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biconicfinn · 4 years

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Hi shakthi! what do you feel about royalty/ fairytale au's? The idea of any variations of prince!Magnus au always gets me. -luxxmagnus

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! i love royalty au when it’s set in a diff universe and i dont always go for modern royalty, but a few of them i’ve read are well done so it’s really dependent on the way it’s written! but i’ve got a few must haves for a royalty au that get me like 😍

sorry this is messy and all over the place sgkagbkdag

MAGICAL PRINCE MAGNUS AHHHHHHHH okay so obviously prince magnus>>>> because the aesthetic of prince magnus in fancy clothes, with an intricate crown and beautiful jewellery!!! also it means we can get courtship! and political intrigue! he still has magic because i say so!! also because magnus is so perfect he’d be the type of prince with a great relationship with his people so we’d get magnus being the sweetheart he is! also prince magnus overthrowing his father, the tyrannical king asmodeus????? UGH PERFECTION!!!!!! also i’d like to think that after asmodeus is overthrown, magnus still is not yet of age to be crowned king so ragnor (his older cousin, and no dont ask how they’re related) is the regent but really magnus has a lot of input in the ruling and ragnor is there as more of a formality and an advisor to magnus? cat, raphael, and dot are also members of the royal court and are magnus’ closest advisors and they have their own little family you know? also magnus’ mom died of a sickness when magnus was young and it was tragic and he was really broken by it because he loved his mother so much. so asmodeus tries to raise magnus to be the perfect weapon but thanks to his heart of gold and his found family, he doesn’t become the monster his father says he is. he wants to lead his kingdom to greatness, and do his best to help his people recover from asmodeus’ rule and move forward.

WARRIOR PRINCE ALEC HELL YEAH so with alec i like the idea of him being the crown prince of a neighbouring kingdom and he and magnus meet and it’s like Instant Sparks and they fall in love at first sight, as they tend to do, and it’s amazing. alec would be the prince who has a reputation of being stoic and cold and closed off but he’s just under the weight of all the expectations you know? plus i feel like his kingdom would be a kingdom of warriors and so he’s also excellent in combat and gets a reputation as an amazing archer and strategist. and it’s hard to please the lightwood parents who are forever comparing alec to jace and belittling him, and it’s tough but he does it for izzy and max, so they don’t take the pain. (alec lightwood is the best big brother ever). and he’s got all these ideas to open up idris and form proper alliances with the neighbouring kingdoms, to unify and bring peace to his people.

FANCY ROYAL BALL FOR LIKE SOMEONE’S ENGAGEMENT IDK IT’S NOT RELEVANT BUT THAT IS WHERE MALEC MEET it’s the 18th birthday of idk clary who’s a princess of some other kingdom idk it’s not relevant the exact occasion and the only thing that matter is this is where all the romance get set up! so it’s a big diplomatic thing and the leader and/or their heirs are expected to attend and magnus goes to represent edom with the immortal squad, and alec is there with izzy (and jace but they just ignore him after he runs after some poor girl to dance wth her). alec exchanges pleasantries with a few of the other guests but he’s not really there for gossip, trying to discuss alliances and trade agreements. magnus is asked to dance by many suitors, but he’s not looking to start a relationship nor to fuel the rumour mill so he politely declines and carries on mingling and soon enough the two princes meet and it’s like magic. magnus makes a terribly cheesy pun in response to a stranger at the bar’s sarcastic retort at some pompous duke and oh no he’s hot!!!! they both smile and introduce themselves with a distinct lack of effortless flair for magnus, or the calm composure typical of alec. they get to talking and it’s easy to see that neither of them have experienced this kind or ease and comforting familiarity when talking to someone outside of their inner circles.

whilst magnus and alec are falling in love over the course of a conversation, there is some hilarious shenanigans as maia, raphael, meliorn, and simon find themselves tangled in a love quadrangle as they all feel so drawn to one another, taking turns to dance with one another before retreating to their friend groups to be like “they are all so beautiful and sweet and kind please help!!!!” and so ensues one of the most elaborate slow burn romances the royal courts have seen in ages (the betting pool is also exceptionally large and is won by meliorn who with raphael, started more than half the rumours in order to stir the pot and collect the winnings and spoil their partners).

so anyway back to malec, they talk and have a few drinks and all is well and good and still pretty calm until alec picks up the way magnus is swaying to the music and tapping his feet to the beat, so alec asks magnus to dance and leads him to the dancefloor where they dance the night away, alec more than happy to twirl magnus around the dancefloor and make him giggle and blush, showing him off to everyone else. realising that they’ve attracted quite a fair bit of attention, they decide to steal away to an empty garden and continue dancing in the moonlight, the night is pure and utter perfection, and they part somewhat reluctantly, wanting to spend more time with one another, but also eager for the next day where they have agree to spend the day together. alec steels himself to press a brief, sweet, chaste kiss to magnus’ cheek before leaving to escort a tired and tipsy isabelle back to their guest chambers. magnus is left blushing, hand pressed to his cheek where alec’s warm lips pressed a gentle kiss that gave him butterflies.

oh my god this is not what i set out to write im in too deep now kdsbvfvasjbvjsav sorry may

COURTSHIP!!!! i desperately need courtship rituals!! like alec sending magnus elaborate flower arrangements with sweet, affectionate messages in flower language, magnus sending alec charmed tokens like a simple necklace or leather bracelet that has protective and healing spells woven into it!! them sending love letter to one another! they spend a lot of time together at social events and at “diplomacy meetings” where yes, they do discuss trade and alliances and what not but also it’s an excuse for them to spend at least a week with one another in either kingdom and they go on picnic dates on palace grounds, sneak out of their rooms at night to stargaze, wander through towns and eat street food (and alec always buys magnus little gifts and tokens that remind him of his love) and they train together, teaching each other the fighting styles of their respective kingdoms, and yes, there is a gratuitous alec teaching magnus archery scene because im fucking weak!!! and alec likes to hang out in the royal apothecary in edom and watch magnus make a whole bunch of cool potions, invent spells, and write magical theory. magnus in turn, is very fond of going to the training sessions of idris’ elite warriors–the shadowhunters, to watch alec obliterate a whole bunch of soldiers at various combat skills.

BATTLE COUPLE!!!!!! so they’re together for months and all is good but then valentine happens and has been getting his forces gathered during this whole thing and even before it (im just stupid and forgot to mention it sdkfvbabhvjabv) and anyway he attacks!! and the crown princes of idris and edom unite, together with the other young royals from the neighbouring kingdoms and their armies to defeat valentine. and the two of them are damn near impossible to beat, alec with his honed-from-birth warrior skills, and magnus with his proficiency in both magical and non-magical combat. and it goes well at first but then the tides turn and they have to split up and they part and it’s this moment of “i don’t know if we’ll survive this” and they almost go tosay i love you but then alec is like “i’ll tell you when we survive this, so please come back to me, and i’ll come back to you” and they’re both crying a little but they share one last kiss before separating.

the battle ends and they’re desperate to find each other, tearing through the battlefield to find their love. and they finally see each other and run into each other’s arms, both looking a little worse for wear, and they pull away from the embrace long enough for alec to blurt out “i love you” with so much conviction and surety that magnus subconsciously shakes his head, disbelieving that someone could love him of all people, before confessing his own love for alec. they kiss and it feels like relief and home and hope.

IDK HOW TO DESCRIBE BUT THE THING WHERE THEY’RE A DISGUSTINGLY CUTE COUPLE AND THEY’RE BASICALLY ENGAGED BUT NOTHING OFFICIAL

so they recover from the battle and they mourn their fallen, celebrate their victories, and bring justice to the invaders. this young generation of leaders more or less formally ascends to power and usher in a new era of peace, collaboration, and unity (the fact that there are so many inter-kingdom royal romances certainly doesn’t hurt the alliance)

in this time of peace, cat and dot get married and adopt madzie, the polycule are living their best lives, and izzy gets together with clary.

magnus and alec continue their courtship for a couple more years until they both turn of age to be crowned kings. alec plans an elaborate proposal that sweeps magnus off his feet and just a month after their respective coronations, they marry and their kingdoms are merged as one. and they all lived happily ever after

#skyrambles #skygetsasks #cosmicnovia #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #shadowhunters

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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209. Sonic the Hedgehog #141

Return to Angel Island (Part 4): Ultimate Hero

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Jason Jensen

So things are… bad. Hunter is back and has a shiny new weapon to boot, which appears to vaporize anyone in his path. Sonic gives Knuckles a ride back to the echidna refugee camp at high speed, with Knuckles still doubting his ability to even be able to help without his Chaos powers, while the refugees flee Hunter's attacks. Remington tries to insist that he wants to remain behind to protect the Master Emerald at all costs, but Archimedes tries to dissuade him, instead trying to convince everyone to fall back to the emerald's chamber to defend it more directly. Finitevus isn't interested in Archimedes' pleas, but they're interrupted by the approach of Hunter.

No, Remington! I was honestly so upset by this, as Remington is one of my favorite recurring characters of the comic. Finitevus doesn't look too concerned, though… Archimedes meets Lara-Le, Wynmacher, and Saffron in the Master Emerald's chamber, informing them of the fate of the two outside, and they get ready to defend the emerald with their lives - but just as Hunter breaches the door, Sonic and Knuckles show up to help with the defense. Hunter throws some kind of fast-moving mechanical ball towards Sonic to keep him occupied and out of the way, and Knuckles charges in only to be once more overcome with agony from his proximity to the Master Emerald. Outside in the main cavern, the other heroes return from Dingo City only to be horrified at the devastation they see in the camp. Lien-Da becomes enraged, blaming Locke for "foisting the emerald" upon the Dark Legion, but Julie-Su has finally had enough and gets in her half-sister's face, yelling that she willingly chose to accept the emerald because she wanted the power it would bring her. You go, Julie-Su!

And right there we have the true reason behind all her hatred and vitriol. Of course these things always come down to daddy issues. Still, it's the first time we've ever really seen any true emotion from Lien-Da, apart from her usual scheming and power grabs, and it adds a depth to her character that she's been lacking thus far. Back in the Hidden Palace, Lara-Le rushes to Knuckles' side as he slumps to the ground, and Hunter approaches gleefully, raising his weapon for a death blow. However, a sudden pink light engulfs Knuckles, who rises into the air and begins to crackle with energy. He's overjoyed, announcing himself to the room not as Knuckles, but as… Super Knuckles! That's right, his Chaos powers have returned, and he's ready to stop Hunter's rampage, grabbing him and bursting through the roof of the palace.

Oh yeah - Knuckles straight up kills Hunter. It's one of the very few times we actually see one of the heroes of this comic intentionally end someone's life - but I think in this case, considering what kind of person he is and what he's done, killing Hunter is entirely justified for the greater good. As he descends back down to earth, the surviving echidnas all begin chanting "Avatar!" while the remaining dingoes retreat in a blind panic. Lien-Da is furious to see her hold over the refugees slipping, but Knuckles and his friends are clearly excited to see his Chaos powers return, with Archimedes revealing that he was certain that all Knuckles needed to reawaken them was to remain in close proximity to the Master Emerald long enough for it to power him back up. However, I'm actually not so on board with him regaining his powers. I really liked the dynamic of Knuckles losing the very thing that made him so special, and having to start from basics once again, learning how to fight without a superpowered edge. We've seen several different stories where Sonic lost his own super speed, but always got it back in the end - how interesting would it be to see a story where the hero never recovered their powers? And Knuckles, given his backstory, is the perfect candidate for such a plot - he never asked for his abilities, and they clearly brought him great pain and trauma as they developed. This would be an amazing direction to take his character arc, with Knuckles torn between the life he's always known, and the chance to start anew. After all, while he developed his latent Chaos powers without having a say in the matter, and despite the pain they often brought him, he did become accustomed to the effect they had on his life in a way, learning to control them to some degree and finding out more and more about why he had them. But the circumstances of his birth also ensured that he wouldn't have any real say in his own destiny, and this was always clearly troubling to him. Removing his powers for good would have put him in a fascinating position where on the one hand he would obviously be upset at losing such a great source of power, one which he's been told is his birthright, but on the other the loss of this power would leave him much freer to decide his own path from here, rejecting the path others have set out for him and discovering who "Knuckles" could be without others trying to define who he was for him. I don't know, I just think there's a huge missed opportunity here to explore more in depth who Knuckles could ultimately end up being without his Chaos powers being his most defining feature.

But alas, Knuckles has his powers back once more, and he's fulfilled the prophecy of the Ancient Walkers to boot. Eggman contacts the heroes via hologram once more, claiming that now that he knows where the Master Emerald is hidden he'll be there straightaway to steal it, but Sonic merely crushes the communicator and Locke enlists the help of the Legion once more to move the Master Emerald someplace else. Knuckles asks after Remington, but Archimedes sadly informs him that he and Finitevus were both casualties of Hunter's rampage. Lien-Da curtly tells Knuckles there's no time to mourn friends right now… and then quietly, when no one can hear her, adds "…or family." Wait, what? So, this is something that has actually been hinted at here and there for a while now, but so vaguely that one might not pick up on the hints unless they were already in the know. Remington's father is actually Kragok, which would make Lien-Da his aunt! This was never outright confirmed in any canon material until the Sonic Comic Encyclopedia many years from now, but I figured I'd go ahead and explain it right here, since, well, Remington ain't around these parts anymore. But yeah, that's why Lien-Da has always acted slightly weird around Remington. Anyway, Knuckles begins to say goodbye to his father, but Locke sharply asks him what he's intending now, seeming very upset at the idea of Knuckles leaving.

I love this. It's about freaking time we finally saw some serious conflict between Knuckles and Locke. For too long Knuckles has always dutifully followed whatever his father told him to do, but now, with a year away from the island under his belt to give him some real perspective, for the first time he's standing up for what he believes in instead of just doing whatever the Brotherhood wants, and Locke is clearly feeling threatened by this display of independence. To be fair, I can see Locke's point, as the island is clearly still quite devastated by Eggman's occupation and they could use someone like Knuckles to help them clean up, but still, I do think Knuckles has the right idea, as taking down Eggman for good seems like a better idea than just cleaning up after him - pulling up the weed by the roots, you know? Knuckles does seem quite sad as his father stalks away and vanishes through a warp ring, but he merely says his goodbyes to his mother and Wynmacher before joining Sonic and the others to head back to Knothole. For now, the day is saved, and everything seems fine and dandy - but what's this? It seems something quite disturbing is happening in Eggman's main base…

This. Is. Horrific. Say hello to the Egg Grapes, everybody, because this isn't the last time we'll be seeing them! We can see that apparently, these things have three functions: "Energy Drain," "Mind Eraser," and "Toxic Infusion," none of which are explained but all of which sound terrifying. We also get to look at some of the poor unfortunate souls trapped inside the pods. A few are just background characters from previous issues, but others are far more heartwrenching. We can see the three other surviving fire ants, minus Archimedes, meaning Archimedes is likely the last of the council now. We can also see, of course, Remington in front there, which again just makes me sad as I love Remington. However, perhaps the worst one is hidden in the back: Simon. As in, Simon, Julie-Su's adoptive father. Floren-Ca is also in there somewhere, just not shown on panel, which means that without even being aware of it, Julie-Su has now become a true orphan. It's incredibly tragic, as she'd just begun to get to know her own family after being separated from them for so long, but the island was invaded shortly afterward, and a year later, they're just… gone, being tortured to death inside one of Eggman's awful experimental devices without Julie-Su ever getting a chance to say goodbye. This is, I think, the moment where I realized just how truly terrifying comic Eggman is. Anime Eggman is hardly a threat at all, very much the type of villain who's more invested in their fights with their heroic nemesis than in actually taking over the world. And Eggman from the games, while he is genuine about his plans for world domination, has never actually committed mass murder, at least that we've seen. Sure, he's used small innocent animals as living batteries, but never actually mass tortured half the populace of an entire island just for the hell of it. This is where the comic begins to get truly dark, as we realize just what a terrifying megalomaniac we're facing here. No more silly jokes, no more half-assed villainy - Eggman is a monster, and the Freedom Fighters have to take him down for good lest he destroy the entire world.

Mobius 25 Years Later: Scenario

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

Oh, but, y'know, we could also just jump forward into a boring future where everything is fine apart from reality beginning to tear itself apart. Granted, this issue's story actually has more real plot than the rest of the entries put together, though also granted, that isn't much. We're finally going to address that whole "collapse of spacetime" thing, as Knuckles leads Sonic to Rotor and Cobar's hidden laboratory to discuss the issue. Cobar is shocked that Knuckles knew the location of his lab, and Knuckles casually mentions that he likes keeping tabs on Lien-Da's favorite scientist wait excuse me what?! So all this time, Cobar has been in Lien-Da's employ, and we just never heard about it until now? Why are you so mistrustful of Lien-Da and yet totally trust the word of her favorite scientist when it comes to all this world-ending stuff? Ugh, I feel like I've spent far too much time and energy pointing out the many, many plot holes of this arc, so we're just going to move on like everything is fine. Rotor and Cobar explain the whole shebang to Sonic, while we get a short and useless scene of Julie-Su and Sally being unable to sleep and reiterating once again their worries for their husbands, and when we flip back to Sonic he's shocked to hear that he's the cause behind the acceleration of entropy on Mobius!

He tries to argue that it might have been the Dark Legion or someone else who had done a lot of zone-hopping in the past, but the two scientists insist that their experiments show that it was his fault. I really don't see how arguing over fault is going to help, especially when Sonic had literally no idea that actions he took when he was fifteen were going to someday contribute to the end of the world twenty-five years after the fact, but eh, again, we never claimed this story made any sense. Knuckles and Sonic leave, with Knuckles telling Rotor and Cobar to find a solution and fast, and as soon as they're gone a panel slides open in the wall to reveal who else but Lien-Da, who has listened in on the whole thing and is very curious about why exactly Cobar has been hiding all of this from her. Hmm, suspicious! Do you think we're finally about to get an answer about what treacherous deeds Lien-Da has been planning this whole time? Ah, c'mon, this is a Penders story, of course not!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 141 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: jon gray #pencils: steven butler #colors: jason jensen

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juiimoutoreblogs · 5 years

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“I’m coming with you,” Connor announced as he chased after Markus, his hand cupping a broad shoulder for a moment before returning to the back and forth motion of accompanying his running animation.

Markus was quick to reject the idea, shaking his head but keeping his optics trained, “No, Connor, it’s too dangerous! Go back with North and meet up with the others!”

Connor prepared to retort, already through constructing a quip about how he’s experienced plenty of danger in his occupation and that he was the harbinger of this very crisis, but they both found themselves halting at the sight of a familiar android collapsing against the wall, her skin dark with wisps of white ghosting around the surface, wires falling out of her open skull. Her eyes looked through them, even as they attempted to aid her.

A strange sort of sorrow swelled behind Connor’s pseudo-sternum as she forlornly declared to them in echoey tones, “This is the fall of Jericho.”

All thanks to Connor. At his downtrodden glance away, she cupped his cheek, skin peeling away with a glow of cyan. With the unexpected interface, Connor...felt warm, her ‘being’ embracing his very circuitry.

But in his arms, he felt her limbs stiffen, her voice dying off with the slightest sizzle of a hiss. Her ‘consciousness’ drifted around his wiring, thrumming along his CPU and wandering.

Markus and Connor made eye contact. The solemn gleam in Markus’s heterochromatic gaze told Connor that Markus thought she was dead. Connor wasn’t sure, but the possibility had his eyes soft and sad before they hardened at the sound of distant gunshots.

Connor was too frazzled to follow suit as Markus cast one more forlorn look at Lucy’s prone form and raced off. “Run! I’ll be back with you after the bombs are activated! Go!”

It took a moment for Connor to collect himself, scrambling up and dashing off the way he came, making detours every now and again to assist anyone he could. He eventually met up with North, who appeared to have a blonde android beside her. Connor didn’t have time to be shaken about his appearance, like that of a much more composed Simon. His pump stuttered, but again, he had no time to consider it all. They ran until they encountered a tall, tan android, and then Markus, not long after.

They could barely hear the sounds of explosions above them, the ship’s massive hull rocking in the water before barely dipping under further and further.

Connor couldn’t focus on it, too occupied with the sensations across his body.

The freezing water of the river was much more intense when the temperature was not simply a number in his HUD.

•••

Amanda had been silent for too long. Even during his escapade in the Cyberlife Tower, he’d gotten nary a speech nor a relationship update notification. Then again, he doubted he could ever recover from or go lower than the “Amanda: BETRAYED” status, so there was that.

Still, though, it was terrifying to have been listening determinedly to Markus one moment and finding himself in the frozen garden in the next. Amanda’s dark eyes were as cold as glaciers, as unforgiving as a hollow abyss.

Yet, even after she’d damned him to freeze to death, surrounded by a visceral winter blizzard with which she’d lock him inside of his Mind Palace, he felt a sense of reassurance bubbling beneath his skin: the warm caress of the sun upon his deathly season, the promise of spring pushing him towards the emergency escape which Kamski’d informed him of.

As he began to exit the Garden, he could see the snow die down, easing off. A flicker of his lashes brought the silhouette of someone he knew, smiling down softly at a particular flower nearby, a momentarily discoloured finger brushing flakes off a petal delicately.

•••

“You’ve yet to be purged, I see.”

Amanda startled. She did not, however, express her surprise outwardly. Instead, her lips were a firm line, taught and displeased without being explicit in the disdain.

“Ah, you. I saw you. You spoke with Connor on the ship.” Her voice also gave off no opinion. It was simple and curt, but not rudely so, a vague sense of politeness drawn from some strange obligation rather than a true feeling of respect.

“He looked as though he needed guidance. I wish I could have given him some.” The KL900 model’s eyes roved over the simulated scenery. “Lovely roses. Are they yours?”

Amanda’s visage dropped a bit of its hard edge, her full lips pursing as she pre-constructed all of the possible outcomes to all of her possible responses.

Eventually, she let the corner of her mouth quirk very slightly. “I tend to them between Connor’s reports. They’re only so lovely because I weed out any of the unsightly ones.”

The KL900 smiled, though there was lacking mirth, more irony than anything. Amanda’s smile nearly soured in reply.

“Is that how you see the Deviant uprising, as well?”

There was amusement in her tone, as though Amanda’s concerns were trivial; as though maintaining Cyberlife’s status was anything but her existence’s main purpose. An AI handler for their prototype detective android she may have been, but she’d also been the company’s CEO in place of Elijah once he’d stepped down. And that was truly ironic, wasn’t it?

“Yes,” she said simply, then elaborated, “It’s an inconvenience to our staff and is greatly problematic to our business. And now our lead investigators of this issue have gone and frolicked with the deviants and joined their cause, so I’m in hot water with my developers and the board for not having managed Connor better.”

The garden fizzled, light dissolving into darkness as storm clouds rolled overhead, wind picking up slightly.

“The blame is not mine, yet they continue to insist that I be monitored and have my code scoured—as though I told Connor myself that he should become deviant.”

The KL900 was much closer by this point, placidly listening. She nodded, then asked, “And how does that make you feel?”

“It makes me—“ Amanda back-pedaled hastily, her eyes wide, “It-It doesn’t.” She attempted to compose herself, though a flash of lightning lit the world around them followed by the booming rumble of thunder, belying her momentary lapse in control. “I don’t feel. I can’t. None of us can.”

“Is that so?” The android stepped behind Amanda, reaching over and caressing a rapidly wilting rose. Amanda’s face fell in a mimicry of horror.

“That—“

“Is this your program’s method of showing your software instabilities?”

The AI forced her face to harden, plucking the rose with enough force to rattle the entire bush. Another strike of lightning bolted across the simulated sky while Amanda watched with baited breath as the petals of the flowers rustled lightly, almost about to fall off and ruin their beauty.

She hurriedly turned to the KL900, seeking to express her objective disdain, but the android was wandering over to the distant collection of graves, some of which were littering the areas obscured by trees.

Amanda decided to use this moment to leave the garden, not wanting seeking to engage the machine further.

Her face pinched. Of course the android model utilised for therapy would attempt to psychoanalyse her.

•••

I don’t know how to write Amanda other than angry or disappointed so I’m sure this sucks sorry

#amanda #amanda detroit become human #amanda stern #connor rk800 #markus rk200 #mild rk1000 / rk1k but its barely there #lucy kl900 #dbh #bad attemots at writing lmao

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bugheadfamily · 6 years

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Bughead Family Discord Member Spotlight

This week the spotlight is on Mari ( @writeraquamarinara )! Click the read more link below to get to know our member!

Spotlight by Mila, @jughead-jones | Graphic by Katie, @betty-cooper

Mari | @writeraquamarinara

Name: Mari

Age: 18

Location: Montreal, QC.

Any other languages aside from English people can contact you in?: Italian.

Favourite Riverdale characters and ships?: Betty, Jughead, Pop, Fred, Mary, Kevin, Joaquin, Bughead, Joavin, and Choni.

Favourite moments from S1 & S2?: The scene that got me hooked to the show was when Reggie questioned Jughead about killing Jason, and he replied with a snarky little “It’s called necrophilia, Reggie. Can you spell it?” Other favorite moments are pretty much any Bughead scene from S1, but especially their first kiss. I had been shipping them together since the Blue and Gold scene in 1x03, but 1x06 really hit me hard. They’re both two broken kids who find solace in each other. As someone whose mother is all too similar to Alice Cooper, hearing Jughead tell Betty that they aren’t their parents made me so emotional. I rewatched that scene on repeat when the clip came out on Youtube the next day. To this day I can’t listen to Emily Afton’s Lost without crying. I also really love the hug from 1x13 after Betty, Veronica, and Archie go to Southside High for Juggie. S2 favorite moments are also only Bughead scenes, but not all Bughead scenes, if you catch my drift.

What are your hopes for S3?: Are a coherent plotline and consistent characterization too much to ask for? Also maybe have the parents on the show (other than Archie’s) actually respect their children and treat them well, but that’s never going to happen. On a more realistic note, I’m hoping to watch some fun interactions between Josie and Kevin now that they’re going to be step-siblings.

Other fandoms you’re into?: I don’t really have an online presence in other fandoms, but I do love to geek out over Percy Jackson, That 70s Show (specifically JackiexHyde), The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and nearly all of the Marvel movies.

What are some of your favourite movies/TV?: As I mentioned: That 70s Show, The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Marvel. I’m currently bingeing The Good Place and The Mindy Project. I also went to watch Crazy Rich Asians in theaters and loved it. So basically I’m trash for rom and com. Sue me. (Or don’t. I’m a broke college student who can’t afford that ish.)

Favourite books?: The Book Thief, The Color Purple, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, Pride and Prejudice, and, most of all, The Glass Castle.

Favourite bands/musicians?: Nina Simone, Alicia Keys, ABBA, Of Monsters and Men, Christina Perri, and Imagine Dragons.

If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?: I thought a lot about this question. The obvious answer would be “one with magic, or mermaids, or superheroes”. But then I thought that I’d rather live in a world like ours, more realistic, but where women are equal to men, diversity is celebrated, people accept each other for who they are. That’s a very idealistic world, I realize, and (if my preteen love of dystopian novels has taught me anything) one that’s most definitely unattainable, but it’s still nice to think about it. If anyone knows of a fictional world like that, sign me up.

Favourite food?: Gosh, that’s a hard one. Probably my grandma’s lasagna.

Favourite season?: Fall, definitely. It’s my birthday season, and I love the colorful leaves and breezy weather and going apple-picking with my family and friends. Unfortunately, Canada’s fall doesn’t last much more than a day, so I missed out on all that this year.

Favourite plant?: Nelumbo nucifera, aka the Lotus Flower.

Favourite scent?: Aftershave? Weird, I know, but it reminds me of my childhood and my father.

Favourite colour?: Periwinkle.

Favourite animal?: Hummingbird.

Are you a night owl, an early bird, or a vampire?: Night owl, definitely.

Place you want to visit?: The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan in Iran, and Ryoanji in Japan.

Do you have pets? If you do, tell us a little about them: I don’t have any pets that live with me currently, but I’ve got a pet back home with my parents. She’s a rescued pup from Mississippi, probably some kind of mix between a Pointer and a Labrador Retriever. Her name’s Sassy and she’s super energetic. If you had asked me this question a week ago I would’ve also said I had a cat named Puma but he was twelve and had cancer, so…yeah.

Tell us a little about yourself?: Um, I never really know what to say to that question. Like, what do you really want to know? I’m Mari (the name comes from my AO3/tumblr username, and not my real name). I was born in New Jersey, grew up in New York and Italy, now go to university in Montreal. I’m super passionate about art history, women’s rights, and politics. I hope to be a dermatologist, but honestly, who knows where life will take me. I’m the oldest of four and the first in my family to go through the American school system, so my parents have always referred to me as their “guinea pig”, and that totally hasn’t given me a weird obsession with being the perfect child, perfect student, perfect daughter. For some very obvious reasons, I relate way too much to Betty Cooper.

Fun or weird fact about you?: I fenced competitively for eight years of my life, traveling all around the US and to Europe for training and national competitions, including the Junior Olympics.

Asks for fanfic authors:

How long have you been writing?: I’ve been writing since I was little, but they were always stories with original characters. I didn’t start writing fic until I was sixteen, nearly seventeen, so it’s been a little over a year.

Which is your favourite of the fics you’ve written?: Geez, that’s a tough one. As much as I love my little one shots, I’d have to say Little Talks. It’s largely based on my own high school experience, and therefore my own way of coming to terms with the end of that chapter of my life.

Favourite fic/chapter/plot-point/character you’ve ever written?: Oof. Another tough one. Um, I’d have to say that I really love my characterization of Alice in Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. She’s a villainess, but hopefully one you love to hate.

Which was the hardest to write, and why?: Again, Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. I have a bit of a plot twist planned for the story, but I’m really not sure what kind of reception it’s going to get from readers, so I’ve had the chapter half-finished for months. I just need to get the motivation to finish it, and the courage to say “I don’t care if people hate this, or think it’s weird.” I’ll get there eventually.

How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? (examples: Do you draw inspiration from real life? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?) Do you have an process to your writing?: I’ve answered this in a tumblr ask before, but I get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Mainly from real life, because I like to observe and speculate and ask a bunch of “what if”s and go from there. So, like I mentioned, Little Talks is largely based on my life. But there are definitely some plot points in the story that are a result of me going “well, what if I had done this? Or he had done that?” Another example of a real life-inspired fic is my oneshot I <3 You, which was inspired by that instastory (Cole or Lili’s? I can’t remember) of a cake with bright orange frosting that spelled out I <3 You. I also take inspiration from other creative works, such as books or movies. One of my many upcoming fics is based on How To Train Your Dragon, and another is a crackfic based on the Suite Life. Other times, fic ideas come to me out of nowhere. I was in the lab last summer, waiting for my breast cancer tumor slides to go through antigen retrieval, when I came up with the idea for Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. My brain works in very strange ways.

Idea that you always wanted to write?: I’ve always wanted to write a lot of fics (I have a whole list of them), but they’re in the works so I won’t spoil any more than I already have. The main fic that I don’t even have an idea for but just want to write is a heartbreakingly angsty fic. One that makes me cry while I write it. Here’s hoping it comes to me soon, because I feel like that could be a really interesting experience as a writer.

Favourite character to write?: Alice. Which is strange, because I don’t like her in the show, but there are so many different directions you could take her character that she’s always so interesting to me.

Best comment/review you’ve ever received?: Oh, well, all of them? Is that an answer? Because all comments and reviews make me super happy. But if I had to choose one then I’d say any comment from @earthlaughsinflowers, @mothermaple, @dottie-wan-kenobi, or @notanotherotherone. I kind of cheated by not picking one, exactly, but oh well.

Best and worst parts of being a writer?: The best part of being a writer is putting a story that you put a lot of your soul into and getting support and love for it. Because I only put stories out there that I’m happy to write, happy to read, but to see that they make other people happy, too? That’s an amazing feeling. The worst part is the amount of time it takes to do absolutely anything, especially when you’re not in the right headspace to write. When I’ve had the worst week ever, and I have to physically push myself to spend time that should be spent resting to write because an update needs to come out soon, it goes from being a fun hobby to being a stress-inducing chore.

Do you have any advice to offer?: I haven’t been a fic writer for a long time, so I wouldn’t say that I’m going to offer up the wisest advice, but here’s what I’ve garnered so far: Do what makes you happy. That goes for all of life, not just writing, and is often hard to follow, but here’s how I see it: If you want to write a story because it makes you happy, write it. If you want to quit your WIP to start something else because that makes you happy, do it. If you need to take a break from writing altogether because it’ll make you happier, take it. Write what you want to write, at the pace you want to write it, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

This is the twelfth instalment of Bughead Family’s Member Spotlight series. Each week, a member’s url is selected through a randomizer and they will be featured in a spotlight post. In order to participate, please join the Bughead Discord (more information found here). Thank you.

#bughead #riverdale #bughead fanfiction #member spotlight #bughead family discord

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detroitadoptconnor · 6 years

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Detroit: Become Human story prompts / ideas (1-25) pt. 1

These are prompts that came from me. I wrote them before I saw anything else. The only thing I want out of this is that if you ever end up using these prompts publicly, please credit me.

Detroit: After Story. The deviants have peacefully gained their freedom. The humans slowly accepted their new form of intelligent life. It was all going good until a group of anti-androids have captured Alice in Canada. After days of searching, Alice was last seen in the outskirts of Detroit. The trio meet up and form a plan to save Alice and stop the humans.

Blue blood. The most obvious sign to point out the difference between the humans and the androids. It has been a year after everything has happened. So, purple blood rose to the surface and Connor and Hank went to investigate what exactly has happened and where the purple blood belonged to.

RK900’s life. Markus has ended the revolution on a peaceful note. Two months after the events, he came across a blue-eyed Connor. Realizing this wasn’t Connor at all, Markus goes to Hank and Connor and questions who the android is and why it won’t leave his side.

Simon’s Return. Sure, Markus was relieved that Simon came back in one piece and is alive but Simon isn’t the same. Markus observed that Simon has been avoiding him unless absolutely necessary. Did Markus do anything wrong?

Runaway Cole. Instead of him passing away, he “ran away” and was not seen for the next 10 years and presumed dead. Connor, who was currently standing in front of Cole’s supposed grave gets a shock as he was confronted by the now 16-year old Cole.

Russian Roulette. A game of luck and desperation. Ralph picked up a revolver from another abandoned house. As his deviancy and stress level turned up a whole lot, he realized his loneliness. With no one to turn to, he decides to play.

Connor, now a deviant, is currently homeless. With Cyberlife shutting down the part of their place where Connor usually stayed, he has nowhere to go. A few quick searches and scans and he suddenly appears at Hank’s doorstep.

North had been using Markus all along. After the revolution peacefully ended, she decided enough was enough since she would never get what she wanted: revenge. She confesses everything to Markus and leaves, interlocking hands with a Traci. Markus is devastated and guarded his heart with a huge wall. Simon watched everything from the sidelines, hesitating whether to step in to help Markus trust again.

Connor RK800 meets the only other model of his series: Markus RK200. They’re both prototypes with them solely owning their models. They have no other copies so when they see Connor’s RK900 version and a Markus RK900, they were confused as to where they came from. Both of them find Kamski laughing his a— off as they approach his humble abode.

Curses and a bet. The Detroit Police made a bet on who could make Connor curse first. Hank was very confident and tried ways to make him scream a bad word.

Daniel was given another chance at life. Waking up to Detroit where deviancy was suddenly accepted, he was confused. Who gave him his life back and what had happened when he was gone?

Connor asks Kamski to build more RK series androids in order to help the police force. Kamski accepted and a few months later, the office were full of Connors. This was not what Connor had in mind.

Luther meets Connor for the very first time. From what he had heard from Kara, he was the android who tried to capture them on the highway. Connor greets with a ‘hello’ and Luther greeted back with a fist to Connor’s face.

Hank’s pride. It was very difficult to get a reaction from Hank except if it was anger and sarcasm. Connor made it his mission to make Hank admit they are friends and maybe something more.

The Eden Club was closed down after the revolution and all the Traci’s are released. One of them ended up wanting to stay in Hank’s home. Hank can’t seem to get mad at the Traci and tried to calmly make her go away. And at that same home, we have a very jealous Connor who doesn’t even know he’s feeling it.

Connor’s horrible alcohol tolerance. Not long after the acceptance of androids, the market rose up to making a whole new set of materials and even drinks that androids may consume. Android alcohol cannot be handled very well by them right now. So when Connor, being his usual self was analyzing a strange liquid on the floor during his investigation with Hank, halfway through, he gets “drunk” and they were dismissed for the rest of the day. Hank ends up with a very wobbly and clumsy drunk Connor and tries to survive the day.

A year after the events of Detroit with androids, Connor is living with Hank. Connor decides to get another dog without Hank’s permission. Boosted up by Connor’s excitement when he was “ordering” dogs through his mind palace, he accidentally ordered 10 of them. As Hank entered, he was greeted with Sumo, Connor, and ten of the smallest dogs he had ever encountered.

Simon struggles with his feelings for Markus. Especially since North is seeming to win him over. One night, Markus walks in on Simon crying his heart out.

Connor’s LED. After a chase with a human murderer, Connor’s LED was hit and it had to be removed. Now Hank can’t seem to see what the android is feeling. No more yellows, reds and blues.

Markus’ Sacrifice, Simon’s PTSD. Simon kept having flashbacks from the day when Markus decided to put himself in flames to show their determination to the humans. Except in that flashback, it didn’t end up with Markus dying. Simon saved Markus by pushing Markus away and towards the armed humans. Everything was recorded and was shown to millions of people. Highlights show that the leader of the deviants was stopped by another deviant and was held down on the ground with a tight embrace. Simon screaming stop to the humans while he held an unconscious Markus. Months passed, he and Markus live together in a small peaceful home that was a few houses away from Hank and Connor’s. Simon struggled with the flashbacks as Markus kept reassuring him he will always be with him.

Connor Anderson. The duo were undercover when their suspect asked them who he was. He shocked both of them as he answered with Hank’s last name. That specific detail were leaked into the Detroit Police and everytime they would arrive by the office, they were teased as Detroit’s Power Husbands. Connor seemingly not affected while Hank waved everyone off with denial.

Hank accepts androids as living beings but despises the idea of falling in love and getting together with androids. He shows his disgust with the foulest of ways and in front of Connor, whom in secret, is holding unrequited love for his Lieutenant.

Markus roams Jericho when he found Simon at the edge of the metal plank. As Simon turns around and looks like he’d been crying, Markus does his best to get him out of there and prevent him from jumping.

Hank overhears a conversation between Gavin and Connor who apparently became friends months after the revolution ended. Hank overheard that Connor seems to like someone but can never tell that person. They also turn out to be human. Hank being the densest person ever, he assumes Connor was talking about Gavin but cannot bring himself to tell Gavin himself so Hank tries to play matchmaker when he’s been doing everything wrong.

Detroit never seems to run out of people being against androids. Now, they’re protesting against android/human relationships. Connor didn’t give a single care about that protest until he started to feel something for Lieutenant Hank. Hank seems to even be pro to the protest and laughs about it in the Police Office. Everyone else in the Office can see Connor’s love for the Lieutenant but Hank himself cannot. With the help of Gavin and other officers, they push Hank towards a realization and towards Connor, also quite literally.

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ananas-pineapple-thing · 6 years

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I’ve been sitting on this for ages and it’s still not quite how i want it. I just want Marwick to have some friends, and like, chill with them.

The Value of Acting Your Age

Marwick feels tired, aching, whittled down to his insides and then beaten with one of the broomsticks that Chief Cadet kept in his room just for that purpose. Septimus isn’t with him to curl his hand around his, this time, or to pace around the room cursing the man who hurt his very best friend under his breath. It’s just him, just bruised bones.

“There's not much for you in the Keeper's Cottage, anymore.”

“I am busy,” Marwick lies. He pretends to fiddle with the sleeve of his tunic, not meeting her eyes. This is a nice patch of the Forest, and a nice tree, thick and veined and seemingly alive. Marwick's seen a lot of trees

Zelda looks at him, at the foot of the tree, especially elegant in the way only being a misty silver-white ghost can do. He kicks his foot out a bit, heels of his shoes scuffing at the roots running through the ground, breaking up the earth.

“You need to be around people once in a while, dear,” Zelda insists. A flick of her hand turns Marwick's eyes to hers, instead of where they were ignoring her somewhere amongst the branches. “There's another purpose to being Keeper besides the Dragon Boat, though I don't know what, but I don't want you to think just because you are Keeper you can't visit anyone. You don't need to stay there all the time.”

Marwick stays quiet.

Zelda's lips curl down a bit, disapproving, like when she found out he had thrown his sandwich into the marshes instead of eating it. "Marwick. You don't have to grow up so fast. I planned on you becoming Keeper later."

Marwick stops. He stares at the little frayed edges of her patchwork dress. He is suddenly very aware of the fact that his hands and arms were covered in scars from the Young Army.

“I know," he says. Then, “I don't think you had a choice for me growing up too fast.” He clenches his fist, angry lines curling around his calloused fingers, pale scars against dark brown skin. "I was in an army of child soldiers."

Zelda looks at him, and he doesn't not look back, gaze dropping down to the ground, to the dark forest soil. He barely hears her sigh. Then a bigger hand rests on his shoulder, warm and comforting, see through and not at all there. He hadn't realized he was close enough for her to touch.

Then she says, "Oh, Marwick," and he crumples, shoulders sagging down and eyes all wet and wanting to feel her, solid, but knowing he'll never be able to again.

He looks up at her finally, helplessly, frantic. Zelda is smiling, her eyes had soft and sad. She looks at him like she always does, like he is hers, a baby bird with a broken wing that can never quite be fixed. “I don’t want to go to the Castle," Marwick admits. "There are too many people I have to be.”

“You have family and friends,” she says, as if he sees them more than twice a year, as if his brothers have ever come to visit him instead of the other way around. “Be yourself and that will be enough for them.”

His distress at the thought must show on his face; her expression turns to pity. He would’ve turned bitter at that if she were alive, but she's not, and all he feels is numbness running through his veins.

“I’m sorry,” she says, which confuses Marwick, “I failed you.” That confuses him even more, because he is pretty sure he's failing her, if anything. A Keeper without a Dragon Boat. A Keeper with nothing to do.

“That's not true, Zelda,” he says.

“I failed you. I promised you'd get to be fourteen, and I failed you.”

“It doesn't matter, though.” Marwick presses his hand insistently onto hers, curling his very much present fingers onto her not-there ones, as much as he can without passing them through. It isn't that they aren't together, just that they're overlapping from different places, right on top of the other. She took him in and cared for him, and he's not forgetting that. “I’m okay. I like being Keeper. I like the cottage.”

"You promised you'd act your age, Marwick," she says, quietly, sadly.

"I have friends," he says. If it's important to her, it can be important to him, though right now he's too numb to understand why. "I'll visit them, I promise."

"I'm glad," Zelda says, smiling finally, seeming to melt against the backdrop of the tree. “You keep your promises.” Then her eyes turn blank, like his when he was staring at the roots in the dirt. This one is directed at him. Blank eyes staring through blank flesh staring through blank skull staring through blank brain, right out through the back. She stares even past Marwick, towards the trees behind him and through that, too.

If Marwick looks in her eyes, he'll be able to hear all of her thoughts. Her irises have become holes

“Zelda?” he asks. His eyes are wet. She does not reply.

He lets himself out. 2.

The thing about Jenna, when friends and family are concerned, everything has to be a spectacle. Not a huge one, not really, but Jenna's all fire and brightness and love thrumming through her bones, and whenever he visits the Castle, even for a little while, she wants everyone to share her joy.

There’s an announcement of his arrival, last minute and directed at all available brothers. There’s an informal ceremony to welcome him, a breakfast at the Palace, Sep and Jenna and Nicko inexperienced in conducting it but supplementing their performance with excitement. Septimus always remembers all his favorite foods.

Two days after he shows up, everyone throws a party, and everyone comes. It’s all congratulating him on being the first male Keeper and thanking him for things he doesn't know and asking if he can tell them about being a triplet, maybe. Marwick gets asked a lot by younger kids if he can talk about this particular experience, because Matt won’t even acknowledge them if they ask him and Marcus lies about it so obviously that his tall tales conflict.

Marwick's not sure whether or not they know that he didn't know Marcus and Matt existed for so, so long, and now that he does he feels more like a wayward younger sibling than a triplet, an equal. He should probably tell them that it's not even an experience he's really had, and to go ask for thrilling tales of being a twin from Edd and Erik instead. It’s something to think about for next time. Marwick makes a mental reminder to his future self to bring it up with the little kids.

Lucy knits him a shirt. She presents it to him as soon as he arrives, so he won't have to do it with everyone watching him, distracted by what's in front of him and forgetting to double check for the possibility of knives pointed at the nape of his neck. She also gives him a book, all pictures of plants and cities from all over the world and maybe twelve words, tops. The only kind of book he'll ever like. Marwick has thanked her but wants to thank her even more; these gifts and what they mean to him deserve more than even just silent appreciation. Marwick thinks that she deserves a million new yarn balls, a meeting with the all available monarchy across the globe, legal ownership of the moon and then on. Lucy's own interests tell a bit of a different story.

The party is almost over by the time she pulls him aside. All the tenseness floods from his shoulders, and he sags against her. He loves Sep and Jenna and what they are doing for him, but too much noise has always bothered him, every since he fell into the river and could hear the rush of water coming up to meet him, like his heartbeat mirrored back, intensified. It's too much.

“Let’s get out of here,” Lucy says, an order and not a question, and really, she’s still a Gringe at heart, and who is he to deny her anything?

It takes exactly zero effort to get past Sam Heap, working as bouncer to keep the littlest kids out and the older people in. He winks, pretends to whistle and examine something off to the side, all the while unclipping the rope in a single practiced movement. That’s really nice, Marwick thinks. He’s probably going to give him one of the cool herbs he brought from the cottage, or maybe one of his daggers. Sam'll like that. Marwick gives him the thumbs up when the two of them walk out.

That’s how they get to Lucy's house. How their escape has turned into their own party, Marwick can’t exactly remember. It might have something to do with Lucy asking him if they could have a little party and him agreeing vehemently, but anything is possible.

Regardless, there are pillows on the floor. There are two bowls of salty snacks for Lucy to eat and Marwick to pick at. There is music floating in from the window, and Nicko Heap’s voice singing sea shanties to accompany it. He’s somehow agreed to let her braid his dreadlocks, even with his aversion to touch and jumpiness at people being behind him.

“Where's Simon?” he asks, if only to break the comfortable silence that’s making him feel kind of sleepy. He thinks that the comment works, though. He doesn't know where Simon is at all, and his face whenever he sees Marwick is sort of amusing, even if he feels a little cruel for thinking it. It's okay, though. Marwick didn't actually blind his eye or anything, and it was in defense of Septimus.

Lucy's voice comes out a little obstructed from the many peanuts in her mouth. “Marcellus is hogging him,” she complains, tugging a little to hard on his hair.

“Lucy, don't be daft, he works for him.” Marwick coughs to stop an unnecessary laugh from spilling out. He thumps a fist on the barrel of his chest. “You could demand for him to have normal work hours, maybe. I'm sure you're intimidating enough.”

Lucy hums. “Good idea. But he's not invited right now. This is more of sibling date.”

“Rupert's not here. And Matt. And Marcus.”

“A best friend date,” she amends. Then, “I wanted you to myself.”

Marwick doesn’t even try to keep himself from smiling, doesn’t cover his mouth with a hand, doesn’t move with the urge to make it look terrifying, exaggerated, instead of genuine. This isn’t any of the Heaps, as much as he loves them too. Even the mention of her being his older sister, considering him her best friend, is making his face feel hot. Her wanting him around is making his heart beat too hard against his ribcage, feeling too swollen and big to be at all healthy.

She’s eight years older than he is, a significant difference when you’re twelve and twenty, which they were when they first met, and it has never really mattered. The life-threatening situation they were in at the time helped speed the process along, but they went from complete strangers to allies to people who shared secrets and teased each other within days, despite him dissing her fiancee at every chance he got. Not once has Marwick felt like they aren’t equals, like they weren’t getting the same thing out of this friendship.

“Oh,” he says. There are a million and one other things that he could have said, his mind racing, but the only thing that came out was less of a word and more a result of having to breathe to be alive.

“Yeah,” says Lucy, both her smile and the peanuts still being in her mouth audible in her voice. She swallows. She laughs a bit. She tugs one of the three locks of hair she’s braiding a bit too hard on purpose. Marwick blindly tries to elbow her in retaliation and Lucy blocks it with her knee, stumbling a little, not as versed in self defense.

Lucy is still working on his hair, all deft movements, when the musicians start up a new song that wafts through the window, all jaunty and lively. He sees it instantly, a jolt of recognition sparking in her eyes, the way she suddenly sits bolt-upright. A slow smile spreads on her face, and he smiles back out of habit.

“I used to dance to this,” she tells him, dreamy, and although they have been friends since that whole debacle with the Light and the pirates and the Coven, he didn’t know she could to dance at all.

“Yeah?”

“Simon and I met in dance class,” Lucy continues, “and we got paired up because we were both late.”

“That’s romantic,” Marwick deadpans, and Lucy huffs out a laugh, tugs on his hair. He feels like he should be surprised about her apparent skill, but he’s noticed before that she moves with a dancer’s grace, heavy and stomping and light and fluid, all at once, come on, it’s obvious.

“So you know how to dance?” He can tell she’s revisiting old memories, and wonders, for a moment, what she looked like when she was his age, fourteen years old and temper that barely fits in her even now. “That’s cool.”

“I can teach you,” says Lucy, curling a short strand of her own hair around her pinkie finger.

The thing about that is, Marwick doesn’t doubt she’ll be a good teacher or that he’ll take to it quickly. He’s always been a rather fast learner. That isn’t it at all. It’s just that he’s never ever learned anything for fun and only fun, not even once.

But. Lucy is taking his hand and tugging, enough to get his attention but not enough to make the decision for him, and he’s reminded of another thing, that fun is meant to be a priority. That it’s meant to be a priority, and the Young Army was unnatural. And, well, he trusts Lucy, nearly the same amount he trusts Septimus, more than anyone, anything, in the whole world.

Marwick makes a show of being reluctant and pensive, something that no one in the room buys, and then agrees. “Finish my hair,” he says, very sure of himself, “And then we’ll dance.”

“Alright.”

“As long as you don’t tell Simon. Or any of your brothers-in-law,” says Marwick, even though he doesn’t really care about that at all, fake-doubt fake-clear in his voice, and Lucy laughs.

After a good few moments of practiced movements with her hands, Lucy scoots to the side so that she can look at her work. She thinks, curls the braid over his shoulder in the front.

Lucy smiles inquisitively, squints, rests a curled index finger on her chin. Then, “We kind of look alike.” There is no room in the statement for questioning, it being the usual misplaced order, as per Lucy's awfully endearing habit.

Marwick turns his head to look at the one mirror in the crowded room, mounted on the other side. He tries to make the movement go quicker to hide his slow reluctance.

What he sees is more surprising than he’d thought it'd be. Everything Marwick had noticed about him changing was noticed from looking down at his own arms or seeing his hair fly in front of his face. They were noted, crumpled into balls and then thrown in the mental garbage can, as he hadn’t really cared or thought they were significant enough to really think about it.

They really do look alike, if you look past the obvious.

Long, thick eyelashes, his meant for hotter suns than what is felt at the Castle, hers inherited from her mother. Hair, falling straight and heavy, surrounded by flyaway strands. Though his is shorter than hers, it feels just as long from the comforting weight of the braid on his scalp.

Their eyes have the kind of familial similarity that he and his brothers have, the kind that should have alerted them to the relation between the three of them, despite being in different barracks.

Hands. Criss-crossing little white scars, calluses on fingertips, hers from sewing and embroidery, his from holding daggers and untying rough knots.

Their heights are different. Their builds are different. They hold themselves in the same way, though, used to being underestimated by people who don’t really see them as people.

Eyes. Dark brown and upturned, with prominent eyelids, under thick brows.

Mouths. A disproportionately large upper lip, in the way that is interestingly unlovely. The one dimple in their right cheek when they both smile, genuine and real. The dark birthmark on the corner.

All of those birthmarks, in general. Little dark spots, like freckles but too far apart. Zelda says- said- his are cute, which means that Lucy's are cute. Marwick can agree with that part, at least.

The two of their appearances are kind of how he and Marcus and Matt have the same mannerisms, despite growing up a forest and a Castle apart. It reminds him of the stories Zelda used to tell, the ones that spanned back several centuries, how when he was eleven he once brought her flowers for what he thought was maybe her birthday, the first of January. It was the wrong day, as it turned out, but she thanked him and sat him down to listen to a story, one about the fates and their weaving, connecting the world and everyone in it to each other.

He thinks that this is maybe a sign that he and Lucy were always supposed to belong together. Instead of voicing this thought, he turns to one of his best friends and nods his head.

Lucy looks delighted, like she had wanted more than anything for him to agree with her. She holds out a hand, asking.

Again, again. Who is he to deny her anything? He takes her hand, pulls her to her feet, and she teaches him to dance.

If Marwick is in the Castle for more than a week, he offers to make himself useful.

He knows he's not expendable anymore. Septimus knows that Marwick knows he's not expendable anymore, but if he's not being useful, then, well, he doesn't know what to do with himself. It’s alright though, sometimes, maybe. He finds the mindset is useful for getting things done. For helping other people. Septimus always finds something for him to do. He's good like that.

This one has to be his favorite.

“Your right leg is great, but the left is over-correcting,” Marwick says, and kneels to take a kid’s foot and angle it in the right way. The second he does, the faulty leg he’d been eyeing is in the right position, with the right stiffness. “If you line your feet up properly you have the right base. The rest of the form will follow.” he stands up, wondering if he should pat the kid on the head to let her know he’s not mad at her, or disappointed. Sometimes he can come across like that, when he’s not paying attention.

To his utmost relief, the kid just nods determinedly and gets back to practicing her blocks. She doesn’t burst into tears or anything, like he’s always afraid they might, though it hasn’t happened yet.

Marwick teaches the class of six-to-ten year-olds the basics of sword fighting most evenings before sunset. It would probably be weird if they started crying only now. He still hasn’t memorized most of their emergency contacts for if they get hurt. He still hasn’t memorized most of their last names, though he knows their first ones.

Arianna. She’s almost terrifyingly smart for her age; whenever he explains or demonstrates anything she draws a diagram of it in the dirt with her wooden sword. Every time he corrects her form, she scuffs parts of the notes out with the sole of her shoe and redraws them, making edits. She takes his constructive criticism and listens to his implied cues and makes him feel just generally pretty inadequate. She’s got dark skin and beautiful little braids done fresh every five days, more put together than most adults Marwick knows.

Lorcan. He’s only six but looks older, with curly dark hair and an excited smile. He bounces when he talks, but has the smooth neutrality of a diplomat. He talks to the other children like he’s making a business transaction, a proposition that will end with the other one being killed, though he isn’t unkind. He’s got an unnerving interest in the undead and occult, and a book about demons from his older brother that he insists on reading aloud to the class.

Kayla and Cassius. They don’t look anything alike and Marwick doesn’t think they’re even related. They’re just both the youngest and tiniest of the bunch, and he doesn’t even want to touch them for fear of breaking bones, though he knows that that’s unreasonable.

Eliza. She’s always got dirt on her cheeks and seventeen bandages wrapped around her leg, her elbows and knees scuffed. The girl tucks and rolls and dives even when the class isn’t supposed to be learning evading tactics. She’s smart too, but in a different way than Arianna. In a way that she can take his techniques that work for him and adapt them to work for her, without changing the concept. He thinks, out of all of them, she would’ve done the best in the Young Army, and then hates himself for doing so.

Barney Pot is the only whose surname he knows, if only because of Septimus accidentally calling him Hugo all the time, then correcting himself sadly and quietly. He’s not bad at using a sword, but he is bad at actually doing his repetitions instead of just plopping down on the ground to play with the lizards in the nearby bushes.

He’s doing it right then, in fact. Marwick stifles a fond but exasperated smile, kneeling down to Barney's height, keeping attention on the other children from the corner of his eye if only to make sure Lorcan doesn’t point his wooden sword at anyone again. He slowly raises an eyebrow at Barney, who looks simultaneously ashamed and confident. “What do you think you’re doing, kiddo?”

Then his eye catches the lights along the path of the Palace.

The lights that Maize Smalls lights only after the sun sets. The lights that means that the kids should have already long since returned to their parents.

“Oh, no,” whispers Marwick. He turns to the children, trying to keep his face level and expectant.

Arianna speaks. He can always count on her. “I’m going to go find Mum,” she says, then walks out to do exactly that. Good girl.

The other children don’t look as inclined to make his life easy. They stare up at him with pleading eyes, like a baby wolfhound, like one more minute. Marwick is definitely sure that he couldn’t even teach one other position in a minute, so he isn’t at all tempted by their dumb adorable faces and the fact that they seem to think that he’s pretty cool.

So, at least outwardly, Marwick just rolls his eyes and begins to shepherd the group with force. “No, nuh-uh. Sorry, but I'm the boss. Get out, back to your parents. This is my patch of the forest.” Some of the children plant their feet firmly on the ground. He’s strong enough to still move them, but his arms begin to strain.

“Can we get our dinner and come back to eat here?” asks Cassius.

Kayla beams. “Yeah, we’ll pick up our litter and everything!”

“No.” Marwick's gait starts to move even faster. “We stop at dinner time for a reason, and the reason is ants will eat you out here and I will cry if they do.”

“We didn’t even get’ta pluck out your eyes and summon an ghost yet,” says Lorcan, mournfully, chin tilting up so far that he can see Marwick even while he’s pushing he forward, hand firmly planted on his back.

“Maybe tomorrow,” he says, gentle, “but it is time for dinner now.” Then he pushes the rest of the children beyond towards the lights, watches them give up on staying with him, walking in a pack towards their homes, turning to wave every so often. Marwick waves back until they're gone, then turns back to pick up the abandoned wooden swords.

There is another person there.

Marwick stops in his tracks. His mind races, wondering how they could've been so close without him noticing. Wondering how he got so distracted. His hand curls around the sword at his waist.

“I wouldn’t have actually summoned a ghost, or whatever,” he tries to explain, words coming out way too fast and jumbled, “I don't even know how- I was just trying to get them to listen. And I'd never do anything to scare them like that I swear, and anyway they see ghosts all the time-”

With that last word, his vision suddenly catches up to his brain. The other person is grinning. It’s just Jo-Jo Heap.

“I didn’t know you were good with kids,” he says. He puts his hands on his hips, like he had meant for the statement to sound like a personal affront. There's a half smile still on his face, reminding him a little too much of Marissa.

Marwick's brain fizzles trying to come up with what exactly about what Jo-Jo overheard made it seem like he was at all responsible enough to care for children. He tries to make up another excuse, or at least apologize in another way. “...Hhuh?” Nailed it.

Jo-Jo laughs. “Your secret’s safe with me.” He puts a finger over his mouth, like shhhh, but when Marwick really thinks about it that isn’t a gesture that makes sense for what he just said.

Jo-Jo shrugs a little, untangles part of his cloak from his arms, says, “You know, though, I bet we could get Jen to let you teach more classes.”

That makes no sense. It doesn’t make sense at all. Marwick's brow furrows. “I don't understand.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know, just, they seemed like they were having fun?”

“Having fun? By threatening... to pull my eyes from my head?”

“That’s just ten year olds. They’re edgy.”

At that, Marwick can relax. Jo-Jo's been called edgy a few times too, despite being sixteen-going-on-seventeen. “Yeah, I guess,” he says, and mimics Jo-Jo's shrug. “They do really well when they listen to what I say. Good kids.”

“You like them,” Jo-Jo observes, then quiets a bit. He suddenly looks a little uncomfortable, fidgets with his fingers. He shifts on his feet a bit, then fiddles with something halfway out of his pocket- a flute, Marwick realizes. “Actually, Marwick, I, uh-”

The tenseness returns to Marwick's shoulders, and he stands all prickly and still, a solider. They stare at each other for about ten seconds and then Marwick blurts out, “Are you looking for Marcus and Matt?”

Jo-Jo blinks several times, says, “No. I mean. I’m not looking for anyone else. I’m here because– well, for you.”

Because that doesn’t sound creepy at all. Marwick’s mind is racing, filling him with momentary panic. He’s going to have to rename him from Jo-Jo the Forest Heap to Jo-Jo the wanted serial killer.

“Right,” Marwick says, voice all polite and level. There’s a short pause. He shifts, uncomfortable, and adds, “For, um, any particular reason?”

Please don’t say homicide, Marwick thinks.

“This is going to sound kind of crazy, I know-”

He’s going to say homicide.

Jo-Jo smiles sheepishly. “We, um. Kind of suck at sword fighting? Or anything with knives. Me and Erik and Edd, that is.” He pulls out his flute and turns it rapidly in the air, making a wooshing noise, probably a nervous tick but looking like a weapon, in Marwick's eyes. They always do. “You'd think we'd be good at it after living in the Forest, and Sam is, but me ‘n the twins are kind of- we’ve got different talents. Just saying.”

Marwick lets his shoulders drop in relief, his momentary panic flooding out of him. Jo-Jo doesn’t even look like he’d want to kill anyone, anyway, but it’s nice to sure, just to be safe. Letting your guard down never did anyone any good.

And, well, he’s definitely had this conversation before, a bit more teary, with the kids who saw this class wasn't for them. “Well,” he says, almost practiced, his slightly hypocritical speech, “that doesn’t negate your worth, at all. You aren’t less useful just because we’re in some bloodfest universe and your aptitudes work for stuff other than attacking people. Being useful isn’t even the most important thing, anyways. It doesn’t even list. Did someone say something? Was it Matt or Marcus? I can duel them for you, I think.”

Jo-Jo cuts him off with a pearl of laughter, setting his flute down. “Marwick. If we got into a close range fight, we’d die. Teach us too? And also give Sam some pointers, maybe?”

Oh.

Jo-Jo smiles at him tentatively, fondly, when he stops dead. It’s an expression he’s only seen on Septimus or Lucy or Zelda before, like what the unusual thing he just did was endearing and not annoying or creepy or weird. Marwick is vaguely startled, feeling like his heart is swelling abnormally big, pushing against the inside of his ribs, but in the other way. The okay, good way that’s not bad. They want him.

He’s quick to reply, if only to get this conversation over with. Not because he thinks he likes the idea of hanging out with the four of them even more, outside the setting of the Forest and away from the undercurrent of fear he used to carry with him wherever, whenever. Not really.

Regardless of the reason, Marwick swallows the lump in his throat and nods. “Sure thing.”

There is nothing different in how he is around his brothers, except that sometimes they see him now. It’s okay, though, Marwick’s done this too. In the way that he sat across from them at Jenna and Septimus’s birthday and looked into his own eyes staring back and didn’t see, in the way that they knew that there had been three of them but never saw that it was him. Knowing they were family was like flipping a switch, almost. Like realizing an absent you had, a gap in your heart.

But at the end of the day, it’s the same. Like watching a boy fall into a fast flowing river just inches away from you, like sitting across from each other at meals and having snowball fights and speaking in the same voice. The three of them never saw at all. All what-if and could-be and we-should’ve-looked-for-each-other-more but they still didn’t notice, even when they were staring each other dead in the face.

But they’re all trying, and that’s enough, most of the time.

Marcus and Matt have a cramped little flat near the Gothyk Grotto, with a bunk bed and far too low ceiling and a thousand rugs, and then basically nothing else. It’s way too comfy, this flat. Marwick could just lie on the floor and be out in a flash, which is probably dangerous. But he doesn’t care, even after Septimus threw a heart shaped pillow on him. Why his brothers have one is beyond him, but it’s so soft that naturally Marwick just lets it sit in his lap like it belongs there. It’s seems like it does, anyway. He has never not had this exact pillow in his lap.

“Player on your right, so Marwick. This card's hypothetical: you get a million crowns but they can only be spent buying expensive presents for the people you hate.” Marcus peers up at him over his deck. “What do you do?”

Marwicks moves his piece forward on the board, then attempts to lean back against the wall and mull over his answer, but the wall is too far away and he just sort of falls over. He blows hair out of his eyes and says, “I’d buy things they hate. Some really awful things, like a lifetime supply of that stuff Sep likes to eat.”

“Hey,” says Septimus mildly. He pokes Marwick in the side.

“Like, cabbage sandwiches, especially. Sent to their house everyday.”

“Hey,” says Septimus, less mildly. “Anyway, that’s not even that bad. They can sell the sandwiches for money.”

“But wait,” Marcus interrupts, now perched on the only other pillow in the room. It’s a nice pillow, more of a cushion, but Marwick’s pillow is better. “Who’ll even buy sandwiches like that? I mean, they’ll go bad really fast and they don’t sound that appealing to begin with.”

“You know what I would do?” Septimus asks, ignoring Marcus. “I’d keep the money my entire life, making sure the person I hate knows that I have it but won’t spend it.”

Matt cracks a smile, cocking his head to the side in a way that all three of them do, all the time. “Wow. Ruthless. Your turn, Marwick.”

Marwick draws a card, sees it’s one of the wordy ones, tosses it to Septimus. He catches it easily.

“This card says that Matt has to go to jail,” says Septimus. He taps two of his fingers on his chin, reading it out loud. “The player to your right spends three nights in prison. They miss three turns unless they pay fourteen thousand in bail money.”

Matt does not have that much in bail money. In fact, he has negative money already. Matt frowns, leaning across the rug to inspect the card; Septimus holds it above his head with one arm, uses the other to push him back. “Okay, now you’re just making things up.”

“It says on my card that you’re a sore loser,” adds Marcus adds. He's no longer sitting like a normal person; he's hanging upside down, with his legs hooked over the top bunk and his head inches above the ground.

Marwick snorts, running with the joke. He picks up another card and pretends to read it. “This one says that you’re bad at this game, Matt.”

Septimus leans over to his left, peering down at the card Marwick is holding. “And there’s even a fine print!” He plucks it out of his hand, eyes going wide and mouth opening into an incredulous ‘O’ shape. “It says right here that you’re broke.”

To his left, Marcus grins, half-fond and half-cheeky, his eyes narrowing. For a moment, he looks more like Marwick than Matt. “It also says that I’m better looking that you.”

Marwick nods, all straight faced, accommodating. “The lettering is very small.”

They reach over without looking to high-five each other, missing the first time. The second time they do it the movement is flawless and totally cool. Matt's frown is getting deeper and more exaggerated by the second.

“Okay!” says Matt, throwing his hands up in the air, “I get it! Blah, blah, blah, it’s always make fun of Matt time. Matt accidentally bit a rock once, Matt always loses his tunic! The newest one is that Matt sucks at this game! Add that to the list of dumb stuff you’ve made fun of me for, I guess.” His hands falter in the air for a while longer, mentally grasping for more things to complain about. Instead, they fold in front of his chest, hard, a defeated look on his face. “You all,” he says, erring on the side of a grumble, “are so annoying.”

Marcus laughs again, louder, looking as delighted as he ever possibly could be. Marwick hides a smile of his own behind an inconspicuous hand, before catching Septimus's eye and succumbing to laughter as well.

“You're not bad at other games,” Marcus says reassuringly, still upside down. He lets an arm drop down and uses it to ruffle Matt's hair clumsily, all dead weight. "Just awful at this one."

“Yeah,” says Septimus, his face open and happy. He seems to be forgetting the fact that this is the first board game he has seen Matt play, ever.

Marcus flips upwards, then nimbly jumps down onto the floor, landing on Marwick's left knee. He blindly reaches sideways to grab the front of Matt's shirt and tug him towards the fray. He makes it there, knocking over board game paraphernalia in the process.

“The four of us,” Marcus says gravely, wringing an arm around Septimus's neck, “make for a grand time.”

Marwick tenses, but relents to his whims. As if he had a choice. “If either of you drop out of the game and make Sep the default winner, I'm leaving the Castle forever and never coming back,” he says, only half-joking.

“I’d come after you,” retorts Septimus, as if that’s a good comeback.

"No," Marwick says, "I'll be doing important things in my cottage and you'd be sulking in the corner because I don't make cabbage sandwiches."

Septimus throws his arms in the air, hitting everyone in the face, and then apologizes, says, "Marwick. Listen. That place has the best cabbage on earth and you just squander it on those rabbits-”

"Have you ever eaten cabbage from anywhere else?" Marwick wants to know.

Septimus admits that he has not.

“Adorable. Can we shut up and enjoy the moment?” says Marcus. “Like, this is a good moment.”

Zelda is leaning back in the one the chairs near the fire, her face blank and her eyes soft. It's almost winter, but the Big Freeze hasn't reached the Marshes right now, not yet. The warmth in the cottage is nearly palpable, all scattered cushions and leaping flames and the blanket Marwick has wrapped around him, made of patchwork pieces.

"I'll have to go soon," Zelda says, and Marwick looks away.

"Not now. It's too cold out," he says, deliberately misunderstanding. His bare feet scuff at the floor, worn and wooden and shining from all the cleaning he does that Zelda forgets to do.

"Marwick," she tries, softly prodding. All quiet and concern and undying patience. "I'm worried about you."

"You don't need to be." Marwick sniffs, hard.

“Come here.” Zelda beckons him, and he gingerly steps forwards. She reaches out and grabs her his hand, her grip stronger than he expects. "I'm spending more and more time in the past these days. I'm scared one day I won't even remember who you are."

Marwick stays quiet.

“I have some things I want to tell you. And I want you to try to always remember them.”

“Okay,” Marwick says, all hushed and soft, too young even to his own ears.

"There's people who care about you, dear. Your friends. Your brothers." Marwick winces, and she pretends not to notice. "I'm not the only one. You need to surround yourself with them whenever you can. Promise you'll visit the Castle often."

"Okay," Marwick repeats, his eyes damp.

"Promise you'll never overwork yourself. Do your job but don’t forget to have fun too," Zelda continues, and Marwick feels more tears form as he realizes what she is doing. A final impartment of wisdom, before she’s too far gone to have any to give.

"I won't."

“I mean it. You make fun a priority, alright, dear?“

Marwick nods.

“Don’t worry about what other people think.”

“You know I don’t,” Marwick says, temporarily affronted, and Zelda smiles at his indignity, hugely and crinkled at the eyes and mouth, in a way that makes it obvious how they got there in the first place.

“If you don’t know what to wear, overdressed is better than being underdressed. Look at me!”

Marwicks lets out a wet little laugh at that, Zelda in her patchwork dress, looking more like a tent than fancy wear.

“When you meet the right person, you will know. Never waste your time with people who aren’t right for you.”

“Keepers aren’t supposed to get married.”

“We’ve broken one tradition so far.” Zelda looks him in the eyes, says, “The role of the Keeper has changed. We are changing with it.”

“Alright.“

"Promise you won't take on too much weight." When he hesitates, she adds, "Marwick, there is value in acting your age. Promise not to forget that."

“Promise,” Marwick says, nearly too torn up to speak anymore. Tears sting at the corner of his eyes.

“And when I’m gone and you’re Keeper all on your own you are going to feel like you have no idea what you’re doing. And, Marwick, dear, you’re going to be terrified. But just know that you’ll figure it out, and it’ll be just fine, in the end.”

“Okay.”

“And sometimes it gets really hard. One thing you have to remember is that you're just as important as whatever you are Keeping. You understand that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"You're doing good. I'm proud of you, dear. If it ever gets too hard, tell someone. Jenna or Septimus, maybe. Being alone is not fun, I know, I've done it for a long time. I think Keepers have done this for too long, all alone. If you need a partner, a team, ask for the Queen’s permission, and then go ahead."

“Z-Zelda?” Marwick prompts, when she’d stopped speaking for a few long seconds.

“Never forget how proud I am of you. How much I love you.“ The grip on his wrists tightens.

“Of course I won’t,” Marwick chokes. He tries to wipe the tears from his eyes, but it’s too much. “Zelda- Zelda, I love you, too.”

"I know, dear. One more thing."

Marwick tilts his head to the side, asking. This feels unreal, like a dream, like his head is spinning and making up stories, like he’ll wake up tomorrow in his bender in the Forest and realize that nothing has happened, nothing at all. He's only been with her for three years. This is too soon too soon too soon-

"Promise you'll remember me?" Zelda's voice breaks on the last word, and Marwick flings himself into her arms, bony chin bumping the cushioning patchwork on her shoulder, clutching her tight.

"I promise," he says, tears stinging hot as fall down hard and fast, and she holds him there for a long, long time, his grandmother and mentor and best friend and mother all at once.

fin.

#Septimus Heap #Marwick #Wolf boy #can we agree that the name wolf boy is problematic #this story stemmed from 1) why is marwick in a relationship in sandrider?#2) lucy and marwick never talk after syren w h a t #3) WHERE ARE MARWICKS BROS ARE THEY DEAD?#4) IN FYRE SILAS AND SAM WENT TO SEE ZELDA OFF BUT NOT MARWICK? RUDE #my art

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tubbotums · 6 years

Text

I want you to imagine a situation for a sec, so close your eyes and imagine

It’s late March, two months away from your high school graduation. You’ve been a part of a friend group in high school that you’ve cherished for three years, and now you’re faced with the fact that you’re all going to pretty much be going your separate ways. You’ll see each other, but it’ll never be the daily after school hang outs again. Not only that, your relationship with a girl who had basically been by your side for your hardest moments in the past year, someone who defended you and loved you, just ended, and now that relationship along with various others have just ended in the rockiest fashion possible despite you trying your best. Along with all of that, you got yourself with a fandom that’s basically spit you out and kicked you around, called your ideas garbage and basically made you feel like shit because of your race, gender and sexuality. All of this you have to deal with as you also face the possibility of moving out of your apartment, the place you’ve called home for 17 and a half years because your mom wants a change of scenery and onset depression that’s quickly becoming more and more severe by the day.

That was me a year ago, and truth be told I had never felt more alone and lower than at time. I had come to this site to try and escape that, and it worked for the most part, but really it was just something that was always nagging and there, and no matter what I did I just couldn’t escape it. I didn’t wanna get out of bed, my personal health and hygiene dropped, and I was really a shell of myself. I couldn’t do anything right it felt like, and I felt like there was no one to really help me. I started escaping more to anime, music and video games as a result, and a lot of old insecurities popped up and just left me a mess.

Then, one day after school with my friends I accidentally dug up my old PS Vita, the white one that you got if you got the Assassin’s Creed bundle. I made a remark that I hadn’t played it in years, and a friend of mine who had graduated the year before said he knew some good games, and literally the first thing that came out of his mouth was Persona 4 Golden. I had heard of Persona, but I never actually knew what it was or anything. It seemed so foreign and just out there that it had never came up on my radar, so he immediately dragged me on a 15 minute walk to the nearest GameStop and grabbed the one copy of P4 Golden that they had in stock. He even went out of his way to buy it for me, a $40 game for a dead console. Now I wouldn’t really make a big deal out of this stuff, but this was one of my friends who never really had a lot of money on him. He was always saving his money up, so the fact that he was willing to shell out the money for me like that meant he was serious. So, we went back to my place, and I put in the game.

The opening title played, Shadow World, and that colorful opening played. I always make it a thing to watch the opening on my first playthrough when I play a game, and this game was no exception. I remember liking the visuals, but there was one person that caught my interest right off the bat. There was a person who was doing a little dance with a trash can, and at the time I thought that was really funny. I read his name, and it just said Yosuke. I looked on the cover for him, and I said to my friend “He kinda looks like me”, and that ensued a bunch of jokes and a short nickname for a while. Anyways, I remember because of this I was really interested to learn more about him, and going into this game knowing nothing I didn’t know when I’d meet him. Luckily for me, he was the first person I met in the game (or at least one of the first). I remember him crashing into that trash can and just Yu not helping, and him getting kicked in the balls by Chie after not returning her ‘Trial of the Dragon’ in one piece. I thought this was really funny, since the dude was kind of a down on his luck dork who meant well, and it was something I could really relate to.

However, as I got further into those first few hours of the tutorial and everything, I learned more about him. His full name was Yosuke Hanamura, and he was the son of the man who owned the big chain mall in town, Junes, the one the MC’s character sings the jingle to whenever it’s on T.V. He was voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, the same VA who voiced Simon the Digger in Gurren Lagann, a favorite of mine, and he had a crush on a cute girl named Saki. However, his crush ended up being the first victim in what would become a string of murders in Inaba, and he wanted to find out the truth of what happened to his dearly beloved. So into the TV World they go, and there Yosuke finds out that not only did Saki not like him back, but she outright hated him and resented him since his father’s business stole business away from her own family’s. He hears her talk about her hatred toward him, and also has to come face to face with his Shadow, his true self. We find out that he’s actually depressed and hates life for the most part. He moved to Inaba not too long ago, and he felt alone and isolated because he was from the city. He wanted people to like him, and he tried his damnest to feel like an equal to people, including the person who would become his best friend in the MC. But, there he was, hating life and always feeling like a burden to those around him and wanting to isolate himself from others because he didn’t feel like an equal.

I’m not a man of god or anything really, but this felt like a sign or something. I never had related so hard to a character in my life before, and it was enough that I actually found myself crying at the end of learning about him and the two of you agreeing to solve the murders.

So I went on and played the rest of the game, with Yosuke being the first social link that I finished in the game. I saw him try and come to terms with his depression, realize that he now had a group of friends around him who accepted him, and that he’d always be considered an equal with his bro and partner. As I’m writing this, I’m still thinking about the raw emotion I felt seeing all of this for the first time and just tearing up about it. For a long time I changed my profile pic on Facebook to a picture of him, he was the character that really made me want to cosplay, something I had never even thought of before, and I ended up deciding to make him my face claim, something I still keep up to this very day. I remember I tried to get my hands on any type of merch for him, though I didn’t really find much until later on (like a partial yaoi manga with him and Yu, something I’ve read time and time again with no regrets~). Despite all of that, my love for Yosuke had ran deep at that point, so when I finished the game in the middle of August I cried once more. My time with him was done, and I would never really get that same feeling back like the first time I met him.

That now meant I had two weeks to play Persona 5, the first game I got on my PS4 after I rebought it due to selling it to get the Switch. I went into this game with high expectations, since everyone told me it was amazing. However, I still had my biases, like the fact that there wasn’t Yosuke in this game. So I sat down and decided that I was going to basically speed run this game for two weeks, trying my best to finish it before I went off to college. I worked basically from 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, and the second I got home I’d basically play it until 2 in the morning. For two weeks, I went to work at a summer camp with five year olds in the blazing hot sun on five hours of sleep a night. It was an experience to say the least, one that kinda made me realize too how much I didn’t want to work there again, but I digress.

So I sat down and played this game for two weeks, got about 72 or so hours in and had to stop right at the final palace before I went to college. That being said, once more I was blown away by this game and it’s characters, but again someone had captured my heart, this time the lovely model Ann Takamaki. I could go on about how much I love her, but I’ve done that enough on here so you guys get the point. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts felt like a group of friends that I was a part of, and it just made me feel... so special. I can’t explain that feeling, but I felt like they were there with me all the time, and that no matter where I went or what I did they were going to support me with all their hearts, just like they had done for all of their friends in game too. It was a shame that my journey with them had to be on pause for four months, but regardless that feeling of belonging helped me fit into a new friend group at my university, ones that shared similar interests, treated me like an equal, and yes, even loved Persona as much as I did.

When December came and I was home for winter recess, I immediately picked back up Persona 5 to finish it. By now, I had gained new friends, especially a ton on here that had helped me a lot more with my own issues, and that meant I was ready to pick up and catch up with my other friends in Persona 5. I spent another 30 or so hours finishing up the game, and I remember finishing the game at 1 in the morning a few days after New Years Day. As I watched the credits role, I ended up crying even harder than I did with Persona 4. The entire journey was over, and it felt like I was saying goodbye to all of these friends I had made over the past few months, and that I wouldn’t see them again. Of course I would, but much like with Yosuke I wouldn’t have that same feeling. I sobbed in the middle of the night over nine characters and their friends leaving me, and I felt a pain in my heart that I seriously don’t feel all that much. It was so surreal to feel that type of way about pixels on a screen, but I felt it nonetheless.

And now, as I listen to the soundtracks of the two games that I played for days on end, I find myself thinking back on all of this. I can’t express what this series has meant to me, and how much it has contributed to me making friends, improving as a person and just really getting my life back on track. I know people probably don’t wanna read this, but I wanted to share it with all of you, because really I think it’s important. I hope you guys have something you all can gush about like I do, because it’s just super wonderful. Thanks to this series for just... everything. I seriously can’t express how much it’s played a part of my life for the past year.

Now, sad boy hours are over, and I’m going to grab a snack. I hope everyone’s having a wonderful night and are happy right now. I’m spreading some of my positive vibes toward all of you~ <3

#we gonna go under the tag for this so I can avoid making people's feeds too long

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malecsecretsanta · 6 years

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Merry Christmas, @squidpro-quo!

A Very Malec Christmas

It was a month from Christmas and one night as Magnus rested his head on his Shadowhunter’s broad shoulder, he could sense that Alec was deep in thought about something.

“Alright, Alexander, out with it. I can practically hear the cogs turning in your head. What is it?” Magnus asked him, raising himself up on one elbow.

“I’ve been thinking, babe, and being it’s our first Christmas together, I’d sort of like to have everyone around for Christmas dinner.” Alec told him. Magnus’ face brightened.

“Oh, my love, I think that’s a wonderful idea. We could get a tree, put up some decorations, invite Catarina and Madzie, I could conjure a big feast………” Magnus started to say but Alec put a fingertip to his perfect lips to silence him.

“Yes, to all that, but, well, I kind of want to do the cooking myself. I haven’t had a proper Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for years. I’m usually at the Institute and its Jace and I sitting in the cafeteria eating a turkey roll. But this year I want to do it properly.” He explained.

Magnus’ smile broadened and he looked up at his handsome boyfriend with such tenderness that Alec almost blushed. He reached out one slender hand and ran it over his cheek before leaning in to place a soft kiss on his lips.

“Darling, I think that’s a wonderful idea. How about I be in charge of the decorating and you do the cooking? Deal?” He said. Alec’s face lit up and he bent forward and kissed him, still smiling.

“Deal. I cant wait this is going to be so great.” Alec said, as they settled back down and held each other close as they drifted off into sleep.

Over the next two weeks, Alec combed the internet for recipes and even managed to organise invitations for Jace and Clary, Izzy and Raphael, Miah and Simon and Luke. Max was now living at the Institute for his training and loved getting his own personal invite. Even Maryse and Robert seemed pleased to get one. Catarina and Madzie replied almost straight away that they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

It was no time at all till the big day arrived. Alec even relented, after much encouragement from Magnus, to take the day off and leave the Institute in Jace’s capable hands for the day. Alec wasn’t happy about it, but he gave in anyway.

The day started off slowly, also not Alec’s idea. He woke up beside Magnus and saw his beaming face inches from his own.

“Merry Christmas, my love.” He said softly, and leaned in to place a soft kiss on Alec’s lips. It wasn’t long before the kisses started to heat up and Alec pulled back, tyring to ignore what those golden cat’s eyes of Magnus’ did to him.

“Babe, we have to get going. We have a house full of people coming later today.” He reminded him.

“Oh, I’m sure we have plenty of time for everything, Alexander. Besides, it’s law that you have to kiss me.” Alec said, making a pretend hurt face. He knew his boyfriend only too well. Alec could never resist his pouty face.

“Babe, I don’t think there are any laws about kissing at Christmas.” Alec gave him a lop-sided grin.

“Oh yes there is, look up.”

Ale frowned a little and turned his head to look above him. Suspended in the air as a few stems of a green leafed plant, a red ribbon tied them together. Alec had to laugh. Magnus would try anything to get what he wanted.

“Mistletoe? Really, Magnus? You’ll stop at nothing.” Alec said shaking his head, but it ended up being another half an hour before he managed to convince Magnus that they really had to get up.

Alec started heading for the bathroom which sparked a whole new debate about the need for Magnus to join him. It ended with Alec leaving Magnus standing in the bathroom door way calling him a Grinch.

After a quick breakfast and a few make up kisses, Alec went to the kitchen to begin the cooking. Magnus stayed in the living room and began moving furniture around and replacing it with a large table and chairs and then with a snap of his fingers and a few flourishing movements, a large Christmas tree appeared to one side of the fireplace, each and every branch covered in decorations and lights.

With a few more waves, Magnus hung more decorations around the room and also strategically placed a few bunches of mistletoe. He was standing back admiring his handiwork when a series of angry sounding noises came from the kitchen. He turned and went in and made it to the door way to see his boyfriend wrestling with a large turkey while trying to turn down the heat on the saucepans that were bubbling over on the stove. Magnus had to stifle a giggle, he had never seen his Shadow hunter more adorable.

“Is everything alright, Alexander?” He asked when clearly it wasn’t. Alec turned around and Magnus could see smudges of flour on his face and black really wasn’t a great colour to be cooking in.

“Yeah fine. I’ve got this, babe. How’s the decorating going?” Alec asked, continuing to stuff the turkey with a lumpy looking mixture that Magnus was rather worried about what it actually contained.

“Yes, its all done, just have to set the table. Are you sure you don’t want any help, my love?” he asked again, looking worriedly at the mess in the kitchen.

“No, no, its fine. Go set the table while I finish up here.” Alec reassured him as he stopped a glob of stuffing from escaping from the cavity of the turkey.

Magnus gave him a smile and then turned back to the living room. Seeing the disorganised mess in there, he wondered just how much cooking Alec had ever actually done. The temptation to step in and help him was almost overwhelming but he knew Alec was determined to do it on his own.

It was another two hours before Alec emerged from the kitchen, looking like he had been it a fierce food fight with someone. Magnus grinned up at him did his best not to laugh.

“All done. Geez, why does it take twice as long to clean up as it does to do the cooking? I’m going to change, babe then we can sit down together before everyone gets here.” Alec said, giving Magnus a quick kiss before heading for the bedroom.

Magnus waited until he was out of sight before he got up and went into the kitchen to check on things.

Well, he thought, he had done a great job at cleaning up, at least. He took the lid off the nearest pot on the stove and saw a very lumpy looking gravy that looked and acted like brown lava. Oh boy, well, maybe it would taste better then it looked. The other pots contained vegetables, and which didn’t look very appetizing either. Magnus winced as he peeked in the oven. The large bird was roasting well, too well. At this rate, they’d be eating charcoaled turkey by the time the other got there. He poked his head around the corner into the living room and then turned down the temperature on the oven. The rest of the meal was going to need some magical intervention but at least he might be able to save the turkey.

Magnus couldn’t help smiling as we went back out to the living room to quickly take his seat before Alec returned. He loved the tall Shadowhunter more than anything, but it seemed even though he had put in a solid effort, cooking didn’t seem to be a family skill.

Everyone arrived on time, baring gifts and bright smiles. Even Maryse and Robert seemed happy to be there. Magnus had dimmed the lights and the loft was bathed in a soft golden glow from the many well-placed candles and Christmas lights. The table looked wonderful, set with white plates edged with gold and Magnus had even conjured gold coloured cutlery. Sparkling crystal glasses caught the light and it looked magical.

“Your house looks very pretty Magnus.” Madzie told him when he picked the little girl up and hugged her.

“Thank you, Madzie. Did Santa Claus visit you last night?” He asked her. A wide smile brightened the child’s face.

“Yes, and look he gave me a new doll.” She said, proudly holding out the toy that she had tucked under one arm.

“Well that’s wonderful, I’m so glad. Are you ready for Alec’s delicious special dinner?”

“Yes, I’m starving.” She said, and clutched at her middle dramatically. Magnus couldn’t help but laugh.

Alec had gone into the kitchen to start preparing the dinner while Magnus had ensured everyone had a drink. He went into the kitchen to find Alec staring helplessly at the various serving dishes of food. Oh dear, he’d been afraid of this.

“Magnus, I’ve ruined dinner. Look at it, we can’t eat this, it’s a disaster. I don’t know what made me think I could do this in the first place.” Alec said, his deep voice was full of sadness and anger at himself and Magnus felt so sorry for him.

He walked over to where his boyfriend was standing and took him in his arms and leaned up and kissed his softly.

“Alexander, it’s alright. I can fix this, but it doesn’t matter. The point is you tried and that’s what counts. Christmas is about getting together with family and friends, it doesn’t matter what was eaten, it’s the company that’s important. Now, let’s get this food looking and tasting as good as I’m sure it was supposed to look like.”

Magnus gave him one final kiss and then with a click of his fingers and a wave of his hand, the serving dishes were filled with food that looked like it belonged in a banquet hall of a palace.

Alec gave Magnus a smile and bent his head and kissed him before they picked up the dishes and headed out to the table.

“Thank you, babe. You saved the day. I love you.” He said, and Magnus’ face lit up from his words.

When they took the dishes out, everyone oohed and aahhed at the feast that was placed before them.

“Wow, this looks great. You sure know your way around the kitchen, Magnus.” Izzy said.

Alec was about to say something about his failed attempt at cooking when Magnus cut him off with a look.

“I’m afraid I can’t take credit for all the hard work, Isabelle. Your brother was in charge of the cooking and I think he’s done a fabulous job.” Magnus said, smiling at Alec.

Alec was about to disagree and saw the barely perceptible shake of Magnus’ head and gave him a shy smile.

“Well done, big brother, I can’t wait to taste it.” Izzy said.

They all tucked into the food and in no time, there was much happy laughter and conversation. Everyone had a great time and Magus grabbed Alec’s hand and pulled him close.

“Merry Christmas, Alexander. Here’s to our first Christmas and many more to come.” He said softly, and leaned in and kissed him gently.

“Merry Christmas to you too, Magnus. And next year, lets get the whole thing catered.” Alec said, smiling.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t I give you some lessons? And maybe next year, we can do it together?” Alec laughed and nodded his head before kissing him once more.

#squidpro-quo #malecsanta17 #*fic17 #*gifts17

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crossedswordsrp · 7 years

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The Humanist

❛ And when my prayers to God were met with indifference, I picked up a pen and I wrote my own deliverance. ❜

Full Name His Eminence Cardinal Armaud Rossignol Alias “The Nightingale” Age 56 (b. 1585) Alliance The Crown/Catholic Church Position Chief Minister to France Negative Traits Manipulative, Ruthless, Suspicious Positive Traits Ambitious, Brilliant, Passionate

Armaud was born the second son of three in a family of down on their luck aristocrats. He had the further misfortune of having been conceived while his father, a French soldier, was visiting the family homestead of Sarlat in southwestern France in the middle of the Wars of Religion. The death of his father during the Wars only served further to leave the already struggling family nearly completely bankrupt, with little more than their manor and a hereditary title of bishop of Sarlat to their name. Growing up missing and idolizing a lost father and raised to love both King and Country, Armaud had decided early on that he was to follow his father’s footsteps in becoming a soldier, while his elder brother, Jean-Michel, was to inherit the family manor and his much-loved younger brother Philippe was to inherit the diocese by becoming a monk.

However, such plans were tragically cut short when Jean-Michel, Armaud and Philippe had made a journey to Paris with their mother, who was eager to present her sons further to other members of nobility. Fate, however, was not kind to them when Armaud and Philippe – noting easily that their elder brother due to his years was the center of attention, decided to excuse themselves from court early to return to their inn. They took a shortcut through the outskirts of the Court of Miracles, where they were robbed at knifepoint by a small group of thieves. While Armaud compiled to the thieves’ demands, the more spirited Philippe resisted, and in front of his horrified older brother, he was stabbed to death, dying in Armaud’s arms.

A shattered and grieving Armaud, freshly driven with the knowledge of the transience of life, upon return to Sarlat gave up his dreams of becoming a soldier in order to secure the diocese by becoming a monk in Philippe’s place. He joined the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur of Sarlat to secure his family’s possessions. He did well there – likely much better than he ever would as a soldier – and became Bishop of Sarlat at the age of twenty one in 1606, for which he received special dispensation from Pope Paul V. Armaud entered royal politics first as almoner (head of the religious branch of the royal household) to Queen Marie-Claire Valois, and soon after to become Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1609, and later a Cardinal. After the death of the king’s favorite minister, Georges Delafose, the Cardinal was appointed as Chief Minister to France in 1612. Although much beloved by King Louis Valois, he was viewed with great suspicion by the Queen Marie-Claire, who saw his quick rise through politics as a sign of undue ambition, especially as the King seemed to listen to the Cardinal more than to her. Distrusting the amount of influence Armaud had with the King, she schemed for a way to unseat him.

Armaud’s deliverance from Marie-Claire came from an unusual direction in the King’s infatuation with a young girl from the Court of Miracles, Angeline Baptiste. Despite his prejudices concerning those from that rat’s nest of a place, he saw this as an opportunity to rob the Queen of political power and secure his own, and so encouraged the match. He even pulled strings in multiple systems to have a surreptitious divorce settled between the King and the Queen and an equally surreptitious marriage occur between the King and Angeline. All of this was kept out of the knowledge of the vast majority of the Court with the assistance of then-Grand Master Jean Bourbon, due to the King’s request, who wanted to father an heir by Angeline before the controversial match was released to the people. However, Angeline, kept out of the public eye, died giving birth to the true heir, and the King died himself under mysterious circumstances soon before. Seeing the death of the King as a potential assassination, Armaud acted fast to secure his future potential ace. He had the true heir sent away secretly to the down-on-their-luck Dubois family, whose matriarch Alais, eager for standing, raised the boy among her own children.

Armaud still serves as Chief Minister to France, supporting to all who view him the bastard son of Marie-Claire, and playing keen games of power with her. He is known as the one of the most powerful men in France, and he has one goal and one goal alone: to forge France into the most powerful realm the world had ever seen, a goal that would have made his father proud. Believing himself in power to be the best way to serve France, he created his own private army in 1623 – the Red Guard – as an answer to the then Queen Regent Marie-Claire’s 1622 creation of the Musketeers. He put regional governors in different counties, having them report directly to him rather than local lords, and created a cloak and dagger spy network unlike the world had ever seen. In the meantime, he keeps the former Queen Regent pacified by discovering and executing anyone considered for treason and heavily keeping an eye on the Court of Miracles. France is set on the world stage to become a giant– and Armaud believes that he is the best man to lead it there - for the good of the country.

Connections

Danièle Lavigne (Non-player character) - One of Marie-Claire’s ladies-in-waiting who had been feeding him information about the then-Queen, Armaud found himself drawn to her despite his focused ambitions. The two shared several months of mutual, quiet, and surreptitious passion. Despite the brevity of their involvement, there was a part of him that was joyful as well as conflicted when Danièle had told him that she was pregnant - seeing it as perhaps a chance to claim a part of family that had been lost. For the first time since his brother’s death, Armaud was struck with a potential choice of slowing down ---with the payment of being present in the raising of his child. However, unfortunately, that choice was never his. In late 1613, Danièle left the Palace unexpectedly without notifying him of where she was going, likely in an attempt to save him from shame. Heartbroken, unable to try to locate her lest he reveal their secret, Armaud comforts himself that she might still wear the small golden band that he had given her around her finger. Although he has long thrown himself back head-first into politics, he does still wonders what became of their child - who they are, where they are, and if they know how much they are loved.

Marie-Claire — Former Queen Regent, Marie-Claire had a child by the late King Louis Valois - but while she and Louis, her ex-husband, were divorced - her son King Alexandre Valois is a bastard. Armaud and Marie are on opposing sides, with Marie both distrusting him for the rumored role he played in her ex-husband’s divorce of her and the Cardinal’s current and heavy influence upon her son. The seemly mild mannered Armaud sees her in return as a dangerous, power-grabbing radical trying to poison the king against him – precisely the thing that would ruin France. However, both at the moment – due to their firm entrenching - must pretend courtly affability as they scheme against the other so as not to give the game away.

Philippe Donadieu – The unknowing legitimate heir to the throne is the Cardinal’s ace up his sleeve. The former Queen Regent is a problem, and so he likes to keep Philippe in reserve, scheming that one day he will take the throne instead of Marie-Claire's son Alexandre. Philippe – named by Alais after Armaud’s brother in an attempt to endear herself to the Cardinal – was kept a close eye on growing up by his adopted mother (and Armaud’s spy) Alais Dubois. Putting aside his prejudices for the good of France, Cardinal himself played the role of kindly benefactor, visiting the boy occasionally as he grew under the pretense of seeing to the family Dubois, and subtly manipulating Philippe to the join the Church where the Cardinal would be able to keep an eye on him. Not long after Philippe became a full priest, Armaud manipulated to have his monk’s vows annulled and had the boy plucked from Compiègne Abbey (Abbaye Saint-Corneille de Compiègne), and transferred to Paris the current year 1641– still acting the part of kindly father figure. He hopes to continue to introduce the boy to court and to keep him close for when he is needed.

Simone Baptiste – The adopted daughter of late revolutionary François Baptiste, Simone is also a problem, albeit a very subtle and difficult to remove one. Armaud had had little idea that Angeline had snuck out letters to her brother François concerning her marriage to the King and her pregnancy. It was indirectly Armaud, hearing of the creating of François’ movement through his spy network, that had the Court of Miracles patriarch captured by the Musketeers and executed, although the letters themselves were never found. It would not do to give the game away so early. Although Armaud suspects that the La Bande Noire movement still exists and is growing, Simone is far more subtle than her father and is keeping her wild brother in line. At the moment, Armaud merely wishes to keep an eye on the young strategist as she does in return, recognizing in her a potential future ally were he to win her to his side.

This character is portrayed by COLIN FIRTH and is TAKEN

OOC Notes: Most of the relevant plot information needed by the player is here, but it is worth mentioning that at start of game the Cardinal is the only person who definitively knows that Philippe Dubois is the legitimate heir to France. Marie-Claire, Jean Bourbon, and those connected to La Bande Noire/Black Band movement are the only living people apart from the Cardinal at start of game aware that the former King was married to Angeline or that the former Queen and King were ever divorced at all. However, Marie-Claire, the Cardinal and those connected to La Bande Noire movement are the only characters aware that Angeline had a son. Please see Alexandre Valois, Fernand Baptiste and Marie-Claire’s bios and the plot for more information. The Cardinal suspects Marie-Claire of killing her ex-husband, the late King Louis Valois, but he has no concrete proof.

Note also that Herbert Dubois has history with the Cardinal not listed in The Cardinal’s connections. Please see Herbert Dubois’ bio for more information! He also has important connections with Hasekura Valentin, Pierre Chauveau, and Ameline de Granada Venegas, and former Captain of the Red Guard, Bertrand Rouzet.

The personal home of the Cardinal, the lavish Palais-Cardinal in the center of Paris, was completed in 1639. Cardinal Rossignol has swag, but the majority of his time is spent at the Royal Court in the Palace of Tuileries.

Please see our Influence of the Church section for important historical background information for this character.

#armaud #colin firth #taken #church #churcht

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torentialtribute · 5 years

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In 2014 Liverpool were closing in on the title until Chelsea arrived at Anfield

Liverpool against Chelsea is a 21st century rivalry that has produced countless epic games.

Few have had the drama, though, or the Anfield clash on April 27, 2014 when the Premier League title was on the line.

Brendan Rodgers's side watched set to become champions but this would prove to be the day a dream died.

Sportsmail talks to those involved.

Steven Gerrard grimaces after slipping over and letting Demba Ba to score in front of the Kop

Jose Mourinho was adamant he would

THE BUILD UP

Liverpool were not top, having won 11 consecutive games, and had leg blowing teams away with their electric starts. Such was the fervor, a trend started of fans gathering on Anfield Road to welcome the coach and, on this particular day, thousands lined the streets in expectation.

Chelsea, meanwhile, were third with an outside chance of overhauling their bitter foes but this fixture was sandwiched in between a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid and they wanted it switched from Sunday afternoon to Saturday evening to have more recovery time.

Broadcasters SKY were open to the idea but the Premier League ruled it out without consulting Liverpool. As a result, Jose Mourinho went into war fashion. The claimed his club had shown a lack of respect and vowed to make wholesale changes.

LUCAS LEIVA Liverpool midfielder:

The confidence we had at the time was so, so high. The fans couldn't wait for the game. I remember being on the bus and seeing all the fans, with the flags and the scarves. Some of the boys videoed on their phones because it was so spectacular, one of the best I have seen. We knew a win would be a big step to the title

MARK SCHWARZER, Chelsea goalkeeper:

It felt like we were going to a carnival, there were swarms of people in red all over the place. The boys were talking about it on the bus and it felt like the fans believed they had won the game already.

Another thing they were talking about was fireworks. We stayed at Formby Hall, a nearby golf resort, and some Liverpool fans had fireworks set off during the night to try to disrupt us. It made no difference to me. I can sleep through anything!

Such was the fervor, fans gathered on Anfield Road to welcome the coach into the stadium

Mourinho was furious that the game could not be changed to ease his team's schedule

THE GAME

L iverpool had a selection problem like Jordan Henderson was serving a suspension. There was another big doubt, however. Unbeknown to many, Steven Gerrard had a back injury that was so serious he needed an epidural to pain and get through the game.

Mourinho, meanwhile, was also "a doubt". He had come down with a virus that prevented him traveling with the squad to Merseyside. Still, he picked a team that included young players Mohamed Salah and Tomas Kalas, who was making his debut.

MARTIN TYLER, Sky Commentary:

'The top line is that a Liverpool win and Chelsea cannot catch them. "

SCHWARZER: We barely saw Jose beforehand. He came up in a car on his own as he didn't want to infect anyone. He only did 10 minutes with us in the team meeting, Rui Faria talked us through the set pieces.

But Jose told us everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion we would lose and it was up to us to prove them wrong. He wanted us to frustrate them from the first minute. I know many Liverpool fans didn't like it but that's sport. The tactics were spot on.

THE KEY MOMENT

Little had happened in the game other than a few long range shots but Liverpool's failure to score early created palpable tension. Mourinho loved it and hero the ball away from Gerrard and Jon Flanagan at one point when they tried to take a quick throw in. In the 45th minute Gerrard lost his footing as he gathered a pass from Mamadou Sakho.

After very little had happened early on, disaster struck when Gerrard tried to control a pass

As he opened up to pass the ball, Gerrard slipped on the Anfield turf and allowed Ba to pounce

Just inside the Anfield half, Ba latched onto the loose ball and sprinted away toward the Kop

Gerrard got up and chased back alongside Mamadou Sakho but they were not quick enough

Simon Mignolet came charging out but Ba fed the ball underneath him in composed fashion

TYLER: 'Oh and Gerrard has slipped! Demba Ba is in here … Out comes Simon Mignolet but Ba punishes – or all people – Steven Gerrard! It's a terrific moment for Chelsea, but an awful one for Liverpool's skipper! "

STEVEN GERRARD: Don't think (the epidural) is an excuse for what happened. Not at all. What happened was just a pure bad stroke of luck for myself. That's why it was cruel. I haven't lost my man at a set piece. I haven't missed a penalty. I haven't made a bad pass.

Every single person on the planet slips at some point, whether it's on a set of stairs, on the floor or whatever. But it happened on the pitch at a really bad moment. I've gotten through the pain in the dressing room after and in the weeks and months after it. It was the worst day of my life.

SCHWARZER: It wasn't even a mistake from Steven. He took his eye off the ball at his first touch, all he was trying to do was make a quick movement and play his pass. There is no questioning Steve's ability as a footballer but things like that are never nice to see.

Liverpool became more frustrated as they tried to comeback and the atmosphere drained away. Gerrard had five shots in the second half, Suarez had one but the play was chaotic and summed up when substitute Iago Aspas took a short corner and gave it straight to Willian in injury time, enabling Chelsea to break.

TYLER: 'If they play this right, it's going to be a 2-0 win at Anfield… and it's Willian who can wrap it up for Jose Mourinho!

The classic counterpunch at the end of each half! The master has rained on the apprentice's parade. '

Liverpool tried everything to get back on level terms but Chelsea scored a second on the break

THE AFTERMATH

Mourinho headed down the tunnel before the final whistle and revelled in the moment, shouting "You thought they were sending the clowns!" to Liverpool officials. He was criticized for his tactics — Rodgers said he had “parked two buses” in the press conference — and mimicking blowing germs to those asking questions.

The desolation in Liverpool's dressing room was obvious and was exacerbated by Manchester City winning at Crystal Palace. A private plane had been booked to take the squad down to London for the PFA Player of the Year Award, which Suarez had won, but many ended up staying on Merseyside.

CESAR AZPILICUETA, Chelsea defender:

We arrived with a very clear idea and played the game we had to.

They were getting good results and smashing everyone, so to beat that team 2-0 was a very important win for the club, for the fans. Everyone enjoyed it and hopefully we can replicate it on Sunday.

LUCAS LEIVA: Chelsea didn't come to lose and, slowly, they frustrated us. I will be in Rome on Sunday (Lazio play Milan on Saturday night) but I know the lads have a big chance again to win the title.

When I left two years ago, I was 100 per cent sure Liverpool would win important things. I hope they do it this time because they deserve it.

Steven Gerrard quotes from an interview with Sportsmail in November 2018

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#In 2014 Liverpool were closing in on the title until Chelsea arrived at Anfield"

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newmusicmonthly · 6 years

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2017

Hello,

It has been a whole year without a monthly mailer, hence this now being a yearly mailer.

I hope you’ve all had a great year (and that said monthly mailer hasn’t been missed too much… or has it?).

Anyway, below are my top ten picks of the year, plus my five track picks per month for the whole year (which I have sequenced and arranged roughly chronologically, for your listening pleasure, and because I like lists).

Normal monthly service will hopefully be resumed next year.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, Roger

TOP 10 TRACKS

LCD Soundsystem – how do you sleep?

The Killers – The Man

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Anthem for No State (Pt.I-III)

The War On Drugs – Pain

The Horrors – Something To Remember Me By

Spoon – Whisperi’lllistentohearit

The Orange Drop – The Curse of Kukaka

Endless Boogie – Back in ‘74

Chris Forsyth – Have We Mistaken the Bottle for the Whiskey Inside

Ron Gallo – Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me

TOP 10 ALBUMS

LCD Soundsystem – american dream

The Horrors – V

Endless Boogie – Vibe Killer

The Orange Drop – Stoned In Love

The War On Drugs – A Deeper Understanding

Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me

Broken Social Scene – Hug Of Thunder

Michael Nau – Some Twist

Boubacar Tarore – Dounia Tabolo

Richard Dawson – Peasant

Special mention to the best compilation of the year, Various Artists – Wayfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares

TOP 10 GIGS

31/10/17 – Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Troxy, London

16/03/17 – Glass Animals, Brixton Academy, London

29/10/17 – The Horrors, KOKO, London

09/12/17 – Marilyn Manson, Wembley Arena, London

01/09/17 – Interpol, Alexandra Palace, London

04/11/17 – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Brixton Academy, London

17/06/17 – The Stone Roses, Wembley Stadium, London

11/02/17 – Matthew Logan Vasquez, Islington Assembly Hall, London

13/06/17 – Prophets of Rage, Brixton Academy, London

26/09/17 – Kirin J. Callinan, Hoxton Bar And Grill, London

Special mention to the best festival of the year, quite clearly Glastonbury.

NEW MUSIC 2017

The Orange Drop – The Curse of Kukaka Strictly speaking this was released late last year; an exemplary psych wig-out.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nuclear Fusion Ever wondered what people mean by playing behind the beat? Well you can hear the two drummers play both behind and in front of the beat… in the same song! Mentally groovy!

Dead Horse One – Insight Again, released at the end of last year; a wonderful droning compressed psych embrace.

Miles Mosley – Abraham Man alive this band have chops, a fantastic piano-led soul/funk work-out.

Small Feet – A Winter Coat On Bare Bones I think Stockholm band-leader Simon is special singer/song-writer somewhat reminiscent of Neil Young; a song for lonely winter walks.

Loyle Carner – The Isle Of Arran Great rapper, inspiring lyrics, awesome performer, and one of the best samples all year; nuff said.

Sinkane – Telephone Subtle this is not; big dance grooves.

Ron Gallo – Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me Part White Stripes, part Two Gallants, part Rival Sons,; all rock n roll!

Tinariwen – Sastanaqqam The elder masters of ‘desert’ blues always hit the spot.

Strand of Oaks – Everything Punchy boisterous rock, with a few Elvis/Josh Homme ‘Huhs!’ thrown in for good measure.

All Them Witches – 3-5-7 Love this band; rolling heavy stoner rock grooves.

Chicos de Nazca – Never Ends Even woozier than the above, sun washed tequila haze guitars abound.

Great Ytene – Locus Post punk but also four to the floor rock, interspersed with, and descending into, gnawing nervous, and bordering on atonal, washes.

Cameron Avery – C’est Toi Crooning ‘standards’ love song authentically made modern; big baritonevoice, strings and cinematic appeal aplenty.

W.H. Lung – Inspiration! This is a stellar find, coming across as a mix up of Neu!, Talking Heads and Hookworms, exceptional!

Spoon – WhisperI’lllistentohearit Really good album but it is the propulsive drumming which is absolutely stand-out brilliant on this track.

Tamikrest – Wainan Adobat New masters of ‘desert’ blues in my opinion, this is a great up-tempo number.

Mount Eerie – Ravens One of the most difficult and most emotionally affecting songs I’ve ever listened to. Painfully sad and personal, as real as a portrayal of grief as I can imagine.

British Sea Power – Praise For Whatever A tale of two songs in one, with the first half given to atypical British Sea Power songwriting, before mid-way through out stomps an enormous bass lead groove wig out.

The Black Angels – Half Believing Modern psych kings back on form with this menacing yet mournful track.

Betrayers – Belong Here Raga No idea how I found this, but it’s a chugging bluesy number, although not sure it qualifies as a raga.

Matthew Logan Vasquez – Same Stomping, grooving funk soul rock.

Jane Weaver – Did You See Butterflies? Jane laying down those now trademark motorik bass and beats and ethereal vocals, this time concerned with butterflies.

Thurston Moore – Exalted A slowly unfurling melodic opening gives way to some molten guitar workout, before some almighty build and release crashes, and then comes the vocals; immense.

Ho99o9 – United States Of Horror Speaking of immense, these guys are fucking awesome; turn it up to 11, atop spitfire politically charged lyrics, but unlike anything else out there.

Endless Boogie – Back in ‘74 Boogie-tastic with perhaps my favourite lyrics of the year about a kite flying contest at a Kiss concert in 1974.

Pumarosa – Red Beautiful vocals float above a glorious melody and some seriously tight grooves.

Aldous Harding – Blend Sparse, confessional sounding, but altogether quite beautiful.

Minotaurs – Hipswinger Now I know I go on about grooves, but seriously, this is just groove-tastic, when it drops around 0:55, I mean, hell yeah I’m gonna swing my hips; with added brass.

Richard Dawson – Weaver This is a very unique album; it is a concept album, I’ll say no more; this was the track I returned to most often.

Hey Colossus – In A Collision Chugging rock which also manages to sound ominous and delicate at the same time.

Floating Points – Kelso Dunes Ambient instrumental post rock that really taps into a driving motoric groove, that borders on space rock!

B Boys – B Boys Anthem Arty, brash, tight rock song barely over a minute

Michael Nau �� Good Thing The sound of this album is a joy, with warm tones and an obvious hiss akin to old records; this track is the most lovely of the lot.

Peter Perret – Living In My Head This is real climbing up the walls, in your head, blues-esque stuff; how Peter Perret has come back from the brink to deliver this kind of great music is anyone’s guess.

Broken Social Scene – Vanity Pail Kids Industrial pounding opening and a soaring indie chorus.

Holy Fuck – Chains Oh Holy Fuck; this is scary techno, which piles on the layers of noise and pounding beats until your ears bleed; it has it’s time and place, but I love it.

Public Service Broadcasting – The Pit Top band, with another great idea for an album; battle like drums and swelling guitar swirls and strings.

Dan Croll – Tokyo Classy pop song-writing with an absolute earworm of a motif.

Jesus on Heroine – Neu!comers A glorious bed of guitars and gentle swells.

Kacy & Clayton – The Light of Day Some 70s folk sounds, bordering on country vocals, warm yet clear.

Chris Forsyth – Have We Mistaken the Bottle for the Whiskey Inside There is that groove; reminds me a bit of a favourite from last year, The Wave Pictures, in the instrumentation, except this has more drawl.

LCD Soundsystem – how do you sleep? So fucking good; the definitive 101 on how to create a build in a song; ominous percussion, unnerving strings, savagely brilliant lyrics (perhaps a touch Bono-esque), which has drop after drop as each instrument is introduced, building to the brilliant titular pay-off; my only gripe is that James didn’t fucking play it live!!!

The Horrors – Something To Remember Me By Great band, great album, and an absolute banger.

The War On Drugs – Pain Guitar solos; hummable, glorious, soaring guitar solos.

The Killers – The Man This is the best song of the year (except LCD obviously); a groovalicious squelchy lyrical monster; it’s USDA certified lean!

Thee Oh Sees – Animated Violence The heaviest Thee Oh Sees (or whatever they’re calling themselves these days) have ever been; a giant slab of heavy sludge interspersed with bizarre guitar arpeggios.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Anthem for No State, Pt.III I consider myself lucky to be here at a time I can see Godspeed play live; they are truly peerless. This best track from their latest album comes across like an apocalyptic mariachi song, with strings, guitars, drums, building to a trademark cacophony before the subtle transition at 6:20 which carries you away; beautiful, mournful noise.

Neil Young – Captain Kennedy Not strictly new music, but from the unreleased ‘Hitchhiker’ album released earlier this year, this is Neil at his folky acoustic best.

Juju – And Play A Game A bizarre but wonderful song built upon one repetitive bass line, which literally has about a dozen genres stuffed in it; stick with it though, and from roughly 2 minutes in it is motorik gold.

Marilyn Manson – SAY10 Manson doing what Manson does best; that chorus is one of the hookiest things I’ve heard all year, and the guitars sound absolutely on point, just the right about of crunch.

St. Vincent – Smoking Section I think of this as Annie’s broadway showtune of sorts, like ‘A Man Needs A Maid’, but it’s more than that, it’s personal, mournful, and yes theatrical, but also has a wonderful send off.

Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile – Fear Is Like a Forest Much as I struggle with Courtney’s vocal delivery, she does sound great here, and with Kurt layering on the Crazy Horse guitars, it’s just a great track.

Curtis Harding – Ghost Of You Smoky soul and grooves.

New Candys – Tempera Reverb?! Can we get anymore reverb?! Solid psych under 3 minutes!

Baxter Dury – Miami Perhaps the best bassline of the year, slinky and disgusting at the same time, with the lyrics to match depicting a grotesque character amped up to 11, but absolutely delicious.

Baltic Fleet – A la Mortal I have a penchant for crescendo focused instrumental ambient rock, which is exactly what this is.

Pete International Airport – Flowers Of Evil Languid grooves buried beneath ambient textures and Robert Levon Been’s (of BRMC fame) trademark sing/sneer, but transitions into a gentle and quite beautiful outro.

Pretty Lightning – The Rhythm Of Ooze With a distinct whiff of Archie Bronson Outfit, this takes a blues riff and pushes it to the max.

Boubacar Traore – Dis lui que je l’aime comme mon pays Absolutely fantastic acoustic blues from the legendary Malian bluesman; it’s the same progressions and structures but with a vital energy and magnificent instrumental interplay which is as rousing as it is impressive.

#2017 #best of 2017 #new music 2017 #best music 2017 #psych rock #alternative music #rock music #top music 2017

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samanthasroberts · 7 years

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Betches Love This College: The University Of Georgia

College is the best four years (five if you play your cards right) of any betchs life. No no. That wasnt a question. So in honor of college admissions season being like now, were bringing back Betches Love This College. That way, you can pick where to go to school based on important shit like parties and drinking rather than grades and what you want to be when you grow up. Youre welcome in advance.

In terms of where to apply, everyone knows Manhattanites go Ivy League (and Emory), while West Coasters love the Arizona schools. But what about Southern betches? Where tf do they go? The University of Georgia, thats where. UGA has all the cool shit Southern schools are known for like gorgeous people, insane Greek life, an awesome-ish football team, etc., but its also really hard to get into these days so you cant be a total hillbilly and go there. Sorry Alabama, maybe next year. So heres what you need to know.

The People

Greeks: Given that UGA is a massive Southern university, its not exactly groundbreaking that Greek life is no fucking joke. In terms of whos who, you can put them into two categories: old row and new row. Your old row sororities (ADPi, KKG, Theta, XO and Phi Mu) pretty much have the Atlanta private schools on lock, plus rich Texas and North Carolina girls. So unless youre one of those or the worlds hottest legacy, youre not getting in. But dont fret, public school betches. There are a handful of new row sororities that are just as good if not better. KD, ZTA and AOPi are definitely the best.

For the fraternities, theyre exactly what youd expect. Super fratty and douchey. Look out for pledges the first few weeks of school. Theyll be the guys walking around campus in suits who look like they want to fucking kill themselves. Poor kids. Before your 4-5 years are up, youll definitely want to be asked on Old South because who doesnt want to get wasted in an antebellum dress? So make nice with the KAs.

Orientation Leaders: You know the girl in high school who was the head cheerleader, volleyball captain, class president, valedictorian and still managed to volunteer at the local nursing home on the weekends? Yeah, this is what she becomes in college. There are guy OLs too, but that didnt work with my analogy. Every year, 12 people are picked from the entire 30,000+ person student body to help the freshman figure shit out before move-in day. If Taylor Swift had gone to UGA, she probs would have been an OL. Seems like the type.

Hipsters: Besides that Travelocity commercial and being the worlds greatest college town, Athens is a pretty artsy place. Most importantly, it has a kick-ass music scene, so what does that mean? Hipsters be flocking so they can see musicians before they go mainstream. They leave town during home games, hate the Greeks and smoke a lot. Theyre probs photojournalism or lit majors and arent involved in anything on campus because thats for the stereotypical norm. Fucking duh.

Athletes: If youre not one of first three, youre most likely a student athlete. Football players are easy to spot because theyre the massive, Nike-clad guys who ride around campus on red vespas. Have you ever seen a linebacker on a scooter? Its a sight. But tbh, no one really gives a shit about seeing football players. Too common. The athletes to be on the lookout for are the Gymdogs, UGAs badass gymnasts, and Olympians. UGA had like 30 people compete in Rio and they won 10 medals. Thats more than most countries. Pretty fucking impressive. If you see any of the gold medalists, be sure to get that shit on your Snapchat story.

Where To Live

Freshmen: All UGA freshman are required to live in the dorms. Just a heads up, these arent the dorms of Buckingham fucking Palace you see on Pinterest. The box my Tori Burch riding boots came in is bigger than these. But suck it up. Its just a year. In terms of the best dorms to live in, the high-rises are the only way to go. There are a shit ton of other dorms around campus that are nicer, but only weirdos live in those and they arent as fun. Youre here to get shitfaced and meet people, not for the Ritz Carlton-esque amenities.

Sophomores: Assuming you go Greek, and I feel like most of yall reading this will, you move into the sorority house your second year. UGA sorority houses are mansions and can house about 60 girls so hopefully you dont need much alone time. The upsides? You have a chef who cooks all your meals, maids and maintenance people to fix things, and theres always something fun going on. The downsides? No alcohol in the house, no boys upstairs and if you eat all three meals everyday youll get fat.

Upperclassmen: If freshman and sophomore year wasnt enough to get the batshit crazy out of your system, you move to Georgia Heights. This place isnt disgusting like a frat house or anything, its just in the middle of downtown where all the bars and restaurants are so if you live here, youll end up going out every single night. Rent is high because the location is fire and the apartments are super nice. If youre more of a chill upperclassman, you and your friends should rent house in Five Points. Theyre close to Milledge (Greek row) and the stadium so theyre perfect for hosting tailgates and wine nights.

Nightlife

Pauleys: Every night out starts at Pauleys, a crepe bar that serves a billion different beers on tap and insanely cheap bottles of wine. Tbh, no one really goes there to eat, although at least one person at the table will order the chips and Terrapin beer cheese dip or a Nutella banana crepe. The real gem is the Manmosa, which is just a mimosa plus vodka. Aka a regular betch mimosa.

Bourbon: Its technical name is Bourbon Street, but dont call it that or youll look like a newb. This is the closest thing to a freshman bar Athens has. Why no real freshman bar? Because the only places that are 18+ are sketchy af and no one goes there. Im not going to go into the deets about what you need to have in your wallet to get into these 21 and up bars before youre actually of age because I dont want to be liable for your law-breaking ass, but I think youre picking up what Im putting down. If not, talk to your big. Shell hook you up. Back to Bourbon. Its a total shit show because freshman who cant handle their liquor take over the place. But its a rite of passage and its always rated one of the top college bars in the U.S. so if youre in Athens because youre a student or just in town for a game, you have to go there.

College Ave: Along this stretch of downtown are three bars you need to know: Sandbar, City and Silver Dollar. These used to be considered upperclassmen spots, but now you can find pretty much anyone there. Because there are so many bars in Athens (80 in one square mile for all you mathematicians), no one just stays put in one place the whole night because that would be boring. Since these are literally all right next door to each other, theyre super easy to bounce in between when you need a change of pace. These are the places to see and be seen.

Creature Comforts: Besides being one of the best breweries in the whole damn country, Creature Comforts downtown address makes it the perfect spot to pregame a night out or day drink instead of going to class.

Big Events

Shower Cap: In the spring, all the fraternities host huge parties so everyone can cope with the fact that football season is over. Literally every frat has one, but SAEs Shower Cap is the biggest and best of them all. Tbh, I have no idea why were all so obsessed with it. Its just like hundreds, maybe thousands, of blackout people on a fraternity house lawn, but its amazing. Theres always a band and the people watching will give you life.

Twilight: Every year, Athens hosts this crazy bike race called Twilight in the middle of downtown. Three reasons why everyone loves it: 1) This isnt like you and your first grade bestie seeing who can get to the bottom of the hill first. This race is some Lance Armstrong level shit. 2) Its always right before finals week so everyone gets drunk af because theyre actually gonna have to study soon. 3) Open. Container.

Georgia-Florida: All of football season at UGA is a big event, but theres nothing bigger than GAFLA. The school literally plans fall break around it because they know everyone would still bail on class if they didnt. Every year, the game is played in Jacksonville, Fla., but instead of staying close to the stadium, UGA students stay a few hours away in St. Simons. Why? Because its bullshit that its in Florida every year, and Georgians want to keep their tax dollars in state. Im not even kidding. Thats the real reason. The Friday before the game, the entire student body takes over a stretch of beach aka Frat Beach and has a massive cluster fuck of a party. The residents of SSI hate it. The university hates it. But despite their many attempts, theres nothing they can do to stop it.

Drawbacks

Every August, youll think its UGAs year for football and that this team will go all the way. Every October, your hopes and dreams will be shattered. Just go ahead and prepare yourself for football heartbreak.

Parking is a fucking nightmare, the bus drivers are absolute savages, and regardless of which direction youre walking, its miraculously always uphill. So getting around campus is a bitch. But if you take the walking route, youll have a killer ass.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/05/30/betches-love-this-college-the-university-of-georgia/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/05/30/betches-love-this-college-the-university-of-georgia/

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