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modmamono · 4 years

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Why Space Channel 5 is one of SEGA’s best dumbest games ever, no questions asked. (Report 1 & 1/2.)

Space Channel 5 on the Dreamcast is one of my favorite things ever, let alone favorite video games. Though I more often watch it on YouTube then actually play it.

For those not in the know, Space Channel 5 is a game series developed by United Game Artists and published by parent company SEGA. And that’s the most Wikipedia quoting I’m gonna do in this gush piece.

There aren’t many games quite like this rhythmic, Simon says game. At least in style because this game has that in spades, the gameplay anyone can do. And I am not at all qualified to explain its style because I wouldn’t how to describe it as besides maybe very 70s?

Point is there’s something charming about this game, and I think SEGA agrees with me on that. The lead character, Ulala (seen above), appear in these games to name a few years after new Space Channel 5 games stopped being made after 2002:

2004: Sega Superstars

2006: Sonic Riders

2008: Sega Superstars Tennis and Samba de Amigo

2010: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

2012: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and Project X Zone

2015: Project X Zone 2

And not to mention the invading aliens have been skins of the titular Puyo Puyo in that series for a while I can’t determine. Possibly since at most 2007 up until current day with Puyo Puyo Champions in 2018/2019.

ALSO not to mention the VR game that came out recently! (How could I forget that? That’s the main reason I’m doing this.)

So it is clear SEGA loves this game and it’s sequel a lot. I don’t think their most beloved cult classic NiGHTS: Into Dreams gets that much love from the company though it certainly does get a lot itself, most games wish their parents still loved them that much long after they had a game. Anyway...

Now the part where I actually talk about the game.

I wanna say, first and foremost. This is not a review of the game. This is just gushing about why this game makes me happy.

And everything I’m gushing about is just what you get from the from one playthrough of the game. Save for one exception, I will not be talking about supplementary material, nor Space Channel 5′s lore.

And yes, this colorful dancing/rhythm/simon says game has lore. Basically any non-repeated character model has their own biograph. So I will not go into that.

You’re not missing too much, there are interesting tidbits, sometimes they fill you in on background details of the story.

Speaking of the story. I’ll start in a second. But if this is new to you, you can watch it here first (The first playthrough is only half the video):

youtube

Prologue:

We start off with a bunch of alien sitting on a space couch watching space TV. These aliens are known as the Morolians and they’ll be the main antagonists for the evening.

This cutscene has no dialogue, so this is all open to interpretation for a first time viewer. Though I do enjoy this split second foreshadowing:

And that’s when the title screen appears. Blasting you with the series’ main theme Mexican Flyer. Look it up if you must. You’ll be hearing it a lot, it’s the game and Ulala’s leitmotif.

Report 1: This is terrorism attack on an airport... I’m gonna ignore that.

This is the only piece of supplemental material I’ll talk about, as it’s present in the game itself, but not elaborated on, and it is important to two of the character.

The game starts in a flashback. In the year AD 2489 a spaceship exploded. Everybody on board died safe for a little girl.

She was rescued by a man working for Space Channel 5. A news organization that with a specific focus on dancing. That last bit is nothing special though, as everything in this galaxy revolves around dancing.

After the little girl is saved by this kindly Channel 5 Gent (Age 25) she knew what she wanted to be after she grew up. She wanted to be a sexy dancing reporter for Space Channel 5 just like him (presumably). And to meet him so she can thank him in person.

10 years later......

It is AD 2499! And the Morolians attack a space airport and their ray beams hypnotize people to dance silly.

THE HORROR!

And that’s when Space Channel 5 sends in Ulala to report on the progress.

But what they’re actually doing is for Ulala to solve the problem instead of the Space authorities.

One character I do wanna mention now is that Ulala’s producer, Fuse, is an unseen character yet is important later. He’s the one briefing Ulala in the screenshot above. And oversees Ulala’s every move.

Also Ulala never got to meet her rescuer. He either left shortly after Ulala got rescued, or shortly before Ulala joined. Given what we learn later, likely the former.

Anyway onto the show:

BAM!

BAM!!

BAM!!!

I will always love that. Ulala got down on the ground in the panicking space air port to coolly report on the panic.

As quick aside, I wanna mention that Ulala doesn’t run in this game, she slowly struts and all of her struts are simply majestic. And those amazing struts lead her to the first gameplay section of this game.

Some Morolians hold a few hypnotized people hostage. This is is a dance battle. Meaning you got repeat exactly what the aliens do in the exact rhythm they did it in order to save the hostages. And I love this gameplay. It’s simple yet fun (provided you got minimal lag, you should look into that if you wanna play this game).

The controls are:

Up: Up

Down: Down

Left: Left

Right: Right/Light

Button 1: Chu (Aliens)

Button 2: Chu (Humans)

And this is how normal people settle things in this world apparently:

Party 1 (usually the Aliens) make up a tough but fair pattern for Ulala to copy in the hopes of psyching her out.

Party 2 (Ulala & Co.) gets as many chances ad she got. And the better she does more people tune into her news report. If she wins she gets what she wants. Saving the hostage and getting Party 1 out of her hair.

Every single one lives by this code of honor and I honestly have no clue if there’s an in-universe reason. But I love it regardless. I love it when people say: Up Down Chu Chu Chu. And the Ulala repeating it.

Though frankly, I don’t like it when the Morolians issue the commands. I like it when others do the exact same commands in this same game, so it’s a little bit of a bummer the Morolians do it.

Anyways. You save the hostages and they join in on Ulala’s unstoppable strut as will always happen if you rescue people. And they strut to the second gameplay type: The Shoot-out.

The controls are the same as the above but now you gotta watch out for humans in the mix.

In general these are trickier. And I might go into that later. But they do work on the same rules.

Don’t worry I won’t go over every dance or shoot-out unless there’s something special about it.

Also I’m pretty sure you kill people if you push the wrong Chu. Don’t do that, it’s bad for the ratings!

Skipping over three battles.Something new happens, rival space news station: Space(?) Channel 42 has a reporter of their own out on the field. And that reporter is planning to steal Channel 5′s viewership. And this is HER!

You do a dance battle and she dies.

Though seriously, I like this game does this. It’s not only aliens you fight, but other factions of the Space News Media. And it’s always a nice shake up when someone besides her shows up.

You see, for the most part any reoccurring enemy has recognizable mannerisms you gotta batlle, and her is no different. It’s hard to describe for me. You kinda gotta play or watch the game for yourself to see what I mean, but I think it’s best exemplified in Report 2. And the following games.

Though one thing’s for sure, each non-normal Morolians or rival reported does bring their own genre switch with them. Heck sometimes even normal battles have unique genres. I’m am not musically inclined so I wouldn’t know hers or most others.

Any way, before she dies she give an emotional speech and gracefully suggests to take her Channel 42 guitarist with her and Ulala accepts that’s the least she could do for a lousy reporter like her.

And then it’s boss time!

Yeah, actual bosses with actual boss characters. And not like the recently deceased as shown above. She’s practically for all intents and purposes another Morolian dance battle.

And it’s down to funky jazz music, not unlike what you’d see in Sonic Adventure! Even Ulala comments on it, confirming it’s dietetic Where does it come from? Not sure, there might be an explanation somewhere. But do keep that in mind. That the music we hear is also the music the characters hear as well.

Anyways:

Not Pictured: Super Stretchy Arms.

I think it’s a bit of a misnomer. Invader is correct, that’s what it’s here for. But is it really a robot? It moves like an organics and is a bit rubbery. This basically goes for all Morolian robots.

I can suspend my disbelief. You shouldn’t nitpick too much about Space Channel 5, it doesn’t want you to think too hard about it’s world even if there’s a lot to it. I’d be concerned if Space Channel 5 did wanna put its story and world building first and foremost.

But “Hypnotized Robot Invader”?

What?

Spoiler.

Robots and hypnotism... I’m pretty sure a sign that we made perfect human-like Artificial Intelligence if they can fall susceptible to Hypnosis. Even then I doubt it.

Sorry, that’s always bothered me, I get what they mean by it. It’s just the word choice... Did they mean Hypnotizing Robot Invader? This boss is great.

It starts off with a normal dance battle, but you get to watch a new Morolian enemy’s moves. It’s also quicker on the draw along with a few softballs to throw your timing off. Pretty good stuff.

And that applies to the next phase as well, where the the shooting starts.

I don’t have much to say.

Unlike the robot’s final phase where it’s the first phase again, but with guns and the robot goes to berserking speeds with the input commands.

And after you beat it, it joins you in a strut.

As does everyone you saved, No matter the gender, nor age, nobody is embarrassed imitating Ulala no matter what she does. We’ll be half as lucky to get a cool future as cool as 2499.

And with that the first report is over.

Report 2: (Age 35)

At the Morolian HQ (Presumably), their boss doesn’t like failure.

But like a good boss he doesn’t dwell on failure and moves on to the next plan. One of his lackeys has this plan: Another boss battle dance robot who operates on:

The everyone at the table is impressed. So I guess Ulala is screwed, game over.

This level is more of the same as the last one more or less, it’s possibly the most boring level in the series in that regard. It’s not bad, this is just the game bulding enough a status quo before they change things up in Report 3.

But that doesn’t make this level any less interesting to talk about, so I won’t go over it much.

The short story until something new happens is: Space Ship (think of it as a fancy yacht but in space) is being attack by Morolians, Ulala is send to report on it, and being the professional she is saves hostages as well.

She saves the captain, crew members, stewardesses, waitresses, the Space Diva (OH NO! NOT THE SPACE DIVA!), passages and the like.

UNTIL!

He voice says “I’m gonna steal you show, Space Channel 5”. And you see this ship flying by:

Another rival reporter, this one a pirate broadcasting station.

Side note: That’s sounds like the most important kind of pirate ever. Alternative news/non-mainstream with no money/rating motive blinding everything with journalistic integrity? Yes, by all means. If they’re pirates then so are Secular Talk & The Humanist Report.

Back to the silly dance game. The Pirates either jam or hack Channel 5′s signal and the Ulala is stuck with them for a while.

And then we meet that where we meet the gent above.

“[His] name is:“

“JAGUAAAAARRRR!!!” “JAGUAAAAARRRR!!!“

(Age 35)

LET’S DANCE!

Dude, I love Jaguar (Age 35) he’s gotta be my second favorite character in the series on account he’s just cool and incapable of embarrassment.

Remember the deceased of the last report? The Channel 42 reporter in the blue dress? He’s her counterpart for this chapter.

But whereas the deceased’s gimmick sounded air headed for a lack of a better term. Maybe, girly? Point is, battling her didn’t feel too dissimilar to battling Morolians despite her rhytmic mannerisms.

Jaguar (Age 35)’s gimmick is that he just adds. He starts with a simple Up. And then he adds a Chu, and another Chu. Eventually it becomes a really long chain of commands, it has to be some of the longest in the series. And you have to do them all from start to finish because he does them all sequentially. Can you repeat?:

Up. Chu. ChuChu. Right. Left. Down. DownDown. Down. Chu. Chu. Chu.

He is easing you into it, but it is by no means an easy fight. Because after the chain is at its longest, he just spamming ChuChuChu in quick succession. And then a simple Chu.

After defeat Jaguar & Co, escape by jet-pack, saying they will meet later.

This battle is a highlight for me. Coco Tapioco and the big bosses to come are better if you ask me (with exceptions). But Jaguar (Age 35) is some of the best the normal gameplay goes.

And you could argue what normal means in the context of Space Channel 5. But effectively, like Channel 42′s deceased, functionally he might as well be another Morolian if he wasn’t there to be set up for later. Because you do get person that just joins your Strut Club like everywhere else.

You gain his Jazz Man and you get a great sax solo as a reward beating him. Like how you got Channel 42′s guitarist for beating them. I like the think the Jazz Man can work for Jaguar (Age 35) again while the Channel 42 Guitarist is blacklisted.

And before we move on from Jaguar (Age 35) check out his Chu pose:

BOSS TIME!

Jaguar (Age 35): The alien mothership is retreating. Don’t you have to follow them, Channel 5? Fuse: Blast you, Jaguar [Age 35].

With the pirates giving chase, Ulala is left with the cowardly alien robot to elegant music.

Ignoring the robot’s title, while silly, its cowardice is its greatest asset. For it has kidnapped some space schoolkids, making their space teacher worry. Their space teacher can actually be seen at the start of the report.

Space fashion, am I right?

I’ve exceeded Tumblr’s invisible limit of what to put in a blog post. I’ll have to rewrite this boss what I have to say for this boss. So full, can’t spell check! We’ll be back!

#space channel 5 #sc5 #ulala #dreamcast #chu #gushing #jaguar #fuse #pudding #coco tapioca #morolina #morolians

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bazzybelle · 4 years

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Carry On Countdown - Day Three

Notes: I wanted to try my hand at writing Agatha. I kind of see her taking care of magical creatures, especially unicorns. I liked giving her a purpose, like saving and caring for vulnerable magical creatures. I find that Agatha gets treated unfairly at times, so I wanted to give her a bit of agency and some direction.

This was also inspired by my dear friend, @fight-surrender . She is an absolute angel, and you all need to go on her page and read her Simon-Werewolf fic because it’s brilliant!

Thank you to @carryonsimoncarryonbaz for beta-reading. Your guidance and thought discussions give me direction and have made my stories a million times better!

TW: Mention of blood and injuries.

Day 3 Prompt: Magical Creatures

Title: Keep Calm and Save a Unicorn.

__________________________________________________

AGATHA

I had not expected to enjoy the type of work I was doing. It has been about a month since I started volunteering at this shelter for displaced magical creatures. This one in particular has an outstanding number of unicorns. I enjoy it very much. I already love spending time with normal horses with my Normal friends, and I consider unicorns to be horses who could talk to you. They are magnificent, and the shelter is a place for them to be free.

Amongst the magician elite, unicorn is considered a delicacy. I would never admit it to the clientele here, but I had tried one when I was younger. It was during one of my parents’ soirees. I had been quite young when it happened and when Helen told me what I ate, I spent the next few days in tears. My mother thought I was being overdramatic, but since then, I have insisted on solely eating Normal food.

Bugger to the magician social ladder!

Since coming back to England, I’ve had a bit of a struggle to figure out just what I wanted to be and where I wanted to place myself when it came to the world around me. I had not meant to stay back home for more than a week. But life never does turn out how you expect it to, does it? So a week turned into a month, and a month turned into six months. By Christmas, I had called Ginger back in San Diego, to tell her that I was not coming back. It was a good thing that Ginger had fallen in love with Lucy and decided to keep her.

I realized that perhaps running away from my problems was not really the best option. I am a magician. I am a strong magician (I had saved both myself and Penelope Bunce from a horde of techie-bro vampires). For once in my life, I was not the damsel in distress. And I was happy about it. It felt good to take matters into my own hands and decide my own destiny. So while back home, I’ve been trying to find something that would make me feel that way again.

Six months later, and I had not gotten close.

My father had noticed that I was floundering, trying a different job every week. So he suggested that I spend some time at the shelter. He was friends with the owner, an older magician named Sophie; Sophie McGill. She is an odd one; She often dresses as if she took all of her style advice from Janis Joplin’s ghost. Long skirts, beaded vests and peasant shirts. But she is well off and that allows her to open up and manage the shelter without the aid of anyone else. She has a large plot of land to her name, where she keeps the creatures. Some of them are there purely for rehabilitation purposes, but others, who cannot be rehabilitated, are given a permanent place to stay. Sophie does not have much help at the shelter and, at the time, she was looking for someone to help with the creatures. She took me in immediately and put me to work right away.

Within the month, I have seen a phoenix die and reincarnate, I have helped a baby dragon hatch from its egg, and received hair remedies from a very talkative mermaid. Every week or so, new arrivals would show up to the shelter and I have gotten quite good at triaging their needs and either setting up a plan for rehabilitation, or arranging for alternative options. I have been considering making this into a career. My father will most likely approve, being that he is a magical doctor himself. My mother is another story. I really don’t care to think about the inevitable disappointment my mother will have upon learning of her daughter’s future path.

I begin my days visiting the unicorns. There are quite a few of them. Sophie has a soft spot for them, seeing as they are the national animal of her native Scotland and all (I have to laugh at that. Sophie’s branch of her family has not lived in Scotland for a couple of generations). Sophie is very active in collecting unicorns from breeders who intend to sell them for food. They are kept in the stables for the morning, and then they are given time to roam the grounds. They are intelligent enough to know to come back by the end of the day.

That morning starts off just like all the others. I am refilling the troughs in each individual stable, ensuring that the unicorns have food to eat for the day. I stop at the stable of one of my more favourite charges, a young unicorn filly named Helga. I was there when Helga arrived and the little one took to me straight away. I laugh as Helga gives me a little jump, her silver hair shining.

“Agatha! Agatha! Hello! How are you today!? I’m doing very well!”

“Good morning Helga. I am doing very well, thank you.” I hold out my hand and wait for Helga to approach me. No matter how friendly I am with the animals, I am always mindful of their personal boundaries. Helga trots towards me and nuzzles my hand. I scratch her behind her ears. I place my bag of emergency supplies on the ground beside the stable. I never carry much, just a few medical supplies, a mobile to contact Sophie in case something happened, a few snacks for myself, as well as some water. I then enter the stable.

“Agatha! I saw a rather lovely butterfly the other day. Now, I can’t remember if it had bluish purple wings, or purplish blue wings!” The little unicorn hops in excitement.

“I am pretty sure those are the same thing, Helga.”

“Perhaps. But it was very lovely.”

“I’m sure it was.” I pick up a brush by the stable door and proceed to brush Helga’s mane. Helga nuzzles my shoulder. I reach up and gently touch the horn on Helga’s head. I have grown to treasure the friendship we have. As much as I wish to spend the day there, I have other duties to attend to. I finish up brushing Helga’s mane and exit her stable.

“Goodbye Agatha!

“See you later, Helga.”

I finish up my morning routine of caring for the unicorns. I then open up the stables, in order to give them some time to run amongst the grounds.

I grab my backpack and move onto my next task that involves caring for the merfolk. The shelter has access to a pool of water that, through a series of rivers, eventually leads to the Atlantic Ocean. The merfolk are free to come and go as they choose. My duties involve bringing supplies and food to the opening of the pool. Typically, if the merfolk need anything, they will just show up, and I will be there to offer assistance if I can. There is a small building next to the pool of water in case of emergencies which holds water tanks and supplies for charges who need to be monitored overnight.

Today, as I arrive to the pool’s entrance, I notice a large gathering of merfolk. This is a pretty good indication that something is very wrong. A mermaid that I had befriended, Rhiannon, waves me down. She is perched on one of the rocks, with a terrified look on her beautiful face. In her arms, is a severely injured merman. Rhiannon’s hands are trying to put pressure on a gaping wound in the merman’s chest. The merman himself seems to be drifting in and out of consciousness. I rip off my backpack and begin to search through it for some gauze and my mobile.

“Rhiannon! What happened?”

“Blasted fishermen! We were just swimming! I think we got too close to the surface! Some humans saw us and I think they thought we were giant fish! Next thing I know, Dylan’s got a slash in his chest and I’m trying to swim away with him as deep as I could go.” Rhiannon begins to shake Dylan as the young merman drifts off again. “Oh! Dylan! Stay with me!”

I quickly get to work. I take out some herbs and lotions, as well as a mortar and pestle. I proceed to mix the ingredients into a paste. Sophie had shown me how to make some basic healing concoctions during my first week. It is good enough to keep most of the creatures at bay if they are injured, so that Sophie can get to them and administer proper care. I meticulously apply the paste to Dylan’s wound. I pack the wound with some gauze and wrap it up. I pull out my mobile and call Sophie. It does not take many rings before the older woman answers the phone. Her raspy voice booms through the line:

“What’s happened, Agatha?” Sophie never says hello, preferring instead to get right to the point. While I understand her curtness, a little courtesy will not kill her.

“Young merman got slashed up pretty bad. I’ve administered the healing paste and bandaged up the wound, but it looks pretty concerning. He may need more care.”

“I’ll be there soon. Monitor him closely. Keep the crowd at bay.” I look towards the gathering of merfolk -- some appear concerned, but most look at me in apprehension.

“Yeah. Thank you.” I hang up the phone and turn back to Rhiannon. “Think you can help me to get him onto the shore? Sophie will be here soon.” Rhiannon nods. She carefully grabs Dylan’s tail, while I grab his torso, being extra careful so as to not disturb the bandaged wound. A few of the other merfolk join up to help us. It isn’t an easy feat, but we eventually manage to get Dylan on land.

Rhiannon perches herself next to Dylan and cradles his head in her arms. She softly runs her fingers through his long ashy blond hair. I tie my own long golden hair into a high messy bun. I try to disperse the merfolk crowd in the small pool. Most of them leave at my insistence, but some of the other more dubious folk decide to remain behind. As much as it irritates me, I understand their lack of trust. Merfolk and humans have a contentious relationship at best, and while they trust Sophie whole-heartedly, I am still a novice.

I settle down next to Rhiannon, and lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. Dylan is starting to get a little colour back, but I fear that I am being too hopeful. I place two fingers on the side of his neck and time his heart beat. As far as I can tell, it sounds stable. I just wish Sophie would get here soon.

As if Merlin above grants my wish, Sophie appears from beyond the fields. All bright smiles and unruly grey hair flowing in the wind. Her lengthy brown skirts shifting as she runs towards us. She carries a large duffle bag, filled with more medical supplies. She shifts the scarf used to push her hair back as she kneels beside the small group.

“Alright. Is this him then? Oh my! That looks quite nasty then, doesn’t it?! Excellent work on the bandaging Agatha!” Sophie is one of those folk who can speak a dozen words a minute. It was difficult to comprehend her when I first met her, but the more I spent time with her, the easier it was for me to follow her speech. Sophie carefully undoes my wrapping and begins to inspect the wound. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that the paste has begun to work its magic. The bleeding has stopped and the edges of the wound are slowly beginning to close.

“Oh Agatha dear! You’ve done a wonderful job! You didn’t need me here, at all. I can see that you’ve treated him very well yourself! Do I detect some aloe vera in your concoction? I wouldn’t have thought to use that myself, but it is certainly aiding the calendula! Now, I would try to keep this wound out of water, at least for the next 24 hours. I know it’s difficult for you merfolk. We can bring him inside and keep the rest of him well hydrated while he heals. But I would say he should make a full recovery!” Poor Rhiannon shakes her head as she tries to follow the torrent of words coming out of Sophie’s mouth. I grab her hand and speak to her in a calm reassuring voice.

“Dylan is going to be fine. We need to monitor his recovery for the next 24 hours. But we have a space for him and for you. We’ll make sure he remains properly hydrated. I’ll make sure he remains properly hydrated.”

Rhiannon nods and grabs me in a desperate embrace: “Thank you. Thank you, Agatha!”

I smile and slowly get up. Carefully, Sophie and I carry Dylan into the small care building. We set him up on one of the beds. I move the bed close to the water tank we keep inside. We then go back for Rhiannon. We carry her inside as well and gently lift her into the tank, so that she may remain with Dylan. I am about to place a compress on Dylan’s head, when Sophie beckons me to come outside. I dutifully follow, worried that I have done something wrong.

“Agatha. I just wanted to let you know that you did a marvelous job back there!” Sophie is beaming at me, like a proud parent watching their child graduate with honours. It isn’t a look that I was used to seeing. It feels nice. I blush awkwardly and tug the sleeves of my pink hoodie.

“Oh. Thank you, Sophie.” Sophie grabs my shoulder and pushes me to look up at her.

“Agatha, I think you have a natural talent with these creatures. I think you should consider the care of them as a career for yourself. Now, it isn’t posh like what you’re used to and the field is painfully underserviced and ever changing. But you could help a lot of members of the magical community. Members who often do not get a voice of their own.”

That final line is what does it for me. Helping those who do not have a voice of their own. Yes. That’s perfect! After years of being seen as someone’s “reward” or as “the damsel in distress”, helping those more vulnerable members of the community sounds fantastic to me. I grab Sophie in a tight embrace and whisper to her: “Thank you. For a very long time, I’ve wanted to find a way to make a difference. I feel in my heart that this is my place.” Sophie smiles and pats me on the back. She slowly pulls away and nods back to the building.

“Now, now. There will be plenty of time to talk more about this. For now, maybe you should keep an eye on your patient.” Sophie turns and walks away. I wipe the tears that have fallen from my face, as I walk back to the building.

Agatha Wellbelove, caretaker of magical creatures. Yes, that sounds very good to me indeed.

#carry on countdown #coc 2019 #agatha wellbelove #magical creatures #my writing #fanfic #finding purpose #agatha love #seriously #wayward son #wayward son spoilers

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tsc-living · 5 years

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The Heart of New York (part 2)

Masterlist of other parts here (make sure you read part one first!)

Kit pushed the guild elevator door open and readjusted his backpack as he stepped out into the hallway of the New York Institute and headquarters of the Clave. The torches were well-lit, leading the way to the heart of the Institute where the hub of busy clave activities took place and where Kit knew he would be able to find someone who could point him in the right direction. As usual, the library was well-lit, with maps and books spread out over the tables, a few of the Institute residents and Clave members pouring over them; even a computer or two was stationed around the room, a new addition as the clave tried to be progressive under Consul Lightwood-Bane’s reign. Speaking of, the Consul was standing in the middle of the room with his head bent to look at his phone in his hand, a serious expression on his face. Kit was tempted to say hello to him, seeing as though Kit had been accepted as part of the family before now, but Alec looked busy so he turned to ask someone else where he may be able to find Jace. “Ah Kit, hello!” Alec said and Kit closed his mouth, turning back to face him.

“Hey Mr Consul Sir,” Kit said, remembering the way Jace sometimes mocked Alec’s title. Alec just shook his head as he closed the distance between them and ruffled his hair like an older brother would.

“Jace did tell me you were going to be hanging around for a few days. Your usual room is available for you,” he said, pocketing his phone. Kit looked down the hall leading to the nearest set of stairs that would take him to his room, but decided not to flee just yet.

“Thanks! Do you know where Jace is?” he asked and Alec shrugged with one shoulder.

“Kitchen I think, fixing up whatever mess Isabelle decided to feed everyone for lunch,” he answered and Kit snorted. He had only tried Isabelle’s cooking once, and never would again.

“Speaking of your family, where are they?”

“Isabelle and Magnus are upstairs with Rafael and Max for training, Clary is with Jace I would assume, and I have no idea where Simon is,” Alec replied, glancing around as if to make sure Simon wasn’t in the same room. Kit smiled to himself; even he had noticed Alec referring to Simon as family since his marriage to Alec’s sister, and even Clary had become his family more so than just a friend.

“And what are you doing?” Kit asked, gesturing around the room at the people keeping themselves occupied. Alec opened his mouth to reply, but someone else beat him to it.

“Working!” Diego Roccio Rosales announced from the balcony above the hub and when Alec and Kit looked up to see him, he was already coming down the stairs onto the main floor of the library, wearing his Inquisitor’s cloak around his Centurion’s uniform, reminding Kit as he always did, of a little boy playing dress-up with too many costumes. “Believe it or not, the Consul does do some work,” Diego said as he approached, his body language suggesting to Kit that he was dismissed.

“Hey Diego, good to see you again,” Kit said, resisting the urge to call him ‘Perfect Diego’ like always. He also knew he was stepping on Diego’s toes not to call him Inquisitor Roccio Rosales, but that didn’t bother Kit so much.

“You too Kit,” Diego said. “Jace and Clary are in the kitchen I believe you were told, and your room is ready for you when you are,” he added, clearly dismissing Kit as if it hadn’t already been obvious. Kit smiled at Alec who smiled apologetically back.

“And that’s my cue to leave. See you later!” Kit said, taking two steps backwards before turning on his heel and exiting the library in the direction of the kitchen.

He found Jace, Clary and Simon around the table in the kitchen eating sandwiches. They looked relaxed, calm and at peace, which made Kit smile to himself. He knew the three of them hadn’t had an easy-going life, but it was also relieving to see that they were content with their lives now. “Hey guys!” Kit said and they all looked up from their softly spoken conversation, recognising his voice and smiling.

“Hey Christopher!” Jace said, pushing a plate across the table in his direction. “Hungry?”

“I heard Isabelle made this…” Kit replied dubiously, sitting down at the table next to Simon and shooting him an apologetic smile. Jace laughed and took a large bite of his sandwich as if to prove that they were edible as Kit put his bag on the floor at his feet.

“We may have thrown those out…” Clary said, winking at him from behind her sandwich so Simon didn’t see and get offended on his wife’s behalf.

“They weren’t that bad…” Simon said, but he was smirking. Kit took the sandwich and bit into it, happy to find that it was ham and cheese instead of some other horrible combination.

“Sardines and tomato sauce sandwiches are something even Church wouldn’t eat,” Jace said firmly and Kit grinned around his food.

“You guys need a new cat; Church hasn’t lived here for like ten years,” he told them and Jace shrugged.

“There are enough people here on the daily, the poor thing would get stepped on,” Clary explained which made sense to Kit, but he also knew that most Institutes had a cat; something to do with the first Shadowhunter’s pet.

“So you were unclear on the phone, but are you staying here as the first stop on your travel year or…?” Jace asked, playing with the crumbs on his plate. Kit swallowed his mouthful before responding, mainly because it was polite, but also because it bought him some time.

“Um no, I haven’t really organised for a travel year. I’m just here to see you guys and then I will go back to Jem, Tessa and Rosemary,” Kit explained, hurriedly taking another bite before he was forced to talk more. He knew that he was supposed to travel around the Institutes, or at least move to one for a year since he was eighteen now, but he hadn’t wanted to leave his family. The only place he could think of to go was Los Angeles, but that was a bad idea. Or he could stay in New York for the year, but it was always so busy there and Kit didn’t want to be in the way. Jace didn’t seem pleased by Kit’s reply, and even Clary and Simon looked saddened.

“Everyone goes on a travel year,” Jace said and Kit frowned at him.

“None of you did,” He pointed out and Clary smiled at him.

“True…” Simon said and Jace shot him a look, but Simon didn’t seem perturbed by it.

“We were saving the world when we were eighteen, or did you forget?” Jace said and Kit laughed.

“How could I forget? I’m the Herondale who is meant to fill your shoes.”

“They’re pretty big shoes, aren’t they?” Simon teased, nudging Kit with his elbow. Kit laughed and swallowed his food before he could spit it across the table. Clary slapped Jace’s fidgeting hands away from the crumbs on his plate and gathered the cutlery to take it to the sink, leaving Kit the only one eating and he tried not to feel awkward about it.

“So what were they doing in the library? Everyone looked super intense, and Diego wanted me out pretty quick,” Kit asked the three adults and they shared a look. He wanted to remind them that he was technically an adult and of age in the eyes of the Clave, but he knew he wasn’t on their level and would only be told things on a need to know basis.

“The Centurions, or at least one Centurion, has been researching a rare demon. The last sighting was centuries ago…” Jace began, but Simon interrupted him. Kit ignored the fact that his stomach clenched at the mention of Centurions.

“Magnus hasn’t even seen one or remember hearing of one being seen.”

“Exactly,” Jace continued. “Some of the Clave members have been doing some research and sending it through to the Scholomance, that was all you probably saw.” Jace finished, but Kit wasn’t convinced. There was something that they weren’t telling him, but he let it go. He was there to enjoy his week, explore New York, and kill some common, run of the mill demons. That was all.

“Nothing to worry about,” Clary assured him, taking his plate as he put the last of his lunch in his mouth. Kit shrugged and toed his bag at his feet.

“I should go unpack,” he said. “Anything I should know before I settle in?”

“No, but I am heading that way anyway so I shall walk with you,” Simon said, standing up. Kit bent down to grab his bag, but when he stood up he saw that both Jace and Clary were giving Simon warning glares and he had his hands up in a surrender.

“Ready?” Kit asked awkwardly and they all gave him appeasing grins, which just made him feel even more uncomfortable as he followed Simon out of the room. They didn’t speak until they got to the door of Kit’s room.

“Look, there’s something else that you should know,” Simon said, putting his hand on Kit’s shoulder. Kit frowned at him, surprised that they were the same height now as Simon had always been an inch or two taller than he was. Simon seemed to notice this too. “You really have grown up, haven’t you?”

“I am an adult now Simon, what is it?”

“The research of the nyrual demon isn’t just theory based, they think they found a baby one yesterday, not far out of Brooklyn,” Simon said firmly and Kit’s eyebrows rose.

“Did they leave it alone?” he asked and Simon sighed, his shoulders sagging. Kit wondered if they killed it or abducted it to use as bait or something.

“No, someone touched it…”

“Are you serious? They just… touched it?” Kit whispered harshly, shaking Simon’s hand off his arm as Simon nodded. “So there’s a near enough mythical demon baby and someone touches it? Mumma demon isn’t going to be real happy!”

“No, she won’t be,” Simon agreed. “Last I heard, some Shadowhunters were going to investigate closer to midnight. It’s probably nothing and Jace and Clary didn’t think you should know, but I wanted to tell you.”

“Does this mean the Centurions are coming to New York?” Kit asked, wondering how quickly he could organise a portal back to Britain. Simon looked surprised by the question, but he was already shaking his head.

“No, not as far as I know. The Scholomance has been trusting of our intel so far, I don’t think they are coming to investigate unless we are under siege as they are the best equipped to fight the nyrual,” Simon assured him and Kit immediately felt himself relax.

“Okay, good. Thanks for telling me Simon,” he said, pushing his bedroom door open. Simon nodded and headed further down the hall, leaving Kit alone in the doorway to his room with a haunting of anxiety at the thought of seeing Centurions - of seeing one specific Centurion.

***

Kit heard a single person running down the hallway outside his room, but that was soon followed by a handful of yelling and then a near enough stampede of running down the hallway. “Hide the kids in the training room!” someone yelled, sounding very much like Alec.

“Everyone get armed!”

“Has someone called-”

“Yes I did!”

Kit jumped from his bed, pulling his boots on and clipping his weapons belt to his waist, unsure what was going on, but ready to be armed and fight if that was what was needed. He knew that a group were going on an investigation soon, but he didn’t think they would be causing this much of a fuss for just an investigation; no, something unforeseen was happening. He shoved weapons into his belt, hauled his jacket off the back of a chair and threw open his bedroom door as the last of the group disappeared down the stairs at the end of the hallway. He followed them at a run, catching up as the crowd reached the main staircase and flooded down to the entry way and, as he expected, down the stairs or elevator to the crypt. Kit ran to the nearest window and froze at what he saw. The Shadowhunters of the Institute were standing on the pavement in front of the building, clad in gear and armed to the teeth, facing off against a shiny, moving blackness in the sky. The demon was huge and covered in black iridescent scales, with claws as long as swords and rows of razor like teeth in its snout-like face. The sun had dipped below the horizon, indigo reaching out and enveloping the scene below. Kit realised pretty quickly that seeing the demon with its scaled black skin was near enough impossible in the dark, and that this was the mamma nyrual demon.

If it starts breathing fire I am staying up here, Kit told himself, pushing away from the window to run down the stairs. He could hear the sounds of Shadowhunters preparing for battle and yelling, dispersing, formulating plans and strategies as they stood in front of their home. Just as he emerged in the dusky light, a portal cracked and split the night air, appearing behind the line of Shadowhunters, and before Kit had time to think, a swarm of peculiarly dressed Shadowhunters poured out.

“Centurions are here!” one of the Institute’s Shadowhunters yelled out and Kit took a step backwards as if he’d been hit. Please don’t be here, he thought to himself, searching the crowd for a familiar black-haired Blackthorn boy. Just as he started relaxing, thinking Ty wasn’t there, the last Centurion exited the portal and it snapped shut behind him. It was Ty. Taller and broader than he had been, but it was still him. Kit’s mouth went dry.

“Get in formation!” someone yelled out and then before Kit could blink, arrows started soaring at the creature, bouncing off its scales and rebounding towards the crowd below or snapping and falling in pieces. This just made the demon angrier. It roared, a horrible sound that made Kit want to bolt backwards and up the stairs into the crypt. But Ty had told him once, Shadowhunters don’t run away. Thinking of Ty made Kit look over at him again, finding him immediately in the swarm as he edged his way around the back of everyone and towards the front stairs that Kit had run out of moments before. Yes Ty, go inside and be safe, he urged as the demon swooped, her claw catching slashing down at three Shadowhunters and narrowly avoiding two, but slicing clean through one. Kit winced and ducked as a savage swoop of her wings nearly hit him in the face. Before he could think and being driven by an overwhelming need to protect Ty, he bolted back towards the stairs and the direction of the other boy who had his hands at his side clenching and unclenching. He was so focused on the demon, a look of wonder and intense calculation in his eyes, but Kit didn’t have time to think about that just yet. Ty didn’t see him until Kit was standing beside him, and he looked thoroughly surprised by Kit’s sudden appearance.

“What are you doing?” Kit demanded, grabbing onto Ty’s sleeve and beginning to drag him away. Ty grabbed Kit’s wrist and wrenched it from his clothes, glaring at Kit accusingly.

“Get off me! I need to stop her!” Ty said, gesturing at the demon as she took another swipe at the Shadowhunters.

“This is under control Ty, get inside!” Kit yelled, grabbing him again and shoving him towards the door. Ty tried to fight him off, but Kit didn’t let go this time. They fought each other until Kit hauled him inside of the crypt and slammed the door shut behind them.

“What are you doing?” Ty yelled, trying to get past Kit, but he stood his ground.

“Saving you! Do you want to get yourself killed?” Kit snapped and Ty just looked at him with immense confusion, chest heaving and looking at Kit without meeting his eyes. Kit’s heart was racing faster than it had in years and sweat was sticking hair to the back of his neck, but his stomach was aching. Ty was there, he was in front of Kit, he was alive. Ty Ty Ty. It had been the rhythm of his heartbeat for years, but now his heart was threatening to leap out of his chest as the rest of him wondered if it was allowed to melt.

“I know about the nyrual demon, I know it’s weaknesses! I can beat-”

“Tiberius! Christopher!” A stern, familiar voice reached them and cut Ty’s tirade off. Kit looked up as Magnus and Alec crossed the crypt towards them, Magnus’s hands sparking with magic and Alec armed. Kit wanted to ask where they had been when the fighting began, but an extremely loud shriek from outside swallowed his question.

#kit herondale #ty blackthorn #alec lightwood-bane #magnus lightwood-bane #kitty #malec #kitty blackdale #the heart of new york #thony #laurae #ti-bae-rius #fanfic

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kachulein · 5 years

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Mind giving me K-pop recommendations? Like, what got you into K-pop, who's your favorite, things like that? I want to try listening to it and I wanted to ask you, Kachu! Congrats on 800!! 💖💙

Aww thank you so much dear!!

First of all, Kpop is not just simply pop music, as the name suggests. Within the genre kpop are actually many different genres of music mingled and there’s something nice for (almost) everyone to find. I’ll give you some information about my favourite groups that might help you find what you could like. I will also link mostly title songs as they are the more popular songs and usually have a music video (kpop music videos are always very aesthetic btw).

Starting off with my ultimate favourite group Stray Kids. They are still rookies as they debuted in March 2018 but I’ve fallen in love with them and their music so much that I highly recommend you checking them out. They are a 9 member boy group with three of those members, Bang Chan, Changbin and Han (knowns as 3RACHA) writing and composing all of their songs. 3RACHA has been releasing pre-debut mixtapes on Souncloud throughout 2017 and if you like hip hop/rap music, you should definitely give them a listen. Some recs are:

Hellevator

District 9

Grow Up (try to listen & read lyrics without crying; you can put on eng sub on the mv)

Voices

My Pace

Awkward Silence

I am YOU

Get Cool

M.I.A

Mixtape#3 ‘For You’

Mixtape#1 ‘Placebo’ (my favourite songs of theirs)

Mixtape#2 ‘Even a shadow needs light to exist’

note: The songs with a ‘mixtape’ in front of them mean that they were originally track 3RACHA released in one of their mixtapes but they’ve been alternated and remastered into a ot9 Stray Kids version

Some 3RACHA songs:

ZONE

Start Line

Matryoshka

Broken Compass

NXT 2 U

Tik Tok

P.A.C.E

Placebo (I love the original version as well)

For You (^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^)

Runners High

MONSTA X is another one of my favourites and it was actually thanks to their song Hero that I got into kpop. It’s a great song with a beautiful music video and I highly recommend it. Their songs are usually very powerful bangers to get hyped to. Some song I recommend are:

Hero

All in

Stuck

Shine Forever

Beautiful

Fighter

Jealousy

Dramarama

Newton

Shoot Out

Another favourite of mine is BTS. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of them already. They’ve been around for a while and gained worldwide a lot of popularity in 2017. They’ve changed their music style over the years but it shows that their music has grown with them. Some recs are:

I NEED U

Dope

Run

Fire

Save Me

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Spring Day

Not Today

DNA (their most famous song I believe but not their best imo)

MIC Drop

FAKE LOVE

IDOL

I’m Fine

Don’t Leave Me

Another group I definitely cannot miss is Seventeen. Their name is misleading since they are actually only 13 members not 17 (it’s still a lot though). The group is split into 3 sub-units, Hip Hop Team, Vocal Team, and Performance Team with each of those teams having a leader. The three leaders also created a SVT Leaders unit for their song Change Up. They mainly release ot13 songs with one of their members, called Woozi, being the main composer but they also released songs in their respective units. Some recs are:

Boom Boom

Check-In (Hip Hop Team)

Highlight (Performance Team)

Don’t Wanna Cry

Change Up (SVT Leaders)

Pinwheel (Vocal Team)

Clap

THANKS

Oh My!

Call Call Call

Getting Closer

bonus: Just Do It (by BSS a new sub-unit consisting of three members, however they only released this song so far)

Got7 is a groups under JYP entertainment just like Stray Kids and they are their seniors since Got7 has been around since 2014. They also have great music I highly recommend checking out:

Hard Carry

Never Ever

You Are

Look

Lullaby

Miracle

Day6 is under JYP entertainment as well but they are a bit different from the usual Kpop group since they are actually a band and play their own instruments. If you like rock music, I highly recommend them!!

Shoot Me

Beautiful Feeling

Somehow

DANCE DANCE

I Wait

How Can I Say

Congratulations

and since we’re already talking about about rock music, here’s some more groups whose music goes into the direction of rock to check out:

The Rose - BABY, Sorry

FT ISLAND - Take Me Now, Pray, Out Of Love, Lose, Hello Hello, Wind

Dreamcatcher - Chase Me, Good Night, Fly High, YOU AND I, What

EXO is a group that has been around since 2012 and even though they haven’t been very active lately, they still got a lot of bops that you could check out. They are under SM entertainment just like the next three groups I’m about to mention:

Overdose

Call Me Baby

Love Me Right

Lightsaber

Monster

Lotto

Ko Ko Bop

The Eve

Tempo

Love Shot

NCT are another group under SM. Their concept is a bit difficult because they are said to have an unlimited member count and they will be debuting more and more sub-units. NCT (as a whole) consist of 21 members as of now with 3 already existing units called NCT U, NCT 127, and NCT Dream and a fourth unit called WayV that is said to debut this month. Some recs are:

NCT U:

The 7th Sense

BOSS

Baby Don’t Stop

NCT 127:

Limitless

Cherry Bomb

Chain

TOUCH

Regular

Simon Says

NCT Dream:

We Young

We Go Up

Red Velvet and Oh!GG are two girl groups under SM Entertainment. They are both really nice and worth checking out. OH!GG is actually a sub-unit from the girl group Girl’s Generation, one of the most popular girl groups of the 2nd Generation. I hope I’m not messing up rn with the info lol. And Red Velvet is currently one of the big three girl groups.

Red Velvet:

Dumb Dumb

Ice Cream Cake

Russian Roulette

Red Flavor

Peek-A-Boo

Bad Boy (love this so much)

Really Bad Boy (what a bop)

OH!GG:

Lil’ Touch

Twice and Blackpink are the last two girl groups I’ll be introducing to you. They are the other two of the big three girl groups alongside Red Velvet and are very successful and definitely worth checking out:

Twice, an example of a cute girl group:

Likey

What Is Love?

Dance The Night Away

YES or YES

BlackPink, an example of a badass girl group:

Boombayah

Whistle

Playing With Fire

Stay

As If It’s Your Last

DDU-DU DDU-DU

The last group I’ll be mentioning is Big Bang, they are the Kings of the 2nd Generation of Kpop (if I didn’t misunderstand the whole generation stuff) and they released A LOT of great songs since they’ve been around since 2006. here are some recs I really like:

Bang Bang Bang

FXXK IT

Sober

Last Dance

Fantastic Baby

Let’s Not Fall In Love

GOOD BOY (GD x Taeyang)

Last but not least, I’ll list you some more songs from girl/boy groups and solo artists that I really like and find worth checking out. However, I try to keep it on the down-low since I could recommend and huge amount of songs.^^

Boy Groups:

iKON - Love Scenario, Killing Me, Bling Bling, B-Day

WINNER - REALLY REALLY, EVERYDAY

VAV - Senorita

TRCNG - UTOPIA (one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard)

VIXX - Fantasy

Pentagon - Shine, Runaway

SF9 - Fanfare, ROAR, Now Or Never

Girl Groups:

Pristin V - Get it

CLC - Hobgoblin, Black Dress

Weki Meki - Crush, La La La, I don’t like your Girlfriend

Gugudan - Not That Type

IZ*ONE - La Vie En Rose

(G)I-DLE - LATATA, Hann (alone)

Mamamoo - Egotistic, Starry Night

9MUSES - Remember, Love City

Solo Artists:

Sunmi - Gashina, Heroine, Siren

Chungha - Roller Coaster

Taeyeon (member of Girls Generation/Oh!GG) - I, Why

Hyuna - Roll Deep, BABE, Lip & Hip

IU - Twenty-three

Jay Park - Me Like You

G-Dragon (leader of Big Bang) - Untitled, 2014, COUP D’ETAT, Crooked

Jennie (member of BlackPink) - SOLO

Taemin (member of SHINee) - MOVE, Thirsty, Sayonara Hitori

This probably sounds confusing and like a whole lot, but don’t worry!! The main thing right now is that you find some songs to check out and the rest is some additional info to help you decide what to check out since it’s a lot.^^

#bastille-smedry #mutuals #ask #<3

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thecloserkin · 6 years

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fic rec (2/2): I Don’t Hear the Church Bells Chime Anymore Part by Noccalula (Part 1 is here)

They present themselves at the Hydra compound to volunteer as human guinea pigs. This is their last, best shot at taking down Tony Stark and his “imperialist death machine.”

Both of them were iron deficient, running light fevers, and dehydrated to the point that they were immediately given IV fluids. The first few weeks were nothing but antibiotics and lightning rounds of samples and examinations as the medical team worked to ensure that the twins were at least coming to a safe point to begin working on gaining weight and exercising; Pietro could not aptly put into words what it did for his heart to watch the sallowness in Wanda’s skin disappear, her eyes brighten again

almost makes you think their freedom a small price to pay for being restored to to peak health doesn’t it

but that autonomy had been the first thing they were informed that they would be signing over. Wanda had reached down to lay her hand across her brother’s, which lay across her thigh, and gave it a soft squeeze before she put pen to paper and quite literally signed her life away before handing him the instruments to do the same.

have any of you guys ever signed a cell phone carrier contract? or bought anything online from any merchant at all? or opened any kind of bank or credit card account? nobody actually reads the fine print — maybe you’ve seen the video of the voice actor who was hired to read Amazon Kindle’s TOS front to back and it took him 8 hours — but how much of that autonomy that Pietro and Wanda value so much was illusory? Even if they’ve never had a cell phone? …. Sure, we’re free to sign these one-sided impenetrable legalese contracts or walk away, but how do you function as a person in the modern world without signing them? You don’t have to worry about affording a lawyer to decipher them for you, since most of them include mandatory arbitration clauses to prevent you getting your day in court, or god forbid bringing a class action suit against the corporation. There’s no overt coercion going on but it’s not much of a negotiation when one party is holding all the cards. In the previous chapter Pietro and Wanda observed that they didn’t have a choice, really, and here the “choice” to sign their rights away is a farce of freedom. Capitalism is fucking depressing let’s move on to a lighter subject aka sexytimes:

So many of the things that Pietro was dying to do were still logistically tricky but it didn’t stop him from whispering them to her in the dead of night, his lips against her ear or the back of her neck just like old times as she heaved soft sighs, her back pressed against his chest. If they were covert enough, sex could pass for spooning or cuddling when the nurses passed by, shining muted lights into the room to ensure no one had gone awol. Somehow, the thrill of possibly being caught and the shame of just how forbidden the act was became part of the appeal for Wanda.

This is my jam: Sex that passes for spooning? Yesssss. The thrill of being caught? Hell yes. The taboo heightening the hotness? Sign me the fuck up. Can you imagine how wet she got when he whispered all the things he wanted to do to her? And the herculean struggle to stay quiet, to not tip off the nurses, damn I need a shower.

So Wanda gets her period after five years of being too undernourished to get it and the way it happens is the two of them wake up in a pool of blood which ofc freaks them the fuck out THEN when Pietro starts lifting weights without a shirt on there are all these scratches on his back from Wanda’s nails and the doctor who is no one’s fool decides Wanda needs to go on birth control asap. THEN the experimentation begins in earnest and the they insist on separating the twins afterward — these are Herr Strucker’s instructions. Nobody, no other subjects so far, has survived the second round of treatments.

”Now, most of Mengele’s experiments on twins were utterly worthless,” Von Strucker continued … “Because he was not interested in science - he was interested in torture … But we, doctors, are not interested in torture, no. And we noticed very quickly that there was one thing that Mengele missed, His research suggested that twins were more likely to survive lethal experimentations for longer if they were reunited after a separation.”

This is sO cReEpy — no we are doctors we are not torturers we are doing this for SCIENCE ok. It’s little wonder Strucker didn’t miss a beat when the true nature of the twins’ intimacy came to light: he saw it as something he could use. Their soul-deep bond would give him the leverage to fashion them into the perfect weapons. And spoiler alert, they survive! Pietro zips around super fast! Wanda can read minds now!

Though Pietro posed the more immediate physical threat, everyone was markedly more afraid of Wanda. This was something Pietro was almost visibly proud of.

There is a very specific kind of competency porn where one member of your OTP is just bursting with pride at the other member of your OTP doing something superbly well and this is a prime example of that, this is Pietro Maximoff telling these bitches to fuck off because look at my sister she is a telepathic reality-warping witch. (I just rewatched Firefly and the scene in “Ariel” where Simon breaks character in the middle of a hospital heist to save a random patient’s life and River just looks at him is also a prime example of this trope.)

“Superheroes.” The word felt disgustingly capitalist on Wanda’s tongue.

I am crying haha because this is so true. Isn’t the superhero story par excellence about a human with extra-special abilities accomplishing extraordinary things rather than, say, a bunch of regular schmucks building collective power through solidarity? One of the things I love about this fic is the fact that the people who work for Hydra, from Strucker down to Doctor Bellato and Istvan, are none of them evil people. They commit evil deeds, to be sure, but they are working within a system which greatly constrains their array of choices.

They could run forever – he could run forever, with Wanda in his arms. But he knew there was still a growling, raging thing in the pit of his heart that lived in Wanda’s as well, and that thing would not know satisfaction until it knew justice.

This is a very good, succinct account of what drives the twins. Justice is what propels them forward day by day but it is also, I think, what drives them to be together in the romantic sense, because I am not sure if, in a universe where Sokovia remained at peace, the Maximoffs would turn to each other. I think the shared trauma was a necessary precondition to the incest. Fight me but that’s my reading of their characterization in this particular fic, not applicable generally, and god knows I haven’t read any of the comics.

Wanda and Pietro had carried nothing from the old life but one another and fistfuls of nightmares, scars that would never fade and wounds that would never heal save but for through one another.

There is a whole chapter that is like, just the two of them holing up in a hotel and screwing each other’s brains out. A well-deserved interlude, kids. (Well-deserved for me the reader as well, I hasten to add I thought it was a real treat.) There’s a mural erected by some of their erstwhile comrades from the anarchist commune, titled “Long Live the Maximoffs” because they are now apparently the face of the (failed? stalled?) revolution. You know, every time I read the twins’ internal monologue repeating that old “we came into this world together and we’ll leave it together” aphorism it’s like twisting a knife in my heart. Of course it never occurs to them only one of them will die, and the other will have to learn to live without him.

The ultimate betrayal of Wanda’s heart was that the damned thing continued to beat without him.

And there it is. Not to take anything away from Vision but Pietro was the love of her life, thanks for coming to my ted talk. Thanks for joining me in combing through one of my favorite fics of all time and enumerating all the 987654321 reasons I loved it, and thanks to @noccalula-writes for the gift of this brilliant story.

#maxicest #pietro x wanda #fic rec

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saleintothe90s · 5 years

Text

337. 88 Things About 1988 Part 7

(part 6)

53. The Fog Bowl (12/31/1988)

54. Pippi Longstocking comes to your town and flops.

While it would be impossible to prove scientifically that ''The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking'' is the longest children's film ever made or Pippi herself the most irritating of characters, it would be difficult to persuade any audience otherwise. Pippi is the freckle-faced, irrepressible heroine with the braids that stick out parallel to her shoulders, and one of the film's only points of interest is the star's hairdo. The angle of those stiffly wired braids varies subtly from scene to scene. 2

I mean, look at it, it had to compete with Cocktail:

I learned about this movie while watching old commercial breaks in the middle of the night once years ago. The commercial had this sad little song that went, “Pippi Longstocking is coming to your towwwyn...” and it was almost like middle of the night vaporwave.

Oh hey, I think I found the commercial break.

(New York Times)

55. Kids hiding the ceiling at Zayre

It’s like that episode of Simpsons where Bart and Milhouse lived in the mall during Spring Break!

56. Couple threatens to kill Jessie Jackson

During early 1988, Jessie Jackson was running for President. A white supremacist and his wife threatened to kill Jackson around June 12th or July 12th because he was getting too close to being president. In June. 3

57. Meredith Viera poses in Esquire and everybody freaks out

(Newsweek)

I mean, it wasn’t like she was naked!

"I've been in this business since 1976," Vieira says. "I think I'm doing a good job. I enjoy my work. But I am not totally defined by the word 'journalist.' I'm other things, too. The fact that I have legs doesn't make me less of a journalist.4

58. Air France Flight 296 (6/26)

I originally learned about this plane crash back in 2004 when I was up late one night watching that old Trio channel. This documentary titled, “DIAL-H-I-S-T-O-R-Y” was airing, and it was about the uptick of airplane hijackings and bombings in the 1970s and 1980s.

The ending credits of the film is plane crashes set to “Do the Hustle”. One of the crashes was this Air France plane flying into woods and exploding. For years I thought it was a hijacking that had a deadly ending. No, it was an air show flight gone horribly wrong. It was the Airbus A320′s first flight and the passengers were journalists and raffle winners. There were 130 passengers, and only 3 died. That’s amazing considering how fiery the crash looked.

The cause of the crash is still very controversial. Some sources blame pilot error, some blamed Airbus’ new computer systems:

Aviation experts have praised the system, which is designed to override many pilot errors. Several industry officials suggested that the pilot on Sunday may have turned off safety controls to give him greater freedom to carry out air-show maneuvers.

Christian Roger, president of the Air France section of the pilots' union, said the accident was caused by a ''technical problem.'' After the accident, the pilot, Michel Asseline, who supervised training of Air France pilots on the A320, told a rescuer that he had sought to increase power, but that the engines did not respond. 5

59. Presidential Candidates Food Vices? (Newsweek)

Bush eating pork rinds with tabasco sauce in heaven now. I’m sure Barbra won’t even touch 'em.

I also hope that Jessie wasn’t eating KFC with orange juice. Acid heartburn city, am I right?

Paul Simon looks cute as a bug sleeping.

60. Condom Earrings (Newsweek)

61. “The Dingo’s Got My Baby!”

On a serious note, the quote comes from a Meryl Streep movie (A Cry in the Dark, based on true story of Azaria Chamberlain) where she plays a lady whose baby was kidnapped by dingos while on a camping trip. But, the way she says it in the movie made it soo unintentionally funny.

1. Denlinger, Ken, “’Fog Bowl’ Best Game Never Seen,” Eugene Register Guard, January 1, 1989. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=4pF9x-cDGsoC&dat=19890101&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

2. Maslin, Janet, “Review/Film; Childish Tricks and Facial Tics,” New York Times, July 29, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/29/movies/review-film-childish-tricks-and-facial-tics.html

3. “Couple Charged in Alleged Threat Directed at Jackson,” Kentucky New Era, May 18, 1988. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=0N-VGjzr574C&dat=19880518&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

4.Shales, Tom, “TV COMMENTARY : In Defense of Vieira After Those Sexy Photos,” Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1988. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-03-22/entertainment/ca-1797_1_vieira-photos

5. Greenhouse, Steven, “Pilot Error Is Blamed in Airbus Crash,” New York Times, June 28, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/28/world/pilot-error-is-blamed-in-airbus-crash.html

#1988 #88 things about 1988 #elaine benes #the dingo's got my baby #newsweek #air france flight 296 #meredith viera #condoms #earrings #george bush #chicago bears #fog bowl #zayre #jessie jackson #1988 presidential election

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thedeaditeslayer · 6 years

Photo

ART OF DARKNESS | An Interview with GRAHAM HUMPHREYS.

This interview from Starburst Magazine features a lot of coverage with Humphreys’ work on the Evil Dead trilogy.

Legendary poster artist GRAHAM HUMPHREYS talks horror, his long career, influences, the evils of Photoshop, and more!

STARBURST: One of your most celebrated earliest works was the iconic UK theatrical poster for Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, a film which was soon to be dragged unfairly into the whole Video Nasty controversy. Do you think that the notoriety the film gained during this time helped or hindered your career?

Graham Humphreys: The Evil Dead got its UK distribution in 1983, two years before the Video Recordings Act came into law in September 1985. At the age of 23, two years seemed more like ten years at the time and I don’t recall any significant impact on my career during that period. This was for two main reasons, the first being that I was not particularly aware of most of the films that had become a target for the silly and hysterical tabloids, and thus oblivious to how their removal and savage editing might impact on choice or, indeed, the morality of an infantilised nation. Secondly, The Evil Dead had already been censored with a significant number of cuts for the theatrical, and therefore, simultaneous video, release. Mostly, these were simply to reduce the running time on particularly graphic scenes, although I think the eye gouging was almost entirely removed from the original version I’d been shown at a screening. So as far as I was aware, censorship was already in place for VHS. Of course I hadn’t really been introduced to the many European films and the rarely seen, contentious US art-house films that had begun to flood the shelves in the burgeoning VHS rental shops. As we know, many videos were pulled simply because of the titles themselves. It was enough that they sounded as if they might offend! My real introduction to, for instance, Argento and Fulci films came through Richard Stanley, whilst we storyboarded his first feature, Hardware. My film knowledge had been UK/US centric until that point, with the exception of televised European Cinema. If I had to identify any impact on my career, it will presumably have been positive. A Nightmare on Elm Street was released in the UK around the time of the Video Recordings Act coming into law. So if The Evil Dead gave me my first entry into horror marketing, Nightmare’cemented my position within the genre. It’s important to add that the majority of my freelance work at the time did not fit into the genre category. In order to earn a living I was working on a whole raft of other illustration commissions, completely non-horror related. It’s only in the last ten years that I’ve been working almost exclusively in the genre.

It’s heartening to see that you’ve routinely revisited the Evil Dead franchise many times over your career, including the recently sold out vinyl reissue of the original’s score, The Evil Dead – A Nightmare Reimagined; is there anything in particular about that series that inspires you to keep returning?

In truth, it’s not my decision. I am reliant on being commissioned for any job. Although I rarely turn down work, and only do so because of deadline or budget issues, it is always a thrill to return to an earlier title that has been so formative in my career. As with most artists, I perceive only the weaknesses in my work and each chance to make amends is welcome! I have to work within the limits of my ability and experience, returning to a title like The Evil Dead gives me a chance to experiment with ideas and techniques that I didn’t have at the time. The soundtrack you mentioned is an interesting example because the art is not promoting the film as such but rather an appendage, albeit an important one. My personal challenge involved not simply creating a cover for the film, but using it as visual resource. I wanted to use the four panels of the gatefold as a picture book. The cover is thus a rather restrained image compared to the blood drenched final panel within. The discovery of the taped recording is not an explosive gore-filled scene, but the moment where the horror begins, thus Ash is still looking clean and fresh faced. The tape reel is a direct reference to my original poster. A film poster has to capture the essence of a film in a single panel. The gatefold LP format is four such ‘posters’, two double spreads, each a separate chapter. My second version of the Evil Dead 2 poster, the licensed screenprint, was another chance to create a poster from scratch, as if seeing the film for the first time, yet also acknowledging that which had gone before. I suspect I’ll be returning to the woods again!

Speaking of that iconic Evil Dead 2 poster, how did it feel to see that piece so lovingly referenced by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg in the debut season of Spaced?

I didn’t see the original run of Spaced, so was unaware of the poster’s use. In fact, I think I was only made aware whilst preparing some ultimately unused concepts for a Shaun of the Dead cinema poster. Naturally, it was a thrill to finally see the series and how the poster was featured so prominently. When Tim inadvertently recreates the pose on the poster, it reminded me of how I’d photographed a friend posing in the exact same way to provide my reference for the original painting! I used a lot of Polaroid photographs in the eighties. Whenever you see a hand in a piece of my artwork, it’s usually mine. Even in the recent Blu-ray cover for Arrow films Blood and Black Lace, that’s me dressed in black! I used a camera on a 10 second timer!

Moving away from Raimi’s franchise, which other genre properties have been favourites to work on?

Aside from The Evil Dead, only A Nightmare on Elm Street provided a number of sequential commissions. I was a fan of the first film, after seeing a preview screening at London’s Scala Cinema. This was some months before being asked to illustrate the eventual UK poster campaign. I appreciated the risk Palace Pictures took by returning to my services. Nightmare’ was completely different to The Evil Dead and the last thing they required was the crude punk rock exploitation look of the 1983 artwork. Most clients pigeonhole artists’ work; I can’t imagine any other client would have had the foresight to make the decision. I then worked on each of the four sequels - the third was my work, though not an illustration - plus a number of Nightmare’ related jobs. Another film I’ve returned to - pun intended - is The Return of the Living Dead. I was unhappy with my original VHS cover, simply because I felt I didn’t have the skills to pull off what I’d intended - this despite the fact that people clearly liked the sleeve - so I recreated the art for a dedicated Blu-ray screening event, really as an experiment. Since then I’ve painted a book cover - Cult Screenings’ 245 Trioxin - and a Shout Factory US Blu-ray release. There was also a hybrid Re-Animator/Return of the Living Deadposter for the Cult Screenings Don Calfa event.

It’s probably safe to say that the vast majority of our readers miss the days of artwork posters and sleeves; why do you think that the studios and distributors moved away from the medium in the ’90s?

Easy answer - Photoshop! It wasn’t an available tool until then. Photocomposition was an expensive process prior to the ‘affordable’ introduction of the software. The skills involved in splicing large format transparencies, re-photographing them and retouching using bleaches and dyes to hide the joins, made it the work of highly skilled artists. Even the early version of computer ‘comping’ involved using specialised facilities, desktop computing was still unaffordable for most designers... the expense was enormous. But I realised very quickly that unlike the tradition of transparency retouching, new computer ‘comping was entirely technology-led and often lacked the artist’s eye. Unfortunately, this is still often the case. High definition has replaced suggestion. I also suspect that as film studios found their talent ever more demanding of obscenely large fees, the need to make full use of an expensive face took over from merely expressing the film’s subject matter. Photography took over. It is slightly disappointing that in a market awash with Photoshop portraiture, there is also a new visual illiteracy. The beautiful posters created by Saul Bass are a prime example of how film marketing moved away from his symbolism to a new literalism, becoming infantilised by Photoshop. As Quentin Tarantino observed, contemporary film posters look more like ‘Vogue covers’. Pouting, overpaid actors retouched in high definition. Painted images are a springboard of suggestion and imagination. A photograph, no matter how beautiful, is simply that.

Conversely, the rise of home video distributors specialising in cult & classic reissues like Arrow and Eureka has created a hunger for newly commissioned artwork. Do you feel that the trend may ever come full circle and return to the mainstream at all?

That’s doubtful. Illustrated images are mostly used for reissues, ancillary campaigns or independent films with limited distribution, but rarely first run releases. However, I think that’s fine. In many ways, there will always be more freedom of expression where the reductive, corporate needs of accountants, executives and moneyed interns are factored out. Modern film marketing is led by money people, not art directors. It may always have been a ‘business’, but it often seems there is little encouragement for true mavericks or creative outsiders right now. In the same way that major releases tend to be franchises, sequels or star vehicles, the campaigns are reflective of a homogenised business where risk is discouraged. But hey, never say never!

Which artists would you say have influenced your style and, or, career?

It’s a mix. I take inspiration wherever it arises. From my early childhood, visits to the local library - I was fascinated by religious depictions of demons and hell - all easily accessible images of horror! And of course, the Bible is full of gratuitously shocking imagery. I didn’t have a particularly religious upbringing, though like many of my generation, Sunday school was just one of those things that you went to as routine. The promise of Sunday school outings to the coast was the biggest draw. It’s curious to look back and see that I was ‘confirmed’ as a Christian in my early teens - before I really understood the contexts and realities of ‘faith’. I’m now atheist. As an amusing aside, my nose bled during the confirmation! I also served at the altar in the local church. I consider it an induction into the world of ‘gothic’! I then found myself becoming aware of book covers and film posters; the magical touchstone for many was Dennis Gifford’s A Pictorial History of Horror Movies. Tom Chantrell’s cover was easily the biggest catalyst for everything that followed. Some film posters stood out more than others, but many of the US posters seemed to be painted by jobbing artists with their own specialist areas - US civil war, cowboys, landscapes - and quite how they ended up providing some of the most memorable ‘disaster movie’ posters is something I’ve always thought was rather odd. I’ve named Chantrell, but in the UK, Vic Fair created some amazing work. From the US - Drew Struzan, Bob Peak, Richard Amsel and J.C. Leyendecker. The printed posters of Jules Cheret, Toulouse Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. The new generation of British illustrators that emerged during my college years. The work of Saul Bass and graphic artists too numerous to catalogue... Sometimes it might only be one particular piece of work from an individual’s entire output. But I also take inspiration from the abstract and tribal... and a particular love of Tibetan sacred art.

Many of our readers, and writers for that matter, will have grown up with at least one of your movie posters tacked to their bedroom walls; who or what adorned yours?

I should have added both Bruce Pennington and Roger Dean to that last answer. They both adorned mine! Now it’s almost all vintage posters - the Universal monster films, Corman’s Poe films and many of the Hammer Horror - there seems to be a lot of Christopher Lee and Vincent Price! But yes, back then I had a copy of Jaws, Earthquake and The Hindenburg as my first collected film posters.

How long would you say on average commission takes to complete?

Depending on the complexity, a painting might take anywhere between two and four days, maximum five. The fee often decides what time you can allow. If I spent two weeks on a job that was only covering the fee of one day, I’d be out of business pretty fast. The preliminary process - viewing a film, making grabs, the sketching etc. - can often be completed in a day. This time is generally not covered in the fee; I tend to quote on the painting process!

A studio or distributor gets in touch - can you walk us through the process of creating a piece?

It’s often been different in the past, but the process has been whittled down to a fairly simple set of stages. 1) The initial contact and acceptance of a job - once a budget and deadline has been mutually agreed. 2) Viewing the film, or materials, to get a measure of the subject and an understanding of how best to approach the project - the client will usually indicate upfront any particular requests... ie. required imagery or portraiture. 3) Selecting the imagery I feel works best, usually screen grabs, and sketching the various elements - portraiture is almost always traced from the photographic source using printouts - it’s the most efficient way of ensuring a likeness. Sometimes I’ll supplement the images with my own photography and web searches, or composite the grabs with other poses, or perhaps add a close-up to a wider body shot, to keep the best portrait reference. 4) Scan the pencil sketch elements into Photoshop and play around with compositions, exploring focal elements or key ‘moments’, always searching for the most impactful or meaningful combinations. 5) Email the layouts to the client and - all being well - agree on the preferred option. 6) Reintroduce the original photographic sources over my pencil layout, creating a crude photo-comp in Photoshop. 7) Print out the comp to the size I intend to paint. 8) Trace onto the paper - I generally use Bockingford 190gsm, ‘not’ surface - a pitted effect that allows for more texture when painting. 9) Use masking tape to secure the paper to a wooden board I use for the purpose. 10) Cover the paper surface in a wash of colours that will form the base of my colour theme, using splashes of additional colour or clear water to particular areas - always having a rough version of the finished item in my head. 11) During the previous process, the paper will buckle, forming ‘valleys’ where the paint will run into shapes and forms that will add a spontaneous look - the paper dries flat because of the taped edges - so once dry I’ll usually start by defining the darkest areas, the basic shadows and contours, almost a drawing rather than a painted image. 12) Then I’ll concentrate on the key portraiture, moving around the painting, most often from top left to bottom right, so as not to disturb the painted surface resting my hand as I paint, or using bits of clean paper to protect the surface. 13) Take constant breaks to keep reviewing with fresh eyes... one of the most important devices I also use, a piece of mirror that I constantly check the progress with. It has a two-fold purpose: to see the reflected painting as if for the first time, but also to keep in check the tendency to skew imagery. If you’re right-handed it’s easy to find a bias of angles from bottom left to top right, and in reverse if left-handed. Using a mirror to check this will quickly reveal the bias. 14) Complete the painting by ensuring important detail is included, portraits are as good as the paint will allow, and that there is a cohesion and balance to the overall layout. The addition of a few carefully administered splatters using a worn brush is the final stage. 15) A quick photo is often taken for the client to see the results and identify any glaring issues. Fortunately, these are rare. Then the final scan and any necessary final tweaks in Photoshop, usually adding a bit more extra bleed, but generally retaining the integrity of the original item. 16) Invoice and get paid!

It’s probably akin to picking a favourite child, but which piece are you most proud of?

Once a job is complete I tend to dislike it - it’s part of the natural process where you keep re-evaluating what you do, always striving to improve. Of course budgets and deadlines conspire against ideal results. For this reason it might take a year or two for me to regard a job as something I can feel comfortable with. I’m always trying to look through the eyes of a stranger, judging my work and finding fault... it’s the only way to move forward! So I can’t really identify favourites, just successes. My easy copout is always the same... the job I’m most proud of? I’ve not painted it yet!

If fans want to get their hands on your work, where can they point their wallets?

The best place they can spend that money is on the final product - Blu-ray, LP or whatever – that way I’m more likely to be recommissioned by the client! However, my website has a section which shows what folio prints are currently available. There is no online shop, but my email address is easily found on the site and I can respond with prices etc. Very easy! The large format book Drawing Blood, published by Proud Gallery, is still available, though I have no access to stock. The gallery - proudonline.co.uk - will sell you one, as will Amazon. It’s a bit pricey - sorry, out of my control - but it comes in a special box and with a limited edition giclée print. People seem to like it! And any convention where I’m a guest, I’ll always have prints, booklets and posters. As my work is paint on paper, rather than digital, I have originals that I’m also happy to sell. Prices are set according to the amount of work and subject matter.

Are you able to tell us about any upcoming projects that our readers should be excited about?

Not without compromising the confidentiality of the client! But there are some fun items I’m currently very excited about personally. Perhaps a favourite film, a favourite TV series... I’ll say no more!

For more on Graham Humphreys’ incredible work, be sure to visitwww.grahamhumphreys.com. To contact about prices and/or commissions, reach out using [email protected]

#Graham Humphreys #Evil Dead #Evil Dead II #Army of Darkness #The Evil Dead #artist

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ravenclawbaz · 6 years

Text

i saw you close your eyes

final part of my fake dating au!! Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

word count: 3086 warnings: none

*i wanna thank all of you guys for reading this!! it means a lot to me that people are (hopefully?) enjoying the things that i’m writing :) i have a few new things planned that i’ll start working on when i get a chance! (also if you were wondering, the title of this came from the song i saw you close your eyes by local natives. i just chose it cause i was listening to that song when i started writing this and somehow it fit??)

Part 3

Simon wakes up to the sound of the shower curtain being pulled open, followed by the light pattering of Baz’s feet on the bathroom tile.

Simon considers staying in bed and avoiding confronting Baz, but his decision is made for him when he starts to sweat under his heavy blankets. He rolls over and sits on the edge of his bed, leaning his elbows on his knees and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

The window was open last night, meaning Baz must’ve closed it when he got back from the Catacombs. Simon stumbles over to the window, still disoriented from having just woken up, and pulls it open, leaning out of it and breathing in the fresh air.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” Baz says from across the room. He throws his towel at Simon, then sits on his bed.

Simon turns around at the voice and catches the towel before it hits him in the face, but throws it on the ground when he realizes what it’s touched.

“You seem oddly normal today.” Simon leans his back against the window sill with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“You sure know how to flatter a guy.” Baz jokes and pulls on his shoes. Simon rolls his eyes and walks to the bathroom, choosing to enjoy the fact that for once Baz isn’t acting like he wishes Simon was never born.

“What are your plans for today?” Baz yells from the outside the bathroom and Simon ignores him. Can’t a boy go to the bathroom in peace.

Simon answers once he is back in the room, “I’ll probably just hang out with Penny. Maybe visit Ebb too.”

“Boring. Shouldn’t we be together if we want people to actually believe that we’re dating?” He finishes tying his shoes and sits up straight to look at Simon, who is still leaning against the window.

“I’m not gonna be with her all day. We’ll do something that ordinary boyfriends do after lunch.” Simon uncrosses his arms to put air quotes around the word ‘boyfriends’, as if he needs to remind Baz that they aren’t actually dating.

Baz nods in understanding, instead of responding, and grabs his jacket from where it’s laying on the ground.

“I’ll see you at lunch, then.” He says before he slams the door behind him.

Simon listens to his retreating footsteps until he can’t hear them anymore, then turns around and looks out the window to watch Baz walk to the dining hall. He’s walking faster than is necessary, but that’s a whole thing with Baz. Always walking like he has somewhere important to be; head held high, completely silent besides the quick click of his shoes against the floor.

Simon’s the complete opposite; all uncoordinated movements and loud steps that can be heard across the school. That’s one of the reasons he knows him and Baz could never be together, really together, in the dating kind of way. They say opposites attract, but that doesn’t apply with these two.

He sighs and finishes getting ready, pulling on Agatha’s old lacrosse sweater and grabbing his bag, like he’ll actually do any schoolwork. He skips breakfast and heads straight to the Great Lawn where him and Penny meet every Saturday. It’s unusual of him to skip breakfast. On any other day, he could inhale the contents of every student’s plate within mere seconds of entering the dining room, but all this thinking about serious things has made him lose his appetite.

He throws his bag down and sits next to it, picking at the bark on the tree he’s sitting by until Penny shows up.

“Why weren’t you at breakfast?” Penny arrives about 10 minutes later and sits down next to Simon, flattening her skirt over her thighs. “I brought you a scone.” She hands him a scone wrapped in napkins and starts pulling books out of her bag once he takes it.

“I wasn’t feeling too hungry this morning. Did Baz sit with you guys?” He unwraps the scone and takes a bite, unable to resist it despite his lack of hunger.

“Thankfully no. I don’t think he’s at that stage with me and Agatha yet. Do you know how terribly awkward that would have been? Especially without you there.” She leans toward Simon and nudges her shoulder into his, giving him a suggestive look. “So, tell me how this thing happened between you two anyway. I want all the details.”

Simon laughs nervously and looks away from Penny’s gaze. Would this be a good time to bring up what he wanted to talk to Penny about? He glances back at her and decides that, yes, this is Penny. Anything he has to say, she’ll be willing to listen. And no matter how dumb it is she’s always the one who will able knock some sense into him.

Simon pulls the grass at his feet and rips it apart, “Actually, Pen, there’s something I need to talk to you about?” He raises his voice at the end, forming it as a question so Penny can turn him down if she wants to, though of course she wouldn’t.

She raises her eyebrows at him in a look that tells him to go on, so he does. But not before sighing and ripping up a bigger chunk of grass.

“I think I like Baz.” He lets out a breath and slowly turns to face Penny.

She doesn’t say anything at first, but all of the sudden she’s laughing louder than Simon has ever heard her laugh before. He gives her a moment to catch her breath, looking at her in confusion through her whole fit.

“Si - Simon! What the hell? I thought we were getting serious here!” She points at him with an accusing finger, “Something we never do, by the way!”

He’s still staring at her, wondering what’s so funny about him just confessing that he may have feelings for his enemy.

“I would hope that you like him. You two are dating after all.” Oh, right. Simon mentally shames himself for forgetting the one piece of information that is the most crucial in this situation: Penny thinks he’s actually dating Baz.

He lets out another laugh, more nervous than the one before, then takes a minute to explain the situation to Penny. She listens the whole time, not interrupting Simon, and to his surprise, not looking that upset about it either.

Once he’s done explaining, she sighs and rests her hand on his shoulder. “Oh, Simon. Trust you to get yourself into a mess this big.”

“Well? What do you think I should do?” She takes a minute to think, taking her hand off Simon’s shoulder and bringing it up to twirl her finger through one of her curls.

“Hmm. Honestly Si, I think you should tell him. I mean, have you seen the way he looks at you! You can’t be that oblivious.” She stuffs her unopened books back into her bag and hangs it over her shoulder. “What do you mean? And where are you going?” He grabs her hand as she stands up, looking at her questioningly.

“I have studying to do that I am not going to be able to finish with you moping around. And you have a boy to snatch.” She pulls her hand out of his and winks.

She’s only run about 5 yards away when she turns back to yell at Simon, “Oh, and you lost the bet! Your punishment is that you have to tell Baz how you feel, or you can go to dinner with me and my mum once a month for the rest of the year. See ya, Si!” With that, she’s gone before Simon can register all that she’s said. Damn him for not coming up with the consequences of losing the bet earlier. And there goes another win to Penny, making the score 0 to however many Penny has won, he’s lost count.

—-

It’s almost lunch when Simon heads back inside the gates. After Penny left, he stayed outside to think some more. Mostly about how in hell he is going to confess his feelings to Baz, his enemy. And the rest of the time he spent sleeping against the tree.

He loiters around in the courtyard until he sees Baz walking to the dining hall and runs to catch up with him.

“Hey Baz.” He kisses him on the cheek and links their fingers together. If telling Baz goes wrong like Simon suspects it will, he at least wants to enjoy the time he does have left with Baz as his fake boyfriend.

“Hi Snow.” Baz smiles at him. It almost looks real. He really is good at pretending to be Simon’s boyfriend.

They join Penny and Agatha after they get food, and jump right into the conversation.

Contrary to what Penny said earlier, Baz does fit in with them. He always knows the right things to say, and for once seems like he actually wants to be talking to Simon and his friends.

As for Simon, he stays quiet. He’s been getting more anxious the longer lunch goes on, and the closer he gets to having to alone with Baz. Having to tell him how he feels.

He runs through a million scenarios in his head as to how Baz will react.

One of them is Baz lunging at him and sinking his teeth into Simon’s neck, killing him quickly. Too bad Simon wouldn’t be able to win that bet dead.

Another is Baz leaving. Not saying anything, just turning around and walking right out the door. Possibly never coming back.

None of the scenarios that Simon pictures end happily, with Baz being okay that Simon likes him and possibly even reciprocating those feelings himself.

Simon is pulled out of his thoughts to Penny snapping her fingers in front of his face. She’s leaning over the table and her shirt is dangerously close to dragging through the leftover food on her plate.

“Simon? Are you listening? Agatha and I are leaving, we’re going to go to the library. We’ll be there if you need us.” She gives Simon a look that says ‘we’ll be there if things don’t go well with Baz’.

She must’ve told Agatha, because she looks at Simon with the same concern in her eyes. He would usually be more worried about something like that, but there are more pressing matters to invest his worry in.

“What do you want to do?” Baz stands up and clears Simon’s plate along with his own.

Simon follows Baz out of the dining hall and shrugs. It’s not like he can just casually bring up that his plans for the day are to confess his completely real feelings to his vampire roommate, who also happens to be his arch nemesis.

“Come back with me to the room then, I’m going to practice on the pitch but I need to change first. And as my boyfriend, you have to come watch me play.” Baz slows down so Simon can catch up, and grabs his hand, only to let go of it a second later with a look of disgust on his face.

“Why are you so sweaty? It’s disgusting.” There’s the Baz that Simon knows, snarky and never giving a shit about other people’s feelings. How Simon could fall for someone like that is beyond him.

“Sorry.” He pulls his hand farther away and brings it to his mouth to chew on his fingernails.

“That’s gross too. Why do you do that anyway?” Baz says.

Simon just shrugs, “I dunno. Just a bad habit I guess.” He stops, uncomfortable with the way Baz is staring at him, and shoves his hands deep in his pockets.

It’s something he’s been insecure about since he started to get made fun of for it by the other boys at the home, but it’s also something that he can’t help; similar to the lack of control he has over his own magic. And it does help. It keeps him distracted from all the stress he’s been put under by the Mage, and right now it’s helping with his problems with Baz.

The rest of the walk back to their room is quiet, only broken by the shouts from the younger students running around outside.

Simon and Baz have never walked up the stairs together, but it’s an awkward experience. The stairway is too narrow for both of them to go side-by-side, so Baz lets Simon go up ahead of him. This only results in Simon becoming hyper aware of the way he’s walking, knowing that Baz has a full view of his ass.

Simon goes into the room first and sits on his bed while Baz changes into shorts and a jersey. Baz is sitting on the floor across from Simon’s bed lacing up his second cleat when Simon decides that it’s now or never, and starts to speak before he can think about what he’s doing. He’s had enough time to think.

“Baz, there’s something I need to tell you.” He looks at Baz, who pauses tying his shoe and looks up at him.

“And what is that?” He raises his eyebrow, but thankfully does so without looking like his usual condescending self. He sits patiently, his knees drawn up against his chest, held there with his arms crossed over them, giving Simon time to gather his thoughts.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but here goes,” Simon exhales loudly and rubs his sweaty palms on his thighs, “This is going to sound really stupid to you, and you have the right to smack me or whatever you see fit when I’m done telling you, but we’ll have to go into the hall for that. Roommate’s Anathema and all.” He chuckles nervously.

“Stop stalling. You can tell me.” Baz interrupts.

“Fine. I like you. And not in a friend way, or enemy way, whatever we are. In a ‘I wish that we weren’t fake boyfriends kind of way’.” Simon looks anywhere but Baz, eyes trained on the books lining his desk instead. “I know it sounds dumb. How could I like the guy who’s supposed to be my enemy. I mean, we’re supposed to kill each other! And it took me so long to realize, too. A few years of fighting with you, and a whole conversation with Penny before she talked some sense into me. If you want to go in the hallway and beat the shit out of me, maybe throw me down the stairs for old time’s sake, that’s fine.”

Simon is so lost in his rambling that he doesn’t notice Baz has gotten up off the floor until he’s standing right in front of him. Rather than saying anything, he just grabs Simon’s hands and pulls him up so they’re both standing.

Baz is taller than usual because of his cleats, and Simon has to tilt his head up to look him in the eyes.

“Simon, you’re an idiot.” Baz is smiling. More like grinning, actually. It’s kind of scary, all his teeth on display like that.

“I know, you’ve told me.” Simon deflates at the insult and realisation that Baz is holding onto him so he can drag him into the hallway and throw him down the stairs. He deserves it for having feelings like this.

“I don’t think you understand.” His grip on Simon’s wrists tighten, then Baz lets go of one of them. He brings his hand up under Simon’s chin, tilting it up lightly until they’re making eye contact again.

“I’ll show you.” Baz whispers. He closes his eyes and leans in.

Simon is frozen. Baz is kissing him, softly. He thinks that has to be the softest that anyone has ever been kissed. Simon realizes he’s not kissing back, but Baz has already pulled away. Simon uses all the courage he has to wrap his free hand around the back of Baz’s neck, the other one still tight in Baz’s grasp, and pulls him back in.

This time Simon kisses back. It’s definitely not as soft as the first time, either. Even kissing has to be a fight between them; Simon pushing at Baz with all he’s got while Baz does the same.

Baz moves his hand from under Simon’s chin to hold his cheek, and brings the other one up to grip at the nape of his neck. He twirls the short ends of Simon’s hair in his fingers, making Simon sigh into Baz’s mouth.

They finally break apart after what seems like years of kissing and rest their foreheads together. Simon’s hand is spread wide on Baz’s back; they’re pressed against each other and Simon can feel Baz’s hip bone digging into his stomach. He doesn’t care though, he just brings his hand around from Baz’s back and drags it across his stomach. The way Baz’s eyes flutter closed and the sigh he lets out at that prompts Simon to keep doing it.

“Why’d you call me an idiot?” Simon asks.

“Hm?” Baz opens his eyes to look at Simon, “Oh, because you are.” That earns him a light shove on the shoulder, but he just smiles. “I called you an idiot because it amazes me how long it took you to realize I like you.”

“Not fair. I was a little busy trying not to get killed, if you hadn’t noticed.” Simon crosses his arms and fakes an angry look.

“I notice everything about you, Snow.”

“You can call me Simon, you know.” He keeps his arms crossed, but nudges his shoulder forward into Baz’s upper arm.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Baz smirks and brings his hands up to shove back at Simon, and not a light shove. Simon falls back and lands on the bed with a grunt, his arms coming uncrossed to try and brace his landing.

He props himself up on his elbows and watches as Baz follows him onto the bed; swallows thickly when Baz settles on top of his thighs, his cleated feet on either side of Simon’s body.

Baz places his hand next to Simon’s head, the other resting on Simon’s hip, and lowers his body until their faces are only a few inches apart.

“I thought you were going to practice.” Simon can feel Baz’s breath on his face.

“It can wait.” Baz mumbles, before leaning in and closing the distance between him and Simon for the third time.

#carry on fanfic #my fanfic #carry on #snowbaz #snowbaz fanfic #simon snow #baz pitch #penelope bunce #agatha wellbelove #fake dating au #fake relationship au

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emjenenla · 6 years

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Certain Dark Things [A Mortal Instruments Fanfic]

Post-CoFA. He looked down at himself. The rune Lilith had put on his chest was still there, bright red, but he felt no panic. He was in control of his own body now. The spell was broken. Everything was okay. Or Jace and Sebastian in the aftermath of Sebastian's resurrection.

I don't own the Shadowhunter Chronicles. Title from "Sonnet XVII" by Pablo Neruda, which is also the title of part two of CoLS. Violence warning because these boys spend a not inconsiderable amount of time literally covered in Jace's blood.

I'm honestly not sure why I wrote this since CoLS is my least favorite book in the series mostly because I don't like not-Jace. I guess I'm rationalizing this story by saying that writing not-Jace will be good practice. Plus, Sebastian is a great villain. I'm not sure if I did him justice, but I tried.

For the purpose of this story, just accept that Jace has a stele through the entirety of the climax of CoFA and that Sebastian is wearing Valentine's teleporting ring. Trying to figure out how two blood-soaked teenage boys could get into the apartment and not get caught by the Clave without those two things gives me a headache.

Jace Lightwood woke up.

That was admittedly a little strange because he hadn’t been asleep, but somehow, he woke up anyway. He was kneeling in a glass box up to his waist in water that had turned red with blood. His blood. He remembered cutting open his own wrist and letting the blood run into Sebastian Morgenstern’s mouth. He remembered doing it, remembered not being in control of his own body.

He looked down at himself. The rune Lilith had put on his chest was still there, bright red, but he felt no panic. He was in control of his own body now. The spell was broken. Everything was okay.

He still felt strange, almost floaty, like the inside of his head had been rearranged and pushed around, like his thoughts weren’t quite his own. When he tried to consider the feeling more closely, a sense of peace swept over him. It was alright. Everything was alright now. It was a just a weird feeling, probably just because of all the blood he’d lost.

The surface of the water bucked, and Sebastian sat up, eyes wide, bloody water pouring off his body, sticking his colorless hair to his face and neck. Jace jerked back, more because he was startled than because he was actually afraid. Sebastian had just been dead and now he wasn’t; that was a little weird. Jace was allowed to feel startled even if Sebastian wasn’t a threat.

Sebastian gripped the sides of the box with desperate strength. At some point his missing hand had grown back, or perhaps been reattached was a better word because there was a ropey scar where Isabelle had sliced it off. Sebastian leaned forward, eyes squeezed tight closed. He coughed and retched up the combination of water and Jace’s blood that he’d been submerged in. His sides expanded and contracted in a ragged, irregular pattern, like he’d forgotten how to breathe. There was a slash on one of his palms right where Jace had cut himself mere minutes before.

Jace leaned forward, stretching out his hand carefully, not sure if Sebastian would be okay with being touched. “Are you okay?” He asked, and Sebastian motioned vaguely with one hand. The motion shouldn’t have meant anything, but Jace somehow knew Sebastian was saying he was fine.

Jace realized he was really worried about Sebastian. That was startling. Jace had been trying to keep Lilith from bringing Sebastian back, and now all he could think about was how Lilith had been planning to use Simon’s blood to finish the resurrection. What if Jace’s blood wasn’t good enough? What if there was something wrong with Sebastian as a result?

It was the same type of thought-spiral that happened every time Alec was injured. Jace was a bit confused by why he suddenly cared about Sebastian as much as he did his parabatai. Wasn’t Sebastian the enemy?

No, Sebastian wasn’t. He realized. It was all a big misunderstanding. Sebastian hadn’t meant to do those things. Max’s death had been an accident. Sebastian hadn’t meant to kill him. He was trying to do the right thing. What he wanted was right.

Jace couldn’t remember when exactly he’d learned all this information, but he knew it was true. He was more certain of it than he was of just about anything else. Sebastian was good, and Jace needed to help him.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Jace asked again. “Do you need an iratze?”

“No, I’m fine,” Sebastian said, his voice gravelly like he’d swallowed a throatful of stones. “You’re the one who needs an iratze.”

“What?” Jace blinked in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Your arm,” Sebastian pointed with one finger, seemingly unwilling to fully let go of the box.

Jace looked down. Under Lilith’s compulsion, he’d cut into his arm very deeply. The wound was still bleeding, but not anywhere near as heavily as the severity of the wound would suggest. Perhaps that had something to do with the spell that had just been completed.

“Fix yourself up before you bleed to death or something,” Sebastian said. “Then we’ll get out of here.”

“Alright,” Normally Jace would have argued that he was fine, but strangely he had no desire to argue with Sebastian. Sebastian knew what was best.

He got to his feet and his head spun. He grabbed for the side of the box and someone grabbed his hand and held him up. When Jace’s vision cleared he found himself staring down at Sebastian. The other boy’s black eyes were not necessarily concerned, but he was still there helping to hold him up.

“Patch yourself up,” Sebastian said, letting go once he was sure Jace wasn’t going to collapse.

Jace clambered out of the box, found his stele and scrawled an iratze and a blood replacement rune onto his wrist. When he turned back, Sebastian was climbing gingerly out of the box, looking like he didn’t quite trust his legs.

“Jonathan,” Jace said, opting for that name because he wasn’t sure how the other boy would feel about being called Sebastian. “What happens now?”

Sebastian glared at him. “Don’t call me that. It’s not my name any more than its yours.”

“Then what am I supposed to call you?” Jace asked. “Sebastian?”

“That’ll do,” Sebastian said. “Give me your stele and we’ll get out of here.”

“What about Clary?” Jace asked.

“Clary,” Sebastian repeated. There was an odd expression on his face, not necessarily unfamiliar, just not the kind of expression someone normally got when thinking about their sister. Jace tried to place the expression for a minute then the curiosity floated away. It didn’t matter what Sebastian thought about Clary. He would never hurt anyone Jace cared about, not on purpose.

“Can she come with us?” Jace asked. “I want her to come with us.”

“How can you be sure we can trust her?” Sebastian raised a cynical eyebrow at Jace.

“She loves me. If I ask her to come help us, she will,” Jace wasn’t sure when his relationship with Clary had become so simple. He couldn’t remember ever being this certain about anything even remotely concerning her, but he wasn’t necessarily unset by the change. It was nice to think about Clary without drowning in a tidal wave of guilt and confusion.

“I’m glad you trust her so completely, Brother,” Sebastian said, “but we need to be careful. We will escape and heal and keep an eye on Clary. If she proves to be trustworthy we can get her then.”

“Alright,” Jace said, vaguely aware that he was agreeing too easily, but not particularly caring. He paused for a minute considering something else Sebastian had said. “Did you just call me ‘Brother?’”

“Yes,” Sebastian said. “We were both raised by Valentine Morgenstern, in a way that makes us brothers, does it not?” he paused for a moment then asked, “Does it bother you that I called you that?”

“No,” Jace said. It would have bothered him only a few minutes before, but now he was deeply thankful for Sebastian’s implicit trust and intimacy. He’d literally killed this boy and tried to keep Lilith from giving him another chance at life, he couldn’t believe Sebastian had forgiven him. “You can call me that if you want, I would be honored.”

Sebastian looked thoughtfully at him for a minute. He looked mildly confused, just as Jace felt, but after a moment the expression was gone. “Give me your stele,” he said. “The Clave is downstairs, and it will only be a few minutes before they make their way up here. We don’t want to be here when that happens.”

Jace handed over the stele. He was curious about how Sebastian planned to get away without running into the Clave, but he didn’t question him. He knew Sebastian would take care of it, Jace just needed to trust him.

Sebastian strode across the garden motioning for Jace to follow. Sebastian walked with purpose, but he was obviously unsteady. Jace ran a couple sets to catch up and gripped the other boy’s arm to give him some support. Sebastian gave him a look that was part confusion, part threat then relaxed. “Sorry,” he said. “This is… strange.”

Jace nodded in agreement. He knew that what was happening right now was right, but he still wasn’t sure how it he had reached this point, and that was odd and a little unsettling. “You said we needed to go,” he said quietly.

Sebastian nodded curtly and continued on. Jace stayed with him until they reached a wall. Then Sebastian moved suddenly using his arm to pin Jace’s hand against his side. Years of training made Jace stiffen, but he wasn’t really alarmed. “Sebastian?” he asked.

Sebastian didn’t respond, he reached to touch a ring on one of his fingers. There was a flash of silver light and Jace felt like he was being pulled after Sebastian into something, condensed down into nothing and shot through the air. A split second later Jace’s vision cleared and he and Sebastian were standing a horribly familiar cave system. It was near instantaneous travel, but it was nothing like portaling.

“Sebastian,” Jace asked again. “Where are we?”

Sebastian grinned, but the expression was a tried one, like it took energy to perform it. “I think you already know that.”

Jace knew. This was the cave he had followed Sebastian to several weeks before, the one where Valentine had released the demons from. “Why are we here?” he asked.

“Because this is where the door is,” Sebastian said cryptically, then he lifted Jace’s stele and drew a rune on the cave wall. After a second he pulled Jace forward and stepped into the wall. Jace stumbled after and found himself in an ultramodern apartment. He had no idea where they were, but somehow, he knew it was nowhere near the rooftop they had just been on.

“What?” Jace looked around, taking in the sleek black and white decor. There were no windows. “Where are we now?”

“This was our father’s safehouse,” Sebastian let go of Jace and pressed the stele back into his slack hand. “This is where we lived for years after he sent you to live with the Lightwoods.” There was no jealousy or gloating in his voice when he talked about the differences in the way Valentine had treated them. Jace didn’t think that was odd. He and Sebastian hadn’t understood each other before, they did now there was no need for jealousy now.

“Will they find us here?” Jace asked.

“Technically there’s no ‘here’ for them to find,” Sebastian crossing the room to lean heavily on the huge glass table. “This is an interdimensional pocket; the only way out is that stretch of wall behind you. They can’t track us, and they definitely can’t find the entrance let alone figure out how to open it. There is no safer place to be.”

Vaguely, Jace was aware that he probably should have been nervous since he was basically trapped in a place that wasn’t even part of his world, but he wasn’t. He trusted Sebastian. Everything would be okay.

“We should rest,” Sebastian ran a hand down his face, smearing Jace’s half-dried blood down his face in even more ghastly patterns. “We’re both exhausted.”

“I’m fine,” Jace said, automatically.

Sebastian gave him a look. It wasn’t like Alec’s exasperated but concerned expressions, it was the look of someone who knew he was being lied to and didn’t like it. There wasn’t any overt concern, but Jace still found it comforting. “You look terrible,” Sebastian said, matter of fact. “You look like you haven’t slept in the entire time I’ve been dead. My sister must be a fool if she didn’t notice.”

“She had other things on her mind,” Jace said. Things like worrying I was going to break up with her. Strangely, the thought wasn’t as painful as it would have been just hours before. Clary knew he loved her, she couldn’t really have worried all that seriously about him leaving her.

“Regardless,” Sebastian said. “You’ll be a lot more useful if you don’t look like you’re about to collapse. There’s a spare bedroom upstairs you can use. I’ve never been able to figure out if our father intended it for you or Clary, but I’m sure he’s in a place where it doesn’t matter either way.”

Jace eyed the stairs heading upwards. “Are you sure you can make it up those stairs?”

Sebastian frowned then straightened up and let go of the table. He swayed visibly but didn’t fall. “I’ll make it,” he said and headed for the stairs.

He did make it though Jace followed a step below just in case. At the top of the stairs, Sebastian gestured tiredly to one of the closed doors. “There’s the room. There’s an attached bathroom. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Wait,” Jace said as the other boy started to walk away.

“What?” Sebastian sounded tired and Jace felt bad for having to bother him.

“Do you have some clothes for me to borrow?” Jace gestured at his blood-soaked clothes. “These are ruined.”

Sebastian stared blankly at him, then blinked as if he’d just realized what Jace was asking. “Oh, sure,” he said and headed for another door, which presumably lead to his room.

The room was catastrophically messy. The clutter put Jace’s teeth on edge, but the feeling was tinged with fondness like he felt when looking at Izzy’s disaster zone of room.

Sebastian crossed the room and stumbled, catching himself on the dresser. He waved Jace away and pulled open one of the drawers. After a moment he yanked out ball of black clothes and tossed them at Jace. “There you go.”

Jace caught the clothes and studied the other boy. “Are you going to be alright?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m fine!” Sebastian snapped. “I just came back to life I think I’m considerably better off than I was two hours ago. Go shower or something!”

Jace wanted to stay and make sure Sebastian didn’t slip in the bathroom and crack his head open, but it was pretty obvious Sebastian wanted to be left alone to lick his wounds. Jace understood the feeling so he back out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

The room Sebastian had pointed out was simply furnished in comparison to the rest of the apartment with white painted walls and white sheets and blankets on the bed. It was calming after the messiness of Sebastian’s room. Jace crossed to the attached bathroom and poked around in the drawers. The room seemed to have been prepared for someone to live there--Clary maybe? --because there was a toothbrush, toothpaste and a hairbrush in one of the drawers. There was also deodorant which was a relief. Using Sebastian’s deodorant would have been far from the grossest thing Jace had ever done, but he was still glad not to actually have to do it.

There were a couple fluffy white towels hanging next to the shower and some shampoo and bodywash. Jace stripped out of his ruined clothes and stepped into the shower letting the hot water pound down onto his body.

After a lifetime of being a Shadowhunter Jace was used to washing blood, ichor and other disgusting things off himself. Like he always did, he gave himself a minute to soak, watching his own blood turn the water red. Once the minute was passed he lathered shampoo into his hair and began to scrub himself clean.

The shower water was warm and relaxing. Jace tried to wash himself as quickly and efficiently as possible but he was hit by the adrenaline crash before he finished. He leaned against the shower wall as the headache he’d been nursing for weeks slammed back into him. He ached, his stomach was vaguely upset, and he just felt nasty. The sad thing was that aside from some aches and pains he didn’t feel that much worse than he had for the last few weeks. He was just so tired.

He finished showering with clumsy fingers and stumbled out of the shower. He dried off and reached for the clothes Sebastian had given him. There was a silky black pair of pajama pants and a black tee-shirt. The fact that they were twisted together did not bode well for their cleanliness, but Jace was too tired to care. The clothes didn’t really fit, but thankfully Sebastian was both taller and broader across the shoulders than Jace was, so the clothes were too big not too small. Jace tied the drawstring of the pants tightly to keep them up and tried not to wonder how much weight he’d lost in recent weeks.

He knew that he should brush his teeth and hair, but he was too exhausted for that. He stumbled out of the bathroom and collapsed face down onto the bed. He lay there for a few minutes before he finally worked his way under the blankets. The bed was very soft and Jace was very tired; he was asleep before he even realized it was happening.

For the first time in weeks, he did not dream.

~~~~

A hand poked Jace in the side, dragging him towards the surface of a deep ocean of sleep.

“Are you alive?” a voice asked.

Jace groaned and batted at the hand, not completely awake. “Go away,” he grunted. He did not want to wake up. He hadn’t slept well in weeks and he was so tired.

“Alright, fine,” the person who was bothering him said. “You can just keep lying there comatose if that’s what you want.”

That was what Jace wanted. As soon as the annoyance was gone he sunk back into the ocean.

~~~~

Eventually, Jace resurfaced in the waking world. Since the bedroom had no windows it was dark and there was no way to tell what time it was. After a moment, Jace reached out, turned the bedside lamp on and squinted at the clock sitting next to it. It was late morning, almost late enough to be considered lunchtime. He sunk back onto the pillows and stared up at the ceiling trying to gather himself. He hadn’t slept that well in too long.

It took him almost twenty minutes to finally feel awake enough to get up. He felt groggy and heavy like his body had forgotten how to deal with actually getting restful sleep. He sat up very, very slowly and ran a tired hand down his face feeling stubble rasping against his palm. He hoped Sebastian had a razor he could borrow.

Eventually he pushed aside the blankets and stood. He padded out of the bedroom on tired feet. He felt a little hungover which was weird, but he was so thankful to have actually been able to sleep that he didn’t care.

When he opened the bedroom door he heard all kinds of loud noises and music coming from the TV downstairs. Jace headed down the steps to see that Sebastian was sprawled on the couch watching what Jace thought was supposed to be an extremely violent movie.

“You know that’s not what actually happens if you stab someone there,” Jace said.

Sebastian craned his neck to look at Jace. “Oh, look he lives. Did you get enough sleep, Brother?” He voice was a little teasing, but in a familial way. “You’ve been dead to the world for over twenty-four hours.”

For the first time Jace realized it was a new day. He blinked. “Oh…” he said. “I didn’t realize…”

“Yes,” Sebastian said, still with a friendly air of teasing. “That’s obvious.”

Jace rounded the coach, sat down and curled up against the arm of the couch. Sebastian raised an eyebrow at him, but Jace was the one who spoke first, “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve always been fine,” Sebastian said rolling his eyes. “You’re the one who’s sporting the most obvious sleep hangover I’ve ever seen.”

“Is that a real thing?” Jace asked.

“Google it,” Sebastian said with a shrug then he got up. He was perfectly steady on his feet which made Jace a lot less worried about him. “The majority of the food in this place went bad while both Father and I were busy being dead, so now that you’re awake I’m going to go out and get us some lunch.”

“I can go with you,” Jace said trying to straighten up.

“You’re only nominally awake,” Sebastian said. “And only the clothes you have are my pajamas, which do not fit you in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Believe me, I’ve noticed,” Jace said.

“Just stay here,” Sebastian said. “I’ll be back.”

After he left, Jace lay on the couch and vacantly watched Sebastian’s movie. It really wasn’t the kind of thing he would have chosen to watch on his own, but it was what Sebastian had chosen and Jace wanted to get to know the other boy a little better. The confusion he’d felt the night before was gone and he was completely comfortable with his alliance with Sebastian. Everything was okay, this was right.

Twenty minutes later Sebastian came back with a plastic bag of paper-wrapped packages. “Roman pizza,” he said grandly dropping the bag onto the coffee table in front of Jace. “Fresh from the source.”

“Rome?” Jace said. “But this apartment is in Idris.”

“You obviously haven’t been paying attention,” Sebastian threw himself back onto the couch. “This apartment was never in Idris, just the door was. I’ve since moved the entrance to Rome, Italy. Have you ever been there?”

“No,” Jace admitted. Some Shadowhunters traveled extensively, helping out wherever they went, but Jace had never had that opportunity. As a child he and Valentine had never left the Wayland Manor, something that made perfect sense now that he realized Valentine wasn’t actually Michael Wayland. The Lightwoods had the Institute to contend with and didn’t travel either. Jace had always secretly hoped that he, Alec and Izzy would be able to leave New York and see the world once they came of age, though it was seeming more and more like that would never happen. He’d been trying not to be disappointed, and now that he found he actually wasn’t. It would be good to see the world with Sebastian, just like it would be good to see the world with Alec and Izzy.

“Here,” Sebastian rummaged through the bag and tossed one paper wrapped package to Jace. Jace unwrapped it to reveal the type of Roman pizza which was baked in long strips and then cut and folded in half when the customer bought it. His stomach growled and he nearly sobbed in relief. The combination of stress, exhaustion and terror he’d been living with recently always stole his appetite, it had been awhile since he’d been hungry.

When he looked up Sebastian was watching at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?” Jace asked.

“You look like you’re going to cry,” Sebastian said, mostly teasing but also almost mocking.

“I’m fine,” Jace said and stuffed a bite of pizza into his mouth before he did anything else embarrassing.

Jace inhaled several packages of pizza with barely a thought. When he finally tuned back into reality Sebastian was eating absently, his attention mostly focused on the movie. He glanced at Jace and his lips twisted into a smile. “Had enough to eat?”

Jace felt himself turn red. He normally didn’t get embarrassed about eating, but he was well aware that he’d probably looked like he was eating for the first time in too long. Valentine had always been finicky about table manners, he had no way of knowing if Sebastian was too. “Yes,” he said quietly. “Thank you.”

Sebastian’s smile was a little like the kind people gave to a puppy who had just done something cute and endearing. “Well, if my dear sister isn’t going to take care of you properly, then I guess the job falls to me.”

Jace found himself nodding along. On some level, he knew that there was something wrong with his unthinking agreement with Sebastian’s casual belittling of Clary, but he didn’t really think about it. It was really frustrating that Clary could spend so much time angsting about whether or not Jace still loved her but that Simon who didn’t even like Jace had been the one to realize something was wrong and try to help. He hadn’t thought about it at the time, but it was really annoying now that he wasn’t panicking about what he might do if he spent too much time around her.

“I’m really thankful for all of this,” Jace said feeling like the words needed to be spoken. “You have no reason to forgive me for everything I did to you while our father was still alive, but you did, and I’m can’t express how thankful I am for that.”

A confused expression crossed Sebastian’s face, like he was thinking something he knew didn’t make sense and couldn’t figure out why he was thinking it, then his expression cleared. “You can thank me by helping me.”

“What do you need help with?” Jace asked. He felt a little like he already knew, but he wanted to hear Sebastian say it, rather than make assumptions of his own.

Sebastian leaned back and stared at the television. He was debating how best to explain his goals, Jace somehow understood this almost instinctively.

“Tell me,” Sebastian said after a while. “Have you ever heard the quote ‘Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo?’”

“Virgil,” Jace said. “‘If I cannot move Heaven, I will raise Hell.’”

Sebastian grinned, it was a sharp, wicked thing. “That, Brother, is exactly what we’re going to do.”

For some reason I love the "If I cannot move Heaven, I will raise Hell" quote so you know I had to get it in here.

You know it occurs to me that this is the first Jace story I've ever written that isn't angst...

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wroetominter · 7 years

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Upload - Simon Imagine

Title: Upload Pairing: Simon x Reader Requested(?): yes thank you Warnings: smut ———

——— "Dear god my feet hurt." I said once we had made it safely into our hotel room. "Well good thing I'll be sweeping you off of them soon." Simon picked me up bridal style and tossed me onto the large bed. I laughed at his cheesy joke but soon became serious when he pulled his shirt off. Raising an eyebrow, I smirked at him as he leaned over me. "I've been missing you a lot lately." He put emphasis on the word 'missing' leading me to believe that he meant sexually. "Oh yeah? Let me show you what you've been missing." I sat up and removed my top, revealing the lace bralette that adorned my chest. With that removed as well I let Simon lay down, sliding his sweats down and spotting his impressively hard penis bulging in his boxers. "Someone's already a bit excited?" He flushed pink and smirked at me. "Not my fault my girlfriend could be a damn model." I rolled my eyes and stood up, unbuttoning my jeans and shimmying them off, tossing them into the ever-growing pile of clothes on the floor. My underwear soon joined the pile, leaving me completely at Simon's mercy. "You're a sight for sore eyes you know that?" He asked as he slid off his boxers. His hands found mine and he pulled my body flush to his and began to kiss me. Simon was usually very gentle and loving with me, never wanting to do anything that could possibly hurt me. So when he suggested being a bit rougher, I was intrigued. "Show me what you've got." I said in a seductive voice, capturing his gaze in mine and kissing him once more. He grabbed my hips and held me in place, teasing my entrance with his tip. At this point I was aching for his touch. When he pushed into me it was one rough thrust. My back arched in pleasure as he still held my hips and repeatedly thrusted in and out. "Faster...Simon" I breathed out. He complied willingly and he sucked hickies onto my neck and collar bones, his hands so tight they were sure to leave bruises. Though I didn't care. I tugged my hands in his hair and pulled, causing a pleasure-filled groan to escape his swollen lips. He repeated this action, hands running through my hair and pulling at it. I was a complete mess underneath him, wanting nothing more than for him to keep going forever. "I'm close baby girl." He mumbled, kissing me again. "Me too...daddy." The last word came out as more of a moan. The name was clearly well received as he sped up his pace and made me come undone with ease. He came just a minute later and we laid together trying to catch our breath. "I love you so much." He pulled me tight against him and kissed my forehead. "I love you more." This started our typical 'no I love you more' fight that always ended in us agreeing that we loved each other equally. "Simon!" I exclaimed after I had walked into the bathroom. "I'm going to have a hell of a time covering these tomorrow!" I walked back into the main room to see him pulling on his boxers. He held me at arms length, admiring his work. "Hmm, or you could leave them?" "And let the whole world know the unholy things we do behind closed doors? I don't think so." I pulled his shirt over my head and slipped on a clean pair of underwear. "I'm tired as fuck." I said as I took my rightful side of the bed. "Then go to bed sleepy." He brushed my hair from my eyes and pressed a kiss to my temple. "Goodnight. I love you." I mumbled into my pillow. "I love you too." He responded softly. "So much."

#miniminter #Simon minter #mm7games #imagine #sidemen #sidemen imagine #miniminter imagine #wroetominterimagines #Simon minter imagine

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mst3kproject · 7 years

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K09: Phase IV

Remember I said the movies were all coming together? Well, Phase IV is definitely a prequel to Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. Think about it – why are the people of the future nothing but replaceable cogs in a few giant companies, or colonies if you will? Why is individuality so strongly discouraged? Why does everybody hate anteaters? Because the world is ruled by ants! See? See? It's all part of one great ur-movie!

And honestly, that's as seriously as I've ever been able to take Phase IV. It's a shame, really, because despite lurid posters in which ants eat their way through a human hand, Phase IV really wants to be a serious science fiction movie. It's trying to imagine humanity confronted by an intelligence greater than ours, from the most unlikely source – man humbled before God's humblest creatures! The title apparently refers to all life on Earth eventually merging into a single super-consciousness. I can definitely see where they were trying to go. Sadly, when the journey isn't boring me to tears, it's making me giggle like a Tickle-Me Elmo doll at things that weren't supposed to be funny. Was Tickle-Me Elmo really over twenty years ago?

Dr. Hubbs is an entomologist studying a frighteningly intelligent multi-species ant colony in Arizona – or are the ants studying him? He calls in a cryptographer, Dr. Lesko, to help him try to communicate with the insects. For the next hour or so, the scientists do scientist stuff and the ants do ant stuff. Occasionally something happens. The ants tear a house down, and the people inside flee only to be accidentally sprayed with a massive overdose of pesticide. The scientists have praying mantises to keep the ants from getting into their little moon dome, but the ants take them out with ant assassins. Stuff like that. Eventually Hubbs dies of an ant bite, but the ants capture everybody else to do... something... to them... and then the movie's over.

For the most part Phase IV is deathly boring. We're either listening to the scientists talk about whatever, or watching ants wiggle their antennas at other ants that are never in the same shot because in the real world two different types of ants put together will either ignore or eat each other. Dr. Hubbs goes off on poetic flights about the perfection of ant society, and shows that he is the Mad Scientist of the movie by discounting the deaths of actual people. Dr. Lesko translates ant-language to come up with weird oscilloscope traces and geometric diagrams that might or might not mean anything. Desert Wildlife Stock Footage appears and there's a teenage girl named Kendra who has to hang around because going outside would mean crawly formic death. The soundtrack is kinda trippy but at the same time impossibly dull.

In fact, it's because Phase IV is dull that I often find it so funny. Since nothing much is happening, my brain wanders off on odd tangents with the sparse information the film gives me. We begin with Dr. Lesko's narration telling us that this was all caused by some kind of unspecified celestial event. Really? A conjuction of the planets created smart ants? Jupiter is in retrograde and Mercury is rising in Libra, so be conservative with your investments – and watch out, because this month's full moon is the perfect time for ants to suddenly develop a superintelligent hive mind!

Then the narration starts talking about ants 'doing things ants don't do', like holding meetings. This bodes ill for mankind, sure, but the word 'meetings' just makes me picture ants at tiny tables, sipping tiny lattes while they discuss how best to put the wasp nest under the porch out of business. Never mind that Lesko's voice is over footage of ants doing... well, exactly what ants do; grooming, fighting, and carrying stuff through tunnels. The shots cut back and forth from one ant to another of a different species in a way that suggests we're probably supposed to be imagining a dialogue between them, but there's not even any squeaking sounds dubbed in. I admit that this is realistic, because ants communicate chemically. It still looks ridiculous.

How about the bit where the ant queen (who I'm pretty sure is not played by an ant – the animal we see looks more like some kind of wasp) assimilates an insecticide, producing offspring that are immune to it? Sure, scary idea, but Dr. Hubbs intones, 'we challenge with yellow chemistry, they respond with yellow creatures'. Is that how that works? Because now I'm pondering the artistic possibilities of feeding Skittles to the ants.

Or how about when the ants decide to cook the humans in their hideaway by focusing solar radiation onto it? Revenge for all those kids with magnifying glasses, am I right? Or how Dr. Lesko blasts the tops off the ant towers to try to get a reaction? That seems a little extra, when any bored six-year-old knows much easier ways to get an ant colony moving. How about the fact that at the end everybody runs off into the desert in their bare feet when they know damned well there's seventy billion pissed-off ants out there?

The ants only get one moment in the movie that's really effective, when it does seem like there's a higher intellect at work behind these millions of mindless drones in perhaps the same sort of way as billions of neurons come together to create a conscious human brain. That's when the ants bring a sample of the yellow pesticide back to the hill for their queen to examine. One ant carries this as far as it can before the poison kills it, then another one picks it up and does the same. Individual ants are expendable. There are just so damn many of them that it makes no difference, and the colony can always produce more to replace what has been lost. This uses what makes ants scary even when they're not superintelligent, along with reminding us that their purpose here is to study our weapons and learn to neutralize them.

The dead ants laid out in rows like the aftermath of a battle is also sort of cool, but it has the opposite effect, actually humanizing the ants by depicting them as individual lost lives. Hubbs has already explained to us that's not how ants work, and if ants are individuals who care enough to gather up their dead colony-mates, they become a lot less alien and therefore a lot less frightening.

The behaviour of the ants also suffers from the same problem as a lot of killer animal movies, in which their intelligence seems to have come with a few lessons in electrical engineering. Intelligence does not automatically confer knowledge – INT is a stat, while knowledge is a skill! Humans have sophisticated brains, but much of what we do with them depends upon thousands of years of accumulated learning. Before we could build a generator, we needed at least a primitive understanding of the physics of electricity. It is true that destroying a generator is simpler than inventing it, but how did the ants even know what the significance of the generator was? How did they know what the air conditioner was, never mind how to shut it down? These ants have been sentient for a couple of months at best, and during that time they seem to have been too busy building towers and exterminating their predators (things that actually seem like pretty plausible ant priorities) to go to trade school.

These are all quibbles, though. The biggest problem with Phase IV is that it raises a lot of questions and then never bothers to even try answering them. Dr. Lesko makes some progress at communicating with the ants, and the fact that the ants bother to listen and reply suggests that they do want something from these humans... but what? Hubbs dies of the ant venom, but Lesko and Kendra are captured and taken inside an enormous ant hill, where the ants begin doing something to them that seems poised to begin a real dialogue. In the final moments of the movie we're on the verge of finding out what's really been going on... and then it just ends.

So what was all that leading up to? We don't know! And Lesko's final words of narration, we didn't know for what purpose, but we knew we would be told, just seem to rub the anticlimax in our faces – he found out, but we never will! I'm left with the impression that writer Mayo Simon didn't have any real idea, himself. I guess the point is supposed to be that the ants are such a completely alien mind that Lesko probably couldn't explain it to us if he wanted to. Fair enough, but still a lousy non-ending to a boring eighty-four minute movie.

All this movie needed was a conclusion. Not even a conclusion to the overall 'smart ants take over the world' thing, just a conclusion to the 'kidnap Lesko and Kendra and make them members of the hive' thing. Are the ants after human knowledge? Do they need human emmissaries? Human spies? Human slaves? Humans to play the slots in Vegas while the ants manipulate the machines to pay out big wins? A fertile couple to be the progenitors of a new race of Ant-People? See, there I go again, off on tangents trying to supply the entertainment this movie so conspicuously failed to give me.

There are people who really like this movie. El Santo of 1000 Misspent Hours says it's one of his favourites, because it makes him think. It made me think, too, but about all the wrong things.

#mst3k #reviews #phase iv #the movies are all coming together #70s

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ghostmartyr · 7 years

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SnK 96 Thoughts

The good news is, we’re not in Marley anymore.

That’s it.

Boy do I wish we were in Marley.

That’s maybe an unfair thing to say, because if we were still on Marley, I would probably spend the next five to ten paragraphs complaining about why we shouldn’t be on Marley, but my initial response to this chapter is to ask what is volume 24 ending with that is so important we have to drag out the story like this?

That is definitely an unfair thing to say, but I feel it.

As a piece of the story, I’m mostly okay with this existing. One of the nice things about Isayama not following standard pacing techniques is that unnecessary expansions can contain some nice character moments. His characters are great, so that works out.

In the distant future, where we didn’t wait a month to see Wall Maria falling one more time.

(If the person who suggested that we’ll get back to the Paradis crew once Reiner has finished flashbacking his perspective of the entire manga turns out to be right, I... I don’t even know. No.)

As someone who’s not particularly attached to RAB... uh.

I like how they were always terrible at coming up with plans together (”we were going to do this stretch with two people, but now that we don’t have two people, we’re going to do the exact same plan, only it will nearly kill you before anything is accomplished. aaaand break!”)

I like the page of Bertolt staring up at the wall.

I like Dina walking past Bertolt (she made a promise to the man she loves, after all).

I like every moment Annie is not in a crystal.

But this is so dull, considering where we currently are in the story. We’ve just been introduced to all the horror that is Marely, we’ve seen none of the Paradis cast for four years, in-universe, and instead of doing anything with that, now we’re back to material that the very first chapter covered.

It’s like reading the instruction manual for the desk that you just watched someone put together.

Were previously unknown details established? Yes.

Was there any reason to bother? Depends on how much value you place on the reading of instruction manuals for its own sake.

There are plenty of moments I will be happy that we have now, but mostly I’m staring sideways at my screen and wondering if anyone would notice if I just didn’t bother writing a chapter post this month.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah; blah blah blah blah blah blah blah--blah blah. Blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah blah.

Blah.

One of the interesting tidbits we did get this month was the origin of the story Bertolt tells Eren and Armin.

A man sees a monster and runs for his life, considering nothing else. He leaves his children to die, and survives to kill himself.

Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt don’t have children, but they do leave their friend behind, as well as Jaws. Then they spend the next five years letting their consciences and circumstances tighten the nooses around their necks.

So far, Bertolt’s the only dead one.

I like that he’s the one who the story sticks with. The day it happens is a nightmare for all involved except Ymir, but Reiner and Annie are the ones shouting at each other over it. They don’t need someone else to give their experiences a voice.

Bertolt, who has always believed that he has no will of his own, borrows the dead man’s voice for a little while. He remembers what it’s like to run blindly from death, only for more death to be waiting when he stops.

In other Bertolt news, hey, it took fifty chapters, but I finally believe that Bertolt has a crush on Annie!

I have no feelings about that, but four for you, manga! You go!

Also, despite being the only one to ever suggest that Eren needs help learning how to talk to girls, add Annie to the list of characters who completely misses the obvious in terms of romance.

Dude, if someone strongly objects to you saying you don’t have seductive charms, that might be a slight indication of them considering you attractive. Just saying.

...I think Annie probably has no feelings on Bertolt having a crush on her, either. Tough break, kid. I mean, we already know that you die without telling her, but maybe this makes it easier to be at peace with that.

Speaking of Annie, I forgot how much I appreciate her perspective: “This all sucks, everyone sucks, I am an everyone.”

Going back to the tried and true word producer of comparing Marley kids to Paradis kids, when Historia goes on her rant about how the titans should just go ahead and eat everyone, she’s saving her new friend’s life.

When Annie expresses a similar sentiment, she’s kicking the life out of Reiner.

That about sums up the general psychological health of Marley Eldians versus Paradis Eldians: Appalling, but one side has the option of undergoing treatment.

If you really want to have fun with it, or are just really, really bored and trying to come up with something less boring to say, this chapter is titled, “The Door of Hope.” Taking that literally, RAB knock down that door, opening the rest of the world to hope. That thing Paradis still has, and can fight for under its own name.

The hope Marleyan Eldians have feeds a negative loop that furthers the suffering of their people despite their best efforts. Paradis, as it stands, has grown people who have started taking steps outside their harmful cycles, bringing about positive change to themselves, and possibly the world.

...Taking this another flight down the touchy-feely route, Marley, and the First King, are of the opinion that Spiral energy is going to doom the world, and needs to be contained or destroyed.

The Survey Corps is Team Dai-Gurren.

Anti-Spiral: You continue to struggle, even knowing what you know? Simon: Of course we do! The tomorrow that we're trying to grab for ourselves... is not the tomorrow that you've set out for us! It's the tomorrow that we choose for ourselves: a tomorrow that we choose out of all the infinite universes. We'll fight our way through. We'll keep fighting and protect the universe! We'll stop the Spiral Nemesis too! Anti-Spiral: You can't possibly accomplish all that! Simon: Just watch us!!

Jury’s still out on whether they’re actually Team Dai-Gurren, or some of those no-name Spiral Warrior schmucks that leave a graveyard behind, but the underlying principle that’s shielded the people we know on Paradis is that if there’s a wrong, it should be fought, and it can be fixed, even if they don’t know how yet.

Marleyan Eldians aren’t protected by that belief, so we get Annie repeatedly kicking Reiner in the face in lieu of accomplishing anything helpful.

That sounds about right.

I’ve avoided talking about Reiner this chapter, because I’ve done a lot of complaining already, and I don’t want my dislike of the guy to make this a totally unfun read.

The scene where he brings Annie and Bertolt over to his way of thinking is the latest example of why Reiner’s status as an interesting character doesn’t endear him to me.

Reiner’s tied up in a million different knots before he ever steps foot on Paradis. His mother plants a purpose in his heart that turns to desperate, slavish devotion, that makes him break instead of bend. His father destroys the dream that inspires it all. Once he does reach Paradis, Marcel completely shatters his confidence and self-worth.

All that’s left is his mother.

All that’s left is the mission.

Reiner commits himself beyond sense. He doesn’t simply decide on a course of action; he has to perform. This has to work. He covers up his fragility with twisted cords of steel that refuse to give an inch.

This is how he survives, and he won’t let Bertolt and Annie talk themselves out of it. They’re doing this. If they don’t want to, he’ll make them want to.

“So in other words, you’re going to threaten us to protect yourself?”

Reiner says he doesn’t know, but that’s what he does. The boy who turns into a man who will consistently throw himself in the way of physical harm to protect his comrades will throw them under the bus to help them all out of the street. Physical safety isn’t one of his top priorities outside of this incident, but emotional safety repeatedly sees him lashing out.

He terrorizes Falco because he’s poking holes in a system that Reiner can’t turn his back on.

He screams Marley fanaticism at Galliard for calling him the least likely to be chosen as a Warrior.

He threatens Annie into helping him kill Marco so that Bertolt doesn’t have to.

He makes similar arguments to get them back on track for breaking down the wall, because this can’t end without success.

Reiner’s suffered unspeakably, but he has a nasty tendency to wield that trauma as a weapon against people who are getting in the way of the goals that trauma gave birth to in the first place. He does not bend. He breaks, and reforges, and will break other people to make it to the finish line.

He’s the one who binds himself, Annie, and Bertolt together. He creates the rallying cry of going home. He gives them the fuel to move forward.

Because he needs this to work.

The older he gets, the more he models himself after Marcel and the more he becomes a sturdy soldier, the more he finds his true cause. He finds stability. He can act on belief, not desperation. As he tells Shadis on the final page, he’s here to save humanity, and he means it.

But under the surface is this complete mess that got him to that conclusion, and it still has its grip on him. He doesn’t know what’s right or wrong, but he does know that he’s going to see his duty through until the end. That’s what he has left to work with.

He still needs his mission to go right. It’s quieter now that he has more skill and experience, but deep down he’s just as emotionally fragile as he's always been, and the paths that drives him down at breakneck speed haven’t changed all that much.

Reiner’s a character who just... bothers me, because the emotional destruction he causes people doesn’t seem to register as long as the end is okay.

Not that the end has ever really been okay.

It’s obviously a way more extreme problem as a child (Reiner strangling Annie while he says they’ll all go home together is possibly more disturbing than Eren murdering people at a younger age), but his problem resolution skills could still use a remedial course or five.

Anyway, yeah.

This has been... a post.

To wrap it all up, let me just say that Annie is the best, and despite the whining, seeing the disastrously unchill murder children trying to make things work is always a trip.

...Is that what we find out at the end of 24?

She’s coming out of the crystal?

The 98 hype is real.

#Shingeki no Kyojin #SnK 96 #shingeki no spoilers #SnK spoilers #spoilers #Reiner Braun #tl;dr #chapter post #sorry this post is what it is #I don't really have anything funny to add #I'm just sorry

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thran-duils · 7 years

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Lesson Learned

Title: Lesson Learned Pairing: Reader/Negan Summary: Reader is caught flirting and Negan needs to teach her a lesson. Words: 1,757 Warnings: Language, SMUT Author’s Note: As always, if you want to be removed from a tag list, let me know!

Masterpost

The perfect ending to Negan’s day had been one of his guys handing him an unopened bottle of scotch that they had found out on a run. Negan had gathered Simon, a couple of glasses, and was heading out towards the back of the Sanctuary to sit in a few chairs in the sun. He could also check in on the process of the garden that some of his people had been adding to.

Placing the bottle and glasses on a small table between two chairs, Negan made to sit down. But something stopped him in his tracks across the garden by one of the sheds.

Negan’s eyes widened seeing one of his wives, Y/N, leaning in close to one of his guys, Nathan. Her breasts were spilling over the top of her dress, no doubt wearing a great push up, and Nathan was not doing anything to avert his eyes. Negan’s head almost exploded the second Nathan reached out, placing a hand on her knee. Y/N nonchalantly scooted away from his grasp while still smiling.

“The fucking fuck…” Negan trailed off before beginning to stride towards the pair of them, Lucille swung over his shoulder. He had every intention of swinging that bat into Nathan’s head.

Simon’s hand wrapped around Negan’s arm and held him in place, despite Simon’s best impulse to not do that at the moment. Negan’s glare was melting.

“She’s not into him,” was all Simon said.

Negan snarled, “What?”

“Look at her. She’s trying to get something from him.”

Negan looked unconvinced before sliding his eyes back over towards his wife across the yard.

“He’s got a couple cans of pop sitting behind him. And when has she ever flipped her hair over her shoulder like that? Usually doesn’t act like a ditz. Furthermore, she moved away from him. Just putting pieces together before you overreact.”

“Simon—“

“I get it. She shouldn’t be throwing her tits at him for soda pop because she should be going through you for things. And obviously, the whole wife thing. But, looks like he’s been stashing the stuff. We ran out last week. How does he have it if we ran out and it wasn’t pushed through inventory? And you wouldn’t have known about it if this wasn’t happening right now. Who is really to blame here?”

Negan studied Simon for a moment before replying, “Lucille’s gonna have a loud ass resounding answer in a minute.”

Simon exhaled heavily, rolling his eyes slightly more so in annoyance thinking about what he was going to have to clean up rather than the fact Negan had resumed his crusade across the yard.

<> <> <>

A shadow fell over the pair of you and you almost choked seeing Negan towering over you. Straightening up quickly, you pushed your hair behind your ear, the smile falling from your face. Your thigh was now cold where Nathan’s hand had been seconds before.

He practically jumped off the seat. “Negan, I didn’t know you guys came back.”

The look on Negan’s face was taunting. “Yeah, I can fucking see that. Cause otherwise, you wouldn’t have your sorry as shit rod pointing at my wife.”

Nathan looked extremely uncomfortable, adjusting himself to try to hide his erection to no avail.

Negan’s eyes turned to you and you stiffened under his gaze. He asked, “You mind telling me, sweetheart, why you’re meeting out here with him? Giving him a show of my goods on top of that?”

Nathan’s eyes bugged out of his head and he interjected, practically stumbling over himself to try to correct it, “I wasn’t –”

“No!” Negan barked at Nathan, pointing Lucille at him threatingly. “Was I talking to you?”

“No, sir.”

“Yessir, that is the correct goddamn answer. Not talking to you, Nathan. So keep your fucking mouth shut until I ask you a question!” He rounded on you again, “You got an answer for me?”

Swallowing sharply, you kept his eye contact. “I wanted a Pepsi.”

Negan snapped his fingers and exclaimed, “Right, the pop. The pop we somehow now have when inventory says we don’t.” Nathan looked like he wanted to melt into the ground. “You mind telling me how you conjured up that amazing fucking miracle, Nathan? Now, see, there’s a question directed at you. Speak the hell up. You got the goddamn stage to yourself. Spotlight and all.”

It looked like Nathan was running a million things through his mind quickly, trying to come up with something. All that he finally said, sounding on the edge of panic, “I’m sorry, Negan. I just wanted to have a few to myself. I –”

(gif)

“Actually, you know what?” Negan interrupted. “I don’t fucking care!” In a swift motion, Negan swung Lucille back before she made contact with Nathan’s crotch.

Nathan let out a pained noise before grasping at his crotch, collapsing into the dirt. He was gasping for air, in the fetal position. Your eyes widened seeing this happen but you forced yourself to stay put.

Exhaling with force, Negan pointed Lucille down at Nathan. “Nothing you can say is going to even fucking come close to me even starting to give a shit about your reason. You keep supplies from me, try to pawn them off, AND lay your pussy ass hands on my wife? You’re lucky the only thing I’m doing to you is giving your limp dick a kiss from Lucille! My girl knows how to flirt doesn’t she? Quite the fucking show stopper!” Nathan was still whimpering on the ground, more than likely still seeing stars. “Shit, you can’t even handle a light kiss from her. Too much of a woman for you.”

Directing at Simon he said, “Get some poor fucks to help carry this shitbag to Carson.”

It didn’t take long for some guys, including Simon to take Nathan away.

Negan’s attention was all on you again. His eyes ran over you slowly, causing your anxiety to start to rise again, trying to anticipate what he was going to do.

He crouched down in front of you, “You sure know how to get blood pumping. In more ways than one.” You didn’t know what to say to that, so you said nothing. Negan reached out, playing with a strand of your hair. “Speaking of getting blood pumping, fucking shame about Nathan’s cock. You start flashing those pretty tits, he should know what to do. And it sure as fucking hell isn’t giving into you and drooling over the possibility of you giving him an out of this world tit job with a little mouth action. What he SHOULD be telling you if you want something, it’s gotta go through me!” His eyes left you for a second before he bent down, snatching up one of the cans. He held it out to you and you took it hesitantly. “Like that. Look how nice that was. Feels good doesn’t it?”

You nodded, “Yes.”

“Good girl,” he practically purred and you felt a turning tide in the wind with his tone. “Now, what am I going to do with you? My wife out here flirting for a drink.”

“I’m sorry,” you told him.

Negan stroked your face, “I know you are, darling. But, I still can’t let this go.” He reached out, grabbing the pop and placed it down next to you on the wood bench. His hand snaked around your wrist and he pulled you up with him. Without a word, he lead you around the other side of the shed and in between the wall and bush.

“I think you oughta have a reminder about who you belong to,” he growled, his eyes aflame. “Thinking about that last tit job you gave me already has me hard as a rock. But, I’m gonna be fucking that mouthwatering pussy today.”

You trembled with his words, realizing you were going to like your punishment.

Negan didn’t waste any time reaching behind you and unzipping your dress enough to pull down the straps enough to expose your tits to him before he undid your bra as well, your breasts bouncing free.

“Fucking gorgeous,” he husked before hitching your dress up to your hips and pushing your panties down. You kicked them off as he freed himself from his pants, pumping his hand up and down his length.

Wrapping his arms around you, you followed his lead and let him pick you up, your legs wrapping around him. His head pressed in and he let out a pleased moan feeling your walls contract, adjusting to him. He pulled out before plunging back in, building up his pace.

Negan’s dick hit with precision, impaling your spot, and you cried out. His hand slammed over your mouth, his movements stilling for a moment, His breath was hot on your ear, “Sweetheart, as much as I love hearing you screaming for my hard ass cock, we need to keep this shit discrete for now. We chose a pretty fucking public spot. Can you behave, baby?” You nodded and he smiled before sinking back into you, fucking you into the wall once more.

What would have been your cries of pleasure came out in gasped breaths and whimpers as you stifled yourself. You held tight to Negan as he grunted, working the two of you up into a frenzy.

Negan’s lips met yours roughly and he demanded in a hushed tone, “Whose pussy is this?”

“Yours, Negan!” you gasped out, grasping his hair. This only made Negan drive himself into you quicker.

“You drive me fucking wild, sweetheart,” he groaned, his movements become erratic. You knew he was getting close. And he came undone, biting back a shout, cutting it off as you felt him cum in you in hot spurts. You released yourself, letting the waves crash into you.

Negan was gentle with you when he let you down. He looked around for your panties, picked them up, and smirked, “I’m gonna suggest you don’t put those back on until they’re washed.”

You gave him a look as you pushed your dress back down and covered your breasts again. His smile still made you melt. As big of a dick as he was, he was a good fuck and he would always be attractive to you.

“I think you learned your lesson. Right, baby?”

“I’m yours.”

Negan’s eyes lit up at that, a small smirk playing on his lips. His eyes ran over you again, slowly and lewdly, before he grinned, “Goddamn, I’m a lucky asshole.”

(gif)

~~~

Tags: @donnanoblerocks @sweetvengeancee @angelfuzzy2 @kathyjimenezg1 @soraxa101 @papatwd @megustacuandosonreis @faythelyse @bandimagines22@sylvanasthebansheequeen @constellationsolo @thatgingefromtheinternet @klaineaholic @queen0fants @prince-halfblood @summer-binging-spn @toxic-ink @nicholeex @hunters-hiraeth @jessatrophy @abwrites @sammskellington @hellokittyswiftie @nuvoleincielo @adaliamalfoy @lauradoesnotexist @themadhattersqueen @hayleighloatx @castielsnonexistantharp @p0wderedtoast @jdmsrovia @voidobsession @artemisxeros

#negan x reader #twd fanfic #negan #negan smut #negan fic #my shit

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brokehorrorfan · 7 years

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Interview: Stacy Title (The Bye Bye Man, Hood of Horror)

In celebration of The Bye Bye Man arriving on Blu-ray and DVD today, director Stacy Title discusses the unrated cut of the film, critical response, working with greats like Faye Dunaway and Snoop Dogg, the challenges of being as female director, and more.

Can you begin by telling us how you came aboard The Bye Bye Man?

It started with a brilliant producer named Trevor Macy, who I've known for a very, very long time. He felt like he could find a woman who could do horror, because so much of the audience is female, and we bounced around a lot of projects before settling on this. He had a script that was already commissioned based on a chapter in a non-fiction anthology [Robert Damon Schneck's The Bridge to Body Island], and I took that with my husband [Jonathan Penner] and we reworked it. Then I found LAMF, which is a company that's run by Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman, and they came in with the money. After we had the money, STX stepped in also to co-finance and distribute. It was a lucky alignment of fans of mine.

The unrated cut is coming out on Blu-ray and digital. How does it differ from the theatrical version?

It's substantially different. It's what I shot the movie to be; the movie that I thought would come out. But when they started testing the trailers, they didn't want to lose that younger audience. You'll find that there's a lot more intensity. It's more tight, intense, violent, visceral. There's a couple of really excellent shots that aren't chopped up, including a oner at the beginning that was pretty difficult and I worked very hard for, that has Leigh Whannell coming into the house and shooting his sister and his brother-in-law and turning around and walking across the street and stalking the two neighbors. It's all one take, and I was very proud of it. I was kind of sad to chop it up. There's a couple of other really excellent moments. When Cressida Bonas, who plays Sasha, is stabbed in the face, it's much more visceral. There's a lot more violence, and that's kind of my pace, so I'm happier with it.

One thing that's not in either cut that I sort of regret isn't there is something that's connected to the DNA of the movie. There's going to be a way for you to get it. There's two or three clips that comprise a lot of the mythology, the backstory of The Bye Bye Man, and they got cut out of the movie for a variety of reasons. I put that together so that people can see why the Bye Bye Man is who he is, what the coins mean, what the train means, what happened to him as a young boy. Basically, he was murdered, and they put hot coins on his eyes and cut out his tongue. They put him on the train to dispose of the body and cover up the crime, so that's why he rides the train. All that stuff was in the movie. I think people were a little unsatisfied with that stuff, so I'm happy that those clips will be available too. They won't be in the cut, but they will be put out so people can see some of the stuff I intended.

What was it like working with veteran actresses like Faye Dunaway and Carrie-Anne Moss?

It was fantastic! Carrie-Anne Moss is so lovely as a human being and so professional. She really brought up the game of a lot of the younger actors and didn't let them fool around in between takes. She really kept them on point. It was brilliant, because it really kept them focused and we ended up going a lot faster. She was really thoughtful about her character. When you're doing a part like that, you don't really get a lot of backstory or context, but we built it all up so she would have that to work from, even if it wasn't linear or literal of the dialogue. Faye Dunaway was wonderful. She's very demanding, but in a great way, because it really, really lifted up the game of everyone. She's a movie star for reason. She really pops. It was exciting and really an honor to work with her.

And what about Doug Jones, who is so good at playing creatures? Tell me about working with him as the Bye Bye Man himself.

He's amazing. I can't say enough. He could probably be the nicest person that I've ever met in my entire life. I love that inversion, that he has that ability to channel a darker part of himself that isn't really a substantial part of his true self. He was so patient. It took hours and hours to put that makeup on, and he would just sit there and grin and bear it. He would be there for off-camera stuff when he was in process, so that the actors playing against him would have something to work with. He really brought a lot to the characterization and what I wanted. He's so elegant and physical, how he uses his hands and how he moves. He's almost like working with a dancer or the best stunt person, because he has such a sense of space, besides that he's such a wonderful, creative actor. The physical life that he brought to it - truly, not many people could have played that part well.

How do you feel about the critical response to the film?

I was disappointed, to be honest, with a lot of it. I did get some high-end exceptional reviews; I got the LA Times and the New York Times. For a lot of people, that's what they look at. But the fact is that people were disappointed with the mythology, and they were very critical of it. There's a lot of train stuff in the movie; the DNA of the movie has trains and coins. That was all connected to the mythology of the Bye Bye Man. I think if I had a little bit more of that stuff, they probably would have been more satisfied. They wouldn't have thought that my hands went of the wheel, which they hadn't; I just had certain people to please with the different trims. That's just how it goes. But in general I really like how the movie came out. When I've watched it with audiences I've had such an exciting time. I really feel like if you watch it with an audience you can really appreciate the power of it, so that makes me happy.

The Bye Bye Man was your first movie in a decade. Was that an intentional decision?

No. Honestly, I think it's hard for everyone to direct. It's very hard to get these jobs. Being a woman director, especially in the genre, is peculiarly unusual. There's an unconscious bias when it comes to hiring directors. People are just more comfortable hiring men. I'm not quite sure exactly how we get programmed that way. I can say, to be honest, when I think of a DP, I think of men too. I have my own unconscious bias. I believe it's a very similar thing. It wasn't for a lack of trying; it was really just that I didn't get the opportunities.

I'm glad to hear you bring that point up, because it's important to recognize. From your perspective, do you see headway being made?

There is a little headway being made. I know personally I'm feeling it, but there's so much further we have to go. Between 4 and 6% of theatrical features are directed by women and 12% of television. We're about 51% percent of the population, so that disparity borders on criminal. The ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] brought a complaint to the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], who took it, spent a year culling interviews with women, and are negotiating with the six major studios. If they don't settle, they're going to file a lawsuit this fall, and that will bring more attention to it. They can't do quotas, because that's not legal, but they can do proportions, goals, and fines. I think the fines are really what's going to change things. I think Hollywood is not good at policing itself. If they are really going to lose a lot of money, I think they'll pay attention.

Do you have any advice for young women who are interested in becoming a director?

Absolutely. These days, you don't really need a crew to make movies; you can use your phone. I would really suggest to keep making as many things as you can, then you have a reel, something to show. If no one will hire you, hire yourself. That's how you can get other people to hire you, because you don't need them to work, and they see that confidence. Now that you can really put stuff together, even just shorts, there's a great market. It's very exciting to do small work, in particular horror. The audience for horror is more women, so I think there's going to be a lot of women coming up who are going to get more opportunities as people start to figure that out.

With the success of Get Out, it feels like the perfect time to revisit your earlier film, Hood of Horror. How do you feel looking back on that one?

If I had been able to finish that movie I think it would have turned out even better. I ended up losing control of it for a while before they brought me back. I do think that movie has a lot of relevance today. I think there's a lot of really interesting stuff in it that relates to Get Out. I think The Last Supper also has a lot of stuff that connects. Personally, I love Get Out, and I think Jordan [Peele, writer-director] did an amazing job. I really think there's going to be a dividing line in horror now with being able to do issue-oriented stuff, and I can't say more about how excited I am about that. It's great that that's now going to be considered central to the mainstream and we can really talk about these important things.

Do you have any fun stories about working with Snoop Dogg on Hood of Horror?

He was a fantastic guy. He's so interesting and so thoughtful. He's a fascinating person. He doesn't sweat. He's wearing all these silk shirts and stuff, and he literally doesn't perspire. It was interesting to work with him, because he isn't like most actors who need a bunch of takes to do better. Some people start to peak around four or fives takes, and then they might dip down and then give you more later. In low budget, you usually don't get to do more than four or five takes. He was really great on the first take and got bored after that. It was like he laid down the track and he was done. His first or second take was always the best. It was very different from most actors. He also would constantly leave set to watch peewee kids football, because he was coaching. He would be watching all the other teams he was about to play, which is awesome.

Do you plan to continue your relationship with the horror genre?

Absolutely! I love horror. I'm a big horror fan, and I really enjoy that genre more than most. I can't say I don't love comedy and drama and action. I might bridge to science fiction, because there's a couple of projects that I'm circling that are in that area. There's a comedy I'm working on now too, but I'd love to stay in the horror space if they'll let me. The thing is it's mostly men that do it, so I'm really hoping I can continue to have a voice in horror.

You mentioned that you're working on a few projects. Can you elaborate on any of those?

I'm re-writing with my husband the 1980 Shaw brothers movie Hex, which is a great, dark, fascinating movie about hexes. I'm attached to direct that, so that could be something I do next. There's a movie called Mer, which is a very dark mermaid story that I'm attached to. It's not financed yet, but that might be something I end up doing as well.

To wrap things up, why would you recommend someone check out The Bye Bye Man?

It's very scary, it's very intense, and it has a heavy that's really interesting because he's psychological. He doesn't need to touch you to hurt you. The movie is about fear and paranoia, and I don't think there's anything better than a movie about fear and paranoia to help us get through this troubling time we're in!

#stacy title #bye bye man #the bye bye man #hood of horror #doug jones #interview #article #snoop dogg

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