#was i supposed to read a prequel guys I am so confused I had to double check to make sure I was reading the right thing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fae-fucker · 1 year ago

Text

Review: Of Goblins and Gold by Emma Hamm

Oops forgor to post this review here lmao :')

So ... I read the prequel to this book and hated it with a passion of a thousand suns. You might be asking, "Ok you hater, why go back to read the actual book it's based on?"

Mutliple reasons. 1) I am a hater. 2) I wanted to see if the author would put more effort into her solo projects/proper books. 3) A friend of mine tried to read it and failed, and I am nothing if not a martyr. 4) Yeah?? Maybe I want to read a story with a hot Goblin King in it? I didn't grow up watching The Labyrinth, I'm a little younger than most who did (and also not American), but just the words "Goblin King" are enough to perk my cat ear headphones.

Basically, I was curious, and I wanted to give this book a chance. Against my better judgment, clearly.

I'll cut to the chase: the writing is very poor. Like, to the point where I wasn't sure about the target demographic of this book, that's how juvenile and simplistic it was. Slightly better than the prose in the prequel short story, but only marginally. It reads like something for lower middle grade kids, it has this fairytale quality that's less dreamy and more "Oh, this could be a picture book." To illustrate my point, I literally, physically recoiled when I read the word "fuck" being uttered by a character, because it was so sudden and jarring amidst what had been, up to that point, Freya sees ball, see Freya run.

The writing isn't helped by quite poor and derivative characterization, the nonsense worldbuilding, and the shaky and confusing plot.

Freya is a fae-hating, determined young woman who totally isn't an off-brand Feyre (and I say this as an SJM hater, so being an off-brand copy of a shitty character is not great), and the Gerblin Shmerblin is a ... star-themed hot guy in a billowing shirt. Cool. Great. They don't have chemistry as much as they have scenes together and interact with each other. I understand Jareth and his magic bulge was the sexual awakening for many, and you will not get that here.

My biggest problem with this here book is the plot, and the ... themes? Morals? Where do I even begin?

Freya is understandably distrustful of goblins because her parents taught her to be. Esther is ... not. So Esther runs away with a goblin boy, and Freya thinks that she's been kidnapped because she finds a threatening note saying so (that I don't remember if it's ever explained who wrote it), and sets out to save her. She encounters the Gorblin Shmorblin, who challenges her to a game to fetch mystical artefacts from each of the four courts. Which she does, very easily. It apparently takes her weeks, though some of that time she spends brainwashed, I suppose. We then find out that it was easy on purpose, because the Gablin Mamblin wanted her to win for some reason?

Spoiler warning because I have to go into some very confusing things that honestly won't really spoil anything because it's hard to make sense of what's exactly being spoiled.

[Spoiler start]

Basically, the Gobbo Bobbo knew Esther came willingly, but also wanted Freya to think she didn't so she would fight to get her back, but also he wanted her to succeed along the way, but also he tried to trick her into getting frozen for eternity, but also he wanted to get her to join him in his court, but also he didn't care about Esther at all and was just doing this to amuse Freya because he saw that she was too special for her mundane life and wanted more from it and he was there to provide that excitement by being the villain in her story? I honestly could not tell you his motivations at all. I don't understand why he didn't just show Esther to Freya right away, cleared up the misunderstanding, and then try to seduce/lure Freya in the way he attempts it at the end of the book, while Freya still believes he stole Esther? Of course he'd fail then! It's made clear that Freya staying with him is very important, so why did he waste all that time toying with her for shits and giggles? It makes no sense. And at the end, when it shows that Freya winning was a huge mistake, him toying around with Freya like this made no sense at all. If so much was at stake, why did he fuck around? What was his actual motivation? What did he want? Yeah, read the sequels etc, but the reader still needs to have some idea of a character's motivations in order to connect with them and, important in a romance novel, root for the romance to happen! The narrative attempts to paint him as this manipulative mastermind, and yeah, he's one of those things, but we have no idea what goal he's manipulating Freya towards at all. In the end, it just looks like he fucked up real bad. Tried to swing his dick around and got it stuck in a blender type shit.

[Spoiler end]

The way this book handles Freya's prejudice leaves a weird taste in my mouth. As per my review of Stolen Goblin Bride, Esther is an insufferable brat who is always right and who never gets punished for hurting those around her, particularly Freya. The narrative and other characters encourage Esther to act like an asshole, because Esther is Good and Pure and Righteous and anything she does is automatically correct, even when she knows it'll hurt her sister. And even in Freya's own story, Esther is vindicated in the end. This book confirms what was hinted at in Stolen Goblin Bride: Esther is always right, and Freya is always wrong. It's honestly kind of gross and uncomfortable to read, like the author had a grudge against Freya and thus didn't want to afford her any sort of depth or complexity.

We're led to believe that Freya, who was raised to believe goblins were dangerous and had no reason to believe otherwise, is actually a close-minded bigot who is in denial about how great the fae are and how much she longs for the adventure the fae world provides.

I get what the author was going for, but it falls really flat for many interconnected reasons. Freya spends the entire book warring against the idea of goblins/fae being good people and the fae world being wonderful, believing they stole her sister, and denying her (supposed) attraction to the Gabby Babby, up until the last pages of the book. But when she finally meets Esther and sees that she wants to be there, Freya's like "Oh ok. Nevermind then. I was wrong and you were right." Like, she kept denying it for so long, to the point it became unrealistic, but all it actually took was Esther, the paragon of righteousness, to tell her to calm down?

It's not even a bad idea, it's fine to have Freya's sister be the final nail in the bigot coffin, but the way Freya folds and doesn't even doubt or give up or feel bitter or anything? She spends the majority of the book being in denial, then flips on a dime and goes "Ok! This is fine actually! Whatever my little sister wants, uwu!" It's the author showing her hand very blatantly. Like, ok, the book is over, time for the finale and for tying a nice bow on the character development. Freya is done with her arc, which was less an arc and more of a 90 degree angle, so now her anger and denial are just gone despite being her main characterization throughout. Freya's entire character gives way for Esther's wants and needs, and it's framed like Esther is doing Freya a favor by opening her eyes to the wonders of the goblins.

And the thing is, Freya being in denial isn't even that convincing, either? Obviously, she needs to be in denial for this particular plot, I get it, and the part that doesn't work for me is the idea that there is something to deny at all. Pretty much every fae creature she encounters wants to hurt her, except for the one side character she forces into servitude who doesn't, at any point, show that he wants to help her out of the kindness of his heart and nothing else, and one character who Freya admits herself seems nice but harbors some threatening edge deep down (not even that deep down, tbh).

So all the things Freya sees that she needs to deny are ... pretty landscapes. The mere existence of magic. The supposed kindness of the fae? The promise of adventure, the type she's on right now trying to save her sister from a creep who, as far as she knows, kidnapped said sister?

Freya's in very unconvincing denial about things that nobody in their right mind would actually be in denial about. Are we supposed to believe she doesn't care about her sister and just wants adventure? That she's convincing herself the goblins are evil to have a righteous thing to war against, to make herself a hero in her own story, and Esther's kidnapping is just an excuse to go on a quest? I think that angle would've worked, and there's hints of that in the book, but it's clearly not the point. Mostly it's Freya's bigotry we're supposed to dislike about her, and her wanting to be a hero is painted as a good thing she's repressing.

Now, I'm not saying that bigotry is somehow justified if the people you're bigoted against "prove" that they're as bad as you think they are. Nor am I saying that it's on them to prove you wrong. But this is a book, and Freya unlearning these things needs to be shown convincingly to the reader. Here, the fae are in obvious positions of power over Freya throughout and several of them attempt to kill her, yet her reacting negatively to this is painted as irrational? Why purposefully write cruel and threatening fae and then punish your character for thinking they're cruel and threatening? It doesn't make any sense.

The fae: We stole your sister and you need to do a bunch of dangerous shit to get her back. Also, a bunch of us will drug you, dehumanize you, insult and belittle you, and generally treat you like disposable garbage. The one guy who doesn't hate your guts is in charge of all of us.

Freya: Hmm ... Yeah that matches what I know about you. Kinda shitty tbh.

The fae: Omg how racist! Open your heart to how great we are!

In the end, Freya wins, but we're meant to dislike that. Because Freya winning means the Gabba Babba loses, and he's correct about everything always, just like Esther. The narrative tells us Freya is wrong, Esther tells Freya she's wrong, the Gorblo Borblo tells Freya she's wrong. You just end up reading about this poor woman who's gaslit into being the villain by everyone around her, and she ends up blaming herself when shit goes to hell, and then Esther is the one who's like "it wasn't your fault uwu" and I'm not sure if we're meant to agree?

Freya somehow ends up being the butt monkey of the entire book despite also being the most interesting human ever (according to the Gebble Pebble) and having the easiest epic quest of all time. She's a bigot but we never see her get any reason to unlearn said bigotry, but she's still punished for her beliefs, ones she got from her dead parents and never had reason to question. Her love interest tells us she's the most fascinating human he's ever met (and he's met millions, despite being a thousand years old? That's a lot of humans for a guy who mostly seems to live on non-human soil) despite her never doing anything extraordinary.

This is a very confusing read. I'm leaving two stars because it baffled me more than it infuriated me, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're really desperate for lukewarm goblin content. On that note, let's talk about Stolen Goblin Bride and the way these two books together open up a well of wack-ass worldbuilding.

First of all, the events in this book do not match up with the events in Goblin Bride. Lux "kidnaps" Esther in that one, but here, she says she went willingly. The Gobbo Shobbo also distinctly helps Lux kidnap Esther, all while claiming he didn't, and that goblins don't do that. Here, it's also established that only children go out to the human world to sell their wares (???), but in Goblin Bride, there were named characters who were clearly adults. Lux himself can't be a child, either. Assuming he's not much older than Esther's 16, and also that he lives and travels alone and owns a home, he's probably around that same age. That does not make him a child. It seems like the author just retroactively made those goblins kids in order to make Freya look even worse. We also find out that the King Gob is well-loved by his people, despite there being a bunch of starving people that Lux has to personally feed on the king's orders? Man must have one hell of a propaganda team. We also don't really know, generally, what sort of world Esther and Freya come from? They talk about being peasants and living in a small village, but at some point Freya mentions a zoo? Huh??? And again, why are the goblins sending their kids to trade with humans that hate and fear them? What kind of sense does that make? Goblin Bride establishes that they trade mainly with nobles, but this book outright says that human nobles left Freya's village centuries ago. Why are the goblins still sending their kids to remote human villages?

All in all, it's a shambles of a book. Nothing really works, and the protagonist seems to be punished for existing, a pawn in a heavy-handed moral that doesn't really work at all. The characters are bland amalgamations of tropes, the worldbuilding is wacky and nonsensical in a bad way, and the plot has the integrity of string cheese. There are tiny glimpses of a vision, of a goal in there somewhere, that might be enough to please some, but I don't know if I'm masochistic or mean enough to pick up the rest of the series.

#book review

3 notes · View notes

sleepymarmot · 2 years ago

Text

The Phantom Menace rewatch (liveblog + notes)

Unlike the OT, I’m rewatching the prequel trilogy fully and in order. Let’s see if I regret my decision...

Liveblog:

Wow, this opening crawl is extremely hard to read.

Bear with me as I try to understand the plot in real time. Alright, so Palpatine 1) Orchestrates the blockade as Sidious 2) Sends the Jedi to break the blockade as the Chancellor 3) Pretends he didn’t expect the Jedi, and orders to escalate and invade Naboo, and kill the Jedi Or is the chancellor they’re referring to someone else? Is this a ploy to assassinate these two Jedi specifically for some reason?

Do they have super-speed for this scene only?

The designs are also ugly but in a different way from the OT

“The negotiations were short” lmao

Oh alright, Palpatine is a Senator, and the Chancellor is a different guy. But which one is higher?

I appreciate that the politics are actually confusing, instead of just one bad faction vs one good faction

WHY ARE QUI-GON AND JAR JAR HAVING A SEXY MEET CUTE And Jar Jar immediately says “I love you”. What is happening

Alright by WHY does he speak like this. Is this a dialect of the common language? Is everyone else using a translator machine while Jar Jar actually learned the language so he makes mistakes?

I am so grateful for the subtitles lmao

R2-D2 looks kind of weird. Different sort of plastic? CGI?

Why did the decoy queen send the real queen to clean a droid?

I wonder if the guard captain (? or whatever his job is, the cute black guy) knows which one the queen is.

God she’s SO tiny. Who the hell elected this child?! A child on the throne of a hereditary monarchy makes sense, a child princess too; but a democratically elected head of the state?!

Oh Ani that’s a terrible line lmao This has the energy of baby clothes that say “ladies’ man” etc

Anakin is such a friendly, outgoing child 😭

“Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter :)” flash forward for how the Jedi order and the universe in general repays him...

The C-3P0/R2-D2 meet cute is much better than the anidala one!

“I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves.” 😭😭😭

“Mom, you say the biggest problem in this universe is nobody helps each other.” 😭

“He was meant to help you.” What the hell is that supposed to mean?

They’re really staking the entire mission on a 9 year old winning a deadly race huh

Omg I’ve forgotten about the immaculate conception lmao. How did the EU explain that one?

“I wanna be the first one to see ‘em all.” Well, that is his name...

Wait is that Warwick Davis in the background

Well that race got mildly interesting only about halfway through.

“Why do I sense we’ve picked up another pathetic life-form?” I think it’s pretty interesting how the two Jedi have a mutual, usually unspoken understanding that they’re above everyone and everything else.

I’m crying again looking at Shmi’s face. She knows they’re leaving her behind because she’s not valuable to anyone but herself and her son. In slavery, alone, with nobody to live for or to help her now. (And what she doesn’t know, but Qui-Gon does, is that he angered her slaveowner before leaving. I bet he’s going to take it out on her.)

“Will I ever see you again?” 😭😭😭

Lmao was this scene meant to mirror ANH? Leia’s planet has been destroyed, and she’s giving Luke a blanket; Padme’s planet is being decimated, and she’s giving Anakin a blanket. Sexism is like poetry, it rhymes...

“Many things will change when we reach the capital, Ani, but my caring for you will remain” What’s that supposed to mean? (This is an endearing scene of friendship and solidarity between two kids used as pawns by the cynical adults... Until the weird romance angle comes in again. The boy is nine, George!!!)

I like the parallel scenes of the two ineffective bureaucracies.

Yoda looks much better than in the OT. Is it CGI? Or a very good puppet with CGI enhancements? There’s so much detail in his eyes and ears, I don’t believe it’s a puppet only!

Did they really greenscreen and CGI the green hills?

Finally a proper fucking sword fight! Which is also accompanied by a rare memorable music theme. Maul’s martial arts style is noticeably different from the others, which is neat. He jumps and twirls like a dancer.

This part of the plot is very immersive because I, like Anakin, have no idea what the point of the space battle is. I’m sure it was explained before but I missed it. Oh so he could disable the autopilot at any time? He just went along with it to see what’s the destination? lmao “Qui-Gon told me to stay in this cockpit, so that's what I’m gonna do.” Well that's a very creative interpretation of his instructions lol Did Ani accidentally infiltrate the enemy base? Good for him! The station falling apart is one of the few good special effects in this movie.

“...grave danger I fear in his training.” *the Imperial march plays*

---

Notes after watching:

Well. 60% the worst movie you’ve ever seen, 20% okay, 10% interesting ideas some of which may or may not upset a fan of the OT, 10% crying your face off because of the dramatic irony.

The most interesting part with perhaps the most far-reaching consequences is the ideology of the film, which is very different from what the viewer could expect after the OT. The film draws a clear parallel between the ongoing fall of the Republic and the impending fall of the Jedi order, brought about by their own internal problems. The Jedi are shown as ineffective at best and actively heartless at worst. Two extremely disadvantaged people help Qui-Gon out of the goodness of their hearts, and in return he exploits them with the pragmatism worthy of a Sith Lord. But the structure of the film still positions the Jedi as “good guys”, giving no meaningful alternative for them. So it’s natural the audience would react like “But the Jedi are heroes! They’re noble and spiritual! What is this bureaucratic nonsense?!” and some of them would proceed to think “Well, the story says they’re heroes, so they’re actually justified in everything. All of these flaws are excusable.” And it’s very unclear what the intended takeaway from all of this was. Was the viewer supposed to leave the theater thinking “Damn, it’s a shame the Jedi are so fucked up. The only one who sees this kid as a person is another child trapped in the adults’ political schemes. So that’s what puts him on the path from being an idealistic, compassionate child to Darth Vader”? Or were the kids still supposed to want to be a Jedi, like they presumably did after the OT? You know what, this actually makes me appreciate the anti-TLJ crowd. They openly say: “I think the way Luke was written in this film was stupid and OOC. It offends me as a fan. This is not my Luke. I refuse to consider this film a part of my personal canon.” Straightforward and honest. So why can’t the (admittedly overlapping faction of) Jedi apologists just say that they don’t like the prequels? That trilogy is widely hated. If you say “I think the prequels were badly written, so I prefer to ignore their existence altogether”, I’m sure many would sympathize. So why not just say that, instead of defending the ways in which the Jedi order and its members were obviously in the wrong?

Both the cinematography and the image quality are strangely worse than the original trilogy. I was watching a 1080p BluRay rip, so the fault wasn’t there. Out of the environments, Coruscant was my favorite. The interiors look very plastic, which makes the scenes filmed on location in some normal palace look out of place.

Jar Jar’s people are a “primitive tribe” caricature, and their speech is nigh incomprehensible. Ani’s slaveowner seems to be an antisemitic caricature. Naboo is a planet of mostly white people and Mediterranean architecture... and fashion borrowing from Asia, mostly Japan; it’s like the costume designed visited a museum recently. (Apparently the Trade Federation guys are a racist stereotype too but I’m not familiar that one.)

Putting the spotlight on the most experienced actor was a good move, at least. In the end, it seems like Qui-Gon is the protagonist of this movie, not anyone who is in other installments.

Jake Lloyd’s acting didn’t bother me at all. Even looking at the documentary — alright, so another kid at the audition (5:32 in the documentary) had a stronger reading of a line that was unsalvageably awful anyway. So what? He seems older, maybe that’s why he’s better; it would be simply a slightly different dynamic if Anakin were not tiny enough to stumble over words. Besides, Natalie Portman was an established teenage actress, and her performance was also flat as hell. Meanwhile, the adults Neeson and McGregor were doing just fine. I think it’s clear where the blame lies here...

I still don’t understand what Palpatine’s scheme was. To get elected chancellor, he needed the queen’s instigation, so was letting her escape the plan from the beginning?

Who is the target audience for this movie? The OT was clearly for children. In this one, the kids would be bored by the politics, and the adults by the juvenile humor.

Ironically, I came out of this thinking the Jedi Council was right. If being a nine year old who misses his mother disqualifies one from their militant religious order, then maybe it would be best for everyone if he could keep living his life without their bullshit.

Anyway the most fun part of this experience was listening to the corresponding episode of A More Civilized Age, which was really healing after some of the bizarre takes on the Jedi I’ve seen on here.

I’m also grateful to them for pointing me towards the making-of documentary. A few short notes about it: watching McGregor’s nice hair being cut into that horrible style was almost physically painful; watching the actors rehearse the lightsaber fights was magical; the footage of the premiere left me with mixed feelings because of the secondhand embarrassment and dread of an impending trainwreck on one side, and the nostalgia of attending fandom film premieres myself in the past.

#star wars #blah blah blah

2 notes · View notes

fandom-necromancer · 4 years ago

Text

Coffee, Crushes and Complications 2

Okay, this was prompted a lot by the lovely @headfulloffantasy @nobodygtb2 and two anons! I hope I could do the demand justice!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 [Prequel] [Part1] [Part3] [Part4]

Tina sighed. She didn’t even have to look up to know who was approaching her first thing the next morning. The RK900 stopped at a respectful distance to her desk and clasped his hands behind his back. He opened his mouth, but Tina interrupted before a single word left his lips. ‘Yes, I think Gavin meant what he said to you yesterday. No, I don’t think he wants to see you again. No, I don’t know how you can win him over.’ The android looked at her in confusion, closed his mouth and opened it again. ‘Don’t try telling me you don’t have a crush on this man’, Tina just warned. The RK900 sighed deeply and pulled over a chair from the neighbouring booth sitting down in front of her. ‘First off, I don’t have a crush, I just admire his work and Reed seems like an extraordinary person-‘ ‘That’s kind of a crush though.’ ‘I don’t-‘ RK900 stopped and grinded his teeth in frustration. ‘Listen, I just want to apologize.’ ‘Yeah, because the last time you tried it worked perfectly’, Tina teased. ‘Maybe it’s because I approached him unexpectedly? Maybe if I could ask for a-‘ ‘A date?’ ‘A meeting’, he stressed. ‘So we can properly talk about it.’

Tina kneaded her forehead. ‘Listen, Rich, you are talking about Gavin Reed here. The guy can’t stand talking properly about anything. And I thought you got his message last time: He doesn’t want your apology. He is happy, he found his place in life. I don’t think your apology will mean much to him. Especially when you have done nothing wrong.’ She looked the android in the eyes. ‘Drop that damn apology. You did apologise and Gavin didn’t care. That’s your part done. Except if what you want from him is more than just that.’ The RK900 glared at her. ‘Hey, all I’m saying is you could ask him out like any normal person.’ ‘I am only interested in having my apology heard’, RK900 spat with a blue-tinted face, then he rolled the chair back and left Tina giggling. Yeah. Sure.

‘Don’t get too used to these snacks’, Gavin laughed as his cat basically inhaled the slimy paste Elijah pressed out of the tube. ‘Daddy did get a raise, but I can’t compete with Eli.’ ‘Oh, I don’t think you will wither away to nothing’, Eli laughed petting Bready with a smile. ‘You get fatter every time I visit.’ ‘Hey, that’s not true’, Gavin protested. ‘You are a lady! Don’t listen to him!’ Eli put away the cat snacks and went back to Gavin on his couch where the cold beer was slowly warming up. ‘Now, tell me, with whom did you sleep to get this raise?’ ‘With your mom’, Gavin muttered back what had Eli nearly choking on his drink. ‘God, Gavin, your mom jokes? Really?’ ‘Hey, with us it’s funny because I can actually say it without bashing myself.’ ‘Still gross.’ ‘Maybe.’

‘So you won’t tell me?’ ‘Urgh, I will but it’s not that interesting. Just embarrassed some rich asshole on camera and made him spill all his shit as he tried to get back on track.’ ‘Do I have to worry?’ Gavin laughed and boxed his shoulder. ‘Hey, not anymore. These days you stopped being a rich asshole. Now you are just rich. I mean come on, you basically presented the police the culprits on a silver plate. Not many people in your position would do this.’ ‘It’s bad for business if someone would find out’, Eli shrugged. ‘Better to get these idiots out of the way now and use it to better our image.’ Gavin looked over to his brother suspiciously. ‘Also androids are people now and it’s against the law to try force them back to be slaves.’ ‘Sure, that one too’, Eli grinned. ‘Seems like you compete hard to regain the title of rich asshole…’ ‘Nah, I’m just getting on your nerves, brother, believe me. I love Chloe like a daughter, even if I wanted to, she wouldn’t let me.’

They sat next to each other for a while and watched how Bready tried to hustle another snack from Elijah. ‘And, any plans for the future?’, Eli asked finally, lifting up his cat to pet her what she accepted begrudgingly playing for the long game. ‘For the future? Hmm, not phcking up what I worked for I guess.’ ‘I meant personally. Are you considering dating again?’ ‘Says the man who decided that he’s fine alone.’ ‘I am’, Eli stressed, allowing no further discussion. ‘But doesn’t mean that’s the life for you.’ Gavin sighed and leaned his head back on the rest closing his eyes. ‘I’m not saying I didn’t consider it. But I’m a bit tired of it. I mean dates and getting to know people is fine, but… Most of the time it’s just an excuse for one-night stands and if I looked for that, I wouldn’t have put in all that effort of trying to figure out whether we fit together or not, you know?’ ‘My little brother being romantic? Is the world ending?’ ‘I mean, I’m successful and happy, might as well… But nah, maybe I am romantic, but I’m done having fun and playing around, I would like something constant in my life. Damn, maybe I’m just getting old?’ Eli laughed. ‘Hey, it’s valid. I understand you. Maybe you could ask Tina, she seems to have a good nose for people.’ ‘Right’, Gavin resigned. ‘”Hey, Tina, didn’t you date a few guys in the beginning? Any of them still available?” Real good idea.’ ‘Just trying to help.’ ‘I know. Let’s talk about something else, okay?’

Elijah had stayed late and although he had helped, Gavin still was left trying to tidy up the kitchen in the evening. After he finally finished cleaning, he decided to check his phone and then head in for the night. It should turn out being a mistake:

>Hello Mr. Reed. >I am sorry for this unexpected message. I found your number by interfacing with Tina’s phone because I don’t know how to reach you any other way. >You have told me you don’t want my pity. I understand that. But I hope you understand my situation as well. I still feel guilty. But I know another apology won’t be accepted by you. >Instead, maybe we could meet for a coffee? To talk about it and get to know each other? From what I’ve seen in your work you are a very interesting man. >I’m sorry if this sounded weird. >I’m new to texting. >Please let me know if that would be acceptable.

Gavin frowned. He had immediately connected the messages to belong to the other Connor, this… Richard? But why did this android bother him again after he basically – no, literally told him to phck off? He read the texts again and hovered over the keyboard. Should he ignore it? Text back? And in what way? He was tempted to just write where the android could stick his words, but it seemed to be a honest concern of the RK. Hell, maybe e should agree just to get rid of him? A part of him was interested in knowing who the new guy was that had replaced him. A part of him he never acknowledged, because he was over his last life, he was over and done with it. He had become better. He had grown. Maybe he should do the right thing and indulge the stupid android. He sighed and began typing.

Fine.< When and where?<

RK900 couldn’t believe what he saw on the display of his phone. >I’m here, where the fuck are you? Well, he couldn’t believe the human had agreed to it in the first place. After how abrasive he had been when they had met in the coffee shop… but well, here they were and RK900 knew he just had to wait and see how it would go. I am sitting at the table in the corner. I see you.< Already got us coffee and something to eat I hope you like.< ‘Damn persistent bot you are’, Gavin sighed as he went over to the table where the Connor-lookalike sat. ‘You agreed to it’, the android shrugged. ‘Yeah, I guess I have. Truth to be told, I don’t really know why. I was a bit tipsy, but that’s no explanation.’

RK900 didn’t know how to answer to that and just pushed the coffee and a slice of cake over to the human, who huffed with a smile. ‘At least I do like what you decided to get. By the way, you don’t have to pay for this shit, okay?’ ‘You didn’t accept my apology. See it as indulging an android’s bad conscience.’ Gavin shrugged again and took the first fork of cake. ‘Hey, not saying no to free food.’ ‘Good to hear as I can’t eat it.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Yes. Everything liquid is… fine, although a bit of a mess later on.’ ‘But still you drink coffee?’ ‘Like the taste.’ Gavin smirked, but otherwise said nothing until he had downed half his cake.

‘Alright, bot, what did you want to talk about?’, Gavin asked. ‘My name is Richard.’ ‘That’s a shit name, Dick.’ ‘Please don’t call me that.’ ‘Sure as hell won’t call you Richard. That’s a grandfather’s name. Chose it yourself?’ ‘No’, the android sighed. ‘But it’s what most people called me after I said it’s a name I would consider.’ Gavin huffed from his nose at that. ‘Yeah that sucks.’ ‘I mean I do like it in a way. But I still consider myself RK900.’ ‘Okay, I get how people call you Richard now.’

‘Anyways, what I really wanted to talk about was you.’ ‘Me?’, Gavin asked. ‘Really, that’s a bad decision.’ ‘I am amazed of your work.’ ‘Okay?’ ‘And how you managed to solve some cases… I truly hope to one day be as good as you were.’ Gavin looked the android in the eyes trying to figure out if this was a joke. It wasn’t. Gavin cringed a bit as he answered: ‘Well, I’m sure it’s just experience. Was in this job for seventeen years. You learn a thing or two.’ ‘But you proved remarkable talent from the very beginning’, the android pointed out. ‘Listen, you don’t need to be nice to me. I was a real asshole. I was good at one thing and one thing only and that was my job. I sucked at everything else.’ ‘I’m sure Tina would beg to differ.’ ‘Differing is her phcking hobby.’ That actually made the android laugh. It sounded weird and mechanical. ‘Oh, that’s a good one, need to remember that.’

Gavin looked at the android who grinned wide and caught himself smiling too. Immediately he willed it away. This was supposed to be a one-time thing. Letting the android talk about what bothered him and then never see him again. But… When had he decided that? He thought about what his therapist had told him. Change your old behaviours if you want to change how people see you and better yourself, fake it if you must. Was this old Gavin speaking? Or new Gavin? Phck.

‘She really can be a pain in the ass’, Richard - RK900 – whatever – ripped him out of his thoughts. ‘But she is a good friend.’ ‘You two are friends?’ ‘Yes. She honoured your promise by the way. She never talked about you. That’s actually what made me want to know you for a long time.’ ‘For a long time?’, Gavin asked, lifting one brow. ‘I mean, if you haven’t been active very long I guess everything is a long time. But no, I read a lot about you when I started to work at the police, and I wanted to know the man behind the name.’

Gavin was a bit weirded out and some part of him wanted to shut this conversation down immediately. But he decided against it. Maybe this was worth a shot. ‘Well, then ask away. I’m not that interesting but go ahead.’ Apparently that had been the only sign the android had needed because the questions started to come down like rain: ‘What kind of music do you like?’ ‘Are you a dog person?’ ‘Any hobbies?’ ‘How did you find your new job?’ ‘What’s the name of your cat?’ Initially Gavin had thought to spend an hour max at this café with the android. But the hours flew past as he answered the android’s questions and listened as he shared information on the different topics himself. And as they stood up and left the café with them both awkwardly standing on the street in front of it, Gavin realised he actually had enjoyed this day quite a lot. He looked up at the android, who rubbed his neck and… was that a blush? When they made eye-contact, RK900 spoke up, obviously self-conscious: ‘I… I really liked talking to you, Gav- Mr. Reed?’ ‘Gavin is fine. And I think I- No, I enjoyed it too. You are a nice person. You deserve the job you got, okay?’ And if he hadn’t been sure before, now that blue tint unmistakably was a blush.

‘Would you-‘ ‘Would you like-‘ They looked at each other and burst into laughter. It was Gavin, who recovered first and nodded. ‘Yeah. I would like. Next weekend? Same place same time?’ ‘Gladly.’

[>next part]

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed900 #RK900 #Gavin Reed #Elijah Kamski #WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE TOGETHER??? I can't understand it.#soft Nines #Damn I wanted to include how Nines becomes Gavin's nickname for RK900 and he likes it a lot. So he is Richard for work and Nines in private #Because I like all names for RK900 but Nines is in my heart #I'll stop rambling

50 notes · View notes

wolfcrunch · 4 years ago

Note

Since I don't think I've seen you mention it, I was curious what your thoughts are on the current arc in BNHA Vigilantes. On one hand, I love seeing Koichi in action and witnessing how much he has grown since the start of the series. On the other, I'm not too impressed with the heroes/police cause I can't understand why they're prioritizing capturing Koichi over No. 6. Like I get being a vigilante is illegal, but shouldn't Tsukauchi be more focused on trying to find the guy who just recently bombed the police station and who might be the reason Tanuma dies? Also, I'm glad the pro heroes want to protect Koichi, but why are they so worried about him as compared to Pop who is also a target and is literally in the hospital right now? Is it because they're giving her the villain treatment, or do they somehow know that No. 6 plans on going after Koichi after he kills Pop? I guess if he told Soga about that then Soga could've passed that along to Midnight, or the heroes could think that because Koichi is connected to Pop that also makes him a target. Since they haven't explicitly said that they know No.6 is targeting Koichi, it makes me think they don't know, but I could totally be wrong. I'm just really confused by the heroes/police's actions so I wanted to hear your thoughts if that's okay ^^'

this took a while to answer - both because i had to think it over, and because right now im not as invested in the vigilantes storyline as i am the main series; i feel as if the story is a big dragged now, and im relatively happy that it seems to be approaching the end.

as for the current arc though... i like it! it seems pretty interesting and might get my own interest again. the arc feels very final, and will give us one good finale battle with koichi, and im excited to see how he displays all the tricks and skills he has been taught over the course of the manga. not to mention how these events will draw other characters together, hopefully, and if we’re lucky enough it will wrap the story up nicely.

but i can definitely see your concerns! to me, its possible that the police and heroes think that perhaps koichi and his vigilante status are connected to the entire fiasco with pop, and the new looming threat thats lashed out. i suppose they may feel as if it would be better to get their hands on him now, and work together to take this threat down with a more “legal” route, instead of allowing koichi to seemingly do it on his own illegally. of course, they’d probably still have to arrest him regardless for being a vigilante, but as we’ve seen, heroes at least dont see koichi as a “bad” guy the same way they would a villain.

as for protecting pop while shes in hospital - maybe they show less worry, or seem less ready to protect her, because they dont expect her to be attacked so soon, or perhaps her location is hidden and they dont expect anyone to find out where she’s exactly located? having a bunch of heroes or police around, while safer, would also raise red flags for the people seeking to kill her. unless the manga said otherwise, i need to go back and re-read to refresh my memory... but i can see why it may look as if the police and heroes have dropped the ball in concerns to pop’s safety. i doubt it would be solely due to the fact they view her as a villainous character, since she still needs to be questioned. she could still provide useful information for when she wakes up.

and yes! midnight has been so great this past arc. despite vigilantes being a prequel, its nice to see more of her character compared to how shes portrayed in the main storyline. it gives more life to her character, and of course who could forget about mha’s recent manga events.. its just nice to see

#asks #Anonymous

16 notes · View notes

alchemist-shizun · 4 years ago

Text

Maybe

Read on Ao3!

Ts general taglist: @whizzie72 @sapphire-knight @uhhh-ruh-roh-raggy @softanxiouspatton @royallyanxious @kim-argent-moon @lance-alt @suffering-is-my-comfort-zone @sometimeswritingsometimesdying @pushussmollworld @mylifeisadeceit @spooky-scary-virgil @angstyfanfiction @artissijam @logicalberry @pistachio-lan @roses-bubbles @princessnoodlebug @wolfie979-sideblog @gigitheimposter @murder-schmurder @punsandpodcasts @star-crossed-shipper @are-you-even--real (tell me if you want to be added or removed)

Word Count: 2,377

Characters: Roman, Virgil

Pairing(s): platonic Prinxiety (can be viewed as pre-romantic if that's your thing)

Warning(s): Self-deprecation, crying, angst, self-loathing, general emotional negativity, mild panic attack

Summary: Roman is clearly not okay. How about a song? Maybe three?

A/N: This was meant to be only a vent fic but I'm actually making it part of a series related to the events of SvS redux where Janus, Roman and Remus all visit Virgil's room for different reasons at different times. This is post-SvS redux, the prequel with Janus has already been posted. Yes, another one of those where Roman seeks comfort to Virgil. Enjoy! (All song lyrics borrowed from Virgil's playlist)

✾

Hell no.

Roman sank up in the all too familiar corridor, marching it down with heavy steps that would have formed holes on the floor if they had been just a little more massive.

The prickling in his eyes didn't matter, as the trembling of his hands counted more.

His eyes darted from a door to another as if he'd forgotten how they had been placed, ignoring his own in favour of probably the only person who would've lent him a chance to speak in that moment.

A knock then another and he was met with an uncharacteristically smiling face cornered by the trademark patchwork hoodie.

The smile faltered as Virgil processed Roman's expression.

« What did we say about repression and bottling up emotions? » that was an unusual conversation starter.

Something went definitely wrong.

« That it's … bad? It's bad. » Virgil had never been as good with words as Logan, but he could get to the point nonetheless.

« Right. So, » Roman's body seemed to be moving at light speed, mirroring how rapidly his mind was racing, how quickly he could respond. « You'll agree with me that, to prevent that, one must turn to someone else, maybe someone capable of understanding what might be going wrong. »

« A good point, I guess. »

« Indeed. Therefore if I just- » he pushed past Virgil and entered the room, quick and short steps reached the centre of it while Roman's arms opened wide as he turned back to look at Anxiety. « If I just- » his tone higher, the need to get everything out even stronger, his voice cracked and on the verge of shattering.

Virgil's concern rose, he slowly shut the door as he followed Roman's pacing with slightly wider eyes.

« If I just fucking lose it. For once. I don't know what to do anymore! Anything I do, I say anything goes wrong. I'm wrong! I'm never- » he recollected some breath, face now wet with tears. « What am I supposed to do anymore? »

Virgil mirrored everything that was opposite of Roman: mild breathing, soothing pacing, moving slowly around the room not to strengthen the other's panic.

Roman was now leaning against furniture, so Virgil reached the office chair and pulled it towards them, sitting with his chest against the back of the seat.

He looked up at Roman, careful. « What makes you say that? »

Virgil knew that type of attitude, the way your brain has a breakdown after way too many contradictions, way too many reloads and discrepancies.

It was already too late, Roman's mind went through the scenes again, which made him sob and cry even more while hearing everything they'd told him that day and before. He fell down and his face was buried in his hands.

Virgil slowly got up, careful not to make startling sounds, and reached the other, sitting next to him, but still giving him space. He tried to maintain his own tranquility so Roman wouldn't have to be around further distressing energy.

He started off with a barely audible tune which transformed into words. « As I walk through the streets of my new city, my back feeling much better, I suppose I've reclaimed the use of my imagination. For better or for worse, I've yet to know. » he tentatively put a hand on Roman's back, paying attention to his reaction and trying to console him when he noticed it didn't bother him.

« But I always knew you'd be the one to understand me, I guess that's why it took so long to get things right. » Virgil let a small smile creep on his face, remembering how much they used to bicker in the past, even though it hurt most times. « Suddenly I'm lost on my street, on my block. Oh why, oh why- »

Roman finally joined his singing, feeling the words fit him so much to let him vent that way. « Oh why haven't you been there for me? Can't you see, I'm losing my mind this time? This time I think it's for real, I can see … »

« All the tree tops turning red. The beggars near bodegas grin at me, I think they want something. I close my eyes, I tell myself to breathe. » their tone was much softer than the original song. Virgil had taken a small pause to breathe for real. « And be … calm. Be calm. » he turned to directly look at Roman. « I know you feel like you are breaking down. Oh I know that it gets so hard sometimes. » he watched as Roman tried to progressively stop crying. « Be calm. »

« Take it from me, I've been there a thousand times. » Virgil continued, softer than in the original song. « You hate your pulse because it still thinks you're alive. And everything's wrong, it just gets so hard sometimes. Be calm. »

He heard the other's breathing ease. It was working, so Virgil kept singing to make him comfortable.

« Hey. Don't write yourself off yet. It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on. Just try your best, try everything you can. » he was looking ahead of himself, but he was sure Roman was listening. « And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away. »

Roman still had his head buried in his knees, so he slightly looked up at turned to the side.

« It just takes some time, little girl, you're in the middle of the ride, everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be all right. »

Virgil was resting his arm around Roman's shoulder now, finding him much more relaxed.

« Live right now, just be yourself. It doesn't matter if that's good enough for someone else. » he sang quietly.

Roman moved an arm and suddenly Anxiety's room changed and they were sitting against a tree at night up on a hill, while they watched the silent city in the distance with its flickering lights that matched the stars.

The wind was howling so nicely that it simply turned into a gentle breeze, tickling their skin with a touch of coldness.

Virgil resonated that it could have been a safe space for Roman, so he kept singing until the other felt ready to talk or didn't need anymore reassurance.

« Tell me that you're alright, that everything is alright. »

He still had his arm around the other's shoulders.

« Please tell me that you're alright, that everything is alright. »

As he sang, he moved his hand and ran it through Roman's hair instead.

« I'm sick of the things I do when I'm nervous like cleaning the oven or checking my tires. »

Roman joined him for real this time. « Or counting the number of tiles in the ceiling ... »

« Head for the hills, the kitchen's on fire. »

Creativity let a tiny smile on his face, so Virgil carried on with confidence. « I used to rely on self-medication, I guess I still do that from time to time. But I'm getting better at fighting the future. Someday you'll be fine. »

« Yes, I'll be just fine. » Roman got closer to the other, resting his head on Virgil's shoulder for more comfort.

They started singing the chorus together and ended up in a giggling mess, but when it all died down, Roman sighed heavily and the illusion fell, taking them back to Virgil's room.

There was a beat of silence.

« In the courtroom. Remember how every single one of you kept going against me for wanting to hear that snake out? »

Anxiety nodded. There was no lie in that, but the premise already told him where that was going.

« So I made up my mind, right? I listened to all of your reasoning, I did my best to understand, to put my pride and dreams aside to please you. I tried to convince myself that it was the best for Thomas when my guts kept telling me how wrong I was. »

Roman watched the other tilt his head without losing focus.

« I brushed aside my dread during the wedding day. I changed my mind on everything I was settled on during that day. Only for what? Seeing everybody doing a big U-turn and leaving me in my own confusion. »

« A u-turn? » Virgil raised an eyebrow, clearly unaware of the events that had just occurred.

« Magically now both Patton and Thomas, and I suppose also Logan, are in favour of that slimy guy's ideals. Now. Only now that everything is all gone and lost already. Now that I can't go back in time, now that it's too late for anything! »

He had thought he was done with tears. « So it ended up my longing for the callback was a better choice and I wasn't being selfish? What do I even do with it? It's as useful as a get well soon card for when you get an indelible scar. »

« They sided with Deceit? » Virgil wasn't quite sure he had heard correctly.

Though … his conversation with him earlier …

« Blindly, almost with no opposition. And I can't believe any direction I follow, everybody turns around and leaves me walking by myself. » Roman curled up on himself more, arms around his chest. « Alone in the wrong spotlight. » he mumbled, side eyeing the drawer next to him.

Virgil fidgeted with the hem of his hoodie, considering the ever too familiar situation.

He extended an arm towards him, uncharacteristically determined. « Come here. »

A pair of eyes looked up at Virgil unsure, only to accept his help and end up sitting on the bed, opposite to him.

« I know how it feels. Deep confusion, you don't know what's right or wrong anymore and you feel like anywhere you go, you'll crash into a wall and someone will end up hurt. You, most likely. »

Virgil refrained from making eye-contact.

« And it hurts, it hurts like hell cause the ones that are going against you are the ones you love and that you believe that love you as well. That's where the doubts start and then you spiral. »

Roman found his reasoning so accurate it hit him like a sharp sudden pain in his heart.

« But you know what? »

He raised his head.

« I'm glad you didn't bottle it up this time. Because if you did … I don't know, I'm just happy you haven't fought with anyone. »

That was when he raised an eyebrow: he heard Virgil's voice shift towards the end, in a sort of understood thing, an unspoken truth Virgil didn't want to uncover.

Maybe they really were alike under all those layers of sarcasm.

« And that- that wouldn't have been nice at all. » Roman had also noticed how the conversation was stalling on that particular, as if the other weren't able to move on from that topic and now his mind was clouded by that argument only.

« You … » Roman encouraged the best he could. « Well, yeah. It's pretty obvious you had a fight with them. Right? »

Virgil shook his head to brush off the topic. « Gosh, I'm sorry. I was trying to help you and yet I made my own issues surface. »

« It's okay, we're all a bit broken. » Roman tentatively stretched his arm and put a hand on his back.

The other turned to him and showed a small smile. « See, that's what I admire of you. Even while distressed you still try to sympathize with others. » there was a pause. « I would probably yell at everyone like when someone insists on talking before an hour of being awake. »

Neither of them could escape laughter, a little heartfelt moment in a dark alley.

« Back to you, anyway. » Virgil waved his hand as if to physically brush the topic away. « I believe the reason why this mess has happened is because everyone's pretty confused. We've been touching a complicated ground and it's only logical we make mistakes. »

« The thing is, Roman, you care a lot about Thomas and it shows. You want to make sure he's going to be happy about the kind of life he pursues. » he looked him in the eyes. « You're not doing anything wrong. Rather, you're doing your best. »

Roman bit his lip and he nodded, his eyes sliding down to the floor.

« In the long run, I'm sure it's gonna be fine. And if Thomas will ever end up in the bad zone, we'll find a way to get him out of here, okay? »

Creativity exhaled deeply and felt the tangle in his stomach slowly dissipate.

« Thank you, Virgil. »

Anxiety relaxed as he watched Roman's features soften. « Don't mention it. »

Roman stood up, brushing his hands on his face like he had been washing it with imaginary water.

« I guess I'll try and let off some steam in the Imagination. » he made to head for the door, when he stopped dead in his tracks.

« Fuck. »

Virgil's heart sunk, expecting further complexes. « What's wrong? »

« I forgot to ask if you were stable enough to endure a vent moment. »

But then, of course, another smile made its way on his face. « Nah, I had been playing stupid video games until ten minutes ago. Don't worry big guy, go fight the dragon witch. »

Roman huffed as he crossed the hallway again. « I've defeated her eons ago, let me live it down! »

Snickering accompanied the echo of his voice and Virgil's smile only faltered some seconds after.

Yeah, maybe they were all a little bit broken. Maybe he was still holding grudges he thought he didn't care about anymore.

But, then again, maybe everything was going to be alright either way.

#purp's writings #virgil sanders #roman sanders #ts virgil #ts roman #sanders sides #fanfiction #ts fanfic #platonic prinxiety #read the warnings #angst #hurt/comfort

92 notes · View notes

warriorbookworm · 4 years ago

Text

I finished the prequel to the hunger games. I have a lot to say.

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, I had started up with ballad of Songbirds and snakes. You might also know that I took a little break and read another book, namely, The Song of Achilles. And as I have not mastered the art of spoiler free reviews, I would like to warn y’all that the following post will contain a lot of spoilers. So let’s begin!

Those of you who are familiar with Suzane Collin’s background, might know that she has been writing three-part stories since yonks, as in, since when she was a screenwriter. The main series has also been written a similar style, as in, divided into three prominent parts. So, the thing is, I promised to be honest in this review. And here is my verdict. The book does not start picking up until the 15th chapter, that is, the middle of the second part. The first part is boring, it takes cautious steps aiding darling coryo (sarcasm fully intended, nitwits.) and making sure that it is taking the readers in. I mean, we see the spots, little flashes of the selfishness and HUNGER and depravity and greed that reigned over the man we know and hate. I was honestly expecting a thirty something snow (villains do not deserve capital letters) to come on stage at any moment poisoning people left and right and coughing into a white handkerchief at the end of the day. After a few days, (because I wanted songs) I opened the book (or it’s pdf file that I got) and then started reading from where I had left off. I loved how the book started picking up from then. Because the events that seemed small in the first half now all begin to come together really nicely. The event that seemed, at first, so insignificant or boring, all began to make sense in the larger picture. To be honest, I had not expected things to happen like this at all. I had just expected a shining, glamorous capitol, and parties and banquets and dinners and all that schmaltz. But the book just hints at what we already know once.

What I loved most about the book was, of course, the songs. I was humming, or even singing them as I read, I cooked up a theory. That will be covered in the next post. But back to the point. What I also loved that In the beginning, going with old President Snow’s description, we are literally taken in by the image on the cover, that Darling Coryo is the snake with poison and viper like eyes, and the general aesthetic. And sweet Lucy Gray is the songbird, because she sings. But, dear readers, how wrong are we? Snow is a songbird. Bred in the capitol, sent out to the districts with delusions, and shipped back to the capitol, where he is questioned by a scientist on what he learned and what happened. And Lucy? She is the wily snake, who deftly takes down her enemies, and has a knowledge of her brethren.(That girl is a F **king expert on snakes) She detects the vibrations of what is going on, and responds accurately. She Bites, guys, she bites. The plot twist was not Dean highbottom’s thing in the epilogue, that the games were the idea of a drunken man, that they were not supposed to be there in the first place, but that we had been wrong all along about who had been the songbird and who had been the snake. And while the whole of tumblr wants characters to be feminine, girly, and strong, Lucy Gray, I think, fits the bill.

Now let’s talk about some of the things I did not like. Okay, so the book got a little confusing at times, especially because it was written in third person close. This means that we go to see the deepest and darkest parts of Snow’s mind, while keeping a distance from him, which is no doubt what the author wanted us to do. But it is still confusing in regards to the POV. I also did not like how the relationship between snow and Lucy Gray was written. Like I get that snow was obsessing over her, and his idea of a relationship was basically ownership, and stuff like that, but I just did not get into the groove when she was writing it. The start of the book, the first act, might make many people put the book down,

Phew! This is getting quite long, isn’t it? I have to wrap up. But since I am drunk in this book, (never have an idea when drunk, folks, you might just create the Hunger Games.)I am going to write a lot about on all the songs in the book, as well as my outlandish theories. I also had to postpone a couple of projects due to school. But the point is that this book highlights some of the vital parts of the world as we know it, and also gives the answers, the philosophy, and provides an understanding of the series in a new light.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

Theory: Katniss’ Father was one of the covey. Theory: Lucy grey’s death was foreshadowed a lot. A major breakdown of the songs (How Hanging tree was a huge fuck you to snow) And finally, the great poisoning.

Taglist:

@dameschnee123 @arbyeatscheesebuns

#hunger games #hunger games prequel #ballad of songbirds and snakes #suzanne collins #coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird

16 notes · View notes

travllingbunny · 5 years ago

Text

The 100: 7x01 From the Ashes

Disclaimer: This post is about the episode of the show The 100, From the Ashes, the season 7 premiere, and only about it. In this post, I will NOT be discussing any original scripts, unused takes, bloopers, behind the scene photos or videos, scribbled notes exchanged between the writers, or any tweets, Instagram posts, SMS or e-mails by any of the cast or crew members, considering the fact that none of those things constitute the show’s canon, which consists of the actual episodes.

I will also not be discussing anything about the future episodes posted by any ‘spoiler accounts’, and, in fact, I am unaware of most of these things, since I’m trying not to read any spoilers. Please do not tell me any spoilers for future episodes or ask me about them.

I really enjoyed this episode, in spite of the unfortunate lack of Bellamy (which I was already expecting since what happens to him here was already spoiled by the trailer. Of course, I’m looking forward to see Bellamy again, and, before that, to everyone finding out about disappearance and it becoming the focus of the season. But until then, the show has quite a few other storylines to deal with, from setting up and delving more into the Anomaly mystery, to dealing with the fall-out of season 6 in Sanctum, and both of these were handled well, for the most part.

This episode in particular had really good characterizations all around - for Murphy, Echo, Indra, Madi, Raven, Emori, Gaia, even Jackson - and, of course, Clarke, who had an arc that took her tendency to try to repress her feelings to an extreme, until they exploded in a most memorable way. It will cause her trouble, no doubt, but it was great to watch, and something I had been wishing for for quite some time.

There is just one character whose storyline I’m still not sure how I feel about, because I’m not sure what the show is doing with him.

After the last season’s cliffhanger, there was some concern in the fandom that Bellamy would regress to being all about protecting his sister, after their relationship had been redefined with “You’re my sister, but you’re not my responsibility”. Some of that was really exaggerated: there’s absolutely nothing odd or surprising about Bellamy crying over his sister disappearing in his arms. Of course he loves her and wants her safe. But I was concerned they may regress his development if they make him forget about everyone and everything else in his life in order to impulsively jump after her into the Anomaly. However, that did not happen - Bellamy didn’t decide to go on his own, rather than tell others and make a plan. He was taken.

The mysterious people from the Anomaly seem to be able to control the Anomaly, and have some sort of a cloaking device, presumably connected to their suits and helmets, that makes them invisible to others. They also have some sort of a screen inside their helmets, with facial recognition of targets and commands. It’s all a bit creepy - these seem to be humans, but they are receiving orders the way a robot would. (It’s all very Terminator-like!) Maybe because they also have lost their memories while going through the Anomaly? Where did they get the info about who Bellamy, Gabriel and Echo are - was it from Octavia’s memories?

Memories and memory loss are obviously going to play a huge role this season. People who come from the Anomaly to Sanctum seem to lose their memories, except when the Anomaly is still there. Does this happen only on Sanctum, or at the other side(s) as well? How does the fact that the Anomaly sucks in radio signals fit into that? Hope had to use a message she put into her own arm to remind herself to “TRUST BELLAMY”. (Interstellar is mentioned a lot as an inspiration for this season, but this reminds me of another Nolan film, Memento.)

We also see Clarke spout knowledge about how the big mansion was built (by Russell for Simone, to remind her of her house on Earth), which she would know due to still having some of Josephine’s memories. And I’m sure that the fact Madi still has the memories of past Commanders will play a big role - specifically, the fact she has Becca’s memories, which could be the way to tie the present day story to the prequel/story about what happened during and right after the apocalypse. (She also probably knows about Sheidheda more than anyone else alive, which may play into the Sanctum story.)

It’s too early to judge Hope as a character, but the mystery surrounding her is certainly super interesting. Why do the mysterious people from the Anomaly have orders to kill her on sight (as opposed to capturing, which they were supposed to do with Bellamy, Echo and Gabriel)? Is it because of who she is, or what she is - is it about her actions, does she know too much, or is her existence itself that’s the problem?

I loved the Octavia cameo in Hope’s hallucination, with the confirmation that she was an “aunt” figure to her, a part of a found family with Diyoza and Hope. The Anomaly makes you see your biggest desire or biggest fear - and Hope’s biggest desire seems to be to be reunited with her family

Echo’s hallucination, on the other hand, is obviously about her biggest fear - so it makes perfect sense that it’s Roan who appears to her, as he exiled her from Azgeda. Of course biggest fear would be losing her kru and her king/queen and being left alone and adrift. I’m as surprised as anyone that I found Echo's scene to be maybe the best in the episode. But she did have some really good character moments in seasons 6, and this is IMO her best character moment so far, picking up from her red sun hallucination in 6x02, and flashback from 6x11. which revealed that even her identity as “Echo” is fake. It seems the show is finally doing the character development it neglected to give her in season 5, and addressing all the obvious issues with Echo’s development and her relationship with Bellamy. I think this confirms that it was indeed Echo talking to herself while hallucinating Emori in 6x02, since her hallucination of Roan tells her the same thing, that she is still just a killer following another master’s orders. We finally see Echo feeling guilt over the things she did in the past, including her betrayal of Bellamy in season 3. When she imagines him calling her out on betraying “the man she now claims to love”, is it just about her thinking the others would doubt her love, or is she herself questioning whether her feelings for Bellamy are really romantic love, or just loyalty to her current leader? Their relationship, especially in S6, often came off more as the latter.

(It was also really cool to see Zach McGowan again)

The timeline of 7x01 seems to have confused some fans, but I think it’s pretty obvious that, at the beginning of the Sanctum story, no more than a day (probably less than that) has passed since 6x13 - going by the facts that 1) the Anomaly storyline picked up minutes after the end of 6x13, and the Sanctum story was presumably happening at the same time, and 2) Indra had to explain the situation in Sanctum to everyone. The only thing that seems to go against that is that Russell is said to “not have slept” since what happened on the ship, which makes it seem like it’s been longer. Or maybe Russell was just being extra dramatic. “Oh, I have no slept for a whole day!” He certainly spent a lot of this (his last) episode feeling sorry for himself. At least he seemed to have finally realized he wasn’t the superior good guy in all of it (”Tell them I’m treated better than I deserve” - yes, indeed.)

Indra was great, even though poor Adina was forced to be an exposition machine for a part of the episode.

A common complaint I’ve seen among fans is that it’s weird that Clarke and others in Sanctum aren’t worried about Bellamy and co. I don’t understand this complaint, as it’s clear that very little time has passed and that Bellamy, Octavia, Echo and Gabriel must have told everyone they were leaving and why (though I don’t know how many details they told them about the Anomaly Stone). People have been gone for a whole day in season 6 when they just went to the Offering Grove (Echo in 6x06) or the radioactive shield (Raven, Emori and Echo in 6x05), which are within the confines of Sanctum and much nearer than the camp by the Anomaly. What are they supposed to do but wait for a couple of days for them to come back? It’s not like they can call them, when radios and other means of communication usually don’t work on Alpha because of the Anomaly sucking the signals.

In fact, their absence was mentioned in the picnic scene, when Raven toasted to “absent friends” and we got a reaction shot of Clarke (I know, Clarke, I'd be annoyed too if I was you, but Bellamy had to be all "I'm gonna go now and explore the Anomaly Stone while Sanctum is in chaos and you're in mourning for your mom" because the plot needed him to..., before Niylah toasted to the “departed ones” (which would include Kane and Abby) and we got a close-up reaction shot of Clarke trying to keep it all inside, as she did every time in this episode someone mentioned Abby.

The idyllic picnic by the mansion - everyone’s attempt to get some rest and nice time after everything they had been through - was such a contrast to the “powder keg” of Sanctum and the end of this episode. But it also felt fake - just as fake as the deception and lies that Murphy and Emori are Daniel and Kaylee Prime, or that Madi still has the Flame in her head - to keep the devout and Wonkru under control, respectively - and just as fake as Clarke’s attempts to convince everyone she’s “fine”. As usual, the song playing in the background (”Darkness” by Pinegrove) was very fitting:

Suddenly I find I've got darkness on my mind It's a question mark that keeps me looking And it's never satisfied And it's never what I thought Saying I'm happy when I'm not No, I got darkness on my mind Leaning out the frame When it's particulate and gray I'm perpendicular to my whole being When I lean a certain way Saying I'm happy when I'm not Finding roaches in the pot Oh, I got darkness on my mind Some people spend their whole lives looking For someone who could understand While meanwhile a lilac blooming Sometimes on the driest land And I know it's been a long time coming I'm angry and I know that's weak And I'm longing out that open window For whatever it is I seek [musical breakdown] Some people spend their whole lives looking For someone who could understand And while meanwhile a lilac blooming Sometimes on the driest land And I know it's been a long time coming I'm angry and I know that's weak So I'm trying not to be so bitter I'm just looking at it honestly Well, I know it's been a long time coming I'm angry and I know that's weak And I'm longing out that open window For whatever it is I seek Some people spend their whole lives looking For someone who could understand While meanwhile a lilac blooming Sometimes on the driest land, yeah

I like that there was anger, blame and conflict between our kru and that everyone didn’t just forget what happened last season (and for once, Clarke is not the one getting the blame!) It would've made no sense if no one was blaming Murphy, and it makes sense it would be Jackson, who was so close to Abby and who’s not particularly close to Murphy. It also makes sense there was disagreement about the method of keeping peace in Sanctum, and that not everyone would be happy with Memori cosplaying the Primes.

Murphy himself had a really good characterization in this episode - we saw his grief and his feelings of guilt. While he tried to defend himself when blamed that he didn’t know what Russell would do, when left alone, he blamed himself for various actions that led to it, which is something Murphy from a couple of seasons ago wouldn’t do.

It’s great to see Raven looking more like her old, pre-season 6 self, and even better to see that her self-righteousness has gone. She’s more like the old Raven but without the snarky b1tchiness. I’m glad that she got called out by Murphy on her “Miss Morality” role from last season (which never really made sense, pre-time jump Raven was never a moral compass of the group, she was smart, pragmatic and could be as ruthless as anyone).

Another major theme of the Sanctum plot were the new beginnings. Clarke pointing out season 3 feels like another world seems almost like the show going meta and pointing out to the audience how much Clarke and all these people have lived through and been since.What is Sanctum now after the Primes have been defeated, with Children of Gabriel coming back home and clashing with the Devout - brainwashed and loyal followers of the Primes, with the rest of the Sanctumites in between? How are Wonkru and the 36 Eligius prisoners going to start again on a new planet moon? (36?! Wow, so they really suffered heavy losses in that gorge, too, when there are so few left?) Can Grounders be without a Commander? Gaia without her religion? Can Madi be a normal kid, without the Flame - or is that even possible while she has to pretend to still be Heda? The title From the ashes seems to refer to that - and maybe the end of the episode means that you have to burn down the old beliefs and old idols to build something new?

Mothers and daughters were another theme. I liked that Madi mentioned her biological parents (well, mother) on-screen for the first time, since the fandom tends to forget about them and ignore them too often. Madi was unsuccessful in her attempt to make Clarke share her feelings with her - maybe because this conversation showed a big difference in how they see each other? Clarke thinks of Madi as her child, but Clarke has never had a child before, while Madi had parents and suffered their loss; Clarke assumed Madi was talking about her and what happened in S6, but Madi always calls Clarke “Clarke” rather than “Mom”, and tried to connect to her on the equal level, as another daughter who’s lost a mother. Maybe it’s exactly because Clarke sees Madi only as her child that she feels she must be “strong” for her all the time and not show grief.

There was an unexpected parallel between Indra and Clarke in how Indra also tried to suppress outward expressions of grief when her partner - Gaia’s father died, which clearly wasn’t healthy and caused a rift between mother and daughter. (I’m not sure about when that happened, i.e. when Gaia first decided to become a Flamekeeper. I guess it must have been before the timeline of seasons 1-3. So Gaia’s dad is probably not the man that Indra recognized in 2x15 as one of the Reapers? I’m still angry that we never got any resolution to that storyline and that the Reapers were forgotten after season 2.)

The one thing I’m not sure about is Jordan’s characterization and arc. I’m not sure what the show is doing with his exactly, and I’m afraid that they’ll try to leave it ambiguous just how much he is or isn’t brainwashed. 6x13 made it very clear that he has been “adjusted”, which Russell confirmed here, and Jordan’s “adjustor”, who was creeping behind him in the season 6 finale, was very present and active in this episode, and clearly still had a big influence on him. At the same time, we learn that Jordan does not believe in the divinity of the Primes - instead of that, his hallucinations made him see something connected to the mystery of the Anomaly, which Russell describes as something “greater” (almost like he has finally found God, of sorts, after all, which he talked about 236 years before when he first landed on Alpha)? The good news is that it means Jordan will have a role in the Anomaly story, rather than being the advocate for the Devout. What I’m afraid of is that the show will gloss over the fact that Jordan was brainwashed - whether or not he came to believe that Primes were gods, he certainly did a 180 from despising Primes as murderers, being outraged by their actions and knowing very well that Priya was not Delilah but someone who took over her body; to (just a few days later, after “adjustment”) spouting Prime propaganda about the “peaceful” society they had before the Bad People from Earth came (that’s the peace they had when they regularly murdered their people to steal their bodies, left babies to die, and made them go crazy and kill each other from time to time) and having some kind of attachment to Priya herself and her mind drive.

At least, I hope that Russell unceremoniously smashing the mind drive means we’re done with that storyline. I loved it, it was my favorite storyline of the show, but it’s time for it to be over. It makes no sense that anyone is still letting Russell keep his mind drive, for starters. When will they realize they need to destroy these things?

- Clarke’s way of dealing with grief over her mom’s death was certainly unhealthy - repressing her feelings even more than usual, trying to be calm, composed, logical, to do the things needed to keep peace. In her last scene in 6x13, Clarke was open about her grief with Bellamy, looking to him for comfort, finding comfort in his arms and his words. But now he’s absent, there’s no one else she can be that open and vulnerable with. (The only other person Clarke looked for comfort to was Abby.) It’s nice to see that she and Raven have mended their friendship with Raven, she is starting to develop a new one with Gaia over their mutual care for Madi, she has mutual respect with Indra, she’s known others - like Murphy or Miller = for years, since the Delinquent days... and they all want to help her, but she’s not opening up to anyone, not even Madi. She thinks she must be “strong” for all of them, and her Head and Heart are unbalanced - she’s repressing the latter, until she finally explodes.

I love the scene of Clarke finally losing it and beating up Russell (I had already seen it in the trailer, and it was my favorite moment) and then crying while holding Abby's clothes. I don’t know about anyone else, but I love seeing an angry, emotional Clarke, letting it all out, especially when it's anger at people she has every right to be furious at. We haven’t seen that from her since early season 3 (when she yelled and spat in Lexa’s face over her betrayal). It had bothered me for a few seasons that Clarke - who used to be vibrant and could be impulsive, angry, hold grudges, yell at people in seasons 1-2, had become so repressed and muted due to her constant self-blame. I’ve had enough watching Clarke look sad while other people keep yelling at her and blaming her. (The only other instance of Clarke being furious was her hurt and rage at Bellamy and the slap in 5x09, but that was more of a silent, “internally screaming” rage/hurt, which turned into Clarke being emotionally frozen for the next couple of episodes, until learning he was alive. When Clarke is keeping everything inside and not yelling, that’s when she’s in the worst emotional state.)

It is, however, so sad that she still blames herself, too, for her mother’s death, whispering “I’m sorry”, the same way she whispered after seeing her father floated.

My only problem with the scene of that stupid palace burning down is that "mistakes" is a serious real understatement for what Russell has done. I know, I know, this will cause a lot of trouble in Sanctum and Clarke will probably have to go back on some of these decisions to keep peace. But there’s really nothing morally wrong with deciding to execute Russell - not only does he deserve it, but he’s arguably even an exception from the general objection to death penalty, since he’s lived several times the normal human lifespan, by stealing other people’s bodies. And the palace burning down is a symbolic way to send the message that the old power structures are gone - which Clarke pointed out when she said there will be no kings or queens anymore.

Sheiheda taking over Russell’s, or rather his latest host’s body, wasn’t surprising, as that was the most popular theory. But it was cool to see Sheidheda’s creepy mindspace again and Sean Maguire as the original Russell. The bodysnatcher got bodysnatched. That’s something like poetic justice.

I just have to post this because it’s such a beautiful shot!

Rating: 8/10

#the 100 #the 100 season 7 #the 100 7x01 #from the ashes #clarke griffin #john murphy #jordan green #bellamy blake #echo kom azgeda #madi griffin #the anomaly

46 notes · View notes

lifeisdabubbles-undersalmondean · 4 years ago

Text

La Pomme ~ Chapter Eight

Pairing: Sam x OC (eventual Dean x OC and Dean x Castiel. And I mean eventual.)

Series summary: George is a casual French-Mistake-universe Supernatural fan living in no-COVID 2020, who's life is upended when she's suddenly launched between realities, two years into the boys' past (S13E22). What begins as an insane, immersive fan experience turns into more when Jack goes missing and George offers up her AU information to help track him down. Soon it's discovered that she and Sam may actually have history. But that's impossible, right?

Word Count: 3,900

Warnings: {smut, fluff, angst, show level violence, swearing, mentions of suicide} ***Detailed warnings will be tagged for specific chapters.

A/N: Following the events of my prequel Paradise and second story From My Eyes Off. Reading those first gives context but isn’t necessary to start this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Collapsing into one of the comfier library chairs set between some stacks, George took a sip of the small glass of whiskey she figured she'd earned. She'd just scolded a fucking demon from hell. What was she thinking?! It had been pretty cool, but pissing off an evil, powerful being was maybe not the smartest. She could have gotten herself killed!

It had been unavoidable though; upon realizing that Demon Tim must have been the reason they suspected her of being involved in Jack's disappearance, she had been furious. Not only was it not true, it was insulting, humiliating, and just plain rude. It was also simply a bad plan. So, she took it upon herself to enlighten him and to correct his offensive insinuations. Hopefully, it wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.

Her focus shifted then to Jack. Reflecting over her time there, there were things she remembered having happened on the show. The refugees in the bunker, AU Michael attacking, Jack losing his powers, Lucifer dude being just a regular human dude now; all of it was familiar, even when it terrified her (see: AU Michael attack). But, when they told her Jack was missing, she was thrown off at first. It wasn't something she remembered seeing on the show. Then again, she'd only just finished binging from season 10 to the end of 13 a couple weeks ago and hadn't started 14 yet. So, maybe she was past the point of being able to tell when things were part of their prescribed timeline or not? Therefore, even if Jack had been kidnapped on the show, she wouldn't have any info for them, right?

The problem was, the more she thought about it the more she began to believe she had seen something about this storyline. Jack being missing, the three of them going to save him-

Was it Ryan telling you about some episode where they rescued Jack in the redwoods? They had filmed it on location at some tourist spot you went to as a kid all the time and she thought you'd think it was cool… where was that?

She couldn't remember, and it frustrated her. She was also worried that she was making this all up just to be helpful.

Taking another sip, she allowed her thoughts to wander between episode scenes like an internal microfiche as she tried to nail down her recollection, No, I can definitely picture all four of them in the woods and fighting. Someone had kidnapped Jack, wanting his powers for something… was it the angels?

"Well, that was interesting," Dean stated, startling her out of her thoughts. The three of them were walking into the library a surprisingly short while after she left them with Tim.

Looking up at them, she set the glass down on a nearby shelf and stood up. Dean didn't elaborate further while he poured his own glass. The expressions each one wore were indiscernible and she grew nervous.

"Oh?" George raised a brow and looked between them, "Did he talk? Because you know, I've actually been sitting here thinking about this whole situation and something about Jack going missing is very familiar. Now, unfortunately, I am a few seasons behind, and-""

Dean took a sip, looking at her with curious amusement, and interrupted, "I was talking about you."

George looked surprised and then grimaced, "No, no. I'm not interesting, not at all. I'm the exact opposite of interesting. I'm-I'm… I'm…"

"Uninteresting?" Castiel offered helpfully as she struggled to find the words. Sam and Dean rolled their eyes in unison.

"Right! Thank you, Castiel. I'm highly uninteresting." She gulped a bit and wrung her hands as the three of them kept watching her. In the silence, she nervously looked in Castiels direction and blurted quickly, "I'm also George! Hi! Really nice to meet you! Big fan!"

"Nice to meet you," Castiel smiled awkwardly and nodded a greeting, looking at the other two with a confused expression, "...fan of what?"

"Right, positively boring," Sam interjected sarcastically before he could stop himself. He definitely thought she was interesting. First she's just a beautiful woman, then she's a beautiful woman he may or may not have had a life altering dream about ten years ago, and now she was a beautiful woman from an alternate reality where his life was a prime time television show… who he may or may not have had a life altering dream about ten years ago. 'Uninteresting' was definitely not an adjective he'd use for her.

Dean snorted, "Yea, boring is the last word I would use to describe that scene earlier. You caused Tim to sing like a canary, by the way."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief, "Say what?"

"I almost say we hire her to be our monster torture hypeman," He joked, looking at Sam with a raised eyebrow.

Sam ignored him and addressed Geroge's question, "After you left, Tim-"

"Cleetus," Dean interjected sarcastically.

"Cleetus… well, he sort of... started crying? He said he'd tell us everything we wanted to know if we promised to keep you away from him." Sam looked strangely apologetic and she let a few nervous chuckles escape, unsure whether to believe what they were saying.

"We think you hurt his feelings," Castiel explained further. "Which fortunately seemed to motivate him to talk, so thank you."

"I guess his demon mommy didn't teach him about sticks and stones," Dean cracked, taking another swig.

"Huh. OK. Neat!" George didn't know what to say; she was confused and strangely proud of herself. But she didn't want them to think she wasn't chill, so she shrugged nonchalantly, "You're welcome, I guess. Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not caught up to the current season of my timeline but I think I remember this whole Jack-gone-missing thing a little bit. I want to say you all track him down somewhere in… Oregon? Washington? I'm getting a Northwest-ish feeling." She began unconsciously pacing around the room, gesturing energetically with her hands. "I can picture a battle taking place in the woods...Jack being in danger, you all being in danger, too...some fighting...maybe someone losing the fight? Or getting really hurt," She glanced worriedly at Castiel. He'd be the only actor they'd axe of the three of them, so it stood to reason he'd be the most likely to die if she was right.

Dean and Sam shared a look before Dean asked, "Fine, I'll bite. Do you know a city? A time-frame? Who we're fighting? Anything specific?"

George paused and then slumped a bit in defeat, "No. I've only really watched up through, like, literally now. Other than random things I've heard or seen in passing, I don't know anything that's happened since ya'll got back from the apocalypse world. Been purposefully trying to avoid spoilers, too, which is a decision I now regret, obviously."

"OK, well look, sweetheart, it's OK," Dean began, in an embarrassingly condescending, douchey tone, "We don't expect you to help us. I mean, we're grateful about the assist with Cleetus, obviously but this-" Dean vaguely motioned in her direction and she raised an offended eyebrow, "-was obviously just a weird magical mess that Rowena left for us to clean up yet again. So, you just sit back and relax, and once we find Jack we'll figure out how to get you back home in a jiff, OK?" He winked and finger gunned at her, adding, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." In his way, Dean was trying to convey to her a sense of ease and comfort that they would take care of things. But, unsurprisingly, he came off incredibly dismissive and patronizing. Her cheeks flushed an angry red; she'd had it up to here with him by now.

Sam and Castiel exchanged nervous glances at the look on her face and Sam tried to stop it before the inevitable happened, "Uh, Dean, mayb-"

Cutting him off, George slowly walked toward Dean, eyes blazing, "Listen sweet cheeks." She had a polite smile on her face as she tried her hardest to muster up the same condescending, silky, sweet Dean-tone, "I'm sympathetic to the fact that you can't help but be an insufferably arrogant ass most of the time-that's just how you were written," for a split second she saw Dean's cool-guy-smug-face falter and she relished it. She could tell she landed a blow, even if it was a small one, "but maybe you could do us all a favor and try to ignore your cro-magnon dated natural urges and attempt to be open minded for once in your life? Just try to consider the fact that, like it or not, I might not be a total useless red-shirt? That maybe I-once again the lone female in the entire world according to Supernatural-might actually be useful? Hmm? Might actually have useful-albeit vague-information for you? Or would taking your lead from a woman be too threatening to you overbearing, uber-macho, 'we-get-it-you're-totally-straight' masculinity?"

Dean's head jerked back in offense, "Now, wait a minute! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," She mocked him in a deep, goofy tone, high-fiving herself internally. Nailed it! She'd always hated how damn smug his character was. Yes, fine, he was hot and charming and smart as fuck and right at least like 75% of the time, but he didn't have to be so fucking arrogant about it all the time. She preferred a man with some humility.

Sam was smirking at the look on Dean's face and muttered teasingly, "How does it feel, Cleetus?"

"Except, you actually don't." Cas interjected begrudgingly, as he thoroughly enjoyed watching Dean get verbally bitch-slapped. In fact, he could watch it all day, but they needed to focus on Jack.

"Scuse me?" She said, maintaining her sweet tone while staring daggers at Dean. "Don't what?"

"Have useful information for us," the angel said begrudgingly matter-of-fact.

"Er," Sam interjected seeing the look on her face, "Uh, well, it's just according to Tim-Cleetus-whatever, Jack is being held captive inside an old church in a small ghost town outside Butte."

Dean slapped his hands over his mouth in mock surprise and then, taking a few steps toward George, he mimed a balloon being popped by an impractically large needle. He had an impossibly large grin spread across his face.

"She still has a point, Dean," Sam sighed in an annoyed, if not slightly embarrassed, tone at his brother's display.

Cas nodded in agreement, "Yes, you were incredibly condescending and unfriendly in your attempt at being friendly earlier. Even though she's wrong about Jack, she's right about your inability to relinquish control-to anyone, though, not specifically women."

"You all suck." Dean said flatly.

George ignored him and shook her head. She was more and more sure about her information by the second; despite her doubts she could feel she was right. "Listen, I'm telling you, Jack is not in some bullshit church in Montana. He's…" She struggled to remember. "Erg, somewhere rainy and wooded!"

"Rainy and wooded, you say?" She cringed angrily at the sound of Dean's voice. "That's really great, very helpful. Say, maybe we should look up your little murder buddy-OwnsHisOwnAxe69, was it?-and ask if he's got Jack stashed in the Marin Headlands?" Dean's voice dripped with sarcasm.

George shook her head at him and closed her eyes tight in an effort to block out his negativity. Walking slowly away from him and into the map room, she started talking to herself, in a pointedly loud voice. Her focus bounced between episodes from the show and conversations with her friend, Ryan, a Supernatural Encyclopedia. She was hoping she could piece together something useful.

"OK, hang on, Jack is born, gets sucked into Apocalypse World, comes back, has his grace stolen but he's safely with you guys, he's happy, he's great-albeit, moody and not the best at video games. Then he disappears and you can't find him, yadda yadda."

While she rambled, her mind's eye began conjuring images of what she assumed were scenes from the episode she was trying to think of. While helpful, it was also disconcerting since she'd never actually seen it. She thought perhaps she'd seen clips on youtube while watching bloopers? She never could stay away from them, even if she hadn't seen the episode yet; they were just too funny. Maybe her overactive imagination was just creating scenes around what little knowledge she did have, "...and there's an epic-potentially deadly-fight scene at the end of one of the last episodes of the season. An episode that was, oh so noteworthily filmed on location iiiiinnn…" She tried to demand that her memories behave for her but it was challenging, considering she shouldn't have any memories of having watched the damn thing at all. "...where? Fuck me!" She snarled, chasing desperately after her murky visions as they swirled too abstractly for her to discern.

In a sudden moment of unusual clarity she could see the words displayed behind her eyelids. '...False Klamath? Where the fuck… why does that sound familiar? She flashed to the location in her memories and saw big wooden statues towering outside the scenic little tourist trap

Her eyes popped open with a gasp, "Johnny Appleseed!"

"Johnny Appleseed?" Dean teased, mock exasperatedly, "We're trying to find JACK."

"The Johnny Appleseed statue at The Trees of Enigma! Just outside False Klamath, Oregon!" She slammed both her hands down on the table in front of her in uncontrollably jubilant victory. "HA! Take THAT!" She jumped up excitedly and punched her fist in the air. "I did it! I remembered!"

"Sam, can you translate any of this?" Dean asked, annoyed.

"On the show," She started smugly, before Sam could say anything, "the battle that you two get into when you find Jack, takes place at a tourist spot called The Trees of Enigma. The episode was filmed on location at said tourist spot, in-say it with me now-False Klamath, Oregon. Oregon, Dean. A place that is known for being both rainy and wooded." Her finger was placed on the map table in the general area of Oregon, "that's where you'll find Jack. I'm sure of it." Her adrenaline was pumping and she was so stoked. It felt really good to be useful; like she was part of the show!

"Yea, that's great, sounds fun," Dean started dismissively, though toned down a bit, "but we're not risking Jack's life to follow your hunch."

"Excuse me. Why is my so-called hunch less believable than a demon's word? Especially a demon named Cleetus. Rude," George looked particularly offended now.

"Tim gave us real, solid intel and we've never had a problem when we've relied on our trusted resources in the past," He answered confidently. George's head jerked toward him like she hadn't heard correctly and she gave Sam and Castiel some crazy eyebrows.

"Sorry, you understand that I do watch the show, right?" She asked rhetorically, with a doubtful expression. When he rolled his eyes, she let out a frustrated huff. "Dean, think about this! He's a demon! He lies! Look, I know you have no reason in the world to trust me but you've got to; just think about it. Even IF it is demons that have Jack, don't you think it's possible that the prisoner demon you're threatening to torture might give you a false lead? Especially if he's naive enough to think he'll be able to escape and doesn't want to get in trouble with his bosses? C'mon, this is not-the-sharpest-tack-Tim we're talking about!"

Sam and Castiel had agreeably expressions but Dean's was stubbornly disagreeable, though she could tell he knew she was right. The thought of them going to Montana gave her a dreadful, suffocating feeling, like death.

So, she tried one more tactic and held her hands up in prayer, "Dean please, I don't know what and I don't know how I know, but I know in my gut that if you go to Montana, something terrible will happen. And Jack's not there, I promise you." She dropped all the bullshit and gave him her best seriously-just-listen-to-me face but Dean still wasn't budging.

"Christ, I knew you were stubborn but this is ridiculous, ugh. OK, fine!" She threw her hands up and turned on her heel, heading toward the dungeon.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sam asked quickly.

"Obviously I didn't hurt his feelings badly enough the first time, so I'm going to go have another chat with Cleetus and get him to admit that he's a liar, liar, pant-"

"Er-you... can't do that," Sam cut her off apologetically.

"Sam, he's handcuffed to a chair. I appreciate the concern but-"

"He means you really can't," Dean added. George looked toward him annoyed and Dean continued, "After he gave us everything we needed we pretty much, chk," he finished, slicing a finger across his throat in demonstration. When she looked like she wanted to strangle him, he shrugged and offered, "RIP Cleetus."

George rolled her eyes in exasperation, "But he was lying! Don't you confirm the information before you cut off the source?! Oh my god, why am I even asking? You're the Winchesters, of course you don't." The three of men looked between each other guiltily and she placed her hand on her hip, "What if that was just an act and Tim saw an opportunity. Feeding you some bullshit so that you couldn't actually find Jack? Or, maybe Tim has nothing to do with Jack at all, and sending you to Montana is just a good old fashioned ambush?!" She paused for a moment and gave a surprised, appreciative nod, "Hmm, maybe I underestimated ole' Cleetus a bit. Could have been smarter than I thought."

"She does have a point, Dean. The chances that he was lying are incredibly high," Cas conceded slightly, giving Dean a questioning look. "We have no proof that his lead is any better than hers. Demon's lie."

"Damnit, alright, fine," Dean said, sighing angrily. "Sam and I will go to Oregon to look for Jack; Cas, check out Butte-carefully, strictly recon, do not engage-and call us if you find any trace of him." He shot a quick warning look at George. "We'll turn around and come right to you. Sound like a plan? Great, let's go."

"Wait, no! Don't send him to Butte! Didn't you hear me? If it's an ambush, he'll get his ass kicked!"

"Hey." Cas looked hurt and George softened her face at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry Castiel. You're a total badass when the plot calls for it, otherwise, getting beat up is just kind of your MO." Ignoring the confused look on the angel's face, She turned back to Dean, "and besides you need Castiel in Oregon, Dean. I've seen it!"

"Oh? I thought you hadn't 'seen this episode yet'?" Dean said sarcastically.

"I-I… Well, OK, I haven't, but I've seen the three of you and Jack all together for this fight. Just trust me, you need him there. What if Jack is hurt when you find him? Cas can heal him, right?" She made a questioning face to Castiel; at the moment she couldn't remember the extent of his powers on the show and he was always losing one or another for whatever reason, anyway. But if she was right, she figured that even if Dean wouldn't trust her gut, he might trust that having a healing angel on their journey would be a benefit. "Is that a power you have? I feel like I've seen you do that."

"She's right, Dean. I can heal him if we find him injured," Cas offered her helpfully and she shot him a grateful expression, actually looking him in the eyes for the first time, albeit fleetingly.

"Have you seen Jack get hurt?" Sam asked her, trying to help, too. He remained a neutral party at this point, but if he was honest with himself, he believed her. Maybe a little too much, which is why he was trying to stay impartial. If he was being blinded by his confusing memories and the undeniable-yet-currently-being-denied feelings he was developing for her and ended up wrong, Jack could be killed.

"Uh… I mean, no… not definitively, but it's pretty standard for the show. You're all constantly getting hurt during fights and when it's close to a season finale the danger factor is skyhigh for anyone who isn't you two…" After motioning to the brothers, she trailed off, afraid that this reasoning was going to hurt her more than help her.

Sam gave her a long, contemplative look before finally offering, "I can have a small team go check out Butte. Maybe Garth can join? Last time I talked to him he was near there."

Dean's teeth and fists were clenched as he took a deep, exaggerated breath, "Fine. We'll send a group to Butte and call Garth from the road-No arguments!" He held up his hand to her as she opened her mouth to speak. "The three of us are going to Oregon, just as you demand, but I'm not leaving anything to chance on some alien's hunch. Garth can handle himself."

She made an indignant face at him-she wasn't an alien, she was from an alternate reality! Get it right. But, while she was afraid of someone getting hurt in the obvious trap that had been set for them in Montana, the thought of Garth going instead didn't give her the same full-body fear shudder. So, she figured she'd take what she could get and not push the issue further. Besides, she knew Dean wasn't going to be happy about her next move and she had to pick her battles.

#supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural fanfic #sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester #sam winchester fanfic #sam winchester x original character #sam winchester x original female character #swearing #humor #eventual smut #eventual relationship #slow burn #eventual dean winchester x oc #eventual dean winchester x castiel #bi dean

2 notes · View notes

tev-the-random · 5 years ago

Text

A casual Sonic Forces rewrite + some headcanons, because why not

Part 1 – Infinite and Episode Shadow

Just a warning: none of the images used here belong to me! They all belong to SEGA – the game screenshots, the official art and the comic pages.

Next Part ->

I have yet to see the Sonic Movie, because the universe seems devoted on not letting me do so, for some reason. Being as desperate for Sonic content but as determined to not receive spoilers from the movie as I am, I decided to go for the next coolest thing: writing really long and random posts about a game that came out three years ago and no one cares about anymore.

This shall be fun!

(Update: as of posting this, I have finally watched the movie! But I don’t want to throw this away, so I’ll post it anyway. We can have a nice talk about the movie later.)

*“Fist Bump instrumental” intro plays*

*“This is Our World: a New Hero” plays in the background*

I’m the type of person to always try and see the best in every game, and Sonic Forces is no different. Despite its obvious flaws, I love this beautiful game! Mostly the concept of it is one of the coolest things I’ve seen this last decade, but the execution… lacks on a few things. I mostly just fill in the gaps with my imagination and enjoy it nevertheless, but, upon going through the tag and seeing that some of my concerns were shared by other people, I decided to try my hand at rewriting Sonic Forces juuust a tiny bit. Just for fun!

For this first part (and I have no idea how many parts we should have), I’d like to share some of my ideas about…

*Infinite’s Theme plays in the background as I try hard not to sing along*

Oh, my poor jackal boy, what do we do with you? Despite being so heavily promoted and having an undeniably awesome theme song, Infinite’s backstory and general development throughout the game came out as lacking, having the self-proclaimed edgelord become a laughingstock amongst most fans. Nevertheless, I still love Infinite, and it saddens me how much wasted potential he had; it’s like they were trying to write a really interesting character, but gave up halfway through.

So yeah, let’s talk about it. And let us begin with his origin story.

I believe you are all familiar with this scene:

I… I want to defend my boy here, I really do. But honestly, the way this was portrayed, it just sounded like he was throwing a childish tantrum. It seems as if his entire motive for becoming a villain was “Shadow beat him and called him weak”; dude, you’re not the only one: Shadow does this to basically everybody who’s ever crossed his way! We’re not given a reason as to why Infinite gets so bloody offended, nor are we given a reason why we should care.

So, how can we fix this? I think we should firstly focus less on “I’M NOT WEEEEAAAAK!!! URRAAAAGHH!!!” and more on:

It doesn’t need to be – and I don’t even think it can be – as sad of a situation as the Rivaille Squad in Shingeki No Kyojin or anything, but I believe that showing us that Infinite lost something important would already do wonders to his backstory.

The simplest way – that is, the way that doesn’t majorly change how things go, but does give the jackal a clearer motive – to do this would involve the ever so humble inclusion of two new cutscenes and one new in-game battle, plus a few tweaks to some already existing scenes.

Episode Shadow begins not with the usual reading introduction, but rather, with Shadow’s voice. “I was a couple of months before the Doctor took over the world. The first time I encountered him… I didn’t know what he would become.” Then we open with what used to be a couple of months prior (aka where they presented Infinite’s memory, aka where they screwed up), so we’ll go through things in a chronological order instead of having a flashback inside of a prequel, because that’s confusing AF.

Now, instead of starting the Mystic Jungle level immediately, we should get a small cutscene: Shadow gliding through the jungle, cool camera angles/lighting and all – maybe something similar to the opening scene of Episode Shadow in Sonic 06? –, on his way to invade Eggman’s base as a voice coming from the hedgehog’s communicator reminds him about his mission (yep, that’s some subtle exposition to the audience so we don’t think Shadow is there just because). My idea for said mission would be the simple task of retrieving a Chaos Emerald (yeah, remember those?) from Eggman. Nothing too serious; just another day, another emerald stolen like usual; we’ve seen this before, there’s no need for a long dialogue.

As the black-and-red blur crosses the screen, the camera pans to a group of people hiding above in the trees: Squad Jackal. Infinite is not among them. One of the jackals asks “where’ the boss?” to which another one replies that he’s on the other side of the base/talking to the Doctor/whatever and they have no time to waste; their mission is to take down the intruder and protect the base. We get something in the lines of “the boss is counting on us. Expect no mercy, show no weakness. Let’s go!” and the camera fades out as the squad drops from the trees and runs after Shadow.

I believe that having the phrase “show no weakness” – or any possible reference to “I’m not weak”, really – appear earlier as seemingly common and then have it become something the character gives a lot of importance to due to consequences and parallels sounds a bit more interesting than having Infinite’s inferiority complex come out of nowhere.

The Mystic Jungle level plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background doesn’t say that “the Defence Squad has already been completely annihilated”, but rather that “the Defence Squad is on the case. They’re the best mercenaries there are, Shadow won’t stand a chance!” because Doctor Eggman is naive like that.

Once we reach the end of the level there’s another change: a boss battle against Squad Jackal. You see, we don’t want to hear the squad was taken down like some sort of lazy exposition, because it feels incomplete; we want to participate, we want to be the protagonist and see with our own eyes just what is Infinite’s squad. This gives faces and voices to something that will become an important plot point instead of just telling us “yeah, this happened or whatever”. This could also play as some sort of sympathy point for Infinite, because we, while in control of Shadow, took down his squad; it makes the villain’s animosity towards Shadow and his general anger at least a bit more understandable.

The idea is that this battle should play as some sort of field fight – that is, differently than most boss battles in Sonic Forces, this is not a racing track where you attack your enemy while running, but rather a large secluded area, much like the one we get in the fight between the Custom Hero and the DeathEgg Robot –, where squad members would attack individually in different patterns before going for a group attack. The individual jackals would have both projectile (perhaps something like a wispon, knives or some Eggman invention to keep it family friendly enough?) and close-ranged attacks, while the group attack would consist of this mass of wild jackals changing at you, trying to run you over. The opportunity windows could be either the moment when the opponents switch or band together for the group attack.

(I don’t know, maybe some of you can think of better ways to fight the Jackal Squad? This is just a random idea! I’d like to hear different ones!)

Once the fight is over, we get another cutscene: Shadow stands among the fallen jackals – don’t worry, they’re… sleeping… yeah, there’s no visible blood, they’re not dead… except they’re totally dead – and looks around for a second or two. His expression is indecipherable, and he soon leaves without saying a word – one might say he feels bad for them, or maybe he doesn’t give a damn; we leave that open to interpretation. Not a moment passes and we get to see the leader of the squad arriving at the scene. The camera moves in a circle around him as he looks at his fallen comrades in shock. How did this happen? They were the strongest, how could his whole squad be dead? This is a rather touching moment, where Infinite sticks his sword (because in his origins comic he used to have a super cool red sword and I want to pretend we have a reason for it not existing in the game) to the ground; there’s a feeling of anger and vengeance going on as we get a closer look at the last standing jackal. He clenches his fists and faces the direction of Shadow. “Expect no mercy, show no weakness,” he says in an infuriated, strangled voice. He starts to run and the camera fades out.

(Look at his sword and his squad, man. I do wish we could have seen them in the game…)

When the camera fades in again, we get that exact same cutscene from the game. Blah blah, “destroyed my squad”, blah blah, “ultimate mercenary”, a legendary ass whooping and Infinite falls to the ground, weak, pathetic and defeated.

Now, I’d like to add just a few lines to their dialogue, because this:

Doesn’t really sound like Shadow to me. I mean, man: you beat this random guy to the ground, called him worthless and pathetic out of nowhere and then you just leave? I know Shadow is rather apathetic and he’s supposed to be savage and all, but this just felt kind of out of place…

So instead of going full rude mode, what Shadow actually says is:

‘You’re part of the Defence Squad, aren’t you? Why would a bunch of mercenaries work for the Doctor? What is he hiding?’

‘The doctor paid well enough to not have his secrets spilled,’ Infinite retorts while trying to get up. He’s too hurt to do much, but he’s still willing to fight. He looks at Shadow with fiery eyes as he continues, ‘My squad… you took them down like they were nothing… why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?’

‘Mercenary work is for the weak,’ the hedgehog states matter-of-factly. ‘I’ve sworn to protect, not to follow the dirty line of work you did.’

This blows Infinite’s mind and he simply stares at Shadow, dumbfounded. He murmurs, ‘weak? How dare you, I’m not… We’re not weak! We’re the squad o-’

‘Where’s the Chaos Emerald?’ The jackal’s statement is completely ignored. However, Infinite is having none of this, so tries to attack Shadow once again in a fit of rage, only for the hedgehog to give him a signature roundhouse kick free of charge.

(Image merely illustrative)

‘What a waste of my time,’ Edgelord Number 1 says, aware that he’s not getting any useful information from this. He steps closer and Edgelord Number 2 flinches, ‘here’s some advice: don’t show your face around me ever again, or else I will finish you.’

And with that, Shadow teleports away, leaving Infinite to his existential crisis. He wasn’t able to avenge his friends; he wasn’t able to protect the base; heck, he wasn’t even able to hold his title of ultimate mercenary! How useless of a leader was he? Were mercenaries truly weak? Everything they’ve done… was it all worthless? Show no weakness… what did it even mean? They were all defeated, and Infinite can’t shake the feeling that he’s to blame for it. Wasn’t he supposed to be the best?

‘What is this? I’m…’ He looks at his hands, which are trembling ‘I’m shaking? I flinched? I... We failed… How pathetic… All because…’

Infinite stops as if he’s just gotten a moment of clarity. He then gets up and starts walking inside Eggman’s base. ‘I’m not weak,’ he says in a decided, chilling whisper; it’s almost scary. The view is set at the entrance, right in front of the jackal so that he starts blocking the light from the outside as he slowly walks towards the camera - while saying in that scary voice, “No mercy, no weakness”.

(I can totally see Liam O’Brien delivering this line perfectly…)

Then the last expository narrating happens about the same, except that Shadow narrates it – giving continuity to the fact that he was the one who started narrating this episode for a reason I will talk about later –, so we change a few words to match his speech more; it’s all in the third person and very husky and brooding, but with a subtle note of dread (oh, if only Jason Griffith would voice it… No disrespect to Kirk Thornton, but he just doesn’t hit Shadow’s perfect voice like Jason did; for me, at least. His Orbot voice is fantastic, though).

Now, instead of having Infinite looking forward for a few seconds before he gets the Phantom Ruby out of nowhere and places it in his chest very anti-climatically, we’ll do something different: as soon as he puts on the mask, he starts walking away, and we change settings to a dimly lit room, where we see Infinite from behind, fitting the frame perfectly. Following the beat of the background music, the camera changes to a close shot of his masked face as he’s holding the Phantom Ruby, which is glowing, reflecting on his mask and giving us a beautifully red-lit scene; it’s possible to hear very low, indiscernible whispers coming from the jewel. We then hear a small, evil chuckle from the masked jackal – he already sounds rather different from the guy who stuck his sword to the ground in honour of his friends earlier. The screen goes black, the whole “I was… Reborn!” thing dramatically happens in Infinite’s echoing voice and the not-flashback is over.

(I know this last part was quite specific and oddly detailed, but I had the scenes very clear in my head I wanted to try conveying how intimidating it looked to me o3o)

Ok, now that that’s done, prepare yourselves for an intermission. And by that, I mean prepare yourselves for a long analytical commentary on what I just wrote.

*”This is Our World: Phase 2″ plays in the background*

(Who is Shadow working for again? I don’t even know, man…)

Shadow isn’t just the guy who called Infinite pathetic. He’s the guy who killed Infinite’s squad (his friends) without any apparent remorse – and to be hypocrite as to say he’d sworn to protect when he just did something like this (yeah, Infinite doesn’t know any context of Shadow’s life, so of course he doesn’t understand what he meant); the guy who ruined everything he had going with his new job as leader of the Defence Squad; the guy who put him several levels under what he thought he was; the guy who questioned his entire way of living and the guy who put him under a lingering threat; “don’t show your face around me ever again” feels more intimidating now. Not only that, but, despite how Infinite might hate Shadow, he recognizes him as strong, admirable even – “why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?” Remember that Infinite himself is a mercenary; to actually acknowledge someone would be good at something you’re good at, specially someone you don’t like, has to be a sign of admiration, albeit a frustrating one. All of this puts a lot more of weight on how Infinite thinks of Shadow and why being stronger than the hedgehog is so important to him.

I made it so that “expect no mercy, show no weakness” is something like the Jackal Squad’s motto, their philosophy. I like to think it means that they should never count on someone’s mercy, for their enemies won’t spare them; they should always go into battle aware that they might actually be fighting for their lives. At the same time, they should always stand their ground and never let anyone think they can take advantage of a squad member. This is what the jackals live for. But seeing as Infinite’s world has just been shattered and he failed hard on everything, he revises his mentality. “No mercy, no weakness” is what he’s going for now, as he wants to be above everyone, he wants to effectively be the strongest and for people to know that; he will be the one who doesn’t spare others, and he won’t be weak at all. Never again would a failure cost him that much, for never again would he fail.

To have Infinite place the Phantom Ruby on his own chest in Episode Shadow contradicts the opening scene of the main campaign. Remember the episode is a prequel to Sonic Forces’ main game, so it shouldn’t be completely detached from it; things must make sense when put together. As the main game begins by showing us Infinite inside of a tube in Eggman’s lab, we can assume one of two things: he’s either a robot/biological experiment created entirely by the scientist, or he’s a guy who’s been experimented on, thus Eggman was the one who placed the Phantom Ruby on him. With this in mind, it wouldn’t make sense to show us Infinite doing something if you’re going to tell us that he couldn’t have possibly done it on his own. But to have him hold the ruby as someone who deeply desires its powers and who listens to its ominous whispering? Not only does it line better with the aforementioned scene, but it also makes Infinite seem more prone to the ruby’s power (instead of just… you know, “random angry dude”).

As this intermission has gone on long enough, I’ll only make a brief commentary on the Phantom Ruby: I like the idea of the ruby being somewhat alive and exerting influence over Infinite. Now, I won’t say it’s the kind of influence where it justifies his horrible behaviour or the awful things he did. It’s less “mind-control” and more “that best friend who always encourages you and never calls you out on your bullshit”. Its grooming Infinite’s ego and just nudging him to keep making bad decisions, to keep shutting himself in this new reality where he’s all powerful and above everyone else. So it’s the jackal’s pride, spite and grief, along with Eggman’s overall encouragement and the Phantom Ruby’s influence all put together that, in a general sense, make Infinite what he is. (I can go into more detail about this idea once I make a Part 2.)

Mission Accomplished: “angry bitchy boy turned edgy, OP and unimpressed” changed his status to “tragic boy turned edgy, bitter and extremely power-hungry”.

Intermission’s over, let’s get back to the story!

With Infinite’s backstory slightly redone (or rather, shown under a different light), I could stop right here. But I don’t want to, oh no! I say we take this a few steps further and just finish Episode Shadow! Yeah, I told you this was going to be a long post.

*”Battle with Infinite: Second Bout” plays in the background*

Ok, now we cut to a few months later, where Episode Shadow would originally begin. Rouge comments that Omega was on recon mission in that “unknown base of operations that seems to be totally outside the chain of command for Eggman’s army” (whatever that is supposed to mean) when he spotted an unidentified masked person with strange energy readings and an unknown battle ID. Omega reported a “large scale troop” and… that’s it, he just stopped talking. Rouge then talks about that “new weapon” Eggman was supposedly developing and sends Shadow to the base to investigate along with Omega. She makes a remark about how they should get the entire Team Dark together for this (“It should be fun”), but Shadow dismisses the idea, saying that he’s enough on his own. “Omega said the same thing. You two go together like chilli and hot dogs.”

We can keep this at the whole “dialogue on screen” thing. I don’t really mind and it sure spares the budget.

The City stage plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background changes a bit, because Team Dark bickering (or just talking in general, I love this team so much) is my jam.

‘E-123 Omega here. Extermination proceeding without incident. No problems to report.’

‘Omega!’ Rouge exclaims, ‘Why have you stopped responding earlier? We- wait, extermination? This is supposed to be a recon mission, what are you doing?!’

‘I was spotted. Priorities conflicted; therefore I decided to eliminate the enemy altogether. New Mission Objective: Defeat Eggman.’

‘But you can’t go making a scene like that!’

‘See, this is what happens when you send the giant killer robot for this kind of op,’ Shadow sasses. And I’ll imagine Jason’s voice for this too, thank you.

‘I have several reports of recon missions where you retaliated, Shadow.’

‘I might have to join you boys soon enough. I turn my back for five seconds and this happens…’ Rouge comments in a tired voice.

Omega is ready to start robotically recounting the reports of failed recon missions where Shadow retaliated, but he is suddenly cut by static and the vague sound of the Phantom Ruby. Rouge tries to contact him again and we get small bits of his original lines here – “All sensors offline”, “Casualty report”, “Unidentified system intrusion. Emergency withdrawal!” and “I am E-123 Omega, the most powerf-sjfpstswq”, that stuff – before his communication is completely cut. Shadow asks something like “what’s going on?”, but his communication with Rouge is cut as well. We play whatever’s left of the level in silence (except for the sweet background music).

(Oh yeah, this happened or whatever…)

Now, I know the next scene is a screen dialogue again, and I know I just said I don’t mind it, but watching this:

… Is so bloody uncomfortable. This feels dumb. This is so dumb. I feel like they robbed us an epic scene in exchange of some awkward reading with absolutely no context. What the hell is “!” supposed to mean?! What did Infinite do?! If I wanted to imagine the action scenes all on my own, I’d spend my time daydreaming! What, did they not know what to do here so they just threw in some random lines to fill the gap between this and the next level?!

… Sorry, I got a little carried away. This simple scene frustrates me a lot by not existing. So yeah, we’re throwing in a cutscene.

(I just noticed how salty this post is getting. This was not my intention at all, I still love this game, oh dear…)

Shadow reaches the edge of the city and encounters a dark silhouette hovering just above the flames that cover the ground; there’s debris scattered everywhere. The figure has its back turned, and the world seems to glitch ever so slightly around them.

‘The world’s most powerful robot is no more a challenge than crabmeat. Even the Doctor’s most daring designs can’t compete with my power… It is without peer,’ the figure chuckles to themselves.

Shadow starts approaching silently, analysing the situation. Despite this being Omega’s location, he can’t see the robot.

‘Wonder how easy it would be to end this entire planet. Don’t you…’

Suddenly, the voice speaks close to the hedgehog’s ear:

‘…Shadow?’

He turns around to see that the unknown person has appeared behind him, which throws him off. The hedgehog takes several steps back and puts himself in a fighting stance.

It’s hard to see past the jackal’s mask, but he seems amused as he looks down on Shadow. Twistedly so.

‘How wonderful to see that our not-so-tall, dark and brooding guest has arrived. I’ve been waiting for you, Shadow~’

‘Tell me what you did to Omega. Now,’ the agent demands.

‘Oh, come now, Shadow. Our long-awaited reunion and still you spout such nonsense.’ Infinite floats down to stand a few meters away from his enemy.

‘I don’t know you,’ Shadow states. The masked jackal tilts his head, but doesn’t say anything, so he asks again, ‘what have you done to Omega?’

‘Only what is ought to be done when someone stands in your way. Weaklings like E-123 Omega are of no consequence, don’t you agree?’

‘The only thing of no consequence is that big mouth of yours.’

Shadow launches himself at Infinite, who easily avoids his attack. The jackal starts laughing manically.

‘Ah, I suppose you would think so,’ he states. ‘After all, it’s not so funny to be the one losing the battle, is it? I am Infinite. You say you do not know me, and yet I remember you so very well… I’ve lost all I was, I’ve become what I am because of you. Savour that thought as I return the favour.’

Guess what happens? That’s right, we get another boss battle! I think it’s only fair that Infinite gets to have his rematch with Shadow. Besides, it establishes a comparison with the “old” Infinite and how much stronger he’s now – from Shadow’s perspective, that is.

I have no idea how this battle would play out. Maybe something similar to his second battle in the main story (no, don’t worry: we’ll talk about the exceeding amount of Infinite battles in the next part), with the 2D layout. Let’s say Infinite is surrounded with his Red Cubes of Doom while he’s not attacking, so you can’t touch him. Maybe he makes the fire glitch and get closer to you at some point. Maybe he makes clones and you have to defeat each of them to get to the real guy, I don’t know! Tag your ideas, I’d love to see them! ^^

Anyway, once the battle’s over and Shadow “wins” (because Infinite is not defeated, he’s just done with this fight), the jackal might say something in the lines of “I suppose I’ve let this duel go on for long enough. I have other matters to attend to, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

We get back to the cutscene and Infinite is glitching a bit, quickly recomposing himself, laughing. Shadow is panting.

‘What’s the matter, Shadow? Can’t take down a measly jackal anymore?’ The masked one says sarcastically. ‘It seems like I’ve overestimated your strength. You’re no fit to be a mercenary at all.’

There’s a beat and Shadow realises what this is about. He looks at Infinite, frowning. ‘It’s you… Defence Squad Jackal…’

Infinite stares at the hedgehog. He doesn’t seem to be as amused anymore. His golden eye’s glowing under his mask, and so is the Phantom Ruby on his chest. A tense background music plays as Infinite answers dryly:

‘Yes.’

‘I’ve spared you, but now you’re going too far. It’s time to finish this! Chaos Spear!’

The spears of light simply go through Infinite as if they didn��t exist. Shadow goes for a spin dash/homing attack/kick to the face or whatever you can think of, but the masked villain glitches out of the way with ease and lands an almost perfect copy of Shadow’s roundhouse kick.

The hedgehog glides across the floor, almost falling over. Infinite scoffs.

‘This new “me” has limitless power. I have no mercy; no weakness! I am the true ultimate force that will tear this world apart, and what may have worked to bring me down before…’ the jackal starts floating again; thousands of red cubes start dancing around him and, as he raises a hand, they all group in the sky not far above them. ‘… No longer does.’

(Why yes, this is a reference to Mephiles the Dark and that time he destroyed the Sceptre of Darkness!)

Infinite throws his “Take THIS!” and Shadow does the “!” – which is him frantically trying to get out of the way as the thousands cubes of doom come crashing down on him.

The screen goes black.

Scene ends.

The Virtual Reality level should play as usual from there. I don’t even want to change the background dialogue, because I really like it: it’s confusing, it’s weird, it’s unsettling and it slaps Shadow in the face in a way that we rarely see. I love it! (Although, I do think the gameplay should have a tiny little bit more of 3D parts. We love Green Hill, but we also love the freedom to move on more than two directions when playing as the Ultimate Life Form. But it’s cool)

After that, we could get another cutscene (we’re full of cutscenes, huh? Well, this is a hypothetical rewriting with a hypothetical budget. Also, Episode Shadow is more of an exposition episode anyway). In this cutscene, we would start with some shots of different known locations: Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Crisis City, Mystic Jungle, Kingdom Valley, Babylon Garden, you name it! And all of these places are somewhat “corrupted”; they’re glitching out, full of those red cubes, and there’s just this ominous atmosphere in them, as if they’re abandoned, desolated despite looking roughly the same as ever. We then see a black-and-red blur cross the screen, and a short narration takes place:

“I’ve been here for longer than I can remember. This… alternate reality, this fake world. There seems to be no escape. Rouge and Omega talk to me occasionally…”

We see Shadow leaning against a wall. His communicator plays only white noise, then Rouge’s voice comes in; it’s strangely echoed as it calls out to him. Shadow throws the device far away and sighs.

“… They’re fake too. No matter where I go, no matter how much I run…”

Shadow is skating through Pumpkin Hill or something, when the world suddenly starts to glitch out massively; we hear the Phantom Ruby’s noise and suddenly, we’re on the ARK.

“It’s like this place was made to torture me. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”

‘I’ve moved on from this a long time ago,’ Shadow says to the void of the Universe as we hear gunshots in the distance. He’s not being completely truthful. ‘Putting me through this scenario dozens of times changes nothing. Don’t you have anything more creative at this point?’

There’s silence, except for the shouts in the Space Colony. A voice calls out to Shadow, and he promptly ignores it, albeit with a pained look in his eyes. He’s visibly tired, almost hopeless, if one could ever describe Shadow the Hedgehog that way.

He sighs.

‘Alright, how do I get out of this one?”

We then get a start of a short level in the ARK. Don’t worry, it’s not one of those hellish mazes that usually haunt every ARK level there ever was; this is more straight forward, with doors closing all around you so that you know where you shouldn’t go, and some G.U.N. robots trying to kill you, simple thing.

The catch happens when you’re halfway through the level: as you’re crossing a long corridor, the game begins to “crash” – in the sense of you losing control of the character, the visuals beginning to glitch and the soundtrack going weird, all in a way that makes the soul leave the body of the player for a terrifying four seconds of “HOLY SHIT, I BROKE THE GAME”. But nope, you didn’t break the game: the Phantom Ruby is trolling you. We soon find that out as the signature noise plays and the glitching effect on screen disperses to show a new scenario: Mystic Jungle. The real Mystic Jungle. Congratulations: you get to play in a totally different zone for the rest of the level.

‘My head…’ Shadow murmurs to himself. ‘That was too quick; this can’t be right, it- ugh, why is it so bright here? Where are all the red things? This place seems too normal… is it… am I back in the real world?!’

We then finish the level, get our nice score and head to the last scene of the episode.

Shadow is going through the jungle, taking in everything that isn’t an illusion. He passes by a red sword stuck to the ground and leans against a tree, still a little out of it, still struggling to believe that anything is real anymore. The hedgehog then takes his communicator – surprisingly intact; hadn’t he thrown that away? – and tries to make contact. There is static for a moment, when suddenly…

‘Shadow? Oh my- Shadow, is that you?!’

He’s startled for a moment, but so relieved to hear Rouge’s normal voice again.

‘It’s me, Rouge. What’s the situation? Where’s Omega?’

‘Omega? We lost contact with him months ago; the Resistance says he must have been shut down after the Doctor took over!’

Shadow raises both his non-existing eyebrows in surprise, barely holding a gasp. He then frowns.

‘Shut down? Resistance? What do you mean “the Doctor took over”? What the heck happened?’

‘What happened? What happened?! I should be the one asking you that! You’ve been offline for six months! Everyone keeps saying you’re working with Eggman and Infinite, and I couldn’t contact you or Omega, I thought… I thought we’d lost you for good…’

‘Nonsense,’ Shadow states. We start hearing voices in the distance, and the hedgehog starts looking around while still talking ‘I’ll tell you the details later, it’s long story. What’s the current situation?’

‘Shadow…’

The (Tired) Ultimate Life Form spots something from behind the trees. Still in hiding, he looks closer only to see the Custom Hero holding the prototype Phantom Ruby they just found and talking to Tails and… Classic Sonic, much to Shadow’s confusion.

‘… We’re at war.’

Shadow takes a moment to process what’s just been said. He doesn’t even pay attention to what Rouge says next (neither do we, as the background music starts getting louder than the bat’s voice). He still watches the avatar, Tails and Classic Sonic as they leave; he focuses on the Phantom Ruby.

‘Meet me in the City. I’ve got a lot to tell you,’ Shadow says.

And with that, he leaves, the scene fades out and Episode Shadow is over!

*”The Light of Hope: Menu Version” plays in the background*

Now, a few more analytical notes before we close this ridiculously gigantic thing:

The immediate reason why we have Shadow being stuck in the Virtual Reality for six months is to indicate to us why he doesn’t show up earlier in the main game. It’s not like he was being useless this whole time and just decided to show up whenever it was most Ex-Machina of him; much like Sonic, he was trapped by the enemy. A mental trap that put Shadow on survivor mode for months without any way of communicating with anybody; with twisted versions of his friends trying to get to him and remind him that, hey, they’re still out there, probably in high danger; with these illusions mocking him, reminding him of painful memories, isolating him in familiar places… I say: if you want to emotionally hit a character, hit them hard. And this experience is bound to leave Shadow with some emotional scar, alright.

(Ever heard of conveniently coming out of nowhere?)

Shadow is bound to lose his sense of reality and sometimes it should be hard for him to acknowledge that this is the real world. I hope I can showcase some of his reactions in the later parts of this o3o

The Virtual Reality isn’t all glitchy by mistake. No, no: Infinite is perfectly capable of making a “perfect copy” of the real world, but he doesn’t want to. He wants Shadow to know this is a fake world and to know that he’s completely trapped in it while his real friends and allies are out there doing who-knows-what in a world run by the enemy. He wants to throw Shadow off-balance as much as he can, because he’s spiteful and doesn’t just leave the hedgehog to the side without a second glance.

In the game, Infinite says that they didn’t really have time to tune his power yet, so we can tell putting Shadow in the Virtual Reality was more of a practice of sorts. But man, I think this is too much of a cool concept, so I’ll say Infinite did put his power to the test before all of this; because Eggman, sir: you don’t simply throw your super-secret, amazing, unparalleled weapon in the battlefield without testing it first. This is something that can be inferred, it doesn’t need to be directly told, it just- I’m telling you this right now, ok?

I know Shadow is supposedly “over” this conflict with what happened in the ARK and it probably feels over-used to add it in again, but… it’s a thing the games haven’t tackled in such a long time, I feel like this would be a nice call-back. Besides, Infinite would want to know what would bring distress to Shadow; what happened in the ARK isn’t exactly a secret, especially if he’s working with Eggman. And Shadow can be as “over it” as he wants: it’s still a scar that will never truly leave him. Even if he watches it happen dozens of times, it’s still at least a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

ALTHOUGH! I also think this ARK level could be easily replaced with some other random level if you want to argue that Forces happens in Mobius or something, where Gerald and Maria and G.U.N. maybe never existed and whatnot.

What brought Shadow back, you ask? Well, it probably has to do with a certain someone spontaneously activating a Phantom Ruby. Maybe the avatar was thinking of Shadow and how it’d be nice to have him on their side again? Maybe they were thinking of undoing Infinite’s evil deeds? Maybe the raw power of the Phantom Ruby prototype being suddenly activated by the Custom Hero just crashed something another Phantom Ruby user did, like magnetic waves interfering with each other? Who knows?

I also find it important to show the Custom Hero here not only to show that there’s a connection between Shadow’s sudden freedom and their actions, but also to establish the tiniest amount of early familiarity between Shadow and the original character. Then maybe (maybe) I’ll give them a bit more of interaction in the main game, because it’d be nice to have a cool interaction with Shadow; and as endearing as his smile after the avatar does their thing with the sun of destruction is, it feels like it comes out of nowhere, if you think about it…

(I mean... Does he even know who we are?)

Infinite’s sword stuck to the ground goes completely over Shadow’s head, as he has no idea what that is or who it belonged to or what it means. It’s really just there for the viewer to reminisce the beginning of the episode and have a slight existential crisis.

When playing the main campaign, we get some pretty convenient information from Shadow once he finally shows up. Episode Shadow should give us a sense of how he knows those things. Want it or not, he did spend a long time studying the Phantom Ruby’s power far more closely than anybody else – well, maybe Sonic spent almost as much time as Shadow in a similar state, but that’s something to cover in another part.

The fact that Shadow is the one narrating this entire episode is supposed to allude to him telling Rouge exactly what happened during those six months he was gone. But if you want to read it as him talking to himself in the Virtual Reality as he slowly descends into madness, then be my guest!

I don’t know if it’s noticeable, but I’ve tried to tune Infinite’s cheesiness down a bit. I don’t think I can rid him of it entirely – after all, he is somewhat of a pompous, edgy, over-the-top character in general; he’s a full-on drama queen 24/7 and the only character cheesier than him is Sonic. Now, what we do with Infinite is to at least give a base to what he says. Also, I wanted him to sound a bit more like he lets the power get to his head. Oh well, I surely hope we’ll be tackling more of Infinite in the future!

Episode Shadow is extremely short, even for a DLC. I mean, it’s about only 20 minutes long – even less, if you’re good at it! With the addition of the cutscenes, the small changes, the boss fights against Squad Jackal and Infinite, and the added levels, the episode shouldn’t get overwhelmingly longer, but longer enough for it to feel more satisfying!

And with that, we’re done! I hope you enjoyed this massive thing. Despite me really liking Sonic Forces, I do think a few things could be improved. It’s not like it will happen, but rewriting is a lot of fun!

And why, no: I don’t take myself seriously.

#Sonic Forces #Episode Shadow #Sonic the Hedgehog #Infinite #Shadow #Rewrite #Headcanon #Character Analysis #Word count: why do I even bother?#phew that was a lot #I'm so tired

27 notes · View notes

imaginesforyourfandom · 5 years ago

Text

You Tricked Me - Julie Ertz Imagine

A/N: This is somewhat of a prequel to Boxes!

(Y/N) POV:

“We have an early morning tomorrow, so I need you to not stay out all night.” JJ said as I nodded my head.

“I know JJ” I said for the umpteenth time as my girlfriend gave me a look. I was going out for the night with Ash and Pinoe. JJ was supposed to tag along but she had work that she needed to get done so she opted out of attending. I was bummed out because I wanted to be able to spend the night having fun with my girlfriend, but I also understand how important her work is to her.

Tomorrow morning, we are supposed to go have breakfast with some members of her family that are flying in to visit. I’ve met them before, but I always get a little nervous. I don’t want them to ever turn around and change their mind about us being together.

“(Y/N), I am serious. I don’t want you to be super hungover tomorrow.” She said with a serious look as I nodded my head.

“Babe…don’t worry. I know. I’ll be fine.” I said as she nodded her head. She gave me a smile as I leaned in to give her a kiss.

I said goodbye to her before exiting the house and going to meet up with Ash and Pinoe. I got to the bar we were hanging at and smiled when I spotted my teammates.

“Hey!” Pinoe said as I approached them. She looked behind me and furrowed her eyebrows upon noticing that JJ wasn’t with me. “Where’s JJ?”

“She had some work to do. She said that she is sorry, and she will make it up to you.” I said as they all frowned but nodded their heads anyway. A round of drinks were ordered as I tried to keep myself at a slow pace. I know that I have an early morning so being wild tonight is not an option.

That was the plan at least. As the night went on, I ended up in two drink-offs with my teammates and was putting more alcohol in my body than I should’ve. The quick consumption combined with the lack of food wasn’t doing me any favors. I wasn’t a lightweight, but it was definitely hitting me harder than usual.

Hours of drinking passed before I headed out. I caught an uber home as I agreed to let Ash and Pinoe crash with me. The walk to my apartment from the car we got out of seemed to last an eternity.

“shhhh” I said as they both fought back laughs. I smiled as I pointed at them to stop. “JJ is asleep. I don’t want to wake her.”

I fiddled with the lock for a few minutes before finally getting the door to open. The door crashed into the wall with a loud bang as we stumbled our way into the apartment. I turned on the light as I made my way towards my fridge. I was dying for some food. I opened the door and looked through as I found some leftover pizza. I grabbed the box and sat it on the counter. Ash and Pinoe both came over wanting some as we laughed at nothing.

I hadn’t necessarily realized how loud we were being until I glanced towards the hallway. I jumped slightly when I saw JJ looking at us with a confused expression.

“What time is it?” she asked with an unreadable look on her face. I glanced behind me at the clock on the stove. 4:28 am. Welp.

“Time for you to get a watch.” Pinoe said with a mouth full of pizza causing me to grin.

“Haha. Time for you guys to go to sleep.” JJ said as I took another bite of the pizza in my hand. “You can crash in the extra room. I’m serious.” She came over grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the bedroom.

“You’re in trouble.” Ash said as I paused stopping and pulling my arm away from JJ. I stared at her skeptically as she gave Ash a glare before looking at me. She smiled softly taking a step closer to me.

“I’m not mad. Come on. I just want to put you to bed.” She said as I felt myself soften. I took a step closer to her as she intertwined our fingers. She pulled me towards our room again as I waved to Ash and Pinoe who were both snickering.

Once we were in the bedroom, I went over fell into the bed as JJ closed the door. I glanced up at her and frowned when she gave me a glare. She looked pissed off as she crossed her arms and stared at me.

“What?” I asked with a confused expression as she then tilted her head.

“You said you wouldn’t stay out late.” She said and I could hear the fury in her voice which caused my frown to deepen.

“You tricked me.” I pouted as she rolled her eyes.

“Did you really think I wasn’t going to be upset with you?” she asked crossing the room and grabbing clothes out of the drawer.

“You said you weren’t mad.” I complained as she came over to me. She started trying to undress me as I resisted a little. “No. You’re mad at me.”

“I’m tired. I asked you not to do this. We have to be up in less than four hours to go meet my family and you’re no doubt going to be hungover. So, excuse me if I am not thrilled with you right now.” I stayed silent as she continued helping me get changed.

Eventually, I laid down as she left the room to make sure Ash and Pinoe got settled into the guest room. When she came back, she turned the lights out and climbed into bed with me. I rolled over and pulled her close to me. She didn’t resist my cuddles which was a good sign.

“I’m sorry.” I said as she stayed silent. “JJ…I’m sorry. I looove you.”

“Go to sleep.” She said after a moment. “I love you too.”

I snuggled into her more and let sleep overtake me. When I woke back up, I was alone in bed as I glanced around the room. My head was pounding as I glanced around in search of my girlfriend. I looked at the clock and saw it read 10:15 which caused me to frown. I was supposed to be getting breakfast with JJ’s family. I leaned over to the table to see a water bottle and some medicine along with a note.

“I went to breakfast without you. I decided it was better to let you sleep then take the risk of you still being drunk or make you go through a breakfast while hungover. We will talk when I get home. Love JJ”

I’m so fucked. I can’t believe I fucked it up so badly. I took the medicine and drank the water before getting up to take a shower. I walked into my living room to see the place empty. I had a text from Ash letting me know she and Pinoe had left.

I laid down on the couch watching tv trying to figure out how I could make it up to JJ. I felt bad that I had done exactly what she asked me not to do. I don’t know how long I was laying there when I heard the door open. I glanced over to see her entering the apartment. She had some bags in her hands as she was on the phone.

“Yeah. I know. Okay mom I got it. I’ll tell her you said Hi.” She said as she looked over at me. I tried my best to get my face to convey the guilt I felt. She got off the phone before setting the bags down on the counter. I stood up and walked towards her.

“Hi.” I said quietly as she crossed her arms.

“Hey.” She said tiredly.

“I’m sorry.” She nodded her head as I waited for her to say something.

“I know.” She said as I sighed.

“JJ, I don’t know how to make it up to you. I promise I hadn’t intended for last night to happen.”

“I believe you.” She said after a moment running her hands through her hair. “I’m just upset that it happened, and I know you didn’t mean for it too, but today was important.”

“I know.” I said looking down. “I wish I could go back and stop myself. I didn’t want to ruin today for you.”

She sighed rubbing her hands over her face before staring at me with a soft look. I swallowed a little as I waited for her to make the next move. What I wasn’t expecting was for her to come closer and kiss me softly.

“It’s okay. I really shouldn’t be so surprised given who you were out with.” She said as I leaned against her. She wrapped her arms around me as I tried to get as close to her as I could.

“I really am sorry.” I mumbled as she nodded her head.

“I know and if you ever pull something like this again…you’ll be very single.” She said as I nodded my head. “Also, I know how you can make it up to me.”

“How?” I asked warily as she grinned at me.

“You get to help me shop for a house.” I groaned as she grabbed my arm pulling me towards the bedroom. I did this to myself. Let’s be honest, but how could I ever say no to her?

The End.

#julie ertz #julie ertz imagine #julie ertz imagines #uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #uswnt

171 notes · View notes

thegayagenda-forkids · 5 years ago

Text

Magical

AO3 Link

Prequel

“Cyrus, you need to calm the hell down,” Buffy said. “I can’t be chasing you around to try and get this tie straight.”

“Buffy!”

“If there’s going to be only one thing about you that’s was going to be straight, it’s going to be this tie,” she said. “Sit the fuck down.”

“Am I not allowed to be nervous today?” He said sitting down.

“Nope,” Andi said. “Especially when I’m fixing this manufacturing flaw on your jacket pocket.”

“What do you mean I’m not allowed to be nervous today?! This is exactly the kind of day I should be nervous for!”

“You shouldn’t” Buffy said, fixing his tie and the clip. “Because Andi and I have gone over this ten thousand times with a fine toothed combed...the kind of comb you use on lice, even. You’re not allowed to be nervous.”

“Well how do you guys expect me to calm down without going into a panic attack first?” He said wringing his hands. “I was so busy with my second semester finals I barely paid attention to planning all this.”

“Which is why Buffy and I took over some of the aspects we specialize in,” Andi said, fixing the hole. “If you want to calm down,” she said. “Why not remember what exactly got us all here?” She inspected the jacket and had Cyrus’s stand to put the jacket on him and inspect it for any other flaws, and started fixing him up before working on the flowers that would be his boutonnières of sorts.

“That day?”

“Yes, the day from about a year ago?” Buffy said. “Our graduation trip.”

“Oh...that day,” Cyrus couldn’t help but smile like an idiot.

_______________

“Come on guys! We’re here at Disney World!” Cyrus was jumping up and down and T.J. was holding his hand. “How are you guys so tired?”

“You’re the only one who hasn’t driven yet on this road trip,” Buffy said, yawning slightly and getting off the monorail and to the gates of Magic Kingdom. “And I thought we should have done Epcot first.”

“We’re here for ten days!” Cyrus said. “Because T.J.’s cousin works here and got us ridiculously good discounts! And we’re even staying in pretty sweet rooms.”

“Rooms one could even say are...docious magocious?” T.J. said with a shit eating grin, and Jonah groaned.

“I haven’t said that since seventh grade!” He said. “But yeah, they’re pretty cool rooms. Though it’s weird being all alone.”

“Did you really want to be in a room with a couple?” Andi asked him.

“Nope, especially since one of those couples is both of my ex-girlfriends,” he said.

They flashed him a grin and Amber kissed Andi’s cheek.

“Awww, cute,” Marty said, yawning as they passed through the gate. “But I think before anything, we stop by the Starbucks? It’s called Main Street Bakery on the map.”

“How about Cyrus and I wait in line for the Mickey and Minnie meet and greet while you guys grab coffee for us all?” T.J. suggested. “That way we get a big wait time out of the way and we get that picture done first before we get all hot and sweaty from the Florida sun?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jonah said and they split up, T.J. and Cyrus heading to The Main Street Theater for the meet and greet and the rest going to The Bakery. Once they were in line, T.J. pulled out his phone and started texting.

“Wow, really? You’re addicted,” Cyrus teased.

“I’m telling the others our drink order,” He said. “Iced grande skim milk light ice white mocha with two pumps of vanilla and a cheese danish for you, right?” T.J. was texting the group the drink orders, that was true, but what Cyrus didn’t know at the time was that he was also texting them some very specific instructions.

“You know me too well Thel,” he said smiling. “And you’re getting the venti salted cream cold foam cold brew,” he said. “With a ham and cheese croissant.”

“You forgot to add the vanilla,” he teased.

“Oh no, the horrors,” Cyrus rolled his eyes. “I’m no longer a worthy boyfriend I should just go, leave, never see you again…”

“And stop being so melodramatic?” T.J. said putting his phone away and taking his hand.

“You like my drama. You said it makes life fun...even when you couldn’t be more stressed out, like you were during your “trial” in middle school?”

“I didn’t know the maximum punishment was lunch detention!”

“Yeah...good thing I served it with you.”

“When you discovered for the first time I could play piano?”

“Piano that you later taught me…”

“Attempted to teach you. You still misuse the hell out of the una corda pedal.”

“It’s the pedal that makes it sound pretty! I love that pedal.”

“You love a lot of things,” T.J. teased pulling Cyrus closer.

“You’re one of those things. Are you sure you’re going to complain?”

“Not in the slightest,” T.J. said, pulling him in and kissing him right when the rest of the group cleared their throats.

“Your drinks your royal dorkusess?” Buffy handed Cyrus the cold brew and T.J. the white mocha, which they took and immediately swapped.

“If you mess up the next thing to give up, I’ll know you’re not really my friend,” Cyrus said.

“Don’t worry, I know you keep kosher style,” she said, handing Cyrus the cheese danish.

“Good,” he said taking a bite. “At least you’re somewhat my friend.”

“God I wish you loved me as much as you love him,” Marty teased her.

“Maybe one day.”I officially stopped carrying him around though. That’s T.J.’s job now.” There was a twinkle in her eye as she said that. Nobody noticed Amber separating from the group and going to the Cast Member at the door and whispering something in her ear before she went back to the group. The Cast Member took out her radio and called over her coordiator.

Seconds later, a man in a blue shirt and a name tag that said Tom from Kissimmee, FL came up to them. “Hey guys, Mickey and Minnie noticed you guys in the crowd and wanted to give you a special tour of their theater.”

“Whoa…really?”Cyrus said, looking around excited.

“Yeah...sometimes Mickey and his representative Cast Members like to make a bit of a magical moment for our guests,” he said. He gestured to the girl at the door.

“You guys were really cute in line,” she justified.

“Come with me please.” Tom led the group through a different door and they went through a different little area before he opened the door to an empty room with Mickey and Minnie looking over and waving at them. Cyrus immediately went up to hug them and T.J. handed his phone to the cast member at next to the photographer. Both men at the front of the room were snapping pictures while T.J. and Cyrus hugged the mice. Mickey went to gesture for the rest of the group to join them when they held out a single finger, saying ‘wait a minute.’

“Guys!” Cyrus started but T.J. took his hand. “Hey, I just wanted to say...Mickey, Minnie, you two seem to make each other’s lives quite magical, right?” Both mice did giggling gestures and hugged each other. Cyrus looked around with wide eyes and looked at his friends who did their best to look surprised. Only half of them were convincing.

“Well, this man right here is Cyrus Goodman,” he said introducing him to Mickey and Minnie. “I think he’s made my life ridiculously magical. I used to be...well...not a good person. This guy helped me change...find acceptance within myself...stop being afraid...overall just made me a better person.”

“Teej….?” Cyrus’s voice rose several octaves.

“Which is why I want to keep improving with him forever.” He pulled out the box from his pocket and got down on one knee. The idiot group of friends started squealing with excitement and even the cast members were getting in on the happy squeals. Cyrus was blushing, half laughing and half crying, covering his face and looking away. Mickey and Minnie were jumping and stomping excitedly. “Cyrus...will you be my happily ever after?”

“You…” Cyrus was laughing and crying. “You’re such a jerk! You stole my moment!” Now everyone looked confused and Cyrus pulled out a box from his pocket. “I was going to do it in front of the Cinderella castle! And ask you if you’d make my dreams come true!”

Everyone lost their minds then as T.J. started laughing and crying as well and pulled Cyrus down for a kiss, both of them clumsily exchanging the rings. A cast member came back with two purple buttons and seeing the scene, took out a sharpie and wrote on one, “I said yes!” and on the other, “I also said yes!”

“We’re still getting the Cinderella castle pictures,” Cyrus said as everyone joined in for hugs and congratulations.

“You’re getting all the pictures you want,” the photographer said. “Your vacation pictures are on me.” The two mice raised their hands. “And on Mickey and Minnie.”

The two men put on their buttons and kissed each other again.

_________

“You guys had the perfect engagement,” Andi sighed dreamily. “I wonder if mine is going to look like that.”

“Well, all you have to do is read each other’s minds without realizing it,” he said, looking down at his light green tie. He chose the colors to match T.J.’s eyes, even coordinating the bridesmaids dresses to match him. “And then have me and Buffy as your “Best People” like I have you two.”

“Speaking of being best people,” Buffy said. “Your flowers are done, your jacket is done, and guess what?”

“What?”

“You look perfect,” she said smiling and kissed the top of his head in a big sister sort of way.

Cyrus was smiling wide and he could barely control his breathing. “How much longer?”

“Five minutes,” Andi said. “Your mom and stepmom are just outside the door, waiting for you.”

“Then…here we are…” he said and he hugged his best friends. “I love both of you.”

“We love you too,” Buffy said, hugging him back with Andi, resting their heads on his shoulder. “T.J. is going to love his first look.”

“I think I am too,” he said. “You two are supposed to go before me anyways.

___________

T.J. had gone down first with his mother, Bowie and Jonah playing them down the aisle. Then Andi and Amber walked down together, followed by Buffy and Marty. Amber and Marty separated and went to T.J.’s side while Amber and Buffy took their place on the other side, smiling as they were all under the chuppah, or more accurately T.J. was under the chuppah with the officiant who specialized in doing Jewish and Catholic mixed ceremonies and the others stood slightly to the side.

Jonah and Bowie changed the music when Cyrus started coming down, and T.J. smiled wider than he even thought possible, even wider than when Cyrus had pulled out his own ring in front of Mickey and Minnie. And if Cyrus’s cheeks were already hurting before the ceremony, they were going to rip apart out of the sheer glee of seeing the man he loved standing in front of him, in a black tux with a green tie and boutonnières, looking at him like there was nothing in the world other than the two of them.

At the front, Cyrus hugged his stepmother and then his mother before going to the front, taking T.J.’s hands and hoping that his yarmulke wasn’t crooked. T.J.’s certainly didn’t look crooked from where he was standing, but T.J. could be wearing his on his nose and Cyrus would still think it looked perfect.

T.J. looked at their hands and had to stop and remind himself that there were procedures he had to go through before he could take Cyrus and run away with him, no matter how tempted he was at that moment.

He barely paid attention to the Bible verses his family read out and the blessings Cyrus’s ridiculously huge family paid them, the entire time just staring at Cyrus’s eyes waiting for his moment.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the officiant said. “And now it’s time to exchange vows. T.J.?”

He nodded and looked over at the officiant for a second before looking back at his fiancé. He loved that word for the past year, but he was about to upgrade. “Cyrus Goodman…” he took a breath and laughed nervously. “What can I say? It started with a chocolate chocolate chip muffin...and Buffy refusing to help me unless I helped you,” he chuckled and Buffy nodded approvingly. “I was...no mincing words, I was a total jerk back then. A bad person...you’re the first person who saw the good in me trying to come out, and you helped me by talking me through a learning disability, helping me work out my feelings on a swing, letting me teach you how to do a somersault...and you influenced me to do the right thing when I encountered horrible situations, like Reed and the gun back in middle school. You helped me come out not only to everyone here, but to myself, by just being yourself. My biggest fear since I met you was losing you. You were one of the best things in my life...and I can’t wait until this is over and you can officially be the best thing I can brag about to everyone I meet, because I really am ridiculously excited to show off my husband.”

Everyone clapped politely and Cyrus had to wipe away tears. “How am I gonna top that?” He said with a little laugh. “Can I say it?” T.J. looked around thankful they had a small ceremony and that he was mostly over his insecurities and nodded. “Thelonious Jagger Kippen...god I love that name…” Andi and Buffy quickly looked at each other with wide eyes. THAT’S WHAT IT STOOD FOR?!!! “Thelonious...You say I helped you be a good person, but you helped me become a braver version of myself. You helped me tackle each one of my silly little fears, like swinging higher, doing a somersault...dirt biking?! Whoever thought I would get on one of those things?!” He laughed a little. “And I can’t wait to see what else lies in store for us...how else you’ll make me braver as we keep going. I loved presenting you as my boyfriend, I was overjoyed this past year when I introduced you as my fiancé...and now that I can brag about my husband...you’re never gonna hear me shut up again.”

“And I hope I never do,” he said gently.

“Cyrus Goodman, do you take this man to love and to hold, to honor and cherish, in sickness and health, til death do you part?”

“I do.”

“Thelonious Jagger Kippen, do you take this man to love and to hold, to honor and cherish, in sickness and health, til death do you part?”

“I do.” He said. “I’d be dumb not to…”

“Then by the power vested in me by the government of the United States, I now pronounce you two married. You may now kiss the groom.” They rushed over and kissed while everyone cheered. A covered glass was placed at the ground and Cyrus stepped on it hard, shattering it while everyone cheered and congratulated them.

“Time to enjoy the reception, Mr. Goodman-Kippen,” Cyrus said.

“Time to enjoy the rest of our lives, Mr. Goodman-Kippen.” T.J. said smiling.

Of course, they weren’t the only ones smiling like idiots, and they gave Marty their blessing to steal the scene after their first dance to get down on one knee himself. They shared an anniversary after all, what’s one more thing?

And just in Disney tradition, they lived happily ever after…

_______

______

_____

Tag List: @kippens-a-goodman @theobligatedklutz @anarcoqueer1994 @honey-aes @luzawithoutu @dumb-binch-juice @tyrus-tide @tyrus-and-the-swings @losrgeekwhatevr

#andi mack #ambi #cyrus goodman #tyrus #muffy #tj kippen #amber #buffy #Fluff #Wedding #Disney #Happily Ever After

104 notes · View notes

perspective-series · 5 years ago

Text

Switched Perspective (21)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: Mentions of Past Trauma, arguing, death threats, self-deprecation, fear, and guilt

(Check the reblog for the links to the previous chapters and the prequel!)

This is a sequel to A Third Perspective! Read that first or you will be confused!

Logan looked at the bedroom door as it shut, hearing the resounding click. He sighed, trying not to get stressed over the reality that he was alone with Virgil. The others were in that room. If Logan called for them they would come.

...if they could even hear him, that is.

Virgil took in another deep breath, having no idea how to start this. And he thought Roman and his talk started out awkward? That was nothing in comparison to this. But he had to say something, had to get the ball rolling somehow.

“I’m sorry.” He winced at his own words. Like Logan would forgive him with those words alone. Though, he supposed it was a good start, at least.

Logan sighed, standing up. Best to get this over with as quickly as possible.

“I forgive you,” Logan said, tersely putting his hand out towards Virgil for a handshake.

Virgil stared at Logan’s outstretched hand. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.” Logan frowned at him. “Now hurry up and accept my forgiveness so we can be done with this.”

Virgil groaned, before taking a seat. “No. Look, Logan. I get it. I want this over with too. But in order for us to turn back to normal...well, I’m pretty sure this all has to be genuine. We can’t just fake all this and expect whatever power who did this to us to believe it.”

“Well, then that’s impossible.” Logan subconsciously took a few steps back, lowering his arm. “Because it’s quite literally impossible for me to truly forgive your actions in this form. You’ve already done me harm twice. This…” Logan put a hand on his chest, trying to find the words to describe his emotions. “...well, frightened sensation shall only retreat once you are no longer physically capable of harming me again. Although I suppose that was your goal, so congratulations. You’ve doomed us all.”

Virgil winced, looking away for a moment. “...I know. And I...I regret it so much. If I had made one mistake you would be-!” Virgil stopped himself, before taking another deep breath. Panicking here would do nothing good.

“But I know it’s hard for you to forgive me...because I still haven’t forgiven you yet. You’re feeling exactly how I felt when we were normal.”

“Exactly how you felt?” Logan could have laughed. “And when exactly did I try to psychologically torture you? Or dangle you off a building? My own actions, while wrong in their own right, never came from the position of trying to cause you harm.”

“And you think I knew that! Maybe after the whole thing with Dee, maybe. But everything before that? I thought you were going to, I don’t know, dissect me or something! And you really never gave me a good enough reason to believe otherwise either.” Virgil grit his teeth. “And even after everything, when I knew you wouldn’t hurt me, the idea of being trapped in that cage forever still gives me a panic attack!”

“How unfortunate.” Logan sneered. “As if you’re the only one who’s dealt with trauma. I never intended to trap you in that cage forever, but after truly getting to know you I think such a fate would be fitting.”

“...What?” Virgil had to take a step back and that. Sure, he felt bad and maybe he even deserved that as Logan stated. But Logan actually saying that?

“Well, then, maybe I should have just let you fall,” Virgil said back, returning Logan’s sneer.

Logan froze, paling when his own incident was brought up, still so fresh in his mind. “...no.” Logan protested weakly, his voice quieter than before.

“Yeah, if you think I deserve to be in a cage then might as well do something that’s worth being in there for.” Virgil slowly reached out his hand towards Logan.

“NO!” Logan yelped, backpedaling away from those fingers that mere hours ago had dangled him over certain death by a loose piece of fabric. In his haste Logan tripped, falling onto his butt as his heart rate skyrocketed.

Virgil ignored Logan, grabbing him in his fist and bringing him up to eye-level. “Can’t put me back in the cage if you’re dead.”

Logan felt chilled to the bone, staring into Virgil’s uncaring gaze. He gulped, beginning to tremble horribly. Logan should have known better than to trust Virgil to actually be better. It had only been a matter of time before Virgil showed his true nature, waiting until Logan was alone and vulnerable...but wait! He wasn’t alone, not completely.

“PATTON!” Logan screamed as loud as his little lungs allowed. “THOMAS! ROMAN!”

Patton whipped his head to the door. “Oh no.” He whispered as his eyes widened. “Logan!” With Roman in his hands, he ran out of the room only to see the sight of Virgil holding Logan in a fist.

“Virgil! Put him down now!” Patton demanded.

Logan let out a few desperate sobs, feeling overwhelmed by emotion as the crowd came in. They had heard him. That was all Logan could ask for.

Thomas froze, eyes wide as he watched the scene before him. This...this wasn’t his Virgil. Virgil might tease, but Thomas had thought that was all just witty banter. Was something more afoot at play?

Virgil froze as he heard the others come in and at Patton’s shout. He turned towards them, looking at Patton. His anger was slowly dwindling, replaced by an incoming sense of what he had just done. He winced.

Patton came over, shifting Roman to one hand as he held out his free one for Logan. Silently, Virgil handed him over, not looking at any of them.

Patton turned around and looked down at Logan with concern. “Oh Logan, are you okay? What happened?”

Roman winced, looking at Logan’s disheveled state. “Oh no...Logan, are you alright?”

“Are you hurt?” Thomas asked, peering over Patton’s shoulder as well.

“I…” Logan’s voice was raspier than he would have liked, and he felt quite raw from this experience. “I am not harmed, physically. You came in just prior to him enacting his threats.”

“Threats?” Patton looked behind him at Virgil, who was looking down at the ground, gripping his arm. Oh, Virgil… Patton shook his head. “Maybe it was a bad idea to leave the two of you alone…”

“What were you thinking?” Roman yelled, trying to get a good look at Virgil though Patton blocked his way.

“I...he said I deserved to be in that cage forever…” Virgil mumbled.

“...well what were you thinking?” Roman turned to Logan exasperatedly. Antagonizing a human who already hated you was generally a good way to get yourself killed. Not that Roman thought Virgil was a killer, but… well, Roman had already been proven wrong about Virgil becoming a good person.

“He said he should have let me fall.” Logan looked up at Patton. “He wants me dead.”

It was quiet for a moment.

“What?!” Thomas exclaimed, head rapidly turning to look between the two guilty parties. “Why would you say that? Why did any of this come up in a conversation about friendship?”

“Well to be fair, wanting someone dead is a fairly large barrier on the road to friendship,” Roman commented darkly, looking solemn.

Patton snapped his head towards Virgil at Logan’s words. “Virgil...how could you. Did you not listen to anything we talked about before?!” Patton yelled. Virgil continued to look down, not wanting to see all the kinds of disappointment on their faces.

“I don’t...I don’t actually want him...dead.” Virgil finished lamely. At this point though, he doubted anyone would believe him.

“Then why did you tell Logan that?!” Patton was more than disappointed at this point. No, he was straight-up upset with Virgil. Patton couldn’t understand Virgil’s actions at all.

“I...I was angry…” He let his anger overtake him when Logan had said that. “I was really trying to make up but when Logan had said that I…” He trailed off, letting out a shaky sigh.

“Okay, there seems to be a lot of tension here that I don’t fully understand.” Thomas pointed out. “Maybe we should all just...take a moment, calm down and come back to this.”

“No!” Logan’s exclamation was angry, a passion filling his words that had been absent due to fear. “No, this is ridiculous! Magic is for fairytales. None of this makes any logical sense.”

“But, the scroll-” Thomas’ argument was cut off.

“Forget the scroll.” Logan insisted. “We’ve all just interpreted a random mystical hypothesis together because we are frightened of the concept of not having actual explanations. But the point stands that there are no witches dictating our lives. I say we head to bed. We all changed in our sleep last night, did we not? Perhaps it will happen again.” Or perhaps this is all just some horrible dream, and I will finally be able to wake up.

“...I think that might be a good idea.” Patton agreed. “How should we…? I mean, if we do switch back you two really shouldn’t be in the walls.” Patton spoke to the two shrunken humans.

“Indeed.” Logan murmured. “Not to mention the giant rat…”

“I’m sorry, the giant what?” Thomas frowned, feeling like he missed something.

“Perhaps it would be best if we all slept together, then?” Roman suggested, ignoring Thomas’ question. He glanced in Virgil’s direction. “...almost altogether. It’ll be like a slumber party.”

“I can go prep your bed, Logan,” Thomas suggested, figuring they would need the room. He left, heading back down the hall.

Patton nodded and turned back to the two shrunken humans. “Maybe you’re right Logan. Maybe we...will turn back if we just sleep.” At least, he hoped for all their sakes.

Virgil finally looked up at them, noticing none of them were paying any attention to him. He sighed, he deserved the cold shoulder in all honesty. He’d probably be sleeping on the couch tonight.

“Um, guys?” Thomas returned, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. “There’s a bunch of papers all over, what should I do about them?”

Logan tensed.

“Ah...you know, maybe it’s best we sleep at my place,” Roman suggested tactfully.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” Patton started towards the door, paying little attention to Virgil. Virgil didn’t move, staying where he was. He knew he wasn’t welcome with them.

He heard the door open and Patton’s footsteps growing quiet.

“So...where are you gonna go?” Thomas asked quietly.

Virgil blinked as he looked up, almost forgetting that Thomas was still here. He shrugged. “I’ll probably just...stay here. Sleep on the couch or something.” He mumbled.

“I mean, no one’s using Logan’s bed.” Thomas pointed out. “You’re probably welcome to it.”

Virgil let out a humorless chuckle. “I’m probably not welcome to it, actually.”

“...oh, right.” Thomas bit his lip. “Well, I don’t have a second bed, but if you’re really fine with crashing on a sofa you can come to my place if you’d like.”

Virgil paused. “...Really?” Truth be told, he didn’t really want to be alone right now. But that was hard when everyone seemed to hate him right now. Except maybe Thomas, it seemed like?

“I don’t know everything that’s gone on between the two of you, but...well, I think you just said some things you didn’t really mean,” Thomas said determinedly. “And I think everyone deserves a second chance.”

Virgil’s lip twitched upwards. “Thank you, Thomas.” He hoped Thomas would still feel that way tomorrow.

“No problem.” Thomas smiled at him. “Come on, follow me.” He led the way downstairs into his own apartment. “Here’s the sofa, I’ve got some spare blankets in the closet. One sec, I’ll grab them.”

Virgil nodded and sat down on the sofa. It wasn’t as soft as the bed he had woken up in that morning, but still better than his nest of old fabric.

“Here you go.” Thomas handed the blankets over. He paused, looking at Virgil. “Do you...I mean, do you really think you’ll change back in the morning?”

“I don’t know...I have a feeling, though, that this isn’t over quite yet.” Virgil said, taking the blankets from Thomas and starting to lay them over himself. At the very least, it couldn’t be as simple as just going back to bed.

“Yeah, probably.” Thomas agreed. “Doesn’t hurt to try I guess though. And maybe we can figure out something in the morning when you’re not at each other’s throats.”

“...Yeah.” He wasn’t going to tell Thomas that they still were going to have a lot of issues to deal with tomorrow. And he was sure they were all still going to be angry.

“Anyways, I’m gonna head to bed too.” Thomas walked over to the light switch. “Need anything?”

“No, I’m good.” Virgil paused for a moment. “Thanks again, Thomas.”

“You’re welcome.” Thomas gave him a soft smile. He turned off the lights, heading down the hall to his own bed.

Virgil settled down on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. How did this all go so wrong? Why was he like this? None of this would have even happened if he had never been caught in the first place…

But it was too late now. He had gone too far and now even his best friend probably hated him. A few tears escaped him.

It was a long time before he finally fell asleep.

88 notes · View notes

smuthuttpodcast · 5 years ago

Text

I have read some great or good pieces of fan fiction that incorporate a trial of Ben Solo into their stories.

Name/Handle/Alias

BonnieSwims (Twitter & AO3)

About how long would you say you’ve been rooting for Reylo?

I've been rooting for them since mid 2016. I REALLY started reading a large amount of fan fiction after seeing The Last Jedi. I am not sure if I read stories on AO3 before The Last Jedi, if I did, I started reading in mid 2016.

What did you think of the way Rise of Skywalker handled Rey and Kylo’s relationship?

I do not think it got enough screen time. The time consuming scavenger hunt with Poe & Finn, only having Kylo & Rey cross swords...all would have been forgiven IF Ben Solo lived or, if he HAD to die, if there was more screentime of redeemed Ben Solo AND Rey told others of Ben Solo, grieved his death, took Solo name, and ended up somewhere green.

Do you think the film understood why you, and other people, felt like Rey and Kylo had something together? Did it get their chemistry?

Given the acting between Ridley & Driver, I do believe the film makers understood the chemistry between Rey & Kylo. I also believe they FAILED to see how Kylo could become Ben Solo again and deserved to live. They did not acknowledge how his connection to Rey & her influence on him made Kylo believe that Rey trusted him and wanted a better life for him. Instead they went with "let's have them fight at every chance." It is true he was enraged at the end of TLJ but that feeling was from his perceived abandonment by Rey. Plus, TROS takes place a year later. The rage would lessen somewhat I imagine or if the rage against Rey was still so high, Kylo would have been MORE terrifying and just straight up kill Rey early in the movie. They did not understand Rey also insisted Ben do this for himself not for his mother, Rey, or Han or for power. That is why he was so upset that she did not take his hand when he offered. (The TROS story did get the "i wanted to take Ben's hand" correct.) There was also the strange scene of Rey looking happily at children. Was it an attempt to foreshadow a family with Ben? That's what it seemed like they were telling the audience but then at the end of the movie, I was left with thinking maybe Rey is now going to have two lovers and create a family with Finn & Poe.

What about the handling of Kylo’s redemption? Was it something you had to think through in your stories?

I have read MANY pieces of fan fiction on AO3, listened to Girls with Sabers & What the Force podcasts which seemed to focus on comparing Star Wars to works of great literature & myths, how Star Wars incorporates the Hero's & Heroine's Journey, and aspects of filmmaking. Given all the marketing with #ReyandKylo , #KyloandRey, the comics emphasizing the verbal (psychological) & physical abuse of Kylo, the comics showing how Ben Solo may not be responsible for the destruction of the Jedi Academy, the comics foreshadowing how Ben could survive being thrown off a cliff, the videos of little BB Ben Solo or Rolly Ben Solo (that never aired) and other items, it really seemed like the story was leading up to Bendemption. They did have Ben Solo redeem himself. I do think they had NO IDEA how to present Ben Solo to the Resistance after Palpatine is killed by Rey & Ben. They could not figure a way to do that so they just killed him off. I have read some great or good pieces of fan fiction that incorporate a trial of Ben Solo into their stories. Many were done well with Poe, Finn, & Rey coming to the defense of Ben because he helps them end the First Order. One story has Ben banished to a deserted planet for a year or two, then at the end he rejoined society where Rey was waiting for him. One has a trial that ended with a sentence of rehabilitation/probation where Rey might be the person in charge of controlling Ben. Other fics had it where Kylo is dismantling the FO from within so the Resistance can defeat them. Others have the First Order request an armistice. Another storyline I have read decided that since Ben saved the galaxy with Rey & he is Leia’s kid, he is pretty much absolved of his crimes since he will always have to atone for and live with the guilt of killing his father. The scene with Han in TROS was a great scene & did go a long way to Ben being redeemed and forgiven for his worst crime. The stabbing of Kylo, Rey’s healing of Kylo, & his tossing his saber was a great part of the movie and a good redemption arc. So that was good. Where the story lacked was the decision that Ben Solo still did not do enough so he needs to die. That was the mistake they made. They could have redeemed Ben & had him even start atoning for his crimes in the smallest way before the credits rolled IF they had a different plot than the LONG scavenger hunt.

Regarding stories after TROS, I have mainly read ‘fix-it” stories that are WIPs. The newest stories have Ben alive where he & Rey fly back to the Resistance where Rey has to protect Ben from being killed. He may be in a holding cell and discussions begin on what to do with Ben Solo. Those stories are pulling on the heart strings of “What would Leia want us to do with her only child?” and so far are resulting in sympathy for the fate of Ben Solo. I have read others that are basically have Rey telling the resistance that he can’t die or she will too or Rey is protecting Ben.

What did you think of where Rey landed at the end? There had been a lot of excitement around Star Wars having a female protagonist. Do you think she lived up to the promise of her character?

I did not like the ending. She was alone on a desert planet at a house where Luke's relatives were burned alive. She did not get a family. Well sure, she knows she is a Palpatine but from the beginning with TFA, I always felt like she wanted people around her that she was related to or had the capacity to help her create her own family. I did not like how the costume & hair reinforced Rey as a child virgin. That is where she was at the beginning of TFA. At the end of TLJ, her hair in not in her childhood style, she is wearing more 'earthy' colors showing character growth. Then with TROS, Rey regressed BACK to her childhood hairstyle and went to virginal white to show she is a 'good girl in white" and also a virgin. So she did not grow, in fact, she regressed. Her ending does not come off as the hero in white. She appears as the pure woman untainted by desire or love solely focused on protecting the galaxy. Additionally, she must be a robot because she was serene and happy as she flew away from Ben’s death. She was elated to see her Resistance friends. She was also so happy to be alone with BB-8 on a desert planet where the Skywalker Family has faced a lot of sadness. SUCH A HAPPY ENDING WITH SO MUCH HOPE. Wow, that is a lonely job for a scavenger that just wanted a family. So, girls, don't lose sight of your purity and you can be a hero if you are willing to bear the weight of that role only on your shoulders because you will have to do this alone. So Rey did not grow as a character and she did not get a family (unless you count her stealing the Skywalker family name but still alone because the last Skywalker died.)

There’s criticism of the movie that argues it’s akin to “fan fiction” and that is has too much fan service. As fans and fan-fiction writers, how do you react to that?

I have read many excellent stories that are fan fiction for Star Wars. The best fan fiction are stories that are planned, follow a plot structure, have a writer that RESEARCHED the characters, planets and ideas they were incorporating . TROS was not as good as the best fanfiction out there. It is very disappointing that some people and critics are excusing TROS by saying it is fan fiction. I disagree with that. If "fan service" means throw as many planets as we can into the story, add random things that are never fleshed out in the story, have a movie full of action with too many quick cuts with a lack of dialogue, and add a bunch of ships from the larger SW universe, then yes, the movie was fan service. What happened with just making a good movie? A good movie would have been acceptable. A great movie would have been wonderful. We were given a mess of movie that killed off THE LAST SKYWALKER (Ben) with no acknowledgement, reduced Hux to a very minor character when he could have been Kylo's main adversary, and Rey takes the name Skywalker with no explanation. Strangely, Terrio implied the sequel trilogy was a set of movies about the Skywalker Twins and they are now so happy to be Force Ghosts with their sabers buried on Tatooine. Does anyone believe that when Leia tells Han to “bring our son home” she means she wants to meet Ben in Force Ghost Heaven soon? One could argue that TFA was Han's film, TLJ was Luke's film , and TROS was Leia's film. That became difficult to accomplish with Carrie fisher's death. PLUS, WHY EVEN HAVE THE VILLAIN BE THE LAST SKYWALKER if that character wasn't supposed to even be a big part of the film? So confusing & disappointing, especially since JJ made Ben Solo into Kylo Ren. If he did not want Kylo/Ben to play an important role as The Last Skywalker, why didn’t he just make Hux the bad guy all along? The only conclusion I can come to is the sequel trilogy was always intended to be a tragedy like the prequel trilogy to teach kids about tragedy, disappointment, death, the importance of mortal sacrifice for your sins even if you are mentally and physically abused. (Anakin & Ben were both psychologically manipulated.) What a way to teach a moral lesson about trust, family, friendship, and hope. Kinda hard to see those messages as the credits rolled on The Rise of Skywalker.

Are you still writing any Star Wars fanfic? Tell us about it! (Don't forget your Ao3 handle!)

I am a reader only.

I will mention that I am almost convinced that all the Terrio comments about Skywalker Twins, special effects personnel saying they were never asked to make Ben a Force Ghost, the three month delay for the TROS artbook, and so little information about Ben Solo’s ‘death” is LucasFilm admitting that Ben is not dead and they will do another Rey movie or a Solo movie called "The Resurrection of Ben Solo." Who knows if Driver or Ridley will EVER do another SW movie, though. Animated movie/TV show? A miniseries for Disney+...”The Search for Solo.”

Thank you Bonnie Swims

6 notes · View notes

keelywolfe · 6 years ago

Text

FIC: Pillars of Creation ch. 3 (baon)

Summary: It’s not a date, thank you. Edge only agreed to take Stretch to the planetarium, that was all. That doesn’t make it a date.

Prequel to the series, set after “Seeing Stars Through Clouds’

If you were ever curious how these two got together, well, here you go, their first date outing together! It’s super!

Note: Everyone’s been enjoying the fluff, right? Excellent! Hold that thought, read the tags! It’s not THAT bad but I don’t like to surprise people.

Tags: Spicyhoney, First Time, Pre-Relationship, Some Angst Regarding Past Memories, Implications of Depression, Brothers Can Be Pains, Underfell Was Not a Nice Place, Neither was Underswap Really, They Were Both In a Not Good Place, But Never Fear, Good Ending!

part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

Read it on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

The trip back to New New Home seemed to be much shorter with Stretch chattering next to him. The pause at the security gate only took as long as swiping their ID’s and in no time, he was pulling up to the Swap brother’s house again.

There was a light on downstairs, Blue was probably downstairs watching the new Mettaton special. It was a little too early yet to say he was waiting up for his brother, even if there was likely some truth to it.

Stretch didn’t open his door immediately when they came to a stop. He fiddled with the strap of his bag and his smile was hesitant, “hope you didn't have too awful a time. deb’s a sales shark, but it’s worth it, they have damn good coffee and—"

“Why do you do that?" Edge broke in. He kept his voice low, even, using the same care that worked on his group at the Y.

Stretch only blinked in startled confusion, “do what?"

Edge turned off the car and the quiet was stark. Coupled with the darkness, it was an illusion of privacy even with the top down. “Belittle things like that. I didn't have an awful time, at all, so why would you suggest I did?"

Had he always done that, disparaged himself? Edge couldn’t remember.

"i...uh…" Stretch shrugged. His lighter was in his bag, along with his cigarettes, but that strap was wound haphazardly around his fingers, clenched briefly tight. "better to get it out there before anyone else does, right? cast the first bone and all that.”

Edge sighed. “Stop.”

“sorry, sorry,” Stretch chuckled, “had to get it out of my system.”

He still didn’t get out of car and Edge…found that he didn’t want to ask. He hadn’t wanted to admit it the whole night but now—

“Is this supposed to be a date?” Edge asked aloud. It sounded strange, not wrong exactly, but almost forbidden, nothing he’d ever expected to say.

Stretch’s eye lights went wide, and a flood of color filled his cheekbones, tinting them ruddy orange. There were no cracks or divots in his skull, no visible injuries. Much like Papyrus and perhaps they’d all shared a name once but to Edge’s gaze, they didn’t really look that much alike.

The curves of Stretch’s skull were slightly softer, less angular and a touch slimmer, and he was—

“hey, you asked me out,” Stretch said lightly. And before Edge could revert to the childish retort of ‘you did it first’, Stretch added with hesitant care. “but. only if you want it to be? if not, it’s only two guys who could maybe be friends. i could do friends. what do you want this to be?”

Part of him wanted to push back against that, protest the unfairness of putting that choice on him.

But.

Friends. None of their previous interactions could ever be called ‘friendly’.

It brought to mind an argument they’d had some months ago. Everyone had been there, all of the skeletons in their group; Edge no longer remembered the context, but he recalled that much. They had only just arrived at the surface, everything was still in turmoil, yet Papyrus and Blue were determined to build relationships between them, and Edge agreed. Allies were necessary in this new world and he would do what needed to be done to get them.

Red and Sans were simply uncaring; they followed where their brothers led without protest, offering laconic comments and puns and little else. Stretch often did the same, but somehow, he always grated in a way that the Sanses did not. Any pointed comments about laziness beaded off Red and Sans like water from a particularly lethargic duck.

Stretch would return any insult with one of his own and his retribution was swift. He and Edge been sniping at each other all day despite Blue and Papyrus’s increasingly exhausted and pleading attempts to interfere, and the tension between them was poised to snap when Stretch waited until the others were out of earshot to murmur.

“tell you what, why don’t you wash the dust from your hands before you get back to me on what a piece of shit i am. better scrub hard, killer.”

They could joke about idiocy all they wanted but in truth Stretch was exceptionally clever; no warrior but he knew how to make words a weapon, finding chinks in armor and using them with brutal efficiency.

The others never made references to Edge’s LV; they knew, of course they knew, and past any fumbling attempts at consolation, they let it be. To have it so pointedly dragged out, a reminder of something he didn’t, couldn’t, forget, but he tried—

Crimson had washed over his vision, coupled with something very close to hate, and Stretch knew, he knew. He’d smiled lazily, not even glancing at where their brothers had yet to notice them, a lit cigarette dangling from his fingers. “go ahead,” he said, softly, singsong sweet. “what’s a little murder between friends?”

He’d thought at the time Stretch knew he wouldn’t hurt him. Looking back, he wondered if Stretch hadn’t cared if he did.

In the end, Edge walked away from him and never had he been more grateful for his iron control. They hadn’t spoken much after that, not really, certainly never alone, nothing past a little sneering at movie nights and dinners, but even that had dulled, their insults eventually losing their sharpened points, and Edge never questioned why. They simply stayed away from each other and Edge hadn’t thought anything of it.

Until Stretch walked into his office last week. Tonight was the longest they’d ever been alone together, much less managed to be civil to each other and Edge was having a difficult time reconciling how this Stretch fit on top of the one he’d known before, trying to line up those edges and failing.

But he also remembered a few children from his group at the Y, the way they sometimes snarled and slapped away any kindness offered them at the beginning. Their jibes had been less unerringly accurate, but they’d been meant to wound in the same fashion.

And Edge had sent more than his share of verbal barbs back then as well.

i wasn't exactly at my best when we first got here. i'm kind of hoping people don't hold me to that first impression for the rest of my life.

Stretch was looking at him, waiting patiently, and only the way he was clutching his bag gave away any of his anxiety.

“I don’t know,” Edge said finally, the words coming slowly. The Stretch he’d seen tonight was far different than his previous experiences, but it didn’t nullify them.

Stretch nodded. “that’s fair. think about it and let me know what you decide?” He finally opened the door and slid out, and he was waving even as it swung shut, “‘night.”

He was gone in a flash and pop of teleportation.

Edge sat a moment longer, waiting. The upstairs window opened and there was a brief flicker of flame from a lighter, the tiny glow of a cigarette. Convenient to be able to bypass the questions his brother would surely have.

Blue had been less than amused when he’d discovered Edge managed to get around him to talk to Stretch by sneaking into his room. It was disconcerting how much he could suddenly appreciate Stretch’s exasperation with the way his brother tried to interfere with his life; he’d never given it a thought before, always thought Blue was in the right when he dealt with his brother—

He couldn’t tell if Stretch was looking at him and he turned the car back on, backing out of the driveway to head home.

His headlights flashed over the porch as he pulled into the drive of his own house, giving him a glimpse of Red sitting on the steps, like a sudden prophecy come true concerning controlling brothers.

Edge sighed. It was still early but he was tired, and this night out left plenty for him to think about. Dealing with Red could be exhausting when he was at his best.

There was nothing for it. Edge climbed out of the car and walked up to where Red was sprawling against the stairs. He was smoking one of the foul little cigars he’d discovered on the surface; the smell was reminiscent of a burning trash dump and Edge wondered at times if he’d chosen them specifically for that trait. Smoking had been an unaffordable luxury in Underfell, but here he could happily annoy others with passive revulsion if he wanted to.

“What do you want?” Edge asked in resignation, stepping past him to open the door.

"nothin’.” Red crushed the cigar out on the cement step, leaving a mark that Edge would be scrubbing away tomorrow.

“I don’t understand why you won’t simply move in if you’re only going to stop by to harass me daily.” Edge held open the door to allow Red inside, waiting with exaggerated patience as he shuffled through the door.

“nah,” Red said lazily. He must have been in a decent enough mood, toeing off his shoes on the front mat without being reminded. “we’re all grown up now, ain’t we, boss, we need our space. and like i want to end up like those other codependent fuckers?” Red shook his head as he wandered into the kitchen. “papyrus and his shitheel brother have that covered. you should be grateful you have me as a bro and not that piece of shit.”

Edge never quite understood the problem his brother had with Sans, but watching his brother paw through his refrigerator didn’t give him confidence in that assessment.

“bet you like having your own place.” Red took out a container and held it to the light, studying the contents.

“I might if it was ever simply mine.” Edge took the container away, pulling out a plate and dumping the contents on it, sticking it in the microwave. His brother was the only reason he even owned one and Edge leaned back against the counter to watch the plate turning within it.

Since they’d come to the surface, Edge was slowly experimenting more with cooking, moving past the simple pasta meals he’d made in Underfell, utilizing the wonder that was YouTube with mixed results. At least with his brother constantly devouring the leftovers he didn’t have to worry about his cooking attempts going to waste.

Red climbed up on a stool, propping his chin on a hand, and his grin was too wide to be comforting. “heard about your date with the honey bun, came by to see how it went."

"It wasn't…" Edge started automatically, then hesitated and shook his head.

A mistake. Red’s grin widened into something vicious. "well, come on, do we have to hide a pile of dust or not?"

"That isn't funny." The microwave beeped and Edge yanked open the door, dropping the plate in front of his brother hard enough that a little spilled off onto the counter.

Red only wiped it up with his fingers, licking them clean. "oh, it ain’t, that right? you had a good time.” It sounded like an accusation.

"He managed to not be completely unbearable for a handful of hours." Edge pointedly set a fork next to the plate.

"you had a good time!" Red crowed, plate and fork rattling as he pounded on the counter. "i knew it! why the fuck do you think i gave him that flyer?"

Thinking of that soured some of Edge’s already tumultuous mood. “Yes, I’m sure you only had my best interests at heart.”

“not very friendly, bro,” Red sighed, shaking his head sadly even as he finally gave up trying to eat curry with his bare hands and picked up the fork. “i raised you, clothed you—“

“Left me alone for days at a time. Beat me when I disobeyed you.”

That got him a hint of a glare, tainted with sardonic amusement. “i slapped you one time and you were about to get your ass in a dustpan sassing off to a guard. you call that a beating?”

“When it was the best you could have mustered, yes. And I never said I didn’t deserve it.”

“bet I could mustard something a little better now.”

Edge closed his sockets, pained. "Enough. What do you mean you ‘knew it’? Knew what?"

"oh, come on, bro, no one hates on someone the way you two do without wanting to fuck them." Red leered at him. With his mouth full, the effect was more grotesque than normal. "did you nail him in the back seat of that cockmobile of yours, or did he invite you in like a ‘civilized person’." His fork trailed sauce on the counter as he made finger quotes.

"We went to the planetarium and had coffee," Edge snapped. "There was no fucking, in the car or otherwise. I dropped him off at his own house and came home after an acceptable evening. That’s all."

"uh huh," Red studied him. "when you going out again?"

"We aren’t."

"you mean you haven't asked him yet?"

"No, I mean we aren't.” Edge wet a cloth, wiping up some of his brother’s mess. “I have enough to do without spending my time babysitting an emotional toddler."

Red snorted loudly. “you’re one to talk.”

That gave him a pause. He gave his brother a narrow look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“nothin’ i want to explain. look.” There were few things quite as unnerving as Red looking at him seriously. "he'd be a liability, you know that. but he'd be a pretty one. you think you can protect what's yours? then i say go for it. or what's the fucking point of being up here?" That seriousness faded and his brother licked his teeth, winking, “ever seen him without that sweatshirt?”

“And he asks me these things as if I could possibly be interested,” Edge said to no one in particular. He took away his brother’s empty plate and turned on the hot water, scrubbing it harder than necessary.

“paps.”

That was enough to make him still, leaning against the side of the sink, the running water a low gurgle. Red had readily set aside their previous names when they’d come to this universe and these days, they used them only rarely.

Behind him, Red sighed. "never thought i'd get the chance to say this, bro, but you're allowed to be happy, if you want. otherwise, why the fuck am i even doing all this?"

"I am perfectly happy,” Edge said, calmly. He returned to washing the dish, cleaning away any lingering sauce. “I have a job I enjoy, I no longer live with you, and I have my volunteer work. I don't need anything else."

"you probably don't. but it's okay to want something else,” he hopped down from the chair, his grubby socks scuffling against the floor. Deliberately, Edge knew, Red was only heard when he wanted to be. “now if you’ll excuse me, i'm gonna go puke. a little tip? make up your mind over the honey bun. stretch is an okay guy, but he's got issues, don't jerk him around. besides, he might not kill you over it, but i wouldn't put bets on blue."

There didn’t seem to be anything he could say to that, no protest that his brother would hear. Instead, Edge asked, “Are you staying to watch Mettaton or not?”

That got him a snort and a truly amused one at that. “you still watching that shit? c’mon, i’ll add my netflix account to your tv. they’ve got some real cooking shows.”

The door swung on its hinges as Red walked out and left Edge alone. Slowly, he set the plate into the drainer, not really meaning to think of Stretch. But he couldn’t stop remembered his hands, those slim, delicate fingers, the way he gestured when he was excited, describing the heavenly bodies above them. The soft flush in his cheekbones, the sparkle in his eye lights while he watched Edge sampling coffee, and that strange warmth rose in his soul again with the memory, lingering in his chest.

It was late after a long day. Stretch was probably asleep. One thing he’d learned since coming to the surface was that low HP Monsters weren’t necessarily lazy, they needed their sleep, although he wasn’t completely convinced where his brother was concerned.

A liability, Red called him. But a pretty one.

The Stretch of tonight was not the same as the one he’d first met. Which one was the truth?

There was only one way to find out.

Before he could think too much about it, Edge took out his phone, pulling up a contact that was only there in case of an emergency, and sent a text.

Would you like to go out again?

Almost immediately a smileyface emoticon came back in reply, followed with, yeah, i'd like that. where we going?

Edge hesitated, then sent back. I'll let you know

sounds good, i like a surprise!

He probably would like a surprise. Edge needed to think about it. Someplace else that would draw out that excitement, bring the sparkle back to those eye lights. Let him see all that bright enthusiasm again, to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.

For now, he shook that thought away and went to join his brother, reluctantly curious about these cooking shows. He supposed they couldn’t be too terrible, and it was possible he’d learn something new.

It was worth a try.

~~*~~

Read Chapter Two

Read Chapter Four

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #underfell sans #by any other name

47 notes · View notes