#which got me interested in guilty gear and i found it on game pass

[atragicallycrispydude]

i cannot understate how absolutely blood boiling blood rage is as a mechanic to me. I understand the purpose. i think it's good and nago needs it to keep him in check. literally nothing makes me angrier than "oops your approach got checked / you dropped a combo you are just fucked now."

like, fucking god, at the very least let me rc the activation animation so it isn't just an instant round loss

yes i know resource management shut the fuck up it's a good game mechanic but *fuck* is it annoying

[bucky-hues]

sambucky fic recs

hellooo!! i've been wanting to do a sambucky fic rec, so i thought i'd do one for @fuckyeahsambucky ‘s fic yeah friday! here are some sambucky fics i love <3 do read the warnings on each fic!

one-shots

when i'm in a room with you (that missing piece is found) | @omg-just-peachy

sam x bucky

Three times Bucky falls asleep on Sam, and one time Sam asks why.

double dare | @omg-just-peachy

sam x bucky

Bucky follows his therapist’s advice to cultivate friendship, Sam makes him work for it, and by the time he’s sure they’re friends, Bucky has an entirely new problem on his hands.

press conference | @sammy-souffle

sam x bucky

Sam watches from a distance a journalist from Denver, Summer, puts her hand on Bucky’s arm and laughs at something he says. Her hand trails further up and squeezes his bicep which Bucky doesn’t seem to mind at all. If anything, he laughs along with her and leans in closer to her to say something. Sam closes his eyes briefly and swallows back his anger.

accidentally | @sammy-souffle

sam x bucky

x | @sammy-souffle

sam x bucky

request: during the time when sam is tracking bucky in romania, after sam and bucky get caught up in a fight against some hydra agents who were also tracking bucky

sam gets hurt and bucky feels guilty so he carries him inside to patch him up, they talk some stuff out, its all very intimate and both start to fall for each other a little

acquiring alpine | @sammy-souffle

sam x bucky

prompt: alpine being cute

x | @sammy-souffle (18+)

sam x bartender!bucky (modern au)

regrets | @sammy-souffle

sam x bucky

x | @jeffersonshattricks

sam x bucky

Bucky being completely oblivious that him and Sam have been dating for like 6 months and Bucky finally understands why Sam has been kissing him, sleeping in the bed with him, and being an all around sap with him.

reckless idiots tend to fall | @jeffersonshattricks

sam x bucky

Bucky and Sam are arguing cause Sam did something reckless on a mission and Bucky freaks out but oblivious Sam genuinely has no idea why. And then Bucky accidentally yells ‘because I love you’

tell me a secret | @jeffersonshattricks

sam x bucky

Every time Sam gets drunk he finds Bucky and asks him for a secret. Bucky always gives him one.

fucking ridiculous | @jeffersonshattricks

sam x bucky

Sam is pining and a bitter grumpy grump, Bucky is mostly oblivious but also pining. misunderstandings happen, feelings get hurt, people get hurt (like physically), and then confessions happen and all is well. yay! also the other avengers are just their nerdy selves for the most part!

come to the ocean, even when you're broken | @liminalmess

sam x bucky

“Bucky, hey, man, fancy meeting you here!” he said with an exaggerated enthusiasm that he probably knew would get under Bucky’s skin, clapping him on the shoulder as he sat down.

“I thought we were taking separate vacations,” Bucky grumbled back.

Or, in which Sam and Bucky go an accidentally not separate vacation to the Bahamas.

feelings | @yaksomins

sam x bucky (modern au)

sam crossed his arms and inspected the lobby. they were indeed the only people there, not including the few staff members seated at a table near a magenta-tinted arcade area with their noses buried in their phones.

"i think i can help with that," a voice said from behind sam.

sam turned and found himself face to face with the clerk they'd bought their tickets from earlier, the scruffy-looking man that seemed a little out of place amongst the younger staff. sam gave him a quick scan, his eyes catching the name plastered to his chest via a paper name tag, scribbled by hand using a marker.

"and what exactly can you do for us...bucky?" sam frowned. what kind of name was ‘bucky’?

"i can be your extra," he said, removing a hairband from his wrist and swiftly tying up his hair into a tidy bun. with more of him now visible, sam could get a better view of his face, all hard lines and soft eyes. "and it's a nickname," bucky added, smirking and moving past a puzzled sam towards the game room. "c'mon, let's suit up."

x | @yaksomins

sam x bucky

prompt: leaving each other notes

x | @yaksomins

sam x bucky

bucky takes sam for a ride on his motorcycle

i'll make this feel like home | @buckywilsonbarnes

sam x bucky

sambucky domestic fluff

x | @transjoaquintorres

sam x bucky

sam loves bucky's handwriting

just let me adore you | dharmainitiative (AO3)

sam x bucky

“Alright, what gives?” Sam demands. “Why do you turn down every single person I try to set you up with?”

He expects Bucky to avoid the question, come up with all sorts of excuses. What he doesn’t expect is for Bucky to start laughing.

“C’mon, Sam. Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.”

“Sam,” Bucky finally says, slow and deliberate. “I’m not interested in anyone you’ve tried to set me up with because I’ve been gone on you for ages.”

watch your words | dancer_in_the_rain (AO3)

sam x bucky

sam insults bucky and then loses his shit when someone agrees with him

love, punch | @clintbartonswife

sam x bucky

Bucky can get protective, but Sam reminds him he doesn’t need to be defended - a confession is made

exchange rate | @joycesully

sam x bucky

Bucky's older memories are coming back, sometimes at the cost of more recent ones. What he cannot forget is tearing the wings off Sam Wilson. Too bad Bucky just let Steve talk him into staying with him and Sam. Consumed by guilt, the only thing Bucky knows to do by way of apology is to let Sam hurt him back. Fortunately, Sam has better ideas.

stubborn wounds | @constantwriter85

sam x bucky

When Bucky’s badly injured after trying to protect his partner, Sam realizes that he needs Bucky more than he’d care to admit.

nurturing | the_buzz (AO3)

sam x bucky (pre-slash)

Bucky isn't the only one who feels alone after coming back from the Blip.

keep the ashes from my heart (and walk away) | @coffeeinallcaps

sam x bucky

In which Sam starts dating someone who is not Bucky, and Bucky pines, gets seriously injured, and proves himself wrong.

you're blowin' my mind (with the things you say to me) | @jemgirl86

sam x bucky

After getting an earful from Bucky at the cookout, Sarah suggests Sam and Bucky have a chat... and they do.

(sometimes) all i think about is you | @softhauntedwinds

sam x bucky

Bucky discovers Sam Wilson's pre-blip media content and things escalate.

when the wheels come off (i'll be your spare) | @returnsandreturns

sam x bucky

“What, the government doesn’t pay you enough to buy some art?” Bucky asks, a minute after Sam lets him into his apartment, gesturing at the blank walls. “It still looks like you just moved in.”

“Uhm, I’ve been busy being a national treasure,” Sam says. “The government doesn’t pay you enough to buy a shirt that fits?”

Bucky glances down at his long sleeve t-shirt for a second before he looks back up with a grin.

“I’m just a part-timer,” he says, shrugging.

forever and a day | @returnsandreturns

sam x bucky

When he sets the needle, Ella Fitzgerald croons and he glances over to see Sam sitting up, looking interested as she sings it’s very clear. . .our love is here to stay.

Bucky can flirt and he can really tell that he’s still got it by the way Sam’s mouth drops open for a moment when he saunters up and offers a hand, smiling with all the potential of where this could lead and asking, “Care for a dance, doll?”

Sam stares up at him before he sighs and mutters, “Fuck, that’s really working for me somehow,” and lets Bucky pull him onto his feet and into his arm.

world's greatest uncle | @novembermurray

sam x bucky

Rhodes arrives in Delacroix to bring Sam up to speed on their newest mission and deliver the bad news: Bucky Barnes has gone AWOL. He's in for a few surprising discoveries.

panic | alienspronkles (AO3)

sam x bucky

When Sam and Bucky go to Sarah's place for a get together, Bucky's anxiety starts kicking in. And he's trying to hide it from everyone there.

series

sam and bucky first date 2: electric boogaloo | ObsessiveExplosion (AO3)

sam x bucky

Sam is gearing up to ask Bucky on their first date, but he is interrupted by a bullet wound to the shoulder.

sam and bucky go to a fourth of july party | ObsessiveExplosion (AO3)

sam x bucky

Sam and Bucky, recently engaged, make an appearance at the annual Delacroix Fourth of July Block Party, and Sam ends up partying a little too hard.

the gang navigates and airport | ObsessiveExplosion (AO3)

sam x bucky

Sam and Bucky have to navigate an unexpected layover on their way home from a mission, made more difficult by the fact that Bucky has just taken a sleeping pill designed for Super Soldiers.

he followed me home one day | AshaCrone (AO3)

sam x bucky (au)

He was supposed to be starting fresh.

Sam Wilson was moving from New York to Washington and picked the worst possible Friday to finish his move. But he does what he does best- stops to help.

And asks a passing stranger for a little muscle to get some trapped people out of a car. Feeds the stranger a protein bar.

Now a lost cyborg has followed him home. And he isn't quite sure what to do about it.

[my-unmanageable-mischief]

Truth or Dare

For the Anon who requested : Hey! Could I request a fic where Harry has a cute puppy love on this popular, pure-blood Slytherin reader? Maybe her friends set the reader up to play with Harry and break his heart in like a bet but then y/n starts actually liking him?? 

Harry Potter x Slytherin!Reader

You took a swig of fire whiskey, before passing it to your dorm mate who took a gulp between giggles. It was your first night back at Hogwarts and you and your dormmates were celebrating with drinks and games; truth or dare of course. 

“Okay, okay, it’s Y/N’s turn. Truth or dare?” Your roommate asked and you smirked, leaning back on your elbows. 

“Dare.” 

“OoooOOoo,” They all sang, giggling and leaning on each other for support, you rolled your eyes but joined in on the giggling. 

“Alright, I got one!” Your best friend spoke up with a sinister grin, and you knew that look. You didn’t like that look. 

“Oh no,” 

“I dare you,” She paused for dramatic effect, “To pretend to date Potter!” Everyone broke out into hysterics at that. 

“A Gryffindor!” One of the girls hollered, spitting out her mouth full of firewhiskey, “Brilliant!” 

“Come on,” You complained, “That’s mean.”

“Everyone knows he likes you,” Your best friend grinned, “He doesn’t ever stop staring at you, just ask him out. Date him for a week, then break his heart.” 

“Make it a month.” One of the girls countered. “Let him get really into it, then just tell him it was a prank.” You frowned feeling slightly bad. You might’ve been a bitch, but you weren’t evil. And your friend was right, everyone knew Harry Potter, the boy who lived, had a huge crush on you. You thought it weird he was in love with a Slytherin girl, but you were pretty and popular amongst all the houses, even the Gryffindors didn’t find you terribly obnoxious. But this was too far. 

“No,” 

“You can’t say no, you picked dare.” You groaned, accepting the bottle when it made it’s way back to you. You drank from it, allowing it to burn at your throat. 

“Fine but only a week.”

“A month.” 

“Two weeks!” You argued.

“Three, and you have to snog him!” You handed the bottle to someone else and laid back on the floor, looking to the ceiling. 

“You’re terrible.” It wasn’t that you disliked Potter, you had nothing against the boy, but you definitely didn’t want to date him, let along snog the bloke. He wasn’t ugly or anything, just not your type. Besides, he had barely ever spoken a word to you. Whenever you were in his presence he became a stammering mess, three weeks of that sounded like torture. 

“Fine.” 

“Do it tomorrow.” 

“Okay, okay, fine!” And with that, your deal was set in stone. 

The next morning you and your friends sat huddled at the Slytherin table, whispering to each other. 

“Do it now,”

“No way, I can’t just go up and be like, ‘oi potter care to be my boyfriend?’ He won’t buy it.” You argued, fidgeting nervously, brushing your hair behind your ear. You looked over at the group of Gryffindors and caught Potter staring at you for the millionth time, he immediately dropped his gaze going beet red. All your friends saw the exchange and grinned. 

“Yes you could.” 

“You could probably do that with any guy in this room, Y/N.” You sighed. 

“Go ask him to the first Hogsmeade weekend, then ask him out there.” You whined, shaking your head. 

“But that’s in two weeks from now!” 

“You don’t need to talk to him until then, you go to Hogsmeade, confess your undying love, and ask him out. Easy peasy.” Your friend nudged you, “Go ask now.” The girls began to chant go, and just to shut them up you stood from the table, straightening your uniform before glaring at them all. 

“Fine.” You walked to the end of the Slytherin table, past Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and then turned down the aisle for Gryffinor, confidently walking towards the middle of the table. Some people turned to look at you, wondering why you were over this way. You got to Harry’s group and the girl, Hermione, looked up at you surprised. Next Weasley and Potter’s head turned, looking at you. You smiled sweetly and pointed to the seat beside Harry. 

“Is this taken?” 

“N-No.” He answered, flushing deeply. You sat down on the bench and smiled again at the group.

“How was your summer?” You asked him and he gawked at you. Weasley mouthed, ‘close your mouth’ at Harry and he slammed it shut, nodding his head vigorously. 

“It was good. Alright. I’m glad to be back though.” You nodded your head, twirling a lock of hair around your finger as you leaned on the table. 

“Yeah, me too!” He opened his mouth a few times before nodding his head and looking at anything besides you. You swallowed a laugh and rested your head on your hand, peering at him. 

“Any plans for the first Hogsmeade trip yet?” You asked and he shook his head, looking at you with wide eyes. “Do you want to go with me?” You asked. He looked gobsmacked, and you suddenly felt guilty. This was cruel, but a dare was a dare. 

“With you?” He repeated. 

“Like a date?” Weasley asked, hanging onto every word of the conversation. You giggled slightly and nodded your head. 

“Yeah, a date!” 

“O-Okay!” He squeaked. You nodded your head, smiling at him before standing back up again,

“Brilliant,” You spoke, “I’ll see you later.” 

“Yes,” As you walked away you saw Weasley reach across the table, patting Harry on the shoulder in congratulations. 

“Good one mate!” You smirked to yourself and kept walking. 

The two weeks flew past, and on Saturday morning you woke up early, getting ready for Hogsmeade. You picked out a cute outfit and a light jacket since it was just starting to cool down, and you applied some light makeup for fun. When your friends left you went with them, but hung back in the entrance to wait for Harry as they all kept walking. You were looking at the ground, kicking a rock around slightly as you waited when the boy approached you. 

“Hello, Y/N,” You looked up and smiled. 

“Hiya, Harry,” He glanced over you and flushed, lifting a hand to fix his glasses that were slipping down his nose and you smiled again. “Alright?” 

“I’m good,” He assured, nodding his head vigorously. “You look stunning, by the way.” You grinned, pushing yourself off from your spot leaning on the wall. 

“Thank you, you’re sweet. Are you ready to go?” He nodded his head again, eagerly. Harry didn’t speak much as you walked down the pathway towards the little town. You were finding it hard to strike up conversation with him as well, he wasn’t giving you much. You could tell he was nervous by the way he kept fidgeting awkwardly. 

“Where do you want to go first?” He asked and you hummed thoughtfully, shrugging. 

“I’m not too picky, maybe Honeydukes? I could use some chocolate, the stuff I brought at the start of term is already almost gone.” You admitted and he managed to chuckle.

“Is chocolate your favorite?” 

“Oh yes, you know us ladies, we love the stuff.” You joked, nudging him slightly, trying to get him to loosen up. 

“Which is your favorite?” He asked, genuinely curious. You weren't used to talking to boys who were ever genuinely curious in what you had to say. 

“Honeydukes Peanut Butter Chocolate bars are the absolute best. Anything with chocolate and peanut butter is good in my book!” He chuckled again and you smiled up at him, watching him blush once more. He did that a lot. You reached Hogsmeade and took Harry’s arm, confidently steering him towards Honeydukes. Together you entered the bustling building, which must have currently held half of Hogwarts. You grabbed a basket and began to load it up with goodies. Chocolate bars and chocolate frogs, even a few licorice wands and sugar quills. Harry watched you, following you around like a puppy the entire time. 

“Don’t you want anything?” You asked, glancing over your shoulder. He shook his head and smiled. 

“No my- a family friend gave me a bunch of stuff before I came back, I still have plenty.” You smiled and nodded your head before glancing over your basket. 

“I think I’ve gotten enough to hold me over until the next trip.” He smiled back at you and nodded his head, gesturing towards the payment line. You made idle chat as you waited, and when you got to the counter you both reached for your coin purses.

“You’re not paying for my chocolate,” you scoffed, giggling, “It’s fine,” 

“Please,” He shoved your hands away from the counter, “It’s a- a date. A gentleman should pay.” You were slightly surprised by his boldness, not expecting it. Maybe he was warming up. 

“You don’t have to pay, you’re already being a gentleman.” Harry smiled at you but simply continued to count out the amount you owed, handing it over and taking the bag for you, refusing to hand it over. “So you’re carrying my things for me now, too?” You smirked and he chuckled. 

“Yes, ma’am,”

“Please, ma’am is my mother.” You joked and he snickered again as he led you back out of the still busy store. Next you went to Quality Quidditch Supplies so Harry could look for a pair of gloves. You didn’t care much for Quidditch but you found it interesting to look around at all the gear you didn’t understand, and you enjoyed seeing Harry excited, it was endearing. He tried to explain the rules to you, grinning, and you could tell it was something he was very passionate about. 

“Want to go to the Three Broomsticks?” He asked, “We can get butterbeers and chat more?” You nodded your head and began walking with him in that direction. 

“Sure, just don’t try and get me drunk,” You teased, he flushed for the first time in over an hour, shaking his head wildly. 

“I would never!” 

“I know, Harry, I’m only teasing you.” You promised and he relaxed slightly. “You’re a gentleman, remember.” He nodded, offering you his arm with a flourish as you walked. 

“M’lady,” 

“Kind sir,” You chuckled, taking his arm as you entered the dimly lit and slightly smoky tavern. You found an empty table in the corner and sat down, taking off your jacket as Harry sat across from you. Madam Rosmerta came up to your table and you ordered two butterbeers before she whisked away again to go and retrieve them. You continued your earlier conversation about Quidditch until your drinks arrived, you took a large sip and sighed. 

“Oh this hits the spot.” 

“It always does,” He agreed, sipping his own and coming away with a foam mustache. You giggled and reached over, wiping it off with your thumb and a smirk. “Thank you,” He muttered, looking down at his drink with bright red cheeks. 

“Of course.” You smiled, before swallowing thickly. Now was your shot. “I have to ask you something.” He looked up nervously. 

“Yes?” 

“Do you want to go out with me?” 

“Like,” Harry paused, “Like boyfriend/girlfriend?” He asked skeptically and you nodded your head. 

“Exactly like that.”  He looked around the room in shock and for a moment you thought he might actually turn you down, you grew nervous. 

“I would really like that, yeah.” You smiled and took another sip of butterbeer, winking at him over the rim of your mug. 

“Alright, brill.” 

You spent a lot of time with Harry over the next week, mostly at the bequest of your friends who demanded you, ‘made it look real’. Not that you minded too much, Harry was growing on you, and his company wasn’t bad. You studied together in the library a lot, chit chatting about nothing in particular. It was one of those times, you were seated on the same side of the table, giggling to yourself when a group of Hufflepuffs glared at you, shushing you for the third time.  Harry looked at them apologetically. 

“Maybe we should go,” He stated and you felt your face fall slightly. You were enjoying yourself. “We can go back to my common room?” He offered, brushing his hand gently over the back of yours. 

“You’re sure they won’t riot? A snake in the lion's den.” He chuckled, shaking his head and beginning to pack up. 

“Nah, you’ll be fine. It’s you after all,” You frowned. 

“What does that mean?” He seemed to realize what he said and shook his head. 

“Nothing! Nothing bad, just, everyone likes you, like, everyone. So no one will mind if you’re there.” He assured, and you relaxed, smiling. “Besides, you’re my girlfriend, you should be allowed in my common room, people bring in students from other houses all the time. No biggie.” Harry loved calling himself your boyfriend, it was almost like he had to remind himself every so often, that you were, in fact, his girlfriend. You felt guilty again, but tried to swallow it down. Harry carried both of your bags as you made your way up to Gryffindor tower, he spoke the password and you smirked. 

“Now I can sneak in, give you a haircut while you sleep.” He chuckled, holding the portrait open for you. 

“Please don’t,” 

“Harry!” Ron called from a sofa near the fireplace, and Harry put a hand on your back as he led you over. You were going to hang out with his friends?

“You brought Y/N,” Hermione spoke, smiling softly, “Good, sit down,” You and Harry took a seat in the only free seat, an armchair and you glanced at him. You hadn’t really been this close together yet, your bodies touching as you sat close together in the chair. 

“How are you?” Hermione asked politely, closing her book and setting it aside, Ron simply looked at you and Harry, smirking slightly. 

“I’m alright,” You nodded, feeling slightly out of place, which wasn’t a feeling you got often. “Starting to get more and more homework, they’re not holding back this year are they?” You asked and she smiled sympathetically, nodding. 

“Not at all, but it’s for our benefit,”

“How so? I won’t be of any benefit if I’m dead from stress.” Harry chuckled and Ron groaned. 

“Don’t get her started on how important preparing for the NEWTs are, please, Y/N, I already got the speech once today,” You smirked slightly, looking at Hermione who glared at Ron. You couldn’t help but wonder if they dated as well, but you decided not to ask. The three of them chatted and you occasionally joined in, Harry kept glancing at you, and you’d smile slightly everytime he did. You still felt awkward and out of place amongst your boyfriend, fake boyfriend’s friends. Eventually it got late, and you yawned, leaning slightly more into Harry as he continued to argue with Ron about the best Quidditch team, and who had the best chance at the world cup this year. 

“Sleepy?” Harry asked you, hesitantly putting an arm around around your shoulder. You enjoyed the comfort of it more than you were willing to admit to yourself in that moment. 

“A bit.” 

“Let me walk you back to your common room,” You shook your head as the boy got up. 

“No, Harry, no point in your walking to the other end of the castle and back, I’m a big girl, I can make it.” He shook his head back at you, smiling and offering you his hand. 

“Humor me,” You sighed and took the outstretched hand, allowing him to pull you into a standing position. 

“Fine, goodnight Hermione, Ron.” They both said goodnight to you, and Harry led you by your hand to the exit of the common room, swinging the portrait hole open. You walked, hands linked, in comfortable silence to the dungeons. When you got to the entrance of the Slytherin common room, you stopped, turning to him but not releasing his hand. 

“This is my stop, Thank you,” You grinned. 

“Of course,” He assured you, eyes going from your eyes to his lips. You watched him, tilting your head slightly and wondering if he had the guts to kiss you. It had been a week after all. Harry brushed a piece of your hair behind your ear and gazed down at you, and you found yourself hoping he would muster up the courage. 

“Y/N?” 

“Yes, Harry?” 

“May I kiss you?” He asked and you nodded your head slightly. The hand that had brushed your hair back, moved to your cheek, cupping it gently. He pulled you slightly closer before leaning down to gently press his lips to yours. It was sweet and gentle and before you knew it, it was over. He pulled back, blinking his eyes open and you giggled releasing his hand. 

“Goodnight,” You whispered.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” 

A week and a half later, and several kisses later, you were four days from the end of your bet, and you found yourself dreading Monday. You didn’t want to hurt Harry, you’d grown to enjoy his company, and once he got over how nervous you made him he was sweet and funny and lovely to be around. You were wandering the castle together, late at night, past curfew, and you were surprised by how willing Harry was to break some rules. You hadn’t seen each other in a few days, busy with class and school work, so he had suggested your little midnight rondevu. 

You were walking aimlessly, holding hands and talking about your week. Harry nudged you and you smirked up at him. 

“What?” He asked, laughing. 

“Oh nothing,” 

“No tell me,” 

“I’m just surprised is all,” You admitted. 

“About what?” 

“You. You’re not exactly what I thought you’d be.” He frowned. 

“In a bad way?” You shook your head and squeezed his hand tightly. 

“No, in a good way. I never expected you to be the sneak out late to see your girlfriend type.” He smirked down at you, nudging you back. 

“I’m full of surprises.” You smiled, swinging your hands playfully as you walked. At the end of the corridor a cat appeared suddenly, it’s eyes illuminated by the torch light. 

“Mrs. Norris!” You whispered loudly, yanking on Harry, “Come on,” Harry allowed you to lead him in the opposite direction, but the sound of footsteps were quickly approaching so you ducked into the first broom cupboard you saw, pulling Harry in with you and shutting the door quietly. 

“What if he checks?” Harry asked, eyes wide. You smacked a hand over his mouth hissing out a ‘shh’. The cupboard was tiny, and you were practically pressed against Harry fully, and you were shaking mildly. You played a senero over in your head; Filch finding you, owling your parents, telling them you had been found, after hours, alone, with Harry Bloody Potter in a broom cupboard. They would kill you. Harry felt you shaking and wrapped you into a hug, pulling you against his chest. You wanted to push him away, but you found it too comforting, so you wrapped your own arms around him, resting your head on his chest and closing your eyes tight. 

The footsteps came down the hallway quickly, and came closer and closer to you. You held your breath. Then they went directly past you, and continued on down the corridor. You let out the breath you had been holding and felt the tension leave your body. Harry rubbed a hand over your arm, kissing the top of your head. 

“We’re alright, Y/N.” He promised and you pulled back just far enough to look at him, smiling softly. Your faces only inches apart. Harry gazed down at you, openly adoringly. That’s one of the things you liked about him, how open he was in liking you. Most boys you had dated before barely even tolerated you; they just wanted to be able to say they were dating a pretty popular girl. They didn’t like you. 

Harry smiled, pressing his forehead against yours and you leaned in to give him a small kiss. When you pulled back he was blushing again. 

“Will you ever stop blushing?” You teased lightly, brushing his curls from his face. 

“No probably not, you make me blush.” He leaned in and kissed you again hesitantly, but you kissed back immediately. Right when you thought he might deepen the kiss he pulled back, blushing furiously. 

“S-Sorry.” 

“Why are you sorry?” 

“I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you.” You giggled, pulling his head down again. 

“You’re not. I’m taking advantage of you,” You promised jokingly. Harry laughed against your lips, trailing his fingers over your sides as he kissed you. You felt his tongue tease at your lip curiously, and you began to wonder if he had ever snogged a girl before. You parted your own lips slightly, poking your own tongue out to meet his. Harry’s hands on your waist tightened. He opened his mouth more, pressing his tongue into your mouth as he began to explore- you allowed him. He tested the waters, and you occasionally ran your tongue over his. You didn’t know how long you stood there kissing but he eventually pulled back, smirking lightly down at you. 

“You’re... good at that.” You almost made a joke about how practice makes perfect but thought better of it. 

“Thank you, you’re a quick learner.” He frowned slightly before giving you a lopsided smile. 

“It’s obvious I haven’t done this before?” 

“I just figured,” You admitted. Usually boys who snogged a lot were much quicker to the draw. 

“Sorry,”

“Don’t apologize to me Harry, I’m glad I was your first proper kiss.” He moved his hands from your body and took your hands in his, lifting them to his mouth as he peppered the back of your hands with kisses. 

“Let me walk you back to your common room, make sure you get there safe.” You nodded your head. That was Harry, that’s what you liked about him. 

“How’d the break up go?” Your friend asked, plopping down on your bed beside you with a wide grin, you had been avoiding all of your friends for the past three days. You didn’t look up from your charms essay. 

“I haven’t done it.” you admitted, and her eyes widened. 

“What? Why? The dare was over three days ago!” You shrugged your shoulders, flushing deeply. “What?” You friend repeated, “Oh, Y/N, don’t tell me...” She placed a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. 

“I’m not going to break up with him.” You shrugged again, refusing to look at the other girl. 

“You like him!” She gasped.

“I’ve definitely started to,” You admitted, putting your quill down, rubbing your hands over your face. “I don’t want to hurt him, I don’t want to... stop seeing him.” She nodded slightly.

“But he’s a Gryffindor.”

“He’s a lot more than just his house,” You argued and she looked at you skeptically. 

“Are you sure?” You nodded. “Then don’t.” You both smiled smally at each other but then her face grew serious. “But I would tell him about the dare, if I were you, it’ll come out eventually. You don’t want that to happen.” Your face went blank. 

“Is that a threat?” 

“No.” She assured you seriously, “But it’s true.” And you knew she was right. Damn her. 

“I’ll go... find him now.” She patted your shoulder, and offered you a reassuring look. 

“Goodluck.” 

You went to Gryffindor tower and waited nervously outside the portrait hole until you saw a familiar face approaching. 

“Hi Neville.” 

“Hello Y/N, alright?” You nodded. 

“Can you do me a favor, can you ask Harry to come out?” He smiled.

“Of course.” He disappeared into the common room and you went back to waiting nervously. A few moments later and Harry came out, grinning widely. 

“Hey, Y/N,” He saw your face, and your nervous demeanour and stopped. “What’s wrong?” 

“Can we talk?” You asked, offering him your hand. He took it and nodded his head, eyes worried. 

“Of course.” You led him down the corridor finding a small nook you could tuck yourselves into for some privacy. “What’s wrong?” He asked again and you sighed, looking down at your entwined hands. You didn’t want to tell him, you didn’t want to see the look of hurt on his face when you admitted your relationship started on a bet. All you could do was hope he understood that it was no longer that way, and that you had fallen for him. 

“I need to tell you something, it’s going to hurt you and I am very sorry.” He nodded his head, trying to get you to look at him but you couldn’t. “You’re going to be cross with me, just know I really really like you, Harry.” 

“You’re breaking up with me?” He asked in a breathy whisper and you shook your head no. 

“No, I’m not. But you might want to break up with me.” 

“Tell me, Y/N, please.” You took a deep steadying breath and finally looked at him with tears in your eyes. 

“On the first day of the year, my dormmates and I were playing truth or dare.” You decided to get directly to the point, “They... they knew you liked me. A lot. Everyone did. They dared me to ask you out.” You watched as his face fell, a look of horror overcoming him. “I was supposed to date you for three weeks, and then break up with you- but I can’t. I told them I can’t, Harry. I like you too much. I don’t want to break up with you, I am so so sorry.” You were crying. His face went blank.

“It was a dare?” 

“At first! Just at first, but you’re so kind, and good to me, and handsome, and sweet. You’re such a gentleman, I’ve never met a boy like you, let alone dated one. 

“A dare.” He repeated and you tried to take his hand again but he yanked it away. “Don’t.” 

“I’m sorry,”

“I don’t want to hear it.” The look of hurt on his face was too much for you and your shoulders shook with tears. “How could you do that to someone?” He asked angrily and you winced. 

“I didn’t want to, I told them I didn’t want to hurt you, but a dare was a dare.” Harry stood up suddenly, looking down at you. He was sad and angry and you couldn’t blame him. 

“And what? Now I’m supposed to just believe you’ve changed your mind?” He asked and you nodded and shrugged. 

“I won’t blame you if you don’t. But it’s the truth. I like you Harry. A lot. I don’t want to lose you.” He shook his head and turned, walking a few steps away before stopping. He turned to look at you, once more, before turning again and he was gone. You sat for another few minutes crying pathetically to yourself before you got up and made your way back to your dorm, locking yourself in the bathroom for hours. You really screwed up this time. 

Over a week had passed and Harry hadn’t spoken to you. He barely even looked at you, and you were miserable. You sat in the great hall not eating, just pushing your peas around with a fork.  You looked like shit, you’re usually effortless demeanour was crushed and you were hurting badly. You looked up across the room to Gryffindor door table and made eye contact with him. He held your gaze until you looked down, wiping furiously at your eyes. You couldn’t cry in front of all of these people.  

You kept your head down, your hair forming a curtain from the world as you continued playing with your food. Misery didn’t suit you. A few moments later someone cleared their throat behind you and you didn’t move. 

“Y/N,” they spoke and you jumped slightly, recognizing the voice. You turned and saw Harry standing there, he looked down at you sadly. 

“Harry.” You croaked out. He stood there for a moment before he moved, leaning down and pressing a searing kiss to your chapped lips. When he pulled back you looked at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly open. “Wha-”

“I believe you,” He stated, eyes warm. He was looking at you like he used to. “I needed time, but I miss you too much. I believe you, and if you are willing, I want you to still be my girlfriend.” Your eyes welled again. You stood up from the bench and wrapped your arms around him, resting your head on his chest. 

“I would love that.” He rubbed your back and a few nearby students, including your friends clapped and laughed, whooping. You were never ever playing truth or dare again.

[joshslater]

End of Shift

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My life is over. I've been playing a high stakes game, and somehow landed on one side of the odds all the time, but my luck was bound to run out sooner or later. I guess I should be happy that it turned out to be later, but it sucks no less. I got sloppy. I was looking through the items near the cashier, as always, trying to mostly use reflective surfaces to see what was going on, as always. I need to be within 15 feet or latency becomes an issue. Some old lady still using the old wallet was buying KokaKola and a pack of Ziffs. This would be easy, as always. I discreetly pressed my watch as she was ready to make the purchase, activating my EM-swiper. I wouldn't take much, a few credits more. She probably wouldn't notice it, or think the store stiffed her, or think she bought two packs of Ziffs and lost one. I'm not stealing to get rich, just to get by.

As the EM-swiper went off a high pitched beeping starts behind me. I barely have time to turn my head enough to see the charging police officer, before he slams me into the side of a KokaKola fridge. Shit, I hadn't done a survey pass through the store as I always do. I could barely register what he was screaming in my ear. "Drop it," I realize, and let go of the magazine. He must have thought I had the EM-swiper in my hand. He told me to put my hands against the wall and performed a pat-down. It's only him, so he must be off duty or not on a real patrol. He empties my pockets on the cashier table. Nothing of value, and certainly not something incriminating. I may not have been fortunate enough to afford academy, but I'm not stupid.

"You are detained under suspicion of committing proximity fraud. Do you understand?" he asks me in that commanding yet bored tone of a laborer having to recite corporate bullshit, only in his case it is in the pretense of justice. "Yes," I answer him. He doesn't have anything on me or he would have arrested me right away. Probably. "Put this on to acknowledge you've read the Citizen Rights Act and agree to an investigation in this matter." He hands me a pair of handcuffs to put on. I hesitate for a second. He is behind me and in the way of the store exit. I can stall for time and tell him to recite the CRA, but that immediately counts against you, as it is your duty to know it. I have no choice but to put them on. It's the latest model. I haven't seen any up close before. Light, thin, all metal, no key hole. Probably opened remotely or only inside a police cell or some shit. I put them on.

"Turn around, pick up your stuff, and exit the store." I do as told, turn around and begin to pick up my stuff and put them back where he took them. It's an older police officer. None of them young, jacked up types. Perhaps he is one of the fair ones. But then I am the criminal, so what good would that do me? There's a small, black duffle bag by his side. So he is on his way home. Perhaps he is tired. Perhaps I can shake him. Have Leo remove the shackles and then stay low for a fucking long time. Or this just doesn't amount to anything more than a slap on the wrist. I walk towards the door, him behind me.

"Nice watch," he says, pointing at my wrist as I reach or the door.

He knows. Unless I can get away now my life is over. All I can think of is the monstrosities the state churn out as punishment. Equal part labor force and sadism. I open the door as little as possible and as soon as I am through I dash down the block. I don't dare look behind me, but I don't hear him in pursuit. Halfway down the block I swerve into the alley that cuts across the building and out on the block on the other side. If I can cross that block and then down south I'm in the park and there are plenty of places to hide there.

My hands are not on fire. This surprises me as I look down on my hands, screaming in pain. There is a high pitched sound coming out of the handcuffs, like capacitors charging, but it is continuous. The pain emanating from my hands is something unlike anything I've ever experienced before. My legs buckle. I know I need to move, somehow, somewhere. It's just so difficult to think of anything but my hands that are not on fire. It would probably be a good idea to not scream my lungs out, but I don't really have a choice in that.

Just as suddenly as it started it stops. I'm still writhing in pain, but my hands are not on fire in a much more comforting way. "The payment proxy is in your watch, is it not?" the policeman asks, standing a few steps away. I'm panting, I realize when I attempt to answer him. Panting and sweaty. I can't manage to speak. I just nod my head.

"The state vs. item RK-220553 finds the defendant guilty to breach of contract with the state, executed by judicial AI 5" he reads off his handheld screen. I'm confused to what just happened. "No trial?" I manage to wheeze out. "You entered into a cooperation contract when you put on the handcuffs, as you are aware of as you claimed to know the Citizens Rights Act. Disobedience at that point allows for immediate trial by AI as long as no forensic work is needed." He sounded like the same bored cop as he was in the store, reciting memorized text for the thousandth time.

I struggle to get up on my feet. Not only am I shaky, but having my hands locked together makes it surprisingly difficult to get up. "You know, this is bad timing," the cop starts. "I was on my way home and don't have all the standard gear. It's supposed to be a swift punishment, for deterrence, but there is really only one thing I can do." Why is he so apologetic? He opens the bag and pulls out a fucking tactical human transformer. I've never even seen one in person before. He turns it on, selects something on the screen, and points the device towards me. "No, I can..."

This time I am on fire, if only so briefly. There is a blinding light, a pulse of heat, and the smell of burnt plastic. As the transient heat subsides it keeps falling colder and colder. I'm naked. All my clothes have been singed from my body. My watch is gone. My shoes are gone. Underwear gone. And, I realize, my hair is gone. The cop keeps punching in selections in the menus of the devices. I manage to get up on my feet. "Stay on the ground," he tells me. Not so much as an order, but as an advice. I sit down again and he trains the device on me.

I don't know how to describe it. It's not pain exactly. There is something about rewriting the code and cellular structure of your body while your brain is engaged that makes it give up in disbelief. "This can't be what's actually happening," it thinks and gives you completely nonsense sensory interpretations. But it also gives up on all other tasks. Time becomes irrelevant. Critical thinking put on hold. When the device stops you are utterly confused for seconds. Possibly by design, but it makes sense that you can't rewire the brain in flight without some glitches.

"I want you to stand up," the cop says in a firm voice. "Who?" I ask, still dazed, just to make sure. "You. Get up on both feet. Take this." He throws an orange bundle to me, and I feebly grasp for it but my one arm yanks the chain to the cuff of the other arm. The bundle brushes by and lands on the ground next to me. He looks disappointed, more at himself for thinking it would work than on me for not catching it.

I look down at my hand and see something orange in my grip, but it is not the orange that interests my but the grip. My arms, thin from lack of food and nimble from grabbing P2 storage modules out of vendor racks. are enormous. Big, well defined muscles with popped veins going up and around them. They look longer than before and even the hands are larger than they used to be. I can see that not only my arms are different. My chest is all lean and strong-looking as well, the legs have these weird lines showing different groups of muscles under the skin, and I can almost bet that the ground is further down than it used to be. Orange! I'm holding something orange in my hand.

"I only have an emergency kit with me, so not very many options for you I'm afraid. If you had come with me I think they would have found some better use for you, but as I said, I didn't have much to chose from beside himbot," the cop said while putting some beat-up looking boots from his bag next to me. He grabs the chain between my cuffs, and both of them pop open instantly, and he folds them up and begins to place them back into the cuff holder in his belt.

There was something he said that was important. Like, really important. I feel cobwebs like I had just been awakened from a deep sleep. "Put on the jock," he tells me, and again I am confused, but of a different kind. It's like I urgently need to know what he means, somehow. "You're holding them in your hand." I again look down at my hand and see the orange piece of cloth, which obviously is what he meant. I flip it around in my hands and finds it to be an orange jockstrap with a generous pouch. Looking down I also see the reason for that, since my dick and balls are large. Much larger than I remember them to be. I don't want to keep him waiting, so as quickly as I can manage, with my balance a bit off, I manage to place one leg in each loop and pull up the jockstrap. It neatly collects everything in front into a large orange ball.

Himbot! That's what he had said. It's like the government robots but human. What was the I and M now again? Wait, those are just mindless sacks of muscles roaming around doing whatever menial task is available.

"Himbot?" I ask him. "Yes, you are a himbot," the cop answered. "Put on the shirt."

I immediately grabbed the orange bundle from the ground I assumed to be the shirt. To my delight I was right and with just a few tries I managed to get it on me. It isn't a real shirt, but one of those without arms, whatever they are called. Quite a lot of skin showed. The shoulders were bare, as were the sides and the nipples unless you positioned the strings just right. Stringers! It's called a stringers, or something close to it. I feel so tired thinking of words.

"And the boots"

I grab one of the boots. There is something missing, but I'm not sure what it is. I has something to do with the small holes, I think. Well, the large hole is missing a foot, so I put one in it. Then I put the other foot in the other boot, and looked at the cop to see if he approved. He looks about the same. Good enough I hope.

"Face me and raise your hands" I comply immediately. He is pointing the large gun at me again. I don't like it, but I must do what he says. He presses a few buttons and then there is a sharp headache.

"Who are you?" "Himbot 220553." "What is your assignment?" "Walk along path 228-red responding to requests." "What types of requests?" "Any type of requests."

[fanfoolishness]

Translation (The Mandalorian)

(Din Djarin was a man of few words, but many languages.  Some might have thought the Child had no language at all.  Din Djarin and the Child grow to understand each other.  Fluff, feels, found family. Spoilers through the end of season 2, 2400 words.) 

***

Din Djarin was a man of few words, but he spoke many languages.

His earliest memories, half-forgotten, were soft whispers of his parents’ native tongue.  The Basic they spoke carried a sweet, slurred accent he could hear sometimes in dreams, fading as he grew older.  He had known the name and sounds of their language once, but years among the Children of the Watch had long erased them.

He learned other words to replace them, lost the accent of his youth and exchanged it for one of the Outer Rim.  He absorbed phrases and lessons in ancient Mando’a, wrote them in his mind in a way he could never forget, standing tall for lessons with the other foundlings.  They learned the words in hand and bone and soul, paired with the battle training of body and mind, and the words blazed within him.  They were a forge burning blue-white hot, transforming him slowly into a Mandalorian like his saviors.  He spoke those words on the day they granted him his helmet, and he gladly covered his face, the fire within roaring with a newfound pride.

As a young man he traversed the Rim, face always hidden, ears always open. New words were needed for the work he found.  He picked up enough Jawaese to trade with, though he bore little love for the scavengers; sometimes they were his only choice.  He spoke their language haltingly, enough to do what he needed, his mouth straining to shape itself in ways near impossible for a human.  If it was what the job needed, he’d do it.

His work brought him to worlds near and far, places where rule of law was an outright myth.  He took a great deal of work on Tatooine, and soon realized his marks, if still planetside, always fled to the desert.  

He was no fool.  He brought gifts in trade to the Sand People, meager things he could ill afford, but they sensed his respect, and they gave him words.  He learned their signs, hands practicing the movements at night by their fires.  He practiced until he understood the shape of the grammar, how the signs flowed one to the other, sentences constructed in the air before him.  He asked them for aid, and they told him of the trespassers on their land.

The Guild worked often with the Hutts and their empires, and he found himself bristling at droids taking liberties with his Basic for their Hutt masters.  Protocol droids weren’t the ones who’d devastated his world, of course, but they were soulless, empty things all the same.  He practiced his Huttese in seedy bars, in market squares, rarely with marks who behaved themselves for a chance to stay out of carbonite for a little while.  He spoke to the Hutts in their own language, and they learned, with time, to keep their droids back when dealing with the Mandalorian hunter.  

He picked up other snippets here and there, and understood more than he spoke in Twi’leki, Durese, Bocce.  Language was just another tool, another weapon that could be wielded in service of the Way.  He used it for little else.

Until he found the Child, and the words of the Creed flared deep in his bones.

***

The Child had no language, as far as he could tell.  He tried all of them he had, both spoken and signed, on the journey to Sorgan.  

“What’s your name?”

“Where do you come from?”

“Why did the Imps want you?”

“Who do you belong to?”

The Child just looked at him with interest, no matter which language he tried.  In desperation he even tried out curse words from a few he had no other point of reference for, feeling vaguely guilty for doing so, but it was the only other thing he could think to do.  The Child watched him curiously, small green hands folded politely in his lap as if waiting for Din to finish.  

He ended with a muttered “dank farrik,” and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms.  The Child tilted his enormous ears and blinked slowly, looking at him deep in concentration.

“Eee,” he cooed happily, and Din sighed, awkwardly patting the Child on the top of his head.

“That’s okay, kid.  We’ll, uh, we’ll work on it.”

***

He watched the Child with the village children.  They chattered to him eagerly in Basic, calling for him to follow them, patiently laying out the rules in their little games.  A boy might lift the Child up in his arms, then pass him to a girl who would show him how to play with their game of counting sticks and stones.  For his part the Child laughed and played with them as if he’d been there all his life.

He wondered if the kid could understand Basic, but if his mouth just didn’t work the right way to speak it.  He’d never seen another of the kid’s kind, after all.  He practiced with him at nighttime, just little things here and there, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Come here, kid.”

“That’s called soup.  Sooooup.  Can you -- hey, don’t spill it --”

“Don’t touch that.”

“I said, don’t touch that.”

“C’mon, kid, get outta there --”

Well, if the kid understood Basic, he sure had a funny way of showing it.

***

Peli Motto was a good mechanic.  That wasn’t too surprising; spaceport towns usually had pretty good options.  Anyone who couldn’t wield a spanner was weeded out pretty quickly.  More surprising was the way she handled the kid.  

She sat in the landing zone on a shipping crate, the Child on her knee.  He seemed content as she bounced him slightly up and down, letting out cheery little noises periodically and waving his hands.

“How do you know how to do that?” Din asked, examining the Crest’s landing gear and checking the repair job.  Everything looked to be in order.  “He seems to like it.”

“Kids like bouncing,” she said matter-of-factly.  “Doesn’t matter what species  they are.  They like bouncing, food, feeling safe.  All the good stuff.”

He leaned against the landing gear, folding his arms across his chest.  “He… didn’t say anything while I was gone, did he?”

She shook her head.  “Nah.  I think this little one’s too young for language yet.  But I think he understands more than he lets on.”

Din’s mouth twitched in a smirk she couldn’t see.  “You and me both.  He’s stubborn, this one.”

She laughed.  “Reminds me of you.”

***

The Child was starting to become just ‘the child.’  He wasn’t sure when he stopped thinking of the kid so formally.  Maybe it was a side effect of the past several weeks together, leap to leap, world to world.  He was getting used to the little womp rat being there, messing with controls on the ship, getting into trouble, generally making a nuisance of himself.

Except for when he looked up at Din, his dark eyes open and trusting; except for when he fell asleep in the crook of Din’s arm instead of the blankets in his pram.  

He was kid now, mostly.  Sometimes buddy.  Sometimes pal.  The Child was starting to be reserved for when Din talked to other people.  In the Razor Crest, just the two of them, he was just the kid, and Din was just himself.

***

He cradled the kid against his chest as the wind whipped past them, the Rising Phoenix carrying them back to the Crest over the lava fields of Nevarro.  The kid’s little hands clung to his cuirass, but there was no need; Din held him more tightly, more securely, than anything he’d ever carried in his life.

A clan of two.  You are as its father.  

Dying sunlight glinted on the mudhorn signet, a reflection picked up through the slit in his helmet.  He swallowed, then tilted his chin in towards his chest, making sure the kid was okay in the wind.

A little face turned upwards to look at him, big eyes wide, his mouth dropped open in surprise.  Din chuckled a little, despite his aching head from the injury, despite the fate of the Tribe weighing upon him.  The kid liked the ride.  

“Don’t worry, buddy,” he said into the wind.  “I got you.”

***

The kid didn’t speak Basic.  But he spoke something, and Din began to know more and more of what that was.

There was a little tilt of his head and shift of his ears for curiosity.  A slight coo and wide-eyed expression for delight.  An intent narrowing of the eyes with ears held stiff and back towards the tiny shoulders, especially when he wanted to do something that Din very much did not want him to do.

He tugged Din’s leg for food or to be picked up or changed.  He stared at himself in the reflections of Din’s armor and sometimes reached out to touch the shadow faces in their smooth surfaces, looking up at Din in surprise when there was nothing there but beskar.  He waited until Din looked away to play with knobs and buttons on the control console, and Din got better at always keeping an eye on the kid with his helmet turned just slightly towards him, enough to use his peripheral vision.

He found himself speaking more and more to the kid.  Things he didn’t need to say, words that filled the little cockpit of the Razor Crest with a warmth the place had never known.  The words spilled out of him, and the kid soaked them up like sunshine.

“Good job back there.  You were very brave.”

“Come on now, you know better than to mess with that.  … see?  I knew you did.  Good.”

“Feeling hungry?  Let’s see… I’ve got frog legs, bantha milk -- oh, there’s a thing of soup I can warm up for you.  No, those cookies are for after dinner.  You wanna grow big and strong, don’t you, little guy?  Dinner first.  Cookies later.  If you behave yourself.”

“Time for bed, kid.  No fussing.  I can see how sleepy you are.  Come on, I’ll come to bed too.”

“Night.  Get some rest, okay?”

It wasn’t just words he used.  He found a dozen, a hundred reasons during the day to reach out and smooth the kid’s robe collar, or carefully touch the edge of one oversized ear.  He got used to the weight of the kid on his hip or nestled in one arm.  His gloved fingertips were gentle, brushing against the kid’s cheek to clean his little face, checking his hands and feet for dirt or scratches.  He rested a hand against the kid’s back for reassurance, brushed a hand over the curve of the back of his head to help the kid relax and fall asleep.  He got used to small clawed hands nestled in his own.  And sometimes the kid reached up to touch his helmet, little hand slipping under the brim, and Din let it stay.

***

Turned out there were other ways to talk.  The Jedi turned to him in the misty night, firelight golden on her face, telling him years of tragic history, a constant fear, a lingering anger… a name.  

Grogu.  

It was hard to wrap his mind around at first.  The name fit the kid in some ways -- short and kind of ugly, but in a way that turned itself around to be somehow endearing.  But hearing the name lanced him through the heart, cauterizing like a blaster bolt.  Grogu had a name, and had nearly lost it.  He didn’t want that for him.  Remembered, for an instant, how it had felt --

But you had the Way.  What does he have?

He tried to help the kid -- Grogu -- with his powers, tried to show the Jedi what he could do.  He needs training.  I have to make sure he gets it.  He held the little silver ball, proud as anything when Grogu summoned it to his small hand with a snap.  But the Jedi’s refusal to take him slapped him in the face.  

He took Grogu back to the Crest that night, deep in thought, boots leaving little mark upon the loamy forest floor.  Grogu watched his helmet with wide eyes.  For a moment he felt a pang of jealousy.  How many months had he been with the kid, and never found out half of what the Jedi told him in a moment’s conversation?  

“If I could have, I would have, kid,” he murmured.  “...you know that, right?”

Grogu’s hand came up to twist into the cloth of his cowl, brushing against his neck.  

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, and the relief he felt was indescribable.

***

There hadn’t been enough time.

One moment he was laughing in the cockpit, overwhelmed by the way Grogu looked up when Din said his name.  One moment he was whooping when the kid used his powers, eagerly telling him he’d done good.  One moment it was just the two of them, happy, hopeful, safe.  

And then the Jedi Seeing Stone lit up with a glow he didn’t understand, and Grogu slipped away from him.

He fought and Fett and Shand fought with him, and through it all he could only think, Grogu. Kid. I’ll protect you!

A messy, chaotic fight, blaster fire, a direct salvo.  The Crest vanishing under a blinding flash, dark figures launching into the sky with precious cargo at a speed the Rising Phoenix couldn’t hope to match.

He failed. 

Grogu was gone.

And he had no words at all.

***

Din Djarin was a man of few words, but many languages.

Some might have thought the Child had no language at all.

But on an Imperial cruiser, standing before strangers, Din held his son close.  He cradled him to say goodbye, and when the little hand brushed against the brim of his helmet, he lifted it without hesitation, despite the Creed written in bones and blood and beskar.  

Din trembled at the warmth, the softness, of that small hand brushing tenderly against his naked cheek.  And when he opened teary eyes to gaze upon Grogu’s face, he knew exactly what his child was trying to say.

[all-that-tmnt-jazz]

sooo kind of a downer and if you wanna skip it i totally understand 💖 thank you for doing these !! but how do you think the bayverse turtles would react to their afab reader s/o not being able to get pregnant? like maybe they’ve been dating awhile and the boys keep mentioning how its gonna be when “they can finally start a family” and the reader has to break the news that they cant? i found out a few years back that i’ll never be able to give birth annnnd its been a process learning how to talk about it with anyone really. thank you again💙💜

Oo, this one will be interesting…

I’ve been off my posting game today- sorry fam

Warnings: Explicit mentions of infertility and diabetes

Incarnation: Bayverse.

Extra Info: Fem!Reader

Leo:

You two had been together for about six years, nearly seven

You were dating for about three years, then had an official/unofficial wedding officiated by Chief Vincent herself

You two had often talked about getting married, which led to that moment

But recently, Leo had been open about his want for children

You had held back the information that would prevent you from having children

You didn’t want to tell him

You were scared

You were still trying to wrap your head around accepting it, even though you’ve known for years

This night, Leo was thinking out loud as you two lay side-by-side in bed

“I just… Imagine it, y/n. A little creature that we would have created. I hope they’d have your personality, though. I can get a bit too aloof sometimes, and you’ve always been the one to point that out and stand up to it-”

“Leo…”

You looked at him as he quieted

He looked back at you, eyes full of love

It broke your heart

“What is it, Love?”

You looked back to the ceiling

“I’m infertile, Leo…”

You felt tension fill the room

You closed your eyes, not wanting to see what would happen

You felt him shift beside you

You felt an arm drape around your torso

“Y/n, look at me, please,” he whispered

You squeezed your eyes tighter

“Y/n, please…”

You released a long breath and opened your eyes

“How long have you known?”

You bit the inside of your cheek

“Since… Since we started dating. I was scared to tell you. I can’t even…”

You hated how you’re voice was starting to crack

“I’m struggling to accept it myself, and telling you…”

You closed your eyes again, letting out a small, pathetic whimper

Leo laid back down and pulled you to his plastron

“Me talking about it wasn’t helping, was it?”

You shook your head

“I’m so sorry, Y/n. I’m sorry…”

Raph:

You two have been dating for about four years

You had met him five years before, and finally started dating after months of fluttering around each other

And now, he kept talking about a future with you

You love it

You often talk about it while in his bed late at night

He always holds you close and thinks out loud

“Just picture it, Y/n. You and I… Married… I can’t believe I let myself think that sometimes, but I can’t help it when I’m lucky enough to be with you…”

You kiss him softly

“What else do you think of?” you ask

You were expecting something along the lines of ‘I can’t wait to call you my wife’

But that’s not what you got, not exactly

“I mean, I’ve always seen a future with you. You know, ‘husband and wife’ sorta deal. And like, y’know, one day maybe… Children. I’ve always imagined having our own one day…”

He seemed almost embarrassed by this, but you could sense how genuine he was being

The gentle tone in his voice gave you a pang in your chest

“Would you ever want to have children, Y/n?” he asked you

You couldn’t look at him

“I want to adopt.”

“What about having your own children, though?”

You closed your eyes

You remained silent for a while

Raph got up on his elbow and looked at you

“Y/n, what’s wrong? Did I say something wrong, or…?”

You shook your head, still unable to open your eyes to look at him

“Then, what’s wrong?”

“Raph, I…”

You took a deep breath.

“I can’t have my own children.”

There was a long pause

He was incredibly confused

“But, Y/n… What are you talking about?”

You opened your eyes and looked at him

“Raph, I��m trans.”

He became even more confused

“I fully transitioned before I met you, but… I was born a guy, Raph, and I don’t have a uterus.”

Raph looked away from you for a moment, then back at you

He smiled a bit

“So… You’re a woman?”

You beamed

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Y/n. Um… Can I kiss you?”

You pulled yourself up to him and pressed your lips against his

Once you two pulled away, he held you to his plastron

“You know, we could talk to Vincent about adopting if you want.”

Donnie:

He had always wanted children of his own

Especially after meeting

You two were newly weds after dating for two years when he brought it up

“I’ve never felt so lucky to have someone in my life. Now I get to spend it with the love of my life and our family…”

You tried to imagine your family as just you and him, and maybe a pet

But he always implied that he wanted children

It always hurt you to hear him talk about his hopes for how your children would look and act

He always hoped they would act like you because you were always honest with him

You felt guilty after hearing this

So, you sat him down

“Honey, what’s going on? Is everything alright?”

“I, um… Yeah.”

What a lie…

“You know I have diabetes.”

“Of course- I remember when you first told me and I made that whole meal plan to help balance your sugars.”

You smiled weakly at the memory

“Why do you bring it up? Is something getting worse?”

“No, no.”

You put your hands in your lap and looked at them for a moment

You took a deep breath

You looked at him

“I talked to my doctor.”

You saw the worry fill his expression

He was about to speak, but you stopped him

You blinked slowly, but kept eye contact

“Donnie… You keep saying you want children, and I get that, I just… It’ll kill me if I have children.”

You saw the gears click into place in his head

His expression filled with guilt

“Y/n… I… I’m sorry… I should’ve known…”

You hushed him and looked away

“You’re just excited-”

“But I know the risks, and yet I thought selfishly.”

“Donnie, listen to me. It’s not your fault I inherited diabetes. It’s not your fault I can’t have children.”

“But it’s my fault I kept bringing it up.”

You stood and held him close to you.

“It’s okay. We can figure this out.”

Mikey:

You had been dating for only a few months when the topic of becoming a family started conversations

He always lit up when he talked about Little Mikeys and Little Y/ns running around

And honestly, you did, too

Until you were having a conversation with your mother about your family tree

She told you that your aunts were all infertile, and that- out of her sisters- your mother was the only one who was able to have children

All of her sisters were infertile

She was afraid the gene skipped her and passed to you

You didn’t tell this to Mikey, of course

You didn’t want to worry him

But he, being a total empath, immediately noticed something was off

You just told him you were going to be going to the doctor to get some stuff checked out

Which wasn’t a lie

It was just… a half-truth.

So, a few days later, you found yourself in your doctor’s office explaining the situation

After you left, you went to your apartment instead of the Lair

You felt like you needed to be alone with a pint of ice cream

You felt bad for ignoring Mikey’s calls, but you didn’t have the emotional strength to face him right now

But what does he do? 

He comes to your apartment

“Angel! What happened?! You’ve had me worried sick!”

He engulfs you in a hug, careful not to smush your credit cream

When he lets go, he borrows your spoon and takes some ice cream 

You chuckle dryly

He sits next to you, suddenly much more serious than he usually is

“Talk to me, Y/n.”

You take a deep breath, wanting to disappear into your couch

“I’m…”

You can’t prevent tears from following

“Angel cakes, come here…”

He wraps an arm around your shoulder and pulls you next to him 

“I’m infertile, Mike…” you manage to whisper 

“What?”

“I’m infertile. I can’t get pregnant…”

He nods slowly, processing the information

It clicks, and he gasps slightly

Your cries turned into sobs

He moves the ice cream away and holds you impossibly closer

“I love you, Y/n. I’m not going anywhere…”

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH115

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

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Chapter 115: The Dream of the Holy Nun (V)

Although the key NPC Rudd had run away, Qi Leren, who was a "cheating" player, did not panic at all. He said in a word: "That thing is in the dark room of Arnold's former residence."

So in less than half an hour, they had snuck into Arnold's room smoothly and retrieved the key task item - a small and delicate brooch, composed of metal gears and feathers, from which a drop-shaped pendant hung down. The whole brooch was incredibly delicate. At the moment the brooch was picked up, a system prompt appeared:

[Obtained the special task item brooch. Holding this brooch, one can pass through the fog around the Holy City.]

[Player Qi Leren has triggered a special task: The Dream of the Holy Nun. Please bring the memento to the Holy City within 30 days. After arriving at the task site, your survival time will be suspended until the mission ends. Overdue arrival is regarded as a task failure, and 100 survival days will be deducted. Players can receive the task by touching the task item. The current number of participants is 1/4.]

Qi Leren handed Ning Zhou the brooch, and Ning Zhou also received the task.

Qi Leren asked, "Would you like to bring a few more people to do the task with? We can find two more teammates... A healer, at least."

Qi Leren deeply remembered that Chen Baiqi said Ning Zhou's Holy Spirit cure was broken, and Ning Zhou had also taken medicine with him in the Witchcraft Sacrifice task. It didn’t seem like he had any healing abilities. Although Dr. Lu's fighting power was unreliable, there was still a lack of healers in the Nightmare World - seeing that he could live so well by opening a clinic. He also brought with him EX luck and treasure hunting skills, but was it a good choice to take him? That is, the task was a bit dangerous... Did he want to take Dr. Lu?

Ning Zhou snorted, but the black bird on his shoulder said noisily, "I won’t bring a healer, clearing the world depends on going wild!"

Qi Leren was speechless about this bird. Ning Zhou was such a serious person. How could there be such a rowdy bird? He didn’t know where it learned to be such a mess.

After leaving Arnold's former residence, Qi Leren hesitated to go to Dr. Lu's home, and was just in time for Dr. Lu to be going to get a midnight snack.

Dr. Lu depressedly and asked him if he intentionally came during mealtimes. He’d gone to have a snack that afternoon, but had instead entertained Qi Leren. After eating and drinking, Qi Leren told him about the "Dream of the Holy Nun" task and invited Dr. Lu to join.

"The first 'monthly exam' will be held soon, and we’ll have to wait until after that," Dr. Lu said with an expression of pain.

Because the compulsory task happened to be once a month, it was dubbed the monthly exam by players. Qi Leren and Dr. Lu had entered the game on the same day, and the time of their monthly exams were the same, so he naturally agreed: "That’s fine."

"To be honest, I don't want to die. This task sounds very difficult. Why don't you invite Su He and I’ll go if he goes? Speaking of it, I saw him two days ago. He’s still in the Village of Dusk. He should have a better understanding of the main world’s background. If he’ss willing to help, the task could be much easier," Dr. Lu suggested.

Qi Leren paused. After receiving the task, he didn't want to invite Su He, because he was always a little afraid of Su He seeing through him about the laptop. But when he thought about it, Su He wouldn't know that this is the so-called main task. He could say he’d received it by chance.

But if as the task went on Su He found that this task was inextricably linked with the Nightmare World... Would his half-GM status have an uncontrollable impact on this task?

Just as Qi Leren struggled, a knock sounded on the door and Dr. Lu sighed, "Ah, there are patients at night, it’s really exhausting. Come in, come in!"

When the door opened, Su He pushed the door open and looked slightly surprised to see Qi Leren in the room: "So you’re here."

"Speak of the devil, Su He, we were talking about a main world task. Do you want to participate?" Dr. Lu asked smoothly.

"A main world task? What’s the task’s name and location?" Su He hung his blazer on the hook behind the door, walking towards the two people. It was a little crowded when three people sat in the spacious room, but Su He gentle aura wouldn't make people feel oppressed.

Dr. Lu has already started, so Qi Leren simply said: "The task is called 'The Dream of the Holy Nun' and the location is in the Holy City."

"The Holy City? It was captured by the Devil more than 20 years ago, tough, and now it’s shrouded in a fog. I am afraid it’s dangerous to enter rashly," Su He said, recalling the history of the Nightmare World.

"Entering the Holy City isn’t a problem. I accidentally got a task item. With this item, I can pass through the Holy City’s fog." Qi Leren thought about it, but still didn't say anything about Maria and her field, because he couldn't explain the source of the information.

"It seems to be related to the Devil’s invasion in the previous tasks, I’m very interested. Okay, I’ll join," Su He smiled and readily agreed.

"That's great!" Dr. Lu breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, why are you coming to see me so late?"

"I originally came to say goodbye to you. In fact, I went to Qi Leren’s home just now... Your friend opened the door," Su He paused strangely, his handsome eyebrows raising in a clear sign of curiosity.

Dr. Lu: "Ah?"

Qi Leren: "..."

After the Slaughter Secret Society undercover mission, Qi Leren moved back to his home on Sunset Island. Ning Zhou was staying with him for the time being for convenience while carrying out basic training. Just after the two had come back from Arnold's former residence, he left Ning Zhou because he came to see Dr. Lu. As a result, Ning Zhou returned to his home and happened to meet Su He who had come to say goodbye to him…

In the Castle Cry task, Qi Leren had talked with Su He about the Witchcraft Sacrifice task... Although he hadn’t used any names and Su He shouldn’t be able to tell that the man he’d mentioned was the same Ning Zhou who opened the door at his house, Qi Leren still felt a little guilty for no reason.

But if Dr. Lu and Su He joined the Holy Nun task, it was only a matter of time before they realized who Ning Zhou was!

The story of going undercover with the Slaughter Secret Society was hidden and couldn’t be made public. How could he explain that the two people who had looked upon each other like death had suddenly made up again and were living together? Could this be explained as a pure friendship between the same sex?!

Qi Leren, who had a headache, forcibly changed the subject: "Well, you came to say goodbye to me? So Su He, you’re going back to the Village of Dawn?"

Su He was really a very gentle person, and even had no objection to the poor change of topic: "I was going to go back to the Village of Dawn, but now that you need it, of course I have to stay and help."

"No, no, no, if you have something to do, go back." Qi Leren imagined Dr. Lu and Su He watching Ning Zhou and him together and felt his heart become overwhelmed. He regretted it, he shouldn't have come here to ask Dr. Lu to take part in the task.

"I don't mind. In fact, there’s nothing important, I just haven’t been to the Village of Dawn in a while and thought I should go back. I would leave if there was nothing else here, but now that you have difficulties, then of course I can't stand by," Su He said with a smile.

Dr. Lu applauded and praised his teammate: "Little friend of love and justice, come, I will invite you to eat cake."

Qi Leren, who felt that there is no love in his future, was simultaneously angry and comforted as he ate Dr. Lu’s cake: Anyway, there was a healer, a fighter, and a recyclable meat shield, so let the GM come along for the ride.

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[aion-rsa]

Venom: Let There Be Carnage – The Comics History of the Symbiote Rivalry

https://ift.tt/3APMTrk

Something that impresses me with a superhero movie like Venom is when it doesn’t rush directly into the expected villain. When there are four different Fantastic Four movies, and they’re all about emphasizing Dr. Doom, it’s a breath of fresh air when, say, Man of Steel only makes an Easter egg reference to Lex Luthor instead of going directly for that confrontation. The MCU Spider-Man has yet to meet an Osborn, guys like Thanos and Darkseid started out as ominous benefactors, and the existence of Heath Ledger Joker was merely a cliffhanger tease in Batman Begins.

Much like how the Justice League movie decided to take its time by giving us Steppenwolf of all people, the first Venom movie had Carlton Drake (who hasn’t appeared in the comics since the early 9’0s) and Riot (the most forgettable of all of Venom’s comic children). By letting Venom build himself up on his own, flanked by some rather mundane villains, it gave more meaning to Cletus Kasady showing up in the post-credits. Carnage, Venom’s main villain, gets more fanfare by appearing in the sequel where our hero is fully formed.

Since Carnage’s first appearance in 1992, the idea has always been to make a darker, scarier Venom. Venom was a villain at the time, sure, but he was also on the border of becoming more. Outside of his personal delusions and anger issues, he still claimed that he wanted to help the innocent and punish the guilty. Even when he was able to accept that Spider-Man was good, they couldn’t co-exist due to their different natures as vigilantes. Carnage was simpler because he was full-on evil and had no potential for redemption. He was something so sinister and malevolent that both Spider-Man and Venom knew it was worth it to put aside their differences and take this creep down.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage has hyped Carnage up as being out of Venom’s league and that was the initial push of the character. Over time, the two became roughly equals as Carnage became the go-to bad guy for Venom to punch.

So let’s take a look at the history of Venom vs. Carnage. For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to define “Venom” and “Carnage” as characters wearing their respective symbiotes (excluding Peter Parker), or the symbiotes themselves. I’m not going to count Eddie Brock as Toxin, or Flash Thompson as Agent Anti-Venom or whatever.

Carnage’s Debut

Not counting cameos and build-up, Carnage’s first major appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man #361, starting off a three-parter. Spider-Man came to realize that he wasn’t enough to stop Carnage and he was going to need help. Specifically, he was going to need Venom. This was an awkward decision as Venom was at the time living his best life on an empty island, thinking that he had succeeded in killing Spider-Man.

Once Venom fully understood the situation, he accepted the temporary alliance. In the very first Venom vs. Carnage confrontation, Venom and Spider-Man tackled Carnage, got slammed into each other, then thrown into opposite walls. Carnage then caused a distraction by putting a baby in danger so he could escape. While he was dominant in that very brief scuffle, he still needed to run off, so I’m calling this a draw.

The handicap match continued into the last issue of the arc at a rock concert. In one-on-one exchanges, Carnage had Venom’s number, but Spider-Man was always there for the save. Spider-Man was able to use the sonics from the amplifiers to take out both of them. Technically a draw again, but it’s also a situation where Carnage regularly kicked the shit out of Venom and Venom only survived because he had help.

Maxium Carnage

Insert your Green Jelly cassettes and press play because it’s time for Carnage’s big ’90s crossover story. After the previous story’s popularity, Marvel decided to add more heroes, more villains, and make the whole thing a whopping 14 issues!

As Venom was a San Francisco vigilante at the time, he flew to New York to stop Carnage’s reign of terror. The first fight wasn’t even shown, as after the reveal that Carnage had Shriek and Doppelganger on his side, it cut away. A brutalized Venom was later found passing out while knocking on Peter and MJ’s door.

As Maximum Carnage was filled with so much filler and extra characters, there were various fight scenes of a group of heroes brawling with a group of villains. Venom and Carnage talked smack a lot, but nothing much ever really happened in terms of fighting. The story finally kicked into gear when Venom used a stolen sonic gun and blasted Carnage while Firestar assisted with her microwave blasts. This would have done the job, but Spider-Man got in the way and Shriek simply cut Cletus’ face open, causing his symbiote to respawn and bring him back to 100 percent health. Carnage and Shriek overwhelmed Venom and carried him off, along with the sonic gun.

Venom spent several issues being tortured until coming up with the plan to sneak some of the symbiote into the sonic gun so that Carnage would splatter Venom with more Venom. He punched Carnage down and escaped with gusto, hiding the fact that he was in no condition to fight.

It isn’t until the last issue that we FINALLY got a real Venom vs. Carnage fight. Venom was physically busted a bit, but Carnage was mentally busted. The heroes hit him with some MaGuffin device that caused him to be haunted by those who screwed him up in life. Venom pretty much just kicked Carnage’s ass around the city while Carnage tried in vain to escape. Every now and then, Spider-Man would appear and go, “B-b-but Eddie! Killing is wrong!” for the sake of giving Carnage a second wind.

Eventually, Venom punched Carnage so hard that Carnage’s brain ghosts went away. Knowing Carnage was more of a threat this way, Venom tackled him into a transformer. After the explosion, Cletus was knocked out and Venom got to weakly sneak away. Hey, good for him!

Venom: Carnage Unleashed

Venom was so popular that we got Carnage. Carnage’s initial storyline was so popular that we got Maximum Carnage. Maximum Carnage was so popular that we got a Maximum Carnage video game. Then we got Venom: Carnage Unleashed, a comic based on the popularity of the Maximum Carnage video game. It…wasn’t all too popular.

Still, it did give us the rarely used plot device that symbiotes can travel through phone lines and the internet! Symbiotes really are like pre-Crisis Superman where you can give them whatever power and people will just go with it no matter how ridiculous. As Carnage escaped from Ravencroft and commandeered a security tank, Venom eventually caught up with him and they had a fight on a runaway vehicle through traffic. Carnage eventually won when Venom got slammed by an oncoming train.

Their final battle here is a big pile of “That’s not how any of this works!” The two characters send symbiote tendrils into the internet, which were rendered on the Times Square big screen as the two brawled in cyberspace. Venom destroyed a nearby heatsink, which blasted both and knocked them out of the internet.

Carnage was ready for another go, but his kidnapped psychiatrist set him on fire and caused him to fall out a window. Venom reached through the phone lines and out the window to catch the falling Cletus because dying is WHAT HE WANTS. Which… no, that’s not true at all. Hell, even in Maximum Carnage, Cletus was freaked out about the possibility of dying.

Venom: On Trial

So there was a big Spider-Man/Scarlet Spider/Venom team-up called Planet of the Symbiotes that culminated in a 40-foot-tall Carnage, but there was never a specific Venom vs. Carnage moment, so I won’t go into it. Venom’s ’90s antihero run did have a storyline where Eddie was arrested and put on trial for all of his many crimes. Cletus Kasady was brought in as a star witness, which was an invitation for him to freak out and go on a killing rampage. I mean, seriously, guys. Come on. You should know better.

This story went all-in on Venom wrecking Carnage. Again, Spider-Man would interrupt and give Carnage a chance to turn things around. This time though, Venom decided to ride the wave by sneaking away while Spider-Man and Daredevil took on Carnage. Realizing that the two didn’t have a chance, Venom picked up a couple syringes filled with dopamine blocker and sprung into action. He smacked Carnage around, injected the blocker into his neck, and watched as the symbiote retracted into Cletus’ body.

Venom Triumphant

Howard Mackie wrote Spider-Man comics for a long while and he had an annoying tendency when it came to storytelling. He would come up with an interesting, if nonsensical, idea that would shake up the status quo, but instead of following up on that and using it to tell an actual story, he would just forget about it and move to the next idea that popped into his head. He was one of the main reasons why the Spider-Man Clone Saga was such a mess.

In the 10th issue of Peter Parker, Spider-Man, Venom broke into the prison where Carnage was being held. Despite the legion of heavily armed guards with flamethrowers and sonic guns, Venom killed them all so quickly that the artist didn’t even show it. Cletus, for some reason, figured Venom was trying to break him out of prison, but instead Venom was there to absorb the Carnage symbiote. Carnage barely put up a fight. Pieces of the symbiote were on him, but he didn’t fully transform or try to defend himself. Venom simply pulled the symbiote off of him and ate it, becoming stronger.

After this issue, there was barely any follow-up to this.

Venom vs. Carnage

This miniseries came out at a really weird time for those involved. Carnage was just a couple months away from being torn in half by the Sentry and being written out of comics for years. Venom was appearing in Marvel Knights Spider-Man where Eddie Brock got rid of the symbiote and it bounced around to different hosts until landing on Mac Gargan. Meanwhile there was a Venom ongoing that was more about a symbiote clone where Eddie Brock only appeared for a couple late issues.

In other words, in the Venom vs. Carnage miniseries by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain, even the creative team had no idea who Venom’s host was supposed to be. Luckily, the story wasn’t about Venom or Carnage, but a new character who would quickly fall into obscurity anyway.

Venom and Carnage swung around New York City, giving the exposition. The Carnage symbiote was pregnant and Venom was explaining that there was nothing to do to stop the creature from going into labor. Venom was all about protecting the new spawn while Carnage wanted to destroy it, immediately. Carnage got the better of Venom by flinging him into the distance. Regardless, the explosive birth wore out Carnage so much that he could only plant the baby onto a nearby cop and escape to rest up.

When the two had a rematch, Venom was there to save the baby symbiote (Toxin) and its host (Pat Mulligan). As if getting revenge for that Carnage Unleashed story, Venom brought the fight to the subway and pushed Carnage into an oncoming train.

And… that’s really all the Venom vs. Carnage we get in Venom vs. Carnage! Once Venom sees that Toxin is a good guy and capable of kicking Carnage’s ass, he gets afraid of Toxin befriending Spider-Man and decides to team up with Carnage for once.

Carnage, USA

Carnage returned from his maiming at the hands of the Sentry, albeit without a bottom half. By then, a lot had happened with Venom. The symbiote was removed from Mac Gargan and joined with war hero Flash Thompson. Agent Venom went on to join the Secret Avengers.

Carnage, USA told the story of Cletus expanding his symbiote to overtake an entire town in the middle of nowhere. When various heroes went to oppose him, the Carnage symbiote ended up taking over Captain America, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and the Thing. When gaining a moment of clarity, Cap called in Agent Venom for help.

Read more

Movies

Venom 2 Trailer Breakdown – All the Marvel and Carnage References

By Gavin Jasper

Comics

Venom: Who is Carnage?

By Gavin Jasper

In their first meeting, Agent Venom easily took down Carnage with some explosive projectiles that came with sonic shrapnel. Then when getting ready for the kill – say it with me everyone – Spider-Man got in his face and went, “No! Don’t kill!” Carnage recovered, and overwhelmed Venom with his army of Carnage’d heroes. Then another obscure symbiote hero, Scorn, popped in to run Venom and Carnage over with a bulldozer and bring them into a facility that would blast their symbiotes off the hosts.

While Cletus and Flash had a fight based around the novelty that both were legless, the Venom symbiote latched onto a gorilla and ran for its life against an entire zoo full of animals with the Carnage symbiote. After almost being taken down by a Carnage lion (Spider-Man with the save), the gorilla returned to Flash and gave him the power to bring Cletus into custody.

As for the town-wide Carnage symbiote, most of it was taken out by an airstrike.

Minimum Carnage

Following up on Agent Venom, he had his own team-up arc with Scarlet Spider (Kaine) with the fun dynamic of a Venom who doesn’t want to kill and a Spider-Man who does. The two chased Carnage into the Microverse, where Carnage was able to create an army of symbiote clones. While Agent Venom was able to decapitate Carnage, the villain had attained some level of power where his body is more overall fluid and animated. In this case, Carnage could just reattach his head with no problem.

Although Flash had sedated his own symbiote and lacked the monstrous advantage, he was able to wipe out a bunch of the clones by amplifying his own inner sorrow outward through the Venom symbiote. Strangely, that’s not the first time Venom was able to do that. What’s left of Carnage slinked away, cackling.

Carnage and the clones returned to Earth and Voltron’d themselves into a giant Carnage. As Carnage tried to devour Agent Venom, Venom shoved a sonic grenade down Carnage’s throat and let the blast do the rest, taking out the enlarged Carnage symbiote almost completely. In the aftermath, Scarlet Spider jabbed one of his claws through Cletus’ eye and lobotomized him.

Venomverse

Venomverse is about a series of Venom hosts from different realities coming together to fight beings called Poisons. Under normal circumstances, Poisons are harmless. If one of them makes physical contact with a symbiote and its host, it transforms them into a nigh-unbeatable crystal-like creature with the Poison in control. By this point, Eddie Brock was Venom again and joined with all sorts of random symbiote heroes to the point that he came off as just a regular dude.

With their back against the wall, Eddie came up with an idea. They brought in Carnage from an alternate universe as a ringer. At first, Carnage fought against the Venoms, but they were reluctant to fight back. Once he saw the Poisons and understood that the Venoms wanted him to kill an army of twisted superheroes, he gladly joined their ranks. He just let them know that once he was done with the Poisons, he’d kill them next.

He ended up being a huge help, especially since the Poisons had a hard time bonding to the Carnage symbiote. Carnage died in an explosion fighting Poisons alongside Poison Deadpool (who was able to bypass his Poison’s mental control).

There was a sequel to this called Venomized where the Poisons returned and tried to invade Earth. They kidnapped Cletus, forced him to bond to an alternate universe Venom, and then bonded that to a Poison. While he was referred to as “Carnage” at times, the Carnage symbiote was never involved, so I’m going to skip this one.

But where was the Carnage symbiote during all of this?

The Red Goblin

At one point, Norman Osborn became the host for Carnage to give us a climactic villain to finish off Dan Slott’s lengthy run on Amazing Spider-Man. Knowing that Spider-Man was out of his league, J. Jonah Jameson decided to fight fire with fire by calling up Eddie Brock and blackmailing him into aiding Spider-Man. This led to a brief fight of Spider-Man, Venom, and repulsor-wielding Mary Jane against the Red Goblin.

Venom and Red Goblin brawled for a bit, but Red Goblin appeared to be immune to the usual symbiote weaknesses, so only Venom took damage. While he got some hits in, Eddie was too exhausted to continue. Instead he offered the symbiote to Spider-Man to give him the extra boost. This brief team-up allowed the two vigilante enemies to finally bury their lengthy rivalry.

Absolute Carnage

Now we get to Donny Cates’ bonkers run on Venom. Cletus had been resurrected and turned back into Carnage via a bunch of cultists who worshipped Knull, God of Symbiotes. Carnage then started going around eating the spines of those who were once host to a symbiote, getting stronger by the meal. Dark Carnage first fought Venom in a subway and easily overpowered him. Still, Venom got the win by grabbing onto the third rail while holding onto Dark Carnage. It was enough to knock Carnage loopy while Venom could get away and seek out help.

Venom and Spider-Man sought out Norman Osborn (who believed himself to be Cletus Kasady after the Red Goblin episode) and were ambushed by an army of inmates possessed by Carnage symbiotes. Overwhelmed, the two heroes broke through a wall and swung off into the night.

Venom got involved in another big fight against an army of Carnages and could have killed Osborn, but instead chose to save a wounded Mac Gargan nearby and brought him to safety. The Venom symbiote wasn’t happy with this and later left Eddie for Bruce Banner, giving us a fight between Venom Hulk and Dark Carnage. This turned out to be a dire choice, as Dark Carnage tore into Hulk’s brain, caused him to shrink back to Banner, then ate his spine. Carnage was stronger than ever.

Meanwhile, mad scientist the Maker had a machine that took the “symbiote codex” stuff Carnage was looking for out of former hosts without the nasty “tearing out their spinal column” part. Eddie unleashed the codex collection onto himself, turning him into a more powerful version of Venom. As he took on Cletus one last time, Carnage made note that Venom was screwed no matter what. Either Carnage killed and ate Eddie’s son Dylan or Eddie killed Carnage, which would wake up Knull and drive him to Earth.

Venom summoned the Necrosword to cut through Carnage, destroying him once and for all. For a time, at least.

Prelude to Knull

Wouldn’t you know it, killing Dark Carnage caused Eddie to absorb the Carnage symbiote into himself. Soon he was separated from Venom and stuck on an island while being bonded against his will to the Carnage symbiote. Dylan was able to remotely control the Venom symbiote and transformed it into a giant Venom T-rex. Like it wasn’t even bonding onto a dinosaur or anything. It was just the size and shape of a tyrannosaurus just because.

Eddie and Dylan had a dreamlike meeting in their minds while Carnage Eddie chopped down at the Venom dino. Eventually, the power of familial love was enough to overpower the Carnage symbiote and blow it up. Eddie rejoined with the Venom symbiote, and a little piece of Carnage latched onto a nearby shark to swim off and fight another day.

Okay, then! Phew! Going by every Venom vs. Carnage fight, I’ve judged them so that there have been six draws, eight victories for Carnage, and nine victories for Venom.

Congratulations, black ooze. Here’s hoping your red offspring doesn’t turn the tide at the box office.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be released in theaters on Oct. 1.

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The post Venom: Let There Be Carnage – The Comics History of the Symbiote Rivalry appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3um8FAz

[litniche]

Love Will Find a Way

Ch. 9

on ao3

  CW: characters use a shotgun in sports shooting

First three lines by   @hauntingincorrect  on Tumblr

 “I have an idea.”  

  “A good one?  

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”  

 That’s how the day had started - Owen telling her he had an idea and before she knew it, Dani and Jamie were climbing into a rented van along with the rest of the gang. Hannah sat next to Owen, avoiding the stick shift every time Owen had to change gears. Owen made it all the more difficult, never failing to ‘accidentally’ let his hand land on Hannah’s knee rather than the knob of the gearshift. Jamie found it almost surreal to know that Hannah was ticklish, but as the normally graceful woman jerked and flailed every time, she found herself grinning and shaking her head at the pair.

 Rebecca sat next to Hannah in the front, rolling her eyes at Owen and Hannah conspiratorially with anyone who met her gaze. She was a good sport, though, even when Hannah’s attempts to escape Owen’s tickling meant the woman was half on her lap at times. Jamie was glad she could join them. She needed the break from Henry's London office, having been kept so busy since Henry had decided to take a bit of a step back.

 In the middle row sat Flora, Miles, and Henry. The little girl was bouncing far more than the country roads warranted. Miles and she pressed their faces to the window as the French countryside rolled by. One would think, growing up in rural England, that the sight of an odd cow here and there would not raise a fuss, but apparently the novelty of French cows was enough to afford rapt attention. Jamie, for her part, wondered briefly if French cows went ‘moo’.

 In the very back sat she and Dani. The au pair was almost as bad as the children. Her energy was electric as her eyes roamed the hills and plains they passed. When they came upon a road travelling alongside a small lake, Jamie could swear Dani's eyes became heart shaped. She brought their hands, laced together, to her lips to kiss Dani’s knuckles gently as she gave a faint and fond chuckle.

 “We’re here!” Owen called at last. He parked near a small cottage overlooking the lake and at the foot of a vineyard.

 Dani looked at Jamie with a question mark written all over her face.

 “Don’t look at me, Poppins.”

 As soon as Henry opened the sliding door of the van, the children bolted for the vineyard, running through its rows with peels of laughter and ‘catch me if you cans’. Henry muttered something about getting too old for this before jogging after them. The rest of the crew followed after them.

 “After you,” Jamie said to the au pair with an ornery smile.

 “You’re kind of in my way,” Dani grinned at her, and she was right. She’d have a rough time exiting the van without Jamie’s cooperation.

 “Guess you’ll have to get creative, then.”

 Dani, as was her habit, gave Jamie a look that never ceased to make the gardener marvel at how they ever stepped foot out of a bedroom. “Creative?” she asked, letting her fingers draw a light trail up the inside of Jamie’s thigh.

 Jamie slammed her thighs shut to block her path. “Christ, Dani,” she whispered, thankful there was no one else in the van any longer.

 “Hmm,” Dani hummed. “Not creative enough?”

 The au pair’s next strategy seemed to be taking the lobe of Jamie’s ear between her teeth. Her fingers travelled further north and slid between Jamie’s shut thighs. “Am I getting closer?”

 The gardener let out an exhale in the form of a laugh. “Might be.”

 “Oi!” they heard along with a sudden knock on the tinted windows. “You lot better be keeping it PG in there!” Rebecca’s voice teased.

 Dani pulled away, clearing her throat. “Excuse me,” she said before she proceeded to crawl over Jamie toward the van’s door, presenting her rear directly in front of Jamie's face.

 “Right,” Jamie said, clearing her throat, “We’re coming!”

 ***

 “Un! Deux! Trois!”

     BANG!  

     ...CRASH!  

 “Un! Deux! Trois!”

     BANG!  

     ...CRASH!  

 “Whooo! Nice one!” Jamie whooped, swinging her arm in the air to cheer Dani on.

 Dani grinned at having hit every single one of her clay pigeons as she readied the shotgun for another.

 “She’s American. She has an unfair advantage,” Owen smirked behind her as Jamie stuck out her tongue at him before conceding a laugh.

 “Shall we make it interesting?” Rebecca said, wiggling her brows. “Well done, Dani!” she called when Dani hit another.

 “What’d you have in mind?”

 “Très bien, Madamoiselle,” their guide said to Dani as he took the gun.

 “Merci,” she replied. She left Owen and Rebecca to arrange their wager as she made her way for Jamie.

 Jamie encircled her arms around the au pair’s waist. “And here I thought you were frightening with just a fire poker, Poppins.”

 Dani leaned into her fiancée, resting her arms over Jamie’s shoulders. “They didn’t call me Annie Oakley when I was growing up for nothing,” she commented as she leaned forward for a kiss.

 “Oi, James!” Owen called.

 “Yeah, mate?” Jamie quirked a brow in his direction as she turned both her and Dani, apparently refusing to part from their embrace.

 “I just realized…” he said, his grin spreading slowly.

 “Oh no. I know that look.” Dani said softly, brows coming together in a mock-serious expression.

 Jamie’s eyes narrowed at the chef. “What is it, then? Spit it out.”

 “You’re having a shotgun wedding after all.”

 Dani’s jaw dropped at the audacity.

 Jamie hung her head. "Asked for it, didn't I?"

 ****

 An afternoon stroll along the lake’s beach, a rather decadent meal (with perfectly splendid tea for the kids and far too much wine for the adults) later, the brides and their friends were enjoying further libations in the living area of the small cottage.

 Hannah called out “Who makes the better breakfast?”

 Dani lifted her own shoe and heard chuckles from their friends gathered around them. The rules of the game they were playing was simple: when Hannah asked a question, Dani could choose between raising her own shoe to indicate herself or Jamie’s which represented her fiancée. Being back to back, the brides couldn't see each other's answers which was half the fun.

 “My cooking is shite; I’ll admit it,” Jamie said grudgingly, apparently holding Dani's shoe in the air, too.

 Dani smirked, sharing a knowing glance with Owen.

 “Who takes up more than their share of the bed?”

 Dani raised her own shoe again, feeling herself blush a little. She tended to sprawl all over the bed, her limbs spread out across Jamie and pillows alike. “Guilty,” she said, knowing which shoe Jamie was holding up without looking.

 “Damn right, you are, Poppins,” Jamie said behind her, making Rebecca giggle.

 “Who has better hair?” Hannah asked.

 “Awwwwww,” their friends collectively cooed at them. Dani had held up Jamie’s shoe and based on everyone's reaction, Jamie had held Dani’s up. She smiled softly, feeling her cheeks go pink.

 “Who talks the most?” Hannah asked next.

 “Really?” Rebecca bent over in laughter. “Jamie, you had me believing you’re the quiet sort!”

 “I talk!” Jamie said defensively.

 “She’s right. Get her on a midnight stroll and she’ll deliver a full monologue,” Dani called out.

 “Who said ‘I love you’ first?” Hannah asked, interrupting their light laughter.

 Dani felt butterflies in her stomach at the memory as she lifted Jamie’s shoe into the air.

     Jamie placed a single moonflower in a vase on her desk in the teaching room at Bly. Flora and Miles had long gone to bed, and Jamie had stayed late while Dani worked on the following week’s lesson plans.  

     “I’m actually pretty in love with you, it turns out,” Jamie said, and it had taken every modicum of self control Dani possessed to take Jamie’s hand and lead her to her bedroom rather than having her way with the gardener right there in the classroom.  

 Owen pretended to sniffle. “Jamie, I had no idea we were so alike. Romantics, you and I,” he said.

 Hannah chuckled. “I could have told you that, but I wonder about this next one: who initiated the first kiss?”

 Dani’s cheeks warmed at the memory of the greenhouse on Bonfire Night last November. She held up her own shoe as it played in her mind.

     Jamie was saying something about understanding. It was that understanding that made Dani do it. All her life she’d been looking for this - looking for someone who quite simply understood her. She surged forward, tired of not acting on something she’d been feeling since the moment she’d seen Jamie. To her great relief, Jamie’s understanding was in her kiss as well. She deepened it, bringing them closer together, making it harder for them both to breathe, but giving Dani much needed reassurance that she wasn’t the only one crazy about the person sitting beside her. Briefly, the gardener pulled away and asked if she was sure. And Dani was. She was more sure of this than anything she ever had been. She nodded and Jamie’s whispered ‘thank fuck’ was enough to ruin her for anyone else ever again.  

 ***

 Jamie stumbled along, held up by an arm slung over Owen’s shoulder. Dani was miraculously managing her own way despite the vast number of glasses of wine she’d imbibed. Owen gracelessly dumped Jamie onto their bed in the small cottage.

 The gardener gave a small groan in protest and swatted Owen’s hand away when he started unlacing her shoes. “Mmm not th’bad, mate.”

 “Sure, sure,” Owen chuckled as he wavered backward, not altogether sober himself.

 Dani sat down at the foot of the bed. “It’s, um, it’s fine. I’ve got her.”

 Hannah gave Dani a look that communicated quite effectively that Dani’s words gave little reassurance. “Get yourself sorted and I’ll help Jamie. Owen, I’ll be downstairs in a tick.”

 Owen saluted upon his exit, making Jamie giggle.

 The next few moments were a blur of shoes being tossed to the floor and clothes exchanged for pajamas. A more sober version of Dani might have been shy that Hannah was in the room, bearing witness to it all, but something in her told her there was no reason to be.

 Hannah made them both drink a glass of water each before kissing both of them on their cheeks. “Goodnight, my dears. Did you have a good time?”

 “Best hen do a girl could ask for,” Jamie said with a sleepy smile. “Thanks, Mum.”

 Hannah tsked as Dani giggled. “No really,” Dani said, taking the woman’s hand in her own. “Thank you.”

 “We all pitched in. You two mean the world to us, you know.”

 Dani felt a warm glow envelop her heart and her eyes threatened to spill tears. “You mean everything to us, too, Hannah. Love you.”

 “Love you, too,” Hannah smiled and rose. “Get some rest,” she said before closing the door.

 Jamie immediately rolled half on top of Dani. “'Member earlier? We could get creative tonight,” she giggled in Dani’s ear.

 Dani felt herself smile, though her eyes were closed as she hummed softly, barely awake. She tugged on Jamie’s arm currently slung across her middle in an attempt to somehow bring her impossibly closer. She nodded and her hands began to roam, muscle memory taking over, but their roaming slowed as she began to drift.

 “Shit, Poppins, you’re about to pass out.”

 “Hmm?” Dani asked, jolted back to awareness. She opened her eyes and raised her chin to peer at Jamie. “No, no. I’m here.”

 Jamie chortled. “It’s all right.”  She kissed Dani’s sternum before laying her head there. “‘M tired, too. ‘Night, Poppins.”

 “‘Night, Jamie.”

 A beat passed before Dani was jolted awake by Jamie's voice once again. "Poppins?"

 "Hmm? What is it?"

 "Marry me?"

 "Asked you that already."

 "Just making sure."

 "Go to bed."

 "Not the boss o'me."

 "Goodnight, Jay."

 "Goodnight, Poppins."

  Notes:        

Thanks again for reading! I just didn't figure these two for a what might be considered a 'typical' bachelorette party. P.S. Every time you leave kudos or comment, Dani lays a gentle hand on Jamie's shoulder as she sleeps. So... XD

[lazymysteries-blog]

The Laci Peterson Case: Did Her Husband Really Do It?

Laci Peterson

Laci Denise Peterson was born on May 4, 1975, in Modesto, California to parents, Sharon and Dennis Robert Rocha. She had an older brother named, Brent Rocha and a half-sister named, Amy Woodward. Laci’s parents divorced when she was very young and both parents eventually got remarried. As a child, Laci loved working on the dairy farm that her family owned and gardening with her mother. That love for the outdoors and plants would influence her later in life.

Laci graduated from Thomas Downey High school where she was a cheerleader before attending California Polytechnic State University where she majored in Ornamental Horticulture. It was during her college years in 1994 that Laci would meet her future husband, Scott Peterson. They met at a cafe her friend worked at and they immediately hit it off. In 1997 they got married and three years later in October 2000, they purchased a house in Laci’s home town Modesto, California. During this time Scott was working at a European fertilizer company and Laci was working part-time as a substitute teacher while dedicating the rest of her time to being a “perfect” housewife according to her mother and half-sister. In 2002 Laci became pregnant with their first child. They were expecting a baby boy on February 16, 2003, who they planned to name Conner. 

The Disappearance of Laci Peterson

December 24, 2002, started as a normal day for the Petersons. Laci was watching cooking shows, preparing to mop the floor, and getting her home ready for Christmas the next day. At 9:30 am Scott left his home to go fishing at the Berkeley Marina. Laci Peterson was never seen alive again. At least that’s what Scott Peterson claims. Can we really trust him though? Well, let’s see… Other than Scott the last two people who had spoken to Laci were her mother, Sharon and her half-sister, Amy. On December 23 both Laci and Scott went to a hair salon that Amy worked at to get Scott’s monthly hair cut and that night around 8:30 pm Laci spoke on the phone with her mother. They had no idea that that would be the last time they would speak to Laci again. 

At 2:15 pm on the 24th Scott sent a message to his wife saying, “Hey, beautiful. It’s 2:15. I’m leaving Berkely.” When Scott returned home he saw that his wife’s 1996 Land Rover was parked in the driveway and he made his way into their home. Upon entering the house he noticed that his wife was not home but it didn’t worry him too much, he assumed that she was with her mother. Scott told the police that once he got home he took a shower and washed his clothes because they were wet from fishing. Multiple news outlets including the New York Post and The Modesto Bee report that Ron Grantski, Laci’s stepfather, reported her missing after Scott had called Laci’s mother at 5:15 pm when Laci still had not returned home. However, ABC News reports that Scott was the first person to report Laci as a missing person from their Modesto home. 

When police arrived at the scene and began searching the home they found Laci’s sunglasses, keys, and wallet in her purse in a closet. The dinner table was set for the following night and one of the detectives on the case found a phone book opened to a defense lawyer. During the search, police noticed Scott’s extremely calm demeanor. That night the two lead detectives questioned Scott. Originally Scott said that he had gone golfing that day but then later backtracked and stated that he had gone to the Berkely Marina. The police force immediately launched a search for Laci Peterson. Within the first two days of Laci’s disappearance, before any huge media coverage, there had already been 900 people involved in the search for her. After nationwide coverage of the case, that number almost doubled in size to over 1,500 people searching for Laci. A reward of $25,000 was offered to anyone with info on Laci’s disappearance but that price would end up gradually increasing to $500,000.

The Murder of Laci Peterson

On April 13, 2003, a couple who were out walking their dog found the body of a late-term fetus at the San Fransisco Bay shore in Richmond’s Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Park. The umbilical cord of the corpse was still attached to its body and it had been torn instead of cut or clamped. Nylon tape was around the neck of the fetus and there was a large cut on the fetus’ body. Just one day later the body of a previously pregnant woman was found washed up on the eastern rocky shoreline one mile away from where the fetus was found by someone passing by. The body was so decomposed that it was unrecognizable. She was decapitated and her limbs were missing. The forensic pathologist determined through DNA testing that the bodies were, in fact, Laci and Conner Peterson. The forensic pathologist claimed that he couldn’t determine how Laci or Conner died or whether or not the fetus had been born alive or dead but then went on to contradict himself in court when he said, “It was her death that caused Conners while he was in the uterus.”

The conviction of Scott Peterson in the murder of Laci and Conner Peterson

On January 17, 2003, it was publicized that Scott had been having an extramarital affair with a massage therapist named, Amber Frey. The affair had begun about mid-November and allegedly Scott had told Frey that he was a widower about two weeks before the disappearance of his wife. Shortly after Frey found out about Scott’s involvement in the disappearance of Laci Peterson she contacted the police and agreed to assist the police by secretly recording their phone conversations. According to Frey Scott had told her that he was celebrating the New Years’ Eve in Paris but later admitted that he had been in Modesto searching for his missing wife. At this point, the public, Laci’s family, and the police force were extremely suspicious of Scott Peterson. 

On April 18, 2003, Scott was arrested near La Jolla golf course. He claimed to be meeting his brother and father for a game of golf. However, his car was filled with random things including $15,000 in cash, 12 viagra pills, survival gear, camping equipment, several changes of clothes, four cellphones, and two driver licenses. One was his and the other was his brothers. In addition to all of that his naturally brown hair was dyed blond. Scott and his family insisted that his car was in the condition that it was in because he had been living out of it in an attempt to avoid the press and his hair was dyed blond for the same reasons. According to Scott and his family, the police failed to mention that Scott had actually spoken to the police while his hair was dyed blonde.

On April 21, 2003, Scott was charged and pled not guilty to, two felony counts of murder with premeditation and special circumstances. Judge Al Girolami of Stanislaus County Superior Court moved his trial to San Mateo County because of the Bias of the people against Scott Peterson in Stanislaus County. Scott’s trial began on June 1, 2004, and on November 12, 2004, he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Laci Peterson and second-degree murder in the death of his unborn son Conner. He was sentenced to death but his order is postponed along with 737 death row prisoners in California for the duration of Gov. Gavin Newson’s tenure.

My Thoughts

Before I started doing my own research on this case I felt that there was a huge possibility that Scott was innocent, however, as I continued my search for answers I realized that the chances of him being innocent were a lot slimmer than I had originally thought. At this point, I can genuinely say that I have no idea whether or not he committed this crime but I do know one thing. If he isn’t guilty he is most definitely the world’s unluckiest man. Either that or karma really had a chip on its shoulder for Scott Peterson. 

On one hand, I can’t help but notice that it seemed like from the start that the entire world hated him. Unfortunately, that hatred, no doubt, influenced Scott’s conviction. The fact of the matter is there is little to no physical evidence against Scott Peterson. The only physical evidence there was, in this case, was a single strand of Laci Peterson’s hair found in a pair of pliers in Scott’s boat. The rest of the “evidence” against Scott was purely demeanor driven. Which under normal circumstances just wouldn’t have been enough for someone to be convicted of a crime of this caliber. In addition to all of that, the way the investigation was conducted was so shady to me. The defense team performed a test to see if a 150-pound human can be thrown over a small boat and they determined that it could not be done. The court refused to conduct the test in trial claiming that it would be too dangerous to test which literally proves that they knew it couldn’t be done. The fact that they never even attempted to take this evidence into account just shows how unfair the trail was. In addition to that, the police failed to investigate a break-in that happened across the street from the Peterson’s house the day of Laci’s disappearance. Why not investigate something like that? Why not explore all avenues? This is not justice. This investigation was not conducted with Laci’s best interest at heart. Justice would have been investigating until the person convicted was absolutely guilty of the crime.

On the other hand, Scott’s demeanor is… to say the least creepy. On more than one occasion he has incriminated himself. Besides, the affair and the possible attempted getaway he has refused a polygraph test and acted suspiciously during interviews, most notably,  in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC’s Good Morning America Scott referred to his wife in the past tense before her body was found saying, “She was amazing.” These things and many others have me asking myself why an innocent man would continuously do and say things that mirror the actions of someone who is guilty. 

My final word is that I hope that Scott Peterson can have a retrial. Not for him but for Laci. I just can’t help but feel like so many questions about her murder have gone unanswered. That is just not fair to Laci or her family. What are your thoughts? Do you believe that Scott Peterson did it? Or do you think that it was someone else? Discuss your thoughts in the comment section. 

 Until next time, bye.

SOURCES

https://time.com/3461244/gone-girl-scott-peterson/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/blind-injustice/201801/is-scott-peterson-innocent-part-one

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/70rkn6/could_scott_peterson_be_innocent/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Laci_Peterson

https://www.eonline.com/uk/news/901220/secrets-lies-sadness-laci-peterson-s-murder-is-long-solved-but-here-s-why-the-case-won-t-rest

https://members.huntakiller.com/blog-articles/2017/8/16/new-docuseries-questions-scott-petersons-guilt

http://www.statementanalysis.com/scott-peterson/

https://www.bustle.com/articles/160363-what-happened-to-amber-frey-scott-petersons-girlfriend-shes-trying-to-put-the-case-behind-her

[broken-clover]

Dust Strikers Story Mode 1/4

I haven’t seen too many resources available when it comes to Guilty Gear: Dust Strikers, a DS-only sidegame released in 2006. While I will agree that the gameplay and story did leave a bit to be desired, I still get a decent bit of fun out of it as the only GG game I own that I can play at college. I wound up going through all 20 story modes for the purpose of jotting down all the game dialogue, in case anybody needed it for reference for whatever reason and didn’t have a copy of the game. I’m gonna upload this in chunks for the sake of space.

Part 1 (Sol, Ky, May, Millia, Axl), Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Dialogue for some scenes is repeated. I tried my best to keep this more or less lifted right from the game, though I did make a few edits just for grammar’s sake because this game isn’t very well edited. I did not try to change any conversations just for the sake of it.

Sol:...Whew... Jam: How rude. What's your problem? Faust: Is there something wrong? Sol: A doctor and a chef? This is a big joke. Quit following me wherever I go. Go back to your real jobs, man! Faust: This is what it takes to master the tricks of the trade. It's necessary to learn to see things from the patient's perspective. Jame: The art of cooking is also a quest. You're not gonna find anything new just by sitting around. Venom: Then I should get to know a wider variety of opponents. Let's roll! Sol: Move it. Just go to bed!

Bridget: Whoah, everybody looks tough Chipp: Hey! what's a kid doing here? Eddie: A child. Attractive in terms of her youthfulness but too immature to become my host Bridget: You're not taking me seriously? Then let me show you my moves Sol:...back off. Don't be wasting my time Eddie: Interesting. I shall keep a record of the battle results for future reference Bridget: Don't be surprised! Here I come! Sol: What am I, a babysitter? I can't deal with this...

Slayer: This is quite an unusual combination Sol: I'm starting to get tired of your face Testament: Different being. What do you want? Slayer: Nope. Nothing in particular. Just happened to pass by. Testament: Then please go away Dizzy: Oh, you're Mr. Slayer, aren't you? Please excuse Testament's words. He doesn't mean any harm. Slayer: I'm not bothered by it. Don't worry. But this is quite interesting. Sol: So what the hell is your point? Slayer: Those who have veered off the path. I guess the same must be said of me. Testament: What are you insinuating? You better have a good explanation Slayer: My apologies if I offended you. I'm just genuinely interested in your powers Sol: You using us to kill your boredom? I think it's time you hung em up.

Anji: Finally found you. Sol:...It's you again. Anji: Let me ask you straight out. Do you have any idea where 'he' is? Sol: So what if I know? Anji: Can you tell me where he is? Of course I'm willing to work for it. You and I have a bout, and if I win, you tell me. Sounds fair? Baiken: Wait! Let me in on the festivities Sol: Sorry, not interested. You guys enjoy each other's company Anji: Even Justice feared my powers...Still not interested? Sol:...! Baiken: Shut your trap! You're starting to get on my nerves. I'll kick all of your butts right now! Axl: Whoa!...Damn it...is this a bad time? Baiken: Eavesdropping, are we? I'm not impressed! Axl: I just wanted to ask chief something Sol: And even you. Why does everyone want to stick their noses in other people's business! Axl: No worries, chief! Just a quick bout, no hard feelings! Sol: I'm not responsible for what happens.

I-no: You're late. You shouldn't make ladies wait like that. Sol: shut up. What are you wandering around for? Johnny: Hey, what a coincidence. Didn't expect to run into you here....guess yu're busy with a woman Sol: You stay out of it I-no: Ooh, another cute guy Ky: All of you! Freeze right there! I-no: and now a cute boy, too. Ky: Sol..! And Johnny the pirate, and you're..! I-no: I'd stay out of it if I were you. Why don't you just go home to mommy? Sol: That's enough chit chatting. Let's let the fists do the talking! Ky: ...Sol! I-no: The violent guy as always. Sure, why not...I'll cut you all up into pieces! Ky: I guess there's no alternative. Holy Knight combat was initially meant for handling multiple enemies. I'll show you what it's all about!

Sol: Finally we meet... Gig: Grrr... Sol: I'm here to figure you out. Gig: Grrrgh! Sol:...Too late, I guess. Then die.

Gig: Grr...grr... Sol: Don't bother. It's over Gig: Grr.... Sol:...I'll make sure we get even for your sake. I guarantee you we'll find the dirt bag...

Ky

Jam: Ayah! Who's this cute guy? Ky: You must be...that chef, Ms. Jam Kuradoberi. Jam: That's right! You remembered me! I'm so happy! Ky: I'm glad to see you're doing well. May: Wahts...oops! Oh no! Ky: You must be May, the pirate May: Are you going after Johnny? You'll have to get by me first. Ky: Please, put your guard down. I'm not after pirates right now. Testament: So you're out bounty-hunting then. Probably after me then, aren't you? Jam: Ooh, you're quite the hottie too. Wanna work at my restaurant? Testament: Stop talking nonsense... May: It's two hot guys...but Johnny's way hotter than both of you!

Zappa: Hey! Miss! Millia:...Yes? Zappa: If it's possible, can you be my wi... Millia:... Zappa: Actually, never mind... Axl: Dude, let me show you how it's done. Hey, you in the beautiful blond hair! Let me buy you a cup of coffee so I can see which glows brighter, your hair or your eyes. Millia:...Um, I'm in a hurry. Ky: You're Millia, the former assassin. If you're not with the guild anymore, leave the rest to the police force. No need to put yourself in danger. Millia: I'll take care of him. It's none of your business. Ky: But no, we have to... Zappa: What's all this talk about? Even the police are here. Maybe I should get outta...NO!...Happiness. Hatred! Hatred! Millia: Why don't I ever have luck with men?

Faust: Traveling lady with the scent of blood. Where are you headed? Baiken: Get lost, you lame doc. It's none of your business. I can kill whoever I want. Chipp: Woman enduring countless bloodshed. So you're that Japanese beauty? Ky: There's nothing but anger inside you. As a protector of public safety, I can't let such hateful words pass Baiken: Kid, if you don't wanna get hurt, you should just keep your mouth shut Ky: I have confidence in my sword. Not exactly my favorite option, but in this case I have no choice Faust: What you need is some time off in total peaceful serenity. As a physician, it is my obligation to make sure that you are cured.

Anji: You must be Ky Kiske, former leader of the Sacred Order of Holy Knights Ky: Yes, that would be me. And who are you? Anji: Last name is Mito, first name is Anji. I'm just a journeyman Ky: So what can I help you with? Anji: I'd like to challenge you to a match. I wanted to see firsthand the skills of a top-class warrior like yourself. Ky: I can tell from your presence that you're not an ordinary foe. Asian martial arts? Interesting. I accept your challenge. Slayer: In that case, count me in too. Fighting for the sake of fighting. To me fighting is life's best form of entertainment. Don't you think? Potemkin: I myself haven’t had any worthy opponents recently. Sure, I'll take you on. Ky: This is getting interesting. It's been a while for me too. Bring it on!

I-no: You're late. You shouldn't make ladies wait like that. Sol: shut up. What are you wandering around for? Johnny: Hey, what a coincidence. Didn't expect to run into you here....guess you're busy with a woman. Sol: You stay out of it. I-no: Ooh, another cute guy. Ky: All of you! Freeze right there! I-no: and now a cute boy, too. Ky: Sol..! And Johnny the pirate, and you're..! I-no: I'd stay out of it if I were you. Why don't you just go home to mommy? Sol: That's enough chit chatting. Let's let the fists do the talking! Ky: ...Sol! I-no: The violent guy as always. Sure, why not...I'll cut you all up into pieces! Ky: I guess there's no alternative. Holy Knight combat was initially meant for handling multiple enemies. I'll show you what it's all about!

Ky: What overpowering energy! Gig: Grr... Ky: You telling me this used to be a man? Gig: Grrrgh! Ky: Damn! I have no other choice...

Gig: Grr...grr... Ky: Barely managed to hang on... Gig: Ghhh... Ky: It looks like his losing control of reason has maximized his powers to infinite levels... Gig: Grr.... Ky: ...Pease, rest in peace I-no: Good job for a young boy like you. Ky:! I-no: I can probably kill you easily now...but that wouldn't be fun. So I'll let you go. Ky: You tell the man who created Gears, that he will pay for his crimes! I-no: You don't stand a chance! Why don't you look at yourself in the mirror before you speak? But I'll let him know anyway. Seeya! Ky: ...hate to admit it, but I'm not strong enough yet...but I will eventually rise over the true Gear powers.

May

May: I've got the chills. Faust: Perhaps you have a cold. Here, let me take a look. May: Don't come near me! Faust: What's the problem? May: These vibes...I'm positive! You're...you're bald, aren't you! Venom: You must be Faust, the Dark Doctor. Or should I call you doctor- Faust: Stop it. I don't use that name anymore. Venom:...Excuse me for being disrespectful. Doctor, I'd like you to accompany me. Faust: I'm sorry, my job is to save lives. I don't know if I can be of much help to you and your comrades. May: Look at all that hair...I guess it's not as bad as being bald...doesn't it get in the way? Venom: Let's put your limitations into perspective, then. You'll realize there are only so many lives you can save! May: Who, me? Zappa: KILL! KILL! Let me kill! May: What's with all these weirdos? I'm fighting for real, then!

Chipp: Please, I'm begging you! Baiken: Geez, what is your problem? Chipp: Make me Japanese! Even samurai give mercy, don't they? Baiken: No samurai here. Not a chance, buddy. Be a big boy and get over it, willya? Anji: Hey, what are you doing here? Chipp: You'll do! Please, tell me how to become Japanese! Anji: There's no way in hell, man. Be content being the 'president' Chipp: NO! I wanna become the president, become a Japanese, surpass master's ninjutsu abilities and take revenge! May: You guys arguing over something? Chipp: Damn...what are you doing here? Anji: Yup. A 'Japanese' May: Japa...what? Why're you crying sir? Something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Chipp: I will reach the top! You watch me, master! May: Wow, you scared me! You know I'm tough when I'm mad!

Jam: Ayah! Who's this cute guy? Ky: You must be...that chef, Ms. Jam Kuradoberi. Jam: That's right! You remembered me! I'm so happy! Ky: I'm glad to see you're doing well. May: Whats...oops! Oh no! Ky: You must be May, the pirate May: Are you going after Johnny? You'll have to get by me first. Ky: Please, put your guard down. I'm not after pirates right now. Testament: So you're out bounty-hunting then. Probably after me then, aren't you? Jam: Ooh, you're quite the hottie too. Wanna work at my restaurant? Testament: Stop talking nonsense... May: It's two hot guys...but Johnny's way hotter than both of you!

May: Wow! Look how big you are! Potemkin: And so are you. May: Hey! That's not very nice! Potemkin: No, I just thought you grew a little compared to the last time I saw you May: Well thanks fr the compliment. Think I'm good enough for Johnny now? Eddie: Having a host in her growth spurt...might not be a bad idea. Johnny: Out of the way, May! Potemkin: Humph! May:...Thanks Johnny: Thanks. I owe you one. Eddie: How dare you... May: Now it's my turn! I'll prove it to you that a girl in love is unbeatable!

Millia: Long time no see...Honey, you look very different. Dizzy: It's all thanks to May, and all of my great friends. May: Hee hee. Stop, you're embarrassing me Dizzy...everyone loves you only because you're a good person, that's all. Bridget: Yes, I think so too. To think that there used to be a bounty on her is weird when you think about it now. Millia: Treasure that happiness you have. And don't turn out like me. May: Why don't you join Jellyfish too? I'm sure Johnny will welcome you. Not to mention you're beautiful. I'm a bit jealous...don'f forget though, Johnny is mine! Millia:...thanks. But I think I'll take a pass. I have some unfinished business. Plus...actually, never mind. I think I better go now. Okay, let me through.

May: Phew. Finally here. Gig: Grr.... May: Wow!...No worries. I'm not freaked out. Johnny always tells me I should lend a helping hand to those in need. Come with me, my friend. Gig: Grrrgh! May: What! Whoa!

Gig: Grr...grr... May:...Why? I didn't want to do this to you. Gig: Grr... May: I'm so sorry...

Dizzy: May! May: Dizzy...I couldn't do it...Couldn't help him like Johnny would. I just wish we could've been friends. Dizzy:...I think you did the right thing... May: Whatdya mean? Dizzy: Look at that peaceful face. Thanks to you, he's finally free from long suffering. May:... Dizzy: Let's go back. Everyone's waiting. May:...uh, all right (...rest in peace, my friend...and good night)

Millia

Zappa: Hey! Miss! Millia:...Yes? Zappa: If it's possible, can you be my wi... Millia:... Zappa: Actually, never mind... Axl: Dude, let me show you how it's done. Hey, you in the beautiful blond hair! Let me buy you a cup of coffee so I can see which glows brighter, your hair or your eyes. Millia:...Um, I'm in a hurry. Ky: You're Millia, the former assassin. If you're not with the guild anymore, leave the rest to the police force. No need to put yourself in danger. Millia: I'll take care of him. It's none of your business. Ky: But no, we have to... Zappa: What's all this talk about? Even the police are here. Maybe I should get outta...NO!...Happiness. Hatred! Hatred! Millia: Why don't I ever have luck with men?

I-no: What do we have here, the desperate bachelorettes council? Baiken: What kind of greeting is that? That's not a very nice thing to say Jam: That's right! You're rude! And what about you? I-no: Oh dear, don't be so uptight. It's just a joke, honey. Or were you offended 'cause I was right on the mark? Millia: You're a joke. Why don't you get outta here. I-no: Oh no. I'm scared. I guess this is how women become as they get older. Baiken: You crazy! I'll cut you up into pieces! Jam: I'm not showing you any mercy either! Millia: If you're not gonna get outta here, we'll have to get rid of you. It's as simple as that. I-no: You're such sweethearts. Very well, I make you cry lots. We'll find out how loud you can cry.

Millia: Long time no see...Honey, you look very different. Dizzy: It's all thanks to May, and all of my great friends. May: Hee hee. Stop, you're embarrassing me Dizzy...everyone loves you only because you're a good person, that's all. Bridget: Yes, I think so too. To think that there used to be a bounty on her is weird when you think about it now. Millia: Treasure that happiness you have. And don't turn out like me. May: Why don't you join Jellyfish too? I'm sure Johnny will welcome you. Not to mention you're beautiful. I'm a bit jealous...don'f forget though, Johnny is mine! Millia:...thanks. But I think I'll take a pass. I have some unfinished business. Plus...actually, never mind. I think I better go now. Okay, let me through.

Testament:...Long time no see. Millia: That's a first. You coming up to me to say hi. Things have changed, haven't they? Testament: You're still caught up in the past and changing the thorny path. Millia:...it's none of your business. Move out of the way, will you? Testament: I don't have a problem, but... Millia:... Testament: You seem hesitant. With such mixed feelings, it may cost you your life. Millia:!!! I must have lost my edge, to be getting advice from you. Potemkin: What he's saying is on the money. Those with swaying motivation never fight to their full potential. Please excuse my eavesdropping. Anji: Just happened to pass by. Millia: Then I guess I'll have to eliminate all doubts before I get to him. I'll need your cooperation for that.

Millia: So...we meet again...Zato. Eddie: So you still haven't gotten over him? Millia: Shut up, you damn beast...I'm talking to him, not you! Eddie: What do you want to talk to ME about? Millia: I'm taking you down. I'm sick and tired of looking at your pathetic, bony remains. Venom: Not so fast...! Master Zato is regarded as the crown-jewel of the guild. You'll have to hand him over to me...! Slayer: I've told you the Guild is no more. No raison d'etre and no purpose. Continued existence will only bring further regret and despair. Venom: Oldtimers can keep their mouth shut. The guild no longer belongs to you. Millia: It has nothing to do with me anymore, I don't care what happens to it. I just want to take care of this guy with my very own hands. Eddie: Do you think it will be that easy? What do "I" think?"...Not so easy, "I" say. Venom: I sense you...Master Zato. I am going to free you, Master, from the evil spell of death! Eddie: Ha ha...this is great! Lowly humans who cannot accept death. That's the right evil spirit to have! Slayer: I'm the one who started all of this. I must atone for my past deeds. Fine, let us put an end to it all.

Millia: You look very much like him. Gig: Grr... Millia:You resemble him...and you resemble me. Gig: Grrrgh! Millia:...All right. I'll let you rest.

Gig: Grr...grr... Millia:...good night. It's all over now. For you, and for me. Gig: Grr... Millia:...may your soul rest in peace

Millia: (Have I been watching my own future? Is this what you wanted to tell me? Zato...)

Axl

Axl: Hey, what's that you're holding? I didn't know you had those toys, even in this day and age. Bridget: This is not a toy! It's a tool of my trade! Axl: Ouch! I'm sorry! What have we here? Playing pool at a place like this? Venom: How dare you insult my combat style. I say you deserve a beating. Axl: Hang on a sec! Something wrong with this era. Every toy's being used as a weapon. So what do people actually play with? Johnny: The best for of entertainment, I'd say is the thrill and romance of playing with fireworks at night. I'm pretty sure that's the consensus. Axl: You know what you're talking about! I'm actually great with fire myself...here we go!

Chipp: Hey! I have a question. Axl: Hi there, you look very hot. I-no: You talking about me? Axl: Of course! Who else would it be? Great body, silky smooth hair, you're electrifying! I-no: You're very good with words. Let me ask you then. Who's hotter? That woman or me? Chipp: Hey, listen up! Millia:...don't bother me. Chipp: !...you used to be in the guild! Millia: Yes, but that was a long while ago. Now I'm in the same boat as you. Axl: Ah man, this is a tough one. They're both really hot. Chipp: I'm taking down the guild! You women stay out of it! Millia: That I cannot do. Just like you, I can't pull out. Axl: This is a tough decision... Millia: And...quit staring at me with that perverted look on your face! Axl: Oops, I think I got her mad at me.

Potemkin: You youngster there. I see you have some talent. How about testing some of that talent on my fists? Axl: Man, you've got a nice build. But what do you have to gain? Plus, are you sure you can handle me? Potemkin: I wouldn't underestimate me. My drive for freedom locked inside my heart is my greatest weapon. Axl: Cool. I love peace and freedom too. But you might get out of breath when you're so stiff all the time. Ky: So you're fighting in the name of peace and freedom. Perhaps I might come up with answers for myself too. Excuse me, I'd like in as well. Jam: Just drive won't take you anywhere. There's no victory for those who can't face reality. I'll prove it to you right now!

Faust: This is an interesting symptom. I see, it's a cause and effect cycle. Axl: You, I never asked you to check up on me! Even though it's true that I've been through a lot, I've never had any doubts about my body. Faust: Oh, is that right? If there aren't any cures, that may very well be the best treatment. Axl: I'm more concerned about your body. Looks a little mysterious. Faust: Not to worry. It's all functional Slayer: Irregulars with an added spice that changes the world of men. Axl: You talking about us? Slayer: It's because of people like you that makes humans interesting. Even though you're blessed with great powers, it's normal to you. Very typical of how humans behave. Axl: It'll stress you out if you think so deeply. Zappa: Hahahahaha! Slayer: Look. Yet another fellow favored by the goddess of fortune. Axl: I do like women but I'm not sure about the goddess. Slayer: It must be the uncertainty factor that led you into running into me Axl: C'mon, let's just have fun...I thought this was supposed to be a party!

Anji: Finally found you. Sol:...It's you again. Anji: Let me ask you straight out. Do you have any idea where 'he' is? Sol: So what if I know? Anji: Can you tell me where he is? Of course I'm willing to work for it. You and I have a bout, and if I win, you tell me. Sounds fair? Baiken: Wait! Let me in on the festivities Sol: Sorry, not interested. You guys enjoy each other's company Anji: Even Justice feared my powers...Still not interested? Sol:...! Baiken: Shut your trap! You're starting to get on my nerves. I'll kick all of your butts right now! Axl: Whoa!...Damn it...is this a bad time? Baiken: Eavesdropping, are we? I'm not impressed! Axl: I just wanted to ask chief something Sol: And even you. Why does everyone want to stick their noses in other people's business! Axl: No worries, chief! Just a quick bout, no hard feelings! Sol: I'm not responsible for what happens.

Axl: Huh? You can still speak? Gig: Grr... Axl: Man, what am I gonna do? Gig: Grrgh! Axl: Sorry dude, it's not my time yet.

Gig: Grr....grr... Axl: Phew! Hey, man. Haven't you had enough? Gig: Grr... Axl: I think that should be enough....what? This sensation!!! That Man: It is not yet the time for you to find out the truth. When the time comes you will find out. Whether you like it or not! Axl: Who are you? That Man: We shall part for a short time. Time traveler. Axl:...Ahhhgh!

Axl: What period is this? Looks like a messy period in time. Oh well, things will work out. Since getting rattled isn't my style!

[wellhellotragic]

If Looks Could Kill 4/27

Summary: Emma Swan is a dedicated FBI agent getting over a bad breakup. When she and her partner, Ruby Lucas, are forced to go undercover as contestants on a reality show, Emma is forced to try and win the affections of Killian Jones, a man she despises.

Killian Jones is a lost boy. Having recently been nicknamed the ‘Bad Boy of Boston,’ he’s been living up to his moniker using women and rum to avoid dealing with his dark past. When he’s forced to take the lead in a reality show, he encounters a gorgeous blonde who turns his world upside down.

Miss Congeniality meets The Bachelor

Rated: M for language, violence, and smut.

Catch up here: 1, 2, 3

Killian didn’t make it to bed until almost three in the morning. After his encounter with Emma, he returned to find the production crew waiting for him. They insisted that he do his interviews that night while he was still dressed up and while all of the women were still fresh in his mind.

The truth though, was that Emma was right. Most of the women did blur together after the first five minutes of the evening. The only ones who really stuck out were the ones that were over the top inappropriate, like the girl from New Orleans who grabbed his butt talking about how he could give her some pointers on some sticky buns for her restaurant.

And then there was Emma. As soon as he laid his eyes on her he felt drawn to her by an invisible force. She wasn’t like the rest of them and he was entranced. She didn’t seem fazed by his fame or money, and their short conversation had been the most stimulating exchange he had had in months, years maybe, but he wouldn’t let himself think about that.

Their interaction that night had been brief, but he couldn’t help but think that maybe this whole experience wouldn’t be as horrible as he expected. Who knows, maybe the others would be less exasperating in a more intimate setting.

There was a special room set up near the front of the mansion with cameras and lighting already in position. David had him sit in a wingback chair near a roaring fireplace so they could adjust the lighting for filming.

Off to the side, out of the view of the camera, was a man named Sebastian. He was holding a stack of headshots to help Killian remember who each woman from that evening was. The interview consisted of asking the same question about every single contestant there. The network would choose four or five of his answers from that episode to run in the promo.

It took all of his strength to fake interest in any of it. He was supposed to be a guy looking for love and thrilled at the prospect of meeting his soul mate. In reality he was simply a heartbroken man who no longer believed in love, at least for him. When he lost Milah, he swore off relationships out of respect to her and what they had. No other woman would ever compare to her.

When the interviewer held up a portrait of the last woman, Emma Fowler, he couldn’t contain the grin that overtook his face. The interviewer not missing the first real bit of sincerity Killian had showed all night jumped, asking more questions about Emma than any of the other girls.

“So,” he started, “I’d ask if there were any women that might be front-runners at this point, but judging by the way you just lit up I think we have our answer. What is it about Emma that stuck out to you?”

Once the interviewer had asked the question, Killian realized what was happening. He felt an attraction for Emma that surpassed anything physical. Even after knowing her for only five minutes he could tell she was sharp and witty, and there had been something about her that shouted to him that she might even understand him. That she had experienced pain too. Those were dangerous thoughts though and he had to shut them down.

Emma could be a fun distraction while he was trapped filming the show, but it couldn’t go beyond that, wouldn’t go beyond that. He had already found and lost his true love, and would never be ready to move on; he could never disrespect what they had together.

“Um, I wouldn’t say there were any front-runners per say. I met the women briefly tonight but haven’t really had the chance to get to know them yet.”

He was coy for the rest of the interview, and when they finally wrapped, he was taken back to he guesthouse where he quickly passed out from exhaustion.

Emma barely slept. Images of Neal and his broken promises haunted her all night. It had taken Emma years to trust a man again, only to have that trust thrown back in her face. What she had with Neal was a lie, Walsh was a lie, and now whatever she was forced to forge with Killian was going to be a lie.

Killian was easier though. She wouldn’t get her heart broken this time because she wouldn’t let him in. Last night, telling him about the déjà vu theory was a fluke. She never meant to give him something so honest, but with everyone whispering in her ear to be nice to Killian it just slipped out.

Ruby had reminded her that there were eyes everywhere watching their every move, and she needed to stay in character, which meant playful banter with Killian.

Robin told her that despite all of Killian’s false bravado, he was actually a decent guy underneath it all. When Killian mentioned the odd feeling, Robin was certain that Killian had recognized her, while Will told her to distract him before he could put it together.

So many voices were swirling around and it was the first thought that came to mind. As soon as she said it all of the pain came flooding back and she cursed herself for allowing Neal into her thoughts, into her life. When he told her that he liked the idea, and that perhaps it meant he wasn’t as lost as he thought, she sensed sincerity in his words. In that moment he wasn’t the womanizing pig from the other night. He was just a handsome stranger sharing a meaningful conversation, and she felt a spark of something between them when she saw the way he looked at her.

No, Emma wouldn’t let another man into her life, as tempting as he may have been, even if it were only for a few months. It was safer that way. Of course, he probably hadn’t even given her a second thought after that. There were so many faces last night, he would never be able to pick her out of crowd, and that made her feel just a tiny bit better.

Emma got out of bed and tiptoed around the room trying not to wake Ruby. She changed into some workout gear and snuck her way of out the house. Typically the girls on the show were forced to remain in the house, only being allowed to leave for special occasions, and always under supervision.

Since Emma and Ruby weren’t actual contestants, they had a little more leniency, citing that they needed to keep up their physical activities and meet covertly with their team. They still had to keep it a secret from everyone so she and Ruby would have to be careful sneaking in and out of the house without anyone noticing.

Regina explained that by isolating the girls from the world, it would heighten their emotional responses, making them desperate for Killian, and therefore provide more entertainment. Ruby chimed in, adding that it meant more catfights, meltdowns, and ultimately more pinning for Killian.

Emma coined it for what it was, psychological torture. There were no phones or computers allowed. The girls only had each other for company, making male companionship all that more desirable. Remembering that she would have to compete in humiliating contests made her angrier.

The fury building up helped to push her through an extra two miles of her run. She had found a slightly overgrown trail that lead to some docks at the back of the property. There was a small boathouse at one end of the decking, but no boats moored. It was the perfect place to hide when everything became too much.

She sat on the end of the dock, letting her legs dangle over the edge almost able to dip her shoes into the water. She stayed there watching the sunrise. It would probably be the only relaxing time she would get for the rest of the day. The smell and sounds of the waves crashing against the bulkhead were intoxicating, and she had to summon all of her will to stand up. People would start waking up soon and she needed to get back before she was missed.

She stretched out the muscles that had stiffened before turning back, just in time to hear voices approaching.

She heard a female voice yell out, “Race you there,” followed by male laughter.

She looked around to see if there was another trail to take back but there wasn’t. Perhaps if she kept her head down he would be too entranced with his new running mate to notice her.

“Hey, fancy meeting you here.” It was Ruby, panting hard. Ruby had never been much of a runner. She preferred pilates and kickboxing. In fact she only ever ran in preparations for her annual physicals at the bureau.

“Emma?” Killian looked surprised.

Emma glanced between the two of them as they traded guilty glances, and a small ember of jealousy began to form. She suddenly understood why Ruby was so willing to make an exception to her running rule.

“I should have known you’d be out here when I saw your empty bed this morning,” Ruby said.

Killian did a double take between the two ladies. “Wait, are you two roommates?”

Emma didn’t answer so Ruby spoke up for her.

“Ya, she’s actually my best friend. I had to beg her to come with me so I wasn’t alone in this house with all of these crazy girls.”

He made a face as he looked at Emma. It was a face she has seen far too often on Neal. The guilt ridden ‘I’m sorry’ face, but I’m really only sorry that I got caught. Of course he was still just a guy, after anything with boobs. Of course she didn’t mean anything to him. Of course last night had just been part of the game.

Game. Face. On.

“Ya, sorry, I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to wake you, but I’m about to head back so we won’t have to fight for the shower.” She didn’t even wait to see Ruby’s expression before turning back to trail and taking off, running as fast as she could, creating as much distance between them as possible.

As she was leaving she heard Ruby call after Killian, before he made some sort of joke about her trying to get him all hot and bothered.

She showered, changed into a sweatshirt and leggings, leaving her damp hair down to dry naturally making sure her ear com was well hidden, and went into the kitchen where she was met with the smell of fresh coffee. There where two women sitting at the bar with steaming mugs. She immediately recognized Elsa by her platinum blonde bun, but didn’t identify the girl next to her until she came around the island to grab herself a cup. It was Tamara.

Both ladies got quiet so Emma went into undercover mode.

“Looks like great minds thing alike,” she stated holding up her now full mug. Elsa and Tamara followed suit toasting their mugs in the air as well. Emma sat down across the island from them breathing in her coffee.

It was Tamara that finally broke the awkward silent standoff they seemed to have been having. “So, anyone have a clue what they’ve got in store for us today?”

“I overheard some of the production crew talking last night. I didn’t catch all of it, but they said something about making sure the kitchen was fully stocked for today. I guess we’re having a big group meal?” Elsa was taking animatedly with her heads, clearly proud of herself for having the inside scoop.

“Morning Swan,” Robin chirped merrily before Will chimed in. “Did you have lovely dreams about anyone.”

Emma grumbled to herself, but not quietly enough.

Tamara raised one eyebrow at her. “Ah, I get it. Group dates not your thing? Can’t wait to get him all alone?”

Maybe it was just Emma’s cynicism leaking through but she was sure Tamara’s words were searing with contempt.

Emma forced the corners of he mouth to tug up. “You caught me.”

Before she could say anything more she heard Ruby in her ear. “Emma, remember we need her to trust us. I’m on my way down.” Trust was a four-letter word. Like she trusted Ruby to have her back, before she saw her sneaking around with Killian that morning.

A pang of guilt washed over her. Deep down Emma knew that she could trust Ruby with anything, even her life. And as far as Killian went, he wasn’t hers. She didn’t even want him she reminded herself. Ruby was just doing her job, giving him a reason to keep her around, while also making sure Tamara wasn’t alone with him.

“Personally, I’d love to see a catfight. Maybe you could throw some pillows in while it’s still early and everyone’s in the nighties. Come on, Swan, you know you could take her.”

She heard a thumping noise followed by an “oi, wud ya do that for” and forced herself not to snicker.

Robin’s voice came over the line next. “Sorry, Swan, ignore him.”

As Ruby arrived she grabbed a glass and some orange juice from the fridge and settled on a bar stool next to Emma, before more girls started trickling downstairs.

Twenty minutes later Mary Margaret appeared. “Okay ladies, you have thirty minutes to get ready and meet back here in the kitchen. We’ll bring in Killian and he’ll explain what you’ll all be doing on your group dates today.”

She left as quickly as she disappeared and Emma found Ruby dragging her back upstairs. Ruby went to the closet and pulled out a sundress tossing it on Emma’s bed, turning back to grab some matching strappy wedges, before whirling back to grab an outfit for herself.

She instructed Emma to change into the dress as she did the same. Both Women did their hair and makeup in relative silence, which was unusual for them.

“Are we okay? Did I do something to upset you?” Ruby asked.

Emma shut her eyes and threw her head back.

“No, it’s not you. I’m just stressed and honestly I was a little surprised to see you two together this morning.” Thinking better of her words and not wanting to seem jealous she added, “and I just thought people weren’t supposed to see us outside of the house.”

“What is she talking about, Ruby?” Robin’s tone was oddly serious. “Ruby, I know you’re a little free-spirited with your sexuality, but please tell me you didn’t sleep with him last night.”

“What,” she shrieked. “No, of course not. God, Locksley, you’ve been spending way too much time trapped in that van with Scarlett.”

“Hey,” Will shouted. “I resemble that remark.”

“Guys,” Emma cried out exasperatedly. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just saw them out jogging this morning.”

“Ugh, this is a huge clusterfuck.” Ruby sighed and fell back on her bed. “I didn’t mean to go jogging. I was trying to get to the van and he was heading off to the trails. He asked what I was doing and then made a crude joke about me not needed to hunt him down. I couldn’t tell him where I was really going so I told him I was just going for a quick jog and he invited himself along. I wasn’t even wearing the right bra for it, and now ‘the girls’ are screaming at me.”

Killian was in a good mood, a rarity as of late. He had intended to sleep in given how late he went to bed, but he woke with the first bit of light streaming through the window. He assumed it was due to the lack of alcohol, his body wasn’t used to being sober anymore. Regina had left strict instructions with the wait staff and film crew that Killian was not to have more than two drinks that night. She didn’t want him making an ass of himself in front of millions of viewers and editing could only do so much.

He also found that he had a lot of nervous energy still surging through his system from the previous night and needed to burn some of it off. Noticing that there was no workout equipment in his guesthouse, he decided going for a run would be the only option.

He strapped on his sneakers and headed out. About half a mile down though, he spotted one of the girls from the night before sneaking around. She was obviously trying to accidentally run into him. As he came closer and got a better view of her face he realized who she was. He couldn’t remember her name, but he certainly remembered her occupation. She was the lingerie model, and she certainly had the curves for it.

“And where might we be off to this fine morning?”

She jumped. He really needed to remember to clear his throat or something to announce his presence.

“Um.” She bounced on her feet looking around. “Please don’t tell anyone since we’re not supposed to leave but I was getting restless and really just wanted to get in a jog.”

“Okay then, after you.” She hadn’t exactly invited him along, but the whole reason she was even there was for him so of course she’d love his company.

She didn’t say anything, just started jogging slowly, painfully slowly. They may as well have been walking the trail. His only consolation was the view of her assets jiggling around as she bounced from foot to foot.

When they finally made their way to the docks, clearly not as private of an area as he would have imagined, he was shocked to see the blonde goddess already there. He wanted to talk to her, but his workout partner beat him to it.

He looked over to the panting girl next to him and back to Emma. Her face warped almost immediately. Was she jealous? Surely not, after all, last night she made it clear that she wasn’t entirely invested in winning the competition, or at least that’s how she made it seem. Maybe she did care.

Crap. Not only were they roommates but they were best friends and Emma was there unwillingly. This would make things more challenging if he wanted anything to happen with either of them. While Emma had plagued his thoughts all morning, he had pushed that idea deep into the back of his mind. He couldn’t allow her to be special, not for Milah.

She left quickly without saying much and the brunette next to him seemed unphased. She knew Emma better than anyone, and if she didn’t seemed bothered, then it must have meant Emma wasn’t bothered by them being together either. Why did that upset him?

When he returned to his guesthouse after his jog Mary Margaret was waiting for him. She gave him the schedule for the day, instructing him not to eat too much for breakfast. She told him she’d be back for him before the hour was up so he should shower and she’d send over hair, makeup, and wardrobe.

It didn’t take nearly as long to get ready this time. The hair lady let him keep his hair in the messy style he loved, and his outfit was much more relaxed. He got to pick between three shades of jeans, and then was handed a blue button down to match, which the wardrobe guy insisted looked better with the sleeves rolled up. The makeup girl still lingered though.

When Mary Margaret returned, he was all ready to go. She brought him into the kitchen where all of the ladies were already waiting. He scanned the room and found Emma in a back corner, standing with the model from that morning. He made a mental note that he was really going to have to learn some names soon.

Mary Margaret turned everything over to him so he could explain the challenge.

“Okay ladies,” he started. “I think we’ve all heard the age old adage that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. And we all know the whole reason we’re here is for one of you to try and win my heart.”

He could see all of ladies looking back and forth to each other nervously in anticipation.

“So with that in mind we’ve created your first challenge. This kitchen was fully stocked last night with all sorts of tasty ingredients.” He paused there to lick his lips per Mary Margaret’s instructions. “You’re challenge today is to create a dish that you think will amaze me, so I can get an idea of what it would be like to come home to you every day. You’ll have your choice of preparing an appetizer, main course dish, or dessert. You’ll break into three groups and each group will get a turn to impress me. The ladies who make the three least impressive dishes will be sent packing tonight.”

He turned to walk away so Mary Margaret could divide the girls into their groups. Just as he was about to leave the room he turned back and locked eyes with Emma.

“And ladies, don’t be afraid to, you know, really get in to it.” He winked and left.

The girls had been divided, Ruby, Emma, and Tamara all being in the last group. This way Emma and Ruby could keep an eye on her making sure she didn’t poison her dish somehow.

Emma found the entire thing degrading. The notion of a woman having to cook for a man to earn his affections was irritating and humiliating. It also didn’t help that Emma knew how to cook exactly three things.

Sensing her reluctance, Robin tried to give her an out. “Swan, we can walk you through a dish if you need. To be honest though, he really does prefer simple food.”

Emma whispered back under her breath that she was fine. She wasn’t going to put in a ton of effort, for him to only try two bites, especially since she knew she was already guaranteed to make it through the next round.

Emma settled on her most trusted dish, a grilled cheese sandwich. In an effort to look like she tried, she opted for some gouda cheese, sliced tomatoes, and a few basil leaves. Cooking it was easy enough, and soon she was helping Ruby frost some red velvet cupcakes.

Tamara seemed to struggle, clearly no better of a cook then Emma. By the time she was done she had flour all over her face and in her hair. When the time buzzer went off Killian returned.

Emma and Ruby had picked the two spots at the table furthest away from the door, making their dishes the last two of the day to be sampled.

As Killian made his way down the table he would either nod in acceptance, or grimace in horror. Most of the dishes seemed to agree with him, although one was burnt beyond recognition. When he got to the fifth contestant, the chef from New Orleans, he let out a moan signifying how good it was.

“You girls hear that?” Will asked. “That’s one of his sex noises.”

Both girls let out very unlady like snorts before Robin joined in.

“Don’t ask how I know this, but he’s absolutely right, although it’s more of a foreplay moan, his full on sex moans are much louder.”

Just then Killian moaned again and Emma and Ruby nearly fell on the ground laughing.

Everyone looked over to them with scowls on their faces, although Killian seemed more curious than anything.

“Are you two okay over there?”

“Um.” Both of them were still dying with laughter, but it was Ruby who found her voice first. “Sorry, she just made a dirty joke.” She paused looking a Emma, whose eyes blew wide knowing exactly what was coming. “About how you might sound in bed.”

All of the girls started giggling and Killian turned bright red.

[numinousxsims]

OC question tag~

OC question tag - Rules: 1. Pick a character you’ve created. 2. Fill in the questions/statements as if you were that character. 3. Tag at least four people to do this meme

tagged by @catssimblr, @thatpoeticmodelgirl & @psychoxmachia, i luvv you guys so much. 

gonna tag @oaksim @treelinesandpoppyfields @charmedsims @stillgotme @winterbjorn @vamprocillin @crushedvelvetsims srry if u’ve done this!

QUESTIONS:

1. What is your name? Luna Camille Barrero

2. Do you know why you were named that? not really, given i haven’t had a decent coversation with my parents in the longest time. but knowing the meaning behind my name according to the internet, let’s say they thought their babygirl would grow up to be a goddess that shines so bright like the moon at night. [laughs]

3. Single or taken? is ENGAGED an option?! 

4. Stop being a Mary Sue! mmmmm yea i’m lost.

5. What’s your eye color? they’re an odd color for someone like me. dark grey.

6. How about hair color? black

7. Have you any family members? had..two parents. i’m the only child. had a very crazy encounter with my mom couple years ago at Milo’s... let’s not speak about that. and a beautiful grandma, who i’m sure you all know passed away a long time ago.

8. Oh, how about pets? yes! got Mi and I a crazy cute saint bernard named Nico. he is the best

9. That’s cool, I guess. Now tell me something you don’t like? this question... just kidding! hm i don’t like feet

10. Do you have any activities/hobbies that you like to do? ever since i gave up my flower shop, i’ve still kept up the hobby of arranging flowers time from time- mostly fake flowers from like Michael’s so of course i don’t have an apartment of dying flowers all the time). and of course write. i’m getting somewhere with it and i’m very excited about it. and lately, i’ve taken up cooking more. especially since Mi has always been a disastrous cook, it kind of geared me on to take it up a notch for him and i! 11. Have you ever hurt anyone in any way before? some... old friends. speaking of which... i did rekindle with one of them in this past year... but it’s still such a big work in progress.

12. Ever… killed anyone before? oh god?? in video games yea but in real life heck no!

13. What kind of animal are you? hmmmmmm honestly i dont know hold on- let me take a quiz i found online [couple minutes pass] holy shit i’m a freaking bat 

14. Name your worst weaknesses. i’m sensitive and emotional. can cloud my judgement and decision-making incredibly

15. Do you look up to anyone at all? my grandma. to be as soft, kind and selfless as she was no matter the hardships life brought.

16. Are you straight, gay or bisexual? straight! 17. Do you go to school? just finished actually. graduating soon.

18. Ever want to marry and have kids one day? of course!!!! getting married and having a beautiful family has always been one of my biggest dreams.. to have a family i never had, to be great parents i never had, and to just... to just have a happy home.

19. Do you have fangirls/fanboys? uhhhh i dont think so... that’d be awfully weird... i’m just me

20. What are you most afraid of? dying young and not being able to get pregnant one day...

21. What do you usually wear? comfortable yet stylish stuff! loose jeans or pants are like a must for me.

22. What’s one food that tempts you? i try to eat healthy most of the time but my guilty pleasure is bbq chicken pizza with hot wings on the side!! ugh

23. Am I annoying you? no, great questions keep them coming

24. Well, it’s not over! yay

25. What class are you (low class, middle class, high class)? honestly. i’m a class where i’m doing and making enough to get by 

26. How many friends do you have? a few... most of them are Mi’s nowadays and of course i’ve met a couple great ones during school.

27. What are your thoughts on pie? it’s okay! not the greatest fan. 

28. Favorite drink? anything tea! iced tea, hot tea... green tea. tea

29. What’s your favorite place? this park in newcrest. it’s a huge park, full of beautiful cherry blossoms and flowers. it’s a spot Milo showed me a long time ago when we first started dating and i’ve been in love with that place ever since. it’s our go-to place to hang out on a beautiful day.  30. Are you interested in anyone? pFt i’m in LOOOOVE with somebody 

31. That was a stupid question. yes it was

32. Would you rather swim in a lake or the ocean? hmmm the ocean just because i get a front view seat of the sunset when it comes time!

33. What’s your type? Milo [laughs]

34. Any fetishes? agh not really

35. Camping or indoors? both!!! although Mi and i did camp one time with his parents.. maybe i’d go more with indoors now that i think about it. 

[recentanimenews]

INTERVIEW: Legendary Voice Actress Kikuko Inoue

Among the industury guests at Anime Central 2018 was Kikuko Inoue, a veteran voice actress whose work has defined anime for the past two decades. We had a change to interview her about her career, relationships, and history in the industry as a star so great she needs no introduction, because she provides it herself!

Kikuko Inoue: Hello, my name is Kikuko Inoue, I've been a voice actor for 30 years, but actually the joke is that I'm 17 years old and my fans respond with "Oi! Oi!" so every time I'm at an event I use that introduction. Within the voice acting industry, I have a lot of voice actor friends who have joined what I've created, called the 17 Years Old Club, such as Horie Yui and Tamura Yukari. So, one of my first prominent roles was Kasumi from Ranma 1/2 and she was the older sister I got my nickname "oneechan," or "older sister" from that role. I was also Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess and I've acted her on several different occasions, and for quite a long time so I feel like that's a role that's watched over me for a long time. Actually I get a lot of offers for mother or older sister characters, and especially recently I've been offered a lot of mother-like characters, but of course there are characters that are good mothers and bad mothers and I... will play both. *Laughs*

When I play these rather evil or bad mothers in shows I'm pretty sad to play those roles and have to be the villain in that case, but then, usually it's the case that the story has the child maturing and growing up, and overcoming such obstacles, and being able to move the audience in such a way that I, at the end of the show, feel very relieved to have been a part of it. The most recent example is The Ancient Magus' Bride, where I played Chise's mother, and she was a rather evil mother, but that the main character was able to overcome that obstacle was a big relief to me.  Since I do voice a lot of characters that are the mothers and older sisters, it's actually kind of refreshing and exciting for me to start to voice some of the villains as well. When I actually do voice the villain characters I get to say lines that I would definitely never utter myself in real life, but in a sense it's kind of like a feeling of catharsis. Of course other than anime I also have voiced a lot of characters in games and quite varying roles, such as Boss from Metal Gear Solid and I-No from Guilty Gear, so I'm definitely happy with my job and my life.

You've been voice acting since 1988, how has the field that you work in changed and developed over that time?

At first when I debuted I would just receive the script and be told to go to the studio, and then in front of the screen when I saw the footage for the first time I would be asked to voice act the role, but then maybe five or so years after I debuted I was actually able to receive a physical copy of the footage and be able to practice or view it at home before actually going to the studio. Once we got what a lot of us call "homework" we were able to practice many times over until our movements and our voices perfectly matched the mouth movements of the characters, so that we were able to nail it when we went into the studio.

Which role of yours do you think was the most important for your career?

I view all of the roles that I have played as my children, so I cannot honestly say one is more important than another.

A lot of the American voice actors talk about how when they record they're recording alone in the studio, but I believe in Japan they sometimes do group sessions. How does that work, do you do voices all at the same time or record on your own?

Yes, they definitely assemble the cast all together in one room, and this is common for all of the work that we do.  First we do a test run where everyone recites their lines and then the director has specific instructions for each actor where they say, "I want it more like this or like that," and after that instructional phase there is another test and then it goes onto the recording so a twenty or thirty minute episode probably takes three to four hours for us to record.  

*She stands up to stand in front of a screen in the room to visually demonstrate the recording process she's explaining*

So as you can see, this is the screen where the footage is playing, there's probably three to four mics in the center of the room and everyone is sitting around in a circle, or a semi-circle and when it is your character that comes on-screen you have to find and open mic, it works like musical chairs, so you go to the first open mic to recite your lines and then as soon as your part is over you sit back down.  The work for the mic is pretty technical itself so a lot of the newer voice actors have a hard time finding a mic, or getting to the mic in time, so that's something that the voice actors have to learn.

  Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist is a bit different from the type of character you often play, what was it like performing that role?

  Even though Lust is a villain, she's a really cool character. *Laughs* Also, she's shown on a lot of the promotional items for Fullmetal Alchemist, so she's a pretty prominent character as well. When I was playing Lust, I pulled out the deepest depths of darkness within myself and then channeled that into the role.

Anime is really popular here in the United States, what do you feel about people seeing themselves in your characters and cosplaying them?

I really love cosplay! When I see someone cosplaying a character that I voice I get so excited that I wanna run over and greet them right away, and actually yesterday I took a lot of pictures together with people I saw that were cosplaying characters that I've voiced.

In 2009 you founded your own talent agency, Office Anemone, what got you interested in your own agency and how has that experience been?

Actually the president and other co-founder of Office Anemone is my older sister, who said "let's work together and form an agency," so I eventually decided that I would join her in her quest, but even though I left my previous agency, the voice acting industry is a very small world so I am still very close with a lot of the voice actors that I worked with and I still speak with them on a regular basis. There's a sort of wordplay with the name Office Anemone, where "ane" means "older sister," and "ane mo ne," is "with my older sister," but also anemone is also the name of a flower in Japan, so people associate it with that, so it has a double meaning.

  You've mentioned that you're friends with Tamura Yukari, how did you feel to see her and other friends rise in popularity over the years?

I'm very happy! I'm always happy to see someone succeed, and as I said earlier the voice acting industry is a very small industry so especially with my friends I'm very close, and very happy to see another member of the Seventeen Years Old Club succeed, since I see them as siblings.

Have you met any of your American counterparts, who've voiced the same characters you've voiced?

Yeah, since I've been to a few events in North America I've been able to meet a fair number of voice actors, and yesterday doing my autograph session the English voice actor for Ed was doing his autograph session in the booth right next to mine, so I got to meet him and that was exciting.

Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess is one of your most well-known and beloved roles, what about that performance specifically makes it so popular?

I think it's just the aura and existence of Belldandy is so sublime in a certain way, where she's nice but it's- "nice" is not even the proper word to describe her, her kindness surpasses a normal level of kindness, and of course it's because she's a goddess, but it seems like she would be accepting of you no matter what happens and you could go to her for anything.  It isn't just kindness or niceness, but she's very strong, she has a very strong heart, and she seems like the type of character that would be able to cheer you up no matter what you're going through.

In addition to anime you've done a lot of voice acting for video games, what are the main differences between acting for anime and video games, and do you prefer either of them?

Like I mentioned earlier, for voicing anime we are all together in the studio, and if I were to compare it to a sport, where in acting for games you're just alone by yourself in a booth, anime is like a team sport, like baseball, everyone is going to be behind you and back you if you need help form your teammates, whereas voicing for games is like long-distance running where you are by yourself.  I do actually love both, you're overcoming the obstacles and get to face the task head-on when you're voicing for games, so they both have their advantages and I love working on both. So using the same analogy of sport, when I'm working on anime I always have to be thinking of a strategy of how to back someone up or how to successfully play off the others that are working with me, in a sense pass or receive with the other teammates, and when we achieve a perfect recording or a perfect result it really feels like a great accomplishment that the team had together, and when you're working on a game, just like running a marathon your opponent is yourself so when you're able to surpass your own expectations it is a really good feeling.

If you weren't doing voice acting what would you be doing?

Maybe a maid? I really love maid outfits and I actually wear them a lot, so what about a maid cafe? But they might be a little concerned about my age... I'm seventeen! [room: Oi! Oi!]

You've appeared in both of Kunihiko Ikuhara's recent anime, Mawaru Penguindrum and Yuri Kuma Arashi. He's known for being one of the most unique directors in the industry, so if you have any, what are your impressions of Ikuhara-san from your work with him?

I think he is a really great talent and he has a really high level of skill for his worldbuilding, and we're actually pretty close in real age as well, so I feel like we can get along with each other pretty well and I would love to work with him again.

You said that as your daughter starts her voice acting career you wanted her to start out with smaller roles and then build up from there. How do you feel now that she's begun voicing main character roles, Sakura in Pazudora and then Ruby in the upcoming Sora to Umi no Aida?

You knew! (In English): "Thank you very much!" Well yes, my daughter is actually three years older than me, but yes, I had said that I wanted her to mature gradually and take on more responsibility, but to see her get main roles, I'm very happy about it and also quite surprised.  One example is in Puzzle and Dragons where she is voicing the heroine, I've recently been called to voice a lot of small roles as well, and in that particular one I was called in to voice her mother in the show, so it's quite fun for me to see the reversal of roles, for her to be the main character and me to be the side character.

You've also done some stage performances, playing your character Cordelia in Sakura Wars live shows, what was it like doing stage acting?

I've also thought about the voice acting job as something that's behind the scenes, that we don't really appear in front of audiences that often, but it was quite different for Sakura Wars in which the voice actors all wore cosplays of their characters, and not only that they did a song and dance on stage, so definitely while I was surprised it was REALLY fun and I never thought I'd be able to do such a job. We had a lot of practice for the show, such as song and dance lessons, and for me particularly dance was quite challenging and despite all of the dance practice that we did, I for the life of me could not remember all of the dance steps, so, during the actual live performance itself, the actor who played Coquelicot was standing next to me so I would step just half a foot back and view her dance from the sides and sort of copy her movements, so if she messed up I would also mess up (laughter).

If you had the opportunity to stage act again would you take it, or do you prefer voice acting as a more streamlined career?

Yes, definitely I would love to take the chance again, but of course as you know with age... wait I'm seventeen so... For me in life I just love anything that's fun, and actually my theme or motto in life is to live with a smile and to provide a smile for others, so I would definitely accept anything that's fun or provides enjoyment to others.

How did you get your start in voice acting?

Actually I went to a specialty school for voice actors, and after I graduated I became a voice actor.

Finally, do you have a message for your fans here in the West?

Thank you very much for loving and enjoying Japanese animation, I really appreciate the fact that Japanese anime is able to connect people around the world and please continue to support and enjoy Japanese anime.  Oh! And games too, please support games as well! Thank you very much!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[lady-stardust7-blog]

The Oldest Game: Chapter 2

Summary: On his way home from work, Gold runs into a lady of the night called Lacey. He finds himself drawn to her, and soon realises that he can’t stop thinking about the young woman on the street corner, and the web of secrets she has spun.

[Chapter 1: Blissful Solitude] [Chapter 3: Awake]

[read it on Ao3]

Chapter Two: Obsession

Almost a week had passed since Lacey had stormed out of Gold’s house, yet barely an hour went by without her crossing his mind. He went over the encounter, over and over in his head, to the point that he was certain the memory must have changed a thousand times by now. But despite the lengths he went to to distract himself, his thoughts always wandered back to her. Particularly that small smile that escaped her lips for a fraction of a second when he gave her his jacket to warm her up, and the way that her eyes lit up when she saw the artefacts in his lounge. Despite the tough exterior that she put on, the little glimpse that Gold caught of the girl underneath felt like a drug that he needed more of.

Although he previously enjoyed his walks home, he now took his car to and from work every day. This way, he could remain hidden should he happen to run into her again. Every night on his journey home, he drove the same route, passing the same corner of the street with the hope that he’d catch a glimpse of her. Sometimes, he’d even drive a full circle so that he would have to pass it again, but she was never there. He’d never seen her before in this small town, and apparently, he would never see her again.

What business did he even have, looking around the streets for her? What would he do if he found her? He wasn’t entirely sure. He could feel her face slipping away from his mind and he needed another fix, an assurance that she wasn’t a dream. And, he supposed, that was his only answer. It seemed he only had one more option to understand more about Lacey, and that was to ask residents around town about her. Although he quickly noted that he couldn’t just ask around if anybody had seen the local prostitute without people getting the wrong impression. Even worse, he didn’t want to get her in trouble with the sheriff or potential horny clients.

So, one morning, Gold popped into Granny’s, deciding that there must be somebody in there who was worth asking about her. When he entered the building, felt a sense of pride at how quiet the atmosphere suddenly became. He took a quick glace over the customers, checking that Lacey wasn’t amongst them, but once again he was disappointed. Instead, the diner was full of people who suddenly seemed very interested in their food.

He made his way over to the counter and the volume of the diner seemed to pick back up again. Ruby turned to him, ready to take his order.

“A black coffee to go,” he said. “And… well, I was just wondering if you’d seen a young woman around. Left something behind in my shop the other day. She’s got long brown hair and her name is Lacey. Probably around your age.”

“Doesn’t sound familiar, but maybe you should try the Rabbit Hole. People around my age spend more time around there than they do around this dingy place.” She rolled her eyes, seeming exasperated, but Gold wasn’t interested. He paid for his coffee and left, heading over to open the shop.

Before he began his tasks for the day, he sat down with his coffee and flicked through the newspaper, taking an interest in the stock shares. A particular article caught his eye – KILLER CONVICTED FOR MURDER OF PROSTITUTE FOUND IN PORTLAND. He read on, reading of how the murder had taken place several months previously, and they had finally found the suspect, who was one of the woman’s clients, guilty. Underneath the article was a section with several helpline numbers and statistics on prostitution.

Gold felt his stomach lurch upon reading the facts, each worse than the last. They detailed the physical and sexual assault that somehow seemed commonplace amongst sex workers, with some being even as young as nine. Twenty times more likely to be a victim of murder. Christ. The more he read, the tenser he felt, thinking of the blatant sexism and assault that these women - even young girls - must have to put up with on a daily basis. Most of all though, he felt anger on behalf of Lacey for the shit hand that life had dealt her to have thrown her into a life of sex work in the first place. God, he needed to see her again.

The rest of the day dragged by, and Gold found himself unable to concentrate on anything. He filled most of his time searching through old books in his shop, attempting to research further into prostitution and escort services. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anything and he settled for replaying scenarios in his head of what he’d do if he saw her again. He would probably follow Ruby’s suggestion and drive by the Rabbit Hole tonight in hope that he’d finally see her there. Was this stalking? Gold suddenly froze at the rational voice in his head. If she knew the lengths to which he’d gone to try and see her again, she would surely think him a creep. But then, he wasn’t doing it out of his own pleasure, it was more so out of concern for her… right?

Gold shook his head of the thought. He was never one for morals anyway.

Eventually, Gold found himself back in his car, the day thankfully behind him. He had decided on going the long way home, which would allow him to pass the Rabbit Hole purely out of sheer coincidence. He drove slowly, butterflies in his stomach although he couldn’t explain why, particularly because if the rest of the week was anything to go by then he wouldn’t see her anyway.

He saw the bar and pulled over to get a better look – although from any angle this place was looking as grimey as ever. A broken window was boarded up, and a puddle of sick lay just a few metres from the entrance. A quick survey of the scene told him that Lacey was nowhere to be seen. He tried to replace his disappointment with disdain for the building instead, but the sinking feeling in his stomach told him he wasn’t doing a good job of it. He put the car back into gear when he suddenly saw Lacey walking out the entrance with a young, dark-haired man.

A bolt of jealousy ran through his bones at the fact that this man would be taking her home. Not that she would enjoy it, mind. He felt his heart sink, although for her or himself he couldn’t be sure. He was about to drive home, but then he saw something that made him slam his foot on the brakes. Lacey was trying to snatch her arm away from this man, who was pushing her towards the wall.

“I’m with friends tonight,” she said, pleadingly.

“But I know you love it… come on, just ten minutes? We don’t even need to go to mine, we could just go in an alleyway,” he attempted to compromise, still trying to catch her flying limbs as she tried to escape his grasp.

“Seriously, will you just. Fuck. Off.” Lacey emphasised this point by stamping on his foot with her heel. He let out a pathetic squeal, but quickly regained control of the situation by grabbing her by the throat and slapping her across the face.

Gold got out of his car so fast that he forgot to take the keys out. He stormed over to the pair of them, and the moment Lacey saw him, a wave of relief crossed her face that she wouldn’t have to handle this alone.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” yelled Gold. The man stepped back immediately and put his hands behind his back, looking like a child who had just been caught drawing on the walls.

“Mr. Gold, we, er… we were just making out,” he said, lamely. Gold looked at him as if he had just taken a shit on his shoe.

“She said no,” said Gold, teeth barred and venom emphasised on every word.

“Well, she didn’t actually say ‘no’,” he replied, with a know-it-all tone to his voice. “And you know what women are like. With a little persuasion, they change their minds anyway.”

Thump.

Suddenly, the man was on the floor, clutching the side of his head which had just been met with the end of Gold’s cane. He tried to crawl away quickly, as if expecting to be hit again. He clumsily got to his feet and held his hands up in a surrender.

“I’ll go,” he said, backing away. Gold watched him every step of the way, fantasising in his head about the things he could do to make this guy’s life a misery. Eventually he was out of sight, and Gold turned back to Lacey, realising that she was already looking at him.

“For such a small guy, you really know how to intimidate people, don’t you?” she asked. Was that a flicker of admiration he detected?

“It’s all in the name, dearie. He knows who I am,” he replied. He was trying to come off as smoothly as he could, but the confidence that came from saving her had worn off the second that bastard had ran away and it was just the two of them. Now, he was once again the small man with a limp. “What happened there?”

“He was… just a previous client,” she said shortly, but Gold knew from her tone not to press on the matter. There was a short pause. “I wasn’t on duty tonight but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Look, I, uh… well, I just wanted to say, I’m sorry about how the other night turned out,” said Gold. “I shouldn’t have pushed you. I felt like I was taking advantage, and maybe got a bit impulsive.”

“No, you shouldn’t have to apologise. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I guess that I just… I don’t know,” she cut herself off, but Gold looked at her expectantly, knowing that silence was often the greatest prompt. “I’m not used to clients being as… respectful, as you. And it made me feel a bit silly. It’s easier to be used and thrown aside and forgotten about, because that way you don’t have to stop and think about it. But you made me feel like I was trying to force you to treat me like that, and it hit home a bit.” She looked slightly embarrassed. “I’m a bit tipsy,” she admitted apologetically.

They fell into silence again. Even after all the time he’d spent imagining this scenario, Gold didn’t have a clue what to say.

“Well, I suppose I’ll let you get back to your friends then.”

“I wasn’t actually here with anyone,” she admitted, her cheeks turning slightly pink. “I just got sick of the same four walls so I came out, just as a distraction really. And look where that got me.” She laughed humourlessly, and Gold wanted nothing more than to embrace her or rub her arm reassuringly, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“I’m concerned that you’re on your own in the dark. Let me drive you home?”

“Fucking men,” she muttered. “Either they want your body or they treat you like a child.” There wasn’t any anger in her words, however, more of a dull resignation. Gold frowned.

“Please. I’m just worried about you. That’s hardly unreasonable, considering the position in which I just found you.”

Lacey sighed.

“Fine. You can drive me home. But I am off duty tonight, so no repeats like last time,” she said, wagging a finger at him teasingly. He smiled, becoming more besotted by the minute, and walked her back to his car.

[mystech-master]

Guilty Gear X BlazBlue Crossover

Okay I found this awesome sounding GG/BB crossover and the idea is awesome.

It’s called When Worlds Collide R Extend Edition by Mr. Carl Clover.

Basically, two Characters from both worlds decide to fuse their worlds to solve their world’s problems.

That is so much more interesting than all the fanfiction crossovers just saying “Character from world A goes into world B and just is either along for the ride or the most random of shit happens, or maybe just a stupid high school AU.”

But two worlds FUSING, that is really interesting to me. Now EVERYONE has to adapt to this new situation, how will both the world powers deal with this, how will the citizens get along? It has so many interesting ways it can go.

And now for the fun part, How will the BB world and the Gg world get along.

9warning, extremely long post about me geeking out on crossover possibilities)

In terms of geography, the 23 Hierarchical Cities all exist on high elevated spots, so I imagine they could be easily  implemented into the world. i am not too sure on the areas between the cities except for the Church in which Ragna was raised a s a child.

As for the countries, we know Illyria (the main Kingdom for the heroes of GG) Covers all of Europe, some parts of Russia, and a bit of the African Continent (actually most of the stages in GG as of Xrd take place in Europe) While the 23 BB Cities are spread all around. The main NOL HQ is in Canada, all the way on the other side of the planet, while most of the main hero’s locations, Kagutsichi and Yabiko, reside in Thailand and Kazakhstan. The former is around Asia, So I imagine they’d fall under the Federation of China, But the latter is within Illyria Territory. So basically the main Heroes can all chill out under the same border.

Now for the big things: Seither, the magical energy flowing throughout the BlazBlue World. Lethal in large amounts and has a large concentration at ground level, where all the people in GG world live. BUT, GG world doesn’t have Seither. So we have two options:

A. There is no Seither, or at the very least Seither has lowered to the point of not being lethal, let’s not have a mass genocide here. Prompting the NOL to expand territory or people who hate them might leave the cities for these better guys (I’d be led by Ky over the NOL any day), although logically since the Kaka Village is at the base of the mountain of Kagutsichi they might be the first instance of the BB world the GG people would meet maybe. But if we go the no Seither route we got the idea of the GG people teaching magic, which everybody uses, to the BB people, who only know Ars Magus. Also I am not too sure on how Siether will affect gears.

B. Seither is still covering the ground in high concentrations, so the people need to relocate to the 23 cities, so now those in the GG world need to adapt the the NOL’s rules, causing lots of possible drama.

Also there’s the fact that EVERYONE in GG world uses magic, which only a few people know in the world of BB, and people are a bit wary of magic users. Now, the NOL has all the Grimoires on Ars Magus locked up tight, but then the GG world offers to teach them magic and they’d just be all “wait, wut?” causing them to be threatened by the power being passed onto the citizens, which once again can cause conflict.

Now for my favorite part of these crossovers; Character relationships, who would get along with who, who would be rivals with who, etc.

Okay let’s see *pulls out list*

Ragna, has the highest Bounty in the World, assuming we’re going with the fanon ending of Chronophantasma where everyone lives and none of the horrible shit in Central Fiction happened, he can either be cleared of his crimes somehow or he can remain wanted. Of course the NOL will treat him like a criminal monster but I imagine the people of the GG cast might be more willing to listen to Ragna’s side of the story. Maybe Dizzy and the gears can empathize with him because people kind of view the Gears as only weapons of mass destruction and many people only see Ragna as another Black Beast just waiting to happen or only as the SS Class Criminal Ragna the Bloodedge. I could imagine maybe Illyria giving Ragna Amnesty within their borders, which could prompt an Illyria vs NOL conflict later down the line.

The Assassin Guild, well from what I’ve read the NOL and the Duodecim have kind of been filled with assholes. Now I don’t know much about all the Duodecim families but what I have read isn’t inspiring confidence, my knowledge on the NOL comes from when Izanami was Emperor, and Hazama and Relius were working for it. I am not too sure on how the current Emperor is doing, if he is better or worse than Izanami (forgive me, I’m alright with GG lore but BB lore is still a huge cluster%^#@). So basically the Assassins have some new corrupted people to target, this should be fun.

I know a lot of people immediately make Potemkin and Tager go at it because both are the big brawlers of their series, but let’s expand on that. How about all of Sector Seven and Zepp. According to the Wikia, Sector 7 specializes “in doing research on Seither and Ars Magus, and mainly focus on using science, as opposed to the NOL who focus mainly on Ars Magus.” Meanwhile, Zepp is the only country who says screw you to the UN banning traditional Mechanical and Electronic Technology, Called Black Tech in GG lore. I mean I imagine Sector Seven would want to know what the hell is going on with the world merge, as does Zepp. Both of them like Science and allies would be useful to have in dealing with threats from both worlds. Plus if Kokonoe hears about the science ban I imagine she’d go all “F%#$ that S$%^”, plus I can imagine her finally getting some respect and recognition in Zepp for assisting them in this great change. And if Azrael shows up, I can imagine Gabriel would be able to handle him for a bit, and if not he can call on Slayer and they can do a Dandy combo on the Mad Dog. Speaking of the Vampire...

Rachel and Slayer, as the two vampires in the series, would obviously meet up. Spoilers for the story ahead. As Rachel is the one who fused the worlds and Slayer was somehow aware of her role in the merge, he’d obviously want to talk to her. I mean both are Vampires just trying to find some entertainment in the humans, only Rachel seems to have that aristocratic criticism going on while Slayer seems to be more open to giving good advice and is more easily amused I guess. Also, I know it’s easy to get the idea of Slayer being a new father figure to Rachel, but I say no. I may not have read much on BB’s stuff outside the games, but I know that Rachel and Valkenhayn would never have someone take Clavis’ (Rachel’s dad) place. So i see him being more of a nice uncle figure. Just maybe pushing Rachel in a direction of being a bit nicer, like her father was (according to the wikia he was “humble, polite, and treated those around him with grace and dignity”, the almost exact opposite of his daughter). I mean her company for most of her time has been Valkenhayn, Nago and Gii, who I imagine would never question her and maybe even encourage this uptight stuck up persona, so Slayer being a contrast to this might work out. Slayer having a human wife, immortal/invulnerable or not, may also give Slayer another point about humans/mortals not being all that bad/boring. Plus maybe Slayer can tease her about Ragna and her (Come on we ALL know it’s true, RAGNA/RACHEL FTW). I just imagine Slayer sending his shoulder cape bat thing over to Rachel (like he did to Faust in Xrd SIGN) and inviting her over for tea so they can discuss this new world they live in.

now it’s time for the ninjas: Chipp Zanuff and Bang Shiishigami. I could imagine Chipp heading to one of the Hierarchical Cities to see if he can get support from them in his campaign in getting his Country recognized, whilst there he runs into Bang. Both seem all about being Justice Ninjas, so maybe they’d hang out. Chipp teaching Bang the ways of GG’s Ki magic and Bang helping out with Chipp;s country in some way or another. Maybe Chipp can even teach Bang how to actually be a ninja, stealthily and gathering intelligence and what not, not yelling Justice and screaming your attacks and junk. Also for LOLz have Answer tag along, the Human Database could end up meeting Litchi and they bond over nerd stuff and Bang gets jealous.

That’s about all I can come up with right now, there is just so much potential for conflict and relationships in this idea that I just get excited. Let me know if you guys have anything you’d like to add onto all this.

@gear-project and @abyss-of-the-azure, from what I’ve been told you two are huge GG and BB geniuses/fans. So I think maybe you’d like this. Even if you find that all my crap has just been the dreams of a noob fan who barely knows the lore that you’ve analyzed to a point, you may like the fanfic made by Mr. Carl Clover, so i hope you enjoy.