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#don't remember if this also happens in the older movie
gus-dix · 11 months
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2017 version of the little vampire was really boring but i enjoyed these two scenes, at least. yes those are direct redraws, the first scene really went like this, and they still had the gall to say those boys aren’t gay. sure...
do not erase the caption, use or rePOST my art (reblog ok)
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hoofpeet · 2 years
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Going off the Ingo and Emmet had a big fight before Ingo gets ebbie debbied.
I can only imagine how Spice would feel about this. Like they try to psychologically torment Ingo who only as fragments of memories, at best, of who he was and the people in his life. Spice fails, ends up being the warden's partner, and worst of all ends up having an emotional attachment with this man. Spice won't admit it, but he's come to like the strange human.
Fast forward and Ingo get undebbied from the past. Spice and the other pokemon follow cause they care deeply for Ingo and don't want him to be on his own like he was in Hisui. A wacky adventure begins and everything really looks hopeful from here on out.
And then they find Emmet and then it all goes south. Spice (in his Zoroark form) and the rest wait out as the brothers talk, until they can hear yelling. They hear the slamming of a door open and see Ingo yelling at Emmet to just listen to him, but before he can finish Emmet pushes Ingo to the ground.
All hell breaks loose. The other pokemon react but Spice is faster. He gets in-between Emmet and Ingo putting some space between the two, and while facing Emmet, he transforms. Emmet now faces himself but this him is not smiling and his eyes are full of scorn.
Emmet's Psychological Torture 2: Electric Boogaloo. This time with intent to kill
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Ougggh... good food
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sillyfudgemonkeys · 3 months
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Me: *talking about the older Disney Princess movies and how I'm re-watching them* Someone: Oh yeah, but man those older ones, the OG 3? They were horrible representation for wom- Me:
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Me: Speak not another word, lest we get thrusted back into the good year of 2014. This is why Frozen gagged y'all, cause people had that antiquated and twisted mindset of something that doesn't exist.
#we do NOT disrespect Snow White Cindy nor Aurora in my house#silly talks#SW and Cindy were parental abuse victims who still fought back and survived in their own way#and one was fucking 14 christ all mighty#and Cindy was so freaking proactive its crazy#i love the live action disney cindy but og animated cindy was just as good#they had a slightly different focus and messages but they both executed their own stuff (and shared stuff) very well#and aurora is just existing and y'all wanna drag her man#btw I love frozen and F1 is one of my top fav disney movies#but when you watch it and remember the bs mindset people had of the older disney princess during the 2010s-ish era....#....well F1's writing is elevated a lot more!#It's playing into and subverting the twisted expectation people had of the older gens and the creators/Hans trolled y'all#I was not expecting this to happen in an irl convo I was not expecting to be thrusted back into 2014 TT0TT#(btw I say this knowing I also accidentally bought into/entertained that weird mindset for a minute....#.....i was a teen and thought the headcanon/aus of 'making childhood thing actually twisted' was fun uwu#like ed edd and eddie is actually taking place in purgatory or whatever#do I really believe it? no. did I find it interesting/entertaining to explore that idea? yea#i firmly don't believe Beauty and the Beast is stockholm syndrome.....but did I find it interesting to hear about it the first time? yeah#so yeah when I bring up F1 gagging people I look at it fondly cause I was also invested in that crowed too! ...I wasn't as antagonistic#about it as some people but I did explore those ideas cause I found them fun)#anyway off topic we did Herc and Mulan last night (probs my fav disney movies besides F1 and Lion King 2)
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dreamlifebunny · 10 months
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manifestation ideas: revising the past
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revision is a beautiful, life-affirming part of the law of assumption that reminds us that nothing is to be feared, because everything is changeable at all times. i ignored revision for so long in the beginning of my loass journey because i was afraid it was "too illogical" (classic), but after testing it last year it became one of the most healing things i've ever done for myself! you can find posts on revision all over tumblr, reddit, and most importantly, in this reading by neville. (let it be known that this post references bullying and abuse if you'd rather skip this - keep yourself safe!)
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you can revise that you never watched your favourite tv/movies, read your favourite books, or listened to your favourite albums so that you get to experience them all over again for the first time!
nobody remembers any embarrassing or cringey moments that you have had (because they didn't happen!) or better yet, any of these moments have been revised to be happy and fun moments.
any former rejections have been revised; job offers, school offers, grants and applications have now all been accepted!
your family has been revised to be your absolute dream family; full of love, abundance, fun family adventures, togetherness and connection, support, and kindness. you can also revise your past so that you've always had younger or older siblings, if you grew up an only child and wanted siblings.
former bullies from school or work have come back to genuinely apologize for the hurt that they have brought you and offer reconciliation in whatever way you desire, whether that is publicly; in front of your school/colleagues, in a heartfelt letter expressing their regret, with an insane e-transfer of money (hehe), or any other desired way. either way, you get to see the regret that they feel and know that they have changed and wish they never hurt you (you can do this with abusers as well, if you feel comfortable with it - you never have to see those people again if you'd prefer they don't contact you to apologize, or you can revise it so that you never met them or never experienced them that way)
your loved one's pains or hurts can be revised so that they never happened.
you can revise your memories so that you have always experienced your family and loved ones in positive ways, or you can make it so that you remember the past and now get to experience the beautiful present!
didn't like the way a show or film ended? revise the ending so that your dream conclusion happened!
you can revise that your SP has been in love with you from the start!
your previous manifestation attempts that "failed" have been revised so that your desires came true, and your previous void state attempts that "failed" have been revised so that you already entered the void, and can now enter at any time!
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jaylver · 1 year
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ALL OF THE GIRLS YOU LOVED BEFORE — P.JS
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SYNOPSIS: growing up, you've always known this one boy who was your father's best friend's son. as you grew older, you watched the girls come and go, at the same time, you somehow got closer to him as well. feelings sparked and you progressively found yourself liking him. what were you going to do? kiss him.
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PAIRINGS: childhood friend!jay x afab!reader
GENRE: childhood friend to lovers, romance, a pinch of angst
WARNING(S): profanities, two of them being a bit dumb
WC: 3049
AUTHOR NOTES: i'm in a jay brainrot and after hearing miss swift's newest song, i knew i needed to write something. it isn't the best i admit, i rushed it HEKSJ but i hope you'll like it! PLEASE GIVE SOME FEEDBACKS THANKIES 🫶
masterlist | © jaylver 2023 all rights reserved
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Ever since you were a kid, you knew this boy from your father's best friend. Park Jong Seong, also known as Jay. He was the son of your father's life long best friend, but unlike them, you and Jay didn't happen to be as close.
You were six when you first met him. It was his birthday and your dad had dragged you over to his house against your will, typical. You didn't have any high expectations for him as a kid, just wishing he had some legos for you to play.
Up till the moment you were facing him, your fathers introducing you to each other, you only realised how cute he was. Yes, little six year old you might've had a love at first sight moment. You can't blame yourself, his chubby cheeks and shy demeanour made you more curious.
You handed him his present silently, watching as he accepted it and in the next moment, his face broke into a small smile, grabbing your wrist and bringing you into his playroom.
Unfortunately, you and Jay barely met up after that, both of you having busy lives and your parents having no time to bring you to playdates either. You didn't think much of it as a kid, thinking of him as the funny boy who had tons of legos and that was it.
You figured you'll never see him again despite him being your father's best friend's son, but you were wrong. In the next few years, you would always go over his house for birthdays and the new years, it basically became a tradition. 
Of course, only seeing one another once or twice a year, each year would be a different version of him, and you began noticing the big change he went through when you were sixteen. 
Jay was much taller, voice deeper, his hair parted in a different way, his style evolved and the way his face had changed too … lord, he evolved like a pokemon.  
You being a sixteen year old teen wasn't helping either. It was the prime year for a girl like you to be having crushes, chasing after guys, basically overwhelming hormones that had you thinking Jay was cute. Cute cute. 
On that specific new year, you remembered having to do a double take when you entered the Parks' house, not realising he was, in fact, Jay. You hid the shyness and did what you always do whenever you're around for New Years Eve. 
But that night, both of your parents were out for a party, in their words 'a party for adults', dumping their kids alone at home instead. It was awkward to say the least, having to sit on the far end of the couch with a movie playing in the background, Jay seeming half entertained by it.
"Hey," he scooted over and you turned over to see him inching close and closer until his shoulder was against yours.
"Yeah?" He can't be trying to hook up, right? You can't help but think, nervousness creeping up your throat.
"I heard there's a New Years party in town, let's sneak out?"
"Really?" 
"Do you trust me?"
"I–I guess?"
"It's a 'yes' or 'no', Y/N,"
Panic and adrenaline rushed over you, fearing your parents would beat your ass knowing you're sneaking out, but it was Jay. You couldn't really say no. "Yes, fine,"
Jay replied only with a happy grin, snatching your wrist and switching the tv off, dashing out into the garage. "Don't worry, I've driven before,"
"If you crash, I'll kill you," you hissed but Jay ignored your threat, blissfully driving to the town.
Along the way, it felt like a scene from a coming of age movie. The radio was turned to the fullest volume, the two of you screaming your lungs out to the lyrics and having the windows opened, wind blowing against your faces. 
The ride was quite short but memorable, your hand was in Jay's the whole time as he led you through the fun fair, the whole town alighted with bright lights and loud music. 
The clock was ticking and Jay had finally dragged you to a specific spot. The place was empty and quiet, but the sky was clear and there weren't any buildings to cover your sight.
"This spot is the best for fireworks," Jay mentioned, sitting on the ground, which you followed suit.
"Really?"
"Yeah, my friend's brought me here once,"
"That's … cool," you said uneasily, an awkward tension unknowingly settled between the two of you.
"How's life for you?" Jay glanced at you, a hint of genuine curiosity in his eyes.
"It's fine. Typical highschool stuff. A guy did confess to me once, but I didn't feel the same," you found yourself babbling secret information, unsure why you were suddenly so comfortable with Jay. Maybe it was his presence, or maybe it was just him in general.
"You're amazing obviously, I'm not surprised he confessed. Just a shame it wasn't mutual," Jay said and your ears perked up.
Jay thought you were amazing. 
"Right," you choked out, slightly flustered. "What about you?"
"It's chill, not much going on," Jay was fidgeting with his fingers, chewing on his lips. "I'm in a band with my friends though,"
"Oh! That's really cool,"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," you repeated. "I'm sure you're super good. What position are you?"
"I play the guitar,"
"You should teach me someday,"
"You should come by more often," he confessed, gulping a little after realising what he had said. "It's been a long while since we've met,"
"You're right, come pick me up then,"
"Only on nights my parents are out," he laughed, pausing for a second. "Come to my show one day,"
He wasn't asking, he was making it clear he wanted you there. 
"Of course, I'd love to."
The night faded off into colourful fireworks, small jokes that would soon be inside jokes in the future, and tired laughs rang into the quietness.
This was the only time you were sixteen and doing something wild, considering you would never ever have the balls to sneak out, but you were glad you did it that night, and all of it together with Jay. 
Your lives went on and though you and Jay barely kept in contact, his request rang in your head from time to time. You felt like you've known him all your life, yet you knew completely nothing about him at the same time.
Around April the same year, you went over to his house to celebrate your birthday together with him since you two shared close birthdays and it pretty much became a tradition by now. 
Upon arriving, you awkwardly stepped into the house, your parents too busy talking with Jay's parents out in the garden. Everything was familiar to you, but also unfamiliar as you've never travelled further in, feeling slightly tense while you sat yourself on the couch.
"Y/N?" 
You turned your head around, meeting Jay's eyes, his body leaning against the wall. He smiled at once, approaching you and taking a seat next to you, he was a little too close.
"Jay, hi," you breathed out, blinking slowly. 
"How have you been? We haven't seen each other much lately, but you do seem like you're having fun in your stories," for a moment you've forgotten you and Jay were following each other on Instagram, having the access to view your day to day life.
"Oh, it's nothing, just a girl's trip," he was referring to the day you went out of town with your friends, quite surprised he somehow took note of it.
"Sounds fun," he mused, nodding a little. "By the way, my girlfriend's coming, I hope you don't mind,"
You totally just experienced whiplash, completely bewildered that he had a … girlfriend?! You weren't surprised since he's cool, tall, handsome and super smart, but you hadn't expected it this early.
"I'm chill with it," you laughed it off, trying to seem nonchalant. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend,"
"Oh, yeah, we met at a gig of mine," he gave you a half grin. "Which you should totally come and get blown away by my skills,"
"As if," you giggled. "Send me the place, I'll pop by soon,"
"You promise?"
"I do."
Your sixteenth birthday definitely did hurt more compared to your past ones and it had a simple reason behind it. Well, it was because of Jay. The same Jay you couldn't help crushing over despite having the slightest contact with, but you didn't care, you knew him all your life, and he's the Jay you've always recognized, the same sweet and caring one.
Seeing his girlfriend's birthday card that was written for him on the table had you swallowing your cake sadly. Hearts were drawn around his name in her handwriting. Totally cool.
You kept your promise to Jay and stopped by one of his gigs without letting him know, which surprised him. On the other hand, you were the one who's more surprised. He did live up to his expectations, charming you and the crowd with his guitar skills and honey vocals. Gosh, whatever you were feeling for him, forget it, it's not dissipating.
To repay your kindness, Jay promised to turn up to one of your football games and you just laughed it off, waving your hands, but you knew for a fact that once he had said it, he was really going to do it.
And so he did. He was a man of his words. Luck was on your side too, winning the game victoriously and seeing Jay running up to you once the game was over, the biggest grin plastered on his face. He was practically telling you how good you were that day, bringing you for ice cream after.
Ever since then, your relationship with him grew unexpectedly. You were 17 together, then 18, watching the girls in Jay's life come and go, but the moment you had a boyfriend yourself, he wasn't the most keen on it.
You told yourself he was probably just protective, going through a phase where you thought he just "wouldn't get it". Oh how terribly wrong you were. He did get it, and your first boyfriend ended up breaking your heart.
You cried over a boy whose name you couldn't remember now, hiding in the bathroom until Jay had to drive to your house and slammed your door repeatedly for you to get out.
You said nothing, just falling into his chest with a thud and crying your eyes out. You knew he had a secret 'I told you so' in him, but he didn't say anything, keeping you in his arms until the sun had set.
21, college and being legal enough for alcohol, you and Jay explored frat parties, both being single and available, it was a hidden opportunity. Shots were downed into your throats and thankfully, you shared good alcohol tolerance levels with Jay, meaning it would be a long night ahead.
Someone had brought up hide and seek as the night's party game, and you initially thought it was stupid, but once you heard the winner getting a deal of a 100 dollars, you were in, partnering with Jay naturally.
On the count of ten, you dashed around the frat house with Jay's hand in yours, him following behind like a lost puppy. You entered someone's bedroom, finding a lucky hiding spot in a closet, pulling Jay in.
You closed the closet door shut, not realising how tight the space actually was, your chest pressed against Jay's, heat radiating off of each other's body. You've officially dug yourself a grave.
"Hi," Jay whispered, his gaze soft paired with a childish grin on his face.
"Hi," you smiled back at him, your eyes wandering all over his face, scrutinising his features.
"It's a little hot in here," Jay fanned himself a little awkwardly from the limited space. 
"Definitely," you looked away for a second before staring back at him. "You have a really nice mole here," your finger grazed against his face, but he didn't flinch, accepting your touch.
"Do I?"
"Yeah," you murmured, your fingers moving to the side of his face, gently brushing loose strands of hair away from his face. He was so painfully pretty, you quietly thought in your head.
"You're really pretty, Y/N," he said out of the blue, causing you to freeze, catching you completely off guard. "I don't think I've said it once, but I've always thought you were pretty, beautiful even,"
Uh oh, you're falling in love.
"I don't know what to say," you said truthfully, gulping nervously. "I'm flattered, really, I—uh—thank you," you laughed, your cheeks getting unbearably red.
"You're flustered," he leaned in close to you, his eyes not leaving yours. He was inches away from you, his cologne infiltrating your senses, the scent a little too familiar.
Oh no, you're falling in love again.
"Shut up," you punched his shoulder. "You're such a tease,"
"You love that about me," 
"Sure," you rolled your eyes, ignoring his piercing gaze.
"Can I kiss you?"
"Will you regret it?" Uncertainty laced in your tone, scared, anxious, that you'd ruined something between the two of you.
"No," he answered with a certain sureness in his voice, his eyes truthful and honest. "Will you?"
"If I do, I wouldn't be doing this—" you pulled him in close by the back of his neck, pressing your lips onto his, your brain turning into mush. 
His lips reciprocated back, kissing you deeply and having to place his hand on the side of your neck for some stability. The kiss was more than just a simple one, not the kind that would be forgotten easily, there was something more to it.
It felt like aeons before you finally broke apart, panting heavily against each other's lips, your hands still on his shoulder; his hand now on your waist. 
Oh, you're falling in love.
There were many things you've regretted in life, but this? You would do it over and over again if you had the choice to, and maybe you do.
"I—"
"Is there anyone here?" A voice came from the outside and the two of you froze, hoping it wasn't the seeker. "The game's over," the person yelled out before you heard the door shutting.
"We survived it," you muttered cheekily, trying to ignore Jay's gaze.
"Yeah—uh—" he brushed his hand against his pants, the tension in the air thick enough to be sliced by a knife. "Should I drive you home?"
"Please do."
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Ever since that night at the frat party, you've been on and off with Jay. You were caught up with work and Jay was busy, but the part where he said he was having a date did set you off completely.
None of you talked about the kiss. You didn't like the fact that you didn't, waiting for him to speak up about it first, but you hated the waiting game, yet you still couldn't make the first move. Jay seemed like he was about to talk about it every time he hung out with you, but he never did.
Days turned into a week, having only seen Jay once or twice, you figured you were avoiding each other. You hated the feeling, you were dreading it, dreading the fact that one day something like this would happen, and it did.
The silent treatment ended the moment when you were forcefully pulled into his dorm room when you passed by one day. Letting out a yelp in fear until you realised it was Jay. 
"Jay?"
"Hi," he gave you an apologetic smile, holding onto your hand softly. "I—uhm—figured we have to talk … about that night,"
"Oh,"
"Are you avoiding me?" He cut to the chase, shocking you a little.
"No, I thought you were,"
"I wasn't," his eyebrows were furrowed, a quizzical look on his face. Were you two just in denial?
"Look, you asked me if I will regret the kiss and up until now, no, I didn't," sincerity shone in his eyes, his chest heaving. "But did you?"
"Of course not," you breathed out truthfully, noticing a sign of relief in his features.
"Good, because I like you, Y/N," Jay confessed, his gaze dropping to the ground to avoid your wide eyes, hands squeezing yours gently. "All of the girls that I've had in my life, they couldn't compete, you were the only one who mattered most to me. I never realised that, I admit, until I found myself trying to find a little bit of you in the girls I've dated, but none of them could ever compare to you."
You were stunned speechless, your heart twisting and pounding hard against your chest.
"I didn't want to repeat the mistake of doing all the avoiding, it's dumb, so I just want to talk to you here, one on one," he continued. "I'm sorry it took me years to realise. I was in denial that I liked you, I was scared you didn't, and the date I went to, I just couldn't stop thinking about us,"
You resisted the urge to smile, watching as Jay rambled in panic. "I like you too, Jay, ever since we were kids," you shook his hand, trying your best to put on the most reassuring smile. "To be fair, I'm in the wrong too, I didn't really have the balls to say anything either, but I'm just glad we're here now,"
Jay processed your words, features twisting from shock to relief, clear euphoria in his gaze. "Can I be your boyfriend?" 
"I thought you'd never ask,"
You pulled him in by his collar, pressing your lips onto his and you let your hand wander into his hair, feeling him smile against your lips at the gesture. You grinned into the kiss, eliciting a small laugh from Jay in between. You wished to stay like this forever with him.
The stars were aligned, your past and his were intertwined to bring the both of you together. All of the girls he's loved before, forget about them, they made Jay the man you've fallen for in the end, and you're thankful for that, loving him a lot. More than anything and everything.
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( © jaylver all rights reserved. do NOT copy, plagiarise or edit my work and repost whatsoever. once discovered will be exposed and blacklisted. )
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weebsinstash · 10 months
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As much as I want to have children by this man, let's take a moment to sip our platonic yandere Miguel juice
-i can't decide which sex he'd be more partial to in a 'child'/you since in the movie there was Gabriella but in the comics he eventually has a son who becomes the next Spiderman but--
-as a girl i just naturally think of a lot of those sorts of gender specific ideas 👉👈 he's this big scary hulking intimidating threat and his "daughter" is the one melting his cold exterior
-doesnt matter if you're a grown ass woman, Miguel sees you struggling to braid your hair and suddenly here he is, full dad mode, doing it for you,and depending on how close you two are, maybe he disguises it with "ugh, stop spending so much time messing around with that. If I do it for you will you get back to work? 🙄", but really it's just your new self proclaimed dad/tio wanting to help braid your hair and help you feel pretty and, oh, how he can fondly remember the last time he helped braid "his daughter's" hair...
-of course this evolves to him just loving to do things with your hair. Braid it, wear it natural, style it, use products on it, hes got you. you were just trying to put your hair in a lazy updo like a ponytail or bun and this man doesn't let you leave until he's got you completely combed out, hair braided with ribbons, and of course this entire time youre awkwardly sitting there in a chair in his absolute cave of a workstation with this gargantuan 6'9 man there, "so how was your day? Staying out of trouble?"
-really I mean. Is stealing other people's kids NOT technically in character for him. You're unfortunate enough to trauma bond with this man and you're never getting rid of him
-you hear Miles Morales call him tio (as in the tio meaning dude) and you jokingly teasingly start calling him tio, which Miguel secretly pretends is the version that means uncle. You're just constantly joking around or looking up at him with these big pouty eyes, "but tio 🥺 can't I PLEASE--" and its like. Lmao people know that if they need to ask Miguel for a favor, that it increases their chances to have you ask in their stead
- I mean, as a female adult abused as a child by my own father, raised by a single mom myself, like...
Reader flinches away when Peter B goes to give you a supportive pat on the back or comes in for a high five after a mission and you force yourself to laugh because you're feeling more than just a little awkward and in the spotlight. "Oh, sorry, that was dumb!" And they eventually get you to kind of anxiously word vomit "my dad used to just kind of, rough me up sometimes when I did something wrong! It-it could've been a lot worse honestly, but, it-it just makes me kinda jumpy around guys sometimes! It's not a big deal, or personal or anything. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad 🥺"
Peter B, Jessica, and Miguel all there as older parental figures and also literal parents, immediately exchange looks and agree like "oh hell naw, don't like that" and you get silently adopted by all three of em right then and there
-if it's a physically abusive father and you're still the victim of abuse, I imagine your dad had some suspicious figures suddenly show up in the middle of the night to terrify and threaten the shit out of him and suddenly you aren't getting as manhandled anymore
-can you imagine, like, you show up to Spider Society one day with a black eye "oh, this? It's, it's nothing. My dad is just, he's about to make police captain and he's really stressed about it is all" cue all your friends mentally high fiving around the table because your abusive piece of shit dad is going to die and you don't even know. When it happens they'll all be "oh no, sweetie, I'm SOOOO sorry :(" meanwhile they're thrilled bc now you don't have any parents and they can weasel in there as your new family, schedule your birthday parties, monopolizing more of your time, things like that
-goddd I just imagine it could become some kind of weird fucked up enmeshed scenario where the structure it's providing for your life is actually good for you meanwhile Miguel is like, retroactively kind of soothing some of his trauma both from his own childhood and what happened with the second universe he broke that it's just like. You're a grown ass adult and this man is tucking you in goodnight and saying "te amo, mija" at the doorway and you bet his ass is going to stand there and not let you sleep until you say it back. He knows you're just absolutely seething at him and he'll still refuse to leave without a grumbling "te amo, papá 🙄"
-He eventually just has you doing so much shit and depending on him so much that it starts to become second nature to you. one day you're in the Society doing one of the odd jobs you're allowed to help with and suddenly you're thinking, "Ugh I actually don't know what to do next, I wish Papá was here to-- WAIT SHIT NO I MEAN MIGUEL--"
-lmaooooo as a non Spanish speaker I keep thinking of how awwwwwful it would be if he actually forces you to learn Spanish. Not inherently because there's anything wrong with Spanish, but, I'm not always smart, and I can just SEE him quizzing your ass, forcing you to have entire conversations in Spanish, always clicking his tongue or chuckling at you when you make a mistake and he just thinks you're so cute struggling to learn 🥰 man hears you're trying to take extra lessons from Miles and he instantly drops everything he's doing to go track the little scamp down. Insert meme "I can forgive being an anomaly but I draw the line at teaching Reader bad Spanish"
-siiiiiiigh eventually the day comes when you're in big danger and you need his help, maybe you disobeyed him and was hanging out with some other Spiders in another dimension when there was a sudden villain attack, and he comes to your rescue as a villain does something dramatic like has a gun to your head or a knife to your neck and the second you see him you're just overwhelmed wirh a sense of relief, calling out for him, calling him dad/tio/papá whatever, and he's just like 😭❤️ pumping his fist internally, like YES you are so grounded when you get back home but also 🥰 you finally called him dad without him having to twist your arm 🥰 nevermind if the "villain" who kidnapped you was actually a Spider who owed him a favor, and this whole thing was to teach you a lesson about listening to your Papá, that's not important ❤️
-Miguel who forces you to learn Spanish vs Miguel who forces you to be Catholic. I can excuse kidnapping and forced adoption but I draw the line at making me practice religion 💀 no but seriously, he probably does have certain morals and values he instills/forces upon you if he thinks you need them, and he'll probably be one of those fathers, "are you leaving the house dressed like that? Go change" and orders you not to hang out with certain people he doesn't approve of or thinks have bad character (like hobie lmao)
-bruh you two will be on a super serious important mission and this man will be like "it's dark, hold my hand so we dont get separated"
Eventually it comes to a point where you're, not perfectly behaved but, just about. If someone finds Miguel, it means you're not very far away, or vice versa. Members of the Society quickly learn not to make any advances on you or make any "adult" comments unless they want to get suspiciously hurt during a personal training session by the big boss himself. You think you're safe just cause Miguel isn't around? Nah, cause then you have Peter B and Jess keeping an eye on you, and, not that YOU'RE aware of the extent, but, if Miguel ever gets worried, he can just ask Lyla what you've been getting up to, since your modified little daypass has her installed into it and she can track your every move ❤️ helicopter parent? Oh honey, you have NO idea...
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magewritesstories · 2 months
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[ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ ɢᴏᴊᴏ ] ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏᴜʀʜᴏᴏᴅ ᴍᴏᴍ ᴀꜱꜱᴏᴄɪᴀᴛɪᴏɴ
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summary: just a simple one-shot of your life before Megumi went to Jujutsu Tech tw: implied fem!reader but no pronouns are used note: listen, gojo has a chokehold on me but domestic!gojo? ooohh boy words: 811 (it's pretty short) jujutsu kaisen masterlist
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YOU BROWSE THE ISLE BOREDLY. Some old Ed Sheeran song playing over the low-quality speaker of the grocery store as your eyes scour the colourful array of cereal boxes in front of you.
It had been an annoying experience this morning, waking up to find not only all the Captain Crunch cereal but also the instant coffee gone.
Usually Gojo does all the grocery shopping (which leads to an unequal ratio of healthy- to junkfoods.) But he's out on a mission and you can't survive without coffee.
So, here you are, trying to find a good cereal.
You could just get Captain Crunch, but Megumi complained about it last time so that was a no-go.
"You should get that one," A feminine voice spoke up as you were reading the label of a bright pink box.
You turn around to face the unfamiliar voice. "Excuse me?"
An elder woman, maybe ten years older than you, holds up a dark green box with what seems to be the picture of a monkey and chocolate shells.
"This cereal—it's more nutritious but my kids love it because it tastes like chocolate."
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" You question, a little taken aback. The woman's smile falters a little and suddenly you think you've made a mistake. Had you met her at a parent-teacher conference, maybe?
But thankfully she quickly reassures you. "Oh, no sorry, I'm Saori Aino," She introduces, maneuvering past her cart to shake your hand, "I live in apartment 107. I suppose I got a little ahead of myself there."
"Ah, okay, it's alright," You reply quickly, smiling somewhat awkwardly as you shake her hand, "I'm Y/N L/N."
The woman nods as she hands you the box of cereal, letting out a soft giggle. "Oh, I know. My son goes to the same middle-school as your daughter—tells me how Tsumiki can never shut up about how amazing you are."
The comment makes you go a little red as you smile, "Really?"
"Oh yeah, honestly we're all dying to meet you—you should swing by a PTA meeting some time," Saori replies, "I know all the other parents would love to meet you. Bring your husband too!"
Before you can reply that technically Satoru isn't your husband yet, Saori continues excitedly. "Actually, the spring dance is coming up, and we need volunteer chaperones."
"Oh, uhm, I suppose I could check my schedule..." You reply, sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck.
"That's great!" She replies, clasping her hands together excitedly before checking her watch, "Ah, I should really get going and make dinner but think about what I said. And don't be shy to ask for a favour every now and then, we parents should stick together, right?"
Saori doesn't give you the time to reply as she quickly walks off with a small wave. Leaving you standing there with a box of cereal in your hand, wondering what had just happened.
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You're lazing on the couch—halfheartedly listening to the protagonist of the movie monologue—when Satoru get home that night.
He leans over the back of the couch, watching along for a couple of minutes before jumping over it and plopping down next to you.
You quickly wing your legs over his lap as he takes of his blindfold, tiredly resting your head on his shoulder.
"How'd the mission go?"
"As always, it was a walk in the park."
You playfully roll you eyes at his bragging tone. "How was it here? Anything exciting happen?" Satoru asks, wrapping an arm around your shoulder as he relaxes.
"Nothing special, just ran some errands, helped Tsumiki with math—at least I think I did, pretty sure we were both crying about the primitive at some point."
Then you suddenly remember your interaction at the store. "Oh, and I think I'm officially a part of the neighbourhood mom association."
Gojo peels his eyes away form the glowing screen, "What?"
"Yeah, I was grocery shopping today—because somebody finished all the coffee and didn't bother to restock—" He feigns an innocent face at that—"And one of the moms that lives in the building walked up to me."
He raises a brow at the statement. "She started talking 'bout how the PTA would love to have us join them, they need chaperones for Tsumiki's spring dance, and how we shouldn't be shy and ask for help if we need it, etc."
"Congratulations," He replies sarcastically, grinning at the proud smile on your face. You nod, "I think I deserve to be recognized as a parent after putting up with you and Megumi."
Satoru just rolls his eyes playfully.
"Oh and by the way, everyone thinks you're my husband."
He lets out a laugh at that statement, placing a sloppy kiss on you cheek, "Yeah, I should probably get on that, huh?"
"Probably."
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blehrbie-blog · 1 year
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Neteyam x Reader story
Sooo, I haven't written anything in genuine years. But after watching Avatar:TWOW I've become hyperfixated and have been scrolling and refreshing the Neteyam x Reader tag basically since the movie came out. As a consequence I've had this idea in the back of my mind that I thought was very sweet and cute (something we all need after that movie) so I decided to sit down and give it a go and see what comes out of my brain. So here it is. I haven't properly edited it and it's pretty much a 1000 words of word vomit and a bunch of time skips but it made me happy to write so I'm sharing it.
Oh, BTW SPOILERS!! but also I don't stick to the event's of the movie so idk I'm just putting it out there in case someone hasn't watched the trailer.
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So the idea is our girl meets Neteyam informally for the first time when they're 9. She gets cornered in the jungle by a Palulukan and Neteyam helps her run away from it. She had always known who he is being the firstborn son of the Toruk Makto. She remembers her mom telling her about the big ceremony the Tribe had when he was first born. Everyone knew him.
- You shouldn't go into Palulukan territory without being careful - he says, looking a bit unsure about her now that there's no imminent danger.
- I didn't know I was in its territory
 - Don't wander off too far on your own then.
___________________________
After this meeting, you get closer and become friends, which means as a consequence you occasionally hang out with the rest of Neteyam's family. However, as he gets older and his Dad starts preparing him to be a warrior and later on Lo'ak as well you don't have as much time to spend as you once did laughing and roaming around in the jungle exploring thick forests and shallow pools of water. It's not like you have nothing to do with your life, you do! You've been thinking of taking up lessons from the Tsahik, to see how you can use the spirit of Eywa and nature to help people who are hurting. It just so happens that the Tsahik is Neteyam's grandmother so you sometimes end up seeing him come back from a mission with his father and you share sweet smiles from across the camp.
When the tribe moves to the floating rocks, you are required by the Tsahik to help those injured from the journey and the ones getting used to the new terrain. So you're even more often in the same circles. As you're working one day about to go over to help Ninat with her sprained ankle, someone taps you on the shoulder
-You seem busy with work. - says Neteyam smiling sweetly at you
-Oh! Yes, I was just about to start. How's your training going?
You hadn't spoken in a while, just a quick wave or nod when crossing paths throughout the day. You hadn't noticed but he towers over you by a couple inches now. He nods towards his dad who's speaking with Neytiri at the edge of their tent.
-You know, just the usual responsibilities of carrying on the legacy. - His eyes gaze into you softly, like he's memorizing your face after not seeing it for long. He shakes it off and looks down - Have you got many tasks today?
-Not too much actually, just need to check up on Ninat and prepare some medicinal salves.
- I want to see you later – He looks back up into your eyes and smiles – Maybe we can go on one of our expeditions like before.
You chuckle – Sure, I'd love that.
With a final nod of approval, he stalks away to his parent's side.
When you meet later towards sunset he's waiting patiently with his Ikran by the vines connecting the Hallelujah Mountains to the Jungle below.
-We won't go too far out into the jungle so we have time to come back before sunrise. - He says as he connects his Queue with the Ikran and gazes at you expectantly – Hop on.
Can I trust that I'll come back alive from this flight? - you raise a skeptical eyebrow. He only went through his Iknimaya ritual not too long ago.
He reaches out a hand to help you up onto the animal – I don't think Eywa would forgive me if I wasted you on a simple flight.
You smile warmly into his shoulder as you hold tight onto him feeling the powerful animal shift under you as you fly out.
Roughly 10 years later
____________________________
When he comes back from the Mitkayina islands. He's taller and broader and his hair is much longer pulled into a loose braid around his Queue. You have a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you first see him. He's magnificent and commanding in his presence. The tribe has gathered all around to accept him and Jake back with a warm welcome. And even though you're hidden by your fellow Na'vi, his eyes immediately find you in the crowd and issue an eager and warm smile on his face.
As soon as he has settled the greetings with the current Olo'eyktan and the Tsahik, he finds you – walking to your sleeping pod. You would have gone to say hello and see him up close but, honestly, you were a bit intimidated. What you now knew was a childhood infatuation with him all those years ago still couldn't handle seeing him all of a sudden in all his... perfect glory. You were a little intimidated. But that doesn't stop him from reaching out for you. You see him jog over with a grin. He grabs you by the shoulders about to pull you into a hug but stops himself at the last moment. His eyes roam you over from head to toe and he looks up with glistening eyes -You've grown! - His tone sounds almost unbelieving
-That tends to happen as time passes, yes – you chuckle, hands coming up to hold onto his arms. His strong arms.
-I'm not too sure what I expected you to look like but you're... way beyond any expectation – He sounds so awe-struck as he's still taking you in, that you start to feel a little embarrassed.
-I can say the exact same thing – You say as you meet his gaze again. As you do his face softens and he brings you into his arms finally.
-I missed you, my friend.
Your hand caresses his hair gently – I missed you too.
You break apart and you decide to go for some late food with him abandoning your plans of sleep.
_______________________
Months later, when they have their first kiss. It's a slow thing. He will say something dry-humoured in his soft voice and she'll forget to laugh too busy staring at him, realizing how in love she is. And has been all these years. And when he notices that she hasn't replied he'll look at her and know immediately. That she's realized, at last. And he'll come to hold her like she's the most precious thing in his world. He'll thread his fingers through her hair bringing her face close to his. Forehead pressed to hers, patiently waiting for her to join him in the reality he has been living. Where they have loved each other for a while, longed and missed unbelievably because of it, and are finally able to bask in it. The warm smiles and looks, the casual closeness that not being apart allows. The things he has been dreaming of. He looks at her lips and back at her eyes, pulling back slightly to give her some space. Maybe she's not entirely understanding his feelings, maybe she's too caught up in her own to recognize his signs, he thinks, ready to give her all the time- When she grabs his neck and drags him back to her. - Neteyam... – her eyes are glossy like she's about to cry. So he caresses her cheeks gently and finally presses their lips sweetly together. And he can not compare it to any other feeling he has ever experienced. It's not like loving her, that's easy and at the same time overwhelming. It has brought him to the point that he is ready to lay down his life and all of his family's expectations to travel back to the tribe just to see her. To be reunited. But this feeling, this kiss is like knowing, that he won't be alone in his love and he can give her his all, his soul. They stay there, lost in the sweetness of being together like never before until the sun has long set and the moon has long risen.
_______________________
That is it! I do realise I keep skipping between tenses, I apologise if anyone finds it annoying and hope you enjoyed!
Edit: I thought it might be useful to put a link to part 2 down here so: Next
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alcazarofthestars · 12 days
Note
Can you do Blue Lock Sae x female reader x Rin fluff? The brothers are fighting for her love.
Hehehehe.... I don't know why but I'm a sucker for these types of fics, especially since it's about my two favorite bllk boys. But anyways, sure anon! I desperately need to practice writing fluff since I haven't done any for a while now. And I realized how hard it is to make a banner on a laptop because I originally wanted them to be placed on different sides... TwT
English isn't my first language so there will be some problems with my grammar.
Warnings: Nothing really, just Rin and Sae fighting for the reader's attention behind her back. Reader is implied to be their childhood friend and a bit older than Rin. Reader will be referred to as [Name].
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3rd person POV:
Today in the Itoshi household, there seems to be a little... problem...
"Just what do you think you're doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Spain or something." Rin spat as he glared at his older brother, Sae, who was sitting on the couch in front of him.
But to understand what is currently happening, let's start from the beginning, shall we?
Today is one of the few days where Rin could take a break from Blue Lock. Usually on days like these he would inform his dearest childhood friend (and crush), you, so the two of you can hang out before he returns to Blue Lock again. But unfortunately for Rin, there seems to be a change in his plans. And this rearrangement was caused by none other than his older brother Sae who just so happens to be on a break from his job.
And that leads us to where we are now. The two brothers are currently having an intense staring contests, the tension in the room is so thick that it could be cut in half using a knife. And to finish it all off, Mr and Mrs Itoshi are out of town on business so they couldn't separate the two away from each other.
It was at that moment that the person who would break the tension arrived, knocking on the door. "Hello? Rin, are you there?" The familiar voice of [Name] called, making both brothers freeze as they turn to look at the door. "I'm going to come in, alright?" She threatened as the door was slowly opening.
[Name] had just opened the door, but it seems like she hadn't realized that Sae was also there in the living room because she looked busy searching for something in the bag that she had brought along with her. "I know that you had just got back from Blue Lock and stuff, but I got you-?!" And that was her when she realized that Sae was there. "A-ah, it's nice to see you again, Sae." She greeted him, although a bit hesitant due to the fact that she wasn't expecting him to be in Japan right now.
Sae had now focused his attention on [Name], a small unnoticeable blush crept up on his face, as he just gave a small nod before looking away and focusing on the floor. Has it always been this clean and spotless?
A moment of peaceful (awkward) silence came after. "Hey Sae, we were about to watch a few movies together. Do you want to join us? It'll be just like what we used to do together when we were younger." As if sensing the tension, [Name] smiled as she tried to change the topic by inviting Sae to their little binge watching session. Much to Rin's dismay that was evident by the surprised look on his face. "Sure, I don't really have anything to do anyways." He responded although a bit blunt, he seemed rather excited when [Name] suggested that he joined them.
But this didn't escape Rin's sight. He isn't going to let his brother get in the way of his time with [Name], not on his watch.
If there's one thing that both brothers can remember well are all the moments that they had spent together with [Name]. But some of the most memorable has to be all the movie nights/sleepovers that they had together when they were younger. Though, most of the fun memories were made in the preparation for the movies, such as;
Making Homemade Snacks in the Kitchen
Usually before they'd start, they would prepare the snacks beforehand together. But Rin would rather not take any chances of his brother getting closer with his crush. So he had already prepared for this.
How you may ask? Well that's simple! He is way much better at cooking than Sae, he's been training for this moment since that one time you got bedridden due to a fever in middle school. So he will definitely impress you with his cooking skills!
So when you asked for them to help in preparing some snacks, he was more than confident in his skills.
He did not expect this to happen. Someone please explain to him why on earth his brother is getting all of [Name]'s attention while he just watches on the sidelines as he continues to peel the skin of potatoes in his own silent anger.
He swears that Sae is doing it on purpose too! I mean, just look at how whenever you weren't looking he would give a small but sly smirk to his younger brother before asking how to continue doing the next step in the cooking book. Sae doesn't even need help with most of the steps! Like come on, was he born yesterday or something cause he's acting like he doesn't know how to use a blender or cut some tofu.
Rin doesn't know why but he feels jealous whenever you would get close to his brother to show him how to do something or how you would put your hand on Sae's to guide him whenever he was cutting something. At this point, Rin is practically seething in jealousy. So much so that he didn't notice when he accidentally cut his finger a bit.
Sae may have won the kitchen battle, but he will not win the movie war.
Scores:
Rin: 0 Sae: 1
2. Preparing a Comfortable Spot to Watch
This is a tradition that would make their parents angry, you see, as kids both brothers would love to make a pillow fort together while you were busy usually with making the drinks. But sometimes, they tend to forget about it and their parents would scold them about returning things back to where it originally was.
Truthfully, Sae had forgotten about this little tradition. He doesn't really have any time for watching movies, and if he did it was either at a cinema with his teammates or on his couch in his house in Spain.
So during the time [Name] was preparing the drinks, Sae was just scrolling on his phone because he had gotten a lot of calls and texts from Shidou who somehow has his phone number now so Sae was trying to block him only for Shidou to use another number, but while this was happening Rin was turning the living room into a literal pillow haven. Most of the room was filled with pillows, blankets, and plushies (You gave one to each of them for their birthday and it's been well taken care of).
Rin wonders how Sae will react once he finds out that he was the culprit who gave Shidou his number. When Sae realized what Rin was doing (Sae made Shidou snitch on Rin), it was far too late. You already finished making the drinks and Rin had already picked out a movie.
Perhaps Sae was feeling a bit tired because he swears that he had seen Rin smirking at him as you compliment Rin. Yeah, he was definitely drowsy cause there is no way that he's losing against his brother out of all people, and even worse is that he's taking all of your attention.
No, he is not jealous.
He is definitely not jealous. Why would he be? He is way much better than Rin, so why would he be jealous? So what if Rin got a kiss on his cheek as a reward? when it comes to you; he won't lose to anyone, especially Rin.
If Rin wants to challenge him then he should know that Sae won't back down that easily.
Scores:
Rin: 1 Sae: 1
3. Movies!
When the three of you were still little kids you had a bedtime, but since you're now older you can stay up as long as you want. And back then there was a very limited amount of movies that you were allowed to watch since you were still young, but now you can watch anything you want although there is still some that you'd rather stay away from.
There are a large number of movies that the TV could offer, you were no longer confined to watching movies rated for kids so there wasn't much trouble with picking what to watch.
The problem is the two Itoshi brothers, you were aware of what had happened between them and the fact that their relationship isn't really the best. But this is too much! They've been glaring at each other since you came in. The tension feels almost suffocating, no scratch that- it is suffocating.
"How about we watch this one?" You asked as you had just picked a random movie, the two only nodded their heads as you started the movie.
Oh God that sure was a mistake.
Of all the movie options available you just had to pick out a horror movie, huh? Well, can't really back down now.
So this leads you to where you are right now, sitting in between Sae and Rin as you hold on tightly to Sae's hand after he offered it to you seeing how much you were sweating as Rin just rolled his eyes in jealousy. But the thing that you don't know is that Sae is afraid as well.
There was a scene halfway in the movie where the suspense was incredibly high when suddenly a jump scare appeared causing both you and Sae to scream as you hugged Rin's arm tightly for the rest of the movie.
The two brothers seemed sleepy when the movie had ended. You had excused yourself to use the washroom and placed a pillow in your stead. but when you got back there was a surprise waiting for you. Both Sae and Rin had fallen asleep leaning on the pillow that you placed in your stead.
Final Score:
Rin: 1.5 Sae: 1.5 [Name]: 2
Mission make the Itoshi brothers bond together has somehow failed successfully, but you aren't really complaining.
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Text
Request: Drunk Sam Carpenter that gets all soppy over her girlfriend and how pretty she is.
Whether it be head-cannons or a one shot, it's up to you, but I would love if you included some Spanish in it considering her and Tara are supposedly Latina's.
I loved how you wrote for Quinn so I know it'll be good.
Thank you so much for your kind words, I would love to write for Sam, and I'm so glad somebody else picked up on the possibility of her and Tara being Latina and I am so excited to share this fic.
Reader is mentioned to have blue eyes and be an animator. But feel free to change it in your minds however you want.
Also disclaimer, I used google translate for the translations so sorry if they're wrong.
*****
Never Too Drunk To Know I Love You
Sam Carpenter x Female Reader
Word Count: 2651.
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*****
Both of you had decided against going to the Halloween party with the rest of the group, especially since Ghostface had come back, and you and some of the others had spent the last few weeks persuading Sam that Tara didn't need her older sister being her bodyguard all the time and didn't want to waste it by going with them.
Fortunately for Tara, Sam had a session with her counsellor and you needed to catch up on work for the project you were working on.
Although, somewhere through working on a new character, you had the inspired idea of having a date night with Sam once she came back from her session. Which she agreed would do you both some good since you never really got any alone time unless Sam went to yours (which was a rare occurrence since you basically lived with Sam and the others).
So you two pondered on what to do for a little while, until you decided on watching a movie. However, the two of you had ended up making out with Avengers Endgame playing in the background, neither of you really caring, since you were lucky if you were able to kiss with people around without Tara fake gagging in the background.
Which is how you'd ended up waking up in Sam's bed as you usually do, but instead of her waking you up by planting kisses all over your face to make sure she saw you before she went to work, you were woken up by the sound of your phone ringing. Once you'd sat up to pick up your phone, you noticed a note under it with Sam's handwriting on it, deciding to pick it up and read it.
'Gone to pick up some of the guys from the party.
Be back soon. Love you -Sam xxx'
"Hello?" You said, answering the call as you finished reading the note.
"Y/N, hey it's Tara. We need you to come pick us up." She asked on the other end of the phone.
"Wasn't Sam picking you up?" You questioned, thinking of what could've happened.
"Yeah she was, but now she's puking her guts up outside and I don't know," Tara said.
"Well is she okay? What happened?" You asked, slightly panicked, before putting your phone on speaker and placing it on the bed as you got up to but some trousers and socks on.
"I think so. She was late coming to get us, so I was gonna go hook up with this guy that was flirting with me, even though Mindy and Quinn and that said he was an asshole, but frankly I didn't care, and I don't know I think I fell and Chad punched the guy and then Sam appeared from nowhere and they were arguing and she tasered him, and then we all went outside and me and her were arguing and she was all like, 'if you want to go get shitfaced and hook up with a douchebag then be my guest' and then she just keeled over and started vomiting everywhere." She stated.
"Okay, we'll talk about it later. How late was she?" You said, zipping up the zipper on your trousers, before starting to make your way around the apartment to find your keys, shoes and jacket.
"I don't remember exactly, I mean most of tonight has been a blur of lights and alcohol and shouting. We were all chilling out on the couch and got bored so I texted her to come get us, and she replied saying that she's on her way, then I didn't see her for like half hour or so until she appeared out of nowhere." She answered.
"Okay, I'm on my way now. I'll be with you in like 10/15 minutes. Is everyone else okay and accounted for?" You asked, slipping your shoes on.
"Uh, yeah, Mindy and Anika went home about 10 minutes ago. But apart from them Ethan and Chad are trying to help Sam, Quinn's got her dad on standby and I'm calling you" She said.
"Okay, are you all good? You said earlier you fell." You reproached, chucking your jacket on and putting your keys in your pocket.
"I think so, I mean my head hurts and I feel a bit sick, but that could just be early onset hangover or from the music. Apart from that just scared." Tara said, trying to laugh it off.
"Okay, don't be scared I'm literally on my way now, I'll bring a bowl for you and Sam, and I'll check you both out when I get there." You stated, turning the all lights off except the hall one.
"Okay, that's a little reassuring." She stated.
"Okay, I'm coming now," You said, locking the front door, "Be there in 10." You added.
"Okay, see you then," Tara answered, "Bye."
"Bye." You said.
-----
While driving to go get them you kept trying to call Sam, her phone going to voicemail each time.
"Come on baby, pick up your phone." You mumbled to yourself, pressing the call button on her contact.
"Hey it's Sam, sorry I can't get to the phone, if your a friend, family or my girlfriend, let me know what you wanna tell me. If not feel free to leave your name and number after the beep and I'll see what I can do for you, bye BEEP."
"Son of a bitch, come on. Sam" You swore to yourself, running your fingers through your hair as you stopped at a red light.
Her phones probably dead, you thought to yourself and the light turned green again and you continued driving.
About 5 minutes later, you arrived outside the frat house where the party was taking place, to see a group of 3/4 girls shouting at Sam and the others.
"HEY! YEAH YOU MOTHER FUCKERS, HOW BOUT YOU LEAVE MY GIRL AND HER FRIENDS ALONE BEFORE YOU BECOME TOP OF MY KILL LIST!" You shouted at them, as you got out the car as they retreated down one of the many busy streets of New York. "YEAH YOU BETTER RUN, YOU BITCHES, BEFORE A REVITALISE YOUR FACES!" You added, before turning around to the group.
"Everyone okay?" You asked, walking over to Quinn and Ethan who were sat next to Tara on the steps of the house, handing her a bowl and rubbing her back a bit, before walking back over to Sam, who was leaned against the wall outside, and crouching next to her and Chad.
"Yeah we're all good, just some assholes trying to start shit with Sam." Tara answered.
"You should've been here a few minutes ago," Ethan stated, "The blonde one chucked a drink over Sam, Chad and Quinn were about to beat the shit out of them." He added.
"Not exactly beat the shit out of them on my part, but I was gonna speak some very choice words to them." Quinn stated.
"Well that explains why she reeks of booze, but thank you," You said. "Both of you." You added, turning to Chad.
"Right here's what's gonna happen," You spoke, "Chad, I need you to go to the trunk and pull one of the seats in the back up for Ethan, since he's the smallest., then help him into the back and get yourself in the middle seat to help me with Tara."
"Yes ma'am." Chad replied as Ethan followed, before you threw the car keys at him.
"Quinn, I need you to stay with Sam and make sure she's okay while I sort Tara out." You said.
"Got it." She answered, walking toward the two of you.
"I'll be right back." You stated to Sam.
"Ya shouldn't say that." Sam slurred, pointing at you.
"Yeah, I know, I'll be careful. Promise." You replied, blowing a kiss to her before walking over to Tara.
"How you feeling?" You asked her.
"Like shit." She answered, slurring a little bit.
"Yeah, that's to be expected," You said. "Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?" You questioned, putting up 8 fingers.
"Mhmmmm, 8." She answered.
"Good, how about now." You said, putting up 3.
"Oh easy 3," She stated , "Man I wish my college tests were this simple."
"Okay one more, how many now." You asked, putting up 2 fingers on each hand."
"4, 2 on each hand." Tara answered.
"Good job, you'll be fine. But make sure you drink lots of water when we get back and have some pain killers." You stated.
"Okay." She replied.
"Can you get up?" You asked.
"Yep," She said, standing up with ease, stumbling slightly.
"Yeah okay, be careful," You replied, putting your right arm under hers, "Let's get you in the car." You added, leading her around the back of the car and opening the door, getting her strapped in on the left side of Chad, before shutting the door and walking back over to Sam.
"How are we getting on?" You questioned.
"Allllll gooddddd." Sam slurred, putting her thumbs up.
"She's fine," Quinn stated, "I mean she's stopped throwing up as much." The red head added.
"Okay," You replied, "Let's get you in the car." You said to Sam.
"Mkayy." Sam answered.
"C'mon then you." You said, slipping your arm around her, getting her to stand up, "Can you get the door for me?" You asked Quinn.
"Yeah got it." She said, walking over to open the car door facing the pavement.
"Alguna vez te he dicho lo hermosos que son tus ojos?" (Have I ever told you how beautiful your eyes are?) Sam stated in Spanish.
"Babe, I love you, I have no idea what you're saying." You replied to her.
"Tus ojos me recuerdan al océano, y son más hermosas que cualquier cosa que haya visto." (Your eyes remind me of the ocean, and are more beautiful than anything I've seen.) Sam added.
"Seriously Sam, I have no idea what the fuck you're saying." You laughed off.
"I fucking love you, you little shit." Sam slurred.
"Now that I understood, come on babe, let's get you in the car so we can go home." You said, walking to the car and getting into her into the car before shutting the door.
You got into the driver's seat, with Quinn sat next to you, and were about to start driving before you felt someone tug on your jacket. It was Sam trying to find your hand since it had disappeared in your sleeve. You pulled it out of it and let her do what she was doing. Once she'd found your hand, she held onto it as you started driving to your apartment, your heart melted slightly over how you'd never really seen this side of her, and secretly hoped you'd get to see it more often, without having her puke her guts up first.
You drove back to the apartment and made sure everyone got in safely, and got Tara into bed with a big glass of water and Chad to make sure she was okay, then gave Ethan a couple of pillows and a blanket along with some clothes Chad had lended him so he could sleep on the couch. After that, you helped Sam wash the alcohol smell off of her and get changed so Quinn could sort herself out and Sam could lay in bed for a bit and try to sleep.
After sorting everyone out, you went to the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice, before Quinn came out of her room and the two of you started talking.
"Sorry to put this all on you," You apologised to her, "I would've asked Tara but she's asleep so I'm just trying to understand what happened so everything can be sorted tomorrow"
"It's okay," She chuckled, "I think it's a blur for all of us. I saw Sam come into the party on the other end of the house when I went to find non-alcoholic drinks for us while we were waiting, and I gave her a nod which she acknowledged. Then I went to back to the group and she wasn't there so I thought I saw someone else, then Tara went off with this guy while the rest of us were trying to talk sense into her and then once Chad had punched the guy me, Mindy and Anika were making sure Tara was okay, and then we heard the man groan and we turned round and saw Sam standing over him with her taser in hand, so we put two and two together, and then everything else happened that Tara told you about." The red head explained.
"So basically everything that happened, except where she was is included in the story, and then she starts vomiting out of nowhere." You said.
"Pretty much." Quinn stated.
"Okay, I'm gonna see if Sam's awake, see what she remembers, if she doesn't remember a lot then I'll ask her tomorrow. You get to sleep too." You replied.
"Yeah that's a good idea," The girl said, yawning, "Night Y/N." She added, turning to go to her room.
You put your cup in the sink and turned the lights out in the kitchen and walked over to yours and Sam's room. Upon entry, you saw Sam sat up in bed with the lamp on, scrolling on her phone.
"You should be asleep." You said to her.
"Mhmmm, couldn't sleep without you, plus the video of you having a go at those girls is going around everywhere." Sam replied, showing you her phone.
"Yeah, I don't care. I told my lawyer about it and she's on it, so it's all good," You answered, "Wanna tell me what happened?" You asked her.
"I went to go get them, and then walked in and was roped into playing beer pong and then next thing I know, its 5 games later and I see Chad punch that guy and I go over and see Tara at the bottom of the stairs, so I put the pieces together and tasered the bastard." She explained.
"So you've probably got alcohol poisoning?" You stated.
"Yep." She said, "But hey, at least I don't smell like booze anymore." She added.
"That is true." You agreed. "You okay, apart from the vomiting thing?" You added.
"Uh pretty crappy actually. I just, I can't help but want to look out for Tara and protect her when I think she needs it, but it just sucks when she can't see that and gets angry for me doing that and not letting her live her life. I don't know it just sucks her not being able to trust me, or maybe it's me. Maybe I need to let her make her own mistakes and come to me for help rather then me jumping in to save her all the time." Sam stated.
"Well it's up to you to judge that. Sometimes you need to intervein to save her, sometimes it's just your gut saying you do." You advised.
"If I were you, I would wait to talk to her about it tomorrow. Make sure she's okay, make your point even if she interrupts, however if she does then take note of what she's saying, and then let her make her point. If you do that and discuss how you both feel and how you felt, you should be fine." You added.
"Thanks," Sam said, "I needed that." She added.
"Anytime." You replied, slipping into bed next to her.
"I love you," She slurred, kissing you deeply.
"Your drunk, but I love you too." You answered.
"I'm never too drunk to know I love you." She stated.
"Night darling." You said to her, kissing her forehead and wrapping a hand around her waist.
"Night babe." Sam replied, reaching up and turning the lamp off before settling down and falling asleep in your arms, just as you'd done earlier that night.
*****
This was a long one but I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it, let me know what other things you would like me to write, and yeah feel free to request for the characters on my pinned post.
See you in the next one.
-Harlow
581 notes · View notes
andscene-if · 3 months
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leomooncancersun: as someone who is highkey obsessed with that family and keeps up with everything they do, I swear [MC] is actually really good. literally their sister too, I'm really sad she doesn't act anymore, but it is what it is... PLEASE I really think you guys should check out their indie movies, if you can, cause they were much older then and you can really see an improvement in their acting! also remember to spread kindness guys, nepo babies are still only human!!🫶🫶
    ↳ lawrence.891: not reading all that. happy for you or sad to hear that bro
           ↳ ama1a_a1i: lmaoo bye💀 now why would you write this in the comments of a literal ARTICLE??? unserious behavior
its.staceyyy: eh they might be good, but isn't that what they're supposed to be?? with all the resources they have access to, i don't expect anything else. so sorry, but i'm not praising a fish for swimming
    ↳ candyxx_: goddamn you guys won't ever be happy will you
           ↳ its.staceyyy: no💋 eat the rich
p.ryderordie: oh no what's happening to me... suddenly i can't read😵 ANYWAY #ITSHOULDHAVEBEENPHOENIX
_blondewig_: mmm no @pinkcelebtea I'm gonna need you to bffr!! shit was borrrriiing, yawninggg, slopppyyyyy
anniex12: this comment section??? [MC] QUICK GET BEHIND ME🤺🤺🤺
    ↳ whoaaa_kie: go ahead and clock out for me babe, it's not worth it😮‍💨 these people are miserable af here !!
giginsomniaa: ok..so... i watched all their movies all at once😗✌️ it's 4 am rn and i've got school today but i just want to let y'all know they were kinda good lowkey🧍‍♀️
    ↳ em.bakerr: girl go to bed
           ↳ k00lk1d: right lmao is it really that serious like😭😭
.moonflowerss: omg i just want to hear what they have to say lol something tells me [MC] didn't expect this reaction🤭 hopefully other nepo babies see this and understand we don't want them
mcnation: WE LOVE YOU AND SUPPORT YOU [MC]!!!! YOU'RE GOING TO ROCK THIS
    ↳ jasonw.09: wtf is wrong with you
    ↳ alexasprivate: Don't be rude jason
            ↳ jasonw.09: cry about it
load more...
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annymation · 3 months
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The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite
Chapter 15- At All Cost?
Chapter 14
Asha is now in the middle of the wishes room, staring at the queen standing on the king's study.
She feels her heart racing for a moment, she's scared... But then she remembers what she's holding right now, her sketchbook and her magic pencil.
She has nothing to fear, if anything, it's the queen who should be scared.
After glancing at the objects in her hands, Asha takes a deep breath and calms down, and faces the queen boldly.
The queen smiles at that, as she begins to speak with her usual honeyed voice "Hello dear, such a pleasant surprise to have you back so soon." She looks down to Valentino, the goat in cowering between Asha's legs and shaking in fear at the sight of the lynx next to the queen, her smile widens "Awww and you even brought a little snack for my pet, how thoughtful." she lets out a quiet chuckle.
Bravo is salivating, staring at the baby goat with predatory eyes.
Asha starts to think on what she can draw, the queen hasn't moved yet, so maybe she can ramble with her for a bit and then catch her off guard...
Asha realizes how the queen looks older than the last time they've met, not too old, but the white hair streak and the subtle wrinkles on her previously perfect skin are noticeable... Just like Aster, she sees this change as an opportunity to make fun of the royal.
"Yeah, glad to be back. Though I thought my last visit here in the castle was 2 days ago, but judging by your face it must have been AGES, huh?" Asha says with a smirk, knowing that would infuriate the queen.
And she was correct, for the queen's smile immediately fell into a cold glare.
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(This is the closest I could find in the movie of Amaya looking evil)
"It is churlish to comment on a woman's age, have you no manners?" Her tone is condescending.
Asha simply smiles, seeing that struck a nerve "These are just the manners you deserve, "your highness"" She says the formal title with sarcasm.
The queen looks at her with a serious expression as she raises one eyebrow, almost impressed with how much that sweet and insecure girl they met changed so much in so little time... But her smiles returns slightly, because she has already planed on how to take all that courage out of her.
"You really think so? This way you might hurt my feelings, child..." She places a hand in her chest making a fake sad expression, that instantly returns to a wicked smile as she takes a potion flask from inside the front of her dress "Perhaps I should give you just what you deserve as well."
Asha notices the flask and instantly turns to her sketchbook to try drawing something "What a coincidence, I was thinking the same thi-"
But before she starts to draw, she notices... The floor she's standing on is covered with something... Something shiny, that look's like blue sand.
She glances around the room and sees that the whole floor around her is covered with a thin layer of this weird sand, Asha has a puzzled expression.
The queen notes her confusion "Ah, I see you finally noticed the fire salamander ashes, quite pleasing to look at how they sparkle, don't you think?"
Asha feels a chill run down her spine as she hears the word "fire" coming out of the woman's mouth "W-What?" She turns to the queen, and sees she's now opening a flask with an orange shinny liquid inside.
"Oh yes, it is known as one of the most inflammable components in the magic world, and it also so happens to have such a beautiful reaction when mixed with dragon's blood..." She explains like she's just sharing an interesting fun fact about her hobby as a potion maker, her tone becomes sinister as she opens the flask and asks "Would you like to see?"
"No- NO NO WAIT!" Asha screams in desperation, completely forgetting about her magic pencil as she takes Valentino in her arms to protect him from what she already knows is coming.
The queen drops one single drop of the shiny liquid on the floor, and a HUGE blue flame forms in front of her, spreading slowly to the whole room covered in fire salamander ashes.
(If you're wondering where the heck Amaya get's all these ingredients, let's just say that line she had in the movie about "Why a sorcerer needs what a sorcerer needs is not your concern" is a line Magnifico probably said to a lot of soldiers he sent off on dangerous quests over the years.)
The queen laughs maniacally as she snaps her fingers, making the huge door made of mirrors close in front of her, trapping Asha in the fiery room.
The flames are spreading and approaching Asha slowly, she thinks fast and pulls from her sketchbook the drawing of the flying carpet.
As the carpet flies out of the page, she jumps on it with Valentino. Now they're both safely flying above the flames, surrounded by the wish bubbles.
The queen has no idea they're safe from harm, and Asha smiles with that notion. She'll open the door sooner or later to see if Asha is dead, so all the girl has to do is play along and pretend she's in mortal danger.
"THERE'S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH YOU LADY!" Asha yells from the carpet, trying her best not to laugh while faking she's scared for her life. Valentino also catches on to the plan and lets out some fake scared bleating, Asha pets him to show she's proud.
The queen falls for it, as she says in sarcasm "Who meee? Why, all I want is to give my beloved pet some freshly cooked meat" She's sitting down with her back against the wall of mirrors, as she too pets her lynx's head gently... Her eyes light up as a devious idea pops in her head, so she says with her words dripping with venom "...Besides, wouldn't you agree this is the most fitting end for you? To burn into ashes just like your dear mama and papa?"
Asha is stunned at the mention of her parents, but her surprise quickly turns into anger "Don't you DARE talk about my parents!" She almost forgets she's supposed to sound scared right now
"Awww sensitive topic, my flower? If it serves as any consolation, they would've suffered way more had I picked how to kill them." Her voice has a twisted sense of humor hanging on every word.
Asha's eyes widen "... Wait... What did you just say?"
"You see, Magnus has always been more of a "Get things done quick" kind of man, and although I love that about him, I oh so wish we had gone with my plan of poisoning their garden..." Amaya continues casually like she's just sharing small talk with the poor girl that is having this terrifying revelation unfold before her "But oh well, I suppose starting a fire with magic was simpler. Such a shame you weren't inside with them, would've spared us a lot of grey hairs." She says as she holds a strand of her newly white hair streak.
Asha feels her world crumble as she process what Amaya just told her...
All this time she thought it was just bad luck, that they had an accident with the fireplace or dropped a candle... But it was them...
Everything was because of them. The reason she never got to learn how to draw with her mother, the reason she never got to hear her father stories, the reason she never got to grow up with them, the reason she and her Saba were alone... It was all THEM.
Asha sees the fire consuming half of the room bellow her, the flames are reflecting on her eyes as she asks with her voice more furious than ever "WHY?! WHAT DID THEY EVER DO TO YOU?!"
The queen laughs at the question "You are just like them, darling. They were worthless little weeds festering in our garden, inspiring our roses to grant wishes by themselves. We simply had no choice but to root them out." Amaya explains with her voice turning more and more maniacal as she finishes "And now, it's your turn to join them!"
... That was the reason? Because her parents encouraged people to chase after their wishes? Her parents lost their lives... Because these two sickos wanted to control EVERY SINGLE PERSON in Rosas?!
Asha sees that the room is almost fully consumed by the flames, and so is her heart consumed by anger. So she lets out a scream, from the pain she feels in her chest and also to trick the queen into opening the door.
"AAAAAaaAaaaAAAAAaAAAH!!!"
The queen is content hearing the girl painful screaming, thinking that's the last sound she'll ever hear from her.
"It seems your meal is ready, Bravo" She says with a twisted glee while getting up, Bravo looks just as exited as his owner.
The queen snaps her fingers, opening the huge door made of mirrors. The whole room is covered in bluish flames. With one drop of another flask she had with her, this time with a blue liquid, the fire is quickly extinguished like the flame of a candle being blown out.
Once the fire was gone the queen expected to see the girl and her little goat lifeless bodies laying on the floor... But they're nowhere to be seen.
"... What in the-"
"Looking for me?" Asha's voice comes from above.
The queen quickly looks up, gasping in shock when she sees the girl flying on a magic carpet.
The queen barely has time to react before Asha jumps from the carpet, and with one swift move of her hand, points to the surprised lynx, wordlessly commanding the carpet to deal with him.
The carpet flies towards the queen, and she cowers in fear and closes her eyes trying to protect herself. But her eyes quickly open again when she hears her pet meowing desperately, the carpet took him and flew with him to outside the window.
(Ya know, originally I was gonna write a chase scene between Valentino and Bravo, but I realized we kinda don't have the time and I'm not feeling like writing that, soooooo I just throw the cat out the window instead. He'll be fine.)
"MY BABY!" The queen shrieks, worried sick for his safety
"Relax, I sent him somewhere safe. Unlike YOU, I'm not a monster." Asha sounds fierce but also with a hint of pain in her voice, like every word that comes out of her mouth gives a sting in her heart, as she's fighting to not cry in front of the queen. "Valentino, go hide while I deal with her." Her voice is serious, while she's flipping through the pages of her book, and once she finds the one she was looking for she pulls out a sword just like the one she used to practice sword fighting with Aster earlier.
The queen sees Asha doing magic in disbelief, as she's now walking backwards slowly shaking her head "no" with a terrified expression.
Asha doesn't hear Amaya whisper under her breath "That boy didn't say anything abo-"
The queen stops mumbling when Asha begins to run, charging towards her with sword in hands, ready to attack.
Amaya tries to run out of the way, but she trips on her own dress and falls on the floor.
Now, Asha is the one in control, pointing her sword to the woman laying down beneath her. Her enraged face shows clearly that she's after revenge.
Amaya for the first time loses her composure, and stutters in a desperate attempt to reason with her "A-Asha, now now ca-calm down, listen to me-" her voice is helpless.
"NO! YOU LISTEN!" Asha's voice echoes through the large room "All the pain and suffering I've went through ALL MY LIFE ties back to the two of you! All because you wanted to keep this SICK AND TWISTED sense of control over everyone in Rosas." She points the sword closer to Amaya's neck, the older woman is shaking "But guess what, no matter what you did, you could NEVER control me! I overcame everything you threw at me, and now, I'll make sure you two can NEVER hurt anyone else ever again!" Asha raises the sword above her head to strike down the witch-
...
But Asha stops.
She can't do it.
She's not like them.
Asha looks down on the queen breathing heavily and lowers her sword. She doesn't know if she's doing the right decision... But that's her decision.
The queen sees Asha's hesitation... And a smile slowly creeps in on the corner of her red lips "You can't do it, can you dear?... Because unlike me, you're not a monster." She repeats what Asha said moments ago with a faux soothing voice.
Asha quickly points the sword back to Amaya's neck, as a warning that if she moves Asha won't hesitate anymore, she speaks with the queen with a cold expression "I never intended to kill neither of you anyway, the plan was just to-"
"Apprehend us and have Rosas decide our punishment?" The queen finishes her sentence, now with a full smile. Asha's eyes widen in surprise "I must say, I found that part of your little plan quite adorable, so nice of you and your friends to show us mercy." Her voice mimics a sweet tone, dripping with sarcasm.
Asha feels a chill run down her spine when the queen mentioned her friends... This, and the trap that was set up for them in the kitchen... How did they know?
"How? HOW did you know we were coming?!" Asha tries to hide her fear, speaking angrily while getting the blade closer to the queen's neck.
Amable doesn't even flinch, she simply warns her "I'd be careful with that blade, my sweet. You lay one scratch on me and my darling king will be quite upset." That doesn't really phase Asha at all as she just squints her eyes at her, wanting some answers, so the queen gives her an answer "Let's just say a... Sleepy little pawn of ours made himself quite useful."
Asha's eyebrows scrunch in confusion, she thinks for a moment and... Realization hits her.
"... Simon?" Asha's mind is rushing, she's stares at the queen nodding positively in front of her, and she feels like she's the one who was cut by a blade... He betrayed them?... No, he wouldn't, the king must have forced him "What did you two do with him?!" She asks furious.
"Nothing at all, he ratted you out. For you see my dear, our "sick and twisted sense of control" you speak of runs oh so much deeper than you think" Asha is staring at Amaya straight in the eyes, so she doesn't see that the queen's hand is reaching for something inside the a hidden pocket inside her long skirt "You can't trust anyone in this kingdom, in the end, they're aaaaall just little pawns in our game of chess."
"You're wrong... Simon didn't tell you our whole plan. If he did then you'd have known about my magic." Asha says with certainty, not fully understanding what happened yet, but still believing that her friend at least fought against telling them everything.
"Indeed, he failed to mention it, which gave you an advantage... However, it hardly matters how many advantages you get, for when playing chess-" Her smile widens into a maniacal expression, and she raises her hand holding a potion flask that was hidden inside her dress "The QUEEN is the strongest piece on the board!" She throws it on the floor, it shatters, creating a cloud of thick blue smoke.
Asha coughs, that caught her completely off guard. She looks around and can see nothing but the thick blue smoke, she tries not to breathe too much of it in by covering her face. Still holding on to her sword tightly.
The queen is no longer on the ground, Asha can't see where she went... But she hears the sound of something made of metal hitting the floor.
She turns to the direction of the sound-
Queen Amable took a sword that was previously decorating the wall, and is now running to Asha ready to attack.
Asha gasps in surprise, raising her hand drawn sword to defend herself, and she succeeds. The two are now pressing their swords against one another, with the queen trying her hardest to get Asha out of balance to stab her.
The queen fights the girl with finesse and precision, like this is something she has experience with, while Asha's movements are more clumsy and rigid, but she's still more agile and relatively stronger than the older woman, since she was cursed and is now 10 years older than she was previously.
(Cute fun fact I guess: for the longest time Magnifico was a bit paranoid that if people found out they were evil and a "hero" could try to defeat them, so, just like how Asha practiced with Aster, he taught Amaya how to defend herself just in case anything happened to him... I hate them, but I also love them as a couple)
As their swords clash against one another, the metallic sounds echo through the room. Asha tries to show confidence, smiling while they fight "Y-you two won't win! Magnus doesn't stand a chance against Aster in the forest, he's gonna be here soon and-"
The queen can only laugh darkly as she speaks "Oh darling, it is your little star who doesn't stand a chance! For you see, dark magic is not be his only weakness! Hahaha"
Asha is still fighting, but her face looks concerned...
Aster's weakness?
Now... We cut to the woods.
We see a dash of light quickly flying through the trees, until they reach a specific one and flies to the top of it.
The dash of light is obviously Aster. He sits on a tree branch and knocks on the tree "He'll be here any minute now, you guys ready?"
From a role in the tree, two round shinny eyes open, and a voice comes out sounding mysterious: "Of course, a pleasure to be of service."
"Great, thanks again for the help fellas" Aster smiles excitedly, he looks down, just waiting for Magnifico to show up on the trail bellow.
... But then he hears something...
Instruments... Again.
The instruments sound slow, like they're warning Aster of something, and judging by Aster's annoyed face it's something they've already been alerted about before
"Yeah, I knooooow I can't let him get my magic. Don't know if you guys realize but that's the whole reason I'm trying to break that staff in the first place." Aster speaks looking up with narrowed eyes.
The instruments sound... Worried? I don't know how one would describe a worried orchestra, but it's like they're playing cautiously.
Aster this time responds calmer, trying to reassure them "I am being careful, I swear. I won't let him-" Aster stops for a moment and thinks... He doesn't actually knows what would happen if the king got his power, well, except for the part that without his magic he can't exist so the king would pretty much kill him. But Aster doesn't know what would happen to the king and queen... He might as well ask "By the way... Has that ever happened before? A human absorbing a star's power?"
The stars go quiet for a moment, before a single flute plays a small sad melody
"I see..." Aster has a worried face "And what happened then?"
Aster listens to the orchestra sounds, it's an ominous percussion mixed with some erratic violins.
Aster listens to it all attentively, his face slowly becomes more and more shocked, as if he's listening to something out of a horror story.
He slowly nods, humming a little with the concern now growing inside him too.
But then he hears one thing that gets his attention.
"Wait wait wait back up" The instruments all stop "What was that about "The human fell into madness"?"
A single cello plays a small melody... Aster's eyes widen.
"Huh, really?... I wonder if the king knows about that..." Aster ponders quietly. Then Aster hears a sound that is not instruments this time, but a twig breaking on the ground bellow, Magnifico's coming "And speak of the devil, that's your cue friends." Aster says knocking on the tree.
Down bellow, Magnifico is walking on the trail, with trees all around him. He's holding his staff over his shoulders casually as he singsongs to himself:
"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder where you are..." the king looks around the woods... It's quiet... Too quiet. The star is plotting something, but that's alright, because so is he "Come out come out lad, we both know you can't hide from me the whole night long... I just wish to have a little chat with you." The king says in a faux friendly voice.
"Yeah you can keep wishing that but I ain't granting it!" Aster's voice comes from the tree tops
The king looks up with a wide smile, ready to cast a spell to capture the star. But his smile instantly vanishes as the green light from his staff reflects on many tiny eyes staring down at him, revealing that on the trees above there's a whole army of Genets ready to pounce:
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(Genets: Slender cat-like nocturnal animals that can be found in Spain... Imagine a bunch of these fellas staring down on you at night, terrifying me thinks)
They all jump on the king, climbing all over him and scratching his clothes. Magnifico screams while holding tightly to his staff and trying to protect his already scarred face
"AAAAH GET OFF ME YOU WRETCHED- NOT THE FACE NOT THE FACE!!" Magnus is wobbling around covered in wild cats.
Aster lets out a childish laugh as he cheers while flying above the desperate king "Yes! Get the face everyone! And also those fingers if you can! Hahahaa"
The king turns red with fury "ENOUGH!" he uses his magic to throw all of them away from him, some genets scatter while others stay, ready to attack him again, but the king is having none of that "GET NEAR ME AGAIN AND I'LL MAKE FUR COATS OUT OF YOU"
The all get scared, and run away to the depths of the forest.
Aster looks sad for a moment but he has no time to think too much about it, for the king immediately turns to him and tries to capture him once more.
Aster swiftly dodges the king's magic and hides behind a tree.
He then shrinks down to the size of a hand. He's the size of tinker bell.
The king is catching his breath after all the commotion, but he has enough energy to scream some facts to the star "Just accept it, boy! You can't best me! throw me your plants and I'll burn them, throw me your animals and I'll scatter them!"
Aster face is deep in thought, he hates to agree, but they have indeed been in this game of cat and mouse for a while, and Aster is not even close to getting that staff, not to mention how they hate to put even more animals in danger...
The king upon receiving no snarky comment in return, calms down slightly, knowing that the star deep down is just as tired of this game as he is...
He reaches for something inside his vest.
"So how about we stop playing, and just talk things out, hum?" Magnus voice is once again "friendly" but with a clear ominous undertone.
Aster thinks... He might be able to catch the staff while the king is distracted blabbering whatever he has to say... So he plays along.
"You really must love the sound of your own voice, don't ya? All you do is talk all the time." Aster's snarks while hiding behind the tree "Fine, what do you wanna talk about so bad?"
We don't see what Magnifico pulled out his vest, but he's holding a small object on his hand. Looking at whatever it is with a mischievous smile.
"That girl... You love her, don't you?" The king asks nonchalantly.
Aster's eyes widen in shock... EVEN HE NOTICED?!
Aster knew he couldn't let this man know how he and Asha felt about each other, as he'd totally take advantage of that, so the star tries to lie "W-what?! What you talking about?! We-we like- We just met 2 days ago! That's crazy talk!" Aster is a terrible liar by the way.
Magnifico has a pleased smile, as he walks forward to where Aster's voice is coming from, he's holding his staff with one hand while hiding the other behind his back. "And I fell in love with my wife in two minutes or less, what's your point? Heheh" he chuckles like he's reminiscing of something, but then continues, sounding as if he's talking to a stubborn kid that refuses do admit something obvious "Come now, starlight. Wishing stars are supposed to only give humans some guidance, but here you are going waaay above and beyond your purpose, breaking all the rules for her... Because you love her~" He singsongs that last part as if to make fun of the star.
Aster is about to say something when he notices that Magnifico is getting closer to his hiding place, so he flies to the ground, still on his miniature size, trying to hide in the low vegetation and move to somewhere else.
Magnifico notes the silence, and just chuckles "Well, either I'm right, or you're just too incompetent to even guide her at all, aren't you?" The king says jokingly.
That strikes a nerve with Aster, as he's quite done with the stars calling him incompetent and naive for so long. The star is still hiding in his small size but his voice is just as loud as it would be if he was normally sized:
"You know what?! YEAH we are in love! And it's thanks to our love that we'll defeat you! Because we'll fight to protect each other, at all cost!"
The king's grin grows even more devious.
"At all cost? Hmm, how charming." The king coos, and we see him holding the mysterious object tightly and focusing to perform a spell... He whispers some words in latin:
"Ligneus. Pupa. Crescere. Et dolus."
Aster doesn't hear what the king just said. but suddenly, he starts to hear the stars all speaking with him at the same time, the instruments play alarmingly all at once. They're speaking over each other, so Aster doesn't understand, the star looks up in frustration and whispers "Guys o-one at a time please- UGH I don't understand nor have time to talk ri-"
"Did you hear that, Asha? I told you he cared." The king speaks sweetly with someone else.
Aster feels the world stop when he hears that name come out of the king's mouth.
Aster flies out of the bushes and sees it... Magnifico is holding Asha by her shoulder, she's tied up by a rope made of green magic, her mouth is covered and she's struggling to free herself.
The star doesn't even think before he returns to his normal size, their animation looking rough and sketchy as he yells "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF-"
Aster sees a giant green hand made of light coming in his direction.
The star remembers he can't let himself get caught. In the blink of an eye he stretches his body down, like he's made of rubber... Get it? He's animated like a rubber hose cartoon for a second.
Aster dodges the king's magic once again and flies to hide behind a large tree.
"Ha! Almost caught you this time!" The king exclaims victorious while laughing.
Aster's mind is rushing with questions as he starts to panic... How did he get her? Is she hurt? Their plan went wrong? How can he save her?!
In the confusion that is their mind, they can't focus to listen what the stars are trying to tell him, the stars are just muddled voices to him now.
"I bet you're wondering how I found her, aren't you?" The king asks with a sadistic sweetness in his voice, holding the girl close to him "See, while you were flying away and hiding, like a coward, a guard came into the forest to tell me they found the poor thing lost in our garden" His voice is filled with a mocking fake sadness like he's describing a tragedy "And she just wouldn't stop calling your name... So here he is Asha, your daring "hero" hahaahaha!" His evil laugh echoes through the woods.
Aster didn't even know he could feel so much fear and anger at the same time. He places a hand on the ground and uses his magic to try attacking Magnifico with vines.
The king notices the plants beginning to grow next to him from the corner of his eyes, and his smile just grows as he says "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were youuu~" He points his staff to her face, with the green gem shinning brightly and menacingly.
Aster can hear Asha muffled screams in fear, and he get's the message. He stops the vines from growing. The star looks down defeated.
Magnifico sees the vines retreating, and takes the staff away from her face "That's better. Now! How do you feel about a little bargain?" His voice is full of excitement like he's a con man ready to make a big deal.
Aster may be naive but even he knows where the king is going with this, and his not falling for it "Do you think I'm an idiot!?" The star asks angrily
"Why, yes! Very much so!" The king answers gleefully.
"You want me to surrender in exchange for Asha's life... But we both know your word isn't worth anything!" Aster is trying to speak boldly to mask how scared he actually is.
"*Gaaaaasp* You think I would lie?? Meeee??? I'd never!" The king says dramatically with sarcasm clear as day "Hehe jokes aside, I can assure you I NEVER break my end of a deal... If you don't break yours." He puts emphasis on that last part, he then begins to speak very quickly the terms of their deal "So here's the trade off, you surrender in, let's say, the count of 5, and in return I'll have your little doll here sent to some other kingdom where she'll be safe from harm and can live on to thrive and chase after her dreams yada yada yada happy ending! What do ya say? Come on."
Aster is too overwhelmed to think- He obviously can't trust Magnifico's word, but if they don't do as he says then Asha is done for- But who's to say she'll be safe later when the king has his mag-
"Let me make this easier for you... One"
The king starts counting.
Aster mind is spinning, he tries to think clearly, but his emotions are clouding his judgment. The stars voices are just white noise.
"Twooo"
The king prepares to use his magic on the girl.
Aster feels some tears form in the corner of his eyes... He promised Asha he would't let himself get caught but-
"Threee"
Aster hears Asha's muffled voice screaming for help, but not the stars above him...
He breaks his promise.
"ALRIGHT!" The star yells, flying out of their hiding place, with his hands up.
And before he knows it, there are glowing green chains on his writs that quickly pull him closer to where the king and "Asha" are. Once the chains are on him the sound of messy orchestra instruments stops all together, since Aster's powers are diminished by the dark magic, he can no longer hear the stars.
The star doesn't struggle, accepting his loss. The king pulls him in closer and closer until Aster is standing right in front of him, Magnifico looks down on him with a cruel smile.
Aster is not looking at him, his eyes are full of sadness and fixated on the ground, unable to face "the girl" the king's holding.
"Awww why the long face, little one? Here, she's free just as promised." The king snaps his fingers and "Asha" is free from her restraints, now just standing still next to him. "... Any last goodbyes before I send her off?" Aster doesn't notice but Magnifico is trying his best to hold in his laughter.
Aster can only look down, not wanting to face her yet, but he apologizes for not granting her wish "... Asha... I'm sorry... I tried everything I could but- I failed." a single tear runs down the star's face as he begs her "When you're away from here... DON'T come back, and DON'T look back... I just want you to be safe and-" Aster stops as he finally looks at her face.
It's devoid of emotion... And her eyes are soulless... Like a dolls eyes.
Aster is worried that Magnifico did something to her, he reaches out to hold her hand "Asha? What's wro-" but when he holds her hand... There's nothing... No star inside of her... That's not Asha.
As realization dawns on the star, Magnifico can't hold it in anymore "Pffft HAHA HAHAAHAHAAH HAHAHAAH"
With every "ha" Aster's face becomes more furious, both angry at the king and himself for falling for his trick.
"YOU LIED TO ME!" Aster shouts as he tries to get away from Magnifico, who simply pulls him closer by the chains so they're face to face.
"Did I? I thought I was quite clear." He smiles sadistically "I said I'd "have your little doll sent somewhere safe", remember? Aaaand" He snaps his fingers, and the magic that made up the fake Asha disappears like it was blown away by the wind, and all that is left of her is a small wooden doll. The same wooden doll Magnifico made for Asha all the way back in chapter 4.
(... Get it? He turned a wooden doll into a real girl... Like Pinocchio... Heheheheh *Jumps out the window... Gets back to write the rest of the chapter* ahem, anyway, congrats @gracebeth3604 you guessed it, I made Magnifico pull a Hades move on our wonder boy)
"Here she is!" Magnifico exclaims excitedly while placing the doll inside Aster's chained hands "She's all yours, lad! You can even choose where you want me to send her while we go back to the palace." Magnifico says like he's doing Aster a favor. He starts walking and pulling the star to come along.
Aster looks at the doll with rage and throws her away into the bushes.
Aster tries to pull away from the chains and keeps himself still with his feet fixated on the ground "I AM NOT LETTING YOU USE ME TO HURT THEM! IF YOU THINK I GONNA JU- GHHAaaAAaAAAaaaA!!!" Aster feels a shock wave of pain course his body as the king uses a spell to electrocute him, his animation becomes fully disjointed like he's struggling to keep his physical form. Once it's over, Aster can only kneel down in pain.
"Not so funny when it happens to you, is it?" Magnifico's eyes are now full of spite, highlighting the scar over his left eye "I've enjoyed this little game of ours but we really must hurry, I'd hate to keep my queen waiting... Not to mention, your girl is just DYING to see you too."
Aster is weak from the pain but he manages to look up to the king.
"W-what...?"
Did they get her?
We now cut back to the palace, Asha is still fighting with the queen.
The girl looks exhausted, swinging her sword around and defending herself from the unhinged woman. She doesn't have time to stop and take her sketchbook to draw something else to attack.
But Asha slips up, and Amaya manages to disarm her, throwing her sword away to the other side of the room.
Asha gasps in shock.
"NO!- UGH!"
The queen KICKS the girl's legs, making her fall on the ground, now their positions are reversed from how they were before.
Asha looks up horrified to the queen pointing the blade to her face, she's looking down on the girl with a smirk "So... Ha ha- how's that for an "old lady" huh?" The woman is panting like she could collapse from exhaustion at any moment, but she still keeps her composure as she threatens the girl bellow her.
Asha tries to reach for her sketchbook tied to her belt, but the queen quickly takes it off her hands. Asha doesn't have time to react before Amable throws it away to the other side of the room.
Asha is petrified, she has nowhere to go.
She can see Valentino hiding behind the curtains of a window, he's scared.
"You put up a good fight child, but I'm afraid this is where your story ends, with you... All alone." Amaya raises the sword to end the girl's life.
Asha can only close her eyes and prepare for the impact... Until she hears a familiar voice
"Think again WITCH!"
Both Amaya and Asha are startled by the sudden scream, however, a smile quickly appears on Asha's face when she sees who it is.
Amaya turns around and is quickly knocked out of balance by something pushing her to the side, away from Asha. The queen drops the sword on the floor.
What pushed the queen was Dahlia's crutch, as the girl is now standing in front of Asha offering her a hand with a relieved smile "Sorry we took us so long, you okay?"
"Better now you're here!" Asha hold her best friend's hand and goes in for a hug, feeling relieved to see her safe. While they hug, Asha opens her eyes and sees that behind Dahlia there's also Gabo, Hal, Bazeema, Safi and Dario. All of them glaring at the queen laying on the floor.
"Ho- HOW DID YOU BRATS GET IN HERE?!" The queen demands to know, her hair is partially covering her face, she looks like an absolute mess.
Hal points to the small elevator on the wall, used to get food from the kitchen straight to the king's study "Did you forget how you get your meals everyday?"
(How did all 6 of them fit in the elevator?... Same way they did in the movie, cartoon logic)
Amaya just groans in frustration as the teens walk closer to her.
Asha gets her sketchbook on the floor, she sighs in relief before saying with a smile "*sigh* Alright, just like we planned, everyone" She begins to draw some squiggly lines on her book, and as she touches the page the lines come out as long pieces of rope.
Her friends all get a piece of rope. And they walk to tie up the evil queen.
(Hahah get it? The 7 dwarfs references are the ones who save her from the evil queen! Heheheeh I love when references fit the narrative)
The queen's screaming for them to stay away from her in the background. But we focus on Asha, who's calling Valentino to come out of his hiding place.
The baby goat does so, rushing to her arms happily. Asha hugs him with a big smile "It's alright, I'm fine" She reassures him, and also reassure herself.
Asha looks around to her friends and notices... There's one missing.
"... So it was true" She begins to speak with Dahlia, the only one that didn't go help tie up Amaya, preferring to stay by Asha's side "Simon really did betray us..." She sounds hurt.
Dahlia places a hand on her friend's shoulder and explains "At first, yeah, he did. But who do you think pulled us up here?" She smiles at Asha, and gives her a wink.
Asha's eyebrows raise "Wait... So he changed his mind? How?" She asks confused
"Let's just say the king's mind control was no match for the power of friendship... Also Gabo kept screaming and swearing at him like a sailor." Hal said joyously.
"I told him bad words he didn't even know existed! And I'm literally younger than him!" Gabo says proudly while pulling a rope to tight up the Amaya's arms on her back.
"He can pull himself up the elevator, so he'll be here to help us pretty soon!" Safi comments.
Asha is happy that her friend came to his senses... But she still has a bad feeling.
"Did he say how much he told about the plan to Magnifico?" Asha asks Dahlia, with concern clear in her voice.
Dahlia's smile fades, she also seems worried "He doesn't know actually, he can't remember much about how the conversation went."
Asha looks down and thinks for a moment "... Okay, he didn't tell them about my pencil, so maybe he didn't tell them everything, we can still win." She smiles confidently.
Asha and the teens are suddenly startled once they hear a familiar voice shouting aaaaaall the way down the stairs of the palace:
"NO NO IT'S FINE, I CAN GET HIM UP THERE ON MY OWN! YOU ALL JUST SOUND THE TRUMPETS AND GATHER THE CITIZENS!" The king's voice echoes through the castle, he's talking to the guards in the entrance.
"Aster!" Asha exclaims worried.
The queen is all tied up, smiling in the background.
"I- I gotta go help him! You all stay here." Asha rushes to the door.
"Oh no we won't, we're not leaving your side again!" Dahlia exclaims holding her wrist.
"No, you don't understand, Magnifico CAN'T get even close to you all, not while he still has that staff, I won't let him hurt you." Asha explains to her friend with a serious expression "I'll find a way to save Aster and break it... Somehow." She doesn't sound so sure of herself, but she knows she has to try.
"And how can you do that?" Bazeema asks concerned
Asha holds her sketchbook and her pencil and starts drawing a key "I'll use my imagination" She smiles.
Asha pulls out the key from the page, she turns to tell her friends one last thing before leaving. But when she turns something catches her attention, on the king's desk there's a a small cloth bag full of blue sparkly sand, the bag is labeled "Fire Salamander Ashes". Asha takes the bag from the table and says quickly "Also this might come in handy."
She opens the door with her hand drawn key and tells her friends one last thing "No matter what you guys hear, don't leave the room." She runs down the long flight of stairs.
Meanwhile Magnifico is dragging Aster up the stairs, the king looks exhausted as he tries to perform a teleportation spell to get them to the top, but he can only teleport a few steps up.
"ARGH I'm gonna give myself a splitting headache because of you!" Magnifico says, with a hand over his forehead, he speaks to himself under his breath "Never had to teleport so many times in one day, thought such a simple spell wouldn't exhaust me that much..."
Aster hears that, he's still struggling to not get dragged away by the king as he exclaims "If just teleporting a bunch of times to get us here gives you a headache then you REALLY not gonna like what'll happen if you get my magic!" This isn't a bluff, but an actual warning, as Aster remembers what the stars told him... Maybe he can convince Magnus to stop "LISTEN! My powers may seem weak now, but even the most powerful of sorcerers couldn't handle the power of a star inside them, it's TOO MUCH for a normal human to handle!"
"Yeah well, good thing I'm no normal human." The king says with a frustrated expression while dragging the star up the stairs.
"YES YOU ARE, MAGNUS!" Aster screams, trying to reach out for some sense of humanity inside him.
"Don't call me that." The king warns sternly, he's not looking at Aster as he speaks.
"You only have power at all because of that green gem on your staff. And even with it, you're not strong enough!" Aster continues while still getting dragged by the king
"I'd really not test my patience right now if I were you, boy." He sounds more and more angry.
"I'm trying to save you! If just performing a spell way too many times gives you a headache then MY POWER will make you LOSE YOUR MIND-" Aster tries to spell it out to Magn-
"AND I WOULD RATHER LOSE THAT THAN LOSING THE WOMAN I LOVE!" Magnifico shouts, now looking straight to the star behind him, enraged in a way the star has never seen before.
Aster goes silent, staring at the king in shock and... For the first time feeling like the man was 100% honest with him.
Magnus takes a few seconds to realize what he just said out of anger and exhaustion... He puts himself back together, straightening up his posture and taking a deep breath, before looking down to the star with his usual smile full of sarcasm "Thank you for the concern, Aster. Really appreciated, but you have nothing to worry you shinny little head about" He taps on the star's forehead with one finger "I've already planned on how to get myself a-... Let's say a "Power boost" before performing the spell to get your magic humhum" He chuckles lowly, excited to show the star what he means by that "Besiiiiiides, all the sorcerers that tried to yield the power of a star only went mad because they tried to do it on their own, while I have someone to share it with."
Aster is dumbfounded... The king KNEW that the power of a star can drive someone mad... And he choses to go after it anyway because he THINKS that by sharing it with his wife they'll be fine?... Aster realizes he is too far gone.
"Nothing I say is gonna change your mind, is it?" Aster asks with frustration in his voice, the king simply shakes his head "no" with a smug "... Then you don't love her at all, you just wanna use her to get more power." The star says with a scowl.
The king is stunned for a second by the gall the star has to say that, before his rage comes back at full force, he doesn't take his eyes off the star as he makes shock waves of pain go through Aster's body again, the star kneels down in agony.
"ASTER?!"
Asha's voice comes from the top of the stairs, surprising both the star and the king, but they're surprised for completely different reasons.
Aster looks up to the top of the stairs with a huge smile despite the pain he's in right now "ASHA!"
The king however turns to her in bewilderment "YOU?! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALI-" He stops as he has a realization... His face turns into a cold glare, hiding a hint of worry in his voice "Where's Amaya?"
Asha ignores the king's question, as she's already drawing the first thing that came into her head to stop him.
She throws out of her sketchbook what she just drew and...
A hand drawn piano manifests right above the king
"WHAT THE-"
BLAAAAAAM
The piano fell on the king. And keep in mind Simon didn't mention the magic pencil, so from Magnifico's perspective Asha just randomly manifested a piano out of nowhere.
Aster is free from the king's restraints, and he quickly flies up to Asha and gives her a hug, Asha hugs him back and the two have a second to breathe and be relieved that they're both okay.
"I was so worried about you! Are you okay?" Asha asks holding his face with both her hands.
"I'm the one who should be asking that!" Aster sounds worried sick.
"I'm fine, the others saved me from the queen, she's all tied up. Now we gotta focus on breaking that staff" She looks down the stairs to the destroyed hand drawn piano that the king is under "Do you think that was enough to knock him out?"
Asha's question is immediately answered by the remains of the piano being engulfed by green magic. It begins to float as the king violently throws it out of the stairs.
(Yeah sorry, he's unfortunately fine, because cartoon logic and this ending would be underwhelming.)
They can hear the loud sound of the piano falling on the ground bellow, as well as the sound of the king practically roaring in anger. He gives the two teens a death glare while trying to stand up.
"NOPE!" Aster answers, holding her in his arms, Aster flies as fast as he can up the stairs, fast enough that the king doesn't have time to catch them with his magic.
He does however have enough energy to do one simple spell. He snaps his finger, which locks all the doors that lead to the wishes room.
Asha and Aster are in the treasure room, the dimly lit room where Magnifico and Amable sang "Wish Away" to her.
The two of them are startled when the entrance they just went through shuts behind them and one second later the exit does too, they're trapped in the dark and large room full of treasure exposed like a museum.
But Aster quickly comes up with a solution.
"I-I'ts okay, I can unlock the door!" The star reaches out to use their magic, but Asha holds his arm.
"No! We can't keep running away from him, otherwise we'll lead him straight to the study, to where my friends are." She explains to Aster with concern, but also determined to fight back instead of running.
"Then what do we do?" Aster asks her quickly.
"I- I... I have a plan." Her face lights up with an idea, as she holds the star's hands "I don't have much time to explain so pay attention-"
"Oooooh Asha~" The king's voice comes from the other side of the door, he's getting closer.
Asha holds the star by the wrist and guides him to hide behind one of the many artifacts in the room "Aster- Turn into your human disguise NOW." They're now crouched down, hiding behind a small pillar with an old vase on it.
Aster is confused "What?? But I can't use my powers when I'm in that form." Aster explain nervously as they hear the king's footsteps approaching
"You can't glow either, you need to stop glowing so we can hide in the dark." She whispers quietly, her glance is practically rushing the star to just do as she says.
Aster doesn't know what she's planning but he trusts her wholeheartedly. He quickly goes from a 2D drawing with shiny hair to a 3D animated character like Asha, with normal blonde hair.
"Okay, so what do we do no-"
They hear the door opening.
The two teens keep their mouths shut.
"... Playing hide-and-seek again, little star?" Magnifico's voice echoes through the room, he lets out a low chuckle and says "Alright, let's play one last game."
Aster and Asha are staring at each other, it's dark but they can see one another thanks to the dim blue lighting above the treasure they're hiding behind. They hear the king's foot steps as he slowly walks around the room looking for them.
Asha can feel her heart pounding, how can she tell the plan to Aster if they can't speak?
...
She remembers they both know how to communicate without speaking.
She begins to speak in sign language, Aster can see her hands under the dim light:
"I'll make a distraction, while you take this and spread it all over the floor when he's not looking" She signs and takes from her belt the bag of blue dust she took from the king's desk.
Aster doesn't understand what that is or how she can distract him at all, he signs to her back "How are you gonna distract him?"
She's about to sign to answer his question, but then the king begins to speak casually
"Ya know, Asha. I'm actually so glad you evaded Amaya's trap, truly I am." We see the king looking at his own reflection in one of the artifacts in the room, not really in a hurry to find them "For you see, I have a little secret I wanted to share with you... Wanna know what it is?"
Asha obviously doesn't respond, she's holding her sketchbook and pencil like she's preparing to draw something, she tries her best to focus and ignore whatever the king is talking about.
"Your grandfather's wish." Asha's eyes widen, she stops drawing "The very thing that started all this... Yeah, me and my wife miiiiiight have told you a little fib, shocker I know heheh" he jokes, as they both know all they've done is lie to her from the start "But I decided to come clean, since I happen to actually remember now what his wish was: "To inspire the people of Rosas with my songs"" The king quotes what the wish was, with a clear tone of disdain.
Asha feels like everything fell into place... Saba really was just like her... Or maybe she was a lot like him. This is probably the first time anything the king says brought her a sense of actual comfort.
Aster is surprised as he himself didn't know what Sabino's wish to the king was, but by pure coincidence it's the same thing he guided Asha to do.
But the king obviously is not sharing that to give her a wholesome moment or anything, he continues with a smirk "I'm sure now you see that I did him a favor by never granting that wish."
Asha's face becomes an angry glare. And she begins to draw something in her sketchbook quickly.
The king can hear the sound of the pencil sliding on the paper, and he follows it while speaking calmly "I mean, if I did grant it, he could've ended up crossing the line... Like you did."
Aster notices he's getting closer and looks at Asha anxiously as if to rush her to finish what she's drawing already. Asha looks like she's almost done.
"And when you cross the line..." Magnifico grin widens, he get's closer to the sound and...
He sees Aster dragging Asha to a different hiding place as fast as he can, but not fast enough.
Magnifico uses his magic to grab Asha with a giant hand.
"AAAAGH!" Asha screams as the king raises her up.
"NO!" Aster yells in desperation
"THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES!" Magnifico says with a twisted glee, and he throws the girl all the way to the other side of the room.
Aster runs to where she is, but to no avail as Magnifico holds him with his magic. The man is laughing maniacally as he walks to the girl.
"Ha ha aaah and it looks like I win our little game, now who would've thought?" Aster is struggling to free himself from the king's magic while Asha is laying on the floor, looking up in fear "But I'm afraid you won't get to see what happens next, my dear." He grins as he points his staff to her, but just when he's about to charge up an attack-
"W-wait!" Asha exclaims, looking up terrified "... Can I just a-ask one thing?"
The king raises one eyebrow "Your last words? Hmm it's cliche, but oh alright I'll allow it, what is it?" He asks with a relaxed smile.
Asha looks down defeated "I- I just wanted to say..."
She looks back up to him with a smug.
"I got way better at drawing self portraits, didn't I?" "Asha" asks full of confidence.
Magnifico's evil smile disappears, replaced by a face of pure confusion, completely taken aback by the girl's random comment.
"Wha-"
"Oh yeah! You look amazing, and I look pretty good too." "Aster" comments cheerfully, still tied by Magnifico's magic, but he doesn't seem to care at all anymore.
The king turns to the star in confusion, not understanding what these kids are talking about... But he notices something he didn't see before because of how dark the room is... "Aster" is black and white.
Before he has time to fully process that, the two living drawings smile at him while going from 3D animated, to 2D, to looking like rough sketches, until they both disappear completely.
... He got tricked.
"Hey Mag!"
Asha's voice comes from behind him. He turns around in shock, and sees the REAL Asha and Aster as standing in front of the now open exit. Aster is back to his 2D glowing self, and he's holding a now empty cloth bag.
The floor is shining with blue dust all over it.
"Here's a little trick your wife taught me!" Asha exclaims with a defiant smile, and she throws a hand drawn fireball from her sketchbook.
The fire hits right in front of Magnifico. A large black and white flame grows, it looks like scribbles one would draw on paper, but it shines and burns just as much as normal fire, and it's spreading all around him.
Magnifico get's so startled by the fire that he finally lets go of his staff for a second.
And that second is all that Aster needed. The star stretches his arm all the way to the other side of the room, grabbing the staff and bringing it to them.
(I mentioned on Aster's "How I'd Reimagine the Characters in Wish" blog that he could stretch his body, but he kinda never used this ability, so what better moment to have him use it than now)
"No-NO WAIT!" Magnifico is trying to avoid the flames as he begs.
Aster spins the staff in the air before HITTING IT ON THE FLOOR with all the strength he can manage.
"AAAGH!" Magnifico quivers and yells in pain.
The gem is broken.
Asha and Aster run out of the room, and Aster locks the door behind them with his magic.
They can hear the king's painful screams coming from the other side of the door...
The two run up the stairs that leads to the wishes room, Asha is breathless as they stop in front of the door of the king's study.
"... We did it? We won?" Asha asks almost in disbelief, but with a smile already beginning to form in the corners of her lips
Aster looks to the staff now with no green gem on his hands, and let's go of it, letting it fall on the floor, he looks to her with a bright smile "... Yeah, it's over!"
Asha hugs him and laughs in relief. Aster holds her tightly while spinning her in the air.
"That was GENIUS!" Aster exclaims once he stops spinning "You finally figured out how to draw yourself!" he sounds proud of her, as he knows that was a skill Asha always struggled with.
"All I needed was to understand what I was drawing... And now I do." Asha says with a warm smile, placing a hand on her chest, reflecting on how this whole experience helped her understand who she really is.
She pulls Aster by the hand for them to go through the door of the wishes room. "Come on! Let's go tell the others."
Once she opens it, they see her friends all around the door waiting for them, Gabo is holding the sword Amaya was fighting with earlier, like he's ready to attack if who came in was Magnifico.
"ASHA!" They all scream in excitement and relief. Everyone rushes for a group hug
Including someone who wasn't with them earlier, but managed to pull himself up the rope elevator.
"YOU GUYS ARE OKAY!" Simon exclaims, embracing the whole group with his big arms.
Asha is smiling despite almost suffocating in the group hug "Heheh yup, we're fine, but we still got some wishes to free!"
Her friends let go of the hug, fully focused on the task at hand.
"Right! Aster, give us a lift to the ceiling will ya? There are some pulleys up there, that must be how we can open it!" Gabo exclaims, pointing to the top of the wishes room.
"Oh-ho! A few lift ups coming right up!" Aster says cheerfully, and uses his star dust on a few of the king's books, making them float to the wishes room, just waiting for the teens to get on them so they're lifted up there.
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The teens run to the wishes room, Asha stays behind in the study for a moment to see... The queen is all tied up, looking at her in horror.
"Where is Magnus?"
If it was anyone else Asha would probably feel sorry for her, but this woman deserves no sympathy. So Asha just says with frankness "Burning down stairs. You're a widow, again. Consider that my wedding anniversary gift."
(Yeah I couldn't fit anywhere else so here's a reminder that back in chapter 2 Dahlia's mom said they had to go to the market to get her some ingredients, because she had to make a cake for the king and queen's wedding anniversary, and guess what? That is TODAY! So uuuuh yay tying up with the 100 anniversary disney movie theme... Also they kinda canceled the celebration for obvious reasons.)
The queen holds in a gasp, as if her cold heart just shattered.
Dahlia was next to her friend and is surprised by her tone "Woah Asha, I know she's evil but y-"
"They killed my parents, Dahlia." Asha puts it simply to her best friend while walking to the wishes room to join the others.
"THEY WHA- OOOH That's what you GET you WITCH!" Dahlia shouts in Amaya's face, now fully on board with Asha.
(I love that witch is the closest I can get to have them calling her the B word)
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We see Gabo, Dario, Safi, Hal and Bazeema all being lifted up by the books, as there are 5 pulleys for each one of them to pull.
Aster is flying around the wishes, looking in amazement to the blue ones, and holding the green ones, which makes them turn back to their original blue color, un-cursing them. He is flying around repeating the process on as many as he can.
Asha looks up to her friends and the wishes, she smiles in relief that everything is finally falling into place... But then she notices Simon is standing in the corner of the room, his eyes are downcast.
Asha walks to him "Simon, you okay?" She asks him worriedly.
Simon doesn't even know where to begin his apology, for everything. He looks at her full of regret "Asha... I'm sorry, I am so so sorry." He begins, Asha looks to him and listens attentively "I don't expect you to forgive me. I was so scared that we could get hurt- I just- I couldn't believe that everything we knew was a lie" he begins to tear up "... And I wanted so badly to believe in him-"
Asha gives him a hug.
"... You were hurting in silence for so long because of the things he did... And I was too, we all were." Asha says calmly, trying to reassure her friend "What matters is that he's gone now, he can't hurt us anymore."
Simon has tears running down his face but he hugs her with a smile.
Aster flies closer to them, holding a wish bubble "And I think THIS belongs to you!" The star says warmly
Simon and Asha still can't see what's inside the bubble, but just by getting close to it Simon can feel it "My wish?" Simon asks in surprise "... No, I don't deserve it, I put all of us in danger and-."
"Everyone deserves to know their wish" Aster tells him with a bright smile "He tricked you, so what? Happens to the best of us, literally happened with me today"
"The important thing is that you see the truth now." Asha says, she looks at Simon and then at the wish with a smile, as if to encourage him to get it.
And he does so, reaching out for the bubble, and once he holds it reveals the image of Simon wearing knights clothes... Simon's smile is replaced by disappointment.
"Well... This is awkward." He says letting go of his floating wish "That's not what I wish for anymore... Guess I can't have it back."
"Hey now, that's not how it works." Asha smiles as she holds his wish "It's not about what the wish IS, it's about what it MEANS." She repeats what Aster told her back in the cave when they were talking about her wish, the star smile widens at that. Asha continues to explain "Sure, on the surface it may look like all you wish for is serve the king... But there's so much more to it than that." She places the wish in his hands "You wish to protect those you care about, like you've been trying to protect us this whole time, because even without your wish, THAT'S who you are. This wish is what makes you... YOU." Simon's smile returns "And NO ONE should live a life without being themselves fully." She finishes, her eyes sparkling with joy for her friend finally getting his wish back.
"... Thank you." Simon takes his wish and brings it to his chest, it is quickly absorbed.
Immediately there's a change in him, the bags under his eyes are gone, he gets a better posture as his back becomes straight, his smile widens once he realizes for the first time in 3 years he's not feeling exhausted.
"Woah... I forgot how this felt like heh" Even his voice is more full of life now.
"Uuuuh hate to interrupt the wholesome moment, but we're having some trouble up here!" Gabo's voice comes from above them.
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Asha, Aster and Simon look up, seeing that the teens are struggling to pull the ropes to open the ceiling
"Do you think you can use your magic to open it, Aster?" Asha asks him
"Those panels are waaay too heavy for my dust to make them float..." They explain disappointedly
"We need more weight..." Hal says, she looks down and thinks for a moment, and an idea pops in her head "Alright! Who here ever wished to be an acrobat?" She asks them excitedly while preparing to jump with the rope tied to her hand
"What are you doing???" Safi asks her worried
"Follow my lead! YOOHUUUL!" She jumps with the rope, pulling the triangular plate from the ceiling right open.
All the teens understand the plan, as Dario doesn't hesitate and jumps right after her, followed by Bazeema, Safi and lastly Gabo.
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The ceiling is open.
Asha is jumping with joy as the wishes begin to fly out of the castle.
"Well done guys! You're ready Aster?" She asks the star thrilled
Aster is just as thrilled as her when they answer "I fell down here ready!"
He flies up to the middle of all the wishes. The star focus his magic and opens his arms wide, magically turning all the green bubbles into blue ones.
The teens and Asha clap and cheer from bellow. While Bazeema is holding Valentino in her arms.
Aster looks beyond relieved he was able to actually do this... After this, Asha's wish will be granted.... And even if that means he'll have to leave, he couldn't be happier that he could give that to her.
Aster prepares to send all the wishes back to Rosas "And now! Time to return you all to who you belon-"
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(*siiiiiiiiigh* ... I hate myself for what I'm about to do with these kids)
...A giant green orb holds all the wishes...
Aster sees he's surrounded by dark magic. He is mortified by fear.
And so is Asha as we see her and the teens looking up in horror... The magic that created the orb came from behind them.
Asha can't move, she doesn't want to turn around, but she hears that condescending voice she thought she'd never hear again... And he sounds very excited about his big entrance:
"Surprise~ Did you miss me?." Magnifico's voice echos, and all the 7 teens turn around to see who they already know who it is.
King Magnifico is completely unharmed, holding the staff with no green gem on it with one hand, while hugging a now untied Amaya with the other, they're both smiling deviously at the frightened teens.
Asha hasn't turned around yet.
"I certainly did, darling. Although, I didn't doubt you'd come back for a second." The queen says honestly, as that heartbroken expression she made earlier was just an act, she knew Magnifico had a precaution in case they got his staff.
Asha finally turns around, she's trying to hide her fear as she speaks "How? W-We broke the gem from your staff, how did yo-"
"Oh you mean this gem?" Magnifico says casually while pulling a glowing emerald from inside his vest... The actual gem from his staff.
Asha is stunned, and so is Aster, watching them from the bubble, trying to get out.
"Fun fact about magic power sources, kiddos." He explains like he's teaching a class, while placing the gem back into the staff "Although it is easier to use them in an amulet or staff, if you have it with you anywhere then its magic can still be used however you please." He fits the gem back into its original place, finishing his little explanation "And that includes making it LOOK like the magic is coming from a fake power source, such as that one you broke down stairs." He smiles at Asha triumphantly.
"... You knew we were planning to break it." Asha already suspected it from the moment Amaya told her Simon betrayed them... But she was hoping maybe he didn't say that part of the plan, or the king was too full of himself to come up with a precaution.
The two royals are walking towards them as the queen says "Of course. Thank you so much for the tip, Simon, we really couldn't have done it without you." Her voice once again has a mocking motherly tone to it as she speaks to the oldest of the group, who looks like he wants to burry himself on the ground right now with all the regret he feels.
"I- I DON'T REMEMBER TELLING THEM THAT!" Simon exclaims to his friends, who are all looking at him with sadness in their eyes, except for Gabo who looks ready to kick his kneecaps
"Well you were rather sleepy, perhaps it slipped your mind heheh" The king's eyes glow green, just to indicate what he did.
The two of them are approaching, but Asha is not about to just stand by and let them win like that, she's in front of her friends as she prepares to draw-
"Ooooh no you don't." Magnifico uses his staff to snatch the sketchbook off her hands
"NO!" Asha tries holding it with all her strength, but it's no use, as the sketchbook flies straight to the king's hand.
And just like that, Magnifico summons a green flame with his hand and burns the sketchbook.
Asha feels tears form on the corner of her eyes as she watches all her drawings burn in front of her.
She still has her pencil though, which she discreetly hides inside her sleeve.
"Welp, this was fun and all, but I think it's high time we get to the main event of the night." Magnifico says as he and his wife walk, looking up to the trapped star above them, who has been throwing himself on the walls of the large bubble all this time trying to get out.
Asha wipes away the tears forming in her eyes, she's NOT letting them win, she's not letting them get Aster.
"ASTER! Can you hear me!?" The star stops trying to get out and looks down to her, nodding "yes". So she continues to shout "If you get ANY chance to escape, do it! GO BACK TO THE SKY!" She begs him, knowing that's the only way to protect him and Rosas "Don't look back! It doesn't matter if my wish isn't granted! I just need you to be safe!"
Aster is looking down to her already with tears in his eyes. She's saying pretty much the same thing he asked to that illusion the king created in the woods...
And said king is standing right behind her "Giving up at last? Good. But I'm afraid our star is not going anywhere." He grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her closer to him, threatening to use his magic on her while looking up to Aster with a threatening smile "If he does, I might take my anger out on someone else, and we wouldn't want that, would we Aster?"
Aster looks down shaking in fear, his animation is more sketchy... He can't do it, he can't leave her.
Asha get's out of the king grasp and turns to him in defiance, refusing to show weakness "I'm not giving up! And neither will anyone else in Rosas, even if you get Aster's power, they will NEVER knell to you!"
Magnifico and Amable just look really amused and even intrigued by her boldness, after everything she still has spirit... And they can't wait to break it.
Magnifico leans down to look at her angry eyes "You really think so?" His eyes move away from hers, and he changes his focus to the 7 teens "Hmm let's test that theory..." He begins to walk towards them, ignoring the girl "Ooh Simon~ I believe you just stole something of mine-"
Asha doesn't think twice before holding him by the cape and pulling it.
"Leave them alone! I'm not letting you hurt them-"
Magnifico holds her with his magic and THROWS Asha to the bookshelves on the wall, the girl screams in pain upon impact and falls on the floor.
Aster can't be heard from the bubble but he's clearly screaming. While the teens gasp in fear.
"Frankly Asha, you REALLY should start worrying about yourself once in a while." He says sarcastically while turning back to the other teens, specifically to Simon.
Asha is laying on the floor in pain, but she sees the books that fell down from the bookshelf... Paper.
That's all she needed.
"Now where was I? Ah yes, you stole a wish from me." He chuckles darkly and speaks in mocking reprehending tone "Tsk tsk tsk first you break your end of our deal and now this? Asha really is such a bad influence."
Simon is no longer scared, but rather furious with every word the king just said "This wish is MY wish! And YOU are the one who broke the deal! You said Asha wouldn't get hurt!"
"Ah ah ah wrong in both instances. First of all: I said IF you kept all your friends locked up, then I, as in ME, Magnifico, wouldn't hurt her... But my dear wife promised you nothing, sooo really it's your fault for forgetting she existed, young man." He explains smugly.
"Indeed, how dare you?" Amaya complements, like she's offended he forgot about her.
Asha is quietly ripping off a page from a book on the floor. She tries to think on something to draw... But nothing comes up, her head is pounding in pain after being thrown to the bookshelf. And all the ideas that do come in her head just sound too risky, if she messes up the king will break her pencil.
"And second of all: ... I believe you misunderstand what I actually DO, Simon. So allow me to explain." His voice is more menacing this time as he approaches them, Simon has his arms open to shield his friends behind him "When you give me your wish, you're not just lending it to me, no no no, you GAVE it to me... So I can do whatever I want with it."
That get's Asha's attention as she tries to get up, using the desk to balance herself.
"No one agreed to tha-"
"SO" The king interrupts Simon and places a hand on the young man's chest, surprising him and all the others "If I say I want to change your wish, I will. If I say I don't want your wish to be granted, then it won't be" A blue light starts glowing on Simon's chest, the boy looks scared at the king smiling deviously to him "... And if I say I want your wish BACK"
He pulls out Simon's wish. Simon immediately feels himself grow weaker.
"Then I'll take it back." Magnifico says simply while looking at the blue orb.
Simon feels hopeless, the fire he had in his eyes a moment earlier is all gone.
Asha sees this happening all the way back in the king's study, she hides the piece of paper she got inside her sleeve. She's still trying to stand up as she asks.
"Y-you ugh- You can STEAL people's wishes?!"
"Oh I "wish" heheh" He laughs at his own joke "But nah, I can only take back from those who have given it to me once willingly." He holds Simon's wish in his hand with a smirk "Now the question is... What should I do with this one?" It's a sarcastic question, as he knows exactly what he'll be doing with it.
Simon is horrified, thinking the king will change his wish into something else, maybe even control him.
"Ah I know, how about a little demonstration of what happens with wishes in this real world? heheh" His grip begins to tighten on Simon's wish.
Simon gasps in pain as his legs go weak, his friends all worriedly ask what's going on with him and try to help him stand up.
"They get CRUSHED." The king destroys Simon's wish. Absorbing it's energy like it's the most wonderful sensation going through his veins.
Simon collapses, his knees on the floor as his face is now lifeless.
His eyes are unfocused. He's catatonic.
"Si-simon?" Dahlia tries to shake him to wake him up, but he's not responding, he's just breathing.
Asha is still in the king's study, shaking her head "no" in disbelief.
Magnifico pulls her back to the wishes room with his magic.
"What was that you said about Rosas "never kneeling to me", Asha?" He says smugly, pointing to Simon kneeling in front of them.
"What did you do with him?!" Asha is struggling to get out of his magic's grip
Magnifico just ignores the question and lets go of her, as he walks to the center of the circular room.
But Amaya gladly explains with a wicked smile "Have you forgotten what kind of wishes he takes? Your deepest desire that shows who you ARE, one might even call it... Your soul." Asha and the other teens look at her shocked. "Or at least HALF of it, people still need the other half to keep living or whatever." She finishes dismissively
Magnifico hits the floor with his staff, sending magic waves all around the room. And before they know it the whole room is being lifted up.
He then turns to Asha with a menacing grin "And ya know, your sweet little star did mention I'd have to be very powerful in order to sustain his magic... So take a wild guess where I'm getting that extra power from." He gives her a clue by looking up, as if he's pointing to the wishes trapped above them with his eyes.
Asha looks up at all the wishes and then to him in disbelief "No... You can't- They didn't do anything- They don't deserve-"
"I decide what everyone deserves." He puts it simply with a grin, as they reach the top of the tower.
Chapter 16
Final Thoughts
... So... How many of you fell for it? I mean, maybe it just felt like an obvious fake out death to me because I'm the twisted and sleep deprived mind that came up with it, but come oooon ya'll didn't think I'd only end ONE of them, right?
But if you're DONE with Magnifico and Amable, don't worry I am too, can't wait for them to be defeated next chapter, for real this time, no cap, we'll get a happy ending for our traumatized heroes I swear.
But let me lighten the mood with an imagery that cracks me up every time I think about it... Magnifico sneaking in the room while Asha is having her little speech with Simon.
Like dude just got in like:
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Then he unties Amaya and listens as Asha is like "He's gone now, he can't hurt us anymore" and they're both thinking like "OOOH WE GONNA HURT THEM SO BAD LMAO" like the abusive parental figures they are, because that's what they represent by the way, they're like Mother Gothel and the whole population of Rosas is Rapunzel.
Asha is better than me by the way, like, if I saw this man alive again after ALL that I'd just do like Bravo and jump off the window. But she just keeps going, keeps finding new ways to fight back, I love my girl so much, like, you guys may think I hate her for putting her through this, but I can't wait for us to get to her happy ending! BUT I CAN'T RUSH IT OTHERWISE IT'LL RUIN THE WHOLE THING.
Anyway, this is already way too long, pray for Aster, I think ya'll can guess what'll happen to him next chapter, and pray for Rosas, because Magnifico will not be making them knell down by being chaining them to the ground like in the movie... Sooo yeah.
Thank You For Reading!
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foone · 1 year
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So, regarding Cartrivision and how the Red Tapes were effectively play-once, this idea of "you buy/rent a tape but you can only play it for a short while" so was enticing an idea that it keeps coming back. There's obviously ways this can be implemented on streaming services, but it was tried at least twice in the optical disc era, but amusingly in two entirely different ways.
And it was backwards from how you might think. The older one seems like it should have come later!
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So first was DIVX (the disc format: it's unrelated to the Codec of the same name)
This came out in 1998, just as DVD was starting to catch on. They got a bunch of movie studios to sign on to only release their films on DIVX, not DVD, and tried to backdoor the format into acceptance: it was heavily pushed by Circuit City, then a major retailer. All DIVX players were also DVD players, so they would try to convince you to buy a DIVX player so you could play both.
How it worked is pretty simple: it is basically a DVD that's been encrypted. To decrypt it, you need a license. The DIVX player can talk to the DIVX server and let you purchase a license to watch the film, and the license would be valid for 48 hours before deleting itself. So the idea was that you'd pick up a disc for very cheap, like a rental, but when you could hang onto it for later, and re-axtivate the license by just paying the license free (a couple dollars) again. And if you didn't like the movie? No need to take the film back to blockbuster, you can just toss it in the garbage! (you could also pay a higher fee to get an unlimited license to the film, effectively converting it into a DVD)
But this was 1998, remember: very few people have always-on internet. How's it talk to the DIVX server?
Simple. It's got a modem. You plug your DIVX player into the phone line, and it dials up DVD HQ and talks to them over that connection. It's a very 1990s solution.
Anyway it died. People interested in DVD universally hated the idea, especially the part where some studios were only going to release films as DIVX. People had had VHS tapes for a while now, and they were used to buying and owning their films. Going to a time-limited rental system seems like a big step back.
And of course, movie rental companies hated the idea too, as it basically would destroy them as a business (years before streaming destroyed them anyway). So they refused to entertain the idea. So it failed, and it took down Circuit City with it. The funniest part? Remember how it talks to a server? Well, guess what happened to that server when the format was discontinued!
Yep, all DIVX discs are unplayable now. They announced the discontinuation in 1999, and by 2001 the servers were turned off. All DIVX discs (even the ones upgraded to forever-playable) are just paperweights. (and btw: I've looked into the feasibility of hacking the encryption. They used 3DES, which is far from the best but is still pretty secure. Give me a million dollars and a year of computation time and I'll be able to watch one film.)
So, with DIVX dying such a quick and painful death that it took out the major retailer that invented it, surely no one else would even consider this idea again, right?
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Welcome to FlexPlay. A 2003 format where you buy a DVD for cheap, and you can watch it for 24-48 hours. Even better than DIVX, because you don't need a special player and you don't even depend on talking to a server!
Wow. What weird technical tricks did they do to make this work? Is there a special program on the disc? Some kind of computer code? Special encryption? Can you only play it on a PC with some DRM software installed?
Nope! While DVDs have anti-copying DRM and DIVX added limited-playback DRM, FlexPlay goes completely the other route and has Analog Rights Management: the limited playback is enforced by CHEMISTRY.
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Yep. See, the way optical discs work is by shining a layer through the clear plastic and bouncing it off a mirrored layer of aluminium in the center of the disc. (Well, for pre-pressed discs. MO and CD-R/RW discs work differently)
But FlexPlay discs add a layer of dye between the aluminum and the plastic. This dye is initially transparent to the red laser used by DVD players (did you know that's why blu-rays are called that? They use blue lasers instead of the red lasers used by DVD , and the infrared lasers used by CDs), so it can be read just fine.
But they made the dye react with oxygen. As soon as the airless bag the disc is stored in is opened, the dye starts darkening, eventually becoming unreadable. So once you have opened the disc, you better watch it soon, or it will be unreadable.
This format technically lived on until 2011 before being discontinued, but it doesn't seem like it was terribly popular at any point. Part of this was probably that it couldn't live up to the dream of selling a film on a disc you made for pennies, and making tons of profit. Making the discs was tricky, as you had to make them in special inert-atmosphere conditions to keep them from prematurely darkening.
Anyway the final joke of FlexPlay is that they haven't been made since 2011, and while they were sold in air-tight packages, nothing is PERFECTLY airtight. So all the ones for sale have had the bags leak over the last 12+ years, and are prematurely unreadable. Whoops.
Anyway now that physical media is dead, movie companies finally have their time-limited rental they've always wanted. Streaming makes this trivial.
And two final notes:
1. There's not really any lost-media risk with these two formats. All DIVX-only films were later released on DVD when the format ranked. And all FlexPlay films had already gotten DVD releases, so there was never any risk.
2. My buddy Technology Connections did a video in FlexPlay a while ago, if you want to learn more about it.
youtube
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respectthepetty · 3 months
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I don’t think Jin had to do anything worse than the other boys. Just turning his back on Non or not saving him would be enough of a betrayal since he seems to be the only one who cares about Non.
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Anons, I'm gonna answer both your asks with one post because they are connected since, to me, Jin is the main character and White is the final gay, but first, remember this:
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I'm watching the same show as y'all, so my Wild Ass Theories are based on vibes and vibes alone, but even though I don't believe in the supernatural aspect of it at all, the boys within the show do, which leads me to constantly question if the boys were willing to sacrifice one boy for all their dreams to come true when it seemed like all hope was lost for their futures?
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In the past, the boys went out to shoot the film in episode six with Tee playing the killer, and Non being a victim.
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I think there are two killers (Phi and Tan) in the present because there were two killers in the past, Non and Tee.
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Yet, in episode six, we only saw Tee as the killer before everything blew up and the boys were called into the police station, but Por was determined to continue filming.
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They may have filmed a lot more than what we saw, and we'll get even more flashbacks of that, but I think they hadn't filmed anything else, and what footage we know exists is filmed AFTER this entire police incident.
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These boys were already vicious to Non before that, so am I supposed to believe they went back out to that forest with Non and the best intentions of finishing the film?
NO!
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Episode two, 12:50-15:00. These boy did something even bigger to Non, and Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Was. Involved! Up until this point, we haven't seen Fluke or Jin actively do anything to Non, but at that table, every boy acknowledges they, collectively, did one really bad thing to him three years ago.
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Jin cared the most about Non and he keeps insisting that Non isn't dead, just missing, while the others are convinced Non is dead, so if they had killed him, they would know he is dead, but if they deserted him out there in the forest as some sort of prank or wishful sacrifice, Non's whereabouts would be fuzzy.
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Which finally brings me to the asks:
Jin has to be the one to convince Non that all is well for Non to go along with this second trip since he is the kindest one, and the one who convinced Non to work with them on this movie in the first place. Jin has to be an active participant in Non's downfall. He is the main character, and it demands he not be passive in his role .
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And that would make sense why Phi and New, Non's brother, are out for blood, specifically Jin's.
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We don't know if New is an older brother or a younger brother.
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So if the brother is even present at this House of Horrors, it could be intelligent and kind White who is in computer engineering and dating Tee, or it could be asthmatic Tan.
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Who needs to smoke to control himself and his nerves.
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Both boys joined the group AFTER Non disappeared, so both could be the brother since Non's parents would likely bring their other son back home if his brother went missing, but since I think Tan is the second killer and therefore the brother, that leaves White . . . who I've mentioned wasn't supposed to be there.
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Unlike Phi, who hasn't heard any of the noises or seen any of the figures, Tan thinks he saw something in the house, and White has seen a rash on his skin, heard a noise in the forest, and seems genuinely confused by everything that is happening like finding out his boyfriend's uncle is being convicted of money laundering, but he could be acting.
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Which makes me doubt his adorable little face sometimes, but it's also why I think he will be the Final Gay.
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He may be small but he is mighty and he has proven several times that he will survive by connecting the walkie-talkie, finding the gun and the cord to watch the footage, and by being kind and caring.
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Which are the perfect characteristics for the lead role because the script needs a new main character once all the other characters are killed off, including the original main one.
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Therefore, in my Wild Ass Theory, White has to be the Final Gay because once the current main character is dead,
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he'll be the new main character.
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In order to be the last man standing, a few sacrifices have to be made.
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And the boys already proved that.
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luciddreamingcrow · 8 months
Text
The gem mermaids x maid/butler! reader + ART!
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Cw!: THERE IS NO AGE GAP! this fanfic is not intended to be read as you and the characters having a age gap it's clearly written for you two to be the same age! I just wanna make this clear because I don't want people to misinterpret the dynamic of this fan fic. And it's not proofread!
Characters present: Crimson Coral cookie, Mystical Opal cookie, Golden Citrine cookie and Aquamarine cookie
Dynamics present: childhood friends to lovers, fluff, confessions, before dating,
⋆⭒˚。⋆Introduction⋆⭒˚。⋆
Ah the gem mermaids, so majestic and all of them can take your breath away just by looking at you but it just so happened that you are their favourite <3
When you were as young as them, your mer parents explained that you are the young gem mermaids source of happiness, they trust you and cherish you, and as you two grew up they still feel how their heart is captured by you and only you <333
.𖥔 ݁ ˖Crimson coral cookie.𖥔 ݁ ˖
"Just like you looked out for me when I was hurt, I'll always do the same for you"
✧When you just started to serve for the gem mermaids you were assigned to accompany the young crimson coral cookie
✦When she would train and learn how to ride the sea horses you always kept a really close eye on her, you never wanted for your lady to be hurt after all!
✧And if she did get hurt in the process you'd always hurry to check if she was injured and if she was then you'd always have some extra kelp to patch up her wounds
✦Even if she was hurting she couldn't help but feel always way better when she would hear your voice, it calmed her down and brought her down to earth and distracted her from her injuries
✧As you grew older she always insisted that you take more frequent breaks because she hated when you'd feel burned out
✦As you were teens she had a rebellious phase and she often insisted on taking you on a ride on her sea horse and explore beyond Tearcrown, sometimes she'd even sneak out quality foods and sweets that only loyalty could eat so you can have at least a taste.
✧After growing up she accepted that she has feelings for you and sees you as equal, and one day as she took you to your childhood favourite spot and there she confessed in the privacy of your secret place, and as you sat there you two made two bracelets for eachother that represented your love for each other
✦And by her orders she explained to the guards that she would feel way safer if you'd join her for the night and that's how now you guys are cuddling close, to each others arms, and this action always brings crimson coral closure and piece
✧She really likes holding you and you holding her, her entire day schedule is filled with little to to physical touch, so, at the end of the day, having you in her grasp, just brings her so much happiness and just a calm feeling that drives her to a peaceful slumber.
Also if you are curious about how the sweets look like, they look like those muffins from the mermaid Barbie movie + that coral looking cake🤭
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(she's shushing u so u two won't get caught)
Mystic Opal cookie
"To be honest, I wouldn't know what I would have done without you"
𖤓One thing she vividly remembers is this specific scenario from when she was younger:
𖤓'sat in front of the mirror, and some of her sisters trying their best to untangle her hair without it biting their arms off, so her hair would always be unstylised and sometimes tangled in which thay would make her quite insecure'
𖤓But when she heard that you'd be a sort of personal maid/butler for her she was kind of concerned how her hair would react because she didn't want it to intimate you or hurt you
𖤓But surprisingly it didn't really have a problem with you, it didn't have a problem with you touching it, brushing it and overall styling it. She was in awe when you managed to do it for the first time and from then on she insisted that you'd help her with this matter
𖤓Slowly by having hair styling sessions you two would talk with eachother and open up about past experiences, what you liked and didn't like etc etc.
𖤓And as time went by you two became inseparable, and because of her more closed off nature she really placed a lot trust in you, she'd always trust you with some more sensitive feelings of hers and she'd always appreciate the way you'd reassure her and your presence would always make her feel better.
𖤓After a while when she noticed she had feelings she mostly kept them to herself, of course you are the one that she trusts the most, but it felt like something so intimate that she just had to keep it in
𖤓But even if it was a secret, her actions weren't repressed one bit, now she'd subconsciously stand closer to you, her finns would flapp and rice up when she'd see you and the star that hangs at the back of her head would glow just a little brighter.
𖤓And Golden Citrine cookie teased the hell out of Mystic Opal when she caught up with her infatuation with you and by the end encouraged her to confess because by the end of the day she can't just hide her feelings forever
𖤓And she took het sisters advice at heart and the hole week she was preparing herself to confess but by the end of the week she was so stressed about confessing to you that she accidentally distanced herself away from you
𖤓And as you were preparing her hair for her night routine before bed you questioned if you did something to upset her, at that moment she realised she can't take it no longer and just let it all out
𖤓By the end, she ended up crying because it was never her intention to hurt you because you were so beloved to her but she was afraid how you'd react but by the end after comforting her and taking about it she gave you the most gentle kiss on the cheek
𖤓Even if that is one of her first relationships, she's actually a really good partner, she's calm collected and when you two are alone she feels so safe with you that she lets herself and her emotions to be vulnerable without worrying about any sort of judgement
𖤓She feels so happy and comfortable with you, she just wished she could give you all of the love of the sea just for you to have
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Golden Citrine cookie
"Wanna join me on another trinket hunt?"
❂When she first met you the very first thing that she did was bring her to her room to show you the various golden trinkets that she found from those hollow whales!
❂They all looked to mesmerized undet the moonlight and their reflection could easily light up her room with a really soft golden light
❂She mostly would sneak you out Tearcrown so you'd have some time alone and find more trinkets for her to add to her collection
❂At these treasure hunting trips she'd be as exited to talk and rant about how some things tip her off, just like how crimson coral doesn't really get her sarcasm but she'd be as excited to hear more about you!
❂She'd always insists in you joining the rest of the gem mermaids everywhere because she considers you as family and deeply cares about you
❂Another thing you'd do together was cleaning up any dirty trinkets, because after all she wants them to shine brightly under the sun and the moon light!
❂She has a surprisingly good maintained hair! She just enjoys not having it tied up and letting it free so she never really insisted on having hair care sessions because it was so easily maintainable
❂The moment she realised she had feelings for you is when you two would on one of your treasure/trinket hunting adventures and you'd look so interested in her little rant on how much she loves her shiny jewelry, your expression was so focused and interested on what she had to say that she outright confessed right here and there!
❂Of course later on, around that night before coming back to Tearcrown she said that she genuinely ment it and that she truly really does adore you and asked you properly if you'd like to be her partner
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Aquamarine cookie
"Today I found a new flower that never has seen before and I named it after you"
.𖥔 ݁ ˖Ooooo she remembers so clearly how when you first showed up she instantly just brought you to her garden!
.𖥔 ݁ ˖Aquamarines garden was a old greenhouse that eventually got sinked by the sea so she made herself a home there
.𖥔 ݁ ˖You'd mostly help out with different tasks in her garden like: caring out different types of sand/soils that her plants need
.𖥔 ݁ ˖Or she'd join you by going to far away markets to get new seeds for her garden and even when talking care of the plants she'd rant on and on about their properties, from where they originated, how to properly take care of them ect.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖One day she was sick so she couldn't attend the garden and you were nowhere to be found, she wanted to start looking for you because your presence comforted her but her sisters insisted on her resting
.𖥔 ݁ ˖But once everyone was asleep she sneaked out her room and started looking out for you, once she was ready to give up she decided to see how her garden was doing
.𖥔 ݁ ˖To her surprise she found you there! You were half asleep taking care of the last plant that needed care
.𖥔 ݁ ˖She felt as her heart quickened and warmed up, and as she gently swam at you and brought you to her embrace just to take you to her room for you to rest as well
.𖥔 ݁ ˖Having you near her while she was sleeping and in a vulnerable state she felt so safe, even if there was nothing to worry about she felt protected and she felt like she could protect you at any time
.𖥔 ݁ ˖Her confessing would be at her garden, it would be a lovely night where the moonlight would shine though the glass of the greenhouse giving you two a warm illumination just bright enough to be able to see eachother + some of her bioluminescent plants would be glowing too
.𖥔 ݁ ˖As you two took care of the last plants she took a deep breath and handed you over a flower in a glass sphere, it was so beautiful! It even had the ability to glow in the dark!
.𖥔 ݁ ˖As she handled it to you she took one of your hands and held it as she confessed how much she liked you and how happy you make her so she wanted you to have one of her secret flowers that she kept hidden so noone would steal it
.𖥔 ݁ ˖After getting to a relationship with her it because a tradition to the both of you to grow rare types of plants during the year so when your anniversary comes up you two can give it to eachother as presents in a glass sphere <33
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A/n: as I said in my previous post that I'll be returning on writing regularly on October but inspiration just kicked around 2 am so here we are :D the art is kind of sloppy cuz I did it around 4 am so I'm sorry if it doesn't look the best 😭
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amulet-or-not · 9 months
Text
Ok so I watched rise of the titans and it was... An experience...
The things I loved/liked:
Children of the sun summoning the amulet sequence. It was pretty cool. But it's funny this is one of the things in this category since it was basically ripped straight out of the scene in 1x12. But I don't mind a little self plagiarism if it's satisfying
Toby actually being smart and having a part in the defeat of bellroc
Toby's last moments with Jim. Not to say I liked Toby dying that was fucking horrible but seeing Toby and Jim be close again was something that had been desperately absent for a few seasons. And the idea that Jim even after winning would sacrifice the entire world and take on the burden of going back into the past himself, just to save Toby is kinda sweet even if this movie didn't go in that direction. Cuz it just proves this boy would give up anything for his friends and that's one of his core qualities and why we all love him
The opening sequence on the subway. That was pretty excellent and raised the hype and allowed everyone an equal chance to shine
Aarrrgghh going batshit when Toby dies cuz mood
The taco truck with the little tune entering arcadia and all the government are like 'remove the barricades, let them through!!'
Jlaire was pretty cute in this movie, not the best it's ever been but y'know.
Douxie was pretty good throughout
The things I was ok/unsure about:
Ajas characterisation. I know a lot of people hated it in this movie but it wasn't the worst. She acted like a leader trying to protect two worlds of people, and that's entirely fair tbh. I didn't like how she doubted Jim but as she didn't know him that well especially as neither of them remember the events of d'aja vu it was kinda understandable. And I agreed that they did need a contingency evacuation plan
Krel. He was consistently good in this movie as usual but didn't get enough time to shine individually, same goes for blinky and aarrrgghh
Stricklake getting married was cute, however I didn't like how Barbara was used as a mouthpiece to mediate all of Jim's relationships with the older men in his life, i.e. when her and Jim talked it was either about strickler or James SR. and honestly that's just a disservice to Barbara's own character (and makes me realize that I doubt this movie passes the bechdel test)
The things I disliked:
Eli basically doing nothing all movie and being useless
Having Eli come back after a glow up for the sole purpose of having a moment where Steve is jealous and distrusting of his girlfriend. Actually no this can go in the hate category too ❤️
Jim saying 'i always wondered about dad' to his mom. The only reason this isn't in the hate category is bc it meant we actually spent time on the relationship between Jim and Barbara which is something that was sorely lacking in wizards tbh, and something that really made trollhunters shine. But what happened to 1x17's 'you know I don't care about my father'? Like what is this bfr
Toby being used as comic relief didn't bother me in this as much as in wizards cuz at least he got that important moment at the end but him saying 'moral support is the lamest superpower' what happened to the Toby that cherished supporting his friends and knew that his support was the greatest gift he could give to Jim and Claire just as their support was his greatest gift. Cuz that seemed like a key factor in earlier seasons imo. Also what happened to the Toby that started becoming confident in his abilities in earlier seasons of trollhunters?
The blatant Hollywood stereotyping. The kids kicking the football in Brazil and the fishermen in the South China sea, and then the bright neon lights of anywhere in east Asia at nighttime visual. It's not the worst but I'm tired tbh
The things that I absolutely fucking hated:
This shouldn't matter to me so much, but why when Jim went back into the past, did he wake up at 8.00 instead of 6.00? You could claim it was because it was cuz he was disoriented, but the time of his alarm should never have changed. If I remember that it said 6.00 on the alarm, and I haven't watched the first episode since probably 2018, the screenwriters should've too. It's just lazy. Or maybe it's symbolic of the fact that Jim only used to wake up at 6.00 to make his mom breakfast and all of them lunch, something which was a key part of his characterisation and clearly showed how much he cared for and loved the people around him - something which is very obviously no longer a part of his character since he allowed Steve to bully Eli and manipulated Toby into becoming the trollhunter. But idk. You choose
Nomura's characterisation?? First of all she just seemed ooc, like a stereotype version of herself for some reason. Secondly, her death. She died. In the sun. She's a changeling. The sloppiness of the writing team in keeping their facts straight is fucking astounding.
Stricklers death. Just for shock value and a play on emotions cuz it contributed nothing to the story. Same with nomuras. All it showed me is that the writing team were sitting around a table and someone goes 'you know we should kill off a few characters early on in the movie just to show this is a serious level threat'.
Pregnancy being used as a fucking joke. I wouldn't have necessarily minded the mpreg concept happening but the execution was just. Ugh. Steve being pregnant was treated as a joke and gross and just something to fill in time as comic relief, rather than what pregnancy actually is which is fucking hard work. It just seems like another extended misogyny-as-comic-relief trope again and Steve's character and everything was thrown down the drain
Toby Jim and Claire not having a group moment together. There was a scene somewhere in the movie where Claire was comforting Jim and I was wishing Toby was there too. If they're going to play the moral support joke with him at least have him be there when morals are at the lowest
Toby being stuck to the van. The treatment of his character in general throughout the last half of the franchise, he should've been given proper development as a character since trollhunters ended but fuck that I guess
Getting human Jim back was WASTED. Utterly wasted on this poor excuse for a movie. The peak of Jim's character arc was accepting himself in every form even when his humanity was stolen from him. The 'am I a hero without the amulet' in this and even the corruption storyline in wizards were both forced, particularly the former, as we'd already gone through that part of his arc in s2 (and it was one of the best arcs this franchise has produced frankly). It was really really apparent they couldn't think of anywhere to go with his character but still wanted to use him bc he remained the most popular. Fanfiction writers can and have done better. Fuck this movie
The lack of emotional maturity and depth between a lot of the characters honestly?? I really don't know how to explain this other than anytime this movie paused to have an emotional conversation or moment between two characters it seemed hollow and worthless because none of them were going through true important character arcs
I'm sure I have more things in this category but for now this is all I can think of. Might rb later with more if I can think of more things that really annoyed me :)) time to rewatch trollhunters s1 and remember how good this franchise used to be :))
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