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mrpenguinpants · 3 years

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Xiao: String of Fate [Soulmate AU] HCs

Hey anon! Okay, I’m just gonna level with you. This request? This request right here? Probably one of my favourites. I went feral over this at 3am and my monkey brain fabricated an entire life story for Xiao when he’s not even out yet.

I sorta combined this request with my feral plot idea (which is honestly a 20k word fic at this point), but ahem, I hope you like and np^^ gotta make so many offerings so Xiao hopefully blesses me. Have a lovely day anon!!

--- Xiao Semi Series

[ Friendship ] [ Falling in Love ] [ Cuddles ] [ Protective ] [ Affection ] [ Jealously ] [ Opposites Attract ] [ Fainting ]

[Masterlist]

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[taglist] <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@mikeysbike @unionwitch @musekala @stanzastic @akaasea @xoneaboveallx @adoring-ghost @asheseiler @childelover @dilucsz @dai-tsukki-desu @thicmitten @sunnshiii @hanniejji @snowy224 @mayumintsu @tigerpriestess @yuu-yuukurotsuki @legionqueensav @youaskedfurret

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Xiao: String of Fate [Soulmate AU] HCs

The red string of fate is a concept that those who are connected by a red string are destined to meet and fall in love. Regardless of place, time, or circumstances. The red string can never be broken unless one connected passes away.

Alatus

For the past few days, Alatus would wake up early and scale the mountains of his small village to pick Qingxin flowers. The morning dew would still be on the petals before the sun came by and evaporated everything. It became a bit of a small joke that the elders used to make, that a earth spirit would appear at the break of dawn to place the flowers for harvest. Not that Alatus minded, he was grateful that whatever celestial spirt was out there made sure to replace the ones he took. Remembering to always offer a prayer of thanks and a small offering, you would scold him if he didn’t.

He quickly scaled and vaulted over the wooden beam and slipped into your room. He winced at the sound of his shoes landing on the wooden floor but you didn’t seem to stir. You were still sleeping peacefully as Alatus took the fresh flowers to add to the ones already in your small vase beside you. They were your favourite flower after all. He reminisces about when you were both children and how you would drag him to mountains and tell him all about how at the very top there was his beautiful white flower. But you were both too young with small limbs to even attempt to climb it, plus if you somehow managed to do it, it would take too long and both your parents would be worried. It never seemed to deter you as you reasoned that a wind spirit would help your journey. Come to think of it, you always put a lot of faith into celestial beings. But he goes along with your plan, never one to contain your desire to explore.

He’s suddenly snapped out of his memories when he hears a soft knock on the door. It quietly opens to reveal your mother. She gives him a small smile as he looked a bit guilty for getting caught breaking in before waving him over to hand him something. You left him with a small bamboo package that you had wanted to give on his birthday. On top of the bamboo, you had wrote a short but warming message that you were worried about him always running off outside and that he might catch a cold. He smiled softly at your words, ingraining the way your ink brush flowed down the bamboo sticks into his mind. He offer’s a small thanks as she gives him a comforting hug. Whether for him or her he doesn’t know and she leaves.

He carefully untied the brown string keeping the package together to unravel a blue, white, and gold sleeve. He silently marveled at how beautiful it was and held it up to the light, it almost seemed to shine with subtle highlights. He has no idea how you managed to create this, he had never even seen the dye of red or gold used in clothing before. Perhaps the celestial beings decided to bless you for your prayers and devotion. He gives one small squeeze of your hand as he ties the sleeve to his arm and he slips out through the same window he came from. He looks up at the mountain’s he’s scaled before setting on the tallest one. One so tall the elders say that it could reach celestia.

As he scales the mountain he can feel a taint tug on his thumb, before it slowly disappears. He closes his eyes for a brief moment, breathes in deeply, and continues upwards.

The Golden-Winged King

One of his first adepti duties was to investigate the place he once knew as his home. There had been a dream eating demon that had been spreading curses onto unsuspecting youths. Putting them into eternal sleep before they bodies finally succumbed and they passed away. It was horrible and Alatus swore he would do everything in his power to make the dream demon suffer. Unfortunely, seeing as this was his first time venturing out back into the moral world and still recovering from his trials, he was assigned to work with a senior anemo adepti. One who was well-versed in using polearms that could “show him the ropes” as mortals would say.

This other adepti was too loud and erratic for his tastes compared to the calm and peaceful friend he once knew. Always getting side-tracked and flying around Alatus like some overgrown pixie. Never taking anything serious even though the both of you were tasked to destroy evil. But he held his tongue since this was his senior, gripping his sleeve when he was especially annoyed. This only seemed to spur the other anemo adepti further and inquire about the sleeve. Naturally, Alatus was hostile and guarded. That was first time he ever raised his voice which instead of becoming offended or angry, the other adepti was impressed.

From then on the other adepti seemed to want to interact with Alatus at any given moment. From checking in with him on his latest mission or if he heard about how the delicious flowers tasted. Who even ate flowers? Either way, every instance of communication was brushed aside, he would always make some weak excuse that he needed to train. Which lead to the other challenging him. The both of you were the same element so it would be a good time to see who was the best at wielding it. Overtime he began to look forward to your weekly spars. Even finding a bit of joy out of them. Ever since he had climbed up the mountain it had been constant training and hardships but when it came to these spars. It was fun. Alatus began to open his heart a tiny bit, let’s himself relax and fall into amusement when he see’s his partner’s face pop over him as they hovered over him.

He even began to feel his locked up heart start to beat a bit faster whenever he saw his partner perk up and wave at him. Whenever you threw your arm around him he never brushed you off like he used to, just basked in your presence as you rambled about how this stuck up bird was running everyone through the ground with her demands. It was amusing for fresh adepti’s to see you both interact. The ever stoic and aloof Alatus that taught them through strict rules loosen up immediately and smile whenever your head popped up to scold him for his training methods.

It was fun. Until the day he became possessed and killed you with your own weapon.

Guardian Yaksha

Guizhong was concerned. Ever since Rex Lapis had saved the poor adepti man from his possession, he had locked himself in. He still fulfilled his duties with alarming accuracy but it seemed that he completely on auto-pilot. He could stand in the pouring rain without realizing it or he always seemed to be in such a rush. Asking to do anything that needed to be done rather than relax. He was going to end up running through his long years at this rate. She brought it up to Rex Lapis and his fellow Yaksha but none of them had the time or want to check in on him. It was a time of war after all. Except one.

You watch him stand in the rain. Any attempts from you or Guizhong to ask if he was better always failed and you didn’t want to push. But this was already past the point of simple concern. So the next time you saw him relapse you walked over and embraced him. He usually carried himself as stiff as possible but you swore you were holding one of Rex Lapis’s pillars. You braced yourself to get thrown off or at the very least be questioned but none of those things happened. He just stood there and to be honest, you weren’t sure if that was even more concerning. You both didn’t say anything even when the rain stopped until Rex Lapis had summoned you both over.

You and him never developed a close friendship but he never seemed to brush you away whenever you sat beside him ever since you hugged him in the rain. A bare acknowledgement on good days but that was alright. Just sitting in each other’s presence when the war wanted to be quiet somedays was nice. On harder days when fighting took too much of a toll on your body you would lean your head on his shoulder. He never shrugged you off or seemed bothered by it, in fact, it almost seemed as if he leaned back against you. You both never spoke during these moments, just a silent understanding looming over you both.

Then when Morax announced that Guizhong had passed away, you felt as if you somewhat understood how Xiao felt. You didn’t even register that you had walked back to the same place Xiao was standing back when he was in the rain. The war was finally over but after everything that had happened to get to this point, it was hard. You knew that a few of your other Yaksha’s were ready to return to Jueyun Karst or return to earth. You blink quickly as you feel two arms wrap around you and you realize how funny fate seems to be. You choke out some unintelligible noise that’s a mix between a laugh and a sob as you cling onto him and let your bottled up emotions pour out.

He’s the last person you see in the newly established Liyue, wishing him luck in the rest of his journey, as you return to the earth. You aren’t sure what you’ll turn into but you hope that the peaceful atmosphere you both created will remain.

Xiao

It was completely out of the blue when you asked if he wanted to come on an adventure with you. You were both sitting under the tree that held the Wangshu inn up when you suddenly sat up and pointed in some far off direction across Liyue. Asked if he wanted to come with you after the lantern festival was over. He was a bit taken aback, you were a traveler first and foremost but you never asked if he wanted to come with you. You had always assumed that he wanted to stay as a protector of Liyue but after what Morax, now Zhongli, had said and how it was time to him to step down. You decided to ask him. It didn’t have to be far, you both could go to the stone gate if he wanted, just if he wanted to come with you anywhere.

His first instinct is to decline but you end up cutting him off before he can say anything.

“I know you have your reasons and loyalties to stay as Liyue’s protector. That’s why I’m not asking for you to accompany me across Teyvat. But I don’t know when I’m going to be back and after what happened in Liyue, I thought it would be nice to just, take a break, and go anywhere. You don’t have to accompany me if you don’t want to but I think it’d be nice to wander together,” you say as you continue to look across the land from the balcony. He can’t see where you’re looking at exactly but he ponders your words.

To wander and go anywhere. Just the two of you. He’s never even considered leaving Liyue even after all the demons were replaced with weak hilichurls and slimes. He gazes up at the tree’s leaves, looks further to see celestia, and even further back to his home. Guizhong always said he needed to relax and live in the moment of now rather than running past everything but was he really ready for that?

“Ah, sorry was that a bit too forward? I really didn’t mean anything ba-”

“Yes. Let’s go,” Xiao cuts you off as his eyes shine in a new light of determination, “Wherever you want to go, I will come with you.”

You blink once, twice, before a bright grin stretch's across your face as you quickly ask if he’s joking. He’s not, and you cheer excitedly as you list off different places you’ve wanted to explore. Perhaps the shoal? Maybe even further into the chasm? Actually wait, the electro archon has closed that area off so maybe not there. Xiao patiently listens to you ramble as he smiles softly. Your excitement is addicting and he can feel his heart flutter just a bit. How long has it been since he felt this way? He can feel a small tug on his thumb, he looks down but he can’t see anything, but there’s a comfortable weight that he’s felt has been missing for a very long time.

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If this seems interesting and people seem to enjoy it, I can post the actual fic when Xiao banner drops as a bit of a catalyst. It’s basically the same idea. Though it’s kinda long so I have no idea when that’s going to be finished. It might turn into a thank you gift instead. (or ahem, you know, if you wanna commission me and see it earlier there’s that haha just kidding;;).

Honestly, I took a lot of liberties. I read the lore on adepti and Xiao but most of this is my monkey brain and previous semi xiao fics (which you don’t have to read but it would be helpful to see extended parts). Phew, this took a lot of time. It’s not as cute as my other fics but hopefully you all enjoyed it^^

Actually, nevermind. I hate this. I’ll keep it up since I haven’t posted this week yet but I hate this.

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lunarblazes · 3 years

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[GRABS YOU] ELABORATE ON THE RED WATCHER CONCEPT NOW. I AM ACTIVELY CHARGING UP A LIGHTNING SPELL AT YOU. THIS IS A DEMAND AND A THREAT

i. i forgot to answer this until i was ALMOST ASLEEP but BETTER LATE THAN NEVER I GUESS??

this is probably going to get long SO. here is a lovely read more!

so uh! for those of you who don’t know, at the end of evolution smp (at least for grian, a lot of the members continued without him), grian was chosen to become part of a group known as the watchers. his text at the end, where he becomes a watcher, is in bright, vivid red, probably because that’s his signature color.

surprisingly, despite the name, the watchers themselves don’t really appear much in this… interpretation? headcanon? au? concept? what does matter is that they are universal beings of peace and balance, and they need their balances. they’re pretty omnipresent, yet distant. the consequences of their choices are really the biggest thing to deal with here. the root of the red watcher concept is basically just tying grian’s end text color to the idea of red lives, something something a watcher of violence, something something balance keeper, something something oops now i have an entire concept and brainrot on my hands!

now i’m gonna copy-paste the explanation i wrote out on discord and sprinkle in some elaboration as needed! here we go, mario:

“the red watcher is a title, passed down between mortals and given by the watchers. each red watcher is given the full scale of watcher abilities, appearance, and an extended lifespan. in exchange, the red watchers must maintain balance for the watchers, essentially acting as a hand for the watchers to control. a pawn, of sorts.

naturally, the watchers select grian to be the next crimson-seeing at the end of third life, hence why i drew that one piece of him and scar kneeling in the lake, where he’s almost blinking back the yellow eyes that are following him. the gifts continually fuck with him throughout the course of that series (some of you might know that he was completely human before the series started), changing his appearance and basically everything about him. this interference from the watchers, grian’s rejection of said gifts, appearance, and interference, and the mutilation of the world work together to create the perfect storm of last life. the curse is spreading among the players because grian refuses to accept anything he’s been given, so restlessly, the mantle skips among the participants, never quite settling completely because the one who’s meant to take the role just *will not.*

but i mean. he’s the first victim of his own curse. the red watcher is also called the angel of violence.”

and here is a description of what exactly his defiance does to him (plus a general description of his design and its progression, including how he lost an ear!):

“okay so what changes first are the wings, obviously, uhh those grow in pretty soon after he first joins the world. the most fucked up things about 3L!grian are is slight talons, his wings, and his right ear. his right ear was blasted off in the battle of the red desert, and the wing-like replacement that grew back isn’t an ear so much as a reminder about how fucked up things are getting lmao. so this man is very hoh; him and scar invent a sort of shorthand signing system for battles where grian can’t hear him, but since he can still sort of hear with his other ear usually they talk to each other in casual situations. the talons are a formation that happens on his red life (one change per life hahaaa, wings on green, ear just before yellow, and talons on red). they’re not bird talons cos he’s a dragonfly, they’re harder and more spike-like, with better articulation than dragonfly spikes, but they’re still sort of coated in an exoskeleton because that’s sick as hell. in last life, he wakes up the same, but once they’re assigned their lives shit starts going south again, probably because he’s immediately yellow and because the watchers are impatient after being evaded for so long. his talons get longer and more armored, and as you can see his feet are now funky lil bug spikes because i think that looks neat! sorta took an inspiration from hollow knight for this design, though that’s more based on beetles. his eyes are prismatic like a dragonfly’s and it gives him a massive headache sometimes. i didn’t draw this part but! scar tore out a chunk of his wings during the finale of third life, so they shouldn’t be that complete. those wounds stayed, though eventually they might heal over, maybe. maybe.”

concepts from this also bleed into my hcs for other members! for instance, the inhuman progression isn’t necessarily limited to grian, though it works a bit differently for him. nearly everyone on the server experiences the same progression at different rates as a side effect of being on a server run by such a physically volatile being. grian’s will be near constant changes, but for the rest of the crew, it’s usually limited to life loss and change occurring then. some players— notably scott and martyn— are not human to begin with but have their inhuman features deepened over time (martyn is a moon spirit with dragon features and scott is a wind spirit with nymph-like tendencies). i have a progression planned for nearly every member because i’m a huge dork, so. if anyone’s curious! this post is the most in-depth one, though, because i am a fucking fool. this universe isn’t really connected to hc/empires or other servers, it’s self-contained! not sure if evo is even canon yet, though it probably is.

so yes! if you see me mention the red watcher concept, that’s what it is. it’s been a few times; i should make a tag for it, honestly. i get massive brainrot over this shit and i KNOW it’s overdone but MAN.

#grian #last life #3rdlife #red watcher #there’s the tag!#kel i’m so sorry for GOING INSANE over your ask #AND ALSO FOR MAKING YOU WAIT #I’M SORRY FOR BOTH #hello to my followers who came here for normal content and instead got me with red string over a whiteboard #so sorry everyone

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stressisakiller · 3 years

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As You Wish

Steve Rogers x Reader Soulmate AU

(As you wish Part 2)

Summary: What happens when after moving into Stark Tower you run into a certain Captain

Warnings: None really, fluff, like one cussword a little bit of spice

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: Fluffy chapter yay! Let me know what you think and if you have any requests for future chapters! Thank yall for reading!’

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Life working side by side with Tony was dangerous. When Killian attacked Tony it was you not Pepper who was taken and subjected to the Extremis serum. This caused you to heal crazy fast and gave you super strength, which was pretty cool but not very useful for someone who spent most of their time in a robotics lab trying not to crush something when it wasn't working.

You later discovered that Killian mistakenly believed that you were in fact Tony's soulmate, while you had always thought that it was Pepper. She quickly refuted your claim when you told her, pulling the back of her jeans down enough to show the smiley face that graced her butt cheek. Turns out that her soulmate was none other than Happy the head of security.

About six months after the battle of new york, after Tony and the whole Killian/Mandarin situation, Tony asked very nicely if you would move into the Avengers tower with him. He needed to get the Avengers tower going, and after everything that happened and his panic attacks, he really didn't want to live there alone. He was also hoping that if you lived in the tower that the avengers would be more willing to as well. By this point you had met and become friends with most of them save for Captain America, he hasn’t been around much. He was trying to find his place in this new world and taking as many missions as Shield will give him in order to feel needed

The tower was much different this time than the last time you had been there. There was less plastic film and dust everywhere and all of the construction work was done. Most notably, the wall on Stark's living room floor was no longer a gaping hole.

The top eight levels of the tower were for the avengers. The penthouse was where Tony stayed, no surprise there. The level directly below was his lab space which was restricted access for the most part and then there was the common level under that. The common level was composed of a large kitchen and dining area, as well as a massive living room with the biggest tv you had ever seen. This floor also houses a theater, and an arcade room equipped with pool tables and any other game you could think of. Tony is such a child sometimes, not that you were complaining you loved to play pool. The next three floors are where you and the rest of the Avengers would live. You would each get your own suite that you could arrange and decorate however you saw fit. Each suite includes a kitchenette, and small living room that was separate from the bedroom, and a massive ensuite bath. The lowest two levels were dedicated to the training room and medical ward, as well as a giant pool and sauna area, these floors allowed for outside access as long as they were vetted.

Six months later, life in the tower was going well. You, Tony and Bruce, were the main people living there. You could understand that though, Nat and Clint were constantly out on missions for shield and mainly stayed on base in DC. Tony told you that Steve was currently living in an apartment in DC. He didn't want to live on base but he was running missions for Shield on and off. Thor was off-world with Loki so life was pretty quiet.

Then there was a mission that the Captain went on that didn’t go the way he thought. He was wounded and brought back a captive. You were in the common area when the door was thrown open and a bloody Steve Rogers burst through carrying a soaking wet girl over his shoulder.

“The Medical wing, where is it?” He questioned voice hard from pain or fatigue or both.

“This way.” you hurried off, not looking behind you, you knew that he would follow.

When you arrived, you called for Dr. Cho and Steve told her what was going on and placed the girl on a stretcher. The nurses pushed her to a room to monitor her until she woke up. He was then shown to a separate room to be looked over and have the bullet removed.

That night Tony pulled you into the living room to watch your favorite movie, the princess bride. It was about halfway through when an exhausted Steve came through the door and flopped down on the couch beside the one that you and Tony were currently lounging on. It was coming to your favorite part, Buttercup was currently yelling at the Dread Pirate Roberts and about to push him down the hill.

“Oooh,” you said hitting Tony’s shoulder, “I love this part,” you spoke along with Wesley as he rolled down the hill, “As you Wiiiisssshhhh.” you clapped your hands together, “that will forever be the best reveal ever.”

You didn’t notice Steve’s stare as you said those words. Holy Shit he thought his tattoo finally made sense, and yet the girl that fate said was perfect for him had her legs thrown over Tony’s lap and was leaning against him while watching the movie. He stood quickly and stomped out of the room, today was just not his day.

You look over at Tony confused when Steve left.

“What the hell do you think that was about?” you asked, growing more confused as you noticed the smirk on Tony’s lips.

“Why are you smiling like that?” You had to stop yourself from slapping him when he started to laugh.

“What the hell, Stark, tell me what's going on?”

“I think that Capsicle just realized that you're his soulmate.” He said through chuckles.

“What the fuck do you mean he realized that I’m his soulmate?” you asked your whole body going still as you waited for him to elaborate.

“I thought you had realized this earlier,” he said looked genuinely confused, “The captain is your soulmate, I’ve known since we had that movie night after finding him in the ice. Your tattoo is his dog tags with the flower of his birth month and a phrase that I’ve heard him say multiple times while next to him in a fight.”

You just sat there frozen trying to comprehend what exactly the man sitting in front of you was saying.

“You know, he may be a little jealous that his soulmate was cuddling someone else since he probably doesn’t realize that you're like a sister to me. You should probably go after him.” His words seemed to break you from your trance as you threw yourself very clumsily from the couch to follow after him.

“Jarvis, where did Rogers go?”

“He is in the training room miss.”

“Thanks, J”

You ran all the way down, opening the door you were met by the scene of Steve hitting a punching bag so hard that it broke and flew off of its chain.

“You know, I’m not sure that those are made to withstand the punch of a super soldier, maybe I should design one that can,” you said leaning against the wall and trying not to show the fact that your heart was beating a million miles a minute.

“And why would you feel the need to do that, I’m sure Stark has plenty of things that he needs you to design that are more important than a Steve-proof punching bag.” You could tell that he was gritting his teeth as he spoke, reaching for another bag. You step towards him slowly, making sure not to walk too quickly from fear of him leaving.

“Well I’m sure that the great Tony Stark can take care of himself, and anyways, I think creating something to make my soulmate's life easier is more important.”

He slowly pulled his eyes from the punching bag that he was hanging onto the hook to look at you, pain obvious in his eyes.

“Really? Cause you seemed pretty comfortable with him.” you could see the vulnerability in his eyes as he spoke, he had gone through so much already.

“Yes really, Tony is more like an annoying older brother than anything. I’ve been working around him for the past five or so years, trust me when I say that I have no desire to date him. You on the other hand.” You made sure that your voice turned teasing on the last words, you wanted to make him smile, you hadn’t gotten to see that yet.

“Well good, cause I think I may have to kick his ass if you did.” You could hear the teasing lilt in his voice and the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. But as quickly as it came it was gone.

“How long have you known?” his voice cracked a little as he spoke. You let out a small huff of a laugh.

“Would you believe me if I told you that Tony had to tell me when I was confused as to why you left the room?” His eyes snapped to yours.

“Really? You didn’t know?”

“After not meeting my soulmate by the time I turned 25 I just pushed it to the back of my mind, I stopped trying to figure out what my tattoo meant and I focused on my work. Plus there were a couple of life-threatening instances that distracted me." You joked. You weren't 100% sure how to handle this situation, your main friend group consisted of a playboy philanthropist and a science nerd that turned into a giant green guy when angry, not really the best people to show you how to be vulnerable.

“I understand that," he said pausing before continuing, "part of my problem was that my tattoo didn’t show up until after I came out of the ice.” he looked down at his hands and you noticed that they were fidgeting, he must be just as nervous as you.

“I didn’t know that,” you murmured, deciding to ask the question that was begging to be asked.

“What is your tattoo, if you don’t mind me asking?”

He shook his head, “Not at all.” he stepped towards you and pulled up his sleeve, and turned out his arm so you could see the flesh just under his armpit. As soon as you saw the tattoo you burst out laughing.

“Of course that’s what my mark is, man I’m such a nerd.” You clutched your stomach as you laughed, tears coming to your eyes from the range of emotions that you are currently going through.

“Can I ask why I have this tattooed on me?” He questioned, clearly curious to the reasoning as to why he had a movie quote on his arm forever. You were finally able to pull yourself together and sober up from the surprise of his tattoo.

“That movie came out the year after I was born and it was my mom’s favorite movie to watch with me, we watched it at least 4 times a year. But we always made sure to watch it on my birthday as a family, it became an integral part of my life, plus it’s just sooo quotable.” you said with a smile, “Do you want to look at my tattoo?” you asked motioning at your arm with your head. He slowly nodded, not able to find the words.

You slowly pulled your sleeve up, showing him the inside of your forearm and the dog tags that graced your skin. He stepped forward gently taking your arm in his hand so that he could study the markings on your skin. Tracing the outline and the words that he could see before smiling.

“What does it mean?” you asked softly looking at him through your lashes.

“It’s um,” he cleared his throat, “it’s my dog tags or at least the lower one is, it says my name, then Captain America and the city I was born in, Brooklyn. The top one however is something that I always seem to say when I’m getting beat up in a fight in order to remind myself that I could do it. And the flower… I think it’s the flower from my birth month? I was born in July so I think it’s a reference to that.” You nodded at his explanation, his fingers still gently tracing over your skin, causing goosebumps to pop up from the feeling.

“So, would you like to watch the movie with me? We can start it over so that you won’t be lost. I know that you struggle with pop culture, old man.” You smirked at him as you spoke, he just rolled his eyes.

“Be careful, this old man could still show you a thing or two.”

You laughed out loud at that, your laugh changed to a squeal when you felt him wrap his arms around your legs and throw you over his shoulder.

“Ahh, let me down!!” you beat at his shoulders trying to get him to release you but he wouldn’t budge, he just continued to carry you until you ended back in the living room and he threw you down onto the couch. He wasn’t even breathing hard after carrying you up 2 flights of stairs, jerk.

Tony was nowhere to been seen as you restarted the movie. You ran and grabbed some more popcorn to share, pouring in some M&Ms before plopping back down next to Steve and pulling on your couch blanket. It didn't take long for you to cuddle into his side and for your eyes to droop.

Steve smiled at you when he realized that you had passed out before you even got to the part he had walked in on earlier. He didn't mind though, he just got comfortable and pulled you in closer before allowing himself to relax and fall asleep.

Tagged Users: @writerwrites

#steve x reader #steve rodgers x reader #steve rogers #steve rogers imagine #marvel imagine #marvel #soulmate #soulmate au #soulmate tattoo #captain america imagine #captain america #captain america x reader

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une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir · 3 years

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random thoughts on jon connington’s chapters

The last time I read this was over four years and I had a different take on Aegon, so I was curious to see on what changed with a second read.

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The Lost Lord ~ ADWD

Sansa and Aegon

Alayne II (Sansa II) ~ AFFC

When Robert dies, Harry the Heir becomes Lord Harrold, Defender of the Vale and Lord of the Eyrie. Jon Arryn's bannermen will never love me, nor our silly, shaking Robert, but they will love their Young Falcon . . . and when they come together for his wedding, and you come out with your long auburn hair, clad in a maiden's cloak of white and grey with a direwolf emblazoned on the back . . . why, every knight in the Vale will pledge his sword to win you back your birthright."

The Lost Lord ~ ADWD

"We have gone to great lengths to keep Prince Aegon hidden all these years," Lemore reminded him. "The time will come for him to wash his hair and declare himself, I know, but that time is not now. Not to a camp of sellswords." (...)

"The plan was to reveal Prince Aegon only when we reached Queen Daenerys," Lemore was saying." (...)

The prince wore sword and dagger, black boots polished to a high sheen, a black cloak lined with blood-red silk. With his hair washed and cut and freshly dyed a deep, dark blue, his eyes looked blue as well. At his throat he wore three huge square-cut rubies on a chain of black iron, a gift from Magister Illyrio. Red and black. Dragon colors. That was good. "You look a proper prince," he told the boy. (...)

Sansa and Aegon are supposed to reveal themselves by washing the dye out of their hair and wearing their house colours, in an event that involves a wedding with someone that will facilitate claiming their birthright.

However, Aegon said “fuck that bitch Danerys” and getting married, revealed himself somewhat (to the Golden Company higher-ups only) wearing his house colours and went back to Westeros to reclaim his birthright on his own, unware that his cousin from his mother’s side is coming to him to offer aid in the war.. Aegon washing his hair of the blue dye and doning his armour will only happen wieh he sets foot in Westeros.

Likewise, we can draw a parallel scenario for Sansa and considering the “Sansa is grey girl who flees from a marriage” it all fits, Like Aegon, Sansa syas “fuck that bitch blonde Bobby B Harry and getting married, like Aegon she wears a grey cloak, and like Aegon she’ll be meeting her cousin and eventually claim her birthright.

I somehow doubt Sansa will be getting an army that soon, but in the show she got the Wildlings (via Jon, who can be seen as “sellsword” type of warriors) and the Vale army. In the books, there’s the mountain clans both in the Vale (loyal to Tyrion, whom she’s married to) and the north mountain clans (those that protected Bran because he is Ned’s son and joined Stannis also because of Ned and his daughter).

Another thing of note is Aegon ended up cutting his hair but dyed blue once more, so this may be true for Sansa as well. She may cut it shorter (a parallel to her sister Arya as well) but keep dying it for awhile still. Such, she may reach the Wall and meet Jon as a brunette (a parallel to Jeyne Poole as well as Alys Karstark). ETA: Likewise Aegon only revealing himself by washing his hair and doning his armour when he invades Westeros (his birthright), Sansa may only wash her hair and done her armour when the northern campaign starts.

Regardless, This is a smart choice because...

Cersei IV ~ ADWD

The queen bristled. "I most certainly have not forgotten that little she-wolf." She refused to say the girl's name. "I ought to have shown her to the black cells as the daughter of a traitor, but instead I made her part of mine own household. She shared my hearth and hall, played with my own children. I fed her, dressed her, tried to make her a little less ignorant about the world, and how did she repay me for my kindness? She helped murder my son. When we find the Imp, we will find the Lady Sansa too. She is not dead . . . but before I am done with her, I promise you, she will be singing to the Stranger, begging for his kiss."

The Lost Lord ~ ADWD

"His because they're bought and paid for. Ten thousand armed strangers, plus hangers-on and camp followers. All it takes is one to bring us all to ruin. If Hugor's head was worth a lord's honors, how much will Cersei Lannister pay for the rightful heir to the Iron Throne? You do not know these men, my lord. It has been a dozen years since you last rode with the Golden Company, and your old friend is dead."

Cersei’s attention on Aegon is also a parallel to Cersei’s attention to Sansa, interestingly enough Tyrion is mentioned in both instances. Cersei’s attention on Sansa also come attached with the “singing the Stranger for a kiss”, which is interesting because if “Sansa is the Grey Girl” theory holds to, the guy she’s running to for protection is in fact.... dead or close to (the Stranger is their god and in the show... the episode was aplty named, the Book of the Stranger).

The bells tolled for all of us that day. For Aerys and his queen, for Elia of Dorne and her little daughter, for every true man and honest woman in the Seven Kingdoms. And for my silver prince. (...)

He had grown fond of Lemore, but that did not mean he required her approval. Her task had been to instruct the prince in the doctrines of the Faith, and she had done that. No amount of prayer would put him on the Iron Throne, however. That was Griff's task. He had failed Prince Rhaegar once. He would not fail his son.

Let me live long enough to see the boy sit the Iron Throne, and Varys will pay for that slight and so much more. Then we'll see who's soon forgotten.

I grant that the obsession that Jon Connington has for Rhaegar Targaryen is milder and more honourable, compared to the obsession Littlefinger has for Catelyn Tully, but the fact is this is yet another parallel between Sansa and Aegon. They both have mentors with an unhealthy obsession with one of their parents and hate the other, which they project onto the kids. Last, but not least, both mentors are passing off as parents of the children while they remain disguised under a false indentiy.

However, as Sansa will have to run from Littlefinger’s toxic shadow, I suspect Aegon will do much the same. I have suspicions. Sansa escaped Littlefinger because of Jon, as he took the role of protection. No matter how people see the ship, the fact is Jon is a lot like Ned V2 (at least, that’s how Littlefinger will see it and he hated the man) but the truth is Jon is Ned’s nephew and Sansa’s cousin from his mother’s side.

Likewise, Aegon is about to meet Arianne Martell, who’s the niece of his mother Elia Martell, which makes them cousins from his mother’s side. Elia Martell, whom Jon Connington... hates, often speculated in fact that he was in love with Rhaegar Targaryen himself. The symmetry of all this, not only the mentor’s obsession with the children but also the love / hate hey have for their parents.

Connington’s wish to see Aegon crowned and the giant chip he has on his shoulder for not being recognised. For the former, I have not found any reference to Littlefinger wanting to sit the Iron Throne in the books, but this was basically his goal in the show. To be king with Sansa by his side. For the latter, well that’s the drive of his character, he’s a social climber seeking recognition.

Sansa VII ~ ASOS

I will tell my aunt that I don't want to marry Robert. Not even the High Septon himself could declare a woman married if she refused to say the vows. She wasn't a beggar, no matter what her aunt said. She was thirteen, a woman flowered and wed, the heir to Winterfell.

The Lost Lord ~ ADWD

"Why should I go running to my aunt [implied marriage] as if I were a beggar? My claim is better than her own. Let her come to me … in Westeros."

Eh. Same energy. They are not beggars and they know their birthright, they will not be forced to marry someone they don’t want to to facilitate it.

----

TL;DR: I think these concurrence between Sansa and Aegon suggest that Aegon is real, but also glimpse into their characters beyond their toxic mentors and their ascencion to power. It will be interesting to watch their common points in future events, even if by the fact that they’re different genders and that makes PLENTY of difference in ASOIAF.

Jon and Aegon

Jon II ~ ASOS

A few tents were still standing on the far side of the camp, and it was there they found Mance Rayder. Beneath his slashed cloak of black wool and red silk he wore black ringmail and shaggy fur breeches, and on his head was a great bronze-and-iron helm with raven wings at either temple. Jarl was with him, and Harma the Dogshead; Styr as well, and Varamyr Sixskins with his wolves and his shadowcat.

The Lost Lord ~ ADWD

I personally ignored Aegon because I started with the show and didn’t know he was a (living) character until I read the books. I wasn’t even all that convinced he’d be particularly important. So I always looked at Jon’s interactions with Mance (associated with black + red) as "preparation” for Jon’s internactions with Daniella.

Hoewver, that changed when show!Cersei took over some of book!Aegon role: sitting on the Iron Throne, the Golden Company, and loved over Daniella in the last to final episode. It seems to me now that Mance can also (at the very least if not all) be seen as “preparation” for Jon’s interactions Aegon. As said, Mance dresss in a black and red cloak which associates him with Targs, the cloak being “copied” by Aegon. Mance united the notorious “give no fucks about authority) wildlings under one idea (run from the Others), while Aegon united a sellsword compay (sellswords are untrustworthty).

Moreover, it’s my conviction that Jon and Aegon are probably going to war against each other for a time (this is illustrated by what I believe are their respective dragons and a natural consequence if Aegon sits in King’s Landing while the Starks declare Northern Indepdencen), until they sommehow make peace (in case of Mance and Jon it was because of the Others, but for Jon and Aegon it could be their fire counterart, Danerys).

TL;DR: I think these vague connections between Mance and Aegon are rather interesting and may be “preparation” for Jon and Aegon’s intereactons will involve war AND peace. Interestingly, Connington’s next chapter feaures battle.

#aegon vi targaryen

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alittledizzy · 4 years

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29 Things I Love About Dan

1. That he came out to his family via email. Aspirational.

2. Dude really, really loves his grandma.

3. That one time at a book signing when the bookstore overpromised tickets and there was a dad that was really upset because his daughter had been waiting in line so long and didn't get to meet them. The dad was just shouting at Dan and Phil and everyone else was trying to just quickly walk on but Dan stopped, turned around, and talked to the dad.

4. That he's the first person to defend someone he loves in any situation where he even perceives they're being shit upon, but in the same breath will make fun of them himself. He's the epitome of older brother attitude.

5. He spends a lot of money on clothes but then he wears what he buys every single day for a span of at least a year so he does at least get his money's worth.

6. That time on vyou when someone asked him what he looks for in a girl and his answer was the ring that fell off his hand last time that he really wants back.

7. His reaction to the Phil's wife story. I still laugh thinking about Sabrina and Lola. In the process of answering that he made a remark about how Phil leaves to go with his 'real' family and sometimes that just latches itself onto my brain. There was a similar comment during the blue/gold dress debate where Phil referenced Dan in with family and it's just... like, yeah, they're in love, they're in a relationship. But they're not just partners, they are full on out and out family to each other and that Dan found that at a time when he was so scared and felt so isolated with his own family is worth everything.

8. The depth of feeling in his voice during that one "Katie, Katie, Katie... Katie, Katie, Katie. No." liveshow answer. You know the one. He was having none of that and if Katie got verbally incinerated in the process of his answering, so be it.

9. When he'd be doing a liveshow and get on a tangent and end up talking about condiments or dips for like four minutes straight.

10. The way he never minded putting someone on blast that pissed him off but knew that it bothered Phil so he would consult with Phil first sometimes but then if the situation actually involved Phil being hurt in some way all bets were off he Was naming that trainer that made Phil puke he did not Care if Phil gave him an alias for the video Kai deserved what he got for pushing Phil too far.

11. That after a decade he still wants to impress Phil's family by doing things like cleaning before they come and making them all coffee.

12. And yet still made a cake to give to Phil in front of them that talked about wanting to see Phil's ass. The duality of man is real, indeed.

13. Nicer Internet. Young Minds. Make-a-Wish. Mermaids. He only just came into his own with being charity-minded in the last few years and I don't for a second doubt he does more privately than publicly and probably has some mental spirals about using his platform vs being accused of virtue signaling. But this is just one way I love watching him find his footing in the world as an adult with privilege.

14. He introduced an important word to my personal lexicon with Haru and I'd like the rest of the world to catch on because it's just a very specific action of lying while obviously lying and pretending you aren't lying and I love it.

15. When he was fifteen he was so in his emo kid feelings that he wanted black angel wings tattooed on his back.

16. That little tune he'd hum when he was trying to space out thoughts during liveshows.

17. That somehow he beat all the odds and is best friends with the first person he subscribed to (Bryony) and in a relationship with his teenage self's favorite youtuber (Phil, obviously). Teenage Dan had a really shit time of almost everything but in that one specific 'meet your idols' area he was truly blessed with all of the luck.

18. "All I can taste is cherry, all I can smell is cherry, all I can hear is cherry and all I can feel is cherry. Can't really see much though."

19. The fact that he owned up to previous bad takes and opinions and deleted old videos and tweets.

20. Litralee.

21. They originally wanted Phil to run the board at the radio show but he did such a bad job of it after the first episode that they gave it to Dan instead, and I think for someone with zero radio work experience or training Dan did an amazing job. He may spend a lot of time doubting himself but when a spotlight is on him he's clever and confident and adapts quickly.

22. The way when he says 'at all' he still sounds like his five year old self.

23. That he tried to run the marathon last year, and didn't, and tried again this year. When you're someone that fears judgement for your failures and knows everything you do is scrutinized by a very large audience - not just fans but people waiting for you to fail so they can report on that, too - sharing in that way seems like it would be really hard. It was shit luck that he couldn't run it this year either but I have faith he's gonna cross that finish line because the man Dan Howell has turned into goes after what he wants and fuck what anyone else thinks or expects of him.

24. That one liveshow they did without pants. You know that was Dan's idea. Phil is a respectable young man who does not go live on the internet to thousands of people in just his underwear. But Dan? Dan would. Dan does. And Dan is a terrible blerson.

25. That in a video to ten million people he said with his whole chest that his relationship with Phil made him feel safe for the first time since he was a small child. And like, yeah, sure, I'm infatuated with their relationship so it made me happy on a personal level. But beyond that; putting words to things is clearly not easy for Dan. It took him decades to acknowledge he was gay to himself. It took decades plus a little to tell his family. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much people know things, giving it a label is fucking scary and I think his fear of labeling his relationship with Phil (to the public) felt like a different kind of exposure than just his sexuality and he still faced them both.

26. He clearly has a very complicated relationship with his parents and family in general but that one story he told about being young and on holiday to Disneyland Paris and his mum is terrified of roller coasters but went on one with him like six times because she didn't want him to be alone. I'm glad through all the badness and doubt and fear he's had at how conditional his parents' love might be, that he had those good memories as well.

27. It was Dan that coined the phrase 'post-baking universe.' He's very aware of the stages of their life and his growth and he shares that self-awareness with the viewers even if he doesn't share all the depth of reasoning behind them. (He also coined the term 'phan' but in that instance I think uhh he didn't know what he was doing so.)

28. That he's learned better coping mechanisms than lashing out online. That he's got therapy now and the option for medication when he needs it. That depression doesn't go away but he knows he has options and support now.

29. He's given us almost a decade of content to watch and rewatch and enjoy and view through the different lights of his growth and our own growth, and who knows what the future will hold.

Okay, last minute addition - we'll call it one to grow on:

30. That Starcourt selfie.

#phan #meta

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textualdeviance · 4 years

Text

[S]he clearly meant a lot to Finn, and Finn meant a lot to him, so Rey mattered.

-Poe’s thoughts, “Resistance Reborn"

I saw TROS again today, and I finally have a few minutes, so I can do the next installment in my trio-character posts. (Though this may also meander into some general commentary, too.) So let’s talk about Poe! (spoilers ahoy!)

(See also: Rey and Finn)

As I noted with the previous post: Each of these three heroes goes on their own journey: Rey’s is centered on coming to terms with who she is and where she fits into the Force (she literally fights her own dark side!) Finn’s is acknowledging his own Force sensitivity and coming to terms with his past as a child stolen by the First Order and forced to be a soldier.

Poe, however, is a different egg. For one, he’s a lot older than the other two (Oscar is 13 years older than Daisy and John.) His roots are also very different: Born to legendary Rebellion soldiers (he learned how to fly on his mother’s A-wing) who weren’t around much when he was young, he was cared for primarily by his grandfather. He lost his mother when he was only 8. It’s likely that loss is what made him initially disdain military service as a teen and become a spice runner instead. Ultimately, he got his head back on right and as the First Order began to grow, he joined the Resistance, leaving his spice runner friends in the lurch (which is basically why Zorii is pissed off at him when he shows back up.)

The fact that he hadn’t talked about that part of his past with Finn or Rey makes it seem likely he was embarrassed about it. (Really, we all do ill-considered stuff when we’re teens that we’d rather forget!) But I think being around those two made him realize that, all things considered, his childhood and youth was normal compared to theirs. A brief period of teenage lawbreaking is nothing when you’re confronted with people who had suffered such horrible abuse. Undoubtedly, his caretaking instincts kicked in, first with Finn and then with Rey. It’s that last bit that we see unfold in TROS.

I think it’s pretty clear that Poe most definitely had a thing for Finn from the moment they met. If one wants to read it as a big-brother vibe rather than romantic, fair enough, but whatever the particular flavor, Poe decides right away that this man is important to him. But just as Poe felt it was his duty to take care of Finn, Finn felt the same about Rey. Pretty much the entire second half of TFA is Finn realizing he screwed up by trying to leave on Takodana and wanting to rescue Rey instead.

Rey, for her part, also has strong feelings about Finn. She gets very upset when she thinks he’s abandoning her–just like everyone else has–so when they reunite on Starkiller Base, and she realizes he came back for her, she’s sold. After having waited in vain for years for her family to return for her, finally someone did. Though they’re separated for much of TLJ, that bond continues, and through Finn, Poe finally starts understanding how important she is. There’s the moment, for instance, when Finn and Rose are about to head off for Canto Bight when Finn hands over the beacon to Poe. Their hands meet in a tender touch, and it feels like the first time that Poe feels the depth of Finn’s dedication to Rey, and starts thinking like he does in the quote above: Though he’s barely met her (in the couple of days before she heads to Ahch-To; their “meeting” at the end of TLJ is a continuity error) he knows that if the man he loves so much has such strong feelings for this young woman, maybe there’s something there he should think about, too: He’s going to protect that beacon with his life. Seeing how brilliant she was with the Falcon during the battle on Crait, plus finally getting to see how much Force power she has also makes a dent; you can see it on his face at the moment they (re)meet.

Still, there’s some frustration on both their parts as they’re trying to figure out how they all fit together, and we see a bit of that in the opening of TROS: Their bickering about the damage to BB-8 and the Falcon is only partly about the droid and the ship. I think the subtext is that they’re both trying to decide if the other is responsible enough to take care of Finn. Ostensibly, Poe is irritated at her because he wants her on the front lines instead of chasing her nightmares, but it’s also pretty clear he wants her there because things don’t feel complete without her: His goal is keeping Finn happy, and Finn simply isn’t happy without her around. Solution: Go with her on her goose chase, even if it means he’s going to feel like a third wheel. (Which he does; he may not understand initially that they’re developing a Force-sensitive bond, but he knows he’s feeling left out.)

Over the course of their adventures together, however, this changes. The more time he spends around Rey, the more he understands how Finn feels. He’s not just trying to like her because Finn does. He’s falling for her, too. The casual flirting he does with Zorii is about making sure they’ve mended their fences. He doesn’t really expect her to return it. After all, she was a few years older than him when they were running together, and he knows she probably still sees him as a teenage dork. The expression on his face when they finally see Rey at the end tells the story: He’s all in. He’s resolved his own unfinished business and he’s fully ready to love them. Both of them. When we get that final trio hug, that bond is finally cemented. That’s why it’s so very powerful when he takes her hand: It’s the body-language equivalent of closing a circle, or, really, connecting the last side of the triangle. He doesn’t just trust her with his droid (though he clearly does, since he lets her take his little buddy to Tattooine), and he doesn’t just trust her with Finn, either. He trusts her with his own heart, too.

#JediStormPilot #FinnReyPoe #spoilers

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leighas-life · 4 years

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Review Of Meg, The Trench, Primal Waters, Origins By Steve Alten

Meg #1 (4/5 stars)

*I didn’t write a review for this one, but my thoughts for the second 2 sum up how I feel about Meg (and probably the series as a whole when I finish it.)

The Trench (Meg #2) - 3.5/5

***Trigger warning: Rape is mentioned, along with the person being tortured, there were two attempted rape scenes, one quite graphic and incest.*** The author needs a better editing team. The writing style was good and enjoyable for the most part, although one thing stood out which was the repetitiveness. Jonas felt his temper flaring practically every other page. There was a lot of flashing. How many times can a person flash a smile, or flash their eyes in anger, flash this, flash that....? "For a surreal moment" is also used many times. Once you notice the repetitiveness, it is almost impossible not to notice, which brings you out of the story. Another thing that stood out that took away some enjoyment was a lot of telling instead of showing. Too many characters. I gave up trying to keep track of them. 99% were not important, just written in to be killed. I like how Masao treats Jonas as a true son and not a son-in-law. They have a couple of sweet father-son moments. The actions scenes were suspenseful. I truly felt Terry's terror as she goes through the stuff she went through. There are a couple of characters I hated so much and admit, I was hoping they would die, so Steve Alten is good at writing characters you hate. I do plan on reading more, as I love the entertaining value in these. Some of the triggering and problematic things you can overlook if you go in knowing what to expect. I hope the books get better as the series progresses.

Primal Waters (Meg #3) - 4/5 very problematic stars.

TW: Because yes, this will have triggers, like the first two. Misogyny, implied/mentioned sex between adults and underage girls, suicide is mentioned, abortion is mentioned, slut and fat-shaming (blink and you might miss the slut-shaming, but it is there.) *** You can go into a vintage horror (or any genre) novel and expect some dark and nasty stuff, including how females are treated, and hey, maybe you even like those books, despite the problematic elements. Those books were a product of the time. I'm honestly not judging your taste in books, because I read them, too. It is nice to be able to turn your brain off sometimes. That being said, the way females are treated in this book just doesn't make sense. Because it is about killer sharks, does that mean it is marketed toward men and that is why all the girls are treated like eye candy, along with underage eye candy to boot? It is just cringy how Terry is described. (The Asian beauty with almond eyes.) I wasn't even at the 30% point and already suicide was mentioned, two instances of underage sex mentioned (with an adult) and one instance of what seems like a forced abortion (man paying for and probably making the underage girl abort her baby), and a cheating scumbag. (And later on in the book there are slut and fat-shaming.) Oh, and of course some shark kills! Which is the real reason to read these, right? Why in the world would Jonas let his underage daughter be one of the "Candy Girls" without even saying a word of protest? “I was hoping you might be able to use Dani behind the scenes, you know, assisting the film crew . . . something to keep her busy.” “Behind the scenes?” Erik laughs. “Your daughter’s eye-candy, Professor, and we can never have too much of that. Dani, as soon as you get settled, come find me and I’ll hook you up with wardrobe. They’ll pick out some nice bikinis, maybe a few after-hour numbers. We’ll pay you to be one of our Candy Girls, my pet name for our Daredevil groupies.” “Excellent.” Danielle’s gloating smile tweaks her father’s blood pressure. *** Also, I can do without shaming people for having body hair. It was just a silly and unneeded line. "God, I miss California. If I date one more woman with hairy legs, I think I’ll—" *** Erik points to the bow where a cocoa-brown African-American woman in a white thong bikini is posing before a photographer and two cameramen. “Not much of an actress, but who cares, she makes—” “I know, great eye-candy.” So, we have an almond-eyed Asian beauty and now a cocoa-brown African American...can't we describe POC without using food? And you don't have to keep reminding us that Terry's Asian as well. We remember! (Later on, there is an olive-skinned Italian as well.) I saw someone call these books "Shallow Entertainment" and they sure are that! I notice that he really likes to go into detail of describing how a female looks, using words like "shapely" a lot. Also, I noticed he points out skin color and eye color of the females often, but only one time did he mention the eye color of a man. I wonder why it is? So we know what eye color the females have when we fantasize about them? I mean, he writes them like "Eye Candy!" The girls on the boat are even called "Candy Girls" by the camera crew. It is basically "Girl's Gone Wild" with stupid daredevil stunts that get people killed. How has this film crew not been sued and how are they allowed to show the deaths on tv? I've never watched the real Girl's Gone Wild, but this book is similar to the Piranha (2010) movie, if you remember the GGW film crew, well, yeah, this book is like that, but with some hungry sharks and people who don't use their brains. Of course, the sex and nudity in this are not graphic or anything, but you get what I mean. That is because Steve does a lot of telling, and not showing. All the people in this book that get put in danger (and end up getting killed) are getting what they deserve. I would never say that about a real-life situation, toward a real victim, but seriously, these characters have bricks for brains. The camera, still looped around his neck, bounces against his chest— —calling out his name. Brian stares at temptation, his fear momentarily subsiding. 'The whale’s dying. Angel’s got to be circling below, waiting to feed again. One shot, just a quick one before you lose the light, then get to shore as fast as you can.' He stops paddling, allowing the kayak to drift as he glances back at Charlie. 'Calm and steady and the Meg won’t even know you’re here. One great shot of her next attack, just one killer shot.' 'Sorry Charlie, but that’s life in the food chain. Damn, this looks good. Okay, Angel, one more time for Daddy while we still have the light. Definitely a cover shot on National Geographic, maybe even Time . . .' This is why I root for the shark! A certain thing keeps happening in this book and jarring me out of the story. Steve Alten has a broken way of writing what are supposed to be suspenseful moments. Personally, I don't like this style. I don't know how to describe it, so I will show you. Balancing atop the wall, he runs back to the arena and the safety of the bleachers as fast as he can— —nitrogen bubbling in his bloodstream. Fergie bounds over another swell and pulls hard on his control strut— —as a powerful updraft catches the kite. Losing the wind, he plummets—a seabird with clipped wings— —as the Megalodon breeches, its head rising at him like a missile, its jaws yawning open, offering an impossible target to miss. Devin flees— —only to be confronted by an even bigger nightmare. This way of writing might be fine if it only happened a couple of times, but it is littered throughout the whole book. One last thing I want to add about Dani, which is a spoiler-ish. [Dani starts off as a teenage spoiled brat; there is no way to say it nicely. I liked how she grew and eventually stopped being such a pain, and she and her father started to see eye to eye again.] Don't get me wrong, despite my complaints, I really do like these books. As I said, it is nice to turn your brain off and enjoy some B movie type books.

Meg Origins (Meg #.05) 2/5 stars.

If you read and liked Meg, this tells the story of when Jonas first met the prehistoric shark. This book is interesting, to say the least. However, some of the writing was dry, dare I say boring. There were some repetitive chapter openings that annoyed me. I guess the editing team didn't notice. Once you notice these repetitive things, it is hard to keep from noticing them and it takes you out of the story. For example: In the Prologue "Captian George Nares stood defiantly on the heaving gun deck." In Chapter 1: "Captian Richard Danielson stood defiantly on the main deck." How does one stand defiantly? Do you stand in a Superman pose, with your hands on your hips? There were so many characters. I wrote a list of characters in case someone was important later on. Large casts are often forgettable. I counted about 20 characters (Plus some more that were not given proper names.) 90% of these people were not important. I liked how there was a nod to the Jaws movie. "Good God, Man! That's more than half the length of the Challenger. A creature that size... we'd need a bigger boat." Steve didn't copy Jaws. Maybe he was inspired somewhat, but the storyline of Meg is completely different from Jaws, yet people are going to still scream copycat. Misogyny, treatment of women. One girl in this is only known by her big boobs. I think she's given a name, but that's about it. You can tell this was written by a man by the way characters describe women. "...tan, oiled breasts two swollen grapefruits in the skimpy red bikini." "...hawkish eyes moved from the pair of jacks in his right hand to the D-cup breasts barely contained beneath the brunette's olive-green tee-shirt." How do you know they're D-cup? Did you measure them, or did she tell you? "Hey, so my boobs are d-cup." These are grown men, but they sound like they are teen boys who just discovered boobs. I'm not a prude by any means, but I can't say I liked this manner of describing people. I notice the men are never described this way. Don't get me wrong, I really do like these books. So far. Meg Origins should be saved only if you are a die-hard fan of the series, though. None of it is new info. It just goes into detail of what the first book already mentioned.

#Meg #TheMeg #Trench #Primal #Waters #Water #Shark #Sharks #Book #Books #Review #Science Fiction #Thriller #Steve Alten #Primal Waters #Origins #leighaslife #leighas_life on instagram

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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FEATURE: 7 Times Anime Busted Out Pro-Wrestling Moves

If you watch enough anime, you’ll begin to see that a lot of shows like to reference professional wrestling by having characters utilize various moves on one another. Sometimes, that will make sense within the context of the show, but other times, it might seem a little random. Regardless, it’s always a fun time when an anime decides to add in a touch of pro-wrestling into an episode. Two years ago, I wrote about six wild suplexes that were featured in a variety of anime, so let’s take a look at seven other instances where anime decided it needed a flair of pro-wrestling.

Naruto Shippuden - Liger Bomb

There’s something amazing about the Raikage using pro-wrestling moves as a way to fight against people using wild and ridiculous jutsu. There’s the intense double lariat he does with Bee against the clone of Kisame, and then him pulling out a Liger Bomb against Sasuke. This utilization is somewhat strange because it’s technically not the same Liger Bomb that Jushin Thunder Liger uses in real life (it’s more in line with a Batista Bomb/sit-out powerbomb in terms of powerbomb variations), but also creates a reference within a reference.

Does the Raikage using this maneuver mean that Jushin Liger the wrestler also exists in some form in Naruto or is it Jushin Liger the manga by Go Nagai? Maybe it’s both, similar to how things happened in our reality? Now that’s a non-canon arc I’d be interested in seeing! Either way, the Raikage’s Liger Bomb is incredibly effective since not only does he cover himself in lightning, it’s a move that no one else had survived until Sasuke had to pull out one of his big techniques just to make sure it didn’t kill him.

The God of High School - Stunner

Seeing the most popular move from the US boom period of wrestling being done in an anime is still a wild sight. You know it’s a great move when it’s utilized in the opening as well. Mah Miseon utilizes pro-wrestling as her martial art in the confines of the tournament, which is the best. Perhaps my favorite bit about her character is when she goes up against Yoo Mira and tells Mira that using a weapon on her would be ineffective because she’s used to being hit by those kinds of items thanks to being a pro-wrestler and taking bumps regularly. That’s just brilliant!

Mah Miseon’s version of the stunner is exactly what you’d picture if you ever saw Stone Cold Steve Austin do the move. She sets it up with a kick to the gut and grabs her opponent's head and sits down, jamming their jaw into her shoulder. It was effective enough to help her move onto the preliminaries, but maybe she should’ve pulled it off in her fight with Yoo Mira. Who knows, maybe that could’ve been the path to victory instead of defeat.

Love Live! Sunshine!! - Crossface Chicken Wing

Yoshiko at various points throughout Love Live! Sunshine!! will put other members of Aqours into an abdominal stretch which she’s effectively dubbed “Fallen Dragon Phoenix Hold.” In Season 2, Riko begins an unlikely friendship with Yoshiko, which sees some of Yoshiko’s fallen angel schtick rub off on her. We see this when Riko applies a crossface chicken wing on Yoshiko and calls it, “Silent Cherry Blossom Nightmare.”

The crossface chicken wing has been a staple in pro-wrestling for many years and became popular in 1994 when Bob Backlund utilized it as his finishing move in his heel run to capture the WWF Championship ten years after his last reign as champion. The move is also utilized today by multiple-time WWE Women’s Champion, Asuka, who redubbed it the Asuka Lock. What makes this utilization in Love Live! Sunshine!! humorous is there really isn’t any other indication that pro-wrestling exists in this universe. This makes me want to see a school idol group that acts like pro-wrestlers, or does pro-wrestling on the side, similarly to the idol wrestlers in Tiger Mask W. However, idols and wrestling being combined isn’t something that’s too surprising since back in the early '90s, companies like All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling were trying to do something similar by having certain wrestlers also do singing performances at shows as well.

Naruto - Canadian Destroyer

Earlier we discussed when Sasuke was on the receiving end of a pro-wrestling move, but over 200 episodes before that, he was giving one out. In the midst of the Chunin Exams, Sasuke is able to grab a disguised Orochimaru, flip in midair, and then hit a devastating piledriver. Given that the episode this was featured in aired in 2003, this was just about when Petey Williams was beginning to popularize his front-flip piledriver known as a Canadian Destroyer. It’s certainly not like nowadays where it’s become a much more common move in pro-wrestling, so seeing it this early in Naruto is a bit shocking.

Now, some people might say this is supposed to be just a regular piledriver, but Sasuke clearly is able to turn Orochimaru’s body 180 degrees to land in a piledriver position, so it totally counts. There was probably some old-timer ninja that got in a huff about Sasuke using it, but he shouldn’t listen to them. I still find it wildly entertaining that in the midst of this big fight early in Naruto, one of Sasuke’s key moves is a piledriver. Given the danger associated with that move, it’s smart since he’s able to smash Orochimaru’s head from quite a big drop. That should be an incredibly devastating maneuver. Too bad Orochimaru is a slithery one and won’t be put down that easily.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- - Dragon Suplex

Hey, wait a minute. I was told this was a dragon suplex! Okay, yes, that is a dragon, and it is getting suplexed. I think we’ve been bamboozled here. In all seriousness, seeing a dragon get suplexed is such a bizarre sight, but a great one. I don’t even think you could utilize an actual dragon suplex — a move invented by Tatsumi Fujinami and currently utilized by Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kenny Omega — because how are you going to lock up a dragon to perform the move? They’d just slip out easily, and then you’d be in some serious trouble! Plus, even being able to use a normal vertical suplex on a dragon would be difficult since they’re so bottom-heavy, meaning you’d really have to use some strength to lift them up and slam them. So, while this is just a regular suplex, it’s still pretty impressive, and maybe one day we’ll get to see an actual dragon take a dragon suplex.

Ahiru no Sora - Shining Wizard

Guys in a sports club performing pro-wrestling moves on each other just makes the most sense, especially when you have a group of dudes like the basketball club in Ahiru no Sora. A group of mostly former delinquents who are used to having some knockdown, drag-out fights. Although, I don’t know if I would consider utilizing a Shining Wizard — a strike where you step off an opponent’s knee and slam your knee into their face — in an actual fight.

The move created by Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta that’s now used by basically everyone in pro-wrestling is fun to see used in a scuffle between brothers Chiaki and Momoharu early on in the series. Everyone that sees it gets really excited when Chiaki pulls it off as well, and he does so quite effectively. Since we see later on that those two would constantly get into fights growing up, this means the two of them throwing out pro-wrestling moves at one another is probably a common occurrence. The one downside to this is that using a Shining Wizard in an actual basketball game would be a very terrible idea and not something you’d want to try.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure - Argentine Backbreaker

Apparently Rubber Soul was really into pro-wrestling when he disguised himself as Kakyoin to try and take down a thief. That poor thief didn’t know what was about to happen when he got put into an Argentine Backbreaker Rack — otherwise known as the Torture Rack — to, well, torture the thief. It’s kind of surprising there’s not more random pro-wrestling moves in JoJo given the ridiculous nature of the series and that fact that everyone looks like pro-wrestlers from the 1980s.

In the world of JoJo though, this move looks absolutely devastating because it looks like Rubber Soul is about to snap this thief’s spine in two just by the amount of torque and pressure he’s putting on his body. That’s probably what would’ve happened if it weren’t for Jotaro coming over to be like, “Hey dude what are you doing?!” Since this is the episode where this imposter Kakyoin does some very weird stuff, it’s safe to say that pro-wrestling is responsible for the famous meme of Kakyoin getting very into licking a cherry.

This is but a small sample size of various instances where an anime has thrown in some pro-wrestling to shake things up, and I’m sure this will be by no means the last time it happens. As long as pro-wrestling remains popular in Japan and around the world, you’re certain to see at least one of your favorite characters pull off some wild and ridiculous wrestling move. The more that happens, the happier I’ll be, so let’s hope we get to see more pro-wrestling integrated into anime in each upcoming season.

What are some other instances of pro-wrestling in anime that you believe deserve a shout out? Let us know down in the comments below!

Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup where he can be found always wanting to talk about Love Live! Sunshine!! or whatever else he's into at the moment. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

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soberqueerinthewild · 5 years

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Other days the line tends to deviate

{AO3 Link}

I wrote this fic forever ago, after 1x10 and never posted it because my headcanon that Isobel knew that Michael was bisexual but not about Alex was destroyed by canon in 1x13. However, in honor of pride month and because @bisexualalienblast is having a bad day today, here’s a short fic I wrote about Michael coming out to Isobel pre-canon, because every time Michael says he’s bisexual out loud an angel gets its wings.

***

Max may be the person Isobel loves most in this world, but Michael and Isobel both agree that he can be such a buzzkill sometimes. Isobel usually follows his lead and works hard to blend in to human life, but Michael knows it doesn’t come as easily to her as she wants Max to think. She loves her husband, but keeping up the facade and repressing any aspects of her personality that might be less than Instagram-worthy is hard work. So when Noah is out of town for work, and Isobel wants a chance to just be, it’s always Michael she calls.

Michael pretends to be put out on these nights, but he secretly loves them. Michael and Max haven’t talked about anything real in years, that night ten years ago fractured their relationship in a way that even Max couldn’t heal. Michael knows they both blame themselves and each other. The anger and guilt tore Max and Michael apart, but it drew Michael closer to Isobel. She’s one of the only people he lets himself love fiercely, unequivocally, and unconditionally. She may never know the sacrifices he made for her, but Michael’s never forgotten that Izzy believes that he killed those girls, and she has stayed by his side. Unlike Max, she seems to enjoy Michael for who he is, not always lecturing or trying to change him. She delights in watching him use his powers, and appreciates his snark. Izzy has a biting, dark humor that Michael relishes, but seems to shock Max, so they can both be a little freer and less restrained when it’s just them.

On this particular night, they decide to sit out in Isobel’s ridiculously opulent backyard, such a far cry from Michael’s Airstream that it’s laughable. Michael is using his powers to rearrange lawn furniture for Isobel’s amusement as she makes them drinks. Michael’s not picky, but Izzy enjoys making complex cocktails, even though she knows Michael is just going to ruin the delicate balance with a half a bottle of acetone. Isobel decides she wants it to be a movie night, and Michael lets her pick whatever she wants.

Isobel weirdly loves alien movies, and her selection is some obscure one he’s never seen before. Unfortunately there’s a prevalent military plot line, which is not what Michael needs right now. Not when Alex just deployed for his second tour, and Michael is simultaneously angry at him and terrified for him. Alex was back in Roswell on leave just three weeks ago, and as always they couldn’t stay away from each other. As the date Alex was set to leave approached, Michael became petulant and short-tempered, already dreading the moment Alex would walk away from him yet again. He was successful at picking a fight, but unsuccessful at making that moment hurt less. So, a movie with military men hunting aliens wasn’t really how he wanted to spend his night. Luckily Isobel made the drinks strong and likes to talk through the movies, so he can mostly disengage from the plot.

He’s a few drinks in and realizing that the mixture of booze, acetone, and the soldier movie is making him a bit maudlin, when Isobel’s voice breaks his reverie. “You know I love Noah, but if he didn’t exist I might hit up the bars near the military base. The soldier thing’s kind of hot.” Michael glances at the screen where the main character has stripped his shirt off for some reason. From the back he kind of looks like Alex. Michael’s three sheets to the wind, which is the only possible explanation for what comes out of his mouth next. “Agreed. I wouldn’t kick him out of bed.”

He hears a clatter, as ordinarily unflappable Isobel knocks her glass over as she wheels her whole body around to gape at him. “What was that now, little brother?” They may be the same age, but Isobel has always called him that when they’re alone.

He briefly considers playing it off as a joke, but he’s usually terrible at lying to Isobel, plus he can tell in this instance she’s interested and tipsy enough that she might decide to try digging through his memories. He really cannot handle having a conversation about Alex with the state he’s in, and he knows that’s what she’ll see if she so much as steps one foot into his mind right now.

Instead, he gives a non-committal shrug. “What, you think aliens can’t be bisexual?”

Isobel sputters for a minute. “Umm no, it just never occurred to me that you were. I’m pretty tapped into the gossip here, so I tend to hear about every girl you pick up at the Wild Pony whether I want to or not. I’m pretty sure I would’ve heard if you were taking home men. This is fascinating, though.”

She gets that look on her face she always gets before she taps into her powers, He knows, even in his drunken state, that he only has one option to make sure she has no interest in delving into his thoughts, and asking him about Alex.

He schools his features into his cockiest smirk, and drawls, “Well you know, there is this bar that’s a good time. Matter of fact, it's definitely frequented by some guys from the base. I don’t think you’d have much luck there, but I do just fine. In fact, last time I was there, I picked up this guy, and went back to his place, and we...”

As he predicted, her mind reader face quickly morphs into the disgusted look she gets anytime she’s forced to contemplate Max or Michael’s sex life.

“Ew, ew, ew, ew, no Michael!” she shouts tossing a napkin in his direction. “I do not need to hear about your sexcapades with men or women thank you very much.”

In truth, there’s not that much to tell. He has gone to that gay bar on a few occasions. He is, at his core, still a scientist, and scientists experiment. What he felt for Alex was so much stronger than anything he’d ever felt for any girl he’d been with, so he had briefly wondered if maybe that meant he was gay. But that didn’t really make sense to him, because he knew he was certainly attracted physically to women. He did some reading and wondered if maybe he was that kind of bisexual where he was attracted to women and men, but could only have romantic feelings for men. He then considered that maybe Alex was the only guy he was attracted to, romantically or physically.

To test his theories, he got really wasted one night and hit up the only gay bar in a 100 mile radius. He realized quickly that it was in fact possible for him to be attracted to men that weren’t Alex, and he managed some decent sex, but it felt like the sex he had with women... fine, satisfying even, but just sex. So after a few attempts, he decided he was just bisexual, with the capacity to only feel romantic attraction to Alex. So basically fucked. Once he figured that out, he mostly stuck to picking up women, which didn’t require quite as much effort or gas money.

Plus, since he had been hoping to avoid this particular conversation with Isobel, he’d been a little worried about running into someone he knew, and it getting back to her. Particularly after he’d spotted Max’s partner, Jenna Cameron in the corner of the bar the last time he was there. She’d been occupied by, from Michael’s perspective, rather skillfully picking up a girl. Since she’d never mentioned it any of the myriad of times he’d been in the back of her cop car since then, he could almost convince himself she hadn’t noticed him, except that he could have sworn she’d sent a wink in his direction as she walked out the door with the girl she’d been talking with. When Isobel later told him that Jenna and Max had some kind of friends with benefits thing going on, he’d internally questioned her sanity since she clearly had better options, as the girl she’d taken home had been very good looking by Michael’s estimation, but he figured maybe she was a pragmatic bi, like him, settling for convenience over quality.

But Iz didn’t need to know any of that. By threatening her with details, he felt assured that she’d stay out of his mind at least for now, and he wouldn’t have to talk about Alex. Hopefully now they can just focus on the movie, have a few more drinks, and he can pass out on her couch. But it seems like Izzy’s not quite ready to leave it alone.

“You know it’s fine with me, right? That you’re bisexual.”

Michael scoffs, “Iz, this isn’t an after school special, I haven’t been cowering in the closet in shame or anything.”

Isobel laughs, “Ok, I know you hate sincerity, so I won’t say it again, but I love you little brother. And now we can check out guys together!!”

Michael groans, his head hitting the back of his chair with a crack. “No, Isobel. We are not doing that. Also, I do not plan on having this conversation with Max, ever, so keep your mouth and your twin telepathy thing on lockdown about this.”

She does a mock salute, and thankfully drops it, for now. Of course, since he can’t be that lucky, every time they have movie night from that point forward, she comments on the attractiveness of the male protagonists, trying to find out his type, and teases him mercilessly, just like she does about everything else. He pretends to hate it, but he feels lighter somehow, that she knows this part of him and doesn’t turn away.

#roswell new mexico fic #somewhat canon divergent #precanon #michael & isobel #background malex

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elliepassmore · 5 years

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Empire of Storms Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: series, ToG, fantasy, magic, high stakes, battles, multiple POVs, strong female leads, scheming Oh wow, I have such a love-hate relationship with this book. On one hand, I love how it’s written, how the characters and overall situation evolves, and, for most of the book, what happens. But on the other hand, I hate what happens. If we can read this and pretend it ends 30 pages before it does, that’d be fantastic, thank you very much. For those that have not read this far in the series, Chaol isn’t in this one; ToD tells what’s happening with him while this book is going on. Also, I realized as I was writing the review that I talk a lotmore about Manon and Elide than any of the other characters, so be prepared. Aelin has a lot of character development in this one, growing from someone who is a queen to someone who is queenly. In QoS, it was obvious she cared about Terrasen and her Court, that she was a queen and had accepted it, but within the first couple of chapters with her in this one, there’s a slow change. She begins acting with more calculation, more cunning, and more of a willingness to sacrifice—both herself and others—to get done what needs to be done. She felt like a queen in this one. But more than that, I felt she became a more mature character in this one. As much as I love HoF and QoS!Aelin, she was still acting like that young, wicked 19-year-old assassin. Throughout this book, she slowly develops a sense of stillness and a greater understanding of how the world, and people as a whole, tend to work. I really, really like her character progression and magical rise throughout EoS. There were definitely some sketchy parts—like when she was willing to bring the Valg into a city and leave its occupants to their doom, or when she and Rowan were talking about potentially conquering more countries in the future—but as a whole, I felt Maas did a really good job of showing how the Crown, Terrasen, and Terrasen’s people impacted Aelin and her decisions. Not to mention, Aelin became a fiery powerhouse in this one, and that’s always a fun journey to see, regardless of who’s undergoing it. And, I know some people have complaints about this next bit but, I love love love all of Aelin’s scheming and secrecy. It’s cunning, it’s wicked, it’s a Power Move, and it’s one of my favorite things throughout this book, even if it does get her into trouble and isn’t always the best move on her part. Dorian…poor Dorian. He really can’t get a break right now, can he? First there’s a Valg prince in him, then he kills his dad and shatters half his castle, then all his friends leave to go do Very Official Things, and then his city is sacked and burned. What a great summer. Dorian’s definitely close to some of that darkness we saw in Aelin/Celaena in HoF, but he’s already got a country to run and can’t afford to delve into the depths of his despair the way Aelin/Celaena was allowed to. It creates this interesting combination of a king who almost resents being king, but also recognizes there are no other good options at the moment and someone’s got to do it. The plus side of this is that we get to see a darker, more devil-may-care version of Dorian…ya know, the one who flirts with a witch. On top of dealing with all of this, Dorian also has his own magical journey and we get to see him gain more control over his powers and use them to his advantage in dangerous situations instead of having them adding to the dangerous situation. Despite these things, Dorian definitely feels like a side character in this one instead of a main character, and I think even Dorian points out something to this effect during one of his narrations:“For a heartbeat, Dorian felt like a useless fool as they all, including him, looked to Aelin.” (367). I suppose it’s not exactlyan admission of side-characterness, but it’s pretty damn close…and accurate. With all the growing and changing Dorian experiences in this book, I really wish we 1) got to see more of it from his POV, and 2) had more attention on him in general, he is, after all, one of the Original 3 (Dorian, Chaol, Celaena/Aelin). Manon continued her developmental arc from the last two books into this one, which was nice to see. With everything she’s learned and seen, especially during the course of QoS, she’s wary of what’s going on in Morath, and she’s wary of her grandmother. Manon has some interesting decisions to make regarding who—and I suppose what if you want to get into what she believes—she’s loyal to. We’ve seen inklings of her budding rebelliousness in previous books, but it really comes out in this one, and she draws a stark line in the sand, a huge development for the witch who once valued “obedience, discipline, brutality” above all else…though, I suppose rebellions can be disciplined and brutal, just not obedient ;P Of course, Manon also shows more of her caring nature in this book. In HoF, we saw her risk her position to have Abraxos and to keep him safe. In QoS, we saw her take Elide under her wing to the point of breaching Morath’s dungeons. Now, we see all that come to a head, with her releasing Elide into Oakwald and telling her to find Aelin, and then later being extremely protective over Abraxos, and, of course, that dawn when Asterin—and by extension, the rest of the Thirteen’s—life is on the line and Manon decides to draw an even bigger line in the sand. Manon has always cared, but I wonder if she always would have acted upon it like she does in this book. Or to the extent she does in this book. One of my complaints with how Manon is handled in this story are that she goes with the flow more than I feel she normally would, and I don’t know if it’s because she’s outnumbered or injured or what, but I felt she should’ve fought back a little more before relaxing her stance. And then the other one, which I know not everyone will agree with, is that she and Elide have more chemistry than she and Dorian. From the way I’ve read the story, it makes more sense for her and Elide to enter into something romantic than for her and Dorian to. I’m pretty happy with how Elide’s path goes in this story. From QoS, we know she’s cunning, clever, and observant, but with her having a larger narrative role, we get to see just how much she is those things. I mean, if you want a measurement for it, she lies to Lorcan, one of Maeve’s famous Fae warriors, and does it so well he doesn’t sense it. More than that, she also manages to buff her way past some of Morath’s worst creatures, which she does by delving into her memory and mimicking the behavior and attitudes she’s seen from the Thirteen in order to fool the creature. There are other instances too, when she changes herself and lies to get stuff done, and she does it with such ease, it’s impressive. Her observation skills continue peaking as well, with her sensing danger before it’s upon her multiple times. Perhaps part of the reason I love Elide so much in this one is that we really get to see the extent of her mental abilities, and that so often, especially in fantasy, when girls and women are badass and strong characters and beat the bad guys, they do it physically, we so rarely get to see them do it mentally like Elide does. Not to say, of course, that Elide doesn’t also get into scuffles, because she does, and she’s pretty good at those too. She kills some of Morath’s creatures with a broken nose while on her period, and that’s a bit of violent fantasy I can get behind. But most of the time, Elide uses her head to get herself in and out of situations. Perhaps not unexpected, but loyalty stays a huge part of her character as well. She’s loyal to Aelin, loyal to the promise she made to Kaltain, loyal to Manon and the Thirteen, and, when it comes down to it, she’s even loyal to Lorcan, which brings me to my next point. I like Manon and Elide as a romantic pairing, but I can also see where people are coming from with Lorcan and Elide, however, the latter pairing is not nearly developed enough in this book to warrant their kissing. Elide was furious with him like, two chapters before they kiss *with passion* and it feels rushed. If Maas was planning on having Eide and Lorcan be together (well…they are, but whatever), I think there should’ve been more of a buildup. They have mutual respect, they have aesthetic attraction, but they still need that deeper connection. Rowan feels younger in this one, though I thought he felt younger in QoS too. He’s freer and more playful in this one than he has been in the other ones, and I felt he was more tied to Aelin in this one too. That doesn’t stop him from getting shit done, though, even if it takes him, say, back to Adarlan for a spell. He’s definitely fiercely protective over Aelin, willing to throw down anyone who insults her past with Nehemia or Sam, or just letting her fight her own battles and scheme her own schemes. In terms of scheming, Rowan and Aelin definitely rub off on each other. For all the credit given to Aelin for her brilliant, complex schemes, Rowan does his fair share of scheming in this book too. He tricks their alliance target into meeting with them when he doesn’t want to, tricks Gavriel and Fenrys’ blood oaths to not attack Lorcan on sight, and schemes a way to get more allies for them. Despite this, despite how old and powerful he is, he definitely has some...self-esteem issues in this one, believing he has nothing to offer Aelin once she takes the throne, as if being one of the most powerful Fae males in the world is nothing. He brought it up every couple of chapters, mentioning he only had his heart to give…and then ignoring when it was exactly that that got the tide of a battle to turn (I love his cousins, by the way, very dramatic). Lorcan got narration in this one, which was interesting. He is not as much of a dick as he’s been made out to be, I’ll tell you that right now. Yes, he’s vicious and cunning, but he’s not horrible. He undergoes a lot of character development in this book, and I wonder if that contributed to it. I thought it was really funny how he went from “I’m going to torture and kill this girl (Elide)” to “well maybe I’ll just get her to tell me the information by tricking her” to “she is now mine to protect.” I suppose, though, that Elide has that affect on people. But even without that transition, Lorcan gets to see Aelin and her Court in action in this book, and he begins to realize that things with Maeve are…not the way they should be. Unfortunately, small realizations and a couple weeks (months?) worth of traveling with someone and being away from the blood oath are not enough to stop hundreds of years’ worth of training and instinct. Not entirely, at least. I feel like Aedion is in this one less than he’s been in the others, I’m not quite sure why, since he’s with Aelin and Lysandra for the entire book, and with Rowan and Dorian for most of it. He is a bit of a dick in this one, for reasons I can understand. For one, he lost his cousin once and all of her scheming just about stops his heart in his chest, not to mention the fact he’s literally fought battles and knows more about them in theory and in practice than Aelin does, despite her intelligence. While I love Aelin and her schemes in this one, I agree with Aedion that she should maybemaybe consult with the people around her before and while she’s making decisions. Him snapping at her about their lack of allies was a dick move, though. So Aelin hadn’t had time to get allies…I didn’t really see Aedion getting them either. Despite any disagreements he has with people, when it comes down to it, he’s still willing to fight beside them and protect them. Poor Lysandra, she has such a shitty situation. She’s mastered her shifting more, and everyone’s been giving her lessons in different things necessary for survival and fighting, but she still gets the short end of the stick. For starters, she has to leave Evangeline in Terrasen while they go traipsing around for allies and Wyrdkeys. It makes sense to leave her where she’s safe, but Lysandra has been the one protecting her for the past couple of years, and the two have grown close, so it’s definitely a hard decision that Lysandra makes. Later, she gets to battle five water-wyverns as a sea dragon, which nearly kills her and nearly gets her stuck in sea dragon form. (view spoiler). I think the situation is especially interesting because Lysandra is not fighting for her own country. She is not a King, Queen, or prince fighting for Adarlan or Terrasen. She is not a Witch fighting for the Wastes. Lysandra is fighting because she believes in Aelin and Dorian, and because she knows that if Erawen wins, things will get a lot worse for a lot of people. It’s the ‘right thing to do’ to fight in this war, but the right thing isn’t always the thing that keeps you and your loved ones alive, as everyone in this book knows, and it’s often easier said than done to go “I’d do the right thing,” yet Lysandra still chose to stay and fight for her friends, for the world, even if it means wearing a different face for the rest of her life, or dying, or never seeing Evangeline again. This book was side-character salad. Remember Assassin’s Blade? A lot of those characters make a comeback. We get to see Rolfe, Ansel, and the Silent Assassin’s back at it again, to varying degrees of willingness. Ansel coming back was, I feel, heavily and obviously foreshadowed in QoS, I definitely called it before I read the book the first time. Despite what she’d done, I really like her character in this one and was…not touched, exactly, but felt something like that when Ansel revealed she’d tried to go to Endovier to get Aelin/Celaena out. Rolfe was just as colorful and fun as in Blade, but less of an asshole, potentially because he wasn’t trading in slaves anymore. Maas included a plot twist with him that was entertaining, and I wish had more attention brought to it in KoA. The Silent Assassins come back toward the very end of the book, so we don’t get to see a lot of their interactions with everyone, but it was a pleasant surprise to see that virtually all of them turned up to aid Aelin and co. in defeating Erawen and winning their countries back. We also get to see more of the cadre, with Gavriel and Fenrys chilling with our heroes for a bit. Gavriel, perhaps unsurprisingly, causes some tension with everyone, most notably Aedion, who is more than a little rough on him. I get the instinct, and with Gavriel still being blood sworn to Maeve, I probably wouldn’t’ve let Gavriel anywhere near me, but I also don’t know if anyone had much of a choice. Fenrys was the wild card one of the two, and definitely managed to piss people off more than Gavriel did, but he was funnier, so that’s a plus. I felt…odd about Fenrys. It’s obvious he’s only sworn to Maeve for his twin and would rather be free or with Aelin and co, but he ogles Aelin, which feels slimy to me and I’m not a huge fan of, no matter how funny he is. Galan Ashryver also shows up toward the end of the book to aid the group in their journey, but like the Silent Assassins, since he showed up at the end, we don’t get a lot from him. Unfortunately, with that mix of awesome, we also have to suffer Maeve and Erawen turning up in this book too. I can’t really say a lot about Maeve without giving a bunch of stuff away, but Maeve is a bitch and I hate her more than Erawen, who briefly shows up to wreak havoc and spy. We don’t see a lot of the Thirteen, but they play such a big role in Manon’s decisions and arc, that I thought they should be included here as well. They’re so loyal to Manon, despite the threat of it, but they’re also not blinded by loyalty. Asterin, especially, is one of my favorite characters. She’s wild and free and fierce, and she isn’t afraid to get in Manon’s face and tell her like it is, but she’s also not afraid to die in Manon’s place. Sorrel is calmer about her anger, falling true to Manon’s idea that Manon is ice, Asterin is fire, and Sorrel is stone. Sorrel’s anger and questioning falls more into the line of “I’m not mad, just disappointed,” which anyone with a parent knows is so much worse. Abraxos is worth mentioning as a member of the Thirteen as well, since he also plays such a vital role in Manon’s development. He was the one to first break that icy exterior around her, and he’s the one she’s with for a majority of the book. Abraxos takes care of Manon and makes sure she’s safe, and when he can’t, for a couple reasons, he does the next best thing and finds someone who can do those things. Ah, the plot. The plot foreshadows aspects of itself, I’ll say that right now, but outside of that, there’s a shit ton of foreshadowing in this book, and this book also answers a lot of previous books’ foreshadowing. Erawen’s on the rise, creatures are coming out of Morath, and now nobody’s on the throne. The group is running out of time to get everything they need, and there’s so many twists and turns and foreshadowing going on that just about everyone ends up relying on one another at some point. Stuff from previous books connect into this one with more than just characters, and um, it’s a little fucking devastating. I love it and all the threads it connects, though, bringing everything around again and relating the history of Erilea to it, literally explaining why things are happening now, and sort of why they’re happening the way they’re happening. Some of the characters start to pick up on it, to realize that things bigger than coincidence and ghosts are guiding them down this path. Of course, there’s the issue with representation in this series. The characters, except for some of the Thirteen and Ilias, are all white. They are pretty much also all straight. Aedion is hinted at being bisexual, one of Rowan’s cousins is gay, and two members of the Thirteen are lovers. That’s four people, three of whom we barely/don’t see, and the fourth whose sexuality is only really hinted at. I love these books (and ACoTaR), but they are seriously lacking in diversity.

BONUS

The Visit

4.5/5 stars

One of the copies of EoS I have has a short scene at the back detailing a visit to Mistward while Rowan and Aelin were training there.

I’m going to say from the start that I think Rowan and Aelin are shown being closer in this scene than we see for the entirety of HoF. They’re friends, we know they care about each other, they’re carranam (though they haven’t realized it at this point yet), but in HoF they didn’t act in the light, playful way they do now, and this scene feels more like QoS/EoS!Rowaelin than HoF!Rowaelin, hence the dropped half star.

I liked what happened in the story, though. Aelin’s temper is, naturally, on a short leash and it erupts toward Lady Remelle from Doranelle who acts a little too territorial over Rowan. Maas does a good job making sure we don’t like the Lady, so it was just desserts to see Aelin snap fire at her and earn her nickname ‘fire breathing bitch queen.’ Benson was just creepy and rapey feeling, and barely had any lines of dialogue. Essar was the only Fae from Doranelle I liked, again by design, and she was also the only one to realize who Elentyia/Celaena/Aelin really was.

So, cute little short that gave us the background behind Aelin’s bitch-queen nickname, but also a short that’s a little OOC for the book it’s supposed to be set in.

Entering Terrasen

5/5 stars

The other copy of EoS I have has a scene at the back where Aelin, Rowan, Lysandra, Evangeline, and Aedion have just entered Terrasen and are in a small village where they meet a water user.

I’m not really sure why this scene wasn’t just in the book, since it takes place during the timeline of the book and it would’ve only added a couple pages (which it did anyway, just at the end). I think it would’ve been nice to have it included because it shows the rebuilding of Terrasen, not just physically, but also mentally. It involves magic and laughing kids, that’s something that should be addressed within the book because of what it represents against the backdrop of a land recovering from being conquered.

The scene was super cute, with the magic user being a little 9-year-old. She has, for the first time, access to her magic and is using it to play with the other kids to no one’s objection, showing that despite Adarlan’s tight-fisted stance on magic and magic users, the people of Terrasen are not about to throw stones at those gifted with it. It also shows that, despite the wariness the girl has for the Adarlanian accent, she’s still willing to talk with Aelin and have their magics play together.

Overall, cute scene, should’ve just been in the book instead of a bit of extra content.

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dailybestiary · 5 years

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Patch Has Issues: Dungeon #2

Issue: Dungeon #2

Date: November/December 1986 (Pretty sure my Christmas haul that year was full of dope toys from The Transformers movie/show.)

The Cover:

(Use of cover for review purposes only and should not be taken as a challenge to status. Credit and copyright remain with their respective holders.)

Ah, Clyde Caldwell. He, Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, and last issue’s Keith Parkinson were the mainstays of TSR’s amazing stable of artists. I have a soft spot for Caldwell. He did the covers for the D&D Gazetteer series, which means his work emblazoned some of my absolute favorite books from my middle school years. (At the time I had the whole series except the two island books, GAZ 4 & GAZ 9 (which I’ve since collected), plus the Dawn of the Emperors box set. My favorites, for the record, were GAZ 3, 5, 10, and 13. I...may like elves...a little too much.) And even as I sit here, other covers demand to be named. The very first Dragonlance adventure, the iconic Dragons of Despair? The Finder’s Stone trilogy? The first Ravenloft box? Dragon #147? Yep, he did those covers too. He was amazing.

But hoo-boy, we also have to talk about the not-amazing parts. Once Caldwell settled on a way of doing things, that’s how he did them. Points for consistency, but man, he had tropes. Even his tropes had tropes. He had a way of painting dragon’s wings. He had a way of painting swords and boots. He had a way of painting jewelry, and belts and coins—ovals upon ovals upon ovals.

And his way of painting women was with as few clothes as possible. Everything I said about Parkinson last entry? Yeah, that goes double for Caldwell. He never paints pants when a thong will do. His take on the reserved and regal Goldmoon—thighs as long as a dwarf and bronzed buttcheeks exposed—reportedly left Margaret Weis in tears. Magic-users (God, I hate that term) famously couldn’t use armor in D&D and AD&D, but Caldwell’s sorceresses pretty much stick to gauze just to be safe. And the Finder’s Stone trilogy I mentioned above? Yeah, the authors of Azure Bonds took one look at Caldwell’s cover art and literally had to come up with in-text reasons why the heroine Alias—one of the most surly woman sellswords in existence—would wear armor with a Caldwell boob hole.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cheesecake as much as the next dude. (Actually that’s not true; I came up in the grunge ’90s—our version of cheesecake was an Olympia brunette in three layers of thrift store sweaters reading Sandman while eating a cheesecake. Hell, that’s still my jam.) But context matters. The sorceress from “White Magic,” Dragon #147’s cover, may barely be wearing a negligee, but she’s also in the seat of her power and probably magically warded to the hilt—she can wear whatever she damn wants; it’s her tower. So no complaints there. But this cover’s pirate queen Porky Piggin’ it seems like an unwise choice. (The friction burns alone from clambering around the rigging…)

It’s clear from reading The Art of the Dragonlance Saga that TSR was trying to turn the ship around when it came to portrayals of women in fantasy, however slowly. And in Caldwell’s defense and to his credit, he definitely delivered women with agency—in nearly every image, they are nearly always doing something active and essential. They just tend to be doing it half-dressed.

Which is all a way of saying I dig this cover—the explosion, the churning sea (even if it does more look like snow drifts than waves), the sailors all running to the rail to look—but yeah, that pirate captain needs to put on some damn pants.

The Adventures: Before we get started, I have to note that though we’re only an issue in, already the magazine feels more noticeably like the work of editor Roger Moore. This is 100% a guess, but it really feels to me like Dungeon #1 was made of adventures that the Dragon office already had laying around, whereas Dungeon #2 was composed of adventures that Roger Moore and the new Dungeon team had more of a hand in sifting through. (He also has an assistant editor this time in Robin Jenkins, which had to have helped.) Even the cartography looks better. Again, I have zero confirmation of this, but the feeling is strong.

“The Titan’s Dream” by W. Todo Todorsky, AD&D, Levels 5–9

PCs visiting an oracle accidentally walk right into a titan’s dream and must solve some conundrums to escape. What an awesome concept this is! (Spoilers for “Best Concept” section below.) It’s a shame I don’t like this more.

First of all, dreamworld adventures are really hard to do well. And for them to work, there usually need to be real stakes—and not just “If you die in the dream, you die in real life!”—and/or a real connection to the PCs in your campaign. The latter, especially, is really hard to pull off in a published adventure; typically it’s only achieved through tactics that critics deride as railroading. (For instance, @wesschneider’s excellent In Search of Sanity does a great job of connecting the characters to their dream adventures...but it does that by a) forging the connection at 1st level, and b) pretty strongly dictating how the adventure begins and how the characters are affiliated. It works, but that’s high-wire-act adventure writing.)

Being a magazine adventure, “The Titan’s Dream” doesn’t have that luxury—it’s got to be for a general audience and work for most campaigns. That unfortunately means the default “Why” of the adventure—a lord with a child, a wedding, and an alliance at stake hires the PCs to chat with a wise titan—is little more than that: a default.

On top of that...I cannot get excited about anything Greek mythology-related. To me, just the fact I’m seeing it is a red flag.

Look, Greek mythology is why I got into this hobby. Hell, it’s why I got into fiction, period. (For some reason I somehow decided I had no use for fiction books targeted to my age, with the exception of Beverly Cleary. Then in 4th(?) grade, I got a copy of Alice Low’s Greek Gods and Heroes, and the rest is history.) But Greek mythology is often the only mythology anyone knows. When people think polytheism, that’s where most people’s minds go. Which is why, if you ever played D&D in the ’80s, I pretty much guarantee your first deity was from that pantheon. (In my first game, my first-level cleric pretty much met Ares and got bitch-slapped by him, because that’s what 4th-grade DMs do.)

So to me, putting Greek deities or titans in your adventure is the equivalent of putting dudes riding sandworms into your desert adventures—you can do it, but you better blow me away, because that is ground so well trod it’s mud. And this one doesn’t do the job.

The format is three dreams, each with five scenes. Parties will move randomly—a mechanic meant to represent dream logic (or lack thereof)—through these scenes, until all the scenes from one dream have been resolved. This is actually kind of fascinating, and I wonder how it would play at the table—I have a feeling observant players will dig it, but others may find the mechanism’s charm wears off quickly, especially if they have difficulty solving the scenes or get frustrated with the achronicity of events. I also like that every scene has a number of possible resolutions, so the PCs aren’t locked into achieving a single specific objective like they were stuck in a computer game.

But...I can’t shake the feeling of weak planning and execution (or even laziness?) that stayed with me throughout the adventure. Like, okay, the first adventure is a cyclops encounter out of the Odyssey. Cool! But then...why does the Titan follow it up with pseudo-Norse/Arthurian encounter? Did the Odyssey not hold the author’s attention? (Nor the Iliad, the Aeneid, or Metamorphosis? Really?) And then why is the third dream “drawn from the realm of pure fairy tale”? Like, were you out of pantheons? Horus didn’t return your calls? Or be more specific—why not German fairy tales, or Danish, or French Court, or Elizabethan? It feels like a class project where one group was on point, one group got the assignment a little wrong, and one didn’t even try.

Again, it’s not even that this adventure is bad—I honestly can’t tell if it is or not; I’m sure a lot of its success is determined at the table. And I could totally see throwing this at a party if I was out of inspiration that week or we needed a low-stakes breather before our next big arc. But the instant I think about it for more than a second, it all falls apart for me.

Have any of you tried this one? Let me know what you thought. And for a similar exploration into dream logic/fairy tale scenarios, I recommend Crystal Frasier’s The Harrowing for Pathfinder.

“In The Dwarven King’s Court” by Willie Walsh, AD&D, Levels 3–5

Willie Walsh is a name we’re going to see a lot more in issues to come—he’s a legendarily prolific Dungeon contributor, delivering quality, typically low-level, and often light-hearted or humorous adventurers issue after issue after issue. His first entry is a mystery with a time limit: A dwarf king is supposed to make a gift of a ceremonial sword to seal a treaty, but the sword has vanished. Brought to the king’s court courtesy of a dream, adventurers must find the sword and the surprising identity of the culprit before the rival power’s delegation arrives.

At first I was going to ding this adventure for its “What, even more dreams this issue?” hook...but here’s the thing with Walsh—never judge his modules until you reach the final page. Nearly every time I’m tempted to dismiss one of his sillier or more random adventure elements, it turns out that it makes sense and works just fine. In this case, the cause of the dream is haunt connected to the mystery, and I feel dumb for being all judgy.

So anyway, the PCs are given leave to search for the stolen object and the thief, but of course it turns out there is a whole lot of light-fingeredness going around. As Bryce (see below) puts it, “It’s like a Poirot mystery: everyone has something to hide.” This castle has as much upstairs-downstairs drama as any British farce, with nearly every NPC having either a fun personality and/or a fun secret (and with the major players illustrated by some equally fun portraits) that should make them memorable friends and foils for PCs to interact with. Not to mention the actual culprit is definitely a twist that will be hard explaining to the king...

GMs should be ready to adjust on the fly, though—a) it’s a lot of characters to juggle, and b) since the PCs are 3rd–5th level, the right spells or some lucky secret door searches could prematurely end the adventure as written. You may want to have some last-minute showdowns, betrayals, or other political intrigue outlined and in your back pocket if what’s on the page resolves too quickly.

Overall though, I’m a big fan of this adventure, and look forward to the rest of Walsh’s output. Also, given the dwarven focus and the geography of the land, this adventure could be a very nice sequel to last issue’s “Assault on Eddistone Point.”

“Caermor” by Nigel D. Findley, AD&D, Levels 2–4

Look at this author’s list of writing credits! Findley was amazingly prolific, and his work was pretty high-quality across the board, as far as I know. I particularly loved the original Draconomicon, one of the first and only 2e AD&D books I ever bought as a kid. I also loved his “Ecology of the Gibbering Mouther” from the excellent Dragon #160, and some of his Spelljammer supplements are currently sitting upstairs in my to-read pile, recently purchased but as yet shamefully untouched.

Now look at his age at the time of his death. Life is not always fair or kind.

(Speaking of unkind, man is the bio in this issue unfortunate in retrospect: “[H]e write for DRAGON® Magazine, enjoys windsurfing, plays in a jazz band, and manages a computer software company in the little time he has left.” As Archer would say, “Phrasing!”)

Anyway, this adventure is simple: An otherworldly force has been murdering the locals. The locals have pinned the blame on a handsome bard from out of town, and their own prejudices and general obstinacy are sure to get in the way of the investigation—that is, if the true culprits, some devil-worshipping culprits and and an abishai devil, don’t get in the way first.

All in all, this is a tight, well-written adventure, so I don’t have much to say about it, other than that if you like the idea of sending your party to help out some young lovers and save some faux-Scots/Yorkshiremen too stubborn to save themselves (and maybe slip in a valuable lesson about prejudice and xenophobia as well), this is the adventure for you.

One thing that does jump out to a contemporary reader, though, is the comically overpowered nature of the baddie pulling the strings in this adventure: Baalphegor, Princess of Hell (emphasis mine). Overpowered, you-won’t-really-fight-this-NPC happens with a lot of low-level adventures, when the writers want a story more epic than characters at the table can handle or are trying to plot the seeds for future evils. But still, any princess of Hell would already be a bit much...but an 18-Hit Dice, “supra-genius”, the Princess of Hell? Like, what the f—er, I mean, Hell?

If you use the adventure as written, the only way to have Baalphegor’s presence make sense is to eventually reveal that the area is an epicenter of some major badness. (Maybe that explains the lost nation of evil dwarves in the adventure background.) For a good model on how to seed early adventures in this matter, Dungeon’s Age of Worms Adventure Path and Pathfinder Adventure Path’s Rise of the Runelords AP, both from Paizo, are exemplars of small-town disturbances that eventually have world-shaking implications.

It’s also fascinating in retrospect to note Ed Greenwood’s massive impact in the hobby. Any article that appears in Dragon has the sheen of being at least semi-official, but it’s clear that Greenwood’s content was a cut above even that. In this case, an NPC from a three-year-old article of his is not just treated as canon, but also supplies the mastermind behind the adventure! It’s no surprise that in the following year his home campaign, the Forgotten Realms, would soon become AD&D’s newest and then its default setting.

Two final thoughts: 1) There’s some fascinating anti-dwarf prejudice in this article. Nearly every mention of dwarves paints them as exceptionally greedy and/or villains. And 2) how did one even begin to balance adventures in those days? This adventure is for “4–8 characters of 2nd–4th level.” There are a lot of difference at the extreme ends of those power scales…

“The Keep at Koralgesh,” by Robert Giacomozzi & Jonathan Simmons, D&D, Levels 1–3

One of the problems of BECMI D&D being known as “basic D&D” is that writers often assumed the players to be basic (that is, younger/new) as well. Which probably accounts for some of the early suggestions to the DM we get at the beginning of this adventure—like some pretty patronizing advice along the lines of not immediately announcing to PCs what the pluses are on their magical swords.

Fortunately, after that the article settles down and gives us Dungeon’s first real D&D adventure. In fact, not just real, but massive: 20 full pages of content—nearly half the issue! It’s a fully fledged dungeon crawl that has the PCs taking advantage of the summer solstice to open a shrine door that will lead them inside a long-ruined keep said to hold great treasure.

Now, I imagine in the coming installments it’s going to seem to many of you like I’m grading D&D adventures on a curve, because of my love for the system and the Known World/Mystara. That’s a fair accusation, but a better way to consider it is that I’m reviewing D&D adventures for what they are—adventures from a separate system, with a more limited rules system and palette of options than AD&D. You don’t go to a performance of Balinese shadow puppetry and compare it against Andrew Lloyd Webber; you look at it for what it achieves in its own medium. Since they appear side-by-side in the same magazine, comparison is going to be inevitable, but that’s with the understanding that AD&D was the kid coloring with the 64-crayon box of Crayola, while D&D was getting by with just eight.

On its own terms then, “The Keep of Korgalesh” is a decent, if not superlative, success. I love that it’s practically module-length and that we get three complete levels—a far cry from the previous issue’s side-trek-at-best, “The Elven Home.” We also get two new monsters, which absolutely fills my inner BECMI D&D player with glee. And I like that what starts as a dungeon crawl/fetch quest evolves into a “kill the big bad thing” and “find out what really happened to this city.”

There are issues, though. If the whole city was destroyed, getting to see some of it besides the keep would have been nice. Some of the ecology for the dungeon inhabitants is questionable. There pretty much wasn’t a single pool or fountain in this era of D&D adventure design that wasn’t magical, and this adventure was no exception. One of the new monster’s names makes no sense except that “tyranna” and “abyss” are cool words (I mean, I guess you could read that as “tyrant of the depths,” but still…) And there are painfully obvious borrowings from other works, especially Tolkien—a door that only opens at solstice, a lake monster, an orc with a split personality that is clearly a Gollum homage, etc.

What this adventure really needs is stakes—just something to give it a bit more oomph beyond the dungeon crawl. (Finding a blacksmith’s lost hammer is the hook offered in the adventure but it’s pretty flimsy.) Perhaps the PCs are some of Kor’s last worshippers, and clearing out the dangers here and resanctifying his temple is one of their first steps toward returning him to prominence. Maybe the PCs’ grandparents were involved in the city’s demise and restoring Koralgesh will restore the families’ honor. Or you could keep it simple and have a band of pirates or a rival adventuring group also trying to clean out the keep, turning it into a race (with the tyrannabyss causing the scales of fate to wobble at appropriately cinematic moments).

So the final analysis is this is a decent dungeon crawl upon which you can build a good adventure. The real reward of this module isn’t treasure; it’s finding out just what happened to Koralgesh. But for that to matter, it needs to tie into the PCs’ pasts, futures, or both.

BONUS CONTENT FOR KNOWN WORLD/MYSTARA NERDS: Kor is almost certainly a local name for the sun god Ixion. The chaotic deity Tram is probably a local version of Alphaks, though Atzanteotl is another strong candidate, especially since deceit was key to the pirates’ success. Koralgesh could be located somewhere on the Isle of Dawn, the northern coast of Davania, or an Ierendi/Minrothad Isle that those nations haven’t made it a priority to rebuild.

Best Read: “Caermor.” Nigel D. Findley was a pro.

Best Adventure I Could Actually Run with Minimal Prep: “The Keep at Koralgesh,” as a well-written, straight-ahead dungeon crawl. Every other adventure here relies on a pretty strong handle of very mobile NPCs and their motivations, or a Titan’s dream mechanics.

Best Concept: “The Titan’s Dream,” as noted above. It’s a great idea very worth exploring, even if I wasn’t about the execution we got in this case.

Best Monster: This was actually a monster-light issue. Despite some awesome art for the tyrannabyss, I have to go with the epadrazzil, a scaly ape from a two-dimensional plane of existence that has to be summoned via a painting. All of those details are just so wonderfully and weirdly specific it has to win. (Extra points for anyone who noticed the thoul—a classic D&D monster (though it did make its way into AD&D’s Mystara setting) born from a typo.)

Best NPC: Since this is a role-playing-heavy issue, there are a bunch of contenders, and the final verdict will go to whoever your party sparks to at the table. Obviously King Baradon the Wise should get the nod for [spoiler-y reasons], but I also really like the opportunity the executioner Tarfa offers, thanks to his incriminating goblet and how it might bring the PCs to the attention of a far-off assassin’s guild at just the right level.

Best Map: All together the maps from “The Keep at Koralgesh” form an extremely appealing whole. But for best single map I have to go for the palace of Mount Diadem—that is a bangin’ dwarven demesne.

Best Thing Worth Stealing: Jim Holloway’s illustrations of dwarves. Good dwarf, gnome, and halfling art is hard to find, and even the good stuff often leans stereotypical. While Holloway’s art is often humorous—I have a feeling he and Roger Moore jibed really well, though that’s totally a guess based purely on what assignments he got handed—his dwarves, especially in this issue, are fresh, specific, and unique. You could identify them by their silhouettes alone—always the sign of good character art. If you need an image of a dwarf NPC to show the players, “In the Dwarven King’s Court” is a great first stop.

Worst Aged: Female thong pirates on magazine covers. Also using the actual names of actual mental illnesses in game materials.

What Bryce Thinks: “This seems to be a stronger issue than #1, although half of the adventures are … unusual.”

Bryce actually almost likes “The Titan’s Dream,” confirming my loathing of it. He in turn loathes “In the Court of the Dwarven King.” Like me, though, he is pro-”Caermor” and sees potential in “The Keep at Koralgesh.” (Also credit where it’s due: I might have missed the condescension at the start if he hadn’t called it out.)

So, Is It Worth It?: If you’re a Clyde Caldwell fan, this issue might be worth searching out in print. So much of Caldwell’s work from this era was dictated by product needs, cropped and boxed up in ads, or shrunk down to fit on a paperback cover. So to get this cover in full magazine size, with only the masthead tucked up top to get in the way—that could be well worth a few bucks to you.

Also, if you’re BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia-era D&D fan (or know someone who is), again, this one might be worth having in print. “The Keep at Koralgesh” is a legit, proper BECMI D&D adventure, spanning 20 whole pages and with two new monsters to boot. I would have practically have cried if someone had given 7th-grade me this.

Beyond that you can probably just rely on the PDF. But both “Caermor” and “In the Dwarven King’s Court” have strong bones worth putting some modern muscle and skin on.

Random Thoughts:

The Caldwell cover painting was also used for the Blackmoor module DA4 The Duchy of Ten. PS: I’m not trying to tell you what to do or anything, but if you do happen to run across a physical copy of The Duchy of Ten or and of the DA modules, holla at ya boy over here.

Since this is our second issue, we now have a “Letters” column. Turns out Dungeon had been announced in Dragon #111 with a really detailed set of writer’s guidelines; most of the correspondence is questions re: those. In the process of answering, we get some surprisingly frank talk about payment. The $900 for a cover seemed low until I converted it to 2018 dollars, and ~$2,000 does seem right to my ignorant eye. I then made the mistake of converting my current salary to 1986 dollars and felt a lot worse about myself and what I’ve achieved.

Apologies this took so long to post. I had the issue read by early October and most of this review written with the next week or two after...but then I got involved in dealing with a 4.5 week hospitalization and aftermath...and then a second still-ongoing hospitalization...and even though I only had about four paragraphs left I just couldn’t find time to put a bow on it.

Notable Ads: The gold Immortals Rules box for D&D. (I also still don’t have that one yet, and Christmas is coming. Just saying, guys, if you happen to find one in your attic.) ;-) Also an ad for subscribing to Dungeon itself, starring “my war dinosaur, Boo-Boo.” No, really.

Over in Dragon: Beneath a glorious cover, Roger Moore is the new editor of Dragon #115, three authors (including Vince Garcia, who I like a lot) share credit on a massive six articles about fantasy thieves, a famous article proposing that clerics get the weapons of their deity (people were still talking about it in the “Forum” column when I was buying my first issues two years later), and a look at harps from the Forgotten Realms (notable because behind the scenes Ed Greenwood’s home setting was being developed for the AD&D game for launch in 1987.) A photographic cover and a 3-D sailing ship are served up in Dragon #116, along with maritime adventures, more Ed Greenwood (rogue stones), and articles for ELFQUEST, Marvel Super Heroes (Crossfire’s gang), and FASA’s Dr. Who game (looking at all six(!) doctors). (Incidentally, I had an Irish babysitter around this time who first mentioned Dr. Who to me—I wish I’d explored more but I was too young to understand what I’d been offered.)

PS: Yes, I’ve heard about the upcoming Tumblr ban. It is a terrible idea that will affect way too many of my readers. It shouldn’t affect me much (and I have all my monster entries backed up at the original site), but I will keep you posted as I learn more, particularly if I find you, my readers, packing up and going elsewhere.

#daily bestiary #patch has issues #pathfinder #paizo #3.5 #dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons #d&d #dnd #ad&d #becmi #dungeon #dungeon magazine

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1358456 · 5 years

Text

Review Response, June 9-15, 2019

Once again, I wasn’t at home yesterday so this got delayed, and once again that 1 day delay doesn’t change anything whatsoever.

... And whatever the hell happened to the horizontal line breaks?! Now I’m just manually making those lines with - like a sucker...

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Destiny #006

1) Oh shit I finished the chapter so quickly it felt like it only lasted a couple minutes (though I know it’s a lot longer, I just got too eager). In any case, I was super excited to see White in this chap! I can’t wait to have her and Black interact, I absolutely love the way you write them (just like with Ruby and Sapphire kek). Speaking of Ruby and Sapphire: the jealousy from Sapphire’s side was on point! And I cannot wait for Sapphire’s reaction to Ruby’s answer. Btw nice sort of cliff hanger on that one. And tbh I have no idea what Ruby would say. I feel like he might say no because of Sapphire and the whole mega stone or keystone thing whatchamacallit, but again I’m not sure. Also, no? Blue answer your calls from Red? He’s worrying about you, love. All you need to do is answer and boom! On your way to happiness! Well. Sort of. I guess. Baby steps. But anyways, Dia’s (and Pearl’s no kidding) was adorable. And it made my little shipper heart happy, so kudos to you for that. And also I think it was great how you wrote Platinum as still polite yet attached; regal even when literally lying unconscious a couple minutes prior. It was so like her, and it still amazes me how on point you write these characters. Though admittedly Blue is not how she is in the manga (but that’s sort of the whole point, so like that’s what’s ideal). And so although you stay true to their personalities, it’s also great that you kept in mind how things would affect certain people and changes they way they behave in accordance to that. So kudos to you for that too. Also, definitely NOT going to be happy meeting Peter again in this story. I know it’s going to happen, but I can only hope that the guy spying on Blue (whom I assume is Peter) will not do anything to her, and if so isn’t revealed as Peter. Simply because I just don’t want to put up with his douchebaggery. Oof my reviews are long, but I get so caught up in it that I can’t help myself. Thank you again.

I do like writing with Black and White. But unfortunately, they are just 2 of MANY Dex Holders, so they won’t be getting as much focus as you’d like, especially since they’re particularly high on my Preference List. Damn. That said, when there’s one, there’s always the other with these two. Inseparable!

Indeed. All Blue has to do is answer Red’s call and everything becomes just fine. Another parallel to Legacy, if you will. In Destiny, Blue ignored the calls out of her fears and thus sh*t happens. In Legacy, Blue answered the call, and thus she was able to attain true happiness! But Destiny is the “mid-point” between SA and Legacy. The “mid-point” of the pairing shift. Blue’s progression towards Red has to be a gradual one.

Oh, Platinum. She must always retain her elegance, even if she had just gotten absolutely stomped a minute prior. That’s what makes her... her, you know?

Blue’s character traits of melancholy and depression (when alone) is mostly canon, but her steps towards rampancy is a... personality extrapolation given the canon. If she was to be pushed a certain way, how would she react? That kind of thing.

I’m loving your long reviews! But I do notice that it’s been a month since you started Destiny, and this is chapter 6. Out of 43. ... Hmm...

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Wings #001

1) Hello, hello! Right from the start, this story was surprising to see since I remembered that you said that you didn't like these sorts of high school AU things. I've only seen bits and pieces of this story being mentioned, but I didn't expect this sort of thing! The start was amusing; I found it funny how Y was paying attention to the way she looked, but by the end, I understand y now, and I feel sorry for the poor chap that ruined her reputation already.

Hey, you started on Wings! Yay!

Yep, I absolutely detest high school AU stories. But only because they’re all mostly the same thematically. Wings aims to avoid every single one of those common themes.

1) Self insert: I am not putting in “myself” with a disguise of the main character in a high school AU to “relive” high school but with my desired outcomes. No. Y in Wings is nothing like me. In fact, I’m basing Y’s aggression based on a web comic series I’ve seen years ago. And my high school “outcomes” were mostly identical to my desires anyways, so... meh.

2) Unpopular girl main character: My understanding of the main characters in “those high school AUs” is that the girls are always like timid and unpopular and gets bullied by the “pretty and popular” mean girls until the main character eventually triumphs once the “popular guy” falls in love and... blech. ... What do you think will happen in Wings if the “pretty and popular” mean girls were to bully Y? Yeah. Wings is nothing like those types of stories.

3) Romance: Y doesn’t give a f*ck about love in Wings. Some “cute popular” boy makes a move on her, she gives him the finger and then walks away. The end.

4) “(Name) is a normal girl attending high school and-”: ... Y is not normal. Yes, she wants a normal high school life, but literally right off the bat, I smashed that wish because Wings cannot be remotely similar to any of “those high school AUs”.

And on and on.

I’m glad you thought it was amusing! Wings is intended to be purely for fun. Especially later on as more shenanigans happens.

... But I’m curious that you’re leaving a GUEST review, instead of the signed one, currently with the ID of... er... ... keyboard mashing. Hmm...

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Wings #002

1) It's nice to see the Kalos group coming together! I still haven't finished reading the XY arc of the manga, but it's nice to see Y and Shauna's interactions. I like how you gave a brief insight to Shauna's life in her middle school years; getting bullied sucks, and it must have been hard for her if she prefers to be friends with someone who is viewed negatively and lowers her own reputation down, rather than increasing the chances of getting bullied again. Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but it's still nice! And for X...dang, I feel sorry for him...salt and pepper in his eyes and mouth? That was extreme. Overall, a pretty great chapter! It was amusing from the way X and Shauna unintentionally contributed to lowering Y's reputation in her classroom, and to watch Y beat up intimidating students was funny to imagine.

Yep. Y and Shauna will be one of those “BFFs”, but... not really like those. I have to retain Shauna’s canon personality, which is a bit... sarcastic? So she’ll have a more “cool” friendship with Y instead of those “omg hug” types or whatever. F*ck those.

Hmm... Shauna having a bad middle school experience is not really intentional, but it does make sense, if you think about it like that. But it could also be that Shauna just finds hanging out with Y to be amusing.

X getting salt and pepper poured into his face is LOOSELY based on what I went through in high school, where some prick randomly poured a packet’s worth of salt on my head (getting all that damn salt out of my hair took absolutely forever), and so I took revenge by emptying at least 30 packets of salt and pepper into a sheet of paper and then pouring all that into his hair the next day. So... poor me, poor that kid, and poor X. Hehe.

Oh, there will be more instances of Shauna inadvertently worsening Y’s reputation, with real and fake stories. But Y won’t really mind since it’ll already be too late. There’s no turning back with her reputation now.

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Wings #003

1) Like a bolt from the blue, it's time for a (ratherlatethanintended) review! I really missed the way you write and how you describe everything in detail. Really helps me visualize everything! I know that's the point of writing, but your writing style is effective since I tend to zone out whenever I read something too long. Plus, the way you have each chapter structured keeps things interesting. My interest in piqued with each passing chapter! I'm thoroughly enjoying this story so far.

Okay onto the chapter itself! I like how Grace is supportive of Y's choices even when her daughter's being really violent in school, though perhaps it's because Grace was a delinquent herself when she was younger? Maybe?

And the way X behaves and reacts whenever Y is around is both amusing and sad. Very traumatic for him I'm sure. I do hope that his and Y's relationship as friends improve as chapters go by.

Faitsu and Crystal finally appears so I'm happy about that! I hope more familiar faces appear soon! Speaking of which, I felt like the teacher at the end of chapter 1 could turn out to be someone we know, but I don't know if that's just me. (It's not at all possible due to your preferences, but I keep thinking it's Green, even though he's in the void of nonexistence.)

Getting decked in the face by a soccer ball...hah. What a way to meet your future teammate! ...assuming she ends up joining the soccer club that is.

Overall, a great chapter! I like how lively everyone is, even the nameless students!

Ehehe... thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying this deviation of a story of mine. After all, I’d never make another high school AU, ever, and this is the only one, so... it’s quite the deviant.

My thoughts on Grace is that she’s kind of a cool mother. ... Though I think that’s more... er... non XY arc. Hmm... Well, like mother like daughter... right?? Hehehe...

Oh, X and Y will be GOOD friends as time passes! Can’t have Y stressing out the poor boy, now can I? He will certainly prove to be a good supportive friend, though... not physically supporting (later on).

Faitsu and Crystal (and Black, technically) have appeared! More and more familiar faces will appear and be mentioned as time passes, of course. In fact, most everyone will be in Wings. Red, Blue, Gold, Crystal, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Black, White, Faitsu, X, Y, Sun, and Moon! ... Even Sword and Shield, if Wings lasts long enough. ... So... no, Green is not in Wings, since he has been banished into the void for eternity.

Yep. Decked in the face. And bloodshed. Real hard to get by ONE day without bloodshed, eh? Hehehe.

I look forward to seeing your review for the 4th chapter!

#qna

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sleepingfancies · 6 years

Note

What are your thoughts on the Petyr Snape comparison

Personally, I think it only holds ground on the surface.

As in - they’re both men who resented the man their former lover ended up with, and then later came into more-or-less guardianship of their former lovers’ child. But I think the similarities begin and end there. More under the cut bc this got a bit longer than I intended!

For starters, I do not ever see Snape handing James Potter over to Voldemort to be killed just so he can be closer to Lily. I think - and this is just my interpretation - the differences between them are the degrees of their selfishness and the peace they made with how things turned out.

Snape, despite how utterly in love he was (and went about it poorly), made peace with James and Lily being together.

Petyr Baelish never, ever made peace with Catelyn being anyone’s but his, to the point where he accepted Sansa as the next best thing after Catelyn died.

Snape definitely hung on to his love for Lily, I won’t lie and pretend he was a total saint about it all. His Patronus changing forms, taking her side of the family photo; there are many instances where we can see Snape never really got over Lily - to some, that can come off as creepy. Personally I see it as more like a guy who pushed his only friend and love away by behaving rashly, and blames himself for her death, believing he could’ve protected her from Voldemort. Perhaps he even believed none of it would’ve happened had he not called her a mudblood all those years ago, if he had never turned Death Eater. Snape is a man who has a lot of serious regrets. He certainly had no love for James though, nor even for Harry. That much is clear (and if we’re being totally honest, given the situation, Harry wasn’t always the most considerate or easiest child to deal with - some of Snape’s frustration with him seems pretty justified at times). But Snape had made peace with the fact that he didn’t end up with Lily, that James married her, and that they had a kid together. I mean that as in - he was no longer pursuing Lily, begging her to choose him instead, or harassing them as a family. He never fought with James outside of Hogwarts, and while he quite obviously detested Harry for being very much like James, he never allowed Harry to physically come to harm if he could help it.

Petyr, though? Petyr never stopped trying to make Catelyn his. As long as Ned wasn’t around, he would make the best possible impression he could, as if he might still win her over. He had absolutely no quarrels about letting Ned get executed, in fact he played a crucial role in getting Ned killed. He killed Lysa for “Catelyn” even after Catelyn was already dead (I’m convinced Sansa has now literally become a young Catelyn in Baelish’s mind. She’s no longer Sansa - who’s Sansa? She’s Cat, his Cat, and there’s nothing he won’t do to secure his second chance at having her for himself). Speaking of Sansa, he did jack all to protect her. She got beat again and again by the Lannisters, nearly raped (wherein Sandor Clegane saved her, not Baelish), shuffled around from future husband to future husband, and then was used in the most damning way possible. While that usage inevitably led to her escape from King’s Landing, there is no way in hell she can go back as long as a Lannister sits on the Iron Throne. She’s a murder fugitive, and that isn’t really the cleanest way Baelish could’ve smuggled her out (nor the earliest, mind you, I think Baelish is full of shit when he says he couldn’t have possibly gotten her out of KL earlier).

Now, in terms of selfishness: both Petyr and Snape are selfish men. But Petyr is so, so much worse.

Baelish is still doing everything for himself when it comes to Sansa. He’s still playing the Game of Thrones. He lets Sansa get the absolute shit beaten out of her because “there was no other way,” i.e. he didn’t feel secure enough in his own future to openly protect her yet. He’s predatory to her, he sees her only as Catelyn 2.0, and his entire scheme is likely leading up to him finding some loophole wherein he “has no other choice” but to marry Sansa, or vice versa. It is utterly disgusting and creepy. He doesn’t even really care that Sansa is Catelyn’s daughter, not really. He protects her under the guise of “I do this because you’re Catelyn’s daughter,” when in reality all he really gives a shit about is that she looks enough like Catelyn that he doesn’t feel weird beating off to her at night.

Snape, on one hand, is selfish. He does only care about Harry because he’s Lily’s son. But, on the other hand, Snape risked his own life several hundred times to ensure Harry’s safety. Yes, Snape was never particularly kind to him (or anyone), but credit where credit is due; he didn’t think much of his own future when Harry’s life was on the line. I distinctly remember reading Deathly Hallows and being stunned when, in Snape’s memories, Harry saw Snape attempt to sectumsempra a Death Eater who was about to avada kedavra “Harry.” Of course, turns out it was actually George Weasley, after escaping the Dursley’s in Harry’s form via polyjuice potion. The spell missed the Death Eater, hence George’s lost ear. But the facts were that Snape - in midair, after convincing Voldemort he was loyal - was ready to risk openly mutilating a fellow Death Eater to protect Harry. Plus combating that broom curse in first year, getting his leg ripped open by Fluffy, chasing down Harry when he knew Harry was with Sirius and Remus, protecting the trio against werewolf Remus, calling the Order to save the kids when Harry communicated that he thought Voldemort had kidnapped Sirius and ran off… I mean… you name a mode of protecting Harry, and Snape has probably done it. Plus - Snape was genuinely angry at Dumbledore for allowing Harry to grow up in the dark about who (and what) he was, only to wind up needing to be murdered. Snape was furious about that. He may not have ever liked Harry, but he respected that he was Lily’s son, and he was willing to go above and beyond to keep him safe. He was absolutely beside himself that Dumbledore would disrespect Lily’s child like that and allow him to be killed when Snape spent his entire life protecting Harry.

That is the crucial difference, to me.

Baelish’s actions concerning Sansa are entirely selfish. He is obsessive, trying to shove her into a box to make up for Catelyn’s loss (doubly so, between her marrying Ned and then being murdered at the Red Wedding). He doesn’t, never has, and never will respect Sansa, or Catelyn’s memory. What he wants is to fulfill his own fantasies. He uses and manipulates Sansa, literally murders those who get in his way of him and Catelyn being together, and does it all for his own gain. He doesn’t care what happens to Sansa as long as at the end of the day they can be together, because she as an individual doesn’t exist in his eyes. It’s only young Catelyn. There is no modicum of redemption for how Baelish is treating Sansa.

Snape’s actions concerning Harry are only partially selfish. His actions are a reflection of his begrudging but steadfast devotion to his only friend and the woman he loved (or was infatuated with, whatever you believe he felt). But I don’t think he’s trying to fill a personal void by protecting Harry. We know for a fact that Harry looks more like James than Lily, we know Harry even behaves more like James than Lily. I’m not saying Snape loves Harry like a son, I think nothing could be further from the truth. But Snape is not acting solely for his own gain. Snape protects Harry because he respects that Harry is Lily’s son whom she loved and wanted safe. He is making amends with his past mistakes and failures by protecting what Lily died for.

Do you see what I mean? Snape’s intentions are selfish, as he is attempting to serve himself. But to an extent, they are also extremely honorable. Sometimes selfishness and nobility do go hand in hand - self-sacrifice is a pretty common example of that. Snape could’ve gone about it better, I’m not saying he’s flawless. He could’ve practiced being kind. But he laid down his life for Harry because he wasn’t about to let Lily’s son get killed, and because it was his last chance at fixing his life’s mistakes (god knows he made plenty).

Baelish isn’t trying to fix anything. He isn’t trying to do one last good thing before he gets caught playing everyone for fools. He isn’t trying to honor Catelyn’s memory by saving and protecting her babies - else I’d imagine he would’ve gathered all the Starks under his wing, if he could. All Petyr Baelish wants is the daughter who happens to look most like Catelyn, so that he can have Catelyn - or as close to Catelyn as he can get.

#answered #anonymous #holy shit this got long #snape vs. baelish comparison #if y'all come at me with hate anons i swear to god #snape was a VERY deeply flawed but overall noble guy #fight me about it #Anonymous

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akaiaowl-tales · 6 years

Text

Cloudy with a chance of silver lining (Modern Mileven College AU)

Cloudy with a chance of silver lining

Rating: T

Summary: Only stupid people fall in love and if there’s something Jane ‘Eleven’ Brenner knows for sure is that she’s not stupid.

I. SANTA ANA

Thinking ‘bout the perfect sound.

Lately I’ve been taking my time just feeling the breeze of the sunny weather.

And it’s crazy.

Her shoes barely scraped against the gravel as she walked fast through the street, taking her time to look around at the residential buildings on both of her sides and the nicely-kept gardens that decorated their entrance.

It was strangely quiet today, probably a symptom of the beginning of school season.

She was supposed to be jogging, after all, that’s what she’d told Max she would be doing.

Truth was, however, that she was half-heartedly attempting to power walk near Santa Ana beach, just listening to music and taking her time.

Lately, her roommate and best friend, Max Mayfield, had been pestering her nonstop because, apparently, she was a victim of what the redhead young woman called an “unhealthy sedentary routine”. Which, as it turns out, was something that could actually kill her early someday – Max, who was taking it seriously enough for the two of them, had even showed her a few statistics and a documentary about it.

Faced with such a dramatic situation and taking into account that her friend wasn’t taking it nearly seriously enough, Max had taken it upon herself to pester her daily into having what she called a “better and healthier lifestyle”. Which was something that, despite all her sarcastic jokes and grumpiness and annoyance, she actually appreciated. She’d never really had anyone caring about her eating or exercise habits and it was kind of nice to feel someone giving a shit about stuff like that, giving a shit about her.

However, Max – and her hyperactive demeanor – could be overwhelming at times, especially to someone as lazy and careless as her.

It wasn’t really that she hated exercising. No, it was more that she saw no real, practical reason to do it. Plus, she hated sweating.

She figured that exercise would finally come in useful if like, for some remote reason, there was a zombie apocalypse… or the Pacific Ocean suddenly overflowed. But since none of those scenarios seemed plausible enough, she’d long ago decided that dedicating time to stuff like that was pointless and therefore settled into her “sedentary” routine.

All of those years of barely any activity, nonetheless, did seem to have taken a toll on her. She remembered that she was a decent – not good but not humiliatingly bad either – runner back in high school. Right now, however, her calves were starting to ache, despite her walk only having lasted about an hour.

This sucks so much, she thought in annoyance as she turned up the volume of the random song she was currently listening to in an attempt to take her mind of the discomfort in her unused muscles.

She walked for a few more minutes before finally stopping.

As she slowly breathed in and out, she admired the pink and orange hues mingling together in the sky. It was a peaceful sight, a pretty one. Something breathtaking in comparison to the sunsets back at home. She’d never considered herself a cheesy person but, right now, all she wanted to do was sit for a minute and listen to her (awesome) playlist and stare out into the ocean.

She had to admit that this was definitely better than staying locked away at home, which she probably would be right now if it weren’t for Max’s stubbornness.

Reassured by the emptiness of the streets and the overall quietness, she climbed over the ludicrous brick fence that divided the sidewalk from the cliff. She was very well aware that, despite the fact that the “fence” was mostly there for decoration – seeing as it was barely as high as her waist (and she was rather on the smaller side) – what she was doing was most likely forbidden.

It had been quite a long time since she’d given in to her reckless impulses like that. It’d been years even.

The beach was a few good meters down and she smiled as she sat on the soft grass, at the least steep part of the slope. To her left, she could see a few people paragliding. The way the wind swayed their bodies like boneless rag dolls seemed so surreal from where she sat at the moment. She couldn’t help but get lost in thought.

“Is everything alright over there?” a faint voice asked.

It was way too easy to ignore it.

They are probably not even talking to me.

“Are you ok?” the stranger’s voice sounded a lot closer now, there was no way they weren’t talking to her.

She turned around, with every intention to tell whoever it was to mind their own business and leave her alone.

Concerned dark brown eyes were the first feature she focused on the second she turned around with an annoyed stance. Dark, observant eyes that somehow seemed to perfectly match the pale face of the worried boy who was currently staring at her from the other side of the rope fence.

She could actually feel all the anger and annoyance in her demeanor immediately dissolve, the bitchy remark dying on her lips.

“I’m just… I’m fine,” she answered with a weak smile, looking down and trying not to stare at his face like a creep.

But he was cute.

Cute in a nerdy way, but cute nevertheless.

He seemed the weird kind of familiar. The kind of familiar one would feel about an old preschool classmate, or about someone that once stood out to you as you walked down the street. She blinked a little in confusion. She was trying to figure out why his face ringed a bell while, at the same time, trying not to appear like a complete moron to him.

He climbed off his bike and hesitantly got closer to the fence – which looked even shorter and useless next to his ridiculously tall frame.

“Is it too nosy of me to ask why you are over there?” he wondered, looking warily at the beach and the cliff she was currently sitting by.

“Yeah, it is sort of nosy,” she blurted out without really intending to.

He’s going to think I’m such a bitch, she thought with concern.

She scoffed at her uncharacteristic thought shortly after, Why do I care? Let him think I’m a rue bitch.

However, Bicycle Guy blushed.

Cute, the uncalled for thought just popped into her head, catching her off guard and leaving her speechless for a moment.

“I was just taking a break from walking,” she finally offered with a hesitant smile.

Of course he wouldn’t want to know that the beauty of the sky drew me in during my fake jogging session, she thought darkly.

“So you sit in the verge of a precipice every time you take a break?” he joked.

She glanced at him and couldn’t stop the grin that tugged at her lips.

Why am I acting so fucking weird?

She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d felt this insecure –not even right before the interview before getting admitted to college, she recalled.

“It’s far enough from the edge, actually,” she said rather dryly, glancing at the beach bellow.

A few moments passed in silence.

There also was this weird sinking, tickling feeling in her stomach. It was unsettling.

Then she heard a clank metallic noise, as of something had dropped on the ground.

“It unnerves me to see you over there,” he confessed as he took a hesitant step in her general direction.

She was still looking at the beach ahead.

“How do you think those people feel?” she asked randomly, gesturing towards the people swaying several feet above the ground, the very people she’d been observing.

“Huh?”

“I always sort of wondered what it felt like to fly, isn’t that close enough?” she whispered, as she turned to glance at the rapidly darkening sky once more.

“Probably but, uh, I heard that wing suit flying is the closest,” Bicycle Guy said, scratching his jaw thoughtfully.

“If I had to choose a superpower, it’d be flying,” she casually said.

“Really? That brings up so many things!” he blurted out excitedly.

“For instance, do you mean flying because you’d grow wings like Archangel, The Wasp, or Pixie? Or flying because you could somehow manipulate gravity like Graviton? Or maybe by wind control like Stor-”

However, as he glanced at her and registered the look of utter confusion on her face, he abruptly stopped and cast his eyes downwards.

“I’m such a nerd,” he said apologetically, his pale freckled cheeks reddening by the second.

“Oh, it’s alright,” she answered with a smile, for the record, she had actually thought it was pretty damn adorable, “really.”

Bicycle Guy, however, did not seem to think the same. He was still blushing as he bent down to pick up his bike, which had lain forgotten down on the pavement.

Her heartbeat sped up in sudden incomprehensible panic.

What the actual fuck?

She didn’t want him to leave.

I don’t even know the guy!

Oh but maybe she did? What was that weird feeling she had when she first saw him? It was like she recognized him somehow… her gut kept telling her that she did, and if she trusted something it was her instincts (they were never wrong).

Say something, anything.

“I’d never actually thought about the mechanics of the whole flying thing,” she commented, “which one of those you mentioned is the best?”

At that, he stopped fidgeting with his bicycle and propped it carefully against the concrete fence as he pondered about all the choices. After what seemed an eternity, his excited dark eyes once again settled on hers.

“Well, flying through wind control like Storm sounds awesome, especially since she can control the weather,” he answered offering her a small smile.

She smiled back at him, finding his boyish excitement amusing.

For a while, he continued to ramble on about all the different powers that could allow people to fly. Surprisingly, and despite never having been a big fan of superhero movies or comics, she found herself hanging on to his every word.

She wished she could feel such passion for something.

“–but… I definitely think I’d like flying like Justice,” he continued, grinning at the very idea, “he’s a telekinetic and he can use his power on himself to fly really fast and even carry people and heavy stuff… it’s awesome.”

They went on to talk about what it would be like to have secret powers and, before long, the sky went dark and the lights of the street became the main sources of light. Absentmindedly, she glanced at the time on her phone and realized it was already late. Really, really late. Later than she’d planned on returning. Max would probably be worried if she didn’t make it in ten more minutes.

She hated the fact that she’d have to cut her conversation with Bicycle Guy short – it was the longest she’d had with anyone in a while –, but she figured it was best to walk home now rather than later.

“Do you have to go?” he asked, almost immediately perceiving it from her fidgety behavior.

“Actually, I do,” she answered getting up from her place on the grassy area.

All that time, he’d been casually leaning against the brick fence that divided the sidewalk and the broad edge of the cliff. He readily offered her his hand to help her jump down from over the rustic fence she had managed to get perched over. She took it without hesitation, despite not really needing the extra help (the fence was not even that high).

“I had a good time,” she smiled, still not letting go of his hand, “we should do this again.”

He blushed a deep red and just blinked at her stupidly, his brain trying and failing to come up with something to say.

Without waiting for him to answer, she turned around and jogged away.

--…--…--…--

She’s not easy to find and if I see her again

We should get together.

His mind was working overdrive as he pedaled home.

What does it mean? Does she want to see me again? I didn’t even ask for her name, he thought thinking back to his conversation with the girl that had (in the span of a couple of hours) pretty much become the girl of his dreams.

Not only was she beautiful – probably the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen –, but she was really nice and overall his dream girl. For hell’s sake, she had even seemed interested in his nerdy chatter! And that was really saying something, since most girls he’d tried talking to about comic books and superheroes vanished faster than he could say “Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters”.

…Well, thinking back on that one, he reckoned that maybe he and his overall weirdness (and not comic books and superheroes) were the actual reasons the girls vanished. His friends would probably agree on that, too.

He just wasn’t good at small talk and he was really, really awkward around girls… especially around the ones he considered pretty.

And man, had that girl at the beach been pretty. How could he even begin to explain it? She was pretty in a simple, unassuming way. Pretty in the way all of her features – despite their individual imperfections – fit together in the most breathtaking, perfect way.

In a daze, he remembered her soft, brown hair barely falling past her shoulders and those two cute dimples that appeared on the corners of her lips and mouth when she smiled. And the way she’d actually been enraptured throughout his superhero ramble, which was probably due to his amazing story-telling skills – something he’d never been prouder about.

Plus, she was smart and funny too, he could tell from her witty remarks and sarcastic answers. And her lively almond eyes had lit up captivatingly when she talked about flying and when he explained why he’d choose his superpower to be telekinesis (he had ultimately managed to convince her that it was the best thing ever).

And she’d said she’d like to see him again.

But left without introducing herself, or giving him the chance to ask for her name.

What does it mean?

There was definitely a connection, he thought dreamily before mentally slapping himself for having such stupid and cheesy thoughts.

When he finally got to his building, the climb up the flight of stairs carrying his bike didn’t seem as tiring, long and tedious as it always did. He was dying to discuss this recent turn of events with his three best friends (who also happened to be his roommates); he was pretty sure they’d probably have a better idea of what the heck had actually happened and what he was supposed to do.

However, when he entered the narrow door of his shared apartment, the only one on the living room was Dustin. His curly-haired friend was currently playing a videogame and screaming at the screen in frustration.

“Mike you’re making me lose!” he said as a way of greeting.

“What?!” Mike exclaimed in fake indignation, throwing his hands in the air dramatically, “I barely even walked in.”

“Well you’ve jinxed me somehow!”

Mike smiled at his frustrated friend, as he made his way to his room.

“Son of a bitch!” he heard Dustin screaming at the TV before he closed his bedroom door and plopped down on his partially made bed.

It seemed that his talk would have to wait for the time being.

--…--…--…--

Baby we could stay in the sun, maybe if you want we could go downtown.

Baby I’ve been dreaming ‘bout you and I’m feeling naïve of the sunny weather.

The first thing she did as soon as she got home was drink a lot of water. It was incredible just how dehydrated she’d become after the jog home.

Max watched her best friend from the living room couch she was currently lounging in.

“Was the workout that intense?” she asked, lifting a red eyebrow in amusement.

As an answer, she gave her friend a dirty look.

“Anyhow, I’m proud of you, El,” Max said honestly, “I knew you had it in you.”

“I won’t get used to this,” she replied miserably as she joined her redhead friend on the living room.

“You will, and you’ll feel better because of it,” the redhead said condescendingly.

El threw one of the nearby pillows at her.

The redhead easily dodged it.

“Stop treating me like a baby,” El complained loudly.

Max stuck her tongue out at her.

“I had been willing to forget that today is your turn to cook us dinner but since you don’t want to be treated like a baby…”

“Oh fine, but I’m going to take a shower first,” she said, getting up from the couch and rolling her eyes. Everyone knew how much she hated cooking.

As El stood under the hot spray of the shower, lathering her wavy hair, her mind couldn’t help but obsessively replay the moment Bicycle Guy and she had briefly held hands. She’d gotten weird tingles on her palm. It was uncomfortable. Now that there was no other distraction, the tingling seemed to only get stronger somehow. With a huff, she tried scratching her hand.

Weird.

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