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lavenderwhore444 · 3 years

Note

God Im pretty sure I’m going to hell ANYWAYS ok so this is a hybrid cat shigaraki, u end up adopting shigaraki from a very abuses owner so our little kitten is traumatized and terrified of everything, it took u a bit of time until he was comfortable with u , he doesn’t trust u in the beginning and thinks ur gonna do the same as his previous owner did but ur different u were so patient, sweet and soft not to mention he LOVED getting head pets from u ( he would never admit it tho) once shigaraki found out that he was in love with u he was stuck to ur hip ( he was super clingy) shigaraki’s heat was closer then expected, shigaraki didn’t want to ruin his chances with u but he couldn’t stop himself from humping everything so he hid in his room , you absolutely loved shigaraki since the day u saw him u knew u wanted him, when u first met him he scratched and hissed at u he was terrified, it honestly made u sick knowing the person who did this to him is still alive, u both got much closer he even started cuddling with u!!!! U soon fell in love with shiggy but u didn’t want to ruin what u guys have so u kept it to ur self , u noticed shigaraki was acting weird and hid in his room for two days at first u thought u might give him some space but u started getting worried u wanted to check on him before u came in u heard some little moans and whines, it just hit u that ur little kitten has there heat, u decided to help out 👀

Kinks pet-play of course dom reader and sub shigaraki maybe some pegging that’s all I can think of so feel free to add any kinks. I was listening to hello kitty by Avril Lavigne there was part where she says “ come come kitty kitty your so pretty pretty” that was inspired me to write this lmaooo

-🤡

HELLO KITTY

If you want to use interactive fics, it's easy and makes reading fics SO much better. First, you download the Google Chrome extension. You'll see it in the top right corner of your screen. Next, you enter your name in the first box. If you want to change something other than y/n, please click on the text that says “want to change something other than y/n?” here, you can change any word you want to a different word. When I talk about your quirk I will use y/q.

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Samesies, but it's ok, we’ll go to hell together 😫

Now you might be wondering, Claire, why did this take you literal MONTHS? Well, I wanted to perfect it. I love this concept so much that I just HAD to spend so much time on it to make it perfect. And let me just say, it's pretty good 😏

Warnings: vaginal sex, overstimulation (male), anal sex with strapon, heat, pillow humping, marking mating, whatever you want to call it.

I've decided I'm obsessed with making cat shiggy meow ☺️

‘Where the fuck am I?’ Is shigaraki’s first thought of the day.

He’s never been on a bed this soft or a house this warm. Where is he? The blankets are all fuzz. The bed is littered with stuffed animals and pillows, and sweet-smelling candles, are burning somewhere. Is he being sacrificed?

“Hey, you're awake, ” a soft voice says, coming from the end of the bed.

He recoils in fear but, upon second glance, he sees that you aren't who he thinks you are. A girl replaces the scary form of his “master.” he looks you up and down. He has to admit you are quite pretty. The sight of someone other than the large man who used to own him excites him. Maybe this is a fresh start? But perhaps you're just like him...

“Get the fuck away from me, ” he snaps, scrambling into a corner.

“It's okay, sweetie, ” you say, “I'm not gonna hurt you, ”

“Everyone says that, meow ” Shigaraki retorts, “get the fuck away before I scratch your eyes out, ”

You bite your lip, “ok, Tomura, I'm gonna sit with you for a while, though. I'll be right across the room if you need anything, ”

“I don't need shit from you, ” he says, hissing making a show of his claws.

You laughed a little, more than a bit sad at his fear, “alright, but I’ll still be here, ”

He sits in silence for a moment, surveying his surroundings. He notices fresh clothes in the dresser, and there are some game consoles set up for him. How do you know he likes video games? Fucking creep. There aren't really any escape routes but escaping is complicated when he doesn't know where he is.

“Where am I meow?” he asks, sounding meeker than intended.

“I guess I kind of adopted you, ” you explain, “we’re at our house, ”

“Why did you do that?” he asks, the edge coming back to his voice.

“You just seemed so sweet, and the man who owned you was so mean. I couldn't just leave you there; he was hurting you, ” you say, frowning a little at the thought of Tomura getting hurt.

"Why do you care?" he snaps.

You sit closer to him, making him tense.

"I already told you, I think you're sweet Tomura," you repeat, "I just can't explain it. I'd really like it if we could become friends,"

'Or maybe more,' you think to yourself.

You can't deny he is very attractive.

"How do I know you're not lying meow?" He asks.

"I think you'll just have to trust me. Do you want to play some games with me?" you ask.

"Fine," he says, "only cause I'm bored,"

You grin, "awesome. What should we play?"

Shigaraki stands up and walks over to the games, tail swaying.

"This," he says, holding up animal crossing, "you probably like it cause it's dumb. What's your name anyway?" he asks.

"I'm y/n," you answer.

"I guess your names not awful, meow”, he mutters.

Truthfully, he already thinks you're beautiful, and you seem so kind. Shigaraki sits unusually close to you on the bed as the two of you play. You play late into the night; he makes a good bit of progress. Eventually, you feel his head rest on your shoulder, and he falls asleep on you.

You ease Tomura into your lap.

"There we go," you whisper, "you're safe now,"

Little did you know he's wide awake, smiling to himself and nuzzling his head closer to you. The sound of soft purring fills your ears as he drifts off into the most peaceful sleep.

He's pretty disgruntled when he wakes up alone. Where have you gone? Shigaraki doesn't have to wonder for long when you come back with a plate of food.

"Hey, are you hungry?" you ask, setting a plate of food on the table next to him.

He nods, digging in right away. You watch him eat like a man starved. Honestly, he might have been. He puts the plate down and moves closer to you. He's beginning to trust you more and more.

"Tomura, ” you say, “I have to put a collar on you now, just in case you get lost, ok?” you push some hair out of his face, “id be so sad if I lost you, ”

“fine, meow” he mumbles.

Truthfully his heart is melting at the thought. That you aren’t embarrassed by him, that you want to keep him safe and close to you. When you click the collar into place he hugs you, tugging at your shirt.

It’s shocking how fast he’s becoming comfortable with you but definitely pleasing. The next few days are calm, spent lounging around the house. He‘s getting so trusting with you. He occasionally pushes his head beneath your hand so you scratch his head. He always denies it, though; he has a tough-guy exterior to keep up.

However, something changes within him. He feels a strange warmth, not a necessarily bad feeling, around you. Tomura knows what cats were supposed to do. They are supposed to cuddle and play with their owners. Should he be doing that? Should he act like a “normal cat”? He concludes that you don’t want that at all. The lack of cat toys, a cat tree, and you allowing him to eat at the table solidify that.

However, he does want to cuddle. He tries to cuddle like all the time. But you have work, and you get tired, and you run errands, and he becomes sad. Tomura knows you have a life outside of him, but you really shouldn't. He should be your only priority. When Christmas break finally rolls around, and you start spending more time at the house, he's elated.

He has internet access, of course. He needs it to play his video games! But it was restricted. You don’t want your little kitty to see things he’s not supposed to. He starts to like watching movies too. At first, they‘re action movies with lots of blood and fighting, which you don’t necessarily agree with, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. He slowly gets bored with them and stumbles across a romance movie.

Tomura becomes engrossed in them. He loves watching the couple fall in love and be happy. One movie, in particular, weirds him out. It looks like they were taking off their clothes. They start kissing and making strange noises. He doesn't like it one bit, it makes his cheeks feel hot, and his cock gets semi-hard. He turns it off immediately.

It doesn’t take long for him to forget about it and keep watching different ones. Soon he finds some similarities between him and the main character. The way they feels around their love interest is the same way he feels around you. Is he in love with you?! It seems so and you have just recently come to the same conclusion as him.

Soon he’s all over you, following you everywhere. Tomura pushes open your door every night and snuggling up to you. He’ll purr and nuzzle into you, happy sighs escaping him. Whenever he “accidentally” wakes you up, you never get mad at him. You just cuddle him and talk all night, giggling and talking until you both fall asleep.

Oddly enough, you‘re oblivious to his feelings for you. Whenever he cuddles with you, you hold back the urge to kiss him on the lips. You don’t want him to feel awkward around you. Soon he starts acting strange without any change in behavior from you. He stops coming in your room at night and wont come out of his room.

You don't want to be overbearing, so you give him space...for a while. Meanwhile, in his room, Tomura is lying naked on the bed, panting and sweating. He feels strange, just like he did when he was watching that movie. He doesn't understand what‘s happening to his body but when he humps his pillow it feels like an itch is being scratched. The first time he cums he‘s terrified and lets out a scared “meow!”

But it feels so good. The feeling doesn't go away, so he decides the only solution is to keep humping. Soon he‘s limp but still grinding his hips on the poor pillow. He takes deep whiffs of your sweater, huffing it like a drug. His tongue is lolling out of his mouth and his eyes are rolling back in his head. He‘s starting to hurt down there but he just can't stop cumming.

Oh, why can't he reach the phone you left in his room? Why is his voice too hoarse to call out to you? Tomura is scared. He can’t eat or sleep. Sweat has soaked into the mattress and his poor little cock is starting to hurt. You‘re getting worried too so you wander up to his room and callout to him, pressing your ear to the door.

“y/n meow,” he calls out hoarsely, almost a whisper.

All you can hear are desperate whines and moans. Is Tomura...in heat? Oh, your poor kitty is probably in so much pain! You have to help him, so you open the door and see him. It is a pathetic (yet erotic) sight. He looks so desperate. He‘s crying and looks so scared. Tomura just whines and reaches out to you even though he‘s far away.

“Oh, sweetheart,” you whisper.

You walk over to him and scoop him up, sitting him on your lap. He continues to try and hump you, but you can tell how much his poor dick hurts. You hug him tightly, feeling guilty that you took so long to check on him.

Tomura tugs at your shirt, he can't figure out why he wants you to take off your clothes, but he does. You oblige, ready to do anything your sweet kitten wants. When he sees your top half naked, he feels his cock beg for you. He starts to tug aimlessly at your pants, and you take them off, once again, all too eager to please.

He doesn't have any sexual knowledge, but he has instincts, pure carnal instincts that tell him just how to breed his mate’s tight pussy. Tomura grabs your hips, his claws accidentally puncturing the skin. You yelp as he pulls you on top of him. When he slams you down onto his long fat cock he doesn't get the rush of pleasure he expected.

He's hit with an extreme amount of pain and lets out a panicked meow. You lift yourself off of him quickly, and Tomura misses the feeling of your cunt even though it caused him so much pain. He paws at you, but you keep him from shoving himself in you again.

“Tomura,” you say softly, “you need to calm down; you're hurting yourself,”

“Meow! need!” he cries.

“So needy,” you mutter, “youre just gonna hurt yourself,”

“Don’t care! Need!” he begs.

“Hold on,” you say, getting up and ignoring the insistent pawing at your shirt as he whines.

You rifle through your drawers until you find the dildo you got and the free strap-on attachment that came with it. You smile and gran some lube; this is exactly what you need for your pretty kitty. He watches with curious eyes and blown out pupils due to pure lust.

“Let's give your poor cock a break,” you say.

He nods, but where are you going to put that? You climb onto the bed with him, and he hugs you, sucking on your tit. He feels so at peace. Your boobs are so soft and pretty. He wants to stay like this forever. But when Tomura feels those nimble fingers of yours start to trail across his lower back just above his ass he shivers.

He leaves open-mouthed kisses across your chest; he lets them get sloppy and wet as you rub his back.

“Need,” he whispers again, eyes half-lidded.

You tilt Tomura’s head up and give him his first proper kiss. He's seen this in movies and knows you're supposed to say “I love you” after...right? He doesn't know the full meaning of the three little words he's about to say.

“I love you y/n,” he says when you pull away.

“I love you too,” you say, taken aback just a bit.

He gives you a love-drunk smile and tries to rut against your thigh but yelps again, remembering how sensitive he is.

“C’mere pretty kitty,” you coo, “lay on your back for me,”

He nods and lays on his back, painfully aware of how exposed he is to your careful, calculating eyes. He starts purring when you muzzle your head into his neck. Are you going to mark him?! Do you really want him to be your mate?! Oh, he hopes so! He smiles, and his breathing picks up, but his ears flatten on his head when you pull away.

“No mate meow?” Tomura asks, face falling.

For the first time all day, he feels his cock soften sadly. He doesn't understand the look of confusion on your face and tears up a bit.

“I'm not sure I understand,” you say, brushing some hair out of his face and feeling guilty when you see his teary eyes.

“I want you to mark me,” he says, bottom lip quivering, “please meow?”

Your eyes widen, “oh,” maybe you did learn something useful in school, “of course honey,”

You lean down again, unsure of how hard to bite his neck. You can tell exactly where you're supposed to bite. A strong musky smell radiates from the side of his neck and you decide to sink your teeth in until you break skin. When you do, he sighs happily at the feeling of your admittedly dull teeth (in comparison to his) in his neck.

“Mate,” he purrs.

You pull away when you can tell he's satisfied. He pulls you in for another kiss, tasting some of his blood on your tongue. He doesn't notice your fingers traveling to the bottle of lube on the bed and pumping some onto your fingers. He does notice when you start to rub around where you're not supposed to.

“Hey! What are you doing, meow?!” Tomura says, squirming at the strange new sensation.

When you find your mark and circle his asshole, any objections he just made the in the past. When he feels your finger begin to sink into his tight hole, he sighs happily. He isn't supposed to be the one getting penetrated, but he can't help how much he loves the feeling of your finger wiggling around inside of him.

When you add in another finger, he meows happily, grinding on your fingers. All this pleasure without the pain, what has he done to deserve this? To deserve you? Tomura’s back arches as he moves his hips; he can feel himself coming to a different kind of climax, but you pull away right when he's on the edge.

He looks up at you with pleading eyes and trembling thighs. He sees you putting that strange liquid on something much larger and gulps. He feels his asshole gape around nothing, waiting for something to fill it up.

“Is that going inside me, meow?” he asks nervously.

“It won't hurt,” you say, cupping his face, “i promise,”

Tomura gulps but nods. He trusts you. When the head of the dildo pushes into him he's tense and panting already.

“You have to relax,” you whisper in his ear, “be a good boy and relax,”

He tries, letting the nervous knot in his stomach untangle. His breathing slows as you push in more of the dildo. It starts to feel good, having you in some of him, and it's even better when the head of the dildo hits a spot that makes him mewl. He wraps his arms around your neck and pulls you down to him, causing you to poke his prostate again.

He moans and buries his face in your neck, purring loudly. You start to move your hips at an agonizingly slow pace. You worm your arms under him and hold him close while you help him adjust. He's planting and mewling happily.

“Love you,” he moans, “I love you so much y/n,”

“I love you too, Tomura,” you whisper, kissing the shell of his ear.

“It's so good,” he groans, “you're amazing meow. The perfect mate,”

“Yeah?” you say, too focused to respond.

He nods, “the best ever,”

You keep thrusting, speeding up just a bit. That makes Tomura yelp happily. His tongue lolls out as he smiles. There's not one thought behind those beautiful red eyes—just pure pleasure. It's taking over his entire body and he can't help but meow happily.

He likes to think of himself as more refined than most hybrids. More human, but all he can think of now is how wonderful being your little kitty is.

“I'm gonna cum,” he whimpers, “gonna cum, meow”

His dick quivers, and his asshole clenches as cum spurts out of him, but it's still not enough. To satiate his desires, he needs to be inside of you when he cums. When you pull out of him slowly and remove the strap on, he bites the bullet and plunges into you, ignoring the pain that makes him sob and absolutely hammers into you.

You're helpless underneath him as he has his way with you. You can't deny how good he feels inside of you. Tomura hates how long he's lasting. He needs to get this over with, although having you cum on his cock would be pretty nice. When he feels you worm your fingers down to your clit he starts to be thankful he hasn't lost his mind and cum yet.

That look on your face makes him so happy. He wants you to be happy. He wants you to cum, so he holds out until you milk his cock with your cunt. And when he lets go it's heavenly. The itch has been scratched, and he collapses on top of you, purring as his tail twitches. You scratch behind his ears to help him get some much-needed rest.

It works nearly immediately, and your sweet kitty is asleep in mere minutes. You love Tomura more than you can put into words, and he loves his pretty little mate. His adorable little y/n.

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insatiablewendigo · 4 years

Text

[OC X CANON FRIENDLY]

RULES/INFO

↣WARNING: this blog is NSFW AND COULD BE TRIGGERING TO SOME READERS. it will likely contain depictions of mutilation, murder, cannibalism, explicit sexual themes and so on. if any of these things trigger you, this is your warning. DO NOT INTERACT/FOLLOW IF YOU ARE UNDERAGE.

↣i’ll start this off with the usual: alastor’s original design and character, hazbin hotel and all of its affiliates belong to their respective owner, vivziepop.

↣mun is over 18, and so is muse.

↣please don’t expect muse to be particularly in-character. i will of course try my best to keep it close to the original, but muses change along with rp so it will likely stray a little.

↣i will often abandon threads/prompts, as i suffer from severe ADHD and struggle to stay on one thing for extended periods. however, if this does happen, don’t give up on me because i might decide to go back to it much later on!

↣i will roleplay with muses that are from different fandoms, as well as with OCs! i may be slightly more selective when it comes to these, though, especially if my knowledge is limited on a specific character.

↣if you want to start a thread from an ask, please try and continue it in a new post, just so it looks neater!

↣my muse is not canon! he is from an AU i made in which he is a wendigo, and does not know any of the main cast aside from husk, nifty, rosie, mimzy and the VVV overlords (he has been acquainted with charlie, but they are still strangers as of the start of this blog).

↣nsfw prompts/asks are more than welcome!

↣i will not write and neither do i condone extreme kinks/fetishes such as emetophilia, scat, paedophilia, incest and rape.

↣i am, however, okay with extreme gore and/or body horror, sexual or no, as well as possible self-cest, but i honestly don’t know where i stand on that just yet.

↣i am mutuals only, though i will answer anons!

↣absolutely any and all ships are welcome here, so long as they’re legal and consenting. i’m open to most pairings and am more than happy to explore certain ships if that’s what you want!

↣if there is a certain pairing you aren’t sure about, don’t be afraid to approach me about it. i don’t bite!

↣asks are encouraged! please, i love fun little asks that i can just mess around with, and i adore the character exploration that it can result in.

↣i am generally semi-selective, though i will usually try to reply as much as i can, if and when it is appropriate!

↣how much i write varies; if it is in response to something detailed, i will gladly follow on in a similar fashion. however, if i am simply responding to a short starter or ask, usually i wont go off and write six paragraphs. keyword: usually. i’ll try to make it short, i promise.

↣please do not like my open starters if you are not planning on responding to them!

↣TAGS will be used accordingly.

↣If you’re a mutual, feel free to ask for interaction or respond to any posts I make!

#rp blog #hazbin hotel #alastor #help #radiodust #radiohusk #charlastor #chalastor #vagastor #radiomoth #radio demon #friends on the other side | [ ooc ]#; rules

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herosillustres · 4 years

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if.. if you want to.. since you mentioned wanting to write about percy, something involving him introducing his newborn child (either molly or lucy) to his mother would be pretty sweet

haha…what if I did do that…just kidding…unless…? 👀

———

When Molly was first placed in Percy’s arms, he had quite nearly cried. Only a warning look from Audrey, whose face was soaked with tears already and who had told Percy when she had first gotten pregnant that she would be the only one allowed to cry in the delivery room, kept the tears from flowing. That and a harsh bite on his lower lip, quickly and easily silencing himself and he held the baby closer to his body.

The doctors puttered about Percy and the baby as they worked to clean Audrey up, something the man could have easily done with the wave of a wand, but which was done manually as they were in a muggle hospital. Per Audrey’s request, and, in part, his own. He had been forgiven by his family, yes, and few in the wizarding world knew of the betrayal that he had enacted—opinions on whether his anger was justified or not ranged in how well the opinion holder knew him—but he still worried what those who did know might do. He was assured by many that this fear was unfounded, but Percy had grown cautious since the second war, watching his step more closely than he used to.

After a moment, the doctors and nurses cleared the room, one of them nodding Percy towards a chair they had moved over to sit besides Audrey’s bedside. He took a seat there once the room was empty and proudly presented the baby girl to his wife.

“Boy or girl?” Audrey asked as she took the swaddled, squirming thing from Percy, tucking the baby protectively against her chest even as her competitive streak came through.

“Girl.” Percy answered simply.

“Damn, you won,” Audrey sighed with faux exasperation. She looked down at the baby with a soft smile, ticking the infant’s chin with her finger for a moment.

“You were the one who insisted,” Percy argued in return, not a hint of malice in his voice. He leaned into his wife’s space, peering down at the baby girl once again. He felt a sob building in his throat, a feeling of such unbridled happiness and joy that even the smile that ached across his face was not enough to express.

“Only because I thought I would be right,” Audrey returned, glaring playfully at the other as she shifted about in the bed, making just enough room for Percy to hang off the edge of the bed if he so chose to. He did. He stretched an arm out as he settled uncomfortably on the sliver of mattress that Audrey had granted him and gently caressed the child’s face. His child’s face. The girl scrunched her face up in return, but made no move to cry, as she had when she was first brought out into the open. Instead she stared at her father with bright eyes and gurgled a noise that no one could decipher. “Her name?”

“Molly,” Percy said, having decided it long ago. He pulled his hand from Molly’s face and instead brought it to Audrey’s, pushing himself up so that he was sat more firmly beside her.

“Molly,” Audrey repeated with a smile. She pressed into Percy’s space and placed a chaste, tired kiss on his lips, revealing just how harrowing the whole ordeal had truly been. “It’s a good name.”

༻࿇༺

Molly was pressed comfortably against Percy’s chest, the baby making soft, incoherent noises as Percy trudged the two of them out of Ottery St Catchpole where he had left his car outside a small coffee shop that Bill used to take him to during his summer breaks—before Percy began to attend Hogwarts, as well. It was warm out, a slight breeze bristling through the fields surrounding the town, making it pleasant enough for a walk without it being downright unbearable. Molly seemed to agree with the sentiment, her small head swinging this way and that as if trying to memorize the landscape.

Audrey hadn’t come with the two of them out to the Burrow—although she had made Percy swear not to apparate with the baby, the woman not at all keen of the risks that it could pose for the infant (the argument she had laid out had been unnecessary as Percy had already agreed with the sentiment, but it served to make him not wont to apparate himself for a good while)—deciding to take the day to rest and recuperate after the long five months they had spent caring for Molly. Percy knew it was well overdue for his mother to meet her granddaughter, but he and Audrey had read something in a book that said it was best to wait a few months before introducing infants to others.

He had written his mother a letter when Molly was first born, including with it two muggle photographs: one of just the baby and another that also included him and Audrey, taken by a sweet nurse that had been all too willing to indulge them with a photo. She had written back almost immediately, gushing over the little thing and pleading for her son to bring her by sometime soon. They had exchanged a few more letters since then, but Percy’s reservations were still fresh in his mind making even the most simple interactive tasks nearly impossible for him to act upon if they involved his family. He loved them, there was no doubt, but there was always that nagging part of his mind that wondered if it wasn’t only him who did.

He had contacted Ron early last night to see if Molly would be free tomorrow—no matter how much he had denied it, Percy had always been Ron’s favorite—and the boy had told him when the house would be empty save for her, reading the older’s hesitance easily. He had only given his little brother a grateful smile before popping away from the flue, but only after Ron had wrung a promise from him that he could meet the baby, as well.

The Burrow was in front of Percy’s eyes before he knew it. The walk from the town took less time than he had remembered. He swallowed down a thick ball of guilt and melancholy that gathered in his throat at that thought. He made his way carefully to the front door, both fear of what lay behind the door as well as what lay in wait in the garden keeping him from dashing up to it.

Molly stared blankly up at the building, mouth opening and closing as if she were gawking at what had once been Percy’s home. He grinned down at the baby, bouncing her in his arms enough for her attention to be turned back to him, the infant letting out a gurgle of joy before squirming her arms up into the air towards her father’s face. Molly seemed to have developed a fascination with Percy’s glasses near immediately and was always attempting to get her hands on them in one way or another.

With one hand continuing to support the baby, Percy used the other in an attempt to simultaneously knock on the all too familiar door and knock the baby’s hands from his face, a game which left Molly squealing with joy every time. He heard someone puttering about just behind the door as he pulled his hand from the door and trapped Molly’s baby paws in his own palm, the baby squirming cheerfully in his arms.

“One moment!” He could hear his mother calling from within the house. Those two words, so meaningless in the scheme of things, brought a small smile to his lips, a warmth blooming in his chest as he listened to the other hurrying about. It hadn’t hit him until now just how much he missed his mother. His face felt hot as tears prickled in the backs of his eyes. He blinked them away and took a step from the door to wait for Molly to open up.

As she had promised, a moment later the door was flung open, the woman’s head of crazy red hair making itself known first as she poked it from within the house. It took her a moment to fully recognize Percy—Merlin, that hurt, but he couldn’t blame her—but when she did her face lit up as bright as the Christmas trees that populated Hogwarts’ halls during the season. Her face blanched slightly when she noticed the baby slung across Percy’s chest, but recognition once again settled quickly in.

“Percy, oh my goodness,” Molly’s voice was breathless, as if she couldn’t believe just what was happening before her eyes. She paced slowly out of the house towards him.

“Hi, mom,” Percy replies, a crooked grin spreading across his face. Molly, the little one, not the mother, made a gurgled sound as if to repeat what Percy had said. She knew how to say something that resembled ‘Ma’—as well as ‘Da,’ but she learned it later and Audrey had yet to let him live that fact down—and was quick to use it when Percy greeted his mother.

“Oh, Percy,” Molly repeated, voice filled with emotions as she hurried forward to press herself against her son, wrapping her arms tightly about him while somehow avoiding squishing the baby, who made a noise of slight alarm before settling into the gentle hold.

Percy ducked his head enough to press his face into his mother’s crazy curls, breathing in the scent that would comfort him as a child, that would hold him when he couldn’t sleep and indulge him in reading aloud boring books that no one could understand why he found so fascinating. He wrapped an arm around the woman, as well, one still holding his child as he let himself feel almost childish himself, back when he still held that belief that nothing could happen if mommy was there.

They pulled apart after a moment, Percy’s glasses popping from where they had stuck against his face but blurry with tears he hadn’t known he had shed and strands of Molly’s hair clinging to her face with tears she seemed all too aware of having been poured. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress and waited until Percy had cleaned himself up as well before speaking.

“And who might this be?” She asked, voice still a bit wet as she cooed at the baby in her son’s arms. The baby responded in kind, seemingly recognizing the woman as some sort of relation as she let out a series of squeals and less than intelligible noises, all the while swinging her arms about as if telling some grand story. Percy and his mother laughed at the affair.

“Mother,“ Percy started as he gently moved to hold the baby out to his mother. The older woman hesitated a moment before finally grasping the infant, years of child rearing—seven children left their mark, even if it had been close to 18 since she had last had one herself—allowing her to hold the baby properly. She bounced the girl lightly in her arms. “Meet Molly.”

“Molly,” his mother parroted, another wave of emotions gathering in her voice. She stared at the baby a moment longer before turning up to her son. The smile she wore was enough to rival the sun, the sun that glistened upon the tears once again blooming in her eyes. Percy pulled the older woman into a hug without her needing to be asked, an arm curling around his mother’s shoulders as she turned back to the baby. To Molly.

#percy weasley #hp #harry potter #fanfiction #harry potter fanfiction #my writing #audrey weasley #molly weasley #molly weasley ii

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ryanbitchbard · 5 years

Text

The New World

Gasp!!!! I wonder how long I have been walking. My clock says ten hours but it feels a lot longer. I cant see an end. I’m not giving up! I will follow through till the end. I have plenty of food and water and as long as I make haste I will make it......I just know it!

My family and I moved to the new world five years ago. We wanted to see what all the fuss was about and we just got comfortable. The new world was simple. Just a giant housing track. A mega suburb. This is different than miles of sprawl......this was a new type of community. Planned to the tee. There were no restaurants, shopping centers, or jobs that people went to. If you made it in these suburbs, food got sent to your house by these tubes that were connected to your kitchen, you shopped via the internet and the gifts would come through another tube in the chimneys. The jobs you had were all in the basements of the houses. I’m not sure what my parents did but I’m sure it was good. We didnt have cars(which was weird for a giant burb.). Families had pods that would take them from their driveways to designated parks for fresh air.

I was ten when my family moved here. At first it didnt seem to different than the last town we lived in. My family wasnt super outgoing to begin with os it’s not as if I missed amazing outings. My father would much rather spend time surfing the net than taking us out on some physical adventure. We moved here in June and I didn’t notice much except for the schools being a little smaller and the kids seemed more restless. I would go to school, come home, and occasionally go to the parks with some friends. At a certain point I wondered why we didnt go to malls or go out in general anymore. This didn’t strike me as odd at first but at a certain point you notice the lack of restaurants and other signs of outside human interaction. I don’t even remember the last time you saw a fast food place. My father used to take us on vacations. They weren’t much, but even him being a home body didn’t stop the occasional trip. At fourteen I asked if we could leave the town for a couple days to see what changes have taken place in the country since we’ve been away. They would tell me we could try but gettting out of here is kind of a hassle and wouldn’t tell me Moore than that so I would eventually just forget. On my fifteenth birthday I asked, again, if we could leave. I got the same answers. Rather than push the topic I decided to just try and leave myself.

My plan was to take one of the pods that go to the park and attempt to transfer pods with other people. I would go to the park and hitch a ride to other parks in one direction until I reached the end of the new world. After school I went to the park and searched for people who were willing to give me a ride. I was nervous as this was a very unorthodox thing to ask. I was relieved when I found my friend Jewel. I approached her with the nervous excitement of a future parent.

“Hey J! I was wondering if I could ride in your pod to a park in your south area?”

“Thats kind of weird. Why do You need to go there?”

“I just want to see what other places are like. You aren’t a little curious?”

“Hmmm. A little. Ive just never had a reason to go to other neighborhoods. They’re just places other people live. Why do you need to see that? Do you really need to see more beige homes?”

“I don’t want to see other neighborhoods......I want to see the outside world. I haven’t seen it in years. I want to see how its changed. I know we live in paradise but I’m curious.”

“Oh. I guess I understand that. You’ve been talking about this for a over a year. Do you know where to go?”

“No, but i figure if i keep going in one direction i have to see the end eventually.”

“I guess that makes sense. I don’t see any reason I cant take you to the park.”

“You should come with!”

“No. I have homework. Just get in!”

Jewel took me the park near her house. I thanked her and tried to find another person I could hitch a ride with. Walking around I found a couple who appeared more free spirited than the rest of the community. I walked up to them hopping they were as cool as they looked.

“Hey!”

I waved as i moved forward.

“Hello?”

I explained my situation to the couple and they seemed very intrigued.

“Thats awesome! Its about time someone had a little balls around this community! We have a couple days off from work so we might just go with you some of the way!”

“That sounds great! I thought I was going to be alone most of the time.”

“It would be nice to get out of this place instead of drinking the wine we normally have delivered into our kitchen every weekend.”

Just like that, we were off.

We rode in their pod until we got to the couple’s southern park. There they were able to find a friend of their’s who was willing to take us to his southern park. Our plan was to repeat this as much as possible. We eventually made it to the fifth pod.

“I’m impressed by your spirit! This is one thing that the neighborhood left out. The ability to nurture desire.”

“Thanks! You guys seem like exciting people. Why are living here? It’s so boring.”

“We decided to give it a try for a few years and just got comfortable. At our age, we really don’t need to do as much. We had our fun on the outside and now we are content with what we have. We do feel bad for anyone who has to grow up in here.”

It was than that the boy friend spoke for the first time.

“That is why we are so happy to help. We think its inspiring that you want to see parts of the world. You might be able to teach us a thing or two.”

“Thanks. I’ll try.”

“Here is a rice bun just in case you get hungry.”

I managed to travel two hours in the pods thanks to the couple. I was taken back as to how big this place was. Two hours of driving and everything looked the same. The couple’s friend could only take me another thirty minutes. I left the pod and started walking. I figured I would be able to walk at this point seeing as I have been in pods for at least three hours. I walked for another two hours. Everything appeared the same. I might as well had been in my neighborhood. I was getting tired and hungry. The couple had given me water but I felt like I was about to keel over. I went to the first house I saw and knocked at the door. A tall man opened the door. He looked as if he knew I’d be coming to this house.

“Come on in. You were quicker than expected.”

The man handed me some water and a rice bun. I grabbed the bun and took a large bite. I walked in an sat down. Once I finished the food I turned and looked at him.

“How did you know I would come here? Also.......who are you?”

“I’m an architect of the new world. I have been watching you through the cameras.”

“Are you mad?”

“Not at all. In fact, I’m intrigued by your curiosity. In the time I’ve lived here I have yet to see anyone as bold as you. You have the human spirit which most here lack.”

“I’m just leaving the community for a little. I’m coming back. I just wanted to see how the world was doing. I haven’t seen it in years.”

“That’s what I mean. People have been curious but know one has had the spirit to try and look. The new world is a complicated system. It’s meant to give you any need you could have. Leaving is impractical so we didn’t think of making an easy exit. You had enough curiosity to try and see outside. This tells us that we need to work on our design.”

“How do we leave?”

“You can just keep walking. You will eventually find the exit. If you keep walking down the street two blocks south of here, you will find the way out within the day.”

“This new world is a big project!!”

“We are trying to make it bigger. We want to deliver our services to the country. You are making me think of adding a street bar to keep others content.”

“Thank you for the food.”

“Its my pleasure.”

I left and walked to the street he told me to go towards. I had a new excitement. Like this adventure was for something. I skipped once I got to the street and continued my journey. I noticed the houses on this street were much larger and more entertaining to look at than the rest of the neighborhoods. I wondered why the other houses couldn’t look like that. I stopped to look at one house that had a gothic texture to it. I almost walked up to the front door before kicking myself and forcing me back to the task at hand.

*******

It had been another four hours of walking. I stopped at a few houses who were happy to fill up my cantina and give me a snack to energize me. However, i didn’t feel that I was going very far. In fact, not many people even knew what I was asking. They had no idea they were closer to the exit. Many have never even considered the outside world in years. I continued to walk until I saw a man waving to me from an odd looking house. I walked over.

“Hey. Where ya going?”

“I’m leaving the knew world for a bit. I want to see what the outside world looks like.”

“Jesus!! I thought so. I have bad news for ya. You aren’t heading there.”

“What do you mean? Ive been walking this way for ten hours now. I have to get there sometime.”

“You are going no where near the exit.”

“I was told to go this way by the architect.”

“That explains why you’re here. No one in charge wants you to leave. They don’t even want you to think of the outside. He sent you here on purpose.”

“Why do you think that?”

“It happened to me years ago. I left my family’s home and was sent here. I have no idea where anything is anymore so I just decided to stop looking and stay here. This must be a tactic he has to trap people. Send them to the weirdest neighborhood to distract them from noticing the prison they are walking into.”

“I don’t believe it!! You’re lying!!”

“Nope. I have been here for years. There is no way out. I mean there is ........but no one will tell you where it is and they will lie and send you down the wrong path in order to keep you from finding it. More architects will sabotage your goal. You won’t even know who is an architect. So many lies that you wont know who is telling the truth.”

“.......mother fucker!!!”

“I know. Shit’s annoying. Come here and let’s find out how far away you are.”

I go inside this larger than average house and he shows me a map. I went in some weird loop. The loop turned in such a way that I thought I was walking a straight path this whole time. I felt conned. Worst part was I had no idea how to get home. The path changes every day and it is a real trek on how to get back. It makes sense as to why I saw so many different people. I wasn’t going to stay here. I wasn’t going to give up. I needed to find a way.

I walked up to my new friend.

“Hey. Thank you for helping me but I can’t give up. I need to keep trying other wise this trouble was for nothing. I’m going to find my way to the outside. I see the map and I will try and follow to the end. I don’t care if I need to sneak through back yards.”

“Hmmm. You’re crazy.....But I like your style. Your human spirit and motivation. This is the important thing the new world lacks.”

“You should come with me!”

“Nah. My spirit is spent. Your best bet is following this path.”

He points me to a path and gives me directions and some rice buns. I was off.

********

This is where I find myself now; walk-in in the dark. It has been ten hours since I left that neighborhood. I was beginning to get hungry. I pulled out the buns I had in my backpack. I heard a shriek. It was another person outside their home pointing at my food.

“Are those rice buns???!!!”

“Yes. I got them from someone in a neighborhood ten hours away.”

“I haven’t had rice bans here since the architect gave them to me.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure where you get them. An architect gave me some and some other guy just had em. Maybe they got another deal from the rest of us.”

“Ha ha. No. Only the architects get that food.”

“!!!! No!! I got this from someone who couldn’t find their way home.”

“Let me guess......you’re looking for a way out of the new world?”

“Yes! Are you looking to?”

“Was. We all were.”

The man points behind him and four people come out of some bushes.

“We all got sent in the wrong direction by the same guy. Curly hair? Blue eyes? Heavier build?”

“But!!!! I was misled once!! He gave me a map! See?”

All of the strangers looked at the map and giggled.

“Let me show you my map.”

He goes into his house and comes back with a map. The map he had looked very different. The map he had made all the neighborhoods appear grid like. The map I had made everything look loopy and creative.

“How??!!”

“He’s another architect of the new world. They don’t want you to leave. They will just keep lying until you give up.”

I realized how foolish i was to just believe a random person. How do i know who’s telling the truth? Another man spoke.

“I believe the first architect was telling the truth! The other one just got wind and tried to sabotage him.”

“I believe the second one was telling the truth and he wanted us to all meet.”

Everyone had their own opinion as to who was telling the truth and where to leave. No one had a concrete answer. This was not good. I was out of options......I had to many options. I’m not sure if I had a chance anymore. I guess I had to make an educated guess as to where the tue path lied.....also........who lied.

At this time I remembered the free spirited woman. She gave me rice buns. If what these people are saying is true than I was ruined in the beginning. I have no idea where the couple could have taken me. I guess its time for me to start coming up with my own theories as to who was lying. It was time for me to contribute to the discussion.

#dystopia #newworld #utopia #betrayed

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sarcasticgaypotato · 7 years

Note

I really like the theme of trust when it comes to ChellDOS. Chell needs to trust that GLaDOS won't try to kill/hurt her just like GLaDOS has to trust that Chell wont murder her again. Can you use your gay magic— I mean writing skills?

(( Of course! I am always happy to use my gay magic for the sake of ChellDOS! ))Chell never thought she would come back.She struggled for so long to leave, to be set free, only to be met with disappointment. The world above Aperture was dead. She could not find a single living human, buildings were destroyed and overrun by plants, and even animals seemed to be in scarce numbers. The world had aged while Chell had remained the same, frozen in time as the world wasted away.There was nothing for her here.

And regardless of this fact, if she had escaped Aperture before she was thrown into the depths of the facility’s past with nothing but her portal gun and a talkative potato, she would’ve stayed on the surface. Let herself die up here alone, rot away knowing that she was, at the very least, free from Aperture’s grip.

But things were different now.Chell still had no affection for Aperture, nor what the company had done or stood for, even back in the day.No, she had no positive feelings for the facility itself, it was the ruler of the facility that she had grown a soft spot for.GLaDOS, of all creatures, had earned Chell’s respect, at the very least. And, in a way, they had formed a strange bond while traveling old Aperture.Chell had seen the change in GLaDOS, and that was what changed her own opinion of the core.Maybe it was the sudden realisation and understanding of the core’s past, or maybe it was watching the AI evolve.She saw the seemingly cold, unfeeling core soften and open up, bit by bit. She was no longer in control, she was humbled, and was forced to see the world through different eyes.In a moment of sheer curiosity, Chell had looked down at the potato, staring into the golden optic that had become something she had only ever seen as belonging to an unfeeling enemy, yet now… She saw a person. Not a robot, not a machine, a person.And while she never could be sure, Chell believed that GLaDOS had done the exact same thing, in that same moment.However, this newfound partnership hadn’t meant that they were suddenly as thick as thieves. GLaDOS had willingly let her go, and Chell was happy to leave. They both wanted as much distance as possible. Staying too close brought up questions and feelings that neither of them wanted to address. Yet here Chell was, standing once more in front of the old metal shed, staring at its rusted door.The outside world had nothing left for her, but Aperture did. Now it was just the question of whether or not GLaDOS would even let her in.Believe it or not, she did.And Chell was soon face to face with an old enemy. Though that term hardly applied to them anymore. When she descended into Aperture, she was met with the core’s usual sarcasm, yet it was almost endearing this time. Almost.“I didn’t think you’d come crawling back so quickly. Miss me already?”Chell held her head up high, refusing to let the comment shift her stony expression, despite the slight urge to let it shift upon seeing the core. No longer was she hanging off the ceiling, but instead, standing in front of the elevator in an android body that looked far too human for being made of metal.The elevator door slowly opened, and neither of them moved an inch.“…Well, if you’re going to stay here, you might as well step out of that elevator, you can’t stay there.”GLaDOS backed away, never turning her back on Chell as she moved. And once there was a good amount of distance between them, Chell exited the elevator. Trust was not something that they possessed for each other yet. But today was the start of a very long journey.It had not taken long for the two of them to end up staring each other down once more, dancing on the brink of confrontation. Chell had been messing around and got her hands on the portal gun, and had brought it into GLaDOS’s chamber without a second thought.GLaDOS had practically freaked. She concealed it to a certain extent, but Chell saw the change in expression on her newly crafted face. She had drawn back defensively, and her eyes looked positively icy. She still remembered all too well what Chell had done with that portal gun in the past.Chell hadn’t caught on at first. Instead, she too found herself getting defensive, assuming that GLaDOS was getting ruffled for no reason, and taking the core’s defensive stance as a warning before an attack. Chell too had plenty of reasons to be skeptical of GLaDOS, as the murder attempts were still fresh in her brain whenever they ended up like this.“…Get that gun out of here.”GLaDOS hissed, not daring to move.Chell narrowed her eyes, confused for a moment.“…Now.”The core was not screaming at her, nor was she threatening Chell with turrets or deadly neurotoxin. She was uneasy rather than particularly angry, and appeared almost… afraid? That was not something Chell had come to associate with the AI, though the pieces were starting to come together in the human’s mind. GLaDOS had proven herself to be more than capable of showing emotion, and fear had definitely been one of them.Chell looked down at the gun in her hands, and it finally clicked. She quickly glanced up at GLaDOS, wondering for a moment if she should apologize. Instead, she quickly rushed out of the room, not looking back.More time passed, things were getting better. They had actually sat down and talked. About… everything. But mainly, what their relationship would be. Chell-who wasn’t actually talking, but instead preferring to write things down and show them to the core- had finally been able to get some answers from GLaDOS, who admitted to her uneasiness around the girl, and Chell agreed likewise. At least now they knew, and could try to work on it.They both expected this to take time, and thankfully time was something they had a lot of.What neither of them expected however, was the rather… confusing feelings that had started to surface regarding one another.Chell would never know this, but GLaDOS had harbored an… interest in Chell for a long time. But that interest was far, far from anything… safe. It had been a hatred, an obsession, a craving. It had died down after her time in a potato, and she assumed she’d be able to be rid of the feeling completely. And that was partly true. The obsession and the hate started to disappear as time went by, but they were replaced by different emotions. Something warm and strange feeling, like a tightness in her chest. Something she had no idea that Chell was experiencing at the same time.Of course, this matter, did not get discussed. Not verbally anyway.It grew stronger as time passed, and eventually, Chell grew tired of simply letting it be.They had both tried to practice touching each other as a part of their trust building, even though each interaction had been very brief, and barely more than a brush of the fingers against each other. Chell decided to change that.She approached GLaDOS carefully, making herself known by walking towards the core head on, having learned to never sneak up on her. She cleared her throat a little, looking up at the AI and gesturing with her hand for the robot to come closer. “What is it now? You’ve already had dinner, you aren’t getting seconds.”Chell rolled her eyes, scoffing slightly under her breath. Once the core had gotten close enough, she rummaged through her jumpsuit pockets to find the pre-written note that she made for this.‘Can I try something?’“Well you’re going to need to do a better job of explaining, for one.”GLaDOS responded with snark, though her tone held no bite. It hadn’t for awhile actually, now that Chell thought about it. Instead, the sarcastic comments and remarks that many people would find quite rude had shifted. Chell wasn’t offended by them, yet she didn’t need to ignore them anymore either. She found herself smiling at half of them, like this was an old joke between her and the core.Still, GLaDOS was right. She ought to explain herself better.She pointed to her hand, then gestured to GLaDOS.To her surprise, the core caught on instantly, her eyebrows raising slightly as her golden optics studied Chell.“…Alright, try whatever it is you want.”That came as even more of a surprise, though it was quite the pleasant one. It wasn’t often that GLaDOS put that much faith in her. She didn’t want to mess this up.

Like many times before, she carefully reached out and touched GLaDOS’s hand. The core tensed for a moment, before relaxing. This was not uncharted territory. Slowly, Chell moved, lacing her fingers with the AI’s, constantly watching the android’s face for any signs of discomfort.She found none.Instead, the core looked at her with surprise, and a hint of something else. Contentment maybe?Chell wasn’t sure. But she held this touch for awhile, liking the warmth that roared up in her chest that it caused. Aperture was often so cold, and it had been so long since Chell had been around other humans, she had forgotten what physical affection had felt like.Minutes went by, maybe even hours. It was so hard to tell time down here, but it felt like years had passed when GLaDOS pulled away. She was slow in her actions instead of her usual jerky movements when it came to this sort of thing. She was relaxed. A relaxed GLaDOS was NOT something Chell saw often. Even if the core was in a good mood, she was hardly relaxed.“…That… wasn’t as horrible as I had expected. Perhaps… we should continue to study this tomorrow.”Chell smiled. That was the best reaction she could possibly hope for.And study it they did. Step by step, they put themselves on display for the other, showing their weakness just long enough for the other to study it, and try to learn how to adapt to it.A little over a year later, they were both surprised with their progress. They weren’t perfect, they knew that. Chell was rather jumpy about her neck being touched, and GLaDOS was still a little uneasy whenever Chell was holding a Portal gun or anything that could be used as a weapon.But despite that, they were proud enough of the steps they had taken as is.Chell found herself standing in her room, waiting for the core. They had planned to spend some time together, and GLaDOS promised to meet her here. And, perfectly on time, a knock on the door sounded, before it opened on its own. Knocking wasn’t necessary for someone who controlled the whole facility, but Chell liked to know where the core was if they were going to be interacting. No surprises.And so, as GLaDOS approached her, she’d give a brief, verbal warning before touching the girl.The AI carefully wrapped her arms around Chell’s waist, keeping her grip loose and relaxed, as to not make the human feel trapped. Gently, she pressed her forehead against the ex-test subject, giving her a sort of nuzzle that Chell quickly returned.“…Hey.”The core smirked, looking down at Chell as she spoke.“Is this all you had planned? When you said you wanted to spend time together, I didn’t think you meant you just wanted to stand here.”Chell rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. She didn’t want to pull away to grab a pencil and paper, so instead she simply mouthed the words, knowing full well that GLaDOS could read her lips very well.‘Well I wasn’t planning on standing, but I have a perfectly nice sofa that we could move this to.’Chell watched as the core’s optics seemed to gleam, almost sparkling with amusement.“…Can I pick you up?”Despite the affection that was being shared between them, both of them never failed to ask before changing their position or form of affection. They cared for each other, no doubt, but sudden movements could be unnerving for both, especially ones that involved direct physical contact. However with proper warning, it was welcomed.Chell nodded, very carefully moving her arms to loosely wrap around the core’s neck as she found herself scooped up into the cool metal arms of her partner.It was strange in a way, to finally be able to give her trust to someone who, many months ago, she wouldn’t have let touch her. She supposed GLaDOS felt the same.Yet, as she found herself being set down on the soft cushion of the couch, and she moved closer to the core who joined her moments after, she found that she didn’t care. What did it matter how things had been? It was time to enjoy the now. She wasted little time joining the metallic woman’s hand with her own, and gently resting her head against the core’s chest, who let out a soft hum of contentment at her actions.Trust had taken time to begin, and it would take even longer to keep going, but it had been worth it.

#chelldos #chell #glados #portal #portal 2

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dajoezenone · 7 years

Text

THE ZOO ARC (Steven Universe Review)

Confused about how I’m reviewing an entire arc of episodes that has been promoted to release at the end of this month? Well, Cartoon Network put the episodes on their website without warning last night. And I watched em.

But you dont care about that. Lets talk about the episodes. I’ll be as spoiler free as I can but its a pretty intense arc. Just watch it and then come back if you still care.

The first one starts out by breaking the cardinal rule of the show: STEVEN PUTS STUFF TOGETHER AND ASKS QUESTIONS ON HIS OWN. Except, not really. His questions come up because his dream powers are causing his mind to connect with that of Blue Diamond. Side note: any other time Steven’s dream powers have acted up, its because Steven is thinking about the person as he falls asleep, or otherwise because he lucid dreams his way there intentionally. This time it is COMPLETELY unprompted as far as I know, and its not really said why. But thats okay.

Anyways, its really Connie that puts together that she’s seen the thing in Steven’s dream before, and thats the only thing she does this whole arc. While we’re on the subject, Lapis and Peridot show up momentarily in the subsequent episode only to also get left out of the entire rest of it. The three are told that if anything happens while the main crew is gone, they must defend Beach City and the earth, which shows how much the Gems trust them, but since, to our knowledge, nothing really happens, it doesnt mean anything really. I really want to see the three of them interact on some kind of mission sometime soon though. That would be really fun and solidify the three of them not only as Crystal Gems, but as a team themselves. I’d really like that.

Anyways, Greg and Steven go off in search of answers to what really happened to Pink Diamond, and do so by flying to Korea in Andy’s plane. They have a nice touristy montage through Korea, and then end up at the Palanquin. There, they find Blue Diamond, who is mourning Pink. Greg has a nice moment where he connects with her, where he tells her he knows how she feels and what she’s going through. Its a really good scene. The two characters aren’t ones you’d expect to connect. The parallel is nice, not expected, and really clever. Its emotional, and genuine. Its also interesting to see Greg do something like this, as its definitely what Steven would do in the situation. I somehow always thought that side of Steven really was from Rose. After all, we’ve seen that she loved everything on the Earth. But... the more we’ve learned about who Rose was, it does make much more sense that having this kind of response to Homeworld things definitely comes from Greg, not Rose.

Anyways, Greg is dadnapped by Blue Diamond and put into her Human Zoo a few lightyears across Space.

Steven and the OG CG crew follow in the Roving Eye they stole from the Rubies. Speaking of whom, we see them briefly, and its mentioned that they’ll clean up THAT mess on the way back. The second episode in the arc seems mostly wasted on in-jokes like this. Steven messes with the ship’s controls, and as they go farther beyond the speed of light, it becomes harder and harder for the Gem’s to maintain their form, which results in some not that funny shape shifting shenanigans at first, and some soul-crushing loneliness later. Steven has a revealing, yet predictable emotional moment while the Gems arent able to take form, confessing he feels this is all his fault for asking questions. But the problem is solved and the Gems comfort him. This is by far my least favorite of the five, in case you can’t tell. Its got its moments, but not enough for me to really like it.

The third episode brings the quality back up though. They arrive at the zoo, and realize they’re going to have to sneak past the Homeworld Gems stationed there. Garnet unfuzes, and Steven and the four Gems start faking their way through the security so they can get to where Greg and the other humans are held.

Something I really like about this episode, and the last one in particular is that each of the Gems that does come along on the journey has to deal with their own little struggle. They all have moments that are unique to their characters, and they’re all balanced well. Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, and Pearl all grow as characters, at least a little bit. Pearl is the most obvious, as she is forced to revert to being subservient to the other Gems. Sapphire and Ruby have to be apart again, and the stakes are much higher than in Hit the Diamond. Also, while that largely seemed to focus on Ruby and her interactions with the other Rubies, this focuses a tad more on Sapphire, having to pretend to be in charge of the other Gems, and having to struggle with the knowledge that they WILL fail. Without Ruby, its hard for her to change the course of time she sees before her, and we really see the effects of that. She gets a lot more screentime than she usually does, and its really nice.

At the base, we’re introduced to the main villain of the arc, a Holly Blue Agate in charge of the Zoo. Compared to Peridot, Jasper and even Lapis, she’s relatively mediocre, and I kinda doubt she’ll ever become as important as those Homeworld Gems, but she does her job well. She’s super uptight and perfectionist, and while she clearly enjoys her work on the Zoo (expressing delight at both the new human arrivals) 5,000 years of dealing with the squadron of Amethysts and other Earth Gems that crew the station is clearly wearing on her. Any tiny thing that goes wrong, she blames on them, which is really nice for our heroes, but at the same time only allows them to see how ferocious she would be to them if she found them out. Even Steven never really tries to befriend Holly Blue. She manages to be scary while also hardly raising her voice. She expects things to work the proper way, and whoever is making things NOT work properly will suffer, if she has anything to say about it.

Without spoiling how that episode really goes from there, the fourth episode in the arc focuses on what things have been like for Greg actually in the Zoo. And this episode is probably my favorite of the bunch, though the last one is really good as well. The humans in captivity are all very blissfully unaware of how life is. They all seem to be happy, but their lives lack true meaning or love of any kind. The people there are all really nice, albeit childlike and a bit weird. They’re somewhat entitled, a bit lazy, and all seem to lack any real individuality. But this isn’t a fault of the writers, its just that they’re all just products of the world they live in. Even Greg is starting to just do what he’s told and exist in this blissful utopia. He only really disobeys it when he discovers that romantic relationships in this world are all predetermined by the automated voices. And Greg doesn’t want a new Romantic relationship. Especially not with any of these people that can’t make decisions on their own. I wont spoil how this one ends either so lets move on to the finale.

btw, I DO spoil the finale. If you havent’ watched it, just know that its very good and you should watch it.

The final episode begins Greg and Steven being captured by the Amethysts aboard the Zoo. The have our Amethyst as well, who plays like she’s being held captive before revealing she has befriended them all since the last time we saw her. It turns out that all Earth Gems are about as unruly and immature as our Amethyst is. There’s even a Jasper and a Carnelian from the Beta kindergarten mixed in. The whole gang is delightful, and I wish we got to spend more time with them, but we really only get enough time to see how accepted our Amethyst really is among the rest of the misfits and freaks from Earth. From there, the squad helps hide Steven and Greg from Holly Blue long enough to get them to a large room where we see a bunch of bubbled Rose Quartzes. As they make their way across the giant room, a couple suitably giant gems come in. Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond. Blue is still depressed about Pink, and Yellow is attempting to cheer her up, so they can get rid of the Roses and the Earth, and move on.

She sings a song, accompanied by Blue and Yellow Pearl. I dont like it that much. Yellow Diamond’s singing voice annoys me, and Deedee is definitely better as regular Pearl. But, its still really good for what it is, and it allows us to see into Yellow Diamond’s head a little. The Pearls are really fun as well. I love how Yellow Pearl is so opposite of ours. She glories in her diamond’s arrogant sass, and feels so honored whenever she’s addressed, no matter how demeaning the task she’s commanded to do.

That aside, Greg and Steven regroup with the rest of the squad, and they all manage to make it past the Diamonds without incident. They make it back to the docking bay, and almost make it into the Roving eye, but are caught by Holly Blue. We get a quick fight scene, but its mostly just the Gems showing off. The Agate is apparently more bark than bite, and her squad of Amethysts don’t do much to help, as they’re rooting for their friends over their hated boss. Pearl gets the last laugh, telling Holly Blue why it’d be a bad idea for her to reveal to the Diamonds what just happened, and they fly off into the sunset.

Its a great arc. Definitely bigger and more intense than almost any arc before it, but at the same time, some of the episodes, the second especially, seem really slow. Theyre all just kind of building, and then the last episode, while really great, just kinda wraps up all that setup. Its really great, and it leaves room for the rest of season 4 to be even bigger and more amazing.

I really hope we see the humans and the Earth Gems of the Zoo again. I imagine we’ll have to, since all the Rose Quartzes are bubbled there. All three groups are native to Earth, and I’d love to see them all return there sometime. But... we’ll see.

This was a great arc, and a step in a wonderful new direction for the show. Can’t wait for more.

#steven universe #steven bomb five #the zoo #that will be all #the diamonds #whats the use of feeling blue #adventures in light distortion #steven's dream #gem heist

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theconservativebrief · 6 years

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The first 24-hour Krispy Kreme in Ireland opened its doors on September 26, but unfortunately for doughnut-eating Irish night owls, its initial premise proved faulty within just a week. The following Wednesday, Krispy Kreme announced that the all-night shop would now close at 11:30 pm, demoting it to just a regular ol’ doughnut store.

The culprit was the same as it always is: Too many people were lured by a tantalizing idea that the promise-makers couldn’t, for a variety of reasons, fulfill.

In Krispy Kreme’s case, that meant a line of hundreds of honking cars in the wee-est hours of the morning, disturbing neighbors and causing huge traffic jams. But it’s a story that has replayed again and again over the past few years: A limited-edition product, a free event, or a huge sale sounds a little bit too good to be true on the internet and, of course, ends up being exactly that.

I have spent literal years of my life thinking about — and contributing to — this phenomenon. For about a year and a half, my job was to write listings for free and cheap family-friendly events for a New York City kid’s magazine. More specifically, my job was to make these two-sentence descriptions sound as fun and exciting as possible without straight-up lying about what parents and kids would actually find when they got there.

This led to a lot of vague phrases like “hands-on activities!” and “music, performances, and food trucks!” that didn’t totally capture the reality of the only two possible situations. The first is that these “hands-on activities” and “performances” would be extraordinarily dull and not worth leaving the house for. The second is that even if they were free and decidedly non-lame, it still wouldn’t be worth the ridiculously long wait times, brutal crowds, and general feeling of total dehumanization that anything with the word “festival” can bring. (Fun fact: you can slap the word “festival” on literally any event with more than one thing to do!) It wasn’t uncommon for us to receive emails from angry parents complaining about a too-crowded or otherwise disappointing day.

My next job was the opposite: I’d scope out sample sales and report on whether they were worth waiting in the multi-block lines. Almost always, my personal answer was, “Uh, no???” but this kind of lazy reporting was, unfortunately, frowned upon. So instead, as fashion writers are wont to do, I described many pieces of clothing as “worth” buying when in fact I had no intention of doing so myself.

i come home to ireland for the first time in months and the whole country is at a standstill over a krispy kreme

— The Chronic Project (@TheNapKween) October 3, 2018

Both experiences have instilled in me a deep skepticism about any kind of buzzy event or sale, to the point where I have a deep mistrust of anything with the words “food festival” or “sale” in it. But I think more people should have that, too.

Because over the past few years, there’ve been tons of examples of overhyped and ultimately disappointing events, and almost always, social media is to blame. It isn’t just that the internet makes it easy for us to stumble upon fun-sounding experiences and then share them with our friends — it’s that there’s now a social media ecosystem that makes real money off hyperbolizing what you’ll find when you go to them. Essentially, whole brands and publishers are built on causing you FOMO.

When Build-a-Bear Workshop held its “Pay Your Age Day” sale on July 12, thousands of shoppers across the US, Canada, and the UK lined up outside stores hours before opening, hoping for a chance to stuff and buy an animal for only the cost of their child’s age.

Build-a-Bear, however, was woefully unprepared. Most stores cut off lines by mid-morning, though some shoppers claimed that even if they arrived early enough, the barrage of crowds forced them to wait hours. Others said that despite their early arrivals, they were turned away and told to come back later, only to find that the store had already closed.

The fiasco may not have happened had Build-a-Bear been able to gauge interest far enough in advance — it had announced the sale just three days before it went down, and the event was quickly covered by national news outlets.

In a similar case, McDonald’s attempted to capitalize on a joke from the popular animated comedy Rick & Morty by rereleasing its Szechuan sauce, but ended up revealing how toxic some corners of the fandom could be. When it turned out that McDonald’s had either barely stocked the sauce or failed to tell some stores the promotion was even happening, thousands of angry fans protested outside stores and wreaked havoc inside them. On social media, others proposed boycotts or filing a class-action lawsuit against McDonald’s, which distributed so few packets of the sauce that, due to supply and demand, one woman was able to trade hers for a car.

As Vox wrote at the time, “McDonald’s made the classic mistake of a corporation that suddenly finds itself engaging with a large fandom: When fans began to interact with its branding, it signed up for the free publicity and easy marketing, but didn’t do the work of understanding just what kind of fandom it had on its hands.”

The peculiarities of the Rick & Morty subculture surely had something to do with the level of vitriol expressed toward McDonald’s. But the blame is also on the way McDonald’s teased and winked at fans in its advertisements: It knew the Szechuan sauce was an item that customers desperately wanted, and it failed to deliver.

And the biggest, most prevailing example of this kind of failure is the food festival. The idea of a free or low-cost never-ending feast, spread out over a maze of stalls with different cuisines, satiating every possible sort of person, and all attendees leaving happy and perhaps even culturally fulfilled, is generally far too enticing to ever reach its Platonic ideal. But because people keep organizing them, other people keep buying tickets.

In September 2014, the organizers behind the massively popular outdoor food market Smorgasburg attempted to arrange a one-time-only night market inside Central Park, to much fanfare. Though the event, which was to include food, drinks, DJs, and dancing, was scheduled to run from 5 to 9 pm, by around 6 o’clock, police had to turn hundreds of people away, which ended up resulting in tons of leftover food.

But it shouldn’t have been a surprise, really. Two years earlier, a similar fiasco occurred when the organizers of Bonnaroo attempted a giant food festival and concert in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. It would be called the Great GoogaMooga and would be free to enter with registry, though attendees could also purchase $250 VIP tickets that promised exclusive viewing, attendance to culinary seminars, cocktail demos, and wine and beer tastings.

A GoogaMooga worker holds a sign as festivalgoers wait in line for food. Mike Lawrie/Getty Images

Though the festival ended up making headlines for its absurdly long wait times, technical payment issues, and the fact that beer and wine reportedly ran out by 3 pm, it wasn’t much better for the VIP customers. A Gothamist piece headlined “$250 VIP GoogaMooga Tickets: You Would’ve Gotten More Full Eating the Money” described some folks waiting “15 minutes for a bite of a mortadella hot dog and another 15 for a single piece of beef with some corn,” and zero vegetarian options to speak of. The VIP section eventually ran out of food entirely, leaving attendees to watch celebrity panelists like David Chang and James Murphy eat delicious food while they couldn’t.

These two are far from the only disappointing food festivals. If recent memory serves, most of them end up being a disaster on some level: There was the “unlimited” cheese festival in London whose cheese selection was in fact very limited, the African food fest with a measly two vendors, the “drunken hellscape” that was BrunchCon, the pizza festival that was such a scam that it ended up being investigated by the attorney general, and, uh, that other one.

Though food festivals that don’t live up to the hype and sales that get out of control are two different beasts, they share some important commonalities. The first is that both of them hinge on brands and organizers promising something they can’t always deliver. Build-a-Bear and McDonald’s may have had the tools and staffing to follow through on their promotions for some customers, but both failed to take into account the rest of the equation, which is that a massive number of people wanted to take advantage of them at the same time.

Very sad slices of pizza from September 2017’s disastrous New York City Pizza Festival. Facebook

The same goes for events — GoogaMooga may have been a lovely experience for all if only fewer people had shown up (but in that case, organizers knew exactly how many people had registered, and had no excuse not to be prepared).

Part of this is obviously due to how social media is able to spread information much, much faster than it ever has in the past. When Build-a-Bear announced its Pay Your Age sale on Facebook, the post was shared by nearly 20,000 people, exposing it to huge swaths of potential customers.

And thanks to Facebook’s events feature, an event that’s labeled “food night market” or “ultimate cheese festival” can travel enormous distances. When users click the “Interested” button on events that are set to public, that event will then show up on their friends’ timelines, so that even if neither party ends up actually attending, everyone involved will still be aware of its existence. Plus, it’s so simple to create a public Facebook event that even if said “food night market” has zero proof of its quality or viability, people are made to assume that it’s legit because it looks exactly the same as the superior ones.

But the other problem the internet poses, besides simply allowing more eyeballs on events, is that there are an increasing number of brands and publications whose businesses depend on getting you excited about going to them. There are the kinds of local magazines and blogs where I’ve spent years writing this kind of content. But in the past few years, there’s also been the ascent of Facebook video creators like Insider, Refinery29’s RSVP series, and BuzzFeed’s BringMe, which traffic in getting users hyped to visit a certain place or attend a specific event.

“This Cheese Festival Could Be Coming to a Place Near You Soon,” reads the title of one video by one of Facebook’s largest publishers, the viral content site LadBible. The video itself is the same kind of mobile-friendly, simple text-on-screen stuff you’ll see on any Facebook feed, and none of the footage is original — mostly it’s close-ups of different kinds of cheese and an aerial view of the festival, all provided by Cheese Fest UK. But it didn’t need to be any more complicated than that: All viewers needed to know was that there was a cheese festival possibly coming to a place near them soon. As of now, the video has 13 million views.

But when the actual Cheese Fest UK landed in Brighton last August, the event devolved into hour-long lines, cheese shortages, and expensive prices, and Cheese Fest was eventually forced to apologize.

Essentially, there’s an entire economy within social media that trades off people’s FOMO. And in order for these videos, posts, or events to go viral, they require organizers and publishers to hyperbolize as much as possible, without any real concern for what customers can actually expect to get for their time and money.

But until social media engagement and virality aren’t important markers of brands’ and publishers’ success, it’s not likely that we’ll see the tale of the overhyped and underwhelming event end anytime soon. The only thing we can do, really, is take our 10 million–view videos about rosé-soaked pool parties with a hearty dose of skepticism. Or just do what I do and avoid them all entirely.

Original Source -> The internet helps cheap, fun events spread faster than ever. It’s also totally ruined them.

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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