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thehylianidiot · 6 months

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Whumptober 18: Tortured for Information

Or: Still Alive

Warnings: Past Self Harm, Past Suicidal Thoughts, Graphic Injuries

Everyone in Crime Sorciere had scars.

Came with the territory of growing up in That Place. The cuts that were carved deep into hollowed bellies. The permanent indents on the wrist where magic suppressant cuffs were once fused to the skin. A raspy hint to one’s voice from screaming too loud every time they were yanked from their cells and into a room of lightning and torment for a surprise interrogation, a lethal dosage against the faintest shreds of rebellion that could have grown.

All of what were once Oracion’s Seis’ pillars and foundations could never forget That Place. Jellal had known it far longer, having once embraced it as its new ruler for seven long years until his name and its legacy were one and the same to the rest of the world.

And then there was Meredy.

The woman was an enigma amongst them. Grimoire Heart was considered a sister guild to the Oracion Seis in the eyes of the public, but any interaction between the two was safely kept to a minimum, enough to avoid encroaching on the other’s world domination plans and all that. So they never really knew too much about the so-called weakest of the Kins of Purgatory before meeting her.

Despite arguably rooting for the same team now, there was still that juxtaposition between them and the only one untouched by That Place. More pep and lighthearted comments than snark and cutting words, more than even Richard and his preaching's of love could compete with. Always the most inclined out of them all to scour a new town for merchants willing to barter with them on their never ending road, always the one who kept up morale between those frantic escapes from the law.

The unofficial second-in-command in Crime Sorciere was certainly different from the rest of them, her being not broken and molded under fire and chains but from some other catalyst.

And she had her scars as well.

They weren’t easy to spot, a blink-and-miss sort of detail. A thousand odd scrapes on her arms and legs that could be mistaken for unblemished skin if one didn’t look too closely. The odd mark on her palm most definitely belonged to an old acid burn.

And when her earmuffs slipped and she didn’t correct it fast enough, one could spy a jagged line where half an ear should have been.

A scattered amount of little bits and pieces, barely noticed and under the surface until one night when Jellal was out on their usual errands list like gathering groceries while trying to divert the latest batch of rune knights away from their current camp and Sawyer’s curiosity got the best of him.

“That?” Meredy nervously pointed to her earmuffs. “That’s an old one. I really don’t think it would be interesting to anyone here.”

Everyone leaned in closer.

She didn’t need any magic to get the message behind that one. With a resigned sigh she tapped her wrist, a soft pink flow of her magic slowly swirling around it. “Well… you know how my sensory link works, right?”

“Yeah, we have a basic understanding.” Already growing tired of old information, Macbeth rested their head against their leg as if they were about to fall asleep at any minute. “Connecting the emotional energy of whoever you choose.”

“And the pain.” The glow slowly faded along with the last dregs of warmth in her voice. “I had to get used to Grimoire pretty quickly after my parents passed, so I kinda tried doing whatever I could to keep up with training. And I was willing to put up with a lot of pain.”

Her somber gaze wandered to her scared legs. “Eventually, they found my talents were also good for interrogations.”

A chill blew across the camp, the fire not daring to rise a flicker above the embers.

“What do you think is more effective, someone getting hurt themselves or watching a little girl volunteer to have half her ear cut while getting to feel the entire experience?”

Nobody needed to turn around to know Erik was wincing as four other imaginations and one memory ran rampant.

Meredy reluctantly nodded. “I…wasn’t in a good place at the time. It was really either that or…”

A shaky breath tore through her as she gripped her chest tight. “I think that’s when Ultear brought to the higher ups the idea of transferring me to our reconnaissance-based division. I really wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her.”

The glint of tears began to form around her eyes.“But I guess I’m still alive now.”

Their second-in-command seemed so fragile then, the way her lips trembled, her voice shaking and tears trailing down her face as she whimpered into her hands.

Sorano reached over, pausing with a hesitation born of complete inexperience in the ways of comfort before placing it slowly on the other woman’s shoulder. “It’s okay. We’re all still alive now.”

“Yeah, that’s part of what we’re here for right?” Erik gestured to all of them. “Living past our sins and all that?”

Sawyer placed a hand on her other shoulder. “Every single day, no matter what.”

Macbeth nodded. “Finding our peace.”

“And love,” Richard declared.

They all huddled around the ex-Grimoire mage, waiting as the seconds and minutes passed until she could wipe away the tears and lift her head up proudly.

“Yeah, it is.” And with a chuckle, their second-in-command was back to her usual lighthearted self. “You should have seen me back when I was a Kin of Purgatory though. I’d say I could rank a list of targets more accurate than anyone.”

“Oh, anyone you say?” Erik snickered. “You mean to tell me if we place bets now on what would happen if we do a guild-wide fight, you’d have us all beat?”

“Honestly it depends a little bit on the setup, but I think I can manage.”

Sawyer laughed. “Oh come on, anyone with half a brain’s gonna say Jellal’s gonna be target number one.”

Actually…” Realizing she had caught herself, Meredy lowered her hand. “Jellal would be the lowest priority. Which is honestly pretty funny ‘cause you’d all be ganging up on him. ”

They all stared at her.

“No really, he’d be holding back against all of you and then forfeit when it’s down to the final two.” She began pointing to each of them one by one. “Erik, your poison puts you in a similar spot so you’d be second lowest. Sorano would struggle in a free-for-all so as long as it isn’t down to three competitors her priority is low, Macbeth will lose motivation halfway through, Richard packs a punch but announces everything, and Sawyer is arguably the biggest threat if he gets to the outskirts due to the possibility of a surprise attack.”

Silence echoed across the camp.

“Huh,” Sorano shrugged. “Lesson learned, never get into any free-for-alls with you.”

#whumptober 2023 #no.18 #Tortured for Information #fairy tail #tw self h4rm #tw sui ideation #fairy tail meredy #crime sorciere #and its crime sorciere week #I did a two for one

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nimblermortal · 9 months

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Fic Request

(This is not really a fic request, it's something Tea and I are cooking up because we are cooking up too many Tamora Pierce fics in the course of rereading. But I am writing the rest of the Witcher fic and then I will come round and scoop them all. Probably. Maybe. Plot bunnies, y'know?)

@hello-delicious-tea

So George Cooper is not an idiot, and when he sends a pocket full of darkings to Aly, he keeps one of the batch. This allows him to know everything that's going on during the Copper Isles rebellion, and keep an eye on his daughter. Easy win!

George has been watching the proceedings in the Copper Isles for months thinking, "What is Aly going to do about Dunevon? She's going to have to kill a five-year-old - maybe two five-year-olds - and that is a sucky thing to do and also bad for her soul" and trying to figure how to get out of it.

Imajane and Rubinyan cook up their plan to kill Dunevon. There is a brief Macbeth-style argument about it, in which Imajane proposes this plan - mostly as a fait accompli - to Rubinyan, who goes, "It seems a bit ridiculously evil to kill a five-year-old for power we already have" and Imajane gives him a disgusted look and tells him to screw his courage to the sticking place.

This occurs within range of Rubinyan's darking. Because of time zones, it reports to George first, who goes, "They're solving the five-year-old problem for us? That's gr - that's awful." He thinks for a moment, and tells his darking, "Do not let anyone tell Aly, it will only upset her and there's nothing she can do. I'm very sorry you had to know about this. Why don't you go talk to Daine and take your mind off your troubles?"

So the darking hops down the hall to Daine's room, where they have a very pleasant chat, as far as it is concerned. (The darking's name is Tameran's Finest Black Raspberry Marmalade from the First Flush of the Season. Daine calls it Marmie.)

Daine is a new mom. George has experience with new moms. When Alanna was nine months pregnant he had to repeatedly stop her from dueling commoners over the welfare of their toddlers. He is correctly confident that she has the skills to solve this problem, and sure enough, Marmie sobs its guts up to Daine, who declares this will happen over her dead body and talks to some friends.

When the boat breaks up, there are dolphins waiting to pluck Dunevon and Elsren from the sea. They arrive in Pirate's Swoop at the same time Daine does, where she backs George into a corner and forces him to find a place to take care of these poor boys. (George has a great time. He also talks Daine out of sending parrots to tell Winna and Taybur exactly what happened to their sons because those poor parents.)

So instead Daine sends a parrot to Taybur to squawk DOLPHIN at him every time the subject comes up when he's alone. It's. It's a bit ham-handed, honestly, he gets the point.

~~Meanwhile~~ the coup has gone off successfully, Dove is queen and one of her first goals is to put as much distance between her mother's other surviving child and the throne as possible. This is difficult since she is fourteen and hasn't even gotten her period yet, but she's auditioning suitors from day one, and puts Aly in charge of scouting them. Aly is discovering her skills as matchmaker. Particularly politically, when if Dove chooses a raka or a luarin there will be consternation. Ideally she needs a well-footed raka with Connections, but there aren't a lot of those. Dove, horrifyingly, has suggested compromising by choosing a crow as royal consort, and even has a preferred candidate who has agreed to mate-feed her.

Aly solves this problem by sending the crow off on a Grand Tour to learn to cook insects. And, because she is a splendid matchmaker, she also sends Winna to take her mind off her problems, Petranne to keep her out of the way of other schemers, and Taybur to be Petranne's bodyguard. Because Taybur needs a new kid to guard, poor guy, and she thinks Taybur and Winnamine would be a cute couple.

Taybur proposes an itinerary of nearby beaches, because he deserves to relax on the beach, dammit. Some nice coastal regions within a reachable distance of a day boating trip from Rajmuat. And as they are relaxing on the beach, a fellow comes up to him and offers him a cocktail from the traditional recipe of the Homewood family in Fief Tameran.

(This is a code signal. Taybur gives the wrong answer, so the profferer goes on to sell cocktails to other groups. There is, somewhere, a spy with the right response; George is economical.)

Taybur goes, "There is no Homewood family in Fief Tameran, I checked. Unless." So he quietly adds Tameran to their itinerary, where he and Winna seek out the Homewood family and find two orphaned boys of the exact ages of their lost sons, who look nothing like them, because Numair shape changed them and they are not mages and can't shapeshift back. (Daine's eldest thinks this is very funny.) And they adopt these boys, and everyone everywhere goes, "Oh, these poor sad adults, adopting orphans the same age as their lost boys" and sheds tears.

By the end of their tour Winna has married Taybur (Aly is such a successful matchmaker) for plausible deniability and to immigrate to Carthak because there's a little too much Tortallan spying in their private lives and they for sure don't want to be in the Copper Isles. (Zaimid got Sarai Carthaki citizenship so Sarai can get Winna citizenship and Winna can get Petranne and Duny and Alaren citizenship, but they can only get Taybur citizenship if he's married to Winna.) They coparent so good.

Back in the Isles, Dove turns seventeen and immediately be-consorts the crow, who has returned from his Grand Tour and is prepared to feed her bags of lime and chili pepper fried crickets. He is not raka. He is not luarin. He is not foreign. He is the direct son of the Dawn Crow, and his children are the Dawn Crow's grandchildren. He is the most garish person at the Island's court (fashion is not becoming more restrained and Aly is horrified) and sometimes sits on top of the throne. He is very good in bed.

They have children very fast so that they can mob Dove's enemies, which the half-crow children are in fact down for. There is a period, in their childhood, during which you can tell when a courtier has lost standing in court not by any forced gifts or exile but because a horde of children erupts from a bush screaming and beating the courtier with their arms/wings. Kyprioth is so pleased.

Dove declares that her heir will be whichever oldest child reaches adulthood and decides to continue as a human, not a crow. This bizarre gavelkind sort of operation stumps people considering assassination of the heir for their own purposes. Remaining problem: the kids keep throwing themselves off the execution cliff because, as grandchildren of the Dawn Crow, they can still turn into crows themselves and it's Fun.

#fic request

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natequarter · 1 year

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15 and 16 for the oc ask game :D

15: How does your OC interact with the canon narrative? What about it do they change?

i'm going to do this for a couple of ocs, because some of them interact very directly and some of them intentionally have no impact:

clarence (based off one of the ghosts named by robin in gone gone) was a gardener at button house during the 1860s (roughly; i can't be arsed to do the maths). he doesn't have much impact on the canon timeline, but it is notable that it was because of george button that he died: george dared him to skate on the lake and, well, it cracked. whoops! cue george quietly walking away from the lake, whistling faux-innocently. he's good mates with robin, but not for very long, and as such is more or less forgotten as time goes by.

my ghosts in france are pretty much as distanced from the canon narrative as is possible; sophie is the only link to button house, and even then it's still pretty tenuous. they're aware of her connection to humphrey, but that's about it; i have a whole gag about how marius and estienne barely even know that england exists at all. it's safe to say that they change nothing about the canon narrative, lol.

arthur de bohun is i think my only canon divergent oc - he's humphrey and sophie's kid from something i'm writing - and he's more or less just the result if 'but what if humphrey... was happy?' (and 'what if humphrey and sophie... loved each other?' very important questions being asked here.) he primarily changes humphrey's life - in this timeline the bone plot never happens, so the ownership of button house passes neatly down to arthur and for about half a century things actually do end up happily ever after, at least until the civil war hits. anyway, what you need to know about arthur is that he's a dog person, and very moody as a teenager, and in 1605 he visits london to watch macbeth, because i just realised that he would be the right age to do that, and i love macbeth. oh, and he speaks both english and french from a young age, so there are points when he's a toddler where humphrey is attempting to play with him and he points at something in french and humphrey's just like, 'what???'

16: What aspect(s) of the universe's lore are they connected to? Do they change/add lore to the universe?

more clarence, because he fits these questions well:

based on the younger ghosts' reactions to annie in the thomas thorne affair, i have clarence as the last ghost to be sucked off at button house until mary. i don't think the captain, pat, or julian are really used to the idea of older ghosts or ghosts getting sucked off; clarence moves on a few years after fanny dies (it's all a bit full circle for him) after, and i'm quite proud of this one, 'only a taste of fanny.'

a couple of my ocs are (loosely) linked to how robin got the name robin: diuset (a celtic leader) dislikes robin, and only really connects to him, on the grounds of nature, and as such (long, long before the word robin was even used for the bird) at one point compares him to the actual bird. william de beaumont (a cringefail norman knight and would-be crusader) suggests the name robin (itself a diminutive of the norman name robert) to robin, but it doesn't initially stick and when william moves on c. 1590 robin forgets about it for a while, because it hurts. neither of them are the ones who give him the name, though.

i have quite a few ocs linked to humphrey's ancestry: his father, nicholas, and more importantly his grandfather, edmund, who is the one to be given button house (then called something else, but hopefully not bone house, because that sounds like a brothel) by henry vii. also, he's left-handed, which is obviously very important.

ownership speedrun: elizabeth's (another of those gone gone ghosts) family own button house prior to the de bohuns; before the 1300s, i headcanon that there was another house in place of the village, this time owned by the happily married but honestly rather useless geoffrey and his wife matilda (c. 1150s - this is quite a bit back); even further back, in the late 1000s (after the norman conquest), it's owned by william de beaumont. and back before 1066, it's just a village.

i mention all this because my ocs are mostly connected to button house and robin's backstory, before anything else - and if they're not connected to robin, they're connected to humphrey and sophie, because, well, i have priorities.

(link)

#asks #thank you for asking!! this was so much fun #is it evident that i have so much underlying lore #that i haven't even begun to get into here?#hang on this needs some character tags #humphrey bone #robin #bbc ghosts

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webcomixwastaken · 2 years

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Disc world flowcharts please. I need to know where not to start. thanks

Oop sorry anon that I was very out of it [by it I mean tumblr] the past few days but I GOT YOU.

Except my flowchart is in the form of a Lot Of Words, so buckle up buddy.

So, let's start with my own Discworld journey. I started with Mort which is the first book in the "Death" line and the fourth in chronological publishing order. Which I think is a Not Bad place to start because it's still quite early on so it doesn't reference too many happenings in the overall universe, but Pratchett was already in the groove of things so he understood his series' vibe a lot better. (Note: I read Colour of Magic VERY late in my Discworld reading game and I'm glad for it.) The whole point after all is to give Death a little bit of personhood. And as a character who pops up quite frequently in all the other books, it's great to get to know Death well so you can greet him like an old friend... like, on the page. Not actually. At least, I hope. The rest of this line are just some crackin' great stories and if I remember correctly, I have teared up if not loudly sniffled at least once per book. Especially when we get Susan’s introduction in Soul Music (I’m also always a sucker for band stories). Loved Thief of Time too though but maybe it's just because it's vaguely linked to Night Watch; more info below.

But if you're the type of person who likes some good ol' plot then the City Watch is for you!! Guards Guards was my own second DW read, and from there I actually gobbled up the entire City Watch line because well. I like plot. But this is Discworld so you do still get some great character development, both with individual stories and over the course of the series. The City Watch is comprised of some of Discworld's most dynamic and nuanced characters like Carrot, Angua, Cheery, Detritus and of course, Commander Samuel Vimes. Some standouts from this line are Feet of Clay and Night Watch which is literally Back to the Future meets Les Miserables, two of my favourite things.

Okay, you say. I like character development immensely but wasn’t this supposed to be ~fantasy~? Just look to Granny Weatherwax, the usual protagonist of most books in the Witches line which begins with Equal Rites. Like Vimes, she’s the walking representation of Good is not Nice and the antics of her coven bring her into (mostly reluctant) contact with wizards, royals, fae, vampires, and, in Maskerade, stuffy opera managers who are haunted by musical prodigies lurking in the basement. So if you also like a good spoof of a well known story, read the Witches line! There’s Wyrd Sisters for Macbeth, Witches Abroad will give you Cinderella, and Lords & Ladies covers A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Speaking of wizards, let’s talk about the OG Discworld protagonist, Rincewind. Honestly? I’m the least invested in him. Like I mentioned before, The Colour of Magic is the first Discworld book technically but it does have some early installment weirdness. I was more entertained by Ridcully and his crew of dramatic pedants. I’ll put in a good word for Interesting Times because well. We are in an era of protest and especially so for my side of the world. I would say to read this line after the other ones because I personally needed to be invested in the Discworld itself before committing myself to Rincewind. I actually think I haven’t even finished all these books yet?? I’m pretty certain I stopped at The Last Hero which is truly an ensemble number so please do read a few City Watch books to fully enjoy it, but that’s mostly because my library doesn’t have Unseen Academicals. But I CAN say I needed little convincing to care about Luggage.

There are a couple of stand-alones that could be grouped together but more thematically rather than narratively: Pyramids and Small Gods for religion (personally I'd go with Small Gods first), The Truth and Moving Pictures for industry.

I have actually not read any of the Tiffany Aching* books, nor have I gotten to Moist Von Lipwig which I acknowledge may somewhat void my ability to suggest a Discworld reading order but it just goes to show you how much there is to this series.

TL;DR?: Or you can just look at this handy graphic which I keep bookmarked as a personal checklist to remind myself what I haven’t read yet. But I really enjoyed this opportunity to ramble about Discworld so thank you, anon.

*Hmmm I really should, so I can use it as a Harry Potter alternative for my students

#Discworld #Terry Pratchett #Comix rambles

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gonkwrites · 2 months

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Elite the Spanish Netflix show is a true tragedy

If you were around during 2018 and early 2020 on YouTube, you have seen the edits and potentially had been equally obsessed as I was with the Spanish Netflix show Elite. Which centres around Spain’s most wealthy high schoolers who experience murder as 3 scholarship students enter their school Las Encinas. A lot of the character arcs and plots directly mirror Shakespeare. While I’m unsure whether or not this is intentional I wanted to point out some solid comparisons between the show and Shakespeare’s body of work. Additionally, I’m vaguely aware of the ideology that almost all modern literature and media throughout the ages follow classics like Shakespeare because we as humans can’t help but draw inspiration from everything and anything we see, read and listen to. However, I find it interesting that each season (the later ones not as much) follows a similar structure and loosely follows a Shakespearean tragic storyline. I would also like to point out that I will only be covering seasons 1-3 because after that the show essentially recycles the same storylines. Therefore I will only be covering the original characters’ story arcs throughout those seasons, characters like Patrick, Ari, Mencía and more will not be covered.

The iconic structure of Elite

The structure of Elite follows a similar one to that of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. While being a tenuous connection, both flash between the present and the past through the perspective of the central characters. That comparison has no relevance except for pointing out the show structure which I’m aware isn’t unique just to Elite and Death of a Salesman. The season starts with, of course, a crime needing solving. In season one it was Marina’s murder, then in the second Samuel’s fake abduction and finally in the third Polo’s death. As I stated before, each episode delves into the outlooks of different characters, the first ever episode being from the standpoint of the new scholarship students- Samuel, Nadia and Christian. Each is interviewed by ‘Inspectora’ or the inspector in the present and flashing back to the leading up events. What makes this structure so intriguing is the fact that the different perspectives make the entire suspect list unreliable narrators as they all have different versions of their own stories. While the facts are laid out, a lot of the information is withheld from the viewer. Again, I’m aware this is a common trait for all murder mysteries but it’s the combination of tragic features and murder mystery features that is interesting to me. My favourite season, the third, makes a direct reference to this by naming each episode with the character that it is in the perspective of. Allowing every character to become the protagonist of their story, even if they are the killer like Polo. This is because Polo wasn’t the villain, he was just unlucky enough to be another wealthy and entitled Las Encinas student who was never questioned by the adults around him for his violent or malevolent behaviour and lashed out towards Marina. Like how Guzman almost killed the scholarship student who gave Marina HIV. Polo became a victim of his environment and that led to his tragic fall. The point I’m trying to make is that through the structure, each character can play out their Shakespearean tragedies. Some even recreate multiple.

Tragedy and Elite

The most tragic part of Elite is watching the protagonist Samuel Garcia, a naive, loyal and noble character turn into the person he most resents. Marina’s killer. Samuel the show's tragic hero, becomes corrupt with power. As he falls deeper and deeper into high society Spain he takes on Polo’s role as Carla’s boyfriend. In that way, Samuel becomes Macbeth and therefore Marina’s killer. Carla is both a tragic victim and a villain in the same way Polo is a villain. She committed the crime and is therefore a villain yet she still appears as a victim. Though Polo appears to be Macbeth and Carla Lady Macbeth at the surface level, the show structure allows viewers to humanise them in a way that we wouldn’t usually. We’ve grown such a close relationship with everyone that it is hard to see one character as evil and the other as good. This is because we’ve seen every character’s point of humanity and point of inhumanity. Marina is through and through a tragic victim, she is an admirable woman and character, uncorrupt even though she is surrounded by power and she is resilient despite all her misfortunes. Despite all this, she dies from it. Dying from the competitive circumstances wealthy parents put their children in. Regardless, she was two-timing and drove a wedge between two brothers. Now I’m not saying she deserved to die, but in tragedy typically the tragic victim is an entirely innocent woman or character who is collateral damage of the hero’s tragic fall. The fact that Marina is presented as separated from that corrupted part of society she’s so closely connected with but still is in some ways equally evil makes it in my opinion even more tragic. However, perhaps Marina is the modern-day tragic victim who is the manic pixie dream girl. We get to know these characters so intimately that knowing the factual events right at the end makes us question our morals. Learning Marina dies halfway through season 1 begs the question of whether her death makes her past actions excusable. Does that make it right that Samuel later dates Carla? Does that make her a tragic hero if she is flawed? Having every character be flawed takes away from Elite’s classical and traditional aspects of tragedy but in that way creates a modern and personal tragedy that the public can relate to. Arthur Miller wrote on the topic of tragedy in his essay called ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’, “That the tragic mode is archaic, fit only for the very highly placed, kings or the kingly… I believe that the common man is apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were”. So to combine that idea with the supposed elites of Spain, humanising them further contributes to this idea. Making tragedy relatable, is the modern version of Shakespearean and Greek tragedy. Additionally, the protagonist of the tragedy Samuel, is a common man who is noble but corrupted by power leading to his tragic demise later on in the series when he dies. Just like Macbeth. However, Polo is the one who follows Macbeth’s arc scripturally and mentally.

Elite and Romeo and Juliet

It is given that multiple characters in a show about the working class meeting the disgustingly rich in their cushy private school will follow the Romeo and Juliet tale. The ones that come to mind first are Samuel and Marina, Guzman acting as Marina’s overbearing bitter father- Capulet. The two struggle through forbidden love, Marina a child of wealthy and influential parents and Samuel a poor scholarship student. Their love is similarly kept secret like Romeo and Juliet when they get married in secret and their love causes their tragic demise. Marina dies in part because of their love- or more her love for his brother as she steals Carla’s father’s watch to run away with Nano. When Marina dies, a part of Samuel dies. That part of him that is oblivious to the black hole that is wealth and the consequences that come from it and being surrounded by it. By season two, Samuel is a far more angry and vengeful person, rid of the passive and kind person he once was. Evident in his later relationship with Carla. You could also argue that Nano is Marina’s Romeo too in a similar way to Samuel but represents a darker and more complicated love that further escalates Samuel’s transformation. He loses not only a part of himself but also a section of his support system- his brother Nano.

Another example is Ander and Omar who share more of a similar conflicting worlds to Romeo and Juliet. Omar’s religious parents cannot accept his sexuality and Ander’s father cannot accept that through his love for Omar, he mustered up the courage to tell him he doesn’t like tennis and additionally does not fit the hyper-masculine jock perspective that his father has of him. What’s interesting about their relationship is that Ander isn’t from a wealthy family like the other Las Encinas kids- his mother is just the principal. That being said he is certainly meant to be wealthier than the scholarship kids however this makes it so that the conflict within Omar and Ander’s relationship is not about wider social status disparities but because of conflicting families. Mirroring Romeo and Juliet’s tragic circumstances. Through Omar’s parents, a more nuanced and complex version of Romeo and Juliet is explored through homosexuality and what that factor means to people like sportsmen and the elite.

Being Omar’s sister, Nadia shares an equal problem with him. Except Nadia and Guzman are truly two conflicting families and two conflicting worlds. They are emblematic of the Romeo and Juliet story in Elite. Guzman is immediately not accepted by Nadia’s father as a white and entitled man and Nadia is immediately not accepted by Guzman’s world as she is forced to conform to it to be with him as a Muslim woman. Though the show rather ignorantly presents her transformation of losing her faith as being rather liberating I see it more as her being sucked into the vacuum of wealth just like Samuel. Losing the true, good and noble aspects of themselves. In letting go of her religion, she lets go of herself and her identity and morphs into the one expected of Guzman’s white and cutthroat world. Guzman however does not die metaphorically or literally at the hands of their love, perhaps he loses a part of himself through his sister's death. The only thing their love does for him is humble him, and make him more of a likeable and grounded person. Possibly in this way, the arrogant and entitled element of him dies for his benefit.

Elite and Othello

The writers of 'Elite' exhibit a disturbing and almost perverse obsession with threesomes and throuples as a continuous plot point. It is unsurprising, then, that the homoerotic trio of Othello is mirrored in multiple characters. That trio is Desdemona, Othello and Iago. The most obvious being Carla, Polo and Christian. Polo early on in season 1 takes on the role of Iago, controlling and almost obsessing over this pornographic image of the fair lady being dominated by the rougher and more oppressed male ‘soldier’. Though Polo and Carla start as the initial relationship, Carla and Christian form a far more emotional and true relationship within their trio. Whereas Polo seems more sexually obsessed with the two, in a similarly confused homosocial way Iago had towards Othello and an equal obsession with the Madonna being adulterated into the whore like Desdemona. Both Christian and Carla are brought to their tragic falls by Polo’s corruption, Carla being made accomplice albeit by her own choice and Christian again losing that same part Samuel lost when he joined Las Encinas. Additionally falling further by trying to speak up and gain his lost self back but is hospitalised by Carla’s father and bribed into silence by offering to pay for his surgery in Switzerland. Further succumbing to the power of wealth which he can no longer escape. Additionally both of them through their tragic blindness fall because of Polo’s corruption just as Othello and Desdemona fall because of Iago’s Machiavellianism.

To take Iago out of the equation, the Garcia brothers and Marina share a similar story to Cassio, Desdemona and Othello. Marina and Samuel act as Othello and Desdemona, both infatuated with each other or rather the stereotype they represent. Samuel represents the opposite of Elite society Marina is trying to escape and Marina represents the world Samuel is trying to enter and be accepted by. Therefore their relationship shares the same superficiality as Desdemona and Othello’s relationship as Othello values Desdemona as a prize of being a desirable and pure white woman and she values Othello as a masculine and dominating black general. This equal fetishisation is reflected in Marina and Samuel. Nano comes in as Cassio almost, another working-class man infatuated by Marina’s wild spirit and wealth just as Cassio is another nobleman mesmerised by Desdemona’s beauty and purity. However, he differs from Cassio’s character as he genuinely did have an affair with the other guy’s woman. Either way, they all cause each other's tragic demise: Marina’s death, Samuel’s metamorphosis and Nano’s banishment (being accused of killing Marina and then fleeing the country).

Lu takes control of her ‘play’ in a similar way to Iago. Manipulating Guzman into trying to seduce Nadia and take her virginity- she does this out of pure jealousy and maliciousness just like Iago. What’s more, as I stated before Iago has a perverse obsession with the virtuous woman becoming ‘tainted’ and Lu finding intrigue in the Muslim woman going against her faith and acting out of pure lust echoes this. Perhaps she even shares the same homoerotic obsession with Iago. She therefore exploits those around her to try and cause Nadia’s demise, in this way Nadia is Othello and Guzman Desdemona. She is an outsider because of her race and religion and Lu’s obsession with that fact is reminiscent of Iago’s fixation with Othello’s race. She also discards her Muslim values to fit in with the predominantly white environment of Las Encinas. Just as Othello denounces his Ottoman heritage and religion and takes on the image of a model Christian man.

Elite and Macbeth

Perhaps the writers were aiming for more of a Bonnie and Clyde feel for Polo and Carla but what I see more is Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This parallel is drawn because Polo kills Marina, and Carla helps cover it up for him before she is consumed by guilt and edges towards letting herself become an accessory to murder and telling the police the truth. When Christian’s pre- Las Encinas self is consumed by the corruption of the wealthy he is similar to Banquo’s ghost haunting the school hallways and Carla and Polo. As they watch him become a shell of the enthusiastic and lively person he once was. This is the main drive for Carla to want to confess, she wants to be free of her guilt towards Christian. Not because she killed him directly but because they formed such a personal relationship within their three-man couple she feels a responsibility for Christian’s corruption of becoming an accessory to their crime. This feeling is solidified further when Carla’s father hospitalises and bribes Christian and directly hobbles him both mentally and physically permanently. The guilt Polo feels towards Marina is also a similar personal responsibility to Duncan and Macbeth as Marina is his best friend's sister. Therefore Polo is Macbeth, Carla Lady Macbeth and Marina Duncan.

A less obvious version of this tragedy would be Samuel and Carla as I said before when stepping into Carla’s bed he steps into Polo’s role of Macbeth. I think this idea is confirmed in season 3 when Polo dies, and in that way, Polo sort of becomes Duncan for Samuel in a more tenuous and complicated way. Samuel takes his kingly position as the sexual partner of the wealthy and beautiful Marquise. While Lu is Polo’s killer I think Samuel is the one who truly finishes off Polo as he leads the plot to collectively cover up his murder. Therefore not allowing him justice because of Polo’s past crimes and taking his girlfriend he kills Polo and steals his throne. Additionally, Marina is presented as Banquo in Samuel and Carla’s relationship as her ghost haunts him, especially at the beginning of his pursuit of Carla. Though initially he intended to find justice for her he ended up being just as bad as the rest of them. He initially is consumed by guilt with his infatuation for Carla but kind of has an opposite transformation to Macbeth because he changes from being extremely weak-minded to being very strong-willed. His transgression is him having the confidence and power of a wealthy man while still being working-class. That being said Carla and Samuel are my favourite relationships in the show because of how complex yet passionate their relationship truly is.

#essay #essay writing #elite #elite cast #shakespeare #othello #romeo and juliet #macbeth #william shakespeare #english literature #tragedy #critical essay

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maybeamiles · 9 months

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One piece time! This time I'm covering Fishman Island, and doing it a bit differently.

I'm writing down my thoughts as I watch the episodes, then I'm gonna go back through once I hit a good stopping point and edit them to be more cohesive, with a lightning round of my favorite moments at the end. This is gonna be a longer post, so here's a cut to make things easier on everyone.

It seems there are some similarities between this arc and the last one. Last time, even with some of the strongest people in the world by his side, Luffy failed to save Ace and his crew. I think this arc is meant to show us just how much stronger everyone has gotten.

Now, at first, I thought Hordy would have gotten the energy steroids from Doflamingo or Big Mam, since they might've benefited from the unrest at Fishman Island. I also thought Hordy might have been Fisher Tiger's son once they started talking about his "true identity."

I was wrong on both fronts. Everything about Hordy was created from circumstances on Fishman Island. It makes thematic sense. One of the biggest themes in One Piece is the idea of "inherited will." AKA: Our most valuable legacies are our dreams. On Fishman Island, we also see inherited trauma. This explains why Otohime wanted to move everyone above land. It wasn't to save the fishmen from humans, it was to save the fishmen from themselves. By refusing to pass on their hatred, they're trying to keep the spark of hope alive in people.

AND SPEAKING OF INHERITED WILL- Fire fist Ace! Luffy is using Ace's power! He's carrying his brother with him! He doesn't want anyone else to die because of what happened before.

And that blood transfusion scene? The people behind that deserve a raise. The music choice and timing were amazing. It really highlighted exactly what was behind this moment, which to us seems so simple Really shows that a good song and visual motif can elevate a scene.

I'm looking forward to the new world and seeing what Big Mam is all about. I've heard Wholecake Island does great things for our boy Sanji, that should be fun.

LIGHTNING ROUND:

The "Luffy Vs. Jimbei" Episode made me laugh at how little fighting there actually was.

The squid who swam too close to the sun and his still-living pal are references to Daedelus and Icarus.

Hordy's bleached redesign is one of my personal favorite tropes.

It took me waaaay too long to realize the guy in the intro with the straw hat was Rodger, not Luffy

Of Course Hordy pulled a Macbeth and killed the person he framed for the queen's death, classic.

Robin needs to have a "Gigantesco Pie" attack ("Pie" is Spanish for foot). It bugged me when she called her giant kick attack "Gigantesco Mano" which would be "giant hand"

I do however love how all of Robin's attacks are Spanish. Lets me flex what little Spanish I do know.

Sanji's moonwalk is amazing.

Franky got the magical girl transformation he deserves.

I love the "Honk" sound his tank makes when it fires.

Surume is officially the best straw hat pet.

I look forward to the day when Zoro gets to properly duel someone of his skill level

#one piece #one piece reaction #fishman island #tw blood transfusion #tbh that wasn't much of a lightning round #but I've said everything I want to

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dangermousie · 2 years

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I am IN LOVE with the first ep of Destan, a period show that just started in Turkey.

Taking place in the 8th century, the story revolves around our heroine, Akkiz, who spends 90% of her screen time in the first episode murdering people in eye liner, as well she should.

Akkiz is a warrior in the mountain tribe, who has a lifelong vendetta against the Khan of the sky tribe.

When she was a girl, her father, a warrior, was slain by the sky khan in front of her eyes and now she makes the old khan’s life a misery, robbing his caravans and freeing his slaves.

But let’s back up. Why did old khan murder her dad? Well, he found out his wife n2, from the mountain tribe, betrayed his army to the Chinese and when he survived, came home to murder her, then rode to murder her dad, the old mountain khan, and also by-the-by murdered Akkiz’s dad, which I am sure he doesn’t even remember.

Oh, and another important thing - he decided his murder spree would be a great father-son bonding moment for his son Batuga. “Take your child to work day” acquires a whole new meaning, when you murder his mother and his grandfather in front of his eyes, all the while declaring how you are the greatest victim and he cannot cry for his mother EVER.

In fact, the only bright spot in that excursion from hell was Batuga and Akkiz’s meeting. She saw the devastated boy her age and gave him one of the wooden swords her father carved (it was right before her dad was murdered.)

Yes, the OTP meet as children, kdrama-style.

The wooden sword becomes Batuga’s talisman that he carts around even as an adult, which everyone assumes is just another weird quirk of the mute half-wit.

OK, backing up again. How did the smart, fearless little boy (who limped and had a hand that didn’t work but was in possession of sharp wits) become someone called “half-wit Tegin” even by the servants? Well, father of the year decided that his mom was from the mountain tribe, so what if he also grows up to be a traitor. How about a bit of filicide to finish off the evening? Batuga fainted in terror which stopped the execution and when he woke up, he was a mute half-wit with no memory. Well...

Also, watching their brother get murdered makes a good family entertainment for the rest of the kids, per the Khan.

See this blond kid? Name’s Temur, one of Batuga’s two half-brothers. So far, he’s the only decent member of the royal family, because when all the cray cray adults discuss murdering a small kid for the sin of who his mother is, he points out he’s family and also no threat, being someone who walks with a limp and has a hand who doesn’t work. When charming daddy starts to have a kid executed in front of the court, Temur is the SOLE person who tries to stop it, and when Batuga faints, he does free himself and runs to him. He grows up to be a powerful blond warrior, a good brother, and a perfect Mousie thirst trap.

He has an arranged marriage with some Chinese princess and they both don’t like each other due to the fact that their families are enemies (marriage was one of the ways to prevent another war) but I ship them because hot people.

Temur also remains the only family member who genuinely cares for Batuga as an adult. He won’t let his own mother call him “half-wit” and goes “he has a name.” He calls him brother and is excited for his upcoming marriage. He’s the good-natured, thick warrior stereotype in spades and I wanna climb him like the violent murdery pole that he is.

Too bad for Batuga and everyone else that the next Khan is actually the other half-brother Kaya.

Who is v.v. hot and he and his wife seem to like each other, mainly because they seem to be into the whole Lord and Lady Macbeth vibe.

But he’s an absolute bastard.

So yeah, Batuga. Batuga’s life sucks.

If there ever was a ML who needed a therapist, it would be this dude. He watched his father kill his mother and his grandfather and then he tried to kill him for dessert. And then he doesn’t speak and is treated as a half-wit by everyone. It’s pretty clear that whatever the extent of his actual damage, he’s not impaired the way everyone believes he is, but that is the only way for him to survive. And there is the fact that even if he miraculously recovered his voice and his wits (or, more appropriately revealed them) and wasn’t killed on the spot, he still limps and has a non-functional arm, so by the standards of that society, he’s useless. YIKES.

But I guess it’s all OK because he turns into daddy’s favorite son. (!!!) As daddy tells him, this is god blessing daddy to give him a son who cannot talk and cannot think because this means daddy can tell him everything, all the stuff he tells nobody else. Because, as daddy points out, without a shred of irony, daddy is the greatest victim in all of this and also daddy cannot talk to his other sons because they have personalities, opinions and wishes of their own. Or as he puts it during his skin-crawling attempt to bond in the exact spot he stabbed Batuga’s mom to death, “only you are in my heart.”

Daddy can’t tell Batuga starts crying which is just as well because it’s pretty clear that despite daddy’s “I want to hear your voice,” if daddy figured out Batuga isn’t the mute half-wit everyone thinks he is, Batuga would be a head shorter asap. (Side note - child Batuga told daddy after daddy was all “sure I murdered your mom but I am the real sufferer here, I wanted it to be a bonding moment between us” that he will not speak to him until the day daddy dies. And guess what, his “condition,” means Batuga does not speak to daddy ever and has the perfect excuse. I LOVE IT!!!!)

Anyway, the ep ends with Akkiz shooting the old Khan full of arrows and we see Batuga stare transfixed because he recognizes the wooden sword that matches his. And Akkiz goes “this is for two small children!” (her and Batuga) and I love it because go get your revenge but also I love that she knows the khan’s youngest son is as much a victim of his as she is.

I am pretty sure the Khan isn’t dead but oh well...

Anyway, tough warrior woman driven by vengeance x physically frail and despised prince? YES PLEASE.

In conclusion, have Akkiz’s BFF who wants to marry another BFF because he’s hot.

#turkish tv #destan #ebru sahin

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delimeful · 3 years

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you cant go back (2)

warnings: fear, miscommunication, guilt, mentions of theoretical gore/injury, dehumanization, referring to a person as 'it', general angst

For the fourth day in a row, Lady Macbeth had spurned him.

Roman frowned, pulling the strap of his messenger bag over his head and tossing it over the back of a kitchen chair.

Lady was old, smug, and occasionally very cranky, but she wasn’t deaf like Ophelia-- she always came prancing over once she heard his keys rattling in the lock, delighted at the opportunity to smear cat hair all over his pants and get her claws stuck in his shoelaces.

Yet here he stood, catless.

For the past few days, too, she hadn’t been in the house at all when he got home. He’d been downright worried that first day, uneasy until she strolled back in at dusk.

They had an expansive backyard that their younger cats took delight in frolicking in, but their second-oldest cat was a rare visitor to the outdoors. Lady was first and foremost a homebody, and she preferred a warm body to sit on. Their squishy heat-generating human bodies were the only reason she hadn’t assassinated them all in their sleep by now, according to--

Roman cut the thought off sharply, feeling familiar grief pit up in his throat. He shook his head, the motion harsh enough to make his neck twinge. There was no time for standing about and pondering! He had a cat to locate!

A determined jut to his chin, he grabbed what supplies he would need for this perilous journey-- cat treats, a catnip toy, even a tempting cardboard box-- and strode confidently out the backdoor.

For the next half-hour, he wandered around the acres of their property, greeting each of the goats and chickens by name as he checked all the most common cat hidey-holes.

He’d almost given up by the time he stumbled across the old barn, pant legs covered in burrs and the beginnings of a sunburn across the back of his neck. Whatever delightful cat secrets Lady was so busy with, surely he could discover them when it wasn’t the middle of summer.

Just before he could turn around, though, he noticed that one of the doors was just slightly ajar.

Roman felt his brow gradually scrunch up the longer he stared at it. It had been locked up after the last of the old supplies had been moved from it, hadn’t it? The last big storm had proved it wasn’t weather-worthy, his dad had plans to take it apart for timber, ones that had seemingly been forgotten after… afterwards.

Petty inconveniences of getting there forgotten, Roman crept closer on light feet, grip tight on the catnip mouse in his hand. The wind died down at an eerily perfect moment, and he strained to hear beyond those old wooden walls.

Not everything is a grand conspiracy, a voice in his head reminded him, sounding suspiciously similar to Specs, it could simply be someone without housing that took the opportunity for shelter provided by the abandoned barn.

Roman sidled halfway through the ajar door, and froze at the sight of an upright humanoid figure only a few meters away. Something about it wasn't right, instantly putting him on edge. He kept staring, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

(“I’m telling you, these lights were strange even by my standards! Almost… alien.” An unsettling grin that was a beat late.)

The figure’s head was dropped forward, but he could tell even from this distance that it wasn’t human, with shiny purple-grey segmented skin and legs with knees facing the wrong way. It had spiky shoulder joints, but its arms seemed to be tucked behind it.

(Roman had shoved him off the couch, sour about being taken in by one of his tales, and he hadn’t brought it up again.)

Most alarming of all, there were four long, spindly limbs stretched out into the air behind it, seemingly spawning from its back. The legs were spider-like in nature, but shiny instead of hairy, and each one ended in a sharp point. As he watched, he could see the limbs shifting slowly, pairs of them lifting and falling in odd synchrony with the creature’s slow breathing.

(Roman had been freaked out, and his brother had dropped the subject. He should’ve asked, he should have known something was wrong--)

“Miaow.” A plaintive voice called, nearly startling Roman out of his skin.

He tore his gaze away from the (alien) mystery intruder, and felt his jaw drop as he took in Lady Macbeth’s current position. Loafing on the feet of an insidious intruder?!

For shame, he mouthed silently at her.

Lady blinked slowly and continued to purr, unbothered by his accusatory stare. One of those spider limbs shifted again, making Roman swallow nervously. He really didn’t want to see what sort of automatic reaction an extraterrestrial’s stabby-arms would have to finding a cat in its space.

He waved the catnip mouse enticingly. Lady gave him the bland look of a cat who had preferred those expensive feather toys for as long as he had known her. Roman resisted the urge to facepalm.

The insanely dangerous method it was, then.

Putting all his sneaking skills to use, he sidled further into the barn, dropping into a crouch and beginning to creep across the dirt floor as slowly as possible. Each step was carefully placed, almost entirely silent, and whenever those freaky appendages twitched, he froze in place for a full thirty seconds.

The alien’s head remained lax (asleep?) as he drew closer, but Lady refused to entertain his desperate motions for her to leave her ill-chosen bed. At this rate, he’d have to pick her up off of it, and hope that she didn’t complain too much on the way out.

He shifted his weight forwards, and suddenly all four of the arms were still, almost taut in the air. Only a couple feet away, the alien’s head bobbed slightly. His time was up.

Clenching his teeth, Roman made a gamble.

He tossed the little mouse toy directly at the space above the alien’s head and dove for Lady.

There was a whistle, like a whip or an arrow sliding through the air, and Roman made the mistake of glancing up as soon as he had his hands securely around Lady’s body.

All four of the spider limbs had jabbed into the same point, skewering the toy from several different angles. The alien was certainly awake now, and it had four times as many eyes as any one person could reasonably need. Between one heartbeat and the next, those huge dark irises went from staring at the poor mutilated toy to staring at Roman.

Terror shot through him and he gave up on subtlety, throwing himself back as hard as he could and hoping that he made it out of range.

He landed on his back with a whomp that knocked the wind out of him, and flinched as that terrifying whistling sound split the air again, ending in a muted thump. He was so wired with adrenaline that he couldn’t tell if he’d been hit or not. Locked in his arms, Lady writhed and complained loudly.

“Not going anywhere,” Roman wheezed, “you little fiend, con-- consorting with the enemy.”

There were several more whistle-thumps, which was either very good or very bad for him. He rolled to his side, pushing himself up on an elbow and taking stock of himself, braced for the worst.

The alien was still standing there against the central support beam of the barn. Half a foot from Roman’s leg, it's very sharp extra arms had left holes pierced in the hard-packed dirt of the barn’s floor.

“But no holes in me,” Roman cheered weakly, and then shifted Lady to the crook of one arm and flipped the alien off. “Nice try, Space Invader.”

The alien made a deep clicking rumble, but stopped trying to impale him. Instead, it moved to hold all those limbs high up in the air menacingly, ready to stab down at any point. The remains of the toy mouse sat near its feet, cotton innards spilling everywhere like a grim warning.

Roman got to his own feet, wincing at the feeling of Lady’s claws poking into his ribs as she attempted to kick her way to freedom. He took a moment to stare once he was back upright.

The alien’s skin plates had gone completely pitch-black, only the slightest hints of purple between the plates to prove that there’d ever been any color to it at all. Roman was abruptly glad that he hadn’t encountered it in the dark of night.

Its eyes were just as dark, with only the slightest difference in shades of black to indicate the difference between iris and sclera. Despite his artistic eye for color differences, even Roman couldn’t tell where its pupils were. If it even had pupils.

It also was still stuck in one place, despite its legs seeming totally operational. Roman slowly shuffled to the side of it, making sure to keep a few good steps clear of stabbing range, and found that it did in fact have normal arms and hands.

Well. Mostly normal. There were five fingers, but they were all way too long and ended in thick, claw-like points. He thought they also maybe had one or two too many joints.

More to the point, the alien couldn’t do anything with these arms because they were bound together at the wrists and tied tightly to the central support beam of the barn. It was stuck there, and going by the aggressive rumbling it was doing, it knew it.

Roman pulled out his phone and managed to take a shaky video of the alien, circling around it to both get a better angle and prompt it to threateningly twitch those back limbs some more. He knew his sci fi tropes, including the one where the alien mysteriously disappears the moment the plucky protagonist tries to tell anyone about the danger. He wasn’t going to be called crazy again.

Once he was content with the amount of evidence he had, he made the trek back to the house at a near-sprint, the cat in his arms protesting all the way. He burst through the back door, letting the screen fall shut behind him, and finally allowed Lady to walk on the power of her own four paws. She beelined for the screen door, stood up on her hind legs, and rattled it expectantly.

“Absolutely not,” Roman told her firmly, nudging her away. “I don’t know what it is with you and courting death via Xenomorph, but you are henceforth banned from the outdoors.”

If angry little kitty looks could kill, Roman would be as dead as King Duncan.

Shaking his head, he went over to the ancient landline phone in their kitchen, lifted the phone from its cradle, and paused.

Who was he going to call?

He’d had some half-conceived notion of calling his parents, or that infuriating police officer, or even just 911. What would he even say? ‘Hello operator, my emergency is that I have an alien in my barn, I promise this isn’t a prank’? Even the dial tone wouldn’t believe that.

And what if they did get someone out here to verify that there was a real alien? There was little doubt in his mind that law enforcement and then the government would quickly step in, whisking the evil version of E.T. away into some distant Area 51 lab. Roman would never see it-- or get any answers from it-- ever again.

He hung the phone up with a solid click, and turned to face the kitchen.

If he was going to interrogate a hostile alien, he needed to arm himself.

---

Shockingly, when he returned to the barn, the alien was still there.

He had crept up quietly again, hoping to catch it unawares, but this time it had been staring unerringly at him from the moment he peeked through the door, those smaller, rounder eyes wide open under its main ones.

He pushed the door open further with a dramatic flourish, pretending like he hadn’t been sneaking at all.

“Alien scourge,” Roman greeted, wincing at the crack in his voice. He cleared his throat, ignoring the way the alien’s dark gaze sent chills down his spine. “I don’t know how you ended up here, but I do know that you’re going to give me the information that I need.”

He pointed the end of his weapon of choice for emphasis, and the alien recoiled with a hiss, quickly jabbing out at it with those back arms.

Just as he’d hoped, however, putting vegetable oil on the already-slick plastic handle of the kitchen broom had made it basically impossible for those single-pronged limbs to stab or grab it. He grinned triumphantly, poking the alien with the end of it. The playing field had officially been evened.

“Now, unless you want me to introduce you to the Earth concept of piñatas, you better tell me what you’re here for.”

The alien was entirely silent, watching him with those shiny, pitch-black eyes. Behind it, its spider arms were vibrating with tension, probably in preparation to stab out the moment he slipped up.

“I’m serious,” Roman warned, poking it a little harder and getting exactly nothing for his efforts, not even a glare. “I know what I saw that night, and there’s no way it’s a coincidence that now you’re here. It was an abduction."

He paused for effect, and the alien let out a series of clicks and low, warped sounds that sounded like meaningless nonsense.

"I don't speak alien." Roman frowned. "Tell me what happened. Why were you-- or, your-- your brethren or your shipmates or whatever, why were they taking people? Where did they take them?”

The alien made what sounded like the same exact series of noises. Roman groaned in frustration.

“In-- In English! You understand what I’m saying, don’t you? If aliens are real and have the technology to infiltrate Earth without being detected, they have to have some way of communicating! An insta-translator or telepathy or math nonsense or something!” He threw his arms out in frustration, making the alien twitch.

He paced back and forth for a moment, before coming to a stop in front of the alien again and leveling it with an accusatory stare. “You’re faking it. I don’t believe that you can’t understand me.”

The alien just kept staring at him, flat plates where its mouth should have been, not a single expression visible on its face. It was about as convinced by Roman’s argument as everyone else in his life, which was to say, not at all. He felt a surge of white-hot anger, and levered the broom at its neck threateningly.

“Tell me, right now!” he demanded, stinging tears building up at the corner of his eyes. “Tell me where my brother is!”

He shoved the broom further forwards, and the alien snapped its limbs forwards and knocked it away, startling him into stumbling back. It hissed at him again, stabbing at the ground like a warning. He scowled, swiping at his face with a sleeve, and swung the broom handle at it sharply.

The swing went wide, more than a foot from touching any of it, but the alien showed the closest thing to emotion he’d seen so far, half of its eyes flinching closed in anticipation. Roman felt a sickening twist in his gut, some odd mix of guilt, anger, and vindication, and he turned away sharply.

Not for the first time, he wished he’d been the one that had been taken.

Remus wouldn’t care if the stupid cops didn’t listen to him, if their parents didn’t believe him, if the whole town thought he was insane. He would know how to convince an alien to talk, would threaten to-- to crush its extra eyes or cut off limbs or do something Roman was too squeamish to even think up.

If it was Remus, it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t know what to do. He’d at least do something.

He wouldn’t be going through the motions of life like everything was the same.

Pretending had always been Roman’s specialty, after all.

Roman cast a furious glare over his shoulder at the alien, resentful that it was still staring at him even as he was in the middle of a breakdown, and tossed the broom into the corner.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he said, swallowing back the thickness in his voice, “and every day after that until you tell me.”

Threat delivered, he stormed out of the barn and slammed the doors shut behind him.

#sanders sides #humans are space orcs #ts roman #ts virgil #space au #humans are deathworlders #ycgb #you cant go back #my writing #writing #sanders sides fic #alien virgil

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blessednereid · 3 years

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Pity the Living

Daniel Sharman x Reader Series

A/N: The Much Requested, and By Requested, I mean @rogershoe wanted me to write this, MY DANIEL SHARMAN FANFICTION!!!!!! The character that Y/N plays is based on my OC for FTWD and is not an actual character in FTWD. Basic Premise of the setting for this chapter is that they're in high-school/ secondary school. But for the majority of the story(minus flashbacks) it's set in 2016/17 when s3 of FTWD was filmed.

Story Summary: When (Y/N) (L/N) reunites with a high-school friend on the set of the job she's been working on for the past 2-3 years, not only is she excited to work with the guy who inspired her to go into acting, but to hear about what he's done since she's seen him. But the more they talk, the more she realizes, this reunion is not going the way she had planned.

CW: Cursing? brief mention of alcohol, anxiety, mentions of food, fake dagger, fake blood, bets,

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Career Day

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Most of the students around you were chorusing to the tune of your school anthem, but not you. You had heard the melody and sung it almost a million times. Whether you were exaggerating or not, not even you knew. Instead, you were whispering and laughing with one of your best friends, Daniel Sharman.

You met Daniel when you first came to the school. You didn't know many people. You didn't even know yourself in this place. It was a completely foreign experience, but he stuck by your side and showed you around.

Since then, you had made friends, joined the swim team, learned your way around the school without ending up in the boys' restrooms instead of the girls' ones. Despite not needing Daniel to show you around anymore, he still provided plenty of comedic support and pick-me-ups and was a great mate all around.

Your teacher had just finished introducing all the parents who were presenting at career day. The assignment being after the presentations were finished, you were supposed to think about what you wanted to be in the future. You had no idea what you wanted to be. But of course… Daniel did.

"An actor."

"An actor?" he nodded. "Like Macbeth?"

"No, Macbeth is a character. An actor is a person who plays the character."

"Why an actor?"

"Dunno. Just seems right."

You frowned. "Huh, that's nice. Knowing what you want to be."

"You could always try acting. It's worth a shot."

"Hah, if I ever tried acting, it would probably be when I'm old, senile, and look like Betty White."

"Oh, come on. You're a great actress!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Sharman?" you gasped.

"Just that you tell fibs and stories as if they were the truth. That's all acting is."

"I DO NOT!"

"How did you convince your mum that your dog jumped onto the table and ate the cake without making any noise last weekend, then?" You opened your mouth to speak before closing it.

"Cat got your tongue?" he teased.

"Shut up, Sharman."

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L/N Residence

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You and Daniel were both swimming in the pool in your backyard when Daniel asked you the question.

"Did you think about it?"

Still floating, you asked, "About what?"

"Acting."

You laughed incredulously. "You were serious?"

"Of course I was." He swam closer to you and pulled your leg down, making you flop around and splash water.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"Was just trying to get your attention," he remarked innocently.

You coughed. "You had it."

"Picture this," he waved you off. "Us, on the red carpet-"

"Who's red carpet?"

"Does it matter? We'll be each other's dates anyways."

"Why is that?" you asked.

"Because we're best friends."

"What if one of us has a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

He shrugged. "Ok, whatever. We're on the red carpet separately. It's both of ours red carpet-"

"So, does that mean we're in a movie together?"

"Yes, Y/N," he muttered exasperatedly.

"But that's impossible?"

"Why do you say that?"

You leaned closer to his ear. "BECAUSE I'M NOT BECOMING AN ACTOR."

He jumped away from you, proceeding to splash you with water.

"Mark my words. I know talent when I see it."

You sighed. "Could this just be you not wanting to be lonely in the acting world?"

He jutted his lip and spoke in a whiny voice. "Maybe…"

You laughed before splashing a giant wave of water at him. While he still had water in his eyes, you dove under and pulled him down.

He flailed around before his head popped up, and he calmed down.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"PAYBACK, SHARMAN!"

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Announcement

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The intercom gave a heavy buzz, and static-y noises ran amok over the building before a voice actually came through the speakers.

"Hello, Teachers, Students, and Faculty. Welcome back to school. We hope that you all enjoyed your holidays and got the rest you needed to pay attention in class today," the last part was passive. Your principal gave more announcements for clubs and sports around the school, such as upcoming games or reminders for students to buy the school yearbook.

You were nodding along interested, or looking for interest really when something caught your best friend's attention.

"The school will also be hosting its first-ever play, Romeo and Juliet. Interested people should report to the music room before the end of the week to receive information."

You saw Daniel's eyes widen only moments before he spoke up. "Hey," he waved at you. "You should audition!"

"Daniel, are you insane?"

He chuckled, "No, but I think you'd like it."

You tried arguing, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. "You're the one who said you didn't know what you wanted to do after you graduated. Doing this cannot hurt."

"Yeah, it can't hurt until I trip on my costumes and break my neck!"

"That rarely ever happens," he said exasperatedly. "Ok, how about this? You audition, and if you end up getting a role and actually doing the play, I'll give you fifty pounds."

You squinted. "Do you even have fifty pounds to give me?"

"Do you even have to ask," he feigned shock in the accusation? You gave a sour face before he truthfully answered. "Fine, I don't have it now. But I will by the time the play comes around."

"What do I get just for auditioning?"

"I'll convince my mum to make that cake you like."

"Fine."

"BUT!" he exclaimed. "You have to audition for Juliet."

"You're kidding?"

He laughed. "No, I'm not. You have to audition for Juliet."

"I hate you," you mumbled before sighing a whispered 'fine.'

He gave a toothy smile. "Then we have a deal."

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Auditions

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You reluctantly walked onto the stage, Daniel's widening grin so visible in the audience. He said that he only put his name on the audition sheet so he could watch the auditions. He would've already been gone by the time it was his turn.

"Hello, My name is Y/n L/n, and I am auditioning for Juliet," your lips pressing into a straight line after saying the sentence.

You stammered through your first few lines. "Sh-Shall I speak ill of him— that is my husband?" You said with a laugh.

"Ah," you paused and clicked your tongue. "Poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name… When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?"

You said your following line in an accusatory manner. "But wherefore, villain... didst thou kill my cousin?" you said, though your voice squealed trying to pronounce 'didst.' "That villain cousin would have killed my husband."

"Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring!" Your voice rose and fell several octaves. "Your tributary drops belong to woe, Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy." Fake tears spring to your eyes, your voice cracked, and you began slowly falling against an invisible wall.

You looked down at your paper for what to say next. "My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain; And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband. All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?" You wiped your cheeks dramatically.

"Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death, That murd'red me. I would forget it fain;" your lips quivered, and you sucked in deep, heaving breaths before speaking your line.

"But O, it presses to my memory. Like damnèd guilty deeds to sinners' minds! 'Tybalt is dead, and Romeo--banishèd!" You shouted.

You stood back up in a startling jump, and with a proud smile, you said triumphantly, "And Scene!"

The directors and some students in the audience, especially Daniel, gave a round of applause before the director dismissed you.

You took the steps to the stage and sat next to Daniel as the director called the next student to audition.

"You were amazing! The director might as well have given you the role right then and there."

You laughed, "Hang on, charmer. There were a bunch of Juliet's who literally said that entire thing so… fluently. I stammered through the whole thing."

"But you showed more emotion than anyone else. You only had a week to prepare. The actual show will be like child's play."

"They want people who can memorize and recite. The emotion can be added later, but it's worth nothing if they forget their lines."

"There is such a thing called improvising for a reason," he reassured.

"Who in their right, bloody minds wants to improvise Shakespeare?"

He turned his head and chuckled before waving a five-pound note in front of your face. "Here, I got to go before they call me, but you earned this at least."

"Five pounds for being forced to audition for a stupid play so you can prove a point? Wow, you must really fancy me, huh, Sharman?" you said sarcastically.

"Goodbye, L/n," he whispered before sneaking out the back door of the auditorium.

"Alright, next up. Daniel Sharman!" The director shouted your friend's name a few more times before giving up.

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Headmasters Office

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A week after your audition, you were called to the headmasters' office. Thus is the cause of the curious looks from your classmates. Oohs and Aahs flooded your ears as you grabbed your bag and headed out the door to the front of the school.

When you got to the front of the building and went into the headmasters' office, you saw the Theatre director, Ms Parker, standing behind the desk. "Headmaster Leo allowed me to use his office to do this. Isn't that cool?"

Ms Parker was one of the younger teachers in school. She was twenty-four, and this was her first year teaching after receiving her bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in music production. A fact she could astoundingly ramble about for fifteen minutes. As proven at the auditions.

"I didn't want to call you to the theatre room. That would be too predictable, correct?" You'd come to realize she was a very eccentric woman. "I have called you in here to inform you that you have been selected to perform in this year's play of Romeo and Juliet."

A wave of shock coursed through your body, and you were sure it reflected on your face. "Are you sure?"

"Darling, I'm positive!- your audition was totally spectacular! So brilliant-in fact- that I am completely sure in my choice to make you our female lead- Juliet!"

"What!" Your eyes widened into a blank stare. Your thoughts were running rampant in your mind. You thought that performing on the stage would be a breeze when you weren't the lead.

"Ms Parker, I didn't actually want the part of Juliet! It's just that my friend dared me to audition for Juliet! Is there no way I can get a smaller part? I'm no Juliet. The show would be ruined," you rambled.

The directors' facial expressions softened, "Darling, you are the only choice. None of the other people who auditioned can even compare to the amount of passion you produced in that audition. I am determined to have you as our Juliet."

You whimpered out an "Ok." Professors had a strange way of convincing you to do extra credit assignments or things that aren't necessary.

"We have a chemistry read for you and a few of our other choices for Romeo after school today. Do you need to contact a parent to let them know where you'll be?"

"Uh, yes, please."

After you made your call, you walked back to your classroom with shaky hands. The class period was almost over, but you had to tell Daniel that you had gotten a part in the show. Not just any part- THE PART!

You shuffled into the classroom reluctantly. All eyes were on you as every student had assumed you'd been in trouble. Either suspended, expelled, or told your parents were going to have a sit-down with the headmaster.

You took your seat next to Daniel before taking out a piece of paper and writing out a note, encompassing the words, "I got the part!"

You slid the sheet discreetly onto his desk. When he read it, his eyes widened, and he quietly moved his hands toward yours, beckoning for a high five.

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First Rehearsal

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After the chemistry read, the role of Romeo was given to a kid named James Mercer-Allen got the part. Though it was more because the directors were starting to become tired.

The next day was the first rehearsal. Swimming season was last semester, so there was no clash in schedules with the play.

"Alright, this rehearsal is to get acquainted with the stage, your fellow actors, and directors," she insisted. "Now, let's introduce ourselves. Can our Romeo please stand up?"

James stood up and gave a brief introduction. You were called on next. You stated your name, "I was on the swim team last semester, and I'm in my thirteenth year. I hope I can do this role justice."

More students stood up to introduce themselves. The entire process took more than thirty minutes.

The next thing to happen was that the rest of the students were called to recite lines for various roles. The only parts that had been cast preliminarily were Romeo and Juliet.

You and James had sat on the wooden stools unless there was a scene going on that needed Romeo and/or Juliet.

By the end of the first rehearsal, the majority of the speaking roles were cast. You went home exhausted but not expecting the conversation that waited for you.

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The Talk

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"We're moving?" you shouted at your parents from your seat across from them in the sitting room. "What do you mean we're moving."

"Honey, your dad got a job in the states, so we have to move," your mother argued.

"But what about school? No school will take me in the middle of the year, and it's my last year of secondary school. I don't want to spend the rest of my last year knowing nobody."

Your dad, the man of the hour, spoke up. "Dear, we're moving at the end of the year. After school ends."

"But- What about Uni?"

"You said you were taking a sabbatical year!"

"Yes, so I could intern in London!"

"Can't you intern in California?" Your mother whined.

"We're going to California? It's the furthest state?"

Your dad attempted to reassure you but failed. "Darling, it won't be that bad. Maybe you'll like it there more than you like it here!"

"I could never like anywhere more than I like it here!"

You agreed to go to your room and spent the rest of the day there. Later on, after you finished moping, you ringed up your closest friends to tell them you were moving. You did that until you were so tired you fell asleep on the phone with Sarah before you even called Daniel.

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Confrontation

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"Why am I hearing from everyone besides you that you're moving?" Daniel appeared out of thin air behind you, and the accusation was an assault on your conscience.

You could lie and tell him that you wanted to reveal that to him in person, or you could just tell him the truth- say you fell asleep. Mix-and-Match? You ended up just telling the truth. "I fell asleep when I was making some of my other calls. I was going to tell you, I swear!"

"Why didn't you call me first. I'm your best friend?"

"That's why! It was too hard. I kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off because I didn't want to tell you, I don't want it to be true, and telling you of all people would make it feel real."

"Why can't you stay for Uni?"

"I already told my parents I was taking a gap year. I didn't apply to any colleges."

"Crap!" he sighed. "Ok, well, we're going to have to make the most of it. And! You're getting a going away party!"

"Daniel, I don't need-"

"No debate! You are getting a going away party!"

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Opening Night

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Four months later, after all the rehearsals and memorizations of lines. After much running around the entire film department, it was finally opening night, and your nerves were shot.

You were scrambling all morning to find everything you needed. All your costumes were at the school, but you still needed to bring your black leotard, skin-coloured tights, and wear your hair in an up-do style.

You decided to do your skincare routine, but your panic got the best of you, and you forgot what every single product was used for.

Daniel came over and helped you get ready but found you practically hyperventilating.

Your parents drove you both to the theatre, and when Ms Parker told you that Daniel couldn't be backstage, you promptly told her that he was your emotional support. After much arguing, she finally let him backstage.

Around an hour before showtime, the director told Daniel that he had to go wait in the audience if he already bought his ticket or that he had to go do it now.

Before he left, he gave you a pep-talk. "Hey, so one time, I was in this play, and the idea was that I was expelled, and there was a piece of paper I had to give my 'mother,' but I lost it. So we had to improvise, but I couldn't find the paper, and I felt horrible. So just know, even if you forget your lines, you must improvise, and remember, it still probably won't compare to the embarrassment I felt that day. So you can laugh at my humiliation. "

You chuckled, "I will. Ok, go before you get in trouble."

"Ok, me, our parents and all your friends will be in the front row. I've already reserved the entire row. I brought a whole bag of jackets just for that reason!"

"You can't do that," you said in between cackles.

"For you, I'll do anything," he grinned.

A few hours later and the show was almost done. "What's here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end," you wept.

"O, churl! Drunk all and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss thy lips; Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, to die with thine restorative." You leaned over James and let your hair fall to the side of your head to cover your face. You pulled back without actually kissing James.

"Thy lips are warm."

A whispery voice came from offstage, "Which way?" The cue for you to take the poison, which was actually cranberry juice.

"Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!" You grabbed the dagger and brought it near your chest. "This is thy sheath;" you drew the fake knife back three inches from your chest and stabbed it to where the bag of more cranberry juice was and punctured the bag. 'Blood' soaked through your dress. "There rust, and let me die." You fell dramatically onto the altar and waited for the scene to end as the crowd cheered.

After the show, you dashed into the crowd where your friends and family waited for you. Ovations and Applauses were passed, lauded boxes of chocolates and gorgeous roses were given.

When you got to Daniel, he practically tackled you with a hug. "I actually thought you died for a split second. The blood looked so real."

"Daniel, most people don't bleed that fast, do they?"

"I don't know but fear kicked in, and I couldn't make sense of anything."

You grinned and almost went to your parents before Daniel grabbed your arm. "You don't have a date to the Leavers ball, do you?"

"No, I don't. Why?"

He sighed. "Well, I was thinking that you could go with me. I don't have a date either."

You squinted, thinking there was some ulterior motive behind his actions. "Ok, I'll go with you if you give me the money you owe me before then."

"It's right here," he smiled.

Your face scrunched up, but you reluctantly agreed. You only had a month of school left, and you might as well spend it having fun with your friends.

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The Leavers Ball and the Getaway Party

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You were dressed in a light blue, pleated, Mikado prom dress that cut off at mid-thigh. You had black wedges on your feet and a black pearl-beaded bracelet on your arm.

You were wearing a half-up, half-down style that framed your face and a silver necklace with a circle-shaped diamond.

You were sitting in the parlour when Daniel rang the doorbell. He was ten minutes late.

"Sorry," he said when your dad answered it. "I know I'm late. I was picking up Kat and James."

Kat and James were your and Daniel's respective friends who'd started last year after you and Daniel introduced them.

"Hi," you popped out of the shadows. "Alright, Mom, Dad, we're late, so we're just going to get goi-"

"Wait! I have to take pictures! Go get Kat and James."

"No, Mom. No pictures!"

"It's only right. I just want a few. We can take it outside."

You sighed but reluctantly caved into your mother's will.

The four of you took pictures outside of Daniel's Jeep Wrangler. You took ones with silly faces, just girls, just boys, and ones with all four of you before your parents allowed you to leave.

You were forty minutes late, and the ball was already in full swing by the time you got there.

You got on the dance floor immediately because one of your favourite songs was playing, but the DJ switched the song as soon as you found a decent spot. It was a slow song. You chuckled, and Daniel put his hands on your waist.

"Well, this is awkward."

A few minutes later, Daniel posed an interesting question.

"Did you know that I had a crush on you when you first came to school?"

"Uh, you stammered. "No, I didn't know that."

"Yeah, I did. It was short, though. Surface-level."

"Oh," you said. "Should I take offence to that?"

"What?" His eyes widened in realization with what he said. "No, that's not what I meant. You have an amazing personality. I just meant that… I just meant I like you more as a friend than to ruin that with any of those feelings."

"Oh, ok. You wouldn't have, though."

"I wouldn't?"

"No, everyone needs an ego boost every once in a while."

"Haha!"

"And besides, I've had feelings for you at one point too. But it was very cliche, so I tried to shake it as hard as I could."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "And did you?"

"Like I said, as hard as I could. If it's still there somewhere, it's buried very deep, so much so that I was embarrassed."

"Embarrassed to like me?"

"I mean embarrassed to try and make my life seem like some movie."

"Oh, well, if you did, it would've just made you that much better as an actress. Speaking of that, would you consider acting in the least?"

"Maybe, now that I'm leaving, it's basically the last thing I have to connect me to you."

"No," he said, pointing to your bracelet. "You have that."

You had forgotten that it was Daniel who gave it to you, but the realization brought a smile to your face. "Oh yeah, I'll never take it off."

Later on, long before the ball ended, you saw many of your friends leaving.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Daniel approached you.

"Where is everyone going?"

He wriggled his eyebrows. "Afterparty!"

"But it's not over?"

"Quit being a party popper and just come with us, L/N!"

You gave in, something you did a lot, and you all started driving. When you got there, you realized you were at Daniel's house.

"The afterparty is at your house?" you asked.

"Well…" James answered.

Kat joined in. "It's really an afterparty!"

"This is your going away party!" Daniel finished.

"But I'm not going away for another month."

"Well, now you have an entire month for people to give you gifts and stuff, and you don't have to worry about the party!" He reasoned.

"But why did it have to be after the Leavers ball?"

"Because you're already in a dress, and it has to be a surprise! Surprise!" Kat exclaimed.

"Alright, fine!"

The entire night you partied and danced, and though you didn't drink alcohol, plentiful amounts of pop and mocktails were passed around. The music was a delight to your ears with all your favourite songs. There were chips and pizza with all your favourite toppings.

"This party is awesome!"

Daniel grinned. "Well, I am an amazing party planner if I do say so myself."

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Airport

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Daniel's parents drove your family to the airport. Your parents had sold the car. Your dad would return in a week to close a deal on the house. Everything was official, and now you were leaving.

You got out of the car, and the tears forcefully began to fall.

"I'm really gonna miss you, jerk," you said disdainfully to Daniel.

He chuckled. "I'm going to miss you more."

"Impossible!"

He wiped the fallen tear from your eye, and for a moment, you could see every single multi-coloured speck in his eyes and noticed how sometimes they looked blue, and at others, they looked grey or green.

You noticed the curvature of his smile and the chisel of his jawline.You saw the hurt in his eyes that said, 'why do you have to go? You're killing me,' and wanted to never move from that position.

He continued to rub the tears that fell onto your cheek, and the sad moment was as sheltered as it could be. You felt safe with him, in his arms, just looking at his face and being reminded of how he comforted you in a place that felt as familiar as Oz felt to Dorothy.

"What am I gonna do without you?" you whispered.

"Get at least one acting job, get an assistant and an agent, I'll do the same thing, and then either one of us has our assistants reach out to our agents, so we get back in touch in case we ever lose touch."

He sounded so grave that you couldn't help but laugh. "That's assuming I do become an actress, Daniel."

"You're right," he whined. "But don't forget me."

"I promise."

And you tried to keep that promise. Throughout your first year, you interned at UCLA, working in the lab. You then applied to go to school there, and you still tried to keep Daniel in your mind. Maintaining a social life on campus combined with schoolwork already wasn't easy. However, you still wouldn't let yourself forget your best friend.

It wasn't until you entered your senior year and you were about to graduate that he started to wane in your memories. The things you did together became obsolete as new friends and memories replaced the old. The things he taught you were thrown out to make space for the new lessons you learned each day.

Even when you did become an actress, you never really remembered why you decided to. You remembered that your friend pushed you to do that play, but it was almost ten years ago, and for the life of you, you couldn't remember his name.

But you did do it, first as an extra, then a body double, and then you started getting l roles on smaller shows. But your big break was getting a quasi-lead role on the spin-off of a big television show, The Walking Dead. For two years, you enjoyed going to conventions and playing the complex character, Valeria Bishop, and you thought you had it all figured out.

But life has a funny way of coming full circle and throwing you a curveball that knows you off course and changes your life.

#Daniel Sharman x reader #daniel sharman fic #Daniel Sharman imagine #Daniel Sharman fluff #Daniel Sharman angst #very angsty #ftwd imagine #twd imagine #troy otto imagine #dylan obrien imagine #that last one is for exposure #I have no regrets

107 notes · View notes

thespoonisvictory · 3 years

Note

i agree with how wilbur and tommy are currently the deciding factors in the smp! i do believe there's a very high chance for a wilbur lore boom during the summer as album stuff gets smoothed out (writing and recording a bunch an album will take way more time then processing and mastering it, for example) and i can also imagine a dip in content around july that swings back august-september, like what happened before the elections. i do feel like wilbur and tommy do really enjoy the smp story so far and will put in effort for it, and tommy could very easily bring back the daily semi-lore type content in the future months, once the initial vlogging hype dies down. i also think tubbo and ranboo have very good potential to rope people into semi-lore. there's some people i cannot imagine getting as involved with the lore anymore, and some who really depend (like if the syndicate manages to drag itself back, i can see niki rejoining the lore). and yeah technoblade is really a "if he wants to do this," since we don't really have a solid idea, but if a semi-lore wave comes back it opens a big spot for him and how he prefers to do light-hearted stuff. i feel like quackity is really going to be the lore "meat" for a bit, having a bunch of the heavier stuff. i feel like what's really dragging down the smp now is how spaced out everything is and where the semi-lore return would really benefit the server. i also agree with you that quackity very likely might burn himself out on content soon. i think he could really benefit from showing up on others streams to further lore (like on fundys) instead of shoving a bunch of things into a highly-produced stream, similar to other "villains" like schlatt and wilbur. i appreciate what quackity's doing rn a lot, but i think there needs to be another "threat for threats sake," like schlatt and the eggpire. a villain that's more traditionally lighthearted, with quackity being the darker side of "villainous" lore (see: schlatt and wilbur, to a degree, dream and the eggpire, etc) to balance things out. also, tommy was right with what he did with church prime! being afraid to change anything will get you nowhere! sapnap, start another pet war! i also think more smpearth fellas should be added to the dream smp who've shown interest, like wisp and sophietexas. spice things up!

just a solid agree on pretty much everything here.

in particular with your point about how the server is being dragged down by lore that's too spaced out, 100%. the server has had a problem since the end of s1 with oscillating between full throttle lore and... near radio silence (genuinely the l'manburg/ pogtopia arc was so perfectly paced imo ah but that's another topic). the issue with quackity's lore is that his tendency towards cliff hangers means that it 'freezes' certain characters, and they can't really have an impact when they're not in quackity's semi-movies. there's been a similar issue like that with the syndicate.

basically, the server went from feeling like an actual world we got daily peeks into, with a constantly moving timeline, very much an actual server that featured non-lore, shenanigans, chilling after tournaments or among us games, stage productions of macbeth, people just casually playing on it for fun, semi-lore, and lore, to just lore, with occasional streamers. you see- niki actually stocked her bakery for people to take from quite frequently, people would come on and grind to get stuff back after a battle, wilbur would mine in pogtopia, etc etc.

it was a living, breathing thing that I feel bad that some people didn't get to see live because it's hard to describe. people kept up the casual rivalry between the smp and l'manburg, wear their uniforms to tournaments: and that was what made it so unique. schlatt was a very real threat that could just pop into your vc at any moment, he felt like a proper villain in that sense. in the same stream that wilbur and tommy would be in pogtopia mourning the fact that they had no allies while two hours later we would see fundy writing in his spy diary and niki casually resisting. quackity's lore doesn't really allow for that, and it's good lore, but it's missing what makes live action rp so captivating.

how would I fix it?

1. don't end things on cliff hangers, for gods sake. let a plot resolve in your stream so that way people can react to an build off of it in between lore streams. quackity shot himself in the foot for any casual lore by leaving it on the fence whether people would join and not establishing any clear rules, meaning that all the streams we could be getting rn are blocked by that.

2. save high production value streams for big events, or flashbacks, or just anything that can't be done completely live or improv. that way, you can decrease the time in between any lore at all, take some pressure off quackity, and get back some of the organic, homespun charm. I was watching quackity's stream and thinking 'this is nice, but he could have done five short streams over the course of a week or two that accomplished the same goal but without so much energy and rushing. then, he could cut the footage together into a video if he wanted it condensed for viewing pleasure.' it would build hype and set some sort of much needed pacing

3. if it's not already being done, make the plan public so people can jump in if they want, leave open space for improv, at least a bit. if quackity let himself lean on other streamers half as much as wilbur did for both his arcs as c!wilbur and ghostbur, things could move at a more decent pace and feel like an actual server again. just- hop into foolish's streams my dude

I could elaborate more, but tldr: quackity's lore is good, but it severely lacks pacing, stifles organic chemistry between characters, and could very well burn him out. he should mix in casual lore and used formal lore as a supplement, not a base

#asks #critical #dream smp #future talk

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five-rivers · 3 years

Text

Hobbies

Phic phight! @idiot-cheesehead-archenemy

A series of vignettes about Danny having various hobbies.

(Master the Orb)

Danny exhaled slowly as the ice built up between his hands. Each new layer glittered in the ghostlight cast by the overhead ambient ectoplasm, embedding complex patterns in the overall piece as new layers built up over it.

“Very good, Great One,” rumbled Frostbite behind his shoulder. “Your control has improved immensely.”

Danny inhaled equally slowly, examining his work so far but not adding to it quite yet. “I don’t know. It looks a little lopsided.”

“Mmm, it looks fine to me. Especially for such an early attempt.”

Danny sighed, exhaling the ice he had built up with his breath. “So, it is lopsided.”

“Consider it practice,” said Frostbite, encouragingly. “It takes time to master art of any kind.”

“Humans do ice sculpture, too,” mumbled Danny. “They get really good, too. I’ve seen pictures. And videos. They don’t even have ice powers.” He rubbed his thumb over the surface, smoothing over a slightly rougher patch.

“That may be true,” said Frostbite, “but, again, you just started, Great One. You have only had your powers for a little while. Give yourself some support.”

Danny shrugged. “I guess it isn’t something my life depends on, so I can relax about it.” He built up another layer of ice. “This is oddly therapeutic, and I don’t say therapeutic lightly. You know Jazz.”

“I do indeed,” said Frostbite, somewhat ruefully, head half-bowed.

Jazz could be a force of nature, even more so than ice powers.

He held the ice orb up to the light. It caught on the patterns he had placed there. Fractals were the easiest. He was hoping that if he got better, he’d be able to make real sculptures with patterns in them, instead of just orbs.

But, first, he had to master the orb. Just like how when drawing you had to do circles first. Circle. Orb.

Ooorb. Yep.

The controlled application of ice. The evenness of the internal patterns. The solidity, density, and durability.

His orb was… not very orblike, despite what Frostbite said. Frostbite probably thought he was making so flat on purpose.

Yeah. He was terrible at this.

He was having fun, though.

(Furnace)

“You’re taking up glass blowing?” asked Tucker, surprised.

“Yeah? Is there a problem?” asked Danny, reaching over to stop his friend from accidentally drawing a line of orange sharpie across his poster on the themes in Macbeth.

“No!” said Tucker, quickly. “But, like, why? It just seems… unlike you.”

“Exactly,” said Danny, nodding sharply. “It has absolutely nothing to do with my powers and nothing to do with my family. Plus, I had a coupon.”

“For glass blowing?”

“It was a groupon,” said Danny. “For making Christmas tree ornaments. I’m going to do it with Jazz.”

“But, Danny,” said Sam, looking over from where she was working on her own poster about Twelfth Night, “glass blowing, uh, involves a lot of heat.”

“Sure?”

“Danny, you have an ice core.”

“Ah,” said Danny. “Well. I’ve got to use that groupon. If it doesn’t work out, it’s only the once, right?”

“Oh my gosh,” said Danny, wringing sweat out of his t-shirt. “That was awesome!” He giggled to himself and peaked into the annealer again. “So awesome!”

“Uh huh,” said Jazz. Her attempts had been… rather less successful than Danny’s, partially because she was trying so hard to make them perfect. But she had managed a few little baubles, nonetheless. “I think these’ll all be good for the tree. Assuming we get one.”

“And it isn’t set on fire.”

“Oh, yeah, that was a bad year.”

He squeaked open the annealer again, only closing it when the instructor lightly scolded him. “They’re so terrible and lopsided,” said Danny.

“Hey,” said Jazz. “Mine are fine.”

“I know! I was talking about mine.”

“Ah, okay then. I agree.”

“You aren’t supposed to agree.”

“What, you want me to lie? And after you said it first?”

“No,” said Danny. “But you could be nicer about it.”

“I’m your sister, what do you expect?”

(Lung Capacity)

Danny let the last note trail off to complete silence. He stared apprehensively at the assembled student body. Curse Mr. Lancer’s extra credit talent show assignment. Any minute now, they’d start laughing at him.

What was he thinking? He’d just watched a few YouTube tutorials on breath control, and he thought he could come up here and sing in front of people? He was a moron, and—

Sam and Tucker started cheering wildly, followed rapidly by everyone else in the gym.

Okay. What?

Sam and Tucker, following impulses known only to overexcited teenagers, swarmed up the stage and attacking Danny.

“Why didn’t you tell us you could sing like that?” demanded Sam.

“When did you learn?” asked Tucker, doing his level best to noogie Danny. “Why did you learn?”

“I wanted to improve my, you know, wail,” muttered Danny, “and all the breath control YouTube videos either had to do with diving or singing, so…” He did a little head wiggle to illustrate his point and also dislodge Tucker.

“I just can’t believe you kept this a secret from us,” said Sam.

Danny snorted and took a sort of half bow before attempting to leave the stage. “My dudes, I am basically made of secrets.”

“Encore!” screamed someone who clearly hated him.

“Oh, no,” said Danny, bracing himself against Sam and Tucker who were pushing him back into the middle of the stage. “No encore. I don’t do encores.”

But now people were chanting. Chanting.

“Come on, Danny,” said Tucker. “Just once!”

“Yeah, these are your fifteen minutes of fame!”

“I had those already! Multiple times!”

“That was Poindexter.”

“And now it can be you.”

Danny reluctantly took the microphone back off the stand.

(Letterhead)

The ink was thick, almost creamy, and paint-like. It was the ectoplasm mix, which also gave it a rich, rosy glow.

Danny was practicing ghost calligraphy. Well, one particular subset of ghost calligraphy, one which put special emphasis on the color of the letters as well as how they fit together.

It was a totally useless hobby. But it was… not exactly calming. No. He’d gotten way too angry about poorly formed arcs and crooked lines a couple of times. So. Yeah. Not calming. But… meditative. Meditative. And there was something satisfying about seeing the finished product.

Plus, if he framed his better finished work, they made for good presents for weirdo ghosts.

“You misspelled this,” drawled Ghost Writer.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Keuwii only has one kei.”

“This is only one kei.”

“What’s this, then?”

“It’s a flourish.”

“A flourish.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Everyone’s a critic. If you don’t want it—”

“I didn’t say that.”

Danny raised an eyebrow.

Ghost Writer made a show of rolling his eyes. “Very well. Do you have one for my half-brother Randy. Perhaps one that says something along the lines of ‘idiot?’”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

(Babies on Fire)

“Danny,” said Jazz. “What are you doing up at three in the morning with a lighter? And… yarn? Is that yarn?”

“Dad wanted me to learn how to sew,” said Danny, “but I don’t like needles, not the sharp ones, anyway.”

“You get stitches every other week,” pointed out Jazz.

“Exactly,” said Danny, gesturing with the lighter. “So, I decided to look into, you know, knitting. And I was on knitting websites, and having, you know, a pretty good time with that, but then I found out about the babies.”

“The babies.”

“The babies,” said Danny, seriously. “And the blankets that are on fire. It depends on the yarn, you see. If the yarn is the wrong kind of yarn, if it catches on fire, the blanket can melt onto the baby. It’s terrible. Just terrible.”

“I kind of think that if the blanket is on fire you have bigger problems,” said Jazz. She took a step closer to her obviously insane younger brother. “Are you… testing the yarn?”

“I have to, Jazz. It’s for the babies.”

“Alright,” said Jazz. “You are going to limit it to just the yarn in our house, right?”

“But we don’t have any babies.”

“Okay, that didn’t answer my question, but, like…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Since we don’t have any babies here, why are you testing the yarn?”

“Because we might have babies here in the future,” said Danny. “Or I might knit something and give it to someone as a gift and then they give it to their baby. Oh my gosh, I’d feel so guilty.”

“I’d be more worried about the toxic waste in our basement,” said Jazz, which was exactly the wrong thing to say to a sleep-deprived half-ghost on the edge of an Obsession-fueled breakdown. Danny vanished in a blur, trailing yarn behind him. Jazz, who had only gotten up for a glass of water, cursed under her breath.

(Before the Ball)

“I’m so, so sorry, Dora,” said Danny, holding back something adjacent to laughter.

Dora laughed, more openly. “It is fine, Sir Phantom. Even now, you are better than my brother.”

“Am I really? Your brother? Who was raised to do this?”

“Well,” said Dora, letting go and stepping back out of the range of Danny’s feet. Which were, evidently, both left feet. “No, I’m afraid, but it is amusing to say, isn’t it?” She pressed her fingers to her lips, suppressing more laughter.

“Yeah, it is,” admitted Danny.

“In any case, you are far more graceful concerning your mistakes than he ever was. More gallant. A better representative of chivalry altogether.” She patted the shoulders of his shirt.

“Thanks,” said Danny. “Do you think that I’ll be, uh, ready in time for the party?”

“It’s more than a party,” said Dora. “You’re being officially knighted. You’ll be a peer of the realm.”

“Aha,” said Danny. “Yeah. I don’t… what? Really? That’s a thing?”

“You thought I was joking?”

“No,” said Danny, drawing out the word. He had, in fact, thought she was joking and only accepted her offer to teach him how to dance because he thought it sounded like fun and like it might take his mind off his problems. “Of course not. So. Dancing. Important. For first impressions?”

“Everyone already knows you, Phantom,” said the knight assigned as Dora’s bodyguard. “But dancing is surprisingly useful for swordplay. Which you need all the help you can get at.”

“You said I was getting better.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re good.”

“Ouch.”

(Time)

“I don’t have time for a hobby,” complained Danny through the Fenton Phones. “Maybe if the ghosts let up a bit—” He zapped one of said ghosts.

“Danny, are you fighting ghosts right now?”

“Yeah. That’s my point.”

“Oh my god, get off the phone.”

“No way! This is the only time I can call you, what with all of your classes.”

“Danny…” said Jazz, clearly exasperated. He took advantage of the lull in the conversation to blast a few more ghosts.

“I’m fine Jazz.”

“You are not fine. You are, like, ten thousand miles away from fine. When was the last time you even slept through the night?”

“Eh,” said Danny. “Recently?”

“You need to take more time for yourself.”

Danny sighed and captured the last ghost. “Maybe catching ghosts is my hobby.”

“Catching ghosts is your self-imposed penance for doing something that isn’t even your fault. Not a hobby.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll talk to you on Wednesday, same time.”

“Danny, don’t—”

He hung up.

“Ugh,” said Danny. “I guess I need to find a hobby. Have to find time to find a hobby.”

“Perhaps I could be of help.”

“Ah!” Danny jolted forward, dropping his phone.

Clockwork gestured with one hand, and the phone dropped back into Danny’s hands from above.

“Ohhh my ghost, why are you here?”

“You were just talking about finding time. And now I’m here.”

“Good timing, I guess?”

“Only the best,” said Clockwork, evenly. “But we were speaking of hobbies. Might I suggest ice sculpture? Your friends in the Far Frozen would be more than happy to teach you...”

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2021

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findingjoynweirdstuff · 3 years

Text

Dream SMP Recap (August 11/2020) - Maybe this is why you shouldn’t do musicals

Tommy performs a solo of Hamilton while held at gunpoint and wins over Dream with the power of music before war breaks out over a horse corpse after a rendition of “Blitz” by Technoblade leads to murder.

Meanwhile, Fundy hatches an evil plot and steals the throne of the Dream SMP kingdom with Jack Manifold’s help before getting into trouble over a kidnapped bee. Tubbo becomes a lawyer, be careful.

L’Lawyerberg is founded...L’awyerberg?

The server also gained a new member: Quackity!

A large portion of the day’s events take place in Shakespearean English.

Enjoy.

---

VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Fundy (August 11 is the correct date)

Tubbo

Tommy

Tommy (Quackity segment)

Skeppy

Thunder1408

Eret

---

- Fundy starts off in his underground base.

Fundy: Me is at thyn’t base

Tubbo: L’manburg?

Fundy: Otherly speaking, that which is owned by myself

- Fundy meets Tubbo on the Prime Path. He puts back on his L’manburg outfit, and Tubbo declares him no longer a rebellious teen

- They go over to Tommy’s home, which has been turned into Hell, and Tubbo builds Dream. Fundy shrinks Dream significantly. They then proceed to the L’manburgian docks before heading back.

Tubbo: “Where is Jack Manifold?”

Fundy: “Where isn’t Jack Manifold?”

Tubbo: “That’s the question on everyone’s mind.”

Fundy: “Who is Jack Manifold?”

Tubbo: “No, everyone knows who Jack Manifold is, just where is what we really want to know.”

Fundy: “...Why is Jack Manifold?”

- Fundy carves Herobrine into Skeppy’s leaf roof before making it a creeper

- Fundy tells Tubbo about his evil plan. He’s been researching law, and has come up with a plan to use a law from the Netherlands to gain legal ownership of any property they want. They decide to steal the throne.

Enter Dream.

Fundy: How go’st thy?

- At the castle throne room, Tommy joins the call to briefly shout at Tubbo that Shroud is coming back on Twitch before leaving.

- Fundy turns around and finds himself face to face with Dream, who is standing there menacingly.

- Fundy kills Tubbo and Dream kills Fundy

Enter TommyInnit.

- After returning to the castle, Tubbo and Fundy have the idea to put on a Shakespearean play. Dream is there with his pet dog. Tubbo assigns Dream the role of Macbeth, since he kills a lot of people.

Enter Skeppy.

- Dream kills Charles. He’s getting into character. Fundy congratulates him on his successful audition.

- Tommy joins the call to ask why his base has been turned into the Nether. Fundy and Tubbo tell him that they’re doing a show.They quickly build a theater stage near the Community House.

- Skeppy joins the call and they fill him in on the plan too.

Enter Thunder1408.

- Jack Manifold has transformed into Dream. He turns back into himself and arrives at the Community House.

- They begin the performance of Macbeth. Tommy ends up lip-reading for Tubbo and Fundy by speaking behind them while they nod their heads.

- Dream and Skeppy ride away in a boat together, leaving them with no audience. Tommy frantically performs for Fundy before swapping to his own part, then back to Fundy again.

(The only person in the audience now is Tubbo)

Tommy: (at rapid speed) “As whence the sun 'gins his reflection, shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, so from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come, discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: No sooner justice had with valour arm'd, compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels, But the Norweyan lord surveying vantage, with furbish'd arms and new supplies of men began a fresh assault.”

- Dream, Jack and Skeppy return to watch. Dream pays Tommy a diamond. Tommy continues performing Macbeth solo.

- Dream is enjoying the performance so much he starts having a heart attack

- Tommy points out they would get much more money if they did Hamilton instead.

- Tommy performs a full solo of “Alexander Hamilton” from the hit show Hamilton. Dream shoots Tubbo to death off the stage. Tommy continues the performance, unfazed.

Thunder1408 from up yonder, hath fell to their death.

Skeppy from up yonder, hath fell to their death.

(Tommy keeps rapping)

- Tommy and Tubbo sing while getting attacked by zombies. As they finish the song, Dream throws them several diamonds.

- Tommy tells Tubbo and Fundy that they’ve just started the showbiz business! Skeppy comes over and asks if he can invest. They decide to name it “Pathway.”

Tubbo: “We’re being told to do Heathers. What’s ‘Heathers?’”

- Dream comes over to meet them at Tommy’s Nether house. He offers to fix Tommy’s base for five diamonds. Tommy pays him and he gets to work.

Tommy: “Dream seems to be my friend now. Have I convinced him with the power of song?”

Tubbo: “Well I mean, not until you try to get your discs back.”

- Jack comes over and Tubbo murders him for being against the showbiz business.

- They discuss the future of the showbiz business as an asset to L’manburg. They start thinking of other musicals to do. Tommy only knows Little Shop of Horrors.

- Tommy tells them that they should do a flash mob to promote their new business. He suggests singing “Blitz - Parody of “Blank Space” (has swearing) by Technoblade to appeal to the Technoblade fan club -- namely, Dream and Skeppy.

- They chase after Skeppy and Jack and start a flashmob by aggressively singing Blitz at them. Tubbo then murders Skeppy.

- Fundy leaves. Tommy and Tubbo speak with Skeppy, who is furious.

Skeppy: “I have something you guys can never have.”

Tubbo: “Good spirit?”

- Tommy and Tubbo head to Skeppy’s house.

Skeppy: “Where are you? I’m gonna burn it.”

- They ask what it is that Skeppy has that’s so valuable.

Skeppy: “It’s labelled ‘Spirit...’”

- Skeppy is holding a piece of leather. Tubbo realizes, but Tommy is confused as Dream freaks out in chat.

- Skeppy was going to invest the leather into their business, but not anymore. Skeppy says goodbye. Tommy and Tubbo decide to join Dream’s side to keep him favorable to the showbusiness.

Tommy: “There’s another war, and me and you aren’t...”

Tubbo: “Aren’t what? On the L’manburg side?”

Tommy: “No, we’re on the Showbiz side now, Tubbo. That’s our new side.”

- They meet with Dream, who is still working on Tommy’s base.

Dream: That is the remains of my horse :(

Dream: Its like your disc to me

- An explosion goes off at Tommy’s house as Skeppy sets off a creeper and dies. Tommy tells Skeppy to give them Spirit

Skeppy: “Listen, I’m not looking for another war, okay? I just -- I came after the war, I came when it was all peaceful! I’m not here to start the war!”

Tommy: “Skeppy, okay okay -- here’s a better way of phrasing it: get it out, or we’re going to destroy everything you ever once loved.”

- They threaten to get rid of the number 14, then chase after Skeppy. Tommy shoots and kills him.

Dream: Skeppy.

Skeppy: Yes my lorde

Dream: Can I have my dead horse’s leather please

- Dream is still placing dirt.

- They bicker with Skeppy some more at Skeppy’s house. Tommy and Tubbo decide to hold him hostage. Skeppy asks why they even want the leather. Tommy replies, to gain Dream’s trust.

- Dream tells Skeppy that he would kill both of them for the leather. Tommy and Tubbo start running to L’manburg. Skeppy invites Dream to speak with him and says that he doesn’t like them. Dream asks for the leather.

Skeppy: “You remember everything that we talked about a couple days ago, where I’m like ‘that was uncalled for, why did you go to war with them? Like, that was stupid, they didn’t even do anything wrong?’ I take everything I said back, you were COMPLETELY in the right, they were idiots, you should’ve blown up MORE of their house! I take everything back, they’re fucking-- Come to my house, I’ll give you the leather...can we go to war again? Is that on your mind?”

- They negotiate over the transfer of the leather, suspicious of the other scamming them. Skeppy knows they might just log off, and he wants them dead now.

- Dream tells Skeppy that he does have something important to them:

The discs.

- Skeppy suggests they trade the leather for the two discs.

Dream: “Skeppy, it’s too valuable!”

Skeppy: “More valuable than your horse? Huh, wow, shows how much you care--”

Dream: “Equally valuable! Equally valuable!”

Skeppy: “So if it’s equal, it’s an equal trade then. I’ll trade you right now.”

- Dream says he’ll trade Skeppy one of the discs, but Skeppy insists on two.

Dream: “Well, it only matters really to Tommy, but Tubbo is like Tommy’s...son? So.”

- Skeppy says he’d settle for one with added riches. Dream says they should return to his house, but on the Prime Path Tommy and Tubbo come running to attack. Skeppy dies and respawns at Dream’s house again. Dream kills Tommy and the battle continues just outside Dream’s house between Dream, Tommy, Tubbo and Jack Manifold.

- They join a call together. Dream tells Tommy that he hasn’t given anything away yet, but he’ll trade one of the discs for it.

Tommy: “Why?”

Dream: “Because I NEED my horse’s leather back! It’s from my horse’s dead body!”

- Part of the deal is that the disc can’t be damaged. He’ll give away Cat.

Dream: “Tommy, I HAVE to do it! One disc!"

- He doesn’t care who he gets the leather from. Tommy has one day to get the leather back from Skeppy, but Tommy says that he’ll be visiting Tubbo the next day and can’t spend the day at war.

- Dream leaves and Tommy goes to negotiate with Skeppy. He pulls out the ultimate weapon -- Skeppy’s tweets.

- #skeppyisoverparty and #tommyisoverparty both start trending on Twitter.

- Tommy and Tubbo admire Dream’s handiwork on repairing Tommy’s house, then continue negotiating with Skeppy.

- Tommy and Tubbo realize that it would be a lot easier to take the disc back from Skeppy than Dream and tell Skeppy to give Dream the leather.

- Skeppy tells Dream he’ll give him the leather for two discs. Tommy tells Dream he has his approval. They go back and forth over one vs. two discs.

- Tommy invites Skeppy back to VC.

Tommy: “Skeppy, meet Big Q!”

“Skeppy?! SKEPPY?! Remember when you invited me on a video and I said no?!”

- Quackity tries his best to intimidate Skeppy. It doesn’t work. Skeppy leaves to continue working on his house.

- Skeppy rejoins the call to hear Tommy and Tubbo say that Quackity’s been in juvie for 41 years. They talk about the leather again.

Skeppy: I am here anytime you want to talk, Dream. There is a reason you went to war with these idiots. Remember that. Thank you.

Dream: “Skeppy...I want the leather! Do you have sympathy? It’s my dead horse, okay? My horse died, and then Sapnap took the leather from the ground.”

- Tommy and Tubbo watch through the window to watch Dream and Skeppy negotiate. Dream explains to Skeppy that there have been multiple wars on the server over the discs, and he wants control over them. There’s no point in burning them, because you would lose all trading power.

- Dream would never trade Skeppy both, but he’s willing to give one. Skeppy asks for Netherite, but Dream doesn’t have any to trade. He used up his resources for the war.

- Skeppy agrees to the trade for one disc. Skeppy gives Dream Spirit, and Dream gives Skeppy Cat to put in his Ender Chest. The deal has been done.

- Fundy and Jack Manifold build a little house on the roof of Eret’s castle just above the throne room to claim the throne.

- Tommy asks when Dream will whitelist Quackity. Dream says right now and does so.

Tommy: “Okay so Quackity’s not joining L’manburg, but he can be our dirty little crime boy...Our man on the inside!”

- Quackity joins the call. He’s out of juvie after 43 years. Tommy tells him that Quackity can’t join L’manburg, but they can do the cartel instead. Dream says Quackity could also join his side. Quackity weighs his options.

Enter Quackity.

- They meet Quackity at Spawn. They get to the Community House and Dream throws Quackity several diamonds. Quackity thanks Dream for helping him.

Dream: “You’re very welcome. We try and get everyone to feel welcome and at home here at Dream Team SMP.”

- Tommy tells Quackity not to bond with the green bastard and starts walking down the Prime Path. Ponk comes over as well. Dream takes off all his armor.

- Quackity doesn’t want to take sides right now. Tommy fills him in on the war.

- Tommy shows Quackity his basement and puts Quackity in prison. He tries to put Dream in prison too, but Dream’s too quick and evades.

Enter The_Eret.

- Tommy notices a mark on Quackity’s face. Dream says it’s a battle scar from prison. Quackity is upset that Tommy keeps asking about his conditions.

- They show Quackity through the sewers.

- Ponk murders Jack.

- Fundy meets Eret at the second tower to show him the scuffed redstone doors.

- Then, Fundy shows Eret what they’ve done at the castle, fencing off the throne as Fundy and Jack’s new territory. Fundy explains law in the Netherlands to Eret while they sit at a coffee table

- Eret asks if, were he to build a house above Fundy’s little cottage, he would then own that territory.

Eret: “I think the turns have been tabled, Fundy.”

Fundy: “I think the turns have been coffee...tabled, if you wouldn’t mind.”

- They go back down to the throne and Eret says he doesn’t think this is how it works, as he still has the crown on his head.

- While Fundy struggles with his king skin, Eret builds a platform above the house at build limit, therefore reclaiming it as his territory. While he’s occupied, Fundy takes the entire throne and moves it slightly to the left.

Enter Punz.

- Punz tells Fundy that he’s fucked up. Tubbo joins the call to inform Fundy that there’s a cartel now. Punz tells Fundy that he’s killed Beenis, the original bee.

- Tubbo informs Fundy that Eret is summoning Herobrine while Fundy hides Pog the dog behind a wall. Eret finds him quickly.

- Punz joins the call to tell Fundy that he has evidence of Fundy murdering Beenis. Tubbo says he can be Fundy’s lawyer.

- Fundy puts on his king outfit. Punz and Tubbo come to the castle. Tubbo leads them all to court. He is a lawyer. They argue about who should go in the jail hole and the death hole.

- Punz tells Tubbo that he clipped evidence from his security cameras. He explains that Fundy broke the hive and it must have died.

Tubbo: “Be careful, I’m a lawyer.”

- Punz shows the evidence of Fundy breaking the hive. They debate whether the bee would have died.

Tubbo: “Oh my god, be careful I’m a lawyer.”

- Fundy says that he didn’t kidnap it, he didn’t kill it and he does not have it. Tubbo declares the first strike and asks Punz why the bee was outside. Punz says the bee usually comes back.

Tubbo: “Be careful, I’m a lawyer! Did I mention it?”

- Fundy says the enchants on his pickaxe included silk touch. Tubbo shoots Eret with an arrow.

Tubbo: “I am a lawyer! Be careful!”

...

Tubbo: (shooting Eret again) “Yeah you can. You can rename a corpse. Be careful, I’m a lawyer!”

Tubbo: “Punz, how sad are you that he’s dead on a scale of 1 to 10?”

Punz: “Just typing his name reminds me of all the memories we had.”

Tubbo: “How many memories is that? I need a number, so I can know how many, how many, how many...yeah. I’m a lawyer, be careful.”

- Tubbo makes a rough estimate of 200 and flicks another lever.

Tubbo: “I’m a lawyer, be careful!...be careful, I’m a lawyer!”

- Tubbo asks if Fundy has any valuables on him. Eret offers to hold onto anything, so Tubbo shoots him again.

Tubbo: “Be careful, I’m a lawyer, Eret! Be careful, be careful, I’m a lawyer. Yeah, I know you didn’t, and that’s why you should be careful, ‘cause I’m a lawyer.”

Tubbo: “Be careful! Be careful, I’m a lover! -- I mean lawyer. Wrong one.”

- Fundy asks to make a claim.

Tubbo: “You’ve got one lever left. Be careful, I’m a lawyer.”

- Jack Manifold arrives in a king outfit. Tubbo promptly shoots him.

Tubbo: “Jack Manifold! Be careful, I’m a lawyer!”

...

Tubbo: “Hey, hey, you don’t talk to him! Be careful I’m a lawyer but I’m out of ar -- Punz, do you have any arrows? ...Thank you I’m a lawyer, thank you I’m a lawyer.”

“Guys! Be careful, I’m a lawyer!”

“Hey! Be careful, I’m a lawyer, I’m a lawyer. How much camera in -- the -- is there?...Okay, well you can’t leave that cell, so we’re gonna have to if this doesn’t work -- be careful I’m a lawyer, Jack Manifold. Be careful. Be careful I’m a lawyer! Be careful, Eret, I’m a lawyer. (he shoots Eret again) No no no, that was just a lawyer shot.”

“Everyone be quiet, I’m a lawyer! Okay...so order in the lawyer! Order in the lawyer, everyone.”

- Punz suddenly murders Fundy. Tubbo tells them all to be careful, he’s a lawyer, as Fundy looks into his Ender Chest and sees the beehive there. Tubbo asks if Fundy wants to sue Punz, he’s a lawyer.

Jack: “Tubbo, Tubbo...so what do you do for a living?”

Tubbo: “I’m...I’m...I paint...sofas.”

- Tubbo declares them all L’Lawyerberg. They’re doing independence again. They all head back to the castle, having created Dream SMP’s newest law firm.

The End.

#in case you thought that Season One was any less off-the-walls chaotic as the new lore #dream smp #dream smp recaps #long posts #this is legitimately one of my favorite days of SMP history #and I wanted to share it lol

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nightingaelic · 3 years

Note

Fallout 4 companions react to meeting Arcade Gannon?

Ever the curious neighbor, as soon as the sole survivor spotted the blonde, bespectacled man at the bar in the Dugout Inn, they drifted over and struck up a conversation. A drink or two later, the two were swapping tales about wasteland encounters, pointing at various holes in their travel clothes and pairing them up with fantastic backstories. When the sole survivor's companion finally swung open the door, they were given an inviting wave.

"Sit down!" the sole survivor encouraged them. "First round's on me. I'd like you to meet Arcade."

Cait: "Hiya handsome." Cait winked at the man in the lab coat and leaned on the bar. "I'm Cait. Never seen you around before. Where is it you're comin' from?"

"I, uh..." Arcade adjusted his glasses and ran a hand through his wavy hair. "West of here. Nowhere in particular."

"A free spirit, then? Just passin' through?" Cait looked him up and down. "Think the Science! Center might be lookin' for a new egghead, if those clothes aren't just for show."

Arcade tugged on his outfit self-consciously. "I thought it might keep Commonwealth raiders from shooting me on sight, if they thought I was a doctor."

Cait bobbed her head in a noncommittal way. "Or they might see you as an easy target. That is, if they don't spot that plasma pistol you've got in your back pocket."

Codsworth: "Hello to you, sir!" Codsworth exclaimed, bobbing excitedly. "Codsworth, at your service. Might I say, it is a fine occasion to meet someone nowadays who appreciates the importance of good hygience and care for one's appearance."

"Thank you," Arcade said, with a somewhat quizzical glance at the sole survivor. "And you belong to..."

"Well, I belong to him just as much as he belongs to me," the sole survivor jumped in to explain.

Codsworth waved them off. "Not to worry, the conventional assumptions are not unwarranted. I am happy to accompany and assist in wasteland adventures as necessary. When not necessary, I typically clean the house."

Curie: "Monsieur Arcade," Curie purred, with the special enthusiasm she reserved for introductions. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. You can call me Curie. Have you been in Diamond City long?"

"Not long at all," Arcade replied, clearly intrigued by Curie's accent. “Parlez-vous français?"

"Oui, Monsieur!" Curie exclaimed. "Le français est si rare de nos jours. Où avez-vous appris?"

"Oh, um... des... des livres, principalement," Arcade stammered. "Books. It's not as good as my Latin, I'm sorry."

"Latin?" Curie switched gears instantly. "Etiam magis rara."

Arcade laughed. "Well, not where I'm from. Who are you? Linguists are practically unicorns, nowadays."

Curie sighed. "It is a long story. Perhaps we wait until Vadim brings the drinks, and we can compare notes?"

Danse: "Ad victoriam, Arcade." Paladin Danse shook the newcomer's hand with gusto. "Paladin Danse, with the Brotherhood of Steel."

Arcade's eyes narrowed. "Brotherhood of Steel?"

"That's correct, citizen," Danse replied proudly.

"Uh-huh." Arcade looked back to the sole survivor. "I had no idea they were in the area. Are you stationed in Diamond City?"

"Brotherhood operations are a strictly classified matter," Danse answered, furrowing his brow. "But our main base of operations is at the Boston airport, where the Prydwen is docked. You can't miss it."

"Well, that explains it." Arcade examined his drink, avoiding eye contact with the Paladin. "I didn't come in from the north. I'm sure it's a sight to see."

Deacon: "Nice to meet you." Deacon declined the handshake, instead crossing his arms and cocking his head to the side. "Nice tan. Been on the road long?"

"Too long," Arcade replied, retracting his hand and returning the calculated look.

Deacon grinned. "Alright, I won't pry. Welcome to Diamond City. Did Vadim try to poison you yet?"

"You watch it, John Doe!" Vadim shot back from halfway down the bar. "Or I call the guards, see if you actually do work the midnight shift, ya?"

"You can walk down to Danny's sign-up sheet for shifts and check yourself!" Deacon's grin grew wider. "And I'll tend bar. We'll see who can do a better job of it."

Dogmeat: Dogmeat approached the man's open hand, which he gave a good sniff. Soap, hot dust, a whiff of plasma cartridges: Nothing out of the ordinary. Satisfied, the dog opened his mouth to pant, tongue lolling, and accepted the scratch behind the ears.

Hancock: "Arcade, huh?" Hancock gave the man a winning smile and took one of the open stools. "I'm Hancock. First time in Diamond City? You're gonna love it here. Vadim and his brother really know how to knock you on the floor."

As if to demonstrate, Vadim delivered three shots of Bobrov's Best to the little group. "On the house," he offered. "Celebrating Mayor Hancock's newest business deal with yours truly."

Hancock threw his back, and when Arcade hesitated, he threw that shot back too. "Next one, buddy."

"Did he say Mayor Hancock?" Arcade asked. "Mayor of Diamond City?"

"Nah, nah." Hancock laughed. "God, wouldn't that be a riot. Ever hear of a town called Goodneighbor?"

MacCready: "Arcade." MacCready shook the man's hand warily. "Like the pre-war places that have a whole bunch of games inside them?"

"Actually, like the..." Arcade made a face. "You know what, never mind. Like the pre-war arcades, yeah."

"Oh, man." MacCready grinned. "There was this one I found once in the Capital Wasteland, mostly broken down of course, but it had one working machine in it. The Red Menace Whac-a-Commie. Someone took the whackers ages ago, but the little Red Menace guys still popped up and down. Duncan- my son- loved it."

Arcade chuckled. "Yeah, they're... they're fun. I found a Hoop Shot once, but the basketballs were all dried-up and flat."

"Gotta get yourself a Pip-Boy," MacCready replied, nudging the sole survivor's shoulder affectionately. "This one has a collection of mini-games for theirs. Atomic Command, Grognak & the Ruby Ruins, Pipfall... all the greats. Oh, I'm MacCready, by the way."

Valentine: "Nick Valentine. Pleased to meet you." Nick shook the man's extended hand with practiced warmth, giving him time to realize the metal grasp he offered was not a cybernetic, and the scar around his jawline was actually just where his synthetic skin ended.

True to form, the stranger's eyebrows shot up, his grip slackened and his mouth dropped open. "You're a... what are you?"

Nick gave him the standard line. "I'm a detective. But, if you're referring to the plastic and platinum bits, I'm also a synthetic man. All the parts, minus a few red blood cells."

"Whoa." Instead of the typical scramble to put some distance between the two of them, Nick was surprised to find Arcade's handshake tighten again at this explanation. "I've heard of people like you, but never thought I'd actually meet one. Er, well, one that was obviously living as a synth. Though I guess you don't have much of a choice, huh?"

Piper: "Arcade? Piper Wright." The reporter shook the newcomer's hand firmly. "So, what's your story? What brings you to the Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth?"

"I uh..." Arcade looked flustered, despite Piper's encouraging smile.

The sole survivor came to his defense. "Leave him be, Piper, he just got into town," they scolded playfully.

"What?" Piper asked innocently. "Can't the town reporter ask questions around here without everyone telling me I'm being too nosy?"

"No."

"Town reporter?" Arcade perked up. "Is that your newspaper, on the way in? Public... something?"

"Publick Occurrences," Piper answered with pride. "Covering anything and everything worth hearing about that happens in the Commonwealth."

Preston: "Welcome to Diamond City, Arcade." Preston shook the man's hand warmly. "I'm Preston Garvey with the Commonwealth Minutemen."

"Minutemen?" Arcade asked, clearly unfamiliar with the term.

"We're citizen soldiers," Preston explained. "The people of the Commonwealth banding together to protect ourselves and decide our own future."

"So sort of like a free state?" Arcade straightened up. "Or do you have some kind of command structure?"

"Command structure." Preston chuckled and glanced at the sole survivor. "You're looking at it."

Strong: "Strong need to get moving," the super mutant replied, rubbing his big hands together. "Milk of human kindness not here."

Arcade took the mutant in with the air of someone who had dealt with somewhat-friendly specimens before. "I can ask the bartender if they have brahmin milk."

The sole survivor waved him off. "No, that's not what he-"

"Puny humans do not have milk!" Strong cut in.

"Wait, milk of human kindness?" Arcade looked confused. "Is that... Macbeth?"

The sole survivor sighed. "It's a long story."

X6-88: "Good afternoon." Rather than sit down, X6-88 adopted a protective stance of the sole survivor, completely ignoring the hand Arcade was offering. "I hope you know that if harm comes to this individual, your life will come to a swift end."

"Uh-huh." Arcade retracted his hand. "Bodyguard?"

"Of a sort."

Arcade turned to the sole survivor instead. "Is he always this much of a stick in the mud?"

They shrugged. "He's protective and slow to trust. Give him a bit and keep your hands where he can see them, you'll be fine."

X6-88 nodded. "Affirmative."

BONUS!

Ada: "Hello sir." Ada nodded her head in greeting. "I am Ada. I hope you are enjoying your stay in Diamond City. Did you experience any trouble getting to the stadium?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Arcade replied. "Sorry, you're an amalgamation I haven't seen before. Sentry bot and protectron parts for sure, but your head is..."

"An assaultron," Ada filled in helpfully. "I take it your region does not have many of these bots?"

"No, they seem to be more of an East Coast thing."

"Just don't get on her bad side," the sole survivor joked. "You don't want to be on the receiving end of an assaultron laser."

Gage: "Well hi there!" Porter shook Arcade's hand forcefully. "Porter Gage. Talked you into trying some of this swill, did they? Brave soul."

"It's not so bad," Arcade replied with a smirk.

"Oh sure, if you're lucky enough to have Scarlett bring it to you." Porter winked at the waitress, who paused in her service to flip him the bird.

"Mmm, not my type," Arcade admitted.

"Not your ty-" Porter blurted before putting two and two together. "Oh, gotcha. Well, there's always Hawthorne."

The raider waved to the adventurer in the corner, who waved back. Arcade sank as deeply into his stool as he could and blushed.

Longfellow: "Mmm." Old Longfellow rejected Arcade's handshake and took the offered seat, swinging around to face the bar. "Storm's comin' soon. Can smell it."

"Then it's a good thing we're inside," Arcade replied, his tone unsure.

Longfellow grunted his agreement and accepted the drink Vadim slid to him, downing it quickly.

The sole survivor scowled at him. "Guess he's not in a talkative mood today."

Maxson: "Elder Arthur Maxson of the East Coast Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel." Maxson shook Arcade's hand confidently.

Arcade, on the other hand, looked like he was being violently pulled between an instinct to flee and an intense curiosity. Curiosity won out. "Maxson? Of the line of Captain Roger Maxson?"

"High Elder Roger Maxson," the Elder corrected him. "You know of him?"

"Well sure, everybody on the West Co-" Arcade stopped himself. "Never mind. What's an Elder doing in a dive like this?"

Maxson studied him intently, clearly sizing him up. "Shore leave," he finally answered, sliding into the offered seat.

Desdemona: Desdemona smiled coolly. "I know."

The answer took Arcade aback, but the sole survivor just rolled their eyes. "Dispense with the power plays for once, Dez. We're just trying to have a drink."

The Railroad leader raised an eyebrow, but she sat down. "Suit yourself. When did you arrive in town, Mr. Gannon?"

"Oh, for the love of..."

Arcade eyed her suspiciously. "I don't remember telling you my full name."

Desdemona lit up a cigarette. "You didn't. But I'm by far the friendliest person in the Commonwealth who's wondering why a Follower of the Apocalypse is all the way out here, across the continent."

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