#I could write a little story but at the moment I have zero motivation for that

[arieslost]

cinnamon whiskey | ln4

lando norris x fem!writer!reader

summary: you meet a famous race car driver in one of the last places you’d expect— the adirondacks.

word count: 4,578

warnings: drinking, minor injuries (small description of bruising)

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© arieslost 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

Your editor was going to kill you.

Every day brought you closer to the deadline for your manuscript, and every day you could hardly help yourself out in getting to your self-imposed goal of 1,000 words. It wasn’t a difficult feat; you’d done it before, and you didn’t have anything else to be doing. You had absolutely zero distractions: it was just you, your notebook, and your computer. There was only one problem.

The words just weren’t coming to you, and you’d already gotten a two week extension on the deadline. It felt like all your writing abilities had been rescinded.

“I’m screwed.” You professed to your best friend, falling into a pathetic heap on her couch. You needed a serious pick-me-up after struggling to write a measly paragraph, and she had readily offered a girls night.

“I think you’re being a little dramatic. Scoot over.” She replied, shoving your legs out of the way so she could sit. “Maybe you just need to get out of your house.”

“And go where? I can’t just pack up and take a vacation right now.” You grumbled into the couch cushion.

“Why don’t you go upstate?” She suggested after a moment of silence.

“Upstate?” You repeated.

“Yeah, go to the Adirondacks. My dad owns a house up there, remember? We had a blast the last time we were there.”

You and your best friend had gone up to the Adirondacks when you graduated college, and you always prefaced the retelling of it with, “It was one of the best weeks of my life.” You almost felt silly for not thinking of doing something like that in the first place.

“It might be a good idea… Do you think your dad would be okay with me staying there?”

Your best friend laughed. “Yes, you idiot. He’s let me stay there by myself, he’ll definitely let you.”

A mere 24 hours went by, and you were settled in a cozy cabin in the Adirondacks with the desperate hope of having the rest of your manuscript ready by the end of your stay. Otherwise, you might as well just fire yourself and save your editor some time.

It wasn’t the only cabin in the area– it was more like a very small community made up of six houses built exactly the same. The area was usually used by people with a decent amount of cash lining their pockets, so you were extra grateful to your best friend’s father. He had taken one look at the dejection on your face when your best friend had mentioned her grand idea, and simply handed you the keys with the promise that your stay would be free of charge.

You did feel a little out of place, though– you could have sworn one of your neighbors was in a movie you’d just watched, and another one was just so ridiculously attractive there was no way he wasn’t famous for something. You’d seen him out on his front porch when you arrived, and had to force yourself not to stare or salivate over his bare torso.

The change of scenery around you helped tremendously. At first. You always felt refreshed when you went somewhere new, particularly if it was somewhere you felt more connected to nature. You had gotten into the habit of taking walks to calm yourself when you got frustrated, and having new sights was definitely an exciting prospect for when you inevitably slammed your computer shut and stormed out the door like you just did a few moments ago.

You’ll be the first to admit it: the story just isn’t coming together. Your main character has a goal, a purpose, but she is entirely lacking any kind of driving force to get where she needs to go.

She has no motivation.

You can appreciate irony, but there’s nothing funny about it right now.

The dirt and leaves crunch under your feet as you walk down the first trail that you see. It branches off from the main path that runs between all of the houses: yours, the attractive guy’s, and one other, and then the suspected movie star’s and the other two on the other side. Right now, you just want to see nothing but the path before you, the trees in your peripheral vision, the gentle summer breeze in your hair, and maybe a chipmunk or a squirrel here and there.

But, of course, you can’t even have that. You’re alone with your thoughts for all of two seconds before you hear a crash off to your left that sends a few birds flying. You would have ignored it if not for the groan that immediately followed.

“Um… hello?” You call out, doubling back to try and see just what the hell had happened.

If you were in a horror movie, this would most certainly be your death scene.

“Ah…” It’s definitely a man, and he definitely sounds like he’s in pain.

“Are you okay?” You step off the path, getting closer to where the noise had come from.

That’s where you find him— your insanely attractive neighbor, practically in the fetal position, entirely focused on the camera in his hand. His jaw is clenched, whether in pain or concern for the camera, you don’t know. You just know he has a sharp jawline, long eyelashes, and curly hair.

Ugh, you could cry because he’s so good looking.

He looks up at you, eyes meeting yours, and he has the decency to look embarrassed.

“What the hell just happened to you?”

“I, um… I fell out of that tree.” He confesses, pointing to a branch, not too high up, but now dangling in half.

“And you were in the tree because…” You trail off, gesturing for him to explain further.

“Right, well, I was taking pictures and had an idea for a good one from a higher vantage point, so I climbed the tree. Thought I had a good balance, but—” He winces as he pushes himself up into a sitting position. “I didn’t.”

“No kidding. You’re lucky you didn’t break anything.” You marvel, hands held out in front of you just in case he falls over when he starts standing up.

“I’m not too sure about that.” He huffs out a pained laugh.

“You wouldn’t have been able to stand up so easily if you had, and your wrist and shoulder look fine.” You point out. “I have no doubt that you bruised your side up pretty badly though.”

“Yeah? How would you know?” He leans against the tree he just fell out of, his miraculously unbroken camera hanging from the strap around his neck.

“I’m a writer. I’m like a black hole of useless information.”

“I don’t think it’s useless anymore.” He takes a step forward and his face immediately contorts into a grimace. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Well, you’ve already asked so much of me, but if you really have to, then sure.” You tease, and he laughs again.

“I’m probably going to need some help getting back to the house,” he begins, and then continues after taking in the surprised look on your face. “But you don’t have to. I can just crawl or something. Maybe I’ll get lucky and make it back before nightfall.”

Not just attractive, but funny too? You might as well make the most out of these two weeks and use whatever you can to help you finish that dreaded manuscript. Besides, the only other person you’ve ever met who can hold a torch to your sense of humor is your best friend. This has to be a sign of some sort.

“Alright, but at least tell me your name first.”

His name is Lando, you’ve known him for an hour, and you think you’re in love with him.

Sure, you’re frustrated that he completely ruined the solitude that you craved, but the ice maker in his house is broken and he desperately needs some for the bruise that you know is darkening by the second underneath his t-shirt. So he’s sprawled out on your couch, and you’re in the kitchen collecting ice cubes to wrap up in a hand towel.

“Alright, lift your shirt up,” you instruct, walking into the living room and taking a seat beside him.

“I usually take a girl out before I let her see me half naked.”

“But it’s okay if everyone else sees you out on your porch half naked?”

“You were looking?” He tilts his head down a little and raises his eyebrows. “Liked what you saw, did you?”

You blush. “Just shut up and lift your shirt.”

He hums a little to himself as he pulls his shirt up, revealing the beginnings of a bruise on his tan skin that is already swollen and definitely going to get worse over the next couple of days. It looks like it continues below the waistband of his boxers, but you’re not about to tell him to pull his pants down.

“That’s ugly.”

“I’ve had worse.” He shrugs, biting his lip when you gently rest the makeshift ice pack against his side.

“You have a habit of falling out of trees?”

“I have a habit of being in potentially life-threatening situations. It’s kinda part of my job.” He says it like he’s waiting for you to figure something out, waiting for something to click.

You take a moment to just look at him again. His fluffy curls, his infuriatingly handsome face, his thick neck, his toned stomach. And then something you’ve heard your best friend say a million times echoes in your head.

I bet every F1 driver’s contract has a clause that says they have to be hot in order to get in. I mean, you have Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc, and don’t even get me started on–

“Oh my God. Lando Norris?” You exclaim, almost jumping up from shock but stopping yourself so you don’t jostle him. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“I thought you knew!”

You glare at him. “Cocky much?”

“Well, what did you think when I told you my name?” He asks defensively.

“I don’t know, I thought your parents really liked Star Wars or something.”

He scoffs at this and smacks your hand away, holding the ice himself. “That’s real creative.”

“I’m sorry! My best friend is really into Formula One, but the most I’ve seen is bits and pieces of a race. I’ve never seen you, y’know, not in your car.” You feel like your eyes are practically bugging out of your head. “Wow, this is insane.” You knew he was too good looking to not be famous.

“Want me to sign something for you?” He wiggles his eyebrows at you.

“I will punch you right in your bruise.”

He stays for a couple more hours, readily enduring your endless stream of questions that follow your revelation of him being a Formula One driver, only getting a reprieve when the ice melts and you have to go get more.

He compensates for recounting his entire journey to Formula One by asking you his own questions the moment he’s done. You tell him more about how you became a writer– how you got your bachelor’s degree, got out into the world, and realized you had no clue what you wanted to do with your life, so you took a retail job. It paid a dollar above minimum wage, but it was worth it when something you heard a customer say once inspired you to craft a narrative that your editor liked enough to pick it up. She’d taken a gamble on you; you were her fourth client and the book wasn’t finished yet.

“So that’s why I’m out here,” you pause to catch your breath. “I need to have the manuscript done two weeks from yesterday, and I wasn’t getting anything done at home.”

“Needed a change of scenery.” Lando nods, like he can read your mind.

“Exactly.” You say quietly, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious under his intense gaze but refusing to look away.

The energy in the room shifts as the two of you look at each other, and you break the sudden eye contact when you take note of the fact that it’s dark out.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” he breaks the silence, pulling his shirt back down and letting out a quiet groan as he gets up. “I’ll see you tomorrow? There’s no way someone will be able to get up here to fix my ice machine by the morning.”

You blink at him a couple times, still trying to wrap your mind around the fact that you just spent hours talking with Lando Norris, all because he fell out of a tree. You didn’t even offer to make him dinner or anything, and he’s making plans to do this all over again.

You still haven’t spoken, so he waves his hand in front of your face. “Oh! Yeah, of course. Be careful, okay?”

He gives you an obnoxious salute. “I’ll try to survive the 50 steps it takes to get to my place from here.”

You go running for your laptop and start writing as soon as he’s gone.

He’s at your door in the morning, and spends the whole day with you. Then the next, and the next, and the next thing you know, you only have four days left in your best friend’s dad’s house and it feels like you and Lando have known each other your entire lives. He isn’t able to do much in terms of physical activity, and when he trips over a root after insisting he’s fine you make the executive decision to go back to your house.

“Make some room, would you?” You sigh, looking for a place to sit thanks to the fact that he’s taking up the entire couch.

He simply lifts his head up.

“You’re joking, right?”

“I’m in pain. Don’t you want me to be comfortable?” He pouts at you.

“You’re insufferable, and a liar.” All the same, you sit down, and he rests his head in your lap.

He ignores you, eyes closed with a satisfied little smile on his face.

For his antics, you decide to disturb his newfound peace by putting the ice pack directly on his face and laugh when he bats it away.

“That’s just mean,” he whines, pressing his lips together when you put the ice on his bruise.

It’s mostly yellow and green now, like a weird rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Lando had made a game out of poking it two nights ago that ended just as quickly when he poked himself too hard and blamed you for it when you had been in the middle of telling him not to. After that, he hadn’t touched it, and now it looks a lot better. The ice probably isn’t needed anymore, but you’d prefer to err on the side of caution.

“You’ll live,” you say now, patting the top of his head to distract him from the discomfort.

“The last time I had a bruise this bad was when I crashed in Vegas last year.” He says, blinking up at the ceiling. “Took a while to go away.”

“I think I remember hearing about that. You crashed pretty early, no?”

“Yup. Barely got to race.” The sentences come out very clipped, like he’s still upset about it.

“It was a bad crash, huh?”

“Pretty bad.” You don’t have anything to say in response to that, so you start brushing your fingers through his curls. He relaxes instantaneously.

He almost falls asleep with his head in your lap, and that’s when you can’t take it anymore and have to kick him out. He’s almost to the last step when he stops and turns back, making direct eye contact with you.

“Y’know, it’s too bad you weren’t there when I crashed.” He gives you a soft smile. “You’re pretty good at taking care of me.”

Well, shit.

There’s a bottle of cinnamon whiskey sitting in one of the kitchen cabinets that you’ve been waiting for an excuse to open. You should drink it now when you’re thinking about him, but you decide to wait until you see him again.

You open your laptop and write until you fall asleep.

By the time you let him in the next morning, you’re stumped again. You only slept for a few hours and expected to get right back into your groove the moment you woke up, but when you read over what you wrote last night, your brain just refused to comprehend it. It feels like you’re back to square one, but you can’t be too upset about it when Lando makes his way through the door. He doesn’t mention anything about ice like he usually does, which makes you equally happy and disappointed. Happy that he’s feeling good enough to forego the ice, disappointed because that means that there’s really no reason for him to come over anymore.

But if there’s one thing you can expect from him, it’s his spontaneity.

“We should go out tonight.”

“And where exactly would we be going?” You ask, watching him kick back on the couch like he’s the one that lives here.

“I dunno, just outside, I guess. You like stargazing?”

“I love it.” You reply enthusiastically. “I bet the stars are gorgeous out here. I’ve been cooped up every night, I haven’t had the chance to see them.”

“It’s settled then. Cancel your plans, you’re all mine tonight.”

“I didn’t— never mind.” You silently will away the flush creeping up your neck. “Actually, I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Shoot.”

“How’d those pictures come out? The ones you were trying to take when you fell?” You lean over the back of the couch in order to actually see him as you’re talking to him.

“That was two questions.” He laughs when you smack his shoulder. “I got a couple action shots as I was falling. They’re terrible, but I’m thinking about keeping them for the memories. Fun story for the kids, don’t you think?”

“Sure.” The kids?! You’re definitely breaking out the whiskey tonight. It’s the first (and only) thing you grab when he goes back to his place to get a blanket.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” You ask the moment the two of you step onto the trail, and he puts a hand over his heart.

“Your concern for me is adorable.”

“I’m only asking because you almost ate shit last time.” You burst out laughing at the immediate change in his expression.

He ends up leading the way for a mile or two before you reach a clearing that you would’ve discovered had he not fallen out of the tree.

“This is beautiful,” you muse, taking in your surroundings as Lando lays the blanket on the ground.

The sun is just about set, a light breeze passing through; a few different wildflowers are waving throughout the clearing. You look around and can’t see any sign of civilization. While that should make you nervous, since you’re with a guy you’ve only known for less than two weeks, it instead makes you relax. You forget entirely about your computer waiting for you back at the house and busy yourself with getting the top off the whiskey bottle.

“Found it the second day I was here. I’ll have to show you the pictures I got once I upload them all.” Lando says, furrowing his eyebrows as you struggle with your task. “Need some help there?”

“Be my guest,” you hand it over and have to force yourself to remain calm when he pops the top off like it was nothing.

“Ladies first,” he hands it back.

With pleasure, you think to yourself. Maybe getting drunk will help you stop acting like a schoolgirl. You take a generous drink, squeezing your eyes shut and breathing out slowly. “That is strong.”

“Hand it over.” He lets out a low whistle as soon as he swallows and returns it to you. “Wow.”

“I actually had a dream like this once,” you say, wincing at the burn of the whiskey as it slides down your throat. “I was just laying there, staring at the stars, with no worries. It was so peaceful.”

Lando takes the bottle from your outstretched hand. “I don’t dream.”

“What?!” The high pitch of your voice slices through the night. “Are you serious?”

“Yup.” He takes a long sip from the bottle before placing it down in the space between you. “Never have.”

“That’s- that’s crazy.” You shake your head.

“I’d think it’s nicer that way, no?” he counters. “I probably sleep better than you.”

“I mean, I guess. But then you don’t have any crazy dreams to share.”

“You always remember your dreams?”

Now, you blush. You’re not sure why you’re embarrassed. “I, um… I keep a journal.”

Lando’s eyes widen. “No way.”

“I have dreams written down all the way back to 2015.” You confess, reaching for the bottle again.

He starts laughing, like he thinks you’re joking.

“I’m serious!” You exclaim, shoving his shoulder. “In my defense, I’ve actually come up with some ideas from my dreams. Fat lot of good they’re doing for me right now, but…”

Lando hums, eyes skimming over your now crestfallen expression. He passes the bottle back.

“Thanks,” you mumble, tilting the bottle up to your lips.

“I’m sure you’ll find some type of inspiration while we’re out here.”

“I only have two days left, Lan.”

He gestures for you to pass the bottle back, and you do. You watch as he takes a sip, looking from his lips, to his jaw, to his neck, to his Adam’s apple that bobs as he swallows. You’re really going to miss this view. He lets out a quiet hiss. “Damn, that’s strong whiskey.”

“I told you.”

There’s a lull in the conversation, and then he speaks again. “My ice machine got fixed.”

“That’s—”

“Last week.” He cuts you off, doing that stupid thing he does where he stares directly into your eyes.

Your heart is in your throat, and your voice is small when you reply. “Okay…”

“And I was supposed to leave three days ago.”

Now your jaw drops. “Why… Why are you still here?”

“Because you’re still here.” He answers evenly, the alcohol clearly working in his favor. “I initially came here for the same reason as you– needed a change of scenery. It’s summer break right now, and my friend Logan told me it was super nice up here. It is, but then I had my little mishap and… it’s been a lot better since you showed up. So I decided to stay a little longer.”

He’s close to you now, so close you can smell the whiskey on his breath, so you say the only thing you can think to say. “I can’t believe you fell out of a tree.”

“I can’t believe you took care of me this whole time.” He brushes your hair out of your face, and his fingers linger on your cheek.

Your internal giddiness rises when you realize he’s actually about to kiss you. Your stomach is doing Olympic level gymnastics and you don’t trust yourself to speak, so you let the whiskey do it for you: you kiss him first.

You can’t remember the last time you kissed anyone, but the moment he pulls you on top of him you know that you won’t ever forget kissing him.

“Lan…” you break away from him to catch your breath, smoothing his curls back from his forehead. You can just see the glint in his eyes as he stares up at you, and it’s borderline painful knowing that you only get to enjoy this view for two more days.

You don’t remember what you were going to say to him. It’s way too soon for “I love you,” and not the right time to say “I already miss you.” You still want to say both.

Like he can hear your inner turmoil, he silences it by touching his forehead to yours. “Kiss me again, please,” he whispers.

You don’t waste a second in giving him what he wants, wanting nothing more in this moment than to feel his lips against yours again. You’re careful to avoid his side as he lays back on the blanket, keeping a firm grip on your hips so you don’t go anywhere. You try to convey everything you want to say into the kiss: I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you. I know I’m going to miss you. Please don’t let me go.

He holds you closer and gently slips his tongue into your mouth, and you melt into him, knowing the whole while that Lando Norris has effectively ruined all other men for you.

Six Months Later.

Your phone is ringing in the other room as you’re in the middle of recounting the kiss to your best friend for the millionth time.

“Sorry, I’ll be right back,” you apologize. “It might be important.”

Thinking it’s your editor, because who else would call you at this late hour, you don’t look at the caller ID before you answer. “Hi, listen, I wanted to talk to you about—”

“The love interest falls out of a tree, huh?”

Your mouth falls open. “Lando?”

“That would be me. Or should I change my name to Darren?”

You roll your eyes, unable to stop yourself from smiling. “I thought you were never going to call me.”

You’d finished your manuscript the day before you went home. He’d been sleeping right next to you as you wrote the final words, and you should’ve brought it up that morning. Instead, you left your number on his porch the day you left, too deep in overthinking mode to actually face him and properly say goodbye. You truly didn’t expect him to call you after that act of such cowardice, especially after the two of you spent almost the entirety of your last days together at various levels of undress.

“I really wanted to,” he admits. “At least ten different times. I think Oscar might have assaulted me if I chickened out this time.”

“Yeah, because you won’t shut the hell up about her!” A voice in the background exclaims, and you hear something go flying.

“Get out!” Lando snaps, and you can hear Oscar’s laughter fading.

“Sweet of you to subject him to hearing all about me.”

“Come to the race at Silverstone.” He says before you can even finish your sentence. “I’ll pay for the flight, the hotel, everything. Just come.”

You feel like the floor just fell out from under your feet. “Lan—”

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” It’s said in a nearly unintelligible whisper, but his tone changes so suddenly you have to sit down.

“I can’t stop thinking about you either.” You confess. “That’s… kind of why I wrote you into my book.”

“Please, come to Silverstone,” he repeats, practically begging. “Come be with me.”

And when he finds you in the crowd after taking the win at his home race, and he wastes no time in wrapping his arms around your waist and pressing his lips to yours for everyone to see, you’re immediately taken back to those two weeks you spent in the Adirondacks, where you finally found the inspiration you’d been missing your entire life.

note: this one goes out to my fellow writers who desperately wish their inspiration would fall out of a tree— writer’s block will never defeat us.

this got a little long, so if you’re reading this, thank you thank you thank you.

requests are OPEN, and my inbox is always open for comments, criticism, and conversation! feel free to pop in!

reblogs are always appreciated <33

beautiful dividers by @/saradika !

tags (i’m sorry if i couldn’t tag you!): @venusacrossthestars @anathedivine @xfuckoffx @architect-2015 @violetiss3lfish @havaneselover08 @paigeworlds @whatever7justchillin @xoredmoonlightxo @dovieloovie @totowolffstablexoxo @maddie-bell @lalisgs11 @rrrraaaalllluuuu @formulasportworld @madisonbidaddy @anedpev @estherapz-blog @jess-wither @loveyatopluto @athena-artemis-dorian-gray @lou-larcher5 @clearlyabi @fizzpopsnap101 @fluerlaurent @mcmuppet @positiveaspirations @notturlover @crazymofo-96 @chanthereader @apollo-axolotl

#full fic #lando norris x reader #lando norris x you #lando norris imagine #formula one x reader #formula one imagine #lando norris #lando norris fluff #lando norris fanfic #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #ln4 x reader #ln4 imagine #ln4 fluff #ln4 fic

[rvb-canon-grimmons]

RVB RESTORATION THOUGHTS!!!!

LONG POST IM SO SORRY I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS

(Im so sorry this got so long, but i got emotional while writing it so please bear with me, read this like its the morning paper while u eat breakfast or something i have alot to say)

Before I go into the things I didn't like I do want to focus on some positives.

-Like I said in an earlier post, Geoff's acting…he absolutely killed it, and maybe this is because I'm a little bit Geoff/Grif biased but he was giving so much emotion and everyone else felt a little bit flat. Also only he could have delivered the "Come with me" line with so much Homoeroticism -I Had a pretty fun time watching the fight in the second half, The references to Monty we're sweet and getting to see Tex and Carolina fight together was pretty epic! -A good handful of jokes got me good. "23rd in my class" Shelia translating Caboose's Spanish to Lopez

Ok……. the next bit of this will get a little bit negative, but I do want to say this is coming from a place of deep love and care for this series. I have run this blog for like 6/7 years now and I've been a fan of this show for double that. My biggest fear is that fans get the same treatment we did when no one liked RVBZero. I have criticisms. This is a 21 year old series that so many people have had a part in and so many have loved. I was not looking for perfection, I wasn't even looking for something good. I was looking for an ending to the stories of characters people have held in their hearts for 21 years. Unfortunately, what I feel we were left with was a hastily thrown together hour of basically nothing.

-Why weren't they friends…..Why weren't they friends…No one cared for the others. I understand that we have semi warped perceptions of the characters from fanon works and things of that nature. But even in canon, the reds and blue care about each other. On their own team and the other team. Simmons, Grif, Tucker, and Caboose spent MONTHS together in chorus and same for Donut/Sarge/Wash. I've recently rewatched blood gulch and Caboose and Sarge have a great dynamic! Tucker and Grif canonically get along pretty well. Simmons was ON BLUE TEAM for like a hot minute there. THEY KNOW EACH OTHER AND CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER. This was zero percent present in this film. No one had any motivation to look for Tucker. No one cared that it was Tuckers body inside the suit. THE REDS LEFT CABOOSE FOR DEAD!!!!!! THEY JUST LEFT HIM!!!!

-Tucker, I'm so sorry baby girl, this was supposed to be your arc, your moment. You were hardly in it. No build up to how he became the Meta. The scene where he breaks out of it to not kill caboose was the best part of the arc. And he just wakes up and remembers it "like someone elses Nightmare??" ok sure

-Wash………………WHAT THE FUCK???? WHAT THE FUCK???????????????? WHAT THE FUCK??????? WHAT THE FUCK???? TO RUIN THIS MANS ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC BY MAKING HIM COMPLETELY OBSOLETE. PUTTING HIM IN SOME RANDOM HOSPITAL FOR AN UNKNOWN INJURY THAT HAPPENS OFF SCREEN AND ISN'T EXPLAINED. HAVE HIM HALUCINATING DOC FOR SOME FUCKING REASON. HAVE HIM SHOW UP TO THE FINAL BATTLE AND DO ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING BUT JUMP OFF A FUCKING CLIFF AND NOT SAY A WORD TO ANY OF THE RED AND BLUES I AM LIERALLY ABOUT TO FUCKING CRY TYPING THIS I AM LITERALLY SO FUCKING PISSED OFF. AGENT WASHINGTON, THE CHARACTER THAT WAS SO HAPPY IN THE SEASON RIGHT BEFORE CHORUS JUST TO BE ON BLUE TEAM AND HAVE A FUCKING FAMILY AGAIN. JUST SIDELINE HIM FOR NO FUCKING REASON AND THEN NOT LET HIM SPEAK TO ANY OF HIS FRIENDS EXCEPT CAROLINA AND DEAD DOC. AND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE FACT THAT TUCKER BEING THE META WAS LITERALLY A PLOT POINT CATERED TO HAVE WASH BE INVOLVED. THIS IS LIKE AGENT WASHINGTON ANGST BAIT 101. YES IM A TUCKINGTON SHIPPER BUT PUT ALL SHIPPING ASIDE, THEY WERE STILL FRIENDS, THEY WERE FRIENDS THEY WERE FRIENDS.

Grimmons. I am disappointed. But really not surprised. Honestly for everything I disliked I thought Grimmons was handled ok… at this point im like….. they couldn't even throw us a bone. company was dying, final season airing, and they couldn't even throw us a solid Grimmons queerbait joke. Its whatever….I don't wanna get too upset about shipping because at the end of the day, ships becoming canon isn't what shipping is all about (says Tumblr user "RVB-Canon-Grimmons) you get what im saying.

-Donut…..where was he…..Fucking Homophobic honestly

-DOC IS DEAD?????????????????????????????? FUCKING WHY???

-Sarge's death was fine, I'm not upset by it I just didn't feel like it was emotionally satisfying. Especially after the shock of them leaving Caboose and the much better scene of tucker fighting the meta's control over him to not hurt caboose.

-PEOPLE CALLED U SIR ALL THROUGHOUT CHORUS SIMMONS WHAT THE FUCK??????????? WHY IS SIMMONS PROMOTED AND INCHARGE OF NO ONE???? WHY DID GRIF LEAVE HIM???

Im sorry………..this is so long………just remeber this is only my opinions and if u don't agree thats totally ok!!!!! I am just a critical bitch….

#rvb #grimmons #rooster teeth #red vs blue #rvb grimmons #rvb restoration #agent washington #tuckington #rvb restoration spoilers

[elleloquently]

invisible string [2] : ellie williams

part one

| college!ellie - i wanted to get the second part out quickly because i was too excited and had too many ideas... thank you all for your love on the first part! i'm glad to be back and writing again... if only this story could inspire me to do my own coursework. maybe next time? <;3 do not count how many times i say 'note' in this chapter

| c/w- reader is anxious, zero rizz

friday at 2:30pm. in the library.

you lazily traced circles with a pencil around the jotted down note in your planner, eyes flickering between your own writing and the email shown on your laptop screen.

your professor had unwillingly agreed to lead a study group after several students in the class had nearly begged for it, but ultimately cancelled with short notice. the email urged students to still meet together on their own, as the study room in the library had already been reserved.

holding your breath, you opened the email details to scroll through all of the people it had been sent to, scanning the names until your eyes landed on one in particular.

ellie williams

quickly closing your laptop, you shook out your hands and closed your eyes, nearly forcing every lingering thought about her to leave your mind. but they hadn't left, and you felt completely stupid obsessing over one small question that had been asked during the previous class. she probably wasn't even going, especially not now.

still.

the thoughts lingered.

enough to make you consider attending a study group, something that anxious thoughts never quite allowed you to do before. enough to make you change your outfit more than once while you were getting ready, overthinking and then overthinking again.

maybe it was a momentary lapse of judgement, or maybe a stupid class crush was the courage you needed to finally participate in something outside of your own little bubble.

but was it even a crush?

maybe something about her was just special. maybe you just wanted to be her friend, and that's why you couldn't stop thinking about her. you just had a friend crush on her.

shoving your textbook, notes, and a book for reading into your bag, you went over your plan one last time, a weak attempt at settling the knots twisting in your stomach.

you planned to get to the library a little early, but not too early. if you were just early enough, you would be able to see if ellie was even going to be there without having to feel nervous about joining late. plus, if she wasn't there, you could just breeze past and do your own studying alone, somewhere quiet.

suddenly you frowned, chewing at your bottom lip as a new thought occured to you. what if ellie was late?

you hesitate for only a moment before closing your bag and throwing it over your shoulder... there was definitely no time for any adjustments in the plan, and you were about ready to drive yourself crazy.

─ ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ─

the brisk air nipping away at your face felt almost refreshing as you forced your nerves down.

motivated by the chilling air to walk quickly and with a slight overestimation of how long it would've taken you to walk to the library, you ended up making it earlier than you intended.

the library was more quiet than usual, which was to be expected. showing up with a bag full of study materials went against your strict code of never doing something school related on a friday, as long as you could help it.

a code that you had easily broken at the mere thought that someone you didn't even really know might potentially be there too.

even though you were early, you decided to try to find the dedicated study room. only a few of them were occupied, and your nerves finally began to subside as you realized it might've been a waste of a trip... until your eyes landed on a study room with numbers that matched those from the email, and the room was certainly not empty.

what was with her habit of suddenly always being much earlier than you?

you instantly recognized the familiar auburn hair of the freckled girl, and your feet were quick to carry you away without a second thought.

"stupid, it was a stupid idea," you mumbled to yourself, at least semi grateful that ellie hadn't looked up while you were gaping in the doorway. you thought for sure you had managed to make a clean getaway, she would never even know you had showed up, until you heard your name curiously being called.

the sound of your name from her voice was enough to make you stop instantly. you hesitated, only briefly, acknowledging mentally that once you went in there, there was no going back.

severely lacking courage, you turned slowly and walked a few paces until you were lingering once again in the doorway of the study room, greeted by ellie williams looking curiously up at you. she had things sprawled over half of the table, and she gestured for you to sit down.

"are you sure?" you asked slowly, pulling out a chair across from the one that ellie was sat in.

"of course," ellie replied, glancing briefly behind you at the hallway before meeting your eyes with a quirked up smile.

yeah. it was definitely a crush.

you both broke eye contact quickly after, lowering gently into the chair and ellie flicked a pen across her note pages.

"are you here for the study group or for... by yourself?" you asked lowly, almost feeling like you had to whisper. sitting across from her now almost felt more intimate than sitting next to her in class. you were afraid to lift your eyes, certain to be a fool under her gaze.

"uh," ellie laughed dryly, seemingly fidgeting with her hands and pages by shuffling them around.

your cheeks grew warm as an awkward feeling began to pull at your emotions but ellie cleared her throat and nodded.

"yeah, i'm here for the study group." she replied, dragging her eyes back up to meet yours. she sat back comfortably in her chair, resting her hands on the table space in front of her. ellie's unsure movements were quickly replaced with a confident demeanor.

you felt the pressure now, pressure to fill the long pauses with something interesting to say. a beat passed and it was only the two of you, none of the other students wandering the library even glanced in your direction.

"me too, i think..." your volume increased, wanting to take on the same easygoingness that ellie currently displayed.

ellie gave you an amused look. "you think?"

shaking your head, you sighed. "i couldn't really decide, and then it was canceled, sort of... and...here i am."

"here you are," ellie repeated, her eyebrows raising in a serious manner. "guess you made up your mind, huh?"

you nodded and the corners of ellie's mouth turned up.

"guess so," you murmured, sneaking a glance to the other side of the table.

the library felt too warm, and you pulled at your sweater sleeves while ellie hauled a textbook onto the middle of the table.

"well shit, what's your worst and best topic?"

blinking at ellie's eagerness, you were quick to begin shuffling through your notes as you felt her green eyes boring into you.

ellie's eyes flicked between yourself and the pages. some were neat and organized, completed with sticky notes and color coded information. other pages were long blocks of messy texts, all one color like they were frantically scribbled. sliding your notes over felt strangely vulnerable, like you were putting your intelligence on display to be judged, but you slid them over to ellie anyway.

"best," you responded, tapping the color coded papers, "and worst," you hesitated, pointing to the other pile.

"okay," ellie laughed. her hand hovered over her own papers for a moment but instead she reached for yours, examining your 'best' notes closer.

you nervously picked at the table during her silence, half heartedly attempting to stretch your neck to get a view of her own notes. it wasn't close enough for you to be able to actually read the writing, but you tried anyway.

she took her notes in black pen, and even her handwriting was enough to quicken your heartbeat. they seemed organized in structure, and she had doodled borders and little pictures around the paragraphs. it was cute.

you smiled softly but the sound of ellie speaking pulled you out of your trance.

"okay," she repeated, sounding determined like she had made up her mind about something. she covered some of her pages by placing a textbook over them, and opened her notebook to a fresh, blank page.

"tell me about... this, and... this?" she murmured, glancing up at you quickly and tracing the areas she was referring to with her finger. "my notes for that section suck," ellie offered.

your heart jumped and you swallowed hard, your voice failing you within seconds. this definitely wasn't the sort of situation that you were most comfortable in, and the sound of her voice with her eyes on you combined to make your head spin.

"okay," you mirrored ellie, trying to obtain any sense of false confidence that you could muster. public speaking didn't come easy to you, and though it was just the two of you, speaking directly to ellie almost made you feel worse.

pressing your palms together in an attempt to stop your hands from shaking, you figured reading off from your notes shouldn't be too bad.

"so, the first section i have are definitions... and the stuff in pink are like afterthoughts, to help me remember. i can show you both, if you want..." your eyebrows drew together in concentration as you looked over the page, feeling ellie's eyes on you once again but unaware of her expression.

"incredible," she mused, mumbling under her breath, watching your hands moving as you nervously explained.

"right, so, everything on here i know is right... but take these ones with a grain of sand," you continued.

ellie laughed suddenly at your words and you froze, your breath nearly hitching and you reminded yourself once again that you certainly must be pathetic.

pathetic or not, it didn't matter. meeting ellie's eyes made you feel warm as you returned her smile, and in that moment you realized you would do anything to have her looking at you like that again.

─ ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ── ·𖥸· ─

ellie was a good listener, and her quick quips and little jokes throughout your study session had you laughing until your cheeks burned, though you were sure your nerves had played a part in that as well.

she was polite and wonderful, but you had done so much talking that you felt a little disappointed, and a little overwhelmed. if you were truly honest, you wanted to hear a lot less of your own voice and a lot more of ellie's voice.

the conversation had mostly been strictly academic, with the occasional slip of discussing your majors and the worst dining hall food.

as ellie started to pack up her things, you doodled a little flower on a green sticky note while she finished telling you about one of her least favorite professors.

"he sounds horrible," you remarked, slightly off guard as ellie took the pen from your hand and drew what looked like a fern, similar to the one on her arm, next to your flower.

when she finished, she passed it back to you, along with the pen. you thought for a moment while ellie watched, grinning curiously at the pen in your hand. you decided on a tiny planet, carefully placing it on the other side of her drawing.

"thanks for your help today," ellie mused as she regained possession of the material, placing the pen to paper without taking a moment to think.

"thank you," you returned, although not completely sure what you were thanking her for.

you watched her hand flex as she wrote, and the way her eyebrow raised as she examined the sticky note. ellie stood and you followed her lead, wishing for more time in her presence and not ready to face the cold.

to your surprise, she returned the sticky note to your hand. the slightest touch turned your senses on high and the way ellie's fingers grazed yours made you wonder if you were truly delusional.

"see you around, alright? get back to your dorm safe," ellie said sternly, smiling at you once more as she backed out of the room. once more her confidence faltered and she almost looked sheepish as she spoke again. "we should do this again."

you nodded maybe a little too enthusiastically and then ellie was gone, leaving you with an extreme whirlwind of emotions.

to suppress your excitement, you reminded yourself that maybe she was only being polite, but when you examined the sticky note your smile only grew.

your flower, ellie's fern, and your tiny planet.

underneath the three pictures, a phone number labeled with her name-

Ellie!!!!!

[ part three ]

#ellie williams x reader #ellie williams college au #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams x you #ellie tlou x reader #ellie williams fanfic

[nightgoodomens]

How did you predict that ??! It is awesome but omg . Like honestly he is trying so hard to get her out there I do feel it is abit late tho.

More asks and answers below:

Because they went very basic obvious PR. If something feels forced, on purpose, not organic, not usual; if it stinks, it stinks for a reason.

It started with him making a point to mention her during his BAFTAs interviews to ensure they write her name down.

Constant mentions from a man who always avoided talking about her are always suspicious.

But hey maybe I’m too cynical?

Then with every article underlining she’s an ACTOR. Which was a stretch anyway and frankly no media would care to mention her if he didn’t tell them to.

But hey maybe I’m too cynical?

Then bang we wake up in the morning of BAFTAs with every trash magazine writing articles about her suddenly about some old stuff so they were told to do so because they had zero reason to do that themselves. They had zero reason to care about her when she hasn’t done anything new so they had to bring up really old stories and focus purely on her even though it was David’s day. So they were paid to do so.

But hey maybe I’m too cynical?

But then bang again we are suddenly getting a whole over-acted show. Oh my godddd you look amaaaazing he made such an amazed face right in front of the main camera where they decided to meet. What a coincidence! Click📸. Ohhh time for a huge PDA kiss in front of all these cameras! Click📸. Oh now you give me a long loved look and now I do that in return! Click📸. My goodness like in a perfect movie with actors… oh.

And then ok we are done, where’s Michael?

David has worked his ass off to give her everything he could, even getting Michael to give her a role, now it’s up to her to do something with it. He will probably try to push her wherever possible, but we will need to see if suddenly after all these years she became an actress that people want because of her skills not famous surnames. Surnames only get you so far.

If she’s still the same, he can dance on his head and it won’t work. Sure Neil is his buddy was loves a nepo show, and Michael loves David, so he did it for him (he did make her watch an intimate moment between men though lmao), but how many more people will take her on just because David is pretty?

Oh I wonder what suddenly made him so desperate and motivated to find her a job after years of failures… so he’d be more free… I wonder if it starts with M and ends with L.

Honestly I was laughing when people were all “this is true love!” no babes this is business. The most blatant of businesses.

I doubt she suddenly became a good actress so I wonder if they will try something else with her. I just wish DT got a break and in result us.

I think things are a little different now and so might be his priories. I hope the agent won’t keep on using him to promote her. Even more than already.

Yeah I cross my fingers for GO to be nepo free but…

No wonder he’s so tiny, dude is exhausted from everyone hanging on him. He tried so many freaking times with GT, I just hope that agent finds her something that isn’t just hanging on him.

He is a shover 😂

If she actually wanted a job then she’d have found something she’s actually good at years ago. But she wants the “cool” job and doesn’t want to admit she just isn’t that good. When you are privileged, you can spend 15 years having your man try to make you an actress. Normal people go “damn I’m shit at this and I need to pay bills so let’s find something else”.

Aw thank you for writing in and don’t worry!

I’m not 100% sure yet.

I could see AL/MS break up but not GT/DT but now I have a slight itching (after seeing that the PR show was indeed to get GT a job) whether… well…

We have such an extreme push to make GT and AL independent or at least slightly less dependent on the dudes and it’s clearly a whole plan that they have put into motion. Why such sudden need? Especially since soft launching MS/DT at the same time?

I definitely won’t say oh yeah sure there is a separation coming. But I’m also not saying “no way!!!” anymore.

If a separation will come then on beautiful (££) terms though.

#NightGoodOmens talks PR #NightGoodOmens talks Michael and David

[grimmbitty]

Okay kind of a different post than my normal stuff but I did just want to put all of these in one place. These are my character analysis slides that I’ve been working on!

Breaking down the character of Billy Batson has been so fun for me, and its by far my favorite part of the writing process. So here’s what I have so far for my interpretation of the character.

Here is my first slide where I breakdown the basic overview of my story. Just outlining the basic plot summary, the story’s themes, and the basic character arc for Billy.

As you can see it’s very similar to the first movie I’ve just modified some things here and there to add my own fun twist to Billy’s origin story.

[ MORE SLIDES BELOW ]

In this slide is where I breakdown Billy’s passive motivation, something I see that is necessary for all superhero characters. Similar to Spider-Man’s “power and responsibility” thing, and similar to how Batman protects and values all life because his life was forever changed by a random act of violence.

I think Billy’s passive motivation to do good is really, deeply rooted in the injustice that he witnesses throughout his childhood. He’s especially receptive to the problems of children and other vulnerable groups because as a member of those communities, he knows they get overlooked often.

This next slide is my character breakdowns. This shows my main character and all my important side characters. They each have a lesson they inadvertently teach Billy, helping him along his path to become a good hero.

They each play a role on the team, giving them fun dynamics. This allows them all to have distinct personalities allowing for fun dialogue, banter, and character moments.

The only character you might not know on this list is Samara. She is my version of the character Cissie Sommerly. Cissie is a classic Captain Marvel character who’s most recent comic book appearance was 1978. Woof. So I thought it would be a fun idea to modernize her and bring her back into the spotlight, serving as a glimpse into the average Fawcett citizen’s reaction to the new hero, Shazam.

This next slide is a closer look into Billy’s character flaws. Showing how at first he is hesitant to being a brother and being a hero. It kinda explains the mistakes he makes at first that he has to learn to overcome, and shows how his introspection will help him accept his roles as both a brother, and a hero.

Next we have something that if I could add to the 2019 film, I would. I love love love the 2019 version of Shazam but if I could add a little more expansion of Billy’s mother into the plot, I would.

I think is really important to the core of the character. This next slide I like to call “The Dark Reflection”.

I think that upon meeting his mother, Billy realizes that they are scarily similar. That she was also selfish, careless, and only interested in meeting her own needs. This lack of compassion and responsibility from her are the reasons she ended up abandoning Billy, leaving him in the foster system once she was released from prison and having zero interest in raising him.

Billy sees the mistakes she’s made in life and realizes that he is making the same ones, prioritizing his own wants/needs over anything else, and being just overall emotionally detached.

This scares him into re-evaluating his own behavior and consciously choosing to become more compassionate for others and foster a real sense of responsibility to use his powers wisely.

Next up, we have what I like to call “The Pillars of Character”. These are the three main “pillars” I see that are most prevalent in Billy’s story.

It’s important to me that all three of these pillars intertwine with each other, hence why I wanted to explore a little more about Billy’s mother. Adding a little more flavor text to why she is Billy’s dark reflection really helped me keep a balance between these three aspects of his character.

I also just think having all three pillars effect each other keeps a nice balance between all the aspects of his character. Showing how his character flaws effect different parts of his life and how Billy learns to grow and change for the better.

In summary, this is what I have for Billy’s character breakdown, showing his character arc for his origin story and how he learns to grow into a hero. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed because I had a fun time making this! I also have a lot more to share like individual character sheets for Billy and all my side characters, Three act story structure break downs, and other stuff too. So if you like this one maybe possibly I could do a part 2 soon.

Okay byeeeee!! ⚡️💕

#billy batson #captain marvel #captain marvel dc #dc comics #fawcett comics #shazam #shazam 2019 #shazam: fury of the gods #Shazam:CoBL

[sleepysnk]

a/n: hey guys! sorry for the long wait. i haven’t had much motivation to write for the beach recently, but i had this finished so i am finally updating! it’s hard to believe that the story will be finished soon. i can’t believe it lmao. i hope you guys enjoy and thank you for your patience!

pairings: obito uchiha x fem!reader

warnings: modern au, college au, mentions of anxiety, some angst, mentions of alcohol consumption (?), protective konan (as per usual).

The Beach: Chapter Thirty

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Disoriented.

That’s the only word that felt appropriate at the moment. Hell, it was the only word that could describe how you were feeling. 

When you finally awoke the next morning, you were lost. You weren’t sure as to why you felt so.. anxious? Your stomach felt like it was in knots, and your heart was racing rapidly inside of your chest. However, you had zero recollection of the previous night. You didn’t know why you felt so sick, but it alarmed you. There were so many questions you had asked yourself. How did you get home last night? You had no idea how you ended up in your bed that morning. You were even wearing the same clothes you had left in. Did you get drunk?

You sat up in your bed. The light from the outside was basking into your room, leaving a soft glow to it. You wondered what time it was, but you couldn’t find your cell phone. Deep down, you were hoping that someone didn’t take it or something. 

However, you soon realized that it was in your back pocket. 

Reaching backwards, you pulled out your cell phone. The screen lit up, causing your eyes to squint from the harsh blue light rays. The time on your phone displayed that it was ten o’clock in the morning. You were probably hungover or something. You only really slept in if you drank the previous night, but you wondered what you had to make you blackout like that. Maybe you had some Pink Whitney or some extra shots. What you did know was that you were still very tired.

Though, there was something else that was odd to you on your phone. 

You had an immense amount of notifications. It ranged from missed phone calls to missed text messages. There were even a few voicemails you had, and it confused you. If you were drunk, surely someone made it known that they had taken you home, right? 

Then why the fuck was Konan in those missed messages?

It started to panic you. There were many questions starting to appear inside of your mind. Who took you home last night? How did you get here? What happened after you left the party? It made you feel sick, because you had no answers for any of them. You were certain Konan was at the apartment, so you’d have to ask her what happened. Frankly, you had no idea what was going on here, but you knew you’d have to message all of your friends to ease their worries about you. 

You quickly stood up, heading towards your dresser to change out of the clothes you were wearing. You needed to find something more comfortable, because you were so over the one you had on now. 

You pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It soon hit you that you still had your makeup on from last night. It made dread rush through you at the realization. You weren’t exactly in the best mood to deal with the possibility of a breakout, so you’d definitely have to clean yourself up once you sorted out this issue with Konan. 

Once you were changed, you opened the door to your bedroom. 

The apartment was quiet, almost too quiet. It made you wonder if Konan was even awake yet. She always had the worst experiences when it came to hangovers. Maybe you’d make her some breakfast and a nice smoothie to make her feel better. After all, she had been dealing with your mess for the last couple of weeks. It’s the least you could do to make up for all of those late night conversations and tear filled evenings she had dealt with. You wondered what she might be in the mood for. Eggs? No, that’s a little too nauseating. Maybe some fruit and some toast would be good. 

You turned the corner and almost jumped out of your skin when you saw Konan sitting at the dining table. She had a cup of coffee in front of her and her phone in her hand. She seemed to be mindlessly scrolling through her apps, because she didn’t notice you at first. 

“Hey..” 

Your voice broke her out of her thoughts. Konan’s eyes left her phone and were placed onto you. You weren’t expecting her reaction, but she suddenly rushed towards you and embraced you into a big hug. “Jesus, (Y/N).. you scared the shit out of me last night.” she sighed with relief, her hands caressing your back smoothly. 

Your arms went to wrap around her waist. You were kind of confused by her reaction, so you figured that you’d ask her about it. “Konan..” you started, “Of course I’m fine, why is everyone so worried about me..? Did I get too wasted last night?”

She then pulled away, her eyebrows knitting together almost immediately. Her facial expression started to worry you. Why did she seem like she was pitying you? “Do you.. not remember? You worried me like crazy last night! I didn’t think he’d be there, but he was!” she replied, placing her hands onto your shoulders. 

The mention of a he made your blood turn cold. It hit you all at once, and the memories from the previous evening suddenly flooded into your brain. You understood it all now. You knew why you felt so anxious when you woke up, and it made you sick knowing that this happened all last night. How could everything go so south within hours? All you wanted to do was have some fun with your friends to get your mind away from the thoughts you had been having the past few days. However, it didn’t seem like anything could go right for you these days. 

You weren’t even sad anymore. If anything, you were more frustrated at the fact that Itachi was back and trying to make a move. You had spent so much time trying to rebuild yourself from what he had done. For him to come and destroy that made you so upset. You could never forget what happened that night he cheated on you. He made you feel so insecure and you practically despised every aspect of yourself. It was hard for you to trust any man who wanted to speak with you on a romantic level. That’s mainly why you chose to make this semester about you and you only. However, things didn’t exactly go your way, and now you were dealing with two different issues. 

Though, Obito wasn’t the biggest problem now. It was Itachi, and you had to figure out what to do with him. 

Your eyes settled on Konan who was genuinely worried about you. She lost you that night and she later found out your ex-boyfriend was there. It made her sick knowing she wasn’t there to intervene. “I remember now..” you muttered, “You have nothing to feel bad about, Konan. I didn’t think he’d be there either, but I’m fine.”

Konan stared at you with disbelief. How could you feel fine with all of that on your plate? Seeing your ex-boyfriend at a party after all he had done must have sent you over the edge. “(Y/N).. please, don’t lie to yourself. I know how much Itachi bothers you and it’s okay to not feel okay with him being around.” she stepped towards you, her eyes seeming serious. 

You let out air through your mouth. All of this didn’t feel real at all. You weren’t sure what you were supposed to do. You didn’t know what to feel or how to react to this sudden intrusion in your life. Itachi had been MIA for months since your breakup. Why show up now? You wanted to know, but you could never face him. The thought of his face in front of you made your stomach twist with knots. “I’ll be okay, trust me.” you tried your best to sound confident, but Konan could sense the uneasiness in your tone. 

She was about to respond, but the sound of a knock on the door made her pause. 

Who the hell could be here? 

You and Konan both exchanged glances with one another at the sudden arrival of a stranger. You decided to go towards the door to see who it could possibly be. There was a chance that it could have been Deidara or Sasori. The two were both at the party that previous evening, so maybe they were stopping by to check in on you. You weren’t opposed whatsoever, but they usually gave you both a heads up if they were going to come by. 

Stepping towards the door, you shifted the small metal peephole cover that was on top of the hole. 

Your eyes grew wide when you saw who was behind the door. It wasn’t Deidara, nor was it Sasori. It was actually the exact opposite. The sight of him standing outside your door caused your heartbeat to spike rapidly, and you had no idea what you were supposed to do. Many questions began to surface inside of your mind. How did he know where you lived? Why was he here? What was he going to say? Should you open the door? Fuck! This was going to tear you apart!

“Konan..” you said. “Someone’s here.”

Konan’s eyebrows knitted at your words. She didn’t like the tone of your voice. You sounded worried. She wondered if it was possible that Obito was here. He knew where the two of you resided, so it wouldn’t be much of a shock if he was standing right outside the door. 

Only question was.. who was there?

#the beach #naruto #naruto x reader #naruto x y/n #naruto x you #naruto fanfiction #obito uchiha #obito uchiha x reader #obito uchiha x y/n #obito uchiha x you #obito x reader #obito x y/n #obito x you #obito #anime fanfic #anime fanfiction

[starlightandetherealshadows]

Hello! Feel free to ignore this, but I wanted to give my two cents about the MC's initial personality while playing. Now, this may be blunt, but at first, I was incredibly disappointed. Usually, I tend to play stoic/quiet MCs who don't lash or speak out, and it seemed to be quite the opposite to the distrusting and stoic mc in the game. However, I was thinking extremely hard about this, and I actually get why the MC was so outspoken, especially when V literally pointed a gun at them. Stoic and stubborn MC, from what I saw in the prologue, could easily be more nonchalant *before* the alien invasion, but that, obviously, changed. When C found them and brought them to the hideout, I didn't take into account that MC was in a vulnerable position, and I only focused on the part that MC hadn't interacted with another person in years. So, yeah, of course, MC may be overwhelmed, but their not gonna let people (V *cough*) walk all over them. I guess the thing was that I was so used to stoic MCs in IFs just standing on the sidelines and observing, but that is obviously not that kind of IF. The thing that had gotten to me the most, however, was the second-hand embarrassment of MC actually talking back to V after he blatantly insults them because I could never😭 I guess what I am trying to say is that even though I was seriously taken aback, none of the characters (including MC) are not gonna be 2-dimensional (as you have stated multiple times), and it has definitely grown on me, even if the MC was a little more of a fire-cracker than I expected. I am really looking forward to seeing where you take this story, and I will absolutely be eating it up because even if I might have to be tossing my phone across the room occasionally (bc my second-hand embarrassment is so easily triggered😭😭), I cannot get enough of your writing and characters!! I hope this made sense because I was just rambling about my take on if you are willing to make the MC a little more stoic or have some mute choices, which I am not against, but at the end of the day, I will still be reading the fuck out of Memento Mori! Have a good day/night!!! MWAH💋

Hi sunshine!

I appreciate your super-thorough analysis of both MC's personality and also your initial/developing reaction to it!

Just wanna offer some perspective on why I'm writing MC the way I am (you've already nailed a lot of the points but this is gonna be a succinct explanation from my head hehe)

MC is ultimately a fully fledged character in Memento Mori. While writing, I have about six different MC's in my head, each with distinct personalities, motives, and reactions to events. As I'm writing Ch. 2 in particular, I'm using these characters to influence the choices available and the stat checks necessary for certain actions. MC was never going to be a self insert. I love a good self insert sometimes, but it doesn't work with this if!

What makes characters feel realistic and multi-dimensional to me is their ability to break out of their different archetypes. We all know the ones like The Mean Girl or the Shy Kid or the Comic Relief. We can use your Stoic!MC example. Do we as humans act the same exact way every single day with every single event and interaction? No, we don't. Because we are complex, muli-faceted individuals that can have conflicting thought and actions, or opinions. What makes a character feel flat is when they are only given like 3 personality traits and stick to those regardless of what happens around them in the story.

So in Memento Mori, your Stoic!MC will have moments where they're outspoken and opinionated. The Charming!MC will lose their cool and lash out rather than smooth talk. The Friendly!MC will snap at someone without thinking. We aren't perfect, neither is MC, and I think that adds dimension to what can easily be a very blank slate kind of character. This isn't exclusive to MC, either! Veronica/Vincent will be nice to you sometimes for seemingly no reason. Zero will have moments where he is not okay and rejects your comfort when he reads it as pity. Cecelia/Chase will not always be the bouncy comic relief that uses humor to make everyone smile.

To add insult to MC's injury, like you mentioned in your ask, they are suffering from extreme amounts of PTSD and trauma. They have lost everyone and everything, they're a young adult living in complete isolation for two years. They're starving, they're injured, they hate themselves and being alive. It's going to take them a while to feel like themselves. In the span of one day, they've been nearly killed by a monster, then they're covered in blood guts and sweat when they meet C, then C brings them to meet 6 other people (including two aliens) and now they're going on this extensive journey with complete strangers, while that very morning they were contemplating ending it all. it's a lot.

By the time MC meets V, they are already at their limit of dealing with bullshit so V pointing a gun at them was never going to fly. V insulting them was a no-go either. Now, in the future, MC can ignore V more often because they'll be less on edge than when they were all first introduced. Once they have time to process, then they can react what is most familiar and comfortable for them. It will take time.

I laughed when you called MC a firecracker! I'd say they're more...unpredictable as a character when they're under high stress. As time goes on, they'll adjust and mellow out in some ways, but right now? MC has had ENOUGH with feeling like shit all the time.

I'm really glad you were a bit embarrassed by MC talking back to V because that was my goal AHDSEWLKMFRLK it's supposed to feel a bit uncomfortable. It's MC trying to clap back on someone when they have lost most of their social skills. It made ME cringe while writing it. Like oof MC, just ignore them???!!!

I'll definitely be adding some more options to be a bit more stoic or selectively mute in chapter 2, and as for chapter 1, I think more options to stay silent while talking to Cecelia/Chase or when they're speaking with Delphine/V could be good too. I'll see how it flows!

You'll see at the beginning of Ch.2 that MC already feels a tiny bit better. Nothing much but at least they aren't alone anymore, and they have a hot shower and some real food. So small wins for MC!

I think that's all I wanted to say for now!!! Thank you again for your message, my friend!!! I'm glad you're liking my writing and my characters, it does mean a lot to have your support!! <3

#ask: answered #interactive fiction #interactive novel #interactive game #if wip #interact if #interactive story #memento mori #MC

[theduckofindeed]

I'm Working on a Sun and Moon (FNAF) Fanfic

Hey again, I just wrote a rather lengthy rant concerning the changes they made to Sun’s personality in Help Wanted 2.  So no need for me to address that again.  Anyway, this game’s release has given me a renewed motivation to stop procrastinating and work on my fan fic.  Yes, folks, I’ve been writing a story about our dear Daycare Attendant for the last several months now.  It follows Sun starting from his earliest days in the Daycare, all the way to the events of Ruin.  Plus some backstory before the events of Security Breach.

While I wasn’t super fond of certain new traits they gave to my dear ball of sunshine, I will admit that it’s a little frightening that a lot of Sun’s new personality actually matches my own headcanon for him.  Minus the meanness.  While I definitely prefer Sun as a sweet and kindhearted character, that doesn’t mean that I view him as some perfect little angel incapable of harming a fly.  (Although, he is incapable of harming a spider because he finds it tiny and cute and sees no reason to squish it just because the kids tell him to.)

Going slightly off topic for a moment, I remember reading lots of comments on Youtube in the past where people were curious about how Sun would feel if they wanted to play in the Daycare as an adult.  As much as I, too, would love to just spend the day with Sun (because he’s so darn adorable), I always had this feeling that he would not be particularly happy to see an adult encroaching in his Daycare.  And, well, it seems pretty clear from his interaction with the player in HW2 that my suspicions were correct.  Sun would NOT be happy to play with an adult.  Or a teen, I think.  Then you likely would get the full brunt of his impressive sass until you got the hint and left.  Somehow, he’d probably think this would be the most polite way of getting you to go away.  (Moon, on the other hand, would probably just look you dead in the eyes, then proceed to blatantly ignore your existence.)

Anyway, the Sun in my story is still sweet and innocent and a bit oblivious, but he definitely does things wrong.  In fact, I have plans that he’ll be forced to make some very morally questionable decisions later on.  And even before then, he won’t be above the occasional naughty act or lying.  I see him as the type to be against lying, but he’s not above twisting the truth so that it’s still technically the truth, but also still technically dishonest.  He’s also moody and bossy and controlling, something that will certainly tick Moon off on occasion.

I also feel like it’s a common interpretation that Moon is the smart one and Sun’s a bit dumber.  I prefer to believe that Sun just comes across as less intelligent due to his silly behavior, but he’s actually much smarter than people give him credit for.  Even in Security Breach, he seems to be the only robot aware of the virus, and the dismantled staff bots imply he might even be looking for a solution.  His comment at the start of the carousel level in HW2 actually fits this, too.  He states that, given the training and resources, he could have easily fixed the carousel himself.  And I can’t help but believe him.  He’s probably skilled in fixing himself because he and Moon are likely neglected by staff.  I bet his meticulous nature and attention to detail would make him quite skilled in repairing hardware issues.  This is yet another aspect to him that will be explored much later in the story.

As for Moon, I'm among those who like to believe that Moon was good-natured before the virus, but only to Sun and the kids.  Sure, he's more gruff and mischievous, but he's still good to the few people he cares about.  But he also dislikes adults even more than Sun, and he has zero interest in the other robots.  I'm not sure yet if he's necessarily shy or just couldn't care less.

Heck, he probably just prefers being a recluse.

I definitely like Sun and Moon developing a close relationship (albeit a rather codependent one), which is a very important part of the story, of course.  Though that will take some time, as they aren't inherently able to communicate right away.  I have no idea how the two feel about each other canonically.  I mean, after the virus, Sun clearly fears Moon and Moon hates Sun.  But what about before?  I mean, the two share a body, so I'd hope they'd normally be close, or that would be a serious issue.  Plus, someone is collecting plushies, including ones of themselves.  I'd imagine you wouldn't keep a plushie of someone you hate.

Plus, I just love a good platonic relationship, whether it be friends or siblings. 

The story also focuses on darker issues like abuse and more existential types of concerns (similar to Freddy's reaction to being brought down into that one room in Parts and Services).  I just imagine that Sun and Moon are not treated well by staff and certain kids, who see them as an object to be used rather than a person with feelings.  Plus, they aren't seen as nearly as popular as the Glamrocks and would likely be neglected as a result.  Just look at how shiny Freddy and the gang are when SB starts and how dusty and grimy our poor Daycare Attendant is! Give this poor baby a good scrubbing!  Heck, let me in the Daycare, and I’ll do it myself!

Ahem, not to mention the fact that their situation is rather horrifying when you think about it.  They were created for a job they never chose, and they aren't allowed to do a bad job or take a day off.  If they prove to be inadequate, they risk being decommissioned, which is basically death for robots.  Heck, even being reprogrammed could be bad as they could completely lose who they used to be.  And even if they do an excellent job, they're still at risk of being destroyed eventually.  It's only a matter of time, really.  If Bonnie and Foxy could be replaced, Sun and Moon have no reason to feel safe and secure.  I mean, if the Pizzaplex hadn’t closed, who knew how many years they had left anyway?

I mean, imagine having a job where you'll be executed if you choose to quit, didn't perform well, or were arbitrarily replaced regardless of your own actions.  Even if you enjoyed the work, that would be a lot of pressure!

Anyway, I hope to have some chapters ready…eventually.  Knowing me, I often start stories and inevitably leave them unfinished.  This time, I've focused on writing whatever part that interests me at the moment, and as a result, I have substantial work finished in various sections of the story.  And more recently, now that I largely know where it's going, I've been focusing more on the beginning.

Chapter 1 is more or less done, minus final edits.  Seeing as everything up until this point was written before HW2, some details won't be totally accurate.  I'll fix this when I can.  Unless I don’t feel like it.  Chapter 2 is coming along nicely, but I'd like to make a good start into the first chunk of the story before anything is published, to avoid the risk of changing my mind and adjusting details people have already read.

Oh, Cassie appears fairly early on and gets a decent role in the story.  So yay for her! I remember reading a comment recently that Sun seems like he’d play favorites.  Well, guess who his favorite is.  Not much Gregory, though.  Never was a big fan of that child.  Me and Roxy have a similar opinion of him…

When (if) this story ever gets published, I really hope people enjoy my interpretation of Sun and Moon.  I've been very careful to make them well-rounded characters, meaning Sun is definitely not a perfect angel and Moon is not just an aggressive monster.  Not sure how much longer it'll be before I can share this story with the world, though.  Like Sun, I'm a perfectionist and don't want to publish it before it's ready, plus I've been struggling to find the time and motivation.  This story is very important to me, just as Sun and Moon are important to me.  They've been helping me through a tough time in my life.  So…that's all for now!

#five nights at freddy's #fnaf #fnaf security breach #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #fnaf daycare attendant #fan fiction

[cloud-somersault]

Soul anon here, stalking your blog

I hard agree with you. I dislike so much of how the fandom treats the LMK characters. I don't understand how the fandom loves the show so much and doesn't seem to be able to grasp the characters at all.

Mk isn't written hardly with respect. He's so often reduced to empty air head adhd silly guy when he does have a lot of serious moments or otherwise when it's shown that he is intuitive, intelligent, and has a lot of good instincts.

Macaque is either constantly character bashed or woobified by the fandom, and so many fucking people in the audience fall for the facade he puts up. Like holy shit it's so bad. He's such an interesting character and a joy to watch and people just...seem like they hate him or love him and there's hardly any room for analysis on his motivations and behavior in a way that makes any sense when given full context.

Wukong is like...so loved by the fandom but ALSO is treated with zero respect somehow? Like they think he can't read? And the whole fandom sometimes feels like he can do no wrong when it's shown that he's still making mistakes but he is learning and growing (still! Even after his journey!) And that's a lot of the point to his character too! He's a silly little guy yes, but he's not a baby that the fandom makes him out to be who never does anything wrong. I don't get how he's so beloved by fandom and yet so many fan depictions are so...bad.

And Mei? Oh my god she has such good characterization in the show and so many good moments and yet I can't think of a comic, character analysis or fic where anyone gets her? She's shown to be strong, compassionate and analytical and yet so many people don't bother to let her be any of those things.

(I could keep going. Red Son. Pigsy. Tang. Etc.)

The fandom is small and there's great fanmade art and fic, but it always feels like so many people will get a couple of characters right and then just. Shit on the rest of the characters they don't like. I think it's partially due to that it's a small fandom and lack of people who can view any media with any level of nuance. All that said, it's why I love your fic so much, it feels like you nailed the monkey boys so well.

ohh yeah. there's a lot of younger people in the fandom (not that that's a bad thing but uh) so they're kind of lacking that critical thinking and life experience. not trying to be mean, but that's. literally how growing up works. and y'know, not being able to see the complexity to characters, thinking things are very black and white, etc. It's very frustrating!

MK will always be a great example of this, because the hints of deeper character he has in the show are just outright ignored for funnies and silly haha's for the fandom to enjoy. And Macaque isn't seen for who he truly is. like MK called him out explicitly in the show, and it's like everyone forgot about that. Like all it took for Macaque to drop his facade was someone looking at him for who he is and understanding him. and saying that...who he is okay.

it's just really sad because. you know it's a writing technique/literary device to put these sprinkles of character in, especially when you're working on a show that runs so short. that means every instance of dialogue matters. it's intentional. if they had more time, they could be more forthcoming with this stuff, but that's why there's a lot of things built into the background, too. they're literally using every trick in the book to tell a story BEHIND the story to make up for the small amount of time they have. and dealing with constraints and mandates. like "there has to be a big bad so we can sell sets with the mechs and weapons each season" and they writers are like "okay let's come up with a seasonal villain and everything. again."

But getting back to it -- yeah, Mei, too, is mischaracterized and it's such a shame. she's SO COOL. I love how out there and bright and funny she is! I love that she's so protective and determined. and she CARES about MK, they are best friends they get into some stupid shit together. i'd love to write their friendship, i wanna do that SO BAD PLEASE.

how the fandom treats wukong is part of what inspired me to write this big long fic in the first place. if they're not grossly misinterpreting something he's said/done, they're diluting him down to his cuteness and sweetness and ignoring everything else. and it SUCKS because I LOVE how the show demonstrates that he's not perfect and still needs to develop. Like he IS NOT a good mentor and is actually terrible LMFAO but he's trying!! he's trying. that's why there's so many sunburst duo moments in my fic because, after season 3, i really just see wukong going "okay, i have to take this seriously. for real this time. I don't like how I've been doing things and I need to do better"

and you know, a lot of the time in fandom, people don't know how to respectfully tackle these subjects? so they just focus on the good and ignore the bad -- much easier to handle the good. but straight up ignoring it isn't the way to go, either. ignoring a character's flaws is ignoring half of the character. take away wukong's flaws and that's not wukong anymore. people don't get that. they see flaws as this purely negative thing when they're essential to making characters be characters.

and there's also this tendency to just. take what one person says and parade it around as fact. that's how we got that "wukong can't read" thing going on. when i first saw that, i was so confused because it went against canon. we've seen him read...in the show...he has a laptop i don't. how did we get here LMFAO

and yeah, it extends to every character. it takes time to get characters right. you really have to like. study them. that's why roleplaying is a good way to like develop those characterization skills, but it only works if you're roleplaying with someone who has a good grasp of the show. or just being able to discern a good interpretation from a bad one. discernment is so pivotal. it's just like how, in film and television, you watch bad shows to learn what NOT to do. same thing here. you look at bad interpretations, you look at good ones. then you decide what's good.

not to say that's not what's happening, because that's how we get variance in interpretations. and you know, some people may not care about characterization and are having fun with their dolls. because that's also what fandom is. and it can be a good thing! but it can also be an aggravating thing.

I actually don't think the fandom is small at all. listen -- i know what a small fandom is. on my main, it's a small fandom, because it's me and 9 other people regularly making content for this pairing. like, every day in LMK land, there are new fics. like there are multiple artists making fanart! not so in where i came from

on main i think i'm one of ... five fic authors making content atm LMFAIJOWLMKA

thank you for saying you enjoy my fic! i'm doing my best, and i mostly wrote it out of spite LMFAO but i'll get into that more during my podcast whatever thingy. but thank you for sending this. it's nice to feel seen, i'm glad you agree! that's why you gotta follow/support people who do make content that suits you and makes sense, because then THEY feel encouraged to continue and do greater things!

#ask #anon #i'm not gonna put this in any tag it doesn't belong there #but these are my feelings about it #not trying to be mean either but i've just been in fandom for a long time #and i know the patterns and behaviors #as soon as i saw MK i was like 'oh no another protagonist the fandom is going to mischaracterize' #and lo and behold #long post #long post cw

[scalproie]

FINAL(?) THOUGHTS ON MK12

the story in general: enjoyable if you take it as face-value and dont dig deeper than the surface level, also if you dont have any passionate attachments to what came before.

the earthrealm champions storyline: genuinely liked it. Kung Lao/Raiden/Johnny/Kenshi's introduction and characterization were strong enough to carry them through the story. It was pretty easy to fill the gaps between timeskips and the dynamics were enjoyable

the outworld storyline: lots of players in this one but having a clear villain (shang) that ties everyone's motivation together makes it easy to follow. Overall I did like it.

the lin kuei storyline: as per usual, its isolated from everything else, but it's given NO screentime to actually develop, and even seem like an afterthought. I'd even dare say that with a little tweaking, you could remove them completely and the story would be no different. The only thing accomplished here is making explaining who the characters are harder than necessary, and I swear if I see one more person with vague knowledge of what theyre talking about trying to explain them to people who know even less and getting it absurdly wrong because of this game, I'm going to lose it. By far my biggest disappointment.

The timelines shenanigans: in a weird limbo where it's simultaneously too much focused on and not touched on enough. It felt like it was here for spectacle rather than smth they genuinely wanted to explore, but then again we have one interactions thats kinda sweet and satisfying. Overall, the entire story revolves around this so its pretty solid? but I also did not quite like it on a fundamental level. So it was... whatever.

INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS:

Liu Kang: the closest thing we have to a clear protagonist, as he ties everyone together, which is fitting for his role both out and in-universe. I dont mind him even tho he is definitely flawed as its impossible to write a character with that much control as 100% good (we wouldnt have a game otherwise). Think he shouldve kept the white god hair tho.

Raiden: his role being switched with liu kang's was expected and the logical following of their storyline in mk11, I am more than fine with that. Raiden feels like himself in a different circumstance. I sure do wish his electricity was inherent to him and not the product of an amulet tho, I have no idea why this change was made. I did like him overall.

Kung Lao: Kung Lao is consistent in his characterization and this familiarity made me like him even more than usual. He gets really sidelined early on but I know the chapter system is to blame for that. There is a lot of cute moments involving him.

Johnny Cage: god, the writers fucking ADORE him do they? As one of mk's sole comic relief characters, I get he is the only one able to deliver a bit of comedy to the mix but fucking hell they almost abuse him in that regard. BUT they also give him a shocking lot of nuance too? The scene with his future ex-wife and everything involving kenshi? He gets a LOT of screentime and development and he is nothing BUT characterization, hence why, as someone who doesnt care that much about him, at one point it starts to feel really fucking unfair. Johnny is fine but I have to check myself because if I get too much exposure to him (which is inevitable) he genuinely starts to piss me off so fucking bad

Kenshi: he's fine. Kenshi here, like Johnny, is a character that isnt tied to anyone else, so the both of them having a joined development thats resolved in this very game is pretty good. I dont have a lot of things to say about Kenshi, he complete his arc and gets his job done in the narrative.

Geras: Geras has only been in one game prior so he does not have overwhelming expectations weighing him down. I really liked him here, his relationship with Liu Kang really does both of them favor.

Sub Zero: Bi-han fit the antagonistic role he was given well enough. Sadly it comes at the price of his already feeble reputation of an originally neutral character. But even when I lower my expectations, here he is given no nuance and no room for growth, not in a satisfying way anyway, as things are right now. The "depth" (read: one or two lines) he is given feels more like inconsistence on the writers' part than him having complex feelings. As usual, he COULD have been great, but he isnt. I'm really disappointed.

Scorpion: Utterly Unrecognizable. He is not fully Kuai Liang on account of being Scorpion, and he is not fully Scorpion on account of being Kuai Liang. This isnt a character, this is a checklist: 1) get the scar (Kuai Liang part) ✅️ 2) be shirai ryu (Scorpion part) ✅️. He is the only character to be given this treatment, or at the very least, the only one where its THAT noticeable because he is made of arguably the most popular characters of mk. We are missing CRITICAL parts of his and his brother's characters to make us care (his motivation comes from an unknown and unseen dead father that never existed before and such a massive big deal is never given development or focus, despite being all they're talking about), their entire storyline rely on nothing other than the HIGHLY popular rivalry between "Scorpion" and "Sub zero". No love and care was brought to his character, nor his brothers', nor his storyline.

Smoke: Smoke... sure as hell was there. Personal thoughts: but the more time passes the more I Do Not Like his characterization. He is written no longer as an equal to Kuai Liang but as what I can best describe as a sidekick, even moreso than usual thanks to him being written and played as younger than the brothers. Yet another thing I dont like about the Lin Kuei storylike. Literally miss (bi-han) after miss (kuai liang) after miss (smoke) for me. They're out.

Hanzo: genuinely ask yourself. Are you happy that hanzo is here? His presence in mk12 is the same as nrs holding up a cardboard picture of him so people wont be mad that he's absent. Everything that he had has been given to "scorpion" aka kuai. He cannot be important because he is young. And when we get a timeskip of him being finally being older then what? The only thing people want of him is dying and coming back as an angry wraith? That's all he is and will be? I'd rather have no Hanzo at all rather than him being stripped of what made him him and used in an unsatisfying way.

Harumi: Harumi went from being the wife of Hanzo Hasashi that dies to being the prize of Scorpion's character. She is finally given development but said development is so confined to the game she's in that it doesnt even matter to me, adding to the fact that they're going in a direction I find boring (to my tastes) with her.

Kitana: she was also there. Which is surprising because kitana always felt like... the protagonist when outworld was involved? While I understand her role, I personally am not that fond of her being relegated to a supporting character.

Mileena: she is an entirely new character with mileena as a basis. I think her story has holes but on the surface it gets the job done. She is definitely one of the more focused on character all the way til she gets her own chapter to conclude her arc, and she has plenty of relationships to bounce off of, so she's definitely one of the more rounded characters here. I dont mind her, but I cant hide personal pettiness that her popularity mightve been the reason why she's so important.

Sindel: I genuinely DID like sindel but I look at her and in the back of my mind there is always the devs' voices going "sorry sorry sorry". Still, I liked her. I liked her death also! It made sense and, while I think it couldve been done MUCH MORE EMOTIONALLY, Im fairly okay with the way it was done. Idk if her being a flawed leader is completely a feature or a bug but I did like it!

Li Mei: I literally did not care that much about li mei until the revelation that she and sindel used to be friends, and then a lot of things clicked together, so I would say THIS was good. Other than that, li mei is whatever to me.

Reptile: one of my main issue with him just boils down to him being hot. I do not mind him having one big monstery form and one human form, but the two are clearly not treated equally, and yeah yeah I know its easier with a human model or whatever BUT LITERALLY BARAKA EXIST. So him being "good looking" 75% of the time with sad backstory and an IMMEDIATE nice an easy going personality (even tho imo he should maybe be a bit angry and grieving that his fucking family died in the living forest until at least his own chapter) = the writers trying too hard for me to give him my sympathy. And I dont like being forced. Aka reptile lost most of his edge with me, it's like hes trying so hard to be likable he has no flaws and so he annoys me a bit in return. But I still like him. I SHOULD love him, so much even, but when I try there is always smth bugging me. I want him to be more fucked up, and no, eating a bug once (1) doesnt count, its what should be NORMAL for him.

Tanya: she's so weird to me. Tanya is mk12 is like, if she was from a mirror universe where she was the good version of an evil jade, if you get what I mean? She's not tanya in almost every way, yknow? Also, usually if you think the writing staff do anything with shipping in mind, you're reading too much into it, and shipping itself is not smth that's seen with respect... BUT THAT BEING SAID I genuinely wonder: if tanya/mileena had never been a thing, would they still had picked tanya for this role, or would they simply just have picked jade.

Rain: to fully appreciate rain you have to hunt down everything involving him in mk12, cutscenes in storymode, endings, intros... my man literally has SO little. But. What he has is literally so inoffensive to me, I actually quite like this rain a lot. He has his own thing going on and I like the direction it took!

Baraka: his inclusion feels like mileena's story was thought of first, and baraka's was built all around it to support it. No, I still dont like the tarkatans being a leprosy allegory now, and no, the new identity Baraka has doesnt do anything for me even if (or because) it was made completely out of nowhere for the purpose of mk12. People dont want SOME characters to suffer (even tho it makes for an interesting story), but when baraka is reworked into doing nothing but suffering, nobody bat an eye because he is no one's favorite. Also he is severely underused in story mode, where he could give us more insight on tarkat and the flaws of the regime, but doesnt. He also helps the earthrealmers out of the kindness of his heart but it really does feel a bit forced, especially when intros show he is not actually that kind in general. Still, just like reptile, I liked baraka.

Shao: funnily enough shao is given interesting depths in this story, but because shao has been an absolute fucking bastard in his 30 years of existence, nobody seems to notice or care. But I Do, despite myself I notice and care about whatever weird thing shao has got going on this time around. I know he has to be a lil bit problematic in there if I dig a little but nothing BIG on the surface so far??? And its the addition of MISGUIDED BUT NOBLE GOALS in shao that were previously non-existent thats so fucking weird to me. I'm literally looking at him under the microscope.

Reiko: Jobber Supreme. Reiko was funny. He is carried by his relationship to shao but it could legit be interesting so yknow what Im gonna let this silly fucking guy entertain me. What can I say, I like when villains have positive interactions and relationships.

Shang Tsung: Shang Tsung (both of them) was funny af. 10/10 no notes. Extremely entertaining. No fucking redeeming qualities. Critical amount of Kunt being served here. Evil and having fun about it. Caught being stupid in 4k by his own self. His plan(s) was pretty straightforward and I can appreciate that. I have nothing bad to say about Shang.

Quan chi: Quan chi was there to make funny faces and be mean gays with Shang Tsung. I dont mind him. Him being an outworlder and "turning white" is not smth I enjoy much tho, whats wrong with him being tied completely to the netherrealm?

Ermac: his design is something you eventually get used to. But as soon as you do he fucking get That Face. I swear I almost end up hating Jerrod in spite because of how they used Ermac. I cant deny it technically makes sense why they wouldve used him like that but I cant help it, I Did Not Like It. didnt liked it in mk9, dont like it now. I think I wouldve liked more the idea of Ermac being influenced by Jerrod rather than him being downright possessed by him. My opinion was much more scathing before the leaks but I have since calmed down a bit. But Ermac gets treated so badly in this game, he actually gets all my sympathy and more, compared to other characters.

Ashrah: Ashrah is okay. I like what she adds to the earthrealm team (and god know they needed her bc damn this was the no girls allowed club before she showed up) but I'm not sure I would enjoy her on her own without someone to bounce off of. Because she also was a character whole neutrality got removed to make her a fully good-aligned character. One thing that really endeared me to her tho was her "I've never had a home before!" line and the genuine happiness she showed there, I wish this part of her had been more explored. And she is also one of the characters that gets a lot more fleshed out in the intros to me. But still, like I said, Ashrah was okay.

Nitara: yeah the megan fox voice acting is objectively bad but it could also be way worse. I know its different bc this one is just an optional skin and not the character's actual voice but fucking listen to JCVD's voice acting. As for nitara, Im really sorry but it feels like she is just here to fill a niche, and said niche being "fanservice". So i'm really sorry for people who like her but yeah she is outshined by her VA and the "well she is a 3d era character that hasnt been shown for awhile so lets bring her back for the people" sentiment. As for her role in the story, I know we need jobbers but she is so isolated from everything they could remove her and it wouldnt change anything. Her personal motivation is not even given the time of day even tho it's the ONLY thing she has, so yeah Im having a hard time to care. Which is sad.

Havik: as soon as I saw his bio I knew he was going to be done dirty, the trailer he showed up in implied it but him having such a sympathetic backstory all but confirmed they were gonna go the "guy with good reasons to change the system fucking take it too far so you cant endorse him" trope with him. Everything with him seems a bit random (which is ironic considering he is mr. chaos) like, why is scorpion the one to give him his iconic open jaw look? (It also cements scorpion as the checklist character ngl). Anyway I do understand the reason for his inclusion as well as the story needing jobbers, doesnt change that I still think he's whatever tho.

#there. now I never want to hear about mortal kombat ever again <- will relapse so fucking quickly #tagging later #long post #mortal kombat #mk spoilers

[nanowrimo]

Your Subconscious Is Trying to Help You--An Excerpt from Your Writing Matters by Keiko O’Leary

Have you ever considered that your subconscious is trying to help you with writing when you have that song stuck in your head? Keiko O’Leary, author of the upcoming book, Your Writing Matters, offers her insight on this phenomenon. Check out the book here. Read this excerpt of Your Writing Matters below. 

Do you ever get a phrase in your head, maybe a line from a poem you learned as a kid? Or it could be the title of a story, or a bit of dialogue, or even a few words from your own work. Or sometimes a song that you haven’t heard in years, but now you can’t get it out of your head. 

Probably you don’t do anything with these phrases, except maybe complain about the song. 

But what if these phrases are messages? 

When my grandma was dying, I got a line from a Paul Simon song in my head: “the rose of Jericho and the bougainvillea.” I hadn’t heard the song in years, and I decided to listen to the entire album (The Rhythm of the Saints, a brilliant collection of music and poetry). It gave me perspective on the way my grandma had influenced our family’s life and my life, and I felt like I understood her story better. And when I finally got to the actual line, it turned out to be in a passage about a funeral. That was the first time in the grieving process that I was able to cry.

I know that art helps us grieve and celebrate, that it helps us experience and make sense of our feelings, that it helps us live and choose how to live. But I hadn’t realized that the art I need has often come to me through seemingly random phrases that popped up in my mind. Every time I go listen to a song that’s stuck in my head, I find what I need at that moment. And it doesn’t just work with songs. Sometimes a title will float through my mind (“We Will Drink a Fish Together” by Bill Johnson), or a line of a poem (“What immortal hand or eye” from “The Tyger” by William Blake), and if I go to the source and let myself experience the entire piece, it is always what I need. Sometimes it’s not what I want: sometimes I don’t feel ready for the transformation that the art brings me. But I have chosen to live as a protagonist, and that means I must suffer change in order to experience meaning.

Looking back on all the times this has worked, I conclude that something is trying to help me. Let’s say it’s my subconscious mind. Whatever it is, it’s sending me messages of art that can change me in the way I need to be changed.

It sometimes even uses my own writing. While I was editing this book, I experienced great swaths of zero motivation. Sometimes the only thing that kept me going was rereading the essays and trying to take my own advice. And plenty of times, what led me to the essay that helped was a little phrase that floated into my head, seemingly out of nowhere. But now I think it’s not out of nowhere: it’s out of somewhere that knows what I’m going through and is trying to help.

You might not live in a sea of allusions like I do, but still, if a phrase pops into your head, maybe try tracking down and experiencing the entire work. It could be just what you need.

P.S. These phrases can also help you solve problems in your writing. If you’re stuck on something in a piece you’re working on, listen for the phrases that pop into your head. They could lead you to a solution.

Keiko O’Leary helps writers see the big picture while taking meaningful action today. She is a writer, editor, artist, and speaker. A leader in San José, California’s literary community, Keiko teaches workshops and organizes the long-standing writing group Write to the End. She writes short pieces, including poetry, flash fiction, and essays. Connect with Keiko at KeikoOLeary.com, and pre-order Your Writing Matters.

#nanowrimo #writing advice #Writing tips #keiko o'leary #am writing

[construingseacats]

Umireread: Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 14: Boiler Room

Sun, Oct 5 1986 - Indeterminate

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

And we’re off… with another Wikipedia section.

I kind of let it slide last time, when they were talking about Maria and childhood development, but I want to take that back now. George lost both his parents in a horrific murder moments ago. There is absolutely no way he would be engaging in intellectual discussion about the specifics of locked room mysteries, in the same way that the trio shouldn’t have been going “this is also interesting from a sociological standpoint!” a couple hours after they saw their parents/love interest mutilated in an abhorrent murder scene. Bad writing.

Gonna be real: this is fairly uncomfortable. It’s played lightheartedly, but hitting Maria several times, even semi-playfully, feels very inappropriate after the scene in the rose garden. None of these characters are acting anything like they should under the current circumstances.

This story is very obviously fictional and fantastical in nature.

And so we get to the big scene. While the first twilight is my personal highlight of Episode 1, I’m pretty sure most people agree that this one is probably the most important.

So, Yasu throws away the title of furniture, and sacrifices the Kanon persona, knowing there is no turning back now - there’s no shortage of analyses for that. What really stood out to me here was the roulette discussion - it’s something that has been brought up quite a few times, as the concept of the Demons’ Roulette is pervasive throughout Umineko, but I haven’t had any major thoughts on it so far. Here, as the focus, I think the roulette is a reflection of the massacre as a whole.

Yasu wants to be stopped - but she, at this point, knows that’s almost certainly not going to happen. The family are too caught up in their own drama, they’re too self centred, their thoughts have turned to staying alive rather than solving the Epitaph. They want to solve the murders, but they’re not on the right wavelength to understand Yasu. Her motive is inscrutable, her methods esoteric. The Ushiromiya family is doomed. The roulette is red or black.

She, however, is the zero on the roulette. Yasu is the green. When Kinzo spoke earlier of the high risk, high reward of the roulette, this is what he meant - either everyone dies, Yasu gets her revenge, we see the likely outcome of red or black. But if someone solves the Epitaph - if someone understands Yasu - if someone discovers her, this extra spot on the roulette, they win. And she wants to be understood. By someone - anyone. She wants them to win.

Beatrice’s game is one where she always wins; she casts a dice and cares not for the result, as she is content with any. If the roulette is red or black, the house wins, she profits. But if the house loses - and the family are rewarded with their 10 ton payout - she still wins. Because she has traded all the gold for an honour that no money could ever buy.

Man, it always feels unfortunate when I have to go directly from making a deep point to a more surface level observation, or comedic note - but I do like the consistent use of “makeup” across the murders. Very funny when it’s quite literal for the faked deaths. But even for the real bodies - earth to earth - it adds this layer of doubt and fantasy to the level which should have none.

Yasu has had little control in her life. She has suffered because of the actions of others, from the moment of her conception to where she is now. The events of October 4 and 5 - presuming the roulette hits red or black - is a final gambit to wrestle control back from the world that denied her. And just as Yasu decides to go out on her own terms, Kanon wrestles the stake from his chest, a final action that gives him the say in his own demise. It is an act of agency - an act of one who is no longer furniture.

Kumasawa, once again, is having WAY too much fun with this. She can’t even hide the smile this time.

I think there’s something to say about the Ushiromiya pride being their downfall here - bodies are dirty. They don’t want to disgrace their own hands with them. They must send for the doctor so that they may make the inspection. If any of them had taken a pulse, checked for themselves, or even tried to rush to assist - the plan would be over. But Yasu knows that these people will fall prey to the fantasy. Why would they help her? No-one ever has. This must have been cathartic to write.

So given the Kinzo situation, this must be the moment that Natsuhi immediately clocks the servants as being culpable. Being aware of what she knows, and aware of what she knows they know, contextualises a lot of her upcoming jitteriness towards them.

You know, we haven’t had Kanon’s death tip yet. I suppose it might be because they’re going with the whole “he could be alive in Nanjo’s office”, but it’s another cute little hint that something’s off here.

Oh we have it again with the characters going off about the history of polydactyly in the family. Umineko is at its best when we are really feeling the human behind these characters. It’s at its worst when they’re listing off facts in a scientific manner right after someone close to them just died.

Oh yeah we get Kinzo’s death tip before Kanon’s. This scene is so suspicious before you even start to really think about it.

So that means Krauss and Shannon are in the clear, right? After all, we saw Krauss with half a face, and Hideyoshi told us that Shannon was there with half a face as well. It’s a good thing that there are no co-conspirators here who would lie to us to preserve the mystery.

Oh, the clock’s getting bigger as we progress through the Epitaph. I like that a lot. Very imposing.

#umireread #umineko #umineko spoilers

[shin-meddlesome-hero]

So about episode 23...

I have to say that I find it underwhelming.

On one hand, the conclusion was expected; Eri had to die, her life had been unnaturally extended and unless Quiet Zero succeeded, she didn’t have too much of a future. If the writers planned to keep the protagonists alive but still wanted to make a bittersweet ending, killing Eri was the most logical choice, her death, besides being impactful can also kickstart Prospera’s redemption at the end. It also made sense that she chose to sacrifice herself to protect her little sister and her mom, “Cradle Planet” shows how much she cares about Suletta, so ever since then there was the possibility that something like this would happen.

On the other hand, see how I mentioned “Cradle Planet” before? That’s the short story that gives information of Suletta’s upbringing in Mercury while showing Aerial’s POV. This short story explains Eri’s actions in episode 18, however, it shouldn’t be an obligatory reading. If the writers of the show wanted us to know all that, they should’ve shown this information within the anime itself. I think it could’ve been done if the anime had more episodes or if the writers decided to cut off other subplots to make space for this. Anyway, my point is that the conclusion of Aerial’s arc made sense but we didn’t get enough build-up for that. With the exception of the prologue, we have only seen Eri from the perspective of other characters. Suletta keeps saying how important she is to her and Prospera uses her future happiness as an excuse for her terrible actions, but, we rarely saw what Eri truly wished for. We know that she wanted to keep up with Quiet Zero and that she didn’t want Suletta to be involved in any of it, but in the show we didn’t get to see the reasons behind these desires. Maybe the writers thought that it would be more gut wrenching to see her being an aloof older sister until the moment of truth when she sacrifices herself for Suletta, however, these omissions make her arc look incomplete. It’s like she’s just an element to keep the narrative moving instead of a rounded character.

But what if I’m wrong and she wasn’t meant to be a relevant character? Maybe she’s just the deus ex machina that saves Suletta and the metaphor of all the things that Elnora lost and that she can’t let go. That could be a valid interpretation except that if that was the case, and she wasn’t meant to be an important character, then why was she the main focus in the prologue? Why did they make us believe that she and Suletta were the same character for the first couple of episodes? Why write “Cradle Planet”? What was the point of it all if she wasn’t supposed to be an important character?

I think that the payoff of her sacrifice would’ve been more satisfactory if we had more information about her. It would have been better if the sisters had more time to talk during the final battle, maybe get a glimpse of Eri’s motivations and the reasons behind them, plus some admission that despite her desire to please her mom, she also cares about Suletta. Both the conflict and the character should’ve been more fleshed out. And now, I admit that I’m being completely biased here, but there are elements from the other siblings battle (like the cute flashback, the heart to heart talk and the utter preoccupation for the wellbeing of the sibling that’s piloting the Gundam and suffering while doing it) that would’ve been perfect in the Eri vs Suletta battle and that we didn’t get to see there. So yeah, I’m disappointed because there are a lot of missing opportunities that would’ve made this battle and its conclusion a lot better.

Now, there’s the possibility that Aerial didn’t die, but I have no idea where is her character arc going from there if that’s the case, besides, there won’t be much time in the finale to flesh her out, unless that doesn’t matter because we would be getting another season (which would be ideal, but sounds unlikely). So, unless I’m proved wrong, this is an unsatisfactory resolution to both the character and her relationship with the protagonist. Let’s hope that this is not the case for the conclusion of the other pending stories and character arcs of the series.

( Goodbye, Eri, we hardly knew you. The fact that she died and her voice wasn't heard that much is tragic both in and out of universe).

#g witch spoilers #g witch #gundam the witch from mercury #ericht samaya #man i'm really bummed down #had to get this off my chest #let's see what happens next #maybe i'm proved wrong #gundamblogging #The Character

[mcdannoangelwolf]

McDanno! Because of law enforcement I'm curious of what you'd do with Arcanine/Growlithe

Ahh finally posting this story. THank you to my amazing Alpha @merlin-wolfgang-trades-hale for the prompt. I loved writing it.

This story could technically be part of my future Pokemon/H50 fusion as it features Pokemon from Steve and Danny's teams in my Pokeheroes series. However I have no idea where it would place in the story as I don't know the full universe yet lol.

Anywho, enjoy everyone. Pics of featured Pokemon, (Arcanine, Luxray, Arbok), can be found at the bottom the story.

 Luxray shooting to her feet broke Steve from his unfocused stare at his computer. He hated the quarterly supply and requisition paperwork. Following her gaze to the bullpen he saw Danny throw open the doors and stalk in.

 Danny’s shoulders were hunched, his face was flushed, and Steve could see a tic going through his partners' jaw where he was clenching his teeth.

 “This can’t be good,” Steve spoke aloud as Danny stomped to his office and stalked inside.

 “Lux.” Luxray chirped in reply before laying back down in her bed. Despite working together, and dating, Luxray still had a contentious relationship with Danny. Steve wasn’t sure why but he’d have to figure it out before he and Danny moved into together.

 Not that they were planning that…yet. Well, they weren’t planning it….But if Steve himself was making some tentative plans for the future…well no one needed to know. Still, Luxray not particularly caring for Danny was an issue. But not one he needed to solve today.

 “Stay put, I’ll be back,” Steve told her before making his way to Danny’s office. Luxray just watched him go out of one eye.

 Steve found Danny at his desk glaring at an extremely wrinkled and slightly torn piece of paper.

 “Bad news?” Steve questioned, rhetorically. It obviously wasn’t good news. In answer, Danny shoved the paper across the desk toward him.

 “ ‘Dear Mr. Williams I am deeply disappointed that my previous attempts to reach you have gone unanswered,’ “ Steve read aloud, “ ‘Please understand that my client is highly motivated and will happily discuss whatever compensation you desire in exchange for the specimen. As a reminder, our current offer stands at-‘”

 “Whoa, that’s a lot of zeros.” Steve broke off at the number listed on the crumpled paper.

 “Almost what I make in a year. Before taxes.” Danny replied scathingly. Steve looked up to find Danny glaring at the paper, a scratched and dinged-up pokeball clutched in his left hand.

 Arcanine’s pokeball.

“This about that article?” Steve didn’t really need to ask as he dropped to sit opposite Danny.

“‘Course it is, stupid fucking thing. Never should have given that fuckin interview. Haven’t had a moment's peace since it was published.” Danny replied bitterly. Steve could sympathize a little.

 The article had been about pokémon in law enforcement. Steve and the Team had been ordered to participate by the governor, it was good publicity she claimed, and while Steve’s Luxray had garnered a fair bit of interest; Danny’s Arcanine had stolen the show.

 Growlithe, as an introduced species in Hawaii, was pretty rare. They had to fight for territory with the Rockruff, Rattata, and Meowth lines so it was rare for Growlithe to be seen, in person, on the islands. Much less an Arcanine. A canine the size of a horse had been a huge hit with the people born and raised on the Islands.

 “Previous attempts? How many times have you been contacted, who’s it even from?” Steve asked, once more looking over the letter. That amount of money, for a pokémon, wasn’t unheard of. Especially for a poke’ of Arcanines pedigree, but Steve didn’t think anyone on the islands would be able to shell it out.

 “I dunno,” Danny sighed tiredly, “A few dozen. Letters mostly, but a few phone calls. I don’t know who it is. Everything just comes from a law firm in Honolulu.”

“Dozen’s,” Steve replied, shocked, “Danno that’s ridiculous. Why didn’t you say anything?” Steve asked and Danny just shrugged.

 “That’s just from this place. I’ve been getting requests from all kinds of folks. Breeders, PokeVets, Labs, and Researchers. Not just from here, but the mainland too. Seems like everyone wants a piece of him.” Exhaustion bled into Danny’s voice and Steve felt shame and upset filling him. He and Danny had been dating for months, how had he not realized Danny was being harassed?

 “Don’t do that,” Danny’s statement caught Steve’s focus, “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know because I didn’t let you know. I didn’t want to deal with it. It’s not your fault for not noticing something that I didn’t let you see.”

 Danny’s words; spoken with a wane smile, put a little bubble of warmth in Steve’s chest. Danny knew him better than he knew himself most days. It seemed. Steve smiled in return and got to his feet. He rounded Danny’s desk and pressed a kiss to his boyfriends’ hair.

 “Watch the do, you maniac,” Danny grumbled as Steve stood up. He patted his bulletproof quaff needlessly but smiled up at Steve.

 “I’m in the know now, and I’m taking it from here. Get me everything got, emails, letters, and phone numbers. This is done for.” Steve replied, snatching up the letter as he headed for the office door.

 Danny just nodded at him as he left the room and Steve realized it was a mark of how tired Danny was with the harassment that he didn’t ask what Steve was doing.

###

  Danny breathed a sigh of relief as he checked the mail, finding only junk and circulars. It had been almost a month since Steve had started his one-man offensive against the different folks that had been harassing him about Arcanine. Danny didn’t know what exactly his boyfriend had done, only that Steve had spent days making phone calls, sending emails, and even meeting in person with a few people at HQ.

  A few of the people Steve had brought in had, initially, seemed interested in talking to Danny. He had braced himself each time, he had avoided meeting anyone in person to keep from losing his temper, but each time Steve had herded them into his own office before they could so much as approach Danny.

  At each meeting, Steve had locked his office door and closed the blinds. When the people left they didn’t even look in Danny’s direction. Danny knew he should be worried about who it was that Steve was likely threatening but he couldn’t bring himself to care. All he cared about was that the letters and phone calls had slowly but surely stopped.

 Dropping down onto his loveseat Danny picked up Arcanines pokeball. It was an old ball, faded, nicked up, and dented. It was the original ball Danny had been issued when he was given Growlithe after entering the Police Academy back in Jersey.

 Every cadet was issued a Growlithe when they entered the Academy. Part of your training was to train a Growlithe that would be your partner Poke’. If you washed out your Growlithe was reassigned. If you graduated you were issued a Pokeball and you’d be allowed to formally capture the Growlithe you had trained, imprinting it with your trainer I.D. and biometrics.

 Danny hadn’t discovered until years later that his Growlithe hadn’t been a standard Ditto-bred one. Danny’s Growlithe was a purebred, a dual-Arcanine pairing with a history of rarity-coloring in both bloodlines. A mix-up at the breeding facility had seen his Growlithes egg placed with the ones bred for the Academy. He should have suspected. There was nothing wrong or substandard with Ditto-bred Growlithe but Danny’s had always been a bit…different. A bit faster, a bit stronger, and a bit smarter.

 “Come on out buddy.” Danny triggered Arcanine’s ball and the giant canine, really too big for Danny’s apartment, appeared in a flash of white light.

 “Well big guy I think we might finally be done with people trying to snatch you up for study or breeding.” Arcanine gave a soft ‘awoo’ and padded over to drop onto his back at Danny’s feet.

 “Geez, you really are just a big puppy.” Danny smiled, burying his hands in Arcanine’s thick fur, scratching his chest and belly. Danny kept up his ministrations as Arcanine stretched sleepily.

 Sleep. Sleep sounded good. He was tired. It had been a long day. Danny sat back and looked up at the wall clock, surely it was time for a bed. Blinking hard Danny tried to bring the clock into focus, instead, it just moved more, duplicating and spinning around.

 “Fuu uk somsomtin wrong.” Alarm swelled up in Danny’s chest as he struggled to stand up, his feet didn’t seem to want to cooperate. Making it to his feet made Danny’s head swim and the world went topsy-turvy.

 Pain raced through him as his body hit…something. Everything was spinning, light and color twisting around. Danny rolled, arms flailing, trying to find some semblance of stability. Closing his eyes as his stomach churned and the world tumbled Danny came to rest on…something…something soft and moving.

 “Ar..arcarc we gotgo.” Danny mumbled as the world faded away.

***

 “Steve we can’t…what are we supposed to…tranq?” Voices broke through the pounding and fog in Danny’s brain.

 “We can’t…too…might crush...” Another voice cut in…images swam in Danny’s head. A tall brunette, muscular, tattoos.

“Chaaarr!” The screech directly above him sent a spike through his brain and Danny tried to reach out to smack at the offending cause.

 Tried being the operative word. His arms were pinned behind his back, his wrists cinched painfully.

“Wha…” Danny mumbled, the fog in his brain was clearing but sudden panic-induced adrenaline sped it up.

 “Danny, Danny if you can hear me, stop struggling. Your arms are zip-tied behind your back. Arbok is out and pissed off. He’s circling you. If you bleed it might set him off. Do. Not. Move.” This voice was a woman and Danny was finally able to put a face to it.

 “Ko…no.” The word slurred out, his tongue heavy.

 “Yea, it’s me. We’re trying to find a way to calm Arbok down so we can get to you.” Kono’s words registered through the haze in his head and Danny finally cracked open his eyes.

 The shitty beige carpet of his apartment blurrily took up his vision. He attempted to roll onto his back but was stopped by pressure on his legs and Arbok’s hiss above him.

 Danny didn’t know what was happening. The fog was clearing out of his head but in its place a jackhammer pounded in the back of his skull. Closing his eyes again he tried to think back but all he could come up with were fragments.

 “Arc…where’s Arcanine?” Danny forced the words out, eyes wrenching open in panic.

 “We don’t see him Danno…we…we think he got snatched.” Steve…that was Steve. The same voice from earlier. Jesus…what happened to knock Steve out of his head?

 “Get…Get Luxray.” Danny ordered and felt Arbok, who had been shifting above him, freeze.

 “Lux? Danny, we can’t attack. You could be caught in the crossfire.” Steve replied and even through the headache he could hear Steve’s worry.

 “Don’t need to. Get her…he’s ‘fraid of her.” Danny might not have known what was going on and his memory may have been Swiss cheese but he did know Arbok. He wasn’t going to listen to him like this. He didn’t know where his pokeballs were and the only ‘mon Arbok was afraid of, besides his Blastoise and Pangoro, was Luxray.

“Luxray!” Danny could feel Arbok tense where he rested across his legs at Luxray’s hiss.

“Tell…tell her to circle…he’ll move to avoid her.” Words were coming easier now and he could think a bit more clearly.

 “You heard him, girl. If he gets agitated, back off.” Danny heard Steve tell her.

 “Lux…ray.” Luxray purred and, even in Danny’s obviously drugged state, he could hear the danger in her vocalization.

 Military trained, like her trainer, Luxray was silent on her feet but Danny could tell the direction she was moving by the way Arbok moved to avoid her, while still keeping her in his sight. Slowly, she was able to herd Arkbok off of his legs.

 Once Arbok was fully off his legs he felt Luxray’s paw on his arms. For one dicey moment fear welled up in him, fear that Arbok might lash out, but the feline moved her paw after slitting the zip ties on his wrists. The action took him by surprise and his arms immediately fell to his side, pain lancing through his shoulders as the pins-and-needles of feeling hit his hands and wrists.

 Carefully, to not startle Luxray; who was standing at his side, Danny rolled onto his back. He brought his hands up to his chest, rolling his wrists and flexing his fingers against the oncoming ache, he surveyed what he could see of his apartment.

 The small coffee table and side table were flipped over and two of the couch cushions were thrown off, exposing the hide-a-bed underneath. Coiled in the small entry space between the living room and his dine-in kitchenette was Arbok. The cobra pokemon’s hood was fully expanded and his eyes were fixed on Luxray. To others, the tense snake probably looked poised to attack but Danny could spot his tells, the tight way he was coiled up to minimize his large size, the fine tremors in his hood, the way the tip of his tail flicked. He was scared.

 “Okay GI Jane,” Danny rasped to Luxray, “You did good. Back to your trainer.” Luxray didn’t move, remaining resolutely by his side, glaring at Arbok.

 “Steve, call her off.” Danny turned his head to find the man in question standing just inside the door to his apartment, Kono, Pua, and a few other HPD members behind him.

Steve glared hard at him for a moment, clearly thinking of arguing, but Danny just tweaked his eyebrows at him and Steve relented.

 “Luxray, return,” Steve ordered, gleaming black and yellow Ultraball in hand.

 Luxray gave a final growl before dissolving into scintillating red light and returning to her ball.

 Danny climbed shakily to his feet, waving Steve off as he moved to help, and turned to Arbok. The ‘mon was less tightly coiled, rearing up to his not unintimidating full height, eyes focused on Danny.

 “That’s a good boy,” Danny said as he moved carefully toward Arbok, “Keeping me safe while I was knocked out. But we talked about this. Steve and crew are family, ohana. Remember?” Even after years together, and the most stringent training Danny could give, Arbok could still be aggressive and mistrustful when he wanted to be.

“Chaaaarvok.” The pokemon hissed out quietly, lowering himself to Danny’s height, posture less aggressive.

 “I’m not mad atcha, something went down here; even if I can’t remember it. Why don’t you take a rest, where’s your Duskball.” The mention of Arbok’s ball had him rearing back, hissing in annoyance.

 “It’s here Danny,” Steve called out. Without taking his eyes off the grumpy ‘mon in front of him Danny motioned for Steve to bring it, adding a quiet ‘slowly’ as he did so.

 A moment later Steve was standing next to him, pressing the Duskball into his hand.

 “Arbok, return.” Danny lifted the ball as the beam shot out. For a moment Arbok glowed red but before he could dematerialize he reared back further, breaking the beam in a shower of red sparks.

“ChaaaarVOK!” Arbok hissed violently and Danny’s vision was immediately full of insane superSEAL as Steve jumped between them.

 “Move you goon,” Danny ordered as he pulled at Steve’s shirt, “He won’t attack me but I don’t know about you.”  Steve just shook his head.

 “You didn’t see him when we got here Danny, He was circling you, looking at you like you were lunch. We thought he’d attacked you until we saw the zip ties.” Danny felt fearful at Steve’s grumbled statement for an instant before his brain caught up. Danny moved his hands to grip Steve’s hips and leaned his forehead against his back.

 “I know how scared that had to make you, I know you don’t trust Arbok, but if he was gonna eat me he would have done it immediately after breaking out of his ball. But he was protecting me. He only breaks out of his ball if he senses something is wrong. Something big, trust me, just move to the side.” Steve, tense under his hands, relaxed after a moment and slid to the side.

 He didn’t go far, instead, he wrapped one arm around Danny’s shoulders and pulled him into his side. Danny leaned gratefully into Steve’s side, but also spied Luxrays’ ball in Steve’s free hand.

 “See big guy, I’m fine now. Safe and sound. Get back in your ball until I sort all this out. Then you can come out. I’ll take you for a nice swim and everything.” Danny addressed his ‘mon with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Once again he lifted the Duskball to call him back but this time Arbok hissed quietly and dropped fully to the floor. Before he could react Steve pulled him backward and Arbok slithered off quickly down the short hallway toward the bathroom and lone bedroom.

 “What the hell, you overgrown worm,” Danny grumbled, dragging Steve with him to follow the snake.

 “Danny we don’t have time for this we need to get you checked…out.” Steve’s statement died on his lips as they stopped outside the bathroom door. Coming from under the door was a small trickle of blood.

 Steve immediately let go of him and reached for his gun. Before he could make contact with it though Danny grabbed his wrist.

 “You know how he feels about guns.” Danny nodded toward Arbok, who was now coiled, docile, in the open door of his bedroom. Steve grumbled but didn’t pull his gun.

 “Is that why you won’t go back,” Danny asked the serpent, “Something or someone in here?” Arbok’s only action was to turn and slither more deeply into Danny’s bedroom, eyes glowing in the gloom of his blackout curtains.

 “You don’t have to go back into your ball, yet,” Danny stressed the word harshly, “But stay put.” He raised a slightly shaky hand and pointed at his ‘mon. Arbok gave a low hiss that Danny chose to take as acceptance before turning back to the door.

 “Do your thing, Rambo.” Danny nodded at the closed door, feeling a bit nauseated as he did so. Shit, he really did need to get checked out. The longer he was on his feet the more his stomach wanted to empty itself.

 Steve grimaced, likely at the Rambo comment, and drew his weapon after placing Luxray’s ball on his belt. Danny moved to take shelter in his bedroom doorway at Steve’s glare, only just then realizing that Kono had followed them, as the two of them took up position on either side.

 Danny watched as Kono twisted the knob and Steve moved to thrust it open, only for the door to remain steadfastly shut.

 “What the…something is against it,” Steve said as he pressed more firmly. The door just started to open before someone screamed from within and slammed it shut, knocking Steve back a bit.

 “Fuck this…” Steve growled and before Danny could protest the SEAL stood tall and kicked the door open with all his might.

 Instead of the hail of bullets Danny had been expecting, another, louder, scream came from within. This time accompanied by what sounded like someone trying to climb up the walls.

 Steve and Kono, guns up, rushed in and Danny peered in behind them. There was blood all over the dingy tile of his bathroom and the shower curtain had been ripped down. Taking shelter in his tub was a Hawaiian man in a Team Skull uniform, his leg bleeding through a ripped-up pant leg from what looked like a V-shaped bite.

 “Arbok must have got him,” Danny mused aloud, “His saliva has an anticoagulant.” At the mention of his ‘mon the guy tried to scramble up the wall, backward, only to fall back into the tub when his leg wouldn’t hold him.

 “I’ll do anything, tell you anything you want, just keep that fucking thing away from me!” The guy screamed, pointing toward the door. Danny turned to find Arbok hovering menacingly behind him.

 “I told you to stay in the bedroom,” Danny grumbled at the snake. Arbok just flicked his tongue at Danny before flipping his tail toward Danny’s hand, the hand holding his Duskball.

 “Now you wanna go?” He asked and Arbok just looked at him, “Fine, return.” This time as he was enveloped in red light he only gave a short hiss before he dematerialized back into the ball.

###

  Steve stepped lightly through the hospital halls, heading for his Danno’s room. In the end, it was all very anti-climactic. He left Kono and HPD to get their Team Skull perp bundled up and dealt with while he took Danny to the hospital himself. After being assured that Danny would be okay, he had been knocked out with a gas derived from Butterfree sleep powder, Danny demanded that Steve join Kono in tracking Arcanine.

 Kono, as it turned out, hadn’t needed him. The Grunt, with a severe case of ophidiophobia, had told them exactly where the rest of the Team was holed up. After a trouncing by Chin, Kono, and Pua the other Grunts had given up easily. They returned Arcanine and even dimed out the rich collector on the mainland that hired them to snatch Arcanine for his breeding facility, as well as supplying them with the illegal knock-out gas.

 Steve often wondered why Team Skull continued to operate. The vast majority of them were terrible trainers and all of them were universally bad criminals. The few that Steve had battled that were decent were, he believed, wasting their talent. Especially as members of a wannabe Rocket replacement. They were a problem for another day though. For now, a half dozen of them were sitting in jail, a rich jackass on the east coast was being arrested for an illegal breeding ring, and Steve had an Arcanine to deliver.

 When Steve made it to Danny’s room he found his partner asleep. Quietly Steve dropped down into the chair by the bed frowning at the I.V. stand and vitals monitor. Everything seemed to be in order but he still didn’t like it. Steve dropped Arcanines ball onto the tray table and took Danny’s hand in his.

 “I got Arcanine back babe. He’s right here waiting on you for when you wake up.” Steve said quietly and Danny just slept on. Smiling, Steve leaned back in his chair to wait. He was just closing his eyes, thinking of working in a nap, when the shaking of Arcanines' ball caught his attention.

 As the indicator began to flash Steve lunged, grabbing the pokeball from the table and pointing it at the floor. In a flash of white light Arcanine appeared, stretching his bulk in the limited space of the hospital room.

 “Hey, why’d ya stop hol’ing my hand, we fightn?” Danny’s slightly slurred question caught Steve’s attention before he could scold the canine, who was now curling up at the foot of Danny’s bed. Glad Danny was awake and happy he had saved him from being crushed under Arcanine’s weight, Steve dropped back into his chair and took Danny’s hand again.

 “No Danno, we’re not fighting. I had to get Arcanine’s ball before he landed on you.” Steve replied, smiling when Danny cast a bleary eye around for his poke’.

 “He’s curled up on the floor, safe and sound, and there are several Team Skull numbskulls sitting in lock up,” Steve explained and Danny lay back on his pillows.

 “What’d they wan’ him for? ‘Sides his awesome hair?” Danny queried and Steve had to suppress a laugh. The Butterfree gas must have still been in his system, his carefully controlled Jersy accent was slipping in.

 “Rich guy on the east coast saw the article, hired them to snatch him. The guy has been under investigation for ties to an illegal breeding ring. Arc’s poke’napping will be the nail in his coffin.” Steve explained, he could give Danny the full details when he was more awake.

 Danny gave him a crooked smile and rolled onto his side to face him more fully.

“Coulda tol’em it was a waste of time. Tried to breed him. Females and Dittos. He’s got no interest. The only lady he’s ever liked is yer Pyroar...and thas different. Think he might be gay.” Danny trailed off with a chuckle before snuggling into his pillow, still gripping tight to Steve’s hand.

 Steve just shook his head and settled back in his chair, still holding Danny’s hand. Homosexual behavior had been seen in pokémon, but it wasn’t very common. Steve couldn’t help but chuckle. If that was the case that would just be Danny’s odd luck. Accidentally got a purebred Growlithe, with rare bloodlines, and it evolved into an Arcanine with zero interest in females.

 Not that it mattered, not really. Everyone was safe and sound, Danny was on the mend and Arcanine was home. They could talk more later. Maybe…just maybe Danny would think about moving in with him now. Arcanine gave a quiet snort in his sleep, like he could hear Steve’s pining thoughts, and curled into himself more.

 Leaning back Steve closed his eyes with a smile, deciding to join the pair in a nap.

#H50 #Hawaii 5-0 #McDanno #Danny Williams #Steve McGarrett #McDanno is Eternal #McDanno fic #My Writing #J Write #Markuse88 writes #H50 Pokemon Fusion

[nebulousfishgills]

I'll hang with you, friend! Have a few of these to chew on:

FMK, Jamie edition: Henry Creel, Jace Wayland, and whatever his Twilight character is (haven't seen Twilight lol)

Would you rather spend a year in the Stranger Things universe or a year in the Twilight universe? assuming that you're human, but have a reasonable degree of possibility to get powers somehow (so like... if you want to be a vampire, you could try to get converted but they might also just kill you)

You're visited by the writer genie, but they'll only grant one wish. Which do you pick?

1. You're able to transcribe the story exactly as it is in your brain, but motivation is just as it is now (so you'll probably end up with writer's block at some point)

2. You never get writer's block again, but that means you get intensely motivated to write at exactly the wrong time (i.e., in class, about to go to bed, etc.)

3. You get wide, positive reception for everything you post and comments on every fic, but some people BADLY misinterpret your characters and you literally can't do anything about that

Favorite things: your writing style is incredible, and you're not afraid to add genuine darkness to your storylines. You also stay really true to Henry's character and make it clear that he's still a villain, but you're able to implement these moments where we start to care about him all the same. It's really impressive, and makes for an addictive story! And even outside your writing, you're a really lovely person and I'm glad we've struck up a friendship here

Tiny vent: I have one fic that I'm honestly really proud of (the characters are unique and dynamic, there's an interesting plot, the writing is some of my better prose), but it has gotten ZERO attention whatsoever. I realize it's because it's written in a very small and underappreciated fandom, and OC x canon fics aren't always the most widely-received anyway, but I really wish people would give it a chance because I really think they'd enjoy it if they did. The worst part is that I can see a few people have bookmarked or subscribed to it, but I haven't gotten a single comment (not even one of those "this is great!" or "extra kudos" or whatever). I'm trying not to let it kill my motivation because I really do like this story, but it's starting to make me sad :/

Thanks for "hanging out with me," bestie lol. Luckily my isolation window for Miss Rona is over and I'm feeling better 😷. Anyways, let's see what we have here...

FMK - Henry Creel, Jace Wayland, Caius Volturi...

Bestie you're killing me here. You're actually killing me. It changes depending on my mood, of course, but if I had to pick the most constant idea... F Henry, Marry Caius, Kill Jace

I'm sorry

Would you rather - Spend a year in the Stranger Things universe or spend a year in the Twilight universe, both with a reasonable chance of gaining powers...

Hmm... that's a good question. Again, this very much depends on my mood, but I might have to go with the Stranger Things universe. I would honestly need an essay to explain why that would ultimately be like many of my college essays: four pages of nothing. Some days I think living in the twilight universe would be fun, but right now the Stranger Things universe seems like the "safer" option, relatively speaking.

A Visit From the Writer Genie - It's between 1 and 2, but I think I'll go with 1 becaus 2 tbh is not that different to how I operate now. I do most of my writing at like, 1 AM (as my roommate could likely vouch for) and I have done writing during class. But I'd love to just implant text right to the page, that'd be wonderful.

Favorite Thing - Bestie, your comments are some of the best things I have gotten, and it really means a lot that you enjoy those facets of my writing. I like to say that it's my blessing-and-a-curse empathy that lets me get characterizations right because I find that I'm very good at reading and interpreting characters, even for little shitpost things. And I, too, am very glad we struck up such a lovely friendship. I love making friends in my little Tumblr-sphere :)

Vent Reply - Aww, I'm sorry! Low engagement is the worst when you're very proud of what you've written. That by no means diminishes your worth as a writer, though. I bet it's a really amazing fic! In fact, I'll add it to my list. It's the least I can do.

Thanks for "hanging out" with me lol. It's been an incredibly hard few days, so it really means a lot that you decided to pop in :3

#fishgills speaks #ask game #come hang out with me #fishgills writing #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

[sophieswundergarten]

For the bingo game! Constance Contraire, Davey Jacobs, and Katherine Plumber/Pulitzer!

Hope you are having a lovely night :)

Hi, Katie!! Thank you ever so much, and I hope you are having a lovely night as well :D

(Also, I initially couldn't see the full Ask and misread it as listing Dewey MBS and I about had a heart attack adsfjfdsj)

Constance Contraire is such a fascinating character. I wish we could have seen more of what they wanted to do with her in the Show. If Mr. Benedict wasn't there, I would definitely have adopted her if only because I was the only available adult. She would probably be disgusted with me, but she shouldn't have been living in a library on her own for so long!!! Someone needs to be looking out for her.

Davey Jacobs!! I love Davey so much, thank you for asking about him, Katie. First off, I know he's a main character, and I don't necessarily think he needs more screen time in that sense, but he and Les are still supporting characters to Jack's story, and I really wish we could have seen more brotherly moments between him and Les. He's just such an interesting and complex character we don't really get to know a lot about. Why does he know all these things? Why is he such a skill orator? How has he not spontaneously combusted from all of Jack's harebrained schemes yet? A lot of that stuff is just to move the plot forward, but I'm always coming up with little reasons and ideas about what we don't see. I don't Davey has committed any crimes NOT because he isn't capable or motivated, but because if he were going to do something like that he'd find some legal gray area or loophole so he can never actually be charged :) I would love to be friends with him in real life. I relate to him in both good and bad ways because I love learning about how to lead groups and speak well, but I don't really have the charisma or confidence to do so. Also, I have a younger sibling who loves to run off and do things that maybe shouldn't be done, as well as randomly channel Jack Kelly and come up with some insane idea before turning to me and being like "Okay. Now... how do we actually get that to happen?"

Katherine!! I think about her a lot. She's such a fun character, and, of course, you know how much I love "Watch What Happens". She has so much energy and spunk and power!!! She helps her friends and doesn't back down on what she believes in even if that calls for technically criminal or inadvisable actions :)

She and Davey are kind of similar in that while they may not be in the front of my brain all of the time, all it takes is two seconds for my brain to zero in and start analyzing her character and coming up with ideas and going over her lines and feeling the need to go very deep down a rabbit hole of reading and videos. She's utterly fantastic

I relate to her mostly because of the scenes where she's trying to corral the boys and/or write to help them and it isn't going exactly how she'd want it <3

#Thank you once again Katie!! #These are such great characters #constance contraire #davey jacobs #katherine plumber #katherine pulitzer