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anthemxix · 3 years

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whumpay bonus: deleted scenes

my final offering to you for the month~ :)

there were some prompts i started to write but didn't finish, and a few instances where i began a prompt, decided it wasn't working, and then completely started over. i have no idea if these scraps will interest anyone, but it seemed like a shame for them to go to waste. so i hope you enjoy :) thank you <3 <3 <3

day 4, part 2 (fire) - first attempt

“Can I just say again that I really don’t like this plan?”

Wind groaned. “We know, Captain. You’ve been saying that every five minutes.”

“Because it’s a terrible plan!”

Scowling, Wind shuffled back from the impossibly massive archway he’d been peering through. “Look, we decided on the plan hours ago, so just give it a rest already.”

Sky cleared his throat. “Well. I’d like to say that I don’t like this plan either.”

“Oh, how nice of you to contribute that, Sky,” Warriors growled, rounding on him. “Couldn’t have said anything before the literal last minute?”

“Hey, I’ve dissented to this idea the whole time,” Sky retorted, holding his hands up defensively. “Not just because it’s dangerous, but because it’s not our place to meddle in local political affairs.”

“Agreed,” Warriors said. “We’re putting that whole town at risk. It’s not too late to turn back.”

“Since when do you run away from a fight?” Wind goaded.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Time said. Five heads turned his way, expectant, tense, and he sighed in resignation. “The Sailor is correct. We discussed the merits and drawbacks this morning. We’re committed to this plan now. I’m sorry, Captain.”

Wind smirked triumphantly despite Warriors’ heavy frown. “Great. I’ll see you all later then.”

He offered a sloppy salute and turned towards the archway, only for Warriors to grab his arm and spin him back around.

“Ugh, now what?” Wind griped. “You heard the Old Man! The plan is a go!”

The Captain grasped both of Wind’s shoulders and ducked to his eye level, his expression all hard lines. “Listen. At the first sign of danger, you get out of there. This is not worth sacrificing your life over.”

Wind defiantly tried (and failed) to wiggle out of his iron grip. “I’m gonna be fine, Wars! Why don’t you trust me? I’m the most skilled thief we’ve got!”

“I do trust you, and I don’t doubt your skills in the least,” Warriors said. “It’s just…” He hesitated, swallowed. “Tell me you’ll get out of there as soon as there’s trouble. Don’t be reckless.”

The somberness and sincerity (and was that fear?) in Warriors’ tone was sobering, and Wind finally conceded, “I will. I’ll be careful. Promise.”

Warriors’ hands lingered on his shoulders a moment longer, and Wind was surprised to find he missed their weight when they were gone. He didn’t dwell on it, though, nor did he look back as he deftly slipped through the stone archway and disappeared over the ledge.

The Captain crossed his arms, not bothering to conceal his concern as he watched Wind go, and Legend murmured to him, “Hey. You don’t do anything reckless either. Got it?”

“Of course.”

They all knew he was lying.

---

The chamber Wind had entered was more astronomical than any he’d ever seen—it must have filled the entire berth of the mountain, he thought—and even more wondrous still, it was jam-packed with mound upon mound of shimmering rupees, jewels, armor, weapons, vases…treasure. The most extensive treasure trove in this or any era, surely.

Wind grinned to himself. Tetra and her crew would never believe this. Maybe he could smuggle out a shiny little gift for them.

He picked his way across the hills of treasure, disturbing them as little as possible, and stopped near a colossal column. Steadying himself on it, Wind peered around the enormous chamber, and, for the first time since they’d departed the lakeside town that morning, felt a flicker of dismay. He had, of course, expected that locating one specific gemstone in a vast hoard of treasure would be difficult, but he’d underestimated the task. Like kind of, really, severely underestimated the task.

Well, no matter. He didn’t make it this far in his adventures by shying away from impossible odds. Besides, he felt he was graced with the goddesses’ favor today. He and the others had climbed up the mountain, strongarmed their way into the mines, and navigated the maze of corridors without one blip of trouble—and, best of all, there was no sign of the one major threat they’d been warned about again and again.

Wind smiled as he continued across the treasure trove, pausing to sift through some of it now and again. He just needed to be patient and deliberate and quiet, and then he could sneak back over to where the others were waiting and prove to them what a capable hero he was. Warriors said he didn’t doubt Wind’s skills, but he must, at least a little, or he wouldn’t have been so reluctant to let Wind do this.

The Sailor peered across the chamber towards the archway he’d come through. It was well above him now, as he’d descended from the peak of a treasure mound, although he was nowhere near the floor yet. The candle chandeliers suspended from the cavern’s apex offered a fair amount of light, which reflected brilliantly from all the gold rupees and splendid diamonds, but it was not sufficient to see any of his friends.

All the better, he thought as he continued his hunt. If he couldn’t see them, then neither could their enemy, whose other senses outweighed its sight—as he’d been repeatedly reminded by the others, who had all info-dumped him on this particular foe, as if he hadn’t dealt with any himself before.

Wind really did not understand what all the fuss was about. What made this different than any other dungeon, or any other enemy therein? Yes, this particular mission was complicated by the fact that they were helping restore some fallen regent and give him access to this treasure hoard without having all the details on the guy. Wind regularly operated without having all the details, even on missions as significant as this, and he suspected the others did as well, so he wasn’t too concerned about that.

But what was the big deal with the enemy? He understood that provoking this monster put the proximal town at risk, but didn’t that happen with every big baddie they faced? What was so different about this—?

Wind froze, thoughts cut off as he tuned in to the nearby jingle of tumbling rupees. He slowly turned his head, hand on the Phantom Sword’s hilt, expecting to see some stalfos or something emerging from the depths. There had to be someone guarding this treasure, after all.

He was not anticipating a stream of treasure would part to reveal the snout of a dragon sighing in its sleep.

Panic jangled Wind’s nerves, and suddenly he felt like he understood Warriors’ reluctance very clearly.

The tip of this dragon’s muzzle was utterly massive, with yellow, jagged teeth as tall as Wind protruding from its mouth. The rest of it, still concealed by treasure, must have been unimaginably gargantuan. Its steady breaths smelled ominously ashy.

Wind backed up a step, rupees clinking beneath his foot, and held his breath. Perhaps it was time to return to his friends…

As he began to creep back towards the archway, leaving the dragon’s snout a considerable berth, Wind felt a tug of magic. It wasn’t a variety of magic he recognized, but the sensation was unmistakable. His eyes darted around, scanning, until they landed on a strikingly sparkly gemstone, iridescent and oval-shaped and nearly the size of his head.

Dumbfounded, Wind blinked. That. That was the stone! It had to be!

It wasn’t too far from him, but it was downhill, i.e., in the opposite direction of his destination. But he was so close. He couldn’t give up now.

Wind threw a cursory look at the dragon snout before switching course and tiptoeing down towards the stone.

There was another rattling jangle behind him, and Wind paled as treasure shifted to reveal some of the dragon’s tail, ridiculously far from where the snout lie. He tried not to let this bother him as he reached the stone and carefully tucked it into his bag.

Acquiring the target item filled him with some relief, and he started the long trek up the treasure mountains to reach the archway, choosing his footholds cautiously.

He was halfway there when he slipped, smacking face-first into the rupee pile and backsliding several meters with an insufferably loud clanking from the treasure.

He froze, breath bated, heart slowed, as he gazed over at the dragon.

It didn’t move.

Releasing a soft sigh, he straightened up, prepared to resume his ascent, when the dragon snorted.

With dreadful slowness, it lifted its head from its beloved treasure, amber eyes flitting around its chamber as it swiveled its long neck around, searching.

Then it slowly rose, gems and gold cascading from its back, as its enormous, folded wings appeared.

Wide-eyed, Wind didn’t move. He couldn’t. This was, by far, the largest creature he’d ever seen.

The dragon inhaled a great snuff of air, sniffing, then another. Forked tongue flickered between menacing teeth.

And then it spoke, its baritone voice echoing off the mountain walls as it dragged out each syllable.

“Where—are—you?”

Wind couldn’t help the involuntary twitch of his hands. Some coins jingled, and the dragon gazed in Wind’s general direction. It didn’t see him.

“I know you’re here,” the dragon drawled. “I can smell you. I can hear your breathing.”

One massive, clawed foot rose from the treasure depths, smacking down on top of a pile.

Swallowing, Wind shakily began to climb again, with painstaking slowness, on his hands and knees. He was good at stealth. He could do this. Absolutely.

“I can sense your fear. Little thief.”

He faltered, hand twitching, but continued. Slow. Steady. Come on. You can do it.

The dragon lifted another foot, and its third and fourth, until it was fully free of the treasure, its tail swishing in its wake. It grazed against the high chandeliers, causing them to quiver and shoot strange fluttering shadows across the room.

“I do not have much patience for foolish little thieves.” The dragon drew a deep, rumbling breath, its chest beginning to glow a burning orange. Smoke began to filter from its nostrils. “Come out.”

Wind looked up. The archway was still so far away. He tried to move more quickly while staying as noiseless as possible. He had to hurry. He was running out of time. As soon as he got there, they could escape unseen—

“If you come out now, little thief, I won’t kill your friends quite so painfully.”

Wind tripped again, setting off a mini-avalanche of treasure.

The dragon’s head snapped in his direction, its eyes narrowing and lipless mouth curling as if in a smirk. It took a step towards him, and another, its claws clinking as the dangerous orange glow built up along its neck, up its throat, more smoke churning from its snout.

“Are you over there, little thief? I’ll give you one more chance. Come out. Now.”

Wind scrabbled, slipping again, sending more treasure tumbling, and when the dragon opened its mouth, its internal flame heating the room significantly, he lost all caution and tried to run.

---

When the dragon lifted its head, Legend wrapped his hand firmly around Warriors’ elbow.

As more and more of the dragon emerged from the depths, Four said quietly, “I think we need to prepare.”

There was a murmur of agreement, and Legend frowned. Reluctantly, he released Warriors’ arm and muttered, “Old Man, keep an eye on him.”

Time nodded, eyes already on the Captain, and Legend, Sky, and Four headed out for their destination.

Time pulled out his Biggoron Sword, watching the dragon take a step, its booming threats resounding around the chamber. He picked out Wind among the mountains of treasure.

“I need you to know,” the Captain started, drawing Time’s attention, “that I cannot live with myself if he…”

Time nodded, even though Warriors wasn’t looking at him.

“If he goes down, I’m going to save him or die trying,” Warriors said. “Those are the only options.”

“I know.”

Warriors looked at him grimly. “It’s been an honor fighting by your side again.”

Time put a hand on Warriors’ shoulder, and left it there until the dragon opened its mouth, and Warriors jumped down into the pit of gold without another word.

---

Warriors aimed for the dragon’s amber eye, but hit its cheek instead. The arrow bounced uselessly off the impenetrable scales, and Warriors doubted the beast could even feel it; yet the dragon, to his relief, turned towards him.

Warriors nocked another arrow and shot again for the eye, but the dragon simply lowered its head, bringing it close to the Captain, heat radiating from it.

“Another little Hylian,” drawled the dragon. “Where did all your little friends scurry off to, hm?”

day 10 (screaming/silence) - unfinished

Distinguishing night from day is impossible in these woods; the opaque fog that consumes them occludes both sun- and moonlight, perpetually casting a bland grey pall across the trees. It’s disorienting, and Time has entirely lost his grip on the passage of his namesake. He has no conception of how long he and Sky have been wandering around this forest, searching for an exit, and that disconnect disturbs him, prickles beneath his skin.

When Time spots an x carved into a tree trunk, he stops and drags his hand through his hair with a sigh.

Lagging several paces behind him, Sky, too, pauses. “What is it?”

Time points to the marking. “We’ve been here before.”

It takes Sky a moment to register what he’s being told, and then he visibly wilts like an underwatered flower. “Great. That’s great.”

“I can’t keep track of this place,” Time confesses. “It’s as if it’s…shifting.”

“Or we’re getting shifted,” Sky says. “Wild said the fog in his Lost Woods can move him.”

“That’s…unsettling, to say the least.” Time glances skyward out of habit and frowns in annoyance as he’s reminded that he can’t see the sun here. “How long do you think we’ve been walking?”

“I…I really don’t know.”

The elder hero side-eyes Sky, who, alarmingly, appears considerably more ill than he did before. Some time ago, the two of them had stopped to sleep, certain they’d meandered the day away, and Sky woke up dizzy and pale. He insisted he was fine to continue—for what other option did they have?—but he had been growing more and more sluggish as they walked. Now he grips his sailcloth, pulling it tight around his shoulders like a blanket, and looks as colorless as the fog, swaying slightly where he stands.

“Do you need to rest?” Time asks.

Immediately, Sky shakes his head. “I’m fine.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I just want to get out of here.” Sky releases his sailcloth to scratch behind his ear, something Time has observed him doing on multiple occasions today (tonight?).

“You keep scratching,” Time says, gesturing towards his own ear.

“What?”

“Your ear. You keep scratching there.”

“Oh…” Sky removes his hand and clutches his sailcloth again. “I dunno. It really itches for some reason. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Time steps towards him and brushes Sky’s hair aside to see a small but very red bump. “Looks like an insect bite. You should leave it alone.”

Sky hums in acknowledgement. “Let’s keep moving.”

Unsatisfied, Time chooses a direction for them to proceed in. He thinks they’ve taken a different turn than the last time they crossed paths with this tree, but he can’t be certain. Before they leave the area, he pulls out a knife and marks the trunk with a second x.

Time has no idea how long it takes, but eventually, they wind up back at the same damn tree.

His eye twitches as he scrubs a hand over his face. “Okay. We need a new plan bec—”

“Uh, Time?”

He looks behind him to see Sky holding one hand out, blood smudged across his fingers. “What—?” Then he spots the blood trickling down Sky’s neck, staining his hair.

Time moves closer and brushes Sky’s hair aside again, causing the knight to jump a little. “What are you doing?”

Substantially more inflamed, the insect bite behind Sky’s ear has split open. Worse, now that Time is up close, he can see that Sky’s hands are shaking and his pallid cheeks are blemished with feverish pink blooms. “You scratched the bite so much that it’s bleeding… Let’s clean it up.”

He steers Sky beneath the contemptible tree and sets to work washing the bite. It’s worryingly hot to the touch, but what really dismays Time is that the bump, which he expected to feel malleable, is hard, as if there’s a stone beneath Sky’s skin.

“Sky, are you allergic to insect bites?”

“No… I don’t think so? I don’t know, really.”

As soon as Time finishes bandaging the bite, Sky is reaching up to scratch it. Time grabs his hand. “Sky. It is imperative that you do not touch that.”

“But it—” He makes a throaty, frustrated sound. “It itches so badly.”

“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do about that.” Time looks around, as if he’ll magically spy an exit from the woods that he somehow missed before.

“Okay. Okay.” Sky grits his teeth and clenches his sailcloth until his knuckles turn white.

day 17 (phobia) - first attempt

For half an hour, rain had been falling in a steady, serene drizzle so light that Sky hardly noticed it until a stray droplet snaked beneath his tunic collar, slithering cold and uncomfortable down his spine. Absently, he scratched at his collar, as if that would alleviate the remarkably unsettling sensation, just as the rainfall picked up.

He blinked up at the sky, which brimmed with plump, grey clouds, promising wet weather for the remainder of the afternoon.

“Guess there’s no point in waiting out the rain,” he commented over the downpour’s soothing heartbeat.

Beside him, Legend swept his damp hair away from his eyes, minutely scowling. “Yeah, let’s just keep going. The sooner we meet up with the others, the sooner we can track down some suitable shelter for the night.”

Sky hummed his agreement, hoping that in scouting this new area they’d been dropped in, some of the others had found a town. He and Legend had discovered an overgrown trail and followed it for most of the morning, but their efforts were fruitless, as the path seemed to stretch endlessly through uninhabited wilderness.

Minutes later, a resonant boom of thunder rolled across the sky, followed swiftly by a flickering tongue of lightning in the near-distance. All of Sky’s muscles locked up so suddenly that he awkwardly stumbled, only staying upright because Legend’s hand shot out to catch him.

“You okay there, bird boy?” Legend asked, eyebrows arched.

“Yeah, of course,” Sky murmured. “Tripped. That’s all.”

He reached back and grabbed a handful of his sailcloth, pinching and rubbing the silken fabric as he tried to ignore Legend’s scrutinizing stare boring into his temple.

day 25 (goodbye) - unfinished

Dinner is eaten, the dishes washed and packed, and the campfire doused, all in dreary silence. As the last of the fire’s smoke dissipates, Wind speaks. “What happens if we don't go through them? Will they disappear?”

No one answers for a moment. Eventually, Legend says, “We have to go through, small fry.”

“I— I know,” Wind stammers. “I’m just asking, like...what if we didn’t? What would happen?”

“Hypothetically,” Hryule offers.

“Yeah! It’s hypothetical.”

“There’s no reason to consider hypotheticals,” Legend says.

“There’s not,” Wild agrees bitterly. “Don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

He stands, gathering his belongings with a scowl as he adds, “As a matter of fact, we should get this over with.”

“Wait!” Wind jumps up, practically vaults across the now-damp firewood to grasp Wild’s arm.

“No, there's no point in stalling any longer,” Wild says, even as he involuntarily leans into Wind’s touch.

“Of course there is,” Wind argues, eyes wet. “Any more time I can have with you guys is worth it. Even just one extra minute.”

Wild looks away from him as he lightly pulls out of Wind’s hold.

Legend stands now, too, eyes averted. “You’re just making this harder, kid.”

“Goodbyes are always hard,” Four says quietly.

Another moment of silence lapses, until Time stands, plates of his armor shifting.

day 29 (lies/terrible truth) - first attempt

In the lean privacy of a secluded clearing, Twilight offered his confession without pretense or embellishment, a simple statement of facts. He didn’t appear nervous as he spoke, like someone who had been caught off-guard might; rather, he seemed resigned, his words rehearsed, as if he’d known this conversation was an inevitability.

Wild expected—hoped—he would glimpse some relief on Twilight’s face when the confession was done, but that wasn’t the case. He seemed sorrowful, ailing, but not relieved to be rid of the heavy secret he’d burdened himself with. Not remorseful for his wrongdoing.

The oddest thing about this moment, Wild thought as Twilight looked squarely into his eyes, was the quietness. How could the moment feel so still and calm, even as it decimated him? Even as it violently impressed its place into his personal history as a pivotal event? Even as it cleaved his life into a clear before and after?

Through Wild’s cluttered, confused thoughts floated a memory. Not a century-old, faded memory, the kind that abruptly flickered to life in the deepest fathoms of his subconscious and dragged him into catatonia. No, this memory was recent, crisp, bright. He could still feel this memory, could still smell its scents and hear its sounds. It replayed over and over, an inescapable loop, as he stared at the man who only minutes before had his unshakeable trust, his highest admiration, his purest love.

Wild broke eye contact and shook his head, trying to clear it. “You’re lying. You have to be. This makes no sense.”

He only looked back to Twilight when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn. He came face-to-face with Twilight’s blade and reflexively jumped back, hand flying to the hilt on his back.

#i save nearly everything i write #i have a doc for 'scraps'#stuff that i've discarded for whatever reason #but that i like enough to save #and it's got 15k+ words atm #not counting this whumpay stuff #and i've considered sharing some #but i didn't know if anyone would be interested #so i guess we'll see how this post does lol #linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu #fanfiction #fanfic #my writing #whumpay2021

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captainillogical · 4 years

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Home Ch.2

The domesticity of living with an alien who hasn’t quite had the chance at a normal life.

Distant Lands sequel.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

The door in front of you is red.

The two of you are standing outside the entrance to, er, what the both of you will now be calling home. It’s.. a strange feeling. You’re excited to be here. And although you’re eternally grateful for the crystal gems for taking you in when you needed it, you’re also happy to be starting a new chapter in your life.

Pearl should’ve had the last three of your boxes brought up already for you, as you didn’t really feel like doing that all yourself all the way up to the 9th floor if you’re honest with yourself. Your body is still pretty sore in general, especially your legs.

You watch Spinel pull keys out of her pocket and go for the door.

"Why weren't those in your gem?" You ask as she fumbles with said keys in hand. "I didn't even know you had pockets.."

"Sometimes I forget." She furrows her eyebrows, a bit of her tongue peeking out as she squints, trying to get the key into the deadbolt right. It's kind of comical. "Don't act like you're expecting me to lose 'em already."

"Eh." You shrug, and watch her struggle for a couple more seconds. "Did you want help with that, orrrr,"-

She opens the door, interrupting your sentence with an enthusiastic whoop, and you can see the formidable stack of boxes in the small living room. You take one last look at the long sprawling hallway and the many, many doors on this floor and wonder what your neighbors are like.

"Are 'ya gonna just stand out there or what?" She says from inside the doorway. Looking a bit further down the hall, you can see that one of the doors has several strange notes taped to it - as if there's some sort of weird neighborly interaction going on there.

One of the other front doors opens just as Spinel wraps her hand around your wrist, and she nearly yanks you into the apartment. She slams the door shut behind you almost forcefully.

"You're not even gonna let me introduce myself to the neighbors?" You say, like you had any intention other than to snoop a little. Spinel fixes you with a look. It makes you feel a little giddy when she looks at you like she’s full of impatient affection, which makes you want to be a little obtuse on purpose.

"You can do that later." She folds her arms in slight irritation that you can definitely see in her eyes. "I've been wanting you alone for what feels like weeks now."

"You're a little dramatic," You walk further into the living room, taking note of the small deck outside the sliding glass doors. "It's only been a few days, and we've texted."

“I’m not, and you and I both know that it ‘ain’t the same.” She says from behind you, following you closely. You’re pretending you have no idea what she’s talking about.

You take a peek inside the small kitchen, and you love it. It’s cute. Gems don’t need to eat or store food, but these particular apartments have small amenities in place, as well as a bathroom and bedroom just to keep up with building code. You think it’s kind of hilarious that regular city ordinance gets a say in how aliens should build things, and you kind of wish you were present for the meetings that Bismuth had to have had with them.

You open the fridge, and realize nothing is in there. Oh, right. Of course. You don’t know what you were expecting.

Closing the fridge door, you feel a presence next to you and turn to realize that Spinel is RIGHT there. Like, maybe six inches from your face.

“What,” You say, feeling your heartbeat pick up a little. She’s watching you expectantly, as if she’s waiting for something. “Am I not allowed to check out our place? You’ve already been here for the last few days.”

She takes a half step closer, and grabs your face with the both of her hands to kiss you.

Ah.

Her lips are soft.

You won’t lie, you’ve been thinking about her like this on a constant feedback loop ever since the both of you confessed your feelings.

You exhale out your nose and tilt your head enough to deepen the kiss, and she hums against your lips. She slides down one of her hands to the small of your back, and presses you flush against her, almost possessively. Your face heats up a little at the lack of space between you two.

Your phone dings twice in your pocket, and Spinel makes some kind of displeased sigh against your mouth as if you were even going to answer it. One of your hands finds its way to the side of her face, and you trail it over to the edges of her hairline just to touch more of her. She leans into it automatically. Her hair is soft to the touch, and you wish you could run your fingers through it.

The hand on your back is searingly hot through the shirt you're wearing, and you can only focus on that and the sensation of her lips on yours.

Your phone dings three more times, and Spinel growls impatiently, and well, that certainly doesn’t do anything to you, no sir.

She pushes you against the fridge, and you’re extremely embarrassed about the groan that comes out of your mouth - she doesn’t seem to care because she’s kissing you a lot more forcefully now. It’s like she can’t keep her hands off you.

“Spinel,” You pull away to breathe, lips wet. She goes right for your neck.

“What?” She hisses against your skin, and you shudder. A gloved hand slides up your shirt.

“I should probably run to the store for a grocery trip before it closes, there’s no food here and I’d like to eat this week.”

She pulls her mouth away from your skin, and your neck feels a little exposed.

“Can’t we do that tomorrow?” She sighs, giving you another look.

“If I wanna starve tonight, sure.” You reply, deadpan. It's not like you actually want this to stop..

“Uggghhhhhhhhhh FINE.” She rolls her eyes, and removes herself from you like it’s the worst thing to ever happen to her. “But we’re continuin’ this later.”

“You mean I’M continuing this later,” You poke her right in the gem, and she glares at you. Her cheeks tint a darker pink, and you find yourself grinning. “If I have anything to say about it, anyway.”

“Is that a challenge?” She replies, lowering her eyes at you in a way that makes the little hairs on your neck stand up.

“Maaaaaybe.” You side step her, walking back towards the living room before you decide that actually yeah, maybe fucking her in the kitchen is a great idea right now.

“I hate the tone you’re using.”

“Why, does it make you nervous?” You open one of your boxes of clothes, looking for a sweater to wear out. A specific one. The one with the strawberries on the front.

“No, you’re just smug.” She says, and you bark out a laugh.

You can’t find the sweater you want, which means you put it in a non-clothing box, or you left it at Steven’s. Ugh. Actually most of the clothes you’re rifling through kind of smell weird even though they should be clean. You shrug, coming to the conclusion you’ll also have to do laundry tonight.

“Do we have a washing machine?” You ask her. She looks at you a little confused.

“A what?”

“Y’know, like for washing my clothes. These smell funky and I’d like to wear something tomorrow.” You open one of your regular boxes, but it’s just filled with books. Many, many books.

“Oh! Yeah, Bis mentioned something about there bein’ one on the first floor. Although, I wouldn’t exactly mind ‘ya not wearing anything tomorrow.” She grins, canines shining in the low light of the apartment.

“I’m not walking around naked, idiot.” You sigh at her, trying to keep your blush at bay. She’s so blunt with her affections now that you don’t really know how to deal with it. “Let’s just go to the store and get it over with.”

You grab your bag, making sure you have your wallet on you, and the both of you head out the door.

Spinel locks the door behind you, and the both of you make your way back down to the base level via elevator.

There’s a nearby market that’s still open for the next two hours, and the two of you end up walking there as it’s only a couple of blocks away.

You look over at the neon sign saying ‘Open’ with the hours listed, and can see quite a few people and gems inside. Eugh. You were kind of hoping it wouldn’t be busy at like, 7pm, but here we are.

“I hope this won't take too long,” You head inside, Spinel trailing next to you. “I don’t even think you have toilet paper, so I’m gonna have to get quite a few things.”

“Toilet paper?”

“Exactly my point.” You look around, seeing the cash registers at the front and the produce section immediately to your right. It’s.. a little loud in here.

Spinel is looking around in curious wonder, staring pretty hard at some of the sale display signs with obnoxious print.

You grab one of the carts off to the side, and make a beeline directly for the toiletries section, because you don't want to forget anything like you usually do.

"Hey! Don't leave me behind," You feel a hand grab yours, Spinel jogging briefly to catch up with you. "Why are 'ya being so fast? We've got time."

"Sorry, stores make me a little anxious when they have quite a few people in them," You narrowly avoid a few teenagers joking loudly and passing next to you. "I hate busy places."

"They ain't so bad. It's kinda lively." She replies, squeezing your hand.

You pass four different aisles until you get to the one you're aiming for, having to maneuver around a couple gems that are in the way. You catch one of them looking pointedly to the hand you're holding with Spinel, and you try to ignore the way it makes your stomach lurch a little.

You hate shopping.

You stop your cart in the toothbrush area, because you might as well get a new one as well as some toothpaste.

"Ooooooooh." Spinel reaches out beside you, grabbing one of those sonic kids brushes with all the lights. "What does this do?"

You grab what you need, throwing it in your cart and looking at your girlfriend (even just referring to her like this inside your head makes you unbelievably giddy) who's.. intensely studying the characters on the toothbrush. She presses the button in the middle, and the whole thing lights up and starts playing music. Her eyes go wide.

"Is this some 'kinda torture device?" She pokes the spinning bristles, eyebrows shooting up inquisitively. She then presses it against her face, and her reaction to it is immediate unpleasantness, and you laugh at her.

"It just cleans your teeth, weirdo." You grab it from her, turning the annoying music off and placing it back onto the shelf. "Although, I bet I could find a way to torture someone with it."

"Let's test it on Peridot." She grins, eyes a little gleeful.

"Do you really want to try her? See what she's capable of?" You ask her, trying to stifle your laughter.

"Oh, jeez, 'ya probably right. Pretty sure she'd tie me to a chair and make me watch reruns with her." She answers disdainfully. “Maybe Lapis, then.”

“If you want to drown, sure.”

She continues to peer at the many kid’s toothbrushes on this shelf, and you walk a couple feet over to grab shower supplies. You toss a couple more objects into your cart, nabbing a pack of toilet paper as well and tossing it in.

“What’s this?” You hear her ask, and when you turn to glance at her she’s got a bottle in her hand. It looks like some ibuprofen or tylenol.

“Painkillers. Toss that in the cart will you?”

“It.. kills pain?” She stares at the bottle. “Why do humans need doctors if they have this?”

“They only temporarily ease pain. Mainly for headaches and a sore back and stuff.”

“You meatbags come up with some weird stuff, there’s so many different types..” She grabs another couple bottles, squinting at them and them placing them back on the shelf.

“Yeah, well us meatbags had to create solutions to make our lives a little less awful.” You roll your eyes at her terminology. “Not that I’d expect a fucking rock to understand.”

“A fucking rock,” Her mouth is agape in offence, and she crosses her arms in a huff. It’s so fucking cute. “At least I don’t gotta eat.”

“You could. I bet you’d liiiiiike it.”

“Yeah I’m ‘gonna pass on that one.” She scrunches her nose, as if the thought is wholly unappealing. You want to laugh.

“You liked sex.” You say bluntly, giving her a knowing look. She sputters, cheeks turning a much darker shade of pink.

“Shut upppppp! We’re in public, Y/N!” She glares at you, and you can’t stop yourself from grinning.

A couple turns their cart into the aisle you’re in, and you decide to say nothing further.. For now.

You push your cart out of the aisle, Spinel instantly grabbing for your hand again. You like that she just does it whenever she wants to.

You’re in the refrigeration section, and there’s a couple people here much to your displeasure. Some lady is loudly talking on the phone with one of her kids on speaker, and you glare a couple daggers her way even if she can’t see it.

Side-stepping a gem, you grab a block of cheese and some butter and you’re looking at the eggs when Spinel scoots right up to your side. She places her chin on your shoulder, and watches you open a carton to check the contents. The gesture has your heart doing a couple flips inside your ribcage.

“What ‘cha doooooin?” She inquires quite cutely, and you realize this probably looks weird to her.

“Trying to get a full, non cracked container of eggs.” You state. She grabs one from the open container you’re looking at. “Careful, only the outside is hard. The inside is kinda fluid-like.”

She squints at it in her palm. “That sounds disgusting. You eat these things like this? ‘Aint that crunchy?”

“You don’t eat it raw, normally.” You shoot her a quick look, and she’s looking at the egg like its existence disturbs her. “Most people cook them or add them to other things for consistency. Stop being so judgemental.”

“I’m not being judgemental..” She mutters, placing the egg back into your carton. This one’s got an egg that looks like it’s about to crack so you decide to put it back on the shelf. The woman talking on the phone near you howls out a laugh. “That lady sure is ‘annoying.” Her breath tickles your neck, and you hold back a shudder.

“Yeah, I hate people like her. It’s fucking rude honestly.” You mutter back, grabbing a different carton. The last three had eggs missing, weirdly enough. Are people just taking single eggs and sticking them in their pockets? “Like how hard is it to just place it against your ear? Why do the rest of us give a shit about what you’re eating for brunch tomorrow?” Spinel chuckles, vibrating against your shoulder. “I ever tell ‘ya that you’re amusing?”

“No, but I’ll remember that next time you call me unfunny.” This carton has all eggs intact inside, so you place it gently into your cart.

“Psssshhh.” She replies, and you move over to grab a half gallon of milk. You open the door to where all the milk is refrigerated, and Spinel makes a weird noise of disgust. “What the fuck is that? Why’s it white?”

“It’s just milk.” You give her a look. “And it’s white because of the proteins, chill. It comes from cows.” You point to the cow on the carton of 2% you’re buying. “Fucking judgey-ass gems..”

“That animal is in there??” She makes a face. “You guys are so weird.”

“No, idiot,” You laugh, trying to not lose your shit at her conclusions. You point to the udder. “They produce it, it’s not their flesh. Humans can do it too..”

“Can you do it?” She stares at you strangely.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You say, not wanting at all to elaborate on this and she barks out a laugh. You put the milk in the cart.

You’re in the bread aisle trying to figure out what kind of bagels you want, and Spinel is.. deeply studying the colorful bag clips hanging off the display strip on the side. You hear her grabbing the package and snapping the clips like crab claws, and you can’t help but snicker a little to yourself.

She doesn’t seem to notice when you wander off to the other short bread aisle, because there's a few more options here that you want to look at. You missed bread so much that you’re feeling like you could eat all of them.. So you grab three different kinds to toss in the cart.

“Y/N?” You hear shuffling from the other aisle, and the rising panic in Spinel’s tone. “Where’d you go..?”

You walk back over to where you left her, and she looks slightly stressed out. She makes eye contact with you and visibly relaxes immediately.

“Sorry, I was just grabbing something from the other side.” You say to her, and her hand shoots out to grab onto your arm. “I wasn’t going to leave you, if that’s what you’re worried about..”

You raise an eyebrow, and she rubs the back of her head, embarrassed.

“Sorry, I know it’s irrational.”

You move your hand to lace your fingers with hers in comfort, palm fitting nicely against it. She seems a little taken aback with your gesture, but she doesn’t say anything by it.

“It’s not irrational.” You squeeze her hand, and seeing no one else around you, you lean in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Y/N!” She hisses, looking around the aisle frantically as a small blush forms on her face. She places her other hand against where you kissed, like it’s somehow sacred. “In public?!”

“It’s not like there’s anyone around to see,” You can’t help the grin forming on your face. The lines on her cheeks look a little bolder with how flustered she is, and honestly? If you could pepper her face in kisses right now, you would. You’ve got this overwhelming amount of affection you’d like to give her, with nowhere to put it. Not until later, anyway. “God, you should see your face. It’s cute.”

“Will ‘ya shut up?!” She pointedly looks away from you, and you laugh. “I’m not cute.”

“I’ve got loads of proof that you are, but okay.” You give her hip a little bump, and her face looks back to yours to shoot out a glare that you’re not intimidated by in the least.

“Yeah, like what.”

“You know..” You trail off, and lean in close to the side of her face. You whisper something to her about the other morning, and she chokes, face going completely red.

“I’m going to KILL you one of these days, Y/N.” She retorts, avoiding your eyes on purpose. You give her another nudge, and you can see her try desperately to stop the grin forming on her face.

“Let me at least finish shopping,” You reply, grabbing your cart to swing around to get a few more things on your mental list.

It doesn’t take that long to get the other staples you need, and before you know it you’re standing in line at checkout. You start placing your items on the belt once the other customer is finally paying, and you watch Spinel as she hilariously just tosses the items out of the cart and onto the conveyor. Ahhhhhh yeah you knew she wasn’t exactly graceful, but still.

“You find everything you need?” The cashier makes small talk with you, as you see her eyebrow raise at Spinel’s heart-shaped gem. Said gem seems utterly fascinated by the clerk’s bagging speed.

“Yeah.” You politely answer, grabbing for your wallet as you watch the total rise. You maybe need another job, ugh..

Spinel raises an eyebrow and looks like she's about to say something asinine, so you step on her foot lightly to shut her up.

She yelps a little, and glares at you. You stifle a snicker, finishing the transaction so you two can get out of here.

Once you're done, Spinel makes the effort of just placing the bags of groceries inside her gem conveniently, so you don't have to carry anything the short distance home.

You don't give yourself the chance to relax much though because as soon as you get home and the groceries are put away, you've left Spinel to unpack your stuff as you go do a quick load of laundry.

The elevator dings and you're on the first floor again, hamper in hand. Opening the door to the communal washing room, you see several units here. There’s no one else around, and you’re so glad for that, honestly. Now you can look at memes in peace.

You fit all your clothes in one load thankfully, and you lean against the machine in wait after you fill what you need with soap. The wash cycle shouldn’t take too long, and you’ll go back upstairs briefly to help your girlfriend after you leave it on the drying cycle. You’re maybe in here alone for five minutes when a man and a giant basket of laundry comes in grunting. It’s another human.. You try not to stare too much.

“So, you live here?” He turns to say to you after dumping half his clothes in the machine in front of him. Of course he’s chatty.

“Yeah. Just moved in today.”

“Sweet, another human here! Now I won’t have to feel so alone.” He replies, swiping his brow lightly. He’s a bit older than you with some dark facial hair, and you don’t know how to say this.. He’s just extremely nonthreatening. “I live up on the 5th floor! Convenient for me since I work nearby, and the rent is so cheap..”

“How long have you lived here?” You ask, typing out a reply to Steven’s messages from earlier.

“A few months. It’s not as quiet as I hoped, gems are a bit on the wild side sometimes but everyone’s friendly!” He grins, pouring soap into his machine. “My boyfriend thinks it’s too loud, but he doesn’t pay the rent so he can’t complain. You live here alone?”

A boyfriend, huh? Maybe you can be friends with this guy.

“Nah, I moved in with my girlfriend.” You state, and the man just kinda stares at you for a moment, as he’s putting two and two together, realizing you’re the only two humans in the building.

“Are you dating a gem?” He asks a little apprehensively, and while you think you might be a little offended if someone else asked this way, the look on his face makes it obvious that he’s just extremely curious. “What’s that like?”

“Yes, and uh.” You stop, not knowing exactly how to answer, and the man barks out a laugh at the look on your face.

“You’re the only human I’ve ever met that’s dated a gem. I’m so telling my boyfriend, he’ll freak. He might have a buttload of questions for you next time I see you. Name’s George, by the way.” He holds out his hand in greeting.

“Y/N.” You take his hand to shake it, and the two of you talk for a little while as he asks you a few probing questions.

After ten minutes or so, your load is done and you put it in the dryer, saying your goodbyes to your new human neighbor.

On your way back upstairs, you manage to bump into a gem right as you turn to the hallway into your apartment.

“Oh! Pardon me,” The gem apologises, looking up from their cell phone.

It’s that same Rose Quartz from earlier.

“It’s you!” She says, slightly taken aback, but nonetheless pleased. “What do you happen to be doing here?”

“I live here.” You give her a small smile, and you notice her eyeing you up. Uh.

“That makes me very happy to hear.” She says in a way that kind of makes you a little nervous?

“Well, it’s nice bumping into you here, I’ll see you around!” You make quick for your door, and she watches you the entire time, smile on her face.

It gives you a bit of the heebie jeebies.

You slam the door behind you, and Spinel’s excited face greeting you immediately puts you at ease.

#spinel x reader #spinel #steven universe #spinel steven universe #home #my fic #su

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365days365movies · 3 years

Text

March 7, 2021: Onward (2020) (Part Two)

Do I like this movie so far? I do. I do like this movie. But...

Hasn’t beat Finding Nemo yet, just saying. And I do like this movie, really. It’s enjoyable! And I want to see more of this world (also, the pixie bikers are GREAT), BUT...it’s not Nemo quality yet. To be honest, for me, it’s currently on the level of A Bug’s Life.

That said, A Bug’s Life is one of my guilty Pixar pleasures, and I saw that movie in theaters. Yeah, I’m old as shit. But putting Onward on the level is a compliment, I guarantee. Anyway, I’m only halfway through, so let’s go back into it! Part One is right here!

Recap (2/2)

So, the boys are pulled over by the cops, and Dad walks out of the trunk right in front of them, weird upper body disguise in tow. And the boys...decide to disguise themselves as Colt (the cop from earlier, and their mom’s boyfriend), in front of Specter (Lena Waithe) and Gore (Ali Wong), a cyclops and faun cop respectively.

Which I don’t get, because you literally have a half of a dude right there. Just tell the people in a world where magic is in the history books that you’re trying to help your dead dad with magic. Like...is it not that simple? Because I feel like it totally is.

But in reality, this is a plot device to get Ian to admit to Barley that he thinks he’s a screwup. See, they disguise themselves as Colt (goddamn TERRIBLE idea, by the way), and the disguise is broken by lying, with Ian at the head and doing the talking. ALSO A TERRIBLE IDEA, BOYS.

Said conversation (which includes the cyclops confirming she’s a lesbian in a barely inclusive move that the media jumped ALL OVER Pixar for at the time) eventually turns into the faun calling Barley a screwup, and Ian attempting to defend him, only for the dissolution of the disguise to confirm that he actually thinks Barley’s a screwup. Cool. Probably was a better way to do that narratively, but...sure?

Things are tense in the car, as Ian tries to defend his actions to an understandably upset Barley. Although, to be fair...Barley doesn’t seem to not not be a screw-up. Which is probably a little unfair of me, because he hasn’t actively screwed up...much. I mean, the pixie biker fight was entirely his fault, but none of the other stuff has been him.

And that’s what Barley points out when he angrily pulls over and gets out of the car. When Ian disagrees, Barley challenges Ian to agree to go on the journey to the Gem via the previously mentioned Path of Peril, a more dangerous pathway. As they argue, they’re interrupted by their dad’s legs, which dance with them and allow them to open up to each other a bit. They agree on Barley’s idea to take the path.

Meanwhile, Laurel and Corey are off to save the brothers from the curse, which manifests as goon as they grab the gem. To do so, they need to get Corey’s sword from a pawn shop, run by Grecklin (Tracey Ullman), a goblin who owns the shop. After she upscales the price of the sword once learning of its rarity, Corey just knocks her the fuck out with a scorpion sting! Nice. They take the sword, while Laurel gets a call from Colt.

Colt’s also looking for the boys, who make their way on the Path of Peril. They encounter a ravine, and the only way across is to cast an invisible bridge that relies on trust. You know, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade style. Despite a mishap involving a lack of rope, Ian makes it across, and let’s down a bridge to allow Barley and their dad across as well. Oh, and Colt, too.

Colt arrives, and tries to get the boys home, completely ignoring their quest and planning on bringing them in. Ian pretends to go along with it, but instead gets in Guinevere and guns it down the path. They reach a dead end, now being pursued by multiple cops, and have seemingly no way out. But Barley...Barley sees a way out.

GUINEVERE NOOOOOO!!! You were a valiant steed. The van’s destroyed, the cops are blocked, and the boys make their way down the path, fraught with danger...and feral unicorns! Whish is something that I will one day incorporate into a game, I SWEAR it.

They find their way to a cave, and need to get down a river to get there. They do so by riding a giant cheese puff that Ian makes. Nice. And delicious. While on the S.S. Cheezy Poof, Barley reveals another of the few memories he has of his father: his death bed. Whoof. They land the Poof, and go down a booby-trapped pathway where they meet up with a gelatinous cube. Neat. Also very bad.

But they get out of that, out of a water trap, and finally reach the end of their quest, which leads to...the school. Ah. Fuck.

Well, this leads to the inevitable Act 3 blow-up from Ian to Barley, blaming him for his idea to go down the Path of Peril, and officially calling him a screw-up. Barley’s not given up as of yet, but Ian is done, and he storms off. Barley, desperate, goes back to an old stone well nearby, which was being torn down at the beginning of the film. He climbs on top, causing the construction workers to call the cops.

Ian, looking over a cliff with his dad’s legs, looks at a list of thing he had wanted to do with his father. But as he reads through it, he realizes that he’d actually already done all of those things...with his brother.

youtube

The real father was the brother we made along the way.

That made me laugh harder than I should have, but...that is weird, right? Like, his real dad has been his brother all along? And yeah, I get that it’s more of an “appreciate your family” message thing going on, but...I’m not crazy to be seeing the problematic nature of the execution of that message, right? RIGHT?

Well...father-brotherly-love aside, Ian realizes this just as Barley realizes that he’s had the key to their problems in his hands. Literally, he has a stone key, and he uses it to open up the well, revealing the Phoenix Stone inside of it. But when he takes it out, well...it’s curse time.

The curse manifests itself by going into the school and grabbing equipment paid for by taxes, and uses it and the stone infrastructure of the school to become...

...a goofy-ass-yet-somehow-kinda-imposing stone dragon. As the brothers flee the mascot-faced stone dragon, who should show up but Laurel riding Corey, which solidifies her status as best movie mom. They go to take care of the curse, while the boys go to fully revive their father before the sun sets.

Laurel and Corey go up against this thing, but crash into the ground. Laurel, being the BEST GODDAMN CHARACTER IN THE MOVIE, uses Jazzercise moves to take out the dragon...temporarily. It’s not quite enough, but she got real goddamn close. Barley decides to give up his chance to say goodbye to his Dad, but Ian takes his place instead, noting that he never had a dad, but he had his brother. He goes to slay the dragon, and succeeds with magic and the help of his mom.

It’s cool. But, uh...Ian misses the opportunity to meet his father, after all of that. Barley, however, gets that opportunity...which we only see from afar. And it’s poignant, and sweet, and...oddly a little anticlimactic. It’s uh...I dunno, guys, I’m not sure.

Wilden disappears after a hug with Barley, and Barley goes to tell his brother what his father said, which was that he was very proud of the young men that Ian and Barley grew up to be. He also gave him something else to give Ian.

Sweet.

The epilogue reveals that everybody’s had their lives changed a bit. Corey’s still the manager of the tavern, but approaches it with a few and fun vigor (I really like Corey, by the way; she’s my second favorite). She goes out with new friend and fierce warrior Laurel on some night for some good old fashioned adventuring. Fuck YES.

Colt, taking on a comment from Barley earlier in the film, has stared running on his horse legs, rather than using his police car, and is also getting along better with Ian and Barley. Barley is...to be honest, still exactly the same, which feels...a little wasted, not gonna lie. And Ian is now far more self-confident, and is learning an adeptness for magic, which the entire world is now beginning to rediscover. And Ian and Barley, their relationship stronger than ever, sets out of the adventure called life in a new Guinevere.

And that’s Onward! And...I mean...it didn’t beat Finding Nemo. Didn’t suck either, but...you know what, we’ll get to it in the Review. See you there!

#onward #pixar #pixar animation studios #dan scanlon #tom holland #ian lightfoot #chris pratt #barley lightfoot #ian and barley #kyle bornheimer #julia Louis-Dreyfus #mel rodrigquez #octavia spencer #fantasy march #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year

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valeriethepussycats · 4 years

Text

Assemble

Chapter 6

Pairing- Loki x Reader x Steve (one side)

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

Loki walks back and forth inside his glass cell. Suddenly, he stops. “There's not many people that can sneak up on me.” Loki turns to see Natasha standing there.

“But you figured I'd come.” Natasha remarked.

“After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate.” Loki reported.

“I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton and Agent Munroe?” Natasha asked.”

“I'd say I've expanded his mind. And as for Agent Munroe I’ve done nothing to her but ruffled her Feathers.” Loki said with a satisfying smirk.

“And once you’ve won. Once you’re king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?”Natasha questioned.

“Is this love, Agent Romanoff?” Loki wondered.

“Love is for children. I owe him a debt.” Natasha stated.

Loki sits down on “Tell me.”

Natasha pulls up a chair as well. “Before I worked for Shield, I uh...well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on Shield's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call.”

“And what will you do if I vow to spare him?” Loki asked.

“Not let you out.” Natasha declared.

“Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?” Loki laughed.

“Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or was.” Natasha answered.

“What is it you want?” Loki questioned.

“It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.” Disclose.

“Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? São Paulo? The

Hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?” Loki said standing up angry. “ This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer... Pathetic!”

Tony and Banner continuously work at their monitors.

“You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers.”

Agent Hill checks every viewsscreen in the bridge as Nick Fury oversees.

“You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors.”

Y/n is looking at the note with Gambit’s number with uncertainty.

“But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!”

Steve opens a steel crate. Angry, he looks behind him and looks back into the crate. The crate is filled with an Array of Hydra weapons.

Loki slams his fist his cell, making Natasha flinch. “I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!”

Natasha turns around, walks away from Loki, disgusted. “You're a monster.”

“No, you brought the monster.” Loki laughed.

Natasha turns back around, poised. “So, Banner... that's your play.”

“What?” Loki staggered.

Natasha speaks into her earpiece. “Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well.” Natasha then turns to Loki. “Thank you for your cooperation.” Natasha quickly walks out, leaving Loki frozen.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Y/n takes a deep breath and walks into Bruce’s lad and see Tony and Bruce eating snacks.

“Where your ears burning because I was just thinking about you....... you said you needed a file or two Jarvis is done with breaking in to Shield.” Tony asked.

“Thanks The name is Ororo Munroe.” Y/n answered.

Before Y/n can walk around the corner and look at the file. Nick walks in surprised to see Tony and Banner stop working on the scepter.

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” Nick asked in an upset tone.

“Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you.” Tony remarked.

“You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” Nick replied.

“We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile.” Bruce chimed in.

“And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss.” Tony joked.

Then suddenly his monitor show a collection of Secret files. “What is Phase 2?”

Suddenly, Steve drops a Hydra Assault Rifle on the table causing Fury, Banner and Tony to turn around. Cap looks pissed.

“Phase 2 is Shield uses the cube to make weapons...Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow.” Steve declared

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean

that we're...” Nick tried to explained.

“I'm sorry, Nick.” Tony moves the computer screen towards Fury which shows plans of weapon. “What were you lying?”

“What the world do you need Tesseract weapons for?” Y/n moves to stand in front of Director Fury. “Is that why you took Erik because you wanted him to work on the Tesseract to turn into a weapon.

“I was wrong, director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.” Steve claimed.

At that moment, Thor and Natasha walk into the lab. Natasha keeps her eyes right on Bruce. Bruce looks at her, Upset. “Did you know about this?”

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?” Natasha asked.

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.” Bruce pointed out.

“Loki's manipulating you.” Natasha admitted.

“And you've been doing what exactly?” Bruce questioned.

“You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.” Natasha replied.

“Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why Shield is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.” Bruce demanded.

“Because of him.” Nick points at Thor.

“Me?” Thor doubted.

“What does this have to do with Thor?” Y/n questioned.

“Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.” Nick explained.

“I was there to stop it with the help from Thor.” Y/n disclosed.

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.” Thor answered.

“But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the

only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled.” Nick expressed.

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve snapped.

“You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Thor explained.

“A higher form?” Steve questioned.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something.” Nick repeated.

“Nuclear deterrent. `Cause that always calms everything right down.” Tony mocked.

Y/n looks up and see her mother’s file has popped up on the monitor she then moves behind the decks to see look at.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?” Nick questioned.

“How is this now about me?” Tony wondered.

“I'm sorry, isn't everything?” Steve Remarked

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.” Thor disclosed.

“Excuse me, did WE come to YOUR planet and blow stuff up.” Nick snapped back.

As the "team" argues, they don't realize the blue gem on Loki's scepter is glowing brightly.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Outside the Helicarrier, a lone carrier slowly hovers over the ship.

“661 Bravo, please relay your pass code. What is your hull, over?”

Arms to ammunition, over. Inside, Barton and his crew suit up and arm themselves. Barton pulls out his hi-tech bow and arrows.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ �� ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

As everyone is arguing Thor noticed some of the objects in the room begin to flow so he looks over at Y/n. Her jaw was clenched, eyebrows pulled down together and her lips pressed firmly together she was Mad scratch that she was furious.

“Y/n? Are you alright?” Thor sudden question catches everyone off guard and they stop arguing and turn to look at Y/n. They see her glowing red and her hair standing up in a triangle way.

“Y/n.” Nick called out.

When Y/n looks up and her eyes aren’t their usual brown there white but instead of blue Lightning it’s red. “They were after her they did this to me because they couldn’t get her...she abandon me because she didn’t want to get experimented on.” Y/n snarled.

“I know. l know....I want to protect you from that.” Nick said in a calming voice.

“Protect me.” Y/n retorted.

The beautiful sunshine was replaced by dark skies like an eclipse is happening.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

On the bridge Hill is sitting at her work station with Coulson overviewing her one bye one a pencil, pen , paper, and monitors begin to flow. Hill looks up at Coulson and he look at her and they’re both thinking the same thing. Y/n.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Everything inside the Bruce’s lab begin to levitate and the team looks amaze and frighten at the same time.

“Y/n remember The control you fight to have.” Thor takes a step forward towards Y/n but before he can get any closer Nick holds his arm out in front of him nodding his head “no.”

“I didn’t tell you because I knew how much it would hurt you. You loved your mother so much.” Nick explained.

“Then why was I told she was dead.” Y/n barked.

Nick slowly walking up to Y/n. “I didn’t tell you remember you told me.”

Y/n looks at Nick with her head tilted. “Charles Xavier” Y/n said wrathfully.

Rage flowed through Y/n like lava. No literally the room started to get extremely hot that some of the objects start to melt. Nick reaches for his gun

“What gonna shot your own daughter.....do you know what’s it’s like to not be able to feel strong emotions because if you did you could destroy innocent people or the people you love. I was tortured for two years. They put a collar around my neck and shock me if I couldn’t control my powers because of her.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Barton pulls the trigger on his bow. The arrow then explodes the engine right off Helicarrier.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Everyone is thrown in every direction. Y/n, Steve, Fury, Thor and Tony are thrown across while Natasha and Banner is down in the lower equipment room. Steve looks up at Tony.

“Put on the suit!” Steve announced.

“Yep!”

Steve helps Tony up and out of the lab. Fury sits up, clutching his ribs. He puts on his earpiece.

Part 7

#loki x reader #loki x black!reader #thor x reader #steve x reader #steve x black!reader #marvel x reader #avengers x reader

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encyclopika · 4 years

Note

18 & 20 For the ask game!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH KAT!!! <3 God this is long.

From this writer’s ask game...feel free to send me some asks!!! :D

Gonna link the stories here for reference and for anyone interested in reading!

The Missing Series // Fire and Brimstone

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

Yes, ma’am! First I’m going to say that most do not, but the Missing series, particularly all that concerning Asuka and Ai, does in a big way...particularly the completely altered timeline that follows them if she doesn’t go away. You’ve seen the comic, where Ai doesn’t lose her nerve that snowy day and makes it obvious to him she also has stock in a deeper relationship. Yeah, that one. I’m currently working on more short comics from that timeline. Not necessarily a whole story, but snippets from that fluffier timeline. But that also means a few things happen differently - for one, Krow doesn’t join the Ryukyu offices, mostly because, in that timeline, he’s allowed to fulfill his own heroic story faster than he can in Missing. He’s not actually a rescue hero, but he doesn’t have Ai around in the main series to come into that as quickly.

I also almost went harder on Ochako’s duality in Missing, almost making Uravity a separate entity that was starting to hate Ochako’s bullshit. I honestly hated that and clearly didn’t do that. Instead, the duality is more “in her head” than anything. This idea kinda comes out in Krow and Asuka instead.

Additionally, there was, once upon a time, an alternative “Missing”, in which Deku chooses not to return to Tokyo for the Pyromancer case, and Ochako faces him alone. It gets obnoxiously dark and gritty, to the point where I’ve taken that OnO fuel and split it between Escape Artists and my little-known horror project Downpour I’ve been working on in not-secret. But, yeah, that’s definitely an abandoned plotline...*shudders*.

There are small details here and there that I changed in both Missing and Missing Out that created alts, mostly concerning Deku and how he fights baddies/figures things out, name changes for OCs, The Ring’s and Pyromancer’s whole identities changed, and Irina’s characterization has really gone through the ringer (from being another lovable asshole bird like Krow that simply gets on his nerves, to being a dangerous, but important antagonist). I also had Deku introduce the idea that people’s quirks can kill them in Missing because I intended to explore it more, and I’m not sure if that’s totally abandoned...

Thanks for asking this one. <3

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Yes.

All of that. I don’t wanna toot my own horn, but I live for hidden messages, references, callbacks, foreshadowing and symbolism. The Missing series (and to a lesser extent, Fire and Brimstone) is simply overflowing with these things...there’s so much that even with all of the people who have read it, there are still gems and Easter Eggs left to be discovered. And, before I get into it and make this post obscenely long, my reasoning for doing this is simple - I want you to read my fics again...I want to have reread value.

I’m going to put it under a cut in case anyone wants to discover them for themselves and also general spoils. Here are the ones I’m MOST proud of or that make me laugh or, dare I say it, make me feel smart. This is not an exhaustive list, and of course, I’m not pointing out any future Missing series meta for sake of spoilers.

Titling

Titles, titles, titles, girl you know I love titles. I’m a title SNOB. And I do A LOT of fun things with titles, such as:

1. Using the title of the fic as a buzz word and callback to the theme.

I get real obnoxious with this in the Missing series. The overarching theme of Missing is, well, missing people, particularly in the vain of heartache, loss, and longing. And I put it everywhere:

From Missed Chance:

Despite keeping steadfast to her goals and to her future, she knew that for a long time, she'd be missing him.

From Missing:

Today, there would be an update. As much as she wished it weren't so, the only time she saw Deku was when it had to do with Pyromancer or for a brief moment before leaving the police station in the mornings. Any other time, she was missing him.

“I miss you.”

...

“I'm always missing you.”

That's probably how he wanted it - being Asuka, the one still missing Ai, was too painful.

It couldn't ever be the same again, and Ochako was happy for it, feeling like her life was now so full.

And not a thing was missing.

From Missing Out:

“Miss me?”

“Only a little.”

But even when she was being annoying as hell, I craved her, like I knew I'd miss her.

Still, after all that time in the cold, her lips seemed like a warm reprieve...if I could have ever gotten there...

I miss her.

I'm always missing her.

^This one’s a double whammy, for obvious reasons.

2. Using chapter titles to run with a theme, too.

This only happens in Missing and Missing Out, but, look:

Chapter titles for Missing are the life of a fire and also follow the level of stress in the fic, as well as Ochako’s feelings: Hot Coals, Rekindling, Reignited, On Fire, Blazing, Inferno, Burn Out, Backdraft

Those words are used in their respective chapters too AND we run through them when Ochako is considering confessing or not in the last chapter.

I pull the same kind of crap in Missing Out, except all the chapter titles are things Ai gave to Asuka. If it’s an object, the object is in the chapter, otherwise, it’s stated in the chapter, too.: A Desperate Lie, Lunch, Skills, Home, No Conditions, Second Chances, Worry, Agony. It’s also in reference to this, because kill me, I guess.

Bonus: Since the story is told from within the theatre of Asuka’s memories, the titles for chapters 7 and 8, “Worry” and “Agony”, are spoiled in Chapter 6 here:

I didn't know I'd missed my last shot at telling her...I didn't know that I really would be missing out on a life with her.

Because everything after this is worry and agony.

BONUS BONUS - THE TITLE OF THE FIC APPEARS HERE TOO BECAUSE I’M OBNOXIOUS.

3. Title allusions and character.

Particularly for “Fire and Brimstone”, the title sounds like it’s just about the main boys, Katsuki = Fire, and Kirishima = Brimstone. BUT BUT BUT it’s also referencing biblical shit, which is appropriate, given it’s an Angel/Demon AU. It refers to God’s wrath when people use it loosely, but it is also the torment in hell for the deadly sin lust. *hint hint nudge nudge*

Okay that’s enough about titles. How about the fact that

Krow is a Crow

So many little crow quirks, lore, and bullshit is put into this character, like wow.

1. The entire concept of his quirk is all about crow lore, in that they are often connected with death in a number of cultures. This is why, although he doesn’t like to explain it, his quirk isn’t literally a sense of smell, but a little more mystical than that. It’s a sense. His quirk also references the Carrion Crow, Corvus corone, for which he’s based, which is a scavenger and is heavily associated with carrion and is native to Japan.

2. The green and purple iridescence of his wings are also referred from the Carrion Crow in particular.

3. What’s not overly obvious is that crows and ravens have positive lore too - in a number of cultures they are guides and messengers, sometimes to people, sometimes to Gods, which Krow fulfills to both Ochako and Ai (with Ai’s quirk, she could be compared to a goddess, for which he acts as the messenger - this was how she figured their partnership would work). Krow kind of puts this and the negative lore together when he explains his quirk for real in Missing Out:

As a teenager, I ignored them. Death is everywhere and it usually isn't important. Whatever messages they need sending, I'm not the crow they're looking for.

He also actually has a messenger bag in Missing Out.

4. It’s referenced in Missing and outright admitted in Missing Out that he’s inexplicably attracted to shiny things, which is more or less also crow lore, rather than fact, but still.

5. Krow’s name “Asuka” is a unisex name that refers to scents, but also birds and flight. There are a bunch of different refs that say differently, but I’m sticking with that. “Dakuro” is Engrish for “Dark”, which, if you really wanna meta, is actually his last name, considering his father is British. “Dakuro” is just how the Japanese people around him pronounce it. XD

6. He admits to collecting random shit he finds aesthetic, in reference to hoarding and collecting as crows do.

7. Asuka and Ai’s “lunch for quirk fodder” exchange, as well as his giving her the necklace and the box of quirk fodder, is in direct reference to this adorable true story.

8. Asuka speaks more than one language and is capable of mimicry during his “feral response” while fighting the Bear Trap Villain. This is in reference to the fact that crows and ravens are capable of mimicking human speech like parrots.

9. Asuka likes to sit in high places and watch people, and squats in tree for the majority of Missing Out and often bitches about walking anywhere, unless it’s to protect Ai. He has the mentality of a bird. He’s also built like a bird, with hollow bones and air sacs to assist his properly sized wings during flight.

10. He’s actually incredibly intelligent, and uses it to finagle out of tough situations and generally be a trickster, as is crow/raven lore, but crows/ravens are considered the smartest group of birds besides parrots. Unfortunately, this gets balanced out by the fact he’s a teenage human boy, which makes him lazy and capable of dumbass moments.

11. The murder investigations - there’s a number of instances where Krow can’t help but be drawn to death from his death sense in both Missing and Missing Out. He can’t stop himself from investigating the building Pyro is hiding in, the murder warehouse, and when Ai dies. Crows and ravens will gather around fallen comrades in a mix of mourning and also in an effort to try and figure out what happened and if that threat still pertains to them.

:3 Birb <3

Secret Messages and Tells and Foreshadowing and Symbolism

-In Missed Chance, the duality split of Ochako and Uravity is referenced as happening at a particular moment. Throughout Missing, Uravity is treated as apart from Ochako until the end of Missing where they “agree” on letting Deku help. It’s a duality of self representation.

-At the end of Missing, I’m hoping its clear everyone but Iida was in on leaving the two of them alone. Aoyama initiates it by leaving first.

-There are at least two instances where there’s heavy foreshadowing of the end of chapter 7, once with Aoyama:

“Then where in this overcrowded city?”

“I see. Among the clouds, then.*”

And again with Deku:

“That's a relief. Now, I just need to make sure I don't float myself into the stratosphere and you'll be right!”

-There is SO MUCH symbolism related to flying and birds, I can’t really put it all here, but it’s there. Also so much symbolism to fire in Missing, not only with Pyro’s quirk, but Ochako’s feelings..

-Krow reacts to a memory of Ai before we know she exists (since he’s hiding it) while they are interrogating Necromancer: “That’s not bringing them back. That’s nothing like bringing them back.” He also lets it slip a bit that he’d speaking from experience when ragging on Ochako about Deku. Deku also introduces the idea that people’s quirks can kill them in the same chapter, which is in reference to Ai, but also what ends up happening to Ochako, more or less.

-If you replace Ai’s name with the literal meaning of her name in some sentences of Missing and Missing Out, the UwU angst goes up to an 11. Here’s the one that’s particularly the gut punch:

Ai saved me in every way someone could be saved.

[Love] saved me in every way someone could be saved.

-End of chapter 5 of Missing Out, No Conditions, it should be obvious as hell that if Ai wasn’t in love with Asuka before, she certainly is now. Particularly in the gift box scene, he gives her...butterflies...right?

-Ai is compared to the winter throughout Missing Out. This is more in reference to what she means to Asuka than anything else. Winter, as a season, is the great equalizer and although things die in the winter, it is also necessary to the bloom in spring. This refers to the shift in Asuka’s life because of her - his villain life ends and his hero life begins.

-In fact, that whole scene in the snow is based off this gif, particularly the alt comic. It’s of two crows sitting in the snow kissing UwU.

-In both Fire and Brimstone and Missing Out, it should be getting pretty obvious I like to have my winged beasties flutter their wings when they’re in love.

Referencing Literature & Real Life & Pop Culture/Memes

-Pyromancer’s first crime in Alaska is based off the McCarthy, Alaska massacre where a lone gunman gunned down 6 of the 22 residents and injured more. Guy almost killed the entire town. Pyromancer actually did.

-I’ve referred to “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe a number of times, particularly in Krow’s famous line

“Nevermore, bitch!”

But I also referenced the Telltale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz, and fanfiction in general.

-There’s a pop culture reference in Fire and Brimstone from Bioshock where Shinso says:

“Would you kindly go repent at the alter? Ashido is waiting.”

And I love it a lot, because in Bioshock SPOILERS, “would you kindly” is the trigger phrase that’s supposedly controlling the player, Jack, to do things for Atlas and in canon, Shinso’s quirk is brainwashing. Mineta upon hearing it just goes “okay” and promptly does what Shinso tells him. Shinso’s brainwashing is also referred to by Mineta just before that:

“Or get brainwashed into believing fairy tales,” Mineta said flatly from beside the Angel.

-There is indeed a motherfucking JoJo’s reference in Missing. And there’s more memes where that came from.

-Krow’s use of “my guy”, “lit” etc etc. is self explanatory. He is a whole ass meme chicken.

-In fact, I call Krow and the other birds of the Missing series “chickens” because of the meme of the girl pointing to a bunch of geese saying “look at all these chickens!” In fact, Irina calls and will call Krow a “cock” in Missing Out and Escape Artists, and it’s kind of a more sinister play on this. Transplant and Keeper, during their convo in Missing Out refer to the women captive under Keeper part of her “henhouse” and that she’d need a “rooster” to go through with her plans. Krow also refers to his fight with Irina as a “cockfight”.

-I’m not religious, but the lore is fun to allude to. The religious references should be clear in Fire & Brimstone, and a lot of the words I use relate to the topic, even casually in the narration, but also when the characters say “like hell!” Also in F&B, the real Angelic hierarchy shapes much of the worldbuilding, as do the references to real life racism, police brutality, and other shit like that.

In Missed Chance, the sun coming through the window puts a “halo” around Deku.

In Missing Out, Krow refers to demons on a number of occasions, sometimes towards himself, his family (which in comes the irony, since they look like Angels), but towards the end, it’s used to explain Ai’s mental illness. There are also these choice lines that entertain the notion of heaven and hell:

Below us was hell – mothers with agendas, school, dipshits, murderous villains, oh my! But up there? It was just us...

I was under no illusions about a heaven...hell certainly exists back down on the ground but I've been high enough now to rule the other place out. Unless this cold, quiet nothingness is supposed to be the intuitive opposite to the chaotic, unfair bullshit below.

-There’s a lot of references and characters with mental illnesses - psychosis, sociopathy, anxiety, depression and PTSD are all explored. In fact, Krow’s tendency to laugh at everything and get triggered by certain events (all of Missing Out is the result of him triggering himself in order to make Ochako realize her mistake) is a tell-tale sign he suffers greatly from PTSD, and Ai’s mental breakdowns are indicative of the anxiety I myself suffer from. Honestly, I just wanted some fics that look into it.

-In the same strain, all of the characters in Missing present different coping mechanisms towards what first-responders actively go through irl. Much of that was taken from my own life as someone with police in the family and being married to a firefighter/EMT.

Okay, that’s enough. Hope you enjoyed...I certainly had fun outlining all of it XD

#izuocha #my hero academia #uraraka ochako #my hero fanfiction #Missing Out #Fire and Brimstone #Missing #kiribaku #oc: Krow #writers ask games #encyclopika talk #THANK YOUUUUU

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tiny-smallest · 4 years

Text

STEVEN UNIVERSE FINALE THOUGHTS: SPOILERS ABOUND

My criticisms mostly lie in how short it was. This whole epilogue season needed to be longer. More episodes, or longer episodes. I'd lean more towards longer personally because as much as I'd love to revisit old friends who didn't get any time in SUF (FUCKING. NEPHRITE.), I'd rather the stuff that exists were fleshed out more. If I had my way we’d have more episodes (maybe 30-40, and not all of them painful; some more like Why So Blue or Guidance- ones that hint at his escalating mental illness but aren’t a sheer punch of pain) as well as longer episodes when needed (some of these were perfect for their length; others could’ve used a longer run time to really flesh things out) but if I had to pick one, I’d pick longer episodes over more episodes.

So far the biggest things that bug me are Connie's speech and White's breakdown.

Connie's speech only because she started it. In a show that kind of finally called the adults out for how much Steven had to give to them, it's a different child who rallies them to a clear head so they can figure out what to do. I'd much rather Greg have started the speech and Connie then interject. And then Garnet comes up with the actual plan? That'd have been perfect. They got so close to that too, since Greg is the only adult not falling apart instead of focusing on what Steven needs; he admits his faults and is obviously super upset about it, but his statement is a declaration of action: that this time he’s not running to let the magic people deal with this, he’s going to be there too. THEY WERE SO CLOSE TO THAT MOMENT BEING ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AUGH.

White's breakdown. I get what they were going for here, I really do: we’ve all seen The Big Bad be dealt with by stabbing them real good a lot and rarely is there ever any nuance applied to the concept of toppling a tyrant and where that would leave people, and the show is BUILT on the idea of what happens when you try that (or... fake the succeeding of it), so I get why they decided not to straight up kill her. But you also built White up to be like... Mother Gothel meets Frollo and then SHOWCASED IT IN ACTION and I'm forever gonna have a hard time swallowing the concept that she could ever be so utterly repentant of her crimes, I guess, both on a personal and universal level? I’d have almost rather she remained toxic and kept at a distance?

Add-ons to this are not a word about humanizing Pink/Rose in Steven's viewpoint and not a word about what White did to Steven-- which is possibly the most traumatic thing that happened to him.

That being said, corrupted Steven was a fucking HELL YES. And they USED THE WORD CORRUPTED SO HATERS CAN SUCK IT. I thought the corruption was solved a little too... easily and quickly? If other corrupted gems weren’t reachable just by talking to them Steven shouldn’t have been either even with being half human, and I would have loved if they’d had to go into his mind in order to reach him with their words--which would’ve been an interesting parallel to Change Your Mind, actually. But this is an example of what I mean about wishing episodes were longer. For this to be a thing the episode would’ve needed to be longer. As it was, it was fine. The emotion of it still got through. Everyone got to say their piece and that was important. It teetered a little dangerously close to ‘Connie fixes Steven’ but since everyone else did talk and said some really important stuff it’s more like Connie just happened to go last and not that her words in particular were important above everyone else’s.

Steven hanging up the poster from the song Mr. Universe also is like- another mild criticism in that the implications there could use A WHOLE EPISODE OF THEIR OWN (he has accepted he is a Universe, he has accepted his father; there may or may not have been a talk about Greg’s decisions and why he made them) but the implications are there nonetheless and I love it.

STEVEN. HAS. A THERAPIST. THEY SAID THE WORDS ON CAMERA.

STEVEN'S COOKING AGAIN!!

A final conversation between him and his father and it was of a decent length yes thank you god.

He said goodbye to all the Crystal Gems not just the three he lives with YAY

CONVERSE KISS. AT LAST. Sure, it didn’t get to be the big dramatic moment we were hoping for, but it was sweet and THERE.

A CONFIRMATION OF A TIMESKIP which is good because he'd really need a stable place for those first few months following something that awful.

I'm glad they established there had been time between that and his road trip. I’m also glad they made sure to establish that his support system is going to be in contact with him constantly. My mom instincts are screaming that he’s still too young and too sick to be on the road alone and I’d rather that have happened in a year or two, but since he’s gonna be in constant contact, can, go home at any time, and is probably 1-2 months away from being eighteen at the time he sets out, I can accept that.

The implication that Steven might return is a deeply appreciated one, because I’d rather this ended where it did last time-- a family together on a beach. But Steven needs time to grow and learn and he can’t do that in Beach City right now which is a thing I get- but the fact that he’s just as likely to return as he is to settle elsewhere means that after he’s seen all he’s wanted to see he can always return to his family and find a new adventure waiting in Beach City. (Personally I’d like to think he opens a restaurant.) And for those who’d rather he settle elsewhere, they get to have that, too!

It’s a way to leave it open-ended without feeling cheap, because the whole season has been building up to him needing to get away at least for awhile, and I appreciate that.

I realize that Being Human was sung in pieces by (I believe) Sugar over the course of the season in the way that Love Like You was to hide that the speaker is Steven the way it was previously done to hide that the speaker was Rose, but man, my final criticism: I wish Steven had sung the song as he was leaving. Just. A short version of it maybe as he drove off. If the lack of Steven being musical this season was supposed to be a nod to his worsening mental spiral then it would make sense for him to sing one final song as he’s healing, a sign of hope, and to leave the viewers with one last goodbye from the boy himself.

(And also so our only Steven song isn’t the incredibly sad I’d Rather Be Me With You.)

But all in all? It was a good finale. A solid finale. I adored it and it made me Feel Things. It was amazing to see some theories come to fruition. It was amazing to tackle the wounds that the original series would have left on a child’s soul. It was an amazing experience overall and while I feel some things could have been done better, I am so, so glad I binged my way through the original series to experience Future as it happened. I regret not keeping up with the original series as it aired and I am so, so glad for the experience of getting to do that with this series’ last hurrah. It kind of hurts; I’ll be mourning this show’s loss for a long time. But in an internet littered with cartoons killed before their time, I am incredibly grateful this show got to come to a proper close, got to tell its story through to the end.

In this world of people there really is no one like you, Steven. We will always be your family, and each other’s. Thanks for the ride.

#steven universe #steven universe future #i am my monster #suf spoilers #steven universe future spoilers #steven universe finale

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angstama · 5 years

Text

a different love | l.dh

Pairing: lee donghyuck (nct haechan) x reader Genre: angst Warnings: profanities , cheating Summary: in which both you and donghyuck shares a different kind of love for each other. words: 2982 words a/n: this is so painful i’m dead sfghjklgfgkl, there will probably be a part 2 hahhhhhhhh also it’s my birthday tomorrowwwww so yes a hyuck fic!!!!!!!

here you sat alone in your work room, a bubble of devastation budding in your heart as your eyes scanned the monthly bank statement sent to your email. you re-read again the one transaction that ultimately captured your attention since the beginning, a hefty sum of sixty five million dollars thrown out to god who knows where with the limited amount of information given to you. you knew this wasn't your spending but you weren’t panicking either because you were almost sure who the culprit behind it was and you weren’t surprised.

the loud booming bass of the music echoed throughout your property, a party going on in the living room of your own home; a party that you weren’t invited to. not that you minded anyways, parties had never been your thing. the first time it happened without your consent, you were infuriated, enraged by the betrayal of respect from your lover but it didn't matter anymore right now, you had gotten used to living in a home that you no longer had any say to anything.

you massaged your temples, a heavy sigh escaping your lips along the way, feeling the awful exhaustion sitting on you. a part of you yearned for your husband’s arms to be wrapped around you and assuring you that everything is going to be okay while another part of you screamed psycho at you, telling you to snap out of it that it will no longer happen anymore.you weren’t like this in the past. both of you weren’t like this in the past. he wasn't like this in the past. and you weren’t sure what had gone wrong along the way.

you strode over to the balcony, taking a peak of the view of your backyard which is currently filled with countless of wasted walking bodies having the time of their life. “ what a sight.” you muttered sarcastically under your breath, eyes wandering around in search for donghyuck, only to no avail. you don't bother anymore, figuring out that he’d probably be drinking his heart out and be up to his usual self, dancing on top of the grand piano or passed out on the floor.

as much as you hate to admit it, you still love donghyuck despite having your heart broken over and over again everyday. he was and still is your everything. you knew the you seven years ago you would probably beat the living crap out of you if she found out that you allowed yourself to hurt this much over a guy. but you had fallen way too deep to find a way out of this toxicity. after all, both of you had vowed to love each other, for better or for worse. you missed the days where it was just the two of you against the world. where texts seems to be coming in every second because he refused to leave you alone, when everyday was like a celebration because being together meant so much to the both of you and the times when you could strip away your tough front and be truthfully bare in front of him without the fear of being judged.

“gosh lee donghyuck i swear,” you stomp your feet hardly against the ground, reaching out for the remote control that he hid behind his back. “ah ah no, it’s my turn to pick the movie tonight remember sweetheart?” he cocked an eyebrow. your shoulders slumped defeatedly, putting on your cutest pout to coax your boyfriend into letting you choose the film for the night. “ it ain’t gonna work on me missy,” he ruffled your hair messily before plopping back down on the couch, tugging your wrists along with him so that you’d settle down next to him to watch the film he chose. “ i chose romance by the way,” he grinned sheepishly, knowing that you weren’t a huge fan of the genre romance. in fact, it was a known fact that you don't even try to deny it back then.

you crossed your arms across your chest, shaking your head to your dismay, “it better be good lee.” you huffed. donghyuck took your hands into his, pulling you closer to his body, so close that you could almost feel his lips at the tip of ears, “oh trust me, it will be good babe,” he chuckled softly, adjusting his gaze back to the screen that soon started playing the movie.

and he didn't lie. the movie was beautiful and humorous at the same time. but you were way too proud to admit that you had taken a liking to the story line behind that film. knowing all too well that hyuck will always be using it to his advantage to get you to accept whatever romantic film he suggested the next time. apparently a game of ‘catch’ had begun without even both of you knowing, with donghyuck as the catcher and you as the runner which resulted in an intense running session around the house. “come on, you loved it! admit it!” he exclaimed excitedly, trailing quickly right behind. you rolled your eyes playfully, coming to a halt in your tracks to which he swiftly turned you around, trapping you in between the wall and him. “no comments,” you bit your lips, trying to hold in the smile that kept going against you stubbornly. donghyuck shook his head, a clear glint of adoration for you shining in his eyes. “you’ll be the death of me you know that?” he laughed wholeheartedly, closing in the space between the both of you as he went in to attack you with fluttering pecks on your neck. “ and you’ll be the death of me, hyuck” you said truthfully, throwing your arms around his shoulder in anticipation for donghyuck’s actions. his arms wrapped tightly around your waist, allowing you to lean in closely to his body warmth. you both rested your forehead against each other, staring deeply into each other’s eyes, neither of you wanting to break the intimate moment that was going on.

“kiss me.” you whispered. “gladly.” he answered simply. you saw donghyuck broke out into a soft smile before leaning in too kiss you deeply. what happened from then on was undoubtedly one of the best memory donghyuck had given you and it was that night when you realised how much you truly loved donghyuck more than anything else in this world.

you threw your head back in frustration, not allowing the tears that had welled up in your eyes to escape. “gosh, you're so annoying y/n.” you groaned. it was a happy memory to you yet you knew these aren't tears of joy which made it even much more unbearable for you. you certainly didn't know loving donghyuck made you so vulnerable.

you carefully locked the door of your working room before making your way to your shared bedroom with hyuck, a wave of relief rushing over you when you realised there weren’t anyone on the same level as you. it seemed like someone had sealed off the second level of your property from the sea of people, giving you your personal space that you desperately needed. you wanted to believe that this was donghyuck’s doing but you knew it was too good to be true. ever since your marriage with donghyuck had started to fall apart, he no longer cared about your wellbeing, doing however and whatever he likes as long as it pleases him.

»»—-————-————-　✼ ————-————-——««

you woke up the next day with donghyuck sleeping soundly beside you with his back facing you, an uncommon sight to see every morning. but you were much more surprised that he managed to make it back on the bed after the party. usually he’d be too tired to even climb up the stairs hence ending up on the couch or floor the next morning. you must've been heavily asleep when he entered the room in his drunk state, because the photo frame of you and donghyuck that was once on your nightstand was now rested on the wooden floor of your room, drowned in its own broken glass pieces, but you heard nothing last night.

“ what are you looking for?” you heard someone ask from behind you as you searched from the broomstick. “just looking for the broomstick, hyuck accidentally broke the photo frame,” you hummed a reply back. you felt the person casually leaning into you from the back, casually reaching out for whatever is on the shelve above you on the wall of the storage room. “here. mom kept it up there because pluto used to bite the strands of the broomstick, making a mess.” the someone filled you in, chuckling softly at the end.

pluto was the dog that you had adopted from the animal shelter when you first moved out of your parent’s house. a white pomeranian breed that jumps excitedly at whoever he meets. a true gem which became your best friend over the years. you can still remembered clearly when pluto first met donghyuck.

“i . can’t . breathe.” donghyuck burst into fits of laughter with pluto still licking all over his face. pluto had just attacked your lover upon arrival, showering your then boyfriend with the same affection that he gave you everyday. you were in awe, the two of your favourite beings already getting along without having you to ask anything of them. “ aren’t you a cute one,”donghyuck cooed in adoration, nuzzling his nose in its stomach in the process. “who’s the cuter one then? me or him?” you challenged. donghyuck’s eyes shifted between you and pluto simultaneously, teasing you by taking his own time to come up with an answer. “hm who is cuter?”he probed, the ends of his lips tugging into a mischievous grin, “ of course it’s pluto!”

pluto barked in celebration as donghyuck picked him up and twirled him in circles, leaving you on the floor seated, dumbfounded by your boyfriend’s pick and still in denial that you had just lost to your dog. “fine! date pluto then!” you huffed pettily in a joking tone, looking away to avoid donghyuck’s sudden gaze on you.

before you know it, donghyuck had just scooped you out of your seat, picking you up in bridal style. “oh my god lee donghyuck! what are you doing?” you screamed.

“you are such a drama queen you know that?” he flicked your forehead. you let out a yelp in pain, flicking his forehead back instinctively, catching him by surprise. “and you are such a brat, you know that?” you fired back sarcastically, earning nothing but being dropped on the couch by donghyuck. he sat on top of you on your abdomen, pinning you down on your cushioned couch. “what am i again?” he asked threatenly. you didn't hesitate, instead you answered his question confidently loud and clear, “ a brat.” you stucked out your tongue playfully. you loved playing him and he knows that you just weren’t going to back down from whatever you both were having. donghyuck scoffed, pulling you arms above your head along the way, “how about i show you how much of a brat i can be huh?”

you turned to see jisung smiling back at you, handing you the objects that you were looking for. jisung is your helper’s son who is just a few years younger than you. you would say you knew him for a few years right now. you both shared a good relationship and you absolutely respect the filial side of his, taking over his mother’s chores often to ease her burdens. you gracefully took the broomstick and dustpan from his hands, making sure to thank him in return, “thank you jisung, i’ll see you downstairs later yeah!”

you quickly cleaned up the area, inspecting everywhere the room over and over again to make sure there isn't any little glass shreds left on the floor. the last thing you need is to have anyone hurting themselves physically, yes anyone meaning specifically donghyuck since he is the only one that enters your shared bedroom besides you, not even the helper could enter this room as well as your working office room.

“good morning mrs park,” you greeted your helper, joining her and jisung in the kitchen. you threw your car keys on the counter, walking over to pour yourself a cup of coffee that was freshly brewed this morning, “cooking the hangover soup?” you asked, although the familiar smell of the dish already gave it away. because of your tight work schedule, you had requested your helper to help you prepare hangover soup for donghyuck the next morning after every party. and although it wan’t part of her job scope to be cooking, mrs park was more than happy to help you out, following closely to your recipie that you had adjusted to donghyuck’s liking too. “yes ma’am,” she smiled warmly.

“mrs park! just call me y/n remember? even jisung calls me by my name now!” you exclaimed, shooting the brown haired boy a playful look.

“oh i’m sorry y/n, you know how it gets for old people.” she responded with a slight banter as she turned off the fire on the stove. “are you and your husband going out on a yacht staycation tonight? do you need me to help you pack your clothes? you’ve been so busy-...” she continue trailing on. your face scrunched in confusion, not understanding what was she talking about besides the part about your busy work schedule. “i’m sorry but where did you hear it from?” you asked politely.

jisung sat up straight, noticing that something isn’t right but contemplated not to say anything. “ i overheard sir making a booking at the yacht club just a couple of weeks ago, said that it is a short staycation for the next three days...?”

“oh,” you mused almost inaudibly, a pang of hurt flashing across your eyes. you refused to let yourself fall in front of them though. he’s not even telling you that he will be away now? a yacht party out of nowhere? what else could he be possibly hiding you from? “i’ll go first,” you cleared your throat with a half bow, dismissing yourself from the mother and son. pure devastation taking over your heart and mind and you don't know what to do.

»»—-————-————-　✼ ————-————-——««

you allow work to consume you in your office, going through documents after documents. and even though your found it hard to concentrate with an aching heart cutting you up every second, you tried your best to not let it affect your work life. you see, your career meant as much as donghyuck had meant to you. it was all your blood sweat and tears that helped you built your empire today and you’re determined to keep it alive till your last breath. being a film director and a scriptwriter sure wasn’t easy but it was your passion and something that donghyuck had always told you he admired about. when you first made your mark out in the media industry, you never expected yourself to be in the position you are in today and you’re very thankful to the people that had your back since the first day, including donghyuck, he used to be your number one fan in fact, though you're not so sure about now.

you heard a knock at the door of your office and you looked up to see your secretary standing at the other side of the door, her usual smile plastered on her face. you gestured her to enter, returning your focus back on to the tiny arial fonts imprinted on the paper. “you seemed a little out of it today,” she begun, plopping down on the couch in your office. “do i?” you mumbled halfheartedly. “yeah, very. there’s like this creepy dark aura around you,” she said lightly in attempt to throw a lively banter but you knew very well that behind its tone, it wasn't a joke at all.

you finally gave your attention to the petite girl staring straight at you, looking at your best friend with tired eyes. “i don't know, joohyun,”you breath a sigh, “i really miss my donghyuck. the one that i fell in love with, not the one that seemed to love my money more than me,” it is true. donghyuck indeed seemed to love your money more than he loves you, constantly spending your money recklessly as if it was his. he would much rather throw your assets into the never ending nights of parties than to be anywhere near you. “ i tried to talk to him about us, but he always shrugged it off. i’m so tired of trying to figure out what’s happening between us. we live under the same roof but we barely even talk. i don't even know if he loves me still,” you let it out, a clear indication of longing and desperation in your voice lingering. “ if there's anything that i learnt in my years of failed relationships...” she trailed off, glancing over in the process to make sure that you were listening before continuing on sensibly, “ communication is the key to every conflict. you have to talk to him. if he doesn't care less to fix this relationship then there isn’t any point holding onto it. a ship is meant to take you somewhere so if a friendSHIP or a relationSHIP is not taking you anywhere then abandon that SHIP.” the brown haired girl advised you, exaggerating the ‘ships’ with hand gestures along the way to get it inside your head which it did eventually because the next thing you knew, you found yourself standing in front of the entrance of the yacht that you husband had booked, not knowing what to expect from whatever is going to happen in just a couple of seconds.

#lee donghyuck #nct angst #taeyong #Yuta #jaehyun #winwin #jungwoo #marklee #doyoung #haechan #nct127 #taeil #johnny #angst #gahhhhhhhh

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timmyrx2000 · 6 years

Text

Dipper Steps Up: Chapter 11

Chapter Index: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

Chapter 11

Wendy tiptoed downstairs early the next morning and woke Dipper. "Hey, dude," she said, sitting on the sofa next to where he lay huddled in a blanket. "Wanna go for a walk and show me your nabe?"

"Uh—what?" Dipper asked, holding onto the blanket a little more tightly.

"Your neighborhood, man!" Wendy said, grinning. "See, I've only ever been to California like three times before this, and we never got anywhere near as far south as the Bay area. I wanna see where you live."

"S-sure," Dipper said. "Where are my, uh, jeans?"

"Here ya go."

He took them. "Th-thanks. If, uh, you know, you might want to step into the hall—"

"C'mon, man! I got three brothers! I gotta take you campin' so you can get over some of these hang-ups! Or—hey, don't tell me you sleep raw?" She playfully grabbed the blanket, and he held on to make sure she couldn't yank it down.

She flipped it up instead. "Yup," she said. "I kinda figured you for a tighty-whitey guy. Get your jeans and shoes on. We don't have a whole lot of time."

She had changed to her normal outfit of green plaid flannel shirt over a white undershirt, jeans, her logging boots—and Dipper's pine-tree hat. He donned her trapper hat, and she chuckled. "Remember, dude, we have a date in June to meet in the Shack and exchange headgear again!"

They sauntered along the rows of houses, Dipper stammering out an excuse that it was only suburbia, after all. "Yeah," she said, "but it's interesting to me! I mean, my whole life we've lived away out in the woods, like five miles from our closest neighbor. This looks friendlier."

He had the inspiration to take her to Piedmont Park, which meandered for a good many acres and featured hills, a small stream (complete with waterfall), a fountain—normal park stuff, as Soos might say. And on the trail, she—she reached out and took his hand. "You were real brave," Wendy said. "Mabel told me all about it."

Dipper shrugged. "Chuck's a good friend. Couldn't let a ghost get him."

"Yeah, but Ford says old Nathaniel always held a grudge in life. You watch your butt from now on, hear? And if you see any sign of him, you get on the horn to me right away. Don't wait until he shows up dragging a chain through your bedroom or some junk."

A couple of fit-looking women in headbands and leotards, out jogging on this early Sunday morning, ran toward them, chatting. They waved and smiled.

When they had pounded past, Dipper said miserably. "Now they'll talk about how I'm way too short for you. And too young. They'll make fun of us."

She squeezed his hand. "So what? Let 'em giggle. And you know, you've grown like four inches since last summer. I think I finally leveled off, so you're catchin' up a little." They stopped in the middle of a wooden bridge, and Wendy added, "Mm, we could almost be out in the woods here. This is nice, man. Hey, let me see if you're really too short for me."

Dipper wasn't prepared. She leaned—just a little—and kissed him quickly on the lips. Then, ruffling his hair and smiling, she whispered, "Mm, dude, not too short at all."

For the rest of the way, he walked on air.

Ford insisted that Mabel and Dipper accompany him and Wendy to the hospital. They arrived a little ahead of time. Though Chuck was sleeping, Mrs. Taylor was already awake, and they found an empty waiting room for a quick conversation. "I keep hearing what a wonderful doctor you are," she said.

Ford shrugged. "Mostly based on a few papers I did for medical journals. I'm not in practice. However, this is—a special case, as you know. Tell me: How much does Chuck remember?"

She shook her head. "Not very much at all. From the time he blacked out, he says he just has flashes, like pieces of a dream that he's almost forgotten. He sort of remembers jumping out the window, but then nothing until Dipper and Mabel pushed him down in the labyrinth."

"That's when the spirit of Nathaniel Northwest was forced out of him," Ford said.

"He—he says he felt—not angry at them, but—but sad, because it was like he'd lost something."

"His own spirit was dormant within him," Ford said. "Believe me, if the kids had been just a minute late, Chuck would have been thrust completely out of his body, fully aware—but invisible. He would have become the ghost, and Nathaniel would have taken over his body completely."

"And that's a terrible feeling," Dipper said. When Mrs. Taylor stared at him, he added, "I know. Don't ask me how, but I do."

A few minutes later, Chuck woke up still feeling a little groggy, and his left arm obviously hurt him. He acted embarrassed when Mabel kissed his cheek. "I, uh—was I talking crazy yesterday, Mabel?"

"Meh," she said, shrugging. "Nothing so cray-cray that I hated it!" She glanced around and lowered her voice. "So—you still want to hang out with me?"

"Yeah!" he said, and immediately blushed.

"You got it," Mabel said happily.

Ford, Dipper, and his mom explained to him exactly what had happened, and he grew pale. But then Ford handed Mabel a thin chain with a tiny gem. "Give it to him," he said. When Chuck took it from her, Ford said seriously, "Chuck, this will protect you. We can't destroy a ghost, but we've dealt him a blow that he'll have to recover from before he can be a threat. As long as you wear this, you're safe. Now, when you're twenty-one, the threat is over. You can take it off the day after your twenty-first birthday—but hang on to it. When you marry, and if you have children, pass it along to your first son."

Now Chuck blushed again. He looked sideways at Mabel. "Uh—what if it's twins?"

Dipper had to turn away to keep from laughing where Chuck could see him. But Ford very seriously said, "One will still be the first-born son, and he's the one you have to protect. Remember that."

Dipper recovered his poise and said, "Until then, tell the guys on the team that a girl—"

"Your girl," Wendy corrected. Mabel giggled.

"Your girl," Dipper continued, "gave it to you and it's your lucky charm."

Chuck sighed. "I—won't be on the team," he said. "Broken arm will put me out for the rest of the season."

"Next year, then!" Mabel said. "'Cause you're no quitter!"

Chuck reached for her hand. "Next year," he said, making it sound like a promise.

All too soon, Ford and Wendy had to leave for the Oakland airport—"Second time I've been in a plane, guys!" Wendy said. "Stanley told me it would be awful, but I like it!"

Practice started again Monday afternoon. The team heard the news and practice went—well, terrible, to be honest. As Coach Waylund patiently pointed out the many errors and problems, Dipper said, "Uh, Coach? Chuck will come back to school on Wednesday or Thursday. Is it OK if he comes to practice? To, you know, watch and advise us?"

"I'll be disappointed if he doesn't," Waylund said. "Tell him that. By the way, Pines, where's your cap?"

"Uh, it, uh, blew off," Dipper said. "I couldn't find it."

"Well, pick up a replacement before Saturday's game," Waylund said. "That fur thing is an interesting fashion statement, but it won't do for playing baseball. Did you go back and look for the cap?"

"I couldn't find it," Dipper said. That was a white lie. A team of horses chained to him couldn't drag him back to that labyrinth.

Chuck made it to Thursday practice, not dressed out, but wearing his own cap. He watched the guys practice fielding, and during a break he called Dipper over. "Take off your trapper hat," he said. Then he clapped his own baseball cap onto Dipper's head. "Here, use mine. I won't need it for the rest of the season."

Dipper touched the brim. "Aw—thanks, man. Up high!"

Mabel had started coming to every single practice—in fact now she sat in the dugout—and she said, "Don't worry, Chuck, I'll buy you a new one myself! And Brobro, don't you ever get rid of that one! That's your lucky charm!"

The Saturday game was against the Palo Alto Pirates—not a game that the team would dread, ordinarily, since the Panthers and Pirates were on a roughly equal footing and had very similar win-loss records.

However, without Chuck . . ..

In the locker room, guys got dressed out and sat in gloom on the benches, muttering to each other and pounding their fists in their gloves. Dipper felt edgy and couldn't stop pacing, his cleats clicking on the tile floor. He had a sinking feeling that everything was about to go wrong—and it would be mostly his fault. He'd been lousy in the last three practices.

He kept adjusting Chuck's cap on his head and telling himself, "Calm down, calm down, calm down!" That only made him more nervous.

Then he heard a couple of guys yell, and he turned to see Chuck grinning, wearing his jersey—except only one button was buttoned, so it could hang over his cast like a cloak. He was high-fiving everyone, Barb, Bobby, Petey, Kenk. "So, who died?" he yelled. "C'mon, you guys, show a little life! The Pirates are pushovers!"

He scooped up Dipper's batting helmet and smooshed it into Hi-Ho's face. "Smells like victory!" Chuck yelled.

"Foo! Victory stinks, man!" Hi-Ho shot back, shoving the smelly helmet away. He hugged Chuck, carefully, avoiding the cast, which now sported dozens of autographs, including the whole team, plus a great big red heart with MABEL in squooshy-looking balloon letters. "Seriously, dude, good to have you here. You gonna sit in the dugout?"

"Duh!" Chuck said. "I'm gonna keep notes, too, so you guys play good, or you'll have to answer to me."

Well, that was a positive send-off. Too bad it didn't last.

The game didn't begin badly. The Pirates won the toss and chose to bat first—always their preference, because their coach believed getting on the board early was a key to shaking up an opposing team. They did score one run, but in the bottom of the second Piedmont not only tied, but got one up when Mike crossed the plate. Unfortunately, the next batter popped out and the Panthers took the field again.

Dipper couldn't shake his attack of nerves. He kept pounding his glove and scraping his cleats as he played second, but he had the panicky feeling that if he went for a line drive he'd miss it. Or fumble the ball when trying to tag out a runner. Do something stupid.

Mabel, who had become a crowd favorite, was working extra hard, boogying, turning cartwheels, leaping, leading enthusiastic cheers. That day, she seemed more a distraction than a morale booster to Dipper. He felt bad that Chuck was watching his lackluster performance and kept thinking how much better it would be if Chuck could stand on the mound.

By the time the fifth inning ended, each team had upped its score, and the teams were locked in a 3-3 tie. And as the sixth started, everything just fell apart.

The first Pirate up to bat hit a clean single, and he led off first base so far that Dipper kept trying to send telepathic messages to Jon-J on the mound: Throw to first!

It didn't work. The next man up smacked a long fly past Petey, the right fielder, who finally backpedaled and misjudged it, catching it on the bounce. He threw to Dipper, but wide, and though Dipper managed—barely—to get to the throw and catch it, the runner was already standing on second base. Dipper threw the ball to the pitcher and watched Jon-J shaking his head and smacking the ball hard into his glove. Bobby, catching, sent him two signals that he shook off.

Jon-J had a good fastball, and he tried it. The batter swung, missing by a mile. That seemed to give Jon-J heart, and he threw a deliberate ball, then sizzled another fastball past the batter for a called strike. He risked one more fastball—and the batter fanned it. The next man up, though, the biggest player for the Pirates, hit another single, sending a man home and putting the Pirates up by one run. And the next Pirate virtually copied the previous one, batting in another runner.

Maybe Jon-J had strained his arm. He walked the next man, loading the bases. And the next batter smacked a weak flyball that Dipper backed up and easily caught, firing it to Bobby for a double play.

The Panthers went in to bat with the score five to three, Pirates leading. Kenk got a single—barely running out the throw to first—but then Mike, who seemed as worried as Dipper felt, misjudged every pitch and went down swinging. Petey popped out. JD and Barb both got singles, loading the bases—and then Jon-J, who looked exhausted, struck out on four pitches, just managing a weak foul tip on one.

At the top of the seventh, Jon-J put his heart into pitching, but he was obviously tired and shaken up. The first Pirate up hit a fly straight into the center fielder's glove. The next one got a single on Jon-J's first pitch. The next hit to right field, where Petey DeFoy, maybe trying to compensate for his weak performance earlier in the game, bobbled the catch, temporarily lost the ball, and then hesitated before deciding where to throw it. The error stretched a single into a double and brought in another Pirate run. Even worse, Jon-J, now badly shaken, walked the next batter, again loading the bases.

To Dipper's surprise, the coach called a time out and motioned him to come in as he walked to the mound. He got there in time to hear Waylund say, "Your call, son."

Miserably, Jon-J said, "I can't concentrate, Coach. And my arm's gone. Pull me out."

"You got it. Good try, though. Pines—take the mound."

"Wh-what?" Dipper stammered. "Coach, no, I can't—"

"Taylor says you can."

Dipper looked over at the dugout. Chuck stood waving at him, and he gave Dipper a thumbs-up.

"Take the mound, son," Waylund said kindly. "Keep your mind in the game and do your best. That's all we're asking."

Dipper warmed up, but he wasn't used to pitching. Bobby helpfully offered suggestions by means of signals from behind home plate. Dipper took them all.

Oddly, his inexperience seemed an advantage at first. He could hit the strike zone, but his pitches were erratic enough to baffle the first man up, who popped a little looper right to first base, where it was caught and fired home before the Pirates could try for another run. The next batter swung at two of Dipper's pitches—not fastballs, exactly, and not curves, but, well, dippers—but then connected for a single. And another run crossed the plate, putting the Pirates up 7-3, with the bases still loaded.

As if from a great distance, he heard Mabel off in front of the grandstand: "Dipper! Dipper! Put him out! That's what pitching's all about!"

Do it for sis.

He took a deep breath and pitched. Swung on for strike one. He considered the second and went for the outside corner, just missing it. Ball one. Strike zone again, but a little high—and the batter got a piece of it, sending a skipping grounder off to Dipper's left. Dipper lunged for it, fielded it, and whipped it to Bobby, who got the runner out as he started a desperate slide.

Then as they came to bat, it was do-or-die time for the Panthers. X-man, who looked exhausted, struck out and plodded back to the dugout. Hi-Ho got a respectable double—though he barely beat the throw to second. Bobby, who acted a little fresher than the rest of the team, hit what first looked like a home run, but it lost altitude going into the slot between left and center field, and the center fielder was just a little too slow and the hit ran out of steam and bounced off the chain-link fence. Still, Bobby, too, made it to second, and Hi-Ho scored.

And there the rally ended. Dub popped out. Dipper stepped to the plate tense and shaking, his hands soaked with sweat inside the batting gloves. He couldn't control his breathing or his pounding heart.

He was just as bad at bat as he had been back in the fall at the first practice. With the sweat of anxiety stinging his eyes, he couldn't judge the pitches and struck out one, two, three, even going after an impossible outside ball.

The Panthers lost seven to four.

And Dipper dragged into the dugout thinking It's all my fault.

He had no option. For the good of the team—

He'd have to quit.

To be continued

Note from the Authors: This was just an idea I had but the one who really worked his magic and wrote almost all of this is none other than BillEase. He’s an amazing author who usually hangs out at fanfiction.net. Don’t pass up on a chance to check out his stuff. This guy is AMAZING. He wrote the story, I just gave the plot.

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explode-a-pult · 6 years

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All the Hogwarts Mystery asks 🤗

1. Did you use your real Last Name in the game or not? Why?

yeah, well–i used jay, but I used my real last name lol

2. Which house did you take and why? (Any back stories why you took it?)

I chose Ravenclaw!~ I mainly chose it because I am a Ravenclaw in like…every quiz I’ve ever taken? thats a lie I’ve gotten slytherin before a couple times

3. Opinion on Rowan?

they’re just a pure lil ravenclaw like they were made for ravenclaw idk why they didn’t keep them in ravenclaw but anywho~ i adore them–i mean, they’re a lil nerd and a bit lame in what they think is ‘cool’ but i still love em

4. Favourite character so far and why?

hmmm idk i mean, everyone is in love with penny or bill but i’m just meh on it all…i love good ol’ minnie the most, probably lol (I can’t spell her name I’m dumb I know shhhhh)

5. Who did you take with you on the first adventure to discover what’s behind the door and why? (Did you take Penny or Ben. And if you haven’t come that far, who do you plan to take along with?)

I took Ben because I didn’t have enough friendship for Penny UnU

6. Which character are you most excited to meet in the game? (This can be characters that haven’t appeared in your friend list, for example Charlie Weasley)

Tonks, probably~ Or even the twins, who are supposed to come in your seventh year

7. Have you heard any theories about the game? If so, which one?

Nope!

8. Opinion on Merula?

uUuuuuuuUUUuuggggh just malfoy as a girl tbh like so in love with my character but so repressed… she’s pretty annoying tho too, sometimes like gurl just leave me alone and let me solve this mystery–OR help me solve it since you want to figure it out so bad like bruv chill… also, that hair? what is it? why do you have one streak?

9. Favourite teacher?

I love McG the mostest even if i can’t spell her name flitwick is a close second tho

10. What do you think about your Prefect?

fucking annoying ass chester that motherfucker i fucking hate him omfg i wanna sock him in the face always fucking ‘didn’t lose more house points did you?’ ‘you haven’t gotten in trouble recently, i’m impressed’ like bITCH get on my level i’ve got the house up 60 points over the second place house BY MYSELF like brooooo i’ve earned over 200 points this year alone and i’m only half way through second year bUT NO, I LOSE 40 POINTS ONCE AND NOW I’M A TROUBLE MAKER, fuck you chester you lil shit. cursing slytherins when they’re not paying attention ass, not doing shit for the house ass, always on my ass ass… also, making me feel bad for not being able to volunteer for that slytherin altercation side quest, fuck yooooouuuu

so yeah. that’s what i feel for my male prefect. never met my female one yet.

edit: I was being nice. I got us 93 points ahead of the second place gryffindors.

11. Do you care about your brother Jacob? Why?

idk I guess I do? I just think ‘what if it were renee/ray/my other siblings’ and i’m like i would be surprised they did this bec they’re all fuckin introverts and not really ambitious enough to try find something enough to break rules? so it’s like…eeeehhhhhh i try to care but I’m more interested in like, being at hogwarts tbh

12. Are you more interested about Vaults or what happened to your brother?

probably what happened to my brother, because like…it drove him mad? what did it? watch, the vaults are just gonna be some stupid thing like the philosophers stone or s.t that’ll get moved at the end and that’s why the cursed vaults were never brought up in the books xD

13. Hogwarts Mystery or The Cursed Child? Best story so far?

I never read the cursed child bec fuck that. i’m not reading about a kid named albus severus like lmaooo

14. Any ideas what can have happened to your brother?

nope! merula says she knows but she’s not telling like the lil bitch she is. says he hasn’t got much time now so like??????????? is he dying?????

15. What do you hope you will get to do in the game?

uh romance people and actually fly around and duel more and actually get to befriend people without having to do stupid side quests like bruv

16. There is a lot negative about the energy bar, can you give something else about the game that you think is really positive? Can be anything!

you get to go to hogwarts, what’s the big issue? stop complaining about shit yo like have you tried other energy based games? shits ridiculous, especially in the money grubbing ones like kim k’s or even in the idol ones or those otome games like goddamn they’re expensive once you start hitting higher levels because you’ll end up needing gems and shit to refill your energy, meanwhile this one is every hour 50 you get a full bar again

17. Some stuff have appeared in the game that they never had in the movies, what are you happy have appeared in the game?

peeves is cool. you get an energy from tapping on him. also, depending on which house you choose, you get to see what they look like…also also you get to go to different areas that weren’t in the movie like filch’s office and shit, also hogsmeade is available in third year so i’m excited for that

oh, also! spells! like spongify seems like i’d use it all the time bec squish

18. Can you think of a song that suit to the story?

do you believe in magic

lol jokes idk not off the top of my head

19. How has the game affect your life? (is it hard to play because you’re at school/job? Has it affect your sleep schedule? Affect your phone?)

it really hasn’t affected me in any way other than having a new game on my phones? idk i guess it does take some time outta my life but i usually stick to 1 hour missions because that usually depletes my energy for two hours but i get like 40 attribute points or 1000 coins because i force reset the app when i get rewards so it takes maybe 20 minutes a mission?

20. How many have you told about the game?

i saw the tweet about it and went BOI, screenshot it and sent it to my sibs group chat and was all ‘fi you think i didn’t download this immediately’ and then showed my neph tex it when he asked what i was playing and he downloaded it and apparently my bro-in-law has it but idgaf about that but anyway yeah…

21. Who do you think Barnaby Lee is and what do you think he has purpose in the game?

i think he’s bae tbh

lol fuck watch it being my brother using polyjuice to try find the vaults again aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh

#hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery asks #ask meme

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scapegoated · 6 years

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One Month [Chapter 2]

Chapter 1 HERE

-- Sleep In

Kaid’s eyes opened, with a sense of disorientation. He was lying in a bed… a very comfortable bed… and not on the hard ground in a somewhat cramped Tiny Hut. Three adventurers and a God do take up a fair bit of space.

However, this bed was only occupied by himself at the moment… he sat up with a start. What time is it…? A warm glow was coming in the window, so he assumed it was the Underdark equivalent of daytime. It was easy to lose track down here, but less so in the Crystal City with its multi-coloured, faceted and glowing structure. It was bright enough now that Oz had probably left to perform his clerical duties.

Gazing about the room he took in the simple but sturdy furniture, topped with various crafts and knickknacks. It spoke of a comfortable life spent mostly in one place. Even as a child Kaid and his parents were always on the move. As travelling merchants their life wasn’t unstable, but it also was less than stationary. That being said, they caravan was cozy, and his father especially loved collecting souvenirs—much to his more practical mother’s chagrin. Something about the room stirred a feeling of nostalgia in Kaid.

Hopping out of bed, he Levitated the bedcovers with a flick of the hand, easily tidying up, yet with a seeping thought in the back of his mind—did using his powers make the psychic beacon coming from him stronger?

Ah… where’s my stuff… he wondered, then realizing that he’d left his pack behind in his rush to escape that meeting the night before.

Shit… he pulled on the rest of his clothes, recalling his paper-thin excuse from yesterday. Kaid anticipated at least some teasing about that.

Heading downstairs, and upon entering the kitchen he spotted something shiny on the table, along with a note. A key…? Written on the paper was a short message,

Had to leave for work, but didn’t want to wake you. Here’s a key to the place. You can add it to your collection. See you later!

With a smile creeping onto his face Kaid untied the rope of the necklace around his neck and added the freshly made house key.

-- Dynamo, baby

Kaid’s walk back to the seat of the government was somewhat more leisurely than his dash to find Oz, but he was still in a bit of a hurry as he walked through the parks of the Sanctuary of Ermath—the temple district of the Crystal City. It was also a lot less frantic than the last time he was here. When the city was under attack by fanatical Crystal Cultists, things were understandably tenser.

Now he could see members of the predominantly Dwarven population out and about with their families. Playing, socializing, having picnics. It was, to put it simply, nice. He put a little more hustle in his step.

Back at the Seat of the Triumvirate, Hans and Charlie were already talking with the appropriate parties to make preparations for the coming plans when Kaid slunk into the chamber. Of course the hinges on the door creaked as he opened it, earning him an assortment of pointed and couple of perceptive looks before, mercifully, everyone returned to their discussions. Cringing, Kaid approached, trying to get a feel of the conversation before jumping in.

“Charlie, what’s the scoop?” he whispered to the Dhampir ranger.

“We just got Andre to hook us up with some more Dynamo Stones for when we leave. Plus,” he held out his hand, revealing two more detonator rings, “Now we can all set them off.”

“Damn, nice!” Kaid replied, taking one of the rings. “I’m pretty sure we can fit everything in the Handy Haversack…” he trailed off. “We took that with us to our room last night, don’t even worry about it. How was the library situation? Didn’t know it was open so late.” Charlie grinned, his one crystal fang shining as he gave Kaid a nudge in the arm.

“Uhh, yeah, learning never stops, I always say.” Kaid fumbled for a witty reply.

Hans was standing tall, arms folded across his chest, talking to Gordon, the head of the city guard and now one of the three Triumvirate members. “Aye, looking into these attacks on yonder Mushroom Folk is a wise idea, lad.” Gordon and Hans had had quite the buddy cop dynamic, and it seems they were slipping back into it with ease. “It may take, ach, two maybe three weeks ta comb that area, with the information ye provided. Will ye wait for the expedition ta come back or will ye lads be heading out?”

Kaid looked back and forth between Charlie and Hans, he knew they’d chomping at the bit to get on the road but… Please please let’s stay. For a little while. He had closed his eyes, and opening them again Kaid wasn’t entirely sure if he’d sent that out telepathically or not, from the way his teammates glanced back.

“It would be ideal to have that information before we resurface,” Hans declared, turning back to Gordon. The stout Dwarf reached up to clap the much taller half-elf Rogue on the back. Kaid’s heart did a flip flop with relief, and excitement, Two or three weeks!

“T’will be advantageous to have ye around again, von Panzer! The lads of the guard could do with a little training, can’t have us gettin’ lax just ‘cause you dealt with the previous threat. Best be on our toes.”

“Training, huh? I feel like I’m just about to break through to my next level of potential,” Hans von Panzer had a familiar glint in his eye, “Let’s get to it.” That red cape billowed impressively as he and Gordon strolled off, the Dwarf struggling just a little to match his stride.

-- Armor for Charlie

“Here’s your stuff, Kaid,” Charlie easily lifted the enchanted bag, handing it to the tiefling, “Don’t worry, we didn’t peek.” Kaid had to laugh at that, since it was mostly shared items; the Dynamo Stones, some gems they’d picked up, some chunks of mithril ore, their dwindling rations, various books. “That’s fine, I think you know most of my inventory already.”

“Speaking of, did you get some new bling?” Charlie nodded towards the freshly acquired key around his neck.

Shit. “Uh, yeah…” he wondered if there was any point in keeping up this pretence, after all he was only being evasive because he was shy.

“So, was thinking of going to the archery range, but I should totally look into getting that mithril armor made while we’re here. Been in touch with your Forge Cleric…” he coughed, “boyfriend?”

Kaid covered his face for a minute. Scratch that. There was absolutely no point in keeping up the pretence, “Yeah, I was there last night… I don’t think Oz makes armor, but he would definitely know someone who does. Can I get back to you with a recommendation?”

Charlie beamed—though it’s hard to picture a Dhampir beaming, Charlie is an expert—clapping Kaid on the shoulder, “Yeah, buddy! I’m gonna hit the archery range, then. Can’t let these arms get rusty!” he made his signature pose before walking off with a wave over his shoulder at Kaid.

-- The Library, actually

The Warlock didn’t have any books to return, but he did truly need to go to the Library. That at least had only been partially a lie. There were two pressing issues. First of all, they were slated to return from the Underdark to the topside of Cymmeria, which they’d left because it was infested with vampires. Thus, they needed as much information on the creatures as possible.

Secondly, there was the lingering prophecy that had been following him around—literally—most likely connected to the shadowy figures, and certainly connected to the Mind Flayers.

MADNESS WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO

YOUR SALVATION LIES IN THE UNBREAKABLE SPIRE

A comforting thought. Earlier communication with Kaid’s mentor, the Mage named Malfier, had revealed some details. Mainly that this “Unbreakable Spire”—possibly named The Temple of Cryx—was in the Underdark, but it was beyond The Abyss. Also a Shadow Dragon was taking up residence there. Oh, not to mention, The Abyss is Mind Flayer City. Of course.

With these two issues in his periphery, he found himself at the city’s Library. An impressive structure, found in The Arcanum, hub of magical research and arcane experimentation. There was also a library in The Temple district, but he figured with the sought after topics, The Arcanum was his best bet.

Kaid walked up to the front desk and leaned on the counter, whispering “Do I need to fill out a form to get a library card?”

An older Dwarven woman, red hair streaked with grey, peered up at him through thick glasses, “My, don’t ye look familiar? Aren’t ye one of the heroes in that statue in the park?”

Not really used to such notoriety, Kaid was a little startled but mostly pleased, “Uh, yeah! That’s me, Kaid Valvenom.”

“Right’ye are! Mr. Valvenom. Well don’t you be frettin’ about the library card, I don’t s’ppose yer settling down here? I’ve known a few adventurers in my time. Not much for settlin’ down.” She gets a misty look in her eye, and before Kaid can answer she starts up, “Well, look at me, talkin’ yer ear off. If ye need any help just give me a holler, Miss Yergi to ya. Jus’ don’t make me track ye down for late fees.”

“Just Kaid is fine—actually I have two topics I’m interested in, if you could help me out…”

It didn’t take Miss Yergi too long to locate some heavy tomes, most of which she carried to a little reading nook, carved out of the crystal. It had a small light, and some cushions. Kaid figured he would make a dent in some reading here, save himself some effort in carrying them back to... Oz’s. Lifting wasn’t his forte, and using Telekenesis was kind of overkill. Sinking into the cushions he tucked into the first book, “The Vampire, In Lore and Legend”.

Losing track of the time, Kaid’s notebook became filled with information about the various weaknesses and strengths of their foes above. Radiant damage, stakes, resting places, Holy water… The Temple of Cryx proved to be more elusive, but there was one text that seemed like it had relevant information, so that’s the one he packed up for further reading when Miss Yergi gently informed him that the library was closing for the night.

Not a 24 hour establishment after all; noted.

It was at that point that Kaid realized he had no idea what time it was, as well as no idea when Oz actually finished up with his Cleric work for the day. Better get a move on.

“I’ll bring this back soon!” he mentioned to the kindly librarian in a hushed tone, before heading off into the softly glowing city.

TO BE CONTINUED...

#dnd #Dungeons and Dragons #short story #tiefling #queer #romance #queer romance

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patricksilverrose · 3 years

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My Favorite Albums of 2020

It’s that time of year again! I’m a bit late on this since it took me a bit to finish off my list of new releases, but it’s time now! Here we will be looking at my top 10 favorite albums of 2020. I also did a post on my top 5 favorite EP’s and you check that out here!

Before we get into this, let me explain my system. I compile a list of majority of the releases I checked out over the year and have them separated into three categories: the good, the ones that have potential to be favorites, and the favorites. The good will have ** marked next to them and the potential favorites will have *** next to them. I didn’t have many releases this year that didn’t make it onto my list, which is great to hear.

As always, let me give some disclaimers. First and foremost: these are my personal thoughts and opinions on these releases. If you think a release should be higher, lower, or not even on my list, that is on you. Second: I am a metalhead, so most of the releases you will see on here are metal releases.

Now let’s first see the honorable mentions!

Semblant - Obscura** Amberian Dawn - Looking for You** Temperance - Viridian** Catalepsia - Inheritance** Kesha - High Rode** Thy Catafalque - Naiv** Deathwhite - Grave Image** Fluisteraars - Bloem** Clouds - Durere** Burning Witches - Dance with the Devil** My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion** Fallcie - Bad Blood** The Order of Chaos - Maniacal** Ad Infinitum - Chapter I: Monarchy** Miracle Flair - Synchronism** Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant** Her Chariot Await - Her Chariot Await** Carach Angren - Franckensteina Strataemontanus** Haken - Virus** The Wise Man's Fear - Valley of Kings** Volturian - Crimson** Thy Despair - The Song of Desolation** Reasons Behind - Project M.I.S.T.** Psychotic Waltz - The God-Shaped Void** The Naked and Famous - Recover** Ravenscry - 100** Cult of Lilith - Mara** Smackbound - 20/20** The Anix - Graphite** Silentium - Motiva** Darzamat - A Philospher at the End of the Universe** Davina Michelle - My Own World** Walk in Darkness - On the Road to Babylon** DGM - Tragic Separation** Ulver - Flowers of Evil** Strvngers - Zayka** Goldenhall - Collide** Memoira - Carnival of Creation**

AfterTime - The Farthest Shore*** Rina Sawayama - Sawayama*** Diabulus in Musica - Euphonic Entropy*** Myrkur - Folkesange*** Ignea - The Realms of Fire and Death*** Vile Creature - Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!*** Dark Sarah - Grim*** Lady Gaga - Chromatica*** Angel - A Woman's Diary: Chapter 2*** Aleah - Aleah*** I Miss My Death - MYSTO*** MoonSun - Escapalace*** Ayreon - Transitus*** Mikaela - Nocturne in Red*** Eleine - Dancing in Hell*** Light Field Reverie - Another World*** Veil of Secrets - Dead Poetry*** Invocation Array - Arctiinae*** Lindsay Schoolcraft - Worlds Away*** Black Crown Initiate - Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape*** Draconian - Under a Godless Veil*** Seven - Interdimensional Acts I and II***

Now let the fun begin with the top 10!

10. Nightwish - Human. :||: Nature.

Ok, hear me out Nightwish stans. This album wonderful, but given that I don't listen to disc two and that there's a song on here that I don't like has it this low. Just be glad this one made it onto my list unlike their last album. Also his album was in a three-way tie for 10th place in my list. Anyways, this was a strong release from them. I love how they really figured out what it was they wanted EFMB to sound like. It's different, more symphonic, a bit on the gentle side; all while still maintaining that fairytale essence that we've all grown to love from them.

Favorite songs: 1. Shoemaker 2. Noise 3. Tribal

9. The Birthday Massacre - Diamonds

I'm not gonna lie, I fell off these guys a bit in recent years since their newer music wasn't doing enough for me. This album definitely changed that. This album is so lovely. I definitely love how they're going in a more ambient/shoegaze type of direction now. It really adds such a lovely dimension to their sound. Yeah I miss hearing the stronger sides of Chibi's voice, but this more delicate side is really lovely.

Favorite songs: 1. Crush 2. Parallel Worlds 3. Run

8. Ani Lo. Projekt - A Time Called Forever

This is a band that I discovered this year through their record label. I was blown away by just how strong her voice was. They definitely skew more towards progressive power metal than symphonic progressive metal, but I still definitely love this release. It's very strong, a lot of fun, and has a very solid production. Also wasn't expecting her to go full mezzo-soprano at times.

Favorite songs: 1. A Time Called Forever 2. Walk Alone 3. Back to You

7. Aeternam - Al Qassam

This is another band I discovered this year. A model/performer/singer I like, Mahafsoun, was featured in a music video for this album so decided to give them a go. I'm a sucker for oriental metal bands. The strong production, beefy riffs, and lovely orchestrations really make this release for me. And their frontman has such a lovely voice.

Favorite songs: 1. Hanan Pacha 2. Poena Universi 3. Al Qassam

6. Operus - Score of Nightmares

Once again, this is another band I discovered this year. After really liking the first song I heard from them, I decided to check out more from them. Such a great decision. This is the type of power metal I love. Dark, a strong symphonic element, and their frontman doesn't sound like every single power metal singer out there. In fact, he's a tenor! Yes, another male opera singer fronting a metal band! He doesn't go full tenor often, but when he does I always lose it.

Favorite songs: 1. La Llorona 2. Ruin 3. Lost

5. Dool - Summerland

This album is so lovely. If you've never heard of this band, the best way I can describe their sound is if Black Sabbath and Fleetwood Mac had a baby. It's dark and doomy, while still having a light and airy production. I feel this album really shows off just how diverse and beautiful Ryanne's voice is. It's haunting, fun, pretty, and most importantly dark.

Favorite songs: 1. Dust & Shadow 2. Summerland 3. Wolf Moon

4. Snow White Blood - Hope Springs Eternal

I had such high hopes for this release and it definitely didn't disappoint. Something that I love about this band is that they don't rely on the fact that Uli is a soprano and don't have her going full soprano in every song like most symphonic metal bands do. The fact that their lyrics are about fairytales, but they're still able to give the song such a dark spin at times is always great. The power and beauty this band exudes is so wonderful.

Favorite songs: 1. You Belong to Me 2. Never-Ending Waltz 3. Drop a Stitch

3. Oceans of Slumber - Oceans of Slumber

I was a bit worried about this release at first given how different the singles were. But after giving it a full listen many times, I quickly realized I had nothing to worry about. It's still very different, but it still sounds like them. It has the heaviness of Winter and the darkness of The Banished Heart, but they also played with soul and low key have a country song on this release. It's such a unique release for them, but those haunting vocals and dark landscapes remind you it's them.

Favorite songs: 1. Pray for Fire 2. A Return to the Earth Below 3. I Mourn These Yellowed Leaves

2. Arkan - Lila H

I was not expecting to love this album as much as I do. I had a feeling I'd really like it, but nowhere to this degree. It's so powerful and intense while still managing to maintain a level of beauty thanks to Manuel's cleans. The dualities between beauty and intensity play so well together on this album. I also love how proggy this album is compared to previous releases. It gives it such a fresh feel to it.

Favorite songs: 1. Black Decade 2. Shameless Lies 3. Crawl

1. Delain - Apocalypse and Chill

Am I biased given that Delain is my favorite band of all time to have them be my favorite release of the year? Yes. Do I care? No. The production on this album is so good and I love how much they experimented with new things (having a choir, Charlotte screaming on a track, leaning into djent a bit more) while still staying true to themselves. And the theme of the album is really great look at the world, especially given how shit this year was overall. And just a heads up about the favorite songs, Masters of Destiny isn't on there since it was on Hunter's Moon which was released last year and I listed it as a favorite off that release.

Favorite songs: 1. Burning Bridges 2. The Greatest Escape 3. Combustion

And that’s all for 2020! Although this was a pretty shit year, there were definitely some amazing albums to come out of it. 2021 is already starting to look like a fun year for music and I cannot wait to hear what amazing gems will come out of it. But until then, I hope you all enjoy this list!

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sodapaladin · 6 years

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PawelCyril’s Top 10 Games 2017!

Just like my good friend @shylax, I’ll be considering any game I played for the first time in 2017, not just games that came out this year, because I mostly play older games and can highlight some underrated gems this way!

10. Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (GB)

Castlevania: The Adventure is not a good game. It’s slooow and missing many Castlevania staples, such as subweapons and stairs, of all things. Its sequel, on the other hand, is Game Boy Castlevania done right. Hot damn. The four castles can be completed in any order, so even if you forget your password, you aren’t stuck doing the same intro level a hundred times. The action and platforming is on point. There are problems, certainly, but unlike the first Game Boy outing, this one feels like a proper Castlevania. The soundtrack is also killer, as par for the series’ course. Interestingly, the Japanese and international versions have one different subweapon, the cross and axe, respectively.

9. Mobile Golf (GBC)

Did you know Mario Golf (GBC) had a sequel only released in Japan? It probably didn’t come over due to its relation with the mobile adapter which also wasn’t released outside of Japan. It seems odd to test mobile multiplayer with a golf game, seeing as I could get the same result by playing the game myself and then comparing scores with my friend. That gimmick aside, this game’s essentially an expansion pack sequel to Mario Golf, running on the same engine but with new courses. It also features Foreman Spike, from Wrecking Crew! When will he make another comeback?

8. Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (PC)

I tried this adorable indie game thanks to @arkthepieking recommendation, and he was right, it was right up my alley. Everything about it is so charming, from the characters to the graphics to the music. The difficulty goes up at a good pace, and there are quite a few secrets to be found. It’s free and short, so give it a try sometime!

7. NES Remix (1 and 2) (Wii U)

The idea of sampling old NES games’ best moments is brilliant. Every once in a while, I think, “Gee, I miss Super Mario Bros. 2, but I’m only in the mood for a couple minutes of it.” Well this highlight collection has you covered! I appreciate Zelda II in theory, but I don’t have the patience to get through its slow dialogue and frustrating areas such as Death Mountain. Thanks to this game, I was able to experience the thrilling boss fights and memorable moments without hours of irritation. It’s also a great way to sample games for a younger audience who may have not even heard of some of these games. My biggest complaint would be how the first challenge for certain games (Kirby’s Adventure uuugh) forces you to sit through a tutorial every single time, making it annoying to replay those challenges for a high score. Some challenges are also scored in a strange way, leaving you wondering why you got 3 stars or only 1. Not every game is a winner, but there are enough classics to entertain any NES fan.

6. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

Mario Kart 7 was a bit underwhelming, but Mario Kart 8 brought back the fun. While some of the character choices are disappointing (waaay too many babies), we also got Isabelle, so it balances out. The zero-gravity gimmick is fine, although I don’t even realize I’m upside-down most of the time. Regardless, the new courses are a blast, and there are plenty of revamped retro courses that make me nostalgic and happy. The F-Zero and Animal Crossing courses in particular are full of love. I can’t get over the little details such as rupees replacing coins in the Zelda course, or how every Animal Crossing game’s theme is represented (ILY GameCube AC).

5. Final Fantasy V (GBA)

Being a huge Dragon Quest fan, I’ve held off on playing this for a long time, but I finally got around to it this year. This may just be my favorite main FF game. The story is simplistic compared to IV, but it’s still interesting enough for me. The best way to describe it is charming. The music is also lovely, especially the battle theme, which is my favorite in the series. I’m still not finished with this game, but it’s safe to say I like it a lot.

4. JGTO Kōnin Golf Master (GBA)

I bought this game just to add to my golf game collection. I did not expect it to be such an underrated gem. Easily my favorite golf game on the GBA, and one I still play from time to time. You can read my full review on it for more details. Overall, it’s a fun game with good pacing and a super catchy soundtrack. Technically this game came out in the west as ESPN Final Round Golf 2002, which took out the story mode and changed some graphics. The cartoony real-life golfers were replaced by realistic-looking fictional golfers, and a few other things such as the HUD are changed around, but it’s essentially the same game. If you want a golf game for the GBA besides Mario Golf, I highly recommend this.

3. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (3DS)

Although I put Fates on my top ten list last year, it was a massive disappointment in many ways. Echoes blows it out of the water. Despite being a remake, it’s so fresh! It’s a remake of Gaiden in terms of story, but it’s a completely revamped game that takes everything you know about Fire Emblem and chucks it out the window. It took a while to relearn things such as inventory management and spells, which are now handled differently, but this breath of fresh air is exactly what this series needed. Easily one of the best Fire Emblem games.

2. Dungeon Travelers 2 (PS Vita)

Technically I bought this last year, but I put it on hiatus for a while and played a lot more this year, so I think it’s earned a spot. Not gonna lie, I bought this game primarily for the sleaze. It’s a dungeon crawler with cute girls. What else could I ask for? To my surprise, though, it’s actually a fantastic dungeon crawler in its own right. The difficulty can be quite tough at times, but that makes it so satisfying to overcome. There are tons of ways to build your party, with dozens of jobs that fit into various archetypes. I love the idea of the maid class, which isn’t too useful on its own, but has the ability to restore another party member’s MP for free. This is a fascinating idea, essentially sacrificing a slot in your party for an extra battery for your mage. The story is rather forgettable, but the characters are surprisingly likable and are more interesting than simply sexy ladies. Gratuitous fanservice is still a major part of the game, however, so it’s difficult to recommend this game to any RPG fan. If you’re into women and dungeon crawling, though, this game is way better than it has any right to be. There’s a free demo, so check it out!

1. Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Can you believe I played this for the first time in 2017? For years, friends have told me I’d love this game, but I didn’t believe the hype. Chrono Trigger is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. The story, music, characters, gameplay, and more are all incredible. The story was interesting throughout with little filler, and it moved from plot point to plot point organically without the need to gather seven magic crystals or the like. The party members felt like individuals with their own goals, not merely tagging along because you’re the protagonist. For example, having to fight Magus alone as Frog is you have him in your party was satisfying and made sense. I could gush about this game forever but RPG fans already know how great it is. I cannot recommend it enough.

#goty

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nosunlite · 6 years

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ap top 25 list: 2k17, a month late

The AP “Audio Popularity” Poll was Ben’s way to get us all to make a list and talk about our favorite songs of the month, back when we were all living in the same house. He describes it here. I have since cut back to doing it every year, with the ever shifting goal of defining “audio popularity” and “favorite” and “best”.

This year’s list, 5 years after Ben’s death, my main goal is to identify 25 awesome tracks that I’d love to talk to Ben about. They are my favorite 25 songs of the year, a focus on new discoveries (tho a few songs from last year’s list show up), songs that I surely would’ve dubbed for Ben back in the day.

25. the rats: the rats’ revenge

60’s punk rager - an era we did not ever go deep into, but now it’s time to eat up those Back from the Grave comps.

24. fluf: stuffed animal

Not their typical noise-grunge, which Ben yeah loved (he lived Sub Pop inexplicably into the 2010s), but a Sebadoh-esque minimal gem.

23. LNZ: blondehairdown

The most quoted song of 2k17 for me. Ben was always into weird local rappers no matter where he was. Sharing this internet-destroying monstrosity with him would be a conversation for thee ages!

22. new kingdom: terror mad visionary

tom waits as MC sounds like a thing ben would love or hate (he rejected lots of undie rappers for their not slamming hard enough) but this stuff is so pirate-vocalled that i’d love to have asked him what was going on here.

21. octa#grape: dirigibles

The most soul-junk of galaxalag’s new group, spinning all sortsa weird beats into their calm noise.

20. wovenhand: golden blossom

16 hp was a shared favorite, and i’d love to go thru these new DEE albums with ben.

19. slim cessna’s auto club: commandment 3

Seeing these guys live was a total revival that was up Ben’s alley. Dwight Pentecost and his doubleneck guitar with hologram switching from Sacred Heart to Marian Immaculate Heart. Munly looking like a straight up ghoul man, gathering us into a circle, and chiding me for screaming the lyrics too loud. Slim just hamming it up preacher style. Rebecca wielding all sortsa kitchen sinks and keeping it together. They encored to “Commandment 3” in a karaoke choreograph line dance. One of the few shows I’ve seen that really produced a spectacle within a minimalist framework.

18. kleenex girl wonder: dont wait up

An alternative bee-thousand.

17. puff pieces: competition

The local DC stuff always seems to be ahead of the rest.

16. arroyo deathmatch: swimming the witch

They acoustic thrash their folk without guitars and just uke! This one sprays rap tropes and references all over the Crassy gender politics. Joyous bleakness!

15. the out_circuit: come out shooting

A wonderful sequel to our favorite Frodus “Year of the Hex.”

14. ramshackle glory: punk is the worst form of music, except for all the others

Anarcho politics and emotions, what drew me into punk.

13. a fistful of dynamite: smoke it, like a cigarette

More acoustic thrash folk with an even worse vocalist. “Write my own favorite songs/ write my own singalongs...you think this is bad? Well it just gets more rough!”. The world’s worst snare sound. Charmed!

12. shellac: riding bikes

He was an albini fan, and we would definitely have spent time jamming his new ones. And what an epic this one is.

11. bradley hathaway: the world is screaming

I could see ben finding it utterly pretentious, but bradley straddles that line of being so serious but also so reckless, so honest and so charming to me. His new album is the best, riotous blasphemy as prayer, but this one does the post rock building ben taught me to dig.

10. lou barlow: try 2 b

Our indie legend put out a great one (years olde already?), oh well, it slams lo-fi.

9. the beakers: 4 steps towards a cultural revolution

Ben downplays a lot of thee weird punk, but weird punk from his beloved Seattle scene? He’d dig! This out Ubus David Thomas. Ultra.

8. ps eliot: the cyborg

Reminds me of so much of the stuff on the ktru tapes, but this struck me very hard this year.

7. lifter puller: mission viejo

Most of their weird stuff has more to discuss, i guess, with the spoken stories and nonsense arrangements, but this is just an indie rock emotion block of thee highest order.

6. defiance, ohio: calling old friends

A classic campfire singalong.

5. henry thomas: when the train comes along

Not Thomas’ most canonical or comp’d performance, but such a stomper. Ben got me into old timey music and the last cd’s he ripped from me were the pseudo-old-timey boxset from Fonotone.

4. ballydowse: sails

An albini-produced christian-anarcho celtic folk/punk group relying prominently on tuvan throat singing. And yet it took me til 2k17 to find it. Ben used to be after a Crashdog CD at Family Bookstore, but this stuff would’ve taken it to a whole nother level. The best band you don’t know!

3. snail mail: static buzz

Woulda been a ktru darling. Local bmore rock girl makes it big - new album gonna be on Matadork.

2. mike knott: double

We always ignored the mike knott stuff, but this year has been all about rediscovering the blonde vinyl roster, and that dip goes deep. This song is an undeniable one, whether live at Cornerstone or with the *gasp* secular Aunty Bettys playing it.

1. showbread: matthias replaces judas

This raw rock was the first new rekkerd i listened to after we found out ben had died, but a song that has only emerged more recently as a post-Pedro emotional cleansing monster. Ben loved “Every New Day” with the Reese Roper vocals, he’d love this too. & it’s the best song ever, so he’d better...

honorable mentions:

Blackbird Raum - Last Legs // Acoustic thrash folk! He’d be thrilled to see Wacko-Hed’s genre is alive ‘n’ well...

Double Dagger - The Lie / The Truth // Righteous at the drive-ining.

City of Caterpillar - A Little Change Could Go a Long Ways // One of the bands that indoctrinated me into punk rock seeing them live - i put off listening to their cd until recently. Ben would talk about how NoU did it better, I’m sure!

William Elliot Whitmore - cold and dead // Ugly blues voice on this Americana death tinged guy.

Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace of God / Fairytale of New York // We never talked about the Pogues. They hit most of the sweetspots for me emotionally and aesthetically. Ben loved Cordelia’s Dad, and this is their Dad.

Model Engine - Reeperbahn // Ah a CCM classic - I knew we had to listen to Black Eyed Sceva, but unsure how much play this one ever got in the CCM era.

Lift to Experience - to guard and to guide // They post rocked the map to Texas. I remember expecting to find this in the used CD store when I visited Ben at Rice. Now it’s been reissued and is weirder packaged and sounding than ever - really woulda liked to listen to this with him.

Flesh Eaters - Pray till You Sweat // Richard Hell in Violent Femmes skin godsend

EZT - Central Control // Some sorta Neil Young smog. Who knows.

close:

mike knott - rocket and a bomb; one way streets - we all love peanut butter; 3 mile pilot - house is loss; i hate myself - urban barbie, keep reaching for those stars; fistful of dynamite - tribute to castellana; arroyo deathmatch - as an instrument, all the best matadors are fascists, casting into the void; azealia banks - 212; lifter puller - star wars hips, plymouth rock, math is money, 4dix; ramshackle glory - face the void, eulogy for an adolescence shattered against elliot st. pavement; kleenex girl wonder - tendency right foot forward, the sound of paul, why i write such good songs; new kingdom - kicking like bruce lee; slim cessna - commandment 7, hold my head, he roger williams; aunt bettys - speeder mode; shellac - dude incredible; snail mail - thinning; 2 whole Fountainsun and Aesop Rock lps...

#showbread #matthais replaces judas #ap top 25 #best songs #songs I love #mike knott

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cyberkevvideo · 4 years

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Throne of Night Theory Builds Part 24: The Deep Dragon Queen of Book 3

Tonight’s entry is definitely a different one. Namely, I was going to make this dead last. Literally as absolutely last as possible. Mostly because I don’t have a proper picture for this one. Just a stock photo, and a picture that technically goes along with it.

But, beggars can’t be choosers, and this entry is entirely based around opportunity knocking/circumstances being what they are. I’ll get into that though in the next half.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the encounter build.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus

Because it got brought up, I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who are looking to support me. No pressure though. The economy isn’t the greatest at the moment, so some belts are being tightened more than usual.

Finally, before get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

So tonight I came across old, old notes that gave a synopsis of Book 3, and it’s actually different/more detailed than the last update I’d read that gave you the rundown of Books 3-6. This is information I absolutely needed to know back when I did the undead dwarf king. Needless to say that this update is actually completely different than what I had originally intended because I had wanted my readers to know that the Golem Wielder entry had been given a massive update. Had to completely remove a bunch of feats in exchange of others, and revise the magic items, land speed, AC, etc. At least it wasn’t a complete re-write, which was what I was originally afraid I was going to have to do.

But that’s really about it. A dwarf doesn’t want to die, it uses dark pacts and forbidden magic, and it meets up with a deep dragon that can help with all of that. On top of that, this same dragon has the ability to corrupt and help give people their grandest desires. There is a lot to unpack here.

I’m now going to explain how I came up with this specific build. 1) It had to be a dragon. Namely, a deep dragon. Thankfully there’s a template for that. 2) It specifically had to be dragon that could shape change. Okay. Less options, but maybe there’s a way around it. 3) It has to be able to corrupt and grant the desires of others. Hmm. Again, difficult, but not impossible. Thankfully there’s a template for that too. 4) This dragon may or not be the reason why the “dark fire/black fire” existed and wiped out so many of the dwarves, causing ghosts to come up their graves and curse the mountain to be inescapable. Hellfire likely works for this one. Again, a lot to unpack. I will say that my build is likely very wrong as Book 3 of Throne of Night was supposed to come out in 2015, and Pathfinder Bestiary 6 came out in 2017. That said, this works way better than I had hoped. And with only adding a single hit die, it’s most definitely a CR 15 encounter. So glad I didn’t have to make it Young and add 2 class levels. I was so afraid I’d have to.

Not gonna lie. After talking to a lot of different users on the Kickstarter comments and the Paizo forums, the conclusion a few of us came to was the black flame was a result of either the prestige class that’s absolutely not OGL or radiation. If that was the case, I was leaning towards a solar dragon, but that doesn’t get channel radiation until way, way later, and there’s no way something that powerful would be in Book 3. Even if you added the Young template numerous times, that wouldn’t help, and would just get stupid. So this is where we stand.

Of course the real question is “how does an undead have progeny?” Well, when wishes are involved, you make sure to word it in just the right way. There were spells and items back in D&D 3.5e that helped with such things. There’s no reason a work-around couldn’t be in here too. I mean, dhampirs exist and it’s not all because a pregnant woman was bitten.

Also, anyone wondering, the shape change ability would default to looking like a female dwarf. When things go down, she’ll revert to her true form. And it’s preferable to not have her fight alongside her undead partner and the cannon golem. That might end up being an epic encounter for a 13th level party. Adding it all up together, it’s not quite an EL 18 encounter, but it’s definitely more than EL 17. The graveknight’s tactics are for it being paired with the cannon golem, but there’s no reason it can’t fight them separately, and the graveknight fight alongside his dragon queen.

As for the progeny and them having dark fire access too, Gary already released aid regarding that. “Way of the Wicked” Book 6 has the hellfire spell. It’s available to the magus, sorcerer/wizard, summoner, and witch. That’s still enough for the half-dragon children who are likely eldritch scion draconic bloodline and sorcerer draconic bloodline. Depending on the campaign, access to certain feats, wishes, etc, there might be other ways to get that or other variants of the spell. There’s definitely a 3rd party hellfire weapon property. Lots of possible options available.

And just before we get to it, the pronunciation for her name is, sin-dra-xy-ohs. Also, the dragon art is directly from Paizo’s Bestiary 6. This is what it looks like normally, but picture it without wings. Deep dragons lose their ability to fly and have a burrow speed instead.

DRAGON QUEEN CIDRAXIOS (CR 15; 51,200 XP) Female unique corruptor young infernal deep dragon LE Large dragon (evil, extraplanar, lawful) Init +6; Senses dragon senses; Perception +21 DEFENSE AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 30 (+2 armor, +2 deflection, +2 Dex, +17 natural, –1 size) hp 217 (15d12+120) Fort +19, Ref +13, Will +16; +3 vs. divination Defensive Abilities false mind, fiery acid blood (R-DC 25, 3d6), inscrutable +3; DR 15/adamantine; Immune acid, fire, hellfire, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, sleep Weaknesses light blindness OFFENSE Speed 60 ft., burrow 30 ft., earth glide Melee bite +25 (2d6+14 plus 3d6 acid and fire/19–20), 2 claws +25 (2d6+10/19–20), tail slap +19 (1d8+14), 2 wings +19 (1d6+5) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with bite) Special Attacks breath weapon (80-ft. line, 7d10 hellfire damage, R-DC 25 half), deep gaze (W-DC 24), fiery acidic spittle, mark of vice (W-DC 24), oppressive heat, shredding stone Spell-like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +22) At will—atonement (temptation only) 3/day—detect good, geas, helping hand, lesser geas, make whole, major creation, minor creation 1/day—sympathy (W-DC 25), wish (granted to a nonevil aligned mortal only) Oracle Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +8) 1st (4/day)—bane (W-DC 18), command (W-DC 18) 0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, read magic, spark (R-DC 17) STATISTICS Str 28, Dex 14, Con 27, Int 20, Wis 17, Cha 24 Base Atk +15; CMB +25; CMD 39 (43 vs. trip) Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite, claw) Skills Appraise +22, Bluff +27, Climb +20, Craft (all) +13, Diplomacy +35, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Knowledge (history, local, planes) +20, Linguistics +22, Perception +21, Sense Motive +28, Spellcraft +20, Use Magic Device +25; Racial Modifiers +8 Craft (all), +8 Diplomacy, +8 Sense Motive; +3 to all Charisma-based checks. Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Infernal, Skis’raal, Undercommon plus any 8 others SQ change shape 3/day (any animal or humanoid), compression, corruptor’s boon, imbue with ability, serpentine reach, what do you covet Gear amulet of mighty fists +1, bracers of armor +2, cloak of resistance +2, headband of alluring charisma +2, ring of protection +2, tome of leadership and influence +1 (read), Mithral Crown of Leadership (acts as a circlet of persuasion), treasure horde (gems, gold and silver pieces, mithral bars, and carved art objects made from various types of stone; total worth of 5,500 gp) SPECIAL ABILITIES Corruptor’s Boon (Su) Once per day, a corruptor can grant a touched creature a +4 profane bonus to one ability score for 24 hours. When the duration ends, the creature suffers a –4 profane penalty to the same ability score for the next 24 hours. Another application not only negates the penalty, but also restores the full bonus. Deep Gaze (Su) Buried suggestion (see below) 30 ft., Will negates (special). As suggestion, except the target need not understand the deep dragon creature and the effect is permanent until discharged. The dragon telepathically implants the suggestion into the subject. The suggestion planted must not take place immediately. When it occurs it must be based on an event or an amount of time going by. At least three days must pass before the suggestion compels the subject. During the period while the suggestion is buried, neither divination spells nor Sense Motive will reveal that the subject is under the effect of an enchantment. The subject does not attempt his saving throw until the triggering event occurs. The death of the dragon does not end this effect. Dragon Senses (Ex) Dragons have darkvision 120 ft. and blindsense 60 ft. They see four times as well as a human in dim light and twice as well in normal light. Earth Glide (Su) A young or older deep true dragon creature glides through stone, dirt, or any sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of its presence. Move earth cast on an area containing an earth gliding deep dragon creature flings the dragon back 30 ft., stunning the creature for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save. False Mind (Su) This ability offers the corruptor the benefits of a mind blank spell. When an attempt is made to detect his alignment or read his thoughts, the corruptor can cause the magic to reveal any alignment or thoughts the corruptor creature chooses, even if he is not initially aware of the attempt. Fiery Acidic Blood (Su) Any creature that damages a deep dragon with a piercing or slashing melee weapon must make a Reflex save or be subject to the damage equal to Deep dragon’s spittle (see below) as it is sprayed with blood. Melee weapons with reach don’t endanger their users in this way. Fiery Acidic Spittle (Su) All deep dragon creatures have a thick, gooey spittle that is hot enough and acidic enough to sear and corrode both flesh and rock. Normally, as they tunnel through the earth they secret this fluid to soften stone. In battle, the deep dragon adds this additional amount of damage to their natural attacks. Half the damage is acid the other half fire. Hellfire (Su) Half of the damage from hellfire is fire damage, and half is unholy energy that bypasses fire resistance and immunity. Hellproof (Ex) The infernal dragon is immune to fire, hellfire, and mind-affecting effects. Imbue with Ability (Su) Once per day as a standard action the corruptor creature can grant a creature it touches one of its spells, spell-like abilities, extraordinary abilities or even one of its supernatural abilities in a manner similar to imbue with spell ability (no save). It loses access to that ability during this time; it can dismiss this benefit as a free action regaining the use of one or more of its abilities. Inscrutable (Ex) An infernal dragon gains a bonus on saves against divination spells and effects equal to its age category number. Mark of Vice (Su) This ability works like a mark of justice (Will save negates) but it is only triggered if the creature attempts to find a redemption to its corruption (subject to GM adjudication). The mark is also invisible and is always placed over the victim’s heart. Oppressive Heat (Su) A creature that fails its save against an infernal dragon’s breath weapon can’t benefit from morale bonuses for 1 minute. If the creature fails another save against the breath weapon during this time, it is staggered for 1 round. Shredding Stone (Su) A Deep dragon creature gains a +4 bonus to confirm critical hits with its claws. What Do You Covet (Su) Once per day as a standard action a corruptor can grant a wish to a nonevil aligned mortal (cannot be an elemental, fey, outsider, or nonliving creature).

------------------------------------ Sources: Corruptor creature - http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/corruptor-creature Deep dragon creature - http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/deep-dragon-creature

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sharethisgemwithme · 7 years

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“Dewey Wins” instant reaction

It's about damn time.

Steven's back and, well, who's to say where we go from here?

PREVIOUSLY ON STEVEN UNIVERSE: A bunch of humans were abducted by Aquamarine and Topaz, the last of them Connie. As they attempted to find Greg ("mydad"), Steven instead gave himself up as diamond-killer Rose Quartz, and was taken to Homeworld. Lars accidentally tagged along. The two escaped and were found by an assortment of off-color Homeworld gems, but an attack resulted in Lars's brief death. Steven brought him back to life as a Lion-like pink being with wormhole hair, which he was able to use to get home. And now...

Tonight: "Dewey Wins". Right. I have nothing against townie episodes, and I understand the need to go back-and-forth with the heavy stuff, but this is a bit awkward of a followup. Potentially. Somewhere in this batch of six episodes, we're definitely making more progress on the gems telling us stuff, but this episode seems to be packed enough, that I don't know if it will fit here.

My predictions: First of all, disclaimer. I've seen the commercials, and the NYCC preview (which is as far as I know, the first two minutes), so I know Connie's sullen and Steven is unjustifiably smug (seriously, having just watched Wanted again, he is in tears for large portions, but I guess he found time in the last five months to once again convince himself he's just too tough to cry). I also sorta saw the episode titles, but I didn't really pay attention to them, or note their order (and I did my best to avoid the synopses of future episodes). So my predictions are colored by all that, but... If this is not a "Dewey Defeats Truman" joke, I am seriously baffled by the choice of episode title. So, that means that Nanefua is gonna become the new mayor by the end of the episode. Insert joke about an old person with a history of harassment winning an election in a stunning upset. As to the Connie plot, I think there will be a further conversation either about or with Connie, but I do think that Connie being upset with Steven for his actions will continue for a little longer. What he did was reckless, and for him to not even reflect on how he hurt those around him is cold and, frankly, a bit out-of-character.

All this intro is long, and for the benefit of those on mobile who can’t blacklist, the rest is below a cut.

All that out of the way, time to watch the episode! I'm watching via on-demand, and will start the clock with "We!" As always, first time I'm watching straight through with no pauses or rewinds.

[pre-start] I do notice the new episodes are marked as TV-G rather than TV-PG. Don't know if that means anything (or is a mistake). Also, LOL at the pre-show ad being for Match.com.

0:00 - And it's not in HD. Boo, Optimum. 0:20 - Lamar and Jeff for this one. 0:31 - They all look so glum. And they're right too. 0:40 - But Connie is the most pissed of all of them. 0:53 - None of this is stuff that should be said so happily. 1:09 - "But..." 1:18 - Massive missing of the point there, Steven. 1:30 - Regardless of Stevonnie, everyone was willing to work together. 1:44 - "Except for Lars", little bit flippant there, buddy. 2:00 - Didn't seem like a tough decision. 2:10 - Lion disapproves of your shenanigans. 2:22 - Sadie's not happy. Shockingly enough. 2:33 - "Also, he's kinda dead." 2:48 - THAT'S KINDA IMPORTANT TO DO. 3:04 - Here comes a new candidate. 3:28 - What the hell, Steven. This is not more important. 3:45 - This is a weak chant. 3:57 - THIS IS NOT MORE IMPORTANT. 4:05 - WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GOING TO TALK TO DANTE AND MARTHA? Come on, dude! 4:24 - No! That would not have made things better! 4:40 - Why are you supporting him anyway? 5:06 - Have... you... have you told the parents yet? They're right there. 5:28 - "Everyone is safe." NO. Thanks, Sadie. 5:45 - Way to go, Sadie! 6:02 - OH YOU FUCKING IDIOT. 6:25 - Well deserved tomato to the face. 6:44 - Seriously, why are you supporting him?! What's wrong with Nanefua? 6:58 - Let's remember how well that book worked for Steven. Oh wait, it didn't. 7:20 - Jesus christ, this dude. 7:44 - "Speech-a-palooza". I chuckled. 8:22 - Do you have somewhere you're going with this? 8:40 - OK. And now Nanefua with the killshot? 8:58 - Oh boy, she's gonna blame Steven. 9:13 - "I will point them at Steven" 9:29 - Oh. That was surprisingly... nice. 9:55 - But what will we call Mayor Dewey if he's not Mayor anymore? 10:24 - This is not the thing to invest your energy in, Steven. 10:37 - Oh! You're making progress, without meaning it. Much like "Political Power" 10:54 - Thanks, Dewey. 11:05 - This leaves something to build on.

IMMEDIATE THOUGHTS: So this ending reminds me of "Political Power", obviously. In "Power", Steven makes the connection between Dewey lying to the town to make them feel better, and the Gems lying to Steven to make him feel better. Here, it's the analogy of Steven letting Connie down and... ok I'm not gonna lie, it's been three minutes since I watched the episode, and I can't quite place what the analogue in the Dewey situation was. There's a reason Dewey was able to say "Yeah I don't know what you're talking about", I guess. The other episode this ending reminds me of, right around the same time, is "Full Disclosure". Here, instead of Connie repeatedly calling and being ignored by Steven (the most callous he'd ever been until now), it's Steven trying to call Connie to ask forgiveness, and getting the cold shoulder. And given that he blew off her concerns, and then was flippant as all hell about "Oh hey, the mayoral election I didn't know was happening until just now is more important, can't hang out today", I don't blame her!

Second watch notes:

In the most recent episode of the official podcast, Matt or Ben mentioned how Connie and Lion have had an unspoken connection between them from the beginning, as they specifically brought up them working together to save Steven at the end of "Ocean Gem". That comes back here, as they ride off together without Steven. Does Lion just hang out at her place now?

Steven's most important power has always been reading the emotional temperature of the room. Him being so bad at it in the opening scene is painful.

There have been complaints of late about weak animation, and I think there's merit to those arguments (like the crowd at Nanefua's speech remaining frozen in place for a bit), but I do like the "camera" "focusing" on Steven and then "refocusing" on Connie during the last lines of their conversation.

Kate Micucci putting in a solid performance in this episode. Just want to throw that out there.

I might not have immediately noticed this if GC-13 of The Lunar Sea Spire podcast hadn't mentioned it, but the avatar of Ian JQ being present to cheer on Nanefua (modeled after his grandmother) is amusing.

Given the apparent outrage at Dewey for not doing anything, how is Steven not instantly a pariah when he says "Oh yeah, totally my fault." Does everyone just already dislike Dewey?

By the way, what a rift this must be causing within the Cool Kids. Is Sour Cream being forced to choose sides? Or is even Buck all "yeah I hope he loses"?

The economy of Beach "City" has always been baffling. The notion that the mayor thinks he can hire a new employee at a chain donut shop is an impressive amount of silly.

Ronaldo at the debate on his phone. Clearly typing up another KBCW post.

Nanefua will make a great mayor. She's already got the "emotional-sounding, and absolutely content-free speech" thing down pat.

OK, reaching the end I have now refreshed my memory on the Dewey-Steven analogy. Steven was taking the role of Connie, thinking that he was in a partnership that could do great things together, but the other member just gave up. The reason I forgot the analogy the first time around was because it doesn't make any fuckin' sense for Steven to have this level of devotion to Dewey (compared to Connie's belief in Steven), but that's where we were going with this, I guess.

Credits: No one credited for the generic townspeople, including the red-haired Southern-sounding woman at Dewey's first speech.

#steven universe #instant reaction #su liveblog #dewey wins #su spoilers #su unaired

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