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fox-sama97 · 1 year

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Chapter 4 is here! Sorry about the long wait, I got really distracted by pokemon. Don't really expect another update this month, going to be playing the new zelda game: Tears of the Kingdom.

Anyway, here's an except for the new chapter under the read more.

Life wasn't the same, would never be the same, after her baby died. Pamela's entire world had been destroyed. She loved her daughter. Everything she'd done was for her daughter, her Sammiekins. She hadn't always known how to love her daughter, they'd butt heads more often than not when Sam became a teenager and started figuring out who she was, becoming more independent. Growing up.

At first, she thought it was just teenage rebellion. It'd blow over, she'd drop her goth phase and go back to being the sweet little girl who loved going to balls with her mom and wearing pink, poofy, princess dresses. By the time she realized she was suffocating her in high society expectations, well, Sam got her stubbornness from her mother. Pamela always had to be right, and she knew, thought she knew, who her daughter was and what was best for her. Sam was, had been, the same way.

It took almost losing her for Pamela to swallow her pride and let her daughter decide for herself how she needed support. Sam had been about to run away, only restless sleep had let Pamela see her daughter about to slip out of the house, backpack bulging at the seams with everything she cared about. All at once, she'd been hit by the very real threat of losing her daughter. Maybe not permanently, she'd probably have gone to her friend's house and stayed there, hopefully just for a few days, but Pamela knew how stubborn her daughter could be. If she had walked out of that door, she wouldn't have come back, no matter how much Sam and Pamela both would have regretted it.

She hadn't yelled; her voice had barely been able to make it past her lips through the sudden fear and loss, and she thanked the Almighty that he quieted her voice and gave Sam pause. Her daughter gave her another chance to be the mother she should have been, to support and love Sam how she needed.

She and Jeremy had grown closer to their daughter in that month than they'd been in years. They'd helped in her greenhouse, cooked vegetarian meals together, and learned so much more about who their daughter was becoming. She was so proud of her daughter, of how independent she was, how intelligent and compassionate she was. That she always stood up for her beliefs. It helped to ease a fear she'd long had, long tried to prepare her daughter for.

The world was a terrible place; she only had to think of how her mother and Jeremy's parents had barely escaped the Camps, to know this. She'd been afraid since the moment she first held Sam that the world would try to rip her baby from her arms and destroy her. But her daughter was, had been, strong. So strong and fierce in her belief in justice that she had taken it upon herself to fight the restless dead when the Justice League had ignored them.

She'd almost lost her daughter, built their relationship back stronger than ever, and then a mere month later she was murdered trying to do the Justice League's job when they refused to.

They killed her baby.

The Justice League's negligence was tantamount to murdering Sam and everyone else in Amity Park who lost their lives.

They had as good as murdered her husband. Jeremy was barely there now; the death of their daughter had broken him, turned him into a shell of a person.

Ida, her mother, who'd always been so lively despite pushing eighty, now spent most of her time pouring over photo albums and praying. She'd survived so much and now she was forced to outlive her granddaughter too.

There was no justice in this world unless you made it.

She was going to make damn sure that the Justice League were brought to justice. And that started with Bruce Wayne. Batman.

She'd known the man, maybe not well, but they'd been acquainted. They'd been to bar mitzvahs and weddings together, he'd even gone with them to synagogue once or twice. She thought there'd always been an understanding between them, subtle shows of support anytime other members of high society had given pushback for the galas or fundraising done on their holidays, for their holidays and communities. They'd traded commiserating looks when other members of high society inevitably had something antisemitic to say.

While Bruce had never acted quite so naive or scattered with them or the other Jewish families, she never would have guessed he was the infamous Batman. In that, she couldn't help but compare him to her Sam. Both were passionate about justice, about making the world a better place. But, where Sam had stuck to a more local level, where she could make change and make sure it was done correctly, Bruce had let hubris overcome him. Let himself believe that only his oversight would make a better world when he couldn't even manage the problems of one city, let alone the world. He had created and funded a global police force and let it grow fat and content to sit upon its laurels. He gave them the tools and the ability to determine who was worthy of their protection while effectively neutering any other response.

When Amity Park had called, had begged them for help, the Justice League had turned them away. They hadn't even picked up their calls or launched an investigation. There was no alternative. The Justice League had become their judge, jury, and executioner.

And so Amity Park died. Most of the people may have survived, technically, but they were all a little closer to dead than any living person should be.

They still weren't sure how many other cities had met the same fate under the uncaring eye of the Justice League.

That infuriated Pamela. Despite how much access they had to the Justice League's systems, they still didn't know how many places like Amity Park, how many people like Sam, had been condemned to death because the Justice League didn't feel like helping them. Didn't deem them worthy of an investigation or even a token effort. There wasn't any documentation about it, just silent blank spaces in the records.

She could feel her heart racing, hot fury bubbling up from her stomach, and a tingling in her nails that she'd come to associate with her liminality, as she stared at the door to the holding area in the former Amity Police Station. They'd had to find somewhere to hold the Waynes and the few Ghost Investigation Ward goons that had come poking around.

She didn't have to speak to Bruce. It wasn't necessary. The Justice League would probably be launching an attack in the morning or sometime tomorrow. They didn't need any information from Bruce, they just needed him out of the way so the rest of the Justice League would panic and rush into things, just like Bruce and his kids had done.

But she wanted to, needed to. She needed to look the man in the eyes and make sure he knew what his actions had cost her, and had cost everyone in Amity Park.

She just needed to make sure that she only yelled at him and didn't claw his face off with her bare hands. She took several deep breaths, slowly exhaling them as she felt her heart calm, her stomach settle, and her nails settle back into human nails instead of ghostly claws.

Turning the knob, she entered the holding area, eyes darting past the soundproofed cells holding agents K, M, and P, until she saw the Wayne family. Timothy, Stephanie, and Richard were all still unconscious and handcuffed to their beds. Bruce had awoken about thirty minutes ago.

His eyes immediately looked to her, calculating and attempting intimidation. Unfortunately, intimidation was a little difficult when you're handcuffed to a bare bed in nothing but your boxers.

A small part of Pamela was embarrassed about the situation, but it was ruthlessly squashed under pragmatism. Leaving the Batman access to any of his gadgets was a recipe for disaster and they had no way of ensuring they gathered all of them. So stripping him, and the other bats, down to their undergarments and handcuffing them to the beds it was.

She kept her steps measured and her face blank as she approached his cell. The first rule of high society her mother ever taught her, and the first she'd taught her daughter: only show them what you want them to see. Stopping before his cell, she waited. His face was just as blank as her own, though his pupils were a little too dilated, and his neck muscles would spasm ever so slightly around the four taser marks spaced around his jaw. She'd have to talk to Paulina again about the appropriate length of time for the hand taser.

Bruce examined her, analytic eyes flicking over her quickly, cataloging everything about her before stopping on the hole in her black dress torn above her heart, briefly pulling his eyebrows down before it was masked again. A hot flash of anger sped through her body. She didn't need his pity.

She counted thirty seconds before Bruce tried to speak to her, mouth forming "Mrs. Manson," though the soundproofing prevented her from actually hearing it. Slowly she lifted her arm and pressed the intercom button on the cell.

"Bruce," she said, voice carefully blank, only allowing a hint of aristocratic disdain to filter through.

#danny phantom #dc x dp #dp x dc #dc #pokemon #ignore at your own risk fic #ao3 #batman #dark danny #john constantine

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griseldabanks · 3 months

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Let Me Count the Ways ask game

I'm down to my last couple of requests, so I think it's time to send this out again. I've crossed out the prompts I've already written or am in the process of writing.

"I missed you."

"You're my idiot."

"You're not a burden."

"I trust you with my life."

"I love you. Yeah, for real."

"I'll never give up on you."

"I can't imagine how I lived without you. I mean, I can remember it, but I can't imagine how I considered that living."

"I've got you."

"Don't EVER scare me like that again!"

"I thought I lost you…"

"How could you do this to me?"

"I know this may be hard to believe, but I'm on your side."

"Of course we're best friends. No one else would put up with your shenanigans."

"Do you trust me?"

"What? I meant it as a compliment."

"I can't do this anymore."

"Are you just going to keep walking by my house or are you going to come in?"

"Dude. It's three in the morning."

"Where are your clothes?"

"I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"I should have told you this a long time ago."

"Why are you helping me?"

"I feel like we've met before…."

"No, I don't care what 'they' think."

"Can't believe this drive is going to take 10 hours…. You wanna play I Spy or License Plate Poker?"

"I'm still mad at you. A broken elevator won't change that. Get away from me. That's YOUR side."

"Leave you? You know how hard it was for me to TRAIN YOU to deal with me?"

"Why does my blanket smell like you?"

"It's not my fault."

"Trust me."

"I wish…"

"Forgive me."

"Thank you."

"I'll keep you safe."

"Why did you do it?"

"Where are we going?"

"Now what?"

"Stay with me for a while."

"Did you really do that?"

"I love you. You know that, right?"

"I have no idea what just happened."

"What are friends for?"

"Please don't be mad."

"You're not wrong."

"I never told you, but…"

"Stop! Can we think this through?"

"Whatever happens, don't forget."

"We should eat something."

"I haven't slept in days."

"I know that face."

Note: I'm only going to write for platonic relationships. There's plenty of great romances out there, but I want to focus on friendships and familial relationships. Even if you send in one of my OTPs, I'm going to write them platonically. Also, I'm perfectly happy to write about my usual blorbos, but I think it would be a fun challenge to try to write characters I wouldn't normally go for. Check out my main blog @novelmonger for my main fandoms, or go ahead and send in some characters to see if I know them. I'd love to fill all of these prompts, so feel free to send me LOTS :D

Non-exhaustive list of duos I'd like to write:

Ed and Al (FMA)

Ed and Mustang (FMA)

Steve and Bucky (MCU)

Steve and Sam (MCU)

Sam and Bucky (MCU)

Frodo and Sam (LotR)

Legolas and Gimli (LotR)

Sam and Dean (Supernatural)

John and Sherlock (BBC Sherlock)

Link and Navi (Zelda)

Fai and Kurogane (Tsubasa Chronicle)

Shion and Nezumi (No.6)

Hyakkimaru and Dororo (Dororo)

Nate and Sully (Uncharted)

Nate and Sam (Uncharted)

Joel and Ellie (The Last of Us)

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan (Star Wars)

Beat and Rhyme (The World Ends with You)

Kara and Alice (Detroit: Become Human)

Hank and Connor (Detroit: Become Human)

L and Watari (Death Note)

Din and Grogu (The Mandalorian)

#ask games #let me count the ways #feel free to ask me if i know certain characters or fandoms! you never know!

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maurice-memes · 4 months

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Welcome to Maurice Memes!

It's been 3 years, and I haven't made an intro post yet💀 Maybe it's time... this post is subject to change btw!

Who Am I?

For those who are already familiar with me, I'm most well-known in this fandom as Maurice Memes! But you can also call me who I actually am, AtomicStarCat (<-main blog link) (or Atomic)! I can go by anything you want me to, even Maurice's Funky Purple Socks!

I use any pronouns you want to use with me! Call me anything you'd like!

I'm currently 18 years old, but sometimes I still feel like I'm 12 *cry*

I am ace-aro, but I really love making friends!

I'm really bad at reaching out to others in this fandom and being consistent with liking posts, but I really love everyone here, and I'd love to know you better! If I'm not following your LotF blog, please let me know!! I'd love to see more content! I don't talk much, but I promise that if you reach out to me and talk to me, that would make me so happy!! I really want to become closer to everyone here! I'll do my best to appreciate you all better!

I'm kinda off and on in every fandom I'm in, so I'll post consistently for a while, then disappear for a while, but I'm never gone forever! This fandom means so much to me, I'd never forget it!

What Do I Like?

Lord of the Flies! Why else would I be here?

mostly children's media, like Digimon, Powerpuff Girls Z, Precure, and Legend of Zelda! But I won't post about that here^^

About My Art and Requests!

I'm an artist! I draw mostly on Notability, but I sometimes make finished pieces on Ibis or make sketches on Freeform!

I mostly sketch silly things and mini-comics, but I have done some character memes in the past and may do some in the future.

Requests: I will most likely take any and all LotF character/LotF ship requests! I can also draw your designs for the boys if you ask me! I'd love to see them!

I also look at trades for LotF characters, LotF ships, and OCs, just ask! (I always consider OC trades, but won't always accept)

I also have a dead Percival ask blog, @percivals-mailbox, but you can still send stuff in if you really want to!

About my LotF!

My active ships: Jack/Ralph, Roger/Simon, Maurice/Sam, Platonic Maurice+Piggy, Bill/Robert, Percival/Mulberry Boy, and Johnny/Wilfred!

I don't particularly dislike any ships as long as they're portrayed respectfully and healthily! Just don't ask me to draw something weird like a bigun/littlun ship😅

I headcanon Ralph and Mulberry Boy as brothers, and I post about them sometimes without context haha

I have one(1) AU called LotF Academy that's slice of life, which also includes gender bends of all the characters as separate entities in the same world! You can ask me to draw them together!

I don't post very often explicitly about my headcanons, but I will talk about them if asked!

Conclusion!

I only have a couple rules!

Respect me, yourself, and others on my page.

I don't support discrimination of any kind, incest, proship, basic DNI, etc., or endorse anything 18+ on my profile. I say endorse because I don't have problems with healthy 18+ content, just that it makes me uncomfortable as a sex-repulsed ace.

Do not use my fan art on any of my social media without clear, linked credit, and do not use any original art on my social media without explicit permission under any circumstances!

====

Find me elsewhere! OC requests are always open on toyhou.se! I’m also on Art Fight!

atomicstarcat.carrd.co

Thank you for reading my long intro! I'm so happy you found your way here, and I hope you will continue to visit for years to come! I can't wait to meet you!

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becauseplot · 4 months

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dont mind me tripping and falling in here again. but i would also love to hear about botw au. legend of zelda au's my absolute beloved they have me running circles around my room. adrenaline shot straight to the heart nothing digs its claws in me quite like loz and i am so so interested to hear about it!! clingyduo doomed to save the world in every universe,,,, i'm invested already

thank you so much for humoring me, i love botw aus so much theyre aaaa!! aaAAAAAaaAaaAAa!!!!

so yeah this originally started bc an old friend of mine and i were talking and i forget who suggested it but we were like "hey wouldn't tommyinnit as link be so funny? because tommyinnit is like the exact opposite kind of feral-energy of botw link. loud and swears and uncontrollable and headstrong. hylia's most annoying hero." and things just devolved from there. it's fully a Crack Treated Seriously situation because i spent actual months working out lore n worldbuilding and whatnot fhdjskhfdk.

the fic is officially called Well, Excuuuuuuuse Me, Big Man: The BotW AU No One Asked For (or WEMBM for short)

basic layout (as far as i went with it anyway):

tommy more-or-less follows the order of what you're "supposed" to do to to beat the game: plateau->kakariko->hateno->kakariko again->four main regions->master sword->ganon. of course there are a lot of detours and back-tracking and skipping around for hyjinx

main regions/inhabitants are replaced: Zora->Axols (axolotl "hybrids"), Gorons->Piglins, Rito->Elytrians, Gerudo->Enderians

each of the above races have their own cultures that are loosely based off of the game's original counterparts and some mcrp fanon + personal headcanons thrown in. they're customized to incorporate some (mild) minecraft elements!!

old champions: Mipha->Niki, Daruk->Technoblade, Rivali->Philza, Urbosa->Ran (based loosely off of tftsmp Ran, effectively an oc lmao????)

new champions: Sidon->Foolish (Niki's younger brother) and Jack (Niki's best friend), Yunobo->Drista, Teba->Wilbur, Riju->Ranboo

all of their personalities more-or-less remain intact (which is why the fact that i put The Old Man / King Rhoam as Schlatt so fucking funny)

divine beasts keep their names but the creatures change!! Ruta is a glow squid, Rudania is a blaze, Medoh is still a bird (LMAO i might change this because...), Naboris is a phantom

some scattered details

wilbur is both the "new" champion role AND kass' role!! he and tommy meet early on in his journey (at his first visit to Hateno) but tommy doesn't learn about wilbur's heritage (Philza was his great great great grandfather) until MUCH later. they run into each other a lot during their travels.

wilbur also has a hardcore crush on an axol warrior named sally, which tommy teases and embarrasses him relentlessly for

tubbo (zelda-role) keeps zelda's arc of not being able to develop powers. the key difference is that tommy and tubbo are friends before the calamity business starts to get serious, and tubbo's frustration drives a wedge between them

(angst time: clingy duo has a Big Fight during that one sheikah slate Memory on the palace tower bridge, and they never get the chance to apologize to each other before it all goes to shit and tommy dies sacrificing himself to save tubbo.)

techno and phil are old friends from when they'd do colosseum fights together. they haven't talked much for a few years before becoming champions, both too busy with their respective duties at home, but the moment they realize they've both been recruited well, they're inseparable

windbombing, bullet-time bouncing, and shield clipping are canon. don't question it.

champion ran is a dick (think revali) and the only one there they respect is niki because they underestimated her and then she proceeded to floor them during a sparring session (and she didn't even threaten them with a water based attack, it was all skill)

awesamdude (most people call him "sam", he's ranboo's personal guard) has a half brother named awesamnook (most people call him "nook" or "samnook"). he's the Beedle-role and he talks in all caps like an npc ("HELLO TRAVELER." "Why are you shouting---" "HAVE A LOOK AT MY WARES." "Okay---")

bad runs the yiga-equivalent egg cult that, instead of disguising themselves as travelers, simply uses sprouts of blood-red flowers with a toxic pollen to mind-control bystanders into attacking tommy (yikes)

have some highlights from the few chapters i've written of tommy on the great plateau (yes, the entire google doc is written in comic sans)

tommy immediately sassing tubbo's disembodied voice:

tommy is 7 feet from the cave and is shoving things in his mouth:

(I should also mention he has a pet beetle in his pocket named Sir Legs)

tommy has a grudge against the sheikah pedestals, it's a whole arc on the plateau as he slowly comes to love and appreciate the pedestals and what they do for him:

old man J vs tommy's unwavering optimism(bullheadedness):

tommy vs disembodied voices:

tommy vs the first shrine:

tommy meets a monk:

pulling a direct line from philza's botw playthrough for this one:

me when i fast travel:

The loading screen says: "Leaving Comments: Leaving comments on a fic is a great way to make a writer go :D and give them the motivation they need to continue their bullshittery."

also some chapter titles:

#LONG ASS POST ALERT (and i didnt proofread this lol)#but yeah can you tell i miss this fic #lightningbig tysm for humoring me today. i just feel weird talking abt au ideas if im not prompted?? anyway ur the best <33 #the lore doc is 28 pages long and that's not including some of the stuff i haven't written down yet fhdjsk #this functioned as my “no thoughts head empty just write dumbassery” fic when i was working on it and i think its abt time it makes its-#-return with a little facelift and more cubitos tossed into the mix #asks for curly #WEMBM

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cosettepontmercys · 9 months

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Ooh it's cool that you got to see Bea at Lolla or Maisie and whoever else! If anything, concerts have gotten more expensive than they used to be for me so there have been some I had to pass on too. I have been meaning to listen to the Japanese House album for a while and will soon. I've listened to most of the artists you named and will add the rest to my list too.

Oh I didn't know the Waitress proshot had come out already. Maybe I will check it out. I remember hearing about the Roman Holiday musical but it never went to Broadway or anything so I didn't know too much about it. I just heard the Notebook musical is coming to Broadway in spring so hopefully they've improved it. Those are also such good examples of movies into musicals. I do agree about the cash grabs and like just coming out with or rushing more musicals each year or just making everything a musical just because.

I honestly didn't know what to think of it cuz I didn't even hear about it until recently. I do agree he seemed a little old for her though..I wonder how he will pull off the part. But it at least has potential with the actors since I like them. I actually didn't know there was going to be two..but I remember hearing that Florence Welch was working on the music I think? Or is that the same thing? It could be cool and kinda reminds me of the same vibes as The Wild Party. I never actually read the book..but I remember liking the movie and how glam it was..so the sets could be similar..or have potential. The music might be similar to an older 50s musical or idk. Maybe it would be similar to Moulin Rouge too. I would be pretty excited for it though anyway I think! I would love to hear more about there being two versions too since I didn't know that.

i was telling one of my best friends that it's very unlikely i'll do another music festival soon (although that same friend wants to do a music festival at some point, so i'll probably go with her just so she has someone to go with) because while i had a blast seeing so many people (and was able to justify the cost that way), it was just ... too peopley and too hot etc etc. for my liking! but i love her, and i'll do anything for her, including braving crowds and the heat again haha. glad i did it though, just for the sake of having done one, and for seeing that many people i wouldn't have gotten to see otherwise! and i actually haven't really been a big concert person up until this year, but that's what i've been hearing, unfortunately :( and eeee! i hope you like them!! i'd love to hear your thoughts on their music later 🤍 roman holiday is one of my favorite, favorite movies of all time, so i was super excited for the musical and as much as i love it, it is definitely not broadway ready (and i don't think it ever will be, unless they do an original score). and yes!! here's hoping they reworked the notebook so it's stronger! it's been about a year since it did the tryout, so plenty of time to have worked on it! yes! so there's the gatsby musical by kait kerrigan, jason howland and nathan tysen that's premiering at paper mill playhouse — you might know of kerrigan from kerrigan-lowdermilk (sam brown/the mad ones), howland from little women, and tysen from amelie and tuck everlasting — and that's the one that jerjor and eva are in! i love mad ones (and just kerrigan-lowdermilk's songs in general), and really enjoyed little women, amelie and tuck, so i'm really excited to see what becomes of it! and then the one that florence welch is involved with is the one premiering at the ART in boston! i am just so so excited to see what happens with both, and i think there are a lot of directions they could go in! not to mention, the set and staging — i'm thinking of how they can play with lighting (green light) already and i am just soooo excited. and i just thought of wildhorn & murphy's scott & zelda musical that drew gehling and laura michelle kelly sang songs from too (i have/had audio ... somewhere, i think, and i remember liking what i listened to, but might've lost it when i switched computers). there's so much to play with, and i just think it's really exciting! and now i want to do a gatsby reread!!

#post: answered #🩷 anon

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castielcommunism · 2 years

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dude Mint Condition is like one of the best Dean episodes in the show. The Dean mirror character in the episode, Dirk, is an unassuming quiet nerdy guy whose best friend lets him stay over at his place whenever he fights with his dad because his father is disappointed with his life choices and doesn’t like him very much (!!!!!!!!!!!).

And he and Dean spend the entire episode basically becoming friends! It’s one of the few times I can recall off the top of my head, especially in the later seasons, where Dean seems completely at ease talking to another guy. In fact he actually strikes up a conversation with Dirk by offering him candy and saying “trick or treat”, which is both very adorable and also not how Dean usually behaves around most people (in fact he spent the beginning of the episode hiding in his room partially because a bunch of strangers are living in the bunker). They bond over gushing about their favourite scary movies, which is, again, remarkable given how infrequently people ask Dean for his opinion on stuff he likes, and even when he does bring up his interests to someone like his brother, it’s usually to set up the punch line “they like different things and don’t have a lot in common.” A recurring bit in this episode is that Sam doesn’t even like Halloween!!

So like Dean is specifically paired with someone who is a social outcast, doesn’t have a lot of friends, is insufficiently masculine, is resented by his father, and has a best friend who’s both uniquely supportive of him and is generally weird and socially inept (albeit in an unpleasant way). Also Dean says he’s “a Zelda for life” which is a baffling way to tell another human being he likes legend of zelda. AND he wears glasses. this episode has everything

#dean.txt #dean studies #this was supposed to be a mile long post but I decided not to do that #anyway I LOVE him. i love him

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irrevocably-delicious · 2 years

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Hi........if you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before...... Thanks....

Oh no this is a very cool question! Funnily enough I have a lot of OTP’s, but I like this question because it makes me want to really think about relationships like… how are the people as a whole? Do they improve each other? Do they enrich each other’s lives?

1. Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang (full metal alchemist) - wow they invented love. The unspoken devotion and loyalty, the knowledge that they are both traumatised and flawed people, but are doing their best to make the world a better place. Holding each other to a higher standard then they hold themselves.

2. Shepard x Garrus (mass effect) - very similar to Roy and Riza, Garrus and Shepard really scratch that itch of war veterans finding something soft and gentle in their everyday lives. The absolute tragedy of both of them knowing that Shepard belongs to mankind, and not to each other or even herself.

3. Viktor x Yuri Katsuki (Yuri on ice) - remember when Yuri on ice came out and the world was good?

4. Reki x Langa (sk8 the infinity) - they really capture those innocent and giddy ‘first love’ feelings.

5. Zelda x Link (legend of Zelda) - the ORIGINAL reincarnation au. What if our fates were linked in every reality?

6. Barnaby x Kotetsu (tiger and bunny) - kind of my flavour of the month couple at the moment, but it’s your classic rivals to lovers story. Only one of the guys is a hot headed Dilf, and the other is a pretty boy with a revenge quest. Wow I sure hope they put aside their differences to become the ultimate superhero team and grow far too attached to one another.

7. Makoto Tachibana x Haru Nanase (free!! Iwatobi swim club) - your classic best friends to lovers, complete with them basically being so close that they don’t have to talk to one another and joke about their ‘psychic connection’. Haru finds out Makoto is moving for university and becomes so DESPONDENT that only a trip to Australia wakes him up again. It’s great.

8. Shikamaru x Temari (Naruto) - I’m kind of a mysoginistic asshole. What if you beat me up when we were kids, and then saved my life on a mission, and as we got older I was assigned as your guard and guide in my village, and we both rise in importance and responsibilities within our villages political systems until eventually we fight a war side by side and I become your brothers second in command and shiiiiiiiiiiit we fell in love at some point.

9. Kakashi x Guy (naruto) - what if the human embodiment of self loathing and trauma met the personification of optimism and self love?

10. Sylvain Gautier x Felix Fraldarius (fire emblem three houses) - they’re fucking terrible. They deserve each other. (No but seriously they both have such a complex relationship with their country and their duty. I love how they both have huge ‘my bloodline ends with me’ energy. What better way to get back at your families than to marry a man and ride off into the sunset together)

11. Frodo x Sam (lord of the rings) -“I made a promise! ‘don’t you leave him Samwise gamgee’… and I don’t mean to… I don’t mean to”

#I rant #I guess #getting sentimental up in here

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jq37 · 3 years

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The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 3

Let’s Split Up and Look for Clues!

Welcome back to the Seven and the Museum of Adventuring. My previous pronouncement of combat was a little premature but hold tight, we’ll get there. For now, we’re back with Antiope who just saw a glimpse of the Ending of Things (aka, Ending) and is freaking out a bit. She tells the others and they all do various checks to see what they can find out.

Ostentatia casts Commune With City and clocks that there is some kind of abjuration shield magic on the government buildings in town, stopping them from being spied on. She also clocks some lingering undead-ish magic and a weird divination effect on Antiope, specifically on the Aguefort logo of her jacket, like someone scryed on her and just got that she had something to do with Aguefort. At this, Penny reminds her that the only true piece of info they gave Ending when they broke her out is that they were from Aguefort.

Sam with a 19 Insight still feels the connection she and Ant have with Ending because of their spells turned against them in the initial encounter. Yelle does a Perception check (27) and once again doesn’t really get bad, dreadful, menacing vibes. But also, she recognizes that she’s chill with a lot of things most people don’t love.

Antiope reiterates that she texted Charity that she’s interested in the internship so she can learn more info--even better now that they know the buildings are safe from scrying. Yelle remembers Aguefort’s warning about people watching them and Sam asks Zelda if her “weird boyfriend” (“he’s actually really cool”) is friends with the elven oracle. Zelda says yeah, they’re both friends with Adaine, she can ask about any weird divination stuff. Sam makes sure to specify she should look into TK but NOT Ending, no doubt remembering what happened when she tried to do a spell on her.

It’s been a big day as Zelda says so they all go to the TGIF-esque Slappy McFinnigans to celebrate (which Sam has problems with--the fact that they’re celebrating I mean, but she’s mainly ignored). They’re quickly kicked out because Katja can’t help herself from trying to brush the mane of their centaur server and they reconvene at the more their speed SlamBurger, where a horse can fully destroy a soda machine to absolutely zero reaction. Zelda says that Ostentatia was right in that they should all do the quest because it doesn’t close any doors and they have the 2 weeks to figure things out. They all seem a bit more on the same page (though Sam is still pretty frosty towards Ant) and start making plans.

Before they leave, Yelle pulls aside Ant and Sam and says hey, first of all, you two are still linked to Ending from before. Second of all, I know y’all are Going Through It right now and you don’t have to talk about it or make up right away but you need to get your heads in the game and you need to know that you’re both loved and still family.

Penny, Zelda, Katja, and Ostentatia go back to the museum to try and get more information for their quest. Katja goes to the information desk (horse in tow, of course) and just starts asking information about TK. She’s told that she’s one of the museum’s benefactors and has been missing for years, and hey, do you understand that a museum’s info desk is about where the water fountains and exhibits are, not just random information about the world?

Ostentatia bails her out by calling her over so she can do her plan which is just to walk into the back area like she owns the place. Now, Aguefort students do have a certain level of clearance to be back there and she does have her school ID. But instead of explaining that, she tried to use her Earrings of Diamond Charm to charm the employee she runs into which fails. And then she does a pretty good tag-team lie with Katja about how they NEED to pass a class but that doesn’t fly. Then Ostentatia tries flirting which ALSO doesn’t work. Zelda at this point steps in and just headbuts the dude so they can book it away. I personally would have gone with, “Do you know who we are? We killed the dragon that’s your current main exhibit,” but you know. No backseat adventuring.

While this is happening, Penny is stealthing like a pro, looking for anything Arcana related. Ostentatia and Katja also did checks (O getting a nat 20) and we’ll go through all their info gathered now.

Katja basically gets info on TK we kind of already knew. She was a benefactor of the museum. She’s centuries old like Aguefort. She was concerned with consciousness and divinity and specifically how will and divine will manifested, as well as elemental magic.

Ostentatia gets a lot of info with her Nat 20. She gets a full map to the temple where TK went which is called the Temple of Earth Defiant. The point of the temple is that it’s up in the open air and harsh winds--wind being a symbol of chaos and unpredictability to dwarves--but they still use it as a place to honor their heroes and they rebuild and upkeep it despite the erosion and how hard it is to get there. It’s hallowed from evil and lots of stories about it involve heroes racing there for sanctuary. It was made by dwarves but it’s a pilgrimage site for other primordial beings like goliaths and earth genasi (which is what TK is). There are 3 heroes who have big statues here: Asha Hammerheart (a SUPER dope name I must say), Yvonna of the Sundering Hills , and Kora Ironbrow.

Penny finds that, amongst Kalvaxus’s hoard there were 7 unrecovered artifacts--the Mirrors of the Eidolons (which are the smashed mirrors they found it seems). Eidelons are kind of like the elemental plane version of angels/celestials. They’re primordial (remember Katja saw primordial language on the wall of the dragon cave) and kind of aligned with things like titans and genies. Raw element with no agenda (unlike celestials and demons and such which have a clear alignment which makes up the D&D religious system). It is said by wizards--who look at these things in more of a nuts and bolts way than say clerics who take the fuzzier religions view--that Eidolons are the hands of the gods because gods are beings of spirit--how could they form the physical world. Will of the divine manifested by elemental beings? Sounds right up TK’s alley.

Sam decides she’s desperate enough for information that she calls her mom who she is understandably snippy with. Her mom gives her a contact to talk to when she asks about TK but Sam stonewalls her on show business talk. She tries to play the “mother knows best, you’ll thank me later,” in a kind of Gothel-y way while acting like anything in the past never happened and says Sam is attacking her but when Sam accuses her of neglect, she proves her right by hanging up the phone.

Sam then calls the number and it turns out to be Lola Embers (Fig’s agent) who has been waiting for Sam’s call for ages and wants to talk to her, even though she’s currently chasing her dog across the park. She says she met TK once at a genasi woman networking thing and also says she once saw Charity get into an argument with TK over government funding or not getting a grant or something similar. She then says she’s in a lake trying to get her dog and Sam, being a water genasi who can breathe underwater and also a fundamentally good person even though she’s currently being aggro as hell, goes to the park to help her. Lola assures her that if she’s ready, she’ll help her get new acting gigs and that the world is ready for the new her.

Yelle meanwhile casts Speak With Plants on some trees near TK’s office and, after a super stoner to stoner conversation, gets a magical footprint trail of where she ran off to when she absconded 12 years ago.

Antiope (who is in a sports bra because she destroyed her top with the Aguefort logo since that’s what was pinged, revealing in a wild, nat-1 fueled retcon that she got a tramp stamp reading “Leader” in the Red Waste) goes to see Charity to fill out some paperwork, ingratiate herself, and perhaps get some info. Charity has her hot, young, assistant (who Antiope is instantly crushing on) give Ant his shirt (and Charity’s lack of surprise at seeing his 4 horses pulling a chariot tattoo makes the group think they’re def banging). She kind of explains what the Ministry does and Antiope boils it down a bit to snitching on other adventurers. Charity says it’s more of a who watches the watchmen situation and visibly twitches when she has to say the word “snitch”.

When she takes a second to call Antiope’s dad, she accidentally leaves a tab open on her computer which has TK’s file open (probably up from when the Maidens asked about her earlier). Antiope sneaks a peek and learns that the artifact that TK stole is called the Legendarium Extrodia and it tracks quests. It seems that at some point TK must have had top level access to get her hands on it. It also shows that TK was marked for assassination (which seems like a pretty good reason to get the heck out of dodge). Brennan also says she’s learned enough that she can use the L.E. if she finds it.

At this point, Yelle tells everyone to come back ASAP so they can follow the magic footsteps. Antiope wants to come but doesn’t want to burn bridges with Charity (or chances with Preston--equally important) so she, at Katja’s suggestion--pretends to have diarrhea and is Nat 20 convincing. Interesting choice for the end of the first meeting with a person you’re crushing on. But Preston is actually pretty supportive as she races out the door as fast as possible.

The Seven follow the footsteps out of Solace and it becomes clear that TK was headed to the dwarven temple Ostentatia learned about. This is a multi-day journey so Cinnamon sings a glorious, magical, horse song and summons mounts for everyone which I will now name because this is obviously the most important part of the episode:

Snowfire - Danielle

Taffodill - Sam

Alagonia - Antiope

Candyheart - Penny

Starforge - Ostentatia

Strawberry Dancer - Zelda

Crucial info.

As they travel, Antiope casts Primeval Awareness and gets that there is something ancient in the mountain. They travel through Pilgrim’s Pass (a village area most travelers to the temple pass through) but find it completely razed to the ground. They investigate.

With an 18 Survival check, Antiope finds tracks that seem halfway between dog and cat. There are more than 4 legs and it’s hard to tell how old they are because there’s not a lot of rain in the area. They could have been left long ago and been undisturbed. Regardless, these are clearly from monstrosities. On a 26 History Check, Katja knows that this area used to be protected by Blink Dogs (teleporting dogs) but they seem to be all gone now. On a 22 Nature check, Yelle sees a weird feather made out of plant material. It seems like fae stuff but bad vibes. On an 18 Insight check, Sam knows this was a purposeful slaughter.

And on Penny’s 30 Arcana check, oh boy. Penny finds broken common scrawled on the wall in human blood talking about a queen of the mountain who rules the skies. That only the queen may see and none may see themselves. And that the people were told to destroy the seeing glass and did not obey. In from of that message is a bear hide covering something magic. Penny lifts it with reckless abandon and sees tons of mirror shards.

Friendship bracelets! She thinks.

Gotcha bitch, the thing in the mirror says.

Uh-oh.

Penny calls over her friends to let them knows she may have made a tiny mistake. The group is pretty split between, “Understandable,” and “Girl, WHAT?” In her defense, she did try to cast Friends on the person on the other side of the mirror shards but that’s not enough to stop an entire pack of 50-60 Displacer Beast (magic tentacle cats)/Blink Dog hybrid monstrosities along with the Harpy Queen (voice from the mirror) and her plant feathered harpy minions to start rapidly making their way to their location.

It is at this point that Ostentatia remembers that abominations and monstrosities cannot step into the temple which means it’s time to RUN.

And NOW it’s combat time.

The premise of this fight is that the girls are on their horses, moving towards the center of the temple as fast as they can while fending off the closest enemies. I won’t give an exact play by play but the two highlights are as follows:

Yelle conjures up a bunch of geese with raptor stats (...so normal geese) to swarm the head cat/dog abomination and has to do a truly stunning amount of math for which she is rewarded with SEVENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE.

Antiope does some insane arrow trickery and gets the Queen Harpy in the wing (which Ostentatia helpfully gets on video so she can show Preston later) and then forces her to take damage as she falls. If not for an extremely lucky Box of Doom nat 20, she may have been down for the count. Antiope still comes away with more than FIFTY points of damage on her though.

And we end the episode mid-combat! We will catch up on our girls next time!

Superlatives

Penny: Most Likely to Make Friends During a Hostage Situation

As a companion to Danielle’s superlative last episode, Penny gets this award for reading or misreading every situation as an opportunity to make friends or make friendship bracelets for the ones she already has.

Random Thoughts

Did you guys notice that with Katja having Cinnamon and Charity’s assistant being Preston, that’s two of the main pet NPCs from A Crown of Candy?

Antiope’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Rail against the dying of the light! Why are you OK with this?

Penny’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Entropy is TERRIBLE! Everything needs order!

The greasy cashier’s response to Ostentatia’s flirty, “Come here often?” is “To my job? Honestly no.” Brennan? Chef’s kiss.

My other fave line this episode is from Sam. “I believe Cinnamon fucks.”

It’s very cute that Penny is like, “I gotta text Riz about this Eidelon stuff!” Not because she wants help. Just so they can geek out together.

The joke that Brennan didn’t think about the birds is so funny considering all the bird facts in Misfits.

Also re Birds attacking: “They made a movie about this Brennan!”

Good on Ant for refusing an Aguefort sweatshirt from Charity when offered after the little scrying incident before. Remembering things like this saves lives.

It has been brought up several times that Ending isn’t necessarily Bad just Ancient and Powerful and I trust Yelle’s vibe check but also, like, a forest fire doesn’t have malice behind it but it can still devastate a city while it clears out dead trees that need to be cleared, you know? Not ready to start wild speculation yet but I am curious. And am similarly curious about the sisters Ending has mentioned. Oh and the parallels of 7 Maidens, 7 mirrors. It’s all there, we just need a little more info.

Honestly, get you a man who will see you rushing out of a building, loudly claiming to have diarrhea, and instead of being grosses out will just supportively confess his own stomach issues. I wish he was just a little younger cause I want that for Ant.

I do like that D20 has been playing a little more fast and loose with the RP ep/combat ep format. I think it really helps with story flow.

In this episode Antiope and Brennan as various non-Zelda NPCs rolled 2 Nat 20s. O rolled one. Ant rolled 1 Nat 1--which was on a self imposed roll to see how she responded to Sephie’s tramp stamp improv. And O may have rolled one for initiative also but I wasn’t sure.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #fantasy high #the seven #spoilers #sorry this is a little late #life happens

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feverinfeveroutfic · 2 years

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chapter fourteen: ten years gone

It had been a whole month since the news about Aurora had gotten out into the open, and in the meantime, Sam had put her pens down on her journal paper and she made whatever came to her mind. She focused on the artwork that she cradled in her hands all the while. Nothing she could do about those kids, and everyone in the Cherry Suicides camp felt it whenever she tucked herself into the far corner of the van with that journal rested upon her lap. Alex sat right across from her each and every time, and he watched her pen strokes with intent, as if he studied her every move.

She still couldn’t believe that they had toured up there in the Pacific Northwest and not once did they see Bill and his daughters. But with every pen stroke and every brush of the pencil and all the while, she struggled to find the right words.

Aurora was gone. Her first best friend in New York, gone forever. No way she could talk to her anymore and no way the boys could find themselves at her helm during their recording sessions.

One memory that stayed with her was that first round of lunch with Frank and Charlie in the Vietnamese restaurant. When they were all young and together and there was nothing else that could in fact divide them. When Aurora was sweet and she still had that twinkle of the California coast over her. Her and Frank right across the table from her and Charlie.

Those bowls of pho before them.

Sam hadn’t really done any slice of life before then, but she could envision it before her. She could see the two of them across from her and Charlie in the restaurant and thus, she sketched out the two of them first. Their heads with a bit of a glow to them and the bowls before them as bright and colorful as the inks could allow.

Those earth tone inks had to act for the whole entire mood of the drawing. The memory almost felt like a dream, a dream from a time that never exactly happened. A fever dream.

That whole era felt like a fever dream and she had become a total dried out copy of what she used to be back then, a copy there in the back of the van with the Cherry Suicides and Alex as they covered the distance over the entire western wing of the country. Once they had rounded out the first third of the tour in Denver, however, they were to take the next flight up to New York and then they were to drive all over the Northeast and the East Coast for a good chunk of the summer. And Sam thought about visiting Marla and Belinda in the meantime, just to check in on them. No way any of them could attend the funeral with Aurora’s parents in San Diego or even in New Orleans given the mausoleum Emile had been buried in, but they could in fact have one of their own when the time came down to it.

She had fallen into silence at one point as they made their way down from the very bottom of Idaho and into the thick of the scraggly points of the Rocky Mountains. She phased out the rest of the van and she worked on that drawing. Alex cozied up next to her at one point with a soft look on his face.

“It’s when Aurora and I first met,” she explained to him. “And we had lunch with Frankie and Charlie together.”

“Are you going to work your magic on this with your inks or something else?” he asked her.

“Maybe my inks. Maybe I'll add something more to it to give it more of a flavor. More flavor like the bowls of pho we had.”

“Haven’t had a good bowl of pho in a long time,” Morgan spoke up right then.

“There’s a pretty good one in Denver,” their driver announced. “We’ll stop there for lunch.”

“Good plan.” Morgan nodded her head at that.

Sam raised her head and she peered out the windshield. The heart of the Rocky Mountains right smack in the middle of summer and snow still coated the slopes along the sides of the highway in a thick rich blanket.

“I also just saw a sign reading to be wary of avalanches,” the driver added. “Middle of June and everybody back there in Aspen should be careful of avalanches.”

“Lotta snow still up here at ten thousand feet up, my man,” Zelda pointed out as she peered out the window. She then reached to her left and switched on the heater.

“Reminds me of Tioga Road going up to the northern side of Yosemite,” Sam muttered as she shaded in Frank’s head with the edge of her pencil. Alex nestled closer to her and he shivered against the cold metal. She thought of putting her arm around him to keep him from feeling colder but she had to continue on with her drawing.

The road soon leveled out and sank down into the hills before them. Sam took a glimpse out the windshield, right as the mountains began to sink down into the vast stretch of plains before them. As far as the eye could see, the earth extended off into the distance. They rounded a corner and a hearty gust of wind pounded the guard rail and the side of the van.

“Goodness,” she said aloud, and she nearly dropped her pencil at that.

“Windy as all hell up here,” their driver said. “The Rockies are like a wind tunnel of sorts so it’s always pretty bad out there especially.” He lifted a finger and pointed out to the Plains on the eastern side of the mountains. The road wound down the side of the mountains in a series of tight switchbacks, and with that Alex turned his head to her.

“The road trip you and I took up to Tahoe on New Year’s that one time,” he said in a low voice.

“How could I forget?” she recalled with a little chuckle. But that time around, they descended even more before they reached the outskirts of Boulder. Right then and there, Sam had an idea to make a drawing of her and Aurora together up there in the snows of the Rocky Mountains. But she had to finish out that drawing of her and Frank first before she could move on from there.

The snows disappeared into sunbaked rocks and scraggly forests under the summer sun within time, and soon they had reached the outskirts of Boulder, nestled back in a low canyon at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The next exit off of the highway and that was when Sam tucked her pencil behind her ear and stretched her arms over the crown of her head for a break. Alex skirted up to the front seats for a peek out the windshield.

They pulled up to a stoplight and Sam spotted a blonde woman on a bicycle on the corner before them. The light turned green and she darted before them and up the side street. Alex frowned at her.

“What’s up?” Zelda asked him with a glimpse back at him.

“Nothing,” he quipped with a shake of his head.

The light turned green and he slid back the floor towards Sam again.

“Did you see that woman at the crosswalk there?” he asked her in a low voice.

“I did, yeah. Why?”

“I can’t explain it, but she looked kind of familiar.”

“I didn’t see her face so I can’t say for sure,” she confessed to him as she closed her journal.

Within time, they reached the restaurant in question for a round of lunch and then they checked into the hotel for the night. The next day was their show down the block and then another one over in Denver.

Sam and Alex could not board the red eye back to New York quicker, immediately following the show in Denver, much to Zelda’s surprise and inquiry and Morgan and Minerva had to take the next plane a little later on in the early morning hours.

“Did you see that guy at the very back of the crowd trying to mosh without any pants?” he asked Zelda once she joined them there on the plane.

“Oh, my god, it was insane!” Sam declared as she tucked her purse underneath her seat. “I kept on seeing his head and his bare legs. It looked like he kept on trying to flash me or one of you. You seriously didn’t see him, Zelda?”

“No!” she exclaimed as she took her spot right across the aisle from them. “And I usually see all from my spot there behind the drum kit. It was a little tip I picked up from little Mr. Louie when we were touring with Testament, too. Raise up the kit a little bit because you never know who might show up in the crowds. Wow. I can’t believe I missed that guy. I usually like playing in Denver, too—all the snow and ice and avalanches and being high up in the mountains makes the fan crazy.”

“I hope Lou can join us in our little memorial,” Alex confessed in a soft voice.

“I hope so, too,” Sam said with a nod of her head. “As far as I know, he was the last one out of all of us to stay in touch with Aurora. As far as I know, anyway.”

“As far as I know, too,” he added.

They reached New York City at about four o’clock in the morning and Sam wondered if Marla and Belinda were awake at that point. They did say that any time whatsoever would be alright to visit them.

Indeed, the next driver showed up there at the airport for them and Sam told him to take them up to Scarsdale.

“What’s going on in Scarsdale?” he asked her; Sam opened her mouth to say something but she dropped her cane on the ground outside of there.

“Some rather—pressing matters to tend to,” Alex replied then; he reached off to the side and he picked the cane off of the ground for her.

“Thank you,” she told him in a gentle voice. He closed the doors behind them and they headed off of Long Island and into the night. All the while, Alex peered out the windows there in the back of the van and into all of those city lights. Sam could see it in his eyes: he had to be there in New York. No matter what happened to him or what he did, he had to get out of the Bay Area and into the Northeastern wing. She did say that she missed that whole entire area as well, even if things had changed so much in the past decade.

The lights of the Twin Towers followed them all the way into mainland and up towards Scarsdale.

Sam told him the directions to that house.

Indeed, the porchlight bathed the entire street in golden light and the lamp in the front window was still switched on, as if Marla and Belinda were waiting for her to come home.

Alex helped her out of the back of the van with one hand, and she gripped onto her cane and stepped onto that familiar patch of ground before her. The front door swung open right then and Marla poked her head out of the front foyer.

“Hey!” Alex called out to her.

“Hey, you two! Oh my god!” She hurried out of there with her arms wide open. She had dyed her hair a rich royal purple once again, very much like the shade she wore during the tour with Stormtroopers of Death, but even under the golden light, Sam could see that it had more of a metallic sheen to it. Marla embraced them both with a shudder to her body, and then she held back and brushed away tears. Sam peered behind her to the front door.

“Where’s Belinda?” she asked her, and Marla fetched up a sigh.

“She took off,” she replied, to which Sam and Alex gaped at her.

“What do you mean, she took off?” He raised his eyebrows as well.

“She just—picked up her bags and took off on her bicycle. She just told me she was going for a ride and that I shouldn’t worry if she doesn’t come back. Indeed, she never came back. That was about a week and a half ago.”

The two of them glanced at one another.

“What’s the matter?” Marla asked them.

“Remember that bicyclist we saw on the road over in Boulder?” Alex recalled. “That blonde woman there at the crosswalk and she looked sort of familiar?”

“Oh, no, you don’t think—” Sam stopped right in her tracks.

“She’s in Boulder?” Marla demanded in a broken voice.

“We don’t know,” Sam confessed with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Marla!” Zelda declared, and she turned around to face her.

“Oh god—” The two of them embraced each other right there, which in turn left Alex and Sam to gape at one another.

“Belinda actually reached the base of the Rocky Mountains on her bicycle,” Alex muttered. “That’s crazy. I reach the very edge of the city limits on my bike and I'm completely winded.”

Sam shuddered at the thought of Belinda getting buried alive by an avalanche in the Rocky Mountains. She couldn’t remember if she was wearing a jacket, either. She already lost one friend, she needn’t lose Belinda after the fact, either. Zelda brushed away a tear and then Marla ran her fingers through her violet hair.

“Come on in, come on in,” she encouraged them, and she waved at the driver to ensure things were alright.

The four of them then made their way into the house, where she had left all the lights on even for the night.

“I haven’t been able to sleep well lately,” Marla confessed as she shut the door behind them. “Between Aurora—doing what she did, Bel taking off, and this new schedule I have at work now, it’s been so hard for me to catch a bit of shut-eye that my schedule’s all out of wake. I usually fall asleep at around three now and then I wake up at around nine.”

Sam glanced back at her and the reddish tint to her eyes.

“I heard you guys were coming to town soon on your tour and so—I knew you wanted to come and visit.”

“Well, of course,” Sam assured her with her hand on her shoulder.

“Do you know what happened to Aurora at all?” Zelda asked her as she took her seat on the couch in the living room.

“The medics said it was suicide by hanging,” Marla replied in a broken voice, and she brushed away a tear. “She also cut her wrists and wrote a note. Apparently, she was just—not doing well after Emile passed.”

Alex nodded at Sam right then with a grave look upon his face, and she shook her head at that.

“When the kids went out to their grandparents’ place, I guess she just—couldn't take being alone for very long. They were to be out there for the first couple of weeks of their summer break and then head on back just to get out of the house and whatnot. But I guess it was just too much for her to bear, though. No one was talking to her and she couldn’t take—it anymore.”

Sam sighed through her nose. Her first best friend and she still felt as though she could have done more for her. She could have done so much more for Aurora and she could have been more than the friendship that they had. All the while, Alex had taken his seat there on the couch next to Zelda and his face fell.

“The last thing she said in her note was—’tell Sam and Alex this isn’t their fault’,” Marla continued, and Alex and Zelda glanced over at her with their eyes wide. Sam gaped at her.

“Oh...” was all Alex could muster right then.

“Wow,” Zelda breathed.

Sam’s throat closed up and dried out to where it was beyond parched. Marla then brushed away another tear.

“So, where are you guys staying tonight?” she asked them.

“Me, him, and Mo and Min have a room back down in the city,” Zelda explained, and she craned her neck for a glimpse out the front window there. “And I think our driver is adamant on getting us back there soon enough. We have a day off tomorrow before the two shows down in the city so it’s not like we’re on a ‘no-sleep’ schedule right now at all.”

“And I’ve been bunking with him, too,” Sam added. Marla brushed away another tear.

“You want to stay here with me tonight, Sam?” she asked her. “It’s pretty late right now.”

“After the experience we just had back in Denver, I’m ready for bed right now,” she confessed with a nervous chuckle.

Without another word, Zelda and Alex exchanged her and Marla a hug and then they headed back out there to the van there at the curb.

“We’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Marla called after them with a wave, and then she shut the front door.

The house was strangely quiet as well with Belinda’s presence. Sam took to the spare room once again. A part of her wanted to call up Aurora just to check on her, but she knew that if she did, she would be met with mere dial tones.

She dozed off for a few hours before the sun’s rays spread over her face and she caught Alex’s full voice adjacent to another familiar one.

She climbed out of bed and held onto her cane, and she ambled out of there and towards the bar on the outside of the kitchen there. Indeed, Alex had taken his spot there at the bar with a cup of coffee in hand and right next to him stood—

“Eric!” Sam declared.

“Hey! Good morning,” he followed up, and she spotted the black cane in his left hand.

“What happened to you?” Sam demanded, to which Eric shifted his weight and bowed his head.

“He was just telling me and Marla about that,” Alex replied with a nod and a sip of his coffee.

She hesitated for a second and then she squinted her eyes at him. “Eric? What happened?”

“I hurt my ankle and my knee, too,” he replied with haste. “When I heard about Aurora, I had the phone right next to me in the case of someone calling me. Greg called me and told me about it and I—fell off the toilet.”

Alex snickered at that.

“I did!” Eric insisted as his face turned bright red. “I fell right off of the toilet and landed ass over teakettle right on my knee on the hard linoleum—it's not funny, Alex.”

Alex brought a hand to his mouth and stifled his laughter. Sam tried hard not to laugh herself but the sight of his face with the rich blush of red touched in his cheekbones gave her quite the struggle.

“Lucky for me,” Eric continued. “Rebecca was in the next room and she scooped me off the floor and helped me get my pants back on. No sooner had I stood up and gathered myself when my leg really started hurting. So, here I am. Twinsies with you, Sam.”

“Twinsies!” she proclaimed. “What happened with Greg?”

“When I got off the phone from him? Oh, he was like, ‘what the hell is going on, dude?’ over and over again, trying to get my attention. Becca picks up the phone from the floor and she goes, ‘Eric fell face down ass up clean off the toilet, that’s what happened.’ And just like Alejandro over here, he was trying really hard not to laugh himself.” He shook his head at that, and at the fact that Alex’s face had turned the same color as a ripe little cherry tomato. “At least that was the only thing that happened, too. I was clean as a whistle at that point.”

“Where’s Marla?” Sam wondered aloud.

“Right here.” Indeed, she surfaced from the bathroom and Eric ducked in there.

“Don’t fall,” Marla encouraged him.

“I’ll try not to,” he said with an exasperated sigh. Once he closed the door behind him, Alex shook his head and kept the mug up to his mouth.

“Oh, god damn it,” he groaned as he took another little sip of coffee.

“I know,” Sam said with a shake of her head. “I hate that that made me laugh so much. I mean, the poor guy fell off the toilet.”

“Fell flat on his face and on his knee, too,” he added.

“So, I have to work today,” Marla announced them with a yawn. “Because it’s just me for the time being, I’m able to work for a short time over the course of the day. But I won’t be able to make the show or hold a memorial for Aurora, either. I don’t know if I'll be able to, either. Not without Bel here with us.”

“Maybe when the tour’s over?” Alex suggested. “Labor Day weekend and we’ve got a whole month before things take off again after my birthday.”

“Maybe. We'll see.” She fetched up a sigh. “Want some coffee, Sam?”

“Yes, please.” Sam leaned up to the counter next to Alex and she folded her arms over the top there. Eric soon emerged from the bathroom himself and he ran his fingers through his smooth black hair all the while. He still smelled good against all odds.

“So, you coming to the show tonight?” she asked him.

“Of course! I also came up here to see how these two girls were doing, too.” His face then fell.

“Greg told us,” she told him in a low voice, and he closed his eyes and nodded at that.

“Yeah. I don’t know what we’re going to do after he leaves. Chuck says he’s tried talking to the guys from Death Angel and Exodus to maybe help us out, but nada. We might have to go on hiatus for all I know.”

“You can hire me back,” Alex suggested without a second thought right then, to which Eric burst out laughing at that.

“I dunno if our label can handle that right now to be honest,” he pointed out. “Losing Aurora did more than just hurt. It royally fucked everything up on the business level, too. I'd have to get down on my knees and beg the boss man to bring you into the fold, Alex. Like they’ve heard of you, but they don’t know what you’re like, though. It's so not fair, to be honest, because Chuck and I really do want you back, too.” Marla sauntered back to the bar and she served Sam her cup of coffee, and he turned his attention to her. “So, what happened to Belinda? You were gonna tell me what happened there with her and then li’l Sammich here woke up.”

“Told me she was going for a ride and she just took off on her bike,” she replied in a single breath. “These two saw her over in Denver just two days ago.”

“Boulder,” Sam corrected her. “Close enough, though. It was at the base of the Rockies.”

“Wow!” Eric exclaimed. “She just said a ride, like she didn’t say where she was going?”

Marla shook her head, and he gaped at Sam right then.

“I’ve been drawing like crazy, too,” she told him. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“Do you think maybe it can bring you back to the fold?”

“I don’t really know to be perfectly honest,” she confessed. “I didn’t draw anything after the accident but after all of this, I’ve just been going nuts with it all. I might come back with it, but—I'm on tour right now and I don’t know the scene out in L.A. too well, either.”

“I don’t really know the art scene in San Fran, either,” he added, and the two of them and Alex took sips of coffee all in unison. Another crossroads, but one that included Testament in the fold as well.

Indeed, the show that night was an emotional one, with the Cherry Suicides covering Hole’s song “Asking for It” by Minerva’s suggestion, which included Alex on back-up vocals during the chorus.

“If you live through this with me, I swear that I will die for you.” The words crept up Sam’s spine and she wanted to cry right then and there into Eric’s shoulder, but she couldn’t.

“That was dedicated to a fallen friend of ours,” Morgan explained to the audience.

The next three shows, they played that cover again. At the stop in Philadelphia, Eric limped out of the shadows without the assistance of his own cane, and he joined Alex and Minerva for the guitar work. Testament could be looking at their own demise soon, and thus Sam knew that he had to make the most of it all in the meantime.

He did it again come the end of summer and their return to the West Coast. The final three shows, the first in San Francisco and the last two down in Los Angeles.

All the while, Sam filled out her journal with drawings, some of them straight graphite, some with that India ink painted on. All of them dated and with the tour stop names written on them as well.

Those final three pages had to be something special, and more so the case when she realized that Alex would turn twenty-seven soon, officially a young man at that point and he had the gray streak over the crown of his head to prove it as well. Sam sat there in the plane seat right next to him as he leaned his head against the side of the window and took a well-earned nap. A young man having left his childhood behind in the dust and yet he still had that softness of a young boy with his eyes closed and his arms folded over his chest.

He was in high school when they had first crossed paths.

Ten years before. Ten years gone.

It felt as though they had survived things together, from their blowouts and each other’s pain. But more awaited ahead of them.

She put the tip of her pencil down on the paper before her: even though she had two more pages left, she wanted this to be the final one for this journal. The waves of his hair as they fanned out from the crown of his head and the cane in her hand, and their backs turned to the onlookers as if they walked into the sun together.

This one deserved straight black ink given it was the final drawing of the bunch.

They touched down in the Bay Area right as the fog rolled in and she flipped back to the antepenultimate page for the San Francisco drawing: of Eric and Alex next to each other on the stage as they performed with the girls together. It was a big drawing as well, one that spanned the back of that page as well as the front of the next one, and thus she counted the one of her and him as the final one, titled “City of Angels”.

A caress of that blue India ink where it was deserved as well as some silver for the fog and a bit of black and yellow for the oleanders which grew in Cliff’s wake on the stage around them. She had no shades of pink on hand at the moment, and thus the yellow and gold tones would have to do the trick right then.

She put the strokes of that metallic ink down on the paper once they were in the safety of the house of Skolnick. His parents had left the place unlocked for them and she knew that Alex wanted to continue on with his nap there in the comfort of his own bed. She sat there in the kitchen with the journal plunked open before her and she touched the tip of the brush down on the crowns of their heads.

She hoped that Testament could return to form soon enough. They had to return to form at some point, if not the final third of the year, then the next year.

A lot could happen in the span of a few months and she held the journal to prove that very fact right then.

Indeed, the more ink she put down on the journal, the more the fact dawned on her that Savatage never called up Alex during that tour. He never heard a peep from them or from anyone else for that matter. They had another year before their little deal ran out and they had to attend school together, but she knew that that time was upon them soon enough. The time was coming for the both of them.

Right as she returned to form herself with the journal before her, he was about to find himself at the end of the line there in the Bay Area. A change of pace would not only help her but it would help him as well. It was almost as if they were the complete opposite of each other and it showed in their careers from that point onward.

Indeed, Eric and Chuck both joined the Cherry Suicides on stage later that night for a bit of guitar work and some vocals. They didn’t play that Hole cover but Alex, Eric, Morgan, and Zelda did lead them all into that introduction of “Absence of Light”, much to Chuck’s surprise.

“Man, I haven’t played that in years!” he declared right into the microphone’s head. “Not since our man over here—Alex Skolnick—and our drummer Lou were foolin’ around with me and Eric here.” Eric then set his hand on Alex’s upper back and Sam knew that they did in fact fool around without her knowledge, either.

All the while, she had never left her spot there on the side of the stage, then felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned her head and she recognized that crown of inky black curls piled up on top of his head and those deep brown eyes. He waved at her with both hands: the left of which flashed a glimmer of silver for his wedding band and his fairytale marriage.

“Joey!” Sam declared in a loud voice.

“Sam!” he retorted back to her.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I’m on tour!” he replied. “I’ll explain later—” His voice was then drowned out by Alex’s thunderous bassline and Zelda’s big kick drum.

The Cherry Suicides rounded out their set with three-fifths of Testament and then PJ Harvey followed, and lastly Hole. Once the latter had left the stage, Joey took Sam outside of the theater and into the cool night: fall was upon them right then and there, and to where she shivered under her thin jacket.

“You’re on tour, really?” she asked him.

“Yeah, I finally dropped my album a couple of months ago. Self-titled—it's all me, too. Me and a couple of other people. Why not, you know?”

“Wow, congratulations, Joey!”

“I play out here tomorrow and then I go into the capital the day after.”

“How’s Krista, by the way?” she asked him in a soft voice.

“She’s doing excellent. My partner in crime.” Even in the dim light, she could see the gloomy expression in his brown eyes. “I heard about Aurora.”

“I think everyone has,” she told him. “After the tour, we’re gonna have a little memorial for her. Probably down in San Diego because she was from there and everything.”

He nodded his head. Gone were the days of the intense partying: he had transformed into a sensible person who had to return to what pennies he had on hand to take care of himself as well as his wife. He turned his attention to the door next to them, and the sound of Zelda and Morgan’s voices emerged from the hallway there next to them.

“Not too shabby for a little punk band,” he remarked. “They have—sure come a long way, haven’t they?”

“They really have,” she replied. “I hope they get signed soon; they’ve been killing it lately with Alex on bass.”

“How’s he doing, by the way?” And his face turned rather serious at the mention of his name. Surely, those old feelings about him had to have subsided at that point.

“He’s doing good with them, although I’m not sure what’s going to happen to him.” Joey nodded at that and she could sense the tension there with him. She didn’t want to think that with her old love, but old love never died especially when she made sight of the little glimmer in his eye. Before either of them could say anything to each other, Chuck’s voice emerged from the hallway.

“Sammich! Where's little Sammich?”

“Out here!” she called out, and she returned to Joey. “I have to go.”

“I do, too. I told Krista I was going for a walk but a little bird told me Testament might be on their last legs and they’re chillin’ with the girls from Rhode Island. So—” He shrugged his shoulders. “Thought I’d say ‘hi’.” She put her arms around him and he returned the favor to her: he was still slender and yet he softened up a great deal with the passing of time. She then gazed right into his face and he showed her a sweet smile, still that crooked little smile that carried all the mischief. An old love, but a love nonetheless and the sight of his smile brought a little tear to her eye.

He was happy. He had come out of the shadows and found happiness. And the sight of his happiness was enough to bring to her for a moment.

“When you get back home, call us,” he told her, and she nodded her head at that.

“You do that, too,” she said, and they embraced each other again. Joey then let her go and gave his inky black ringlets a toss back from the side of his neck. He adjusted the lapels on his jacket and he strode away from that back door and towards the street.

Without another word, he disappeared into the night, a dark Indian chief with the wind at his back. Sam thought about catching him on tour at one point but she had things to do right then. With a sniffle, she ambled back into the safety of the venue right as Chuck popped open a bottle of champagne for all of them there in the biggest of the series of dressing rooms.

Even while on tour, it had been so long since Sam had a drop of alcohol. Not since well before the accident, but she was more than happy to take a glass of the bubbly for herself.

“We got two dates left on the tour,” Zelda announced as she held up her glass: the overhead lights made the champagne sparkle in the vein of Sam’s golden India ink. “But I’m sure we all know why we’re doing this right now.”

Eric and Alex lifted their glasses, as did Chuck, Morgan, and Minerva, and Sam rounded out the circle.

“To Testament,” Eric declared. “No idea where we go from here, but I'm sure it’ll be good.”

“To Testament,” they all said in unison, and they all took a sip at the same time as well.

“To Aurora,” Sam announced in a low voice.

“To Aurora,” they all said in unison again, and once more they all took a sip at the same time.

Another hour, and Alex and Sam stepped back into the house of Skolnick for one more night before they returned to Los Angeles. A month off, and then another short round, and his fate would perhaps be sealed after that. She glanced down at the journal on the table right as he made his way back to his bedroom for the night. Her leg ached a bit more but she hurried up behind him with it in her hands.

He turned to face her with his eyebrows raised at her in question.

“Happy early birthday,” she told him as she handed him the journal. Alex's eyes widened and his bottom lip trembled, and he put his arms around her and held her close to him, ten years in the making. Through the shadows, he held back and gazed at her, with his eyes big and luminous.

“It’s the least I can do,” she said with a shrug. “After I wasn’t able to do something special for your day for... years, it seems like. I finally got you something nice.”

He turned to the doorway next to them and he flicked on the light. He opened it to the very first page.

“’1995’,” he read aloud on the inner cover.

“It’s all the stops that we made on this tour, some of it with that India ink you suggested to me,” she explained, and he sniffled. “Are you crying?”

“Tears of joy and elation, yeah,” he replied, and then he lunged for her again for a second embrace, albeit one that was softer and warmer than the first one.

All ten years in the making.

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anonil88 · 3 years

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Generation hbo ep. 8 liveblog; midseason finale

Let's get into this episode before I loose my train of thought:

He dressed like an entire funeral. Of course he's listening to Bad Religion by Frank Ocean. I do love that the song is in the catalog.

As Sam should. Accept the consequences Chester you were in the wrong and you're lucky no one knows besides administration what you did.

Wow no need to be rude Chester, Riley is just trying to be nice. This isn't about him setting boundaries, this is about how he brushed her concern off.

Oh he really disregarded this entire kid and has now found himself a new talking buddy. Of course now that he doesn't have his head in the improbable clouds, he can sees around himelf. He still should talk to his friends though and his new counselor. The person you date isn't the solution to your self fabricated drama.

So he did get suspended, good.

Ay Legends of Zelda and DND. Whoever did that chaotic good chart placed Chester pretty correctly haha.

Get his number. Yo Chester you need to get his number or his IG.

These kids are kind of dicks but I'm glad everyone including his teammates are like we love you something is wrong and we can tell. It just feels a little heres our token gay entertainment moment.

This is so stupid but they did make him smile and laugh again because he can't stay in this rutt forever. Kind of wild how when you are the loudest person in the room just being yourself and you are off people notice.

The joy was good for some time but it doesn't last because he needs to face the root of his loneliness. Alone in a room full of people.

That doesn't mean he likes you so you need to slow down. But, also he needs to get the rejection so he's not stuck on the crush.

This message is awful and awkward start, but its become long and awkward.

I guess there was no pregnancy intro because we are going to the mall. This mall day seems so fun minus the pregnancy.

Some solid people and the fire station is the best location to go to.

Its been 4/5 days and you haven't talked to her, come on now the two of you. Euphoria and this show remind me of how much I hate teenage communication issues. The number 1 reason you could not pay me to go back and redo my teen years.

Tiktok dances to make the baby go yo sleep lmfao how gen z.

Why is Chester being kind of an asshole to Nathan all of a sudden?

Oh fuck that kiss was uploaded oh fuck. No Chester now is not the time.

I would of hung tf up if that woman was my mother, because you're not gonna be a homophobe to me and then ask me to come home. It's coded but she's really just upset her son does actually like women AND men, and probably anyone under the realm of nonbinary that he deems attractive.

Just say thankyou. Sisters ? When did y'all get that close?

Girl its not funny to tell your adoptive parents, who treat you like gold, that you'd rather they didn't adopt you. It is fucking cruel especially to two gay parents who likely had to fight to get her. They just let her get away with it in the name of teenage angst.

Delilah is setting this baby up to be so conscious. Aw his beanie.

They are really all gifting the baby charms and tokens. A proper sending off. Maybe not so much the cbd oil lmfao but everything else is so sweet. Those things will stay in the babies possessions too.

I really don't like Ariana, that was not the time to talk about the hot firefighter. She is used as the inappropriate comic relief character and it grinds me up for multiple reasons.

What us Riley? 🤨 There was no "us" established, yall didn't even share a kiss kiss. How the heck is a quick couple of pecks turning into saxophone time, but also how do those quick peck without talking about anything constitute a relationship or even situationship. Mutual feelings exist but they aren't even in a relationship. Also, Greta needs to apologize to Riley for how she spoke to her. Theres a correct way to say, "I'm not comfortable instead of you sleep around I'm not like you." Greta barely spoke in this episode and didn't even look at Riley or utter an apology. That's real strange.

Chester is gonna find someone his own age, awesome, and break Nathan's heart in the process. Oh the drama.

Mid season thoughts: This show isnt bad it just needs some refinement and work. The issues I had throughout the season did not get cleared up in this episode at all. I really like some of these characters and others are not for me at all. Some of the other characters could use more solidification of their interactions. These characters just felt very different in this episode specifically that we've seen them previously. Ariana was still consistent as were Riley and Nathan in comparison to the others. This is only the mid season there are 8/9 episodes coming soon, the cast is currently still in production. Sigh if only we could get a Euphoria cross over in one of the eps they are filming right now. I say this since Euphoria starts filming this upcoming week. How cool would it be to see Chester, Riley, and Greta coming out of a corner store and Chester holds open the door for Jules and Rue. Then in the foreground Riley and Greta awkwardly talk and in the background Chester says I like your hair or outfit before running up behind his friends like "Stop bring weird let's go."

Anyways I'll be here to watch when the series does come back.

#generation #generation hbo #genera+ion hbo #genera+ion #liveblog #live blog #greta x riley #chester generation #chester

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violent-optimism · 3 years

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Why Twilight Princess is the Best Zelda Game (To Me!)

Hey ya’ll,

I know I don’t really talk about video games that much. I really should though! Video Games have been a huge part of my life for pretty much as long as I can remember.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a game that means so much to me I can scarcely put it into words. I was 10 years old when this game came out, the perfect age in my opinion. I think if I had been any older or younger it might have slipped past my radar. Despite the game being rated T for Teen, my parents got it for me and my sister anyway which I think is pretty fucking rad.

Not that we really knew what we were in for, of course. I was just a kid. I didn’t read game reviews yet, and I didn’t have any friends who had played this game so I couldn’t ask them about it either. When we first popped that disc in and were brought to the main menu, we had absolutely NO idea just what kind of ride we were in for or how just how much this game would impact us.

Another thing I’d like to mention was how this game was introduced into my life at the perfect time. My sister and I had just moved schools. We were the new kids, and we had a lot of trouble adjusting and fitting in. There was definitely some teasing, maybe even some bullying. I don’t remember much from those days to be honest. But you know what I do remember? Playing Twilight Princess. This game was the perfect distraction from my crappy school life, and in a time where my sister and I barely had any friends, it was so comforting. We’ve always been close, but I think we bonded a lot over this game.

If you’re a gamer, you know this feeling; the feeling when you are currently playing a game that is just so fun, so amazing, so utterly addicting in the best possible way; that when you’re away from it it’s all you can think about. I distinctly remember my Dad installing the new TV which meant no Twilight Princess for a day or so. I was SO impatient and I just couldn’t wait for him to be done so I could continue playing it.

Even though I’ve now played Twilight Princess so many times that I could basically play it with my eyes closed (maybe lol) I still remember experiencing some of the best moments of the game for the very first time; running around Ordon Village, finding Midna, beating the first dungeon, finding out that GANONDORF was in the game! (Remember I had no way of knowing this at the time). Every big moment, every discovery, every heart-wrenching cut scene, it all felt so real and so important at the time. In a lot of ways, it still is.

Okay, so that’s the personal part. A bit long-winded, I know. I just thought it was important to include for this essay. But what is it about Twilight Princess that makes it so special? Why do I love it so much even after 15 years? (God that makes me feel old). This list isn’t really in a particular order but I will definitely be covering a lot of the BIG reasons why I adore this game so much. Oh, and in case you’re a little late to the party, there will be spoilers. Let’s go!

Darker and More Mature:

There’s something really enticing about being a kid, and witnessing something in a movie, video game, etc. that you know you probably shouldn’t have watched but you did anyway. Not only is Twilight Princess the only Zelda game to date that is Rated T (I’m pretty sure anyway), but it has some seriously dark and disturbing moments throughout the story; including one VERY creepy cut scene about halfway through the game that still haunts me a little to this day. Beyond that, you’ve got painful transformation sequences, characters being stabbed, characters sacrificing themselves, and a scene where I’m pretty sure Ganondorf’s neck just gets fucking broken. I can go on, but the point is this Zelda game does not screw around when it comes to showing intense moments and it’s all the better for it. I never felt the game went too far with it, but let’s say Twilight Princess definitely earned its T rating.

Wolf Form:

I’m sure people who haven’t even played TP know that this is probably the biggest defining feature. In this game, Link gains the ability to turn into a Wolf! I know some people might consider these parts of the game to be boring and not as fun, but I have always disagreed with that notion. I think it’s a really cool and out of the box way to break the somewhat repetitive gameplay of traditional Zelda games. There’s more of a puzzle-solving element to these Wolf sections, and I for one find it very satisfying to collect the Tears of Light. Turning into your Wolf form becomes essential, especially towards the latter half of the game when you need to complete tasks that you couldn’t normally do as a human. Plus…Wolf Link is pretty darn cute! His design is awesome too.

MIDNA!!!:

And speaking of Wolf Link, around the same time Link gains this ability he also meets a character who (in my opinion) is THE BEST Zelda sidekick/companion across all the games. She’s not annoying, she’s not boring; Midna is a 3-Dimensional, fully fleshed out character that plays a crucial role in the story. I can’t imagine anyone playing this game and NOT getting attached to Midna. I know I certainly did. In the first half of the game you don’t really know that much about her, but she is certainly helpful gameplay-wise and doesn’t just give you the same useless hint over and over. Plus, the SASS! My God, Midna is so sassy I love her so much. I love how she grows and changes and becomes a better person by the end of the story. Midna really deserves her own game!

A Beautiful Game:

Now obviously this doesn’t just apply to Twilight Princess. Most Zelda games are very beautiful, especially the more modern ones such as Breath of the Wild. However, there is something about the specific beauty of Twilight Princess that just takes my breath away. The scenery is just gorgeous everywhere you go. Ordon Village is beautiful, Hyrule Field is stunning, Snowpeak is captivating, the Fishing Hole is serene, you get the picture. And to top it all off, Twilight Princess STILL looks beautiful even after all these years. The graphics have aged really well which is certainly no hindrance. As a kid I always wished that some of the locations were real, and honestly, I still kinda do.

Best version of Ganondorf:

It’s funny; I don’t normally root for villains. I tend to gravitate towards more heroic characters or characters that are more similar to me. Ganondorf is certainly the exception; specifically the Ganondorf that we see in Twilight Princess. I remember being SO EXCITED when he first appeared in a cut scene after Arbiter’s Grounds. I don’t know if it’s the way he was introduced, the raspy laugh, or his character design, but I LOVE Ganondorf in this game. He is just so bad-ass, so cool, my only wish is that we saw a little bit more of him in TP. Regardless, every time he shows up in the game, he is a formidable and dominating screen presence. And I feel no shame whatsoever admitting that 10 year old Sam developed a massive crush on this Ganondorf. Is that weird? I dunno, but either way he is just so cool as well as a fantastic addition to an already perfect game.

The Soundtrack:

Again, it’s not unusual for a Zelda game to have a really fantastic soundtrack. The series has always had amazing music since the very first game. However, the music in Twilight Princess continues to entrance me even to this day. The Main Menu theme? Amazing. Midna’s theme? Amazing. Lake Hylia? Amazing. And don’t even get me started on those beautiful Wolf Songs you sing throughout the game. It’s just a beautiful soundtrack. To say it’s nostalgic for me is a massive understatement.

Dungeon Design:

Unsurprisingly, most Zelda games tend to recycle the same temple themes over and over again. You got your forest temple, your fire temple, water, desert, time, etc. These are definitely present in Twilight Princess, but there’s something about the way they’re designed and the way you move through them that just feels so unique and wonderful. I won’t name them but I’ve played other Zelda games where the dungeons felt like a horrible, tedious chore. With TP, I never felt that was the case. Every Dungeon is packed full of secrets, with plenty of interesting set pieces to explore. Even the water temple (YES, the Water Temple!) is enjoyable to play through. The Dungeons have tons of replay value as well, meaning that you can return later and find special items that you weren’t able to access before.

And just as a fun bonus, here’s my top nine list for the Twilight Princess Dungeon’s:

9) City in the Sky

8) Palace of Twilight

7) Hyrule Castle

6) Temple of Time

5) Lakebed Temple

4) Forest Temple

3) Snowpeak Ruins

2) Goron Mines

1) Arbiter’s Grounds

And that about wraps it up, folks! Sorry this was such a long essay, I had so much to say. It is, after all, my favourite video game ever. Of course it’s not technically perfect and it definitely has some flaws. But you know what? It’s perfect to me, and I’ll never get sick of it.

Thank you so much for reading! :) Listen to this track of the opening theme and tell me you don’t feel it in your SOUL!!!

youtube

#zelda #twilight princess #game review #my thoughts

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cookiem1996 · 3 years

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The Scottish Stranger Chp2

AN: Ahoy there! I know it has been awhile since chapter one, but I have been very busy with work and life. Now that I am sick, unfortunately, I have had enough time to update and continue this story based off of Zelda’s recounts of her Academy days featuring a crossover of Supernatural’s Rowena Macelod. I hope you guys enjoy this second chapter and I am hoping to continue more on this installment and perhaps a reunion between a present Zelda and Rowena. This chapter does contain some actual Gaelic mythology. I thought it would please you all witches at heart. Enjoy.

The Scottish Stranger Chp 2

Another great storm thundered in Greendale.

This time it is in the present. The rain still intrigues Zelda. She finds herself curled up by the window as she marks last week’s exams in the comfort of her home.

Sure, she usually spent a lot more time at the Academy of the Unseen Arts, but she was done hearing her sister’s pleas to pry her out of the environment lest, ‘you start becoming a hermit in that office’.

Honestly, it relieved Zelda to be home; she found it to be a comfort. Her family home never always used to be this way, with its thunderous memories of decay and turmoil. Now, the only memories that went through her mind were times of happiness, times of family...times where she would hear Sabrina ramble on about menial means of her adolescence.

Oh how she missed her niece. A weak smile graced her aged features as she thought about the day when Sabrina got her green thumb.

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“Auntie! Auntie! Look what Aunt Hilda and I planted!”

Zelda neatly folded her newspaper and set it down. “Come now, let’s see it.”

A young Sabrina tugged her Aunt Zelda with no care to the garden where Hilda knelt feeding a plant with some plant food.

“My lilacs will grow right there, Auntie! You’ll see!”, Sabrina beams.

Zelda glanced down at her little niece with the softest grin. She knelt down and brought her into a hug.

Sabrina crinkles her nose, but hugs her back. “What’s this for?”

Zelda shuts her eyes to fight back a tear. “Don’t you ever change, Sabrina.”

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Zelda frowns then seeing a watermark over Michael Hanover’s test. Her fingers wander up to her cheekbone feeling wetness. With a soft sigh she grabs a tissue and dabs gently under her eyes.

“When will I be done with these accursed tears?”, she asks herself in defeat.

She was ready to take another sip from her cup, but made a face. “Hilda! This is empty!”

There was silence aside from the storm. She furrowed her brows not hearing any footsteps. It took her a moment to realize she was truly alone now. Hilda wasn’t here, of course. She was home with her new husband. Ambrose went away to ‘find himself’. All Zelda had was Vinegar Tom and Salem.

It surprised the witch that Salem continued on living even with his charge, Sabrina, being no longer of this world.

Zelda sighs and sets aside all of the graded papers. She gets up wandering to the kitchen. She grabbed the kettle to make more tea. She felt so lifeless, so out of place. She knew she had to get out of this funk soon-for her coven.

Zelda nearly jumps out of her skin feeling a slight brush against her legs. She glances down to see Salem curled up around her leg. Although she didn’t like the feline from the start, it seemed the cat warmed up to her and she warmed up to him.

“I know, Salem. I miss her too.”, She speaks softly.

Zelda gives herself an assured nod before proceeding to brew some tea. She turned on the TV for once to see more news. She read this morning’s paper at least three times bored out of her mind.

There was a news report about the President having been attacked and that the assailants were in custody. She raises a brow noticing they didn’t name the criminals, but were focused on the President’s accounts.

“Breaking News: seems the brothers in custody have escaped. Be on the lookout for Sam and Dean Winchester.”, an anchorman reported.

Zelda tilts her head. Those names sounded familiar-for sure. Vinegar Tom barks lightly and nudges at his food bowl catching his charge’s attention.

“Okay, okay, sir.”, Zelda coos toward her familiar. “Help yourself.”

Zelda fills his bowl and sets it in front of him before doing the same for Salem. She rolls her eyes turning off the TV when the stories went on about what hairstyles were in for the season. Nothing intrigued her much except for political world affairs and stories with meaning.

Zelda hears the whistle of the kettle and scuffles over to it to turn off the burner. She moves the kettle away from the still heated kettle and stares off.

That whistle...

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Academy of the Unseen Arts-Past

Zelda sighed in defeat hearing the lunch bell go off. She became so engrossed on today’s lesson: Demons and the Archeron. Demonology really piqued the young red-head's interest. She could spend all day reading spellwork and the ways of conjuring one of Satan’s helpers.

She gathered her books and bag as she watched everyone rush out of the classroom, clamoring about today’s newest gossip; it was all anyone could talk about now-the new girl. A roll of Zelda’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed by her professor.

Professor Ghastly arched an old withered brow as he cleared his desk. “Ms. Spellman, is everything alright?”, he asked.

Zelda’s blue eyes looked up toward her professor. She sighs before she answers, “Quite. I am just upset the lesson is over for today.”

Professor Ghastly scoffed lightly and smiled lightly. “You really are one who truly appreciates my lessons. Don’t worry, we’ll touch more tomorrow. Who knows, one day you’ll be the best spell-caster the Coven has ever seen.”

Zelda offered a faint grin and gave a curt nod. “Thank you, Professor. I shall see you tomorrow.”

With that, Zelda left the classroom beaming in pride. She knew she already was the best spell-caster. Faustus leaned against the wall ahead in the hall watching her like a hawk. He approached her with a sly grin.

“Done being the teacher’s pet?”, he sneered teasing her.

Zelda rolls her eyes and nudges him as she walks side by side with him. “Done drooling over every witch you encounter? I swear I should conjure up a spell to castrate you.”, she teases back.

This is what her and Faustus Blackwood did every day; they would taunt each other whilst casting a lustful stare. Zelda knew she couldn’t want him. Faustus would be fawning over the next new thing like nothing occurred between them. The only girl he ‘stuck with’ the most was Constance. Zelda didn’t understand why, the girl was petty. Constance was a jealous cow because she knew even though Faustus would stray, he would also go back to flirting his way with Zelda as well. Zelda figured Faustus didn’t know what he wanted. Constance’s family had been in good noble standing, whereas with the Spellman’s, they were known for their wit and they were quite the impeccable conjurers. She assumed he had the future in mind-the right Blackwood bride.

“My, my, Ms. Spellman. How naughty of you.”, Faustus feigned offense. “You may have some leverage yet.”

Zelda shrugs with a skip to her step. “I’d say so.”

Faustus nodded in greeting to his inner circle. The best of the best warlocks the Academy had to offer. “Perhaps I should meet you after your rehearsal this afternoon. What do you say, Spellman?

Zelda pursed her lips playfully and tilted her head. “Depends...”

Faustus raises a dark brow. “On?”

Zelda stops and leans to whisper in his ear. “If you bring the thing I mentioned.”

Faustus’s smirk grew. “Certainly.” He winked and then went off with his friends.

Zelda watched him go and sighed deeply. Quite the bad idea for sure. Unlike Faustus, she hadn’t been thinking of the future. Whatever she wanted to do, it would be for the moment-living in the now.

Before heading to the cafeteria, Zelda went on to switch out her books for her next class. She didn’t get herself a locker, thinking it was the worst idea to cram one’s books in such a cramped space. She walked down the hall to her dorms, which to her convenience, was right nearby.

She paused then, furrowing her light brows hearing this soft whistle. The whistle echoed lightly down the hall. It sounded so...enchanting, the melody she couldn’t place. This sound made her venture forward, passing the large wooden door to her dorm.

There, nestled by the window over-looking the outside of the Gehenna Station sat none other than that bloody Scot. A scowl rose on Zelda’s perfect upper lip having found the source of the light and strangely enchanting whistle.

Rowena’s features remained calm however, her pale fingers drumming against the window pane. She took notice of the presence behind her through the reflection of the window and started to sing that tune she whistled earlier.

Zelda did not recognize what seemed to be an old folk song, but she knew the girl sung in Gaelic. Zelda knew her languages very well. She knew how to pick up an old dialect when she heard one.

“Ya know what this song is about?”, Rowena broke the silence.

Zelda tilts her head in wonder. Although she recognized the language, she hadn’t been translating it in her mind word for word-instead having been enchanted by that voice of hers. This frustrating newcomer sang like the lark, her beauty matching her voice.

Zelda snaps out of it and huffs, placing a free hand on her hip. “I am sure you will enlighten me.”

Zelda could just feel that growing smirk on the other girl’s lips. She saw the way her shoulders rose up, mischief teeming in her body language. This girl...she was so animating.

“It’s about a man’s burning lust for a bonnie. How his pecker hurt because she is this image of perfection.”

Zelda’s face turned a bright red. Who would make such a disgusting...

Rowena laughs, throwing her head back in amusement. She turned to take a look at Zelda’s growing irritation. “Had ya going there, didn’t I?”

Zelda’s resting hand on her hip squeezed, eyebrows furrowed as she glared right at the Scot.

“Hilarious. Were you the jester in your podunk village?”, Zelda sneers.

Rowena’s red brows flew up, but the wry smile never went away. “Is that all ya can come up with?”, she retorts. “At least ya find me humorous.”

Zelda’s jaw set as she scrutinized the smaller girl. “You didn’t want me to forget that you were a poor simple girl the other night. You want people to pity you, don’t you? It’s pathetic.”

Rowena scoffed and snickered shaking her head. Satan, in Hell, she was irritating.

“Bold of ya to say, spoiled brat. It’s so easy to look down on those beneath ya, eh? Ya think I want pity? Why do ya even think I am here?”

Zelda shifted in place clearly not wanting to deal with her right now, toes turned back toward the door to her dorm.

“You’ve got nowhere to go...”, she began stepping closer so she towered over the seated girl. “You need a roof over your head, food in your belly, someplace to mooch off of. You may be a young witch, but you are standing in a great Academy for witches who want to learn, want to let the Dark Lord into one’s life. You don’t just come here to use this as your lounging spot.”, Zelda spat as she nudged toward Rowena’s seat.

Rowena narrows her green cat-shaped eyes. She slowly gets up, her nose nearly grazing Zelda’s chin. It miffed her that Zelda would take advantage of her height to be intimidating. Rowena sniffed as her eyes wandered up to gaze into those stormy blue eyes. She could smell that wonderful scent: fresh strawberries, lilies in the field. A part of Rowena wanted to be enveloped in that scent forever, wanted to test those beautiful red lips before her. Freak the girl out? No way. No one ever talked about the temptations of wanting the same sex. Rowena slowly discovered that the moment she saw the curious gaze of Zelda Spellman.

She wasn’t alone. Oh no, Zelda thought about gripping her red locks and giving into her temptation as well. The Dark Lord did say everyone had their own free will to take as they wanted, to sup and lap at every desire. No, she couldn’t desire the stranger. How dare she speak to her the way she did and still appeared as pretty as she did?

Zelda lifted her chin lightly appearing still to be mightier than the smaller girl. She couldn’t let herself give into those emerald eyes, those pouted pink lips, those amazing spackles of freckles on her porcelain skin. Her skin must have been soft, but her hands looked calloused and worn from what seemed to have been manual labor.

This temptation she would not submit to.

“Ya couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, I start classes tomorrow. I have just been trying to catch up on a few studies. You’ll be seeing me around a bit longer. I hope yer ready for that.”, Rowena spoke lowly and then gave her a smile like a crocodile. “I hope yer ready to see what I’m made of.”

Zelda scoffs trying to show her she didn’t fear her-not in the slightest. “Is that a threat?”, she asks quietly, eyes briefly glancing at those pink lips, mouth nearly watering to try them.

Rowena bit that cute lower lip as those deep green eyes seemed to glint brighter in mirth. “I assure ya it’s no threat. It’s a promise.”

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The next day, Zelda entered the earliest to her favorite class of the day: Spellwork and Conjuration. She polished off her workspace and organized her ink jar and quill to the right corner of her desk. She smiled as she pulled out a fresh piece of parchment, taking in the nice smell of new parchment paper. She loved to learn, loved to show off how much she absorbed being such an avid learner.

Zelda tried not to think about what Rowena said yesterday. So far, she didn’t have a class with her-how would she prove her ‘point’?

The rest of the class started to file in. They settled in their seats ready to learn. Zelda folded her hands in front of herself, sitting upright, but ready to pick up that quill when she needed to. All seemed to go well, until...she walked in.

Zelda’s blue eyes narrowed following the messy-haired petite witch as she made her way to the teacher’s desk. She bowed her head politely, which made Zelda roll her eyes. Of course she would do that. Being all proper-like, like she wasn’t raised in a barn.

“Oh look, better not catch the hay fever from Farm Girl.” Zelda sneered toward her friends as Rowena walked past her desk to find her spot.

The other girls snorted and eyed the smaller girl down, thinking they found their new harrowing target. Rowena ignored them, chin lifted and unamused as she sat down primly. She sets her textbook down and brings out a quill and ink jar. Unlike the rest, her quill was weathered and old, and her jar barely had a drop left.

“Okay, settle down, witches and warlocks. Now, if we can begin our lesson. Ahh...Rowena, I see you need a refill...”, Professor Ghastly began. He lifted a finger and her jar refilled.

Rowena gaped in surprise and smiled. “Thank you, Professor, sir.”, she replied sounding so refined as she sat upright ready to learn.

Zelda could not help but roll her eyes at this. There was no way her favorite teacher could take this peasant seriously. She didn’t even have her dress all the way buttoned at the front, the collar not propped up around her neck, rather it flopped down. Her messy curls were all astray and her fingers were already stained with ink from perhaps having used it in earlier classes. Yet, the way her green eyes lit up, eager to learn, eager to take in this lesson-the same enthusiasm Zelda had about learning made her wonder: would she take this class seriously? There had been no doubt that Rowena acted theatrically about everything, acting horribly to get her way-oh no. All that little teenaged girl had to do was bat those gorgeous eyes and she’d get her way. At least Zelda had her peers on her side, for now at least.

"Now for today’s lesson, we’re getting right back into trapping a demon into an archeron. You see, many warlocks of our time have created this contraption in efforts to seal away the most abhorrent or pesky demons that victimize a witch or warlock’s home. You see, the home of a spellcaster is the most vulnerable for what reason...Mr. Redburn.”, Professor Ghastly begins his lesson and calls on Bradley.

Bradley Redburn snaps out of his daze as some of the students turn to face him. Professor Ghastly loved to call on those who weren’t paying attention. If one had been asleep, he would place a simple ,harmless charm to jolt them awake. It amused him greatly as it had the students.

“Uhh...”, Bradley contemplates as he plays with his fingernails. He obviously had no idea what the answer was. It annoyed Zelda to bits that no one could be as passionate about these lessons as her.

“uhh...”, he drones on again and averts his gaze from his patient professor. “Because that’s where people sleep?”, he finally guesses.

Professor Ghastly sighs unsatisfied by that answer. “You’re on the right track. Ms. Spellman...”

Zelda perks up in her seat ready to answer.

“Why is a spellcaster’s home vulnerable?”, He asks again knowing very well Zelda could get them through the lesson.

Zelda knew people envied her for her attainable knowledge. If anything, it made Zelda feel special. It made her feel proud that she added nothing but respect to the Spellman name.

“It is vulnerable because a spellcaster’s home is known to be the heart of their power. You see, most spellcasters...”, she glances at Rowena wanting her to know she didn’t belong here. “have a long line to their name. They remain in the family home, where magic is built upon, where the ancestors remain to guide their successors to improve their bloodline. Destroying the heart would destroy the very thing that connects a spellcaster to their family, their honor. A demon may want to attack that to test us in the Dark Lord’s name. If we pass the test, the Dark Lord rewards us.”

Rowena tries not to scoff at the so obvious hit below-the-belt comment thrown from Zelda. Nonetheless, she takes notes on Zelda’s answer, finding that part very vital in learning the culture of this coven-family was important.

Professor Ghastly’s expression brightens as he pats Zelda’s shoulder and walks on through the aisle of desks. “Very good, Ms. Spellman. If you would all focus on your studies, you would understand the importance of defense. You should not let anything deceit your family name. The Dark Lord will smile upon future lines as long as you remain in good graces with him. You must understand he doesn’t mean to foil with us, make us feel small. We owe it to him to accept his tests and gladly do as he tells us. Now, I am going to show you diagrams of different archerons.”

Professor Ghastly made his way to the front of the classroom. He waves his hand over the chalkboard chanting under his breath. Before their eyes, an archeron was drawn on the board, filled with runes and sigils at every angle. The students watch in awe.

“This is an example of an archeron. A warlock and friend of mine created this trapping a demon who tried to snatch his children from his beds. Now sigils and runes make a spell, whether that be just specific to the demon or it be dependent on a warlock or witch’s background. Do any of you recognize these runes?”

Everyone in the room is silent as they observe the picture. Zelda redraws one of the runes on her parchment paper as if to help her decipher it. In all honesty, it had her stumped. She swore she never saw this before. She couldn’t have missed a lesson unless this was something they were yet to go over.

Suddenly everyone whips around in their seats seeing a fair, small hand raise up. Zelda follows their gazes and finds they’re observing Rowena herself. She knew? No way...

Professor Ghastly’s brows rose though he didn’t look so surprised. It’s like he felt like she would have known. Were they in cohoots?

“Yes, Ms. Macleod. What do you know about these runes?”, Professor Ghastly questions as he sits at the corner of his desk.

Rowena barely took notice at the eyes on her. She clears her throat and sits up more in her chair, legs uncrossing beneath her desk. “They’re Celtic.”, she responds. “I have seen those on some of the old monuments in my village. I studied them as they are a part of my culture and within my family line on my mum’s side. Those specifically translate to ‘The ‘napper of the furnace, ye shall not snatch the children of the Night. They are the future and are in the hands of the Dark Lord when they’re ready to give in’. It is clear that the warlock who created this has Celtic or Gaelic origins or...if we’re to be specfic...”

The students lean forward in their seats in innate curiosity. Zelda feigned disinterest, but she wanted to hear more, especially from that accent of hers. She licked her lower lip quickly and held onto her quill.

“It is the demon Fideal. It is known to inhabit a body of water-to drag down women and children to their deaths. Perhaps, the warlock’s children had been playing by the water and so he decided to trap the demon once and for all.”, Rowena finished and leaned back in her chair looking pleased with herself.

Fideal? Zelda never heard of that demon. How ironic, that the demon in this lesson was one from her homeland.

Professor Ghastly chuckled and nodded. “Very good, Ms. Macleod. It seems you could teach us a thing or two about your culture.”

Rowena flashed him this bright smile. “I would love that, Professor.”

Zelda nearly broke her quill, teeth gritting in irritation. She couldn’t get her favorite professor to like her too.

“Wonderful. Now, yes, it is not always the spellcaster’s origins that inspire a spell or trap although, using one’s family’s skill to outwit a demon is always helpful. You see, you also need to know your enemy. Not only should we take into account on what we know of ourselves, we must also be comfortable in learning to adapt-to use what we learn to expand our knowledge to perfect our powers.” Professor Ghastly went on and then turned his back to create a new picture.

Zelda looked at her trembling quill, her nerves and anger getting the better of her. She twisted her lips in thought, giving a quick glance toward the satisfied Rowena. She put two and two together forming a most delicious plan. Zelda formed a smirk reeling her attention to her ink jar. She lightly dabbed her quill as if attempting to write some more. She lifts the quill and yawns before flicking it in Rowena’s direction to splatter her with ink.

Zelda’s friends watched knowing very well what would happen in anticipating. They covered their mouths from an eruption of laugher.

What Zelda didn’t expect was Rowena’s attentiveness.

As the ink flew, making its way in Rowena’s direction, drops almost landing on her nose and the white drooped collar of her dress, her hand lifted halting the drops in place. Her green eyes changed, emitting this bright purple glow. The drops hovered in place, pulsating, awaiting for their permission to move again.

The room grew silent, jaws all agape in surprise. Zelda gasped inaudibly, the sound caught in her throat. Zelda paled and gulped wondering what Rowena’s next move could be. How did she do that? No witch she met could do that, could just freeze time without an utter of a chant or spell.

Professor Ghastly turned on his heels feeling this energy in the air. He himself stood there in shock. This witch was like no other witch-no, she was different. He marveled at how composed she made herself to be, her glowing eyes concentrated at even the tiniest drops missed barely by the human eye. It’s like she could even freeze the entire room with that magnitude of power in that petite body of hers.

Rowena held her breath before exhaling and pushing the droplets forward. Her eyes dimmed, hand lowering. The droplets fell right on the floor in front of her desk, nearly missing Lottie Scuzman’s hair, landing inches away from her chair leg.

Zelda did not move a muscle. Her throat dried. What was she? No witch can be that powerful, can she? Zelda turned in her seat quickly and set her quill down. Rowena did not back away from her promise. She did not expect this.

“...w-wow.”, Professor Ghastly stammered and fixed his composure. “I-where did you learn that?”

Rowena shrugged and tapped her ink-stained fingers on her desk. “As long as I can remember, I’ve been able to do that. My mum would tell me it’s because I am a natural witch.”, she explained. “Also, as long as I knew how to defend myself...I wouldn’t need a spellbook.” At this, she looked right at Zelda.

Zelda didn’t need to look at her to know her eyes bore on her. Rowena: 1, Zelda: 0.

Zelda hid her face of defeat.

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Spellman Home-the Holidays in the Past.

Being back home is what Zelda dreaded the most. She hated the holidays. This would mean she would have to face her father, Wilbur Reginald Spellman. Most would say Zelda resembled a lot of her father, with the strong chin, her blue eyes, and uptight demeanor. What her immediate family members would say is that they butted heads solely because they resembled each other in personality.

Vesta Gale Spellman, her mother, is the silent submissive type. She hung on to every word of her husband with little to no opinion on her own. Still, she was pretty to look at with her fair strawberry blonde hair and her hazel eyes. She serves the family dinner and then pushes in the youngest Spellman’s seat with a light brow raised.

“Sit up, Hildegarde, dear.”, she chided the youngest quietly.

Hilda. Sweet little innocent Hilda. Next year, Zelda’s little sister would attend the Academy of the Unseen Arts. Tomorrow night was her Dark Baptism. Zelda hid her enthusiasm that finally her little sister would be signing her name away to the Dark Lord’s book. She knew deep down her sister had her doubts. Every night, whenever Zelda was home away from school, she would taunt her sister, giving her fiendish nightmares so that should would finally give in and stop being afraid of that important night. She couldn’t squander the Spellman name. Zelda, in fact, was doing her a favor. If Hilda didn’t participate, she would find herself in one of Father’s fits of rage. Hilda knew going to the Academy meant she would never escape the terrorism of her older sister.

Zelda could not wait to harrow her little sister. She counted on it.

However, Edward had one more year in the Academy. Hilda would be safe in her first year. It made Zelda boil with anger that Edward always defended Hilda. Hilda’s growing of a backbone would simply be a necessity, a lesson granted by a loving older sister.

The children waited until their father joined the table so that they all may join in prayer to the Dark lord. Wilbur cleared his throat and set a napkin neatly on his lap.

“Good evening, children. Welcome back home, Zelda and Edward. Hildegarde, you will start next year. Your Dark Baptism starts tomorrow at midnight. Are you ready to take in the Dark Lord?”

Everyone turned their attention over to the youngest. Hilda’s eyes hardly met her father’s. She nearly trembled in his presence, always having feared him. She fixes a small strand of her blonde hair before answering sheepishly.

“Yes, Father.”

Wilbur accepts that response and nods. “Very well. Now, let us join in prayer. Dark Lord, may you continue to guide this family in your beautiful darkness and present even more wisdom into our lives so that we may continue to grow our line with the Spellman wit. We will present our last child to your grace tomorrow at the blood moon. We thank you for providing our sustenance, our power, and the shelter that covers our heads. Praise Satan.”

They all murmur ‘Praise Satan’ after him. In synchronicity, they pick up their forks to eat, Hilda being the only one who doesn’t dig right in and picks around to eat the vegetables, of course.

Zelda ponders on her father’s prayer. Not everyone had always had a roof over their heads. She thought about Rowena. She came so far and must have gone through so much to finally have a roof, to have warm food to eat, water to drink. It must have been because her name had not been written in the Book. Perhaps, Father Mephisto would organize a Dark Baptism for Rowena as well. As if the coven would accept her. Zelda pushed her thoughts away and shook her head. That girl thought she was so great with her...not-so-interesting powers. Still, a part of her begged to know more, begged to see more...longed to learn from this ‘natural’ witch.

“Father...”, Zelda piped up after a long uncomfortable silence. “What is a natural witch?”

Wilbur set his fork down and stared at his plate. His brows rose in surprise, blue eyes searching for his wife’s hazel ones. Vesta shared the same expression, but did not say a word as usual.

“Where have you heard of this? Have they been teaching of things outside of the Dark Lord’s realm?”, he interrogated.

Everything felt like an interrogation around Wilbur. He did not know how to make a room lively. His demeanor matched the darkness of the family home. Only Edward and Hilda’s rare smiles could lighten up a room when their father was away.

“What do you mean outside of the Dark Lord’s realm?”, Zelda asked eyes filled with piqued curiosity.

Edward wiped his lips with his napkin, head tilting in the same growing curiosity his sister had. Hilda chewed on a piece of squash, round green eyes filled with intrigue. Both of her siblings waited for their all-knowing father’s response.

Wilbur did not expect that question, but he knew better than to underestimate his daughter’s irritating yet brilliant mind.

“There are witches who have their source elsewhere and there are those who have powers unexplained. Powers bestowed to them by birth.”, Wilbur explained. “Those born with this are misguided, not having the Dark Lord in their lives. It is all heresy. That is why the Dark Lord does not protect them unless they give themselves over.”

Zelda furrows her brows, her calculating mind stewing. “If they are born with such abilities, where do they get it from?”, she pressed on, teeth ripping the mortal flesh from her fork.

Vesta shakes her head at Zelda’s curiosities. She taught Zelda better than to keep questioning what is outside of the Dark Lord’s reach. She hoped it wouldn’t give her these ideas.

“Why are you asking such horrendous questions? Do we need to speak to your Professors?”, Wilbur’s voice grew an octave.

Vesta places a hand on her husband’s shoulder as if to sate on an upcoming battle-the usual occurrence at the Spellman table between father and daughter. She didn’t want to have to deal with both disastrous tempers. Wilbur visibly calmed, shoulders slowly releasing their tension.

“My dear, remember what the physician said about your hypertension.”, Vesta murmured.

Wilbur sniffed and rolled his eyes. “Your daughter is asking the inquiries of a heretic.”

Zelda shut her eyes counting to ten before daring to defend herself. She hated that her father took things to the extreme.

“I am asking because the Academy took in this new witch. She has not signed her name in the Book. She was brought in from the storm and had nowhere to go.”, Zelda began to explain.

Wilbur scoffed beginning his retort, “Since when do we unquestionably take in a witch? How do we know she isn’t a spy?”

Edward cleared his throat before he spoke up on behalf of his sister. “Father Mephisto grant it so.”, he responded calmly. “He foresees the Dark Lord bringing her to us so that we may perhaps guide her on her way.”

Oh yes, perhaps if Zelda dissuaded the intruder from the Dark Lord, then she wouldn’t further invade their lives.

Wilbur lowered his gaze to the table. “If...”, he takes a sharp inhale. “Father Mephisto bade it so, then he is correct. The Dark Lord speaks to him. Perhaps, the Dark Lord should usher the child onto the Path of Night.”

Zelda stifled a scoff and played with her food this time. She still yearned to know more. “As I was saying, the girl had been taken in. In class yesterday, we discovered...something strange about her. She revealed glowing eyes as she froze an object.” Her blue eyes moved over to her father who paled in shock. “By your countenance, something tells me you know exactly what this is.”

Hilda’s eyes widened as she glanced between her sister and her father. “Her eyes glowed and froze something?”, she spoke up, voice pitched slightly higher.

Wilbur balled his fists and maintained his composure. “Yes, I have heard of this. What you witnessed was indeed that of a...natural witch.”, the last part subdued.

Zelda’s eyebrows quirked, brain marveling at the thought something more to their dark path existed-something she could use against the girl. “And where does a natural witch get their powers?”

Wilbur actually appeared stumped. “Natural witches are rare, Zelda.” He sat up straight before he continued. “In fact, not one of us know where they get it from. Most have died in the time of the Greendale Thirteen. Apparently, they weren’t wise enough to hide themselves in the shadows, thinking they could win over the mortals with their...mystique.”

He sounded almost rigid with his explanation as if he did not agree with the ways of a natural witch. Zelda took note of this.

“But perhaps if the Dark Lord commands it, we must welcome the new witch. He presents us with a test. If we change the ways of this young witch, then we may have more power on our side to the Path of Night. We mustn’t disobey the Dark Lord’s wishes, can we?”

Zelda sets her jaw as she holds contact with her father, the room being still and tense. She slowly nods in agreement with her father.

“Of course, Father. We shan’t.”, she replies with a small grin and fingers crossed behind her back.

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To be continued... ;)

#caos #spn #fanfic #zowena #zelda spellman #rowena macleod #spn rowena #romance #horror #Zelda #Rowena #witches #femslash

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griseldabanks · 9 months

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Let Me Count the Ways ask game

I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, and finally decided I might as well just go ahead and do it. Send in a prompt and a duo, and I'll write a short fic for you! Feel free to reblog or alter for your own purposes.

"I missed you."

"You're my idiot."

"You're not a burden."

"I trust you with my life."

"I love you. Yeah, for real."

"I'll never give up on you."

"I can't imagine how I lived without you. I mean, I can remember it, but I can't imagine how I considered that living."

"I've got you."

"Don't EVER scare me like that again!"

"I thought I lost you…"

"How could you do this to me?"

"I know this may be hard to believe, but I'm on your side."

"Of course we're best friends. No one else would put up with your shenanigans."

"Do you trust me?"

"What? I meant it as a compliment."

"I can't do this anymore."

"Are you just going to keep walking by my house or are you going to come in?"

"Dude. It's three in the morning."

"Where are your clothes?"

"I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"I should have told you this a long time ago."

"Why are you helping me?"

"I feel like we've met before…."

"No, I don't care what 'they' think."

"Can't believe this drive is going to take 10 hours…. You wanna play I Spy or License Plate Poker?"

"I'm still mad at you. A broken elevator won't change that. Get away from me. That's YOUR side."

"Leave you? You know how hard it was for me to TRAIN YOU to deal with me?"

"Why does my blanket smell like you?"

"It's not my fault."

"Trust me."

"I wish…"

"Forgive me."

"Thank you."

"I'll keep you safe."

"Why did you do it?"

"Where are we going?"

"Now what?"

"Stay with me for a while."

"Did you really do that?"

"I love you. You know that, right?"

"I have no idea what just happened."

"What are friends for?"

"Please don't be mad."

"You're not wrong."

"I never told you, but…"

"Stop! Can we think this through?"

"Whatever happens, don't forget."

"We should eat something."

"I haven't slept in days."

"I know that face."

Non-exhaustive list of duos I'd like to write:

Ed and Al (FMA)

Ed and Mustang (FMA)

Steve and Bucky (MCU)

Steve and Sam (MCU)

Sam and Bucky (MCU)

Frodo and Sam (LotR)

Legolas and Gimli (LotR)

Sam and Dean (Supernatural)

John and Sherlock (BBC Sherlock)

Rakka and Reki (Haibane Renmei)

Link and Navi (Zelda)

Fai and Kurogane (Tsubasa Chronicle)

Shion and Nezumi (No.6)

Hyakkimaru and Dororo (Dororo)

Nate and Sully (Uncharted)

Nate and Sam (Uncharted)

Joel and Ellie (The Last of Us)

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan (Star Wars)

Beat and Rhyme (The World Ends with You)

Kara and Alice (Detroit: Become Human)

Hank and Connor (Detroit: Become Human)

L and Watari (Death Note)

Din and Grogu (The Mandalorian)

#let me count the ways #ask games #in defense of platonic love #i'm planning to use this as motivation/reward/hopefully-staving-off-burnout as i head into the challenging climax of my main wip #depending on how carried away i get with these i might have to put an informal word limit on them or something

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buckyfeelings · 4 years

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Culotte: Chapter One

Pairing: Mob!Seb x Stripper!Reader

Summary: When the strip club you work at gets a new owner...

A/N: This is my first fic for tumblr (so if the layout is weird sorry) and it’s also my first fic i’ve written in almost four years. So sorry again if there are grammatical errors etc.

Chatter filled the room alongside the clatter of makeup brushes as the girls prepared themselves for the night to come. Y/N was one amongst these girls, all of them here for different reasons; maybe it was to pay off late rent or just an easy way to make money fast. You had only started a few months ago when one of your closest friends Samara (known as Sam to you and as Black Lace to the paying customers of Culotte) had persuaded you into the whole idea.

‘’You know, if you wanna leave we can’’

Sam held your hand for reassurance causing you to give her a warm smile, she had been your first friend in New York. The two of you met when you were both assigned as roommates in your first year of college. You both clicked instantly, building a strong bond and soon becoming inseparable. Samara was like the sister you never really had and as the second year of college approached, the two of you decided to move out of the shitty college dorms and into an actual apartment. New York being New York made this a hard conquest, fortunately for the two of you had found a nice studio apartment. But New York being New York… meant that the rent was high. Two weeks into living in your new shared apartment the two of you found that paying $200 a week was becoming quite troublesome. And that’s how you now found yourself sitting with your best friend, waiting to get interviewed for this sumptuous strip club.

‘’I’m fine, I mean.. This is probably a more prehistoric way of making an onlyfans account but-’’

Laughter erupted between the two of you but was short lived when the door opened. A girl about the same age as you walked out, indicating it was time for the next interviewee. The two of you entered the room. It was small and dim-lit; much like one of the principal’s offices you’d see in a movie. Behind the large desk sat a handsome man quipped with silver hair in a rather expensive suit, he definitely fit the definition of a silver fox.

‘’One at a time.’’ He said sternly, pointing to the single chair in view. Samara looked at Y/N with a raised eyebrow and then picked up one of the extra chairs, placing it next to the other chair opposite the desk. ‘’We come as a package grandpa.’’ You sit in the chair next to Samara and watch him for a reply.

‘’Eh, fuck it. Don’t need you two sitting down for this anyways Get up’’

You both stood up as he eyed the two of you. ‘’Sway your hips’’ Samara was about to protest until the man said ‘’Look I’m gay, my boyfriend is waiting for me down the hall…. Just need to see if you can actually dance and you’re not wasting my time.’’ Samara sighed and started moving her hips, slowly bringing her arms up. You watched until you felt eyes on you that soon told you to do the same. Fighting a blush, you tried to mimic Sam’s moves, you were nervous but then you told yourself you shouldn’t be and tried to have fun with it.

‘’Alright that’s enough. You two are hired.’’ He says as he gets up from his seat. ‘’You’re gonna need new names’’

‘’But we didn’t even tell you our actua-’’ He cuts you off and points to Samara first ‘’Black Lace’’ and then pivots to your direction ‘’And you…. Princess.’’ You and Samara look at each other in confusion. ‘’Oh yeah, the name’s Eddy and welcome to Culotte ladies!’’ The last part he says in a faux french accent and makes his way towards the exit until he halts abruptly, slowly turning to face Y/N and Samara ‘’’You two work the weekends, only 10 an hour plus tips.. I’ll be seeing you ladies.’’ And with that, he was gone. Samara is the first to break the silence the second he leaves.

‘’What the fuck kind of stripper name is Black Lace’’

‘’I mean at least it’s better than the basic old Princess’’

‘’No, Princess suits you Y/N. It captures your whole pure essence’’

That was almost four months ago. You had now gotten comfortable with your new ‘job’ - You could work with your best friend, it paid nice and sometimes the men weren’t so bad. Eddy had you all waiting in the changing room for some big announcement.

Four months and you barely knew some of the girls in here, some were nice and others were just untouchable. But you did find yourself in a little circle amongst Sam and a couple other girls she’d become friends with. The door burst open with Eddy’s energetic energy filling the room. ‘’Ladies I have some news’’ those words caused the entire room to go silent, every head turned to Eddy to see what his so-called news was.

‘’I’m retiring’’ noise quickly found it’s way back to the room as everyone loaded Eddy with worrisome looks and questions.

‘’Girls, girls, girls, calm down. I’ve found a new, younger soul to run the place. I know it won’t be the same as Ol’ Eddy but this man sure knows business, he’ll take care of ya the way I did. As a matter of fact, he’s here right now, I’ll quickly pop out and get him so he can meet all of you.’’

Everyone started talking all at once once Eddy had left, Sam and the other girls next to you joined in on the topic at hand. You listened, not one to give your opinion on the matter. Although you did mention that It did feel like it was his time to retire, he was getting old and fighting one nasty cough. The sound of chatter started to quieten as soon as footsteps were heard coming from the hallway. Eddy had returned now with a much younger man, whose features were very refined, eyes the bluest you’ve ever seen and a beard that’d haunt your dreams for days. The mystery man, clad with a burgundy suit, places one hand into his pocket as he eyes all the girls and stops to lock eyes with you. He keeps his gaze frozen on you while Eddy introduces him.

‘’Everyone, this is Sebastian Stan. Your new boss.’’

‘’Sebastian, this is-’’ Eddy points to every girl in the room, identifying them by their stripper names and not their real ones. All while Sebastian’s gaze never leaves your face. You felt your cheeks blush the entire time, trying to keep eye contact with Eddy to refrain from Sebastian’s stark gaze.

‘’Zelda’’

‘’Dottie’’

‘’Roxie’’

‘’Black Lace and Princess.’’ finishing the list of names he turns to Sebastian, whose gaze seems to be glued onto you. ‘’Princess?’’ he holds out his hand for you to shake. In the heat of the moment you take it and he brings it to his lips for a kiss ‘’Enchanté princess.’’ He lets your hand drop and quietly exits the room with Eddy following suit just before giving you a wink.

‘’Well, do you wanna tell us what that was about?’’

Still in shock of what happened you had no idea how to respond, hell you had no idea if you could even move right now. A man that handsome had just flirted (?) with you. The rest of the evening goes on like any other at Culotte. You kinda hoped you’d see Sebastian again but he was nowhere to be seen. By the time your shift was over had changed into something more comfortable and got your bicycle ready for the ride home. Little did you know Sebastian was watching you from the front seat of his black Porsche and boy was he getting all hot seeing your new outfit that did nothing to hide your perfect legs.

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #seb stan #seb stan x reader #mob!seb #mob!sebastian stan #stripper!reader

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