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nighttimepixels · 3 years

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TALK TO US ABOUT MASS EFFECT I HAVE BEEN AN INSANE MASS EFFECT/SHAKARIAN TRASH PERSON SINCE 20-FUCKING-11 AND LEMME TELL YOU THOSE FEELINGS HAVENOT TARNISHED A SINGLE FRACTION IN THOSE TEN YEARS OH MY GOOOOOOODDDSSSS!!!!!!!

I DEMAND A PLAY-BY-PLAY UP TO THE MINUTE OF YOUR REACTIONS TO EVERYTHING!!!!

you are so valid and I totally see why everyone I've ever mentioned it to loves the hell out of it

aksdjlsdfj I meannnn if you want to hear my rambling about it then hell yeah

Okay, gonna put this below the cut to save everyone else XD also- since I'm not leaving this Mass Effect obsession anytime soon, if you're not interested in seeing occasional posts about it, please feel free to block the tag "night plays ME"~

(mild spoilers ahead??)

((also for real I mean it when I say this is rambling as hell lol, apologies and no stress if absolute no one reads all this))

OKAY SO Mass Effect 1-

Stars help me, I was honestly hooked right from the start?? Like even in Legendary Edition (the combined trilogy just re-released in one "can play it on one system + minor improvements", for anyone who doesn't know) where it's smoothed out, of course it's obvious that ME1 is a decade old... but the foundation for these relationships are all there and gods I love them already.

Like - Kaiden right off the top is a delightful good fightin lad, what the hell. I've heard that he's viewed as 'bland' by a good portion of the fan community but I dunno, he's a delight and even more complex by the time 2 rolls around and you encounter him on Horizon, it was honestly Ashley I was way more meh about - mostly because before you can learn about her family history/etc, she comes off as hella xenophobic and I was immediately offended for my growing space family that she didn't like/trust all the aliens around, pfff.

(she gets redeemed a bit through further actions/evolving thoughts, but I thought in retrospect it was a bummer that they didn't flip the order there, give her a chance to be liked before the complicating factor of being so rude about aliens >:c that then she could grow from... ah well. Apparently she has a good arc but uh, let's just say I chose Kaiden at the "key junction" in the latter part of the game so I won't be seeing anymore of Ashley uh... anytime soon, haha.)

Garrus??? Is??????? The ABSOLUTE best???????????

I liked him from the start, I'm always a bit of a sucker for a rogue-detective "the system won't bring this bastard to justice, so I've got to" type and all their moral shadiness XD But he just gets better, honestly, and where I'm at in ME2 (right before the Reaper IFF mission, as of typing this, with everyone's loyalty!) I am only digging myself deeper into this hole-

-*wheezing* okay anyways -

Wrex is AMAZING I love fightin' middle-aged krogan bastard, gods. Liara is great too, I'm a sucker for a wlw relationship (playing fem!Shepard, so) - buuuut I'll admit she's a bit more one-note in ME1. Last week while I was still on ME1 I remember hearing (while trying to dodge spoilers) that her arc is really good, though. I think they leaned a little hard on the 'innocent but sexy' sterteotype on her (so despite the yikes aspect of a few of the things I've learned in ME2, lol, I actually really like the complexity that's been added to her character.)

Saved Liara first, so by the time I got to Noveria and had the standoff with Benezia there was the chance to have emotions over Liara having to face her TwT and of course, I made the questionable but quality decision to free Queen Rachni heheh. no ragrets

More than a blow-by-blow of my choices though I totally wanna take the chance to say that even in the mild jankiness of ME1 (goddammit, the Mako.... please..... please just go up this impossible cliff I just want to resource hunt-) the way that the lore, both obvious/key to main plot and the lesser/filler/background/world-building kinds... I just love it. It incorporates it well, you can go ham in the codex learning more, or just dive into the basics - it's clearly a complex galaxy (and they do an even better job in 2 of fleshing it out further), and it never really felt overwhelming. It was pretty natural figuring it all out-!

Plus the interesting implications of resource hunting amongst the sapient races, and the little side missions you better bet I did every one of- there's so much rich depth in the story if you do 'em!! (And that lead with that Keeper side mission...? Looking back, damn, clever foreshadowing-!!!)

And oh my gods, Ilios??? hell yeah. I loved that mission so much, especially having Garrus & Kaiden with me when talking to the hologram/computer, and more than anything, that last sprint in the Mako trying to get to the jump before it closed-???

yeet the boi-

Also mannn I love a good setpiece, and having to go up the side of the elevator, space-side?? such a cool setup!!

Plus it felt good having been Paragon enough (as simple as the good v bad vibe system is, I don't hate it, lol) to avoid one of the Saren fights, ngl. And the er, "second fight" with Sovereign-Saren.... hell yeah

... I'll admit I had to double check my choice re whether to save the Council. I did in the end, but I swear, sometimes the way they phrase things I'm like ".... okay but Garrus is right, defeating Sovereign is more important than these few leaders??????" woops. Listen, priorities, is all I'm saying..... (￣ヮ￣|||)ゞ

'Course later they emphasize (in ME2) that there were 10,000 people on that same ship and I was like well I wouldn't have second guessed if I'd known that, I mean c'mon-

Also I did indeed romance Liara in this one, so I got that scene ;Dc But,,,, I also knew by the end that I was totally gonna romance Garrus in 2 since he's an option then finally,,,,, lemme tell you the guilt as I waffled over whether to romance Liara bc of it. hahaha.

Aaaaand Mass Effect 2-

So I'm only up to right before the Reaper IFF Mission, so I don't know the ending, etc etc lol. That said, I've just finished every side mission I've found with the exception of the Shadowbroker Quest and the Arrival Quest (I've heard the latter basically leads into ME3, and the former is best either right before the Omega 4 jump or in postgame).

So from the start - fuck yeah fuck yeah what a high adrenaline start Shepard noooooo but also yes save Joker aH-

The motion comic too hot damn nice job

I loved this setup, seriously - especially forcing Shep into this situation, having to work with/for Cerberus, and the compelling reasoning given behind "why" they do what they do (I especially found it a good point that the Salarians have the Task Force, the Asaris the Commandos, the Turians the- etc... like, true, when you put it like that, having a similar group advancing human interests/solving human interstellar problems is pretty reasonable...). That said, I love too that it really isn't shied away from how Cerberus is nonetheless fucked up - or its at least done fucked up stuff.

Listen, I still think some messed up stuff is gonna be revealed in 2's endgame......... after that Horizon mission and the Collector's ship???? TIM I SEE YOU YOU SHADY MF-

aaanyways lol...

I'm so so glad on a gameplay level they nixed the Mako style exploration. A few Hammerhead missions are fine and a lot more focused than the slippery ass navigation in that glorified ATV, pfff. The probes are a neat way of getting after similar resources - and more importantly, having good levels and some good hubs (the Zakera Wards, Omega, Ilium, etc) is way way more fun than having a more 'sprawling' space that is.... a lot of empty nonsense, lol.

Then there's the fact that we get Joker right off the bat and you can interact with him so much - and him and EDI??? Get out gods I love them. Kasumi is so right when she says they sound like a bickering old married couple lol. I have a terrible feeling that some shit is gonna happen with EDI..... but I don't think she's evil as-is, at least.

Side-eying the hell out of those "access forbidden" parts of her that she doesn't even know.... and the fact that her AI core has a locked door access................... something's gonna happen gdi LEAVE OUR ADOPTED AI ALONE.

(Also Joker pls stop fracturing your thumb on the mute button)

Also please save me there are so many hot aliens in this game,,,,, the xeno/monsterfuckers really comin' through strong in the sequels............... doin' the lord's work........................................

In general, I love how many levels ME stepped up in two with complexity and interwoven narratives!! Like, to the point it'd be almost a drag to replay ME1, even though it was fun going through it (if occasionally a bit tedious with the cookie cutter rando planet science/mine facilities, lol). Like, just from how fun and interesting ME2 is, mostly! more of all the pre-introduced races, plus new ones, plus more filling in of intragalactic politics, and more interesting implications of all these space-faring races mixing....

Also gods WREX and his planet holy shit,,,,, fuckin' hell yeah my man get their shit together and also adopt Grunt yes good-

And Mordin??? My singing semi-evil scientist best friend forced to confront his choices more than he thought he ever would have???? With some of the best ongoing general report chatter of all the companions??

(when I tell you I choked on my coffee when I talked to him after confirming romance choice w/ Garrus and that 'pamphlet' and 'anaphalactic shot if ingesting-' kajsldkfjsldfjk)

Like, fuck, the fact that they actually dive into the mixed morality and horrors of the genophage, and you can confront Mordin on it, for good reason, yet he still stands his ground, until finally some bits of his loyalty mission seem to... affect him, and I'm guessing might set up things for 3 with him? Unsure, but either way, damn, the fact that they start to dig into it...

And Taliiiii my beloved forbidden alien wife TwT her loyalty mission was SO GOOD. I love how varied they all are?? Getting to defend her and discover what she'd unwittingly been a part of-!!

Zaeed is a bastard but tbh I love that he is and that he's unapologetic in him - and Kasumi omg, best thief. A heist?? Gods, yes- I love our couch lounge chats XD

Samara is..... illegally.......... she's an illegally powerful and beautiful and eloquent MILF...........................

(.... listen I'm sapphic as hell and I'm kicking my own ass for picking her up last aksjdlfksjdfl - but her loyalty mission, damn. And seeing how there's this interesting cultural subset, and the struggle with the Asari in that they unquestioningly accept/respect justicars, but also know that the impact outside their culture is a diplomacy nightmare waiting to happen-)

,.,,,,,T,,, Thane,,,,,

I am weak for morally implicated murder dads okay?? And that voice??? His mannerisms?????? How you first see him, and that prayer after assassinating her...???????? And his history/his people's history with the hanar, gods I love how messy it is, it feels so much more real!

Also Jack is a mess and I love her (and want to get her some therapy, omg), and her and Miranda nearly duking it out after you've done both their loyalty missions??? so good and makes a lot of sense-! Honestly I would love more interactions between teammates on the ship, but there's already so much the devs had to balance I can't blame 'em for minimizing, heh. But suffice to say I also love Miranda and Jacob, even if I'm softest for my alien crew XD Hell yeah Jacob, we'll get loud and spill drinks on the citadel indeed TwT

.... I could write a whole essay on how much I love Garrus oTL Perhaps because he and Tali are the throughlines from 1 on your 2 crew, I have some of the strongest feelings about them... but genuinely, he was one of my favorite companions in the first game, and how you find him as Archangel in two? Getting to help him fight his way out after he's gone nearly 48 hours straight fighting off three gangs alone, jfc. His vengeance quest and what can happen there.... That line? fuck me, that line -

It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Grey? I don't know what to do with gray...

How DARE you come for my heart like this, devs holy shit

(also, some other choice faves so far from the series from him include We can disobey suicidal orders?? and This wasn't in my training manual... [in 1, if you have him with you @ th Thorian fight] and his whole.... pop the heat sink - in his romance ;Dc)

asdasdfksadjfkl like I said I can write an essay on him PFFF suffice to say I'm very looking forward to his romance scene and where things go in 3

But yeah gods I'm just gonna keep rambling if I'm not careful lol. Gods I don't even know what to talk about it's all so good and while I can understand people roasting the obviousness of Paragon V Renegade (v neutral) choices/alignments, I think they do a pretty damn good job in 2 of pushing it further - to the point that there were some times that I accidentally got renegade points and I wasn't that mad, haha. There's so much fun in the interactions that I just have a good time anyways~

I have so many thoughts about TIM (The Illusive Man) and Cerberus.... theories evolving galore............... and like, what the hell!! Omega 4 going to the center of the galaxy is such a cool twist, goddamn - though my heart still breaks at losing Kaiden (his line if you haven't romanced him?? about feeling like he lost a limb when he lost you??? holy shit.... but I also can't blame him for not trusting Cerberus to the point of it affecting his ability to trust Shepard... like fuck Shep go after himmmm) I'm really excited to see where that goes since he comes back in 3, and what the fuck happens with Cerberus bc while I love the fact that obviously there are a lot of people in it for the right reasons, doing good work, there are those that are doing the opposite, and I have a very bad feeling about where TIM will end up landing....

All that said though I need to do the Reaper IFF mission (where I'm lightly spoiled as to getting That Boy, but not how/what happens to make it so - just that it's apparently wise to have all your side missions done before getting him...) and the actual Omega 4 jump. So we'll see what happens and what I think about it from there heheh!

.... major kudos and genuine props if you made it here to the end, I am so sorry for not editing on condensing all this, and appreciate you so much ;w;

#night answers #night plays ME #(yes that's a purposeful pun lol)#((i sure have played myself by starting this series its so good aksdjflskjfd))

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spuffybot · 4 years

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I’m rage reading Midnight Sun because I’ve been a bit anxious lately and figured it would be fun. TURNS OUT the book is like a gazillion pages long and even more idiotic than expected. I’m 35% through and not sure how much longer I can go on. Here are my takeaways so far:

1. Stephanie went hard on the thesaurus for this one. When faced with a simple way of saying something, she perservered: “stymied by her soundless thoughts” / “overcome with glee, jubilant” / “sulfurously” (she uses sulfurously roughly 4 times in the first three chapters).

2. Despite attending highschool (and college) roughly 500 times AND being able to read minds Edward speaks like some kind of fanfiction version of Byron “please forgive my reserve” / “I might so easily have betrayed that trust” like jesus, Edward, we get it, you’re a tortured 100 year old man trapped in a 17 year old body but can you lighten up a little? You’re not fooling anyone. You’ve picked up some modern slang.

3. Seriously tho. I’m not done with this point: “to think it had come to this! I was utterly fixated on the petty high school dramas that I’d once held so in contempt” ok Edward, you and everyone who has ever become obsessed with a CW show. Chill out.

4. Ummm so Bella finally has a personality? After 15 years, 4 books (all from her POV), and 5 movies we finally get to see some actual characteristics and personality traits. Because we’re seeing her through Edward eyes. That’s just...too messed up for me to unpack right now.

5. Ahh yes. The whole breaking and entering to watch Bella sleep part. Not to worry folks! We finally have an explanation: Edward had a panic attack and was worried a meteorite would crash into Bella’s house and crush her, so he HAD to sneak in to make sure she was ok. And then he just HAD to keep coming back (he even greases her window to prevent squeaking) to watch her every night. Like...Steph...that is some serial killer shit.

6. Ok so I’m starting to wonder...am I underestimating Stephanie? Does she have us all fooled? Is she in on how creepy and predatory and abusive Edward is? Is this book her big reveal where she shows us how she tricked us into romanticizing evil and abusive behaviors in older predatory men who target young vulnerable girls? Or am I just getting carried away here...

7. Wooooow ok Edward is warning Bella that he’s dangerous (classic abuser move, when she inevitably gets hurt she will know it’s her fault because he warned her and she chose him anyway) while also gaslighting her suspicions. This is...a lot. Brosef has stalked her, manipulated her, tried to gaslight her into thinking she had suffered brain damage, gone hot and cold on her, and used his considerable power over her and we’re only 20% in. Seriously. Stephanie. Who hurt you???

8. Ok so there’s officially only 3 types of women in the Twilight universe:

A. Petty & Vain (Jessica, Rosalie, the Waitress, Lauren)

B. Insipid & Sweet (Alice, Esme, Renee, Angela)

C. Bella

At least until we meet Leah, who we all know is code for “bitter lesbian / undesirable / not performing gender properly / bad female”.

9. Let’s talk about that dinner date. I always found it gross how their first romantic interaction is defined by other women wanting Edward and him shockingly ignoring them to focus on Bella (frankly that’s just manners why are we rewarding basic human decency?). But now that we get Edwards POV on it, it’s even worse. The waitress and hostess who lust after Bella are stereotypes of “bad” women, the “wrong kind” of women, used to show how much better Bella is in comparison. She’s so much more pure, unassuming, unaware of her own appeal. It reinforces so many toxic narratives about what hoops a woman has to jump through to be desirable (without being TOO desirable, of course). Not to mention it pits women against one another...can we please move past “not like other girls” being the highest level of achievement a woman can unlock?

10. Ok we’ve reached the point where Edward is telling Bella he’s going to spy on her conversation with Jessica so she better watch what she says. We’ve moved into full on abusive relationship territory. It’s only gonna be downhill from here. Not sure how much more I can take.

I’m gonna take a break, drown my sorrows, and try not to think too hard about how “likes Jane Austen” is being used in place of any character development for dear Bella.

#twilight #midnight sun #edward and bella #stephanie meyer #vampires

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jq37 · 4 years

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 14 Encounter in the Ice Cream Temple

We All Scream

We return to the Ice Cream Temple after the absolute bombshell that the SPF engineered Jet’s death as a way to get the Candians to her lair and gear up for the fight that that revelation obviously triggered. We get a better idea of the battlefield with the amazing Rick Perry set--like even by his standards it’s amazing, fog is involved. The party is on a ledge on one side of the room and there are huge levitating Popsicles and ice cream cones between them and a massive tower of frozen desserts which has the chocolate egg stuck in it in a little alcove.

As the fight begins, the SPF quickly cycles through all her glamours before revealing her true form, a huge, blue/purple, many-faced, many-winged, angelic type being--but angel in the, “We’re saying ‘be not afraid’ not as a formality but because we know we look scary,” sense. And with a Nat 20 initiative she goes to cast something in a cone that would have hit everyone for 8d8 damage but Rina dispels it with a clutch 5th level Counterspell (rolling exactly the DC without even adding her mod), absolutely foiling Brennan. In celebration, she finally puts the crown on Amethar tossed to her a couple of eps back.

Cumulus does some crazy monk movement to jump all the way across to the alcove with the egg. Unfortunately, the SPF immediately uses a legendary action to hit him with with a Ray of Frost for 27 damage and then gets a lair action to skewer him with an icicle, fully dropping him to death saves. The one small mercy is that Cumulus falls towards the egg, not into the mist.

Liam takes some shots at the SPF, and learns that she has both a really high AC and some kind of Mirror Image spell going to take some of her hits. He also eats the Peppermint Heart Seed the SPF returned to them, hoping it will give him flight like it did to Preston (almost jumping off the ledge to test it) but Brennan rolls on the Wild Magic Table and it instead makes the entire party Invisible.

Ruby (at Brennan’s mischievous suggestion) jumps off the edge so she’ll be in range to use Mage Hand, ties it to the end of the rope to the closest floating Popsicles (the orange one), and hangs on. In the distance, she can hear her aunts cheering for her. The SPF blasts her with some cold damage, insisting she just wants to take her somewhere safe but Ruby is having none of that.

Amethar throws some javelins which just gets rid of some of the illusions. The SPF does some more damage to Ruby.

Theo, student of Lazuli, realizes that the SPF is like a dragon sitting atop all this magical treasure but she’s not the source of the magic per se and they should be able to get the floating Popsicles to move at their command. He tells everyone and then holds his turn to see if Rina does anything crazy. Rina Thundersteps herself and Theo to the Popsicle Ruby is hanging onto and uses Winterscoop like an oar to try and move it (DC 10 Wis check w/ advantage--Brennan’s one small mercy). She gets it and yells to her guys to jump onto the other Popsicle (the red one) but they aren’t able to move it. With the rest of his held turn, Theo cast Protection From Evil and Good on Rina.

The SPF tries to blast Rina’s group with another cone attack but Rina stops it cold (ha) with another Counterspell, viably breaking Brennan.

Cumulus fails a death save. Theo takes some cold damage which he lessens with Absorb Elements. Then the SPF casts a spell on Ruby, entering her mind and saying, “You came to me in the glade. Wherever you go, I go.” And she hears a scream from Jet as the SPF begins stitching her own shadow to Ruby. (Spooky, hate that!)

Liam jumps on the red Popsicle and attacks the SPF again, getting rid of the last of her protective illusion.

Ruby swings up to where Cumulus and the egg is. She the rope to Cumulus and pushes him off the edge (Zac’s Face: *Immediate Concern*) so they can pull him up and help him. She also does an Insight check on the egg and feels that the outside is cold but there’s a deep rumbling from within.

Amethar jumps onto the red Popsicle and is finally able to move it. He gets closer to the SPF to throw some javelins and gets a hit this time but, unfortunately, as the SPF is hit, an identical wound dealing half damage appears on Ruby. Ruby yells this info to everyone else.

Theo again delays his action to wait for Rina to act. Rina Healing Word’s Cumulus both because he’s down and to boost her movement by ten (she gets that free 10 feet of Fly when she casts a spell) and she uses that movement to get within range of the egg and cast Bonfire (a cantrip) on the egg (Ruby insisting she could have done it without help). Brennan, womped thrice, needs a 12 or higher on 2d8 to damage the egg. Rina gets a 13 on the dice without having to even do any Sorcery shenanigans.

The egg cracks, releasing hot steam, the smell of cinnamon and the most ADORABLE baby dragon that imprints on Rina immediately. Rina coos that she finally has a family.”

“That is mine,” the SPF says.

“Not anymore,” Rina replies.

Ruby’s Big Day

Jon Bon nails the SPF with a throwing ax, doing half damage to Ruby again.

The SPF does a ton of damage to the red Popsicle peeps and Swifty and Gooey look ROUGH.

Cumulus (after determining that the SPF connection with Ruby will fade soon) jumps and grapples the SPF, doing a successful Stunning Strike, but the SPF uses a legendary resistance to come out of stun and then attacks him, paralyzing him and leaving him to fall.

Ruby tries to figure out if she can do something and Rina says if she trusts her and holds her action, she can do something to help. But it’s not necessary because, on his turn, Liam hits the SPF with a crossbow bolt (Ruby takes no damage as the connection has faded) and then moves the Popsicle under where Cumulus is going to land. The SPF hits Liam for 25 points of damage, taking him down to 9.

Even though she doesn’t need it to save Cumulus anymore, Ruby still delays her turn to get movement help from Rina (reluctantly). Amethar catches Cumulus out of the air before he hits the Popsicle and then does almost 50 points of damage to the SPF with Payment Day now that he’s in melee range.

Theo moves the orange Popsicle closer to where the action is happening, Misty Steps to the floating ice cream cone between his Popsicle and the other one, then tries to boomerang his sword to hit the SPF, but it doesn’t hit.

Rina (slipping into a very Fig manner of speech for a second) asks Ruby, “You wanna go for a ride?” Ruby accepts and Rina (after telling Cinnamon--the newly christened dragon--to fly over to her when he has a chance) Thundersteps herself and Ruby over to the very crowded orange Popsicle with the SPF. She also casts Create Bonfire on the SPF which does double damage--24.

And Ruby decides to take her held turn.

She casts Green Flame Blade on Flickerish--Jet’s sword--and says, “For Jet, bitch.”

Yak flies over to give her advantage (and make this as cinematic as possible).

Nat 20 bay-bee!

So she’s getting extra dice from Green Flame Blade, Rogue Sneak Attack, Flickerish’s Superiority Dice, and the Nat 20. Siobhan is rolling a DM number of dice here and you truly love to see it.

Brennan, sensing that, writes a number on a folded piece of paper and hands it to her. The amount of HP the SPF has left. Then he has her roll in the Box of Doom. She lets those colorful dice fly and counts them up--while Brennan looks on with increasing consternation in the background.

59.

She opens the piece of paper.

52!

Ruby lands graceful, balancing with her circus training, shadow of Jet being cast tall on the wall of the cavern.

“Can’t you come home with me?” asks the SPF.

“Why don’t you come home with me?”

Ruby thrusts the sword forward and the SPF (who Brennan says was literally just about to use her 9th level spell slot to cast Wish and restore all her HP) is no more.

Cold Shoulder

Fight over, the mist begins to clear. They see the floor of the cavern is just magical items on magical items and Swifty is stoked as hell. The magic of this place goes from painfully freezing cold and sickly sweet to the good kind of crisp cold and welcoming availability.

Ruby in her ear hears 4 voices:

“Proud of you, kid.”

“You make it look effortless. I am so proud.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t know where we’re going next. It was nice to be here, but we’re gonna go somewhere we don’t know, but we’re gonna go there together.”

“I was fourth in line and I didn’t know that we were all gonna say something. They didn’t tell me.”

“Look after her please,” Ruby says.

“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.”

Then she feels the embrace of her shadow and it returns to its place.

(“I love you so much. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”)

Rina says to Ruby that she could have finished off the SPF herself but she wanted to let her have the killing blow because it clearly meant a lot to her. She doesn’t know if that will mean anything to her now and she feels that maybe she’s wasting her time continually trying to reach out to her but maybe, someday, it will get through to her.

Rina’s guys escort her away and she can tell that Gooey has something on her mind. Rina gives her permission to speak freely and Gooey (with Swifty and Jon Bon chiming in) basically says, “Fuck the Candians. They treat you like shit. We’re your real family. You’re gonna be a dope ass queen.”

“You know, it’s funny. That’s the first time someone has called me queen and it hasn’t felt uncomfortable. It actually felt really good.”

Ruby takes another moment of silence for Jet. Theo says that it was always Jet’s dream to be fighting with and for the common people which is Rina’s whole thing. They should be rallying behind her. Ruby and Amethar never even wanted to rule--now he gets to be a warrior again like he wanted. Amethar shoots back with his perspective on the last 4 weeks: his daughter died, he died twice, he decided he was gonna finally man up and bam, it turns out he’s not even king anymore. So excuse him for not being the most gung ho person in the world.

Theo says that he trusts that Amethar is on board but Rina doesn’t know him. From her POV, this is just unprovoked shunning.

“You have two living daughters.”

Ruby goes to talk to Rina and, on a Nat 20 Insight, sees that all her guys are fully ready to remorselessly kill her if given the order. Still, she presses on, laying out her cards: Her entire worldview has imploded in a matter of weeks. Her twin sister just died. She’s going through so much and now this too? She can’t accept Rina as both her sister and her queen. She has to pick one.

“I understand that you lost everything,” Rina says, “but I was born with nothing.” She says that she was actually very excited to meet Ruby and have a sister and finally not be alone anymore, tears cracking through her cold facade for a moment. But then she gathers herself.

“If I must choose, then I choose to be your queen.”

“Very well.”

Rina and her crew exit the Temple and start down the mountain. Everyone except for Liam follows them. Liam goes to check on the hoard and rolls a 24 Investigation check. At the base of the tower he sees an old lair with ancient chocolate eggshells. He knows this is the dark space from his dreams and he knows this was once a dragon lair. At the center of the nest (which is still somehow warm), there’s a little ember that glows brighter as he approaches. It grows red and bright, filling his vision, a hand reaches out, grabs his throat and pulls and we end the ep!

Medal of Honor

Killing a god should be enough to get anyone this spot.

But killing a god with only a 7 point margin on a Nat 20 in order to avenger your sister’s death with her own sword a turn before said god was about to down a Full Restore?

Ooh, man. All hail Princess Ruby Rocks baby!

Things I’m Concerned About

OK, I mentioned last week I was worried about Rina doing a Cat's in the Cradle but I said I’d elaborate later and what I feared seems to be materializing so I’m going to talk about it now. Rina clearly had a certain vision of what she wanted this family reunion to look like and, for valid reasons, it’s not happening that way. They’re not really bonding. So what this ends up being is them relying on her in battle but brushing her off socially--at least that’s what it looks like from her POV. And like, she’s been around for like 2 days so it’s kind of unreasonable for her to expect them to be fully on board already but I see where she’s coming from. If I grew up as basically a Dickensian orphan and a princess told me a sob story (however valid) I wouldn’t be impressed. It would be a complicated situation even without a war happening in the background. On top of that, Rina is surrounded by Yes-Men which concerned me from the start when Gooey pulled her aside that first time. The last time we had the potential for serious party conflict in D20 (not counting Bloodkeep because I maintain that, despite the setup and Brennan’s best efforts, that was never going to happen) was the Kingston/Pete situation and that ended up fizzling out but idk man. That conversation Rina had about how it felt kinda nice to be called queen? That def set off some alarm bells in my head. I don’t know enough about GoT to know if this is a totally valid statement but when she got the dragon and then that convo happened I was like...hmm...how does Dany’s story end again?

Lol also, whatever the heck is going on with Liam and the dragon. Really this should be first but, I’m gonna be real, the Rina thing was so much that I fully forgot this was a thing that also happened.

I’m concerned about whatever happens next ep that was so bad they’ve been talking about it for ages. Feeling pretty trepid about that my guys.

We haven’t heard from Annabelle and Primsy in a while and that doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad but...hmm...

Five A Few More Things

Ah yes, the return of the, “Why can’t a butterscotch bird help me perform first aid?” argument. “Are you telling me a bird can’t save someone’s life?”

“Give me the child.” Brennan, I know I say this a lot but if anything happens to Cinnamon...a single thing...a solitary hitpoint...Brennan…

There's a bit where Cumulus rolls like a 9 and Ally goes, “Can he get advantage from the egg?” And Siobhan makes a face like, “Fully what?” but then a second later is like, “That’s a great question,” totally straight-faced and it’s so funny.

I wonder if Rina’s peeps feel the way they do about the whole party? Because Theo is honestly (in Murph’s words) also one of her goons practically and Cumulus pledged the orders’ services to her. You’d think they’d get consideration.

When Cinnamon gives Rina a Help action she goes, “I’ve never gotten Help action before,” and I understand what she meant but also, lol, she gets Help actions like every turn from her guys.

“Don’t come after my distant cousin!”

Very happy that if combat is happening in our story eps we’re getting some story in our combat eps. Getting a significant chunk of immediate aftermath is very cool and something I often wished for in the other main seasons.

FYI: Celestial is Liam’s Greater Favored Enemy.

Brennan really does love to undercut the tenseness of the situations of his dark world by reminding us all that it’s also deeply stupid and made of candy and I think that’s great.

One More Thing

Two big fandom art things are happening right now that I want to shout out:

(1) Until the 24th, D20 is accepting CoC fanart for their finale montage. The email is [email protected] and the details are on their Twitter.

(2) A fan run event is also happening--as big bang (which is a fanfic-visual art team-up thing that I’m learning about for the first time but seems really cool). Info for that is here.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #the royal report

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a-student-out-of-time · 3 years

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Connections Review Part 3

Storm Maverick- Category 5

And we return! This will be the final part of the Connections Arc. I had initial plans for this to be 2 parts but sadly Maverick got too big and therefore he required his own part. This is by far the most divisive part of the Arc as everyone seems to be content with the time travel and harems, but as soon as Maverick ‘Motherfucker Hellspawn’ Storm got relevant it all went downhill for some. So, what do I think?

So, this is part is less ‘What is Maverick doing’ and more of what I think of Maverick. As you guys know, I am aware that Maverick is a lot older than people seem to recognize as he has his origins in Askthedespairkids. And in the context of that blog, Maverick is actually a pretty good character. You have to remember that the blog was saturated with OCs and a lot of them suffered from severe sueness or edgy syndrome. I will not make names and I will not say who made the worst OCs because that’s the easiest way to start an internet war, but the two big reasons I got bored of Askthedespairkids and quit reading is due to how poorly written a lot of these OCs were and they hogged a lot of the spotlight, and the canon characters ended up being regulated to the side-lines, which didn’t tickle my fancy at all. True, Maverick was very over the top and what he ultimately ended up doing to his former classmates in Class 75 is incredibly graphic and probably worse than some of the executions and murders canonically, but I would rather blame the general OPness of that blog. Now this is on the Mod’s terms Maverick can hopefully be hit with the nerf hammer a bit more so he isn’t as ridiculous as he was in Askthedespairkids. Furthermore, you can’t call Maverick a Villain Sue and not apply that to Junko Enoshima, because yeah, she is a Villain Sue, that’s why I don’t like her.

But things are different now. Maverick is standing on his own, against only a couple of other OCs and canon characters. Furthermore, the Mod’s writing skills have improved since the Askthedespairkids days so there’s a bit more pressure on Maverick. I think there are two issues I find with Maverick. The first is that I didn’t like him making a move during this arc. The arc was fine just focusing on time travel and the various harems and relationships of the characters, adding Storm just bloated the arc and made it much longer then needed, I feel like Maverick could have been revealed next arc and the next next arc would be the next arc we are currently getting into. This gives me serious Oncoming Storm vibes where an Arc is ridiculously long and a build up to a (hopefully) big payload. Now let me make this straight, this Arc is a million times better then Oncoming Storm, I don’t think any future Arc would be as bad as Oncoming Storm, as that was long and boring whereas the previous stuff was interesting, its just that adding Storm made the Arc very bloated and artificially extended the length of the arc making it tedious. Perhaps a forewarning to the Mod when they decide to include someone like Mikado and Junko into the story. The second issue with Maverick is…he’s basically a poor man’s Junko. At the moment I’m really struggling to find any meaningful differences between Maverick and Junko. With Juu being around we already have our big bad villain for the second Session and if I’m right, Session 3’s main villain is going to be Mikado and Session 4’s villain is Junko. I know Maverick is important to the backstories of Umeko and Kyoji, especially Kyoji, but aside from tying up those loose ends, what is the point of Maverick? Does he exist to give the Quantum Crew a practise run against Junko? And yes, his threat level is higher as he’s kidnapping an obscene amount of people and is able to block us Anons, but Maverick shouldn’t know we exist. I really, REALLLLY hope there’s a logical explanation for that because if Maverick is somehow able to sense the Anons and see how much of a threat we are, then the accusations of Maverick being a Villain Sue do hold water.

Overall, I will be more critical of Maverick now then I was back then because he enjoyed being next to poorly written characters but that safety net no longer exists and there’s too many glaring similarities between him and Junko. Now for his actions yeahhh…. I did warn you guys that Maverick is that special kind of evil but I don’t think it was until Nikei revealed about all his foster families committing suicide that it really hammered home. It’s basically vindication of what I said before. The stakes are a lot higher now because previously yes there was all the girls being kidnapped but it was just Tokyo and one demographic, but here lots of people all across Japan are vanishing and being brainwashed by Storm, so the pressure is on for the Quantum Crew to stop him. And some familiar names as well as Damian, Aiko’s pen pal and Hiroyuki, Kiroko’s younger brother have gone missing alongside Kanon. Kanon vanishing means I think Leon is going to be important next arc because we did promise Leon that Hajime & friends would help her and he’ll be willing to throw his lot in to save his cousin. And the pressure is even more on because Yuki’s been taken as well, having traded Mikado for Storm. This is going be big, especially for Sora as she’s been struggling with how much she cares for Yuki and this will be a real test to see where her allegiances lie. Especially as its unknown what happens if either Yoruko or Sora dies, because if Hajime dies, time rewinds and he uses a life but what if Yoruko and Sora get offed? They don’t have lifelines so what happens if Hajime resets, does Yoruko revert to her old self or does Sora get erased from existence as she isn’t supposed to be ‘born’ yet?

Kyoji also got some development as we see him bonding with Monaca and the newly reformed Kanade, and it’s a very ironic twist that the two characters who are often nicknamed as ‘Satan’ in the fandom are now more or less siblings. As good as a caretaker he is for them though, his recklessness and self-loathing issues are still there as it prevents him from seeing Miaya despite a meeting between them being sorely needed and thinking she won’t want to see him again even if that may not be the case, and wanting to deal with Storm ASAP despite legit concerns that it could be a trap. Thankfully Chisa and Chiaki were able to talk some sense into him and rein in some of his more destructive behaviour. Given how manipulative Storm is and we have not one but two characters who are willing to go off the handle, possibly three if Nikei jumps the gun again, its going to be a very intense arc coming up as not only do the Quantum Crew have to fight against Storm and his backers, but also keep some of the more hot-headed members of the team from being reckless. The new members of the Quantum Crew are pulling their weight though as Kazuichi offered insight into the tech that Storm could use, Chisa obviously helping to keep sanity in check and Ibuki had one of her lucid ideas and managed to suggest how Storm delivered all the VPN password codes to his victims in a way that isn’t unnoticeable which is just mailing them a vacation brochure. I’ll admit, this was really clever by the Mod as that went over my head when it was delivered, but I should know about Chekhov’s Gun, which is don’t include something if its not going to be relevant later. Lesson learnt and I need to be more alert to detail now.

And that concludes the Connections Arc as the QR Code was scanned and they saw the welcome message from Maverick and Kyoji cursing Storm’s name. And my ranking shall be a C-. It would be a solid C but the inclusion of Maverick bloating the arc out and the fact that now he’s not being propped up by terrible OCs means the writing flaws of the character are starting to become more apparent and his similarities with Junko makes me question if he is a necessary character in the story or not. I will withhold too much judgement until the next Arc concludes but I did enjoy the Arc until the Storm part so its not enough to drop into D territory so C- it is. Either way, I’ll be watching the next arc with great interest and hopefully my new method of cutting down on needless wavering is making this easier to read. See you once the Storm calms down! -Review Anon

//Once again, thank you for the reviews. And admittedly, yes, I do wish I’d held off on introducing Storm’s plans until the ongoing plot threads were resolved and everyone came home. I can see all this being the beginning of the current arc and it probably would’ve worked better. That’s definitely the biggest flaw I can see with the last arc, though it’s important for setting stuff up and my desire is not for preparations to drag out, but for us to get to what’s important.

//After the Oncoming Storm, I’m wary of writing any more long preparation arcs, especially when I’m stuck in a long depressive episode ^^;

//I’ve never claimed to be a perfect writer or even a good one, but I’ve tried to improve on my writing since my early days. I had very little idea of what I was doing back then and it really does show. I only ask that you all go into the next arc with an open mind and not let past experiences of bad writing color your opinions, which I’m sure you won’t.

//I won’t spoil anything, but this upcoming arc has what’s probably my hardest decision as a writer to date and I’ve decided to committed to it, even if it hurts to think about.

//I do hope you look forward to what comes next ^^

#mod talks #a student out of time #submission

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agl03 · 4 years

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Can you do a breakdown of everyone few episodes of season 7 like big things you think will happen

Hi Anon,

Not much has changed since I did the big breakdown when we were able to find the ‘leaked’ titles. However, please bear in mind the only two we are 100% confident on are 1 and 13. I’ll repost it here and add anything that might have popped into

1. The New Deal

Aired at D23. Cliffnotes Mack, Robo Coulson, Daisy, and Deke have to save Freddy Malick from being kill by the Chronicoms.

2. Know your Onions

Well this is one of those weird titles that makes little sense. There is a song by The Shins But its also a saying for being very knowledgeable about something. So this is where we’re really going to see Robo Coulson really showing how invaluable to this. Also might speak to the learning curve the team is facing with all the new stuff. Also a good chance we at least get a glimpse of FItz here before he disappears for a bit.

Written By Craig Tiltey AKA the OUT OF THE BOX dude. He’s given us great episodes like 4722 Hours, Uprising, personal fave Hot Potato Soup, Rewind, and SPACE VEGAS!

3. Alien Commies from the Future

Well the Chronicoms take over some Russians or they think they are Russian, people were pretty paranoid back then. And I’ll put the time period they visit here anywhere between the 50′s and 80′s due to the “commies” reference. Good chance we’ll see lots of Military here based on who is already in IMDB. This may also be when we see Enver show up…or two…depends on where they go after saving Freddy. Also trying not to think of Killer Clowns from Outer Space here.

I throw in this could be where we could see Stoner.

Written by the Zuckermans have given us episodes Lockup, Boom, A LIfe Spent, Option Two, Code Yellow, and This Sign. They do have a decent amount of Philinda under their belts so this could be where we see May on a mission with Robo Coulson for the first time.

4. Out of the Past

Well something from someone one the teams past is likely going to come back to haunt them here. And it also might tie into the 1947 movie bearing the same name about a small town gas station that has his life turned upside down when figures from his past return. So they’ll be going for someone who ‘got out” and now is being pulled back in.

This would be the first opening I see for Afterlife and those involved in it to come into play.

Written by Mark Leitner, relatively new to the writing team he did Inside Voices and Toldja.

5. A Trout in the Milk

Guys I swear my google history for this show. Another title based on a saying. The meaning is that although you did not see the dairy farmer do it, he most probably dipped the milk pail in the stream to water down the product. It’s not direct evidence but a very strong circumstantial case.It is attributed as follows: “Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk. ‘ (Henry David Thoreau)

So the team will have strong evidence on something but can’t be 100% on it. This could speak to who they feel the Chronicoms are after, if there is a traitor in their midst (its an annual tradition after all), or this could be where something could be wrong with Fitz and Jemma is starting to worry more/pick up on it.

Written by Iden Baghadadchi also relatively new she’s done Rise and Shine aka Hale’s Back story and squee inducing we are invincible and Collision Course Part II.

6. Adapt or Die

Raise your hand if this SCREAMS when we are gonna see Ward/Hydra again! Because he said that a few times when he was discussing why he followed Hydra. I just have no idea WHAT Ward we are dealing with…preturn Ward, Hydra Head Ward, Squidward (yay I got to use it again).

If not Ward someone has to adjust to the new situation and fast in order to survive. This could speak to someone being captured, gone under cover, or something out of left Field. Knowing who the writer is…could me buckle up for some Fitzsimmons feels people.

If it is heavy Fitzsimmons, this could be the where we learn more about “we had time” and possibly the Secret Child Theory gets some legs. Adapt or Die could also speak to Fitzsimmons having to drastically change their lives in order to survive and move forward saving the others and the world.

Written by DJ Doyle…and a favorite with Fitzsimmons fans as he has given us some of the most iconic Fitzsimmons moments. Past credits include The Things We Bury, Melinda, Purpose in the Machine, Many Heads on Tale, The Team, Deals with Our Devils, INESCAPABLE!!!!!Also worth pointing out the sixth episode of each season has a history of being big FItzsimmons Episodes.

7. The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D

OMG are we getting a Bill and Ted esque Mack and Deke Team up. EEEEEEEEE!!!!! I do believe this is where we are going to get “The closest thing to a Musical Episode the show will ever do” and Deke in the Red Leather pants Chloe talked about.

Bring on the 80′s/90′s nostalgia folks. I don’t even care what is happening this one is gonna be awesome. Also considering the writer we need to be on the lookout for a FItznapping….this is the dude who has written most of them.

Written by Brent Fletcher who has done some major major episodes. The Dirty Half Dozen, Closure, Broken Promises, Farewell Cruel World (IE thank goodness we are FINALLY out of the Framework), FUN & GAMES, Space Vegas, and New Life.

8. After Before

I wanna lean flashback here and this could be another option where we get some answers from Jemma as to what happened during “we had time” and the fallout from that. It could also speak to a comparison or a change in someone, a play on a “Before and After” King of Reveal. Once again the writers lean towards something happening on the FItzsimmons front as they are the other resident Married couple with Jed/Mo on the writing team.

Also worth noting this is the first episode that Enver is in IMDB in so they’ll need to go back in time to meet up with him and I think they’ll find him at a point well after Agent Carter had ended. Meaning there could be some critical early days of Shield backstory here as well.

Written by James and Sharla Oliver they’ve done Paradise Lost, The Patriot, The Honeymoon.

9. As I have Always Been

Episode LIL Directed…YAY!

Clark said this was one of his favorites of the season.

Lil directing means Jemma will be light in both it and 8.

This screams something to do with Enoch to me (like i hear him saying it when i read it), its pretty much what he said to Fitz before he gassed him. In the trailer we see Enoch seemingly getting left behind as the the Zephyr Jumps away, stranding him in time. It also means if we lose sight of him for a bit we might need to be concerned about him getting co opted by the evil Chronicoms and used against the team. It should also be said that Enoch was on the planet for centuries, it could be only a matter of time before they come across his past self.

I feel this could also speak to Robo Coulson doing some soul searching about who he is now and coming to terms with the whole LMD thing.

Written by Drew Greenberg, another one of the long time heavy hitters. Dirty Half Dozen, Who you Really Are, Absolution, Wake Up, All the Comforts of Home, and Leap.

10. Stolen

Well this screams someone getting kidnapped and/or having their memories messed with. It could also speak to an item stolen or stolen time. This is the point where we really could see Fitz coming back into the mix more. This is also the point in the Season where everything typically starts to go to poop and the team suffers a major loss.

Targets for kidnapping for me are Robo Coulson as he’s what Shield has been using to keep ahead of the Chronicoms. Fitz because well it’s Fitz and he’s in hiding for a reason. Enoch to be used against the team.

Also worth noting this is the last episode that Enver is listed in IMDB for.

Written by Mark Leitner who is completely new to the writing team. However vet George Kitson (yes the one they named Kitson after) did the screenplay.

11. Brand New Day

So I think that just like in Season 6, Episode 10′s Stolen is going to be a real kick in the teeth to the team. In Leap they lost Davis, Piper shot her had, Sarge’s true self really got released, Izel escaped with the “monoliths”, and Mack and Elena were kidnapped. Out of the Ashes was the team picking themselves back up and starting to fight back.

Brand New Day also represents new beginnings and a fresh start. So after suffering a major loss in 10, they are gong to pick themselves up, regroup, and fight back. But this all but confirms someone is getting kidnapped in 10 for me….looking at Robo Coulson and Fitz still.

Written by Christopher Fryer he’s another new writer but based on IMDB has been on the production team for a bit.

12. The End is at Hand

Yeah that is not ominous at all. And just like The Sign this season hold onto your hats because its going to be a major run up to the end. I’m fully expecting a two hour series finale event.

The Chronicoms and if a new baddie is in the mix will have their plan in full motion (I fell like the we need to save this point in history kind of thing will be abandoned in favor of something bigger and scarier), the team will be scattered, some could be prisoners, and my stress level will be through the roof.

Expect it to end on an insane note just as The Sign did (with May being killed).

Written by Jeff Bell. As doom and gloom and generally no fun he can be in interviews he has given us some amazing/huge episodes and his last one shouldn’t be any exception. It may be worth nothing he has a knack for putting Fitz/Fitzsimmons in danger. Previous credits include 084, Ragtag, What They Become, SOS 1, Maveth, Good Samaritan, World’s End, Real Deal, and Collision Course Part 1.

13. WHAT WE’RE FIGHTING FOR

Pause for screaming with @eclecticmuses because this THIS is what we wanted from that first tease!

It’s the PERFECT title for a final episode and all cards are going to be on the table here. I feel like not only will the team be fighting to save the world as usual but every single one of them is going to have a more personal stake in the game.

They are literally going to be fighting for THEIR futures as well. Perhaps even their Past, Presents, and Futures depending on horrible plan they are trying to stop.

There is only one I am willing to theorize on right now because I don’t know what character arcs are coming and how things could change over the season for a lot of the characters. FItzsimmons. They are going to be fighting for their future, their family, their happily ever after. Come on Secret Kid Theory!

This is going to be action packed, major fight scenes, emotional as all get out as 7 seasons come to a close. Their will be wins, their will be losses. Mack is going to give an epic speech before he falls (sorry still don’t think he makes it) and Daisy will rally the team after he does.

Piper is back!

Written by Jed who has had his hand in every episode and penned some of the biggest ones.

#aos spoilers #aos speculation #ask agl03 #all the titles #maybe

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lyayayaya · 5 years

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Is Finn/Cassidy present in Episode 4?

So, hi y’all! After securing my tin foil hat on my head, I can officially say I’m back with another theory!

(WARNING: There are leaks mentioned in this post. If you are not comfortable with leaks, please do not read this.)

A few months ago, I dived in the world of Buddhism, Hinduism and Wikipedia articles to figure out what kind of person Finn might be. In some aspects I was right (figured his personality and role in the group out!), in other apects, I wasn’t. But that’s how theorising is, you definitely can’t be right about everything.

Please take this theory with a grain of salt and don’t be afraid to express your opinions, whether you agree or disagree!

We were left with many questions after the ending of episode 3, especially after the episode 4 teaser. What happened to Sean’s eye? Why is Sean walking alone in Nevada? Where is Daniel? What happened to the punks? Will Sean get arrested by the police? Will we ever see Cassidy or Finn again?

An inside source already told the following:

Sean joins a cult in Episode 4.

We are close to the truth if we say, Jacob went back with Daniel to his community.

We will be able to interact with our loved ones via minor contact (a call).

These bits of informations and the teaser are the only things we have of Episode 4.

We’ll only get all the answers once Episode 4 is out and playable, but there still could be some clues hidden in previous episodes of Life is Strange 2 or hidden in Captain Spirit.

There are the infamous Hawt Dawg Man comic pages in Captain Spirit which should be taken into consideration.

Hawt Dawg Man wanders on the road alone and devastated when his “friend”, Mustard comes and picks him up. They drive off in a car so happy, there is a rainbow flying behind them. Suddenly, Evil Mustard comes in their way, saying he will “crush them like peanuts”. Mustard gets scared but Hawt Dawg Man steps up against Evil Mustard, saying he “likes mustard and he will empty him out big time”.

Despite the pages being an obvious joke, they could be foreshadowing.

In Wastelands, Sean could explore Finn’s tent. The tents reveal a lot about their owner’s personality and mental state. Under a plate of leftover pizza in his tent, there is a Hawt Dawg Man comic book.

He might have it because of Daniel or he just enjoys reading them. Regardless, the comic is present in his tent and it could be foreshadowing.

I know the insider source said we will have minor contact but what if it’s just one of the possibilities? I think the comic pages mean Cassidy/Finn could go after Sean and help him against the cult to get back Daniel.

Why?

I think being mustard in the comic is a metaphor to being white: Hawt Dawg Man (Sean) is ultimately a hot dog, not mustard (obviously) but he still has mustard on him (hence Sean is biracial) and he tells Evil Mustard that he likes mustard (Sean’s two love interests, Cassidy and Finn are both white).

Who is Evil Mustard?

He could be anyone from the group, someone in a high position and white. I think there are only white people in the cult, probably racist in some levels and only looking up at Daniel because he is believed to be a miracle child.

The reason why a Hawt Dawg Man comic book is only present in Finn’s tent isn’t because only Finn could help Sean, Cassidy could help him too. She is white and it was already hinted she could go with the Diaz boys. The reason is Finn’s name.

In a video made by Square Enix, we were told that his name is a reference to Huckleberry Finn. The name “Finn” means white, fair.

In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn runs away from his abusive father and becomes friends with a slave named Jim, who escaped from their owner and both of them hide away on an island.(...) Jim is eventually wanted for murder(...).

(...)

They continue their journey due to feeling forced to leave the island because search parties were coming. Jim gets sold to a farmer while Huckleberry Finn is away and Huckleberry goes after his friend to the farm.

Huckleberry Finn goes after his friend to the farm to free him.

Mustard goes after Hawt Dawg Man and picks him up.

These two plot points are extremely similar.

“They continue their journey due to feeling forced to leave the island because search parties were coming. Jim gets sold to a farmer while Huckleberry Finn is away”- this could mean Finn/Cassidy could actually go with Sean but Sean would get arrested while they are away for some reason.

Sean would probably escape before the officer would reach prison with him (maybe jump out of the car?).

For the end: are there any links between Sean and Finn/Cassidy in a religious aspect? While I’m not aware of such thing with Cassidy, Sean and Finn both seem to be involved with Satan (maybe referencing that they are the enemy of the cult?): The sigil of Baphomet badge on Sean’s hoodie, the book which Finn is reading. He is reading Lord of the Flies, the book’s title is another way Satan could be called as.

TLDR; Finn/Cassidy might come along with Sean to Nevada as one of the outcomes but they separate due to Sean’s arrest. They later meet again and rescue Daniel from Jacob’s cult.

Thanks to the Life is Strange wiki for the images and useful informations I used while making this post!

#life is strange 2 #lis 2 #life is strange 2 theory #life is strange 2 finn #life is strange 2 cassidy #lis 2 finn #lis 2 cassidy

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michelles-garden-of-evil · 5 years

Text

Episode 7 Review: Flying South Like the Birdies

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

We open with a conversation between Alison and Raxl about the death of Dr. Menkin. Mostly, this is repeating what we already know for the benefit of the original viewers who missed the previous two episodes, but not entirely. I just realized that Alison didn’t learn of Dr. Menkin’s death in either Episode 5 or 6. (I had to re-watch part of Episode 5 and skim over Debby Graham’s synopsis of Episode 6 to confirm this.) So this is also an important scene for her, one that augments the fear she has begun to feel on the island, even if, unlike Raxl, she does not yet believe in the supernatural forces that make Maljardin, as the immortal housekeeper says just before the opening, “the Garden of Evil.”

We also get an unintentionally funny moment where Raxl shouts “THAT DEVIL!” and the camera quickly zooms in to the portrait of Jacques Eloi des Mondes with some thunder and lightning for emphasis. Then Alison freaks out as she realizes that Jacques put the dream from last episode inside her head. It’s not clear if she is more frightened by the possibility that Jacques will kill her or by the fact that she is sexually attracted to a dead man who looks exactly like her brother-in-law.

Alison: “The dream was so real! This island...it IS evil! I have to get away, back to reason. Away from HIM!"

*flashing lightning and wailing theremin*

Colin Fox, by the way, isn’t in this episode, so, just like the previous Foxless episode, the focus is primarily on the subplots. In the next scene, we cut away to the French Leave Café, where Boring Artist Tim is hanging out with Vangie Abbott (Angela Roland). Now, even though Vangie first appeared on the show in the second episode, I wanted to wait a while to introduce her, mostly because I didn’t know what I was getting into when I started writing these massive blog entries and got overwhelmed early on by all the things I wanted to cover. But now that things are slowing down and she’s starting to become relevant to the plot, I will write a little about her.

Vangie, who owns the café, is a psychic who uses tarot cards to divine the future. She usually provides a lot of detail as to what individual cards mean, connecting them to specific characters and not always using the more well-known trump cards/Major Arcana to represent them. This indicates that Ian Martin probably did a significant amount of research on tarot cards and their meanings before writing about them. (Contrast with Dark Shadows, which mainly featured the same few cards--especially the Tower of Destruction--over and over and usually interpreted them literally.[1] I admittedly haven’t done much research on the tarot (although I intend to in the near future for this blog), so I’ve learned quite a bit about different cards’ meanings from Vangie’s dialogue. There’s a lot more that I could say about her character, but this is about all I can say for now without spoiling anything.

Well, I could also mention her quirky fashion sense and distinctive sing-song alto voice. (That’s Boring Artist Tim on the right, by the way.)

A screenshot of Vangie’s outfit from Episode 2.

Hundreds of miles away, we find the Reverend Matt Dawson at Westley House seeking word of the whereabouts of 20-year-old teenager Holly. He visits her roommate Dinah Heath[2] (Trudy Young), a young hippie who only appears in this episode, but who is the best thing about it. Truth be told, I wanted to write this entire post about just Dinah, but changed my mind when I re-watched the episode and remembered that Vangie was in it, too. Dinah is really fun and probably my favorite of the One-Episode Wonders: characters who only appear in one episode, but who are memorable for the right reasons. Dr. Patton from Episode 4 is another favorite one-episode character of mine, as is Claude from an episode months in the future (although my opinion is largely based on how I imagine him, because so far I have only read that episode’s synopsis and watched the accompanying slideshow).[3] And she totally takes the piss out of Matt when he comes to question her.

At the start of the scene, Dinah is jamming out in her room to some music while smoking. It looks like a cigarette, but it’s probably meant to be a joint, because she acts stoned during the entire scene.

Matt knocks on the door and she jumps off her bunk and immediately starts fanning the air to try to get rid of the pot smell. I love the ironic “please keep off grass” sign.

Matt doesn’t even need to mention Holly for her to know that he plans to ask about her. Dinah just outright says “she isn’t here” while smirking and posing with her hand on her hip.

Cue an exchange full of awkwardly-delivered 1960s slang as Dinah clarifies that he wants to know “why’d she split” and he accuses her of “trying to put [him] on.” I’m not sure how current the slang would have been when the episodes were written, but, considering that the writer was in his fifties at the time, probably not very.

She goes over to her desk to brush her hair while Matt continues questioning her. She denies knowing where Holly is, so he says patronizingly, “I admire your sense of loyalty, but there are times when it could hurt Holly rather than help her.” I might believe him if I didn’t already know that he had the hots for Holly.

More awkward slang. Dinah is still pretending to ignore him.

Matt’s horrified reaction when she says what we know from Episode 3. “Uh-oh,” he’s probably thinking, “she’s onto me.”

Definitely onto him!

Matt so wants the pretty young chicks at Westley House to see him as a groovy, happenin’ padre with all the hip slang he uses.

When he finally gets her to “level” with him, she tells him, “All I know is that she’s flying south like the birdies. Way down south. Has to be. Air alone costs $163.75 [$1,148.24 in 2019 USD, or $1,124.03 in 2019 Canadian dollars].” He asks how she got that money, and Dinah responds, “Saved some. We all chipped in with the rest.” So they all think that he’s a creep, enough to fund her escape from him.

She grabs this huge teddy bear and starts drumming on it. She’s not even trying to conceal that she’s stoned.

She means "vampire” figuratively, but I imagine this line was added to try to hook any DS fans tuning in. It would have admittedly been so awesome if Mrs. Marshall had turned out to be a literal vampire.

Stalker!

We next see Holly at the French Leave Café, trying to order a drink but getting turned away from the bar because she’s underage. How can they even tell? No one cards her before turning her away and Sylvia Feigel looks 27 at the youngest. Hell, I’m 26 years old, look younger than Holly does, and no one ever cards me when I buy alcohol. I could see them turning someone like Dinah away without carding her because she definitely looks under 21, but Holly? Really?

Holly does not look 20.

She has a meet-cute with Tim, followed by a free tarot reading courtesy of Vangie. Without her saying anything about her life, the psychic reveals that she knows Holly’s future:

Foreshadowing!

She also knows that a man has begun stalking her, but not his identity. “What are you running from Holly, and who is the man running after you?” she asks before the scene cuts to Matt telling Elizabeth Marshall that her daughter ran away. Soon after, the conversation shifts to his attraction to Holly. While stalkers are always creepy regardless of their age and the age of the stalkee, the way they talk about Holly makes it sound like the Reverend is interested in a teenager:

Because Reverend Dawson isn’t already gross enough with his stalking, smarmy demeanor, romantic interest in a just barely former ward, and offbrand Reverend Trask accent.

Elizabeth threatens to “fix” both him and Holly and leaves to track Holly down on her own. Then we get a short, unnecessary filler scene of Raxl and Alison before the credits.

In the next episode, THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES returns and Dan meets up with Vangie to do some more research regarding Jacques’ identity. Stay tuned!

Notes

[1] I’m not disparaging Dark Shadows here. I love both shows; I just wanted to point out that the Dark Shadows writers probably did less research on the tarot. Either that, or they just loved the Tower of Destruction. In any case, they used the Tower of Destruction so excessively that sometimes even thinking of that card is enough to send me into giggling fits. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, I have an odd sense of humor.)

[2] Ian Martin seems to have been fond of the name Dinah for girls and young women. Eight years later in 1977, he used the name again for the 12-year-old protagonist of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater episode “The Child’s Cat Paw,” played by a young Sarah Jessica Parker. It isn’t his best CBSRMT episode, but I still recommend it.

[3] Coincidentally, the episode with Claude also features the introduction of Susan, another Trudy Young character who plays a major role in the show’s final arc. I haven’t seen any full episodes after 130 yet because they’re not on YouTube, but I’ve read all the synopses. Someday I will watch the second Desmond Hall arc, and I can only hope that the Claude scene on the show is as romantic as it is in my head cinema. (It probably isn’t, given that David Wells' other character Cort is hilariously badly acted (if very, very cute), but perhaps Wells’ acting was better when he played Claude.)

ETA 6/22/2020: I just watched Episode 133 this evening (got the DVDs now) and I loved the scene with Claude. I’m not kidding. Surprisingly, David Wells’ acting as both Claude and Cort is decent in the episode--and, after re-watching the first Desmond Hall arc, I can say that his acting improves over time and is even occasionally good. I’ll write much more about Cort later on (this isn’t the right entry for it), but I will say that not all Cort episodes are created equal.

{ <-- Previous: Episode 6, Part II || Next: Episode 8 --> }

#strange paradise #gothic soap opera #week 2 #episode 7 #maljardin arc #ian martin #review #foxless episodes #1960s slang #one episode wonder #tarot #twentysomethings treated like children

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thegeminisage · 5 years

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alright im about to watch 5.03 of merlin for the 2nd time ever

because if i dont do it now i may NEVER GET ANOTHER CHANCE

but first i wanna get out of the way that i thought merlin convincing arthur to keep the ban on magic in 5.05 because he was trying to thwart ~*~destiny~*~ or whatever is the laziest writing ever, it’s unsatisfying for the audience, it renders the rest of the last season utterly pointless, it’s unfair to merlin and arthur, and the tonal shift of the show from farting trolls in season 2 to full greek tragedy in season 5 was completely unwarranted and i feel TRICKED as a human person because i expected the end to be bittersweet and make me sad, not table-flipping angry, and i do not at all have high hopes for the finale

but i can ignore something having a “bad last five minutes” i did it for life is strange and final fantasy 13-2 i will do it for merlin but honestly

speaking on 5.03, after it was over the first time i was like “i can never write my fanfic now because nothing i ever do will be as good as that” but i’m really relieved in that way that that was apparently the last good episode of merlin because now i can continue my work in peace and maybe hopefully even actually finish it

okay commence the liveblog:

love that arthur and merlin are down to just jump off their horses whenever random women start screaming in the distance. season 5 could have been so good, they’re so much more grown up and in sync with one another, i absolutely LOVE their #vibe

it was interesting to me also that arthur DEMANDED a fair trial for this woman despite her being accused of sorcery. god, he was SO CLOSE?? that hatred of magic just can’t really take root in him especially with uther gone...arthur may be an asshole in the early seasons, and he may be quick to anger and quick to lash out in that anger, but it’s just not in him to be cruel, especially needlessly

EVEN THIS LADY IS LIKE “u showed kindness and compassion” arthur is a Good Boy deep down he is he IS he didn’t care a bit about that horn she gave him but still politely said it was beautiful

although lmao the way his face changed when she said it was magic...that’s the STUFF

lowkey losing it at athony head in the credits. i was looking to see if he’d be in the s5 ones since he’s dead and didn’t see him in 5.01 or 5.02 so when i DID see him in 5.03 i was like haha no way did they pay to put him in here i guess i just missed him the first couple of times BUT I WAS WRONG

like, in buffy, they spend an entire episode trying to decide whether or not to necromance their mom or whatever and she doesnt actually APPEAR IN THE EP they never SEE her i thought this would be an episode ABOUT uther i didn’t think uther would be IN it

love that from the get-go arthur’s face screams “i am thinking about making a terrible mistake” and merlin’s face is like “he is thinking about making a terrible mistake”

i’m quite proud of merlin in s5 actually. bad writing aside he uses multiple braincells many times per episode. it’s a vast improvement. same energy as clary from shadowhunters right down to getting shafted in his final season

ive said it before and ill say it again gwen looks SOOO GOOOOD as queen

if this is the anniversary of uther’s death then (if you go by 1 season = 1 year) arthur just turned 30...it’s been nine years and change since merlin met him, and by the end of season 5 it will have been an entire decade

in an otherwise increddibly heavy episode arthur panicking and throwing all the apples out of the bowl so he could cover the horn with it is absolutely priceless. season 5 if nothing else has really hammered home for me what a TERRIBLE liar arthur is - merlin got good at it fast out of necessity but arthur can’t hold a poker face to save his LIFE. “leave it.” “why??” “because i’m telling you to and i’m the king of camelot” buddy......

we were ROBBED. if there had ever been a day where arthur came to accept merlin’s magic but still had to help merlin hide it there could have been an entire episode of arthur nearly blowing merlin’s cover because he’s a nervous nelly and at the end he goes “i cant believe you have had to do this 24/7 for YEARS without a single friend to help you” and merlin goes “well now i have you” anyway.

i love also that repeatedly when arthur goes to do something scary by himself he also brings merlin. they LITERALLY are two halves of a whole

“you’re threatening me with a spoon??” i can’t tell you about the unfortunate fanfics i have seen involving The Spoon. i shall also not mention the ones involving The Glove. we will not speak of it

I CANNOT BELIEVE STONEHENGE IS IIN MERLIN. i got so agitated i did not pay one bit of attention to the conversation following its reveal and me and cathy and had to rewind so i could listen properly

my hate-on for stonehenge goes thusly: stonehenge apocalypse, starring misha collins, is @callowyn‘s favorite movie. i have seen it 45 times. i hate it nearly as much as she loves it. it’s an age-old battle

merlin is so intense when he looks for signs in arthur that he DOESN’T totally hate magic...arthur using magic to see his dad again is one of those signs. he’s willing to turn to it in desperation - maybe he’d be willing in less desperate times too

“my father was taken from me before his time” i mean...he was practically in a coma. so like. he wasn’t

love that when arthur mentions merlins dad ONCE he immediately looks like he’s about to cry. mood. i also want to cry every time i think about merlins dad

up until the moment i laid eyes on uther i was SURE they werent actually gonna do it. i came into this thinking it was a FLASHBACK EP

for the record (and believe me i NEVER thought i’d say this) even though i waited and waited for his demise and cheered when he was gona for good...i really missed uther in season 4. at least with uther you know what you’re getting. agravaine (his replacement as “evil guy who keeps us from being able to solve our problems too easily”) was a slimy cowardly CREEP. and in season 5 i WISH things were as simple as “work around uther’s pigheaded unreasonableness”

for a hot second i really thought uther and arthur would have a nice conversation where they reconciled or said something heartwarming. i was worried about an uther redemption arc - this guy is responsible for the genocide of magic users, he doesn’t deserve redemption - but this show said NOT TODAY and they said it QUICK

ARE

BLESSED

i have A LOT of issues with season 5 but JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THIS WAS DADDY ISSUES 2.0 BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD

repressed trauma returns: harder better faster stronger!! that’s the STUFF

was i not just speaking the other day on my fanfic ask meme about how i love emotionally intense stuff? this is IT babey

uther’s such a bad father! he’s with his only child again for the last time in ever and all he does is tear him a new one! this is why arthur’s such a fucked-up human being (morgana too)

i’m THRILLED we got to revisit this. his eyes get bigger and bigger and he starts fucking stammering and by the time uther’s done calling him weak and a failure he looks ready to CRY. i was HOLLERING. i still couldnt believe uther was even HERE and not only is he HERE he’s a WRECKING BALL

“this CAN’T be the last time i’ll ever see you” oh buddy you’re gonna wish it was

and he looks back, as he leaves. of COURSE he does. just like lot’s wife. so it goes.

you know how at the end of every supernatural episode sam and dean debrief and talk about their feelings in the car? for merlin and arthur it’s almost always done around a campfire at night - sometimes in arthur’s chambers or other places, but usually out here in the wilderness where it’s just the two of them. i’m...really going to miss it, when it’s gone.

“my father doesn’t approve of the way i’ve chosen to rule his kingdom” “you mean YOUR kingdom”

you know i don’t think i really got...like, fundamentally, on a deep level...that merlin fucking HATES uther

i’ve seen him save uther’s miserable life so many fucking times that i thought for merlin it was kind of the way it was with gwen - he feels nothing for him, but he looks after him for arthur’s sake (or as i came to understand later because he’s professor x about the whole thing)

but the way his expression got SO UGLY when arthur revealed that uther just shit-talked him the entire time...holy fuck

between that & some other stuff that happens later it really paints a clearer picture of like...uther’s dead so merlin doesn't have to hold back anymore and he FUCKING HATES HIM?? like obviously he SHOULD bu i just never SAW it before this. merlin LOATHES him. it’s INCREDIBLE to witness when he bore it so silently for so long. maybe even merlin didn’t realize just how much he hated him until now

and not to get too real here but if youve ever been friends with someone who had an abusive/toxic parent or was in an abusive/toxic relationship and you watch them feeling like shit after and they start making excuses for that asshole like “oh yeah he’s right about x” and you just want to find this horrible person and THROTTLE THEM that emotion is like ALL OVER merlin’s face rn. i didn’t actually seriously "”ship”” merlin and arthur until late season 4/early season 5 (i didnt like dislike it i just wasnt actively bothered by a lack of it) and what changed was this vibe. merlin wants to kill uther all over again just because he made arthur feel this way. he’s so fuckijng PROTECTIVE

and he still almost manages to drag a smile out of him via roasting, god bless these 2

ok so i didnt believe this show would actually DO THAT re: putting uther himself in this ep but i was doubly shocked by the fact that he HITCHED A RIDE AND GOT OUT

me shrieking during this entire poltergeist sequence: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD IT’S REALLY HIM?? HOLY FUCK HE IS LITERALLY HAUNTING ARTHUR I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY’RE DOING THIS I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY’RE GIVING US THIS etc etc etc

actually most of that was probably muffled nonsense because i was yelling with both hands over my mouth

percival’s the realest motherfucker on this whole show. dude survives a murder attempt in which he got an AXE lobbed at him by the fucking GHOST of a power-mad genocidal king and he’s like: yeah idk i guess it fell

there was thunder in the bg for this WHOLE ep and i’m Big into it

absolutely CACKLING at the bit where merlin has to ask arthur if he looked back at uther’s spirit. it’s one of those nice big heavy questions - so heavy, in fact, that arthur can’t answer, can’t even LOOK at merlin, either because he’s ashamed or because he’s bugging out or both. you thought this shit was over? it’s never over! daddy issues are a lifelong ride, pal! arthur’s just get to haunt him literally this time. god it’s so fucking good

can i just say? merlin reads that damning silence reeeal well. and it’s a big, heavy thing to know about arthur - but then again he knows all the big heavy things about arthur

the score for this episode is really good too...very suspenseful and good, adds a lot to the atmosphere, keeps it from getting too slow

there’s a hint of merlin’s absolute HATRED of uther in this conversation again - the way his face tightens when he says “uther would do anything to protect his legacy and that makes him dangerous, who knows what he’s capable of now”

and arthur dismisses him because he can’t hear this but merlin almost refuses to leave - and when he DOES leave, he doesn’t take his eyes off arthur for one fucking second. he stares him down all the way out of the room. i don’t think it’s because he’s angry with arthur, per se - he’s angry with uther, and he knows uther in a way arthur never can or will, as someone ruthless who will kill without warning or remorse. he’s afraid of uther and he’s trying to get arthur to be afraid of uther too before it’s too late and LSDKFJGHSLDFJH

if you’re thinking “thats a lot to interpret from one look” yes it is but i’m right. IT’S A BIG, HEAVY LOOK. NICE AND LOADED. love unpacking all of that

i cant believe this dude tried to KILL GWEN like he really is coming after everything that makes arthur happy. im so glad it was merlin that saved her. i really do think merlin is her best friend

multiple times in this serious arthur fidgets when he’s nervous or thinking, usually with his hands near his mouth. i am endeared to him. my poor boy

“i always knew my father could be cruel but why would he do this to gwen when he knows i love her” BECAUSE HE’S CRUEL

merlin knows. merlin knows his cruelty much better than arthur. boy does he know. i’m dying. it’s fine

love that at this part of the ep we slide seamlessly into the “merlin and arthur are both scared shitless” section which was truly one of my favorite things about the s4 opener. they’re both so fucking jumpy and giving each other shit about being frightened and continuing to be frightened anyway. the DELICIOUS IRONY of arthur finally being scared of uther in the way merlin has been scared of uther for Y E A R S oh my god it’s so GOOD

do also love the entire silent conversation they have when deciding what to do about the door. this is what i mean by their upgraded vibe.l in the early seasons merlin wouldn’t have understood and his lack of understanding would have been played for laughs. now they’re totally in sync

here’s the thing, gaius could have made this magic “able to see uther’s ghost” potion for just arthur and he didn’t. he made it for both of them. everything arthur does merlin does. they’re partners in all things. they’re COMPANIONS. and this is why i finally now Ship It. tragic.

you know this is a kind of weird comparison but late seasons arthur reminds me JUST a bit of gwaine. he complains so much less that he sort of has that same “roll with whatever” vibe to him. pretend to faint so you can steal some guy’s dagger? why not. take this foul potion that may kill us? sure, let’s do it. come what may he’s not really fussed. much more unflappable

until he starts getting spooked again LMFAO

we do love a good pair of spooked dumbasses. this is charming and entertaining.

leon HAD to know they were lying about poetry. he probably thought they were having.......a tryst,

love also that even in this very dire moment merlin does NOT miss the chance to have some fun at arthur’s expense. that’s true friendship

i got jumpscared three separate times during this ep and one of them was when uther was glaring down merlin and arthur in the hallway after leon left

arthur didn’t jump but he did go hunting after him and to his credit he does not look scared. he looks like a man who is trying to deal with his business and get his shit together

merlin made that FACE again when arthur expressed sadness at hunting his own father because all he ever wanted to DO was make him proud

honestly it’s like since he can’t shit-talk uther he just sings arthur’s praises instead like this here is a guy who is just barely holding his tongue about how fuckin pissed he is. i cant believe it

splitting up was the WORST idea. have they not seen scooby doo??

love that when merlin gets cornered by uther’s ghost and gets scared he yells for arthur and when arthur gets scared because his torch blows out he yells for merlin. you fools, why did you SPLIT UP

uther locks arthur in the room with him, which is already some top tier content, but doubly good? it’s the same room in which arthur nearly ran him through in 2.08. don’t think i didn’t notice. i did notice. i was shrieking into my hands.

seriously this is a pretty calm liveblog but the first time i watched this ep my face was like this the whole time: O O

just kept going “HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK OH MY GOD” over and over. it was greeat

“arthur your fatal flaw is that you put too much trust in other people” do you think arthur, who now has a complex about people betraying him, ever forgot that for one second in his entire life afterward? me neither

speaking of 2.08 arthur dropped some FACTS “your hatred comes from fear” i'm sure they didn’t do it on purpose but #throwbacks

i’m fully experiencing human emotion. “i’m not you, i can’t rule like you did” he’s trying SO HARD to fight his way out of that bullshit

also lmao arthur like “then you’ll have to kill me” and uther like “yeah okay” arthur didn’t KNOW how this man was this could have been SUCH a good awakening

AND NOW IT’S TIME

FOR MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS EPISODE

when i say merlin hates uther. WHEN I SAY MERLIN H A T E S UTHER

HIS LINE HERE. ok. “get away from him, uther. you’ve caused enough harm” he’s furious! he’s GROWLING!

“you are just a serving boy” “i am much more than that” listen. human words cannot express the emotion that ran through me. when they said “we’re gonna bring back anthony head as uther” i doubted. when they said “he’s gonna be the bad guy and reopen all of arthur’s old wounds” i doubted. when they said “he’s still here LITERALLY haunting arthur who now has to HUNT HIM” I DOUBTED. i didn’t believe they’d do any of it until it was happening on my screen. but ONE LOOK at merlins face made a MOTHERFUCKING BELIEVER out of me. i knew exactly what he was about to do. pretty sure i gasped “NO” in astonishment

AND HE DID THAT

HE👏

DID👏

THAT👏

NOT ONLY. DID I SHRIEK ALOUD. FULL SCREAM. WHEN IT HAPPENED THE FIRST TIME. BUT JUST NOW. WHEN I WATCHED HIM DO IT AGAIN. MORE SCREAMING.

how LONG do you think merlin had ACHED to do that

to show himself to uther for what he was, what he REALLY WAS, someone to be reckoned with instead of someone to be overlookedd, without fear of consequences

i can’t even like

like just imagine the triple rush of 1. satisfaction 2. rage 3. lingering habitual terror

i think at this moment merlin was closer to and more like morgana than he had ever been and maybe ever will be again. because the two of them have so much in common but one thing i didn’t really clock until now is how much they both hate uther

it’s so good. uther is SHOCKED and DISMAYED and this is like merlin’s old fear come back from death too (getting found out by uther) while at the same time being a dream come true (getting to tell uther what he really thinks, who he really is - “i was BORN with it!”) he’s so ANGRY! he is LIVID!)

he’s also really SATISFIED like “even while you were king there was magic at the heart of camelot” GOD how long has he been WAITING for this and not even realized it

and like then uther starts spewing his hateful bullshit and stalking forward with the intent to kill and my guy merlin who should be terrified STANDS HIS MOTHERFUCKING GROUND and says right over him “you’re wrong, you’re wrong” for thirty beautiful seconds merlin really got to be free. i know i will keep comparing things to 2.08 until i die but it’s just like when arthur was almost ready to kill uther in cold blood because for one perfect, brilliant moment he really and truly saw clearly the world as it was. i really love these moments...the strength of their respective convictions is so gratifying

merlin yeeting uther through a door is also gratifying although i have no idea what he hoped to accomplish by following without waking arthur first

i. LOVE. that the camera lingered a little on the spears or whatever after merlin walked by them. nice little foreshadowing moment

THOSE SPEARS GOT AWFULLY CLOSE BUT IM PRETTY SURE UTHER MISSED ON PURPOSE BECAUSE HE WANTED TO TAKE HIS TIME. HIS MISTAKE

okay merlin spent the better part of a lifetime dreading uther’s death sentence and here’s uther stalking down a hallway sword pointed at his chest and certain death is IMMINENT and what does merlin’s face look like?

arthur comes in with the rescue and INSTANTLY his expression changes to?

IT’S BETTER IN MOTION BUT HE LOOKS READY TO CRY

my immediate thought: oh jesus what if uther outs him

i knew he wouldnt bc of spoilers but i would bet a benjamin that that was merlin’s first thought too

tbh. i wish he had.

i kind of wonder if merlin doesn’t wish the same thing. like yes being outed like that is terribly violating and he’s terrified of telling arthur obviously or he would have already but at the same time there would be so much relief once it was finally out. no more secret-keeping. no more burden

i mean, if you go back and watch it, dude’s straight up shaking. he’s trembling all over. he’s losing it. that last teary glance they exchanged.......

uther was two SYLLABLES away from blowing the whole thing

and in a better happier canon where arthur knows and was waiting for merlin to tell him this is like double angst because uther wouldve ben blowing something for them both

i like arthurs followup of realizing that he’ll never be able to please uther (step 1 of breaking away from the cycle of abuse) but for the LIFE OF ME

i will NEVER be able to understand why they segued into this GLOVE THING

i’m not talking about the glove thing

i will say however that by the end of this episode i was so hysterical i had to get up and get water and pace around my kitchen for ten minutes fanning my own face

and that’s it. that’s the second-best episode of merlin and the last good episode there ever was

#personal #merlin blogging #it took me three and a half hours to rewatch this episode because i kept pausing to scream #MERLIN DESERVES TO BE OUT TO EVERYONE ALL THE TIME it's not FAIR #that episode deserved to be 20 minutes longer it ended too soon #in a happier world arthur found out about the magic and immediately took merlin's side and defended him against the genocidal maniac but app #apparently this show is a greek tragedy now

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whimsicallyenchantedrose · 5 years

Text

Taking Back Neverland--Chapter 9 of 10

Pairing: Captain Swan

Rating: G or a soft T

Summary: AU. After actress Emma Swan’s lead role in a popular TV show is at an end, she is offered the leading role in the Regina Mills film, Taking Back Neverland, a fresh retelling of the Peter Pan story. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Only problem? She’ll be starring opposite Killian Jones, who she positively can’t stand. (Originally part of my Fluffy Fridays collection.)

Previous chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Notes: So this is an old story, originally written about 3 years ago as part of my Fluffy Fridays collection, but @kmomof4 made the amazing above pic-set for it as a birthday gift, (Thanks Krystal! It’s perfect!), and I decided it was time for a reissue. Enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Killian settled into his favorite chair in the lounge with a long, satisfied sigh. Hard to believe they were only a few short days away from the end of filming. He felt a distinct—and very unpleasant—pang at the thought. He had but a few days to win Swan’s heart—or at least make significant strides towards doing so—or he might miss his chance entirely.

When they parted at the end of filming, if he hadn’t at least secured her friendship once again who was to say if he’d ever have a chance to see her again?

Killian had taken Dave’s advice. He’d bared his heart to Emma, letting her know of his interest, of his intention to be whatever she needed him to be, and then he’d backed off, given her space. Unfortunately for him, she’d taken that space and run with it.

Now, a good several days later, they still barely spoke to one another.

Killian growled, hating the helpless feeling in his chest. He was not about to push the lass beyond what she wished to give him, but the thought of losing her forever made him almost physically ache.

Suddenly feeling restless, he got to his feet, headed toward the recreation area in the far corner of the room. Grabbing a handful of darts, he stepped back, eyed the target and took aim.

There had been something bothering Emma today. It had been clear enough as they were filming. She seemed…tense or nervous or something of the kind. He wished he still had the freedom to ask her what troubled her.

Perhaps it was naught but the emotional scene they’d shot this morning. Regina had insisted they begin filming at the crack of dawn, insisting they needed the brilliance of the sunrise to add the perfect backdrop to the scene where Anna and Henry bid goodbye to their family and friends for what they think is forever.

(When Leroy had pointed out that there was no way Regina could know if the sunrise this particular morning would be anything spectacular, she’d glared at him in what Killian privately termed her “Evil Queen” look. “If I say there’ll be a brilliant sunrise, there’ll be a brilliant sunrise. End of story.” Perhaps even Mother Nature was hesitant to cross Regina Mills when she got into nearing-the-end-of-filming stress mode. They’d experienced one of the most beautiful, colorful sunrises Killian had ever seen. Privately he gloried in the way the sun’s rays highlighted the gold of Swan’s hair, but that was neither here nor there.)

The entire band of heroes (“Nevengers”, as Regina’s lad had termed them, to the amusement of all on set) had succeeded in their rescue mission and returned home to Storybrooke. All seemed well…until the demon Peter Pan was revealed to be in town as well.

The little bugger had managed to cast a terrible curse; a curse that would wipe all of their memories and effectively make them his slaves. Having found the scroll Pan used to cast the curse, they had realized it could be stopped…but it would require no little amount of sacrifice.

All but Henry would be pulled back to their homeland deep within the Enchanted Forest. Not wishing to leave her son alone in the world, Anna offered to remain with him.

Focused as he was on the ever looming separation they would soon experience in real life when filming came to an end, Killian found it depressingly easy to get into character for this one.

She’d hugged her parents, and then, dropping her head, she walked slowly toward her vehicle. This wasn’t how it would end. This couldn’t be how it ended. If Hook was to lose Anna forever, he must have at least another moment with her.

He wished he could be frank with her, wished he could tell her how truly, how passionately, how desperately he loved her. Wished he could break down and beg her not to leave him. Wished he could take her in his arms and kiss her until neither of them could breathe.

But to leave things in such a way would be agonizing. As always in this frustrating town he’d found himself in when he’d followed her back to Storybrooke, there was no time to explore such sentiment.

Instead he merely stepped up to her and smiled fondly, his heart turning over at the sad smile she returned.

“That’s quite the vessel you captain there, Swan.”

Her lips ticked up the slightest bit more at his silly quip, but he could see the tears she barely held at bay.

This was it, the last moment he’d ever have with her. What did one say to the woman he loved at such a time?

“Not a day will go by that I don’t think of you,” he finally settled on, holding her gaze, letting every bit of his love shine through as he intently held her gaze.

She looked at him for one heartbeat. Two. “Good,” she finally answered.

He smiled as they continued to look into each other’s eyes, memorizing each other, drinking each other in. It was somehow both the best and the worst thing she could have said to him. It gave him hope. Hope that she returned his feelings, hope that if they were to ever meet again she would welcome his advances.

But hope when there’s no way to realize it is naught but sweet agony.

After one last hug to her parents, Anna got into her automobile and slowly drove away as a cloud of magic billowed all around him.

There were tears in Emma’s eyes as Regina finally yelled “Cut!”

She laughed, swiping at her damp cheeks. “That had to be one of the saddest scenes I’ve ever filmed.”

Killian grinned. “Agreed. Lucky for us, we know there’s quite the reunion scene coming up.” He’d let the innuendo creep into his voice, his eyebrow quirking flirtatiously. He’d expected her to roll her eyes, make a biting comment.

But instead, she’d blushed, the look on her face becoming both determined and nervous.

“Killian…” she started.

“Aye?”

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about…” she went on slowly.

“Aye Swan? What would that be?”

She was silent for several beats, and then suddenly she turned away, her shoulders dropping. “Never mind. Wasn’t important. I’ll see you back on set at the end of break.”

And without another word, she nearly ran from him.

It was unaccountable, Killian thought as he let the dart fly, watching in satisfaction as it hit the bull’s eye. What could be bothering the woman today? What made her nerves nearly swallow her whole?

“Killian?”

His breath hitched at the unexpected sound of her voice. He turned slowly around, pasting a welcoming smile on his face. “Have I lost track of time, love? Are we to return to set already? Have I missed my call?”

“No, no,” she said, shifting slightly from one foot to the other. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Very well,” he answered, curiosity blossoming within. Nonchalantly, he turned back to the dartboard as she spoke her next words.

“I’m…I’m here to ask you out.”

His dart buried itself in the wall of the breakroom, a good foot away from the target. Turning slowly, he quirked his brow in question.

“To dinner…or something,” she clarified, her hands clasping and unclasping, the nerves evident on her face. Did the daft woman actually believe he would turn her down.

“I had rather believed I’d be the one asking you out.”

“Yeah, well I beat you to it,” she said, “but just so you know, Captain Hook, I don’t, um, pillage and plunder on the first date.”

A bit of swagger was most definitely in order now. He stepped closer to her, a teasing grin on his face. “That’s because you haven’t been out with me yet.”

She rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Very well, Swan,” he said, having a fair bit of difficulty keeping the overwhelming elation from showing in his voice. Wouldn’t do to scare the lady away. “I happily accept on one condition. Allow me to plan the date.”

“I know how to plan a date!” she said indignantly.

“Perhaps,” he conceded, “but after all the time I’ve dreamed of this moment, I’d like to make tonight perfect.”

She looked closely at him for a moment, and he wondered if he’d come on too strong. Eventually she nodded. “Fine. Pick me up at 7:00.”

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

“Shall I order us some drinks, love?”

Emma looked across the red and white checkered table cloth at Killian and found herself strongly considering it, but finally she shook her head. “Not tonight.”

He settled back in his chair, elbow settled on the chair’s arm rest, tongue darting out to wet the corner of his lips, looking up at her through hooded eyelids. Talk about turning up the smolder to dangerous levels. “Afraid you’ll find me even more irresistible after a few libations?”

She found herself in a strange quandary, not sure whether she wanted to laugh at his antics…or jump him then and there and be done with it. Is it suddenly getting really hot in here?

“No,” she finally said, smoothing the tablecloth before her. “I just want to stay clear headed. We have an early call tomorrow, some important scenes to film.”

Killian smiled, and this time it was his genuine, caring smile, rather than the teasing flirtation. He reached across the table with both hands, and Emma placed her own within his. He held her hands gently, letting his thumbs brush across the back of her fingers.

(If the sensation that produced shot from her hands straight up to her heart, no one needed to know that but her.)

“Swan, forget work for one night. I didn’t bring you here to fret about upcoming scenes; I brought you here to show you a good time.”

And a good time she was having—a far better, far more pleasant, far more comfortable time than she’d ever thought she would on a date with Killian Jones.

When she’d gotten home from work this evening, she’d headed directly to her closet, feeling a fluttering of butterflies in a way she hadn’t before a date in years. This wasn’t a big deal; it was just a first date. That’s it.

But it wasn’t. Somehow, whether she was ready to admit it or not, she know this wasn’t just a first date. Her making the choice to ask him out…well, it was admitting what had been building between them for weeks. This wasn’t just a date. This was the start of something.

Emma had torn through her closet, trying and discarding nearly every item of clothing she owned. Finally she’d settled on a soft pink knee-length dress. It was pretty and feminine, the off-the-shoulders straps and v-neckline enticing while remaining tasteful.

She’d completed the look with a loose, high ponytail, and then had spent far more time than she’d ever admit experimenting with make-up until she’d found just the right look.

When she’d opened her apartment door to Killian an hour later, his reaction had made all her effort worth it. He’d been speechless for a moment, merely looking at her with appreciation. “You look stunning, Swan,” he’d said finally.

He wasn’t looking too bad himself with his tight dark jeans, deep blue button up that accented his gorgeous eyes, and black leather jacket. She’d taken a quick, deep breath when she’d seen him. “You look…” she’d begun, not even sure what adjective she intended to use.

“I know,” he said with a cocky grin, putting her immediately at ease.

He’d swept his left hand from behind his back and presented her a single, long-stemmed red rose with a flourish. She’d taken the offering, bringing it immediately to her nose, touched and pleased at the romantic gesture.

He’d taken her to a tiny little Italian restaurant on the other side of town. He’d seated her, pulling out her chair and making sure she was settled before he’d taken his own seat.

It was all so romantic and beautiful, and Emma felt her heart turn over at the thought of how much effort and thought he’d put into this evening. He’d done this for her. She couldn’t think of the last time someone had put her first to such a large extent, and it warmed her to her very toes.

“A good time,” she said, coming back to the present and enjoying his warm hands surrounding hers. “Yeah, I could go for that.”

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Killian followed Emma up the staircase to her apartment door two hours later, amazed time had flown so quickly. It had been one of the best evenings of his life, and he desperately hoped it was just the beginning of several such dates to come.

They’d shared companionable conversation as they ate their dinner. Talking and laughing about happenings on set, sharing amusing stories from their past, just generally enjoying each other’s company.

It was during desert—a sinfully rich helping of tiramisu they shared between them—that things turned serious.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked her carefully.

“You just did,” she said with a smirk, popping another bite in her mouth.

Killian smiled and then sobered, reaching over to take her hand, lacing their fingers. “Something else, then?”

He saw the wariness enter her eyes at his serious tone. He squeezed her hand in reassurance. After a moment she nodded.

“Why?” he asked simply. “I’m nowhere near complaining, darling, but why did you decide to ask me out?”

She’d shrugged, glancing aside before turning to meet his gaze once more. “I just…I kind of missed you. I mean, we were still working together and everything, but, you know, we never spent any time together beyond that, and I’d gotten used to our friendship and…okay, truthfully, we both know there was a…spark during that scene where Anna and Hook had their first kiss, and you’ve been nothing but a gentlemen, and, I don’t know. I guess I might have misjudged you at first. Thought we owed it to ourselves to see if there’s really anything here.”

His smile grew as she muddled through her explanation. There was no doubt, no doubt whatsoever in his mind that there was definitely something there between them. For him, it was something along the lines of white picket fences and a family and forever, but for her…well, he knew he had to be patient.

But then something she said registered, and he frowned. “But love, why did you judge me so harshly? What had I done to offend you before we’d even met?”

Emma blushed and glanced aside, picking at a napkin with her free hand. “You just…you know…had a reputation. You were supposed to be this big playboy who took a different woman home with you every night. I just kind of assumed you were the douchy type. You know, the kind of guy that likes to just use women and toss them away. Now I know you’re not like that, but…well, I kind of wish I hadn’t automatically jumped to conclusions.”

Killian’s heart dropped at her words, his mind going to the many meaningless encounters he’d had with women as he tried to numb his pain. He took a deep breath and pulled his hand back. She looked up at him, eyes wounded, fearing no doubt that she’d offended him.

“It’s quite alright Emma,” he hastened to reassure. “Truthfully…the reputation you speak of…it’s exaggerated, but it was built on some degree of truth.”

And then he’d proceeded to bare his heart to her once more, telling her about Milah and the terrible emptiness and pain that had descended on his life after her death, about the way he’d attempted to assuage it through meaningless nights with women, through far too much rum than could ever be considered good for him. How none of it, not one bit had ever truly made a difference.

He’d seen the light of understanding, of compassion come into her eyes then, and she’d reached over and taken his hand once more. This time it was her thumb caressing his hand. His Swan was not one for words, but that tiny gesture spoke more eloquently than an entire soliloquy could have done. It warmed his heart and made him topple even farther into love with her.

Heavy conversation over, Killian had picked up the check, and they’d headed for the beach outside of the restaurant. Neither ready to say goodbye to the other, they’d walked hand in hand as the waves washed over their feet, talking about nothing and everything all at once.

She’d grown cold as they walked; he saw the goosebumps on her arms by the light of the full moon. Determined to give her nothing but pleasant memories of their first date, he’d shrugged out of his coat and draped it around her shoulders, and there it still sat as they reached the top of the flight of stairs and stood facing each other in front of her apartment door.

Emma smiled up at him. “Not bad,” she said, taking his hands with both of hers, linking their fingers. “Looks like ‘Captain Hook’ really does know how to plan a date.”

“I’m offended you ever doubted me, Swan,” he said, mock pain covering his face.

She laughed, looking into his eyes…and then letting her gaze settle onto his lips. Would it be too forward to lean in and kiss her goodnight? Would she welcome his advances, or would they frighten her away?

She settled the matter for him, standing on her tiptoes, swaying forward and letting her lips meet his. It was a slow kiss, tender, gentle, but oh so thorough. When he felt his need for her begin to build to nearly fever pitch, he reluctantly pulled back, feeling an intense satisfaction when she chased his mouth with her own, finally pulling back herself with a tender smile.

“Well that was…” she began.

“If you say ‘a onetime thing’, I believe I will die of disappointment, Swan.”

She laughed again, swatting playfully at his chest. “Idiot,” she answered. “I think I can safely say that was something I’d be willing to repeat.”

His eyes lit up at her words.

Emma turned around, shrugged out of his jacket and handed it back to him. “I’d invite you in for…coffee,” she said, her cheeks going a delightful shade of pink, “but, you know, early call tomorrow and all of that.”

Killian reached up and cupped her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. “No matter Swan,” he said softly. “I’m not interested in a torrid affair. I should like for us to build something real together. Something that will last. No need to rush. We’ve all our lives ahead of us to tend this fire blazing between us.”

Her smile widened, and she leaned forward, placing one more quick kiss against his lips before opening her apartment door. “Goodnight Killian. See you in the morning.”

“Aye,” he answered. “Goodnight love.”

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Emma felt like she was floating on air as she made her way to set the next morning. Last night had been one of the best dates of her life. It kind of surprised her how much she genuinely liked Killian.

It surprised her even more how that realization didn’t scare her at all.

The fact was, she trusted Killian. She could afford to let herself fall; she knew he’d catch her.

“Morning, love,” he said with a broad smile the moment she stepped onto set. “Ready to film our last scene together?”

She smiled back. “Yeah,” she answered. “Turns out I’ve been looking forward to this scene all night.”

He swaggered toward her. “Whatever for, darling? Could it be because you eagerly anticipate sharing another kiss with a dashing pirate?”

She grinned, reaching up to pat his cheek. “Could be.”

His eyes widened at that. She laughed, rather enjoying being able to surprise him for once.

“Alright, break it up!” Leroy shouted. “Let’s get this show on the road. Places everyone.”

Emma gave Killian one last smile, and then stepped through the door onto the set that was to function as Anna and Henry’s apartment.

Anna placed a steaming plate of food before her son, enjoying the easy simplicity of a Saturday morning spent with her kid. Life was good. Granted, for months she’d been having this feeling that something just didn’t compute. Something…she didn’t even know what…but something was missing.

“Mom, you forgot something,” Henry said, peering into his mug of hot cocoa.

Anna looked over at him and then snapped her fingers. “That’s right! Cinnamon.”

She had just gotten to her feet, turning toward the kitchen to grab the missing spice when someone began banging on their door. She looked up, surprised.

“Someone coming over?” Henry asked.

“No,” she said. “Henry wait here.”

She approached the door cautiously, wondering who could be banging on her door at freaking 9:00 on a Saturday morning.

Nothing could have prepared her for the drop dead gorgeous man standing in her doorway. The drop dead gorgeous man who was dressed like a…pirate?

At the sight of her, the man’s entire face lit up. “Swan,” he breathed, “at last.”

He took a step forward, preparing to enter. She put up a hand, pushing him back. “Do I know you?”

“I need your help,” he said urgently, “something’s happened, something terrible. Your family is in trouble.”

Yeah…so, drop dead gorgeous this guy might be but he was also certifiable.

“My family’s right here. Who are you?”

“An old friend,” he answered.

There was something about this man…something about the voice…that she remembered, something that was eluding her, just out of reach. A moment ago, she’d have sworn she’d never seen this guy before in her life, but now? Now…crazy as it was, she was starting to wonder, wonder if…

“I know you can’t remember me,” he continued, glancing down at her lips, “but I can make you.”

With no more ado, the man surged forward, locking his lips with hers.

Anna’s first instinct was to shove him back, knee him in a place that would raise his voice a full octave, but something stopped her. Something urged her on, urged her to lean into him, curling her hand around the nape of his neck.

And the moment she did there was a pulse, like a shockwave, that crashed over her. Sudden images flashed through her mind. Henry being kidnapped. Going to Neverland to search for him. Her brother and sister-in-law at her side. The battle with Peter Pan. Saying goodbye at the town line and driving away. And…and…

“Hook!” she breathed, stepping back to look at him.

“You remember?” he asked, smiling.

“Yeah, everything…what…what just happened.”

“Duh!” Henry said, coming up beside them and grinning. “Had to be True Love’s Kiss!”

Her heart pounded. “You…you think so kid?”

“Of course!” he said. “And you know I’m right. I’m the truest believer after all.”

She…didn’t know how to respond to that other than to turn back to Hook, drag him to her bodily and kiss the daylights out of him until her son loudly protested their “grossness”.

“Ew!” Henry said. “Hook, don’t tell me you came all the way to New York just to kiss my mom! That’s disgusting.”

Hook smiled. “I’d go to the ends of the earth for a chance to kiss your mum, but as it happens, that’s not the only reason I’m here.”

“Yeah?” Emma asked. “What else brought you? Wait…did you say something about my family being in trouble?! What happened?!!”

“Nothing the Savior can’t fix,” he said confidently. “Swan, are you and your son up for another adventure?”

“And…cut!” Regina yelled.

Emma turned toward the director and was shocked to see the broad smile on her face.

“What?” she asked, noting a similar smile on Henry’s face…and the camera man’s face…and the sound guy’s face…and on Mary Margaret and David’s faces as they watched filming from off stage.”

“You’ve been holding out on me, Miss Swan,” Regina said. “Both of you, actually. I knew you two had chemistry, but…that…well, that had enough bang behind it to blow up an entire chemistry lab.”

“Yeah,” Mary Margaret said, “that really was amazing Emma. Not that you’re not always a good actress, but something’s changed. What is it?”

Emma took a deep breath and looked up at Killian. He watched her cautiously, clearly waiting for her to take the lead on this conversation; unsure how much she was ready to reveal.

And suddenly, just like that, the last vestiges of fear evaporated to be replaced with incredible joy. Reaching down, she grabbed Killian’s hand, deftly lacing their fingers.

“Well, can’t take as much credit for today as you guys are giving me,” she grinned. “It’s not exactly hard to act when the feelings behind it are one hundred percent real.”

Mary Margaret gasped. “Wait…are you saying…? Do you mean…?”

“Yeah,” Emma nodded. “Killian and I had a date last night, and…well…I hope that was just the first of many.”

Killian swooped down and kissed her cheek. “For my part, if I get my way, we’ll have a myriad of such evenings spanning the rest of our lives.”

Henry cheered while Mary Margaret swooped in to hug her. “Just wait until Ruby finds out. She’s going to totally flip out!”

Emma groaned, leaning her head on Killian’s shoulder. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to that ‘I told you so’, but if it means I get to be this happy, I think it’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

#cs ff #cs au ff #my fanfiction #taking back neverland #reruns

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perditaalottachocolate-blog · 6 years

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April Weather (9)

@adrinetteapril 2018, Day 9: Jealous

Days: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | art | 6 | 7 | 8 | art 1 | art 2 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | art | 19 | art | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | art | 29 | 30 |

AO3 / fanfiction

Adrien needed a few moments to compose himself. He wasn’t blind or ignorant of Marinette’s good looks. But he expected cute, not smoking hot, holy cats are those paw prints on her br...

He choked on his own tongue, Marinette’s sassy tease only making things worse.

Breathe, Agreste. Breathe. It’s just a swimsuit, and not particularly revealing at that. Huh. Marinette was a genius, an evil genius. Without showing too much, or anything even remotely suggestive she turned his brain into mush.

Her giggle sobered him up. What a sly, cunning, fake girlfriend he got. Well, two could play this game. His gaze travelled down again, to the red spotted boyshorts and his lips stretched into impish smirk.

‘Hey, look at that Ladybu-

Marinette’s finger landed on his lips. It took all of his self control not to snatch it and kiss it.

‘I swear, Adrien, if you add that double t,’ she warned, eyes narrowing to slits. ‘I will end you, fake boyfriend or not.’

‘That Ladybug pattern suits you,’ he finished without missing a beat.

Her laugh was music to his ears. It ended too soon, as they got closer to Chloé who was greeting her guests. She was on speaking terms with him again. It took roughly a week for her to stop sulking and accept the reality of Adrien dating Marinette. It didn’t stop her from throwing herself at him at every opportunity though.

‘Adrikins!’ she shrieked and pulled him into a tight embrace.

He hugged her and quickly withdrew, taking Marinette’s hand. He raised a brow and waited.

‘Hi, Marinette,’ Chloé finally barked, looking the other way.

That. That was exactly why he decided against telling Chloé about the fake dating stunt, even though he told Nino. Just for the way she treated Marinette she deserved not to know. She would be insufferable if he told her.

Marinette murmured something in reply, earning a grunt of acknowledgement from the blonde girl, and they moved deeper into the party area.

Adrien absentmindedly put a hand on Marinette’s waist, like he did a countless numbers of times in the past days, when they were in public. It was just an innocent gesture, that hinted intimacy without really showing any affection. Yet this time instead of Marinette’s jacket his fingers brushed the bare skin of her side. Soft, delicate, velvet skin. And for a second time that day his neurons were fried.

Marinette tensed under his touch, but apart from that there was no visible reaction. After a moment she sent him a questioning look.

‘Sorry,’ he whispered apologetically, ‘I forgot you’re not wearing… I mean you’re wearing,’ he must have been beet-red by then.

She chuckled under her breath. ‘It’s okay,’ she smiled. ‘That’s what couples do.’ She nodded in the direction of Nino, who was wrapped around Alya’s back, his hands crossing over her hips.

‘Okay?’ Adrien squeezed her side lightly just to make sure and Marinette blinked in silent agreement. She must have had nerves of steel, he thought. At his touch she didn’t jump, didn’t move away or do anything that might blow up their fake dating ruse.

Still blushing at this new level of closeness, Adrien led her to the pool. They chatted happily, exchanged smiles and pleasantries with other partygoers and generally did everything that Chloé liked to call “mingling”.

And everywhere they went Adrien could feel jealous looks on them. He caught a few of the boys gawking at Marinette’s swimsuit only to move their gaze to him, showing so much hostility he couldn’t help but cringe. Thanks to his enhanced hearing he could also pick up envious whispers from the girls; gossip about “Marinette the gold digger”. Nothing new really, but it still stung. Adrien noted with relief that his friend probably couldn’t her them - not with that wide and relaxed smile.

A few people dared to come to them and compliment on the ladynoir outfit, as it was dubbed. Marinette thanked each person gracefully, while Adrien did his best to suppress a hiss each time someone checked her out so openly under the pretense of admiring her clothes. Marinette was much more than just a nice set of legs and boo- Easy Agreste. Marinette was so much more than just a nice body, like those shallow idiots seemed to think.

Kagami came to say hello. She also congratulated Marinette on her newest design. And then she started on how special Marinette was, and how many great things she heard about her from her classmates and from Adrien. He scratched his head. Was this Kagami’s attempt at wingwomaning or at flirting, he couldn’t tell.

But he thought about this all for a moment, his gaze drifting to the ladybug boyshorts. The shower of compliments about Marinette made him realise how much more he already knew about her, and his admiration for her only continued to grow. Kagami said a few days earlier that he had found a good replacement for Ladybug. But it only worked because Marinette was so damn similar to the spotted heroine, and not with her looks but also with her personality.

‘Adrien?’

‘Huh?’ Apparently he missed a part of conversation, because now both girls where looking at him with amusement. ‘Sorry, I spaced out for a moment.’

‘Sure you did,’ Kagami muttered. Her eyes skipped to the boyshorts meaningfully before she winked at him.

‘What was it you were saying?’ Adrien decided to ignore her.

‘Could you bring us something to drink?’ Marinette smiled gently. ‘Orange juice would be nice.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ he looked around in search of the buffet. ‘Be right back.’

As he headed for the bar, envious whispers followed. He ran into a few people from Chloé’s circle, which delayed his return. When he got back with the drinks Marinette already left the deck chairs. His eyes scanned the crowds in search of his fake girlfriend, but he couldn’t see her anywhere.

‘Hey!’ Finally a familiar voice caught his attention.

‘Ma-ma-marinette!’ someone gasped and he heard Marinette’s giggle in reply.

Adrien spotted her nearby. She was showing her costume to Luka, turning around slowly like a music box figurine. Luka’s eyes skipped over her exposed body appreciatively and he murmured a few words of praise to which she playfully hit him over the shoulder. She was touching him, he was looking at her, and Adrien was beside himself.

He felt a heavy hand on his own shoulder.

‘You okay, dude?’ Nino shot him a worried look above his glasses.

‘Yes, why?’

‘You don’t normally growl at me,’ his friend snickered. His gaze travelled to Marinette and Luka. ‘Oh.’

‘What is he even doing here? Chloé doesn’t know him!’

‘He’s Juleka’s plus one,’ Nino chuckled shooting Adrien a lopsided grin. ‘Jealous much?’ he teased.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Adrien rebuked. ‘You know we’re only pretending.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Nino pursed his lips.

‘What?’

‘Nuffin,’ the boy shrugged. ‘I’m gonna go and look for my real girlfriend. You might want to watch out for Nath and Jean. I’ve heard them asking her for a dance with them later.’

His heart sped up and his mouth went dry.

Where was all this coming from? They were staging this relationship for fake’s sake! He knew how great Marinette was, he knew people liked her. Why was it bothering him so much and making his head spin so fast?

Adrien turned away and took a deep calming breath. He would sort this out, he would get to the bottom of this. Just… not now. Now he needed to finally get to Marinette and just… just be near her, take her hand, or bump into her shoulder, or… or… just make any kind of contact. Just feel her soothing presence.

When he felt ready to face people again Adrien turned around…

… and looked straight into the glowing orbs of the Green-Eyed Monster.

#adrinetteapril2018 #day 9: jealous #perdita writes #april weather #adrinette #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #chloe bourgeois #Kagami Tsurugi #Luka Couffaine #green-eyed monster #pool party #jealousy #ml fic

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sepiadice · 4 years

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NavyDice Campaign (2019/12/30): Evil Snowglobes

Finally finished. Three months of schedules just not working out, and nearly before the year was out, and I had to teleconference in because I had a cold that made driving to NavyDice’s place and back an excessively inadvisable idea, and the call froze a couple times[1] so I know there’s details that got lost, but the story of Maple reached a conclusion!

Which means I’m in a great place to make the 2020s the decade of the DiceJar Adventure Club! Especially since I’ve got a new campaign with a set schedule starting January Third!

Still need to set up a personal website to host it and my other projects. Stand by for an announcement.

But first, the final Maple Write-up!

Acer ‘Maple’ Palmatum (SepiaDice/Me) Level 9 Elf Fighter. Knows honesty is easier than coordinating cover stories.

Garland (LimeDice) A wizard(?) and educator. A worryingly squishy wizard who probably should see a doctor. Or take up jogging.

Grumble (Ichi) Bard and chronic mumbler. Best investigator since he’s good about not getting killed early.

Poppi (Ni) Also a spellcaster. Probably the most invested in the actual mechanics of what’s occurring.

Game Master (NavyDice) Everyone else, most of whom need a good punching.

Cycle 11

In the darkness, Maple shares the plan I’ve been over-thinking for three months.[2] The rest of the party is on board while also working their own angles.

My plan was sheer elegance in its simplicity: Maple was going to beat Masem to the marketplace, fake the deaths of the brigands, then delay Masem until the Lord arrived, at which point Maple would use her knowledge of the location of three orbs to prove something wonky is up, then reveal the Lord’s Advisor is working both sides of the conflict for mysterious and probably nefarious ends, and it would be very helpful if the Lord would go with her colleague to retrieve the ice orb. Also, I’d hoped to use this massive revelation to get Masem to work with the Brigands/ the Dawn.

After which, Maple would go talk to Eli, who is made of clay, which is a weird thing that hopefully ties into the Earth Orb that still needs finding.

The actual attempt to execute this plan got derailed by Masem stabbing Maple with a dagger. Like a jerk.

But that’s jumping ahead.

There’s a knock on the door, and Maple runs off to get her plan in motion. Meanwhile, Grumble occupied Masem to buy some time. Garland and Poppi, meanwhile, went to the Lord’s manor to try and get the ice orb.

Poppi took point as Garland played decoy in the foyer. Poppi snuck into the Lord’s room and found the hidden chamber with the instant death field, and discovered the room also has an anti-magic effect, so Poppi can’t cast anything. She puts her fire orb through the death field as an experiment, and destroys the orb. Oops.

Eventually the Lord arrives and Poppi stealths around to get out of the anti-magic chamber and turn invisible again to observe.

When passing through the field, the Lord’s skin gets wrinkly and generally in a bad state, which is suspicious. The Lord pockets the Ice Orb and leaves.

Grumble goes to investigate the church, claiming to be an interior decorator to access to the catacombs. We’ll return to this later.

Which brings us to the Marketplace: Maple and the Dawn do their very cool and very fake combat, and Maple gets control of the vest as Masem arrives. Maple does more wild talking to keep Masem occupied until the Lord arrives, along with Poppi and Garland.

Turns out there was a massive flaw in my plan: there was a traitorous conspiracy occuring, but it wasn’t Masem behind it.[3] Also the Lord was swapped with some sort of skinwalker. And my plan hinged on those two being who I assumed them to be. Oops.

Poppi discretely alerted me to the suspicious effects the death field had on the Lord as he retrieved the ice orb, but I had already turned the two against me, I didn’t have an alternate plan, and we might learn something if we proceed with my plan anyways.

So Maple refuses the invitation to go somewhere discreet to discuss her concerns, Masem stabs her, and Maple punches Masem’s stupid face and combat ensues, during which Bane possesses Masem.

The “Lord” gets killed and Poppi attunes with the ice orb.

Maple decides to let the vest explode and cause a lot of damage to Bane!Masem, and thus Maple dies again.

Bane!Masem survived, though heavily hurt. I believe Poppi fled while Maple and Garland lay dead, hiding away to attune to the Ice Orb.

Fed up with the day, Bane!Masem limps off to take his frustrations out on Eli before hanging him with cruel efficiency.

Grumble, meanwhile, searching the church crypt, finds a mysterious obsidian coffin that needs a key to unlock. He doesn't have a key, so Grumble leaves to meet up with the party at the marketplace. Where he sees the mess, so he goes to the jail and catches Eli’s execution, at which point Bane relinquishes his hold on Masem.

Grumble talks to Masem, and finally convinces him that something way above everyone's pay grade is happening. Also, as the only party member neither dead nor occupied with attuning to an orb, it falls on Grumble to investigate Eli's corpse.

Grumble and Masem attempt to run to the crematorium before Eli is cremated. They don't beat the furnace, however, and find a pile of melted clay.[4] Grumble senses magic, and inserts his hand into a lump of hot clay, which hurts. Grumble successfully pulls out the Earth Orb. Yay!

The orb begins petrifying Grumble, solidifying his hand as the effect moves up. Masem cuts off Grumble's hand to save the dwarf, and it's decided that there's nothing further to be done, and we wait for the end of the loop.

Cycle 12

We’ve got things pretty much figured out. Poppi gives the Ice Orb to Garland to attune to before she heads out to reclaim the fire orb, which fortunately wasn’t removed from reality when she put it into a Death Field.[5] Grumble obtains the key from the mysterious murdered man, and heads to the church crypts.

Maple, meanwhile, has to get the final orb. So she runs to the market, fakes a battle with the Brigands, goes to bomb the jail,[6] and talk to Eli in the escape tunnel.

Maple tells Eli she’s got a lead on where the Earth Orb is. Eli is excited and totally game to find it and Navy really laid it down thick to make the reveal more awkward. But Maple tells him that the Orb’s in his chest.

Eli takes a breath, rips open his shirt, and braces for whatever’s going to happen.

A greatsword is probably a bit unwieldy for a medical procedure, so Maple grabs the smallest cutting instrument she has: a hand axe.

Eli winces in pain as Maple cuts through the skin, revealing clay beneath, which he doesn’t feel. Continue cutting deeper, and find a darker brown lump. Maple takes a moment, and starts ripping out his heart, which Eli does feel every agonizing portion of, screaming in torturous pain. But Maple’s a trained soldier, so she powers through.[7]

Earth Orb in hand, Maple attempts to attune with it by inserting it into her sword, while the artifact turns her into stone. Eventually and unfortunately, she’s rendered entirely in stone. So that’s not ideal.

In the church crypt, Grumble applies the key to the obsidian coffin, which causes the lid to flow off and reveal stairs to a mysterious chamber. Within is an obsidian wall with indentations and markings hinting at three amulets and a sword. He goes upstairs to find Poppi and Garland waiting for direction. The absence of Maple is troubling, but her location shouldn’t be difficult to parse, so Grumble goes after her.

The Bard finds the Fighter in the escape tunnel, and casts Greater Restoration on her. Maple is now flesh again, with a boosted AC and a stronger sword.

The flayed corpse of Eli is not remarked upon.

Everyone reunites at the church, they descend through the crypt, through the obsidian coffin, and to the JRPG-styled final checkpoint. The orbs are inserted and the wall melts away, revealing a room lined wall to wall with shelves holding many glass orbs of various sizes, each holding a looping moment in time. The party locates the one belonging to us, which is one of the larger[8] orbs, and has a noticeable crack in it.

Maple picks it up. It’ll make a good hostage as the party proceeds through a door on the opposite wall.

We enter a room I imagine is round, but I might’ve missed the proper description. There’s a throne near where we enter, upon which sits Ricton (the former leader of The Dawn) with injured hands. Good environmental storytelling, there.

Bane arrives, and starts doing the usual villainous “you ruined everything, why couldn’t you be content to be heroes in this time loop?” which the party happily riffs, because what are TRPGs for except to undermine the particularly egregious tropes by talking over them?

Anyways, Bane asks us to return the orb, and Maple just drops it so it would shatter on the ground. The room becomes the hiccuping world we last saw in Cycle ??. Bane says he wished we didn’t do that. Roll for initiative. Maple rolls pretty low.

He raises four pillars, from which emerge our shadow selves. Navy also asks how many times we’ve died, with Maple getting the high score in that. So that probably means Shadow-Maple has Six respawns.

Everyone else takes their turns (stuttering internet means I likely missed details, so forgive me if I don’t lay out their cool turns), and we come to Maple.

I raise an idea I had, but didn’t want to do without getting the group’s consent. I would run back to the previous room to start smashing the other orbs, hoping the influx of other looping memories would disorient or otherwise inconvenience Bane.

However, it’s decided to keep the fighter in the fight.[9]

Instead, Maple starts attacking the pillar of her own doppelganger, using the full range of level 9 fighter abilities on it, as well as bardic inspiration from Grumble, to sink a bunch of damage into the pillar that maybe she should’ve saved for Bane, but whatever.

The party takes it in turns to destroy the pillars, as they seem to mitigate damage Bane can take while they’re still standing. Once the pillars are all down, attention is turned to the Anthropomorphic Iron Throne man.

Bane summons another pillar, but short work is made of it. He follows by trying to entangle our heroes in dark thorns. However, Maple was already positioned to attack him and the others have range, so not a great strategy, and everyone is free by the next round anyways.

The commotion rouses Ricton, who is also channeling the spirit of Eli. Eli!Ricton and Bane move to confront each other as the combat continues.

Garland hits 0 health and falls. Garland had very low HP.

With the help of Eli!Ricton, Bane is finally slain, and the Stuttering world and the chamber we were in fades away, leaving the party in the Marketplace

Cycle 13 (but not really)

We’re a little further back chronologically than we’re used to, and also a physically different location, to the point we’re able to identify that Masem was the one who killed the bloodsoaked man who gives us the key before going to grab our heroes from their bed and breakfast.

Time to try to set things right permanently.

Maple goes and tries to get the Dawn to stand down, doing the identifying bird call and such. Unfortunately, she fails to convince them their task is unnecessary. Maple decides to just let them go spring Eli.

Poppi went to look into Eli, to discover the man in prison is someone else. Still Eli, just not the one we know.

Grumble goes to talk to the Lord to nudge the governmental reform forward quicker. It goes well.

I’m afraid I forget what Garland did during this time.

Maple and Poppi follow the Dawn back to the hideout, where the advisor shows up to say that they’ve succeeded in getting their reform and that everything is going to be okay. Maple interrupts to ask why he was playing both sides, which annoys the advisor but he explains anyways, but I’ve forgotten his explanation! I think it wasn’t as profound as I hopped.

In the coming days, the reform is announced, Masem is discovered to be conspiring a coup with the help of the skinwalker that’s been stealing the Lord’s identity the last few rounds,[10] and time moves (mercifully) on.

Garland sits by a fountain to grade papers he’d apparently been putting off, and has either Eli or Ricton come talk to him and thank him. Garland barely acknowledges them. He goes on to continue searching for a cure for his wife’s infliction.

Grumble goes on to found a department store with his player’s previous characters.

Poppi searches for Ricton, and asks him if there’s other places in a similar state, as we saw many time orbs before the final battle. Ricton reveals a steamer trunk with a chamber containing the orbs, and the two quest to find the places the orbs correspond to and set them right.

Maple leaves and continues to walk the Earth, stone sword in hand, fading into folk legend. She’s a simple elf, and such a fate felt appropriate.[11]

Thus concludes one of the few campaigns I got to see from start to finish. I really enjoyed it (outside one player having difficulty letting unimportant arguments go), and would gladly play with most of the group again. Maybe the whole group if some growth happens.

Now it’s time for me to take the GM screen again. This one’s got scheduling commitment involved, so hopefully reports will be consistent!

Until next time, may your dice make things interesting!

[1] It was my first time using Discord’s video system, so i don’t have enough data to know if the fault lies on my end, Navy’s end, or Discord itself. Historically I’ve never had issues with just voice, so… [2] I attempt to avoid planning too far in advance as both GM and Player so I don’t get disappointed when the narrative in my head doesn’t play out. Usually try to stick to what’s immediately actionable and a few branches, then hold back to improv the rest. But three months is three months. [3] I still don’t know what’s up with the advisor. I did ask, but I was sick and connection was unstable, so I don’t know if I got a satisfactory answer. [4] Not sure how a kiln and the cremation process lines up, but now I'm curious. [5] Though imagine if it’d have. Defeating the evil demon by removing his super weapons would’ve been interesting. [6] So disappointed we didn’t find a more subtle method to accomplish this. [7] Were I not sick, and if the group wasn’t dedicated to finishing tonight, I might’ve taken the time to play up the horror. But conditions weren’t ideal. [8] It was mimed as being held by two hands, but the accuracy of that is iffy, considering I assumed our orbs were about soft-ball sized when they’re truthfully about the size of a large marble. [9] The reason why I like playing rogues is they get plenty to do outside of combat. I’m mentally tuned to playing with the world over the system. [10] A subplot we totally missed, and one that I’m not… completely satisfied with? Masem was unwillingly taken over by Bane, and was the only guy who seemed to have it happen to him, and doesn’t recall the time he’s controlled. This innately puts Masem into a sympathetic narrative light as an unwilling puppet, so making him a bad guy just seems weird. [11] Mostly she just didn’t want to deal with Poppi’s barely restrained violence anymore.

#SepiaDicePlays #NavyDiceCampaign #Dungeons and Dragons #Fifth Edition #maple #NavyDice

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ladyanatui · 4 years

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The Seduction of Motomiya Daisuke, Ch. 5 *A Daiken Fic*

Daisuke’s friendship with Ken has always come easily. It’s the lusting after your best friend part that’s hard.

He just didn’t realize how hard until Ken starts acting weird.

Now, Daisuke isn’t sure how long he can handle his BFF and roommate’s sudden attentions. At least, not without potentially ruining a 12-year friendship.

AO3 | FF.Net

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

DAISUKE

Friday, 10 p.m.

Normally, I'm all for horror movies. Normally, I'm the one who has to convince Ken—he continually insists he doesn't see the point in watching them, that the gory ones are over-the-top and ridiculous. To be fair, he also insists they never scare him, and we both know that's a blatant lie.

But tonight is not a normal night: For the first time ever, Ken picked a horror movie all on his own.

Worse, I can't even focus on the damn movie.

Because Ken is plastered to my side, clutching my shirt like it's going to protect him from the vengeful yurei on the screen, his breath hot against my arm as he buries his face in my shoulder. I'm struggling between amusement at his insistence he's not scared and arousal at his body flush against mine.

I clear my throat, trying to settle the unease in my stomach. "You know, it's been years since I saw this."

He nods against my shoulder, but he stays close, not daring to look up at.

Actually, now that I think about it, this is a movie I made him watch when we were kids. He stayed over for a sleepover during the summer break, and I brought out all the classics: Onibaba, Kuroneko, Ju-On: The Grudge, Battle Royale, and of course, Ringu—the film Ken put on tonight. I hadn't expected us to watch all the movies, but once we got started—Ringu was my first choice for the evening—Ken was too scared to go to sleep, so he just kept insisting we keep watching until we finished the last one at five thirty in the morning…and then he just kept talking because he refused to admit he was too scared to go to sleep. That was probably the first night I'd ever heard Ken talk so damn much.

I already had a bit of a thing for him by then, but that night solidified my feelings. After a night of lying close to him while he insisted he wasn't scared—while also burying himself under the blankets on the floor—I wasn't tired at all. Ken eventually passed out a little before eight and slept for a couple hours, but I was high from the close contact and the strange, disjointed conversation.

With a small smile, I allow my arm to fall around his narrow frame and tug him even closer.

Who knew Ken was sentimental about something like this? Why else would he choose to watch Ringu? Why else would he willingly subject himself to something he's always disliked?

He buries his face in my neck and takes a shaky breath. "Is it over yet?"

My chest trembles with laughter, and I rest my cheek against the top of his head. "There's still like forty minutes left. And what are you complaining about? You're the one who picked this movie."

Ken grumbles against my collarbone, indignant.

I'd laugh at him some more, but his sound sends a pleasant vibration through my body, and my fist clenches in the thin material of his gray T-shirt.

He shifts to look at the screen before twisting and turning to see it fully. Apparently, the creepy scene has ended, so Ken doesn't need me to protect him anymore—but then he settles back against me, even closer than before, his eyes focusing on the television, and I release an indulgent sigh and hold him tight.

Not long later, Ken jumps and buries his face in my chest again.

This time, I really can't help but laugh and poke him in the side good-naturedly—or bad-naturedly, considering how he startles and digs his fingers into my chest.

"Daisuke!" he yelps, leveling me with a glare.

I can't help the wicked grin at his reaction. "Really, Ichijouji, you make it too easy. If you weren't so damn entertaining, you wouldn't have anything to worry about." His over-the-top reaction has always been the best part of teasing him, of messing with him.

Ken's glare doesn't relax, but I fake a melodramatic yawn and turn back to the movie, daring him to do something about it.

Of course he takes the bait.

Few people can bring out Ken's competitive side—at least, off the soccer field—and I'm proud to say I'm one of them.

I grit my teeth when a finger jabs at my ribs. It tickles more than it hurts, but he knows that. That's exactly why he chose that location.

This time, I don't take my eyes off the screen as I poke him just under the ribs.

He yelps, even though he knew it was coming.

His retaliation is a hard pinch.

"Hey!"

He just sends me a little smirk. "Something wrong, Motomiya?"

Uh-oh. That's not good.

But that's what makes this so fun.

I shake my head and turn back to the movie, but having my arm wrapped around his shoulders makes it easy to flick his opposite ear.

His body tenses against me, but he doesn't complain otherwise. Or do anything else.

Five minutes later, just when I'm starting to relax again, a finger prods gently at my hip before sliding all the way up my side at a tantalizingly slow pace.

I inhale sharply, gasping at the inherently sensual touch.

A quick glance to my left reveals a proud little smile on his face as he focuses on a movie neither of us have been paying attention to for at least ten minutes.

My eyes narrow.

Well, if we're going to play dirty, you'll get no complaints from me.

I release a soft sigh, forcing my body to relax, then yank him closer and shove my hand up his loose tee to tickle his ribs. Even as he collapses in my arms in a fit of angry giggles, he retaliates, setting his own fingers on my ribs.

I won't often admit this, but it might be possible that I'm way more ticklish than Ken is. I refuse to accept this weakness. No matter how many times he shoves it in my face. Or ribs, as it were.

His laughter becomes stronger, victorious, as he gains the upper hand, but he should know better.

If there's one thing he should know about me, one thing anyone should know about it, it's that I don't know when to quit. I'm too damn stubborn to give in. And that applies whether we're facing an evil Digimon or going head to head in a tickle war.

His face is close—too close if I really thought about it—and I throw myself forward and sweep my tongue from his jaw, up the side of his face, to his forehead.

He shoves me away.

Success!

"Ugh, that's gross, Dai," he snaps, glaring at me.

I grin. "You started it."

His mouth ticks upward just a tinge, but he fixes it before it turns into an actual smile. "Technically, you did."

I shrug. "Semantics."

Ken scoffs. "Where did you learn that word, Motomiya?"

I shoot him a glare. "I listen when you talk." Even if I don't understand what he's saying, it's nice to listen to his voice.

Amusement tugs at his lips, but it's short-lived. All too soon, his mouth twists into a smirk—more defined and determined than any of the evening's previous smirks.

Shit.

That's a bad sign. A really bad sign.

I try to scoot away, but Ken's competitive side rears its ugly head. The next thing I know, he has my shoulders shoved into the cushion, my head twisted uncomfortably against the armrest, and Ken sits atop my lap like it's his throne.

"Really, Motomiya," he says, his voice high and smug, "you make it too easy." He leans over me, that sexy little smirk in place, his hands resting firmly on the armrest above my head, and his body shifts pleasantly on my lap. "Now, how to punish you?"

Oh, fuck.

This is not good.

If I don't figure out a way out of this, with his position and with that commanding tone, things are liable to get awkward fast. Especially if he keeps moving like that.

Thankfully, he doesn't weigh much and he's shown me plenty of judo moves throughout our friendship.

I give him one final moment—one mostly composed of him looking downright sexy while plotting my demise—then capture his right arm between us, trap his foot with my leg, and push my hips upward, sending us careening off the couch. We roll around the floor for a minute, each trying to gain the upper hand, but when it comes to sturdiness and hardiness, I have him beat every day of the week.

When we finally come to a stop, I have him flush against the floor, wrists pinned above his head, legs flattened under my weight. He's panting, cheeks bright red, and he stares up at me, eyes wide and dilated.

Yeah, this position isn't any better.

In fact, I'd wager my growing erection is a lot harder to hide in this position. And it doesn't help when Ken looks up at me with those big eyes and wets his lips with his entrancing tongue, pink despite the darkened room.

"Are you going to punish me now, Daisuke?" His voice is husky and quiet despite the loud movie.

How the hell does he manage to look this good?

I swallow, trying to wet my suddenly dry mouth and throat. I can't pull my eyes away from his.

There's nothing about Ken that isn't beautiful and sexy and perfect, and there's nothing I want to do more than press against him and kiss him with every fiber of my being, to worship every inch of his body.

The look on his face doesn't help either. He stares up at me with the deepest blue-violet eyes, like he can see into my very soul. Even now, I can feel our hearts beating as one.

His eyes dart down to my mouth, then back.

My breath hitches.

My supporting arms quiver.

I drop to my elbows, cutting the distance in half. "Ken," I murmur, dragging a hand to his cheek. My thumb traces the edge of his bottom lip, and with a shaky breath, his eyes flutter shut.

I want more than anything to kiss him, but trapping him so he can't escape is hardly an appropriate way to demonstrate my feelings. Besides, the last thing I should do is get caught up in the moment, especially since pressuring him into something he may not be ready for—may never be ready for—is the last thing I want to do. I mean, it's been twelve years—if he were interested, he should've said something by now. I should know.

I bite my lip, push away, and collapse onto the floor next to him with a long shaky sigh.

For a long moment, Ken lies beside me, his eyes still shut, breath ragged; then, he pushes up and stalks into the bathroom. The door closes harshly behind him.

Shit.

I drag myself back onto the couch and force my eyes to focus on the movie, but for the life of me, I can't register any of what's happening.

By the time he comes out, the credits are almost finished.

He doesn't bother coming back into the living room; instead, he downs a glass of water in the kitchen and says, "I'm heading to bed," before going to his room.

Dammit, this is not how the night was supposed to go.

#daiken #digimon #digimon 02 #fanfiction #digimon fanfiction #fanfic #daisuke motomiya #ken ichijouji #digi fic #my fanfiction #seduction of motomiya daisuke #anatui #anatui writes

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supernova1us · 5 years

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Valla: Viking Princess(8-bit game pitch)

Valla: Viking Princess is my idea for an 8-bit 2D side-scrolling platform game. It is inspired by and meant to have similar mechanics to the sensational game “Shovel Knight”. The standard controls would be jump/double jump, attack, block and charge attack. The characters would also be able to cast certain spells during gameplay that vary on what they do.

Story

Valla is a human who had been adopted and raised by the minotaurs of the north land; their culture was like that of Vikings/norsemen. Now 20 years of age, valla is the headstrong and fearless daughter of the chief and chieftess. When her adopted brother goes missing while visiting the magical land of Kendora, she is gifted her family’s ancestral axe, BeastSplitter, and sent to find him.

Stages

1. Whales Bay: Sailing to Kendora, Valla arrives at the vast sea port, which is under attack by a horde of mer-creatures. She fights, clearing the port of them until she faces their leader, a humanoid hammer head, aided by his kraken. She defeats him, earning his respect before he is carried to safety by the kraken.

2. Fairy Grove: Heading for the kingdom capital, valla travels through an enchanted woods, and is asked by a fairly for help. She must keep pace with the speeding fairy, with occasional stops to fight enemy goblins, and a mini-boss of a an angry unicorn. She is finally led to a bridge, which a troll is guarding; the fairly purposely lead her to feed her troll partner. Valla battles and defeats the troll, knocking him into the brook.(the fairy/troll would be encountered again 2 more times during the gameplay)

3. Bugs Nest: continuing through the woods, valla accidently travels into the territory of a colony of giant, intelligent and hostile insect creatures. She must fight her way through their various warriors and bug types to confront the angry queen and escape.

4. Besieged Village: valla comes upon a village under attack by the minions of the shadow dragon. She fights through the attackers and rescues endangered villagers. She fights two mini-bosses during the level, humanoid animal knights, a porcupine and skunk. At the end she battles both at once, and upon their defeat, they merge into a single creature, the skunkupine. A wise sage who was split in two and brainwashed by the shadow dragon for not aiding him. Valla rejects his prediction that she will be pivotal in the fight against the dragon. He reveals he met her brother and sends her to the capital for answers, also predicting they will meet again.

5. Kings City: Arriving at the capital city, valla is considered an invader and attacked. She must fight her way through the knights and guards to the castle. Arriving there, she must battel the king, who is bewitched by his aunt and advisor. Upon defeat, the king regains his senses and banishes her, revealing that she is loyal to the shadow dragon lord, who plagues their kingdom. The kings son, who is attracted to valla, agrees to aid her in her search.(the captital would become the games central location, from which valla would travel to other locations, learn new magic and update her armor, weapons and stats)

From here the 10 campaign stages can be chosen and fought in any order. With each ally of the shadow dragon defeated, valla collects a mysterious gold key fragment. Also hidden within each stage is a talking owl that gives hints. By completing all tasks in a level, an ally character from it is gained and, upon the games completion, can be used to play any stage with. Three random encounter battles occur between powerful animal warriors; an agile kangaroo, a powerful snapping turtle and resilient pangolin.

Elf Realm: a massive forest and home to the elves, which is under attack by the demon boar. Valla must fight through the corrupted beasts and dark elves, as well as a mid-boss ogre. She arrives at the elf palace where the boar, an agent of the shadow dragon, attempts to kill the queen. She battles and manages to slay it, in the process gaining the elves as allies.

Ember Desert: valla arrives at a vast, hot desert and home to the saurians, a violent and barbaric reptilian race allied with the shadow dragon. She battle through their stronghold, and a mid-boss of a sand serpent. She arrives and battles their champion warrior, though with his defeat, the chief still swears loyalty to the dragon. The impressed champion chooses to ally with her however.

Fungi Forest: valla is given a potion by the skunkupine and suddenly shrinks and enters a forest of giant flowers and foliage, where the local mushroom people have been corrupted by shadows. Valla must battle through and destroy the shadow fungus at its center to free its people. She is then restored to her normal size.

Dwarf Mine: the mountainous realm of the dwarves is in chaos as their mining machines and mechanical workers are corrupted and revolt. Valla must fight through to destroy them all, as well as the attacking mole men. With a mid-boss of the vengeful mole king, she finally confronts the massive steampunk driller robot leading them and destroys it.

Giantdale: rather than fight, valla must navigate the massive home of the giants, avoiding detection and being crushed all the while. She must then confront the elder giant and out think his moves.

Gryphon Hollow: the refuge of the gryphons is under attack by goblins and trolls looking to enslave them. Valla battles through to free the captured gryphons and a shadow tainted gryphon before destroying the goblin king behind it.

Orc Swamp: valla infiltrates the swampy home of the brutish orcs, who have also aligned with the shadow dragon. She battles through their deadly horde, with the mid-boss being a powerful female orc who considers their leader’s choices dishonorable. Valla eventually fights the large orc chief and when he is beaten, the female orc appears and stabs him in the back. Claiming leadership, she swears the orcs loyalty to valla.

Elemental Sanctuary: in the hidden valley of the nature spirits, the rogue elemental, the rose queen, unleashes destruction in the shadow dragons name. valla battles through the corrupted elementals, with a mini-boss of a vengeful enchanted old oak tree, who she defeats and purifies. She defeats the rose queen, who, now weak, banishes valla before sealing off her realm.

Land of the Dead: a kingdom sized cursed graveyard where evil and the dead reign. The wicked wraith king, a loyal servant of the shadow dragon, had been sending his undead minions out across the land. Valla fights through the phantom hordes and beats their master, who flees as he is unable to die.

The Black Fortress: the stronghold of the black knight, the dragons most devious and deadly warrior. Valla must battle through his many warriors and armaments to destabilize his forces. She faces a mid-boss of an enchanted suit of armor, in truth a cursed knight. After defeating him, she wins his loyalty and he aids her in reaching the black knight, who escapes after his defeat.

6. Sanctum of Time: having gathered the key fragments, valla and the prince are advised by the skunkupine to seek the guardian of time on how to use them. They travel to the guardians realm, and must get through various anomalies producing creatures and warriors from various time periods. They reach the guardian and after a battle to prove their worth, he welcomes them, revealing his alter ego as the wise owl they encounter on various levels. He tells them of the shadow dragons origins, and that the only weapon to stop him is a sword forged from pure light. The fragments found form a key to the vault that the sword is locked in, which vallas brother previously attempted to enter but never returned. A cutscene would show them stopping at an inn during the night and hint at valla and the prince spending the night together.

7. Temple of light: traveling the tennels, valla battles the minions of the dragon, who have infiltrated and fortified the ancient temple. At its end she faces demonic monster, which she eventually recognizes as her corrupted brother. After defeating him, she uses a relic from the skunkupine to restore him. While she tends to him, the prince goes along ahead.

8. Vault of Light: The prince goes alone through the remainder of the temple, facing its ancient traps and guardians, including a giant stone golem. At the vault, he finds his wicked enchantress great aunt attempting to destroy it. He battles her and manages to steal the sword, but is mortally wounded. She escapes as valla and her brother arrive; she and the prince admit their feelings for each other as he gives her the sword and dies.

9. Great War: The shadow dragon rallies his forces to his mountain fortress, deep in a volvanic landscape. Valla and the king lead the allied races against his army of trolls, shadow beasts and vile dragon men(the goblins could not join due to having been too reduced in their numbers and the saurians refused the dragons call to arms). Valla moves through the battlefield fighting enemies, with a mini-boss of the demon boar, revived as a shadow beast. Valla then takes on her Valkyrie form, being granted artificial wings by the light sword and takes to the skies to slay the shadow wyverns. She returns to the battle field to duel and kill the dragon men general.

10. Shadow Gate: valla breaks through the enemy lines and infiltrates the shadow fortress. She must battle through battlements, court yard and enter the great hall, where she must battle the enchantress, the black knight and the wraith king one after the other. She defeats each one, then uses the light sword to destroy them. The wraith king, though weakened by the sword, persists and claims the souls of the other two before returning to his realm.

11. Shadow Sanctum: valla enters the shadow dragons chamber, and first battles him taking the form of the slain prince. He then returns to his true form and takes to the skies, with her following and attacking him. Weakened, he returns to his fortress and battles her again. She impales him with the light word and he falls into a chasm that opens under the mountain, which crumbles around them.

With peace restored to the land, the many races come together to honor the dead prince and valla as a hero. She chooses to remain with her new allies to protect the land, bidding farewell to her brother and parents as they return home.

100% completion of the main campaign would unlock a new level. valla takes on her Valkyrie form, flying to the rescue of the hidden sky city of the bird people, in the midst of a civil war.

#8-bit #gaming #shovel knight #vikings

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cressasdbfanfics · 7 years

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His Worst Fear Part IV: Healing

The final chapter of my GoChi fanfiction “His Worst Fear”.

Appears here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12453430/4/His-Worst-Fear

And here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10665318/chapters/24151893

Part IV: Healing

Gohan sat with Videl on a couch, Pan napping away on her lap.

His bowed head snapped up and he took in the blood, dirt, and rips on my gi and his expectant gaze met mine.

I answered Gohan's unspoken question with a stiff nod, and he returned it.

Picking a seat across from him, I had just opened my mouth to ask about Goten when the phone rang and Gohan lunged for it.

"Hello?"

My sharp hearing picked out someone with a frantic tone, but not well enough to know exactly what he said. I had a good guess who was calling. And what he needed to know had to be said in person.

I took a deep breath and touched two fingers to my forehead as I locked onto Ox King's erratic, unstable energy and found myself in his study, the phone still at his ear, and Ox King himself seated at his large desk.

He gasped when he saw me and jumped up, words tumbling out of his mouth almost faster than I could keep up with. "Goku!" He looked me up and down. "You look like you've been through hell, son! What's going on!? Where's Chichi? I tried calling her yesterday and today, but the call wont go through! I thought maybe she was just busy yesterday, but I can't shake this awful feeling something's… happened to her. She's okay… right?"

My nails dug into my palms as I stared at the floor for a moment and then into his wide eyes.

I shook my head.

His mouth fell open with a shocked gasp and was followed by the crunch of plastic as the phone broke apart in his trembling grip, crushed beyond recognition, tiny pieces of plastic, metal, and glass clattering to his desk.

In a flash, he was in front of me with a speed I didn't know he had in him, my shoulders gripped by his trembling hands – his every word punctuated with a breath through clenched teeth. "Goku. What. Happened. To. My. DAUGHTER!?"

I was… almost scared of him in his state – never mind that I was a Saiyan and he was human. In front of me towered a man who had just lost his daughter. And it was suddenly easy to imagine why people were so afraid of him long ago.

My voice having lost all volume, I breathed out as I looked into his bloodshot eyes, "She and Goten were attacked at our home by one of my enemies."

He gasped as his anger deflated and he dropped heavily onto his desk, the wood creaking. "G-Goten… he was involved in this, too?"

"Yes. But Goten is fine. He was hurt but he's fine now."

"And Gohan… His family…?"

"They weren't involved in the fight."

He stood up off his desk. "L-let me get s-some things together and then t-take me to them."

He left the room and returned a few minutes later with a small, messily packed suitcase and grabbed his coat from the rack in the corner of the study.

He nodded to let me know he was ready and grabbed my shoulder as I touched two fingers to my forehead. He knew the drill.

When we arrived, Gohan was pacing in his living room, the phone still in his hand.

In a few quick strides, he reached us. "Grandpa!"

Ox King pulled Gohan in for a tight bear hug and held him.

I took the chance to go find Goten.

I followed his energy to the edge of Gohan's property. He sat trembling on a bench, his chin rested in his hand and his elbow braced on his knee.

I knelt in front of him and brushed away the tears coating his cheeks. He didn't seem to have noticed me because his eyes flew wide open at my touch and met mine for just a moment before staring down at his other hand clenched in his lap.

I blew out a breath. "Goten, I–"

"I was really mad at first when I woke up. But Gohan told me that you only did it to keep me safe."

I nodded. "Your brother is absolutely right. Goten, I almost lost you once. I wasn't going to lose you again. And if Black killed you there in the future, that would be… it. You couldn't be wished back. We'd never see you again."

Goten looked like that was news to him, his eyes a little bit wide. "Really? The Dragon Balls are gone in that time?"

"Yes. They are."

He frowned down at the ground quietly for quite a while until he whispered, "It's only been a day but… I miss her, Dad."

I closed my eyes for a moment and blew out a breath. "I do, too, Goten. I do, too."

He dove into me and pressed his little body into my chest and I wrapped my arms around him. Holding Goten, I stood up and headed inside.

Ox King got up from his seat on the couch next to Gohan and walked up to us. "Goten…"

He twisted around in my arms, but kept his grip on my gi top, and whispered, "Hi, Grandpa."

"Hey, champ."

Ox King leveled his gaze on me. "Goku… tell me exactly what happened and who… I need to know who took her from us."

He pressed me for every last detail – the others listening intently as I explained to him what I knew of Black's and Zamasu's history, their motivations, and everything that led up to her death. Disgust quickly gave way to anger; anger to hatred and finally tears when I when I told them about how she saved Goten at the very last second before Black took her life.

When I reached the battle, my family knew I showed her killers no mercy. It was the closure they needed. Closure I needed.

We never, ever wanted to hear their names again.

Goten trembled in my arms and let out a soft, hiccupping sob.

Ox King reached out and rubbed his back but looked at me, concern in his eyes. "You… you look exhausted, son. The day is still young. Why don't you get some rest first?"

I shook my head as I stood straight. "I have more than enough energy to get us to New Planet Namek and back. I'll be fine."

I had kept her waiting more than enough. Besides, there would be time for sleep later.

I touched two fingers to my forehead and waited for everyone to grab on.

Gohan held his arms out for Goten and pointedly looked me up and down.

I glanced down at myself.

A strip of fabric over my shoulder a couple inches wide was all that kept it on – what little there was left soaked in blood, sweat, and caked with mud and pulverized concrete.

I patted Goten's back to get his attention. "Hey, buddy. I need to go get cleaned up but it'll only be a few minutes until I get back. And then we can go get your mother back."

He lifted his tear-streaked face off my chest and nodded as he reached for his brother.

Once down the hall, stepped into our bedroom and grabbed a fresh gi I kept there and into the bathroom. I pulled off what was left of my gi and that tiny piece of yellow fabric fluttered to the floor. I picked it up, the little bit of fabric finally falling apart in my fingers, yellow fibers drifting to the floor.

As singed as it was, I was surprised it had lasted through the battle.

Like I had with Goten's gi the night before, I vaporized the bloody, dirty rags with a little energy. Tapping into my power even just for that revealed how little I really had. The Evil Containment Wave that trapped him and all that practice the day before took a lot more out of me than I thought.

I ran the shower and stepped into the hot water, letting it work out the aches and soothe my pounding head and started scrubbing, the sudsy water running red-brown.

None of that held a candle to what I felt inside.

I missed her smile. Her eyes. Her laugh. Her temper. Her smell. The feel of her hair when she let it down only for me. The sound of her voice and how she hummed when she was happy. The warmth of her energy. I missed everything about her.

And it hurt.

I had experienced every bone in my body broken – even the pain of death when I died with Raditz. I knew what pain was. Pain wasn't anything new to me – at least not the physical kind.

In that awful moment, my heart was shattered, a part of it going with her. That pain… the sheer power of that feeling was so different. And… worse.

It was a crushing, constricting weight that made even breathing difficult. A pain so intense it really was physical. So that was what they called a broken heart.

And only one thing would fix it. Only one thing would make me whole again. It was time to get her back.

I turned off the water and stepped out. Raising what was left of my energy, the heat I put off dried me quickly and I pulled on the fresh, clean gi as well as my boots.

My senses guided me outside where everyone waited in Gohan's garden.

Flowers. That sounded like a good idea.

Goten ran up to me, grinning excitedly and a little teary. "Can we go pick some flowers for Mom?"

I nodded down at him, smiling, too. "You read my mind, champ."

He jumped into the air, hovering a little above us. "Then let's go!"

I lifted into the air, too. "Do you know where to find your mother's favorite flowers?"

"Yeah!"

Gohan lifted into the air and handed Goten some huge red roses. "Add these to the bunch."

Goten grinned wider. "Hey, yeah! Mom likes roses!" He looked at me. "Let's go, Dad!"

Gohan landed and shouted up to us, "I'll be here when you get back!"

Goten and I nodded and rocketed away.

Goten kicked in Super Saiyan. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

I laughed and that felt good. I jumped into Super Saiyan and easily caught up with him.

Moving as fast as we were, the flight to our mountain only took a few minutes and then the wildflower field came into view – as did some of the damage to the forest from the short battle and I rubbed a hand over my chest.

"I see the flowers, Dad!"

My attention snapped to Goten who had just landed in the middle of the field and I followed him down.

We set to work picking all kinds of flowers. She really liked all the different colors but there was a particular kind of bright yellow one she seemed to really like, sometimes gently running her fingers over their delicate petals when I brought them home to her. She didn't touch the others quite like that.

There were more of her favorite yellow ones growing than any other. After Goten and I picked good-sized handfuls, we combined them into one big bunch. We had dark red roses from Gohan's garden, her favorite yellow ones, plus a lot of pink, purple, and blue flowers of all kinds of shapes and sizes and smells – smells that were a little overwhelming to my nose when all together like that.

I sneezed and Goten giggled.

I handed the bunch to him. "Think this is enough, Goten?"

He nodded, grinning. "I think Mom'll like these a lot!"

"I think she will, too. Let's go back to Gohan's."

"We all go get Mom together, right Dad?"

I rubbed his head, smiling at him. "Of course, Goten."

Keeping my hand on his head as he carefully held onto the flowers, I touched two fingers to my forehead and made the jump to Gohan and the others.

Ox King, Videl with Pan in her arms, Gohan, and Goten all linked hands and Goten grabbed mine.

"We have one stop we need to make before we can go to New Namek. We need to see Bulma."

Locking onto Bulma's energy, we found her in the lab with the time machine and hunched over a computer attached to it by long cables and Vegeta watching her from a corner.

I explained what we needed. After a few minutes of searching, she handed me the radar and gave me a hug with a tearful, "Good luck, Goku."

"Thanks, Bulma."

With that, I stuck the radar in my pocket and concentrated on Elder Moori's ki. We were on New Namek in an instant and just outside a large dwelling.

Elder Moori walked out and smiled in surprise at our small group. "Ah! Goku! And family! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here on this fine day?"

I glanced at our group and back at him. "Someone very special was… taken from us just yesterday and we'd like to use your Dragon Balls to bring her back since Shenron can't do it."

"Of course, Goku! Anything you need. However, you know it'll take some time to gather the Dragon Balls."

I smiled. "Thanks, Elder Moori." And held up the radar. "No, it won't."

I clicked the button and it came to life with a beep, seven blips scattered all over the planet blinking on the screen and everyone who could fly took off to search.

The Namekians helped look, too. Elder Moori explained that word travelled quickly thanks to the telepathy of their kind.

About five hours after we arrived, all seven Dragon Balls were pulsating with light on the ground at Elder Moori's feet in the middle of their village square and ready to be used.

I had almost forgotten how big the Namekian Dragon Balls were.

Elder Moori walked around the circle and up to us, his face serious. "Are you ready, Son Goku?"

My boys and I exchanged hopeful smiles and all nodded our heads.

Elder Moori nodded once and turned to the Dragon Balls. He extended his hands out over them and summoned Porunga in his native language.

Just like on Earth, the sky went dark as night and loud clashes of thunder and dazzling flashes of lightning tore through the sky as one particularly large bolt struck the Dragon Balls and surged high up into the air. What started as a massive, thick bolt lightning attached to the Dragon Balls quickly took the shape of Porunga himself – a dragon even larger than Shenron.

"WHY HAVE YOU AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER? SPEAK NOW SO THAT I MAY GRANT YOU THREE WISHES."

His deep, ancient voice reverberated through the ground and into my very bones. Goten cringed and scooted behind my leg. I put my hand on his head. He had nothing to be afraid of. Pan cried and her parents comforted her.

Elder Moori turned to us. "Porunga will only grant wishes spoken in the Namekian tongue. Tell me each of your wishes and I will translate."

I nodded and glanced at Gohan. "Please restore our home to how it was before Black destroyed it."

He nodded once and looked up at Porunga and repeated our wish in the Namekian language.

Porunga's eyes glowed red for several moments. "It is done. Your home has been restored."

The boys and I exchanged looks. She would need a place to return to when it was time to wish her back.

Elder Moori looked to me for the second wish.

"Please do the same for the surrounding forest."

Like before, his eyes glowed red once again. "It is done. The forest has been made pristine."

I wanted to wipe all traces of Black from our home and mountain, but didn't think I'd have the words to do that if I had asked for her back first.

But, it was finally time.

"You have one last wish remaining."

I took a deep breath as Gohan's hand gripped my shoulder tight. "Please revive my wife, Son Chichi."

Again, Elder Moori translated.

Porunga's eyes glowed red. "Son Chichi has been revived at the place of her death."

Goten cheered and Gohan laughed.

Tears gathered in my eyes. "Thank you, Porunga!"

He understood that and nodded once. I could have sworn he even smiled at me.

"I have fulfilled your wishes. Until we meet again."

His shape melted into that thick, blindingly bright lightning bolt and it vanished as the Dragon Balls rose up into the sky and shot away in seven different directions.

She was back. She was at home waiting for us.

I looked at Elder Moori and at the small crowd of Namekians. "Thank you."

Elder Moori smiled at me. "I am happy to help, Son Goku."

I looked down at Goten and returned his bright smile. "Ready to go home, buddy?"

He cheered again. "Yeah!"

I touched two fingers to my forehead and locked onto her warm energy, taking just a moment to let her essence wash over me. She was at first disoriented and then overjoyed. I smiled.

I glanced over both my shoulders to make sure everyone was connected. Gohan had his hand on my shoulder and his other arm around Videl's shoulders, baby Pan in her arms. Ox King's giant hand was on my other shoulder and Goten was attached to my leg.

I knew exactly where I was before I opened my eyes, the smells hitting me first. No acrid bite to the air from ki blasts. No burning smells. No smoke. Only the fresh smells of the forest and healthy trees. And the smell of a fire burning in our fireplace.

The familiar creak of our front door and I turned around to see her standing there, smiling up at me, and that missing piece fell into place, leaving my heart ready to burst.

Goten reached her first with a loud squeal of "MOMMY!" and knocked her to the ground with a resounding thud. She laughed and laughed.

I chuckled.

Gohan got to her next and pulled her to her feet and hugged her tight.

Ox King walked up to her and lifted all three of them off their feet in a huge bear hug and she giggled again.

Videl went forward and hugged her as well. Baby Pan didn't really understand just what was going on, but she was happy to see her grandma and dove into her arms. Chichi giggled and kissed her before passing Pan back to Videl and Ox King took everyone inside our house and shut the door.

And then it was just her and me.

I couldn't take it anymore. I ran to her and scooped her up, lifting her off her feet. She laughed and so did I. Until my laughter caught in my throat when I breathed her in with my nose buried deep in her shoulder, my eyes burning.

I pulled my head back just enough to press my trembling lips to hers for several long seconds as tears escaped and rolled down my cheeks. Her arms tightened around me, squeezing me together.

When our kiss was over, I looked into her dark, teary eyes sparkling an inch from mine. "I missed you so much. I love you, Chichi."

She smiled gently and brushed the back of her small hand across my cheeks, wiping away my tears. "Oh, my sweet Goku. I love you, too."

Her smile. The kind of smile she wore only when we were alone together. I couldn't get enough of it. Her sparkling, teary eyes as she brushed her nose against mine. The feel of her soft skin. The slight flush in her cheeks when I kissed her again. Her smell when I buried my nose in her hair. Taking my time, I soaked in every single one of those little things that made Chichi… Chichi.

Everyone chatted happily and turned their smiling faces on us as we walked in, hand in hand.

Ox King's eyes darted from our faces to our joined hands and back to our faces, his smile wide. "I took the liberty of getting going on dinner, Chichi. Hope you don't mind. Now, why don't you and Goku sit down and relax."

Chichi gasped, her hand loosening in mine. "Papa! That's a huge amount to cook alone! Let me help!"

My hand tightened around hers.

All that talk of food made my stomach unleash a loud roar as I realized just how little I ate after Chichi was… taken from us. Everyone was silent and then burst out laughing – Chichi's laugh ringing the clearest over everyone. I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand as a little bit of heat spread across my cheeks.

When the laughter died down, Ox King pointed to the couch. "Now, sit! Let me cook for us."

She smiled back. "Thank you, Papa."

Room was made for us on our sofa, the boys moving to the floor. We sat down and I put an arm around her shoulders as Goten jumped into her lap and Gohan smiled up at her.

Goten nuzzled into her. "I love you, Mom."

She smiled, her arms wrapping around Goten. "I love you, too."

Gohan scooted closer to her. "Welcome back, Mom. We missed you a lot."

She reached out and put her hand to Gohan's cheek. "I missed my boys so much."

We laughed, we talked, and ate every bit of the massive, delicious smorgasbord Ox King cooked for us and then cleaned up and laughed and talked some more well into the night. Eventually, Gohan took his family home.

As Gohan and his family walked out the door, Ox King decided to leave next.

I leaned forward on the couch, about to get up. "Need a lift, Ox King?"

He shook his head as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a capsule. "I'm fine, Goku, but thank you. I have my car right here."

I nodded and smiled.

Chichi waved. "Bye, Papa. Drive safe."

He waved back to her. "I'll be fine, my dear."

With that, he stepped out the door.

Goten had drifted off for the night in Chichi's lap and was out cold. Seeing Goten like that, I yawned widely – suddenly realizing just how worn out I was.

Chichi looked at me and gasped as her hand went to my cheek. "Oh, Goku! You look absolutely exhausted – more tired than you did even after the fight with Majin Buu. Did you get any sleep at all?"

I smiled and reached up to put my hand on hers. "Don't worry about me, Chi. I'm just fine."

I really was since she was back.

She didn't look like she bought it but her pretty face softened into a tender smile – but I didn't miss the slight arch of her left eyebrow. "Let me tidy up and then let's go to bed."

I chuckled quietly. "Okay."

Her smile widened and I helped her up from her seat with Goten in her arms and we went down the hall. She put him in his bed and he never even stirred as Chichi pulled the covers over him.

Once Goten was settled, Chichi went about her normal evening routine humming softly and fluffing the sofa cushions, wiping down the counters, sweeping the floor, all the usual stuff while I leaned against the kitchen doorframe. Like nothing had ever changed. Like she hadn't been… gone… just hours before.

She opened the kitchen window, the cool breeze blowing in the smells of our quiet mountain.

At least it was quiet.

I had always thought she'd be safe there. I took it for granted that she would be. But then she wasn't. My worst fear became reality when one of my enemies found my family. I had a lot of nightmares before of my enemies finding her and killing her and Gohan and Goten. And then it actually happened. For the first time, an enemy singled out my family.

She touched my arm as she walked by me and headed down the hall. I followed after her. I closed our bedroom door behind me and sat down at the foot of our bed. She changed into a light purple nightgown and ran her brush through her hair.

She walked up to me, smiling lovingly.

I reached up and ran my fingers through her beautiful dark hair and she leaned down and kissed me, that one deep and lingering.

She sat down on my lap and nuzzled her face into my shoulder with a small sigh – her breath tickling the crook of my neck – and I wrapped my arms around her.

I missed her so much those seven years I spent in Other World – time that flew by for me. I didn't even know seven years passed on Earth until King Kai told me. And then things were reversed for over twenty-four hours.

Twenty-four long, painful hours.

If hours hurt that badly…

I pressed my lips into her temple, my eyes burning again. "I'm… so sorry for making you live without me for seven whole years. I can't do this life without you, Chichi. I love you."

She pulled back but didn't say anything, instead pressing her lips to mine, her thumb brushing over my cheek to catch the tear rolling down it.

I was relieved I didn't have to try.

#GoChi #my fanfiction #His Worst Fear #fanfiction.net #archive of our own #ao3fic #Goku #Chichi #Gohan #Goten #Ox King #Son Family #lots of tears

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tomb-of-ash · 7 years

Text

Kurtis Trent Spin-Off Game Design Ideas

We’ve received a number of documents on the abandoned Kurtis Trent spin-off game, a prequel to Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. These were sent to us anonymously. This particular anonymous contributor has sent a number of screenshots and documents to us in the past and they were eventually verified by members of the Core Design team. As such, we have no doubts about the authenticity of these documents.

Kurtis Game – Design ideas – 06/07/01

Game name - Bloodline

The name comes from Kurtis Trent’s realization of his ancestral legacy and the re-discovery of his inherited paranormal powers.

The story overview

The story is a prequel to TR Next Gen.

Set in New York City, USA. Between the years1998 to 2000.

Kurtis drives a wrecked 1970’s Ford.

He sleeps in the back seat.

Survives on the proceeds of crime.

He is running from his ancestral past - and present day demons.

Game genre

Third person arcade adventure.

Focal points of the game

The core of the game is based around search and destroy missions.

Focus on (in order of importance)

Combat – destroy all enemies using available weapons.

Exploration –search rooms for pick ups and enemies to destroy.

World interaction – open doors, shoot out windows and walls.

Story – to create atmosphere, depth of character and link episodes.

Focus on - Combat

Kurtis Trent has the following abilities.

Hand to hand combat.

Use of firearms.

Use of explosives.

Use of psychic occult powers – to power-boost firearms and explosives.

Use of psychic occult powers – for reconnaissance and object control.

World interaction – use of computers and machinery to produce a simple goal.

Enemies will have the following abilities.

Hand to hand combat.

Use of firearms.

Use of psychic occult powers – to power-boost firearms and explosives.

Focus on - Exploration

Search for pick ups to replenish energy and weapons.

Search for enemies to destroy.

Kurtis must destroy all enemies in a room before the door unlocks and lets him continue.

Focus on - World interaction

Kurtis can climb stairs

Kurtis can open swing doors with a push

Kurtis can shoot out windows and jump through the hole

Kurtis can shoot out walls and vents at pre-defined points and jump through the hole.

Kurtis can smash objects – crates, barrels, machines

Kurtis can be harmed by pre-defined zones placed in the room.

These zones are : Fire (burning), Water (drowning), Electrical (electrocution).

Focus on – Story

The story is presented using the in game polygon graphics.

The story is revealed in the twelve episodes that make up the game.

At the end of each episode is a short video that plays music, news bulletins and off the wall imagery. This is designed to reinforce the world of Kurtis Trent.

There is no introduction sequence.

The game starts and as the player plays the names of the characters are superimposed over the action.

Story is delivered in the following ways:

Exerts from diaries. (With voice over narration).

In game cut scenes with game characters.

Media transmissions from TV.

Media transmissions from radio.

Characters

Friends

Kurtis Trent – Demon hunter.

Father Francis – Excommunicated priest and occult expert.

Ana Bell – TV news reporter and Kurtis’ doomed girlfriend.

Marty Cruise - Forensic police scientist.

Marie Cornel – Kurtis’ mother.

Foes

Eckhart – Fourteenth century crazed alchemist.

Phil Yates – Possessed billionaire software mogul.

Jean Rochelle - Old ‘friend’ from the Foreign Legion.

Obnoxtrux - Monster demon

Spawn - Furry gremlin critters.

Vampires – The living dead.

NYPD police force – Gun happy flat foots who get in the way.

MIB’s – Government agents looking to capture Kurtis and study his paranormal powers. (By removing his brain and cutting it into small pieces!)

MIB’s come in two varieties:

Type 1 - MIB agent. Man in a dark suit. (Investigators).

Type 2 - SWAT team commando operatives. (Capture teams).

Demonic possessed – People who have been enslaved by the dark forces. Only scanning their aura will alert Kurtis to their true nature.

Enemy Reactions

Enemy characters are assigned trigger values for reaction times, aggression, health and ammunition.

These triggers control the resulting animations.

A line of sight cone emits from the characters head. If Kurtis is within this cone the enemy character will react according to its trigger values.

Enemy patrol paths

Patrol paths are set by positioning control nodes around the room.

The direction and any incidental animations of the character is set on the node.

World navigation

A scanner that shows the level map and paranormal hot spots.

Appears as a semi-transparent HUD map over the game world.

To use the map scanner:

Select map scanner from the inventory. HUD map appears.

Press the CROSS – (action) button to make it disappear.

Time gates

These are inter-dimensional gateways that offer a window into past and future events.

Kurtis can witness actions from other times and receive messages from the past - and future.

While Kurtis can not step through, he can use his mind control powers to capture small non-organic objects and bring them into his dimension.

Time gates are scattered everywhere but are disguised as everyday objects.

To find and use a Time gate:

Select Psychic Aura Scanner from the Psychic inventory.

Scan the area for psychic aura.

When it is revealed the player stands in front of the Time gate and presses the CROSS – (action) button.

The Time gate opens and the Kurtis sees a third person camera view of the action.

To capture an object:

R2 – Hold = Mind control over objects

Steer crosshair over object with:

AL – Left/right/forward/back + 1 click = Capture object

When the object is captured Kurtis is returned to the normal game mode.

Objects can also be thrown into the Time gates.

Players inventory

D PAD – LEFT ARROW - Hold down = Inventory

Scrolling horizontal selection bar. Rolls left or right.

Center slot is high lighted and the item inside it is the current weapon.

Release the D PAD button to use the selected item.

Items list:

Diary.

Amulet.

Antidote.

Paranormal scanner.

Hand weapon inventory

D PAD – UP ARROW - Hold down = Hand weapons

Scrolling horizontal selection bar. Rolls left or right.

Center slot is high lighted and the item inside it is the current weapon.

Release the D PAD button to use the selected item.

Items list:

Multi-round hand gun.

Fires a variety of 9mm ordnance.

Sodium SALT tipped slug.

Standard 9mm slug.

Stun slug.

Uzi sized submachine gun. Fires standard 9mm slug.

Throwing weapons inventory

D PAD – DOWN ARROW - Hold down = Throwing weapons

Scrolling horizontal selection bar. Rolls left or right.

Center slot is high lighted and the item inside it is the current weapon.

Release the D PAD button to use the selected item.

Items list:

Gas grenade.

Explosive grenade.

SALT grenade.

PSYWARE

PSYWARE is the military term given to the paranormal abilities of the human mind.

This breaks down into two areas:

Area 1. Psychic powers are concentrated on tactical and information gathering activities.

List of powers:

Out of body eye for reconnaissance.

Aura scanner. For detecting the paranormal.

Mind control of objects. Pick up, move and drop.

Levitation. Limited in height and duration. Quickly depletes energy reserves.

Best used to enhance fighting moves. Kicks, flips etc.

Mind control over life forms. Take control of other creatures’ bodies.

Psychic tap. Kurtis can drain the energy from humans to power up his occult energy reserves.

Area 2. Occult powers are used for offensive and defensive attacks and draw their energy from the energy signatures of all living things.

List of powers:

Directional energy wave.

360 blast energy wave.

PSYWARE booster.

All of the weapons in the Hand weapon and throwing weapon inventory can be power-boosted by combining Hand weapons and Throwing weapons with the Psychic power button.

Select a Hand weapon or throwing weapon.

Hold down the L1 – Psychic power

Enemy demons

When a demon breaks through the dimensional barrier, the first thing it wants to do is enslave minions. It does this with a zap of power, turning the victim into a slave. These slaves can be used as assassins or cannon fodder, and spies.

Demons will camouflage their true shape for as long as possible, preferring to take the form of another creature.

Only when the host form has been rendered useless will they appear in their true demonic form.

Demon hunting tends to follow this pattern:

Tracking – the investigation and locating of the demonic infestation.

Mortal combat – combat with the enslaved minions protecting their master.

Paranormal combat – containment and exorcism of the demon itself.

Game structure

The game will take the format of a TV series.

Twelve episodes form a complete series.

Each episode has its own complete story and mission to be completed, although some missions and stories will span two episodes.

Key characters will appear in each episode, while some will only come back later on in the series.

Overview of episodes. Only showing key story points.

Note: In-between each episode is a commercial break. Adverts, music videos and news bulletins are broadcast. Some may seem completely off at a tangent but all will create a feel for the kind of world that Kurtis inhabits.

Episode 1

Kurtis on the streets. Living on the proceeds of crime.

Meets Father Francis for the first time.

Rejects the priest’s offer of help.

Kurtis is involved in a robbery that goes wrong. Ends up in prison.

Father Francis gets him out and takes him to his safe house.

Episode 2

Father Francis shows Kurtis how to master his occult powers.

They go on a demon hunt together. Kurtis is back on track.

Episode 3

More demon fighting. Kurtis is becoming more adept at using his skills as a demon hunter.

Eckhart makes his first appearance and escapes after a savage fight.

Father Francis explains the invisible war between good and evil that is raging in the city.

Episode 4

A super demon breaks in and is loose in the city.

Kurtis rescues a girl. Ana Bell, TV news reporter. Falls in love. She dies. (Sigh.)

Kurtis blames himself.

Episode 5

First part of a two part story.

Eckhart is trying to mastermind a massive occult invasion in the city.

To be continued …

Episode 6

Continues …

The investigation leads to a billionaires mansion. Beneath the gothic pile are miles of catacombs filled with a demon army.

Eckhart escapes to fight again.

Episode 7

Introduce Martella Chancy - a forensic police scientist. Side kick for Kurtis and Father Francis.

Kurtis meets his mother. She gives him his father’s diary.

The diary will provide insights into Kurtis past and future.

Episode 8

More demon fighting.

An old friend from Kurtis’ legion days turns up.

Kurtis’ is persuaded to join in a bank robbery.

This is a trap and the MIB capture him.

Kurtis must escape from captivity.

Episode 9

Comedy episode

Cute furry critters are being sold all over the city.

They hatch into something nasty.

Episode 10

Halloween in the city.

Vampires are abroad tonight.

Father Francis “Vampires! I hate those guys!”

Episode 11

Eckhart kidnaps Kurtis’ mother (Marie Cornel) and Kurtis must rescue her.

Father Francis dies in this episode.

Kurtis must go on alone.

Episode 12

Eckhart has taken Marie Cornel to the place where Kurtis was born – a hermetically sealed base in the Utah desert.

Kurtis must rescue his mother.

Eckhart escapes to Europe.

Kurtis Trent character animations

Basic moves

Standing/Waiting

Personality move – smoking a fag/eating peanuts.

Walk

Run

Strafe – left + right

Sneak

Crouch

Belly Crawl

Jump – upwards/forwards/backwards - (hop)

Rolling – left/right/forward

Stepping – left/right/forward/backwards

Death move

Weakened slouch

Hit reactions – punch, shot, electrocution etc..

World interaction

Push door

Kick locked door open

Climbing – ladders

Press button – chest height

Operate keyboard – table height

Pick up object

Throw object

Weapons

Holster + Draw firearm

Fire firearm

Reload firearm

Grab + Throw Grenade

Cast/throw salt

Hold occult amulet

Psychic moves

Trance state – out of body movement

Mind control – arm extended to move objects/humans etc..

Psychic wave – tense up crouch move and release

Levitation stance – angelic pose

Psychic Energy Drain – same as mind control move

Psychic Shield – cross arms and brings head down

Psychic overload – hands holding head, stumbling around

Psychic blast – arms extended, hands together/open

Hand to hand fighting

Punch – psychic same move

Kick

Shove

Block

PSX 2 controller

AL – Half forward = Walk

AL – Full forward = Run

AL – Full back = Jump back

AL – Left/right = Turn around

L3 + 1 click = Crouch. To exit crouch : L3 + 1 click = Stand

L3 + 2 clicks = Crawl. To exit crawl : L3 + 1 click = Stand

AR – Left/right = Strafe sideways

AL – Forward + AR – Forward = Sneak

AL – Full forward + SQUARE – Tap = Jump forward

AL – Full back + SQUARE – Tap = Jump backwards

L1 – Hold down to combine psychic power with weapons and fighting moves.

Hold down to build up a stronger release of psychic power.

On screen charge bar will indicate level of power.

L1 – Hold = Psychic power + TRIANGLE – Block = Psychic shield

D PAD – UP ARROW - Hold down = Hand weapons

D PAD – DOWN ARROW - Hold down = Throwing weapons

D PAD – LEFT ARROW - Hold down = Inventory

D PAD – RIGHT ARROW - Hold down = NOT USED AT THE MOMENT

To select an item from the D PAD menus do the following:

+ AL – Left/right scroll to pick item. When high lighted release the D PAD arrow button

L1 – Psychic power + SQUARE – Jump = Levitation

To steer the character in levitation mode use a combination of AL and AR:

AL – Left/right = Turn around

AR – Left/right = Hover left/hover right

AR – Forward/back = Hover up/hover down

R1 – Hold = Out of body.

The Kurtis character freezes and a ball of light leaves his body.

To steer the ball to a host body in the out of body mode use a combination of AL and AR:

AL – Left/right = Turn around

AR – Left/right = Hover left/hover right

AR – Forward/back = Hover up/hover down

Fly into the host body you want to capture and control. They will move using the same controls as the Kurtis character.

L2 – Hold = Psychic power drain

To direct the beam onto a host body use:

AL – Left/right = Turn around

AR – Forward/Back = Up/down

L1 – Hold - Psychic power + CROSS – Tap = Psychic power blast

Mind control over objects:

R2 – Hold = Mind control over objects

Steer crosshair over object with:

AL – Left/right/forward/back + 1 click = Capture object

Move with:

AL – Left/right = Turn around

AR – Left/right = Hover left/hover right

AR – Forward/back = Hover up/hover down

Release with:

AL + 1 click = Release

CROSS – Tap = Action/punch Note: Hold down longer for greater distance throws with objects.

SQUARE – Tap = Jump up

CIRCLE – Tap = Kick

TRIANGLE – Tap = Defensive block

Threat indicator

How to show which direction the enemies are coming from in a combat situation.

Occult database

Referred to by Father Francis but only discovered at the end of the game.

Pick ups and reward system

Ammo

Energy

Keys

Kurtis’ fathers’ diary

Handed to Kurtis by his mother. This is not a happy family reunion.

Kurtis is bitter at his fathers absence and his mothers enforced exile from him.

The diary is not something he immediately values.

Game will use diary to provide background to enemy characters weaknesses.

The Lux Veritatis charms

Body charm 1 – True sight

Amulet that when Kurtis picks it up it burns a symbol onto the palm of his hand.

The tattoo will glow when occult danger is in the vicinity.

Body charm 2 – Pillar of strength

A rune covered stone pillar that when Kurtis encircles it with his arms burns a tattoo onto both forearms.

Increases Kurtis’ resistance to occult attack.

Body charm 3 – Pure of heart

A horizontal beam of energy that cuts through Kurtis leaving a tattoo on his chest.

Increases Kurtis’ resistance to occult mind control.

Body charm 4 – Wisdom of ages

A headband with a carved rune on the front.

Burns into Kurtis’ forehead and gives him instant access to the Lux Veritatis archives of occult knowledge.

Psychic power meter

This onscreen power meter indicates the amount of psychic charge being used when the player presses the L1 – Psychic power button.

The diagram below shows the power scale.

The longer the L1 – Physic power button is held the greater the eventual discharge of energy.

If the player exceeds the safe zone limit and enters the danger zone then the eventual discharge of energy can have unpredictable effects on Kurtis and his surroundings.

These can be one of the following:

Kurtis dies (if mortal energy is low).

Shape change

Kill mortals in the immediate vicinity

Fire storm

Game map building

Dimensions are in meters.

Steps, stairs, walkways, doorways, windows, machines and furniture will all be built in metric scale.

See Kurtis Trent character animations for the characters walk/jump distances.

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