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realcube · 3 years

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soft haikyuu!! boys with a baddie* s/o 😈

characters: yamaguchi, hinata, suga, akaashi, nishinoya & tendou

tw// swearing

*(a/n): anon requested a kinda sassy, sarcastic reader and verbatim ‘she is basically a salt bag, but she also has like some sugar’ so i simplified that down to baddie :) so the reader isn’t really a delinquent but they are a bit rough around the edges uffabvrslbv

Tadashi Yamaguchi

he definitely thinks you’re really cool and he wants to be just like you :O

bc you give off ‘bad bitch who doesn’t care about what other ppl think about them’ energy and what he would give tO HAVE THAT!!

so that’s when he knew he needed to be your friend >:)

so he was like ‘tsukki, go talk to (y/n) for me >:)’ thinking that was his first step to becoming confident pfft

luckily, god was on his side though bc the teacher rearranged the seats and you and him were sitting next to each other

hence, he got the opportunity to talk to you without it seeming too forced

you both fell for each other so hard

like he would act tough to try impress you but you preferred his natural softness while you tried to act uncharacteristically docile so you wouldn’t scare him off but he liked you for your boldness

it was a match made in heaven 💞

he eventually worked up the courage to ask you out one day and y’all have just been falling more ever since

although, that doesn’t mean yamaguchi’s forgotten one of the main reasons he wanted to be with you in the first place

‘please teach me your ways, (y/n)!’ he pleaded, his head resting on your lap so you had to cover his puppy-eyes with your phone

‘no, tadashi. firstly, you’re sweet and gentle- you’re just built like that. secondly, i don’t have any ‘ways’ to teach you!’

yamaguchi continued to pry, ‘then how are you just so effortlessly self-assured?’

‘who told you that, tadashi?’

‘no one.’ yamaguchi poked the back of your hand to get you to move it, ‘but remember that time one of the guys in our class tried to make fun of the size of your head and you told him to shut up?’

you rolled your eyes, setting your phone aside before placing a brief kiss on yamaguchi’s forehead, ‘he said he couldn’t see the board because of my ‘big head’, tadashi; that’s hardly an insult. also, what else could i have possibly said other than that?’

but then you remembered this is yamaguchi you’re talking to; if that was him, he’d probably apologise, move his head aside then cry in the bathroom or sumn.

‘i should be the one asking you why you’re so insecure. i mean, i know everyone is a little bit insecure about something but you just take it to a whole other level.’ you mused, absentmindedly massaging his scalp

yamaguchi frowned, ‘exactly! teach me how to stop being insecure.’

‘no please, no thank you?’ you inquired with a snicker, realising that your habits might of accidentally rubbed off on him

bc just a few weeks ago, he’d be thanking you for breathing the same air as him but now he didn’t even say ‘please’ when asking for a favour

gasp

‘please teach me how to be resilient, (y/n).’

you chuckled, leaning down to whisper in his ear, ‘okay, since you’re so polite, i’ll tell you my secret - but promise not to tell anybody else!.’

‘i promise.’ yamaguchi replied without hesitation

‘okay, first thing you need to do is go to the depths of hell and find satan hims--’

yamaguchi let out a sigh as he realised that you weren’t being serious then playfully flicked your forehead away, ‘rude.’

you beamed, pressing another kiss upon his forehead, ‘i know~’

Shōyō Hinata

let’s not pretend hinata wasn’t shitting his pants when he first heard about you from kageyama

‘they called me a shitty setter the other day.’

but kageyama failed to mention the part where he cut you in line for lunch 🙄 mans had it coming

like hinata genuinely thought that if he came within a 5 foot radius of you, you’d literally come for volleyball career

plus, hinata knew he had a lot of things to be insults on (mostly, his height) so he decided to keep his distance at first

but when he actually saw you - rather than a vague description that kageyama conjured - he kinda fell head over heels

well, not only bc of your looks - he isn’t that shallow

but the same day, you dropped your purse/wallet on the walk home and ,mhsince hinata was walking behind you, he acted as any good Samaritan would; picked it up then handed it to you

then you said something along the lines of ‘thanks, shorty.’

not shawty. lord- shorty as in short with a y at the end

and whether you meant that as a dig or not was beyond him - but either way, he fkn adored it

also it doesn’t matter whether you are taller or shorter than hinata- he is still short-stuff >:)

by some miracle he managed to ask you out successfully and he’s kinda been glued to you ever since

like he wants to spend every second that he’s not at volleyball club/school with you

and if you tell him he’s being clingy, he’s going to cry-

nonono jk jk

he’d probably be a bit offended but then give you your space

also, you noticed how he was really endeared by the tad mean nicknames you gave him like ‘shorty’, ‘short stuff’ and ‘ginger’

the only ones he didn’t like was ‘boke’ or ‘dumbass’ bc it reminded him too much of kageyama + tsukishima

so you started calling him these things - teasingly - more frequently

and he loves it ngl

as long as you aren’t truly mean to him, he enjoys being called these things by you for some reason

so, his first mistake was assuming that you’d like being called these joking nicknames just as much as he does

you were helping him with english once and it’s definitely not his strong suit

same, hinata

‘look at that! you spelt all your vocabs correctly, for a change.’ you commented, peering over the desk at the paper sitting in front of him

his eyes widened and his lips curled into a hopeful smile, ‘really?!’

‘no.’ you snickered, pointing to the first word on the list. ‘your word was taxis - you wrote ‘texas’, dumbass.’

hinata let out an exasperated sigh, propping his elbow onto the table to rest his cheek on his palm

then, he had an idea ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

‘alright, stupidface, should i rewrite them?’

you gasped, furrowing your brows at what he just called you

for a moment, you thought you might’ve misheard him but upon observing his smug expression, you realised that he really did just call you a ‘stupidface’

so you burst out laughing

obviously, hinata was rather shocked at your reaction

‘hey! what’s so funny?’

‘di- di- did you just call me a ‘stupidface’?!’ you panted in-between cackles, clutching your stomach to soothe the butterflies

hinata jutted out his bottom lip and folding his arms over his chest, ‘yeah, what about it?’

‘that is so cute!- do it again!’ you demanded, enthusiastically slamming your fist against the desk

‘IT’S NOT CUTE!’ hinata barked, playfully flicking your forehead

once you caught your breath, you took hinata’s hands and looked him dead in the eyes, ‘you’re fucking adorable, shōyō.’

the hoarseness of your voice making it sound like somewhat of a threat

‘you’re adorable-er, (y/n).’

‘i know.’

Kōshi Sugawara

he admires how strong and independent you are/seem 😍

and the fact you don’t go out of your way to suck-up to ppl

he kinda wants to be like you in that sense but unlike yamaguchi, he accepts that he’s way too much of a people pleaser for that lol

so he sticks to admiring you from afar

then he musters up the courage to ask you out with some chocolate cupcakes; the same kind that you accidentally got on his blazer on the first day of second year :))

and you say yes (╯▽╰ )

also a big part of your relationship is aggressive positivity ✨😡

like if he makes a joke about looking crusty, you’ll promptly respond, ‘shut up, kōshi - you look so hot.’

or if you berate yourself for getting a poor mark on a test, suga will interrupt with no hesitation, ‘fuck off, (y/n), you’re literally so smart and hard working - you’ll probably get 100% on the next test.’

also when he’s around you he switches between canon and fanon suga rapidly

one second he’s like ‘aww, are you stressed bc of school? i’ll bake you some cookies, baby--’ then you’ll jokingly make a comment about his post-practise B.O and he’ll literally get so defensive

‘WOW I OFFER YOU SOMETHING NICE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! STOP BEING SO MEAN TO ME, COMING FOR MY INSECURITES LIKE THAT - I WAS JUST ABOUT TO GO FOR A SHOWER ANYWAY GEEZ’ ┗|｀O′|┛

ISVBFELIAEA plz he is too much ✋

he just prides himself in smelling like ocean breeze 99% of the time so you really didn’t need to hurt his feelings like that when you caught him lackin c’mon LMAO

‘wait so are we making cookies or not?’ you inquired, stifling a snicker at his little diva moment

‘ofc we are 🥺’

he’ll probably use red icing on one of the cookies to draw a ‘>:(’ face then hand it to you, saying that he drew you

he’ll also break of bits of his own cookie and feed it to you’re doing something that requires both hands like typing, homework, dishes etc

whether you eat it from his hand happily, decline his offer or bite his fingers off is really up to you

and over time, he probably picks up on some of your traits too

especially being more straight-forward

the team will never forget the first time he was chatting about something with the vice principle and ‘sorry, but i don’t remember asking’ fell from his lips

everyone was shocked :o

tsukishima, tanaka & noya were so impressed tho

and so were you IVBEAOGVRN

‘wow, suga. you wanna be me so bad.’ you gloated, pressing your hand against your chest

‘GAEIVBSLR leave me alone.’ he growled, toiling over the apology letter he was currently writing to the vice principal

Keiji Akaashi

he wanted you to be the dark academia to his light academia pfft

it was very much love at first sight btw

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ soulmates *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

the embodiment of opposites attract

he’d write you a poem/love letter to ask you out lol

‘you’re so sappy and lame, akaashi’ you scoffed in attempt to hide the smile that was tugging at the corners of your lips as your eyes finally parted from the letter to meet his

he couldn’t help but chuckle, ‘so is that a no?’

‘-nonono!’ you shook your head rapidly, hastily correcting him, ‘it’s a yes.’

phew

honestly, he acted all nonchalant on the outside, but akaashi would’ve been devastated if you rejected him

like he constantly tried to remind himself that you would probably say no, i mean he thought you were way out of his league. plus, it didn’t seem as though you were as much of a romantic as him

but fortunately, apart of him stayed hopeful

now he was cuddled up beside you on a cold winters’ evening, casually drinking is hot cocoa as you both watched a disney movie (❤´艸｀❤)

he’s the type to not even care or retort if you call him stupid or whatever

as long as your context makes it clear that you’re joking

he’d never call you those names back though ✋

to him, you’re always gonna be ‘love’ or ‘sweetheart’

also, he’s probably equally as sarcastic as you so that’s not an issue

ngl he probably gets really insecure when you’re hesitant about PDA tho

like he just wants to hold your hand but he doesn’t want to force it upon you and make you uncomfortable 🥺

but also, perhaps you’re too embarrassed by him to kiss him in public

so please occasionally reassure him that you love him (；′⌒`) that always washes all his worries away

Yū Nishinoya

it’s literally canon that he likes ppl who show 0 interest in him (kiyoko, tsukki etc)

so it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s all over you after that one time you called him a midget

to be fair, he had it coming - he stepped on your fkn toe >:((

he does everything in his power to impress you and get you to take back what you said

‘hey, (y/n)!’ he calls out to you in the middle of the bustling lunch hall, ‘could a midget do this?!’ *backflips off the table*

or when he demanded that you come to one of his volleyball games so you could see what he’s capable of and whenever he makes a good receive, he turns to look at you in the stands and winks/ points

or when he actually studies for a test just so he can flaunt his slightly above average grade to you

‘look, (y/n), i got a 49%!’ he waves a paper in front of your face, which you stare at before lowering your gaze onto your 95%.

but ngl..he really brings out that lil’ bit of sugar in you

‘well done, noya.’ you choked out feeling your dignity slowly fade in your chest

he’s just so enthusiastic and charming how can you be mean to him 🥺

to his face, at least

as soon as he leaves you beef about him to your friends

‘he is so annoyingly bodacious - audacious! why does he feel the need to show me all of his achievements like i care??? and why does he have to be so cute while doing it???’

‘do you think you maybe have a teeny-tiny crush on him?--’

‘never.’

nishinoya probably asks you out pretty casually like ‘lemme take you bowling this saturday and i can show how good i am at that too!’ he offered with a bright, bold smile

‘sure, whatever.’

‘kay! it’s a date!’

‘wut-’ but before you could question him further, he sped off

nishinoya really likes to fluster and tease you

you’ll be sitting waiting for him at the park or whatever and he’ll swagger in and shout something like ‘how’s my gorgeous s/o doing today?! i hope you weren’t waiting for me too long!--’

then you’ll have to quickly shush him before everyone with a 7 feet radius is looking at you judgementally

he also likes to call you the most extra nicknames just to see you blush

‘good morning, my beautiful, divine, radiant god(dess) who i worship every morning of my life!~’ he sung as he waltzed into your classroom to spend lunch with you

but he only does that bc you are so dismissive of his advances lol

like if you openly adored his kisses and nicknames, he’d probably do them sparingly

oh and he calls you ‘my hunny bunny’ too - don’t ask why

Satori Tendō

you gave him your number/snap for a project and he’s one of those ppl that just assumes that y’all are friend now lol

but that wasn’t nessicarily a bad thing bc you thought he was really cool and you were happy that you still got to talk to him even after the project was over

not that you’d ever admit it tho (╹ڡ╹ )

he’d send you cursed memes at 3AM and you’d reply like ‘mood’ then he’d fall for you

you’d also have random, deep convos in the middle of the night

hence he fell for you even harder

especially bc he basically just shared his whole life story with you

he’d spill out all his insecurities to you then you’d reply like ‘ok’ then he knew he had to ask you out bc you’re the first person not to have left him on read

so he asked you to meet him in the park and you’d reply ‘no lol 🖕 ‘

then he’d just smile at his phone like ‘wow, they’re so in love with me’

he’s just so used to his friends being mean to him jokingly that he can’t even tell if you’re being serious or not

so he goes to the park at the time he put forward, and ofc you’re there even though you said no bc you didn’t want tendō to show up for nothing 🥺

he was ecstatic that you were there and he probably brought you an energy drink or lollipop then asked you out

and ofc you said yes

i mean- you had kinda developed a soft spot for the poor guy

you’d let him get away with certain things that others couldn’t around you

for instance, you’d let him borrow your pencils/pens despite usually not allowing others to get ahold of your stuff

but that was just coz like- he’s your trustworthy bf- not some random classmate who had no reason or motive to be kind enough to return your pencils

also, you’d let him cut in front of you in the lunch line and he did the same for you

oh and please bully anyone who makes fun of him 🙏

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4evamc · 4 years

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Misha Tweets

Transcript

Ed Levine: Welcome to Special Sauce 2.0. Serious Eats podcast about food and life. Every week on Special Sauce we begin with Ask Kenji, where Kenji Lopez-Alt, Serious Eats Chief Culinary Consultant, gives the definitive answer to the question of the week that a serious eater like you has sent us.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt: Generally, sort of like delicate leafy herbs like cilantro, parsley, basil, they tend to not be very good in their dried counterparts. Thyme, rosemary, oregano, they actually work pretty well in their dried forms.

EL: After Ask Kenji, a conversation with our guest, today in house, Misha Collins. He is, of course, an actor best known for his role as the angel, Castiel. Did I pronounce that right?

Misha Collins: Castiel.

EL: On the CW television series Supernatural, and has now written with his wife Vicki Collins, The Adventurous Eaters Club: Mastering the Art of Family Meal Time.

EL: Now it's time to meet Misha Collins. He's, of course, an actor best known for his role as the angel, Castiel?

Misha Collins: Castiel.

EL: On the CW television series Supernatural, which has had an insane run, right? It's like 2008 to 2019.

MC: Yeah, we're in our 15th season right now.

EL: That never happens.

MC: No, it doesn't. I don't know why they kept us on the air.

EL: Collins is also the co-founder and board president of Random Acts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding and inspiring acts of kindness around the world. He's also a published poet. Very impressive dude.

MC: Thank you.

EL: And has now written with his wife Vicky Collins, The Adventurous Eaters Club: Mastering the Art of Family Meal Time. So welcome to Special Sauce, Misha.

MC: I'm very happy to be here.

EL: So the first question I always ask, in your case it's particularly relevant, is tell us about life at your family table growing up. Your family table was not exactly traditional.

MC: That is true. I was raised by a single mom. My parents separated when I was three years old and I visited my father on every other weekend for most of my childhood, but he wasn't really a cornerstone of my upbringing. But my mother and my brother and our dog were a very tight family unit, and we lived in Western Massachusetts primarily growing up and moved a lot. We were in a new home I would say on average once every nine months or so. I think I lived in 15 places by the time I was 15.

EL: So you were like an Army brat, only you were a different kind of brat.

MC: Right. An Army brat without the parents building up a pension plan.

EL: Right.

MC: Another thing I think that an Army brat family has is a cadre possibly, of other kids that are going through the same experience, and I was generally going to a new school every year and meeting kids that were in fairly stable childhoods and who knew one another and who were familiar with the school, so I was always approaching schools and new towns-

EL: You were the permanent new kid.

MC: Yeah, with a little bit of trepidation, and trying to figure out how I could ingratiate myself to the new communities and the new schools. My mother was very eccentric and iconoclastic. She talked about the revolution a lot. I was born in 1974, and we lived through a tumultuous political time in our country, and she didn't want to have us grow up being conventional young men, so she would do things like dress me up in pink tights and paint my nails and send me off to Cub Scouts. Which I think in 2020 might actually fly, but in a working class community in Massachusetts, when you show up at Cub Scouts in the boys' locker room with nail polish and long hair-

EL: Not so much.

MC: And pink tights, you're ostracized. So, I kind of had to find a way to blend in and disappear a little bit as a kid in new schools, and I think that it built a lot of character in a lot of ways, and made me more resilient and adaptable and independent than I otherwise would have been. But at the same time, there's a certain lack of stable foundation that was challenging.

EL: I had not the same kinds of travails in my own childhood, but you do become resilient and eminently adaptable, but it also has a cost. It exacts a cost that you can't deal with as you're going through it, but you almost have to deal with it at some point in order to really resolve some of the issues that came out of it, I assume.

MC: Yeah. I'm sure you've found the same thing, but I feel like I'm a 45-year-old man and I'm still discovering things and unpacking them and repairing them, I think. There are definitely things that you take away from a childhood like that that give you real strength.

One of the things that I love about my childhood is that I know that you don't need money to be happy and you can get by on just about nothing, and that gives you, I think, quite a bit of power going into the world because you don't feel beholden to the comforts of ... I don't feel beholden to the comforts of money. I'm okay with scarcity. At the same time, I don't know that I was really terribly good at connecting with people or making friends, and I probably still struggle with that.

EL: Yeah. So, you wrote this amazing piece in The Times, and you wrote that “times were often lean, but one luxury we always had an abundance was food, even if it came by the five finger discount. My mother taught me how to steal peaches from the Stop and Shop grocery store when I was four. We were stealing from the man. It was a justified rebellion against an unjust system.”

EL: So, whoa. Okay, those sentences made me stop in my tracks. That's pretty intense. I was actually thinking about this movie, Shoplifters. I don't if you've ever seen it.

MC: Oh yeah. Yeah.

EL: Because in there the father figure, who turns out not to be the father, teaches the kids how to steal so they can eat. And so, wow. I mean, talk about that. Talk about getting conflicting messages from your mother. It's like, whoa.

MC: It's funny, because now hearing you read that, it paints a portrait of a parent who was raising children without a moral compass, and I think that was not at all the case. This was righteous rebellion. We were stealing ... We would never have stolen from the local co-op, but this was from a corporate entity, and these corporations were out to exploit the proletariat. I actually felt the exhilaration of feeling like I was part of a rebellion at that point, and frankly indoctrinated into that at a really young age. At the age of four, I was aware that it was us against them. We were the little guys and that we had a justice on our side. At the same time, it's a complicated thing to be training a little four year old how to steal.

MC: I have a very distinct memory of the fruit island in the Stop and Shop, and me grabbing a peach. This was the first time that I remember ever shoplifting anything. I grabbed the peach and then I ducked down behind the island, and my mother said, "No, no, no, no, no. You can't do it like that. You have to take it. You have to be very calm. You have to not look around. You can't show that you're distressed at all or that you're nervous, and then you put it in your backpack." Then we would go up to the cash register and we would pay for some of the groceries, so that we were distracting them, and then scoot out the door.

EL: And you just, I assume, felt that there was nothing particularly abnormal about this because you had nothing to compare it to.

MC: Right. Yeah, this was my normal.

EL: Yeah. You weren't stealing from somebody or something that needed the money, you were stealing as part of an ethos. Right?

MC: Right.

EL: As part of like, this is the way we work the system to fight the man.

MC: Right, precisely. Yeah.

EL: You also wrote, and I'm going to quote a couple of more sentences from the piece because it was so beautiful, "My upbringing taught me you didn't need money to be happy, that you didn't have to play by the rules, that the whole world was just begging to be explored. But now by the hindsight of fatherhood and from the comfort of a therapist's couch, I see that while my childhood had been rife with adventure, it also had been lonely and frightening and wanting." So you were always reconciling those two things, weren't you?

MC: I wouldn't say I was always reconciling them, because as a child I struggled at times. I felt sad and lonely, but I didn't think that it was because of my childhood.

EL: Got it.

MC: I thought my childhood was full of adventure, and I was proud of my childhood. Up until when I was 25 I don't think I looked back on it and thought that there had been any damage done by that.

EL: Right, and that there was anything dysfunctional about it.

MC: Right. And on balance, my childhood was incredibly ... I think I had a secure attachment with my mother. My mother was there. She was loving. She never failed to convey that love to me and my brother. So she served as my anchor emotionally, and that was unfailing. But because the rest of our life was so fractured and so nomadic, she was my only anchor.

EL: Yeah, because as you said, how do you establish connections with any kids when you're moving every few months?

MC: Right, and when you're showing up at school in pink tights at a working class school you're also getting alienated by your peers, and so the other kids actually ended up being kind of frightening to me.

EL: I read your Wikipedia page, and somehow you escaped and you ended up at a prep school, Northfield Mount Hermon, and then the University of Chicago. What a narrative your life has been. How did that happen?

MC: Now that you're asking the question, I'm reflecting on it possibly for the first time. But one thing that I know happened as a result of my childhood and and partly as a result of feeling like I wasn't fitting in with other kids, is that I was a smart kid and I could win the favor of my teachers. So when I was in school, I did very well in school. It was like the thing I could throw myself into and be safe and get some accolades.

EL: Some positive feedback.

MC: And some positive reinforcement. So I did well in school, and we lived in the town of Northfield for a little while, which was where Northfield Mount Hermon is. They had a program that had been implemented from the inception of the school where local day students could get pretty much a full ride if they were in need, and we were in need, so I could go to a fancy high school for free as a day student. Then I ended up basically getting the same deal at the University of Chicago.

EL: Amazing.

MC: Yeah. At the time, I thought I was going to go into politics, so I was sort of on a very clear path. And that wanting to go into politics was also born of my childhood and of my mother talking about politics all the time, and making me and my brother very aware of the plight of people in need in our country and around the world. It felt like that was the right place for me.

EL: Yeah. Again, and this is the final sentences I'm going to read from the Times piece, because it gets us back to food. Which is, "I recently found an old journal in a box in the back of my closet, and on the page from a decade ago where I had taken inventory of the good and bad of my upbringing the word cooking is circled and underlined with urgency in the plus column, as if I was thinking that food had been the cornerstone of happiness in my youth." Elaborate on that. I mean, that's an amazing statement.

MC: I think as a nomadic family, we moved around and we brought with us what we could, and in terms of material objects, there was very little that was a through line. But we did bring with us from place to place the tradition of sitting down for family meals every night.

EL: Even if you were in a teepee or in a park.

MC: Right. Even if we were sitting on a log in the woods in the rain, we would be sitting down and eating together. There were no distractions. There was never a television on, and there was no coercion in getting to the dinner table. There was no question about it. Not because it was an edict from an authority figure, but because we all just coalesced around dinner and loved it.

EL: You needed it.

MC: Yeah.

EL: It was a permanent form of glue for the family, right?

MC: Yeah. It really was important to us. We would go spend Christmas with my mother's mother, my grandmother, and she was a cook as well, and food was a centerpiece of that family interaction. And for me now that I have kids, I notice that when I'm feeling like a guilty or absent father, the way that I most quickly show my affection and love for my kids is I just make them food. It's like the way that I know to convey to a child everything's safe, everything's okay, and I love you.

EL: Yeah. But in 21st century America, and maybe all around the world, it's hard to do that, right? There are lots of pressures that are forcing people not to eat together.

MC: Right.

EL: Both parents are working, kids are all over the place. But you obviously, I think as a result of your upbringing, it was important when you had a family and a wife that you made that same time for dinner.

MC: Yeah. It feels very important to me. I think sometimes I'm actually kind of maybe forcing my agenda of cooking on my kids. Like, "Come on guys, let's make something in the kitchen." A lot of times they want to go outside and I want to work in the kitchen, and I have to check myself and say, "Okay, we'll go play a little bit of soccer first before we get to canning the pears."

EL: Right. Because the act of eating a meal and preparing it is imbued with so much more meaning for you than it is for them.

MC: Yeah, I think that's true. Yeah.

EL: So you end up being an actor, and I'm just assuming that like all actors, you struggled for many years before you found yourself on the set of Supernatural. So, tell us in a few sentences the arc of your acting career.

MC: Well as I mentioned earlier, my intention after college was to go into politics. I interned at the White House and I got a job at NPR in Washington, DC, and I was really disappointed with what I saw at the White House, and I thought, "Oh God, I have to come up with a whole new plan here." I thought it was going to be the best and the brightest minds under one roof. This was the Clinton administration. And instead what I found was the halls were filled with people who were sycophants, whose parents had donated money to the campaign. They were all yaysayers. There was no real discourse about political ideas, which of course is actually what you need in an administration. You need people who are going to be in lock step and are going to support your decisions, but I was too young and naive to know that.

So when I saw it, I thought, "This is not for me." I thought, "I will try to find another way that I can have an impact." I think there's a lot of hubris in this, but I thought, "I know what I'll do. I'll become an actor. I'll get famous and then I'll parlay my celebrity into some sort of political influence."

EL: Oh, because that happens all the time.

MC: Right. I mean really, really completely naive, and totally full of myself. Then I moved to LA and I thought it was going to take a couple of years to attain a certain level-

EL: To become rich and famous.

MC: To be rich and famous. And it took a long time to become-

EL: It took a decade, probably.

MC: To become moderately comfortable and a C-list celebrity. But somewhere along the line I stopped thinking about that end goal of I'm on this path so that I can have influence, blah blah blah, and I just started becoming an actor, and I was just acting for the sake of acting and not for this aspirational, high-minded goal.

Then a couple of years ago we got a new president, and that lit a fire under me. It was actually during the campaign when I started to think, "Oh, Trump might get elected. Oh, this is serious," and then my C-list celebrity started to come into play and I thought, "All right, well I can use the platform that I have."

EL: By the way, I think it's at least B-minus, okay?

MC: Well you, as everyone knows, grade on a curve, so thank you for your charity. In a strange way it feels to me a little bit like it's come full circle, and now that the show's ending and after 15 seasons I'm asking the question, "Okay, how can I be of use in the world?" I don't know what's next for me. I don't know if I spend a lot of time on television sets after this or not. I'm trying to do some soul searching and figure out what I really want to be when I grow up. But that's, in a nutshell, my path.

EL: It's an amazing path, and you accomplished much more as an actor than almost any actor I know. To be a working actor and to have made some money doing it is actually an incredible accomplishment, and maybe it's to the resilience you discovered you had in your childhood.

MC: Yeah, I think possibly. I think obviously there's a lot of dumb luck that comes into play. It's not my fault that the show that I'm on has been on for 15 seasons or has the devoted fan base that it has.

EL: There are conventions for Supernatural. I notice this-

MC: We have conventions. There are tattoos with face on them. I mean, it's hard not to be full of yourself in this context. But yeah, we have a really, really devoted fan base, and it's quite remarkable to be a part of.

What was it? I think it was Freakonomics at one point. Maybe it was in the book Freakonomics, but they said that pursuing a career in acting is like pursuing a career as a drug dealer. It's very, very difficult to be one of the kingpins, to be successful in the field.

EL: Right.

MC: The odds are so bad that it takes a certain personality that's defective that wants to even pursue that in the first place, because 99 out of 100 people are going to fail at that and then you're just going to be a low level street corner drug dealer, or barely getting food on your table as a background actor.

EL: Yeah. Well Misha, we have to leave it right here for this episode of Special Sauce, but you're going to stick around and tell us all about your two terrific kids, West and Maison.

MC: We just say Mason.

EL: West and Mason.

MC: Yes, we anglicize the French spelling.

EL: And your wife Vicki, and your family collaboration on The Adventurous Eaters Club. Thank you for spending so much time with us on Special Sauce.

MC: Thank you so much for having me, and I can't wait to talk about the book.

Listen to the podcast here

#misha collins #vicki collins #the adventurous eaters club #misha talks #chef!misha #misha tweets #seriouseats #podcast

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soiruntotheriver · 4 years

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On the subject of Silver

It’s come to my attention that there’s a lot of theories about John Silver’s motivations floating around out there. I’m a relatively new member of the fandom so forgive if any/all of this has been said, but here’s my two cents on the subject.

When we first meet Silver he seems to have one main motivation: Survival. As subsets to that category one could say he also would like to Get Rich Enough To Never Worry About Going Hungry and Not Feel Feelings Too Much, Thanks. He endeavors to achieve these things through whatever means necessary, abandoning pride, lawfulness, and any sense of guilt to do so. That is not to say that he doesn’t care about anything/anyone else, but his own survival supersedes pretty much everything. He can justify this, in part, because he sees the world in shades of gray. He would consider himself a realist, but is actually a bit of a pessimist. Life has revealed itself to be chaotic and cruel, so much so that John cannot imagine that there is any meaning behind it. And even if there is some grand purpose, my god it must be horrible, so yeah no thanks. Silver would rather have faith in nothing except himself because it’s the surest way to not get hurt and/or die horribly. This outlook sounds dour but it probably felt very freeing once he’d gotten the hang of it. I’m sure John convinced himself that he was dancing through life, though really he was only kinda sneaking through it.

Now I think our boy would have carried on his merry way, manipulating and thieving until he got a share of the treasure, before disappearing off the face of the earth. IF. IF. He hadn’t met Flint. And, subsequently the crew members he befriended, Madi, etc. But it started with Flint. That magnificent, crazy bastard.

At first, Flint was just the most likely means of securing the treasure. Silver saw a dauntless, conniving, ambitious, intelligent, commanding, dangerous, ginger sexpot, honed in on dauntless and dangerous, and decided that Flint had the makings of a powerful, but very much temporary, ally. That was the plan.

Unfortunately for Silver, somewhere along the way, he started to get sucked into Flint’s orbit. He wasn’t a believer, not yet, but he did start to enjoy the push and pull of engaging with his equal in both intellect and will. And maybe he began to be seduced a little, despite himself, by the feeling of belonging as a member of a crew, by being one half of a partnership, by being able to stand alongside such a strong and intriguing character as Captain Flint. He begins to feel valued and, horror of horrors, connected to something. But then Flint’s priorities shift. And he not only lies to Silver about it, he also attempts to manipulate Silver’s loyalties by reminding him that, outside of the crew, he doesn’t matter/no one gives two shits about him. Yikes.

And so we’re back to every Silver for himself, just the way it should be. The only goal is the gold. Fuck everything else, Captain Flint especially. Except, oops, it looks like there was some collateral caring left over because when faced with the choice between avoiding danger or betraying the crew, Silver surprises everyone (including himself) by choosing the crew. He looses his leg in the process, along with his independence and a good chunk of his self-esteem.

This is the point where it starts to become clear that the Silver we met at the outset of this story is being unmade in a number of significant ways. He is obliged to depend on others, he no longer has access to the freedoms he once enjoyed, he must find the strength to weather the grueling pain of his injury, he has to reconcile with the fact that he’s opened himself up to others (i.e. Muldoon) and thus to a whole slew of complications (ew feelings). This is also where he begins to align himself more definitively with Flint.

So we see Silver becoming resilient in ways he hadn’t had to be before, redefining his identity, setting goals that benefit others besides himself, taking on more responsibilities, and falling a little in love with his Captain. Even if you’re tracking this as a platonic relationship, you’ve got to admit that shit got heavy and weirdly intimate. Just saying.

Eventually, somewhere between postulating that Flint might be a god who controls the sea and earning Madi’s regard, we witness the full metamorphosis. Silver has been brought to a place where he can imagine that Flint’s determination, ingenuity, and righteous fury, combined with Madi’s vision, resolve, and uprightness, might be sufficient to rally the numbers and amass the resources needed to achieve the impossible. Hell, for a second, he even believes in himself.

Yes, for one brief shining moment in time John Silver’s whole world-view teetered as he considered how beautiful life could be if only wars like theirs could be won. If only lending his support to the two most important people in his life didn’t mean clawing down a road paved with nothing but endless exhaustion and fear and bloodshed. If only he was capable of truly loving and being loved in return.

But, alas, a rock met a hard place, dissenters rallied against the cause, parties worked to divide steadfast partners, one of Silver’s loves was presumed dead, each side double-crossed the other, trust degraded. For Silver, it was reality reasserting itself, and he was left wondering what in the hell he was going to do with his two very stubborn idealists. One so angry, so committed to vengeance against the society that had killed his beloved and named him a monster, that his only recourse was to burn it all down. And the other, fiercely brave, principled, and responsible for the liberty and well-being of a whole people. Flint and Madi would never stop. They would fight and die for what they believed in. For Silver, who had never been given any reason to believe in anything so lofty as freedom from tyranny, it must have seemed like an incredible waste. It must have also been terrifying to be hurtling towards a future where two such bright, beautiful souls would undoubtedly be extinguished. What was John’s life, without them? What kind of world would it be if they were not in it?

So our desperate, lovesick, cynical idiot did what he felt he had to do - he took their choices from them, betrayed their trust, and forfeited his right to remain in their good graces (while also realizing one of Flint’s greatest desires i.e. the destruction of ‘Flint’, which is to say nothing of the reunion with Thomas if you believe that’s how it really went down). Silver did all this even though it surely meant that he’d earn the disdain of one or both of the people he cared deeply about, and he explicitly states that he did it anyway because at least they’d be alive to hate him.

Did Silver make perfect choices? No. Was his love unquestionably pure? Absolutely not. Was he potentially short-sighted, too controlling, and a little bit of a coward? Yeah, maybe. But he was also a traumatized, complicated man who was experiencing perhaps the closest thing to love he’d ever felt in his life. His final acts were ones of helplessness and hopelessness. To say that he didn’t care, that he wasn’t invested, is absurd to me. I think Silver deserves empathy and I think he deserves forgiveness every bit as much as Flint does.

#john silver #Black Sails #black sails meta #silverflint #silvermadi

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rainbowcarousels · 3 years

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You can blame @aimeelouart for asking about my keeping track of how each relationship between AGSZC progresses for the fact this meta now exists. It was somewhat hastily written in the back of my maths textbook so please excuse the lack of polish and put it down to the fact I couldn’t take another 2 hours of algebra.

Fives Company, not a Crowd

Relationships with Love

(or how AGSZC functions in the JBSWM universe*)

Cloud

Love is something that is given without expectation of return. This is applicable both platonically and romantically, he's willing to put everything on the line for the people he loves but he doesn't really expect them to do the same for him. Some of that comes from the fallout from his and Tifa's trip up the mountains and the subsequent responsibility placed on him for that but other parts stem from wanting to feel included but not being able to put himself out there so it's a lot easier to be prickly and pretend you don't care when in reality, I think Cloud loves incredibly deeply and it's why he's easily hurt by it no matter how strong a front he puts up. At eighteen, he's still trying to find a balance between keeping everyone at bay so he doesn't get hurt and letting himself figure things out and take those risks. There's a fun parallel to Sephiroth there in that neither cut themselves any slack for mistakes so it's hard to get out there when you might make one when making a mistake – especially in his first real adult relationship – feels like the end of the world. His only really obvious love up till that point is his mother and I do think he misses her a lot, but is also deathly afraid of letting her down and that weighs on their relationship.

The rest under the cut!

Zack

Loves to love (and he loves to dance, kudos to anyone who got that reference). The walking embodiment of a carebear, loves quickly, easily and casually. The more affection and love you throw at him, you'll get it back tenfold. The trick with Zack is that he lives his life with his heart so open that he has a natural connection with most people but it does make it more difficult to spot the differences between puppy love and intense, romantic love. This is one of the reasons he and Gen clash so much, Gen is 10000% passion and intensity and Zack always seems casual even when he's not. Ultimately, Zack is only 20 and still has a lot of trouble balancing his life between love, friendship and work. Since he's a social creature by nature compared with Cloud's more introverted nature, he's pretty decent at reading people and what they're feeling and absolutely wants to listen to them and hear about what they're feeling instead of having to guess. Compared with any of the other four really, he grew up with a strong sense of his social community and it helped instil a lot of compassion and resilience in his ability to love.

Sephiroth

Big yikes on this front. A walking talking advertisement for dysfunctional attachment and it would not surprise me in the least if he has some kind of attachment disorder as a leftover from a childhood which has probably left it's fair share of emotional scars. If I consult my Master timeline (and my attempts to make sense of Gast's timeline since he appears to have left Shinra on a fact finding mission around the time Sephiroth was born and left again for real this time two years before Aerith was born taking Ifalna with him), his first experiences of emotional connection are Hojo (yikes), Gast (who must come back sporadically from his fact finding between 1979 and 1983 so even before he dies when Sephiroth is four it's probably difficult to pinpoint as a positive attachment), Ifalna (here is where I get a little creative with canon but I do quite like the idea that if she did end up at Shinra before Gast left that he would have wanted to be like LOOK AN ANCIENT BABY and have her be like um no no that is not but also he was probably a toddler at the time and has no real strong recollection of her) and then SOLDIER. We know he served with adult SOLDIERs so I really doubt he connected in any strong way with them having had an extremely sheltered upbringing and oh yeah HE'S TWELVE. Man this one needs splitting up because it's Sephiroth.

So Enter Gen & Angeal when he's around 13, maybe closer to 14. What we know from Zack!Cloud and see from some of Zack's memories in CC, Sephiroth is not cruel but he is a hell a taskmaster and I think there's two big reasons why I put his connection with Angeal first. One, Angeal is a hard worker, he tries to do as much as he can and get himself out there and Sephiroth can respect that.Genesis on the other hand is talented, which...means he actually has to work hard at the things that don't come naturally to him for the first time and since he had the hero worship thing going on and Sephiroth was not social, they did not get along easily until they had a better understanding of each other. This is the same understanding that Gen gradually loses through degradation in canon, whereas Angeal and Sephiroth remain close-ish. Two, Angeal doesn't take anything personally and remains at a respectful distance, even when trying to connect. Sephiroth for his part was perplexed by his continual attention and has no idea what to make of it. It's only when Angeal is still doing it a few months down the line, when Gen has calmed down a little from his perceived slight, that they're able to forge stronger connections and I think there's a tandem effect with those two where Angeal is emotionally open and unobtrusive and Gen is not about to talk about anything emotional but he's physically affectionate. Most importantly of all, they aren't afraid of him, even the parts that a lot of other SOLDIERs may find disturbing, Angeal wants to just check in on and Genesis is mostly thinking 'meh, I could do that'. So ultimately, what would end up being his relationship with love is largely impacted by people who keep him at a distance or leave for a long time and then it's like a bus, you wait for one friend and two come along at once.

So then we have his concept of love being defined largely by friendship because his concept of it is so heavily defined by two people who were friends with each other and him first. The potential problem being that his world gets very wrapped up in only two people and as such, he's obsessive and possessive of them because it's all he has. Then Zack comes along and he's hyper affectionate, social, loving basically in a way he hasn't really had thrown at him and he doesn't fully know what to do with. To a degree, Cloud is easier – he's independent, prickly and does not get on with people which for him is relatable. Zack comes in like nothing he's ever experienced and the way he loves is so different that it's left him trying to figure out how he feels about this new kind of love coming into his life.

Angeal

Hands down a nurturer. It's all about putting his time and energy and heart into a relationship and letting whatever kind of love blooms happen naturally. While I don't think he forms connections easily, he tries to keep himself open and supportive of people around him and that lends itself to connecting with people. I do think he had a strong, loving role model in his parents (well, mother and stepfather, fuck you Hollander) and he had good relationships with them so he has some model by which to judge what love looks like. I also think canonly this is the thing he never really gets over losing, his mother and his connection to his parents.

I think Genesis has always been his great love story. They were, when they were a couple, one that would tell the story of how they met bit by bit until Angeal let Genesis take over telling it because he knows Gen never ever stops talking. I think it's one of the reasons they work well together – Angeal has the calm, quiet and cosy sort of love compared with Genesis who is passion and intensity 24/7. They balance each other out because Angeal does also try to push at his partners to behave, he will be passive aggressive or take small measures to try and correct things (a good example in 7s9s is that he will lock the liquor up knowing Genesis can break it but it's the fact he at least tried to get him to behave that helps him sleep at night) but ultimately, he is more passive as a person. When it was just the trio, Sephiroth added to some of the calm from Angeal but also more than matches Gen for obsessiveness. As things progress, Zack's casual nature adds to the calm but his excitement adds to the intensity and Cloud's introversion adds to the quiet but he's also a mouthy little shit.

One of the major things Angeal brings to the table is that his default setting is to care, same as Zack and that everyone at this table needs taking care of in some way. Cloud is obvious, he's struggling the most but he also feels that way with Zack because he can't completely separate the mentor-ship role even he tries to respect Zack as a First Class in his own right, Sephiroth has so few connections that being able to read him and react in a way as needed is extremely valuable and Genesis is just extremely responsive to the first instance of a seemingly unconditional love in his life and even if he would hate to admit it, loves that Angeal tries to take care of him. I think he's happiest when he can express how he feels to each person in turn in their own language and watch them respond.

Genesis

I think with Genesis there's a very large difference between his relationship with love and his relationship with romance. Romance is easy, he can be lyrical and affectionate and flirtatious at the drop of a hat but the emotion behind it being love is tricky at best. For some reason, I've always viewed him as someone who was a very clingy kid, who wanted parental attention constantly, was constantly seeking reassurance and often didn't get it. We know that Gen at that point was confined to Banora so I do think his parents would leave a decent amount when he was young and it's one of the reasons he latches on so hard when he meets Angeal. Angeal is not only present all the time but wants his attention and doesn't seem to mind that he chatters on and on. It's probably something to do with the idea if he keeps talking, he'll stay longer or trying to just fill silence because I think quiet disturbs him on some level because he's actually terrified of loneliness.

As he's gotten older and he turned out to be good at a few things, he got some of the loving responses he'd wanted but I also think as much as this reinforced the idea love is earned and you have to pay for it, a part of him from Angeal, from seeing his parents relationship with him covetously, knows that love can be unconditional but fears it's not so for him and probably spent a great deal of their early romantic relationship waiting for Angeal to realise and leave.

It's why his relationship with Sephiroth when they make the decision to expand the relationship to include him is initially categorised as casual, he can walk away any time and so can they, it's super casual, okay? Except I don't really think it was, it was just an out and then with Zack, he has no out. Zack is happening and it's love or bust. There's no out and then Zack does not seem that into making an effort and he is Not Happy about that. If you then contrast that to Cloud, who is incredibly responsive to his attentions but without demanding it. There's a lot of control on his end when it comes to his relationship with Cloud so it felt a lot less high stakes. Then Hojo happened and all of that went out the window because it was obvious how deep in he was at that point, he was willing to try and comfort Zack and keep him out of trouble, he was willing to care for Cloud in a way that isn't totally to his nature (if Angeal is the gardener, he's a very finicky plant – needs much attention and the right amount of everything to grow properly and will pretend to be dying if you miss a day) and show concern where he would usually rather jump off the plate headfirst than show emotions that vulnerable.

*This is your standard disclaimer that this only applies to how I see them in this verse, it's not applicable elsewhere but I might use examples from elsewhere to back up the point.

#if you read through all that you deserve a medal #just be still with me #agszc #meta #Final Fantasy 7 #rainbow writes #rainbow rambles

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c-atm · 3 years

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'Ohhh man, how did it come to this?"

This was the thought of one Steven Quartz Universe. Currently, waiting on the roof of his school for one Connie Sachini Maheswaran.

"This is so nerve-wracking!" He thought out loud as he paced in a circle and folded in front of his chest. "Why did I come here? Why did I not just leave? Oh, right, I asked her to come here!... WHY DID I ASK HER TO COME HERE?!" He yelled, scratching his head wildly. Before breathing calmly and deeply. "Don't lose focus; remember what you came here to do." He said to himself as he clenched his fist to center himself. He came with a motive.

That motive was Connie Maheswaran, and unraveling the enigma that was Connie Maheswaran.

For some reason, beyond his knowledge, Connie was a delinquent of sorts. She didn't follow the dress code, always finding her way into a fight( which she hadn't lost one yet); she was a bit alarming to be around as well. The rumors of her snapping at a teacher were infamous, and many. She was also a bit of a bully...at least towards him. Nothing wrong or harmful, just...

"She's so damn stressful." He shouted to the blue sky.

There were other things as well that made him want to keep an eye on her. For one thing, her grades.

While he was the top student in his class, Connie was one of the top students...In the city. She was quite the athlete and had her hand in martial arts, fencing, and tennis.

Just this past weekend, he found out she was musically talented with the violin. He happened to spot her while walking around their city and caught her playing on the streets with some other performers collecting money, which she took none of.

Being a savant when it comes to music himself, he could tell when someone was in love with their craft, and the melody that she produced sent shivers down his spine. From quick and powerful hip-hop to slow sensual and slow R&B to wild and rebellious rap and rock, to things he never heard before. The impromptu concert was something extraordinary. And so far from the 'Connie' in school, it's hard to imagine them as the same person, but there was no way it was anyone else but her.

"Not with those prideful black eyes." Steven started scratching his head, "where is she!?"

"Hehehe-hmm-hmm!"

Steven froze; he knew that snicker. He turned to the roof entrance to see her laying on her left side on top of the roof entrance, smirking at him with her cheek in hand.

"How long have you been there?"

"Enough to see everything." She teased, " the pacing, the head-scratching, the proclamations, and everything in between." She chuckled, seeing his nervous face. The way his lips formed a straight line, the slightly puffed cheeks, and those brown eyes that seemed to shrink just a bit, and the slight cold sweat from his head.

'So cute, always so fun to play with.' She mused, "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show, had me waiting for quite a bit, you know."

He blushed in embarrassment as he looked at his watch read 3:00, "sorry, had student council work. Still, 15 minutes late isn't that bad."

"I've been here since 1 p.m. Two hours spent waiting for you."

"I apologize for the Waitaminuet." Steven pointed at her accordingly, "You skipped afternoon classes...Again!"

"One was self-study... The other two." She paused, trying to think of a good excuse, her face cutely scrunching up. "Yeah, I skipped them." She admitted with a shrug.

Steven groaned, ready to comment, but stopped his thought as he looked closely at her, more so her legs.

So much of it was being shown from her hiked upskirt, and it didn't help hide her curves either. The loose-fitting, two-thirds button blouse and tie combo weren't better. "Come down here, so I can fix your uniform...Again!" The president barked at the smirking delinquent.

"You sure you want me to do that? You might get a glimpse of my delicates", Connie gave a faux gasp before reaching for the hem of her skirt, "of course, if that's what this is all about-." She peeled the cloth back, letting a bit of thigh show, "Guess I can show you."

"Oh, re- I mean...No, no! " Steven screamed, turning around blushing, "come down. I won't watch."

She grinned as she tipped herself over the edge, landing silently on her feet in a crouch. Seeing that he still didn't realize she was on the ground, she slowly sneaked to him, not too close. Close enough to bend over by her waist, her lips pursed by his ear.

"Fwoooooooh!"

"Ahh!" Steven screamed as he leaped from Connie's whistle. He turned with an annoyed glare at the taller girl, a corner pout on his lips as she continued to grin mischievously.

"Hello, Pres." She chirped as if she didn't scare him out of his skin.

"Connie," Steven said with a growl. Usually, it would be 'Miss Maheswaran,' but today, purpose takes precedence over professionalism.

"Wow, 'Connie' off the back and so casual too. This must be more serious than I thought." She tittered a bit mockingly, her fingers upon her lip.

"It is for me." Steven sighed as he looked at her clothes.

The sunflower pleated skirt hiked up to just below her navel, making it look 'dangerously' short; the short sleeve white blouse unbuttoned just enough to show a bit of her sports bra for the day(pink with a star), the pink bow tie which hung more like a chain and cascaded over her breast, and the blue blazer which was two sizes too big and she wore almost like a cape. The only regulation was the navy thigh highs with red and blue sneakers and her hairstyle, a loose mid-back flow of black with a sword clip in the perfect center.

"Drink it all in, Pres." She raised her arms behind her head and slightly arched her back, giving him a flirty pose, her teasing grin ever-present. " I know you like to watch."

"DO-DO YOU EVEN HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THAT CAN BE TAKEN?!" He screeched and face cherry red.

"Given the current circumstances," she placed a few fingertips on her chin, looking upward before pointing at him, "you're attentive of your fellow schoolmates." She offered him a thumbs up and a wink. "Good job, Pres! Way to stay charmingly diligent." She laughed boisterously.

He scoffed a laugh, "I appreciate the praise, but is it true, I wonder." He sighed as he began what was almost ritual for the two of them. "Here I got a fellow schoolmate who's a little wayward and wild." He started by buttoning up her shirt," She gets into fights, she skips classes, she dresses messy and revealing," He buttoned her collar button before moving to the tie. "And she seems to love surging my blood pressure."

"Well, you do make a cute cherry, Pres." Connie countered with a grin.

"She also never takes anything seriously." He breathed in slight annoyance, "or at least, that's what it seems."

"Hmm, Is that so?"

"Yes, you see. I have seen evidence of the contrary." He undid her tie altogether before throwing the cloth over her shoulders. "Attire excluded." He let out a little smirk at his joke." I just want to know why there's such a disconnect between her school persona and the one I've seen." He implored as he tied the diamond-point bow around her neck neatly.

Connie didn't respond as he adjusted her skirt to just above her knees, as school allowed.

"Maybe, there isn't."

Steven looked up at het to see her looking down at him with a neutral countenance.

"Wha-"

"There isn't a disconnect." She sighed as she took a step back and then passed him towards the railing. "Do you think I come from a broken home? I don't." She hiked back up her skirt, "my Am'mā is a doctor, my Tantai is a private security guard. Both heads of their fields and currently working in Delmarva, leaving me in our nice modest brownstone." She playfully sniffs.

"You must miss them," Steven whispered.

"Somewhat? Not the first time." She shrugged, "plus, kind of hard to miss them. They make sure to have video chats with use every morning and evening." She chuckles, "Dad, even try to synchronize our meals, so we eat the same thing." She shook her head, smiling.

"Sounds nice."

"Not a dream, but I'm loved and allowed independence." She stretched out the tie letting it hang at her breast as she leaned at the rail. "What about you, Pres? What made you such a hardass for rules and regulations."

"I'm not a hardass." Steven rubbed his nape, looking away as she undid her buttons as they were before. "Do I come off like one?"

She side nodded, waving her hand, "Just a bit."

"Argh." He shook his head, "wait, this isn't about me-"

"Hold on now." Connie raised her hand, "you can't just ask a question and not expect to be interrogated yourself."

"I'm not interrogating you." Steven countered, "I just... "

"What?" She offered.

"Wanna know why!?" He barked, "Why you act so differently in school and outside of it. Why someone with your intelligence, athleticism, talent, and allure…" He sighed, "act so lackadaisical, rebellious, and aloof."

"Why do you care so much?" She inquired, looking upward, "

"Just...I don't know." He admitted, "it's your so questioning?"

"A lot of people act differently from business than they are in their personal life." Connie looked at him with an arched eyebrow before sighing. "Do you act the same at home as you do here?"

"Well.."

"Outside of watching me with those chocolate browns of yours, that is."

Steven eyes widen at the teasing, flirty tone of her voice. He felt a shiver down his spine when her face adopted the style.

Those long black eyebrows were dipping down over half-lidded raven eyes that twinkled in the afternoon light with soft, slightly parted, puckered lips and the slightest cherrywood blush on her brown cheeks. "You thought I wouldn't know when my favorite browns were watching me play violin on Saturday."

"I-"

She teased as she walked up to Steven, making him red in the face as he turned away.

*Chu*

Steven turned his eyes towards her as he backed up just a little, his hand on his right cheek, trying to fight the small smirk.

"Usually, you would act much more abrasive when I kiss your cheek, Pres." she grinned, "could you actually be resilient to my charms...or maybe you're crushing on me?" She laughed in slight play.

"Why did...No," Steven clenched his fist as a scrowl came to his lips." do you always do that? Make it so hard to have a conversation with you, Connie?"

"A conversation? On what?" She folded her arms over her stomach, "on how my clothes are wrong? On how I should be more courteous to substitute teachers and not skip those classes, despite them being nothing more than extra study-halls. How I should be more forthcoming." She glared, "you don't wanna conversation, you wanna lecture." Her glare softened, "you wanna guide and help someone you think need it, and as honorable and even attractive as I find it...I don't need it. I'm not begging for attention or a lost lamb or your new pet project or whatever. " She sighed, looking away, "I'm just who I am, and that's all I can be."

Steven rubbed the back of his head, "I know." He kissed his teeth, "I wasn't...I didn't call you up here to lecture you."

"Hmmph!"

"I swear, I didn't." He at her eyes, realizing the small moisture in them. "I really just wanted to talk."

"Yeah," She blinked a few times. "Another round of complaints, again."

"No!" Steven shouted making her jump and turn to him. He rubbed his cheek, "Sorry?"

"You're nervous."She noted with a small smile, "You scratch your left cheek when you're nervous."

"Um.." He put his hand down, only to instinctively continue scratching.

"You're reactions are so cute, Pres." She chuckled behind a fist.

"Come on; this is what I'm talking about." He muttered, "can't even tell you that I want to get to know you without being teased." He blabbed involuntarily.

Connie felt her voice lock in her throat as her cheeks burned under her skin. "What?"

"I want to get to know you." Steven implored nonchalantly before the implications hit him. "I mean…Um.."

The two looked at each other with not so different eyes. Both were feeling a bashful warmness in their chest, one that rendered them too afraid to speak but urged to be anything but silent.

"I'm interested...in you, " Steven admitted to Connie and himself. "In knowing you...I mean... Outside of school." He finished, scratching his cheek.

"Just outside school?" She sighed, ignoring the warmth in her chest, as she pressed her palm to her cheek. Trying to get a rise out of him.

*Chu*

"Steven?" Connie's voice broke as she felt his lips on her other cheek. "That..you…"

"An answer to your question!" He implored, quickly, "I'm interested in you… all of you." He announced, "That's ok, right?"

Connie wanted to tease him on his change of words, but with his hand out toward her, basically asking her to grasp it. She came to realize it wasn't a fumble of words at all.

"Mmmhmm." She muttered, taking his hand.

The two giggled at the feel of their warm palms. "Um...Can I walk you home, talk to you on the way?"

The (seemingly) genius delinquent nodded at the hardworking president. "Already trying to learn about me, Pres. .Steven."

"Well," he gave her a flirty grin as he leads her to the stairs, "you did say my diligence was charming."

"Yeah." She involuntarily squeezes his hand, "it is." She breathed out, closing the door behind them, ending one chapter of a rivalry and opening a book of friendship, love, and more.

#steven universe #connie maheswaran #connverse #steven universe future #steven universe fanfiction #steven and connie #older steven #older connie #connverse fanfic #facememe

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theleagueof13 · 4 years

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SGE x ATLA

I chose Reena for Katara because of their similar looks, and considering Reena’s character exploration in OTK, I thought of her as a capable fighter.

From the few lines Reena was given, I can’t tell if she’s a maternal figure, but I would headcanon it.

OTK SPOILER: She is the princess of Shazabah, and goes against her father to help the main trio, which is something I feel that Katara would do if her sense of justice is provoked.

I chose Agatha for Toph again because of the appearances (except that Agatha is tall), but I think some facets of their personalities are similar too.

Agatha is tough and can be blunt to the point of abrasiveness.

Seeing as Toph was originally meant to be male, her masculinity fits well with Witchy Agatha’s quirks.

Toph tries to hide her crush on Sokka, which connects to Agatha’s initial rejection of romance.

They both share a distaste for restrictive authority and prim-and-properness.

Toph says “One of the good things about being blind is that I don’t have to waste my time worrying about appearances. I don’t care what I look like. I’m not looking for anyone’s approval. …I know who I am.” Although Agatha isn’t blind, her character arc is learning to detach self-worth from beauty and loving herself.

One part I would change is Toph’s lack of vulnerability and empathy, since Agatha is shown to be strong as a result of her desire to protect and care for people.

I chose Hort for Sokka because they’re both characters used for humor, and they are underestimated in the group.

I don’t think Hort will ever reach Sokka’s development, because he’s a little creepy towards Sophie whereas Sokka is chugging that Respect Women Juice by the end of the series. Hort does get the girl eventually, but Sokka had to grow out of his traditional gender role mindset in order for Suki to like him, which is much more commendable in my opinion.

However, they both become warriors by utilizing their strengths.

I’d make Hort more attractive in general because Sokka pulls every girl in the show, and Hort just… doesn’t.

I chose Sophie for Azula because... it’s glaringly obvious? They’re both egotistical, formidable, cunning, persuasive, and ruthless.

Sophie can identify people’s weaknesses and desires, and exploit them to her advantage. She is also a prodigy of Evil, and her true power explodes in her darkest moments.

Still, Azula has far more control of her emotions (though Sophie gets better later on), and she is impenetrable, while Sophie’s greatest fragility is her need for love.

Azula was shaped in her father’s image to be an efficient weapon, and therefore the humanity in her was ruined. In contrast, Sophie wants nothing more than to be Good. They’re both complex characters, but in different ways.

Azula’s descent into insanity was catalyzed by her friends’ betrayal, which is always Sophie’s motive for “embracing Evil”.

I chose Dot for Ty Lee because she has a cheerful, air-headed, and magnetic personality, but she can be equally threatening as her friends when she wants to be.

They both have extremely unique talents (Ty Lee // acrobatics and chi-blocking, Dot // chocolate bending??) and they struggle to be their own separate person.

Just as Ty Lee seems to be very in touch with spirituality and energy (many theorize her to be part air-bender), Dot has an incredible intuition and a higher emotional intelligence.

Dot is seen to be attracted to Robin Hood, Hort, Ravan, and Kei for their looks, but unlike her, Ty Lee’s flirting actually has payoff. I’d have Dot gain success with her romantic interests to make the pairing more accurate.

I chose Anadil for Mai because they are the secondary character in their antagonist trios. Their personalities are reserved and apathetic.

Unfortunately, Anadil doesn’t get much development and I can’t pinpoint any other similarities. But, I’d headcanon Anadil to have a more dignified upbringing like Mai’s, because her grandmother was the legendary White Witch of Bloodbrook and she would traditionally gain a high status from her ancestry.

Mai’s softer side seems to come out when she’s around Zuko, and while Hestadil isn’t technically canon, the Maiko exchange of:

“You’re so beautiful when you hate the world”

“I don’t hate you”

“I don’t hate you too”

is like SUCH a Hestadil version of declaring their love.

Mai’s betrayal of Azula and her decision to save Zuko is definitely something that Anadil would do for Hester if prompted.

I chose Beatrix for Suki because... feminist icons!! Suki is a badass and can take on multiple people in a fight, while wearing makeup and a cultural dress. Beatrix... pales in comparison but she’s still amazing; her original quest was to battle pirates (hell yeah!) and OTK SPOILER: she literally becomes a knight.

Suki was never bitchy like Beatrix was, so I’d say that her characterization in Book 2 and beyond is a better fit.

Suki x Sokka is just beautiful holy shit (imo one of the best relationships), Beatrix doesn’t have a canon relationship but like if you’re going off these pairings here then,,, hortrix anyone?

I chose Hester for June because, again, queen shit! They also look the same (tattoos, build, hair) lmfao.

Unfortunately June doesn’t get much screentime [what a fucking waste]. She’s shown to be physically strong, brave, and independent. Her main goal is money (?), seems like something Hester would be motivated by if she didn’t have her coven.

I can’t find any other things to talk about but just like, you know.

I chose Tedros for Zuko because ... idk do I really need to explain this one?

Daddy issues just radiate off them. Like come on, both their mothers left at a young age, their fathers were neglectful (not sure if Arthur was that outwardly abusive though), and they grew up under a lot of pressure.

I’d connect Never Tedros to Zuko since Vanilla Tedros isn’t nearly “evil” enough. These are a few traits in common:

Anger issues, drama kings, the fear of not being enough, lack of wisdom, underlying toxic masculinity, the desire to prove themselves, the acceptance of struggle, occasional awkwardness, resilience, sense of morality, and everything else.

And you can imagine Tedros talking about reclaiming his honor every five seconds. I know you can.

#The School for Good and Evil #atla #avatar the last airbender

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softlass27 · 4 years

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Okay okay you don't have to do this now, but i was also wondering about your Eve fic: I've always been a daughter, because MY GOD I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Like your entire thought process behind Eve's character, how her relationship with Paddy and Chas came to be, just kdlsf everything. Sorry okay xx luv you!

So this is probably the most random, spontaneous thing I’ve ever written. It was borne out of two Chaddy-related irritations.

The first was them having another baby barely one year after the traumatic loss of the first one. It was so strange to me that everyone reacted so happily when they announced Chas was pregnant again, literally months after being devastated by Grace. It seemed way too soon, like Eve was essentially just there to replace what they’d lost and help them move on from it. And their obsessive paranoia over making sure Eve was okay all the time drove me mad, and just made me think it was bound to mess her up. To quote my mother, “The kid doesn’t stand a chance with those two.”

The second irritation was the way Chas kept trying to push Aaron to engage and spend time with Eve just after he’d lost Robert and Seb – and the chance of having another child of his own. It was so insensitive and cruel of her to use Eve to guilt Aaron into moving on by saying that she “needs her big brother”. She (plus Paddy and Liv) didn’t give a shit that Aaron had lost Robert, didn’t let him mourn everything he’d lost, they just wanted him to bounce back and forget all about him.

Somewhere along the line I started thinking, wouldn’t it be great if Chaddy’s constant pushing backfired and Eve became the biggest Robert stan of them all?

So that’s basically where it came from – anti-Chaddy spite.

Eve’s character

Oh God, I was SO nervous about writing her. I had a really clear picture of her in my head – that she’d be pretty well-behaved kid, very girly, quietly confident, and generally quite a chilled-out kid. But getting all that across in a way that made her likeable stressed me out so much, I was terrified that people either wouldn’t like her or just wouldn’t care about her.

It’s also the only fic I’ve written where the focus isn’t on Robron (although ofc there’s LOTS of them in there), so I was concerned people would be annoyed by that.

Relationship with Chaddy

Ahaha where to begin?

So obviously Eve’s relationship with her parents was a big part of the story. I wanted to make it clear that their trauma from losing Grace was never dealt with because they had Eve so quickly, and unfortunately that means Eve is the one to suffer because of it. Their grief becomes unhealthy, and it causes flaws that they already had – control issues, overbearing natures, a belief that they’re always in the right – to spiral out of control into something more extreme and sinister.

In the first half of the story, when Eve’s still a kid, their controlling and overprotective behaviour is something that she’s aware of but accepts easily enough, because she doesn’t know any different. Then when she becomes a teenager, there’s a shift in how it manifests. Once she starts to understand that something’s wrong and pull away, this is when the real breakdown of their relationship happens. They basically go between two extremes – either smothering her completely by inventing illnesses/stop her from becoming independent, or pushing her away and giving her the cold shoulder whenever she tries to resist said smothering.

There’s a form of mental illness/abuse that I find absolutely fascinating, which is called Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy (NHS link here). Not that much is known about it, but it basically involves an abuser (usually a parent or caregiver) faking illnesses in their child. It can be for a variety of reasons – power, attention, control, financial gain. I wasn’t comfortable actually labelling Chaddy’s treatment of Eve as this specific form of abuse, since I’m not a mental health professional (not yet anyway, I’m training to become one!), but it’s definitely something I had in the back of my mind when I was writing this. I doubt it’s a story the show would ever do, since it would mean turning Chaddy into actual villains, but I think the potential is definitely there with Eve!

I suppose the other thing to mention is Grace. Oh, Eve’s feelings about her sister are so complicated, probably more complicated than I was able to convey, though I loved giving it a good go. When she’s still a child, Eve’s main feeling in regards to Grace is confusion. Confusion over what happened to her, why she makes her parents so sad, why her not being here means Eve doesn’t get to do normal things like other kids.

Then when she gets older and understands, her feelings get a lot more messy. There’s anger, sadness, resentment... and a strange sort of disconnect between what her parents tell her to feel and what she actually feels. Not to mention the cold reality she tries not to dwell on too much – the only reason she was born is because Grace had died.

Relationship with Aaron

Obviously I wanted Eve to be close to Aaron, and for him to sort of be her lifeline, her only real shot at growing up “normally”. Chaddy foisting her on him so much as a child means he sort of naturally becomes a third parent as well as a big brother. He’s the one who provides the things that a good parent is supposed to – support, encouragement, pushing her to be the best/as happy as she can be.

So yeah, Chaddy’s plan to use Eve to make Aaron act in the way they wanted backfires MASSIVELY. She becomes the only one who helps him get through losing Robert, and who (admittedly unknowingly) helps them get back together. And in turn, Eve spending so much time with Aaron makes her grow up strong and resilient – just like he is – and Chaddy can’t stand that. Ah, sweet irony.

Another thing I like about Eve and Aaron is that – on the surface – they have nothing in common. Unlike Liv, who was basically brought in as a “mini female Aaron”, Eve is very much her own person and very different to her big brother. But there are a few subtle similarities in their personalities that I did try to show – they’re both quite blunt when they want to be, they’re both quite easily-pleased and find simple pleasure in things, and neither of them suffer fools for long. And they both adore Robert. Speaking of whom…

Relationship with Robert

Literally one of the first thoughts I had about this story was: Eve will fall in love with Robert instantly. What little girl wouldn’t? The sweet relationship between them was one of my favourite things to write, their conversations always seemed to flow so naturally. It was also a soothing balm to my irritation over Liv hating Robert for literally no reason (other than she wanted Aaron all to herself). It never made any sense to me, so I wanted Eve to be the exact opposite. Writing Chaddy’s reaction to this was also very fun lol.

One thing that’s really lovely about them is how Robert becomes the only person who really understands what it’s like to not get along with your parents (and to be constantly compared to another sibling). To feel suffocated/desperate to get away, yet also upset when they reject you and guilty because you aren’t falling into line with their plans for you. Of course Aaron understands to an extent, because he obviously knows what Chas and Paddy can be like, but it wasn’t something he personally grew up with.

Ballet

So Eve’s dance career wasn’t planned, not at all. It was initially just a hobby I used to show that she’s a proper girly girl. It wasn’t until I reached her teenage years that I realised I needed some sort of big conflict to cause the final showdown. I knew whatever it was had to lead to her moving into the Mill, before leaving the village and getting away from Chaddy for good.

I know from personal experience that if you grow up in the north and decide you want to pursue a career in the arts, you’re probably going to have to leave home and move to where the opportunities are. So the idea came to me that turning Eve’s passion for ballet into a career choice would mean she HAD to leave home, and it would serve as the ideal catalyst for this final fight.

I do have a head canon in my head about how Eve’s twenties and her early dance career will go. Who knows if I’ll ever write it, though!

#thanks amy!#god this is so rambly #i hope it makes sense??#eve dingle #my writing #anti-chaddy #robron #robandaaronsoulmates

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jinruihokankeikaku · 4 years

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I dunno if you're taking asks rn, but if so, witch of rage analysis please?

The Wwitch of Rage? Hellz yeah!! Requests are closed at time of wwritin, 8ut they wwere open wwhen you sent this, so here wwe go!

Title: Witch of Rage

Title Breakdown: One who actively manipulates [transforms, mutates, bends the rules of, pushes the limits of] Rage [disbelief, negative emotion, skepticism, defiance, and of course, metanarrative shenanigans]

Role in the Session: The Witch of Rage is the ultimate iconoclast and rule-breaker, casting aside conventions as though they were never there to begin with. Therefore, the Role they’re meant to play is somewhat ambiguous, as they’ll likely stand in defiance to the concept of playing a Role at all. They’ll likely be tempted to abuse their powers; this is the case for all Witches, but the Witch of Rage in particular will have access to a font of negative emotion, of literal rage, that could amplify this temptation significantly. Their influence over these domains parallels the influence of these domains over them, which could lead to initial difficulties between the Witch and their team.

However, this is not to say that a Witch of Rage would necessarily be a negative factor in the session’s overall narrative. Indeed, they’re the sort of player that could easily get a team out of a seemingly inescapable situation, allowing their teammates’ Rage and desire to get away to manifest physically, perhaps even as a being independent of its host. As a corollary to Hope’s association with (religious) ecstasy, Rage can have associations with sobriety, clarity, and grimness – not the sort of intellectual or perceptual clarity brought on by Light, but a pessimistic emotional clarity that suggests that one’s course of action, however mad it seems, is a necessity. The Witch will be able to follow through on lines of inquiry that other members of the team may deem unpalatable. However, this same clarity of purpose can incline the Witch towards overcommitting to certain dangerous courses of action; like other highly Active players (Lords, Thieves, and Princes), Witches struggle with the risk of pushing their Aspect past its limits and succumbing to hubris in light of their newfound power.

The healthiest path forward for a Witch of Rage is probably to embrace their role as a fixer, a clearer of obstacles – one who transforms adversity into advantage. Their Quest may be set on a particularly brutal, harsh, or unfamiliar Planet, and they will have to progress by turning each set of dangerous and uncertain circumstances into a tool to advance to the next area, and the next set of challenges. They likely won’t find the decision to Ascend difficult, should they reach that point – a Witch of Rage would be well aware of the necessity of sacrifice, even loss of life, for a greater good (for whatever value of good they happen to be using, naturally). Their powers, which will almost certainly be somewhat destructive in nature, would be well-complemented by those of a Maid or Sylph of Space, who could assist in creating anew in the wake of the Witch’s destruction. A Seer of Life could have an interesting, albeit complex, relationship with the Witch as an advisor, guiding the explosions of energy they create through the systems they inhabit in a more transformative and less blindly devastating.

Opposite Role: The Seer of Hope. The Seer of Hope is one who learns of, interprets, and ultimately teaches their interpretation of faith, positive emotion, and suspension of disbelief. Which is to say, the Witch of Rage throws a spanner in their whole deal, then does it again out of spite. Everything that the Witch does is likely to somehow bother the Seer, who prefers positivity and comprehensibility to the sort of borderline-nihilistic madness which the Witch deals in. While they’re unlikely to be hateful people, the Seer certainly isn’t going to like the Witch, and the Witch certainly isn’t going to care about whether or not they’re liked. They’re likely to clash more and more as their affinities with their respective Aspects deepen.

God Tier Powers

Rage is the Expansive-Explosive-Personal Aspect; domains associated with it include demons, explosions, carnivals, chaos, et al. The Witch is the Active Manipulation Class, whose powers tend to involve altering the nature or manifest characteristics of their Aspect, and in combination with the Aspect of Rage, the manipulation involved will specifically have to do with the expansion or (often violent) of personal identity and experience into the outside world. Here are a few ideas as to how that might happen…

Make My Demons Come to Life: The Witch allows the “negative emotional auras” of everyone nearby, themselves included, to physically manifest as semi-tangible psychokinetically projected demons, under the Witch’s control. The form these demons take depends on the particular character of the emotions from whence they were drawn, and their size, strength, and ability to affect change in the material world wax and wane in tandem with those emotions. This ability can have a self-fueling effect, whereby the fear and rage provoked by the demons actually strengthens them; one’s best hope of destroying them is to face them with calm and stoicism, which may prove to be a difficult task.

Shaped Charge: The Witch of Rage is capable of manipulating explosions, conflagrations, and electric surges with extraordinary efficiency. This has several applications, beyond just making things blow up more (although that remains, as ever, a viable option). For one thing, this will allow the Witch a functional immunity to flames and blasts, as they can just reshape the flow of energy around themselves. Additionally, they can manipulate the shape and direction of a blast wave so as to destabilize a structure without totally obliterating it, or to destroy one small part of a machine with great precision.

Command Control: Rage players at the height of their power have been known to have the capacity to influence events on a metanarrative level, which is pretty damn weird, and Witches are pretty much the masters of weirdness. An Ascended Witch of Rage could well simply refuse to comply with an adverse narrative development. How this would manifest would vary widely based on the particular Witch and the context in which they’re using this power, but, for example, it might involve simply refusing to let a co-player die if they think that they’re being killed off for the convenience of the writer rather than for the good of the story. Extremely broken, use with caution, &c.&c..

Personality: Witches tend to be big personalities, if somewhat strange and/or scattered, and they’re easily excitable, idiosyncratic, and inclined towards rebellion and trend-bucking. Rage players are aggressive and also paradoxically cynical and passionate at once, believing in very little but having firm convictions about what they don’t believe. I think a Witch of Rage might be the sort of person who actively doubts things most people consider to be consensus reality – maybe not to the degree of, say, Flat-Earther-ism, but then again, maybe so. They might identify as an “optimistic nihilist” or something along those lines, and would probably be the type to blur the lines of, and indiscriminately play with, irony and “meta” commentary. I’d rank them pretty high on the “most likely to break the 4th wall” list, also. The greatest obstacle to their development as a person and as a player might be their excessive playfulness and envelope-pushing, and their serious lack of emotional stability, but these things could also contribute greatly to their resiliency. Like any coping mechanism, a balance must be struck here between what allows you to thrive despite adversity, and what keeps you alive at the cost of personal growth.

Songs

New Chevrolet In Flames by the Mountain Goats

The Five of Us Are Dying by My Chemical Romance

Nightlife by Green Day (lol)

I hope you found this analysis entertaining and/or informativve, anon!! Thanks for the ask ^^^^v^^^^

#Homestuck #Classpect analysis #classpect #class #aspect #witch #rage #witch of rage #anon #ask

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theskyexists · 4 years

Text

Gideon the Ninth

the thing i like about this book is that it starts at breakneck speeds and continues at only slightly lower velocity

which is good because once they’ve arrived things could have got real boring because Gideon is no analytical genius and Harrow does not trust her one bit with an inch of plot

(I like that Gideon’s ‘dumb’ - with which i mean, ‘not curious’ - though she’s of course extremely alert, incredibly emotionally resilient and of course - an incredible fighter - and quite sneaky)

it’s a puzzle and you get tossed the bits. the fact that it’s an empire and then Gideon talks about invasion armies four chapters on and it becomes clear that a-ha you mean the Real Deal - a Real Empire huh?

the fact that Gideon knows nothing - is told nothing - is kept from all possibilities of gaining information on other places or politics or how things are going is a handy little choice

the other thing i like about this book is that (apparently) this is enemies to lovers but i don’t actually hate Harrow

she’s horrible to Gideon in a way but there’s such an expectedness about it and appropriate emotional response from Gideon that i copy Gideon’s emotions on her - the contempt and wariness and pure desire to simply fucking win. they’re ‘clean’ and merciless.

another thing i like about the book is that it is very good at introducing a lot of characters in a way that you can recognise them later

another thing that i like is that it has a ‘plot’ which on the face of it seems very hmmm basic or ordinary but it’s not what it’s about - it’s about Gideon - and that’s why the story doesn’t devolve into an uninteresting concept. also, every time it seems to - we get a little look at the complexity that implies a genuine mystery. the sci-fi nature to it all makes this so sparking and interesting

doors locks keys key rings yeah

the fascinating thing is that Gideon COULD be in two completely different minds about Harrow. she has an animal response to her being in danger and to helping her - that is to say she has an animal response TO help her. she fantasises about killing her or hurting her but what really keeps her going 100 reps in is winning/getting Harrow’s regard for something she’s done completely independently.

Palamedes and Camilla seem nice. Like Harrow’s and Gideon’s functional counterparts.

I absolutely love how Harrow takes everything supremely seriously - she is a True Necromancer - inherently CREEPY and FORBIDDING and POWERFUL. and Gideon does Not take in seriously at all and the clash is so wonderful - it’s such a tongue in cheek meta way to do this ....necromancy genre stuff

it SEEMS like humanity was dying and they found a way to re-animate the dead and gain immortality in the lab and that’s what they built their theocratic information-poor ‘resurrection’ space-faring imperial nation on. and they got there doing truly ABOMINABLE things to people

how big ARE your biceps. jpfjfkldsfk Jeannemary......

Gideon misinterprets palamedes’ interest in Dulcinea for attraction but really he knows she’s his main competition and she’s a mastermind. calling it now.

they work together and learn to appreciate each other. But i can’t remember if i’ve been told what Harrow had done to Gideon....

Abigail and Magnus did not ask for permission did they....

Harrow had walked in on Gideon at exactly the wrong moment when they were nine (hah). Hmmm. And her parents were dead from that moment on if I understand correctly? And it broke their relationship. Gideon saw her do something that convinced her that Harrow was a monster. right? I have suspicions.

It’s so CLEVER how Gideon and thus we the audience, do not know SHIT about the magic system - because it makes it so deliciously interesting. Fortunately it’s not frustrating yet to have all that information withheld.

I think Harrow underestimates Dulcinea - and Gideon learns not to. But Harrow knows she is being manipulated.

I just laughed out loud LOUDLY. Gideon is such a snarky jock chad and Harrow is a deeply sour nerd. juice

‘nice to know the other houses are also creeps’ lol

‘probably because you asked’ - ‘that’s all it takes’ - and it’s all she ever demanded! oh GOD. fuckin hell. Harrow did not get that? did not understand that to be friends all they needed was to be free of coercion?? lolololol

‘What are these theorems for?’ Harrow explodes. For this very outrage Harrow! the shock! the realisation that you care - really care about this other person who would have given her life for your ambition! you’re not learning about necromancy - you’re learning to truly trust to each other to the depths of your souls and cells. (edit: i was partly wrong)

the eighth breed batteries - genetic match - yikes that’s so creepily put.

i love how the characters are finding out constantly at exactly the same time as the audience is - but the audience - if they WERE quite quick on the uptake would have had cause to know already - just like the characters.

Another thing i really like about this book is that the building has enormous character - and the character has grown on me enormously as well despite my inability to visualise descriptions very well.

Another thing i really like is that Gideon crushes on all the hot or kind girls.

I just laughed most heartily. That fuckin line from Gideon to Palamenes with the Fourth as witness was so got.damn. well-timed writing ahahahahaa

all the nicknames for Harrow are so good ‘my midnight hagette’ pffjfkjf

The Fourth’s terrified anxiety at the facility suddenly transforms it into a horror story. exceptional

WHAT THE FUCK

so what the fuck sets a cavalier/necromancer pair up for death by bone abomination??? and if Harrow had not suggested they switch - would this have happened???

WHAT ! THE! FUCK!

so i was completely wrong. it’s not about permission (the fifth had it), it’s not about being ahead in keys (the seventh were), it’s not about cavalier and necromancer trusting each other (the fourth did) - i don’t believe its about weakness because the fifth weren’t weak

this just went in a horror direction i cannot understand and it really fuckin sucks that the fourth were RIGHT to be so scared. and also i really liked them - esp jeannemary

and also i there really seems no rhyme nor reason to any of it

that little bit of flimsy from the Second House with ‘Gideon’ on it implies some sort of loop to this where the roles shuffle - since the experiment lines up exactly with Harrow’s expertise as well - and so does the incinerator in a completely different way

Gideon thinks she’s failed because she ‘let’ jeannemary die - she thinks Harrow thinks this too - but that’s not true at all - Harrow is much more practical than that. But Gideon is traumatised.

i so badly want to know what the FUCK happened when they were nine.

There is miscommunication between Gideon and Harrow but it’s so - it’s so obscure in a sense - so much from a Gideon point of view that there’s only glimpses of Harrow’s multi-faceted elements. ‘don’t make fun of my-’ WHAT? her social awkwardness? her inability to be the tiniest bit vulnerable - or social - or in any way anything but her own most sharpened tool? - and relate to others in the same way - them being tools as well? She was trying to explain herself but Gideon REFERENCED that she can never forget that she hates Harrow - what does that mean??? is it the incident? is it the fact that Harrow has always had the power to hurt her? and used it?

the whole CONCEPT of a cavalier and necromancer is so delicious but so foreign to Gideon and thus us as a romantic concept that it’s only hitting me now - it’s everything you’d want from an institution set up for devotion. if this was made into a film or a series the very concept would draw thousands and it would become a fanfic AU genre.

things really are happening a LOT. i feel Gideon’s exhaustion acutely

GIDEON DID IT??? I THOUGHT HARROW DID!! BUT THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. it’s EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE - I thought Harrow’s parents would have done something horrid to Gideon and Harrow had killed and reanimated them out of an animal sense of protection for her enemy/playmate. BUT OF COURSE - it is Gideon who always acts with an animal tendency towards protection of Harrow - even at nine years old?

goddamn the Ninth House was a fucked up place for a child though. why would they treat the only other child like that what the fuck.

......I’m starting suspect that Gideon’s origins may also have been....related to some kind of greater nonsense...

WRONG AGAIN. Harrow just killed them. LOL. WRONG AGAIN. The whole family tried to kill itself but Harrow refused to. WOW. (wait i remember that they told us before that it was suicide? right?)

because she opened the door.

and she has to become a lyctor BEFORE - something. i do believe that something’s coming out of the no-longer-locked-tomb. unless Harrow really is just trying to prevent the infertility problem of her house

ok so Harrow was nine and Gideon was eleven. so Harrow is two years younger. Gideon is 18. Harrow must be 16. wow so fuckin young. did Harrow really blame Gideon for the deaths of her parents - or did Gideon THINK that - just like she thought the same about Jeannemary?

yeah yeah Dulcinea is a dangerous hawk who’s killed her own cavalier or something. but palamenes is a BITCH for not filling Gideon in

oh im so glad that Dulcinea isn’t. but that does explain why ‘Pro’ knocked the Eighth out - that was Dulcinea wasn’t it? herself? or was he ‘alive’ - his spirit somehow fused to his corpse?

THE TIME HAS COME TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING

HMMMMMMMM - WAIT IS GIDEON THE THING FROM THE LOCKED TOMB THOUGH. ALL THE STUFF ABOUT HER GOLD EYES AND RED HAIR AND WEIRD PHENOTYPE. DO THEY ALL HAVE FALSE MEMORIES

naw that’s nonsense.

I knew it. I KNEW IT. Harrow is an extremely vulnerable over-thinking mastermind stupid idiot who doesn’t understand Gideon AT ALL and who is super easily hurt.

jezus fucking christ what a fucking burden to bear for Harrow - to know that she was born at the cost of the lives of TWO HUNDRED CHILDREN. jezus fucking christ. ‘i was tired of being two hundred corpses’ MY!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she was suicidal at 10 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!! is it any wonder that she was always fighting literally FIGHTING Gideon and being so horrible. AND THEN SHE WATCHED HER PARENTS KILL THEMSELVES RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BOOK

they sure made her sympathetic - and so much of that was obvious from the start that she also seemed secretly sympathetic from the start

well at least Harrow knows that she treated Gideon completely unfairly and horribly all because she hates herself

i cannot tell whether Harrow is in love with the girl who is the Emperor’s end or she’s scared shitless. whether she wants to live forever to see her wake up because she wants to see the glory or because she wants to stop her

GIDEON HAS THE EXACT SAME QUESTION AS ME AAAAHAHAHAHAHA

that dynamic of Harrow playing everything straight and Gideon going - hold up this is funny.

ok so why didn’t Harrow tell her this before i wonder. because she couldn’t bring herself to unless she was forced to - to keep Gideon? hm

i was wrong again. i mean - it was clear from the very start and from Harrow’s crush on the Emperor’s greatest enemy that the Empire is a sickening construction leeching off the deaths of millions but! i guess i though there was going to be a horrid sacrifice at the END - but instead there is yknow - it’s horrid all the way through. it’s just that nobody seems aware of how horrid it is except Gideon who makes jokes about it - so you just accept it.

the blood and bone and fat and corpses and death are all actually indications of profoundly fucked up things! who knew!!

it seems that dulcinea is not actually dulcinea and still the hawk that killed everybody - because that still wasn’t explained was it - nor the ability to animate pro

so much is happening and it is very good. i think the lyctor liked Gideon because she reminded her of her own. but shes a ruthless immortal who’s been in pain for ten thousand years. and she hates her maker

‘the vengeance of ten billion’? sounds like they sacrificed a lotta people for these powers

so but why did she kill the fourth? and why can she control bones when she’s from the first house?

making the so-likeable sympathetic weirdly compassionate but ruthless dulcinea the villain - it’s brilliant. all the kind things she’s said and done for Gideon. that psychopathic compartmentalisation

Ianthe - the lyctor fighting another lyctor. Had they ever fought?? and the Emperor had Hands. but there are only a couple remaining. and she was hiding in the Seventh House... what did the Hands die of. god do i want to know those histories. Cytherea is ...mad about having been lied to....

Gideon - always wanting to save others. even Ianthe - a deeply horrible person by all accounts

YOU DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TO ME - YOU WILL NOT DIE HERE - GIDEON WHAT AND WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU.

so the whole reason Ducilea knocked off everybody in the building one by one is because she needed the emperor not to be suspicious. isn’t he gonna be just that now??? but it doesn’t matter because these fight scenes are surprisingly epic

the sheer fucking POETRY of Gideon being the last dead daughter of the Ninth House to become one with Harrow’s fate - GOD

wow im sad

what a way to end her pov

The Emperor seems crazily benevolent for a guy who apparently tricked his first lyctors into undeath and sacrificed (implied) 10 billion people and allowed horrible necromantic sins and experiments. who runs an empire on death and has children conquer planets

Gideon’s yet unexplained origins, phenotype, disappearing body AND the fact that she survived tear gas at age one + a whole crazy siphoning with only mild negative effects, and Cytherea kept being cryptic about her origins/death/etc., and that Gideon from the past, gives me a semblance of hope. but im just not sure how book two from Harrow’s pov is gonna hold up without Gideon’s sense of humour

I really loved this book for how all the personal dramas of the characters were perfectly spooled out until everything became clear

anyway this book was - very good

i just wish UHHHHHH that if you absorbed somebody’s soul they actually fuckin stayed with you and didn’t just fucking actually DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but what a worldbuilding MASTERPIECE - and how MASTERFULLY ABSOLUTELY MASTERFULLY UNWRAPPED - in bites and pieces and flecks and tosses - and FAST - it explains why the start is so fast because it NEEDS TO BE - and by the end they go in for longer explanations - i think there’s ONE explanation for something that could plainly be inferred - ONE in the whole book.

this magic system is so fucking DOPE!!!!!!!!!!!

#i fucked up my sleep rhythm #my stuff #vidi #sorta #ninth #i devolved into writing most of my responses to the 3/4ths of the book down #gideon the ninth

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makiema · 5 years

Note

Hello! What makes you ship Levi and Eren? (always curious about how people get into ereri)

Hi there, anon! I wish I could’ve answered this briefly but you’ve asked me something that I could honestly ramble on about forever. I’d try to be precise but I’m afraid it’d still be quite long because I don’t have the time to summarise, so bear withe me please >.

Okay so first of all, I used to be more into Eremika than Ereri in the beginning and the precious Eremika moment from Chapter 50 owned my heart. Back then the 13 y/o me didn’t get shit about Levi and Eren’s platonic canon relationship. But the popularity of Ereri was overwhelming and even though they were far from being my OTP I still shipped them in AU settings mainly because the fanfics were excellent. Also, at that point of time, I was more invested in the Naruto fandom and SS was my only OTP. In fact, I didn’t even know about the Visual Novel until late 2015 or early 2016 (I don’t remember exactly) which made me really get into Ereri. Reading the VN actually changed my whole perspective on Ereri and made me realise the depth of their canon relationship. When I re-read the manga again after that none of their subtle moments were lost on me and that’s how the ship started growing on me. Since then I even began picking up on a lot of parallels, symbolisms, etc. associated with them and all of that collectively went into becoming the reason why Ereri is my OTP.

I probably cannot think up of everything that makes me ship them at one go. Also I have my internals next week and Im losing my mind. Anyway here are some of the reasons that immediately came to mind when I saw your ask:

• Levi equating Eren to “The Tyger” : The VN concluded with the first two stanzas of Blake’s poem “The Tyger”. The poem is taken from The Songs of Innocence and Experience and the entire volume focuses on two things : the transition from childhood into adulthood and the existence of both beneficial and malevolent forces in human beings. So in the novel, Levi’s understanding, acceptance and even admiration of both the humane and the monstrous potential in Eren is commendable : “A monster with perfect, fearsome beauty; that inspires awe” Also, Levi acknowledges Eren’s will that “cannot be made to surrender” and his drive for freedom that “people living like birds in cages won’t get”. This shows us how Levi realizes that Eren’s mental maturity is not that of a normal 15 yo; that his “experiences” have made him into someone much more gritty, resilient and strong-willed for his age. “The Tyger” here is the agent of free-will and the poem further emphasises on free spirit by incorporating references to mythological figures who’re deemed as humanity’s heroes, for instance, “seize the fire” refers to Prometheus who is mankind’s hero because he stole fire from Zeus. It is said that because of him mankind could gain knowledge ; that mankind could step out of the bounds of ignorance ( See the parallel with Eren who said how ignorance is the biggest obstacle to freedom in Chapter 112 ). Another hero alluded to in the poem is Icarus who grew his wings of freedom and attempted to reach the farthest point (dangerously close to the sun) even though he was burned in the attempt (parallels with Eren’s whole attitude of ‘no matter what kind of hell awaits me I’ll keep moving forward’ ). Yeah so, that’s how deep Levi’s understanding of Eren runs.( Can you imagine the entire arc of Eren’s character was foreshadowed in Levi’s thoughts about him?) To me understanding is the most important factor when it comes to a ship so, I think Levi’s pov in the VN is the biggest contributor to their development.

• The way Eren looks at Levi : Idk how cliched this sounds but yes, the way he looks at Levi honestly gives me life. Be it in the Forest of the Giant Trees, or in the Reiss Chapel or in the Marley Arc, his eyes say it all. Add to this his signature shaky way of saing “Captain?”, idk if it’s only me but that just carries so much feeling, so much angst, so many unspoken emotions right there. If Levi’s thoughts on Eren made me fall in love with Ereri in the first place then Eren’s body language when it comes to Levi made me fuckin smitten over them (i kid u not honestly this ship is one of the very few things that actually give me the will to live)

• Hope and Strength : Honestly, I love Levi and Eren’s roles as humanity’s strength and humanity’s hope because this actually speaks volumes about their relationship. If Erwin gave Levi’s strength a dimension then Eren gave his strength meaning. Their roles in canon show their inter-dependence. After all, what is strength without hope? I don’t remember who first pointed this out, but someone said that this is the very concept the Survey Corps logo alludes to. The Wings of Freedom are shown as blue and white because royal blue represents strength and white represents hope. So the Wings are symbolical of what Levi and Eren individually stand for as well as signifies their dependence on each other.

• Levi’s role as Eren’s guardian : I love him both as Eren’s protector and his mentor. (oh also let’s not forget Eren had a little crush on him,,how adorable 🥺)

We’ve seen Levi giving it his all to protect Eren multiple times. And when he couldn’t protect him during the Battle of Trost because of his injury we see him clenching his fists in frustration. Again, in RTS we see Levi quite baffled when Erwin orders him to protect the horses and not protect Eren. Also in the RTS when Eren got flung on top of the wall, Levi was visibly concerned and then when Erwin couldnt come up with a plan that’d guarantee their survival, he quickly suggested that BOTH Erwin and Eren flit from there. This goes on to show how Levi thinks Erwin and Eren are EQUALLY important for ensuring humanity’s survival. It is evident from here that his liege and his mentee both belong on the same pedestal and he’d do anything to save them. Levi similarly comes up with an abrupt suggestion again in Ch 112 to save Eren when the Soldiers informed him that the higher authorities plan on having Eren eaten. Even though he clearly disapproved of Eren’s actions in Liberio, even though Levi himself always adhered to rules and discipline, he still had faith in Eren and he’d never accept such a ridiculous order, even if it came from Pixis. (plus he remembers the first time he met Eren which sort of makes us realize that Levi still sees himself as Eren’s protector🥺)

Next comes Levi’s role as a mentor in Eren’s life. I think his words of advice to Eren is an important factor that made him the man he is today. Levi encouraged him to believe in himself, he acknowledged his willpower, appreciated his relentless drive for freedom and even goaded him on to make important choices by himself. The recent happenings in the manga made a lot of people say that Eren follows the principle of “the end justifies the means” but originally, to quote Levi: “nobody can dictate you on what is the right path or what is the wrong one till you arrive at a certain outcome resulting from your choice”. I think one of the major reasons why Levi kicked Eren in the Marley arc again was because the outcome that Eren caused (at least according to Levi and the SC) was making Paradis the enemy of the whole enemy of the world and also a mountain of civilian deaths. This is just head canon but I think Levi was mainly disappointed because Eren didn’t seek his approval (unlike in the Reiss Chapel incident where he urged Levi to have faith in him before jumping into action of his own volition). Him comparing Eren with the underground thugs also makes me assume that he was genuinely hurt because he thought Eren has become complacent to the point where he doesn’t see Levi as a mentor anymore. But, right after his voice trails with the “you too..”, we see Eren looking up at him with the same beaming eyes. Curious why he’d do that at that instant. Also, during Serum Bowl, Eren used his height as the trump card to tower upon Levi. It was the only time he actually defied Levi and he did manage to look 100 percent domineering. But, post time skip Eren grew in leaps and bounds and he could easily repeat that but HE DID NOT. In fact, he utters his usual “Captain..?” and his eyes also have the same look. So maybe he still sees Levi as his inspiration but he cannot express that because he’s in a bind and has to act distant and cold with everyone. After all in Chapter 121, in the memory panel, we did see him recalling that very moment when Levi first advised him on making independent choices. His role as the mentor in Eren’s life is therefore once again reinforced by Isayama and I think that adds substantially to their wonderful platonic dynamic. ____________xxx___________

I probably couldn’t fit them all and even this is a terrible briefing. It is all so disarrayed and incoherent. I didn’t even get the time to attach pictures. Ugh, I’m so sorry anon ;-; I wish Uni would spare me some time to rant properly about my precious babies >.

#snk #ereri #riren #levieren #asks #thank you for the ask!#this is so shitty but i hope you'll accept this anon #i'll write a proper appreciation next time #also let me know why you ship them!#and have a nice day #<3

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aweebwrites · 5 years

Text

Celestial Influence 7 pt2

Zane debated if he should bring Echo along with him to meet up with the ninja. He's been doing well these past two days. He had nightmares of loneliness Zane's been soothing with a cold kiss before they could get worse though. The first day, he would get anxious if he wasn't always in his line of sight. It took Zane leaving an ever present aura of cold for Echo to feel at ease while he was busy. He's adjusting well to his upgraded body at least. Zane had kept some of their father's handiwork but altered most of it. It also helped him realise the powers they held surpassed simple elemental and creative properties. They had the power to partially or completely alter living and non-living things. That should have been apparent with his alteration of the Falcon but it's so much more apparent with Echo.

He had wanted to keep his appearance relatively the same but make him stronger, resilient to damage and independent of upgrades. He succeeded. The material he replaced Echo's bronze exoskeleton with was far superior while remaining close in colour. His face lacked the obvious seams he had previously, making Echo resemble him more than ever. His eyes were brighter and golden in colour, to match his heart metaphorically. He was a sponge for information and curious, always willing to help.

'I am built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.' He had once said.

The words struck Zane deep. It was noble of their father, noble of him. He couldn't dally for longer. He had to meet the others. He decided then.

"Echo." Zane says as he stood, watching as he looked up at him from his place on the couch, watching Tai-D bustle around with cleaning. "Get ready. We'll be leaving shortly. I'd like for you to meet my friends." He says and that caught Echo's interest.

"Are they powerful like you, brother?" Echo asked as he looked up at him.

"Yes. But I've known them long before these powers. Now go on." Zane urged and he nods, taking off to his room to change.

_____

Unsurprisingly, they all arrived at the same time, with Lloyd, Garmadon and Wu sitting on the steps in front of the door to the inside.

"Who's that?" Jay was the first to ask, noticing that Zane wasn't alone.

"He looks a lot like you…" Lloyd pointed out and the others nodded their agreement.

"That's because he's my brother." Zane says lightly and Echo shifts with unease, not sure how to respond and react to so many new faces. "His name is Echo Zane. Our father left him behind in the tower." He explained.

"N-nice to meet you…" He says quietly, holding onto Zane's hand tightly.

"Nice to meet you too." Nya says with a smile.

"Any brother of Zane's is a brother of ours." Kai grinned.

"Well said Kai." Wu says with a nod of approval.

"We can't wait to properly meet you Echo." Lloyd says as he got up and walked over to the team, his gi appearing in his person as he did. "But right now, we have to go. There's trouble in Ninjago." He told them and they grew serious.

"Echo." Zane spoke as he looked towards his brother who looked up at him with large golden eyes. "I will be leaving for a bit. Please stay here with Sensei Wu and Garmadon. They will look after you until I get back." He says and Echo nodded, understanding without actually knowing what his brother needed to do.

He just knew it was important he let him do so without hindrance.

"Alright. I'll be here when you get back!" Echo says with a wide smile and Zane returned it with a fond one.

He then turned to his friends.

"Let's go." He told them and they nodded, taking Jay's hands then each other's.

They then vanished in a flash. Echo turned to the two he was left in the care of, not sure how to proceed.

"I hope you like Mahjong." Wu says lightly as Garmadon helped him up and Echo ran a search for the term, smiling once results showed that it was a game.

"I've never played but I would like to try." He days, walking towards the two elders.

____

"Next to New Ninjago City, Jamanakai village is always under some duress." Nya says as they watched from the cover of cloud as people panicked and ran, the bandits invading the village creating mayhem and fires that Bolobo could hardly fight against.

"Very true. Nya, some rain if you would?" Zane prompted and she grinned.

"I've got you." She says, summoning her trident.

She then gave it a whirl then struck the cloud they stood on. Immediately, the clouds began thickening and darkening, gathering together with her steady supply of moisture to prepare for heavy rainfall.

"Bolobo uses nature so I'll deal with this one." Lloyd says as he stood up.

They nodded, watching as he vanished, the rain starting up then.

"The air charge is just perfect for a bit of reaping…" Jay grinned then stood up.

They watched as he reached a hand out, lightning immediately rushing up from the ground into his palm, his body absorbing it all with ease. He did that with intent, the force of the sudden upthrust of energy as well as the deafening thunder that followed startled a bandit long enough to allow a small family to escape their clutches.

"Looks like Lloyd found the ring leader." Cole says as they like down at the village from the eye of the storm, not seeing him but sensing where he was.

"He's waiting for Bolobo to use his powers again before she makes his move." Nya commented, leaning against the hilt of her trident as she watched as well. "But his hands are a little full at the moment." She pointed out and they dashed their eyes to where Bolobo was being held down by several bandits, his staff knocked from his hand.

"I'll take care of it." Zane says, summoning his bow.

He pulled back on the string as he aimed, the ivory arrow appearing as he did. He released then with a breath out and they watched as the arrow whistled through the air, down to where Bolobo was being beat down. It struck the ground then, confusing the bandits as it vanished but then ice grew from the spot outwards, encasing all but Bolobo in its freezing grip. The elemental stood there, completely shocked as his arms were still being held by the frozen solid bandits. A scream echoed and he snapped out of it, pulling away then grabbing his staff. The moment he got used his powers was the moment nature unleashed, strange plants sprouting tron the ground, not his staff to capture every single bandit in the village, even the iced over ones. The plants coiled around them to their necks and Bolobo stares, the small plant from his staff falling off. He couldn't have done that. He can't do all this. He knew it and yet… He recalled the ice and looked back to the slowly melting bandits.

How… What happened here?

He looked up once the rain stopped then blinked at the closing hole in the clouds.

What was that? Was it divine intervention? Or…

He recalls the freeze that had happened a few months back and frowned.

The ninja?

He didn't have time to ponder further. The villagers were rushing towards him with thanks on their tongues. It made him uncomfortable. He knew he didn't do all this and he didn't want to accept thanks for what he hadn't done. Yet still… He didn't think they'd believe him otherwise… He offered the villagers tight smiles and nods. He had to report this to the others…

_____

"Work's not done yet. We have multiple breakouts across Ninjago. Can you sense them?" Lloyd asked as they continued to leave Jamanakai village behind, soaring through the clouds.

"Yes. Recognisable though negative and malicious energies. There are smaller occurrences the other elemental masters or the settlement leaders can handle but as of now, there are four major uprisings we need to attend to, one not yet in motion." Zane spoke and they nodded. "To the south has a higher negative output than the other two. Lloyd, Nya. You head there. Jay, Cole, you two head north west. Kai and I will head further north. We will all regroup at New Ninjago City." He instructed and they nodded, not quite looking forward to the city but not allowing their discomfort to stop them from giving a helping hand.

"Afterwards, we need to work on a faster means of travel. Teleporting even." Kai says, crossing his arms.

"Yeah. I mean, sure my lightning allows me to travel at the same speed of light but it's not quite the same as instantly being at the place I want to be." Jay says with a shrug and Lloyd nods.

"Fair enough. For now, let's move out." He instructed and they nodded, breaking off.

"Do you really think we can pull of something as complex as teleportation? Bending the very fabric of time and space?" Nya asked Lloyd as they headed to their location.

"We live in an age of endless evolution. The only thing that isn't possible is what we haven't thought of yet." Lloyd says quietly, having something specific in mind as he said the words.

If the words he spoke are true then… There's something he'd like to try… And he had a feeling it would require all of them.

______

"Of course it's Kryptarium Prison. When isn't it?" Jay says dryly as they approached.

"There's always some flaws to these things. It's just that whoever designed it was an architectural genius but was also clearly not sober." Cole commented as they swooped in, landing on the roof of the prison soundlessly. "They need to be given a raise. Then fired." He continues, as they walked along to find a way in without damaging the building.

"Out of a volcano." Jay agrees and Cole paused, looking back at Jay.

"Really? Volcano's the best you could come up with?" Cole asked dryly.

"Saying cannon is too lame, too common. Besides, how cool would it be to actually launch something out of a volcano?!" Jay grinned and Cole narrowed his eyes.

"Don't think about it. We aren't launching anything from a volcano. We need to be responsible now more than ever." Cole lectured as he kept a keen ear put, kneeling once he was sure he was over the area of disturbance. "The riot's just below. They've almost broken through." He told Jay who nods, summoning his nunchucks.

"And I wouldn't launch anything out of a volcano." Jay huffed, striking a signal pole with the lightning from his nunchucks, sending it down to the main cells where the riot was to render all the villains unconscious. "Nothing big anyway." He says to himself very quietly.

"I heard that." Cole says, throwing him an unimpressed look.

"Ok, ok! Jeez." Jay huffed.

They both blinked, hearing a familiar growl.

"Of course lightning doesn't work on the big guy." Jay sighed to himself. "What do we do?" He asked, looking to Cole as he frowned.

The larger male only sighed, placing his hands on his hips.

"Nothing to do but fight him head on." Cole says and Jay groaned then paused.

"Now that it crossed my mind, this is a great way to check just how much stronger you've gotten." He pointed out, walking towards the edge of the large roof, Cole following behind him.

"Huh. You're right." Cole says after a moment of consideration. "Can you run interference while I take him on?" He asked Jay who grinned.

"Leave it to me."

________

"These clowns are still around?" Kai huffed, spotting the SOGs from a distance where they were attempting to take over a small city.

"It appears so. They're damaging property at a rapid rate. The sooner we take them down, the better." Zane says, analysing the situation for the best means of how to do so.

"Here come the other elementals." Kai says, spotting them riding in, the vehicles they were driving in on looking a lot like Pixal's handy work. "Tox, Neuro, Gravis and Chamille. Do you think they can handle this?" He asked Zane as they watched from the top of a nearby skyscraper, feet hanging off the edge.

"We'll see. This is supposed to be us helping after all, not saving everyone for them." Zane reminded and Kai nodded, watching them jump right into it.

"Rookie mistake leaving your back wide open like that." Kai commented after watching Tox getting struck from behind.

"I'm sure she'll learn eventually." Zane says lightly, observing Gravis using his gravitational powers to throw the SOGs off.

"Yeah, I can see that." Kai agreed, watching her cover her back with her poison.

In fact, she was spreading it out, using just enough to weaken them instead of seriously hurting them with it. Neuro was struggling to focus long enough to be of use. It was hard to when they knew to keep him distracted. They had him cornered, weapons ready to hurt. Kai looked over to Zane.

"Hey Zane. Show me how to aim your bow." Kai says and Zane summoned his bow without question.

"Hold the riser right here. Make sure not to block the slight window. You should look there while aiming." Zane instructed, adjusting Kai's posture and hold. "Pull back the sting like so." He says, pulling back the string with him, his hand over Kai's on the raiser.

The arrow that appeared was swirled with red and white, a combination of both of their powers. They both released with Zane's order, the arrow shooting towards the group seconds away from pouncing on Neuro. It struck the ground between the two and exploded in a burst of steam, shards of ice taking down the group before melting from the lingering heat from the steam. By the time it cleared, Neuro alone was left standing, wholly confused. What was that? He looked up towards the arrows trajectory but saw no-one. He frowned deeply. He was grateful for the help but he had a feeling… He shook his head then focused on the group of SOGs swarming his friends despite their sluggish movements.

________

"This one is right up our alley." Nya says with a smirk, looking down at the ghostly infestation of a mountain village.

"Yeah. But we have to be careful. Griffin, Shade and Ash are here." Lloyd says, spotting them.

"Griffin's having a little too much fun." Nya says dryly from their place standing on a higher point on the mountain.

Said elemental was darting around and laughing up a storm as he sprayed water from his water gun, hitting only a small number of them.

"For now, we observe and let him find out on his own that there's a time and place for everything." Lloyd says, taking a seat and Nya sat with him, a hand on her cheek.

"At least their numbers are few. They must be left overs from the Cursed Realm." Nya commented, watching them attempt to corner the ghosts but they lacked deepstone and the ghosts could always dodge their water.

They're only good due to how difficult it would be to possess them. Ash just turns to smoke, Shade morphs into shadow and they can't catch Griffin.

"Some of them possessed a few villagers. They won't win this one without help." Lloyd says to himself then straightened his back. "Some Deepstone weapons should give them the upper hand." He says as green light traveled up his arms, up his neck and on his face.

Horns protruded from his forehead as Nya watched him gather his energy, felt the power radiating from him. He them thrusted his green energy downwards, the glow splitting off into three then fading to reveal shurikens very similar to what they used while defending Ninjago from the Preeminent. Each took out at least one of the green ghostly figures before lodging themselves in the hands of each elemental.

"Woah!" Griffin says, coming to a stop next to the others, following their lead to look over the weapon they now held.

"Where did they come from?" Ash asked, turning it over, a small frown on his face.

Shade was suspicious. He looked around then up the mountain but saw no-one. It must be one of them. Where did they even get the deepstone needed to make these? Did they steal it? Shade wouldn't put anything past them. Not after all they've done. A growl caught their attention and they spun around, eyes widening once they came face to face with a ghost. Or launched itself at them but instead of possessing one of them, it was harshly reflected.

"It reflects too? Now I know something's up." Shade says with a frown.

"Well figure that out after we get rid of these guys." Ash says then tossed his shuriken at a ghost, marvel once it followed after it, even after it turned a corner, only getting faster and faster.

Shade narrowed his eyes but complied. If those bastards think that he can be easily moved by something as superficial as new weapons, they best think again.

________

The giant Stone Warrior roared as it swung a punch at Cole who took it head on, not even budging from his spot standing before him, the impact ricocheting through the soldier's arm and he growled as he stepped back.

"Well. Looks like I really am stronger than I was." Cole grinned as the giant seethed.

"You better hurry. The other ems should be here any moment now." Jay says, watching from above, cross-legged mid air.

"Right." Cole nodded then summoned his scythe.

He then leapt at the giant warrior, dodging his swords then swung with a grunt. Everything stood still as Cole floated back but then there was a loud thud as one of the Stone Warrior's hands holding his sword fell from his body, leaving the warrior to bring as he held onto the stub of what was left of his arm.

"Either you stay in your cell from now on or I'll finish what the Overlord started. For good." Cole warned and the Warrior growled then retreated into his cell slowly, green eyes malicious but too fearful to attack again.

Cole nodded then lands on his feet. A tap of the base of his scythe to the ground had metallic bars shooting up, locking the giant in.

"That's that. Let's get outta here Jay." Cole's says, looking up at him and Jay nodded, floating down to hold his shoulder before they disappeared.

Just then, Karloff rushed in- only to blink at all the prisoners inside their cells unconscious, a large stone hand still clutching an even larger stone laying on the quadrangle. What happened here?...

______

The group met up on the outskirts of the vast New Ninjago City, tense and uncertain. Their last encounter with them wasn't very good after all. But there were unnatural forces stirring up havoc in the city. They had to help.

"We gather them all in one place, then take them down in a clean swoop." Kai instructed and they all nodded, taking off to different corners of the city.

Jay was the first to spot them. They looked like average Ninjagans but he could sense the change in their biology clearly. They were enhanced beings, mutated to mimic perfection he can guess. Little did whoever's behind this know that there's no such thing. They were supposed to keep out of sight but considering that he could sense over 20 in this area alone, that was out of the question.

'Where do we lead these guys?' Jay asked through thought, knowing already that Lloyd connected them all.

'To the park. It should be able to hold them all and it's away from the population.' Was Zane's response and Jay nodded, using his lightning to block them from attacking any more civilians.

"Time to see what these powers can really do." Jay says with a grin, eyes starting to glow as blue light crept up his arms, all the way to his face.

He then rocketed down to the ground, creating a large energy outburst once he touched down, careful not to damage any infrastructure or bystanders.

Kai on the other hand held both swords in hand, a slash of them creating a wall of fire to prevent them from moving any further into the city.

"Haven't you noticed by now? No-one who tries to take over the city ever succeed. At least not for long. You all think that a little experimentation that gave you all a small boost in strength and resistance makes you invincible." Kai says as the very much conscious and willing participants of the experiments glared up at him, throwing whatever they could but they never make contact with Kai's person.

He chuckled, holding his swords defensively as she hovered just above them.

"You think you all have true power? Laughable. I'll show you true power." Kai says as his skin and eyes started to glow. "Ninja go!" He yelled, starting up his Spinjitzu but it was noticeably different.

For one, it was massive, the size of a full tornado, his fire roaring and raging as the enhanced stepped back, eyes wide. A daring few tried to still charge- only to end up burned and thrown back. He began to move towards them, forcing them back into the city, flames appearing at other road routes and alleys to prevent them from breaking up. The non-enhanced civilians of Ninjago watched the spectacle with wide eyes. None of them had ever seen such a spectacle before, such raw power. The fire from his Spinjitzu looked like it could burn the sky if they wished. Such an inferno that is Kai's Spinjitzu should have burned them all up already, should have them feeling its intense heat. A few of them even ended up in its path, engulfed in flames. But they were unharmed. The flames acting as if they weren't there. There was no heat. The power and control just this former ninja had was incredible.

Soon enough, more elemental tornadoes popped up around the city, water from the waterspout lashing the enhanced, pushing them toward the park they were all converging on, the lightning vortex zapping those it chased to keep them on route. The dust devil stung its victim with sand and small rocks that struck pain into their toughened skins, keeping them on their right path as well. The largest green vortex simply pushed them along as it closed in, its path clear and uninterrupted to the park. Zane watched them all for a moment while stood against a large group of them. He nodded, taking position to also use his Spinjitzu when suddenly, he sensed something fast approaching from behind. He glanced over his shoulder then frowned, seeing the Samurai X VXL. This encounter will be interesting to say the least. He watched unphased as her vehicle vaulted over his head via the ice that appeared to protect him on its own, skidding to a stop just between him and the enhanced. He watched still as she turned the VXL towards him, no doubt glaring behind her mask.

"What are you all doing here?! We don't need you or your help! All you're doing right now is causing mass hysteria! Leave the city at once or I'll be forced to defend it!" Pixal yelled at him, gripping the steering wheel of her VXL tightly.

"There was hysteria before we arrived. We can't counteract it right now. We need to focus our energies on getting rid of the superhuman first." Zane says calmly, keeping his eyes on her while simultaneously keeping an eye on the enhanced behind her.

"The other elemental masters and I can take care of it!-"

"It doesn't seem that way." Zane says, extending his sight to Skylor, Dareth and Ronin who were being pummeled, no matter what they did by the few enhanced already in the park. "I'm sorry. I won't allow you to delay me any longer. The others have been doing their part and I must do mine." He says quietly, eyes glowing with his power.

Pixal gritted her teeth then slammed her hand down on the launch button on the control panel. Her eyes widened once the missiles aimed for thin air, detonating against the ice wall before her. She grunts as the force of the explosion shoved her Samurai VXL back but left the wall of ice untouched. She opened the hatch then looked around in alarm at the whistling sound, seeing the large vortex of frosty air and ice herding the enhanced towards New Ninjago City's park. She clenched her fist. They were for strong. She couldn't hope to stop them. She hopped back into her Samurai VXL then turned around, racing towards their converging point.

She could try though.

__________

Echo looked over the board with extreme focus. The Mahjong Mr Wu had suggested had tiles that were almost exact. Even he, a Nindroid had to look closely. His ears picked up low talking however and he looked behind him, at the TV that was on but turned down low.

"What are those?" Echo asked, looking at the swirling pillars in different colours.

"The Ninja." Garmadon says, grabbing the remote with his tail then taking it in hand to turn it up.

"-ports say that the former ninja are the ones inside those vortexes. You heard that right! The very same former heroes who brought Ninjago itself to its knees then disappeared." Gale reported from what looks like Borg Tower.

Not even she was brave enough to get in the middle of the ninja for a scoop.

"They speak as if they weren't the ones who demanded they disappear." Garmadon spoke with a growl of irritation, his tail thumping against the ground in irritation. "And former? They have never stopped being Ninja." He adds with a sneer, revealing thick fangs.

"Be calm brother." Wu says, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Anger will neither change not help the ninja's situation." He soothed.

Garmadon only growled, not happy about this in the slightest.

"I don't understand." Echo spoke up, looking to the elders. "They're helping them, aren't they? Zane did tell me of how their powers were the cause of the strange things I saw at the tower but they fixed it all and they're helping. Why do they hate them still?" He asked them and both elders shared a look.

"A life is a precious thing Echo. It's irreplaceable." Wu says tentatively. "... On the days the ninja took to unlock these powers deep inside them, several lives were forever lost." He told him and Echo frowned.

Zane had also told him that. But… He looked down at Tai-D that was snoozing next to him to recover energy. It never really dawned on him what that really meant until just now. He lost Tai-D once… He didn't want to lose him again. He did look back up at Mr Wu however.

"That's not true." Echo says, surprising and confusing both elders. "If they wanted to… They could bring anyone back. I'm not sure how I know that but I do." He told them and both elders looked daunted at this information.

"... Echo. You must never let anyone else know this. Keep that secret tighter than you would keep your life." Garmadon told him seriously and Echo nodded, wide eyed.

He understood why he had to however. If anyone else knew that, the ninja would never find peace. They would be constantly bombarded by threats and requests. It's just… Echo looked at the Mahjong tiles before him. Mr Garmadon was really intimidating!

_______

All six vortexes came to a stop at the outskirts of the park, the enhanced all on the offensive now that they realise that they've been cornered in. One by one, the swirling vortexes disappeared, revealing their corresponding Ninja floating mid air.

'What's next?' Cole asked as he used his scythe to split an entire tree tossed in his direction.

'Their strength comes from the experimentations they went through. If we remove whatever serum they were given, they would be normal civilians and the Ninjago police force as well as the Samurai can take over.' Zane explained through their mental link.

'How do we do that? The serum is infused with their DNA and had even altered it.' Nya pointed out, looking the enhanced over.

'Simple. We turn back time on them.' Lloyd provided, looking across the large park, his vision closing in on Zane. 'Zane, You focus on turning back time on them and I'll focus on keeping the effects on them alone. The test of you keep out everyone that isn't an enhanced.' He instructed, flying forwards, Zane doing the same.

'Pixal is determined, isn't she?' Jay says, spotting her coming his way without looking behind him.

'I'll take care of her. You guys get a barrier going.' Nya says, heading over to Jay's direction.

'Roger.' Kai nodded then focused his fire, molding and shaping it into a pyramid shaped barrier. "Out you go." He murmured as the barrier enveloped the enhanced but pushed out Ronin, Dareth and Skylor, despite Skylor dragging her feet in the grass.

Cole and Jay followed suit, their barriers meeting as they expanded, merging and covering the entire park. Nya on the other hand threw out a wall of water to stop Pixal's missiles from touching Jay. Not that they would have reached him anyway.

"Sorry Pix. Can't let you-"

"Don't call me that!" Pixal yelled from her Samurai VXL, a glare on her face beneath her helmet. "None of you have any right to be here! Not after what you've all done! Not after all the pain you've put all of Ninjago through! None of you should have ever came back! We were all fine without the world ending threat you all pose! Go back to wherever the hell you disappeared to!" She yelled angrily, blasting multiple missiles and lasers at Nya who looked sad, watching her.

A wall of water erected her from the blow, the liquid wrapping around the attacks and dissolving the impact completely. Nya sighed softly then reopened her now glowing eyes, before reaching a hand out to Pixal's VXL. Pixal startles as her vehicle groaned before it lifted off the ground completely. She gritted her teeth then reached out to activate the mech update but she found herself unable to do so. The VXL opened suddenly and she found herself floating out, despite how much she tried to fight it.

"We aren't oblivious to the damage we've caused before. In fact, we're more aware of that than ever. We would have never come here or anywhere if we weren't positive we wouldn't cause damage." Nya spoke quietly as the water that protected her orbited her like a ring on a planet, an endless stream of water. "The past May be the past but we use it to influence our future. We can never give back the lives lost but we can preserve the ones still here. You may not trust us, especially after almost losing your father so many times because of us, but we cannot let you stop us from protecting Ninjago. Whether any of you like it or not, Ninjago's our home too. We'll do our best for it." She says quietly as Pixal watched her with narrowed eyes behind her helmet.

"... Even if it means losing the friends we've come to know." Nya spoke, expression morphing from sad and hurt to cool.

Light from behind her caught Pixal's attention. She watched with wide eyes from the high altitude as Zane stood in the middle of the park, his hands glowing amber as he utilized the power of time reversal. Lloyd closed his eyes from above him then reopened them in gold, the green glow of his skin morphing to gold, the energy traveling up to his horns- then shattering them both. His golden glow was blinding, forcing Pixal to look away, missing as the gold seeped into Nya as well as all of the other ninja, all of them united as one. It was over as soon as it started, the light and the barrier fading as the ninja's original colours bled back into them. Zane held his head, blinking as the golden energy retreated back into Lloyd before looking up at him, ignoring the confused groans of the former enhanced around him.

Reversing their effects wasn't all that they just did. He floated up towards Lloyd as his golden hair paled back to its blonde colour, the others joining him.

"Lloyd…" Kai began and the blonde shook his head.

"We couldn't have done it if any of us disagreed. You all know that." Cole pointed out to them.

"The why and how doesn't concern me at all." Jay says, crossing his arms as he gained a serious look. "Question is… Did it work? Will it work?" He asked and they all looked uncertain.

"... Only time will tell." Zane says solemnly and they all floated there in silence…

Before they all burst out snickering.

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?" Nya chuckled and Zane shrugged with a small smile.

"I just thought it was time to lighten up the mood." Zane joked and they all began laughing.

"Are we really doing the pun thing again?" Cole says, amused.

"We stopped? Shocker." Jay says with a grin and Kai snorted.

"That sucked Jay. Talk about a total burnout." Kai says, nudging Lloyd.

"You're all dorks." Lloyd huffed at his friends, despite the smile on his face.

Sirens getting closer to their current location broke their happy spell.

"Right. We should probably get out of here." Cole pointed out.

"Yeah." Nya agrees.

"Let's hold hands. The power of friendship will bring us home." Jay says with a grin and they all groaned.

"Jay, you watch way too much TV." Kai says as they all held hands.

"Agreed." Zane says dryly and Jay sick a tongue out at them before they all vanished in a large bolt of lightning.

Pixal watched as they did, saw as they joked and laughed. She didn't know how to take it. On one hand, hope filled her at the chance that maybe things weren't so different, that they were better, that there was a chance they weren't the monsters her dreams made them out to be. But she wasn't foolish enough to put her faith in one measly act of goodwill. If they truly wished to gain Ninjago's forgiveness, they had a lot of work to do. With that, she began rounding up the formerly enhanced, the police soon joining her.

___________

"Hey Lloyd. Why'd your horns break back there?" Jay asked once they arrived back at the Monastery.

"They were only temporary so they would have broken off eventually." Lloyd says as they walked inside, his fading back to their casual clothes.

"Huh? Really?" Cole asked, intrigued.

"How so?" Zane asked, curious.

"They were conductors. Or better yet, training wheels." Lloyd explained, surprising them further.

"Training wheels?! You mean-"

"That my powers were too intense from the beginning fore to handle right away? Yes." Lloyd finished for Nya as they walked in on an intense game of Mahjong.

"Good work today, ninja." Wu praised as he took up two tiles.

"I'll have their new mechs and vehicles out in a day or two so there's that." Nya says as she also picked up two tiles.

"I could get started on weapons for them too. Traditional of course. Cole can get me some decent ore and I'll set up a smithy at the fire temple." Kai offers, picking up four tiles.

"I haven't checked if I can make ore but it'll be good exercise, power wise." Cole hummed, taking up two tiles.

"I'll help Nya out with equipment." Jay offers, taking up eight tiles.

"I'll help out wherever I can, I guess." Lloyd shrugged, taking up two tiles as well.

"Good. The other elemental masters will eventually grow used to the routine and adapt. With your help, they will be able to do so sooner." Wu says, pecking up six tiles since the original game was thrown out the window.

"I wonder if they've figured out we helped them before…" Jay says thoughtfully, tapping a tile to his chin.

_______

"I knew it had to be them." Shade says, crossing his arms as all the other elemental masters met with Pixal who basically led then, giving them assignments and locations. "If they think anyone will forgive, they have another thing coming to them." He growled, hatred filling him from just speaking about them.

Knowing they helped them, knowing that they needed their help made him absolutely bitter. He didn't want anything to do with those monsters.

"I'm not happy about it either but we did need their help. How else would we have taken everyone on? All on the same day? No-one died today because of them." Neuro pointed out.

"You're just saying that because they saved your ass." Ash sneered and they all began to argue across the table, Pixal sitting at the head of it with her hands laced at her mouth.

"Enough!" She finally snapped and they all quieted down immediately. "It doesn't matter if we're happy about it or not. Nothing we do can stop them. They're too powerful. They're…" She frowned deeper

"They're unstoppable…" She whispered and there was silence all around.

"That can't be true yo!" Griffin spoke up as he stood, hands planted firmly on the table, his posture brimming with defiance. "Nobody is unstoppable! We just gotta think outside of the box!" He proposed.

"There's no box to think outside of." Pixal argued back, annoyed now. "They single handedly brought Ninjago to its knees in what totals in 5 minutes. 5 minutes! And they've only gotten stronger for what I've estimated." She says, turning around to bring up analytics and video playback of their stunts in New Ninjago City.

"People are starting to call them gods. Vengeful gods but deities nonetheless." She continued, turning back to them. "It isn't hard to see why. Their powers are like nothing we've ever encountered."

"So what? You just want us to give up?!" Shade yelled, getting to his feet. "After everything they've done?! After all the lives they've taken?! After they murdered my family?!" He snarled at her and Pixal remained calm in the face of his anger.

"I never said that." Pixal says after s moment. "They're unbeatable but that doesn't mean that we give up or that we stop fighting. The people of Ninjago are depending on us. The best we can do is to get them out of harm's way if it comes to it." She told them and while none of them liked those facts, they nodded, knowing they had to.

They were the new hope of Ninjago. It's up to them to defend it until the end if it comes to it.

_________

"I don't know, this seems more up your alley Zane." Kai says as they all stood in the training yard.

"This isn't a small feat we're about to do Kai. Creating a means of reporting, moving instantly from one place to another is bound to be difficult, despite our power." Zane reminded him, Echo watching them from the steps along with Wu and Garmadon.

"Zane is correct." Wu says, tilting his rice hat back so he could see them properly. "Which is why it is best for you all to take things slowly. Much like Jay has access to Speed thanks to the awakening of your powers, lightning is truly his means of travel. Perhaps it isn't so impossible for you all to utilise your elements as travel." He suggests.

"I like the idea of that." Cole says with a smirk.

"So how do we do it Sensei Jay?" Nya asked and Jay blinked, caught off guard for a moment.

"Oh, uh. I just… Think of where I want to go and the route I'd take and I just… Go." Jay shrugged.

The others looked at him for a while.

"That's it?" Zane asked, realising Jay wasn't going to say more.

"Well, yeah. That's it." Jay confirmed.

"No way." Kai immediately denied.

"Yeah I'm with Kai on this one." Cole agrees, crossing his large, muscled arms over his chest. "It can't be that easy." He says, narrowing his eyes at Jay suspiciously.

"I'm serious! That's exactly how I do it!" Jay huffs in his own defense.

"He's right guys." Lloyd spoke up and they all looked to him. "I've traveled like Jay before. That's all it takes. Though, maybe focusing on your element too would help." He suggests.

"... Alright. If Lloyd says that's how then that's how." Nya says, crossing her arms as well.

"Huh?! How come you guys believe Lloyd and not me?!" Jay whined and Cole snorts.

"The chances of Lloyd telling us a lie like you would to prank us is significantly lower." Zane explained and Jay pouts.

"Who wants to try it first?" Nya says and they all looked at each other.

"Guess I will." Kai says with a smirk then cracked his neck.

He then closed his eyes, breathing through his nose slowly. He pictured the Fire Temple, visualized the path there, thinking of his burning fire. He didn't feel any different. He sighed, opening his eyes in preparation to ask for some other tips- only to realise it had worked and he was at the fire temple.

Flare and Solaris blinked at him from their place playing on the bridge, surprised to see their creator appear in a burst of flames. They rushed over after the initial shock and Kai laughed once they tackled him, looking at his face as Spark bolted over from inside as well. Heath walked out moment after, tail swishing as he walked towards where his siblings were eagerly nuzzling their creator, purring happily.

"Go easy with the clothes yeah?" Kai laughed, pushing their snouts away. "I'm not home just yet. I'm sure I'll be back by tomorrow. I was just testing my powers out." He explained, stroking their snouts as they sat around him.

They gave disappointed whines but they understood that he had responsibilities aside from them.

"Heath, you'll keep taking care of them, right?" Kai asked him as they let him stand.

Heath only nodded once and Kai grinned, reaching out to pet him. Heath only opened his mouth and bit his hand.

"Ow! You jerk!" Kai hissed, rubbing his hand.

Heath just gave him a cheeky look and gave sounds that equaled to him telling Kai he'll heal. Kai shot him a glare then bid his dragons goodbye before vanishing again, reappearing at the Monastery in a flare of fire.

__________

Part 2 Of This Chapter

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montierosepha-blog · 5 years

Text

Epic RDR2 Extra Story

So you may have heard that there was originally more main story for RDR2 involving another love interest for Arthur, involving another 5 or so missions but that ultimately it was written out. Well here it is....sort of – it's definitely the closest thing to DLC we're going to get for a while!!! The short version of how this came to be is: Got depressed and wrote epic extra RDR2 story based in Chapter 3 with over 50 created 'screencaps' to accompany. Never done 3D character creation before so taught myself everything I could. Used a 17 yr old version of Photoshop and a free 3D rendering program. All of this is dedicated to G.J.V who was a massive gamer and tragically passed away from a similar infection to TB 3 days after we got married. Important to note – I wrote this when only in Chapter 3, I hadn't completed the game (still haven't more on that later) There are of course some minor clashes and bits that need changing but well artistic license! In terms of story this happens in Clements Point pre. The mission where Arthur is kidnapped by the O'Driscolls. Everything is pretty much the same, with the addition of the new character, and Molly is not with Dutch yet. I have used a mission from Chapter 2 just because it fitted so well incase you get confused! Along with the extra story I have written a slightly amended ending to Arthur's death (don't worry he still dies!) as well as an Epilogue moment for the new character.

Honestly I put way too much time into this, but it got me through an extremely rough time so I'm grateful just for that. However if you like it please let me know! Also I'm happy to answer any questions, there were lots of little nuances that were put in (some on purpose and some moments that were accidentally relevant to events or experiences that at the time of writing I didn't know anything about, but somehow worked out!)

So here we go!!!

Resilient, independant and deadly with a bow, Grace joined the Van der Linde gang at the same time as Charles. They had met several months before whilst tracking the same bear and decided that in the changing times, travelling together was perhaps safer for them both. From a wealthy background but with a tumultuous childhood, Grace spent most of her life surviving alone, except for a few years when she was taken in by an Indian tribe; learning and working alongside them she eventually proved herself and became one of them. However with the violent climate and her own troubles she decided to head out again on her own. She prefers the predictability of beats to men and whilst her dealings with the civilised world are limited, she is highly educated and quick thinking, something which appeals greatly to Dutch, but it appears her interest lie elsewhere much to his frustrations

Because I know you'll be reading the dialogue in the characters voices here is a clip of Grace's voice (it's a bit of a spoiler to the story but the only bit that could be re written into a monologue)

https://youtu.be/wyekV2huIV8 (click through link may not work please copy and paste to browser to listen) The first time Arthur met Grace; a few months before the Blackwater incident, she was carrying a huge deer carcass across her shoulders. He offered to help and was promptly shut down, rather than take offence he found it quite endearing, and after a sincere apology from Grace later that day the two found themselves sharing stories and enjoying each others company. Whilst the events of the last few months have seen little time for socialising, the gang now settled, albeit temporarily in Clements Point, has meant that there are at least the occasional times for frivolity. With some money set aside, and recently appointed as deputies to Sheriff Gray of Rhodes, Dutch decided that it might be good for the gang to let off a little steam in Rhodes Saloon one evening - of course providing everyone was going to be on their best behaviour.

Clements Point Gang Camp, Early evening.

The majority of the camp is getting ready to head into town, a few of the gang have decided to stay behind but all are in good spirits, except Arthur who is clearly agitated.

Dutch- Arthur what is the matter with you this evening? Arthur- Nothing. Just, are you sure this is a good idea? Dutch- Arthur it will be fine! There's not going to be any trouble. We're just going to go, make a few new friends and get a better understanding of what we've got here. There is nothing to worry about! Arthur- Okay ok. I'm just being cautious is all. Grace walks past in her bloodied hunting jacket. Grace- Hey Arthur. Mr. Van der Linde, well don't you both look nice! Arthur- Aren't you coming into Rhodes with us? Grace- Well I was going to, but I don't think a jacket covered in animal insides is going to make quite the impression you two had in mind as deputies. Arthur- Well I'm sure everyone won't mind waiting for you.

Dutch- No, Arthur. Why don't you and Bill take the cart and go on ahead with everyone. I'm more than happy to wait for Miss. Holden. Grace- That would be wonderful, Thank you. Dutch- Not at all, my dear. Grace disappears off, an irritated Arthur turns back to Dutch. Arthur- And what do we do if Sheriff Gray happens to be there and you're not? Dutch- Entertain him, Arthur. He's an idiot and a drunk, so even you shouldn't have a problem holding conversation with the man. Just keep everyone on their best behaviour and every thing will be fine. Arthur- (he lets out a sigh.) Whatever you say, you're the boss. Dutch- That I am. (To the gang ) Now go have some fun! Just make it well behaved fun!

Arthur and the majority of the gang clamber onto the wagon and set off, leaving a few members, and more importantly Dutch and Grace behind.

The Parlour House in Rhodes, Later that evening.

It's busy and the gang are having a good time along with the locals. Charles and Arthur are at the bar. Charles – You look nervous. What's up? Arthur- Ah, I'm just still not sure about this whole thing Dutch is trying to pull with the Sheriff. Seems like a bad idea to me putting ourselves out in public so much like this, and as deputies! Charles- Dutch is smart man, I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Arthur- I damn well hope so. Where the hell is he anyway?

As Arthur speaks the doors to the parlour house open and in walks Dutch, with Grace firmly on his arm. They walk over and greet Arthur and Charles at the bar.

Arhur- You finally made it. Dutch- Of course! And doesn't Miss. Holden look wonderful? Grace looks a little uncomfortable as Charles and Arthur nod in agreement. Arhur- Beautiful. Looking like a real lady. Grace-As opposed to the rest of the time when I look like...? Arthur stumbles for what to say realising his insult.

Grace- (she laughs) it's ok, Arthur! Thank you. So drinks? Dutch- Actually I should find Sheriff Gray first. Would you accompany me, Miss Holden? If you two don't mind? Arthur- Sure; can't let drinking get in the way of business. Dutch escorts a reluctant Grace away which annoys Arthur. Arthur- Look at him parading her around like a prize horse. Charles-I wouldn't worry too much, Arthur. Grace has no ambitions with Dutch. Arthur- Well she should, he's the one in charge; it'd be a smart choice. Charles- Love isn't about being smart. Just look at my parents. Arthur- Well maybe. But you know what, there's too much going on right now to be thinking about any of that. Charles- Perhaps you should stop worrying, do what Dutch says, and actually have some fun. Arthur- You're right. Ha, you're always right, Charles. (to the barman) Another drink! A short while later Grace has managed to separate herself from Dutch, and is chatting to a group of rather drunk men, when one of them insists she dance with him. She's reluctant but not wanting to cause trouble she obliges. The men are rowdy and as the song ends Grace is very keen to get away and makes her way towards Arthur who's still at the bar. Just before she reaches him the man grabs her hand pulling her backwards asking her to dance some more. She politely says no but he insists. Arthur then decides to step forward. Arthur- The lady says no, mister. Drunk man - Oh and what business is it of yours? Arthur- Keep talking and you'll find out! Drunk Man- Oh really?

Grace- Ok, that's enough. We should go get a drink, Arthur. Arthur- (he calms a little as they turn and walk away) Sure.

Grace-Thank you for stepping in. Arthur- 'Course. Always ready to save a damsel in distress. Grace-Well I definitely ain't no damsel Arthur- Hah yes indeed. They laugh but Arthur then looks noticeably uncomfortable in the situation not really sure how to make conversation. Arthur- I... Uh.. Meant what I said earlier, you do... look very... Pretty. Grace- Thank you. I'm not going to lie I feel a bit uncomfortable in such a big dress, all done up! Arthur- Ha me too! (She looks at him a little quizzically.) ...That's... a nice necklace.

Grace- Oh, well I'd say thank you again, but, it's not mine. Dutch... gave it to me before we came here. Arthur- Looks expensive. Grace- Hmm, I think he's trying to make a good impression to these people. Arthur- Well he's certainly enjoying having a lady on his arm this evening. Grace- That's just business. Having a woman around makes him seem more trustworthy apparently. Arthur- If only they knew. Grace-I don't know what you're implying, Mr. Morgan! They laugh and chat for a little longer until Grace politely excuses herself and heads out. Dutch comes over to Arthur and is a clearly irritated. Dutch- Enjoying yourself, Arthur? Arthur- Just having a good time like you told us to. Dutch- I saw Miss. Holden was the object of some attention earlier. Arthur- Those guys dancing? Nah they're harmless. Dutch- Mm indeed. Mary Beth comes over to them both. Mary Beth- I'm sorry to interrupt gentlemen, but have you seen Grace? Arthur- Yeah she not long went out the back there. Mary Beth- Oh... Dutch- What's wrong? Mary Beth- Oh, nothing I guess. Just that man that wanted her to dance earlier. He's been watching her the whole time, just a bit odd you know? But I saw him head out that same way a minute ago. Arthur puts down his beer and with a look he and Dutch head out. Dutch-Arthur remember who we are to these people. Don't cause any trouble. Arthur- I'm not gonna cause any trouble I'm gonna prevent trouble. They head out the back outside to find the drunk guy blocking Grace from getting back in grabbing her wrists. Arthur- Hey! As Grace goes to move past the guy he grabs her and forces a kiss. Just as Arthur and Dutch start to move she has no hesitation and knees the guy in the balls. Arthur stops and laughs, but Dutch looks less amused.

Drunk Man- Bitch! Grace- Asshole! Arthur- And to think we were worried about you. Grace- Well I told you, I ain't no damsel that needs rescuing! Dutch- well let's keep you close for the rest of the evening, shall we. We can't afford any trouble here. As they walk back into the bar Bill comes over. Bill- Poker. Upstairs. You in? Dutch- Not for me, I don't think it would set the right impression. Bill- Arthur? Arthur- Sure, I'm feeling lucky.

Grace- Me too. Bill- You? Grace- Sure, why you two scared? Bill- Not at all. Your money is the same as everyone else's! Arthur offers Grace an arm. Arthur- I guess we'll see you later, Dutch. Grace takes Arthur's arm and they follow Bill upstairs whilst Dutch is left fuming. They all play for a bit, Bill ends up going out quite early on much to his annoyance. Grace holds her own fairly well with the rest of the men including an unusually successful Arthur, but she decides to eventually bow out. Grace- Right, Boys. That is me done. Men- No stay! Grace- No, I've had too much to drink to keep my wits about me. So I am leaving with my dignity and my money! She heads back towards the stairs to be greeted by Dutch sitting on the sofa. Dutch- Miss Holden. Grace- Oh, Dutch. Dutch- Care to join me? Grace- Sure. Dutch- (pouring two drinks) Well, I didn't know you were so good at poker. It's not really a ladies game. Grace-There's lots of things you don't know I'm good at. (she downs the whiskey shot he poured) Dutch-Is that a fact... Grace- Indeed. (she's definitely drunk)

Dutch-You really do intrigue me, Miss. Holden. Beauty and brains it seems. (He takes her hand) I don't think I've ever met a woman quite like you. (he pauses for a moment). Arthur sees this all from the poker table but is in the middle of a hand (“You gonna play or not!”) At that point Charles walks up the stairs and over to Grace and Dutch, two beers in hand. Charles- Dutch there's a man downstairs asking for you, something about a meeting tomorrow morning. Dutch- (Dutch sighs and reluctantly stands )Ah yes. Do excuse me. Charles- (handing Grace a beer) Here's that beer Arthur wanted. Grace- (she's very relieved) Thanks. Grace walks back to the poker table just as the hand ends, Arthur didn't win. Random Man- Hey, she's back! Arthur- Everything ok? Grace- Yeah, of course. (she hands him the beer) Arthur- You know what, I'm gonna need more than this (he sips at the beer) Come sit here and be my good luck charm. (he indicates his lap and Grace happily obliges) The game continues and Arthur wins a big hand and the 2 other players bust out. Arthur- Sorry gentlemen - looks like my good luck charm worked. The men disperse leaving Arthur and Grace alone upstairs. Grace goes to the sofa where she and Dutch were sitting and picks up the barely touched bottle of whiskey. Grace- Hey, Dutch left this, wanna help me finish it. Arthur- Oh I dunno, stealing a man's girl is one thing, stealing his whisky is another! Grace- Considering what you do, this is hardly stealing. Arthur- Ok. You convinced me. Grace- Didn't take much! Arthur- Shut up. Grace- And if you call me Dutch's girl again, which I most certainly am not I'll- Arthur- Oh I know, I saw what you did to the guy downstairs. Grace- Oh that was nothing! I will do much, much worse to you... When I've had less to drink though. They laugh and head out beyond the now empty poker table to the balcony.

Downstairs the bar is emptying. The gang are heading home. Dutch is also saying goodbye to his business man and asks the girls where Grace is. They haven't seen her.

Bill- Dont worry, Dutch. I'll get them home safe. Dutch- Thank you. Have you seen Arthur? Bill - 'fraid not. He was doing pretty well on the poker earlier but that's the last I saw him. You coming back with us? Dutch- No, I'm going to get a room here tonight, I'm meeting someone early tomorrow morning. Hosea- (walking out with the others pats Dutch on the shoulder) Oh Dutch, you never stop. Dutch- There's no time to stop, Hosea. We stop, we perish. I'll see you all tomorrow. They all leave and Dutch asks for a room. Arthur and Grace are out on the balcony, merrily drunk and telling stories. Grace- (she gets up and looks over the balcony) I think everyone's gone! Arthur- Nah. Grace- No they're all gone. The wagons gone! Arthur- (he comes over) They have gone! What the hell! Grace- I guess we'll have to sleep here. Arthur- On the balcony? Grace- No. We'll get a room. Arthur- Together? Grace- Don't worry Arthur, I won't bite. They go back inside and lean over the bannisters shouting down to the barman who's clearing up. Grace- Hey Barman- Oh I didn't know there was anyone still here. Arthur- Do you have any rooms? Barman- Only one. The little one in the corner up there. Grace- We'll take it. Just throw me the key. The barman hesitates but eventually throws up the key, neither of them manage to catch it of course. They open the door, to a single bed room. Arthur- Well this is...cosy Grace- It's fine we just need somewhere to sleep. She goes over and sits on the bed. Arthur- You know, I've had a good time tonight. Grace- Me too. You're good fun, Arthur. Arthur is still standing glancing out the window. Grace- What's the matter? Arthur- Ah just thinking Grace- You probably shouldn't do that. Leave Dutch to do the thinking. Arthur- It's Dutch I'm thinking about! He'd kill me if he knew I was here with you. Grace- Don't say it. I will hurt you. Arthur- I know, I know....just... Dutch thinks- Grace-You know, maybe you shouldn't worry about what Dutch thinks and just have a little fun. She gets up and goes over to him.

Arthur- (smiling) Charles said exactly the same thing. Grace- Well, Charles is always right. Arthur- ...He is, isn't he... They kiss.

Rhodes Saloon, Bedroom, The next morning.

Grace wakes up and sees Arthur almost dressed. She smiles.

Arthur- We should really be getting back to camp. Grace- Sure. She starts to get dressed, Arthur turns away, almost embarrassed. Arthur- I uh, I'll see what I can do about transport. Grace- (she smiles at him) Ok. Arthur heads out, the morning light through the windows is strong in his eyes as he heads slowly towards the stairs. He stops suddenly as he sees Dutch, with his back turned looking out through the balcony doors.

Arthur- Dutch! Dutch- (he continues to look outside) Good morning, Arthur. I trust you slept well? Arthur- Uh yeah, I guess. Dutch- Because I know you didn't sleep alone. Arthur- Look, Dutch... Dutch- (he turns to face Arthur) Oh Arthur, I've watched you make many mistakes but I'm not sure if you've ever been quite so stupid.

Grace is dressed and heads out of the room towards the stairs but stops when she realises Dutch and Arthur are in front of her. Arthur- Dutch, listen. Last night was alot of fun, and we all had too much to drink. And Grace.... Well... I mean, it meant nothing... Dutch glances over Arthur's shoulder to see Grace who heard everything. Arthur turns to see her and his face drops. Arthur- I didn't... Grace- Dutch, you were my ride here, can we go home now please. She walks past Arthur to the top of the stairs and stops. Dutch- (he looks at Arthur, almost smiling) Of course, Miss. Holden. They walk down the stairs leaving Arthur alone.

Clements Point Camp, Evening, later that day.

Arthur is sitting alone at the fire when Charles comes over to join him. He asks Arthur what happened last night and Arthur explains. Charles- I see. I wondered why Dutch seemed so happy with himself today. Arthur- As far as he's concerned he's won some big prize.

Charles- Hmm, I wouldn't say he's won anything, but Arthur you've got to tell her how you feel, at least explain what happened. Arthur- I dunno. I ain't exactly good with feelings at the best of times. Charles- Well don't leave it too long. There's no time promised to any of us.

Over the next few days Grace stays away from the camp, mostly out hunting, so Arthur doesn't run into her at all. A week or so passes and she and Sadie are down by the river, teaching Sadie how to use a bow. Arthur finally has the courage to come and talk to her. Arthur- Hello ladies. Sadie- Hey, Arthur. Grace says nothing. Arthur- Uh Sadie, I need to talk to Grace, could you give us a minute Sadie- Sure.(she leaves) Arthur- Its, uh been a while. Grace- Yeah it has. Arthur- Haven't seen you around much, thought you might be avoiding me. Grace- Maybe I was.

Arthur- So is now a good time to talk? Grace- That depends. I'm holding some pretty sharp arrows so I'd choose your words carefully. He smiles, but then realises she wasn't really joking. Arthur- Look I feel like a prize idiot about what happened. Everything with Dutch, it was just so complicated. I didn't mean to upset you but I didn't know what I was supposed to say to him. Grace- Well telling Dutch it meant nothing seems pretty uncomplicated to me. Arthur- Of course it didn't mean nothing Grace- Then what did it mean, Arthur? Arthur- I... (he still can't say how he feels.) Grace- I thought as much. (she walks away.) Arthur- Grace! (to himself) Uh you dumb moron. Arthur looks up to see Dutch watching from his tent.

Clements Point Camp, Evening, a few weeks later.

In the next few weeks Dutch takes alot of interest in Grace, spending time with her, talking, lending her books, much to the annoyance of Arthur who often disappears for days at a time. But Dutch then has a job and he wants Arthur's help. Turns out there's a very important (and very wealthy) couple relocating to Saint Denis. Although most of their belongings are travelling via train the pair themselves are going via stagecoach, along with their most valuable possessions and money. It's Dutch's plan to have himself, Arthur, Charles and Grace attack the stagecoach and steal everything they can. Arthur- (to Dutch) So you actually want to do this with us? Dutch- Of course! The opportunity to rob some pompous, bastard; watch him squeal at the sight of us, oh I wouldn't pass that up, Arthur. Arthur- Fair enough. But uh, Grace? She ain't exactly the heist type. Grace- (walking into the conversation) I am more than capable of robbing a few rich, old folks, thank you, Arthur. Dutch- Exactly! She and Charles are the secret weapon. Take out the riders with arrows, nice and quietly and then we swoop in and do the rest. It's subtlety Arthur. You don't always have to go in all guns blazing to get the job done! Charles- The horses are ready, let's go. The four of them set off as the sun sets and night time approaches.

On a quiet road somewhere between Rhodes and Saint Denis. Night.

The stagecoach arrives and Charles and Grace take out the riders as planned, however as Dutch and Arthur head down towards the coach they see a second, heavily guarded coach approaching. They'd hit a decoy instead. As the main carriage approaches, they realise what's happened and a fire fight ensues. Charles and Grace ride down from their positions to help but Grace gets knocked off her horse and takes cover by the main stagecoach with the passengers inside. They're outnumbered and realise there's more guards coming. Dutch manages to get to Grace and gets her up onto his horse as they ride off they are heavily pursued and get separated from Charles and Arthur. Dutch rides far, eventually losing the guards but they are completely lost. They come across an empty cabin and decide to stop.

An abandoned cabin somewhere in the wilderness. Night.

Dutch- We should stay here tonight. Head out first thing in the morning and find our way back. Grace- Ok. I'll see if I can get a fire going. Dutch- Thank you, Miss. Holden. She works on getting the fire together as Dutch hunts around the cabin. Dutch- Well there's no food anywhere but I found this. (holds a bottle) which I am sincerely hoping is some form of alcohol. They sit close together to get warm by the fire and drink the alcohol Dutch found. Grace- I hope Charles and Arthur got away ok. Dutch- Oh I'm sure they did. Grace- What happened back there? Why was there another coach? Dutch- I don't know. I guess the information we got was wrong somehow. Such a damn waste, all for nothing. Grace- I was going to wait til we got back to camp but, well it wasn't totally for nothing... She pulls a massive money stack and 2 large bags of jewellery out of her satchel. Dutch- How on earth did you get this? Grace- When I was knocked down and took cover by the coach it was just sitting there, in a chest in the back. Dutch- Well how about that! Grace- I know I'm new to robbing rich folks but us hunters always know how to find what we're looking for. Dutch- You are an exceptional woman, Miss. Holden. Grace- (she takes another swig of drink) That I am, Dutch.

He moves closer. Dutch- I could definitely use an exceptional woman right now. He kisses her passionately and she makes no move to stop him.

The abandoned cabin, Early morning, the next day.

Grace wakes early and heads outside to see to Dutch's horse. She's feeling rather unwell and Dutch comes outside just as she's being sick. Dutch- Are you ok, Miss. Holden? Grace- I'm fine. I think it was whatever that drink was last night.

Dutch- I see. About last night- Grace- We should be getting back to camp. Everyone is probably worried not knowing if you're safe or not. Dutch- (hesitantly) Of course.

They get onto Dutch's horse and set off back home towards camp.

Clements Point camp, Afternoon, later that day.

As Dutch and Grace arrive back, everyone is pleased to see them. Arthur comes straight over to them both. Arthur- Well I am glad you're both ok, but Dutch, what the hell happened last night? Dutch- Arthur, it doesn't matter. We might not have come away with everything we hoped for but we didn't end up empty handed. Miss. Holden managed to get this. He takes out the money and jewellery bags and walks back to his tent clearly happy with how events turned out. Arthur- (looks to Grace) You ok? (he points to the marks on her face.) Grace- I'm fine. Just scratches. Arthur- Well at least you two were successful. Grace- What? Arthur- The money, and jewellery. Grace- I was just lucky. Arthur- Well you've certainly made Dutch happy. Are you sure you're ok? Grace- I'm fine, just tired. I'll see you later, Arthur. She walks away leaving Arthur a little confused.

Clements Point Camp, Evening, later that day.

A few of the gang including Grace are sitting around the fire, Arthur comes over to join them and sits himself next to her. Arthur- Hey. Grace- Hey. Arthur- Sadie and I was thinking of heading into Rhodes tomorrow wondered if you wanted to come with us, anything you needed? Grace- No. I'm fine, thank you. Arthur- Are you sure everything's ok? Did something happen with the stagecoach...? Grace- No, I'm fine, I'm just tired. I guess you were right, maybe heists aren't my thing. (She gets up.) I'll see you all in the morning. She walks away. Arthur hesitates for a moment and then decides to follow her but he stops when he sees Dutch is talking to her.

Dutch- Miss. Holden, are you... Is everything ok? Grace- I'm fine. Just going to sleep. Dutch- Of course. Again, good work on the stagecoach. Grace- Honestly it was nothing. Dutch- Not at all. You... You are becoming a fine member of this group. We're lucky to have you here...I'm lucky to have you here. Grace- Dutch- Dutch- I'll say no more. Just know that... you mean a lot to me. Grace- (she forces a slight smile) Goodnight Dutch. Dutch- Goodnight, Miss. Holden. She walks away and Dutch notices Arthur watching. He says nothing, but smiles and walks away back to his tent.

Several weeks pass in camp. Various jobs here and there, and the camp seems in good spirits for the most part. Grace is spending more and more time in the camp, rarely hunting. She has kept her distance from both Dutch and Arthur and spends time helping around camp but has also starting crafting jewellery and trinkets from animal parts such as teeth and claws.

Clements Point Camp, Late afternoon.

Arthur finds Grace sitting on the outskirts of camp working away on one of her necklaces. Arthur- Grace? Grace- Hey, Arthur. Arthur- You're quite hard to find these days. Grace- Just keeping myself out of trouble. Arthur- Well, I brought you some alligator teeth. Sadie said you were collecting them, or something? Grace- Oh, thank you. Arthur- So, what you doing with them? Grace- Sounds crazy but there's a bit of market for selling things like this in Saint Denis. Lots of rich folk who'll buy anything if you tell them it will bring them more money or improve their love life. Arthur- Sounds like I could do with one of those! Grace- (she smiles at him) Well...maybe I'll make you one sometime. Arthur- Well thank you. (he turns to leave) Grace- Arthur? (he turns back to face her) I was thinking about heading out to do some fishing sometime. Kieran said he found a pretty sweet spot around the cove from here. It's never really been my forte so I was wondering if you'd be up to giving me a few pointers sometime? Arthur- Well I'm not much of a fisherman, really. Javier is the one you should speak to. Grace- Oh. Ok. He goes to leave again but then catches on and turns back around. Arthur- But I've got some time now if you're not busy? We can just fish here, I can should you what I know? Grace- That would be great, thank you. Grace packs up her things and meets Arthur down on the dock in camp as he teaches her to fish, but this doesn't go unnoticed as Dutch is watching them.

Over the next few days Arthur and Grace rekindle their friendship. Even heading out to the cove Kieran had mentioned and catching plenty of fish.

Clements Point Camp, Evening.

That evening a few of the gang are around the camp fire; with songs and drinking the mood is jovial. After a while the group starts to break up as they prepare for bed leaving Arthur and Grace sat alone by the fire chatting.

Grace- I keep forgetting but I have something for you. Arthur- Oh yeah? What is it? Grace- Here. (She pulls out a talisman necklace and hands it to him.) Arthur- Hey, you finally made me one. Grace- No, actually, this one's different. This is an Indian talisman. It's made from wolf's teeth. It was given to me when I'd finally proven myself to be loyal to the tribe I was with. Arthur- What did you have to do; hunt down the wolves?! Grace- (she smiles) No. But the point is, it's supposed to offer protection to who wears it. I know you've got your guns to do that but with everything the way it is I figure a little extra doesn't hurt. Arthur- Well, thank you. But what about you? Grace- Oh I think I'm well enough protected. (They look at eachother and smile.)

Arthur- I feel like I keep learning new things about you every time we speak. Grace- (She smiles and stands up.) I guess I better get to sleep. Arthur- Sure. Goodnight... Grace. Grace- Goodnight, Arthur. As she walks away she notices Dutch standing with Micah, he's been watching them both the whole time. She stops and turns back to Arthur. Grace- And Arthur? You know you should never go hunting the wolves. Arthur- Why not? Grace- Because the wolves will hunt you.

Her face is serious and concerned but she forces a flicker of a smile and walks away. Arthur can now see that Dutch is watching but before he can think too much Charles comes over and sits next to Arthur. Charles- So have you told her you love her yet? Arthur- What? No. I mean after everything that's happened she... She doesn't... Charles- (he laughs and shakes his head) Oh Arthur. They both look over to see Dutch trying to talk to Grace as she makes her excuses and walks away. Charles- Honestly, if you care about her, you shouldn't wait to tell her. You never know what might happen.

Clements Point Camp by the dock, later that night.

Everyone is asleep as Grace is sat alone down by the dock. Arthur sees her and wanders over. Arthur- Thought you'd gone to bed? Grace- Oh, I couldn't sleep. Arthur- You want some company? Grace- Sure. (he sits with her) Arthur- We caught some good fish earlier. Grace- Yeah we did. Pearson's happy he's cooking something other than deer for once. Arthur- Oh I'm sure he'll find some reason to complain about it though. Grace- More than likely. The conversation is so stilted and awkward. Neither really knowing what to say.

Arthur- I've enjoyed our fishing trips together. It's...been nice, spending time with you again. Grace- It has. I've missed you, Arthur...but... I need to tell you something- Arthur- I need to say something too, Grace. I think... Well I know, I should have said it sooner. I mean I'm not exactly great with talking and it's complicated, I guess... Grace- Arthur... Dutch- Arthur! The moment is broken as Dutch walks over Dutch- Sorry to interrupt, Miss Holden but I need to speak to Arthur. Grace- (flustered by the sudden intrusion.) Of course, it's already late. Arthur, we can talk tomorrow? Arthur- (through gritted teeth.) Sure. What is it Dutch? Dutch- That train we've been planning to hit, Micah says it's coming through tomorrow night. We need to go over the plan and make sure we're ready. Arthur- And this couldn't have waited til the morning? Dutch- I'm sorry, Arthur, did you have more pressing matters to deal with? Arthur stares at Dutch for a moment, weighing up his reactions, he sighs and shakes his head. Arthur- No. Dutch- Good, come on then, Micah's waiting. They head into Dutchs tent, Arthur reluctant and heavy hearted.

The Train Tracks, late evening.

Everyone is in place ready to stop and rob the train travelling with very wealthy passengers. Arthur, John, Charles and Sean are with the oil wagon on the tracks. Dutch and Grace are dressed up riding as passengers on board the train. The train stops as planned and they all begin to rob the passengers.

But things don't quite go to plan as the law seems more than ready for them. Whilst they try to fight, they realise they are more than outnumbered and all start running. They spot a barn in the distance and head towards it, Grace falls behind and is pursued by a loan gunmen who shoots her in the leg. She falls down but manages to shoot him dead before he can finish the job. The rest of the gang are almost at the barn when Charles realises Grace isn't with them. He turns and sees her far behind them on the ground and races back. Grace rips her petticoat and ties up the bullet wound in her leg just as Charles gets to her. He helps her up and they run to the barn to hide with the others. Arthur- Are you ok? Were you hit? Grace- No, I'm fine. I just fell. John- Anyone still following? Grace- No that guy was the last of them. Charles- (looking through a crack in the barn) We've got a problem. Someone from in the house. They peak out and notice a man with a gun coming out of the house and towards the barn. Sean- What do we do now? John- He's only one man... Grace who is still looking notices the man on the veranda but now with a woman, and two children standing in the doorway. Grace- No, there's a whole family there. They might not have seen us all come in. You all climb up there, Charles and I will remove the ladder and stay here. The men move to the top level of the barn, and after removing the ladder Grace and Charles hide. The old man appears at the barn doors ready to shoot. Man- I know you're in here, there's no point in hiding. Grace slowly emerges from her hiding place with her hands up. Grace- (begging and weak) Please, sir. Please don't shoot. Man- What the hell are you doing in here and where's the other one I saw. Grace indicates to Charles to come out. Charles- We don't mean any harm, sir. Man- I heard gunfire. You running from the law? Grace- No, not at all. That... That was my uncle. He was crazy and furious with us... We... We're in love and we needed to run away. The man's wife arrives behind him. Woman- What on earth is going on? Man- These kids say they're running away together. But I don't know if I believe them, heard gunfire an' all. Grace- Please, we're not hurting anyone At that moment, on the upper level Sean knocks against something making a noise. The man raises his gun aggressively and walks towards them.

Man- Are you lying? Is there someone else in here? Grace- No, no there isn't, I swear. Please! (Grace looks to the wife.) I... I'm pregnant. Man- What? Grace- I'm pregnant. It's... It's why we had to run away. Please, please don't hurt us! Both the man and woman's attitudes change immediately and the man lowers his gun. Woman- Well, I guess we can't have you sleeping out here, can we. Man- No...I guess not, but we ain't no charity, it's just for tonight. But I'll be damned if I let a pregnant woman sleep out in a barn. Charles- Thank you, both. Grace and Charles follow the Man and Woman into the house, leaving the rest of the gang stuck on the top level of the barn. Sean- Well this is bloody great! So we have to stay up here whilst they get wined and dined. Arthur- Don't be such an idiot, we'd be in trouble if they hadn't believed all that. John- It's too high to risk jumping down but we might have to try if they don't manage to get the ladder back. An hour or so passes and John sees Charles climbing out of a window and down a trellis on the house. He gets to the barn and puts the ladder back in place. Sean- Am I glad to see you, I didn't think you were ever coming back. Dutch – Are you and Grace ok? Charles- We're fine. Nice family. They've said we can stay the night but we'll try and leave as soon as we can. John - I honestly can't believe that worked! Dutch- Of course it did. No one resists the helpless plea of a pregnant woman. It's the perfect lie for sympathy. Charles- That may be, but its not a lie. Arthur- What you on about, Charles?

Charles- Grace. She is pregnant. Hosea's been making some remedies for the sickness. Arthur- Jesus. Charles-I better get back before they realise I'm missing. We'll get back to camp as soon as we can. He leaves Sean- (looking at Arthur) Pregnant? Wonder what that's all about eh, Arthur? Arthur- We need to get back to camp. Dutch- We need to speak to Hosea. John- Come on let's go, it's gonna take a while on foot.

Clements Point Camp, Early morning, the next day.

By the time they get back it's nearly light. Arthur and Dutch storm to see Hosea who is sitting reading the paper at the table. Arthur- Hosea, what the hell is going on. Hosea- And good morning to you both, gentlemen. Dutch- Don't play coy, Hosea. We know about Grace. Hosea- Oh dear, I was afraid we couldn't keep this secret for too much longer. Dutch- Why didn't you say something? Hosea- Because it wasn't for me to say. Arthur- Well you told Charles. Hosea- I needed some supplies! Arthur- Dammit, Hosea! Dutch- How long has she been coming to see you? Hosea- I don't know. A few weeks now, I guess but of course she could have been pregnant for longer. Dutch- How much longer? Hosea- I don't know.

Arthur- Wait... why does it matter how long she... (Arthur's face drops with realisation) You... Dutch- Arthur... Arthur- You!... Hosea- Gentlemen! Arthur realises most of the camp is now watching. He pushes Dutch away slightly with a roar. Dutch- Where are you going Arthur? Arthur- Somewhere I can't shoot you from!!! Arthur gets on his horse and rides away. Dutch- (to everyone else) – Well, don't you all have things to be getting on with!! He heads back to his tent to be alone.

Clements Point Camp, Afternoon, later that day.

Charles and Grace have finally made their way back to the camp and as they arrive they notice everyone watching them, all now aware of what's been going on. Grace- (To Charles) Well... I guess my secret's no longer secret. Grace manages to stay away from everyone for the rest of the day, until Sadie finds her late that evening right on the outskirts of the camp and persuades her to come back. As they're walking back Dutch stops them both. Dutch- Sadie, would you ask Ms. Grimshaw and the girls to sort out some hot water for Miss. Holden in my tent please. Sadie- Of course, Mr. Van der Linde. (She leaves.) Dutch- (to Grace) Why don't we find somewhere to sit and wait. Grace reluctantly agrees and they head to the scout camp to wait. Dutch- You really didn't have to keep this a secret you know. Grace- I know, and I'm sorry I should have told you sooner. Dutch- I spoke with Hosea. He... He says he's not sure how long it's been... She doesn't answer.

Dutch- It's Arthur's isn't it. Grace- Dutch, I'm so sorry. I know how much it would have meant to you- Dutch- There is absolutely no need to be sorry. Grace- I feel like I've betrayed you- Dutch- No, not at all. You are incredibly loyal, and I am proud to have you here. But perhaps, no more secrets from now on? Grace- Of course. Dutch- (he holds her tight.) I'm sure that water is warm by now. You can get cleaned up and I'd like to offer you my tent for tonight, we can hardly have you sleeping on the floor. Grace- Thank you...for everything. They go to Dutch's tent, Susan has just finished, she smiles and leaves. Dutch- I'll be outside if you need anything. She starts to undress her top half, she has several bruises and cuts on her back, he watches her for a second, sighs and closes the tent.

Clements Point Camp, Early morning, the next day.

Arthur arrives back at camp looking worse for wear and is still a little drunk. Kieran is awake and cleaning the table. Members of the camp are stirring. Arthur- O'Driscoll. You seen Grace? Kieran- Arthur! Uh... Arthur- Come on boy where is she? Kieran hesitates as someone else now walks over and he glances nervously to Dutch's tent. Kieran- She's uh... Arthur- Get outta my way. He pushes Kieran out of the way and storms over to Dutch's tent where he sees Grace asleep in his bed. He looks around for Dutch and sees him down by the lake. Kieran is stuttering around panicked, and trying to wake people. People are now getting up and see Arthur storm off. Dutch turns just as Arthur reaches him. Dutch- Arthur- Arthur- You son of a bitch.

Dutch- You remember who you're talking to! Arthur- And who am I talking to, Dutch? You think you're so damned important, so above anyone else that you can just take whatever you want without thinking of anyone else but yourself? Dutch- Grace? I didn't take her, she CAME to me. She came to me because you weren't here! Arthur- No, you were always there, sneaking your way in behind my back. Actually you didn't even have the decency to do it behind my back! Dutch- You're being ridiculous. Arthur- It doesn't matter now does it. You won! Dutch- Won? It's not a game, Arthur! I love her. Arthur- So do I! Dutch- Oh yes, so great a love it must be. Such a fine MAN you must be that you can't even tell her that! Arthur, without thinking pushes Dutch, who falls to the ground. Dutch starts laughing and looks at Arthur. Arthur- What is wrong with you?!

Dutch- (he stops laughing and looks up at Arthur, almost sad) It's yours, Arthur. The baby is yours. Arthur- What? Dutch- Grace told me. But as usual you ran away. It's probably for the best she came to me. What kind of father would you be anyway. Arthur completely snaps and pulls Dutch to his feet in a rage, ready to beat him as Grace shouts out. Arthur turns around to see Grace. As she'd hurried out of Dutch's tent she banged the stitched up bullet wound which reopened. Her dress now soaked in blood, she calls out Arthur's name before dropping to the floor.

Dutch and Arthur run over and shout for Hosea. They roll her over and see the blood. Arthur- Is it the baby? Dutch- Hosea!!!! Hosea runs over to them. Arthur- Is it the baby? Hosea- I'm not sure, I don't think so... Hosea moves Graces skirt to reveal the split open bullet wound. Arthur- What the... Hosea- It...it looks like...a bullet wound? Arthur- (shaking her to consciousness) Grace...hey, Grace, what... what happened? Grace- The other night...after the train, I got hit before we got to the barn...I stitched it up...to go...to the doctor... Hosea- Did you get the bullet out? Grace-I couldn't.... It was too...deep. Hosea-We need to get her to the doctor straight away. Dutch-Rhodes isn't that far. Hosea- There isn't a proper doctor there, we need to get her to Saint Denis. Dutch-Will she make it that far? Arthur- She'll make it. Come on, Grace. (He picks her up) Dutch- Hosea ride in the back with Arthur. Charles with me upfront. They get into the wagon and race to Saint Denis.

Saint Denis, Doctors Office, Late Afternoon, later that day.

Arthur and Dutch are waiting in a corridor as the Doctor approaches. Doctor- Are you the gentlemen who brought Miss. Holden in? Arthur- Yes, we are. How is she? Doctor- She's going to be ok, got her here just in time, I'd say.

Dutch- And the baby? Doctor- No, I'm afraid not. Arthur- Can we see her? Doctor- Of course. She was asking to see someone called Arthur earlier; I presume that's one of you? Arthur- That's me. Doctor- Ah then follow me. He leads Arthur to the room where Grace is.

Arthur- Grace... Grace- Arthur...I'm glad you're still here. Arthur- I...Why on earth didn't you tell us about- Grace- The baby? Honestly can you even imagine, with everything that's going on right now... Arthur- Abigail had Jack... Grace- Things were pretty different back then so I'm told. But now, since Blackwater, it's different and it's not safe. I'd have been sent out of the camp. Arthur- Dutch wouldn't let that happen. You could walk up right up to him and shoot him in the chest and he'd still welcome you back with open arms. He loves you. .. Well...we all do... Grace- I'm not so sure everyone does... (Arthur avoids her eyes) I've caused a lot of trouble. Dutch walks into the room Dutch- Not at all. You just work on getting better and we'll get you back to camp as soon as we can. Grace- Thank you... Both....thank you. Dutch smiles and walks out, Arthur goes to follow. Grace- Arthur.... the baby... It was... Arthur- I know. But I guess that doesn't matter now. Grace-No. I guess not. Arthur- We'll see you soon, Grace.

Clements Point Camp, Afternoon, A few days later.

After a few days resting in Saint Denis, Grace is back at the camp. Although there are no ill feelings towards her, she doesn't feel settled knowing how much trouble she's caused. Dutch, however doesn't seem to notice and is doing everything he can to make sure she is ok.

Dutch- And you're sure there's nothing else you need? Grace- (she forces a grateful smile) No, honestly Mr. Van der Linde I'm fine and I promise I'll be back to helping out here and back out hunting in no time. Dutch- Well you take it easy till you're completely back to health. And if you need anything you just come straight to me, ok? Grace- I will, thank you. Dutch- You are more than welcome, my dear. Grace walks away smiling as Arthur approaches, annoyed by Dutch's behaviour towards Grace.

Arthur- Back on the old Dutch charm I see... Dutch- Not this again, Arthur; do you have a problem with my looking after Miss Holden? Arthur- I guess that depends, Dutch. What exactly are you planning? Dutch- Arthur, I don't expect you to understand someone's true value. Arthur- Value? What is she now, some kind of possession to be owned? Dutch- She's valuable, Arthur. To me. I saw her worth long before you ever opened your eyes. Arthur- Hasn't she been through enough? Dutch- And whose fault is that? Arthur- You're blaming this all on me? Do you really think she's gonna want anything to do, with either of us after everything that's happened? Dutch- I guess we'll see won't we.

Clements Point Camp, Late afternoon, later that day.

Grace, troubled by what she heard speaks to Karen and Sadie about it all.

Karen- Well, I certainly wouldn't mind having two men fighting over me. God knows I could use the excitement! Grace- It's not like that though, I feel like a prize cow having two bulls butting horns over me. It's not fair to the rest of the camp to have this going on. I...I think I should leave. Sadie- Now don't say that. There's a lot going on for everybody right now. And all this, well I'm sure it will all die down soon enough. Grace- I really hope you're right.

Clements Point Camp, Midnight.

Grace has quietly packed up all her belongings, and is sneaking out of the camp with her horse, but someone in the shadows is watching. Micah- And where are you off to? Grace- Micah! I... Micah- Got a lotta stuff there. Looks to me like you're leaving. Grace- I...am. Micah- (he goes back to sharpening his knife) I see. For good? Grace- I think it's best.

Micah- Well far be it from me to get involved. I mean... I've seen them disagree on a lot of things but I ain't ever seen them hatin' each other quite like this. You really got under their skin. Grace- I know. It's why I've got to go. Micah- Well...good luck to you. Grace- You wont tell anyone you saw me will you? Micah- Not at all. Your secret's safe with me. Grace- Thanks, Micah. Grace gets on her horse and rides out of camp. Micah sits, sharpening his knife with a sickening grin on his face.

Clements Point Camp, Midday, the next day.

Dutch is asking around the camp for Grace, concerned as Arthur is also nowhere to be found. He eventually opens her tent to find all her belongings gone. Dutch- Ms. Grimshaw have you seen Miss. Holden? Ms. Grimshaw- No, not since last night. Why what's the matter? Dutch- She's gone. All of her things too. She's just gone. Karen- (overhearing and walking over) Oh my. She really did it. Ms. Grimshaw- Karen what on earth are you chattering about? Karen- Well...she said yesterday she thought it would be best if she left. She couldn't stand everything going on with....well with Dutch and Arthur...you know, fighting all the time. Dutch- (shouting to Lenny) Who was on guard last night? Lenny- Micah was, I think. Dutch- Well where on earth is he? Lenny- I don't know. He left early this morning said he had some business to sort out, didn't say where. Charles has now come over concerned with Grace's disappearance. Charles- He could be anywhere. Dutch- She could be anywhere! Charles, Lenny head out to Rhodes see if anyone saw her passing through. Lenny- Sure. Before they get to their horses Arthur rides back into camp. Arthur- What's all the commotion about? Charles- Grace. She's gone. Lenny- And Micah too. Arthur- (he laughs) What they run off together? Lenny- No Grace left last night. Taken all her things. Karen said she had been talking about getting away from the camp. Arthur- What? Karen why the hell didn't you say something?!

Karen-I didn't know she was going to do it! She was just talking. Arthur- So wait, what's Micah got to do with all this? Charles- Micah was on guard last night he must have seen her leave. But he's gone off somewhere, no one knows where he is. Dutch asked us to head to Rhodes see if she came through that way incase anyone saw her. Arthur looks over and sees Dutch watching them all. Arthur- Fine, I'll come too.

Rhodes, Afternoon, later that day.

They get to Rhodes and ask around. It seems someone did see her; she was buying supplies and mentioned that she might head to Van Horn. Arthur- Look it's pointless us all going. You both head back to camp, I'll head out and see if I can find her. Lenny- Ok, but what do we tell Dutch? Arthur- Tell him.... Tell him I'm going to sort this mess out once and for all. Charles- Just be careful, Arthur. They separate with Arthur riding towards Van Horn.

Van Horn Saloon, Later that evening.

Arthur trudges into the bar, it's late and he looks weary. Arthur- (to the bartender) Hey, I'm looking for someone. Woman, dark hair, new around here.. Maybe looking for work? Bartender- Hmm, there was a girl here this morning. Don't know where she ended up though. You could try the hotel on the pier. Arthur- Thanks

Arthur heads to the hotel and walks upstairs. As he gets closer to the rooms, he can hear raised voices and commotion. He gets to the door and recognises Grace's voice. Grace- Gentlemen, I've asked you nicely now I'm telling you, leave me the hell alone! Man 2- Come on we just want to have a little fun. Grace- And I told you, I'm not here for that. Man 1- I don't really think you have a choice. The sound of something breaking causes Arthur to kick in the door to see two men and Grace. One of the men has Grace pushed up against the wall with his hand around her throat. Man 1- (looking at Arthur) This one joining in too? Grace kicks him and he hits her across the face causing her to fall to the floor. Arthur heads straight in lays a punch on the first guy who runs straight out. The one who hit Grace, is more than ready for a fight. Eventually Arthur gets the upper hand and is ready to beat the guy to death til Grace's voice breaks his rage and he stops.

Grace- Arthur! Stop! Arthur- (he looks at her and then drops the man). Get out of here! The man lurches to a stand and runs out. Arthur looks to Grace. Arthur- Looks like I got here just in time. Grace- I was handling it Arthur- Yeah you were definitely doing fine by yourself . Grace- I don't need you to save me, Mr. Morgan. Arthur- So it's Mr. Morgan now? Look stop being stubborn and let me take you home. Grace- Are you deaf as well as stupid? I told you I don't need you.

Arthur- You need something! (he sighs and calms down) Look just come home. Grace- Home to what? Arthur- To everyone. Grace- So I can watch you and Dutch at each other all the time! Arthur- It's not gonna be like that anymore. Grace- No you're right, it wont be like that because I won't be there. I have caused enough trouble, (she pauses) and I have no reasons to come back. Arthur- You have plenty of reasons! Grace- Do I?! Give me one reason, Arthur. They stare at eachother. Her stare is challenging and piercing. He breathes heavy, as she stares back. It exhausts him but like a man challenged in a duel he finally draws. Arthur- Why do you women always make every thing so god damn complicated!!Grace, with everything like it is right now, I'm having trouble keeping my wits about me as it is. There just doesn't feel like there's time for anything else and no matter what's happened I made a promise to Dutch, to everyone, to see this through til the end. Grace- I know all that, Arthur. But why is it too ‘complicated' for us to do that together? I was never asking for us to leave everything behind and ride off into the sunset. I know what this life is and I don't care where or when it ends. I wanted to see it through too but I wanted to see it through with you! Arthur- Why the hell would you wanna do that? I have nothing. I am nothing!

Grace- Well then I love nothing because I love you, Arthur Morgan. I love you! Arthur- And I love you! Grace- Then perhaps, you could stop making it so damn hard for us to be together? Arthur- You're the one who ran off! She glares at him, but then softens. He pauses for a moment and his voice quietens. Arthur- Look, I- Grace- If you say it's gonna be complicated one more time- Arthur- I was gonna say, I'll try.... You and me... I guess we could try something. Grace- (a little taken back) Well...I...I guess that's a good start. Arthur- But, you have to understand I can't leave. Not the gang, nor Dutch, I was gonna before- Grace- Arthur, stop. (reassuringly) I'm not going to ask you to leave. Not now. Not ever. Not for anything. Arthur- (he moves to sit down on the bed) It just, it doesn't seem like a life for a family. I look at Abigail with Jack and John when he's there. It just doesn't seem right. They deserve more. You deserve more. You're too good for all this. You're a good woman, Grace. Grace- Arthur, I don't know where you got this idea that I'm a good person, I might have a good background but it's not the same thing. I've made my choices and I'm here. Arthur- And this is the life that you want? With me? Grace- What other life is there? Swanning around in some big house somewhere, pretending I'm somebody important? Someone 'good'? I don't want to spend my life pretending to be something I'm not and you shouldn't either.

Arthur- But all this, running jobs, running away, all in the name of some big plan that Dutch has set out for us? Grace- Dutch is a good man. Arthur- Oh I know, I mean, I trust him with my life. But where does it end? Getting killed on a job or by bounty hunters or the pinkertons catching up with us one day? Grace - It doesn't matter how it ends. We're all gonna die some day, Arthur, every damn one of us; but I'm not afraid of it. I know what's coming to me, I made my peace with that a long, long time ago. Arthur- What do you mean? Grace- (she pauses, for a moment, wondering whether to tell him) When I was a kid, I shot the guy who killed my parents. One of them anyway. And my Aunt and Uncle who eventually took me in... let's just say they did some truly awful things to me and one day...well I knew that just had to stop. But I didn't feel a thing. Not at all. And god knows I've killed people for a lot less good reasons since then. Arthur- I've lost count of the men I've killed. Mostly in the name of something that I'm not sure I believe in anymore. Grace- You still believe or you wouldn't be here. Arthur- I know. But do you think a person can ever change? Do good, be a better man and that it then means something? Grace- Maybe, if your heart is really true, I guess, if you really want to change. But I think it'll take more than a little redemption to stop the devil catching up with me. Arthur- Well I guess that's me done then. Grace- (she takes his hand.) Listen, none of that matters. What's here and now, that's what matters. Arthur you just...You just keep going til the end. Whatever that may be. Arthur- I guess I should marry you before we all end up dead. Grace- Marry me, huh?! Arthur- (he realises what he's said and looks at her.) I... Grace- I've seen you face hundreds of men with guns before but I have never seen you look so scared! (she laughs it off.) Come on. I haven't exactly unpacked. I'll just grab my things and we should get out of here. She heads to the chest and grabs her things when she turns around she notices Arthur hasn't moved from the bed.

Grace- Arthur? Are you ok? He's looking down at something in his hand. His thoughts broken by her voice he looks up at her. Grace- Arthur? Arthur- I was thinking... Grace- I told you before, you need to stop doing that. Arthur- (he holds out a ring) Will you.... marry me? . Grace- What? Arthur- You said it, we could be dead tomorrow- Grace- It's not quite what I meant- Arthur- I mean...You're right! I have nothing. I don't even have a real ring, I have this. I don't even know where this came from, but..I have you.

Grace- Are you sure... about this? Arthur- I'm not really sure of any thing much any more, but you.... you I'm sure of. Grace-... Okay. I... guess so... Arthur- You guess? Grace- I'll marry you, ok! They both smile at one another. Arthur- I promise I'll get you another ring. Grace- Arthur, I'm marrying 'you' . If this ring is stolen, and well, we both know that it is, then it's absolutely perfect. They kiss, but the moment is broken when the men who Arthur beat up return along with several others looking for pay back. Grace and Arthur manage to fight their way out of the Van Horn hotel and ride off back towards Clements Point.

Clements Point Camp, late afternoon, the next day.

It's the next day and Arthur and Grace ride in to camp. Sadie and Charles see them arrive and head over. Sadie- Well I am glad to see you both back here together. (noticing the marks on Grace's face and neck) Are you, ok? Grace- Oh, I'm fine, I...got myself into some trouble, but Arthur turned up just in time. Sadie- So what happened; where did you end up? Just as Grace starts to speak Micah wanders over. Micah- Well, I thought you weren't ever coming back? Grace- I wasn't but... Arthur...asked me to marry him. So here I am; I guess, back for good.

Micah- Well ain't that just lovely. Guess I better go tell Dutch the happy news! Arthur- Micah! (but he's already walked off). Damn weasel! The group has gathered around and congratulates Arthur and Grace. Charles especially giving Arthur a big hug. Arthur- Thanks, I uh... Better go speak to Dutch. Arthur leaves Grace with the group and wanders over to Dutch's tent just as Micah walks away.

Arthur- Dutch- Dutch- Micah tells me there's cause for celebration? Arthur- Yeah... I guess....look, Dutch; I didn't mean this to- Dutch- I'm not taking it personally, Arthur. Miss Holden is a fine woman. Capable of making her own decisions. And you, my son are a fine man. I'm...happy for you. Arthur- Thank you. Grace comes over. Dutch- I'm happy for you both. (he forces a smile) Grace- Arthur can I speak to Dutch alone for a minute please? Arthur- Sure. Arthur walks away a little reluctantly. Grace and Dutch look at eachother for a moment neither sure what to say. Dutch finally breaks the silence. Dutch- Well, I never thought you to be the marrying type, Miss Holden. Grace- Neither did I, but...Arthur is a good man. Dutch- He is. And you... love... him? Grace- (she looks him right in the eyes and pauses for a moment) I do. Dutch looks away. Grace- Dutch... You need to know. I'd do anything for you. You gave me a life and I will always owe you that. No matter what, that will never change.

She kisses him on the cheek and then walks away to join the others with Arthur, who holds her tightly, a little afraid to now let go.

Clements Point Camp, Early Afternoon.

Blessed are the Peacemakers. Micah convinces Dutch to meet with the O'Driscolls for a parle to hopefully put an end to their feud. Arthur is asked to join them as a lookout in case it all goes sour. It seems, however, that there was never any intention of a truce, as Arthur is captured.After managing to escape where the O'Driscolls were holding him, he is found by Grace, who went out determined to find him. She brings him back to camp where he recovers. Ultimately she blames Dutch for letting this happen.

Clements Point Camp, Late afternoon, several weeks later.

Arthur is sat by the lake with Grace, he has a long hair and beard after several weeks recovering. Grace- I spoke with Reverend Swanson, he's sorted something out with the church in Rhodes. Says we can get married as soon as we like. Arthur- I'm surprised you still want to. Grace- Well I wasn't expecting you to take your "we could be dead tomorrow" speech quite so literally but... When Dutch told me that you hadn't made it back.... Well I gave him hell for it! I thought I'd lost you. So as soon as you feel up to it, I'd still like to, whilst we're both still in one piece. Maybe get you a hair cut in the mean time though.

Arthur- I was thinking of keeping it. Grace- Arthur, I always said I would never try to change you and the life you lead but get a hair cut, please! You look like you've been living in a cave. They both laugh.

Outside Rhodes Church, Midday, a few days later.

Grace and Arthur have just been married, as they step outside the sun is shining and the whole gang is there to celebrate. Sean walks out in front and then turns to face them. Sean- I still can't believe what I'm seeing. The great Arthur Morgan getting married. The world's gone mad! Arthur- I'm gonna get mad if you don't shut up!

Sean- Ah I'm only messing with you, Arthur! This is amazing. I'm so happy for you both. Grace come here and give your new brother a hug. You're definitely one of us now. Grace smiles and heads towards Sean to give him a hug as she does the crack of a bullet is heard and Sean is shot in the head. Grace's wedding dress is covered in blood as the gang scatters in panic. Dutch order's most of the gang to get back to the camp as a gun fight now ensues. Turns out the Gray's were waiting for an opportunity to hit them and they did just that. After the firefight they get Sean's body and head back to camp.

Clements Point Camp, Early evening, later that day.

As Arthur, Dutch and the rest of the gang get back to camp they discover that in the panic at the wedding someone managed to grab Jack. They suspect that the Braithwaites took him so the majority of the gang set out to bring him back. Before he leaves Arthur turns to Grace, who's still standing in her blood stained dress. Arthur- Grace I...God damn, everything has gone to hell! Grace- It's not your fault Arthur, it's not. But... but Sean? Just gone....and now Jack's been taken.

Arthur- I am so sorry. Grace- Don't be...Just go bring that boy back. Arthur- We will. For what it's worth; I love you. Grace- I love you too. Arthur saddles up and rides out with the gang towards Braithwaite manor.

And from there the story continues as it does in game. After I'd written this I did find this time to be a bit of a turning point in Dutch's behaviour – especially with him not bothering to rescue Arthur after being captured, and somewhat felt that him losing Grace to Arthur could have easily been the catalyst for him growing suspicious and unhinged. Although there of course would be clashes with the existing RDR2 story I couldn't not write a slightly different ending (high honour, helping John, and also Grace's epilogue) so read on...

The Mountain, Night.

Arthur, Grace and John are fighting their way through along the mountain, Arthur, exhausted by it all stops to catch his breath.

John- Alright, Arthur, come on, let's go. Arthur- You go. Grace- Keep pushing, Arthur. Arthur- No... (he coughs wiping blood from his mouth) No, I think I've pushed all I can. Grace- Come on! Arthur- You go. John- We ain't got time for this, not now. Arthur- We ain't all going to make it. Go... now. I'll hold them off. Grace- Arthur. Arthur takes off his hat and places it on John's head. Arthur- It would mean a lot to me. Please. There ain't no more time for talk. Go. Go to your family. John- Arthur- Arthur- Grace... Grace- We said to the end. Arthur- This is the end. Grace- Not like this? Arthur- Like this. Grace- But, Arthur I- Arthur- I know. Grace looks at him, pain seeping into her eyes. Arthur- You get him back to his family, ok? She nods and he whispers something in her ear.

Grace- I love you. Arthur- I love you too. Now both of you, get out of here. John- You're my brother. Arthur- I know... I know. They all take one last look at eachother as Arthur clambers up the mountain and John and Grace make their escape. After Arthur's death John and Abigail wanted Grace to stay with them, but she told them she couldn't, that she wanted to head out on her own and at least try and live the life that Arthur so desperately wanted. When asking about Arthur's belongings Grace told John he should keep them, that there was only 1 thing she wanted but the rest was his. "I was only his wife. But you? You were family". She left, and John and Abigail never heard from her again.

Grace's epilogue. Year 1914.

We see an older Grace sat on the veranda of a ranch house. It's early evening and the sun is low in the sky. A male voice is heard. Voice- Are you coming inside? Grace- (she sounds a little breathless and weak but she smiles) I'll be there in a few minutes... Arthur.

Flashback to the night Grace and John left Arthur on the mountain. Arthur- “You get him back to his family ok?” (He whispers in her ear whilst placing his hand on her stomach) “and you look after ours.”

Back on the veranda a boy of around 15 walks over to Grace and crouches beside her.

Arthur Jr - How are you feeling? Grace - A little tired. Arthur Jr. - Ok, well don't stay out here too long. (He stands up and kisses her on the head.) Grace- I won't. I love you. Arthur Jr.- I love you too. He goes inside leaving Grace alone. Her breathing is slowing as she watches the sun sink lower in the sky. She smiles and closes her eyes. As her life fades, smile still on her face, the sun finally disappears below the horizon as her hand falls to her side letting go of what she was holding...

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