#to the point where i AVOID THE GAME FOR A YEAR. DESPITE BEING VERY MUCH HYPERFIXATED ON IT | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mehiwilldoitlater · 3 months ago

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Black Cloud, Red Fire (Part 1)

(part 2) (part 3)

Black Wind Mountain.

Once a temple in the forest, full of prayers, life, and worshippers. Now, a lair for Yougais and their master.

Everything was silent, except for the song of nature that made that place almost harmless. Untill the sound of panting, foot on the Rocky pavement, and broken leaves emerged.

"Ugh...I should have done cardio...UFF!"

The Destined One, the monkey that had convinced you to follow him, stopped on his tracks to look at his surroundings and gave you the time to catch up. He snickered a little, looking how disappointed you were after the climb on the side of the mountain. He offered you his hand, allowing you to avoid a few more steps before reaching him.

"Not a very outdoor one, uh?"

"I'm more...sitting on the couch person."

"What's a couch?"

"Something BEAUTYFULL....wow..."

You would never get used to the view here: from where our eyes could reach, there was just forest. The mountains were covered in it, and so were the few hills that appeared, giving you almost the idea that you were walking on the backs of thousands of sleeping giants. Here and there, you were able to spot the roof and the spires of small pagodes and temples.

Some prove that once these places were abitated or at least visited by humans and mortals.

Now, the old structures were black and decaying, a sign that a fire had started so many years ago and what couldn't be saved was left to the wilderness. You both avoided those structures, finding them quite crumbling and dangerous, but nothing stopped you from admiring them.

The air was rarefied, giving you some trouble breathing and forcing you to make more deep inhales. Your companion, used to the high place of birth, had no issues at all, but he gave you the chance to rest and get used to the altitude.

"It feels so unreal... it's like a painting."

"You don't have places like these in your world?"

"Well yeah, but... not so beautiful like this one."

It was even funny to believe that such a beautiful place like this one could hold such dangers as the Yaoguais or whatever was holding the relic of the Great Sage. After another few minutes of adjusting, the two of you continue your way inside the woods, leaving behind the security of the open space.

The light was dim despite the sun high in the sky; the thick of the branches was mostly the cause of it. Walking near your companion, you started to notice how hard it would become trying to look in front of you or even notice the presence of whatever could attack you both.

"Su-sure, this place is...dark."

"Umm.. stay close, okay?"

You pick up the peace, holding tight to your snack on your back, regretting that you didn't ask for a weapon before leaving Mount Huaguo.

"Hely, listen..." You finally spoke up after a few minutes. "Are you sure that the relic is in this...very lovely and absolutely not filled with dangers?"

"Ummm...i guess?"

"YOU GUESS?!" Your voice echoed in one second through the forest; a few birds flied away, afraid of the sudden change. The monkey instantly shushed you.

"We're in enemy territory!"

"...You guess?! You don't know if it's here?!"

You were FURIOUS. Not only they started to blabber about you being some kind of being that were supposed to help them bring back an old legend, almost forcing you to participate, and now the same one that convinced you to give a try to this damn plan that could maybe bring you back home is unsire if that damn thing is in that damn forgotten place?! After that long road?! You really wanted to take that staff of his and smash it on his head! He shushed you again, trying to calm you down to avoid calling too much attention to you two.

"Okay, I know, this sounds crazy, but I can assure you that we have ideas! Firstly, there's a dangerous amount of Yaoguais in this area, and second, did you remember that funny little game that we did back at our mountain?"

"You mean me pointing my finger to a random place on a map just because I felt a tingle in my stomach?"

"Yup." Your eyes widened so much that you could feel your eyelash touch your forehead. You wanted to scream so hard that even whatever gods lived up there could hear you, but before you could, the monkey putted his hand on your mouth.

"There, there, let it all out," he said, while you were just muffling your scream on his hand. When you finally were finished and your breath was out, he removed his hand from your face, allowing you to mumble some curses under your breath.

"So we could be somewhere and find nothing?"

"Or we could be in the right place!"

You grumbled again, now more worried than before about your return to your original world. He sighed. Of course this was absurd to you; everything was, but you needed to trust him a little.

"I know it's hard, but... I believe in you. I know we're on the right path!"

"At least one of the two does..." You mumbled, kicking a rock near you, scratching your arm a little. You really wanted to believe him and in you, but to you, it was just so difficult to do it, especially since you were a complete no one...They all tell you you were some kind of powerful thing, this Bián huá, and yet you couldn't believe a single thing like this.

Looking at you, he guessed that you were still having doubts. He opened his mouth to say something when-

"On the go, bent the toe,

Life of a human, all for gold."

A voice, not far from you both, could be heard from your position. Someone was coming! The monkey looked at you, and a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

"Go and hide in the bush! I'll show you what I can do!"

You fastly follow his instructions, hiding behind some bushes on your right, while the voices get closer and closer. The monkey suddenly vanished under a cloud, only to be replaced with a ripe peach! What's he doing now? On the clearing, just when the smoke disappeared, appeared two... wolves?

They were walking on their two back legs, and like humans, they were wearing some clothes and holding their furr on their heads like some human hairstyles. The both of them were holding a sword; maybe they were scouting the area for some food? You didn't know, but you were sure worried for your monkey!

"Nowhere better than our home,

We cheat death and ever grow."

One of the two, the one that had his sword already drawn, noticed the fake peach on the ground, emitting a sound of surprise and showing a huge grin on his maw, and immediately went to take it in his paw.

"Here, you see? What bliss my fate shows!" How the hell that big dog was talking?!

"Well well! Luck's around the corner. Seems like it just fell from a fruit tree here." Said the other wolf, looking around in the search for the tree. You really hoped he didn't see you or smell you!

"Perfect timing! This peach knew I needed a snack!" And, after having cleaned it a little from the dust and played with it in his hand, the wolf took a huge bite on the fruit without a second guessing. In that moment, a cry of pain escaped from him, and he threw away the peach, alongside a few of his own teeth and some fur that the monkey must have pulled with it. Once on the ground, after a few jumps, the same smoke from before reappeared, and the fruit turned back to his simian original form.

"You sneaky rascal!" said the wounded wolf. "Dare to fool me?! I'll make sure you'll regret it!"

Before the two wolves could launch their attacks on the monkey, he had already drawn his own weapon from his ear and charged towards the two. You had seen him fight before, and it was always a show that left you in a haze. Violence wasn't a nice view, but his moves, his precision, his strength—it was surely something!

In a few minutes, the two wolves were already defeated and turned to dust, and you reemerged from your hiding spot.

"Wow...that's what you could only say.

"See? told you I could protect you."

"Well, you surely could... but the transformation was really necessary?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by someone.

"No matter how many times you come around. You are still as mischievous as ever, eh?"

An old voice suddenly started to be heard. It was an old one, cranky, and somehow friendly. The both of you started to look around, only to find only trees, rocks, and falling leaves. The monkey immediately came closer to you, looking around and sniffing, but beside the smell of the two wolves, there was nothing—just nature.

"Did...you hear that?"

"Yer," he said, guarding you.

"Good! I'm not crazy then!"

"And there's the Bián huá! All of you, always doubting your own security!"

You gulped loudly; he could hear you?! But that means he's near?! Then why even the monkey couldn't spot this mysterious old man?!

"Looks... looks like someone is watching us..."

"Um..." he looked at you, noticing your now frightening look, your eyes searching for the source of the voice. He held your hand in his own, gently giving you a small pull. "Came one. I'm sure that we'll find who's talking up ahead."

And so, the two of you started to take the road from where the two wolves had come from, realizing then that, if there was something, it was supposed to be there for sure. The more you started to clumb the path of the mountain, more enemies started to come. They were all wolves, and all of them were supposed to be the front guard of this mysterious place that, for some reason, started to make you feel... uneasy.

You couldn't put your hands on it, but it reminded you of the strange feeling in your stomach, yeah, the map one. Only that, this time, became stronger and stronger the more you two explored the mountain.

After another turn, the smell of incense reached both of you, and a small smoke caught your attention. Two fires were located at the sides of a small structure, a house in miniature. The closer you get, the more it becomes clear that it was a small shrine, far more detailed and more decorated than the one that you saw on Mount Huaguo. Suddenly, just like before, the same old voice started to ring again around you two.

"Aaah! Wha-what are you waiting for?! Pluck your hair and make an offer!"

You looked at the monkey, raising an eyebrow.

"...Uh...my hair?"

"There." He showed you that, after taking a few hairs from his head, their form changed into a thin and long incense stick that he lit with a few movements of his hand.

"See?"

"I can't do that. Mine is normal hair."

"Ooo, stop making silly excuses! Try it on!"

"Okay okay okay! Geez, I can't believe that I'm listening to a mysterious voice."

You imitated the same motion of the monkey, and, after a small glow, in your hand there was the same incense stick!

"But... did I do that?!"

"See? Always questioning! Now hurry up! Both of you!"

You both put the incense stick inside the small pot full of sand, and, as one surprise wasn't enough, another magic happened in front of you: the decoration of the shrine started to grow like branches, and, in a swirl of petals, pink peach flowers started to bloom under your eyes.

"It's...normal?"

"In some places, yes..."

"...So,...what now?" The monkey shrugged off at your question and made a few steps ahead. Before you could follow, the voice called upon you two once again.

"Hey! Wait!"

A smoke, just like the one that has been summoned by your monkey companion when he transformed, appeared again, but this time in front of you there was what reminded you of an old potato.

He was what you could imagine to be the personification of the concept of old. His legs and arms were so thin that it was strange that he could even move; his bald head, covered in some strange bumps similar to some roots, was covered in wrinkles and some spots here and there; and the white hairs that happened to be his eyebrows and beard covered his facial features that made it hard to see his eyes and mouth.

His robes, tinted in a deep blue, seemed quite elegant, despite their age. His weight was supported by an old wooden staff, curved to the end, and in his other hand a small stick. Does it remind you of a back scratcher?

"I, the keeper of Black Wind Mountain," he said while coughing, cleaning his clothes from the dust. "I have long been waiting for your arrival."

That old voice—he was the one that spoke to you before in the clearing! That old, small thing was the keeper of this mountain?!

"Let's see... the new Bián huá, eh? Well, you seem in good health," he said while pointing your side with his scratchback. "It will compensate for the lack of faith."

"Hey!" you ward off the wooden object while his continuous touch started to bother you.

"And she has some character on her, a good starting point..and you..." His eyes fell on the monkey, the destiny one. For a moment you feared that he could fall on his old and be ready to crash back, but he regained his stability in a few steps.

"Oh! His spitting image...I'd say."

Of who? You looked at the monkey, and he seemed almost proud? Was the keeper talking about... Sun Wukong? Well, all monkeys looked the same to you, so maybe it was the old age that talked...

"You were waiting for...him?" You pointed at the monkey; the old man just laughed a little at your naiveté.

"Child, I was waiting for both of you! For the Destined one and the Bián huá!" He walked over you two, pointing at the passage that extended ahead of you, between the rocks and the trees.

"Up ahead is Guanyin Temple. Once, it was bustling with worshippers before it was ruined by that fire."

His tone, before proud of the past of the place, became grave when he pointed at the proof of the tragedy that had happened there: skulls, human skulls. Come to think of it, those weren't the first you saw in the area... How many people had died there?

"What...fire?"

"You said you heard of the story, right?" The monkey said, recognizing what the old man was talking about, "You remember about the Elder Jinchi and the Kasaya?"

You pondered a little. You weren't that costumed about it, but you know that, perhaps, that was the cause of the fire.

"Yes, children..." said the keeper, pointing up ahead. "Then the temple was rebuilt." He suddenly turned to you, expressing a questioned and angry tone, "But what good is it to rebuild a temple if the good will of men has been burned to ashes?"

You kneeled near one of the skulls. It was so...small...the fear of the age of the one that once was in front of you struck you.

"But...it was rebuilt...then why the Yaoguais are here?" The monkey spoke, looking at the old man, still curious about the whereabouts of the temple.

"Monks came, men too, and they tried to rebuild life here! But that bear...he led his minions here!....Who couldn't escape had faced a bitter end."

"But...you're the keeper of this place...the deity of the mountain..." you finally spoke, following the step of the monkey. "You could take care of them, right? There as to be some way to fix this place!"

"I would! But that damn bear...he had brought something so powerful that even I couldn't match!"

Something that he couldn't match?... The eyes of the monkey gleamed, looking up at the mountain.

"The relic...it must be the relic!" He turned to you, ejoyed by this news: "You were right! You foudn it!"

"I...found it?" You repeated, "I... did! I did! ...oh...."

You soon realized what that meant, and suddenly, another sound emerged from the dark. A long, strong, and eerie howl of something that scared even the keeper and manmy birds that had already flied away from their previous location.

"You forgot this place," said the keeper, retreating away from the passage, "but they haven't forgotten you!"

You stod in your position, scavared by the sudden change of atmosphere, while the monkey observed the passage with caution, expecting everything to appear from it at any given moment. The old man, like he had appeared, disappeared in the cloud of smoke.

"That's a tough one. Good luck to you!"

And these were his last words, before you and your companion were left alone again. More than before, you felt an amount of emotion that you couldn't describe, but when you looked at the road where you came from, some doubts arose in you. The monkey noticed your fear, and he waited for your reaction.

Despite the desire to run, you simply couldn't. You stayed there, eyeing the entrance and your only way out. When you finally turned to the entrance, where you sure didn't want to go, you gulped.

"There's no turning back from there...right?" The monkey sighed; he wanted to tell you that you could just turn back and that he could handle it, but he couldn't say that; he knew that it was a lie.

This was supposed to be made in two.

"If you don't trust in yourself... then trust in me... trust in my ability."

He lends his hand towards you... and, with fear, doubt, and so many regrets, you take it, slowly entering the passage alongside him.

///

From that moment on, the forest became full of wolves. It was hard to advance without encountering a new enemy, and every time your companion never showed a moment of stress or panic, he only charged, attacking those enemies without trace of fear. Your only option, by your side, was to stand back, hide, or just... watch. You couldn't do more...even if, isnide, it made you quite nervous.

"Don't you get tired?"

"No, I've been doing this since I was a cup!"

"I wish I could help more." You scratched your arm again; it must have been a sign that showed your stress he had noticed. He just packed your back, swinging his tail.

"If you like, I can teach you a few tricks! Once we're back home with the relic, we'll have plenty of time!"

"You...would?" It felt nice. He didn't show off your anxiety about your role in that mission; instead, he just wanted to help you get confidence by taking some steps ahead. It was a nice gesture, even if you were quite unsure about if it could really help you.

"Of course!" he laughed. "We're both in this!"

You nodded. It was true; you were both in that.

The sound of the water became of a falling one, a sign that the river nearby became a waterfall. You were walking by it, searching for a few herbs, when you both became interested in taking and collecting when you heard something else. Another voice; it wasn't from the keeper, of course, but it wasn't like the ones from the wolves either. To be fair, there were no wolves now that your companion had cleaned the area.

When the sound of the waterfall became stronger, that's when you noticed.

"Monkey! Look over there!" You finger pointed towards a figure. Curved on her back, her white, messy hair spiked the most on het dark attire. The clothes were old and raggy, and by the jiggle he was wearing some wooden jewels. The long and thin hair and his colorful muse give away immediately her species. Your companion suddenly came closer, looking where your finger was pointing, noticing the creature.

"A Mandrill! There near the edge of the waterfall!" You kept saying. You didn't know what she was doing; it seemed like she was searching for something or trying to collect it from a stone, quite big, that rested in the center of the stream. The low level of the water allowed the rock to be accessible to the mandrill, but she seemed like whatever she was trying to rescue was stuck or simply unavaible.

The baboon must have heard your voice, and suddenly she stopped his doing with the rock, spinning away from it. You gasped when you saw her launch herself to the cliff, moving forward. But when you reached the same edge, you saw nothing there.

"She should be at least around..."

"I don't think that was a simple Mandrill, Y/N." The monkey that had reached your side was in time to take you and pull you back from the edge, fearing a fall.

"Was she your friend? Do you know her?"

"I never saw her in my entire life. Hey, hold on!" He looked at you, his hand on his hips. "It's not like we monkey know each and every one of us!"

"Well," you keep it up, mimicking his gesture, "you called each other brother and sister! And meeting a familiar face wouldn't be so bad here!"

He chuckled, giving you a small push. Then, both of your eyes landed on the rock that the baboon was inspecting, and curiosity took over.

"What do you think she was doing?"

"Well, let's take a look!" He went closer to the rock, and there you both realized that it wasn't completely a rock. It was a head—a big rocky head—maybe one of a statue that once must have been a decoration of the long-lost temple. The expression of the man that was depicted was calm and relaxed, his earlobe long; maybe a Buddha? The monkey started to clean the area and noticed some scratching at the base of one of the closed eyes of the statue. It seemed like he was trying to make a hole in it...

"Maybe there's a switch or-" And just when your hand touched the statue, suddenly its eyes wide opened. One of the two cavities of pure stone, but the one where the Mandrill was scratching was hollow and contained something. A sphere, pure white, the only color a red must at the center, discolored by the time. It wasn't smooth at all, but at the touch it was perceptible—some spirals, decotrating the orb.

"...What is it?" You asked curious, tapping the orb with your finger.

"I don't know... but it seems important; let's keep it!" And so, the orb soon vanished inside his own sack.

"You surely are one that loves to collect staff around, eh?"

"Well, if something is useful..."

You chukled a little, leaving the stream at your back. Keep it up with your ascension on the mountain. It didn't take long that now you would face another obstacle, and oooh boy, what an obstacle!

Guarding the gate, a huge Yaoguais was holding a huge Helberd, moving back and forward, ready to strike whoever crossed his path, or it was unlucky enough to meet it. It reminded you of some kind of bull, but he was pretty messed up to be one... The thing that really concerned you was the fact that he was practically in front of the gate; it was impossible to miss without a fight. Hiding behind a tree, you looked at your companion, who, without if or but, just took his own staff, ready to get in action.

"Stay here; be careful not to be spotted and to run."

"Run?"

"Just in case, wish me luck!" and so he marched towards the bull that, as soon as he had spotted him, he followed his example.

The two started to clash their weapons immediately, and you could clearly see that the monkey had the advantage of his small stature and his agility. He avoided all of his attacks in a few steps, which made the bull upset and more aggressive. And the guai had one more thing in his arsenal: he was scarily strong. Despite his massive stricture, the guai was able to make some huge jumps, creating such waves in his impact that the monkey needed to be careful around to avoid falling down and became an easy prey.

Unfortunely, the monkey made a misstep: in the attempt of blocking the helberd, the bull struck with full force, catching the opponent like a rag doll, and, after a good spin to get velocity, slammed him on the ground. He rose his helberd, ready to stride.

"NO!"

You screamed, leaving the tree where you were hiding, but before something could happen, a golden aura wrapped around the bull and, just before his last strike over the monkey could be delivered, his entire body stopped. It wasn't just stopped because he had stopped the attack, but because his entire body was like frozen!

You immediately went to the monkey side, checking the damage from the last strike. He was incredibly untouched; the helbard must have struck him in the side where there was no blade and just acting as a hammer. His body may be fine, but he had felt that.

"Oh God, oh God, are you okay?!"

"Ugh...It...hurt!"

Maybe not lethal but a bruise really was surely ready to appear there. You grasped his gourd, helping take a sip of that strange magic juice that the old monkey entrusted you both to take in case of these kinds of damages. After a gulp, the monkey lamented the savor of the concuun, but he was fine at least!

"The bull?!" He looked at you, ready to defend you.

"Ehm ..."

You pointed at his opponent, Frozen in One Place. Then you heard some ruffles, some paint of fatigue, and...the keeper?!

Somehow, he had started to climb the bull back and, once reached its shoulder, he took a jump from it, falling on his two sticked legs.

"It's been a while, but the Immobilize Spell still works like a charm!" He laiughed, clearly satisfied and somehow proud to show you both some of his own ability. You, on the other hand, were more interested in helping the monkey get back on his feet, preoccupied with finding more damages from the foe. Lucky for you, the juice was able to cure all of his wounds, even if the hurt of the strike still lingered.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes...huff, he almost got me..." He looked at the now immobilized bull, still ready to send his last strike on him. "A trick like this could be very useful around here."

"Well, since you hail from Mount Huaguo, it won't hurt to teach you a handy trick."

The monkey looked at him, still recovering from the fall, when the old man started to move his wooden hand around. It started to emit a soft light and some sparkle.

"Now, here we go; give me your hand!" And, without wait or but, the same small wand emitted a light that struck towards the monkey. You companion, fearing for another attack, immediately covered his face with his hand, but instead of pain, he felt... nothing?

Not nothing; he felt the same sensation when you pour warm water on your arm—harmless and somehow nice. He felt the sensation rise to his arm, to his shoulder, and then disappear, leaving only a sigyl on the palm of the same hand. You both noticed that it was the same symbol above the bull head.

"There you go, "continued the old man, while the two of you were observing the sign, in a mix of surprise and curiosity. "Should you come across any miscreants, just point your finger at them and release this spell. You'll be able to hold them in place while giving yourself a breather."

The monkey studied more his hand, carefully seeing the sign slowly disappearing on his skin, while you looked at the old man with a gleam of hope.

"It's going to come in handy around here!" said the monkey, his confident smirk coming back on his face.

"It would be so helpful if I could learn something like this too."

"My child," said the old man, chukling at your naivety. "In this world, muscles and brute force are not the only weapons that you can possess!" And, knowing who you are, a spell like this is a joke for you!"

"I...can learn it too?" You looked at the bull, and, in a rush of courage, you took some steps in front of it.

You waved your hand in front of it and, noticing that it was pretty much impossible for it to move, you laughed, running back to your companion, who instintly put you behind him, like ready to defend you if that thing was ready to move again.

"It's amazing!" you said in joy. "With this trick, we can avoid so many fights!"

"Y/n," the monkey said to you, disconsolate," we can't just avoid every fight we have in front of us."

"He's not right, child," the old man sighed. "Sadly, mine is but an humble trick. Its power will wear off within a few short moments."

"Moments?!" you gulped, jumping back. "And when were you expecting to tell us that?!"

"I told you that it's not that simple!" Monkey came back to his fighting stance, while you took a step back, taking more distance from the upcoming fight.

"Ah ah, yes, yes, I know, not a great spell; thought it's good enough against boneheads like this one!" He pointed again to the bull with a teasing tone. "Anyway, just consider it an ace up your sleeve."

As soon as he finished his speech, the blow that was stopped suddenly crashed to the ground; the golden aura had dissipated from the bull, and it was angry.

The keeper was able to retreat from the scene, clearly shaken by the sudden release of the bull that now pointed to the monkey and you furious.

"The Yaoguais these days know no manners!"

"Y/n! Stand back!" His immediate thought came to your own safety; now the bull had seen you, and every chance could be good for it to attack you!

"FEAR NOT! "screamed the keeper to you and the monkey, "Teach him a lesson with your new spell!"

As soon as the old man had disappeared, the bull went on the offensive, more aggressive than he was before. You had to retreat as best as you could to avoid the fight and to be spotted by the giant creature. He needed more minutes to adjust to this new technique, but just when the bull tried to play the same trick from before, the monkey was ready and used the spell against it.

It stopped! It was completely immobile! You gasped for the excitement, and, after the monkey had gifted you a small wink like to tell you to watch, he suddenly launched himself to his counterattack.

The bull was free after a few moves, but it was more shaken than before and pretty much hurt. He needed another good strike, but after that the monkey was able to put down his opponent and, just like the others, disappeared in a cloud of dust.

"You did it!" YOU DID IT! YOU USED THE SPELL!"

You jumped to him in joy; he freed the passage! And now he learned a new trick! He was just amazing!

He patted your shoulder, laughing a little like you, with a soft shade of red on his cheeks. "Yes, yes, I did it! But it's not over yet!"

He pointed to the now-opened passage—the road ahead of you.

///

"If it wasn't for the wolves ready to kill us, I would love to take a picnic here."

"Pic nic?"

"When you bring lunch outside and eat in the wild. I used to do it a lot when I went on the mountain to my grandparents during the summer."

Monkey seemed always interested in knowing your past; it seemed like, despite all, you had an almost normal childhood...noyt like its own...always training, always giving his best...well, he loved to make some pranks here and there, but the others had always considered him the responsible one of the bunch.

While walking, your attention was taken by an unusual sight: it must have been a balcony in the past; now what was left was only the old decoration of the door, the structure to the outside, and the wood that composed the floor. Two small pillars, decorated with two figures of what presumebly was Guanyin, were on the sides of a cushion and, in front of it, an incense holder.

"Someone use this place..."

"It must be a meditation point, to meditate...a great spot, even..."

You looked to the monkey; why so? It was in the middle of nowhere. By his looks, lost in the horizon, you followed his example. It was quite beautiful and calming. He then decided to take a place in the cuschion and ask you to follow him.

"Came on! It helps the mind!"

"I'll just watch. I'm not good alone with my thought."

"As you wish..."

His eyes closed, his face relaxed, like every muscle of his body. He seemed like a statue in that pose, and by how quickly he was able to communicate, or he needed a lot, or he just was used to that practice. You, instead, decide to sit at the edge of the structure, sighing and admiring the view.

He was right; it wasn't just beautiful; it was calming. You closed your eyes, letting the mountain breeze caress your cheeks and air, allowing it to enter your nostrils and your lungs.

You could hear so many things like that—the creaking of the wood, the howling of a few wolves in the distance, the leaves that moved in the branch—since when these sounds were so hard to listen to in your world?

In the distance, mountains could be seen, and, not far from your spot, structures that maybe once were habitated by humans and monks. Knowing that such a desolation happened in that place, yet nature decided to reclaim that portion of the world, taking back what had been taken away.

You sighed again, more air in your lungs...then a hand shaken you.

"Don't do this on the edge, at least! You can take a place near me!"

"You gave me a heart attack!"

"And how was I supposed to feel when I saw you there, ready to fall?!"

"Okay, I'm sorry! I'll do it with you next time!"

He seemed pleased; at least he wasn't obligated to catch you from a dead fall on a cliff!

"You were right. It's beautiful... Yaoguais aside."

"Yes, I don't know what's going to happen after we take the relic back from the Black Bear, but maybe things are going to get better."

"I just..." you scratched your arm. "I just hope the monks that died here can find a piece."

The image of that skull was still fresh in your mind. It scared you, yes, but it was most definitely sad. They must have been so scared alone. He looked at you with fondness; your thoughts decided to go to the ones that had suffered. You must have had quite a big heart. He took your hand, smiling.

"They'll be glad to know that we're taking care of this...now..." he pointed at two fires, both of the at the sides of a passage, an opening on the rocky walls of the mountain. "We must go. There's still a long road for us."

You nodded, and so you went back to your journey.

///

"We had to pass..."

"There are like...a LOT of wolves there, and I have a really bad feeling!"

"But we can't just stop here!"

"Well, we can't surely move forward like this?!"

Since he had made it clear that there was more enemy ahead, the two of you started to discuss what to do, but it seems like it was harder than you both thought. He sensed a lot of enemies ahead, and if he had to make a safe road, protecting you wasn't easy. You wanted to search a safe path, but there wasn't something like this right there, and he wanted to march in and take care of the problems right there.

"Listen, I'm going in."

"Monkey, please let's just-"

"Hey! Wait! You don't think you can just parade in, do you?! It's not that simple!"

As again, the old man had decided to appear and gave some help to the two of you. You gave a sigh of relief. Finally, that could actually listen to you!

"Finally! I was trying to tell him! We must take another path!"

"Dear one, there's no other path here!"

"Ah, ah!" the monkey smuggled on your face. "See? No path! ...So, any other suggestion, old keeper?"

"But of course I do! Let me transform you into a golden cicada, so you may follow the fires ahead and scout this mountain unnoticed."

He pointed to a series of fires that started to streech across the forest, a way to move across the darkness of the trees, especially during cloudy days or the night. With the same movements of his wand, the old man created the same light from the last time and, once again, struck the poor monkey.

"Wait wait! I can do it by my"

"FLY!"

"SELF!"

Like before, the poor monkey was completely helpless against the magic of the so helpful keeper, and instead of the young, bold monkey, now there was a small insect, with golden shades, flying around. The old man laughed, looking how confused the small cicada was trying to recall his surroundings. Now, there was this little inconvenience...

"But..." you pointed to your still humanoid body. "What about me?"

"Umm...a cicada is hard. You need a lot of control to move so many little arms and legs. Let's see. Let's see. Something simple, something helpless, something...ah!"

"Wait! Let me at least prepare my-"

Without a warning, you were the second victim of the Keeper magic, but you weren't what you were expecting. You looked at your now fluffy paw, a small cottontail, and very long ears.

"A rabbit?! Why can't I fly too?!"

"It's harder than it looks, child! Now, it might be humble, but my shrine is very versatile. You'll get it soon enough."

And, with these words, the Keeper disappeared in another cloud of smoke, leaving the cicada and the bunny alone.

"It's not fair. I wanted to fly too!"

"If it makes you feel better," said the cicada in a very pinch-high voice, "you look fluffiest than ever."

You two laughed a little before hearing for the last time the old Keeper.

"In the depths of Black Winf Mounain, there are secrets galore. These transformations may help you explore, but be wary; this form does not last forever."

"What do we do if we get lost?"

"Should you find yourself lost, just follow my voice. Now, off you go!"

You two looked at each other and, uncertain, started to move.

He had it easier; he could just fly around without getting spotted! You needed to act as natural as possible! Somehow, the wolves seemed more interested in cooking the ones that they already had than huunting you, so you were able to move around, alongside other bunnies and racoons, without fear of being taken.

When the two of you had the impossibilities to avoid the wolves, you were able to listen to them talk. It seemed that your presence in the mountain has been spotted, but they weren't sure of where you were or what your real intention was. As much as they knew, they only knew about a shapeshifter and a mortal alongside him. They also talked about a certain lord... maybe an affiliate of the bear?

Well, at least like that, you could avoid so many troubles... Somehow, you felt a little more safe in the shape of such a helpless animal. You both kept on going, following the fire as instructed, finding the way easier that you expected to find.

"Look! I can see the end of the trail of fire, Y/N!" The small voice of the monkey called you out from the bushes, pointing with his antennea at what was supposed to be the less populated area.

"Finally, being a bunny is... not... so."

You felt something inside you. You felt...a calling.

You turned around; there was another of those old porches, one that the fire had only ruined but not destroyed. You looked in that direction, and you were sure it came from there.

"We just need to cross; we're so...Y/N?"

You weren't anymore near the bushes, so he got closer and started to roam the small area.

"Y/n? Y/N?!" He called, louder this time and much more worried. He couldn't see you. Where did you go?! Why did you leave all of a sudden?!

You couldn't hear his call; there was something else that held your attention. It was the same pull in your chest that called you towards the relic, but it was...different. It felt like stagnant water, a mix of smells that you couldn't quite get.

It was a large clearing; the wall of the mountain and a cliff, secured with a parapet, gave them a natural circular shape. Besides trees and plants, fog covered the area, hiding a wooden structure in the same area. You couldn't put your hand on it, but something was there—something big and round. You jumped closer, not noticing the aura of fiery eyes looking at your every movement. Before you could get closer, a large pressure came to your delicate neck; a hand with a sharp claw had you now in his clutches.

"Well, well... and what do we have here?

Avoiding screaming helped you to keep your bunny form, but you couldn't hold a gasp when you saw the wolverine creature that was holding you by your neck. Now you were in big trouble!

The wolf was different from the other; he seemed older and calmer. His robe reminded you of one of a monk, but it was so old and lacerated. His old mansion was so ruined, almost burnt here and there. Despite his strength, his claw gently held you and took you in his arm, holding you in place. You felt his rough fingers scratching your head, confusing you more than before.

"It's not a safe place for a small one like you. Humans and wolves love eating your flesh. I used to eat your kind when I was younger; now I can only remember the hunt."

Oh, so he didn't eat bunnies? He could have eaten humans, though.

Besides him, a long staff was stuck into the ground, a double blade to each end. You noticed now that the blade was strange in certain places; it seemed like it had burned. Now, in his arms, you could see clearly what was holding the structure: a bell, a giant bell made of iron.

It was simple, besides the decorations, like many other bells around... then why you seemed to be pulled by it.

You jumped from the wolf arms, sniffing and getting closer to the giant metal object.

"I never saw bunnies interested in bell... I suppose to guard it...but you don't look like a treat."

Well, not now at least.

You made another jump, much closer; now your small paw was able to reach the bell when, in your head, his sound started to echo so hard that it was painful.

Your body couldn't handle it, so you scream, holding your small rodent head in those paws, scaring the wolf, and, with any chance to control it, the pain forced you to release your true form.

You were still holding your head when you noticed the wolf, now holding his weapon.

"You... you tried to trick me, human?!" You gulped and tried to get back, finding yourself stuck between the wolf and the bell.

"I-i didn't-" Then, a sound or rustling and footstep caught your and the wolf's attention.

"Who goes there?! How dare you interrupt my meditation?"

And so, the face of a very worried monkey appeared from the fog and the shadow, looking at you with apprehension by your vicinity with the Yaoguai. The wolf looked at him, and a small smile came to his face, far more sinister than the one that he had shown you before.

"Hmmm...another monkey I see?" He asked, almost happy to see him. The blade in his hand started to change; it became red like it was on fire. Hold on, IT WAS ON FIRE!

"Why don't you lay down your weapon and join me in Buddha's mercy?" His weapon had made a few swifts on the ground; the dead leaves, the herbs, and whatever that thing was touching suddenly started a small fire, separing you from your companion.

"What say you?!"

He needed to connect; the wolf was already on his tail when he marched on! He needed to get you out of there before the fire could reach you; luckyly, you took cover behind the giant bell! Maybe he had time; he just needed to calm him down before it was too late!

That wolf was old, but he was a formidable foe! His swing was like he had never seen anyone do it, and every strike was precise and destructive. It was just like a fire; you couldn't control it; you could just watch and hope it doesn't destroy more.

But he needed to fight that fire!

He used the spell that the keeper had taught him and started again to attack his opponent. Sometimes, out of the blue, the wolf was able to persome formidabvòe aerial attacks, where even the monkey found trouble defending himself. Sometimes he was even able to rush like he could fly, and the fire just made him stronger.

Fighting him wasn't easy, but with the help of the spell and the fact that his own technique didn't need too much energy to be imposed, the monkey was soon the victorious one of the duels.

The wolf fell on the ground, covered in bruises and blood; his fur was now more burned than before. His eyes cast between you, now free to move while the monkey was killing the fire, and his opponent.

"You..." His voice was in pain, the last stray of strength only to talk, "Master spoke of you."

And while he started to disappear, three last words came from his mouth.

"The Destined...one..."

Peace came back in the clearing.

You looked at where the wolf had disappeared, asking yourself how much his master knew about you two, about what happened there, and..the hand of the monkey slapped your head.

"Don't run off like that again!"

"Ouch! It wasn't my fault!"

"Yeah! Some strange magic led you here?!"

"..."

"...Seriously?"

You sighed; of course it was crazy, but it was true! Something called you here to do...something!

"I'm sorry...it just...something is strange... I don't know what's happening in me."

The monkey looked at your face. You were so concentrated, your hand caressing the carving of the metal face of the giant object. He wasn't used to bell like this; his own hand caressed the wooden trunk made to play the instrument.

"...Monkey?" He looked at you and said, "We should play it."

"No way! They'll spot us!"

"We're already on everyone's agenda! Please! I... I need it." You please.

He sighed, ready to regret every moment of this. He needed just a swing of the trunk when the sound of the bell started to resonate on the entire aura—on the mountain itself.

Then something else happened. Everything got dark; it was a forest, like the one you and your companion were planting—a child—he was alone. Many people were dying there; something had to hunt them down!

No! You must run! The bear! The bear is... giving him... jewels?

The sun rises, the monastery...

When you woke up from the trance, the monkey had to catch you before falling from the scaffold of the bell.

"Y/n! What's happening?! Are you okay?!"

You just moved your head, confused, scared...was that a vision? It was an old memory? The stagnant water now was moving; a rotting smell came to you.

"You just had to make some noise, did you?!" The voice of the Keeper came back again. He seemed stressed; the sound had scared some birds too. "Now everyone knows you're here! When a chime so grand echoes in the forest, Yaoguais will surely be alarmed!"

He was right; the monkey was able to sense the hair change now. The road was getting just more difficult...

"I'm sorry. I asked him to do it."

"Child, why asking for such a thing?!"

"....I....i'm sorry..."

The monkey couldn't stay angry with such a hurt expression in front of him...but why do you need it? And what did you see? Holding you in his arms, he started to head back to the road.

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sc0tters · 1 year ago

Text

All Bark No Bite | Ethan Edwards

summary: you and Ethan have disliked each other from the moment you met. so what happens when you connect with some old friends from high school that just so happen to be on the other team that send Ethan the wrong idea?

request: yes/no

warnings: sexual themes, p in v, thigh riding, minor mention of spanking, use of a Polaroid camera whilst having sex, swearing, use of the nickname brat and princess once or twice, use of y/n once too.

word count: 2.6k

authors note: wrote this last night after a rugby game, was running on three hours of sleep and pure excitement after the all blacks won… very much did love writing about Ethan and this was actually meant to be up yesterday but I literally got home at 1 in the morning. this request was highly detailed so I hope I did it justice!

You hated him.

Your and Ethan's little rivalry went back all the way to the first day of freshman year when he took your drink order at the coffee shop on campus because he had the same order and was late.

From that day on you hoped that he would rot in hell.

The hockey team were put in the middle of it all though when you joined the team as the new photographer. When you saw his face you were ready to quit, but you needed Coach Naurato's signature at the end of the season in order to pass the first year of your degree thus you stayed.

But that didn't mean that it was all cordial. The screaming matches you two would have were so frequent to the point where you two were not allowed in the same room together alone, not that either of you were ever going to complain about that.

So when you two hadn't said a single thing to each other in over two weeks, you were practically on cloud nine. You were at the top in all of your classes, you had a fuck buddy in Mark, and Ethan hadn't done anything to screw either of those two things up.

Ethan hated what you and Mark were, not only because of the fact that he said a wall with your bed buddy but also because the sounds of your moans had quickly become the only material he could use to jack-off to.

Just last night after hearing you leave the sophomore house when he dozed off to sleep Ethan was met with a harsh surprise, that was a dream about you.

He had to admit that he knew most of the image of you was true, he had seen your lacy thong that landed up in Marks washing and one time when you were in your office at the Yost you accidentally spilt a smoothie down your white shirt. Despite shutting the door, you had forgotten to shut the blinds by the window you had inside the office. That meant when Ethan walked past he was giving a front row seat to watch you get semi undressed. He knew it was wrong how his mouth watered at the sight of your blue bra but it just looked like it was made for your breasts.

Even though it was game day at the Yost, Ethan avoided you like the plague as he attempted to get that image out of his mind.

That's why it was so confusing to you when the conversation you were having with two of the Ohio state players was cut short by the Canadian. He had been glaring at the two boys unaware that you were catching up with them because the three of you went to high school together.

You wanted to slap that glare off of Ethan's face but as the players from Ohio were scattered around you knew that you would get in trouble if you did indeed hit him.

So instead when you saw he had his bag ready to go you dragged him to your office. It was far away enough from the main parts of the players areas so that nobody would hear you two.

You shut the door behind you and was ready to unleash your full fury at him "what the hell was that?" You both spoke at the same time.

Ethan was quicker to let out a scoff "you wanna tell me?" He asked taking a step towards you "fucking touching them like that." The boy added as you were now against your table as you tried to avoid being too close to him.

Yeah you had hugged both boys but that was because you hadn't seen them since the previous year "green is not a good colour for you," you pointed out with a laugh as he was acting rather jealous.

The comment made him roll his eyes "could you maybe not be a little brat for one second?" He cocked his head as he had now pushed you onto the table.

You knew that you were teetering on a fine line with him "what are you going to do if I don't?" The smirk was clear on your face and it only became more evident when his own facial expressions hardened.

He wanted to do it, he wanted to show you but Mark was acting like a mental blocker. Sure it was stupid but Ethan was a man of bro code "knew you'd be all bark and no bite." You mumbled shaking your head as you moved your hand to his chest to move past him.

That seemed to press the on button in the boys head as his hand cupped your cheek, and before you both knew it he was now kissing you.

It took you a second before you kissed him back causing what quickly became a fight between your tongues that you lost when Ethan placed a slap on your ass. The gesture was small but it brought a moan out of you and he felt it in his shorts.

The sounds that he had heard so much from the room next door was now right in front of him.

The Canadian pulled you towards the couch as he sat down letting you land on top of him "let's get this off of you," he motioned to the strings of your sweatpants as you nodded quickly pulling the gray pants off.

The boy looked at the sight as he released out a groan "look at you in these pretty little panties," he mumbled as he rested his hand on hip as he wanted to move your hoodie that was hiding the fabric.

As his fingers dug in that bone it caused you to grind against his thigh, eliciting another moan from you.

It caught Ethan off guard as he looked up at you "you like that?" He asked as he brushed the loose strands of your hair behind your ear.

You placed your hands on his shoulders "yeah," you moaned as you leaned forward to kiss him again.

His hands didn't let up as he continued to help you reach what you both hoped was your high "god you’re wet,” Ethan’s head fell back as the fabric on his thigh was quickly becoming soaked.

When his head dropped you took the opportunity to kiss his neck making the effort to draw hickeys on the area.

He squeezed your thighs as he moved his hand back to your ass to place another smack on it “been waiting to have you like this.” The hockey player confessed as he watched you smile.

It was a shit eating grin “you must have been so jealous of Mark then pretty boy.” You cooed letting out a sigh as your mouth formed an o shape.

Ethan scoffed at the mention of his housemate “that mouth of yours is going to get you in some hot water,” he warned as he pushed his lips into a thin line.

In the best of times you said some things that you probably weren’t meant to “it’s not like you’re going to do anything about it.” You teased, reminding him of what you had said earlier “all bark. No bite,” you pecked his lips between the two sentences as you bit the inside of your cheek trying your best to suppress a moan when the boy forced your hips into his thigh.

He knew he shouldn’t have reacted because you were simply trying to get under his skin “up,” Ethan placed you next to him on the couch as he began to unbuckle his pants.

You furrowed your eyebrows as you were left speechless “you got condoms princess?” The Canadian asked as he as he knew that he had none in his bag.

The sound of your laughter could be heard as you nodded getting up to grab the box that was in a drawer. Ethan thought that you had kept them because you and Mark had slept together before on this couch. When in fact one of the freshmen asked you to get him some once, not wanting to know what size Rutger was you just told him to grab what he needed from the drawer.

Ethan had kicked his pants off and had now caught the attention of your camera that was sat on the table next to the couch.

He met you in the middle of the room in nothing more than his boxers “let’s get this off of you,” the hockey player muttered as he tugged at the end of your hoodie. You lifted up your arms in an attempt to help his efforts “you knew you were gonna get fucked today didn’t ya?” He groaned seeing that you were in a matching set.

A smirk was evident on your face, “Mark usually fucks me real good after a big win,” that was the honest truth, Mark always landed up back in your dorm after a powerful team performance “lay down pretty boy,” your voice was soft as you sent him a smile.

The Canadian scoffed “what makes you think that you’re in charge?” He asked still listening to you.

He watched as you rolled the condom over his cock “thought brats always get what they want?” You showed him that you weren’t going to let him forget about what he called you.

You smiled as you straddled over his thighs using his cock to tease your clit before you slid onto it “fuck,” you groaned as his hands found their familiar home on your hips “taking me so well,” his breath was hot against the shell of your neck as he helped you fuck yourself on him.

The sound of skin slapping could have been heard from anyone in that hallway but thankfully all of the umich players were far too focused on celebrating the big win.

Ethan was bigger than Mark which was honestly really surprising to you because you always thought that the Canadian screamed small dick energy.

But as he managed to hit spots that Mark could only ever scratch “so good,” your eyes screwed shut as Ethan wrapped his lips around your nipple.

He sucked at your breast letting his hand massage the other one “E,” you moaned as your fingers raked through his hair slightly pulling at it “wanna take a picture of you,” you confessed letting your thoughts be voiced.

You were honestly surprised that you were able to form that coherent sentence as you could feel the coil in your stomach that was getting tighter by the second.

It was weird, usually your camera was only something that you used for the team on the ice or during funny moments. This was fitting under neither category “here I was thinking that I was the one with no bite.” Ethan watched as you reached over to grab the Polaroid camera that was next to your big camera. The boy was able to use this moment to fuck you at a different angle almost causing you to land flat on your face by the surprise movement “it’s my job to be the little shit,” you mumbled sending him a glare.

Ethan let out a laugh “sorry princess,” he apologised and attempted to make it up to your by leaving a trail of kisses from your jaw back down to your breasts.

As his face was nuzzled between the two you took the moment to take that picture letting out a whimper as he looked back up at you “my turn,” the hockey player reached out with one hand to grab the camera and used his other to rub his thumb over your clit.

Your head fell back and it caused him to get the perfect picture. As the piece of film came out he knew that the image of your scrunched up face trailing down to your breasts that were quickly becoming more visibly marked by the second was you to be one that was going to live in his wallet.

For safe keeping’s of course but also for a little bit of material that he could use as he pleased.

He liked how he was pulling moans out of your mouth quicker than he had ever heard Mark do it.

Ethan knew that it was wrong but subconsciously he had made a competition within himself to outcompete the boy that he had heard you with so many times already.

It was like if the Canadian could make you feel better than his Michigan born teammate then maybe you’d cut things out with Mark then.

Maybe even you’d pick Ethan up as a fuck buddy instead.

But he was pulled from his thoughts as you clenched around him practically sucking the life out of his cock as he was brought back to reality “you’re so good to me,” you cooed as the attention to your clit was bringing you ever so closer to your high.

He placed a soft kiss to your collar bone “you wanna be a good girl and come for me?” He asked just increasing the rate of which his thumb rubbed the sensitive nub as you began to bounce your hips against him.

The coil in your stomach was so tight that it almost hurt “fuck me wow!” You yelled as your whole body shook as you even felt the orgasm in your toes.

Thankfully for you the boy was right behind you as you throbbing and clenching around him spurred on his orgasm, causing him to mumble a string of so good as he helped you ride out your high.

You found the energy in yourself to move off of him as your body collapsed on the couch next to him but thankfully on the side that didn’t have the now fully processed photos.

Because we can’t have those getting damaged now can we?

Ethan smiled as he ran his fingers through your hair “we should go that again some other time,” he proposed causing you to let out a giggle as it was the first thing that he had said to you after sex.

You looked at him leaning in to peck his lips as you were still in that fucked out state “my pretty little brat,” the Canadian mumbled as he brushed your hair out of your face.

As you leaned forward to grab your hoodie his phone went off with a string of notifications “someone’s popular,” you teased sending him a smile.

Ethan let out a laugh “I could say the same thing to you,” he had a giant smirk on his face as he flipped his phone around to you.

Mark 🛑 you know where y/n is? saw you with her earlier

Your face turned red as you had totally forgotten about the fact that you and Mark were actually meant to do some work for a class after the game.

So you let out a groan as you tried to get up “I gotta go,” you announced as you pulled your sweatpants over your legs not bothering to find your panties as you figured that you could leave them as a memento for the Canadian.

You were grateful that you had a spare pair of slides in the office as you didn’t feel like putting on your airforces “you can let yourself out right?” You asked as you grabbed the photo of him and your phone.

Speechless all Ethan could do was nod.

He clearly thought that your evening went down worse than his did.

Maybe this wasn’t meant to happen again.

#ethan edwards #ethan edwards smut #ethan edwards imagine #imagines #hockey imagine #nhl imagine #nhl oneshot #oneshots #hockey imagines #umich smut #umich imagine #umich x reader #ethan edwards x reader #ethan edwards x y/n #amber writes fics

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uranium235s · 6 months ago

Text

it occurs to me I've actually never done anything to introduce my courier despite posting about him 400 times I just kinda made everyone witness him so here's some basic stuff + his lore under the cut (long and probably very boring post incoming)

chester was born in Utah and lived there til he was almost a teenager when the Legion swept through his village and took him as a slave. his parents were much older, and were killed, and his other family (older brother) had left for California some months prior, leaving chester the sole support of his family. he does not remember his birth/original name

chester had some decent experience (for an 11 year old) of fixing machines because his father collected pre-war cars and motors and sold them and their parts for a living and so was sent downriver to Arizona to serve as a repairman and technician. while Legion property he was given the name Chiron

Chester lived in Arizona with the legion until he was 20 years old, hating every minute. a boy around his age by the name of Attilius was charged with keeping watch over him and bringing him new projects, and during the duration of their time together had developed a rapport over Roman poetry and literature, the only thing they could stand to talk to each other about.

Attilius was watching over him when Chester staged his escape and made it out. the two fought with Chester emerging victorious, believing he had killed Attilius, and escaping despite some severe injuries, including a spinal cord injury that ended up giving him brain damage, causing him to live with hallucinations, seizures, and worsening eyesight from this point on

Chester escaped via the Colorado River and came out on the other side in Nevada. he started wandering aimlessly, ignoring his injuries until he began becoming faint and passed out in a toppled semi truck and was discovered by some well intentioned folks that were traveling up the way to Vegas. they got him medical help before leaving him in Primm, at which point he took up a job as a courier with the Mojave Express at age 21, taking on a new name which he now cannot remember.

the freedom of being a courier was something Chester lived for. every day was a good day, he could go anywhere, meet lots of people, and got paid pretty good for his efforts. he was, and I cannot stress enough, perfectly and utterly happy with his simple mailman life, and misses it every sinnggglllee day during the game events. this continued on for ten happy years, in which time he learns that his older brother, Tomás, has become a trooper with the NCR. he avoids reaching out for some years after the discovery, wary of what his brother would think of him for his years in the Legion (even if it wasn't his choice.) when he does reach out, the only thing he receives in return is his brother's dog tags, learning he was killed in the battle of hoover dam 😀👍

the day after his 31st birthday is when he took the platinum chip job and ended up in a shallow grave in Goodsprings. after his brief coma and stay in the doctors house, and picking a new name again (Chester) and after resolving tensions with the Powder Gangers, he immediately cut a path to Vegas on the hunt for Benny. at first, he wanted revenge, but the anger turned to confusion, turned to helplessness. on his way through quarry junction, he was attacked by an injured deathclaw that had been abandoned by the rest of its pack, and recieved the scratches that blinded one of his eyes

after the attack, he managed to run as far as the NCR sharecroppers outside of the Strip before he collapsed and crawled his way to Freeside, where he was discovered by an unsuspecting Arcade, who took him in with haste and stitched him back together. the following day when Chester finally woke, Arcade gave him a full examination and decided it was medically unsafe for him to be alone and decided to follow him to keep an eye on him, though the two get a lot closer over the game events. Arcade also decided it'll be easiest if they make their way back to Primm and start the investigation from where it all began, rather than trying to break into an expensive, well armed luxury district and demand answers from a complete stranger. Chester agrees.

Chester has questionable memory of his past. he more or less remembers being a courier, in fact it's the period of time he remembers best (in comparison) about his life and kind of sensationalizes it and how badly he wants to return to that stage of his life, but the future marches ever onward. he doesn't remember any part of his life before the age of 15, and therefore only remembers he was part of the Legion and not the circumstances as to why. he avoids and detests them, scared that he's forgetting something awful about who he was and what he did, and keeping the information close to his chest. he remembers being Chiron, and doesn't know the limitations of his Chiron persona, and therefore has been renaming himself and reinventing himself every chance he gets (this is made worse by the fact that he remembers "killing" Attilius and fears that it proves he was as evil as the rest of them)

after the game, and because he had formed a strong relationship with Arcade, he elects to join the Followers of the Apocalypse, offering to help find and restore medical supplies across the desert. this arrangement lasts for about a year and a half until the events of Dead Money take place, and chester has a severe downward spiral upon returning home. he gives all his money from the Sierra Madre away immediately, tried to keep the severity of how bad he was doing mentally under wraps so as to not draw any concerns or questions from his friends but ended up breaking down and having a less than stellar confrontation with Arcade involving holding him at gunpoint (I must stress he was not in his right mind!)

after that they grew distant for a few months when Chester was back to patient status amongst the Followers, skirting around camp, talking mostly to some of the better suited doctors about what he was going through, before him and Arcade inevitably made up! and the rest is happily ever after. kind of

other misc things:

• chester playlist

• favorite wasteland animal: bighorner

• favorite radio song: johnny guitar - peggy lee

• lives in Novac and in Freeside

• closest relationship with Arcade, but also with Lily, Julie Farkas, and a decent partnership with Boone, though he gets along better with Manny and talks to him more often when in Novac

• he doesn't remember the dog tags he wears are his brother's, but he keeps them on because he feels like it might be important. I think he rediscovers this fact when he revisits Utah much later in life

• he hates wearing his glasses and pretty much only does so when Arcade or Julie insists he must (and insist they do)

• Attilius did not die in their fight, he was found unconscious and badly wounded and was punished by having his tongue cut out (with the claim that having those talks with Chester made him too weak to do his job.) the two met again during the second battle and he was killed in combat

• he develops a fondness and eventual passion for energy weapons after visiting the Silver Rush with Arcade and taking an interest in why he likes them so

• never returns to the Lucky 38 after the events of the story, so that casino is just rotting eternally. would ideally give the property to anyone who needs it but doesn't know who needs it to begin with

• low intelligence high science and medicine because of how invested he gets in learning from Julie and Arcade, and medicine in particular he finds passion in when speaking to Lily and examining her condition

• high perception because of paranoid hypervigilance

• clothes were given to him by The Followers after he showed up post-deathclaw attack, originally had a denim jacket but it was ruined in the conflict

#oh lord #not much to say here #i love my courier i think about him entirely too much #my art #digital art #rhys's pieces (oc)#original character #oc -> chester #ocs -> fallout #fallout new vegas #fallout ocs #courier 6 #courier six #fnv courier #fnv

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wesawbears · 9 months ago

Text

Sunshine Court broke something in my brain, so here's some protective Jean because my boy is not gonna tolerate whatever is going on with Jeremy's family.

Tagging @bienmoreau @faintlyglow and @betterbekind

Jeremy's hands shake as he's getting ready for dinner with his family.

Jean doesn't mean to notice, perched as he is on the bed, watching the other man straightening his shirt in front of the dresser. Jeremy's very good at hiding it, with his easy smiles and easier deflections. By now, he knows it's an open secret that Jeremy avoids his family as best he can, and that Cat and Laila allow him his choice.

But Jean has spent his whole life reading into the slant of someone's posture to survive, and he knows the tremor in Jeremy's hands as if it was his own.

“You're afraid,” he says, the words arriving unbidden. But it's such a shock to see him like this– the man who stood in front of Jean at the darkest points of his life and refused to look away, cowed by the people who were supposed to love him.

This was Jean's friend, his partner, and he was feeling unsafe.

Jeremy jumps at the sound, either lost in his own thoughts or used to the quietness of Jean for the last few minutes. “What?”

Jean weighs what he wants to say. He knows he's had his fair share of truths he's asked to keep to himself, and that Jeremy has never pushed when it mattered. But he also thinks about “for now”, and how hard truths can only be avoided for so long. “Is it your parents?”

Jeremy's eyes widen, a nervous fidget in the set of his hands. If he wants to lie, Jean's already decided to allow it. But Jeremy finally says a quiet, “Yes and no.”

Jean nods. “Do they- are you safe?” He doesn't think he's seen bruises, and he remembers the horror in Jeremy's voice as he told Jean that his parents should have protected him. But maybe he was projecting?

Jeremy's shoulders deflate. “Jean, no. It's nothing like that. I promise, they've never laid a hand on me.” He smiles, a crooked thing that has Jean following the curve of his lips.

Still, Jean knows the way he's curled into himself, the way he's glancing at his phone as though it's about to jump at him. “But it's something.”

“It's just dinner. I can handle it. I know how to play the game and get out of there.” It's a perfectly neutral answer, but it's also more than he's said in months about what waits for him when he disappears to his family's home. Despite his living there most of the year, Jean refuses to call it Jeremy's home. His home is here, cleaning up with Laila and arguing with Cat, and where Jean can see him when his nightmares rattle him awake to count the rise and fall of Jeremy's breath from the next bed over.

“Do you want company?” It's a strange request, and Jean knows it as he says it. Jean still hates being around people, and speaking to a bunch of strangers even Jeremy is nervous around makes his stomach swim. But this is his partner, and if he needs him, he can be there for him. It is only fair.

Jeremy's face becomes unbearably gentle and Jean isn't ready to read into the fondness he sees there. “I will be okay. Like I said, I know how to do this.”

One part of Jean knows he should leave it at that. But the other part has cataloged the heaviness in Jeremy's countenance when he returns home– the rehearsed smile, the way he goes to bed early. The part that wins says, “I will walk home with you. When dinner is over.”

“You don't have to do that-”

“I want to,” he says, and he finds that he means it. The idea of Jeremy walking home by himself after spending an hour alone in a room of people is too much to bear. “Text me the address and I will be there.” He wanted to visit the grocery store anyway– he could do that while he waited. Cat would be happy to see the spice cabinet restocked.

“Alright,” Jeremy says, swallowing whatever protest sat on his lips. “Yeah, I'll- I'll text you.”

Jean nods, letting the matter drop while Jeremy finishes getting ready in amicable silence. When he leaves, it's with a nod that Jean recognizes, of someone who is resigning themselves to the inevitable.

He doesn't know how to keep him from hurting, but he is at least well versed in the aftermath.

–

Jean arrives at the intended address at the appointed time, not wanting to be there too early and seem suspicious. Jeremy is not forthcoming about his familial circumstances, but he knows there is money involved, and in Jean's experience, outsiders were not tolerated.

True to his word, Jeremy emerges after only a minute or two and his face lights up in a way that makes Jean's stomach twist when he spots him. He hurries toward Jean, and immediately begins walking once they reach each other.

It's easy to keep pace with him, but as Jeremy is about to breach the silence, a voice behind them brings him up short.

“I thought you knew better than to bring people like that to the house?”

Jean bristles at the implication, but he's more concerned with the way Jeremy stills at his side. When Jeremy doesn't reply, Jean tries to ignore it as well and continue forward, but the voice continues.

“Flaunting it in front of us like you don't even care what you did to the family? You deserve whatever happens, you-”

“You will not speak to him that way.”

Jeremy draws back in surprise, but Jean keeps his expression cool as he turns to face Jeremy's brother.

“What did you say to me?”

Jean glances at Jeremy, sure he's crossing a line but unable to stop himself. “I said, you will not speak to him like that.”

A snort. “He's my brother. I can say whatever I like. Besides, how exactly are you going to stop me?”

“Jean,” Jeremy's voice is small beside him and Jean does not rise to the bait.

He fixes the unfamiliar man with a cool glance. “Nothing. I know a great deal of small men exactly like you, and they always seem to get what they deserve in the end. I do not need to do anything to stop you. But no one has to listen to you either.”

With one last flat look, he walks, Jeremy matching his purposeful strides. As the silence grew longer between them, Jean wonders if he read this wrong, if Jeremy had not wanted him to say anything. Had he crossed a line? Had he made Jeremy feel unsafe?

“Thank you.”

Jean turns to look at him in surprise. “I did not mean to force you to face them before you were ready-”

“I'm not ready,” Jeremy admits. “And yeah, things will probably be pretty tense next time.” He rubs the back of his neck. “But- it means something to me that you were there. I– it made it easier, knowing you were there.”

Jean nods slowly, not trusting himself to be able to say anything. He had said it not because of anything owed between them, but because he could not bear to see Jeremy's light dimmed by those who were supposed to cherish him.

At last, he finds his voice to say, “I will not let you leave me behind.”

The smile Jeremy sends is a little tired, but it's also slow and soft and the first real one he's seen all night, so Jean counts it as a win.

Rainbows. Open roads. Friends. Jeremy's smile.

#tsc spoilers #the sunshine court #jerejean #jeremy knox #jean moreau

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 10 months ago

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AITA for how and why I cut contact with a former close friend?

All names are fake, this happened across the course of several months from November to late January. Sorry in advance for the length.

I (21M) used to be close friends with Oxenfree (17M). We became friends when I was 17 and he was 14, and despite having a couple periods of time where we weren’t in contact, we generally stayed very close friends. However, around June of last year, he started dating a girl, Angel, (??F) which I had no real feelings on at the time beyond mild jealousy towards him for being taken while I was single, which I easily ignored. As their relationship progressed however, it became clear that Oxenfree was not a good partner to Angel, consistently complaining about feeling like he had to spend time with her instead of focusing on studies, and generally complaining about aspects of her personality. I would later learn Oxenfree had also been asked by Angel to keep their relationship a secret, and that me knowing at all was in violation of that.

I had no knowledge of Angel beyond her existence at this point, until Oxenfree added an alternate account of hers to a GC with me and another friend. A series of events in this GC would ultimately lead to Angel learning Oxenfree did not keep his promise of them being together a secret, and the two of them broke up in September because of it. However, they remained friends, and Oxenfree added Angel’s main account to his personal server in October. She was never very active in the GC, showing up once or twice, so this was essentially me meeting her for the first time, to which I instantly developed extremely intense feelings for her, to the point of obsession. I saw Oxenfree as a threat to my potential relationship with Angel and extremely quickly came to resent and fear his presence, but did not show it publicly or tell anyone out of fear of Angel cutting contact with me.

In late October, another member of Oxenfree’s server, Kuma (19M), said that he was going to stream the game The Coffin of Andy and Leyley in VC, to which I and Shiro (F), a close friend of Kuma, were the only ones to express interest. However, Oxenfree stated he would not allow it to be streamed in his server due to him personally objecting to the game’s content, so Kuma created a separate GC and added me and Shiro.

In mid-November, my feelings for Angel reached a boiling point, and I opened up to Oxenfree about them, hoping he could sympathize. Instead, he revealed he wasn’t over her by that point, lied to me by saying Angel was underage (although I was not 100% aware of this being a lie at the time, I assumed she was at least 17 due to her general personality and vibes), and threatened to blackmail me by telling Angel I had feelings for her if I ever did anything to upset him. I was already becoming closer to Kuma and Shiro than I was with Oxenfree due to my general personality aligning with theirs much closer and Oxenfree’s deteriorating mental state, so I informed them of this looking for help, knowing neither of them were very close to Oxenfree. They agreed that Oxenfree was best cut off at this point, and I did so after ensuring Angel would stay in contact with me. Kuma and Shiro similarly cut contact with him a week later so make it appear less connected to my disappearance and avoid retaliation. Around mid-December, I would develop feelings for Shiro.

In January, another friend of Oxenfree and Angel, Gregg (15M), was informed by me of the reasons Oxenfree had lost contact with me, Shiro, and Kuma after he asked. Gregg would also cut contact with Oxenfree shortly thereafter, causing Oxenfree to become extremely distressed, especially after learning the actual reasons via another friend who was informed by Gregg. In fear of retaliation from Oxenfree, I simply told Angel that I used to have feelings for her, as I no longer did by this point and was dating Shiro by now, which has also not changed as of writing this, and likely will not any time soon. She didn’t seem to care one way or the other, and thanked me for never letting it affect our relationship as friends.

Oxenfree soon contacted me on an alt account and told me I was doing the wrong thing by “making him lose friends”. I maintained that it was the fault of his own actions, between treating Angel poorly and threatening me, and that I was only the messenger for the kind of person he really was, with people having the right to know. He told me to never speak of or to him again, which I agreed.

Oxenfree and I are both members of Angel’s personal server, where we would technically continue to interact for her sake to not cause any drama. In these interactions, I weirdly no longer feel as much resentment towards him as I did previously, and almost regret how I handled the situation. AITA for how I cut him off and essentially got others to do the same?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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garfield-mug · 1 year ago

Text

Ain't Doin' Right (jake seresin x vet tech!OC)

Content Warnings: descriptions of blood and violence, dog attack, panic attack, symptoms of PTSD

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: well, here's everyone's introduction to the jake and junebug universe! hope you like it and hope it's decent. i haven't written a fic in a really long time. i was suuuper rusty. i originally planned something different (along the lines of how these two met), but it wasn't working out and i had to get something out, so i literally powered through this. give a reblog or comment if you liked this one. - E

Having spent fifteen years as a veterinary technician, June was accustomed to hospitals of all kinds. Private practice, general practice, corporate, emergency, wildlife, specialty, and beyond. She was even familiar (and perhaps unfortunately so) with hospitals meant for humans. When you work with animals, injuries are bound to happen. Most could be avoided, usually happening to those with less experience. Alas, accidents happen, even to those who have been in the game longer than most. And June was in the game.

In a field with an incredibly high turnover rate, she’d managed to hang on. It hadn’t been easy. There were a lot of times (and still a few now) where she had seriously contemplated throwing in the towel, but she was nothing if not spiteful. And persistent. And an unabashed optimist at heart (although she fronts as more of a realist). No one and nothing could kill the hope that the veterinary field could become better, and no one could take away the work she’d put in to make it so. Despite her hope and optimism, neither of those things could protect her from having a bad day. And this was a very bad day. Not the worst she’s ever had personally or professionally, but it’s definitely up there. After a lot of futile arguing, June finally conceded to being driven to the emergency room by one of her coworkers (and kind of friend), Sophia. After filling out the incident report form and informing the unfortunate owner of the dog (which June did not do herself), she got into the passenger seat of Sophia’s car.

Her left arm was haphazardly bandaged with some gauze squares, cast padding, and vet wrap (it was pink with purple hearts) after being cleaned up. She was hoping she wouldn’t bleed through the bandage before they got to the hospital, but her hopes weren’t high. Her forearm was littered with deep puncture wounds and two deep lacerations ran up and around the inside toward her elbow. Thankfully, the dog had decided to let go. Otherwise, it would have been much worse. There wasn’t too much blood on her scrubs, miraculously. Holding her arm out away from her body helped with that. June wasn’t feeling the pain of her wounds either, still riding on that burst of adrenaline from almost losing her arm to a massive dog. She was also distracted by the anger she felt the moment it happened and now. It would linger. It always does when accidents like these happen because of the negligence (or ignorance) of someone else. Then, she’ll feel bad for feeling angry because it really wasn’t the assistant’s fault, they’re brand new and still learning. Finally, she’ll be angry with herself for not being more careful and having someone more experienced help her with her task, but you can only do so much when you’re understaffed. FINALLY, finally, she’ll be angry with management and the industry as a whole for even creating circumstances in which to be understaffed.

June is so lost in her thoughts and emotions that she doesn’t hear Sophia’s question.

“June!”

“Hm?”

“I asked if you wanted me to call Jake.”

And then there was Jake. Sweet, caring, protective (maybe to a fault) Jake. The charming, witty, cocky (ahem: confident) man that had somehow wormed his way under her skin and into her heart. They’d been together long enough at this point, about two years. Jake was at work, too, fitting into his instructor position at TOPGUN nicely. He loved being able to teach the new classes of the world’s best fighter pilots, sure, but he equally loved getting to show off just how good he was in the air. He would readily admit the second reason, the first one only June and Javy knew about. Everyone else could figure it out if they thought about it, but Jake would never admit to going soft. He really did love teaching.

June would eventually call him; it was only fair. He was her partner after all. She just didn’t like worrying him, especially when she knew it would affect his performance and ability to be at work. She knew her job was important, but his was, too. She would never forgive herself if he made a mistake in the air because he was distracted thinking about her. Jake thinks about her all the time, whether she’s in the hospital or not. She’s always on his mind the same was he’s always on hers.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to. I’ll call him once we’re actually in a room.”

“That could take hours.” Sophia glances at June with a deadpan expression.

“It’ll be sooner since I’ll most likely be bleeding all over their waiting room.” June looks to the bandage on her arm. She can’t see the blood yet, but she can feel that it hasn’t stopped flowing. Slowed, maybe, but definitely not stopped.

“Well, we’re almost there so hopefully you’re right.”

Sophia pulls the car into the parking lot of the hospital, and they make their way inside.

Fifteen minutes later, June and Sophia are led to a bed in the ER. A nurse came over for intake procedures and to assess the damage up close. A brief flash of panic crosses the nurse’s face as she looks down at June’s arm. She must be new, June thinks. June thinks back to when she first started as a tech, working in emergency. She remembers learning how to field her emotions and control her facial expressions. That kind of skill only comes with practice and unfortunately, that practice usually involves seeing and experiencing incredibly fucked up shit.

“On a scale from one to ten, where would you say your level of pain is?” The nurse doesn’t look panicked anymore, but still seems uneasy.

“Probably about a five.”

“A five?”

“Yep.” The nurse types up some notes on her computer.

“Alright, I’ll see about getting you something for the pain.” As she steps out of the room, Sophia turns to June.

“You are being remarkably calm about this whole thing. I don’t think I’d be nearly as lucid, and I’d definitely be crying.”

June shrugs.

“I’ve been through worse. And I’m also really good at compartmentalizing. Plus, I’m still kind of riding on the adrenaline, so I’m sure everything will catch up with me.”

“I don’t know how you do it.” Sophia shakes her head and checks her phone. June sighs.

“Practice.” She falls back against the hard mattress and crisp sheets of the hospital bed.

It was another twenty minutes before her nurse came back with some ibuprofen and then ten before June saw a doctor. Safe to say, she was feeling the pain now and was really looking forward to going home. She needed stitches for the longer lacerations, to no one’s surprise.

“How’d this happen?” The doctor seemed nice enough, gently taking June’s arm into her gloved hands.

“Bit by a dog at work, was up to date on rabies vaccinations and so am I.”

“You work in a vet’s office?”

“Sure do,” The doctor nods in response.

“Not the worst I’ve seen, but still pretty bad. Definitely gonna need stiches for these long ones here. Other than that, we’ll get you cleaned up and on an antibiotic.” The doctor gets up and starts getting her supplies ready, stepping away.

“Hey, Soph?”

Sophia looks up from her phone.

“Yeah?”

“Would you mind calling Jake for me?” June pulls up his contact on her phone.

“Sure thing,” Sophia takes the device and steps out of the room as the doctor reenters.

“Alright, since we’re doing sutures, I’m gonna apply some lidocaine gel so you don’t feel anything, but first we’re gonna clean these up.”

“Sounds good.” It really did sound good. The ibuprofen was not cutting it anymore and feeling the cut and pull of sutures being placed didn’t sound too appealing. June winces slightly at the first feeling of the saline being flushed into her wounds. It’s a bit cold and uncomfortable, but ultimately bearable. She grits her teeth and muscles through it. After all her wounds have been thoroughly irrigated, the doctor applies the gel and lets it set for a few minutes while she readies her sterile gloves and suture. Sophia enters the room and sets June’s phone by her scrub jacket.

“He’s on his way.”

“Thanks, Soph.”

“Don’t mention it.” Sophia sits back down in the chair next to the bed.

“You can go, if you want.” June looks to Sophia as the doctor asks if she’s ready. June nods, Sophia shakes her head.

“I’ll stay until he gets here, don’t want to leave you alone.”

“Okay then.”

The doctor is halfway through closing the second laceration when they all hear heavy footsteps approaching the room. Throwing back the curtain, Jake stands, still in his flight suit, armed with a very concerned expression. He looks at June’s face, then to her arm. His eyes widen, brow furrowing as he brings a hand to rub over his mouth. June can’t help but smile a little.

“Hey,” Her voice is small. Jake walks over to her, squatting down in front of her, so as not to get in the way of the doctor, who is diligently working on suturing the wound closed. He places a hand on her knee. Sophia uses this opportunity to take her leave, giving them both a small wave before heading out.

“Junebug, what happened?” His eyes search her face.

“I trusted a coworker to be good at their job?”

“Junebug,” Jake sighs and closes his eyes.

“Sorry, bad joke,” June looks away for a brief moment, placing her hand over Jake’s.

“Got shredded at work.”

“I can see that. How you feelin’?”

“Been better, but I’ve also been worse.”

It was true, June had been in much worse situations, but that didn’t necessarily take the edge off. What happened today shouldn’t have happened, but it did, and now she has to suffer the consequences. Which hurt like a bitch.

June reaches down with her good arm to cup Jake’s cheek, softly rubbing her thumb over the soft skin. He leans into her touch, grabbing onto her wrist to keep her there. The doctor pipes up, finally finished.

“Alright, looking good. We’ll have your meds ready in a few minutes and then you’ll be good to go.” She stands up, removes her gloves, and leaves the room.

After collecting her antibiotics and filling out some discharge paperwork, June and Jake are on their way home. It’s still quiet between the two. Jake knows she’s exhausted and frustrated, so he doesn’t press with questions. He knows she’ll come to him when she’s ready and he’s learned to be patient. The drive back to the house is uneventful. After getting the door for June and positively too much fretting on the short, short walk from the car to the front door, Jake declares that he’ll take the dogs out so June can shower.

June is incredibly grateful for Jake every day, but particularly on days like today where she just needs help. He would take over dog care duty while she got herself cleaned up and rested. He’d probably order takeout from her favorite place for dinner, knowing it would help her feel better and just be less work. She was looking forward to her shower and stripping off her scrubs. Washing the workday away had become a ritual, especially for days like today. She managed to get undressed fine, only wincing once when the sleeve from her scrub top rubbed a bit too hard down her arm. She steps into the steaming spray and just stands there, staring at the tiled wall ahead of her. She’s not sure how long she stays like that, only that it must’ve been long enough for Jake to have come back from his walk since he was knocking on the door.

“Junebug? You doin’ alright in there?”

June comes back to her senses, rubbing her hands over her face. She groans slightly as she realizes she hasn’t even cleaned up yet.

“Yeah, I’m okay, honey. It’ll be a few minutes.” She hopes this answer will placate him for now, trying to reel herself in when the adrenaline dump takes full hold, and her brain finally catches up to what her body was put through.

“Alright, sweetheart. I’ll get started on dinner.” He goes back downstairs to the kitchen to rummage through the stack of takeout menus they’ve accumulated over the years.

“Shit,” June mutters to herself, feeling the tears start to build behind her eyes. She makes quick work of the rest of the shower. The thick, steamy air quickly becomes suffocating. She tries to regulate her breathing as she dries off. It doesn’t work. She grabs onto the edge of the counter to try and steady herself, taking deep breaths in and out. The event from today replays in her head on repeat, each time seeming more real than the last. She thinks about how she could’ve broken or even lost her arm had the dog not decided to let go when it did. She presses her towel to her face and takes a gasping breath. Holy shit she could’ve lost an arm today.

“Jesus Christ,” June exits the bathroom and throws on whatever comfy clothes she can find. If she’s gonna give into the panic, might as well make it soft and snuggly. She goes downstairs in a daze, seeking out the only one that could ground her in times like these. He’s sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone.

“Did the boys have their dinner?” Jake startles where he sits, turning to look at his girlfriend. He’s on his feet immediately once he hears her strangled tone and sees her tight expression.

“Baby?” He gently places his hands on either side of her face.

“Did you feed the boys?”

“Yep, walked, fed, and ready for bed.” June nods, eyes wild.

“Good, that’s— that’s good.” She reaches her hands up to grasp Jake’s wrists, desperately trying to bring herself back down to earth. Jake gently swipes at the tears that begin to fall down her cheeks. June is looking forward, right at Jake, but it’s like she doesn’t even see him. He feels like she’s looking through him.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” He tries to catch her eyes with his.

“I almost—” Deep breath. “I almost lost an arm today… I mean, I know I didn’t, but I could’ve. If that dog hadn’t let go when it did, Jake, I would’ve lost my arm.”

June looks at him then, actually at him, not like she’s a thousand miles away. Her breathing is ragged, chest heaving at capacity, yet feels so tight. Her eyes are wide and glistening with tears, hands around Jake’s wrists, knuckles turning white. It stuns Jake for a second, not used to seeing his girl in such a blind panic. For a split second, he wants to panic, too. Seeing someone you love in so much pain isn’t easy, but he has to keep it together. He needs to keep her grounded.

“But you didn’t lose an arm, baby. It’s right here.” Jake gently pries her hands from his wrists so he can use his hands to touch her arms, gently rubbing up and down.

“See? They’re both here, both intact.” He’s looking into her eyes, pleading for her to register the feeling of his touch.

“They’re here. I didn’t—I didn’t lose an arm.”

“You didn’t lose an arm, baby. No use wasting your energy on what-ifs. You’re here, all of you.” Jake moves his hands up her arms, to her shoulders, and gently pulls her into him. She doesn’t immediately reciprocate.

“Junebug, you’re okay. You’re home, you’re safe.”

“I’m home, I’m safe.” Jake presses a kiss to the crown of her head and she slowly starts to wrap her arms around him. He rubs her back as she comes back to herself, a new wave of tears soaking into his shirt. His heart breaks a little more with every sad whimper and cry. Trying to keep himself together is exceedingly difficult.

“Let’s go sit down, hm?” Jake waits for a response. June sniffles and nods. He scoops her up off the floor to go sit down on the sofa, where she curls further into him. He continues to rub her back as her cries finally settle to the occasional sniffle and her breathing matches his.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Alright…Do you wanna order pizza?”

“From Linetti’s?” Jake smiles through a small chuckle.

“Yeah, from Linetti’s.”

June wipes at her nose and nods. Jake reaches for his phone on the coffee table.

“Jake?” June looks up at his face.

“Hm?”

“I love you.” Jake looks at June, pressing his forehead to hers.

“I love you too, Junebug.”

#jake seresin #tgm #tgm fic #top gun maverick #jake seresin x oc #top gun: maverick #e writes

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davekat-sucks · 2 days ago

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I think trolls are cool but also dumb. If they were never created the fandom wouldn’t be perfect but definitely less worse. The existence of trolls is what practically caused all the two-faced tumblrina types of fans to flood in the first place. I have nothing against the making of a fucked up fantasy alien species for the sake of being fucked up and going WOW THAT IS FUCKED UP! and to entertain people and to acknowledge what they are witnessing is fucked up. What I dislike is how this shitty ass canonically all related incestuous bug species is what ironically brought in all the morally self-righteous psychopaths just because of their weird relationship traditions and trolls would be considered LGBT by human standards and have a binormative society and that is seen as so cool yet people still wanna debate bullshit like their headcanon of Vriska as a lesbian dealing with comphet which makes no sense. If anything aro-aces would be the only oppressed sexual group on Alternia yet for some reason I barely see that discourse when it comes to these people. Also the species being so incestuous that it puts hillbillies to shame probably even makes the idea of race coding even more dumb but then again the point of race coding is that its only meant to apply to characters where being a human race is impossible because of genetics so. At the very least if psuedo-human characters get to be aracial because they are the result of ectobiology then I see no reason why the same shouldnt apply to pseudo-trolls who are also ectobiology made.

Even when people put the trolls into familial roles like people see Karkat and Nepeta as siblings because of the SignlessxDisciple as their reason to not ship KatNep, doesn't mean they won't fuck because incest is seen as natural in the eyes of Alternia. Do the humans in the fandom wish to correct the trolls if that is the case? So much about respecting troll customs and beliefs. Fandom picks and chooses what trolls count as incest despite it's practically every troll ship like EriSol and Vrisrezi. According to HIveswap, Jadebloods would become celibate because upon turning into an adult, they would be sent alone off in space somewhere. I wonder what would happen if there was a different troll, lowblood or highblood, that would choose to avoid sex at all costs throughout their life. After all, this is the same planet that says if you don't fuck, you die. And remembering Alternia is a planet full of nothing but kids, it's a sick thought knowing that someone as young as THREE YEARS OLD would know how sex works and doesn't see anything wrong. And that's not even trying to go into age differences of trolls being partners in any quadrants. It's a surprise that with all these problematic topics and implications, people that are super sensitive to those topics still want to get into the series. Then again, same can be said about other media works in today's times like anime, video games, tabletop, and more. South Park has been around longer than Homestuck and it is part of "show is problematic but still draws in fujoshi tumblr fangirls".

#homestuck #homestuck fandom #fandom #fandoms #Alternia #trolls #fantroll #fantrolls

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maddy-k-reads-all-day · 2 months ago

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The Amanda Fic Lore

So you know how the games slowly reveal more about the character’s real lives as the tapes go on. Well unfortunately, I have no idea what the third, fourth or any other number of games in this series are going to do. So for my Amanda fic series, I’m going to make up my own lore. (mostly based on my interpretations of the characters so a lot of these are going to be similar to that post). I guess you could think of this as an AU cuz I’ll probably never get everything right. Just so you know I may edit this when I come up with more ideas.

Spoilers for the fics ig

Amanda: (We know plenty about her already so she’s not going to be that much different from the game.)

Rebecca Colton.

Had morbid interests as a child long before Hameln.

Has a dark sense of humor

As Rebecca, she was genuinely a ray of sunshine to be around. (Even with morbid interests).

Secretly has a dark sense of humor

Very adventurous

Does not like her plans being changed

Loves to draw (we see it multiple times).

Has had past trauma before Hameln even entered the picture (Sam's despite what she's been through in reference to her adoption).

Has some varying level of interest in goth/emo/punk style.

She doesn’t resent Sam.

Wants to keep her memories of Sam and Kate close.

I saw a theory that maybe Rebecca was trying to get Sam and Kate together like maybe there were some sparks flying there. I really like that so it might be canon in this universe.

She’s starting to lose hope that she’s going to escape.

Starting to slowly trust Wooly again and be his friend again.

Trying to learn to control her anger issues.

The Amanda wiki says she is 7-8 years old. So that’s the age we’re gonna stick with for when she got stuck in the tapes. I’m going to go with 8.

Wooly: (I think it would be interesting if his human life was the opposite of Amandas.)

Slowly developing anger issues (lol)

Based on reader suggestions, human name for this fic series will be William Scott.

Was ten years old when trapped. A child actor like Amanda, has been working with Hameln longer than her.

Was a child of a single mother who never wanted children. She tried to be loving at first but eventually gave up. Spends most of her time working or away. He ended up being a parentified older sibling and that’s why he acts so “mature” and seems so worried about safety. She ended up signing off his soul to Hameln in order to make money and basically get rid of him. So he has a bit of abandonment issues.

He had a little sister, never saw her again after being sold off to Hameln. Doesn’t know if she met the same fate. They were very close. Amanda reminds him of her sometimes, even though they were very different. EDIT: You know what? Maybe it's cuz I really like angst, but what if Wooly's sister passed away instead? Like prior to Wooly being sent to Hameln. Like maybe in some sort of accident while they were playing when their mom wasn't home?)

Slowly remembering his past life (way slower than Amanda because he doesn’t want to remember).

Doesn’t think they can escape.

Not exactly loyal to Hameln, but terrified of what will happen if they disobey. Slowly starting to not care anymore.

Bottles up every negative emotion but is getting to a point where he can’t hold it in anymore.

Starting to become more rebellious

Slowly repairing his relationship with Amanda

Hates being alone.

Will avoid talking about uncomfortable subjects at all costs. Tends to be a bit controlling.

His intentions are good. But let us remember what they say. The road to hell was paved with good intentions.

He seems to be that one goody-two shoes friend in a friend group that's like: "We shouldn't do this." Even if it's objectively not that bad.

Prone to panic or anxiety attacks.

And how do we feel about adding in the autistic head canon?

The Narrator is Sam

The "Owl" uses prerecorded voice lines of Kate, but cannot say anything else and isn't actually Kate. Why is she an owl? We'll have to wait and see...

Over time the more Amanda learns about Wooly the less afraid of her the demon will become.

Also, I think Wooly's demon will become less violent the less he keeps bottling things up. But it'll get worse before it gets better.

Once I get a couple tapes written I’m going to put them in an order that makes sense like some post that will be linked in the pinned post or whatever. But for now I’m gonna write them as the ideas come to me. If you have any Amanda fic lore to suggest, let me know. If I find it interesting I’ll add it in.

Also these fics are completely separate from the School Shopping fic.

As I said before, this isn’t necessarily what I think will happen in the games, it’s just some placeholder lore for me to use to build them around.

#fanfiction #fanfic #amanda the adventurer wooly #amanda the adventurer #amanda the adventurer 2 #wooly the sheep #ata 2 #maddykpost

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candlecove-weaintdeadyet · 2 months ago

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Random-ass Laughingstock crew headcanons because why tf not

Will I do this for the other main crews? Who knows. Not me.

hc's under the cut because this thing is LONG

Percy

Around 12 years old. Before Janice showed up, he was the baby of the crew. That is to say, he was less 'hired' and more 'adopted'.

Has a simultaneous crippling fear of and intense fascination with fire. Like on the one hand if a fire were to get out of control, he'd immediately start panicking, but if it is controlled (a campfire, contained inside a lantern, etc) he'll just stare into it until someone actively gets his attention. He's been caught multiple times trying to touch burning candles or dropping various substances into campfires to see the colors change.

Borderline-obsessed with ghost stories, fairy tales, and silly, badly-written adventure novels. He'll do whatever he can to get his hands on a new book and sometimes tries writing his own short stories.

On that note, despite his anxiety, he LOVES things that are typically considered 'creepy'. He'll sit and listen when one of the others is telling a scary story, almost entranced. Also, he thinks spiders are cute.

His coat was stolen from an Imperial Navy soldier, specifically one working for the NPHC branch. He wears it like a badge of honor, even if it is a bit too big for him.

Mimics some of Poppy's mannerisms (getting people's attention/figuring out where they are by calling their name at the top of his lungs, picking Janice up and spinning her around when he's happy/excited, things like that).

Owns a small box full of wanted posters for more famous pirates that he admires. He has a bit of a celebrity crush on Milo for a while.

Janice

Older than she's stated to be on the Wiki. Like 10-11 when she gets Isekai'd.

Kind of a weird kid. She's REALLY into horror, urban legends, and 'creepy' things (much like Percy), and enjoys poking around in abandoned buildings-usually with a camera in hand. Tends to drag Melrose into her antics.

Turns into a battle junkie the longer she stays in Candle Cove. Like, she has to be physically held back from charging into a fight unarmed. She's eventually given a sword.

Ends up working with Nathan and Edward (OC, master-at-arms) a lot. Nathan may or may not have contributed to her battle junkie gremlin tendencies.

Diehard Rolling Stones fan. She decided to teach Percy a few of their songs at one point and quickly regretted it upon having to hear an awful sea-shanty rendition of 'Paint it Black'.

Didn't spend much time with her dad prior to getting Isekai'd, since he threw himself into his job to avoid thinking about the whole dead wife thing.

Poppy

Used to be in a relationship with Horace. It was a mess and he wants to forget it happened. Dr. Heartfelt is his rebound and their relationship is significantly less toxic.

Always wanted to have children, but was more enamored of the idea of being a father. Man's in WAY over his head.

Makes insane bets when gambling. He once bet a member of his own crew in a game of Lanterloo.

VERY physical in how he shows affection. He'll pick people up and twirl them around (something Percy started doing as well), his idea of a friendly greeting is a hard clap on the shoulder, any romantic partner of his will very quickly get used to having their entire face peppered with kisses, things like that. He has very nearly cracked people's ribs by hugging them too hard.

Has a very bad habit of assuming that if he has good intentions (like trying to protect his loved ones), then that justifies anything he does in the name of said good intentions, no matter how horrific. It's how he was able to justify flaying Thade/Skin-Taker alive-he convinced himself that since his actions were spurred on by Thade being dangerous, then that meant what he was doing was good. And besides, the punishment fits the crime in this case, doesn't it?

Doesn't understand Percy's love of adventure novels in the least. He can't for the life of him figure out why (in his mind) such a smart, mature boy would be so invested in what he sees as nothing more than bedtime stories for much smaller children. Percy's given up on trying to explain it to him.

Dr. Heartfelt

Given name is Alois. That said, most people don't actually call him by his real given name-most of the crew just calls him 'Dr. Heartfelt', Sea-Dog gave him the nickname 'Herr Doktor' (which Milo later started using), and Poppy calls him 'Al' or 'Allie'. Percy will sometimes call him by his real name, but more often defaults to 'Dr. Heartfelt' or, in moments of extreme stress, 'Vati' (an older German equivalent to 'Dad' or 'Daddy')

Used to work as a medic for his home country's military. He does NOT like talking about it.

His soft, sunshiny demeanor is about 50-60% his genuine personality and 40-50% a coping mechanism/stress response. He doesn't usually display 'negative' emotions around others, preferring to wait until he can cry or vent his anger/anxiety/etc. in private.

Gives extremely good hugs. Being a ragdoll (which means he's incredibly soft) very much contributes to that.

Around Poppy's age-so mid-late 30's-but looks more like he's pushing 50.

Taught Percy German (or rather, the in-setting equivalent thereof). He will sometimes call him 'kindchen' (dear child/sweetheart) when comforting him.

I know the wiki says that when he does fight he uses like. Needles. But I thought it'd be fun if he primarily uses a rapier in combat. It's basically a bigass needle with a hilt. Close enough. Where'd he get it? Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't know so he doesn't remember.

Sea-Dog

Has a nickname for basically every single one of his crewmates, including Poppy. Of note are 'Sugar Cookie' (Janice), 'Guppy' (Percy), 'Ms. L' (Laughingstock), 'Bossman' (Poppy), Herr Doktor (Dr. Heartfelt), and 'Casanova' (Milo). The others tend to start using these nicknames for each other after a while.

100% sounds like Keith David.

MASSIVE alcoholic, often seen carrying or drinking from a hip flask.

Can be distracted by things that ordinary, non-sapient dogs would be, such as throwing a stick. Or salt pork. This is used against him by Horace and co. on at least a few occasions.

Along with not believing in sea stories, he's also agnostic, being of the opinion that there probably aren't any gods out there, but if there are they have a sick sense of humor.

Tends to rest his head on other people's legs when tired or stressed.

Smol. As in, he only stands at 3 feet tall. He also weighs like 5 pounds and HAS gotten flung around due to high wind/choppy waters. Poor guy has straight-up had to tie himself to the rigging in order to keep working during storms for fear of ending up overboard.

Banana King

Comes up with some creative, often incredibly wordy insults/profane statements, Karkat Vantas-style. I can imagine him saying something to the effect of 'what in the wet bag of horse shit to the face am I looking at here'. Yes I stole that from 'Karkat Sings Opera', fight me.

Doesn't just hate bananas as a food item. He genuinely can't be anywhere near them after his death, and even the smell of banana is enough to make him lose it. One of the others once saw him huddled in the hold muttering about banana peels and teeth.

Owns a female African Grey parrot named Guava. Guava is somehow more crass than her owner. Guava is also represented by a little hand puppet and sounds like Gilbert Gottfried.

Gets along well with Milo. Like, scarily well. They pretty much share a brain cell.

Can be invisible like any other ghost, but you can still tell he's there by the smell of cigar smoke and-you guessed it!-banana flowers.

Calvery

Some flavor of Eastern European (again, in-universe equivalent). I can't put my finger on why, but his name just sounds really aggressively Slavic.

Pretty much EXCLUSIVELY targets Horace during skirmishes/run-ins. He would wring that man's neck given half a chance.

Actually has a soft spot for children (directly contradicting the Wiki ik ik), but is veeeeeerrry twitchy about Janice working with Nathan and Edward specifically. He'll occasionally make comments about how one of these days the poor girl's going to get herself killed.

Drinking buddies with Sea-Dog.

Milo

He's had many faces and gone by many names over the years (a reference to the SEBTAW weirdness with his hair color and his abundance of conflicting fanon designs). This effect is usually achieved with the power of facial accessories, makeup, and Ye Olde Hair Dye (that is to say, henna and squid ink). His most recent persona before he joined the Laughingstock crew was the first time he'd used his real name since childhood.

Once got ahold of a hurdy-gurdy and actually learned how to play it.

Actually, I hc him as musically talented in general, and having a singing voice that sounds a lot like Aurelio Voltaire, aka this guy:

youtube

Basically he kinda has DnD bard vibes.

Treats Danny (his dragon) about the way you'd treat a cat. He coaxes the little guy out of enclosed spaces with treats and goes 'pspspspspspspsps' to get his attention and baby-talks at him, all that fun stuff. He used to play with him with a homemade feather-on-a-string toy until Danny got too excited and set it on fire.

He's lost track of how many times he's been arrested/imprisoned. Putting him in Tartar Prison was a desperate last resort. You may ask, 'why not just have him executed?' but he has to be kept SOMEWHERE before his death. He once managed an escape minutes before being hanged, which he counts as his greatest achievement that he doesn't think he'll ever be able to pull off a second time.

Massive liar. He will just make shit up to make himself look more impressive if he thinks it'll get people to pay attention to him.

Plays five finger fillet when he's bored, and is sometimes seen with bandaged fingers as a result.

Occasionally seen smoking what look like cigarillos.

Nathan

Significantly older than his Wiki counterpart, at around 16-17 years old. Obviously doesn't have the feelings for Janice that his canon self has, but does enjoy her company (he likes that someone looks up to him, it makes him feel special).

Idolizes Schott Weiss (Percy's father). Percy doesn't exactly know how to feel about that.

Grew up on the Firelight Islands (Burnt Wicks equivalent of the Candle Islands) as the son of a dockworker. He's never properly explained how he ended up working for a pirate crew, but has alluded to the fact that it involved a hostage situation and a changing of hands by way of being auctioned off in Goldshore (a location in the Burnt Wicks version of the Cutlass Islands). He jokes that he was taken in because Poppy and Anne (the previous captain) took pity on him.

Bites as a fight-or-flight response in combat.

Mixed-race, with one parent being effectively white British and the other one being the equivalent of Southeast Asian

Salty Jojo

Real name is Joseph Blaine. Not that anyone knows that. He was 'Salty Jojo' for 30 years before meeting the Laughingstock crew and he will be remembered as 'Salty Jojo' when he dies.

Often pulls the 'when I was your age' card, including on the adults (which he can feasibly do because he's old as hell). He did it to Poppy once, leading to the first time any of them had seen the man at a loss for words.

He's just...so used to weird shit happening at this point. His reaction to seeing the Skin-Taker for the first time is mild surprise, and during an encounter with Gorger/ManBearPig, he responds to it roaring in his face with a casual 'Sorry, what was that? I don't speak feral."

Idk I haven't got much on this guy, sadly.

Ms. Laughingstock

I do not CARE that the Wiki retconned her to be male, that boat is a woman. This is the only character I'm willing to misgender.

Possessed by the spirit of the former captain, Anne Davies.

Has a voice that sounds like Angela Lansbury around the 1980's-90's. My specific point of reference is Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd

Just as stubborn as Poppy, leading to the two often arguing over what course of action to take.

Doesn't speak through a face on the prow, but rather a figurehead. Yes this directly contradicts both the Wiki AND the original creepypasta, but I didn't know how to make it work from a structural standpoint.

Had a habit of hiring people on who are at their lowest-the running joke among the crew is that she pitied them. It's not clear if that's really the case, but it is a pattern she's displayed. This trait carried over to Poppy, leading to the crew including a traumatized "orphan", a preteen Isekai protagonist, a child hostage, a literal ghost, a military deserter, and Milo.

Jesus Christ that's a lotta words.

#candle cove #candle cove headcanon #pirate percy #milo candle cove #poppy candle cove #dr heartfelt #so many characters actually and I don't know if they all have tags

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marigoldbaker · 1 month ago

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more thoughts bc i wrote just that fic last night as tho possessed — thea and khalid get along for a lot of the reasons she said but also some that didn’t come up!

she’s a renowned battle hero by that point and the minute she showed up he grabbed her hands like oh my GOD someone QUALIFIED is here. but not coming from a place of fear, just like! relief that this raised their chances at actually succeeding! and thea noticed the subtle distinction cocked her head a little and went this man is interesting i bet he has some fascinating fucking takes on the situation he’s in.

at which point they started drinking together + she roped him into some of the card games the soldiers play. they have a lot of inebriated and tearful conversations about how much they love their wives (thea’s wife being an absolute nightmare who’s like 400 years older than her and refuses to marry her despite deliberately stringing her along for over a century. that’s a whole other story). khalid is the only person to date who actually accidentally unlocked eventual access to the WHOLE story behind thea’s paramour, at which point he grabs her shoulders like in a drunk girls in the bathroom kinda moment and goes I can kill her. Do you want me to kill her? I can seriously fucking kill her. and thea is just like 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 (kinda tearing up) no man you don’t have to do that it’s okay

she is often written off as unintelligent and brutish and he is often written off as weak and cowardly and i think they both respond to that with a sort of similar indifference/resilience, where they don’t love the sentiment but they understand how people got there and they don’t see the point in arguing with people who aren’t discerning enough to figure them out + also kinda secretly think it’s true anyway. he mentions that he appreciates her insight and thea goes ?? and kinda does a very touched double take bc that’s the first time anyone has said that to her. she mentions that he’s a lion of a man and khalid is like ??????? (a little tearful) th thank you!!!!!

he thinks her crush on jaheira is 1) a testament to her taste 2) a demonstration of her love and respect for him, bc she will do all kinds of complicated parkour to try and avoid his wife, as she is deeply into his wife, which he thinks is literally the only appropriate response to his wife. so in the most insane way possible this actually does bring them closer because she is so intensely dedicated to demonstrating that out of respect and admiration for one of the best friends she’s made she’s never going to put the moves on jaheira despite being possessed w cosmic longing + he’s like yeah obviously. Cosmic longing is the ONLY way ANYONE intelligent can respond to jaheira. Don’t know why this isn’t happening with more people. I love our friendship too btw

she is the kind of friend where jaheira is always saying in a slightly put upon tone — OH. you were out drinking with THEA. okay. How much property damage was there.

she calls khalid “sunshine” :) she’s a very nickname-y person and when he asks why she’s like Um Because You Light Up A Room???? God??? You Should Know This, Man. Whatever. Don’t Make Me Talk About It More. he spends like a week trying to figure out a return nickname being a whole nerd about it consulting all sorts of sources and taking notes and maybe looping jaheira in (jaheira is like WHY. NO) until finally settling on “sunlight” bc he would have gotten best friend necklaces for her at claire’s if that was a thing in bg1 but this is the next best matchy matchy nonsense he can come up with. thea is like (vibrating slightly trying not to cry) that’s so stupid i hate it. He speaks terrible woman so he knows he landed a critical hit and goes :) for the rest of the week

#miscellany #thea in bg1 potentially #god help new tag #i am sorta turning this over like man this would make thea and jaheira getting together take WAY WAY LONGER #both of them would love khalid so much :( whole thing might just go into intense stalemate stasis forever #(which. i do love.)

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etrosgate · 1 year ago

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the nonary games port of 999 is worse than you think

it's fine if you play the port, or even prefer it. but i'd like you to know what you're getting into.

9 hours 9 persons 9 doors for the nintendo ds is a masterpiece of a game, with wonderfully snappy dialogue and a quickly paced narrative that avoids many traps of visual novel writing (such as being overly obvious and repetitive) with a ludonarrative cohesion that makes SO many of its aspects initially perceived as flaws into an active strength of the experience. the endgame twist is very possibly the best in gaming history.

i think i've made it pretty clear that i really fucking love this game, and recommend it to everyone.

i used to say "the ds version is better, but it's fine if you play the port for its various quality of life features" but im no longer able to have that stance, now that i know the extent of how it kinda butchers its narrative. it's not super obvious, but that subtlety honestly makes it worse to me.

it's the difference between a good game, and a incredible game.

in the end, this boils down to the "novel mode" versus "adventure mode" gimmick that they decided to build the port on.

if you choose to play in adventure mode, it removes almost all of the narration and rewrites that aforementioned incredible dialogue to awkwardly shove in some (not all) of that information, resulting in overly obvious and clunky writing that seriously drags some scenes out. the descriptive text in general is actually incredibly important in a way i can't describe, and though it will forcibly shift to novel mode to show it to you very occasionally, it's not Nearly enough and you will miss out on some of the most memorable striking moments because of it. i cannot overstate how much the impact of the ending is affected by this.

if you choose novel mode, you do get narration (very important). HOWEVER. the writing is still the adjusted one done to facilitate only playing adv mode, so now the dialogue is overly obvious and clunky and slow AND (despite changing+taking out some of the narration entirely) repetitive (all the things i said 999 very cleverly avoided 🤔?) and then, for some ungodly reason, it is actively difficult to play the game in novel mode. the game will Constantly shift you back to adv mode so you have to spend the entire game checking to make sure to switch back (something even i found difficult to remember to do, as someone familiar with the game).

so neither way to play the port is good. also they changed the final puzzle to be worse. and a LOT of ludonarrative things i cannot actually get into due to spoilers.

"how much of an impact could these small changes actually have?"

well this is anecdotal, but me (and many other people i know) who originally played 999 on the ds and thought it was a masterpiece, years later went on to play the port version and thought "huh. it was still good, but it's like the magic was gone. i guess the game's just not as good as i remembered, one of those things that doesn't hold up to your memories of it."

and then we replayed the ds game. and found out that the game we remembered DOES still exist! it's just as fantastic, the magic IS THERE. the port just made the game worse!!

anyways, so what were those quality of life changes i mentioned earlier?

in the original ds version of 999, every time you reach an ending you have to start from the beginning of the game again, fast forwarding through the text and replaying the puzzles. (the port changed this to having a flowchart where you can just jump to decision points)

HOWEVER

as someone who Very recently replayed the ds version, i truly don't think this is as much of a pain as you might expect.

skipping text isn't a big deal. yeah it takes a bit, but it's easy to watch a youtube video or something while you're waiting the 5 minutes it takes. using an emulator, you can even speed up the text skipping to an even greater degree. if you can't physically hold down the button, you can find something to hold it down for you, and on an emulator you can rebind the key to be something easier to do that with (like the space bar)

redoing puzzles isn't that big a deal either. not only do you still have to redo some puzzle rooms in the port version anyway, it can be pretty fun to figure out how to essentially speedrun rooms you've done before, and you don't redo them that many times (i would recommend a walkthrough anyway for deciding which endings to get, so making that redo time even shorter is a bonus).

and please trust me when i say those hassles don't just exist bc the game is old, there is artistic intent involved in their inclusion that (for me at least) ends up enhancing the game more than they detract from it.

if you really need the accessibility of voice acting, i might genuinely recommend watching an LP of the ds version instead. yes, i really do think some guy from 10 years ago reading out the text will give you a better experience than a genuinely good cast of voice actors reading the port's. bc the writing of the port's dialogue is so fucking bad lol.

btw, if you're scared off at the prospect of reading a little more now without being able to choose adventure mode... if you've played danganronpa (and most of you did!) 999 is shorter, faster-paced, and has LESS READING.

okay im done

i'd recommend THIS WALKTHROUGH, even if you don't want to use it for the puzzles, it'll give you good info for how to get each ending (especially recommended for true ending), and a general order to do them in. i'd recommend doing getting all the endings (except coffin, which is just the true end cut short) EDIT: thank you to tlblitz for recommending this walkthrough, which gives additional hints for the puzzles instead of just telling you solutions outright

if you've already played 999 (or are just curious about specifics), this video details all the changes mentioned here and more, and it gets all the way into spoiler territory. maaaan did it open my eyes to everything i had subconsciously picked up on in playing the port. (i though the first part about the dialogue was being too nitpicky but then i did a side by side comparison of the beginning of the game and op. was not exaggerating. that port dialogue is AGGRAVATING).

EDIT

i forgot to mention. if you emulate the game, there's a visual glitch that messes up the sprites a little, but you can fix it really easily! in DeSmuME, go to Config>3D Settings and set the renderer to OpenGL

also, here's a mod that increases the text speed, if you find that bothers you.

and i figure i should put my reasons for not just tolerating, but loving the hassles that come from the ds version onto the base post (reposted from another reblog)

major major 999 spoilers below (and some vlr spoilers too)

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to me, one of the coolest aspects of 999 (and zero escape in general) is how much the experience of playing it reflects the narrative

the final twist isn’t just that the text on the bottom screen has been akane, but that you’ve been playing as HER the entire game, not junpei (and with turning the ds upside down for the sudoku, you finally do so for the first time)

in the narrative, you spend basically the entire runtime getting to know her as June, but in the ludonarrative, (the actual Playing the game) you get to know her as Zero. and those annoying bits are a big part of that.

every time akane reaches her death in a timeline, she has to go back to the beginning and start over, because that’s how her powers work. she has to redo all the puzzles, has to wait through all the dialogue until she gets to a point where she can nudge junpei to another route. (in vlr, sigma+phi have a flowchart not just because it’s more convenient, but because that’s how Their powers work).

so subtly, without noticing, you start to reach her point of view. the first time you see the ninth man die it’s shocking and horrific, but even just on your second playthrough the horror doesn’t affect you much. for junpei and everyone else, these sequences are just as terrifying in every route but not for you, cause you’ve seen them before. you can’t be affected by them in the same way, what matters now is finding the futures you haven’t seen yet.

speedrunning puzzles by skipping the clues and zoning out while you wait for the dialogue to finish aren’t just game things, but diagetic events, of akane going through the motions of something she’s done over and over.

when i replayed the ds version recently (something i hadn’t done in a LONG time), i felt so close to akane in a way i never did in the port, because i’d been through the same experience as her. i understood how she could be such a kind and sensitive person who rationalizes away putting all these people she loves through all those the moment to moment horrors in pursuit of a timeline where she and everyone she care about lives, because i’d become detached to them through repetition too.

i completely understand why people wouldn’t enjoy that, but i’m a pretentious gamer who LOVES when mechanics are technically “worse” in a way that is characterful or thematic. so the frustrating bits of 999 add to that experience much more than they detract from it for me haha

#zero escape #my post #this is half advice half rant LMAO #i love this video game a normal amount #long post

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stormdragon23 · 1 year ago

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Choi Jong-In Character Analysis

We'll stick to five different things for now (because this post got long)

Choi Jong-In's vision

Jong-In doesn't like bright lights. It might be because of that firecracker that went off in his face before (according to the dossier from the game), but I wonder if it hinders him when he's hunting in closed spaces other than the fact that fire is just dangerous in such places

I'm also curious if he wears the glasses to help with the brightness since they seem tinted and tend to reflect light a lot, but both could be because of the art style.

The lenses on his glasses seem rather thick, so it's either to help him with bright places or his vision really is just that bad. He's probably blind without them either way though-

2. Choi Jong-In's age

If Jong-In got his passport when he turned 18 and just renewed it, he’s probably around 28 at the youngest since he might have gotten his passport when he was older. He could have renewed it earlier than that, but no one does that- (at least not more than a year before it expires)

This also means that Jongin might have been around 18 when the gates first appeared though he didn’t know he awakened until around six years later according to the game dossier. This means he was probably around 24 by the time he knew he was awakened (although he actually awakened earlier without noticing)

3. Choi Jong-In's leadership skills

Jong-In seemed to assume the role of leader during the raid by making sure the others would be safe and efficiently clearly obstacles that made it harder for them to get to the queen. This was interesting considering there were three other guild masters there (and likely with more experience based on Jong-In awakening six years after the gates appeared, whereas Lim Tae-Gyu and Baek Yoon-Ho awakened soon after the gates appeared). While the reason could be because of how versatile his powers are, he appeared to naturally make the first move rather than let someone else try their idea or wait for someone to ask him what they should do

He also explains what he’s doing calmly to the other hunters. While this could just be for the readers to know what he’s doing, he doesn’t make any rude comments to anyone. Like when Baek Yoon-Ho asked what he was doing, Jong-In explained how the explosions from the fire would show where the queen was. It could be argued that the two were too busy to be arguing like usual, but Yoon-Ho and Min Byung-Gyu were bantering quite a bit as they were making their way inside

Jong-In also knows how to make Yoon-Ho mad as seen throughout the series, so he’s actively not picking a fight when he certainly could have at this point when they weren’t fighting the ants yet. It could be that Jong-In’s too focused on the raid despite his calm demeanor, or he knows it would distract Yoon-Ho too much as he’s very capable of reading Yoon-Ho’s body language

4. Choi Jong-In's perceptiveness

Yoon-Ho is the one Jong-In tends to read the most in terms of body language and emotions, so this part will mostly be about Jong-In reading Yoon-Ho

While Jong-In knew exactly why Yoon-Ho was at the building, he didn't indicate that he figured it out other than his usual smile. He's good at drawing conclusions based on what he observes and reacts in a way that prevents others from knowing what he's thinking. (This might be why Yoon-Ho dislikes him as he knows how well Jong-In can read him)

When the other major guilds were glad that Sung Jin-Woo was no longer taking gates, Jong-In found it suspicious rather than being glad that his guild could get more gates. Jong-In seems to question why things happen and how they work. This was shown in the game dossier when he wanted to test his powers before finding out his rank and ended up burning down a whole building

Despite Yoon-Ho making a provoking comment, Jong-In either knows that Yoon-Ho is avoiding the question and chooses to ignore it or knows that's just Yoon-Ho's way of answering him. In either case, Jong-In understands him enough to try to help him

Side note: Yoon-Ho tends to be the one to start arguments with Jong-In, making Jong-In defend himself

5. Choi Jong-In's self-confidence

While Jong-In seems like he would be an arrogant person, especially with his title, there are actually more moments of Jong-In being aware of his limits rather than being overconfident

When he first heard about Jin-Woo's powers, he believed what Son Ki-Hoon said and immediately understood that Jin-Woo was much stronger than him, compared to Thomas Andre or Hwang Dong-Soo who refused to believe it at first

Jong-In is also aware of how much damage he is capable of as shown throughout the Jeju raid. After assessing how strong the flying ants were, he was confident enough to jump off the helicopter to take care of the ants below alone. However, he did not take the same risk when the S-Ranks entered the anthill as he did not know what would be ahead

That's all for Choi Jong-In in this post, but I do plan on making another one about him. If anyone has specific things they want to hear, feel free to ask for them. If you made it this far, have this picture of Jong-In

He's so precious

#solo leveling #choi jong in #character analysis #blind arsonist has been living in my head rent free for too long-#and i'm still not done-#if anything i got more attached to him

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oneinathousand · 7 months ago

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F-Zero Novel "And Then, to the Gods of Speed" Plot Summary

I just read through the obscure official tie-in novel for F-Zero from 1992, which has very little information about it online.

DISCLAIMER: Since I can't read Japanese, I had to use my phone to translate, which certainly didn't yield stellar results, but I was so curious about what was actually inside the book since there's so little information about it other than 1. It's a darker book, 2. The protagonist is named Swan Lee, and 3. It involves Captain Falcon's death, and I just couldn't wait for a full fan translation to sate my curiosity. The goal was basically to get an overall idea of what was going on, which I think I managed to get.

So, for those of you who have been just as curious as I was about this book, I'll be going chapter by chapter, giving a fairly comprehensive summary of the plot. There's a lot of digressions throughout with worldbuilding about the socioeconomics and mechanics of the setting, which I'll mostly be skipping unless they directly relate to the plot.

I want to reiterate that it's entirely likely that I get some things wrong, like perhaps names or plot points. The ending in particular I'm not super sure about because, well, let's just say it gets pretty... weird, you'll see. It comes across to me like it might have been rushed, but that's just idle speculation.

One more thing: I knew going in that Captain Falcon was supposed to die and this would be a darker book, but damn! I was legitimately shocked at how they handled him here, I could not believe that Nintendo approved of this direction. It could have only happened during that pre '93 Mario movie/Phillips CDI era where Nintendo didn't give much oversight as to how other people handled the characters.

Spoilers ahead!

Chapter 1: Team Sprem (a misspelling of Supreme)

Swan Lee is a street kid with no parents living in the poor Port Town along with his gang, Team Sprem/Supreme (which I'll just call Supreme to prevent giggles from readers), which includes his friends Eddie and Mamoru. Despite only being 10 years old, Swan is a very good racer because he has access to a banned system called Soulmatic which allows users to directly connect their minds to their machines, which can be very dangerous. Whenever Swan connects to his machine, he communicates with an unknown entity called the Supreme who guides him.

While chasing down an opponent, Mamoru crashes his vehicle and has to be pulled out of the wreckage by Swan. Afterwards, a futuristic zeppelin passes by announcing the top 4 winners of the recent F-Zero race who are the original four characters from the SNES game (though for whatever reason Samurai Goroh is called Kamikaze Goroh in this version).

Captain Falcon, the 1st place winner, announces his retirement, and he is given the title of Baron of Cosmos by Mr. Richter, the President of the company Big Cosmos, which created and oversees F-Zero.

Chapter 2: Monday Tournament

Ten years later, the adult Swan and Team Supreme have mostly split, with Eddie as his mechanic and Mamoru never being able to fully recover from his injuries all those years ago. Swan plans to race in the Monday Tournament so he can qualify for F-Zero.

However, the odds are stacked against him. At this point, F-Zero -which is ostensibly supposed to be open to everyone who has access to a machine, only wants the pilots that Big Cosmos trains themselves to be able to compete in the races, and they set out traps for outsiders, making it almost impossible for ordinary citizens to participate in F-Zero.

Swan uses the Supreme to help him avoid the traps and win the qualifier, even though use of the Soulmatic system isn't allowed. His cheating goes unnoticed, however, and his darkhorse victory in the qualifier causes a stir among F-Zero viewers.

Chapter 3: Blue Falcon

After the tournament, Captain Falcon reaches out to Swan and Eddie, asking them to meet him at his home. Once they arrive, they see that Falcon has become prematurely aged from his years of racing and he admits to being an alcoholic. Swan is skeptical of Falcon's intentions, but Falcon says that he's renounced his title as Baron of Cosmos and wants to sponsor Swan and Eddie in F-Zero, giving them his blessing to inherit the Blue Falcon and modify it however they please.

After this, a meeting between President Richter and his right-hand man, Owl, is shown, where Richter reveals that Falcon has cancer and doesn't have much time left to live.

Back home in Port Town, Swan is told that Mamoru has collapsed. He rushes to be at his old friend's side, but it's too late. Mamoru is already dead by the time he arrives at his family's home. Swan has a heartfelt conversation with Mamoru's younger sister, Taime, and he lets her ride around town with him.

Chapter 4: Glid (probably a misspelling of Grid)

Richter invites Swan and Eddie to stay at the Crystal Tower Hotel in White Land. Once there, Swan has dinner alone with Richter, who drugs him so that he can analyze his brain with a machine that detects the Supreme's presence in his mind. Swan comes to with no knowledge of what just happened.

The race at White Land takes place, and this time Swan wins by attacking another racer with a concealed weapon. Falcon watched the broadcast of the race from home, and at the end, he fell unconscious.

Chapter 5: Death Wind

Swan's cheating has been discovered this time, but Richter allows this, announcing that the rule against directly attacking other racers will be rescinded. He believes that Swan will usher in a new era of F-Zero where it is more than entertainment, it will be war.

A romantic meeting between Swan and Taime is interrupted by Eddie, who tells them that Falcon is in critical condition. Swan hurries to Falcon's house, where he is on his deathbed. In his last moments, Falcon "looks at Swan as if he were looking at a lover" and implores him to seek out Dr. Stewart, Goroh, and Pico so he may learn the meaning of racing from them, and as he passes away, he can see and speak to the Supreme.

However, once Swan returns to his garage, he sees a ransom note from a gambling organization called Vega threatening him that they have Taime in their clutches and won't release her unless he drops out from the Death Wind circuit.

Swan plans on racing anyway, believing that's what Taime would want, and he gathers a collection of bombs from his street gang days to use against the other racers. In response to this, Eddie leaves Swan. When the Death Wind race starts, the Supreme prevents the Blue Falcon from moving, causing Swan to panic, but Taime is then let go safe and sound.

Chapter 6: Goal Gate

The next session of F-Zero will see the princes of Sand Ocean and Silence participating, and Richter plans on using the new brutality of the races to spark a war between the two planets so he can buy the oil that was recently found on Sand Ocean. At this point, he views Swan as expendable and orders him to be killed.

A cruiser ship piloted by a man named Sekikawa attacks and injures Swan and Taime; luckily, they're rescued by Pico and brought to his fortress. After he recovers, Swan visits Goroh's boat house in Big Blue. Following a short pep talk and a feeling of kinship over their shared "Oriental blood" (the translation's words, not mine), Swan and Taime visit Dr. Stewart in Mute City.

In each of his conversations with the three former pilots, Swan has discussed what racing means to them and what the Supreme is, getting different answers from them. Dr. Stewart encourages Swan to race again, and he leaves Taime behind to stay safe with the doctor.

Immediately after leaving the penthouse, Sekikawa attacks Swan, seemingly killing him and causing Taime to become hysterical. As Swan falls through the air, he sees angels and can feel his body lifting upward. Dr. Stewart contacts Pico and Goroh, asking for their help to create the ultimate F-Zero machine. The three work together to create a new, more powerful version of the Blue Falcon.

Finally, the last race in Mute City with the two princes is about to begin. The Blue Falcon appears at the entry line, much to Mr. Richter's shock, since he believes Swan to have been killed. He tries to shut down the race to no avail, the systems are unresponsive. Stewart, Goroh, Pico, Taime, and the rest of the crowd watch as stars fill the night sky of Mute City for the first time in centuries.

The race goes without incident and the Blue Falcon wins. Swan reveals himself and embraces Taime, telling her that the Supreme is in actuality the collective memory of all those who race, and he has elevated himself above caring about winning or losing.

Final Thoughts After that, the book ends with pontificating about the spiritual significance of racing at high speeds felt by pilots and car racers throughout history, hence the title "Gods of Speed," but I didn't know how to word it, sorry. This book seems like it's too short, there's a lot of "and then Swan went here and talked to this guy for a bit", but I also appreciate not wasting my time.

Like I said, there's a lot of worldbuilding and stuff that I left out, there's far, far more of it than you would expect from a Nintendo tie-in novel from the early 90's and I appreciate the effort, even if a lot of it was expressed through info dumps.

How about Captain Falcon going out like that, huh? Can you imagine any Nintendo property tackling alcoholism and cancer, especially with the protagonist of one of their flagship SNES games at the time??? I have to admire such a bold choice. It's so completely different from later portrayals of Falcon where he's basically Future Racing Jesus and got to go out in the anime with a blaze of glory. I wish the other three racers were in it more (BTW, Goroh is given the last name "Sugata" here, and I'll now adopt that as my headcanon for his real last name). If you have any questions about the book, I'll try to answer them the best I can. I know a lot of it still flew over my head.

#f-zero #nintendo #long post #captain falcon #retro gaming #of all the 80's/90's tie ins not made by nintendo this has gotta be in the top tier #snes #copied my text that I put on reddit for those who don't want to go there

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