You could be trying to kill me!" Makarov's expression looked a little upset when he said that. "Please trust me. You've heard of my work, haven't you? I can do you wonders.." Makarov said, silently panicking inside since it looks like Menendez is tired of his shit.

Menendez thought for a bit before then putting his pistol down to show that he doesn't wish to be aggressive. He was then proposed with a choice, to recruit Makarov into his army or to not. He can kill him right now and there. He then made a final choice, to recruit Makarov. "Fine, but you will only be helping me. Anything funny and you're dead, you hear me?" Makarov smiled softly, seemed like he was pretty happy.

"So, can I stay here? I'm too tired to go back."

"Of course you are, and there's a guest bedroom downstairs, just sleep in there for now I guess.." Menendez went back into his room as Makarov followed behind him to go downstairs from his room. "So, goodnight? I'll see you in the morning and hope that none of your men come in and kill me in my sleep." Makarov simply left his room and closed the door, now Menendez was alone again. He sighed and flopped onto his bed and curled up in his blanket. "..How the fuck did I even get here, how did this happen." He asked himself, just tired of everything. He quickly dozed off, questioning how he's going to explain to Cordis Die in the morning.

A/N : I'm sorry if this is pretty short, I kinda lost the motivation close to the end. I hope you like this though! May write more in the future.